we'll talk again on "morning joe." thank you for getting up "way too early" with us on this monday morning. "morning joe" does start right now. "morning joe" presents a challenge and a threat fundamentally to the republic. we see it on a daily basis. somebody who was willing to use violence in order to attempt to seize power, to stay in power. you have many republicans out there who are saying, well, you know, we're not going to vote for him, but we will write someone else in. >> right. >> i think that, this time around, that's not enough. it's important to actually cast a vote for vice president harris. >> actually, i'm honored to have their endorsement. i think that what they both, as leaders who are well respected, are making an important statement. that it's okay and it's not important to put country above

party. >> vice president harris reacting to getting the baking from former congresswoman liz cheney and also cheney's father, dick cheney. the former vice president following the warning he heard from his daughter, that it's not enough just to not vote for donald trump. he will take the next step and vote for kamala harris. in his statement released on friday, he called trump a threat to our republic and pointed to his repeated 2020 election lies. quote, he tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. he can never be trusted with power again. trump responded in a social media post calling dick cheney irrelevant. he also did a lot of other things on social media that we'll be talking about this morning. good morning. welcome. monday morning.

welcome to "morning joe." it is september 9th. good to have you with us. with us, we have the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. the president of the national action network and host of msnbc's "politics nation," reverend al sharpsharpton. nbc affairs and partner and chief political columnist at "puck," john heilemann is with us. staff writer at "the atlantic," mark leibovich joins us, as well. strong words from liz cheney, her father dick cheney. >> it really is. >> will there be former republican elected leaders, or members of their cabinet, that would speak out like george w. bush or condoleezza rice? >> it's interesting. you have, mika, now, of course, you have a coalition for the democratic nominee that goes from aoc and bernie sanders to joe biden, all the way to liz

and dick cheney. those are all people who are supporting kamala harris. and on the democratic -- on the republican side, you just don't have any former presidents, any former people that, you kno -- people running for president, certainly not mitt romney, not a variety of people. >> yeah. >> you know, even mike pence, his vice president, wasn't there. now, sarah palin may be supporting him. >> right. >> but, you know, go down the list of people who worked for donald trump. see how many of those people, secretary of defense, the secretary of state, national security adviser, who refuse to endorse him, for good reason. >> yeah. well, i think they want a clean slate. they want a republican party back someday, and they see their unfortunate truth, that voting

for kamala harris would finally give them a chance to eradicate the party of donald trump, who is not a republican, not a conservative, and has not held his word on practically anything. so they get a chance to rebuild perhaps. >> well, you see what dick cheney said. you know, you're talking about -- why would dick cheney, a lifelong conservative? as he said, donald trump tried to steal the election. it's obvious unless you plug yourself into disinformation. >> trying to do it again already. >> he used violence and lies to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. he can't be trusted. he started the january 6th riots. he tried to undermine american democracy. he promised this weekend, we'll get to it in a second, he was going to arrest his political opponents. not only his political opponents, but his political opponents' donors. he got down into, "i will arrest the donors." he talked about, of course, mass deportation and promising it was

going to be bloody. talked about terminating the constitution. talked about being a dictator on day one. i could go down the list. yet, despite that, even if kamala harris wins and wins comfortably -- which, right now, it's a tie. we've been telling you, it's a tie. democrats, if they want harris to win have to work harder than republicans. even with that, about half of americans will be voting for a man who did all the things dick cheney said donald trump did. >> yeah. >> all the things we've listed. all the things that they know. and americans, i think all of us, we just need to sit back and try to figure out, is it really just the disinformation that these people see every day that are leading almost half of americans to support that? >> well, it's a mixture of that and a lot of other things, including, i think, the mainstream media that claims to be objective. there's some sort of instinctive

brainwasher. i wonder if he's asked about any of this during the debate. >> i doubt it. >> i'd be surprised. it should never, but it never does. they never ask. >> they'll probably start with monetary policy or quantitative easing, something like that. >> like it is 1978. >> yeah. >> here's what donald trump was doing over the weekend. again, i wonder if he'll be asked about this. pushing false claims, threatening anyone who does not support him. in a post on saturday, the former president warned he would try to imprison anyone who engaged in, quote, unscrupulous behavior during this year's race. what does he mean by that? >> of course, people who aren't supporting him, right? >> right. >> political operatives, lawyers, donors. >> yesterday, he continued to amplify false information about the 2020 election by referencing an outlandish claim from the far right that 20% of pennsylvania's mail-in ballots were fraudulent.

>> well, of course, the mail-in ballots haven't even started to be sent in yet. these are the type of lies -- chris christie said he started telling them in early 2020 because he thought he was going to lose. the more he realized he was going to lose in the spring of 2020, the more he started amplifying those lies. and he's doing it now. >> if i had an opportunity to ask him questions or moderate anything, i would start probably with whether the 2020 election was stolen, but then head straight to this. this is the heart of the matter between these candidates. not his made-up policies on child care that make no sense. on friday, trump spoke to the paternal order of police and encouraged officers to watch for voter fraud because voters would be afraid of them. >> you want to run a country that is based on fair and free voting? you're in serious trouble if you get caught trying to find out what are the real results of an

election. it's an amazing thing. you ever see that? they go after the people that are looking at the crime, and they do terrible things to them. but the people that committed the voter fraud and everything, they can do whatever they want to do. it's so crazy. and i hope you as the greatest people, just as great as there is. anybody in our country, i who you watch for voter fraud. it starts early, you know? it starts in a week. but i hope you can watch and you're all over the place. watch for the voter fraud because without voter fraud, we win so easily. hopefully we'll win anyway, but we want to keep it down. you can keep it down just by watching. believe it or not, they're afraid of the badge, afraid of you people. they're afraid of that more than anything else. they are afraid. i hope you can watch. >> what, they can watch all they want. you know, donald trump's own staff members watched in 2020, and do you know what they said? the person who are in charge of actually watching the election

that donald trump put in charge, chris krebs said it was the cleanest, fairest election on record. of course, donald trump -- see, and this is the thing. people go, oh, i don't know what to believe because donald trump says this, but then i turn on this cable news channel that's lying for 24 hours a day on the right, and they tell me that what he is saying is the truth. we're like -- >> well, they don't talk about that. >> you know what the truth is, and you deliberately choose lies. you know where the light is, and you deliberately choose the darkness. you do it deliberately because you know and i know, 63 federal judges said there was no evidence of any, any fraudulent behavior, any widespread voter fraud in 2020. the united states supreme court, time and again, refused to listen to these because there was nothing there. the one time they did in a

pennsylvania case, the most conservative justices said, you know what? even if we responded to this case, it wouldn't change the outcome of the election. you had republican officials in michigan, republican officials in pennsylvania, republican officials in georgia, republican officials in arizona repeatedly say that their elections were fair, and yet the lies tonight. now, am i saying this because i think donald trump's ever going to change his tactics? no, he knows he's lying. he admitted last week he was lying. he said he lost by a smidge, whatever he said. no, i'm saying this for the people that actually continue to spread his lies and know differently. john heilemann, you know, the pace that has picked up so much

over the past couple weeks about donald trump saying, oh, they're going to steal the election, they're going to steal the election, it suggests the man doesn't have a whole lot of confidence that he's actually going to win this election. >> right. i think, you know, the pace is eerie, joe, if you look at the timeline in 2020, and you'd see the same thing. we remark about it all time, there's never been a race trump has won where he has not tried to pre-frame a loss as the result of a stolen election, as a result of a fraudulent election, as a result of cheating. he did that in 2016. he did it in 2020. he did it this time. the difference between 2016 and 2020 was that, in 2016, it was a relatively late phenomenon when he started to really lean in on that question. in 2020, he started laying the groundwork a lot earlier. he started laying it around very early again this time around. the pace is picking up now in

the way it did in immediately after labor day, heading into the fall of 2020. of course, we saw how that turned out in the period after the election up to january 20th. i think there is a widespread sense of concern on the part of across parties but on the part of everybody who cares about trying to make sure the transition of power after this election is peaceful. there is an enormous amount of concern, especially in the wake of january 6th last time around with that precedent in the books that trump is driving head listening into that again. if anything, ramping it up even more so. of course, this race has been turning against him of late, that makes it all the more unnerving. >> yeah. >> let's be, again, very clear, that about half of americans, little less than half of americans, want to support a man who started riots and is doing exactly what john heilemann said. >> he's doing it again. >> they know he is doing it, and they're completely fine with it.

>> not only is he sowing doubt be the election, but get people to protect him. see what you see. read what you read. go somewhere you can get real information. people are really busy and -- >> they don't want it. >> i'm not blaming the voter yet. >> they plug in intentionally to disinformation. >> i wonder what they think of this. i don't know what they would think of one of their sons or brothers or fathers acting this way. trump also mocked a woman who claimed he groped her on an airplane in the 1970s, suggesting she wasn't attractive enough for him to grope her. take a listen. >> think of the impracticality of this. i'm famous. i'm in a plane. people are coming into the plane. and i'm looking at a woman and i grab her and i start kissing her and making out with her. what are the chances of that

happening? what are the chances? and, frankly, i know you're going to say it's a terrible thing to say, but it couldn't have happened. it didn't happen. and she would not have been the chosen one. she would not have been the chosen one. >> not a lot of people who'd want to be the chosen one in that situation, being groped by that or anybody. mark leibovich, you spoke to liz cheney, and she had some choice words for donald trump on this. >> yeah, i mean, she usually does. what was interesting is i interviewed her in austin, texas, on friday. i think, you know, what people took from that, i asked who her dad was voting for. he said her dad would vote for kamala harris. but she went way further. she usually stays in the lane of democracy, of election inter

inter interference, the lines of why he is so dangerous. but i asked if she had advice for kamala harris in the debate tomorrow night. she said, basically, you know, one of the things about donald trump and jd vance is she used the word misogynistic pigs, which kind of got my attention, got the audience's attention. i hadn't heard her go down that lane before. yeah, i mean, she gave a much more frontal and full, comprehensive critique of donald trump than she does, which is usually, you know -- i mean, it's not narrow, but she focuses pretty much on january 6th, on the post election stuff. this was pretty striking to me, and i'm curious to see what role she plays going forward in the campaign. >> yeah. >> well, this is liz cheney talking to you this weekend. >> if you were advising kamala harris going into this debate

on, i guess monday, monday or tuesday, tuesday, with donald trump, you know, he's not a fun or easy guy to debate, obviously. how do you think she should proceed? >> look, i think that, you know, every opportunity that donald trump gets to show the american people who he is, he pretty clearly -- and, look, his running mate is doing this, too -- this is my diplomatic way of saying it. they're misogynistic pigs. [ laughter and applause ] and i think it's -- i think that will become clear.

>> yeah. so what else was your main takeaway from the interview? >> basically, she kept going in that vein. it was a very, very -- you know, it was spirited. the crowd loved her. i mean, just like so many liberal college towns these days, i mean, liz cheney, i never thought i'd say these words, but it was really -- there were lines out the door. they were down the street. blocks and blocks. >> sounds great. >> yeah, it was pretty boisterous. got a lot of questions. look, i think she is really committed to this and has been since the election in 2020, or even before, certainly before january 6th and going through the last couple years. i think we'll see more of that. i'm curious to see how she'll be deployed by the campaign and what dealings she's had with kamala harris' team. i'm not sure, she doesn't get into that, but i think, you know, she certainly will play a role. the former president is

standing by his supporters who attacked the capitol january 6th, promising to pardon them as soon as he takes office. >> the moment we win, we will rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner unjustly victimized by the harris regime, and i will sign their pardons on day one. i'll sign it day one. >> i need to go to lemire on this. yeah, jonathan lemire, you wrote the book on the big lie. here's donald trump talking about the rioters who tried to stop the counting of the electoral votes, the rioters that trashed the united states capitol, the people's house, the center of democracy in the world. western democracy, the center of it. and he's getting applause from

people who understand that four police officers died in the aftermath, that police officers were beaten, bludgeoned, and blooied because of donald trump. even though people don't -- again, with being plugged into disinformation, like they're in the matrix, some sort of bizarre matrix, like, people forget cops getting beaten and over and over again. they forget the lies. they forget that donald trump tried to even have his own vice president hurt. that the secret service that were guarding mike pence that day as they were rushed downstairs and the mob was searching for them and they were chanting "hang mike pence," and they retreated into another room, yeah, secret service that were with mike pence were calling their families saying they probably weren't going to see them again because they

thought they were going to be killed by this mob. so when donald trump calls these people patriots, and more damningly says he is going to pardon people who beat the hell out of police officers, and you have audiences cheering in america, what does that tell you? >> i think the phrase we need to focus on is laying the groundwork. we mentioned earlier how in 2016, it began that summer. trump laid the groundwork to question the integrity of the election, an election he ended up winning. we did so again in 2020. he's doing it now about the election, but he is laying the groundwork for potentially more violence. that message over the weekend is not just about pardoning those on january 6th. he is suggesting to those who might commit acts of violence for him in the future he'd offer pardons for them, as well, were he to be elected. >> jonathan, why is donald trump not talking about inflation

here? why is he going in areas that we heard, oh, his campaign staff didn't want him to go into? donald trump, people tend to go, why are they talking about january 6th on monday the morning in september? why aren't they talking -- because he's bringing this up. because he is focusing on january 6th. because he is focusing on political violence. because he is focusing on spreading the big lie. because he is focusing on violence. so he is doing that for a reason. we didn't even show the clip where he talked about in his mass deportations, how they were going to be, quote, bloody. >> bloody. >> jonathan, he is choosing to speak on violence, on riots, on the undermining of american democracy. he is making that choice. he is leaning into that in his

stretch in the campaign. why? >> that's his closing argument right now because there are fears he could lose. because this race is so close. certainly, it's not a given that he is going to lose, but we know, i've talked to people around him, he's afraid he might. freedom is on the line. his new york sentencing won't happen until after the election either. at this point, the delay tactics, as successful as they've been so far, well, were he to lose in november, it doesn't matter again. all those cases spring back to life, and he won't have the power of the presidency to make them go away. there is real panic there. he is trying to relitigate 2020, suggesting he still didn't lose and defend those who rioted on his behalf, but he is setting up a permission structure for it to happen again. >> correct. >> he is choosing to talk about this. we're not. we're simply reporting what he had to say. >> will he be asked about this?

>> we know -- and let's talk again about the social media post from over the weekend. it couldn't be more dangerous. he's suggesting that those who opposed him in 2016, 2020, in his words, who cheated, and again saying those who are cheating this time around, working to win, he will arrest, he will imprison at great lengths. combine this with his deportation policies, these are the two most biggest police movements this nation has ever seen. this is undemocratic and deeply dangerous. >> right. and he's talking about anybody that's working for kamala harris, anybody, lawyers working for kamala harris, people who contribute money to kamala harris, those people, political operatives, those people he says he's going to send to jail. again, it's just more of the same. and, again, you have people who are -- you talk about permission structures. >> yeah. >> trump is giving them the permission structure to riot, to

lead to the death of more police officers, to trash maybe the capitol again. who knows? again, where does that permission structure come from? that comes from cable news and online talkers that will tell you that january 6th was nothing. it was much to do about nothing. also, who have said, you know, if we lose, we need to start a civil war. we need to start, according to them, they say we need to stop depending on voting and need to start a war. >> yeah. >> the question -- >> on some of the most popular programs. >> the question for debate monitors and also former republican presidents and former republican administering admini you're not going to say anything about him? is this the guy you want leading the republican party? here's donald trump in a speech to police officers, again making light on the attack to nancy pelosi's husband.

