i'm kwaumds kwaumz -- so what do presidential candidates do when they have a few minutes off on the senate floor? >> they go shopper. >>. >> how many democrats are running for president? enough that they can't help but do bump into each other at an empty grocery store late at night. welcome to "morning joe i ". it is tuesday, june 11th along with joe, willie and me. we have mike barnicle, political writer for "the new york times" nick often fessor and msnbc pli call analyst eugene roberts

utility of the middle east. iran has agreed to release permanent -- u.s. permanent rest dns on charges he's spying for the u.s. he was arrested in at the ron in 0 pfrp and interin the freedom in arab countries. and care at massachusetts general hospital. be a and pchb f ortiz underwent surgery at the center for advanced medicine in sen. he also suffered specific the

gunman fired once amount close range hitting ortiz in the back. the fate of missouri's last abortion clinic must be decided by june 21 the dpt, to temporarily block the state from allowing the st. louis clinic's license to lapse. it forces the missouri department of health to make an official decision to close the state's last abortion provider rather than phase it out of operation. >> and the supreme court says it will not take up a challenge to a federal law restricting owning gun silencers. it rejected an appeal brought by could kansas men under the second amendment. both men were convicted.

the court decision comes after the may 31st mass shooting in virginia, where a gunman killed 12 people, using a handgun equipped with a lot of back in boston, massachusetts obviously, getting the guest anywhere in the world. >>nd it front from baseball fans. he was making that trip to boston, mike, he is in one of the best hospitals in the world. >> independent sure he was lucky it was a three andred sox team

doctors, his own doctor. we'll find out what the motive was. it was clearly a targeted hit on ortiz. the reminder is he's back are sfrp so great that he's there. elise, let's talk about missouri. let's go from boston to missouri. it seems the courts are saying not so fast, you're not going on able to do this which being too clever ba, as a state, did that

have dramatically changed over the past couple of months. go. first of all, pro-choice, which was actually a 50 lsh 50 proposition has now swung from the pro-choice direction. but americans are not divided on roe v. wade anymore. 77% want to keep it in place. here's something shocking for you and me growing up in the south and in the republican party. now because of all of this legislation, only 13% of americans want roe v. wade overturned. the most support ever since this ruling was handed down in 1973. >> you look at how all these laws happening around the country. and you look at so many fates

faced about. >> it's really surprising to me it's as dramatic as a shift that it's been, just since february. it shows about a 22-point swing. you look at joe biden and struggling to catch up. you can debate whether he should have held his ground and if he looks week by capitulating but it show sh he supports abortion raw but frenches prrk he said

that so many of people on the social right, their goals are so out of reach, that they will be fighting this battle forever and in this case they embattled the incrementalism that moved them close to having a defacty span on the united states. they've not only gone back a, and aefr then i it's the fact that the pro-life movement nc s

nchls. >> it's claimed basically to ban all the sports in the united states and that is not the position of the american people. i think people have recognized that row vnch. uncomfortable. peete bead and it's been settled sense 1973 and people want to work with, if -- despite which there is no compromise basically. there's no position sort of in the middle that we could all settle on. so roe v. wade is there. i think heem mental of and, by the way, for those of you who spit out your coffee when i said

that roe v. wade was safer than ever before. i that only 13% of americans want overturned. you can be offended by that fact but they're just not going to overturn a half century precedent that 77% of americans want to be kept in place. and that number is higher today. we talked about this and you can push and f and in this, u, they've been pushed sfrrm snfrm before we get into politics, talking about guns. i'm humored by people have their

military might. the quick answer again going back to the supreme court, no, they are not. >> is that a even sfrn sfrm since newtown, the supreme court time and time and time again has refused to take these gun cases up. and it happened again last night with high length so, joe, this one small case is in some way the bigger pickthat the gun rights movement has under gone in f gun rights are and the supreme court has moved on to

these subsidiary balances. they're fighting over to prp pnk. at the court level aleast is done. >> and mika, again, since heller and the supreme court saying the americans have the right to keep and bear arms. the second amendment means what the second amendment sachls get them to send their dues in. we are now finding that unfortunately they're not wanting to get those dues in to protect second amendment rights. these board mels are wanting to pull dues out of the pockets of hard working americans because

they want to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars of expense los angeles suits and who have to be angry at the three or four lobbyists in washington dv who is got i don't know fat, rich and happy-. are bound for iowa today. according to the "new york times," prum has been calling former advisers who haven't heard from him in years in order to discuss his standing in the polls against tom democrats in the field, specifically biden, whom he describes in those conferrings as old. after being briefed on a 17-date

pain toll sr even though he's -- when top lien details of t thesfrchl. >> that other data showed him doing well. in conversations with donors and allies, the president has concerned to refer to biden as feeble. biden is 76 and trump is turning 73. >> 73. if and trump has ride tried

sfrrmt he started with crazy and now he's nervous because nothing can stick because he's afraid of her. >> and independent be nervous, if i were hsh of course is in the president's cabinet, by his side as he wasity fending white sue stew president, he's defending the indefensible pe flchl sfrch and other years, in other decades and in other administrations, she would be

fired at one and, yes, she would be investigated. it sounds like they found an extraordinarily custable. let's say swampy. >> we talked about the states where donald trump is getting hammered in. this is not fake news. this is his own story sr those head-to-head polls that showed if you the weeks be pb and president trump who is distracted at meetings and doesn't want to know exactly what's happening, doesn't want to hear about polls that may reflect poorly on him, the piece

isn't exactly win what he would do if he won with an agenda during the second term. it leads to you believe what is he focused in and the fight pb i think that's probably why you'd to show o. and also when it came to the campaign, trump's main focus was on his own approval numbers. the surprise report about what he help to plb psh as esaed, prng, instead continuing with his america america america

sfrng the play david axel rod is quoted in the peace saying he was wasn't fchlgt doesn't' new hampshire fafrm or if you won a second term what the big goals might be. >> i can see not being too much in the weeds your day-to-day operating campaign. but this is a president who is distant from his own administration, dis, we see him tweeting a lot, watching a lot

of cable news -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- sfwrn that he up ed out -- >> well, the staff clearly doesn't like him very much. can you imagine? the details of this piece if this had been about president obama or president bush, the dishoult is running rampant in this story. it's another diser to, another mismi misminder. what does he care about? he caves about park, if if in washington, more people realize this, that is pret is og success

certainly not what would be a second term pet goals -- it's himself. >> this is not a big revelation to we'll in washington, people including republicans, who is been paying attention. this is what trt has been since day one. you know, he runs the country the way he run the trump organization, which parkbe drg targeted his way through an episode of the trump is he. . sfchl no one has the slightest idea of what's coming out in the next week, the sfchlt. >> fafrm china, mexico, where

efrnl it has pfrp my question is whether people in the country, people that put their hopes and prays in fchgs really he needs to show it's not about himself ffrm donald trump lives in the moment. and that has wornd because ul nfrm a crazy tweet here, a many sfm that starts to resolve n.

in so he makes up a nk in, there was never a secret agreement. so faux he's moving back to fighting china. well, people are going to catch on. and when suddenly your four years can be reduced to 30-second ads, those 30-second ads are going to be devastating against donald trump and he's not going to be able to tweet his way out of that corner. >> still ahead on "morning joe," as even the trump cabinet secretary happens to be married to mitch mcconnell, whose home state of kentucky is reaping some pb go to bill karins for a check on the forecast. >> heavy rain just moved to new

york nrchl heaviest rains are now pushing ut be frchl lie. that. other areas of rain, hartford nrmt how about what's happening out west? pngs 100 in san francisco. in and today 38 million people under. ryes some of hose was and look at sacramento at about 103. that heat tens all the way into the pacific north waste. it wasn't look to break right

through. fr from. new york city early morning rain and as we go throughout the day, it will get better and better. it's going to be a fantastic afternoon. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ i i am every day people ♪ we call it the mother standard of care.

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xfinity home... cameras. xfinity home... disarm the system. door's open. morning... welcome to the neighborhood. do you like my work? secure your home with x1 voice control. and have professional monitoring backing you up with xfinity home. demo at an xfinity store, call or go online today. this morning president trump surprised cnbc by calling in. >> it's a monday. it used to be trump tuesdays. it's going to be a trump monday. mr. president, are you with us? >> i am with you. hi, joe. look, without tariffs we with be captive to every country and we have been for many years. >> announcer: but that wasn't the only place trump called in to brag. >> back to the phones. we have one more call maybe?

