thank you for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters in new york. ♪ a republican congressman defends his call for impeaching the president. justin amash got a standing ofb vasion after telling his constituents that congress must hold trump accountable. plus, joe biden's 2020 campaign hits back at the president. say the most recent attacks are below the dignity of office. and mitch mcconnell, after famously blocking merrick garland's nomination in 2016.

good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, may 29th. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside nbc news white house correspondent geoff bennett. we have a lot to get to this morning. but we first want to start with the severe weather stretching across much of the country right now. according to the national weather service multiple tornadoes touched down in kansas and pennsylvania last night, leaving behind a path of destruction. in the last 30 days alone, there have been more than 500 reported tornadoes. and the threat is not over yet. i want to bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins for more on this. a pretty incredible evening to say the least last night. >> yeah, good morning. it was scary. new york city at one point was underneath a tornado warning. staten island area, newark, new jersey. at the same time, we were watching a tornado on the ground in kansas that looked like one of the biggest ones we've been seeing throughout this latest outbreak over the last couple of weeks. there were 19 tornado reports.

we have maybe one in northern new jersey, too. we'll get confirmation later today. the big one is out here, just missed north kansas where university of kansas is, and it moved south of town and lifted and got weaker. the kansas city motor speedway on the west side of kansas city. it actually reformed on the other side of kansas city. it's amazing when you see pictures from linwood area, you see a foundation no home. you wonder where the home was. at one point, they had debris falling from the sky, five to ten miles away from where that tornado hit. so what are we going to do today? unfortunately, it looks like we'll do it all over again. 84 million at risk of these storms today. it's almost a repeat of yesterday. a little bit shifted to the east, a little bit shifted to the south. pennsylvania, northern virginia, washington, d.c., baltimore, philadelphia, new york city. of course, this area back to the

west here from ft. smith, arkansas, to tulsa, to little rock. that's we've had kerry sanders out there standing in the arkansas river for the last few days. it's pouring there this morning. a little more ryain in pennsylvania. look at this, thunderstorms over ft. smith. it's just adding insult to injury. you're going to get another round later today. that's why we have flash food watches here and areas up here. it's been a broken record for the last 12, 13 days. today looks like to be kieft end of it, maybe a tiny bit tomorrow. and by friday, we get a break. >> they need a break. >> bill, 500 tornadoes in 30 days what accounts for those? >> those are preliminary reports. we haven't gotten a confirmed number. we've had as many as 200, 250 in one day. it's just one day. it's the cumulative effect. it's like we haven't been able

to catch our breath and take a break. this is the peak of tornado season. we expect outbreaks, we just don't expect them every single day. >> looking for a break in the forecast. thank you, will. congressman justin amash, the lone republican calling for president trump's r resignation received a standing ovation. after amash saying attorney general bill barr misrepresented mueller's findings. amash represented the attacks of the leadership. >> to me, the comment was obviously impeachable. so the question is do you then move forward with impeachment proceedings. my biggest concern, i thought about this for a long time. like i said, i spent a month, reviewing, analyzing, thinking about it, and i am concerned that we've gotten to the point where impeachment may never be

used in any circumstance. and i think that is a greater risk than the risk that it will be used too often. you saw what happened to me from our so-called leader kevin mccarthy. i read the mueller report. i'm sure he did not read it. i stated what it actually says, and he just resorted to attacks and other various attacks that had nothing to do with the mueller report, this is the kind of leadership, in quotes, that we now have in congress. that is the biggest abuse of power right now happening in our government that needs to be addressed because you wonder why the president, the executive has so much power, whether it was barack obama or donald trump or any osh exany other executive i because congress it impotent, they don't do their job. >> he said he would not rule out a run on the libertarian ticket

but did mention he's not ruling out a run for the fbi or senate either. penning a new op-ed in "the washington post," dismantling what he calls the president's dumb lies about the bureau and the beginnings of the russia investigation. comey writes this in part, a russia engaged in a massive effort to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. near as i can tell, there son-in-law one u.s. leader who still denies that fact. the fbi says the attack started in mid-june 2016 with the first dumping of emails. in late july when we were hard at work trying to understand the cope of the effort, we learned that they learned seven weeks before we did. of course no one told us there or about the approaches. we had to learn months after that from an ambassador. we didn't spy on anybody's campaign. we investigated to see whether

