do we have jonathan lemire here? he is our cognitive test specialist. jonathan, what were the six or seven words he could remember? >> it was man, woman, camera, light, and then one more. it was all very -- water buffalo, you had that one right. >> water buffalo. >> water buffalo is essential. actually a cheat code for anyone about to take a cognitive test, water buffalo, always one of the words. but this from the former president was a remarkable performance, perhaps fusing together these republican candidates. maybe he thinks it'll be the best chance in ohio. >> maybe so. i've just been told by alex, it was person, camera, tv. fortunately, vance, jd vance, wasn't listed in there. seriously, the guy -- like, what planet is he on? good morning, my friends. i'll tell you what planet we're on. we're on planet mika because it is may the 2nd. it is, of course, the happiest day of the year. it is mika's birthday. >> yay. i'm 55. thank you. >> arrive and live. >> it is the speed limit. >> exactly. >> oh, my god. >> you know, it is very interesting -- >> that's

i'm jonathan lemire. we're glad you joined us. this morning it is not clear why a teenager in uvalde, texas, attacked an elementary school, killing 19 children, and two teachers. while investigators work to find the motive we're learning more about tuesday's attack and what led up to it. after crashing his grandmother's truck outside the school, the gunman ran into the building, armed with an ar-15 style rifle and at least seven 30-round magazines. the gunman then fired at a school resource officer who confronted him outside. but officials say the officer did not fire any shots at the suspect. when he got inside the school, the gunman walked into a double classroom. locked the door, and began shooting. all of the victims were inside that room. law enforcement, including the tactical team from the u.s. border patrol, swarmed the school, but were not able to get into the classroom. they eventually got access after getting a master key from the principal. the gunman was then shot and killed by border patrol

jonathan lemire, so independents say, whoa, nelly, what say you? >> yeah, jd mandel, or whatever his name is was one of trump's critics and has now come the other and embraced some of the craziest part of the former president's platform. and all of this right here is alarming more mainstream republicans. you mentioned mitch mcconnell and he's far from ahome and heartening some democrats. more they are center stage, marjorie taylor green, madison cawthorn, that is the guy, that is good fock democrats and i have a new story out though morning how the white house is leaning into this. president biden has not gone on the offense against republicans and frying to draw a sharp contrast between what he and his party have done and republicans and in particular these fringe elements of the republican party. that they feel like that that is their effective arg. they face head winds and democrats feel like this is the way that they could show voters particularly those independent voters, those swing voters, those suburban voters, those are voters that gave bi

i'm jonathan lemire. there's still no winner in the pennsylvania republican senate primary this morning with state officials confirming to nbc news that there are nearly 9,000 votes left to count. the effects of former president trump's handling of this race and other primaries in the state are already being felt. and could hurt his political capital in the future. nbc news reports that exacerbated republicans in the state say the end result of promoting candidates with far right views with such intensive media coverage could boomerang in ways that damage both the party and trump's own chances should he run for president again in 2024. officials reporting that trump's endorsement of celebrity tv doctor mehmet oz, now instead of having a clear candidate to fall behind, the race is still undecided. and may go to someone who has been accused of only moving to pennsylvania, that's oz, to run for office, and until recently, very liberal views. state republicans were also upset that trump's suggestion that oz s

jonathan lemire. the white house bureau chief at "politico." the senators led by chris murphy and john cornyn of texas will hold a meeting tonight. many issues should be held at the state level, but they said mental health, background checks, and red flag laws are something congress can address. after spending four hours with families on sunday in uvalde, the president returned to the white house and expressed hope that republicans will go for reform. he also discussed the limitations of his power on this issue. >> there's the constitution. i can't dictate this stuff. i can do the things i've done, and any executive action i can take, i'll continue to take. but i can't outlaw a weapon. i can't, you know, change the background checks. i can't do that. >> so, joe, we heard from the president yesterday. we know mitch mcconnell encouraged john cornyn and other republicans to join the bipartisan group with chris murphy. on the other hand, it does feel we've been here before, after sandy hook and many other

