>>if somebody called from a country, norway, we have information on your opponent. i think i'd want to hear it. >> if russia, china, any other country has those emails, i'd love to see them. >> and you want that kind of irnt experience? >> it not interference. >> mrk apparently is open for business. it is happening again as be went damn writes. on day they wanted to interview cia analysts, trump tells obc news who would accept why be yes, i'd talk a foreign agent and not talk to the fbi. not only with that person be in

violation as a security thereto. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, june 13th. we have white house reporter for the associated press jonathan lemire, heidi pryzbyla, staff writer for the atlantic, james fallows, yaum etch alcindor and clint watts. a couple of this evening ngs coming this morning be spgs and a furst look at the cover and a little. of thein into outside

interference in the 016 presidential race, president trump said in an oval office interview yesterday that he would be open to a foreign country's offer of what he called opposition research on rival candidates in the 200 election and that he would not need to notify the fbi about it. the response came when the president was asked l his son, dond trump jr., should have alerted federal authorities about being offered dirt for the 016 race. >> let put yourself in a position, you're a congressman. somebody comes up and says, hey, i have information on your opponent. do you call the fbi? >> if it's coming from russia i. >> you don't call somebody from the fbi ksh. >> al gore go give me a break.

live doesn't work that way. >> the fbi director seas that's what should happen. >> the mieb director is wrong. >> if someone else services opponents -- >> i think maybe you do both. there's nothing wrong with listening. if somebody called from a country, norway, we have information on your opponent. oh, i think i'd want to hear it. >> want that kind of interference in our election? >> but when somebody comes up with oppo research, right, oh, let's call the fbi. the fbi doesn't have enough agents to take care of it. but you go and talk honestly to congressman, they all did it and always have.

it called oop. >> let's first of all start with something i actually do do know something about, the field of knowledge is so narrow i can actually answer. when he said all congressman do it, i was elected four times and up there for quite some time, ran four campaigns and if anybody had come from a foreign country with any information, that would send blinking red light i never once herd from a single congressman or congressman or i think just

stepping back be,but, willie, i'm glad we showed a clip of what happened during the campaign because this is donald trump asking to embassy speci c specific. spchl sfchl but this is donald trump, whose back is against the wall, he's losing in poll after

poll, so perhaps this all is unfortunately all too predictable for this man. >> yeah. and if you're china, if you're saudi arabia, if you're israel, if you're any. you've got your open to man i ligs from foreign powers. o said, yet, if any fch about influencing or interfering with our election, that is something sfmt if.

sfm if not, emboldened because he survived it but at the very least speaking candid will about what who wants, l from russia or other nations. first of all, we did not get an avalanche of statements from republicans come dem being this rising chorus hit hit from the office, she's done a few maneuvers to let people blow off some steam. that is going to be harder and harder to do now. that he wouldn't go to the fbi,

what kind of example is that setting? that's the language of a mob boss, not the president. he is suggests he's putting his own political future ahead of the rule you law in this country. can actually pull up telecommunication message services. fmb pmt -- illegally pick up some phone conversations that would be of interest to donald trump and they pass it long to him. according to donald trump be

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servers. sfm and so china and russia and half a dozen or countries we could name have real resources to provide information and do ent conventions. it not like they needed encouragement already. but it. in sfchlt they've never got i don't know lf f and as a journalist and certainly somebody that can remember very well the nixon impeachment process. i just curious what your thoughts are today. here we are in june 2019the choices that are facing the

democrats and whether the democrat have the spm. >> what is going to change the mind no. (sfuchlt my magazine has run a cover story which was "impeach." i any having some system at be

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go ahead and pursue this the way we did in 2016. this is my kb ((when (because the recourse right now is is snoofrmt (it's a. (snuchl who is now tood up in his ormer own. >> cliff's exactly right. the president has said time and time given, when you sm.

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flchlt to hear help when nchblt use exclusive airing this sunday on msnbc. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ." we'll be right back. ♪

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[ slap ] your nails! 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. james fellows, mika wants to talk about my upcoming book and i want to talk about yours. you wrote "our towns," it was a 100,000 mile journey around country, you and your lifeline in a plane. i'm just curious, you're doing it again and i don't know if you landed your cessna on the west

side highway and took a cab over to the show but tell us about that journey and where you are right now. >> thanks for asking. we've been in the clutches of amtrak to get here. >> a city you might is verdict of, pensacola. i have a piece out about danville and the way i we're working with movie to come out northbound consider request zbp zbhm progressivity and f sfchlt

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good. it's titled it sendsfchl. in beforend. like many i saw n sfchlt flawed but likable as a friend and then saw him as a little sfluchlt has pref i don't know f would we look at the n spchl ((i wrote

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skprchl many brace. from sfuchlt sfchlt. >> what is this contest? >> so the book opens with donald trump in new hampshire. he's in manchester, that remarkable event the night before the election. >> that snowy night. >> yeah, that snowy night. as donald trump said, 12 feet of snow,es kim owes afraid too come out, yet -- that was remarkable. 4,000 people came out that night. as i explained in the book, they would never have done this for any other political candidate ever. >> it was incredible.

>> i'd that had about but unwe could only stay about half the speech. taught it was time to leave and got my kid and we turned around to go backstage and i turned to mika and i said, you know, this end padly know, it end badly. this was as we heard about the news of the day. >> well, it's really good.

we're looking forward to the bik release. it ask can the middle east where two more oil tankers have been attacked. let me ask you something.

