getting up too early with us this morning. thank you, the viewers, for doing the same. we'll see you back here at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow for "way too early." of course "morning joe" starts right now. >> why didn't you deny calling the president a moron. >> that's an old question. >> you understand by not answering the question, some people thought you were confirming the story. >> i think i've answered the question. >> you think you answered the question? >> i've answered the question. >> did you call the president a moron? >> i'm not going to dignify the question. >> well, you remember that when rex tillerson refused to say whether or not he called donald trump a moron. nancy pelosi isn't nearly that shy when it comes to kevin mccarthy. >> the mask mandate, speaker pelosi, any response to the backlash? >> that's the purview of the

capitol physician, official mandate from him. i have nothing to say about that. except we honor it. >> leader mccarthy says it's against the such. >> he's such a moron. >> why did the house speaker speak out? because house republicans are playing down covid as it makes a comeback across the country. as far as the former president goes, he has so far failed to sabotage a bipartisan infrastructure plan that just cleared a major hurdle in congress. is trump losing his grip on the gop? good morning, and welcome to "morning joe," it's thursday, july 29th, it's good to have you all on board with us. senators celebrated with us yesterday after finally coming to an agreement on a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. the break through came after weeks of disagreements over sticking points such as public transit, how to fund it and all

of that. within hours of announcing the deal, senate majority leader, chuck schumer, moved to hold a procedural vote exactly one week after the previous vote failed. it passed with every democrat and 17 republicans, including minority leader, mitch mcconnell, signing on. the deal still faces several obstacles to becoming law and needs to clear votes in in the closely divided senate and house. president biden celebrated the agreement in a statement, quote, this deal signals to the world that our democracy can function, deliver and do big things. >> those are big things. mika, in fact, that's something that donald trump tried to do for years. we heard about infrastructure week for years, didn't we? >> remember that. >> he just couldn't do it. he was incapable, kept coming up short. >> he wasn't able to finalize an infrastructure deal and as you

mentioned, infrastructure week almost became a running joke during his presidency. he repeatedly denounced the current bipartisan effort as a deal grew closer. and in a statement released the same day senators announced they reached a final deal, trump it quote a loser for the usa, terrible deal and makes republicans look weak, foolish and dumb. makes an easy path for dems to get beyond what anyone thought was possible in future legislation. >> let's bring in reporter for associated press, jonathan lemire, katty kay from bbc and for punch bowl need jake sherman. when you saw that mitch mcconnell's name was attached, that is quite a move, if you look at the arc of this deal, that's quite an accumulation of names to get 17 republicans,

including mitch mcconnell. you know this thing is bipartisan, and it's going to make it through. >> yeah, mcconnell signing on, joe, is a big deal. and obviously a number of republicans followed suit. more than i think a lot of observers anticipated. this is not just a token couple of republicans, it's a big number and it fulfills something that the white house has desperately wanted. president biden he campaigned as someone who could reach across the aisle, he has governed in a way he said repeatedly, no, i can work with republicans, i can get this done. this is a landmark deal, the biggest infrastructure investment in in generations and one they are very happy about. we're not all the way done. we'll go through it i'm sure as the morning goes along, plenty of twists and turns ahead here. but it is significant. it's significant for the white house, for this president who said this is something they wanted to do. i feel like a lot of republicans can read poll numbers and

infrastructure is very popular among voters of both parties and this is a moment they see something they could make a deal on. now, does this lead to a new era of feelings in bipartisan, that's unlikely. we're seeing it against a backdrop of real tension in the house of representatives over mask mandates, over the january 6th hearings that played out so emotionally this week. this may be a one-shot deal, this idea of getting an infrastructure program signed, sealed and delivered, but it's a big step and one the white house is happy about. >> if you're a republican senator and looking at what's going on in the house the day before, just absolutely disgraceful behavior by some republicans in the house watching the testimony -- the strong testimony of those police officers who were beaten and brutalized by donald trump supporters. if you're going to make a bipartisan deal, the next day is a great way to change the

subject. they came out suddenly said that, hey, looks like we're close to a deal. if this bipartisan deal goes through, i think it'll be the biggest bipartisan bill in at least a decade. >> yeah, if you want to look at what republicans think works for them back in their voting districts, it's a pretty clear contrast, right. they didn't have the time to listen to the testimony of the officers up on capitol hill can about the january the 6th hearing, but they do find a way, 17 of them, to cross the aisle and vote in favor of an infrastructure bill. it tells you all you need to know about where the american public is in their eyes that they need the infrastructure bill, but they don't think those january 6th hearings and what the officers had to say about january 6th was good politics for them. bridges, broadband, that's something we knew the american public broadly supports, all of the poll numbers have said that. this is a real turn around for the white house. it was only a month or so ago,

joe, that democrats were getting really antsy in washington, all we were hearing from democrats was how long is the white house going to carry on negotiating, how long are they going to try to go for bipartisan because it doesn't seem to be working for them. there was an enormous amount of frustration and a sense the white house wasn't on the right track and lost the plot when it came to satisfying the progressive wing of the party. and yet this was the biden theory of the case and this is what he said his presidency was going to be about and it gives him a victory. >> and how many times did we hear progressives, either in congress or in the press, telling joe biden he was stupid for thinking he could ever strike a bipartisan deal with republicans. well, like the little boy said at the end of sixth sense to his mother in the car, every day. every day. i mean, it's all you heard, jake sherman, they're never going to do a deal with you.

now, now that republicans have decided to strike a deal, suddenly we have a little bit of -- some skirmishes breaking out on the democratic side between kyrsten sinema and aoc. aoc, after kyrsten sinema discussed having some problems with a $3.5 trillion price tag for the next infrastructure bill, aoc wrote this, good luck tanking your own party's investment on child care, climate action and infrastructure while assuming you're survive a three vote house margin, especially after choosing to exclude members of color from negotiations and calling that a bipartisan accomplishment. jake, i've been saying that the progressives have held their fire for the most part through this process where kyrsten sinema and joe manchin have taken center court almost exclusively. but yesterday aoc laying down a marker before this bill goes to

the house. >> yeah, so a few thoughts here. so this bill is not going to go to the house, it's not going to come up for a vote in the house probably until the fall. so everybody in the house, all the progressives are going to calm their heels, and the reason why kyrsten sinema is so crucial and manchin are so crucial is there's no democratic agenda without them. so what sinema was saying she won't vote for an eventual compromise at $3.5 trillion. an eventual compromise of $3.5 trillion probably wouldn't pass the house anyway. i think she's expressing a reality, joe, that progressives haven't come to term with. they have a three seat majority and a republican minority that' not going to be cooperative on what we call a human infrastructure bill. so i think that, you know,

people are misreading this mandate, yes, democrats control washington, control all three bodies of governance but they don't have a mandate to pass a $4 trillion agenda. that's not part -- you have to work with, as you know well, joe, you have to work with the government you have, not the government you wish you had. and i think just one last thought here. i think the reason this compromise works so well is because of the portman, sinema and manchin. rob portman is as serious a legislature as probably there is in congress and again without manchin and sinema who were both in the room for the bipartisan talks joe biden's agenda is limited to executive actions. again, the government you have, not the government you want. >> so the senate, obviously, looks like it's going to pass in the senate. the house has some time.

nancy pelosi has some time to work with progressives and moderates there to figure out how to get the votes there. as they move to the infrastructure bill that's something democrats have to sit down and work through with each other. they can do it if they can figure out how to get there, mika, that will be an extraordinary achievement, an extraordinary achievement. and again, it will justify everything that joe biden has been saying, that he's been fighting for over the past six months when people told him to forget the republicans, ignore the republicans, they'll never agree with you with anything, well right now they've agreed with him on one of the largest infrastructure bills ever. >> yeah, no, that would be pretty amazing. senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, is blaming misinformation for loco have you had -- for low vaccination rates among americans. he told "reuters" yesterday there is bad advise out there.

apparently you see that all over the place. people practicing medicine giving bad advice. he plans to run ads in the coming days promoting the vaccine with money from his re-election campaign. not enough people are vaccinated he said. so we're trying to get them to reconsider and get back on the path to get us to some level of herd immunity. >> jonathan lemire, mitch mcconnell, people watching the show can have their laundry list of reasons for being against mitch mcconnell politically. mitch mcconnell on the vaccine, though, has been very consistent. just like he has been on january 6th, as far as his views of what happened on that day, regardless of what he did on the actual commission. but on vaccines, very consistent. and here, even taking the dramatic step of using his own campaign money to advertise in

his home state, telling people get vaccinated. get the rates of vaccinations up. stop listening to the lies. stop listening to the voodoo science. stop following your cult leaders. >> i'm going to use a sentence here not uttered often on msnbc airways, good for mitch mcconnell. this is something that is important. >> good for mitch mcconnell. >> and he is doing it. you're right. i think there are plenty of reasons, politically, to disagree with things that mitch mcconnell has done, and certainly people watching this network let's start with the supreme court, but this is someone who has -- he's been very consistent about this from day one, even though other voices in the republican party were very quiet about vaccines, it's based on mcconnell's brush with polio as a youth, he knows firsthand the importance of vaccines, he has suggested that people take appropriate safety measures he would always wear a

mask on the hill. and since the vaccine was developed was pushing his constituents and others to take it. we made a lot of in the last week or two, republican voices coming there at last and saying the same, better late than never, whoever it might be, other conservative voices are saying now, but frankly mitch mcconnell has been saying this all along, get the vaccine. and to use campaign funds in order to take out the radio ads across kentucky, a state with lower vaccination rates is a good thing. and let's hope others follows suit as the delta variant rip through the areas in the country that have lower vaccination rates. >> jake sherman, i'm curious. a lot of people asking me what's causing sarah sanders, some of these people that have never acted responsibly in the past about this, what's causing some of these people to step out and,

of course, again mitch mcconnell has been consistent on vaccines, because of his brush with polio as a child. but some of these other republicans that have not been responsible suddenly changing course? are you hearing, is there any -- you know, is there polling that they're seeing? why the sudden move over the past week? >> i just -- i think it's become painfully obvious as a society we're paralyzed and anybody in power is going to be held responsible for people dying and being stuck in their homes and things of that nature. and people who say, and i mean, i think there's -- i can tell you this. there's a growing frustration in the capitol among republicans with people who are not getting vaccinated. the patience is running extraordinarily thin, both republicans and democrats. we did an event yesterday with mark warner who basically said i've had it. people have their individual

choice but there should be some consequence here. i think that the fringe of the republican party -- and it is only the fringe, are people who are against this vaccine and as you said, mcconnell has been fully against this. he's running a six-figure campaign in kentucky to get people vaccinated. i think it's become a moment where the dam has broken so to speak and it's become painfully obvious that they have to change their tune on this. >> what's painfully obvious, joe, to continue to answer jake's question for you, is that the people who are getting sick and dying are unvaccinated. and they're in the areas where conspiracy theories and trump's sort of cult has taken over. and these are the people who are in these districts and these are the republicans who now have to change their tune because it's painfully obvious when their constituents are dying of the coronavirus and those who are vaccinated are not. >> by the way, here's some

