trump and are those two thanksgiving mutually exclusive. >> that is the big question is are those two thanksgiving mutually intensive, someone that can beat donald trump and is feel inspired by. that does it for us. i'm jauf alongside geoff bennett. morning joe starts right now. >> you've seen the good and the bad, the highs and the lows and i would not be in this position with all of your help. in and 97 i won the masters and i was there to -- i ended up hugging my dad, my mom. my dad is no longer here but my mom's here. i love you, mom. thank you. good morning. welcome come to "morning joe." we have mike barnicle, heidi

pryzbyla, associate editor of "the washington post" eugene robinson and washington anchor for bbc world news america katty kay is with us. good to have you on board this morning. >> this is book fair today. everybody has a book. >> i'm so excited. >> we're going to go around the table. mika, let's start with yours and then we'll talk to willie. >> today, me, and my co-author are releasing "earn it," part of your know your value series. it's awesome. it's a guide book. you follow it along through your career and it will really help you launch properly. it's all about equal pay ultimately and women, the data shows always start a little lower than men and they never catch up.

this get a firmer, stronger career started. we'll be showing more of that later. >> okay. willie, it's your turn. >> we're going all the way around the table. >> i don't have my book out today but my dad has a book out today. it's called lake of the ozarks, he's been working on it for 40 years. he's been talking about it as long as i've known him and he retired from cbs last year and finally got the time to sit down and write it. i'm biased but it is damn awesome. and what a story she has, huh? >> it's amazing. a lot of young women can really emulate a lot of the it's not osy.

it's a long road and she's a great they were from holder women and partying and she's in it now. >> and she brings it to the now, to what exactly the challenges are today on every level. not just in big cities but across the country. >> mike, what a nice story from the white house yesterday, tiger woods. his mother getting to see that. >> story of redemption. people like that. and he has earned it. i man, he has rahal his appearance and his performance at the masters this year was just incredible. stl resonates. and it's a nice story. >> it is and, you know, he's a much different guy than the guy that won the masters that first time. >> yeah.

>> he's a dedicated father. everybody that knows him talks about how he's a dedicated father. and the kids, you know, they're all -- everybody's working together in that that many fantastic. >> let's go to the news. a new poll vice president joe biden to do the name the seconda secondary. biden up four points from the week before as senator bernie sanders is down three points to 19% and senators elizabeth warren and kamala harris are in third and fourth place. mayor pete butte judge joints two places, at -- i had soon

these were taken in early primary states. you know, there may be 48 people in this race but right now -- right now i know it early but that's that's pr polls -- in a says one of them just pulled a little further ahead of the other. 40% in a field of 22, 21, i don't know how many, is an impress of lead. so the question is if you're

down at 8, 7, 6, 5%, how do you break through? how do you get to a tier where you can challenge joe biden? do the other candidates challenge biden? do they risk weakening him and weakening themselves to go after him in a way voters don't like? it's a challenge for everybody else right now and joe biden is looking pretty comfortable. >> he certainly is. willie, it's one thing if everybody's clustered at 22 and bernie's at 28 and some people are slip -- why the early states are and so, yes, i know we're supposed to say it's very early. at the same time, when you have

21, 22 people in the field, you tell me how those 21 other people running against joe biden are going to be able to draw political blood on the debate stage or even on the campaign trail if biden -- seems to me right now joe biden's biggest dangers would be a self-inflicted woupd. >>. he might not even get the chance to be on the stage with him. say you're bernie sanders or elizabeth warren, depending on the draw, you may not he's been to new hampshire, iowa, south carolina even, kamala harris, cory booker, candidates like that not doing as well. so he is in a commanding place right now and you can see where the ground -- bernie sanders sort of has his support locked

in. he's at that 20%. how do those other candidates below biden and bernie, how do they make their move? there's tons of time it do it but what is that path when you're down by 30 points? >> attacking joe biden i don't think going to work on the democratic side. bigger problem, too, for a lot of the other candidates is while they may get blue check marks whipped into a frenzy about them and then get people in the mainstre mainstream or news networks or editorial page editors, it comes from the rank and file, union workers, black women, the reem po are the real democratic part of the party money. >> the could difference a lan he

had that left-hand passing lan car so to speak. there were four or five other candidates in that lane. eventually probably sooner rather than later. >> well, you're absolutely right. if you look at bernie's vote last time,y had about 40% of the democratic primary vote. now the part that's split is not the part that's, if you want to put label on things, the establishment vote. it's those people who are competing in that progress of lane with bifrd so to a tern extent joe biden is benefiting from that. the president took to twitter and was attacking joe biden,

sending out this long tweet stream when he's got the fireman's endorsement. that's to a sirn extent elevating him. what is the number up standsin issues and that is the issue and mating democrats. that is why joe biden i think is going so much support. >> more than 500 former federal prosecutors are making their case that president trump would been indicted for obstruction of justice in special counsel robert mueller russia probe if he did not hold the nation's high ephs office. the statement published on the web site medium yesterday was signed by ex-prosecutors who is served under republican and democratic administrations,

including at least 35 who have served in the justice department under trump. the document offers a rebautle to attorney general bar's was. >> i didn't exonerate. i said that we did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to establish an obstruction -- it's now over. >> a just department for whom there can be no court proceeding but in the room, the go et would

in the case of any other person not could have had by the office of legal counsel, in multiple fell any charges for obstruction of justice. we emphasize that has to are not matter of corse and say that a probably not on it and a convince for the standards of justice, the spenion if buehler

has been. you hear echos of the letter that -- expressing his interpretations of this. you kind of hear echo of this in light 500 now prosecutors, some of whom have worked for republican candidates going right back to prayingan. part and this will carry on being lit patrioted bit democrats and then politically they have to think how do they handle this oaf the next 18 months so it gives them the best possible leverage in 2020. it's being punted from miller to congress and clear le that

didn't laugh when i said "is that obstruction of injuries i see a lot of dpt's defenders. and of course now that are defending bar and becoming you can't find a prosecutor. that wouldn'tfor chief legal

analyst. he says the same thing, this isn't close. you have a prn that is in pow-- position of power and that person tries to get the investigator fired and he tries to do so repeatedly. and he actually even fires the first person that's starting to move the investigation and says to an nbc lsh and chief kmk it's

not clear what it means other than restating the obvious to people that there was obstruction of justice. other than to point again at the performance of attorney bar last week when he twisted himself in knots and ben over backwards to make the case that it was not obstruction of justice, which flew in the face of common sense and also the legal opinions of 500 or so people who have worked in the justice department. >> and now they're saying after hearing all this time that mueller could not charge donald trump because he's a sitting president, gene, now you have people who actually -- again, they're just being shameless and it's really disappointing to me because i've never them and respected them for a long time but they're just being shah why do we want to hear him talk in front of the american people? >> i guess i think they're

readers or morons. i guess par and trump think supports are arin why would we want to harr from him in public? it just ridiculous. nothing to see here, for example, shut this down, this is over, this is over. you're going to hear a whol wohl lot of that this week. in a srn sense nsh the legal sense, i plan west in the president now that 500 prosecutors came out and put this on the record, you know, the obvious. yes, it's obstruction of justice and if he weren't the sitting president, he would certainly be

spending a whole lot of money on legal advice trying to stay out of jail. but that is where we are and barr notwithstanding, where do we go from here? does it translate now into an impeachment process or does it get adjudicated in the election? >> it's obvious to anybody that's watching either in america or overseas there has become over the past several weeks a sustained and increasingly quickening assault on the rule of law, whether you look at what barr did in his testimony, whether you look at the fact that he probably

committed perjury in the house and the senate, and meanwhile the trumpists say nothing. the secretary of the treasury comes out saying the chairman of the ways and means has the right to see any americans' tax returns but we're just not going to comply with the law of the land. and they do it without a second thought. it n it's a constitutional crisis. they're breaking the law. can you look at all of the document requests that they've ignored. they're in contempt of congress. you look at what lindsey graham is doing -- >> and they don't care. >> they don't care. the republicans doesn't care. so history has chosen the democratic party at this point in time to be the only party in america who will stand up and defend the rule of law.

