>> i interviewed him a couple of weeks ago, it was actually right before nbc's debates. and he seemed pretty motivated and pretty dedicated to stay in the race. not quite sure he's going to be dropping out so soon. >> yes. 721 days. he was out -- as you know, he was in iowa working before there was any pac, because there was anyone else. >> all right, mike allen, thank you. we'll be reading axios a.m. in a bit. you can sign up at sign-up.axios.am. that's it for us. "morning joe" starts right now. welcome home, ilhan. well home, ilhan. welcome home, ilhan. >> and that is congresswoman ilhan omar last night going back to where she came from. >> boy, what a -- >> that would be minnesota, by the way. >> yeah. that's minnesota and the crowd

chanting welcome home. and she tweeted it's great to be home. >> i can't tell you how many times i watched that. >> it was very moving. i saw a lot of tough people on twitter that said they were tearing up while seeing that. and if you're a republican or a democrat or an independent whatever you are, that should make you so happy because it shows that we are a great diverse country. that our motto -- our motto still means something, out of many one. and mika, that was quite a moment last night. >> absolutely. >> for americans, not for democrats. for americans. >> good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is friday, july 19th. with us we have host of saturday night politics on msnbc, whoa, whoa, wait too tan, donny

deuts deutsch. susan dell per seo. and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. >> eugene's next column is on donny deutsch's new suit. >> what is that, donny, let me and the audience know exactly what you were thinking this morning when you put in your baby gap t-shirt -- >> no t-shirt. >> oh. >> what is that? >> joe, this is part of the dd summer collection. it's a tad humid in new york. we're expecting 100 degrees and i like to reflect the time. it's available. you can go to dd summer collection. please don't try this at home.com. >> he is so wearing male spanx. okay. we have the latest developments for you just ahead on the fallout from the president's

racist tweets about congresswoman omar and three other congresswomen. president trump said he didn't like it when the crowd said send her back. trump is now pretending to play the role of dr. franken steen and trying to stop the monster. we have the videotape and we'll play that for you. >> it was a dramatic turn around. we'll get to it. a lot of republicans actually flooding the white house switch boards talking to mike pence. very concerned when the audience started chanting that racist screed. and a few republicans came out and said some things publicly, but we'll get to all of that. but what a quick turn around in 24 hours. >> yes. we begin though with the couple of legal stories with implications for president trump

and people in his orbit. the fbi believed that then candidate donald trump was closely involved in a scheme to hide hush money payments to porn star stormy daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. the documents released yesterday from the closed campaign finance case against trump's former fixer michael cohen described the calls and emails among cohen, trump, trump's campaign aide hope hicks, keith davidson and an attorney for daniels and david pecker. an executive of the company that publishes "the national enquirer." it revealed multiple calls between cohen, trump and hicks including on october 26th when trump and cohen spoke twice on the same day that cohen would wire $130,000 to the attorney for daniels whose real name is stephanie clifford as payment for the agreement to secure her silence about their sexual affair.

an fbi agent investigating the matter wrote based on the timing of the calls and the context of these text messages and emails i believe that at least some of these communications concerned the need to prevent clifford from going public, particularly in the wake of the "access hollywood" story. in a statement from prison, cohen said he and other members of the trump organization were directed by mr. trump to handle the stormy daniels matter including making hush money payments. president trump has denied having an affair with daniels. >> let's bring in state attorney from palm beach county dave aronberg and now an msnbc justice and security expert matt miller. matt, we are talking about this closed case. does that mean there's not going to be prosecution against the president for campaign finance violations on the daniels affair? >> it seems like that's the case

for now. of course the statute of limitations will continue to run until some time in 2021. i think one of the big questions is whether this case can be reopened if the president loses the re-election. i think you hit on the big questions for me out of this. it's not so much, you know, what we learned about the president's lying to the public about his knowledge. i think we already knew that. why did the justice department end this investigation? did they end it because the president has immunity the same way he did in the mueller investigation, because he's a sitting president, or did they end it because they didn't think there was enough evidence to charge him. >> but matt, we have talked about the implications of this. and for the fec, we have talked about the implications of this for federal power. for a president's power. again, it's circular logic. the president did this. so he could get elected president of the united states. this stormy daniels porn star affair, the hush money was all part of an effort for him to

keep this to the side long enough to get elected president of the united states. if you have to do something that breaks federal campaign laws, which this clearly did, by any reading, any conservative or liberal reading of it and that helps you get elected president of the united states, can you then say i can't be prosecuted because i am president of the united states? despite the fact that the act that is being examined is an illegal action that got you elected president of the united states. because i can tell you this. i have known congressmen sent to jail for far less than this. >> yeah. members of congress are unfortunate not to have the same olc opinion that protects the president. i agree with you, the problem is that the justice department doesn't agree and the justice department believes as long as the president is sitting in office he can't be prosecuted for anything. >> did we get that logic though?

i mean, because again -- i'm tired of robert mueller -- i'm getting tired of robert mueller and of the justice department saying, oh no, we won't prosecute the president, but we're not going to exactly tell you why we won't prosecute the president. >> as long as the doj has the question they need to answer the questions for congress. if they believe that the president committed a crime here and we don't know that's the case. we should be clear, we don't know why sdny closed the investigation, whether they did it on their open or whether bill barr had some role in it. if the president is only escaped being indicted again, because i think this would be the second time because he's a sitting president, then doj needs to make that clear for congress so they can decide whether or not to take action. >> you spend $160,000 to pay somebody off and you're doing it so you can get elected to a position, i mean, if you did that and you funneled $160,000

to a third party because you knew if they had information that would defeat you at the polls in the coming weeks and you didn't report that money, they found out later, buddy, somebody would be prosecuting you. so are we -- any congressmen, any senator, any governor. are we here at a place once again that the president is being prosecuted but nobody will tell us why the president is not being prosecuted? >> we don't have the benefit of the internal doj policy that forbids indicting a sitting president and i think that's relevant here. there are a lot of things going on here. but joe, i think that the public needs to know -- i agree with matt there needs to be public hearings about this. especially i want to know what bill barr's role is. you know -- >> right. >> the revelations that came out yesterday did not reveal the role the attorney general -- you know, the investigation into the matters seemed to conclude five

months ago. that was the last time the southern district of new york had contact with the trump organization. that coincides with the swearing in of bill barr as u.s. attorney general. did he put his thumb on the scale, did he put the kibosh on the investigation? these are things that maybe congress needs to investigate. >> this is something that we said a long time ago that what we were concerned about bill barr lying about mischaracterizing robert mueller's letter, the more frightening aspect of his new position and it seems -- as a defense lawyer for donald trump and not actually an acting attorney general for the united states of america, would be all the prosecutions he decided not to pursue or all the politically charged prosecutions he decided to pursue for the benefit of the president. >> yeah. that's right. look, i find it suspicious that the justice department won't answer this question about who made the decision. look earlier this week, doj decided they weren't going to

bring charges against the police officer who was responsible of the death of eric garner in new york and the department made it quite clear that was the attorney general's decision, his decision not to bring charges in this case they're refusing to answer questions. you look at all of the doj reporters who are writing stories about this, none of them have been able to figure out if it was the southern district of new york's decision or barr's decision. if the answer is a good one, usually you but it out to reporters so i have to be a little suspicious that the attorney general had some role in this. and doj doesn't want to tell the public what that was. >> and just really quickly now jerry nadler wants more information from hope hicks who -- i mean, you look at the new information, it appears she did not disclose or did not answer questions correctly to congress, joe. what is -- what are the ramifications of that if true? >> well, it depends. obviously they're going to call her back or -- >> did she lie to congress?

>> well, we don't know that. but house democrats now want her to come back to congress and clarify her testimony. >> absolutely. >> to see what she knew and when she knew about and what i will say right now, it appears to be an illegal payoff to stormy daniels if -- listen, i'll tell you this. if what the president did is okay, paying somebody off $160,000 to silence them in pursuit of getting elected to a federal office, if that becomes the new precedent, good luck ever getting any congressman, congresswomen, senators, any other federally elected officials, good luck busting them on not reporting correctly. this is a huge exception. >> hope hicks better clarify that. >> i want to jump in for a second -- >> we have another story we need to move on. i'm sorry. >> real quickly, i want to

remind people that michael cohen is going on to the third month in jail and very importantly, there were meetings that were about to be set up about the investigation of the trump organization and exactly when barr showed up those meets were called off so i think that needs to be looked at very, very hard. >> i agree. >> well, we have more to cover here this morning. accused sex trafficker jeffrey epstein has been denied bail after a federal judge rejected his request to await trial under home detention in his manhattan place. the judge expressed concern if epstein were released he would be free to abuse teen aged girls. in the bail decision, judge berman writes mr. epstein's alleged excessive attraction sexual conduct in the presence of minor girls which is said to

have been receiving messages from young girls and women, perhaps as many as four times a day, appears likely to be uncontrollable. and said in court he doubts any bail package can overcome danger to the community. epstein's defense team is expected to appeal the ruling but no bail for jeffrey epstein, accused of sex trafficking, david aronberg, and also already a sexual predator. the question is how many others will be reveal as the documents come forward to the public in the coming weeks and months? >> i think that you'll see a number of victims come forward after they're assured he won't be released after the trial and then i think he'll spend the rest of his life in prison. i think the fact that the public corruption unit of new york, the fact they're handling this is not random. i think it's because they're looking at some former and current public officials being

involved in the underlying sex trafficking ring or the controversial 2007 nonprosecution agreement. also i would expect to see more indictments of employee one, two and three who were listed in the original indictments and they have to be testify against him or be indicted themselves. i think the best way to add more charges and time to his sentence is charge him with possession of child pornography in the feds can prove some of the images they recovered from his manhattan mansion contain images of underaged girls. that could send him to prison forever. >> matt miller, no way that the judge could release this man when even after the 2007 arrest there was evidence that he continued to make contact with underaged girls. >> yeah. it's hard to imagine a situation where a defendant was more likely to be denied bail than this where if you look at his past, he continued after his first arrest to have contact

with women. with girls i should say. he seemed to be intimidating some of the witnesses at times. he's been recently paying people off, after they were contacted by reporters. then you look at the flight risk he posed. you know, the southern district of new york fbi agents found in his safe piles of cash. diamonds and an -- a fake passport from another country. i think the only thing that would have been worse would have been evidence that he had a jet, you know, gassed up and waiting on the tarmac and waiting to fly him to another country. it was i suspect an open and shut decision for the judge. >> you know, gene robinson, i have long suspected based on what i have heard around the set on "morning joe" when people would tell me stories about this guy, epstein, i have long suspected that he stayed out of trouble for the most part because he had powerful friends on both sides. powerful democratic friends. powerful republican friends. i just -- i can't help but think because of the unit that is now

pursuing that that we are going to see some big names -- big names, big republican names, big democratic names. also quite possibly some professors from harvard get churned up and spit out publicly in what is sure to be an ugly trial. >> i agree. this is going to be really lurid. but it cannot be an accident that jeffrey epstein pursued all these powerful people as you said on both sides of the political spectrum in various sorts of elite circles. as kind of a pretorrian guard around him and around his activities. and i suspect that especially if the are -- if there are

