herew york >> president trump rallies in cincti he used last night's speech and taking shots at joe biden and former special counsel >> and the trump administration is prepared to remove troops from afghanistan >> and trump threatens additional tariffs on china in a new tariff threat. >> good morning, everyone. it is friday, august 2. i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside

yasmin vossoughian. trump responded in cincinnati taking the party to task for something he typically special eyes in, criticizing former presidentng obama and mocking t chief defender former vice president joe biden. >> i was watching the so-called debate last night and i also watched the night before. that was long, long television. the democrats spent more time attacking barack obama than they did attacking me practically. [ applause ] they would love to see a guy like g sleepy joe biden who haso clue what the hell he's doing. they'd say to sleepy joe, sir, just sign right there. oh, okay. i'll sign. a guy like sleepy joe biden is going toep come in and say i ca do better. he wants to goet back to sleep.

>>to the president's attacks on biden o follow a recent follow that show him trailing biden in aid recent follow and five poin four years before that. at a restaurant stop, biden said small improvements in swing states will defeat trump. >> if i get the nomination, i will win mib. i promise you. i will win pennsylvania. i will win ohio. i will win these states he got 72 extra,000 votes on on. it is not that there is a great migration to him. it didn't occur. we are talking about 72,500 votes in three states of change. >> a surprise retirement yterda. texas congressman will hurd, the only african-american in the

caucus and representing the district on the border announced he will not seek reelection in the district that clinton won in 2016. he's one of six republicans to retire including congressman pete olson whose district in houston is a top target for democrats. u.s. officials tell the washington post that an initial deal to end the nearly 18-year-old war in afghanistan is 80 or 90% of the way there but caution significant challenges remain. the u.s. would withdraw thousands of troops in exchange. a requirement that taliban enter into negotiations. the news comes days after 24-year-old specialist and

20-year-old private first class from striker ohio who was roughly 2 years old on 9/11 were killed. 15 service members have been killed inen afghanistan this ye already matching last year's total. already 2,400 have died since the beginning of that war. and a report that more afghan civilians have been killed by nato and afghan forces than by the taliban. the u.s. will impose an additional 10% tariff on chinese imports starting next month. president trump announced the move in a tweet following a recent return from leaders from shanghai. the white house said earlier this week that a new meeting had been set up for september.

>> i think president xi, i think he wants to make a deal but frankly, he's not going fast enough. he said he would be buying from our farmers, he's not doing that. he said he would stop fentanyl from coming into our country, it is all coming out of china. >> and following a gain of almost 200 points. the tariff came a day after saying chairman powell, quote, let uswe down. the chief economist telling cnbc that if trump follows through, it is the foder for recession and recession odds probably are even with a down turn difficult to avoid. senior economics reporter reminds us trump's announcement follows powell'sou warning, quo,

tariffs represent the single biggest threat to u.s. and global economies. president trump maintained the u.s. consumers would not carry the cost of the tariffs on chineseta imports. >> for many years, the chinese have been taking money out. we have rebuilt china. now it is time we change the ground. if they don't want to trade with us. it is fineth for me. it is proven our people are not paying for those tariffs. >> okay. larry kudlow's comments contradict those comments. >> both sides will pay in these things. >>es if it is a tariff on goods coming into thego country, the chinese aren't t paying. >> no. but the chinese will suffer gdp losses. >> the president says they may suffer consequences but u.s.

businesses and consumers who pay, correct? >> yes, to some extent. i don't disagree with that. both sides will suffer on this. >> okay. so the $2.7 trillion budget deal is headed for president trump's desk. lawmakers approved that measure yesterday. the white house says the president will sign the bill, quote, when heth gets it but di not elaborate on the time frame as a result of negotiations between pelosi and testeve mnuchin. puts an end to the debt crisis this fall and should make it easier toit fund the government past september 30. saying it will add $1.7 trillion to the pro he corrected debt over the next decade. the grun says congress and

president trumps added $4 trillion to the debt since trump took office and discongressional spending has surged 24% under the president. >> let's talk about the budget and how it reebtly has been passed could impact americans when you talk about these staggering debt numbers. >> sure. how this will impact every day americans has yet to be determined. congress has passed this bill but have yet to decide who gets how much money and how is it going tos be allocated. it is sort of like getting a raise and you are going to move how much yougo spend on your house, your car payment as of yet. people will be looking towards september. because it does raise these

