overly politically correct, that anti-politically correct message is a big part of this book. we're told the topics include censorship and big tech. so that idea that conservatives are being pushed around on platforms, many of which are debunked. very little evidence of this. but we see the trump administration, the trump family, sees it as a helpful issue like with the social media summit the president had the other day. >> all right. mike allen, thank you. we'll be reading axios a.m. and have a great week as well. to our viewers, sign up for the news letter at sign-up.axios.com. >> that does it for us. i'm ayman mohyeldin with frances riviera. "morning joe" starts right now. a much cooler morning on the east coast, finally. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, july 22nd.

hoping the heat wave is over. with us we have white house reporter for the associated press jonathan lemire. former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments elise jordan. and professor at princeton university eddie glaude jr. we have a lot to talk about. quite a weekend, a lot to take in. the new week kicks off with several developing stories. iran continues to test president trump and the west by seizing a british oil tanker. what the white house is saying about that today. plus, bob mueller finally faces congress on wednesday. who is going to lash out the hardest? we'll preview that and look at the kinds of questions that may be asked. also the latest on the political turmoil gripping puerto rico. we'll have a live report. and new polling shows kamala harris right in the thick of it in iowa. we caught up with the senator

there. we'll bring you that report with dr. dave campbell just ahead. but we begin with president trump continuing to outright question the patriotism of four minority democratic congresswomen whom he told to go back to their countries, declaring them irredeemable. and out to destroy the united states. he tweeted, i don't believe the four congresswomen are capable of loving our country. they should apologize to america and israel for the horrible hateful things they have said. they are destroying the democrat party. but our weak and insecure people who can never destroy our great nation. also this weekend president trump shared a defense of the send her back tweets from a far right british commentator who in the past linked the rabbi's pro migrant work to the mass shooting at a synagogue in pittsburgh. on saturday, trump shared a

tweet by katie hopkins who wrote in part send her back is the new lock her up. trump also shared three other tweets by hopkins who after a terrorist attack in may of 2017 at an ariana grande concert in manchester, england, tweeted we need a final solution, manchester. and who after the mass shooting last year at the tree of life synagogue that left 11 people dead wrote, look to the chief rabbi and his support for mass migration across the -- -- there you'll find your truths. it's unclear if trump was aware of the background of hopkins. the white house did not respond to "the new york times" request for comment. and so meanwhile, in a move reminiscent of the flip-flopping on statements on the racist violence in charlottesville, virginia, back in 2017, president trump pulled back from criticism of his rally, for his rally goers chanting send her

back about congresswoman ilhan omar and he declared to call it racist or even stand by his claim on thursday that he was not happy with it. >> -- unhappy with the chant. however, the chant -- >> you know what i'm unhappy with? you know what i'm unhappy with? i'm unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. that's what i'm unhappy with. those people in north caroli carolina -- that stadium was packed. it was a record crowd. at and i could have filled it ten times as you know. those are incredible people. those are incredible patriots but i'm unhappy when a congresswoman says i'm going to be the president's nightmare. she's going to be the president's nightmare. she's lucky to be where she is. >> the send her home chant, is it racist?

>> say it? >> the send her home -- >> do you know what's racist to me? when somebody goes out and says horrible things about our country, the people of our country. that are anti-semitic, that hate everybody, that speak with scorn and hate, that to me is really a very dangerous thing. >> well, listen, i agree complete he and i'm glad that donald trump is finally into self-confession because of course we know he said several anti-semitic things throughout his political career. of course, i remember back during the heat of the campaign the presidential campaign he actually -- he sent out an anti-racist -- sent out an anti-racist tweet with hillary clinton with dollar signs talking about her being controlled by jewish money. and my gosh, all the hatred that he's spewed out about america, talking about america, american carnage and talking about the american dream being dead and on

and on. saying america was crippled. i was deeply offended by that. i am glad that donald trump finally is reflecting and understands that his sort of language is just not acceptable anymore. jonathan lemire, it's not like this isn't -- is predictable as the red sox losing two out of three to the baltimore orioles in an important stretch and i guess you know what? listen, we won a world series last year so why in the hell would we want to win one this year? good job, dombrowski, good pitchers. but while we were watching the red sox blow the game, we were talking -- we were predicting what was going to happen. like charlottesville, he condemns and then he backs up. and then he condemns and then he backs up and backs up. he did exactly what you said he was going to do this weekend. just like he did with

charlottesville and it reminds me also of right before super tuesday when he said he would not condemn the ku klux klan because he knew nothing about them. didn't know david duke and then he said it was an earpiece and i mean, this is what he does all the time. but he usually ends up on the most racist position possible. and that's what he's done here too. by the way, he's turned it up. he's turned it up a notch. the racism and the hatred and the nativism and the xenophobia. this isn't just -- this isn't groundhog's day. this is a new level of racism and hatred. brought to you by donald trump and the republicans who enable him. >> all right. the president's use of the word nightmare there certainly could be applied to the red sox pitching staff, joe, but we'll set that aside. >> certainly true. >> you're right, we spoke a few days ago and saw this coming. it's very similar to what he did in charlottesville.

let's flash back to august 2017 in the hours after charlottesville he spoke at his golf course at bedminster and blamed the violence on people on both sides of that altercation. after 24, 48 hours of a media firestorm about it, i was part of the traveling press pool during that stretch. they whisked us to the white house, taking him off the vacation to give a statement from the white house with the back drop of the grand setting there and saying that it was a much more measured, teleprompter reading saying that no of course, you know, he condemned the white supremacists. only the very next day after watching the media coverage of the flip-flop, after hearing from republicans who expressed concern but also those who didn't, noting who was talking, who wasn't, consulting his informal advisers after hours, suddenly held a press conference at trump tower and went back to the original position. one thing that the president hates to be seen as doing, that's caving to pressure. the idea that he's responding to what other people are upset about. whether it's lawmakers, media commentators. he cannot handle the idea of

looking like he's been pushed into the corner. he returns to his first instinct. we saw that here again. look, we have seen the video clip from the rally from north carolina. he did nothing to stop that chant. he soaked in the chant. only after some concern expressed by republicans, watching some of the media, he walked it back. he sort of expressed that he wished that chant hadn't happened but then he ended up back where he started. first of all, we know he doesn't want to criticize the base and he was concerned that it looked like he was criticizing the rally goers in north carolina. he doesn't want to upset them but he doesn't want to be seen as giving in. and he also as a final point still wants to have this fight. he still wants to make these congresswomen of color be his opposition. be his foil for now. eventually, the democratic nominee and right now he wants this white identity, racial fight and that tweet yesterday, the language is really striking is this. he said i don't believe the four congresswomen are capable of

loving our country. >> capable? >> what makes -- mr. president, what makes them not capable, that's the question. >> well, they're not white. clearly, it is suggesting they're not white. they're foreign. even though they're not. and also, very interesting in that press conference -- that presser when the president said they're just lucky to be where they are. that's donald trump saying, you know what? given that they're women and they're from somalia or from wherever, detroit, from cincinnati, regardless, they're just lucky to be where they are. so eddie, i want to read you something from gary kasparov, and he wrote a column yesterday. it was really important because he said i have been warning you guys since 2016 this is what totalitarians do and they keep

amping it up, bit by bit and gary's exactly right. this is taking it to a new level. but he said in his column for "the new york daily news," trump feeds the mob and the mob feeds trump. demagogues don't find radicals to lead. they feed them one outrage as a time and as he wrote, donald trump is taking them even farther now and every time they don't respond, every time they don't condemn, it becomes normalized and then allows him to go one step further with his racism, one step further with his demagoguery. one step further with his xenophobia. it appears that that's exactly what is happening here. >> joe, i think -- i read that piece and i think he was right on point. in some ways he's pointing us to the fact that the problem isn't just donald trump.

the problem is -- involves at least those who are silent, who are complicit in their silence. those who are complacent in their criticism. that there are a host of factors that allow for this moment that we are in. it's not only the bombast and the demagoguery and the racism of donald trump, it's also the ways in which the republican party, the ways in which the political process, whether it's consultants or the democratic party, the way we're managing it and responding. we are not responding to what's happening. donald trump wants to have this fight. and it seems to me that we ought to have it. we have to finally, joe, and i have been saying this over and over again, we have to finally rid ourselves of the undertow, the undercurrent in our politics and donald trump has given us an opportunity. but we're tiptoeing, some of at least. we need to attack it and then i

think this is really important. donald trump and stephen miller and -- on the sunday shows yesterday, they ran out this line -- you know, that the racist -- the racists are those who are calling people racists. that we're a using the label to beat people over their head. and this is the kind of echo of george wallace's old formulation. the bigots are calling those who are bigots, they're trying to police how we respond to what they're doing. he wants to have this fight, joe. we need to have it. we need to have it once and for all. >> and you know, mika, it didn't work -- didn't work on fox news. chris wallace actually said to stephen miller the president is fanning the flames of racism. >> yeah, we'll get to miller in a moment. but donald trump is accusing four house members of having hate for the united states but making false claims in an attempt to back up that allegation including this

reference to congresswoman ilhan omar of minnesota. >> they can't talk about evil jews, which is what they say. >> yet, omar never said evil jews. >> of course. >> those are the words tweeted by rnc spokeswoman elizabeth harrington who highlighted a tweet during the deadly 2012 conflict between israel and the gaza in which she called the violence the evil doings of israel. omar has since deleted that tweet and others that were condemned for their rhetoric. in february, omar unequivocally apologized for past statements saying she was learning from jewish colleagues about the painful history of anti-semitic tropes. the president also made this claim about congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> when they call our country

garbage, think of that. that's worse than deplorable. well, they call our country garbage, i don't care about politics. >> i'm sorry, this guy -- first of all, that was a lie. he's a liar. he's lied there. but this is a guy that called america quote, crippled. his inaugural speech. >> horrendous. >> it was not ask not what you can do for your country, but it wasn't that. it was american carnage. talking about the crime, despite the fact that crime was at a 50-year low. talking about that we don't even have borders, despite the fact that illegal crossings under barack obama, 50 year low. they have skyrocketed up under donald trump. he said the american dream was dead. he said we were stupid. he said all of our leaders were stupid. this is a man whose entire adult

life has trashed the united states of america for 40 years. now, listen, donald trump supports go to the google machine next door. all right. later when your neighbors are awake, i'll tell you what. get some sane what crystals, put them in a coffee cup. i know you don't have running hot water because if you don't have a google machine, you don't have hot water. go next door and like say, hey, i have some sanka crystals, give me a little hot water, i'll stir it up and i'll use your google machine and then look and you will see for 40 years donald trump has been trashing the united states of america. saying the american dream was dead. talking about american carnage. so who is this guy to say that you cannot criticize the united states of america when that is all, mika, he has been doing for 40 years. >> but aoc but didn't call the

