>> the deadline could be sooner than we thought. the clock is tickming. we'll somewhere coverage of this on "morning joe. we'll have andrew ross sorkin and speak with press secretary jean-pierre about it thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning "morning joe" starts right now. fox news is out a whole lot of money, but they're not telling their viewers any of that they don't have to because the settlement does not force them to own up to the damage they did to our country or apologize on their network. so -- [ audience booing ] >> we feel the same way. we decided to make them do it on our network. jim? >> before we go, we want to say. >> we're sorry. >> to dominion. >> and the american people. >> we at fox news. >> lied to you. >> about the 2020 election. >> repeatedly and consistent ly

>> we admit we are guilty. >> of amplifying the voices. >> insane people like this guy. >> hello, i'm mike lindell. >> a guy like this is given a platform. >> we want to make sure. >> when you're watching fox news. >> it'll make you dumber. >> my slippers are back in stock. >> take us off teltelevision. >> before we allow these crooks to turn. >> our country into a. >> dump, a big, massive dump >> we've done our part >> the context of -- >> that is probably -- >> -- the big massive dump what was trump talking about what's that i'm curious about. >> keep it here. probably as close as we'll get to an apology from fox news. in fact, the network put out a defiant statement on another defamation lawsuit it is facing for airing false claims about election fraud we'll have much more on that in a moment plus, the supreme court delays a decision on the abortion pill. we'll take you through what's

next in the very consequential case plus, more brazen acts of gun violence in america. this time, in maine. a man just released from prison went on a deadly shooting spree. for the third time in a week at least, a simple mistake led to a shooting this time in texas a cheerleader is in the icu after a man opened fire on her and her friends when they approached the wrong car the wrong house, the wrong car good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, april 20th along with joe, willie and me, we have the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire we have former u.s. attorney, now msnbc legal analyst, joyce vance. and the host of msnbc's "inside with jen psaki," jen psaki she's former white house press secretary. great group this morning. >> huge show. >> lot to get to. >> huge show a lot of news. >> it's massive.

>> yeah. >> by the way, willie, i don't know if you saw, but, i mean, look, mika. >> what? >> just all over twitter. >> why no, i'm not. >> no, all over. >> i retweeted some of your tweets from poland they were amazing. >> you're trending all over twitter, and twitter is all over you. >> i think i know what you're talking about. >> let me just say, does willie know what i'm talking about? >> i -- >> the $12 tank top she's wearing right now. >> oh. >> what do you call it, cami >> personal is the word, but it's true. >> $12 tank top on twitter >> i think it was less than $12. >> purchased it on twitter or they're talking about it on twitter? >> i made a purchase on twitter, and i'm worried all my information is, like, going to the chinese. you know what? i got the greatest deal. >> you can get great deals on twitter. >> where did you pick that up, for the viewers? you're not a paid spokesperson, but might be worth sharing. >> i don't remember. i don't remember they were, like, the right

thing. they showed up, and it was the right cami you shouldn't talk about camis on air. >> willie, she just -- the things that come in from instagram. it'll be, like, what's that? she'll go, that's a $7.95 tire for your car >> i did. >> i got it on insta. >> by the way, speaking of great deals, we noticed in the colbert clip, mr. pillow is now selling a cozy slipper. >> i want that. >> very exciting. >> the brand is expanding. >> soon to be called the dominion slippers. coming up shortly. >> probably. >> let's get them while you can. >> i know. they do look so comfortable. for some reason, i never have slippers, but i'm all about a good pair of slippers. if mr. pillow is making slippers, listen, i can do two things at once i can be comfortable walking around my house, and i can undermine american democracy >> oh, my gosh. >> two things at once.

>> i will not be buying from mr. pillow. >> as far as the reece cup commercials go, two great tastes that go great together, right? >> let's get to the top story. >> oh, okay. fox news doubling down on the defense that airing false claims about election fraud were, quote, newsworthy. it comes in response to a defamation lawsuit from smartmatic the company is suie ing fox for $2.7 billion in damages, accusing the network of spreading false claims t that the company helped rig the 2020 election for joe biden. here are a few examples. >> we now have reams and reams of actual documents from sm smartmatic and dominion, including evidence that they planned and executed all of this >> presidents, lawyers alleging a company called dominion, which they say started in venezuela

with cuban money and with the assistance of smartmatic software, a back door is capable of flipping votes. >> they were being notified by smartmatic in frankfurt, that biden was way behind and they'd better come up with a lot more ballots. we can prove every single thing i just said. >> whoa. >> wait, frankfurt is frankfurt, what, in venezuela now? >> that's amazing. >> germany i'm confused willie, you look at these people, and you look at the entire situation a lot of those people that are talking there, most likely, if you just look at where all of this is going, they're going to end up bankrupt, disbarred, destroyed, simply because they followed donald trump's orders after the 2020 election about lying about american democracy again, gravity returns there is a price to the lies a lot of those people talking there, you know, they're not going to be protected by fox

news they're going to be up there on their own. i would be shocked if they didn't have to declare bankruptcy. >> you're right. we just saw the judgment for dominion against fox news. dominion is also suing sidney powell, the first person in that clip, and rudy giuliani, the last person we saw in that clip. we saw how that went for fox i think you're absolutely right about that another point to make, rudy giuliani ended that comment by saying, "we have the evidence to prove it." well, when given the chance to prove it in a court of law, he refused. he would make these claims on tv, then they'd say, "okay, what's the charge? "well, i'm not alleging anything," and wouldn't bring it to trial in a courtroom. it was easy things to say on tv to get people riled up when push came to shove, they wouldn't get into a court of law. meanwhile, fox remains full of bravado and defiant, despite what happened with dominion yesterday. fox news put out a statement quote, we will be ready to

defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial talking about the senmartmatic case, likely there 2025. as a report shows, claims are disconnected from reality and, on its face, intended to chill first amendment freedoms, end quote. the network used similar language for the dominion suit, which fox settled on tuesday after the settlement was announced, smartmatic attorney released a statement writing, in large, the litigation exposed the misconduct and damage caused by fox's disinformation campaign smartmatic will expose the rest. joe, you might expect maybe a sliver of humility after the judgment against fox now, really coming out strongly and saying, "we will fight this smartmatic thing to the end. they think they're in the right, despite the clip we just played. >> you wonder what the board members are thinking you wonder what shareholders are

thinking this is disastrous j joyce, i want to go to you let's just remove this from fox news let's even remove this from being about people lying about elections to try to overthrow elections. let's just talk about basic negotiating strategy you could -- i often quote my torts professor from my first year, professor pearson, who said, you should have seen that coming like a freight train out of the mist. slow motion, coming right at you. this has all been so predictable. they had no case they were never going to let rupert murdoch or tucker carlson testify on the stand they were always going to settle but they let all the damage be dee done to their hosts, to their company brand, then they still had to pay about $800 million. so you just sit there wondering,

how is this handled so badly now, we get to smartmatic. if i'm a lawyer for -- oh, by the way, i said this yesterday, joyce, we were over steve rattner, ari emmanuel, myself and others were commemorating the 80th anniversary of the warsaw uprising. after a moving event, we were at dinner and this came up. we all, to a person, said, "oh, this will never go to the jury they'll settle." the three of us around the table all said, "it is going to settle between $700 million and $800 million. >> wow i say th i. >> i say that no to say we're smart, but every lawyer in america knew this, any who has ever been in litigation. here's the thing, joyce, they've proven they're willing to pay $800 million did not have their brand completely destroyed by having their hosts get up on stand, get cross-examined and be destroyed reputationally

they're not letting rupert murdoch get on the stand they're willing to pay 800 you know where i'm going if i'm the lawyer for smartmatic, i'm sitting back saying, listen, "here's the deal you've already paid $800 million. we're going to require more. you have to give us $1.2, maybe $1.5 billion, or else you've already wasted $800 million. that $800 million is going to go up in smoke because we're still going to get all your hosts and rupert murdoch up on the stand this doesn't change anything they've only delayed even more pain the question, of course, is, why six months ago didn't the lawyers sit down and say, "okay, we're going to do a universal settlement, but smartmatic and dominion, you go in the room figure out how much we need to pay, both of you, to make this go away. if you don't come up with a number, we're going to go and destroy the company before we settle with you.

they would have been able to get a settlement then. now, they've just delayed it they're going to get hit again with another $800 $1 billion. you sit here wondering, who is in charge of legal strat segy or there? >> your global settlement proposal would have been an awfully smart approach because from the point that fox puts rupert murdoch up for a deposition, nothing good can happen in this case. really, the only issue is how much fox has to pay to make it go away and to make the pain stop with the drip, drip, drip of internal information. so i read smartmatic lawyers and the company's statemen yesterday, where they talked about what they would do t. they'd complete the job dominion did. that's their opening bid in these damage negotiations. again, the only issue is how much money will fox end up paying it seems like a difficult strategy for a company that

really had no legal defenses the judge, you'll recall, had already ruled that the jury didn't have to even consider whether fox was lying to its viewers. the judge decided as a matter of law that that was the case the only real question left open was whether fox knew or recklessly disregarded the truth. the evidence got worse andwors in that regard in the days approaching trial. smartmatic is now the beneficiary of all that evidence, and it seems very unlikely we'll ever see any trials take place in this matter >> you know, willie, the thing is, you know, maybe fox is thinking the judge is better, the jurisdiction is better i don't think it is. you still have unlimited punitive damages, i believe, in new york state maybe they draw a better judge, but the facts are still so damning. they'll still lose in the end, the defamation suit. you've got all the internal

texts and email messages, which, you know, it's like, that's how big tobacco was taken down that's how huge pharmaceutical companies get taken down, because you have all the admissions in texts and emails that's what has happened here. what i'm talking about as far as this global settlement that they should have done six months ago, i mean, that's not an original idea every legal counsel for every business in america would have approached it this way again, the question is, what's the board thinking what are the shareholders thinking like, this strategy, and i have to ask, what are the fox news hosts thinking wait, you got all our texts out there. you just paid $800 million we're still not out of the woods yet! we've got another -- we're going

to have more depositions, more interrogatories, more discovery, more news. who is running this place, is what they have to be asking themselves because things haven't gotten better for fox over the past two days their exposure hasn't been lessened although, they are more exposed today than ever before because they just showed they were willing to pay almost $800 million to not have their hosts and rupert murdoch testify that will not change with smartmatic it's not like they're saying, okay, we'll be fine with it. no smartmatic knows this. i've just got to again ask, what the hell are the people who are running fox news thinking? >> and the question will be, does fox news, does news corp, learn from what just happened with dominion, which is to say, as you point out, they went through the worst part of it everything got spilled out into the public everything was exposed, the lies, the fact that many of their hosts and executives didn't believe a word what they

were telling their audience, but they were trying to appease the audience with the conspiracy theories that all spilled out, and they still had to pay they settled in the end. the guess the question is, joyce, do they look and go, okay, this time, we don't want to putd ou ourselves through th, our hosts. it'll hurt, but let's cut a check to smartmatic, who is suing another billion more than dominion >> any time you go to trial in a case like this, you have the risk of punitive damages we get a number from these folks when they sue. that's the compensatory damages, the business loss they say they can move the jury is entitled to also impose damages that are purely punishment for perceived misbehavior. fox looks like a pretty good candidate for punitive damages in this case with the right jury that has to be part of their cal calculus you saw the important information in the statement

they released. they expect smartmatic to go to trial in 2025. that's a ways off. i don't think they'll rush to settle this case while they can let the clock run out on that. >> jonathan lemire, there's the larger question. you wrote an entire book about this, about the lie that's been perpetuated, that has been fed to the audience at fox news. the audience now isn't hearing much about what happened with dominion it's not hearing about all this discovery that shows, oh, the anchors were telling you a story that they, themselves, didn't even believe the record hasn't been corrected at least for that audience. >> no, it hasn't there was a very -- when the news was announced of the settlement, the fox news reporter briefly addressed it on air but not much since they had no idea which was even happening because they're getting their news from that silo they're getting the news from fox or other conservative media outlets, and there is no discussion of this case. in fact, there is seemingly a

calculation that fox news is being defiant, in part, because if they admit to culpaculpabilit wrongdoing to their audience, they'll lose some of the audience, which is what we saw in the aftermath of the 2020 election they did lose because they weren't pro-trump enough they lost some of their viewership to newsmax, oan, et cetera, and they feel there is a risk to doing that again obviously, they'd like to have their hosts be spare d having t appear in a trial, in a courtroom. for now, they're doubling down and they've re-embraced donald trump, who is still telling the lie night after night on truth social or at rallies, that he won the 2020 election. they've not disengaged at all. >> i'm curious, maybe you and i should start an alternative reality boston red sox network by the way, today, we would be showing clips from kluber's one

hitter last night against the twins. >> magnificent. >> the grand slams by, you know, kiké by the way, his average on this network could be, like, .475, right? >> 300 points higher than it really. >> what do you think, you like the idea >> yeah. i mean, look, we can have a little silo for ourselves and fellow members of red sox nation, where, you know, we look like a competent major league team. >> yeah. >> okay. >> i like that. meanwhile, other than the massive payout, it appears there are no other requirements for fox news and its settlement with dominion most notably, an on-air apology and acknowledgment from the network's hosts who aired false claims abs about election fraud yesterday, cnn's jake tapper pressed dominion's ceo on why that was not part of the deal. >> if fox viewers believe these lies, why not get them to acknowledge it

