>> mark halpern? israeli or international pressure, that show some restraint on the part of the israeli government, or is the assumption now we will see a prolonged protracted military engagement? >> we have lost him. very long delay, obviously, so it's hard to communicate. we will try and get him back. we have one more update on foreign policy news for you. in iraq, a political fix appears just as far off as any military solution to the violence that threatens to divide the country along sectarian lines. lawmakers in baghdad will meet again this coming weekend after initially delaying five weeks the next sex of parliament. the country remains largely deadlocked who to nominate for the top three government jobs. sunni militants continue to drive forward in their campaign to carve out an islamic state in the region. a suicide bomber killed a top iraqi general yesterday in fighting that came within just ten miles of the capitol. joe, it seems like almost inevitable that something severe is going to have

mark halpern is still with us. of msnbc's "hardball" chris matthews and on the set is joy reed. good to have you with us. along with willie, joe, and me. joe, we begin this hour on politics unless you want to go to something else. >> got a lot of politics but i want to go to chris. a lot of breaking items this morning. we woke up to the news that hamas answered egypt's call for a cease-fire with more rockets so, obviously, the administration wakes up to that crisis this morning when we went to sleep things would work out a little bit better there. >>> a few minutes ago, it crossed the a.p. that it looks like the iran nuclear talks are breaking down. very real gaps according to john kerry. you, of course, have putin and the russians threatening ukraine yesterday. put this all into perspective for us. we asked dr. brzezinski a few days ago about the tumultuous times we live in. not exactly foreign policy meltdown but, my gosh, a lot of explosions across the globe at the same time. >> well, there is a lot of movement

mark halpern is still with us along with katty kay in washington. campaign strategist and msnbc political analyst steve schmidt and co-host of "the cycle" of msnbc, ari and in washington, host of "the daily rundown" mr. chuck todd. whoever is watching your plans for the fourth of july is less interesting than those of steve schmidt. i understand you're riding horses across iceland for the fourth of july? >> i am. my son and i. >> it sounds like i made that up but it is actually happening. >> it is. >> are you the most interesting man in the world? >> no. that guy. the whole hands comment, i have to agree. >> isn't that where they do game of thrones or are you trying to do a whole -- >> i could be ready for it when this is over. >> the founders originally -- >> yeah. look. you go out there. you ride for eight days. it's going to be great. >> what are you going to wear? >> i don't know yet. maybe i need to get a vikings outfit over there. >> a lot to talk to. >>> weather, several counties of north carolina under a state of emergency as hurricane arthu

with us on set, with we have pulitzer prize winner jon meacham and msnbc contributing mark halpern. od morning, mark. >> good morning, mika. >> get on over here. >> 3-2-1. >> hello, thomas. how are you? >> great. thanks. >> you're very chipper on "way too early." i'm with you on that. it's nice. i like watching. in washington, senior political editor and white house correspondent for the huffington post sam stein, along with me

with us on set, senior political editor and white house huffington, sam stein and mark halpern and formere rnc, michael steele. down in washington for us the washington anchor for bbc, world news america, the great katty kay. good morning. good to see you. >> good morning. i wish i could have been up there but the weather kept me away. >> i saw you tweeting last

and mark halpern, you were talking about predictions before the show. tear about predictions and one in particular that you found interesting. >> well, just on any given sunday, any team can win predicting this stuff as yogi berra will tell you, prediction is difficult especially about the future. on the internet a lot of criticism of the good folks at 527 and nate silver for tripling down on their brazil over germany pick. >> hard to predict sports with statistics. >> what was the percentage -- like, brazil have, like, what? >> i think 63.285 chance of beating germany according to 527. variables there aren't amenable to 527. >> sport and politics. human beings. >> human beings. >> don't always behave rationally. >> that game is talked about 50, 60 years from now and keep comparing the stats with that. an incredible game. >>> coming up next, mika's must read opinion pages. she is going over it right now. cu don't go away. we will be right back with more "morning joe." in new york state, we're changing the way we do business, with startup ny. we've creat

. >> mark halpern, thank god you're back. we have some politics to talk to you about this morning. host of "way too early," thomas roberts. >> hello. >> in washington, national security correspondent for "the new york times" david singer with new reporting this morning out of eastern ukraine. t.j. is back. you're not going to look good, nor am i this morning. >> none of us are but that is okay. there is t.j. looking good, t.j., nice and rested. i wish we could all take vacations. i'm going to go on from there. >>> how was your weekend, mika? did you have an uneventful or exciting weekend? >> no. >> what happened? >> i had a weekend that had to do with the trials and tribulations of raising teens. that's all i'm going to say. >> it happens to all of us. >> i'm not sure. >> you should take a vacation some time. >> i'm not sure i'll make it through this period of time. is all i'm going to say. >> it's not that much different from coming to work? >> love my girls. they are so much different. >>> we want to get to some of the political stories going on. over the weekend, israeli agreed