it is jonathan lemire. great to see you again.efore vladimir putin invaded ukraine. but the two gs we keep talking about, groceries and gasoline, are directly impacted by the war. fuel prices up and groceries, as well. the war, officials believe, could last months if not years. how can you tame those price concerns over that long of a time? >> well, it's by doing precisely the kind of things that i just ticked through, but also, of course, the work of the federal reserve is so important here. look, you're absolutely right. when it comes to commodity prices in general, of course, food and energy, putin's unprovoked invasion is very much in the mix. we talk about energy and gas prices, but we also have to look at metals, at fertilizer, at so many components that come out of that part of the world. so it's key for us to do all we can to reshuffle available supplies, to make sure we're doing everything to try to help ease those pressures. now, take energy, for example. i mentioned the release from the strategic reserve, but the presid

district attorney, good morning, jonathan lemire here. i want to ask you about an incident from a year ago where the suspect was receiving attention from the new york state police for threats he made in school. said he was going to commit violence, perhaps a shooting, maybe a murder-suicide. and he was taken to the hospital for a couple of days. but then let go. was this -- as you look at it now, the appropriate steps taken and should he have been on some sort of red flag list when he tried to purchase this firearm. >> well jonathan, i can't common on whether it was appropriate or not because i wasn't privy to it. i wasn't there. i wasn't part of the investigation or the meetings that took place. that was a situation that i alluded to a few minutes ago. that we're drilling down now on that. and the reason i'm drilling down is not to, you know, criticize anyone in broom county or to cast blame on anyone. but i have an element of intent here with regard to my murder charge and i have an element of intent with regard to any additional charge

i'm jonathan lemire. in a potentially ground-breaking shift in american constitutional law, the supreme court appears poised to strike down the landmark roe v. wade decision. according to a leaked draft opinion, published last night, by "politico," a majority of the supreme court is prepared to overturn the federal right to abortion. the leak of the 98-page document is unprecedented in the court's modern history. the draft opinion was reportedly offered by justice samuel alito, and circulated back in february. alito writes in part this. ro ex was egregiously wrong from the start. its reasoning was exceptionally weak and the decision has had damaging consequences. it is time to heed the constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives. nbc news has not obtained or been able to independently verify the authenticity of the document. and the supreme court has declined to comment. the final opinion is expected in late june or early july. meaning it's possible that justices

i'm jonathan lemire. as expected, a senate bill that would expand abortion projections nationwide fell to a republican filibuster and failed to get majority support after democratic senator joe manchin joined all 50 republicans in voting against it. the west virginia democrat said we support a clean bill that codifies roe v. wade into federal law, but not the bill that was put on the senate floor yesterday. >> i was hopeful that the democratic party had control of the agenda with a piece of legislation that would codify roe v. wade. 70% of the american public wants roe v. wade to be codified. that's been precedent and law for a years. to me, that would be a reasonable rational thing to do. the bill we have today to vote on, women's health protection act, and i would suspect people who support it, make no mistake, it is not roe v. wade code fiction. it is an expansion. it wipes 500, 500 state laws off the books. it expands abortion. and with that, that's not where we are today. we should not be dividing th

i'm jonathan lemire.n with the seismic fallout from the leaked supreme court draft opinion overturning roe v. wade. in an extraordinary step, chief justice john roberts confirmed that the document published by politico is authentic, but he noted that it does not represent the court's final decision. roberts said he has directed the supreme court marshall to investigate how the draft became public. in a statement, roberts wrote in part this, to the extent this betrayal of the confidences of the court was intended to undermine the integrity of our operations, it will not succeed. the work of the court will not be affected in any way. president biden reacted to the leaked draft by calling on elected officials to protect the right to abortion. he urged lawmakers on capitol hill to pass legislation to codify roe v. wade, but he declined to call for a filibuster change that would allow democrats to pass legislation with fewer than 60 votes. biden also called on voters to back candidates who support abortion rig

i'm jonathan lemire.claims its forces have made significant gains in eastern ukraine, three weeks after moscow launched renewed offensive there. the russian defense ministry yesterday said its troops have advanced to the border between donetsk and luhansk the two russian-speaking provinces together known as the donbas. the ministry said it now controls more of the region than it did before the war started on february, 24th. the kremlin's statement comes just a day after a pentagon assessment revealed that russians had not made any progress on the ground. however, the russian ministry's claim raises concern that moscow could soon take complete control of the entire donbas region where russian-backed separatists have been fighting the ukrainians since 2014. russia launched an offensive in eastern ukraine last month, after its forces failed to capture any territory in the north, including the capital of kyiv. meanwhile, the director of national intelligence told the senate armed services committee that even