it was true that americans associated with the campaign and had taken the russians up on any offers of help. comey goes on to challenge a number of the president and allies favorite initiatives on the probe. but, wait, the conspiracy idea gets dumber. on october 28th, after agonizing deliberation over two terrible options, i concluded that i had no choice but to inform congress that we had reopened the clinton email investigation. i judged that it would be worse than telling the truth. last month, with the cia security clearance, the only problem, no one actually did the work to make it happen. a person familiar with the process tells "the new york times" that the white house never followed through with the complicated bureaucratic work it would have taken to strip

brennan of this security clearance. at the time, trump was consistently assailing brennan, an outspoken critic of the president for what trump claimed was erratic behavior. >> joining us now from washington, reporter for the hill, julia manchester. julia, let's talk about the stuff we've been covers so far. was this essentially a bluff by president trump in talking about john brennan and revoking his security clearance? what does it say about his administration if it did not follow through with his request? >> in the first part of your question, yasmin, it does seem like a bit of a block. we do know john brennan has made trips to capitol hill to brief democrats on various matters that might involve classified information. that is not known to the public. so that's a bit telling. however, i think it just shows that president trump, you know, was -- could have been, you know, obviously, watching john brennan on cable news. john brennan is someone who goes on cable news quite a bit.

and is a huge critic of the trump administration. we do know president trump takes a lot of criticism, especially that on cable news, to heart. it seems like this is something president trump saw and he was obvious obviously offended by seeing john brennan a top community intelligence official go on repeatedly to lambaste him. and it appears as a way to lash out. in terms of what it shows for the organization, i think there may be miscommunication on this. clearly, this was not a priority for those in the administration to take away john brennan's security clearance and they were focused on something else. however, it is a bit bizarre that president trump would have called for this and never followed through. >> it just goes to show what we have come to expect from this president being very reactive. >> yeah. >> in nature, and not necessarily going through the pace of that reaction. >> when i first covered the white house, people would say

pay more attention to what trump does and not what he says. in this instance, he didn't follow through on his threat. let's talk about justin amash. he got a lot of positive response from the town hall and the polo shirt he was wearing. he's going to run for something, he just hasn't figured out what yet. what do you think this reveals, if anything, about 2020? >> you know, i don't think it reveals anything amid the republican party in 2020. i think there's obviously a lot df d of democrats, kamala harris being one of them on the nbc town hall who will praised justin amash saying he's putting partisan before party. however you're seeing other members, kevin mccarthy and others, and the freedom caucus which he's a founding member of come out and attack him.

so it shows that republicans are not moving on this issue of attacking those who defend president trump. >> julia manchester, thanks for your time. we'll talk to you in just a bit. still ahead, senator and 2020 candidate kamala harris lays out her priorities if elected president during an msnbc town hall. we'll get all of the highlights coming up. plus, another white house hopeful seth moulton opened up about ptsd. and introduces a plan to expand military health services. those stories and a check of the weather, when we come right back.

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cancer treatment centers of america. [ slurps ] gwho's a good boy? it's me. me, me, me. hey guys! you're gonna want to get in on this. i know how to those guys in here. let's pause the internet on their devices. wohhh? huhhhh? [ grumbling ] all: sausages! mmm, mmmm. bon appetite. make time for what matters. pause your wifi with xfinity xfi and see the secret life of pets 2 in theaters. welcome back. presidential candidate senator kamala harris unveiled her new plan to stop states from sidestepping roe v. wade. harris' new proposed federal legislation would require state and local governments that have a history of violating roe to

