[laughing] it shows. try dove dry spray. our weightless formula with 1/4 moisturizers is effective and kind to skin. leaving you feeling instantly dry and confident. welcome back to "morning joe." it is just now turning to be the top of the hour. 9:00 a.m. in the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. time to wake up. we have a lot to get to this hour. including laft on the house investigation into the january 6. with tomorrow's hearing set to focus on donald trump's overtours to violence extremists. plus the former trump aide now claims he is willing to testify as does a former member of a far right militia organization. plus the looming legal fight between elon musk and twitter.

and, the race to save the giant sequoias in yosemite national park as a wildfire threatens trees that have stood for thousands of years. but we start with the january 6 house select committee final push with two more public hearings set to take place this week. this is going to be a really big week for the investigation. committee members are looking to build on the momentum. from the previous six hearings. the next one is set for tomorrow afternoon and will focus on what some panel members call the martialing of the upon. it will include evidence of coordination between former president trump, his top aides and associates, and white nationalists or militia groups such as the proud boys and the oath keepers who, members say, led the assault on the capitol. the thursday hearing will zero in on trump's actions.

or inactions as vice president mike pence and house and senate lawmakers and hundreds of police officers came under attack. thursday's hearing is expected to be held in prime time. just like the first hearings. seeking a bigger televised audience. now a lawyer for oath keepers leaders stewart rhodes said his client wanted to testify before the january 6 committee for a second time but only if certain conditions are met. rhodes is behind bars pending trial for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the january 6 attack. his attorney said rhodes would testify publicly under oath but only in a live setting. >> wait a second. hold on a second. this guy is in jail. >> for seditious conspiracy. >> to overthrow the united states government. >> and we're going to giver him

a live audience. >> and he's setting conditions for his testimony. yeah, sorry, buddy, it doesn't work that way. >> so he wants a live hearing because he's concerned his words could be taken out of context otherwise. it is unclear what new information rhodes could or would provide. he previously appeared for a virtual deposition with the committee in february from jail and invoked his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination more than 20 times. and former white house strategist steve bannon has opened discussions about appearing before the january 6 committee. the move comes after bannon received a letter from former president trump stating he would waive his claim of executive privilege. >> he didn't work for trump. so what executive privilege is there? >> i'm not sure. >> he had a podcast. >> it is a cording to two letters on sunday by -- >> donald trump is saying i'll waive executive privilege is like somebody else said before,

that is like donald trump saying i will waive joe's right to play shortstop for the red sox. he would play shortstop for the red sox and he doesn't have that power and to exert any presidential executive protection at all. he didn't work for trump. >> it comes almost a little more than a week before jury selection is scheduled to begin in bannon's contempt of congress trial and after months of stonewalling the committee investigation. the panel has said bannon was present at a meeting in a washington hotel the day before the insurrection where trump supporters talked about possible efforts to overturn the election. the panel has also said it would like to ask bannon about a december 30th phone conversation in which bannon is alleged to have urged trump to focus his attention on january 6.

and in a big get for the january 6 committee, former trump white house counsel pat cipollone appears before a panel for a marathon interview on friday. >> this was a big day. >> sitting for more than 7 hours of questioning. a source tells nbc news that cipollone was a cooperative witness within the parameters of desire to protect executive privilege for the office of general counsel. tim mull vieh said his testimony included information demonstrating trump's supreme dereliction of duty. the videotaped interview will likely be featured prominently during the final public hearing. the panel has called cipollone a critical witness who raised legal concerns about trump's activities on january 6, and in the days preceding it. >> it is fascinating. we had jackie on early this morning, a washington post

reporter covering all things january 6 and she said despite what cipollone had been saying, we want to put certain parameters in place. there are no parameters. he went in and he talked. and they got a lot of information out of it. it is going to be fascinating how it lines up with the other testimony. we heard it doesn't conflict with any of the other testimony that we've heard before. and he was in the room when it happened. time and time and time again. so that is going to be fascinating. let's bring in white house correspondent for "the new york times" and political analyst, peter baker and also jonathan lemire still with us despite staying up late last night watching that extraordinary red sox game. >> it never stopped. >> so anyway, let's talk, peter baker, about cipollone. the fact that went in and testified. and according to jackie alemany, it was a free flowing give and