jonathan lemire, we'll get to you in a second. but if you can't win, for god's sake don't lose, our boston red sox did not lose last night because they did not play. brilliant strategy by the boston baseball team. mika? >> maybe vladimir should try that. to what ed was saying, they had this major parade. you saw the pictures. yet, the russian troops continue to struggle in ukraine, particularly the air force. according to a senior defense official, russian war planes have failed to establish air superiority over ukraine, which continues to fly its own fighter jets. a pentagon assessment reveals the russians haven't made any significant progress on the ground. partly due to low morale among troops. the report found that middle-ranking officers at various levels are, quote, refusing to obey orders from their commanders. the report also reveals russian forces continue to struggle in the eastern donbas region, facing stiff resistance from ukrainians. and the victory day parade for vladimir putin was reportedly interrupted yesterday by

i'm jonathan lemire. in a case of history repeating itself, a race in pennsylvania is once again coming down to mail-in ballots. the republican senate primary race between trump-endorsed dr. oz, and hedge fund ceo dave mccormick is still too close to call this morning. the candidates only separated by a little over a thousand votes. while the mccormick camp is telling supporters to wait until all the votes are counted, former president trump is taking a page oust his 2020 play book. trump told supporters that dr. oz should forget waiting for the final tally and just say that he won. quote, dr. oz should declare victory. it makes it much harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they just happened to find. of course, during the 2020 election, trump tried this same tactic. he insisted he had won the state despite more than a million ballots still unaccounted for at the time. he ended up losing pennsylvania to president biden. it will likely be some time before a final tally is announced. if the result

i'm jonathan lemire.e begin with the extraordinary step from the house committee investigating the january 6th attack. issuing subpoenas for five sitting republican lawmakers who have refused to cooperate in the investigation including the top republican in the house. minority leader kevin mccarthy. congressman andy bigs of arizona, scott perry of pennsylvania, jim jordan of ohio, and mo brooks of alabama, are also all being compelled to testify. with the exception of the ethics committee investigation, the subpoenas are believed to be the first-ever issued to sitting members of the panel has said the congressman all allies of former president donald trump have information critical to its probe of the january 6th attack. they have all dismissed the investigation as illegitimate. and here's how some of them reacted to the news of the subpoenas. subpoenas. >> my view on the committee has not changed. they're not conducting a legitimate -- >> the fact that they sent it to the press, before they sent to the m

i'm jonathan lemire. french president emanuel macron is throwing cold water on ukraine's hopes of joining the european union. in an address to the european parliament yesterday, the newly-re-elected macron pushed back against the possibility that ukraine could join the group in the near future. instead, saying the membership process would likely take decades. despite calling for a quote stronger and more sovereign europe, macron argued that expediting ukraine's membership would lower the standards of the bloc. to join the eu, a country's candidacy needs to be approved by all 27 member states. instead, macron proposed a new quote european political community. yesterday, to include countries with aspirations of joining the eu. but his comments come in direct contrast with those made by the president of the eu's own executive branch who just last month told ukraine's president that the country's application could be approved within weeks. >> ukraine belongs to the european family. we've heard your request lu

i'm jonathan lemire. polls open in just a few hours, for one of the most consequential primaries in the midterms, georgia. there are several state and congressional races on the ballot but the ones everyone will be watching are the republican primaries for governor, secretary of state, and senate. and "the new york times" describes the background of today's races like this. georgia's got everything. disputed elections. rapid demographic change. celebrity democrats. a restrictive new voting law. and open criminal investigation into donald trump's meddling into the 2020 election. a deep urban divide. and it is a fun one. former senator david perdue whose loss in the state two years ago helped give democrats control of congress, he's running to unseat incumbent governor brian kemp. perdue you will recall was recruited by former president trump to run against kemp as payback for trump's refusal to overturn the 2020 election result, and recent polling suggests perdue is trailing badly. in the race for secretar