receive department of justice approval for future changes to abortion laws. it would enact federal government preclearance requirements on state and local governments that courts have found violated roe v. wade, protections in the last 25 years. the 2020 democratic candidate explained her new proposal during an msnbc town hall last night. >> we will fight for women and their right to make decisions about their own body in consultation with their physician, with their god, with their priest, with their rabbi. but when we look at a law like what's happening in alabama, they're saying they're going to sentence a doctor to 99 years. as a prosecutor, let me tell you, i've got a real problem with that. i have a real problem with that. when elected, i'm going to put in place and require that states that have a history of passing legislation that is designed to prevent or limit a woman's access to reproductive health

care, that those laws have to come before my department of justice for a review and approval. and until we determine that they are constitutional, they will not take effect. >> that sounds like it means 60 votes in the united states senate? >> you know what, everything that we need to do is going to require 60 votes in the united states senate. which is why i say, everybody, 2020 is about the white house, it's also about the united states senate. >> joining from us the location of that town hall, nbc correspondent ron hilliard for us. ron, good morning. thanks for joining us. senator kamala harris, during the msnbc town hall last night as we just heard, hitting on a number of topics, what do you think and what are you hearing was her standout moment last night? >> reporter: yeah, good morning, as you just played, that was her big policy push that she focused on last night. this is a methodical campaign by kamala harris, as she's going through, is this now her fourth

month of campaigning. and last night, rolling out the issue, especially at a time like this in which several of these states have passed these restrictive borges measu ivive . the states that could not implement such laws until her administration, her department of justice signed off. she also, though, hit on other issues. she called the impact of trump's trade war, she called it the trump trade tax. essentially saying that -- contending that americans are paying the costs of trump's trade war with china, saying whether it be paying for more shampoo or other consumer goods or washing machines. but also for those farmers that have not been getting the guaranteed return for the crops they've been growing. but also i want to play for you a little bite. because she came to her defense of one of her democratic opponents, and that would be former vice president joe biden.

when it comes to president trump's remarks overseas while in japan this weekend. >> the idea that this president on foreign soil attacked the previous vice president of the united states, i don't care what the differences on policy issues, i don't care what the differences in terms of party affiliation. it is wrong. it is cis contrary to our valued it's contrary to the best interest of our country. the integrity of our country. and he should not have done it. it's irresponsible and it's yet another example of why he should not be president of the united states. >> reporter: this is kamala harris' sixth stop to south carolina since announcing her bid four months ago. she'll be down the way in greenville and anderson, south carolina before heading to california for the weekend. >> vaughn hillyard, thank you. still ahead, everybody, in just a matter of days, missouri could soon become the first and only state without abortion issues.

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at the same time, the justices declined to provide another aspect of the law which would have prohibited abortions based on gender, race or instability of the fetus. the indiana law was signed by vice president mike pence while he was governor. and missouri may lose its last remaining abortion clinic and become the first state without a legal provider since roe v. wade. that's if a court does not intervene. planned parenthood officials sounded at alarm yesterday, announcing they were sighing to keep their st. louis clinic over past may 31st when its current license expired. officials reached a standoff with department of health services after regulators there wanted to question clinic staff on the state's recently changed abortion provider regulations and reportedly threatened to not re knew the clinic's license if denied. missouri's restrictive abortion requirements have shuttered two clinic information the state as health departments in neighboring kansas and illinois

report an influx of women crossing the state lines to get the procedure. joining us here on set is nbc legal analyst danny cevallos. great to see you. let's start with missouri. what recourse does planned parenthood have if at all? >> filing a complaint in court, asking the court not for money damages but for the court to say to the state, hey, you just can't increase requirements until you make it too difficult to do business. bus that's one way to chip away at abortion. they know it's facially unconstitutional, at least it violates roe v. wade to simply prohibit abortion. but what about increasing all of the requirements and red tape. and bringing doctors in for questioning. and increasing the requirements that a doctor must meet in order to perform an abortion in the state. if you make the environment unpleasant enough, then abortion providers will simply decline to do business. they'll say, we'd rather do something else, because it's