united states garbage. here she is back in march talking about why she says her policy agenda is not extreme. >> we have strayed so far away from what has really made us powerful. and just and good and equitable and productive. so i think all of these things sound radical compared to where we are but where we are is not a good thing. and this idea of like 10% better from garbage is -- shouldn't be what we settle for. >> you know, by the way, mika, she said -- she talked about america being powerful and just. but said that donald trump's policies were garbage. i know there are millions of americans who feel the same way. not calling americans garbage, but donald trump -- this is a problem and we'll talk about this this morning, mika. donald trump like all fascists, like all whatever, they -- i'm not saying he is one, my friends. i'm not saying he is one, my

friends. okay? stir that sanka and just relax. i'm just saying, read the kasparov article and what you will find is that dictators -- not donald trump but dictators will associate themselves with the country. so if you criticize the dictator and criticize the fascist, if you criticize the autocrat and they say you're criticizing the country itself, that's what donald trump is doing. of course he's not a fascist or a dictator or an autocrat. brutus is a good man. all i'm saying is that donald trump has now used the -- he started to use the tactic that suggested if you criticize him, you're criticizing america. that's very dangerous. check the google machine, you'll understand why. >> so on fox news sunday, white house aide stephen miller insisted that congresswoman

alexandria ocasio-cortez was criticizing the country despite a direct comparison to something president trump said. take a listen. >> talking about policy. >> no, she cease start -- >> she's not talking about the people. is garbage such a horrible word? >> she is saying that america in her view is garbage. >> no, i want to put something up on that regard. because i want to put up a tweet from donald trump from 2014. he wrote, the united states under president obama has truly become the gang that couldn't shoot straight. everything he touches turns to garbage. that's not aoc. that's donald j. trump. >> you're continuing to conflate donald trump's criticisms of president obama versus aoc's deep and systemic criticisms of the country itself. >> well, aoc talked about the country being powerful and just and strong and wanting it to get back to that. but talked about donald trump's

policies being garbage just like donald trump in 2014 said that barack obama's policies were garbage. so i guess, mika, donald trump needs to go back to scotland because that's where his mom immigrated from. >> more from chris wallace confronting stephen miller on the blatantly racial approach of the president's strategy. and disputing miller's attempt to claim that the president is merely criticizing the congresswoman on their policies. >> the president said that president obama has been the most ignorant president in our history when asked about putin, he said there are a lot of killers. you think our country is so innocent? that isn't his view, that's been sharply critical of the united states as critical as the four members of the -- of the squad have been. >> what i'm saying, there's a canyon sized difference between saying we need to have better

enforcement over immigration laws to protect the u.s. citizens, we need to end the deindustrialization -- >> that's not what i'm talking about. >> yes, it is. a campaign can be summarized in two words -- america first. there's a huge difference between america first and ideology that runs down america and if you want to -- >> you don't think the president ran down -- lock her up. the president is -- look, i completely -- nobody has any problem with what the president's policies have been. it's when he goes into stoking racial fears. i have never called any of his tweets racist. but there's no question that he's stoking racial divisions. >> chris, the core element of the president's philosophy is america first. >> yeah. america first, but chris wallace was talking about a time on "morning joe" in the early december of 2015 when he was praising putin as a great leader and we said, wait a second, he kills journalists and political

opponents. >> yep. >> and donald trump speaking of u.s. soldiers in iraq said well, we kill a lot of people too. comparing our soldiers unfavorably to vladimir putin. so please, stephen miller, please, donald, donald, you're making a fool of yourself again. this is going to end very badly for you. speaking of which, elise, all of this is deeply offensive, but i'm already tired of all the op-eds i'm going to have to read after donald trump loses in a landslide. this is due to happen because his bigotry only appeals to one-third -- that will happen. just like we said that donald trump could win. i'm telling you, that will happen. this is what gets me. this is such a losing proposition. this is the politics of subtraction. there is no way this leads to

victory. this gets women, suburban voters, educated voters. of course people of color, it gets them fired up in a way that they'll go out to vote, whereas this depresses a lot of support for donald trump. that's what i don't understand, elise. why he's being a bigot and a racist thinking that that's going to help him get elected. it's not. it's going to ensure that he is routed next year. >> joe, i think you're being a little bit too charitable regarding donald trump having an actual strategy in the first place. i think that this is who he is. he's racist. you have seen it -- you know, his entire career. whether it's calling for five young black men who are innocent to be executed. you see it in his comments

consistently throughout the course of his campaign wanting to ban an entire religion from entering the country. and just this week the horrible remarks that, you know, an elected official -- elected by her fellow country men and women should be grateful to be in the country and should leave otherwise. and it's just incredible to me that we still are not being just more forthright and, you know, saying this for what it is. it's donald trump, he is not -- you know, you listen to how he's speaking sometimes and the crazy things that come out of his mouth. and you wonder why someone isn't just taking him to walter reed for a full medical because it doesn't seem to be flowing that well. and i think it's why he's going back to his greatest original trick, being racist. >> well, if you look at why it's

the three ds. we have discussed this joe, distract, devoid and what was percolating in charlottesville and when he projected racist behavior. look at the stories that are hot right now and getting hotter. jeffrey epstein and robert mueller testifying this week in washington. so it's the three ds, distract, deflect, divide. >> it is. >> of course desensitize america. >> it is. jonathan lemire, donald trump doesn't believe in anything but donald trump and if marrying a refugee tomorrow would help him get re-elected he would marry a refugee tomorrow. back in the 1990s when it was important to him to have a great relationship with black musicians, community leaders, because he had -- he had his casinos and his fights and he wanted hip-hop artists to be next to him. he wanted to be friends with al sharpton and he dated a black

woman, dated black women throughout his life, al sharpton will tell you, he was all over him. he was all over the hip-hop community. he was all over boxers. he was all over professional athletes because in the 1990s he thought that helped his career. it helped his reputation. thought it helped his sort of his buzz. in fact, you can even see at the end of the campaign in 2016 jay z being uncomfortable at a hillary rally saying something negative about donald trump. that is how transactional donald trump has been his entire life. >> right. there are very few things that are ideologically consistent about donald trump. some beliefs on trade, maybe isolationism. he has been saying this, at

least publicly, that this is where he is. i didn't want to go unremarked upon, your dynamite jfk impersonsation earlier and you have a hyannisport look to it today which i think is appropriate. secondly -- it's not just the message from the sunday show yesterday. it's the messenger. that after a week of firestorm about racism and the president's meaning behind the tweets who does the white house send out as their face to the sunday talk shows? stephen miller, the architect of the immigration policy and who many believe is the engine behind a lot of the policies from this white house that many believe are dividing this country along racial lines. this is a fight they want. >> mika, it's worse than that, because right now the architect for the trump immigration policy, it's jared kushner who is actually talking about keeping the numbers the same.

1 million immigrants coming in per year. making it more merit based. stephen miller actually -- so it's actually telling that he actually brings in the guy who is the extremist, the most extreme, the most anti-immigrant person who wants to reduce refugees -- the number of refugees coming in to america, the land that the statue of liberty awaits for them and has for years and allowed donald trump's family to come in from germany and scotland, miller wants to reduce the number of refugees coming in. practically to zero. so, you know, jonathan is right. this is -- this is all about sending a message, a xenophobic, racist message to the most racist voters. >> james downy said it betrays the heart of the trump administration and he continues

to say to disagree with this president is to disagree with america itself. to criticize the country is to tear it down to suggest america as currently constructed is imperfect is to threaten's americas' very lives and the sooner it's adherents are out of power the better. still ahead on "morning joe" we mentioned some new polling from iowa. but there's also snapshots from new hampshire, south carolina, california and texas. those numbers are straight ahead. but first, president trump went to some length last week to remind everyone that it's a british tanker seized by iran, not american. will that absolve the united states from reacting? our foreign policy roundtable is ahead on "morning joe." government by and for all the people -

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well, as you know, we have a very close alliance with the uk and we always have. we heard that, the united states has very few tankers going in because we're using our own energy now. we have made a lot of progress over the last 2 1/2 years. so we don't have many tankers going in but we have a lot of ships there that are warships and we'll talk to the uk and we have no written agreement, but we have an agreement. they have been a very great ally of ours. they'll have a new prime minister soon which is a good thing and we'll be working with the uk, but we have no written agreement, but i think we have an agreement which is long standing. but i know that it's not american ships, but it's the uk. they have a new prime minister coming soon and that's a good thing for the uk. >> on friday, iran seized one british oil tanker and stopped and boarded another with armed personnel before letting it go.

it is the latest in the series of aggressive acts by iran in the strategically important strait of hormuz. joining us now international correspond end keir simmons. president of the council on foreign relations and author of the book "a world in disarray" richard haass and co-host of "morning joe" first look, ayman mohyeldin. >> so richard, let me get out of this way. first of all, congratulations to the yankees for winning the american league east this year. >> 1 1 games. that's all. >> but unfortunately, dombrowski decided when we needed a pitch tore get the dude from eastbound and down who was -- he gets shellacked by his former teammates. so it's not getting any better as long as the red sox continue doing what they're doing. which is as much of a mystery to me as what the iranians are doing right now, too. with the political strategy -- exactly.

i always remember dr. pierzynski comparing major league baseball to international incidents. in fact, he never did that, my bad. so richard, what are the iranians doing? and it's important for people that are watching this show that don't follow it closely. the iranians are -- they are radicals but they do not act impetuously, there's a reason for everything they do. what's their game plan here? why do they keep provoking in the gulf? >> the reason they're provoking in the gulf is because we are practicing economic warfare against them and the economic warfare is essentially succeeding. their economy is contracting. they're having to pull in on what they basically said if you're going to inflict pain on us, two can play that game so we'll inflict some pain on you. whether it's mining the tankers

a few weeks ago, gradually breaking out of the 2015 nuclear deal. they want to make the world uncomfortable with what they're doing and as a result to get some relief on sanctions. so what we have here is a high stakes game of chicken where we keep putting pressure on iran. they keep pushing back one way or another. they're hoping it leads to less economic pressure on them. we're hoping that we get them to change their ways. that's where we are. >> but certainly they understand that they can't go toe to toe with the united states or the west or the world in a military confrontation. do they just not believe that the united states will not take a measured approach that our allies will not take a measured approach against these provocations? >> well, i think there's a decent chance we'll take a measured approach. you can see some collective effort to safe guard shipping in the straits of hormuz. there's lots of historical precedence for that.

