country, places that the president won. he knows dissatisfaction with wages and work is part of what fueled his rise. he realizes he's not going to be able to solve that and these new numbers show it will happen faster than we thought. >> automation is taking over the world, mike allen, we'll be reading axios in just a bit. sign up.axios.com. that does it for us. "morning joe" starts right now. senator, her testimony, it didn't plant any seed of doubt in your mind? >> yes, there were lots of seeds of doubt in my mind about -- >> about clarence thomas? >> no. i know clarence thomas. i've known him for 12 years. >> do you think this is going to derail his nomination? >> no. >> and i'm not opposed to anita

hill. i think it's apparent that she briefs what she's saying. >> do you think that any of these claims are legitimate? >> i know this woman, whoever she is, is next up. >> frankly, mr. chairman, there are inconsistencies. >> frankly, if you were going to believe anybody, you would believe him. >> well, 27 years apart. two male supreme court nominees, two female college professors and senator judiciary committee member orrin hatch has the same reaction. good morning, everyone. welcome to "morning joe." it's tuesday, september 18th. with us, we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle. washington anchor for bbc world news america kattie kay and matt miller. so much to cover this morning. >> there is. >> beyond supreme court nominee

brett kavanaugh. >> there is a ton to cover. you have obviously the brett kavanaugh showdown on now on capitol hill. they will be having a hearing on monday. you also, donald trump, going into a full out trade war. and he makes, of course within i don't know if it's a mistake, if he's ignorat, but he talks about all the new taxes that the chinese are going to have to pay. chinese don't pay that tax. american consumers will be paying that tax. that is a $200 million tax on american consumers. and, of course, the american consumers who can really afford to pay that tax, you have the president declassifying material despite the fact that he was baghdad by the intelligence community not to do that because sources and methods could be tomp rised. of course, the president doesn't

care. and i say of course he sdurnt because any commander in chief who did care would listen to all of his intelligence agencies. but he's declassifying some sensitive material. it doesn't change the fact that everyone around him now seems to be indicted or connected with mueller. aside from that "the americans," a show that you and i love, mika. matthew reese won best actor. extraordinary. understated and so talented. he deserved it. it was great to see that. also, claire foy with a crown. >> wonderful. >> talk about understatement. she was just staring like in seven seconds and a few words and --

>> maybe she'll get paid better now wherever she goes. extraordinary acting job there. mike and willie, any favorites of yours last night that won? >> my favorite moment of the night -- i didn't watch all of it -- was when the director got up on the stage, with thanked his girlfriend and said i'd like to make you not my girlfriend any more, will you marry me. called her out of her seat, gave her the wedding ring that his father had had put his mother's finger about 60 some years ago and proposed to her and she said yes. it was a great moment, probably the most memorable of the night. >> that's amazing. >> and "the americans" is such a great series. and matthew reese won the emmy for an incredible series. every episode. a lot of the strings in the

episode would remind you somewhat of events taking place in our country today. >> absolutely. let's get to those, then. republicans called for supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh and christine blazey ford, the woman accusing him of sexual assault almost three decades ago to testify at a hearing that could determine the fate of his nomination. fellow republicans called for an open examination of the allegations from ford. grassley said they tried to reach out to ford, but democrats refused to participate in the process. senate democrats rejected that plan saying the seriousness of the charges merited a full fbi investigation.

if judge cavanaugh has lied about what happened, that would be disqualified. that's why it's so important that we have testimony under oath with a lot of questions as to both of them. >> of course, that's a problem. is he going to be lying under oath, what happened 32, 33 years ago. as benjamin said, it's practically impossible to determine the outcome of those events. so much of this, willie, will depend on who testifies more effectively. you can see who had has a more truthful story, but chances are good the two were going to be saying things polar opposite.

all that said, i'll tell you, yesterday it was disheartening to see some republican senators coming out saying i believe judge cavanaugh no matter what. likewise, you turn on cable news and you look at twitter and there are people on the other side basically accusing a guy of rape on an incident that happened over three decades ago and they have no more clue of that than they do of how the universe began. >> i thought chuck grassley did a good job of saying we're going to hear out ford and then we'll hear from judge kavanaugh. that is the good new.

the bad news is everybody has made up their minds already. the people in the democratic party who don't want him on the court already believe the testimony and the letter given by dr. ford. so do you think we'll actually get anywhere? >> there's a lot of reasonable questions that can be raised on either side of this. is she telling the truth, what impact does this have on his character, what does all of this mean today. all of those are sensible and they're sensitive issues and they could be discussed in a reasonable manner. the chances of that happening are almost zero. as you suggest, this has got so caught up in partisanship. all we need to do is look at donald trump jr.'s instagram post yesterday with this awful handwritten note about will you

be my girlfriend and the boys will be boys attitude. and if that's the back drop of this, if that's reflective of where the president's base is on this and where republicans will be pitching their arguments to, then no, the chances of a reasonable debate on this is almost minimum. >> look at this. >> look at this. this is dismissing her out of hand about a joke. this is making a joke out of an accusation that is potentially incredibly serious that this woman has lived with for 36 years if she's telling the truth. there are strong political reasons on both sides for republicans and democrats to fight for this one as hard as they can. i understand that. but the chances this means that we are all going to be worse off. brett kavanaugh is going to be worse off, miss ford is going to be worse off because we cannot have a reasonable debate about this. >> so i am not judging any republican's ability to cross-examine witnesses in court. i'm not judging their ability to

be moral actors on the national stage. i'm just saying, i said it yesterday, i'll say it today, you talked about a thankless task for these republicans, on the judiciary committee. i don't think they understand it because so many of them on that committee are so bad without it. but it seems to me -- and, again, this is just political analysis. other than, let's say -- well, let's just say there are two or three ticking time bombs on the republican side of this judiciary committee. and my god, if i am a republican candidate running somewhere across america, next monday i'm going to have my head buried in the sand because this is a no-win situation for them. it doesn't matter -- facts be dammed, it is a no-win situation for those republicans on the senator judiciary committee.

that's not me feeling sorry for them in the least. that's just me saying the political dynamics are set up in such a way where they are going to look -- well, they're politically going to look very insensitive in a year that a lot of women are going to be elected to congress. >> well, joe, that key phrase you just mentioned, they are going to look, okay, let's put that graphic back up again, the composition of the senate judiciary committee that we just had. and take a look at the -- if we can take a look, there are 11 men there on the republican side of your screen. and they are going to be questioning the witnesses this coming monday. this is about an event that happened 36 years ago. no way you're going to get to the truth of what may or may not have happened 36 years ago.

but there has to be a hearing on it. and ron clain, he had a pretty sensible suggestion, i thought, that he's made in a few different venues over the past few days. and that was the senate judiciary committee ought to go out and retail a professional prosecutor to do the questioning of both witnesses rather than leave it to the extraordinary sweep of politics that you know is going to occur next monday. >> i wish the democrats could have done this a lot sooner. they had this information for many months and they shouldn't have waited until lit had rally the last days. they should have done it a lot sooner. but with all of that being said, we want to go through the process. one thing i will say is as i understand it, judge kavanaugh

spent quite a bit of time with senator feinstein and it wasn't brought up at that meeting and she had this information. so you would have thought certainly she would have brought it up at the meeting, not wait until everything is finished and have to start a.process all over again. but with all of it being said, we want to go through a full process. i have great confidence in the u.s. senate and their procedures and what they're doing and i think that's probably what they're going to do. they'll go through a process and hear everybody out. i think it's important. i believe they think it's important. i want him to go in at the absolute highest level. i think to do that, you have to go through this. if it takes a little delay, it will take a little delay. it shouldn't certainly be very much. >> has he offered to withdraw? >> next question. what a ridiculous question that is.

>> do you think his confirmation is on track? >> i think he's on track. if they delay it just a little bit to make sure everybody is happy -- they want to be happy. the republican senators want to be 100% happy themselves. >> wow. >> wow, that made sense. >> a little restraint there, willie. >> on the sliding scale of trump being measured, that was pretty measured for donald trump saying there's a process. if we have to delay the process, i'm okay with that. but what we're hearing despite that vocal support, two trump confidants underscoring the president's history of self-centered calculations in the middle of political tumult, quote, he's going to do what's best for him, the president, and he would nominate a carbon copy of kavanaugh in a second if he

goes down. so i guess the argument from some conservatives is if we have to cast aside brett kavanaugh, we'll push somebody in just as conservative if not more conservative who doesn't have this problem that he's looking at now. >> that's what donald trump is thinking. he doesn't care about brett kavanaugh. brett kavanaugh was a surprise choice because he's been a member of the washington establishment for decades. he is the bush washington establishment. but he just so happened to write a law review article in 2009 saying the president of the united states can't be indicted, should not be indicted, so he wanted him for that reason. willie, you saw him. understand doesn't seem like he's taking this too personally. >> we've seen it before, mika. when he's adamant about something. when he will snault the opponent, he will go out to bat

for this guy and he didn't do that yesterday in the way he's done in the past which lends some credence to that washington post reporting that he may be willing to push kavanaugh to the side if this gets too hot. >> very interesting reaction. in an unprecedented move, president trump is using the director of his office to order the justice department and the national intelligence office to declassify materials in the ongoing investigation of russian election interference. >> bruce orr, an expert on russian organized crime who had conversations with the author of the dossier alleging connections between the kremlin and trump associates. president trump ordered the

release odd unredacted text messages of andrew mccabe, peter struck, james commy, as well as orr. the white house said the order was made at the request of a number of committees of congress and for reasons of transparency. the justice department said it has begun. but a u.s. official with direct knowledge told nbc news that the agencies would not be able to conduct a damage assessment because there are too many of them. joe. >> matt, let me bring in right now matt miller. you have, first of all, of course, the fbi not wanting to release, the justice department hasn't wanted it to release. the director of national intelligence didn't want it released.