just too difficult to perform these abortions. while now planned parenthood needs to argue in their complaint that this regulation, this over-regulation, creates an undue burden in violation of casey. >> turning back the supreme court's decision yesterday, what does the ruling on indiana's abortion restriction signal for future cases? >> it's a bit of a draw. in a sense, the court decided not the undue burden issue. instead, the law required -- had to do with fetal remains. because fetal remains are not necessarily a life and being. the court concluded that the only thing they needed to do is apply what's called rational basis. the law didn't complicate any fundamental right. instead, missouri can regulate fetal tissue, because that doesn't affect the abortion decision. of course justice ginsburg pointed out that even decisions that have to be made about what happens after the abortion may affect the decision before the abortion. so it's a very, very interesting

as. and as we can see, reasonable minds can differ on the outcome. >> danny cevallos thank you. >> thank you. former vice president joe biden unveils a campaign plan. and mitch mcconnell says if a supreme court vacancy were to happen in 2020 he would work to confirm a new justice. those stories and more coming up next.

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i'm yasmin vossoughian. alongside nbc news white house correspondent geoff bennett. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the top stories. a new poll of south carolina's democratic primary has former vice president joe biden far ahead but a sizable group remains undecided. the open-ended survey saying they did not provide names. 37% said biden. 10% chose bernie sanders. 8% go to elizabeth warren. kamala harris gets 7%. buttigieg at 3%. and booker at 2%. former vice president and 2020 democratic candidate joe biden has unveiled his first major policy platform of his campaign. during a town hall event in houston, texas, organized by the american federation of teachers, biden laid out a wide ranging

education plan. it includes tripling the disproportion of students and increasing teacher pay and more. take a look. >> everybody is going to tell you how much they value education. well, i've got an expression i use. don't tell me what you value. show me your budget, and i will tell you what you value. show me your budget, and i will tell you. how do we increase the dignity of work? how do we increase the professionalization of how you're treated unless we pay you what you are remotely entitled to. vice president biden didn't mention president trump's recent attack at that town hall event but his campaign is hitting back after trump criticized the former vp during a trip to tokyo over the weekend. here's some of what the president had to say. >> kim jong-un made a statement that joe biden is a low i.q. individual. he probably is, based on his

record. i think i agree with him on that. >> so biden's deputy chain manager released a statement in part saying, quote, the president's comments are beneath the dignity of office. to be on foreign soil on mem day and to side repeatedly with a murderous dictator against a fellow american and former vice president speaks for itself. and it's part of a pattern of embracing autocrats at the expense of our institutions. president trump tries to defend his comment by saying i was actually sticking to up for sleepy joe biden while on foreign soil. kim jong-un called him an low i.q. idiot. and many other things. whereas, i quoted the chairman as a low i.q. individual. and seth moulton said he

suffered from posttraumatic stress disorder after his time in the iraq war. speaking at an event in his home state of mass mass laachusetts, plan would establish a new crisis hot line. the congressman told politico, i had some particular experiences or regrets from the war that i dreamed. he added because these experiences were not debate tating i didn't feel suicidal or completely withdrawn. i was doing fine in school. it took me a while to appreciate that i was having posttraumatic stress. moulton returned from service in 2008 and said he eventually sought out counseling in 2009. last night marked the beginning of moulton's mental health tour. senator mitch mcconnell is

intending to confirm a potential supreme court pick in 2020. here were his comments yesterday. >> if a supreme court justice were decided this year -- >> i would fill it. >> mcconnell's comment comes after the refusal to back merrick garland. a spokesman claims the difference is since the gop now controls both the white house and the senate. joining us again from washington, reporter for the hill julia manchester. here at the table, professor of political science and brown university author of the book "the oath and the office a guide for future presidents," corey

bret brettschneider. >> the court currently protects the right to abortion. that may be gone with the next pick. that would solidify until my opinion against roe. there are things on the table like the future of gay marriage and in writing in particular the hostility to gay rights and gay rights generally. also i'd also executive power, justice kavanaugh in my view was largely picked because of his view of the president to basically do whatever he or she wants. long term, that might result in cases, for instance, give the president immunity from subpoenas. or the ability to have immunity from indictment, as a sitting president, one thing we saw in the mueller report. long term, we're talking 20 to 25 years of fundamentals of

