new work week. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. financier jeffrey epstein is charged with sex trafficking over abusing underage girls is. and questions about top trump aides roll. the field of democrats becomes a little less crowded. and coco gauff's wimbledon streak comes to an end as the 15-year-old american sensation loses her fourth round match against romania's simona halep.

good morning. it's tuesday, july 9th. i'm geoff bennett. alongside frances rivera. yasmin is on vacation and frances is kindly helping us. >> glad to do. >> financier jeffrey epstein is being charged with one count of sex trafficking after a newly unsealed indictment accused the 66-year-old of seek out minors as young as 14 from at least 2002 to 2005 and paying them hundreds of thousands for sex at either his new york city townhouse or his estate in palm beach, florida. prosecutors revealed what they called an extraordinary volume of photos that was confiscated from epstein's home. he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. he faces up to 45 years in

prison if convicted. and the decision on epstein's bail was delayed and he must remain behind bars until at least monday. at an earlier news conference, u.s. attorney for the distract of new york appealed for other potential victims to come forward while appearing to take a swipe at prosecutors in south florida where epstein has been preensly accused of molesting young girls and where he worked out a favorable deal following an arrest following accusations of sex with minors. >> while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, it is still profoundly important to the many alleged victims now young women. they deserve their day in court, and we are proud to be standing up for them by bringing this indictment. >> the speaker of the house congresswoman nancy pelosi is calling on labor secretary alex

acosta to resign claiming in a tweet she engaged in an unconscionable agreement with jeffrey epstein kept secret from crank crass young victims. also this was known by the president when he appointed him to the cabinet. facing a 53 federal indictment, epstein could have ended up if federal prison for the rest of his life, but a deal was cut. a nonprosecution agreement essentially shut down an ongoing fbi probe into whether there were more victims and other powerful people who took part in epstein's sex crimes. according to "the herald's" compassion f o thousands of emails, court documents, and fbi records. despite a federal law to the contrary that the deal would be kept from the victims. acosta did not respond to a

commend from nbc news but has defended the deal. >> as i was saying, the didn't of justice for the past 12 years has defended the actions of the office in this case. at the end of the day, mr. epstein went to jail. epstein was incarcerated. he registered as a sex offender, the world was put on notice that he was a sex offender, and the victims received restitution. >> 13 months in county jail, 12 hours a day, work release, you consider that justice for the desecration of these girls. >> all right. now, a current representative of the didn't jeffrey berman had this to say yesterday. >> it alleges that he was on the justice department's radar in 2008 when costa, now secretary of labor broke a state plea bargain. why is there no accounting for

-- at the time and new information -- >> i'm not going into any dealings with the main justice, nor am i going to go into any aspects of how our investigation originated. i will say we were assisted from excellent journalism. >> joining us, danny sell valle valleva cevallos. >> that complete nonanswer. hey, what do you have to say about the doj beforehand. the indictment alleges two counts, one for sex trafficking and one for conspiracy . this was a subject of a nonprosecution says that i

another bound by. they're not bound by an agreement that the southern district of florida entered into because they were not part of it and they're not going to honor it, which is really an interesting con flick that it sets up between two separate districts, two u.s. attorney's office within the federal government. >> let's talk about when it comes to the next thing, july 15th, detention hearing, when it comes to prosecutions and epste epstein's lawyers. you've got two private planes, a private island that you own as well to show he's not a threat to the community. >> it's so interesting as a defense attorney. we often take the exact same facts and say the defendant isn't a flight risk. he's well known to the community. where is he going to go. he's got means and you don't have to detain him. but the reality is in this case, this is what we call a presumption case. normally defendants are entitled to bail, but there are several exceptions to that rule where the crimes they're charged with create what's called a

rebuttable presumption. the defendant can overcome this presumption, but it's not going to be easy. if you were a betting person, you would take the government in this bet because they start out with the benefit of this presumption that he's going to be detained. >> might other people be charges in this case because it strikes me he did not abuse these girls without others knowing about it or enabling it. >> keep in mind the government is using its corruption unit. it does not mean private industry, private folks like jeffrey epstein. corruption is normally a word used to describe state and federal officials, so though although u.s. attorney general berman said yesterday doan look too much boo that decision, i am choosing to look a lot into that decision. you can all do what you like, but i believe there is something like that. >> i wish we had more time to talk about the flipping, the three employees. actually i'm told we have more time.

