some others, like senator susan collins, have sort of said, democrats have been trying to push her out for a long time i'm not going to be a part of that there are differing views, but the unified view is that, unless she steps down, they're not going to move forward with what would be an unprecedented move of replacing her while she's still serving. >> alexi, real quick, has the senator's office suggested when she might be able to return? >> you know, they say that in a couple of weeks, they're hoping she could be back to work, but, obviously, as we know, shingles takes a huge toll on people. the senator is over 80 years old. it remains to be seen, especially as folks like senator mcconnell, senator fetterman have come back from their absences due to medical reasons, different, of course there are a lot of questions about whether she can come back, and sometimes her own team doesn't even know. >> she has said, though, she will not be seeking re-election next year. >> right. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. thanks to all of you for getting up "with a ay too earlyh

us on this tuesday morning "morning joe" starts right now. the sorros-funded district attorney put criminals first and victims last. >> that is exactly what you get with the soros-ization. >> it's funded by george soros. >> who is funding these district attorneys? george soros >> the republican-led house judiciary committee took their grievances to new york city yesterday for a partisan hearing against the district attorney who is prosecuting donald trump. meanwhile, house speaker kevin mccarthy was on wall street touting a plan for the debt ceiling, but his proposal had very few specific detail and on capitol hill, most republican senators are coming out against an effort to temporarily replace dianne feinstein on the judiciary committee. we'll show you what they had to say about the ailing california democrat plus, ron desantis continues

his fight with disney. floating some potential developments near the park, including a prison also ahead, we'll get the latest from eastern europe as russian president vladimir putin appears to make a defiant visit near the front lines in ukraine. good morning welcome to "morning joe. tuesday, april 18th. joe askis making his way back f reporting overseas with willie and me, we have jonathan lemire. i mean, he is always here, but yeah, okay. >> part of the set. >> he hangs out. we don't know why but he sits down right here. >> oh, wow >> welcome back, buddy. >> hey, thanks. >> little hazing is always good for ya member of "the new york times" editorial board, mara gaye is with us. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay. and pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post," eugen

robinson is with us. wow, we have a lot to talk about today, including this field hearing, willie, which, wow, i mean, they were really out to make a point i don't know wasting a lot of time and money. >> yeah, you have congressmen and women from ohio and georgia and other places suddenly deeply concerned about crime in new york city, when it happens that the district attorney is taking on their guy, donald trump congress is back in session yesterday after a two-week recess instead of being up on capitol hill, the republican-led house judiciary committee took its work on the road for a field hearing, as they're calling it, in new york city they look to discredit the district attorney prosecuting president trump by blaming him for a post-pandemic spike in crime. this as data shows a decrease in crime since alvin bragg took office last year in the hearing, victims of violent crime in manhattan, there were several witnesses personally affected by violence who had varying degrees of

grievance to the democratic party. democrats accuse republicans of using their committee power to defend former president trump. >> for the district attorney, justice isn't pliblind. it's looking for opportunities to advance a radical political agenda. >> it is shameful that the republicans of this committee would use the pretext of violent crime as an excuse to play tourist in new york and bully the district attorney. >> mr. bragg, i hope you're watching i hope you're watching today, sir. you're a disgrace. you're a danger to this country. >> this isn't governance it's not working for the american people. it's grandstanding it's a stunt, just look at all the cameras here. >> this, unfortunately, is what we get in joe biden's america and alvin bragg's new york city. >> the republican witnesses who have used their time to criticize district attorney bragg have served as props in a maga broadway production

>> i'll just ask, was it former president trump that killed your son? >> no. >> you try to get trump out. you couldn't get him out let's face reality, you tried. the dossier was a fake. >> the purpose of this hearing is to cover up for what they know to be an inappropriate investigation. now, i look forward, many of you are -- >> can i respond >> not right now because i only have 20 seconds. i'm sorry. >> don't insult my intelligence. >> hang on, the gentleman's time -- >> i'm not. >> you're trying to insult me like i'm not aware of what is going on. >> thank you. >> okay. >> i'm fully aware of what is going on here. >> sustain gentleman gets another 15 seconds. >> thank you. >> that's why i walked away from the plantation of the democratic party. >> congressman goldman who you saw there we're going to talk on our show in a moment mara, it went on like that for a long time. i mean, some of these people, most of the people, legitimate

victims of crime in new york city. >> right. >> the idea that on your first day back from this break, to have jim jordan and congressman from california and texas coming here, clearly, transparently, to put a dent into alvin bragg as he prosecutes donald trump >> well, i don't think it was very effective i mean, one of the strange things, there was no photo-op for them they were in new york but could have been in any room, anywhere in the country, in this tiny federal space. that was strange also, it's just disgusting to see lawmakers of any party exploiting the grief of cherry-picked, hand-picked individual victims of crime and their family members for their own political purposes there is something extremely disgusting about that. of course, we know, just like any other population, victims of crime have all kinds of different political views. these were obviously cherry-picked.

of course, you have the hypocrisy because there are places like columbus, ohio, that actually -- where jim jordan is from that have higher rates of crime than new york city. >> that's a great point. when you look at what is happening across the country, i'd love to see a field hearing across america and a national conversation on mass shootings >> right. >> if we really want to talk about crime and what is the leading cause of death in the nation's children, let's have a hearing. but, no, this was all about trump again. jim jordan's addiction, gene robinson, to donald trump and to making sort of -- some sort of show, circus, gesture politically. >> yeah, it was a travesty, a sham, a circus as mara said, it was not particularly effective because it could have been, yeah, a basement committee hearing room on capitol hill for all the visuals we got from it

it was -- it's ridiculous, actually i don't think it had any particular impact on alvin bragg. these stunts, basically, are what this house majority can do, right? i mean, it's not clear, for example, that they can do the responsible thing and raise the debt ceiling, even if they want to, because there's such a tiny majority and they can't agree on a lot of things. but they can agree on bashing alvin bragg and, for some reason, george soros that's their play. that's all they got. >> it's about political priorities here. congress does occasionally take the field trips. they did one to the border because they think immigration is significant, a way to attack the biden administration in new york city, it is an attempt to defend donald trump by going after alvin bragg and also letitia james, who led the civil suit against trump

we have seen, during the course of this, trump relentlessly bashing the prosecutors involved on truth social as this trial begins there this is something where it's about republicans here, mika, to your point, about mass shootings, about the debt ceiling. we finally heard a little from speaker mccarthy about that yesterday. what the republican party is banking on, what they think their voters want to hear is defending donald trump, talking about hunter biden, horror stories that other cable networks can pick up instead of doing the work of the american people, it is, indeed, a political stunt in theater and a waste of taxpayers number. >> two issues right now are boiling over mass shootings being, like, like iepidemic. also, children are afraid to go to school, people are afraid to go to events, and then abortion, which we'll be getting to. we have a lot of examples and even a guest today who will show how these laws and these changes and the overturning of roe is

impacting the health of women across america republican or democrat it is impacting their health by the way, house speaker kevin mccarthy also in new york city he made a visit to wall street yesterday to offer a preview of the gop plan to raise the debt ceiling. mccarthy delivered remarks at the new york stock exchange, saying republicans would vote in the coming weeks on one-year debt ceiling tied to spending cuts he offered a few specifics, not many, and used the speech as an opportunity to criticize president biden, who has re repeatedly ask republicans put out a formal plan. it is also uncloear whether the plan mccarthy pitched would get enough support to pass with the party's slim majority in the house. it would likely be dead on arrival in the senate. the u.s. could hit its debt limit as early as july unless congress acts to raise it. katty kay, your thoughts also, i wonder if kevin

mccarthy's view on this matches his view on this during the trump administration >> yeah, i'm just looking at congress' latest approval ratings. they're down to 18%. what we saw in new york may be part of the reason for that. if they managed -- if they failed to increase the debt ceiling and the country goes into default and thousands of federal workers in the d.c. region anyway lose their paychecks for a period of time, i suspect that'll go even lower than 18% the american people want congress to get things done, and at the moment, they're not getting things done. of course, yeah, there is, on the specific issue of spending, it's fine for republicans when there is a republican president and a republican spending agenda, to have that spending -- the deficit increase, but it's something that comes back, you know, when a democrat is the president. you can see that pattern amongst republicans, that debt becomes an issue when there are

democrats doing the spending i think the bigger issue is that if there is -- if they do fail to raise the debt ceiling and the government shuts down, workers are laid off, and there are enormous financial ramifications for people if the government shuts down, americans don't have huge amounts of savings and they can't get them through the weeks where they don't have pay, you'll see congress' approval rating sink i wouldn't be surprised if they sunk into the mid teens. >> we should remind people, historically, traditionally, raising the debt ceiling hasn't been this high-stakes, 11th hour drama where you try to extract something from the other side. it is too important. not as a political issue, but as one for the entire country's economic circumstances even as recently as the trump administration, kevin mccarthy didn't do this. >> multiple times. >> you raise it and move on. you raise it and move on now, he wants to use this to get some blood out of the stone. >> last time it was oonan issue

when we had a democratic office. one year for obama when trump was in office, it was moved forward. if a deal can't be reached by the summer, and the deadline is shifting but it could be july, it's not just the government shutdown it would be catastrophic to the financial health of the united states, its credit going forward. there would be a market meltdown and it would have global ramifications. republicans want to play chicken with this. the white house, to this point, said, look, we don't want to do a one-year thing let's make a deal t. we've done it in the past. let's do it again. let's have the conversations mccarthy took a step, but it is not a serious proposal, i've heard. there is no meeting scheduled between mccarthy and biden it'll have scary implications for all americans potentially. >> we'll be following this today. a lot of other news to get to in politics, this one, i don't understand i need some explainers here on this florida governor ron desantis is

escalating his political battle against disney walt disney world. isn't that, like, one of their biggest employers in florida. >> the biggest, yeah. >> sort of what they do, tourism, right at a news conference near orlando yesterday, desantis outlined his next moves, vowing to nullify an agreement that allows the amusement park to circumvent his newly appointed state board. desantis then suggested the idea of developing land next to the park, which he says could include a state park, a rival amusement park, or even a state prison he also floated the idea that the board could look into raising it tax rates, a move that would result in more costs for disney the feud started over a year ago after disney came out against florida's parental rights in education bill, which banned classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity in lower grades desantis has since announced

plans to expand the ban to all grade levels, which doesn't require legislative approval we could have a conversation about that or about -- i mean, talk about, like, stepping on a rake getting in a fight with your largest employer. >> it is also just -- it is starting to get a little weird i mean, it feels a little personal >> deeply. >> you know, deeply. you're in a fight, basically, with mickey mouse, and it's, like, why is this happening to you so personally? i mean, it is also strange because, of course, desantis is trying to build his national pro profile. it is an odd way to do that, by attacking disney world, the destination, the desired destination of all children in america. i mean, i don't really see how that helps. >> the issues to why he is attacking them, gene robinson, is very appealing, i think, locally, but i thought ron desantis was working on a presidential campaign. >> well, we thought so

he's not doing a very good job of it, to tell you the truth this is just weird this obsession desantis has with having the last word over disney i mean, you know, disney did a maneuver that caught him flat-footed. he tried to put this board in charge of disney and disney world, and they sort of maneuvered him in advance. he didn't know about it. he's just fuming and steaming. but this says a lot about ron desantis and about, frankly, hi unfitness to even think about being president. can you imagine trying to conduct foreign policy with this sort of grudge match attitude? >> yeah. >> you know, toward our adversaries or allies or anybody who got under his very, very thin skin. this is -- this is, on the one hand, really, really worrisome

about desantis, and it is also, like, really funny it is the state's biggest employer it is the place where every child in america wants to go why are you going to fight mickey mouse it's just stupid >> katty, bob iger, who runs disney, famously said a couple weeks ago, this is an anti-business position he said, we're about to spend, i think, $17 billion in the state over the next few years and hire 13,000 more people all the things that disney does. i mean, joe has talked about this, as a guy from florida, i mean, disney is florida. tourism is florida >> it is. >> universal we can throw in there, as well but disney -- >> absolutely. >> of course, right? america's greatest theme park, without question. >> harry potter. >> yeah, harry potter, go down the list. >> yeah. >> this is beyond bizarre, is it not, to have this icon of your state, this company, this business that brings billions and billions of dollars and tens of thousands of jobs to your

state because your feelings were hurt on a position the company took on one issue, on one bill last year. >> partly, this is about ron desantis i think it is starting to hurt him when you start to see republican donors who had been looking forward to supporting, said they'd been looking forward to supporting a desantis campaign, now saying, hold on a second, some of his positions, whether it's on, you know, drag parades or whether it's on banning books or taking on disney, it's going too far they're now looking at him with a little bit more skepticism it is going to hurt ron desantis personally, potentially, as a presidential candidate i think it says something broader about the direction of the republican party joe has mentioned this you know, is the republican party oddly becoming the anti-business party, which is flipping history on its head. >> exactly. >> it is not just in florida you're seeing them do it in texas, too the texas legislature is starting to enact social, conservative rulings that could have an impact on the way that businesses are able or want to

operate in texas texas is a booming state, but the republican party paradoxically could be about to hold the state back economically, just because businesses don't like the intervention they don't want -- businesses don't expect the republican party to intervene in the way they do business, in the way the republican party of today seems to be doing. >> mika, to further katty's point, it's the book bans, this fight with disney, the restrictive abortion ban this is governor desantis as he is trying to build a national profile, seemingly embracing policies and positions that are in a shrinking portion of the electorate not enough to win nationally at the moment, not enough to win a nomination he is sinking in the polls donors are having second thoughts trump opened his lead. he's also ignored issues in his own backyard historic flooding in ft. lauderdale, never appeared desantis never visited the site. >> amazing the of course, the 11:00 p.m. tweet about six-week abortion ban. i mean, it's just -- it is an