potential child pornography allegations which can bring the mandatory sentence of something like 45 years in prison, i suspect there will be a lot of pressure on epstein to deal and to talk about powerful people whom he enticed into his orbit and any potential activities they might have been involved in with him. you know, we haven't even heard the beginning of this, i think. this is going to be a big story. >> joe, i would like to challenge reporters out there. you know, we obviously saw that gross tape yesterday of trump and we saw trump talk about how he was friends with him for 15 years, he liked women, younger women and his explanation, every day there should be specific questions, have you met him 20 times, 100 times, were you in social situations with him, don't let trump off the hook. every day ask him about he has said nothing. he's the president of the united

states. he needs to be asked every day explicitly did you ever travel with him, was he at your house, were you at his house? do not let that parade pass by. >> well, i would be very surprised -- dave aronberg, let me throw this to you very quickly. i would be surprised if the president of the united states said no to a deposition in a case like this if you were talking about the possibility of bringing information about jeffrey epstein isn't it possible that he could be deposed if for no other reason than to bring light to this situation? and tell prosecutors what he knows. >> indeed. anything is possible in this crazy case. you know, in the james patterson book "filthy rich" a nonfiction book about this, he details how indeed that trump threw epstein

out of mar-a-lago after epstein was hitting on the young daughter of a mar-a-lago member. he took that young girl back to his mansion, according to the book, and then asked her to disrobe. the girl told her father who told trump who then kicked epstein out of the club. so that part does have some corroboration in trump's story. on the other hand, it is clear -- you saw the video that came out that trump and epstein were pals back in the '90s. they were running buddies, so yeah, so i think that deposition could show something. but i have to say this, i don't think that we'll end up being a deal with epstein. remember the last time that the feds entered into a deal with epstein, it ended in the 2007 nonprosecution agreement. and a guy like epstein who is a registered sex offender and accused child molester they don't make great witnesses on the stand in future cases. >> is he at this point though denied bail, a man with nothing left to lose because maybe there is information epstein could provide about powerful men that

he provided young girls to. i mean, at this point does he have any hope of seeing the light of day, dave aronberg? >> you know, i don't think. so the fact that he's going to be stuck in jail pretrial is going to embolden a lot of his victims to come forward with their stories not to mention the child pornography charges. but you know he has every option to cut a deal with the prosecution, but they're dealing with someone who is a pariah in society so it has to be compelling evidence to sit down with feds especially after the last experience of cutting a deal with epstein. >> mika, you have to look at what epstein's goals at this point may be. he certainly has to know he's never going to get out of prison again for the rest of his life. the question may be for him how long will his life last inside certain prisons? he faces a pretty tough --

>> ugly fate. >> tough road inside certain prison populations. and so he may cut a deal just to be put to the side somewhere where -- >> i mean they may not take his word but he may be able to deliver them evidence that could be helpful. >> you know, he had a lot of videotapes. he had a lot of pictures. yesterday, john heilemann said that there had been talk for quite some time that -- long whispered in new york circles he had photos and videos that may have -- and may have made some of his money by blackmailing powerful people with what was inside that safe of his. really interesting. even when he knew he could be pursued by the feds he didn't destroy the tapes, didn't destroy those videos. maybe there's a reason. >> dave aronberg, matt miller, thank you both. still ahead, two of the

stories we teased at the top of the show. president trump asks americans who are you going to believe, me or your own lying eyes? we fact check his demonstrably false claims straight ahead. plus, congresswoman ilhan omar goes home. also known as the american midwest. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. johnson & johnson is a baby company. but we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. from the day you're born i've done all sorts of research, read earnings reports, looked at chart patterns. i've even built my own historic trading model. and you're still not sure if you want to make the trade? exactly. sounds like a case of analysis paralysis. is there a cure? td ameritrade's trade desk. they can help gut check your strategies and answer all your toughest questions.

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president trump is capping a week of racist rhetoric by claiming he disagreed with the disturbing chant that broke out at his campaign rally. on sunday, the president tweeted that four democratic members of congress all u.s. citizens and women of color should go back to the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.

a racist trope that even the federal government considers to be discrimination officially. he defended to defend the comments and so did congressional republicans, with only four voting with democrats on a resolution to condemn the tweets in the house. the chamber's first rebuke of a president in more than 100 years. then at a wednesday night rally, trump launched into a tirade about the congresswomen declaring that they hate our country and feeding the crowd's fury. >> send her back! send her back! send her back! send her back! >> they're always telling us how to run it, how to do this. you know what? if they don't love it, tell them to leave it. >> even though as we just played for you the president endorsed

the crowd's sentiment shortly after the chant the blow black was severe. "the new york times" that trump's allies flooded the team with expressions of term. house republican leaders pleaded with mike pence on thursday to separate the party from the message. leading to this attempt by the president to distance himself. >> when your supporters last night were chanting send her back, why didn't you stop them? why didn't you ask them to stop saying that? >> well, number one, i think i did. i started speaking very quickly. it really was a -- i disagree with it, by the way. but it was quite a chant. and i felt a little bit badly about it. but i will say this, i did -- i started speaking very quickly. >> but that's not true. our friends on the 11th hour put together this video fact check.

>> mr. president if i may, when your supporters last night were chanting send her back, why didn't you stop them, why didn't you ask them to stop saying that? >> well, number one, i think i did. i started speaking very quickly. it really was a -- i disagree with it, by the way. but it was quite a chant. and i felt a little bit badly about it, but i will say this. i did -- i started speaking very quickly, but it started up rather, rather fast as you probably know. >> so, susan del percio, this is one of the examples we had said it before with paul ryan when he endorsed donald trump, we said you never give this guy a free pass or else you're pay for it. well, that's all the republicans have been doing. and a couple of days ago they all voted except for four to give him a free pass on making his racist statements about sending congresswoman omar back. two days later, it blows up in their face politically. and they actually suddenly find

themselves panicked for good reason because you're hearing chants that i don't know, maybe people would have heard in the nur enberg rallies about sending people back. what do you think happened yesterday and why do you think republicans were finally rightfully panicked? >> because you're right, joe. there was a lot of blow back coming from elected officials and some elected officials that the president listens to and respects. so that was a concern we hear and i hate to give her any credit, but we hear ivanka trump did speak to her father too, saying this was a bit too far. but for all of those members of congress who did not vote with the democrats on this racist statement that the president made, people will remember.

and as the president is fond of saying, i'm president and you're not, which means those elected officials who have been quiet, people will remember you will not survive this. that's why people like me are still in the republican party, because we will be there to remind people of it. the other thing i just want to mention and that video that you showed on the top of the show that mika was saying you can watch it over and over, it's really touching because it shows that these are women living the american dream when you really think about it. and when you look at what donald trump is doing, he is saying only certain people are allowed to live the american dream. if you're a person of color, you're not entitled to live the american dream. i dictate who will live the american dream and this is really something that is so disturbing and goes against everything that makes up the fabric of our country. and that is what scares me the most. >> well, if you look though at the reception that she received when she went down to her own

airport she would have not received that reception but for donald trump. just like when he attacks people that write books about him. all he does is fuel their book sales. again, you would think he could figure this out. but he elevates those that he's trying to hurt. i'll tell you some people who are going to pay in 2020 if they're not careful and you brought this up. people like joni ernst in iowa. maybe she made a statement. i haven't heard a statement from her. cory gardner in colorado. i'm not sure if cory gardner made a statement, but he's up in a very swing state. another swing state in maine, susan collins. it's hard to see how she survives in 2020. i didn't hear her speak out forcefully against this. and of course thom tillis who i must say has been such a great disappointment. thom tillis, in a very competitive race and earlier this week the republican from

north carolina ducked a question about president trump's go back to your country tweet. telling nbc news quote i literally don't go on twitter. then on wednesday night tillis was in the audience, he was there at the north carolina rally. >> clapping. >> when the crowd started chanting and clapping, with the crowd chanting send her back. then in an interview on fox news yesterday, senator tillis once again refused to condemn the president. the chanting. and argued that the president couldn't control the crowd. >> any time you get into a crowd like that, you've got a lot of supporters. they're going to say what they want to say. >> this is your home state. and the people in that arena are being characterized as racist. you're go to face questions. so what do you say, senator? >> you know, i refuse to take that bait. this is about people who want to change america. this is about people who have a

socialist vision for the united states. >> what bait? you're just being asked to call out chants -- >> inspired by a president who dug in to congresswoman omar, threatening her life, confirming that the tweets that he put out there were about those four congresswomen and he went after her, time and time again on stage and inspiring the crowd to chant. where is thom tillis? like is he on mars? does he really think -- >> no, thom tillis doesn't represent the people of north carolina. thom tillis represents donald trump. >> got it. >> and so -- so good luck with that in 2020 because there are a lot of people in north carolina which went for barack obama in 2008. there are a lot of people in north carolina who actually want someone to represent all the

people of north carolina and not be in donald trump's back pocket. right now, it's sad, thom tillis is nothing more than a stooge for donald trump. allowing these rants that a lot of republicans quietly were saying sounded like fascist chants, telling people to go back to their home countries when their home country's the united states of america. listen, i want you to compare that to another north carolina member of congress that you saw in that crowd, mark walker. he said that does not need to be our campaign call like we did with lock her up last time. walker is a continue trump supporter but he described the chant which he witnessed firsthand rightfully as offensive. and -- >> not hard. >> eugene robinson, i think these republicans are figuring out what we talked about on the show yesterday which is donald trump actually thinks that omar is going to be the face of the democratic party. the face of the democratic party

is going to be whoever the democratic party nominates. >> exactly. >> if it is bernie sanders, he'll be the face of the democratic party. if it's elizabeth warren, she'll be the face of the democratic party. if it's joe biden, biden will be the face of the democratic party. and what donald does not understand because this is his first time running for re-election, any extremists on the left, that actually plays into biden's hands. he gets -- you know what, those people, sort of like his sister soulja moment with bernie sanders or whoever, it's too radical for me. i'm a middle american guy, just like you. i don't want to socialize things like bernie does and i know this from experience because i had republican presidential candidates doing that to me and my friends in congress for years. so there's no good end for donald trump here. the only thing that happens is he inspires people in the

suburbs, women, people of color, those who he's offending, he -- independents, he inspires them to register, to get out and vote and to vote donald trump out of office. >> well, you know, that's absolutely right. i mean, you know how many times in american political history has a party nominee, you know, sort of appealed to the base during the primary season and then tacked more toward the middle in the general election? approximately every single time. so one could -- you know, of course that same thing will happen and you're right. the face of the party will be the eventual nominee. it won't be for freshmen congresswomen as trump would like it to be. i did want to point out something else that was said that trump said at that rally,

that for obvious reasons didn't get the attention that that chant did. but at one point said he said they're always telling us how to run the country. as if us, white people, have an exclusive right to say how the country is run and they -- these uppity women of color who happen to have been elected to congress and this happens to be their job, but they have no right to have a voice in how the country is being run. and i haven't heard anybody on the republican side condemn that sentiment either but they should because that's not the way america is supposed to work. >> donny, we talked about the great mystery of donald trump from the beginning of his presidency. a guy who is drivenen to be liked a guy who i'm sure would like to be re-elected and yet he acts in a way that ensures only

that he boils down his support to 35, 36% while leaving educated people, suburbanites, people of color, women, all against him. i want to say this again, donny. everybody is -- no, there's no checks in donald trump and he's going to be a dictator -- no. we had a check. it was called an election. republicans lost in a way that no other party lost. the biggest voting landslide against the republican party ever in 2018. we have another election coming up. and this sort of garbage just like charlottesville is what makes voters say, i will never forgive. i will never forget and i will let nothing stand in my way on election day. voting this guy out of office. donald trump won in 2016 because the african-american vote was at a 20 year low.