you have sources and methods that are highly likely to be exposed which the president was warned about. and you have one of the more highly classified programs in the united states of america, the courts, that now we're going to allow our enemies to see exactly how we do things as it pertains to the pfizer corp. most fisa judges won't even let you know that they're a fisa judge. it's been that secret all that long. obviously, these security concerns don't mean anything to donald trump. >> he is really taking the powers of his office, the powers of the presidency and using them to advance his personal interest which he defines as using this war against the fbi rather than protect the national interests. and, you know, that statement you saw from the justice

department about how they're going to go through the declassification review now, they already did that with respect to the carter fisa page regulation. it was done in january after they went through a review and held back the information they thought was most secretive and they really needed to keep classified to protect sources and methods. the president has ordered that material completely released. intr entire pages blanked out. there are clear references to sources, references to actions inside russia. and he just doesn't care at all about jeopardizing anything related to that ongoing investigation. to release the fbi interviews with bruce orr in the middle of an investigation is unprecedentsed. i cannot remember a single time when the justice department in the middle of a investigation has released anything. it is an absolute breach of practice for no purpose other than trying to discredit the

president and his campaign. >> what does this mean in practical terms for the intelligence agencies? i'm thinking if i'm in the fbi and i know this material is about to be released, this must have some downstream impact on my ability to recruit performance because they're going to be worried, if this is the precedent that has been set, my information could come out at a later date. that's right. a lot of the application relates to the interview they did with chris steele, the information he supplied. others around the world and around the country are going to look at this and say why would i come and cooperate with american law enforcement services. they always tell me they will protect me. they say we will protect you. we will protect your confidentiality. we will never let this information become public. now you see not just leaking out. it's one thing when this

information leaks out. that is enough of a problem when it happens. the president of the united states ordering that publicly released just to attack the intelligence community bae because because he sees it in his best interest. think about what that does to the morale people inside the justice department to see career officials retaliated against just because they did their job. >> if it were not for the justice kavanaugh story, this will be the lead story on every newspaper and news program in america. we will look at these unredacted text messages. we will read them here in the united states with a different kind of eye than those in

pakistan, afghanistan, moscow and tel aviv will read them. talk about the danger of trained foreign eyes talking about what's going to be released. >> there are only two who benefit from the release of this information. the president's legal defense team and the foreign intelligence service. if you look at the carter page fisa application, there are references all throughout it. most of them redacted, but you can see by the words around it with the underlying information is to actions and activities inside russia. if those blacked out sections are now made public, the american public is not just going to know, but the russian intelligence service is going to know exactly what our intelligence services took to the most secretive court in the land with relation to ongoing activities and operations in russia. a foreign intelligence service will not be able to find out not just about the specifics, but other intelligence services will be able to see how we work, our our most secretive operations

are put together, how we work sources, the methods that intelligence serviceses use and they will be able to incorporate that into trying to, you know, kind of sniff out and detect and prevent american intelligence operations in the future. >> matt miller, still ahead on "morning joe," thousands of dollars are being paid if tariffs. the problem, it's not china footing the bill as he said, it's the american people. that is straight ahead, but first to bill karins with a look at the forecast. >> the death toll continues to rise in florence. yesterday a tornado in areas of virginia just you outside of richmond occurred. you can see it there in the distance. destroyed an auto parts store. we had some overnight thunderstorms, too, through baltimore, washington, d.c., and now we're tracking those up through areas of new york city.

so for the rivers, they're still cresting in some areas, eastern north carolina, obviously, is a huge mess. we're going to start to watch him dropping, though. this is a little river. notice the peak as we go throughout the day and then by saturday, some of the other rivers take a while to collect. there's water that are in businesses and in homes and those people are not going to be returning to their property for a while. so the rainfall from florence, what's left of it is moving to the northeast today. and mountainous areas there, a little concern that we could deal with some flooding issues. new york city will have downpours on and off throughout the day. a lot of the day will be humid and dry. and how about about the heat in the middle of the country? still 90s. summer holds on and a chance of showers and storms today, minneapolis and chicago. we will dry it out in the northeast as we'll finally be done with florence after the heavy rain today in new england you're watching "morning joe,"

new york city, tropical downpours on and off as we go throughout the morning. - [announcer] the typical vacuum head can struggle with large debris and stuck-on dust, so shark invented duoclean, replacing the front wall with a rotating soft brush. while deep cleaning carpets, two brush rolls pick up large particles with ease, make quick work of stuck-on dust, giving hard floors a polished look, and fearlessly devour piles. shark duoclean technology, designed to do more on carpets and floors, available in corded and cord-free vacuums, and only available from shark. takes more than just investment advice.

from insurance to savings to retirement, it takes someone with experience and knowledge who can help me build a complete plan. brian, my certified financial planner™ professional, is committed to working in my best interest. i call it my "comfortable future plan," and it's all possible with a cfp® professional. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. find your certified financial planner™ professional to me, he's, phil micwell, dad.o golfer. so when his joint pain from psoriatic arthritis got really bad, it scared me. and what could that pain mean? joint pain could mean joint damage. enbrel helps relieve joint pain, helps stop irreversible joint damage, and helps skin get clearer. enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, nervous system and blood disorders, and allergic reactions have occurred. tell your doctor if you've been someplace where fungal

infections are common, or if you're prone to infections, have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if you have persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. since enbrel, dad's back to being dad. visit enbrel.com and use the joint damage simulator to see how your joint damage could be progressing. ask about enbrel. enbrel. fda approved for over 15 years. how can you spot ambition? is it written on our faces? or something woven into the dna of the doers, the determined, the driven? and while the bar keeps getting higher, ambition gives us the power to tackle any obstacle. opening the doors to bigger leaps, larger goals

and financial freedom. sofi. we stand for ambition.

china is now paying us billions of dollars and we will see how that all works out. >> china is now paying us billions of dollars in tariffs. >> no. that's president trump paerch apparently not understanding who is paying for his tariff policy. as "the washington post" points out, tariffs are taxes paid by americans who import goods from abroad. still, president trump is escalating america's trade war with china, announcing new tariffs on billions of dollars worth of chinese goods after the market closed. specifically, the administration imposed 10% tariff owes $200

billion worth of chinese exports effective rt starting september 24th with the rate going up to 25% at the end of the year. joining us now, former treasury officials and "morning joe" economic analyst steve ratner, kn noah rothman and eugene robinson. joe, i just wonder, this is the thing about the team. can someone explain to him what tariffs are and how they work. >> i suspect they already have. certainly we know this had is the one topic those in the house and senate are talked to the president about. >> so he knows how this works? >> again, you go back to portions of woodward's book where people go in and tell him

what the facts are and he shakes his head and he said i believe this forever. i don't want to hear it. i'm right and you're wrong. the facts are wrong. >> got it. >> and steve ratner, as we've said for a very long time, this is actually going back to the 1980s. donald trump has flip-flopped on abortion, he's flip-flopped on guns, he's flip-flopped on -- you name it except this one area, protectionism, tariffs, it's the one area where he steadfastly believed in protectionism. and steadfastly opposed free trade. can you explain to our you videoers how these tariffs are, indeed, attacks on working class americans and how the chinese aren't paying a dime? >> sure. first of all, because simply the taxes paid by the importers to the u.s. government and that includes, by the way, a lot of american companies, apple, general motors, whatever, that bring things in here.

they pay the tax and they immediately pass it on to consumers. so it is, in fact, paid by the consumers. it's not paid by the chinese. but more importantly, remember that. when you use a tariff to raise a price of one particular thing that is important, it tends to raise the price on that. everybody using that good raises their prices to make the new tariff price. there are ten times as many jobs in -- with companies that use steel than with companies that produce steel. so it has a very seth effect on tariffs. and if -- on consumers. and if there is anything there, it's going to increase the effect of those things they buy. >> do you believe that president

trump is willfully ignorant on this question or just ignorant? he's also got .people who have made their careers railing for texas. peter navarro, robert lightheiser, i think those guys understand it. i don't think president trump understands it. joe's initial question is trump doesn't understand it. he thinks they is somehow being paid by chinese. we're tariffing at the moment $20 billion. we have a budget of $4 trillion. this is a rounding area in the great scheme of life. >> there are so many cases where this president actually doesn't understand how the world works, doesn't understand how trade works, doesn't understand how

international organizations work. the president talking about the chinese paying tariffs reminds me of him talking about how nato coffers are filled, we're getting billions of dollars in nato. we're getting so much money in nato now, more than ever before. no. it's a 2% commitment. they pay 2% of your gdp to your own military establishment, to build a fence. but here again, you've got the president just not understanding how something actually works and in this case, it ends up costing americans, american companies and american consumers, doesn't it? >> absolutely. as we just said, tariffs are economically inefficient. but my biggest concern is the political dysfunction that they encourage. your reference to nato is perfectly valid here because

there's a lot of parallels you have to adopt when you're fighting a trade war and when you're fight ago real war. the chinese finance minister this week at a conference was talking about the retaliatory measures that beijing should and could take. among them, the american supply chains that china exports. and one of the quotes was deeply disturbing. he said along the lines of the trade war will not end satisfactory to beijing until, quote, americans feel the pain of fighting a war. in other words, you have to inflict pain on the civilian population until they no longer have the will to continue prosecuting this conflict. that sort of paradigm is really disturbing. global economic integration is a great force over the last century and we are dismantling it of our own accord and i think we're really going to regret that. >> gene, as i listen to this discussion, i'm wondering what you think about the possibility

that this is occurring, that manafort cuts a plea deal, flynn will be sentenced in december. does mr. trump, do you think, in his own mind look for things to put on the table like watch this, keep your eye on this, rather than, you know, the witch-hunt, the russia investigation, mueller and all of that stuff to keep people preoccupied with momentary things that he raises? >> well, he totally does that and we know he does that. and he really doesn't care if he's in a bad news as many cycle or people are looking at stuff he doesn't want them to look at. he doesn't care if the thing he points at is something that people criticize him about. this is a president who is not only ignorant about economic

policy, the great businessman, does not understand tariffs, does not under balance and trade. but he refuses to learn. and that's just really more than problematic. it's alarming. we have a president of the united states who is allergic to the process of learning, will not accept new information that contradicts what he has known for 30 years or 40 years. obviously that's no way to run a country, but that's what we're stuck with. you end up with advisers running around, trying to keep his ignorance from causing unnecessary disaster.

>> so steve ratner, let me play devil's advocate here. i'll just take on the role of somebody running for congress that supports donald trump's tariffs. and you, you be your wonderful self. i would say to you, if i were this trump candidate, i would say, so this is a bad idea? let me get this straight. you think it's a bad idea, yet china's markets are down. america's markets are up. china's gdp is slowing down. america's gdp is heating up. if you look at the latest foreign affairs article on china's slowdown, the middle class there is uneasy. you ask america's middle class about their consumer confidence, it's higher than ever.

so, first of all, this trade war is hurting china more than it's hurting america and we've obviously got a lot more staying power than people thought we did. >> i would say there's a couple different things going on in china. china's economy is somewhat more volatile than others and now has a variety of issues involving dead overhangs and consumers changing their spending habits and things like that that really are unrelated to the tariffs. the tariffs are not having any immediate effect on china at this point. what you announced yesterday heat gone into effect at all, anyway.