>> kamala harris and the radical liberals force anarchy on the american people while they live in safety. in many cases, behind walls. you know, nancy pelosi has a big wall wrapped around her house. of course, it didn't help too much with the problem she had, did it? but she had a big wall, a big wall wrapped around her house. >> and he gets laughs from the audience. >> about the problem she had? you mean when her husband was home invaded and beat over the head with a hammer? >> beat the hell out of him. >> severely injured. >> a lot of people in the mainstream media spread lies quietly on the phone, trying to follow stories about if there was some conspiracy there and if he knew his attacker. it's absolutely sick. the sickest part is, of course, that donald trump goes around and mocks and ridicules nancy pelosi's husband, who got the hell beat out of him within inches of his life. he thinks that's funny. his audience thinks that's

funny. >> that's the permission structure. >> we've seen clips of the california republican party just dying in laughter as donald trump jokes about this assault on an elderly man who could have easily guide fromied from it all. reverend al, that's what's happening. again, when you look at what russian objectives are in spreading disinformation, it's called the fire hose of falsehoods. when you look at fascists and the idea of the big lie, it's to spread so many lies over and over again and as quickly as possible that it gets to a point where you can't distinguish between the lies. and so people just give up and say things like they say to me, people who are voting for donald trump, "oh, joe, i don't watch news anymore. i can't because you just don't know who is telling the truth." well, actually, they do know who is telling the truth, they just

choose the lies instead. jesus said, there are those who could have gone to the light but they choose darkness instead. well, this is the political equivalent of that. they know where they can get the truth. they don't want the truth. they can't handle the truth. because it all leads to the same direction, that donald trump is unfit to be president of the united states. but they want to vote for him. >> they want to vote for him, and they want to really, in many ways, bring this country to a place that we really, from our study of history, the country was formed to bring us away from. you have a man that is now tied for a president who is openly going for violence. he is openly saying he'll go after his opponents, go after their supporters, go after their donors and lock them up for a long period of time. he mocks an elderly man almost beat to death in his own home,

and he's calling people that beat policemen, beat law enforcement, on the capitol steps, he's calling them hostages. while we're dealing with real hostages in the middle east. hostages of who? they went and made an act to stop an election. i hope all of this comes up on the debate on tuesday night. i don't have a hope the moderators will bring it up, but there must be some kind of way it is brought out that this is not about kamala harris against donald trump. it's about the idea of a democratic america, united states of america, that was founded to uphold laws and to be able to deal with peaceful ways of having elections and transfers of power, against a guy that calls violent insurrectionists hostages and says he's going to punish his enemies. not the courts, not to have them

investigated, but he's going to make sure they go to jail and for long periods of time. >> you're talking about political persecutions, in talking about bloodied, bloodying up immigrants, as he has massive deportations, bloodying them up. you have him again spreading lies about january 6th. you have him saying he is going to have pardoned for the people who beat the hell out of cops. in four cases, the aftermath led to the death of those police officers. their families certainly blame it on january 6th. i'm sure some cable news hosts want to disinformation that work to take umbrage at the families, but yeah. you have all of this going on, and i just really do, i really am curious, if we're going to have more debates where people pretend that you don't have a

guy saying all of these things. >> who has done these things. >> by the way, at no time say these things a month ago, two months ago, didn't say these things six months ago. he is saying them now on the eve of the debate. so why wouldn't your first, second, third, fourth, fifth question be about the fact he is still praising rioters on january 6th who stormed the capitol, who tried to overthrow an election, who tried to hang mike pence, who were searching for senators to kill? why? and four police officers dead. you're really going to pretend that this guy is bob dole in 1996? >> the "ap" did a deep dive on january 6th. you can find a quote from defendants who were convicted who say who drove them and why they did it. >> i ask this because there is such -- and we're going to back up here. i'm so sorry. john heilemann, there is such an

almost maniacal obsession by the mainstream media to go, we must be fair. we must have debates. we want debates. we're going to treat donald trump just like he was bob dole in 1996. >> he's not. >> or gerald ford in 1976. and they will ask him questions that ignore january 6th. how long was it into the cnn debate before a question was asked about january 6th? how long? was he ever asked about pardoning these people that went in to try to overturn it? we're talking about the overturning of american democracy. we're talking about violence. a guy who continues to talk about violence this weekend. this would be as if italian radio interviewers asked mussolini what he thought the best trade strategy was with switzerland and luxembourg. it makes no sense, john heilemann. i will now turn it over to you.

>> well, joe, i remember sitting in the -- in atlanta at the debate in june andtime. i think it was the 30 or 40 minute mark before the question ever came up. we were both astonished by that. i have said a couple times in the last week, you know, how much i was troubled going into the cnn debate, with all due respect to jake and dana, that they announced before the debate they were not going to fact-check donald trump in the debate. as we all know, because of joe biden's performance and all the consequences of that, cnn didn't really have to live with the kind of criticism they might have received on that front. i thought the two hosted a fair debate, but they did not do something i think, in donald trump's case, is an essential task on the part of moderators. david muir and lindsey davis, who are going to be moderating this debate on tuesday night, we

saw rick klein, the political director at abc news say over the weekend in a story i read that they did not -- he did not say what cnn said before the debate, that they would not fact check. he said, we don't have an official policy, we're not saying we won't fact-check anything, but we may not fact-check everything. to your point, what are the kinds of questions that donald trump is asked? what are questions that go to a lot of these things we've been talking about this morning. both the laying out of these mass criminal policies, essentially, saying, i'm going to prosecute this set of people. i'm going to deport that set of people. i'll engage in these large-scale deployments of federal law enforcement authority. as soon as i get into office, no judges, jury, investigations.

we'll deport a bunch of people and throw a bunch of people in jail, as rev just said, because i'm the judge, jury, and executioners. not executioner, i don't want to go too far, but jailer. he is laying out, and also in the context as we said a few minutes ago, of the invalidation of the election, which in the context of january 6th is a threat. the notion of, if i don't win, this is a crooked election. now, it's not like this is a thing without precedent. we saw what happened last time. there is an impied threat in that as we head toward the election. all the things are autocratic strongman behaviors. we've never seen it in american politics before from my party since the birth of the republic. is that not at the very top of a sane, sensible, serious, responsible journalist head as you walk into the debate? it's not a question that can be asked to kamala harris, and it

must be asked to him, along with the fact-checking. there's a lot on the line for them and the country. >> you talk about a fair debate, talk about a fair debate. yeah, a fair debate. not where there's, you know, false moral equivalence but a fair debate. what have you been talking about the last two weeks? donald trump has been talking about violence. he's been talking about throwing his political opponents in jail. he's been talking about bloodying up immigrants. he's been talking about pardoning the rioters that beat the hell out of cops. i mean, these are things he just talked about. >> right. >> if you're a moderator, how do you -- where is the moral equivocation between that and, oh, kamala harris, she's not letting a lot of mainstream media people interview her right now. because if you turn to certain channels, there is that moral e

equivocation. i wonder, we've seen it time and again with donald trump, where moderators just, again, they pretend he is bob dole. here, they don't even -- you know, if the moderators -- and i don't know who the moderators are going to be, so i don't know who i'm talking -- i don't know who i'm talking to here. but if donald trump had said this during the primary, i could see him saying, well, he said it during the primary. get through the primary. he's saying it now, in the homestretch of a presidential election. >> in the wake of january 6th. >> talking about violence, praising january 6th, praising the rioters of january 6th, telling cops to intimidate voters, telling immigrants they're going to be bloodied and beaten and dragged out of the country. i mean, that's what he is saying now. i hope they will start with the

first question, the key question, and that is about january 6th. >> and i'm sorry, john, i just think when disinformation starts to spew, he needs to be stopped. >> what would tim russert say? that's not true, mr. president. >> if kamala harris -- >> that's what brokaw would do. >> if kamala harris said something equally as crazy as donald trump, any of the things that he is going to say on that debate stage. >> any. >> let's say, and i'll keep it clean, this debate is not on abc. it's on cbs. you cbs people are not fair. well, the moderator would say, madam vice president, you are wrong. this is on abc. they would correct her. why would they correct her? it'd be so shocking she would say something so rude and such a lie. why won't they correct him? are they not able to keep up with the lies? turn the mic up.

ahead on "morning joe," in israel, continued protests calling for a cease-fire. richard haass will weigh in on the negotiations and where they stand this morning. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. l be right .

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they look at russia. i don't know what it is with poor russia. you know what? russia would have never happened if i were president, attacking ukraine would have never happened. >> well -- >> it might actually -- >> you promised to actually wipe out nato. yeah, probably wouldn't have happened. >> just another saturday. the justice department's recent warning about russia trying to interfere in the 2024 election. >> again, more lies, because they are talking about iran. they're talking about iran trying to interfere in the election. they are talking about china, all those things. a new piece of the "atlantic," hypocrisy, spinelessness, and the triumph of donald trump." marc, tell us about it. >> my piece posted this morning.

it charts, obviously -- i mean, we've talked a lot over the years about donald trump's ability to really turn a lot of weak republicans, punitive leaders to his side, even though they all know better. i sort of look back on to when donald trump was talking to people like us, right? i spent a lot of time with him, as a lot of us did in 2015, 2016. one thing i was struck by then and continue to be struck by now, especially given how things have played out, is how boastful he was, not so much about his ability to win and his great skill and everything, but about how he was going to turn the republican party to his will. he was going to break the republican party, as he said to me, "i'm going to roll them over you know, they might say bad things about me now, but in a few years, they'll be eating out of the palm of my hand." it is 100% what has happened with the people who were

supposedly going to have the conservative guardrails in place to stop a guy like donald trump, back starting in 2016. really, what we've seen, obviously, since then, has been a finer and finer kind of reduction of the republican party into the essence of trumpism. i charted the journey of trumpism in the republican party for 2015, 2016, all the way through this summer and the republican convention, right up to today. hopefully it'll be a path to prologue thing to give yet another clear view of what the republican party has done in service to donald trump and in dereliction to everything they have stood for before. >> well, yeah. i was talking to john mccain in february of 2017 in his office. he just shook his head about lindsey graham. he goes, you know, lindsey. the thing is, john mccain's comments brought home to me how small a price he had to pay to

get people to sell their political soul. john mccain said, lindsey, what that guy will do for a round of golf with the president. >> yeah. mark leibovich, thank you very much for being on this morning. >> thank you. joining us now, president emeritus on the council of foreign relations, richard haass. the author of the weekly newsletter, "home and away," available on substack. >> you know where i'll start, richard, the new york giants. >> come on. >> that was harsh. >> it's been a long season already. >> did it start? >> the good news -- >> yeah. >> -- 16 weeks to come, 3 1/2 hours a week. i justjust freed up 50 hours th fall. i'm trying to think what i can get accomplished. >> how much did the giants favor daniel jones? >> $40 million a year, plus or minus. >> well, i mean, you may get a couple first downs a week out of that. congratulations. >> great return on investment,

yes. donald trump talking about russia, russia, russia. vladimir putin talks about russia, russia, russia. they influenced the elections in 2016, did it in 2020, and are trying to do it again. donald trump lies, that's just what he does. he said all they're focused on is russia. no, actually, we're worried, are we not, about iran. we're worried about china, north korea. we're worried about a variety of countries who are trying to interfere with our elections. >> the answer is we should be worried because they are trying to some extent. they will succeed. the lesson i take from this, joe, is, you know, look, we're an open society. we're vulnerable. our adversaries, our enemies are going to try to exploit that. we've made it clear in this country that we're not going to police really what happens in the digital space. congress and the courts have made that clear. the companies aren't doing much. it's really on us as consumers,

readers, whether we're going to be more critical. i'm also worried what we do to ourselves. put aside what us foreigners do, what the americans do to ourselves. this is the new political environment in which, you know, politics take place. we're vulnerable to misinformation on steroids. >> richard, let's turn to the middle east. a lot of developments over the weekend. some more violence in the west bank. we had soldiers killed. we also had a woman who has american-turkish citizenship killed during a protest by a soldier. widespread protests throughout tel-aviv. there's a sense the cease-fire deal is further apart than it's been in a while. what is your read? >> cease-fire deal i think is not going to happen. it's clear to me that neither the israeli government nor hamas really wants it. the united states has been pushing for it for 11 months. look, in negotiations, what

doesn't matter is the mediator. we're the mediator. what matters is if the parties themselves want a deal. if they want a deal, they could get it tomorrow. it's not a priority for either side. even if we got a deal, i don't think it'd last. the israelis are not going to completely pull out of gaza. if tomorrow they got intelligence they could kill sinwar, they're not not going to act on that. of course they are. if hamas had the opportunity to kill israelis, they'd do it. i do not understand why we're pushing so hard. violates jim baker's law, that the united states can never want an agreement more than the parties. we're violating that. plus, you're pointing to what scares me as much as everything. it's not that gaza will continue for a low-level conflict for i don't know how long, but we're seeing the gazaification of the west bank, if you will. we're seeing it with settler violence. we're seeing armed radical palestinian militias in the west bank who have eclipsed the

palestinian authority. what we're seeing in gaza we could begin to see in the west bank. this could become the changing normal. that really worries me. >> radicalism on both sides there in the west bank, to be sure. we heard from cia director burns over the weekend. negotiations will resume. u.s. officials telling me and others over the weekend that they feel like both sides keep moving goalposts, hamas and israel. it doesn't seem like a deal is in the offering anytime soon. my question to you is, we have been waiting for weeks now for iran to decide whether or not they're going to retaliate for israel. the sense is they're going to wait and see if that deal will be struck. well, looks like a deal is not going to be struck. does that mean israel, u.s., and allies need to be on alert for iran to retaliate? has that ship sailed? >> i do not think it's sailed. i think the question is how? there will be a form of retaliation. will it be an assassination, a

tit for tat of the assassination at the government guesthouse? this can happen in any way at any time. it is up to the iranians to decide when they feel the books have been balanced. then the israelis will have to decide whether they want to respond to that. last april, the two managed a potential escalation crisis to avoid it. the real question is whether they can do it again. >> president emeritus on the council of foreign relations, thank you very much for being on this morning. >> richard, we'll talk about football the next block if you want to stay around. >> he's good. coming up, nikki haley was asked about donald trump's message to female voters. here's an opportunity for her. >> i'm sure she'll step up. >> and whether he is a good candidate for republicans. here we go. we'll play for you her answers. and we'll have a major update on sentencing in the former president's hush money case. "morning joe" is coming right back. back

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election in july, but the strongman leader, nicholas maduro, claimed victory without releasing the data, then cracked down on protesters. republican congressman thomas massie says he is voting, quote, hell no on a stop-gap funding bill to stop the government from shutting down. that legislation was unveiled last week by his party's leadership. the plan would keep the lights on through march 28th. but hard line republicans are skeptical of any continuing resolution, even if it is loaded up with partisan wins that wouldn't stand a chance in the senate. and rapper kendrick lamar will headline next year's super bowl halftime show. the game is scheduled for february 9th in new orleans. the 17-time grammy winner previously performed during the super bowl halftime show in 2022 featuring some of the biggest names in rap and r&b. still ahead on "morning joe," more than ten former senior military officials are now throwing their support

behind vice president kamala harris. a former senior adviser to president george w bush and retired united states navy admiral steve abbott will join us on that, and why he says donald trump is a danger to our democracy. plus, arizona secretary of state adrian fontes will be a guest to discuss the key senate race in his battleground state. "morning joe" will be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ this one is for you.