what donald trump did yesterday and what he did with charlottesville will ensure that in 2020 the african-american vote will be at a 20, 30, 40 year high. >> joe, to that point, the message -- you know, you mentioned the word fascist and nuremberg. i want to send you to the article, how the nazis won power and trump and the american holocaust and i want people to go back and look at nazi germany in the early '30s but a the parallels are stunning. the parallels are stunning, oh, it can't happen here, it can happen here. i want to challenge people -- i did this the other day. i want to challenge people of means, i'm not talking about people who need a job and trump can get it for them. you know, he's good for the economy and good for the israel.

by the way, he would throw israel overboard if it was bad for them. if you're a person who votes for donald trump, you're no different than if you're watching on the subway five white nationalists berate an african-american woman saying, go back to where you came from. then you hid and you put your head down. you can't hide behind the economy anymore. you own it. you don't get to do that anymore. and i think that's critical. you know it's interesting. we talk about minorities, it's on white people. you get to say he's good for the economy, and they say stuff, no, they don't. this is a man with nazi tendencies. if reporters asked him, do you think you should stay beyond eight years he'll give you the honest answers. do you think president people in the press should be put in jail? he'll answer it. by the way, he went into the rant after he got the highest approval ratings, that shows

what happens when he believes he has power. no more it's good for the economy. >> the republicans are speaking out publicly. >> i think there's been a hesitation to draw parallels. i will say that again, you always want to be careful and people say we should never draw parallels between the presidency or any political party and fascism. i must say the chant the other night was the first of its kind that i can remember in my lifetime. i think if somebody that is critical of you or critical of me for suggesting that this sounded like a rally in germany in the early 1930s where people were chanting send them back, send them back when there were

actually citizens of germany. and in this case, citizens of the united states of america. if there is a better analogy for those who want to be critical today, i would love to hear it because i am -- you know, i'm a very optimistic guy. mika will tell you she finds it maddeningly -- just tiresome how optimistic i am, but unlike a lot of the republican members of congress i can dismiss donald trump, some of the stupid things he says. i can say, well, you know what, the voters, they're going to have their say a year from now. but when thousands of americans and the audience chant send her back to a member of congress, because of her color, because she's a muslim, or just as frightening, lindsey graham says oh, it's because she doesn't support donald trump. we are now talking about an

ethnic cleansing politically -- an ethnic cleansing of people who do not support our sides. >> it's brave for you to use the words and i'm glad you did, because we need to start talking that way. >> nobody is being killed. nobody is being put on trains. >> absolutely not. >> but there is no doubt that the argument that is coming from donald trump -- and again, more frighteningly from the crowd chanting it is this is a white nation. who are these black women? who are these muslims to tell us how to run our country? i'll tell you who they are. they're immigrants -- well, they're not -- one is an immigrant. you know who else was an immigrant? albert einstein. he came during the middle of world war ii. he helped us win world war ii.

how many immigrants do we have in silicon valley right now that have created this new world for us, that have given us a competitive advantage over the world in the age of technology. you know the answer to it, almost every company, every major company run by immigrants and yet, you have donald trump and the republican party and conservatives all saying, all saying what donald trump said. send her back was okay. it wasn't until the crowd started chanting and it did sound -- if not nuremberg, tell me what over countries do this. whatever answer you give me today, it's not going to be good. this stuff doesn't happen in canada. doesn't happen, you know, in other democracies. it's only happening here right now. we have got to call it what it is. it's frightening, it's

undemocratic. it goes against all of our american traditions and it must be called out. it must be stopped. >> joe, one addition is you say no one is being lined up being put on trains but we do have people seeking asylum, migrants coming to america in desperate situations being separated, having their babies taken away from them or family members having babies taken away from them. we still don't know where some of the families are to reunite them. we have people in horrendous conditions. we have reports of sexual abuse and sexual assault in these detention facilities, we have people being put in cages and held there in huge numbers. >> and 3-year-old babies being told they have to choose between their mother or their father. we actually have border agents also who set up this facebook page, mocking those that they're supposed to be protecting. making commemorative coins that mock the very people they're trying to help.

i have to say, it's tiresome i have to say this. i'm very conservative when it comes to immigration, i'm conservative when it comes to illegal immigration and yes, that's what i call it, illegal immigration because if you come to american illegally you're an illegal immigrant. but it's tiresome i have to say this. when you come to america seeking asylum, that is a legal action. and that is an action that actually defines who we are as a nation, and it's defined who we have been as a nation for over 200 years. the statue of liberty is more than a symbol. it is a promise to the world. and that's the promise that donald trump and this administration and this republican congress is breaking every day. we can be tough at the border.

we can do everything we can do like barack obama did to make sure that illegal immigration drops to 50-year lows and it did drop to 50-year lows under barack obama. and we can do that and we can still welcome refugees to these shores. that's what america has done. and that's what america is going to do again. >> and having said that, coming up, dhs secretary kevin mcaleenan was in the hot seat on capitol hill yesterday answering lawmakers questions about the conditions at migrant detention centers. we'll talk to a member of the house oversight committee congresswoman robin kelly, next on "morning joe." government by and for all the people -

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welcome back. anger over the ongoing situation at the southern border came to a head during a congressional hearing with some lawmakers unloading on the acting head of homeland security. kevin mcaleenan appeared before the house oversight committee to

testify on conditions at the border facility housing migrants. the hearing was the latest held by house democrats targeting the trump administration's immigration policies. mcaleenan was hammered for hours on the overcrowding at those facilities as well as other issues involving his department. at one point the committee's chairman congressman elijah cummings tore into the acting secretary over the situation. >> you feel like you're doing a great job, right? is that what you're saying? >> we're the doing our level best. >> what does that mean, what does that mean when a child is sitting in his own feces, can't take a shower. come on, man. >> mcaleenan said more than 800,000 migrants had been apprehended since last october calling the numbers staggering and unprecedented but he said that dhs has made significant

strides in the efforts to secure the border and help protect migrants in custody. joining us now, a member of the house oversight committee, robin kelly of illinois. thank you. where do i begin? this department under the trump's directive which is to scare families to say they'd be separated from their families if their try to come into this country, even seeking asylum. where do you preside and have oversight over the policies coming through the dhs? >> well, first of all, you know, he's trying to scare the families that's not working because they're still coming. and i think yesterday listening to the secretary i think he thinks they are doing the best job that they can do and it seems like he hasn't responsive because member after member said we have asked for this

information, you ignored us, we haven't received this information, even bipartisan information that congressmen cummings and meadows asked for. it's just unbelievable. the thing -- >> that do you do? if they're not forthcoming with information and the reports are horrific, so obviously there's the reason to be extremely concerned. what is the recourse that oversight has to get answers and make changes? >> well, i think we still -- we have to keep going down many -- i haven't gone myself, but many of my colleagues have gone down to the border and i think that chairman cummings had a great idea going down with the secretary and as he said so we can see what you see. we can see from your lens and see -- seems to portray that it's not as bad as we think it is or if things have improved. i think that's a start, us going

down with him. >> okay. gene robinson? >> congresswoman, just one questions in terms of performing oversight is it possible for the committee to hear from the some of the migrants themselves? why can't we have firsthand testimony of their experiences and the conditions in these facilities? >> well, you know, the week before we heard from one of the moms that lost her daughter. her daughter was 18 months old so i mean that was gut wrenching to hear that. so she was at the hearing last week. and so we have at least started doing that. but, you know, we can do more. >> when it comes to holding people responsible, when we have acting secretaries, for example, how much do you think that they are just trying to hold on to what they have in their position making the president happy versus if they were kind of independent, somewhat

independent and had gone through the senate confirmation process. would they be more likely to be accountable for the actions or at least be able to speak up more forcefully or do you find the people just basically doing interviews for donald trump? >> i feel like whether they're acting which they should not be or they have been confirmed that he runs the show and they're going to do what he wants. they're going to say what he wants them to say. maybe there's some indpep dense somewhere, but no, from being on oversight and being in congress it seems like they work for them. they don't work for the people of the united states. >> so when -- what has to happen for this to not be an issue that we move on from for people? what is the political tactic at this point to keep this pressure on? because of the news cycle because of what we're up against on daily basis, what's your message to keep the volume and to somehow push the button -- actually instead of talking about getting something done?

>> i feel like the public has to be involved. i mean, i don't think we can do it by ourselves. that all those reps, you know, need to hear from their constituents. as we keep saying over and over, you know, almost everybody is an immigrant and i think that members of congress need to hear from their -- from the people that they represent. so many people are against this and i think that we need to keep being present and going to the border and not only the border, one of my constituents came to me and said there's a border in every state and it was a family that came to me, their father was deported. the five children are american, his wife is american and they're all leaving to go to mexico. never been there before, and they don't speak spanish but he was deported. with your help we need to keep this in the news, not only congress but the public needs to keep the pressure on. we need to see what we can do. like we just said, you know, some more money down which was controversial, but we need to make sure that the officers and

the people have what they need. i thought -- to keep hearing we all want to get rid of i.c.e. or we're condemning the folks that are working down there we know that many of them are trying as hard as they can. but we know that i guess like in any profession there are some that are definitely doing the wrong thing. but we need to make sure we're supporting those doing the right thing. i do agree with that and that we have the beds and we have the lawyers and medicines and things that we need or they need. >> congresswoman robin kelly, thank you very much. eugene robinson, thank you as well. now to the latest developments for you. just ahead on the fallout from the president's racist tweets about congresswoman omar and three other congressional women of color. trump said yesterday that he didn't like it when the crowd at his north carolina chanted in response to him, send her back

about ilhan omar. and house minority leader kevin mccarthy also tried to dismiss things. here's the fact check. >> mr. president, if i may, when your supporters last night were chant send her back, why didn't you stop them, why didn't you ask them to stop them? >> i think i did, i started to speak very quickly. it was -- i disagree with it, by the way. but it was quite a chant. and i -- i felt a little bit badly about it. but i will say this, i did -- and i started speaking very quickly but it started up rather fast and you probably know. >> he said it was a small group off to the side. >> send her back. send her back. >> he moved on to make them stop in the process. >> send her back. send her back. send her back. send her back. >> but you want to dislike the president so much you're going to accuse him of trying to do

something he did not do? >> if they don't love it, tell them to leave it. >> the president did not name the individual. >> ilhan omar, rashida tlaib, alexandria ocasio-cortez. we'll call her cortez. ayanna pressley. is she related in any way to elvis? >> kevin mccarthy, mika, here out and out lies. he lies time and time again. he lied about donald trump not naming their names. he lied about the crowds. he said it was only a few people when it was much bigger than that. he followed up -- i mean, kevin mccarthy, i have to say in regular times a caucus would be meeting. the democratic or the republican caucus would be meeting if their leader, minority leader, were caught on tape lying so many

