i find ironic, the reference to the lab leak theory. the idea that the fbi would somehow be involved in references to the lab leak theory is absurd. insane. ludicrous. absurd. >> fbi director christopher wray. >> yes it was, all of it. >> a lifelong republican appointed by donald trump defending himself from members of his own party yesterday in a lengthy and tense hearing that was more about political theater than substance. we'll show you more of his testimony, including what he said about where trump was hiding classified documents. meanwhile, the justice department is appealing the 18-year prison sentence for oathkeepers founder stewart rhodes for his role in the january 6th capitol riot. we'll explain why. speaking of the insurrection, a pro-trump supporter who was at the capitol that day is suing fox news for

defamation, claiming the network pushed a, quote, fantastical story about him. >> well, they did day after day after day. >> how many lawsuits? >> ray epps and his wife have had to move to an undisclosed location because their life has been threatened so many times because of the lies that a former fox news host told about them. new this morning, hollywood actors are swapping scripts for picket signs as failed negotiations late last night set the stage for another strike in the entertainment industry. this is a big one. >> it is a big one, willie. i mean, got a lot to talk about today. obviously, the strike. also, ray epps, that's incredible, what's happened to him. tragic what's happened to him and his wife. but also, the christopher wray testimony yesterday, if you want

to look at how perverse trumpism is and what it's done to my former party, look no further than the disrespect they show to the fbi, talking about defunding the fbi, lying about the fbi, making up conspiracy theories about the fbi, attacking a lifelong republican and a donald trump supporter and a person appointed by donald trump, all because they wouldn't let him break the law. and they want to defund the fbi. on another committee, they're not letting our military budget go through because, well, they want to make -- they want to have culture wars there, just like the marine corps doesn't have a commandant for the first time in 150 years because they want to wage a culture war instead of help democrats strengthen military readiness.

>> yeah, director wray, as he took those questions for five hours yesterday inside that hearing, you almost wanted to see what was in the thought bubble outside his head. he would compose himself and say something a little more professional than he probably wanted to say, as we saw some highlights in those clips. it was embarrassing, if some of the people in the room for capable of embarrassment. they might be embarrassed by the line of questioning they were pushing on director wray. some of the conspiracy theories, as you say, that they were pushing on him. ultimately, joe, he did comment in a sort of backwards way about the mar-a-lago investigation, about the way those documents were seized and, yes, about the way they were stored. he talked about skiffs, those secure rooms that are used to look at documents that are classified. he said, "i'm pretty sure a bathroom, a ballroom and a bedroom are not skiffs." that was as far as he went, but he had some things to say. we'll get into it in a minute. along with joe, willie and me, we have u.s. special

correspondent for bbc news, katty kay, and msnbc contributor mike barnicle with us this morning. president biden is in helsinki this morning welcoming the newest member of nato. finland joined last year, a move that doubled the alliance's border with russia. the trip is meant to show nato's expanding power and influence against russian president vladimir putin. biden's visit also marks a stark contrast to donald trump's trip to finland's capital almost exactly five years ago. we all remember that. then president -- >> many people are calling that the lemire summit. >> it was. then president trump famously stood by vladimir putin and defended the russian president's denials of election interference, going against the findings of u.s. intelligence on the world stage. >> just now, president putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. every u.s. intelligence agency has concluded that russia did.

my first question for you, sir, is who do you believe? my second question is, would you now, with the whole world watching, tell president putin, would you denounce what happened in 2016, and would you warn him to never do it again? >> let me just say that we have two thoughts. you have groups that are wondering why the fbi never took the server, why haven't they taken the server? why was the fbi told to leave the office of the democratic national committee? i've been wondering that. i've been asking that for months and months, and i've been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media. where is the server? i want to know, where is the server, and what is the server saying? with that being said, all i can do is ask the question. my people came to me, dan coats came to me and some others, they said that they think it's russia. i have president putin. he just said it's not russia. i will say this, i don't see any

reason why it would be, but i really do want to see the server. >> jonathan looks a little scruffy. >> first of all, donald trump actually siding with vladimir putin, an ex-kgb agent, a guy that kills politicians that oppose him and kills journalists who write bad things about him. it's quite a glare, that vladimir putin, i never noticed it, gave to jonathan after the question was asked. willie, if you'll remember, lemire, he's, you know, we've cleaned him up a little bit. he looked kind of scruffy there. >> he did. >> like a -- >> what the cat drag in. what's going on there? >> i don't know if you remember. he got in a shoving match with some of vlad's punks. i think this was -- >> got beat up. >> -- the location, pushing each other out. rough days. >> yeah. >> let me tell you, willie,

cleaned up now, but he still has the dark soul of the south boston punk. >> he does. he went toe-to-toe with vladimir putin's security forces and lived to tell the tale. if you look at that side by side, certainly it's changed his approach to his hair in the five years since helsinki. >> yeah. >> credit to the hair and makeup department here at msnbc. let's give him a chance to defend himself. that is jonathan lemire, white house bureau chief at "politico," of course the host of "way too early," joining us from helsinki. also joining us at the table in new york, ian bremmer. >> always looking good. >> ian, good to have you with us. john, let you defend yourself on the hair five years ago at helsinki, but more broadly, the contrast we're seeing five years later with this president in the same city. >> yeah, we were all so much younger than, weren't we? yes, credit to the hair and makeup team there at msnbc for my glow-up ahead of my return

here to helsinki. it is a remarkable parallel that a u.s. president has returned to the finnish capital, five years to the week, nearly five years to the day since we heard an american president here. you played it, donald trump standing alongside vladimir putin, siding with putin over his own government with the 2016 election interference, taking putin's side. now, president biden is here touting the addition of finland to an allowance meant as a bulwark to stop that very same russian leader. the world has changed dramatically in the five years since our last time in helsinki, and we'll be hearing from president biden later today, coming off the heels of that nato summit, which we'll get to in a minute. he will talk about how finland strengthens the alliance and also how just all of the west, the idea of multilateral alliances has been revitalized because of that man, vladimir putin. of course, the shadow of donald

trump still looms large here in helsinki. he is, of course, a leading contender to be president again in 2024, were he to win, and that is something that gives these allies great anxiety, his potential return. the idea that the united states is back, but there are concerns as to back for how long? >> jonathan, five years is a snap of a finger in terms of history. of course, five years ago, it was before you outfitted yourself in better suits and shirts and ties and stuff like that. >> sure. >> but could you please talk a bit about what is a striking contrast to many people, just the visuals from president biden's trip this week and when you were there five years ago with president trump? there was a particularly striking visual yesterday of president biden with his arm around president olaf scholz of german, laughing and smiling at each other, and it was a contrast to what had happened

during the trump administration. >> no question there, mike. let's remember, trump's visit to helsinki five years ago came just days after he was in nato, brussels, nato's headquarters, and threatened to pull the united states out of that alliance. that was also five years ago. he was talked out of it, but he nearly detonated the signature post world war ii multinational alliance. instead, now, we have president biden here expanding it. finland is in. sweden is on a path to be in, as well. and you mentioned it, he certainly enjoys a warm camaraderie with a number of the european leaders, and he had a positive meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy, which was the real headline yesterday. zelenskyy had come to vilnius really angry, thought that nato was dragging their feet. he was frustrated they were not going to get his country into the alliance. but after 24 hours of diplomacy, meeting with biden and others, he changed his tune. in his meeting with biden

yesterday, i asked president zelenskyy, was he satisfied? was this enough? did he get enough assurances from the allies? he said he did. there was more military assurance, more security promised. yes, ukraine, he still wants to join nato eventually, but for the moment, that tension has dissipated. now, the return to focusing on its counteroffensive against russia. >> let's watch that moment, jonathan lemire asking president zelenskyy yesterday at the nato summit about how he feels now about the security guarantees from the united states and from nato. >> president zelenskyy, are you satisfied with what you got from nato? you were so frustrated yesterday. is this enough? are you satisfied, sir? >> i think by the end of summit, we have great unity from our leaders and security guarantees, that the success for this summit. i think so, but it's my opinion. thank you. >> ian bremmer, indeed a huge contrast from 24 hours earlier, where president zelenskyy was calling nato weak, saying it was

inviting russian terrorism by not allowing ukraine into nato right away. filled with gratitude yesterday. in a tweet in a moment there toward president biden and the united states. what was the significance, what was the impact of what we saw over the past couple days in vilnius, both practically and symbolically? >> first, why did zelenskyy shift? i think part of the reason for that is because the polish government, the baltic governments, right up until the beginning of the summit, were pushing really hard for, we need concrete dates. we need a calendar. we need to know when nato is going to welcome ukraine formally. president biden and the white house were telling these people back channel, that cannot happen right now. biden went on television the previous week and made it very, very clear. up until the day of the summit, you had the pols and the baltics making that case in talking with zelenskyy.

he thought it was going to go more strongly than it could have. having said that, once you put all the allies in the room, you do show far more consolidation of policies than you ever had in nato, before the invasion, of course. you got the announcement from the turks that allowed sweden to join, which was a big win for the summit just to kick it off. you also have a multilateral group of guarantees by nato that are telling the ukrainians that they're going to get ongoing intelligence support, cyber defenses, training, and military support, irrespective of who the government is. that's a hard thing to bring. that's a multilateral, ongoing commitment that allows zelenskyy to go back, fighting a war with a counteroffensive that didn't going so well so far, and saying, "these guys still have my back." the big question is not so much what happened over the last two days in vilnius, the big question is, are we presently at peak nato? can we continue this as american public support, republicans and democrats, for the ukrainian

defense, as it continues to diminish and as we enter into the 2024 election cycle. >> katty kay, i remember a couple weeks after the invasion, one early saturday morning, doing what i do every early saturday morning, and that is driving to go get mika's coffee. i turned on bbc while i was going there to listen. i was curious what the response was. they were talking about germany and some of the moves germany was going to be taking. it was when there was that real shift to germany, talking about expanding their military budgets. i thought, this is really -- this is such is pivotal time, and i think we're seeing history shift dramatically here. the question has lingered, will europe continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the united states and with ukraine? so far, it seems they are.

if you look at those pictures of zelenskyy, and people like the british prime minister seemed desperate to get in there and pat him on the arm. >> surrounded. >> talk about europe remaining steadfast, and if there are concerns about possible cracks in the alliance at any point moving forward. >> yeah, i mean, look, who was the star of this nato summit? zelenskyy just has to show up. he did the same in japan at the g7 meeting. he gets the press conference with stoltenberg. he sits next to president biden. i mean, he's right in there, and it's a real tribute to him and to his leadership and the quality of his leadership that i think ukraine has managed to keep the allies as unified as they have. can you point to some cracks? you had the uk defense secretary pretty firmly saying to president zelenskyy, "look, you need to show gratitude." i think it was a political schooling lesson as much as anything. he pointed, ben wallace, to the problems on capitol hill. i mean, he said, look, there are

people in congress who do not want to carry on with the kinds of funding we've had so far. the europeans are pretty united, but they're also aware that their own stocks are being depleted, that this has gone on for 18 months now. so far, european nations seem to be unified. there doesn't seem to be much political pressure on either front, germany or the uk, to scale back the amount of commitment they're giving. and nato can point to big wins just at this summit. the border with nato has just increased by 800 miles. it's doubled nato's border with russia, having finland on board. sweden is about to join. ukraine has got these security guarantees. i think for the most, there is as much unity in europe as one might have -- as one might reasonably be able to expect, given how long this has gone on and given how much money and weapons are being poured into ukraine. if ukraine does badly in the

counteroffensive, you'll have more questions about how much more the european union and nato are prepared to finance this. >> ian, since we have you here, i wanted to ask you a question just on a side note that i think is fascinating when we're looking at the strength of the alliance. certainly, the west, the big concern was maloney, the new italian prime minister. right-wing populist from the school of politics. burliskoni was pro-putin. seemed to be neofascist by many in the west. she's been supportive, as supportive as any western ally it seems and always seems to get right in the front, shaking his hands. here he is -- >> twice. >> -- pulling her over. again, i think it is great news. i'm glad there's been this

change in the prime minister. what's happening there, and what does this tell us? there are th concerns that everyone has. it's not like she's suddenly given up on her idealogical base, but for this issue, she's stuck. going forward, what happens with

biden? what happens with support? of course, the u.s. is responsible for more than the majority of the support going to ukraine. the u.s. is the dominant military power. all eyes are on us, not the europeans on this issue. >> ian, is that what you're hearing as far as concerns about america? i do hear that from foreign diplomats, from leaders. sure, biden is in there. sure, the united states is back for now. what happens a year from now? do you hear that a lot? >> what happens, presumably, when trump gets the nomination? there is an assumption on the part of the european allies that trump will be the gop nominee, meaning he'll have more control other the party. will the gop continue present policies on nato and russia before the election itself? there is enormous concern about that. does biden want to be stronger in terms of ukraine in nato when trump suddenly has that to run

against. it is harder to run against ambiguity with nato. that's a discussion in the white house, too. >> ian bremmer, thanks so much. great seeing you. jonathan lemire, what do you have planned for today? >> well, i'm going to cover the president in helsinki, joe. he's got a series of events. >> oh good. >> later on, he is meeting with the finnish prime minister. there is a nordic state summit, and then he has a news conference. five years ago, when donald trump stood with vladimir putin, this time, president biden will stand with the leader of finland. certainly, they will talk about the addition of finland to nato. they will talk about this alliance. it is a remarkable parallel. let's recall, it was five years ago when vladimir putin came here to helsinki to meet with donald trump, the night before he presided over the final of the world cup which was held in russia. there could be little more than acceptance on the global stage than that. five years later, he is an

international pariah. things have changed since the american media attention was focused here on the finnish capital. we'll have coverage all day long. >> looking forward to that. jonathan lemire, appreciate your reporting. we'll see you soon. still ahead on "morning joe," national security council spokesman john kirby joins us on the heels of president biden's meeting with president zelenskyy at the nato summit yesterday. plus, we'll turn to the 2024 gop primary race and new reporting about the growing number of ron desantis donors voicing concern about his presidential campaign. also ahead, the deadline has passed for hollywood to avoid a major actors strike. we'll go over what happens next after those failed negotiations late last night. and americans got some unexpectedly good news on inflation yesterday. steve rattner joins us next with more on what it means for the

u.s. economy and, yes, he's got his charts. >> love the charts. >> you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you. learn how abbvie could help you save on botox®. welcome back. 26 past the hour. fbi director christopher wray appeared before the house judiciary committee yesterday for nearly five hours. >> wray is a republican, right? >> appointed by donald trump. >> so he is a trump appointee, and trump, only the best people. >> a trump-appointed republican. >> trump-appointed republican, yeah, okay. >> he fielded questions from some of the same members of congress who have recently called for his impeachment. >> those are republicans, too. so republicans want to impeach a republican? why? >> trump republicans want to impeach a trump-appointed republican. >> why? >> despite being appointed by

donald trump and a registered republican voter, republican lawmakers have baselessly accused wray of using the fbi to target those with conservative beliefs, including the former president himself. director wray was having none of it. >> there is a two-tiered justice system that has been weaponized to persecute people based on their political beliefs and that you have personally worked to weaponize the fbi against conservatives. >> i would disagree with your characterization of the fbi and certainly your description of my own approach. the idea that i'm biased against conservatives seems insane to me, given my own personal background. >> you preside over the fbi. that has the lowest level of trust in the fbi's history. people trusted the fbi more when j. edgar hoover was running the place than when you are. the reason is because you don't give straight reasons.

