off the air tonight. that is our broadcast for this tuesday evening. thank you so much for being here with us. on behalf of all my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, good night. as the u.s. hits 150,000 deaths from 1 coronavirus, and more states break records for new infections, the president continues to make false claims about the virus while asking why dr. fauci has better ratings. also, attorney general bill barr testifies in his first hearing before house democrats and gets a grilling over the federal response in portland, his intervention in the roger stone case and whether the president would try to cling to power if the election is, in fact,io contested. former vice president joe biden says he will announce his choice for vice president next week. and this photo of his notes yesterday with talking points

about senator kamala harris is stoking a lot of investigation. good wednesday morning, everybody,ay it is july 29th an i'm yasmin vossoughian. we have a lot to cover this morning. we'll begin with a stunning new measure of the coronavirus crisis.ur according to the latest nbc news tally, covid has now killed more than 150,000 people in this country. just yesterday, florida, arkansas, oregon, montana witnessed their single day death toll since the beginning of this pandemic. during isyesterday's briefing, e president downplayed the virus claiming in severalpr areas of this country, coronavirus is gone. >> we're seeing improvements across major metro areas and most hot spots, you can look at large portions of our country, it's corona-free, but we are

watching very carefully, california, arizona, texas and most of florida. it's starting to head down in the right direction. and i think you'll see it rapidly head downll very soon. >> so, it is worth noting, there are no states that are coronavirus-free. every state has reported new cases just in this past week. meanwhile, a new federal report finds the number of states with outbreaks serious enough to bei placed inou a so-called red zon has grown to 21. the report was dated on july 26th and was sent to state officialste by the white house coronavirus task force. according to documents obtained by "the new york times," states placed in the red zones if they had more than 100 new cases for every 100,000 people just in the past week. the most recent states added to that category were missouri, north dakota and wisconsin. while the report urged for more restrictions to be put in place on red zone states, the president called for more states

toll reopen a day after the rept was issued. and the president doubled down on his push to use hydroxychloroquine as a treatmentse for covid despite a evidence from clinical trials that it works. yesterday during a briefing at the white house, he also commented on dr. fauci's status within his s administration, whe seeming to pay an awful lot of attention ton the doctor's approval ratings. >> i have a very good relationship with dr. fauci. it's sort of interesting. we've listened to dr. fauci. i haven't always agreed with him. i think that's pretty standard. that's okay. he did not want us to band -- put up the ban to china when very heavily infected, wuhan. he w didn't want to do that, i did. i was right. and he told me i saved tens of thousands of lives, t which was generous. i think it's fact i did the ban on theurope. but i get along with him very well. ith agree with a lot of what he said,f so, you know, it's

interesting. he's, got a very good approval rating and i likey that. it's nggood. remember, he's working for this administration. he's working with us, john. we could have gotten other people. we could have gotten smblomebod else. it didn't have to be dr. fauci. he's working with our administration. for the most part with we've done what he and others, dr. birx, who is terrific, and he's got this high approval rating. have a high approval rating, and the administration, with respect to the virus? it sort of is curious, a man works for us, with us, very closely, dr. fauci and dr. birx, also highly thought of, and yet they're, highly thought of but nobody likes me. it can only be my personality. >> all right. so, less than a day after unveiling a plan for more coronavirus relief, senate republicans are voicing frustration about key provisions. gop lawmakers are specifically

criticizing a white house-backed provision to include nearly $2 billion for they construction a new fbi headquarters. that funding was added at the insistence of the white house. democrats claim trump is doing this to put up a new holtz. lindsey graham said the inclusion, quote,d makes no see to me, and senator ted cruz said he didn't think it should be in the bill. mitch mcconnell said he may strip the fundingsa out of the bill. nancy pelosi released a letter yesterdayel regarding the senat republicans' covid proposal and ongoing discussions with the administration, the trump administration. he writesadra in part, today le schumer and l i met once again with representatives from the white house. the attitude from republicans has been one of condescension and disrespect for america's working families. we are always optimistic that we