talk about the other employees under epstein who helped enable this, who made the payments out there and the possibility of how they will fair. >> it's really interesting. if you look at the investigation from a decade ago, that's what the government, state and local authorities did and the federal government. they look ed at some of his employees, which is often the first place you look if you want information on a target. this is going to be a very interesting case. it may be a race to flip, a rah is to cooperate with the government. will it be epstein himself or the government around him that has surely been getting for some time. but keep an eye on who flips and how soon. >> certainly we'll be watching and you'll be back here talking about it if that's the case. thank you. now to congressman eric swalwell who has officially ended his 2020 bid. >> today ends our presidential campaign, but it is the

beginning of annan opportunity in congress with a new perspective shaped by the lives that have touched mine and our campaign throughout these last three months to bring that promise of america to all americans. >> the californian u.s. congressman decided to end his plans. he said his campaign was unable to gain the attention or raise the money it needed to stay in the race. meanwhile on twitter several of his competitors including joe biden and kamala harris applauded his 2020 bid and work for gun safety reform. swalwell will now run for re-election for his house seat for what he is expected to face a tough primary challenger. >> swalwell is out but elizabeth warren is maintaining her status, hitting her stride with first-time donors, her campaign reported yesterday. in an email to donors she

announced raising $19.1 million in the past three mons from 384,000 donors, more than 80% of whom had never given to a candidate before. she now has $19.7 million cash on hand and with an average contribution of $28 the massive haul answers skeptics whether her pledge not to court wealthy donors would put her at a massive disadvantage, noting a massive spending pool in the last three months. it put her bhienlt pete buttigieg who has the most and former vice president joe biden who you see as well. warren outraised bernie sanders who established a machine of small donations and senator camera harris even with her post debate boost. >> $18 million when it comes to

sanders, $12 million when it comes to harris. i want to talk about it with julia manchester. what does it say about her fund-raising haul among first-time donors and her position right now in this field? >> i think it really speaks to her appeal to the democratic election at this point. elizabeth warren has had a really good quarter. she's gotten a lot of attention really going to those numerous town halls and crucial states such as iowa, new hampshire, and speaking out to her voters and laying out her plans. it speaks to how fund-raising is really changing. we saw a lot of that with bernie sanders in 2016. it's the rise of the small dollar donor. elizabeth warren is a fresher face than bernie sanders.

they're looking for someone new. >> let's talk about eric swalwell. we've got this next debate at the end of the month. how many candidates do you think will start getting out before this next debate, julia? >> we'll really have to see because i don't know how much longer they can fit that many candidates on stage, and you're actually hearing rumblings that tom steyer could jump in the race but i think swalwell could be doing that. he was primarily in the race to bring attention to gun control and combatting gun violence. it will be interesting to see how washington governor james inslee combats climate change. i think you're going to see a

whittling of the candidates. they still want to get their word in on the debate stage. >> all right, julia. a lot more to talk about. we're not going to say good-bye. we're going to see you in just a bit. >> thank you. president trump speaks out about the highly critical comments about him from the ambassad ambassador to the u.s. plus, president trump is also touting his administration's questionable list of accomplishment to protect the government. the 2020 election is a major factor in that move. that story and a check of the weather before we come back here on "first look." "first look." i don't keep track of regrets.

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four hours. it left drivers stranded and homes flooded. >> reporter: during d.c.'s morning rush hour, commuters competing with rushing water. >> the road literally started becoming a river. >> reporter: torrential rains becoming a flash flood. kids carried to safety by adults. washington receiving almost a month's worth of rain in a single morning. 3.3 inches in one hour, more than the record set back in 1958. a stream in lealexandria, virginia. in the metro system, a waterfall cascading from the ceiling. while the elevatoring at the pentagon stop looked like showers, some drivers taking risky chances requiring dozens of rescues. >> people made a mistake trying to drive through high water. >> reporter: in washington, no

deaths were reported and residents keeping a sense of humor. >> unbleebable pictures. that's incredible. >> you know, too many of your own community. >> yeah. as the d.c. battle a drastic rainfall, president trump touted what he sees as his environmental record there in the east room. he was flavged by former coal and oil lobbyists during his hour-long speech. take a look at this. >> we want the cleanest air, crystal clean water, and that's what we're doing. there is a very good place for solar energy. i'm a believer in solar energy. we're in the process of strengthening national drinking water standards to protect vulnerable children from lead and copper. >> this is after a new poulting showed a serious rift among

millennial women and conservatives. trump has rowelled back or curtailed more than 80 violations and removed the u.s. from the paris climate accord, gave his speech america's environmental leadership on advisement of consultants to his re-election campaign. there are moderate voters who would like the president's economic qualities and, quote, note that he's being responsible on environmental issues. that's according to a senior official who reviewed the data. let's get a check on the weather. here's nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> good morning. that d.c. event, the odds of it happening, 1%. 1% chance you could get that much rainfall in one hour. especially over the timing of the morning rush hour made it that much worse.

