at home. this fourth of july massacre in highland park leaving not only people dead, children orphaned, strollers abandoned. american flags left there on the streets covered with blood. we will have more on that on "morning joe" and of course in the days ahead. thanks to all of you for getting up, "way too early" on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" does start right now. ♪♪ good morning. and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, july 6th. good to have you all with joe and me this morning. we've got a lot to get to. the death toll rises in the july 4th massacre in highland park. good to have willie here, of course, it's not monday. what is it, guys, wednesday? >> no, no, you see, here's the thing, honey, willie's been here. >> he's the man. >> we just stumbled in off the street. willie's been here this week. >> yeah. >> i look at it as monday.

>> i understand. >> it does. but we have so much to get to. and this incredibly tragic news out of highland park, illinois. we learned more about the victims. a toddler is without both of his parents this morning after reportedly being rescued from beneath his father's body. meanwhile the suspect is formally charged and due in court today as new information about his past raises questions about how he was able to legally purchase firearms. and new developments in the criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in georgia. as senator lindsey graham and donald trump's former lawyer rudy giuliani get hit with subpoenas. and the date has been set for the next hearing into the january 6 attack on the capitol. we'll have the latest on all of that. but first, willie, so much, so much tragedy over the july 4th

weekend. >> yeah. and we've got new details this morning, mika. the suspect in the july 4th massacre in highland park, illinois, a fourth of july parade has been charged with seven counts of first degree murder now after a seventh person died yesterday. the lake county state attorney says more charges are expected to come. investigators are also learning more about the alleged shooter and how long he'd been planning the attack. and many of the warning signs, the red flags that went up, before he carried out his attack on a fourth of july parade. nbc's tom llamas has more. >> reporter: investigators revealing the terror and chaos caused by that mass shooting in a chicago suburb was weeks in the making. the alleged gunman even devised an elaborate escape plan. >> it was just chaos, everybody was running. ♪♪ >> reporter: the horror began shortly after 10:00 a.m., during highland park's fourth of july parade. >> i ran back, there were bodies

on the ground. there was a little boy being carried away. >> reporter: authorities say the gunman disguised himself as a woman. clung to a fire escape ladder to the roof of a local business. he then took an ar-15 style rifle and fired more than 70 rounds at incident paradegoers including children. listen to this video posted on social media. you can hear a pause as he apparently aims for different groups along the parade route. police say seven are now dead. at least 38 injured. >> i see the shooter on the rooftop, i could see flashes from the muzzle coming in our actual direction. >> reporter: david salic was watching the parade with his wife and 8-year-old son. >> i said we're in the fire. >> he was firing in your direction? >> yes. he said he threw his wife and son behind a park bench to get them out of fire. today realizing just inches separated his family from life

or death. >> i don't want to think about that. >> reporter: as survivors were left in shock, authorities were tracking down the shooter. eight hours later. they located a person of interest, identifying him as 21-year-old robert crimo iii. >> during the attack, crimo was dressed in women's clothing. and investigators do believe he did this to conceal his facial tattoos and identity and help him during the escape with the other people who were fleeing the chaos. >> reporter: police say he then walked to his mother's house and borrowed her car, driving to wisconsin and coming back to illinois. a resident spotted him in that car and called 911. police taking him down. the car towed to the police station. a senior law enforcement official telling nbc news he purchased multiple weapons including the high-powered rifle from the shooting legally. he left that weapon at the scene. the atf expedited a trace of it connecting them to the suspect. the alleged shooter also appears

to have a significant digital trail. nbc news has revealed a youtube page confirmed by law enforcement to be associated with crimo. performing with a rapper known as awake. his recent music videos include tributes to mass murder. police revealing three years ago, they were spotted to a spot at crimo's home. >> a family member reported that crimo said he was going to kill everyone and crimo had a collection of knives. the police removed 16 knives, a dagger and sword from crimo's home. >> reporter: those who grew up with him describe him as an outcast who was troubled. >> he has an interest in rifles and weapons. >> reporter: gracie went to school with the alleged shooter. >> i could not see him doing that. i think -- i have gone to school for 13 years with somebody that is capable of mass murder makes no sense to me. >> tom llamas reporting there. so, guys this is a young man who just under three years ago, as tom said in the piece, his family called police to the house because he said he was going to, quote, kill everyone.

there police seized swords and knives, a dozen of those. but did not press charges there. that's why a red flag law didn't kick into effect when he wednesday to buy his ar-15. when he went to buy his gun. there were month charges against him so there was no red flag and no reason to prevent him from getting the i.d. in the state of ill to own guns. >> we just have to do better as a country. we've taken a step in bipartisan legislation. you know, it's not gun control. it's not even gun safety, willie. it's public safety. this morning, "the washington post" is writing about the need to really start seriously considering a ban against weapons of war the type of which passed in 1994. but these weapons of war are turning our churches into killing fields. turning our children, our toddlers' schools and our young

children's schools into killing fields. turning country music concerts into killing fields. and turning fourth of july parades into killing fields. there's just no justification for it. there's no justification for it. as far as it's hunting, in justification for these weapons of war. when it comes to even protecting your house. i mean, without getting into too many details, a shotgun will do that about as good as anything. so, the proliferation, mika, of these weapons of war continue. and, again, even if you weren't for a ban of weapons of war, or military-style weapons. whatever you want to call them. relates just say weapons designed to kill humans in a war. >> yeah. >> in the past, you have to look at what's happened to this country over the past decade. you need to look at what's

happened from sandy hook to uvalde, to chicago. it just continues. this is going to continue. you said tell after uvalde, mika, this is not going to stop. >> it's not going to. >> 90% of americans want expanded background checks, universal background checks. two-thirds of americans want a ban on military-style weapons. it is time for a small portion of americans in congress. it is time for them to stop from at least having a sensible sane, rational debate about that. >> described the wounds as evisceration wounds. while a shotgun can protect your home, joe, it's not going to. as more and more assault weapons get out into the country. there are already so many out that one of the issues that needs to be dealt with over the

next year or so, if anybody wants to be serious about that, how to get the toothpaste back in the tube, as the gun buybacks, how do you get those off the streets. because those guns are not just, you know, single bullets that make a hole. they are bullets that blow up bodies. >> again, the purpose of those weapons is to kill human beings. they're not to shoot deer. they're not to defend your home. i can tell you they're far more unwieldily than a shotgun or handgun inside the confines of your home. again, you don't have to be that good of an aim with a shotgun to stop somebody from coming through your front door. sorry to go into the great details of this because we need to because people lie all the time. we need military-style weapons to defend our house. maybe if you live in ft. knox.

but other than that, willie, again, it's so unnecessary. and the cost to society is overwhelming. and what do we do about it? we start the discussion. mika talks about gun buybacks. that's great. you can talk about gun buybacks, if you think those are effective. but you look at the second amendment, okay, there's been a debate for 200 years about what the second amendment means. a well regulated militia. okay. well, that's fine. if you say all americans have a right to keep and bear arms. well, well regulated. willie, these weapons -- all weapons are not created the same, as we know. that's been the reality of the gun debate for years. >> yeah. >> automatic -- assault weapons have been illegal for quite some time. these military-style weapons, though, that are extraordinarily effective -- >> selling them to kids.

>> -- and killing human beings and selling them to 18 year olds, they need to be regulated. we need to make sure that only law abiding americans, sane rational americans can get this. and we have to make it a lot harder to buy these ar-15s and these military-style weapons. so we make sure that law abiding americans have them. >> yeah. remember some of the defenses we heard from united states senators after uvalde that ar-15s are necessary to shoot varmets or pigs. would you trade your rights for ar-15 to defend your house or kids at uvalde texas, for the lives of those watching a fourth

of july parade or for the lives of 86-year-old woman shot in buffalo? it's something you have to answer, as you said, a home can be defended with a handgun, a glock very well. with a shotgun very well. as you know, this has been looked at as a slippery slope if you ban an ar-15, the argument goes from the nra and others they're coming for the rest of your guns, too. and pretty soon, they're taking them all away. that's not true, of course, but that's the argument that prevails. go ahead, joe. >> i was going to say, it's not true but also that the united states supreme court, the people may not like its ruling last week, week or two. but the second amendment, the constitutional protection of the second amendment allows americans to have handguns and shotguns in their homes. to protect their homes. and now it allows people to

carry outside their home. the constitution, the second amendment, even as interpreted by this very conservative supreme court does not extend to ar-15s, let me say that again. the constitution of the united states, the second amendment to that constitution, the right to keep and bear arms, the u.s. supreme court, the conservative u.s. supreme court says it does not extend to military-style weapons. so, any gun organization that says it does, they're lying to scare you. they're lying to make you paranoid. they're lying to take your money. >> yeah. and that's the gun side of it. then there's all of the things that came beforehand in almost every one of these shootings, guys. where we find it was a young man, disaffected young man who left a trail behind of evidence online about sort of fantasizing about killing like this. fantasizing about violence, interventions from police in the house, in this case, there were no charges pressed so there was

no red flag. but there are always signs. and we're learning today more about the shooter. let's bring in nbc news investigation correspondent tom winter. tom, good morning. again, a lot of information since we spoke yesterday morning. what else do we know what happened on the fourth of july? and what else do we know about the shooter? >> well, the details as far as the time line are coming into a better scope here willie. on top of that, we're getting more information as far as what was known about the individual prior to a shot being fired. as we heard there in tom llamas' piece from police in 2019, they received two calls. one from a concerned family member. when they went to the house they found 16 knives, a dagger and a sword. not exactly normal home furnishings. when you look at this person, you look at a series of incidents that happened and all of these things that you're looking on screen occurred after the january 1 red flag law went in effect in the state of illinois. that doesn't continue to knives

and swords and daggers but it does continue into areas where somebody may own a gun. so you wonder, given the amount of social media posts that this individual made just in the last year, let alone back to 2020, let alone back to 2019 that there was a point where somebody should have picked up the phone. and a family member can do this. you do not need to be a member of law enforcement to file in many of these red flag laws. each state has their own name for it. for example in new york went into detail in buffalo, in other states you don't have to be a member of law enforcement to petition the court for one of these type of rulings where they can go in and seize lawfully somebody's weapons who might be a threat to themselves or others. and when you look at some of the video imaging that was posted not just a couple days or a week, but we're talking about months before this incident ever happened. >> yeah. >> it's very clear this individual had violent intents. for others, it's very clear this individual had violent intents,

even for himself. so when was the point where somebody was going to pick up the phone here and either call law enforcement or petition the court. it's not something where he would have been notified that somebody was doing this. it's an ex parte movement in the court system. so if i was going to file this against jonathan lemire for instance, i wouldn't have to go. we wouldn't all show up at court at some date. it would just be something that's done. and figure it out. and something that carries the penalties of perjury, if i was to do it just to mess with somebody. keep that in mind with these incidents. >> there's so many different ways it can be made more careful to get these guns, tom. this won't be popular, but why can't those signs that police saw be red flags, is one question. why can't there be somewhat of a