can find common ground. however, today leader mcconnell presented a liability on steroids proposal without which he said he would not bring a covid bill to the floor. leader schumer and i will meet with the administration again tomorrow. more to update to follow. joining me now, reporter for politico, andrew, good morning. thank you foran getting up earl with me. >> good morning. >> let's start with some of the president's remarks at yesterday's pressat briefing. he claimed some areas are coronavirus-free. that ise not tree. data shows that is factually not true. he's also made interesting comments about dr. fauci's approval ratings. of went on a long time about dr. fauci's approval ratings. he couldn't make sense of the fact that dr. fauci had high approvali ratings and the presidentat department. what reaction are you hearing so

far from the president's briefing yesterday? >> dewell, look, if you talk to republicans about dr. fauci and his --s you know, his diagnose and prescriptions regarding this virus, republicans really view dr. fauci as the gold standard and they continue to t reiterat that every time the president does actually criticize him. you'll recall a few weeks ago the white house actually put out a sort of what appeared to be an opposition research document about dr. fauci, which was pretty stunning on its own. but you routinely hear republicans onu capitol hill bk up dr. fauci and support his recommendations regarding this virus. they really do hold him in high esteem. what the president is nodding to is a faction of his supporters, which believes dr. fauci and other health officials within the administration are, for some reason, purposefully trying to suppress and avoid the president's personal recommendations on this virus for political reasons in order

to damage his political standing, which of course there is no evidence of. that's really the dichotomy you're seeing on this issue where republicans on capitol hill are continuing to stand by dr. fauci. >> can we talk about this relief bill as well, because it seems like the people that are going to lose the most in this situation are the american people, the folks that need the money right now, the small business owners, the folks that have lostol their jobs that on unemployment. you have a lot of republican senators voicing frustration with this relief bill, what, in fact, is in it. where, in fact, does mitch mcconnell go fromch here? >> well, as you mentioned, unemployment benefits are expiring at theef end of the we. evictionee moratoriums are expiring. they're runningms up against th clock here as congress does best. you're really seeing a lot of republicans wary of the idea of just doing another relief proposal.el there are some predictions among senate republicans yesterday

that as many as half of republicans in the senate could end upin peeling off of this bi or a similar bill. that means leader mcconnell is going to have to go to democrats to make up ground and get that -- and reach that 60-vote threshold required to pass any legislation in the tsenate. so,he republicans are at $1 trillion right now in terms it of their price tag. democrats are at $3 trillion. if you need to get democratic support, that price tag is going to have to go up even further. that's really the e challenge f leader mcconnell as he enters this negotiation with democrats. the two sides are just really faro apart. they have their own red lines, which are going to be hard to compromise on. >>ro andrew, thank you. stay close. i will check back in with you in just a bit. still ahead, everyone, all the key moments from attorney general barr's testimony in front of house lawmakers. and the president still

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get the security, unlimited data and wifi coverage you need. plus, xfi customers can add xfi complete for only $11 a month. call or visit a store today. welcome back. the unrest in portland was a major topic during the contentious five-hour grilling of attorney general bill barr in the house judiciary committee. he called the violence outside the federal courthouse, quote, assault on the government of the united states. the attorney general was also asked if he discussed the deployment of federal agents in relation to the president's re-election campaign. >> yes or no, have you discussed the president's re-election campaign with the president or with any white house official or any surrogate of the president? >> well, i'm not going to get into my discussions with the. the. >> well, have you discussed that topic with him, yes or no? >> not in relation to this program. >> you diplomat ask that.

i asked -- >> i'm a member of the cabinet and there's an election coming up. of course that tomek comes up. it shouldn't be a surprise that the topic of the election comes up. >> i didn't say i was surprised. i just asked you if you had done that. as part of your conversations with the president or his people about the re-election campaign, have you ever discussed the current or future deployment of federal law enforcement? >> in connection with what? >> in connection with what you just said. in connection with the -- with your discussions with the president or with other people around him of his re-election campaign, have you discussed the current or future deployment of federal law enforcement? >> as i say, i'm not going to get into my discussions with the president, but identify made it clear i would like to pick the cities based on law enforcement need and neutral -- >> you can't tell me -- >> no, i'm not going to discuss what i discussed with the president. >> so, also on the theme of questioning the outcome of the election, congressman richmond