times in normal times people would have a caucus meeting and they would be in the basement of the united states capitol. they would talk about whether they were going to have to vote out the minority leader or the majority leader for lying so blatantly as kevin mccarthy did. let me say this again, kevin mccarthy who runs the republican caucus, was caught lying time and time and time and time and time again. on tape yesterday. so how can the republican par party -- how can members who want to win back control of the house of representatives from the republican caucus, how can they allow a leader who just like thom tillis does not represent the republican caucus? they represent donald trump. they are not working for the republican caucus or the people of the united states. they're working for donald trump. they're lying for donald trump. they are like thom tillis in the

back pocket of donald trump. let me ask, how do they think the american people will ever trust them again? to run the house of representatives when they have a minority leader who so willfully lies, so willfully lies to the american people. mika, i just -- again, there's no way the republicans will win back the majority here unless they get leadership that tells the truth and doesn't lie to the american people as much as kevin mccarthy -- you know what? i'm accusing kevin mccarthy of lying. >> yeah. >> i know kevin, i have known him for a long time and i'm feeling kind of bad about it. >> no. >> i'm feeling bad about this. you know what i'm going to do? maybe i got it wrong. hey, alex, can you play that again because i want to make sure, maybe kevin didn't -- >> sure looked like someone was rotten to the core. >> maybe he didn't lie four

times. can you queue that up again? >> let's clarify. >> all right. so listen, kevin, i'm sorry, i'm sure you didn't lie four times through your teeth. let's play this clip again. >> just make sure. >> and see if he was a liar or if i owe him an apology. if i do i'm going to apologize here on "morning joe" with 87 million people watching, 87, 88 million people watching. let's play the clip. >> he said it was a small group off to the side. >> send her back. >> he moved on to make them stop in the process. >> send her back. send her back. send her back. >> but you want to dislike the president so much you're going to accuse him of something he didn't do? >> if they don't love it, they can go back.

>> he didn't name her. >> ilhan omar. rashida tlaib, alexandria ocasio-cortez. we'll call her cortez. ayanna pressley is she related to elvis? >> so i did -- i did a little thing, i worked for in a law firm that you say the witness' statement and then you put a circle there. then you go down the checklist so will it's go do this. kevin mccarthy said that it was only a very small group in the auditorium. we heard the tape. that was a lie. >> off to the side. you can see the women in the background screaming send her back. >> you have a fellow congressman saying it was a lot of the crowd and was disturbed by it. kevin mccarthy the minority leader of the house of republicans then said that they moved on. he moved on very quickly. it took him 13 seconds, actually. he basked in it. looking to the left to the right, just soaked it in. that too check mark is a lie,

kevin. >> lie. >> and then he didn't name the individuals. so actually ed would draw four circles. omar, did he mention omar's name, yes he did. >> aoc. >> lie. aoc, did he mention aoc's name, yes. then called her cortez. that was a lie kevin. pressley, made an elvis joke, i think. that was a lie too. see, i don't have to look down there, because this is so easy. then finally, of course, tlaib, kevin, you lied by my count eight times in a few seconds. >> and why? >> why exactly. the thing is, again, the republicans are now being run in the house of representatives by a guy who does not represent them. he does not represent the

republican caucus or those in the swing districts or those republican challengers trying to get elected in 2020. because he's lying through his teeth for one reason and one reason only. because he is in the back pocket of donald trump. so the question is, do republicans really want him to continue running the caucus and if they do, let me just say enjoy the minority. i was never in the minority. but i hear it really sucks so you enjoy it, because you're going to be in it for a long time if you allow your leader to go in front of cameras and lie through his teeth. and that's all i have to say. this is of course my -- it's my service to you, my fellow former republicans. >> okay. joining the conversation, senior writer at politico and co-author of the ply book, jake owens. former director of strategic

communications for hillary clinton's presidential campaign, adrienne elrod. >> jake sherman, if newt gingrich said stupid things back when newt was -- >> those were the days. >> that was very boisterous. sometimes he'd say stupid things about giraffes and i don't know what else. i can't even remember now. or that he shut down the government because president clinton put him in the back of air force one. he'd stand up there, he'd take it and listen and he'd apologize. i'm just wondering -- there was a good back and forth and he actually did -- newt did respect people's differences and understood when he messed up he needed to tell us he messed up. but kevin mccarthy lying through his teeth, six, seven, eight times it's hard to believe that members of the republican caucus in the next meeting aren't going to call him out and this gets in the way of them winning back the majority. >> he would be punished for not doing what he did.

he would get a lot of flack like paul ryan did and like a lot of other leaders have for not -- >> you mean if he told the truth? >> yeah. for not standing up to the president and not backing him without flinching. that's the politics in the house and the senate these days although mitch mcconnell said there's no place for that. and mccarthy said we talked to him before that press conference just off the house floor when he was walking on to the house floor and he said the president never made this about race. this is all about ideology. he said that several times and my colleague john bresnahan said that's not true. the president has made this about race. so i mean, they're twisting themselves in pretzels to try to figure out how to deal with these comments and it's not going away any time soon because the president's doubling down, tripling down and quadrupling

down. and mccarthy, if you put him on truth serum which we can't, he would say this is not helpful. he just saw a lot of his members of congress, a lot of people who he was close with get voted out of office because of that alliance with donald trump. especially in his state of california. by the way, california republicans once a very proud bunch that mccarthy led have been absolutely wiped out at the lowest point in i think 50 or 60 years because of donald trump. so it's tough to understand where he's -- where republicans go with this politically. >> yeah, you know, the thing is, donny, not like we didn't warn california republicans. i remember warning california republicans time and time again, you're in swing districts, you have to take care of yourself. don't follow donald trump blindly off the cliff. don't vote for that tax cut. you vote for that tax cut, you're sticking it to the people of california. your loyalty is to the people of california, not to donald trump

and they all lost. it gets kind of tiresome. i feel like willy wonka. i feel like gene wilder saying as the kids are running to do something they should don't, no, don't. stop. but that's what we're doing here. and donny, if you have a republican caucus that is telling their minority leader telling their leader to go out and willfully lie, then you've got a caucus that will be in the minority for a long time to come. you did advertising. you did branding. you did pr. you understand better than anybody else. explain how breaking the bonds of trust with your consumer, with your audience, man, that's the worst thing you can do. that's what mccarthy and the republicans are doing every day. >> you pointed out many times and it's true. donald trump won't be here at some point. and people are going to have to answer for that. i want to take it to the senate. what i can't understand, i have no respect for, but i get

cowards who want to keep their jobs even though long term they won't. i want to talk about one person, mitt romney. he's going to carry his state one way or the other. he's at a point in his life where he's run for president. he has respect. he has gravitas. what i can't understand morally, politically and in every sense, if he stood up right now and said, hey, look, guys it's time. please listen to me. he would automatically be an american hero. i don't understand it. he's a family man. so i'm just isolating him and there are others but he's such a stunning example because he is kind of bulletproof so he's not going to lose his job. so i don't get it. just that one specific person as an example, joe. i can't figure out the psychology behind it. he's obviously got hundreds of millions of dollars so mitt romney, where are you right now? >> well -- >> and where are the republicans? >> mika, people that have more

on the line politically, joni ernst in iowa should be condemning this sort of language. donald trump is upside down in iowa. i have talked about cory gardner. i'm going to keep saying the names over and over again because they'll lose if they don't stand up and speak out against this sort of hatred. they can't go halfway. you're all in on this. this is frightening. it is -- it does sound like a tyrant, fascist leader, leading crowds in chants to send them home. you have got cory gardner in colorado. you have susan collins in maine. where is susan collins, for god's sake? where is she when donald trump is leading what would sound to a lot of people like fascist chants and she's in maine. do the people of maine want her to stay silent in this time of world crisis? when america's future is being defined. we talked about thom tillis. there are four people right there that could lose their

seats because like all those californian congressmen and congresswomen we tried to warn, they're just sitting there and keeping their head down hoping this will go away. it's not going away. they need to speak out today. >> i mean this is racism and this is singling people out because of the color of their skin. so i would argue that for those who might actually lose re-election because they stood up against this, this is worth losing your job over. this is worth losing your seat. this is not about, you know, getting re-elected. this is about trying to keep together what makes this country great. what makes her values different. and more important in many ways and i just -- i don't get it. i really don't. this is -- >> you know, mika -- >> worth putting yourself out there. >> we have talked about this before. you have been there since you were 9 years old. i have been there my entire

adult life, worked there and worked around washington, d.c., my entire adult life. it is a small, small town. if you're in the political class, it is a small town. donald trump's going to leave town and you tell me where are these people going to find jobs if that they were running cover for donald trump and his racist statements. they're not. their careers end when donald trump's career ends. they need to speak out. so adrienne elrod what type of impact is this going to have? i brought up four swing state races in the senate. repeatedly this morning. what type of impact do you suspect this is going to have in 2020? >> well, joe, when it comes to the senate races i guess that's left to be determined because what we know right now, joe, is that 90% of the republican party those who identify as republicans still support donald trump. so the question becomes does this xenophobic racist rhetoric

he's espoused in the last week, that he's doubled down on, how does that impact support among republicans an how does it filter down to the senate races? we are seeing him playing out his 2020 re-election strategy which is very simple on the issue. it is on doubling down on my base. i'm going to run a campaign that is racist, that is xenophobic. that is appealing to the worst aspects of american culture. i'm going to do that and on the flip side i'm going to suppress votes against democrats by sowing discord, trying to sow discord among the democratic party. that's how he's looking to win re-election. he is not looking to placate to that 3 to 4% of independents, swing voters who look at this type of rhetoric with disdain. with disgust. he doesn't care about them. so the question is, does this strategy actually work? how does this strategy filter down to some of these tough senate races? i have to think that thom tillis in north carolina i have to think his voters would not

approve of the fact that he's not speaking out against this. so the question becomes when you're running for the senate, when you're looking at some of your polls, when you're looking to the cross tabs and saying how do i respond to this, how do i address these issues, am i going to alienate republican base voters by doing that? or am i going to actually appeal to some of those key independent swing voters that i need to get re-elected? >> well, this is also just wrong and sometimes you have to say it, come what may. years before the republican party went full trump, colin powell was sending a warning about what was happening then within the gop. we'll show you that coming up on "morning joe." t coming up on "morning joe." 're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. depend® fit-flex underwear for all day fun... from the day you're born features maximum absorbency, ultra soft fabric

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i'm also troubled by not with senator mccain says, but what members of the party say. and it is permitted to be said such things as well, you know that mr. obama is a muslim. well, the correct answer is he's not a muslim.