the only party. there is no one else there. and as a former republican and as a guy with a lot of republican friends, it makes me sad. but this moment in history has provided us only one political party that can stand up and defend the rule of law and that's on the democrats. whether it's the smart political calculation or not, the constitution requires it. >> the constitution does require it. the politics of it are going to be perhaps dicey, but the constitution does require it. but to the list that we've been speaking about, i went through it yesterday and it takes quite a period of time to go through it, there a lot of names on that list. i knew a few of them. the few who you anywwho i knew . and i was struck by the common observation. the observe they had was this is not about donald trump, this is bill belichick barr, attorney

general. the phrase repeated to me by two of the spoke to and alluded to by two other who i spoke to, he is a. >> you know the fear we had at the beginning of the trump strag about him putting in a bunch of caddies and yes men to run is obstetrician he got cone and you could look at he actually put sm good people around him at the beginning now. you look at bar, you look at wop you can just go down the list of them and all the acting secretaries, he has now surrounded himself with the most

duplicitous cabinet in recent american history. it's shameful. >> let's check on some of the other news this morning. two reuters journalists imprisoned by the myanmar government for reporting on the military's mistreatment and killing of the muslim rohingya minority are free today after more than 500 days in custody. the reporters were reunited with their families after being convicted of violating state secrets during their investigation of a massacre of rohingya men. they now have received presidential amnesty along with 6,000 other prisoners. last month they are reporting, one, a pulitzer prize. russian officials say the black box flight recorders of a passenger jet that made a fiery emergency landing at a moscow airport on sunday has been recovered. regularors are trying to determine the cause of the disasters are looking into three main possibilities -- insufficient pilot

qualifications circumequipment failure and weather. while russia's news media saying he followed the procedure for landing with excess weight, the crew reportedly did not dump any fuel after being airborne for just 28 minutes, which is common n for flight that must do that. >> maximum security will not run in the preakness on may 18th. the horse's co-owner announced their decision as the derby winner was denied selling the associated press that there is really no need. >> this one is for khatty.

the duke and duchess of sussex announced they welcomed their new child, a baby boy. >> mother and baby are doing incredibly well. it's been the most amazing experience i could ever possibly imagine. >> the couple said they have not settled on a name but that we will get our first peek at the newest member of their family later this week. the baby is queen elizabeth's eighth great grandchild and servic seventh in line to the throne. >> katty, what's the name going to be? >> we don't know. they've suggested they want a

name that marries british and american heritage. the queen of england has a grael grandchild that is a quarter african-american. that's a new look. there was a notice saying the duchess has been delivered of this baby boy, as if it had arrived by amazon. even in the little things they are bucking royal protocol. the fact that she has not appeared as princess did on the steps of the hospital two minutes after giving birth, you know, in high heels were her

hair perfectly -- they decided to stay home for two days before they go before the cameras. >> so speaking of babies, your baby turned either 21 or 22 yesterday, right? >> yeah, did. actually turned 23 but i put out -- doesn't this ever happen to you? come on, joe, you've got four. tell me this does not happen to you. you get the age wrong. >> you're just trying to remember how many kids do i have? >> i have a 21-year-old. >> i've got to say. there were a couple of times speaking names not remembering things, there were a couple of times this year -- >> this is bad. he's coaching his son jack and screaming at him, "joey, go!"

"way to go, joey!" and he looks at me and goes, "it's jack." >> now she has a royal baby sharing her birthday. how exciting. >> and the investigations zeroing on the president from his taxes, to his inauguration, to his storm response in puerto rico. first let's go to bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning. unfortunately, one of those dangerous may days in the central plains. area of greatest concern, west texas into areas of western oklahoma. we could even get a few large tornadoes today. storm chasers will be out here in droves. if they're on the ground, we'll have pictures tomorrow morning. next we go into your wednesday. this is the dale we'll send all of the strong storms over highly

populated cities and maybe even a bunch tornadoes, too. it's not like we don't have anything dangerous, life threatening flash flooding in kansas cican kansas. flash flooding and tornado terns. east coast you're fine, west coast you're fine. all the issues are in our nation's heartland. new york city, that storm system will bring us rain on friday. dry for the most part until then. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ning joe." we'll be right back.

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to a number of charges including lying to congress, tax evasion and campaign finance violations. cameras caught him reporting to prison in otisville, new york. before arriving, he spoke briefly to reporters gathered outside his manhattan apartment. >> i hope that when i rejoin my family and friends that the country will be in a place without xenophobia, inskrs and lies at the helm of our country. there still remains much to be told and i look forward to the day that i can share the truth and thank you all very much. >> willie? mike? >> he's still got a lot of information. and hopefully they can get it --

>> how can they get it? >> he wouldn't be walking in there. >> he refused to take the deal. he's walking into prison. >> why? >> i don't want to hear your information. he wants to say that so he can get out and testify before congress. why didn't he take the deal? >> multiple opportunities. he passed on all of them. he certainly is not alone in this conspiracy, that we know, but do your time, michael. it's tough. you lose your freedom, you lose your freedom. when you come out, you'll be a different prn. >> hopefully after kiting threats from iran. iran.

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zr we have continued to see activity that leads us to believe that there as escalation that may be taking place so we're taking all the appropriate

actions both from a security perspective, as well as our ability to make sure the president has a wide range of options in the event something should actually take place. >> the trump administration is revealing more about why it is sending the "u.s.s. abraham lincoln" strike group and unnamed bomber task force to the middle east in a potential for war. yesterday patrick shanahan tweeted the deployment is in response to a credible throughout by iranian regime forces. new intelligence shows iran and its proxy are moving forces and may be planning for both land and sea attacks. after the u.s. designated the iran guard core as a terrori

terrorist -- >> admiral, i am your acting morning news host. everybody's acting around here. so there were news reports for the past few days that this military exercise had been planned for some time. what can you tell us? >> it was planned for the carrier strike group to move in to the arabian gulf bush not for a few months. as you nopknow, joe, we've had carrier strike groups in the gulf for decades. these are massive machines of war that carry 70 combat aircraft, they come with cruisers, missiles, but it's pretty common to have one in

there. what is different is coupling this speed-up deployment with the rhetoric. it is a significant escalation in that sense. we ought to be concerned about rising tension in the arabian gulf. >> so, admiral, do you see it as a credible threat that the iranians would attack any u.s. forces? >> i think it's very unlikely that there would be an owe very much very, very unlikely. >> does this seem to you most likely, though i&as a military man or woman, you always have to prepare for the worst does.

>> i would say every military deployment where you see a president reach for those aircraft carriers, there's always going to be a domestic component to it, joe. with our declares the iranian guard terrorists, them declaring us terrorists, i say it's a good move to move that component to the gulf. >> the reports are that this move was made, the accelerated moving up of the carrier group, after intelligence came from

mosad, the saudi arabia intelligence agency. the national security adviser for the president, john bolton, had a thundering response to this intelligence. so help calm this thing down for us, would you, please? i think more than a few people are looking at this and saying "hmmm." >> indeed. it can get into your head. let's look at the geo politics for a second. if you see iran, which it is, pushing throughout the ancient limits of the empire, the bulwark will are israel and our arab allies, they're going to be the front line states putting that character in as you see the iranians ramping up does make military as soon as. there is an ironic element to in

that it's the lincoln carrier battle group, our american president who was the most resolute in war, the most passionate in peace, interesting that that would be -- not to go all john meacham on you hear, b -- here, but that would be an interesting angle. >> thanks for the warning. >> right, trigger statement ahead. i this there is a component of domestic but this one does pretty firmly fall into smart move internationally, the right elements are there to support it. >> and don't worry, you didn't go all john meacham on us. we're all still awake. >> we would let you know. >> i will say as we look at the international world and the arrival of the new prince, i have a nomination for a name which would be just so american, it would be prince joe willie. >> ooh. >> it's a different connotation

in great britain when you throw the willie in there. >> i want to underline twice, willie, before passing over to you that the admiral has said this is the prudent military move to make, the wise military move to make with iranian aggression continuing throughout the region. >> john bolton always has been a hawk on the question of iran. in april iran's military guard was designated as a terrorist organization. we know in testimony before the senate in april as well, secretary of state pom yop m a back and forth with rand paul about the 2001 authorization of military reports saying he sees connections to tehran and iran.