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think of the impracticality of this. i'm famous. i'm in a plane. people are coming into the plane. and i'm looking at a woman and i grab her and i start kissing her and making out with her. what are the chances of that happening? >> you know, i'm automatically attracted to beautiful woman. it's like a magnet. i don't know. when you're a star, they let you do it. you can do anything. >> yeah, on friday, donald trump suggested no one could believe he would just start kissing a woman. back in 2005, he admitted to doing exactly that while not knowing his mic was on, speaking seriously to somebody. i'm glad nikki haley spoke out. we're about to play her comments about trump and women. >> you're being sarcastic. >> she'll say the right thing.

>> no, she won't. welcome back to "morning joe." it is monday, september 9th. al sharpton, john heilemann, and jonathan lemire are still with us. joining us, we have former u.s. senator claire mccaskill with us this morning. >> mika, it's interesting. >> lucky us. >> lucky us. lucky chiefs. you know -- >> lucky? >> yeah, exactly. well, i mean, not lucky. >> by a toe. >> it was a toe. >> let's just say they're very fortunate that the refs let their offensive line hold as much as they do in every single game. we'll get to that in a second. >> please. >> let's talk about donald trump first. at some point, the nfl has to step in and tell the refs, you can't let the chiefs' offensive linemen actually tackle nick bosa in the super bowl and everybody else in the games that follow. anyway, you know, mika, off the top, we were talking about all the outrageous things that

donald trump is saying this weekend. >> right. >> i've read a newsletter this morning, read other things where they're going, oh, this is what the liberals are saying. >> right. >> this goes to the whole false equivalency, the false moral equivalency. everybody is so desperate to make this a normal presidential campaign instead of a campaign between somebody who undermines, wants to undermine american democracy and another candidate who doesn't. can i give you a couple quotes? >> yes. >> wouldn't call them outrageous. i'd call them dangerous threats. >> this newsletter this morning that i was reading said, you know, one side, democrats talk about january 6th and the riots and all this other stuff. they're led by these left wingers, right? >> no. >> here are the left wingers that have been concerned about this, just so you know. when you're being lied to and

there is this false moral equivalency, we know where people stand. donald trump's defense secretary mark esper called donald trump a threat to democracy. john kelly, his longest serving chief of staff, said donald trump had nothing but contempt for our democratic institutions, the constitution, and the rule of law. even bill barr called donald trump a constant narcissist. donald trump's own vice president said the american people deserve to know that president trump asked me to put him over my oath to the constitution of the united states. anyone who puts himself over the constitution should never be the president of the united states. his first secretary of defense, james "mad dog" mattis, "donald trump is the first president in my lifetime who does not try to unite the american people.

he tries to divide the american people." his chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, retired general mark milley said, "we do not take an oath to a want-to-be dictator. you take an oath to the constitution. and we take an oath to the idea that it's america and we're willing to die for it." nikki haley, who at one time, not now, but at one time said, "a terrible thing happened on january 6th, and he called it a beautiful day." chris christie said he was just out for himself. his second national security adviser, h.r. mcmaster said, when he saw the absence of leadership and what that can do to our country. john bolton, another national security adviser, said, "foreign leaders think he is a laughing fool." and i could go on and on. anthony scaramucci, a former

communications director, "he is the domestic terrorist of the 21st century." again, go on. elaine chao quit after january 6th. at a particular point of events, it was impossible to continue given my personal values and my philosophy. so, claire mccaskill, we've been talking about -- and, you know, i think we need to do this on the monday before. we didn't plan to do this because the debate was on wednesday. we need to do it because when you see donald trump going out all weekend -- >> it's tomorrow. >> tomorrow, i mean. going out all weekend -- i'm really focused on it. the red sox lost to the white sox yesterday. how do you expect me to be? anyway, you look at what donald trump is doing on the eve of the presidential debate. talking about violence. talking about bloody deportations. we're going to have deportations, and they're going

to be bloody. talking about the january 6th rioters as patriots, saying that he is going to get them out of jail. mocking, once again, nancy pelosi's husband getting his head smashed in by somebody that was spouting trump talking points. we could go down the list. but he is doing that right now. this whole idea that we see in the media, well, the left wing says this. you know, the right wing says that. the false moral equivalencies, i think, are really laid low, that this is a right wing and left wing thing. you see dick cheney, liz cheney, and all these generals that worked for donald trump saying the man is unfit to be be president. >> i am a little discouraged as how the mainstream media is covering the race, as you are, joe. listen, what he said over the weekend deserves a headline this

morning. it desrves a headline. it'd get a headline if kamala harris said stuff like that. >> that's for sure. >> it'd be a big headline. it would be a shocking development. but because we're used to him behaving like a jerk and, you know, a sick narcissist, it is almost like everybody -- and i'm talking to the editors here and the headline writers. the editors and the headline writers need to, you know, get a grip here, and really have a gut check about whether or not they are writing this stuff and particularly writing headlines in a way that is reflecting what's going on. i have to tell ya, i have to point out what's going on in venezuela. most americans don't understand how easily this could happen. look what's going on in venezuela. you had a guy run for president who lost by huge margins. won't release the results and now jailed 2,000 people who had the nerve to speak out for the

election result they voted for. now, the person who is on the ballot has fled the country. they got on a plane and went to spain this weekend. this guy is going to hold on to power even though he lost the election by a landslide. by force, by violence, by jailing people. there's too many people, especially the business leaders on wall street that are for this guy, nikki haley, she knows what can happen in countries when someone decides the constitution and rule of law doesn't apply to them. this is a really scary moment. all you have to do is look and see what's going on in another country where there is a leader with the same tendencies as donald trump, what's actually happening on the ground. >> i was also in austin this weekend, as mark leibovich was, for the texas tribune festival. the panel was talking about the stakes of the election and not just the day-to-day. john heilemann, some of it is well intended, but you're right,

there's no question, has the media improved since 2016? yes. are we still making mistakes? yes, in terms of how we are framing just what this race is about between an insurrectionist candidate and his democratic opponent. that leads us into tomorrow night. how does the vice president, in your estimation, talk about the stakes of this election? there's this idea of freedom, which seems on the center of her campaign. >> i don't know how she's going to do it. >> i don't think she can. >> i'm not saying it can't be done. i think it is very tricky. one of the things, obviously, we've seen from her in her thus far very successful general election campaign since she's become the de facto and then the nominee of the party, she has shifted away, to some extent, of biden's framing of the trump -- the threat to democracy that

trump poses. she's shifted to a forward looking rather than a backward looking argument. when i say backward looking, i don't mean to say it was the wrong argument on biden's part, but as you said, jonathan, she's focused on freedom rather than democracy. those two things obviously go hand in hand. i do think one of the things she wants to to is both be commanding, something people around her understand. the way you win debates is not with zingers and certainly not with policy in the past. policy is fine. there will be discussion of that. but the winners of debates, the way we think about them is the ones that command the stage in the moment. we saw, you know, george w. bush lost the first debate to john kerry. when kerry challenged bush in a way the incumbent wasn't used to. obama lost to romney for many of the same reasons. you remember moments, not

zingers. in some respects, you remember there is an impression of command. part of her job out here is going to be to try to balance all these things. holding trump accountable while rising above and saying, this is failed politics of the past. this is the failed -- this man, we're done with him. we're over. to be light touch about it but a light touch with gravitas. that's a tricky thing to do. the last thing i'll say is this, and it goes back to the moderator question. i have read i can't tell you how many stories i've read in the last few days, to claire's point, about how this debate is all about kamala harris. part of it is fair. she is not as known a quantity as donald trump. there are a lot of americans in these polls who say they don't know enough about her. they want to know about her. that's an enormous opportunity

for her, to have a game-changing debate. she can allay concerns, fill in blank spots, do that work. from the moderator's standpoint, you have to be able to ask questions that allow her to do that, challenge her in that area. that's the central question about her. then focus on the central questions, as we were talking earlier on the show, about donald trump, which is all of these things he has done and been saying just up in the last couple weeks. jailing political opponents, all of the authoritarian things he's been saying in recent days. you have to be able to do two things at once. i think these journalists, good journalists, a good moderator can do that, but you can't make the debate about harris or make the debate about trump. make it about what the central questions are facing both candidates. that's the challenge for the moderators tomorrow night. >> "the new york times"/siena poll suggests 28% of likely

voters simply want to know more about harris. know more about her as a person and policy issues. that is fair. she is newer to the stage. people know what they need to know about donald trump. heilemann is right, it can't just be about her. i know she's the fresh face. in many ways, that's an advantage for democrats. she's new. she's change. the moderaors can't focus on her as the shiny object. they have to drill down on trump's recent words. >> the race is, in effect, tied. talked about "the new york times"/siena poll which tends to be an outlier in favor of donald trump. you also had cbs polls yesterday that showed the swing states just a dead heat. they're just tied. the race is tied. what are you looking for in the debate with kamala harris? >> i don't feel good about it at all. i'm sorry. she'll be face-to-face with a convicted felon, a man who has been found liable of massive fraud. a man who knows how to lie, so

much he ripped so many people off. millions and millions of dollars. on top of that, being found liable for sexual abuse in a case the judge called rape. this is not a good guy. this guy is convicted in a hush money case where he paid off a porn star. he can get anything done. he can say anything. he doesn't follow by any rules. how do you compete against that, especially if you have moderators who are not going to stop disinformation? so you've got this waterfall coming at you, fire hose of falsehoods. >> yeah. >> he'll say anything, anything at all. nothing is off the table. how do you compete against that? in my opinion, he'll be bellowing at her. the mics will be off. you won't hear that. he'll be unchecked repeatedly when he lies. i feel the questioners will act like this is 1978 or something, and we want to talk about policy

with each of the candidates. i fear he'll be sane washed by the media. >> mussolini, tell us your trade embargo with luxembourg. tell us, mr. mussolini, what say you about that? the italian radio announcer asked. no, it's a very good question. this race is tied, though. it is close. i will say, i always love when "the new york times"/siena polls come out. it causes a freakout among democrats, which i think is good. i think the people on the panel would agree with me, there's overconfidence right now in the democratic party because of how the last month -- >> i wouldn't be. >> i wouldn't either. that's why i'm saying "the new york times"/siena poll comes out about once a month, freaks out democrats, makes them work harder. because you talk to people on both sides of the campaign, it's a tie. people sitting with the

newsletters, cable news shows, podcasts going, donald trump has a better inside track. no, he doesn't. this race is tied. this race is tied. it could go either way. that's why the debate tomorrow night, reverend al, is so important. you've run for president. you've been a part of presidential debates. what are you looking for tomorrow, and how should the candidates prepare? >> well, i think what they've got to do is, clearly, donald trump will be donald trump. i think what kamala harris has to do, she has to be able to bring out the policies that she wants to enact as president, defend or state what has already happened under the biden/harris administration, deal with inflation, deal with what is going to continue in terms of crime going down. deal with all of the freedoms that have been taken away from us by the trump supreme court, women's right to choose, affirmative action, voting

rights. but at the same time, she must show that her character is what you want as the president of the united states. i am running, if i'm kamala harris, i'm running against a man whose parole officer had to give him permission to come to philadelphia, to come to this debate. a man that has, over the weekend, talked about what women look like that qualify for him to grope. a mans that is awaiting sentencing on 34 felony counts. is this what you want your kids to grow up looking to a president to be? where are the role models? she has to have the ability to deal with policy and the kind of america everybody wants with freedoms returned. and character. do you think this guy who thinks that people that tried to have an insurrection are hostages that should be free? this man with all the things

i've outlined, can he bring you the america you want so badly to teal with these issues? it's a hard task, but if she can do that, it'll be a wipeobewing giving conspiracy theories, because he's looking at what he never thought he'd be equal to, a black woman on stage. when he walks on stage and sees a woman and, on top of that, a black woman, people that'd discriminate against and dismiss, equal to him, it's going to -- all the prep work in the world won't adjust his supremacist attitude and misogynist attitude to deal with that. >> should be interesting who is in the audience, too. perhaps the exonerated five. all right. still ahead on "morning joe," an nfl player went from being in handcuffs on the side of the road yesterday to scoring the longest touchdown of his career. ♪ life in the fast lane ♪

>> one of the big story lanes from the first weekend of football. >> pablo torre is approaching 30 rock. >> are you okay, pablo? >> let's hope so. >> oh, lord. he is here to break everything down for us, thankfully. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ok limu! you set it, and as i spike it, i'll tell them how liberty mutual customizes car insurance, so they only pay for what they need. got it? [squawks] did you get that? only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty,♪ ♪liberty, liberty.♪ have you ever considered getting a walk-in tub? well, look no further! safe step's best offer, just got better! now, when you purchase your brand new safe step walk-in tub, you'll receive a free shower package. yes, a free shower package! and if you call today, you'll also receive 15% off your entire order. now you can enjoy the best of both worlds!

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bojorquez punts. racing up the middle. uh-oh! devonte needs one more block. he's got it, and he goes for the touchdown! >> oh. >> turns 32 this month as he begins year ten of the nfl. still a home run hitter. showing the wheels. smith still going. he's in. touchdown. >> looks left, single coverage, one-on-one. oh, what a catch! >> it's been really, really tough for the giants offensively. >> bucks formation to the right. oh, wow! >> touchdown! wow. >> in the pocket. carr going deep. he's got him. he's into the end zone, and that's a saints touchdown. >> third down and six. here they come. gordon is coming. levis is wrapped up. >> uh-oh. >> it's picked off. tyreek stevenson will give the

bears the lead. >> first and ten. tua tagovailoa. he's going deep. he's got hill! foot race. oh, he's a ghost. >> those are some of the biggest touchdowns from the first sunday of the new nfl season, incling tyreek hill's catch that sparked the comeback over the jaguars. tyreek hill becoming the first nfl player to be both arrested and score a touchdown on the same day. >> what in the world? what a day he had. >> i did not know that statistic, but my son jack told it to me halfway through the game. we'll get more on that in a moment. first, detroit. the lions hosting the rams on sunday night football. the lions gave up two touchdowns late in the fourth quarter. got a field goal in the final minutes of regulation. david montgomery on a mission on the last drive. in overtime, lifting the lions

to a 26-20 victory. let's bring in the host of pablo torre finds out on meadowlark media, msnbc contributor, pablo torre. last night's lions game, probably the best of the day. there were a lot of low lights yesterday. >> sure. >> unfortunately, more low lights than highlights. we could talk about baker mayfield. a couple of passes just absolutely -- you doing okay there? getting hot there? >> i'm looking a little "saturday night fever" unintentionally after watching football ten hours straight. i'm catching myself the way that perhaps a player might catch himself celebrating in the mirror after a touchdown. >> i got ya. anyway, talk about baker mayfield, a really good day. tua to tyreek, great comeback. >> yeah. >> but bryce young, david jones. >> start with the low lights. >> kirk cousins. >> yeah. >> man, there were a lot of low lights. even the bears' number one pick, yeah, they won, but not a lot of

offense there. >> no. caleb williams, joe, we've been talking about him. what is it going to look like when you unwrap this present christmas morning? the most hyped patrick mahomes fcsimile since patrick mahomes. he played as badly as you can play as a quarterback and still win. he had fewer than 100 yards of offense personally. the bears as an offense had fewer than 150 in total. the good news for caleb williams is he had a really good defense and a special teams unit that scored the points for him. if you look at this, joe, i talked to number one overall picks in the past, these talented guys who show up in the nfl. you see them thinking, you can hear them thinking, even more indictingly, because, of course, they're trying to impress. they lose their instinct and intuition when they're under this new spotlight. the worst of caleb williams is the guy you can tell the trying to think the game, think really hard, instead of being

contemporaneous. he'll get better but this was, again, a d-plus, if generous, performance from the most exciting quarterback prospect you and i have been talking about. >> so let's talk about -- again, we were looking at a lot of, you know, the rookies yesterday. a few looked pretty good. i'll tell you, even in a losing effort, tell me if you're feeling my vibe, baby, on this one. i think the most competent rookie quarterback who wasn't in his head, you could see it the second he walked out on the field, even though they lost, jayden daniels. the guy is like, okay, yeah, i belong. made the mistake after scoring the touchdown of dancing in the end zone. don't do that if you are an nfl quarterback. >> sure. >> it's a long season, long career. but daniels was one that looked good. the other rookie quarterbacks looked like rookie quarterbacks. >> yeah. jayden daniels, as juxtaposed

against baker mayfield. mayfield was a number one overall pick. the commanders got a good one, promising. sometimes you don't know what you have until ma teams have given up on you. >> right. >> the baker mayfield experience, again, the nicest thing we used to say is, man, this guy is really good in commercials. just a really good commercial actor. >> he was. >> but you see this game. >> look at that pass! look at that pass! that was a perfectly placed pass by mayfield. >> incredible. baker mayfield is out-classing jayden daniels in the game. four touchdowns. baker mayfield had the strongest week one of any quarterback in the nfl. this is a guy, again, for historical perspective, that the browns had traded for deshaun watson in the most cynical, morally compromised transaction in nfl history. >> yeah. >> deshaun watson, again, another former top pick, is over in cleveland looking like garbage. like he can't play quarterback anymore. >> oh! just look.

