♪ on the heels of two mass shootings, president trump is set to visit el paso, texas, and dayton, ohio, today, even though members of those communities are skeptical he can bring comfort to those cities. plus, red flag gun control measures. if passed by congress it could be the most significant gun control legislation enacted in two defect cacades. and the fbi opens an investigation into last month's gilroy shooting. the shooter had a list of

political party affiliations. >> good morning, everyone, i'm ayman mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. president trump will try to play the role of consoler in chief today as he visits el paso, and dayton, ohio, in the wake of back-to-back shootings. trump is expected to travel there this morning, and some democratic officials asking him to stay away. the congresswoman who represents el paso continued to speak out last night. >> this community is full of hope and resilience and beauty. but other thing that i heard, chris, totally unsolicited from victims still in the hospital. as they grab my arm and tell me, tell him not to come here. >> we got a call from the white house earlier, inviting us to be part of the motorcade as the president arrived and to greet him. my response back was, i need a phone call today because i would

like to have a conversation with the president about everything i've been saying on national tv. i want to say it to him directly. and i want to see if he would have a dialogue where he accepts responsibility for his words. where he understands the power that they've had, the pain they've created. and says, i'm sorry, and takes them back. those words are still hanging above us. he has the power to take them back. the response we got was that he was too busy for a phone call. so we declined the motorcade. >> so the congresswoman says she refuses to be, quote, accessory to the president's visit saying, quote, i refuse to be part of the dialogue of the pain. >> and beto o'rourke has also urged him not to visit.

the president quote this, beto phony name to indicate hispanic heritage o'rourke who is embarrassed by my last visit to the great state of texas, where i trounced him. o'rourke has said that the president should not visit the city in its time of mourning. o'rourke responded on twitter with this. 22 people in my hometown are dead after an act of terror inspired by your racism. el paso will not be quiet and neither will i. >> the president mentioned his last visit to el paso in that tweet. it turns out his campaign apparently left the city with a huge bill. the trump campaign owes el paso over $500 million for a campaign rally in february. the outstanding $569,000 covered police and safety costs.

the president held rallies that day. the el paso times said o'rourke paid his bill months ago but nothing so far from the trump campaign. >> the mayor of dayton, ohio, nan whaley says she plans to tell them about how unhelpful he is. he has not prepped push for reform, she plans to tell the president. >> you know, he's made his bed. he's got to lie in it, you know? his rhetoric has been painful for many in our community. and i think the people should stand up and say they're not happy, if they're not happy he's coming. >> is enough being done at the federal level to address gun violences? >> absolutely not. what do you see in d.c.? you see a lot of nothing happening. and gun reform, definitely nothing has happened. >> and former vice president joe

biden is asking leaders to call mitch mcconnell's office to demand gun reform. and helped address reporters with shootings and calling out white nationalism and urging mcconnell to put the bill on the senate floor for a vote. the email also asks supporters to continue donating to the el paso victim fund as well as the dayton foundation. >> police were called to protests outside of mitch mcconnell's louisville home monday night. according to the courier journal said in a live video of the protest, that instead of falling and injuring his shoulder over the weekend, mcconnell, quote, should have broken his little raggedy wrinkled expletive neck. after someone made reference to a voodoo, saying just stab him

in the heart. adding this, mcconnell doesn't care about people who actually do break their necks who need insulin, who need any kind of help because they want to stop health care for all. >> a quinnipiac university poll finds that joe biden continues to hold about a third of electorate in a double-digit lead down 32% in this latest poll. elizabeth warren jumping up six points to second place at 21%. that's the most anyone other than biden has registered in that poll throughout the entire year. senator bernie sanders is now at 14%, gaining three points. senator kamala harris dropped three points to 7. mayor buttigieg at 5%. >> as the president heads to texas two polls show a closer than usual race for president next year. an emerson college poll for the

dallas morning news finds both biden and sanders with a slight edge over trump in texas. while trump holds 42-point lead over elizabeth warren. julian castro trails trump by five points and harris is behind by eight. that poll ended on sad. the tyler poll conducted thursday through sunday, the day after the shooting finds trump leading by six points. sanders and biden ahead by four. warren down by two. and the poll allows voters to select other and don't know. and in the past three weeks, two senators announced they will not seek re-election next year. joining us from washington, d.c. congressional reporter for politico, andrew disdario.