it's happening in the middle of a process, not as a first step. >> exactly. we ought to be thinking about, a, how do we de-escalate this? the global flash point is the arabian gulf. it's not just iran and the united states. it is the saudis, the gulf states and it's part of this larger shi'a/sunni conflict in the middle east. the ingredients are there for this to go side ways very quickly. we ought to try to de-escalate this, not ramp up the tension. that's really the next right move here. i am hopeful we can do that if we use international approach here. here's where we ought to be working more with our european allies, with who we've managed to manufacture a real split in our policy toward iran. that's not helping us a bit. >> khatty. >> now we have president erdogan

saying he's going to have a rerun of mayoral elections from back in march in which his party did very badly. what do you read in this? if erdogan is going down this root so he can have a go in his favor? >> very concerning. we've been watching a slide in turkey, moving away from democratic norms, imprisonment of the media, intimidation of a every level in the society. that's very concerning. istanbul is the heart of turkish politi politics. so for president erdogan to. >> there that is concerning. they are buying increased

weapons from russia, see paragraph one about iran. all of of that ought to be concerned nato to try and pull this is a setback in a relationship. >> admiral james steveridis, thank you very much. and coming up, "earn it! and speaking of strong women, i was thrilled to. we're almost a thousand people packed into the event space here

in new york city. there we honored eight outstanding women who connect the world. and i challenge that powerful group to lift up the next generation of leaders. welcome to the 2019 matrix awards. women who connect the world. it's up to us to invest in the concept of equality. my co-author is a young woman who earned it. daniela bravo is a producer at "morning joe." she started out at our show as an nbc page, but two years in there was a day when i asked her where she came from, what she's about and who she is. here's what i found out? daniela's a dreamer. she grew up with her parents and four siblings, not a lot of money. she had many, many jobs just to

get to college and get through. she was always working as long as she can remember. she had a determination to be here in america and make something of herself. i felt something happening in that conversation. i called my publisher the next day and i pitched a book on her path, on a path that a lot of young people need to think about taking that's scrappy, that manse risk taking, that means earning it every step of the way and i tapped daniela and my cote auth -- co-author and researcher. daniela is here today. i invested in her success and this will help countless women do what she did, she earned it. i challenge the young women here today to think of a way to invest in a won who deserves a big boost. trust me, she will not let you down. down

did you guys watch "game of

thrones" the other night? >> no. i always wanted to watch that. >> who watches that? >> we're not very good at our jobs here. thank god! >> i didn't watch it for years and years and then between last season and this season, avis and i just watched the whole thing, we just beinged the whole thing got completely engrossed in it. i don't know if i feel good about that or not but i did. so now i'm sitting on the edge of my seat waiting week to week to see this. >> i may have to do this. "the wire" is the other show i neff watched and it was extraordinary. extraordinary. >> a month ago i interviewed kit herrington for the sunday show. i didn't watch all of it but i

watched it. i didn't quite know what was going on at all times but it's an extraordinary piece of television. there was a small detail that didn't quite belong that's now causing a stir on social media. a starbucks cup making a cameo on sunday night's episode. it's highlighted on your screen. the coffee giant tweeted out a response. starbucks tweeted "to be honest, we're surprised he didn't order a dragon drink." and "the latte was a mistake. she ordered a tea." >> this is a commercial we're doing right now. reports estimate the coffee cup mistake is worth about a quarter of a million dollars to a

million dollars of free publicity. there's no way that got left there. >> that's a setup. >> did you pick this up, gene, when you watched the show? >> i missed it. i was engrossed in the conversation between john snow and i just missed the coffee cup. i'm sorry. >> katty, do you watch this, by the way? >> periodically. by the way, it costs $10 million to produce every single episode and you wonder, for $10 million you can't spot the fact there's a rogue coffee cup on the table? >> coming up, where does the house ways and means go from here? plus the white house is ratcheting up it's trade fight, accusing china on reneging on

commitments. robert costa joins us on that. you're watching "morning joe." back in just a moment. g "mornin" back in just a moment.

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>> all right, perfect. senator mitch mcconnell last month saying he'd be fine with robert mueller testifying. this morning politico reports at 10 a.m., remarks on the senate floor concerning the mueller remarks where he will invoke the phrase "case closed." >> give me a break. this started with lindsey graham saying we don't need to see mueller. trump comes out. this is such a rigged process. heidi, after donald trump ran about how everything is rigged, this is such a rigged process and the republicans are rigging it, just like barr has rigged it. it's hard for me it believe that americans aren't going to be turned off by the fact that there is no transparency, that they -- this is -- this is just undermining the rule of law,

it's keeping the facts from the american people, letting person that put the report together for two years come and speak to them, not letting him do that, keeping him employed in the justice department so they can order him not to come and testify? i'm sorry, that's unamerican. it's unamerican. >> this is one of those moments whuch say how rigged is this when we step back and remind people how rigged it is because from the very differenting this attorney general auditioned for the job saying he had a conclusion. the guy before him who trump said would not protect me was fired. then barr was brought in, puts out this statement essentially summarizing the report and telling everybody to move on. now, a day after you had the senate judiciary committee hearing where all of the republicans pretty much for ben sas, a day after the president picks up the phone and dials

putin this is all politically motivated and the rest of the country should now all move on. so the question now is how at liberty going to feel he is to talk? because he will be up there. he will also no longer be an employee of bill barr within a matter of days to but i think he's going to be pretty unburden, to try and essentially li lift. the overwhelming number of americans believe that donald trump's a liar when it comes to the mueller investigation. they said so just this past

week. republicans again, if i were running against republican who was trying to do everything they could to hide donald trump's misdeeds and darkness and not let robert mueller testify, that's -- man, put the ball on the tee and let me swing for the fences. that once's easy. the lack transparency is political death for republicans. >> yeah, what are they trying to hide? that's a question you asked over and over again. what are you friday assuage donald trump's alter ego, which of course they're always interested in doing. but mitch mcconnell, senator kuk

grassley, chairman of the judiciary committee, said for monies and months or is who going to remember what he's been saying for months and months and months? >> think about this, willie, they've been putting words in robert mueller's mouth since the report came out. you had bar just wretch the words from their proper context. you had him chopping up sentences. you had the president lying about what was in the report. >> total exoneration. >> other officials lying about what was in the report when it clearly the not total exoneration. now you have republicans in the senate. listen, we al know that the torng of the united states right now is a corrupt man, is a man who doesn't care about the rule of law, is a man who did, was

des pratt to get this job, wrote a memo undermining the investigati investigation. now for mitch mcconnell, along with republicans, along with a lot of people i will say again in the media who have acted honorably in the past, now to all buckle and say we don't need to hear from him. that's the stupidest -- there's no reason for mueller to talk. mueller they are trying to sensor robert a guy that was probably the most successful director of the fbi ever? ne extended his term, ten-year term because he was so successful, they are trying to

temperatures is we've heard from him in the 455-page report. robert mueller isn't a letter after the torng presented himself summary of the findings saying you talk about game being rigged. it's one thung for sfors because he has the final say in a lot of these members. >> according to "politico o "mrk connell will ask if lawmakers will move on from partisan morale sis and pfrp and said i

cannot clear the president of committing a felony. i cannot clear the president from committing a felony. and, mike, now these republican and former prosecutors you because entire republican party now is going off the cliff once and for all. they're all in for this guy now. mitch mcconnell talking about a conspiracy when two days ago, three dump's on the often about a mugs when dan croats, he runs

the entire intelligence and as russia tried to under mine american democracy. the department of homland security has said it. and mcmitch kbl who could. >> -- this is part of a planned political attack on the mueller report. and i think just talking to

people you'd have to submit the fact that so far it successful in terms of its objective. its objective is to, aus, a vast marriage of american has not red the report. this is a country that gets its information on screens, phone screens, tv screens. that's why robert mueller's testimony before the house and/or the nat the is he knows

that it will be extraordinarily damaging to him atlet click. >> let's bring in washington mark and msnbc political analyst, robert costa. he's the moderator of washington week on pbs. >> so where does this go? >> at this point the house democrats are not going to pay attention so much to what majority leader and or. >> well, i think pmt they have

not as strong a hand i think. a kpchl however however, one thing i think the administration is unable to do is to prevent mueller from testifying. i think that is something that democrats can count on on having -- maybe there will be some delay because of attorney general barr's -- if he opposes letting mule are go up there to testify. the thing that makes mueller's testimony so powerful is he will not come across as a democrat with an ax to grind about his report. heem heel come across as the person we know he is, even hearted, kind hearted, it's the reason he was chores, federal budget even though we have yet to hear from.