process before you can purchase a firearm like this? maybe similar to what someone in the military has to go through. they can't just fire their weapon the minute they get it handed to them. but in this case, i guess the father helped sign the permit? that's interesting to me. that comes down to a lot of different decisions on the part of a parent. but should -- >> right. >> should a father be able to sign a permit to give a kid a weapon of war? >> well, i think back to newtown and adam lanza, in particular, nancy lanza his mom who helped purchase the weapons for him while he's living at home in a room where he used trash bags to make sure no light went into the room. and he worry all the same type of clothing, military-style clothing and played these video games and had diaries and journals that talked about shootings and deaths. so there are parental steps here that are undoubtedly missed

sometimes that might be putting it charitiably. but that's something of the information we learned yesterday. today, it will be interesting to see what we get out of the court paperwork when he makes his appearance in court to get to the ultimate question of motive. not that it's going to make a lot of sense to the rest of us. it would be helpful to get more information how we get to this point and how perhaps we can prevent it. >> all right. nbc's tom winter, thank you very much for getting up early this morning. and we are learning a lot more about the victims. six of the seven killed have been identified. stephen straus was the father of two. and a grandfather of four. at 88 years old, he still took the train to chicago every day to work at his brokerage firm. his niece cynthia straus described him as kind, gentle, and a huge intelligence and humor and wit. husband and wife irina and kevin

mccarthy were both killed in the shooting. they brought their 2-year-old son aidan to the parade. he was left alone after they died. a good samaritan found him underneath his father's body covered with blood. after postings on the internet and in the news, he was identified and returned to his grandparents. aiden was not physically injured. a gofundme page was set up to him and has nearly $2 million in it so far. and the little boy keeps asking if his parents are going to come back. nbc's lester holt has more on the victims and the survivors. >> reporter: they call it a suburb, but highland park really feels like a small town, now shaken to its core, when those gunshots rang out. >> when did you first realize something was wrong? >> well, the first thing that happened was there were sounds of firecrackers and it caught our attention. the next thing we know there

were bullets coming towards us. >> reporter: i met susan and dean. >> it became pandemonium. my husband and friends took off. >> reporter: at that point, you became separated. >> yeah, i didn't know i was separated but, yeah. >> reporter: suziewas under a bench. did you see people? >> i saw a man why blood, i'm pretty sure he was deceased. >> reporter: a man appeared with a 2-year-old child. can you take my child, my baby. i said, sure, i took her and i put her between me and the cement base of the bench. >> reporter: he didn't know whether i'd see you again? >> no, he said i have to go find my wife. he disappeared. >> reporter: he then returned saying his wife had been shot and needed to go to the hospital. >> we exchanged phone numbers and said would you mind taking

her home with you which is what we did. >> reporter: you're a stranger, can you imagine giving your child to a stranger. >> his wife. >> she was shot through the leg. >> reporter: they would reunite with him later. they say his wife is doing okay. i also met 89-year-old arnie cayman. >> all of a sudden, we get this noise, sounded like fireworks, bang, bang, bang. >> reporter: who was sitting on the curb with his family in a line of fire. he'd been shot and is now recovering. these things happen with great regularity in this country as you know. did you ever think it could visit highland park? >> no, i did not think it would come to highland park. >> reporter: but it did and this close-knit community is reeling, seven lives stolen including jacki sundheim, remembered for

her kindness and warmth, working as a preschool teacher at her synagogue. she had a husband and daughter. nicolas toledo was there with his nephew watching from his wheelchair. steven straus was 88. his niece posting on facebook, no one should die this way. and i met the family of katie goldstein. >> i have been talking to people on the phone today, and i can't believe how many best friends katie has. how many people have said, she was my best friend. >> reporter: her husband craig and daughter cassie hard broken and overwhelmed with grief. cassie was at the parade standing right next to her mom. >> i looked up and i saw the shooter shooting down at the kids. and i told her that it was a shooter and that she had to run. so i started running with her, and we were next to each other. and he shot her in the chest.

and she fell down. and i knew she was dead so i just told her that i loved her but i couldn't stop, he was still shooting everyone next to me. >> reporter: she said when the shooting stopped she rushed over but her mom had already passed. what's the memory that you want to share with us about your mom? >> i want to share how she was before she died. she was waving to the floats, every float that went by, she waved to them. >> reporter: she was having fun? >> yep. she was just a good mom and i got 22 years with her. and i got to have 22 years with the best mom in the world. >> unspeakable horrors. years from now, i can't even

imagine what will be written about this time and about a small paranoid group of people who believe they need weapons of war. to fend off the government. like the paranoids say they need these. to prepare for the apocalypse. it's not to defend their homes. it's not to defend their business. these weapons of war were designed to kill human beings. you see what happens there. what's happened. it's been happening now for 10, 15 years where america's streets are turned into killing fields. america's churches turned into killing fields. america's schools, where we send our babies, turned into killing fields. they are unspeakable horrors,

and the tragedies, these tragedies that keep coming at us. and are not going to stop. until congress gets serious, they're avoidable. that's the greatest tragedy of all. people that went out to watch that fourth of july parade should have been able to go home that night. had hamburgers hot dogs, french fries, laugh around tables and then go outside and watch fireworks. they should have been able to do that. but they couldn't do that for the same reason that the children in uvalde that were slaughtered by an ar-15 aren't able to spend this fourth of july or this summer vacation with their parents for the same reason. that you have children from

parkland who would be finishing up -- some of them would be finishing up their first year of college and coming home. celebrating summer vacation. talking excitedly about what happened the first year in college and join fourth of july fireworks and preparing for their next year. and what about the children from sandy hook? what about the country music fans in las vegas gunned down? their voice. what about, my gosh, we have to go way back for this, though, what about people who went to see a movie in aurora? gunned down. it's so unnecessary. these guns, they are not protected by the second amendment. the conservative -- some would say ultra conservative united states supreme court doesn't even go that far.

but these tragedies that you saw, they're horrors that none of us can imagine. and they're tragedies that are so avoidable, congress has to do something. we'll be right back. o do something. we'll be right back.

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♪♪ about 6:30 in the morning at the white house, a live picture on this wednesday morning. investigators in georgia yesterday sent subpoenas to senator lindsey graham and other key members of former president donald trump's legal team, including rudy giuliani and john eastman. the fulton county special grand jury also subpoenaed other lawyer, all of whom worked with trump as he contested the 2020 election results. that special grand jury was impanelled this year to assist the investigation of fulton county district attorney fani willis into whether there were any coordinated attempts to

unlawfully alter the outcome of the election in georgia. among theents willis said she's looking into a november 2020 phone call senator graham made to georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger. raffensperger said graham pressed him whether he had the power for ballot it's. and the suggestion to cast out legally cast votes. graham denied that's what he was trying to do calling the allegation ridiculous. with us white house chief of politico and host of "way too early" jonathan lemire. jon, rudy giuliani we should add as well actually testified and spoke to the georgia state legislature a number of times around this, just peddling the debunked false claims about voter fraud in the state of georgia. the d.a. in that state, the d.a. in fulton county, they've got a lot to work with here. >> lesson learned don't call georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger because you're going to get in trouble if you do.

there's been so much focus, of course on the call that former president donald trump made to the georgia secretary of state asking him to find the specific number of votes needed to flip the results in that state to give him the victory as opposed to joe biden. but now this call which we didn't know existed in the past has come under intense scrutiny here that graham calling raffensperger suggesting that, hey, you should perhaps not count some of these ballot which is officials there in georgia interpreted it to mean casting out some of these votes that were legally cast which, of course, is a real problem. and giuliani, willie, as you mentioned is someone who has traveled up and down the state of georgia, particularly there in fulton county, and pushing the president's -- former president's big lie. there have been analysts who have believed that perhaps the greatest legal peril to trump was this case out of georgia which has been methodically, quietly slowly moving behind the scenes even though the nation

has been captivated by the january 6th hearing which you should know has scheduled another hearing next week for that hearing to convene. at this point, delivered new evidence, new testimony, compelling narratives, all aimed at the department of justice and itself may be providing some criminal charges at some point. >> you know, willie, it is so fascinating, the outsized influence that georgia has had. you know, not to be too melodramatic, let's go full meachem here, early september 1864, general sherman marches into atlanta. union troops are in trouble. sherman takes the city of atlanta. marches and his campaign in georgia ends up being the confederacy's own waterloo. it also helps to re-elect abraham lincoln who probably wouldn't have been re-elected if he not done that.

but georgia may be donald trump's waterloo as well. you think about that he lost his campaign there. think about the fact when he went in he actually lost republicans their senate majority. you ask any republican senator that's sitting right now they'll privately at least tell you they'd be in the majority but for donald trump blubbering and sweating his way through georgia. and getting two democrats elected in special elections. you look at the veneer of inevitability forever shadowed in the republican party when the two people he hated the most, the two people he declared war on the most, brian kemp who he said he'd support, stacey abrams over brian kemp. and brad raffensperger. both of them, just completely crushed his hand-picked opponents. and now you've got a d.a. that's

looking into his attempts to rig the election. to rig the recount. to rig the vote count. to rig with lindsey graham, the secretary of state said, to rig the mail-in votes. to throw in -- to throw out mail-in votes. georgia we said that tim russert going florida, florida, florida, donald trump, looks like georgia, georgia, georgia may end up being his waterloo. >> first of all, joe, you never go full meachem, you know better than that. you can't pull it off. you're right, his hand-picked candidate in the senate race, herschel walker is trailing in the polls behind senators warnock right now. privately, many republicans including mitch mcconnell would have liked to have seen someone else. this is a local legend in the state of georgia, herschel

walker, he played the generals in 1985. we'll see how that plays out if they lose a seat they think they can win there. you're right, joe, you don't have to be colombo to figure out what happened in the state of georgia. so much is on tape. raffensperger recorded the phone call with donald trump where he told him to find the votes. rudy giuliani's testimony. that was open testimony in front of the state legislature where he's just pushing these debunked claims. senator lindsey graham on the phone call asking raffensperger if there's anything he can do to throw out the votes. i mean it's all there on tape, it's all out on open. as we said before the fulton county d.a. has an awful lot to work with here. we've got a lot more ahead on the january 6 investigation, including whether former white house council pat cipollone will appear for a deposition today before the house select committee. plus, the white house weighs in on brittney griner's letter

to president biden in which she pleads with him for help. we'll be joined by reverend al sharpton who is calling on the administration to arrange a visit to the wnba star jailed and on trial in russia. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. watching "" watching "" we'll be right back. you can instantly start saving on your travels. so you can go and see all those lemons, for less. try dove dry spray. our weightless formula with 1/4 moisturizers is effective and kind to skin. leaving you feeling instantly dry and confident. (grandmother) thank you for taking me home. it's so far. (young woman) don't worry about it, grandma! this'll be fun.to skin. (young woman) two chocolate milkshakes, please. (grandmother) make it three. (young woman) three? (grandmother) did you get his number? (young woman) no, grandma! grandma!!