he's a christian, he's always been a christian. but the really right answer is what if he is? is there something wrong with being a muslim in this country. answer, no, that's not america is there something wrong with some 7-year-old muslim-american kid believes that he or she could be president, yet i have heard that he might be a muslim. this is not the way to be doing it in america. >> wow. that was general colin powell back in 2008 as the republican party began to embrace the early strains of birtherism and beyond. joining us now is anand giridharadas the author of the book entitled "the true american." the real life stories of the consequences of racial epithets in america and now a contributor

to msnbc news' editorial page sophia nelson. she has a new piece, republican women must save the party from trump. why is it the women who have to rise up and say this is wrong? >> two things, mika. good morning. you guys have been doing a great job. i have been watching you over the last few days. i want to open with a quote from coretta scott king, if the soul of the nation is to be saved you must become the soul. so i think mika, you and i, we have written books about women and the power of women and knowing our value and all that. that's the first thing i want to encourage the women to save this country. the second thing, susan collins holds margaret shaye-smith, you have the right to criticize, you have the right to hold unpopular beliefs and the right to protest and you have the right to independent thought. that means that the four young congresswomen had the right to say something different than

what trump might believe. they have the right to dissent, they have the right to have different believes. we don't throw them out of the country because of that. i'll be quiet because i weren't on a rant. >> that was fantastic. >> i like it a lot. >> anand, you and i had a discussion after donald trump got elected and it's a fascinating -- it was a fascinating discussion only because you were a part of it. i -- and it was the debate between us on whether the institutions would hold or not. and every time a week goes by that the institutions hold and i think maybe i was right. then something will happen the next week and i'll go, maybe anand was right. we are seeing before us this give and take and this push and

pull and we still don't have that answer yet. i do find a little bit of solace in the fact that after the horrors of the past several days even republican members became scared yesterday afternoon when they heard these horrifying chants going up. but it is -- it is going to remain a very close call until donald trump's out of office. >> and i think that's right. i think part of my pessimism three years ago about our institutions was that our institutions which are great allowed slavery to be legal and constitutional. allowed segregation to be legal and constitutional. allowed internment cams to happen. allowed red lining to happen. allowed women not to vote for a long time before they did vote. so we have great institutions. but our institutions have produced all kinds of outcomes so the people who are running the country matter.

and what those people try to get out of our constitutions matters. there's a lot of insane weeks but this week has had such a profound heaviness. you know, this is something i -- you know, if you're watching rather than listening to this, i'm one of the people who has been told to go back to my country. and i don't because i'm happy we left cleveland. but the reality is -- >> let me fell you something. hold on. hold on. we will not -- i know that we're in the age of trump. we will not let you slander the good people of cleveland that way. >> no, my father is one of the original cleveland indians. >> so they are some of the best people in the world. let me ask you though, where are we? right now, where do you think we are, anand, right now? >> i'll tell you where we are. the book you said, it was abo about -- i keep thinking about tomorrow is actually eight year execution anniversary of a man

we should all know named mark stroman who was donald trump's go back to your countryism before donald trump embraced go back to your countryism. and mark stroman was actually after 9/11 he was kind of a normal guy, a little bit of crime here and there but after 9/11 he becomes possessed of this idea that his mission is to make people go back to their country and he went on a killing spree, he killed two people, a third person survived. this ideology of go back to your country -- countryism was so toxic it destroyed him. he goes to death row and the surviving victim, many years later, actually reaches out. muslim-american. but by then had become an american, an immigrant. who found it within himself to appreciate the glory of america. appreciate the fact that he rebuilt his life in america despite shot in the face and went back and forgave this guy who called himself the true american. before mark stroman was executed

he actually unlike donald trump came to an understanding of where his own hate had come from and he understood that he was inverting his own pain and fear and anxiety into this go back to your countryism. so when the president of the united states is saying this, it becomes an ism. what feels so essential is for white people in particular to stand up as others have not stood up and saying you are not doing this in my name. you are not dragging me down into the racist pit with me. so many people have told me and my families have told us to go back to our country but so many more have taught my parents how to drive and how to make cheesecake when they came into this country. and welcomed us. that too is america. and we can't let this narrow go back to your countryism define the soul of this country. >> well, i still think -- donny,

listening to anand, i feel like we need to make this public service announcement every day that think we're snowflakes for not being able to handle the go back to your country racial epithet, that's against the law of the united states of america. i want to say again donald trump's own government lists that as an example of racism in the workplace and if you say that to somebody in the workplace, they can sue you. they can sue your employer. and the federal government will come in and they will actually lead a lawsuit against you and your company. so this is established law. it is an example of bigotry and racism in the workplace. this isn't snowflakism. this my friend is the law. >> yeah. and it's encouraging to hear you

talking, i believe we're overwhelmingly good and i hope we so that in 2020. i always say the same thing, holding, you're holding. the one caveat where i started to get a lot more doubtful was bill barr. you know, i mean, all of a sudden that the justice department was -- because what are the institutions and that's a biggie. and all of a sudden, it's not holding as much. we have seen examples of that. so to me on that yin and yang that you were talking about, great news, no matter what donald trump does, our pillars are holding, that one cracking started to put me a little bit more on the dark side. >> well, we're fortunate that there's been a lot of legal decisions against william barr and the justice department of late. i think as we see what's happening as they start -- as congress starts issuing more contempt charges and trying to have people testify, the courts are more likely to break in the favor of congress which is a good thing. i mean -- >> more of the things we don't

know, as we talked earlier. >> there was some -- we talked earlier about did barr step on the hush money payment? >> exactly. >> now, what's been reported also by nbc was this was a decision by professional prosecutors which gave me a lot of heart, saying this is how we're going. and i -- so i think that pillar is still there. i'm not completely sure that's crumbled. >> it hasn't crumbled. but there's crack, yeah. >> maybe. but we'll see. i kind of switch it over to sophia, i wrote a similar column back in may of 2018 saying that the gop needs republican women to run. i looked back at it this morning and i thought, wow, we really missed the mark on that because what turned out to be is republican women did try and run but they got knocked out in the primaries. they were just beaten and they stepped up and what do you think it's going to be do to take them to run again because their party

is not the par -- our party is not behind them when it comes to primaries. >> you know, i addressed that in my piece as well, as you know, this happened in north carolina was there was -- >> yeah. >> a popular candidate and the male won. this is going to have to change or the republicans are going to truly become a very small white male party and that is the leadership of the party which i have been lamenting for a very long time. i knew this day would come, susan, but i never knew in america i would see a republican president of the united states take part in what has been the most racist, xenophobic, unbelievable -- since sunday, lord's day, it's gotten progressively worse and this send her back as i read margaret shaye-smith's declaration of consciousness, who stood up

against mccarthy, she wasn't afraid to take on her party against vietnam and et cetera, she's a legend. a republican woman that joni ernst and lisa murkowski and the members of the house have failed. they failed this week. they didn't stand with their sisters in solidarity. i don't care if you don't like their politics. i don't like their politics, i'm talking about the four young women but i respect them as human beings. i respect them as members of congress so one of the things to answer your question, susan, if republicans are going to get women to win and to engage and want to run, this is not the way to do it. in virginia in my home state, 2017 and 2018 we got destroyed as a party and i'm worried about the 2019 elections that are coming up. if state elections. it doesn't look good. >> think about the optics though. the house republican conference -- i mean, the house is much worse than the senate. the house republican conference is basically all men. >> except for liz cheney. >> except for liz cheney. and all white men too.

i think the optics of having white men in congress beat up proverbially on four women of color, no matter what their politic are it's really difficult. think about if you're a woman and you want to run as a republican, you're going into the group of people, all men, with a party apparatus that has been unable or unwilling to support women running for office. by the way, there's a lot of push and pull right now. elise stephonic of new york is trying to get women to run and the national republican committee has at times supported other candidates and there's complications and details and that's an internal battle. i'm not saying that republicans don't want women to run but they have had a difficult time. >> let's turn to the democrats, adrienne elrod. because obviously, there's a whole host of opportunities here for democrats if they play this right politically. and the debate stage, the next

democratic debate, the two debate stages have been chosen. we have elizabeth warren and bernie sanders on the same stage. night one. and on night two, i believe joe biden and kamala harris are on the same stage. it's getting personal. talk to us about these lineups and what you're hearing from the party about what they're expecting or hoping for. >> yeah. you know, mika, i think people most campaigns are pretty happy about where this lineup is going. i think on the first night as you mentioned elizabeth warren, bernie sanders. the two of them i'm looking to see that type of debate because they agree philosophically on where they want the party to go, how they feel about health care and income inequality but they have different paths of getting there. i think that night is focused on bernie versus warren and of course elizabeth warren has cut

into bernie sanders' lead. that's an interesting debate. i think the second night you have kamala harris and joe biden back at it again. cory booker is somebody i'm looking forward to seeing. how he plays his hand in the second debate. because cory booker is somebody who is really drawn -- starting to draw a contrast with joe biden. on a number of things and also with kamala harris because the two of them are largely going after the same -- the same base vote. and does he actually talk about her prosecutorial record from when she was a prosecutor in california, does he try to draw a contrast with where he stands on the issues, criminal justice reform being one of them, versus kamala harris's record when it comes to prosecuting? mayor pete he's in the first night i don't see him getting into the fray of having a real -- trying to draw a lot of contrasts. i think he's going to try to rise above and stay as positive

as he can be. for the most part the lineup looks good. >> mika, it's interesting. adrienne brought up cory booker's name. you know, we haven't really brought his name up an awful lot because he's been sitting at 2%. this has been a race -- you know, in the national polls it's been a race among five people for the past month or two. i will say though, you look at some of the numbers, you look at what he's doing on the ground. you look at a couple of polls where he's moving up a bit by bit. we're still six, seven months away and i'm not sure if anybody in the 2% crowd makes a push. i would be surprised if it were cory booker. if we didn't see again, just like we're talking about elizabeth warren she's doing all the right things. when her numbers were low we said we could see things happening there. i would say cory booker would be somebody to watch on stage in

this debate. because right now he seems to be doing what i call the blocking and tackling of politics and doing it right. >> adrienne elrod, sophia nelson, jake, thank you so much. coming up after days of protest, president trump weighs in on the unrest in puerto rico and criticizes the island's leadership. we'll go live to san juan for the very latest. "morning joe" is back in a moment. latest. "morning joe" is back in a moment johnson & johnson is a baby company. but we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. i swibecause they let metual, customize my insurance. from the day you're born and as a fitness junkie, i customize everything, like my bike, and my calves.