asked the secretary about the alleged risk of mail-in voting and the risk of requiring people to go to the polls. >> do you believe as attorney general of the united states that mail-in voting will lead to massive voter fraud? >> i think there's a high risk that it will. >> do you ever vote by mail-in ballot? >> apparently i did once at least. >> you are aware that african-americans, black people, disproportionately die from covid-19/coronavirus, correct? >> yes, i think that's right. >> not that it would be the first time that african-americans would risk their lives to vote -- >> i just state what i think is a reality which is if you have wholesale mail-in voting, it substantially increases the risk of fraud. >> so, pennsylvania congresswoman scanlon followed up on that topic, noting that barry has used the system that he says carries risks of fraud.

>> you have at times voted by mail, is that correct? >> i remember, i think, once voting by mail. >> so if public records show you voted by mail in 2012 and 20178, you -- >> i can't remember the details. i think on one occasion i had to go to a station and vote. >> okay. but you did it -- >> i think in another one -- >> i'm reclaiming my time, sir. >> let's get into this. joining me nbc legal analyst dan danny. it got back and forth. that was just a tidbit of what we saw yesterday. is there any scenario in which the use of using federal troops, getting at what jerry nadler was talking about, with respect to the upcoming election could be legal? >> it would be strange because the states, according to the constitution, have the primary authority when it comes to administering elections. even though it's a national election, we all participate on the same day, it's actually something that's run almost

exclusively by the individual states. now, the federal government can provide a supporting role. they do. they provide money to the states and different agencies are charged with some degree of law enforcement. the doj is one. department of homeland security. and even down to the u.s. post office, who handles the mail-in voting. they have a form of jurisdiction over this area. so, even though it's primarily a state activity, the federal government could, in theory, get involved. but escalating it to providing troops or federal agents to secure elections would be quite a stretch. >> so, listen, you think about the number of folks at this point that have died from covid over the last five months. we have now topped 150,000 across this country. this election is happening in november, when we will likely be in a wave two of the coronavirus, coinciding with the

flu season. can there be grounds to sue the federal government over misinformation on mail-in voting or for undue influence on states in not providing safer voting during this pandemic? >> i could have stopped you at, are there grounds to sue the federal government because the answer to that question is, in most cases, no. and probably in this case, when it comes to mail-in voting, which again is a province of the states primarily, the states are the ones who have the primary responsibility for whether it be mail-in voting or in-person voting. and you wouldn't really be able to hold the states responsible, at least legally for injuries due to covid for requiring people to come in and vote. it is very difficult to sue the sovereign. the sovereign in this case would be the states. it could be the federal government. because the federal government is designed, and i stress designed to take a secondary role in national elections, it

is the state's call as to how they want to conduct their own election. >> all right, danny, my friend. great to see you. still ahead, everybody, new reporting this morning about russian efforts to spread disinformation about the coronavirus pandemic. what u.s. officials are saying about that. we are back in a moment. we are .

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detente. they say they are written in english and cycle through the new organizations to enhance the legitimacy. it's not just about the pandemic. there's a focus on u.s. policy with headlines such as chaos in the blue cities and ukrainian trap for biden. let's switch gears and get' first look at your forecast with meteorologist gentlemjanessa we. good to see you. >> weather department pretty busy as we prepare for the next tropical storm, the next "i" storm on record if it materializes. it's currently in the windward islands where warnings have been issued from the dominican republic into puerto rico. it's currently sitting -- you can see the movement right now. there's no defined eye so that's

why it's still being called potential tropical cyclone 9. the national hurricane center just issued their 5:00 a.m. update. they are putting a track on this potential system due to the threat towards the leeward islands, hispaniola into cuba. you can see the cone. it's very uncertain as we are days away for potentially having an impact on florida, but you can see by saturday into sunday, we're really going to be watching as the movement of this storm. the movement is really the key, if we have a south or northern movement. from the latest update, it looks to take more of a southerly track. that means it would hit portions of hispaniola, the dominican republic and the mountains will start to shred that system apart. from the latest cone, you can going into the gulf so we'll be monitoring that situation closely. with us still being days away,