>> so let me ask you this quickly, though. cutting through here. who is in a better position to weather a six-month trade war, the united states or china? >> i personally believe china because while we import a lot more, our supply lines and our supply arrangements are integrally related to china. they have 1.2 trillion of our treasury bills. they are an integral part of so many products we make. and state directed capitalism can enforce that kind of a trade war more effectively than we can. so i think, look, it's basically a no-win proposition. the whole point of trade is it's good for both parties and, therefore, you have a fight, it becomes a no win proposition.

but i do not believe we're going to bring china to the its knees if that's your question. still ahead, new polling shows republicans struggling to hold on to their seats. in several states trump won in 2016, like in texas, where things may be getting very close, judging from ted cruz's latest attack. "morning joe" will be right back. hey allergy muddlers. are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec®. it's starts working hard at hour one. and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®.

with my bladder leakage, the products i've tried just didn't fit right. they were very saggy.

it's getting in the way of our camping trips. but with new sizes, depend fit-flex is made for me. introducing more sizes for better comfort. new depend fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit.

a look at two new polls that president trump won in 2016. the cnn ssrs poll found democrat kyrsten sinema leading republic march c marcha blackburn. that is the first poll of the race where the democrat has reached 50%. likely voters in tennessee are evenly split on the president's job performance. that's 49% to 48%. in arizona, the president has

fallen to a 57% disapproval rating. steve has an exclusive look at new polling from monmouth university that tells us about the battler for congress. >> we can break news here. monmouth, one of the best tollsters out there has exclusively given you this poll. republicans represent hillary clinton won in 2016, the 39th district of california. hillary clinton won this by points in 2016, yet a bit of a surprise here and i think a cautionary note for democrats getting bullish about the blue wave here, you have young kim, the republican candidate out there, this is their likely voter model in the districts. the republican county leading by 10 points. they do a model at monmouth, they call it a democratic surge model. if that manifests itself, what would that do to scramble the numbers? it does get closer, 6 points closer for kem, but still a

solid lead for the republicans there. what this tells us is certainly president trump's approval rating is very low. there are vulnerabilities all over the map for republicans, but there are local considerations in a lot of these races. this is one of nos where the democrats, i think they're nominee, somebody who came on to the political scene in the last few years after winning the california lottery, believe it or not. there was a local politician who made a "me too" accusation against him. and you had a republican nominee, one of the few nominees for color. this is a district with a large asian population. so democrats, even when you look on paper and you see trump's number hads so low, when you start looking in the districts, you can find districts like this where on paper you would say this one would go. you take a poll. the republicans looking very well there. >> so like you say, it goes back and forth. voted for romney. four years later, votes for hillary clinton by eight points. but in that same election year,

the incumbent wins by 18 points. what is the trump effect here and what is it more broadly, do you think? >> this is written where ed royce is not running for re-election. so that is a republican-held seat in a district that went for clinton and then take the republican out. that's a combination for the opposition party to make gains. i think there are number of districts from around the country saying of course they're going to get this. there's a couple more in the central valley of california. but i think, again, nationally, when you look at this combination in general, it still looks like that republican held seat with trump's approval ratings falling to the low 40s nationally, you can see clearly a path to that house control for democrats. but the local considerations, i think, you know, mary. >> it is a cautionary note, but

noah, you look at these senate races in arizona and tennessee, two usually predictably red senate seats and you have democrat up by 7 in arizona and democrat extraordinarily popular former governor in tennessee up by 5 points in tennessee and you have ted cruz in such a battle that he's sending out in -- in texas, he's sending out flyers that are claim to go be official summons to try to raise money from unsuspecting voters. these races in deep red states are sudden very, very competitive. >> yeah. but unlike arizona and enthe enthe, i haven't seen a lot of polling in texas that suggests the incumbent is vulnerable. and his component, o'rourke, is drawing in small and big dollar

n donations. phil breedesen in tennessee, that's a sleeper race. republicans haven't had their eye owes that tennessee is a red state on the statewide level. but if he over performs democrats have a pathway to the senate. i don't think it's through texas i think it's through tennessee. >> texas is going to be close. but i don't think it's going to be -- again, everybody says at some point texas turns blue. i don't think that's going to come for another few elections. >> you see senator ted cruz waging a cultural war. barbecue. >> oh, my lord. >> cruz showed up to an unlikely site at his campaign event at a texas barbecue joint over the weekend where peta numbers were handing out barbecue tofu samples in a form of protest.

cruz joked about their presence saying, summed up the entire election. so there you go. he says if texas elects a democrat they will ban barbecue across the state of texas. >> tofu barbecue >> a bridge too far. >> that's a bridge too far. shut it down. >> i mean tofu barbecue is not barbecue, let's just stick with that. it's garbage at best. i think perhaps -- >> tofu is awesome. >> heidi cruz would be happy because she's vegetarian. tofu barbecue would go down well in the cruz household. >> here we are 50 days away. what do you see out there? what are the main trend lines? >> yeah. i think it's fascinating how much the conversation has started to move or expand to include the senate. look, the democrats need on paper what sounds easily

attainable a net gain of two seats. really you can see three. i would say, i put texas in the category of places that could conceivably win. i agree it's much more of a stretch than the others. nevada, arizona, tennessee, texas, those are the democratic pick up opportunities. you got to balance that with, i would say heitkamp in north dakota looks like the most vulnerable democrat. bill nelson in florida, a state that trump only carried by two points in 2016 but nelson i think maybe has his own baggage there. rick scott much more popular as governor his second term than we were realizing. democrats lose a couple of those where they are vulnerable, even if they make those inroads that map is hard to overcome. >> down in indiana what that looks like? >> donnelly is defying political

expectations. >> steve kornacki thank you so much. great to have you on. coming up a new series on presidential leadership. doesn't make a single mention of donald trump. and there's a reason for that. we'll explain ahead on "morning joe". ♪ this is a story about mail and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams

they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪

(sighs) i hate missing out missing out after hours. not anymore, td ameritrade lets you trade select securities 24 hours a day, five days a week. that's amazing.

it's a pretty big deal. so i can trade all night long? ♪ ♪ all night long... is that lionel richie? let's reopen the market. mr. richie, would you ring the 24/5 bell? sure can, jim. ♪ trade 24/5, with td ameritrade. ♪

so before we close out this hour, last night the emmys, one of my favorites, two of my favorites, "the americans" and "the crown," a couple of big wins for "the crown." claire foy won as best actor. so many great actors. matt smith. vanessa kirby. i mean top to bottom, gene

robinson, "the crown" an extraordinary, i think an extraordinary series. >> "the crown" was terrific. i was so happy for claire foy. we see if they bring out a new cast for next season. we'll see the next iteration of "the crown" if it can equal that. it was incredible. "the americans," what a show. very happy. kerry russell, she won too because that duo, that couple, they just played those roles so well. made you believe in these russian agents, sympathic characters. this is amazing acting job. >> matthew reese extraordinary actor. katty kay, are you a crown fan? >> huge crown fan. weird watching them all older. we're so used to claire foy

being the kwaqueen. now we have to jump forward a couple of decades. i believe it will be just as good. >> i'm sure it will be good. steve rattner did you have a favorite? >> i liked "the crown" and "the americans" is fantastic. but one you didn't mention, was the "marvelous mrs. maisel." >> i'll have to check it out. all right, steve, katy and gene thank you for being on this morning. coming up, comparing the bret kavanaugh controversy with that of clarence thomas almost three decades ago. how much has changed? and how much is still very much the same? we'll talk to senate judiciary committee member chris coons as kavanaugh and his accuser prepare to testify before that

committee next week. plus, congressman jim hines of the intel committee reacts to the president's dangerous power play declassifying sensitive material related to the russian investigation. "morning joe" is coming back in 90 seconds. how can you spot ambition? is it written on our faces? or something woven into the dna of the doers, the determined, the driven? and while the bar keeps getting higher, ambition gives us the power to tackle any obstacle. opening the doors to bigger leaps,

larger goals and financial freedom. sofi. we stand for ambition. takes more than just investment advice. from insurance to savings to retirement, it takes someone with experience and knowledge who can help me build a complete plan. brian, my certified financial planner™ professional, is committed to working in my best interest. i call it my "comfortable future plan," and it's all possible with a cfp® professional. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. why wasn't it part of the story that appeared 20 or 12 years ago? why wasn't it a part of the story? why didn't they make it a part

of the story? did you see what happened today? you know the yearbook. did you see that? there was a little mistake made. she started writing things in the yearbook. what are we going to do? >> what are we talking about >> that's president trump questioning sexual misconduct allegations that surfaced years later in one case against himself. that's what we're talking about. in another against roy moore. but so far the president has held back on saying something similar about brett kavanaugh's accuser. welcome back to "morning joe". it's tuesday, september 18th, 2018. with us we have msnbc contributor mike barnacle. associate editor of commentary magazine. legal affairs correspondent for npr is with us. good to have you all on board. joe, i actually -- i'm kind of

confident not comfortable with anybody weighing in on the accusations against bret kavanaugh. they are serious and a lot of challenges and a lot of questions. i'm not sure people should be pinned down to weigh in. >> i don't think they should be weighing in yet. we got the hearing on monday. but i already heard from some republican senators, bob corker for instance said he didn't need to hear anything else from brett kavanaugh or understands that this is a terrible time for brett kavanaugh. on cable news shows, you heard yesterday, experts opining basically calling kavanaugh everything about an attempted rapist. we should all sit back. we should wait. we should let -- since the hearing is set for monday let's have the hearing on monday. unfortunately, mika, people will draw their conclusions probably even before the first word is spoken there. we're seeing it already.

but at least there may be a few americans who hold their fire and actually listen and learn a few things on monday and then make their decision. noah, i'm curious, before we get into all of this, and the specifics of it, for conservatives, what do they believe is at stake with the kavanaugh nomination? >> so, reporting from "the washington post," which details the number of republicans here who sort of believe their moment has come, the republicans who weren't especially fond of brett kavanaugh, don't dislike him but he doesn't jazz anybody. they think this is going pave the way, i suppose, for their pick, the senate majority leader had his own choice, which was overruled by the president. i know a lot of social conservatives believe they thought barrett was their choice. i would caution all of them that the next nominee who replaces

judge kavanaugh if he were to dropout isn't going an easier confirmation. the process is not going to have more integrity after this. they are all in the same boat. what is happening right now is, again, we shouldn't pre-judge any of these accusations, but the accusations alone do not suffice to scuttle this nominee. there's not enough substance there yet to determine this nominee should dropout of the process and if these acquiesce to what's a public call for someone to concede to vague accusations it will tarnish this process for nominees in the future. republicans who think they are going to rise to the top on judge kavanaugh's misfortunes are deeply misguided. >> so, willie, it is interesting, just how reserved donald trump was yesterday, and very reserved and it seemed like

if he gets too uncomfortable he has no problem of throwing kavanaugh under the bus. you can judge that based by what he said before. also i thought it very interesting that mitch mcconnell took a while to come out and say anything on this. later on in the day he attacked dianne feinstein for how she ran the process. but no strong defense of judge kavanaugh. >> no. in fact, for a white house that's reaction is always to come without a flame thrower when there's news that's not good for them, you had kellyanne conway going on tv shows yesterday saying this woman should not be insulted, she should not be ignored, this woman will be heard. that was from kellyanne conway. then the president of the united states at the white house had this reaction when the cameras came in the room yesterday. >> i wish the democrats could have done this a lot sooner because they had this information for many months, and they shouldn't have waited until literally the last days. they should have done it a lot

sooner. but with all of that being said, i want to go through the process. one thing i'll say is that, as i under it, judge kavanaugh spent quite a bit of time with senator dianne feinstein and it wasn't even brought up at that meeting and she had this information. so would you have thought certainly that she would have brought it up at the meeting, not wait until everything is finished and then start the process all over again. with all of it being said we want to go through a full process. i have great confidence in the u.s. senate and their procedures and what they are doing and i think that's probably what they are going to do. they will go through a process and hear everybody out. i think it's important. i believe they think it's important. i want him to go in at the absolute highest level and i think to do that you have to go through this. if it takes a little delay it will take a little delay. it shouldn't certainly be very much. >> joe, obviously the president, senate republicans,

conservatives across the country suspicious of democrats motives here. suspicious of dianne feinstein. suspicious of the timing of the release of this allegation. but chuck grassley the chairman of the judiciary committee i think wisely holding a hearing this coming monday to hear out dr. ford and to give judge kavanaugh to respond. >> it was jarring how the president's statement yesterday was not jarring. and you heard the president of the united states say something that i've never heard the president of the united states say, he has full complete confidence in the, what is it, the process of the united states senate. so you take the white house and mitch mcconnell. support is unwhelming. it reminds me of people saying three days in trent lott mess. waiting for the bush white house to speak out. they already did speak out by not saying anything.

