sam stein, thank you so much. there is the senate we'll keep an eye on as well as races tighten across the country. we want to thank all of you for getting up way too early with us on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, october 3rd. there is a lot happening this morning. the largest ever federal search and rescue operation is now underway in the wake of hurricane ian as the death toll from the storm nears 90 and is expected to climb. we'll have a live report. plus, more violent rhetoric from donald trump targeting mitch mcconnell making a racist slur against his wife with little to no push back from republicans. >> he's out and out in all caps. >> boy. >> attacked mcconnell and said he had a death wish, and then made another racist slur against mitch mcconnell's wife.

"wall street journal" editorial page talking about how even by donald trump standards this was dangerous, violent rhetoric. >> we'll have the latest on that in light of everything that's going on. cpac tweets out russian propaganda, and then backtracks claiming the post was not authorized. we'll tell you what the conservative group is saying now and a lot of news in the sports world but we're going to begin this morning in florida where historic rescue and relief efforts are underway, five days after hurricane ian battered the state and left massive devastation in its wake. the u.s. death toll is now at 87 people according to an nbc news tally. first responders are searching the hardest hit areas for survivors. florida governor ron desantis says more than 1,000 rescues have been made across the state since the storm hit. fema officials say this is the largest search and rescue effort they have ever launched in

florida and that u.s. federal response is likely to be unprecedented. >> we prepositioned the largest amount of search and rescue assets that i think we have ever put in place before, bringing together all of the federal family, fema urban search and rescue teams, the coast guard, the department of interior, the department of defense. >> more than 700,000 people without power in florida, and several counties under mandatory evacuation orders right now. this as relates grapple with the colossal damage, rebuilding could take years. >> now i've lost everything. everything. my life savings, everything. my tools, everything. >> i was just devastated seeing what was happening to the property and my neighbor's place downstairs. it was hard to comprehend. >> you know, it's so heartbreaking, and mika, a lot of times, you know, people will look at these hurricanes and they'll look at the big things, oh, look at the boats out in the

harbor. oh, look, their house had been smashed in. i had dear friends in pensacola i have known for a long time, and i hear this story time and again after terrible hurricanes, we get just pounded by hurricane after hurricane back in 2004, 2005, you know, a husband was telling me about, i asked how are you guys holding up and he said, well, my wife this morning i had to pull her away because she was going through the sand just looking for pictures, looking for children's pictures, looking for wedding pictures, looking for pictures of her parents, and it was all in the sand, all blown away. it's so heartbreaking. we look at the pictures and we look at the structures and the property damage, but there's so much personal loss that goes along with all of those devastating obviously property losses and people who, like the gentleman that was talking, they

lose everything that was dear to them as far as memories go so often. swept away. >> and their ability to continue, the tools to work with. and also beyond a community being decimated like this as it fans out, 1 to 2 to 3 inches of water can cause unbelievable damage to a community. >> and unfortunately for so many homes that were in this area, they didn't have flood insurance, and for anybody that's lived in florida over the past ten years, you get notices constantly that insurance companies are cancelling your flood insurance, sometimes your homeowners insurance because they're just pulling out of the state of florida because of these hurricanes. >> that will be the story and the debate in the months to come. meanwhile, communities in central florida continue to face rising flood waters due to the hurricane. officials in seminole county warned residents over the weekend that flooding could continue there for several days. city officials in orlando asked residents to limit water usage

because the storm damaged the sewer system. other central florida cities issued voluntary evacuation orders due to the flooding with homes and cars in many places still submerged. in just a few minutes, we'll get a live report from florida's hard hit west coast. we also have major news from abroad. ukrainian fighters are pushing deeper into russian-controlled areas in the east. threatening to cut off russian forces from supply lines and to potentially deal another costly defeat to president vladimir putin. in a message early sunday morning, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy declared the city of lyman quote fully cleared. this is incredibly important. it's positioned in the donetsk region. lyman along with the neighboring luhansk makes up the industrial heartland of eastern ukraine. its recapturing is the latest in a series of major victories for

the ukrainian army. last month, ukrainian troops make massive gains in the country's northeast, reclaiming virtually all the territory russian forces had captured since the war began. that comes just after vladimir putin announced russia's illegal annexation of the ukrainian regions of zaporizhzhia, kherson, donetsk and luhansk. putin repeatedly claimed that ukraine's illegal annexed regions had revoted to regain russia during referendums which saw results nearly 100% in favor of the kremlin. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken said the united states will never recognize russia's illegal takeover. >> the entire process around these sham referenda was a complete farce. the united states does not and will never recognize any of the kremlin's claims to sovereignty over parts of ukraine that it

seized by force and purports to incorporate into russia. >> and this was the scene out of russia on friday following putin's signing off the official annexations. with us we have former nato supreme allied demander james stavridis, the chief analyst. richard haass, and the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire, good to have you all with us this morning. admiral, the news out of ukraine for the russian army, all bad. the news out of ukraine for vladimir putin, all bad. there seems to be a quickening of, again, of russian troops falling back, giving up, what can you tell us about where

you've seen the events of the last five, six, seven days, put it in perspective for us. >> yeah, if you think about the war, joe, as kind of a series of phases, phase one, this attempt failed by putin to take the whole country. phase two was kind of grinding warfare along the line of demarcation. we're now in phase three where the critical mass of all of these weapons systems joining the ukrainians with their fighting spirit are really starting to tell. we saw over the last four weeks some pretty striking uptick in takeovers by the ukrainians. you're showing some great video of that right now. i think, however, the bad news is, as the fall moves on here, and as russia compresses into a smaller area, it's going to get harder to simply repeat those gains. bottom line, it's been a very

good month for the ukrainians and this takeover of the city you're highlighting and i'll conclude here, is a place that is a rail head, a logistics head and is part of controlling the flow of goods, troops, in and out of donetsk, luhansk, ultimately the key to crimea. a good months for ukrainians. this is a time to keep our foot on the gas pedal and cope supporting them. >> the admiral told us about a month ago, winter is coming. it's significant for the russians or the ukrainians to make gains before winter sets in. it's the ukrainians who have had momentum on their side, the wind at their backs over the past month. i suspect they will continue making gains in the coming week or two before things really settle in. where does that set us up throughout the winter and going into the spring. >> well, it helps in several ways, joe, the most important

might be not the battlefield but the battle of the hearts and minds of europe. it makes it very hard for european governments to essentially say we should back off helping ukraine, they have no chance of winning. guess what, they're doing okay. even though energy prices will go up, it will get cold in parts of europe, the economies are contracting, i think this provides a backdrop where it makes it more likely that europe stays the course with the united states partnering with ukraine. and then secondly, i think the pressure on vladimir putin grows. he's opened up an enormous gap between his goals on one hand, and his capabilities on the other. and that always spells trouble in any foreign policy, and again, the criticism of him is coming now from both sides. you see people on the left voting with hair feet or however you want to describe them, normal russians not wanting to become cannon fodder. you have people on the right,

bloggers who increasingly are openly criticizing the conduct of the war. putin basically is going to feel the heat at home, while, if you will, europeans, i think, i won't stretch the metaphor about heat, but they're more likely to stay the course. i think this sets ukraine up fairly well for the spring. >> good point. >> i tell you what, it is remarkable, the success that the ukrainians have had, almost as remarkable as the giants being 3-1 right now, but we'll talk to richard about that. >> we can talk all about that later, there's a lot of issues with that sport. but, no, it's incredible what the ukrainians have been able to do and over the course of many many months as this gets longer and more difficult. the conservative political action conference, cpac has deleted and backtracked on a tweet from friday that had adopted kremlin propaganda. the tweet which was deleted three hours later read in part quote vladimir putin announces the annexation of four

ukrainian-occupied territories. biden and the dems continue to send ukraine billions of taxpayer dollars. meanwhile, we are under attack at our southern border. when will democrats put #americafirst and end the gift giving to ukraine. the tweet featured an image of a russian flag and described the annexation of the regions you see here as official and an accompanying image that listed the territories. cpac tweeted on saturday evening that there was a delay in deleting the quote unapproved tweet because of a time difference as the organization is currently hosting a conference in australia. it also acknowledged the post had belittled the plight of the innocent ukraine people. >> you think. >> oh, my god. >> admiral stavridis, i'm curious, you've spent your spire life, your adult life protecting and defending the united states of america, supporting nato,

supporting whether you're talking about john kennedy or ronald reagan, supporting past presidents, past americans' belief that russian aggression must always be met with strength. and here you've had cpac, and i've talked about it for some time, this was, believe it or not, not shocking to many of us unfortunately because of whether the strong man is trump or orban who brags about pushing liberal democracy to the side or putin, there has been this bizarre fixation with the trump far right. and we see it here and i'm just curious as someone who's fought for freedom, fought for western democracy, fought against russian expansion your entire life, i'll just ask, how does

this tweet -- how does this movement on the far right hit you as a patriot? >> it's a colossal mistake for anybody to lean against freedom, democracy, courage, the stamina, the true grit of the ukrainians. it's just been remarkable to watch what they have achieved when the odds were stacked against them eight months ago at the beginning of this conflict. they are literally on the front lines of freedom here. and when they look over their shoulders, they're defending the values that we hold dearest. and so i am perplexed that any organization could stand up and be critical of this incredible show of courage and this display of doing the right thing, which is what we see the ukrainians

doing. here's a shred of goodness in it, if you will. i do think their remains, despite this kind of far right criticism that is admittedly bubbling, there's still a great deal of bipartisan support that goes across the political divide. this is one of those issues where we absolutely must stand together as a nation because i'll close with this, joe, russia is watching. the kremlin is watching. our allies are watching. and when they see divisions here, the likelihood of them continuing to stand and support this valiant and worthy effort diminishes, so it hurts my heart to see that kind of tweet come out and imply a division that i don't think is truly there. >> well, and for supporters of reagan, it has to hurt their heart too, ronald reagan, his legacy is pushing back against

russian expansionism. we never considered it quote gift giving when we were helping hungary, when we were helping czechoslovakia, when we were helping poland, when we were working for a generation in the long twilight struggle against russian communism. and now there are actually some people on the trump right who call the support of freedom fighters quote gift giving, and you know, jonathan lemire, how unfortunate -- i'll be polite this morning, how unfortunate did cpac would put up a tweet, stayed up for 12 hours, by the way, complete with graphics. this wasn't some intern just shooting off a tweet. but they would keep up a tweet for 12 hours that would accuse the ukrainians of quote occupying their own country. this would be like another country accusing the united states of america of occupying