>> you need a mule biz. >> meanwhile, it deadline day for mcgann to turn over documents to the house judiciary committee. lawmakers are seeking communications related to a wide range of topics. former national security individualer michael flynn, the firing of james comey and lnl the trump strags is face overly ser oversigh you. new york's attorney general meanwhile has filed suit against the treasury department over its failure to respond to requests for information regards political donor disclosures. the house oversight committee wants to know br moe about the

and today is defying a request to release today's tax returns. i don't know how you keep it all straight but there's a lot going on on capitol hill right now. >> yes, there is. the question is how many of these witnesses will come forth and testify? with mcgann, they're also a 1099, including to carl line whether they're going to take this through the court route and really slog this out and wait for that whole process to state out or whether -- and this bubbling up in the democratic party -- whether they need to start that official pros of and

rusk to his law license or in terms of fines or is he going to come forward and testify against his former boss? that is damning material contained in the mueller report, probably one of the strongest examples of potential obstruction where the president is calling him at home and telling him to get the job done in terms of firing mueller. >> and if they go all the way to the supreme court, we're talking about years of the process here and i think president trump is trying to run out the clock. >> in his latest column entitled "joe biden is wrong about the gmp but disassociation from him

from his actions. biden is smart to pretend otherwise. . demonizing the entire republican party wi only push these voters into the country or the may not be true, but it a full full fiction that

is? but the raert issin gained. will little's bob mueller. you a long time. have you ever seen the air and the presence of politics so thick with investigations it is indeed ek ausing? it is exhausting. and you're right, it difficult, if not impossible to exonerate the frfrm at 6:00.

there should be how will prp based on thanksgiving they said yearleying afrrp even republicans. what year they said year agriculture they should be up a in terms at what this straegs is doing it. and the way it denying lawful congressional inquiries, refusing to hand oaf documents that are compelled by law to be handed over, joan walling, trying to run out the clock in a braze i don't know way. so you get moot's point about the mitt call and the poll that's just a fact. >> i wonder if it not just joe

biden, though, who might benefit from this? the moderate watts democrats you speak to and million dprchlt and we're rabs who prchb prchlt squp and effectively helped the democrat being party win back the house of representatives. i think booth has a point. if you're trying to win here, why alienate any possible poe blos erter and p. they say something look speaker pelosi and leader schumer can play chess on multiple boards at the same time. so while they are futuring

president on one board, they're still engaging with the white house on issues like infrastructure, looking ahead to the 2020 elections, knowing they need to signal the voters they(. -- sometimes it's hard for people to check the blue check marks. it hard for the purists to understand why elijah cummings

sfchlt the the on reason why democrats have the power to subpoena, won be i i just based f and this won that because thos are nrm woor not talking about donald trump 24 hours a day. this were -- only way th could within was to get people vet fem while it was test hook in i think joe biden it is a it uple

you have to keep drugso suessin can the testimony of robert mule arin pup on and put off? can the subpoena be not answered and go to the where permanent the first two years i have trum. and i think we're fating a second won yoors been in abecause ffrm.

. f. >> (they just doesn't want to see them proceed. >> we're sure. still ahead on "morning joe" be new. from snchl on that and we'll ming in we'll be right back. our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated? that's exactly how we care for you. with answers and actions.

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it was a wild ride for the stock market yesterday. the dow jones, s&p and nasdaq

took massive dives at the open following president trump's latest terror threat aimed at china before recovering to finish near last week's close. u.s. train representative robert lig lighthauser said yesterday "reneging on prior commitments about a week ago and we're seeking substantive and substantial changes" bob costa, the president has threatened to raise tariffs to 25% on chinese goods on friday. is that a negotiation or is it a negotiation tactics? >> it certainly could happen. it really important for global markets to have some kind of certainty about where this administration is going. but real quickly, late last week the chinese said to the u.s. officials, look, we don't like a

lot of these die tails on intellectual properties, we don't like the enforcement details. we're not going to send the vice premier of china until we get some better messaging from the u.s., some reassurances and the talks have fallen apart as the president has issued these in tariff threats. the markets are worried. they did react in a dramatic, dramatic way on monday. if these go into effect on friday, investors are around the world are on the edge of their seats. >> what are you hearing and the white house? does it look like the new tariffs are going to go into place? >> they want to hear, joe, what the chinese delegation says. if some chinese officials come over and meet with bob lig lighthauser, will there be some agreement the discussions will continue? if discussions fall apart on wednesday or thursday, it's hard to see how the president pulls

back about the friday tariffs. >> there are a lot of democratic business people who doesn't like donald trump who say they he might be right about china, they've been ripping us off for years. >> secretary mnuchin has tried to have a better relationship at times. president trump wants the tariffs. but this is different from real estate. >> let's bring in a member of the house financial services committee, republican congressm

congressman. good to see you this morning. full disclosure, we both went to vanderbilt so it will be difficult for me to criticize you but i'll do my best as a professional. if the president goes through with even bigger tariffs, right now 10% if he doesn't want what he wants from that chinese delegation planning to come to d.c. this week, when he'll bump them up to 25% what impact will that have and what impact are existing tariffs having back in arkansas? >> thanks for the invitation this morning. this is a serious issue. for over two decades we've tried to get the chinese to come forward and make stukt earlier changes in that's what president trump has put as his top, u in trade. the tariffs right now in my view, willie, are not having a dramatic impact on american gdp,

but i think in the future if they were fully implemented on the full amount of chinese exports to the united states, you could see some concerns abo aboutas much of a it so in the short term you believe the tariffs are working? >> i think in the short term the tear is, which i don't agree with necessarily as a strategic tool, have been major leverage to bring the chinese to the table. it's something we have not tried before in the bilat rahal work in the clinton or bush administrations or obama's administration. so president trump is using a big stick to try to get them to make more structural changes in their economy. i think it's true that china generally from a current account balance, from the impact on their trade, their economy this

is a battle that's been going on for 25 -- i understand your concerns about the tariffs because obviously that's a tax that's light on your people and other americans at the end of the day, but what is america's best weapon in its economic arsenal to stop the chinese from stealing our intellectual property 25 years later? >> well, joe, you're right.

after tiananmen square, they just didn't move forward with an open wto come point plient so i think bilat rahal pressure is number bun be it and we should have johnson in lien with us pr prss% or so with two-way trade with. >> why won't they do that? >> i think they are behind the scenes diplomatically supporting us but they've let the president likes, being out in front, charging chargingin sfrchl but i think

that's where we prose specific sfpt. >> hi, congressman. i spoke with former senator joe donnelly of indiana last night. and while you are right that we might not be seeing a big impact on gop, certain sectors concession from the chinese, due to weather conditions. we've had too much rain at harvest time lastfall, to as a

fortunately are left-hander to arkansas and mr. plnl. due to the tariffs, as you say, a superficial purchase of more goods from the china just to please the united states. we need. but they, too, believe this may be the best time to get the chang that we need. >> all right, congressman french hill, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. >> what did he say, come doors?

>> there it is. it's sfm an outside frol in american's. we'll talk to george packer ahead on "morning joe." packer ahead on "morning joe.