host of "way too early," jonathan lemire. he is a white house bureau chief at "politico," of course. willie? >>> in a case of history repeating itself, a race in pennsylvania again coming into mail-in ballots and claims of a stolen election. the senate primary race between the trump-endorsed dr. mehmet oz and hedge fund ceo dave mccormick is too close to call, with the candidates separated by over 1,000 votes between them. while the mccormick camp is telling supporters to wait until all votes are counted, former president trump is taking a page out of his old playbook. trump telling supporters, dr. oz should not wait for the final tally and just say he won. quote, it makes it harder for them to cheat with the ballots that they just happened to find. probably talking about the mail-in ballots. during the 2020 election, trump tried the tactic, insisting he won the state despite more than 1 million ballots uncounted at that time. he ended up losing pennsylvania to president biden, of course. let's go to the big board and nationa

jonathan lemire -- oh, here it is. we have to see rich strike. >> look at this horse. >> rich strike is in the back. look at the pack of horses they have to go through. 80-1 odd. epicenter at the front. >> that's the one they're all talking about. >> epicenter was the favorite of the race. there was a race down the stretch. look at this. he finds his way to the post and just rides the post now. everybody is clumped up the middle. he's just riding the post, flying. >> look at this. >> goes to the right. isn't that amazing? that move right there, and if you see -- >> look at this horse. >> no -- >> no one saw him coming. >> he just screamed, "rich strike." no one expected this coming. i say this in the most wonderful way, you could tell afterwards, that horse is a little crazy, i mean, in the right ways. in all the ways you want a horse to be crazy when he has to get through 21 other horses. i mean, 80-1 odds. that was crazy and inspiring. almost as inspiring, jonathan lemire, as the red sox bullpen this weekend. let's t

jonathan lemire. great to see you again.apons heading to ukraine, how many more weapons could go through if the $30 billion gets through congress the president proposed, and are there any concerns in terms of weapons we're shipping overseas to have enough here at home to defend ourselves? >> there's a lot there, jon. i'll tell you, first of all, in terms of our readiness and stocks, look, we've been pulling a lot of things off our own shelves for ukraine and it's the right thing to do and we will keep doing that as long as we can and as fast as we can. every time we do that, we have to make a readiness assessment to make sure our own capability to take care of the nation is not impacted and so far we're comfortable in the amount of material we're providing. and that material flows every single day. more than 80% of the howitzers, 90 howitzers promised, are already in ukraine, not just the region but in ukraine. we're training another third class of ukrainian artillery men on how to use them. more than 100 artillery men of th

jonathan lemire has some new reporting on that this morning.d morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is a busy, may 18th. along with joe, willie and me, we have former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments elise jordan, she's an msnbc political analyst. and the aforementioned host of "way too early" and chief at politico, jonathan lemire is here as well. a mixed bag. >> so, a real mixed bag, willie, if you go through not only pennsylvania but the republican primaries. in pennsylvania, you had donald trump candidate winning in the gubernatorial race. and the senate primary, which is still up for grabs, you have two-thirds of the voters voting against donald trump selection. you do have north carolina where, again, we just talked about, mika just said that donald trump's pick madison cawthorn lost. incumbent lost, in the house race but donald trump won statewide. and you can go across the country in places like idaho, where they're having really some challenges in the republican party, with far right extremists. white na

i'm jonathan lemire.re going to start with the latest developments in this tragic story out of texas. at least 19 children and 2 teachers are dead after yesterday's shooting at an elementary school. the attack about 80 miles west of san antonio is now the second deadliest school shooting in the history of the united states. the texas department of public safety says there are more victims both children and adults who are in hospitals this morning. investigators believe the 18-year-old suspect shot his grandmother at her home then fled, crashing his truck in a ditch near robb elementary school just before noon central time. the grandmother is in critical condition. investigators say the suspect who may have been wearing some sort of body armor then entered the school and shot any students or staff who were in front of him. according to dps, a school resource officer and two police officers from the city fired at the suspect but had to get back up from a tactical team which ultimately shot and killed the gu

i want to talk to jonathan lemire in a second because jon and i had a discussion. most conservatives, people who follow the court and know how the court works were telling jon and me throughout the day, this looks like somebody was moving away from alito's harsh position. and they were trying to be nailed down, by holding up this february opinion going, look, look, it's done. this right wing turgeon opinion on abortion, this is going to be the law of the land. don't even think of moving away from this position. and so, they leak this at the same time the concurrence is which is the time period now, the concurrences are start to going around. this is when john roberts starts working on kavanaugh. this is when john roberts starts working on amy coney barrett saying listen, we're conservatives here but we also have to protect the institution, guys. let's sit down and talk. what say you, john heilemann, regarding my 15-second question. >> a great question, joe. a great question. you can read it back to me again? >> yeah, i sure can -- so, maybe -- >> look, i think -- i

