tuesday night. thank you so much for being here with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. ♪ more fallout after the death of jeffrey epstein. today, federal investigators are expected to visit the jail before he died. it come as midnew questions about whether the guard assigned to watch epstein were sleeping on duty. plus, fallout at the airports after days of demonstrations in hong kong. pro-democracy protesters clash with police. and president trump imposing new tariffs on china. what it means for the impending trade war and how markets are responding. good morning, everybody. it is wednesday, august 14th. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin.

we begin with the new information surrounding the jailhouse suicide of sex offender jeffrey epstein. a justice department official tells nbc news that a team from the bureau of prisons will be at the metropolitan correctional center today. to examine what went wrong there. we're told that it is protocol, whether there is a significant event at a detention facility. meanwhile, the administration official telling nbc news that the fbi and doj inspector general which are also investigating the circumstances around epstein's death are being stymied by some federal employees who are, quote, lawyering up. this comes after yesterday's news that the warden at the federal lock jot has been reassigned. and two guards tasked at monitoring epstein have been placed on leave. >> we're also learning about one of the workers supposed to be guarding epstein at the time. yesterday, we learned the employee was not a full-fledged officer. and now a person tells nbc news that the employee had been a

corrections guard for seven years. he then accepted a better josh with better hours but routinely took on overtime for overtime pay. they would not say if one of the two men were the ones placed on leave. and then saying the man guarding epstein in the jail actually fell asleep and then covered up. tells nbc news that investigators are although looking at whether either or both of the employees were responsible for checking on epstein steen were sleeping. >> buzzfeed were first to report that epstein's death appeared on the anonymous 4 chan before the report. a spokesperson saying that the fbi has completed its review of the 4chan posting and has reported that the leak did not

come from them. it says this, don't ask me how i know, but epstein died an hour ago from hanging, cardiac arrest. screencap this. about four hours later, abc tweeted out. and buzzfeed saying 4chan also added on the message board about the procedures allegedly used to resuscitate epstein. and that's information that only the hospital staff would have access to. joining us, danny cevallos. danny, good to have you with us. what does it mean for the epstein investigation, in terms of what we've learned so far, prison guard asleep, falsifying -- checking on documents from him. where it goes from here? >> it could mean that could indicate a leak. but on the other hand, as a defense attorney, i know a lot of prisoners and detainees have access to cell phones that get

smuggled in. they may have access to being able to message somebody outside of the walls. that isn't necessarily a leak. you have an entire unit, housing facility, full of people who are not officials. >> in a facility like this that helped prisoners like el chapo and others you that don't definitely want communicating with the outside world? >> it's much more difficult in a federal facility, but these folks find ways. >> it would be difficult to root out the leak if it was somebody inside the prison that posted that information, it could be difficult? >> that's the design of 4chan. it's very difficult to check. or investigate backwards to investigate where that post came from. >> let's talk about the fact that some of these federal workers now who investigators want to talk to, they're actually lawyering up now. can these federal employees be compelled to speak, if need be? >> generally speaking, yes, they

can, there are some protections for, say, police officers who are asked for cooperate in an investigation. this is a little different. these folks will be -- if they're part of a union, a collective bargaining unit, they'll be allowed to have union representation. they can hire lawyers. they can assert the fifth amendment. so, they will. and this is going to be something that as we've seen -- the thing that i think people need to be prepared for is that all of these lawsuits that will continue after epstein's death. perhaps the biggest one may eventually be epstein's family case against the jail for allowing his suicide. as you can see, attorney general barr and all of these statements that are coming out are essentially making the case against the jail for epstein's survives. >> to touch on something very quickly, william barr a couple days ago came out speaking to police, he came out saying this is a failure by the corrections facility which he oversees. >> yeah. >> so is there any kind of