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welcome back. the u.s. navy says it is assisting two oil tankers that were targeted in a reported attack in the gulf of oman, close to iran. nbc news has confirmed one of the vesels was a martial islands flagship run by a norwegian company headed from the uae to taiwan. nbc news has l also confirmed the other vessel was a panama-flagged ship heading from singapore to saudi arabia. they abandoned ship and were quickly wrestled by a nearby

vessel. . president abe is currently in iran for talks. the 44 crew members have been taken to an iranian port and the norwegian vessel has sunk. last month four vessels were damaged in attacks, which the u.s. has blamed on iran. tehran denies the allegation. joining us now the president of the council of foreign relations and the author of "aworld in disarray richard haas. >> richard, what can you tell us? >> this will end badly. we don't have proof that the iranians did this. the united states has been putting extraordinary pressure on iran economically. the economy there shrank 4% last year, estimated to shrink

another 6% or so this year and it's quite possibly they are not simply going to absorb pain, they want to demonstrate they can mete it out. that would be my working hypothesis but i want to again say that we don't have evidence that the iranians have their hands on it but that's certainly going to be hypothesis number one here. >> what is the role of the navy here and what should the concerns be for america? >> you can't provide point defense for every tanker. so at some point we're going to have to decide what we're going to do because these areas are really narrow and the question is what are u.s. forces going to do? we put a carrier in the area, several other ships. if there is attribution and say we if for example, it were there

to run, then there would be pressure on the united states to teak military action against iran and against militia forces that were -- these ships are not just pun let's move from the persian gulf to china, more specifically hong kong. what's your reaction to the latest events there? >> this is a really serious and to me a prizing development -- a law would make china more thoroughly part of mainland china. they have outpouring in hong kong now 20-plus years after the

return to mainland control is a sign things are not going actly as the mainland would want. this. they view this as a strategic interest. this cannot zpp to any sort of things given. this is worth at the time where there as a handoff in 19 7. this is delayed a sign of enthis

is yet the most recent slice of t theso ehave zero. what's so hard is do you no sfn sfrnl when the trade negotiator returned, went back to china, xi jinping couldn't tell the trade agreement to his.

in p happen? . >>. the reason it's surprise is people have assumed over team. >> sfm sflm and there is nothing very good (snp snchlsnmt nato we

have talked about the norldy speech already and the president actually being far more gracious towards our nato allies a. in russian aggression, something like a lot of supporters of russia look forecast is but there is no doubt, this quite a chang in the prz's view of nato, at least thefch arj will with

the sup sfchg snm (that was my reading of it more than basically the president now become a strong, robust supporter of the atlantic alliance. so i saw more in narrow terms. more is a pro-member of nato that's spending 2% or more rather than necessarily a pro nato or anti-russia message. but look, i open you're soon. >> i hope so. one of the thing has been concerning is seeing the president many brace tyrants. any insights and, again, china's

role in the continuedif nfb both personally and systematic people now operating on earth. i think that trump probably after his experience at the. there as a frn felt yesterday was the one-year anniversary to the day of the ding pore summit and the question is what do we have to show for it?

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office more than n when the nunn n intent tifl n. >> as the became br frmt nancy pelosi with. in. >> what ((. >> honestly it was okay, now you're talking it fmt sfmt (my

gosh, it seems like she's getting everything right. i respect the office of the preside president. >> everything that she says, it's on the tip of had your tongue. it's her entire live experience she is prepared for this. . in buts didding in. rab. when woo we you a when the

mexico tariff. (farms are and iowa and or states. the very democracy of mrk and all the things that we hold true, it will be interested itnm we'll just have to wait and see m we'll just have to wait and se 6 krrs zmchlt as well for being on withes. still had. in sfchlt or the question could

be myself in mean et thos po nm be in the new york city's report are joins us with stomp (and joins the conversation next on "morning joe."

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any candidate in the whole world in america would take information -- >> from a foreign source? from a hostile foreign source? >> there as nothing wrong with taking information from russians. >> what if a morning add railroad sayery offers a

presidential candidate dirt as a competitor, do you agree with me that the campaign should immediately contact the fbi? >> would you call the fbi it it happened again? >> i don't know. but we were not given salacious information. >> should they accept it or call the fbi? >> i think maybe you do both. i think you might want to listen. there's nothing wrong with listening. >> a senior white house adviser and president of the united states, welcome back to morning joe. here we are. ? and form are us conditioning n

man. welcome to the show. >> thank you. a fwoo. . you have been around members of congress and you can maybe answer the question whether -- i don't know, i probably worked over tour terms with 600 n or suggest they'd to then any help pr frn nrnl and think. in. in that we get the facts and we

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town hall in clinton, iowa. who shows up at 9 ak in the morning, had narnl did nuchlt and wondering why when they go to school they worry if they're going to come home that day. and the missouri and mups river flooded at historic levels right now. listening it and answering your questions and being federal

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p picking up half a million disaffected republicans who are looking for a new home. it's going to take that kind of movement defeat donald trump in 200, bring that keen pfrp on thestsfchlt be i afraid of the rs of the world. i think those factors set me apart from this field, helped me to defeat donald trump, which is job number one and helped me to

lead this country and bring us back together. >> so, willie, really quick, just before you start there, a really strong point here for beto is aim each because she is an because prp. sfchl i'll take away the caveat that it's early because we all know that. but do you think you should be a little higher than you are? >> yes. i think it reflects the greatest

collection of people running for the presidency in the history of this country. you look at the diversity of background and biography, experience and expertise that's being brought to the presidential election has accurately pro dibd psk. prn fufrm fufrmt sfchl snuchlt

but in your heart of hearts, congressman, you f andin par as approximately pfrm. in the states to which we're campaigning, the fum number the relationships that we're building in south carolina and nevada. that at the end of the day is going o decide who is going to win those caucuses and those pr prom. premised on an amaze n sfchlt i

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a year. they're supposed to take three of those pills a day. they take one or two because that are stretching their care as far as they can. folks with diabetes who cannot afford insulin in the wealthiest, the most powerful country on the planet. one young told me he's been to the doctor once and said he's been diagnosed with glaucoma and

cancer and said he'd be dead by the age of 40. i we want to go fool mental health car and for women that every single woman in in. in sfm snchl as n ((smchlt, but

it reminded me watching your campaign, moving from senator to a presidential candidate, reminded me of what cokie roberts said years ago, doesn't matter w did that proop f, you think really accurate. i think the intensity of the scrutiny, even before amy and i made the decision to run, we were treated almost as though we were a presidential candidate, you know, months or weeks before we had made the decision. and that means there are folks who are excited about you, drying to draft you out of the race, if means there just the

number of reports every sing seco secondfch hi, can yj, having are fch where i got herrin gej that's just a different kind of campaign now. you are always on and the people around you are always on.