texas. that wouldn't go down well with us. sure as hell wouldn't go down well with texans, and i'm sure this ain't going down well with the ukrainians right now. >> joe, i don't know much, but in the year of our lord 2022, don't tweet something with a russian flag in it. that appears something we can all get behind, but apparently not there in cpac. you're right. this is an extraordinary moment, it shows how far that conference and political party has fallen. it was 2016 where the republican party grew up their platform at their convention to include a lot of pro kremlin talking points. that was largely the work of paul manafort who was at the time trump's campaign chairman. we know of course chapter and versus how trump sided with putin and the kremlin on many things during his time in office -- >> jonathan, you asked the question, you were in helsinki, and you asked the question on whether trump believed vladimir putin or believed the men and

women in the u.s. intelligence community. and he chose putin. >> yeah, he clearly sided with moscow. that moment in helsinki when i put that question to him. it wasn't the only time he sided with the russian leader while in office, and that rhetoric has continued. remember the early days of this war, he was pretty supportive of what russia was doing, only to back off because there had been such blow back. others haven't. the most popular host on fox news in the evenings, touts pro russian stuff and those clips used on russian television right now at this late stage in the war, that's happening, and we know how the right wing has embraced hungary's far right leader, and has given a speaking slot at cpac not that long ago. but to the admirals point, there has not been at least yet much fraying of the bipartisan coalition in washington. a few lone far right voices have

questioned the aid, but they're pretty small in number. the fear would be, the white house has, if this conflict does extend for months and months deep into next year, those voices could grow and stuff like this could lead to that fear. >> and also the fear, richard would speak to this, the fear in western capitals and in ukraine the possibility that donald trump would ever be commander in chief again because they understand that nato would be gone by now if he were, and this would have happened. and, richard, let's be very clear here, we can't allow people to try to clean things up. can't allow donald trump to suggest that he would have been tougher on russia than joe biden when at the beginning of the war it was donald trump that kept talking about how brilliant vladimir putin was for being able to go in and take over the ukrainian country for, he said, a couple of dollars in sanctions. for weeks he just talking about

how brilliant the invasion was. >> i think under the previous administration, you'll have some tough policies towards russia on the part of the administration but not the president, and i think had this happened there would have essentially been a backing away from nato. i think right now russia would control most of ukraine if the united states had not taken the lead in galvanizing the western response, the bottom line is there is no western response without the united states. it's interesting, joe. we just had in new york the opening of the u.n. general assembly and we had dozens and dozens of international leaders, presidents and prime ministers and kings and foreign ministers come through new york for the u.n. to me, in all the meetings we had, the most commonly talked about theme was the importance of american leadership as a necessary precondition for others stepping up, whether it was europeans against russia, people in the asia pacific

against china. it just doesn't happen by itself. it's all about alliances. it's all about partnering. that's the only way to deal with these authoritarian threats to world order as we've known it. that's my big take away. if doubts seep in about our staying power, that will unravel things, and that's why it's important to see the bipartisan support that jim was talking about. people have to have confidence, not just today but that we'll still be there tomorrow. >> what have we learned over the past 20 years ago we've learned that america first, which is used for an excuse to come home to be isolationist, to pretend the world's problems are going to solve themselves, always leads to disaster. we've learned that america can't lead from behind. leading from behind doesn't work as well. america, it is still the power, as richard said, that the countries across the world look to for leadership.

we remain the indispensable power if you care about freedom, if you care about liberty, if you care about admiral, let me let you finish here on this. we are indispensable, and for people who might be offended by that or consider that to be, we fed and freed more people than any country in history. it was the united states leading along with our allies that freed central europe and eastern europe from russian oppression, a generational struggle and it's once again the united states along with our allies, but mainly the united states right now funding this effort in ukraine. >> we don't have to imagine what would happen if the u.s. walked away from this position of leadership you just described so well, joe. we did it at the end of the first world war. history shows us what it looks

like. we walked away from the league of nations. we pulled everybody out of europe. we just came home. we erected big trade barriers, we came home and isolated ourselves. that was the right word, from the world. how did that work out? well, you can drop a plum line from that set of decisions to the great depression with a d, not a recession. great depression, the rise of sa fascism in the second world war. we learned that lesson. we did the right thing coming out of the second world war. it would be a geopolitical disaster of epic proportion for us to step back from the world at this moment when autocrats like vladimir putin are seeking to run the table. danger ahead. we need to stay in the game. >> yes, we do. admiral james stavridis, thank you very much for being on this morning. now, in the city of malang,

indonesia, at least 125 people are now confirmed dead. that's including a number of children following a panicked rush to the exits at a soccer game after police reportedly deployed tear gas in an attempt to stop violence during the game. video here captures the moments before the crush when the crowds run out on to the pitch and the police unseen begin to chase them away. the associated press reporting the crowd flooded the field when their team lost and riot police responded by firing tear gas on to the field and into the stands. yesterday, hundreds attended a vigil in the nation's capital to pay their respects. the ap reporting the crush is among the worst crowd disaster in the history of the world. we'll have more on that ahead. and still ahead on "morning joe," we'll go live to fort myers, florida, where hurricane ian made landfall last week as a powerful category 4 storm.

the latest on recovery efforts from the hard-hit area. plus, with about five weeks to go until the midterms, five weeks, former president trump lungs a new inflammatory attack on mitch mcconnell. we'll show you -- >> dangerous and violent attack. >> what he had to say and why it's being called racist. also ahead, it's been almost two months since the fbi search of mar-a-lago, and the national archives says some records are still missing. plus, we'll have a look at the morning papers, including a new legal fight over one state's congressional map. you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. p. you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back.

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half past the hour as florida begins the clean up process, there is new focus on whether there was enough advanced warning to evacuate in some of the hardest hit areas.

one county in particular is being criticized for its delayed reaction as the hurricane made its way toward florida. lee county, which includes the hardest hit seaside community of fort myers beach, as well as fort myers, sanibel and cape coral did not issue a mandatory evacuation order until tuesday morning, a day after several neighboring communities had ordered their most vulnerable residents to flee. by then residents told "the new york times" they had little time to evacuate, and everybody though the storm's path did shift slightly, the national hurricane center on the sunday before had said that area had a 40% chance of 6 foot high storm surge. yesterday the county's sheriff responded. >> i'm going to cut you off before you even go any further. i don't know who you are, where you come from, everyone wants to focus on a plan that might have

been done differently. i'm going to tell you, i stand 100% with my county commissioner, we did what we had to do at the exact time. i wouldn't have changed anything. >> there have been at least 42 deaths reported in lee county so far. more than 800 people there have been rescued so far. so rescued during the storm. joining us live from fort myers beach, florida, nbc news correspondent dasha burns, what are you hearing there? >> reporter: hey, mika, good morning. yesterday we spent a good part of the day embedded with a fema task force team, florida task force two as they proceeded with their search and rescue efforts on fort myers beach, and i'll tell you this, mika, the devastation you're seeing behind me, take that and multiply it over and over and over again, and you will get just a bit of a

sense of the scale of devastation that we saw on that barrier island yesterday. homes just battered, and you'll also get a sense of the scope and the scale of the search and rescue and recovery effort that is ongoing right now. we watched as this florida task force took -- went to homes, searched, did their preliminary searches, and as they got deeper into the search, started to look at some of those homes where people have been reported missing, where they've seen things that are unusual, looking for any signs of life, mika, or signs of death. and as we were there, we did witness the team call in a, what they call a human remains k-9. this is a dog that is brought in to try to determine whether or not there might be a deceased individual there, and i'll tell you, one of the more chilling moments in the day was when you

heard the dog bark, which means that the dog thinks there might be a deceased individual there. and the team went silent. began their search very quietly, very methodically. it wasn't bulldozers, it wasn't a big rush. they slowly began to peel back the layers of this battered home to try to find what they thought might have been a 90-year-old woman that has been reported missing. we did find out that they didn't find her yet, so the search continues, but this just gives you a small example of what they're doing over and over again, all day, every day here, mika. >> nbc's dasha burns, thank you very much. also president biden and first lady jill biden will travel to florida on wednesday to assess the damage. the first couple will fly to puerto rico today to visit those impacted by hurricane fiona, which hit weeks before ian and

left at least 25 people dead. the president is expected to announce more than $60 million in funding for the island to strengthen flood walls and create a new flood warning system. we'll take a look now at the headlines across the country in the morning papers. the "hartford current" reports conspiracy theorist alex jones will make a second appearance on the stand this week in his defamation trial in connecticut. jones is trying to limit the damages he will have to pay for promoting the lie that the 2012 sandy hook school shooting was a hoax. we'll be following that. "the charlotte observer" reports a number of people dying by suicide in north carolina prisons has reached an historic high this year. since january 1st, nine inmates have ended their lives in prison, an average of one a month. inmate advocates suspect severe staff shortages inside the prisons are largely to blame.

and the front page of the state newspaper in south carolina covers a trial getting underway today over the state's new congressional map. the man was approved to buy the general assembly in january. lawyers for the south carolina chapter of the naacp argue the congressional map discriminates against black voters and must be redrawn. and in rhode island, the "westerly sun" is look at a program that aims to reduce food waste in schools across the state. the rhode island schools recycling club is a grant funded program looking to recover hundreds of safe to eat foods from cafeteria served lunches. one in four families with children in rhode island are food insecure. hungry. and still ahead, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are seeing a rise in threats and intimidation in the months since the january 6th attack on the capital. this as former president trump launches a new attack on senate

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it's 40 past the hour. former president trump launched a new incendiary attack against senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. in a post on his truth social web site on friday, trump criticized mcconnell for supporting legislation sponsored by democrats suggesting he had a quote death wish. mcconnell had voted in favor of government funding that was set to run out on friday night. the former president also went on to mock mcconnell's wife, elaine chao, in racist terms.