>> i suppose for myself, i've not really thought through, and i think we probably disagree on the effect of what an apology would really mean for their viewers. viewers turn to their trusted media sources, whatever the channel is for us, it was about accountability >> why not force them to say, "we shouldn't have done that that was false you have been misled joe biden actually won dominion and smartmatic and all that stuff was operating fine" why not force them to do it? we'll give you $200 million nor if you don't force us to do it, because you could have forced them to do it. >> well, a, the defamation, the defamation part of the law is really not built around apologies. it is built to compensate for damage i can tell you, we had a company wide call yesterday. >> all right we can listen to more of that if

we want to. >> they could have made them apologize. isn't that in negotiations, like, anything is possible >> anything is possible in negotiations, but there are also lines drawn in negotiations. joyce, i'm sure from the very beginning, fox said, you know, we can talk numbers. maybe we'll get to numbers we're never going to apologize we don't care. we will burn the entire company down we cannot apologize because that will undermine our credibility to our viewers, which will undermine our ability to be able to make money on this network. so we'll talk numbers. we will never apologize. i think that is something that dominion obviously heard that message loud and clear yeah, a lot of people in the media would have loved to see that obviously, sometimes, in negotiations, there are lines that are drawn and say, "we won't talk about this, but we'll give you $200 million more over here if that will make things easier." >> one of the traditional things

that plaintiffs do in defamation cases before they file suit is they seek a retraction they reach out to the future defendant and say, "we need you to retract the lies that you told about us in the same forum where you made them. in this case, it would have been live on fox and in some of the publi publications that bridge is already crossed before you ever file the lawsuit, right retraction is off the table. of course, it can come back on when you reach the negotiation stage, but it is pretty clear here for all the reasons we've been laying out, that that was never going to happen as part of this case. something that i think is easy to miss, and it's a little unsatisfying because so many people hoped this lawsuit would bring about some vindication for the american public, this was always about the damages that dominion suffered. their lawyers were always going to advise them to take a settlement like this one that did a lot to make them whole and

put them back on the right track as a company you know, what remedy exists for the american people? that still remains to be seen here >> it's a great question because, you know, i think you said a lot of members of the media, a lot of members of the media were watching this because this is a stain on our industry, of news gathering and even analysis when you analyze something or you give an opinion, it's based on fact. it's not based on fiction. so it is -- >> well, our -- >> -- frustrating -- >> -- opinion is not being undermined by the very same people the second they get off the air. >> correct jen psaki, i'd love to get your thoughts because there's two issues here and one you were directly involved with, being on the other end of this in your previous job i want to cite, and i said this yesterday, but there are millions and millions of people who watch fox. they do very well in the

ratings. >> yeah. >> they will not get the full story. i'm not saying fox hasn't covered it, but they have not covered it robustly, full throatedly. >> or honestly. >> i would go as far as that because this is a huge story if you turn on fox, you're not going to see it. you're not going to see it you're going to see maybe a few details. >> is that a surprise to you >> it's not a surprise, but i'm citing the frustration that people in the world of journalism and political analysis feel. it's not like, oh, we want to get 'em. we want to see, you know, tv hosts go down. that's not -- this is sad. as you said yesterday, this is an american tragedy. it really is i don't know -- you know, i don't feel malice toward anybody there, but i do feel frustration that viewers are continuing to be misled on that network. that's all they watch. they're not going to understand that they were lied to your thoughts, especially being

on the other end of some of the lies >> well, sure. first of all, yes, they had to pay almost $800 billion. it's not a small amustnount of money, and they'll probably pay more but tucker carlson has been on the air spewing lies night after night. what are the consequences to tucker carlson did he get a light tap on the hand and say, "don't do that anything" or "do more of that again" we don't know. on the business level and legal level, yes, it is a massive headache for them. but the hosts that are out there knowingly lying to the public every day, at least as far as we all know, have had no consequences that means they're incentivized to go out and continue to spew lies to get ratings. i'd also say, mika, as somebody who shares my opinions, of course, and as somebody who doesn't hide from the fact i did work in a democratic white house and i am a democrat or have worked for many democratic causes, there is a big difference between sharing opinion and sharing opinionated

lies or lies that you spew as opinion. >> correct. >> that is part of the problem here, too. because it is not all the same i don't go out on television on sundays or when i'm on "morning joe" and spew lies i may share what i think, but that is different from tucker carlson and these others who are spewing lies that they coat as opinion. you know, that's one of the reasons why there is distrust, i think. yes, it's a stain on everyone. >> yeah. >> you know, all news gathering networks make mistakes. >> absolutely. >> when you deal in opinion, often, all networks -- >> very difficult. >> -- go overboard they say things that end up not being true they are so caught up in the ideology, be it on the right or the left, that they get swept up and taken away with the story and say things that end up just being wrong, or they look for sources that actually aren't

accurate, not knowing they're accurate, but it just reinforces what they already believe. the difference here, willie, and why this is so damning in this particular case with the 2020 election is because you actually have discovery where you have hosts who would say, what i'm saying on the air is a lie >> yeah. >> what i'm saying to my viewers, they're basically saying, it's all b.s what rudy giuliani is saying is a lie. the lawyer, the kraken lady that -- >> sidney powell. >> she's a nutjob. they all will text each other and say, "this is really bad." you'll have executives, you know, rupert murdoch. >> january 6th. >> at one point saying, what i saw tonight was deeply disturbing that's what is so damning here there have been people on this

network that have said things. they just swept up in a story, and like all of us, sometimes that story takes you too far. >> too far. >> same thing with cnn same thing with fox. then when they make mistakes, you hope they come back and say, "boy, okay, we got that wrong. we've done that on this show i have to do it every three minutes on this show >> we have the ticker for you. >> by the way, yeah -- >> we're not perfect. >> 6:31, i'll be making an apology for something i said over the last 31 minutes. >> no. >> the difference here -- >> you're being very fair. >> i've already said it. the difference here, they knew what they were saying was a lie. >> right. >> because they said it themselves when they were not on the air, that this story about a stolen election was a lie. that's what separates this from the mistakes we make, "the new york times" makes, cnn makes, the bbc makes, other news gathering operations make.

>> malicious lie because they all knew the truth and went out to please their audience, said something else a divisive lie, such consequences to the public that drove them to the capitol on january 6th, that got cops beat up, many believing the lie and are now in courtrooms saying, "i was fed a story. i should have known better i know it is not true now. the judge says, "sorry that happened to you, but you're going to jail for 7 1/2 years. that's the consequence to divide our country and do so inten intentionally, with such malice and so cynically, to please the viewers that you are worried might be drifting away from you if you started to tell the truth. as john points out, they're coming back to donald trump. they know where the power is they know where the influence is they look at the poll. looks like ron desantis maybe isn't what they thought he could be donald trump is the man in the republican party fox news will be right back there with him. >> oh, all right we have a lot more news and

politics to cover. >> can i say one final thing >> yeah. >> one final thing. >> this is painful. >> willie, i'm a big believer. i talk about gravity i'm also, at the end of the day, i am a small government conservative i believe in market forces they, of course, need to be tempered at times. but i believe in market forces we're asking, how will this impact primetime hosts how will this impact other hosts? let me tell you, all the things i've brought up over the past 30 minutes, and i've had, by the way, three ceos text me since i've said it, saying, "well, the thing that you said about the board and the shareholders, asking these questions, they're asking these questions now because none of this has made sense. how they've handled this, bungled this." okay, they have $4 trillion, great. that's awesome well, they have $800 billion --

they have $4 billion i'm used to talking in government money. >> $4 billion. >> they have $800 million less now after sm-- and after smartmatic, they'll have at least $800 million less then fox, they've been number one for the most part since 1999 they'll continue to be number one, i'm sure. >> because their viewers won't know. >> but there will be adjustments. there will be adjustments. there has since roger ailes left there's been no guardrails at fox news i know this personally, whatever hosts wanted to say, they said it everybody in the front office was afraid to stop 'em from saying it. when tucker carlson suggested many times that i was a murderer, you know, if any other -- if it were running like a normal network where there were guardrails, you'd have roger ailes saying, "stop,

stop." that doesn't exist over there. that hasn't existed over there for a very long time there's not been -- there have not been guardrails. there are 800 million reasons now why there are going to be guardrails put up there. after smartmatic, there will be more why? just market forces, capitalism it doesn't make sense to run a network this way, willie. >> yeah, i guess that remains to be seen. is there somebody who will step up to their big stars with big audiences, who make a lot of money? we'll see. you're right, i think maybe because of the financial questions, maybe some things will change there. but it's clear that that sort of confrontational bravado that's baked in over there across the street, that really came from roger ailes, it's still there. when you look at the statement about smartmatic, when they've got the swagger after they were just knocked down on the canvas by dominion, it's not as convincing as it once was.

if they're hit up for another $1 billion, that becomes, as you say, a real business problem. >> i guess who stepped up is dominion you talk about gravity if you work there, you know that your company isn't going to protect you, that you're going to be exposed, and that if you say something, you know, your company isn't really backing you. maybe that's one thing that has happened here. i mean, it's really created a dynamic of tension. >> you have to be careful. again, jen, the hosts over there -- and i'm talking about all the hosts -- have to be asking, what in the world? they got involved in a fight with dominion. they knew they were going to lose they knew it, but, again,bravado they knew they were going to lose they went into kis discovery wh they knew we were going to be exposed. we were going to be embarrassed

by all of the stuff that went out there, and they allowed the lawsuit to move forward anyway then settled at the end. yeah, when you pay up to $800 million, you're admitting fault in a huge way. so, again, if you're working over there, you just have got to be wondering, what in the world is going on here >> what's next >> and with smartmatic, what's next >> yeah. also, i mean, these texts, these emails, they're hugely embarrassing for a range of the hosts. beyond tucker carlson. i mean, there are more down the middle reporters or people i considered more down the middle reporters, like bret baier and martha mccallum, who are in some of these emails or texts, kind of suggesting that they shouldn't provide accurate information to the public on the timeline ott at which they leart meaning when states are called or when states are won that is not tucker carlson, certainly not putting in the same category, but it is

damaging to them reputationally, as well. the more there is a discovery process, another lawsuit, more information that could be public, the more damaging to their own personal brands this is, right? they are all apart and wrapped up in all of this, as well yes, i mean, all this is expose, as you said, joe, that they knowingly, not just tucker charlson, many people there, executives, leaders, mainstream reporters, knowingly shared inaccurate information with the public that is not good for their repu reputation the more we learn, we'll see what we learn, but it is not good for them either. >> you're right. you had people who were supposedly mainstream news reporters and had been described as such actually telling fox news not to call states accurately >> yeah. >> because it'd hurt them with their audience. >> so brutal, so awesome >> who says that on election night. >> i don't know.

>> who -- >> it hurts all of us. >> who says, we've made the correct call, but it's angered our viewers. we have to take it off the board. >> that hurts all of us just as much as -- >> well, i don't know. still ahead on "morning joe," a major republican donor voices new concern about ron desantis what that could mean for the florida governor's potential 2024 presidential bid. >> that guy needs to get out and fight right now, or he's -- >> he's busy with the mickey mouse. >> he's talking about doing it in may or something or june. >> yeah, no. he's busy. >> it's not going to work. it is going up in smoke right now. he's got to get out and fight back if he can. plus, the latest on the supreme court fight over the nation's most commonly used a abortion pill. also ahead, kevin mccarthy reveals a $1.5 trillion debt ceiling package. we'll get reaction from the white house when press secretary

ca ca karine jean pierre joins the conversation we'll be right back. identical twins bethany and stephanie both struggled with cpap for their sleep apnea. but stephanie got inspire, an implanted device that works inside the body. there's no reason to keep struggling. inspire. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. ♪ learn more and view important safety information with wet amd, sometimes i worry my world is getting smaller because of my sight. but now, i can open up my world with vabysmo. vabysmo is the first fda-approved treatment for people with wet amd that improves vision and delivers a chance for up to 4 months between treatments. which means doing more of what i love. ♪ vabysmo is the only treatment designed to block 2 causes of wet amd. vabysmo is an eye injection. don't take it if you have an infection or active swelling in or around your eye, or are allergic to it or any of its ingredients.

treatments like vabysmo can cause eye infection or retinal detachment. vabysmo may cause a temporary increase in eye pressure after receiving the injection. although uncommon, there is a potential risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. open up your world! a chance for up to 4 months between treatments with vabysmo. ask your doctor. - representative! - sorry, i didn't get that. - oh buddy! you need a hug. you also need consumer cellular. get the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carriers and 100% us based customer support. starting at $20. consumer cellular.

the first time you made a sale online with godaddy was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, colorado. we just got an order from dinosaur, colorado. start an easy to build, powerful website for free with a partner that always puts you first. start for free at godaddy.com

there's always a fresh deal on the subway app. like this one! 50% off?! that deal's so good we don't even need an eight-time all-star to tell you about it. wait what?

get it before it's gone on the subway app! for the third time in a week, a simple mistake led to gun violence a cheerleader is in the icu this morning after a man opened fire on her and her friends when they approached the wrong car nbc news correspondent morgan chesky has details >> reporter: three shootings in one week missouri, new york and texas all tied to seemingly innocent mistakes approaching the wrong car or home >> i'm peyton washington with the generals. >> reporter: peyton washington, the latest victim, after a stranger opened fire on her and three friends in the parking lot of a grocery store outside de austin. >> it is unfortunate these girls were trying to get home. >> reporter: the girls traveling home from a late-night practice, to where they'd all parked their

cars after one of the teens mistakenly approached the wrong vehicle, a man began shooting multiple times >> the guy got out and saw he had a gun. so they tried to speed off, and he shot his gun, like, five times or so. >> reporter: police arresting pedro rodriguez jr., charged with deadly conduct, a third degree felony. as washington remains in the icu. >> she's won every title there is to win in all-star cheerleading she's a role model for the kids in this industry, throughout the country. everybody knows her. >> we love you >> reporter: with latest shooting comes days after a kansas city teen was shot in the head-going to the wrong home to pick up his younger brothers the 84-year-old suspect pleading not guilty to first degree assault and armed criminal action, and was released on $200,000 bond. the family pressing for additional hate crime charges. ralph yarl is now out of a hospital his family releasing this new photo, calling him a walking

miracle. adding, add the bullet hit his head a fraction of an inch in any other direction, he would probably be dead meanwhile, in upstate new york, kevin monahan pleading not guilty to murder and remanded into jail without bail monahan is accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old gillis. she was in a car that accidentally pulled into his driveway looking for a friend's house. police say the suspect fired two shots from his front porch, killing her. >> for this man to sit on his porch and fire at a car with no threat is just -- it angers me so badly >> reporter: communities grieving after common mistakes ended with violence in three separate shootings. in alabama, three people have been arrested, including two teenage brothers, following a shooting on saturday night at a sweet 16 birthday party. four were killed, 32 injured,

when the gunfire broke out the three people arrested all face four counts of reckless murder official says the two teenagers will be charged as adults. the district attorney for alabama's fifth judicial circuit became emotional talking about the victims, explaining how the case is personal for him >> there were so many kids in this venue what they saw, it's -- they are victims in this. their families are victims of this i'll share something with you, and i'll try not to get emotional. i'm not taking any questions because i probably would but one of the victims that wasn't injured is lexi lexi, her 16th birthday party, sweet 16 uncut cake and unburnt 16 candles that never got lit lexi's brother was one of the victims. on her 16th birthday party, she

knelt by her brother as he took his last breath. that's what we're dealing with here those are what these victims went through the message that i want to send is, i know some of these victims personally some of these kids are kids of friends of mine, people that i went to school with, people that i played ball with and against, you know, in the community back in high school and these are my kids. these are our kids don't mess with our kids do not mess with our kids. thank you. >> joyce, we were talking in the commercial break about dadeville. you know the town well small town about 50/50, black and white i think we saw some of that from the gentleman who was just speaking there, it is a close knit community. >> it is a close knit community, and it's got to be heartbreaking, as the district attorney, to have to make

comments like this after the shooting occurs, right young kids on both sides of this harmed and damaged for life because of the ready availability of guns and the reality is, these words are a little bit hollow until, as a society, we become willing to address the ready availability of guns, their availability to people who lack the maturity to use them properly, to store them, to train. i know the second amendment is a hot button issue in this country, but the reality is, there are people in the south and other parts of the country who want to have guns. but we see a situation like this, where in the absence of guns, this would have been harsh words or maybe a fistfight the guns are the accelerator that leads to the death of these young people. >> it's the epidemic of guns and the fact the instinct to suddenly use them. i mean, this obviously is a shooting at the party. we don't totally know the motivations there. three examples in the last week of people being shot because they made a mistakes, mistakes we've all made you go to the wrong house, knock on the wrong door.

pull into the wrong driveway, you're levering. here, you reach for the wrong car. all three of those moments, the response from the other person was to shoot no words exchanged, just shooting the shooting threw a door, out a front yard, stepping out of a car and shooting at a young woman. the congressm comen -- commo coe gun. >> it is standing your ground, maybe a paranoia somebody pulled in my driveway there is a threat, and i'm within my rights to shoot a person, even if it is a 20-year-old pulling into the wrong driveway or a 16-year-old going to the wrong house to pick up his brothers. these incidents are gut-wrenching because they didn't need to happen. >> it's just horrifying. i can't even begin to imagine the pain and the misery that these families and friends will have to endure the rest of their lives.