i think we've gotten used to that rhythm, to that will sfp f fff and let me just say, congressman, those morning show people -- >> they're knocking the stuffing out of you. they'rebe frn we want to ask you some policy? we'll have more discusses after

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nature's bounty. i'm and i'm an emt.erer when i get a migraine at work, it's debilitating. if i call out with a migraine, that's one less ambulance to serve a community. i just don't want to let these people down. excedrin migraine. relief that works as hard as you do. has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles,

and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today. [ giggling ] ♪li'm a slick chickp♪ [ doorbell ] [ slap ] your nails! 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. i and other progressives will face massive attacks from those who attempt to use the word socialism as a slaughter but i will also tell you joe sfp seasoneds are frp sfrchl sfuchl

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>> that's a good answer. >> starve too many 21. >>on glad that mentioned the health of our democracy is at its core. i think it the case for all of your campaigns and competitors and many of you have called for an official impeachment inquiry. you don't get a sense it's a major topic, even though 76% of democrats actually support it. does what the president said last night change that at all? >> i think it just makes a far stronger case. i mean, he's made the case then and ensaeking be in nrngf.

>> but you're not making it specific, though, saying spoker pelosi, you need to do this. it just not ratcheting it up and i'm not seeing that from any of the candidates. >>speaker pelosi doesn't teak orders from me or anybody. it not about deposing a president. it's getting to the facts and the truth about tang single greatest from our democracy and where he distilled 426 pages in the statement of a few minutes, he said when a subject of the investigation lies to the investigators or seeks to

instruct that investigation, he strikes at the very heart of our government and our oblt to kpsfmt especially and given what the president said o george stephanopoulos, to sfrk refreshi refreshing. as they enter the rassfchlt

thapt is sfngtsds? because you cannot go back to the end of the obama administration and think that that's good enough. as much of a horror show as trump has been, his racism, the disaster of his foreign policy, his punishment of farmers and workers here in this country, we had real problems before donald trump became president. you it, sp and thousands

deported in one year alone, destroying and breaking up communities. we cannot be simply about defeating donald trump. we have to bring everybody in make sewer in the most am bosnian serb, freeing dreamers of fear of deportation, fully spn sfrchl and intolerance in this and in in ba n sfm that was

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that sounds good. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> f and now the best polls. howeve however. in we'll dig in coming up on "morning joe." ng up on "morning joe." nothing says summer like a beach trip, so let's promote our summer travel deal on choicehotels.com like this: surf's up. earn a fifty-dollar gift card when you stay just twice this summer. or.. badda book. badda boom. book now at choicehotels.com they're america's biopharmaceutical researchers.

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we're fighting all the subpoenas. these aren't impartial people. the democrats are trying to win 2020. i saw the information from the cia with respect to his brother or half brother. i would tell him that would not happen under my auspices, that's for sure. >> the fbi director says that's what should happen. >> the fbi director is wrong. >> that is president trump defying checks and balances, siding with north korea oaf the cia and publicly refuting the head of the fbi. >> just another day in paradise at the white house. >> joining us now, chief white house correspondent for the "new york times" peter baker. also with us, the host of public

radio program studio 360 and author of the best selling book, "fantasyland, how america went haywire." kurt anderson goode to have you both. >> peter baker, what can you tell us? what reporting do you have regarding the president's comments yesterday about seeking help from foreign countries in 2020? >> this is consistent from what he has said in the past. when this first came up, he dismissed it as on owe research and to say it now after the mule are report came out is provocative because obviously his own fbi director as you have pointed out on the air has said

the opposite and that's rather striking. it's going to be an issue on the campaign trail. democrats have taken oaths and made promises they would contact authorities if they had illicit contacts with foreign governments. his part of his defiance of the whole discussion about russia's involvement in the campaign. he thinks the whole thing is illegitimate and it's being used to undercut his presidency. but high said one other thing that didn't get as much attention, he said in the oval office that not only did mueller's report clear him of collusion, he said the report proved that he rebuffed them. in the morning he's saying he rebuffed them, in the evening he's saying he would take their hell. >> president trump is disputing recent reports that claims his

internal reporting shows him trailing joe biden in several states ahead of the 2020 election. he sweeted yesterday that his campaign's numbers show about he was hoping the numbers would help him to be more presidential. >> we have great internal polling. there were fake polls released by somebody. it's ridiculous. we're we're are win.

sf sfwp. the strongest i've ever been is exactly today. >> i don't believe those polls. there's no way he beats me in texas. >> even your own polls show you're behind, don't they? >> no, they show i've been anywhere. >> we're towedwith my pollster. you just run a campaign and whatever it is it is. i just had a meeting with somebody that's a pollster and i'm winning everywhere. >> why does it bother o if i

thought they are correct be be company planing at all. >> was that a beetle bug they were in? >> why why in the fwp. >> >> what's interesting about yesterday, i realize we all i. in. tally of last would yearss are he's a come pull nch yeah, i'd

like to date my daughter, lester holt and, yeah, i fired comey for the russian thing. and, by the way, russian foreign minister, it's going to be much easier now. now he says, sure, i'm offered dird by a forch power, i'll take it. he's a truth teller about confessing his immorality and thuggishness and he's the most extraordinary pathological liar ever but he also just tells the plain truth when it's about his ugly actions and view of the world. >> a lot of people who know donald trump, peter baker, would say that has to -- my question

to you is what's your gut? how do republicans move forward defending this president? how does this go unchecked? >> yeah, you don't hear a lot of republicans defending this. democrats quickly seized on it and used it as proof of their assertions that the president is a national ris as wes that not with within. ? from in effect, that question seemed to dp to snmt?

flgsz -- russia, they were accepting anyway, whether they got something out of the meeting or not. the president said he rebuffed them but that was clearly not the case in that trump tower meeting in 2016. >> and don jr. sometimes it's easier to be lulled into a there he goes again kind mentality. but very often you have to recognize how story it interesting press seated and saying i would help the and one

learns to if andgo nn pb and also, we missed so many things. think the fact that in the thes will snachl about how it nm snp won't spy on him using his family members? harshbarger in snl how sao

specific smoochltd the first time chris wray said he wouldn't use the term spying describe what he did with president trump's campaign. he pushed back pretty strongly on the phrase at that bill barr had used and the president uses all the time. president trump said he didn't understand that, it was a ridiculous statement. it does put chris wray in a very tough position. he's somebody who has managed to keep his head low through these last two years despite taking over for jim comey, one of the most frustrate jobs.