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pleas for president biden to bring her home. writing as i sit here in a russian prison alone with my thoughts and without the protection of my wife, family, friends, olympic jersey or any accomplishments, i'm terrified i might be here forever. griner's wife cherelle reacting to britney's fear. >> it breaks my heart when i hear her say that. b.g. is probably the strongest person i know. she doesn't say words like that lightly. >> reporter: the two-time olympic medalist has been jailed for 4 1/2 months after russian officials said they found vape cartridges with cannabis in her luggage. she faces a ten-year sentence. 99% of those tried in russian courts are convicted. biden appealing to president biden writing please don't forget about me and the american detainees. the white house said the president read her letter and top of mind and he takes it to heart. griner's wife said she's

disheartened she hasn't heard from the president russian state media said the kremlin wants a russians arms dealer jailed in the u.s. would you recommend the president come up with a trade? >> compared to what? ten more years of victor in jail versus the americans for a decade? i would take that trade. >> reporter: griner's trial resumes thursday. >> joining me with nbc's politics nation, reverend al sharpton who is calling on the administration to immediately arrange a prayer visit to brittney griner in prison. reverend al, tell us more of what you'd like to see. >> well, what we'd like to see is brittney be given what anyone would be allowed and that is a clergy visit. i talked to cherelle, her wife, she did my radio show and i

talked yesterday to brittney's father. and they're very concerned about her health. and how feeling like she said in the letter to president biden in a very, very precarious condition. and they're concerned about how she's not been given priority in terms of this being released by this white house. see, we must remember that just a few months ago, there was a swap made where an american military man reed was given his freedom. and the white house arranged that swap. while brittney was in jail. she could have been part of that swap with russia then. so, i think that the family has rightfully started raising the level of a profile on this. i've been talking to them for weeks. and i certainly want to engage whatever i could to heighten the attention. there's been a letter by some

very prominent black women in today's "washington post," we can't sit by and watch this person just sit there. and in a 99% rate of convictions, face ten years in jail. and as one of the coaches said, is it because she's black and gay and a woman? if this was lebron james would we be allowing him to sit there 4 1/2 months and swap other people and not make him part of whatever arrangement with russia? so it's my intention to be in russia next week. and i hope the white house will help to make it possible to make it possible for me to do a clergy visit to let her know of the support and to let her know that her family and everyone is concerned about her and pray with her and bring some action with it. >> that's amazing. >> and reverend, obviously, for spiritual comfort. but also, how important is it that a clergy member like

yourself and others get a chance to be there, see her with your own eyes, be able to figure out how if she's being treated -- if she's being mistreated over there. and, well, to deliver a message to her. and as have a message delivered back to president biden, how important is that? >> it's very important, because the only way we will know whether or not she is very well treated or even reasonably treated is to see it with our own eyes and to be able to assure family of that. and to bring direct message back to this president from her and to hear from her. and you must remember as her wife has told me, she's in a prison where most of the people can't even talk english. she can't even communicate with the people that run the prison. she's in a russian jail. and for people to act like 4 1/2 months for her to be in that kind of isolation under those

conditions, a phone call that was supposedly arranged with her wife didn't happen. i mean, this is atrocious at best. we don't even know if she's even remotely guilty of what they're saying. is she being used as some political tool for putin? we don't know. which is why we want to go. >> yeah. >> we want to do it as clergy people. >> yeah, it seems obvious that she's being used as a political tool. jonathan lemire, and she's not alone and there's other americans that have been over there for quite some time. would the biden white house be open to making a prison -- prisoner exchange? >> yeah, brittney griner certainly picking terrible timing, too. she was arrested at the moscow airport just a few days before moscow invaded ukraine. the white house, you know, they've been sensitive to the criticisms of this. as the reverend noted family and others have really ramped up they are pressure campaign here. you know, for months theres have

very little talk about brittney griner's situation. jed, korean jeanpierre received questions about it. she noted that the president had read the letter and there were some in theed me aftermath of the briefing yesterday. saying there should be more force here and fire that the white house doing more to demand that she's out. you're right, joe, she's not alone. there are other americans being held in russia as well. there was that one exchange about two months ago. at this point, the white house has not ruled out that there would be other discussions here. and they say -- but there can be two separate channels. you can have the discussion with russia about a prisoner swap separate of course, from the ongoing situation with the war. that's how the last one was pulled off but again, i'm told there's nothing imminent either. >> and again, we are at war. obviously, russia at least is at war with ukraine. vladimir putin is committing war crimes by the day. so, yeah, it's going to be

extraordinarily difficult. he's not going to do anything. absolutely nothing that he thinks the united states wants to be done. but, mika, maybe he will -- maybe he will do that prisoner swap that the ambassador was talking about. >> yeah. >> it certainly seems like it's time to start actively engaging, with reverend sharpton and other clergy members can go over there. but, you know, there are americans that have been over there a long time and they need to come home, too. >> and there's a hot war in ukraine. >> yeah. >> so it's not as easy to navigate. extremely tragic. we'll continue to follow this. reverend al sharpton, we definitely want to hear more of what you hear from the white house very soon. thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you for being on. still ahead, we'll go live to suburban chicago for the very latest on the investigation into the july 4th shooting massacre.

what we're learning about the suspected shooter's previous encounters with law enforcement. we'll also be joined by the mayor of that grieving community in highland park. and senate tammy duckworth of illinois will be our guest as well. "morning joe" continues. >> and also, i'm going to talk to jonathan lemire about what's going on in georgia with the d.a. it looks -- it looks like things are getting really serious there. not just for donald trump, but for rudy giuliani and possibly lindsey graham. >> wow. >> we'll be right back. >> we'll be right back.

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-hi, i'm smokey bear and i made an assistant to help you out. because only you can prevent wildfires. -hey assistant smokey bear, call me papa bear because i'm "grrr-illing" up dinner. haha, do you get it? -yes. good job. -so, what should i do with all of these coals? -don't just toss them out. put them in a metal container because those embers can start a wildfire. -i understand, the stakes are high. assistant smokey vo: ha-ha, ha-ha. -see, smokey think's im funny! welcome back to "morning joe." boris johnson's future as british prime minister looks extremely uncertain. >> again. >> yeah. >> after two of his most senior cabinet ministers called quit. they quit.

both the health secretary and finance minister resigned within minutes of each other saying they no longer have confidence in johnson's leadership. several other tori lawmakers demanding that he quit and a spokesman for johnson said he will not quit. >> yeah. >> instead, he appointed his education secretary as treasury chief. the resignations stem from a series of scandals notably over parties held at 10 downing street during covid-19. >> i've got to say, i've got to say -- >> he's got a lot of -- >> i mean, yeah, he had a party. like at 10 downing street. and the entire government is still rocked by this. >> yeah. >> must be nice to have that as your greatest national scandal. >> well, people know the difference between right and wrong, apparently. >> yeah, you can know the

difference between right and wrong but, my gosh. >> trump had several super spreaders. >> yeah, but he bragged about it. i think the parallel, willie, would be gavin newsom going to the swanky restaurant in san francisco. he went to it. got knocked around a little bit. and everybody moved on. but, again, they're talking about this is being the great what they call a scandal because he had some party. i'm not saying it's not bad. it's bad. but six months, a year later? i mean, have a sip of tea and move on. >> well, i think what you're getting at is by comparison, our former president staged an attempted coup against the united states government. >> right. >> and tried to have the results of the 2020 election thrown out so it does seem quaint by comparison. >> thank you. >> a lot brits upset by this, they had to stay locked in their

homes. they couldn't see their family members, et cetera, et cetera. you're right the effect of seeing the government collapses and call to resign seems like small potatoes as to what we're seeing here. >> fascist overthrow of a newly elected president. >> trying to change votes. >> and a covid party. let's go to financial times about this development plus less than two weeks since congress passed a new gun safety bill but democrats are calling for more action in the wake of highland pack. republicans, though, appear unwilling to come back to the negotiating table. we'll show you what mitch mcconnell is still saying. and we'll get more on those new developments in the criminal investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election in georgia. as senator lindsey graham and donald trump's former lawyer rudy giuliani get hit with subpoenas. we're back in 90 seconds.

subpoenas. subpoenas. we're back in 90 secondsnsumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty. an answer. an answer that leads to even more answers. mayo clinic. you know where to go. ♪♪♪

my name is austin james. as a musician living with diabetes, fingersticks can be a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system. with a painless, one-second scan i know my glucose numbers without fingersticks. now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us the lake county state attorney's office has charged robert crimo iii with seven counts of first degree murder. for the killing spree that he has unleashed against our community. these are just the first of many charges that will be filed against mr. crimo. i want to emphasize that. there will be more charges. we anticipate dozens of more

charges, centering around each of the victims. psychological victims. physical victims. attempt murder charges, aggravated discharge charges. aggravated battery charges. there will be dozens more charges against mr. crimo. >> welcome back to "morning joe." it the top of the hour. charges are announced after the july 4th shooting suspect in illinois after a seventh victim die ted hospital yesterday. prosecutors will ask he be held without bail until he appears in court later this morning. officials believe the 21-year-old suspect spent weeks planning the attack on monday morning, police say he climbed the fire escape, from the highland park building disguised as a woman. and then fired more than 70 rounds from the rooftop, using a high-powered rifle, he purchased legally, despite raising a series of red flags. willie, there were concerns about him for quite a while.

>> yeah, yeah. and no criminal conviction which is why the red flag law was not triggered when he went to purchase those weapons. we've learned authorities already were familiar with the highland park suspect from previous encounters with law enforcement. in april 2019, someone who knew the suspect called police to say the then teenager had attempted suicide. a few months later. police were called again after he threatened his family, saying he was going to, quote, kill everyone. at that point authorities confiscated more than a dozen knives, a dagger and a sword all belonging to the suspect. police say there were no guns in the home. and no cause for arrest at that time. the family did not wish to press charges. in december of 2019, he applied for a permit to own a gun. he was only 19 at the time. and state police say his father had to sign on and sponsor the application. in january of 2020, he received a firearm other than's identification card. according to state police at the

time there was, quote, insufficient basis to establish a clear and present danger. in the year since then, he legally purchased several firearms including the high-powered rifle used in monday's shooting. joining us now from highland park, nbc news correspondent shaquille brewster. shaq, what is the latest there? >> reporter: good morning, well, we expect to see that suspected shooter in court for the first time, likely around 11:00 a.m. he'll be there for his bond hearing. now that 21-year-old is being charged with seven counts of first degree murder. those are charges that carry if convicted a mandatory life sentence with no opportunity for parole. we heard from prosecutors yesterday. they suggested that they are going to ask for a no bail. and his attorney telling nbc news yesterday that they will not contest that at this point. and you went through some of the details that we learned yesterday. one thing that we also learned is exactly how this happened. how the suspected shooter

yesterday, or on july 4th how he used the fire escape to get to the top of that rooftop. once he was there, he benefitted from his own chaos that he caused with the shooting. and escaped in disguise as a woman and escaped from the chaos after the shooting. and you heard from the state attorney there about the psychological impact. he wants to help with the psychological wounds of the shooting. i think want you to listen to a conversation i had with a woman yesterday, marla, struggling with leaving her apartment for the first time since the shooting. she lives about two blocks away from where the shooting occurred. listen to what she told me. >> it just brings everything it that i've been watching in the news so much closer, of course, when it's your main street. so far, i know people, again, who were on the route and are all safe. it's just too many times that something like this does happen. and for me, again, it just became so personal because it