>> respectfully, congressman, in your home state of florida, the number of people applying to come work for us and devote their lives working for us is up over 100%. >> january 6th, i mean, was beyond a weaponization of government. it was a nuclearization of government against the government. i think tucker carlson and some of the colleagues on the other side of the aisle said that ray epps was a secret government agent, helping encourage this crime so as to make the president look bad. do you have any knowledge of ray epps being a secret government agent? >> no. i will say, this notion that somehow the violence at the capitol on january 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by fbi sources and agents is ludicrous. >> i want to use and examine the case of the mar-a-lago documents because it's been used by the former president as a pitying

moment, as though he has somehow been victimized. >> i don't want to be commenting on the pending case, but i will say that there are specific rules about where to store classified information, and that those need to be scored in a skiff, a secure compartmentalized information facility. in my experience, ballrooms, bathrooms and bedrooms are not scifs. >> this went on for five hours yesterday, mike barnicle. christopher wray calmly took down conspiracy theories and defended the fbi. it is disoriented, and joe made this point and probably you, who covered republicans for a long time, to see republican members of congress attacking with such venom the fbi, attacking the military, attacking the justice department, these law enforcement scal war stalwarts view as a deep state conspiracy. why are they doing it? it goes to the root of defending donald trump. >> it is an extremely unusual way of trying to grow your political party.

to take on one of the more legendary elements of government and one of the more honored elements of government, the federal bureau of investigation. as you point out, in addition to that, they have attacked the american military on many occasions. they continue to do it. is it a fringe of the republican party? is it the majority of the existing republican party in congress? that we don't know. but i don't think it is a majority, even close to a majority, of republican voters out there. even republican voters should be offended at the totally ignorant approach that many members of the party took yesterday against director wray. >> i mean, the problem, mike, is the leaders of the house republicans are talking this way. the people that are running the committees. some of the most powerful, some of the most influential people hate law enforcement. they hate the fbi. they hate the premier law

enforcement agency in america. they hate military leaders. they're constantly trashing the united states military. it is crazy what they are doing. they're blocking the marine corps, the united states marine corps from being a commandant for the first time in 150 years. they say they wish american military people could be as tough and masculine as the russian military. i mean, are you kidding me? would we like to ask the russian military -- you know what we ought to do? ask the wagner group thugs that rushed the united states military and ask -- oh, we can't. they were all killed in, like, two or three minutes. you know, i think the u.s. troops were probably watching

mlb, and somebody said, "russians are attacking us, us,," and they said, "okay, kill 'em," and it was over just like that. you have republicans saying they want our troops to be more like russia. it's insane. katty kay, the fbi is trying to actually enforce laws against people who steal nuclear secrets. this is what chris wray said yesterday, "defunding the fbi, like these republicans want to defund the fbi, it would hurt the american people. neighborhoods and communities all across this country. the people who are protecting from cartels, violent gang members, foreign and domestic terrorists and cyberattacks." like, these republicans want to gut an agency that protects

americans from terrorists, foreign and domestic, from people who are trying to steal their identities, from people who are draining money out of their parents' and grandparents' bank accounts, drug cartels who are trying to push more and more fentanyl into this country. that is who the house republicans have declared to be their enemy. >> yeah. we look back at what's happened to the united states since 2001 and the attacks of 9/11. part of the reason america has not been attacked again in that kind of awful way, and other countries here in europe have been attacked, is because of the work of the fbi, because of the investigations they have caried out on foreign and increasingly on domestic terrorists who would like to do harm to american people. without the fbi, the chances of some kind of attack on the united states grow

exponentially. i thought what was really interesting about the hearings yesterday was how chris wray just managed to keep it super low key. he didn't give people like matt gaetz that opportunity, that clip where you saw the director of the fbi getting angry, which it felt at times like matt gaetz was trying to rile him into doing that. he also turned the tables a bit and said, "listen, why have the number of people applying to the fbi from your state, from florida and from texas, gone up by something like 100%, if the american population is so opposed and thinks this is a terrible institution?" i think he handled it as well as he could given the attacks and conspiracy theories he was having to deal with. >> you heard director wray dismiss the idea that ray epps was working for the government on january 6th. who is ray epps? a trump supporter that became the focus of conspiracies after he was in washington on january

6th, 2021. now, he's filed a lawsuit against fox news and tucker carlson for claiming that epps was an undercover agent who helped provoke the capitol attack. epps accused fox of, quote, telling a fantastical story, that he acted as a government-sponsored instigaor of the violence on january 6th and carlson's repeated segment, quote, destroyed his life and his wife's. it led him and his wife to sell their home and land and move into an rv. epps was seen on video the night before the january 6th attack. this was on january 5th, telling trump supporters they should go into the capitol the next day. body camera video shows epps asking law enforcement officers on the 6th how he can assist them, with offers to help move rioters back from the police line. the footage from the day before the attack spread online, and right-wing circles fueled

conspiracy theoies that epps secretly worked for the federal government. investigators met with epps in 2021 and removed his photo from the website of wanted suspects months later. fox news didn't respond to a request for comment, and an attorney for carlson declined to comment, as well. ray epps was there on january 6th, a trump supporter from arizona coming for that day, what he thought it would be a rally. when he thought things were getting out of control, he told police, "let me help you out. let's get people away from the police line." for that, he is viewed as a tool of the government, a tool of the deep state. this conspiracy went on for months and months and months, and fox news pushed it almost every night. he had to move out of state, move to a different state, sell his home, now lives in an rv. with this defamation lawsuit, i suspect he will be looking for some more expensive real estate. >> i mean, his life, he's right, has been ruined. the lies were told day in and day out and day in and day out.

it was a conspiracy theory, much like a conspiracy theory against those poll workers in georgia. >> yeah. >> the lies that they told about ordinary people just living their lives. by the way, i mean, ray epps is attacked by these far-right freaks and conspiracy theorists. he's attacked for doing exactly what these far-right freaks claimed everybody did, which was, oh, they just went up to the capitol. >> it was just a rally. >> it was just a rally. ray epps was saying, "yeah, let's go to the capitol and protest." you're exactly right, when things got out of hand, you could see on the video, he's like, "hey." he is doing what i hope, what i know any good patriotic american would do, like, "hey, hey, the cops have a job to do.

respect 'em. let's" -- >> let's not hurt anybody. >> "let's not hurt anybody. let's keep this in line." so that was the lie that people on fox news were telling about everybody, saying, "oh, look, i mean, talking about tucker carlson, he said, oh, this was just another peaceful day of protesting, a day in paradise." in fact, ray epps was set up as an fbi stooge, according to these people, because that's exactly what he did. mike barnicle, his life has been ruined. he -- and imagine. you talk to politicians who have been attacked by people -- i don't want to say their names -- certain people who used to work for fox news. their security had to increase. their lives were ruined. day in and day out, here you have this guy, not a public

figure. let me say that again. not a public figure, not used to this. the death threats, the security problems they had, i'm telling you, if i'm representing fox news, i'm saying, "get your checkbook out and start writing." >> they've already had to a few times. >> they'll have to do it again. >> a lot of checks. >> tucker carlson probably going to do it again because this guy isn't a public figure. it's not going to be hard for him to prove defamation. >> there you go, joe. that's exactly the point. if you look at the timeline of the number of times on television, national television, that ray epps was attacked verbally, implicated verbally, rhetorically, into a plot he was a government agent, it is astounding. even after they were corrected, even after they had substantial proof ray epps was nothing of

the kind, they continued with it, specifically tucker did, continued with it, and his life was badly damaged, badly damaged. i don't know whether it was ruined or not because he -- hopefully he has a lot of life left to live. you don't want to wish that upon anybody, but badly damaged. as willie pointed out, forced to sell his real estate in arizona, i believe, his home. he's living in an rv now. hopefully, you know, he'll be able to buy a ranch after they settle with him because they're going to have to settle with him. you raised the key point, joe, he is not a public guy. he's a pvate citizen. damaged beyond belief, continually, night after night after night. >> and, you know, i've got to say, willie, it shows you how screwed up their thinking is. they think a guy who says, kwtd "hey, let's do something american, go to the capitol and protest." >> express our feelings. >> even if we disagree with him,

very american thing to do, protest. the second things get out of hand, he's starts saying, asking the cops, "hey, as far as i'm concerned, i don't care who we voted for. if he believes conspiracy theories, it is because he's been fed 'em." he asks cops under duress, "what can i do?" good on him. the fact that that makes him a suspect for these insurrectionists and these weirdos and these freaks show how screwed up they are and what valueless voids they are when it comes to patriotism. >> it just shows how desperate many of those people were in trying to find some way to tell a story, that january 6th actually was not what we awe knew it to be because we watched it with our own eyes. no, there was something else going on. don't be fooled by the media. don't be fooled by your own eyes. then they found this central character. let's use this guy, ray epps.

the night before, he's telling people to go to the capitol. on the 6th, he is telling people to fall back. we must be part of a deep state conspiracy. certain people bought it. i think the vast majority of the country did not. it is pretty clear that fox news is going to owe ray epps a whole bunch of money. all right. coming up, the markets are up before the bell following yesterday's surge tied to better-than-expected inflation data. steve rattner joins us next with what it means on the future of interest rates. "morning joe" is back in just a moment. 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

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all right. 46 past the hour. it's pretty early in l.a. the sun has not come up, but the city looks absolutely beautiful. >> just beautiful. >> we're following developing news out of hollywood, where actors are one step closer to

joining screenwriters on the picket lines. the union representing the actors, sag actors, says it failed to reach a deal with major studios and streamers. the union has set a might deadline to reach an agreement on higher wages and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence, but officials say the studios' responses have, quote, been insulting and disrespectful. >> well, that's never a good sign. >> not good. now, the union negotiating committee has voted unanimously to recommend its national board to order a strike. that board is set to meet later today. the union representing screenwriters has been on strike since may after their contract negotiations also failed. the move delayed the filming of high-profile movies and paused late-night talk shows. if the actors also go on strike, it will be the first time in 60 years that both groups have

walked out. >> boy, mike barnicle, that is -- at some point, this really starts to put a dent in the media company's bottom line. >> yeah, we'll find that out this fall when all the new tv shows don't show up on your tv. >> oh boy. >> all the new made-for-tv movies on amazon and apple don't show up on your tv. you'll find that out at home. the other misnomer about this, i would think, is a lot of people hear these stories, hear us reporting on these stories and think, oh, a bunch of actors and screenwriters, they all make a lot of money. good luck to them. they don't. they don't. especially the screenwriters. >> yeah. >> it's a day-to-day financial existence. at lot of them are nearing financial ruin in this long, long strike. it's a long strike that's been going on here. hopefully they'll get it resolved not only for the benefit of the writers and actors but for the consumers of what they produce. >> and you look at the actors.

people look at people on big movies, you know, hollywood stars. they don't realize that, you know, 99% of the actors are struggling to try to get into local theater. >> correct. >> trying to get into, if they're lucky, an off broadway show or even a broadway show. for most actors, again, it is a day-to-day and week-to-week existence. really, willie, we're hoping this will be resolved and resolved favoraby for the actors and screenwriters soon. >> for every brad pitt and scarlett johansson, there are thousands and thousands of actors struggling to get a job. they need health insurance and all the things the rest of us hope to have and have in our lives. this is an important negotiation. they haven't gone on strike, actors, since 1980. it's been a long time.

what it means today is if the strike is voted, and we have every expectation it will, and go into effect, it means people on movie sets are going home. if meryl streep is shooting a movie, she's going to her trailer and taking a ride home. this is real for now. some big movies out in the next couple weeks, but this could, depending how long it goes on, could slow things down as we move into the fall. >> yeah. >> we'll be following it. >> it really could. yeah, we'll be following that. now, this is the time of the morning where, willie, it's big time. >> it is. >> the southwest wall. >> yeah. >> lit up like a christmas tree. >> it is. >> i mean, listen, can we have our theme music? >> i don't know if they have. >> we need to start playing "the wall." >> we can do that. >> another brick in the wall when we go to steve rattner. >> u.s. inflation has cooled more dramatically than many economists expected. joining us now is former treasury official and "morning

joe" economic analyst steve rattner. kind of hoping the music would show up. >> no, the music never showed up, but steve did. that's really all the kids want to see. steve, big news yesterday. were you surprised by the numbers? >> yeah, we were, i think, all a bit surprised. i wouldn't say they were vastly different than what we expected, but they were better than expected. the expectations were pretty positive, as well. when you put it together, i think we were all quite excited and pleased by what we saw. i can show ya a few charts that will help illustrate that. we'll start over here with the basic year-over-year numbers, and we'll start with this red line, which is the number that people in america focus on, which is what we call headline inflation. it's all the prices put together and what happened to them. you can see that exactly a year ago, it peaked at 9.1%, and it has come all the way down to 3%. that was yesterday's number. that's why people are so excited at this steep drop.