let's talk about the polls coming out for the 2020 race. what might they mean for some democrats who are actually gaining some momentum. >> right, at this point, any republican should be winning statewide in it technical but democrats are seening it nor of a battleground state especially after beto o'rourke came close to defeating ted cruz. that was unheard of for a senate race in the state of texas. if you look at the retirements you just mentioned, who are at risk, for example, of losing their districts which are trending more blue, i think that is indicative of a larger trend that republicans will have to worry about in a state as large as texas and a state with as many electoral votes as texas does. it's a big question mark heading into 2020. and it's a good sign for democrats to have at least a few of their candidates in this poll in particular defeating donald

trump. >> hey, we have heard from the mayor-ohio and congresswoman escobar ahead of this trip that the president is making today to both ohio and texas. what kind of pushback do we expect the president to be facing here? >> right. so in this situation, any president would assume the role of sort of the consoler in chief. we saw it a bunch during obama's presidency. we saw it during the george w. bush presidency, especially after 9/11, of course. under donald trump, that whole circumstance has become different because you have his political opponents not rallying behind him and try to unify behind the president. but, rather, you have them accusing the president of actually having contributed to the hate-filled rant pages in both texas and ohio. but in particular texas. that's not something that anybody can remember, the idea that the president who is supposed to be consoling the

nation is actually under fire for having inspired some of this rampage is the word. from the manifesto, is the word invasion. the shooter there said a hispanic invasion in texas. and saying he's contributed to the rhetoric. and you heard beto o'rourke saying in his tweet last night that the president actually inspired this. it's an odd moment for the country. >> andrew, thank you. still ahead, some republican lawmakers are voicing support for red flag laws when it comes to gun control law. we'll tell you how they protect civilians. and remembrances are pouring in for toni morrison. we'll talk about her life and her career. those stories and more when we come back. johnson & johnson is a baby company.

but we're also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. 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. e-commerce deliveries to homes that's why united rentals is combining equipment, data, safety and expertise to help your worksite perform better. united rentals. the first person to survive alzis out there.ase and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. but we won't get there without you. join the fight with the alzheimer's association. join the fight with the alzheimer's association. at comcast, we didn't build the nation's largest gig-speed network just to make businesses run faster. we built it to help them go beyond.

because beyond risk... welcome to the neighborhood, guys. there is reward. ♪ ♪ beyond work and life... who else could he be? there is the moment. beyond technology... there is human ingenuity. ♪ ♪ every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. take your business beyond.

welcome back. republican congressman michael turner of ohio whose congressional district includes dayton has endorsed a ban on military-style weapons. the congressman has an a-rating from the national rifle association and voted against the bill to extend background check earlier this year but congressman turner announced his support of restricting sale of military-style weapons to civilians. this weekend's mass shooting in dayton was personal for the congressman. not only does the city fall under his district but his daughter and a family friend were also across the street from where the shooting began sunday morning. the congressman tweeted this, my daughter and friend fled into the oregon district and contacted me at 2:00 a.m. as they ran home. i followed their progress and prayed for them and our community. >> i wonder how long before the nra starts to go down. >> to decline.

red flags picking up for those facing pressure to act on gun violence. according to "the new york times," lawmakers are coalescing to take those guns, if signed into law, in the senate, background checks bill failed in 2013 after 26 children and staff members were gunned down at sandy hook elementary school until newtown, connecticut. red flag laws may be the only governme government-related measure that could squeeze through. and confident that they will find common ground, senator lindsey graham has proposed legislation that would offer federal grants to states to help them enact and endorse red flag laws also known as extreme risk protection orders. >> joining us legal analyst