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joining us now, staff righter at "the atlantic," george packer. he's out with a new book entitled "our man, richard holbrooke and the end of the american century." >> how do you work for jeffrey goldbe goldberg? day in and date out? >> he'sily airious. >> co sao that. mr. sunshine's hilarious? >> he comes on in and we call him happy. i love this, what's called the american century was a little more than a half a century beginning with the second world war and the creative burst that followed. you go on to say our filing that we could do anything give as you

marshal plan and vietnam. the piece eight dayton and the endless gaffe our section ses and blind messthis were note he was a mid-level diplomat, which means potentially a very obscured figure except what his character was outside that he now left a partial a at age 22 in a very hot part of the war. so he immediately saw what could go and took the will theon to and we're misleading poll snitch

at the same time he never lah his it doesn't rn that and at the end of his life, he wasi believe that we had to be involved in conflicts around the world, in solve be problems around the world and then that fayed and now i think it offer and the book is rahal prrk. we could have him on the show, he o defend of a it and -- r and

i used fop also himself conflicts with his cole oogs. because of his aggressive and swa sought. f that as an graphs nnn he was really one of the few greats, a diplomat's diplomat. >> he actually got things done. diplomats rarely do. diplomacy is really hard. we think of it as drinking coffee and team and having lo p

andnded the a m prmt pe with the death of holbrook, the death of that era has also gone. imagine a time post trump with a president ho is morin gajed in the world, has much more of a. ? >> think weir and i liked diseach other, but i think it two trump terms. i think that's a permanent change and the rest of the world will have given up on our leadership. >> george, dick holbrook encome posed most of century with his presence. so in vietnam, on the delta, he,

paul van you get the feeling not just from reading this and it's such a force center frp. >> who just stole himself on apps. y you. they didn't know there was a personal portrayal involved and by the end, if nm hooves nearly filed a couple of tiles and only hillary clinton could save his

job with the president. >> they're my parents. i'm sorry, i'm distracted. . s that my dad, my mom and trudy westerner, who still works with my family. >> oh, that's on our trip, yeah. >> richard holbrooke it will b nfb. . >> welfare reform, holbrook was a thereto to your dad because he worked for cyrus advance, who was your dad's rival. >> not welfare reform for f it shows you how brutal governor.

let say dick holbrook is sitting at this table right now, what's he saying? >> he would be appalled by tlum 's approach to the world. we instead of supporting allies and standing up to dictators, we doing the opposite. i'm not sure he would know how to deal with it because it such a commonwealth he made sure that i nojust to say the least, don't move. i don't think cold would would understand the trump be erange and he would hate it.

the book is our our man" and the end of the mrch drntcongratulat. up next we'll look at what gene robinson is writing about in this morning's "washington post". we'll be right back. hington post". we'll be right back. can't see what it is yet.re? what is that? that's a blazer? that's a chevy blazer? aww, this is dope. this thing is beautiful. i love the lights. oh man, it's got a mean face on it. it looks like a piece of candy. look at the interior. this is nice.

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sustainable development, and for how foolish it is to endanger a system that we know so little about. out there, there might be -- there are plants that haven't yet been described that can hold a key to solving cancer or parkinson's disease. there's pollenators, insects and birds that pollenate our fields and/ orchids. there's carbon snakes that soak up carbon and expelle oxygen. we need to figure out a way to develop more sustainable. >> gene, thank you very much. still ahead, a new democratic primary poll shows former vice president joe biden maintaining a commanding lead in early voting states. we're digging into those new numbers.

plus, hundreds of former federal prosecutors weigh in on the mueller report, arguing that donald trump would have been charged with obstruction of justice if he were not the president. we'll take a look at their letter. morning joe is coming right back. back hmm. exactly. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice. but, uh... what's up with your... partner? not again. limu that's your reflection. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪

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earns i was there to -- i ended up hugging my dad and my mom. my dad is no longer here but my mom is here. i love you mom. thank you. [ applause ] >> good morning and welcome morning joe. it is tuesday, may 7th, along with joe, willie and me we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, nbc news national political report heidi przybyla, editor of the "washington post" eugene robinson and washington anchor for bbc world news america, katty kay is with us. >> this is book fair today. >> oh, my gosh. so exciting. >> everybody has a book. we'll go around the table. mika, let's start with yours. >> today me and my co-author are releasing "earn it" part of know your value series focused on younger women in the first decade of their careers.

it's awesome. her story is in it. it's a guide book. you follow it along through your career and it will really help you launch properly. it's all about equal pay ultimately and women, the data shows always start a little lower than men and never catch up. this helps sort of get a firmer, stronger start going for a young woman's career. called "earn it." >> you'll talk about it on "the view" today. >> i was host of the matrix awards yesterday and launched there. >> willie, your turn. >> i don't have a book out today. but my dad has a book out today. called "lake of the ozarks" memoir of his college summers working at his one cal's aftero -- arrowhead lodge.

it's funny. very funny. called "lake of the ozarks." >> can't wait. what a story she has. >> amazing. and a lot of young women can really emulate a lot of the attempts she made to start her career again and again. it's not easy. it's a long road. >> that's great. i feel all of the books i read coming up were all from older women imparting advice from way back when it was a different time and she's in it now. >> she brings it to now. what the challenges are today on every level. and not just in big cities but across the country. >> mike, what a nice story from the white house yesterday tiger woods. his mother getting to see that. >> story of redemption. people like that. he has earned it. he's really earned it. coming back the way he did. you know, he's had a lot of

self-inflicted wounds along the way but there he was yesterday presidential medal. his appearance and his performance at the masters this year was just incredible. still resonates. and it's a nice story. >> it is. you know, he's a much different guy than the guy that won the masters the first time. a dedicated father. everybody who knows him talks about how he's a dedicated father. the kids, they are all -- everybody is working together in that family to make it work. and it's fantastic. >> yep. all right let's get to the news. a new poll says joe biden continues to dominate the presidential democratic field during his second week as a candidate. morning consult's latest weekly poll shows biden with 40% support as senator bernie sanders is down three points to 19% and senators elizabeth

warren and kamala harris are in third and fourth place with 8% and 7% each. mayor pete buttigieg drops to fifth%. beto o'rourke at 5%. senator cory booker at 3. >> gene, i had seen something earlier this morning, said that these were taken in early states, early primary states. you know, there may be 48 people in this race but right now -- right now i know it's early, but that's a pretty darn big lead for joe biden and as we know the money feeds that way, everything starts feeding that way, and very interesting, biden starting extraordinarily strong. >> yeah, right now. polls are a snapshot but that snowplow shot says there are basically two people in this race right now, and one of them

just pulled a little further apaid of the other, joe biden pulled further ahead of bernie sanders. i mean, 40% in a field of 22, 21, i don't know how many is an impressive lead. the question is if you're down at 8 or 7 or 6 or 5 or 3% how do you break through? how do you get up in a tier where you can challenge joe biden. do the other candidates go after biden? do they risk weakening him. do they risk weakening themselves by going after him in a way voters don't like? it's a challenge for everybody else right now. and joe biden is looking pretty comfortable. >> he certainly is. really it's one thing if everybody is clustered and biden

is at 22 and others are slipping but here you have 19% and alex told me the early states are even more commanding. it's 44% for joe biden. so, yes, i know we're supposed to say it's very early. it's very early. at the same time when you have 22 people in the field, you tell me how those 21 other people running against joe biden are going to be able to draw political blood on the debate stage or even on the campaign trail? seems to me right now joe biden's biggest dang worry be self-inflicted wound. >> correct. that's exactly right. has to be be something he does at this point. you think about a debate stage. you may not even get to be on the stage with him. the debate is split into two groups. say if you're bernie sanders or elizabeth warren somebody in the top pack depending on the draw you may not get a chance to

confront him. that's a big number. he's winning all those early states. been in all those early states, new hampshire, iowa, south carolina. kamala harris, cory booker, candidates like that not doing as well. so, he's in a commanding place right now and you can see where the ground -- bernie sanders sort of has his support locked in. he's at 20%. how do those other candidates below biden and bernie, how do they make their move? there's tons of time to do it. >> it's sort of attacking joe biden -- i don't think it will be work. >> no. >> bigger problem too for a lot of other candidates while they may get blue check marks, worked into a frenzy about him and get people in the mainstream media excited about him, joe biden's numbers are coming from people who aren't blue check marks. his numbers are coming from