>> all right, peter bake are and kurt anderson, thank you both morning. big day. >> still ahead, federal prosecutors are developing a potential national security case against a chinese woman charged with unlawfully entering mar-a-lago with a stash of electronic equipment. we'll talk the o -- with the reporter that's been following this story straight ahead on "morning joe." this story straign "morning joe." fact is, every insurance company hopes you drive safely.

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as a lot of us were. the first ever championship with a 4-1 victory in the deciding back and forth series against the bruins. st. louis goalie turned away 32 shots. the bruins scored a single goal in the final moments of the game. barnicle tweeting congratulations everywhere for winning a great series. take care of the stanley cup. you deserve to hold it high. i'm not sure the republic would have survived another championship. >> in all seriousness, this is a great series. the blues are deserving champions. they'd never won a cup before. i'm disappointed with the outcome but if the bruins couldn't do it. >> it's time for mid western action this time. >> congratulations. >> and i love claire rubbing it in mercilessly.

>> they had a fight on the set the other morning so that's where that came from. >> i know. it was real. still ahead on mrch, two more oil tankers came under attack this morning in the gulf of oman. it's escalating tensions in an already tense region. we're going to talk about that. plus the house oversight committee plans to hold william barr and wilbur ross this contempt. and much more on the big story of the day. president trump saying he would be open to accepting dirt on his political rivals if foreign governments offered it up. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ht back. sure you do. that's why it's on us. 2. unlimited data. use as much as you want, when you want. 3. no surprises on your bill. taxes and fees included.

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if someone else offers you information, should they accept it or call the fbi. >> i think maybe you do both. >> do you have any kbaqualms ab asking a foreign government to hack into a system of anybody's in this country. >> let the president talk -- >> this is somebody who said we have information on your opponent. oh, let me call the fbi. give me a break. >> russia, if you're listening, i think you might want to listen. there's nothing wrong with listening. >> does that not give you pause. >> no, gives menopause. if somebody called from a country, norway, we have

information on your opponent, oh, i think i'd want to hear it. >> if russia or china or any other country has those e-mails i mean, to be honest with you i'd love to see them. >> you want that interference in our elections. >> it's not interference, they have information, i think i'd take it. >> america is apparently open for business. it is happening again as nbc investigative reporter writes, on the day the "new york times" reported the justice department wants to interview cia analysts on why they thought the trump campaign was aided by russia, trump tells abc news that he would accept dirt on opponents from foreign powers, presumably russia. u.s. naval war college professor writes, if any u.s. government employee declared why, yes i'd talk to a foreign agent and not talk to the fbi. not only would that person be in violation of security requirements but the people around that person would be

required to report him or her as a security threat. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, june 13th. along with joe, willie and me we have white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan le mooer. staff writer for the atlantic james fallows, white house correspondent, and former fbi special agent and msnbc contributor, clipnt watts. we we again with what the president said in the oval office despite a two-year investigation into outside in r interference in the 2016 presidential race he said that he would be open to a foreign's country's office of what he called opposition research on rival candidates in the 2020 election and that he would not need to notify the fbi about it. the response came when the president was asked whether his

son donald trump jr. should have alerted federal authorities about russia's effort to provide them with dirt in the 2016 race. >> going to the fbi when he got that e-mail. >> let's put yourself in a position. you're a congressman. somebody comes up and says hey, i have information on your opponent. do you call the fbi? i don't think -- i'll tell you. >> if it's coming from russia you do. >> i don't think in my whole life i've called the fbi. you don't call the fbi. you throw somebody out of your office, you do -- >> al gore got a stealing briefing book. he called the fbi. >> that's different. this is smub that said we have information on your opponent. oh, let me call the fbi. give me a break. life doesn't work that way. >> the fbi director says that's what should happen. >> the fbi director is wrong. >> if someone offers you information on an a point should they call the fbi. >> i think you do both, you might want to listen.

there's nothing wrong with listening. if somebody called from a country, norway, we have information on your opponent, oh, i think i'd want to hear it. >> you want that kind of interference in our elections? >> it's not interference, they have information. i think i'd take it. if i thought there was something wrong i'd go maybe to the fbi. when swomeone coming up with research, let's call the fbi. the facebook doesn't have enough agents to take care of it but you go talk honestly to congressmen they always do it, they always have it's coulds opo research. >> describe all the challenges presented here including the challenge for republicans. >> well, let's first of all start with something that i do know something about, that field of knowledge is sonar row that i can actually answer one of the things that he had to say when he said ask any congressmen, all congressmen do it. i was elected four times, was up

there for, you know, for quite some time, ran four campaigns, and if anybody had come from a foreign country with any information that would send a blinking red light on and off and you would immediately contact the fbi. you just would, not even a close call. i never once heard from a single congressman or congresswoman or u.s. senator and i've known a lot over the last 25 years, that ever took any money -- i mean, any information from foreign sources nor would they. i think just stepping back though, first of all the republicans have no choice but to condemn this. if they don't condemn it then of course they are -- they are being disloyal to their country and choosing instead to be loyal to donald trump. but you know, willie, this is -- i'm glad that we showed a clip of what happened during the

campaign, because this is -- this is donald trump asking for foreign interference 2.0 except this time he's in charge of the fbi and the cia. he's declared war against both institutions. he said yesterday the fbi director was wrong and investigations being launched against the cia and their investigation into russian meddling, which by the way, is clear and unequivocal, everyone says the russians interfered but this is donald trump, a guy whose back is against the wall. he's losing in poll after poll and so perhaps this all is unfortunately all too predictable for this man. >> yeah, and if you're china, if you're saudi arabia, if you're israel, if you're any other country that may want to exert some influence on the next presidential election, you've got your opening now. the president, if you didn't already know, has now made it clear and explicitly so that he is open to manipulation from