take testimony, there weren't a lot of parameters set in place. >> well i think what you just said joe is probably the most important part of it, which is if the testimony in fact did not conflict or contradict what the commit has already heard and presented to us in the public. that is very significant. because we've heard a lot about pat cipollone and how he resisted the extreme ideas of the president and the people around the president tried to put in place. he called the idea to get the legislature to decertify and send separate electors a murder-suicide pact and he threatened to resign over the idea of martial law or appointing a special counsel or voti weeks ago that he said that the president and people around him could be charged with all sorts of crimes if he went to the

capitol that day being that he understood how volatile that situation was and the president understands that as well. if he's confirmed what we've heard about pat cipollone, that is remarkably important. >> you go back, jonathan lemire, we rewind it in our minds, we saw eric hershman tell about them sitting around along with donahue was on the wall and muddy jeans and an army t-shirt and said hey, you need to get in right here right now. and we heard their testimony which was jarring. and then they talked about what pat cipollone talked about. saying the oil spill guy wanted to take over the justice department and it was laughed out of there. trump wanted to do it as well. but it was mr. cipollone saying you can't do it and you look at

cassidy hutchinson saying do not take him up to the capitol. we will be charged with every crime under the book. and there was cipollone around for some of the most remarkable exchanges. going into mark meadows office and saying you better get up off the couch and do something about this or there is going to be blood spilled and it is all over your hands. a lot of key testimony, cipollone, we heard he didn't contradict any of the witnesses. if he confirms that and then adds his own testimony, that is going to be bombshell in and of itself. >> we've probably made enough fun of that environmental lawyer/instructionist for one day. but pat cipollone was perceived him as last guardrail, the one person in there still saying no. let's remember a little bit what the white house looked like on january 6. most of the senior staff had departed. trump had lost. people were leaving, looking for other jobs and there was a huge

covid outbreak in the west wing so some people were sick or isolated at home because they were exposed. so there were very few people in the building that day. and those that were there, we know that ivanka trump, we know that matt pottinger, the msc aide, a few of them tried to get into meadows or the president and talk him into doing something. to calling off the mob at the capitol. he was not inclined to do so. and it was cipollone who was saying to those senior aides, to particularly meadows an the president himself saying we've got to stop this. we all could be arrested by the end of day. so, he is someone who the committee has wanted for a long time. we talked about how congressman cheney made a public appeal for his testimony a few weeks ago and now it happened behind closed doors on friday. but we'll see pieces it of over the next couple of days an the aides say that he has done nothing but corroborate the testimony already out there that is so damning to the former

president. >> peter baker, let me ask you as the times chief white house correspondent, about some white house news. top of the "new york times" this morning online you've got a poll that shows joe biden dismal numbers, 33% approval and 64% of democrats don't want him to run gep. and yet the fascinating takeaway he's still beats donald trump in a head-to-head match-up. 44% to 41%. it is people don't like what they're doing, but we don't want crazy guy back in office. but you tack that story on top of another story this weekend where you had the white house basically push back against progressives who said they are not doing enough on abortion and other things. and of course, the statement that came out that really, really angered progressives, where the white house said we're not doing this for activists. we're going to try to protect

women who had their abortion rights taken away. talk about right now the period of flux, everything that is going on inside of the white house where they're trying desperately to figure out a way forward with pretty low approval ratings. >> yeah, it is not a particularly happy time right now in the west wing. and these two things you just talked about are related, right. the reason why his numbers are low is because a lot of democrats are disappointed with his performance. it is not just that republicans are against him, they were always against him. but democrats an independents who went for him in 2020 don't feel like he's measuring up to what they want to see. and the white house is frustrated with the progressives for being so challenging to him and to not having his back in some ways, constantly hectoring as far as they've concerned and pressing them to do things that a., he's willing to do and b. thinks he could do under various norms and laws that restricting the powers of a president. there is an unhappy marriage between a president who wants to

bring the country together and in an activist progressive wing that wants him to a more forceful fighter and a leader and these two things together, they're cause and effect. >> so retired general michael flynn had a lot to say when it came to his accusations about hillary clinton. but he clammed up when asked about events surrounding january 6. >> general flynn, do you believe that the violence on january 6 was justified? >> can i get clarification. is that a moral question or are you asking a legal question. >> i'm asking both. i said i plead the fifth. >> do you believe the violence on january 6 was justified