these are two other measures of inflation that economists and the fed pay close attention to. one excludes food and energy, which are volatile prices as you know. one focuses on this green line, core, focuses on really core services like hospitality, professional services, things like that, because that shows you what's happening better in the labor markets, which is very important for inflation. you can see it even more dramatically to some degree over here. this is simply comparing the june increases to what happened in the first five months of the year. so you can see, again, headline went from there to there. core went from there to there. core services did not go up at all in june, so it's only one month but it was a good month. >> steve, let's get specific, because these prices that hit people every day are going down. talking about things like gasoline, groceries and rent. >> yeah, so after months and months of this stuff going up and prices that people pay every day looking worse and worse, you

had a huge reversal in some of them. you mentioned gasoline. gasoline peaked a year ago at $4.65 a galgallon. it is $3.50 in america, so it is falling, as you said. food at home which was going up at almost 14% a couple years ago, year and a half or so ago, is now going up at less than 4%. rent is a proxy for housing, how we think about housing, up only 2%. airline fares, which obviously did move a lot when people weren't traveling, then they surged when they were traveling, are down 18% from their peak. used cars, which was another covid phenomenon, when everybody rushed out to buy cars, are now down 10% from their peak. the picture is obviously very different than it was and much more positive for the economy and for joe biden, of course. >> steve, as we look at your third chart, the other fascinating number yesterday was that real wages were up. you put these two things together, wages up, inflation

down, paints a much better picture than we've seen for at least two years. >> exactly, willie. so this shows you month by month whether people's wages were staying ahead of inflation or falling behind inflation. red is bad. blue is good. you can see that during the pandemic when inflation was very high, even though wages were going up robustly, inflation was much stronger. we had month after month of americans losing purchasing power. what's happened in the last eight months or so is that wages have started to go up. this is the 2018 to 2019 average. it was a little under 1% before the pandemic. it's actually more like 1.5% these last few months. they may not sound like big numbers, but it at least means people have more money in their pocket. but the last point that has to be made, you know, i don't want to suggest that we're out of the woods completely, that this inflation problem is over. there's still a ways to go. as you know, the fed's target is 2%. even 3% or 4%, if you look at

core, is well above the fed's target. what has to happen? i know this may sound counterintuitive, but wage increases have to moderate a bit because they feed into inflation. they have moderated, but they're only moderated down to 4.5% or so. they need to come down further, and this is why the fed will almost certainly increase interest rates by another quarter of a point when it meets at the end of june. i want to make one last point about this chart. this dotted line, what we call production and non-supervisory workers, kind of everyday workers, blue collar workers, people on the front line, not managers and so on, this is everybody. the fact that this line is above that line means that people at the bottom are seeing faster increases than people at the top. we've also had a bit of narrowing. i'm not going to say it's huge in the context of the problem, a lot of narrowing in income inequality over this period of time, as well.

almost all good news. we do have to face another fed increase and get inflation back to 2%, but we're making progress. >> steve, according to your charts, people have finally found some sort of relief in the two gs which are critical to living, gasoline and grocery prices. give us a mark, give us a grade on the fed, if you would, how they've been doing this with their incremental interest rate increases, what is going to happen in july, and what kind of an impact are you looking for in what the fed does or doesn't do? >> well, that's a great question, mike. look, the fed was behind the curve at the beginning. it was part of why inflation got out of control. it believed covid's impact would be greater than it turned out to be, and it kept interest rates at zero for too long. now, reversing course, they've been raising them, doing a much better job at trying to get this under control. what they need to do, and what they're trying to do, they're

trying to achieve the quintessential soft landing, to get inflation down without the economy going into recession. that's why they're going to have to increase interest rates a bit more, because this is still too high. this is still too high. so they will see what that does, then they will kind of proceed from there. there are still 9.8 million untilled jobs in this country which, again, we'd like to think of as a good thing, but that many untilled jobs makes it harder for this number to come down a bit, more closer to this average so we can get inflation back to the 2% level. >> well, and globally, the united states doing better certainly than the united kingdom or most of our allies in europe. steve rattner, as always, thank you so much for your contributions at the southwest wall. sort of the green monster of morning television. there he is. still ahead, far-right members of the house amplify

culture wars in a battle over military preparedness and, actually, over funding the united states military. they're playing culture wars with our troops, with our men and women in uniform. we're going to dig into that mess coming up. plus, the latest from the 2024 campaign trail. two more republican candidates meet a key threshold so they can qualify in the first primary debate. the only question is, will trump be there? "morning joe" will be right back. that's why subway's proffered by this champ. and this future champ. and if we proffer it, we know you'll proffer it too. he's cocky for a nineteen year old. trying vapes to quit smoking might feel like progress,

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we must never forget how much this matters and never, ever give up on a better tomorrow. the defense of freedom is not the work of a day or a year.

it's the calling of our lifetime, of all time. steel for the struggle ahead. our unity will not falter, i promise you. >> president joe biden closing out the nato summit in lithuania with an impassioned speech supporting ukraine and its fight against russia's invasion. we'll have more on his remarks and go through what's happening today in helsinki as the president wraps up his european tour. and national security council spokesman john kirby joins us in just a moment. we'll talk to him about president biden's meeting with the ukrainian president and much more of what's going on on the world stage. >> you know, willie, an hour ago, we had jonathan lemire live from lithuania talking about the summit, talking about how they were moving on to helsinki, and it really is striking, the difference that five years

makes. five years ago, it was donald trump humiliating himself and, by extension, the united states in front of the world, by an american president kowtowing to a tyrant in russia, and choosing the side of a tyrant over the intel communities. how fascinating that five years later -- i say fascinates but, actually, pathetic, that house republicans are still trashing u.s. intel community, all because donald trump commits crimes, allegedly commits crimes. he is innocent until proven guilty. but they get angry when the fbi decides, well, they're not going to let him steal nuclear secrets, just like trump would get angry with the cia and the nsa and others whenever they criticized russia. five years later, we have a nato bigger, stronger than ever, and an american president who is actually pushing for freedom in europe, pushing the boundaries

of freedom eastward in europe instead of kowtowing to a russian tyrant. >> it was five years ago this week in helsinki, same city where the president is this morning, that our friend jonathan lemire put that question to donald trump, standing next to vladimir putin in front of the world, and he chose vladimir putin over the american intel agencies over meddling in the 2016 election. president biden himself now in helsinki this morning welcoming the newest member of nato. finland joined last year, a move that doubled the alliance's border with russia, doubled it in size. the trip is meant to show nato's expanding power and influence against russian president vladimir putin. it comes after president biden wrapped up the nato summit in lithuania yesterday with a speech at vilnius university. in the remarks, the president celebrated the resolve of the ukrainian people and promised nato allies would continue to support the country against russian aggression. >> when russian bombs began to

fall, we rallied the world to support the brave people of ukraine as they defended their sovereignty with incredible dignity. i mean that from the bottom of my heart. think about it. think about what they're doing. after nearly a year and a half of russia committing terrible atrocities, including crimes against humanity, the people of ukraine remain unbroken, unbroken. ukraine remains independent. it remains free. we will not waiver. we will not waiver. our commitment to ukraine will not weaken. we will stand for freedom and liberty today, tomorrow, as long as it takes. unfortunately, russia has shown thus far in interest in a diplomatic outcome. putin still wrongly believes

that he can outlast ukraine. he can't believe it's their land, their country and their future, and even after all this time, putin still doubts our staying power. he's still making a bad bet, that the conviction and the unity among the united states and our allies and partners will break down. he still doesn't understand that our commitment, our vows, our freedom is something he can never, ever walk away from. it's who we are. i mean it, it's who we are. it's who we are. >> a very, very strong speech, mika. how is the staff doing now? >> oh stop. >> very strong -- >> everyone is making fun of me. it was a really good speech. one of the strongest i've seen lately. >> lately. >> truly believes it. i mean, that's good for the world, the safety of the world, the uniting of nato and a very

strong, impassioned push against russia. >> i mean, you can line that up with his speech in warsaw a couple years ago. >> yes. >> he certainly does save his best on these speeches, for these speeches, where we're literally talking about the freedom of europe. it's a significant issue, except for donald trump, who says that he'd end the war in one day and, of course, surrender to russia, which he did in large and small ways through the years. katty kay, "we will not waver." president biden showing how determined he is. nato allies standing shoulder to shoulder here. biden also got the good news yesterday of inflation dropping down lower than, i think, most countries globally. all in all, a pretty good week for the american president.

>> yeah. when he said anyone who thinks america can prosper without security in europe is delusional, that would have gone down well with european allies, as well. it's true. a european crisis with a war that swept beyond ukraine's border and potentially with russia really taking over other countries would have been intolerable for the united states and would have, you know, shot the american economy and prospects of improvement, as well. it was a good speech. having finland in nato, having sweden about to come into nato, this has been a high point for nato. whether this is peak nato in terms of nato's commitment for ukraine i think slightly depends on how ukraine manages the counteroffensive against russia. the cloud on the horizon, joe, as we were saying in the last hour, and as ian bremmer was pointing out, is not european unity at the moment. european unity seems to be holding. the cloud from the point of view

of people i speak to on this side of the atlantic the last couple weeks has been what happens next in the united states? we havecoming up. if biden is replaced by donald trump, all bets are off, also in terms of ukraine entering nato. >> absolutely. >> that's the political risk at the moment, i think. it's not in europe, it's in the united states. along with katty kay and mike barnicle, we have with us this hour member of "the new york times" editorial board mara gay, and host of the podcast "on brand with donny deutsch," donny deutsch joins us. >> donny -- >> good to have you both. >> -- speaking of on brand, biden on brand. we have nato expanding yet again, an extraordinary reach the north atlantic treaty organization now has. vladimir putin is surrounded. this wouldn't have happened if

president donald trump were still in the white house, but it did happen under president joe biden. i'm curious, what does the week look like for joe biden, where you couple an expansion and a flexing of nato with america being first among equals in the most powerful alliance, i think, you know, certainly since world war ii, and also with inflation dropping down well below where the united kingdom, france, germany, the rest of the world's rates are? >> you know, how do we judge a president as domestic and international? it is an a-plus week on both. >> really? >> if you look at the economic numbers and the jobs numbers, the unemployment numbers, manufacturing numbers, look at 75% of americans think economically they're in a good or very good place and you look at what he's done on the world stage, how he galvanized and brought nato together, and the power of that speech, you walk back -- and not to bring this

back to politics -- but how are his numbers not better? what's not connecting? i don't know what else you put on the scoreboard. i don't know how many more hits you have to get. do you have to hit for the cycle? what does it need to take? actually, from a -- no matter where you look at it, joe biden is doing an "a" job. will it translate in the polls? obviously, it's so early and it is hard to look at a poll 18 months before, but somehow, it's still not sticking. when and what does he need to do to make it stick with the american public? that's the big question politically. >> we heard from steve rattner, a detailed analysis of gas prices coming down, rent coming down, groceries, all the central things people confront and deal with every day in their lives. it's been really tough going for two, three, four years now on that front. if those numbers continue in that way, our democrats energized? i mean, republicans who don't like joe biden aren't suddenly going to say, "you're right, he is great. the economy is better than i

thought." but is he able to energize democrats ahead of the presidential election? >> first of all, it is good news, and the president has been doing a great job in many ways, in many areas. the problem is, many aren't feeling this. if you talk to young people, for example, they're terrified about the scotus decision that will have some of them paying hundreds of dollars extra every month, you know, pretty soon here in student loans. they're worried about climate change. we've had a summer of extreme weather across the united states in which some people haven't been able to go outside, filled with smoke, filled with extreme heat. then, of course, you have black democrats who are also concerned about the rise of trumpism. so actually, the president, i think, though doing a good job, needs to be out there every day, you know, talking about what he is going to do to help people who are not yet feeling that. my rent went up. i mean, these are not things that americans are necessarily

feeling, especially in the middle class yet, and so there is a disconnect. democrats need to make very clear, and joe biden needs to make very clear, what he plans to do to make sure everyday americans are feeling these gains we're seeing in the economic charts and data. >> yup. they've got a year to work on that, and there is that disconnect for a lot of people. >> the thing is, at some point, though, substance matters. >> it does. >> like donny said, jobless rates, historic lows. over the past year, the dollar has been at generational highs. childhood poverty at record lows. >> yeah. >> teenage pregnancy at record lows. you want to talk about social issues, as well. unemployment for black americans, record lows. as we said before, this year, unemployment for black menloer

men lower than unemployment for white men. again, we're cheering for no side. we're going talking about the progress made across the board. inflation almost down to the levels the fed was looking for. economically, this country is $25 trillion gdp. $25 trillion. china has been stagnant at 17. i've been saying on this show for 15 years, when people are talking about the rising china. people say, "well, china is going to overtake us. they're so powerful, whatever." i yawn and say, "is it 1989 again? do we want to talk about japan buying 30 rock and pebble beach?" i mean, china, yes, china is a global threat. china has a closed society. china doesn't believe in competition. china is run by people that have

a top-down approach. it will never, ever wor in the long run, and the united states is proving it. you know, i've got to say, joe biden, whether you're talking about the economics, whether you're talking about nato, whatever you're talking about, he's doing a great job. sometimes he has trouble riding a bike, but chris sale was, as well. >> let's not get started on that. it is called basic stage managing. >> right. >> in terms of domestic policy and what is happening on the world stage, democrats have a lot to brag on for this president. >> a lot. >> let's go back to helsinki. jonathan lemire joins us again live. the president's speech was impassioned and powerful, jonathan. what's the reaction there? >> it certainly was, mika. there were over 10,000 people there in vilnius, the lithuanian capital, including some overflow spaces in the town squares nearby to listen to the

president's speech, waving lithuanian flags, american flags, and notably, ukrainian flags. lithuania, like ukraine, a former member of the soviet union, one that has embraced democracy, is so grateful to the united states for what it has done, and is really standing shoulder to shoulder with ukraine in their resistance of russia's invasion. the president delivered a terrific speech last night. aides say they think it was one of his best. he is certainly at home on the world stage making the case for democracy. we know he has framed the generational struggle here between autocracies and democracies. we'll hear it later today as he touts the expansion of nato in he helsinki. finland the newest member. sweden likely to join in the coming months. again, the contrast of how much the world has changed in the last five years, since the last time an american president was here. that was donald trump, and he stood a few feet away from vladimir putin and said he sided with moscow over his own intelligence agencies in the matter of the 2016 election

