and msnbc contributor, janine pierre. >> we need to try something out. you on the button there, you ready. i want to get your take, mike barnicle. >> oh, hi. >> on that opening scene where you had a presidential spokesperson saying that, no, they weren't even considering any sort of tax cut, and then of course it changing very quickly. mike what do you think? >> it's great, we're watching the president of the united states literally talk himself into a recession. he changes his mind about things multiple times a day. yesterday was crazy. >> that's enough. >> yeah. that's great. thanks, mike. >> thank you, willie. good to see you. >> i think that graphic, i think that makes all the difference in the world.

>> okay. welcome to the new age of "morning joe." how you doing today, willie? >> doing great. yesterday was a hell of a day, i mean, you started with the payroll tax, but there are about 15 different stories that in any other administration would be a scandal that lasted for weeks and months. it was incredible and i think we're about to lay them out. >> and i think the most incredible part is, for me at least, you adopt trump saying, you know what, let's get russia back into the ga. never mind the fact that the guy i pointed to run the fbi, the one to run the cia, dni, everybody involved. >> history. >> kirstjen nielsen, everybody, pompeo, everybody said russia's trying to undermine american democracy. let's get them into ga, and blame it on obama that they left, in fact when it was because they were shooting down

commercial aircrafts and inkr invading sovereign countries. the president of the united states said i think we're going to leave afghanistan and let the russians go back in there. it didn't work out well. if they want to go back in, they can, mind you, it was donald trump who also said the russians can go back into the middle east and they did. first time since 1973, and that is causing us problems every single day, so i would love for trump defenders, i would love for the vice president, i would love for anybody who was hoping to seek the presidency after donald trump leaves office. would love for them to come out and explain to the rest of us what they're seeing. >> and explain especially to conservatives who have always pushed back on russian aggression while this president wants to let russia in the ga when they're still trying to undermine american democracy,

why moscow mitch is stopping along with the president of the united states, any efforts to protect american democracy, and moscow mitch killing every bill going through the senate and why the president of the united states now wants to seed afghanistan to the russians. >> i would love that explanation. i don't think we'll get it. mike pence will just bob his head and say gee whiz and glad he's in des moines instead of denmark, say stupid things like that, but if you want to run this country in the future, you're going to have to explain whose side you are on. >> because the facts as they hold together and you analyze them, the explanation that comes to mind is very disturbing. we're going to get to all of that. >> that's the thing, mika. >> yeah. >> they don't like the explanation that vladimir putin may be holding something over donald trump's head. they don't like the explanation that donald trump is so driven by greed that it's all about him making money now.

when he gets out of office off of russian oil money. the question is this, you provide the explanation, why the president of the united states yesterday said we'll seed afghanistan over to russia. it didn't work out well before. if they want to go in there now, that's fine. no american president, especially after 9/11 would have ever said that. liz cheney has an op-ed telling the president of the united states don't make the mistake of cutting and running and turning it over to al qaeda, and why is he so desperate to get russia back into the ga when again, all of the intel chiefs that he appointed, these aren't barack obama's intel chiefs. all of these intel chiefs are saying russia is trying to subvert american democracy right now, and something needs to be done about it, but donald trump and mitch mcconnell together are

killing all of these bills and of course we have heard about the russian oligarchs who are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in kentucky. >> what's that about? >> i don't know. >> it's so weird. >> is there a connection there. i don't know, i want an explanation, why is this happening, why is america being exposed to russia the way it is. american democracy, and i know there are republicans in kentucky, independents in kentucky. there are democrats in kentucky. there are people across america that want the answer to that question, and it's going to keep getting asked. >> the name moscow mitch sticks for some reason. it just sticks, it becomes a hash tag. why does it stick. i think you're asking a good question. we're going to get to all of that in just a moment. but first, this happened, president trump called off his upcoming trip to denmark after its prime minister rebuffed his interest in buying greenland. trump tweeted denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on prime

minister mette fredericksen's comments that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of greenland, i will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time. the sudden move came days after trump told reporters that owning greenland would be strategically important for the united states. meanwhile, "the washington post" reports that senior administration officials had discussed possibility of offering denmark a deal in which the u.s. would take over its annual $600 million subsidy to greenland in perpetuity as well as giving denmark a large one time payment, according to two people familiar with the talks. both danish and greenland officials have said in recent days the island is not for sale. even the president himself said on sunday that it wasn't that serious. >> strategically it's

interesting and we'd be interested but we'll talk to them a little bit. it's not number one on the burner, i can tell you that. >> so willie, again, the truth is like mercury, it just sort of slides around with this administration. we saw they weren't interested in the payroll tax cut, three hours later, why, of course, yes, we have been considering a payroll tax cut. denmark, no, no, no, we weren't looking at denmark seriously, now the president of the united states is saying we're cancelling denmark because they're not going to sell greenland. >> this entire conversation is insane. i couldn't tell if he was kidding, then i remembered it was donald trump, he's talking about buying a sovereign country and cancelling a bilateral meeting, a visit to denmark because the prime minister of denmark wouldn't acquiesce and take seriously the idea that he

ought to have a shot at least to make a bid on groeenland. this is actually happening and it's real. >> i can't decide if we should be talking about this seriously or just laughing because it's so delusional, but can you imagine if another foreign leader said, you know, hawaii's pretty nice, those are some great islands and i like to surf, it would help our tourism portfolio, we're going to buy, what's the price, donald trump, what's the price on hawaii. >> he's a real estate broker. >> he probably would, but this is just like all of donald trump's ideas, it's such a blast from the past. president truman proposed annexing greenland after world war ii. donald trump, maybe we need a little bit more innovation and looking forward to 2046 instead of 1946. >> so elise asks a really good question, mika, and that is

should we be covering this. well, of course we decided yesterday not to cover it that much because it wasn't serious. it seemed to be a joke. but when you have the united states of america cancelling bilateral meetings. >> oh, my god. >> based on a harebrained idea in a way that, again, not only impacts our relationship with that country but also causes even deeper concerns across europe and the rest of the world that the president of the united states does not seem to be warned, that suddenly becomes an important news story. >> now to what joe was talking about at the top, president trump continues to believe russia should be readmitted into the g7. russia was expelled from the group in 2014 after its illegal annexation of crimea and downing a civilian airplane. yesterday, trump renewed his call to readmit the country and

claimed president obama was the true reason for its expulsion. >> so it was the g8 for a long time, and now it's the g7, and a lot of the time we talk about russia, we're talking about russia because i've gone to numerous g7 meetings, and i guess president obama, because putin outsmarted him, president obama thought it wasn't a good thing to have russia in, so he wanted russia out so i could certainly see it being the g8 again, and if somebody would make that motion, i would certainly be disposed to think about it favorably. most of the time it was the g8, it included russia, and president obama didn't want russia in because he got outsmarted. that's not the way it really should work. >> the trump administration has accused russia of interfering in syria, and venezuela, conducting

illegal activity in crimea. >> they have. >> attempting to assassinate a former spy in the uk. >> check, they have. >> violating a cold war era arms treaty. >> you know, they did that too. >> and helping north korea violate sanctions in addition to moscow's past and present interference in america's political system. >> still doing it. >> but sure, let's get back in the g8. there's got to be an explanation for that. >> and all of a sudden that is barack obama's fault. and president trump said he would welcome russia going back into afghanistan. >> the soviet union became russia because of afghanistan. that's what happened. they became russia because of afghanistan. somebody would say, oh, well, would russia go in. if they want let them, i think they tried that before, however,

didn't work out too well. >> anybody that has studied and certainly conservatives across america and the world have studied the history of the soviet union, its collapse, most trace it back to reykjavik, and no one has said of any note that it was afghanistan alone that caused the collapse of the soviet union. mike barnicle, though, donald trump as we said is ignorant of constitutional norms, he's ignorant of american history, ignorant of world history. my gosh, anybody that suffered through his explanation of kashmir, understands that. make it stop. here donald trump is talking about how we should welcome russia because into afghanistan

just like he was fine with russia going back into the middle east for the first time in 1973 and syria. that has caused so many problems. talk to our generals, or add mi -- admirals, military leaders, that has caused so many problems with syria, iran, with israel, our ally. why does the president on the same day say, because i have no explanation for it, why does the president on the same day say admit russia into the g8, make it the g8 again, and admit russia after of course russia is trying to disrupt american democracy, and also let russia walk into afghanistan. what's going on here, mike, do you have an explanation because i don't. >> i don't, joe, other than the fact that there's only two people probably on earth who knows why he says these things about russia one of them is vladimir putin, and the other is

donald trump. there is something there. there is something always there when we talks about russia, and in those clips he played. >> mike, do you remember what kevin mccarthy who now is trump's chief prop begaganda on capitol hill, he warned others that he believed strongly that donald trump had been bought off, had been paid off along with dana rohrbacker by the russian government. >> i was just curious. >> i do recall that. in those clips we played, joe, you can really understand in retrospect why general mattis just quit. he had to leave. you cannot be surrounded by such abnormalities coming out of the mouth of the president of the united states on a consistent, daily, multiple times a day basis. we cannot make it normal but there's a new normalcy when you see the president multiple times