interesting tactic for someone who has a book and has gone to new hampshire and, you know, is seemingly wanting to run for president. again, possibly what it appears to be is a losing proposition, but we shall see. we have so much more to get to still ahead on "morning joe," we'll be joined by congressman dan goldman on the heels of yesterday's house gop field hearing on crime in manhattan. plus, russian president vladimir putin visits troops in an occupied area of ukraine. we'll talk to former ukrainian president petro poroshenko about that and the state of the war. also ahead, dominion voting systems defamation lawsuit against fox news is expected to get under way today. we'll have the latest developments in that case. and we're going to read from gene's latest piece entitled "clarence thomas' explanations fail the laugh test. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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hey, man. you could save hundreds for safe driving with liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance. so you only pay for what you need! whoo! we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ just about 25 past the hour. live look at the capitol a cloudy day in washington the jury trial in dominion's defamation lawsuit against fox news is expected to get under way later today. it was supposed to start yesterday, but the judge delayed it without giving a specific reason two sources tell "the washington post" it was pushed back so both sides could talk about a possible settlement. "the wall street journal," which is owned by fox corporation chairman rupert murdoch, reports

the network made a late push to settle unless there's a last-minute deal, jury selection will resume this morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern, followed by opening statements the trial is expected to last about six weeks. >> we'll be watching that today. meanwhile, george santos, who admitted to fabricating nearly his entire background, is running for re-election. the congressman announced his intention to run on social media yesterday, tweeting in part, this is about taking back our country. >> oh, my god. >> and restoring greatness back to new york. congressman santos currently is under investigation with several law enforcement agencies as well as the house ethics committee. announcing is one thing, winning another, of course santos' campaign had just $25,000 in its account the end of last month, according to a campaign financial report. nbc news reports the campaign raised just $5,000 in the first three months of the year and spent $8,000, all on refunding

contri contributors, past donors. meanwhile, competition for santos already emerged on the democratic side. santos may not even have support from his own party to run. house speaker kevin mccarthy laughed when asked if he'll back the 2024 congressman, saying, quote, we'll wait and see who else files. >> this guy doesn't know how to read a room, i'd say, except, has he had any consequence, received any consequence to his mountain of lies >> not yet, but there are investigations under way the house ethics committee started their hearings that'll go slowly. republicans are in control of that so we shouldn't hold our breath there there are criminal investigations, as well. the fbi and local authorities looking into what he did, misleading donors and campaign finance violations potentially the fact he is running again is remarkable he areferred to himself as j jewish >> running again-ish

all right. gene, your column in the post is entitled "clarence thomas' explanations fail the laugh test." this story is outrageous in it, you write, quote, in 1969, supreme court justice abe fortas resigned after it was learned that he had accepted, then returned, $20,000 from a wall street financier. thomas accepted gifts from you worth many times that amount, even counting for inflation, and failed to report them. and then there was all the money ginni thomas has received from right-wing organizations that lobby on issues before the court. plus her outrageous involvement in the stop the steal putsch that led the january 6th 2021 capitol insurrection thomas doesn't believe in affirmative action or protecting voting rights, though he benefitted from both he does believe in living the good life among millionaires and

billionaires whose interests he just happens to protect in his opinions my mental image of thomas used to be of him sitting on the supreme court bench during arguments, silent and scowling now, i see him on vacation, smoking a cigar with you and his buddies, laughing as though he doesn't have a care in the world. the joke is on us. let's back up a little bit this is a donor. talk about who mr. crow is, and also, why isn't there -- i mean, i know there may be an ethics investigation opened into this, but this seems like perhaps something that could, i don't know, expose the justice to being completely impaired when it comes to being able to make objective decisions. >> well, look, so we're talking about gifts that thomas accepted from harlan crow, who is a texas billionaire. he's actually the son of the

former biggest landlord in the country. it is a real estate empire harlan crow, who has a big collection of hitler memorabilia, but let's not get into that. harlan crow gave clarence thomas and ginni thomas these lavish vacations, including a $500,000 trip to indonesia one year would have cost $500,000 if they'd paid a dime trips on his private jet, on cruising around island to island on a super yacht all expenses paid, plus many other vacations. yearly, they go to some resort he owns. >> and his mother's house. >> right, right. it's incredible. and he never reported this he never reported a penny of these donations. then harlan crow bought his mother's house and fixed it up

as far as we can tell, it has let her live there rent free we're not sure about that. they haven't commented on that, but i take the no comment basically as confirmation. again, so he expects us to take seriously his reading of the tiniest nuances of the constitution and give them great weight and he can't read a simple disclosure form? he can't see the difference between, you know, hospitality, which may be allowed, and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts, including private jet travel it's absurd. it's ridiculous. he's just laughing at us. >> wow. >> and there are no -- there are really no rules, certainly no punishments for ethics at the supreme court. it's also outrageous there's not a code, really

there is a code that covers judges in general, and they've kind of tried to follow it and are supposed to follow it. they didn't follow it. so what? what can anybody do to him short of, you know, impeachment and removal. that could happen, but it's not going to happen. here we are. again, the joke is on us. >> gene, talk about that, the code and why there isn't one what's the historical reasoning for not having some form of accountability because there is forms of accountability for elected officials, of course there are codes they're meant to follow there are disclosures they're meant to make, certainly when it comes to lavish vacations or having your mother's house renovated by somebody where there could be a potential conflict of interest why not the supreme court? what might change because of these disclosures? i ask that realizing not much will change, but let's ask it anyway. >> yeah, let's ask it anyway much should change, but i kind of doubt much will change. you know, the supreme court has -- the view of congress and the president has always been

the supreme court basically gets to governance itself and set its own rules. the supreme court never has set any sort of really binding rules on ethics. it refuses to do so, and i don't think it will. chief justice roberts, he's not commented really on this he can't love it he can't love the scandal that the court has been dragged into by justice thomas, but there is very little he can do to him, really what can he do the chief justice is sort of first among equals, but each justice is kind of its own sovereign country almost at the court. sbst sfat futch sfib is sa sf -- there's not much anybody can do now, you'd think the supreme court of the united states would care about having an ethics code, would care about being received as being cleaner than

caesar's wife, but no, they simply don't i don't think that's going to change. >> gene's column, of course, in "the washington post." coming up, the white house says the country is seeing a labor supply rebound from the pandemic we'll dig into the state of the job market and what it means for the newfound power of american workers. "morning joe" will be right back (water splashing) hey, dad... hum... what's the ocean like? uh... you were made to remember some days forever. we were made to help you find the best way there. ♪ - think about a child you love. now take away their clean clothes and access to water.

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we have some breaking news in from the white house. president biden spoke by phone yesterday with ralph yarl. he is the black teenager who was shot by an 85-year-old white

man. there is a, quote, racial component to the shooting, it was said maggie vespa has more. >> if we don't get it -- >> shut it down. >> reporter: after days of protests demanding justice, the kansas city homeowner who families say shot 16-year-old ralph yarl twice for ringing the wrong doorbell faces criminal charges. >> i can assure you the criminal justice system is working. it will continue to work as with any serious case, we approached this one in an objective and impartial manner. >> he has times where he was like, why? i did nothing wrong. why? >> reporter: dr. faith spoonmore says her nephew was trying to pick up hisyounger twin brothers from a friend's house thursday night when he mistakenly went to the wrong home civil rights attorney lee merritt says ralph rang the doorbell and waited. >> he was confronted by a man who told him, "don't come back around here," and he immediately fired his weapon, striking

mr. yarl in the head he went to the ground, then he was shot a second time. >> reporter: merritt adding ralph ran for help after being shot, and says ralph knocked on multiple doors before a neighbor answered and ordered the boy to lie on the ground and put his hands up >> ralph decided to comply and essentially lose consciousness after that, which is what allowed him to get medical treatment. >> reporter: the shooting sparking outrage on social media. hollywood heavyweights like viola davis and halle berry demanding charges. fueling the fury, police taking the man into custody and, 24 hours later, releasing them without charges. >> as the prosecutor, i can tell you, there was a racial component to the case. >> reporter: they add the felony charges filed against an ddrew lester carry a potential sentence of up to life in prison a warrant issued immediately for the 85-year-old's arrest. >> it's been my goal from the beginning to get justice for the child involved in the case >> reporter: family says ralph,

a marching bandstando standout h dreams of studying chemical engineering is healing. >> he's alive. that's the biggest message i want people to remember, is that he is alive. >> maggie vespa reporting there. mara, incredible, miraculous news is that ralph yarl is home and out of the hospital. he is recovering he is alive, as we heard there. >> what a nightmare. >> that is the great news. my gosh, to knock on the wrong door by accident, be shot in the head, then shot on the ground, get up and look for help, to be told to get on the ground and put your hands up, thank god he is alive. >> expected to make a full recovery, which is the best news. >> thank god. >> but what a trauma. >> you know, first of all, he is adorable >> yeah. >> he is adorable. it's heartbreaking my heart goes out to that family but just this combination of just these oldhatred hatreds wee in this country and these guns

we have, to just allows us to mick make these wrong and sometimes hateful split-second decisions and take someone's life, take the life of a child. it is the nightmare of every parent, i'm sure, but also of every black american, that they or their children will be the victim of a split-second decision made out of fear and bigotry. this is -- it's terrifying it is also scary from the perspective of thinking about other people who go door to door, postal workers, campaign workers, people who just may be lost and need help. >> right. >> i mean, it shouldn't be this way. of course, just hearing that this child, this 16-year-old boy was able to go for help and then was -- >> mistreated again. >> -- as he was bleeding from the head, told to get on his knees and put his handsup.

>> what? >> this is the origin of the black lives matter movement. this is why we need to show it exists because the phrase really means, black lives matter, too. >> right. >> now, we see why this is necessary. it is heartbreaking. it makes your stomach churn. >> extraordinary, the racism involved here. the prosecutor has said there is a racial component to this case, and they're charging on that it is also a guns issue. last night in new york state, there was an arrest of a 65-year-old man who fired out his window because a car pulled into his driveway. another innocent mistake a woman pulled into the wrong house. she got lost, pulled into the driveway, the guy shot and killed her. >> right. >> again, you want a field hearing, want to have a conversation let's make it about guns let's make it about the reality of what's happening. this is not a partisan statement. i'm looking at the data. i'm looking at the stories we're reporting. it is, at this point, it's boiling over is anyone going to care on the republican side? we want to take a quick look

at the morning papers. we begin in ohio where the "cincinnati enquirer" reports some of the tracks at the site of the east palestine train derailment have been reinstalled. the soil under the tracks had to be removed as part of the cleanup efforts. in february, a norfolk southern train derailed near the ohio-pennsylvania border, spilling toxic chemicals into the ground and, of course, into the air after the fire in south carolina, "the independent mail" highlights researchers' predictions for this year's hurricane season scientists say they don't expect the season to be as active as previous years last year, there were 17 named storms researchers believe there will be about 11 to 15 named storms this year, eight of which could grow strong enough to become a hurricane. "the st. lucie news tribune" in florida have a feature on

scientists tris trying out an ma it's the same science used for the covid vaccine. those using this were 44% more likely to avoid new tumors if these results hold up, a larger study will take place later this year. in connecticut, "the middletown press" says connecticut is sending marijuana businessowners to college the state signed a year-long, $1 million contract with the california-based school to enroll residents in an accelerated program. the goal is to teach people how to run a cannabis business the funding comes from state law that made recreational use of the drug legal a lot of comments that one could make there but, yeah, okay. >> it is legal now. >> it is legal now >> yeah. >> you know. >> people making a lot of money off that. >> yeah, i don't know. i'm not sure i'm going to get a lot of mean

tweets, but i just -- >> don't worry about the tweets. >> i'm not still ahead, senators welcomed back two colleagues on capitol hill yesterday we'll have an update on mitch mcconnell, how he is doing, and john fetterman, as well. also ahead, a bizarre story out of new york city the justice department busted an illegal police station. >> oh, yeah, chinese. >> what? >> yes >> we're going to explain what was happening inside the building "morningoe j" is coming right back ♪ ♪ enough was enough. i talked to an asthma specialist and found out my severe asthma is driven by eosinophils, a type of asthma nucala can help control. now, fewer asthma attacks and less oral steroids that's my nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of