foreign powers and i just want to read what christopher wray said in a may 7th senate hearing he said quote, if any public official or member of any campaign is contacted by any nation state or anybody acting on behalf of a nation state about influencing or interfering with our election that is something the fbi would want to know about. it's pretty simple, it's pretty cut and dried and john, i wonder now if this puts more pressure on nancy pelosi to pursue the impeachment inquiry so many democrats want to see. >> in 2016 then candidate trump said yesterday, if you're listening. yesterday he might have said russia, if you're still listening. it's extraordinary what happened yesterday. he's the president of the united states controlling the levers of powers of government. he is someone who after two years of the mueller probe if not emboldened because he survived it but at the very least speaking candidly about

what he really wants whether it is from russia or from other nations. we did not get an avalanche of statements from republicans condemning this. we got none and the shift now goes to the democrats. there has been a rising chorus of voices. spee speaker pelosi has done a few maneuvers to blow off steam but she's largely kept it in check. and also just to point out, the president of the united states suggesting that he wouldn't go to the fbi. what sort of example is that setting? it's the language of a mob boss rath ethan the president. first of all he does have ties with the fbi. he has worked with them in the 80s, but he is suggesting he's putting his own political future ahead of law in this country. >> implications are even more extraordinary now than they may have been in 2016. we read in the "new york times" six months ago that governments

like saudi arabia, russia, china have the ability to hear every conversation that you and i would have on our iphones and can actually pull up every text message ever sent. so a foreign government let's say iran let's say a democrat is attacking mbs. they pick up some personally -- illegally pick up some phone conversations that would be of interest to donald trump and they pass it along to him. according to donald trump that's just fine. >> that's right. and so this is the latest version of what's actually as you well know been a long standing question in american politics of how foreign governments, they would all like to have some involvement and influence over the way presidential campaigns go. think back to 1968 with the nixon campaign about how to avoid a peace deal. the combination of the technology that makes it possible now on a new level and this astonishing comment from

donald trump has put some new frontier. one other just historical note. you mentioned that you've run for congress and you knew about these strictures in the congressional point of view. i worked on the presidential campaign. i was in jimmy carter's campaign in '76 and the white house. this was one of the basic things every single person was taught, but if information came from a foreign source, you went to the fbi. it was like, don't take candy from a stranger if you're six years old. sort of lesson one on political hygiene and seems i guess they never had that lesson. >> still ahead on "morning joe," don jr. said i love it when offered dirt on hillary clinton but you wouldn't know that from the way his farther described the special counsel's investigation. we'll run through the president's rewrite of the mueller report next on "morning joe." t on "morning joe. i switched to liberty mutual,

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the president of poland, president trump distorted the findings of the mueller report. here's what the president said the special counsel's team wrote about outreach from russians looking to interfere in the 2016 election. >> the mueller report spoke, they were very disappointed. it said no collusion and no obstruction and no nothing and in fact, it said we were actually rebuffed your friends from russia that we actually pushed them back, we rebuffed them. >> no. no. >> he didn't come close. are you serious? this is like me talking about, you know, mika, by the way, i didn't tell you while you were sleeping i was in st. louis and i put in the winning goal for the blues last night. i don't like to talk about that any more than i like to talk about winning the masters in what year? >> 1987. >> everybody remembers.

>> he said nothing of the sort. in fact it is more accurate to say that i scored a goal because i dreamed about it than to say mueller praised him for rebuffing the russians. they did just the opposite. >> the trump campaign wanted to help, the mueller report said, they just never got it. writing in the june 2016 trump tower meeting that materials were offered to donald trump jr. as part of russia and its government's support from mr. trump. trump jr. immediately responded, if it's what you say i love it. and arranged the meeting through a series of e-mails and telephone calls and that trump jr. requested evidence to support those claims but the russian lawyer did not provide such information. the report even said to special counsel's office considered whether to charge trump campaign officials with crimes in connection with the meeting including the solicitation of an

illegal foreign source contribution. but that the office did not obtain admissible evidence that these individuals acted willfully with general knowledge of the illegality of their conduct. >> one thing we do know, clint, is that donald trump himself is very aware of that meeting and the reason we few that he was aware of that meeting was because he got everybody around on air force one and he came up with a lie to divert the new york times and possibly investigators down the road. >> yeah, it's fascinating. i've not heard much about adoptions lately. that was the theme that we heard about right after that meeting. what's fascinating is the conone drum that puts our country in right now. imagine you're our allies today and you've heard this statement and you don't want donald trump back in office. you have a range of democratic candidates. you might be saying to yourself, you know what, donald trump has a lot of business interests that happened in my country.

what do we know about those business interests? what could we leak out there? should we go to a democratic candidate and try through back channels to get them the information. the third part is you're an fbi agent. you're working on the foreign influence task force. you've just been out all day arranging meetings with democratic candidates and you turn on the television to watch that interview and not only does your president who is essentially your boss say yeah, i'll take that dirt. he says your boss is also incorrect. he is wrong in terms of what he's saying. it just creates so many layers of problems and it gives our adversaries or allies the ability with a pin prick just to go and set up a meeting, just a trump tower meeting which can then set off turmoil throughout our political process. they then own that candidate. they own the situation and they can essentially then narrative off of that in either direction. it is such a damaging way to do

business and it looks like we want to do 2020 just like we did 2016. >> if you look at the context of the president's comments on the very same day donald trump spent three hours with the intel committee, on the same day we learned a likely closed door interview with the house judiciary committee, a week after jared kushner said i'm not sure if i'd call the fbi if i was offered information from a foreign government, and you know, less than two months from the release of the mueller report where robert mueller describes sweeping and systemic interference by the russian government. what does this mean now for the conversation inside congress that will begin this morning, probably began last night with nancy pelosi and the members who want to see an impeachment. >> it's hard to know what if anything at this point can tip that balance on impeachment. but earlier this week the strategy as of a couple days ago by house leadership was to pursue this legislative course