a day saying things that are absolutely, not only wrong but crazy. >> and can i just add to that. >> by the way, line that up. >> the comments on afghanistan are particularly inappropriate in the days following a horrible suicide bomb that killed 63 afghans at a funeral. at the time we're in the middle of trying to broker a contentious and continuous piece that plenty of afghans don't want to go along with and we're trying to withdraw from the country, and you have donald trump talking about bringing russia back to afghanistan. it's as if he has no context of the larger picture and one of the most important diplomatic processes ongoing right now that he should ostensibly be overseeing. >> you know, willie, i always

told my kids some basic things, if something seems to be too good to be true, it is, and also if things don't make sense, there's a good reason. let's overlay what we heard from the president yesterday with helsinki where he said he trusted an ex-kgb agent more than his own department of homeland security director, director of national intelligence, that the trusted their assessment more than his intel community's assessment, that he trusted vladimir putin more than he trusted the u.s. military's intelligence, and then you even go back to our show in december, mid-december of 2015 when donald trump said that vladimir putin was a great leader and a strong leader, somebody that he had great respect for, unlike barack

obama, vladimir putin was a strong leader, and unfazed by the fact that when we brought up the fact that vladimir putin kills journalists, kills politicians he disagrees with, and is an autocrat, and that history continues and yesterday was another chapter in the dark history. >> that was during the campaign. now he's the president of the united states sitting in the oval office, commenting about the previous resident of the white house rgs the man who -- white house, suggesting that his predecessor was out maneuvered by putin, which is a misrepresentation of what happened. he either doesn't know or is deliberately misstating what happened to take the side of vladimir putin and while doing it, taking a shot at the previous president of the united states. meanwhile, careen, president trump speak with the head of the national rifle association

yesterday. details of that latest conversation, revealing the influence the organization has on the president. according to "the new york times," president trump spoke with wayne lapierre, the chief executive of the nra for at least 30 minutes yesterday. times reporting the call ended the way lapierre hoped it would, warning of the radical steps he said democrats wanted to take in violation of the second amendment. >> we have very very strong background checks right now, but we have sort of missing areas and areas that don't complete the whole circle and we're looking at different things, and i have to tell you that it is a mental problem and i've said it a hundred times. it's not the gun that pulls the trigger it's the person that pulls the trigger. these are sick people. >> in less than two weeks, president trump has gone for calling for quote intelligent background checks to argues the u.s. has strong background checks. yesterday he contradicted a

point he made just 12 days ago. >> look, the nra has over the years taken a tough stance on everything, and i understand it. you know, it's a slippery slope. they think you'll prove one thing, and that leads to a lot of bad things. i don't agree with that. >> they call it the slippery slope, and all of a sudden everything gets taken away. we're not going to let that happen. >> careekarine, that's from way lapierre's mouth, who knows what comes next, maybe the government seizes your guns. the president talked about being open to universal background checks, which we'll say again for the one million time, popular among republicans and gun owners, now walking away from those as well after a couple of mean phone calls from wayne lapierre. >> not only is donald trump a

pu puppet for putin. he's a puppet for the nra, if anybody thought donald trump was actually going to do something about this, that it was delusional thinking. it was never going to happen. we have seen this over and over again during his administration when he see a horrible massacre, gun violence. he says one thing, the nra gets to him, and he turns back around. the nra spent $30 million on donald trump's election in 2016. he is in their pocket, and the sad thing about it is this isn't a partisan issue. when you look at the polling for background checks, it's at 90%. people want to move forward with universal background checks. it's incredibly important. people don't want to see the gun violence at schools, at malls, at their church. people are dying. it's an epidemic. 62% of american people want a ban on assault weapons. we are there.

this is no longer a democrat issue, a republican issue, as it comes to voters. clearly it is on the hill, in congress, but when it comes to voters, they want to see this stop. let's remember what's happening right now. parents are sending their kids to school, and they're buying bullet proof backpacks for their kids. i mean, this is what's happening right now in this country. it is an epidemic, and donald trump needs to do something. mitch mcconnell needs to do something. enough is enough. voters here of parents, people in this country do not want to see this anymore. they want the gun violence to stop. >> this is one of the greatest illustrations as to why americans hate washington, and why they hate washington politicians. >> exactly. because before trump nothing happened. >> you have almost nine out of ten republicans, 89% of republicans supporting expanded background checks. the president of the united

states saying he was going to support expanded background checks because of course 90% of republicans supported it. he then talked to a lobbyist in washington, d.c. who, by the way, is in the middle of scandals, who a lot of people believe built millions and millions of dollars from nra members across america and he talks to a d.c. lobbyist and karine, he's willing to ignore 90% of republicans. >> yeah. >> actually even higher number support background checks to keep guns out of the hands of terrorists. to keep guns ouch tt of the hanf domestic abusers, people who are mentally unfit to have firearms and again, this is one of the starkest examples i have ever seen where a d.c. lobbyist, you

know, his board tried to bill $6 million from dues paying members to buy a mansion for him that donald trump listens to that d.c. lobbyist instead of listening to conservatives, republicans, democrats, and even nra members. >> that's exactly right, joe, and i'm going to be fair here. in february hr 8 was passed in a bipartisan measure out of the house. it was a bipartisan measure to pass hr 8, which is universal background epidemic can, righch. everybody was on agreement. it's sitting in the senate. it's mitch mcconnell who needs to move forward and donald trump. there was a bipartisan effort there. but here's the thing, when you're talking about these nra lobbyists or these lobbyists, they're picking money over people's lives. money over people's lives. you know, and the other thing, too, about it, joe, is we have a

president who stands behind the podium, right, the white house seal on that podium and dwoivid this country, right, ensues hate, and what have we seen in the last couple of years, we have seen an increase in hate crimes, you know, with white nationalists, with niknee owe gt s -- neo-nazis. people are getting hurt because of the hate that this president is espousing, and it's leading into what we're seeing right now. >> mika, the president got $30 million from the nra for his last campaign in 2016. he wants their money again. he needs reelection again, so ka ka karine is right about that and also right about the delusion that the president was going to do something. he did the same thing after p g

parkland, universal background checks make sense to me, a late night meeting, he flipped completely. it will happen after the next shooting, and we shouldn't believe it either. >> he had victims visit the white house, he went to go victims each time, and victimized them again by doing nothing and not keeping his word. >> mika, can you believe how weak he is that he actually is so scared of a d.c. lobbyist who's disconnected from his own membership, who many people believe has been stealing from thiz own membership to buy, what, hundreds of thousands of dollars in italian suits, looking at a $6 million mansion, but donald trump is so weak that he makes a promise to the american people. >> to victims. >> a promise that 95% of americans would support, and then he gets a phone call from a lobbyist and he complete caves. he completely buckles. the weakness, i don't think i have ever seen a president of

the united states so weak and so cowardly in the face of just one unpopular lobbyist. but that's what we have right now with donald trump. >> still ahead on "morning joe," donald trump has been talking a lot suggesting yesterday that any jewish people who vote for democrats are quote showing great disloyalty. >> boy, that sounds familiar. >> the reaction to that as you can imagine was intense. plus, we've got lots of 2020 including an exclusive first look at joe biden's brand new campaign video, plus the former vice president is asked what his wife meant when she said democrats have to swallow a little bit and vote for him, even if they prefer another candidate's positions. you're watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. they have been having these talks for hundreds of years,

even under different names, it's kashmir, and it is a complicated place, you have the hindus and the muslims and i wouldn't say they get along so great, and that's what you have right now. chair is just a chair. that a handle is just a handle. or... that you can't be both inside and outside. most people haven't driven a lincoln. it's the final days of the lincoln summer invitation event. right now get 0% apr on all lincoln vehicles plus no payments for up to 90 days. only at your lincoln dealer. spending time together, sometimes means doing nothing at all.

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welcome back, president trump seemed to take his anger toward muslim congresswoman rashida tlaib and ilhan omar a step further placing blame on jewish americans for voting democrats into office. here was his response when asked about the congresswoman's suggestion to reevaluate foreign aid given to israel. >> i would not cut off aid to israel and i can't believe we're having this conversation.