morally? >> take the fifth. >> do you believe that the violence on january 6 was justified legally? >> fifth. >> general flynn, do you believe in the peaceful transition of power in the united states of america? >> the fifth. >> it is just so damning. everything that -- that long pause and everything is just puts a former general just in the worst possible light. he can't even say that he supports the peaceful transfer of power. what happened to this guy. well staff writer for the atlantic barton gelman said this is a surreal moment, here is a former national security adviser refused to opine on the

constitutional democrat. flynn had sworn an oath to protect the constitution against all enemies foreperson and domestic. rule of law had been drilled into him for decades in the army and now by invoking the right against self-incrimination he was asserted that his beliefs about lawful succession could expose him to chim charges. that could not be a true beliefs absolute protection under the first amendment but his lawyer might have worried where cheney's line of questioning would lead. let's bring in barton right now with that new piece. what happened to michael flynn. this is a great question to ask. >> what happened? >> because there is a lot of people that i've looked up to for a long time in the military, a lot of people that i consider to be great patriots that will tell you that in his time, before he went crazy, that general flynn, and i heard this from one after another, was one

hell of a intel operator. he was a guy, i think it was general mccaffrey, who said he's a guy you wanted on your side in the past. >> yeah. this is the thing. think about what it takes to be of good intelligence officer. you need to have discernment, judgment, and understanding of facts, respect for evidence, and the things that this guy says now out on tour around the country are just remarkably off the wall. you know, as though your doctors started telling you to drink a lead diet because that's the new key to health. he has endorsed the craziest election conspiracies. the idea that the italian government used military satellites to change votes in

election machines from trump to biden. the idea that covid is a hoax created by a malevolent global conspiracy. and that the vaccines implant chips for mind control. he's just -- he's just fallen off a cliff. >> so let me ask you, barton, did you find a particular point where people that were close to general flynn, find a particular point where he was radicalized? i mean, if it is just -- you read general news articles, you hear that he -- i mean this guy was appointed by barack obama. but he got turned sideways with barack obama. was there something that happened during that time that radicalized him as some -- some disillusionment with either the obama administration or the way wars were being fought or is it just a hunger for power and he

saw he could get that with donald trump? >> so, one theory is that he was always prone to conspiracy theory thinking or to political extremism. but he was confined by the structure of the army by the bosses he worked for, particularly stanley mcchrystal. but if you had to pick a moment when he changed, it would possibly start with the day he was fired as head of the defense intelligence agency. he had come in and got his third star to run this agency of 15,000 people. and although it is in the defense department, it is primarily a civilian agency and he created all kinds of havoc in the dia. morale was plummeting. he was judged to be unsubordinate to his bosses in

the pentagon and they fired him a year before his term was going to end. and the trauma of that failure, after a lifetime of success, you don't get to be a three-star general without being pretty good at your job, that trauma and then his firing again by trump as national security adviser. his prosecution by the fbi created just a huge meltdown to his personality. >> barton, gelman, thank you, you could get more in the atlantic. thank you. we have a look now at some other stories we're following this morning. abbott one of the nation's largest suppliers of baby formula has reopened a plant in michigan. back in june the plant was forced to temporarily shut down for the second time this year due to severe flooding from heavy rains. in february, a bact earn

contamination forced the plat to stop production and recall baby formula products. closure contributed to a nationwide shortage of baby formula. abbott is one of the four companies in america trolling roughly 90% of the multi-billion dollars market. a 14-year-old was stabbed to death inside of a subway station in the northernmost part of manhattan on saturday afternoon. the suspect is just 15 years old. and has been charged with murder. police say the attack was not random and that the teenagers knew each other. this is the lastest in a series of recent violent incidents on the new york city subway system. the u.s. army has confirmed it is suspending a three star general from a contract position after he posted a tweet critical of first lady jill biden. retired lieutenant general gary

valesski was a war games strategy making more than $90 an hour. he responded to this tweet by the first lady about the supreme court overturning roe v. wade where she writes, quote, for nearly 50 years, women have had the right to make our own decisions about our bodies. today, that right was stolen from us. in a now deleted response, the general reportedly mocked the first lady by replying glad to see you finally know what a woman is. the response was seemingly reference to a widely circulated moment during the justice ketanji brown jackson supreme court nomination hearing when she was asked what is a woman. still ahead, twitter shares slide amid the latest drama with elon musk. plus search and rescue efforts underway in ukraine after a russian missile hits a residential building killing more than a dozen civilians. we'll have the latest.

the war's devastating effect on millions of the world's poorest with children bearing the brunt of russia's invasion causing a global food crisis. we'll have more on that as well. all next on "morning joe." well. all next on "morning joe."