and actually the one piece that i wrote about was the piece about reporting foreign contacts. there's thislation they want a duty to report because as it stand right now, trump is right. that wasn't criminal under our current code for them to be colluding, to have over 100 contacts with the russians and so mueller couldn't press criminal charges here. but did they collude, yes. and actually on point two, did they actually get information and did they use it? yes to that too. they may not have gotten it to that point, but page 18 of the mueller report says in the summer of 2016 the campaign was planning a communications strategy based on the possible release of clinton e-mails by wikileaks. we all know to what effect the president used wikileaks in that campaign. they knew the russians were trying to help them. they knew the russians were

hacking and you had this big release of the hack and you had the trump campaign planning their entire communications strategy around it so they were given that information and they did eventually use it. >> we've actually seen this story before, of course, but because we have, we also know that donald trump's words far from bluster have consequences, the mueller report shows that the evening after donald trump's press conference saying russia, if you can release -- find these 30,000 e-mails, you will be -- you will be thanked. that was the night that russian intel agents started trying to hack into the dnc and hillary clinton's servers. >> yes, and as you were saying earlier, there are governments all around the world that have very large interests in how this election turns out and you know, in 2020 and all the policies between now and then and so china and russia and half a dozen other countries we could name have real resources to

provide information, to do various interventions and this is, you know, it's not like they needed encouragement already but this is more encouragement of the same sort as russia if you're listening. russians would have been trying anyway but this is a kind of go ahead flag that they've never gotten before from u.s. officials. >> so i'm just curious with your perspective in government also, perspective as a journalist and certainly somebody that can remember very well the -- the nixon impeachment. that process, i'm curious what your thoughts are today, here we are in june of 2019 about the choices that are facing the democrats and whether the democrats have a historic responsibility to begin an impeachment process despite any blowback they may get in next year's elections. >> it certainly seems as if the news of the last 24 hours is

another significant step. i've long since given up what's the next step to change the minds of any republicans. we seem to have crossed that threshold a long time ago. i think the democrats is now easier for them to argue, look, just on the merits there is more factual information here including admissions out of the president's own mouth apparently not realizing what he was saying that match up with previous things which justified hearings against presidents, so i'm not taking -- my magazine has run a cover story whose cover in 72 point type was impeach. so i think having some systematic way to expose what's going on here, take testimony, say is this the same as past year's or is it different, i think that would be valuable. iran said it had no intention of sitting down for talks with the u.s. this as new reports of attacks

on oil tankers in the region is once again raising tensions. richa richard breaks it all down for us next on "morning joe." all dor us next on "morning joe. ♪ ♪ run with us. on a john deere z500 series mower. built to mow better, faster. because sometimes... when you take a look around... you notice... your grass is long... your time is short... and there's no turning back. ♪ ♪ nothing runs like a deere™. run with us. visit your john deere dealer today, to test drive a z500 or z700 series ztrak™ mower.

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welcome back the navy says it is assisting two oil tankers who were attacked in the gulf of oman close to the iran. nbc news has confirmed that one of the vessels was a marshal islands flying ship run by a norwegian company heading from the uae to taiwan. all crew members are safe and accounted for. nbc news has also confirmed the other vessel was a panama flagged ship sailing to singapore from saudi arabia. the 21 crew members abandoned ship and were quickly rescued by a nearby vessel. japan's trade ministry says some of the cargo was meant for japan. abe is in iran for talks. the 44 total crew members have been taken to an iranian port and that the norwegian vessel has sunk. last month, four oil tankers

from saudi arabia, the uae and norway were damaged in attacks which the u.s. has blamed on iran, teheran deny it is allegation. joining us now the counsel of foreign operations. >> what can you tell us? >> this will end badly. the -- >> yeah. >> we don't have proof that the iranians did this, and it's -- you know, and you don't want to jump ahead of this story but the united states has been putting extraordinary pressure on iran economically. the economy shrank an estimated to sink another 6% or so this year and it's quite possible they're not quickly going to absorb pain. they wouldn't have to do this directly. iran has control over dozens of militias. that would be my working hypothesis but i want to again,

say that we don't have evidence that the iranians have their hands on it, but that is certainly going to be hypothesis number one here, joe. >> so what is the role, the u.s. navy said it's aware of what's happened in the gulf there. what is the role of the navy here and what should the concerns be for america? >> you can't provide point defense for every tanker. >> at some point we're going to have to decide what we're going to do. these areas are really narrow. we've put a carrier in the area, several other ships. at some point if there is attribution, if we can connect the dots and say this was done by this militia and we have the intelligence showing this or that government was behind it, then i think there would be tremendous pressure on the united states to take some limited military action against iran or against militia forces that were associated with them that we're doing this. but these -- these ships are not just running into sand bars.

they're either being hit by torpedos, there seem to be mines so this is purposeful action by someone or ones. coming up, what is driving the day on wall street. we'll check in with cnbc for business before the bell. plus, an update on the trump administration's efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. congresswoman stacey plaskett joins the conversation straight ahead. "morning joe" is back straight ahead. ead. "morning joe" is back straight ahead.

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it was an honor to serve with him. he's one of those decent, honorable men i have ever worked with in my life. and he was someone unlike today that our children not only could but did look up to. someone that parents could point to and say, that's the kind of person you should be. and folks, how many times have

you moms or dads turned off the television when the other guy was on sometimes? no, no, no, i don't mean based on policy, i mean, the way we talk about people. the way he's dividing people. >> the former vice president joe biden in iowa pointing out what he sees as stark deferences between president obama and president trump. well, last hour we had beto o'rourke on the show who made it clear he doesn't see biden's connection to the past administration as a good thing. >> if you stood next to him why would you tell democratic voters you are a better candidate than joe biden to become president? >> because you cannot go back to the end of the obama administration and think that that's good enough. as much of a horror show as trump has been, his racism, the disaster of his foreign policy,

his punishment of farmers and workers here in this country, we had real problems before donald trump became president. he had folks working two and three jobs just to make ends meet. ten times the wealth in white america than you had in black america. you had nearly 30,000 gun violence deaths in this country every single year without any meaningful reform to our gun safety laws. within the obama administration 400,000 people deported from this country in one year alone destroying families and breaking up communities. so we cannot return to the past. we cannot simply be about defeating donald trump. >> so is joe biden a return to the past? >> he is. and that cannot be who we are going forward. we've got to be bigger, we've got to be bolder. we have to set a much higher mark in the relentless in pursuing that.