when asked about those comments a trump spokesperson said it was absurd to suggest the president's post could be construed as dangerous. >> everybody knows it's dangerous. every republican that works with mitch mcconnell knows it's dangerous, but we're seeing now, here's your test, you can stand with a colleague. >> this is it. >> because the death threats are already, i'm sure, going to be spiking against mitch mcconnell and his wife. >> who worked for trump. >> or you can continue to pretend there's nothing wrong because you're a coward. >> and republicans, some of them continue to show that there's just no bottom but the damage here is that americans become more and more desensitized to this behavior, which should be condemned. senator rick scott, the campaign chair for senate republicans was asked about those comments from trump. take a look. >> trump said he has a death wish for supporting democratic

sponsored bills and mocked mcconnell's wife and former secretary, as china living and cocoa chao. >> i can respond about what people said. the president likes to give nicknames. ask him how he came up with the nickname. i'm sure he has a nickname for me. i don't condone violence. >> nicknames are one thing, but this appears racist. is that okay? >> it's never ever okay to be a racist. you know, i think you always have to be careful, you know, if you're in the public eye how you say things. >> i just can't. no bottom. no bottom. the "wall street journal" editorial board is out with a new piece on trump's rhetoric

and it writes in part this, this continues mr. trump's attacks on elaine chao, mr. mcconnell's wife for being chinese american, her real offense was resigning as transportation secretary after mr. trump's disgraceful behavior on january 6th. >> i think this is the "wall street journal" editorial page, is it not? >> we'll check that. this is the "wall street journal" editorial page. the mr. trump's apologists say he merely meant mr. mcconnell has a political death wish. that isn't what he wrote. it's too easy to imagine some fanatic taking mr. trump seriously, and literally, in fact, that has happened. >> we've seen this happen. >> and attempting to attack mr. mcconnell. >> to kill mr. mcconnell. >> the rhetoric about former

vice president mike pence all too seriously on january 6th. five weeks from election day, mr. trump could be working and spending money to elect a gop congress or to help his home state of florida recover from hurricane ian, and instead, he's attack mr. mcconnell and his wife as part of a personal political vendetta and putting every republican candidate on the spot to respond to questions about mr. trump's rant. mr. trump always puts himself first and with this rhetoric, he may put others at genuine risk of harm. that, again, from the "wall street journal." but again, it's really painful to see a republican sit there and kind of have a hibbity about whether or not it was wrong. >> it's a colleague. so donald trump, we know that what donald trump does is he tries to serve violence against political opponents. he's tried to do it against

people in the media who he doesn't like and he tweets abusive things. and suddenly their name starts showing up on kill lists that the fbi finds and arrests those people because they're drawing out plans to kill people that donald trump is attacking publicly. most dramatically on january 6th. donald trump kept attacking mike pence. in fact, when he found out that mike pence was fleeing from the chamber, he tweeted again. putting his life more at risk. and so mike pence and his family rushed out, and for those who don't think that mike pence's life was in danger that day, and you're really really -- >> you have to stretch in your mind. >> have to be a cult member of the first order to not think mike pence's life is in danger.

just talking to secret service agents around him who were calling home to their wives and loved ones, saying good-bye to them. they didn't think they were going to get out of the u.s. capitol alive. ask them, they were there. jonathan lemire, this is more of the same. he targets people in the media. he targets democrats. he targets members of his own party, and he does it with violent rhetoric, and i remember seeing this after reading it the first time, just flinching because death wish was in all caps. there was no political death wish attached to it. it was very clear, given his violent rhetoric in the past, the fact that he loves political violence and has bragged about it at campaign rallies. the second i read it, i thought, oh, my god, mitch mcconnell is going to have to double his security now along with his wife because that's exactly what

donald trump is trying to stir up. >> yeah, and let's set aside, first of all, this is political malpractice, five weeks until midterms, they're attacking minority leader of your own party with the senate hanging in the balance. this is far more serious and dangerous than that. we know there has been violence committed in trump's name frequently. january 6th, of course, the most grotesque and largest example, there have been other moments. there have been other people who have threatened politicians, who have threatened members of the media. i know you guys have been threatened. i have been threatened by people who were trump supporters. law enforcement had to be involved in those cases. we already know that we're in a time in the wake of that mar-a-lago search, an unprecedented rise in threats against law enforcement, the fbi, department of justice, members of the intelligence community and those at police departments across the country are deeply worried about the injection of political violence into our discourse as the midterms approach. you're seeing members of

congress travel with security they have never had to have before. and moments like this, moments like this, only add to that, and then of course you have republicans refusing to condemn it, the threat, the racist rhetoric. it's only going to get worse from theory. >> that's why i've got to say, when people were suggesting joe biden apologize for calling trump and a lot of his followers more violent members of this trump movement semifascists. yeah, you should apologize because you're mislabeling donald trump, he's a fascist. when you look at him using violence the way he uses violence, glorifying violence, using violence in his rhetoric, talking about, you know, taking people out on stretchers, telling cops to bang people's head. talking about, again, death wish in all caps. you can go back over five, six

years, and violent rhetoric goes through all of it. the celebration of violence when a member of congress beats the hell out of a reporter for asking a question about health care reform. donald trump praises that member of congress for beating the hell out of a member of congress for simply being asked a question about health care reform. and again, yes, we have seen it, just like jonathan was talking about, he's seen it. you see security at times having to go way up because the threats are put out there and the people that he wants to respond violently respond with violence or with threats of violence, and this is not just impacted by politicians or members of the media. you look what happened after the mar-a-lago search. you had a federal judge, federal magistrate, you had members of

the fbi that donald trump deliberately released their names because when doj didn't, because they didn't want their lives to be at stake at risk, trump made sure they were released. his supporters made sure they were released thereby putting them and their families' lives at risk, and if you look at this, mika, it's spreading out now across all members of congress. >> yep. >> republicans and democrats alike. >> exactly. both sides of the aisle, members are experiencing a rise in threats and confrontations amid the surge in violent political speech that we've been talking about. >> that comes from donald trump. >> "the new york times" reports that since the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol, republicans and democrats have faced stalking, armed visits to their homes, vandalism and assaults, part of a chilling trend that many fear is only intensifying. republican senator susan collins told the paper quote i wouldn't be surprised if a senator or a

house member were killed. what started with abusive phone calls is now translating into active threats of violence and real violence. in five years after president donald trump was elected in 2016, following a campaign featuring a remarkable level of violence language, the number of recorded threats against members of congress increased more than tenfold to 9,625 in 2021. that's according to figures from the capitol police. in the first quarter of 2022, the latest period for which figures were available, the force opened 1,820 cases. if recent history is any guide, the pace is likely to surge in the coming weeks as the election approaches. the paper notes that despite the torrent of threats, few cases result in arrest. let's bring in the president of the national action network and host of "politics nation" reverend al sharpton, associate

professor of political science at fordham university, christina greer. >> when you're having the "wall street journal" and the "new york times" write the same day on a growing threat of violence in the political system, fueled by donald trump, you know there's something serious going on. >> no, this is very serious, and let me use this example because you and i have had these conversations candidly, privately, but i want to use it publicly. i remember back in the '80s, we would use language that would, in many ways, could be interpreted by fanatics, whichever way they wanted and it was mrs. coretta scott king, dr. king's widow, who said al, if you're going to be part of the nonviolent movement, you've got to stop saying things that could be misinterpreted. i used to use slang words, the

n-word, calling whites names or whatever. she said you can't do that. this is 25 years ago. and a few years later when a guy stabbed me, i forgave him in the spirit of dr. king and said that publicly. as late as george floyd, we had to unequivocally say yes, we want justice, we think the police are guilty but we do not condone and in fact, denounce the violence. you can't walk on both sides of the street at the same time, and donald trump knows if he didn't know before and i know he did, but if he didn't after january 6th, to even go to the edge is either intentional or insensitive. and to use racist language against mitch mcconnell's wife he knows what he's doing. at some point in your life, you have to make a choice on who you are and what you stand for. i made my choice, i wish the members of the senate like scott and others would make their choice. you can't stand in the middle of the street without getting hit by traffic on both sides, ie

"wall street journal" and "new york times" editorial page. >> you did make your choice after talking to coretta scott king, and it's moving hearing you and others talk about that choice and i see every time, after george floyd, after other tragedies that happened, the first thing you say is we cannot have violence. we cannot have violence. we can protest, but there's no room for violence. christina greer, it's interesting, donald trump goes after the republican leader of the united states senate at a time republicans desperately want to take control of the senate. you've talked about a political death wish, it seems that he did this in georgia, he's now doing it when republicans need his

support more than ever, it really does seem like he doesn't want any republican to succeed except for himself, and he's probably really angry at mitch mcconnell for agreeing to reform the electoral count act that will stop january 6th from happening again. >> absolutely. joe, we know that donald trump works as a party of one. he doesn't care about the republican party. he has no value system as we've seen time and time again. there are a few things operating at the same time. one, the fact that the republican party, you know, at the congressional level, at the local level has not come out and unequivocally said that donald trump is wrong, that his comments were racist, inappropriate, dangerous and inciting violence. the fact that we've been met with such silence from so many republican leaders speaks a lot about the party, where they're going, who they're sort of willing to walk off a cliff with in the words of donald trump. i think what's also really important, this is a former

president who does not care about this republic. we have to be honest now. the fact that donald trump will only support people who go along with his mission to prop up oath keepers and proud boys, and people who really sort of represent the most base factions of our country but the fact that he's going to go on stage, literally on a national tour denigrating not just democrats but people in his own party. he does not really care if the republicans succeed. he wants to succeed skpks i think -- and i think what we're seeing as the train gets closer to the station, the type of violence donald trump was trying to incite, he's bellicose but also a little bloodthirsty. you can't put in full caps about mitch mcconnell that he has a death wish. we know he's essentially calling his supporters to bee be have a

they did on january 6th. i know they want to win seats in gubernatorial races and senate races across the country. but this has to be -- there has to be some sort of moral line the republicans won't cross, and sadly we're being met with silence. >> there's a through line here. if you look at what donald trump said in the past, you look at the fact that his approval numbers are going down. it's becoming obvious to him he can not win. he knows. he knew he could win in 2016 when everybody else didn't think he could win, and he now knows he can't. he understands and i've talked to people around him, he can't get back those suburban voters in atlanta. he can't get back the suburban voters in the philly suburbs. he understands he can't win, so what is he doing now. his rhetoric is becoming more violent. he's embracing qanon conspiracy theories. he's actually boiling down his

supporters, not doing what any politician who would want to win would be doing. he's boiling down support to find people that will support him for an overthrow of the federal government. that's my belief in '08. that's what he tried to do on january 6th, just a couple of years ago. just look and see what he's doing and ask yourself, why would he come out and try to get the republican leader of the u.s. senate killed. why would he talk about a death wish in all caps? why would he make a racist slur against a former member of his cabinet who happens to be mitch mcconnell's wife? why would he embrace qanon conspiracy theories. why would he keep, again, getting more and more radical when he knows it will only drive down the support. the clear answer, as he supports the election deniers, mika, is,

he wants to succeed in 2024, and the way he failed in 2020, and he's obviously ready to use violence to do that. >> associate professor of political science at fordham university, christina greer, thank you very much for being on this morning. and still ahead, a look at new polling that shows republicans cutting into democrats' lead among latino voters. we'll dig into those new numbers. plus an update on a major story out of the nfl as a young player appears to suffer two concussions in games just four days apart. >> this is ugly. and future hall of famer plays just days after a serious health scare as well. we'll talk about that. we're back in 90 seconds. we'll talk about that. we're back in 90 seconds the new subway series menu. the greatest sandwich roster ever assembled. for more on the new boss, here's patrick mahomes. incredible - meatballs, fresh mozzarella and pepperon- oh, the meatball's out!