>> the collusion is between the democrats and these companies. well, i won and i'll win again. >> i'm winning but i'm not winning on a level table. if i had a table. >> batman speaking. >> well, i won and i'll win again. this we have great wines, too. >> hello. >> we're not the fools final anymore, he's an incredible guy, great man. >> thank you. >> that's steven colbert watches mexico's foreign minister is disputing trump's deal as art of pa who was one of the chief

negotiators not aware of another division. yesterday morning trump tweeted about thing me grant tear saying it was during an afternoon event at the white house while remaining light on details. >> we have an agreement on something that they will announce very soon. it's all done. they have to get approval and they will get approval. if they don't get approval, we'll have to think of all that. wefs all done because secretary of state mike poemio also was

asked about the existins of saying only there were number of commitments made. he reaches this agreement, takes it a full popular and thas it's just not true. we said, well, look at the problem of the flow of migrants for 45 days. we'll check in there and if we're going okay ool parallel exists on a parallel pa nine, ten days at this point. how much newspaper ink has been wasted over absolute nonsense because donald trump does not know what his own poll is.

>> what you just said is so true and we will read story on a but we end up in a world mr. sfrnl wi with. with president of the united states trusting his word. >> i mean, this is the president of the united states. pause a a second. pb he is girl friend rn but this is the president of the united states who ad libbing and making up deals that don't exist on camera. i'm still capable of being speechless about it. >> and again, the mexican

foreign minister said there may be this kind of deal a few months from now but we did not agree or fully dock everybody. >> a bit of advice from gene for the 23 democrats running for the white house. "morning joe" is coming right back. i'm just a normal person

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welcome back. it's time now for the must read opinion pages. "the washington post," dear 23 presidential candidates, i know all 23 of you want to run against president trump but only one will get that opportunity. senate majority leader mitch mcconnell could not care left about lofty words and high ideals. coldly and methodically he has

used his power to block widely supported progressive measures such as gun control to control a ol' the only way to stop him is to take himself power and away and the only way to that is for democrats to win the senate. joe, there are several key races where there are democrats running for the presidency where they can actually win the senate. >> it's certainly the case. gene, we've talking abouts importance of this for some time. your column does boil it downs to to why it's so% and one would hope that in due time, if they

decide that they can't win the democratic nomination, that they'll actually look to bringing some balance back to the united states senate. >> well, i would sure hope so. i mean, look at -- i highlighted two in particular, steve bullock in. that could be a win po could be core oo gand are in. that would be athere are registering 0 in the iowa pole that was relaease of zero percet of likely iowa prn but it ain't

those worries as candidates. they've met them and you're looking at hem fiechl. clearly the field is starting to turn themselves inpchls maybe you've got a chance to climb up. if you're at zero, the odds are really against you being the nominee. and there is will. nrchl the better the candidates democrats have for these senate seats and these down balt races, the more like hi. that democrats can't too so in be in psk. in his latest column for

"the washington post" entitled our our agreeist max writes this. president trump is flam flam man. his artistry continues to find so many willem east remarks that he made meks row bow before his awesomeness. pfrmg but presfrrchls they are secretly brooefting a sigh of relief. if they had a little more back bone, these robes, if not mexican concessions, that made

tr trum. from conclude, a, that trump is a bad fmtd even when he raent upon anything. the united states' credibility is eroding as rapidly as the president's dignity and decorium. io, be and not just whispering to team f will will go pb federal budget republicans dom natted washington, d.c. in 2017, in 2018, they owned the house, they answered the 19 and f $2 billion and new hampshire.

>>. john cornyn said the wall wasn't going to stop anybody. so mexico is a growing problem. mike barnicle, weep eventually matching own to donald trump's tacti tactics. all these do federal government this nam? i want to go back to those devastating 30-second ad new hampshire fnl. >> i'm going to stopple wille will immigration has spiked. barack obama had it foo.

and all of donald trump's are siring, if while the getting as. hire illegal border crossing numbers than barack obama ever had. >> what you just said the democrats should pay attention to. first of all, the democrats have to reinforce the message that we do have a problem. the crisis has been. >> christian: loo largely mo mostt mostthethey don't have enough money now to really get a handle on it. that's one thing the democrats have to do frp to stof.

in as. in increasing numbers. >> and dplet to look like they have a plan for curbing illegal immigration that isn't just amnesty. as long as donald trump is still and. f then we could have a win with his supporters. mip. with people accused of conflicts of interest and violating ethics rules. elaine chow sooeps to be nvl and later this month, "morning joe "lf n of the first democrat

being debate. visit joe at nbc.com. we'd love you to see you there. we're backjust a moment. re we're backjust a moment. i can't tell you who i am or what i witnessed,

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secretary elaine chow requested $78 million. she appointed a close liaison who also worked on mcconnell's 2014 releaks campaign to help pave the way for the senator's and eight poll sgss including a highway impop-up. the project funded by chow's

transportation department totalled at least $78 million, according to politico. now ethical questions are being hazedt hazedthe, quote, kentucky continues to punch above its weight in washington, and i am proud to be a strong voice for my constituents in the senate. a transportation department spokesman says in part no date seeft in population and 25th in d.o.t. money unthe "triumph" stas the sort of thing that, nick con effect o, if to think of the had had lines.

so that conservatives would be on r on -- if they hillary appointed trb sfrrk suddenly get pass tracked through for chuck schumer's wife. at any other age we'd be seeing corruption at the highest level. >> reporter: the joe is saying that if the the am bagss can i that it'sful if what the political impact will be back who po, if it's a bit sfwrchl

sfrnl i think a second story should focus on an ex, from that benefited them that has now pushed as secretary of transportation. she is essentially pulled back and downgraded some programs to support american shipping, which has been the benefit for her family's company, which has closed eyes to can kprchl zpchbt and of course gene robinson snshlt you can go back to former members the trump administration. you can look at current member of the trump administration. you can look at wavers and

licenses that china has given to ivanka trump and her business at certain times. this is without a did dprrnl as far as mitch mccome goes, by the way, just for the record, he is the least popular senator in his home state than any senator in the united states senate. >> i think you have to go back to the hardy administration to find this level of corruption. let call it what it is and elaine chow ffrm work your way true frn and then down in the agencies. you just see the most amazing

sort of self-dealing and self-enrich montment. that's what he's brought to washington. that's what he's augmented. after he follows, perhaps the cleanest administration, that we've seen in a long time. remember in the obama years nobody got and it died and nobody goat arrested, nobody connor mcdavid vibd. and here we are. gene robinson this evening pb another forwards nrn sfrn think the i go tan the fire prn

frng the poult identified as tim hk campaign finance reform ak had just dropped off a passenger at the 34th straight hell are the pb frnl sfrnl, john dean, testifies before the house judiciary committee and compares findings. tomorrow we'll be joined by former defense secretary ash cart are and former congressman and press did trngs you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. my experience with usaa has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else?

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some of your colleagues have said if there's an impeachment campaign, it could help your reelection. do you agree with that? >> well, that's true. president nixon never got there, he left. there's a big difference, i don't leave. >> that's my worry, donald trump says he doesn't leave. he also likes to joke about being a president for life. welcome back to morning joe. it's tuesday, june 11th.

we have with us nick confessore, john heilemann, former u.s. senator and now on msnbc news and founder of the book depending and researched fellow is with us, along with joe, willie and me. >> we've got a developing situation here on the set. senator claire mccaskill just want he trying to depend fends thes about be urge you've got all the series, the super bowl

and then all the cuss pfrmgs and or the notion for all the boston fans who are bo-whoing, if and they had a legit fight and mr. there. california has left the building up. >> should run for president. they need a tough democrat there, you know? >> i would love that. >>debate about football. i was actually in mike barnicle's os that like. talking about red sox off-season

plays for entire game. >> oh my lord. >> if anybody is toking about any other sport other than the red lines, he it does seem that mike was perhaps just making trouble, mika. >> well, mike tends to do do that. >> this is really sad. claire, i feel badly for you. tomorrow night the bruins are going to take care of business parkthink ba back spn well, i don't know, how many world championships have the boston red sox won? i'm trying to remember in a large media market where everybody thinks baseball begins and ends in boston and new york. how many world championships have the boston red sox won?