really simple advice for you. if you have a loved one that is not vaccinated that's listening to lies on facebook, that's looking at bogus conspire theories on facebook, that's spreading lies that will kill people on facebook, or from other news channels, simple advice, ask them to please talk to their family doctor. talk to their doctor that they've been with for decades p. and chances are very good, 95, 96% of doctors in america have taken the vaccine themselves. chances are very good that doctor can try to talk them down. but it really is insane that we're in a situation, 2021, in 2021, where you will actually have people reading garbage from chinese cults that have websites in america and they will listen

to chinese religious cults and the websites that they run in america and get their medical advice that impacts their parents, their loved ones, their children and will follow that advice instead of going to a family doctor and getting the facts. and people are dying because of it. >> yeah, it's taking a have you few number of people, we know this from inside the u.s. the number of people spreading information on facebook about vaccines is a dozen or so. you have a few people around the world who are taking advantage perhaps of divisions in the united states. we saw it in 2016 and we're seeing it again now over vaccines. and it's easy to spread misinformation on facebook. look at what's happening in some countries, the uk, which is close to herd immunity, they're talking about putting the pandemic in the rear view mirror now with 87% of the uk having

antibodies to covid. that's because 67% of the people have been vaccinated. if you can't get more people vaccinated how do we get to where we can lift restrictions, people are going tonight clubs there, doing the things they want to do because enough people have been vaccinated and then you add on to those the people who have had covid or have some kind of antibodies from having covid already. they're getting there. it's remarkable what's happening at the uk in the moment and that's where america needs to get there and we're not going to get there unless we can raise the number on 60%. it's not going to happen. >> mika and i, would gladly go tonight clubs if it was morrison's, a buffet, and done by 5:30 at night and be asleep by 7:00. yes. >> every covid death that is happening right now can be

prevented according to the u.s. surgeon general. that's where we are. that's painfully obvious. as we showed you at the top, the house is divided over reimposing mask mandates. the move to mask up comes at the recommendation of the chamber's physician who said people are required to wear face coverings again inside the chamber, office buildings and in committee meetings. minority leader kevin mccarthy tweeted, the return to masks is a decision quote conjured up by liberal government officials who want to continue to live in a per pep chul pandemic state. he continued that on the house floor to which tom ryan of ohio responded. >> if you read the cdc recommendation, said you only should wear the masks for the hot spots. i'm sure the gentleman on the other side know which states and cities are hot spots, because

those are the facts. you can see the facts, you can read the facts. you can understand the facts. so what is washington? the vaccination rate for the members of congress is over 85%. and as of today, the transmission rate on the capitol campus is less than 1%. the facts would tell us this isn't a hot spot, so the cdc recommendation doesn't apply to us. >> look, the attending physician on the united states capitol, the top doctor for congress, asks us to put on masks when we come to a chamber with 435 people. i may not be from a hot spot, speaker may not be from a hot spot, speaker pelosi may not be from a hot spot, somebody in this chamber is coming from a hot spot. somebody represents the hot

spots. and they get on a plane and they fly here and they interact with all of us. i just find it absolutely immature and appalling to somehow diminish it to try to score cheap political points and that's exactly what we saw a few minutes ago. that is beneath a minority leader of one of the major political parties in the united states of america. saying we should take no caution that someone from a hot spot is working in this chamber and could potentially get someone infected that could go home to a sick parent or immune compromised kid. that is beneath us. that is beneath us. >> so reckless, so reckless and so dumb of kevin mccarthy. i wonder if like homer simpson after they cut the tape, he

tried to stick crayons up his nose. it's insane. you know, jake sherman, i just said that. >> what are you doing? >> that have your loved one talk to a physician that they know. and there you have kevin mccarthy ignoring the advice of the attending physician, understanding that members in that chamber go back and forth, you know, members of congress, when i was in there, you fly back and forth to your district every three or four days a lot of times. and you're in your district, going to town hall meetings and events and you are surrounded by people. so, yes, for the 100 or so members or 50 members that come from hot spots, there's a really goods chance somebody's go to bring the delta variant back into that chamber and pass it along and kill somebody or maybe have them go home and get somebody really sick in their family.

it's just not hard. and again, you wonder how low the republican party will go. you wonder how low kevin mccarthy will go. or you ask a question, is kevin mccarthy really that stupid? and many would say that's a rhetorical question, i don't know jake, i won't make you answer that question. but talk about the back and forth you saw between mccarthy and ryan. >> buried in what mccarthy said is that 65 members all of kevin mccarthy's party, are not vaccinated. >> unbelievable. >> that means 15% are not vaccinated. so that means 67 members that have said something stupid, like don't ask if i'm vaccinated. i wear a mask because i don't want to give it to my children, a lot of reporters do that. not only are they coming from hot spots, they're traveling

through airports like denver, chicago atlanta, where there's a mix of people that could have the virus. so i don't want my unvaccinated children to get sick and i think a lot of people feel that. there are bipartisan complaints about the attending physician who has not been forthcoming enough, they're all legitimate gripes with the attending physician. but you have to be an idiot to not understand that the delta variant is raging here. and there's just real risk for unvaccinated people and all of us in the capitol, many of us, are around unvaccinated children. listen, i'm very frustrated by this. my patience with people who are putting me and my kids -- not me, but my kids at risk is

really dwindling, and that's not a partisan issue for me. i just want people to just shut up and wear masks, because i -- >> yeah. >> -- i can't take the questions from my wife anymore who's being more responsible than me. but this has been a problem since we got into this pandemic, that people don't listen to the advice of doctors. i'll stop after this, i mean, we're not having a theoretical debate here. i'm not a doctor, i can read the science but if a doctor tells me to do something, like i'm going to do it, even if it's inconvenient to me because we live in a society with other human beings and we have to be -- you know, my wife sent me a photo the other day from a hotel in california that had an un -- people who were anti-maskers and there was a sign that said look in this mirror if you're not wearing a mask because you're around the only person that you care about, which i thought is a really good example of just how stupid

people are. and you know what, mccarthy, i'm not defending him here but he has a conference full of people that don't believe in science, and that's what he's representing. and it's disappointing to me and to people who are susceptible to this virus. >> if they don't care about anybody else outside of their family, worry about their children, other people's children, their loved ones. as we had in a report earlier this week, in alabama emergency rooms a lot more children this year than there were last year with the delta variant. i'm hearing the same thing out of florida, emergency rooms and hospitals that the pediatric wards are finding a lot more of an impact for younger children. this year than last year because of the delta variant. so, mika, there is so much at stake here.

and i do expect more members, more members of the press getting angry about the fact that a lot of these jackasses are literally putting their children's lives in danger because they're trying to make a political point -- a stupid political point but a political point all the same. it's like last year in the middle of a pandemic that killed over 600,000 people, what was it, trump's chief of staff, mark meadows, was making fun of jake it may have been you, you look funny in that mask. >> it was me. >> it was you. >> to which jake said we don't want to die. >> correct. >> and we don't want our children to end up in the hospital and we don't want our parents to die. this is not hard, mika. it's not hard. >> that's the thing. it's simple science. and what kevin mccarthy is doing is malpractice.

it's endangering his constituents unnecessarily their lives. jake sherman thank you very much. joining us now, founding director of the boston university center of emerging infectious diseases policy and research, dr. nahid bhadelia. we had dr. anthony fauci on the show earlier this week and he talked about the dangers of the delta variant. the delta variant, if it's allowed to really grow, it could mutate into other variants that could break through the vaccine, people were vaccinated, it could become mutations that become especially deadly and this swirl of coronavirus could come back and rip across america. so we're trying to contain the delta variant by getting more and more people vaccinated. but there are those who refuse

to get vaccinated, which is why masking is happening, am i correct? also, where are the hot spots and why is the delta variant killing so many people? >> mika, i think dr. fauci is right. every time a new infection happens with this coronavirus, the virus gets a chance to evolve. not all mutations are beneficial to it, but the longer the transmission goes on, here, globally the more chances the virus has to evolve to affect the efficacy of the vaccine so you might see variants that could drop the efficacy more than what we're seeing right now. the reason the delta variant is affecting so many is we know this is a more transmissible variant, at first diagnosis people who get it have a thousand times more, they get sicker faster and they are -- and have not been vaccinated and

they're more likely to pass it on to other people. that's the hot spots, exactly as you said, places where people are unvaccinated but what you're seeing is when there's so much community transmission in an area, you're seeing break through infections. and the cdc, the reason concern, the reason they reintroduced the mask mandate, again vaccines reduce your chances of infections and transmitting but in the settings you might get a break through infection, it looks like the amount of virus is higher than it would have been in the community last year. which means in high transmission areas, the vaccinated could in small numbers play a part in chain of transmission. again, majority of transmission is happening among people who are unvaccinated and the

majority of the burden is happening by people who are unvaccinated. and that's why i think a public health body that takes that evolving data and changes their stance, i'd rather take that than one that wants to stick with their guns in the face of changing data, to keep us all safe. >> doctor, i think it was last week we had scott gottlieb on the program and he was talking about how delta, because it's so transmissible, could have the ability to sweep quickly through portions of the population. could you talk about that and what that might mean kind of almost -- for getting to herd immunity -- >> we're losing katty. >> i -- so i think there's two things that dr. gottlieb says that are important, there are probably a lot more infections in the community than we

recognize because we weren't testing everybody. right. there's likely to be some breakthrough infections among the vaccinated that we're not picking up because we're not testing asymptomatic people nor should we until we have the reason to say some of them could be chain of transmission. you've seen this in places like india, you're talking about uk, about the rise, and so you might -- you're going to see it sweep through communities that are unvaccinated. and you might see the cases go up and actually overwhelm the health care systems, particularly on those, but you may see us getting to the other side of this -- other side of a peak faster of this -- i think for -- but that peak may be stretched out to the point where it finds more and more unvulnerable people in geographic areas such as kids who until now have been at home, unless they've been to summer camps and things like that.

so it's important to put the nonpharmaceutical interventions in place so we bring the vaccine down to the point we can get kids back to school come fall. >> doctor, it's great to have you on the show. thank you for coming on this morning. still ahead on "morning joe," new reporting on the lengths former president trump went to in order to investigate false claims of election fraud. including almost daily calls to his acting attorney general. plus with coronavirus cases surging some companies are taking action. which businesses are opting to require vaccinations for employees. and u.s. swimmer caeleb dressel is bringing home the gold after setting a new olympic record. an update on how he and the rest of the team are doing this morning. you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. we'll be right back.