>> trauma. >> willie, it is just like the second amendment, it's people taking the stand your ground laws and mentality to extremes, to extremes that have never been written into the law they're going to be spending the rest of their lives or a lot of their lives now in jail now because of these things they're doing. we're also seeing it up and down highways, in 95 from miami up to maine. we're seeing people road rage. i hear about it all the time you know, people having guns in their cars, getting cut off. instead of honking, getting a gun out and shooting it's happening all over america right now. 12,709 people have been murdered by guns, have been killed by guns so far this year ago.

willie, in three or four months that's about three times as many people that get killed in iraq and afghanistan, our troops over 20 years it's happened here in america in the last three or four months. it's all very simple it's the amount of guns that are out there, the availability of guns, the fact that you can now get guns in states like florida because of ron desantis, and tennessee, where they have been pushing to be able to carry without a permit without training without having a basic responsibility for understanding what you're holding in your hand you're holding a gun in your hand no courses on what to do and what not to do with a gun. what happens is, you've got this

proliferation of guns all over america. why are there more shootings because there are more people who are emotionally unstable and who are temperamentally unfit to carry around a gun something happens they don't like, they get the gun out and start shooting again, because of this run away gun culture that we have in the united states of america that has nothing to do with the second amendment or what our founding fathers intended the second amendment to stand for. >> well, a case in your point, joe, in maine, you mentioned going up 95 from florida to maine. a man arrested now in connection to a deadly shooting spree in the rural part of that state police say a 34-year-old man shot and killed four people at a home in bowden on tuesday. he allegedly opened fire on the highway 25 miles away from yarmouth, injuring three others. the suspect confessed to both shootings, saying he killed his parents and two family friends, then shot at cars on the highway

because he thought he was being followed by police the man had just been released from prison on friday and was staying with his mother. that suspect is set to appear in court later today. joyce, final thoughts. we covered a lot of legal ground, but we want to get to the supreme court kicking the can down the road, maybe for 48 more hours, on the abortion pill, whether or not it will be readily available to women. >> well, i guess the cynic in me wonders why the supreme court wants to release their ruling on this issue at midnight on friday, when people won't really be scrutinizing it the reality is, this is the sort of delay that the court often buys itself, and it may not signal anything. it may mean that there is a justice that wants to write a dissent from this decision it's not a merits decision this is not the final conclusion of this case the only issue on the table here is whether mifepristone remains on the market while this

litigation works its way through the court. early times. >> all right we'll keep an eye on that and have more on that coming up. joyce vance, great to have you on set with us in new york good to see you. >> good to be with you all. up next, the latest on the war in eastern europe as the biden administration shores up ukraine's military ahead of the country's expected counteroffensive. plus, russia appears to be benefitting from western weapons, as well we'll have new reporting on how moscow is skirting sanctions "morning joe" is coming right back are ya? let's tighten that. (fabric ripping) ooh. - wait, wh- wh- what was that? - huh? what, that? no, don't worry about that. here we go. - asking the right question can greatly impact your future. - are, are you qualified to do this? - what? - especially when it comes to your finances. - yeehaw! - do you have a question? - are you a certified financial planner™? - yes. i'm a cfp® professional. - cfp® professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. find your cfp® professional at letsmakeaplan.org. remember the things you loved before asthma got in the way? fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven

by eosinophils. it's designed to target and remove them and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. get back to better breathing. ask your doctor about fasenra. i was stuck. unresolved depression symptoms were in my way.

i needed more from my antidepressant. vraylar helped give it a lift. adding vraylar to an antidepressant... ...is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms... ...better than an antidepressant alone. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, as these may be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain, and high cholesterol may occur. movement dysfunction and restlessness are common side effects. stomach and sleep issues, dizziness, increased appetite, and fatigue are also common. side effects may not appear for several weeks. i didn't have to change my treatment. i just gave it a lift. ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save.

beautiful day in new york. >> it's gorgeous >> you were in new york last week. >> i loved it. >> you said it was just burning hot. >> it was hot, but it was beautiful. everyone was outside enjoying the blooming flowers time now to take a look at the morning papers. >> how were the rats >> well -- >> rats good >> we had the mayor on the show and talked about the rat czar. >> there's a rat czar? >> there is a rat czar in new

york city. >> how did i not get that job? i'd love to be the rat czar. >> it is a smart move. washington, d.c., should take a look at that. >> yeah. a lot of rats in washington. what's that about? >> i see them when i walk the dog. >> never seen that in d.c., all the years i've been there. it's gotten worse. i don't understand. the morning papers "chattanooga times" has a feature on tennessee's republican governor asking legislatures to pass the red flag law governor bill lee asked lawmakers to set politics aside and pass a bill that'd keep guns away from people who pose a threat to others it's in response to last month's mass shooting at a nashville elementary school that claimed the lives of three young children and throee adults. in michigan, "the detroit free press" reports lawmakers sent a red flag law to the governor's desk the bill allows courts to temporarily remove guns from those deemed a danger to

themselves or others last week, governor gretchen whitmer signed two other gun safety bills into law. they expand background checks for all firearm purchases and penalize those who don't safely store their weapons at home. >> boy, those are common sense reforms that the overwhelming majority of americans support. >> absolutely. >> great move up in michigan. >> in illinois, "the chicago tribune" leads with the mayor-elect's plans to crack down on crime. brandon johnson asked state lawmakers to increase funding for schools and youth employment he says these initiatives can help reduce crime among teens. and in florida, "the orlando sen sentinel" reports all grade school educators will be banned from teaching students about sexual orientation and gender identity the state board of education yesterday approved expanding the state's don't say gay law to all k through 12 grades. currently, the ban only affects

kindergarten through third grade. the total grade school ban will take effect in about a month more on decembesantis now. donors are raising concerns about his potential run for president. enthusiasm for the florida governor's bid for the white house has rapidly cooled, confronting desantis with a. >> reporter: considerably more difficult outlook for the campaign he is expected to launch "the post" continue, donors, activists and other supporters are increasingly voicing worries that desantis has made unforced errors or embraced extreme positions that could hurt him in a general election including the abortion ban at six weeks that he signed last week the paper continues, he has struck some republicans as distant in personal interactions some republicans trace desantis' struggle to lockdown endorsements, in part to his

inability to have better relationships. "the post" was told it wouldn't hurt for desantis to be more conciliatory in demeanor he worries about the resurgence of former president donald trump, who he previously backed, but argues cannot win another general election >> that's what we hear, he is not conciliatory to other people we heard about congressman who was hurt falling off the roof, in bad shape, ron desantis didn't reach out to him, call him. donald trump did immediately there was a press conference for the district the governor said, this is my press conference you're not allowed uggsp here, basically. ron desantis is not good at politics 101 you know, willie, this attack on

disney, which, you know, i just said is stupid from the beginning. really dumb from the start it's gotten a lot tougher, especially, we talked about it, because bob iger is now back at disney iger is a guy who has so much respect among all the donors, among people on wall street, among, my gosh, all the people that ron desantis would want to support him. he's making a mistake. and -- and, i have to say, it's pretty funny watching iger just slowly turn up the heat on him you're not going to beat iger. if you're ron desantis -- >> or mickey mouse. >> -- like, meatball ron, as trump says, versus bob iger, it's not a close call. >> yeah, i know, it's not a fight that governor desantis likely is going to win, yet he continues to bore down into that

issue and get himself deeper in the hole on it bob iger has called governor desantis' position anti-business, and that's been shared by many republicans, people running against ron desantis republicans in the senate saying that this is a crazy position to take, that it is anti-business it was governor christie, who is considering a run himself, who said, "when did republicans be the ones who got their feelings hurt about one thing and went after a private company to punish them for it?" he is facfacing, governor desans new criticism over the take with disney here's the former adviser to donald trump, larry kudlow >> i just want to observe, that governor desantis is close to making a fool of himself with his walt disney obsession. this has been going on now for months and months and months i would argue that it is unseemly, number one governors should not crash down on, if not the biggest, one of

the biggest businesses i don't like disney's politics either, their woke politics. my guess is bob iger will change that whatever desantis should make a deal and stop already he is not running against walt disney for president. >> joining the conversation, ceo of the messina group, jim messina, served as deputy chief of staff to president obama and ran his re-election 2012 campaign jonathan lemire, jen psaki with us, as well. jim, i'll ask you, you're no supporter of ron desantis, but as a keen political observer and someone who knows how to win elections, how is this going so far for governor desantis? >> not very well who has better numbers than mickey mouse this is insane who has more great times in their lives than people at disney world you pick these fights and it sounds like a good idea, you're throwing about the spitball ideas the end of the day, throw out a press release, fine. but month after month of this? i agree with joe, bob iger is a smart political and business

operative, and he'll make desantis twist i have a theory about how to win a campaign you have to have magic barack obama has magic donald trump is the best counter-puncher we've seen i was with desantis at a conference, and i watched him work the room. willie, there is no magic here he is one of the most overestimated politicians of the recent past. i think the national stage is starting to become hard for him. >> john, let's take a look at his trip to washington the last couple days. if jim messina were running the operation, you have the endorsements wired before you get to washington. you shake hands, have the photo-op afterwards. he comes out of the meetings, and a bunch of them endorse trump. he had one endorsement with a congresswoman who he appointed secretary of state and who owed him a favor. he's not in the race, but he doesn't appear to be good at this. >> amateur hour so far as you say, he went to d.c. he snuck in a back door, one wave to a camera, met with

lawmakers. one of the lawmakers stepped outside a short time later and endorsed donald trump. trump proceeded to unveil several other endorsements from florida -- members of the florida delegation the state that desantis and trump both share it's politics 101. it is basic blocking and tackling, and trump is winning so far jim, also, there's questions about where desantis' priorities are. it is not just picking a fight with mickey and disney world, the happiest place on earth, that's the slogan, and he is losing that fight. also, he's been on this national book tour and ignored problems in his backyard. there's been major flooding in ft. lauderdale there is a gas shortage now in south florida. he is nowhere to be found. >> oh, he's an opposition researcher's best dream, right he is letting all these things go what is he doing at home passing a six-week abortion ban that will make him death in a general election running around the country trying to be a presidential campaign while his state is falling apart.

it's just basic block and tag tackling of a presidential campaign you have to take care of home first. george bush was the best example of that. texas was locked for him, and he understood how to make it a national laboratory and how to move his message desantis has no idea what he is doing. he is surrounding himself with people who don't either. you know this, retail politics matters in a presidential race you have to get in the rooms and persuade very tough people who are convinced they're way smarter than you are, that they should support you for president of the united states he's been unable to do that in places like his home state, where it should be a layup. >> joe, let's remember why governor desantis is going to the mat against disney, the largest private employer in the state of florida, the largest taxpayer in the state of florida, the reason tourism existed in the first place and continues to exist in the state of florida it's because he was offended that the former ceo criticized the bill that mika was talking about, that has been expanded through 12th grade, where you can't talk about sexual orientation or gender identity

in a classroom he was upset the former ceo crossed him on that one issue, and now he is in this months' long fight with mickey mouse >> you know, you have to -- if you're in politics, jen psaki, you know this so well, the ones who are great at, we'll say, the game of, like, running for office and winning, are the ones with short memories. i remember bill clinton telling me a long time ago -- and the fact that bill clinton was talking to me at that time meant that he lived it. >> yeah, tells you everything. >> bill clinton said, if you're a governor or a president or you want to be a governor or a president, there is no greater political gift than a short me memory let it go off your back. >> yeah. >> don't fight every fight this is what was donald trump's ultimate curse he could never let an insult go by here's ron desantis, picking a

fight with florida's favorite company, disney. it's not even a company. it's a magic kingdom, with florida's favorite baseball team because they tweeted out a tweet after uvalde with cruise liners because, in the middle of covid, they wanted people to wear masks if they came on the cruise ships they knew that's the only way people would come on the cruise ships. you know, telling small businesses what they could and couldn't do. like, because he wanted to prove these small, little points this is insanity i have to believe republicans are going, we just lost seven years in a row because of one guy that had to respond to every little tweak now, we have another who is actually fighting the magic kingdom and mickey mouse and bob iger because of something that was said about a bill months ago. >> yeah, i mean, he's proved himself to be a fragile flower, as you kind of eluded to there.