but the iranians believe that we are not anxious for war. we have our hands full in that part of the world and there's a strategic argument to be made is the last thing we need to is to refocus all of our energies in that part of the world where you have putin, asia, all sorts of challenges from china. so i think the iranians are thinking that they can push back and it's a risky strategy on their point of view. but they believe it's a calculated risk and that they can get away with it. then the problem is, joe, they could be wrong. they could go over a certain line, even donald trump then would feel compelled to respond. and then once that gets under way, then there's any number of battlefields, any number of tools in the region. it can spread not as a classic battlefield war in iran, but all over the region. hezbollah can do this, we have american troops in several parts of the region in syria and iraq where they're vulnerable to iranian backed militias. this can spread in any number of

ways quickly. >> keir, the military conflict or the threat of military conflict usually is between the united states and the iranians. europe is traditionally has had more manageable relationship with the iranian regime than have we since 1979. but how is that relationship fraying right now in britain as a result of these recent provocations by iran? >> well, just like everybody the british are trying to manage a balancing act. this tanker is described as british. it is owned by -- it's swedish owned and the crew are from around the world. so i think perhaps in the british foreign office there's not the sense of panic that you might expect from the headlines. i mean, plainly, as richard was suggesting what the iranians want to do is to divide the europeans from the americans. it is to some extent i think a

long hope on their part but they want to split the western alliance and thereby trying to get some relief from sanctions. now, whether -- how they do that, well, what they have to do is keep pushing and pushing and pushing and trying to get the politicians on both sides to have different reactions. differing reactions, but of course and this is the case with foreign policy around the world, when you always have to remember is that each of the countries is watching u.s. domestic politics very closely. they understand it and they're trying to leverage as far as they can a senior senate aide told me over the weekend that they believe america is taking a measured approach. but the iranians will want to try to divide between the politicians in washington as much as they want to divide between the countries that make up the alliance, the western alliance. >> well, of course, keir, most geopolitical strategists in

great britain are waiting for one thing and one thing only to resolve this crisis and that is boris johnson walking through the door as prime minister and my friend, that is going to happen. what impact is that going to have on british politics? and on crises like this? what should we americans expect from this man who seems every bit as -- let's just say interesting as donald trump in his own way. >> he's -- i mean, he's an interesting character. fascinating character. in many ways he's like donald trump. in many ways he is not like donald trump. you know, he studied the classics at ox bridge. he's incredibly well read and he understands, you know, he understands philosophy. all those kind of high brow things. the question is whether he understands the kind -- the practical kind of politics and is going to put in the hard work that is needed and also whether he can unite people because he is -- we have a -- we have

something you spread on toast called mar might back in the uk and some love it and some hate it. well, that is boris. he is marmite. >> let me go to the another part of the globe. the white house is hosting the prime minister of pakistan and a relationship that's been fraught at times. and in a briefing call the other day, the white house officials said they'd lean on pakistan to show they're committed to, you know, cracking down on -- to the terrorism. they don't want at it to be a host country for that. there's some skepticism in the administration that the terrorist will remain in custody. >> yeah, he's considered a populist within the pakistan and he is compared to president

trump because of his mass appeal and rhetoric and he's been trying to create overtures to india which is a cornerstone to nuclear armed countries, have the long standing history of rivalry and tensions. india like the united states accuses pakistan of being behind a lot of the regional instability and terrorism in the region. i think the relationship between pakistan and the u.s. over the last couple of years with the rise of donald trump and the rise of khan has been fraught because he wants to see pakistan do more in terms of terrorism and an easy thing for him to sell to the political base in the united states. i think historically since 9/11 pakistan has been one of the most important countries for the united states in the war on terror. but the situation in afghanistan is very important to track when you're talking about pakistan because the united states is trying to make a big play right now in talks with the taliban inside of pakistan. you won't have peace without

their cooperation. they run deep into afghanistan, they can destabilize that country if they wanted in a moment's notice. so president trump has realized that you cannot just alienate pakistan and take disparaging about it and then expect to have peace. i think that's one of the realities that's set in by his advisers at some point. >> you put your finger on it. pakistan is providing sanctuary to the tall ban. has been for decades. and khan is the wrong guy to talk to. you have the intelligence, you have the army leadership. he's here, he's the great cricketer, dramatic outsider coming into politics but the problem is he can't -- he can't deliver and over the years pakistan made five dozen or ten dozen promises to cut out support for terrorism. my hunch is he'll say the right things today and pakistan will continue to provide sanctuary to the taliban. >> whenever america has kind of lashed out especially when president trump has lashed out against pakistan, he has used that domestically within pakistani politics very

aggressively. he's told you know his constituents in the country no one can talk disparaging about pakistan, we are a proud country. but as richard says that is more for political purposes, domestically than real -- the real power is with the military and isi and they're not at the table. >> thank you all for being with us. we'll be watching you and yasmine on "morning joe first look" weekday mornings. mike pence's profile in courage. he says president trump might -- he might make an effort to speak out if a send her back chant happens again. american carnage author tim alberta joins us for that conversation next on "morning joe." every day, visionaries are creating the future.

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were the chants appropriate? >> send her back! send he back! >> if you're unhappy with them,

do you want to see it happen again? >> no, major, the president wasn't pleased about it and neither was i and he was talking about that. and what we're not pleased about is there are four members of congress -- >> but this as close as anyone has ever had in politics. this could go away with one simple word or a phrase or something. you have a chance to say it right now. >> well -- >> don't do it again. is that your message? >> major, the president was very clear. >> was he? >> that wasn't happy about it and if it happens again he'd make an effort to speak out about it. >> he will make an effort? >> that's what he said. >> that's just painful. >> oh, my gosh, it -- what is that from? >> that was not "saturday night live." >> is that chauncey gardiner, who was that guy? >> vice president mike pence stopping far short of -- >> oh -- er -- oh --

>> might put a stop if the supporters make racist chants. mike -- >> chief political correspondent from "politico" magazine, tim alberta who paid the vice president and other republicans this weekend millions of dollars to prove the central thesis of the new book "american carnage, on the front lines of the republican civil war and the rise of trump" 100% correct. >> welcome back to the show. >> i chart that sentence, if you will, english majors. tim so this came from garry kasparov this weekend and reminded me of you as we saw the republicans that once proudly identified themselves as members of the party of lincoln. kasparov says this. trump drags his supporters down by association every time they fail to disown him, to condemn him. eventually they have no one else and no one else will have them.

and it is one step after another, after another, and as garry kasparov says the chants become more extreme. the attacks become more extreme and these republicans capitulate time and again. so they're isolated with him. seems to be sort of a central thesis of your book that these republicans just at some point stopped pushing back. >> they stopped pushing back and the president keeps pushing onward because he's emboldened. he is looking around for where the boundaries are. he recognizes that there are none. if nobody is going to push back, if nobody is going to slap him on the wrist for coloring outside the lines as it were he's going to continue to do so. he's going to continue to color farther outside the lines. who is this guy, about mike pence. look, pence is obviously one glaring example and there are others and i think that is sort of the existential question for a lot of folks in the party,

where are these people who are these people? we thought we knew who they were before donald trump came on the scenes and now there are all of the before and after shots so to speak of these republicans who, you know, mike pence is a guy who for his entire political career sort of predicated everything he did and joe, you know this upon this idea of moral clarity. right, that there is right and there is wrong. there is black and there's white. and moral clarity was sort of pence's clarion song as far as political courage was concerned. and to see him now sort of tie himself in knots not just over this, but basically over everything that donald trump has done over the last 30 months or so it's really astonishing to a lot of his long time friends who sort of are left to scratch their heads wondering why he's not doing it today but what it does to him tomorrow and how it shapes the rest of his career. >> well, as kasparov suggests it destroys his political career

tomorrow. eddie, along with the other republicans he condemned bill clinton for his sort of moral egivelism saying it depends on what the meaning of is is, and what is so damning is that there are people who will tell you certainly have told me and said it on air that mike pence was during the lead-up to donald trump's nomination, mike pence was bitterly, bitterly critical of donald trump behind the scenes. just like paul ryan was. just like lindsey graham was. just like the entire republican party was. the second he got power, they capitulated and they have given him a blank check. even now with the most xenophobic racist chants and they are racist chants. anybody who doesn't think they're racist chants seriously condemn themselves with their own ignorance.

>> it seems as if mike pence and a host of others have sold their soul for a mess of pottage and he's the poster child for the white evangelicsms and how they're like the faustian judges and looking the other way but in pence's case -- he's not looking the other way. but he's squarely in the mess. he's participating at the highest level. and tim, so i want to ask this question to you. i mean, we know the critique we can make of pence and of white evangelicals but i want to make sure that we understand that our audience understands at least this part of the book that this claim that you made, that this element of white identity politics isn't reducible to donald trump. that this has been in some ways a part of the republican party's game plan for a while. so talk to me a bit about what

donald trump has done to accentuate that aspect of the republican playbook over these so many decades. >> well, look, we all talk about how social media has sort of brought ugliness it of the shadows. people are willing to say things on line in one of the forums, twitter or facebook that they wouldn't say in public or certainly say to somebody's face. i think in a similar sense what donald trump has allowed his voters to do, some of them, is be much more open about feelings they understood were not appropriate for polite company and not okay to say out loud until donald trump came along. obviously you would hear this refrain constantly from voters traveling all across the country, he sounds like he. me says things like my friends and i say and the subtext of that sentiment was these are things that my friends and i say privately. not things we would say publicly but he says them and he's the republican nominee, now he's the president of the united states.

so maybe it's okay. i do think there's a certain sort of unveiling effect that this has on the american public, on the american political discourse write large when the president is willing to say things when most of us would consider outside of the mainstream or beyond the pale and then it has the natural trickle down effect to the political culture as a whole. >> the new book is "american carnage." tim alberta, good to have you back on the show. >> thank you. coming up robert mueller will be on the hot seat on capitol hill this week. jerry nadler says that the hearing will show substantial evidence of wrongdoing by president trump. plus, columnist bret stephens has the perfect antidote to trump. he will explain in 90 seconds.