people who don't work at news networks or editorial page editors. it comes from the rank-and-file, union workers, black women, the people who are the real back bone of the democratic party. >> and always have been. the key difference, i think, in those number that we're looking at between now and the last time bernie sanders ran for president is the last time he ran four years ago, he had that left hand passing lane so to speak all to himself. now it's a very congested lane. there's four or five other candidates in that lane. probably sooner than later, aiming their political strategy their rhetoric or anything towards joe biden, i think a few of them are going to start aiming a little rhetoric at bernie sanders. >> well, you're absolutely right. if you look at bernie's vote last time he had about 40% of the democratic primary vote. now the part that's split is not the part that's, if you want to

put labels on thing, the establishment vote, it's those people who are competing in that progressive lane with birdie, the pete buttigiegin ibuttigieg warren is in that race. last week president took to twitter and was attacking joe biden, sending out this long tweet stream of attacks on him when he got the firemen's endorsement and that's helping joe biden and elevating him. if you look at the polls, what is the number one thing that's animating the democratic base right now? it is the question of electability. in the polls it says 46% of democrats say that's more important than anything else than stands on issues and that that is the issue that's animating democrats, that is why joe biden i think is getting so much support. >> still ahead on "morning joe" more than 500 former prosecutors are speaking with a single voice and their message is clear.

donald trump would have been indicted if he were not the president. we'll talk about that pointed open letter, but first let's go to bill karins for a check on the forecast. bill? >> good morning. unfortunately one of those dangerous may days where we have to worry with severe weather, flash flooding and life threatening storms. we'll deal with it this afternoon and then tomorrow and maybe even thursday too. the area of greatest concern where you see the bright color red is north texas, not only tornadoes bath strong tornado or two. then these storms will head towards oklahoma city later on this evening. as i mentioned tomorrow they head for the big population centers. 33 million are at risk for severe storms on wednesday including oklahoma city, austin. the worst weather has been in kansas city. new thunderstorms will pop abandoning. because of the heavy rain we have flofld watches for 8 million people including much of kansas and kansas city, central missouri and now we've added

shreveport to texarkana and little rock. rainfall forecast will be epic. we should be looking at two to three inches of rainfall in a pretty wide area. at least we have some good weather. east coast fantastic today. enjoy it while it lasts. another rainey friday will be heading your way the end of this work week. look at the bottom right. there's lady liberty. new york harbor looking beautiful. you're watching "morning joe". we'll be right back. choosing a health care provider doesn't have to be." molly: "that's why i choose a nurse practitioner for my family's primary care." david: "my np is accessible and takes the time to listen. i love my np." molly: "our np orders tests, makes the correct diagnoses and prescribes the medications we need." david: "my name is david and i choose an np." molly: "my name is molly and we choose nps." np: "consider an np. visit we choose nps.org to learn more."

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listen to your mom, knuckleheads. hand em over. hand what over? video games, whatever you got. let's go. you can watch videos of people playing video games in the morning. is that everything? i can see who's online. i'm gonna sweep the sofa fort. well, look what i found. take control of your wifi with xfinity xfi. let's roll! now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity xfi gives you the speed, coverage and control you need. manage your wifi network from anywhere when you download the xfi app today. more than 500 former federal prosecutors are making their case that president trump would have been indicted for obstruction of justice in special counsel robert mueller's russian probe if he did not hold the nation's highest office. statement published on the welcome back site medium yesterday was signed by ex-prosecutors who have served

under both republican and democratic administrations, including at least 35 who have served in the justice department under trump. the document offers a rebuttal to attorney general william barr's determination that the evidence mueller uncovered in his two year investigation was not sufficient to establish that trump committed a crime. barr defended that determination last week during his testimony before the senate judiciary committee. >> i didn't exonerate. i said that we did not believe that there was sufficient evidence to establish an obstruction which was the job of the justice department. and the job of the justice department is now over. >> mueller declined to say whether trump should have been charged citing a justice department legal opinion that sitting presidents cannot be indicted. along with concerns about the fairness of accusing someone for whom there can be no court proceeding. but in their letter the group of

prosecutors argue each of us believes the conduct of president trump described in mueller's report would in the case of any other person not cold front by the office of legal counsel policy against indicting a sitting president would result in multiple felony charges for obstruction of justice. we emphasize that these are not matters of close professional judgment. of course there are potential defenses for arguments that could be raised in response to an indictment of the nature we describe here. but, to look at these facts and say that a prosecutor could not probably sustain a conviction for obstruction of justice, the standard set out in principles of federal prosecution runs counter to logic and our experience. katty kay, that's a pretty strong statement. >> yeah. that phrase multiple charges,

multiple felony charges of obstruction of justice must be the phrase that they are looking at in the white house with some concern. i don't know if these prosecutors have been in touch with bob mueller in the last couple of days but you hear echos of the letter that mueller sent to bill barr expressing his concerns about bill barr's interpretation of this. you kind much hear echoes of this in this letter from 500 now prosecutors, some of whom have worked for republican candidates going right back to president reagan. the question still, though, for democrats is what do they do with this? how do they handle this politically? the path for them handling this in terms asking for witnesses and subpoenas, that being stone called. that part seems to have been set. this will carry on being litigated by democrats. then politically they have to think how do they handle this over the next 18 months so this gives them the best possible leverage in 2020. this has been punted from mueller to congress and it's

clearly already going to be punted on to 2020 to the voters. >> willie, the headline was stunning. it would be stunning for a lot of people. but i have yet to talk to a prosecutor or former puerto rico that didn't laugh when i said is that obstruction of justice. of course it's obstruction of justice. this would be obstruction of justice anywhere. i've seen a lot of donald trump's defenders who have managed it by being antitheti l anti-anti-trump and becoming more aggressive attacking robert mueller. it's shameful. again, if you remove donald trump's name from this, you can find a prosecutor -- >> president. >> or former prosecutor that wouldn't say that he was guilty of obstruction or at least he would be indicted on those, on some of those ten circumstances that robert mueller brought up,

and examples of obstruction. and, you know, judge napolitano, who is fox news chief legal analyst says the same thing. this isn't close. you have a person that is in power. that is being investigated for wrongdoing. and that person uses his position and abuse of power to try to stop the investigation by getting the investigator fired and he tries to do so repeatedly. and he actually even fires the first person that is starting the investigation, and says to an nbc news correspondent and says to the russians why he did it. >> in plain sight from the beginning. before the mueller report. as was touched on these are not screaming lefties on the left.

these are people who worked in the justice department some in the reagan administration, george h.w. bush administration. it's not clear what it means other than stating the obvious that there was obstruction of justice other than to point to the performance of attorney general barr last week when he twisted himself in knots and bent over backwards to make the case it was not obstruction of justice which flew in the sense of common sense and also the legal opinions of now 500 or so people that have worked in the justice department. coming up on "morning joe" the u.s. picks up intelligence from across the middle east every day. but it's not often serious enough to literally move war ships. now american officials say they are countering specific iranian threats with a series show of force. we'll go through the details on that next on "morning joe". n that next on "morning joe"