it could potentially have a northerly track and take an on or about track and still affect portions of the carolinas. so, we're just getting people aware because they are tropical warnings. we'll see the winds pick up for san juan into puerto rico this afternoon. gusts up to at least 65 miles per hour. this is very early for this storm, yasmin. we normally don't talk about our "i" named storm until about early october. >> thank you. i know you'll be watching that for us. still ahead, everybody, joe biden says he's going to announce his pick for his running mate next week. we're breaking down his short list. also, jonathan swan interviewed the president for axios on hbo and we have an exclusive look at their conversation ahead. back in a moment. back in a moment help her chill. and now she has those same scents. in the laundry room.

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i'm yasmin vossoughian. the state of florida set another record yesterday with 200 more covid deaths recorded overnight. the highest 24-hour number since the start of this pandemic. this brings the total number of fatalities in this state to more than 6,200. after more than a dozen retweets on monday night of a viral video spreading misinformation about the coronavirus, specifically referring to hydroxychloroquine as a cure, the president yesterday continued to promote the anti-malaria drug while speaking highly of doctors featured in that video that has

now been removed from a number of social media platforms. >> can you clarify your position on the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine after you retweeted a video making claims that it is effective? >> i wasn't making claims. its recommendations of many people, including doctors. many doctors think it is extremely successful. the hydroxychloroquine, coupled with the zinc and, perhaps, the z zithromycin. some doctors think it's very good. some people don't. it's become very political. i took it for a 14-day period. and i'm here. right? i'm here. i happen to think it's -- it works in the early stages. i think front-line medical people believe that, too. it's safe. it doesn't cause problems. i had no problem.

i had absolutely no problem. didn't feel good, bad or indifferent. and i tested, as you know, it didn't -- it didn't get me and it's not going to hopefully hurt anybody. there was a group of doctors yesterday, a large group, that were put on the internet. for some reason the internet wanted to take them down. and took them off. i guess twitter took them off. i think facebook took them off. i don't know why. i think they're very respected doctors. there was a woman who was spectacular in her statements about it, that she's had tremendous success with it. and they took her -- they took her voice off. >> the woman you said is a great doctor in that video that you retweeted last night said that masks don't work and there is a cure for covid-19, both of which health experts say is not true. she's also made videos saying doctors make medicine using dna from aliens and they're trying to create a vaccine to make you immune from becoming religious. >> maybe it's a sign, maybe it's

not. i can tell you this, she was on air along with many other doctors. there were big fans of hydroxychloroquine. and i thought she was very impressive in the sense that where she came, i don't know which country she comes from, but she said she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients. and i thought her voice was an important voice but i know nothing about her. go ahead. >> i think you said -- last week -- >> thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> a lot covered in that press conference yesterday. with that i want to turn to the 2020 election. presumptive democratic nominee joe biden has promised a vice presidential pick by the party's convention on august 17th, but yesterday he also told reporters a choice will be made as soon as next week. >> what i said was that i will -- i'm going to have a choice in the first week in august. i promise i'll let you know when

i do. >> so, the former vice president added that he would like to meet with the candidates face-to-face. the all-female list of potential running mates include senators kamala harris and elizabeth warren. however these notes are stoking speculation that harris may be a front-runner. the senator's name is written at the top of the list followed by talking points, including phrases like talented and great help to campaign. also attorney general bill barr was grilled yesterday on capitol hill during his appearance before the house judiciary committee on a wide range of justice department related topics. he was also pressed about the upcoming election. watch this. >> what will you do if donald trump loses the election on november 3rd, but refuses to leave office on january 20th? >> if the results are clear, i would leave office.