five years ago, the concept of even talking about this, even three years ago, of cutting off aid to israel because of two people that hate israel and hate jewish people, i can't believe we're even having this conversation. where is the democratic party gone, where have they gone, where they're defending these two people over the state of israel. and i think any jewish people that vote for a democrat, i think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty. >> "the new york times" notes that quote trump did not go into specifics about what he considered to be jews' disloyalty, but the anti-semitic smear that jews have a loyal ty. joining us now, john meachum, an

nbc news, and msnbc contributor. >> john, jewish groups predictably, and rightfully, attacking the president for using an anti-semitic trope. there is a long and sorted history of anti-semitism across america, across europe, where jews have been attacked for being insufficiently disloyal. the president of the united states used that anti-semitic trope yesterday, accusing about 75, 80% of jews in america of being quote disloyal. >> and what we have yet again is an example where the president's acting in contradiction to the best parts of american

tradition, not always observed and are following that tradition. when we're at our best, we have found a way for religious liberty to really be at the center of our republican, lower case r, conversation. before james madison did anything, he wrote into the virginia state constitution the idea that we would not simply be religiously tolerant, which presupposed that there was a power that tolerated others, but that we would fight for religious liberty. the freedom to worship or not worship, and the entire point of the american identity in the best sense is not ethnicity, it's not race, it's not birthplace, it's an ascent to an idea, right, and here we have the president of the united states once again instead of emphasizing what sets us apart, trying to break us apart. >> julia, all until the service of politics, he's trying to make

some political point to make these congresswomen the face of the democratic party, but in doing so, as joe said, the numbers from pugh are 79% of american jews voted democratic in the 2018 midterm elections. disloyal to whom, it's not totally clear, america or israel or perhaps to both. >> well, i think to both, but i think it does call into question american jewish loyalty, and as joe pointed out, this trope as a long and sorted history. my family suffered for it mildly in the soviet union after the foundation of the state of israel. this created the kind of anticosmopolitan campaign by joseph stalin, they have a homeland, why are they in the soviet union or suspected of being loyal to another country but you know what else has a long and sorted history is donald trump playing footsie

with anti-semites. we dealt with this during the campaign in 2016 when he refused to condemn his fans that attacked jewish journalists. when he ran the closing ad of his campaign, which was basically kind of the greatest hits of the elders of zion, when he re-tweeted the photo shopped image of hillary clinton with the star of david with a pile of money, and deflected and said it was an illusion to frozen. during the charlottesville event, when people were chanting jews will not replace us. the trope has a history and so does donald trump. >> that's what's been so fascinating and disturbing over the past several months. donald trump is actually attacking democratic congresswomen for being

anti-semitic when he has trotted out anti-semitic tropes throughout his entire political campaign. again, you look at that hillary clinton ad that he re-tweeted, the attack of hillary clinton talking about jewish money, trying to buy off the united states government. that lies right at the heart of anti-semitic tropes. again, for decades, for generations, for centuries, for centuries, this is exactly how jews have been attacked not only in the soviet union but in germany, across the world that they are quote, insufficiently loyal. >> well, joe, you know, this again is just part of the premeditated ignorance on the part of the president of the united states. he says these things, i firmly

believe with a plan, a plot in his mind to further divide the country on an every day basis on either race or religion or fear, and john meachum, i'm wondering if you have any thoughts on perhaps right now an unanswerable question and the question is with all of this rhetoric spewing out of the president's mouth multiple times a day, how long do you think it will take for this republic to heel and to repair the damage that he's already done to us, the american people, to our country, and to our image and who we are to countries abroad. how long is it going to take to repair that? and can it be repaired? >> yeah, i think it can, and i think blessedly, we're a very resilient country. when we have come through enormous crisis before, we have, in fact, gotten to a place that is still worth defending. remember, nobody in the past

stood around saying everything's perfect now, we don't need to change anything. that's never happened since the garden of eden. there's never been a moment where people have decided history should now stop. that's important to remember. i also have to say, are you going to trademark premedicated ignorance because i want it as a title maybe. >> take it. it's yours. >> it might be the title of my memoir. or a good country song. but anyway, i do think there's a resilience. what i worry about to go to the more troubling part of your question, i ran into somebody the other day who his daughter had adopted a child from central america, about 8 years old, i think, who had sort of picked up some of this in the atmosphere and asked her adoptive mother, does this -- after one of these comments about i don't know if

it was the countries or go back, said does the president not like me. does the president not like me because she was brown, and that's a very troubling, deeply deeply troubling because you have a whole generation. remember, there's a generation that grew up under barack obama, and there's a generation who grew up under george w. bush, and bill clinton, and there were always issues there but you do have a generation that's, again, in the atmosphere and i don't mean to overly sentimentalize anything, in the atmosphere, they now see american public life and the presidency as this constant source of contention, this constant source of strife, and this constant instinct to divide, and so they're going to have -- their central narrative that they came to the party with, so to speak is not going

to be one that's going to have faith in these institutions. that worries me a lot. >> and you're not being overly sentimental when you talk about that. my concern for some time, and any parent's concern that thinks about it would be what happens to the 6-year-old american girl whose parents practice islam. that goes to school, that goes to first grade and it is subject to abusive attacks there. what happens to the hispanic child who sees the president, you know, calling his panipanic breeders and attacking hispanics the way he does. what happens to a 14-year-old hispanic girl who may be in a predominantly white high school, what sort of abuse does she receive? what happens to a 7-year-old

jewish kid who of course, with anti-semitism being encouraged by the president of the united states, with his anti-semitic tropes which have been used, again, for centuries. julia, we were talking about a list of the president's antese metti -- anti-semitic tropes. this is a reminder of what jewish republicans heard from the president during an event in 2015. >> i'm in a different position than the other candidates because i'm the one candidate, i don't want any of your money, i want your support, but i don't want your money. again, i don't want your money, therefore you're probably not going to support me because stupidly you want to give money. trump doesn't want money. i believe the iran deal. we're negotiators, we don't build gas stations in the middle of as you know, afghanistan, for 43 million. how many think you could have done it for less. would you raise your hand. you want to renegotiate deals. some of us renegotiate deals.

is there anybody that doesn't renegotiate deals in this room. perhaps more than any room i have ever spoken to. maybe more. >> jews money, money, jews, disloyal. it's unbelievable. >> dig up his closing ad of 2016, it plays like the visualized version of the protocols of the elders of zion, the shadowy hand of jewish financiers running our politics and sucking the blood of the common man. it's really something. on top of these, you know, proverbial children you mentioned going to school and experiencing mocking or bullying at school, which we know is happening, there are other more fatal consequences of this. we have had shootings at mosques, at synagogues, at the el paso walmart where a shooter was specifically targeting

hispanics. these are people who are echoing donald trump's rhetoric, who are praising him in their manifestos before they go in and kill people. you know, the adl, the antidefamation league has noted a spike in anti-semitic hate crimes in 2017 that rose further than at any point during their record keeping and what was 2017, it was the first year of donald trump in office, and the president's going to hide again behind his jewish son-in-law and his jewish daughter but i think we all need to keep our eye on the ball, and realize that he is feeding a lot of this anti-semitic violence, islam phobic violence, and antiblack violence, and it's only going to get worse. honestly i think we're seeing him trot out his 2020 reelection strategy and it's only going to get worse. >> absolutely. jon meachum, thank you so much for being on this morning and julia, stay with us, you've

spent the summer following elizabeth warren on the campaign trail, and you have new reporting on how she plans to take on president trump in 2020. we'll talk about that next on "morning joe." 2020. we'll talk about that next on "morning joe." announcer: fidelity is redefining value with zero account fees for brokerage accounts. and zero minimums to open an account. at fidelity those zeros really add up. ♪ maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. and this is me now! any physical changes to this man's appearance are purely coincidental. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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the crowd at elizabeth warren's rally in st. paul, minnesota, they were seeing double when warren came face to face with her look alike while taking selfies after her town hall on monday night. oh, my gosh. look at that. in case you haven't figured it out, the real elizabeth warren is definitely on the right, while her doppelganger is on the left. how fun. we're back speaking with correspondent for gq magazine, julia iofi this morning. she's out with a new piece for the magazine entitled, the summer of warren, which goes inside the 2020 presidential

campaign as she continues to climb in the poll. julia, i'm wondering if you have seen firsthand in depth what i have seen which is just a woman with a message who won't stop working it. >> well, first of all, that woman stole my halloween costume. >> oh, boy. >> you know, what i found fascinating about watching elizabeth warren surge this summer is her plans. you would think that after hillary clinton's loss in 2016 the lesson for democrats would be you cannot beat this guy on policy, and what elizabeth warren is giving us is policy policy policy and more policy, and i think it's really resonating because i think after two and a half years of a man who maybe wants to buy greenland, start a war with australia, doesn't know where stuff is, this sounds actually

very appeal sg. >> hey there, julia. as you have laid out, elizabeth warren has done a very disciplined campaign, incredibly impressive, an effective messenger, i think the next step for her now is how does she lay out her case to beating donald trump. and what does that look like for her, especially when now she's creeping up on joe biden who's making that case on how he can win and beat donald trump. what's elizabeth warren's strategy there? >> well, i think she's showing, you know, the sharpness of her teeth, and the sharpness of her elbows, especially on the debate stage. you saw in the second debate how she went at john delaney, when he kept saying, this isn't re realistic, and we don't have money for this, and that's not going to work, and she went at him, right for the jugular, what's the point of running for president if you're just going to tell people what you can't do, and you saw her gleefully rubbing her hands, she's showing people she's a very nice lady

but she's not going to take any good enough from anybody. she said at a rally in detroit, a lot of people, you know, are asking her, how are you going to beat this guy. you know, you have these great plans but you have to get into the oval office to even try to implement them, and she says you don't back down from a bully. she's getting this question, and kind of figuring out how to address this head on and to show that she is both smart and tough. >> julia, it's willie, what's the reaction out on the campaign trail. you went through the mid western states with senator warren to what some of her opponents have called sort of the fantasy policies, medicare for all, for example, and her proposal to eliminate private insurance in this country. how does that play among the voters you have seen? >> you know, it's really amazing even when you go with her to places where there's a very cool reception at first. by the end, she has everybody up on her feet cheering and it's interesting that she has kind of tapped into this same kind of