it was the sixth weddest july day on record for washington, d.c. it was pretty localized. so let's turn to our next big weather story. now we're getting into our tropical season. this red x shows you where the hurricane center thinks the beginnings of our tropical developments is taking place. a little spin in the atmosphere in southern portions of georgia. let's fast forward here and go into thursday. this is when the hurricane center thinks that there's maybe somewhere between a 40% and 80% chance development. this is our european model. it keeps the circulation over the open water, drifts it to the louisiana coastline, gets a little stronger. the more of them they are, the lower the pressure the storm is and the lower the pressure the stronger it is. this takes us into saturday. it has us coming on somewhere toward louisiana. our american model has it comes somewhere close to the texas coastline. it looks to be somewhere between

a tropical storm or low end hurricane. again, four, five days away. it's a big heads-up to everyone on the gulf coast. another summer story, it's on in the south. this is the hottest time of the year. it's living up to it. look at core miss christy. you're the winner or loser, depending how you look at it. 112. it's extremely hot and humid and after we get done tracking the tropical threat, all of our attention will turn to the heat. even the people from the great lakes to the northeast. it ooh going to be a hot end. >> it's 112 degrees and humid on top of it. >> that's with the heat index. it's going to be the upper 90s, but it's so humid in south texas, it feels like 112. >> that's the worst combination. still ahead, baseball's big it stars swing for your the fences. all the highlights from last night's home run derby and who

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he narrowly escaped a 14th homer to eliminated the s.t.a.r.t. with one second left on the clock. now after a slow start to round two. alonso needed all of his time to best the braves, ronald acuna jr.'s 19 long balls. how about this. this is one of the best finals of all time. alonso prevailed 40-39 and it was his third walk-off home run of the night after a showdown with the blue jays vladimir guerrero jr. there were 312 home runs hit in last night's home run derby, the most ever, while guerrero hit 91. how many balls did they is even have for the competition. turning now to the tennis all england club coco gauff's

winning streak has come to an end. she was denied a spot after losing in straight sets again world number seven ranked simona halep of romania. she came in at 300 something losing to the number 7, who could win the whole tournament. it's not a big loss. she's made huge strides and hopefully we'll talk about her for a decade to come. >> we know that name. coco gauff. who is this person. we're going to know. >> everybody knows. still ahead, more on the new charges filed against wealthy financier jeffrey epstein and what officials are saying about the case and why attorney general william barr is staying tight-lipped. and justin amash's exit from the republican party and the secret plot to reportedly oust him from a top house committee. this is the couple who wanted to get away

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welcome back. i'm geoff bennett alongside frances rivera in for yasmin this morning. the charges are renewing questions about why federal prosecutors had previously cut a deal with epstein that shielded him from federal prosecution. nbc new's stephanie gosk has

more. >> billionaire, hedge fund manager, social least accused of sex trafficking. the federal prosecutors say epstein created a network of victims some as young as 14 who he sexually abused from 2002 to 2005 at his estate in palm beach, florida, and in new york city. they retrieved a vachtd trove of photos of young women and girls during a search over the weekend. hundreds, perhaps thousands of suggestive paragraphs. he was arrested on saturday when his private jet landed from paris. he was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for the purpose of sex. victims were to provide massages according to the indictment which would become increasingly sexual in nature. >> the victims all underaged girls at the time of the alleged

conduct were given hundreds of thousands in cash for each encounter by'reer this epstein or one of his employees. >> the 66-year-old has palled around with some of the most powerful in business including bill clinton and president trump. he pleaded not guilty to the charges which many including some officials and alleged victims say should have come more than a decade ago. after a similar investigation by law enforcement in florida. but in 2008 florida u.s. attorney alex acosta, now the current secretary of labor, brokered a secret last-minute deal. epstein afforded more serious federal charges by pleading guilty to state charges including soliciting prot tugs from a minor. he had to spend 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender. >> it's such a shocking disparity what he could have been charged with, what the allegations seemed to show, and what he was allowed to get away