mcconnell and trump not rushing to kavanaugh's defense here. >> well, you know, you guys are very -- they tried to move this process all day forward within 24 hours, you know, grassley tried to have a conversation. he wanted to have a conversation on the telephone with kavanaugh and kavanaugh's accuser and with dianne feinstein and the democrats just said no we're going to have an investigative process. but what the democrats wanted and if you really wanted to know what happened here and try to figure it out, what you would do is they want to ask the white house, which grassley has not done to have the fbi go and investigate and you would have a bunch of agents go out there who are trained in this kind of thing, interview people, everybody at the party, try to find out more people who were at the party, or people who knew people at the party and report back and probably would take a

few days to a week to do that. they haven't done that. and they are a little bit shooting in the dark. when you don't have that kind of information investigative information and you're relying on partisan players and their investigators to get their information, it's going to get ugly and it's only going to get uglier. >> so i have to really think carefully here in term of the wording because that's exactly the position, heidi, i think republicans and democrats are in right now with this case against brett kavanaugh. and is this possibly an out for some republican women who don't want to be the vote that puts through a nominee that's going to overturn roe versus wade? >> susan collins ahas been unde

enormous amount of pressure. what led up to their conversations with mitch mcconnell after getting coat hangers mailed to them and being targeted by ad campaigns. they told him that there is no other choice than to have this hearing because like nina said, grassley was trying every which way prior to this just to have a current call, some kind of a private event where both sides could air their side of the story and that did not happen. the question now is what good can come of this for the process of nominating kavanaugh if like nina says we don't have any more facts monday than we do today other than just the accounts from both sides and you're going to have a display, this is an open hearing of split screen there of 11 white republican ageing male senators grilling this woman who, by the way, we

haven't heard from her yet but we're told that she's very credible, very soft spoken, she like anita hill before her in no way wanted this to be the end result. when she wrote her congresswoman she said she wanted to remain anonymous but was forced in some ways to come forward ultimately against the democratic side which now has four strong women in kamela harris and dianne feinstein and two other women -- dianne feinstein came in 1992, the year of the woman which in many ways was a backlash to the way that anita hill was treated in the clarence thomas confirmation hearings. >> let's bring in a member of the jisudiciary committee chris coons. you said you will be a vote for judge kavanaugh's nomination. was this because of these allegations from christine ford?

>> i take these allegations very seriously. i'm glad we're going give them an open hearing. my reasons for voting against judge kavanaugh are deeply rooted in my grave concerns about his extreme views on presidential power. that's the main thing i focused on in questioning him. he's also got ways in which he has spoken and written and decided on issues about individual liberty and our understanding of the constitution in the modern era that i think are also outside the mainstream. so i thought it was important to make it clear that i already have heard enough to in my view justify a no vote and i intend to fully participate in what i expect will be an open and fair process where dr. ford's disturbing allegations will be given full weight. >> senator do you take dr. ford's allegations at face value. >> i do. i'm encouraged to hear republican leaders also saying we need to listen to her and take this seriously. frankly this is about more than one nomination to the supreme court, more than one judicial

nomination. this is about whether we as a country have gotten to the point where we listen to women who raise accusations of sexual assault. i do think we should take president trump at his word and ensure that everyone is heard and that there's a full process. that requires the fbi to do some background investigation here so that it's not simply a he said/she said testimony in front of us. we need fuller development of the facts. >> it seems like full development of the facts will be difficult to assess here. understandably so much time has elapsed and the victim has not or the alleged victim has not had the opportunity to really fully engage these memories so the fbi doesn't have a lot to go on. we don't have a place or a time. very little corroborating evidence. witnesses are hard to fine. so can this victim, alleged

victim who is in front of you testifying, can she receive a fair hearing? is this process in anyway fair to her? it's going to expose her to a lot of scrutiny to frankly i don't know if she has the ability to stand up to. is this process in anyway going to clarify or is it simply going to make a bad situation worse? >> that's exactly what i think will make monday a very fraught hearing. it would not be that difficult for investigators, particularly in the age of social media to find high school classmates of both judge kavanaugh and dr. ford and to interview what i suspect is a few dozen of them who will have recollections and have insights into whether or not judge kavanaugh routinely was someone who drank in high school, whether or not he attended social events like this and then, frankly whether or not dr. ford can find it in friends or classmates that she was the victim of assault. to have just the two of us in

front of us without judge kavanaugh's classmate mark judge also in front of us would strike me as reducing this literally to a he said/she said session. i do respect that senator dianne feinstein delayed releasing this letter exactly because dr. ford was so uncomfortable with coming public. and that's for exactly the reasons you just referenced in your question. this will be a difficult national spectacle for her to go through and i think it's incumbent on all of us and all of us on the judiciary committee have to take extra steps to make sure we're both respecting an assumption of judge kavanaugh's nrs and listening to and deeply respecting the courage it took for dr. ford toultly come forward with this allegation. >> senator, your description of what you would hope take place using social media to perhaps seek out people who knew the woman 36 years ago, that just

has a rounded description of potential of this turning into an even larger circus than it might actually become. i mean forensically, 36 years ago we have two different stories. what would you ask as an opening question of judge kavanaugh? what would you ask? >> well, you know, the good news is we have several members of the judiciary committee who are experienced prosecutors. i'm not an experienced prosecutor. both senator klobuchar and harris are prosecutors from their respective states. as i've been turning over in my head what sorts of questions i will ask monday i'll tell you as someone who has never investigated or prosecuted a sexual assault case, it is going to be difficult for this to be a constructive and meaningful engagement. but the thing i know is that i've got very little in the way in front of me as facts. these two individuals, dr. ford and judge kavanaugh attended

small elite private high schools here in the washington, d.c. suburbs. my hunch the list of classmates, their social companions would be very easy to assemble. what concerns me last night president trump has not directed the fbi to engaging any background investigation to assess the credibility of what evidence there is. >> so, senator, the final question -- just want some clarification here. dianne feinstein was given this letter a few months ago. she didn't reveal the letter because dr. ford requested anonymity, is that correct? >> that's my understanding. >> what changed between then and last week when dianne feinstein decided to release the letter. had she been given permission by dr. ford to release the letter >> no. two things first dr. ford then hired a lawyer and there was a fair amount of back and forth with her attorney about whether there would be another letter

forthcoming, whether she would be willing to testify or not. and i respect that senator dianne feinstein was principally respecting repeated assertions by her attorney that dr. ford wanted to remain anonymous. i believe it was a leak to the media that compelled this. it was a leak to the media of the underlying that forced senator fine's hand. >> where did that leak come from? >> i have no idea. >> wow. >> who else had the letter other than dianne feinstein's office? >> i don't know that. my hunch is that there were folks on committee staff who had seen the letter and i don't know whether the chairman of the committee had been told about it or seen the letter. >> all right. thank you so much senator coons. we appreciate it. certainly worth a follow up. nina, robert bork, ginsburg, a

few of us remember ginsburg, smoking pot with some of his students, clarence thomas, of course, the ugliness of merritt garland now brett kavanaugh. is this to be expected? i know richard nixon had trouble getting a few of his nominations through. does this happen every few decades or is this a particularly bad stretch of time for getting supreme court nominees on the court? >> well, i think if a president wants to nominate somebody who is very ideological, at least, he is going to have some trouble. i think that's probably why, in fact, i know it's why president obama picked merritt garland because he was the democratic appointee who republicans kept saying earlier was acceptable to

them. so he figured it would help speed garland through, get over the hump. republicans though held up the nomination for ten months and garland never got a hearing. >> right. >> then president trump is elected with specific support from the cultural right who cared desperately about issues on which kavanaugh has at least a highly suggestive record and the president with help from the federalist society a and heritage foundation had a list that he used as a campaign promise. i'm going to pick from this list and he expanded it for kavanaugh, and that's what you get today. you pick somebody ideological in a very fraught and polarized time, there's going to be an ideological fight. >> but it wasn't so long ago that ruth baden ginsburg seemed

very ideological by conservatives by republicans. didn't she get over 90 votes? what happened between that point and now? >> well, she did. but, you know, ruth baden ginsburg is only ideological in the current sphere we live in. at the time she was appointed there were actually a lot of liberals who thought she was too centrist. so on this court which is a very conservative court, she's on the left side of the court. but i don't think that actually she was viewed that way. one of the people who was her defender was orrin hatch. it was also a very different time. we didn't have the kind of cultural fights as much then as we do today. you could lay the blame on the court. you can lay the blame on the parties. you can lay the blame on the people. whatever you want to do, this is

a much more fraught and polarized time. and if you play to the polarity, then you get more polssibl pola. >> thank you. noah rothman, you wanted to follow up on my point with chris coons, also i suspect that you and a million other conservatives would like to suggest that ruth baden ginsburg was never believed to be a centrist by the overwhelming majority of republicans. >> i would question the notion that ruth baden ginsburg was a centrist. she's kind of ideological in her own way. again, there was more collegiately in the senate than today. nina is right there. that news making headline that i think you just extracted from senator coons deserves to be

thought about a little bit more, a little more focus. he's essentially saying dr. ford's identity was compelled to become public by virtue of a leak from the senate staffers. a lot of people made comparisons to the anita hill-cleanse thomas case. this one is right down the line. under questioning from senator specter, professor hill said she was told she would never have to come forward. her confidentiality would be preserved and allegations would force cleanse thomas to withdraw his nomination. that didn't work out that way. in the end it became a spectacle and damaging and painful for professor hill. i suspect that is what democrats are about to compel dr. ford to go through and that's a real tragedy. >> mike barnacle, what does it say to the future women or men who want to come forward in this situation where dianne feinstein

and the starve says tell us everything you know, we understand you do not want to be a lightning rod for the rest of your life like anita hill was after her name was leaked out and she was then forced to come forward and testify. what message does that send that, yes, we'll keep your name anonymous until it becomes politically convenient for us to leak your letter because well our hearing didn't produce the results we thought that they were going to produce. >> joe, there are two people here involved in this story who deserve some of our sympathy. one is dr. ford and the other is judge kavanaugh. because both of them for at least the last 24, 48 hours their reputation, their lives given the social media climate and availability everybody has to use these tools in this country and around the world, they have been crushed on social media. and you cannot now -- we're