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tensions continue to rise in puerto rico as protesters demand the resignation of governor ricardo rossello. joining us from san juan with the latest nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez. gabe? >> reporter: mika, good morning. there's still a significant security presence here outside of the governor's mansion and here in historic old san juan. volunteers have been frantically trying to repaint graffiti before the next round hits. the sixth straight day of demonstrations are going on here. overnight, more protesters sounded off outside the governor's mansion, but no violence. unlike the previous night when

police in riot gear lobbed tear gas. in a written statement, governor ricardo rossello says in part the demonstrations have not gone unnoticed. but he's not resigning. i have come forward to face the people of puerto rico and beg for forgiveness. i continue to reiterate that plea, he says. i firmly believe we can restore trust is. >> we want him out of office. >> reporter: last week, the center for investigative journalism printed private chats that included vulgar and homophobic comments. the governor has not commented on a new report from the group alleging public corruption involving billions of dollars. but the spiraling political crisis is reopening old wounds. almost two years after hurricane maria one of the deadliest natural disasters in u.s. history. this woman owns a coffee shop in old san juan, the windows were shattered during the protests. >> a lot of us are still

recuperating, getting back on our feet after the return cane and -- hurricane and then to be -- you know, to experience this is -- i have to say pret pretty -- yeah, disappointing. it's challenging and hard. >> reporter: businesses in the historic neighborhood are rushing to clean up. how crucial is the tourism industry to puerto rico? >> oh it's vital. it's completely vital to the economy of san juan. we are seeing thousands of people coming through every day that are feeding off of our restaurants, going into all of our shops so they're expecting a certain standard. >> reporter: for the first time this week, a royal caribbean cruise ship made its stop here in san juan. >> it's beautiful. i feel safe. i don't think -- >> reporter: despite the hurricane recovery, tourism officials say puerto rico ranked in nearly half a billion dollars in revenue during the first half of this year. they hope that this latest

unrest is not discouraging tourists from visiting this island, mika. >> gabe gutierrez, they. an eye opening view of the u.s. from abroad. we are back in two minutes. we a breack in two minutes n is a baby company. but we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, from thehmm. exactly.orn so you only pay for what you need. nice. but, uh... what's up with your... partner? not again. limu that's your reflection. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ did you know congress is working to end surprise medical billing? that's when patients are hit with medical bills they thought would be covered by insurance. the problem is big insurance companies want a one-size-fits-all approach that lets them decide what they'll pay doctors for yocare. letting insurance companies decide means it could be harder

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how'd he get out?! a camera might figure it out. that was easy! glad i could help. at xfinity, we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. so come ask, shop, discover at your xfinity store today. joining us now, national correspond end for pbs news hour amna nawaz who just returned from reporting at the border between venezuela and brazil and co-host of "first look" ayman mohyeldin, who just returned from maternity time. congratulations on your baby. >> thank you so much, mika. >> you spent time with family abroad and you got some real insight into attitudes, changing attitudes towards america. tell us about it. >> yeah, i mean, having spent 16

weeks off a lot of it in the middle east, you kind of watch the media and you consume the media in a different way. certainly i became much more immersed in how middle east america and arab media and north african and french media in some parts of north africa was covering the united states. the perspective among people in ordinary, you know, family members and everyone, very anecdotal. but the perspective of the u.s. over the two years has changed. i think we have entered a phase -- family relatives would talk to me about what life in america was like. there was a certain degree of envy about living in america and people wanting to come and visit. it's safe to say that kind of has eroded over the past two years. this is anecdotally, but not research based. this is seeing how the united states was no longer viewed with the same reverence, with the same kind of admiration because of the politics and the policies. i think it was disheartening. i remember being with family

when that image of the young migrant died in the hands of her father trying to cross the river into the united states. refugee images that are very painful, but that one resinated in a powerful way across the region. yeah, that image right there. and it was so disheartening. and i think it changed in a lot of people's mind the perspective of america being a safe place for refugees and migrants and immigrants. that is something that is somewhat unique for me as someone who spends a lot of time in both parts of the world here in the u.s. and overseas. >> tell us your take, especially in terms of how migrants and refugees are treated. >> let me just say welcome back to ayman, too. i missed watching you here. look, i went to venezuela and brazil. i was on the border region there. our reports are all available on the news hour online. we'll have more in the series, as well. one of the things that's

interesting about brazil is the president there. a lot in the same way that president trump ran into power, he ran on this law and order campaign, he talked about, you know, how political correctness has held everyone back. he attacked the press. he's involved his own family in the politics. he's called the trump of the tropics, right? but in terms of how they have been approaching their own refugee crisis, which is the thousands and thousands of venezuelan refugees fleeing basically the country in a downward spiral and going anywhere they can largely to colombia and peru, easily into brazil, the two approaches could not be more different. what do i mean by that? for one thing, the government has put tens of millions of dollars on of resources at the board her. theydy employed the army. the army has set up enormous shelters and refugee camps right at that border. people are humanely processed. they are human tearily welcomed.

the army has said we're not going to carry weapons in this camp. we're not going to send the message this is a security mission. this is a humanitarian one. they get free access to water and food and shelter of some kind and then they go a step further. they say this border town can't sustain this many people. they are busing people further into the country, into larger cities to help set them up for potentially future employment or some kind of plan down the line. now it is not per fekfect by an means. there are terrible conditions. they talk about mistreatment from some of the guards. the same complaints you hear from a lot of people who are in temporary positions there. but there is some sort of plan. there is some sort of intention. and i had the chance to interview the president's son. i asked him, are you committed to helping the president's son as long as he needs help? he said yes. >> i want to ask you as someone

who has family across an ocean, who also travels abroad as you are. the fact that people have historically believed america was special, was exceptional, had the reverence you talked about gave america tremendous power to do bad things sometimes, but to do good things many times. it gave leverage. as you see this kind of america falling in people's eyes to maybe just being just another country, what do you think that does to geopolitics? how does that affect people's willingness to listen to us in the middle east, north africa, does china fill that void? what is the effect of us not being really respected? >> it's a really good question. i think there's a few layers to it. i think what you're seeing are countries that one is kind of deferred to the u.s. for leadership positions are going their own way. i think immediately of a country like turkey and the geopolitics of that. this is a country that is a part of nato, what has always aspired to be part of the european union and pushed towards the west and

now they've decided to, at the cost of their own security working with the americans on the f-35 fighter jet decided to go rogue and buy a russian air defense system that has obviously entered the u.s. but they now feel that it's in their own security defense interest to go away from the west and align themselves with russia on this issue. but countries that were the smaller countries in the region that used to need the help and the cooperation of the u.s. want to be off the radar of the united states. as i was saying, i spent time overseas and spoke to some officials who say we don't want to be on president trump's radar. >> thoept be in the geopolitical dl. yeah. they would need america's help for counterterrorism, but at this point, it comes with a burden and risk of being the subject of some kind of s-hole country label that they don't want to deal with and they would rather lay low for the time being. and the countries still working with the united states are countries whose moral compass is

somewhat ambiguous if not outright -- i don't know what to say, but a country like saudi arabia who is right now under a lot of criticism because of what happened with jamal kashoggi. as opposed to the countries that they want to appeal to based on our values, not just interest. >> ayman, thank you very much. we'll see you weekdays on "morning joe" first look right before "morning joe." amnam nevaz, thank you, as well. we'll be following your reporting for pbs news hour. and still ahead, the fbi believed donald trump was closely involved in a scheme to high hush money payments to storm porn star stormy daniels. plus, tomorrow mark tess 50th anniversary of the apollo 11 moon landing.

we're taking a look back at the historic event with nbc's tom brokaw. you're watching "morning joe." m brokaw you're watching "morning joe." johnson & johnson is a baby company. but we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. lick fast like a cookie dough ninja. apply that same speed to the ford hurry up and save sales event. for the first time ever get 20% estimated savings on select ford models, plus earn complimentary maintenance through fordpass rewards.

it all adds up. don't you love math? so get here asap because tasty deals and summer go fast. get in or lose out on 20% estimated savings on select ford models, plus earn complimentary maintenance through fordpass rewards. plus earn complimentary maintenance through governot just the powerful and well-connected. that's the american promise. but big corporations and special interests are in control. nothing's happening for real people. our democracy has been purchased. the candidates running for president have great ideas. but we can't get anything done unless we make our democracy serve the people again. i'm tom steyer. i approve this message. i'm running for president because it's time our democracy works for people.

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and that is coming woman ilhan omar last night going back to where she came from. that would be minnesota, by the way. >> yeah. that's minnesota and the crowd chanting welcome home. she tweeted it's great to be home. >> i can't tell you how many times i watched that. >> it was very moving. i saw a lot of tough people on twitter that said they were tearing up while seeing that. and if you're a republican or a democrat or an independent, whatever you are, that should make you so happy. because it shows that we are a great, diverse country, that our motto still means something. out of many, one. and mika, that was quite a moment last night. >> absolutely. >> for americans, not for democrats, but for americans. >> good morning and welcome to morning joe. it is friday, july 19th.

with us, we have -- whoa, whoa, way too tan, donny deutsch. whoa, wow. can we move on to republican strategist susan delpercio and columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" and msnbc political analyst eugene robinson. >> eugene's next column is going to be on donnie deutsch's suit. >> it might be. >> what is that, donny? tell me, what exactly is that, danny? let me and the audience know exactly what you were thinking this morning when you put on your baby gap t-shirt and -- >> no t-shirt. >> what is that? >> joe, this is part of the dd summer collection. it's a tad humid in new york. they're expecting a hundred degrees and i like to reflect. it's available, go to it to

ddsummercollection, please don't try this at home.com. >> he is so wearing male spanx. okay. we're going to have the latest developments for you just ahead on the fallout from the president's racist tweets about congresswoman omar and three other congressional women of color. trump said yesterday that he didn't like it when the crowd at his north carolina rally chanted send her back about omar when he was insulting her on stage and launching them into that. trump is now pretend to go play the role of dr. frankenstein and trying to stop his monster. he always seems to forget we have the magic of videotape and we will play for you that fact check in just a few minutes. >> i will tell you, it was quite a dramatic turn around. we're going to be getting to it. a lot of republicans flooding the white house which is talking to mike pence, very concerned when the audience started chanting that racist screed.

and a few republicans came out and said some things publicly, but what a quick turn around in 24 hours. >> yes. we begin, though, with a couple of legal stories with implications for president trump and people in his orbit. according to newly released court documents, the fbi believed that then candidate donald trump was closely involved in a scheme to hide hush money payments to porn star stormy daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. the documents released yesterday from the closed campaign finance case against trump's former fixer, michael cohen, described a series of calls, text messages and emails among cohen, trump, trump's campaign aid, hope hicks, keith davidson, an attorney for daniels and david pecker, executive of the company that publishes the "national enquirer." it revealed multiple calls

between cohen and hicks when trump and cohen spoke twice on the same day that cohen would wire $130,000 to the attorney for daniels whose real name is stephanie clifford, as payment for the agreement to secure her silence about their sexual affair. an fbi agent wrote that based on the timing of these calls and the context of these text messages and emails, i believe that at least some of these communications concerned the need to prevent clifford from going public, particularly in the wake of the "access hollywood" story. in a statement from prison, cohen said he and other members of the trump organization were directed by mr. trump to handle the stormy daniels matter, including making hush money payments. president trump has denied having an affair with daniels . >> let's brick in state attorney from palm beach county david

aaronberg and matt miller. matt, let me begin with you. we're talking about this closed case. does that mean there's not going on be prosecution against the president for campaign finance violations on of the stormy daniels affair? >> well, it seems like that's the case for now. the statute of limitations will continue to run until sometimes in 2021. so i think one of the big questions is whether this case can be reopened if the president loses his re-election. i think you hit on, though, the big questions for me on out of this. it's not so much what we learned about the president lying to the public about his knowledge. i think we all already knew that. the big questions for me are why did the justice department end this investigation? did they end it because the president has immunity, because he's a sitting president, or did they end it because he didn't think there was enough evidence to charge him so they don't man -- >> but we've talked about the implications of this. and for the fec, we've talked about the implications of this from federal power, for a president's power.