culpability that would go all the way up to the attorney general, especially since he admitted so early before the investigation is over? >> not personal liability. but what's astonishing, is that these cases against jails against inmates who commit suicide are very difficult to show. they have to show deliberate indifference to an inmate's health. it's very difficult to prove that. but in this case, you have the person at the very top essentially making the case for them by saying such things as i'm appalled. there are serious irregularities. i mean, this is exhibit "a" in any case against the correction facility. >> as you mentioned it could be something that epstein's family brings against the mcc and others. >> that's right. >> thanks, danny. protesters and riot police are bracing for what comes next as the impact of demonstrations in hong kong continue to ripple. two straight days of chaos have crippled hong kong's

international airport. video from inside the terminal shows officers armed with batons and pepper spray tried to clear out the crowds. officers running after demonstrators, wrestling some of them to the ground. following the confrontation, president trump tweeted out that many blame him and the u.s. for the quote, problems going on in hong kong and that he was informed that they're moving troops to the border in hong kong. demonstrators have been there for the past several days but yesterday was the first time that police moved in on the protesters to try and clear the terminal. so, stocks around the world are getting a boost this morning as trump announced he's holding off on tariffs on chinese goods. saying the products cell phones, labtop, video game consoles, clothing products and certain toys were being removed from the tariff list. those items were set to be hit with a 10% tariff on september

1st. in addition the administration said that tariffs and other consumer good items will be delay until december. before the announcement, president trump tweeted this, as usual, china said they were going to be buying big from our great american farmers. so far they have not done what they said, maybe this will be different. a short time later in pennsylvania, trump announced that he was optimistic he would get a trade deal with china. take a listen. >> i've always been optimistic. my only question is whether or not they were willing to wait and take the chance on winning the election and deal with somebody who is weak or ineffective who doesn't know what he is doing or she is doing. this should have been done a long time ago. >> latest twist of the ongoing

u.s./china trade war helps u.s. stocks surge with the dow and s&p 500 climbing nearly 1.5%. while the tech-heavy nasdaq gained more than 2%. joining us now to talk about this from washington our white house reporter from axios alina trina. thank you for joining us. talk about the latest move from the trump administration, specifically, the president. what sis this signaling? >> it shows that the trade has fallen apart in the last few months. this is the administration trying to keep a deal on the table. there's really no secret that the president and those negotiating on behalf of the administration think that the chances that did the deal will be done before the 2020 aren't going to happen anymore. i think this is really them saying let's keep this on the table. that's why we've seen the

president time and time again, on twitter in a gaggle of reporters he keeps trying to punt this issue to the candidates saying they can't wait to have a democratic candidate in office for these deals. thing is a last effort to keep some sort of semblance on the table. >> i want to get your perspective on this, iowa farmers saying some of them willing to give the president some time. they're patient with him. they're not necessarily disappointed yet with his policies. i'm curious to get your thoughts. does the white house see trade as a serious political hurdle for trump's election heading into 2020. are they on the clock before the patience of some of those iowa farmers, for example, begins to wear out. >> i think the patience for the farmers is definitely wearing thin. i look at it this way, i think this administration doesn't look at china as a trade issue in 2020. if anything, china is one of their priorities from a policy standpoint. and it's really an issue that

republicans and democrats alike can agree on it as far as a stance on china. i think the issue here is the economy. with the tariff delays, it's really the administration tacitly acknowledging that it's hitting american consumers hard. the chief concern with the officials i've spoken will is the economy and what will happen here. we've seen wall street signaling some skepticism. and the stock market has obviously been volatile to these different decisions. that's the big concern here ahead of 2020. >> alayna, thank you. still heed, u.s. chief ken cuccinelli continues to rewrite the famous poem on the statue of liberty. plus, there's new speculation that former governor john hickenlooper might drop out of the presidential race to run for something else. we'll tell you about that and a check on the weather when we come right back.