limits, it makes it easier for congress to come to an agreement about budget issues, it reduces the likelihoods of the budget show down that could shut down the government. in that sense, it is good news for people who don't want to be affected by government shut down. >> let's switch gears and talk about afghanistan. we are having u.s. officials telling us. the end of the u.s. war in afghanistan is 80 or 90% there. how significant could this be for the president's reelection chances? >> if he's able to end the war in afghanistan before the 2020 elections, that certainly will be a bump to him and arguments to vote for him. i know a lot of concern about president trump is would he be able to be an effective

commander and chief. we sawan at the end of the firs year in 2017, he received a lot of praise for being able to help secure basically the end of isis in syria. this will be definitely the same kind of praise. as far as voters go, i'm not sure this will be a deciding issue. they are more concerned about health care and immigration. but this will be a feather in his cap. >> ahead, the manhattan office subpoenas information to the hush money paid. and new comments plus a check on your weekend forecast coming up.s

♪ this is not just a headache. this is not just a fever. this is not just the flu.

it's meningitis b... and you're not there to help. while meningitis b is uncommon... once symptoms appear, they can progress quickly before you send your teen to college... make sure you help protect them. talk to your teen's doctor... about meningitis b vaccination. 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, state

prosecutors are looking into the payment that landed his fixer in prison. looking into documents of money paid during the 2016 campaign to keep stormy daniels silent. people briefed say prosecutors are looking into whether any senior executives filed false business records. an attorney for the trump organization called the investigation, quote, a political hit job. michael cohen who was charged with the scheme has claimed the president directed him to make the payments. documents show the fbi believe then candidate trump was closely involved in the scheme aimed at protecting his election bid. president trump has denied the affairs and any wrongdoing.

joining us here, nbc legal analyst. if any executives at the trump organization actually filed false business records about the hush money what would that be? >> in new york, that would be falszifying business records. if you filed falsely intending to defraud, it can be class e felony. it is two to five years in ternterms of penalty. if you you are a bookkeeper or secretary and you are just following orders. you can imagine a situation where somebody says file this. you are going to have to show some level of intent beyond just following orders. >> how far up the food chain

does this possibly reach. >> the key of investigating the crime is to look back. you get some inclination of where this is leading. michael cohen himself walked into federal court, raised his hand and said, the person who directed me to to do this is the person in the white house. he was a candidate. he directed me to make these payments. that is what the manhattan d.a. is looking for. the question is can they find that in the records and will the trump organization is known to do. >> the president is known for not using e-mails or writing things down. that will make it harder. >> you are so right. i can't tell you how often electronic communications burn

criminal defendants. as someone who doesn't use most of those. we know he uses social media but he doesn't email or text, that's a record just out there in the ether. >> so it is best to have only verb al conversations. >> pick up the phone. that's my advise. >> or talk through an encrypted app. >> no. they are not as encrypted as you think. >> appreciate the insights as always. thank you. let's bring in bill karins with a check on the weather. >> yesterday, i was talking about heavy rains in kansas. the ottawa, kansas police department had to do some clean

up with about 10 inches of rain there. even after they cleaned that up, they had to go to some of their homes where they had issues too. we were afraid this would be a clean up event. coming out of texas to oklahoma, it feeds into the moisture. they are producing a tremendous amount of rainfall in central kansas. yesterday more towards kansas city. we have flash flood warnings in these areas. this will continue throughout much of the morning. our computers are hinting at a possibility of wide-spread rainfall. getting up there close to seven inches. yesterday, we had a pretty good thunderstorm in atlanta. hit and miss. same for washington, d.c. southeast, a lot of tropical

moisture. a lot of rain in florida. if you want the heat from san antonio to oklahoma city. that is where it will be 95 to 100. getting into the weekend forecast. it will be more of the same. we may see more thunderstorms saturday afternoon sneaking up to the hudson valley. it will not last. it will be brief. if you have beach plans through carolinas and florida, that tropical wave will churn up the water too. northern plains look really good. we have one more warning tomorrow in oklahoma and kansas with more flooding possibilities. on sunday, from the great lakes to the northeast. it will be warm but it won't be humid. >> if those thunderstorms could