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we shouldn't be alive right now. we shouldn't be alive right now with that storm. >> the power of that storm. if that would have crashed into the side of the house, we would have been swept away. >> the water surge didn't do all the damage. the wind, it was so -- blowing so hard, i put my hand outside without my glove on, and it felt like bibis hitting it. i don't know why my skin isn't ripped off. just the salt water blowing. >> more stories from people in florida who survived hurricane ian. the death toll nearing 90 as the united states continues its largest ever search and rescue operation in florida. we're going to get a live report from one of the hardest hit areas. plus, ukrainian forces retake another key city. one that vladimir putin last

week claimed he annexed. we'll have the latest setback for the russian military. and with just 35 days to the midterm elections, we're going to tell you where things stand this morning. welcome back to "morning joe." it is monday, october 3rd. jonathan lemire, richard haass, and reverend al sharpton are with us this morning. good to have you all this hour. >> and where things are standing politically, i've got to say right now, republicans are feeling much better. you look at a lot of numbers out there, and they're feeling good in quite a few states. the house of representatives, jonathan lemire did i hear you on "way too early" say that the house has been gerrymandered in such a way that republicans can take control of the house back without winning a single district that joe biden won? >> yeah, that's correct. that he won just a couple of years ago. and this is a congressional map that was not as redistricted or

rigged as people feared. it was seen as largely as fair as it can be. republicans were able to swing enough that they don't have to flip a single seat, they would get the house, which is why so many democrats feeling better than they did some months ago but don't really think they can take the house. the deck is stacked against them. the hope is the margin would be slim rather than a landslide, which a lot of people thought maybe six months ago. >> if it's only one, republicans have subpoena power and can impeach joe biden and can have two years of show trials, so even a majority of one, every republican will tell you, that gives the subpoena power, it allows us to do whatever we want to do on the house side. it is interesting, though, that you look at the numbers and it's not just that you have it gerrymandered or rigged that way, but just history. you go back and look at

midterms, i guess the average victory for party out of power may be, what, 35 or something like that. there have been only two times that i can think of where a president bucked to that trend. bill clinton in 1998, in the middle of impeachment, republicans were supposed to have a huge margin of victory in '98, and voters said, nope, not into this impeachment deal, and so republicans only picked up four seats. it was a shock. republicans only picked up four seats. but it was a real shock. then in 2002, of course after 9/11, which, again, was the other huge example, republicans picked up some seats. something that never happens in off year elections, but happened that year obviously because the election was one year after september 11th. the question is will the abortion decision, will republican radicalism, will the aftermath of january 6th, will all of that taken together, will

uvalde, will these 10-year-old girls having to flee out of state from male legislatures who want to force them to have their rapists' babies, will all of that combined be enough to bend history, and right now, i must say, looking at the numbers, doesn't look like it. >> it speaks to how powerful those historical forces are, that all of those things you just mentioned, including the roe v. wade decision, which has become so animated for voters, women, new female voters, and yet the democrats still may fall short. the odds were against them from election day, 2020, the democratic margin in the house was going to be so slim it became next to impossible. leading democrats concede for them to be able to keep that party, and there is still a chance, things could change. it's not written in stone, butt odds are against them to be able to keep the house, even if they just lose it by a couple of seats, and in fact, it is

because, joe, all of those things you mentioned, that's why the senate is in play. historical tradition, that would likely break for republicans as well. democrats feel like they've got a fighting chance. it's going to come down to a handful of races. 51-49, the senate is that close. >> the senate wouldn't be that close and democrats would be in much better shape if they had held on to natural constituencies, constituencies that have stayed with them. they usually win seven out of ten hispanic votes. not this year. you look at the polls, and the hispanic voters are breaking republican in dramatic ways. that's a real problem for them. they had the same problem with black men in 2020 that i think there's about a 10-point swing toward republicans among black men. the question is are democrats doing what it makes to keep those who have loyally voted

republican are democratic voting democratic because right now, you have people of color breaking away from the democratic party and you have white college educated suburban voters breaking away from republicans, so it's creating a real flux. >> i spent the last two or three days in washington speaking at the congressional black caucus, and the concern throughout, you have 58 members of the congressional black caucus now, never happened in history, and the concern throughout is how we're connecting the base to the message. the democratic party and president biden does have some things they could be using that they've done that has benefitted clearly black and latinos, but it's not connecting. so you're seeing this as the polls indicate, latinos and black men go the other way because they're not getting their message to the ground in

the way they should. and i think that that is the challenge they have in these last four or five weeks, clearly the thing that is making this competitive is the supreme court decision on women's right to choose and the fact that donald trump won't leave the stage. those are the only things that's really helping the democrats stay in the game. they must connect the message to those that would be energized. at this point, that has not happened. i think coming out of the caucus, they are trying to make that connection. >> as big as i got to say, mika, democrats are really, really fighting history right now. historical trends it's almost like if -- >> almost insurmountable. >> it's almost as much of a long shot as two new york teams starting up 3-1 in the nfl t never happens. >> never happens. and this is probably going to be my last appearance on the show

because i want to play quarterback, i think, going forward for the new york giants. things have reached that point. >> great. >> i like it. it's pretty bad. i'm wearing a jet's tie this morning, richard is wearing a giants tie. >> it's not all good news out of the world of football, which we'll get to with player injuries at issue and we'll have the latest on hurricane ian, and the latest news out of russia, major news of ukraine gains, but while we're at it, let's take a look at the new polling showing republicans gaining support from latino voters. according to the latest survey from nbc news and telemundo, 54% of latinos prefer democrats in control of congress. 33% say they prefer republicans. while support for democrats hasn't changed since a 2020 poll, republicans have gained 5% in the same span. on the issues, latino voters overwhelmingly say they prefer democrats when it comes to

abortion rights and protecting democracy. >> this is on abortion, that is quite a surprise because the argument had been post dobbs that republicans would gain hispanics because they're catholic, religious. again, what democrats have been doing with hispanics for decades over generalizing, republicans are now doing, so, again, over 2-1 margin democrats supporting -- hispanics supporting democrats on abortion. >> republicans are favored slightly when it comes to dealing with the economy, border security and crime. >> can i quickly here, jonathan lemire, i must say, can we put up the first chart. jonathan, i keep hearing and i must say we teased it so i guess we're responsible too. i keep hearing about this massive swing toward hispanics, right, but what are we comparing that to.

it appears we're comparing the massive swing to mitt romney in 2012 who got 27, 28% of the hispanic vote, mccain got 32, 33%. george w. bush in 2004 got like 44% of the hispanic vote. this isn't quite the sea change we keep hearing. you heard it on the campaign trail. there's been a real concern among democrats about the los of support among hispanic men, black men, especially when donald trump is involved. the question is, though, what happens in elections where donald trump's not on the ballot. >> right. we're seeing here that latino support for democrats plummeted after bush left office, and then stayed down for 2016 for trump, and a phenomenon has puzzled and worried democrats about how in 2020, he saw an increase in

support particularly from latino men. hispanics not a model big voting group. there are different reasons why certain candidates would vote for trump, and trump successfully played on fears of socialism that resonated with venezuelans, cubans and a few other groups in 2020 along with a rise in support from some black men as well. it's not an overwhelming number. as we just detailed, joe, these margins are so close, the house and senate are going to be decided by a handful of seats, very small numbers. even a slight shift for latino voters for republicans is consequential, though not an overwhelming number, it's worth spending time on a trend that both parties are looking at. >> telemundo anchor, julio, i'm curious if you can talk about shifting opinions on abortion in

the latino community, potentially especially among women. what exactly is going on. >> yes, mika, thank you very much for having me. so i would like to start by saying just what you were mentioning just a few minutes ago. latinos are a very diverse community, so when you see some voters identifying with the democratic position and abortion and some of them who are not, it all depends on where they are located, where they leave, what religion they are. so more catholics agree with democrats when it comes to the abortion issue, and more catholics, catholic lees are against the dobbs decision and the supreme court and evangelical latinos. i think it's a misconception that catholics might be more conservative because at the end,

catholicism has more to do with the identity and how you were raised when you were young, and once you get to the united states, you might see other values that are also important, just to kind of make an opportunity or individualism and then, i think, those sentiments kind of explain how latinos might have different perceptions when it comes to abortion. >> julio, i grew up in new york, and we knew the difference in the black community going to school, between those latinos from puerto rico, and those latinos from venezuela or from mexico. and i think that a lot of the pollsters and pundits don't understand that there is not a monolith in terms of the latino vote. a lot of it is as agree graphic as you said, geopolitical, but also generational because a lot of the younger latinos who have been more exposed to american life, many of them born here think differently than parents

and grandparents, how will that factor in in the midterm elections in terms of their voting patterns. >> to start with, many latinos might identify themselves first as american and then as latinos they might feel not that much solidarity with the latino community. because as you said, they are second or third generation. so that's important, and also it's important to know the latino voter is younger than the general electorate. that's something i think that benefits democrats. there are more latino voters between 18 to 34 years old. and they have a more progressive point of view. i think that's something also to consider. >> telemundo anchor julio viqueriro, thank you for coming on the show this morning. ukrainian troops are gaining

ground on the russian front lines. nbc news senior national correspondent jay gray has more on the territory reclaimed over the weekend. >> reporter: ukrainian fighters advancing, pushing through lyman, taking back land occupied by russian troops for months. russian flags tossed to the ground and trampled. ukrainian soldiers celebrating their latest victory. ukrainian officials won't share specifics but do say their troops are right now freeing villages in the east and some areas delivering desperately needed food and water. and to the south, inches closer to kherson, a russian stronghold and the first city to fall just a week after the invasion. >> the ukrainians continue to make progress. they continue to present problems to the russians that they'll have to resolve. >> progress that comes after weeks of intense fire fights. an unusual silence from moscow, two days after president vladimir putin renewed his

threat to use nuclear weapons to defend the partially occupied, recently annexed territories. >> it's reckless, and something we have heard several times before. that doesn't change the fact that this is dangerous. >> reporter: so is the struggle to survive an advance for ukrainian soldiers fight to go reclaim their country. >> let's bring in columnist and associate editor for the "washington post" david ignatius. david, it's great to have you on this morning. if you could explain the significance of what ukraine is finding itself capable of reclaiming and vladimir putin still, you know, acting as if he has a grip on power. >> it's a startling picture, mika, as we look at these maps. just several days after vladimir putin announced with such ceremony and fanfare and a state counsel room in the kremlin that

he was annexing those four provinces of ukraine in at least two of them we've had major movements by ukrainian troops to recapture territory. in the north, in the city lyman where your correspondent was reporting, there has been an advance by the ukrainians essentially encircling russian forces there. this is a key railway, another transport junction that dominates the northern access to the region of donetsk, which is one of the ones that the russian were insisting they were annexing. it puts into play their ability to conduct operations in that territory. in the south, in kherson, there's a large russian army trapped on the west bank of the dnipro river. there's conflicting reports. last night there were reports of

