those of us who were there are just so grateful for the capitol police who kept us safe, who did their jobs, who put their lives on the line for all of us. know that we have not stopped thinking about you because six months have passed. thank you for getting up early with us on this wednesday morning. don't go anywhere, "morning joe" starts right now. good morning and welcome to "morning joe," it is wednesday, july 7th. we're following a number of developing stories this morning, including tropical storm elsa's impact on florida as hurricane warnings and tornado watches remain in effect for parts of the state. how will this affect search efforts in surfside. we're going to get a live report. plus, president biden warned vladimir putin three weeks ago that he'd better crack down on hackers targeting the u.s. from inside russia. since then, two new attacks have

come to light, so what is the president going to do about them. we're also following the decision to leave u.s. track sensation, sha'carrie richardson completely off the roster for the upcoming tokyo olympics. >> going to fire. be careful. >> richard engel's exclusive report from inside a fire fight between afghan forces and the taliban. we'll have the latest on that. incredible reporting. we have sam stein, former aide for the george w. bush white house and state department, elise jordan, and host of "politics nation" and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton is with us this morning. we're going to begin with former police captain, eric adams, poised to become new york city's next mayor after being declared the winner in a hotly contested

democratic primary. the ap called the race for the brooklyn borough president last night after thousands of absentee ballots were counted. the numbers saw former city sanitation commissioner kathryn garcia cut the lead to 8,000 votes. with only a small amount of votes outstanding, her deficit is likely too much to overcome. adams will go on to face the republican nominee, guardian angels founder curtis leila in november's general election. >> reverend al, before we dig into this, let's just talk about what we have just seen in this race, and it really shows how much -- how much you understand not only your city, but also your constituents, your congregants, i should say, and those who consider you being an advocate for them, you have for

years been trying to explain to, as you call them, latté liberals where the democratic party is, and where a lot of people of color are. they don't want pie in the sky pronouncements and policy proposals, they want their streets safe. they want good jobs. they want basics, and here we have conservatives and moderates doing extraordinary well in this new york mayor's race, and progressives not faring quite so well in new york city. first of all, talk about the likely winner on the democratic side, and also what does that tell you about not just new york politics but national politics? >> eric adams put together a broad coalition that i think

shows where we are going and the future of the democratic party fascially. you must remember he won four of the five boroughs, including staten island. there was a time it was unimaginable for a black mayor to win staten island. he won staten island. at the same time, we saw a broad coalition in the borough of manhattan elect a black to the district attorney's nomination, or select that, so i think both you look at alvin brag's race for the district attorney in manhattan, a very prestigious position, the first time a black got it, and eric adams, at the same time, same primary, both of them ran as one that understood the police reform movement that people like me have been part of, but the need for safety. both of them came down the middle of saying we must deal with inequality but we also must deal with how the city is going

to function. and i think that many of our people in the democratic party or in the so-called left have confused noise with what is sound. you can make noise as long as what you're make noise about is sound. people want to be safe at the same time they want to see reform. >> yeah, and elise jordan, you can look at what happened in new york city, of course look at what happened to the democratic primary in 2020. joe biden, really the one moderate in the entire field. i think most people would say ended up winning the race, and you look at the crime sprees that are going across the united states right now. crime rates going up. certainly rates for murder and violent crimes going up. gun crimes going up. and boy, there sure are a lot of

parallels, it seems, with what we saw back in the 1970s and democrats, democrat primary voters in queens, in the bronx, staten island, in brooklyn, responded by electing the most conservative candidate they could elect. a former cop who is not going to do what a lot of people on the far left have been asking for over the past few years. >> joe, defund the police is a losing message for democrats. we see that in this race, and we're going to see it in other races, where, you know, as americans are responding to increase of crime in their communities, and you look at what happened in new york city and it played out on the ground here among some of the most liberal voters in the country but they want a safe city, and they want the police to be

adequately funded. they're not asking for overkill. we don't need to have military vehicles in our downtown cities. we don't need to, you know, have a militarized police force but we don't want to abolish the police completely, and the concept of defund the police, just the radicalism of what it would mean in theory, it scares democratic voters. it scares enough of them where it's going to hurt the party if they don't get the messaging straight on it. >> city hall and politics reporter for wnyc, bridget bergen. let's go back to the new york city election itself, how are the candidates responding to the outcome here, eric adams, but also those who did not win, given how it played out and how complicated this has been? >> we heard a clear declaration of victory from eric adams last night.

talked about putting together this coalition of five borough support, and we heard statements from katherine garcia and maya wiley, the closest competitor, both talking about, you know, not quite fully conceding and in the case of maya wiley talking about really one of the other issues that has, you know, been the elephant in the room during this race, which is the conduct of the new york city board of elections and its ability to execute a fair and transparent election. >> hey, it's sam stein here, i was just going to ask you about that. i'm not sure this was the most confidence inspiring election of all time. there was a notable error that the board of elections had about a week ago, what are the actual prospects of reform for the board of elections going forward? this is sort of a common refrain it feels like after every mayoral election that the b.o.e. needs to adjust, modernize, get

with the times. this in particular seems like a catapult for some reforms. what would it entail and what are the prospects for it? >> we have heard from state lawmakers an increasing cry to make some reforms. there are pieces of state legislation that could take effect soon that could at least help modernize the agency in the short-term, give more powers to the set of coexecutive directors as opposed to just the ten commissioners from each of the boroughs that currently make a lot of the decisions. but to really structurally overhaul the agency would require a state constitutional change, and that's a process that takes time. it needs to go through two consecutive legislative sessions, and then before voters and so what this will require is continued energy and focus by state lawmakers if they really do want to make an overhaul that would change the agency from being a bastian of partisan

politics to being a professional nonpartisan agency. >> so bridget broke down the numbers if you can, i know it's still too early, but it seemed eric adams had a comfortable lead after the first round of voting, and maya was in second place. then you had of course the going through i guess the nine rounds. i think i would have a heart attack if i were a candidate going through nine rounds. i couldn't handle that. one round was too much. but how did things shake out where this race got so close. do you have any insights for viewers who wonder what happened to maya wiley, how she dropped down to third and how kathryn garcia got so close at the end. where did her strength come from? >> a couple of issues are at

play, joe. number one, the results we got on primary night were only the first choice votes of people who voted in person on primary night and during early voting, and then they did not apply the ranked choice voting algorithm to them on those initial results and so, you know, had they done that, essentially what we learned last week once they gave us the corrected numbers is what we might have known on primary night, had they applied it so we could have seen that this was a closer race to begin with. that's number one. number two, we had 125,000 outstanding absentee ballots, in addition affidavit ballots cast during the primary and when those ballots were counted, we saw the margins narrow. kathryn garcia who came in second place, picked up a larger share of those ballots, and you know, saw her -- she was coming behind eric adams by about 15,000 votes last week, that slimmed down to about 8,400 votes this week, so she picked

up some numbers, but it wasn't enough, and in new york, the only -- the margin needs to be even closer if you were to say, trigger a manual recount. you would have to come within half of 1%, and that's something in the neighborhood of 500 votes, so even though we know there are still some ballots outstand done, it doesn't appear that either kathryn garcia or maya wiley who fell further behind in this latest count would have enough to overcome the lead that eric adams currently has without some votes being disqualified. >> but what a tight race. >> yeah. >> especially the top three. >> city hall and politics reporter for wnyc, bridget bergen, thank you so much for covering this for us. governor andrew cuomo issued an executive order declaring gun

violence, a disaster emergency. as part of a new strategy to curb gun related crime in the state. nbc's gabe gutierrez reports. >> reporter: a masked gunman in new york city dressed in black, calmly walking up behind another man and shooting him in the back in broad daylight. also in new york, a man on a scooter opens fire as bystanders scramble for fire. >> today, first state in the nation is going to declare a disaster emergency on gun violence. among other things, new york state will now require large police departments to submit data on shootings in hot spots. homicides are surging, up 33 percent in los angeles compared to 2019 and 40% in chicago where it was an especially brutal holiday weekend. 100 people shot. 18 dead. >> there are too many illegal

guns in our city, and too little consequences in the courts. >> reporter: here in new york, though, homicides are up overall compared to last years ago there is good news. the nypd says they dropped 23% in june. back to you. >> across the country, oakland police are investigating a massive crime wave over the holiday weekend. the city's police chief is calling it one of the most violent fourth of julys he's ever seen. after the department responded to 12 hours of nonstop chaos. the violence overwhelmed officers who responded to seven shootings, two deaths, and a huge side show. an informal demonstration of automotive stunts often held in vacant lots overnight, involving nearly 300 people. officers were pelted with debris and flashed with hand held lasers. also in california, target and

walgreens are increasing security in some cities amid a rise in store theft and crime. according to a new report by the california retailers association, los angeles, san francisco, and sacramento are among the cities with the most organized retail crime in the country. and as a result, are closing stores early. target stores in san francisco are now closing at 6:00 p.m. and some as early as 5:00 p.m. a stark contrast with most of the chain stores that stay open until 10:00 p.m. a video from last month, showed a man stealing items in a san francisco walgreens, and leaving the store on his bike with goods as security guards and onlookers filmed the incident. >> reverend al, this is a crime wave that we have been talking about. it's been happening. crime rates have skyrocketed after really having historic

lows in 2017, 2018, and places like new york city and across the country. can you talk about this new crime wave again. we can talk about eric adams, and his victory, and also talk about, as you were saying, the political relates on the ground, defund the police, that's the last thing americans are going to want right now. it's going to require a balance. but talk about the real concerns in black and brown communities for this rising crime wave. >> it is a very very serious problem. i was in a place called bibi, arkansas, doing the eulogy of a funeral of a young white teenager named hunter britton that was killed by police. but the irony is when i got to little rock, joe, to prepare for the sermon yesterday, a black that was working in the

restaurant said i hope you go over to what was the black community and talk about these kids shooting each other. four kids killed each other over the weekend. there is just as much concern about what is going on with gun violence, this kind of violence you're talking about: in chicago, 100 people shot over the weekend. we must have the balance of outrage, police do things in blue uniforms but outrage when we have people in blue jeans that are openly being criminal, acting like it's normal in our community. it is not normal. it should not be accepted. people should understand the underlying issues. they shouldn't patronize us, that we do not know how to deal and challenge. we not only want to talk about voting rights and police reform but how we have to factor in in dealing with gun violence in

this country. you can't love our people when they're shot by police, and then look the other way when we're shooting each other. we have to deal with both. >> wow. tropical storm elsa is lashing florida. it's been downgraded from a category 1 hurricane as it nears landfall around tampa. more than 4 million people are in the storm's path as strong winds and heavy rain pommel the gulf coast. on the east coast of the state, rescue crews in surfside are watching the storm as well for how it could impact their efforts. joining us now from surfside, msnbc correspondent vaughn hillyard. what can you tell us? >> reporter: eight more individuals were confirmed deceased. the fact that the rescue effort was only delayed two hours, we were expecting higher gusts of

winds, more thunderstorms, ultimately just two hours of delays as the storm moved west allowing rescue crews to continue their operations. at the same time, there are still 109 unaccounted for individuals. 109, and we in the press were actually given just yesterday evening that first opportunity to go up to that rubble site here after 13 days of searching and i as a journalist need to acknowledge that this video footage that we look at doesn't do justice to the scene that these rescue crews, these hundreds of rescue crews are going through, and you know, i even heard last week from one of the workers in oklahoma city from 25 years ago, and he sent me a message a week ago, you never forget the smell and white dust from pulverized concrete. and the three weeks he spent in the rubble are seared into you. what these workers are going through is hard to describe, and the video doesn't do it justice.