living in a world where nobody in the united states senate or judiciary committee can give anyone a guarantee that, you know, just tell us this we'll hold it in confidence. everything leaks in washington. everything. >> so, heidi, what is so complicated here there were some tenets of the law that prevent us from deducing what really happened. statutes of limitation are in place for cases because memories fail. this is a high school situation. not saying whether that's good or bad. i'm pointing that out as a fact. legal experts will say there's no legal remedy because of statutes of limitations, because it's factually impossible nail down. and yet we're at a moment where women's voices are being heard for the first time in a real way in situations like this, and in

situations professionally across the board as it pertains to sexual harassment. nobody wants to be on the wrong side of that. so does this come down to collins and mu rx osky. we have notes from her therapist to be presented and you do hear calls from democrats who want that fbi investigation opened to find additional tools, to your point, to try to get to the bottom of this. other witnesses. mr. judge who was there has been very quiet. other women who were at the party. you see there's a letter now being gathered by her classmates. but to your point, yes, this is a very different period and this is why -- you know i spoke with a friend of anita hill last night, mika, who said while there are many similarities to this case, including the fact that she's essentially being

forced to come forward, the big difference is that this is coming smack dab in the middle of the me too era. after anita hill went through what she went through which was excruciating, her friend told me it was destroying to her. because within weeks after that it was like everything went back to normal. he was confirmed. and she was the one who to this day continues to get calls from reporters like myself, it's a constant reminder. but today we're in a different era and you already see by the responses of the republicans on the committee and republicans in general that they are questioning dianne feinstein. there is not this attempt to try and question yet, we'll see what happens next week but the credibility of the witness. and we're going to have four women on that committee, mika. that's going to make a big difference. >> heidi, thank you very much. still ahead on "morning joe,"

leadership in turbulent time. procedural historian is out with a brand-new book today and like her previous works it is a must read. she joins the conversation next on "morning joe". as a pro athlete, the sleep number 360 smart bed is my competitive edge. it senses our movements and automatically adjusts to keep us both effortlessly comfortable. so i'm at my best for this team... and the home team. sleep number proven quality sleep, from $999.

at ally, we offer low-cost trades and high-yield savings. but if that's not enough, we offer innovative investing tools to prepare you for the future. looks like you hooked it. and if that's not enough, we'll help your kid prepare for the future. don't hook it kid. and if that's still not enough,

we'll help your kid's kid prepare for the future. looks like he hooked it. we'll do anything... takes after his grandad. seriously anything, to help you invest for the future. ally. do it right. seriously anything, to help you invest for the future. this is moving day with the best in-home wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. and this is moving day with reliable service appointments in a two-hour window so you're up and running in no time.

show me decorating shows. this is staying connected with xfinity to make moving... simple. easy. awesome. stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and two-hour appointment windows. click, call or visit a store today. former secretary of state madeleine albright delivered remarks yesterday and then fielded questions about the life and legacy of my father, former national security adviser dr. brzezinski. it was held at johns hopkins school of international studies where my dad taught for years. she was asked what issues dr. brzezinski would be focused on today? >> i think he would be the first 2001 say the problem with russia it's being run by a kgb agent and he has played a weak hand very well and the kinds of things that he has done in

central and eastern europe to undermine the democracy and the structures that we all look forward to after the end of the cold war, that that is a problem. >> while there were many serious topics on the agenda, some of the challenges she described hit much closer to home including back when she was a student of my dad. >> i recall slipping the finished paper under his locked office door with a note asking him to send me my grade. dread hit me the moment the note was out of sight. the same dread that would strike many of us in subsequent years, how had i spelled brzezinski. [ laughter ] i still have the note which was attached to my paper when i got it back. he had not flunked me. in fact he gave me an a-minus in a spelled his name correctly. >> that's so funny.

>> oh, my gosh. >> the secretary also tells a story of after she graduated, and when she became your father's peer, mika, she walked past him, i believe on a plane and for the first time instead of calling him dr. brzezinski she probably said hello and your father flinched. what a great friend madeleine albright has gone to your family for so long and how great your daughter was there to see it all. >> everybody there was. i wish i was there. but i was happy to watch it and hear about it and hear about my father. still ahead a new series takes a look at some of the great moments in presidential leadership over the years. that's coming up next on "morning joe". - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations,

so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. how can you spot ambition? is it written on our faces? or something woven into the dna of the doers, the determined, the driven? and while the bar keeps getting higher, ambition gives us the power to tackle any obstacle. opening the doors to bigger leaps, larger goals and financial freedom. sofi. we stand for ambition. takes more than just investment advice. from insurance to savings to retirement, it takes someone with experience and knowledge who can help me build a complete plan.

brian, my certified financial planner™ professional, is committed to working in my best interest. i call it my "comfortable future plan," and it's all possible with a cfp® professional. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. what if numbers tell finanonat t. rowe pricey?sional our experts go beyond the numbers to examine investment opportunities firsthand. like e-commerce spurring cardboard demand.

the pursuit of allergy-free peanuts. and mobile payment reaching new markets. this is strategic investing. because your investments deserve the full story. t.rowe price. invest with confidence. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

there's no one definition of what leadership is. you have to understand what it is that the challenge you face requires. >> presidents have to decide are they going be mirrors of who we are or molders? >> leadership can't happen when everybody is moving in the same

direction. you can't really show leadership if everybody is already moving in the direction you want information go. that's not leadership that's going with the flow. >> you have to connect with the people you are leading. >> what do i do that is right? right for the country, not right for me politically. >> that's a look at the new yahoo! news 13 part series that's out today called "when presidents lead." joining us now is the editor and chief of yahoo! news and one of the historians featured in the story, presidential historian doris concerns goodwin. she's out with a new book "leadership in turbulence times." that's out today. we were talking about presidential leadership last week at this time with bob woodward as he related to what's happening in the currents white house and he sort of said leadership in a way remains an underrated presidential

characteristic because it's a little bit intangible, difficult to measure but just might be the most important. >> without a question. what we're feeling today and tanning it and sense of breaking news and not having a sense to keep up with what's happening is an absence of leadership. what leadership is you pull your team together, work for a common cause. you have a temperament to share credit for success, take blame when something goes wrong. you have humility, empathy. we know what those qualities are. they've made the leaders in the past and i think the reason we're feeling this sense today we don't feel them. there's such chaos here in washington. history has a passion for me is to tell people we've been through these terrible times before. we can get through them again if we have leaders and citizens are active and don't need to feel this is the end. we won go back to what we once had. >> that's an encouraging note. why did you want to take on this question of leadership? your first episode is out about

fdr. you have doris and meacham why did you focus on fdr first? >> doris used the team metaphor. this not about presidents putting points up on the board for their own team. it's about transcending partisanship and bringing the country together and doing things for the whole country. well, fdr, because he faced the greatest challenge in the 20th century, and he summoned all of his talents to be able to meet that challenge and doris in her book talks about some of those characteristics that you need for leadership, ambition. you know moral purpose. a kind of selflessness which seems contradictory to ambition. those things have to go together. fdr exemplified all those qualities and ability to bring the country together. joe >> doris, sometimes we'll

exaggerate the crisis that leaders faced. not you. but we have a natural tendency to tell the story so the punch line is to much greater. the man on the cover, abraham lincoln we glossed over just how turbulent his times were. very few americans realize that in 1864 in the spring of that year, he didn't -- he wasn't even sure his own party was going to give him the nomination to run for re-election. it was a war without end. and lincoln thought that he was going to be a one term failed president. >> absolutely right, joe. in fact, that's a forgotten part of the lincoln story because we somehow look how tough it was when he first came in. the civil war is just beginning. if i thought it was going to be as difficult as this i didn't think i could live through this. he goes through 1864, so many thousands of people died.

there's a sense of paralysis. grant is stuck in v. republicans come to him no way you'll win in the fall unless you're willing to compromise on emancipation. if you start peace talks forget emancipation otherwise you'll lose. i wanted to win so much, it would be an affirmation of my leadership. but i will be damned in time and eternity if i turn the black soldiers into slavery. then chance comes into play which often happens. atlanta is taken. whole mood of the north changes. he wins the election. but he won it with emancipation and union intact his twin goals. when they put the ambition of the country above the ambition of the self. ambition is to be there. sometimes it gets transferred to a bigger fulfillment and it did

with abe lincoln for sure. >> what did abraham lincoln have that moved him? he was very pragmatic at the start of the war. he said my only goal is preserving the union. if that means half slave, half free i'll do that. yet he moved from '61 through '64 to a point where he was willing to sacrifice all and a lot of american lives to free slaves. what was it about him? >> what he finally realized the union he was trying to preserve could never be the union he wanted it to be or the country needed it to be unless slavery was part of the equation. at the ginger thought he had nothing to do with the slavery. as he went to visit soldiers he would go the active battlefield day after day because he wanted to talk directly to the people who were fighting. he saw how the confederates were being helped by slaves who were

helping their cause. he goes the soldiers homes that summer and think he would wrestle a thought and realized i'm commander-in-chief. military necessity can help me to end slavery because i can argue slaves are helping the confederates. to balance that if we end slavery it will help us. once he issued that emancipation proclamation, half the team thought it was a terrible thing. half thought he should have done it right away. then it became a part of him. when he sign the emancipation proclamation, he said if my soul is ever in an act, it's in this act. he said i cannot sign with a shaky hand, so he waited until he could sign with a bold clear hand. he said this act is where everything he has done will come to rest upon. he had been near suicidal depression years before.

he brought his best friend back. remember when i thought my life was coming to an end and i needed to live so something i did could be remembered by. maybe this act my dream has come true. it became a part of who he was. >> daniel, as we talk about leadership, we talked principally about two great leaders, lincoln and roosevelt, both of these leaders knew that what they were going to be asked to do. lincoln knew he was going to be asked to preserve the union. roosevelt knew we were immersed in a great depression. but there's another type of leadership that when it happens, when it is dropped like lyndon johnson, president of the united states is assassinated in dallas, texas and he becomes president of the united states. he has got to lead the nation through mourning and then through progress. >> absolutely. lyndon johnson is a great

example because, you know, his great moment of leadership which we show in this video series is civil rights and passing the 1964 civil rights act. most people may not know that when he was in the senate, he voted with segregationists. he was not a great civil rights leader. after kennedy was assassinated, lbj realized that he needed to bring the country behind a big cause, and he's a classic example of someone who acted to start with on the basis of ambition. he wanted to do great things. it was not necessarily a case of selflessness or moral purpose. over time that's what it became. and through his, you know, amazing legislative abilities, and his force of personality he was able to bring the country together and at the end of the day the historian in our series,

in our lbj video says he became ultimately the most important democratic president when it came to racial equality and civil rights and he met the moment. >> how woe have loved to heard that. if only he heard that before he died. there was such sadness -- >> that's the tragedy of his presidency. at the end he was overwhelmed by vietnam, although i think history will remember him for what deion civil rights. >> one of the most overused words in political analysis these days seems to be unprecedented. we've never been here before. these times are unique. never as bad as you say. these are not the worst of times for all the reasons mike just laid out from lincoln to fdr up to lbj. a hopeful note for our viewers today. what can good and strong leadership do in a moment where the country feels like it's going this way? >> it's a combination of the leader and citizens. when you think about the change that took place for social

justice abraham lincoln said i don't want to be called a liberator. the progressive movement got fdr. civil rights movement. the women's movement. the gay movement. we as citizens have to realize we have responsibility for the situation we're finding ourselves in right now. that's why i feel a passion for history. i have to tell people, we can do something. all these situations, it was the citizen and the leader working together. that sense of not being a spectator, not just going through the breaking news, we can change this. fdr said, man creates problems, man can change problems and solve problems. we have to believe that again. we have to have the confidence that this political system of ours isn't working the way we want it to and it needs big, big changes. >> the new book "leadership in turbulent times" is out today. ga the new yahoo series "when

presidents lead "is out today. coming up, president trump fires another shot in his trade war with china. beijing says it has no choice but to fire back. - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. and fearlessly devours piles.