rapid movement and the encirclement of that army. these are two potential defeats for putin at the very time when he was claiming in this illegal seizure, annexation of territory that he controlled the physical space and dramatic evidence that that's not true. the problem is these are the kinds of situations that for months analysts have worried might lead putin to escalate. people have talked about the moment when putin might use tactical nuclear weapons as the moment when the russian army was collapsing on the front, when he had no other alternative. we seem to be approaching a situation like that in the north, perhaps in the south, where putin simply can't rely on his ground forces and has to look for other elements to shore up his position. it's a paradox, the better the ukrainians do on the

battlefield, the more dangerous putin seems to become. >> based on your reporting, how badly are the lines breaking against putin's russian army? >> so the trend lines are breaking badly in the north. the evidence from lyman is conclusive. the russian army there is endangered. there is another breakout similar to what we saw in kharkiv a few weeks ago and will be a significant setback. russian commentators on their channels for the last 24 hours that are pointing to this saying that it's a disaster in terms of the russian ability to control forces. the south is really in some ways more strategic, joe, because ukraine needs black sea coastal access to be able to be a viable economy. and so the fight in kherson where the dnipro river empties into the black sea is crucial

for stopping russia's attempt to strangle the black sea exports. that battle is still being fought, but it's just such a striking paradox that only days after putin made these outrageous claims of control, his inability on the ground to exert that control is obvious for everybody to see. >> i agree with what david said, and what you have in the biden administration and beyond, the nato secretary general referred to it as a growing conversation about what we need to do to deter putin from escalating. the bottom line is we don't have a good handle on what putin could do if he wanted to do it. he's essentially destroyed institutions within russia. he's personalized leadership there to an extent we have never seen before, and people are uneasy about the possibility he might escalate the chemical and nuclear use, demonstration effect, what have you. so there's a big conversation

about the nature of the warnings we sent to him, and i think what's gaining ground is the idea that the united states would potentially get involved in the war from the air with american air power, letting ukraine continue to fight on the ground, but i think the bottom line is we can't get to a point where nuclear weapons could be used without a response. henry kissinger was speaking the other day at the counsel, and said, we cannot allow nuclear weapons to become conventional weapons. there's a very strong feeling. i think he's right. the administration is debating what kind of signals do we send. how do we send not just to putin but those around him that this would be extraordinarily dangerous and bad for russia, and again, it's this tension between how do we quote unquote avoid world war iii, a goal of the president from the go go. which is why we are not there directly ourselves.

but at the same time not allowing russia to create a world where the threat of nuclear weapons brings benefits, threatening or using them. that's not a precedent we can live with. that's exactly where the conversation is right now in washington. >> david, we talked earlier about right wing extremists, thank god there are extremists in the republican party who basically follow the cpac line of reasoning that this is america's fault, america needs to get out. cpac in this tweet talked about ukrainians occupying, i put that in quotation marks, occupying their own country. comment if you will, your reporting, your feeling about just how bipartisan this effort is to push russia out of ukraine. republicans still seem overwhelmingly to be standing shoulder to shoulder with president biden and the democrats right now. this is a united effort, is it not? >> i believe it is a united

effort. i think the administration is confident that even if you have a switch in the composition of the house, the democrats lose the house and senate, there's still a bipartisan consensus of support for the war in ukraine. if the administration worries about anything, it's that it will get attacked by republicans who are demanding more and more weapons to ukraine, not that the republicans will want to pull the plug. i was frankly shocked by the cpac statements. i don't think they reflect what republicans in congress think. so that's, you know, i like to contrast the relative consensus behind biden's position in washington with the growing disarray of views in russia about what putin is doing. he's getting attacked by conservatives on the right who say he's not fighting hard enough. he's getting denounced in the streets by people who are risking their lives to protest the war. people by the tens, hundreds of

thousands are fleeing russia, so there's quite a contrast between general public support for biden's policy, a significant growing lack of support for putin's policy in russia. >> david ignatius, and richard haass, thank you both very much for your insights this morning. >> and still ahead on "morning joe," the new term for the supreme court begins just over two hours from now. we're going to take a look at the major cases that justices will hear. also ahead, former president trump at a rally over the weekend said that he doesn't believe there will ever be a fair election again. and a new poll shows a lot of republicans agree with him. >> think about this. think about this. he lost one election. the republicans lost an election. one presidential election in 2020. and now they're ready to throw

democracy away despite the fact they have actually lost the popular vote, have gotten less votes in seven of the last eight presidential elections. they lose the electoral vote one time, and they're ready to trash democracy. my god. also ahead, we're going to get the latest on the recovery efforts in florida as the death toll continues to rise. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. rise you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪♪

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rescue efforts are underway this morning in hurricane ravaged florida as the death toll from

ian stands at 87 and is expected to climb. joining us live from cape coral, florida, nbc news correspondent sam brock. sam. >> reporter: mika, good morning. it is-obviously that is gone. sam brock's shot broke there. but let's toss to the report he prepared. here's sam brock. in the after math of hurricane ian, around the clock rescues have been going on for days. from the air and the water, first responders trying to help desperate residents. the death toll now approaching triple digits, nearly half of them in lee county. search and rescue teams combing islands cut off from the mainland, including sanibel, captiva, and pine island, looking for survivors. a chorus of questions surfacing, why didn't lee county issue

mandatory evacuations until tuesday morning one day before ian hit. the sheriff blaming the storm's constantly shifting track. >> there are indications that the comprehensive emergency management plan was ignored. >> i'm going to cut you off before we go further. we did what we had to do at the exact same time. i wouldn't have changed anything. >> monday night, the national hurricane center warned areas in lee county, including fort myers were in danger of life threatening storm surge but the county didn't start ordering evacuations until the next morning, hours after neighboring charlotte county put out its evacuation orders. >> they're telling us we need to evacuate. we don't have places to go. we have no cars to get there. >> reporter: the storm rushed in, much of the area, including fort myers beach now hardly recognizable, but it's hardly just these coastal communities that are suffering. even after the storm passed, a levee breach in sarasota county, threatening homes over the

weekend. it's still compromised but help is pouring in from all directions. jose andres' world kitchen and other areas are in hard hit areas. a lack of water affecting hospitals, forcing them to transport patients old and young, including nicu infants. for tiffany henning. >> my baby needs help for breathing support and is dependent on running power, it was very scary. >> the twins ultimately transferred by helicopter to a nearby hospital with power, and we're told they're doing well. >> nbc's sam brock with that report. also in cuba, massive protests erupted after hurricane ian left the country in the dark. the storm knocked out power to about 11 million people when it plowed through western cuba. earlier this week, officials said on friday that power had been restored to about 60% of

havana's 2 million people. over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets demanding for power to be restored. internet watchdogs reportedly accused authorities of blocking internet communications in an attempt to stem the unrest. at least two people were killed in cuba when the storm hit. and amid the unrest, cuban authorities have asked the biden administration for assistance to help respond to the devastating impact of hurricane ian. according to the "wall street journal," the rare request had no exact amount and the u.s. is still trying to determine whether the government in havana will supplement the request as it works to determine the extent of the damage. a state department spokesperson confirms with nbc news the u.s. is communicating with the cuban government regarding the evolving humanitarian and environmental consequences. and ahead on "morning joe," we're going to have a live

report from puerto rico where president biden will travel this morning after the island was hit hard by hurricane fiona. and up next, the story behind the images of civil rights fighters sitting stoically at a counter as people around them heckled and attacked. a two-time pulitzer prize winning writer is out with a new book detailing the military style boot camp they went to to prepare themselves to wit stand all of it. that's next when "morning joe" returns. at's next when "morning" returns. h stand all of it. that's next when "morning joe" returns. all ioft. that's next when "morning joe" returns. after a long week of telling people how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need! (limu squawks) he's a natural. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ the tenth pick is in the new all-american club. that's a “club” i want to join!

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we don't really use the v word. that's kind of insensitive. we prefer day-adjacent. i'll go man-pire. you know, mika, it's a really special day. >> october 3rd. >> every year october 3rd is a very special day. but this day is very special because we get to share reverend

al's birthday with him this morning. >> reverend al, happy birthday. >> obviously you're looking back on your life and you're talking about when coretta scott king called you aside and said, hey, cut that out. and i love when we talk about going through the years and how we both tried to grow in our own ways, but man, your birthday today, what a wonderful time to celebrate an extraordinary life. >> well, thank you very much, and i'm very happy to be working on my birthday. and be here. and certainly to be on with you and mika. i think if there's a lesson in my life, it is the growing relationship that you and i have had, joe, because we started as adversaries and have really become friends, which shows how this country can come together, if we just talk to each other rather than at each other. we really want the same thing for our loved ones and families,

so i hope my life is an example of growth. >> yeah, and we obviously, people can look it up. we really were adversaries. >> let's move forward. >> no, it's been great talking to you, and it's been great, we've had a lot of private conversations, sharing regrets we have had in our past, things that we wish we could change, and talking about how -- >> how to grow. >> for you, your spiritual mentors, my spiritual mentors, how they have talked us through times and terrible mistakes that i made in the past, and it just makes such a big difference that it kind of helps too, you know, rev, i'm always very careful, and i'm sure you're the same way too when i see some republicans that are saying things or even democrats that are saying things that sound really harsh, i sit there and i flinch because as

i -- by the grace of god, go i, and in fact, there went i back, you know, 25, 30 years ago. and part of it is just a process of growing, learning from your mistakes. >> and you have to own your mistakes because your intention was always right. it's the way you approached it was wrong. i have the same intention i had when i started in civil rights at 12. it's just that you get swayed. and i had a mentor that told me something that guided me very very closely on this. it said, you know, being out in public and being a public figure and being an activist is like playing football, hatch the stadium is going to cheer you, the other half is going to jeer you. your job is to get the ball across the goal line, even if they're tackling you, knocking your legs from under you, on your back, your job is to get the ball across the goal line. don't get intoxicated by the cheers or get into a bad mood

about the jeers. if you score, they will have to live with the score, but so will you. i'm about scoring the last 30 years. i'm about scoring. >> and i've got to say, we've talked about our friendship, i've seen your friendship with jonathan greenblatt, people have accused you of being anti-semitic throughout your life. i've seen you forcefully speaking out against anti-semitism. i've seen you use your show, "politics nation" to speak out forcefully with jonathan greenblatt and others against anti-semitism. you and i have found out through the years, it's a lot easier getting to that end zone if you're not just having three or four people blocking with you. >> that's right. bring the other people in. >> and you can't fight for the rights of your community without fighting for the rights of everybody, and not just do it

strategically, do it because you mean it, otherwise you're only a reflection of the forces you're fighting. >> with all of this more movement on the civil rights movement and this moment from the march on washington in 1963. >> be patient and wait. if we do not get meaningful legislation out of this congress, we'll march through the streets of jackson, through the streets of danville, through the streets of birmingham. [ applause ] but we will march with the spirit of love and with the spirit of dignity that we have drawn here today. >> that was future congressman john lewis calling for good trouble, but good trouble was more than just a phrase. it was a strategy. joining us now, best selling author and pulitzer prize winning journalist, tom ricks.