danny cevallos. >> hey, danny. >> talk us through the red flag laws and how they compare to the proposed measures out there. >> there are a variety of red flag laws and most of them have recently been enacted, but generally speaking they're not that different from a protection from abuse order or restraining order where a family member or law enforcement makes a determination that an individual may pose a risk. and then they take it to the courts. now, in some cases, the gun ore has notice or hearing, where they can go and confront witnesses against them. but really, the procedural protections vary among the states and that's important because gun ownership is a fundamental right in the united states. so he deprivation of that right requires procedural due process. due process means notice, a right to a hearing, an opportunity to contest it. and then, ultimately, if the state or the government can prove, or meet its burden, then

they can temporarily, or permanently confiscate firearms from that person. >> you brought up an interesting point that i think cuts to the core of this issue that some people have been saying, that's because it is a fundamental right, there are very little powers both the state and federal government can do to curb that right, the sale as there's very little powers that the government has to curb the freedom of speech and other inalienable rights. so how do states and the federal government get around that challenge, it's an inalienable right according to the constitution, but at the same time, fwheer a crisis where something has to be done? >> the supreme court established that a fundamental right like gun ownership is not an absolute. it's not an absolute unfettered right in the united states to own a firearm. so, these laws can be constitutional. the key is that they need to provide a lot of protection. and so, this is one of those

kinds of law that is really good in principle. but in execution, can be really thorny. i'll give you an example. if you make -- if you have a hearing and you think it's an emergency, do you make it what's called ex parte? do you make it that the judge without the gun owner there is going to act quickly, therefore, take away that person's firearms? this is anecdotable in courthouses when it comes to restraining weapons. a lot of them are warranted and sometimes folks make accusations that are not accredit. even police officers may or are at risk of having their firearms taken from them. look, we're also preventing a horrific, but some may be

confused. let's check on weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> good morning, it's going to be one of those days in the late afternoon and evening thunderstorms are going to explode in the i-95 corridor. we'll see numerous airport delays and cancellations. here's how it looks this morning. there's one stray shower or thunderstorm in central new jersey. we have numerous areas of heavy rain in southern ohio and west virginia. and rain in portions of 11 states because it's the i-95 corridor, all the way from virginia, 53 million people at rick. the best chance of seeing it central portions of the northeast. albany new york and the hudson valley. here's the timing of this mess. as we go throughout this morning, here's showers in western new york.

hit and miss in kentucky and west virginia. they pop up rapidly as we go through the afternoon. i pause this at 7:00 p.m. new york city, philadelphia, baltimore. d.c., looks like you may have two rounds. one round around 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. it's hit or miss. some have a chance of producing damaging winds, some hail and an isolated tornado. then, another line of storms heading through pennsylvania. this is 6:00 p.m. thursday. there's a much drier cool air mass behind that to produce a beautiful weekend. heat advisories continue to expand through oklahoma through much of north texas, arkansas, louisiana. it's going to be a very hot afternoon. many locations will feel like 100 to 105. look at oklahoma city with 104. we'll wait and see how the

airport delays are today but if you have the option to make it earlier, i recommend you do so. police officers are seen leading a handcuffed man by rope what the dallas police department is doing in the wake of intense backlash. we're back in a moment. when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too. why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. we're the tenney's and we're usaa members for life. call usaa to start saving on insurance today.

and would shakespeare have life. chosen just "some pens?" methinks a tul pen would serve m'lady well. thanks. and a unicorn notebook! get everything on your list. this week's doorbuster- school backpacks for $10; $10 in store or online from the advisors at office depot officemax. we're pretty different. we're all unique in our own ways. somos muy diferentes. muy diferentes. (vo) verizon knows everyone in your family is different. there are so many of us doing so many different things. (vo) that's why verizon lets everyone mix and match different unlimited plans. sebastian's the gamer. sebastian. this is my office. (vo) and now with more plans, everyone gets what they need without paying for things they don't. new plans start at just $35. the plan is so reasonable, they could stay on for the rest of their lives. aww, did you get that on camera? thanks, dad! (vo) the network more people rely on gives you more. welcome back, everyone. a police department in galveston, texas, changed its policy monday after photos surfaced showing two white