american politics around the table. >> julia, what is your reaction to senator mcconnell's reasoning behind supporting a potential 2020 nomination? >> i'm not surprised that senator mcconnell said this, he certainly wasn't ruling it out. but i think it really underscores how important this court issue is for conservatives. remember, in 2016, president trump ran on appointing more conservative justices to the supreme court. as well as appointing conservative judges across the nation. and he has done that. i think this underscores how important this is for republicans going into 2020, especially with questions like the abortion question and the future of roe v. wade on the table. however, i am interested to see how other republicans react to this. we know that senate chairman lindsey graham has said the

opposite of what mcconnell has said. however, we know senator graham tends to fall in line with president trump and his party issues. so it will be interesting to see whether he does or if there is conflict. >> lindsey graham is up for re-election himself. and donald trump is more popular than lindsey graham is which is why graham seems to fall in line with president trump. with trump kicking off his 2020 campaign next month, certainly concerned with packing the supreme court with conservative justices, what do else what you think he'll lean to? >> i think they'll give him a script but the truth is, this president is out of control. he says whatever he wants at the moment. and undermines whatever the advisers or political people around him have planned. i think in his heart, a fundamental opposition to the rule of law. when you look at his proposals,

especially off the cuff proposals they show a hostility to fundamental rights. basically sympathy with those who have very different differences from our own, dictators, as we saw with that segment with joe biden. i expect he'll have a whole plan in place with advisers and scuttle it and go to his position which is admiration of dictators and insults. unfortunately, it worked last knew. this time, i hope the american people rise above that. >> it's interesting that he's kicking off his campaign next month. let's talk, julia, about the latest 2020 polls in south carolina as geoff mentioned earlier. what do they signal to you, as we approach the first round of democratic debates next month? >> well, as we noted earlier, those polls were based off of -- i guess the respondents hadn't received the candidate's name.

so, it shows that joe biden already has a very clear cut advantage in terms of name recognition. >> not surprising, though? >> not surprising, no, not at all. however, i think one candidate to watch and i know she's polling lower in that poll. is kamala harris. she's been investing quite a bit of time in south carolina. we know that last night's town hall was her sixth visit to the state and she plans many more. i would definitely keep an eye on her. we know she's targeting the african-american woman contingency in the state which is very influential within the democratic party there so i would definitely keep an eye on her. however for right now, joe biden has that name recognition standpoint. >> hey, corey, quickly, how do democratic candidates go about tackling the economy. so often when you're running against an incumbent president. economy is the way to beat an

incumbent president. here, the numbers are looking good for the economy. as he sticks the economy as he hits the campaign trail, that's going to do well for him. if you're a democratic candidate, how do you go about that? >> i think it's all about the numbers. if you look at the economy as a whole, i think that's right, the economy is doing well. but when you look at distribution of wealth, when you look at how people at the bottom are doing. >> income despairty. >> income despairty. health care, fixing obamacare and improving it or going to a more radical system that means coverage everyone. offering an alternative, not continuing health care crisis that there is now. as opposed to nothing. >> thank you for your time. still ahead, everybody, the house fails to pass a bill to give billions in aid to americans hit by natural disaster. the sticking point from one lawmaker that's keeping that money from getting to those in need. plus, the severe weather

hammering the middle of the country slams into the east coast. bill karins will have the latest weather that we're facing today. your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough

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may cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. vo: common side effects include headache and tiredness. vo: ask your doctor today, if epclusa is your kind of cure. welcome back. we want to get the latest on the outbreak of severe weather we've been facing across the country so let's bring in nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning. a scary evening last night with storms rolling through the new york city area. we had a tornado come through montgomery, pennsylvania. we'll have pictures of these things. an up close video of these things. look at this, that's the tornado. if you look closely, see the black specks? that's the debris that was picked up and sucked up into that tornado thrown up in the air. that's a crazy angle how the person is right below that thing. let's go to pennsylvania. we saw unusually large hail. numerous reports of golf