with. >> during acosta's confirmation hearing he said it was the best deal given the evidence. . the deal krit signs by me was too lenient. several of epstein's alleged victims speaking out for the first time. >> i was 16. >> i was 16. >> i started going to him when i was hike 14, 15. 14, turning 15. >> the u.s. attorney said investigate ivg journalism significantly helped the case and he called on new victims to come forward. >> while the charged conduct is from a number of years ago, they deserve their day in court. >> thanks to stephanie goffing for that report. meanwhile u.s. attorney general william barr declined to discuss his fellow cabinet member's role in epstein's case and said he will have no involvement whatsoever. >> do you think the ball was dropped ten years ago by

alexander acosta? ? i'm recused from that matter because one of the law firms represents epstein was a firm i joined for a short period of time. >> he's found a way to legally require 2020 census takers to declare their citizenship. he said that in a new interview with the "associated press." barr said to expect trump administration action in the. going days that he believes will allow the government to add the controversial question to the national head count, a plan he and president trump had been working on since the question received a red flag from the supreme court on the basis of what justices call a contrive and mismatched reasoning. now, bar's confidence following a complete overhaul of the team litigating the case which barr said came after members of the original team said they preferred, quote, not at to embark on this next phase to provide a new rational. barr did not detail the plan,

but a senior official tells theasm pchl they issued a memo to instruct the commerce kept to include a sentence on reform. the "washington post" reports amash decided to make a move as they plotted to quietly oust him if he refused to step downlingly. in a letter, amash asked the gop leadership to police accept this letter as a formal notification that i'm with drawing my house membership immediately. the report says house republicans had been planning to replash amash where heed a occasionally voted with the democrats investigating president trump. less than a week ago he announced he was leaving the republican party to become an independent after he accused trump of political misconduct.

>> joining us once again is julia manchester. amash said, you can't fire me because i quit. two questions. one, what does this signal about his relationship with republicans and republican leadership and, two, do we know any more whether he might run for a third party run on the presidential ticket because that's what e've been hearing from people close to him for weeks. >> well, jeff, i would say this relationship with the republican party has been fraught if not broken for several months now. if we look back to just last week, the op-ed in the "washington post" on independent day, no less announcing his resignation from the party saying it was too much in lockstep and influenced by president trump spoke volumes to his relationship with the parties, so i think that's been happening for a while now. to your second question, you know, it's unclear whether he will run for president. you know, before his public criticism of president trump and

the republican party, his national profile wasn't as high as it is now. it has certainly soared in rekremtd weeks, however, the amount of money he has in his congressional campaign isn't a lot. it's like $133,000. so it could be seen that a presidential run could be a better way to up his profile. >> back to the headline here on jeffrey epstein and then the focus on the connection between the trump administration, alex acosta, and that relationship now, talk more about the level of concern behind closed doors at the white house especially with the chances of congress or what would be the chances of congress pushing for an investigation. >> there's quite a bit of concern behind closed doors at the white house. this is not a good look for president trump and the administration, the administration to say to be an outsider, you know, he describes himself as a populist. he wants to be elected for the people essentially, so this

isn't a good look having acosta tied to this really disgusting case of affluenza, if you will. but i think going to congress, it's unclear how much congress will investigate secretary acosta -- not necessarily secretary acosta, but this case. i think democrats and republicans are unsure how to move forward on secretary acosta because a lot of them supported him. they're unsure whether to call for his resignation. >> y'all ya manchester, we always appreciate your insights. >> thank you. aatom image watchdog says iran is improving their uranium fields. they say they're enriching uranium above the 3.67 purity level set in the agreement and while the agency did not specify

how far beyond that threshold tehran has gone, iranian state media claims the country is enriching uranium up to 4.5%. 90% purity is needed for weapons grade material. it marks iran's second major breach and comes 14 months after president trump unilaterally withdrew the united states from the deal and reinstalled the added new hard-hitting sanctions. last week iran breached the limits on how much uranium it could stockpile. president trump is responding to highly critical comments made by the uk's ambassador to the u.s. in leaked diplomatic cables. in those memos, the ambassador wrote among other things are trump is inept, insecure, and incompetent. the president wrote, quote, i have been very critical how the

prime minister theresa may has handled brexit. what a mess. i told her how it should be done, but she decided to go another way. i do not know the ambassador but he's not well thought of in the u.s. we will not deal with him. the wonderful thing is they will have a new prime minister. while i enjoyed visiting last month, it's the queen i was most impressed with, say the president. he was also disinvited last night by the advisory over qatar that the president attended. one sets his eyes for a run on the u.s. senate. details on why republicans are worried or kansas secretary of state kris kobach and his 2020 cam bane. plus bill karins is back with another check of our forecast and a tropical storm developing.