>> yeah. >> you can't be in presidential politics i know that for working for multiple presidential campaigns on the other side of the aisle the other thing here, joe, and i'd be interested in what jim messina thinks about this, is he has not figured out what his lane is. yes, to quote larry kudlow, which i didn't have on my bingo card this morning, he is not running against mickey mouse he is running against donald trump. what is his case against donald trump? what i can't figure out is the best case that seems to be working against donald trump is that he is a loser his message and his policy, his, you know, approach, his language is a losing agenda for the republican party ron desantis could make the case, i'm conservative, but i am more electable i don't understand why that's not the basis of what he's arguing. that's the piece that's a little mysterious to me, as well. >> because he's -- >> the supreme -- >> -- afraid -- >> go ahead, jim. >> yeah, he is afraid of getting

in a fistfight with donald trump. he understands donald trump is a better counterpuncher, and he wants to be inaugurated as the republican nominee without getting in a fight with donald trump. that's not how presidential politics work. to beat the king, you have to hit the king he's just trying to avoid this and get all these endorsements and try to stay in florida and become the nominee the problem, jen is exactly right, the problem is, this race is going to go through donald trump, whether we like it or not. ron desantis doesn't have the guts to get in a fistfight with donald trump at this point in the presidential campaign. until he does, his numbers will continue to go down. >> mm-hmm. sorry to jump on you there, jim. the supreme court has delayed making a decision on the abortion pill, mifepristone, by extending a temporary block on a lower court ruling until friday. that means the drug will continue to remain widely available, at least until tomorrow, as the high court continues to consider the case

justice samuel alito wrote that the pause on the order by a texas-based district judge earlier this month would lapse on friday at midnight. the court could act before then. last week, the fifth circuit court of appeals gave the fda a partial victory by refusing to suspend mifepristone's original approval that dates back to 2000 the appeals court allowed separate parts of the texas judge's decision to remain in place, including not allowing the drug to be obtained by mail. "the new york times" points out, since the supreme court did not meet its earlier deadline for making a decision, which was wednesday at midnight, it suggests there may be disagreement among the justices. it could also indicate there is a dissent in the case. let's bring in veteran political strategist and msnbc political analyst, juanita tolliver. in your recent opinion piece, you wrote, in part, quote, it's

time to suit up, y'all the biden administration is ready to fight the atrocious mifepristone ruling out of texas. but considering how the supreme court decimated roe v. wade last year, i sure hope they have a backup plan. because, once again, women and pregnant people are in limbo when it comes to accessing basic health care. what should those backup plans be, juanita? >> look, we're already seeing a couple of them in play right now from congressional democrats introduces a bill that codifies the fda and their ability to be the sole institution that approves or revokes approval of medication of course, we know that someone like mccarthy is not going to allow that to get a vote in the house. but another one that has been reported is that the white house is considering what options they would have to fast-track an fda approval for mifepristone if the supreme court sides with the texas ruling and bans it and

removes it from access i think that is something that they should be a little bit more public about what it would signal to the public is that they are going to the mattress here to make sure that, no matter what, they are making sure that a drug that is used in almost half of all abortions in this country is still available. i'm thinking about the communities that would need it the most, whether that's low-income communities, people with disabilities, people living in rural areas and more. >> 100%. >> jim, this is -- i must say, i find it hard to believe, even after the overturning of roe, after 49 years, a radical move that over 70% of americans oppose, i find it hard to believe that the supreme court would take this step it doesn't even seem to be consistent with the language of dobbs. but if you could, talk about, for a moment, the political

nightmare. we know the consequences for women, absolutely horrific but talk about the political nightmare this would be for every republican up and down the ballot if the extreme position of dobbs, opposed by 70% of americans on a half century precedent being overturned, would be extended to the abortion pill. which isn't even an abortion pill it has many, many uses for women's health care. >> joe, you're exactly right political nightmare is what will happen to the republican party if this happens. in our completely fractured political system, you just don't get issues where two-thirds of the american voters agree on this it is not just me, a democratic strategist talking about this. we've had recent proof two weeks ago in the wisconsin supreme court race, abortion was on the ballot. it was the issue people voted about, in the most swing state in america, 11 points the

democratic candidate won the supreme court race by. you saw massive women turnout in the 2022 elections because of this issue in the 2024 elections, it is going to be on the ballot in the presidential race with a very clear contrast between the two parties on what their position is on this pill. two-thirds of american voters want access to this pill, and they think it is crazy that they don't have it. you know, the republicans have been campaigning for 25 years on this issue and sort of had their cake and eat it, too they could excite their base but knowing they'd never really -- that anything would happen, the court wouldn't don't it wouldn't be a big political loser for them now, the dog caught the car, and they have to take positions on things that are wildly unpopular. voters are utraged we are now talking about something we thought we were done with four decades ago. this is a political loser for the republican party. >> joining us now, sharice davids of kansas, a state that

has a big role in this debate. congresswoman, it feels like things are getting worse, not better what we're seeing is a big political loser for republicans, not in step with where most of the country is on this yet, we're waiting to see whether mifepristone is going to be taken off the market? >> yeah. i think, you know, this is -- first of all, good morning i'm glad we're talking about this. >> good morning. >> because of how important it is you know, i think exactly what you're saying about the political consequences is absolutely true. i also think, you know, this is -- the last time i was on here, i think we were talking about how scared people were and how we were already seeing lies being upended because of the consequence of roe being overturned we would think that knowing so many people disagree with taking

these extreme steps toward, frankly, inserting politicians into very private decisions, would have been quashed because of the last election in kansas, we fought really hard to push back on a constitutional amendment that would have opened the doors to some of these extreme measures then in november, we saw people push back against politicians who are taking extreme stances on this, as well i do think that we're hearing loudly and clearly that what folks want are their rights to be protected they don't want their kids to have less rights than they did. >> yeah. >> yeah, this is actually mind-boggling to see steps like this. >> yeah, so tell us what we can learn from kansas or what those who want to protect the health of women can learn from kansas in terms of getting people to the voting booth and really making change happen.

>> yeah. fir first of all, i think it's been impressive to see how many people are making their voices heard. not just at the ballot box, but in every aspect of our society the second thing i would say is, recognizing that this -- you know, what we're talking about right now is not just the threat and real danger of access to reproductive health care being on the table because of one judge, who, frankly, wrote an opinion that even conservative pundits and judges have said is lacking in science i think that that's one piece of it the other piece is that we absolutely need to make sure the fda is able to continue to do the work that it does, approving medications that, frankly, will save people's lives. i think that folks should make sure to let their lawmakers

know, both at the state and federal level, because this is -- we're talking about a federal case right now, but these things are happening all over the country kansas is absolutely right at the center of that. >> it certainly is, congresswoman. i was going to ask about that. the vote in your zat state on te proposed constitutional amendment saying there was no right to the vote last august was seen as one of the first post-roe decision tests. where is the country on this by almost 20 point, the people of kansas voted to protect the right to abortion. that's in a state that hasn't voted for a democrat for president since lyndon johnson what did that vote tell you, and what should it say about the way people are feeling in the rest of the country on this issue >> yeah. i mean, i think what it tells me is that people are feeling the imfactpacts of this. in kansas, we're seeing our neighboring states had recently

either enacted or brought back old laws after roe was overturned then this attempt to take what i would consider to be an extreme step, trying to change the state constitution you know, i think that my hope is that people will see, you know, what folks want our lawmakers who are actually trying to make things better you know, people in kansas are still trying to figure out how to -- our small businesses are dealing with supply chain issues farmers are dealing with droughts and flooding and want to make sure we get a farm bill done instead of having as much bandwidth to focus on those things, we've got politicians who, frankly, in d.c., are not only threatening access to the full range of reproductive health care, they're also focusing on things that are not going to bring down costs for

people you know, i think that -- i think what every single person who is in congress right now should be learning from what we saw in the -- over this last year is folks want us to do our jobs and make sure their government is working for them. >> juanita, it's jen i wanted to ask you, as democrats and pro choice candidates face 2024, after the overturning of roe, it was visceral, right? it felt real people knew what it meant. the battle over misperipfepristt feels obscure. what should democrats be saying, and what should the groups are arguing out there to make the stakes clear to people >> i think emphasizing the fact that these extremist attacks on all forms of abortion care are not going to stop. in addition to this mifepristone case, you still have state leaders like desantis passing

six-week abortion bans before many pregnant people even know they're pregnant i think it is important for democrats and advocates to expetensively emphasize the fact that the attacks are not going to top this is something that republicans and extremist, anti-abortion advocates are going to push for until they have a national abortion ban that is, honestly, a winning message, right jim mentioned wisconsin earlier. kansas, as well, understanding that voters are willing to cross partisan idealogical lines, demographic lines, across race, age and more in order to support abortion access is a clear indicator that abortion rights is a winning message especially when you have republicans who cannot justify the cruelty behind the bans they have been promoting for years now. when i see tim scott, for example, on the campaign trail, hemming and hawing, unable to explain why you want a national abortion ban, it says to democrats and strategists, this is the message to run with

this is what is going to stick with the people. >> absolutely. juanita tolliver, thank you very much for being on this morning democratic congresswoman sharice davids of kansas, thank you, as well also, our thanks to jim messina for being on this morning. great to see you, jim. still ahead on "morning joe," white house press secretary karine jean-pierre joins us to talk about the administration's fight to protect abortion access. we'll also talk to her about house speak er kevin mccarthy's new bill to raise the debt ceiling. also ahead, fox news has settled with dominion voting systems, but the legal troubles are far from over for the conservative news etwork we'll have the latest on another defamation case. and a member of the proud boys accused of storming the capitol on january 6th takes the stand in court what he had to tell a federal jury about what happened that day. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

i brought in ensure max protein, with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uh... here i'll take that. ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein, 1 gram of sugar and nutrients for immune health. ♪ first, there's an idea and you do something about it for the first time with godaddy. then before you know it, (it is a life changer...) you make your first sale. small business first. never stopped coming.

(we did it!) and you have a partner that always puts you first way. (no way!) start today at godaddy.com.

>> woman: why did we choose safelite? we're always working on a project. while loading up our suv, one extra push and... crack! so, we scheduled at safelite.com. we were able to track our technician and knew exactly when he'd arrive. we can keep working! ♪ synth music ♪ >> woman: safelite came to us. >> tech: hi, i'm kendrick. >> woman: replaced our windshield, and installed new wipers to protect our new glass. that's service on our time. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ heading on a family trip? nah, sorry son, prices are crazy, [son deflates] awh, use priceline. they have package deals no one else has. [son inflates] we can do it! ♪go to your happy price♪ ♪priceline♪ next on behind the series... let me tell you about the greatest roster ever assembled. the monster, the outlaw... and you can't forget about the boss.

sometimes- you just want to eat your heroes. the subway series. the greatest menu of all time. shot clock down to five. lets it fly. rebound grabbed by tillman extended possession for the grizzlies. >> oh, let's get a hand on that, john. >> not much closeout defense, lebron. >> brooks, dagger of a three-pointer. the memphis grizzlies playing out ja morant, their injured all-star, tying up the series, 103-93 win over the lakers brooks got into it with lebron last night, staring down the future hall of famer after another deep three in the fourth quarter. two exchanged words during a confrontation in the third brooks unwisely had this to say about lebron after the game.

>> lakers are making the run you and lebron have the exchange there are people out there who say maybe you shouldn't do that with one of the better players in the game. i guess, what were you thinking? >> i don't care. he's old i don't respect no one until they come and give me 40 i pride myself on, you know, what i do is defense, taking on any challenge that's on the board. >> john, does lebron hang 40 or 50 on him tomorrow night >> the over/under is 46.5. i poke bears, yes, you did that's lebron james, top two or three player of all time, going home saturday night. the lakers got their split in memphis. they're fine they didn't need last night's game what are you doing what are you doing >> oh, my god. he's -- yeah, he is a good player, but, man, he's -- >> and a fashionista, looked great. >> you told me, you never wear a

shirt under a blazer >> one of these days, you'll take my advice. >> game three is saturday night in l.a. major league baseball highlights in the bronx. what a matchup between two of the game's best players. aaron judge stopping shohei ohtani from hitting another home run at yankee stadium. look at this catch knocks it into his beare hand with his glove see the replay here it comes. that's a beautiful swing, by the way, ohtani. >> the best. >> watch this. off the glove, over the wall, catches it with his bare hand. robbing ohtani of a home run the bottom of the inning, judge, the reigning american league home run king, hit one of his own. two-run shot, deep shot, sixth of the year so far yankees beat the angels, 3-2, in ten innings. in los angeles, new york mets ace max scherzer ejected from questioned's game against the dodgers, none too pleased, after repeated checks for a sticky substance umpires tossing the three-time

cy young winner in the fourth inning after a pair of previous inspections and orders to wash his hands and to change his glove. scherzer, who later proclaimed his innocence, faces an automatic ten-game suspension potentially. the mets still beat the dodgers, 5-3. back page of the "post," john, it's a stick-up. >> well done. >> scherzer said it was just some sweat umpires disagreed. >> this is not the first time he was accused of this. when he was with the nationals, made a huge thing about it, suggesting that scherzer was also doctoring the ball, had sticky substances. nothing was found that time. also, max scherzer spent some time with the dodgers. if there was a team perhaps familiar with his routine, it'd be them. seems like they tipped off the umpire we should be clear, scherzer says he didn't do it, but he was warned repeatedly. i also don't quite understand,

willie, because we saw this last week in the yankees game, too, i believe herman was pitching. there was a check there. he was told to go wash his hands. why are pitchers given a chance to wash their hands? if you're found with the stuff, shouldn't you be tossed? >> get rid of the evidence is what they're telling them. >> i doen't get that. >> for scherzer, if it is sticky enough, he says, because what you said, he has a target, he said, i'd have to be an idiot to try to do anything because so many are watching me right now we'll see. >> pitchers we know, there seems to be an unwritten rule, a little sunscreen, little bit, it's okay. if you cross the line and the umpires or other team notes it, you get in trouble. >> i miss the days when there was a sandblaster in the back pocket >> the nail file under his hat >> bold move, joe. bold move. coming up next here, we will be joined by an adviser to ukraine's minister of defense as the country gears up for a counteroffensive against russia.

plus, western weapons technology is winding up in russia missiles, raising questions about the effectiveness of the sanctions some new reporting othn at when "morning joe" comes right back - double check that. eh, pretty good! (whistles) yeek. not cryin', are ya? let's tighten that. (fabric ripping) ooh. - wait, wh- wh- what was that? - huh? what, that? no, don't worry about that. here we go. - asking the right question can greatly impact your future. - are, are you qualified to do this? - what? - especially when it comes to your finances. - yeehaw! - do you have a question? - are you a certified financial planner™? - yes. i'm a cfp® professional. - cfp® professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. find your cfp® professional at letsmakeaplan.org. if lawn care were easy, everyone would do it... as well as trugreen does it. trugreen's online tools

help ensure your custom treatment works to deliver a greener, healthier lawn - guaranteed. it's time to trust your experts at trugreen. go online today!

liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. with the money we saved, we tried electric unicycles. i think i've got it! doggy-paddle! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ only pay for what you need. when a truck hit my car, the insurance company wasn't fair. i didid't t kn whahatmy c caswa, so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. it's hard for people to k how much their accident case is worth.h barnes. t ouour juryry aorneneys hehelpou

i was hit by a car get t tand needed help.oiblele. t ouour juryry aorneneys hehi called the barnes firm. that was the best call i could've made. i'm rich barnes.

it's hard for people to know how much their accident case is let our injury attorneys know he how much their accident cget the best result possible. 36 past the hour a federal judge delayed a detention hearing for the air national guardsman accused of leaking classified documents lawyers for jack teixeira asked for more time to address the government's arguments the judge agreed to the request yesterday after the 21-year-old waived his right to a preliminary hearing. tex ixeira was arrested at his home in massachusetts last week. prosecutors say the airman first class used the online forum discord to share secret documents about the war in ukraine and intelligence on american allies. turning to the war in ukraine now, the u.s. government's latest military

aide to the war-torn nation, the white house has announced it'll send $325 million in a new security package this one includes additional funding for high mobility artillery rocket systems it'll also provide weaponry and ammunition, namely, over 9 million rounds of small arms ammunition as ukrainian troops on the front line reportedly deal with shortages. monday will mark 14 months of war in eastern europe, including after a long winter. as the weather warms up in ukraine, the u.s. and its allies are reportedly struggling to keep western weapons technology out of russia's hands. for more, let's bring in "new york times" reporter covering trade and economics, ana swanson. what more can you tell us about it >> so the united states and its allies have been steadily expanding restrictions on chips which are necessary for tanks

and weapons, as well as everyday things like cars and toasters. but russia is getting more creative in how it obtains these chips. we're seeing a surge in shipments in chips through countries like armenia and kazakhstan u.s. chips are showing up in russian missiles we've also obtained the first information of weaponry, russian weaponry recovered from the ba battlefield containing ships manufactured after the war began. u.s. officials are clearly concerned about these trends my colleague obtained documents from a meeting in march showing as much, but i think it is testament to how difficult it is to police this global flow of chips. a trillion of these were made globally last year, so it is very difficult for the united states to control. >> do we know how much are getting bypassed to russia >> it's, you know, at the level of tens of millions of dollars it is a very worrying trend.