ball-size hail in pennsylvania. even staten island. the big tornado, the huge one was out in lawrence, kansas. that's the one that destroyed a bunch of homes near linwood, just to the southeast of lawrence, where university of kansas is located. today, it's rinse and repeat. we're doing it all over again. 84 million people at risk. including pittsburgh, washington, d.c., d.c., baltimore, new york city. people in st. louis, through little rock, ft. smith, springfield, joplin, back down to dallas, we're getting you in the 96 todamix today. let's focus on the severe threat for pennsylvania. dangerous storms from ohio to new jersey. starting off the morning kind of quiet. by about 2:00 p.m. the storms form on this line. this is the line that will move through pennsylvania and head to i-95. the timing of it for washington, d.c., look it's past you at 7:00 p.m. washington, d.c., 4:00 to 6:00

p.m. is your timing for the storm. philadelphia, new york city, right over the top of us by 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. this evening. the evening commute is going to be very difficult. the last thing i want to show you, all of the river gauges that are flooding. new updates on the st. louis area. for the mississippi river. it looks like we'll see a crest. the second highest ever in history for the river in st. louis. this goes back to 250 years. should be about this time next week. only about four feet shy of the all-time record of the great flood of '93. we're not done, but the severe weather after today, we should get a break. it's relentless. it's worse than relentless. >> how long does the tornado season last? >> may is the peak month. april and june are the book ends. then we get into hurricane season. thanks, bill. for the second i am in less than a week, the house failed to pass a disaster aid bill. that would provide $19 billion to funding to areas hit by

earthquakes and wildfires failed in the house after a single republican lawmaker opposed it yesterday. congressman tom massey of kentucky objected a request to passing the measure by unanimous consent, demanding that the vote be held, after the house returns from recess. >> speaker of this house felt that this was must passed legislation, the speaker of this house should have called a vote on this bill before sending every member of congress on recess for ten days, and i object. >> so last thirsursday, congres passed a disaster bill. and the objections are the only remaining hurdles that the bill faces. house majority leader steny hoyer told "the washington post" that leaders expect to bring up the disaster bill for a third time on thursday. we'll be watching that. >> yeah. still ahead, the support by one of president trump's allies for a decades-old crime bill

under attack by the president himself. plus, new details on the president's reported growing frustrations with national security adviser john bolton's public threat between the two. we're back in a moment. ck in a t it's us. millennials. hey. we all worked hard in school. but then? we got to pay back an obscene amount of student loans. so...buying a house? paying for a wedding? meanwhile our parents paid for school by waiting tables.

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the president. several officials telling "the new york times," mainly over his beliefs that trump is unwilling to push for major changes in the middle east. trump has privately vented about bolton's campaign to push out maduro, which has yielded a lot of international support but not as much inside of venezuela. trump is saying bolton is more willing to use military force than he is, with one senior official recalling trump saying, quote, if it was up to john, we'd be in four wars right now. overseas in japan, trump contradicted bolton on north korea, when the president adopted the claim that pyongyang's short range ballistic missile test did not violate u.n. resolutions. the day before, bolton said, there is no doubt the test did violate u.n. resolutions, which prohibit north korea from launching any ballistic missile. he says, i know, because i wrote

it. tru bolton is in the united ar d ad emirates for talks. there was a law to unilaterally authorize billions of dollars in arms sales to the uae and jordan. trump announced he is sending 1500 troop it to the middle east. >> trump said anyone associated with the 1994 crime bill will not have a chance at being elected. biden crafted the bill in the senate in the '90s. trump called on biden to apologize. two weeks ago, may 15th, the president's outside lawyer giuliani tweeted, quote, the 1994 crime bill that passed helped me and the nypd reduce murder from 1900 a year to 500. then under mayor bloomberg, to 350. that's over 20,000 lives saved.

joe, don't cave. that's what giuliani said. he attached a link to an article about biden. this is unfolding as "politico" reports giuliani is in talks about a new prominent role in the trump re-election campaign. ycoming up, axios has a loo at the one big thing. coming up on "morning joe," the lone republican to call for president trump's impeachment stands his ground. more of congressman justin amash's town hall event defending his criticisms, suggesting he could challenge trump in the 2020 election. jim comey launches his own new criticism of president trump. much more of his stinging op-ed, dispelling many of the president's conspiracy theories. "morning joe" is moments away. w. your brain changes as you get older.