happen between 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on saturday, i would appreciate it. that is nap time, for my children, by the way. nap time for my children. and for me. >> all right, bill, thank you. >> still ahead, saudi arabia announces that women will no longer need permission from a male to travel. we'll have those details coming up next. even a "three-ring fender bender." (clown 1) sorry about that... (clown 2) apologies. (clown 1) ...didn't mean it. (clown 3) whoops. (stilts) sorry! (clowns) we're sorry! (scary) hey, we're sorry! [man screams] [scary screams] (burke) quite the circus. but we covered it. at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

stay on top of things. a faster laptop could help. plus, tech support to stay worry free. worry free. boom! ha.ha. boom! now, save up to 40% off furniture. up to 40% off at office depot officemax or officedepot.com. dprevagen is the number onemild memopharmacist-recommendedng? up to 40% off at office depot memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. on a scale of one to five? wait... one to five?

when it comes to feelings, it's more like five million. there's everything from happy to extremely happy. there's also angry. i'm really angry, clive! actually, really angry. thank you. and seat 36b angry. you're clive owen. and you're barefoot. yeah... there's also apprehension... ...regret... ...relief. oh and there's empathy... ah, i got this in zurich! actually, what's the opposite of empathy? but what if your business could understand what your customers are feeling... and then do something about it. you can turn disappointment into gratitude. clive, you got to try this. i can't i'm working. turn problems into opportunities. thanks drone. change the future of your business. change the whole experience. alright who wants to go again? i do! i do! ♪ i have a really good feeling about this. ♪

>> for the third time in eight days, north korea has launched short-range ballistic missiles similar to the other two launches and as with other tests, the missiles crashed into the sea. the early assessment is that this is another shoef force ahead of the south korean milita military exercise. >> north korea despises those drills. at the time trump falsely claimed that test did not violate international sanctions and did not bother him. yesterday, he echoed both of those sentiments. >> north korea, they apparently launched their third missile in about a week. is kim testing you? >> i think it is very much under control. short-range missiles we never

made an agreement on that. we'll see what happens. these are short range missiles they are very standard. >> can you still negotiate with kim? >> sure. we talked about nuclear. a lot of other country's test that kind of missile also. >> also pyeongchang's third test since the impromptu meeting back in june. mike pompeo said he does not know when those talks will resume only that he's hopeful. saudi arabia has announced it will finally allow adult women to travel internationally without permission from a male guardian and will be allowed to open and run a business without a male voalso involved and wille allowed to register births and

marriages and will not be allowed to provide consent for children to marry there. >> that is definitely a step forward. >> a lot more needs to be done but a step in the right direction. >> still to come, trump toer some top opponents but avoided the racial comments. >> a watch dog says it won't prosecute james comey over his memos about trump. we'll see what the president has to say about that when we come back in a moment. but sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just won't go away. coolsculpting takes you further. a non-surgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. some common side-effects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. don't imagine results, see them. coolsculpting, take yourself further.

>> welcome back. i'm yasmin vossoughian along with ayman mohyeldin. president trump rallied his supporters. the first since the racist chant broke out two weeks ago. the president avoided mentioning the four by name but made no promises about what the crowd will do. >> i can't tell you whether or not they are going to do that chant. if they do, we'll see what happens. >> will you stop them, sir? >> i don't know that you can stop people. we'll see. i prefer that they don't. if they do it, make a decision then. >> the president continued the week-long attack. this time before a nearly all-white crowd which cheered a group of african-americans that

held t-shirts that said trump and republicans are not racists. >> it has been total control of the inner cities. look at them. we can name one after another but i won't do that. because i don't want to be controversial. >> look at los angeles with the tents and the horrible, disgusting conditions, look at san francisco and some other cities. the homicide rate in baltimore is significantly higher than el salvador, give me a place you think is pretty bad. give me a place. the guy says afghanistan. i believe it is higher than afghanistan. in our country, think of that.

>> so before leaving for his rally in cincinnati, president trump spoke to reporters outside the white house and questioned former special counsel mueller's assessment that russia is already meddling in the elections. >> you don't really believe this. do you believe this? >> he said it last week. >> mueller said right now do you believe russia is interfering. >> i watched mueller. i'm not sure mueller knows what is going on, if you want to know the truth. >> trump mocked the former special counsel. >> we have a few guys -- these are warriors. a couple of them you saw the other day. they were questioning bob mueller. that was a beauty. he was sharp, wasn't he. sharp as a tack.