interference. today, we'll hear from this president, president biden, tout an expansion of the very alliance meant to stand up against putin and going forward. >> jonathan, obviously, you've followed president biden since he was inaugurated. give us a sense of this seemingly slight change in the president today and the past couple of days overseas in poland today. he's in -- where is he today, helsinki today. >> we're if finland, mike. >> give us a sense of the change that you may have seen, or if you have seen it, if you've observed it, in his rhetoric, in his voice, in his seeming steps with confidence, as opposed to, you know, he was softer in certain situations overseas before. give us a sense of any change you may have seen. >> there's no question the president has sort of hit his stride here overseas. this really is a his comfort

zone. let's remember, of course, he is a member of the foreign relations committee in the senate for a very long time. he was a globe trotting vice president for eight years. he is very comfortable on the world stage, and these are the issues he cares so deeply about. it's about nato expansion. it's about protecting democracies and expanding democracies. certainly, even from other visits, i mean, he has some real wins in his ledger this week. getting sweden into nato is a huge deal. he dealt with president zelenskyy who was very upset just a few days ago, about the way the alliance was treating ukraine, not allowing it any sort of pathway to get in. he praised zelenskyy. you could tell zelenskyy returned those sentiments. of course, this is, in many ways, it stands in stark contrast to the struggles he has had at home where poll numbers remain low. he faces questions even in his own party about his age, his ability to run again. his aides say, they point to this as an example of not just

good governing but good leadership, leadership on the world stage, bolstered by the inflation news yesterday. the president here, they feel like he is in a good place. he's going to wrap up his european trip today, then get back to domestic matters upon his return to washington tonight. >> jonathan lemire, helsinki john as he is known across scandinavia. thank you so much. joining us now, coordinator for strategic communications at the white house, retired rear admiral john kirby. admiral, good morning. thanks for being with us again this morning. there was a dramatic change in tone from president zelenskyy. he came in angry at nato, suggesting it was showing weakness by not admitting -- we are looking at live pictures, by the way, right now. this is president biden meeting with nordic leaders. president zelenskyy was very frustrated with the idea that ukraine was not getting guaranteed. it would not be admitted imminently to nato. after his meeting with president biden, it was a complete 180.

he seemed happy and grateful to the president of the united states and to the other leaders of nato countries for the security guarantees. what took place during that one-hour meeting between president biden and president zelenskyy? >> they had a very constructive conversation. i know that sounds like diplo speak, but it's the truth. it was a longer meeting than had been planned. the two really do, when they get the chance to talk behind closed doors, they really do have fruitful and productive and detailed, specific discussions, and that was the case yesterday. the president had a chance to explain to president zelenskyy exactly what our thinking here was. yes, eventual membership, security guarantees between now and then. right now, the focus is making sure you succeed on the battlefield. he laid that all out very clearly for president zelenskyy, and i think president zelenskyy, you could see for yourself, by the tone of his rhetoric coming out of the meeting, he appreciated that. president zelenskyy came away from the discussion really,

truly understanding the scope, the depth and the sincerity of president biden's commitment to ukraine. >> admiral, now that the nato summit is over, the focus will reshift back to ukraine and to the battlefield. you mentioned it just there. >> yeah. >> the ongoing counteroffensive. even the ukrainians are saying in public and in private that it's been pretty tough going the last month. what's your expectation for the counteroffensive now as we head into the summer? are they getting all the supplies they need? at what stage would the americans, the white house, like to see more progress than the ukrainians have made until now? >> the ukrainians themselves would like to see more progress than they've been able to make. they're running into entrenched defenses by the russians. the russians have had many, many months now to dig in, and i mean literally dig in, in trenches. they have defense, and that's the stronger form of war. the russians are taking advantage of that. for the first time now, really the ukrainians are the ones on the offense. they're pushing forward. the russians are trying to hold

them. they're running right into that. they're also having a significant issue with minefields. it is hard enough to go through a minefield, terrestrial or maritime, just by itself. think about trying to do that while you're under fire. they're really in a gunfight. it's a lot of artillery back and forth, so there's a lot of vicious fighting yet to come. i think it'll be weeks and months before we really know how successful this counteroffensive can be. the president made it clear to president zelenskyy that we're going to stay with them, going to keep giving as much support as we can. your first question about do they have what they need, we're making sure they do. last week, a major package was announced. the cluster munitions got the headlines, but if you look at everything else in the package, you can see it is all designed to help them break through these russian defenses. >> admiral, as you clearly know, the two critical elements of warfare are ordinance and logistics. it would seem the ukrainians are

trying to cut off the supplies of the russians. given that probable strategy, can we supply enough ordinance? are we short ordinance here in the united states and turning it out? can we get enough to them? >> sort of yes to both, mike. one, yes, we can meet their needs. that's one of the reasons why the president agreed to send cluster munitions as a part of a package of additional, normal, what we call unitary, regular artillery shells, to make sure that we keep the flow going so howitzers don't fall silent. we think over the next month, we'll work to get the production rate up of artillery shells so we can resupply them at a faster pace than we are right now. inventories are running low. part of the reason why that is is, again, because of production rates, but we have to make sure we have enough for our own national security in the united

states and with allies and mart partners. we're working on this very, very hard. in coming months, you'll see us go back to unitary, supply of unitary artillery shells rather than the cluster munitions. >> national security council coordinator for strategic communications at the white house, retired rear admiral john kirby, thank you for coming on. >> thank you for your service to this country, as always. >> thanks, guys. good to be with ya. >> take care. still ahead on "morning joe," more from yesterday's congressional hearing with fbi director christopher wray. we'll show you the moment one democratic lawmaker appeared to expose some holes in the republican party's talking points. plus, a battle is brewing over a massive defense spending bill, as some right-wing house republicans push to include controversial amendments on abortion, military support for ukraine, and more. also ahead, democratic

congressman and house intelligence committee member jim himes is standing by. he joins the conversation next on "morning joe." we'll be right back. new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? [sfx: video game sound] new emergen-c crystals. throw it back.

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♪♪ fastsigns. make your statement. i'm going to ask you a series of basic questions to get facts out to the american people about our system of justice. trump adviser roger stone was convicted in a federal court, correct? >> that's my recollection. >> trump donor elliott brady was convicted in a federal court, correct? >> also my recollection. >> attorney general at the time for those two convictions was bill barr. which president nominated bill parr for attorney general? >> president trump. >> trump's former lawyer, michael cohen, was convicted on two separate occasions in a federal court, correct? >> i believe that's correct. >> attorney general at the time for cohen's second conviction was matthew whitaker. which president appointed

matthew whitaker as acting attorney general? >> president trump. >> okay. trump's former campaign chairman, paul manafort, was convicted in a federal court, correct? >> yes. >> trump's former deputy campaign manager, mr. gates, was convicted in a federal court, correct? >> that's my recollection. >> trump's campaign policy adviser george papadopoulos was convicted in a federal court, correct? >> yes. he pled guilty, yes. >> attorney general at the time of those three cases was jeff sessions. which president nominated jeff sessions for attorney general? >> president trump. >> you were their fbi director for all of those cases at the time. which president nominated you? >>. >> president trump. >> okay. what these facts show is we don't have a two-tiered system of justice. we have one department of justice that goes after criminals regardless of party ideology. all of these folks were convicted under the

administrations of three separate republican attorneys general. it's not the fault of the fbi donald trump surrounded himself with criminals. donald trump brought that upon himself. >> just let that breathe for a second. democratic congressman ted lieu with that exchange with fbi director chris wray before a hearing of the house judiciary committee. >> mara gay, let's add one more stubborn fact for republicans to that point. hillary clinton, who was constantly used as the false -- the false equivalency against donald trump, hillary clinton was attacked repeatedly by republicans who said she should be locked up.

yet, donald trump was president from 2017 to january 2021, and none of his attorney generals brought any charges against hillary clinton because they all told donald trump nothing was there. >> i mean, the hypocrisy is sometimes -- it makes you want to throw something at a wall. you know, on a brighter note, this exchange was heartening because it's another example of how, you know, from the january 6th committee to an exchange like this, i think allowing americans to actually see, live, breathe, listen to the reality rather than just simply trying to make sense of an extraordinary set of facts on paper can be really helpful. i think when, you know, in particular, i think the congressman was very effective

in his questioning. when that happens, it's kind of much easier to see the hypocrisy drawn out, to see how absurd this is, and to understand that, you know, the republican attacks and trump's attacks on the government, on the justice department, are really obscene. i think it is helpful because television can be very powerful, and this is an example of that. i mean, you see how ridiculous it is. you hear how ridiculous it is. you make the case before the american people over and over and over. that has an effect, i think, hopefully for justice's sake, but also, you know, politically, it has an effect. that's important. because all of this can be very difficult for everyday americans to track. here at the table, we're junkies, but i think americans are trying to make sense of this. it's very helpful when you see this drawn out, you know. no one can watch this and think, you know, anything other than this is absurd, what's happening here. >> yeah. >> i think it's very effective.

>> it's also painful. it's got to be painful for people like those who serve in the fbi. >> every day, yeah. >> you know, who are doing their jobs and serving this country. >> serving this country. and as the fbi director said yesterday to the republicans that keep talking about de-funding the fbi, when you do that, you're de-funding the very people that defend this country from foreign terrorists, from drug gangs, from people who are constantly trying to smuggle fentanyl into the united states of america, from people who are constantly trying to engage in cyber theft to steal your money from your bank account. people that are running scams against your parents and your grandparents. >> yeah. >> to drain them of their life savings.

i mean, you go down the list, and it's the fbi that's on the front lines. yet, republicans in the house want to de-fund the fbi, want to attack our law enforcement officers, and, yet, you look at states like florida, you look at states like texas, and republicans talk about how horrible it is to work in the fbi. as christopher wray said yesterday, if that was the case, applications in states like florida wouldn't be up by over 100%. the professionals, the men and women in the fbi, are very proud of what they do to protect all of us every day, regardless of the nonsense and the ground noise coming from the house republican caucus. >> the exchange is -- >> especially from donald trump. >> yes. and the exchanges between house republicans and chris wray yesterday were brutal.

it exposed how astoundingly stupid some of the house republicans are, or nefarious in their efforts to undermine, corrupt. let's bring in ranking member of the house intelligence committee, democratic congressman jim himes of connecticut. great to have you back on the show. we have a lot to talk about, including the nato summit. first, director wray's testimony, do you think it might break through in any way? >> well, it's certainly breaking through to the american people, and you're showing that remarkable questionable that ted lieu did yesterday as a part of that. is it going to break through to adherence to the cult of donald trump? of course it's not. you need to remember here, when your prime directive, the republican you get up in the morning and the only reason you stay in politics is because you defend this awful man, you have two really weak defenses. the first is what you saw yesterday. despite all the facts that ted

lieu laid out, you attack tony fauci, the fbi, all these people who have a message of reality which is inconsistent with your own. the second thing you have, of course, is what about-ism. okay, i understand some of the most sensitive secrets on the planet were found in a ballroom in mar-a-lago, but what about hillary clinton's emails? that, of course, is a defense we wouldn't accept from our 3-year-old child, but that's what you're left with when you are a fully paid member of the cult of trump. >> this is a similar group of right-wing republicans, also trying to use the military budget. happens every year. using the bill to kill america's aid to ukraine. the group also looking to use budget talks to end military funding on issues like travel-related costs for abortion services, medical care for transgender service members. debate on the nearly $900 billion budget came yesterday. the wish list of the far-right members stands little chance of passing the house as a whole, but those members could delay

the passage of the bill. congressman, what is going on here? take us inside the room. what are they opposed to? is there a chance, really, this budget will be held up, or is this purely symbolic? what do you make of someone in the upper chamber, like senator tommy tuberville, holding up these military promotions, including the commandant of the united states marine corps on this one issue of abortion services in the military? >> good question. in some ways, there's a parallel to the weird side of the republican party which, for generations, called itself the law and order party, and called itself the party of the military, now being willing to sacrifice both of those institutions on the altar of their culture war. now, as long as i'm playing my role of congress whisperer here, you know, explaining what republicans are doing with chris wray, what's happening with the defense budget is, writ large, republicans understand that their fundamental policy core, even though there maybe isn't one, other than defending donald

trump, massive tax cuts for wealthy people which, remember, was the one, big legislative quote, unquote, achievement in the trump administration. that's pretty unpopular. their desire to cut medicare and social security, unpopular. economy is pretty good under joe biden. what they're left with is the one real ammunition they've got, and that is the culture war issues. you know, in virginia, they won a governor's election because they got their message out on parents having a role in education. this takes you into the world of transgender rights, into drag queens, into woman's reproductive choice. it's the one thing they've got. what you see with senator tuberville, and the reason we may not get a national defense authorization passed, is that's all they've got. they'll put it front and center even if it means risking the fbi and not getting a budget passed. >> the nato summit just passed. the concerns i keep hearing from

european allies is what happens if donald trump replaces joe biden in the next election? just spell out to us what the risk there is potentially, not just for ukraine, but actually, i mean, forget about ukraine's future membership for nato, about the risk for nato itself? >> you know, the weird love that donald trump felt for dictators, vladimir putin chief amongst them. the quote, unquote, love letters to the dictator of north korea, et cetera, that mattel you all you need to know. of course, donald trump was impeached the first time because of the phone conversation he had with the president of ukraine. this president of ukraine, asking for dirt on joe biden. so i think we're okay through the next presidential election. there is, in this building, those people who would go against ukraine, but that's a fringey position. we know how donald trump feels about nato, and you know how he

feels about vladimir putin. i don't want to go there, but it'd be a bad turn of events, not just for the fight in ukraine but democratic responsive regimes against autocracy. >> congressman jim himes representing the fourth district of connecticut, thank you for your time. we appreciate it. donny, to watch the hearing yesterday with christopher wray where he calmly and dispassionately just struck down every conspiracy theory lobbed his way and defended his own character when they suggested he was out to get conservatives, he said, "look up my personal history. i'm a republican, have been my whole life. worked for george w. bush judicial department and everything else." you'd get the sense that republicans in the room are more concerned about the fbi's conduct than donald trump's conduct, which is to say, they're happy to look the other way when he is taking nuclear secrets and defense planning back to mar-a-lago, when he is plotting an attempted coup

against the united states government, but they're critical of the fbi. >> if someone watched the arc of this show today, you can't have more of a stunning contrast of republicans and democrats than what we've seen so far. you see, basically, a joe biden strong in front of nato, bringing the european alliance together, standing next to zelenskyy. you see steve rattner -- we love steve rattner and his charts -- going through gdp numbers, job numbers. you see a positiveness, progressive green light. on the republican side, what do you see? christopher wray hearings. tommy tuberville trying to get in the way of the military for medical care for participants. this is a tale of two parties right now. i can't remember -- as long back as i can remember, where you have one party that has a go button and a positive button, and another party that has a

stop, negative button, going after our institutions. it really is a stunning contrast. all you need to do is tune into "morning joe "to see what the hell is going on in this country. >> mara, all the performative outrage in the hearing yesterday in defense of donald trump, they're still running interference for him. >> they're running interference for him. one of the things that is disturbing is i guess this is working with a portion of the american people. that, for me, is kind of hard to take. it is also just -- i am old enough, i'm not that old, and i'm old enough to remember when, you know, support for law enforcement and the fbi, in particular, was actually something that was owned by republicans, owned by conservatives. it was actually liberals who were most skeptical. of course, never to this level. i mean, this is obscene. but it's kind of a stunning turn of events. i always think the same when you hear donald trump, of course, five years ago today kind of defending vladimir putin instead

of our own law enforcement and security and intelligence agencies. you just think, it's like you're living in upside down world. what exactly is this hold that trumpism has on some portion of the american people, that their representatives are coming to washington and acting amuck in this way? as mika said, whether it's, you know, ignorance, stupidity or graft, you know, something more nefarious, i don't know. but one thing is for sure, the integrity of the fbi, the integrity of our institutions really remains and endures despite these attacks. so i think that is heartening. we're still seeing democracy in action, and so let's keep it out. you know, could be the best disinfectant. >> we saw it mara, thank you fo on two wordles a day for "the new york times."