populist anger that donald trump has tapped into or that he tapped into in 2016, with such great effect. she's essentially doing the same. even her, you know, manufacturing policy, which she rolled out in detroit, she said that she is going to follow a policy of economic patriotism, going after countries she said are disloyal to harken to our earlier segment and this is something that got praise from tucker carlson on fox news, and i think she's tapping into this anger of the little guy on the left or the little guy who can be drawn over to the left with some of these plans to go after the big guys, the banks, the private equity companies, you know, the millionaires who don't pay enough taxes, the subsidies for oil and gas. when she talks about subsidies for oil and gas companies, the room explodes, people go crazy at that line. >> and julia, i guess to follow up specifically, what kind of energy did you see for elizabeth

warren in, say, wisconsin? i feel like wisconsin is just such a pivotal state in the upcoming election, and how was the energy surrounding her visit and do you think that the passion was there for her candidacy? >> you know, there were most of the people who were there were warren curious, they weren't warren die hards, a lot of them were former bernie supporters, a few were former hillary supporters, but again, by the end of her stump speech, she has everybody riled up and super excited and, you know, it's always interesting to talk to people before she starts speaking and the same people after she speaks. some people are still kind of on the fence when she's done speaking but for the most part, they were just blown away by her. it's amazing to watch her energy which feels very authentic and genuine which is another thing american voters love, like they're picking a prom queen or

king. her message resonates and she gets people really excited. >> julia ioffe, we'll be reading your new piece for gq, thank you very much. >> thank you. and still to come this morning on "morning joe." >> we're not politicians, we're coal miners. >> i voted for trump. sure did. >> and how do you feel about the progress? >> well, i'm kind f up in t-- k up in the air. >> coal miners are fighting for the pensions and getting no help from presiden heidi prisbilla has that ahead for us on "morning joe." a has td for us on "morning joe." ♪

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interesting, and we'd be interested but we'll talk to them a little bit. it's not number one on the

burner, i can tell you that. >> president trump called off his upcoming trip to denmark after its prime minister rebuffed his interest in buying greenland. >> look, the nra has taken a very very tough stance on everything. and i understand it. it's a slippery slope. they think you'll prove one thing and that leads to a lot of bad things. i don't agree with that. >> you know, they call it the slippery slope, and all of a sudden everything gets taken away. we're not going to let that happen. >> is a payroll tax cut being considered. >> it's not being considered at this time. >> payroll taxes, i have been thinking about payroll taxes for a long time. >> donald trump tweeting when a country is losing many billions of dollars on trade with every country it does business with, trade cars are good and easy to win. >> by the way, i never side china was going to be easy. it's not tough. they want to make a deal. >> we will be able to immediately repeal and replace obamacare. >> i never said repeal and

replace obama care. >> and yes, we will build a wall and you're right, mexico will pay for the wall. >> when during the campaign, i would say mexico's going to pay for it. obviously i never said this and i never meant they're going to write out a check. >> special prosecutor, here we come, right. we're going to appoint a special prosecutor. >> president trump tweeted yesterday morning, he said this, the appointment of a special counsel is totally unconstitutional. >> you know, willie, short-term memory loss is a sad thing. i think maybe we need to get a momento solution where mick mulvaney can go around taking polaroids of everything the president does, he can write on them, and he can just hand them a stack of the polaroids, just

like in momento and that way, i think it's a workable solution because he obviously forgets what he just said a day ago. >> or get the tattoo, you know, all over your body. >> yeah. >> it's an extraordinary thing. i think they call it gaslighting in the business, where someone says something quite plainly and a short time later says i didn't say the thing you thought i said. i was just reading the book animal farm for my daughter, i read it along with her. it's all right there. i didn't say that, the thing you think you heard, you didn't hear that, and now we're hearing it from the president of the united states. >> yeah, mike barnicle, we live in an age of video. we live in an age of transcripts, and i must say, with the president of the united states changing his tune every day, every week, every month,

his supporters had to suspend belief to an extraordinary degree to stay in there with donald trump, and yet, 40% of americans are still doing that. >> or joe, they could rely on the wisdom of one of america's greatest philosophers, richard pryer, you're going to believe me or your lying eyes. that's what we do every single day, multiple times a day. we just saw the clips from his campaign, from the presidency, every day, there are multiple things that he says that are in direct contradiction to something he said before. i would like to get back to one point that was evidenced in the clips that we just showed, and i'm wondering, how does any human being and we're talking about the president of the united states now, how does any human being confront and try to console parents from parkland, after those shootings, in the hospital, in el paso, after those shootings just recently.

commit to doing something, looking them in the eye. commit to doing something about the tragedies that took their children, their wives, whoever close to them and their family, and then a few days later, completely renege on what he said to those victims, how do you do that? >> and that is actually, elise, it happens so much that his supporters have to know what he's doing. it's his mo after parkland. he called survivors into the white house. he said he was going to move on that. he then backed off of that, didn't move on it, when wayne lapierre told him not to. on immigration, he called senators into the white house. he told dianne feinstein, you'll come up with a plan on immigration reform, i will sign that bill. you could talk about the racist cha chants, the fascist chants in

north carolina, with send her back, send her k back, donald trump sat there for 10, 11, 12 seconds, the next day he was forced when republicans attacked those chants, he was forced to try to clean it up and the day after that he said, no, no, i'm not going to criticize those people, those are good people. he does that all the time. and again, i must say, his supporters know he's lying at this point. it's all on video and they all see it. and yet they choose for whatever reason to continue supporting him. >> it seemed like at one point, perhaps donald trump had a few core beliefs, and some of them differed with historical republican orthodoxy, he did seem like he was for reasonable gun control. we see that's not true. he's going to go with whatever

is politically expedient. on so many different issues, immigration, where he could have cut a deal, you never see donald trump actually doing anything. the only thing he's managed to do his entire presidency are the tax cuts that have ballooned, the deficit, and so now he's talking about more tax cuts. it's just a bunch of talk without any action, and at some point, isn't just the blatant incompete incompete incompetent -- incompetency of an administration using their power to leverage any kachange, when is that politically going to catch up with donald trump is what i'm wondering. >> and mika, it's amazing, i'm so glad elise brought for the f controlled the house, he controlled the senate, he controlled the courts and his main campaign, he has broken so many campaign promises, giving

health care to everybody, i can go through the health care lies, social security and medicare lies, i can go through the lies, i won't. i focus on what his punch line was, what he always said when he felt the crowd was dying down, he was going to build a wall in mexico. of course that's a lie. mexico is never paying for a wall, and secondly republicans wouldn't even pay for the wall for two years. you have quotes are lindsey graham saying a wall didn't make sense. john cornyn in texas, up for reelection who's got a little bit of a southern border in his state, he understands it, he said it wasn't going to work. one republican after another said the wall wasn't going to work. it made no sense at all, that there were much smarter ways to protect the southern border and so donald trump again made a promise. he didn't get it done. and you do wonder why anybody is still supporting him, who has

broken all of the promises he made, and major promises he made during the 2016 campaign. >> along with elise and mike, we have senior adviser at move on.org, careen je -- karine jea and jake sherman, and washington bureau chief for usa today and author of the matriarch, susan page is with us. so indicators used by the white house to showcase the success of a trump run economy are now flashing warning signs suggesting the president's trade wars are dragging down the system. "the new york times" reports companies that trump has pointed to as signs of strength such as u.s. steel are now showing weakness, idling workers and slowing production. according to the "times", blue collar job growth has fallen to

its lowest level since trump took office and key surveys of manufacturing activity are near recession levels. while economic growth, which mr. trump once promised would soar as high as 5 or 6% annually, is now running at about a 2% annualized pace. the president rejected concerns over potential economic troubles during his oval office comments, blaming the trfederal reserve f any problems the u.s. might be facing. >> i think the word recession is inappropriate. it's a word that certain people, i'm going to be kind, certain people and the media are trying to build up because they would love to see a recession. we're very far from a recession. if the fed would do its job, i think we would have a tremendous spurt of growth, a tremendous spurt. the fed is psychologically very important. less so actually, but very psychologically important, if the fed would do its job, which

it's really done very poorly over the last year natand a hal you would see a burst of growth like you have never seen before, and that would be lowering interest rates and maybe putting some, if you look at what china is doing, if you look at what germany is doing, if you look at what so many countries are doing, putting some money in. >> despite president trump's public insistence that everybody is fine with the american economy, his administration is reportedly growing increasingly worried about a global economic slow down, triggering a u.s. recession ahead of next year's election. according to politico, during a fundraising luncheon this week in wyoming, that was headlined by white house senior aides jared kushner and ivanka trump, white house chief of staff mick mulvaney acknowledged the risk of a recession to donors.

mulvaney told the donors if the u.s. were to face a recession, it would be moderate and short. let's go to jake. >> jake sherman, people a lot smarter than me, and my gosh, that is a huge subset of people, but people a lot smarter than me who have been studying the economy and studying data their entire lifetime can't predict whether we're going to have a recession or not. >> exactly. >> and certainly nobody on this show is able to do that, but one indication that there may be some serious problems are that those who are most bullish, and that is people inside the trump white house now appear to be hedging their bets and suggesting to their top donors just perhaps we're going toch he a recession, a short one albeit, a recession, and 75% of economists surveyed recently

suggested that a recession was coming our way in the next year or two. >> yeah. and all of the data outside of 1600 pennsylvania avenue would indicate that. you saw the "wall street journal" had a story a couple of days ago which rv sales, which sounds bizarre, rv sales are down again, which is oftentimes comes right before a recession. home depot missed its target. you see these data points bubbling up in the economy, and the only place where the economy is on firm footing, absolutely firm footing without a question is in public comments by the white house, and let me just tie this to the -- what you had at the top of the show, and we put this at the top of playbook this morning. we're getting to a point where there's a case to be made as a journalist, as an objective journalist that there isn't much up side in giving a lot of stock in listening to the white house, since basically everything they say is turned around by the president or undermined by other pieces of facts that we see other places outside of the white house.