the new capital one savor card. earn 4% cash back on dining and 4% on entertainment. now when you go out, you cash in. what's in your wallet?

so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

welcome back to "morning joe." you know, mika, we had bob corker's office reach out to us and say that despite what some people have been quoting, a quote that i used on this air that actually bob corker and jeff flake and some others were the ones that were actually pushing to have the kavanaugh hearing on monday and that bob corker, in fact, does want to hear what senator kavanaugh has to say and believes that senator kavanaugh's accuser -- judge kavanaugh's accuser should actually be heard as well. so just that clarification

coming from bob corker's office. >> you know, as painful and ugly as this is, i think there's no choice but to move forward and to hear all sides. so we'll see. we'll have much more on this straight ahead. democrats want the fbi to investigate the sexual misconduct allegations against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. but the doj says it's not if fbi's job. we'll discuss what this means for monday's testimony from kavanaugh and his accuser. plus, the president sets another dangerous precedent, this time by declassifying sensitive material related to the russia investigation. we'll talk to a member of the house intelligence committee. "morning joe" is coming right back. - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look,

and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

starts with great sleep. and the sleep number 360 smart bed is my competitive edge. it intelligently senses our movements and automatically adjusts our firmness and support on each side to keep us both incredibly comfortable. it can even warm our feet to help us fall asleep faster. it's great sleep i can feel and see. better sleep keeps me at the top of my game. for this team... and the home team. the new sleep number 360 smart bed, from $999. it's proven quality sleep.

with my bladder leakage, the products i've tried just didn't fit right. they were very saggy. it's getting in the way of our camping trips. but with new sizes, depend fit-flex is made for me. introducing more sizes for better comfort.

new depend fit-flex underwear is guaranteed to be your best fit. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. senator, her testimony, she seems very credible, highly intelligent. it didn't plant any seed of doubt in your mind? >> yes, there are lots of seeds of doubt in my mind from her testimony. >> about clarence thomas? >> no. i know clarence thomas. i've known him for 11 years. >> do you think this is going to derail his nomination? >> no. he's a straight shooting guy. i think when people listen to him, they'll know he's all right. i'm not opposed to anita hill.

i think she believes what she's saying. >> do you think these claims are legitimate? >> no, i don't. i think this woman, whoever she is, is mixed up. >> what i'm trying to say is there are inconsistencies in the statement of anita hill. frankly, if you are going to believe anybody, you'd believe him. >> 27 years apart, two male sprourtd n supreme court nominees, to female college professors. and senator hatch has the same reaction. we have mike barnacle. so much to cover this morning. >> there is a ton to cover.

you've got the brett kavanaugh showdown on capitol hill. they're going to be having a hearing on monday. you also have donald trump going into a full-out trade war. he talks about all the new taxes that the chinese are going to be paying. the chinese don't pay that tax. american consumers are going to be paying that tax. that is a $200 million tax on american consumers. >> billion. >> a $200 billion tax on american consumers. of course, the american consumers who can really afford to pay that tax. then you have the president declassifying material despite the fact that he was begged by the intelligence committee not to do that because sources and methods could be compromises. of course the president doesn't care. i say of course he doesn't,

because any commander in chief would listen to all of his intel agents. he's declassifying some very sensitive material. it doesn't change the fact that everybody around him during the campaign now seems to be either indict or working with mueller. a couple of notes on the emmys last night. "the americans" a show we have loved from the very beginning matthew rhys won best actor. what a great, great actor. extraordinary. understated and so talented. so great to see that. also claire foy with "the crown." talk about understatement. she would stare in seven seconds and do more with a stare and a few words -- >> maybe she'd get paid better now. she should. >> extraordinary acting job there. mike and willie, any favorites

of yours last night that won? >> well, my favorite moment of the night was when the director of the oscars glenn weiss got up on stage, made a beautiful stage, at the end thanked his girlfriend and said will you marry me, called her out of her seat, got down on the knee, gave her the wedding ring that his father had put on his mother's finger about 60 some years ago, i think he said, and proposed to her. she said yes. it was a great moment, probably the most memorable of the night. >> that's amazing. >> "the americans" is such a great series. >> what a great series. incredible series. every episode. and a lot of the strings in the episode would remind you somewhat of events taking place in our country today. >> yep, absolutely. well, let's get to those then.

republicans called for supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh and christine blasey ford, the woman accusing him of sexual assault almost three decades ago to testify publicly next week at a hearing that could potentially determine the fate of his nomination. chuck grassley announced the hearing will be held on monday after fellow republicans called for an open examination of the allegations from ford. grassley said his staff spoke by phone with kavanaugh yesterday and tried reaching out to ford but democrats refused to parking lot in the process. gop leaders initially signalled their preference for telephone interviews with kavanaugh and ford but senate democrats rejected that plan, saying the seriousness of the charges merited a full fbi investigation. republican susan collins, a key swing vote in the senate, pushed for both to testify under oath,

telling reporters that truthfulness of kavanaugh's testimony could put his nomination in jeopardy. >> if judge kavanaugh has lied about what happened, that would be disqualifying. that's why it's so important that we have testimony under oath with a lot of questions asked of both of them. >> of course, that's a problem. is he going to be lying under oath, what happened 33 years ago. it's practically impossible to determine the outcome of those events. so much of this, willie, will depend on who testifies more effectively. you can see who has the more truthful story, but chances are good the two are going to be saying things polar opposite. all that said, yesterday it was disheartening to see some republican senators coming out

saying, i believe judge calf nau -- kavanaugh no matter what before they hear anything. likewise, there are people on the other side basically accusing a guy of rape and they have no more clue about that than how the universe began, unless they were there in the room. both sides jumping to early conclusions. i know they're going to do it anyway, but could they at least pretend they're going to be interested in what the two sides have to say in the hearing first? >> i think chuck grassley did a good job of pumping the brakes and saying we're going to hear from dr. ford and judge kavanaugh. i guess to joe's point, that's the good news. the bad news is everybody's made up their mind already, the people in the republican party who want judge kavanaugh to be

on the supreme court already believe he didn't do what he's been accused of and the people on the democratic side already believe the letter given by dr. ford. >> there are questions raised on both size of this, important issues that we need to get to, is she telling the truth, are the therapist's notes corroborating evidence. all of those are sensible and sensitive issues and can be discussed in a reasonable manner. the chances of that happening next monday are almost zero. this has got so caught up in partisanship. all we need to do is look at donald trump jr.'s instagram post yesterday with this awful handwritten note about will you be my girlfriend and the kind of boys will be boys attitude. if that's the backdrop of this,

if that's reflective of where the president's base is on this and where republicans will be pitching their arguments to, no, the chances of reasonable debate on this are almost minimum. look at this. this is dismissing her out of hand with a joke. this is making a joke out of an accusation that is potentially incredibly serious that this woman has lived with for 36 years if she's telling the truth. there are strong political reasons on both sides for republicans and democrats to fight for this one as hard as they can. i understand that. but the chances this means that we are all going to be worse off, brett kavanaugh is going to be worse off, ms. ford is going to be worse off because we cannot have a reasonable debate about this. >> mike barnacle, i am not judging any republicans' ability to cross examine witnesses in court. i'm not judging their ability to be moral actors on the national stage. i said it yesterday, i'll say it

today. you talk about a thankless task for these republicans on the judiciary committee, i don't think they understand it, because so manufactuy of them o committee are so bad with optics. but it seems to me -- and again, this is just political analysis -- other than, let's say -- well, let's just say there are two or three ticking time bombs on the republican side of this judiciary committee. and my god, if i am a republican senator, a kancandidate running somewhere across america, next monday i'm going to have my head buried in the sand because this a no-win situation for them. facts be damned, it is a no-win situation for those republicans on the senate judiciary committee. that's not me feeling sorry for them in the least. that's just me saying the political dynamics are set up in

such a way where they are going to look -- they're just politically going to look very insensitive in a year that a hot of women are going to be elected to congress. >> well, joe, that key phrase you just mentioned, they are going to look -- okay. let's put that graphic back up again and the composition of the senate judiciary committee that we just had. take a look at the republican side of your screen. there are 11 men there, 11 men and they are going to be questioning the witnesses this coming monday. i mean, this is about an event that happened 36 years ago. there is, i would think, no way you're going to really get to the truth of what may or may not have happened 36 years ago, but there has to be a hearing on it.

and ron clinton/kaiane had a pr sensible suggestion he's made. that is the senate judiciary committee ought to go out and retain a professional prosecutor to do the questions of both witnesses rather than leave it to the extraordinary sweep of politics you are going to see next monday. >> here's what president trump had to say. >> i wish the democrats could have done this a lot sooner because they hood thad this information for many months. with all of that being said, we want to go through the process. one thing i will say is that, as i understand it, judge kavanaugh spent quite a bit of time with senator feinstein and it wasn't even brought up at that meeting

and she had this information. so you would have thought certainly that she would have brought it up at the meeting, not wait until everything is finished and go through the process all over again. with all of that being said, i have great confidence in the u.s. senate and their procedures and what they're doing. i think that's probably what they're going to do. they'll go through a process and hear everything out. i think it's important. i believe they think it's important. i want him to go in at the absolute highest level. i think to do that, tough go throu -- you have to go through this. if it takes a little delay, it will take a little delay. it shouldn't be very much. >> has he offered to withdraw? >> next question. what a ridiculous question that is. >> do you think this confirmation is on track? >> oh, i think he's on track, yes. i think he's very much on track.