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welcome back. kansas's secretary of state kris kobach is stepping back. he kicked off his 2020 senate campaign sparking fears he could cost the party a valuable seat held fehr eight decades by senator pat roberts. he lost his bid for governor by five points which trumped carey by 20 points. and scott taylor announced he'll challenge mark warner for his seat next year. taylor, a one-term republican lost his re-election bid to a democrat amid a fraud investigation surrounding his campaign. >> all right. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning. the hurricane center saying we have an 80% of a tropical

depression by the end of the week. if we get it, that would be barry. so here is the area. a spin in the atmosphere in southern georgia. that's the area to watch. the reason it has a chance to develop is it's going to be over the water in the northern gulf of mexico over the next couple of days. this is the five-day develop zone. somewhere in this region is where they could begin to attract this and it's go ipg to start heading from north florida and then parallel to the gulf and somewhere toward louisiana and texas coast line. heavy rain likely, especially right along the louisiana coastal area, possibly around mobile, possibly biloxi too and then toward houston and the beaumont and charleston area. it's too early to know how intense or strong it can get. obviously it's over the warm water. if it heads toward texas, it's likely to be a strong storm. if it's more toward the new orleans area, odds are if fiv of

a weaker system. again, the rainfall forecast is going to be locally five inches along the northern gulf coast and that will include areas from lake charles. we could deal with flooding issues over the next couple of days, especially as we go thursday into friday. the next story, the heat. mid-july. we're expecting it to be hot from the dallas airy to shreveport and the hottest areas will be south texas. mid-summer, 110 to 115. it continues even into tomorrow. i hinted before, if you're in the great lakes and northeast. we haven't had a big heatwave yet. we're hinting at it at the end of next week. we're looking at a much higher than average temperature from minneapolis, chicago, all the way to new york. so just be prepared. if you have vacation plans next week for the lake to the beach, you chose wisely. >> stay hydrated. it's been. >> it has.

still ahead, a co-founder and his donations to get brp elected. amazon faces a boycott of its own as its employees plan to boycott on one of the biggest shopping days. details driving your business days coming up. s driving your b days coming up johnson & johnson is a baby company. but we're also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression,

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. amazon employees are

planning a six-hour strike day saying they're not accommodating faster. we're joined live from london. even though amazon has raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour the raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour, the company is still a target for the poor working conditions. so what more can you tell us about that? >> that's right, guys. you recall back in october of last year, amazon did indeed raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, but still coming under a lot of ask scrutiny for the way it treats the workers. this coming prime day, the workers in minnesota are set to stage a walkout of six hours duration in protest of some of the conditions there and particularly at some of the workers come from east african and islamic origin. they're quite frustrated with the way amazon hasn't been giving them sufficient rights when it comes to the religious practices in terms of lighter hours during the ramadan and access to religious bases to

practice as well. it is worth bearing in mind that exactly a year ago, we saw similar strikes coming out of european labor unions. this is the first time we are seeing the type of actions from the u.s. as well. as i mentioned the minimum wage hasn't gone up but some are unhappy with the way they're being treated. >> talk about the home depot, the shoppers who are threatening to boycott the home improvement chain after learning that the former chairman bernie marcus contributed millions to help elect president trump in 2016. what more do we know? >> that's right. so bernie marcus, a billionaire, his estimated wealth is something like $5.8 billion by forbes. he recently made waves by saying he's going to donate 80 to 90% of his wealth away when he dies. but he also made waves by saying that he has helped donate towards trump's election campaign back in 2016 to the tune of $7 million. he then went on to say that he plans to also pledge more money for the campaign going in to 2020. this has led some customers of

home depot to backlash and to try to boycott the company. they have put up the #boycott home depot but a spokesperson says look, at the end of the day the chairman left 15 years ago and they don't take a stance on politics. >> all right. joumanna bercetche, live from london, thank you. all right. coming up axios' nick johnston has a look at this morning's "1 big thing." later on "morning joe," jeffrey epstein is formally charged for running a sex trafficking enterprise. more on the case against the wealthy financier as we learn new disturbing details about alleged exploitation and abuse of dozens of underaged girls. and plus calls for acosta to resign over the plea agreement for epstein. more coming up. r the plea agreet for epstein. more coming up fisher investments tailors portfolios to your goals and needs. some only call when they have something to sell. fisher calls regularly so you stay informed.