i mean, from greenland to the background checks to the payroll tax cut. i mean, everything this white house says is undermined by something else. >> because somebody will say, oh, you know, jake, you and the rest of the mainstream media should have seen this coming for years, of course we all did see this coming for years, but i want to pick up on what i have been underlining for the past week, it's getting worse. >> it is. >> none of us believed that it could possibly get worse, but jeffrey goldberg at the atlantic wrote an essay about how it's getting worse. jonathan lemire at the associated press wrote a story about how people around the p president are getting worse, his behavior and management style are getting worse. a column that we profiled that talked about how it is actually, if possible, getting worse and

so you're suggesting, i guess, the same thing, right? >> well, yes, but i'm also suggesting that it goes beyond the president, and i'm not -- i deal with the white house all the time and i made the case in playbook for the last couple of weeks that i do believe, based on reporting, the president was serious about background checks because he was saying it. he was talking to people. he was doing things that a traditional president would do if he wanted to achieve that end, and then within a week he's in a completely different place, and the white house is arguing that he's not in a different place. there's just not much up side in paying attention to an institution that is just all over the map when it comes to facts as a colleague and a friend of mine says, one plus one always equals two. there are always a set of facts that you could look at and come to a conclusion but the white house told us behind the scenes and the president told his friends he was for background checks and then he says, actually it's mental health, we don't need background checks and

the white house says his position hasn't changed. actually, his position has changed, we see that, and it's just, for a reporter that has to deal with the white house on an every day basis, it's mind numbing and your head is spinning almost every day because you don't know up from down and your assumptions, your reality based assumptions are challenged by an institution that really has no sort of logical progression of thought, and the people in the white house, by the way, that are charged with achieving his priorities are also just completely baffled by a president who just looks like he's spinning around in circles without any sort of goal in mind. >> we saw that again five or six times yesterday. speaking of a white house that contradicts itself. joe biden's campaign is out with a new video this morning hitting president trump on his broken promises on gun reform, and we have an exclusive first look. we want to be very strong on background checks.

we have to keep the guns out of the hands of those who pose the threat, and this really includes background checks. checks. >> the president today promising gun control. the problem is it is a promise he has made before and broken. >> so after first saying we need strong background checks, now the president says we already have them. new to the pattern, remember after the slaughter of innocent children at parkland in florida, mass shooting happens, call for change erupt, president trump says we need change, phone call from the nra, then nothing happens. >> he's reiterating talking points about gun violence being a mental health issue and walking back support of background bills. >> it's not the gun that pulls the trigger it's the person holding the gun. after el paso and dayton you seemed to be fully in support of

enhanced measures, when you leaved bedminster, you seem to suggest we have strong background laws, which a lot of people read as you dialing back. >> i'm not doing that to be cute. we have very very strong background checks right now. >> president trump is once again talking about gun policy following the mass shootings in el paso, texas, and dayton, ohio, throughout his presidency trump has spoken about bold action on guns and then backtracked. >> susan page, that's a joe biden campaign video there. new one out just this morning. it comes against the backdrop of all the reporting we got last night, and again this morning from multiple sources that the president of the united states after for two weeks floating the idea that he could get universal background checks done which are popular this this country, he got a phone call, a couple phone call, but one definitive call

from the head of the nra, wayne lapierre, and after that, the president is no longer considering the idea of universal background checks. >> there's no issue on what president trump is at greater odds with american public opinion than this one. polling this week showed 9 out of 10 americans, nine out of ten, that's about as close to universal support universal background checks, would like to see the republican controlled senate take up the two bills that the democratic controlled house has passed to toughen background checks. this is, i understand the politics for president trump or the support he's gotten from the nra and the importance nra financing elections and delivering voters, this is politically risky for the president. vice president biden would argue it's morally risky as well at a time when we see the horrific shootings. no expectation that we are going to see more shootings between now and election day. >> jake, as you know better than

anyone, the president not just getting phone calls from wayne lapierre, but talking to mitch mcconnell and the prospects of that passing through a republican controlled senate. >> but i would say this is one of the rare times that i have seen in a decade of covering congress where mitch mcconnell has left the door open to background checks and further legislation on guns. the equation here is not complicated. if the president, and we have seen that he's not willing to do this. if the president took a position, held it for several weeks at a time, gathered people, listened to them, and formed a piece of legislation or some sort of plan to get this done, i actually thought there was a chance because a lot of republicans tell me privately what susan was just saying which is public opinion has left the republican party on guns and universal background checks are now overwhelmingly popung to give some sort of political shield, political cover to

republicans on this issue, it could have gotten done. but he has shown now that he's been in two completely opposite places on background checks and now has basically taken any chance that congress will do anything on this away because republicans are going to look at trump and think, well, he's here today, where is he going to be tomorrow and would i need him in a primary election or some sort of other political jam that i might be in. where will he be and the answer is we don't know because he's everywhere, depending on the day, the hour, the minute and the second. >> jake, you're saying in this case, maybe in this case alone, mitch mcconnell would have allowed, if the president had stood up to the nra and said i'm doing universal background checks, do you believe mitch mcconnell would have passed that through the senate. >> i don't know the answer to that but i do know just based on what we have seen in public view that he usually, when he does not want something, is pretty clear about that, and says no, we don't have support for that or that's not something republicans are for.

he very rarely leaves the door open. i don't know what he would have done but i do think it was notable that in an interview in kentucky, he said this will be at the top of the list of things talked about and we're going to see what republicans and democrats can agree on. again, mitch mcconnell is not somebody who leaves the door open unnecessarily and granted he hasn't been back in washington, we don't know how all senators feel, but i mean, if you're reading tea leaves on mitch mcconnell, which is what we're often left to do, this was as far as he's gone, although it's not that far for the rest of humanity. >> no. >> it is so important to remember that, again, it's not donald trump refusing to stand up to the nra, it's donald trump refusing to stand up to a lobbyist. in washington, d.c. it has been investigated by one outlet after another, and has been accused of

basically pilfering money from dues paying members for hundreds of thousands of dollars in italian suits for looking at the possibility of a $6 million mansion for flying, spending thousands and thousands of dollars flying a hairstylist around the united states for his wife. i mean, this is overwhelming majority, i have to keep underlining this, the overwhelming majority of nra members support expanded background checks, the overwhelming majority of republicans, nine out of ten, support expanded background checks, the overwhelming number of americans support background checks, 94, 95%, and yet donald trump and one lobbyist in washington, d.c. are the ones killing that bill, despite the fact that i bet you a majority of people in kentucky, a majority of people in kentucky

support expanded background checks but mitch mcconnell doesn't care. jake sherman, thank you so much. what do we have now, mika. democratic senator joe manchin of west virginia has sent a daily tweet to donald trump pleading with the president to support minoers fo the fighting for their pension. coal miners, from one of the biggest trump supporting states as heidi przybyla reports in her new piece for msnbc.com. >> i see over here trump digs coal. that's true. >> reporter: president trump is a cheer leader for coal miners on the rally stage but when it comes to pressuring republicans to secure retirement benefits for the very same workers, he is conspicuously silent. >> we're not politicians, we're coal miners and it's a shame we got to come to this town to get what we worked for. >> tom gibson, and tom phillips

came to capitol hill seeking action on the miners pension protection act, speaking up for fellowed retired miners, some in wheelchairs with oxygen tanks. >> we're fighting for a pension for black lung. things don't look good at the moment. >> reporter: for years, senator majority leader mitch mcconnell has blocked the protection of the miners' pensions, citing concerns about long-term pension costs across multiple industries. >> average pension, i think, for miners is like 500 bucks a month, and we need -- and we don't want to borrow the money. it's already there. >> the president did not meet with west virginia's coal miners when they were in washington last month, but the following day he flew to their state for a campaign fundraiser with coal executives, all while miners who supported him continue to wait. >> yeah, i voted for trump. sure did. >> reporter: and how do you feel about the progress?