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live shot out of tokyo. it is 39 past the hour. and we have the latest from the tokyo olympic games. when we left you yesterday morning, the u.s. women's three on three basketball team had just defeated france to advance

to the title game where they went on to defeat the russian squad 18-15 and earn the first ever olympic gold medal in the event. wow, it was a big night in the pool as well for team usa. two-time reigning world championship caeleb dressel swam to an olympic record in the 100 meter freestyle to take home the first individual gold medal of his career. team usa is also celebrating a surprise victory in the inaugural men's 800 meter freestyle after bobby fink charged from fifth place in the final leg of the race to claim gold for the united states. china could not be caught in a record setting women's 200 meter butter fly but u.s. swimmers reagan smith and kayleigh

hikenburg got the silver and bronze. and ledecky powers over australia in her final leg to come within .4 of the gold, won by china's world record setting time. amazing. the u.s. leads the world with 37 total medals, but trails japan's 15 golds by two. meanwhile, two-time reigning world pole vault champion sam kendricks will not represent the united states in tokyo after testing positive for covid-19. heartbreaking. his father confirmed the news yesterday in a since deleted post on instagram writing, quote, officials informed sam that his daily test was positive so he is out. >> how sad. >> it comes as japanese officials sound the alarm after

two straight days of record-breaking coronavirus cases in tokyo. which remains under a fourth state of emergency, put in place on july 12th. the city recorded an all-time high yesterday as it exceeded 3,000 new infections for the first time. >> jonathan lemire, there have been some ups and downs, obviously, during the olympic games. but team usa doing pretty darn well so far. you look at the success of those athletes and i know we were focused, a lot of us focused on one athlete. but there's so many athletes that have done so well that have worked hard, and have gone for the gold and gotten it or the silver or the bronze, united states really turning in a great performance in tokyo. >> no, you're right. there have been a few big headlines in boldfaced names who have not quite performed like we

would have expected, certainly the men's usa basketball team took a loss in their first game, katie ledecky, finished silver in one race, she also won a gold and we talked about the women's gymnastics team. but it speaks to america's depth and size and strength of its overall team. its body of work. its athletes from a to z and how impressive they have been. they go into the olympics as the heavy favorites and even with a few somewhat surprising defeats, they're still racking up the medals and most observers expect they will, when the games are said and done, will end up with the highest number of medals and gold. my two boys have eaten it up and watched events from gymnastics to archery to swimming, things they wouldn't encounter in their

normal day which is stress how the red sox are doing. >> fortunately the red sox coming through in the second game of the doubleheader last night. i can't figure out do i cheer for the yankees, do i cheer for the rays? it's sort of like, you know -- that's a hard one. when the yankees are so far back. so katty kay, it is interesting, though, just for younger people, of course you're very young i'm not suggesting you're not very young but for some really young people watching the olympic games, the medal count used to be spread out much more. you would have the soviet union, china, japan, britain, the u.s., and there would be more of a scramble up top. and then, of course, there were always the east german women swimmers and weight lifters that we were having to deal with throughout the '70s and part of the '80s. but team usa, despite, again, a

lot of the ups and the downs over the past several weeks, doing very, very well right now. >> yeah, doing super well in the overall medal count, number three in the gold medal could want and as jonathan said but probably by the end of this, it looks like the americans could be the top in both of those categories. the big difference, joe, you're right to point to it was the fall of the soviet union and in retrospect some of the practices going on in the soviet union, still gone on in the russian federation, which is why the russian athletes get in trouble in terms of doping issues and the amount used in in the past by russian and soviet athletes and take them out of the picture and make it a more level playing field, it's not surprising that the countries dominating the medal field are the countries with huge big populations and well developed resources they are putting into athletic

programs and that's china and the united states. in a way it's kind of a shame. it would be nice to see smaller countries also able to break into the lead. you see it in the winter olympics. i remember the last couple it was norway that dominated the winter olympics field. i think it's fun, the world cup in football, when you see a team come out of africa that goes a long way, further than anyone expected. i love the underdog moments we get in global sports. we're not seeing it in the olympics yet maybe we will in individual sports. i think that's what makes it so great. >> i agree, except when iceland defeats england in the euro cup in 2016. that's the exception but yes, the jamaican bobsled team, that stuff is good. jonathan lemire -- >> right. >> jonathan lemire katty was

talking about the big countries with the big populations having the money to invest, doing better in the medal count. i will say that's one thing that's really different from say 20 years ago before we had the technology, before we had all the money that was poured into training day in and day out, year in and year out for all of these athletes, the richer the country, the bigger the country, the better chance you have to win a gold medal, not a lot of bulgarians or people from smaller countries breaking through and winning gold medals in swimming. >> no. australia would have to count as a small country in this conversation. they've certainly done well in some of the swimming events. but you're right, it's about technology, resources, equipment and the divides between the haves and have notes. probably more pronounced this year coming out of the pandemic, where you have more athletes

vaccinated from the american side than most other countries. you have people who have had probably more regular training routines in the months prior to the olympics. everyone had their training disrupted to some degree by the virus, but the countries with the bigger resources have been able to weather that storm better. and their athletes have been better able to handle that. we are seeing the u.s. and china dominate things. one olympic tradition i do enjoy is the host country seems to do well and japan has done so this year with a number of golds already. >> i'm trying to find out if any bulgarians have ever won any swimming events at the olympics. i'll be working on that for a while. let's see, 1976 -- i'm not sure. >> you do that. while you do that, i'm going to tease the next story. coming up the profanity laced voice mail that police officer

michael fanone received while he was testifying before congress about the january 6th insurrection and what he and his colleagues went through. plus how trumpists prey on loan liness and lneliness preys on trumpists. "morning joe" is coming right back. orning joe" is coming righ back usaa is made for the safe pilots. for mac. who can come to a stop with barely a bobble. lucia. who announces her intentions even if no one's there. and sgt moore. who leaves room for her room. with usaa safepilot, when you drive safe... ...you can save up to 30% on your auto insurance. get a quote and start saving. usaa. what you're made of, we're made for.

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we owe a real debt to the men and women of the capitol police, d.c. metro police, national guard and other agencies that helped secure and protect our work place. >> senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell with that clear praise

of the capitol police. it's a message we didn't hear from some supporters of far right media after tuesday's testimony of four officers who defended the capitol against trump rioters on january 6th. and it was while d.c. police officer michael fanone was testifying before the house select committee that a trump supporter left a threatening voice mail laced with expletives. here's part of the disturbing message. yeah, this is for michael fanone, metro poll tenant police officer. you're on trial right now, lying. you want an emmy? an oscar? what are you trying to go for here. you're so full of [bleep] you little [bleep]. you're a little [bleep]. i could slap you upside your head with a backhand and knock you out you little [bleep]. joining us reporter for "the washington post" eugene scott and columnist for the daily

beast, matt lewis. that voice mail is so disturbing, it's hard to even find the words, joe. >> you know, matt, we -- you and i both raised conservatives. i was raised in a conservative household. lot of fdr democrats that turned republican, based on a lot of the madness in the streets and the rioting and the violence in chicago '68 while my parents were watching the convention was a real turning point. and it was against the sort of chaos and the madness, the lack of respect for the law enforcement, the lack of respect for institutions, the lack of respect for the united states government that i think turned my family from democrats to republicans, and here we are, and as kevin williamson wrote in

a great national review piece, it's now the far right having their hippy moment. i talk about curt anderson in his book "evil geniuses" talking about the rise of the right. but also talking about, you know, how there's like a bombing, a left wing bombing, it seemed once a week at the end of the 1960s. and that complete madness is now being -- is now being adopted by parts of the extreme right wing. and we see it here, we see it on tv shows. we see officers being mocked and ridiculed by hosts who once claimed to be conservatives, it's just really crazy, matt. this is -- again -- >> this is. this is something i noticed -- >> again, i'm so sorry. it's why so many people in the '60s and '70s became republicans. and now it's why so many --

>> absolutely. >> -- people in the suburbs -- same suburbs we lived in are now going from the republican party back to the democratic party. >> i remember when sarah palin first hit the scene a decade ago or more she started talking about the establishment and it reminded me of '60s radicals on college campuses talking about the administration. i think we've come full circle now to attacking police officers. you know, if you watch these guys, they're not like a liberal progressives. these are blue collar working class guys. my dad was a prison guard for 30 years. my father-in-law was a police officer. i mean, these were, for a long time, the people that if you were a republican or a conservative, you were brought up respecting and revering. obviously there are problems with the police. you know, we acknowledge that.

i believe in police reform. but the idea that it would be conservatives who are, you know, bashing these guys who are putting their lives on the line, and women as well in many cases. it really is the opposite of the kind of conservativism and we grew up with and as you mentioned, joe, the kind that attracted people who maybe were fdr democrats once upon a time to the republican party. >> and it is crazy. again, we were in the suburbs -- northern suburbs of atlanta and a lot of democrats became republicans with, you know, the -- again, the craziness of anti-war protests, the violence on college campuses, the radicalism in the streets of chicago. and now here we are like 40, 50 years later and in the same atlanta suburbs, a lot of those

converted republicans are now going back to the democratic party and voting for democrats and helping democrats get elected senator in georgia, two of them, and helping democrats elect joe biden president of the united states. it's just -- it's this almost perfect circle. >> or at the very least going to the -- making themselves independents or self-identifying as a group that wants to be affiliated with neither party because of concerns about extremism. but one of the things i think that's really important for historical context if you think about the '60s and read and listen to the speeches of martin luther king or malcolm x there was warning that this pivot wasn't about volume for everyone involved in terms of respect for government or police or america, some of this was about trying to preserve and protect white supremacy, masculinity, some of the things we see at the core of

the people who are defending the insurrectionists in attacking the u.s. capitol. it wasn't as huge of a pivot with all individuals as it may seem but this is what it looks like when you take a world view that's rooted in not progressing or moving forward and creating a space safe for everyone to its logical conclusion. you have people calling up law enforcement officers protecting lawmakers and other americans and using profane language against them because they seek to make america everything that those individuals in the '60s said they wanted america to be but are now showing they have little interest in seeing this country become. >> you are so right. thank you for bringing up -- obviously there was a big race component as well for a lot of democrats turning to the republican party. but you look now, and you see even in new york city, you have a former cop running as conservative as can be talking about going after socialists and

going after disorder in the street and going after this and going after that, striking some very conservative tones and he's a guy, eric adams, who won the bronx, who won brooklyn, who won queens, statten island and is sending a clear message to the democratic party nationally, that chaos that drove a lot of people to the republican party in the late '60s and is driving a lot of people to vote democratic now in 2020 and beyond. mika, it's a real warning for republicans. they have got to stop trying to cover up the truth about january the 6th. because they will be the ones who pay in the end. >> i don't know what they -- where do they think they're going with this, because the truth is right there. it is just past the top of the hour. coming up we'll have energy secretary jennifer granholm to talk about the infrastructure

deal. and also beto o'rourke on voting rights. so a lot to talk about this hour. matt lewis, though, you discussed the psychology of trump supporters in your new piece entitled how trumpists prey on loneliness. writing in part this, the saying it is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it, suggests that materialism drives us, it's even harder to get a man to understand something when his community and identity depends on his not understanding it. human beings, especially those who feel marginalized, want to belong to something. and as our geographic communities atomize and religious service dwindles this void is more pronounced and ripe for exploitation. the best way to combat this phenomenon is for us to begin healing what is broken in our