u.s. officials say that the sanctions are working to slow russia down and that sanctions will never be 100% watertight. it's kind of a game of adaptation i think all of this does underscore, you know, that the united states has a very big challenge for itself when it comes to controlling this global flow of technology that russia needs for its weaponry >> yeah, talk about not only how this impacts the war and perhaps is playing into russia's hands, but are other countries helping with providing technology? >> yes so there has been this surge in shipments, as i was saying, through central countries, those who share a land border or historic ties with russia. we've also seen notable rise in shipments of chips from china and hong kong into russia. again, that's very difficult for the united states to police. u.s. if i shall officials are cg

down on this when they find companies or people they are sure are bringing those sanctioned chips into russia they do levy penalties, but it is a game of whack-a-mole, according to people who follow this closely. >> we'll stay on this. thank you so much. "new york times" reporter ana swanson, thank you. now, tomorrow in germany, ukrainian officials will meet with western leaders to discuss further military aid and support. joining us now, adviser to ukraine's minister of defense uri, sir, what do you hope will come out of the meeting tomorrow >> good morning. first of all, i would like to thank the people of america and the government of the united states of america for the latest package which you have mentioned in your earlier report indeed, it will be very helpful and instrumental because we are, as you know and as you have said, preparing for our counteroffensive at for the meeting at the

ramstein base, which will happen tomorrow, of course, our priorities remain unchanged. we need more air defense system. we need fourth generation aircraft and long-range missiles it will be a discussion between partners there are more than 50 ministers of defense, 50 countries, and we are hopeful that the results will be positive >> you know, we've been hearing a lot about the need for adequate air defense, surface to air, and have you gotten -- tell us where you stand now in terms of having equipment in this department, in this area, and how much more you need >> well, indiancidentally, it ws yesterday that we received the first patriot system, first pace yot air defense system to ukraine. this will, of course, be very helpful. ukraine is a large country, and, you know, we need more air defense systems such as patriot and others more importantly, we are

desperately needing the fourth generation aircraft, the f-16s there are over 4,000 of these which the u.s. and allies have we are just asking for 1% of those. you know, even 40 would be a game-changer air defense, more than aircraft, the f-16s, that will improve our air defense capabilities when you look at the military doctrine of the u.s., it very clearly says that without air supremacy and air spreeuperiori military operations increase in the number of losses we need aircraft we need fir-16s we hope the ramstein meeting will bring us closer to that decision. >> yuriy, the need for this is, in part, because of ukraine expected to soon launch its much-anticipated spring counteroffensive give us a sense, if you will, as to how the nation is feeling as it prepares for what could be a

vital inflection point in the future of the conflict is there a sense that it needs to show progress in order to make sure that allies keep the help coming? >> well, you know, one year ago, even more than one year ago new, this large-scale invasion began. for us, for ukrainians, every day that we are able to resist and repel the enemy is a small victory. right now, we are all mentally preparing for the counteroffensive to illustrate to you the state of mind that we are in now, a very close friend of mine, his father is 62 years old, he joined the ukrainian army voluntarily. he went to the front he's actually suffering from oncology, but at the same time, he was wounded he lost his leg. he's now going back to the battlefield because everybody wants to end this war quick. we cannot continue to lose our best people on a daily basis our cities are decimated our people are killed.

you know, we are dealing with a terrorist state which beheads people i mean, we are dealing with a country which is led by a war criminal, indicted war criminal. >> on jonathan's question and that incredible story you just told, i would like to ask, also, not just about ukrainian people as a wholebut the morale of th ukrainian military how are the ukrainian troops holding up >> the ukrainian troops are holding up heroically, and they are very determined to continue to liberate our lands. i would actually like to use this opportunity to say that, you know, part of this determination i've met here in washington, d.c., in the streets of this city i've met ordinary americans who come occupy to me in the street and, you know, they wish us luck they say that we are in their prayers. so the determination to win, to defeat the a i ggressor is very strong both in ukraine and

internationally. we are grateful to the american people for their support >> this is jen i wanted to ask you about f-16s, which you've mentioned, you've called for and asked for many times. they're very, very expensive, as you know you calculate your own military budgets there. there's only a certain amount of money that's been approved by the united states congress for the military to use. what is the case you make on the f-16s, given their cost, being the most efficient tool, thing that you need in order to make progress in this war >> well, i would like to stress that, look, russians have begun now using the so-called gliding bombs. they are launching them from their bombers without actually entering ukrainian air space so there is an international coalition of tanks, and we hope that we will be able now to create an international coalition of f-16s because without the f-16s, without these aircraft, we will not be able to resist, you know,

these 1.5 ton bombs. i mean, one bomb like that can take out the whole block of apartments this is why it is so important this is why we will continue to advocate for the creation of the international coalition for f-16s for ukraine. it's about our future. it's about freedom >> yes, it is. thank you. adviser to the minister of defense of ukraine, thank you for being on yuriy sak, we appreciate your words this morning up next, we'll take a look at emerging issue for the airline industry ahead of what is expected to be a very busy summer travel season also ahead, an update on the recovery of kansas city, the teenager who was shot after going to the wrong house "morning joe" is comming right ck you up for something impetuous? i'm a palm springs hotel. i got the desert air, sun-kissed pools, and shady hideaways.

i'm looking for someone who can decide on a friday that a one night commitment on a saturday is a fine idea. maybe you heard of the rat pack? they hung out here all the time. so, pack a bag. or don't. you could be here in a few hours. meet me at hotels.com ♪ with wet amd, sometimes i worry my world is getting smaller because of my sight. but now, i can open up my world with vabysmo. vabysmo is the first fda-approved treatment for people with wet amd that improves vision and delivers a chance for up to 4 months between treatments. which means doing more of what i love. ♪ vabysmo is the only treatment designed to block 2 causes of wet amd. vabysmo is an eye injection. don't take it if you have an infection or active swelling in or around your eye, or are allergic to it or any of its ingredients. treatments like vabysmo can cause eye infection

or retinal detachment. vabysmo may cause a temporary increase in eye pressure after receiving the injection. although uncommon, there is a potential risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. open up your world! a chance for up to 4 months between treatments with vabysmo. ask your doctor. ♪ i have type 2 diabetes, ♪ ♪ but i manage it well. ♪ ♪ it's a little pill with a big story to tell. ♪ ♪ i take once-daily jardiance, ♪ ♪ at each day's staaart. ♪ ♪ as time went on it was easy to seee ♪ ♪ i'm lowering my a1c. ♪ jardiance works 24/7 in your body to flush out some sugar! and for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too.

jardiance may cause serious side effects including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function, and genital yeast or urinary tract infections. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, ketoacidosis, or an allergic reaction, and don't take it if you're on dialysis. taking jardiance with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. ♪ jardiance is really swell, ♪ ♪ the little pill with a big story to tell. ♪ 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. ♪

52 past the hour

remember the chaos at america's airports last summer too few pilots and ground staff, thousands of flights canceled. sense then the major airlines managed to hire and train more pilots but the nation's regional airlines warn they face an acute shortage of pilots which could threaten service to small airports nationwide. nbc's tom costello reports. >> reporter: countdown to the summer getaway don't expect an open middle seat it is shaping up to another season of crowded airports and packed planes. >> good morning. >> reporter: the head of the tsa says the agency is preparing for a record number of air passengers throughout the summer comfortably above pre-pandemic numbers. with airports expected to be the busiest. with demand surges american

airlines is joining delta and united in temporarily cutting back some flightings into new york airports. citing air traffic controller shortages. it follows a nationwide pilot shortage which has been easing as the major carriers ramp up hiring and training. still many are struggling to find enough pie lots as some in the industry call for changing pilot qualification and training standard. the head of the airline pilots' association says that is a nons.t.a.r.t.er. >> this is no time to weaken safety standards. >> reporter: in denver last year, the airline trains new and veteran pilots. >> hitting the wind shear a little bit. >> reporter: the faa requires them to go through training every nine months honing the skills to prepare for the unlikely emergency pressure is building on southwest airlines after that

technical glitch on tuesday caused nearly 2500 flights to be delayed. southwest says data connection issues were to blame >> 90% of our flights have been canceled. >> reporter: following the december meltaway with more than 16,000 canceled canceled so what can you do to prepare for travel given flights are already filling up, buy your tickets now. hopper.com reports domestic summer airfares nearly 18% more expensive than pre-pandemic. >> tom costello with that report. the supreme court delays its decision on the abortion pill preserving access to the medication until at least tomorrow night plus house speaker kevin mccarthy unveils a plan to

address the debt ceiling we'll discuss that with karine jean-pierre live from the white house straight ahead on "morning joe.

new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. aa i'm the sizzle in this promposal. and tonight, sparks are gonna fly. kyle? and while romeo over here is trying to look cool, things are about to heat up. uh-oh. darn it, kyle!

and if you don't have the right home insurance coverage, you could end up paying for this yourself. sorry mr. sanchez! get allstate, and be better protected from mayhem, like me. that's a hard no. so cozy. how many rooms are in there? should we go check it out? yeah. we get to stay here all weekend! when you stay at a vrbo... i call doing the door code! ...the host doesn't stay with you. it looks exactly like the picture. because without privacy in your vacation home... it's a full log cabin guys. ...it isn't really a vacation... we can snuggle up by the fire. ...is it? wow, oh my- [birds chirping]

president committed to ralph and his mom as he has to so many other survivors to continue to fight for gun safety reforms that's because action on gun safety is what we owe to those who have had their lives stolen from them and it is what the american people want to see. >> white house press secretary ka karine jean-pierre this week talking about the president's conversation with the kansas

teen shot for going to the wrong house. the issue of gun violence is one of many topics to discuss in a moment also ahead, we'll dig into fox news' defiant statement on another lawsuit doubling down on the defense that just caused cost them $787 million and a little later looking at the growing concerns big donors have about a potential presidential campaign for ron desantis welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, april 20th jonathan lemire and jen psaki with still with willie, joe and me. >> we talked about it but all of these incidents aend tragedies, teenager with friends that go up the wrong driveway and as they're pulling out they are shot and the girl the killed you have the terrible story out of kansas city where a young man

knocking on a door to get his brothers knocks on the door. you have a mass shooting in alabama at a sweet 16 party. and a sweet 16 party where the sheriff says he can't finish a press conference because he is afraid he'll break down because it is so crushing. you have a teenager who's a cheerleader won just about every award to win, they go to the wrong car. and then as they're fleeing they get shot this is -- this gun culture is touching all aspects of society. >> daily life. >> more and more americans seeing the daily lives shattered by gun violence. this year more americans have been killed by guns than were

killed in 20 years of fighting in iraq and afghanistan. american troops in war zones for two decades in iraq and afghanistan. we heard about the terrible tolls from the wars. unforgivable tolls from the war and yet we let our children be slaughtered in schoolhouses. we let the teenagers get gun downed in driveways. ch churchgoers are shot up in church pews and the pain stays with them for decades. letting worshippers in synagogues slain this is what -- two things one, it is a choice that we are

making as a nation this is a choice that we are making more specifically, it is a choice that republican legislators in state houses are making extreme, extreme positions and people are dying because they refuse to pass basic gun safety legislation the likes of which they pass in states like connecticut, california, now michigan that's one two, understand if you're younger it hasn't always been this way i talked to president bill clinton a couple days ago in belfast about the peace agreement there. but we had to talk about the violence at home and i told him it was the tragedy of columbine was so shocking but back then we thought that was a one off. >> right it was a shocking, unusual scenario. >> now it happens.

the number of gun killings have doubled, have doubled since sandy hook. >> leading cause of death in chirp. if i may, it is not just the mass shootings which is horrific as it is but a lot of republicans say talk about mental health. talk about mental health think about the kids in uvalde, all the kids in the different mass shootings and school shootings, nashville, who survived and their member tall health think about the sweet 16 party where the girl lost her brother and watched him die. that's talking about mental health because all the mass shootings -- we had another one this past week where 28 were injured. every single one traumatized by being shot

and watching other people get shot dead. >> it is unbelievable. >> that is a mental health crisis >> it is so interesting. i hear republicans they don't want to talk about the 165 mass shootings in 2023. so they'll talk about mental health let's talk about mental health mental health funding in the united states of america is tragedy low. it's tragically low. you have so many health care providers -- >> overwhelmed. >> -- do not get paid for doing their job. not by the insurance companies and government funding so there's so many kid that aren't getting the counseling they need. okay we can do two things at once talk about gun safety and mental health if they want to talk about

mental health, pass the bill double the funding triple the funding. >> do it no one disagrees. >> a mental health care infrastructure that helps children in central florida, that helped children in wyoming, in the middle of america in rural areas that have no access to type of mental health care counseling they need the same with inner cities and the places where mental health counseling is not even -- you talk about food deserts. there's mental health counseling deserts across america talk about mental health and then fund it because right now it is nothing but cheap talk while more people die. >> we have gotten so much better about talking about mental illness, de-stag ma tizing the

things that people have always gone through and hid away somewhere. now we have to start treating it like the serious issue that it is the guns are at the center of this there's another story to add from north carolina where some kids playing basketball in the street a 6-year-old girl, the ball rolls into a yard. chases the ball. this happened in north carolina. the 6-year-old is shot bullet grazed her face a guy with a criminal record had a gun for who knows why and he did and she wasn't the only one shot she gave a television interview yesterday with a scar across the cheek shot in the face by someone because her basketball rolled out of the street playing and into the yard of another person wh person it is something that needs our attention. >> let's bring in white house

press secretary karine jean-pierre. what can be done >> our hearts go out to the families and victims dealing with the tragic gun events since the last time i saw you which is really heart breaking that we continue to have this conversation sadly, i don't have answers right now. i gjust have questions. how many more kids need to die before republicans in congress act? how many more senseless gun violence do we need to see or have before members of republicans act? we cannot throw the hand up and say nothing can be done. we need to take action that's why you've seen the president over and over again

put forward legislation on gun violence we need to see kocourage in congress we need republicans to act it is time for legislation to be put forth to come up and the president can sign common sense gun laws so that we can protect our kids, our communities, our churches, our grocery stores guns are the number one killer of kids. we are supposed to be protecting kids that is not happening right now. so again i have more questions for republicans in the house than i have answers because we have laid out what needs to happen the president laid out what needs to happen and they need to show courage and act. >> good morning. it is jonathan very little from house republicans on the issues of guns yesterday but we did get

from house speaker kevin mccarthy the debt limit plan and we want the reaction to what he proposed and are there any meetings scheduled between the president and the house speaker as the clock ticks toward the fiscal deadline? >> a couple things to say. let me react to the blueprint, the legislation that speaker mccarthy and the maga wing of the conference came together he aligned himself with them and put together a proposal that is going to de state working class american families and at the same time hold america's economy hostage to take a hatchet to veteran services, to meals on wheels, to education, to cancer research, law enforcement. now you are asking me about a potential meeting. look we are going to continue to take

a look at the legislation. we will analyze the impacts on veterans services, education, cancer research the president says show me the budget and i'll show you what you value. they showed us what they valued and this is what the american people have to look at so we are going to continue to make sure we saw this in the president's budget to lower costs for americans and fight to lower the deficit. that's what he put forth in the proposal and lower the deficit by $3 billion over 10 years. we are going to continue to -- happy to have that conversation about the budget but with the debt limit they need to a piece of legislation on the floor to deal with the debt limit to mack sure that we do not default,

something that he did three times before in the last administration. >> with the fundamental impasse, disagreement as to what you are negotiating, what do you say to those growing alarmed at the time we had an update this week that there's an estimation that because of lighter than expected tax returns the u.s. may default come june just maybe six weeks away. >> again, i'm going to be very clear. we have been clear for the six-plus more weeks which is speaker kevin mccarthy needs to stop playing chick within the full faith and credit of the nation, put forth a piece of legislation so we don't default. the president said this on monday, as well.