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all right, it is 26 past the hour. turning now to the latest on the war in ukraine. where the violence continues. officials say at least 19 people were killed on saturday when russia rockets struck a five-story apartment block in the donetsk region in the eastern part of the country. rescuers combed through the rubble yesterday searching for what officials estimate are 24 people still trapped under the wreckage. among them residents fear is a 9-year-old boy. meanwhile the war is having a devastating effect on world hunger. the world food program said

since march an additional 47 million people have been pushed into food insecurity. this is in large part due to increases in the cost of fuel and food and in particular wheat stemming from the war in ukraine. and it is not eastern europe that is seeing the most suffering. it is the countries that were already struggling most before the war began. those include somalia, ethiopia, sudan, yemen and afghanistan. joining us now live from bangkok is national security reporter for "the washington post" john hudson. he's been traveling alongside secretary of state antoni blinken is on route back to washington. john's latest piece is entitled as war nears fifth month, blinken keeps russian diplomats at arm's length. and the director of foreign and defense policy studies at the american enterprise institute

kori schake and peter baker is still with us. >> john, let's begin with you. obviously the g20 summit didn't go quite the way that the russians wanted it to go. talk about blinken's strategy in dealing with his counterpart in russia and russian diplomats in general. >> you're absolutely right, joe. the strategy that secretary blinken had coming into the g 20 was ganging up on the russians as much as possible. try to draw a strict contrast between what nations in the world in the g 20, the largest economies in the world want and what the russias are doing. strategy was focus on the negative impacts of the war, rising food costs, rising energy costs, things contributing to famine, try to bring as many nations together even one thats have complicated relationships with russia, countries like india, south africa, they might have security ties with russia,

they might have long-standing economic ties and try to berate the russias into these closed door formats in southeast asia. it did get to the russians. it seemed in some ways at one moment russian foreign minister lavrov walked out of a meeting. it was contentious and no holds bar, but ultimately it was in the line with secretary blinken's strategy which was berate but do not engage. secretary blinken has not had a phone call with a senior russian official through the extent of this conflict. it is an interesting strategy as you know throughout the cold war, throughout even recent history, the united states and russia has engaged even in the darkest moments between the two countries. that is not secretary blink ep's strategy. he's joining allies and shooting at russia from afar verbally and rhetorically. >> so corey, that is a great

point that he brings up. obviously we got through from 47 to '91, we got through generation of cold war hostilities. where we're on the brink of nuclear war at times. and yet our diplomats always talked to their diplomats, our spies talked to their spies, or people talked to their people. we seem to have for the most part this diplomatic back channel that made the world a bit of a safer place even when tensions were at the highest and why not now and is this the right tact for the secretary of state and the biden administration to take? >> well, they don't seem to think they have much to talk to the russians about and that feels pretty true. they are playing for the reaction especially in the countries most effected by russia using energy and using

food as a weapon of war. where i think the administration strategy is failing is that as peter reported over the weekend, they claim they have four objectives in the war on ukraine. survival of a democratic ukraine, strategic failure for russia, and no escalation to american involvement, and sustaining the liberal international order and they're congratulating themselves on having obtained those objectives but that is unseemly to pat yourself on the back while they are fighting and dying but they have not sustainably achieved any of those things. that director of national intelligence has said russia has not reigned in war claims and seeking destruction of independent ukraine and slowly continuing to pick up territory in the east. we're giving them just enough

weapons to keep them fighting but not enough to cut the jag lar of russia's advance. their ports are still closed. the administration needs to be doing more before western solidary crumbles. >> and peter baker, obviously we're talking about $400 million more in ukraine aid package. we've given twice as much to the ukraine as all of europe. and the united states will continue doing that. and president biden has committed to stand shoulder to shoulder with zelenskyy and with the ukrainians. but the question is what else could be done at this stage. what needs to be done to push the russians back because obviously right now they are on the offensive in the eastern part of ukraine. >> i think with the current strategy in the white house is to help the ukrainian consolidate the front lines in the east, and then they would

like to amass enough force to launch an offensive, to begin taking territory back. that is something that has a lot of doubters here in washington, that they're able to do that. but with the worry that we're in for a long stretch of grinding war, a kilometer here, a kilometer there. without a great deal of movement. but that really drains both the ukrainian capacity and the western patience, right. the united states has approved $50 billion, $54 billion worth of aid and that should go into early next year and there is not another stomach in washington for another $50 billion check. the main thing is the storage of weapons. the west has given the ukrainians all of the old soviet hardware and now giving them european and western made