society. if main stream american life doesn't offer romance, adventure, community and purpose, something else will rush in and fill that void. and that something is usually less salutory. matt, i couldn't agree more. i couldn't imagine a better time for a national service requirement for young people. but even more so, i wonder, though, the problem is not just the battle over ideas and purpose, but the platforms that are spreading disinformation like wildfire. >> yeah, we have so many problems mika, and i used to be completely against the idea of national service and now i think it may be vitally important. look, i think loneliness is an epidemic, the lack of community is a serious problem. at the micro level it's making us sick, giving us whether it's

physical problems, mental problems, loneliness, it's devastating. at the macro level it's maybe been worse and it's the trump phenomenon. if you look back at the 2016 republican primaries, the area where trump really did well were areas that had low social capital. he did not perform well in those primaries with people who joined bowling leagues or regularly attended church. then if you look at trump's actual, you know, presidency and attempt to get re-elected, michael bender's new book documents what he calls these front row joes, the people who almost like in grateful dead like fashion followed trump around the country and they built a community and donald trump actually gave them hope and purpose. and that's in michael bender's new book. he documents that, i think pretty well by talking to these folks. and then we get to a point where

we are now where trump remains to be sticky. where this guy who got defeated, who's a loser, still has such power and david french talks about how you can't reason orca joel or argue someone out of a conspiracy because, you know, doing so is to argue them out of their community. and i think whether we're talking about people who are buying into conspiracies about vaccinations or covid or it's just the big lie, that is part of the reason why it is so hard to, i'll use the word, deprogram some cult members. it's because this isn't just a politician to them. once you've kind of gotten rid of regular church attendance and hobbies and family, this is your community. it's very hard to pull somebody away from that. >> you know, katty, when i first

started campaigning in 1994, i had -- i got the precinct maps out, i had never been in politics before, but i got the neighbors and the precincts and i organized by precincts, went around knocking on doors, and i realized quickly the neighborhoods weren't what they were when i was growing up, everybody was at work or somewhere else. and there wasn't really a community in those neighbors -- neighborhoods so i had to organize by other outside organizations now here we are 30 years later, a lot of those organizations have blown apart and people are staring at their phones, that's their community now for way too many americans. and into that void politicians come. whether it's donald trump or somebody else in the coming years. >> yeah, and you talked earlier in the program, joe, about groups in china that may be spreading kind of cult-like misinformation about vaccines. it can be the oddest communities

that then people return to. and, you know, it would be nice to think that if government stepped in and was just competent and gave people an alternative, gave people vaccination programs, jobs, gave people an alternative to those kind of more whacky conspiracy theories, then you could pull them away perhaps. you know, we've had that discussion, but there's not much evidence of that, because people are going to these extreme movements, positions for is a sense of community as matt said. once you're in community and it's cultural, it's super hard to dislodge that. people are giving up a sense of tribalism. we had that in the uk over brexit where people were leave or remain and it wasn't any longer just a political position. it was a tribe. you were in your tribe. and once people have become tribal, getting them away from their tribe even with competent

government, with bills like infrastructure and jobs. there's a report out saying that poverty is at record low levels in the united states right now, the country is doing a good job yet people because of loneliness and staring at their phones are subject to things we haven't seen in a while. i don't know how we overcome it, if we don't, where does the center hold and where does community reunite. >> i want to thank matt lewis for bringing this conversation to the table. thank you for coming on today. we have a lot of headlines to get to this morning. senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, speaking out against misinformation causing low vaccination rates. he told "reuters" yesterday, quote, there's bad advise out there, apparently you see that all over the place, people practicing medicine without a

license giving bad advice and that bad advice should be ignored. mcconnell plans to run 60-second radio ads in the coming days promoting the vaccine with money from his re-election campaign. not enough people are vaccinated he said, so we're trying to get them to reconsider and get back on the path to get us to some level of herd immunity. i think that's a big move and mitch mcconnell can actually appeal to some people that have been afraid of the vaccine or who have been receiving disinformation right and left. according to analysis by "the washington post" the rate of coronavirus new infections is about twice as high as politically red counties than blue ones. in the past two weeks there have been about 237,000 new cases recorded in counties that voted for president biden last year and 388,000 in counties that voted for donald trump.

on average, blue counties are seeing about 10 new cases for every 100,000 residents, while red counties have more than 19 new cases. this is playing out in louisiana, which this week hit the biggest single day increase of covid-19 hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic. as of tuesday, nearly 1,400 people were in the hospital. an untick from nearly 170 the day before. during that same time period, the state reported nearly 6,800 new cases. marking the second highest single day case count this year. currently, the state faces one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. with only 36% of its population fully vaccinated. joining us now physician in chief and chief academy officer

at children's hospital of new orleans, dr. mark cline, he is professor of pediatrics at tulane university school of medicine. dr. cline, thank you for being on. let's start with children. are you seeing cases of children getting the delta variant, and at what level would you consider the danger of that growing? >> we are seeing a lot of children infected with the delta variant. we're being inundated by covid as of monday we had just four children hospitalized here in new orleans with the delta variant of covid. by the time i left the hospital yesterday, there were 16. and this morning we have 19 inpatients. four in the intensive care unit. this variant is infecting children, it's making them terribly ill. and in some cases unfortunately it's killing them. >> my god. so what do you need? what does the state of louisiana

need to do, in terms of outreach? what do you need to be able to get through this and what do you need people to understand? >> well, i think we need people to understand that what we're dealing with now is an entirely different animal than what we dealt with a year ago, this variant is easily transmitted person-to-person, it takes only casual contact to transmit the virus. and then, once infected, young people in particular are far more likely to fall ill and end up in the hospital or intensive care unit. this can be a devastating illness for children. vaccination clearly is the answer to what to do. we're in a low vaccination prevalent state, as you mentioned, statewide the vaccination rate is only about 38%. fortunately here in new orleans we're closer to 50%. but this low rate of vaccination here in louisiana means we're

susceptible to a truly devastating surge. this has not peaked by my means and we tried just about everything we know how to convince people to get vaccination for their own protection. but maybe the fact that children are now getting sick and dying from this disease will change some minds. >> so let me focus on that again. and ask if the vaccination rate does not increase, will schools become delta variant hot spots because children don't get vaccinated and they'll be the ones who get it? >> this is a real concern for us. we're worried that when schools open this will just cat liz cheney the epidemic. it brings, of course, children together in clusters in the classroom and without masks being worn uniformly or there being any mandate for masks in schools currently. we're worried this will really cat liz cheney the epidemic and

our numbers will grow even further. this is literally something that is evolving and changing day by day. and it's not moving in a positive direction. just to give you a little more context with 19 patients in our hospital right now with covid, that's double the number we had had at any time over the past 18 months. so this is on the way up, it's showing no sign of plateauing and we're very, very concerned that it soon will outstrip our ability to provide care. >> my god, dr. mark kline thank you very much. we appreciate you coming on the show this morning. we'll be staying on this story, especially as the delta variant pertains to children, this could impact so much progress that has been made over the months in terms of getting kids back to school and here we are now in terms of it ripping through

louisiana. other news now, the biden administration is on the cusp of doing something the trump white house could never do deliver on a bipartisan infrastructure bill. yesterday senators reached an agreement and hours later it passed a key procedural vote with every democrat and 17 republicans, including minority leader mitch mcconnell signing on. the deal needs to clear final votes in the closely divided senate and house, jennifer granholm tweeted president biden promised to work across the aisle to deliver results for families and we're making goods on that promise. the infrastructure deal shows that we can come together to build an economy and country that is more sustainable, resilient and just. and secretary granholm joins us now. madame secretary, good to have you on the show. what is it going to take, though? you have 17 republicans, don't want to lose them.

so what's the key to progress, to bringing this home and getting this deal done? >> well, obviously as you noted, this is the first step, getting a deal was the first step and then getting a vote to proceed to debate is the second step. my guess is it will probably be coming up for a vote in the senate next week, obviously senator schumer has to decide that and then it has to go to the house. so we're not there yet, but as you noted, mika, this is transformational. once in a generation type of investment, $550 billion invested in hugely necessary infrastructure. it's roads and bridges, it's a historic amount in bridges. but it's also the internet to people's homes. you have noted there's 30% of rural america that doesn't have access to internet. families are driving their kids to mcdonald's parking lots to capture wi-fi as they're

teaching them at home during the pandemic. it's a huge investment in removing those lead service pipes that lead to homes and schools. it's a historic investment in the transition grid which is the department of energy secretary, is really in my column. i'm so excited we'll be able to increase the capacity of the grid as well as its resiliency during the extreme climate events. there's so much delight in the infrastructure bill and the president said he was going to reach across the aisle to do this. he worked it, the cabinet worked it, the white house worked it and now we have a deal and our job now is to make sure it gets through the rest of the hoops. >> secretary granholm, obviously you heard a lot of people on the left being critical of joe biden, of the president, for pushing so hard to get to this place where we have a bipartisan agreement. so many times he was mocked and

ridiculed, told to give up on republicans. this would never happen. tell me, how did we get to this point? how did president biden achieve what so many people, even in his own party, said couldn't be done. >>, you know, he's so pragmatic, joe. he's listening to real people out nra. everybody is driving on roads that need to be repaired. everybody understands the importance of america investing in ourselves and by the way, he he understands the importance of jobs and this particular plan, independent studies say, will create 2 million jobs per year. so there's going to be a boost to the economy. the jobs that were negotiated sections of this bill have 80% of them tied to prevailing wage. which means wages will be increased. so the president is listening to this out in america and i think he's able to have that discussion with friends on both sides of the aisle. he worked this.

this was not a hands off effort. his white house worked it, the jobs cabinet worked it, we listened and the negotiators did a really nice job of continuing to touch base with one another. and we have to -- as i say, it's not done. we have to take it across the finish line, but this president is engaged, both with the public and with the congress and i think that really had a lot to do with why this deal came together. >> madame secretary, good morning. jonathan lemire. you mentioned the work on water pipes and to have clean drinking water. there have been critics saying there isn't as much money in this bill as they wanted. can you talk to us about the investment in public transit, public transportation this bill will have. >> both of these are historic investments in water and

transit, $55 billion in water infrastructure. we never invested this much in transit. and at lof on that will be electrified, which is exciting, including transit for kids, electric school buses so they don't have to breathe in diesel. we understand this is a negotiation and not everybody gets everything they want. but what we got on both sides of the aisle is historic for america and, of course, those who wanted to see more and the president wants to see more. his build back better agenda is larger than what was agreed to. there are components as you know that are still remaining to be completed. including getting a clean energy standard where we have 100% of our electricity coming from clean sources, including that human infrastructure, like extending the child tax credit. so those pieces will still be addressed. but this is a hugely significant first step. and i think, you know, it's a statement about -- to the world that democracy actually works.

and that's very exciting too. >> yeah. it's a great start energy secretary jennifer granholm. thank you very much. >> great to have you on with us again. >> great to have you on. yesterday "morning joe" tweeted this in response to a piece in the atlantic with the title dem democratic leaders are betraying black voters. saying it's untenable to demand that black voters rescue the party because their rights are on the line and then do little to secure those rights once they are in power -- >> well, and then my tweet was, democrats have no excuse, if you can put that back up. >> yeah. >> if you can put it back up. my tweet was, democrats have no excuse for not passing john lewis' voting rights act.