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beautiful shot of a sun rise in new york city at ten minutes before the top of the hour a red hot labor market has put job seekers in the driver's seat, but that trend could be shifting last month saw a 28% decline in u.s. hiring compared to one year ago with one job opening for every two applicants a sign that some slack is returning to the labor market. that's all according to

linkedin's new labor market report that breaks down the changes in employment in america. joining us now, chief economist for linkedin, great to have you. karen, we're lacking at key trends to look at. i want to get to the second real quick. first, job seekers searching intensifies. these numbers are moving around a little bit. >> that's right. job seekers are now coming back to the platform with great energy they're starting to actually apply to more jobs than before we've seen a 35% increase in the number of roles they apply to any time they come to our platform job seeking is intensifying. we're seeing people more committed to the labor market than they were before. >> that is because, for the last couple years, they just have sort of felt like, i've got all these options, let me sit back and see what i can do, and now it is tightening up? >> i think they were casual. they're getting a little more intentional about the job seeking efforts. when we survey our own members, what we see is workforce confidence is actually starting

to really bottom out so they are not feeling as good about their ability to find and hold a job a lot more intention in the work seeking behavior also, we're seeing a lot of workers who are still being a little picky, though you still have opportunities. >> let's get to that remote work, tensions on the rise this is the push-pull about remote work, whether or not it is a good thing. a lot of people don't want to come in. bottom line. we're seeing that, you know, in our company, companies across america. i've sort of had a shift in thinking about it, but tell us about these tensions, what you're seeing first. >> what we're finding is that, you know, go back a year ago, remote work was the bomb everybody wanted to work from home. >> yeah. >> nobody wanted to commute in we had, like, 20% of the jobs on our platform were remote roles now, that's over we're down to closer to 10% of the roles are remote

seeing a lot of companies pulling back on availability here's the kicker, though, workers love remote. >> they do. >> when they come on our platform, 50% of the applications for roles go to remote jobs, even though there's only 20% of the jobs that are remote people love remote. >> is there a hybrid option here are you seeing that, where employers are offering you to come in a few days and be remote the others >> that's exactly it what we're seeing is remote is shifting back. what is taking its place is the hybrid, the three days in, two days at home the full-time job, five days in the office, that's flat lining we're not seeing momentum there. the employers want it but the workers don't. >> katty kay, this is so interesting. of course, the worry is with, you know, people going all full out remote, is that lack of connection, especially for younger workers, for mentoring, for that sort of creative, depending on the company, creative buzz that's created by

being together at the same time, the options for women especially open up exponentially when you have the option of remote work. i've got to tell you, when i was starting out and, you know, had a two-hour commute working overnights, remote work would have changed everything for me and for the early years of bringing up my children. >> same. sorry to jump in >> go ahead. >> totally we spent years, didn't we, as working mothers begging our employers to let us work from home one day a week and being treated like we were sort of pa pariahs, like we'd sit at home and watch video on the sofa. that stigma has gone, thank god, and covid precipitated it. interesting to see that actually even in-office work is only three days a week. if somebody said to me five years ago that working in the office was going to mean working in the office only three days a week, i would have said they were smoking something that seemed impossible

but i wonder what it does for women, too, though, if women are working from home more and they are the ones that want remote work the most, but men are going back into the office doesn't that produce some lack of opportunities for women that worries me a bit. the numbers are showing us that, i don't know if you find it, but men are going back to work but women tend to be the ones staying home that, i think, can produce a penalty for women. i think employers are going to have to be super intentional, karin, about how they figure this out are you seeing them do that? >> we do see that. the number one thing we're noticing is that everybody likes the flexibility of remote or hybrid work, but women, in particular, are more likely to apply for it black women and latino women are even more likely to apply for it we've seen an increase in their participation in the labor force when they're offered remote work. >> do you see any difference in younger workers? >> we do. >> maybe looking for full-time

work in the office or -- >> yes. >> have you looked at any numbers, any salary numbers associated with these jobs what's the differential between jobs that are remote, is there a pay differential, and ones that are in person? >> we're not seeing the salary numbers. that's not something our data speaks to well what we do see is generational cuts by generation, we're seeing younger workers who absolutely prefer to come in. they want the connections. they want the coaching they may not want to be in their smaller apartments or homes with their particients, whatever it s they like to come in it is the older millenials, those with kids at home who have orthodontist appointments and soccer games and want to work from home. >> the employment climate a couple summers ago, there were help wanted signs everywhere i remember being out to dinner with my teenage daughter and they were saying, "how old are you? want to work?" she was young, and they didn't seem to mind how young she was because they were so desperate

has that changed now are those jobs starting to be filled >> i think what we're seeing is it is starting to depend on the industry there are certain industries that are still hot, still looking for workers. think about parts of retail, a lot of the service sector. health care is still hiring on a tear there are other sectors that pulled back and are not hiring i'm not sure they'll hire your tee teenager, but financial services, professional services, tech these are ones that are clearly on the back foot in terms of the pace of hiring. >> interesting we need to have more conversations about the remote work tension because that's really dynamic linkedin chief economist, karin, thanks for coming? >> good to see you. dan goldman joins us at the top of the hour. the new york democrat will weigh in on yesterday's, quote, political stunt by house republicans. plus, jordan klepper kicked off his week-long stint hosting "the daily show" last night by taking aim at republicans

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jim jordan took his circus on the road. that's exactly what it was they wanted people to believe this hastily called hearing that was just coincidentally taking place in manhattan had nothing to do with the prosecution of donald trump it was absurd. i would imagine their own lawyers have told them that this kind of stunt just hurts their case in terms of their effort to interfere with the manhattan district attorney's office their subpoenas, it just shows what a political stunt and there's no legislative purpose. >> that is congressman adam schiff he was calling out house republicans for the partisan hearing held yesterday in new york city. we'll be joined by another democrat who was there, dan goldman of new york. he slammed republicans for

blatant anti-semitism. we'll dig into that odd hearing yesterday here in new york. also ahead, republican senators not in a hurry to help democrats temporarily replace dianne feinstein on the judiciary committee. we will play some of their comments. later this hour, we will talk to former ukrainian president petro poroshenko about vladimir putin's trip to the front lines in ukraine welcome back to "morning joe. it is tuesday, april 18th. jonathan lemire, mara gay, katty kay, eugene robinson still with us joining the conversation, president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. good to see you this morning. >> morning. >> what'd you think of that field trip republicans took? congressmen from texas and florida and georgia and ohio becoming deeply concerned, suddenly, about new york crime. >> i grew up in brooklyn, new york, used to the circus coming to town. usually, we have our choice of what the skepticals are we're

going to look at it was ridiculous. i think it made a mockery of the judiciary committee. they clearly are trying to interfere with a case. we're not even talking about an investigation. we're talking about an indictment preparing for trial if a grand jury in manhattan has voted to indict someone who just happens to be your friend and former president, remember now, alvin bragg didn't just charge him, a grand jury of manhattan ide manhattanites indicted him you bring the judiciary here to stage a sideshow, it was the judiciary committee really reducing its meaning and what it stands for it made a mockery of what the congress ought to be doing. >> i mean, it really -- not only is it missing the mark, i mean, as we said earlier, there's mass shooting epidemic across the country. if they want a field hearing or national conversation, let it be about that

you're right, they're interfering with, you know, the grand jury indictment. again, an indictment that was done by manhattanites we'll be talking with dan goldman, who was there, in a moment about this. nfirst, this wild story out of new york city officials are charging two chinese nationals with running an illegal police station in new york city. the justice department says the two defendants set up the station in the united states for a branch of china's ministry of public security. both of them are u.s. citizens the alleged outpost was housed in this building it's an office building in chinatown, in manhattan. federal prosecutors say it was closed in 2022 after operators found out about the fbi investigation. law enforcement raided the,

quote, police station in october and sized cell phones that agents say showed communication between the two defendants and the chinese ministry the fbi says the two admitted to deleting messages. and "the washington post" reports china has set up more than 100 clandestine police stations across the world to monitor and harass chinese nationals living abroad according to an october report by safeguard defenders, a human rights organization that monitors disappearances in china. any word from the white house on this, jonathan lemire? >> they haven't had much to say on it yet. i suspect it'll be addressed at the briefing today this is not going to ease tensions that have grown between washington and beijing. >> no. >> the fact of what was discovered in manhattan, a few steps from federal law enforcement buildings and, of course, wall street. this comes at a moment where ties have largely been broken between the countries. secretary of state blinken has

yet to reschedule his meeting there in beijing we can go through the list of the inflammatory moments, i including the spy balloon in recent weeks this is now something where we know, as we discussed, the countries spy on each other. but setting up a police station to intimidate your own citizens, chinese nationals, i mean, even if it is a common occurrence elsewhere in the world, certainly new in the united states i suspect we'll be hearing more. >> upstairs from a noodle house on broadway, there is a secret chinese police station where they were identifying dissidents on behalf of the chinese government in beijing, so they could go back and tell them, request it we found the people do with them what you will." >> strange behavior. republicans in d.c. are making it clear they are against replacing senator dianne feinstein on the judiciary comm committee. the california democrat hasn't cast a vote since february, recovering from shingles her absent is holding up president biden's judicial

nominees much to the frustration of the biden white house and now publicly to democrats. the 89-year-old asked she be temporarily replaced after democrats called for her resignation. senate republicans say they won't let it happen, but for different reasons. >> the democrats are discussing the idea of trying to temporarily replace senator feinstein on the judiciary committee. is that something you'd be amenable to? >> they'd like the republicans to help speed the appointment of more liberal justices. yes, when hell freezes over. >> okay, so you're a no? >> i'm a no. i don't imagine a single republican senator is going to lift a finger to try to get more liberal judges appointed. >> senator feinstein has been an extraordinary senator, and she's a good friend of mine. during the past two years, there's been a concerted campaign to force her off of the judiciary committee, and i will have no part of that

>> the people that are trying to shove her out the door after her years of service ought to hide their heads in a bag she's being treated very poorly, and that really disappoints me i don't agree with a lot of what senator feinstein does, but i respect her as a person. we all get sick. there apparently are some senators up here who would -- who would unplug you, your life support system, to recharge their cell phone if they thought it was in their political interest i just -- that kind of attitude disappoints me >> i can't -- >> so disappointed. >> senator john kennedy taking up the cause of senator feinstein. >> eugene, it's not just republicans. it is many democrats in public, it used to be a

whisper campaign about diane feinstein, when is she coming back we need her vote on the judiciary committee. we have all these nominees sitting there to implement the biden administration's agenda. the white house frustrated, as well what's the way through this here for democrats? >> well, i don't see one right now, to tell you the truth i mean, it was never going to work, that republicans were going to give unanimous consent for temporarily replacing senator feinstein on the judiciary committee. that was never going to happen so we're stuck senator schumer says she'll be back soon. well, soon is a really relative term in washington, so we don't know if that means in a few days or in a few months in the meantime, effectively, the president's nominations are going to be bottled up in the judiciary committee. there doesn't seem to be much they can do about it i mean, if they could get nine republicans to come over with 60 votes, they could sort of reorganize and get somebody else on the committee

it sounds like that's just not going to happen either so they're stuck senator feinstein, you know, she is 89. she does have a decision to make but her decision has been to stay in the senate and, again, there is nothing anybody can do to change that here we are. we're going to be here for a while. >> yeah, she's already announced her intention not to run for re-election, mika, but she has shown no signs that she's willing to step aside, even though voices in her own party said to do so. what is frustrating for democrats is with republicans in control of the house, there's not much they can do legislatively. the one way they can impart the biden agenda is getting the jrue dish appointments done, and they can't if she is out. >> republicans don't want to place her temporarily. if she steps down, what is the process? that'd be length thy as well, correct? >> yeah, there would be a

special election to replace her and could take time, as well there's a growing number in the democratic party who say that might be a better alternative. we did hear, as eugene said, majority leader schumer says he anticipates she'll be back in a few weeks. >> really tough. mitch mcconnell returned to capitol hill and made his first comments on the upper chamber floor after he was injured in a fall in early march. >> it's good to be back. i want to thank all my colleagues for their warm wishes shared over the past few weeks suffice it to say, this wasn't the first time that being hard headed has serve mcdermd me wel. >> the minority leader turned to business as usual, criticizing president biden and congressional democrats. we are glad, though, he is doing well mcconnell was at an event on march 8th in washington, d.c., when he fell and sustained a concussion and fractured rib

the kentucky republican was treated at the hospital for a short time before being transferred to a rehab center. now, he is back at work. also back at work, senator john fetterman. back on capitol hill the pennsylvania democrat had been absent since mid-february after seeking treatment for clinical depression. he's in his trademark outfit, as well he didn't take any questions from reporters yesterday, simply saying it is great to be back. and it is great. i appreciate the support that he has received, given that mental illness sometimes can be stigmatized. in this case, it's great to see someone get treatment and come back because that is how it can work with mental illness if it is treated well. majority leader chuck schumer took the floor and gave a warm welcome back to both fetterman and mcconnell. >> first, let me begin by welcoming back our friend, leader mcconnell, to the senate.

it's great to have him back here in this chamber. we are all happy to see he is recovering well. i also want to welcome back our colleague from pennsylvania and friend, senator fetterman. we're all glad he got the support he needed, and he is sending an important message to millions of americans. that asking for and getting help works. >> right members of the house judiciary committee are back on capitol hill today after a chaotic republican-led field hearing in new york city yesterday. there, gop lawmakers went on the attack against manhattan district attorney alvin bragg, who is leading the criminal prosecution against donald trump there. >> for the district attorney, justice isn't blind. it's about looking for opportunities to advance a political agenda a radical political agenda >> it is shameful that the republicans of this committee would use the pretext of violent crime as an excuse to play tourist in new york and bully the district attorney.