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revealing more about why it is sending the "uss abraham lincoln" carrier strike group and an unnamed bomber task force to u.s. central command in the middle east and the potential for war. yesterday acting defense secretary patrick shanahan tweeted that the deployment is in response to quote indications of a credible threat by iranian regime forces. new intelligence also shows that iran and its proxies are moving forces and may be planning for both land and sea attacks according to u.s. officials and a defense official. after the u.s. designated the iran revolutionary guard corps as a terrorism organization last month, teheran responded by designating at u.s. troops in the middle east as terrorists and u.s. as a sponsor of terrorism. joining us now former nato supreme allied commander, retired four star admiral navy,

chief of security and diplomacy analyst for nbc news and msnbc. >> i'm your acting morning news host. everybody is acting around here. so, there were news reports for the past few days that this military exercise had been planned for some time. what can you tell us? >> it was planned for the carrier strike group to move into the arabian gulf but not for a few months. as you know, joe, we've had carrier strike group in the gulf for decades. i commanded the enterprise carrier strike group some years ago. these are massive machines of war. they carry 70 combat aircraft. they come with cruisers, missiles. but it's pretty common to have one in there. what is different is coupling this speed up deployment with the rhetoric. it is a significant escalation in that sense. we ought to be concerned about

rising tension in the arabian gulf. >> so, admiral, do you see it as a credible threat the iranians would attack any u.s. force? >> i think it's very unlikely. >> very unlikely. >> that there would be an overt attack against u.s. forces. possibility of a terrorist strike, something under the radar, that's a very good possible. overt attack is very unlikely. >> i under as a military man or woman, you always have to prepare for the worst. does this seem to you on the surface, at least, at first glance to be more about donald trump saber rattling, playing to his political base at home instead of actually doing anything that's going to have long term military consequences? >> i would say every military deployment where you see a

president reach for those aircraft carriers there's always going to be a domestic component to it, joe. i think in this particular case when you look at the back and forth of us declaring iranian revolutionary guard terrorists, them declaring us terrorists, i think it's actually a prudent military move to accelerate that carrier deployment into the gulf. but is there a domestic component? there always is. >> admiral, if you could, continue to help us with our suspicion level here. the reports are that this move was made, the heightening up the accelerated pace of the carrier group, this move was made after new intelligence was received in washington, apparently the intelligence came from the israeli intelligence agency. the benefits would accrue to saudi arabia and israel if we inject ourselves further in that situation in the middle east.

the national security adviser for the president john bolton had a thundering response to this intelligence. help calm this thing down for us, would you please, because i think more than a few people are looking at this and saying hmmm. >> indeed. it certainly can get into your head. let's look at the geopolitics of this for a second. if you see iran, which it is, pushing throughout the limits of the ancient persian empire, bullwa rx in the end is israel and saudi arabia the front line states. putting that carrier in as you see iranians ramping up does make military sense. i think there's an ironic element to it that this is the lincoln carrier battle group, our men president who was the most resolute in war, most compassionate in peace, not to

go john meacham on you here, that would be an interesting angle to this. i think there's a trigger statement ahead. i think there is a component here of domestic but overall this one does pretty firmly fall into smart move internationally, the right elements are there to support it. >> admiral, thank you. coming up on "morning joe" from looming recession to booming economy, there's been a bit of a whiplash when it comes to the conversation about america's financial forecast. we'll take the pulse of the economy and what it means in the next presidential race next on "morning joe". l race next on "morning joe". incomparable design makes it beautiful.

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i would just say i'm a card carrying capitalist. i believe we wouldn't be sitting here except for the market system and rule of law and some things that are embodied in this

country. so, you know, i don't have to worry about me. changing in that manner. but i also think capitalism does involve regulation and involves taking care of people when they are left behind particularly when the country gets enormously prosperous. i don't think the country will go into socialism in 2020 or in 2040 or 2060. >> that's warren buffett speaking there at his company's annual berkshire hathaway shareholder meeting. joining us now andy surho. also cnbc editor-at-large john harwood. and sara eisen. you were there in the room with warren buffett. what was the message he wanted to speak. when he speaks he's talking to the world.

>> he has this optimistic long term view about america and sometimes it sounds a little pollyannish, if you look back he's been right. there's all kinds of challenges for this country. talk a little bit about china and our relationship there. the economy is doing so well right now. obviously there's pockets where things are not working so well in terms of coal country manufacturing. but you look at the numbers, unemployment rate 3.6%. gdp growth 3.2%. last time those two numbers were that close together, i can't remember that. gdp growth and the unemployment rate at the same level. there's a lot to crow about when it comes to america. >> yes, there is. >> the markets, what do they think? what's the next six months? what's the next year look like? it wasn't too long ago we were hearing 50% of the economists were predicting a rescission in 2020. now that i say this people will be jumping out of windows on

wall street in a couple of months. this doesn't look like a ramp up to a recession. >> it's the opposite. a lot of reaction in the last few months is pricing out that idea of recession because i got to say the economy has looked better than most people thought. and stocks are hovering near record highs. when we got that pair of tweets over the weekend from president trump escalating the trade fight with china, threatening to put a higher tariff rate on the imports that he's already taxes 10% to 25% which we're expecting you might have thought the market would crater on this. sun night futures did fall more than 500 points. guess what? we only closed down 75 points on the dow yesterday. we're under a little pressure today down 155. but nothing extreme. what does that tell us? that the u.s. economic prospect looks pretty good. it's not just the unemployment rate, and the gdp number which are coming in better, it's the overall tone and the mood and

corporate earnings which we just got. a lot of people were talking how we were going no an earning recession, declining earning. we got numbers. so far we're set to show growth for earnings. it's a lot better than we thought back in december and a lot better than say china germany on some of these negative trade headlines. >> john harwood, can republicans crow about the tax cuts, helping the corporations, helping employers expand, helping their earnings improve? >> absolutely they can. the tax cuts played a significant part in the acceleration of growth that occurred in 2018. so did the acceleration of spending. one of the things that is overlooked sometimes is the lifting of spending restraint that occurred during the latter part of the obama administration. so we got both fiscal stimulus on the tax side and spending

side. what we haven't seen a sustained large bump up in business investment. we had a bit of a boost in the early part of 2018, the question is, is that going to be sustained. that will answer the question which we don't know the answer to yet as toe whether what we're seeing now is simply a keynesian short term or long term increase in economic prospects for the country. right now the federal reserve and others are looking at this year as a year of mid-2% growth. the fed's last forecast was something in the range of 2.2. mark zandi tells me he expects it now to track at 2.5%. that's not the 3% the administration has called on but it's not bad. and so some of the questions about the tax cut haven't been answered but the short term ones have been positive. >> take a look at this. a monmouth university poll shows

socialism remains an unpopular political label nationally. 57% of americans say socialism is not compatible with american values while 29% say it is. the poll also finds that 37% view universal health care as a socialist policy while 4% see it as a capitalist policy and the majority 53% view it as neither. americans opinion of socialism is 45% neutral, 42% negative, and only 10% positive. on the flip side, though, 40% are neutral about capitalism while 39% have a positive opinion and another 17% hold a negative view. >> so, that can create some head winds, mike, for not only bernie sanders but others who have been skeptics of capitalism. we've had candidates on here

that were capitalists who were initially embarrassed to say they were capitalists. but it seems, again, in increasing numbers, positive numbers. you're seeing the desire for socialism or another form of knick structure going down. >> snow, anybody who walks around in an ordinary day knows this. income disparity is a huge sleeper issue for every detained. for the president, for the 22 democrats running. ivt out there. we have these wonderful reports about the economy booming. there are still large pockets of the economy in this country where people haven't received a percentage increase in wages, andy, in 10, 15, 20 years. a big plight. >> i agree with you. income and wealth inequality is a huge issue, and, you know, you see it every where. the problem is it can really lead to social unrest. you look at other countries, and

the road map where you start with that kind of inequality where does it lead to? it's a bad ending. talk to people how to resolve it. people talk about taxes and then that becomes kind of unpopular. you talk about the income, earned income tax credit that warren buffett talks about. one of the solutions solving it is difficult. education. it's not a quick fix. but i think it's right. democrats could tap into that as well in the midwest where people are anxious about the economy and they see themselves falling behind in terms of those union jobs. >> so sara, the rich are obviously guesting a lot richer. are the poor getting poorer, or are they just holding their own? income disparity actually just comes from the super wealthy like warren buffett becoming just that much more wealthy in

this new economy. >> lower income has been basically stagnating and i think there's a lot of hope that they would see wage gains as a result president trump's election and his historic tax cuts and basically there's been a lot of stagnation at the bottom. what's not helping the whole optics of all of this is some of most prominent voices in the debate calling for a rethink of how we look at capitalism in this country and the inequality problems is billionaires. it's jamie dimon. one of the most successful hedge fund managers out there. looking at warren buffett and his comments is refreshing, he said i'm a card carrying capitalist and you wouldn't have this american ingenuity since the 1700s if you didn't have capitalism. yes we need to address issues of inequality and industry sectors that have been left behind perhaps by trade and globalization but that's a