>> so the justice department has declined to prosecute james comey over memos that document encounters with president trump amid ongoing internal views beyond the probe of assists in 2016. according to the "washington post," justice department who was conducting one of the reviews is unlikely to produce a final report for at least a month. one aspect of his work is largely complete, comey's handling with those memos. a person familiar with the matter said the decision not to charge comey was, quote, not a close call. president trump was asked about the decision yesterday. >> what do you think about the decision to not prosecute comey? >> i haven't actually heard that. i know there is a lot going on.

i really don't know. i haven't spoken to them. i would be surprised because what james comey did was illegal. >> president trump is standing by his pick to lead the country's intelligence community over questions of whether he has embellished his qualifications. >> congressman ratliff is an outstanding man. he'll do very well. highly respected. >> currently, it says as u.s. attorney and federal terrorism prosecutor. he put terrorists in prison but there is no evidence he ever prosecuted a single terrorism case. also says he was the leader of a massive immigration crack down saying he arrested over 300 illegal immigrants on a single day. that effort at a poultry

processing plant only ended up with a few charges with six being dismissed. the two people involved said they could not recall ratliff playing a central role. >> emily larsson, good to have you back. i want to discuss some of your biggest take aways from the rally last night, specifically how the topic of race was addressed and how that varied in north carolina. >> it was very much toned down from what we saw a couple of weeks ago. the president did not mention the so-called squad progressive congress women by name. he did repeat some of the things he has been tweeted about, about baltimore and cities being run by democrats and problems in the

communities and california and problems with immigration. there were issues that did come up but it was not as forceful or spicy as we saw a couple of weeks ago. >> let's talk about this development which the president seemed to be surprised by. when the president made a decision not to prosecute james comey. does that come as a surprise after we saw him say what he did was illegal? >> a lot of conservatives are a little peefed there are not going to be charges given there was some mishandling of the classified information. based on the reporting i've seen, this was not even a close decision and not really a case to bring against comey.

i think it will be something republicans bring up in the future especially as related to the mueller report. >> thank you. so the stakes just got higher for the remaining 24 presidential presidential candidates. for the september 12 debates, candidates will have to hit at least 2% in four national polls and receive 130,000 individual donors. double the thresholds of the last debate. so far, seven appear to have met those. joe biden, cory booker, mayor pete buttigieg, kamala harris, beto o'rourke, bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. no particular surprises there. at least three others say they have qualified on polling or

donations but not yet both. candidates have until midnight on august 28 to meet the new standards. >> i met one of those candidates currently outside the qualifications. tulsi gabbard. i questioned her about her past remarks seemingly in praise of syria leader. watch this. >> congresswoman, do you not agree the same could be said? >> i don't know how you could equate that. >> that you would be meeting with the leader that ordered chemical attacks. >> i will never apologize for not doing more than i can to change another regime war the

like we have seen in iraq, syria. >> why would you not mind leading with the leader there or having a relationship with them? is. >> sure. you are making -- mixing two different things up. i'm talking about having a meeting. >> i'm trying to get clarity. there seem to be inconsistencies. >> there is no inconsistencies whatsoever. having a meeting for our own peace is one thing. i would meet with all leaders in that pursuit of national security to keep the american people safe. >> you are talking about a meeting that took place three years ago. every time i come back here on msnbc, you talk to me about these issues. it sounds like these are talking

points kamala harris and her campaign are feeding you. >> there was a portion you didn't see where i asked her, okay, i'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and the case of why you chose to sit down with him. when you sat down wr with him, did you say why are you committing these atrocities? she avoided that as well. i think it is important to ask these questions especially when it comes to having a president now who doesn't confront other leaders. >> when you have a country that is constantly at a state of war. afghanistan is spending billions into its military. she has a position to say she wants to protect those serving in the army. at the same time, as you said, why hasn't she gone to iran to meet other countries that

possess a threat to the united states? i don't think she answered that question. >> right. still ahead, the recent heat wave in europe is having consequences on one of the major ice sheets. >> and your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. wit looks like jill heading offe on an adventure.

jill has entresto, a heart failure medicine that helps her heart so she can keep on doing what she loves. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. it helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto, for heart failure. where to next? entrust your heart to entresto. so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work.

the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. why go with anybody else? we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. we're the tenney's and we're usaa members for life. call usaa to start saving on insurance today. and we're usaa members for life. you should be mad that this is your daily commute. you should be mad at people who forget they're in public.