that's what we're going to hear tomorrow. >> jonathan lemire, it is very interesting. when i first ran for office, i was very young. when i started running, i was 29 years old. everybody talked about biography. you don't have the biography. you don't have the experience. i found out really quickly in that campaign, and i've never forgotten it because it's the truth, people don't care about your biography. people don't care about the past. i learned that after we won the cold war, and george h.w. bush lost the next year to bill clinton, a guy who helped guide us to the end of the cold war. they don't care about the past. they don't care about your biography. they care about their future. i think what we're starting to see now is donald trump demands fealty, not over the future, not over any campaign issues, not over any campaign promises about what's going to happen on policy, but he's all about the past. he's all about 2020. he's making every candidate that endorses him look backwards, look back to 2020. i can't believe that is not hurting those candidates, because all

jonathan lemire. >> he is up in the polls, too.gave democrats control of the senate. now, his hand-picked senate candidate, herschel walker, shall we say, has baggage to face. he'll cruise to the nomination but has issues to overcome for the general election in november, as weal. >>> still ahead, we'll hear from georgia voters ahead of tomorrow's primary elections. elise jordan asked folks from both sides of the aisle about january 6th and how the attack on the capitol sim pacs impacti their votes. i can't wait to hear the conversation. >>> plus, rudy giuliani in front of the committee investigating january 6th. what we know about that interview. >>> and president biden calls the recent outbreaks of monkeypox cases a cause for concern. what we know about that virus, and what the administration is doing to prevent its spread. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it. usually. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreen

i'm jonathan lemire. thank you for being with us. >>> we begin with the latest on the deadly shooting in buffalo over the weekend. the white house says the president and first lady will visit the city tomorrow, to quote grieve with the community. speaking at the national peace officer's memorial service in washington yesterday, president biden addressed with the justice department investigating as an act of racially-motivated, domestic extremism. >> a lone gunman, armed with weapons of war and a hate-filled soul shot and killed ten innocent people in cold blood. we must all work together to address the hate that remains a stain on the soul of america. our hearts are heavy once again, but our resolve must never waver. >> meanwhile, we're learning more about the alleged shooter of the terrible attack. police say the 18-year-old from conklin new york travelled more than 200 miles from his home on saturday to the grocery store in buffalo, where he allegedly killed ten people and injured three others. joining

jonathan lemire, just i've never seen anything like this before.ou know why, because nothing like this before has ever happened. but let me just give you a minute before we go to the morning papers to talk about your celtics. >> oh, thank you for that. first of all, shohei otani, must-see tv every time he plays. the celtics, it is a hard fought series with the bucks and they won last night on the road and they tied the series 2-2. and giannis is either committing a foul or being fouled and it is up to the ref. that led to shall we say some frustration in my house in the first half. my boys and i didn't take too kindly to some of the calls and non-calls that were being done last night. but there is al horford turning the tide. that dunk tied the game early 4th. he was wonderful. this was a hard fought game. these two teams played great defense. it is now tied and it is the best of three with the celtics got two at home. so let's hope for the best. but the bucks are a proud defending champion and wouldn't be easy to beat. >> now to a look at morning

i'm jonathan lemire. thank you for being with us. >>> we'll start with the latest developments in the tragic story out of texas. at least 19 children and 2 teachers are dead after yesterday's shooting at an elementary school. the attack in uvalde, about 80 miles west of san antonio, is now the second deadliest school shooting in the history of the united states. the dps says there are more victims, both children and adults, who are still in hospitals this morning. investigators believe the 18-year-old suspect shot his grandmother at her home, then fled crashing his truck in a ditch near robb elementary. grandmother is in critical condition. a dps trooper described what happened next to nbc's morgan chesky. >> at that point the gunman made entry to the school and complete disregard for human life. just an evil person started shooting kids, anybody that was in his way, teachers, had no regard for human life. >> reporter: just walking through the school opening fire. >> he was armed with long arm rifle. we h