>> mr. bragg, i hope you're watching i hope you're watching today, sir. you're a disgrace. you're a danger to this country. >> this isn't governance it's not working for the american people. it's grandstanding it's a stunt just look at all the cameras here. >> this, unfortunately, is what we get in joe biden's america and alvin bragg's new york city. >> the republican witnesses who have used their time to criticize district attorney bragg has served as props in a maga broadway production >> my god. >> rev, you had this parade of congressional republicans from all toover the country coming to lower manhattan, purely in the name of defending donald trump they're putting their necks on the line for this guy because it plays well in their districts. they could care less about crime in new york city, obviously. it has nothing to do with their district do they get anything out of this, maybe other than it's a good hit on a cable news network or a podcast or some of their

voters like it is it productive in any other way for them >> i don't see where it would be productive in any other way. i don't even know they get that much of a hit in their local cable stations you must remember, alvin bragg, the d.a. they were attacking yesterday, was the same d.a. a year ago that would not go through with the case against donald trump. >> and was criticized. >> it was lauded and applauded by many of them. five days before the grand jury, i repeat, the grand jury indicted donald trump, five days before when donald trump thought they were not going to, he commended the grand jury process, and how proud he was. lo and behold, he got indicted five days later. all of a sudden, this great alvin bragg political plot i think a lot of that took the sting out of some of their supporters it's like, wait a minute, we may be right wing but we're not st stupid this is ridiculous on its face, it's ridiculous

you're attacking a man that two of his aides resigned because he wouldn't indict him a year before one wrote a book now, you're acting like he has the political agenda what was it, a delayed political agenda i think that it was so ludicrous that people couldn't take it seriously. if it was a broadway production, as congressman johnson said, it flopped at the box office. >> mara, it just seems like the republicans keep taking up gestures and issues that aren't in sync with the american people again, it may work locally or within the realm of the trump base for jim jordan. >> right. >> but i don't understand what member of the republican party is thinking from 20,000 feet that this is a great idea. >> well, it's certainly not a general election strategy. >> no. >> i think we can agree with that at the same time, there is, as absurd as it is, and it is a circus, there is a really disturbing element of just some

anti-democratic sentiment at play here. this was a manhattan jury that was doing its duty and voting either way, regardless of how they voted, this is part of the democratic process that is actually now under attack from a federal branch of congress there's no justification for it. you know, additionally, there's this really uncomfortable issue of trying to racialize, i would say, the prosecution, as this is a black district attorney from a big city that's why he's going after donald trump let's undermine that you know, rather than actually this being about donald trump's conduct and the judicial system. so i actually think that is at play here, and those are the undertones that we're dealing with. >> i suspect we're going to get the exact same playbook were he to be charged out of fulton county, georgia, too the same racial dynamics exist with that district attorney, as well i wouldn't be surprised if we have a field hearing to atlanta,

georgia, as well. >> mika, it is worth stepping back and remembering what they're defending him on. >> exactly. >> he allegedly had an affair with a porn star. >> no one is saying he didn't. >> well, he claims he didn't that he paid off a porn star to stay quiet about their affair ahead of the presidential election while his wife was home with their infant child. >> yeah. >> that's what they're running interference for on donald trump. >> interference for that. >> but the crime he was indicted for was falsifying business records. >> right. >> so is chairman jordan and the committee saying to those on wall street, you can falsify business records it's not a serious crime i mean, the signal they're sending, you're in new york where wall street is, where the captains of industry is, and they are really sanitizing sals falsifying business records. it is a crime. >> nice string of misogyny, katty kay. not one republican, not one, not one is saying, "how dare you

defame the name of our former president, donald trump. he would never pay off porn star stormy daniels for another playboy model or bunny or however they say it. he would never do that never, never, please don't say that about our leader. "nob yeah. nobody is saying that. >> that's not something you're hearing a lot. i mean, look, ever since the "access hollywood" tape came out with donald trump saying he can do whatever he wants and he can grab them by the x, i think the bar has been so low for his behavior toward women, not to mention the countless suits that had been against him on charges of harassment, even charges of rape against him it's not a plausible argument for republicans to raise, that this is somebody who doesn't have a history of talking about women in this way and, therefore, potentially a history of treating women in this way,

which is wlie hy you're not hea it the question is going to be whether there are any votes that get switched because of alvin bragg's case or because of donald trump's history with women, which we have not seen so far. i mean, the degree to which republican voters or trump supporters have at least stuck by donald trump. whatever the revelations that come out about his personal behavior, they seem to stick with him. >> they do pictures with jeffrey epstein. the list goes on yet, they just have their field hearings they continue to push the envelope and waste taxpayer money. we'll have much more on this ahead. also still ahead on "morning joe," we're getting new video of detained "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich in russian court this morning we'll have the very latest on the fight for his release. plus, former arkansas governor asa hutchinson is expected to roll out his 2024 campaign for president this week nbc's vaughn hillyard joins us ahead after catching up with him in iowa.

and florida governor ron desantis will be in washington today in an effort to build up support in congress. what that visit signals about a possible white house run for him. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. i struggled with cpap every night. but now that i got the inspire implant to treat my sleep apnea, i'm sleeping much better. in fact, it's making me think of doing other things i've been putting off. like removing that tattoo of your first wife's name. but your mom's name is vicky too! that's even worse. ( ♪♪ ) inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com.

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defending champion warriors are down 2-0 in that playoff series now. for the first time in the steph curry era, golden state is sloppy all game. late comeback attempt stymied by the ejection of draymond green, who was tossed with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter after he stomped on the chest of sabonis sabonis stayed down several minutes as officials reviewed the play he was assessed a technical, sabonis, for grabbing green's leg. green was given an automatic rejection. kings won, 114-106 warriors will try to rebound in san francisco for game three draymond's reputation proceeds him. sabonis definitely grabbed his foot, but he did stomp on his chest. >> no one is giving draymond green the benefit of the doubt let's remember, it was his flagrant foul of lebron james in

the 2016 final that led the cavs to the 3-1 comeback in that series sabonis clearly grabbed his leg, but he stomped down and seemingly stomped down hard. it is not clear whether there will be other discipline assessed to green going forward. the warriors in a hole although, i still -- they're a team you can't count out last year, they rallied back in a couple play off series sub-par year for them, but they look really good i, as a celtics fan, grow more and more concerned, the path out west is opening up for the lakers. >> lebron and the lakers feeling good about themselves after blowing out memphis in the first game sacramento is good >> they score a ton. >> been a long time since they've been good. i know you're excited about the knicks, going for a 2-0 lead on the road in cleveland tonight, mika. >> exactly you going to be watching >> of course. >> i am, yeah, uh-huh. >> we'll have one of our famous watch parties. >> we can do it on zoom. i love it. mara, let's turn to politics your latest piece for "the new york times" is titled, "a man whom trump reviled is running

for office in harlem karma, he says." you, quote, yusef salaam, one of the teenagers wrongfully convicted in a 1989 rape in central park is finally where he seems to belong, on the campaign trail. this is the man whose arrest prompted donald trump to publicly call for the death penalty in 1989 when mr. salaam was just 15 and charged with four other teenagers with a horrific crime that they did not commit mr. trump took out full page ads in four new york newspapers, including "the new york times," calling for the restoration of the state death penalty over the case in 2002 the young men were exonerated after serving years in prison. mr. trump refused to apologize now that notore oriety provided flat fo

platform to run for office, and in a twist of fate, it's mr. trump indicted on criminal charges while mr. salaam runs for office it was karma, he said of mr. trump's legal situation while sitting inside the sugar hill cafe in harlem. i hope he is able to do time, he said, with a hint of mischief in his eyes when mr. trump was indicted recently, mr. salaam expressed a kind of trust in the justice system that few might expect i do not resort to hatred, bias or racism, as you once did, mr. salaam wrote in a message to the former president i am putting my faith in the judicial system to seek out the truth. mr. salaam is still waiting for justice and so is the country. mara, let's talk more about this, but also point out that donald trump is also accused of rape just to add a little -- >> it runs so deep you know, it's an extraordinary story. it is an extraordinary tabloid story, new york story, now an american story, but i was really moved watching mr. salaam on the

campaign trail there is a magic to watching him. it is clearly something that you feel he is where he was meant to be, he was born to do it watching him retail politicking, he loves people. there is a sadness about this because, of course, so much -- i mean, his childhood was taken from him wrongfully. i think one of the reasons i wanted to spend some time with him over the past few days is that there is a tendency, i think, to trivialize some of donald trump's conduct whether they be crimes he was accused of here in new york or elsewhere. >> right. >> or simply harm that he has done to others over the years. this goes back a long way. i think when you look at the case of someone like salaam and the other teenagers who were wrongfully convicted, and donald trump's role in that, which really was to nationalize this case and turn them into pariahs, these children, you have to kind of remember, everybody deserves an equal shot in the justice system, no matter what you're

accused of donald trump was part of a campaign to rob these children of that. i think, just to kind of come full circle and just remember that, actually, donald trump's conduct is serious and that he should be treated just like any other defendant would. >> yeah. >> i think that's what i heard from voters on the street. they said to me, you know, we don't want to throw the book at him any more than anyone would throw the book at us. >> rev, to her point, we were just talking earlier about stormy daniels again, republicans glossing over that and going straight to -- they're trivializing a lot of different things that are very important. again, it's the fire hose of falsehoods as well as trivializing indecent behavior that is part of, sort of, the trump legacy on this country. >> and really trivializing bigoted behavior. >> yes. >> one of the things i would note, because national action network was one of the few

groups that stood up for these boys we were castigated donald trump bought these four ads. you must remember that donald trump never took a position on a case in new york we had howard beach race case, never opened his mouth this was the first time he took a position on a case, so it was really biased. it was really something that really was making popular, and it was done before they even had a trial. the irony of yusef and cory weis, to watch him go in the same building they had to go in to be arraigned. >> yeah. >> and the graciousness and to take the high road, i was so proud of them and glad we stood up for them. but proud of them, they didn't give him the bitterness. you can talk to this, they didn't give him the bitterness or the rank that he gave them.

he had attacked them, and they wouldn't attack them. >> their dignity shows just how small donald trump really is >> exactly >> what stood out to me was that line in the piece where yusef says, "i put my faith in the justice system." a justice system that took away his childhood, a system that cost him so much, he's saying, "i trust this system." if donald trump is guilty, to find him guilty. if he is innocent, to let him walk away from it. remarkable statement from him. >> truly remarkable. i mentioned donald trump being accused of rarape a federal judge denied trump's bid for a four-week delay in the civil rape and defamation trial against him. trump lawyer joe tacopina asked a district judge to postpone the trial in the lawsuit brought by carol, scheduled to start one week from today. she alleges trump raped her at a

manhattan department store in the 1990s. trump repeatedly denied the claim. tacopina argued trump should be allowed a, quote, cooling off period after his recent indictment by a manhattan grand jury which drew a surge of media coverage that he actually pg advanced himself the judge said this is unrelatded to the state prosecution. i think it is important to also point out, and just because we've been talking so much about this field hearing and the indictment of donald trump, the stormy daniels case. we just mentioned the rape accusations that are going to trial. he still has the documents case that is bearing down on him. he has georgia coming his way. i mean, this is -- >> january 6th. >> i look at that, not at trump, i look at jordan and others who -- can you not see what is

happening here can you not see ahead? you know, how is it possible that they defend him on every single front, when some are very obvious? >> they're looking at poll numbers. at least right now, donald trump's poll numbers have gone up now, that is a different scenario it's the republican primary rather than general election we all know that. >> yeah. >> it is further proof to his grip on the party. so many republicans are afraid to cross him, and they see at least short-term political gain, even though in the long-term, it is seemingly setting up republicans to head to another loss. >> you look at joe tacopina's office you have to believe he is setting up different departments to handle all these cases. truly, for donald trump. you add in the rape trial that could be coming. >> how many lawyers does he have >> donald trump was in town last week for a defamation case against his business. >> right. >> the list is so long. >> there's that. >> there is a reason, to john's point, that lindsey graham, he knows whatdonald trump did is bad in all these cases, but there is a reason he goes on tv

and literally weeps, asking for money for donald trump. >> lindsey graham. >> he knows that's where the power is >> gosh, wow but it loses okay, we could go on and on. coming up, the kremlin released video of vladimir putin visiting his forces on the battlefield. it marks the russian leader's second trip in two months to russian-occupied territory apparent efforts to rally troops ahead of an anticipated ukrainian counteroffensive we'll speak with the former president of ukraine, petro poroshenko, about the fitighng there. "morning joe" will be right back ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on... ♪ [coughing] ♪ ...by, you know how i feel. ♪ if you're tired of staring down your copd,... ♪ it's a new dawn, ♪ ♪ it's a new day... ♪ ...stop settling. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good. ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy.

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that's a beautiful live picture of the white house at 7:40 in the morning in washington new this morning, detained american journalist evan gershkovich appeared in a russian courtroom overnight to appeal his arrest on spying charges. international correspondent keir simmons has the latest

>> reporter: this morning, evan gershkovich in a russian court, the first images of him for weeks, standing in a glass box, surrounded by masked security guards as the cameras were brought in wearing a shirt and jeans, arms folded at one point, talking to his legal team, appealing against charges of spying with vehement denials by the u.s. and his employer gershkovich was an accredited journa journalist ive i love you very, very much, he said to his family in a letter published by "the wall street journal." until we meet soon, he wrote evan gershkovich was detained during a reporting trip. he's now held in a notorious moscow prison. the newspaper releasing an interview with his parents and sister >> it was just, like, crushing totally crushing >> reporter: along with a video of the reporter as a child. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> reporter: growing up, playing

sports and the cello >> i'm in awe of him. >> reporter: his family says he loved russia and being a reporter i'm not losing hope, he wrote to them in his two-page note home. >> i know that he feels like it was his duty to report he loves the russian people, you know >> still does. >> he still does, yes. >> he was really passionate about showing other sides of russia, the nuance and the beauty of it. >> reporter: as the court hearing got under way this morning, russian television focused on footage of president putin visiting russian-occupied ukraine. speaking to russian troops in the kherson region it is not clear when that trip took place. >> keir simmons reporting there. just moments ago, we learned that evan's appeal against pretrial detention was denied. he was hoping not to be detained while he waited for his trial. he was denied. katty, obviously, the eloquence of his family is really striking to listen to there

but they have to be concerned, knowing how long brittney griner with there, knowing how long paul whelan has been there, among others. >> yeah. look, it's not clear i've spoken to a couple peek about evan's case, and it is not clear what the outcome is because in brittney griner's case, it fairly rapidly developed that the russians wanted viktor bout, the arms trader who the americans had in custody. they wanted to do the customer swap there isn't a similarly high-profile person they may want in evan's case. the trajectory in the past has been that russia will -- putin will escalate the situation with the united states and then kind of dial it back. some people i've spoken to have said we seem to be beyond that point of dialing back. what's the outcome here? is there another prisoner swap that can be done is there something else russia wants? of course, what does this mean for other journalists reporting from russia at the moment?