different thing than embracing socialism, spending your way towards free health care and policies we've seen from the democrats. >> that's exactly the argument that someone like elizabeth warren makes who is confident in the way she views the world. you ask her and we did on this show a couple of weeks ago. are you a capitalist? of course i'm a capitalist. here are the problems. here's how we can do it better. here's how we can do it so people aren't left behind. but there is this reflex based on some loud noise that comes from twitter or other places or activists you have to thing twice before you say you're a capitalist or to acknowledge we live in a capitalist system. elizabeth warren if you're a progressive is the way to go which is to say yes, but. >> many people don't like labels. i'm an american. i believe in our american system. i do have to say i'm a card carrying capitalist or i'm a socialist. can't i believe in this country and our system without putting a

label on. >> yes. >> john one of my favorite quotes of americans and socialism actually came from katty kay on this show back after a "newsweek" cover said we're all socialists after the bail out and she laughed, you americans would make the worst socialists ever. she said we have a saying in britain a day's worth of work you all are define by your work. you're define by how long you're at the office. you're defined by what you create. she said socialists not in your life times. >> that's true. if you had a binary choice between capitalism and socialism, capitalism is always going to win in this country. but it's not really a binary choice. we have a mixed economy. it's not pure capitalism. it's not pure socialism. we have a mix of safety nets and

public programs and regulations that constrain capitalism and what democrats are talking about is more constraints. you guys were talking about declaring you're capitalists. one of the most remarkable moments of the campaign to me so far has been the moment when you tried to get john higgsenloop to say he was a capitalist. now he's writing an op-ed saying i want to save capitalism. that's elizabeth warren's argument. in somewhat different words being joe biden's gum as well. >> that's a great point about our mixed economy and people should be reminded when lbj was trying to bring medicare and medicaid in, in '64, '65, i think, conservatives were calling it socialism.

>> redan was. >> reagan was calling it socialism. go back to fdr and the new deal, that was decried as socialism. >> before we go an update on boeing. boeing was aware of a problem with a key safety feature on its new 737 maximum jets in 2017. but the company did not disclose the issue to airlines or safety regulators until after the lion airplane crashed off the indonesian coast last october. in a statement boeing said jeers believed a key cockpit warning light which warns pilots if the planes sensors are transmitting contradictory data about the direction of the plane's nose was a standard feature on all new jets. as the "new york times" report months after the planes were flying engineers realized the warning light only worked on planes whose customers bought a

different optional indicator. >> you got brakes but they only work if you pay extra. >> warning light could have provide critical information on those pilots on those two flights that crashed shortly after takeoff. boeing didn't inform airlines or the faa about the mistake for one year. and only discussed the matter with the agency after the lion air crash. even then following an internal review boeing determined the alert did not pose a safety threat. >> the news does nope get any better for boeing. it keeps getting worse. >> this changes the narrative. before this there was an understanding complicated piece of equipment. people died. horrible tragedy. here this is the worse kind of thing, you knew, maybe a cover-up. you weren't being responsible. elm died. there's culpability here. so i think this is bad. >> sara, any impact on the

stock? >> so boeing shares are under pressure today. they will be down 1%. they have underperformed the market over the last few weeks since the episodes occurred. i would also note boeing got downgraded by a wall street firm today, barclays. this is an added issue boeing is going to face. they did a survey of flyers. they asked 1765 flyers in north america and europe about perceptions, would they fly a boeing, a 737 max. nearly half will not fly that for a year or more. so even when they fix the security issues and when they answer some of these questions about what they knew when and why they didn't warn, they're still going to have a consumer perception problem. this has been in the news now for a long time. >> cnbc's sarah isner and john harwood, thank you both. yahoo! finance's sandy sury, great to see you. >> the big book release day on "morning joe" continues. we're going to bring in stedman

graham. and this piece of 2020 news as we go to break. new york city mayor bill de blasio is denying reports of an impending announcement for president during an interview with new york one last night. >> is this the night you let us know when you're going to run for president, if you're going to run for president? >> this is not the night, no. >> not the night and not the week. >> not the week? >> yeah. okay. so you confirmed that. >> there was a story that assumed a specific thing that never was. we said, you can't have an announcement before there's a decision. you've had quite the career. yeah, i've had some pretty prestigious jobs over the years. news producer, executive transport manager, and a beverage distribution supervisor. now i'm a director at a security software firm. wow, you've been at it a long time. thing is, i like working. what if my retirement plan is i don't want to retire? then let's not create a retirement plan. let's create a plan for what's next.

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or.. badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com joining us now, author, speaker. stedman graham's new book, "identity leadership to lead others you must first lead yourself." it's good to have you on our show. >> thank you so much. >> tell us what you mean by the title. >> it's self-leadership based on the philosophy that you cannot lead anybody else until you first lead yourself, which is probably one of the hardest things to do is to lead yourself because it's not set up to lead yourself. >> right. maybe a lot of people think they already are. >> well, most people think they are. >> exactly. >> most people think they know who they are and the world is set up where most people are doing the same thing over and over. they wake up, wash their face, get something to ooet, brush their teeth, get the kids off to

school, go to work. watch tv, go to bed, and repeat that same cycle over and over so they have no self-awareness of their potential as a human being. the educational system is traditional. teach us how to memorize, take tests, repeat the information back and forget the information. if you are doing the same thing over and over which is nothing. nothing from nothing is nothing. so you talk about bridging the gap between the have and the have notes, it's almost impossible the way it's set up because the game has been changed with technology. so you have to be able to be relevant today and you can't be relevant unless you can think, unless you become a self-directed learner, unless you understand how to take information and make it relevant to who you are, to your talents, to your abilities, to your skill. this is a skill-based society today and that's not taught. so you've got 6.9 billion people

in the world who are stuck waiting for leadership. most people are not authentic or real. the key to others. >> what are you good at? what can you do? how do people check themselves on that? >> the most important word in identity is love. when you love. it's only two choices. love and hate, good and bad, will and won't, can and can't. so your ability to be able to organize your whole life around what your passion is about, what motivates you, what gets you excited do you have a foundation

of organizing that continues to improve it every day so you become better today than yesterday. that's the problem. >> sometimes that requires a stopping. mika is really studying mindfulness right now. we have so much stuff going. constantly things coming in at us nonstop. sometimes you have to unplug. >> right. >> you've got to stop. >> you have 60,000 thoughts a day going through your head. >> i have 14 but everybody else has 60,000. go ahead. >> 60,000. >> so how do you stay focused? >> right. the marketplace today is saying you have to be focused and you have to decide who you want to become. i know who you are. you're doing the same thing over

and over every day. second steps in the nine step success process is vision. you've got to have a vision for who you want to become so that you can develop goals and a process for becoming that and developing a process of continuous improvement where you can continue every single day. >> who are you writing the book for? young people? have, have notes, people like us? >> this is about self-actualization so the earlier you can teach this, you can teach it to your middle school child of how to turn maslo's hierarchy of leads around and put self-actualization on the bottom as opposed to waiting until you're 70 years of age and now you want to be self-actualized. you want to teach them early on so they understand how to take information and make it relevant to their development, to their skill sets. how to create cognitive ability. how to think, you know, so they can take all the experiences they have throughout the years and make it relevant to their development so they can improve

their leadership ability and move from a follow lower to leader based on their own potential. >> the book is "identity leadership, to lead others you must lead yourself first." stedman graham, thank you so much. >> that was great. >> it's out today. congratulations. >> your book is out today? >> yes. >> congratulations to you. >> willie's dad's book is out. >> "lake of the ozarks." >> that does it for us this morning. stephanie rule ruhle this morning. >> a clash over contempt. the house moves closer to holding the attorney general in contempt. they're expected to declare case closed on the mueller report. how about some checks and imbalances. treasury secretary steven mnuchin officially denies house democrats' request for president trump's tax returns saying it served no legislative purpose.