>> you heard it here first. up next, a look at the extreme weather across the country, including the dangerous heat wave that affects millions of americans. next, hollywood actors on the verge here in the next, well, just over an hour, going on strike. we'll have more on the latest turmoil for the entertainment industry when "morning joe" comes right back. from prom dresses to workouts and new adventures you hope the more you give the less they'll miss. but even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past they may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. although uncommon, up to 1 in 5 survivors of meningitis will have long term consequences. now as you're thinking about all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination.

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take a long look around you. what does everything you see here have in common? [ birds chirping ] vacation. >> vacation. >> now, i can't, bob, at this

time, give you the kind of therapeutic attention you need to solve all your problems, and you know why. >> you're on vacation. >> exactly. what i can do is this. >> don't give me pills. i already have pills. >> this is not pills. read it. >> it says, "take a vacation from my problems." >> i'm giving you permission to take a vacation, bob. not a vacation from your work or your daily life, but a vacation -- >> from my problems. >> exactly. >> have a great vacation. >> you too, bob. >> a vacation from my problems! >> dr. marvin prescribing theoretical vacation in the come by, "what about bob?"

we all need a vacation from our problems. our next guest says it is vital for people to take actual vacation in order to get ahead at work. former editor in chief at "usa today" writes honestly i took a vacation recently, and alex, aren't i a little better? a little bit on the air? no? yes? >> yeah, absolutely. much better. >> that's the right answer. >> killing it. >> i feel a little better. killing it. okay, well, i feel better. i feel more confident, and i feel rested which, you know, when you are doing a schedule like this, you do need a break. you need to take many, but talk about sort of american habits lately in terms of taking vacation. what have you found when you were working on this piece? >> absolutely. first of all, mika, you are

absolutely correct and you are crushing it after your vacation. >> okay. >> but what i did find -- so the piece grew out of my book "next: the power of reinvention and work," which is the guide to navigating change in how we live, how we work, how we lead, and so i really don't have deeply into innovation, creativity, like, what makes us tick and where do we get our best ideas? and i found and i, in fact, have an spire chapter on the importance of taking a break, but it's not just taking a break. you need to take your vacation. so almost half of us this year and every year, in fact, leave our vacation days on the table, and it is -- it's so damaging, and it's not, you know, we know that taking vacation, all the research will tell you it's great for your health and your mental health, right? it reduces stress, anxiety, depression, heart disease, but it's also really good for your career, and there's actually a growing body of evidence that i talk about in my piece, and in

the book about what vacation can do for you. so for example, there was a harvard business review study. it looked at 5,000 people. those who take their vacation days were promoted at almost twice the rate as those who left their days on the table, and then ey stied its own people and found that those that would take ten hours of vacation in a month, it was correlated with an 8% boost in performance ratings, and then bcg -- i love this one. they had to force its consultants to take time off, and they forced them to take either one day or even just one evening a week away from the job with no electronic devices, and they actually resisted. the consultants were, like, no, but when they did, they were afraid that their work product would suffer, and that their performance as well as what they were delivering to the client would suffer, but, in fact, it was the reverse. their work product was better.

the work they delivered was better, and by the way, they were happier. so so important for all of us. >> first of all, we love a guest who shows up and insists we leave work more frequently. thank you for saying that out loud, but it's kind of counterintuitive, isn't it? people don't take their vacation days because they feel, like, okay. i'm going to fall behind at work. my boss is going to notice i'm not here enough, but you're saying research says the opposite. why does someone who takes all of her or his vacation days get ahead actually? >> right. well, first of all, the reason we don't do it is because we feel guilty. we all think that if we take vacation, the whole place is going to fall apart and that our career is going to suffer, and so we end up sort of even being stressed out while we're on that vacation. so what we need to do is sort of reduce that guilt factor, but also i think a huge part of this is companies actually have to get wise to this, and they are starting to do so.

there are actually -- i can mention three things that companies have done which i think are really sort of interesting. one, this is kind of mind-blowing, but goldman sachs as of this year is requiring employees, forcing employees to take three weeks of vacation a year which is really astonishing, but they were finding people simply weren't doing it. second thing that some companies are doing is giving an incentive to, like, of $1,000 or $2,000 to put toward your vacation. companies like evernote are doing that, a company called bamboo hr are doing that, and then a third thing that some companies are doing, this started more in the -- during the pandemic. some of these companies started what are called recharge days which is the whole company shuts down and the idea there is to do away with the guilt. so it would be you take maybe a week off. some companies did last week like pwc and ey did. they shut down the whole

company. some companies are adding a day to vacation or weekends or taking off around christmas, but the idea is do away with the guilt. take your vacation. >> joanne, vacation today is different than a vacation 20 years ago. >> yes. >> how is electronics and how is social media, and how is the smartphone -- where does that fit into this? people leave but they don't really leave. >> i love that question because so much of the research that i found shows that it's really important to shut off your electronic devices. leave them behind, right? so the electronic devices, if you take off time, if you go in nature, you know, you are going to be far more refreshed, but it's really important. that is very hard to do, but very important. >> all right, joanne lipman. thank you so much. her new piece is online for "the wall street journal" right now and her latest book is titled "next:the power of

reinvention in life and work," and it is fabulous. joanne, thanks for being on this morning. >> thank you. >> donnie, we will see you back in the fourth hour of "morning joe" with another edition of brand up, brand down. i'm so excited. >> yes. >> for that. brand up vacation. coming up, how one republican's obstruction in the senate is impacting the entire armed forces. the latest on tommy tuberville's hold on military nominations. something the defense secretary calls a national security issue. that's ahead on "morning joe." tu that's ahead on "morning joe." as shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you.

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the idea that i'm biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me given my own personal background. this notion that somehow the violence at the capitol on january 6th was some part of operation orchestrated by fbi sources and agents is ludacris.

among the things that you listed off, i find ironic the reference to the lab leak theory. the idea that the fbi would somehow be involved in suppressing references to the lab leak theory is somewhat absurd and insane. ludacris. ironic. absurd. >> fbi director christopher wray -- >> yes, it was. all of it. all of it. >> a lifelong republican appointed by donald trump from members of his own party yesterday in a lengthy hearing that was more about political theater than substance. we'll show you more of his testimony including what he said about where trump was hiding classified documents. meanwhile, the justice department is appealing the 18-year prison sentence for oathkeepers founder stewart rhodes for his role in the january 6th capitol riot. new this morning, hollywood actors are swapping scripts for

picket signs as failed negotiations late last night set the stage for another strike in the entertainment industry. it's a big one. >> it is a big one, willie. a lot to talk about today. obviously the strike also wray, incredible what's happened to him. also, the christopher wray testimony yesterday, if you want to look at how perverse trumpism is, and what it's done to my former party, look no further than the disrespect they show to the fbi talking about defunding the fbi, lying about the fbi, making up conspiracy theories about the fbi, attacking a lifelong republican and a donald trump supporter and a person appointed by donald trump all because they wouldn't let him break the law, and they want to defund the fbi. on another committee, they're

not letting our military budget go through because, well, they want to make -- they want to have culture wars there just like the marine corps doesn't have a commandant for the first time in years because they want to wage a cultural war instead of help democrats strengthen military readiness. >> director wray as he took those questions for five hours yesterday inside that hearing, almost wanted to see what was in the thought bubble outside his head. he would compose himself and then say something a little more professional than he probably wanted to say as we saw the high lights in those clips. it was embarrassing as if some of those people in that room were capable of embarrassment. they might be embarrassed. they were pushing on director wray. some of the conspiracy theories as you say, they were pushing on him. he did comment in a backwards way about the mar-a-lago investigation, about the way those documents were seized and

yes, about the way they were stored. he talked about scifs, those classified rooms. he said, a bedroom, a ballroom are not scifs. >> along with joe, willie, and me, we have special correspondent for bbc news cadi kaye, and president biden is in helsinki this morning welcoming the newest member of nato. finland joined last year, and moved the alliances border with russia. the trip is meant to show nato's expanding power and influence against russian president vladimir putin, but biden's visit also marks a stark contrast to donald trump's trip to finland capital almost exactly five years ago. we all remember that. then-president -- >> many people are calling that

the lemere summit. >> donald trump stood beside vladimir putin against election interference going against the findings of u.s. intelligence on the world stage. >> just now president putin denied having anything to do with the election interference in 2016. every u.s. intelligence agency has concluded that russia did. what -- who -- my first question for you, sir, is who do you believe? my second question is would you now with the whole world watching, tell president putin -- would you denounce what happened in 2016, and would you warn him to never do it again? >> let me just say we have two thoughts. you have groups that are wondering why the fbi never took the server. why haven't they taken the server? why was the fbi told to leave the office of the democratic national committee? i have been wondering that. i have been asking that for months and months, and i have been tweeting it out and calling it out on social media.

where is the server? i want to know, where is the server and what is the server saying? with that being said, all i can do is ask the question. my people came to me. dan coates came to me and some others and said they think it's russia. i have president putin. he just said it's not russia. i will say this. i don't see any reason why it would be, but i really do want to see the server. >> looks a little scruffy. >> first of all, donald trump actually siding with vladimir putin. >> oh my god. >> an ex-kgb agent. a guy that kills politicians that oppose him and kills journalists who write bad things about him. it's quite a glare that vladimir putin -- i've never noticed it before, gave to jonathan after the question was asked, and willie, if you will remember, you know, we've cleaned him up a little bit.

he looked kind of scruffy there. >> he did. >> what did the cat drag in? what's going on here? >> i don't know if you remember, but he got in a shoving match with some of vlad's punks. i think this was -- i think this was the location, pushing each other. i mean, rough days. >> yeah. >> he's looking -- he's -- let me tell you. willie, cleaned up now, but he still has the dark soul of this south boston punk. >> he does, and he went toe to toe with the vladimir putin security forces and lived to tell the tale. if you look side by side, changes in approach to his hand since helsinki. credit to the hair and makeup department here at msnbc. let's give him a chance to defend himself. that is jonathan lemere. okay, the host of "way too early" joining us from helsinki. also joining us, ian bremer.

good morning, ian. good to have you with us. john, we'll let you defend yourself on the hair five years ago in helsinki, but more broadly the contrast we're seeing five years later with this president in that same city. >> yeah. we were all so much younger then, weren't we? yes. credit to the hair and makeup team there at msnbc for my glow up ahead of my return to helsinki, but it is a remarkable parallel that we are -- the u.s. president has returned to the finnish capital. nearly five years to the day since the last time we heard an american president here. you heard donald trump siding with putin over his own government about the 2016 election interference, taking putin's side, and now president biden is here touting the addition of finland to an alliance meant to stop that very same russian leader. the world has changed dramatically in the five years

since our last time in helsinki, and we'll be hearing from president biden later today coming off the heels of that nato summit which we'll get to in a minute. we'll talk about how finland strengthens the alliance, and all the west. the idea that multilateral alliances have been revitalized because of that man, vladimir putin, and of course, the shadow of donald trump still looms large here in helsinki. he is, of course, a leading contender to be president again in 2024 were he to win, and that is something to gives these allies great anxiety, his potential return. the united states is back, but there are concerns as to back for how long? >> jonathan, five years is a snap of a finger in terms of history. of course, five years ago it was before you outfitted yourself in better suits and shirts and ties and stuff like that. >> sure. >> could you please talk a bit about what is a striking contrast to many people? just the visuals from the --

president biden's trip this week, and when you were there five years ago with president trump. there was a particularly striking visual yesterday of president biden with his arm around president schulz of germany. both of them laughing and smiling with one another, and it was a striking contrast to what had happened during the trump administration. >> no question there, mike. let's remember that trump's visit to helsinki five years ago came just days after he was in nato at the brussels -- the headquarters and threatened to pull the united states out of that alliance. that was also five years ago. he was talked out of it, but he nearly detonated the signature post-world war ii national alliance, and instead now we have president biden here expanding it. finland is in. sweden is on path to be in as well, and you mentioned it. he certainly enjoys a warm camaraderie with a number of the

european leaders and he had a positive meeting with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy which was the real headline yesterday. zelenskyy had come really angry, thought that nato was dragging their feet. he was frustrated they were not going to get his country into the alliance, but after 24 hours of diplomacy, meeting with biden and others, he changed his tune. in fact, in a meeting with biden yesterday, i was able to ask president zelenskyy. was he satisfied? was this enough? did he get enough assurances from the allies? he said he did. there was more military assurance, and he wants to join nato eventually, but for the moment that tension has dissipated and now the return to focusing on its counteroffensive against russia. >> let's watch that moment, jonathan lemere asking at the nato summit about how he feels now about the security guarantees from the united states, and from nato. >> president zelenskyy r you satisfied with what you got from nato? you were so frustrated yesterday. is this enough?