democrats should make the exception for voting rights and then they should adopt manchin's modifications to hr-1 and pass it. >> well, it turns out there's some news on that front. senate democrats are working on a revised voting rights bill they hope to release as soon as this week. "the washington post" reports there was a meeting in chuck schumer's office yesterday of several senators who have continued to work on the issue since republicans blocked consideration last month of a more sweeping bill. known as the for the people act. georgia senator rafael warnock who said he asked leader schumer to call the meeting emerged from it saying he wants the american people to understand that voting rights is on the senate's radar and they're, quote, committed to getting some progress. the meeting included senators alex padilla of california, oregon's jeff merkley,

minnesota's amy klobuchar and west virginia's senator joe manchin who last month released a three page framework that scald back some of the more expensive provisions of the bill that failed. to pressure the federal government to act, the poor people's campaign is holding a four-day march. >> i'm tired, but i am not nearly as tired as the people who are having to fight for their rights over and over and over again. so i used to watch all of the '60s documentaries and say if i was alive and of age i would be there and now this is my chance, unfortunately to have to be here. >> if they asked me to run a marathon, i would say no but i can put one foot in front of the other and walk. and the emergency here is very empowering. it truly is. >> the group started yesterday in georgetown, texas and will end on saturday at the state

capitol in austin. the march is in the spirit of the famed selma to montgomery march of 1965 which pressured congress to pass the voting rights act of that same year. one of the single greatest pieces of voting rights legislation in american history. and as that march proceeded in texas, the rove rend al sharpton and martin luther king iii linked arms with texas legislatures in washington d.c. those lawmakers left their home state in an effort to block consideration of voting legislation that they oppose. and joining us now is former congressman beto o'rourke. he's been a leading voice for voting rights in the state and nationwide. and is about to head back out on the march. it's great to have you back on the show. tell us what you think is possible when it comes to voting

rights legislation? >> i think the senate can pass the for the people act or some version of the for the people act, as joe just suggested. but failure is not an option. none other than senator joe manchin said something to that effect. i know that he believes in the right to vote for every eligible american. i know that he wants to help see this through and most importantly i know the president feels that way. he gave a blistering speech on voting rights in philadelphia a couple of weeks back. and he called this the single greatest attack on our democracy since the civil war. so we must act, move forward. but as you just suggested by showing that clip of the civil rights and voting rights advocates in the 1960s, this kind of thing doesn't happen without a push from the public. and so we're marching this week to help push the president and senate democrats and we will rally in austin this saturday at

10:00 a.m. in front of the state capitol to make sure they hear us in texas. >> eugene scott is with us and has a question for you. >> we know that voting rights is one of the most important issues to black voters. it's something that black voters speak about almost every time there's an election. but as you know, this is not something just concerning black voters. americans in rural america are having their voting rights threatened. maybe even conservatives and latino americans, all these democrats well represented in your state. how do you get people who have made up in their mind saying this is an issue that doesn't concern them and could hurt them if the voting rights of certain demographics are expanded to realize it's in their best interest and affects what america can be and should be as well. >> these bills are targeted at specific populations,

historically black and brown voters. in the new texas bills it's the voters with disabilities, the very young and old. it's voters in urban and rural communities that are going to have a problem heading to the polls early or voting by mail. i think the important thing to do is connect voting to everything else we want to change and improve in our lives. texas has a minimum wage of $7.25. it's not going to be raised until people vote. we are the least insured state in the country where people die from diabetes or the flu because people cannot see the doctor. last year, 7 million eligible texans didn't participate. that was not for lack of love of our democracy it's because this state makes it harder than any other to cast the ballot. if we want to change for the

better we need voting rights legislation, like the for the people act. >> you just took me to where i wanted to go to you with this next question. as you know state legislatures in your home state, texas, fled and they're in washington d.c. to avoid having the voting rights passed. there's only so long they can stay and others say the only action is federal legislation and the only solution, the only way that gets done is if the filibuster changes, how much is your mission of the filibuster and shouldn't the people you be lobbying be the moderate senators, democrats, manchin, sinema and a handful of others to change it? >> i think you're right the filibuster is going to have to change. as joe eluded to in his tweet you changed it for deals on a

simple majority, supreme court justices, budget deals. make a fifth exception for voting rights legislation. and it's going to require all 50 democrats in the senate, including the two senators you just mentioned to do that. but i think there's one more player that we need to engage in this more fully and that's the president. i think his extraordinary power can help compel those and other senators to vote for that voting rights exception. and he can also make that case to the country uniquely hopefully bring in not just democrats to the table but democrats and republicans to the table. that's what it took to get the voting rights act of '65 passed. you need the full engagement of lbj calling that joint session of congress 1965 and then using every political muscle in his body to push that through. that's what we need at this point. but you're right, in terms of the specific path this has to take, it's not going to happen without a change to the

filibuster. but thankfully the senate is well practiced in changing the rules of the filibuster. let's make this exception for voting rights. >> beto o'rourke, thank you for coming on the show this morning. good luck. still ahead on "morning joe," millions of americans have been protected from eviction by a federal moratorium, that's about to expire on saturday. what does that mean for individuals behind on their rent. plus an election loss in texas reportedly has former president trump's inner circle concerned. especially when it comes to an ohio race next week. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. re watching" we'll be right back. your mission: stand up to moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis.

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welcome back to "morning joe." it is 34 past the hour. as the delta variant continues to spread, more companies are opting to require vaccinations for employees returning to work. netflix is the first major studio to make vaccines mandatory for its u.s. productions, at least for the part of the set where actors work. >> wow. >> google, facebook, and lyft will all require office employees to be vaccinated. and google has extended its work from home policy until october. and apple today is implementing a store -- in-store mask mandate for all customers, employees, regardless of their vaccination status. the massive increase in aid from the government due to the coronavirus pandemic will cut

poverty levels in half this year. and push the share of americans in poverty to the lowest level on record. an analysis by the urban institute found that the number of poor americans is expected to fall by nearly 20 million from 2018 levels, a decline of almost 45%. "the new york times" notes the country has never cut poverty so much in such a short period of time and the development is especially notable since it defies economic headwinds. the economy nearly has 7 million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic yet the paper aptly notes without further expensive new measures millions of families may find the escape from poverty brief. the three programs that cut pof erly most, stimulus checks, increased food stamps and

unemployment insurance that were extended have scheduled to conclude or go back to pre-pandemic size. the end of this week will mark the end of the cdc's eviction moratorium, which for many has made the difference between staying in their home or being out on the street. congress allocated $46 billion to help people impacted by the pandemic covering rent and utilities, but will the money reach those who need it in time? nbc news correspondent morgan radford now with that story. >> reporter: forda mia and her family, the days a i head are uncertain. >> it's stressful. it's hard. >> reporter: a single mom in mississippi she was forced to quit her job to take care of the three kids when the pandemic hit. now she's two months behind on her rent. >> what happens to you and your three kids if you do not get this assistance?

>> i don't know. shelter until we can find something. >> reporter: she's among the millions of americans who face possible eviction once the emergency cdc moratorium on housing evictions expires this weekend. congress allocated $46 billion to help renters in this need. but burse and others like her say getting that money is hard. >> how difficult is the application process? >> ever they ask for a lot of information like state id, birth certificate, 2020 tax returns. they make it so hard. >> do you have a computer? >> i was doing it all off my phone. >> i want to give a little information -- >> reporter: which is now she's attending community sessions like this one getting help to submit her application successfully. nbc news requested data this month from all 50 states. of the 41 responding, our analyst found 26 states had distributed less than 10% of the rental assistance money from

their first federal allocation. according to the u.s. census bureau here in mississippi pt% of adults behind on their rent face likely eviction in the next two months and that's the highest rate in the nation. >> scott is responsible for distributing mississippi's federal assistance. >> how much have you given away? >> $10 million has been approved for payment or out the door. >> reporter: what's the challenges in distributing that money to the people that need it. >> awareness to the program, access to technology and wing -- getting the word out. i have plenty of money to give. i need application and time. >> reporter: burse prays that help will come soon. do you have hope? >> faith. i know if i do my part he'll do the rest. >> we thank morgan radford for that important reporting.

eugene we have an economy that obviously a lot of crosswinds going on there. we have poverty at record low rates, more job openings in this country than we've ever had before. even extreme poverty globally is at its lowest rate. though there's still such a long way to go. but as morgan said and as we've read in "the new york times," the challenge is a lot of these benefits are expiring and we're likely to see that poverty rate go back up unless something is done. >> absolutely. there's pressure from so many americans, especially working class americans for both parties to focus on these issues. if you remember the 2020 election, you see politicians talking about improving life for the middle class. very few are talking about all the americans who aren't quite middle class, who are working poor or poor who aren't working. and there's a real need to address the issues that are

affecting them most. and the reason why you see so many programs coming forward from the democratic party focussing on these individuals, it's because we know during the 2016 and 2020 election one of the main things that the republican party and trump tried to frame themselves as is the party of working class americans. we know the data doesn't support that, they were the party of white, working class americans but the democrats are fighting for this narrative and trying to make it very clear they are putting forward policy ideas not just rhetoric that's going to improve these individuals' quality of life. but as you noted, if these policies don't become more permanent, they're going to find themselves in the same situation in a couple of years trying to implement new programs to address poverty issues that have grown following this period of economic flourishing. >> all right. "the washington post" eugene scott, thank you for being with us. we so appreciate you sharing

your morning with us. have a good day. we look forward to seeing you again soon. all right. actor bob odenkirk is recovering in a hospital. he was rushed to the hospital on tuesday night for what his representatives say was, quote, a heart related incident. following an outpouring of support on social media from co-stars and fans, his reps released a statement late yesterday confirming the star's stable condition and asking for privacy as he recovers. odenkirk's son tweeted, quote, he's going to be okay. which is great. and zz top's basist dusty hill has died at the age of 72. born joe michael in dallas, he formed zz top in houston, texas

in 1969 naming themselves in part after a blue's singer. the band was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame of 2004, his band mates released a statement saying, quote, we are saddened by the news today that our come pa dray, dusty hill, passed away in houston, texas. we along with listenings of zz top fans around the world will misyour steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the top. we'll forever be committed to that blue's shuffle in c. what an iconic musician. so many people picked up the phone called me yesterday, texted many -- texted me, talking about his passing. a guy that meant a lot to so

many fans across the country and around the world. coming up, new reporting that former president trump pest erred his acting attorney general every day over the election. could those phone calls become public. plus mitch mcconnell looking to get more americans vaccinated with his own campaign cash. "morning joe" is coming right back opinion