and you should be mad at simple things that are unnecessarily complicated. but you're not mad, because you're trading with e*trade, which isn't complicated. their app makes trading quick and simple so you can strike when the time is right. don't get mad, get e*trade and start trading today. welcome back. some military families in maryland got a visit by former president barack obama. he paid a visit to the fisher house. homes where military and veteran family can stay free of charge. he tweeted, these families don't get a lot of fanfare. we owe a debt to them and fisher

house we need to make sure we are serving those who serve us. >> so the record breaking heat that swept across europe has met greenland where it is expected to melt ice and permanently raise sea levels around the world. over 60% of greenland's surface is melting. and a warning that the extreme melt events threaten coastal communities worldwide while raising seas will eventually impact global markets. still ahead, we are hours away from the release of the moment important economic readings with a preview of the july job's report. >> and the surprise tariff announcement on china. more driving your business day coming up next.

this is not just the flu. it's meningitis b... and you're not there to help. while meningitis b is uncommon... once symptoms appear, they can progress quickly and can be fatal... sometimes within 24 hours. before you send your teen to college... make sure you help protect them. talk to your teen's doctor... about meningitis b vaccination. only tylenol® rapid release gels they release medicine fast, for fast pain relief. tylenol®. for fast pain relief. we're going all in thion strawberries.ra, at their reddest, ripest, they make everything better. like our strawberry poppyseed salad and new strawberry summer caprese salad. order online for delivery. panera. food as it should be wiswitch wireless carriersn bring in your own phone, and save hundreds of dollars. it's pretty much the easiest way to save

since sliced bread. sure is. because savings is as savings does. and sometimes you've just got to stop and smell the savings. i'm sorry, i think you mean roses. oh right. you need to stop and smell the roses of savings. bring in your own phone, switch to xfinity mobile and save hundreds of dollars a year. now that's simple, in an eligible phone.$100g click, call, or visit a store today.

guys, guess what? bill is back. >> you just took my line. >> guess what? he's back. >> shocking development. >> breaking news. >> first time in my life, get the breaking news banner. >> thankfully, i don't have breaking news. the hurricane center has lowered the odds of that development. we were saying 70%, we are now

saying 50% of breaking waves. any with interest in puerto rico, you should be watching this. still the computer model takes whatever this is towards the win ward island and eventually puerto rico in about seven days from now. right now, not an eminent risk. this is flossie that will head towards the hawaii islands in the next couple of days. if this happens, we won't see any impact there. good news there. today's forecast, if you want perfection. 84 and sunny in minneapolis. chicago has had a good day too. very hot in texas. not quite to 100 but we'll see

hot again in dallas, san antonio and forth worth. churning up the water in the southeast. the weekend forecast on saturday, flood threatened areas of oklahoma and areas of d.c. and new york. on sunday, the better of the two days in the areas of the mid-atlantic and northeast. >> so basically grab a hot dog and head out to the lake in michigan. >> wouldn't you get some good deep dish? >> i wanted to seriously talk about the weather. if that storm does take a turn and maintain that path so it avoids the hawaii islands. >> that would be nice. last year, they had a lot of flooding. this year, i think they'll get a break. president trump will impose new tariffs on china.

joining us live from london on this. talk to us about this. >> in a word, it has been a negative reaction from the markets. we've seen asian markets close lower and here in europe, quite an aggressive sell-off in the stock markets across the continent. the dollar weaker against pretty much all major currencies except for the pound here in london which has its own brexit related challenges. what is interesting given it's been a volatile week for traders and investors because of the fed's decision on rates is looking a ahead to what this could mean when get more detail about the chinese reaction. we heard from the government in the last couple of hours they didn't want a trade war and they will be prepared to take countermeasures. also looking at what that means for consumers in the u.s., a lot of people are pointing out it will be american businesses and american consumers that will pay higher prices because of the move from the white house. >> it begs the question as to why the president announced this

yesterday, a day after the market struggled with the fed cut knowing it will have an impact on the markets but let me switch gears because there's data coming out. the july jobs report coming out later this morning. a lot of people are watching that. what can we expect? >> well, the consensus forecast that's like a ton of different economists looking at this and saying that they're 165,000 jobs to be added in the u.s. economy. they're looking to see the unemployment rate dip slightly down to 3.6%. a lot of investors are watching another number, that's the average hourly earnings. if that increases if we see an indication of higher wages which is not thus far had a massive effect on inflation, if we see that continue in the months ahead it will put pressure on the fed. a lot of analysts are saying to keep rates where they are and that's something that mr. trump as you well know will not be