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welcome back, everyone. the trump administration is defending a new rule aimed at making it harder for low-income legal immigrants to stay in the united states. the rule states if immigrants use public benefits subpoena as food stamps or medicaid, they could see their green card applications delayed or even revoked altogether. speaking on npr, acting citizenship and director services ken cuccinelli, defending the new rule by twisting emma laz russ' words edge on the statue of liberty. >> would you also agree that emma lazarus words etched on the statute tu of lint give me your tired your poor. >> absolutely, give me your tired and your poor who can

stand on their own two feet and who will not become a public charge. >> it reads give me your poor, your poor, your huddle masses yearning to breathe free. send these my tempest lamp to me i left my lamp beside the door. when asked did it alter the american dream, cuccinelli said it did not that everyone has a right to be an american. saying all immigrants who can stand on their own two feet are welcome. he defended his comments saying, quote, we expect people to care for themselves. and said the poem was referring to people who came back from europe where they had class-based societies where people were considered wretched if they weren't in the right class. speaking to reporters yesterday, trump seemed to approve of cuccinelli's revised version. >> well, i don't think it's fair to have the american taxpayer, you know, it's about america

first, i don't think it's fair to have the american taxpayer pay for people to come into the united states. so, what we've done is introduced what took place many, many years ago with instituting it. and i think it's long overdue. i'm tired of seeing our taxpayers paying for people to come into the country and immediately go on to welfare and various other things. so, i think we're doing it right. >> meanwhile, acting immigration and customs enforcement director matthew albins defended the raids across mississippi last week which left many children without their parents, saying those that are breaking the law are ultimately the ones responsible for placing their children in this situation. and reviewing the national rifle association's management of money, the gun lobby agreed to be the 99% owner of a company formed to buy a $6 million

mansion for ceo wayne lapierre, according to a doubt reviewed by "the wall street journal." the nra and its former ad agency ackerman mcqueen comprised a plan to buy the property last year when lapierre had concerns about his safety after the shooting in parkland, florida. lapierre and his wife toured the 10,000 square feet house in a gated area. agreeing to $6.5 million to the company formed to buy the property. a $70,000 check from the nra was initially deposited last may but was later returned, according to the journal. the home buying deal ultimately did not happen, but it is the latest unearthed example of the ongoing feud over money practices. >> let's get a check of weather with bill karins. >> yesterday's storms didn't turn out to be too bad. had really big storms in colorado.

and minor wind damage yesterday. that has cooled off some areas but we're waiting to break the heat in the southeast. and now heat in california and areas of phoenix. 50 million people under some sort of heat advisories or heat warnings. the problem is at nighttime, it doesn't cool off that much. right now, in houston, feels like 92 degrees. same four in tampa. new orleans isn't much better at 88. dallas is getting relief. we actually have rain for you this morning and it hasn't rained in a while. that's definitely welcome. new orleans, feels like 107 today. atlanta, 101, charlotte, 103. jacksonville, florida, you've been very hot. today, you're going to feel like 111. in santonio, the actual temperature will be 102. and little rock it will jump up to mid-90s on friday. atlanta's going to creep up to the mid-90s, too. we're in the dog days of summer in august. so the forecast, there is going

to be a slight chance of a scattered shower or storm from d.c. to philly to new york including baltimore to the mid-atlantic but it's going to be quick and in and out. st. louis, better, 87. and we'll come back and talk about travel implications and i'll have a piece of weather video that you've never seen before. >> wow, that's a pretty bold statement. >> it is a bold statement. >> so it must have been a one-time occurrence? >> i'm not going to give it away. montana governor steve bullock accuses another 2020 white house hopeful of buying his way on stage. that's and more coming up, next. mix and match different unlimited plans. sebastian's the gamer. ths my office. and more com, everyone gets what they need without paying for things they don't. new plans start at just $35.