>> unbelievably bad. >> he's terribly bad. he is a terrible quarterback. i don't know if he is going to make it three, four weeks. >> he shouldn't. >> even with -- and he shouldn't. but you look at baker mayfield, jonathan lemire. i know you want to talk about the patriots. baker mayfield, this is a guy who, at one point, was so desperate to play on the nfl, he was on the scrub team for the rams. no one wanted baker mayfield. yesterday, time and time again, he was putting the ball exactly where it needed to be. at one point, he did a patrick mahomes, running to his left, whipping the ball across his body to the right as he was falling down. i mean, cleveland made a monumental mistake in getting rid of him and putting watson there. >> yeah. you've long been on the baker mayfield train. you didn't give up on him for a long time. on the patriots, very briefly. >> here we go. >> no, no. >> here we go. >> ten seconds. defense is good. >> oh, boy.

>> they played well yesterday. nice to see the new coach get a win in his debut. they're still not going to win more than three or four games this year, but i'll take it. pablo, let's move to a couple of quarterbacks who did have good games. >> sure. >> around the league, because the offseason is abridged now, there's fewer practices. >> fewer preseason games. >> teams start rough. that's why the first couple weeks are ragged like this, not much offense. the two teams in texas, c.j. stroud, with the number two overall pick, his team gets a nice road win. dak prescott got paid, the highest paid player in the league. cowboys go into cleveland, destroy deshaun watson's browns. >> right. dak prescott walked into that game with the new contract, and, yeah, when you're up against deshaun watson as a matter of contract, not to belabor the point, you'll look really good. the cowboys in, let's call it september, are okay. >> right. >> i've previously pledged to you what i'd do if we were talking about the cowboys into january, which i believe to be

unlikely. it involves me and this mug and, you know, a little bit of upchuck. that's justified if we're going to belabor the cowboys that long. you mentioned c.j. stroud. the reason why i'm a harsh grader with rookie quarterbacks now, harsher than i used to be, is c.j. stroud showed up and had the greatest rookie season we've ever seen. this did not used to happen. c.j. stroud with the houston texans, for people who are not nfl obsessives, who are getting their skin attached to their couch because they watch football ten hours a day, there is a gap between the public recognition of c.j. stroud and the reality of him in the nfl. he is the next superstar. he is the guy that everybody is expecting to take another leap here because you don't do what he did last season, be that good this quickly. he is looking like he is going to do it again. so just if you're scoring at home, you can go a little low on stroud. the window is about to close in five seconds. >> tyreek hill arrested in a traffic stop outside the game. pushed to the ground.

one of the officers involved. we don't know a lot about it, but one of the officers has been put on administrative leave. we're seeing video here because it happened outside the stadium. all the fans going in to watch the game are recording it. hill plays a couple hours later, scores the 80 yard touchdown we showed. a memorable celebration where he pantomimes being in handcuffs after he scores. >> yeah. we are dealing with an unprecedented series of episodes with athletes showing up to major sporting events and being detained, however briefly by the police. scottie scheffler, we covered him extensively. this is the nfl's version of this, except it is even more on absurd. claire, you rooted for this guy on the chiefs because he was the fastest player in the nfl. he is that way still. with regard to maybe xavier worthy as a footnote in the conversation. >> yes. >> but the guy goes and scores the 80 yard touchdown because,

of course, he is so fast. the same day he gets detained for being too fast on the road, so there is a parallel conversation about, was the police overstepping? what about all the players who stopped by? campbell, the dolphins defender stopped, got detained trying to help his teammate. an extraordinarily miami story that culminates in, of course, more points, which feels just very on the nose for everybody. >> the week wraps up tonight, monday night football. see if aaron rodgers makes it more than four plays. claire, your chiefs put a win away already. speaking of, we have to get you as a spokesperson for the franchise and its players to explain what travis kelce was wearing at the u.s. open. appears to be a luxury bucket hat alongside his girlfriend, taylor swift. patrick mahomes there, too. i'm not sure of the sunglasses for mahomes. travis kelce, what is going on there? doesn't seem to be distracting him from the field. >> would you spend $600 for a

bucket hat, claire? >> no, i would not. >> that's -- according to the internet, that his $600 gucci. >> travis is feeling a little pressure from the girlfriend to be out there, to not be a normal nfl player in terms of how he dresses and where he shows up and how he shows up. but i have to tell ya, i have to tell ya, after watching joe burrow yesterday, i am really looking forward to seeing our nemesis, joe burrow, roll into what is arrowhead, not burrow head, and i'll be there and report back. >> america's team, the patriots. back to you. >> the host of "pablo torre finds out," pablo torre on meadowlark media. thank you very much. coming up, ten former top military officials are throwing their support behind kamala harris this morning. we'll talk about why this matters and bring in one of those officials, next on "morning joe."

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♪♪ welcome back. yesterday, the gop-led house foreign affairs committee released their report on the united states withdrawal from

afghanistan. the report spearheaded by michael mcfaul accuses the biden administration of misleading the american public throughout the withdrawal process. the white house has pushed back on that assertion with spokesperson sharon yang stating the report is, quote, based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases. joining us now, former senior adviser to president george w. bush, retired four-star united states navy admiral steve abbott. he is part of a group of former senior military officials who, today, are announcing their endorsement of vice president harris over donald trump. in part, because of the trump administration's handling of afghanistan. i think i'll start by reading a little bit about that explanation from the letter. you discussed his actions, donald trump's actions in

afghanistan when he was president. you write in part, quote, "without involving the afghan government, trump and his administration negotiated a deal with the taliban that freed 5,000 taliban fighters and allowed them to return to the battlefield. then he left president biden and vice president harris with no plans to execute a withdrawal, and with little time to do so. this chaotic approach severely hindered the biden administration's ability to execute the most orderly withdrawal possible and put our service members and allies at risk. nevertheless, president biden with the support of vice president harris ended america's longest war, oversaw the largest air lift in u.s. history, and brought our troops home. our service members and their loved ones deserve a president with the temperament and track record to serve as commander in chief. one who is willing to make tough

decisions, who takes accountability, and who always has our back. that leader is kamala harris." so if i could, admiral abbott, ask you, what were some of the other factors that led for you to join in this letter and publicly endorse kamala harris? >> well, thank you very much. i'm grateful to be here. we do believe that kamala harris is the right person to be the next president of the united states and to be the commander in chief of our armed forces, which she's had the preparation that she needs, the experience that she needs with her time in the senate, especially on the senate intelligence committee. she's traveled extensively, interacted with leaders around the world in many, many countries, and she has been with president biden for 3 1/2 years in the oval office and in the

situation room dealing with national security issues. so she has the experience that she needs. she's been a strong proponent of our position with respect to ukraine, the support of ukraine against the russian invasion. s nato, make it larger and more effective than it's ever been. and she understands our strategic concerns in the indo-pacific, in south america, in africa, in all of the regions of the world. she's well-positioned to take on the responsibilities as president and commander in chief. >> as it pertains to ukraine and nato and russia and the indo-pacific, does donald trump understand your concerns?

>> well, donald trump, frankly, is unfit to be the president of the united states. i know at the top of your show, you mentioned vice president cheney who asked me to come to the white house to work on a study for him in the summer of 2001. he said the same thing. donald trump is, indeed, not fit to be the president of the united states. i believe he's not a disaster waiting to happen. he's a disaster which has already happened. he puts the country at substantial risk. >> can you talk about the different frontiers in which he puts the country at risk? are you talking about with our national intelligence? are you talking about with our classified information? are you talking about dealing

with the two hot wars that they're dealing with right now? his cozying up to dictators? what does it mean for you? >> i think that's a good place to start. trump has been with dictators and autocrats. lennon, xi jinping, viktor orban said that vladimir putin was a genius and could do what he liked with some of our nato allies. he's worked to weaken nato steady, and we worry about what he would do in a second administration. he's also an isolationist. i believe our country could go it alone. john bolton, a national security adviser for him, wrote he caused

a virus of isolationism within the republican party. i know from my experience in the military, it doesn't make sense to go it alone. if you're going to fight, you need to have your allies flying, steaming, and fighting alongside you. it's not the right path for the united states. >> retired united states navy admiral steve abbott, thank you so much for cop ingcoming on th this morning and talking about the letter you wrote with others. i appreciate it. thank you, sir. >> my pleasure. coming up, donald trump continues to warn of widespread voter fraud this cycle with no clear evidence of this. as's secretary of state joins us next to dispel that myth, lie. plus, the deadline to pass a government funding bill is approaching. we'll get a live report from capitol hill as the spending fight ramps up.

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♪♪ 52 past the hour. our next guest has been shining a light on the growing numbers of threats against election officials across the country.

a report earlier this year by the brennan center for justice found that nearly 40% of local election officials reported experiencing threats, harassment, or abuse. additionally, more than half said they were concerned about the safety of their colleagues. arizona's democratic secretary of state, adrian funtest, calls them domestic terrorist. along for the discussion is rachel bitkufer author of "hit em where it hurts how to save democracy by beating republicans at their own game." mr. secretary, i would like to start with you, though. how concerned are you about safety and security in the upcoming election and i would say, especially since donald trump seems to be throwing some gasoline on the fire of lies? >> first, thanks for having me,

and we have concerns that equal the threats. the important thing that i think folks need to know is election officials across the united states of america are working with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to coordinate a response that's going to be appropriate. that means we're going to keep our voters safe, we're going to keep our election officials safe, and our voting will continue in the unblemished manner it has, in spite of the lie, in spite of the conspiracy theories and in spite of the threats. >> over the weekend as mika alluded to, the former president suggested he felt those who worked against him, which includes election officials, he would arrest and imprison for a very long time. give us your level of concern a rhetoric, for not just people like you, in poll workers and others out there, just simply trying to do their part to help democracy. >> this is the unfortunate part about what we are hearing in the political gibber jaber space. it's based on nothing but one person's grievance against a

political loss, and the ironic thing, i was also on the same ballot that that individual lost on in 2020. he and i have that in common, except i peacefully transferred power of my office to the next person. that's what americans do. the rhetoric that we're hearing is not appropriate to this democracy. it is not appropriate to this republic. the voters, i think, are going to respond in kind and appropriately. >> rachel, using your frame that we are not aggressive enough at playing the game the republicans play, i mean, there's some things we should be doing. obviously, there's a lot of things we don't want to do. >> right. >> in this context of election interference, what do you think is the strongest position we should be taking, not just to make sure the elections are safe and secure, but in some ways more importantly, sending the message to independent and swing voters, that they need to be with the democratic party because this stuff is important to us. >> yeah. i'm so excited to see the strategic shift the party has made in terms of bringing the

american electorate up to speed on the threat because in our world, everyone knows these things that are happening and these pressures that are coming to elected officials in trump's daily content and crazy stuff, but out in the broader public, this is not stuff that is being talked about. they don't read and consume political news. we are all politicos, right. we have the natural interest that just isn't there for most people. so it becomes, instead of the old strategy about trying to persuade people and find points of policy, we become messengers. our job is to bring the public up to speed. this is no longer a party that's going to lower your taxes and be good on national defense. they're not going to do either of those things. they're coming for your very -- your individual liberty, which is so new in this country. i'm sitting against a civil rights icon and the rev here, he knows how hard fought all of these freedoms were, and they're all on the chopping block at this point. the message i think that adrian used in his phrase in 2022 is

the appropriate message now, this is your moment, america. every generation has called for a moment. not every, actually the lucky ones, are called to stand up and do something in the moment and this is our moment. >> rachel, how concerned are you about the maneuvers that we're seeing, like in georgia, where they're trying to now have a law where the county can decide whether they're going to certify an election or not, with any frivolous allegation that there was voter fraud? how concerned are you on a state and a county level, they're going to undermine our ability to hit them where it hurts? >> yeah. that's such a great thing. we get bogged down on what there still is to do. i want people to understand, we're in this position right now where it's just georgia where they have the capability to do that because we strategically shifted and blocked them in that '22 midterm effect, right. they don't hold michigan's governorship and they don't

homeland pennsylvania's governorship and wisconsin's governorship. without those three states they are hamstrung in what they can do in terms of rejecting the election because of that. it goes to show the work you did yesterday really matters for today. >> mr. secretary, final word to you, is there anything an average citizen can do here to help safeguard this? >> the critical thing average citizens can do is vote. learn their rules locally, they've got to register and vote. when most americans vote or more eligible americans vote we get a truer sense of the representative voice in this democracy. when that happens the people win. i think the cynicism is too thick and that's one of the main things that the bad guys are looking for. they're looking for us to be divided. they're looking for us to have lost that civic faith that we should have in one another. and that means they want us to stop voting. so everyone should be registered, check your local election officials for that and everyone should be voting. that's the one way that all americans can help us protect our democracy. >> absolutely.

arizona secretary of state adrian fontes thank you, political scientist and strategist rachel bitcougher, thank you as well. good to have you both on the show. >> thank you. >> still ahead, we'll go through more of donald trump's escalating violent and threatening rhetoric, both online and on the campaign trail ahead of tomorrow's debate. plus, the markets are in the green after a rough week on wall street. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin will join us before with -- before the bell, and insight on that. and this morning's top business headlines. we're back in two minutes. minut.