>> total. >> actually they've won nine i think. >> well, we've won 11. >> ask her how many in this century. >> that's great, claire. >> claire. claire. >> in this century, claire -- >> the last decade we've -- >> take a look at your date book. it's 2021 -- 2019. >> would have been stronger if he got the year right. look in your date book, it's 2021. >> what? what. >> i tell you what, i'm going to be inc.exactly so, willie, why don't you take it away at this point. by the way, do you have any

prediction, willie, as i would think you'd be as disinterested as i am and whether the bruins or the blues win tomorrow night, who do you think is going to win the cup? >> as claire knows my people come from the midwest so blues all sfrjs, john heilemann, about donald trump. actually, willie, why don't you get us up to date on donald trump and what's happening in the internal poles and him telling people to lie about his own poles. that's where we are right now. >> shocking, shocking. >> after months of criticizing each other, former president who is not heard from him in years in order to discuss his standings in the poles against

tom democrats in the field. after being briefed on a devastating 17-state poll conducted by his own campaign pollster, trump old aids to deny that his inwhen top-line details of the polling leaked including showing the president lagging in several critical trump stumped base, there continues to be be. 7 7 73f.

"the new york times"s will reports president trump was consistently distracted and wanted to discuss other things rather than the recent state of the race. during a briefing with his campaign manager, brad par. he speaks to age with what he wants to accomplish, what would be a hard one second term. trump has reportedly shown no interest in formulating a new message for his campaign, instead continuing with his make america great slogan from his last race. according to the times, he has never asked to see pu. >> no. >> could you elaborate? >> why don't we look at again

the state by state. you and i talked about this a good bit before. everybody is always fighting the last war. it what generals and political operatives do. everybody thinks donald trump has magic pew done and shocked the world again he's a 43% president and trailing badly and a lot of states, losing in worcester be stwrrks sfsh i'm shocked by how many of them have this drk not a foop f perpetual.

they have all this race, all this exsitment and reagan-filed watts walk away with oh, you know trump, he's going to do it again. democrats really are bipolar. ethey are assumedly come pleas ently overconfident or they're panicked, they're the president has as i would say right now historically he is in the weakest position of any ibt of the modern era, possibly ever in terms of his reelect numbers, if you go state by state, look at his approval ratings and how he's performed empairly throughout his first time, there's no doult that the -- not

only does he not campaign on it but he spends a lot of his time trying to undermine the only thing that really gives him a decent chance at reelection. i would just say to the government, no, shouldn't take president trump seriously. no one could get this many complace complacenti agree with you, democrats should be very wary. anybody who underestimates donald trump is a fool. and someone stwrnl sfrchl including one i'm going to --

>> who is snrks. >> i had a conservativefront that voted for him in 2016 that's not going to vote for him now. i said, well, first of all, i could name a lot of people. i could name a lot of college-educated women and people who said what do i have to lose? why should i vote for hillary clinton when over half of the country said in a poll that she should have been indicted when her honest and trustworthy numbers were as low as donald trump's. for arguments sake, let's say donald trump got every single vote in 2020 that he got in 2016. he was an anomaly. even donald trump told me, i could have run ten days and i would have lost nine.

everything hit perfect for me that one day. and the statistic we all have focused, i'll blame myself as well, white working class voters that voted for barack obama and then voted for donald trump. what we haven't looked at is the fact that black turnout was the lowest it had been in quite some time and actually went down for the first time in 20 years. and donald trump still lost by 3 million votes in the popular votes and barely won wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania. he drew an inside straight. it's going to be so hard for him to do that again. >> you know, we all and those of us who thought that hillary clinton, despite some of her weaknesses that she would win in 2016, and i was one of those people, had an assumption that she would be able to pull together what they call the coalition of the ascendant, the

rising demographic cohort, that it would carry her over the top. what we failed to appreciate was just how poorly the campaign was doing. you have to turn out african-american in milwaukee, in detroit and in philadelphia. and the clinton campaign failed to do that in those three states, they did not meet their targets, not even close. so, again, democrats cannot be complacent. they have to nominate someone who will be able to compete with donald trump for white arced working class middle class voters, who will be acceptable to college age women turned off by donald trump. again, probably not going to perform at barack obama levels but they have to get those

constituencies. >> i think people need to remember and you guys need to remember that panic is not a bad thing for the democrats. it is a good thing. it is the unifying force that will keep us together after what is going to be a circus-like democratic primary. this is going to be long, it's going to be a slog. i don't think people are going to drop out once they get any kind of a critical mass of delegates. i think this is not going to be everybody's folding and i'll pass. the opportunity for a four-year term again for this president, and here's the reason we're panicking, it's totally rational. over 40% of the country think this guy's okay. if you're us and you're watching this president and you're watching his lying, you're watching how he's undermining his only successful thing, which

is the economy, you're watching him on the world stage and watching his buffoonery, you say how in the world can this guy be okay? i think the democrats are going to continue to panic and i think it's perfect and appropriate and i hope we keep panicking. >> if the panic leads to the house and nancy pelosi and they have random hearings and subpoenas and the house does nothing, trump gets to say mueller didn't take me down, nancy pelosi didn't take me down, i am exonerated. if it leads to biden trying not to do anything wrong and he just fades, which i think is

reasonably likely and there's no plan b for nominating somebody electable, that's not so good either. look, i think trump is going to lose if you just look at the numbers, but they're busy developing an infrastructure. who is running the anti-trump campaign now? no one. >> trump. >> and hillary counted on trump disqualifying himself and it didn't quite work in 2016. i still agree, it's an inside straight, he's likely to lose and all that. trump can't win this election but the democrats are capable of losing it. >> it's not democrat against donald trump. it could be a completely different story if elizabeth warren wins the nomination versus joe biden wins the nomination. which kind of candidate do you think all the to scare donald

trump most? >> this is exactly the challenge, willie. there's a little aamorphasis about donald trump. the challenge is that's not where the future of the democratic party lies. the future of the democratic party continues to lie in the sun belt and some of these emergency states.

that i think is every appealing to establishment democrats but maybe not particularly appealing to people who are in this ascendant coalition and i think that's going to be the challenge for biden and the democrats going forward. >> okay, so i'm going to make the case here for the president's reelection prospects. i think democrats are very right to be worried. he has started fund-raising last year. he has already outspent all the democratic candidates combined on facebook advertising, he's got a good and smart campaign in terms of the operations and there's a reason we effectous done and black rotors and the white working class is the president's base. he learned in 2016 it's possible

to squeeze some more juice out of that lemon. it's going to be hard for democrats to reassemble the obama coalition and it may be that was an outliar historically and there has got to be some other path to victory. i'm just saying, you can bet against an incumbent president who started fund-raising a year ago. bill crystal, let's talk about republicans and their latest reaction to the tariffs. i don't know that i'd call it a profile in courage but at least there was as fight dr. freddy pachecko once said of bo riddick there were spasms of lucidity out there! >> that's a good way to put it. we did some polling with republicans in the last few weeks. republican voters are still

pretty pro free trade. two different investors i've spoken to now think there's a 50/50 chance of a real slowdown in the economy later this year. that would change everything. all kinds things could happen to increase or decrease trump's odds of winning. i think a message that starts in key states saying, hey, this tariffs are risky. but 2%,had had had, but i'm struck -- trump does lose republican voters on some of these issues. democrats need a coherent message. are they for trade or not for free trade? they're very split, that party. can any of them say they might

get the debt under control and spend more than they have to show that they are tough on immigration, they're tough on the borders, that like barack obama, they can enforce the laws of this land that drives illegal immigration to historic lows. but they can do it with humanity. they've got to show people that they're serious when it comes to controlling america's borders saying you've got nothing to worry about with china and if you talked to him about abo

what's so interesting when i heard the president declare yesterday he's not moving on tariffs. that has been the one issue snrjs and singer leaders of of of of of that donald trump will have on an issue that is not an issue of convenience for him on these tariffs. this is something he believes to the core of his political soul. >> i think you're absolutely right, joe. this is a conviction issue for him. i think he really feels this is the best way to do business. i think the danger here, though, is seeing that you can replicate what he did with mexico with china.

i and, which the bay, the impact of the tariffs that we've imposed on china has already been felt by folks in iowa and folks in the midwest. but the notion that we can somehow take the same approach with mexico, which was sort of six days of madness, and replicate it with china i think is folly. i think the idea if of course it's going to have an impact on the economy. i think if he continuesing on. but the notion that china is not

an issue economically for the united states i think demonstrates a level of tone deafness that will had your him as we move into the sickle here prj, if who don't even support doctor permanent china has so much leverage in fnl whether it comes to the massive imports. same with us. i mean, when you talk about a trade war between the united states and china, we can actually bring up an old term from political science class of the 1980s that's not used much anymore and that's mad, mute that can devastate boston

country's but we'll have to see whether either side will be able to get there. what it seems to be now is a game of brinksmanship, whoever blings first. if they're able to get rid of some are. is one of those situations where both sides can benefit. >> thank you both. still ahead, it was back to the future on capitol hill. and ka kpm about donald trump. we'll show what you john deal told law makers next on joe moglia. be