those rubble mounds are more than two or three stories high. those cement slabs are massive, that sheer manpower cannot lift up. those are what these individuals are working through. you see from the video, wind gusts of 30 miles per hour. lightning and thunder and rain. these are tough situations. homicide detectives are being used on site to go and catalog items that are found here, and we should also note at 9:00 a.m., there is going to be a court hearing for multiple lawsuits as not only those who lost family members try to reckon with the damages that potentially they can seek for their lost loved ones but also you have to remember there are hundreds of individuals living inside of this tower who have nothing left themselves and are looking for a new home this morning. >> my god, msnbc's vaughn hillyard, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. and still ahead on "morning joe," president biden announces a new push to boost coronavirus vaccinations as the delta

variant surges across the country. white house press secretary jen psaki will join us to explain the administration's new efforts. plus, hill billy elegy author j.d. vance once called donald trump reprehensible. >> he called him a lot more than that. he trashed donald trump up and down. >> he was speaking his truth, saying what he saw. >> called him political heroin. >> now that he's jumping into ohio's senate race, he's trying to disown his anti-trump tweets. >> you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. >> you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪

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we've got some breaking news

to report, the a.p. reporting that haitian president jovonel moise is dead after armed intruders broke into his home. the haitian prime minister, the nation's leader was fatally shot. his wife was also injured in the attack. nbc news has not confirmed the report. a statement did not identify the assailants but said they were spanish speaking. this comes amid months of political upheaval within the country over calls for the president to resign. again, haitian president jovonel moise apparently shot and killed in his home. since the earthquake, the situation in haiti has gone from terrible to even worse, murders, chaos, anarchy has been set

loose upon that country, especially in the past year, but again, the decline in haiti has continued over the past ten years. many considering moise to be an illegitimate president who illegal overstayed his term. right now, the only reports we're getting from the associated press is he has been assassinated. nbc news has yet to confirm that news. >> we'll continue to follow this breaking news. to afghanistan now, the pentagon announced yesterday that the u.s. withdrawal from the country is now more than 90% complete leaving afghan forces to battle the taliban. nbc's richard engel was on the ground there as a fierce fire fight broke out, and he filed this report. >> reporter: in a taliban controlled area outside kabul, afghanistan's best troops huddle. they'll raid a safe house and kill or capture the taliban

inside. before these elite troops had american support, shoulder to shoulder, no longer. >> what is it like now fighting all on your own, no american support? >> we are ready to fight. if we die, we don't care about it. we are ready for this. >> reporter: they head out in old american humvees, at one point slowing to crawl, seeing what looks like a roadside bombe. the ied may have been a false alarm. they push on, now on foot, quietly, they hope to surprise the taliban. >> the building they are closing in on is actually a mosque. there are 15 talibans inside. >> the commander spots a taliban fighter. >> they have clearly lost the element of surprise, so now it's just a straight up fight.

wherever you can find it. they finally made it. this was their target. no idea what could be waiting inside. >> reporter: they look through the mosque's windows, but the taliban are gone. >> they escaped. >> reporter: the taliban haven't gone far. the commandos kill three of them in hiding, and an afghan air strike kills three more. >> this mission is very good and very successful. >> reporter: but is it enough? the taliban are making rapid advances. the u.s. trained afghan army is crumbling, losing or surrendering a third of its posts in the last few weeks. so now it's mainly up to the commandos, a small but motivated fighting force to stop the taliban from taking over. richard engel, nbc news, logar province, afghanistan. >> elise, we need to get used to seeing these sort of stories. >> it's incredible.

>> of course earlier, last year, the curds complaining that the u.s. abandoned them, and the failed reports that we left bagram air force base in the middle of the night, and didn't even notify the afghans. the biden administration needs to be prepared to see reports like this for months and months. it's only going to get worse, isn't it? >> joe, it's just not going to be a pretty withdrawal, a plain withdrawal, anything that remotely looks like victory. if we stayed another 20 years, it's not like it necessarily would have been that much better. i do think we can do better by our afghan allies by at least letting them know we're abandoning a huge massive air base and community that at one time when i was there was about 80,000 people living on bagram air base.

it's kind of mind blowing that we kept out in the dead of the night. now, just there in logar province where richard was embedded. that's never been exactly a very safe place. and there wasn't even that great of security even back in, you know, the late 2000s, 2010, 2011, so on. just really that seems like that, wow, we have to do our best, though, to do -- to get visas for all of the afghans who worked with us for so many years. at such great sacrifice, and security risk, we cannot keep them in limbo. we need to keep our promises as they are allies who helped keep so many americans alive over so many years of war as they struggle now and need to get out of the country. >> so sam stein, joe biden made no mistake of the fact that he wanted to get u.s. troops out of

afghanistan. you can go back and see his response, his famous meeting with vice president where he was enraged by the situation in afghanistan even 12 years ago. that said, there will be an awful lot of second guessing about this withdrawal from republicans of course and also even some democrats. >> yeah, i mean, the politics of afghanistan have obviously shifted over the past decade i would say. there's a weird commonality, i suppose, between joe biden and donald trump here. both were tired of u.s. military presence in afghanistan. both wanted to get out. trump, like presidents before him, was persuaded to keep a footprint in the country. biden has decided not going to do it. what does that mean domestically at home? i think it's tricky. i think there's going to be a component of the u.s. political class that says this is a mismanaged withdrawal.

certainly it's going to not play very well. when you see these scenes on the news. but there might be, in fact, a coalition of -- an odd coalition of democrats and republicans who say look we have been there for 20 years, if the afghan security forces haven't been there until now, why do we think another two, five years will be there until now. we were talking about this in our newsroom yesterday, during editorial meetings, how does this play politically for biden at home? i don't think there's clear cut answers. there's a component of the republican party that may have attacked him a decade ago but now feels like he does, that this war has gone on long enough, and it's time to pull back. >> yeah, you know, it's interesting, you can look, elise, at barack obama's decision to get out of iraq. most americans supported that decision. most americans support joe biden's decision to get out of

afghanistan, even though, i think, many in the foreign policy community think we should at least keep a presence there. but just because a president does something that the majority of americans support in a poll one day doesn't mean they're insulated from political pushback down the road. you look at what the quick departure in iraq, many believe led to the growth of isis in that region, and of course whatever happens in afghanistan now, if al qaeda reemerges or other islamic terrorist groups reemerge and attack the united states, that will be on this president now even though donald trump in words at least supported the same policy. >> i'm not going to make heavy

predictions because there are so many unknowns going forward in the days to come. i'm not as, you know, i don't really see al qaeda reconstituting situation in afghanistan. the cost of what we have to do to stay there being greater than if we draw back and if we, you know, just have an outside presence that we can, you know, use our aerial assets to monitor and to help mitigate threats. i am most concerned about the moral cost of leaving and, again, our allies on the ground that we made promises, too, that if they supported us, if they risked their lives, if they supported this experiment in democracy in afghanistan in great peril to their families and themselves, that we would help get them out of the country when the time came around, and now just watching the bureaucratic crisis and turmoil as so many afghans who need

visas are struggling to leave. that to me is the real moral stain of what's happening right now. >> yeah. and mika, this article from the military times, i'll just read a lead. this is from april of this year. nearly 3/4 of veterans surveyed and almost 70% of troops' family members support a full withdrawal of u.s. forces from afghanistan. so i think the majority of americans support this as do the majority of military families and veterans. coming up, the coronavirus pandemic has impacted most businesses, some more than others. we're going to take a look at how minority owned businesses were disproportionately affected and the new effort to fix that. plus, new york city will hold a ticker tape parade today to honor front line workers, but at least one group is boycotting the event. we'll tell you which one. "morning joe" is coming right back. which one "morning joe" is coming right back

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new york city will hold its first ticker tape parade in nearly two years today to honor the essential workers who guided the city through the pandemic. >> my gosh, how great is that, mika. >> i love it. i mean, these are the true heroes of the pandemic, and anyone and everyone involved with getting us through this would say that. the route along downtown manhattan's canyon of heroes ends at city hall, but a ceremony following the parade has been cancelled due to high temperatures. 14 floats representing 260

different groups of essential workers will be celebrated, making it one of the largest ticker tape parades in the city's history. >> reverend al, talk about, if you can, first of all, what today is going to mean for new yorkers and for those that really helped the city that was on the front line of this international pandemic. to get through it. just exactly what these workers meant to new yorkers and america. >> they meant everything. you must remember that when this city was like a ghost town, we have an office of national action network in harlem, but we also have one in midtown and times square. i remember coming outside of the times square office and the first time in my life times square was totally, totally absent of people. it was like the twilight zone. yet these front line workers got on the subways every day, and

went and did the essential work when no one in the city could move. these are the people that could not stay home, that could not work virtually, and they went every day at risk to their health, at risk bringing back to their families, and they kept the city going. i think if there ever was people that needed and that warranted to have this kind of parade, it's those front line workers facing the unknown because you have to remember for most of the early part of the pandemic, we didn't know what we were facing. they faced the unknown and kept this city going. >> and mika, think about this. there are still people, millions of americans that are still hesitant to go back to work today. think about that. 15 months ago when as reverend al said, we didn't know the scope of this pandemic.

we were seeing stories of how front line workers, doctors, nurses, others on the front lines were dying of covid. they were surrounded by so many workers who had covid, they went out and did their jobs. they left their families in the morning. they went out, they worked all day under excruciating circumstances, under such dangerous circumstances, refrigerator trucks filled with corpses. thousands of new yorkers dying, and they kept doing their job. 15 months ago, they did it through the entire pandemic as 100,000 americans died, 200, 400, 500,000, they kept doing it. my god, we owe them so much. you really have to look back to 9/11 and see what those front line workers did on that day. and draw a through line.