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this could be your chance to leave your psoriasis symptoms behind. ask your doctor for ilumya today, for a clearer tomorrow. welcome back. there's speculation that former governor john hickenlooper might go end his bid for the white house. according to the "the new york times," the candidate for president is considering his impending decision with fellow 2020 democrat senator michael bennet of colorado while in iowa on friday. while hickenlooper sits at the bottom of public polling of the presidential race and is not likely to qualify for the next round ever debates in september, polling shows him with a huge lead over two other democrats in colorado's 2020 senate race. and steve bullock is the

latest for selection of who is on stage for next month's debate while also taking a shot at billionaire stop steyer. saying tom steyer spent $10 million to buy his way on to stage, no matter what the dnc says, money doesn't vote, people do. the dnc is requiring candidates to have at least 1,000 donors. new bullic appears unlikely to meet that threshold. while steyer had announced on "morning joe" yesterday he had reached the donor requirement is likely to qualify. bullock remarked the dnc donor requirement may have been added with the right intentions, but there's no doubt that it's created a situation in which billionaires can buy their way on to stage and campaigns are forced to spend millions on digital ads chasing one dollar

donors. >> and south bend indiana mayer pete buttigieg has proposed a plan that provides students with money forgiveness. on the stage yesterday, he offered this nifty advice for incoming college students. >> one thing you got to know that dish soap and hand soap are pretty much the same thing. in your dorm room, this is very useful. it took me a while to find out. >> hand soap -- >> hand sanitizer? >> okay. still ahead, the very latest at the violent clashes that broke out at hong kong airport. one house committee is planning to come back from recess early and senate minority leader chuck schumer has a competition for the president. we'll be right back. ack. and depression relieving company.

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♪ welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. it is the bottom of the hour. we'll start with the morning's top stories. operations at hong kong's international airport appear to be returning to normal today, after two days of anti-government protests for operations there a halt. the standoff took a violent turn yesterday as police officers armed with batons and pepper spray clashed with demonstrators as they tried to clear out the crowd. i want to go to hong kong and nbc news correspondent janis mackey frier standing by for us.

good morning. what is the scene like there today following the uptick in yesterday's violence? >> reporter: well, the airport authority got a court injunction to prevent the terminal being overrun again by protesters. thousands of them have congregated here over the past couple of days, forcing hundreds of flights to be cancelled. ca cathay pacific said hundreds of thousands were affected. that saying, while restricting access to the airport, they are allowing some protesters to stay in the area that's just behind me. they have warned, however, if they go beyond those parameters they'll be seen as actually acting unlawfully. and there are more police in the area of the airport today. still, this calm is a sharp contrast to what we saw here last night. it really was ray yacchaotic. the riot police and at one point an officer was down being beaten

with list own baton. there was a tense moment. but the officer was able to get away. inside the terminal, the mood was shifting also. protesters suspicious that there were chinese spies among them. there is concern, trepidation of what the next move might be by authorities and china's government. it's signaled that its patience is wearing thin and that the protests should come to a, quote, timely end. >> janice, thank you. >> we're starting to see the political candidates weigh in. you get a sense it's heading to a boil. and now to the epstein fallout, president trump is continuing tying the clintons to the sex offender's death. >> now, he's a very highly respected bundet. pundit, he's a big trump fan.

that was from him. has a lot of followers. still i think the clintons are involved. i have no idea, i know he was on his plane 27 times. and he said he was on the plane four times. but when they checked the plane log, a very good friend of epstein was on the plane 27 times. why did he say four times. then you have to ask, did bill clinton go to the island? epstein had an island that was not a good place, i understand it. i was never there. you have to ask, did bill clinton go to the island? that's the question. if you find that out, you're going to know a lot. >> meanwhile, senator ben sasse is calling on the justice department to rip up the deal that it instruct in 2008. in a letter to attorney general

bill barr sasse writes the notion that one ville aesd plea could shield a whole class of potential co-conspirators of uncertain size and tenty from legal liability would if treated as enforceable pioneer a new model. >> on the heels of dayton, ohio, senate minority leader chuck schumer is planning to ask the president to redirect $5 billion to gun initiatives. it's unlikely president trump will divert funds from his long-promised border wall but schumer's view is designed to this, the dual scourges of gun violence and violent white supremacist extremism in this country are a national security threat plain and simple. and it's time the trump administration and republicans in congress started treating them as such.