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you have many republicans out there who are saying well, you know, we're not going to vote for him, but we will write someone else in. >> right. >> i think that this time around, that's not enough. that it's important to actually cast a vote for vice president harris. >> i'm actually honored to have their endorsement, and i think that what they both as -- are making an important statement, that it's okay and if not important, to put country above party. >> vice president harris reacting to getting the backing from now not only former republican congressman liz cheney, but now also cheney's father, former vice president dick cheney, the former republican vice president, following the warning we heard from his daughter, that it's not enough just to not vote for

donald trump. he will take the next step and vote for kamala harris. in his statement released on friday, he called trump a threat to our republic and pointed to his repeated 2020 election lies. quote, "he tried to steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him. he can never be trusted with power again." trump responded in a social media post calling dick cheney irrelevant and also did a lot of other things on social media that we'll be talking about this morning. good morning. welcome. monday morning. welcome to "morning joe." it's september 9th. good to have you with us. with us we have the host of "way too early" bureau chief at politico jonathan lemire, the president of the national action network and host of msnbc's "politics nation," reverend al sharpton, nbc news national affairs analyst and partner and chief political columnist at

"puck" john heilemann and staff writer at the atlantic mark leibovitz. strong words from liz cheney and her father dick cheney, the other question, will there be former republican elected leaders or members of their cabinet that would speak out like george w. bush or condoleezza rice? >> you know, it's interesting that you have, mika, now, of course, you have a coalition for the democratic nominee that goes from aoc and bernie sanders to joe biden all the way to liz and dick cheney, those are all people who are supporting kamala harris. on the republican side, you just don't have any former presidents, any former people that -- you know, people running for president, obviously,

certainly not mitt romney. >> right. >> certainly not a variety of people. you know, even mike pence, his vice president, wasn't there. now sarah palin may be supporting him. >> right. >> but, you know, that's another thing, go down the list of people that worked for donald trump, and see how many of those people secretary of state, national security adviser, who refuse to endorse him, for good reason. >> well, i think they want a clean slate. they want a republican party back some day and they see their unfortunate truth is that voting for kamala harris, would then finally give them a chance to eradicate the party of donald trump, who is not a republican, not a conservative, has not held his word on practically anything, and so they get a chance to rebuild, perhaps. >> you see what dick cheney said. you know, you're talking about -- so why, why would dick cheney. >> right. >> a life-long conservative, as

he said, donald trump tried to steal the election. it's obvious. unless, again, you plug yourself into disinformation. he tried to steal the election. >> and will do it again. >> to keep himself in power after voters rejected him. he can never be trusted. he's the guy that started the january 6th riots. he tried to undermine american democracy. he's the guy who promises -- we'll get to it in a second -- he's going to arrest his political opponents, not only his political opponents but political opponents donors. he got down into i will arrest the donors. he talked about mass deportation and promising it was going to be bloody. talked about terminating the constitution. talked about being a dictator on day one. i could go down the list. yet, despite that, even if kamala harris wins, even if kamala harris wins comfortably, which right now, you know, it's a tie. we've been telling you it's a

tie. democrats if they want kamala harris to win are going to have to work harder than republicans. even with that, about half of americans will be voting for a man who did all the things that dick cheney said donald trump did, all the things that we've listed, all the things that they know. >> so -- >> and americans, i think, all of us just -- we need to sit back and try to figure out, is it really just the disinformation that these people see every day that are leading almost half of americans to support that? >> well, it's a mixture of that and a lot of other things, including, i think, the mainstream media that claims to be objective. they are -- there's some sort of instinctive sane washing. i wonder if he gets asked about any of this during the debate. i would be surprised. >> i doubt it. >> it should happen. >> i doubt it. they'll probably -- >> never does and they never ask. >> start with monetary policy or quantitative easing or something like that. >> like it's 1978. here's what donald trump was doing over the weekend, again i

wonder if he'll be asked about this, pushing false claims, threatening anyone who does not support him. in a post on saturday the former president warned he would try to imprison anyone who engages in, quote, unscrupulous behavior during this year's race. >> and -- >> what does he mean by that? >> people that aren't supporting him. political operatives, donors. >> yesterday he continued to amplify false information about the 2020 election referencing an outlandish claim from the far right that 20% of pennsylvania's mail-in ballots were fraudulent. >> of course, those mail-in ballots haven't started to be sent in yet and these are the type of lies -- chris christie said he started telling in early 2020 because he thought he was going to lose. the more he realized he was going to lose in the spring of 2020, the more he started amplifying those lies. he's doing it now.

>> if i had an opportunity to ask him questions or moderate anything, i would start probably with whether the 2020 election was stolen, but then head straight to this, because this is the heart of the matter between these two candidates. not his made up policies on child care that make no sense. on friday, trump spoke to the fraternal order of police and encouraged officers to watch for voter fraud because voters would be afraid of them. >> you want to run a country that is based on fair and free voting, you're in serious trouble if you get caught trying to find out what are the real results of an election. it's an amazing thing. you ever see that? they go after the people that are looking at the crime and they do terrible things to them, but the people that committed the voter fraud and everything, they can do whatever they want to do. it's so crazy. i hope you, as the greatest people -- the -- just as great as there is anybody in our

country -- i hope you watch for voter fraud. so it starts early. you know, it starts in a week, but i hope you can watch and you're all over the place, watch for the voter fraud. we win. without voter fraud we win so easily. hopefully we're going to win anyway. we want to keep it down. you can keep it down just by watching. because believe it or not, they're afraid of that badge. they're afraid of you people. they're afraid of that. i hope you can watch. >> what? they can watch all they want. donald trump's own staff members watched in 2020, and you know what they said, the person who was in charge of actually watching the election, that donald trump put in charge, chris kreb said it was the cleanest, fairest election on record. of course, donald trump -- see, this is the thing. people go, i don't know what to believe because donald trump says this, but then i turn on this cable news channel that's lying for 24 hours a day on the

right, and they tell me what he's saying is the truth. really? >> they don't talk about -- >> you know what the truth is and you choose lies. you know where the light is and you deliberately choose the darkness. you do it deliberately because you know and i know 63 federal judges said there was no evidence of any, any fraudulent behavior, any widespread voter fraud in 2020. the united states supreme court, time and again, refused to listen to these because there was nothing there. the one time they did in a pennsylvania case, the most conservative justices, said you know what, even if we responded to this case, it wouldn't change the outcome of the election. you had republican officials in michigan, republican officials in pennsylvania, republican officials in georgia, republican

officials in arizona, repeatedly say that their elections were fair and yet the lies continue. now, am i saying this because i think donald trump's ever going to change his tactics? he knows he's lying. he admitted last week he was lying. he said he lost by a smidge or whatever he said. >> a whisker. >> i'm saying this for the people that actually continue to spread his lies and know differently. john heilemann, you know, the pace that has picked up so much over the past couple weeks about donald trump saying, oh, they're going to steal the election, it suggests the man doesn't have a whole lot of confidence that he's actually going to win this election. >> right. i think, you know, the pace, it is eerie, joe, the way i think if you went back and looked at

the timeline in 2020, you would see the same thing, you know. trump is, obviously, we remark about it all the time, there's never been a race that he's run where he has not tried to preframe a loss as the result of a stolen election, as a result of a fraudulent election, as a result of cheating. he did that in 2016, he did it in 2020, he did it this time. the difference between 2016 and 2020 was that in 2016 it was a relatively late phenomenon when he started to really lean in on that question. in 2020 he started to lay the groundwork a lot earlier. and he started laying it very early again this time around. the pace right now is picking up in the way that it did in the -- immediately after labor day, heading into the fall of 2020. of course we saw how that turned out in the period after the election up to january 20th. i think there is a widespread sense of concern on the part of across parties, but on the part of everybody who cares ain't

-- about the transition of power after this election is peaceful. enormous amount of concern in the wake of january 6s last time around with that precedent in the books, that trump is driving head-long into that again, if anything amping it up more so, and, of course, this race has been turning against him of late, and that makes it all the more unnerving. >> yeah. >> let's be, again, let's be very clear that about half of americans, little less than half of americans, want to support a man who started riots and are doing -- is doing exactly what john heilemann said. >> he's doing it again. >> they know he's doing it and they're fine with it. >> not only sewing doubt in the election, the next step is violence, to get people to protect him. see what you see. read what you read. but actually go to somewhere where you can get real information. a lot of people who are really busy. >> they don't want it. >> no. they don't want it. >> i'm not going to blame the voters. >> blame them. they plug in intentionally,

intentionally, to disinformation. >> i wonder what they think of this, because i don't know what they would think of one of their sons or brothers or fathers acting this way. trump also mocked a woman who claims he groped her on an airplane in the 1970s, suggesting she wasn't attractive enough for him to grope her. take a listen. >> so think of the impracticality of this. i'm famous. i'm in a plane. people are coming into the plane. and i'm looking at a woman and i grab her and start kissing her and making out with her. what are the chances of that happening? what are the chances? and, frankly, i know you're going to say it's a terrible thing to say, but it couldn't have happened, it didn't happen, and she would not have been the chosen one. she would not have been the

chosen one. >> not a lot of people would want to be the chosen one in that situation, being groped by that or anybody. mark leibovich, you spoke to liz cheney and she said some choice words for donald trump on this. >> yeah. she usually does, but i mean what was interesting, i interviewed her in austin, texas, on friday, and i think, you know, what people took from that, a lot of them, i asked her who her dad was voting for and her dad would vote for kamala harris. she went way further. she usually stays in the lane of democracy, election interference, of all the reasons that, you know, she's, obviously, been on the frontlines of seeing, you know, why he is so dangerous. but i asked her if she had any advice for kamala harris in the debate tomorrow night, and she kind of -- she said basically, you know, one of the things about donald trump and jd vance is that she actually used the

word misogynistic pigs, which got my attention and the audience's attention. i hadn't heard her go down that lane before. she gave a much more frontal and full comprehensive critique of donald trump than she does, which is usually, you know -- it's not narrow, but she focuses pretty much on january 6th, on the post-election stuff. this was pretty striking to me. i'm curious to see what kind of role she plays going forward in the campaign. >> yeah. >> well, this is liz cheney's talking to you this weekend. >> if you were advising kamala harris going into this debate on i guess monday or tuesday -- tuesday -- with donald trump, you know, he's not a fun or easy guy to debate, obviously. what -- how do you think she should proceed? >> look, i think that, you know,

every opportunity that donald trump gets to show the american people who he is, he pretty clearly -- look, his running mate is doing this too, you know -- this is my diplomatic way of saying it, they're misogynistic pigs. and -- [ applause ] >> -- and i think -- i think it's -- i think that will become clear. >> yeah. and so, mark, what else was your takeaway, your main takeaway from the interview? >> i mean, basically she sort of kept going in that vain. it was a very, very -- you know, it was spirited. the crowd loved her. just like so many liberal college towns these days, i mean, liz cheney, i never thought i would say these words,

but it was really -- there were lines out the door, down the street, blocks and blocks. so, yeah, it was pretty boisterous. got a lot of questions. look, i think she is really committed to this and has been since the election of 2020, or even before, certainly before january 6th, and then going through over the last few years, so, you know, i think we'll be seeing more of that. i'm really, like i said, i'm curious to see how she will be deployed by the campaign and what kind of dealings she's had with kamala harris' team. i'm not sure -- she doesn't really get into that. i think, you know, she certainly will play a role. >> so the former president is standing by his supporters who attacked the capitol on january 6th, promising to pardon them as soon as he takes office. >> the moment we win we will rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner victimized by the harris regime.

>> jonathan lemire, you wrote the book on the big lie. and here's donald trump talking about the rioters who tried to stop the counting of the electoral votes, the rioters that trashed the united states capitol, the people's house, the center of democracy in the world, western democracy, the center of it. and he's getting applause from people who understand that four police officers died in the aftermath, that police officers were beaten and bludgeoned and bloodied because of donald trump. and even though people don't -- like again, with it being plugged in to disinformation, like they're in the matrix, some sort of bizarre matrix, like

people forget cops getting beaten over and over again, they forget the lies and forget that donald trump tried to even have his own vice president hurt, that the secret service that were guarding mike pence that day as they were rushed downstairs and the mob was searching for them, and they were chanting "hang mike pence" and they retreated into another room, yet secret service that were with mike pence were calling their families saying they probably weren't going to see them again because they thought they were going to be killed by this mob. so when donald trump calls these people patriots and more dammingly says he's going to pardon that beat the hell out of police officers, and you have audiences cheering in america, what does that tell you? >> i think the phrase we need to

focus on is "laying the groundwork." we mentioned earlier how in 2016 it began that summer, trump began to lay the groundwork to question the integrity of the election, he ended up winning. he did so again in 2020, that time earlier. he's doing it again now about the election, but he's also laying the groundwork potentially for more violence because that message over the weekend is not just about pardoning those on january 6th. he's suggesting to those who might commit acts of violence for him in the future, he would offer pardons for them as well were he to be elected. >> jonathan, why is donald trump not talking about inflation here? why is he going in areas that we heard, oh, his campaign staff didn't want him to go into? donald trump, people tuning in, why are they talking about january the 6th on monday morning in september? why aren't they talking -- because he's bringing this up. because he's focusing on january

the 6th. because he's focusing on political violence. because he's focusing on spreading the big lie. because he's focusing on violence. and so he's doing that for a reason. we didn't even show the clip where he talked about in his mass deportations how they were going to be, quote, "bloody." jonathan, he is choosing to speak on violence, on riots, on the undermining of american democracy, he is making that choice, and he is leaning in to that in his final stretch in the campaign. why? >> that's his closing argument right now because there is fears he could lose. this race is so close. it certainly -- it's not a given that he's going to lose, but we know, i've talked to people around him, he is concerned he might. he knows his freedom is on the line. we know that he has received one legal win after another and now we know his new york sentencing won't happen until after the

election either. at this point -- those delay tactics, as successful as they've been so far, well if he were to lose in november, it doesn't matter again because all those cases spring back to life, and he won't have the power of the presidency to make them go away. so there is real panic there. he's trying to both, first of all, rehit gait 2020, suggesting he didn't lose and defend those who rioted on his behalf, but setting up permission structure for it to happen again. >> correct. >> he is choosing the talk about this. we're not. we're reporting what he had to say. he is choosing it again. we know and let's talk again about the social media post from over the weekend. it couldn't be more dangerous. where he's suggesting that those who opposed him in 2016, 2020, in his words who cheated, and again saying, those who are cheating this time around, were he to win, he will arrest, he will imprison at great length and you combine this with his deportation policies.

these are the two most biggest police movements this nation has ever seen. this is undemocratic and deeply dangerous. >> coming up, more of trump's low lights over the weekend including mocking nancy pelosi's husband after he was nearly beaten to death inside his own home. that deeply unsettling moment is straight ahead on "morning joe." s straight ahead on "morning joe." 15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they start. and treatment is 4 times a year. in a survey, 91% of users wish they'd started sooner. so why wait? talk to your doctor. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history,

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kamala harris and the radical liberals force anarchy on the american people and live behind walls. nancy pelosi has a big wall wrapped around her house. of course it didn't help too much with the problem that she had did it? she had a big wall wrapped around her house. >> and he gets laughs from the audience. >> the problem she had. >> when her husband was home invaded and beat over the head with a hammer and severely injured. >> and then a lot of people in the mainstream media started spreading lies quietly on the phone trying to follow stories about if there was some conspiracy there and if he knew his attacker. it is absolutely sick. the sickest part is, of course, that donald trump goes around and mocks and ridicules nancy pelosi's husband, who got the hell beat out of him, inches of his life, and he thinks that's funny. his audience thinks that's funny. we have seen clips of the

california republican party just dying in laughter, as donald trump jokes about this assault on an elderly man who could have easily died from it all. it's -- but reverend aim, that's what's happening. and again, when you look at what russian objectives are in spreading disinformation, it's called the fire hose of falsehoods. when you look at fascists and idea of the big lie, it's to spread so many lies, over and over again as quickly as possible, that it gets to a point where you can't distinguish between the lies. and so people just give up and they say things like they say to me, people voting for donald trump, oh, joe, i don't watch news anymore i can't, you just don't know who is telling the truth. they know who is telling the truth. they just choose the lies

instead. jesus said, there are those that could have gone to the light but they choose darkness instead. this is the political equivalent of that. they know where they can get the truth. they don't want the truth. they can't handle the truth because it all leads to the same direction, that donald trump is unfit to be president of the united states. but they want to vote for him. >> they want to vote for him and they want to really in many ways bring this country to a place that we really from our study of history, the country was formed to bring us away from. you have a man that is now tied for a president that is openly planting the seeds of violence. he is openly saying that he will go after his opponents, he will go after their supporters, he will go after their donors and lock them up for long period of time. he mocks a man, elderly man, that was almost beat to death in his own home, and he's calling people that beat policemen, beat

law enforcement, on the capitol steps, he's calling them hostages. while we're dealing with real hostages in the middle east. hostages of who? they went and made an act to stop an election. i hope all of this comes up on the debate on tuesday night. i don't have hopes that the moderators will bring it up, but there must be some kind of way it is brought out that this is not about kamala harris against donald trump, it's about a democratic america, a united states of america, that was founded for this, to uphold laws and to be able to deal with peaceful ways of having elections and transfers of power against a guy that calls violent insurrectionists hostages and he's going to punish his enemies, not the courts, not have them investigated, he's going to make sure they go to jail and go to jail for long periods of time.