hardware. but at some point you're going to draw down they don't want to give touchdown and we don't know where that point is. and i think that is a concern you hear in the white house. >> hey, john, a pledge to stay with ukraine was center of the president's last overseas trip just a week or so ago to a pair of summits in germany and spain. he's now hitting the road again this week to go to the and befo saudi arabia. and the president doesn't really he called them a pariah. and they hold them responsible for the death of jamal khashoggi. and the administration has been rather defensive about him going, trying to downplay that meeting with mbs and a request for oil. give us a sense what the administration hopes to accomplishment before the week is out in the middle east? >> yeah, exactly, as you know

more than anyone, it is very rare for the administration to be defensive in having to explain a trip before it even happens, before anything might go wrong or unusual things happen on the road as we all know, things could go off the wheels. obviously the point that president biden made in his op-ed in "the washington post" was that the united states needs to get serious about strategic priorities as a global leader. it has the challenge of china, it has the challenge of russia. and sometimes that results in you having to get into bed with unsavory partners. he realized that he recognized and called out the saudis on the campaign trail saying he wanted to make them a pariah. but what he found in practice is that actually sometimes these very unsavory partners end up being helpful. now this is a controversial point obviously. it is controversial within "the

washington post" given the fact that the saudis were responsible for murdering one of our colleagues. it is controversial in the human rights community because we've had a huge wake-up call about the crown prince, his activities and how he's leading the country and lack of rights in the country and the devastation in the war in yemen. so it is a lot of competing impulses between being a defender of human rights on the world stage and looking out for real politics, strategic interests, and energy interests, anything you could do to lower inflation and gas prices. those are the competing things he's going after. the question is can he put forward a coherent vision for what he's doing in the middle east and will there be any big takeaways. if you talk to energy analysts, there is no expectation to be a massive dip in energy prices as a result of these meetings. so the big question is is that a benefit overall in this trip. the sacrifices that were made for image and the human rights

record and credibility of the united states, it is all on the line and is it going to be something that was worthwhile for the president. >> national security reporter for "the washington post," john hudson, chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker and senior fellow at the american enterprise institution, kori schake, thank you for coming on this morning. and still ahead, twitter said it is going to court to hold elon musk to the deal. >> i mean -- >> -- he agreed to. >> who was shocked that elon backed out. >> and there was a lot of bots. >> how could you know about the bots. >> got to know about the bots. all right. cnbc andrew ross sorkin will explain why the billionaire wants to back out. >> because it was a stupid deal that he stumbled into. >> maybe it is the wrong time of day. and it is a four-pete for novak djokovic as his opponent does his best john mcenroe

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look at that, mika. l.a. >> 41 past the hour. >> l.a. is my lady. >> it is a little smoggy this morning. >> smog alert. what is this like 1975. >> 9:41 on the east coast. to the weekend of finals at all england club. novak djokovic defeated nick kearyos for his fourth consecutive wimbledon title. only roger federer owns my titles with eight and only raffal nadal has the most trophies at 22 but it appears le not have a chance to get even at nadal at the final major confirming he has no plans to receive the coronavirus vaccine and he will not be playing in the u.s. open. >> i'm not vaccinated and i'm not planning to get vaccinated so the only good news i could

have is them removing the mandate, mandated green vaccine card or whatever you call it to enter the united states or exemption. or i don't know, i don't think exemption is realistically possible or if that is a possibility. i don't know exemption would be about. >> maybe this guy could play for the red sox after he stops -- >> despite his win yesterday. joke vick drops to number seven in the rankings as wimbledon did not count toward any ranking points. due to its ban on players from russia and belarus. as for wimbledon's runner-up, another match filled with outbursts for nick kearyos, including furious exchanged with a fan. the chair ump and his own coaching box.