are you satisfied, sir? >> i think by the end of summit, we have great unity from our leaders and security guarantees that the success for the summit. i think so, but it's my opinion. thank you. >> so ian bremer indeed, a huge contrast from 24 hours earlier where president zelenskyy was calling nato weak saying it was inviting russian terrorism by not allowing ukraine into nato right away, filled with gratitude yesterday in a tweet, in that moment there toward president biden and the united states. so what is the significance? what was the impact of what we saw over the last couple of days? both practically and symbolically. >> first, why did zelenskyy shift? part of the reason for that is is because the polish government and baltic governments right up until the summit were pushing really hard for, we need concrete dates. we need a calendar. we need to know when nato is going to welcome ukraine formally, and president biden

and the white house were telling these people back channel, that is not -- cannot happen right now, but they weren't listening. biden went down on television just -- over the previous weekend and made it very, very clear, but right up until day of the summit. you still have the polls making that case, talking to zelenskyy. he came in thinking that it was going to go more strongly than it could have. having said that, once you put all the allies in the room, you do show far more significant consolidation of political policies than you ever had in nato before the invasion of course. you got the announcement from the turks that allowed sweden to join which was a big win for the summit just to kick it off. you also have a multilateral group of guarantees by nato that are telling the ukrainians that they're going to get ongoing intelligence support, cyberdefenses, training, irrespective of what the government is.

that's a multilateral, ongoing commitment that allows zelenskyy to go back, fighting a war with a counteroffensive that isn't going well so far and saying, these guys still have my back. it's not so much what happened over the last two days. the big question is, are we presently at peak nato? can we continue this as american public support? republicans and democrats for the ukrainian defense continues to diminish and as we enter into the 2024 election cycle. >> i remember a couple of weeks after the invasion one early saturday morning doing what i do every early saturday morning, and that is driving to go get mika's coffee, and i turned on bbc while going there to listen. i was curious what the response was, and they were talking about germany and some of the moves germany was going to be taking. it was when there was that real shift to germany talking about

expanding their military budgets, and i thought, this is really -- this is such a pivotal time, and i think we're seeing history shift pretty dramatically here, but the question has lingered. will europe continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the united states and with ukraine? so far it seems they are. if you look at those pictures of zelenskyy and people like the british prime minister seem desperate to get in there, pat him on the arm. talk about europe remaining steadfast and if there are concerns about possible cracks in the alliance at any point moving forward. >> yeah. i mean, who was the star of this nato summit? zelenskyy just has to show up. he did the same thing in japan at the g7 meeting. he gets the press conference and gets to sit next to president biden. i mean, he's right in there, and it's a real tribute to him and his leadership and the quality

of his leadership that i think ukraine has managed to keep the allies as unified as they can, and you point to some cracks. you had the uk defense secretary pretty firmly saying to president zelenskyy, look. you need to show gratitude. i think it was a political schooling as much as anything, and he pointed, ben wallace, to the problems on capitol hill. he said, look. there are people in congress who do not want to carry on with the kinds of funding that we have had so far. the europeans are pretty united, but they're also aware that their own stocks are being depleted, that this has gone on for 18 months now. so far, european nations seem to be unified. there doesn't seem to be much political pressure on either france, germany, or the uk to scale back the amount of commitment they're giving and this -- and nato can point to big wins just at this summit. the border with nato has just increased by 800 miles. it's doubled nato's border with russia having finland on board,

and sweden is about to join, and ukraine has got these security guarantees. i think for the moment, there is as much unity in europe as one might have -- as one might reasonably be able to expect given how long this has gone on and how much money and weapons are being poured into ukraine. if ukraine does badly in the counteroffensive, i think that's when you'll start to have more questions about how much more the european union and nato are prepared to finance this. >> so ian, since we have you here, i wanted to ask you a question just on a side note that i think is fascinating when we're looking at the strength of the alliance. certainly the west, the big concern was meloni, the new italian prime minister, right wing, populist from the school of politics, pro-putin. considered to be a neo-fascist

by many in the west. she's been supportive -- is supportive as any western ally it seems and always seems to get right in the front, shaking his hands, and here he is -- >> twice. >> -- pulling her over. i think it's great news. i'm glad there's been this change from the campaign to the prime minister. what's happening there, and what does it -- what does this tell us? >> signify. >> what does it signify for greater europe? >> well, the fact is that meloni has been strongly aligned on economic policy with the eu which a lot of people were concerned about in terms of their debt, in terms of how they were engaging with brussels and the germans and french. also has been strongly positive in nato, all the way through,

and his party is falling apart. she's very, very consistent with the concerns that everyone had about her on issues like immigration, on issues like gay rights and the rest. it's not like she's suddenly given up on her ideological base, but for this issue she's shrunk. it's more of the military support that goes to ukraine globally. the u.s. is the dominant military power. so all eyes are on us, not on the europeans on this issue. >> and in the end, is that what you are hearing as far as concerns about america? i do hear that from foreign diplomats. i hear it from leaders. sure -- sure biden's in there, and sure, the united states is back for now, but what happens a year and a half from now? do you hear that a lot? >> what happens when presumably trump gets the nomination? i mean, it's now an assumption

on the part of the allies that trump will be the gop nominee. will the gop leadership continue to maintain present policies on nato? present policies on russia. once trump gets the nomination, but for the election itself , there's enormous concern about the issue itself. it's harder to run against ambiguity on an issue like nato. that's a discussion in the white house too. coming up, owe next guest just raised a record amount of campaign cash in her bid for u.s. senate in michigan. we'll talk to congresswoman elissa slotkin about that, and republicans' ongoing drama in the house when it comes to their own leadership. "morning joe" is back in a moment. own leadership "morning joe" is back in a moment

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fbi director christopher wray appeared before the house judiciary committee yesterday for nearly five hours.

>> wray's a republican, right? >> appointed by donald trump. >> so he's a trump appointee, and trump, only the best people. >> a trump-appointed republican. >> a trump-appointed republican, okay. >> he fielded questions from some of the same members of congress who have recently called for his impeachment. >> those are republicans -- so republicans want to impeach a republican, why? >> trump republicans want to impeach a trump-appointed republican. >> why? >> despite being appointed by donald trump, and a registered republican voter, republican lawmakers have baselessly accused wray of using the fbi to target those with conservative beliefs including the former president himself. director wray was having none of it. >> there is a two-tiered justice system that has been weaponized to persecute people based on their political beliefs and you have personally worked to weaponize the fbi against conservatives. >> i would disagree with your

characterization of the fbi, and certainly your description of my own approach. the idea that i'm biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me given my own personal background. >> you preside over the fbi that has the lowest level of trust in the fbi's history. people trusted the fbi more when j. edgar hoover was running the place than when you are. you don't give straight answers. >> respectfully, congressman, in your home state of florida, the number of people trying to work for us is over 100%. >> it was beyond a weaponization of government. it was a nuclearization of government against the government. i think tucker carlson and some of the members and colleagues on the other side of the aisle have said that ray epps was a secret government agent in helping encourage this crime so as to make the president look bad. do you have any knowledge of ray

epps being a secret government agent? >> uh, no. i will say this notion that somehow the violence at the capitol on january 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by fbi sources and agents is ludacris. >> i want to use and examine the case of the mar-a-lago documents because it's been used by the former president as a pitying moment as though he has somehow been victimized. >> i don't want to be commenting on the pending case, but i will say there are specific rules about where to store classified information and those need to be stored in a scif, a secure compartmentalized information facility, and in my experience, ballrooms, bathrooms and bedrooms are not scifs. >> this went on for five hours yesterday. he sat in that chair and took down some conspiracy theories and defended the fbi. i have to say disorienting and joe has made the point several times and probably for you,

somebody who has covered republicans for a long time, to see republican members of congress attacking with such venom, the fbi, attacking the military, attacking the justice department. all these law enforcement people, and now part of a deep state conspiracy. why are they doing all this? it goes back to the root of defending donald trump. >> yeah. it's an extremely unusual way of trying to grow your political party. to take on one of the more legendary certainly elements of government, and one of the more honored elements of government, the federal bureau of investigation, and then as you point out, in addition to that, they have attacked the american military on many occasions, and they continue to do it. now is it a fringe of the republican party? is it the majority of the existing republican party in congress? that we don't know, but i don't think it's a majority -- even close to a majority of republican voters out there.

even republican voters should be offended at the totally ignorant approach many members of that party took yesterday against director wray. >> i mean, the problem, mike, is the leaders of the house republicans are talking this way. >> yeah. >> the people that are running the committees. some of the most powerful and most influential people hate law enforcement. they hate the fbi. they hate the premier law enforcement agency in america. they hate military leaders. they're constantly trashing the united states military. it's crazy what they're doing. they're blocking the marine corps, the united states marine corps from having a commandant for the first time in 150 years. they say they wish american military people could be as tough and masculine as the

russian military. i mean, are you kidding me? would we like to ask the russian military? and you know what we ought to do? we ought to talk to those 500 wagner group thugs that rushed the united states military and ask them -- oh, we can't. they were all killed in, like, two or three minutes. you know, i think the u.s. troops were probably watching mlb and somebody said, russians are attacking us. they go, okay. kill them, and then they went back to the game before the end of the inning. it was over just like that. you've got republicans saying that they want our troops to be more like russia. it's absolutely insane, and katty kaye, they talk about defunding the fbi because they're trying to enforce laws against people who steal nuclear secrets, and this is what chris

wray said yesterday. defunding the fbi like these republicans want to defund the fbi, it would hurt the american people. neighborhoods and communities all across this country, the people who are protecting from cartels, violent criminals, gang members, predators, foreign and domestic terrorists, and cyberattacks, like, these republicans want to gut an agency that protects americans from terrorists, foreign and domestic. from people who were trying to steal their identities, from people who are draining money out of their parents' and grandparents' bank accounts, drug cartels who are trying to push more and more fentanyl into this country. that is who the house republicans have declared to be their enemy. >> yeah. we look back at what's happened in the united states since 2001

and the attacks of 9/11, and part of the reason that america has not been attacked again in that kind of awful way and other countries here in europe have been attacked is because of the work of the fbi, because of the investigations that they have carried out on foreign and increasingly on domestic terrorists who would like to do harm to american people. without the fbi, the chances of some kind of attack on the united states grow exponentially. i thought what was really interesting about the hearings yesterday was how chris wray just managed to keep it super lowkey. he didn't give people like matt gaetz that opportunity, that clip where you saw the director of the fbi getting angry which it felt at times like matt gaets was trying at times to get him to do that. he turned the table. why are the number of people applying to the fbi from florida and texas gone up by something like 100% if the american people don't trust the fbi?

>> who is ray epps? he's part of conspiracy theories after he protested washington on january 6, 2021. now he's filed a defamation lawsuit against fox news and former host tucker carlson for claiming epps was an undercover fbi agent who helped provoke in the capital attack. in the lawsuit, epps accused -- epps was seen on video the night before the january 6th attack.

this is on january 5th, telling other trump supporters that they should go into the capitol the next day, but body camera video taken shows him asking law enforcement officers how he can assist them with helping move rioters back from the police line. the image from the day before the attack spread on the line and fueled conspiracy theories that epps secretly worked for the federal government. according to the lawsuit, investigators met with epps in march of 2021 and removed his photo from the website of wanted suspects. fox news did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and carlson declined to comment as well. ray epps was there, a big trump supporter from arizona. came into town for that day, for what he thought was going to be rally. >> mm-hmm. >> his crime was on camera telling police when he thought things were getting out of control, let me help you out here. let's get people back away from the police line and for that, he

is viewed as a tool of the government, a tool of the deep state, and this conspiracy went on for months and months and months, and fox news pushed it almost every night. he had to move out of state, move to a different state and sell his home and now lives in an rv. with his defamation lawsuit, i expect he'll be looking for expensive real estate. >> he's right. his life's been ruined. the lies were told day in and day out, day in and day out. it was a conspiracy theory much like a conspiracy theory against those pole workers in georgia. i mean, the lies that they told about ordinary people, just living their lives, and by the way, i mean, ray epps is attacked by these far-right freaks and conspiracy theorists. he's attacked for doing exactly what these far-right freaks

claimed everybody did, which was oh, they just went up to the capitol. >> it was just a rally. >> it was just a rally. ray epps was saying, let's go up to the capitol and protest but you're exactly right. when things get out of hand, he's, like, hey. he's doing what i would hope -- what i know any good patriotic american would do. he would be, like, hey, hey. the cops have a job to do. respect them. let's -- >> let's not hurt anybody. >> let's not hurt anybody. let's keep this in line, and so that was the lie that people on fox news were telling about everybody. saying, oh, look. you talk about tucker ccarlson. he got the video and said, oh, this was another day in paradise. just another peaceful day of protesting in, in fact, ray epps

was set up as an fbi stooge because that's exactly what he did. his life has been ruined. and imagine, you've talked to politicians who have been attacked by people. i don't want to say their names. certain people on -- who used to work for fox news. their security had to increase. their lives were ruined, and day in and day out, here you have this guy not a public figure. let me say that again. not a public figure. not used to this, and the death threats, the security problems that they had. i'm telling you, if i'm representing fox news, i'm saying get your checkbook out and start writing. >> they already had to a few time. >> they're going to have to do it again, and tucker carlson's probably going to have to do it again. >> large checks. >> this guy's not a public figure. it's not going to be hard for

him to prove defamation. >> there you go, joe, and that's exactly the point. if you look at the timeline of the number of times on television -- national television that ray epps was attacked verbally, implicated verbally, rhetorically into a plot that he was a government agent, it's astounding. even after they were corrected, even after they had substantial proof that ray epps was nothing of the kind, they continued with it, specifically tucker did. continued with it. and his life was badly damaged, badly damaged. i don't know whether it was ruined or not because hopefully he has a lot of life left to live. you don't want to wish that upon anybody, but badly damaged. he was forced to sell his real estate in arizona, i believe. >> yep. >> his home, leave. he's living in an rv now. hopefully, you know, he'll be able to, you know, buy a ranch after they settle with him because they're going to have to settle with him because you raised a key point, joe. he is not a public guy.

he's a private citizen, and damaged beyond belief, continuely night after night after night. coming up, a live report from helsinki where president biden is wrapping up his overseas trip. we'll have the latest reporting when "morning joe" comes right back. est reporting when "morning joe" comes right back nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. (pensive music) (footsteps crunching) (pensive music) (birds tweeting) (pensive music) (broom sweeping) - [narrator] one in five children worldwide are faced with the reality of living without food. no family dinners, no special treats, no full bellies.