was all so in my immediate area. i just mostly feel incredibly grateful to be alive today. and feeling for the families who not able to feel that today. also feeling what is it like, i was afraid to actually come to the store today. >> reporter: counseling services have been made available for members of this community. we saw people taking advantage of that yesterday. and that will continue throughout the week. we also did yesterday see of course kamala harris. she made a quick unannounced trip to highland park. she encouraged members of the community to take advantage of those counseling services. and she also spent time with first responders. spent time with victims and warned folks in other communities. other peace loving communities in her words that this is something that could happen in other places if more action is not taken. that is a message you that hear not just from elected leaders but many community members who

come here and come to see the scene who are impacted by this shooting they know that this is possible for another location, another community, in this case, there are folks who are out there, celebrating the fourth of july, and now are dealing with the trauma of seven people whose lives are lost. and more than 50 who ended up hospitalized in some form, willie. >> a dark new chapter in this story of gun violence in america. nbc's shaquille brewster in highland park, illinois. shaq, thank you so much. as we looked, mika, in the last hour, 88-year-old man, a grandfather, a married couple whose toddler were under their bodies after they were killed and now will be raised by grand parents. whatever this young man's grievance was, he believed he had the right somehow to go buy a high-powered ar-15 style rifle and indiscriminately shoot into a crowd of people watching a

parade. >> let's bring in nbc news news and nbc news political only live, claire mccaskill. and president of princeton, eddie gaud jr. and u.s. editor at the financial times, ed lewis. and jonathan lemire is with us as well. >> association claire mccaskill, there's just no excuse for this. this doesn't have to happen. our schools don't have to be killing fields. our country music concerts and our churches, our synagogues don't have to be killing fields. and for god's sake, our fourth of july parades don't have to be killing fields. and yet there is one party who refuses to move to get weapons of war off the street. i want to get your reaction to something that minority leader mitch mcconnell said about the shooting. of course, it's been two weeks since congress passed a bipartisan gun law. and yet, the highland park mass

shooting is renewing calls for democrats for more action. here, take a look at what mitch mcconnell said. >> i think yesterday's shooting is another example of what the problem is. the problem is mental health in these young men who seem to be inspired to commit these atrocities. so, i think the bill that we pass targeted the problem. >> okay. >> well, claire, the bill that they passed was a small step and let's all aabsolute -- you know how hard it is to get bipartisan legislation through congress. so, let's salute democrats and republicans for figuring that out. but it was just a small step. but i'm curious, your reaction to these -- these calls that this is being caused by mental health problems.

when great britain has similar mental health problems as we do, and they don't have mass shootings. we have had over 300 mass shootings this year alone. >> yeah. let's talk about high capacity magazines. let's talk about zeroing in on the type of weapons and these magazines that are designed only for one thing, joe. and you've talked about it over and over again, that's to kill people quickly. to kill people quickly. now, if you have a home intruder you don't need to fire seven rounds. snipers fire 70 rounds if they want to commit mass slaughter. high-capacity magazines are very happy if you want to slaughter school children as they sit in their desk. listen i want to tell my former colleagues, you can go up against the nra and live to tell about it. i won many elections in missouri which is not a liberal place with an "f" from the nra.

with an "f" from the nra. you can do it, because most americans want to stop this madness. and i think democrats are right right now, they should go after these weapons of war, these high-capacity, high-powered rifles and most importantly, these high-capacity magazines. there is no reason that any sportsman needs a high-capacity magazine to shoot deer, varmints or feral pigs. >> no, they're not needed for that. in fact, you can use a shotgun for that. ed lewis, you write in the "financial times" about america's unending horizon of mass shooting. quote, guns do not kill people, insists the u.s. gun lobby. it is people who do that. reducing americans' access to firearms would rob them of their constitutional right to self-defense. picking holes in such reasoning is easier than shooting fish in a barrel, not least in its distortion of america's second

amendment. but reason is no match for a lobby that can end political careers and make or break presidential campaigns. the right question is not when will this end, but where will it lead? contrary to received wisdom it has not always been simple to buy a gun in the united states. until the mid-20th century, judicial consensus interpreteded second amendment as guaranteeing the right of space to defend against federal tyranny or imperial revenge. yet it is now an article of faith among conservative jurists, including two-thirds of the u.s. supreme court and most of america's state legislatures. bit by bit, but with increasing speed, what remains of u.s. gun control is being demolished. this new age of unrelated guns coincides with the growing militarization of u.s. society

and the equivalent of a cold war in domestic politics. it's not that america has more guns around. they are more lethal than they used to be. and, ed, again, what's different about america, compared to most countries in the world? this. >> yeah. this. i mean, as you know, as joe mentioned earlier, the mental health problems just as prevalent in other democracies, but guns are not. it's really, really very simple. the only country in europe that has a high homicide rate is switzerland. because switzerland has a citizens army in which every male is allowed to keep a gun at home. because the guns are available at home, switzerland's is otherwise a very low crime rate, is extremely high for gun homicides. so this mental health red herring, i think it is a red herring has to be knocked on the

head. i have no objection to -- well, i was pleased to see a bipartisan bill passed with this red flag and background check for 18 to 21-year-olds. but it's like having cancer diagnosed and prescribing an aspirin. this is nowhere near enough to tackle this epidemic. >> yeah. >> you know, eddie, there are, of course, mental health questions. and we looked at this long list of red flags that were raised by his family, even calling the police to the house. no charges pressed. this internet history that became immediately available just out on the open on youtube and discord and other social media channels where he fantasized about violence in school shootings and made rap videos after a school shooting. all of those things and cases whether we're talking about highland park or buffalo and that supermarket or uvalde, there is a high-powered semi-automatic rifle at the end

of that story. and that's just the truth. that's just the reality. and that's just the way these stories always end. >> you know, you're absolutely right, willie. i think we need to understand that these weapons of war are at the heart of the problem. but if we pan out just a bit, mental health is a short handfor what i take to be a whole host of problems, right? many of these are disaffected white men, many of them feel alienated, they find themselves in the online communities, 4chan and the like. part of what i'm thinking about as i'm trying to make sense of all of this is it feels as if the fabric of our society has played its toll. and these mass shootings are indication, not just some isolated crazy person, but in some ways an indication of how something has broken in our society. our connection, our relationship to each other.

some people might want to appeal to the culture wars. but there's something deeper here that we have to wrap our minds around. and the weapons of war is the point of entry but there's something else happening here that we have to begin to talk about. and that is our relationship to each other and these young men coming of age in a society that seems to me to be broken. >> well, you know, jonathan lemire, there are young men coming of age in the united states, in britain, across the world. and what separates the united states from most industrialized nations is the fact that 18-year-old kids can walk in and get ar-15s that we have -- we have a political organization that is promoting the selling of weapons of war. because the gun -- the gun

industry makes the most money. this is -- it's pretty simple. i mean, they are -- it really is. this is simple. >> it is. >> let me just say that. people are dying because young men, at least in these last shootings who may be suicidal, who may be suffering mental problems can walk into a gun store and get a weapon of war that again as i mentioned before is more powerful than what we gave our soldiers, what we gave our marines in the jungles of vietnam. and so, we've had -- we've had these weapons used in boulder. in sandy hook. 27 lives. in san bernardino. ar-15 used. 14 lives. pulse nightclub, ar-15, 49 lives. the texas church slaughter, 26 lives. the las vegas country music

concert, 58 music fans slaughtered. of course, the buffalo tragedy, people going to supermarkets slaughtered by ar-15s. uvalde. the little children again slaughtered by ar-15s. parkland, and now this fourth of july parade. again, this is -- this is happening because people with mental health problems can walk into a gun shop. and can get a weapon of war. and, again, i don't want to say again -- i've been talking about this since sandy hook. and the lies that are told by the gun lobby -- first of all, there's something ominous, i'll tell you the feds are coming to get you, you better have an ar-15. which is the stupidest agent of all. because if the feds are coming to get you that ar-15 is not

going to stop the feds. first of all, that's a stupid argument. just logically, that's a stupid argument. secondly, if you get past the argument of why people need an ar-15, get past that, people saying they need it to shoot soldiers or police officers coming to their front door during an apocalypse, if you get past that, don't say, oh, it's great for killing varmints or i need to to protect -- no, that's a lie, too. shotgun does better at both, killing varmints and also in the confines of the house. there's no comparison, ask anybody who knows anything about guns and self-defense, they will tell you, a shotgun is the best way to protect your home. and yet these lies, this paranoia, it spreads and it continues killing americans. again, turning the fourth of

july parade into a killing field. >> weapons of war are so powerful that some of those killed in this fourth of july parade have said their bodies were eviscerated. weapons of war so powerful that just a few weeks ago in that classroom in uvalde, texas, some of those children could only be identified by their dna. that's how powerful those weapons of war are. and they're purchased legally. and yes, those gun reform legislation was hailed as a first step. senator chris murphy who of course made this his passion since what happened in sandy hook. he said, look, this is a good thing. we did this, is this a step in the right direction. it is, it's only a step. it's incremental. what democrats were afraid of, some democrat, as much as they're happy that this got done and there's some hope that the log jam will break. and that this legislation will lead to others. right now at this moment, since something got done, that's given

republicans cover to not do more. we heard from mitch mcconnell to dismiss what happened, saying well, is this someone, mental health funding, we've got funding for mental health, that will help. no willingness to take on something else. even something as simple as raising the age from 18 to 21 to buy the weapons of war that are so powerful that children could only be identified by their dna. >> yeah. >> that remains a nonstarter for the republican party. >> well, claire, we often talk about the negligence test that they in each in the first year in tort class. you take the car accident, you take one of the cars out, but for that car would there be an accident, and so there's negligence. in this case, you got mental health problems here. you've got mental health problems in great britain. you've got mental health problems across the globe. it is -- we've said it, it is an epidemic for younger americans right now. the difference is, though, you

got the guns. you take the ar-15s, the military-style weapons out of the equation, and you don't keep having these large number of americans being slaughtered. and, you know, i'm sure you can hear just like me, you can hear republicans saying, oh, look, see, we pass gun legislation, it's never enough for them. the libs are going to come -- no, no, there are americans who are concerned about public safety. they will keep coming. they will keep working until we can once again go to church safely. we can once again go to fourth of july parades safely. we can once again go to country music concerts safely. and we can once again send our kids to school safely without worry about them being slaughtered like people in britain and the rest of the world don't have to carry around those same concerns. >> we have over 400 million

weapons in the united states. in fact, the united states owns almost 50% of all the private weapons in the world. think about that. that's how concentrated weaponry is in the united states. now, here's another interesting fact. only one-third of americans own multiple weapons. two-thirds don't. so i think we need to quick looking at this as just a republican or democratic problem, we need to look at it, this is an american crisis, and i think most americans don't want to live in fear of everyday activities because of high-capacity magazines being able to kill so many people so quickly. and i thought, really honestly, the other side, they are so quick to say mental health. and yes, mental health is a component of this. they're so quick to say, last night, the fox news host actually said it was marijuana. i mean, didn't mention the high-capacity magazines but said

it was pot. come on, really, are we to that point that we're going to now start blaming? i mean, what's next, is it because it's cloudy outside? is it the weathe it is pretty simple. we unlike any other country in the world. we think it's fine for an 18-year-old who has 18 swords in his house and threatened to commit suicide and kill his family, we think it's fine for him to walk in and buy a weapon of war with a high-capacity magazine to slaughter innocents on a fourth of july parade. we think that's just fine in america. that's what a third of america think. two-thirds don't -- >> one-third. one-third. that's such a great point, claire. i'm so glad you bring it up. because when we have these discussions it's so important that we don't talk about republicans and democrats. that we don't talk about gun owners and people who don't own guns. because the truth is the majority of americans want

universal background checks. a majority of republicans want that. a majority of gun owners want that. a majority of nra gun owners want that. issue after issue, red flag laws, a majority of people, republicans and democrats alike, mika, they want these public safety measures passed. they want these gun laws strengthened. they want to feel safe again, walking outside with their children and with their grandparents. >> republicans turn a blind eye. they constantly do this on issues. you know, they want to say, well, it's mental health, and therefore, that's the problem. there was one republican governor over the weekend who just couldn't bring herself to admit that a 10-year-old who was raped and pregnant perhaps should have access to an abortion before her body has to carry a child at 10 years old. they keep talking about the root of the problem and how that could have happened.