[ inaudible ]. >> the conversations continue. >> it shouldn't be coming down to your opinion. distracting me when i'm serving in a wimbledon final. it is not believing me and it nearly cost me the game. why is she still here? she's drunk out of her mind -- in the middle of the game. what is acceptable. >> you just relax every time. every time. >> briefly slipped away and now djokovic calmly -- >> he is talking about the woman behind him that had 700 drinks, which won. and the woman behind him. and then he -- he was yelling at

like his own like supporters, his own box. that was some crazy stuff here, jonathan lemire. i've never seen anything like that before in my life. except once or twice. >> the composure of a champion there, djokovic is flappable on court and he's melting down. it is such a shame. an electric player and talented but his lack of -- holds him back and he hits the finals only to collapse in this way. it was an entering match. not to say that he didn't play well, but his emotions got the best of him here. and think to be a djokovic or nadal, he will need to keep this in check. you don't see him yelling at his own box that much. >> not that much. but the thing is, it was a great match. through the first three and a half sets. unfortunately he got in his own head and he choked and double

faulted yet and in the fourth set tiebreaker, and just lost it and calling the match with john mcenroe known for his outbursts, right. but as mcenroe explained yesterday, when he had outbursts, he did it strategically. and it helped him. it wasn't the case yesterday with the outburst getting in the way of him. but i get mcenroe, some crazy, crazy outbursts. perhaps the most famous, coming on the same court at the all england club. >> you can't be serious, man. can you not be serious. that ball was on the line. chalk flew up. it was clearly in. how you could possibly call that out. how many have you missed? he's walking over and everyone knows it is -- in this whole stadium and you call it out. explain that to me, will you.

>> failure, obviously. it is a way of dealing with the stress. and let's not forget he's playing against a guy that is an all time great so that adds to it. it is unfortunate that he seems to -- the need to take it out on people that are closest to him. >> you're seeing also why he hasn't won a major yet. this is the problem, ultimately. clearly he's not going to win if he's remaining distracted mentally. so he's going to have to figure out a way to reign it in. >> so on the women's sign, i don't believe any of that kind of stuff happened. surprise victory on saturday for elena rabakina who claimed the first grand slam title against the number one woman in the world, representing kazakhstan. the russian tennis federation was quick to claim her as quote our product.

nice. the 23-year-old was born in moscow and played in the russia system until 2018 when financial issues led to her nationality switch. she's not a product. anyhow, elon musk's $44 billion bid to buy twitter is on the verge of collapse as the ceo mocks reports that twitter is preparing to sue him for dropping his bid to buy the company. overnight, musk tweeted a series of four photos of himself laughing with captions that read, they said i couldn't buy twitter. then they wouldn't disclose bot info. now they want to force me to buy twitter in court. now they have to disclose bot info in court. lawyers representing musk say twitter misled him and breached the initial groemt after he voiced his concerns about the number of spam bots on the site. twitter shares sharply in the

market this morning. joining us from cnbc's box, andrew ross sorkin. what is so interesting about this, andrew, and you tell me if i'm right or wrong, but if there is some legal action here, are we going to learn more about twitter? elon musk might be doing twitter people, anybody who is on twitter, a favor here. to let us understand more about how it operates? >> we'll see. we'll see what a judge rules in terms of the kind of discovery that it looks like elon musk is hoping comes into play in terms of twitter having to open up its books and show even more. there could be a fraud case. and if elon musk is right, it would be a fraud case not just about what is happening now at twitter, but dating back five to ten years. having said that it is possible that a judge looks at this letter from elon musk, and they have not presented any evidence

thus far of fraud, of misleading the public about those nub numbers. in the s.e.c. filings that twitter has presented said it was a 5% estimate and said estimates could be wrong and have latitude. so unclear what a judge will rule in that >> this will go to a delaware court. the a delaware court is the place a lot of corporations appear typically this court likes to move fast and likes contracts to be enforced. they have never enforced however a contract is large, $44 billion. there is a credibility issue here, which is to say typically if a court were to force elon musk to buy the company, what happens if elon musk says well, i'm not going to do that? if he goes to court in new york and says i don't have financing.

there are a lot of credibility issues here. sometimes the court in delaware has said you have to do something but often times they say well, we will just give you damages and the question is how big are those damages? how big will elon musk damage twitter? this will play out over several months, if not many years come may. >> what was going on? i wonder in his mind. just making the decision to buy it and then going back. i guess we will see. >> he bought it on impulse. >> it seemed impulsive. >> andrew, it was a horrible idea. i bought it on impulse. it was a horrible business idea. teslas stock went down. i mean, there was no reason. no logical reason why that i should blow $44 billion on twitter. >> but here is the thing, joe.