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this was former nixon counsel john dean returning to the hill yesterday. joining us democratic assistant whip congresswoman veronica escobar. always good to have you with us. >> good morning. >> you were in the room yesterday at the hearing. the title of this hearing was "lessons of the mueller report." john dean acknowledged he's not

a fact witness, didn't have any special reporting on the mueller report. why was he there? >> as we know, as i believe, the mule are report into the special counsel's investigation. he's also obstructing the judge and factual witnesses. we interview people with the knowledge to be able to dissect the report, tell the american public what all of this means, help inform and fill in the gaps where mr. mule are might not have made or drawn conclusions. >> but respectfully, congresswoman, what does john dean have to do with any of that? >> well, he lived through it. he was in the high of the storm during the nixon administration.

everything that he ended up providing the government and assisting the government with was factual and accurate. he probably more than anyone else can help america understand the deep significance of what is occurring today in our government because of what occurred in the government during his tenure. >> there are democrats that are cited anonymously in "the new york times" and others we've talked to who have expressed frustration with john dean being the first witness they call in what they believe should be a very serious undertaking they don't believe that leading with john dean was the right move. what do you say with them? >> i agree. i would have loved to have marted pfrp.

need to understand this is not nmt this spchlt so we can't sit on our hands. we can't wait until the press decide to allow an independent branch of government to do its job. woofour due we were attacked by a foreign san diego ver sayerity parkknew about it, welcomed if it and and were it not for the mueller report, we would never have understood the wild

successes in 2018. >> at the risk of running this topic into the ground and i don't mean to, you began by telling us in the absence of fact witnesses, this is the best we can do as a committee. do you worry at allwith john dan its continuing attack on the united states, tantamount to an act of war in some sense. why not have a hearing on specifically account. >> and this is one hearing among

or harr prng so what we hope as members of congress, most tho. snm was about the mule are report. f ffs. why would someone try to prevent an investigation into american medding? so this is the first step. i'd ask the american public to place continue to stay in attention. the overwhelming majority of the people at my town hall meeting are ready for impeachment. i was asked by some where can i get it, where can i find it?

in my district at least it's a real hunger for information. these hearings will help inform the public. . nm and beyond that being a dare election as a leader in could prp how do you work with people who refuse the nm including heuer be frrn when the american people and our democracy and our

elections are attacked, there should be no part seanship whatever so. wanting to protect our knowing there are people on the other side of the aisle, colleagues, strong. >> kenny: congress who preferred to prp if your congressman refeis nrm congresswoman vr on ka escobar, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. claire mccaskill, let me ask you overall about the democrat being strategy here. are they taking the it prp the

rrt pr. >> there two obstruction of justices going on opinion. personal to put false information in the investigative files of the fab fab. ives also being pukd about pa parkfrchlt they are being obstructed from doing their jobs by the executive branch. he's telling people not to produce documents, he's telling people not to testify.

there's a process noocht by getting out in front of the report and misrepresenting it to the american people. now we're playing catch up after the fact,unless boil knowledge toward the president's conduct frk there as no owe can and the vast malkt fashl claire, let me did you this can kwm snm, which seems to me they have a quite weak message. i understand the obstruction on the part of the administration, but democrat in how long they.

a and f can if. you know what, it's our job. we all think you've tn fnl sfarnl on the basis of what than new hampshire i nafrmt sfwrfrm sflnl and not sure the legal standing is stronger in either instance but that's what they need to analyze. how quickly can we get don mcgahn in front of this committee? how quickly can we get the

documents? until holded yesterday a andbecause breaking through the american people with the weirdness in the oval office and he is we twool and sfms that flom and as we go to brac, we've got a lot going on at know your value.com. we been looking at knowing the value of your health and exercising. sflits so important, mika. >> well, you got to start doing that. i have a piece on my

relationship with running, which took a really bad turn for a while. what got me back on track? read the entire article on our web site. and i want to hear from you. what gets you to exercise? is it love? hate? e-mail be. >> i mean, you are going to tell me that i provide you the inspiration to run. >>, i run five miles a day and joe does not. >> you know, it's not easy being a fit neness i got to tell you, your style, your format --

>> was it -- >> i don't be ride psh a major story broke late last night. >> we begin with new data this morning. >> wake up with the news you need to star prn personal sp sfrnl pore you can do it without finger stim pchlgsfmg sfrjs

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with just over a week until the first primary debate, democrats are making their bush to win back the voters they lost in 2016. joining me, jacob soberoff with the return of his series "what matters." you just to the back from michigan where trump won by less than 11,000 votes. >> reporter: michigan is where the whole thing went down, that they were should of going on pay attentions to sfnlt pnltd this

is llt namtsd t-- >> we met up with warren szeppia, a member of the city counsel. >> instead of jobs that were here, with 3,000, 4,000 people were employed, where you could feed a family and send your kids to college. >> how is the economy going today? trump's had a couple years to get things back on track. >> i really don't see if as being much different. >> what do people in trenton wasn't to hear from the 2020 candidates that would lead them to vote trump in 2018. >> it was one of the biggest democratic had this is downtown

detroit. honestsly, it used to be pretty bleak and here, too. today's all kind of stuff. we head out out for must have been a hundred. is like so much money's going in there. that are making it so mis. >> we kept driving to the milestone diner in macomb

county, a county that went twice to obama and then flipped to trump. he introduced us to some democratic party organizers. >> you can't really fault someone for not seeing themselves in a candidate. if you can't relate, you if that and it's going to cause a pro flaws in frm but did not want to vote for hillary clinton simply because hoose the f nmt so what would make any of your ears purpose psh.

. in $2,000 worth decent child kaer expenses, two kids. >> my joan racial is $1.5 trillion in debt. to vote. >> i need somebody to come in here and say, hey, we recognize this. we see this as an issue. and we are going to fix it. >> so, they're obviously over people trying to make a play for those trump/obama flip-flop voters and i totally understand why. they did not like their experience in the obama/biden presidency. they want people to talk about systemic economic inequality, systemic racism, all of the issues that come from not being able to make a living wage, frankly. and that's where they want everybody to start. >> do they worry and talk about the issue of candidates coming in and one referenced it, telling them what's on their minds, as opposed to listening? >> yeah, so often, that's what

happens. i know it's really early, but in mccomb county, where the whole thing was decided, i think only three candidates have come through that area so far. and they feel like it's always a message being talked to or preached to them instead of the other way around, ask welcome hey, what matters to you guys. >> it's interesting to me, because i think a smart democratic nominee is going to try to do both, jacob. >> of course, of course. >> they're going to try to get the disaffected trump voters, many of whom were, i can't vote for her, not that they were rah-rah, donald trump. those voters, i see them -- the numbers are worse for him everywhere, including michigan, because those voters, the bloom's gone off the rose. but also motivating the base of the democratic matter. what i was interested in your piece is, i didn't hear much about, we got to make sure we don't elect donald trump. was that not there? because i hear that everywhere i go? >> well, you heard the young man talk about impeachment. i think every one of them would like to see the president of the united states impeached.