>> should he apologize for his iraq vote? >> look, you've got to ask yourself where joe biden is on the issues that are most important to you. did he support the war in iraq that forever destabilized the middle east? does he really believe that women of lower income should be able to make their own decisions about their own body, be able to afford health care in order to do that. he supported the hyde amendment. >> he's already switched. what about iraq? >> on china he says no good, nothing to worry about and now seems to be changing his message on that. so i'm not exactly sure what he believes or what he should apologize for. i only know that this country should be able to do far better. >> yeah, okay. so first of all, willie, wow. some pretty strong comments elicited by you about joe biden. his team would say he did apologize for the iraq juar

war resolution. >> it's his former criticism of joe biden not just only from beto o'rourke but any of the candidates in the field when given the opportunity. he went right at joe biden and it wasn't just a criticism of joe biden. it was a pretty full throated criticism of obama years talking about immigration and the failure on gun control in his eyes. there was a lot in there. >> the economy too and interesting how that plays in the next few days. obviously obama himself has stayed out of this race, but he is still a very revered and popular figure among the democratic party. if this is interpreted as an attack on joe biden that's one thing. i think we're going to see more and more of that. the debate stage in two weeks and going forward if biden maintains his lead as the clear front runner, but it's also an association on the eight years of the obama administration.

nay be tough among communities of color. >> this is just a frame through which we see the debate stage starting to form. the polls tell us it's joe biden and everybody else. he has double digit leads over all the other candidates. elizabeth warren is nipping on bernie sanders' heels, but there's clear differences between joe biden who has a legacy in the senate and obama administration and then whether it's pete buttgieg who is a next gen candidate or kamala harris, who is still a relative fresh face in this field. and i think that the gate has opened to a certain extent. these candidates have held back up until about the last week with the hyde amendment story. weave seen many of them start to criticize. >> and in the earlier part of my question i said you all have been very civil with each other up to this point, but somewhere along the line when joe biden is

sitting at 30 points and you're sitting at 2 points i think you'll have to see some criticism of the front runner. >> you have to differentiate yourself. the house oversight committee voted to hold william barr and ross in contempt yesterday. seeking out their motives about a question on the census. the wall street journal reports that on tuesday barr sent trump a letter asking him to take the step according to the assistant attorney general, steven boyd. the supreme court is expected to weigh in on the census debate by the end of the month.

joining us now, member of the house oversight committee, democratic congresswoman stacey plaskett who represents the u.s. virgin islands mplts also the ceo of the national association of latino elected and appointed officials. one of the nation's top civic engagement organizations and nbc news correspondent mariana, the author of the book, it's great, it's right in the know your value wheelhouse and we really congratulate you. on the census issue, explain the parameters, why this is so important. >> it is extremely important, mika, because census data is used to allocate federal funds in our different communities for

schools, hospitals, firefighters and there is a lot of fear in the latino community especially around what we call our mixed status families. these are families where one or both parents are undocumented, but the children are u.s. citizens, so they tell you that they are in fear of responding to the census if this question were included. that is going to deprive those children of those funds, but it goes beyond the latino community. it will also affect white americans in those communities because the funds are going to be stretched thin. >> congresswoman, i would ask you then, as someone who has some say in the matter, where cuz this stand? will this question be placed on the census? >> as we know as it stands now, this is something that the court is looking at. we are very concern on the oversight committee for the issues that were just cited to you. we're concerned that there's going to be tremendous

undercounting. federal dollars are needed most, they may not be there. we'res a concerned that the reason that this citizenship question was put there was for those purposes and that there might be a possibility that partisan ship comes into play because there was a belief that this would be more beneficial to republicans than it would be to democrats. >> talk to me a little bit about what we're seeing already. there's already been criticism of the census of miscounting or undercounting communities, particularly latinos and particularly children. elaborate on that and how that could get worse if this goes through. >> the history of the census is such that there has never been an accurate count. it counts certain populations less well than others. 42% latino children, so lat cin

are left for a number of reasons. the way the census is conducted itself has institutional barriers to being counted. if you don't have a mailing address you're not going to get a census letter or form. and then you have to convince people, it's okay to tell this federal government the names, genders, race, ethnicities and ages of everybody who lives in your hougs hold and now tell us if they're a citizen or not and don't worry. nothing's going to happen. that is the heavy lift that we have right now and the fact is that the census bureau profession values themselves are scrambling to figure out how are we going to deal with this because they know disaster is coming. >> the fear of talking to the government is that particularly acute under this administration? >> this is the administration that says i'm going to cancel daca.

i'm going to institute a muslim ban, i'm going to build a wall and are you a citizen? that's what we're dealing with. >> there was a shocking report out about one of the gentlemen who had done research on getting the census question insertd into the census. and i'm wondering if that is going to have any effect on what happens next. his research specifically said that the motivation for putting this question, this citizenship question in was in order to depress the response in some of these minority communities and therefore allow republicans to draw even more gerrymandered districts. how much of an impact is that going to have on what happens next? >> well, you know, the impact is unclear because there's information that we haven't been given yet from the department of commerce and that's the subject in one of the primary reasons why we took the vote that we did yesterday. because we have an investigative responsibility and an oversight

responsibility knowing that there may be evidence out there which contradicts the testimony of secretary ross in that he said that his primary purpose in inserting this was to enforce the voting rights act. when we find out there were secret memos hand given memos to individuals at the justice department who were writing the opinion that specifically stated that this would be a way to suppress the democratic vote. that is troubling and the fact now that the president has declared protective executive privilege which is a term of art that does not exist under law, that he is going to assert this so that we do not have any of the redacted documents is very problematic to the oversight committee. >> congressman, who are you on impeachment? >> i do not believe that we need to begin impeachment process at this time. listen, i had a conversation last week with several con stitch we-- constituents were n