you know what i'm unhappy with? i'm unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can hate our country. the american dream is dead. i'm unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman can say anti-semitic things. i don't want your money, therefore you're probably not going to support me. i'm unhappy with the fact that a congresswoman in this case a

different congresswoman can call our country and our people garbage. free trade can be wonderful if you have smart people. but we have people that are stupid. that's what i'm unhappy with. >> he also of course talked about the garbage that america was when barack obama was president of the united states. >> we have got his patterns down. i don't get the people standing around him. i don't get it. i'll never get it. evangelicals, i'll never get it. welcome back to "morning joe." it is monday, july 22nd. we have white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan lemire. former aide to the george w. bush white house and state department, elise jordan and proffer from princeton university, eddie glaude jr. joining us from professor of history at tulane university, walter isaacson and a columnist for the new york times bret

stephens. wow. >> you're reading the very -- >> i'm excited to have them all here. >> yeah. >> and director of domestic policy studies at stanford university and research fellow at the hoover institution, lanhee chen. >> thank you for not laughing. i don't know what's going on here. walter, if you can keep a straight face on a very serious topic, so you grew up in the segregated south. you saw the changes that came in time and you saw the arc of american civilization, again, starting back and forth. but going upward that has changed significantly. especially as it pertains to race relations. i'm just curious given the unique vantage point that you have had throughout your entire life as a southerner who has run some of the most important media outlets in america and the

world, what's your take on what you saw over the past four days? >> yeah, i mean, eddie and i both grew up in the gulf south and what you learn growing up there, watching a wallace or watching anybody appealing to the worst instincts of our nature is it wasn't just that they were racist. it's that they made people around them racist. you'd watch a wallace rally and your heart would sink as you would see a young kid looking up at his father or her mother or her father and they would start doing the chant. i saw that in north carolina with trump. that was the thing that was the most heart breaking of the send her back, send her back chant was not just that trump didn't stop it and then later lied about saying he stopped it, but he didn't. but that you'd watch these people and they -- their instinct wasn't at first to join in. especially the young kids.

and then you watch them all get swept up into it. and that's how these type of things happen. things become permissible and then things become expected and it spreads. so trump is not just being racist. he's making people around him racist and that's the heart breaking thing. >> yeah. you know, i think i'm the minority here in believing that this is destructive politically. that this will blow up in donald trump's face. i -- if you look back at 2012 and 2016, you see even in 2016 you saw asian-americans move away from loyalty towards the republican party to the democratic party. so basically, just about every nonwhite voting group has started to associate republicans with bigotry and i don't know

how this does anything but speed up that process. >> well, i mean, from your mouth to god's ears as they say. i hope you're right. the problem is that historically we know that demagoguery as a political strategy often works, appeals to the most base instincts in an electorate often work. racial polarization often works. i say this, you know, with -- i mean, it's a horrible thing to say and it's especially horrible given the traditions of the united states or the best traditions of the united states i should say. but trump's sort of special brand of diabolical genius is to understand that there has always been a dark sub current in the american political tradition which he has tapped to become president of the united states. and i'm afraid that we would be foolish to think that it's not going to work for him again.

we have had so many episodes of this, joe, judge curiel, the demonization of muslims in 2016 and of course the birtherism. this is the latest example and it hasn't destroyed his candidacy. i think we have to think carefully about why that's been so effective and try to figure out just what -- what is the kryptonite that works against this brand of poison. >> yes. >> so just as a matter of political science, you look at the demographic changes in america. and, you know, i have argued that 2016 will be remembered forever as an anomaly. it had a lot to do not just with the electoral college and not just with the russians but with james comey writing the letter that he wrote ten days earlier. i'm wondering what your thoughts are about -- because we always

overanalyze the last election like generals always fight the last war. >> yeah. >> i think the demographic makeup of our electorate just is -- just pure science, pure numbers is going to look more like barack obama's coalition of the ascendant in 2008 than donald trump's in 2016. >> yeah, joe, what it comes down to is the distribution -- the geographic distribution of these voters, right? we know there's an untapped potential voter base for example for democrats to continue to mine in the sunbelt states. we know that suburban moms for example began to shift away from the republican party and that shift was accentuated in the 2018 midterm elections so the question now is these sort of growing cadre of voters where are they located? if the answer is they're located in some of these urban areas or they're located in suburban

areas i think that will benefit the democrats. now if there's still more in the donald trump coalition, if there's still more in terms of the kinds of people who respond to the sorts of appeals that the president has been making, then the answer could be it might benefit the president in 2020. but it won't benefit the republicans beyond 2020 so do they sacrifice one election for an inability to win in the future. >> sergeant writes about the trump's racism reveals an ugly truth and it reads in part, as trump's own rhetoric has repeatedly confirmed this is inescapably about reducing the number of nonwhite immigrants here. you can locate a zone of plausible deniability in which one can claim support for such policies on pragmatic, economic, or cultural grounds. and not out of any desire to make the united states whiter. it's precisely this zone that

republicans now seek to inhabit. that's why the gop panicked about the send her back chant is significant, it shines a flood light into the zone and reveals why it's so hard to credibly inhabit. what is it about send her back that suddenly crossed a line? i submit to you that the key difference is twofold. trump's naked hatred and cruelty was captured on live television and along with it so was the seething anger of the hard core trump base. the whole nation saw in dramatic fashion that donald trump voters understood his meaning perfectly well and watched them not just agree with it, but also amplify it with the ugly and hate curdle the chant as one could imagine. elise jordan, i think greg sergeant nailed it. at the same time, i put some of these trump voters that trump is

appealing to on a level where, you know, they expect -- i think we should expect more from our leaders. the evangelical community, the republicans serving in washington. they are amplifying it by not speaking out and is that just as bad as the chants? >> i think the enabling of donald trump really is almost as bad as the chants just because without so many men and women in the republican party in leadership roles, donald trump wouldn't have been elevated and wouldn't have been able to come to this moment. i was equally upset as what we heard -- what we saw and heard at the rally on wednesday night was a horrible moment in american history, but then the next day when donald trump is meeting in the oval office with victims of religious persecution from around the world and he's with the amazing nadia marad and

she's telling about her family being slaughtered by isis and he can't grapple with what she's saying about being a refugee and how she's trying -- because this brave woman is trying to educate him. it showed an utter lack of empathy and callousness that i do not think any of this is going to get better. >> so we have seen in the last day or two two different studies. one article -- one of the upshot in "the new york times" and the other here from nbc on lanhe's a real chance that the democrats will run up the score in terms of the popular vote in 2020. but if those votes are coming from places like california, they're already safely blue that may not impact the electoral college. lay out a plausible path where the president is elected narrowly if he can hang on to a couple of states. wisconsin being the tipping point perhaps.

but on this subject, eddie, we were talking about the fight that the president wants. you suggested that this is a fight that the democrats should want to. we saw last week an effort to censure his racism on the house, devolved into embarrassment for all involved. setting aside that sort of politics that didn't work. what can they do? what should -- if you were counseling the democrats right now, you wanted to fight on these terms, how do you do it? >> well, i would say this is not the america we aspire to be, this is not who we are. we have to call trump for what and who he is. he's a racist. stephen miller is a white nationalist we need to say this. we need to say what is happening. that they're exploiting fears and hatreds and this is not america. this is not the america we desire to be. the consultants are telling them, we shouldn't hit that note because it may activate other folk. right? when they make that claim, they're saying that underneath our politics, whether it's the

loud racist or those who are in the suburbs with their white picket fences if we hit the white identity question too hard, we'll activate the white identity issue among those who wouldn't ordinarily support donald trump which means that this stuff cuts so much deeper than just simply to the north carolina rally. i want to say this. james baldwin said this once. he says i love america more than any country in this world. and it's for this reason that i reserve the right to criticize it perpetually. what donald trump says in this moment or said in this moment that i -- that omar, and that tlaib and that ocasio-cortez we should be grateful that white people allow us to be here. if that's the country we want, then vote for him again. if that's the country democrats want, then they will dance the dance. we can't just simply say policy, policy, policy. we have to hit this guy in the mouth over this issue.

we have to -- we have to tar him with it. and then make the country -- then make the country make a choice. >> the first word out of joe biden's campaign video when he announced the candidacy was charlottesville. walter, let me ask you this. how should democrats -- that's a debate next week. it is going to be the significant moment for the democratic field and then the day after we'll see the president's first rally that will be in cincinnati since this one. we will see if that chant breaks out again. we'll see if he does try to keep it in control. democrats that day on those debate stages, how do they go about making this an issue? >> i tend to agree with abby, a member of the david duke campaign, he was a clansman and a racist and at one point democrats were running against him. he was running as a democrat, actually. but running against him by sort of saying our plan for health care, our plan for this. whatever. that didn't work.

what you have to do is say, wait a minute. this guy is an outright racist now. we know it. we have many as bret said as data points from the mexican judge, to the muslim ban and we cannot normalize this. we have to keep a laser like focus on the fact that not only has he done things and said things that are racist, but the people who stand next to him, the people who support him, those too are people who are deeply against the values of the united states of america. and keep the laser focus on not normalizing this guy. >> and you look at that race that walter is talking about and of course we'll remember then -- back then that edwin edwards spoke for a shattered nation when he said vote for the crook, it's important. >> right. >> look that up on your google machine, children. edwin edwards, david duke race, one of louisiana's most

interesting moments. so bret stephens, i retweeted one of your columns i think from a month or two ago for a couple of reasons ago. mika will tell you i'm a very, very slow reader. secondly i thought it was more timely now than it was two months ago when you talked about your plan for mass deportation and it actually -- again, it's fact based. a lot of nativists don't want to hear it or xenophobes don't want to hear it. but you can look at donald trump's own statistics and they back up everything you say there. if you want mass deportation to make america more effective, tell us who you deport. >> so i have bad news for you, joe. you're slower than you think. that column was from two years ago. but the point -- but the point still stands. >> so slow. molasses. >> if you look at almost every value that conservatives claim

to believe in. family values, family cohesion, starting new businesses, keeping their kids out of trouble, succeeding in the sciences, succeeding in business almost any field of life and you compare american immigrants to those of us who are native born and the immigrants beat us every single time because in some ways -- this sort of reminds me of your baldwin quote. they want it more. they have fought harder to get here. they're not going to squander their chances once they're here. which is why you look at almost every single demagogic point that trump and his supporters make about immigration, sort of being -- receiving excessive welfare, criminality. all of it turns out on examination of the data to be totally bogus. by the way, this is of course the oldest story in america.