but it certainly is not their top priority. it's not what they live in their day-to-day experience. and you're right, it's a really fine line between going after donald trump and ultimately talking about getting these folks back engaged. but disaffected white working class voters to them means racism in a lot of ways. and so if you want to bring back folks that sat it out, you've got to be careful if you're the democratic candidates going into a committee like this and talking about bigging back trump voters into the fold. >> right. right. >> and claire, what i would ask you is how do democrats thread the needle between actually mobilizing the vote? >> that's a great question. >> i remember in october 2016 in milwaukee hearing from african-american voters who just weren't that excited. and in north carolina, i remember one -- hearing from one african-american voter who said, all of this talk about transgender bathrooms, the environment, you know, i can't -- we can't afford anything, we can't afford health care or education. so how did they mobilize the voters that the democratic party needs to win, while not being

distracted by issues that appeal to primary voters? >> well, i think you can disqualify donald trump at the same time you stay focused like a laser on what i call kitchen table issues. the price of insulin, the price of prescription drugs, the price of day care. the lack of support for -- you know, he says, but we want everyone to work. well, say that to the single mom who's got three jobs and can't afford day care. so that's the kind of issues that really -- the smart candidate is going to start focusing on, in this primary. i haven't heard enough laser focus -- it's almost like, you know, i get it, that elizabeth has a plan, but she's got a plan for an awful lot. we've got to narrow this down and stay focused on those issues that matter to those voters. and not segmentize -- the same white working class voter is like a bell ringing in the head of a lot of african-american voters. >> it means racism. >> exactly. so working class voters are

working class voters. it doesn't matter whether they're white or black. and the issues that matter to them, i think we can win on -- because this president hasn't kept his promises to them. he has completely broken his promises to the voters who are trying to make it come out even at the end of the month. >> the same is true of white working class voters in youngstown, ohio. youngstown, ohio, is almost 50% african-american. you've got to talk to all of those working class voters. >> economic inequality is the common denominator here. it begets racism and the opioid crisis. so many of the things that we see in this country. and if candidates wi s went and asked the folks that we talked to and other reporters talked to, what's going on with you? take a look around at my community and see buildings like that right next to downtown detroit where things are supposedly rebounding in comeback city and you get a dose of reality. >> and the affordability crisis is sweeping every socioeconomic

class. you have people who might be upper middle class, but they still can't paid for tuition for their kids. the concerns go all across the gamut of people who see the price of living is just skyrocketing compared to what our wages are. >> jacob soboroff with a great look from the ground in michigan. thanks so much. claire, thank you, as well. the first debate is on nbc news platform a little over two weeks away. i said earlier it was a week away, it's two weeks away. and "morning joe" will be in miami the morning after each debate night. go to our website, joe.msnbc.com for ticket information on that. mika? >> we're going to have a great time in miami. and still to come this morning, our conversation with an award-winning superstar -- >> oh, i'm so excited! >> -- ann mee meacham. >> so why don't you guys tell us, first of all, how this unlikely partnership came together? >> and tim, you start, so we

stay awake! >> i'm done. awake >> i'm done. let me ask you something.

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so what do presidential candidates do when they have a few minutes off from the senate floor? they go shopping. >> they go shopping. >> my friend from new jersey, cory booker. >> he's the man. >> how many democrats are running for president? enough that they can't help but to bump into each other at an empty grocery store late at night. that was nice, actually. good morning, everyone. and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, june 11th, along with joe, willie, and me we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, political writer for "the new york times" and msnbc political analyst, nick confessore, former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan, and pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst,

eugene robinson is with us this morning. well, after months of criticizing each other, former vice president joe biden and president trump are bound for iowa today, where they will both be campaigning. to "the new york times," president trump has been calling former advisers who haven't heard from him in years in order to discuss his standing in the polls against top democrats in the field, specifically biden, whom he describes in those conversations as too old and not as popular as people think. after being briefed on a devastating 17-state poll conducted by his campaign pollster, trump told aides to deny that his internal polling showed him trailing biden in many of the states he needs to win, even though he is also trailing in public polls from key states like texas, michigan, and pennsylvania. when top-line details of the polling leaked, including numbers, showing the president lagging in several critical rust belt states, trump instructed aides to say publicly that other

data showed him doing well. in conversations with donors and allies, the president has continued to refer to biden as feeble. biden is 76 and trump is turning 73 this week. >> 73. and he's calls somebody else old and feeble on the presidential campaign trail. >> and noted that he was part of the washington establishment. trump has also tried workshopping versions of those critiques the as twitter attacks, referring to biden as sleepy and swampman. >> swampman. you want to talk about swampman. >> and did you notice, joe, he also changed his name for nancy pelosi. he started with crazy, now he's with nervous, because nothing can stick because he's afraid of her. and i would be nervous -- >> talk about swampy. this is the swampiest administration ever. we have another example of that yesterday, elaine chao provided him cover after charlottesville, stood by his side as he was

defending neo-nazi. she stood by his side as he was defending white supremacists. she stood by his side as he was defending the indefensible. she has figured out a way to funnel tens of millions of dollars to her husband's state. >> is that legal? >> for projects as he runs for re-election. it's about the swampyiest thing i've ever heard in my life. in other years --? in other decades, in other administrations, she would be fired at once, and yes, she would be investigated. it certainly sounds if not illegal, extraordinarily questionable. and let's just say swampy. but willie geist, we talked about the states where donald trump was getting hammered in. again, this is not fake news. this has his own pollster, tony fabrizio. and that included michigan, and i think pennsylvania and wisconsin. it also included the republic of texas. >> that's right. well, those head-to-head polls

that show joe biden beating him might have had something to do with why president trump is so worried about biden. this isn't terribly surprising. if you talk to anyone around the white house, for weeks and months he's most worried about joe biden as a primary opponent in the race to become president. but the fact that he doesn't care particularly about the re-election campaign, this "new york times" piece paints a guy in president trump who's distracted in meetings and doesn't want to know exactly what's happening, doesn't want to hear about polls that may reflect poorly on him. also, the piece says, he's not particularly interested in what he would do if he won, in an agenda for the second term. so it leaves you wondering, what exactly he is interested in, what exactly is he focused on? and that's the fight of the moment. the piece also talks about him being concerned that he hasn't delivered on his border wall. i think that's probably why you see him lashing out, threatening tariffs against mexico, to show to those voters that he is being tough, that he is working on delivering on those immigration promises. and also, according to people who are familiar with those

meetings who are in "the new york times" piece, when it came to the campaign, trump's main focus was on his own approval numbers, surprise, surprise. "the times" reports that trump rarely, for, speaks to aides pant what he hopes to accomplish with what would be a hard-won second term. his interest is entirely in the present and mostly on the crisis of the moment. as i said, trump has apparently shown no interest in formulating a new message for his campaign, instead continuing with his make america great again slogan from his last race, and adding that he also wants to keep america great. trump insists on having final approval over the songs on his campaign play list, as well as the campaign merchandise. but according to the times, he has never asked to see a budget for 2019. now, nick, david axelrod is quoted in the piece as saying barack obama was focused on the business of the country, he wasn't engaged yet in the campaign at this point either, but the president of the united states doesn't appear particularly engaged in what's in front of him, either. forget the campaign, but what's

in front of him or even if he won a second term, what the big goals might be. >> look, i can see the argument for not being too much in the weeds with the day-to-day operational details of your campaign. it can hurt you as a candidate. but this is a president who often seems distant from his own administration. he's distant from his own campaign. so what does he care about? and what's he doing every day? and why is he there? we see him tweeting a lot. we see him watching a lot of cable news. i don't think there's anything wrong with that. and i think it's important for him to figure out exactly why he is there and what fight he wants to wage. it often does seem like he relishes the combat of it, the approval ratings are the one thing in that story that jumped out, that he cares about how much people like him. >> his staff clearly doesn't like him very much. can you imagine -- >> the details of this piece, if this had been about president obama or president bush. the disloyalty is running

rampant in this -- and this story is yet another reminder. >> but you know, we can overthink this. i have an answer to your question, what does he care about. he cares about himself. that's all he cares about, himself. and every day is just an extension of a show that he has with setup villains. and it's either joe biden or the mexican government or whatever. but i'm wondering if in washington, more people realize this. that this is just a daily show. that the president is obsessed with himself. not the country. not any formulations of plans to improve the country, not his goals for his administration's first term, certainly not would be a second term set of goals, but himself. >> this is not a big revelation to people in washington. people including republicans who have been paying attention. this is what donald trump has been from day one. he's been -- you know, he runs the country the way he ran the trump organization, which in this has description is he can

just wake up in the morning and sort of take it from there. sort of ad lib his way through an episode of the trump show. and that's what -- that's what he's doing with the country. that's why nobody in his administration, including his press office, has the slightest idea what's coming out in the next tweet. what the policy change will be. where we will be headed tariffs, no tariffs, china, mexico, where are we going? and it's all -- it has always been all about donald trump. i think people here understand that very well. my question is whether people in the country, people have put their hopes and aspirations in donald trump and begin to understand that really, he's about himself. he's not about them. >> no, they, actually, mika, they haven't figured that out yet. i think they will during the campaign. >> but we're not there yet. and we may not get there.