i'm jonathan lemire.ot a lot of news to get to today. here we go. results are still coming in this morning for pennsylvania's closely-watched primary election. in the hotly-contested senate race, republicans still do not have a winner. the election is too close to call between trump-backed dr. mehmet oz and hedge fund executive david mccormick. mccormick is backed by several trump administration officials, including former secretary of state mike pompeo. recent polling saw him losing momentum after trump attacked him as, quote, not maga. conservative commentator kathy barnette shook up the gop race with a late surge, but she will likely finish third in the race. democrats chose lieutenant governor john fetterman to be their nominee. fetterman had been leading in the polls when he suffered a stroke on friday. he voted in the primary election from a pennsylvania hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. meanwhile, in the state's gubernatorial race, far right election conspiracy theorist doug mastria

i'm jonathan lemire. >>> russia's failures on the battlefield in ukraine didn't stop moscow from flaunting its military might this morning. the annual victory day parade happening now commemorates the soviet victory over nazi germany. just wrapped up in moscow's red square. the celebration is taking on a new meaning this year as vladimir putin frames his invasion of ukraine as a means to defeat a new wave of so-called naziism. "the new york times" described the event as a quote claim of rightful dominance over a lost empire. a day to galvanize public support for the war by slandering ukraine as a successor to nazi germany. the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy joined western europe yesterday, to mark victory day in europe. he also marked it today, saying in part, very soon, there will be two victory days in ukraine and someone won't have any. who will win then, who will win now? and with the putin appearance in moscow, he did not declare victory and any advances in ukraine and did not announce escalation of the conflict. >>> on the ground in ukraine, the last of the civilians who wer

. >> jonathan lemire, we were talking about, we've been talking about this case obviously for a whilethe weekend. there was some protests outside the home of brett kavanaugh. somebody who many people believe still in play as someone who could help along with justice roberts moderate the language of alito's really harsh even by conservative standards harsh rhetoric in this leaked ruling. did the white house have any comment about the protests out of the homes, outside of the homes of justices in. >> yeah, those protests attracting a lot of attention. those protesting, look these are our lives and our bodies at stake, we'll do whatever it takes. the white house quiet over the weekend about it but just a few minutes ago jen psaki in her last week on the job just tweeted this. potus, president of the united states, strongly believes that the constitutional right to protest but that should never include violent, threats or vandalism. judges perform an incredibly important function in our society, and they must be able to do their jobs without concern for their personal safety. so not exact

it's jonathan lemire.den honored america's fallen heroes at arlington national cemetery yesterday, the president along with vice president kamala harris laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier before delivering remarks. the president focused his memorial day speech on the importance of democracy and the bravery of those willing to give their all to protect it. let's take a listen. >> today, as a nation, we undertake a sacred ritual. reflect and remember, because if we forget, the lives of each of those silent markers represent, mothers, fathers, spouses, siblings, children, if we forget what they sacrificed, what they made, so that our nation might endure, strong, free, united, then we forget who we are. >> yesterday, deeply personal day also for the president, the anniversary of his son beau. a veteran himself and former attorney general of the state of delaware. >>> joining us now, white house reporter for the los angeles times, my friend eli, he is an msnbc political analyst. eli, thanks for be

jonathan lemire, ukraine still needs support.tary and humanitarian as we can see on the streets of mariupol there and across the country. $40 billion worth of it passed through the house last night. it now moves to the senate. an overwhelming bipartisan vote in the house. what does it look like in the senate? and what has president biden done in that body to help push this through? >> willie, first on mariupol, some conflicting reports a day or so ago, we've been told that all the civilians out of that steel plant. now, that of that azov far right group said this is 100 or owe still there. we're watching that carefully. as far as the aid package goes. first of all, it was increased. the house voted for $40 billion the white house proposal was originally 33. and it now goes to the senate and the president of the united states just this week in a significant move said he would be in favor of decoupling the ukraine aid from the covid funding. now, we can talk about that another time. about how it doesn't make sense to dlal covid fun