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. welcome back to "morning joe." concern is reportedly growing within former president trump's inner circle following the special election loss of a candidate he backed in texas. according to politico, susan

wright's defeat in texas' sixth congressional district on tuesday, quote, sent shock waves through trump's inner circle. earlier this month he opted to support her over jake elsi, the former president's advisers are reportedly feeling more pressure to win another special election in ohio next week. trump released a statement praising his preferred candidate, lobby yet mike carey on tuesday. the protrump make america great again pac also made a decision to spend $300,000 to bolster carry's efforts. advisers are concerned another loss would hurt his standing in the gop. >> you know, jonathan lemire, elections happen for reasons. i mean, you never know exactly how much of it comes down to a

candidate, how much of it comes down to certain facts on the ground. so usually you can't really take too much out of one race. a lot of trump's people are blaming the candidate in that texas race. said she was not as good of a candidate as as elsie. so if he does well in ohio, if his candidate does well in ohio, that's a one-up. one thing we do, know, this is the sort of thing that drives donald trump crazy when somebody he endorses loses. and i will say one, eh, it's not really a story. if he loses a couple in a row, then suddenly those house members and senate members on the floor start kind of whispering, looking at each other, going, eh, is the old man losing his touch? >> the possibility of that losing streak does, indeed, have trump's aides worried. i talked to some of them, too.

they are concerned it could look like the former president is losing. he all seen the polls. he does very well, he polls highly among most rank and file republicans. we all remember when he was in office, those tweets, constant tweets, bragging act his endorsement record how the fast republican majorities went on to win those nominations. there is only a handful of losses in his time in office. let's remember this, while he was president, republicans, he was endorsing them certainly if in 2018, lost control of the house of representatives. we know in 2022, democrats gained control because the former president's own inaction or in this case inaction with the georgia runoff races, so certainly he does not always have the midas touch despite what he will have you lead. it's a test over what sway he has over republicans in 2022 and he considers his own possibly

white house run. >> again as we are talking about this, and his impact on the republican party, it, of course, needs to be, obviously needs to be repeated that under donald trump the republicans lost the house. they lost the senate and they lost the white house. that hasn't happened with a one-term president since 1932 when herbert hoover achieved the same really sort of poor record. for republicans back then, so, mika, yeah, this is the sort of thing, if a president wants to keep republicans scared and keep republicans acting craven towards him and keep republicans in a position where they continually humiliate themselves, and put their moral courage in a lock box, then he needs to show that he can win these races. if he doesn't, then they'll

start moving their own way. >> then there's this. a new report claims the former president called his acting attorney general on almost a daily basis late last year to notify him of alleged voter fraud. a person familiar with the conversations tells "the washington post" that trump was quote absolutely obsessed in his phone calls to then acting ag jeffrey rosen. rosen, who was installed after former ag william barr stepped down if december was reportedly non-exital about trump's claims and tried to change the subject. on monday, the justice department reportedly ordered rosen to provide any information he may have regarding attempts to overturn the 2020 election. according to post, the former president's legal team is considering filing a motion to block those records from becoming public. >> yes. and by the way. >> so embarrassing, people.

>> it's embarrassingly predictable. jonathan lemire, i raised the question earlier, i know the americans want the answer, bulgarians swimming, medals, nanny 88, a great year for bulgarian swimmers and, in fact, a little known fact, though, i know you, of course, are the sort of i mane are you like the jeopardy champion when it comes to olympic trivia. 1988 was a great year for bulgaria overall following up on that conversation we had with catty earlier this morning, some smaller countries don't seem to do as well. in 1988, the seoul olympics were, of course, i believe you were the one that lit the flame to start those ceremonies in seoul, south korea, few people know jonathan lemire has been what jerry lewis is to france. he has been to south korea. he lit the opening flame.

the bulgarians finished fifth overall in the 1988 seoul south korean games. the lemire games as a lot of the locals call them. >> there was a lot of kinship, so it's not surprising they would thrive there in the home country there. i am glad you followed up with that research, let it never be said you don't follow through on your promises, particularly when it comes to eastern european olympic results so thank you for that. joe, i'll ask you this, is there a particular events you have been enjoying so far? >> i want to see men win basketball. i am still old enough to remember the soviet union cheating their way to victory in 1972. i don't think i'll ever get over that. it's a scar that cuts deep for all of us who love america. love the flack, love this olympic team and so alex is screaming, mika, take it, take

it. we lost to france, for god's sack. >> do it for zz topp. >> people who actually know something about the games, kerry champion and ken my maines. they will have something to say. >> that will be exciting. >> tensions between party leaders on capitol hill. all right, a if you high after the house of representatives reinstated a mask mandate for lawmakers and staff members. plus, after weeks of negotiations, a bipartisan infrastructure proposal clears a major hurdle on capitol hill. we'll talk to center senator angus king about that. "morning joe" is coming right back. [ music playing ] "morning joe" back [ music playing

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why didn't you deny calling the president a moron? >> you know, that's a really old question.

>> you understand by not answering the questions, some people thought you were confirming the story. >> i think i've answered the question. >> you think you answered the question? >> i've answered the question. >> did you call the president a moron? >> i'm not going to dig fify the question. >> well, you remember that when rex tillerson refused to say whether or not he called donald trump a moron? nancy pelosi isn't nearly that shy when it comes to kevin mccarthy. >> the mask mandate, speaker pelosi, any response to the backlash of the response? >> that's a perfect contradiction because you are passing a mandate from him. i have nothing to say about that except we honored it. >> mccarthy says it's the science. >> he's is up a moron. >> so why did the house speaker speak out? because house republicans are playing down covid as it makes a comeback across the country.

as far as the former president goes, he has so far failed to sabotage a bipartisan infrastructure plan that just cleared a major hurdle in congress. is trump losing his grip on the gop? good morning, welcome to "morning joe", it's thursday, july it's good to have you all on board with us. senators finally celebrated after coming to an agreement on the $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill the break through came after weeks of disagreements over sticking points such as public transit, all after that. within hours of announcing the deal, senate majority leader chuck schumer moved to hold the procedural vote exactly one week after the previous vote failed. it passed with every democrat and 17 republicans, including minority leader mitch mcconnell signing on. the deal still faces several

obstacles to becoming law and needs to clear votes in the closely-divided senate and house. president biden celebrated if a statement that reads, in part, quote, this deal signals to the world that our democracy can function, deliver and do big things. >> those are big things, in fact, that's something that donald trump trade to do for years. we heard about infrastructure week for years. didn't we? and he kept, he just couldn't do it. he was incapable of it, he kept coming up short. >> he wasn't able to finalize an infrastructure deal. you mentioned infrastructure rate almost became a running joke during his presidency. he repeatedly denounced the current bipartisan effort as a deal grew closer and in a statement released the same day, senators announced they reached a final deal, trump called it quote a loser for the usa, a terrible deem, makes the

republicans look, weeks, foolish and dumb. it shouldn't be done, it sets an easy glidepath for democrats to then get beyond what anyone that was possible. let's bring in our panel. first, jonathan lemire, very big news. actually when you saw that mitch mcconnell's name was attached, that is quite a move. if you look at the arc of this deal. it's. that's quite an accumulation of names. you get 17 republicans, including mitch mcconnell, you know this thing is bipartisan and it will make it through. >> yeah, mcconnell signing on, joe, is sa big deal. obviously, a number of republicans followed suit more than a lot of observers anticipated. this is not just a token couple of republicans. it's a big number. it fulfills something the white house desperately wanted.

president biden campaigned to people across the aisle. he has governed in a way he said repeatedly, including skeptics in his own party. look, it's working. i can work with republicans. can i get the done. it's a landmark deal and certainly one they are very happy about now, look, we're not all the way done, there are plenty of twists and turns still ahead here. this is not signed, sealed and delivered just yet. it's significant for this white house and this president who said this is something they wanted to do. i think a lot of republicans can reach poll numbers. infrastructure is very popular among voters of both parties. this is a moment where they see something that they could make a deal on. does this lead to a new era of good feelings in bipartisan? that's highly unlikely. we will get the backdrop over pacific mandates over the

january 6th hearings that played out so emotionally this week. this may be a one-shot deal this bipartisan infrastructure program signed, sealed, delayed. it's a big step, one the white house is really happy about. >> all right. if you are a republican senator and you are looking at what's going on in the house the day before, just absolutely disgraceful behavior by some republicans in the house watching the strong testimony of those whoefrss who was beaten and brutalized by donald trump supporters. if you make a bipartisan deal, the next day is a great way to change the subject. they came out, suddenly said, hey, it looks like we're close to a deal. if this bipartisan deal goes through, it means it will be the biggest bipartisan bill in at least a decade. >> yeah. if you want to look at what republicans think works for them back in their voting districts, it's a pretty clear contrast, right? they didn't have the time to

listen to the testimony of the officers up on capitol hill about the january 6th hearing, but they do find a way, 17 of them across the aisle and vote in favor of a new infrastructure bill. it tells you all you need to know about where the american public is inner that eyes, they need the infrastructure bill. they don't think the january 6th hearings and officers had to say was good politics for them, bridges, broadband. that's something that we knew the american public broadly supports. all of the poll numbers have said that. this is a real turn around for the white house. it was only what a month or so ago of, joe, that democrats were getting really antsy in washington, we were hearing how long are they going on negotiating and going for bipartisan? it doesn't seem to be working for them. there was a sense the white house wasn't on the right track and had lost the plot when it

came to satisfying the progressive wing of the party. yet, now they've managed, this was the biden theory of the case. this is what he said his presidency was going to be about. it gives am victory. >> and how many times did we hear progressives either in on or the press telling joe biden he was stupid for thinking he could strike a deal. like the little boy said to his mother in the car, every day. every day. i mean, it's all you heard, jake sherman. they're never going to do a deal with you. now the republicans have decided to strike a deal. sen suddenly, we have a little skirmishes breaking out on the democratic side between kyrsten sinema and aoc. aoc after kyrsten sinema discussed having some problems with the $3.5 billion price tag

aoc wrote this, good luck, tanking your own party's investment on child care, climate action and infrastructure, wail presuming you will survive the three-vote house margin, especially after choosing to excludes members of color and calling that a bipartisan accomplishment. jake. i have been saying that the progressives have held their fair for the most part through this process where kyrsten sinema and joe manchin have taken second court almost exclusively. yesterday aoc laying down a marker before this bill goes to the house? >> yeah. so a few thoughts here so this bill is not going to go to the house. it's not going to come up for a vote probably until the fall. so everybody in the house. all the progressives will calm their heels. and the reason why sinema is

crucial is what she was basically saying is she won't cote vote for an eventual excise that's at $3.5. event warm compromise at $3.5 probably wouldn't pass the house anyway. so i think she's just expressing a reality, joe, that progressives haven't come to terms with yet. they don't have a 40-seat majority. stay there a three-seat majority. it will not be cooperative in a cumulative infrastructure bill. i think people are% reading this mandate. yes, democrats control washington. they control all three bodies of government. but they don't have a mandate and almost everybody a in power view to tackle the agenda, you have to work with the government

you have not the government you wish you had and i think the reason this compromise works so well is because of portman and sinema and man this kin, portman is as serious a legislator as probably there is in congress. again without manchin and sinema, joe biden's agenda will be limited to executive actions and ape gen the government you have, not the government you want. still ahead, mitch mcconnell is putting his money where his mouth is when it comes to advocating for the vaccine. why he is using his own campaign cash to spread the message? we'll talk about that next on "morning joe." [ music playing ] about that ne "morning joe." [ music playing my nunormal? fewer asthma attacks with nucala. a once-monthly add-on injection