>> do you believe that there is any basis or legitimacy to donald trump's recent claim that he can't provide an answer as to whether he would leave office? >> i really am not familiar with these comments. >> all right. joining me once again, congressional reporter for politico, andrew. good morning once again, andrew. let's talk a bit more about the bill barr testimony there, some of which we just played. testifying for around five hours or so. fairly contentious throughout the entire thing. what were some of the major takeaways from your perspective? >> well, you'll recall, bill barr was actually supposed to testify before the house judiciary committee months ago. so, there was kind of this laundry list of items that democrats and republicans really were gathering in terms of what they wanted to press him on. you know, this was the first

time that bill barr even appeared before the house judiciary committee throughout his entire tenure as attorney general. and as you saw there, these clips you've played throughout the show this morning, democrats really did grill him on a number of subjects. but i think one of the big takeaways is that the attorney general addressed the durham investigation. john durham is the u.s. attorney for connecticut. he was tapped by the attorney general to investigate the origins of the russia probe. this is a big desire of the president and his allies. there's a similar investigation being run on capitol hill. bill barr would not commit when asked to not releasing information from the durham investigation in the run-up to the election. of course, justice department policy states that the department will not release any information that could affect the outcome of an election so close to an election. but, you know, the attorney general said that he would not commit to not releasing such information so close to the

election, which of course could be used and weaponized by the president and his allies in the run-up to election day. >> you bring up the election. i want to go with that for a moment and talking about joe biden and a potential vp pick. mentioning the former vice president and saying that he will possibly be announcing his vp pick in the first week of august, which is next week. and then the glimpse at his notes and seeing senator kamala harris' name at the top of the notes with talking points on her. what type of reaction are you hearing, what murmurs are you hearing with regards to who his pick may be? >> well, of course, senator harris is among the top tier. we've known that for a while but the fact it was the first thing written in his notes that were photographed is quite noteworthy. one of the notes he said about senator harris was about not holding a grudge.

this is in reference to the really bitter spats they had, senator harris and vice president biden, at the very beginning of the 2020 presidential campaign in the democratic primary. >> right. >> you'll recall senator harris really went hard against joe biden on the issue of bussing and on the issue of joe biden really touting his relationships with high-profile segregationists back in the day when he served in the senate. they were really going at each other during those dough bates early on, you'll recall. it seems like an eternity now but the vice president seemed to be emphasizing he doesn't hold a grudge, which is his way of saying, yes, senator harris is a top-tier candidate. you see all the other women listed on the screen now and being mentioned, bei ining mully the vice president as a top pick. i would definitely keep senator harris up there and karen bass up there, susan rice, in addition to val demings.

>> we will see next week. thank you, as always. great to see you. still ahead, everybody, despite a supreme court ruling, the trump administration is moving forward with plans to curb the daca program. your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. (neighbor) whatcha working on... (burke) just an app. it's called signal from farmers, and it could save you up to fifteen percent on your auto insurance.

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sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. the extraction of the federal agents could happen if oregon's governor, kate brown, increases local police presence. the official left no indication of when a final decision will be reached or just how many for local and state officers would be needed for the federal agents to leave. the official also described the negotiations as a win for the

administration, saying that the original presence of federal officers in portland is what helped get governor brown to consider taking a stronger law enforcement response. also, the white house has announced that it will reject new daca applications while it conducts a legal review. the move comes after the supreme court rejected president trump's plan to end the program that provides legal protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants brought into this country as children known as dreamers. a senior administration official telling nbc news that despite the supreme court ruling, the white house still viewed the program as illegal and that the court ruling left room for it to pursue other ways to end the program. the administration said that while the program is under review t will decline initial requests and applications for new applicants and consider all applications for renewal on a case-by-case basis but limit renewals to one year rather than two. let's get a check on your weather once again with

meteorologist janessa webb. take us through it, janessa. >> yasmin, we're not just watching the tropics. i know we've been dealing with the kind of oppressive heat that's entered the northeast in much of the country. we're seeing this series of fronts make their way through and that will give you more breathable air afor the next fe days. we're closer to average this afternoon for minneapolis. we're down about a few degrees. still above average for chicago to detroit, but instead of feel-like temperatures in the triple digits territory, we're back in at the lower 80s. still going to be a pretty hot day for new york city to philadelphia where we'll be sitting in the 90s. but the humidity will be sliced in half. hopefully going into your weekend and all the way into saturday afternoon. you're really going to start to feel the difference. the wonderful news this morning, all heat advisories, air quality concerns have expired at this time.