this morning, we begin a week long residency for his new book entitled "waging a good war, a military history of the civil rights movement, 1954 to 1968 ". >> and let me say, tom is also growing. the last time we had him here for a residency, his wife was making him stay up in the attic to talk to us. >> that's right. >> now we got him out. we got him out in a studio in washington. >> congratulations on the book. >> obviously i loved your last book. this one is fantastic. so excited about it. talk about your inspiration for writing it. >> well, thank you for having me on. it's actually great to be released into the world again. and i got to say this book fits right into the themes you've been talking about this morning. nonviolent social change, a real contrast to both donald trump's remarks and to vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine.

that said, the civil rights movement from the get-go, was quite militant, quite focused in its approach, organized, deeply committed to preparation, the thoughtful training to rehearsals, and extremely good strategy. in fact, i think the civil rights movement probably was better at strategy, making strategy and implementing it than the u.s. military is. but you mentioned my wife, hats off here, the inspiration for this in many ways was my wife who was president of high school friends of snick in washington, d.c. in the 1960s, among other things, picked up john lewis when he came to the train station in washington. and demanded to be taken to mcdonald's. she drove him off to mcdonald's. i was kind of all my life i have been hearing from her, all our married life, you know, we'd be riding in the car, listening to npr, and she said, oh, i dated

that guy once or i knew that person or, boy i thought that guy went crazy. he seems to be okay now, and i was reading the histories of the civil rights movement kind of understanding some of the people she knew, the people she had worked with, and it struck me, boy, these people went through a war in the united states and they succeeded because of this military-like organization they had. >> in the book you discuss the training programs that civil rights activists went through, organized by the dr. martin luther king jr., and you write this "king's organization, the southern christian leadership conference established a school in dorchester, georgia, for recruiting and training. these recruits were invited to the school for week-long courses where they learned to hold a meeting, make a long distance phone call or to talk to a hostile white sheriff. then they went back to their communities to make what the movement called good trouble. once the basic principles had

been imparted, the volunteers would begin to practice. in the evening sessions they sat at long tables pretending they were at lunch counters while other students played the role of harassing whites. c.t. vivian who became a close associate of king recalled that we actually poured coffee on people and kicked chairs out from under them. students learned how to take the blows, not just physically, but mentally so they could endure being spit on and still respond with some sense of dignity. reverend al, that was the balance. such a difficult balance that you were talking about. >> you know, wyatt t. walker who died a couple of years ago was the first chairman of the board when i started national action network, and he would tell me about these sessions, me coming out of the north, i didn't know any of it, and i was a generation behind them, and he

said, no, we practiced being spat at. we practiced having coffee poured on us. we practiced how we would deal with hostility because we had to be the moral counter point to that and, tom, i think you could tell more than i could how this was almost like going to boot camp and they would discipline them if you got out of line, which is william was the one who gave me the medallion everybody teases me about. i used to wear that, because i thought i was a soldier in the army after they gave me those stories. they took it very seriously like they were going into the armed forces, they were going into, for lack of a better term, disarmed forces to disarm racism in america. >> they had a sense of discipline and dignity. what i love is in the training they got, you know, they were trained in sit-ins not to respond, not even to turn and look at the person, but also to control the impulse to fight or flee and to do neither.

they were specifically trained if somebody spat in your face, ask them for a hanker chief, and sometimes what would happen is a person would reach and then say, hell no, but for one moment, they had reached and touched the human being attacking them. being attacking them. and more you could do, that the hour have the discipline to stay on message and reach out, the better off you were. ultimately, the better off they were. one thing i liked about the birmingham campaign, at the end of the birmingham campaign after king and fred shuttles were, had won integration in downtown restaurants. they would call ahead and say, look, we're going to have people coming for lunch tomorrow. what time is convenient for you. it does a couple of things, first, it informs them in in a polite way, we're coming but also it trains the white opposition. the last form of train was

actually train your former enemy how to live with you in an integrated world. >> the new book is titled "wages a good war ii a military history of the civil rights movement from 1954 to 1968." tom ricks, thank you we'll have more throughout the week on the book. we appreciate it. still ahead, president biden heads to puerto rico as the island struggles from hurricane fiona two weeks later. that come as the death toll from hurricane ian rises to 87. we'll have live reports from people from florida and puerto rico. plus, the reaction from inside the white house from republican congressional candidates talking about impeaching president biden if they retake control of the congress. we'll have that surprising new reporting. or is it? and just over two hour, the new term of the supreme court will kick off.

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let's bring in nbc sports soccer analyst and co-host of "men in blazers." roger bennett. with his new book -- now that soccer comes on next week. let's begin by talking about your sweater. >> he's an emoji. >> what's with your sweater? >> it's an emoji. >> as much as possible, i wear my heart on my sleeve for you, mika. >> that's very moving. >> unfortunate. >> no, it's not unfortunate, let me tell you something, if you're a liverpool fan, you need all the goodwill you have these

days. roger, i had to say at the beginning of the campaign nobody would guess this early coming in arsenal would have twice the points that liverpool has put up there. it's been an astounding thus far. >> it's been an astounding year. premier league is back. it's back. 190 second. north london derby. look at them. out of the dreams, out of touch, and off to the winner. this is like jay paul and logan getting in together. clinched fists. thomas bike wolf blitzer in "the situation room." the game would be tied. in the previous, a pileup in its

finest hour during the battle of britain. but this would be be arsenal's day. the goalkeeper hugo lorede, and the ball is spiked. >> you never want to go a little liz truss. >> take it from me, i love a little liz truss in the life. and premier league, top of the league, we will go to manchester for the manchester derby. manchester city, two other two clubs of this size and wealth, manchester city is from abu dhabi. and manchester is from tampa bay. this is a deep penetration. look away. manchester city, through to this game, the norwegian terminator

early. harlon scoring his third. and he looks like a viking falling in battle. second goal. the federal trade commission if you're watching "morning joe," get involved. break up this team on account of antitrust laws. haaland, the scoring in the way that the ncaa banned duncan for about ten years. he's going to break roger maris' home run record, i believe. 68 goals on pace for the season. one final game, chelsea, first game, coming back, 90th minute. set up to strike. from crystal palace, couldn't assess the way the american set him up. and todd bowling going to be the next closer.

this is on the ball, hershey, pennsylvania's finest, couldn't miss. >> nice. >> sorry about liverpool. doesn't get a mention anymore. >> no, no, the thing is, they're obviously still exhausted from last year. it happens. it happens. let me ask you though, roger, you showed the hershey favorite resident. and i'm reading one account after another, about how poorly the u.s. team is doing, heading into the world cup. are we doomed for more sadness, more failure? >> you know, i have no aspirations if a u.s. men would be half as good as our u.s. women, i will be satisfied is the honest truth. we have a very young team of almost baby eagles. they're loaded with potential. and the world cup in qatar which is insane in its own right is that to remain hopeful, america, remain optimistic.

they're playing november 25th. so they will win at least one game. >> all right. before he starts completely making sense. let's wrap the host of "men in blazers." roger bennett. thank you very much. his new book "gods of soccer" comes out next week. we'll be talking about that. >> and he's going to be struggling through a series of liz truss moments. >> lovely. as we hit the top of the hour, the other football, the players association has fired the doctor who evaluated miami dolphins' quarterback tua tagovailoa -- did i say it right -- tua's head bounced off the turf during a game against the bills on september 25th. when he got to his feet, he was wobbling and stumbling before being helped by the teammates and doctor unknown as fellow trauma consultant clears him for

the rest of that game. the dolphins would go to say he aggravated a lower back injury last thursday just four days after that game. tua again hit his head hard on the turf and had to be taken off on a stretcher. according to the "the new york times" the union's move to dismiss the neurologist may amount to a team action. because team doctors not the unaffiliated neurologists make the final determinations as to whether players sustained concussions and more they can return the to the game. the players association is investigating how tua was left back on the field friday clearing him to play including club personnel and the consultant who was fired. >> you know, we were watching this again, we were watching the dolphins, jonathan lemire, when tua went down, jack and i were

watching and he stumbled off the field. both of us were like, man, that was ugly. i went out of the room for a minute, when i came back in, jack said tua just threw a touchdown. i said, what's tua doing back on the field? he looked like he was knocked out in a heavyweight fight. they let him again in on tuesday and plays a couple days off. it seems extraordinarily -- even if the dolphins are looking at it for their own selfish interests. >> yeah, for their own selfish interests, and the clip of the original hit, against the bills, after he hit his head on the turf. he got up, he was clearly trying to compose himself. he was rubbing his face. he stumbled. he fell to a knee, it was very clear he was confused and concussed.

and it defied explanation some the moment. and it was realtime guess, wait a minute, the dolphins said he had a back injury. there was no back injury on that play. he hit his head. then to come back on the field and play again and a short week and play again, and unfortunate ly suffered that there. that is the most real dangerous thing that can happen, head trauma, cte deeply concerning in the nfl. said they're going to put rules in place. we saw a lot of players come out over concussion. i worry about tua and his sport right now. >> i do, too. another player on the field just days after his own health scare, arizona cardinals defensive end, j.j. watt said he went through atrial defibrillation on wednesday and had to have his heart shocked back. the condition known as a-fib,en

irregular and often heart rhythm that can lead to blood clots. watt was told by reporters he was cleared by doctors to play. he didn't want to leave his team down. he had an extraordinary day yesterday, knocking away one pass after another in the cardinals win. but, again, the guy's got a heart condition and he's throwing on the field a couple days later. i'm telling you, the nfl -- man -- >> i don't know, i'm sorry. >> -- they got to be careful. >> as we said last week, it's part of our economy, part of our culture, our education system, i get it, it's such a huge part of american life, football. it's also a very dangerous sport. >> by the way, it's doing better now than it's ever done. making more money. the teams are worth more than they've ever been worth in the past. they told us several controversies to the black lives matter movement. and even before that.