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senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is blaming misinformation for low covid vaccination rates among americans. the kentucky republican told reuters yesterday, quote, there is bad advice out there, you know, apparently you see that all over the place. people practicing medicine without a license, giving bad advice and that bad advice should be ignored. mcconnell plans to run 60-second radio ads on more than 100 kentucky radio stations in the coming days promoting the vaccine with money from his re-election campaign. not enough people are vaccinated, he said. so we're trying to get them to reconsider and get back on the path to get us to some level of herd immunity. >> jonathan lemire, mitch mcconnell, people watching the show can have their laundry lists of reasons of being

against him politically. he on the vaccine, though, has been very consistent. just like he has been on january 6th as far as his views of what happened on that day regardless of what he did on the actual commission. but on vaccines, very consistent and here even taking the dramatic step of using his own campaign money to advertise in his home state telling people, get vaccinateed.n get the rates of vaccinations up, stop listening to the lies. stop listening to the voodoo science, stop following your cult leaders. >> john, i will use a sentence here not uttered often, good for mitch mcconnell. this is something that is important and he is doing it. you are right, i think there are plenty of reasons politically to disagree with things mitch mcconnells a done and certainly people start with the supreme court, this is someone who has,

he has been very about this from day one, even when other voices were quiet about vaccines. it's based on his brush with pompeo as a youth. he knows first hand the importance of vaccine from the early days of this pandemic suggest people take safety measures, he always wore a mask on the hymn and since the vaccine was developed pushed his constituents and others to take it. we've made a lot of republican conservative voices coming there at least and saying the same. better late than never. whoever it mate be, they're saying, frankly, mcconnell has been saying this all along to use campaign ads, in kentucky, a state with a lower vaccination rate is a good thing. let's hope others take suit. the delta variant rips through a lot of communities across this

country that have poor vaccination rates, even though we were seeing hopeful signs they are picking up here even as cases continue to rise. >> jake sherman, curious, a lot of people are asking me, what's causing sarah sanders, some of these people that never acted responsibly in the past about this? who is causing some of these people to step out and okay again mitch mcconnell has been consistent on vaccines because of his brush with polio as a child. some of these other republicans that have not been responsible steply changing course. are you hearing, is there polling that they're seeing? why this sudden move over the past week? >> well, i think it's become painfully obvious as a society we will be paralyzed, anybody in power will be held responsible for people dying and being stuck in their homes and things of that nature and people who say

and i mean i think there is, i can tell you this, there is a egrowing frustration in the among republicans of people not getting vaccinated. republicans and democrats, mark warner basically said, i've had it. people have their individual choice. but there should be some consequence here. now i just think the range of the republican party. it is only the fringe of people who are against this vaccine. mcconnell has been fully against this. he is running a six-figure campaign in kentucky to get people vaccinated. i just think it's become a moment where the dam has broken so to speak. it has become painfully obvious, they have to change their tune on this. >> coming up, an update on team usa, the latest from the summer olympics, including simone

biles' decision to withdraw. morning joe is coming right back. t back >> from prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. what the world needs now...is people. people who see healthcare a little bit differently.

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. as we showed you at the top, the house is divided over reimposing mask mandates. the move to mask up comes at the recommendation that the chambers position, who said the people are required to wear face coverings again inside the chamber, office buildings and in committee meetings. minority leader kevin mccarthy tweeted, the return to masks is a decision, quote, conjured up by liberal government officials. >> oh my god. >> who want to continue to live in a perpetual pandemic state. he crit -- continued that criticism on the house floor, to which congressman tim ryan of ohio responded. >> you know if you read the cdc recommendation, it says, you only should wear the masks for the hot spots. i'm sure the gentleman on the other side know which states and

which cities are hot spots. because those are the facts. you can see the facts. you can read the facts. you can understand the facts. so what is washington? the vaccination rate for the members of congress is over 85%. and as of today, the transmission rate on the capitol campus is less than 1%. the facts would tell you this isn't a hot spot. so the cdc memorial dayation doesn't apply to us. >> look, the attending physician of the united states capitol, the top doctor for congress asks us to put on masks when we come to a chamber with 435 people. i may fought be from a hot spot. speaker may not be from a hot spot. speaker pelosi may not be from a hot spot. somebody in this chamber is coming from a hot spot. somebody represents the hot

spots. and they get on a plane and they fly here and they interact with all of us. i just find it absolutely immature and apologying to dipunish it to score cheap political points. that's exactly what we saw a few minutes ago. that is beneath a minority leader of one of the major political parties in the united states of america, saying we should take no caution that someone from a hot spot is working in this chamber and could potentially get someone infected that could go home to a sick parent or immune comprised kid. that is beneath us. that is beneath us. >> it is so reckless so reckless and so dumb of kevin mccarthy. i wonder if they set things

after the tape he tried to stick crayons up his nose, it's insane. you know, jake sherman, i just said. >> what are you doing? >> have your loved one talk to a physician that they know and there you have kevin mccarthy ignoring the advice of the attending physician, understanding that members of that chamber go back and forth. yeah, members of congress, when i was in there they said, do you fly back and forth to your district every three or four days a lot of times. you're in your district, going to town hall meetings, going to events. you are surrounded by people, yes, for the 100 or so members, 50 members that come from hot spots, there is a really good chance somebody's going to bring the delta variant back into that chamber and pass it along and kill somebody or maybe have them go home and get somebody really

sick if their family. it's just not hard. again, you wonder how low the republican party will go. you wonder how low kevin mccarthy will go. you ask a question, is kevin mccarthy really that stupid? many would sigh, that's a rhetorical question. talk about back and forth you just saw between mccarthy and ryan. >> mccarthy said 65 members all of kevin's party are now vaccinated. so, 85 -- >> so unbelievable. >> so that means 15% or not, which is roughly 60-something members of congress who have either said something stupid like don't talk, like you are violating my hippa by asking if i'm vac fated. i don't want to give it to my children. a lot of reporters do that not only are they coming from hot spots, they're traveling through airports like dallas, atlanta,

chicago, denver, where there is a mix of people every couple days who have, who could be carrying the virus and like so i just don't want my kids and my wife to get, my unvaccinated children to get sick. i think a lot of people feel that. now, there are big bipartisan complaints about the attending physician who has not been forthcoming with information, who did not get out of the capital quick enough. who is not clear why he is making those decisions, those are all the legitimate gripes with the attending physician. have you to be an idiot to not understand that the delta variant is raging here. and there's just real risks for unvaccinated people and all of us in the capitol, many of us are around unvaccinated children and just, listen, i'm very frustrated by this. my patience with people putting me and my kid at risk is really

-- that's not a partson issue for me. i want people to shut up and wear masks. because i can't take the questions from my waive anymore, who is being more responsible than me. but i just, you know, this has been a problem since we got into this pandemic. that people don't listen to the advice of doctors. i'll stop of this i mean, we're not having a theoretical debate here. like i'm not a doctor. i can read the science, but if a doctor tells me to do something, like i'm going to do it. even if it's inconvenient to me because we live in a society with ought human beings and we have to be, you know, my wife sent me a photo the other day from a hotel in california that had people who were anti-maskers and there was a sign that said look in this mirror if you are not wear ac mask, because you are around the only person you care about, by i thought is a really good example of just how

stupid people are. you know what, mccarthy, i'm not defending him hear. he has a conference full of people who don't believe in science, don't believe in medicine and that's what he's representing here. and it's disappointing to me and to people who will be around me who are susceptible to this virus. coming up, president biden is laying out the high stakes involved in online attacks. >> i think it's more than likely we will end up in a war, a shooting war with a major power. there is a consequence in the cyber breach. >> we'll talk to a leading voice on the issue when independent senator angus king joins the celebration. straight ahead on morning joe. g.

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welcome back to morning joe. some breaking news coming from "the washington post". u.s. economy grew 6.5% between april and june parking full recovery from the pandemic. for the first time economic output eclipsed the pre-pandemic high after adjusting for inflation, continuing to read from "the washington post", require el seiger and andrew van dam. the official recovery is fully recovered from the pandemic as of june. owl though a recent surge in covid-19 cases can threaten the surge ahead. the quarter ended in un >> gabe:. as covid vaccinations and unleashed consumer spending added to the momentum for the first time, economic output eclipsed its pre-pandemic high

of adjusting for inflation. so good news, mika, the economy for now is back. we will see if people are smart off in to now that it's back, we'll see if americans are smart enough to get vaccinated and take careful precautions, to not only protect their children and their parents and grandparents but also to protect small business owners, to protect small businesses, entre pre natures, to help them keep tear doors opened by being responsible, listening to a doctor, following the doctor's advice, their family doctor and not some scam artist on facebook, fought only discuss america's health depend on it, its economic health depends on it as well. >> we have independent senator angus king of maine and for, it's great to have you on the show. i'd like to start right there.

especially with mainers and the vaccine, how is your state faring in terms of getting people vaccinated? >> war doing pretty well. i don't have the exact figure, i think it's approaching 70%, in the 60-to-70% range. i think we are doing very well. as joe said, that's what's really enabled the economy to wake up and people, they want to get out. they want to go to the store. they want to go to restaurants and the vaccinations that really help that. i got to tell you, you know, we had the guidance the other day from the cdc about remacing from the danger of people vaccinated, not necessarily getting sick, carry it and spreading it to others. everybody i talked to around here the lasted couple of days, these are people that manage these buildings and just working in the area are pretty irritated

at the people who aren't getting vaccinated and are basically prolonging the pandemic. i mean it just, c'mon, we've now had 200 million people have the vaccine. no serious side effects, except not getting sick. and as i say maine is doing well, our businesses are all up. people are coming to the state as they do because it's one of the post-wonderful places in the country in the summertime as you well know. so i think we're doing fine. but we have to worry about people bringing the delta variant in with them because they're into the vaccinated. >> we'll take maine, there is a divide if you look at the areas that joe biden won. the areas who donald trump won. you can draw a blue line up the

coastline, that's where joe biden fared best and donald trump inland. i'm curious, we seen what mitch mcconnell is doing, spending his campaign money to get the word out, maine doing better than kentucky. since you really understand this red/blue divide so well because there is a very clear divide in the state of maine, what are you thinking about doing? what would you recommend other people do to get the message out to areas that may not be as apt to go ahead and do what's best for them, do what's best for tear families, do what's best for their children, their businesses, do what's best for small family businesses and get that vaccine? >> let me refer to one of your commentators earlier this morning, i think it was mr. lewis. he was talking about the trump phenomenon as being a kind of a tribe. i know that's true. i mean, i've seen it. around i think one of the

interesting things he did mention, one of the things you see in trump country is flags. week, throughout history, flacks have sort of represented your community, your country. are you seeing these trump flags. he's the guy that could help us. he could save 50,000 lives if he did a psa, if he did woo mitch mcconnell is doing nationwide, saying, look, i've had the vaccination, i've had covid, it's no fun. i had the vaccination, no side effects so forget about all this stuff, the disinformation you are getting, get vaccinated. i can try to do that. but he's the buy the that could really do the, if he would just step up and do something good for the country. he could do it right now and it would be probably the post-important tipping we can do to forestall the resurgence of the virus would be if he gave permission or encouragement to his followers that, yeah, this

isn't -- he can take credit, say, look, this is my vaccine, you know, whatever. whatever works. and that would probably make more difference than anything else. otherwise now it's considered a part of the being in the club. you don't get vaccinated in the federal government and all that kind of thing. so if he would do what mitch is doing, it could save lives in this country. >> senator king, good morning, it's jonathan lemire. i want to shift gears and ask you about the infracture deal, which seems it was on track. the agreement on the bipartisan portion of. the i want to get your reaction, two things, first that part of it. do you like what you have seen in the bill? were you concerned about stuff that may be in it or restored to it? and secondly, the second piece of this of course, is the reconciliation bill a $3.5 trillion or so. where do you stand on that?