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is part of a balanced formula that's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels. in fact, it provides 60% more protein than the leading diabetes nutrition shake and contains only 1 carb choice. enjoy the balanced nutrition of boost glucose control as part of a healthy diet. joining us from washington now with a look at axios a.m. is editor-in-chief nicholas johnston. nick, what's the axios' "1 big thing"? >> it's the rise of trump

resistance media. every time there's a change in power is the growth of online media sites that rise kind of in opposition to the political ideology. that stretches back to bill clinton with the rise of the drudge report. we saw it a lot with the george w. bush administration and many rose up against him and the iraq war. and now in opposition to donald trump, a lot of left wing websites are coming up en masse to sustain an opposition to trump. we see some locally based in the midwest, colorado, around virginia. then a couple of big names jumping into the game. former fox news correspondent wants to start a competitor -- a left wing competitor to the drudge report and a former cnn executive is planning to launch a streaming, more left wing progressive streaming service to be more in competition with fox news and sinclair. this is growing a lot of the

attention. you think of the former obama officials who launched a podcasts and sort of showing the ongoing kind of resiliency and interest online. in the kind of partisan news sites. >> a lot of options out there. all right. i want to turn now to something that's kind of getting lost in the headlines as of late. but axios has some insight into the government's potential future use of facial recognition technology. talk about that. >> yeah. a new report out today, exclusively to axios, to fight the use of facial recognition on the federal level. this comes on news that a number of cities like san francisco has used, some tech giants saying that they need some regulation of this technology. news over the weekend that some federal agencies have been scanning massive databases of driver's license pictures and using facial recognition to identify people. this is one new front in the ongoing war against big tech as people figure out more around more of this power that the tech companies have. this is being driven a lot by

the uncertainty of how effective they are. there's a lot of discussion and research about how they don't do a good enough job recognizing african-americans compared to white faces that needs regulation. >> let's stick to the big tech because the white house is hosting a social media summit on thursday. apparently, twitter and facebook aren't going to be there, which raises the question who will? i guess myspace. i'm not sure how you have a social media summit without the two big companies. what more can you tell us about this? >> it is a split concerning the big tech regulations. the republicans are not in favor of the regulation, not in favor of telling them how to do their jobs and trump is throwing that into disarray. some of his allies -- unfounded claims that they have been removing the follower accounts or down playing that kind of interest in their kind of posts and what they're writing about. that's leading to calls -- i

think the social media summit to look at the federal regulation required on that. that's a split within the republican party with many other republicans saying it's not the role of the federal government to step in and trying to police the social networks but we have talked about the techs -- they're coming at it from a lot of different angles right now. >> see as the president tweets about that. thank you. we'll be reading axios a.m., you can sign up for the newsletter. that does it for us this tuesday morning. i'm geoff bennett with fran rivera. do you have any information on the jeffrey epstein case? >> i don't know too much about it, i know he's done a great job as the labor secretary and that seems like a long time ago. >> what is the administration doing to look into the secretary acosta role in the secret plea deal for jeffrey epstein? does the president have any misgiving about the role that he

played? >> that's currently under review because of that i can't get into a lot of the specifics but we are looking at it. >> a time line -- >> i'm not aware of a specific time line. >> last winter, the trump administration said that they were reviewing labor secretary alex acosta's role in the nonprosecution agreement with jeffrey epstein. exposed for its leniency and secrecy. in a series of stunning reports from "the miami herald." four months later, the justice department has brought charges against epstein while the administration is completely silent on acosta. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, july 9th, with joe, willie and me, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. professor at princeton university eddie glaude jr. former treasury official and "morning joe" economic analyst steve rattner. great to have you all with us. >> great to have everybody with us. mike, we have a lot to talk about, but my gosh, the home run derby last night, one for the ages. y