spe speaker kevin mccarthy will be to first the threaten default on the nation this is something that's their constitutional duty to do. they can do this they could immediately put, again, a bill on the floor to avoid a default. that is on congress to do. it is the constitutional duty to get this done. >> yeah. i want you to look at what's up right now and listening on the radio when we have up a chart that shows the debt ceiling raised since 1960, 29 times under democratic presidents but 49 times under republican presidents. >> there you go. >> suddenly the republicans that broke records for deficits and debts under donald trump claiming they care about

deficits doesn't wash i said this in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 about republicans i said, don't claim, if you don't fight the republican president who is a big spender breaking records with budget busting budgets don't do it when there's a democrat in office but now they are doing it. they are actually risking the full faith and credit of the united states of america 3 million americans will likely lose the jobs if there's a default. and we face the economic consequences 3 million americans. that means if you have a 401(k), on average you're going to lose about $20,000. kevin mccarthy and this

republican congress who spent like drunken socialists when donald trump was president, they're going to cost you $20,000. your mortgages, they'll cost you additional $130,000 most likely. and borrowing -- whether you borrow for a college education or whether you borrow for a new or used car or borrowing for anything or credit card costs, going to skyrocket you're going to have -- everything you buy this is going to be inflation brought to you by kevin mccarthy's republican house. of course, the national debt -- i know they don't care about this because the national debt grew by record rates under donald trump and the republican

congress, but the u.s. national debt likely increase by $850 billion. maybe a trillion dollars the consequences of this game they are playing is a game if they had actually fought for the things i begged them to fight for when donald trump was president you could actually take them at their word that they gave a damn about deficits and the debt but they don't. >> they're counting on people not remembering. >> we remember the americans will remember. >> karine, as the fate of mifep mifepristone hangs in the balance i wonder what the white house and the president are thinking are options if women lose access to the drug that they had access to and needed for health care for decades. >> we are going to be prepared for whatever the supreme court

decides and will be ready to fight legally, have a long legal battle if that is necessary. we are going to continue to support fda's evidence based approval of mifepristone they are independent and oversee other prescription drugs so everything's at stake. this is a huge fight in front of us and what this administration is going to continue to promise and to do is fight for women's reproductive rights. that is something that millions of women across the country should know that is what the biden-harris administration is going to continue to do is to fight for women's rights. >> white house press secretary karine jean-pierre, thank you for coming on the show. >> thank you. >> thanks. a new york man charged with

seditious conspiracy took the stand in his own defense yesterday. speaking before a d.c. jury, the man seen here smashing a capitol window with a riot shield said that the former member of the proud boys claimed yesterday that he quote got caught up in the craziness. >> is that a defense now >> he said he was searching for a bathroom. >> you think they're screaming and shouting but they are asking each other of battering police officers, almost killing them -- is there a bathroom? >> he joined the crowd he then claims he took a riot shield from a police officer quote out of fear for my life

because deadly force was being used against by police prosecutors expect it to become examining him today. might have some of your questions today. faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted we'll be following that. >> storming the capitol, scared of the cops so you break windows and walking around with like riot gear on scared of cops. no not the case won't go well. >> didn't seem so. steal ahead on "morning joe," the latest on the legal trouble for fox news one case is settled but another one looms. coming up in the fourth hour michael shannon is our guest, talking to him about the new showtime series looking into the 1993 waco siege and how it influenced the oklahoma city bombing. you are watching "morning joe. we'll be right back.

meet stephanie... goodnight! and bethany... [guhhnnaaaghh] identical twins. both struggle with cpap for their sleep apnea. but stephanie got inspire. an implanted device that works inside the body to help her sleep. unlike her sister. there's more than one way to treat your sleep apnea. if you struggle with cpap, look into getting inspire. inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. my asthma felt anything but normal. a blood test helped show my asthma is driven by eosinophils, which nucala helps reduce. 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 face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

- this is our premium platinum coverage map and this is consumer cellular's map. - i don't see the difference, do you? - well, that one's purple. - [announcer] get the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carrier. starting at $20. consumer cellular. the chase ink business premier card is made for people like sam who make...? ...everyday products... ...designed smarter. like a smart coffee grinder - that orders fresh beans for you. oh, genius! for more breakthroughs like that... ...i need a breakthrough card... like ours! with 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more... plus unlimited 2% cash back on all other purchases! and with greater spending potential, sam can keep making smart ideas... ...a brilliant reality! the ink business premier card from chase for business.

make more of what's yours.

welcome back fox news is doubling down on the defense that airing false claims about election fraud were quote newsworthy coming in response to a defamation lawsuit from smartmatic suing fox for $2.7 billion in damages accusing the network of spreading false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 election for joe biden. >> we now have reams and reams of actual documents from smartmatic and dominion including evidence that they planned and executed all of this. >> the president's lawyers alleging a company called dominion say they started in venezuela with cuban money and

with smartmatic software a back door is capable of flipping votes. >> would be notified by smartmatic in frankfurt that biden is way behind and bet every come up with more ballots. we can prove every single thing i said. >> frankfurt in venezuela or germany? you look at these people and you just look at the entire situation and one of those people that are talking most likely if you look at where this is going is going to be bankrupt, disbarred, destroyed simply because they followed donald trump's orders after the 2020 election about lying about american democracy gravity returns. there is a price to the lies and people talking there, they are not protected by fox news.

they will be out there on their own and i would be shocked if they didn't have to declare bankruptcy. >> we saw the settlement for dominion they are also suing sidney powell and rudy giuliani rudy giuliani ended that comment by saying we have the evidence to prove it but in a court of law he would make the claims on tv and say what is the charge? i'm not alleging anything. these are easy, cheap things to say on tv to get people riled up but these people would not defend the arguments in a court and now paying the price for it. fox remains sort of full of bravado despite what happened. yesterday fox news put out a statement reading we will be

ready to defend this case going to trial likely in 2025. as a report prepared showed smartmatic's damages are implausible and intended to chill first amendment claims the dominion suit was settled on tuesday for $787 million afterwards smartmatic attorney said the litigation exposed the misconduct and damage caused by fox's disinformation pam cane. smartmatic will expose the rest. you might expect humility at fox but now really coming out strongly and saying we will fight this smartmatic thing to the end. thinking they are right in the

end. >> you think what board members and shareholders think remove this from fox news and people trying to overthrow elections. talk about basic negotiating strategy you could, as i said, i often quote my torts professor who said you should have seen that coming like a freight train out of the mist. slow motion coming right at you. this is all so predictable they had no case they were never going to let rupert murdoch or tucker carlson testify. they were always going to settle but they let all the damage be done to their hosts, to the company brand and still had to pay about $800 million

you wonder how is this handled so badly now smartmattic. by the way, i said this yesterday, joyce we were over -- steve ratner and others to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the warsaw uprising and this came up. and we all to a person said, this will never go to the jury and the three of us said it will settle between $700 million and $800 million. >> wow. >> not that we are smart every lawyer in america knew that's where this would go that's ever been in litigation joyce, they have proven they are going to pay $800 million to not have the brand completely destroyed they won't let murdoch

get on the stand they're willing to pay 800 you know where i'm going if i'm the lawyer for smartmatic i say listen here's the deal. you paid $800 million. we require more. give us 1.2, maybe $1.5 billion. or else -- you have wasted $800 million and that's going to go up in smoke getting your hosts and rupert murdoch on the stand. they have only delayed even more pain so the question is, why six months ago didn't the lawyers sit down and say, okay, we'll do a settlement you go in that room. figure out how much to pay you both to make this go away. we'll go and destroy the company

before we settle with you. they would have been able to get a settlement then. they'll be hit again you wonder, who, who's in charge of legal strategy over there. >> you know, your global settlement proposal would have been a smart approach because from the point that fox puts murdoch up for a deposition nothing good can happen in this case and really the only issue is how much fox has to pay to make it go away and the pain stop with the drip, drip, drip of internal information. i read the company's statement yesterday talking about what they would do would be to complete the job that dominion did. that's their opening bid in the damage negotiations. the only issue is how much money will fox pay it seems like a difficult

strategy for a company with no legal defense. the judge said the jury didn't have to decide if fox was lying to the vooers. the only real question left is whether fox knew or recklessly disregarded the truth. as you say smartmatic is a beneficiary of that evidence and unlikely to see any trials take place. given the circumstances perhaps the greatest first pitch of all time. president george w. bush throwing a perfect strike before the world series days after 9/11 we'll talk to the author of

"power players" straight ahead on "morning joe. and genoa salami. you can't stop that much meat. you can only hope to contain it - in freshly baked bread. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet. (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.

liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. with the money we saved, we tried electric unicycles. i think i've got it! doggy-paddle! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

>> reporter: approaching the wrong car or home. >> i'm -- >> reporter: high school cheerleader payton washington the latest victim after a stranger opened fire on her and friends outside a grocery store. >> unfortunate the girls gist trying to get home. >> reporter: traveling home after a teen mistakenly approached the wrong vehicle a

man began shooting. >> the guy got out and saw that he had a gun and saw they tried to speed off and he shot five times or so. >> reporter: police charging the man. washington remains in the icu. >> won every title in all-star cheerleading everybody knows her. >> reporter: the latest shooting days after a kansas city teen shot in the head after going to the wrong home to pick up the younger brothers the 84-year-old suspect pleading not guilty and was released on $200,000 bond. the family pressing for additional hate crime charges. ralph yarl is out of the hospital and calling him a walking miracle. adding had the bullet hit his head a fraction of an inch in

any other direction he would probably be dead in upstate new york kevin monahan pleading not guilty to murder accused of fatally shooting a 20-year-old in a car that pulled into his driveway looking for a friend's house police say the suspect fired two shots from the front porch killing the woman. >> for this man to sit on the porch and fire at a car with no threat is just -- it angers me so badly. >> reporter: common mistakes that ended with violence in alabama three people arrested including two teenage brothers at a shooting at a sweet 16 birthday party four killed and 32 injured

officials say the two teenagers will be charged as adults. the district attorney in alabama became emotional talking about the victims explaining how the case is personal for him. >> there were so many kids in this venue and what they saw -- it's -- they're victims in this. their families are victims of this i'll share something with you and try not to be emotional but one of the victims that wasn't injured is lexi. lexi it is her birthday party sweet 6. uncut cake and unburnt candles that never got lit her brother was one of the victims. on her 16th birth day party she knelt by her brother as he took

his last breath. those are what the victims went through. the message that i want to send is i know some of these victims personally some of these kids are kids of friends of mine. people i went to school with played ball with and against and in the community back in high school and these are my kids. these are our kids don't mess with our kids do not mess with our kids. thank you. >> joyce, we were talking in the commercial about the small town. about 50-50 black and white. i think we saw that from the gentleman who was just speaking there. it is a close knit community. >> it is and it's got to be heart breaking as the district attorney to make these comments. young kids on both sides harmed

and damaged because of the availability of guns and the reality is the are word are hollow until we become willing to address the ready availability of guns to people who lack the maturity to use them properly, to train and store. the reality is that there are people in the south and the country who want to have guns but we see a situation like this where in the absence of guns this is harsh words or a fist fight. >> it is a problem that desperately needs solutions. coming up, what is driving the day on wall street andrew ross so rin has business before the bell straight ahead on "morning joe.

(psst psst) ahhhh... with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary. spray flonase sensimist daily for non-drowsy, long lasting relief in a scent-free, gentle mist. (psst psst) flonase. all good.

your heart is the beat of life. if you have heart failure, entrust your heart to entresto. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor if entresto is right for you. subway keeps upping their game with the subway series. an all-star menu of delicious subs. like #8 the great garlic - rotisserie style chicken, bacon and garlic aioli. i've tasted greatness. great garlic though - tastes way better. can't argue with that analysis. try subway's tastiest menu upgrade yet.

i screwed up. can't argue with that analysis. mhm. i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck.

beautiful day in new york. >> it is gorgeous. you said it was burning hot. >> hot but beautiful everybody outside enjoying the blooming fire. >> how were the rats were the rats good >> we can have the mayor on the show >> rats czar >> in new york city. >> how did i not get that job? >> washington, d.c. should look at that. >> rats in d.c. >> i see them walking the dog. >> it's gotten worse i don't understand. choot that goo times free press with a feature on the

governor asking legislators to pass a red flag law. governor lee asked lawmakers to quote set politics aside and pass a bill that would keep guns away from people who pose a threat to others in response to the mass shooting at a nashville elementary school that claimed the lives of three young children and three adults. in michigan the detroit free press reports lawmakers sent a red flag law to the governor's desk allowing the court to remove guns from homes of those deemed a danger to themselves or others the governor signed two bills last month >> those are common sense reforms that the overwhelming majority of americans support. >> absolutely. >> great move in michigan. >> in illinois, a crackdown on

crime. johnson asked state lawmakers to increase funding for schools and youth employment saying it can reduce crime among teens in florida, the orlando sentinel reports all grade school educators will be banned from teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity. the board approved expanding the don't say gay rule currently the ban affects through third grade and the ban will take effect in about a month. more on desantis now donors are raising concerns about the potential run for president. "the washington post" reports that enthusiasm for the florida governor's bid for the white house rapidly cooled confronting him with a considerably more difficult political outlook for the campaign he is expected to

launch and says donors, activists and other supports are voicing worries that desantis made unforced errors or 'em braesed extreme positions errors or embraced extreme positions that could hurt him in a general election, including the abortion ban at six weeks that he signed last week he has struck some republicans as distant in personal interactions some republicans trace desantis's struggle to lockdown endorsements in part to his insularity it wouldn't hurt for him to be a little more conciliatory in his dem demeanor he worried about the resurgence

of former president trump, who he previously backed but argued cannot win another general election. >> just as a keen political observer, how's this going for desantis >> not very well who has better numbers than mickey mouse this is insane you start to pick these fights you're throwing around ideas at the end of the day and throw out a press release, fine. but month after month of this? bob ieger is a very smart political and business operative. he's going to make desantis twist here to win a presidential campaign you have to have some magic. barack obama had magic i watched him work the room. there's no magic here. he is one of the most overestimated politicians of the

recent past. the national stage is starting to become hard for him. >> let's look at his trip to washington over the last couple days you have all the endorsements wired before you step foot into washington you shake some hands, have the photo op afterwards. he comes out of those meetings and a bunch of them go endorse donald trump so far he's not even in the race, doesn't appear to be very good at this. >> it's been amateur hour so far. he went to d.c., he snuck in a back door, met with some lawmakers. short time later one of those lawmakers stepped outside and endorsed donald trump. trump proceeded to unveil several other endorsements from members of the florida delegation it's politics 101 and trump is winning so far also there's questions about

what desantis' priorities are. it's not just picking a fight with mickey mouse and disney world. he's losing that fight also he's been on this national book tour and ignored problems in his back yard there's major flooding in fort lauderdale there's a gas shortage right now in south florida and he is nowhere to be found. >> he is an opposition researcher's best dream. he's passing a six-week abortion ban that will make him death in a general election and running around the country trying to do a presidential campaign while his state is falling apart it's basic block and tackling of a presidential campaign. take care of home first. george bush was the best example of that. desantis has no idea what he's doing and he's surrounding himself with people who don't

either retail politics matter in a presidential race. you have to get in these rooms and persuade very tough people they should support you for president of the united states he's been unable to do that in places like his home state where it should be a layup. >> let's remember why desantis is going to the mat against disney, the largest private employer in the state of florida, the reason tourism exists in the state of florida he was offended that the former ceo criticized the bill that's been expanded through 12th grade where you can't talk about gender identity in the classroom. now he's in this months long fight with mickey mouse. michael shannon is here with his upcoming showtime series just ahead on "morning joe."

hey, dad. i got an a on my book report. -and i scored a goal on ashley. -that's cool. and i went for a walk in the woods and i didn't get a single flea or tick on me. you are just the best. it's probably because of that flea and tick medicine you've been ordering from chewy. we are very proud of you. you never stop surprising us, bailey. right? i'm great. you are great. i wonder if bailey's ever done a book report. be nice to your sister. what flea bit him? pets aren't just pets. they're more. this flea and tick season, trust america's #1 pet pharmacy. chewy. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

♪ 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. ♪ the first step begins at the lincoln spring sales event. going on now, for a limited time.