i just wrote a column last week about -- it's about the people who made the heartland of the country. the people who made nebraska and iowa the super red states blue. they were all immigrants who were told to go back to where they came from. so, you know, one point i'd like to make with eddie with how you go about defeating this people think that the race card is only played against people of color right now, but it's worth remembering if you're a polish american, italian american or a greek american, czech american, the race card was once played against their ancestors as well. their parents and their -- and their grandparents. it applies to every single american. that's the way you defeat him. we are all in this on the side of standing for newcomers against nativists, racist bigots. >> well, i will tell you i cannot wait to read that column

in 2022. looks like a real page turner and you know, mika, we were last night we were speaking among fans last night and somebody asked why your parents were so driven. and you had said, well, it was something about being driven out of czechoslovakia by hitler and being driven out of poland by hitler. well, lanhe, let me go to you on this and mrs. brzezinski going out in the countryside and eating nuts as all of the kids -- >> living in the orphanage. >> as they all left during the blitz and then coming to america where her mother and -- the ship they were on actually being hit by a german torpedo which ended up thankfully being a dud. and by the time they got to america, like all immigrants, they were so -- they felt so

fortunate to be here that it seemed like anything was possible. that is still true today of immigrants that come to this country. and again, we're just talking science data, numbers as bret said the numbers bear this out that actually in many ways immigrants are more effective than native born americans. >> well, i mean, you think about the entrepreneurship. you think about all of the different enterprises that have been built recently, all of the employment that is in america as a result of what immigrants and the descendants of immigrants have provided in terms of the ability to generate a really dynamic economy. and i mean, that's the numbers part of it. but then there's the more important part of it which is the story of america. the american fabric and how it's been knit together by people from so many different places. you know my parents came to the united states from taiwan at a

time of martial law and a time of conflict between taiwan and china. they came here seeking opportunity for the kids they would have. but they came here because they felt that there was promise in america. and i think that's really the element of american character that we can't lose sight of here which is the promise that america shows to so many around the people. they want to come and be a part of this great experiment and that's unfortunately what we're in danger of losing in the conversation that we're having is this notion that people can come here and they can build their american story and have that american story be just as american as my story or anyone else's story. >> and that is something for us to take great pride in, mika. that is something for us to be proud of. you know, it's so interesting that i remember 2004, 2005, i was in a cab in new york and i was talking to the guy that was driving me around. he was a recent immigrant from africa and we were in the car

for a while so we were talking. i said, how long have you been here, what do you hope to do? and he told me this was -- this was 2005 probably. "the apprentice" was on and he said, you know, i'm driving this cab now but as soon as i can afford to get a car, i'm going to -- one car, then i'm going to have two. then i'm going to have ten. i'm going to have the most successful car service in new york. i'm going to be just like trump. and i sort of chuckled in the back seat, but i thought okay, so this guy has his tv show, and this is who this immigrant is looking up to. what a bitter irony that 14 years later, because of stephen miller, that guy would have never even gotten to the united states of america. >> right. >> it's -- it's a tragic -- >> it's terrible, but donald trump what has done with his brand. because he actually inspired people and they wanted on the

like him and now -- they wanted to be like him and now i can't imagine what they're thinking. during the russia probe bob mueller asked plenty of questions and now it's his turn to answer them. nbc's kristen welker has more on how the trump team plans to respond. we'll go live to kristen at the white house when we come back. dto experiencer gthrilling performance. now, at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. get 0.9% apr for 60 months on all 2019 models. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

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no, i don't. as far as i'm concerned, they already took their impeachment vote and the impeachment vote was so lopsided that it was -- it was a massive victory. and you know what? at some point, they have to stop playing games because they're just playing games. no, i won't be watching mueller. >> all right. joining us now, live from the

white house, nbc news white house correspondent kristen welker. you interviewed house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff about special counsel robert mueller's upcoming testimony. what did he say? >> well, i had a chance to sit down with chairman schiff at the aspen security conference and asked him what he wants to achieve during wednesday's testimony and he talked about the desire to have mueller bring his more than 400 page report to life. a lot of americans didn't sit down and read that expansive report. and then i asked him about what he sees as the critical questions. take a look at that exchange. if you knew that the former special counsel would answer one question thoroughly, no holds barred, what would your question be to him? >> well, i suppose the question would be you felt bound by the opinion not to indict the

sitting president, should he be indicted once he leaves office? he's not going to answer that question. >> well, we'll have to see if he does answer that question, mika. we know that the former special counsel will testify for a combined five hours on wednesday before of course the intelligence committee as well as the judiciary committee and jerry nadler said he thinks that the report shows that president trump is quote, guilty of high crimes and misdemeanors and he wants mueller to present those facts during that testimony. so this is really high stakes. the question becomes how is the president preparing? we know that of course they're bracing for this as you just played he says he's not going to be watching the testimony on wednesday. well, his campaign officials say it's likely he'll tune in for at least part of it. we'll watch the twitter feeds and notably i have been talking to the president's legal team as well. look, they don't have a broad response planned at this point in time and in part because

mueller has said he plans to stick to the contents of his report. so they're going to respond accordingly. well, we'll have to see though if lawmakers get him to push beyond his report during those five hours of testimony. that's going to be the big question, mika. >> so, kristen, let me ask you quickly. i know you're on the white house beat, but any word as to whether the democrats have coordinated their questions to mueller? coordinated their strategy more effectively than we usually see in capitol hill hearings? >> yeah, it's a really important question. and i asked chairman schiff about the extent to which they have been preparing. he wouldn't go into specific detail, but he basically said, look, the preparations have been robust. i asked if they had been holding mock hearings. he would don't so far as to confirming that but he said this is high stakes so we are going to be prepared on wednesday which i think really underscores your point, joe. they really feel as though their

questions need to be sharp and they need to be targeted. now, i also asked him given the fact that this was an attack on the united states democracy, have they reached out to republicans at all to try to work with them and he said, look, there's no point in that because the divisions are just so sharp here. so it's really going to be high stakes and frankly it will be do or die for a lot of democrats on the question of impeachment. joe and mika? >> nbc's kristen welker, thank you very much. lanhee, on that note, i wond wonder -- i mean, bob mueller clarified for me -- he's a private citizen now. is he allowed to answer questions that perhaps he couldn't answer when he was serving as special counsel? is there anything -- i mean, not that shedding light on the mueller report wouldn't be enough to concern americans and to concern committee members. i'm just wondering if there's any more freedom here for him to meet -- to be more expansive on

his concerns about the president himself. >> likely not, i would say. first of all, just with respect to whether there might be anything ongoing still he's aware of or that's currently pending. i think that would restrict his ability to say a whole lot more about it and given what mueller has already said about what he's willing to say and what we know about bob mueller from his history, his long history of public service i think he's going to largely stick to not speculating. he'll stick to the four corners of the document that was released several weeks ago. i think for that reason this is a high stakes moment for democrats because the question is what they hope to extract from mueller beyond just what's in the report. because he's made it pretty clear. he's not entirely willing to say or do or speculate about a whole lot more. >> bret stephens, what are your thoughts on what we can expect this week? >> well, i think you heard -- you heard mueller the last time i heard him when he said, you know, if we had wanted to acquit

the president -- i'm trying to remember the words but saying that if we had found out no wrongdoing we would have said so. and i think that the task for the democrats is to try to get him -- get direct -- direct mueller to be as expansive as possible on that very subject. that's really the whole game. >> let's remember that the north carolina rally last week was meant to be a mueller rebuttal. it was scheduled the day of mueller's original testimony. of course it got postponed a week and he doesn't have an event planned although he'll be in west virginia for part of it. there's a belief he will of course react to it. and as a final thought though the legal team doesn't have a wide ranging plan to respond to what mueller is going to say. there's some concern according to our reporting and quarters near the president as to how this is going on. as one of the advisers they felt like despite the coverage we

have given what mueller said, and did and what was in the report, a lot of americans didn't read the document. but as a -- but there's a belief that may not have read the book, but they might watch the movie and if mueller's words there -- he's going to carry some weight, we have only heard him speak publicly once and there's a belief he could say to galvanize the democrats towards impeachment and perhaps set the president off. >> wow. lanhee chen and bret stephens. coming up the latest installment in the checkup series, kamala harris sits down with dr. dave campbell to talk about work/life balance on the campaign trail and her vision for health care in america. plus see her amazing recipe for rosemary chicken. >> good. >> "morning joe" will be right back.

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here, hello! starts with -hi!mple... how can i help? a data plan for everyone. everyone? everyone. let's send to everyone! [ camera clicking ] wifi up there? -ahhh. sure, why not? 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. welcome back. senator kamala harris plans to take her 2020 campaign to iowa after next week's second democratic presidential debates.

on august 8th, harris will begin a five-day bus tour of the first in the nation caucus state. and she'll make stops across the state from sioux city to davenport and the tour will include stops in three of iowa's congressional districts. ahead of that bus tour across the hawkeye state, "morning joe" medical contributor dr. dave campbell traveled to iowa to catch up with kamala harris in the latest installment of our candidate checkup series. ♪ ♪ >> i'm kamala harris and i'm running for president of the united states. i fully intend to win this election. i really do.

in our america, women will be paid equally as men. in our america, climate crisis will be handled, not pushing science fiction but instead embracing science fact. >> could you tell me why you're a fan of senator harris running for president? >> i think she'd probably make a wonderful president. >> i can see her bringing the fight to donald trump. >> she's going to be the type of person that's going to bring people together. >> she talked about lifting people up and bringing hope and that's what we need as americans today. >> i think she's dynamite. she's articulate. she's tough. >> i think she's got what it takes to really take it to donald trump. >> i think she's tough. she's brilliant. and i can't wait to have her go against trump. i think she'll bury him. >> i know predators. and we have a predator living in the white house. >> so who is this woman taking on donald trump?

kamala harris is a california native. a lawyer, a district attorney and an attorney general and a current u.s. senator now running for president of the united states. this 54-year-old public servant is dedicated and determined and so are her fans. following senator harris on the campaign trail, there's a buzz happening here at a rally in a local brewery in iowa. >> we believe in an america where women are paid the same as men. we believe in an america where women will always have access to reproductive health. >> we met with kamala harris on the road and she invited us to learn about her passion and her favorite way to destress. >> this is my go-to rose chicken. douglas, will you grate the pepper here. rosemary leaves off of here. like three times as much. lemon zest. yeah. if you can just peel them, honey. salt.

chopped herbs. lemon zest. minced garlic. spoon all this. as this roasts this is going to get fragrant. bring it around the legs. tie that little bad boy up. there's our chicken. >> it's delicious. >> good job, dougie. >> it wasn't all fun and chicken. we talked exercise, family and sleep. then we got serious and discussed health care in america. >> my entire childhood was pretty much spent in the kitchen with these incredible cooks who, you know, i would just sit there and smell everything and then watch and then i became an apprentice without knowing what the word apprentice meant. i love to cook. >> how do you find the balance between working and finding the balance between burnout and good, mental fitness? >> for me, working out in the morning is about physical health and about mental health. it's -- it's that time to just

kind of wake up, but also to just get the adrenaline going and, you know, also sleep is important. you know? i think that over the years we have started to agree that, you know, enough with the bravado about the least amount of sleep one needs. we as adults we need to get an appropriate amount of sleep so we can perform and make good decisions and so that's important. so there has to be that balance. >> let's do a couple of rapid fire questions. >> okay. >> just give me what kind of pops up in your mind. >> okay. >> diet. >> i like vegetables. you know? i like -- you know, eat with a knife and fork whenever i can. >> good. >> and i say that because these days, campaigning i'm often eating in the car. >> out of boxes. >> ripping open boxes. you know, something that can be eaten with one hand. >> yes. exercise. >> plenty. >> coffee or tea? >> tea and coffee. of.