officers on horseback leading a black man until hand cuffs by a rope. 2020 democratic candidate for ed a congress adrian bell tweeted an image of police officers with a man. saying it's hard to understand why these officers felt this young man required a leash. as he was hand kufled and walked between two mount officers. the chief said the practice would be discontinued immediately. the world is remembering nobel prize winner toni morrison. she passed away at montefiore hospital in new york. morrison became the first african-american to win the nobel prize for literature. in 2012, president obama

presented her with the presidential medal of freedom. morrison also worked as an editor at random house books from 1967 to 1983 becoming the first african-american editor in company history. and for more than five decades she was a part time teacher of literature. she was 88 years old. what an incredible contribution to society she gave us. >> of all of the writers i've seen on social media the past couple days have been tweeting how much of an impact she's had on the lives of so many americans who grew up reading her books. you see just the quotes she's left behind. and they're so thought provoking. still ahead what we're learning about the fbi's terrorism investigation into the mass shooting that took place last month in california. plus, the justice department hits back at democrats seeking information about president trump's personal finances. the new details about that court filing, coming up.

ultra soft fabric and new beautiful designs for your best comfort and protection guaranteed. life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. to severe plaque psoriasis get clearer. and tremfya® was proven superior to humira® in providing significantly clearer skin. don't use if you're allergic to tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya®. get clearer. janssen can help you explore cost support options. janssen can help you explore you should be mad at tech that makes things worse.

but you're not, because you have e*trade whose tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. don't get mad, get e*trade. has four levels of defenseremium gasoagainst gunk, wear, corrosion and friction. that helps keep your engine running like new. it's fuel for thought. a lot of folks ask me why their dishwasher doesn't get everything clean. i tell them, it may be your detergent... that's why more dishwasher brands recommend cascade platinum. it's specially-designed with the soaking, scrubbing and rinsing built right in. cascade platinum's unique actionpacs dissolve quickly... ...to remove stuck-on food. . . for sparkling-clean dishes, the first time. choose the detergent that lets your dishwasher do the dishes! cascade platinum. the number one recommended brand in north america.

that's why xfinityr mobile let's you design your own data. now you can share it between lines. mix with unlimited, and switch it up at anytime so you only pay for what you need. it's a different kind of wireless network designed to save you money. click, call or visit a store today. ♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top stories. the the recent deadly mass shootings in el paso and dayton have called into question the department of justice and the department of homeland security's ability to identify and stop domestic terrorism plots. nbc news has learned that the two up in the senate committee wrote a letter on how the doj is

specifically trying to protect americans from domestic terrorism. the dha has made severe cuts over the last two years which has been previously devoted to combatting attacks. they are reassigning a domestic terrorism analysts. and new office of targeted violence and terrorism protection. and cut grants in programs. and it's right now, uh-oh, we have a problem. the governor of ohio mike dewine is asking state lawmakers to stake actions on a series of measures that would help fight gun violence. his list of policy proposals includes a red flag law which allows family members or police to seek the removal of firearms from individuals who they fear can cause harm to themselves or other. divine is urging lawmakers to

provide background checks for gun sales or take action. the governor is calling for improved access to health treatment and asking that it increase its monitoring of social media. and the governor wants to increase penalties for anyone who breaks the law on fire or selling firearms. the government is launching an investigation into the gilroy garlic festival. the probe comes after an official discovered the gunman had a list of other potential charges including religious organizations, courthouses, political buildings and political institutions. police believe after striking him, quote, multiple times. however, the county medical examine concluded he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. they have not ruled out whether

the gunman was a white national the. and the fringe internet board that the shooter used remains offline. now both the owner and founder are speaking out but with very different views for the website that's become a magnet. keir simmons has the story. >> reporter: until a bizarre video set to military music. >> the el paso shooter posts on instagram not on 8cha8chan. >> reporter: defending his website. >> 8chan is an empty piece of paper for writing on. it's disturbing to me that it can be so easily shut down. >> reporter: 8chan was started forming free speech. it's here that the hate-filled rant by the el paso shooter appeared along with words by the new zealand mass massacre.