schumer's plan suggests boosting the funding for homeland security officials to counter violent extremism, fbi domestic terrorism investigations and gun violence conducted by the cdc. the house judiciary committee is expected to return from recess early to propose new proposals against gun violence. they're calling on senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to take up house legislation on the issue of background checks. >> it takes no courage to put on the senate floor a bill that is supported by 80 plus percent of americans. what takes courage is to look a special interest group in the eye and say enough is enough. it is time to act. >> all right. so, two people familiar with democrats' plans tell "the washington post" that the house judiciary committee will

consider a proposal to restrict high-capacity magazines, instituteds red flag laws and potentially legislation on hate crimes. >> all right. joining us again from washington, white house reporter for axios alayna treene. how could this play to 2020 hopefuls and democrats in general, come 2020, as they look to get ahead on these gun reforms? >> well, so, in the wake of the el paso and dayton shootings last week is an issue on top of voters' minds. it's an issue where liberal democrats and more centrists actually agree on unlike medicare for all where there's been a lot of criticism. so we haven't seen any candidate argue that any of these gun policies that people have put forward are too aggressive. so, i think that now it's really just going to be a contest over who can get it done and who can really convince voters that

they're the candidate that can bring justice to these victims. it's also an issue that republicans are struggling with. reporting yesterday that the white house has enlisted ivanka trump to call members and see their openness on certain gun issues. i think it's an issue that they know they can play on voters' emotions and take advantage of this moment. >> it also seems like an internal democratic issue as well because you have somebody like steny hoyer trying to move forward on legislation and talking about assault weapons ban. but you also have nancy pelosi saying let's figure out what can actually get passed, versus going out with an assault weapons ban in something that's not going to pass the republican senate. >> alayna, i want to talk about the epstein case and the letter that senator ben sasse has written. what kind of pressure does that put on attorney general bill barr and others to rip up that

sweetheart deal that poses a bit of a challenge for the justice department because you have this in the southern district of florida saying no co-conspirators would have been prosecuted. but now you have the manhattan district saying that we're not abiding by that? >> well, like everything in the epstein case, it's a mess. and i think if anything is clear, there's a ton of pressure on the attorney general to fix this. you know, there's been across the board with epstein, the latest being right up to his death and the prison failures there. i think there's a ton of pressure that a lot of people are worried with his suicide that justice for these victims won't end. and there won't be as much incentive to bring his co-responsibco co-conspirators to justice. i think senator ben sasse, a republican is definitely bringing a ton of pressure on the justice department in addition to other committees. we've seen the house judiciary committee trying to investigate the justice department's actions here. so, i think they're under

intense pressure to find some sort of fix for the victims. >> alayna treene, live for us in washington. thank you. >> thank you, both. in a speech in pennsylvania yesterday, president trump said he was very confident in his re-election next november. watch this. >> one more year. >> thank you, i appreciate it. i think we're looking very good. i think we're looking good all over, in ohio, in north carolina and south carolina. florida, we just got numbers in florida. we're looking fantastically good. you know, sometimes -- and they do -- they do, they say donald trump, can you imagine if i got a fair press. i mean, we're leading without it. you can imagine if these people treated me fairly. the election would be over. have they ever called off an election before. look, come on, four more years. and you really want to really drive them crazy? go for #thirdterm, #, fourthterm, you'll drive them totally crazy.

>> wow. >> third term and fourth term. very ambitious. still ahead, a group of states look to take on the trump administration over its dismantling of the climate regulation, details on the legal challenge they're mounting. plus, a look at the forecast. your "first alert" at "morning joe" is back in a moment. contro, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. there was no hesitation, i went straight to ctca. after my mastectomy, it was maddening because i felt part of my identity was being taken away. when you're able to restore what cancer's taken away, you see that transformation firsthand knowing that she had options that she could choose, helped restore hope. my team made me feel like a whole person again. cancer treatment centers of america.