instead of addressing the reality here in america. the reality that other countries can somehow handle what we can't. we have to close our eyes to what happened and talk about some random side issue, as the root of the problem. by the way, the bill that was jut passed includes money for mental health. we're on it. we agree. nobody disagrees. there's still one thing that makes us different. and you know what it is. so still ahead on "morning joe," things are not really looking good for donald trump right now on a number of fronts. >> well, he's above the law. i mean, the federal government -- >> but georgia. >> the federal government has shown he's above the law unlike the rest of us. >> a special grand jury subpoenaed key members of the inner circle. the latest on the probe as the former president attempts to overturn georgia's 2020 election

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this should never have happened. we talked about it being senseless, it is senseless. we've got to be smarter as a country in terms of who has access to what, in particular, assault weapons. and we got to take this stuff seriously. as seriously as you are because you have been forced to have to take it seriously. the whole nation should understand and have a level of empathy to understand that this can happen anywhere in any peace-loving community. >> vice president kamala harris visiting highland park, illinois yesterday. joining us white house reporter for politico and senior reporter

you eugene daniels. i understand you're traveling with the president. he's headed to cleveland and then, too, he may visit highland park? >> reporter: yeah, on his trip to cleveland, the president is touting an administrative rule that essentially gives 2 to 3 million people white house aides from getting their pensions cut. those pensions multiemployer pensions will last through and until 2051. something that the administration is very excited to talk about. you can also expect president biden to talk about the economy overall. you know, they spent all of june kind of doing what they described as a full court press about the economy. talking about the low employment numbers. the amount of jobs that the president and administration has seen added while he's been in office. but they're also going to have to talk about the part of the conversation that's in every single thing that this white house does and that most americans are talking about and

that's rising prices. whether that's gas, milk or whatever. and inflation overall. and what they're going to do and have done there. one of the things that's really interesting about ohio is that the president has been here at least four times during his presidency. because it kind of encapsulates quintessential biden voters. someone who is from a red belt. someone who is blue collar, a union voter. and someone who he has seen and democrats have seen leaving, a turn a bit from the democratic party over the last few years and that's continued. so they have a very -- for them, a very exciting senate race hoping to flip from red to blue. one person who won't be while the president is touting his economic agenda is tim ryan, the democrat who is running for that senate seat. i was told yesterday by an aide

that they already had a schedule set up for ryan in other part of the state and he could not possibly have gone over there. but this has happened another time in may when president biden was here. and you see over and over, when tim ryan is asked whether or not he would want to campaign with president biden that he said, no, this race, he wants to be the face of his senate campaign. that is he is running sometimes against the democratic party. an aide told me yesterday that an ohio-centric campaign, that he doesn't want any national figures coming, whether that's the president of the united states or leaders of the party. and on that trip to highland park, they're clearly talking about it in the white house. it takes a lot of resources to get a presidential trip on the books so it's not clear and when and if he's able to do that. >> tim ryan with a very busy schedule, apparently. politico's eugene daniels at the white house. thank you so much, we appreciate

it. >> yeah, very difficult to manage, running for office running against the president. i had an opponent in '94 who tried to run away from bill clinton. i said, wait, let me get this straight, you're a democrat, you're going to go to washington and not claim your support -- that's going to put you in a terrible position, if you're a democrat voting. long story short, you can spin people around, ed luce, in for a penny, in for a pound. you can't run away from it. you got to run to it. you got to explain it. and one bit of news that might be a little better for the biden administration. it's good news, of course, laced with bad news. the good news is gas prices are dropping. the bad news is people believe a recession is going to follow. so don't know if there's going to be a soft landing or not economically. there certainly will be no soft

landing politically for just about everybody in power right now. >> yeah, i mean, recession is something that economists endlessly debate how you define it technically. it doesn't really matter in politics, whether we're technically in a recession or not. it's what people feel. and unfortunately what people feel and they're likely to continue feeling for about another year, year and a half is poorer than they were and poorer than they could be. gas prices are going to come down precisely because of recession expectations. consumers are going to be cutting back on trips. they're only going to be filling half a tank. it's possible that biden and janet yellen, the treasury secretary, have devised a plan to put a cap on russian oil prices that although it's quite difficult to work, would reduce global prices and revenues to putin. because, of course, he's been making money hand over fist.

through this global inflation. it's possible, it's a clever idea that biden and yellen have got they're western partners to agree to. and that could bring prices down. and also deprive putin of war-making revenues. >> yeah. and as ronald reagan said when you talk about the psychology of the recession. recession is when -- when your neighbor loses your job. depression is when you lose your job. and right now, the psychology of the american people not very good at all. let me ask you about britain. i'm a little confused here. we have scandals. when we have scandals -- they're like full-blown scandals. you've got presidents trying to undermine american democracy. >> shake down foreign leaders. >> and the peaceful transition of power. trying to shake down foreign leaders saying we're not going to give you ukraine military weapons until you give us dirt

on my political candidates. we've got presidents going to attorneys generals two weeks before the election saying arrest him. or arrest my opponent and family. then of course, you've got a fascist takeover of the congress and the president who wants to go in and march into the house of representatives. in britain, you have boris johnson throwing a party in the middle of covid. i don't know. i think the brits have a little bit better than we do. and yet this scandal continues. i mean, gavin newsom said he was sorry, moved on. crushed everybody in the recount. now, it looks like he's planning to run for president. why -- why is this scandal so -- sticking around boris johnson? i thought this guy was the teflon prime minister? >> yeah, it was more than one party. remember, this was at the time of really severe national lockdown, where people weren't able to go to the funerals of

their loved ones or visit them before they died because social distancing was so strictly enforced. and there was boris partying away. i agree with you, though, this isn't remotely comparable to an authentic push on capitol hill. and it didn't forsake a fascist threat to britain. but i think the reason why it sticks and it's got such legs, this scandal, is a bit like why, you know, it took an accountant to get al capone. there are far bigger boris johnson sins, not least delivering brexit, on the basis of completely false promises. and brexit, if you remember in 2016 was compared to trump's election in terms of the shock to democracy. so johnson has, i think, permanently damaged britain's interests. getting him for a party or for

hiring -- appointing people who he knew were gropers, sexual -- drunken sexual assailants which the most recent iteration of this scandal, a guy called pincher, appropriately enough, pincher, you couldn't make it up really -- >> pincher is his real name? >>pincher by name, pincher by nature, is how boris johnson talks about him. >> yeah, he did. >> it seems moving, monty pythonesque and all of that, because there's a much bigger sort of basis of lies behind boris johnson's rise. >> ed luce. >> thank you very much. >> thanks a lot, ed, as always, love having you here. claire mccaskill, i just want to circle back to you for a second on the whole joe biden/tim ryan

thing. not picking on tim, but any democrats trying to run away from joe biden on the campaign trail, i don't know about you -- i've never -- i've never seen that work. it never works. and when somebody runs away from their president it is so easy to just spin them around in circles politically. >> i don't know, joe. i think there is a strategy of independence. you know, ryan is somebody who has done this throughout his career. i mean, this is a guy who challenged nancy pelosi, i mean, he's got a track record of standing up to leaders in his own party. and i think tim ryan is who he is. and i think there's some authenticity to his independence because he's got a record of it. and i think he needs that independence in a state like ohio. so, i'm not going to be critical of him for not wanting to have photo ops with a president who is struggling with approval.

i mean, that's just a reality. >> yeah. >> and he's struggling with approval in states like ohio. i think as tim had been a go-along, get-along party guy his entire career, this would be much harder for him to do. but he has a record of standing up to the leaders in power in his party, and i think that's what he's going to lean into. and it's probably the right thing to do because that's who he is going to be as a senator. >> well, you know, those are great points, claire. and you're right, he did run against nancy pelosi. so, that is something, mika, that just may help tim in a state that keeps getting more and more red by the year. >> we'll see. still ahead on "morning joe" -- >> i would just say to my republican colleagues can we move forward without president trump? the answer is no. i've always liked liz cheney, but she's made a determination that the republican party can't -- can't grow with president trump.

i've determined we can't grow without him. >> all right. that was lindsey graham in may of last year. touting his love with donald trump but you know that has consequences. and the south carolina senator was just subpoenaed to testify in a criminal investigation in georgia. >> i mean, you can say that on tv, that's fine. you just can't call the secretary of state and suggest that you want him to throw out legally cast votes. still, senator, you cannot do that in america. we'll get the latest when "morning joe" returns. t the lat "morning joe" returns.