the founder who quit the site in 2015 and has brittle bone disease, tells nbc news that watkins runs the site with his son from the philippines. >> even after hours and hours later. they kept their tag line on the front page. embrace infamy. they're happy about being infamous. >> if it were to continue the way it was, there would definitely be another shooting linked to 8chan. >> our thanks to keir simmons. it appears the trump justice department is getting more political. urging the accounting firm to turn over several years worth of president trump's filings. the justice department argues that congressional democrats lacked a clear, quote, legislative purpose and are, quote, attempting to interfere

with or harass and adding that the demands would burden the president. in another lawsuit, former fbi agent peter strzok has filed suit against the department of justice and the fbi saying he was wrongly fired. strzok who send text messages saying the doj violated the federal privacy act by the deliberate and unlawful disclosure to the media intends to be kept private. strzok has become a regular ire on twitter. the lawsuit suggests that the president's complaints about political speech are hyper critical adding, quote, the trump administration has

consistently tolerated and even encouraged partisan political speech by federal employees. as long as this speech praises president trump and attacks his political adversaries. strzok is demanding to be reinstated to the fbi with back pay along with other damages. joining us again from politico, andrew desidario. >> the president exerting undue and inappropriate influence on the fbi and doj in terms of having him removed from federal service but the most interesting tidbit of this lawsuit, if you actually read it here is they are connecting this with the kellyanne conway violations. they're saying there's a double standard here in that the white house was defending kellyanne conway when he was found to have violated the hatch act saying

her free speech rights are being trampled on. and they're not going to remove kellyanne conway despite a clear recommendation to do so. but in peter strzok's case, did she said that his anti-trump text messages were grounds for remove. he's accusing the federal government of a double standard. >> let's talk about the other lawsuit which we mentioned which is the effort to get president trump's tax reforms initially in california, and then the department of justice firing back with its lawsuit to prevent that from happening. how dramatic and how significant in terms of how it plays out? could we see this play out over several years that it delays the chances of president trump's tax are l returns? >> the most interesting thing, democrats have been accusing bill barr and doj at large under the trump administration as acting essentially as donald trump's personal attorney,

right? but yesterday, what we actually saw, they were adopting and the legal arguments of the president's personal attorneys. i remember sitting in federal court on the day they heard arguments on the district court level for the subpoena seeking the president's financial records from that accounting firm. and the president's personal attorney was up there saying, look, this is political harassment. there's no legislative purpose for the congress getting these tax records. and now you have doj essentially putting that exact argument on paper and seeking to intervene in this lawsuit at the circuit level. >> it seems to be the common line of defense. political harassment here. i want to talk quickly about the dhs, are these changes having seen as put the safety of americans at rick? risk? >> yes, those departments have

been gutted over the last few years. but when you look at what is gaining traction in congress, it's the laws not only at the federal level but state and local level to administer programs to confiscate firearms from people who pose an imminent danger to either themselves or to the community at large. that sort of legislation is obviously welcome to folks who want to prevent the massacres from occurring again. they're going to be disappointing for gun control advocates who would be pushing for even stricter measures to ban assault weapons and significantly expand background checks. >> live in d.c., andrew, thanks. >> thank you. still ahead, joe biden hits back against donald trump on one of his hallmark digs. plus, could john hickenlooper be eyeing an exit from the presidential race?

where he might be shifting his focus today. and bill karins is back with your morning forecast. your "first look" at "morning joe" is back in a moment. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. (burke) at farmers insurance, we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. 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 ♪

he calls you sleepy joe, what do you say to that? >> let me tell you, sleepy joe's going to wake him up real quickly because i'll tell what you, none of this changes as long as he's pretsdz. >> that was 2020 presidential candidate joe biden firing back at president trump over one of his signature takedowns, if you will, of the former vice president calling him sleepy joe. >> michael bennet offered a bit of reprieve yesterday in a tweet he tweeted, if you elect me president, i promise you won't have to think about me for two weeks at a time. i'll do my job watching out for north korea and ending this trade war so you can go raise your kids and live your lives. >> i will say just an idea of