it certainly puts a chill on them we rely on them to get out and this is an important moment. we have to have the journalists there to know what's happening inside the hierarchies, what's happening around putin, what the russian population thinks. we can't know that unless we have journalists in moscow at the moment it is a critical time for them to be reporting there. i know, you know, from the bbc news organization, from nbc, it makes our editors very concerned about us having reporters in the country. if they've done this once, potentially other reporters are going to be at risk, as well >> you know, last thursday, at our national action network convention, brittney griner made a surprise appearance. she thanked us for praying for her. i had offered to go to moscow and pray with her. they wouldn't let me in. but she challenged us, i want you to pray for him, too, and those that are still there you don't understand what they're going through. you could feel the weight. she was there ten months it really became real to us, what he may be going through and what she went through in a

moscow jail. much of which she won't say because she doesn't want to risk those that are still there i thought it was very heroic of her to come forward publicly and call on all of us to pray and stand for this, the release of this journalist and others that are still being held in russia. >> still detained. >> russian officials have offered no evidence. they've presented no evidence to back up this charge of espionage. the white house, of course, has condemned this they say he is not a spy , he i an american citizen. they're demanding hisbassador t was able to meet with the detained reporter yesterday. a top ukrainian official is providing new details about a potential spring counteroffensive ukraine's national security secretary told "the associated press" yesterday that kyiv will launch its counteroffensive only when it's ready, saying ukraine is still preparing but it is just a matter of time.

joining us now, the former president of ukraine, petro poro poroshenko if you could, tell us more about where the war stands right now and ukraine's preps for a counteroffensive also, these videos of vladimir putin on the front lines, what do you make of them, sir >> every single week, i try to be on the front line just a couple days ago, i returned back from the south, where a ukrainian brigade, assault brigade, preparing, training for preparation of the counteroffensive this is not a counter. this is an offensive operation we do not commend where it is happening, when it is happening, but i have no doubt that for the counteroffensive operation, we need three factors factor number one is the motivation i can confirm to you that ukrainian armed forces is fully

motivated. we fight for our soil. we fight for our people. we heroic. >> reporter: -- for stopping and beating russia point number two, this is the weapons. we need the weapons but the top priority is artillery, is systems which are extremely important. the anti-air attack. unfortunately, russia renewed their dominance in ukrainian sky. air defense is vital factor number three, this is the ammunition we definitely have a lack of ammunition that situation, when we will have the weapons and ammunition, we immediately launch an offensive operation. i want to thank our partners for delivering significant amount of weapons and ammunition, but we still have not enough. for example, we need not a dozen

but hundreds for a game-changer. can you imagine, 3,600 tanks from the beginning for the visit of putin, this is just another evidence that he is a killer as biden called him before the war started, full-fledged war. killer is all the time wanting visiting the place of his crimes i was in our battalion among the troops who drew russia away from the -- region. he's placed not in kherson he is in hague another thing, i see your video when they demonstrate that he flied by helicopter. no, he flied by helicopter over crimea, but he is afraid to go on kherson region by helicopter.

he's very much afraid of ukrainian attacks. definitely, that was just the pr ac action he has nothing to sell to the russian troops. >> mr. poroshenko, i know you've expressed some frustration that allies are not delivering enough you mentioned it there on the tanks. up until now, europe has been very united in its support of ukraine. but just this week, we've seen some friction there. slovakia yesterday joined hungary and poland in banning imports of grain from ukraine because they say that it's depressing their own agricultural prices and the farmers are not happy in those countries. are you worried that could be just the beginning of a lack of support for ukraine from western nations? are they starting to feel that it's too costly to their own populations to carry on supporting ukraine in that way or is this just about this one issue around the grain

>> i'm very much grateful to our partners second, i'm very much count on the unity of the western world in supporting ukraine, because this is the position not only the government, parliament, this is the position of the people. third, unfortunately, i can call it a politically-motivated action connected with the future election, connected with some political tricks, but this is the competence of the european commission european commission sends an absolutely clear message, that this initiative is not welcome y find out the decision within short period of time i am in touch with the -- our consultation for the removing this obstacle and i have -- i am

counting that on in a week we will have a clear voice of the united voice of the european union. no doubt this question will be removed. can you manual that this is the 50% of ukraine annexed and attack on that will bring to ukraine jobless, currency prices, budget crisis and definitely neither we nor the partners will allow this action. >> former president of ukraine poro poroshenko, thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you. montana's governor is expected to sign a bill banning tiktok in the state. house speaker kevin mccarthy is not giving many details about the plan to raise the debt

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the supreme court is expected to decide the fate of the most commonly used abortion pill mifepristone this week. protests coast to coast after a federal judge in texas issued a nationwide ban on the drug the supreme court intervened to preserve fda aprufl and consumer access to it the biden administration has asked the supreme court to halt any restrictions on the sale of the drug and still ahead, we are highlighting the consequences of the extreme bans on abortion we'll be showned by a florida woman whose doctors refused to give her the procedure despite the deadly diagnosis for her

baby. also, a look at the long running friendship between a texas billionaire and supreme court justice thomas plus, jordan cklepper is our guest. we'll be right back.

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the soros funded district attorney put criminals first and vicks last. >> that is what you get with the soros-ization of the justice system. >> district attorneys who are bought and paid for by george soros. >> who is funding them we should know that. it is george soros. >> the republican-led house judiciary committee took the grievances to new york city yesterday for a partisan hearing against the district attorney prosecuting donald trump

house speaker kevin mccarthy was on wall street touting a plan for the debt ceiling but his proposal had very few specific details. on capitol hill most republican senators are coming out against an effort to temporarily replace dianne feinstein on the ju judicious committee. ron desantis continues the fight with disney floating some potential developments near the park including a prison. also ahead, the latest from eastern europe as russian president vladimir putin appears to make a defiant visit in ukraine. good morning welcome to "morning joe. it is tuesday, april 18th. joe is making the way back from the reporting trip overseas. with willie and me we have

jonathan he lemire he is always here. sits down right here. >> welcome back. >> thanks! >> hazing is always good for you. a member of "the new york times" editorial board mara gay is with us correspondent for bbc news katty kay. associate editor of "the washington post" eugene robinson is with us we have a lot to talk about including the feel hearing which -- wow they were really out to make a point but i don't know wasting a lot of time and money. >> congressmen and women from ohio, georgia deeply concerned about crime in new york city whether the district attorney is taking on donald trump congress back in session yesterday but instead of being on capitol hill the republican led judiciary committee went on the road for a fielding hears.

in manhattan they looked to discredit the district attorney prosecuting former president trump data shows a decrease in crime since bragg took office last year. during the hearing republicans brought in witnesses personally affected by violence with varying degrees of grievance to the democratic party >> for the district attorney is just about looking for opportunities to advance a radical political agenda. >> it is shameful that the republicans of this committee use the pretext of violent crime to play tourist in new york city and bully the district attorney. >> mr. bragg, i hope you are watching today you are a disgrace

you are a danger to this country. >> this isn't governance it is not working for the american people. it is grand standing it is a stunt. look at the cameras here. >> this is what we get in joe biden's america. >> the republicans witnesses who used the time to criticize district attorney bragg have served as props in a maga broadway production. >> i'll just ask was it for mr. trump that killed your son >> no. >> you tried to get trump out. you couldn't face. you tried. the dossier was a fake. >> the purpose is to cover up for what they know to be an inappropriate investigation. i look forward - >> can i respond >> not right now >> don't insult my intelligence. >> hang on the gentleman's time is -- >> trying to insult me like i'm

not aware of what is going on here okay i'm fully aware of what's going on here. okay >> that's why i walked away from the plantation of the democratic party. >> i went on like that the idea that on the first day back from this break to have jim jordan, a congressman from california and texas coming here clearly to put a dent in alvin bragg prosecuting donald trump. >> i don't think it was very effective. a strange thing is they were in new york epa could have been in any room anywhere in the country in a tiny federal space. that was strange disgusting to lawmakers of any party exploiting the grief of cherry picked individual victims

of crime and their family members for their own political purposes there's something extremely disgusting about that. we know like any other population vicks of crime have different political views and obviously cherry picked. you have the hi phigh pock sy with higher rates of crime than new york city. >> that's a good point looking at what's happening across the country i would love to see a field hearing across america and on mass shooting the leading cause of death in the nation's children then have a hearing. this is about trump and jim jordan's addiction to donald trump and to making a show,

circus, gesture politically. >> it was a travesty, a circus, sham and not effective because it could have been a basement committee meeting room it was ridiculous. i don't think it had an impact on alvin bragg these stunts, basically, are what this house majority can do. right? it is not clear, for example, that they can do the responsible thing and raise the debt ceiling even if they want to because there is such a tiny majority and can't agree but they can agree on bashing bragg and for some reason george soros. and that's their play.

that's all they got. >> it is about political priorities congress does take the field trips. they did one to the border in a way to attack the biden administration here in new york city to defend donald trump going after district attorney and the state attorney general james who led the civil suit against trump we have seen trump bashing the prosecutors involved on truth social this is something where it's about republicans here, to your point, about mass shootings and debt ceiling but what the republican party is banking on is defending donald trump, talking about hunter biden. it is indeed a political stunt and thee temp and waste of taxpayer money. >> two issues are boiling over

mass shootings being like -- like i said an epidemic but also our children are scared to go to school and people scared to go to events and abortion we have a lot of examples and guest today to show how the laws and the changes and the overturning of roe is impacting the health of women across america. republican or democrat it is impacting the health house speaker kevin mccarthy also in new york city made a visit to wall street with a preview of the gop plan to raise the debt ceiling delivering remarks at the new york stock exchange saying republicans would vote in the coming weeks on a one-year debt ceiling increase tied to spending cuts. offered a few specifics and used the speech as an opportunity to criticize president biden who has asked that republicans put out a formal plan. it is also unclear whether the

plan he pitched to get enough support to pass with the party's slim majority in the house and likely be dead on arrival in the senate the u.s. could hit the limit as early as july unless congress works to raise it. i wonder if kevin mccarthy's view on this matches his view on this during the trump administration. >> yeah. i'm just looking at congress' latest approval ratings down at 18%. what we saw in new york might be part of the reason for that. if they fail to raise the debt ceiling and the country goes in default and thousands of federal workers lose the paychecks i suspect that goes lower. the american people want congress to get things done and they are not at the moment and of course, yeah, there is on the specific issue of spending

it is fine for republicans with a republican president and a republican spending agenda to have that spending -- deficit increase but it comes back when a democrat is president. you can see that pattern amongst republicans that the debt is an issue when there are democrats doing the spending i think the bigger issue is if they fail to raise the debt ceiling and the government shuts down and workers are laid off and enormous financial ramifications, americans don't have huge amounts of sayings and then you will see congress' approval rating sink. >> we should remind people this traditionally has not been this high stakes 11th hour drama trying to extract something from the other side because it is too important for the country's

economic circumstances kevin mccarthy didn't do this in the trump administration. >> multiple times. >> but now he wants to get blood from the stone here. >> the issue was in the democratic administration. trump was in office not at aulg. it was moved forward not just the idea. if a deal can't be reached by the summer, could be july, it would be catastrophic to the financial health of the united states it would have global ramifications and the republicans want to play chicken with this. the white house to this point said we don't want to do a one-year thing we should do a deal again. they want to have the conversations. kevin mccarthy took a step in that direction but it's not a serious proposal.

there's no meetings scheduled. the clock will continue to click and have scary implications potentially for all americans. a lot of other news. this one i don't understand. florida governor ron desantis is escalating his political battle against disney isn't that like one of the biggest employers in florida >> the biggest. >> it is >> it is what they do. near orlando yesterday desantis outlined his next moves vowing to nullify an agreement allowing the amusement park to circumvent the newly appointed state board and then talked about landing the land next to the park with a state park, a rival amusement park or even a state prison and

floating the idea to raise the tax rates to report in more coasts to disney the feud started a year ago when disney came out against the classroom explanation about gender identity in lower grades. desantis has since announced plans to expand the ban to all grade levels which doesn't require legislative approval we could have a conversation about that or about -- i mean, talk about stepping on a rake. getting in a fight with the largest employer. >> starting to get weird and feel personal. >> deeply. >> deeply. you are in a fight basically with mickey mouse and it is like why is this happening to you so personally it feels also strange because desantis is trying to build the national profile and an odd way to do that attacking disney

world. i don't really see how that helps. >> the issue with which he attacks them is very appealing i think locally. but i thought ron desantis was working on a presidential campaign. >> we thought so he's not doing a good job of it. this is just weird this obsession desantis has with having the last word over disney you know disney did a maneuver that caught him flat footed he tried to put this board in charm of disney and disney world and they ma movered him in advance and he didn't know about it he is fuming and steaming. but this says a lot about ron desantis and the unfit ness to

being president. can you imagine trying to conduct foreign policy with this grudge match attitude toward our adversaries or allies or anybody who got under his very, very thin skin? this is on the one hand really, really worrisome about desantis and also like really funny it is the state's biggest employer, the place every child in america wants to go why fight mickey mouse this is just stupid. >> bob iger who runs disney famously said this is an anti-business position he said we are about to spend i think $17 billion in the state over the next few years and hire 13,000 more people and the things that they do. joe has talked about this as being from florida disney is florida. tourism is florida

universal we throw in there. >> absolutely! >> of course america's greatest amusement park without question. >> harry potter. >> this is beyond bizarre to have this icon of the state that brings billions and billions and tens of thousands of jobs to the state because your feelings were hurt that a company took on one bill last year. >> partly this is about ron desantis and starting to see republican donors looking forward to supporting. said they had been looking forward to supporting a desantis campaign saying some positions whether it is on drag parades or whether on banning books or taking on disney is going too far and now looking at him with skepticism it will hurt ron desantis potentially as a candidate but i think it says something broader about the direction of the

republican party is the republican party oddly becoming the anti-business party? which is flipping history on the head doing it in texas, too, where the texas legislature is enacting social conservative rulings that could have an impact on the way that businesses want or able to operate in texas texas is a booming state but the republican party could be about to hold the state back economically just because businesses don't like the intervention business don't expect the republican party to intervene in the way they do business in the way that the republican party of today seems to be doing. >> the book bans the fight with disney. the abortion ban this is governor ron desantis seemingly embracing policies and positions to shrink the

electorate sinks in the polls trump opened up the lead meanwhile ignored issues like the flooding in ft. lauderdale never appeared never visited the site. >> the 11:00 p.m. tweet about the six-week abortion ban. it is an interesting tactic for someone with a book and has gone to new hampshire and, you know, seemingly wanting to run for president. again, possibly it appears to be a losing proposition. cominging up on "morning joe" - >> little miss addy who is 2 and branch, they have brought us so much joy addy who soon will need them i want to reassure you she has a shotgun and a rifle. and she's got a little pony named sparkles, too, so the girl is set up.