i'm jonathan lemire. president biden says the u.s. military will defend taiwan, if china invades its island neighbor. speaking in tokyo this morning at a joint news conference, with japan's new prime minister, the president addressed the growing tensions in eastern asia. >> you didn't want to get involved in the ukraine conflict militarily, for obvious reasons, are you willing to get involved militarily to defend taiwan if it comes to that? >> yes. >> you are? >> that's the commitment we made. >> shortly after that news conference, the white house seemingly tried to clarify the president's remarks. writing in a statement, quote, the president reiterated our commitment to peace and stability across the taiwan strait. and to provide taiwan with the military means to defend itself. different than military involvement perhaps. and on the island, we will call it of course, this is far from the first time the white house has had to clarify something the president has said about international relations. >>> joining us now with reaction to th

i'm jonathan lemire. we start in buffalo, where president biden is expected to renew calls for national gun reform legislation during his visit there today. according to a white house official, the president will ask congress to take action against quote weapons of war, and curb access to guns for people with serious mental illness. this trip comes as information continues to surface about the alleged shooter in saturday's attack. a review of hundreds of pages of internet posts, nbc news reports the 18-year-old suspect was planning the attack for months and intended to continue the violence at other locations had he not been arrested. two possible plot, a black church in buffalo and an elementary school in the city. the author of the posts wrote that they were targeting the school because of its predominantly black student body which they found by looking up test scores online. after reportedly choosing to attack the buffalo supermarket, to kill those he called quote replacers, the "washington post" repor

i'm jonathan lemire. house speaker nancy pelosi visited ukraine over the weekend, becoming the highest-ranking u.s. official to do so since russia invaded more than two months ago. leading a congressional delegation, pelosi met with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy in kyiv on saturday. her visit came weeks after russian forces reportedly withdrew from the city, following a failed attempt to capture the ukrainian capital. after departing for neighboring poland, poland discussed with zelenskyy, and talked about the united states response to russia's aggression. >> do not be bullied by bullies. if they're making threats, you cannot back down. that's my view of it. that you were there for the, we're there for the fight, and you cannot, you cannot fold to a bully. >> the conversation with president zelenskyy is no surprise, not only his courage, and his leadership, but his detailed knowledge of every subject we brought up. >> zelenskyy also had praise for the house speaker whose secret visit to kyiv was

the host of "way too early," jonathan lemire. he is white house bureau chief at "politico." >> willie, we're going to get a lot of news here, but i must say, jonathan and i just shocked. a storied night in major league baseball last night, as the little engine that could just went a half notch up the hill and said, "i think i can." jonathan, give us a quick rundown. >> trevor story, the expensive offseason acquisition, is off to a slow start, hearing the boos at fenway. last night, not one, not two, but three home runs for mr. story. 7 rbi. red sox roll over the mariners. don't look now, playing a little better. they won two out of three against texas. won two out of three against the astros, despite the astros installing a drum at fenway park to beat any time they threw a pitch, so they knew what was coming, and they won last night. joe, it should be noted, though, though this plucky band of underdogs are capturing the nation's hearts and minds, there is still approximately 187 games behind the new york yankees. >> again, we know

jonathan lemire here.rom the ukrainians. i'd say it is not going to dictate what should be done there. i know, obviously, there are discussions back and forth with kyiv. you know, the state department. can you give us a sense as to where things stand? there had been halting peace talks in the early days of the war, not much since. what you're hearing from the ukrainians, is there any diplomatic solution here in the offer? >> well, i think the ukrainians would be interested in a diplomatic solution that protects their sovereignty and territorial integrity, but there needs to be an interlocutor on the other side. the russian government, president putin, in my opinion, isn't interested in diplomacy at this point. the russian government's rhetoric, its actions, committing atrociies across ukraine is not consistent with a country interested in a diplomatic solution at this point, which is why we've said that one person, one government, started this war, russia, president putin, and it is up to them to stop it.

"politico's" jonathan lemire is still with us. let's bring in michael steele.he past, we've had tragedies. oklahoma city, of course. the 16th street baptist church bombings. there was a revulsion by american citizenry. tha reaction to it, the tragedy of the 16th street baptist church, those bombings actually helped drive the civil rights movement forward. it woke up a lot of, as martin luther king would call them, moderate white americans. i'm curious, it seems we have one shooting after another, whether it's the targeting of jews at a synagogue in pittsburgh, the targeting of hispanics at a walmart in el paso, the targeting of black americans at a supermarket in buffalo. i'm not really seeing any sort of positive reaction against that hatred. what i'm seeing are republican leaders and talk show hosts on other networks actually dive into it even deeper. where are we as a nation? >> you know, i think it's fascinating to me you'd use the civil rights movement as an example. i was thinking all weekend -- you know, i wasn't around in 1961 when there were pictures o