and a lot of people said i'm never going to watch the nfl again. well, that lasted about half a season, viewership is up. advertising rates are up. the values again are exploding right now. even teams that lose. so, they need to be very careful. they're doing extraordinarily well now, they have to protect their players better than they're doing because they're running faster, they're lifting more. they're more strong -- stronger than they've ever been. >> slam into each other. >> and they slam into each other. as willie brings up, there are a lot of neurologists that say just a running back getting hit by a linebacker has the impact of a car accident. >> yeah. >> and it keeps going. and you look at an overwhelming number of nfl players have brain damage. >> who wants their kids to go into football. >> it was my life growing up, my family's life growing up, it's how we spent friday nights, i

played it, i coached high school football for a couple years. i absolutely love the sport. but it's gotten so dangerous. the nfl really has to do a better job than what they've been doing over the past couple weeks. let's get to the top head headlines this morning, it is the first monday in october, that mean a new start of a term for the supreme court. the justices will get back to work after blockbuster opinions in the last term that included overturning the constitutional right to abortion. this morning, there's a new justice on the bench and new consequential cases. let's go live to nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell, outside the supreme court. kelly, tell us about the major cases the court is taking up this term. >> reporter: well, good to be with you this morning. of course the court has a new look with justice ketanji brown jackson. she is the first black woman ever to serve on the board but it's also the first time four women are serving together on

the high court. and the work that begins today will be consequential in its own way after what was that blockbuster term that concluded in june. so some of the things they'll be dealing with will be issues important in american life. they'll be dealing with affirmative action. will race be an issue in college admissions. they'll look at cases involving harvard and university of north carolina. they'll look at vote rights by taking a closer look at the electoral map in alabama. and whether changes made there have weakened the effectiveness of black voters. has it diluted their power at the ballot box. so that's an important case, voting rights. they'll look at a case of a colorado web designer who says while she wants to provide services to gay americans when it comes to weddings, she wants to only work for heterosexual couples and does not want to provide services for gay weddings and is citing not religious ideas, but free

speech. so that's one of the cases they'll be dealing with. today, the first case they'll hear is in the environmental realm with a case of sackett versus the epa. this will deal with the clean water act. and questions about can there be fewer restrictions on what qualifies as clean water. so, it gives you a sense how these are things that cover all different parts of american life. there are a lot of people, members of the public, who have lined up here in front of the supreme court, to try to get a chance for a seat inside the courtroom today. there will be limited seating. fewer seats than we typically have, the court had. very strict covid rules during the last term. the court will be open but with more limited seating as it gets under way today. and this is, of course, the first day for this new court, but what hasn't changed is now the court is balanced. still a super majority for conservatives, six of them, three liberals so ketanji brown

jackson's arrival here doesn't change that balance, joe, mika. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell thank you very much for kicking that off for us, we appreciate it. let's bring in former u.s. attorney and former deputy assistant attorney general harry litman. other issues they're looking at starting off the term, elections and voting rights, what are the cases, harry? >> look, kelly named the big four in addition to the one which you just cited which has to do with the power of state legislature, of course, overwhelming republican. here's the point, the hyper conservative majority as kelly put it not only decides cases, they set the agenda. but everyone thinks in each and every one of these cases it's basically a foregone conclusion and when you add it all up it's another juggernaut year where the court lurches very far and fast to the right. and that's created a kind of crisis of legitimacy, because it comes in the wake of the kind of

brass knuckle politics that constituted this new court. but that majority seems very poised to have another blockbuster term. that moves the law, and the country, in -- in hot button area after hot button area. >> and, harry, for those concerned about democracy, american democracy, and concerned about elections, we've been hearing for quite sometime, the case out of north carolina that will actually stop state courts from reviewing measures that state legislatures may pass. it could be unconstitutional. >> reporter: yeah, so this is kind of remarkable, joe. i'll try to get it right. there's the word "legislatures" in the federal constitution. and it looks as if three justices and maybe more are ready to say because that word is in there state legislatures

that normally, of course, defer to state courts about what state law says, as a matter of federal law, they have the final word. and if you go through the state legislatures in this country, they are predominantly red. and if that doctrine is enacted, it could have seismic pivotal impact for the election in 2024. >> it's also would be un-american, if you have legislatures that can pass, harry, that can pass whatever they want to pass. and they aren't subject to any checks or balances by a court system, even, whether it's a state court system, or beyond. that's just -- that's un-american. and goes against 245 years of precedent. >> yeah. i mean, the word -- you know, listeners, listen up, independent state legislature doctrine. no one had heard of it two years ago. it might be the new watch word. and you're exactly right. it would mean that the federal

courts decide that state legislatures, not state courts, are in control. it's a really cockamamy system. >> former attorney general assistant harry litman, thank you for joining for context. hurricane ian left 87 dead and number expected to climb. president biden and first lady dr. jill biden are expected to visit on tuesday. morgan chesky has more on the state's recovery effort. >> reporter: rescue teams scouring the florida coast, searching for survivors, four days after ian's fury. >> we're here. >> reporter: the coast guard, florida national guard and local

agencies teaming up to rescue 2,000 people and 150 pets so far. on islands cut off from the mainland, the situation is especially dire. one man scrolling "help" into the sand. >> hello! >> reporter: another from his boat, trapped in trees. on the tarmac on punta gorda, we met coast guard admiral there. >> we're now day four posting in and there are still people left stranded here? >> yes, that's right, morgan. that's why the first priority is search and rescue. these aren't strangers to us. we work and live in these communities. >> reporter: nearby, search risk, searching buildings teetering on collapse. nbc news dasha burns joined a team on the ground. >> search and rescue team has brought in a human remains

canine. >> reporter: crews restoring power to 500,000 people until 24 hours. more than 700,000 remain without. in central florida inundated with floods water is finally starting to recede. a hopefully glimpse of normalcy in tampa, with a rematch of super bowl lv. both wearing jerseys for hurricane ian relief. just one of the communities left facing a tough road to recovery. >> nbc's morgan chessky with that report. eugene daniels joins us from the white house. eugene, tell us more about the president's plan and the hopes to bring relief to hard-hit areas. >> reporter: that's right, president biden and the first lady are going to go to florida on wednesday. that will be his second trip to

a place that's been ravaged by a hurricane. today, actually, he's going to puerto rico with the first lady and fema administrator. and $60 million in funding through the bipartisan infrastructure act. that money is going to go to shore up levees, strengthen flood walls for a place like puerto rico that has had to deal with such a lack of infrastructure over the years and it's been overshadowed by ian in florida because you have more than 100,000 people without power on the i'd in puerto rico. and, you know, this is kind of the week that the white house has never wanted to do, having to go out and seeing the flooding, immense blooding and damage that happens in both puerto rico and florida. also, we talked to folks in the white house, they know it's possible this is going to continue to get worse because we're seeing the effects and impacts of climate change. making these hurricanes, tornado, whatever they might be,

much worse. and, therefore, the effect a lot worse. and the hope is that the funding that the white house has opened, after allowing declarations of disaster, in both of these places, to -- when we start building to build in different ways so this doesn't happen the way that it has recently. >> hey, eugene, it's jonathan, we were talking earlier in the show about how likely, even democrats in the white house believe that republicans could take the house of representatives. and if they do until november that will arm them with the power of the subpoena. and you sand a tick alarm handsome co-worker of yours wrote a piece today noting how the white house is preparing for that and that it wouldn't necessarily be the end the world. they believe that voters ahead of 2024 could think that the republicans are overreaching. tell us a little more about how the white house is preparing and how they plan out. >> reporter: yes, very handsome,

jonathan lemire, and our team got together, republicans are talking about investigating president biden, his administration and even his family if they are to take over the house. republicans -- you know, what's happening in the white house, what's happening in biden world, how are they feeling. and what we found was they're not as taken as you would think. you know, no one wants the probes. no one is excited about getting the subpoena. but at the same time, they feel like there's a really strong possibility that republicans will overreach because of how long the list of the investigations that they are interested in doing. they go from the president's and hunter biden business dealings, covid and afghanistan pullout. a look at the doj, all types of things what democrats are saying this is slowing spaghetti at the wall and that voters in key

voting blocs are going to see it for what it is. they pointed to the same thing happening to bill clinton where there were all of these investigations, even the impeachment. so what you end up going is blowback, you see people looking at it and saying, oh, the republicans overreached here. they know that they're going to be able to paint the republicans and to konta line of talk and into 2024, that it may help president biden if he does intend to run. >> eugene daniels, thank you very much. what do you think, joe? >> i couldn't agree more. i haven't really thought about it that much, looking forward to republicans getting in there and impeaching joe biden. they talked about it. we had just said earlier in the show, there are only two examples of the party out of power blowing it. and midterm elections. one was after september 11th, where republicans did much, much

better than anybody expected, beat all the historical trends. the other, though, when i was there in 1998, during impeachment, republicans were sure they going to do extraordinarily well. it blew up politically in their face. and democrats and bill clinton did much better. we expected this to push bill clinton to the side of the end. it cost newt gingrich his job. so, impeachment, for the most part, makes the party base feel great. it is a political loser. >> careful what you wish for. >> yeah. with less than 40 days to go before the midterm elections. a new survey, a recent poll by yahoo! news and ugov shows less than 46%, believes americans

should accept in advance the results. and 44%, should concede. 38% of trump voters say candidates with fewer votes should continue to challenge the results. >> let's bring in white house political strategist and pollster frank lutz. frank, good to see you again. what's your takeaway from the numbers? >> scary as hell. here at the conservative conference, trying to say to them, be very careful what you wish for. careful of what complain you today, you could end up like the u.s. when you lose faith and trust in elections itself, you've lost your democracy. we're sitting so close to the edge. i'm sitting in a college with students from college and have to explain to them this isn't how democracy is supposed to work. you accept the loss and move on.

it's so toxic. we don't want what's happening in the u.s. to happen here in the uk. that could be a tragedy. >> you know, thank you, i think about times that were close races and people that were tough partisan fighters said enough is enough. 1960, the nixon campaign was sure and a lot of neutral observers were sure, there were some really bad dealings going on in illinois. and they needed democrats through the mob had rigged the election. a lot of people went to nixon and said, you got to keep challenging the election. nixon said, no, the election is over. then you fast forward 40 years, al gore. al gore, of course had every reason to be concerned and to be quite bitter about a supreme court decision that broke against him based on what party had appointed justices to the supreme court. i think one of al gore's

greatest moments was after that decision came out, said, okay, no, he told advisers, i'm not going to fight this anymore. the court has the final word. he went out, i think he gave the most eloquent speech of his career. it looks like we lost frank. >> we lost frank. >> yeah, but we'll get frank back. >> that was such an important moment looking back, you realized how important it was. >> it really was. there was so much, al gore came in, partisan, and i had extraordinary respect for this man because it was clear, he loved his country more than he loved power. >> and he did it with a lot of people in the democratic party, including me, that didn't want him to do it at that time. but he showed the kind of majority and the kind of really care about the country more than he did his own political career. clearly, he had more reason to

fight than what donald trump and others are trying to perpetrate now. and i think that's the kind of statesmanship that you're missing from the right at this time. and that we have to resist from extremists on the left. because at the end of the day, you can win a battle, but you'll lose the war. and i think gore said, no, we're not going to fight this battle. and i think history replicated it. >> yeah, that is for sure. >> we're still trying to get frank back. >> yeah. >> jonathan lemire, of course, you look at these numbers. and you still have the majority of americans saying at the end, once all the votes are counted, the one with the most votes wins. and that should be the case. but the margin is far narrower than we would have ever seen before donald trump. >> yeah. there's no question he accelerated this process. this is his doing, a campaign that i chart out in my book,