♪ beautiful shot of los angeles this morning look at that sunrise time to get up it's just about 6:00 a.m. on the west coast it's 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. welcome back to the fourth hour of "morning joe. >> you can just relax today. it's beautiful out in l.a. go to the beach. a lot of news and politics to get to this morning, including another disturbing incident where someone was shot for a simple mistake, this time in texas where cheerleaders were fired upon for getting in the wrong car. also ahead, new reporting on a

prominent republican who is itching to get into the 2024 race as polling for florida governor ron desantis continues to slip. and a little later this hour we'll talk to chris about his new book we have john heilemann with us he's executive producer of showtime's "the circus." we have eugene daniels and jonathan lemire along with joe, willie and me. fox news doubling down on its defense that airing false claims about election fraud were, quote, news worthy it comes in response to a defamation lawsuit from

smartmatic the company is suing fox for $2.7 billion in damages, accusing the network of spreading false claims that the company helped rig the 2020 election for joe biden here are a few examples. >> we now have reams of actual documents from smartmatic and dominion, including evidence that they planned and executed all of this. >> the president's lawyers alleging a company called dominion, which they say started in venezuela with cuban money and with the assistance of smartmatic software a back door is capable of flipping votes. >> they were being notified by smartmatic in frankfurt that biden was way behind and they better come up with a lot more ballots. and we can prove every single thing i just said. >> you know, but actually none of those things were proven.

in fact, they were all lies. >> they never circled back to say that. >> they were all lies. obviously fox got hit with almost $800 million settlement these individuals don't have the money. they're all going to get hammered they don't have the money to settle >> they have $4 billion, don't they, to work with >> if you look at the individuals there -- >> oh no. >> by themselves, they're still being sued independent of fox news. >> that's another suit. >> yeah. you're just looking at the possibility of bankruptcy for so many of these people were following donald trump and his lies and spreading those lies. again, we've had john heilemann,

we've had years now where it seemed like there were not consequences to anything, that you could lie about parents who suffered just unimaginable pain and agony after their children were gunned down and shot in sandy hook you could lie about them you could say they were actors, that they never had children or whatever you could lie about elections being stolen those days are gone. we are seeing in all of these cases that actually grabbing does return and it has always been in the courtroom just like we saw with 63 federal judges, many of them federalist society judges, who dismissed out of hand all of donald trump's claims of widespread election

fraud. what i don't get is, fox settled this case. they paid $800 million so they didn't have to have their hosts or rupert murdoch on the stand now we have the smartmatic case. lawyers from smartmatic, since they didn't think ahead of time to put together a global settlement and tell both companies it's all or nothing, now they've got smartmatic do you want to burn $800 million? because we're going to make them go on the stand unless you pay us more. if they don't and they go on the stand anyway then that $800 million did fox news absolutely no good. i'm hearing this from ceos and business investors at some point the board and the shareholders are going to step up and say i don't know who's

running this company well, we do, but we don't know how it's being run, but we're bleeding out hundreds of millions of dollars and we're no closer to protecting our brand >> mm-hm. >> i mean, it's a big question first of all, it always bears repeating it's hard to win defamation cases and liable cases in america it should be hard. you have a very high standard to meet there are a lot of cases where what some people want to call lies are not necessarily lies. we've seen cases where mistakes were made from reporters pursuing the truth and they don't have a reckless disregard for truth. they're all products of the trump era where you have the

defendants dead to rights. they're not in many cases really journalists. these are not journalists pursuing the truth these are people that have become part of a propaganda effort on behalf of donald trump. the evidentiary basis to make that actual malice standard, that knowledge of falsity, reckless disregard for truth has now been laid out for the public to see in the dominion case. you saw that quote from that smartmatic lawyer a couple of days ago that said you've seen some of the evidence from fox's defamation claim we're going to show you the rest our claim damages are considerably higher than dominion's claim damages fox news looking at not just this smartmatic suit and may have to settle that out at $1.5

billion. you've also got shareholder lawsuits being brought against fox news the financial jeopardy for the company is now extraordinarily high fox news has always considered to have had a very sophisticated, sharp, aggressive, savvy legal team, which in this past case and now going forward seems to have become captive in some way and maybe it goes all the way to the top of the company, of the same kind of deluded thinking that drove its coverage of the 2020 election no one ever called fox news lawyers dummies prior to this, but they seem to have gone down the worm hole with the entirety of the institution man, they are looking at a very grim future trying to fight off all these lawsuits now there's blood in the water.

>> that's what i said early on you could see all of this coming i've said it before. we were in warsaw. this thing was going to trial. oh no, they're not going to settle we were over there for the 80th anniversary of the warsaw uprising and we were sitting around steve ratner, ari emanuel and i after an event, we were talking about where this case goes every one of us said they're going to settle probably because smartmatic is not worth 1.6 billion. they'll probably cut it in half and end up with 800 million. we were saying this and then it broke on the news the next day when we were flying back to the states if we're thinking that, every lawyer in america, every business person that's ever dealt in these type of lawsuits knew that was going to happen.

also, i met ceos texting me this morning going how in the world could they have blown profit

what this case exposed was not that the facts are wrong, but that you are being manipulated that message gets to people. it's a slow erosion.

i think this case has gotten somewhere in certain people's consciousness. message to smartmatic, they have a chance to get as much money as they want to get it's sort of their fiduciary obligation i would suspect there might be some philanthropists who would be happy to make smartmatic whole if they were to do that, to get them a billion dollars some other way and have smartmatic do the person people a solid by getting rid of this disinformation network >> eugene, to that point, we know that the big lie was spun from the 2020 election and still very much with us now still shaping this coming race donald trump is at this moment the leading republican candidate

and he's being reembraced by fox news as they still continue to insist they're doing news worthy events let's talk about the political landscape here how are both parties approaching this moment? and in particular, how does a white house on the verge, we think, of a reelection bid navigate this reality with fox news and their lies? >> one thing that's really interesting in the republican party is that there was a world over and over again where this was going to be different, where there were moments after january 6th, even before that throughout the presidency of donald trump where he lied or said things that were untrue or obfuscated and republicans and fox news seemed to be over him, right there were a lot of murdoch properties like the washington journal, fox news that seemed like they were going to move away from him. that is clearly not the case

they have completely reimbraced donald trump that means you have a party that is going to continue embracing those lied if donald trump stopped telling the lies of the 2020 election, we'd probably see less elected officials and top republicans talking about that election and those kinds of things. the problem is it's in the republican party where the voters are, that is how they view what happened in 2020 and what could happen in 2024. when you talk to some republican voters around the country, people who don't live in washington, d.c. and they tell us they think the whole system is disrupt because of what happened in 2020 that is going to continue. dem this white house is likely to announce a run any time soon which could mean two weeks to two months or three.

the fact of the matter is it is difficult to talk about these lies and donald trump because they also worry they're giving him too much attention because they know he comes and takes all the air out of the room. when he said he was going to be arrested and that next week, no one talked about joe biden and what he was doing. this is a white house that has to figure out how to break through politically with donald trump continuing to spread these lies and possibly being the nominee for the republican party. >> john heilemann, these obviously have been absolutely crazy years we've gone through with donald trump since 2015 here we are eight years later. just think about the institutions on the right, think about politically right leaning

politicians, just the republican party who's lost election after election since 2017. it's shocking how much they've lost since 2017. every election since 2017. the one they could say we won the house, they won by a couple of seats when kevin mccarthy a year before said they were going to win by 50 they have so radically underperformed through the years. you look at conservatism it doesn't really exist in america anymore. it's been redefined so much that you have the national review who went from a never trump organization to trying to find its way. now you have fox news again following donald trump

it has had absolutely staggering costs politically, financially, pu public opinion wise over the past eight years despite all the of the damage he's done to these institutions to these people. by the way, rudy giuliani if he's not bankrupted by all the lies he told, i'll be shocked. i think that's the way it's heading for him. they've all been destroyed but now we hear that fox news is going back to donald trump they're going back and the party going back to donald trump, this is the political equivalent of like a heroin addict that keeps going back to what kills them politically. all you can do from a distance, especially as a former member,

you just look and go my god, my god, what's happened to them >> well, one of the great existential questions of our time it's almost a decade now who would have thought when that guy came down the escalator back in 2015 that we'd still be talking a decade later about him. the conservative universe that i grew up covering, you think about that whole ecosystem of the heritage foundation, the american enterprise institute, the cato foundation.

al and the media also, all these things that created the thriving ecosystem that the right was built on, the conservative political movement was built on, all of it lies in ruins now. it's kind of this post apocalyptic landscape where all of these institutions have been reduced to meaninglessness or totally debauched. the only thing still out there is kind of the creature, you know, slouching toward bethlehem over and over again. to your point, i think the essential thing here with trump and why they keep going back to it -- i don't know what the right metaphor is. here's the real issue. all of those things that we're talking about about the institutional framework for it, the ecosystem around it, all of that, none of it matters

what drives the republican party now is voters. that seems like a truism to say it, but the republican electorate still by and large loves donald trump and that is a confounding fact that that all the elite institutions have been led down that road to ruin because they can't somehow figure out how to cut the knot between trump and the voters the conservative party is a wreck. >> i just want to quote a host from fox news who agrees with us, at least offline a host described mr. trump as, quote, a demonic force, a destroyer. and he is a destroyer. he's destroying everything he

touches. what he's good at is at destroying things. he's the undisputed world champion of that he could easily destroy us if we play it wrong. that's exactly what's happening. coming up, we've been talking a lot about mass shootings across america, the leading cause of death among children we're also looking at shootings across the country of a different sort, the common denominator being innocent people being at the wrong place at the wrong time. >> just making a mistake, going up the wrong driveway, knocking on the wrong door. >> we'll have more on that when we come right back are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. ♪

with wet amd, sometimes i worry my world is getting smaller because of my sight. but now, i can open up my world with vabysmo. vabysmo is the first fda-approved treatment for people with wet amd that improves vision and delivers a chance for up to 4 months between treatments. which means doing more of what i love. ♪ vabysmo is the only treatment designed to block 2 causes of wet amd. vabysmo is an eye injection. don't take it if you have an infection or active swelling in or around your eye, or are allergic to it or any of its ingredients. treatments like vabysmo can cause eye infection or retinal detachment. vabysmo may cause a temporary increase in eye pressure after receiving the injection. although uncommon, there is a potential risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. open up your world! a chance for up to 4 months between treatments with vabysmo. ask your doctor. - representative! - sorry, i didn't get that.

- oh buddy! you need a hug. you also need consumer cellular. get the exact same coverage as the nation's leading carriers and 100% us based customer support. starting at $20. consumer cellular. mass general brigham -- when you need some of the brightest minds in medicine. this is a leading healthcare system with five nationally ranked hospitals, including two world-renowned academic medical centers. in boston, where biotech innovates daily and our doctors teach at harvard medical school and the physicians doing the world-changing research are the ones providing care. ♪♪ there's only one mass general brigham. our customers don't do what they do for likes or followers. their path isn't for the casually curious. and that's what makes it matter the most when they find it. the exact thing that can change the world. some say it's what they were born to do...

it's what they live to do... trinet serves small and medium sized businesses... so they can do more of what matters. benefits. payroll. compliance. trinet. people matter. alex! mateo, hey how's business? great. you know that loan has really worked wonders. that's what u.s. bank is for. and you're growing in california? -yup, socal, norcal... -monterey? -all day. -a branch in ventura? that's for sure-ah. atms in fresno? fres-yes. encinitas? yes, indeed-us. anaheim? big time. more guacamole? i'm on a roll-ay. how about you? i'm just visiting. u.s. bank. ranked #1 in customer satisfaction with retail banking in california by j.d. power.