>> the next guest has thoughts on what the governor of south dakota told the nra over the weekend. straight ahead on "morning joe." *s easy-to-use tools like dynamic charting and risk-reward analysis help make trading feel effortless and its customizable scans with social sentiment help you find and unlock opportunities in the market with powerful, easy-to-use tools power e*trade makes complex trading easier react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity ♪ what is it about the first warm breeze of the season that makes you feel lighter than air? ♪ no matter where you are... when it crosses your path... you'll feel compelled to take to the road and see where it leads.

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the jury trial in dominion's lawsuit against fox news is expected to get underway later today. it was supposed to start yet but the judge delayed it without giving a specific reason two sources tell "the washington post" it was pushed back so both sides could talk about a settlement "wall street journal" which is owned by fox corporation chairman rupert reports the network made a late push to settle unless there's a last-minute deal jury selection will resume this morning following by opening statements the trial is expected to last about six weeks. >> we'll be watching that today.

george santos who admitted to fabricating nearly the entire background is running for re election tweeting in part this is about taking back our country and restoringing greatness back to new york. several law enforcement agencies announcing is one thing. winning is another the campaign had $25,000 in the account last month and nbc news reports the campaign raised $5,000 in the fist 3 months of the year and spent $8,000 competition for santos has reemerged. house speaker kevin mccarthy laughed when asked if he'll back the 2024 congressman saying,

quote, we'll wait and see who else files. >> i would say this guy doesn't know how to read a room except he has -- has he had any consequence? received any consequence to his mountain of lies >> not yet there are investigations house ethics committee have started there are criminal investigations fbi and local authoritying that he misled donors or campaign violations the fact that he is running again is remarkable referred to himself as jew-ish. >> gene, your new column in "the washington post" is entitled "clarence thomas' explanations fail the laugh test. you write, quote, in 1969 supreme court justice abe fortas

resigned after it was learned that he accepted and returned $20,000 from a wall street financier. thops accepted gifrts from crow worth many times that amount even accounting for inflation and failed to report them. and then there's all the money that ginni thomas has received from right wing organizations plus her involvement in the stop the steal putsch that led the capitol insurrection thomas doesn't believe in affirmative action or protecting voting rights though he benefited from both. he does believe in living the good life among millionaires and billionaires whose interests he happens to protect his mental image of thomas used to be him on the supreme court now i see him on vacation with

buddies laughing without a care in the world the joke is on us. so let's back up a little bit. this is a donor. talk about who mr. crow is and also why isn't there -- i know there might be an ethics investigation opened up into this but this seems like perhaps something that could -- i don't know -- expose the justice to being completely impaired coming able to make objective decisions. >> look. so we are talking about gifts that thomas accepted from harlan crow, a texas billionaire. the son of trammell crow who was once the biggest landlord in the country. a real estate empire harlan crow who has a big collection of hitler

memorabilia. let's not getinto that he gave lavish vacations including a $500,000 trip to indonesia. trips on the private jet, cruising island to island on a super yacht all expenses paid. plus many other vacations. nearly they go to a resort that he owns. >> and his mother house. >> right. >> he never reported a penny of these donations and then crow bought his mother's house and fixed it up. as far as we can tell let her live there represent free. we're not sure i take the comment as basically confirmation

he expects us to take seriously the tiny nuance of reading of the constitution and can't read a simple disclosure form and see the difference between hospitality which may be allowed and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars of private jet travel he is just laughing at us. >> wow. >> and there are really no rules, certainly no punishments for ethics as the supreme court which is also outrageous there's not a code really. there's a code that covers judges in general. they try to follow it. supposed to follow it. they didn't follow it. so what? what can anybody do to him short of impeachment and removal it could happen. but that won't happen.

the joke is on us. >> gene, talk about that code and why there suspect one. what's the reason for not having accountability there are codes to follow. certainly come to lavish vacations or a house renovated by someone with a conflict of interest why not the supreme court? what might change because of the disclosures? let's ask it anyway. >> yeah. much should change but i doubt that much will change. the supreme court has the view of congress and the president has been that the supreme court basically gets to govern itself and set the rules and the supreme court never has set any sort of really binding rules on ethics and refuses to do so. i don't think it will.

chief justice roberts has not commented really on this he can't love it he can't love the scandal that the court has been dragged into but there is very little to do to him what can he do the chief justice is first among equals but each justice is a sovereign country almost at the court and not much anybody can do you would think that the supreme court of the united states would care about having an ethics code and perceived as cleaner than caesar's wife but they don't i don't think that will change. republican asa hutchinson is poised to jump into the 2024

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we just learned president biden spoke yesterday with the black teenager shot by an 85-year-old white man after the teenager rang the wrong doorbell prosecutors now have charged the homeowner with two counts and addeded that there is a quote racial component to the shooting maggie ves pa has more >> reporter: after days of protests demanding justice the kansas city homeowner who family say shot 16-year-old ralph yarl twice for ringing the wrong doorbell faces criminal charges. >> i can assure you that the criminal justice system is working and will continue to work as with any serious case, we approached this one in an objective, impartial manner. >> he has the times where he's

like, why? i did nothing wrong, why >> reporter: dr. faith spoonmore says her nephew was trying to pick up his younger twin brothers from a friend's house thursday night when he mistakenly went to the wrong home civil rights attorney lee merritt says ralph rang the doorbell and waited. >> and he was confronted by a man who told him don't come back around here. and then he immediately fired his weapon, striking mr. yarl in the head he went to the ground, and then he was shot a second time. >> reporter: merritt adding ralph was able to run for help after being shot and says ralph knocked on multiple doors before a neighbor answered and ordered the boy to lie on the ground and put his hands up >> ralph decided to comply and essentially lose consciousness after that, which is what allowed him to get medical treatment. >> reporter: the shooting sparking outrage on social media. hollywood heavyweights like viola davis and halle berry demanding charges. fueling that fury, police taking the homeowner into custody and 24 hours later, they say, releasing them without charges prosecutors now say the charges

followed a thorough review of the case police put together >> as the prosecutor of clay county i can tell you there was a racial component to the case >> reporter: they add the felony charges filed against andrew lester carry a potential sentence of up to life in prison a warrant issued immediately for the 85-year-old's arrest >> it's been my goal from the very beginning to get justice for the child involved in the case >> reporter: family says ralph a marching band standout with dreams of studying chemical engineering, is healing. >> he's alive. i think that's the biggest message that i want people to remember, is that he is alive. >> maggie ves pa reporting for us there the incredible, miraculous news is that he is home out of the hospital recovering alive as we heard there. >> what a nightmare. >> to knock on the wrong door by accident be shot in the head and then shot on the ground again and go look for help and toll to get on the ground and put the hands up. thank god he is alive. >> he is expected to make a full

recovery. >> what a trauma what a trauma. >> it is, you know -- he is adorable he is adorable it is heart breaking my heart goes out to that family but just this combination of just these old hatreds that we have in this country and then the guns that we have to just allow us to make these wrong and sometimes hateful split second decisions and make a life of a child. it is the nightmare of every parent, imsure, but also of every black american that they are or their children will be the victim of a split second decision made out of fear and bigotry and this is -- it is terrifying it is also scary from the perspective of thinking about

other people who door to door. postal workers campaign workers people who may be lost and need help it shouldn't be this way hearing that this child, this 16-year-old boy, was able to go for help and bleeding from the head told to get on his knees and put the hands up this is the origin of the black lives matter movement. the phrase really means black lives matter, too. now we see why this is necessary. it is heart breaking makes your stomach churn. >> the prosecutor said there's a racial component to this case and a guns issue last night in new york city an arrest of a 65-year-old man who fired out the window because a car pulled into the driveway why the guy fired.

shot and killed her. >> again, have a field hearing make it about guns make it about the reality of what's happening this is not a partisan statement. i look at the data looking at the stories we report it is at this point at boiling point. does anyone care on the republican side? coming up, the u.s. economy when netflix releases the earnings report with tesla right behind it. andrew ross sorkin joins us straight ahead on "morning joe." psych! and i'm about to steal this game from you just like i stole kelly carter in high school. you got no game dude, that's a foul! and now you're ready to settle the score. game over. and if you don't have the right home insurance coverage, well, you could end up paying for all this yourself. so get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem,

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she has a shotgun and she already has a rifle. and she's got a little pony, too, so the girl is set up. >> wow that's a governor of south dakota bragging about 2-year-old granddaughter owning guns. bold she is like here's a shotgun you are on watch tonight look i know liberals and conservatives don't agree on much but can we agree you cannot own a gun if you don't know how to poop in a potty >> i think that's fair that was jordan klepper guest hosting "the late show" and will be hosting all this week so you should watch he joins us now.

how are you? >> doing well. >> did you like the first day? >> it was great. i wanted to do something nice and easy breezy and dealt with gun carnage and clarence thomas destroying the credibility of the court. a day in america. >> it is, jonathan it is unbelievable the amount of material jordan has to work with. >> you could do a four-hour show some of us do. >> that is an insane choice. i don't know how you do it. >> he does five. >> let's talk about guns you bring a light touch to this on the show but up at the nra convention in indianapolis >> i was at the tulsa gun show a couple weeks before the nra convention we wanted to cover guns. at the gun show what blew my mind, one, seeing the loophole

in its glory people are exchanging guns in the parking lot. you start to engage with folks and started to see at the nra convention is this culture around guns around fear in a way that sadly we talked about last night with the most recent shooting that comes out of a place of fear and racism going to an nra convention and hear them talk about the bad guys it is the transgender community and the cannabis as donald trump said. that is something to talk about on the show is culture around guns creating a trigger happy populous. >> culture around guns. it's created such a trigger happy populace and tragedies occur daily. >> you had a conversation with

aoc about the revelations around supreme court justice clarence thomas not disclosing some income streams you talked to alexandria ocasio-cortez about that last night. let's listen. >> the justice is required by l law to disclose something like that, and he hasn't been. >> if somebody wanted to take you on a sweet vacation, wouldn't you say yes she invested in nazi memorabilia. >> that whole thing is just, i mean, bizarre. you also don't keep the linens around. >> which linens? the nazi linens? >> yeah. who does that. >> if you have a billion dollars and you've bought everything, you'd eventually get to the nazi

linens >> this is a distraction on the whole issue. >> can't billionaires have friends? >> they can. supreme court justices shouldn't be receiving money from people this is why we pay salaries to public servants. if they want to live that kind of lifestyle, they can resign from the court they can retire. >> pretty good >> i'm a big fan of yours. i think you said it here best. the undermining of the credibility of the court and the way you did it with your conversation interview with aoc is a very serious issue when you have a member of the court making decisions that will live for decades that can be compromised even aside from dealing with a guy who collects nazi stuff just the actual conflict of interest or potential conflict of interest is something that we

shouldn't be poo-pooing away. >> it's ludicrous. it doesn't pass the laugh test we already have a crisis of credibility with the court now it's to a ridiculous level where we as comedians have a hard time. i think what scares us is this next phase, the accountability phase. i think a working government would be able to address this in a way that you can restore credibility. what i'm starting to here right now is we're already doubting the availability of accountability in this culture >> with clarence thomas, add to that his wife and her texts to mark meadows my god, what are we supposed to think? potential conflict potential? no those are conflicts. those are not supposed to be happening for a supreme court justice. you also talked to congresswoman

alexandria ocasio-cortez about how new yorkers responded to former president trump being indicted in their city here's some of that. >> how do you think new yorkers treated former president trump >> i think they treated him like a florida man. he doesn't belong to us. he's not from queens anymore he's a citizen of mar-a-lago at this point. >> new yorkers treated him as such >> yeah. why wouldn't we? >> do you think people were weeping as he was booked, as he claims >> maybe george santos and marjorie taylor greene, but not me. >> is this in your district? >> it's in my district so is rikers we have to go in every single day watching people get treated far worse for doing far less it's like this red car neapet tt

gets rolled out. if you hurt one person, you get ten years in prison. if you hurt millions of people, you get your name on a building. >> the day the former president was arraigned here in lower manhattan, those protesting against him outnumbered those protesting on his behalf >> i got to get up close to george santos. >> what was that like? did you talk to him? >> i talked at him >> is that you talking about him right now? >> you see me there in the stylish ray-bans >> he did not respond? >> no. i was trying to get to the bottom of a few things one, his volleyball career there's a lot of lingering questions. this is what american journalism looks like >> you were like on his shoulders. >> yes >> you heard he's running for

reelection. >> he announced his reelection >> he's doubling down on that same thing shame is dead in america. >> it really is. why didn't he respond to you you were right there. >> i think i am a kind, lovely person george, if you ever want to talk, i'm hosting the show this week let's talk volleyball. >> you should have him on. >> come on, george come on "the daily show. george, i'm hosting for a couple more days. if you want to come on, we'll talk volleyball, whatever you want to talk we'll talk about the time you were a supreme court justice bring it to "the daily show. >> thank you we'll be watching. i hope you get him you can watch jordan talk to michigan governor gretchen whitner at 11:00 p.m. eastern tonight on comedy central.

congratulations for this week. >> thank you up next, ron desantis threatens to build a prison next to the happiest place on earth we'll have the latest on the florida governor's feud with disney as he ramps up for an expected run for president with a visit to the nation's capital today. plus, rei is pulling out of portland the specialty outdoor retailer citing an increase in crime in the decision to close its only store in the city. also ahead, new footage from the new year's day snowplow accident that left jeremy renner fighting for his life.