>> beer, wine or bourbon? >> wine. >> your favorite treat if you want to indulge? >> doritos, nachos. >> favorite way to relax? >> sunday family dinner. >> can you tell me in your own words what is the importance of family to you? >> oh, family is everything to me. truly it is about the people that you love. it's about the people that you take care of. it's about the people with whom you laugh and you cry. it's the people who are on the journey with you. >> let's talk about your vision for health care for the country. >> good. let's not engage in a fiction that we aren't supplying health care to everybody because we are. in the emergency room. a not uncommon story of any parent who -- whose child has a temperature that's out of control, in the middle of the night and they call 911 or call the pediatrician.

what am i going to do? go to the emergency room. so they get -- >> which is the right thing to say. >> which is the right thing to say, but here's the thing. knowing as they walk through those sliding glass doors they will be out of pocket $5,000. they have insurance, but the deductible is such that it could bankrupt that family. that is not an adequate health care system in america. it's not. that's why i proposed that we -- you know, as our goal have medicare for all. >> all right. dr. dave, candidate checkup, with kamala harris. pretty good. she's -- i like she's got coffee, tea and exercise to start her day. >> well, yes. coffee or tea, both. i'll take both. but, you know, eddie glaude, that is the kamala harris that mika and i know. and it's one of the -- i won't say one of the few times but a

lot of people don't see that side of her that we saw with dr. dave. she's very -- she just has a really winning personality one-on-one. i think really americans got to see that in that interview. >> absolutely. absolutely. i think what's interesting too, joe, what we know is that she has an interesting ground game in iowa. folks are getting to know her up close because of what they're doing on the ground. knocking doors, getting her in front of folks and they're responding, they're responding to her prosecutorial representation and she can represent the case and over the course of the campaign, people will drill down and look at her policies and look at her. but this segment was a way of humanizing her. she's not just a prosecutor but a human being who can make a really good rose mary chicken. >> yeah. and jonathan, i do think that's a challenge for her. that she needs to show as she's

already done in the first debate she can prosecute a case and you can see her prosecuting the case against donald trump. but another challenge for her is showing the side of her that mika and i have come to know and the side of her that you saw in that dr. dave interview where she is a really likable person. regardless of her politics. >> during that segment, walter said he makes a similarly good chicken. but -- >> of course. >> but you are right. but i think she's someone who -- americans don't know her as a person and i think this segment and others as the campaign goes on and her moment right now, the moment that's propelled her campaign was that exchange with joe biden in the first debate. and as you pointed out in the next round of debates in detroit, again, the debates are split up over two nights. she will be with biden again. so i think we can anticipate more -- you know, another

exchange there, perhaps more fireworks and another moment for her to assert herself and continue the debate from the last debate. >> let's look at some polls. we'll throw a lot of numbers at you but you might see a theme emerge here. new ugov poll shows that joe biden has a slim five point lead over bernie sanders. elizabeth warren takes 17% and kamala harris is at 16%. biden's lead is wider in new hampshire, 27% to sanders' 20%. while warren is at 18%, harris comes in at 12%. buttigieg at 7%. south carolina is biden's best state where he has 39% of the vote. 22 points ahead of sanders at 17%. kamala harris, elizabeth warren at 12% each. buttigieg at 5%. in the delegate rich primary in california, biden and harris are effectively tied.

24-23% with warren at 19%. sanders at 16% and buttigieg way back at 6%. down in texas, biden holds the ten point lead over the lone star state's own beto o'rourke. 27% for biden. 17% for o'rourke. elizabeth warren at 16%. followed by harris and sanders at 12% each. also, nbc news and surveymonkey teamed up to look at how voters in some of the southern primaries viewed the presidential race. . in georgia, joe biden is out ahead with 31% of the vote. more than down kamala harris. elizabeth warren at 13%. in alabama, biden holds a commanding 21 point lead taking 36% to bernie sanders' 15%. harris with 13% and warren at 9%. in tennessee, biden's lead is smaller but still in the double digits. sanders at 13%, harris at 12%.

buttigieg with 6% and senator michael bennet at 2%. and biden where he takes a majority, 47% with sanders way back at 21%. harris at 8%. elizabeth warren at 7%. >> so we have got somebody from northern west florida and mississippi, two people from mississippi and somebody from louisiana. and so -- i have lived in all of those states except for louisiana. so let's begin with you. you look at the first two states, iowa and north carolina, predominantly white states in the democratic primary. you see the field bunched up. you get to south carolina though in the deep south where there are more black voters in the democratic primary and where it's been said that black women are the most important group to decide who's going to be the next president of the united states. boy, biden wins there. it's not even close. you can look at cross tabs in

any of these and you'll see that the reason why biden does so well in the south and he does so well in south carolina is in large part because of support among black voters. voters and a white vote split. >> you know joe biden coming down to my home town of new orleans tomorrow. the cochair there, african-american congressman from new orleans. there is a sentiment for joe biden not only in the african-american community but also from the white working class. we have the democratic governor, i think people counted joe biden down a bit after that first debate. he was probably smart not to go

toe-to-toe and punch back with kamala harris. that wouldn't have helped. these poll numbers show you shouldn't be counting joe biden out at the moment. >> we are still half a year away but if the joe biden support holds, it a clear he's in a position where barack obama was in 2008. if he pulls off a victory in iowa, he is on his way because that pushes him along his way to the deep south. that is the strategy the biden came pa campaign has to be thinking about. >> i think he reflects that he is a more moderate democrat. there aren't very many others trying to compete in that lane.

you look at how kamathere has ba peeling away. there hasn't been anyone else staking ought a claim for the moderate part of the party. >> we've seen the white vote split. are you surprised to see biden doing so well among white voters? >> not at all. his name recognition in connection to president obama. the general description of black voters is that we are pragmatic, we want someone to come in and beat trump. if joe biden doesn't do well in this upcoming debate, if he shows like he showed in the

first debate, it is a problem. just like hillary clinton in the first run showed up and then they turned. let me say this, it was very important that you noted all of the southerners and didn't mention the guy from lower massachusetts. >> he's from south boston. we are not going to even go there. no. but where we are going now is to puerto rico where tens of thousands are demanding the resignation of the embattled governor who announced yesterday he will not resign but that he will step down as head of his party and not seek reelection in 2020. joining us from san juan, nbc news correspondent gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: as you can see, there are almost plenty of people here.

many have been bussed in from across this island. last night's announcement was not enough for many protesters who say they won't quit until the governor does. this morning, protesters in puerto rico are preparing for their largest demonstrate yet after the governor announced sunday night he's not resigning, insisting he has a responsibility to finish the job he was elected to do. he did say he won't run for reelection and is stepping down as head of his political party. but that's not enough for protesters that gathered outside in san juan last night. the pressure has intensified since the nearly 900 pages of a private group chat were published. the messages between he and several close aids include personal attacks on rival

politicians, anti-guy slurs and jokes about the dead after hurricane maria. on sunday, demonstrators filled the water off san juan in k kayaks, boats, jet skis, on land, others meditated, road horseback, pounded drums. all with the same message. some placed shoes to represent those that died. this man says he'll stay in the streets until the governor leaves office. singer bad bunny who left his european tour to protest. back in barcelona leading a chant that he should resign. and pop star ricky martin criticizing his decision,

prompting him to return to puerto rico for today's march. organizers expect more than a million people to turn out for today's march. that is about a third of the island's population. organizers plan to shut down the main area and many businesses have already said they'll shut down for the day. >> thank you very much. still ahead, president trump misses an opportunity to condemn the send her back chant that broke out at one of his rallies, even declining to stand by his previous claim that he was, quote, not happy with it. one of the top house represents barbara lee who was one of the only members of congress to vote against the u.s. going to war. she has some new warnings today.

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>> a much cooler morning on the east coast finally. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, july 22. hoping the heat wave is over. with us white house reporter with the associated press, former aid to the george w. bush

white house, and professor at princeton university. we have a lot to talk about. a new week kicks off with several developing stories. iran continues to test trump and the west by seizing a british oil tanker. plus bob mueller finally faces congress on wednesday. who will lash out the hardest the republicans or the democrats? we'll look at the kinds of questions that may be asked. also, the latest on the political turmoil gripping puerto rico. new polling shows kamala harris right in the thick of it in iowa. we begin with president trump questioning the patriotism of four minority congresswomen who he told to go back to their home

countries declaring them irredeemable. trump tweeted, i don't believe the four congresswomen are capable of loving our country. they should apologize to america and israel for the horrible hateful things they have said. they are destroying the democratic party but are weak and insecure people who can never destroy our great nation. also this weekend, president trump shared a defense of the send her back tweets from a far right british commenter who in the past linked a rabbi's pro migrant work to a mass shooting in pittsburgh. on saturday, trump shared a tweet who wrote in part, send her back is the new lock her up. trump shared three other tweets who after a terrorist attack in may 2017 at a concert in england

tweeted, we need a new resolution, manchester and after the shooting in pittsburgh wrote, look to the chief rabbi and his support of mass migration, there you will find your truths. it is unclear whether trump was aware of the background of hopkins. the times did not respond to the request for comment. reminis reminiscent of his comments after the racist comments, referendum responded after rally goers after declining to call the chant racist or even stand by his claim on thursday that he was not happy with it. >> you said you were not happy with the chant, however the

can't was just repeated. >> you know what -- you know what i'm unhappy with? i'm unhappy with the fact that a congresswom congre congre congresswoman can hate our country. those people are incredible people, patriots, a congresswoman goes she's going to be the president's worse nightmare. she's lucky to be here. >> you know what's racist to me, when somebody goes out and says the horrible things about our country, the people of our country, that are anti-semitic and speak with score and hate, that to me is really a really

dangerous thing. >> listen, i agree completely and it is great that president trump is finally -- he actually sent out an anti-racist tweet, retreated one with hillary clinton with dollar signs talking about her being controlled by jewish money. my gosh, all the hatred he's spewed out talking about talking about american carnage and talking about the american dream being dead, on and on saying america was crippled. i was deeply offended by that. i'm glad donald trump is finally reflecting and understanding that his sort of language is just not acceptable anymore.