real heroes in new york city and across america. >> this went on and on for months. there are some front line workers who will be absent, though, members of a union representing fire and ems plan to boycott the event citing unfair pay and treatment during the pandemic. we'll be following that. we're going to talk now about the impact of the pandemic on businesses. right before the holiday weekend, the l.a. times published a report that found there were more new black owned businesses last year, proportionate to the total population than at any time in the last quarter century. according to the kaufman foundation's annual study, black entrepreneurs ranked higher for white owned and asian owned companies. the group found thousands of black entrepreneurs turned the adversity of losing a job because of the pandemic into an

opportunity to start a new business but many others weren't so fortunate. specifically, the restaurant owners who saw their doors closed due to covid. joining us now, mark morial president and ceo of the urban league, and along with pepsico, the planning to reopen those restaurant doors. mark, it's good to see you. always good to see you. >> hey, good morning. >> let's talk about this plan to bring these business owners back. what does it look like, how does it work? >> well, thank you for having me. so the national urban league and pepsico have teamed together to confront the challenging statistic that 41% of black owned businesses shuttered during the pandemic. this initiative, victoria's kitchen in philadelphia, is focused on black restaurants, and mika, we identified in approximately a dozen cities

some 1,000 black-owned restaurants, and they are egan restaurants, asian restaurants, soul feed, creole and cajun restaurants, men and women who have been battered by the pandemic. this initiative will provide mentoring, coaching, counseling, and a nonrefundable grant. a grant that will help them in the amount of $10,000, make payroll for the first week or two, reestablish your inventory relationships. it's a vote of confidence, and we'll be doing this for 100 black owned businesses this year, and all the way through and over the next five years, a total of 500. so this is a sustainable initiative, thanks to the creativity of the national urban league and pepsico. we are saying let's vote in favor of helping to stand up businesses who have been

shuttered. let's help them get back on their feet, reemploy people. that's what this is about. >> marc, al sharpton. >> hey, rev. >> i think this is a great announcement and much needed and as i said earlier in the show, you and i and other civil rights leaders are meeting with the president. this is something i think that should be discussed and duplicated because black businesses were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic but as always, the urban league is coming with an answer with pepsico. is it your hope that other major corporations will coupe kate this because we have a real dire need for this kind of investment and infusion of not only money but mentorship and other things that you've outlined in this program. >> no question, reverend al, and this is a way, i think, people should look at it. investing in black owned businesses is a way to create jobs and historically, black owned businesses have been denied the loans, they have been

denied the equity cap. they have been denied the access to certain customers, so in this instance, i hope this shows, signals to others in the philanthropic community, and other businesses a way to support black owned businesses, and you mentioned our meeting with the president and certainly on the agenda has to be black economic equity. on the agenda has to be what else can be done. we've got an infrastructure and jobs bill. we've got to make sure black owned businesses have a fair shot for participation in that. so all of this is about bringing the american economy back, but bringing it back in a more equitable way. bringing it back differently than the pre-pandemic economy, and i think the intentionality, and supporting this great, if you will, energy among black entrepreneurs is a way to do it. >> so mr. mayor, let me ask you about one of our lead stories,

rise of violence, murder rates across america. new york has declared an emergency because of gun violence and all the murders. this past weekend, 100 people shot in chicago. oakland descended into the worst chaos the police chief said that they can remember. in san francisco, people are just walking in broad daylight, robbing stores while people are taking picture cameras, taking shots of them, videos of them. walgreens and target are having to close early. instead of 10:00 at night, they're having to close at 5:00 and 6:00 at night because crime rates have gone up so high. what approach to these skyrocketing crime rates do you think the president, congress, and local governments should do.

what needs to be done. >> first of all, the surge if gun violence is distressing. it's painful. it's another pandemic that has arisen from this pandemic. i had a chance yesterday to participate in the governor of new york held, and what was striking, joe, was he cited a statistic that said 77% i think it was, of the gun violence in new york is carried out with guns that come into new york state, up i-95 from other portions of the united states. he laid out a plan. the key is that you have to balance justice, community trust of policing, and, if you will, an approach to confront violence. his investments in summer jobs, his investments in non-violent dispute resolution deescalation

interventions is what i think is needed. here's what i'll say, joe. we have a gun violence problem in the 1990s, and i led a city then. we reduced significantly with a comprehensive multifaceted approach. the worst thing we can do is to think that a crack down approach is going to confront this while at the same time understanding that we've got to have smart, targeted surgical law enforcement but that that is not enough, that you also have to do the other thing. so this being an emergency is presidential, congressional, gubernatorial, mayoral, if you will, agenda item. the local leaders have to be empowered but i think that all have to be a part of this. this is distressing. i'm concerned about what i hear all over the country. >> do we need more police on the streets? >> we need smarter policing, joe. having more police who simply

don't respond to 911 calls may not be what you need. what you need is you need preventative policing, community oriented policing. policing that can intervene and communities that can intervene. but you also need to confront the problem that these communities have been battered by covid. people are trying to get back to work. children this summer and for the last year have been working remotely. it's a confluence of factors but the idea that you just need more policing, it's about smarter law enforcement, and those communities that have embraced historically smarter law enforcement will get better results. what do i mean? you've got to engage in prevention, you've got to engage in building trust. i like what i see in places like newark and other communities where you have an effort to create, if you will, intervention efforts by non-police agencies, right, by people who are working with young people to tamp down on

violence before it occurs. so we have to confront this for what it is, and recognize that old ways will not fix this problem. we've got to have some new ways, and we've got to focus on being comprehensive about it. >> you talk about being smart and building those connections with the communities. we had commissioner bratton on last week talking about what he did when he was out in los angeles. something that he wasn't able to do as effectively in new york because who he was working with in new york, but at the end of the day, mika, it really is, it's police officers. it's police commissioners having a connection with a community, building that relationship with the community, along with everything else that we hear about. >> it's the dialogue. >> i would like to add one other thing, and that is to really make a push, a lot of mayors and cities have received funding,

from, full, the president through the rescue plan. we need some of that money to be focused on putting young people, teenagers, young adults to work in jobs. let's do something that says to young people, here is a way for you to participate in the economy. the money is there, the will and the intention has to be there. i think it's a short-term thing, not a short-term thing but an intervention that has proven to get results in the past. we need an effort to do that. got to make an effort on every front and build trust in communities as well. >> marc morial, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. great to see you. the paradox of trumpist patriotism. that's how one conservative writer describes republicans who claim to live america but believe it is broken and that

many of their fellow citizens are the enemy. we'll read from that new column. plus, president trump won the state of ohio in 2020 by eight points over joe biden with an historic number of votes cast. could that be part of the reason best selling author, and now senate hopeful j.d. vance is changing his tone about the former president. >> he can't stand donald trump. i've read the tweets. he really goes after him hard, i think. let's read them. after him hardi think. let's read them.

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radical republicans who have chosen the big lie over the rule of law are going to lecture the country, the congress and the house democratic caucus on law and order, are you kidding me? these are people who are denying what took place on january 6th. that was a violent attack on the

capitol. it was a mob that was there to assassination the speaker, hang mike pence, and hunt down members of congress. more than 140 police officers were seriously injured. a few may even lose sight permanently. the ability to function moving forward for many of them, lost permanently. so we're not going to be lectured about so called law and order by a party that is leaning into lawlessness and disorder. >> house democratic caucus chair congressman hakeem jeffries calling out republicans who claim to be the party of law and order while embracing the big lie and down playing the january 6th insurrection. joshua tata, historian of

american conservatism has a new piece for the bullwork which he argues that pro-trump conservatives who claim to love america actually do not, and he writes in part this, the conservative world view frequently sees the american political tradition as one that has been badly damaged. the narratives of decline identify various points at which the fatal misstep was taken where everything started to go wrong. sometimes it's lincoln, sometimes wilson, often fdr or the 1960s. what's unusual about the trumpist right is the extent to which they think that america is not just on the brink of collapse but that it has already toppled. this may just be post electoral defeat malaise, but increasingly, these american greatness patriots appear to actively hate america and their fellow citizens.

>> let's bring in the founder and editor at large, charlie sike, elise jordan, i can't wait to talk to you about this, because i grew up having liberal professors, having liberal teachers, having liberals in the media, having liberals everywhere say america is in decline, it's going to collapse. you know, i remember in 7th grade, my 7th grade teacher saying america is going the way of the roman empire. and i thought back on that through the years and i said, oh, poor, poor liberal. and now we wake up 40 years later, and remember america love it or leave it? everybody, i know, had those bumper stickers because the left hated the fbi, the left hated the cia, the left hated the police, the left hated the military.

that's what we all believed, we would get the radicals. i feel like saying that to trumpists, america, love it or leave it. the fbi who fights to protect and defend us, well, trump republicans, they're responsible for 1/6. the cia, if i had a dollar for every time i attacked the church commission, i would have enough money to, like, eat ribs for the rest of my life, pay my ribs bill for the rest of my life. they attacked the cia, i could go on and on. they attack a 40-year veteran of the united states military who fought in iraq and afghanistan. it's just you name it, they hate it. all the institutions that we conservatives were supposed to be protecting against a radical lift. >> well, this is the paradox, isn't it, first of all, i mean the patriotism is not the same

thing as nationalism, this hyper nationalism may involve a lot of flag waving and they embrace the flag but don't embrace what the flag stands for. this paradox of the patism, it becomes more divorced from the reality. what joshua tate is arguing you have this american greatness intellectual class that increasingly despises the america that exists. they think america has declined and has fallen, and they really despite fellow americans, there was one article that he cites where the writer basically says that the half of americans who voted for joe biden cannot be described as americans in any way. really, you basically have thrown out half of america and increasingly i think that they also despise what america stands for, its values, the values of being a liberal, constitutional democracy. this is an interesting moment

where you have the trumpist right that claims to be the defender of all things american, and yet they increasingly, i think loathe americans and many american values, and american institutions. and it's hard to square that circle. >> certainly democracy checks and balances, liberal democracy, free elections, if their candidate doesn't win, rule of law, they supported elise jordan, they supported a president who two weeks before the election called for his attorney general, pressured his attorney general to arrest his opponent. that's who they voted for. at 75 million people voted for that person, and they love the american flag so much that they continue to support an ex-president who was cheering on a mob who used americans. i can't make this up. can't make this up. used american flags to beat up

police officers. >> oh, man. >> not patriotism. >> the same president who also signed bibles during a visit to, you know, tornado victims. donald trump, i mean, it's a cult. it's not about patriotism. it's this hyper nationalism as charlie was saying that has descended into a movement that is based around the cult of personality. it wasn't like this. i worked for president george w. bush's administration, let me tell you in 2008 it wasn't like this departing office where, you know, you have an ex-president who still was the center and the moon of the party. he let the republican party move on, probably to his detriment because look at where we are now, but there wasn't some cult just waiting on his every word, letting him release, you know, crazy statements, and still, you know, claim that he's going to