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46 past the hour. a member of the committee investigating the january 6 attack on the capitol, the insurrection, republican congressman adam kinzinger has released an audio compilation of

just an example of threatening calls and voice mails made to his capitol hill office. kinzinger tweeted out the calls noting that his young interns were the ones who had to field these disgusting messages. >> wrath of the lord god almighty come upon you, your health, your family, your home, your livelihood. and i'll pray if it be god's will that you suffer. >> you and liz cheney can both go to hell. >> we're going to get you. coming to your house, son. going to get you and liz cheney. going to get you two little [ bleep ] ha, ha, ha. >> eddie glaude, by the way that was just a snippet of many, many, many messages. and it just shows, i don't know if you can speak to the coarseness and the vitriol that

has been caused by, again, a president trying to overturn an election he lost. that, you know, nothing has been found to concur with what trump has put out there. and his minions have put out there. and it's causing danger. >> absolutely. absolutely. and you know, the anger runs deep. the terrorizing runs deep. i literally just received an email from princeton's public -- public safety office telling me that i received threats after a breitbart report saying they're coming for me. i get those regularly. part of what we have to understand, it's not simply rhetoric. the rhetoric heats the cold war and then turns into actual action. so this is the state of our country. bitterly divided. bitter partisanship that could

easily turn into violence. and this is just one example. >> eddie, how grotesque, unfortunately, this is how people are thinking these days. this twisted version, this christian nationalism that has absolutely nothing to do with the words of jesus christ, contained in the gospels of jesus christ, god's will? >> yeah. >> that woman, and millions of others like her find god's will in violence in beating the hell out of police officers. these people, these so-called christian nationalists, they have nothing to do with christianity. they find god's will in violence, in lies, in the desecration of the united states house? and the destruction of american democracy. no, no, god -- you don't -- preacher always said don't look

for god in sin, you'll never find him there. well, that's exactly where these people are. and it is a perverse, twisted anti-christian view of the world. and i just wonder what bible they're reading. i just wonder what bible they are reading, because they are not reading the bible millions of americans and people across the world have been reading for hundreds of years. >> joe, you hit it on the head here another way to describe it is simply people using the gospel to sacrifice, sanctify their own political ambitions and ends, so it's a transactional relationship to the gospel, and it is what it is. it's idolatry at its core. >> one other thing too while we are on this topic, this

christian nationalism where you talk about abortion. you're talking about gay rights, guns. i mean, again, this is fascinating to me. people say, "i'm pro-life because i'm a christian, and you can't be pro-choice and believe in the bible," you know? i hate to keep bringing this up because i know it's boring for a lot of people to watch this show, but just in case somebody is out there that continues to be lied to by people on the extremes about what jesus says and what jesus does not say, there was abortion. there was abortion in the time of jesus, even before jesus. he did not talk about it, not one time in the gospel, and you go forward. you have to go forward. 1979 years after jesus' birth.

before evangelicals decide, in the 20th century that abortions are sent. the southern baptist church all the way till 1979, mainstream protestant churches, evangelicals, all pro-choice. baptist church, pro-choice talking about a woman making her own -- but 1979, something happened. paul, people like jerry falwell, who started the moral majority as they were moving into ronald reagan's presidential campaign. they decided abortion could be used to raise money. it is the facts. look at it. look at church documents about what i am saying here. they can make money. paul could make money by

stirring up christians, by making this abortion issue a religious issue, which it had not been for 20 centuries, almost 20 centuries since jesus' birth, and then republicans figured out, "we can use this. we can use this to separate christians from the democratic party," and so they did. now, you've got people running around saying you can't be a christian if you want pro- life. it's crazy. when i was in high school, when i was in high school -- we're not talking the ice ages, right? evangelicals were pro-choice when the beatles broke up. evangelicals were still pro- choice when the eagles broke up. this is recent stuff. think how crazy it is, the people will come up here and say, "you can't be a christian if you don't have to's view on abortion," and this was --

again, you talk about exploiting. look at the history of it. it was paul wyrick, jerry falwell, the moral majority deciding to make this an issue and start pushing it into the bloodstream of mainstream christianity in the evangelical community. they changed everything. >> joe, we are hearing phone messages on congress persons' answering services, condemning people to hell. look where we are. >> in georgia yesterday, subpoenas were sent to senator lindsey graham, key members of former president donald trump's legal team, including rudy giuliani and john eastman and other lawyers, all who worked with trump as he contacted the

2020 election results, the election that he lost. the special grand jury was in panel this year to assist the investigation of fulton county district attorney andy willis whether there was any coordinated attempts to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections in georgia. among the incidents, willis said she is looking into in november 2020 phone call lindsey graham made to georgia secretary brad raffensperger p raffensperger said graham pressed him about whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, which raffensperger interpreted as a suggestion to illegally count votes. graham denied that's what he was trying to do, calling the allegation ridiculous. >> apparently, not ridiculous because the secretary of state for the state of georgia, who is south carolina united states senator bizarrely decided to call while donald trump was screaming, "find me one more vote that i lost by," does not seem so ridiculous at all.

let's bring in the governor reporter for "the atlanta constitution, and can also a former u.s. attorney. greg peter georgia, georgia, georgia. come on. it keeps popping up, whether we're talking about the 2020 election, the hundreds of recounts or however many you had down there. the special senate race, and now, this. give us the state of play down there. >> may be the trial of the century, but it's pivotal moment in the investigation that launched last february because it mounts the most direct effort yet to president donald trump's closest allies come his inner circle to testify what could be the most serious criminal probe the former president will face, and if his inner circle starts

talking under oath, who knows what investigators might find out? >> harry, let's walk through this case here. what sort of trouble could senator graham b, giuliani could face, what kind of trouble could donald trump face because we were saying for many, this particular matter in georgia has always seemed like it posed the most legal peril to the former president. >> it seems to be the one that has him in the crosshairs. he has not been mentioned here, but if this were an indictment -- it isn't, but if it was, prosecutors would call them individual number one for sure. you might've thought they would zero in on that january 2 call, give me , " the votes." she goes very wide, going with the graham call, which is 10 days after the election trying to badger raffensperger, who has already testified here, so if graham shows up, there will be a he said, he said although i to the 6th, because these men fought for pence is included there. she said again and again before

the judge, this was a coordinated effort to influence the results in georgia and elsewhere. she is going broad. one thing to point out, this is an investigation. it does not meet that will transpire and that breadth of charges, but when you hear about the kinds of crimes she's considering and just the breadth of who she is considering, it's a, everything almost up until the january 6th committee, and b, the unspoken person in the center of the spider's web, donald trump. >> harry, it's clear here. i know this is a special, a special grand jury in the state of georgia, at the state level. this is my understanding that the georgia law, this grand jury cannot indict. they can only produce a report that goes to the da. do you know, and can you speak to the issue of immunity, whether or not this special

grand jury has the power to grant immunity, because the fifth amendment that we watched eastman take repeatedly, the fifth amendment i anticipate a lot of these lawyers will take once the privilege issues get worked out and work product issues get worked out, candace grand jury forced them to testify by giving them immunity? >> very important point about the fifth amendment. people are excited. we're going to have all kinds of litigation back and forth, and it will be a while before anyone raises their hand, and i do expect they will take the fifth amendment. can they produce immunity? willis has the power to do it, but like the whole thing involving georgia, it will be tied up in federal and state issues cured what will that mean for the federal government and the like? you are right this is a special grand jury, and they don't make the final decision, but they get the whole report to the da, who can bring it before a regular grand jury.

it is as serious as any kind of grand jury investigation can be. final point. in the federal system, you would never call. you would be prohibited from calling witnesses or targets to come forward and testify. in georgia, no. you can call anyone you want. you give them warnings, let them take the fifth, but you can absolutely be telling rudy giuliani, "you come talk to us, and we may indict you in a couple months based on what you say here." >> greg, donald trump has his hand in the state of georgia again this election cycle paid his hand-picked candidate, herschel walker, the republican nominee running for senate against senator warnock, there was a 10 point spread is not that big in the race, but what does it look like, herschel walker, not a great candidate by conventional political standards, but he is a god, as you know, in the state of georgia. how does that race shakeout?

>> very tight. as you mentioned, very few people believe that poll that showed a 10 point spread. much closure. but i talked to a lot of republicans who learned about herschel walker's history of lies, violent behavior, erratic behavior, exaggerations about his business and personal record, all the issues, but they are still voting for him because they want to revote for a republican senate. that is going to be the challenge for the senator warnock. inflation, high gas prices, although like you are seeing another battleground states. senator warnock is not feeding that territory. he is talking about capping the price of insulin prescription drugs, bringing down gas prices, other ways to show his independence and also show he has a plan too to bring down these high prices. >> the atlanta journal constitution greg. and the clock jr. and clear, welcome as

well. it is 8:00 a.m. here on "morning joe," as we launch the third hour of the show. return back to the july 4 shooting massacre in illinois , where a seventh victim has now died. prosecutors say the alleged gunman will be held to account. >> they have charged robert crimo iii with seven counts of first-degree murder. for the killing spree that he has unleashed against our community. these are just the first of many charges that will be filed against mr. crimo. i want to emphasize that. there will be more charges. we anticipate dozens more of charges centering around each of the victims. psychological victims, physical victims, attempted murder charges, aggravated discharges, aggravated battery charges here and there will be dozens more

charges against mr. crimo. >> officials believe the 21- year-old suspect spent weeks planning the attack. on monday morning, police say he climbed to the fire escape of a downtown highland park building disguised as a woman, then fired more than 70 hours from the rooftop using a high- powered rifle. he purchased it legally, despite raising a series of red flags. a daughter of survivor of the attack describe the harrowing moments when she lost her mother in the shooting spree. >> i looked up, and i saw the shooter shooting down the kid, and i told her it was a shooter, and she had to run, so i started running with her, and we were next to each other, and he shot her in the chest, and she fell down here and i knew she was dead, so i just told her i loved her, but i could not stop because he was still

shooting. >> wanted to speak with illinois senator tammy duckworth in a moment, but joining us live outside highland park hospital, nbc news correspondent kathy park, and there were a lot of victims being treated where you are. tell us the latest. >> reporter: good morning to you. it according to the latest update, nine patients are still hospitalized, and many of the stations are still recovering from gunshot wounds. as you can imagine, this community, still reeling from this tragedy, and seven families are now making funeral arrangements. ♪ that saved a wretch like me. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: a night of reflection a remembrance in highland park, as members of the close-knit community mourns the victims of monday's mass shooting. >> the highland park community , like so many before us, is

devastated. >> reporter: officials identifying six of the seven lives lost get among them, 88- year-old stephen straus, his knees posting on facebook, "no one should die this way." jacki sundheim is being remembered for her kindness and warmth at the synagogue where she worked as a preschool teacher. kevin and irina mccarthy leave behind a 2-year-old son aiden. irina's father, telling up with the chicago sun-times" that kevin died protecting his son, saying he had aiden out of his body when he was shot . he also told the newspaper the little boy was walking in the street after the shooting. his grandfather, later picking him up at the police station. the community, rallying around the young boy, who will grow up without his parents. his grandfather, saying to open the sun-times" aiden's parents were crazy about their child. they were planning to. we spoke to an e.r. physician who treated several victims rushed to the hospital, some who even drove themselves. >> they pulled up around here to the emergency department,

and myself and our nurses and staff ran out to help pull these patients out of the car. >> reporter: what can you tell. the severity of the injuries? >> you could tell the intent was to cause as much harm in the shortest amount of time as possible. >> reporter: trained on chicago's south side, an area plagued by gun violence, she said the carnage she witnessed his all-too-familiar. >> he looked down at yourself and you see you are still wearing, you are still wearing the evidence of this trauma, and i think i speak for many e.r. providers, when i say we're really tired of having to deal with this kind of thing on a daily basis. >> reporter: and to honor the lives stolen on july 4, president biden has ordered that flags be flown at half staff in public spaces. meanwhile, the heartbreaking story of the mccarthys and they're now orphaned 2-year- old son has touched so many

lives across the country, that an online fundraiser that is been set up with the family at last check, the number is nearing $2 million and county. mika? >> nbc's kathy park, thank you very much. i know one doctor who's trying to treat people at the chaotic scene described the wounds he saw as a sort of evisceration wound. he said he had never seen wounds like this. they were in solvable, the bodies, ripped apart. why are assault style rifles described as weapons of war? our next guest has this explanation. >> i just listen to the sound of gunfire from one of the videos that was captured, and let me tell you the last time i heard a weapon with that capacity firing that rapidly on the fourth of july was iraq. it was not the united states of america. we can and we should and we will do better.