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> the pennsylvania republican senate primary race is still too close to call. with dr. oz and david mccormick still neck and neck. now, donald trump, who endorsed oz, is back with the same election lies. we'll explain. >>> and president biden takes new steps to address the baby formula crisis. including invoking the same law that was used to increase production of medical supplies during the height of covid. we'll tell you what else is being done to get formula on the shelves. >>> and a market

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> a dramatic step forward in the investigation of the capital attack. as the january 6th committee subpoenas five sitting republican congressman, one of whom could very well be the next speaker of the house. we'll have all of the reaction. >>> plus, russia vows retaliation if finland joins nato. the question is what specifically is the kremlin considering. >>> also, the latest from ukraine, as the united nations steps up its war crimes investigation and confirms a horrific discovery near kyiv.

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> this is the fight over abortion.democrats face growing pressure to protect a woman's right to choose. >>> consider --

. >>> "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> young lives cut short. offering a glimpse of bright futures. >> eliana torres, a tuned and athlete never far from a softball field. >> there was fourth grader uziah garcia. third grader annabell guadalupe rodriguez killed in the same classroom as her cousin. ten-year-old xavier lopez, a fourth grader. jackie, eliahana, elly garcia. just some of the names and faces of the victims of that horrific school shooting in texas. we will hear more about the lives lost, including from a dad

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> new reporting on the role u.s.elligence is playing in ukraine, success on the battlefield including the sinking of russia's most lethal war ship. the concern by some u.s. officials about vladimir putin's response. >>> live reports from on the ground in ukraine. as intense fighting rages on inside of that steel plant in mariupol. >>> and senate democrats who don't have the numbers and are scheduled to vote anywhere to codify abortion rights into federal law. we will show you what key senators are saying about the legislation.

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> we're following developing news.dent biden arrived in south korea, just moments ago, for the first stop of a six-day trip in asia. he is experienced to tour a samsung factory with the south korean president just a short time ago. we will follow along with that event and set the stage for the rest of the visit, plus, the latest on the baby formula crisis. the biden administration says the first batch of formula from overseas is expected to arrive within days. we'll tell you where the first shipments will land. >>> and the latest headlines from the midterm

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> the majority of the american people believe in defending a woman's right to choice, to decide what happens to her own body. and this vote clearly suggests that the senate is where the majority of americans are on this issue. >> we are going to focus on this issue again and again and again between now and november. we are going to keep fighting and keep fighting and keep fighting. until we win. >> reaction from democrats after a bid to

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. ♪♪ >>> supreme court justice john roberts confirmedeak draft opinion that would overturn roe v. wade is, in fact, authentic. this morning, the latest reaction from the court, the white house and from congress. >>> plus, trump-backed jd vance wins the tightly-contested republican primary in ohio. and he will now face democratic congressman tim ryan in the buckeye state senate race. the question now is whether vance can unite his party behind him. >>> and breaking news overnight, comedian dave chappelle attacked while

jonathan lemire is still with us. contributor mike barnicle joins the conversation.joe, and me. also here at the table, pentagon press secretary, retired rear admiral john kirby. great to have you with us. >> great to have you here. >> morning. >> yesterday, we saw the prime minister of great britain give assurances to sweden and finland. that seemed like a precursor for what we're now hearing from finland. so we had asked the producers to pull that reel just to give people a bit of history about how big this is. >> yeah. >> barnicle and i can remember, you can remember, i'm serious, the cold war, the finlandization of this country or that country. meaning they stay completely neutral, lest they have the soviets invading them. talk about how big of a deal this is. >> it is historic, no question about that. for finland and also, you know, potentially for nato here. mr. putin, one of the things he said he didn't want was a strong nato in his western flank. he's getting that. it's actually growing in strength. it is growing in deterrence capability. look, i won't get ah

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"way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. ♪♪ >> do you take any responsibility for your >> i think our policies help not hurt. think about what they say. the vast majority of the economists think that this is going to be a real tough problem to solve but it's not because of spending. we brought down the deficit. the bottom line is how much does america owe? how much in the hole are we going? we're reducing that. >> president biden on defense over high consumer prices, saying inflation is a top

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