now, we are watching the severe storms. that's going to lead to a series of fronts that will lead to some flooding for the central u.s., the mississippi valley. you can see they really start to spark up this afternoon into your evening. there is no severe weather threat, but you're going to have these pockets that will produce torrential rain across memphis into portions of the carolinas. and that is going to extend all the way into your thursday as well. so, look at this drenching rain. haven't seen this in a while. definitely need it in these drought-stricken areas from paducah all the way to st. louis. they could potentially see up to 3 to 4 inches, some isolated spots up to 6 inches. where did the heat go? it expanded to the pacific northwest. right now we're seeing about 12 million people across southern california, palm springs, i was reading yesterday death valley hit 105 degrees. so, we're going to continue to

watch that warm air from phoenix all the way into tucson where heat warnings are in place. looking on the upward side, we are seeing kind of that reprieve for the east coast, but it comes along with some rain. yasmin? >> all right. thank you, janessa. the ceos of amazon, apple, google and facebook will face questions from house lawmakers. we'll tell you what to expect during that testimony. ony.arouns it. i didn't do it. so when i heard they added ultra oxi to the cleaning power of tide, it was just what we needed. dad? i didn't do it. #1 stain and odor fighter, #1 trusted. it's got to be tide.

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welcome back, everybody. today the ceos of america's four biggest tech companies are set to face questioning from congress over the excessive power that they hold. cnbc's julianna tatelbaum is joining us live from london on this. good morning to you. so the big question is, what are we going to hear from these guys? >> well, the focus of today's hearing is going to be on these

companies' competitive practices. we'll see the likes of google, amazon and apple and facebook ceos testifying before congress. and this is going to be held virtually due to pandemic restrictions. in terms of the different focal points for the different companies, google is facing the most serious threat of legal action by the u.s. department of justice with the ceo expected to answer questions about the company's search and digital dominance. today's hearing is also going to mark the first appearance of jeff bezos, the head of amazon and they'll testify about third-party sellers and facebook's mark zuckerberg has defended the company's acquisition of instagram and whatsup. that's one to watch for sure. one stock i want to highlight, kodak, shares of the company soared yesterday after news that the u.s. government awarded the firm $765 million in loans to

start producing drug ingredients. this is under the defense production act. it's the first deal of its kind. the company is going to produce pharmaceutical components that have been identified as essential but have lapsed into chronic national shortage as a result of the pandemic. they're going to expand existing facilities in rochester, new york, and st. paul, minnesota, under a new kodak pharmaceuticals arm. yasmin. >> let's talk about the amc universal partnership they've made to shorten the theatrical release and move movies online sooner, because so many of us are home and not going to the movies, obvious. what do you have on this? >> this is pretty big news. normally, we have to wait 2 1/2 months between a movie showing in theaters and when you can see it online or on your digital streaming platform. this has been shortened now to 17 days. so, we'll only have to wait just over two weeks for movies to go from the theater to these platforms. this is a multiyear agreement between universal, which is owned by our parent company,

comcast, and amc, which is the largest theatrical chain. and again, this theatrical window, as you call it, in the industry will shorten to 17 days from the current 75. >> all right, julianna tatelbaum live from london, thank you. great to see you this morning. up next, a look at axios' "1 big thing." and it's a big one. it was revealed weeks ago that russia may have been paying bounties to the taliban for the killing of american troops in afghanistan. so, how is the trump administration responding? national political reporter jonathan swan pressed the president on that very point. >> we discussed numerous things. we did not discuss that, no. >> and you have never discussed it with him. >> no. i would. i have no problem with it, but you know, it's never -- >> because you don't believe the intelligence, that's why. >> everything -- you know, it's interesting, nobody ever brings up china. they always bring up russia, russia, russia. >> jonathan joining us next with his exclusive interview. next wh his exclusive interview.