jonathan, it is not like this is as predictable as the red sox losing 2-3 to the orioles in an important stretch. i guess, listen, we won a world series last year, so why in the hell would we want to win one this year. good job. great pitchers. that's all i'll say there but while we were watching the red sox, we were talking friday, i guess, predicting what was going to happen. like charlottesville, he condemns and then he backs up. he did exactly what you said he was going to do this weekend, just like he did with charlottesville. it reminds me also of right before super tuesday, when he said he would not condemn the ku klux klan.

he usually ends up on the most racist position possible. by the way, he's turned it up a notch. the racist and the hatred and nativeism and zexenophobia. this isn't groundhog's day, this is a new level of racism and hatred brought to you by president trump and the republicans who support him. >> you are right, we spoke a few days ago and sort of saw this coming. flashback to august 2017. after charlottesville, he blamed the violence on people of both sides of that altercation. after 24 or 48 hours of the media firestorm about it, they

w whisked us to the white house off of his vacation there saying it was a more measured telephone he prompted meeting. only the very next day after watching the media coverage of the flip flop, noting those who didn't. suddenly held a press conference at trump tower and went back to his previous position. one thing this president can't stand doing is caving to pressure. he cannot handle of the idea of looking like he's been pushed into a corner. he returns to his first instinct. we saw that here again. we all saw the clip. he did nothing to stop that chant. he soaked in that chant.

only after concerns, he walked it back and then he ended up back where he started. we know he doesn't want to criticize his base. he doesn't want to every upset them and doesn't want to be seen as giving in. as a final point, he still wants to have this fight and make these congresswomen of color be his opposition and be his foil for now. he wants to have this white identity, racial fight. in that tweet, he said, i don't believe the four congresswomen are capable of loving our country. >> are capable? >> mr. president, what makes them not capable. that's the question. >> they are not white. it's clearly suggesting that they are not white, they are foreign, even though they are

not. also interesting in that presser when the president said, they are just lucky to be where they are. that's donald trump saying, you know what, given that they are women and from somalia or wherever, detroit, cincinnati, regardless. they are just lucky to be where they are. so eddie, i want to read you something from gary casperov, he wrote a column yesterday. he said, i've been warning you guys since 2016, this is what totalitarians do. they ramp it up bit by bit. this is taking it to a new level. he said in his column for the new york daily news, trump feeds the mod and the mob feeds trump.

de demi gaugs don't find radicals to lead. as he wrote, donald trump is taking them even farther now and every time they don't respond, every time they don't condemn, it becomes normalized and then allows him to go one step further with his racism and one stem further with his demagogury and his zexenophobia. >> i read that piece and i think ease right on point. he's pointing us to the fact that the problem isn't just trump but involves those who are silent, complacent in their criticism. there are a host of factors that

allow for this moment. it is not only the bomb past and the racist of donald trump but the ways in which the republican party, the ways in which the political process, the way in which we are managing it and responding or not responding, donald trump will have this fight. it seems to me we have to have it, i've been saying this over again, we have to rid ourselves of this undertoe in our politics. but we are tip toeing, we need to attack it. this is really important. donald trump and steven miller ran out this line that racist are those that are calling people racists.

this is a kind of echo of george wallaces old formulation that the bigots are those people calling people bigots. he wants to have this fight. we need to have it once and for all. >> you know, it didn't work on fox news, chris wallace actually said to steven miller, the president is fanning the flames of racism. >> we'll get to steven miller in a moment. congressional republican are so afraid of the backlash that they won't criticize president trump. the so-called squad doesn't have such reservations. we'll get to that next on "morning joe." is just a button. ♪ that a speaker is just a speaker.

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president trump is accusing four democratic house members of having hate for the united states but he is making false claims in an attempt to back up that allegation including this reference to congresswoman ilhan omar of minnesota. >> they can't talk about evil jews. >> yet, she never said the words. highlighting an omar tweet during the deadly 2012 conflict in which he called the violence of evil doings of israel. omar has since deleted that tweet. in february, omar unequivocally apologized saying she was learning from jewish colleagues about the painful history of

anti-semitic troeps. the president also said this comment been alexandria ocasio-cortez. >> when they call our country garbage. think about that. i don't care about politics. >> i'm sorry, this guy. first of all. that was a lie. he's a liar. he lied there. this is the guy who called america, quote, crippled." his inaugural speak was not ask what you can do for your country -- it was american carnage talking about the crime -- despite the fact that crime at 50 year old. despite the pact that illegal crossings under barack obama,

50-year low. he said the american dream was dead. he said we were stupid. he said all of our leaders are stupid. his entire adult life has trashed the united states of america for 40 years. now listen, trump supporters. good to the google machine next door. later, when your neighbors are awake, get some sanka crystals. put them in a cup. i know you don't have running hot water. because if you don't have a google machine, you don't have the hot water. look at the google machine and you'll see that for 40 years, donald trump has been trashing the united states of america, saying the american dream was dead even talking about the

american carnage. so who is this guy to say that you cannot criticize the united states when that is all he has been doing. >> but the aoc didn't criticize america. here she is back in march. >> we've strayed so far away from what has really made us powerful and just and good and equitable and productive. so, i think all of these things sound radical compared to where we are. where we are is not a good thing. this idea of 10% better from garbage shouldn't be what we settle for. >> by the way, she talked about america being powerful and just, so but said that donald trump's

policies are garbage. not calling america garbage. like other deck taters. i'm not saying he is one, my friends. okay. stir that sanka and just relax. i'm saying, read the article. what you'll find is that dictators will associate themselves with the country. if you criticize the dictator or the fas yift or the autocrat and they say, you are criticizing the country itself. that's what donald trump is doing. he's not a fashist or a dictator. i'm not saying that at all. all i'm saying is that donald trump is using that attack could suggest if you are criticizing him, you criticize america. that is dangerous.

check the google machine. >> coming up on "morning joe," steven miller believes the power of the president should not be requested. fox anchor believes otherwise. we'll show you their back and forth next on "morning joe." when did you see the sign?

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>> more now from fox news host confronting steven miller on the blatantly racial approach of the president's strategy and concerning the attempt that the president is merely criticizing the congresswomen on their policies. >> the president said that pr m president obama was the most of the presidents. >> there is a canyon sized difference between saying we need to have better enforcement of immigration laws to protect

citizens and better trade deals -- >> that isn't what i'm talking about. >> he ran a campaign that could be summarized in two words. america first. there is a huge difference of an ideology that runs down america. >> you don't think with lock her up that the president -- look. nobody has any problem with what the president's policies have been, it is when he goes into stoking racial fears. i have never called any of his tweets racist but no question he is stoking racial divisions. >> chris, the core element of the president's philosophy is america first. >> he was talking about a time in early december 2015 when he was praising putin as a great leader, we said, wait a second, he killed journalists and

political cat opponents, and donald trump said, yeah, well we kill a lot of people too. comparing our soldiers to vladimir putin. so please steven miller, donald. donald, you are making a fool of yourself again. this will end very badly for you. speaking of which, all of this is deeply offensive but i'm already tired at all the op-eds i'm going to have to read after he loses by a landslide. people saying, of course this was going to happen after his b bigotry only appealed to one-third. >> this is the politics of subtraction. there is no way this leads to victory.

this gets women, suburben voters, people of color, it gets them fired up in a way that they'll go out to vote whereas this depresses a lot of support from donald trump. that's what i don't understand. why he's being a bigot and a racist thinking that that is going to help him get elected. it is not. he thinks it is going to help him next year. >> i think you are being a little bit too charity thinking donald trump has a strategy in the first place. this is it. ease racist. we had seen it in the beginning with him calling on the five young black men to be executed.

wanting to ban an entire religion from entering the country. from the horrible remarks that an elected official by her fellow men and women should be grateful to be in the country and should leave otherwise. that we are still not just being more forthright and saying this for what it is. you listen to how he's speaking and the crazy things that come out of his mouth and you wonder why someone isn't just taking had imto walter reid for a full on medical. it doesn't seem to be flowing that well. i think it is why he's going back to his greatest original trick, being racist. >> if you look at why. it is the three d's. district, deflect, divide. you look at the other stories

during charlottesville and other times when he projected racist behavior. you look at other stories now. jeffery epstein and robert mueller testifying this week. the three d's. distract, deflect, divide and desense tief america to horrific behavior. coming up, last hour, we brought you dr. dave's interview with senator kamala harris. next, we go live to des moines to take another look at that key battleground. straight ahead-"morning joe." you wouldn't do only half

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>> september 11 changed the world. our deepest fears now haunt us, yet i am convinced that military action will not prevent further acts of international terrorism

against the united states. now this resolution will pass, although we all know that the president can wage a war even without it. however difficult this vote may be, some of us must urge the use of restraint. our country is in a state of mourning. some of us must say let's step back for a moment and pause for a minute and think through the implications of our actions today so that this does not spiral out of control. >> that was democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california days after the attacks in 2001 to become the only member of congress to vote against the authorization for use of deadly force. since then, congress has used the open ended conversation.

now amid rising tensions with iran, she is no longer alone as a growing number of lawmakers aim to regain congressional authority. she is would us this morning. congresswoman, thank you for being with us. >> glad to be with you. >> i remember through the years, a few members of congress expressing concern about article 1 powers when it comes to war and peace. you were alone then but it looks like a few more members are joining your side. what does it look like? can we expect congress to force the president's hand? >> yes, we can. i think the repeal of the 2001 authorization we worked on in the bill which we passed is one signal that congress is following up and working on this

consistently. we also repealed the 2002 iraq and international defense authorization bill. we also passed, i was a cosponsor of the bill that would make sure the president comes to congress if he's considering the use of force against iran. this has taken a long time to build the kind of support but we've been persistent. i've been working each year to do that. critical mass is developing. the people in our country are sick and tired of wars. congress has been missing in action. people need to know the costs and consequences of going to war. >> i was going to ask you about the bipartisan support. you know, from the world in which i came. a world long gone, republicans actually used to quote wine

berger and powell who said you do not go to war unless you have very specific requirements, unless you have public support, unless it is not an open ended war. it was the wineberger doctrine, the powell doctrine, so how is the republican support around this idea? do you have any cosponsorship? >> slowly but surely. we had 14 to 15 republicans to vote with me repealing the 2002 resolution, the authorization to use force against iraq. a couple of years ago, the repeal of the 2001 resolution was passed in the appropriations committee. then speaker ryan and donald

trump decided they wanted that in and then arbitrarily took that out. many republicans are supporting my free-standing law which would repeal that. public sentiment would move forward. i'm thinking now about all of the attacks from this white house. dissent and offering different point of views are fundamental to our democracy. i'm reminded of all of the death threats and hate mail right after that vote that i received. it was horrible. a very difficult time but we have to stay the course. really now at this point, republicans and democrats are beginning to understand the costs and consequences of these wars that have cost so much in our treasure and young men and women that are put in harm's way and they've done everything

we've asked them to do. >> it has been more than a week, the president has delivered sustained attacks on four colleagues of yours. first, can you respond to that? >> first, those are racist comments, they are dangerous, hate speech perpetuates and sets the stage for violence and is very despicable. here you have four women of color who have come with their life experiences, they have their points of views. they are here to stay. i'm here to stay. that's what i had to remind the country in 2001. i had my point of view about that authorization to use force. i don't understand -- well i do understand why he's doing it. first, it is a distraction. he is playing into the worst of his base who want to hear him

just as racist as he can be. you can see the kind of support he can generate to win reelection. that is why he's doing this. >> his comments and attacks came after the infighting. there is certainly a sense of unity now, are you concerned about the divisions of the party or do you think it is healthy? >> you look at the fact that we have passed i think 50 bills now over to the senate. we hope the public will weigh in to get them to the president's desk. last week, we passed the raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour. we passed hr 1 protecting our democracy and to reduce the cost of precipitation drugs. we are doing our job.