eventually win the election, win and come back in office. it just is a scary time that there's so much delusion surrounding basic facts as to how american democracy functions. >> hey, joe, let me add one other element to this, which is if you watched that 40 minute "new york times" video about what happened on january 6th, one of the things that stuck out to me, which underscores the point, these rioters would enter the capitol after having waged essentially war with the police officers to get in, and they would turn to the police officers and they would say, hey, man, we're on your side, we're in this together. we believe the same things you believe. as if the presumption was that everyone shared their world view, that the police officers who were there to protect the nation's capitol secretly harbored some desire to unseat democracy, and so that gets to sort of the delusions that are

at place here in the cult of personality is that place here which is essentially the ends always justify the means, so long in the pursuit of power, you can get it. it doesn't matter what steps you take to get there. the police have to be on your side, think like you do. that's that. it is a very dark time that elise is saying, that you can delude yourself into saying the very people, the police officers you're beating actually are in cahoots with you. >> charlie, joshua's article, he's talking about this paradox and of course he goes back, the radical '60s was a turning point, but still, the response to that was ronald reagan. a guy who supports institutions, a guy who supported the

military, a guy who supported the fbi, a guy who supported the intel community, a guy who supported nato. a guy who supported, again, american institutions. these trump supporters seemed to be at war with every institution that checks donald trump's power, either in office or out of office. >> right. >> yes, and elise is right, though, you need to understand, not as an ideology but as a cult of personality, and it is this rejection of all of these institutions but also, i just want to keep emphasizing, it's also a rejection of fellow americans. this is what's striking to me is the way in which many of these trumpist intellectuals just reject what america has become. there's a long tradition of saying america is broken or in decline but what's really

happening is the complete alienation and the pictures of the various flags. the american flag is dotted throughout all of these pictures. notice all of the other symbols as well, that it's just sort of, you know, for many of them, it's become kind of a well, it's not just a partisan symbol, it's sort of a tribal symbol, as opposed to something that represents some deep american values and deep american understanding of american institutions and american history. and you're right, you know, reaganism was really about fundamental love of country, but also it was supportive of those institutions, and i think that's the radical shift right now, there's a kind of nihilism that is abroad. tear it all down. if it doesn't serve the agenda of the tribe or this one man, the orange god king down in mar-a-lago, we are willing to discredit it, attack it, throw it aside, and that's something that's quite extraordinary, and

there's no through line of love of what america actually is. there is this nostalgia for an america that they believe once existed. that's being taken away by the wrong people, and if you listen to the rhetoric, it's clear who they are talking about. i'm afraid it's going to get darker. i think about the last six months of the insurrection. it's shown us what we are willing to accept, and what's abroad now. >> that's right. >> and let's be very clear, again, the institutions that in any way checked donald trump's power are the institutions that these trump supporters seem to be turning on, whether it's the fbi, whether it's the intel community, whether it's the military, whatever it is, they will attack american institutions that conservatives long took pride in defending while they said the radical left was doing the attacking.

and, you know, mika, i couldn't help, you can't help but look at those january 6th images. >> yeah. >> and see crosses, and southern baptist, i spent a lot of time in church. that might shock a lot of people but i spent a lot of time hearing sermons and, bible verses and i must say there seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the cross as i saw there, and police officers getting the hell beaten out of them with american flags. i'm not sure what southern baptist church they went to. it certainly wasn't any i went to. >> it's domestic terrorism, an insurrection. there's no other way to look at it, yet they find themselves twisting themselves into pretzels, trying not to say this as it was. and then you have the author of hill billy elegy billy vance.

>> i remember his tweets, he attacked donald trump. >> he helped explain and helped understand trump supporters but at the same time stood for this country, and he said some things about trump that was very very tough and true. but now he's walking back his lengthy criticisms of former president trump after launching a bid for ohio's open senate seat. vance rose to prominence in 2016 after publishing that memoir which many said identified and explained the impoverished white working class in rural america, and was critical in helping to understand donald trump's victory as i said. the author and businessman now seeks trump's endorsement amid a crowded field of republican contenders. as a public service, let's run through some of what vance had

to say about trump back then. in a series of since deleted tweets unearthed by cnn's k file, vance tweeted his disdain for trump in october of 2016 writing quote trump makes people i care about afraid, immigrants, muslims, et cetera. because of this, i find him reprehensible. god wants better of us. >> god wants better of us. that's a good one. >> and another deleted tweet, posted after the leak of the infamous access hollywood tape vance wrote quote fellow christians, everyone is watching us when we apologize for this man. lord help us. and in march of 2017, vance tweeted quote, in four years, i hope people remember that it was those of us who empathized with trump's voters who fought him the most aggressively. some of his other remarks cannot be haphazardly erased.

in a february 2016 usa today op-ed entitled trump speaks for those bush betrayed. vance argued that trump's policy proposals ranged from quote immoral to absurd. two months later, vance expanded on that thought in a "new york times" op-ed writing in part quote mr. trump is unfit for our nation's highest office. vance also likened the future commander in chief to opiates, calling him quote cultural heroin. also recall that vance openly supported former cia officer evan mcmullen for the gop primary. not donald trump. in a tweet which remains visible on his profile. perhaps he overlooked that one. vance told fox news on monday, like a lot of people, i criticized trump back in 2016, and i ask folks not to judge me based on what i said in 2016

because i've been very open that i did say those critical things and i regret them, and i regret being wrong about the guy. >> whoa. let's bring in right now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent, way too early, kasie hunt, and msnbc contributor, mark barnacle. this guy is running in a republican primary and he said, oops, i messed up when he said of donald trump, quote god wants better of us, fellow christians, lord help us, people were a member who fought him the most aggressively. vance talking about himself, said donald trump's policies were immoral to absurd, said donald trump was unfit for the presidency. and said that donald trump was cultural heroin, and yes, he was right. but now he's trying to make ohio republicans that are going to vote in the primary, forget that. how effective do you think that will be? >> well, part of that is going

to depend on whether the former president himself actually believes him here, and it's interesting j.d. vance's brand and focus have been on explaining and understanding the trump voter, which clearly he did not based on, you know, what he had said before. i think the main difference here, joe, you know, i think about someone like the house speaker, paul ryan obviously took a lot of criticism for not doing enough to oppose donald trump when they both were in office. he also before the 2016 election had told everyone in his party, it is really fine to oppose this guy, he said in a private phone call, he didn't condone the access hollywood tape, et cetera. the difference is with j.d. vance, he saw four years of trump governing the country, he saw what happened, he saw january 6th. that's a completely different scenario. we have spent air time criticizing republicans that refuse to answer for the things trump did while in office.

there's plenty of video of us running down the hall ways, putting microphones in their faces and saying nothing. this guy saw everything, and now he says, hey, i want this endorsement. he knows he can't win the seat without that help, but again, i think it's worth judging him on different terms than you would judge other republicans who wanted to stay in office. some of them had opportunities to change their minds and this guy looked at all of it, and said, nope, still want that support. >> mike barnicle, he of course when he didn't think donald trump was going to get elected president, he attacked him nonstop, attacked him viciously, said god wants better of us, said that his policies were immoral to absurd, said he was unfit for the presidency. voted for a third party candidate. and then donald trump got elected president. he wants to get elected senate, suddenly all is forgotten.

>> oh, human nature is endlessly fascinating, isn't it, joe? you know, this whole thing, the conversation for the last 15 minutes or so has been interesting because if you listen to it, we really are at a pivot point in this country. and the large groups of people who are at the capitol on january 6th, those groups of people have been around in this country for a long time, for a long, long time. but finally, they have someone who can light the match for them. and that was the former president. and he lit the match, and now we're at a dangerously critical point, and charlie, with regard to j.d. vance, that's part of the critical point we're at. you campaign, people like him will campaign on fear. fear of the other. and they have built a constituency among those people that is basically based upon fear of anyone who doesn't look like you. in other words, white people. so where do you think the republican party is going to end

up? is it going to end up with two republicans parties, a congressional party that stand for no government at all or a republican party that will broaden its reach or just disappear in hatred? what do you think? >> i don't know. i would like to be optimistic about it, but i'm not. look at j.d. vance and the trajectory there. j.d. vance was right the first time around, and it's not just that he's supporting trump. he is actively dumbing himself down in this campaign. the ohio senate primary is a race to the bottom. not only who can be more trumpy, but who can be cruder about playing the cultural warfare cards. you see what's happened for people like elise stefanik, nikki haley, j.d. vance, these are people that could have been the future of an alternative republican party, that other republican party that you're talking about, well, look what they've done. look what they're doing to themselves. look how they're willing to abase themselves.

it's not just that j.d. vance is, you know, had this moment of recognition of the trump voter, but also understood that trump was heroin, it's that he's remade himself, not just remade himself in the image of trump, but remade himself into one of the crudest, dumbest versions of it. really, it is extraordinary, and you know, as you say, you know, human nature is endlessly interesting. we think we've seen all of the various versions of people abasing themselves or, you know, losing their way, but we keep seeing new versions of it, and j.d. vance is one of the more dramatic examples of that. >> what's so staggering, charlie, is this is a guy who wrote a book, and had a story that united people across political aisles. i had conservative friends, moderate friends, liberal

friends, all reading this book. mika and, our children, many of them read this book. and this is a guy that could have had a future in really either party, and -- >> i guess he's hooked now. >> why in the world, it's just like you said, elise stefanik, why in the world would they completely twist and contort themselves to try to fit into this trumpist sort of mold when this is a guy who's twice impeached. he lost the white house. he lost the senate, he lost the house. he's not going to get reelected again. why would they do that? i just, i don't understand it. >> it's just the raw ambition of it. it's the raw ambition of thinking that this is what i have to do, this is what i have to say. >> but it's stupid charlie. it's strategically, if you're ambitious, this is the opposite

of what you do. >> well, we'll see. i mean, i hope you're right about that. elise stefanik is looking around, thinking, hey, i'm number three republican, and we're going to win back the house of representatives. right now, there's no negative to being dumb, to being racist. paul gosar is openly consorting with white nationalists, what price has he paid for that. marjorie taylor greene, what price has she paid. the incentive structure now rewards the most reckless, irresponsible and some of the dumbest politicians out this, at least for the moment. i agree with you long-term, it seems like a terrible life choice but they're caught up in the moment, and so we're seeing how far are people willing to contort themselves to get power, prestige, money, clicks in the age of trump, and so you have j.d. vance, elise stefanik, nikki haley, tucker carlson, these are all people who are smart people, who could have gone a different direction, who