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♪ they want to prosecute donald trump let's get that son of a [ bleep ]. ♪ >> top of the hour welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." it is 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. katty kay, jonathan lemire and reverend al sharpton are with us we have a lot to get to this hour, including ron desantis

escalating his fight with disney by floating the idea of building a state prison right next door to the park. plus, bob hilliard is here with more about the republican 2024 presidential candidate who is not afraid to call out donald trump by name. and we're watching wall street this hour. the futures board is moving higher thanks to better than expected earnings reports from some major american companies. we begin in kansas city, missouri, where police have issued an arrest warrant for the man officials say shot a black teenager who rang his doorbell by mistake nbc news correspondent maggie vespa has the latest >> reporter: this morning, mounting calls for justice after a missouri teen was shot when he simply rang the wrong doorbell 84-year-old andrew lester, the kansas city homeowner who is

facing first degree assault and armed criminal action charges for allegedly shooting 16-year-old ralph yarl, who is black. his family says he accidently went to the wrong home and rang the bell. lester thought ralph yarl was attempting to break in and was, quote, scared to death. >> there was a racial component to the case. >> reporter: clay county prosecutor says yarl was shot through a glass door with a 32 revolver he also said don't come around here a civil rights attorney says yarl was shot twice, including once in the head after he was shot, running for help, knocking on multiple doors. >> the third neighbor gave him instructions to put his hands in the air and lione on the ground. >> reporter: celebrities posting

on social media demanding charges. president biden called yarl inviting him to the white house. relatives say yarl is a marching band bandstandout with dreams of attending texas a&m for engineering. >> he is a life. >> reverend al, if you can believe it, getting shot wasn't the worst. it kept getting worse. like, this young man runs to a neighbor's house for help, bleeding, and is forced to lay down. >> two neighbors rejected him. the third neighbor told him to lay down when you think of the fact that this man shot him and then when he was down shot him again i talked to attorney crump who's representing the family along

with lee merrick he was saying if his arm hadn't been there, it probably would have went right through his chest and probably killed him. it's a miracle he's alive. this is a young man, studious. bright future. i'm glad president biden called him. it reminds me of the 2012 case of trayvon martin, stand your ground that is probably going to be the defense this man uses as he's now charged that he had the right to stand his ground. that is why many of us oppose the stand your ground law, which george zimmer man got away with shooting and killing trayvon martin he was going to get his younger brothers and went to the wrong door. >> the suspect here shot through a door even if the perception was he thought he was in danger, that was door between him and the young man. he shot through the door

then after he fell down, shot him again. >> while he was own. this next story is about guns a man in upstate new york is accused of fatally shooting a 21-year-old woman after her friend pulled into the driveway of a home they mistakenly believed belonged to another friend the 65-year-old man is alleged to have fired at the car after the group realized they had pulled into the wrong driveway and they were just leaving officials say there appeared to be no interaction between the group and the man before the shots were fired the group never got out of the car. theman now faces charges of second degree murder a motive remains unclear what the hell is going on? this gun culture. >> firing from his house the people never got out of the car. they were backing up when the shots were inlunleashed.

guns are everywhere. >> guns are everywhere, shoot first, asking questions later, i'm going to take matters into my own hands and nobody's going to do anything about it. this guy was not even approached he's just shooting at someone who came in the driveway and that's justifiable i think we've got to deal with this whole culture in this country that you shoot and do what you want and the gun gives you power. >> then you wonder about the leadership in this country republicans holding field hearings in new york city trying to somehow intervene in a grand jury indictment of the former president when we have story after story of situations like this or daily or every other day

mass shootings. >> i mean, i think that hearing was an indication of why congress has such low approval ratings. it really was just about the show of it if you look at crime numbers in new york, they have come down since their peak during the covid period i was thinking about that young woman in new york state, kaylin. she'd be alive in any other western country. there is not an industrialized country in the world where that young woman would have died from a gunshot wound of somebody just shooting out of their house. ralph's parapherents were on television this morning. he's at home and everyone's thrilled he's at home because his mother is a nurse and his aunt is a phys physical therapist it's story after story about shootings in the united states it's out of control.

>> it absolutely is. let's turn now to politics and see where that stands, because we have florida governor ron desantis ramping up his fight against disney world even floating the idea of taunting them, i guess, of building a prison next to the theme park those comments come amid speculation the republican is going to formally announce his bid for president. nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez has the latest. >> reporter: this morning the ongoing feud between ron desantis and disney is intensifying. >> they're going to live under the same laws as everybody else. >> reporter: desantis says a new bill is in the works from the legislature to wrestle power from disney, the state's largest single-site employer he wants to revoke the company's self-inspection of rides and investigate potential safety hazards. the move comes after disney quietly managed to prevent a

state board from taking control of a special tax district which essentially allows the company self-rule in florida. >> this is a sham agreement. >> reporter: the clash started last year when disney opposed the don't say gay bill that bans classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in didnkindergarten thh third grade. >> maybe try to do more amusement parks. someone even said maybe you need another state prison who knows? >> reporter: the new political brawl comes as desantis ramps up his travel nationwide ahead of a possible presidential run. >> we have made florida the state where woke goes to die. >> reporter: but his poll numbers are dropping after sustained attacks from donald trump. >> ron desis being crushed in t

polls, all of them. >> reporter: desantis's political team has reached out to members of florida's congressional delegation to keep them from endorsing the former president. this week a super pac supporting desantis is out with a seven-figure ad buy even though he's not yet formally in the race nine congressional republicans are set to host governor desantis for a meet and greet in washington, d.c. this evening. for more on this, let's bring in senior writer for the dispatch, david drucker. what can we expect >> i think you're going to find a lot of congressional republicans kicking the tires and trying to figure out what they think of the governor and what they want to do interestingly enough, not all of the nine cohosting the governor at this event which is on capitol hill, not in the capitol building but adjacent here in the neighborhood not all of them are endorsing

him. chip roy and thomas massey endorsed him early the rest have not commented on their level of support or told the dispatch they are not endorsing, they're simply cohosting him for this event when you're dealing with members of congress, particularly as they look ahead to republican primaries next year in the era of donald trump, you don't want to get yourself on the wrong side ofthings even though privately so many of them would like the party to move on from trump. you're going to see a lot of wait and see, trying to figure out if the governor's going to get in, let's see how well he does i think you will see some more congressional republicans get behind governor desantis for the time being, donald trump really is the candidate of the republican establishment >> that was my question. is the powder being kept dry for donald trump or for other options? in terms of ron desantis, even

recently it was revealed a donor is holding back, just not sure about him. >> look, donors are very sensitive. they have itchy trigger fingers. they look at a poll that goes this way, they're going to support you. obviously there are lots of donors and congressional republicans, a lot of members of the institutional part of the party that do not think donald trump can win a general election in 2024. at least they think his chances are not that great when you look back at what happened in 2022, 2020 and 2018. they do not want to get into a fight that they think has a realistic chance of a positive outcome. i think they are watching how the governor performs. i think they want to see him get into the race and see how he performs as an actual candidate. i don't think you're going to know how this plays out until, one, we see him get in, two, he

takes on the former president head on and, three, is he any good at it when i talk to republican operatives, can he do it in a way that is effective, that appeals to voters? that really is the whole ball game it's true for any other candidate. >> is he a political athlete is the question that still remains to be seen with ron desantis, who sometimes has kind of a stiff persona, doesn't seem to connect as much. we shall see there is time. a recent piece for the bulwark argues that donald trump will have a hard time drumming up enthusiasm in key states quote, there is little interest at this early date in trump's antics and his angry insistence that his legal prosecution is really a political persecution mainly there's silence, a telling silence.

think about what we saw on the day of trump's arraignment last week there were protests and counter protestst as around the courtho in new york city this is not to say the extremists on both sides of the aisle are not out there, but the public in general is tired barring some fundamental transformation of the race, trump will likely find it an ordeal to get back anything like the kind of enthusiasm he used to enjoy he has a lot of legal cases he's dealing with as well one republican who's hoping that is the case is former arkansas governor asa hutchinson. he's set to officially announce a bid for the white house next week he's the only republican candidate so far who has shown a willingness to take on former president trump by name.

vaughn hillyard spoke exclusively with the former governor how did it go? >> larry hogan is not in the race liz cheney is not in the race. these anti-trump republicans who want to try to fill that lane have opted not to partake in this presidential contest. i sat down with asa hutchinson he said at one point i considered going soft to not alienate those voters. but now he says you can't beat donald trump by not attacking him directly take a look. >> reporter: this man is a republican taking on donald trump. >> i'm running for president because we need a course correction in the republican party. >> reporter: this is asa hutchinson, a former congressman, a former bush administration official and most recently the two-term governor of arkansas. how are you going to do this >> it's going to take a lot of

shoe leather we're going to have to go to small venues and visit with people about the issues. >> reporter: we spent the day in iowa with hutchinson, his first trip to the state since filing his paperwork to win the republican nomination for president. he intends to make this campaign very different than mr. trump's. one focused on traveling town to town. >> i'd like to have one of those mushrooms there and that new york strip this looks like a brussel sprouts guy to me. >> reporter: why does the party need to move on? >> because donald trump has taken us back to bitterness. he's taken us back to what's a personal vendetta. when you look at what he wants to do as president, it's more about getting even with his political enemies than leading our country. that concerns me >> reporter: what evidence or data have you seen that would

suggest that you can win this nomination >> well, history whenever you look at the history of front runners, it's not too good. >> reporter: here in iowa this front runner has 80% favorability among iowa republicans. how do you make that not reality? >> you get in there and you make your case. sure, i will concede this is a challenge. >> reporter: ron desantis and donald trump have really played to these ideas of cultural fights in the republican party we've seen it galvanize a primary electorate to what extent do you fear it alienates a part of the general electorate you would need to win the presidency >> i think you have to be careful about using the same tools the left uses. do we want the conservative government to tell businesses what you can and can't do or what you can't speak out on and not speak out on

>> you went there. >> this is a guy who graduated from bob jones university. he was the chairman of the arkansas republican party during the bill clinton years he is a lifelong social conservative there is nobody that is going to question his republican credentials. he said despite chairing donald trump's 2016 campaign, this is a moment in time coming after january 6th that the republican party needs to move in a different direction and he says he is going to make that case to the voters he has an uphill battle. 80% of iowans still view donald trump favorably. >> i think it's going to be hard for any republican that is classified as a reagan era republican one of the advantages some of the newer candidates have if they're willing to take on the former president head on aggressively is that he's not going to be able to dismiss them as a part of the old guard that

is where the party used to be. i think one of the ways that you're successful against trump is to say that you're fresh and new. in fact, if you look at the former president himself, he is no longer the ultimate change agent. he's a strong front runner he's not going to fade on his own. he's been now the leader of the republican party for almost eight years. tha everything that he does, none of it is surprising some of it has worn thin the wbest way you make the case is saying i am a change agent. whether democrats or voters, voters tend to like change i think you're better off making that case than a restoration case in a republican primary >> david drucker, thank you so much for your insights this

morning. rev al, to david's point, yeah, you want to be a change agent. also maybe i'm not your retribution. >> the other thing i'm thinking about when i look at asa and for that matter governor desantis, mike tyson said everybody has a plan until you get punched what happens when trump goes after these guys because trump is a real vicious fighter. do you feel he has the stomach to take that kind of combat. he seems like a dignified nice guy. can he take the punches trump is going to throw at him, which are going to be below the belt >> he went to the nra convention on friday and made a mention about taking the party in a new direction. there were some folks in the crowd who yelled his way and

booed. this is somebody who knows exactly what he's getting into he's been involved in politics for decades now. last year he vetoed as governor the gender affirming care bill the republican legislature put in front of him because he said it went too far. he believes that parents' rights mean those sensitive conversations should be left to the parents. he was willing to take on republicans as governor of arkansas if he's willing to take on donald trump, we'll have to see what that looks like on the debate stage he is no ron desantis. he is no nikki haley >> vaughn hillyard, thank you so much for that report let's get to wall street, which is focused on bank earnings this morning. bank of america reported first quarter earnings and revenues that topped expectations while goldman sachs beat expectations on earnings but revenue fell short. let's bring in andrew ross

so sorkin >> it's a bit of a larger story. maybe you should focus less on bank of america and more on goldman sachs. that stock is taking a big hit today because of to some degree what we saw at svb that failed what's happened here is you have a lot of banks doing something called holding to maturity this idea they will find treasuries and keeping them on their books even though they weren't necessarily, quote, marking them to market meaning they would buy a treasury that was going to pay them whatever the percentage was going to be, but they didn't have to mark it down or up because they were going to hold it until they were going to get paid maybe ten years later as a result goldman sachs sold

part of that business at a loss. that happened at svb we've seen it across the board there's real concerns in the banking business we're going to see more of that. >> that along with big businesses delaying the hiring of new employees. >> this is a fascinating story you have bane and mckinsey hiring a slew of kids out of business school every year they typically pay them something on the order of $175,000 but given where the economy is, they're saying to a lot of people they've given job offers to, you know what, don't show up take six months off and we will pay you to take the six months off, in some cases $40,000 if you go learn a new language. we'll pay you $20,000 if you go on a safari. there's a move afoot to try to slow down some of these new

jobs. >> this is going to feed into a mindset that we're struggling with a little bit. i'm going to say that carefully. i actually support the changing hybrid workplace i support it, but there is a mindset that that's not going to help with. >> would you take 40 grand to go learn a new language >> sure. or safari sounded pretty good too. house speaker kevin mccarthy used the stock exchange for the backdrop for his speech on the debt ceiling and where he sees the gop fiscal plan. what was the reaction to mccarthy there >> look, i think the reaction was there's a lot of folks in the investment community that do want some kind of control, if you will, of the budget.

i don't think anybody likes this sort of hostage taking situation that's happening here, though. i think everybody desperately wants this debt ceiling issue to be voted on and to be rid of over the years i think we've become complacent about this because there's a sense we've seen this movie before it goes to 11:59 and however many seconds and then invariably they vote in favor of allowing the debt ceiling to increase is this time different i think that is the big question i don't think we know the answer just yet we talk to hakeem jeffries this morning. i think part of the issue is you have democrats on one side desperate for a clean bill, and kevin mccarthy on the other side who wants something else i don't know where we're going to land. i have to imagine that the debt ceiling will be increased, but it may come with some strings

attached coming up on "morning joe," the state of montana is one signature away from a full ban of tiktok. what it means for users of the wildly popular app plus, the ambitious new plan to fight homelessness in los angeles that comes with a billion dollar price tag we'll be joined by one of the thousands of women in florida impacted by the state'sts rict new abortion ban she'll share her deeply personal story with us ahead. dude, that's a foul! and now you're ready to settle the score. and if you don't have the right home insurance coverage, well you could end up paying for all this yourself. so get allstate.