>> coming up, hypocrisy, spinelessness and the triumph of donald trump. we'll read from "the atlantic" straight ahead on "morning joe." i straight ahead on "morning joe." n cities, towns and suburbs all across america. millions of americans who have medicare and medicaid but may be missing benefits they could really use. extra benefits they may be eligible to receive at no extra cost. and if you have medicare and medicaid, you may be able to get extra benefits, too, through a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. call now to see if there's a plan in your area and to see if you qualify. all of these plans include doctor, hospital and prescription drug coverage. plus, something really special, the humana healthy options allowance. your allowance. to help pay for essentials like eligible groceries, utilities and rent. even over-the-counter items.

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. and they said just the other day, the attorney general, we are looking at russia, and i said, oh, no. it's russia, russia, russia, all over again. but they don't look at china and they don't look at iran. they look at russia. i don't know what it is with poor russia. but that -- you know what, russia would have never happened if i were president attacking ukraine. would have never happened. >> well -- >> you promised to actually wipe out nato, so probably --

>> donald trump in wisconsin. >> probably wouldn't have happened. >> just another saturday dismissing the justice department's recent warning about russia trying to interfere in the 2024 election. >> and again, more lies because they are talking about iran. they're talking about iran trying to interfere in the election. they are talking about china. they're talking about all those things. mark a new piece in "the atlantic," called "the hypocrisy spinelessness and the triumph of donald trump." tell us about it. >> this is a piece for our october issue, and it just posted this morning, my piece did. basically it sort of charts -- obviously, i mean, we've talked a lot over the years about donald trump's ability to really turn a lot of weak republicans sort of leaders to his side even though they all know better. i look back to when donald trump was talking to people like us, right. i spent a lot of time with him, as a lot of us did in 2015 and

2016, and one thing i was struck by then and continue to be struck by now, especially given how things have played out, is how boastful he was, not so much about his ability to win and his great skill and everything, but about how he was going to turn the republican party to his will. he was going to break the republican party, as he said to me, i'm going to roll them over and, you know, they might say bad things about me now, but wait a few years. they're going to be basically eating out of the palm of my hand. which of course is exactly 100% has happened with the people who were supposedly going to have the conservative guardrails in place to stop a guy like donald trump back starting in 2016. and really what we've seen, obviously, since then, has been a finer and finer kind of reduction of the republican party into the essence of trumpism. i sort of charted the journey of trumpism and the republican

party from 2015 and 2016 to this summer and the republican convention right up to today. hopefully it will be a prologue thing to give yet another clear view of what the republican party has done in service to donald trump and in dereliction of everything they've stood for before. >> still ahead on "morning joe," the latest from israel amid continued protests calling for a cease-fire and hostage release deal. richard haass will join us to tell us where the negotiations stand this morning. "morning joe" will come right back. this morning "morning joe" will come right back [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler,

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. how much did it jump? >> about 40 million a year plus or minus. >> yeah. i mean, you may get a couple first downs a week out of that. congratulations. >> donald trump talking about russia, russia, russia, what vladimir putin talks about russia russia russia. they've influenced our elections and they did in 2016. they tried to in 2020 and trying to do it again. donald trump lies. that's just what he does. because he says that's all they're focused on is russia. actually, we're worried, are we not, about iran? we're worried about china. we're worried about north korea.

we're worried about a variety of countries who are trying to interfere with our elections. >> well, the answer is we should be worried because they are trying to some extent, they will succeed. what i -- the lesson i takes from this t look, we're an open society, vulnerable, our enemies are going to try to exploit that. we've made it clear in this country we're not going to police what happens in the digital space. congress and the courts have made that clear, the companies aren't doing much. it's really on us as consumers, as readers, whether we're going to be more critical, and i'm also worried what we do to ourselves. put aside what the foreigners do. what we americans do to ourselves. this is a new political environment in which the politics take place. and we're vulnerable to misinformation on steroids. >> richard, let's turn to the middle east. a lot of developments over the

weekend. some more violence in the west bank with the soldiers killed. we also had an american turkish citizenship killed during a protest by an israeli soldier reportedly. widespread protests again. this weekend throughout israel including in tel aviv. and the sense that a cease-fire deal is further apart than it's been in a while. what's your read? >> cease-fire deal i think is not going to happen. it's clear to me neither the israeli government or hamas wants it. the united states has been pushing for it for 11 months. look, negotiations, what are really doesn't matter is the mediator. we're the mediator here. what matters is whether the parties themselves want a deal. if they wanted a deal they could get it tomorrow. the answer it's not a priority for either side. even if we got a deal i don't think it would last. the israelis are not going to completely pull out of gaza. if tomorrow they got intelligence that they could kill sinwa they're not going to

acten to that. if tomorrow hamas got an opportunity to kill israelis they would do. plus what you're pointing to what scares me as much as anything is not that gaza will continue as a low-level conflict for i don't know how long, we're beginning to see the gaza-fication of the west bank. settlor violence, on radical palestinian militias in the west bank who eclipsed the palestinian authority. what we're seeing in gaza we could begin to see in the west bank. this could be the changing normal and that worries me. >> radicalism on both sides in the west bank. we heard from director burns over the weekend, negotiations are going to resume, but u.s. officials telling me and others over the weekend they feel like both sides keep moving goal post, hamas and israel. my question to you, we've been

waiting for weeks now for iran to decide whether or not they're going to retaliate for israel and the sense is they're going to wait and see if a deal would be struck. does that mean the -- israel and the u.s. and allies will be back on alert for iran to retaliate to strike or that ship has sailed? >> i do not think that ship has sailed. the led line revenge is a dish best served cold. there's no line on retaliation. the biggest question how. i think there will be some form of retaliation. some type of assassination, a tit-for-tat, for haniyeh getting assassinated? this could happen at any time in any way. it's up to the iranians to decide when they feel the books have been balanced. the israelis will having to decide whether they want to respond to that. last april the two managed a potential escalation crisis to avoid it. the real question is whether the two can manage it again. we'll see. >> coming up a look at other

stories making headlines including the big names set to headline the super bowl halftime show. plus, the latest on the government shutdown threat with the deadline to fund the government just weeks away. "morning joe" is back in a moment. t weeks away "morning joe" is back in a moment

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time now for a look at some of the top stories, other stories making headlines this morning. the opposition leader who challenged venezuela's president has now fled to europe, edmundo gonzalez is seeking political asylum in spain. the united states says he won the election back in july, but the country's strongman leader, nicolas maduro, claimed victory without releasing the data. and then cracked down on protesters.

republican congressman thomas massey says he is voting, quote, hell, no, on a stopgap funding bill to keep the government from shutting down. that legislation was unveiled last week by his own party's leadership. the plan would keep the lights on through march 28th, but massey and other hardline republicans are skeptical of any continuing resolution, even if it's loaded up with partisan wins that wouldn't stand a chance in the senate. and rapper kendrick lamar will headline next year's super bowl halftime show. the game is scheduled for february 9th in new orleans. the 17-time grammy winner previously performed during the super bowl halftime show in 2022 featuring some of the biggest names in rap and r&b. coming up, we'll top the fourth hour with a preview of tomorrow's presidential debate. we're joined by a top adviser to the harris campaign about the high-stakes showdown. that conversation is straight ahead on "morning joe." ahead on "morning joe.

trump continues to battle the fact that he and j.d. vance have been called weird, a label that seems to genuinely bother him. >> j.d. is not weird, he's a solid rock. i happen to be a very solid rock. we're not weird. we're other things, perhaps, but we're not weird. >> but that is the weirdest possible way to address that accusation. he's a solid rock, i happen to be a very solid rock. what are you talking about? i'm not sure i would describe any part of j.d. vance as rock-solid, unless, of course, he was in a west elm showroom. he was in a west elm showroom. hi, my name is damian clark. if you have both medicare and medicaid, i have some really encouraging news that you'll definitely want to hear. depending on the plans available in your area, you may be eligible to get extra benefits with a humana medicare advantage dual-eligible special needs plan. all

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so think of the impracticality of this. i'm famous. i'm in a plane. people are coming into the plane. and i'm looking at a woman and i grab her and i start kissing her and making out with her. what are the chances of that happening? what are the chances?

and frankly, i know you're going to say it's a terrible thing to say, but it couldn't have happened. it didn't happen. and she would not have been the chosen one. she would not have been the chosen one. >> i know when you were campaigning, you said you had no reason really to question the findings of the jury related to the defamation case brought by e. jean carroll. i'm not asking you about the specifics of the case, but if that's the focus of a press conference for a presidential candidate, a, is it the best use of his time, and what is the message to female voters, to be going through this again? >> well, i think the focus for me is on policy. you know, i think -- >> but he's the candidate? >> no, i've always said. if i thought biden or trump were great candidates, i wouldn't have ran for president. i ran because i thought i could do a better job. >> you don't think he is a good candidate? >> i think he is the republican

nominee. and i think put him against kamala harris, who is the democrat nominee. for me it's not a question. now, do i agree with his style? do i agree with his approach? do i agree with his communications? no. when i look at the policies and how they affect my family and how i think they're going to affect the country, that's where i go back and i look at the differences. this is -- these are the candidates we have been given. >> mm. these are the candidates we have been given. and her focus is on policy. and she has nothing to say. she can't think of anything to say. just absolutely nothing comes to mind when donald trump, at a press conference, goes on and on about how the specific woman that he's accused of groping would not have been the chosen one. he would not have chosen her, as in, that evaluated her in some way. chosen her to grope her, sexually. she has no comments on that. she has nothing to say. that's fascinating.

that says a lot. that says a lot, nikki. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." it's 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. in the east. vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump are preparing for their first and perhaps only debate tomorrow night in philadelphia. nbc news senior washington correspondent hallie jackson has the latest. >> reporter: their first face-off, just one day away, with the stage and the candidates set to go. >> are you ready, madame vice president? >> ready. >> vice president harris with a thumbs up in pittsburgh, where she's been prepping. two sources familiar with the sessions say she's been practicing can extended mock sessions on specific topics, and getting ready in case mr. trump were to lash out. >> look, it's time turn the page on the divisiveness. >> reporter: harris stopping at a spice shop in pittsburgh. for his part, the former president is holding policy sessions to prepare for the debate. one front mr. trump sees as a potential policy weakness for

harris, the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. and this morning, house republicans are releasing a scathing new report, saying biden administration officials watered down security warnings ahead of the chaotic withdrawal. a withdrawal initiated by former president trump. democrats have dismissed the report in advance as partisan, and the white house says it's based on cherry-picked facts and inaccurate characterizations. ahead of tomorrow's debate, some allies of the former president's suggest that he should focus on policy and avoid personal attacks. >> i think that when he stays on the issues, policies, absolutely, those are the winning issues. >> reporter: former president trump on the trail in battleground wisconsin this weekend. >> we're run by stupid people. and we found that out at the debate with joe. how did that work out? and we're going to find it out again on tuesday night. >> reporter: and in a social media post online, suggesting that he may imprison his political opponents if he wins, repeating his election fraud lie, and writing, anyone believed to have cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent

of the law, which will include long-term prison sentences. the latest signal he may not accept the results if he loses. mr. trump also blasting former vice president dick cheney and his daughter, liz, for endorsing kamala harris. >> donald trump presents a challenge and a threat fundamentally to the republic. >> joining us now, senior spokesperson and adviser for the harris campaign, adrienne elrod. also with us for the discussion, co-host of msnbc's "the weekend," symone sanders townsend. and jonathan lemire is back with us as well. adrian, the former president, as we've seen in his language, his rhetoric, whether it's on the debate stage, whether it's on a town hall stage, or whether he's in a rally or in some sort of interview with a right-wing podcaster in the safety of mar-a-lago, he speaks in a threatening way. he seems obsessed with violence, obsessed with retaliation, obsessed with pardoning the january 6th convicts, the people

who were arrested for defecating and defaming the capitol and threatening people's lives, killing people, and also threatening the life of mike pence, making fun of, for example, other things, like, nancy pelosi's husband being the victim of a home invasion and being brutally, violently, critical injured. how does she prepare herself to try and show americans the difference between these two candidates, especially if potentially, the moderators ask policy questions, as if this was any other race. >> yeah, look, first of all, mika, you know, she's been preparing for this, in pittsburgh, with some of her senior campaign team. and he's been preparing for this -- these very types of scenarios, where trump is going to go off the rails, where he's going to lie, you know, he's going to not tell the truth. and so she's been preparing for that. but look, several things, mika. number one, she's been talking about her new way forward, her plan for lowering costs for families, you know, her vision

for moving this country forward, not backward. so she will not be deterred by continuing to talk about what's at stake in this race, what truly matters to the american people. trump can go up there and say, you know, spew all of this rhetoric that he wants, tell these lies, you know, try to divide this country. she's going to focus on moving us forward. and i think you'll see that contrast really play out tomorrow night. >> adrienne, we've talked earlier this morning about that new "new york times" siena poll that says the race is tied, it matches largely with others -- >> which is what we've been saying all along. >> within the margin of error. >> really beyond the top line, there's a stat that grabbed some of us here. 28% of those who were surveyed say they need to know more about the vice president, which is due to this truncated campaign schedule. tomorrow night, obviously an opportunity. americans seem to say, we want to know more about her, but also more about her policies. will we hear that tomorrow? >> that's part of the reason she's been taking this debate prep seriously and why she's getting ready for this big

moment. she knows a lot of people will be watching, and she wants to make sure that she's presenting her vision to the american people. we've been talking a lot about her new way forward vision, which is lowering costs for families, making sure that people understand that under a kamala harris presidency, they will have the freedoms to make their own decisions about, you know, their pocketbook, their reproductive freedoms. you know, she wants to make it very clear that that is where her policies stand, and she will continue to put that forward. we actually put more policies on our website this morning. she released last week a plan to lower costs for small businesses, which will put more money in the pockets of american families. she'll continue talking about that. we've also raised a lot of money. we raised three times more what trump raised in august. $361 million. what does that mean? it means not only do we have grassroots dollars coming into the campaign, so all of these people that you see coming to her rallies, showing up, getting excited about her candidacy, they're actually donating to the campaigns. you're seeing that energy and enthusiasm translate into donations to the campaign.