>> my god. democratic senator tammy duckworth of illinois joins us now. she is a veteran of the iraq war, as you just heard, and a recipient of the purple heart, and we thank you for joining us. that really does size it up. the weapons that are being used in mass shootings almost daily, and by the way, these mass shootings, what i don't understand about your republican counterparts, these mass shootings are not going to choose their political location, their districts. they are going to come to a city or town near them that they haven't already, and yet, there is such resistance in washington to putting any type of restraints on these guns getting into the wrong hands or to any hands, quite frankly, in large amounts. >> yeah. these firearms don't belong on the streets, and i spent a few years in the army. i carried on m-16 and m4.

i enjoyed shooting them on the range, but let me tell you, my enjoyment shooting an m4 does not override someone else's the right to life. these folks are there for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and some can no longer do that, and we need to ban assault weapons. by the way, these mass shootings, another characteristic of them is the use of high-capacity magazines. in the shooting, you could hear the video from the shooting, where there is a slight pause where he was chanting his magazine, and that pause gives people time to run for safety. we need to get rid of high- capacity magazines along with the assault weapons. >> senator duckworth, good morning. you talk about shooting that weapon and arrange. you were training, learning how to use that weapon, not an aggrieved 18-year-old walking into a store with it being handed to them with no training at all. you talked about this legislation that was passed, bipartisan, signed by the

united states president. is what has to be done. as we listen to republicans, they say in the wake of the shooting in highland park, it's about mental health again. as you know, a lot of your republican colleagues say, "we get the democrats one like this. we passed legislation after uvalde and buffalo. we're not going to go further," so what hope do you have that there is more to be done here? >> there's a lot more to be done, whether we can accomplish it with republicans is a question. it's republicans who refused to lower the age for -- to raise the age from 18 to 21. the shooter was able to buy one because his father helped him get a card when he was before 21. one of the things in the bill was passed is to help databases share database money against each other. in the case of highland park, the police filed a report on this young man saying he had

had contact with police, but somehow, he was still able to go buy legally an assault weapon, so we have to get those databases to overlap with each other, and there is money in the bill for that, but the bill does not ban assault weapons. we need to ban assault weapons and ban high-capacity magazines, and the only way we can do that is when we have the majority democratic senate here >> no questions, guns are the problem, period, full stop, but i want to get your sense as to what can be done about this culture of hate so many young men, young white men in this country have fallen into, that they are isolated by society, perhaps exacerbated by the pandemic, finding fellow people online, engaging and graphic depictions of violence and

threats of school shootings. there's a limit to what law enforcement can do to root out these problems before they occur, but how does the congress, how does the senate, how do we as a society deal with this culture of hate that fuels the violence that has been carried out by a gun? >> the culture of hate is one that we absolutely have to attack and deal with it. away we can deal with it is due to social media platforms, which allows these messages to proliferate. remember, this young man had a video that basically re-created a school shooting where he was a shooter online, and i believe the video was on air quite a while, was on social media quite a while, so we need to look at social media platforms and the responsibility they have to root out -- if they can run an algorithm that shows i was online on the fourth of july looking at a new garbage disposal for my house and i have ads following me for the

next four days, they can root out the people who are posting these videos and slide them. they can figure out the algorithm. whether they do it or not, is a different story. >> senator tammy duckworth, making such a good point. thank you so much for joining us this morning. joining us now, author and columnist at "the daily beast," david. good to have you on. >> we got a lot we want to talk about, but first, let's talk about these shootings that continue with ar-15s or ar style weapons. boulder, colorado . orlando. parkland. las vegas. aurora. sandy hook. waffle house. san bernardino. midland. modesto. sutherland springs, tree of life synagogue, buffalo, uvalde , and an ar style rifle in chicago in a fourth of july

parade. what in the world is it going to take for us to stop this madness, where 18-year-old kids are deranged people that can go in and get weapons of war? weapons of war, more deadly than the weapons we gave our marines and soldiers in vietnam. >> senator duckworth put her finger on it. it's going to take political change in the united states. the problem is guns has been established clearly on the show and has been established, sadly, over many years in the united states, but it's also politics. the reality is there is one political party that is blocking the will of the vast majority of americans 90% of americans support background checks. the majority of americans support assault weapons ban. they support other bans like

high-capacity magazines. they want to see change. why don't they see change? because the gun lobby has been institutionalized inside the republican party. they block everything. they give crumbs every so often, as we saw in the recent bipartisan legislation, and until you've got 54 democrats in the senate, until you can conceivably maintain a majority in the house, we're not going to see the kind of gun reform that common sense and even just basic decency dictates. >> now to this, the january 6th committee announced its next public hearing will be next tuesday, july 12, at 10:00 a.m. the committee has announced a witness list, but adam schiff said last night, that they want to shed light on how that mob

came to be there on january 6. how they were called here they were brought together. what different groups were participating, and how they were incited. you said the hearing so far have been ending the political career donald trump peter latest piece is entitled "put a fork in donald trump. the ex-president is done." you write this, and go while someone in the right challenged former white house aide cassidy hutchinson testimony, they did not challenge her core assertions that trump new the crowd on january 6 was armed and wanted to lead the crowd in its assault in the capitol hill. many people saw the money as a turning point in making the criminal case against trump. in doing so, they raised the specter of future prosecutors and even conviction of trump

and those around him would suggest it's that of his political position. it is only likely to get worse. the fact that trump may soon announce his candidacy for the presidency in the days ahead is itself more of a sign of his political collapse than it is of any strength he may have, and why do you say that, david? donald trump may be looking to seek the presidency because that's safety legally. reelection whatever proved that for him as well, but does he think he can win, and i will say there are still many americans who don't think january 6th was a big deal. >> well, first of all, let me take the first part of the question, and that is why would he run? i think the reason he would run

is as a way of , a, providing a defense and saying to any prosecution that takes place, his political in nature, and b, he wants to raise money. we've seen it before. the committee talked about a. he set up a fund in the wake of the election rate $250 million, most of which did not go to the purpose he said it would go to. pcs running as president as kind of a scam. he saw is as a branding maneuver in 2016, and at this moment, he sees there's a defense maneuver, and i think he would be right in that because his chances of winning of the prentice since he is diminishing with every additional hearing that takes place, and as you folks have been assessing this morning, things like the developments in the fulton county case in georgia, where his inner circle is now in the crosshairs, and that almost inevitably means he will be in the crosshairs of a very serious prosecution sometime soon.

>> and joe, i'll just jump in. the one thing i can't seem to balance with what david is saying is there are folks who don't care, who don't care. you see them interviewed. you see them on certain networks . they don't care if donald trump did something wrong. >> freaks, wackos, insurrectionists. >> who also vote. >> that make up maybe 40% of the country now. i would say maybe 35% of the country. there are some republicans these days talking about ron desantis, who you look at the money, the billionaires who are lining up behind desantis. it suddenly an alternative. people aren't having to choose joe biden or donald trump. they are in their in their fevered ideological slumps, aoc

or donald trump or nancy pelosi or donald trump. it shifted dramatically. it's now glenn youngkin or donald trump. you can go ron desantis or donald trump, and went that's a reality, i know some polls are saying trump is ahead, but man, this guy is taking on a lot of political water. >> absolutely. the most recent presidential poll on the republican side that showed trump ahead, but it showed ron desantis gaining seven or eight points. we have seen recent polls on the generic in the fall that suggest the democrats have gained a lot, both because of the january 6th committee and also because of anger over the dobbs decision, the reversal of roe v. wade, and what does that mean? it means the people, the

leaders of the republican party, that donald trump had been supported because he was the goose that laid the golden eggs politically. he's not going to be that anymore. he is weakening, and alternatives are stepping up, and affections are continuing within his own party. there are more members of his white house staff that are likely to justify the january 6th committee that his former chief of staff, mick mulvaney and his former lawyers saying the testimony has been hugely damaging, and i think to the extent to which these alternatives you talk about look viable, it's going to be preferable to a lot of people in the republican party to turn the page and move on from a man who is unquestionably the most corrupt president in american history. >> speaking about corruption, again, you are so right. if he runs again, he can raise money, just like he raised money for his defense fund,

which of course did not go to his defense fund. he has been drifting off of working-class and middle-class americans for such a long time, and that will continue. columnist at all called the daily beast," thank you for being with us. esident's legal exposure and that of his loyalists as well. it was not just trump calling up georgia officials begging them to, quote, find extra votes. senator lindsey graham also spoke with the secretary of state there, and that's now at the center of a grand jury investigation. why would he do that for trump? >> i don't know. >> you know how it ends. >> it always ends bad. >> consequences. the latest in the investigation on the alleged gunman and the highland park shooting. what police knew about the

suspect long before the bullets started flying. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. back. that means your priorities are ours to. at our interactive tools build a future for the ones you love. that is the value of ownership. you know how our underarms are the only place we have odor? that's why i created lumi. i am the founder of the world's first outrageously effective and seriously safe odor control option for anywhere in your body. it's clued into control order for 72 hours and unlike other products unmask or cover up odor, lume stop bacteria from creating odor in the first place. there's never been a better way to get started with the lume starter pack. check us out and give lume a

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professional box will convert them. it is simple and safe with over 1 million satisfied customers. visit legacybox.com. the alleged shooter appears to up a significant digital trail. nbc news has revealed a youtube page confirmed by law enforcement to be associated with criminal performing as a rapper known as "awake." his recent music videos include tributes to mass murder. talk to we're learning more about the shooter. let's bring in investigations correspondent tom winter. good morning again. a lot of new information since we spoke yesterday morning. what else do we know about what happened on the fourth of july, what else do we know about this shooter? >> the details as far as the timeline are coming to a better scope this morning, willie had work at getting more information as far as what was known about this individual prior to a shot being fired. as we heard there in tom llamas' piece in 2019, they received two calls, one from a concerned

family member when they went to a house when they found 15 knives, a dagger, and sword. not normal home furnishings. when you look at this person, you look at a series of incidents that happened, and all these things you are looking at on-screen occurred after the january 1 red flag law went into effect in the state of illinois. that does not continue to knives and swords and daggers, but it does continue into areas where somebody may own a gun, so you want it given the amount of social media posts this individual made just in the last year, let alone back to 2020, 2019, there was a point somebody should've picked up a phone, and a family member can do this and you do not need to be a member of law enforcement to file in many of these red flag laws. each state has their own for them. in new york, we went into detail after the shooting in buffalo. in other states did you don't have to be a member of law

enforcement to petition the court for one of these type of rulings where they can go and and sees lawfully somebodies weapons who might be a threat to themselves or others, and when you look at some of the video imaging posted not just a couple days or weeks, but we're talking about months before this incident happened, and this individual had violent intent for others. it's clear this individual had violent intense even for himself, so what was the point when somebody was going to pick up the phone and either call law enforcement or petition the court is not something where he would've been notified that somebody was doing this. and its ex parte movement within the court system, meaning they don't have to tell the other side. if i was going to buy the skids jonathan lemire, for instance, i would not have to go, and we would show up in court the same day. it would be something that would be done. they would get the gunman. we can see disappeared the other side can petition and say something is wrong and carries

the penalty of perjury if i were to do it to mess with somebody. that's an important thing to keep in mind as we learn about these incidents. >> there is so many different ways it can be made more careful to get these guns, tom. this will be popular, but why can't those signs that police saw the red flags, is one question. why can't there be somewhat of a process before you can purchase a firearm like this? maybe similar to what someone in the military has to go through. they can't just fire the weapon and get it handed to them, but in this case, i guess the father helped find the permit. that's interesting to me. that comes down to a lot of different decisions on the part of a parent, but should a father be able to sign a permit to give a kid a weapon of war? >> i think back to newtown here it his mom helped purchase the

weapons for him while he's living at home in a you room where he used trashbags too no white went into the room, and he wore the same type of clothing, military style clothing, and played all these video games and had all these diaries and journals that talked about shootings and about death, so there are parental steps here that are undoubtably missed sometimes. i might be putting it charitably, but that is some of the information we learned yesterday. i think today, it will be interesting to see what we get out of the court paperwork when we make this appearance in court to get to the ultimate question of motive, not that it's going to make a lot of sense to the rest of us, but it would be helpful to know more information to try to understand how we get to this point and how perhaps we can prevent it. >> nbc's tom winter. senator lindsey graham is subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in georgia as part of a criminal investigation