know exactly what they are doing. i mean, you have guys like sean hannity, who's dumb as a box of rocks, but these other guys, they know, they understand the history, they know what they are doing. they understand the match they are lighting out there. who they are encouraging and what they're doing, and they're willing to do it anyway, and that's what's so sickening about it. >> charlie, thank you very much. i wonder what joe, what the answer will be when j.d. vance is asked about the january 6th insurrection, will he lie about that? will he pretend it didn't happen? is he so hooked on this trump drug that he talked about, he tweeted about? former police captain eric adams is poised to become new york city's next mayor after being declared the winner in a hotly contested democratic primary. the a.p. called the race for the brooklyn borough president last

night after thousands of absentee ballots were counted. the new numbers saw former city sanitation commissioner kathryn garcia cut adams lead to just over 8,000 votes but with only a small amount of votes outstanding, her deficit is likely too much to overcome. adams will now go on to face the republican nominee, guardian angels founder, curtis slewa in november's general election. let's bring in a political strategist with vast experience in new york politics, susan del percio, and talk about eric adams very very tight win, it appears so far, the candidates' reactions and anything that democrats can learn about what happened here. >> well, there's a lot for democrats to learn because in fact this was the first time we had rank choice voting, so we saw candidates that some, like scott stringer, knew how to run traditional campaigns, they had

to learn to run in this environment, which was different. i think you see, you have to remember new york city politics is also very tribal, so northwest queens is different than southeast queens. they lent support all over the place. that is something to me we have to see where things broke down. when you see just 8,000 votes as a divide between two candidates in new york city, i don't see how they don't go to a recount, and maybe a manual one at that because this is a new process: >> oh, dear lord. >> i understand what you're saying, but it would almost seem like political malpractice to not go through the first challenges in court, which all three candidates did file just in case the race was this close. let's not forget, maya wiley may also be in a very interesting position. if she can show the difference it made her number two, the results can look more different,

so new york is a place where things keep moving and changing and i just wouldn't think this is all over yet. we're going to hear from maya wiley and kathryn garcia this morning. i'd be ready to hear they're going to file their challenges. >> i'm sure, susan is right, they'll challenge it, but the required number to do a count by hand is to have a half a percentage down difference as a percentage. i think, susan, the one thing i would want to raise to you, regardless of what the outcome is, i think what is interesting about this is that in liberal new york, and i say that in quotes, the quote progressive candidates, if you look at maya wiley as a self-described progressive, and morales as a self-described progressive, they, together, got about 25% of the vote, which means 3/4 of new york democratic voters voted for

a more balanced message in terms of where we go with policing, where we go with dealing with police reform, and all of that. i think the message we should not lose here is that new york is not as fringe as some people try to project, and it doesn't mean it doesn't want reform, but it also wants to deal with issues like safety and economic equality, and stability. >> that's absolutely true, rev, but one thing i would also like to add, we saw at a time in new york city where crime is spiking, in spite of some of the numbers we hear, we see things like subway crimes, things that make the news that really scare people to their core, when you can take the subway to work because you're worried about a slashing attempt, so i think that the issue of public safety was first and foremost, and maybe not as much as the managerial or reform message that was needed at this time in new york city's history. perhaps that message will work

four years from now. we'll just have to see where we are as a city. >> i agree. >> still ahead on "morning joe." mitch mcconnell promises a quote hell of a fight over infrastructure. white house press secretary jen psaki is next with the administration's response. plus, my exclusive sit down interview with valerie biden owens, president biden's sister and one of the architects of his 2020 victory. she's one of the women featured on the brand new forbes 50 over 50 impact list, which we will reveal this morning. we'll be right back. this morni. we'll be right back. welcome to allstate. ♪ ♪ you already pay for car insurance, why not take your home along for the ride?

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welcome back, it appears russia is behind a computer breach that affected the republican national committee last week.

bloomberg reports that the hackers were part of a group known as cozy bear, which has been linked to russia's foreign intelligence service. cozy bear had previously been accused of breaching the democratic national committee in 2016, and of carrying out a supply chain cyber attack involving solar winds, which infiltrated nine u.s. government agencies. an rnc spokesperson said one of its technology providers has been infiltrated but denied the rnc had been hacked in any way. president biden said over the weekend he would know more information about the kasay attack earlier this week, a separate ransomware attack by russian hackers, the largest of its kind in history. joining us now, white house press secretary jen psaki. great to see you. >> great to see you. >> we'll start right there. >> what does the president plan to do about these hacking

attacks? >> as you just said, we have not yet attributed the attack, the ransomware attack that happened over the course of the last few days. what's important for people to know since the president met with president putin just a few weeks ago, there have been ongoing, high level, expert level discussions, conversations about cyber, about ransomware, another one next week. the message these experts conveying is exactly what the president said to president putin, even if there are criminal actor, even if it's not the russian government that attacks our critical infrastructure or our country through cyber attacks we reserve the option to take action if they won't do it on their own. the president reserves that option, meeting with some of his national security experts this morning to get an update, to have a discussion about ransomware, and we'll see what we learn from there. >> jen if, in fact, this russian state actor, cozy bear, who helped infiltrate the dnc in

2016 is responsible for the rnc hack or the attempted rnc hack, how serious of an action is that by russia, and what will the president do? what will his response be? >> well, joe, as you just noted in the opening here, we haven't made that assessment. the rnc put out a statement basically saying that was not exactly what happened in their assessment, so we're not quite at that point yet. i will say broadly speaking that the president takes cyber activity, malicious cyber activity on any entity in the united states, whether it's the rnc, whether it's other private sector entity very seriously, and he did not mince words when he met with president putin conveying that would not be acceptable. even if it's an entity that's a criminal actor in russia, we reserve the right to take action. if they don't take action themselves. so those are all options that the president has at his disposal, but again, he's

meeting with his national security team this morning, not about the rnc attack but about cyber in general. and about the ransomware attack over the weekend. he'll get an update, and we'll see where we go from there. >> hey, jen, it's sam stein here, good to see you this morning. >> good to see you. >> the breaking news this morning is a reported assassination of the president of haiti. has the president been briefed on this? what kind of message does he send to the people of haiti, and what would the u.s. government do to make sure there's some semblance of stability on an already pretty shattered island there. >> you're right. we all woke up to this news this morning this horrific attack, this tragic attack on the president of haiti and his wife overnight. we're still gathering information from this side. we'll be helpful in any way to the people of haiti, the government of haiti if there's an investigation. we're still assessing, still gathering information and the

president of course will be briefed by his national security team this morning. >> that attack, joe, has been confirmed by nbc news at this point. kasie hunt has the next question. kasie. >> jen, it's good to see you this morning. i want to go back to the rnc attack and the questions on that. i'm curious if the republican national committee has reached out to the white house, to government authorities to ask for more information about it? >> i just don't have anything else to lay out for you, kasie. of course we are here to be a resource, i should say, to any entity, to private sector entities, to the rnc and others as needs arise, but the rnc put out a pretty clear statement yesterday and i don't have any other assessment from here to provide. >> let's go to mike barnicle for the next question, mike. >> there's a lot on the

president's desk as everyone knows. what are the plans for dealing with dr. no, mitch mcconnell, because there really are no politics in potholes, but it seems he doesn't want to get anything done. is the president going to have him down for a sit down in the white house and drop the hammer on him or what? >> well, first, mike, if that's constructive, i'm sure the president would be happy to do that. they have known each other for a long time. they disagree on a lot of things as you alluded to. i will note, for your viewers, yesterday, senator mcconnellwas in kentucky out doing an event and admitted he didn't support the american rescue plan, a plan that was going to deliver resources to kentucky. this sound like he's going to need to assess, that is senator mcconnell, whether he believes we should rebuild roads and railways, and bridges, whether he wants to make sure the people of kentucky, the people who elected him to represent them should have access to those resources, should benefit from this bipartisan package the president helped write.

the door to the oval office and he's always happy to have people down here, whether they agree on some things, that's governing. nothing to predict at this point in time. we'll see. >> final question, jen, have you taken note, has the white house press office taken note of over the past week, mitch mcconnell admitted in the state of kentucky that of all democratic presidents if he had to be stranded on a desert island with one, it would be joe biden. he talked about working with president biden on a piece during the obama administration, the only republican at beau's funeral. yesterday, he said, i voted against, but kentucky is getting twice the amount, and actually seemed to praise the president's willingness to work in a bipartisan way, contrasting that with democratic leaders on the hill. have you all taken note of that, do you think maybe he's trying to send a signal, what's going on. it's unusual to say the least. >> it is. of course we took note. hopefully they're not stranded

on a desert island together, i don't know that that seems fun for anybody. i will say the president has been friend and has known senator mcconnell for a long time. they disagree on a lot, including the agenda and how to move the country forward but the president is going to continue to look for ways to work together. no one thought we could come together on a bipartisan agreement just a couple of weeks ago. no one thought they would see the president of the united states standing outside the front of the white house with democrats and republicans and agreeing on something. our muscles have atrophied on bipartisanship and policy making in washington. the president is an optimist. and if senator mcconnell wants to get work done together, he's open to that. we took note of what he said and certainly what he said in kentucky yesterday as well. >> white house press secretary jen psaki, thank you. always good to see you. >> thank you. great to talk with you. and coming up, u.s. track sensation sha'carri richardson

has been left off the roster for the upcoming tokyo olympics. we'll talk about that. plus, my exclusive interview with presidential confidant, long time political strategist and the president's younger sister, valerie biden owens. keep right here on "morning joe." e biden owens. keep right here on "morning joe.