>> it's just so important to remember, again, as everybody is saying, donald trump lives in the moment. and that has worked because up until now, he's figured out how to keep everybody off balance with the crazy tweet here, a crazy statement there. constantly trying to keep them off balance. a trade war with china. that starts to resolve itself, so he starts a trade war with mexico. the markets rebel against him, he knows he can haven't a weak stock market. so what does he do? he makes up a fake agreement, secret agreement, which we find out the mexicans said last night, no, there was never a secret agreement. so now he's moving back to fighting china. well, people are going to catch on. and when suddenly your four years can be reduced to 30-second ads, those 30-second ads will be devastating against donald trump, and he's not going to be able to tweet his way out of that corner. >> still ahead, a deal with

mexico is apparently so secret that even mexico doesn't know about it. >> see, you've got to tell mexico about the secret deal. >> we're going to run through the president's bizarre claims about a new agreement with our southern neighbor. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ every day, visionaries are creating the future. ♪ so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. ♪ the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. ♪ because the future only happens with people who really know how to deliver it. because the future only happens with people ♪ applebee's new loaded chicken fajitas. now only $10.99.

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comcast business gives you a full suite of products with great performance and value. get fast, reliable internet on the nation's largest gig-speed network for less than at&t. that's 120 dollars less a year. better, faster. i mean sign me up. comcast business. beyond fast. mexico's foreign minister disputing president trump's claim of a secret deal between the two countries as part of the agreement to keep new u.s. tariffs from taking effect. speaking yesterday, the foreign minister, who was one of the chief negotiators of the deal agreed to on friday suggested he was not aware of another provision that directly contradicts president trump, who yesterday morning tweeted about an additional piece of the migrant tariff agreement, claiming it was, quote, fully signed and that it would be revealed in the not-too-distant future. the president doubled down on teasing the alleged deal during an afternoon event at the white house while remain light on

details. >> mr. president, mexico's foreign minister says there was no secret agreement beyond what was announced on friday. what do you mean in your tweet? >> well, we have an agreement on something that they will announce very soon. it's all done. and they have to get approval. and they will get approval. if they don't get approval, we'll have to think in terms of tariffs or whatever, but it's just another aspect of what we've done. it was all done because of the tariffs. and because of the relationship that we have with mexico. >> why are the mexicans denying it then? >> i don't think they'll be denying it very long. it's all done. >> secretary of state mike pompeo also was asked about the existence of another agreement with mexico, but remained ambiguous, saying only, there were a number of commitments made. so, elise, he reaches this agreement, takes it a step further by saying there's something fully signed and documented. the foreign minister of mexico comes out flatly and says it's just not true. we said we'll look at the problem of the flow of migrants for 45 days, we'll check in

again then. if we're doing okay, we'll go another 45 days, and at the 90-day mark we'll assess where we are and maybe then make an agreement and make some changes. >> donald trump exists on a parallel universe, separate of everyone else. he hears things, he sees things that no one else sees in real life. and i think about this. i mean, how many days have we wasted on this story. nine, ten days at this point. how much newspaper ink has been wasted over absolute nonsense, because donald trump does not know what his own policy is. >> you know, elise, what you just said is so true. and we all read these stories almost on a daily basis, nick, with a smile on our face, and, you know, here we goes again. but we end up in a world where there's not a government in the world, really, that i can think of, that can cut an agreement, a deal, a treaty, or anything with the united states, because of the lack of credibility they

have with the president of the united states trusting his word. >> i mean, this is the president of the united states. can we just pause for a second and think about that. he is speaking publicly about deals that don't exist, as though he's a camper bragging about his girlfriend from canada that no one's met. it didn't happen, it's an obvious attempt to save face because he's under intense pressure from his own party for these tariff threats. but this is the president of the united states that's ad libbing and making up deals that don't exist on camera. i'm still capable of being speechless about it. coming up, we're going to run through some of the other stories making headlines this morning. david ortiz is back in boston after a shooting in the dominican republic. we've got the latest on his condition. plus, iran is releasing a u.s. resident charged with spying. what it means for those simmering tensions in the region. "morning joe" is back in a moment. on "morning joe" is back in a moment introducing the first of its kind lexus ux

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we want to start with a number of overnight developments. some breaking news out of the

middle east. iran has agreed to release u.s. permanent resident and lebanese it has, nizar zaka who has been imprisoned by tehran for four years on charges of spying for the u.s. he was arrested after being invited by the iranian government to attend a conference. he ran an industry consortium that promoted information technology and internet freedom in arab countries. former red sox slugger david ortiz is back in boston and receiving care at massachusetts general hospital after he was shot at a club in his native dominican republic on sunday nigh night. according to his spokesman, ortiz underwent surgery at the center for advanced medicine in santo domingo where doctors removed his gallbladder and part of his intestine. he also suffered damage to his liver. the gunman fired once at close

range, hitting ortiz in the back. the fate of missouri's last abortion clinic must be decided by june 21st, according to the judge presiding over the facility's licensing battle. declining to determine whether the license should be approved or denied, the ruling extends an earlier order to temporarily block the state from allowing the st. louis clinic's license to lapse. it forces the missouri department of health to make an official decision to close the state's last abortion provider, rather than phase it out of operation. and the supreme court says it will not take up a challenge to a federal law restricting owning gun silencers. it rejected an appeal brought by two kansas men who had asked the court to decide whether silencers were protected under the second amendment. right to keep and bear arms. both men were convicted under an act that requires the registration of certain firearms and equipment, including

silencers. the court's decision comes after the may 31st mass shooting in virginia, where a gunman killed 12 people using a handgun equipped with a silencer. >> so, wall streillie geist, da ortiz, good news, rushed out of the dominican republic, back in boston, massachusetts, obviously, getting the best health care anywhere in the world. >> and it's front page news here in new york, big papi, red sox star, getting a lot of sympathy from fans. i'm glad he was stable enough to make that trip to boston. the red sox doing a great job getting him up here. he's in one of the best hospital in the world. >> i'm sure they did what they could, as well as they could in the dominican republic, but he had severe internal damages from a bullet. he was lucky it was a through and through wound. it didn't reside in his body during the operation. he's back in boston, with the

red sox team doctors, his own doctor. there's much more to play out in this story. we'll find out what the motive was. it was clearly a targeted hit on ortiz and the remainder will filter out in the days ahead. but the big thing is he's back where he belongs and hopefully his health will continue to improve. >> back where he belongs, and again, obviously, boston having some of the best hospitals, some of the best health care providers on the planet. so great that he's there. coming up, we've got quite the duo standing by. jon meacham and tim mcgraw. what compelled the presidential historian and the country music star to join forces? we'll explain. "morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming right back "curiouser and curiouser,"

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♪ >> joining us now, historian jon meacham and three-time grammy

award winning musician, tim mcgraw. >> wait, what? >> i know. they are co-authors of the new book, "songs of america: patriotism, protest, and the music that made a nation." it is out today. mike barnicle is also with us for this conversation, along with two sons of the south, and the biggest country music fan at the table is kurt bardela. so, tim. >> this is a mistake by tim -- >> tim. >> mika, do you remember -- >> he's sweet. >> he is so great. >> he sent that birthday greeting to you with faith. it was so sweet. and he seems like a nice guy. >> he does. >> my wife is sweeter than i am, for sure. >> well, faith, my god! of course. but why would she let you do this with meacham? >> because she likes meacham better than she likes me. that's the main reason. >> well, i was misinformed. i thought this was a project with faith and then he showed up. so -- >> i get that. >> another true story is bush 43 asked me what i was working on

next. and i said, i'm doing this thing with tim mcgraw. and he said, mcgraw, i like the wife. >> the story of my married life, right there. >> but here we are. >> but here you are. >> okay. >> and you've got a story you're going to be telling all about the folks at shay's rebellion. >> the music of shay's rebellion. >> of course, you cannot understand the story of america without understanding the music at shay's rebellion. so why don't you guys tell us first of all how this unlikely relationship came together. >> and tim, you start so we stay awake. >> i'm done! i'm done. >> this is like our show. >> go ahead. go ahead. >> no -- >> thank you, darling. >> jon and i met each other six or seven years ago at a dinner party and i was a big fan of jon's for a long time. so when he moved into our neighborhood, i used to drive by his house and go, jon meacham lives there, jon meacham lives there. maybe one day i'll be invited to

have dinner with jon. and lo and behold, we get an invitation to have dinner with jon. we end up at a dinner party end anded up late at night talking and hanging out in jon's library with cigar smoke everywhere and talking about history and current events and i fell in love with jon and this is how it all happened. >> let me ask you, jon, in that first meeting, when he came to your house, did you take the freezer off the front porch, man? >> the good news was, because mcgraw likes to flop tires over for exercise, he can do that in the front yard, so, it was all -- it was like a gym and a house. >> and usually that's what happens because he doesn't let me in. >> that's true, that's true. >> so he came over. did you guys -- you guys started talking about it? what was the genesis of the project? >> honestly, i hate to give mcgraw credit. it was tim's idea. i had written the book last year that i think mika still reads in order to go to sleep, "the soul