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the leading ordinary brand. [son loudly clears throat] [mom and dad laugh] bounty, the quicker picker upper. now with new prints featuring characters from disney/pixar's toy story 4 in theaters june 21. >> announcer: axios one big thing is sponsored by bp. >> joining us from washington with a look at axios a.m. is national political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. good morning. >> morning.

>> what's the one big thing for today, jonathan? >> we are reporting that the trump campaign at the senior level are discussing digital targeting to improve his standing among three groups, african-american voters, hispanic voters, and suburban women. this is important because president trump, we forget this, but in 2016, yes, he did better than mitt romney among african-american and hispanic voters, but he became president with the worst standing among those voters of any president in 40 years. they know that they need to improve his standing there. they're looking and testing now, discussing what messages might resonate. they're looking at criminal justice reform for african-american voters. emphasizing they pass criminal justice reform legislation. you saw president trump hint, and you mentioned this earlier in your broadcast, president trump sort of lumber into this over memorial day weekend, hitting joe biden for supporting

the '94 crime bill. they're looking at targeting low unemployment and the economy, but tailoring it to each of these groups, and some health messages potentially for suburban women. they're also trying a bit of a spin on one of his vulnerabilities among suburban women, that president trump refuses to acknowledge the science of climate change and disputes it. they're trying to do a spen in it, basically with the energy revolution under president trump, you have a better outcome there in terms of the environment. >> jonathan, messaging can only do so much. you know, if the substance isn't there. as the trump campaign tries to target, black askand hispanic, female voters, what are they going to do with the president's tortured history when it comes to issues of race? >> really good question. this is a president who came to prominence in the 2011 and the lead up by being the lead face

of birthism. it is not like he has a brilliant history. there's obviously the central park toofive situation. yes, it is a really good question. he's obviously going to be confronted with this by democratic candidates and, you know, by fact-checkers in the media. nonetheless, this is microtargeting. this is below the level of what you and i see. we're not going to see the ads. it'll be done through facebook and other mechanisms. i think people are foolish to dismiss that any of this might be effective. you know, all they need is -- they're not hoping to, you know, sweep among these minority groups. they're not stupid. they're just hoping to make sure they don't get their clocks cleaned. >> how confident is the trump campaign that it can win over some of these key voters? >> well, i think what i just said is really important, which is that they know -- the president knows, and his team knows, they're going to overwhelmingly depend on older white men. that's a stone cold fact that's not going to change.

>> right. >> they need to make sure they don't get obliterated in places like metropolitan detroit. that's someone where the targeting is likely to be. maricopa county in arizona. there's softness in the arizona polling. they need to make sure they don't get completely wiped out in the suburbs among women, as what happened in the midterm elections in 2018. they need to increase their floor among these voting groups. >> jonathan, we talked about this earlier in the show, and axios is looking at kamala harris' abortion plan, and how it separates her from other 2020 candidates. >> this is the most aggressive plan we've seen in terms of forcing -- similar to the 1965 voting rights act. if a state has had its restrictive abortion laws overturned because they violate roe v. wade, they're going to have to, under this plan, appeal to the justice department. a few things, obviously, has to go through congress, and you'd need a radical revolution in the

united states senate for this to be policy, but it's a big and provocative idea. >> jonathan swan, great insight, as ulalways, my friend. thanks for your time. we'll be reading axios a.m. in a little while. you can sign up at signup.axios.com. that does it for us on this wednesday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside geoff bennett. "morning joe" starts right now. the decision the senate announced weeks ago remains about a principle and not a person. the senate will appropriately revisit the matter when it considers the qualifications of the nominee the next president nominates, whoever that might be. >> if a supreme court justice was to die next year, what would you do? >> we'd fill it. >> good morning and welcome to

"morning joe."