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>> i always recommend it to my clients. now, it is your turn. >> for a free quote, visit ahs.com. the investigators in georgia yesterday sent subpoenas to senator lindsey graham and other key members of former president donald trump's legal team, including rudy giuliani and john eastman. the fulton county special grand jury also subpoenaed other lawyers, all of whom worked with trump as he contested the 2020 election results. that special grand jury was impaneled this year to assist the investigation of fulton county district attorney fanny willis into whether there were any coordinated attempt to unlawfully alter the outcome of the 2020 elections in georgia. among the incidents, willis said she is looking into a november 2020 phone call senator graham made to georgia's secretary of state brad raffensperger. raffensperger has said graham

pressed him about whether he had the power to reject certain absentee ballots, which raffensperger interpreted as a suggestion to toss out legally cast votes. graham denied that is what he was trying to do, calling the allegations ridiculous. willis,. john, rudy giuliani, we should add as well, actually testified and spoke to the georgia state legislature a number of times around this, just pedaling beastie monk, false claims about voter fraud in the state of georgia. the da in that state, the da in fulton county, they've got a lot to work with here. talk you don't call georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger because you're going to get in trouble if you do. there's been so much focus on the call to former president trump to the georgia secretary of state, asking him to find the specific number of votes needed to flip the results in that state, give him the

victory as opposed to joe biden . now, this call, which we did not know he resisted in the past has come under intense scrutiny, that graham, calling raffensperger, suggesting you should perhaps not count some of these ballots, which officials in georgia interpreted to mean casting out some of these votes that were legally cast, which of course is a real problem. giuliani, as you mentioned, it's so want who traveled up and down the state of georgia, particularly in fulton county, and pushing the former president's big lie. all along, there have been analysts who believe perhaps the greatest legal peril to trump what this case out of georgia, which has been methodically, quietly, slowly moving along behind the scenes, as the nation has been captivated by the january 6th earrings, which we should know have now scheduled another hearing next week. there will be another moment for the committee to convene,

and to this point, every one of the hearings has delivered with new evidence, testimony compelling narratives aimed at the department of justice providing some criminal charges at some point. congresswoman abigail spanberger is standing by. she is a former cia case officer who worked on counterterrorism, and she joins a straight ahead. "morning joe" is back in a moment . ♪ with life alert, one touch of a button can get you help fast. >> i have fallen, and i can't get up here >> don't worry, help is on the way. ♪ >> with any of life alert's the emergency systems, someone will be summoned immediately, and batteries never need charging. >> i was having a stroke.

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guarantee the delivery of oh, yeah. >> i love it! >> find some wow now. we're learning a lot more about the victims, 6 of the seven killed. stephen straus, a grandfather of two . at 88 years old, he still took the train to chicago every day to work at his brokerage firm here in his niece, cynthia strauss, described him as kind and gentle and a huge intelligent and humor and wit. husband and wife irina and

kevin mccarthy were both killed in the shooting. they brought their 2-year-old son ate into the parade. he was left alone after they died. a good samaritan found him underneath his father's body, covered with blood. after postings on the internet and in the news, he was identified and returned to his grandparents. aided was not injured. a gofundme page was set up for him and has nearly $2 million and the little boy keeps asking if his parents are going to come back. nbc's lester holt has more on the victims and the survivors. >> reporter: they call it a suburb, but highland park really feels like a small town , now shaken to its core windows gunshots rang out. when did you first realize something was wrong? >> the first thing that happened was there were bullets

coming at us. >> i met susie and dean zelenskyy. >> my husband and our friends took off toward the back of the courtyard. >> you became separated. >> reporter: susie scrambled under a bench. >> did you see people who were hit or needed help? >> there was a man facedown, and he looked like he had no blood, and i'm pretty sure he was deceased. >> then she said a man appeared with a 2-year-old child. >> he said, "can you take my child, my baby?" i said, "give her to me," and i put her between me and the cement of the bench. >> he did not know if you would see you again. >> he said, "i have to go find my wife." then he disappeared. >> reporter: he returned and

said his wife got shot and needed to go to the hospital. talk to we exchanged phone numbers and he said, "can you take her home with you?" three percenters can you imagine the process of giving your child to a stranger under the circumstances? >> he was so brave. >> he was back in the thick of it, not knowing what was going on, helping his wife who was shot to the leg. "morning joe" they would reunite later. they said his wife is doing okay. i also met 89-year-old already came in. >> we hear this noise that sounded like fireworks, bang, bang, bang. >> who was sitting on the curb with his family in the line of fire. he had been shot and is now recovering. >> these things happen with great regularity in this country, as you know. do you ever think it could visit highland park? >> no, i did not think it would come to highland park. >> reporter: but it did, and disclose lit community is

reeling. seven lives, stolen, including jacki sundheim, known for her kindness and warmth, working as a preschool teacher at the synagogue. she had a husband and daughter. nicolas toledo was there with his son and nephew, watching the parade from his wheelchair when he was shot and killed. stephen straus was 88. his knees posting on facebook saying, "no one should die this way." i met the family of katie goldstein. >> i've been talking to people on the phone today, and i can't believe how many best friends katie has, how many people who have said she was my best friend. >> her husband craig and their daughter cassie, heartbroken and overwhelmed with grief. cassie was at the parade standing right next to her mom. >> i looked up, and i saw the shooter, shooting down the kids, and i told her it was a shooter, and she had to run, so

i started running with her, and we were next to each other, and he shot her in the chest, and she fell down, and i knew she was dead, so i just told her i loved her, but i could not stop because he was still shooting everyone next to me. >> reporter: when she said the shooting stopped, she rushed over, but her mom had already passed. what is a memory you want to share with us about your mom? >> i want to share how she was before she died. she was waving to us, waving to every float. every float that she went by, she waved at them. >> she was having fun. >> she was just a good mom, and i got 22 years with her, and i got to have 22 years with the best mom in the world. >> reporter: unspeakable horrors . years from now, i

can't even imagine what will be written about this time, about a small, paranoid group of people who believe they need weapons of war to fend off the government. it's like the paranoid said they need these to prepare for the apocalypse. it's not to defend their homes. it's not to defend their business. these weapons of war were designed to kill human beings, and you see what happens there, what happens. it's been happening now for 10, 15 years, where america's streets are turned into killing fields. america's churches, turned into killing fields. america's schools, where we sent our babies, turn into killing fields.

they are unspeakable horrors, and the tragedies, these tragedies that keep coming at us , they are not going to stop until congress gets serious they're avoidable.s serious that's the greatest tragedy of all. people that went out to watch that fourth of july parade should have been able to go home that night, had hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, laugh around tables and then go outside and watch fireworks. they should have been able to do that, but they couldn't do that for the same reason that the children in uvalde that were slaughtered by an ar-15 weren't able to spend this fourth of july or this summer vacation with their parents for the same

reason. you have children from parkland, who some of them would be finishing up their first year of college and coming home, celebrating summer vacation, talking excitedly about what happened their first year in college, enjoying fourth of july fireworks and preparing for their next year. and what about the children from sandy hook? what about the country music fans in las vegas gunned down, their lived extinguished? my gosh, we have to go way back for this, don't we? what about people that went to see a movie in aurora? gunned down. it's so unnecessary. these guns, they are not protected by the second amendment, some would say the

ultra conservative united states supreme court doesn't even go that far. but these tragedies that you saw, they're horrors that none of us can imagine. and they're tragedies that are so avoidable. congress has to do something. e e e e so only at vanguard you're more than just an investor you're an owner. that means that your priorities are ours too. that's the value of ownership. congress has to do something

in our country, we don't swear an oath to an individual or a political party. we take our oath to defend the united states constitution. that oath must mean something. tonight, i say this to my republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible. there will come a day when donald trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain. >> that was congresswoman liz cheney scorching her own political party and donald trump during her first opening remarks at the january 6th hearings. as part of our 50 over 50 partnership with know your value and forbes, we are honoring

women whose greatest impact goes well beyond their 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s. this week our focus is on the women defending democracy. joining me is daniella peer bravo. liz cheney is doing this at the risk of her political career. >> that's right. the 55-year-old wyoming congresswoman broke from virtually all of her gop colleagues to help lead the probe into what happened on january 6th. she's gotten support from the left and many commend her for standing up to her own party. she knows she may lose her house seat, but some experts say by making such a bold statement for democracy, she is setting up a different path, possibly running for president in 2024. >> things can really change and they have, but what she's doing is mighty. it's incredible. these women are showing a bravery and a moral compass that

their male counterparts seem to lack. >> just look at 74-year-old democratic congresswoman lofgren. as a law student in 1974 she helped the house judiciary committee draft its watergate charges against president mix on. today she is one of the four lawyers investigating the committee on january 6th and she has a leading role. her biggest take-away from the hearings is this. >> really how the depth of the plot and the persistence of the former president in trying to cling to power even though he knew he lost, even though he knew that the claims of fraud he was making were untrue, that he was apparently willing to go to great lengths just to keep pour without regard to what the constitution required of him. >> then there is ruby freeman, a

63-year-old election worker from georgia. she and her daughter spoke out before the committee. they described an onslaught of online harassment and threats from president trump and his allies, falsely accusing her of feeding rigged ballots through voting machines while working for the fulton county election board. ruby testified that she went into hiding. to this day she doesn't give out her real name anymore. it took incredible courage to speak out. >> these are the people defending democracy who did not choose to be in the public eye. she was simply trying to help people exercise their right to vote. amazing. thank you, daniella. remember, nominations for the 2022 forbes 50 over 50 u.s. list are still open. our honorees will be celebrated at a global international women's day summit in abu dhabi next year for our second annual summit. earlier this year we brought

together a huge line-up of speakers at our cross generational global mentoring event featuring women from the forbes 30 under 30 list and from our global 50 over 50 list. hillary clinton, tyra banks, jenny justin, so many more. it's going to be on and around international women's day to honor the next round of global lists, not just u.s., but europe and asia. for more information head to no knowyourvalue.com and forbes.com. it is the top of our fourth hour. 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. 8:00 in the morning in highland park, illinois, where new details are coming in about the shooting on the fourth of july. the suspect in that massacre has been charged with seven counts of first degree murder. police say she managed to flee the sce b