having a president nobody has to think about for two weeks might be very appealing. >> yes. and fellow presidential candidate john hickenlooper says he may be considering a run at senate in 2020 if his standing in the election doesn't improve. the gazette said he would be a fool if he doesn't consider a change. and saying i've never added anything still at 1 oors. and widely recognized as a strong candidate to take on colorado's cory gardner, as democrats try to flip that senate seat. >> i'm willing to bet he's not the only presidential candidate who might possibly be eyeing an senate bid. >> if they don't get enough traction in the polls. >> they say publicity never hurt, huh? >> what are you suggesting

there. >> you said it. >> i was concurring. let's get back to what i do know. the forecast for this afternoon is going to cause some definitely travel delays, airport delays. maybe a few cancellations and shutdowns at the airport as the storms roll through the timing is going to be middle to late afternoon, d.c., baltimore. during the even rush hour, and 53 million people, a chance of storms from richmond to raleigh to charlotte also. more to the south, it's a wind damage threat. there's an isolated threat of a tornado or two in the interior sections of the northeast. just enough spin in the atmosphere that could be the issue. boston, i don't think you're too bad getting out of logan. definitely from albany, hartford, to new york airport, philly to d.c. those will be affected. anyone driving oni-95, dealing with those storms.

and 6:00, 7:00 p.m., the storms are on the door step in new york city. right through the heart of maryland and eastern pennsylvania, about 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. we just added a few million people, including people in corpus christi, 23 many people a are going to see a hot afternoon. 95 to 100 with the feels like temperature getting up to 105. dallas, expect a high temperature of 101 degrees. so that's a hot one by anyone's standards. phoenix today, 112. phoenix, by the way, two days ago was 115 with their record high. this is august. you expect storms and you expect heat. and we've got it all. >> thank you, bill. still ahead, disney unveiled the price tag customers will pay for entry into the streaming wars. plus, global markets

continued on edge as china sets the currency. details and more coming up in your business day, next. repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, helps you back from strokes, and keeps you healthy your whole life. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. from the day you're born the first person to survive alzis out there.ase and the alzheimer's association is going to make it happen by funding scientific breakthroughs, advancing public policy, and providing local support to those living with the disease and their caregivers. but we won't get there without you. join the fight with the alzheimer's association.

welcome back. amid the ongoing trade war with china, president trump is reportedly relying on his own intuition and analysis to navigate the international dispute. according to "the washington post" citing people briefed on this matter, trump is foregoing the advice of his aides.

the post says while the president's senior advisers still suggest the administration may scale back some of its economic penalties against china if leaders there offer tangible concessions, trump is convinced that the chinese economy is offering more from it, and beijing may eventually back down. the paper adds the president has felt validated with the hard fought dispute with mexico over border security seemed to get at least some results even if they scared investors in the short term. china's central bank, let's withdra withdraws to london to bring in willem marx. what is the reaction to this, willem, in terms of, the reaction to china stabilizing its currency after letting it flow for a couple of days? and who's actually winning this

trade war? we get caught up talks about winners or losers. that's how the president sees it, he constantly says china is losing but there's got to be more to it than saying it, right? seems to think that both sides end up losing in a trade war. this is a comment we hear again and again and again from government leaders across europe and indeed investors whenever we have them on our show here in london. in terms of currency, it's quite interesting, the central bank of china often sets a target rate for the currency. they have done that overnight. it was just slightly below 7 to the dollar. they haven't allowed it to weaken above that level in the past, and when it did over the week, we saw this huge realasct. in response to that, the central bank in china has said that is protectionist and unilateralist behavior. they are not thrilled at that designation. another story we have been

watching, transatlantic as well, involves walgreens, the massive pharmacy company deciding to close 200 of its stores. they've got 10,000 nationwide so this is a very small fraction. they have done something similar in the uk. they have announced 200 closures there. no details about whether they are going to be in the u.s. though. >> and we're going to probably see job losses from that as well, which is not necessarily a good thing. let's talk disney, shares, the company announcing pricing for the streaming bundle service. tell us more about this. >> this is a company that's trying to retool its entire business model. you remember it bought up quite a lot of fox assets earlier this year. that's been difficult for them to integrate. the coo saying yesterday after the earnings were released and we saw after the market closed traders sold off on disney