>> well, i'm kind of up in the air. i'm the kind of man that i think what's right is right, if we can get a solution, let's do it. if it don't work, let's try something else. >> everybody makes promises but somebody needs to follow through with them. >> and heidi joins us now. hi heidi, what is the white house saying about this? >> trump has not responded over all of these months to joe manchin, however, they did respond in a statement to our story saying that the president is committed to all americans and that it's because of his economic policies of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy independence that miners are winning. mika, this is so significant because if you remember, the face of the forgotten man during the 2016 campaign that trump talked about so much really was these miners and two years later, we've documented in so many ways how the real

beneficiaries of president trump's agenda have been the coal executives, not the miners. the executives are the ones who benefitted from all of the regulatory roll backs while the miners are seeing actually spiking job losses, bankruptcies, this administration has actually rolled back the safety protections that were put in place after deadly mine collapses earlier in this decade. and of course you saw the miners there who are now fighting for their pensions, which they say are actually federally guaranteed. >> we have been talking about mitch mcconnell, talk about his role in this, because it appears he's not that helpful either. >> mitch mcconnell has refused to bring forward this miners protection act to shore that up, and from mcconnell's perspective, because we also spoke with his officer, he says, look, this is a crisis across multiple industries. i saw teamsters, mika, in the

lunchroom and the house office building a few weeks ago who were also fighting for their pensions, so i think he's concerned about setting a precedent about the government shoring up pensions. he's right, this is a crisis. the miners say their pensions truly are federally guaranteed going back to a 1930s era settlement that was made with the government during a bankruptcy at that time. and so mcconnell says he wants a broader fix. right now, that broader fix is not coming. there is a task force that was supposed to come up with solutions. they have blown deadline after deadline, and this truly is a crisis, though, mika, across multiple industries. we'll take a look next at the teamsters in the coming months. >> nbc's heidi przybyla, we'll look forwarded to that. thank you so much for shining a light on this. still ahead on "morning joe," after declining to back donald

trump for president in 2016, a republican lgbtq a advocacy group is backing president trump. we'll talk about the reversal causing one to resign. we'll be right back. we'll be right back. really? [horn honks] man this is what i feel like when i wear regular shoes, cramped and uncomfortable. we can arrange a little upgrade. which is why i wear skechers...

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a lot about it. i think i have done very well with that community. as you know, peter thiel and so many others are with me all the way, and they like the job i'm doing. i just got a big endorsement from the log cabin group. >> no, i don't think so. president trump at the white house yesterday, touting a recent endorsement nor for ree elect election -- reelection. the endorsement prompted a letter of resignation from a member of the group's national board of directors, jennifer horn, who wrote in part quote, in order to maintain favor with this unprincipaled unscrupulous president, too many in our party are fast abandoning the moral high ground, and i fear that in this endorsement, the log cabin republicans have damaged our ability to effectively advocate

for equal rights for all. i could never endorse him for president of the united states and still look my children in the eye. and jennifer joins us now. she's the former chair of the new hampshire republican party. known each other for a long time. and also with us, "new york times" reporter, jeremy peters, so jennifer, what happened with the log cabin republicans and this endorsement? are you the only one who is really taken aback by this, and doing things like resigning? >> i'm not the only one. we went through a process as laid out under our bylaws for the endorsement seeking feedback from our local chapters around the country. we had a vote of the board. there were a handful of members, it's not a large board, there's a handful of members who oppose this endorsement. i'm not the only one who has resigned. i'll let the others speak for themselves. i don't know that they all are necessarily looking to talk about this publicly. i'm not the only one who has

resigned and the problem is exactly as i have stated there, this president has not earned the endorsement of such an esteemed organization that has spent 40 years fighting for the civil rights of the lgbtq community. it breaks my heart to see us give this endorsement, especially at a time when the president has done so little, so little, not just for the community, for lgbtq community but for any community in our country that in any way is different or stands out or in any way, you know, has to fight for their inclusion in american society. >> jennifer, it's willie geist, thanks for being on this morning. we have seen many groups in this country bend its principles toward president trump, thinking of evangelical leadership, for example, why do you think log cabins republicans who declined to endorse president trump in 2016 have now come around? has he done something to earn that trust or skrjust the oppos

as you suggest. >> in my view, he has done nothing to earn that trust. some of the folks on the board, and these are people who i admire and for whom i have a tremendous amount of respect for all they have done over the decades but i think they're talking about it, if you look at the endorsement editorial that they published last week, they are talking about things like this president opposes criminalizing homosexuality around the world. well, my god, i hope so, is that just the bare minimum we expect human decency from people. and the other issue they talk about is this is marriage, this is the first republican president to embrace guy marriage, and the truth is donald trump had an opportunity in 2016 to embrace guy marriage by ensuring that the language that targeted the lgbtq community was removed from the republican party platform in the

convention, and to your point, willie, he chose to bow to the evangelical community, and did not do so and has made no promise to do so at the 2020 convention. so i am not convinced that donald trump is a friend to the people who care so much about civil rights and equality, and inclusion in this country. >> jeremy peters, it was your reporting from 2016 where log cabins declined to endorse donald trump when he was a candidate three years ago. has anything changed. is there any policy that president trump or this white house has put forward or shown to help the lgbt community that would justify a change in position from log cabin republicans. >> no, willie, in fact, it's just the opposite. in almost every instance i can think of, this administration has shown hostility to lgbt rights in matters as small as refusing to allow embassies overseas to fly the gay pride

flag during pride month, to matters as large as opposing the idea, before the supreme court, coming up in an important case this fall, that the civil rights act protects transgender people from workplace discrimination. so across the board, the policies have been decidedly against lgbt rights. you know, i think for trump, it's kind of interesting because he's taken an out of sight, out of mind approach to this. there are certainly openly guy people who work in the administration at the republican national committee that he knows. he doesn't really have gay people, lesbian people, transpeople that he's especially close to, and he has outsourced a lot of the policy and personnel work to christian conservatives in his administration like mike pence and mike pompeo who have been the driving force behind the lot of these policies. now, regardless of whatever is in trump's heart on this issue,

because i think, you know, personally this isn't where he is. i don't think personally he has an issue with gay people, but you know what, that doesn't really matter because you look at his policies and his policies are ones that are not helpful. >> you know, from the perspective of the log cabin republicans, you think about what has changed since 2016 campaign. one thing that has changed is president trump's control of the republican party. the republican party now really reflects president trump. one poll this week, 86% of republicans approve of the job he's doing as president. and so for republicans of all different stripes, some of them look at this reality with the new republican party, now in the image of president trump and think this is, he is going to be the republican nominee in 2020. he controls the party. that is one of the factors that has prompted some republicans to fall in line behind him. >> jennifer. >> yeah, and then i wanted to speak to that point so directly that one of the things that gave

the log cabin republicans so much credibility and integrity over the years is that they are not a subcommittee of the rnc, not a subcommittee of the umbrella, they have been able to stand independent and stand on principle, and speak to the issues with credibility and integrity because of that, and by going, you know, kind of falling in for this endorsement, they have just become just another political committee that's following along behind donald trump trying to, whether they think it's going to show get them influence or a greater voice in the administration, i don't know. but they have lost their independence and in my opinion, their entrintegrity and credibi as a result of that. >> jennifer horn thank you for speaking out. jeremy peters and susan page, thank you as well. democrats have been pressing senate majority leader mitch mcconnell to take up legislation on gun reform, and now there is a new push coming straight from

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we're going to be very strong on background checks. we're going to be doing very strong background checks, very strong emphasis on the mental health of somebody and we are going to do plenty of other things. we have very very strong background checks right now, but we have sort of missing areas and areas that don't complete the whole circle, and we're looking at different things, and i have to tell you that it is a mental problem and i've said it a hundred times, it's not the gun that pulls the trigger, it's the person that pulls the trigger. these are sick people. >> that was president trump yesterday and also one week after the deadly shooting at stoneman douglas high school, in parkland, florida. proving once again, his evolving stance on stricter gun regulations.

he has them and then he doesn't have them. joining us now, the mayor of louisville, kentucky, greg fisher, president trump is set to visit louisville later today. however, a request by the mayor to meet was denied by the white house. also with us, author of the "washington post" early morning news letter power up, jacqueline alameny, let's start with you and your new reporting on the parkland students, what do you got. >> the parkland kids, survivors of a mass shooting last year, 260 happening in 2019 alone, just released their peace plan for a safer america act, and basically this policy proposal is pretty green new dealesque in how exhaustive it is when it covers an approach to coming up with gun safety violence prevention measures so obviously

it goes for, you know, the usual background checks, licensing, assault weapons ban, but it also takes a more holistic approach, calling for automatic registration when kids turn 18 so they can get out and vote, and a peace corps plan, a safety corps to help prevent the mass shootings and the kids obviously, this plan sort of cements the vision going into 2020. these kids are going to be all over the country getting out the vote, holding campaign rallies and this is what they're going to be speaking to. it's super ambitious. they have been working on it for months and they are hoping that the democratic candidates endorse it. they have been, you know, a little disappointed with some of the democratic candidates' plans they are not ambitious enough, and they're hoping the president will support this plan as well and actually meet with them. >> mr. mayor, the president is coming to your city and yet he

won't meet with you. tell us why. >> well, let's focus on the big issue, i mean, obviously he's got a really busy schedule here, the mayors will be in washington in early september and we hope to meet with him then, but the big issue is quit acting as if america is helpless to do anything about gun safety. america is never helpless and the citizens of louisville, like all over america right now are tired of being in fear, when you go shopping, when you go to church, when you go to a sports game to think that they could be gunned down. when is enough enough, we need action. this is the moment right now for a true statesman to step up and do something. >> hey there mayor, this is karine here. you're in a state with some of the most liberal gun laws in the country. you live in an area where it's democratic leaning. how do we reach across the aisle