how big. is there a number at which you would no longer be comfortable? >> aim fought ready to say 3.5, 2.4, 2.7, 3.7. bernie sanders thinks it should be six, by the way, i think the bill, i've seen it, the reconciliation bill, the proposed one is important. and will do incredible things for the country. let me talk about what happened last night. we got 67 votes. it's hard to get them for what time it is let alone a major half a trillion dollar, better than half a trillion dollar infrastructure investment the biggest investment in water and highways in basic infrastructure, bridges, rail, that's in 50 years. and i had to think, i'm glad you asked about both bills. because i had a thought last night that really hadn't occurred to me. the two most effective economic development projects of the late

20th century were the interstate highway system and the gi bill. those and one you call hard infrastructure. the other soft infrastructure. but those were the things that really propelled the american economy to the great surge of the '60s and '70s. what we're talking about is that kind of investment. i was excited because i worked on developing this bill. it's been tough, the negotiators, the president deserve a lot of credit for just good old perseverance. it was a slog and rob port pap, joe manchin, susan collins, all those people that have worked on it, others deserve a lot of credit. and i got to say, the other thing was the white house got its hand dirty on this, by that i moon they really worked it. this wasn't oh, you guys go do an infrastructure bill, we'll

see what happens. the president was involved, calling senators, the white house staff was intimately involved. rob portman spent four or five hours yesterday. that's the way things gets done. presidential leadership makes all the difference i'm fired up. i have to say one thing about broadband. broadband is the rural electrification of the 21st century. it's the single-most transformative bill in my view arc huge investment that will essentially connect the whole country. we've had areas of the country that can't afford it or get connected at all that have been left out of the development of the 21st century semi-. that's the piece that i have been working on that i'm really excited about. now we have a lot more steps. ve we have to get it across the finish line. a new executive order looks to combat the rising number of

cyber attacks targeting perk's critical infrastructure and president biden signed the order yesterday one day after warning these attacks could lead to a quote real shooting war. the order includes measures requiring companies to meet a set of security standards liken crypting data and requiring two-factor you a thernt cakes. the authentication. they are limited with so much infrastructure run by private companies. is with that, a lot of this is voluntary. there are goals being set in this executive order. you know, what are the challenges that our country is facing in terms of cyber warfare and what other options do we have in protecting ourselves? >> well, mika, the first thing we have to sort of change our point of view. we have to re-imagine conflict. historically, conflict and wars have been between armies and battleships and navys and air forces and bombers.

now, conflict will focus on the private sector. the target space, 85% of the target space in cyber is in the private sector. so we have to rethink the relationship between particularly the critical infrastructure. the grid, financial transactions. the pipeline system, water systems. all of those things. we have to rethink the relationship between them and the federal government. because if the attack comes, it's going to be on you know the california grid or the northeast grid or the texas grid and it's not going to be a missile landing in new york. so, the president's order is really important. by coincidence, i don't think you knew this or you know if you did you're pretty prescient. mike brown and ben sass and i

said we began the process of a relationship between those entities and the federal government that will have burdens an benefits, that they're going to have to get their act together, meet standard, report incidents and then the federal government perhaps i think we ought to give them some liability protection if they made the standards and we want to share the resources of the federal government to help them fight off these attacks. so the order yesterday was really important, coupled with the president's work in the last month on letting russia know we're not going to to him rate this anymore and this is serious business. there will be a response. because that's been a missing piece in america's cyber policy. >> senator angus king, thank you very much for being on with us. >> and for, let me just say, speaking of maine, when we were able to see you and your wife in maine, i want to tell i, you gave us a gift, it keeps on givgs mika listens to the andy

gibb every night. >> i have a record player. all right. angus king, thank you. ♪♪. over to tokyo now where this morning u.s. swimmer caeleb dressel earns his first individual caeleb dressel set an olympic record in the 100 meter freestyle. poised to bring home what is his strongest event, 100 meter fly matching, olympic record in the preliminary heat moments ago. women's gymnastics individual all around finals is still under way. american suni lee in the mix for medal contention. we'll be watching. and joining us now, sports journalist carrie champion and kenny main, cohosts of tokyo tonight on peacock.

your nightly destination of olympic highlights, interviews, and the game's biggest story lines. >> kenny has the same bald eagle tattoo on his shoulder and chest we saw the olympic swimmer with the gold medal have. so carrie, we have been it seems americans have been transfixed by one story obviously, extraordinarily compelling story, but at the same time there are a lot of olympians doing a great job out there, winning medals, and seeing their dreams come true every day in tokyo. how is the u.s. doing, how is team usa doing, what have you been inspired by thus far? >> you know what, i think we are leading to the medal count, it changes. but i am excited everyone had the same attitude and approach. it took an extra year and a half

to be here, year and some change. we're all experiencing a global pandemic. more importantly, we still have to represent and do our best. for so many athletes, track and field stars, allison beakins, her last opportunity to compete. thought she wouldn't have opportunity to compete if the olympics were postponed one more time. we expect her to show up big, bring home some medals for us. on top of that, it is the sweetest search for her, because she's a mother and her daughter can watch. you don't hear about that often. >> kenny, i look at sports kind of like people look at war. i remember '75, '78.

basketball, i remember '72, the soviets ripped us off. expect us to win every time. man, it has been stop, start. for the uninitiated, can you tell us what's going on with men's basketball team? the women are doing well. what's going on with the men's basketball team and is this just, do they need to gel more as a team moving through the olympics? >> first of all, want to note my backdrop is not to claire mccaskill's kitchen. don't kitchen shame me. also there could be a jack hammer going off anytime. they're going to be fine, going to win the gold medal. if we sent the nba champ or runner-up, any nba team, the team playing together all those games, get each other, know each other. you know what, not to compare those to the athleticism, carrie and i barely knew each other. we met once, twice, and we quickly found a rhythm. night four was better than night

three, hopefully tonight better than last night. or maybe we go downhill and they take us off the air. american men and women will sweep. >> that's quite a prediction. and you all have found a rhythm. mika and i together 14 years, still trying to figure out how to do that. we're going to be watching you do that. jonathan lemire is with us. >> kenny, good to see you again. walk us through if you will the big story line, women's gymnastics and then intention has been on simone biles, but as much as she generated a headline, probably the greatest to do this, her teammates stepped up, some of them delivered inspiring performances. tell us what you've seen and if we have a sense whether she will be able to compete in individual events later in the olympics. >> that's anyone's guess, if it plays another way, i'm a big fan of hers, we all should be. we're the people rooting for the

american teams. there are others that are rooting against our teams because they have political intentions from time to time. i heard somebody mention the other day, no more diagram, it is a circle, same people that make apologies for january 6th and deny climate change, support the apprentice host, those same people attack her for saying and being real, i am going through a thing, i need a minute. good athletes support other athletes who realize it is not just the body, it is the mind, all of it, it is the person. the criticism of her, we haven't given any auction into it, i won't do it here. most people get it, she needs a minute. hopefully she comes back. if she doesn't, she doesn't. she's a great support to the young ladies still going. >> i think she is going to come back, probably overwhelmed and said so. she's overwhelmed by the support she received. i think that the twisties as she

called it is common to gymnasts, got a little confused, there could be other issues, maybe the pressure of the world on her shoulders is too much. but i believe from what i am hearing, she's getting it together, wants to rally. if she decides i don't want to, so be it. i don't want her criticized for that. it has to be so vulnerable to say i feel a way when i have been called to go. coming into the games, she was called to go. no question about it. now there's probably this ego, pressure, sentimental feeling, but she's taking her time. nothing makes me happier to hear that than her saying i need a minute, let me figure it out. i often say i need a minute. let me figure it out. kenny, you know him well, i love

you, kenny. >> i have to tell you now. here we are, we are co-hosts, we feel like we need to take a minute now. we're going to keep going for it. mika, next question. >> on this, i think there's two kind of strains i see here, the most profound respect for anybody, man or woman, to take a step back at a time when everybody wants them to take that step forward and do what needs to be done for themself. >> that takes courage. >> takes unbelievable discipline. i also have questions and i am wondering if you heard any of this about her coaches, her support team and just i feel a little concerned it was allowed to get this far down the road and that was she left exposed, was she not served well by a

team. is that a valid -- not by teammates but her personal team of support. is that a valid question, given that she had to make the decision, the weight of the world and the world watching, i feel like that seems like a lot to put on somebody. carrie? >> i think that she put a lot of that pressure on herself. i don't have the wherewithal to say if her coaches were involved. i think at this point in her career she's the bright, shining star on the team, and she pretty much could say yea or nay. have you ever had an opportunity and it became so overwhelming, you didn't know how to handle it in the moment, it is very similar to a person feeling as if i have to do this, i am overthinking it, there's commercials, ads, sponsorships.

so much leads up to this moment. not just that it is every other day, it is every four years. she's building and billed as the greatest. i could only imagine at a young age, she is in her 20s, we're asking a lot of athletes. we only want to see them as warriors, i say we, society. when they show authenticity, i have to tell you, i can only imagine saying what a relief. i don't think anybody put that pressure on himself but himself. she's a competitor. >> let me ask a final question. what should we look forward to as we view everything today, what are you looking forward to tomorrow morning when it starts up again. >> well, feels like it is 24 hours. when we are on late, they're early, daytime here, we are

resting to go again. we go segment by segment pretty much. i look forward to the next great thing to happen, whatever it might be. lydia jacoby from alaska, the celebration for her win, we have amazing guests. i'm looking forward to seeing my wife. it is my anniversary. >> all right. happy anniversary, kenny. thank you so much for being with us. carrie, thank you, too. you guys please come back. seriously. it is like this fine oiled machine like you have been doing this 30 years. it is unbelievable. if only the basketball team were that good. see you tonight on tokyo tonight, 7:30 p.m. eastern on peacock. thanks for being with us. >> that does it for us. stephanie ruhle picks up coverage right now.