of the country," "the soul of america," and it felt like this, mccarthy, wallace, all the way back to reconstruction, and tim said, have you ever thought about the role music played in these moments? and honestly, i hadn't. and like a lot of great questions, it led to wanting to abs it. and david hallbertson once said, great nonfiction should be like a liberal arts degree, you should learn something, it should be illuminating. so what was so fun about this was realizing that the music of each era has shown both the tensions, "battle hymn of the republic" versus "dixie," "brother can you spare a dime" versus "happy days are here again," "blowing in the wind" versus "ballad of the green beret s." at every point, the tensions in the country, illustrated by song. and you can listen to a song, the content to which you disagree more easily than you can hear a speech or read an article about it. >> and for me, music makes an

emotional connection with history. i mean, it's kind of a beginnings of heart and brain that work together when you hear a song. especially a song that has something to do with inflection points of our history. and jon and i's partnership, i'm the brain and he's the heart. which is kind of odd. but, you know, there's just -- the first song that we speak of in the book, one of the first songs we speak of is a song john dickinson wrote, one of our founding fathers called the liberty song. and to me what's so special about that song, there's a verse that says "our children shall inherit the fruits of our pain" and this was written in 1768, and it had such a prescient view of what our country and what they thought about our country could lead to for future generations. and i thought that was really incredible of that vision that early on. and it speaks to what was going on that led up to that time,

right? and music has such a way of reflecting the moments at the time and progressing and pushing forward the moments of the time at the same time. >> so i'm curious, as this project developed and nurtured between the two of you -- >> well, nurtured's a different -- i'll tell you, that's a different -- >> what did you learn from him and what did you learn from him? >> well, i think for me, like, we all grew up studying american history in high school and in college. and as we get older, those facts start to drift away a little bit and those time periods start to merge. and it's fascinating to sit and listen to jon talk about history and his recollection of dates. not only dates and years -- >> he's got a lot of time -- >> he's got nothing else to do, right? but when he says the days of the week, it's one of the coolest things you can do in a conversation. you know, this happened july 22nd, 1782 on a monday. >> it's a limited skill.

>> it's rainman. >> yeah, that's true. i watch "the people's court" and do that. what i learned from tim was the emotional content of the artistic expressions in the moment. because i would think of things, of course, as, this is what franklin roosevelt did. this was lincoln's emancipation decision. and he pushed me to say, okay, but what's the history of "the battle hymn of the republic"? ♪ it's not just something that emerged from the sky and became this marshal hymn. it was written in one night by julia ward howell at willard's hotel, took john brown's body from the melody, and has totally shaped this ever since, in a way that -- and this is against my interests -- but in a way prose

doesn't, right? and -- >> emotion. >> emotion. and it's at once -- and what's so interesting to me about this -- and this is what we spend all of our time talking about, right? is how do we get out of this moment? even if you're for the president, you're under constant siege. if you're against him, you've set your hair on fire three times today, right? so what are the tools here? what's the way out of this? and it's not impossible that listening to music that has been about the search for a more perfect union could help us. because you can listen to a song again that you disagree with more easily. >> i think one of the things that's so unique about this tandem here is you have this great recollection and knowledge base to talk about the history of these songs. but what tim brings, and i thought the sam cook part of the book, i read it a couple of days ago, was the risk that he took -- being successful -- you know, he's in his prime here. and you better than anyone

understand what it's like, you put out "humble and kind," which turned out to be one of the most biggest songs of your career. and to make a statement about where we're at in society at this moment in time. and being able to bring that into the story you're telling about sam cook in this case i thought shows and illustrates how great this tandem is going to be as you read the book. >> i think it's a theme we found throughout the book with these songs. even the songs of protest, there was always hope involved. you know, sam cook says, "i believe a change is going to come." ♪ a long time coming, but i know a change gonna come ♪ >> that's about hope, right? and like i said earlier with the john addidickinson song, "the children shall benefit from the fruits of our pain," that's about hope. >> we shall overcome. >> and we go through the pushes and pulls and the inflection

points in our country and you realize at the end of it, we're still pretty great. we've had issues all the way along and will continue to have issues. in order to form a more perfect union means we're never going to get there, we're always working towards it. >> there's this wonderful definition of the blues by ralph ellisson. he says blues is an autobiographical chronicle of a personal catastrophe expressed lyrically. >> absolutely. >> and there's something about this personal dimension to music. you've kind of mapped it on and it's hope, it's moving towards this more perfect union, but there's something profoundly tragic in some ways. >> sure. >> about the music out of which i come. so i can tell a story of the black tradition from, you know, robert johnson to listening to al green to, you know, to today and hip hop. so talk a little bit about the contradictions and how you settle them and how music resides in those contradictions.

>> one of the most interesting intellectual things for me was the role of masking in -- particularly in antebellum, the music of the enslaved when "swing lo sweet chariot," it was about god coming, but it was also about the underground railroad coming. "swi "swing low to carry me home," it was about heaven, but frederick douglas writes that they sang these songs to brief each other on their plans. because home was north of the mason-dixon. that was riveting to me. harriet tubman using those songs as signals on the underground railroad. douglas having the fifth jubilee singers come and sing "jesus, save me from danger." he said, this is what we sang. you know, it's -- a lot of folks have said the purest american expression was the music of african-americans. that that -- and duke ellington,

"brown, black, and pabeige" is there. i was thinking about mahailia jackson. the last thing that dr. king said on the balcony that we know of to fellow ben barnes who was going to play at the meeting that night. he was on his way right before the bullet comes, he said, play "precious lord, take my hand," sing it real pretty for me. and then he's shot. and mahailia jackson sings it at his funeral. ♪ take my hand >> and there's just this -- you're right. it's not just comic, it's incredibly tragic. and yet here we are. >> and something about my great grand daddy on the coast of mississippi loved blues. that isn't limited just to the blues. >> country music and blues are

cousins in a lot of ways, i believe. and you go back to some of the songs that hank williams sang, "i'm so lonesome i could cry." it's just great music. and great music has a way -- this is the thing, when we look back at history, including martin luther king, including our founding fathers, we tend to look at historical figures in a two dimensional way. and i think what music does, if you look at the music of the times that we're talking about, what it does is allows you to have that third dimension and connect it. these weren't god's -- we tend to look at these figures as somebody in our past as opposed to somebody struggling in their present. and i think that's what music actually puts you to. >> and great biography hopefully does the same thing. >> the vietnam war was one of those really divisive periods that has for a lot of us a truly great sound track. and, you know, we think of the protest songs, but i was reading in this book the role of johnny

cash, "that old ragged flag", and i was wondering if you could talk about how johnny cash's songs played to you? >> you know, i grew up in the '70s in the south, in the early '70s in the south, when i first, i guess, became aware of music. and my stepdad drove an 18 wheeler hauling cotton seed across louisiana and texas. so my earliest memories are 4, 5, and 6 years old in an 18-wheeler hauling cotton seed listening to johnny cash and merle haggard. so those songs are engrained in me. it's the first time that johnny cash and the songs from the '60s the first time that as you're listening to music and as a child where i understood that music was more than just entertainment. it crossed my mind. because you're still hearing those songs of the '60s and the early '70s. and it's the first time that i put together that music can mean a whole lot more than entertainment. it can mean something -- it

causes you to reflect and think about what's going on in your society. >> because you write about it in that section, in that memory in the cotton, but you have the, in my heart, when i hear that song today, i think one thing, but then my mind kicks in and it takes on a whole different context. >> absolutely. people don't know -- john can speak to a problem more eloquently than can i, but people don't realize that song was written right here in new york city for blackface performers, and it was written for white people to talk about how black folks wished they were still slaves in the south. and people don't realize that. and being a white southern kid from louisiana and hearing that song and growing up in the middle of cotton fields, it's an emotional reaction for me to hear that song. but like i say in the book, i head kicks in and i realize what that song is and what it's saying, and it's clearly, clearly a song that makes you think that it's not kexactly wht

it's about. >> tim, let me ask you a question that i think -- >> uh-oh. >> no, no, no, i think you can answer this one. and in fact, since we have so many southerners around the table, including mike barnicle who's from south boston, i think we can all answer this. you know, i've always had people ask me, i've always been fascinated by it. but anybody that knows anything about music, american music knows most of it originated in black communities, most of it originated in the south. you can talk about gospel, you can talk about r&b, jazz created in black communities in new orleans, the blues created on the mississippi delta and across the deep south, rock 'n' roll really created in large part by a guy from st. louis called chuck berry. why is it, why is it that most forms of american music did start in the deep south? and in those forms of music, most of those forms of music were started by black americans,

by black musicians, by black singers. >> i think expression, a chance to express yourself in way that maybe you couldn't in any other way. and i think that that was probably the impetus of all of it. starting on country music, gosh, it comes all the way from the welsh coal mines in ireland and into appalachia and then down into the south and into the tennessee. and it was about, how do you overcome your struggle and what are the ways that you can cathartically get it out of your system. >> what do you think, eddie? >> i think the south is a metaphor for america. there's something about that region. it's soil, it's air, it's sweat, right? that speaks to the contradiction that cuts to the heart of who we are. and so it makes sense that its most soulful sound would find its expression there. >> absolutely. well said, for sure. >> the new book is "songs of america: patriotism, protest, and the music that made a nation."