that began in 2016, and all the way. didn't end on january 6th either to undermine america's faith in their electoral system. he's still doing it to this day. we're impeded by republicans and led to doubts in both parties who wonder can they trust that the election will be conducted failure. can they trust if a big lie candidate becomes secretary of state will he or she certify the rightful winner if 2024. these are big questions facing our democracy, we have not had leaders speak out and denounce this effort. >> i think we've got frank back. frank, comment on the contrast between nixon in '60 and gore in 2000 and where we are now? >> actually, i believe what happened with gore in 2000 was the start of all of this. there were about one-third of the democrats who believed that george w. bush was not their president and he was not elected

despite the results in florida. the fact that one-third and some democratic leaders actually say this election is a fraud. the difference is that nixon accepted the results and brought people together. the results were not accepted in 2000. we've been going back and forth. i beg you all, don't turn this into a partisan issue. republicans keep saying that there's election fraud. there's tiny, tiny evidence and nothing substantial about election fraud across the country. it's the same thing with voter suppression. when people can vote day after day after day before the elections, they can vote on weekends, they were vote by mail. they can vote absentee, every time we challenge this with partisanship it destroys that faith and trust. and i beg my students don't do this because you're not going to like the outcome if you do. >> political strategist and

pollster frank luntz, thank you for being with us. still ahead on "morning joe," in about 90 minutes, president biden will leave the house to tour storm-ravaged puerto rico where two weeks after hurricane fiona, more than 100,000 remain without electric. and plus, ukraine gains as vladimir putin announced large portions taken. and russian propaganda? >> it was russian propaganda, accusing ukrainians of occupying their own land. . >> while show you what cpac was forced to bring down. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. menu! 12 irresistible subs... like #4 supreme meats.

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the conservative political action conference cpac has delighted and backtracked on a tweet from friday that had adopted kremlin propaganda. the tweet which was deleted three hours later read in part, quote, vladimir putin announces the annexation of four ukrainian-occupied territories. biden and the dems continue to send ukraine billions of taxpayer dollars. meanwhile, we are under attack at our southern border. when will democrats put #america first and give an -- and end the gift giving to ukraine. the tweet shows a russian flag with the annexations of russia as official.

and an accompanying list of the territories. cpac tweeted on saturday evening there was a delay in deleting the, quote, unapproved tweet, because of time difference because the organization is currently hosting in australia and the post had belittled the plight of the innocent ukrainian people. >> you think? i'm curious, you've spent your entire time spreading united states of america. supporting nato, supporting whether you're talking john kennedy or ronald reagan, supporting past presidents. past americans. the belief that russian aggression must always be met with strength. and here event cpac, i've talked about it for some time, this was, believe it or not, not shocking to many of us, fortunately, because whether the strong man is trump orban who

brags about pushing liberal democracy to the side or putin there has been this bizarre fixation with the trump far right. and we see it here. and i'm just curious, as someone who has fought for freedom, fought for western democracy, fought against russian expansion your entire life, i'll just ask, how does this tweet -- how does this movement on the far right hit you as a patriot? >> it's a colossal mistake for anybody to lean against freedom, democracy, courage. the stamina, the true grit of the ukrainians. it's just been remarkable to watch what they have achieved, when the odds were stacked against them eight months ago at

the beginning of this conflict. they are literally on the front lines of freedom here. and when they look over their shoulders they're defending the values that we hold dearest. and so, i am perplexed that any organization could stand up and be critical of this incredible show of courage and this display of doing the right thing. which is what we see the ukrainians doing. here's a shred of goodness in it, if you will. i do think there remains, despite this kind of far right criticism that is admittedly bubbling, there's still a great deal of bipartisan support that goes across the political divide. this is one of those issues where we absolutely must stand together as a nation. because i'll close with this, joe, russia is watching. the kremlin is watching.

our allies are watching. and when they see divisions here, the likelihood of them continuing to stand and support this valiant and worthy effort diminishes. so it hurts my heart to see that kind of tweet come out and imply a division that i don't think is truly there. coming up, one thing you're not hearing from republican candidates this cycle, a push to repeal obamacare. in fact, the affordable care act appears safer than ever. so what is the gop saying about that? that's straight ahead on "morning joe."

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puerto rico today to visit those impacted by hurricane fiona which hit weeks before ian and left at least 25 people dead. the president is expected to announce more than $60 million in funding for the island to strengthen flood walls and create a new flood warning system. we'll take a look now at the headlines across the country in the morning papers. the hartford courier, a second week on defamation trial in cry cry. trying to limit the damages he will have to pay for promoting the lie that the 2012 sandy hook shooting was a hoax. we'll be following that. "the charlotte observer" reports the number of people dying by suicide in north carolina prisons has reached a historic high. since january 1, nine inmates

have ended their life, one a month. and staff shortages inside the prisons largely to blame. and the front page of the newspaper in south carolina covers a trial getting under way today over the state's new congressional map. the map was approved by the general assembly in january. lawyers for the south carolina chapter of the naacp argue the congressional map discriminates against black voters and must be redrawn. and in rhode island, the "westerly sun" is looking at a new program that aims to reduce food waste. the rhode island recycling fund is a program looking to recover hundreds of pounds of foods from cafeteria lunches. 1 in 4 families of children in rhode island are food insecure, hungry. coming up, microchips, they power everything from cars to

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in the city of malang, indonesia, at least 125 people are confirmed dead that includes children, after a panic to the exit after police reportedly deployed tear gas in an attempt to stop violence before the game. video here captures the moments before the crush before crowds run out on to the pitch, and th them away. the associated press reporting the crowd flooded the field when their team lost. and riot police responded by

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trump said, quote, he has a death wish for supporting democratic-sponsored bills and also mocked mcconnell's wife and his own former transportation secretary elaine chao as quite china loving. he defended gop leadership. are you okay with this?

>> i can never respond to why somebody else said what they said. as you know, the president likes to give people nicknames. you can ask him how he comes up with it. i'm sure he has one for me. i don't condone violence and i hope no one else does. >> nicknames are one thing, bub -- but this appears racist. is that okay? >> it's never, ever okay to be a racist. it's -- you know, look, i think you have to be careful, you know, if you're in the public eye, how you say things. >> senator rick scott, the chair of the republican senate campaign committee, when asked about former president trump's recent social media post about minority leader mitch mcconnell and his wife, elaine chao. it is rhetoric. the conservative editor board of the "wall street journal" said was ugly even by trump's standards and deserves to be condemned.

joining us now one of the top christian writers of the past 45 years, best-selling christian author, phillip biancy. his books have sold an estimated 17 million copies and translated into dozens of languages. his latest is "where the light fell," in which he recounts from being a self-described born and bred racist so one of the most popular authors and speakers in america. and he writes in part, "so many of the strands from my childhood, racial hostility, political division, culture wars have resurfaced in modern form. looking back points me forward." good to have you on the show this morning. >> phil, thanks so much. as a southern baptist, grew up southern baptist, in georgia, meridian, mississippi, pensacola, florida, these were very conservative evangelical

churches. i must say that what i was taught when we went to church and trading union and bible study and wednesday night dinner, you know, four times a week, those about the beyacht todays, the good samaritan, matthew 25, 31-46, it was not about what we're hearing today. what's happened to -- let me just say evangelicals? i won't say the church -- evangelicals when i read some of these surveys and i don't even recognize my friends sometimes on some of these issues that i've grown up with? >> well, you went to a healthy church. my church pulled out of the southern baptist convention. they were too liberal. we were taught racist straight from the pulpit. i had some major conversion to take place. but i think what happened is the word evangelical went from being a theological word, a religious

word, to a political word. i don't know if you're old enough to remember, joe, but "time" magazine did a cover story called "the year of the evangelical." wh fs that? 1976 when jimmy carter was elected. democratic president, democratic agenda, but evangelical was what he was teaching in sunday school, what he believed about god to, exactly what you said, jesus servant, matthew 25, caring for justice, caring for the sick, caring for those who are marginalized. you were taught that. i was not, frankly. but that's what evangelical means. in many parts of the world still, if you ask somebody in india, for example, what's an evangelical, well, i don't know, but they do a lot of the health care in our country and care for people with leprosy. about half of the health care in sub-saharan africa is run by mission agencies, evangelicals. that's what we used to be known

for. then like everything else in america, it got slammed into this political binary, you're either for us or against us. it's a great tragedy, i think. >> and what's so surprising to me is that the issues that are identified that can be worthy issues, but some of the issues that are identified are not in any of the red letters of the gospels of jesus christ. and there's a hyperfocus on issues that have been deliberately used to politicize the church. and what you just said, it's such an incredible insight that i wish you could expand on a little bit. you go across the globe, being an evangelical means doing what jesus says we'll be judged by in matthew 25, 31-46. i still see that here. you know, during hurricane katrina, when i was complaining every day about how the government wasn't being there,

there was one evangelical group after another after another in louisiana, in mississippi delivering the things the government wasn't. so, again, what's happened? how have we turned from this good samaritan movement to a movement where everything is warped for politics? >> well, you're absolutely right about choosing a few issues and making those kind of the hallmarks, abortion and the gay issues right at the top. interestingly, jesus never mentioned either one of thos issues even though they existed in this day in the roman empire. it is strange that a movement gets known in the media for two issues jesus never even mentioned. i think what's happened, joe, is that people started looking at evangelicals and those people in the country who think there's something wrong, we're going the wrong direction, look at television, look at cable tv,

it's a profane culture now, what happened here? we need to get our country back. those kind of people kind of adopted the name, the label evangelical and surveys show many of them can't even name two out of the four gospels. it became a political marker and it shouldn't be a political marker. it should be exactly what you described. people who are actually out there doing the work that jesus assigned to us. it is happening. i am leaving, for example, this week. i'm going to ireland, northern ireland, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of prison fellowship. it's an organization that was founded by chuck colson, who had a dramatic conversion when he was in prison, and he went out, and all over the world there are volunteer who is in many countries they don't feed their prisoners, they rely on volunteers and family. and places like brian stevenson's museums in montgomery and the international justice mission run by gary

hogan, these are great evangelical organizations run by evangelicals. but they don't get a lot of press. these days it's the political lens that we see everything through, and that's a real shame. >> reverend al is with us and has a question. rev. >> philip, thank you, first of all, for your witness. let me ask you, because we talked earlier about my own growth in this -- never racist, anti-semitic but would say things i shouldn't say playing to the crowd. mrs. coretta scott king said wait a minute, you can't be both and admonished me to not use language including the "n" word. do you think that evangelical leaders and christian leaders should be openly denouncing those that are using violent language and vile things? it's not enough not to participate in them. i'm