to really do something about that. we have been talking about that all morning, how do we get something done because it seems to be truly impossible so what do we need to do? >> you know, mohammed ali is from louisville, impossible is a word thrown around by small men who can't get anything done and think about what's possible. it's okay to be angry at this issue. let's not be angry at each other because that's what's getting in the way right now. mayors all over america. 264 mayors have sent a letter to the united states senate, asking them to pass the house bill when they get back in session here, so can we tone the rhetoric down and focus on saving lives. it's not just the mass shootings, that's what gets the headlines, it's also the daily drum beat of death that takes place, suicide by gun, gun deaths in the cities of america. this is not a partisan issue. you guys report on that. the vast majority of americans, including nra members agree on

background checks, agree that we should not have assault weapons. these are not radical ideas for reform. what's radical is that nothing is being done about it. >> mayor, you have watched as your own city has endured a spike in gun violence. what are you doing locally to try to combat that and what are lessons that could be applied more broadly across the country? >> well, we have a strong federal task force, partnership in place. so, you know, you make progress, and then you fall back, but you keep working at it. in the meantime, cities like mine, like numerous cities around this country are preempted by state legislatures from having any type of gun safety relatigulations that aree restrictive than the state level. right now kentucky just passed where you can conceal/carry, and that's okay. but that's a huge impediment for our local police officers to be able to do the jobs that they

immediate to do to keep our cities safe each and every day. we need to give cities the opportunity to enact gun legislation that's proper for them. but none of this would be required if we had common sense gun safety reform at federal level that really led our country to a safer place. it's -- people in america right now, and you see that, they're not looking for incremental improvement. and i know that's what we're talking about in the senate. and that would be a great start. but we need breakthrough improvement here. so people can feel like it's safe to walk on the streets of america. background checks, certainly, let's start with that, but let's not stop there, let's go to assault rifles. you can see over two-thirds of americans say these are weapons of war and they have no place on the streets of america. >> so jacqui, these activists from parkland that you've been talking to and reporting on their new plan, there seems to be this new generation of activists that don't accept the inertia of washington, that don't accept the defeatism. that they say, well, this is

what happens, there's a tragedy and we talk about it for a while and it goes away and nothing gets done. how do they grapple with the reality you cover every day in washington of a congress and a senate particularly in this case that's not very interested in getting anything done on guns. >> the mayor is exactly right. these kids are not interested in incrementalism. and as he also pointed out, there is overwhelming public support for things like background checks and assault weapons bans. and i asked -- you know, i spoke with david hogg, tia, charlie h merski, these 18-year-olds who have taken off the last year from school to dedicate themselves to finding ways to combat gun violence and i asked them, what about the political realities? are you afraid this is too ambitious. and they said, that's not our job. our job is to be concerned with how to have save lives every day, how to ensure that kids have the freedom to walk without living in fear go to school without living in fear.

and that there is public support behind us. and that's why i think their electoral push is so important. i think they view the upcoming 2020 election regardless of if you're a republican or a democrat, if you adopt tenants of this plan and run on what you call gun sense, they're going to get behind you. and we saw their effects in the 2018 midterms. they turned out in record numbers, in large part due to the fact that one of their top concerns is gun violence. and they believe that the momentum is even more on their side. they've organized hundreds of chapters across the country and people are really raring to go. >> and we'll see how many of the democratic candidates are willing to adopt some of the positions in this document. "the washington post" jackie alemany, thank you very much, greg fisher, mayor of louisville, kentucky, thank you very much, as well. f louisville, kentucky, thank you ve ry much, as well so, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work.

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behavior of this administration has awakened a whole new generation to get engaged in ways they might not have gotten before, just like in my generation, when i got out of school that when bobby kennedy and dr. king had been assassinated in the 70s, when i got engaged, you know, up to that time, remember, none of you women will know this, but a couple of men may remember. that was a time in the early/late '60s where it was drop out, don't get engaged, don't trust anybody over 30, for real. >> so mike barnicle, people are making much about the fact that joe biden got about -- you know, late '70s, late '60s, he corrected himself. and this happened quite a few times. but again, in joe's defense, this happened in his 30s as well. but bill maher last week said, we're going to have some senior moments. like, whether it's joe biden or

donald trump. do you remember donald trump and the tucker carlson interview. tucker carlson was talking about how dirty cities were? and he says, you know, trash on the streets, that started about two or three years ago. and you're sitting there going, did trash on the streets really start in 2016? is that -- because i >> i think most people, maybe the vast majority of people would take joe slip sliding away on some certain aspects of past history and reverting to talking about past history, they would take that rather than the constant stream of lies coming out of the white house and the mouth of the president of the united states. for joe, the problem is -- and joe -- you know this better than anyone, because you've been on the campaign trail and you've run for office. the problem now is that a lot of the coverage and a lot of the people covering the former vice president will be looking for these slip-ups to insert them in

the news story. and that could become, you know, much more than just a trend. >> well, and the thing is, whether you're talking about donald trump or joe biden, you've got these people who were on 24 hours a day, constantly having people asking questions. and sometimes, and it happens to me, of course, about once every 15 minutes, your mind just goes blank and you don't know what to say next and you can't find a word. and sometimes, of course, things just get scrambled. in donald trump's case, when he said, trash was first introduced to big cities three years ago, he was coming off of a very long trip. so i think exhaustion sets in. i think whether you're talking about joe biden or donald trump or you're talking about other candidates, sometimes it just happens, but there are people that are trying to draw a narrative out of it. now, when we come back, what started as what we thought was a joke to buy greenland has

actually turned into an international incident with denmark. see, i could have said sweden. >> i don't know anyone who would be comfortable with someone who bavas this way having his finger on the button. we're liable to wake up one morning and donald, if he were president, would have nuked denmark. president, would have nuked denmark. chair is just a chair. that a handle is just a handle.

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considered? >> it's not being considered at this time. >> payroll taxes, i've been thinking about payroll taxes for a long time. >> oh, my gosh! good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday. >> it is never boring. >> it's wednesday, august 21st. along with joe, willie and me, we have msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. contributor to "time" magazine, msnbc political analyst and former aide to the george w. bush white house and state departments, elise jordan. senior adviser at moveon.org and an msnbc contributor, korean jean pierre. >> how you doing today, willie? >> doing great. yesterday was a hell of a day. you started with the payroll tax, but there are about 15 stories that in any other administration would be a scandal that lasted for weeks and months. it was incredible. and i think we're about to lay them out. >> president trump called off his upcoming trip to denmark after its prime minister rebuffed his interest in buying

greenland. trump tweeted, "denmark is a very special country with incredible people, but based on prime minister mette frederiksen's comments that she would have no interest in discussing the purchase of greenland, i will be postponing our meeting scheduled in two weeks for another time." oh, my god. the sudden move came just days after trump told reporters that owning greenland would be strategically important for the united states. meanwhile, "the washington post" reports that senior administration officials had discussed the possibility of offering denmark a deal, in which the u.s. would take over its annual $600 million subsidy to greenland in perpetuity, as well as giving denmark a large one-time payment. according to two people familiar with the talks. both danish and greenland officials have said in recent days the island is not for sale.

even the president himself said on sunday that it wasn't that serious. >> strategically, it's interesting. and we would be interested, but we'll talk to them a little bit. it's not number one on the burner, i can tell you that. >> so, willie, again, the truth is -- it's like mercury. it just sort of slides around with this administration. we saw, they weren't interested in a payroll tax cut. three hours later, why, of course, we've been considering a payroll tax cut. on denmark, oh, no, no, no, no, we weren't looking at denmark seriously. now the president of the united states is saying, we're canceling the trip to denmark, because they're not going to sell greenland to us. >> this entire conversation is in insane! not ours, the one the president is having about greenland. you saw that tweet last night. and i couldn't tell if he was kidding for a minute. and i remembered it was donald trump and he wasn't kidding. he's actually talking about buying a sovereign country and then cancelling a bilateral meeting, a visit to denmark

because the prime minister of denmark, elise, wouldn't sort of acquiesce and take seriously the idea that he ought to have a shot at least to make a bid on greenland. this is actually happening and it's real. >> and i can't decide if we're -- if we should even be talking about this seriously or just laughing, because it's so delusional. but can you imagine if another foreign leader said, you know, hawaii's pretty nice. those are some great islands and i like to surf. it would help our tourism portfolio. we're going to buy -- what's the price, dronald trump? what's the price on hawaii? >> he would probably give them a price. >> he probably would! but this is just like all of donald trump's ideas, it's such a blast from the past, in that president truman proposed annexing greenland back in 1946 after world war ii. so donald trump, maybe we need a little bit more innovation and looking forward to 2046 instead of 1946.