if they delay it a little bit to make sure everybody's happy -- they want to be happy. i can tell you the republican senators want to be 100% happy themselves. >> wow. >> wow. that made sense. >> a little restraint there, wil willie. his staff told him to show a little bit of restraint and he listened to them for some reason. >> on a sliding scale of trump being measured, that was pretty measured for trump. he said there's a process. if we have to delay the process, i'm okay with that. from the "washington post," he's going to do what's breast for trump, said one of them the president thinks it's rough for ka nau, and he'd decry the process as disgusting. if we have to cast aside brett

kavanaugh, we'll push somebody in just as conservative if not more conservative who doesn't have this problem that he's looking at now. >> that's what donald trump's thinking. he doesn't care about brett kavanaugh. in fact, brett kavanaugh was a surprise choice because he's been a member of the washington establishment for decades. he is the bush washington establishment. but he just so happened to write a law review article in 2009 that said the president of the united states can't be indicted, should not be indicted. so he wanted him for that reason. willie, you saw him. doesn't seem like he's taking this too personally. he knows that he'll just get somebody else. >> yeah. we've seen before, mika, when he's adamant about something, when he wants something, he will insult the opponent, he will go out to bat for this guy. he didn't really do that the way

he's done in the past, which lends some credence to the "washington post" reporting. >> coming up, in the mind of donald trump, mexico is paying for his wall and china is paying for his tariffs. in reality, neither is true. steve ratner breaks down the trouble with trade straight ahead. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. >> good morning. we're still watching all these issues in north carolina, too much water. a lot of the rain has stopped but we have a lot of scenes that look like this, hundreds if not thousands of themes that are now within the river banks because of the overflowing. this is leland, north carolina, that you're seeing these pictures of here. here's a map that shows you the river basins. everywhere you see in red is where we have river flood warnings in this region. a lot of them are in what we call the major category.

the cape fear river is one of the ones we're watching. peaking and cresting now. look how it goes down. things will slowly improve through the weekend. as far as the northeast goes, 23 million people are under flash flood watches. southern new hampshire has gotten a lot of rain overnight and especially this morning. so careful driving there. from d.c. to philly to new york to boston, it's not going to rain all day but when it does, it could potentially rain pretty heavy. airport delays possibly in chicago, minneapolis. for all our friends on the west coast, if you want beautiful fall weather you have to go to seattle and portland. that continues into wednesday. we do keep it dry in the carolinas and the east as we go through wednesday afternoon. there's nothing else in the tropics behind florence. we'll take a week off while we

can. new york city times square, a lot of people carrying their umbrellas just not using them quite yet. you're watching "morning joe." - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations, so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. from capital one.nd i switched to the spark cash card and fearlessly devours piles.

i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy. and last year, i earned $36,000 in cash back. which i used to offer health insurance to my employees. what's in your wallet? takes more than just investment advice. from insurance to savings to retirement, it takes someone with experience and knowledge who can help me build a complete plan. brian, my certified financial planner™ professional, is committed to working in my best interest.

i call it my "comfortable future plan," and it's all possible with a cfp® professional. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. this is a story about mail find your certified financial planner™ professional and packages. and it's also a story about people. people who rely on us every day to deliver their dreams they're handing us more than mail they're handing us their business and while we make more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, we never forget... that your business is our business the united states postal service. priority: you ♪

so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

china is now paying us billions of dollars and we will see how that all works out. so china's now paying us billions of dollars in tariffs. >> no. that's president trump apparently not understanding who is paying for his tariff policy. as the "washington post" points out, tariffs are taxes that are paid by americans who import goods from abroad. still, president trump is escalating america's trade war with china, announcing new tariffs on billions of dollars worth of chinese goods after the market closed. specifically the administration

imposed 10% tariffs on $200 billion worth of chinese exports ses effective starting september 24th with the rate going up to 25% at the end of the year. joining us, steve ratner. this is the thing about the team. can someone explain to him what tariffs are and how they work? >> i suspect they already have. certainly we know this is the one topic that republican members of the house and republican members of the senate have talked to the president about. >> so he knows how this works? >> well, again, you go back to portions of woodward's book where people go in and tell him what the facts are, and he shakes his head and said i don't want to hear it, i'm right and you're wrong. the facts are wrong. steve ratner, as we've said for

a long time, this actually is going back to the '80s. donald trump malayshas flip-flon abortion, on guns, you name it, he's flip flo-flopped on it exc this one area protectionism and tariffs. can you explain to our viewers how these tariffs are indeed a tax on working class americans and how the chinese aren't paying a dime? >> sure. first of all, because simply the tax is paid by the importers to the u.s. government. that includes, by the way, a lot of american companies that bring things in here. they pay the tax and then they immediately pass it onto consumers. so it is in fact paid by the consumers. it isn't paid by the chinese.

when you use a tariff to raise a price of one particular thing that's it port that's imported, it tends to raise the price of everything else like that that is made. when he put the steel and aluminum taxes on, it raised the price of imported steel from the countries that had the tariffs and it also raised the price of steel domestically. there are ten times as many jobs with companies that use steel as with companies that produce steel. it has a very significant effect on consumers. if there's any teaching moment here, i think consumers are going to increasingly see the effects of that in the prices of things they buy. >> do you believe that president trump is willfully ignorant on this question or just ignorant? we know there are people in his office who have made their careers railing against tariffs.

>> right. and he's also got some people who made their careers railing for tariffs. peter navarro, robe and so on. i don't think trump does understand. joe's initial question was the right one, which is trump doesn't understand it. he thinks this is somehow being paid by the chinese. then he talks about how we're going to collect billions of dollars. we're taxing $200 billion of chinese imports at 10%. coming up on "morning joe," the president moves to declassify russia materials just as his supreme court nominee comes under intense pressure. is the white house trying to get the american public and perhaps the press to look in a different direction? - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations,

so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

to take care of yourself. but nature's bounty has innovative ways to help you maintain balance and help keep you active and well-rested. because hey, tomorrow's coming up fast. nature's bounty. because you're better off healthy. nature's bounty. so let's promote our falle a homecomingtravel dealame, on choicehotels.com like this. touchdown. earn a free night when you stay just twice this fall. or,

badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

a look at two new polls from states that president trump won

in 2016 this morning. the cnn ssrs poll conducted last week in arizona found the democrat leading the republican 50-43. in tennessee, the former governor is five points ahead of the republican 50% to 45% long likely voters. voters in tennessee are evenly split on the president's job performance, 49-48%. in arizona the president has fallen to a 39% approval rating, 57% disapproving. we have an exclusive first look at polling from monmouth university. >> we can break a little bit of news here. monmouth, one of the best pollsters out there has given us the poll.

the 39th district of california, hillary clinton won this by eight points in 2016 and yet a bit of a surprise here and i think a cautionary note for democrats getting more buvery b about the blue wave here. the republican candidate leading by ten points. they also do a model at monmouth. they call it a democratic surge model. we hear so much about that intensity gap between the parties. if that really manifests, that would that do to scramble the numbers. a solid lead for the republican there. when i say a cautionary note, what this tells us is that certainly president trump's approval ratings very low. very vulnerabilities all over the map for republicans and all sorts of paths for democrats. but there are local considerations. this is one for the democrats where their nominee for the democratic side someone who came

onto the scene after winning the california lot re -- lottery believe it or not. you have the republican there, one of the few republicans of color. this is a district with a large asian population. democrats even when you look on paper and you see trump's numbers so low, when you start looking in the districts, you can find districts like this where you take a poll and the republicans actually looking very well. >> voted for romney this district in 2012 by four points, four years later for hillary clinton by eight points. what is the trump effect here and what is it more broadly? >> ed royce the incumbent not running for reelection. that is a republican held seat in a district that went for clinton in 2016 and then take the incumbent out.

historic again, i think it speaks here to more local considerations. there are districts around the country like this that on paper that says the republican in pennsylvania would come to mind. i think again nationally when you look at this combination in general it still looks like that republican held seat with trump's approval ratings falling to the low 40s nationally. you can see clearly a path to that house control for democrats, but it's a cautionary note for them that local considerations matter. "morning joe" will be right back. - [narrator] the typical vacuum head has its limitations,

so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark.

mike and jen doyle? yeah. time for medicare, huh. i have no idea how we're going to get through this. follow me. choosing a plan can be super-complicated. but it doesn't have to be. unitedhealthcare can guide you through the confusion, with helpful people, tools and plans. including the only plans with the aarp name. well that wasn't so bad at all. that's how we like it. aarp medicare plans, from unitedhealthcare. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. (woman) learned ao play and fesecond language. piles. applied to college. applied for a loan. started a business. started a blog. shared a picture.

shared a moment. turn your wish list into a checklist. learn more. do more. share more. at home, with internet essentials. getting paid what you're worth is a critical part of the know your value movement. if you've ever struggled with

how to ask for more money or maybe you've made a few mistakes in the the past by approaching it in completely the wrong way, this is something you need to know to move yourself forward. joining us now is vice president of membership at sofi libly lefler. also liz bentley. what's the strategy behind this initiative? >> as a personal finance company we're all about helping people get to independence and realize their ambitions no matter what that might be. it could be buying a house or changing career or starting a family we want to change the conversation around how to get to financial independence. largely that conversation has been focused on saving your way there. certainly saving is super important and that's a big component.

but a second part is how you earn your way there. we've focused on helping people know your value, get confident to ask for it and make that ask. >> the problem with women, i think, is we don't think about getting that raise ever. do we? >> i mean, it's certainly in what i see in working with a lot of women, yes, that can definitely be the case. they'll settle with what they're getting and be sometimes grateful for things they shouldn't be. >> or be mad about it but not do anything. >> or do something and have a pushback that's unfair. >> let's figure out what to do so women can do something the right way. l libby you've got tangible ways to ask for that raise correctly. you say set your objectives. what are do you really want. what do you mean by that? >> one of the most important things going into that is to

actually prepare. let's set the context. if you started a job two weeks ago, that's not the time to ask for a raise. maybe you start can conversation with what northbouare the thing or eight months that can help me be eligible for a raise. know your number. >> i definitely share that with everybody i know. how do you do that? you know we feel so uncomfortable talking about numbers and talking about money for ourselves. you've got to know your number. a way to feel comfortable doing that is doing your research. >> you need to know the value of the position you're in, what the competitive markets are paying,

what you think it's worth. also you should know what you're bringing to the table so you know you're worth that number. >> you also say gather your evidence to support your objective. you've got to look back at what you've done and be able to say it. >> that's right. as liz says, the research is so important and then compile it. we're helping people develop a presentation to determine where you are at market value. that way when you're having the conversation, you have all of the evidence you need to have a really compelling discussion about getting a raise. >> you also say -- and i love this -- practice makes permanent. i tell women, practice while you're jogging, talk out loud. i do it on the streets of my town and people think i'm crazy. i practice what i'm going to say when i want to achieve a goal. you should role play, correct?