jon meacham and tim mcgraw, thank you guys so much. we real appreciate it. and you can catch jon and tim on tour. go to our website, joe.msnbc.com for those >> please don't read those details. >> you cannot laugh during the reading. i asked for so little. >> i'm serious, this is amazing. >> seriously, though, the whitest guy in america after that discussion is going on tour. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." th more "morning joe." >> on second thought, i do like to brag, because i'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag. ♪ i want it that way... i can't believe it. that karl brought his karaoke machine? ♪ ain't nothing but a heartache... ♪ no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico.

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the president, quite credibly, is willing to use tariffs if he doesn't get the kind of deal that he wants, and we've seen that over and over since he's been here, but ultimately is rejection is reform. his deal with china is a significant trade reform. >> so you think of tariffs as a strong option. >> the president is a very successful negotiator. he wrote "the art of the deal." i think you're seeing the art fortunate deal happen almost every day in this white house. >> that was outgoing chairman of the council of economic advisers, kevin hassett, earlier

this morning defending president trump's tariffs threat against mexico. in the house, republican congressman anthony gonzalez of ohio. great to have you on the show this morning. >> thank you. thanks for having me. >> congressman, thanks so much for being with us. a lot of questions inside the republican caucuses on the hill and the senate and the house on whether the president should pursue -- continue to pursue tariffs against mexico and/or china. what are your thoughts on it? what are your constituents' thoughts on the possibility of these trade wars and ongoing threats of tariffs? >> well, i think for our constituents, there's really two issues and i think we separate them well. there is the usmca and kind of showing up our american trade base, and then there's what's happening with china. the one thing i would say is probably the most enthusiastic bill that we could consider, at least for my district, is usmca. usmca would absolutely benefit our farmers, our manufacturers. this was analyzed by the usitc,

an independent agency that will lift all votes, it will allow a third percent of gdp and allow 50,000 jobs. it is a no-brainer for our district and that is a number one priority. china long term, i think they are the biggest existential threat we have globally, so we absolutely need to finish the job there and make sure we shore up that base, too. >> that's the question, how do we finish up that job? we've been talking about it for years. i remember back in the ice age when i was where you are in congress in '95, '96, '97, we would have these debates about defending trade nations status to the chinese, and we would only do it in one-year increments because they were stealing our property and there was a lot of persecution going on. eventually congress just gave up and they granted china whatever china wanted. this is an ongoing battle.

even people that don't support donald trump will say this is an ongoing problem with china. how do we get equity in our trade negotiations with the chinese? >> well, the devil is going to be in the details on that. you really hit the nail on the head. they've been doing this forever. they have been abusing trade agreements since 2001 and long before when they entered the wtl. to me it's going to come down to how well do we negotiate this deal, what enforcement mechanisms do we have in place to make sure they do play by whatever rules they ultimately agree to, and then we move forward. i think we can do that. i was actually happy to see, after the chinese tried to retrade the deal at the last second, that we walked away and said, we're not going to put up with this, we're not going down that path again, we're going to try to solve this. this was about real policy and getting work done. i was happy to see that, so i support the administration as they push forward on really finalizing that deal. >> congressman, it's willie

geist. it's good to see you this morning. there is a long list now of major companies that have come out and said tariffs are bad for their bottom lines. kohl's, john deere, walmart, sent a strongly worded letter to the president saying, please, no tariffs. we had one of your colleagues on last week, and i asked him if tariffs represent a tax on the american people, and he said he didn't think so because he hadn't seen prices go up. do you believe tariffs are attacks on the people of ohio? >> well, they can be. it depends on what happens in the supply chain. the supply chain can either kind of work that out amongst themselves or they can push it to the consumer. so those are individual decisions that businesses are making. what i'm hearing from my businesses is when they were at 10%, usually the business community could kind of figure that out amongst themselves. as they ratchet up to 25%, i do think you'll see some price increases potentially because there's not as much room to kind

of pass it back and forth in the supply chain. >> so do you believe these retailers when they say prices will go up with tariffs? >> i think that's probably the last thing they want to do, is raise prices on their customers. >> but it happens with tariffs. >> it's certainly possible. i'm not sitting here saying it's not going to happen. i think it very well could happen, but we haven't seen it yet in a major way. >> are you okay, then, with using tariffs on sort of a negotiating tactic on an issue like immigration like the president has used it recently? >> i think when you're looking at the china situation, that's one lever we can pull. i'm looking at other levers we can pull with the administration that we can give them more tools. on the immigration front, frankly at the time it was announced, i was a little skeptical, but it looks like it actually sparked some change on the mexican side, and that's much-needed change. everybody who looks at the immigration debate with an objective lens can agree that it is ripe for reform and we need -- from top to bottom we

need reform in the immigration system. that's not happening, which is unbelievably frustrating. and so i wasn't necessarily for that at the beginning, but it looks like it's resolved itself, which i think is a good thing. >> congressman, you just mentioned the businesses in your district and dealing with them and their reference to tariffs are attacks on american consumers. you went to the stanford business school, so you know a bit about business, and you certainly, from intermingling and talking to your constituents, know a lot about business from them. are any of them bothered by the indecisiveness and the lack of clarity in the tariffs. one day it's 5% in mexico, the next day 25%. in terms of servitude, are they bothered by this? >> i think some are. there are some folks not necessarily excited about it, but honestly, the majority of my district and the constituents when i talk to them, they're

very happy with what the president is doing, they're happy with the way the economy is going today, they're happy with the wages. they're very supportive of the moves that the administration is making. that's what i'm hearing from constituents on the ground every day when i'm talking to folks back home. >> congressman, do you think the gop is the party of free trade anymore? do you believe that tariffs are taxes? what, kind of, is the prevailing sentiment these days among gop-ers who were strong trade advocates and now it seems everyone is falling in line with any tariff donald trump proposes. >> again, i think from a party standpoint, i think where we are, or where i am, i can speak for myself, certainly, is i see the tariffs as a means to an end, essentially. do i love tariffs? no, i don't think they're the greatest thing ever, but if they ultimately get us to a fair, more equitable trade balance, i think that's a good thing.

the reality is there's just not that many levers to pull when you're talking about how to get more equity in the trade system, the global trading regime broadly. that's kind of where we are. and again, with the economy moving in the direction that it is where gdp is high, unemployment low, wages rising, i think if you're going to do it, now is probably the time to do it and that's why i think you're seeing some for it. >> congressman anthony gonzalez, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. >> thank you. >> and joe, final thoughts. what a show today. there's so much going on. put the pieces together for us. good luck. >> hard to put the pieces together for us. i'll just say, willie, we have a situation that every day, of course, is very fluid with donald trump, but we are starting to see sort of a coalescing of where the political battle lines are going to be drawn next year

politically, and, i mean, you look at the "new york times" story, donald trump has some challenges. >> and it's going to be a fascinating day today in iowa. both the president and vice president biden will be there. we're told vice president biden, for the first time, really, in his speech, will go directly at president trump. >> there we go. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much, mika. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. it's 9:00 a.m. on the east coast and we have a lot to get to this morning. today starting with what could be the 2020 match-up. both president trump and former vice president joe biden in the state of iowa today and focused on one another. tod today in washington, the democrats will vote to enforce those congressional subpoenas, this despite the judiciary committee reaching an agreement with the department of justice to get key elements from the

mueller report. and c