again, it's circular logic. the president did this. so he could get elected president of the united states. this stormy daniels porn star affair, the hush money, was all part of an effort for him to keep this to the side long enough to get elected president of the united states. if you have to do something that breaks federal campaign laws, which this clearly did, by any reading, any conservative or liberal reading of it, and that helps you get elected president of the united states, can you then say i can't be prosecuted because i am president of the united states? despite the fact that the act that is being examined is an illegal action that got you elected president of the united states. because i can tell you this. i've known congressmen that were sent to jail for far less than this. >> yeah. members of congress are unfortunate to not have the same olc opinion that protects the

president. i agree with you, absolutely, joe, the problem is the justice department doesn't agree and the justice department believes that as long as the president is sitting in office, he can't be prosecuted for anything. >> do we get that logic, though? >> no. i just -- >> i'm getting a little tired of robert mueller and getting a little tired of the justice department saying oh, no, no, we're not going to prosecute the president, but we're not going to tell you exactly why we're not going to prosecute the president. >> i think that's the key question. as long as doj has that opinion, they need to answer these questions for congress. if they believe the president committed a crime here, and we don't know that that is the case, we don't know whether they closed that investigation and whether they chat on their own. but i think those are the questions congress needs to insist on because if the president is only escaping being indicted again, because he's the sitting president, the doj needs to make that cheer for congress so congress can decide whether they're going the take some action. >> well, it's been, what, 150,

$160 thousand to pay somebody off and you're doing it so you can get elected to a position? i mean, if you did that and you campaigned for state attorney and funneled $160,000 to a third party because you knew they had information that would defeat you at the polls in the coming weeks and you didn't report that money, they found out later, buddy, somebody would be prosecuting you. so are we here -- and any congressman, any senator, any governor. are we here in a place where the president is being prosecuted, but nobody will tell us why the president isn't being prosecuted. >>o, agency a member of congress, you, i, the state attorney don't have the internal doj policy that prevents indicting a sitting president. that is relevant here. there are a lot of things going on here, but, joe, i think the

public needs to know and i agree that there needs to be public hearings about this. i want to know what bill barr's role is. the revelations that came out yesterday did not reveal the role the attorney general -- you know, the investigation into these matters seemed to conclude five months ago. that was the last time the southern district of new york had contact with the trump organization. that coincides with the wearing in of bill barr as u.s. attorney general. did he put his thumb on the scale? did he put the cabosh of the investigation? these are things maybe congress needs to investigate. and this is something that we said, matt, a long time ago that while we were concerned about bill barr lying about mischaracterizing robert mueller's letter, the more frightening aspect of his new position and seeing him as a defense lawyer for donald trump and not actually an acting attorney general for the people of the united states of america would be all the prosecutions he

decided not to pursue or all the politically charged prosecutions he decided to pursue for the benefit of the president. >> yeah. that's right. look, i find i suspicious that the justice department won't answer this question about who made the decision. earlier this week, doj decided they weren't going to bring charges against the police officer who was responsible for the death of eric garner in new york. when they did that, the department made quite clear that it was the attorney general who made that decision. it was his decision not to bring charges. in this case, they're refuse to go answer questions. you look at all the doj reporters who are writing stories about this, none of them have been able to figure out whether this is the southern district of new york's decision or whether bill barr was involved in some way. and i will tell you, f answer is a good one, usually you put it out to reporters. so i have to be suspicious that the attorney general had some role in this and doj just doesn't want to tell the public what that was. still ahead on "morning joe," the latest on the sex crime charges facing jeffrey epstein. one of the big questions today, will he name names of other

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jeffrey epstein has been denied bail after a federal judge yesterday rejected his request to await trial at a home detention at his manhattan mansion. epstein's past sexual conduct is not likely to have abated, expressing concern that if epstein were released, he would be free to abuse teenaged girls. in the bail decision, the judge writes mr. epstein's alleged excessive attraction to sexual conduct with or in the the presence of minor girls which is said to include his soliciting of receiving messages from young girls and young women perhaps as many as four times a day appears likely uncontrollable and said in court that he doubts any bail package can overcome danger to

the community. epstein's defense team is expected to appeal the ruling. but no bail for jeffrey epstein, accused of sex trafficking and also, already, a sexual predator. and the question is, how many others will be revealed as the documents he come forward to the public in the coming weeks and months? >> you will see a number of victims come forward now and then i think he's going spend the rest of his life in prison. the southern district of new york, it's not a coincidence that they are handling this. i think it's because they are looking at some current and former public officials perhaps involved in the underlying sex trafficking ring or the 2007 nonprosecution agreement. i would expect to see more indictments of employee one, two and three who are listed in the

original indictments who enabled epstein. they're either going to have to testify against him or be indicted themselves and as far as epstein is concerned, i think the best way to add more charges and time to his sentence would be to charge him with possession of child pornography if the fed committees prove that some of the images that they recovered from his manhattan mansion contain images of underage girls, that could send him to prison forever. >> and there is no way way the judge can release this man after the 2007 arrest after evidence that he continued to make contact with underage girls. >> yeah. it's hard to imagine a situation where a defendant was more likely to be denied bail than that, where if you look at his pass, he continued after his first arrest to have contact with women, with girls, i should say he seems to be intimidating some of the witnesses at times. and then you look at the flight

risk he posed. i think the only thing that would have been worse is the evidence that he had a jet gassed up and waiting to take him to another country. >> i have long suspected based on what people would tell me, i have long suspected that he stayed out of trouble for the most part because he had powerful friends on both sides, powerful democratic friends, powerful republican friends. i can't help but think that we are going to see some big names, big republican names, big

democratic names, also quite possibly some professors from harvard get churned up and put out publicly in what is sure to be a very, very ugly trial. >> yeah. i agree. this is going to be really lurid. but it cannot be an accident that jeffrey epstein pursued all these people on the various sorts of elite circles as kind of a guard around him and his activities and i suspect that especially if there are potential child pornography allegations which can bring the mandatory sentence of something like 45 years in prison, i suspect there will be a lot of

pressure on epstein to deal and to talk about powerful people who -- whom he enticed into his orbit and any potential activities they might have been involved in. we haven't even heard the beginning of this, i think. this is going to be a big story. >> joe, i would like to challenge reporters out there, we obviously saw that tape yesterday of trump and we saw trump talk about how he was friends with him for 15 years and he liked women, he liked younger women and trump's explanation is i broke off the friendship. every day now through 2020 there should be specific questions. have you met him 20 times, 50 times, a hundred times, don't let trump off the hook. every day, ask him about he has said nothing. he is the president of the united states. he needs to be asked every day, explicitly, did you ever travel with him? were you at his house? was he at your house? do not let up. coming up on "morning joe,"

president trump once said the american dream is dead. supporters of ihlan omar say otherwise. her resounding reception last night in minnesota, next on "morning joe." t in minneso, tan "morning joe." johnson & johnson is a baby company. but we're also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. ♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90.

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president trump is claiming he disagreed with the disturbing chant that broke out at his campaign rally. on sunday, the president tweeted that four democratic members of congress all women of color should go back to the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. a racist trope that even the federal government considers to be discrimination, officially. day after day, trump continued to defend those comments and so did congressional republicans with only four voting with democrats on a resolution to condemn the tweets in the house. the chamber's first rebuke of a president in more than a hundred years. then at a wednesday night rally, trump launched into a tirade about the congresswoman, dechairing that they hate our country and feeding the crowd's

fury. >> they're always telling us how to run it, how to do this. you know what? if they don't love it, tell them to leave it. >> even though, as we just played for you, the president endorsed the crowd's sentiment, shortly after the chant, the blowback was severe. the "new york times" reports that trump allies flooded the upper echelons of his team with expressions of concern. house republican heeders pleaded with vice president mike pence on thursday to separate the party from the message. heeding to this attempt by the president to distance himself. >> when your supporters last night were chanting send her back, why didn't you stop them? why didn't you ask them to stop

saying that? >> well, number one, i think i did. i started speaking very quickly. it really was a -- i disagree with it, by the way. but it was quite a chant. and i felt a little bit badly about it, but i will say this. i did -- and i started speaking very quickly. >> but that is not true. our friends on the 11th hour put together this video fact check. mr. president, if i may, when your supporters last night were chanting send her back, why didn't you stop them? why didn't you ask them to stop saying that? >> well, number one, i think i did. i think i started speaking very quickly. it really was a -- i disagreed with it, by the way. but it was quite a chant. and i felt a little bit badly about it. but i will say this. i did -- and i started speaking very quickly. but it started up rather fast, as you probably know. >> so, susan dell percento, this

is one of those examples. we said it before with paul ryan, we said you never give this guy a free pass or else you'll pay for it. a few days ago, after saying something about sending congresswoman omar back, it blows up in their face and they find themselves panicked for good reasons because you hear chants that maybe people would have heard in the nuremberg rallies about sending people back. what exactly do you think happened yesterday and why do you think republicans were finally rightfully panicked? >> because you're right, there was a lot of blowback coming from elected officials and some elected officials that he --

that the president listens to and respects. so that was a concern we hear, and i hate to give her any real credit, but we heard ivanka trump did speak to her father saying this was a bit too far. but for all of those members of congress who did not vote on these statements, people will remember. and as the president is fond of saying, i'm president and you're not. people will remember you will not survive this. that is why people like me are still in the republican party because we will be there to remind people of it. the other thing i wanted to mention, it was touching because it shows these are women living the american dream when you think about it. and when you look at what donald trump is doing, he's saying only

certain people are allowed to live the american dream. if you're a person of color, you're not entitled to live the american dream. that is really something that is so disturbing and goes against everything that makes up the fabric of our country. and that is what scares me the most. >> if you look, though, at the reception that she received, she would have never received that reception but for donald trump. it's just like when he attacks people that write books about him. all he does is fuel their book sales. and, again, you would think he could figure this out, but he elevates those that he's trying to hurt. i'll tell you some people who are going to pay in 2020 if they're not careful, and you brought this up, people like johnny ernst in iowa. corey gardner in colorado.

i'm not sure if corey gardner made a statement, but he's up in a very swing state. another swik state, susan collins, it's hard to see how she survives in 2020. and, of course, tom tillis who i must say has been such a great disappointment. tom tillis, in a very competitive race. and yerl this week, the republican from north carolina ducked a question about president trump's go back to your country tweet. then on wednesday night, tillis was in the audience, he was there at the north carolina rally when the crowd started chanting and clapping. with the crowd chanting send her back. and in an interview on fox news yesterday, senator tillis once again refused to condemn the president or the chanting and argued that the president

couldn't control the crowd. >> anytime you get into a crowd like that, you've got a lot of supporters, they're going to say what they want to say. >> this is your home state. and the people in what arena are being characterized as racist. you're going to face questions about this to them. what do you say, senator? >> i refuse to take that bait. this is about people who wants to change america. this is about people who have a socialist vision for the united states. >> what bait? you're being asked to call our chants -- >> inspired by a president who dug into congresswoman ilhan omar, threatening her life confirming that the tweets that he put out there were about those four congress women and he went after her time and time again on stage inspiring the crowd that chant.

where is tom tillis? is he on mars? >> no. he doesn't represent the people of north carolina. tom tillis represents donald trump. >> got it. >> so good luck with that in 2020 because there are a lot of people in north carolina which went for barack obama in 2008. there are a lot of people in north carolina who want somebody to represent all the people of north carolina and not be in donald trump's back pocket. right now. and it's sad. tom tillis is nothing more than a stooge for donald trump. coming up on "morning joe," an american triumph. 50 years later. we look back at the 1969 moon landing through the lens of today. but first, ari breaks down the new revelations surrounding donald trump's involvement in a scheme to hide hush money payments to stormy daniels. payments to stormy daniels make fitness routine with pure protein.