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yesterday that forbes and know your value will continue shining a light on women over 50. last month we unveiled the first 50 over 50 list after receiving an unexpected and unprecedented amount of nominations. and we knew the story didn't end there. so this morning, we are unveiling 50 over 50 impact, a list of the women who are changing their industries and communities through their work in politics, law, education, and social entrepreneurship. the full impact list is coming up a bit later in the show.

one of those women featured is valerie biden owens, she's leading us off this morning. the political strategist, campaign manager, educator, as president biden's 75-year-old sister and one of the architects behind his november victory, and i recently sat down with her for an exclusive interview. >> so val biden at 20, 25, 30 years old, did you ever imagine your career after 50? >> no. i didn't have a game plan, but i always knew i wanted to be in the game, and i i wanted to be alert and alive and vibrant with my family in my own home, and i also wanted to be alert and vibrant outside my home at the world at large, so i didn't know where i would be at 50. i knew from the beginning at 20 and 25 that my brother was in

public -- was going to seek public office, and i knew that wherever he was going to go, i was going to go with him because. >> he needed you. >> well, we have been best friends my whole life. he told me since i was a little girl, mika, that whatever he could do, he said i could do better. he said, come on, val, we have places to go, and things to do and people to see, and off we went. and his journey in politics, you know, he took me along with him, and i've managed his campaigns and, you know, for seven consecutive senate races and the two bids for the presidency. so i have been with him all along, and in the meantime, it was only after 50, that i started to go on side journeys or adventures of my own. >> you said you have been with him pretty much every step of the way, that's through the

highest of highs and the lowest of lows when you think of the biden journey. >> well, it's called family. >> yeah. >> and a tight family is a blessing, but with a tight family, you also for every high that you that you go together, you then -- you go on the lows together, too. mom said from -- we were raised to believe that we were a gift to one another, and we did believe it. so we've stuck together. i have three brothers. i'm telling you -- the hardest is the elder one. it's not easy raising an older brother. >> i know. >> i'm going right to heaven. >> i've got two. one dem and one republican. >> well, you have some work to do. >> i have a little work to do. i hear you, as you know. so i'm curious, though,

careerwise, especially in our generation, i feel like young women even today, they plan -- we like plans. we're interested in sort of knowing where we're going, what we're doing. but i never planned after 50 my career. i never even thought about it. did you? >> no. and i think that -- first of all, there is a great deal to be said about planning and preparing, and to the extent that i planned for -- i didn't know what i was planning for, but education was the key in our family. so my parents told us we could do whatever we wanted to do, but education was the key, and that we had to work hard. after that, what i have learned after 50, is that in spite of how much you plan and in spite of how much you prepare, that life has a way of interrupting.

and there's no accounting for what life dishes out for you. there's only accounting for how you deal with it. so you've got to -- you've got to stay in the game when -- my mom told us that failure in everyone's life was inevitable, but that giving up was unforgivable. so i have had an aid in my faith. my faith has given me courage, and my courage has given me strength to get back up and to keep moving forward, and that's what power is. i think that's raw power, pulling it together, getting up and you're not going to let them get you down and you're going to keep going. >> that is so biden. it is very, very biden.

>> genes will out. >> that's for sure. >> if you do the right things at the right times for the right reasons, the real stumbling block -- it doesn't always come out the right way that you thought it should. it is -- life just has a way of unfolding. so you just have to be open. it doesn't mean you sit back and say, oh, what will be will be. no, you keep working to be the best that you can, and then you make things happen when you see opportunity. >> was there ever a time that life interrupted too much though? >> well, clearly to me is when beau died. what are you talking about? this magnificent young man is 46 years old. he's a husband, he's a father, he's a son, he's a nephew, he's the attorney general. he's going on to hopefully

continue in government and was looking at considering being governor -- running for governor and he has brain cancer? oh, yeah. my brother has used an expression from keerk guard. it's extremely appropriate i think. faith sees best in the dark. and i am a catholic school girl. i am a practicing catholic because i get solace out of it. i do say the rosery. i do pray to st. therese is a. i prey for strength, not an outcome. i pray for the strength to deal with whatever it is. >> i'm trying to especially make sure that this powerful list of women sends a message to much younger women than us, who are

in their 20s and 30s, who are rushing and they're trying to fit everything in, and they feel like they don't have time. they're not even thinking about 50. did you have a moment when you realized, i'm going to be in the game a lot longer than i thought? i may not have planned 50, but at 60 or 65, i'm -- is there a good message for young women, whoa, calm down, slow down? >> well, the initial reaction of i've got to do this and go, there's a part of me that says yeah, go for it, girl, do it. but there's a caveat that i have learned in my wisdom of being older, and that is be careful what you wish for. >> yes. >> just think back. how about if you had gotten that first job that you were just -- you couldn't wait to get your

hands on or the guy that you were crazy about, and he was going to be the perfect person for you. what would have happened if you had ended up with him? you have to trust in yourself, and you have to have some confidence that, you know, not everything works out the way you think it's supposed to at the time, but you're going to go and you're going to make it work out. what i would say to these young people, be open. serendipity plays such a greater role in our lives than we would ever figure. so i've got the plan. i've got the purpose. i've got the education. i'm going for this, and then life interrupts. serendipity is our friend if you're just open and say, hmm, i never thought of that. >> mika, such a powerful interview. faith sees best in the dark.

it really is -- you heard about her faith throughout that interview and just the strength, praying for strength, not outcome, but praying for strength. >> she's practical and inspiring at the same time. i love talking to her. i loved every moment of it. >> mike barnicle, you have known val for a long time. she has been such a foundation to joe biden and that family throughout his life. best friends. >> well, you just outlined it, joe, her faith, her strength, her beliefs in her religion, obviously, her catholic religion, and her brother. she's always been the family's true north. not just her brother, the president's true north, but the family's true north. she and jill anybody trying to get close to the president, they

have an eye for fakers. >> 100%. stay tuned. that was val biden. we'll reveal the full 50 over 50 impact list in our next hour of "morning joe." so stay tuned for that. ahead, we'll stories of other presidential confidants, including the friend who convinced harry truman to recognize the state of israel when the president was said to be wavering. author of the book about the powerful unsung and unelected people who shaped our presidents' will joins us. amid crisis and violent crime across the nation, new york becomes the first state to declare a disaster emergency over guns. we'll explain how that changes the fight against crime there. we're back in just one minute with a packed 8:00 a.m. hour. there's interest you accrue, and interests you pursue.

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good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, july 7th. with us we have white house editor for politico sam stein, former aide for the george w. bush white house and state departments elise jordan, and host of msnbc's "politics nation" and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton is with us this morning. we'll begin with former police captain eric adams, poised to become new york city's next mayor after being declared the winner in a hotly contested democratic primary. the a.p. called the race for the brooklyn borough president last night after thousands of absentee ballots were counted. the new numbers saw former city sanitation commissioner kathryn garcia cut adam's lead to just over 8,000 votes. with only a small amount of votes outstanding, her deficit is likely too much to overcome. adams will now go on to face the republican nominee, guardian

angels founder curtis slee la in the november general election. >> reverend al, before we dig into this, let's just talk about what we've seen in this race. it really shows how much -- how much you understand, not only your city, but your constituents, your congregates, i should say, and those who consider you being an advocate for them. you have for years been trying to explain to, as you call them, latte liberals, where a lot of people of color are. they don't why pie in the sky pronouncements and policy proposals. they want their streets safe.

they want good jobs. they want basics. here we have conservatives and moderates doing extraordinarily well in this new york mayor's race and progressives not faring quite so well. talk about the likely winner on the democratic side. what does that tell you about, not just new york politics, but national politics. >> eric adams put together a broad coalition that i think shows where we are going in the future of the democratic party nationally. you must remember he won four of the five boroughs including staten island. there was a time it was unimaginable for a black candidate for mayor to win staten island. he won staten island. at the same time we saw a broad coalition in the borough of manhattan elect a black to the

district attorney's nomination. you look at alvin bragg's race for the district attorney in manhattan, a very prestigious position, first time a black got it and eric adams at the same time, same primary. both of them ran as one that understood the police reform movement that people like me have been part of, but the need for safety. both of them came down the middle of saying we must deal with inequality, but we also must deal with how the city is going to function, and i think that many of our people are in the democratic party or in the so-called left, have confused noise is what is sound. you can make noise as long as what you're making noise about is sound. people want to be safe at the same time they want to see reform. >> elise jordan, you can look at what happened in new york city, of course look what happened in

the democratic primary in 2020. joe biden really the one moderate in the entire field. i think most people would say, ended up winning the race. and you look at the crime sprees that are going across the united states right now. crime rates going up, certainly rates for murder and violent crimes going up, gun crimes going up. boy, there sure are a lot of parallels, it seems, with what we saw back in the 1970s. and democrats -- democratic primary voters in queens, in the bronx, staten island, brooklyn, responded by electing the most conservative candidate they could elect, a former cop who is not going to do what a lot of

people in the far left have been asking for over the past few years. >> joe, defund the police is a losing message for democrats. we see that in this race, and we're going to see it in other races where americans are responding to the increase of crime in their communities. you look at what happened in new york city and it played out on the ground here among some of the most liberal voters in the country, but they want a safe city, and they want the police to be adequately funded. they're not asking for overkill. we don't need to have military vehicles in our downtown cities. we don't need to have a militarized police force, but we don't want to abolish the police completely. the concept of defund the police, just the radicalism of what it would mean in theory, it scares democratic voters. it scares enough of them where it's going to hurt the party if they don't get their messaging

straight on it. >> joining us now, city hall and politics reporter for wnyc bridget bergin. bridget, let's go back to the new york city election itself. how are the candidates responding to the outcome here, eric adams, but also those who did not win given just how it played out and how complicated this has been? >> well, we heard a clear declaration of victory from eric adams last night, talked about putting together this coalition of five borough support. we heard statements that were slightly more unclear from both kathryn garcia and maya wiley, the two candidates who were his closest competitors, both talking about not quite fully conceding. in the case of maya wiley talking about really one of the other issues that has been the elephant in the room during this race, which is the conduct of

the new york city board of elections and its ability to execute a fair and transparent election. >> brigid, i was going to ask you about that. i'm not sure this was the most confidence inspiring election of all time. there was an error the board of elections had about a week ago. what are the actual prospects of reform for the board of elections going forward. a common refrain after every mayoral election, the needs to adjust and modernize and get up with the times. this, in particular, seems like a catapult for some reforms. what would it entail and what are the prospects for it? >> we heard from state lawmakers, increasing cries to make reforms. there are pieces of state legislation that could take effect soon that could help modernize the agency in the short term, give more powers to the set of co-executive directors as opposed to just the

ten commissioners from each of the boroughs that currently make a lot of the decisions, but to really structurally overhaul the agency would require a state constitutional change, and that's a process that takes time. it needs to go through two consecutive legislative sessions, and then before voters. so what this will require is continued energy and focus by state lawmakers if they really do want to make an overhaul that would change the agency from being a bastian of partisan politics to being a professional, non-partisan agency. >> brigid, break down the numbers for us if you can. i know it's still too early. it seemed eric adams had a pretty comfortable lead after the first round of voting. maya was in second place. then you had, of course, going through i guess the night -- i'd

have a heart attack going through nine rounds. i couldn't handle. that. one round was too much. how did things shake out where this race got so close? do you have any insights for viewers who wonder what happened to maya wiley, how she dropped down to third and then how kathryn garcia got so close at the end. where did her strength come from? >> i think there are a couple of issues at play here, joe. number one, the results we got on primary night were only the first choice votes of people who voted in person on primary night and during early voting, and then they did not apply the rank choice voting algorithm to them on those initial results. so, had they done that, essentially what we learned last week once they gave us the corrected numbers is what we might have known on primary night had they applied it so we could have seen this was a