they're volunteering. the energy is palpable. we cannot underestimate how important that is. but at the same time, it also means that we have the resources to get that message out. to make sure that people understand what her policies are, what her vision is, the fact that she will lower costs for families. the fact that she will make sure that women have the right to choose their own reproductive decisions for their own bodies. those are the things that she's going to be focused on, and we have the resources to do that. and i think that's a very important contrast with trump, who is not raising as much money, who says he's not going to really invest in the states, he doesn't really have a ground game in states, he's doing this more digitally, which is what he says. we do have the infrastructure in the states and that's going to make a big difference in a close election. >> so i'm curious what the vice president's response is to donald trump, what it may be, to donald trump saying this past weekend, adrienne, that he was going to arrest people who

donated money to kamala harris. that's thousands and thousands of people, that he was going to arrest people that worked for her, worked for her on the campaign. he was going to arrest campaign lawyers. he was going to do all of this, as he's, once again, once again, ginning up conspiracy theories about stolen elections. >> yeah. i mean, we'll see tomorrow night, joe, hopefully, you know, we'll see if the moderators bring this up, and how much of it, you know, is discussed in the debate, but here's the bottom line. this is the rhetoric that turns off voters. in a very close election, when there is a small amount of swing voters who are undecided, who will ultimately decide this election, this kind of rhetoric does not turn them on, it turns them off. you contrast that with the fact that the vice president is out there on the campaign trail, governor walz says it best, where she's bringing joy back to

campaigning. she's talking about how she wants to help the american people. how she's fighting for middle class families. that is what she thinks about every single morning, joe, when she wakes up. how am i going to improve the lives of the american people when i become president. versus donald trump who's saying he wants to arrest his political enemies, he wants to lead like an authoritarian. joe, in the last -- since he became president, not only would a trump 2.0 presidency be far more dangerous with project 2025 being enacted, but he's a convicted felon now. and so i think those are the contrast points that she's going to focus on. she wants to focus on making sure what the american people understand what a trump 2.0 presidency would look like. and look, you said it, joe. your best -- this is what donald trump is saying out of his own mouth. this is the rhetoric coming out of his own mouth. we don't have to sit here and try to analyze what he means. he is telling us what he means and telling us what he will do if he becomes president of the united states. it's very dangerous, it's very divisive, it's terrifying.

and she wants to make sure that she makes that contrast very clear tomorrow night. >> adrienne, i think donald trump has been quite consistent. he seems to always say a lot on his social media sites. and we've all talked about the fact that there are some people who can be internet bullies, keyboard thugs, as the people like to say, when they do not have the person in front of them, but it's very different when you are face-to-face, next to one another, on a debate stage, with no in-studio audience to bolster either one of them. i know in the past, vice president harris has dismissed donald trump's comments about her, but this will be the first time they're on the stage together, first time they met, because he did not attend the inauguration after the insurrection he incited. what is the plan for when he -- because it's not a question of if, when he attacks the vice president with derogatory comments, what is the plan? is she going to be dismissive on the stage? because i think some of the american people would like to see a little tete-a-tete. >> well, we'll have to see.

you obviously worked for her and she's very good at drawing these contrasts. we saw her when she was in the senate in these judiciary committees, she knows how to draw a contrast and prosecute a case. i think she will certainly be holding trump to account. but look, you know, debates are -- you know, they can be challenging. and i think when you have trump up there on the stage, spewing lies, you know, saying things that are completely false, time and time again. when you are debating him, do you spend your time trying to fact check him and hoping that the moderators will fact check him, but if they don't, do you spend time doing that or spend time talking to the american people directly about how you're going to improve their lives? i think you're going to see her doing incredibly well in those moments. but look, i think we cannot underestimate the fact that donald trump is a pretty good debater. he's done this seven times. he's been preparing. you know, he beat joe biden, president biden, in the debate in june. so i think he's going to be

prepared himself. we'll just see how it plays out. >> senior spokesperson and adviser for the harris campaign, adrienne elrod, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. good to see you. >> you too, mika. so donald trump has made tariffs one of the cornerstones of his campaign and over the weekend, he claimed, without providing any evidence, that tariffs would not impact american taxpayers. >> we're going to be a tariff nation. it's not going to be a cost to you, it's going to be a cost to another country. i heard kamala the other day, comrade kamala, she said, oh, if you do that, he's raising your taxes. oh, no, no. i'm not raising your taxes, i'm raising china and all of these countries in asia and all over the world, including the european union, by the way, which is one of the most egregious. >> i mean, that's just a lie. and he knows it's a lie. and everybody that is a host on

other networks that will lie about his lies, they know it's a lie. >> that's the part i don't get. >> that tariffs are taxes on middle class americans, on working class americans, especially. they feel disproportionately impacted, but it impacts all americans. "the wall street journal" editorial page has called donald trump's tariffs the largest taxes in the 2024 campaign. now, i understand people that go to his rallies may not have gotten economics degrees and maybe they don't read "the wall street journal", maybe they don't read the "financial times." but the host of other shows who continue to lie for donald trump, i don't know why they lie for donald trump, but they continue to lie for donald

trump. they know that tariffs are taxes on consumers. they are taxes on middle class americans. anyway. i've got to say -- >> -- depend on him winning. >> on him winning? yeah. i want to say one other thing, that's a sad job to have. because i really, i'm not on any president's christmas card lists, because, you know, you say what you say. can i say one other thing. j.d. vance and other people on other networks that are running resistance for donald trump, they keep talking about foreign workers versus native workers. it's kind of crazy. >> that is so -- >> foreign workers -- they make it sound like it's like somebody that's coming in illegally and those are the only, quote, foreign workers. actually, foreign workers, as defined by the bureau of labor statistics, that's anybody that

was not born here. >> oh, so then that would be -- >> melania trump for one. it would also be -- let's bring in andrew ross sorkin here. >> foreign workers. >> it would also be -- these other foreign workers would also be the ceo of ibm. >> oh, wow! >> the ceo of google. >> oh, my goodness! >> the ceo of microsoft. foreign worker. >> yep. >> the ceo -- here's some of my favorites -- of tesla, spacex, and "x," formerly twitter. the ceo of nvidia. the ceo of salesforce. the ceo of goldman sachs. the ceo of oracle. andrew, i'm not talking about founders, because those are just the ceos today. >> right. >> founders who are, quote, foreign-born, the founders of google, the founders of ebay, the founders of uber. again, the founders of tesla and spacex. the founders of yahoo!.

the co-founder of oracle. the founder of zoom. and this goes way back in american history. you see, this is the thing that this -- that this isolationist nonsense does. andrew carnegie, an immigrant. one of the greatest industrialists in history. an immigrant. the founders of procter & gamble, immigrants. andrew, i could go on and on. it's just such absolute nonsense. you know, andrew, you don't know this, but while you're doing your show, we regularly play ronald reagan's farewell speech, where he talked about this. where he talked about the greatness of america, it's reenergized by immigrants. and yet j.d. vance and donald trump's cheering section on other networks constantly trying to make all americans think that anybody that works in america

that wasn't born here is somehow a detriment to america. >> yeah. >> it just couldn't be more wrong. >> it's a fallacy, it's false, and you look at the leaders of corporate america today and, as you said, they are, so many of them immigrants. we talked a long time about trying to staple a green card to a college diploma here in the united states. you know, could you actually get that to pass, so that you could bring some of the smartest minds in the world. that's what's made america, that's what's made american business for so long. but if i could just speak to the tariff issue for a second. for those who don't either understand it or what not, if you're going to walk into a walmart in the future or a target or maybe a restaurant, we've been talking about inflation for a long time, just how high prices have gone, when you put a tariff on a product, it is not that the other country gets taxed per se, it's that the

cost gets pushed on to the consumer here in the united states. that's how it works. that's -- that is the economics of it. when people ask, what's the math. oh, we're getting taxed, how are we getting taxed, i don't understand. it means you're going to walk into walmart, you're going to look at the product, and the price tag for the product that you want is going to cost more, not less. that's it. it's that simple. and how former president trump can speak the way he does about what he thinks the tariff is going to do, the idea that it's going to tax the chinese or tax -- it's just not the reality of the situation. and anybody who is even half sentient understands this to some degree. so it's baffling to me that we even have this conversation, but we continue to have it, because there are so many others, as you described, on other networks and other places, that seem to

misdescribe it. and i think unfortunately, they do it knowingly. i think they knowingly misdescribe it. >> and that's some ceos that are wall street types, not a ton, but some that are supporting donald trump know it too. they know it. they know that his tariffs plan is bad for america. they know this nonsense about, quote, foreign-born workers. they know it's a lie, because chances are good if they're wealthy and they started a business, they have a foreign-born worker running their company. i mentioned it. it doesn't -- it's not just tech, it's not just -- you know, it's also coca-cola. it's also pepsi cola. i could go down the list. foreign-born workers. these rich ceos, who some of whom were supporting donald trump. they hire immigrants to run their company. so it's complete nonsense.

>> one other point, if you would indulge me, on this tariff back and forth. which is we keep talking about the middle class and how the middle class in america is going to be taxed. they're going to be taxed in a different way, as well. which is to say, i actually got an email from a farmer, who was describing to me actually how hard it was during the trump administration, when it comes to some kinds of farming agricultural export. so one of the things that people don't appreciate is the second you get into a tariff war, it's not just that the cost of goods become more expensive and re-inflate all the things we've been praying could come down in price, it's that folks who in the united states, middle class farmers and other workers, who export goods to other countries, you don't think that those other countries are going to say, well, actually, now that's going to cost you more on the other end. it's a double whammy, and it's something that i think is just grossly misappreciated and grossly misconstrued and grossly

misdescribed by so many who have been supporting former president trump on this particular point. >> andrew, thank you so much for that. i do want to say as far as popular culture depose, we often talk about the nfl, but this weekend, you know, you had -- >> tennis. >> patrick mahomes, you had taylor swift, you had travis kelce, you had andrew ross sorkin. you had so many people out, like, the heroes -- there they are. by the way, wearing the same hat that travis kelce was wearing. there's mahomes. >> planned outfits with travis. >> the mahomes came in, and the first thing they did, they whispered to their escort to take him in, hey, what boss is sorkin in? and so -- >> i think they were all watching taylor there. i think -- when they weren't -- when everyone's eyes weren't on the court, they were up there. that was pretty much it. everyone kept saying, taylor,

which taylor? because there was a taylor who was playing. but taylor was getting a lot of attention. >> well, of course. >> by the way -- >> i've got to say -- yeah, i'm a huge taylor swift fan. i've said after "1989," she deserved to be in the pantheon of great, great artists. but the star yesterday was travis kelce's hat. maybe one of the cooler tennis hats i've ever seen. >> i'll tell you, by the way, the economic star there was the grey goose honey juice drink, $23 a glass -- i didn't have one, but that was the big -- i think they made like over $10 million with this crazy drink. it was the biggy. and by the way, you were talking about immigrants and leaders of companies, there were a number of them in the audience, including one of former -- or one of former president trump's big supporters, elon musk was sitting in that audience,

actually next to david zaslav. and on the other side of the stadium was ted cruz, sitting next to john paulson, the hedge fund manager, who's been a lot of speculation about might be looking for a place in that cabinet if he were to win. there was a lot of people watching who was on the court? >> leon musk. >> didn't he call him leon musk? >> oh, he did. >> cnbc's andrew ross sorkin -- >> andrew, other than the drinks, and then we're going to go, because we have to go -- >> we have to go. >> i want to ask you about the economics of tennis. the u.s. open makes a ton of money, as does wimbledon, the french open, but isn't tennis struggling a bit in places where you can't charge $23 a drink. >> that is true. the grand slams do enormously well at wimbledon, france, australia. but the rest of the year, it's a real conundrum, because, you

know, the players are all focused on those four events. there's not really enough money, unfortunately, to go around, especially to some of the players who are not in that top 10, top 20 slot. so there's real questions right now about what the future of tennis is ultimately going to look like. there's, you know, questions should a lot of these -- and also, there's competing groups. should they all merge into one, what could that look like? i think that we're going to see a renaissance, in terms of what the future of tennis is. and i think that they're sort of on the verge of getting their act together. but right now as we described it, you're right, the u.s. open, the big four, the grand slams are it. the question is, can this be a sport that is watched and makes money throughout the year in the same way that so many other sports do. >> if travis kelce takes his hat to a different tournaments, it will. >> cnbc's andrew ross sorkin, thank you very much. so we're going to turn now to other news-making headlines this morning. a manhunt is underway for a

suspect accused of shooting into 12 cars along a busy kentucky interstate. five people seriously injured in saturday's attack. now police are searching for 32-year-old joseph couch. police say a vehicle registered in his name was found near the scene along with a semiautomatic weapon. it's believed couch bought the gun saturday morning with about a thousand rounds of ammo. authorities say he is considered armed and dangerous. and the mother of the teen accused of shooting and killing four people at a high school in georgia reportedly tried to warn the school that morning. according to the "washington post," marcy gray called the school about 30 minutes before witnesses say the gunfire began. "the post" obtained text messages from gray to her sister that read in part, quote, i told them it was an extreme emergency and for them to go immediately and find my son and check on

him. gray confirmed the messages to "the post," but declined to comment on what led her to actually call the school. around that time, a school administrator reportedly went to the suspected gunman's classroom, a student in the room told "the post," there seemed to be confusion involving another student with a similar name. "the post" reports neither of them were in the room, and the administrator left with a backpack belonging to the similarly named student. the shooting began just minutes later. other text messages obtained by "the post" show the family -- the school and family were in contact about the suspected gunman's mental health a week before the attack. the 14-year-old suspect had his first court appearance on friday. he's been charged as an adult with four counts of felony murder. >> and again, if they're having these conversations about his mental health a week before, why

did the father and mother not take the ar-15 away from him? >> so many questions. >> his father, collin gray, was also in court to hear charges he's facing, which include second-degree murder. authorities say he knowingly allowed his son to have the ar-15-style rifle that was used in last week's shooting. and coming up on "morning joe," congress returns to capitol hill today after six-week summer recess. its first order of business is how to once again avert a government shutdown. we'll bring you the details as lawmakers have just three weeks to reach an agreement. plus, an uncontrolled wildfire in southern california quadrupled in size over the weekend, leading to evacuation orders for more than 11,000 residents. we'll have the latest on the line fire, next. you're watch "morning joe." we'll be right back. ext. you're watch "morning joe. we'll be right back.