we have different points of views but we come together to fight and work for the people. >> congresswoman, you've been to homestead florida and visited detention centers. tell us about that. >> least week, we went to homestead, florida. i serve on the committee that funds the refugee settlement programs. i saw young people who were traumatized. they are being warehoused, secondly. this is a private company running this shelter, they are making over $1 million a day. they are not processing children in an expidited fashion. they are taking their time. we went in and saw how they were being taught in the classrooms. you couldn't hear yourself talk. there are no standards. this is not a licensed facility.

no standards or programs for the children. no mental health services which really address the trauma. these children, all of them are traumatized. they had a long journey and left countries which were very hostile toward them, they came through hostile territory to get here. now they are treated inhumane and being warehoused. we need to get these kids to sponsors or a licensed facility as soon as possible. it is really tragic. >> you described that evil. it is pure evil. what do you make in the change of asylum talk? there is talk about the undocumented workers but they are trying to change the actual laws of the book. >> it goes back to his white supremacist, white nationalist

policies. he's doing what they want him to do. that is to stop immigrants who don't come from countries who look like me, in terms of the historical connections. when you look at the immigration policy, he called countries in africa and central america, s-hole countries, he put up a muslim ban. he wants to make america white again. he has said that clearly. remember steve bannon, steve miller, their entire white supremacist agenda which they are following up on. >> they certainly congresswoman, it is such a radical split from

ronald reagan. republicans love quoting him all the time. he talked about how america's vitality would only continue if we continue to welcome immigrants and refugees, which is something these republicans know nothing about. they are radical and divided from their own history. >> thank you for being with us. come back soon. >> thank you. staying woke as they say in my district. >> don't know about that. business before the bell for the woke. live at the new york stock exchange. so sara, tell us about he can way fax agreeing to pay to that

data breach. >> representing some closure for nearly half of the population that was affected. u.s. regulators out today saying that equifax will have to pay one of the highest fines we've ever seen from $575 million to as much as $700 million to cover all sorts of issues related to this. it will pay for monitoring services for those affected by the hacking. also, the punishment includes payments to the states and all of the state ags, this is back to september 2017, one of the worst security breeches we had seen, where users who use equifax which is one of the top reporters of credit, their

names, birthdays, driver's licenses were exposed. still don't know what happened to that. it has been revealed the company was lax about guarding our personal information. this fine represents some what of a punishment and way for equifax to make amends. also want to mention disney which is having a killer time. not only did "lion king" make a killing. but this just in "avengers:end game" has passed avatar. $2.78 billion. it has been strong in north america but especially strong in china, in the uk, south korea and brazil. that has fuelled a big rise for

disney. disney also owns fox so it has a number of the highest grossing films of all time. >> of the skywalker trilogy coming at the end of this year is going to be massive as well. i'm curious. you brought up china. i saw a report thp weekend and wanted to ask you about it. something like 90% of china's investment in the united states has been cut over the past six months or so. first of all, does that line up with what you're hearing? secondly, what kind of impact is that having on the markets? is that having on american business? >> you're talking about foreign direct investment, basically everything chinese companies or investors buy in the united states. it has plenty of ripple effect. yes, it is down dramatically because of the hostility between the u.s. and china, partly because of the trade war and the tariffs making it more difficult for chinese companies to invest

here but, also, just the tone. i'll tell you one place where i'm sure you see it, joe, which is in the manhattan real estate market, which is really softened. prices are down because the chinese buyer has walked away. it hasn't been the most friendly environment. you're seeing it there. you're seeing it in all sorts of places in our economy including -- remember the boom we were talking about a few years ago where the chinese were buying everything from the waldorf astoria to other companies across the country? that has really slowed down. raising questions about where the chinese money is going and whether it ever will come back if the u.s. and china do agree to a trade deal. there's no deal right now. we're still waiting for the next round of talks. >> all right. cnbc, sara eisen, thank you so much. appreciate it. my kids are really excited, my sons especially kept sending the avengers box office totals and

we sort of had app group text chain this weekend, all very excited. we're kind of big avengers fans. coming up next 2020 democrats shift their focus to rural voters in iowa. we'll go live to des moines, next, on "morning joe." what do you look for when you trade? i want free access to research. yep, td ameritrade's got that. free access to every platform. yeah, that too. i don't want any trade minimums. yeah, i totally agree, they don't have any of those. i want to know what i'm paying upfront. yes, absolutely. do you just say yes to everything? hm. well i say no to kale. mm. yeah, they say if you blanch it it's better, but that seems like a lot of work. no hidden fees. no platform fees. no trade minimums. and yes, it's all at one low price. td ameritrade. ♪ be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease, i was there, just not always where i needed to be.

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no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. ♪ i never wanna hear you say... ♪ no, kevin... no, kevin! believe it! geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. if we adopt a platform way out to the left they're going to say we're socialists. if we adopt a more moderate or conservative platform, they're going to say we're socialists. so we might as well just do what we think is right, make the case for it, and then let them do what they want. >> that was democratic presidential candidate pete buttigieg speaking at a health care forum in iowa over the weekend. with us now from des moines where she is based, a political reporter for the associated

press. thank you so much for being with us. so you've been reporting in iowa for sometime, the presidential campaign. tell us what you're seeing on the ground there. >> you know it's interesting, things of course look very different on the ground here than in new york and in d.c. the president's tweets and the congressional response took a lot of the oxygen up in d.c. the conversation here in iowa was policy focused. the debate over health care was obviously developing here as joe biden and bernie sanders went after each other on medicare for all. kamala harris got involved in that somewhat. while every candidate criticized the president as racist the questions they were getting at campaign events across iowa were focused on things like how are you going to pay for your health care plan? how are you going to address climate change? then of course there is always the question of how are you going to defeat donald trump? but that is almost universally an answer of, you know, we got

to unify the nation and stand up to his bigotry and racism but we've also got to focus on these bread and butter issues. so while the president's controversies always draw headlines, here on the ground in iowa it's a real interesting conversation that's pretty substantive at this point in the race. >> from your vantage point on the ground, who are the candidates that seem to have the most robust organizations? within iowa? >> elizabeth warren's organization has made a lot of headlines for how many staffers they have on the ground, how seasoned their staff are. i hear from just about every voter they've received a phone call from her. she has organizers in most of the states or most of the counties in the state. cory booker is another one known to have a pretty strong organization both in terms of number of staff and sort of the skill of the staff. but it's interesting, while elizabeth warren's operation is clearly bearing fruit for her, cory booker's isn't.

he hasn't quite caught fire yet on the ground here. a number of other candidates, you know, don't have the kind of staff footprint you would expect. pete buttigieg is one who just raised a huge amount of money and has been insisting he is going to keep staffing up, expanding his footprint on the ground in iowa, but we haven't seen that yet. by the time he started doing that, by the time he started hiring staff, a lot of the best staff had been hired up. joe biden is another one. his late entry has made it a little tougher for him to staff up. so, you know, it remains to be seen whether they can make up for some of the ground that they lost. obviously we've still got quite a few months until the caucuses, but for some candidates, like buttigieg, who was sort of had his moment, was gaining a lot of momentum, there weren't the staff on the ground to capture that momentum. that's the kind of thing that can affect you on caucus night. >> all right. thank you so much for being with us. please come back. >> thanks for having me. if you've noticed, a lot of

on air mistakes this morning, if you've noticed that we're kind of, like, fat thor in "the last avengers" bloated and bumbling? there is a reason for that. t.j.'s back. and he's directing our show again. welcome back. and we also, though, at the same time, as excited as we all are to have t.j. back, we want to give a huge thanks to jason martinez, who has been directing "morning joe" for the past two years. for some reason he decided he wanted to sleep past 3:00 a.m. in the morning, so he's now directing primetime shows, but he sent us this good-bye message. >> joe and mika, i just want to say, mika, it's been a pleasure working with you. and, joe, it's been a pleasure working with mika. take care, guys. i'll miss you. >> it really moves you so much. it really moves you.

let's go to final thoughts. thoi i just want to tell you i have been operating this morning under a heavy heart because somebody on twitter said, they attacked me personally, attacked my looks personally and said that my hair reminded them of gumby. so, yes, asedy murphy once said i'm gumby, so i move forward. with that aside, what are your final thoughts this morning? >> my final thought is i think you look great. beyond that, this week is -- >> what is this, a trump cabinet meeting? >> that's right. >> we could all take a turn if you'd like. my final thought, quickly, in light of the controversies between the president and the congresswomen of color let's not lose sight of robert mueller on wednesday and the fact the president himself is tweeting right now calling mueller highly conflicted and suggesting he should not be allowed to testify on wednesday. of course house lawmakers think otherwise. >> we shouldn't lose sight of

the fact that our discourse is being so -- what used to be, you couldn't say in locker rooms, you can say now, and that's because of donald trump. >> i think walter has identified the most petrifying trend in american political life. it is the discourse. >> listen to buttigieg. take a stance on what's right. >> just be woke. all right. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks so much. hi there. i'm stephanie ruhle. you ready? let's talk former special counsel robert mueller. this man has done everything he can to stay out of the public spotlight but that changes this wednesday when he appears before two separate house committees, committing to at least five hours of public testimony. now, democrats would love for him to breathe life back into the qst