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brought in a kid last night. might be something that interests you. >> danny, you don't really seem like a dangerous person. can you tell me how you ended up here? >> loser.

>> hey. i'll kick your little wiry ass. >> please, no. >> go. you want to come in, clean yourself up. you are safe now. >> it never struck you as strange that this man just showed up to save you? >> that was a scene from the new apple tv plus series "the crowded room," starring amanda seyfried and tom holland. it's loosely based on a true story from the late '70s that gained national attention. the first person acquitted to have a violent crime due to dissociative identity disorder. amanda, thank you for joining us. it touches on everything from mental health to everything, and tell us what attracted you to the role. >> i think it was a ballsy move

in general for any studio, any streaming service to tackle this kind of content. i read, like, three scripts, and i couldn't put them down. i read them super fast and i'm not a fast reader, and i just -- i really love opening the box of anything really that's tough to watch and tough to learn about, but then again compassion is bred from learning about other people, people that are other than you. i was just, like, this is totally the move. i want to be apart of this. >> and it does of course, address a mental health issue, serious mental health issues. it also addresses sexual abuse. it addresses people that have tormented childhoods, and you -- your character sorts through all that, but it's fascinating because there's this friction going on the entire time where the police are after a conviction, and your character is after the truth. >> that's the thing. i mean, there's such a fine line

in the justice system. it's -- it's rarely -- it feels like it's rarely fair, and justice is meant to be fair, and it's -- it's -- there's such a gray area all the time. this is why i think we love as a society, love crime stories and stories in a courtroom, because everybody's got a good point and i feel like in this specific story, it's like mental illness is very common. we all come from some kind of trauma. again, it's a spectrum. in this instance, danny is suffering from disassociative identity disorder and he doesn't even know. it's to not only prove to him he's layered and traumaized and needs to heal and it's really

complicated. i'm proud to tell these stories. they're not that common, but what is common is the gray area that we live in. >> what i love about this series is the first five episodes you're seeing it actually through the defend's eyes and then in the sixth episode we get to see you, we get to see your back story. you get all these different perspectives of the same event. that's when you start to realize what this series is really about. >> yeah. my big fear was that the audience was going to be like, wait, what? we've been with danny the whole time. we understand she wants to help him truly. it was a relief to me that people really warmed up to that.

we got to the point in the story where we needed more information because danny doesn't know what's happening, so how can we really trust him at this point? he has to come out of this hole he's been living in his whole life. flash backs are tricky for me. sometimes i think they're great and sometimes i think they're a mess. but in this context it is really helpful, because it is coloring in and helping not just the audience but also danny come to terms with reality. >> you said since becoming a mom, you relate to playing moms and in this case, speaking of mothers, your character depends

a great deal on her own mother, which you say you can relate to so well in your own life. >> yeah. it was scary. the relationship between her and her mother was eerily similar. it's a blessing and it's also complicated, but i will say many things can be true at once. you can love and cherish and feel so blessed to have that, but also it's the part of motherhood where you're alone and dealing with things on your own. i'm going to ask my mom to help me clean up my dog's vomit on the rug because i'm still not

sure what the best way is. i'm not alone and neither is raya. >> talk about working with tom holland. >> it's amazing working with him. i was really impressed with him jumping out of his comfort zone and showing up every day. it really is the role of a lifetime. he's 25 and he's already gotten to play somebody so complicated. >> tell us about making cute kids, speaking of kids.

>> i went into business i guess. i'm an artist. sometimes it's really hard. that's my best friend ann. we all grew up together and we all have kids around the same age and we were all doing nothing during the pandemic. she was making these play houses. we were like let's do it for the masses sustainably. it's so cool to see your kids every night dream up something in their own cozy place. >> thank you so much for being with us. new episodes of "the crowded

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. the hunter biden laptop. the hunter biden laptop. >> fbi censorship. >> orwellian ministry of truth. >> sounds like a shakedown, doesn't it? >> throwing out their favorite theories of the fbi in which they accuse the registered republican and trump appointee of leading the agency with an anti-conservative bias. we'll have more on that in just a moment. mental gymnastics there. meanwhile, a group of far-right house republicans want to use the military spending bill to cut off funding for ukraine. we'll talk to a member of the house armed services committee

about that and much more. also ahead, we are just hours away from hollywood's first industry-wide shutdown in over 60 years. we'll have the latest. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." a lot to get to this hour. >> let's start with president biden in hesinki right now in a trip meant to show the west's expanding power. it comes after president biden wrapped up the nato summit in lithuania yet with a speech in which he celebrated the resolve of the ukrainian people. >> when russian bombs began to fall, we did not hesitate to act. we rallied the world to support the brave people of ukraine as they defended their liberty and sovereignty with incredible

dignity. [ applause ] >> i mean that from the bottom of my heart. think about what they're doing. after nearly a year and a half of russia's forces committing terrible atrocities including crimes against humanity, the people of ukraine remain unbroken, unbroken. [ cheers and applause ] >> ukraine remains independent. it remains free. we will not waiver. we will not waiver. i mean that. our commitment to ukraine will not weaken. we will stand for liberty and freedom today, tomorrow and for as long as it takes! unfortunately, russia has shown thus far no interest in a diplomatic outcome. putin still wrongly believes he can outlast ukraine. he can't believe it's their land, their country and their future.

and even after all this time, putin still doubts our staying power. he's still making a bad bet that the conviction and the unity among the united states and our allies and partners will break down. he still doesn't understand our commitment, our values, our freedom is something he can never, ever, ever walk away from. it's who we are. it's who we are. >> president biden in lithuania yesterday. he's in helsinki now where we find nbc news correspondent monica alba. one can't help note the contrast of president biden yesterday alongside president zelenskyy.

>> reporter: that contrast will be on full display today as we mark five years to the week since those images and that consequential news conference with former president trump and president putin here in helsinki. of course, president biden is coming here with the chief objective of touting the strength of the nato alliance and the fact that finland was able to join with record speed. it's the country that has been invited and approved into the alliance in the fastest record of any other member in history. president biden isn't going to ignore the opportunity to create this very different message with what we saw five years ago. i think you can expect to see that of course echoed in what he talked about yesterday in his message to president putin talking specifically about his viewpoint heading into the war, what he expected to happen.

the last two days in lithuania are the clearest example of this. it's one thing for president biden to come here and tout the unity and unwavering support for ukraine, but it's an entirely different message it sends to stand here with nordic leaders as this country borders rush, shares about an 830-mile stretch. we're just 100 or so more miles from that border. that is the clearest backdrop to everything we're discussing here as the war rages on in ukraine. the u.s. support when it comes to weaponry, billions in aid, that is something president biden will continue to emphasize is not going anywhere as long as it takes. i think you will see, again, this very clear contrast with what we saw here remarkably five years ago when former president trump believed and accepted

president putin's denials about russian election interference. >> joining us now member of the house armed services committee alyssa slotkin of michigan. congresswoman, thank you for being with us. you've served in the cia. you know the strategic importance that nato holds. what is your analysis of the last couple of days, which is, finland is in nato, sweden on its way to being in nato and ukraine with a promise that eventually that country too will join nato. what does it all add up to for you? >> like you said, it's extraordinary. weave been talking about expanding nato for a long time to those nordic countries.

now because of putin's failed invasion into ukraine we're sitting here. it's not a great deal to be vladimir putin sitting in moscow and watching the last couple of days, which should make us all happy. >> a group of far right wing house republicans are trying to use the annual military budget bill to kill america's aid to ukraine. they're also looking to use budget talks to end military funding on issues like travel related costs for abortion services and medical care for transgender service members. with our president showing such strength on the world stage and then this happening here at home, what do you say to senator tommy tuberville about the military promotions he is holding up?

>> i would say three things. usually when we go to pass a pentagon budget, it's a pretty bipartisan thing. i'm on that committee. it's a bunch of thing who generally care about the national security of the united states. we have a lot of bipartisan amendments in particular. i think what's really happened overnight is we've seen the far right of the republican party take over and really put forward some pretty insane amendments. one, as you said, is completely banning aid to ukraine. think about that split screen of what we saw yesterday with biden becoming new members in, unity, zelenskyy next to him. and then you have the republicans saying we want to ban all aid and we don't want to defend that democracy. number two was ending affirmative action for our military academies, for our officers. the military is the most diverse institution in the country and

they don't want a diverse officer corps. think about that. lastly, whether it's senator tuberville or far right folks in congress, they are obsessed with this idea that we must end all abortions for all women everywhere in the country, right now focused on servicewomen, women who have signed up to serve their country and serving in a state they have no choice over, a place like texas or alabama that has a full ban on all abortions and they want to hold up all military promotions and the pentagon budget because we're obsessed with a federal ban on abortion. >> unbelievably insulting in so many ways and bad for our military. i'm curious what you think about the testimony that we heard yesterday. fbi director christopher wray appearing before the house

judiciary committee yesterday for about five hours fielding questions from some of the same members of congress who recently called for his impeachment despite being appointed by trump and a registered republican, republican lawmakers are baselessly accusing wray of using the fbi to target those with conservative beliefs, including the former president himself. director wray, of course, was having none of it. take a listen. >> there is a two-tiered justice system that has been weaponized to persecute people based on their beliefs and you have personally worked to weaponize the fbi against conservatives. >> i would disagree with your characterization of the fbi and my own approach. the idea that i'm biassed against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me given my own personal background. >> you preside over the fbi that has the lowest level of trust in

the fbi's history. people trusted the fbi more when j. edgar hoover was running the place. you don't give straight answers. >> the number of people in florida, your home state, applying to come work for us is up over 100%. >> january 6th was beyond a weaponization of government. it was a nuclearization of government against the government. i think tucker carlson and some of the members colleagues on the other side of the aisle -- do you have any knowledge of ray epps being a secret government agent? >> no. i will say this notion that somehow the violence at the capitol on january 6th was part of some option orchestrated by fbi agents is ludicrous. >> i want to exam the case of the mar-a-lago documents because

it's been used by the former president as a pitying moment as though he had somehow been victimized. >> i don't want to be commenting on the pending case, but there are specific rules about where to store classified information and those need to be stored in a scif. in my experience, ballrooms, bathrooms and bedrooms are not scifs. >> i wish all americans could take a look at that questioning and understand the hypocrisy of house republicans and corruption. if they're not stupid, then they're corrupt. i think director wray and many others revealed that yesterday. as a former member of the cia, how do you feel about this constant effort by house republicans to undermine our intelligence agencies? >> they've gone afterlaw

enforcement whenever law enforcement tries to uphold the law against their friends. they have no moral compass. it's just they're bad if they go after my guy. it's hard to miss all of these folks have been defending people like donald trump and people that came into the building on january 6th. they're lost their authority or moral center on this. if you want to know why the opinion of the fbi has gone down it's because people speaking like those we just heard from have been using their role to demean and go after law enforcement. i think that the idea especially when i hear these same people turn around and want to stand next to a bunch of police officers and thank them when they've done something good, the hypocrisy is very clear and the performance art -- every single one of those folks are fund-raising off their little speech that they gave yesterday. it's performance art. it's hypocrisy. it's believing in conspiracy

theories and it's using leadership for bad instead of good. it's just the opposite of what the country needs. >> it's also adding to that list a promulgation of disinformation. how do you push back against that, conspiracy theories being woven into the fabric of the american narrative? >> we do our best. there were people who spoke in defense of law enforcement and the fbi yesterday in that same committee. we do it all the time. i can't tell you the number of times in a place like michigan the fbi has been the difference between plots to kidnap and kill our senior leaders to attack our synagogues and mosques. most members of congress interact with law enforcement every day and try to lift up the things they have done to protect us. there's only so much you can do when they're watching a

different tv channel than your viewers and hearing those messages from positions of authority, the leadership telling them to believe in those things. it's the absolute opposite of what we, at least in the intelligence and military communities, were trained to do as leaders. >> congresswoman elissa slotkin of michigan, thank you for being on the show this morning. >> thank you. we are following breaking news out of hollywood this morning where actors now are on the brink of joining screen writers on the picket line. the union sag after tra says it has failed to reach a new deal with major studios and streamers. >> after this midnight deadline, the union voted to have a strike. later today the union's governor

governing board is going to vote on whether to strike. >> this morning, no deal. both sides announcing actors and studios did not meet their midnight deadline for an agreement. >> this is the equivalent of pressing a button on a nuclear bomb in hollywood. >> for the first time in more than 40 years, 160,000 actors could walk off the set. the union saying they remain unwilling to offer a fair deal while the association representing the studio says it is deeply disappointing, adding this is the union's choice, not ours. over the past months dozens of a-list actors have hit the picket lines to show their support for striking wga writers and spoken out on the red carpet. >> i believe in unions. i believe in labor. i believe in representation. >> while the writers strike has halted production of most scripted shows, without actors, many more films and tv shows

would go dark. >> you're going to start to see significant layoffs throughout hollywood because of this. >> they say money is not the only sticking point. the union is also looking for more residuals for streaming content and protections against the use of ai generated content in film and tv shows. the union is calling the studios' proposals insulting and disrespectful. >> we've got to get what we're worth. there's money being made and it needs to be allocated in a way that takes care of people who are on the margins. >> fran drescher said they're prepared to hold out for a fair deal. >> it's a very different issue. with streaming and digital it's really important that it become

restructured to complement what it is now. >> nbc universal's parent company comcast is part of the producer's alliance and some members of us are part of sag after tra. >> disney ceo bob iger just said there's a level of expectation from these hollywood actors that are just not realistic. they're adding to the set of challenges. it's frankly quite disruptive. what is the practical impact of this? there are sets opening all over the country right now, all over the world. do they just shut down? >> this is going to be dramatic. we already have the writers on strike. they can still get away with shooting some things overseas or

if they don't need new scripts. if you suddenly can't have performing, can't have auditions, promoting of movies, that's going to be dramatic. shows we expect to see in the fall, certainly it's going to be 2024 before we see some of those shows. >> joe fryer, thank you so much. coming up on "morning joe," from flooding in the northeast to sweltering heat across the south, we'll have the latest on the extreme weather impacting millions this morning. plus, a look at the new docu-series covering the life of shaun white. he'll be our guest just ahead. shaun white. he'll be our guest just ahead. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

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a live look at chicago this morning. severe weather continues to impact large swaths of the country from excessive heat in

the south to historic rainfall in the northeast. the dire conditions have placed millions under states of emergency. we have a report from aaron mclaughlin and kristin dahlgren. >> reporter: overnight, tornados touching down in chicago, dramatic funnels forming over the city. >> look, right here. see it spinning up? that's it. look at that spinning up there, right in front of you. >> reporter: clouds gathering over lake michigan and passengers left stranded at chicago o'hare. it's part of the extreme weather coast to coast. for more than 100 million americans it's already a scorching summer in much of the south and southwest. a heat dome is responsible for consecutive days of record triple digit temps, testing the limits of first responders. in phoenix, firefighters are bracing for a sweltering 115

degree day, marking two weeks at or above 110. >> we have deaths inside of homes. that's unacceptable. >> reporter: you spend all day here? >> yeah. >> reporter: this room cooled by an air-conditioning unit is her only refuge, but she says it's a struggle to pay her monthly bills. california, texas and florida are also hitting record setting highs, residents doing what they can to stay cool. >> we are taking breaks as much as possible in the air-conditioning. >> reporter: el paso is continuing its hot streak. miami hit a record high 97 degrees with a heat index over 100 for 21 days and counting. >> it's a national problem.