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regulate carbon dioxide pollution at power plants. >> while speaking to a group of power workers yesterday, president trump attacked the green new deal as well as some of his 2020 challengers, watch this. >> democrats in congress are pushing for the green new deal. how about that one. where it puts everybody in this room out of work. but i don't want to speak badly about it. you know, you've heard me say this. i want to encourage them, that should be their platform. i don't want to do it too early. i did it very early with pocahontas, i should have probably waited. she's staging a comeback on sleepy joe. i don't know who's going to win, but we'll have to hit pocahontas very hard again if she does win. and other radical plans to wipe out our coal. that's what they want. they want to wipe out our oil. they want to wipe out our natural gas industry as well,

allowing other countries to steal our jobs. >> all right. so trump also falsely took credit for the bidding of a shell oil manufacturing plant in front of employees still on the clock. at the event, the company announced plans to build the new complex in 2012, halfway through the obama administration. >> all right. >> we're ready for the video. we couldn't even do the story, we're so excited. >> after the forecast. >> oh, come on. >> pushing my luck. we've got rain-cooled area in the dallas area, that's welcomed, too. we appreciate that. as we go throughout the day, anyone playing from the southern airports, hit and miss delays from charlotte, savannah, charleston, jacksonville and new orleans. as far as the roads go, i-10 is going to have on and off heavy rain. we'll get the typical rain in areas of florida. beautiful weather in areas hot. i know 87 is still pretty warm. it won't be as humid in

st. louis. ohio valley looks okay. much of the great lakes looks okay. hit and miss showers and storms in areas of d.c., most of the day will be dry. i've already decided that ayman is not going to like this video. this is just for yasmin. >> oh! >> i saw this in australia. >> yes, this is a -- this is southeast australia. >> wow. >> you show like all different animals playing in the snow. this is the first time i've ever seen the kangaroos. >> why are you saying this is the first time we've ever seen a video like this? because it doesn't snow -- >> have you ever seen kangaroos hopping in the snow before? >> i have not. >> thank you, case closed. >> they seem to be synchronized. >> it's pretty impressive. do you know if that area of australia even gets snow? >> they do not. very rare. >> it's too cold, they can't stand on the snow. they clear that fence pretty easily, i have to admit.

>> ayman actually likes this more than i thought he would. >> i think it's fair to say neither one of us have seen a video like this. >> it's safe. thanks. the trump administration orders an unexpected halt in billions in tariffs on chinese goods. >> we're going live overseas to see how global markets are reacting to the ongoing trade war. we'll be right back. joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you.

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welcome back. president trump yesterday unexpectedly put off tariffs on

many chinese goods until after the start of the christmas shopping season because of the potential impact it could have on u.s. customers. cnbc's willem marx is joining us live from london. willem, good to talk to you about this. talk to us about market reaction today. >> yesterday, when we had this announcement, we saw the major u.s. stock markets all take a bit of a bounce. they've had a couple days of losses. i'm sure that was welcomed by the investors there. in asia today, we've seen all of the major markets close higher, including those in mainland china. even the market in hong kong, where, of course, we've seen the violent clashes between anti-democracy protesters and police over the last few weeks. they've had the airport closed there the last couple of days as well. here in europe, though, this trade war becoming more visible in the economic data. the germans reports they saw a very small contractual shrinkage of their economy this morning. that is something that investors

are getting more concerned about here in europe. apple strong on the investors side. we saw the shares close 4% higher. that is because amongst the products not coming out of china will not face tariffs. one reason we saw it in the tech sector generally and the u.s. pretty happy in buying into some of those companies. >> let me get your thoughts on another story that was vesting that of cbs corporation and viacom announcing they're once again reuniting. they're part of the same company. g. they're part of the same company. a lot of the competitor in this media landscape, the parent

company, these are huge, huge firms spending a huge amount of money on content. shari redstone, she's wanted to bring these two companies back together for quite some time. she now looks like she will succeed in doing that. she seems to think that scale is strength. if you them. and joining these two companies together will bring her a lot more scale. they will have paramount studios, and they will with refocussing, redoubling their efforts on streaming. that will be a big part of the multimedia platform. >> so hard to imagine that it was 13 years ago that netflix was sending us dvds in the mail. >> willem still has a dvd player. that's his mode of preference, right. >> true story. axios has a look at this morning's one big thing.