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♪ welcome back, everybody. joining me now with a look at axios a.m., national political reporter for axios, jonathan swan. we have an exclusive clip, jonathan, from axios on hbo, featuring your sit-down with the president about a phone call that he recently had with russian president vladimir putin. i want to take a listen to that, and then we'll talk. >> it's been widely reported that the u.s. has intelligence indicating that russia paid bounties, or offered to pay bounties to taliban fighters to kill american soldiers. >> right, right. >> you had a phone call with vladimir putin on july 23rd. did you bring up this issue? >> no. that was a phone call to discuss other things. and frankly, that's an issue that many people said was fake news. >> who said it was fake news? >> i think a lot of people. if you look at some of the wonderful folks from the bush administration, some of them, not any friends of mine, were saying that it's a fake issue.

but a lot of people said it's a fake issue. we had a call talking about nuke lure proliferation, which is a very big subject where they would lake to do something and so would i. we never discussed that, no. >> and you have never discussed it with him. >> i have never discussed it with him, no. >> my favorite part of that clip is when you look at him and kind of go, "fake news?" break down for us, jonathan, what exactly is happening here. because the president has actually spoken to him more than just one time -- >> eight times. >> -- since this story first broke. >> eight. well, so, the president has spoken to vladimir putin eight times since the intelligence reportedly arrived in his written daily intelligence briefing, which his -- he says he reads it, but his staff say the opposite. so, this is a really important story. let me just set the groundwork, because it's not that simple. basically, "the new york times"

broke this huge story in june, which was that russia was paying bounties to the taliban to kill american soldiers. i should note that this is not a consensus opinion in the u.s. intelligence community. there is some dissent, but it is based on human intelligence with taliban fighters and other forms of intelligence, money transfers, et cetera. very important, president trump's team says it was never briefed to him verbally. obviously, there had been reports in the national security council meeting. president trump, until my interview yesterday, has refused to say whether he raised it did with vladimir putin. a reporter asked him about this on monday and he said, "i don't discuss my conversations" with putin. when i pressed him about it, he said for the first time, he's never raised this with putin. but the more striking part of that is he just simply doesn't believe it. i didn't get the sense from that conversation that there was any desire to look into this from him to get to the bottom of it. i think on its surface, he dismissed the claim and fit it

into his bucket of, quote/unquote, russia fake news. so, it was a stunning -- i think it's in some ways a shocking piece of film. >> well, it is stunning to see, and there's a lot more in that interview that everybody else is going to want to tune into. jonathan swan, thank you. you're going to have more on this -- >> monday hbo. monday hbo. >> on hbo as well. but you're also going to be on "morning joe" straight ahead, so people are going to want to tune in there, too. i'll be reading "axios a.m." in just a little bit. you can sign up for the newsletter at signup.axios.com. that's it for me on this wednesday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian. "morning joe" starts now. there was a group of doctors yesterday, a large group, that were put on the internet, and for some reason, the internet wanted to take them down and took them off. i guess twitter took them off, and i think facebook took them off. i don't know why. i think they're very respected doctors.

there was a woman who was spectacular in her statements about it, that she's had tremendous success with it, and they took her voice off. >> the woman that you said was a great doctor, in that video that you retweeted last night said that masks don't work and there is a cure for covid-19, both of which health experts say is not true. she's also made videos saying that doctors make medicine using dna from aliens and that they're trying to create a vaccine to make you immune from becoming religious. >> well, maybe it's -- maybe it's not. but i can tell you this, she was on air along with many other doctors. they were big fans of hydroxychloroquine. and i thought she was very impressive in the sense that from where she came -- i don't know which country she comes from, but she said that she's had tremendous success with hundreds of different patients, and i thought her voice was an important voice, but i know nothing about her. >> said masks don't work and last week you said masks -- real

quick -- >> okay, thank you very much, everybody. thank you. >> whoa. i thought her voice was an important voice, but i know nothing about her. yesterday's coronavirus briefing by the president should have put to bed any notion of another promised pivot toward actually listening to scientists, real scientists. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, july 29th. joe's off this morning, but along with willie and me, we have msnbc national affairs analyst, co-host of showtime's "the circus" and executive editor of "the recount," john heilemann, former u.s. senator, now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill, white house reporter for the "associated press," jonathan lamire, and professor at princeton university and author of "begin again: james bald kin's america and its urgent lessons for our own," eddie glaude jr. we'll have more from the prt'