>> reporter: the push for help coming as the whole country weathers a summer of baking heat and intense storms. residents in vermont bracing for more heavy rain today as the state's governor urging everyone to stay vigilant. >> this may not be over with rain in the forecast and nowhere for it to go. we could see watt -- waters rise again. >> we're staging locations to be ready and prepared to respond. >> reporter: as widespread devastation from the catastrophic flooding sets in for so many living here. what is it like to come home to find this? >> it's absolutely devastating. i have no words. >> reporter: that desperation echoed in towns across the state, with lifetimes of memories now irreparably

damaged. murky waters still fill the streets. others lined with piles of debris and mud as residents assess the damage. it's a long road ahead for business owners in downtown montpelier. local officials are cautiously optimistic that the wrightsville dam and others have started to recede and communities begin to rebuild. >> we will definitely come back from this. coming up, what do taylor swift, flying cars and tainted tap water have in common? they are all part of the new edition of brand up brand down. donny deutsch returns with his latest installment next on "morning joe." latest installment next on "morning joe."

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we were in town to play the bengals and i had an injury that doctors call one in a million. >> they have been administering cfr for nine minutes now. >> players are holding hands. you can see the worried looks. >> when the bills trainers got to me on that field, i'm not sure what my odds of survival were, but i do know the staff that worked on me had to do everything just right. thanks to their training, their poise, their commitment to serve others, the bills training staff kept me alive. anyone can be a hero. these are mine. >> that's part of a tribute

video narrated by bills safety damar hamlin. you can see him wiping tears off his face on stage. that was last night's espys on espn. they presented the training staff with the pat tillman award for service. those life saving measures helped to resuscitate hamlin when his heart stopped on the field during a game back in january. so beautiful to see those images last night. hamlin has recovered and, yes, plans to play football again this fall. incredible. another moment from the espys, lebron james ending any doubt about whether he'll return for a 21th season in the nba. >> i said i wasn't sure if i was going to keep playing. i know a lot of expert es told you guys what i said. i'm here now speaking for myself. the real question is, can i play without cheating the game? the day i can't give the game

everything on the floor is the day i'll be done. lucky for you guys, that day is not today. >> lebron will be back for that 21st season with the lakers. time for brand up brand down. donny deutsch has returned. let's start with the down this time. quitting. >> people are quitting on quitting. obviously during the pandemic we had our biggest surge in people quitting, 4.5 million jobs people quit during that time. it's down to 4 million. the quit rate had been at 3%. now it's at 2.5%. another positive economic indicator, people are not leaving their jobs. >> brand up, taylor swift is just crushing it. >> i know you took your daughter for her sweet 16 and a bunch of friends to see taylor swift.

>> taylor swift, $322 million she's going to make this year. 228 from her tour, the catalog 65 million, new album 14 million. she will probably be the highest paid entertainer at $322 million. >> she's adding dates. >> people who go to the concert say it's a once in a lifetime experience. >> make a lot of people happy and make a lot of cash. brand down to institutions. >> this is a sobering one. gallup every year does their polls with their major 16 institutions. last two years every institution is down. this year the ones that took the biggest hit, military, medical systems. the institution with the highest rating was small business institutions with 65%. the military is still at 60. police down, 43%. supreme court 27%.

medical systems 34. church 32. at the bottom, no surprise, congress at 8%. >> and congress is attacking a lot of those institutions. brand up, las vegas skyline. >> if you haven't seen this thing it's the msg sphere. this sphere is 366 feet tall, 516 feet wide, it seats 18,000. it's going to be open officially for a u2 concert in september. inside they can control everything from scent to wind. this is for the summer league nba. it really is stunning. if you think about how many things come along that are built today that are wow, this is a wow. >> especially in vegas. >> they can project anything onto this. that thing is just striking. you got to give it to them, $2.3

billion to build. >> very cool. let's go brand down nfts. >> nonfungible tokens where basically you bought a digital image that you owned. i never got it because it's a digital image. a year ago justin bieber bought one for $1.3 million. it's worth $65,000. steph curry bought one of those bored apes. madonna bought one. sometimes when something doesn't make sense, there's a reason. once again, a digital image that you can have on your phone that, yes, you have the original one. it's not art. it's not on the wall. i'm sorry. justin bieber taking a big hit. i'm sure he's okay. >> i never got them. it didn't make any sense to me. remember when trump was trying to sell nfts?

>> he came out with the ones where he was a superhero, a cowboy, an astronaut. god love him. >> so flying cars, you're saying brand up. i'm scared. >> don't be scared. it's just a test. the faa has approved the first testing. it's $300,000. it's a flying electric car. it can go up straight vertically or horizontally. it's just being tested but it's the first line car. it can go 110 miles in the air, 200 miles on the ground. spacex backed company. it got its first approval. once again, mika, i don't think we're going to see you in there. >> no. >> but it did get an approval. >> now, tap water is brand down. i'm a tap water man every time. >> this is interesting. 45% of tap water is tainted with forever chemicals that can cause

cancer. they stay in your body. they don't break down. there's a misnomer that tap water is healthy, particularly in urban areas. i'm going to stay with my fiji water. >> new york city tap water is excellent. i'm going to ride with it until the end. brand up, texas chain saw massacre the game. >> when you can introduce the texas chain saw massacre game. it's the 50th edition. you can be leatherface. you can chase around the board. this is for those summer nights when you got people together. i know myself i will be playing the texas chain saw massacre game. >> finally, fast food fashion is a brand up. what does that mean? >> it means you need a life.

>> we knew that. [ laughter ] >> basically there seems to be this range in fast food fashion. pizza hut has bucket hats, taco bell has crock slides. arby's beef and cheddar swim trunks. if you walk around the hamptons this summer, you'll see us in our arby's beef and cheddar swim suit trunks. >> donny deutsch with brand up brand down. thanks, as always. next, the legendary shaun white here in our studio, next on "morning joe." studio, next on "morning joe. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day.

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you have to work at it. it's kind of like a golf swing. it can be there for you one day, and the next it's just gone. i haven't done the yolo or the double 1440 probably since the last olympics. this intimidating part about the yolo flip is as you're coming around, there's a turning point. i know it when i'm in the air, but it's all memory. the only way to get to that is by throwing yourself in the air and going, oh here it is. >> the legendary shaun white attempting to land the so-called yolo flip on the halfpipe ahead of the 2018 winter olympics in south korea. white would go onto win the gold in those games. that's just one of the moments covered in a new docu-series, from a quirky upbringing to his professional success and his triumphant comeback, "shaun

white, the last run." when you work at nbc, as i have for a long time you get to cover olympics and get to know you guys and talk to you guys. it's been so fun to watch you come on the scene at first and become the legend that you are. thank you for all the thrills and inspiring so many young kids to do crazy stuff, jumping off high places. what was it like to make this series to sit down and just take stock of your entire journey? >> it was intense. the competitor in me, i'm watching the episodes like i'm put back in that place of either success or failure or frustration. so it was an intense thing. you're watching pretty much your whole life in a couple hours. god, i remember it being a lot longer than that. it was an interesting process. i think the thing i enjoyed the most is obviously we followed a lot of the olympic great moments, but it really pulls the curtain back and shows you not

only my struggles getting to that place, but the family dynamic. because when i started, there really wasn't much. we weren't very accepted on mountains. it's a very rebellious sport. my family leaned in and we became like the first suburban family to load up the van and go to the mountain. people didn't really understand it in our community. we just believed in this sport and loved the sport, and it led to this. it's a real family story as well. >> it's amazing that you have this wealth of video from your childhood. i guess it was your mom with the camcorder. >> yeah. road trip, bring the camera! and countless hours of my mom filming us snowboarding and forgetting the camera is on and putting it back in the bag, classic stuff. it's really great.

i feel fortunate that a lot of it was documented. there was so much coverage around those olympic events and behind the scenes. there's this body of archives we got to work with and thread it in with my current run to the last olympics. >> when did you realize that you had something special? because you are the guy who mainstreamed it and brought it to so many people around the world. when did you know maybe i can pursue this all the way to the olympics? >> i mean, i already started learning how to skateboard around 4 or 5 in the neighborhood. it was my mode of transportation. when snowboarding came around, within the first week i kind of learned turns and these things and people were like, oh, he's pretty good. then my mom started calling around because they didn't make kids snowboards.

it just so happened this company out of vermont started making kids boards. once i got a board that fit me, i was sponsored by this company. things took off fast. i started winning events because i was quick on my board. it all just really happened. i can't remember a point where i didn't want to be a pro. i wanted it so badly. when you're that young, your dreams are so close. well, why can't i do it? my family supported it. well, maybe this is a thing. i think once the olympics took on snowboarding, it became very, very real. we had big events like the x games and the grand prix major competitions. once the olympics took it on, it was like wow, there's an actual sort of high level reognition for the sport that can be attained now. before people didn't really

understand. oh that's cool, you got x games gold? that's interesting. it doesn't bring it home as much as the olympics. >> you won three gold medals in 2006, 2010 and 2018. we're talking about what's next for 2010, 18. you've got a lot going on, the company with your brother. is there any temptation to get back in? since you're 4 years old, this is what you've done. have you fully turned the page? >> i would be lying to say -- i'm in the process of it, you know. i think it's going to take time, but you know, i mentioned it in the documentary, but this has been part of my identity almost as long as i can remember, so to really walk away completely would be too much. but obviously i wore the t-shirt today, my brand white space i started with my brother, and you know, creating products and building a team of riders that we can support their careers, and doing all that keeps me in the sport for sure.

and a certain, you know, place. but yeah, i would be lying to say that i don't stand at the bottom of the half pipe going ooh. i could do that. i could have maybe won this one, you know, but yeah, no, i feel fortunate that i was able to decide. you know, there's so many athletes that you get called into an office and they're like, so it's over. we're not picking up your contract, you're getting traded or something. i actually got to decide when it was over. i've spoken to a lot of athletes. they gave me two tips. one was don't stop working out. to come back is really hard later on in life. don't stop working out and be okay in the nothingness of it. be okay with that. because you're going to try to find something to fill the shoes of what the sport meant to you and if you can kind of relax and just be good with, you know, and content with not having that right now, you know, you'll find this beautiful place in life

where things will come to you, and you'll regret not having enjoyed that time. something will find you and take hold of you and you're going to be full on into that and be upset you didn't enjoy that down time. i'm in that moment of traveling and enjoying. >> to no surprise, you're succeeding already in your next chapter with white space selling out of your boards and everything else. so congratulations. the word icon is overused, but it applies to you. you've changed the culture. you've changed winter sports around the world. shaun white: the last run is streaming now on max. thanks so much. good to see you. coming up next, a look at some of the stories making front pages across the country. ng frot pages across the country i'm a bear. i'm coming out of hibernation after the best nap of my life... and papa is hungry.

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beautiful shot of los angeles this morning. time now for a look at the morning papers, and we begin in massachusetts, where the boston globe reports the supreme court's ruling on affirmative action could impact k through 12 schools. the court decided that colleges should not factor race into admissions. now experts worry that same logic could be used to dismantle other diversity programs and scholarships for younger students. the indianapolis star has a front page feature on indiana student proficiency rates remaining relatively the same. standardized test scores show student proficiency in math increased slightly from last year going from 39% to 40% of kids meeting the standard. but for english language, the rates dropped from 41% to 40%. the results are still lower than the average scores in 2019.

that's before the pandemic. and in ohio, the dayton daily news highlights a study that suggests kids would stop vaping if there were no flavored products. nearly 71% of surveyed teens say they would quit vaping if only tobacco products were available. in 2020, the fda banned flavors, but it only applies to cartridge e-cigarette devices. since then sales for disposable e-cigarettes have increased. ban the flavors. that does it for us this morning, president biden is set to deliver remarks from helsinki in just a few minutes, and of course msnbc will be taking that live. ana cabrera picks up the coverage in 90 seconds. brera pie coverage in 90 seconds down there? is it peyronie's disease? will it get worse? how common is it? who can i talk to? can this be treated? stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist. because it could be peyronie's disease, or pd.

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right now on "ana cabrera reports," we are following several big stories. president biden will take questions in helsinki as he welcomes finland into the alliance. it is a stark diplomatic shift from the last