>> and the ongoing protests in hong kong boil over as demonstrators and police come to violent clashes. the latest on the situation there after president trump faces criticism on his tepid response. and michael bennet joins the table to weigh in on that, and max rose joins the conversation. "morning joe," everyone, just moments away. versation. "morning joe," everyone, just moments away e also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. o♪ ozempic®! ♪ oh! oh! from the day you're born (announcer) people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of once-weekly ozempic®. in a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. oh! under 7? (announcer) and you may lose weight. in the same one-year study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. oh! up to 12 pounds?

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welcome back, joining us from washington, a look at axios am, political reporter for axios, talk us to about one pbi thing today. >> there's a lot of discussion about whether to focus on their base or whether to focus on previously democratic voters who switched to donald trump in 2016. one group we don't hear a lot about is black millennial voters and in my conversations with various campaigns it seems there's not a concerted strategy to specifically target black millennial voters ahead of the

2020 election. there are folks like kamala harris have done events on hbc campuses, julian castro have worked with political groups founded for and by black groups. there are strategies that are developing. black millennials matter because democrats recognize they are the future and face of the party but they have remained this untapped political well of power that hasn't been captured by any one party. >> how does the democratic front runner joe biden fare with this group, given the fact that he has gotten a little bit of a bounce or sustained his lead because he retains quite the popularity among black voters overall. >> joe biden's support among black folks is a good example of black millennials and older black voters. he has 51% among black voters. there was a focus group conducted that showed that nearly twice as many black

millennials would depart from joe biden and back away from him and support someone else as the general election nominee against donald trump when given the choice compared to older black folks. that shows they are totally different than older black voters id logically. >> and president trump's swing voters in one state in particular in 2020, what did you find. >> i talked to edina voters that switched from obama to trump. it's clear that he's vulnerable with these voters because he has a lack of a plan on health care and on social security, and that vulnerability is especially important when you consider these economic concerns about a looming recession under president trump because of his tried deals and tariffs that he's implementing around the world. these folks really talked about the fact that he knocked obamacare for two years and lamented that he didn't think about a replacement for this, and they haven't seen anything

they said from him on how he will handle social security and beef up the benefits they might get once they retire. >> and let me ask you about this other story, a new reporting that you have over at axios about a 2020 hopeful being pressured to drop out of the race. who is it and why? >> okay. drum roll, please. thank you. it's john hickenlooper. that was very good. it's john hickenlooper. there's a democratic group doing this campaign, encouraging him to run for senate in colorado instead of president. they argue they could raise as much as $500,000 for him, and get the grass roots support he has been lacking. and they have talked with various democrats in colorado yearning for him to run for senate, and there are polling out that show among the ten democrats running for senate in colorado so far, hickenlooper would by far be the coloradoans choice, and he would win in a

la landslide. >> i have seen democratic activists online, saying it's just as important to try to flip the senate as it is to win back the white house. >> the question is will he or won't he, and what conversation did you have with michael bennet in the car on friday. >> we'll see. >> alexa mchammond, thank you very much. to all of our viewers, sign up for the news later. >> i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin, "morning joe" starts right now. i love trucks of all types, even when i was a little boy at 4 years old, my mother would say you love trucks. i do. i always loved trucks. i still do. nothing changes. sometimes you might become president, but nothing changes. i still love trucks. especially when i look at the largest train in the world, that's very cool. >> guy loves trucks and who doesn't. part of president trump's speech in pennsylvania on american energy and manufacturing.

good morning, welcome to "morning joe," it's wednesday, august 19th. joe and mika have the morning off. with us as you can see, washington anchor katty kay, mike barnicle, white house reporter for the associated press, jonathan la mere, and white house correspondent for pbs news hour, yamiche alcindor. the speech yesterday was about the economy, and as one would expect it drifted to the presidential race, and pop culture, and trucks and cranes. >> this is the white house finds themselves facing time and time again. this was not a campaign rally, just an event on the economy, touting the work he has done for pennsylvania, suggesting the manufacturing jobs that have returned to the state, and i