closer race to begin with. that's number one. number two, we had 125,000 outstanding absentee ballots in addition to affidavit ballots cast during the primary. when those ballots were counted, we saw the margins narrow. kathryn garcia who came in second place, picked up a larger share of those ballots and saw her -- she was coming behind eric adams by about 15,000 votes last week. that slimmed down to about 8,400 votes this week. so she picked up some numbers, but it us wasn't enough. in new york the margin needs to be even closer if you were to, say, trigger a manual recount. you would have to come within .5%, and that's something in the neighborhood of 500 votes. even though we know there are still some ballots outstanding, we know there's still some counting to be done, it doesn't appear that either kathryn

garcia or maya wiley who fell further behind in this latest count would have enough to overcome the lead that eric adams currently has without some votes being disqualified. >> wow, but what a tight race. especially the top three. >> city hall and politics reporter for wnyc brigid bergin, thank you so much for helping us through this. still ahead, more on the issue that helped propel eric adams to victory, crime in new york city and other major cities across the nation including an extremely violent july 4th weekend. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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governor andrew cuomo yesterday issued an executive order declaring gun violence a

disaster emergency as part of a new strategy to curb gun-related crime in the state. nbc's gabe gutierrez explains. >> chilling surveillance video shows a masked gunman in new york city dressed in black, calmly walking up behind another man and shooting him in the back. also in new york, a man on a scooter opens fire as bystanders scramble for cover. >> today, the first state in the nation is going to declare a disaster emergency on gun violence. >> reporter: among other things, new york state will now require large police departments to submit data on shootings to track hot spots. in many major cities nationwide homicides are surging, up 33% in los angeles compared to 2019 and 40% in chicago where it was an especially brutal holiday weekend. 100 people shot, 18 dead. >> there are too many illegal

guns in our city and too little consequences in the courts. >> reporter: here in new york, while homicides are up overall compared to last year, there is some good news. the nypd says they dropped 23% in june. back to you. >> across the country, oakland police are investigating a massive crime wave over the holiday weekend. the city's police chief is calling it one of the most violent fourth of julys he's ever seen after the department responded to 12 hours of non-stop chaos. the violence overwhelmed officers who responded to seven shootings, two deaths and a huge side show, an informal demonstration of automotive stunts often held in vacant lots overnight involving nearly 300 people. officers were pelted with debris and flashed with hand-held lasers. also in california, target and

walgreens are increasing security in some cities amid a rise in store theft and crime. according to a new report by the california retailers association, los angeles, san francisco and sacramento are among the cities with the most organized retail crime in the country and as a result are closing stores early. target stores in san francisco are now closing at 6:00 p.m. and some as early as 5:00 p.m., a stark contrast with most of the chain stores that stay open until 10:00 p.m. a video from last month showed a man stealing items in a san francisco walgreens and leaving a store on his bike with the goods as security guards and onlookers filmed the incident. >> reverend al, this is the crime wave that we've been talking about. it's been happening -- crime rates have skyrocketed after really having historic lows in

2017-2018 in places like new york city and across the country. can you talk about this new crime wave again? we can talk about eric adams and his victory, but also talk about, as you were saying, the political rallies on the ground. defund the police, that's the last thing americans are going to want right now. it's going to require a balance. talk about the real concerns in black and brown communities for this rising crime wave. >> it is a very, very serious problem. i was a place called beebee arkansas yesterday doing the eulogy at a funeral of a young white teenager named hunter britton that was killed by police. the irony is when i got to little rock, joe, to prepare for the sermon yesterday, a black that was working in the

restaurant said, i hope you go over to what was the black community and talk about these kids shooting each other. four kids killed each other over the weekend. there is just as much concern about what is going on with gun violence, this kind of violence that you're talking about. in chicago, 100 people shot over the weekend. we must have the balance of outrage where we are outraged if police do things in blue uniforms, but outrage when we have people in blue jeans that are openly being criminal acting like it's normal in our community. it is not normal. it should not be accepted. coming unfortunate, afghan troops have taken over the fight against the taliban. nbc's richard engel takes us inside one of the latest fire fights as u.s. troops withdraw. "morning joe" is coming right back. g right back

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baby ninjas? i love it. to afghanistan now. the pentagon announced yesterday that the u.s. withdrawal from the country is now more than 90% complete, leaving afghan forces to battle the taliban. nbc's richard engel was on the ground there as a fierce

firefight broke out, and he filed this report. >> reporter: in a taliban-controlled area outside kabul, afghanistan's best troops huddle. they'll raid a safe house and kill or capture the taliban inside. before, these elite troops had american support, shoulder to shoulder. no longer. >> what is it like now fighting all on your own, no american support? >> we are ready to fight. if we die, we don't care about it. we are ready. >> reporter: they head out in old american humvees, at one point slowing to a crawl, seeing what looks like roadside bomb. >> an ied, like an explosive. >> reporter: the ied may have been a false alarm. they push on now on foot, quietly. they hope to surprise the taliban. >> the building they're closing in on is actually a mosque. they think there are 15 taliban fighters inside. >> reporter: soon the commando on point spots a taliban

fighter. they've clearly lost the element of surprise, so now it's just a straight-up fight, wherever you can find it. they finally made it. this is their target. no idea what could be waiting inside. >> reporter: they look through the mosque's windows, but the taliban are gone. >> they escaped? >> yes, taliban escaped. >> reporter: the taliban haven't gone far. the commandos kill three of them in hiding, and an afghan air strike kills three more. >> this mission is very good and very successful for ours. >> reporter: but is it enough? the taliban are making rapid advances. the u.s.-trained afghan army is crumbling, losing or surrendering a third of its posts in the last few weeks. so now it's mainly up to the commandos, a small but motivated

fighting force to stop the taliban from taking over. richard engel, nbc news, afghanistan. >> elise, we need to get used to saying these sort of stories. >> incredible. >> earlier last year, the kurds complaining the u.s. abandoned them in the reports that we left bagram air force base in the middle of the night and didn't even notify the afghans. the biden administration needs to be prepared to see reports like this for months and months. it's only going to get worse, isn't it? >> joe, it's just not going to be a pretty withdraw, a clean withdraw, anything that remotely looks like victory. even if we stayed another 20 years, it's not like it necessarily would have been that much better. but i do think we could do better by our afghan allies, by

at least letting them know we're abandoning a huge massive air base and community that at one time when i was there was about 80,000 people living on bagram air base. it is kind of mind blowing that we crept out in the dead of the night. just there in loeg gar province where richard was embedded, that's never been exactly a very safe place. there wasn't even that great of security even back in the late 2000s, 2010, 2011, so on. really, scenes like that, wow. we have to do our best to get visas for all the afghans who worked with us for so many years at such great sacrifice and personal security risk. we cannot keep them in limbo. we need to keep our promises as they are allies who helped keep so many americans alive over so

many years of war as they struggle now and need to get out of the country. up next, from the man who saved aefb lincoln from depression to the woman who served as a confidant to fdr during the great depression. a fresh look at several u.s. presidents through the stories of the friends who helped them along the way. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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in 1980 when i lost my bid for re-election as governor in the reagan landslide, vernon jordan called hillary on the phone and said, you got any grits down there and have you learned how to make them being the yankee girl and all? she said, yes. he said, well, i'm coming to

breakfast. he flew all the way to little rock just to have breakfast with us when i was the youngest former governor in the history of the country. >> former president bill clinton speaking about one of his closest friends and advisers, vernon jordan. their friendship is one of those pro filed in the new book "first friends: the powerful unsung and unelected people who shaped our presidents." its author, gary ginsberg joins us. sam stein and susan del percio joining us as well. >> gary, what a great book. let's start right there. tell us about vernon jersey shore jordan, playing such a pivotal role in bill clinton's wife. >> first i have to say, hillary went out and bought instant

grits. she didn't make the grits, i learned from her. what surprised me most about this clinton/jordan friendship is how much clinton relied on jordan throughout his life and presidency. as you just showed, without vernon, we may never have hollywood bill clinton as president. he was that distraught when vernon went down there in 1980 and basically said, you've got to stay in the game. he gave him a really stern talking to. two years later bill clinton was governor again. when he was elected president a decade later, clinton offered vernon any job he wanted, wanted him to be attorney general. he said no, i can be more valuable as your first friend. any time clinton needed help, he'd say call vernon. he was there every time. he was involved in every major personnel position, helped him on key policy decisions. most importantly, he was clinton's main source of relaxation, whether on the golf course or anywhere else. one of the reasons why i think

he relied on jordan so much is because he had the best judgment, the best political intelligence of really anybody around him, including his staff. when clinton was impeached over lying about his affair with monica lewinsky, vernon could have cut and run, but instead he stayed by his best friend and helped him avoid conviction. >> let's talk about a president who is always at the top of the list in every presidential ranking that i've seen, abraham lincoln. i've done a deep dive over lincoln's life over the past year and a half, and one of the things that really shocked me was how close he came, by most accounts, to committing suicide. he had such a crippling depression that most -- so many of his friends thought he was going to take his own life. he had a friend there that helped him get through that. talk about that really close

friendship. >> he did. his friendship was with joshua speed who owned a store in springfield, illinois. they slept in the same bed together for four years. what you're describing now was 1841, four years into their friendship sleeping together, i would say asexually. he breaks off his engagement with mary todd. it's so bad that speed had to remove all sharp objects from lincoln's room, including his razors so he couldn't kill himself and he nurses him back to health. what's interesting is 20 years later when lincoln is elected president, one of his first meet tinges is with joshua speed to ask him to join his government. speed says no, making too much money ironically as a slave owner. he said i'll do something better. he said i'll make sure kentucky

does not secede. he made sure that arms get to pro union forces. he advises him on how to talk about the war with ken tuckians. lincoln goes on to win the war and keep the union in talk. >> of course, the letters between those two, really debating slavery, i think are some of the most ill lum nating to get an insight into lincoln's evolving view on slavery. we've got sam stein with us. he wants to ask you a question, gary. sam. >> hey, sam. >> hey. how are you doing? i want you, if you can, to psychoanalyze presidents and why they are reliant on these close friendships for advice and counsel? what is it about the job? it's an extremely pressurized situation, to say the least, but also quite isolating, i would imagine, having all that attention and power and rivalries around you.