were not favorable to trump and when they told me there was nothing in the mueller report i was aghast. that means that there is a complete disconnect with individuals in the heart land of america, those who obviously do not listen to msnbc and do not know what is the contents of the mueller report, that that body has a responsibilities to get that message out to them first and i think that that's what you're seeing happening right now while we're continuing to do the work of congress. while we're continuing to bring appropriations bills, while we're looking at resiliency, mitigation, disaster recovery and areas like my own, the virgin islands. we're going to be doing the investigation and shining the light on this issue as well. >> all right. thank you very much. back to the census issue, where do you think this all goes. >> many experts say that part of the damage has already been

done, mika. that it already is very challenging to get our latino families to fill out the census without the the citizenship question included. so now it's up to advocates on the ground to enlighten the latino community, other minorities and everyone in general as to the importance of filling out the census. but as i mentioned, the damage may already have been done because the fear is already there. what we've been talking about this morning, a fear of what many latino families say is an administration that has been targeting them for the past couple of years. >> thank you very much. the new book is "perfectly you" embracing the power of being real and we thank you for the book and for being part of the know your value community and for the message. thank you for being on the show with us and talking about this important issue. >> up next, plenty of concern about future espionage at the

hands of beijing but did it already happen at the president's estate in mar -a-l o mar-a-lago, those next on "morning joe." mar-a-lago, those next on "morning joe." my body is truly powerful. i have the power to lower my blood sugar and a1c. because i can still make my own insulin. and trulicity activates my body to release it like it's supposed to. trulicity is for people with type 2 diabetes. it's not insulin. i take it once a week. it starts acting in my body from the first dose. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis.

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break down what happened. >> this is bringing more tension in an already-tense area of the world. two oil tankers were damaged early this morning. the suspected attract came off the persian gulf next to iran. we're told ships in the area are rendering assistance. according to reports, it appears to be consistent with a projecti projectile. thank god most of the people are safe and cargo is intact. we don't know who perpetrated the attack. but clearly there's escalation. uae are at odds with iran. they're backing the civil war in

yemen. relations have only run worse as you know. this just continues to build. john bolton -- and this happened back in may -- four commercial ships were attacked. it wasn't as aggressive as we just saw today but john bolton, of course, from the u.s. administration, president trump's national security adviser did in this place continue to place the blame on iran. no word from the administration on who did that but clearly the oil market is shaken and prices are soaring and stocks getting a boost this morning. >> cnbc's sara eisen, thank you very much for that. >> thank you. moving on, federal prosecutors have hinted at a potential espionage case stacked against a chinese woman arrested for trespassing at mar-a-lago. according to "the miami herald" they asked a judge for classify information under seal and keep the 34-year-old yujing zhang from seeing it due to an ongoing

national security threat. joining us one of the reporters behind that report, sarah blaskey and we have dave nuremberg. we heard about this story and it came and went like a lot is happening in the news lately. but there may be serious implications here, even threats to our national security. >> right. there's always been some assumptions that when yujing zhang was arrested in mar-a-lago in march that potentially she wasn't just a bumbling tourist but we didn't know. yesterday "the miami herald" reported that federal prosecutors in the u.s. attorney's office have filed specific type of motion that says they have classified information pertaining to national security regarding yujing zhang's case. that could include simply procedural things like how secret service guests at

mar-a-lago would be classified but in this case "the miami herald" nerunderstands the information the u.s. attorneys have the information is directly about yujing zhang. it could be who she is. it could be communications. we don't know that yet. but we do know there's some sort of national security implication. and we also know that the federal authorities have an ongoing investigation into possible espionage in south florida. >> david aaronburg, why was the motion filed? what does it indicate that this is more than a bumbling idiot that walked on to the grounds of mar-a-lago, what does this indicate the threat this woman poses? >> it indicates prosecutors think there's a national security risk and in disclosing information to the defense counsel and public. but it doesn't necessarily mean the information is about her spying. it could be information about her as the reporter just said, in that it could be revealing of

the sources and methods of how they got information about her and the intelligence community may not want that to be revealed. >> sarah, there's been great concern about the security of mar-a-lago. secret services said they had a terrible time fortifying it. i have been there and people come and go. in your reporting, is there any move by the secret service or perhaps local law enforcement agencies to harden the entry to mar-a-lago and cut down on the risk this poses? >> it's actually a little hard to know. mar-a-lago is pretty closed explaining anything about how they vet guests but it is our understanding from sources after yujing zhang especially, there have been a couple of changes in terms of how guests come in and what questions are asked in particular of guests.

>> well, dave aronberg then, what is the future for this particular suspect? what is her status? and are there potentially other people involved? what do we know? >> this woman is a mystery to prosecutors because she is someone who just fired her public defenders and is now defending herself in english. she was found with $8,000 in cash and claimed to have a $1.3 million home and bmw and still qualified for a public defender, which she then fired. so she is an enigma. you can expect anything from her. maybe her end game is a settlement, maybe it's trial or maybe -- here's something that hasn't been discussed yet, maybe she's seeking asylum and that's why she doesn't want her public defenders around her. all in all you would think if the federal government had information on her espionage, that they would have filed charges of espionage against her already or maybe that's forthcoming. >> wow.

okay, dave aronberg, thank you. sarah blaskey as well. please come back. we will continue to cover the story. as we mentioned this morning, president trump's older son don jr. was on capitol hill speaking with the senate intel chairman yesterday and hope hicks agreed to participate in a closed-door interview with the house judiciary committee next week. we now know the committee subpoenaed rick gates and michael flynn. they are seeking documents and testimony from both men who were crucial cooperators for special counsel robert mueller. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage now. >> thank you very much, mika. good morning, i'm stephanie ruhle and we have a news day on our hands. our country is founded on a basic principle, american pr