you are totally right. look, the company was worth $44 billion at the time. it was a big premium he was paying. today people think it's worth half that given the way the markets have moved. how much of this is buyers remorse? which, by the way, buyers remorse is not a reason judges typically go along with. again, that will come into play here too. >> all right, cnbc's andrew ross sorkin, thank you so much. an active fire is underway as crews worked to save a national treasure. the giant sequoia's in yosemite. a growing wildfire interrupted over the weekend and is currently 0% contained. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has the very latest. >> reporter: as flames devour portions of california's historic beauty, this morning effort to save yosemite's 600 giant sequoia from the washburn fire are becoming more desperate

. on the ground, crews gorging fire lines to try to contain the blaze. the heat so intense, it is reportedly launching tree branches hundreds of feet in the air. in one instance, narrowly missing a plane involved in the aerial attack. >> a branch went right over the top of us. i don't want to take the chance of lowering another airplane. >> reporter: 1600 people have been forced to evacuate from homes and hotels. >> by the time we got down into yosemite valley. >> reporter: in just four days, the fire has torched 2000 acres in yosemite national park and is burning less than half a mile away from some of the most majestic trees in mariposa grove . the area home to the grizzly, a 3000-year-old sequoia that spans from 200 feet tall. crews setting up sprinklers to protect the massive tree from

the raging blaze. >> it's really hard to sit here and know that it could mean the groves are threatened. >> reporter: while sequoias are fire resistant, rising temperatures, drought, and a buildup of vegetation has supercharged these flames. climate change is playing a role and how these fires burn. they are hotter, faster, and more explosive than ever before. >> we have hundreds of thousands of wood per acre per ground and it's really dry. >> the forest more than 500 firefighters are on defense trying to prevent centuries of history from going up in flames. >> miguel almaguer with that report. the sequoias out west are one of america's many national and

natural treasures. a primetime series entitled america outdoors explores the many different regions across the u.s. and how those landscapes shape the way americans work, play, and interact with the outdoors. take a look. >> it's amazing how much wildlife can thrive in what is essentially a concrete tub. >> getting out of the water? nice! perfect. there are fish right there. if you hear me yell, pull the trigger. okay? >> how long have you been fishing on this river? >> died, close to 40 years. it was nothing but bass and catfish and bluegill. carp have taken over the show. >> is this like your meditation spot? >> absolutely. who needs a therapist when you can come in the river and stand in the water and flag fish? >> joining us now, this looks

amazing. give us a sense. i think it is four different regions to explore with your viewers? >> good morning. yes, six regions of the country. six episodes. we were encouraging people to stand in and fish in the l.a. river, one of the show's surprises. there is beauty all over this land, including in our city which we deserve a right to access and be in that connection with nature. >> this is so fun, yet out here you usually hear oh, pbs will be doing a six part series on the outdoors. yeah, okay, i've seen it all before. you will just walk around and eat tree bark. no! you are fishing in the l.a. river and talking about going to appalachia and catching up

with beekeepers there. >> that is right. coal miners that have become beekeepers caging their economic relationship with nature. i would say their spiritual relationship with nature. i white water rafted with a paraplegic. i hiked into the appalachian trail. i hung out in idaho, who are experiencing a deep level of climate change with the salmon. basically they show a diverse showcase of the people of the country and our deep relationship with the diverse ecology of the country. it's full of surprises. it's not obvious. some would feel justifiably so divided. this show reminds me there is common ground. >> this is great fun. i won't ask you, but just give us a tease of something else he found really eye-opening or frankly just really fun in this

series. >> eye-opening actually has to do with the wildfire thing. i hung out with a group of formerly incarcerated firefighters who are in a special training program to be able to work fires after they are out of prison. a lot of places in the country have people with criminal records and felonies to do service. these folks found they had deep meaning when they were incarcerated and i did some drills with them and they are a reflection that we shouldn't be throwing anybody away. we should be throwing our food wrappers away. we should compost them. you've got stuff like that. you've got indigenous voices. you've got women. you've got white ranchers. you've got diversity in the people and in the land. >> i love it. the new series is titled america outdoors. thank you so much. and that

does it for us this morning. a big week here on morning shows. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage in 90 seconds. n 90 ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhereseconds.♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪

every search you make, every click you take, every move you make, every step you take, i'll be watching you. the internet doesn't have to be duckduckgo is a free all in one privacy app with a built in search engine, web browser, one click data clearing and more stop companies like google from watching you, by downloading the app today. duckduckgo: privacy, simplified. good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern. i am jose diaz-balart and we begin this morning with news out of washington. former rump advisor steve bannon is signaling