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the moment i met him i knew he was my soulmate. "soulmates." soulmate! [giggles] why do you need me? [laughs sarcastically] but then we switched to t-mobile 5g home internet. and now his attention is spent elsewhere. but i'm thinking of her the whole time. that's so much worse. why is that thing in bed with you? this is where it gets the best signal from the cell tower! i've tried everywhere else in the house! there's always a new excuse. well if we got xfinity you wouldn't have to mess around with the connection. therapy's tough, huh? -mmm. it's like a lot about me. [laughs] a home router should never be a home wrecker. oo this is a good book title.

i feel sad that i have to come up here and explain it. i have all of this legal talent, but legal talent cannot overcome rigged judges, they can't overcome a 4% republican area. and i'm disappointed in my legal talent, i'll be honest with you. they're good. they're good people. they're talented people. today at the trial, they didn't mention the dress, so the monica lewinsky-type dress was a big part of the trial. big, big part of the trial. i said, why didn't you mention that. >> wow. >> you know, the larry david theme song, it fits -- >> it's perfect. it says so much. >> boy, that is a slow pan in. can we get off of that? >> it says so much without saying anything. >> so slow. i'm disappointed --

>> wow! let's bring in nbc news senior national political reporter, sahil kapur. you have now reporting entitled harris is trying to cut into trump's edge on the economy. it could decide the election. what can you tell us about the vice president's thinking here? >> hey, mika! well, keep an eye on this one during the debate tomorrow, there's no bigger issue at stake in the minds of voters. kamala harris is trying to cut into donald trump's advantage on handling of the economy, as evidenced in national and swing state polls with a two-tiered strategy. first, offer a flurry of proposals aimed at lowering the cost of groceries, housing, and child care, and second, use populist rhetoric to try to sell them. it's a major break from president biden's approach which was to highlight economic progress and try to convince americans that things are better than they might perceive. that, of course, did not work politically, and harris is using a new tactic, which is to lean into economic pain and argue that she's the strongest candidate in the field to lower costs. she's also trying to counter trump's cast of villains, like

migrants and globalization with villains of her own to explain. she says she wants to raise taxes on corporations and create new powers to bust landlords who buy up homes to take advantage of renters. here's what the executive director of a progressive polling firm told me, quote, biden through his presidency was announcing action after action and it was falling on deaf ears, that harris is a much more adept messenger, unquote. even some conservatives unquote that this populist messaging can be effective politically, although they don't support the harris policies. so here is the backdrop. recently battleground polls of six key swing states shows the economy ranks as the number one issue for voters and trump leads on the issue in all of those states. a cnbc poll found that americans are more likely to believe that trump would be better for their finances than harris. gen z voters rank inflation and the cost of living as their top issue by a three-to-one margin according to a recent nbc poll. and this is what the debate

could all come down to. the election is in eight weeks. if you're a voter who is motivated by abortion or immigration or democracy, it's very likely you've made up your mind. but for the small group of swing voters, the less ideological one, the working class moms and dads, their votes could hinge on who they think would do the best job at lowering the cost of living. right now, trump has the edge on that issue and kamala harris' task at the debate is to neutralize it and whether or not she succeeds could decide the outcome of election, guys. >> symone, tomorrow night seems like such an event in so many ways. we know not every debate is important, the last one certainly was in june, between president biden and donald trump, but to sahil's point, for so many, the economy is going to be what they're listening for. they want to hear both candidates on this. and to this point, polls suggest that harris is -- to close that gap a little bit. she's been able to separate herself a little bit from the

biden economy. which, as we count on and talk about all the time in the show, the metrics is good, but not every american feels that way. how would you recommend she messages on the economy tomorrow night? >> i think this that vice president harris has been using her campaign about the opportunity economy, it is very authentic to her. and it's something that people can wrap their heads around. people can understand, people don't understand, in my opinion, gdp is high, wages are growing, fastest recovery from any g-7 country. people are like, okay, but the eggs are still costing a little much at the grocery store. the rent is too damned high. it feels unattainable to buy a house if you are a young person, a millennial. so those speaking to the things that people are dealing with every day, entrepreneurship, the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs in this country. you know who they are? black women. middle managers at companies who have left those companies and started their own businesses. so entrepreneurship is key. and frankly, it is one of the biggest drivers of job creation in communities of color,

specifically. and wealth creation. so her proposal for $50,000, a tax break, if you will, for small businesses, to help get them started, is something that speaks to people across the country. so, yes, she's going to have to talk policy. i think the way she's been talking policy makes a difference. donald trump has not been talking, in my coherently about policy, and i think he should be questioned about that on the debate stage. but you saw, maybe, i believe she was in nevada, the vice president got up and when she gave her first economic speech, when she laid out this opportunity economy, she said she would give her position and say just juxtapose that with what donald trump plans to do. that's a formulation that is very familiar to folks who have maybe seen her in a hearing setting. definitely familiar to me as someone who has been in a briefing with her, when i worked for her, and i think that's something we'll hear on the debate stage. but this is -- she has the opportunity here. i think the stakes are high for donald trump in this debate. the opportunity is kamala harris', but the stakes are high

for trump, because he has not been able to, on child care, which is one of the biggest bills that families across this country have, he doesn't understand it. how are you fighting for the little guy, the working class people, and you don't understand the issue of child care. that to me is out of touch. and kamala harris, who was one of the co-authors of the child tax credit, what was expanded during the first year of the biden administration, her proposal was the basis for that. gene sperling will tell you, she understands it and can speak about it in a way that donald trump just can't. and that's an advantage for her. >> trump can't and neither can his vice presidential running mate. sahil, congress returns to capitol hill today. what's their first order of business? >> that's right, congress is back this week after a long summer recess with a big deadline ahead of it, which is preventing a government shutdown by the end of this month. yes, we are back here again. let's look at the to-do list, and i'll take them one by one. first, the big funding deadline. that could be the last major bill we're going to see before the election, and house

republican leaders under pressure from donald trump are picking a fight that could lead to a shutdown on october 1st, just five weeks before the election. speaker mike johnson says they're going to vote on a stopgap funding bill that's tied to the save act, a sweeping election bill that would beef up proof of citizenship requirements to vote nationwide. mike johnson says in a statement that it's about securing our federal election process, calls it a critically important bill. democrats say this is the poison pill, that there's no problem here to solve, that non-citizen voting is already illegal and rare, and they argue that these rules could disenfranchise american citizens. chuck schumer is warning if democrats go down this highly partisan path, the odds of a shutdown go way up and americans will know that the responsibilities of a shutdown will be on the house republicans' hands. also on congress' agenda, new investigations by house republicans, pivoting a little bit from president biden, to focus on the new democratic ticket. that includes a subpoena of vice presidential nominee tim walz over his response to pandemic fraud in minnesota, where

sherves as governor. they also have a new report today criticizing this administration's handling of the afghanistan withdrawal. and democrats for their part are investigating reports of an alleged cash bribe from egypt linked to donald trump, which his campaign denies, and in the senate, finally, they hope to confirm more of president biden's judges, given that there's no guarantee that they'll have either the presidency or the senate next guys?ry. >> nbc's sahil kapur, thank you very much for your reporting this morning. it's time now for a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. a southern california wildfire is threatening thousands of homes and businesses. by sunday night, the fire had burned more than 20,000 acres northeast of san bernardino. the late summer heat wave is worsening this fire, and raising the risk of more outbreaks. we just learned governor tim walz has canceled a rally in reno, nevada, that was previously scheduled, due to the extreme wildfires out west. 36 years after the first

film, the long-awaited tim burton sequel, "beetlejuice beetlejuice" racked up $110 million in its premiere weekend. that makes it the second highest grossing september movie of all time. michael keaton, katherine o'hara, and winona ryder all reprised their roles in the movie. the original "beetlejuice," now a cult classic, earned a mere $8 million in its opening weekend back in 1988. and in another big-dollar story, bloomberg now estimated that actress and singer selena gomez is officially a billionaire. the bulk of the 32-year-old's bankroll comes from her cosmetics brand, rare beauty. gomez becomes one of the country's youngest women with a ten-figure fortune. she's also great in "only murders in the building," my favorite show. >> maybe martin short, steve martin, if they ever need to

borrow some money? >> or makeup. >> not that they need it. >> up next -- >> by the way, this year, i like this year. i like this season. >> up next, a look at some of the stories making front page headlines across the country, including a $50 million investment to help school kids stay safe during extreme heat waves. "morning joe" is back in a moment. waves. "morning joe" is back in a moment still have symptoms from moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease after a tnf blocker like humira or remicade? put them in check with rinvoq. rinvoq works differently and it's a once-daily pill. when symptoms tried to take control, i got rapid relief with rinvoq. check. when flares tried to slow me down, i got lasting steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my doctor saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly reduce damage of the intestinal lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and visibly reduced damage. check, check and check. rinvoq can lower your ability

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uh. time now for a look at some of the morning papers. "the baltimore sun" reports the attorneys general of d.c. and maryland are suing three firearms dealers for illegal gun trafficking. the suit claims three gun shops sold almost three dozen weapons to one person over the course of seven months. prosecutors say the stores ignored clear warning signs of

illegal activity. officials say several of those guns were later recovered at crime scenes or were what suspects wanted for violent crimes. the arizona daily star leads with a school district in phoenix that is making changes to keep kids safe during extreme heat. last week, the city recorded 100 straight days of triple-digit temperatures. now, one school system is using a $50 million bond to replace the concrete on its playgrounds with rubber. the district will include shading structures at bus stops and courtyards. experts say children are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses than adults because their bodies have a harder time self-regulating. and in florida, the news press has a front page season of the above-average mosquito season. hotter temperatures have created the perfect breeding ground for

the pest who is lay their eggs in standing water. mosquito-born illnesses are also on the rise, but most of the cases involve people who were affected after traveling to parts of the caribbean. and coming up, according to our next guest, there are 6.5 million eligible voters living abroad, but just a fraction of that number actually casts a ballot. what's more, most americans living abroad don't even realize they have the legal right to vote. former u.s. ambassador to canada, bruce heiman, joins us next on how the outcome of the november election could hinge on those voters. that's straight ahead on "morning joe." ose voters that's straight ahead on "morning joe." farmer's dog makes weight management easy with fresh food pre-portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. thursday night football on prime. it's on. ready to have some fun? it's buffalo versus miami, as thursday night football is back. stream thursday night football.

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welcome back. for the first time the democratic party is investing considerable resources to turn out american voters living abroad. according to dnc officials, there are 1.6 million americans living overseas who are eligible to vote in seven battleground states. here is one example that shows

just how critical this voting block is. in 2020 president biden won georgia by just 11,700 votes, according to the election assistance commission there were over 18,000 ballots cast from overseas voters registered in georgia. joining us now former ambassador to canada, bruce heyman, he recently participated in a meeting called americans abroad for harris/walz. and authored an op-ed on msnbc.com entitled "how americans living abroad could decide the 2024 election." the show, mr. ambassador.k on so how to get the word out to americans living abroad, what's the challenge here? >> well, the challenge is many americans don't even realize that they can vote when they live abroad, and then when they realize they can vote, they don't know how. do they call mom and dad back at home and say, how do i do this? get me an absentee ballot?

but this is protected by federal law and this federal law has been established for all 50 states that americans living anywhere in the world have the right to vote and all they have to do is go to votefromabroad.org, register to vote and get your ballot. now, those ballots are by law sent out 45 days before the election. so those ballots are going to be heading out in less than two weeks. so right now i'm just saying this is it, this is the opportunity, and how do we get the word out? we do it right here on your show. we have influencers like nancy pelosi promoting this very strongly. we have social media influencers coming out, actors, actresses. we had over 60 actors, actresses, participants, social media influencers, politicians last week on this global call with tens of thousands of participants and well over 1,000 new ballots just being requested even during the call itself. so this is the opportunity and

as you mentioned, we won at the margin arizona and georgia and so all you have to do is go to votefromabroad.org if you are an american overseas or if you are in the u.s. and you know somebody who is studying abroad this fall or traveling or doing business overseas, this is your shot right now. it's really important. >> mr. ambassador, i would assume, and not to paint with a broad brush, that for americans living overseas might have certain issues that really matter to them that might be a little than those who are back home. is part of the pitch going to be tailor-made to those who, for instance, may really care about american alliances abroad? >> you're absolutely right. so an american you walking on the streets of pittsburgh has a very different perspective in some ways than the american walking on the streets of warsaw. it may very well be that when you mention to somebody in europe that nato is at threat because of donald trump and we

have to do something to protect the european continent, you say that in pittsburgh, i think the focus may be on much more things that affect them at home and the economy. so foreign policy is a huge issue and i think it's a strength for the vice president in this race because donald trump has already threatened nato, he's threatened ukraine, he's really threatened the multilateral approach that the u.s. has had since world war ii. he's a go it alone kind of guy and i have gone out on a limb here with the canadians and saying, this is your tsunami warning. if donald trump is elected, you're going to be under deep threat specifically. >> all right. ambassador, just on another note, i'm curious your thoughts on this. i was randomly watching fox news on friday evening, just a random 12 minutes, and they cited data from the bureau of labor statistics that showed foreign-born employment in the u.s. over the past year was up

by 1.2 million. this was said in a negative way. while native-born employment was down by 1.3 million. the host then connected those numbers to the group of 88 high profile current and former business executives who issued a joint letter endorsing vice president harris earlier in that day. you're part of this letter. the host said in part this, over the past year under biden/harris native-born employment in the united states decreased by 1.3 million jobs, but foreign-born employment increased by 1.24 million. it's not a shock at all that these ceos came out today from big corporations and endorsed kamala harris. they're not coming out to endorse kamala harris because they want higher wages for american workers, they want a never ending stream of migrants to come in and take those jobs

and keep wages down. so, ambassador heyman, you are a former managing director of private wealth at goldman sachs and you signed the letter. i mean, this is the list of people who signed it, you along with roger altman, jeff buicks, michael blumenthal the 64th u.s. treasury of the secretary ri, ursula burns, rossly brewer, ken shenalt, mark cuban is on the list, it goes on. is it fair to say what was said here that you all are not coming out to endorse kamala harris because you want higher wages for american workers, you want a never ending stream of migrants to come in and take those jobs and keep the wages down. is that why you signed the letter? >> the business leaders who signed on to this letter and

other business leaders in groups such as leadership now and across america, large and small business alike, recognize donald trump as the greatest threat to the u.s. economy since herbert hoover in 1930. his very specific policies as illuminated by goldman sachs this last week, moody's a couple of months ago, would put this country in higher inflation, higher interest rates and risk a recession. one of those factors, which has been talked about on your show just over this last segment, is tariffs. those tariffs donald trump is saying very clearly that, oh, somebody else is going to pay them. he's lying to you. if he does that on stage tomorrow, talks about those tariffs that somebody else is going to pay, he is a fraud. i'm telling you right now that will increase prices for all americans across the board, increase inflation, put pressure on the fed and that we have other problems here. he's also a threat to democracy as we know it.

>> what you're saying is what was said on fox news, what i heard there, was not true? >> it's completely not true. by the way, we are a country of immigrants and unless you are a native-american heritage, then everybody came from somewhere else in our country, whether you came more recently or you came several hundred years ago. we all have come from somewhere else and it's the american dream that attracts the best and the brightest and the talent. legal american immigration is what we need. we have a birth rate below replacement rate and we need to have high-quality, innovative, creative people coming into our economy. kamala harris has said -- >> former u.s. -- >> thank you. >> yeah. former u.s. ambassador to canada, bruce heyman, thank you so much. i just wanted to clear that up. that does it for us this morning. ana cabrera picks up the coverage right now. right now on "ana cabrera reports," one day away. the countdown is on to