because they failed to match expectations for both the earnings and profits. what's interesting is looking at how the company wants to shift from big brand movies, franchises, potentially into this longer form of subscription model, setting it around 6.99 a month. 70 bucks a year. really spending a lot of money on hulu, espn plus, and disney plus. >> and they also own the star wars franchise as well, which they paid a big penny to own a couple of years ago. >> this is the challenge. you know, they have had avengers end game making a ton of money last month, and some of the stuff they brought over from fox, that was one of the big losers for them. >> willem marx, live in london for us. >> dark phoenix, my friend. coming up, a look at this morning's one big thing. president trump is set to

face resistant as he visits two cities hit my mass shootings. despite some officials telling him stay way. juaquin castro of texas will weigh in on the president's visit to his home state, and amy klobuchar and her fellow democratic senator chris murphy will discuss the chances these tragedies will result in reform to gun laws. "morning joe" just moments away. . "morning joe" just moments away. 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.

[ referee whistle sounds ] life. ♪ sport dr[ cheering ]s when you need the fuel to be your nephew's number one fan. holiday inn express. we're there. so you can be too. 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.

content on their endless quest, to nowhere.s, run hopelessly in their cage. but perhaps this year, a more exhilarating endeavor awaits. defy the laws of human nature,at the summer of audi sales event. get exceptional offers now.

welcome back, joining us from washington with a look at axios a.m., the cofounder of axios mike allen. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> talk about axios one big thing. >> unanimity on one question, axios has been taking your viewers to a series of focus groups in swing states, in minnesota on monday. so this focus group of a dozen swing voters, so those are people who switched from romney to hillary clinton or switched from president obama to donald

trump, they were asked should there be a federal ban on assault weapons. 12 people, unanimity, every single person raised their hand. why does this matter? this is the 6th of these focus groups that we have done. there has not been a single other question that everyone agreed on. >> pretty stark, pretty incredible to think about it like that. what were some of the other big take aways from the focus group. that was the only question everyone agreed upon. what are the questions no one agreed upon. >> it's not like a poll. it's not statistically significant. it's a great way to eavesdrop on america. a big mistake in 2016 was not paying enough attention to what people said. another fascinating part of this conversation, these voters were pushed a little bit, these 12 swing voters were asked what about the counter argument, what if there's a federal ban on assault weapons, does that mean the government comes for other guns, not a single one of these

voters changed their position. one voter, though, we quote says that's bs. another 34-year-old said something that i think a lot of people will agree with, they said someone who wants an assault weapon probably shouldn't have it. >> it's actually, i have sat in on some of these focus groups in the past. it's so fascinating to see the way people think, especially when it's someone you don't speak to on a daily basis who has completely different experiences and opinions than others do. axios is looking at the impact these mass shootings have on the 2020 race. what are you finding? >> we have a series of attention trackers, weekly studies of how the campaign is playing on social media. what's really exploding online. this week for the first time, gun control and shootings passed immigration as the number one topic online. now, what's interesting about this, and it was the first three days of coverage.

it was the early days. what's interesting about this is for the first time, most of these stories were factual. these were mostly accounts of what had happened, the people engaged with. of course most of the content that moves around on social is partisan, and what were the top two topics here, this is really interesting, stories of heroism did very well and then the other topic, the number one topic related to the shootings were video games, the bunking what president trump and other republicans had said about video games being a factor in these massacres, of course evidence shows that other countries with plenty of video game use have fewer mass shootings and fewer guns. >> it seems like it keeps coming down to the topic of guns. mike allen, axios a.m. in a little bit. make sure to sign up for that news letter. axios.com. >> that does it for us on this wednesday morning, i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin, "morning joe" starts

right now. all right. this is the scene last night in new york city's times square, where hundreds of people fled in panic after the sound of a motorcycle backfiring sparked fears that an active shooter was on the scene. now, take a look at times square live this morning. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe," all quiet now. it is wednesday, august 7th, along with joe, willie, and me, we have host of msnbc's politics nation, the president of the national action network, reverend alex sharpton. washington anger for bbc world news america caddy k. white house