that thrilled with. >> all right. willem, thank you. we have a look at the "1 big thing" from axios. and the president returns to the campaign trail for the first time since his supporters' send her back chant. more on the rally in ohio as he focuses his energy on attacking his potential 2020 democratic rivals. must, more on the ramifications of will hurd's surprise announcement of his leaving congress and chris coons joins the conversation. "morning joe," just moments away. conversation "morning joe," just moments away ♪

welcome back. joining us from washington with a look at axios a.m., the cofounder, mike allen. give it to us, mike. >> happy friday. >> there you go. >> happy summer friday. >> that's what we need, mike. >> what's axios' "1 big thing" today? >> the "1 big thing" is the impeachment slow drip. a little newsroom conversation, the impeachment tracker tally,

yesterday he was saying 117 house democrats who are now four impeachment and some -- across from him who has been watching this very closely said, wait, how did it get up to be 117? this is the slow drip. a couple of house democrats a day have been coming out for impeachment. some of them get attention. some of them don't. but last month, that number was at 80. so since the mueller hearings, we have seen a real spike in the number of house democrats who are for impeachment. >> i was a little worried when you started off with a little newsroom conversation. >> very g-rated here. family show. >> listen, what are you hearing in terms of democrats will get the support needed to actually proceed with the impeachment proceedings? is this reaching like 218 and then at that point nancy pelosi will say, okay, fine, we have the number let's go ahead or is there a political calculation beyond just the numbers? >> yes. teeing me up there because you know that speaker pelosi always

is in charge. and she continues to think that proceeding with impeachment among other things would make it harder to hold the house in the fall. but what's interesting is that some of these democrats who are now for impeachment are from swing districts. that's a change. it's another sign that this mood change of the 24 democrats who are on the house judiciary committee. you would need 21 of them to refer an impeachment measure to the floor and that number is up to 16. in august, progressives are really going to push the idea of impeachment at town halls and other appearances by members. and we have talked to her on the show about how democrats have a very specific plan for making the mueller report continue to be news throughout the fall. so we can expect this momentum to continue and that number is going to get very close if not hit it. this is why it's the slow drip.

it's not getting all of the attention that this might deserve. >> let's look back on the democratic debates. i know axios is looking at the one topic that was missing from the conversation over the two nights. what was it? >> yeah. so my colleague who tracks markets for the pro rata newsletter, i think he's by waiting to write this sentence. he says it's not the economy, stupid. surprisingly little conversation. out of 26,000 words, that were spoken by candidates and moderators, 30 of them were economy. 30 of them were jobs. a real contrast to past periods where the economy has dominated. >> do you feel that the democrats need to put a bigger emphasis on the economy or try to keep it focused on health care and immigration? >> well, it's great point because what we have seen including in the clips we have seen on the show today the president is going to continue to talk about the economy as one of his main reasons for

re-election. and so democrats know that health care was their number one issue in the midterms. they're going to continue to talk about and spice and dice the differences between them. but when it comes to the general election, when it comes to the fall, that's going to be trump's big argument and they're going to want to have a frame and have built an argument that there are holes in what trump says. even though a lot of the big numbers are encouraging, for a lot of regular people the numbers are discouraging. >> all right. mike allen, live in washington, d.c. for us. >> happy weekend. >> we'll be reading axios a.m. in a little bit and you can sign up for the newsletter. go to signup.axios.com. >> that does it for this on a friday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. "morning joe" starts right now. i spoke with president putin of russia yesterday and they're having massive fires in their

forests. i have never seen anything like it. it's very big. i offered assistance and if they should need it i offered our assistance. >> we're giving billions and billions of dollars for forest fires in california, there's no reason for those fires to be like they are. they are leaving them dirty and they're -- it's a disgraceful thing. better get your agent -- act together because we're not going to pay the kind of money we're paying. >> so disaster relief for california or puerto rico, not so much. for russia, okay. good morning. it's friday. can you believe it's friday. "morning joe." it's august 2. we have donny deutsch with us. president of the council on foreign relations and author of the book "a world