. 26 past the hour now to the latest in a number of recent shootings across america,

which all share a common theme, being shot for simply making a mistake, being in the wrong place. we begin in texas where a cheerleader is in the icu this morning, shot by a man who opened fire on her and her friends. >> reporter: in texas, a high school cheerleader is in critical condition after a man fired a gun at her and three teammates who accidentally approached the wrong car following a late night practice. authorities arrested pedro tello rodriguez jr., charging him with a third degree felony. payton washington is one of two teens shot and injured in a supermarket parking lot early tuesday morning. washington's father speaking out, telling nbc news the shooter showed his weapon and then, quote, just started

shooting at the girls, adding you watched her walk up to your door on accident it's a girl in a cheer outfit. he says the 18-year-old who was struck in her leg and back, had to have her spleen removed payton, who's no stranger to health challenges, having been born with one lung, earned a tumbling scholarship at baylor university washington's teammate heather roth was grazed by a bullet in her leg, but is expected to compete this weekend in her final high school cheer competition. tuesday's shooting in texas one of several making national headlines of young people injured or even killed for mistakenly being in the wrong place. in upstate new york kaylin gillis was killed after she turned into the wrong driveway while looking for a friend's house. >> kaylin was an amazing young lady we all loved her so much she was so kind. >> the alleged gunman kevin

monaghan was arrested and charged with second degree murder he's pleaded not guilty. gillis's father says his daughter dreamed of becoming a marine biologist. >> for this man to sit on his porch and fire at a car with no threat angers me so badly. >> reporter: after nearly a week of unrest in kansas city, the 84-year-old white homeowner charged with shooting a black teen who rang his doorbell, pleading not guilty in a missouri courtroom the judge ordering andrew lester to turn overall weapons and have zero contact with 16-year-old ralph yarl. >> he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison. that's an outcome we're hoping for. >> reporter: according to court documents lester claimed the boy rang his doorbell and pulled the

handle and thought someone was trying to break in public fury fuelled by the family's story that ralph went to the wrong home and only rang the doorbell and moments later shot in the head and arm his ex-wife saying he was prone to fits of rage, smashing objects in their home when he was angry. quote, it doesn't surprise me what happened, she told the times. m meanwhile ralph's recovery just beginning. though his family says the teen is struggling to process the pain of what happened, he also feels immense support from the public. >> he's loving the love that he's getting from everyone of course, he's not back to ralph, but he's alive and he's healthy. >> reporter: even celebrities like justin timberlake and

jennifer hudson demanding justice. a go fund me topping $3.3 million, a teen just starting to heal as the criminal case moves forward. >> maggie vespa and katie beck with those two reports ralph yarl, kaylin gillis, payton washington in texas what's the thread between those stories? >> i was so struck by the fact that these different places, different histories, different situations two young people of different backgrounds, different outcomes and yet the beats of the story were the same. you approach someone's house and you are shot and in one case killed for driving up a driveway, knocking on a door, these basic things that people

do in a free society what really struck me was something that a friend of mine told me a while ago. we were talking about india and the united states. he was talking about the hallmark of modern societies is anonymous trust. you don't have to know people to transact you write checks to them i've hired babysitters from a website. for many cultures in the world, all of our great grandparents would have been shocked at the idea of bringing in a babysitter that you don't know. we have built societies on the notion of anonymous trust. it's allowed so much of modern

li life it occurred to me we're not just dividing as a country. we are de-developing we are moving backwards with millions of people, their brains now addled by this propaganda feeling that you are in danger, everyone is a threat we're going back to this "game of thrones" world where a lot of our fellow citizens feel like they live in a castle and if anyone crosses your moat they need to be murdered because they are coming to murder you it is a national brain damage and it is deadly and it is eroding the foundation of actually what makes this a functional, free, modern so society. >> it is deadly and it is by design i'm old enough to remember after

waco, after ruby ridge, even oklahoma city. i remember older republicans, well, the president of the united states and other long time conservatives quitting the nra because their rhetoric turned so radical talking about federal agents, law enforcement officers, the nra, calling them jack booted thugs for fund-raising purposes because they realized they could fund raise and make more money if they could plant in the minds of americans that the government was coming to get you. i heard it when i was knocking on doors when i was running, you would hear that sort of people talking about militias and the black helicopters. we all laughed that off, but the

nra kept picking at the scab year after year after year when i talk about this hyper individualism that has taken shape in america and that lack of trust, that lack of community that bonds societies together, this didn't just happen because. this happened as a direct result of a strategy by groups like the nra and people like glenn beck and others that would get on television and tell people every day that the government is coming to get you. that morphed into the federal government is coming to get you.

we talk about fox news they have told their viewers over the past six months that proud marines and members of the army are coming to the united states in the same helicopters they used in afghanistan to kill people who voted for donald trump, that law enforcement officers were coming to kick down their doors from the same agencies that donald trump says we have to defund them and that they're coming to kill them. you have republican senators now picking up on this the oldest republican senators saying irs agents are coming to iowa and they're going to kick in their doors and kill middle class americans.

this has been a deliberate plan for 25 years and we ask why all of this is happening? well, everybody's brandishing guns, everybody's shooting at everybody. we know the answer it is not by accident and it is a choice it's what i keep telling our viewers. this is a choice that people are making >> it is a choice. it is a project. i think, frankly, some of the language we were using after 9/11 to describe radicalization around the world applies very much here at home. there has been a project, a funnel of radicalization for lots of these people the end goal is to sell guns just to make it personal for a second, my parents came to this country in the late '70s from

india. they moved to shaker heights, ohio many things were culture shock, but one of them was like people said hi to you on the street in india no one says hi to you on the street if they don't know you. what these folks at fox news and elsewhere are doing and the nra, not just trying to sell guns or ads on their networks, but they are trying to destroy some of the best things about american culture. the thing that most strikes immigrants that come to this country is that high level of anonymous trust. fox news is taking a jackhammer to the fabric of american culture to make money. >> thank you very much for being on this morning. we appreciate it

eugene daniels, politico spoke with chris christie this week. what did he say about potentially being a part of 2024 >> another person talking about flirting with running. chris christie, former new jersey governor, has been around and trying to be one of the good repub republicans,trying to talk about how donald trump is bad for the party. he said, one, it was clear that he's itching to run. he does want to jump in the race he's been going to those early states he doesn't want to identity if he doesn't think he can win. he said he's not a paid assassin he's not going to go there to just take out donald trump so someone else can win we also talked that he is not one of the people in the republican party that believes you need to be nice to donald

trump, you should be nice to donald trump that is very much a part of who he is. i don't think any one of us is surprised that ihe wants to go head up against donald trump he's part of that conversation, do you try to get trump supporters by being nice to donald trump or do you try to take him out completely and show you are the alternative? that's something we'll have to keep watching. coming up on "morning joe," from donald trump's role in a pro wrestling story line to barack obama's love for basketball our next guest is exploring the sports background of every president since eisenhower chris sliz za joins us with his new book

hey, dad. i got an a on my book report. -and i scored a goal on ashley. -that's cool. and i went for a walk in the woods and i didn't get a single flea or tick on me. you are just the best. it's probably because of that flea and tick medicine you've been ordering from chewy. we are very proud of you. you never stop surprising us, bailey. right? i'm great. you are great. i wonder if bailey's ever done a book report. be nice to your sister. what flea bit him? pets aren't just pets. they're more. this flea and tick season, trust america's #1 pet pharmacy. chewy. trying to control my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ 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 face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. talk to your asthma specialist to see if once-monthly nucala may be right for you. and learn about savings at nucala.com there's more to your life than asthma. find your nunormal with nucala.

starting a new chapter can be the most thrilling thing in the world. there's more to your life than asthma. 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.

that's president george w. bush throwing a dart before game 3 of the 2001 world series in new york city just weeks after the attack of 9/11 from the baseball field to the bowling alley to the golf course, sports and politics have become increasingly linked over the past decades joining us political commentator chris cillizza he's out with a new book called "power players, sports, politics and the american presidency. congratulations on the book. great to see you we've got to start with george w. bush throwing that pitch. he's wearing a flak jacket derek jeter warms him up underneath yankee stadium. >> i think that's my favorite part bush is warming up underneath

yankee stadium derek jeter comes up and says are you going to throw it from the mound, the actual mound? bush says, well, i was actually thinking of throwing it from the front of the mound jeter says i think you probably should throw it from the mound as jeter is walking out he says, don't bounce it. bush, by his owned a mission is nervous about it the country needed that. when you hear him introduced that night, the crowd is a little bit quiet they're nervous. remember, there had been threats on george bush's life at that event. him throwing that is a way to say we can do this i'm throwing it right down the middle the crowd goes bananas

sports and politics, maybe they were in different lanes at some point. they're not anymore. >> you go back to president eisenhower, coming out of world war ii leading the allies to victory, becoming president of the united states. man, did he love a good game of golf. >> i always roll my eyes when people criticize donald trump and barack obama for how much they play golf, because dwight eisenhower played five times as much golf as any of them eisenhower from august to october most years would go and play golf in colorado. he would work, but he would play 36 holes a day in 1953 he's out there playing golf john foster dulles, his secretary of state, keeps wanting to talk to him on the phone. eisenhower was getting annoyed after the 9th hole he treats

himself to a hamburger and goes out and plays the next nine. he talked to foster dulles he only plays another nine because he's not feeling all that well. turns out at 2:00 that night he had a heart attack on the golf course there was no 25th amendment, there was no line of succession. he wound up being fine he convalesced at his farm in pennsylvania for months and he was fine we could have had a constitutional crisis all the way back in the early 1950s. >> it's crazy. the stories about eisenhower golfing are legends. one little detail about ike is, for some reason whether he was general or president, he got a lot of gimmes.

if it was within five feet, a lot of times they'd say, it's good, mr. president. ike would make them putt it out. my parents growing up would always say oh ike, all he ever did was golf he just golfed that actually was used he used people thinking he was this affable guy who bounced around on the golf course and didn't do a whole lot, he actually used that very effectively, becoming one of the more successful presidents over eight years. >> contrast that with donald trump, who's notorious for cheating at golf chris, i want to ask you about richard nixon. he was known as a sports fan

even famously called in a play to an nfl front office at one point. you talk about his favorite sport and why it's revealing to nixon the man. >> minixon loved to bowl. he had lanes installed in the white house. it's a little bit weird. at 10:00 at night most nights richard nixon would retire to those lanes and bowl between 7 and 12 games by himself. he said it relaxed him i think for him the idea of nixon as the loner president, the idea of him bowling alone i think is a pretty powerful one he was the biggest sports fan

nthat the fanatic we've ever ha as president he would be calling into sports talk radio and complaining aaron judge's ops is way lower than it needs to be. that was who nixon when he played football. his best trait was that he would get up after getting knocked down the coach said, but he was obsessed, obsessed with sports >> and a good bowler as we see in those photographs nice release point, he gets the leg up in the back he's got the whole thing you play that much, you're going to get good. >> nice outfit. >> he bowled a 230 at one point, seven straight strikes he was not a bad bowler. bowling was cooler back then that's one thing i would say. >> bowling is still cool, man. i hope >> that's what we do at our christmas parties on "morning joe," we go bowling. >> bowling at 9:30 in the morning, nice empty lanes. power players, sports, politics, the american presidency is a lot

of fun we've only scratched the surface including the fact that george h.w. bush met babe ruth. we'll do the math on that one when you read the book congrats, thanks for being here. good to see you. still ahead, actor michael shannon joins us with his new project about the aftermath of the government's raid of a heavily armed religious sect outside waco in 1993 he joins us next when we come back in two minutes. just stop. go for a run. go for ten runs. run a marathon. instead, start small with nicorette, which will lead to something big. that's some bad luck brian. and i think i'm late on my car insurance. good thing the general gives you a break when you need it. yeah, with flexible payment options to keep you covered. so today is your lucky...day [crash] so today is your lucky...day for a great low rate, go with the general. power e*trade'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 i screwed up. mhm. that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck.

we helped create the monster ♪ said enough ♪

we're trying to stop ♪ that's me in the corner ♪ ♪ that's me in the spotlight losing my religion ♪ >> the government refuses to take responsibility for its actions. >> this thing was never going to turn out any different than it did. >> the bureau is now going to concentrate all of its efforts on foreign terrorism >> i'm trying to keep people from getting hurt. >> that is a look at "waco: the aftera math" it's a five-part show time series portraying the searing repercussions of the fbi standoff 30 years ago. the standoff was between federal agents and the branchdy video yans it ended in a massive fire at the group's compound broadcast on live television 86 people were killed in the incident including a number of children while waco remains one of the most controversial events in recent american history, many people don't know what happened

after that siege was over, starring oscar nominee michael shannon, it follows an fbi nego negotiator's efforts to track the domestic terrorist movement spawned. the actor producer joins us now. it's great to see you. i think so many people have studied and know the story of what happened that ta. you guys in this series pick up what happened the day after. tell me about the series and your character an fbi hostage negotiator >> yeah, well, i guess when we made the first series people kind of thought that was the end of the story, and then they came to me about doing this j aftermath, and i said, what would that be? and they said, you know, there were a lot of people watching what happened, and there were a lot of people that were deeply affected by what happened and had their own opinions about why it happened and how it happened, and they went out, and you know, you can really look at that event as kind of a seismic event

that had great repercussions throughout our culture, and it was worth, you know, revisiting that >> and as you say, oklahoma city, timothy mcveigh cited waco, ruby ridge it started something in this country, didn't it >> yeah, and the fella i play, gary nester, who's a real fbi negotiator, he has a fantastic book "stalling for time," and you know, waco is just one chapter in this book, you know he's been to so many events, and he's not belittling waco by any stretch of the imagination it's definitely one of the more significant things he's dealt with you can just see throughout the book how the stone keeps skipping on the pond, you know, and creating more and more waves as it goes >> and the 30th anniversary just yesterday. so talk to us about the challenge -- it still does have repercussions to this moment we were talking on this set a few weeks ago when donald trump had a rally in waco and it

spurred, again, interest in what happened there and how so many people have embraced it. >> yeah, well, yeah, it really shouldn't be used as any sort of rallying cry for anybody i mean, just sitting here and seeing the front page of "the new york times" just now and hearing you talk about it, it still has such a somber feeling for me it's not -- it should be off limits, you know nobody should be saying -- using it as a motivation or as a tool to get anybody to do anything. we should -- but unfortunately nothing seems to be off limits nowadays, so you know, i just wish he wouldn't have done that. >> michael, joe has a question for you. >> and michael, we were just talking about how the things like waco, ruby ridge led the nra to push this hyper individualization and this paranoia that has led to a gun culture that we're seeing on the

front pages of the paper people getting shot everywhere this is an issue that you have a lot to say about, and in fact, you've got a project, a movie coming out that tackles it could you getinto that a littl bit here >> oh, i appreciate you bringing that up, actually. i just made my directorial debut, and it's a film called eric larue it's based on a play that actually was written quite a long time ago inspired by the columbine shootings. but it's about a young man, eric, 17-year-old high school student who shoots three of his classmates and winds up going to prison, and the film focuses on his parents and how they're trying to deal with the aftermath of what he did and how it affects their lives, and yeah, we just got accepted to the tribeca film festival, so it

will be premiering there on june 10th yeah, it's really sad because i saw this play. it started out as a theatrical play back in 2002, and here i am shooting the movie 20 years later and it's like it could have been written yesterday, so it's really -- it's a little disconcerting. >> sad that we get a reminder almost every day in this country of it. i can't have you here without telling you how great george and tammy is i hope they hand you a bundle of awards for that performance. what was it like to take on george jones >> yeah, i was pretty intimidated by that, but jessica, god bless her, she kind of like backing a horse into a stable, come on, you can do it and i said okay, but you know, we got through it together we worked really, really, really hard on it working on that singing was a real challenge. >> you can sing, man, you can

sing. >> we had an amazing vocal coach in nashville, you were saying you went to school in nashville. a fellow named ron browning who's really kind of the obi wan kenobi he got us there. he's just a magic man, yeah. >> that is a great series. congratulations. you are a busy man, waco the aftermath available now on show time with new episodes streaming on fridays >> that does it for us this morning, ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now hello, and thank you for being here it is 10:00 eastern. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york right now search and rescue efforts are underway in the midwest after an outbreak of severe weather, and there's more on the way tornados ripped through three states killing at least two people in oklahoma, 27 million people remain under a storm threat this morning. we are tracking th