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welcome back. we've been talking this morning about the newly released court documents that show the fbi believes that then candidate donald trump was closely involved in a scheme to hide hush money payments to porn star stormy daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. yesterday's release of the unredacted documents came just a few days before next week's highly anticipated testimony of special counsel robert mueller before the house judiciary committee and intelligence committees. for more, let's bring in msnbc chief legal correspondent and host of "the beat" on msnbc, ari melber and nbc news investigation reporters tom winter. good to have you both. tom, what do you think the biggest things we learned from

those cohen court documents are? >> i think, mika, the most important thing we learned is this granular detail in the timeline involving specifically the president. we had not seen donald trump's name laid out in this case. he had been individual one up until yesterday. so i think the thing that's interesting to me is to see this detailed timeline where you have phone conversations that occur involving david pecker who is the publisher of the "national enquirer" region the head of american media. you have the president on the phone with michael cohen. not only the fact that these conversations occurred, but also when they occurred. immediately following the release of the infamous "access hollywood" tape. you have a couple of phone calls that happened then, hope hicks is on the line in one of those conversations. in addition to that, you have two other key dates and that's october 26th and october 28th.

t 26th is the date they set aside the money to pay stormy daniels and then you have the 28th which is the day that everything gets wrapped up. so it is pretty damning information as to whether the president was aware of this and i think that puts this to bed. >> and we're talking about campaign finance violations and at this point other issues that appear to be coming up. where does this case stand? is it in the southern district of new york? is it in congress's hands? is it closed? what is going on with it? >> it looks very much close to closed as far as members are concerned in the southern district. donald trump lied about this in the campaign and then again as president. that is a big deal. i think the two big things to inside here is number one they didn't ultimately go after anyone other than mr. cohen and now that it's in its resolved state and we're getting these

documents, that shows at least at the criminal level, there wasn't anyone else who the prosecutors thought they could go after. income two, mika, is the point you raised, hope hicks told congress she wasn't involved in this of this. here are these emptily verified documents that would appear to at least cast doubt on that if not look like she potentially misled congress. they're already asking her to come back. so this is, again, why people always talk about this cliche that is true about why cover ups can be more complex and create more liability than even the underlying thing. in fairness to hope hicks, it's not like she was person one, two or three on this whole issue. she didn't cut the check. she's not involved with the underlying conduct. she is someone who was trying to be loyal, quote/unquote to president trump and defend him and in doing so may have ultimately, according to at least chairman nadler, may have put herself in jeopardy.

>> so, ari, help me out. if a member of congress had paid $150,000, $160,000 hush payment to a third party that had damning information less than a month before an election, did not report that on the fec report, at least based on my experience in congress, that member of congress would be charged and most likely would be sent to jail. i've known members of congress that got sent to jail for doing a hell of a lot less than what was done here. so why in the world would the southern district offer new york close this case? >> i think that's a great question. i spoke to a person who used to have the same job that james comey and other bigwigs had when they ran this office this week, david kelly. he said his view is there was enough to charge here if this wasn't the sitting president. in fairness, there are others

who argue otherwise and say these campaign finance cases to turn a lot in terms of whether you treat that money as a campaign experience or not. so i would note there is legal debate about that. but speaking as someone who knows their way around the law and congress, you are absolutely right that there are other nonpresidents, candidates or people who held office that have been hit up for smaller misreporting or campaign sums than this. >> and tom, of course, the fact that donald trump lied about it on the campaign trail so much certainly shows his intent, his nefarious intent. that's something that federal prosecutors look at. they look at people who high publicly to, again, seen if there is an attempted cover up. there certainly was here. it's obvious. and, yeah, a member of congress would go to veil if they had done the same thing.

>> he think you're spot on and i think it was interesting to see yesterday and i won't go into all the details because we could go on for ten minutes how much the pup statements of michael cohen, how much the public statements of the president including his -- i don't want to say denial, but his explanation for the "access hollywood" tape, how much they had a role in this investigation. i think you're absolutely right. the president was less than honest on this issue throughout the entirety of it. so i think when you look at it, you look at conduct here that inge would likely be charged if he was not sitting is in the office of the presidency. these documents yesterday are a snapshot in time. these were before they had access to these materials. this is before david pecker began cooperating. remember, he got a nonprosecution agreement. he was a major player in this and he agreed to cooperate and

assist federal prosecutors in new york. >> can i stop you right there? >> all the players have been nailed down. >> can i stop you right there. there is another mystery. there are so many mystery surrounding the mueller investigation, so many things that he didn't do, so many things that he did halfway. looking now with hindsight being 20120, why the hell did david peccor get such a sweetheart deal from robert mueller when he gave back nothing or very little in return? >> oh, i would disagree with that. based on my understanding of the nonprosecution agreement, i've read it and i have a caopy of i. david pecker was very helpful in the investigation into michael cohen and into these payments. he provided significant testimony. the same could not be said of

testimony from allen wiseberg. but i think david pecker was very helpful in bringing together the case. he was probably the final nail in michael cohen's coffin and what maybe drove him to plead guilty in his case, one of the factors, at least. so i would say not necessarily a sweetheart deal. because what david pecker was going to face from a charging perspective was relatively minor. and the agreement was with southern district prosecutors in new york, not with mueller. i would add that, as well. >> so tom winter, you've rightfully corrected me on several counts. we're going to let you go now, man. we're going to let you go. thank you so much, tom. greatly appreciate it. >> by the way -- >> ari, ahead of robert mueller's congressional testimony next week, you take look at the mueller report's biggest revelations in this sunday night new msnbc special, the mueller report, what you need to know. let's take a look. >> as with so much with the trump campaign, you have

questions about intense. was this an inept campaign that was leaning towards corruption for many persons who read the report? the answer toes that question are blurry. >> but the revelations found on pages 50 and 51 are clear and couldn't be more alarming. russian hackers didn't just attempt to sway public opinion. in 2016, they tried to influence the results of local elections by penetrating voting systems. >> they targeted private technology firms responsible for manufacturing and administering election-related software and hardware such as voter registration software and electronic polling stations. >> so, ari, this is really -- i'm glad you've done this. i think everyone he should watch it. what are the big rev hagzs? and also, if i understand it correctly, robert mueller has tossed this to congress. and it is now up to congress to pick up the ball.

where does that stand? >> yeah. i would say two things. one, the sunday night special is all about the facts we have in the mueller report. all of this political heat, in a way, has been about trump saying read my tweets and take my word for it and bob mueller saying read my report. many people have read it. to your point, that's what next wednesday is all about. it's the first time we hear from bob mueller under oath. he's no different than any other citizen. congress can subpoena him to hear what he has to say and the american public can decide does this feel like something where they're checking the boxes and wrapping up or when you look at 40% of the democratic caucus voting for some form of impeachment, is there a process here where as americans learn more about it, they or the congress says they do want a bigger process, they do want to

deal more with theest. emp not taking sides on it one way or the other, but i think the president has been wrong and misleading to suggest this was wrapped up with his noncollusion tweets. it is ultimately congress and congress along that adjudicates whether or not a sitting president committed obstruction. >> all right, ari, thank you very much. we'll be watching "the beat." and this sunday, "the mueller report: what you need to know" airs sauveunday at 9:00 p. up next, tomorrow marks 50 years since apollo 11 landed on the moon. nbc's tom brokaw has the story on how that moment came to be. ab this is your wake-up call. if you have moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis,

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1969. four days later the world watched neil armstrong become the first man to walk on the moon 50 years ago tomorrow. here is nbc news senior correspondent tom brokaw. >> throughout human history the moon has been a distant beckoning presence. in the mid 20th century it became a destination. >> landing, over. >> go for landing. >> and 50 years ago mankind arrived. >> the eagle has landed. >> and if this is not a permanent, enduring event in human history, then nothing is. >> today a new moon is in the sky. >> but at the outset, the space race was a product of the cold war. >> a 23-inch metal sphere placed in orbit by a russian rocket. >> in october, 1957, the shock of sputnik helped scare america

into space. >> these men, the nation's project mercury astronauts. >> the first astronauts introduced 18 months after sputnik became household names. but it was a soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first man in space. >> all right. lift-off and the clock has started. >> just three weeks later, astronaut alan shepard's sub orbital flight kept america in the running and an emboldened president john f. kennedy raised the stakes. >> i believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth. >> the race to the moon captured the country's imagination, with what would later be called, the right stuff. courage, optimism, bravado. >> god speed, john glenn. >> in 1962 john glenn became the

first american to orbit the earth. >> all three big engines burning clean and hot, pushing the friendship 7 spacecraft ever faster toward space. >> glenn returned to earth a hero and remained a national figure until his death. the early pictures from space were breathtaking. the first american spacewalk by ed white of gemini 4 in 1965. but just two years later, white and his fellow apollo 1 crew members died in a flash fire on the launch pad. the space program survived. and soon reached another milestone. lunar orbit. they saw earth from an entirely different perspective and proclaimed it our spaceship. circling the moon on christmas eve, 1968, the crew of apollo 8 read from genesis. >> in the beginning god created the heaven and the earth. >> just seven months later neil

armstrong, buzz aldrin, and mike collins, the crew of apollo 11, set out to shoot the moon. >> lift-off. we have a lift-off. >> by then, of course, john f. kennedy was gone and so was much of the optimism of the early '60s. >> i'm going to step off now. >> at 10:56 eastern time the night of july 20th, 1969, an estimated 600 million people, one-sixth of the world's population, watched as one of mankind's oldest dreams came true. >> it's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind. >> it was an achievement for the ages. >> john keats looked at the moon one time and wondered what there was in it that moved his heart. the scientists and engineers looked at the moon and thought they could send men to walk on it if they could build the hardware. it turned out they could and they did.

perhaps 50 years from now or more when people think of the past they will look at the pictures from last night. >> over the next three years, five more apollo flights would reach the moon, an incredible success story, despite the near tragedy of apollo 13. the last three missions even came with a car. the lunar rover. it was difficult, dangerous work. but the moon landings were so successful they seemed to be almost routine. but, of course, they were not. >> we're on our way, houston. >> on december 14th, 1972, apollo 17 left the moon and no one has been back since. >> it's been a good trip. >> the spirit of exploration did not end with apollo, of course. the space shuttle flew missions for 30 years, overcoming tragedies of its own. >> challenger now heading down range. >> lift-off of space shuttle columbia. >> the international space station has been circling the

earth for two decades and counting. and there's been a grand tour of the solar system, unmanned, including a close look at the surface of mars. we've seen distant corners of the universe, itself, revealed in stunning images from the space telescope and even glimpsed a distant black hole. the space age still is unfolding. new adventures await. but nothing will ever compare to the sheer excitement and sense of wonder shared the world over when neil armstrong took that one small step and mankind took a giant leap. >> we choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things not because they are easy but because they are hard. because that goal will serve to organ measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we're

willing to accept. one we are unwilling to postpone. and one we intend to win. >> our thanks to tom brokaw for that wonderful report. david brinkley. >> what a day. >> 50 years later we are still looking upon those images with wonder and amazement. i just want to say, happy birthday, by the way, to ann and alea. >> love you. >> that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much, joe and mika. hi there. i'm stephanie ruhle. are you ready? this morning the president is trying to go back and change the narrative again. now attempting to distance himself from the send her back chants aimed at congresswoman ilhan omar that break out during his rally in north carolina on wednesday night. the chants came just a few days after the president, himself, tweeted that progressive