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members of the writers guild of america have overwhelmingly approved a potential strike. union leaders say they will call for a work stoppage if they can't reach a deal on a new film and tv contract by the beginning

of next month. workers want higher pay and better health and pension plans. a strike would disrupt hollywood production and have a negative impact on southern california's economy. t the mayor of los angeles is seeking a record $1.3 billion to help the city's homeless crisis. democratic mayor karen bass announced during her first state of the city address on monday that she would recommend the spending to be included in the city's upcoming budget the money would be used to buy hotels and convert them into housing. the mayor also wants to increase the number of substance abuse treatment beds for people who are homeless about 40,000 people in los angeles do not have a home and half of them struggle with drug or alcohol addiction the outdoor retail chain rei is closing its only store in portland, oregon, due to an increase in crime. the company says it's store in

the pearl district saw its highest number of break-ins and theft in the last two decades despite efforts to increase security rei now says it's looking at opening a new store in another part of the city the pearl district location has been around for nearly 20 years. montana is now the first state to pass a bill making it illegal to download tiktok lawmakers say the app shares users' data with the chinese government ga >> reporter: montana tiktokers saying they're not happy about their app being banned. >> it's dumb and ludicrous for the state of montana to ban tiktok. >> if it's such a huge threat to our national security, we need to know exactly what that threat is >> reporter: the bill's sponsor says the threat from china is clear and she hopes to send a message to washington. >> after years of investigative

reporting, we now know this to be true. tiktok endangered the safety of montanans and americans at large. >> reporter: the bill backed by the gop controlled legislature would go further penalizing mobile app stores or tiktok up to $10,000 a day it does not apply to individual tiktok users and wouldn't take effect until january 2024. small business owners who depend on the app for marketing say they don't like the idea. >> i would say trying to ban tiktok is sort of censorship. >> reporter: a spokesperson for tiktok called the bill egregious government overreach and said the issue will be decided in court, adding the bill's champions have admitted they have no plan for opera operationalizing this plan to

sensor american voices testifying before congress last month tiktok's ceo said parent company bytedance is not controlled by the chinese government. >> has bytedance spied on american citizens? >> i don't think that spying is the right way to describe it. >> reporter: the white house has given the company an ultimatum, sell the app or face a ban in the u.s. until then, legislatures in this deep red state say tiktok represents an espionage threat more significant than any balloon. >> whatever information the balloon gathered certainly fell short of china's other surveillance tool, tiktok. >> gadi schwartz with that report still ahead, our next guest is an example of why abortion is an essential component of women's health care. we'll be joined by a mother from florida who was forced to give

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legislation that limits or bans abortions is passed. we don't often hear from the women and their families whose lives are directly impacted by these restrictive laws this morning, we have one of those women from florida joining us to share her deeply personal story. debra doorbert learned she was pregnant last august, but 23 weeks into what seemed to be a normal pregnancy just before thanksgiving an ultrasound revealed the baby suffered from a lethal condition called potter syndrome babies with potter syndrome often die before they're born or suffocate within minutes or hours after birth. after agonizing over what to do, debra and her family made the extremely difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy.

her doctors refused, fearful they would run afoul of florida's 15-week abortion ban governor ron desantis signed a bill moving that law to six weeks. debra's caregiver was so frustrated with the situation he spoke out on social media. >> i have a patient who's 32 weeks pregnant who found out back in november her fetus is not going to survive there are no developing bladder orc kidneys because of the new florida abortion laws that have been passed by the republicans here, she has to carry this baby to term, which is at least 37 weeks. now there is no doctor willing to terminate this pregnancy because of the laws that are here and a concern that the government could come after a physician. >> without any other feasible options, debra was forced to

carry the pregnancy to term, delivering the baby who died shortly after birth. debra joins us now along with her husband lee. also with us, debra's primary care physician who you saw in that video dr. david berger. thank you all for joining us debra, i know this is very hard and i appreciate your helping us unde understand i'd like to bring you back to the decision to terminate. can you explain why that made the most sense given your situation? >> it wasn't an easy choice to make, but just the mental and physical pain i was going to have to endure with the pregnancy, that's kind of why we decided to go ahead and

terminate. pregnancy isn't easy as it is. so knowing that wherever i got induced or went to full term, the baby would pass after birth. so we decided to go ahead and terminate the pregnancy. i ended up having to go to full term. >> if you could tell us about that, the experience of having to go to full term with a baby that you knew would not survive and what your reaction was when you heard that you didn't have the option to take care of yourself and perhaps lessen the pain of the baby. >> we found out right before christmas. it was very heartbreaking because i knew the next couple

of months was not going to be easy, both mentally and physically i dealt with a lot of and still deal with a lot of depression and anxiety and just the physical pain through the pregnancy because there was no am an any ot tick fluid the baby was pushing my ribs and l ligaments. this was very painful. obviously i can't take any medicine because i still am pregnant so i fell down into a deep depression and just was in pain all the time >> lee, tell me your reaction when you also realized your wife didn't have the options that one would think she would have in a

situation like this and what it was like to watch her go through this pain. and you all have another child as well that you have to explain the situation to >> correct the first emotion is, of course, anger that we don't have this ability to make this decision for what was best for our family, not only for her, but what was best for our son to sit and watch her belly grow and expect a sibling and not understand that baby is not coming home. and then also it's just a part of healing obviously we were wanting a second child we were wanting my son to have a

sibling to grow up with. being able to terminate was being able to start the healing process to possibly be able to start to have another child. now because of the stress of thispregnancy on her and on he body and the uterus, her doctor is now telling us that we should be waiting almost another year before we even try again so her body can heal before we start this process i was very angry at first knowing that we didn't have the ability to make the decision for ourselves and what was best for us i very quickly had to turn that into focusing on the positive for my son, for my wife and also for our baby as well trying to provide as much love as we could

for that child >> i know that experience that you all went through, having the baby, is too hard to talk about, which is completely understandable we reached out to the hospital that you went to for a response. we didn't hear back. but a spokesman for the lakeland regional health hospital syste did provide a statement to the "washington post" when it reached out for comment. they declined to discuss debra's case specifically or how it is interpreting the new law the spokesman's statement reads in part, lakeland regional health complies with all laws in the state of florida

dr. berger, i don't know how you even help a patient in a situation like this when you cannot give the woman the health care she needs what do people need to know about terminating a pregnancy and all of the different components that go into why this procedure is necessary for a woman's health and well-being. >> yeah. good morning obviously we've talked a lot about should the government be involved in a decision between a patient and her doctor in the first place. because we were doing a follow-up appointment as part of our annual, at first when she told me i was pregnant, i didn't realize all this was going on. this was at 31 weeks quickly the conversation turned from how can i support your pregnancy to how can i support you. because of the platform i cohave on social media i asked her if she wanted to be public to this

story to have other people knowing about this going on and perhaps people can rally around this so really that's why i brought it forth, because this is happening around the country there's another case in texas going on where a baby's brain is not developing and has no chance of survival. this is happening to people all over the place the unintended consequences of these types of restrictive bills, i'm sure the legislators never thought this would happen, but it's happened. >> debra, i want to give the final word to you. what would you like to say to republican lawmakers creating these laws that kept you from having the options that you desperately needed >> i just feel that politicians should stay out of health care and let the doctors practice and

treat their patients that's kind of how i feel because i feel like i didn't get the health care that i needed for this pregnancy i had some great doctors that helped me get through it, but they still weren't able to practice and treat me right away like i needed. >> debra and lee dorbert, thank you both we'll be praying for you thank you for sharing this dramatic story with us dr. david berger, thank you as well for being a voice for women's health really appreciate it >> thank you republicans, maybe especially republican men, just want to spell it out, if that didn't worry you, abortion isn't just terminating a normal pregnancy it isn't just someone who had sex without protection and wants to casually get rid of the

problem, as much as republicans would like you to think that as you just saw, that's not what abortion is all about. not even close i can't believe that we have to still spell it out graphically, but it seems that republicans want to hide behind the old overused stigma about a decision to terminate a pregnancy there are women who have been raped, there are girls who have been raped, who will be forced to carry babies to term. there are women who could die within days or hours due to pregnancy complications if they cannot terminate they might have been hemorrhaging, as the placentia starts to separate from the uterus yes, we're going to talk about it graphically or a woman could become septic, a woman could have an infection in her uterus that spreads, causing organ failure. a woman could have a blood clot

in her lungs where a pregnancy makes it worse and she dies of heart failure. there are pregnancy-related complications that often leave the woman and the men in her life to feel that abortion is the only option. what about preeclam psiareeclam ectopic pregnancy. are you saying she should die? what if this was your wife or your daughter? these tragic scenarios can happen to all women, a termination of a fetus that won't survive saves a woman's life and saves her from months of having to carry the baby to term and the mental health complications and the trauma of watching their baby die. many republicans want you to believe that abortion is a lazy woman's option to kill a baby rather than nurture it to life, a sin. the reality is that women are

already experiencing the ramifications as you just saw of roe being overturned there are women right now with unviable babies growing in their bellies who cannot get the termination they need to save their lives and end their pain just like we see in the response to one mass shooting after another, republicans are playing a game that they will ultimately lose in the long run, they will lose elections. in the short one, there will be a moment, possibly when a woman they love needs healthcare and she won't be able to get it because of their extreme contrived condescending short-sighted version of what it means to have an abortion. i hate that they will have to learn the hard way about the damage they are causing women across the country and their families, it seems like we shouldn't have to spell it out

in 2023. but here we are. let's bring in co-founder and ceo of all in together, lauren leader and katy kay is still with us for the conversation that interview, my god, i'm at a loss of words. >> first of all, incredibly courageous of them to speak out publicly about something so painful and incredibly courageous of this show to take on this conversation and all the things you just said, mika we can't look away we need americans to understand the implications of this and we're just starting to understand them because as the months tick by, following the horrific decision last year to overturn roe v. wade, we're starting to understand the very real consequences and she couldn't have said it better at the end. how could lawmakers possibly be qualified? >> they were scared to leave florida, they were scared about these laws, these are, you know, human beings that are just trying to get through. >> in the middle of a medical crisis to say women are supposed

to get in a car or on a plane, that's not viable. >> they don't have the money. >> even if you do have the money, you put your health at risk to do that. this is why -- this is why my mother and all the women of her generation fought their entire adult lives for roe v. wade, because they understood the real life implications of government involvement in healthcare, and the devastating consequences on women's lives. you cannot legislate women's healthcare when it is this complicated, those are the consequences there are thousands more women living through the same kind of thing like the dorberts. >> and the stories are only going to grow more common as we see more and more states across this country pass legislation that it is going to make -- put more families like that one, that brave one we just heard, in this exact same dire situation. >> yeah, and it is good that we tell the stories of these women just last week how she also in florida, "the washington post" had a big investigative piece

about two women who had terrible complications with their pregnancies, and just like deborah, they couldn't get the treatment they needed, one of them ended up delivering a fetus in a bathroom because she couldn't get help in a hospital. it is just -- this is -- i don't know when the supreme court was going through this they had conversations about all of the other types of circumstances of which, you know, mika, you laid them out so well, when women need medical help, they need abortions. it is the same treatment the dnc used in an abortion is the same treatment that is used to terminate a pregnancy where there is a fetal inviability and i don't think that was even discussed by the supreme court if republicans have been blind sided by this, they don't seem to be doing much to try and stop the rollback of these rules, you know in florida we have spoken to one woman, there is a case of two other women and the changes in the law are still going ahead. >> right i mean, and the consequences just continue. the other piece of this, right, which we have talked about a

ww bit, is the religious liberties side of this in jewish law, by jewish law, the life of the mother must be prioritized and in fact judaism doesn't recognize life before birth and there are religious freedom cases being brought in the state of florida by jewish women who feel that the abortion law is a violation of their religious freedom. the layers of this, the numbers of sort of litigation, but, you know, it feels like a moral issue, like, how do we justify the morally the suffering that is being inflicted on all these families >> i don't think you can and i think that more and more faith leaders are standing up for courage for saying that. i think we have to say that this should not be fought by women alone. i think one of the things that was so compelling about this morning was the strength of that woman and her husband to stand there with her men need to stand up and say, i'm standing by my wife, my

woman, my daughter, whatever, having the courage to do this, and it is bad enough they have to suffer this it is worse if they have to do it alone where are the real men because she did not get pregnant alone so, let's stand up and be real men. >> where are they? totally agree. >> it is true. and this is -- we often talk about on this show abortion is a political issue. this is such a human story and, mika, just, again, the bravery of that family. >> amazing co-founder and ceo of all in together, lauren leader, thank you for being on this morning. that does it for us this morning. ana cabrera picks up the coverage in two minutes. starting a new chapter can be the most thrilling thing in the world. there's an abundance of reasons to get started. how far we take an idea

is a question of willpower. because progress... is a matter of character.

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