>> find a friend, a trusted colleague, someone you care about. create your mini board of directors. who are the people that are going to be your cheering squad that will pump you up and give you that confidence. >> you say talk to your allies. what do you mean? >> think about the people that know you well and will give you advice. >> liz, what about being authentic and ready to walk? what's your advice on that? if you're ready to walk, you should be ready to walk. if you're not, you shouldn't say that. >> definitely not. if you've gone through why you think you deserve the raise and you're really prepared, i think you're ready to know how much do i really deserve this. there are times you're ready to

walk and you should have some backup plan because you're grossly under paid. you always have to show up to your life with authenticity, but especially when you're pushing for someone that might make everyone uncomfortable. something i think that's very important to consider in all of this is not just you. it's the person you're going into. if you're walking into a raise, this is a no that hasn't happened yet. you're turning a no into a yes. you have to think about the mindset of who you're going to speak to. >> we talk about this as being important to women, but it really is universal. >> these are conversations we think everyone should be having. as we think about financial independence, that applies to all of us. this conversation is important for women, men and anyone.

>> libby and liz, thank you so much. for more tips and tools on how you can develop your voice and career go to knowyourvalue.com. how can you spot ambition? is it written on our faces? or something woven into the dna of the doers, the determined, the driven? and while the bar keeps getting higher, ambition gives us the power to tackle any obstacle. opening the doors to bigger leaps, larger goals and financial freedom. sofi. we stand for ambition. stay at la quinta. where we're changing with stylish make-overs. then at your next meeting, set your seat height to its maximum level.

bravo, tall meeting man. start winning today. book now at lq.com i saw my leg did not look right. start i landed.oday. i was just finishing a ride. i felt this awful pain in my chest. i had a pe blood clot in my lung. i was scared. i had a dvt blood clot. having one really puts you in danger of having another. my doctor and i chose xarelto®. xarelto®. to help keep me protected. xarelto® is a latest-generation blood thinner that's... proven to treat and reduce the risk of dvt or pe blood clots from happening again. in clinical studies, almost 98% of patients on xarelto® did not experience another dvt or pe. xarelto® works differently. warfarin interferes with at least 6 of your body's natural blood-clotting factors. xarelto® is selective, targeting just one critical factor. don't stop taking xarelto® without talking to your doctor, as this may increase risk of blood clots. while taking, you may bruise more easily, or take longer for bleeding to stop. xarelto® can cause serious, and in rare cases, fatal bleeding.

it may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. get help right away for unexpected bleeding or unusual bruising. do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. before starting, tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures and any kidney or liver problems. learn all you can... to help protect yourself from another dvt or pe. talk to your doctor about xarelto®. vof hundreds of families, he'se hmost proud of the one the heads

he's kept over his own. brand vo: get paid twice as fast with quickbooks smart invoicing. quickbooks. backing you. takes more than just investment advice. from insurance to savings to retirement, it takes someone with experience and knowledge who can help me build a complete plan. brian, my certified financial planner™ professional, is committed to working in my best interest. i call it my "comfortable future plan," and it's all possible with a cfp® professional. find your certified financial planner™ professional at letsmakeaplan.org. so shark invented duo clean. while deep cleaning carpets, the added soft brush roll picks up large particles, gives floors a polished look, and fearlessly devours piles. duo clean technology, only from shark. president trump is using the

power of his office to order the director of national intelligence and the justice department to immediately declassify materials in the ongoing investigation into russian interference in the 2016 electio election. the move relates to about 20 pages of a secret court order. an expert on russian organized crime who had conversations with the author of the dossier alleging connections between the kremlin and trump associates. president trump also ordered the release of unredacted text messages of former doj and fbi officials whom he really criticizes on twitter. the white house says the order is made at the request of a number of committees of congress and for reasons of transparency. joining us now democratic congressman jim himes of

connecticut. your reaction to the president's order here? >> well, you've heard the obvious reaction, which is that in order to continue this campaign against the mueller probe, the president is doing something that no other american he's saying even though i'm the subject of an investigation here, i'm going to make public elements of that investigation. it's going to compromise, potentially compromise sources and methods. here's the big thing. every time a fact comes out in the real world, whether it's , you know, the conviction, the indictments, the guilty pleas or what you learn when you actually get a chance to look at the famous nunez memo, facts are not this president's friends. whatever is released and it may be selective. right? it might be a few texts from here. imagine what would happen if any one of us would have selected texts released. when the facts come out, when the american public can see and i'm not sure this ever should have happened, but when they can see the facts, they're going to

understand that this is a very solid, well-conducted investigation. >> how much of the president's thinking and now the president's action in this do you believe is driven by devin nunez, the chair of the committee on which you serve? because he was out publicly suggesting that this happened, what the president actually did eventually, that we declassify? >> it's the other way around. nunez is and always has been driven by his unquestioning loyalty to donald trump. and this goes back well over a year when devin went to the white house, got some information and then went on -- talked to all of you guys in the media and said i'm going to brief the white house. the same is true of the so-called committees of jurisdictions. this is not committees. this is a couple members of congress. that are going to do everything in assisting the president's door legitimization of the mueller investigation.

>> we were talking earlier with matt miller, formerly of the justice department, about all of these memos and texts being released. and unredacted. and he was talking about that we look at -- from one point of view and here in the united states of america. but there are people in moscow, tehran, throughout the middle east, who will look at that and reap an enormous amount of knowledge about how we operate. >> well, that's quite possible. the other horrifying thing is if you're a russian in moscow and you're thinking, maybe i'll work with the cia or, look, if you're an al qaeda member in pakistan or, you know, you name it, anybody. we're in the business of recruiting spies. people who risk their lives to help our national security. here at home, the fbi is in the business of recruiting criminal informants. people who go into cartels and drug gangs and the mafia and

work for the fbi wear wires. guess what, when the word is out that your identity, that what you tell the government, what you tell the fbi and cia could be made public by mark meadows and jim jordan what do you think is going to happen to our a built to recruit those people? this is a major assault on our national security. >> what do you think is the significance of paul manafort cooperating with this investigation? obviously the white house has a lot to be nervous about here. what do you think he can provide bob mueller that he doesn't have already? >> well, we don't know exactly, but obviously something meaningful, given what we saw happen with cooperation last week. at the top of my list is he's the first cooperator who is in that meeting with don jr. -- >> trump tower. >> yes, trump tower, where the russians came and, you know, don jr. was very interested, very excited to get information from the russians. i think manafort can probably cost some light into what happened in that meeting, whether donald trump knew about it, what the follow up was, and

i think that's information that's important. >> and a sentencing date for flynn. special counsel mueller and flynn's attorneys proposed sentencing being set for november 28th or any of the following seven business days. flynn pleaded guilty last december to lying to the fbi about his conversations with the russian ambassador. and agreed to cooperate with mueller in exchange for a reduced sentence. the crime calls for a maximum five-year sentence but senior federal prosecutors not involved with the case tell nbc news that the time of flynn's plea deal, that is unlikely he will spend even a single day in prison. you have people at the side of president trump during the 2016 presidential campaign in paul manafort, in flynn, you can extend that to cohen as well. it does seem that the walls are closing in around the president. >> yes, and willie, this dance has a rhythm to it, right, so this release of otherwise

classified information that we were talking about, it's not a cowednesd coincidence it comes on the heels of the manafort cooperation. every time bob mueller makes some progress, and think of the progress he's made. at the end of the day, a criminal investigation is not about a fisa application. it's who gets convicted who pleads guilty and, i mean, add to the list you had there, george papadopoulos. >> of course, yes. >> so this probe has secured the convictions, guilty pleas. it has been one of the most productive investigations ever. and the president therefore needs to keep his 25 or 30% of the american electorate that still stands by him believing that there's something corrupt here. you saw the language around this. and there isn't. there's not a single fact out there to suggest that there is corrupt. there's fact after fact after fact about the people around the president going to jail, pleading guilty, being convicted. this is all a massive destruction play by the president of the united states. >> your committee, the house intelligence committee, and you

mentioned a couple of people earlier, is entwined in this investigation. you have the chairman of the house intelligence committee devin nunez who's an active participant in the defense of mr. trump. you mentioned jim jordan and mark meadows. how is it possible for your committee to get anything done, given the atmosphere that you operate in? >> it's a great question, mike. if you think about what we're supposed to get done, it's an essential function in a democracy, right. we have this 80 billion-ish intelligence operatess, out there doing scary things, all the things we write about historically. you need people looking over their shoulder, civilians, providing oversight. therefore, when the committee is damaged, as it unquestionably was as a result of the chairman's full-throated support of the president it inevitably compromises our ability to keep an eye on the intelligence community, on the cia and nsa. the good news is, we are very

serious about that, and we've gotten back to oversight. yes, a compromise is pretty important to democracy. >> your reaction to the confirmation process for judge kavanaugh to the supreme court. the allegations from dr. christine ford of an attempted sexual assault some 35, 36 years ago. did chuck grassley do the right thing in scheduling a hearing for monday so she can tell her side of the story and judge kavanaugh can respond? >> i think so. this is all happening on the other side of the capitol from where i -- >> i understand. >> i was worried they were going to keep running the same play with kavanaugh, which is move as fast as you can, yes, lots of documents you haven't seen, but let's just get this thing through. i think they realize that if they, in the face of this allegation, jammed this through, they could probably count on losing at least the female half of the population and probably many more politically speaking. which is what's driving these guys. look, i think this needs to be

looked at and i'm glad the chairman decided to slow things down so we can get to the bottom of this. >> where does it look like this is headed? if dr. ford comes out and tells her story and judge cavanaugh sits in that seat and says that did not happen, i wasn't even at the party, as apparently he suggested to senator hatch, where do you go from there? >> the only way you're going to get the facts of course back to the fbi is if the fbi is empowered, interestingly enough, that would have to happen by an order from the white house to actually do an investigation. they are the professionals. so what would they do? they would go and talk to other people at the party. they would interview everybody. they would interview people probably under oath. as michael flynn has learned, you should not lie to the fbi when they talk to you. >> you think the fbi will look into this? >> you raise the question what if it's he said/she said over something that happened over 30 years ago? the fbi, working with whatever local authorities, needs to get

as many facts out there. >> you had an event over the weekend in west port i believe with potential candidates. in this climate that was surrounded with, why would anyone want to put their name on a ballot and run for anything? >> yes, well, it's a good question. i can answer it for you. certainly in my district, i'm seeing something i've never seen before. heavily republican towns. 250 people at their democratic town committee picnic. that usually draws 30 or 40. greenwich, connecticut, 300 people. a lot of people who are registered republicans who are independents are saying, hey, i may not agree with the democrats. but in november, we are going to register our disapproval, our concern, our outrage at the way the president is leading the country. >> we'll see in about a month and a half. congressman jim himes of connecticut. before we hand it over, we

want to welcome hanna hollis to the "morning joe" family, born about an hour ago at 8 pounds. her proud dad, our longtime great editor dan hollis says baby and mom are doing great. welcome to the world, hanna, she's beautiful. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage. >> way to end the show with some good news, willie. good morning, everyone, i'm stephanie ruhle. wow, what a tuesday have we got on our hands. with three huge stories that we're going to break down this morning. starting with president trump. ordering the declassification of documents related to the russia investigation and to members of his own campaign. the president and some republicans are cheering this on as a show of transparency while democrats and a lot of others are blasting the decision as obstruction. >> this is coordinated between the president and his allies. and the precedent and the policy and the norm we've had some watergate may be violated by this president who cares little