so what is it about the job that requires a close compatriot, a friendship, to do it well in your estimation? >> i'm not a psychologist, but i think quite simply, presidents are no different than we are. they need companionship, they need somebody in their life just like we need in our life. i think we've all been reminded of the importance of friendship coming out of this pandemic, when we couldn't have that physical presence of friends that we all need in our life to become full people, to feel complete. when you're in trouble, who do you call? you're not going to call your chief of staff if you have a serious emotional issue. you want to call your best friend who has known you for a good chunk of your life, who can appreciate what you're going through in a way that staff can't. so i think, in addition to what you just said, sam, it's a really lonely job. fdr in particular felt that loneliness more than any president. he had a friend daisy who didn't

advice him. she was a constant companion and gave him that respite he so desperately needed. he'd have 22 meetings in a day and all he would want to do is with dizzy. i'd want to crawl into a hole. he wanted to sit with the one fern who gave him comfort. >> when eleanor was around fdr, she would lobby him and want to bring progressive friends around. with eleanor, there was no sitting around. she was constantly working, constantly lobbying him, and it was work. so that's interesting about that relationship. another fascinating relationship that you talk about that i was really intrigued by when i wrote my book on truman was truman's relationship with eddy jacobson, the guy that went into a haberdashery business with him. he never asked truman for a single political favor their

entire lifetime, and then he asked him to do something that hardly anybody else in the government wanted him to do, and that was recognize the state of israel. even george marshal, the man he respected the most, truman, the man he almost worshipped, told him this would be a terrible, terrible mistake and did not do it. dean achison was against it. everybody he respected was against it. his friend, eddie jacobson lobbied him and lobbied him hard and that made a difference. talk about that. >> first of all, i love the way you described it in your book. you know the story as well as i do. they ran a haberdashery together for a couple years in kansas city. it fails in the early '20s, but they stay best friends when truman becomes president. i think it was a relationship built on total trust, total candor. jacobson could fly halfway across the country and march uninvited into the oval office

one day in march of 1948 and essentially convince the president to meet with someone who was until then, this great british scientist who came up with a way to mass produce acetone which helped britton win the war in 1917. he gets him to do what you just said, joe. he knew what truman felt was right, recognize an independent state of israel. no aide or cabinet secretary could have spoken to him in that way. he said you have a hero in andrew jackson. i have a hero with heim whites man. don't resist, harry. harry listens to him. two months later harry is the first foreign leader to recognize the independent state of vale israel 11 minutes after it's prepared. >> gary, it's susan del percio. jfk, we know his family was intwined with his presidency and known as his chosest adviser,

especially his brother. whabt about his closest friend? >> if you ask people, you'll hear bobby, ben bradley, dave pollard. i decided to ask kennedy's daughter caroline. she gave me a much more interesting, historically accurate answer. david ormsby gore. they both were second sons to powerful fathers. they both loved to talk fast. they loved to go to horse races, play golf. they bonded instantly, becomes great friends for the next 25 years. by the time kennedy becomes president, gore and his wife sissy are the kennedy's favorite weekend companions. at their third child lived, sissy gore would have been the godmother. he becomes the most influential foreign policy adviser. even though he was a british

citizen and at the time british ambassador to the u.s. he was in the white house constantly during the cuban missile crisis. he was the single and most effective advocate, convincing kennedy to sign the limited nuclear test ban treaty in 1963 which basically begins the end of the cold war. one of my favorite friendships. it's substantive and actually changes the world for the better. >> talk about how it's often the little things, though, that get these presidents through many of their toughest times. you brought up the fdr example. i always remember a kol let me from 10, 15 years ago of maureen department of defense, where she was talking about sometimes it was the little things that got presidents through tough times. she talked about pat nixon making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. it was a small, small thing but it kept nixon going, and maureen gave all these other examples.

they're humans. sometimes they just -- whatever it is. her point was, i don't care what it is. whatever it is, if it helps the president, yeah, make that peanut butter and jelly sandwich. >> listen, when i talked to hillary about bill's relationship with vernon, she said, look, every president needs someone that they can feel comfortable and relaxed around, go play golf, go have a meal. nixon was a really dark, bruting guy, but he was smard enough to know he couldn't be left alone. if it was up to him, he would sit with his yellow legal pad all day and broad. he found bibi rah bows sew, he's the exact opposite. his first job was an airline steward. together, it just worked. nixon thankfully knew he needed human company. and he was the perfect company. he never challenged nixon.

he could entertain him when he wanted to be entertained, mix martinis, cook steaks. that gave nixon -- to the extent he had any relaxation or normal see, bibi was the guy who provided that. you see that throughout history with other friends. >> the new book is "first friends: the powerful, unsung and unelected people who shaped our presidents." gary ginsberg, thank you for being on this morning. the olympic games are now just 16 days away. the fastest woman in america won't be competing at any events in tokyo. nbc news senior national correspondent tomamalama explais why. >> sha'carri richardson will not be competing in the tokyo olympics. usa track and field announcing

she won't run the 4 by 100 relay. she earned a ticket to tokyo with with that dramatic victory at the u.s. olympic trials. >> i want the world to know that i'm that girl. >> reporter: following that jubilation, the 21-year-old tested positive for marijuana, a banned substance. >> i know what i'm supposed to do, what i'm allowed not to do and i still made that decision. >> reporter: richardson was suspended for a month and disqualified from running the 100 meter at the olympics. her suspension ends before the relay. more than half a million people signed a petition to let her run. u.s. track and field said they support re-evaluating the rules surrounding marijuana use, but we must also maintain fairness for all the athletes. as tokyo puts the final touches on the olympics, this news no

doubt will disappoint fans. richardson has vowed to come back stronger, promising to be a world champion next year. >> nbc's tom llamas, thank you very much. up next, how the lifting of pandemic restrictions has inspired many to give back, and it involves haircuts. we'll explain that. plus, meet more of the women on the 50 over 50 impact list announced this morning. keep it right here on "morning joe." asthma attacks i' ad. but my nunormal with nucala? fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection-site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your doctor about nucala. find your nunormal with nucala.

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click or call to switch ♪♪ welcome back to "morning joe." one of the more visual casualties of the pandemic shutdown was haircuts, at least professional ones. now that we're back in salons and barber shops, hair donations have more than doubled. nbc's kristen dahlgren has the story. >> reporter: for many, the pandemic made for a long year, in more ways than one. >> when was your last haircut? >> about three months before the pandemic. >> reporter: now, as americans get back to grooming, many are also giving back to those in need. >> i average between 75 and 100 pony tails a day. >> reporter: boxes of hair now reach the ceiling. nationwide, donations are up more than 135%.

>> how many pony tails would you estimate you have in this building? >> i'm going to say probably 60,000. >> reporter: for some like olivia, it's personal. her mom had breast cancer. >> my mom said one of the hardest parts was looking in the mirror and having no hair and thinking just about cancer. >> reporter: pamela barr received her big after breast cancer took her hair. >> when you look at yourself in the mirror, what do you think? >> i see myself as beautiful. i don't feel insecure anymore. >> reporter: a true gift for everyone involved. >> we've all been through this storm together and if we can really reach out and truly help others, maybe we will become a better society. >> reporter: finding silver lining in a few snips and a fresh start. >> there it is. >> that's a lot of hair. >> reporter: kristen dahlgren, nbc news. turning to the newest chapter in the 50 over 50 project between forbes and know

your value. it's the 50 over 50 impact list, the collection of women over the age of 50 changing the world through politics, education, law, and social entrepreneurship and it marks an expansion of the 50 over 50 list, launched last month. here now to explain how this latest one-of-a-kind list came together is forbes women editor, maggie mcgrath, and chief content editor of forbes, randall lane. randall, this is an expansion. explain why. >> we've gotten so overwhelmed. this is really a moment where we talk about 50 over 50, women over 50 having a moment. what's happening now, disruption, with the economy, hiring, with flexibility at work, the world needs this undertaped resource, which is women over 50. and we've had over 10,000 applications for this list.

so what we're doing is expanding this initiative and going into new lists and areas, and going around the world to really tap this under-tapped resource. >> so, maggie, let's look at some of the women on this list who are so fascinating and so unbelievably impactful. 52-year-old pamela wen. let's start with her. >> she is the founder of nonprofit restore her. she did not start as an activist. she was a registered nurse and she was sentence to do prison time in 2009 for mail. she served 78 months, and was pregnant at the time she entered prison. she was shackled and fell and subsequently miscarried. after she was released in 2013, she founded restore her to advocate for women who are in prison and particularly those who might be pregnant. she successfully pushed for legislation that bans shack ling

in solitary confinement for pregnant people in 15 states. >> on the younger side, she's 52. randall, we have an 81-year-old on the list. there are many like her. >> listen, everybody in silicon valley knows her and she's a legend. here's somebody that's over 80. not only has she mothered and raised three incredible women, so you've got ann, who is a new billionaire. janet is an anthropologist. she's incredible on her own right. she's been california teacher of the year. she's helping google launch an education initiative and she's

written a best seller about how to raise children. this was all over the age of 50. i've spent time with her. she is sharp as a tack at 80 years old and going strong. >> to 64-year-old val demings, who is such a star. >> here is an example, when we talk about life beginning at 50, she began police chief of orlando at 50, then became a congressperson and was on joe biden's short list for vp. now she's engaged with what will be the highest profile senate race next year. she's taking on marco rubio. here is somebody who had a great career as a police officer, but it was only when she was 50 that she hit the national level. very impressive person. >> and maggie, 68-year-old linda thomas greenfield. tell us about her. >> she had a more than three decade career in the foreign service and retired from that career in 2017 and went to work

for a private firm. but in 2020 when president joe biden called, she agreed to serve as the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. she has what she calls a gumbo approach to diplomacy. she's from louisiana. she makes gumbo everywhere she goes because she believes it brings together disparate elements and makes them work is a great analogy for diplomacy. >> i absolutely love that. this is so incredible. you can find out much more about the 50 over 50 impact list at forbes.com, but, maggie, it's not over yet. we're going to be doing another list next month. can you tell us about it? >> correct, we are doing the vision list. it is our list of visionaries, artistic and scientistic visionaries, people who are wowing the world with their creations, and that will come in august. >> check out the impact list at forbes.com. maggie mcgrath and randall lane, thank you, both, very much.

time now for final thoughts. joe scarborough. >> thank you, mika. i want to end where we began this morning. unfortunately some sad news out of chicago. three police officers, according to "associated press," shot outside the police department. more reports of people getting killed in chicago and across this country. this is an issue that shape the new york city mayor's race, made it, actually, a national race, a race of national import. and it's something that we all need our leaders focusing on in the days and months ahead. also, mika, today president carter and mrs. carter's 75th wedding anniversary. >> they're amazing. that does it for us this morning. chris jansen picks up the coverage right now.

hi, there. i'm in for stephanie ruhle. it is wednesday, july 7th. here's what's happening. as we speak, tropical storm elsa is charging up the west coast of florida. nearly half of that state this morning under a state of emergency. residents warned of potential life-threatening storm surges, flooding and isolated tornadoes. and just south of key west, a rescue mission. the coast guard pulling 15 people out of dangerous waters, releasing these dramatic images while nine are still believed to be missing. thankfully, the storm mostly missed surfside, florida, where crews have pulled eight more bodies from the rubble. this morning our first close-up look at that site and a status hearing for one of at least five lawsuits filed in connection with the condo collapse. and two big battles on capitol hill. a republican leader vowing a hell of a fight over infrastructure, and then later this hour president biden