>> so, elise asks a really good question, mika, and that is, should we be covering this, is this serious? well, of course, we decide yesterday not to cover it that much, because it wasn't serious. it seemed to be a joke. but when you have the united states of america canceling bilateral meetings based on a harebrained idea in a way that not only impact ours relationship with that country, was also causes even deeper concerns across europe and the rest of the world that the president of the united states does not seem to be moored, that suddenly becomes an important news story. >> president trump continues to believe russia should be readmitted into the g-7. russia was expelled from the group in 2014 illegal annexation of crimea and downing

a u.s. airplane. but yesterday he claimed president obama was the true reason for its expulsion. >> so it was the g-8 for a long time and now it's the g-7. and a lot of the time we talk about, we talk about russia, we're talking about russia, because i've gone to numerous g-7 meetings. and i guess president obama, because putin outsmarted him, president obama thought it wasn't a good thing to have russia in. so he wanted russia out. so i could certainly see it being the g-8 again. and if somebody would make that motion, i would certainly be disposed to think about it very favorably. but for most of the time, it was the g-8. it included russia. and president obama didn't want russia in, because he got outsmarted. well, that's not the way it really should work. >> the trump administration has accused russia of interfering in

syria and venezuela, conducting illegal activity in crimea. >> they have. >> attempting to assassinate a former spy in the uk. >> check, they have. >> violating a cold war-era arms treaty. >> you know, they did that too. >> and helping north korea violate sanctions in addition to moscow's past and present interference in america's political system. >> still doing it. >> but sure, let's get them back in the g-8. there's got to be an explanation for that. >> and all of that, mika, is barack obama piece fault. and in addition to backing russia's reentry into the g-7, he said he would welcome russia going back into afghanistan. >>t soviet union became russia because of afghanistan. that's what happened. very simple. they became russia because of afghanistan. somebody would say, well, oh, well, would russia go in?

i said, if they want, let them. i think they tried that before. however, didn't work out too well. >> anybody that has studied and certainly conservatives across america and the world have studied the history of the soviet union, its collapse. most trace it back to rakyevik and no one claims it was afghanistan alone that caused the collapse of the soviet union. mike barnicle, though, donald trump, as we've said, is ignorant of constitutional norms, ignorant of u.s. history, ignorant of world history. my gosh, anybody that had suffered through his explanation of kashmir yesterday has ample evidence of that. oh, sweet lord! please. make it stop, make it stop! but here donald trump, though, is talking about how we should

welcome russia back into afghanistan, just like he was fine with russia going back into the middle east for the first time in 1973 in syria. that has caused so many problems. talk to our generals, our admirals, our military leaders. that has caused so many problems regarding syria, regarding iran, regarding potential conflict with israel, our ally. but, mike, why does a president on the same day say -- because i have no explanation for it. why does a president on the same day say, admit russia into the g-8. make it the g-8 again and admit russia after, of course, russia is trying disrupt american democracy. and also, let russia walk into afghanistan. what's going on here, mike? do you have an explanation? because i don't. >> other than the fact that there's only two people probably on earth who know why he says these things about russia. one of them is vladimir putin

and the other is donald trump. there is something there. there is something always there when he talks about russia. and in those clips we played -- >> hey, mike, do you remember -- mike, do you remember what kevin mccarthy, who now is trump's chief propagandaist on capitol hill. do you remember when kevin mccarthy actually warned other people of the republican caucus before donald trump became nominee that he believed strongly that donald trump had been bought off, had been paid off along with dana rohrabacher by the russian government? >> i do recall that. i do recall that. i don't recall -- >> just curious. >> -- them talking about it lately, but i do recall that. but in those clips that we played, joe, you can really understand in retrospect while general mattis just quit. he had to leave. you cannot be surrounded by such abnormalities coming out of the mouth of the president of the united states on a consistent, daily, multiple times a day basis.

i don't know. we cannot make a normal, but there's a new normalcy when you see the president multiple times a day seeing things that are absolutely, not only wrong, but crazy. >> and can i just add to that. >> by the way, the comments on afghanistan are particularly inappropriate in the days following a horrible suicide bomb that killed 63 afghans at an funeral. and at the time that we're in the middle of trying to broker a very contentious and tenuous peace that plenty of afghans don't want to go along with, but we're trying to find some way to withdrawal from the country. and you've got donald trump talking about bringing russia back to afghanistan? it's as if he has no context of the larger picture and of the -- of one of the most important diplomatic process ongoinging right now that he should ostensibly overseeing.

>> you know, willie, i always told my kids some basic things. when something seems to be too good to be true, it is. and if things don't make sense, there's a good reason. let's overlay what we heard from the president yesterday with helsinki, where he said he trusted an ex-kgb agent more than he trusted, his own fbi director, his own cia director, his own homeland of national security director, his own director of national intelligence. that he trusted their assessment more than he trusted his own intel community's assessment. that he trusted vladimir putin more than he trusted the u.s. military intelligence arm. and then you even go back to our show in december, mid-december of 2015, when donald trump said that vladimir putin was a great leader and a strong leader. and somebody that he had great respect for.

that unlike barack obama, vladimir putin was a strong leader. and he seemed absolutely unfazed by the fact that when we brought up the fact that vladimir putin kills journalists, kills politicians that he disagrees with. and is an autocrat. then, there's just a history and that history continues and yesterday was another chapter in that dark history. >> still ahead on "morning joe," just 6% of americans oppose new background checks for gun buyers, just 6%. among them, a d.c. lobbyist and the president of the united states. we're going to run through the latest step backward in the gun reform debate next on "morning joe." n the gun reform debate next on "morning joe.

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association yesterday. details of that latest conversation revealing the influence the organization has on this president. to "the new york times," president trump spoke with wayne lapierre, the chief executive of the nra, for at least 30 minutes yesterday. "the times" reporting, quote, the call ended the way lapierre had hoped it would, with trump espousing nra talking points in the oval office and warning of the radical steps he said democrats wanted to take in violation of the second amendment. >> we have very, very strong background checks right now. but we have sort of missing areas and areas that don't complete the whole circle. and we're looking at different things, and i have to tell you that it is a mental problem and i've said it a whole time, it's not the gun that pulls the trigger, it's the person that pulls the trigger. these are sick people. >> in less than two weeks, trump has gone from calling for, quote, intelligent background checks to arguing that the u.s. already has strong background

checks. yesterday, he contradicted a point he made just 12 days ago. >> look, the nra has over the years taken a very, very tough stance on everything. and i understand it. you know, it's a slippery slope. they think you prove one thing and that leads to a lot of bad things. i don't agree with that. >> you know, they call it the slippery slope. and all of a sudden, everything gets taken away. we're not going to let that happen. >> kareen, that's from wayne lapierre's mouth through donald trump's ear out to the public talking about the slippery slope. if they go for universal background checks, who knows what comes next. maybe they seize your guns. the president had talked about being open to universal background checks, which we'll say again for the 1 millionth time are extraordinarily popular not just among the general public, but among republicans and gun owners and now he's walking away from those as well after a couple of mean phone calls from wayne lapierre. >> so not only is donald trump a puppet for putin, putin's

puppet, he's also a puppet for the nra. we have to step back for a second. i think that if anybody had ever -- who thought that donald trump was actually going to do something about this, that it was a delusional thinking. it was never going to happen. we've seen this over and over again during his administration, when we see a horrible, you know, massacre, gun violence. he says one thing and then nra gets to him. and then he turns back around. we have to remember, the nra spent $30 million on donald trump's election in 2016. he is in their pocket. and the sad thing about it is, this isn't really a partisan issue. when you look at the polling for background checks, it's at 90%. people want to move forward with universal background checks. it is incredibly important. people don't want to see the gun violence at schools, at malls, at their church. people are dying. it is now an epidemic. 62% of american people want a ban on assault weapons.

we are there. we are -- this is no longer a democrat issue, a republican issue, as it comes to voters. maybe, clearly, it is on the hill, in congress, but when it comes to voters, they want to see this stop. let's remember what's happening right now. parents are sending their kids to school and they're buying bulletproof becoackpacks for th kids! this is what's happening right now in this country. it is an epidemic. and donald trump needs to do something. mitch mcconnell needs to do something. enough is enough if voters here of parents, people in this country do not want to see this anymore. they want the gun violence to stop. >> coming up on "morning joe," plenty of jewish voters back democrats in america's political process. all of them, according to donald trump, are either disloyal or ignorant. that disturbing analysis from the president is next on "morning joe." ent is next on "morning joe." the weather's perfect...

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welcome back. president trump seemed to take his anger toward muslim congresswoman rashida tlaib and ilhan omar a step f voting for

democrats into office. here was his responsresswoman's suggestion to re-evaluate foreign aid given to israel. >> i would not cut off aid to israel. and i can't even believe that we're having this conversation. five years ago, the concept of even talking about this, even three years ago, of kucutting o aid to israel because of two people that hate israel and hate jewish people, i can't believe we're even having this conversation. where has the democratic party gone? where have they gone where they're defending these two people over the state of israel? and i think any jewish people that vote for a democrat, i think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty. "the new york times" notes that trump did not go into specifics

about what he considered to be jews' disloyalty but his language is reminiscent of the anti-semitic smear that jews have a dual loyalty and are more dedicated to israel than their own countries. joining us now, julia ioffe and historian and author of "the soul of america," jon meacham. he is an nbc news and msnbc contributor. >> so, jon, jewish groups, predictably, and rightfully, attacked the president for using an anti-semitic trope, talking about jewish disloyalty. there is a long and sordid history of anti-semitism across america, across europe, where y jews have been attacked for being insufficiently disloyal. the president of the united states used that anti-semitic

trope yesterday, accusing about 75, 80% of jews in america of being, quote, disloyal. and what we have, yet again, is an example where the president's acting in contradiction to the best parts of the american tradition. not always observed in its -- and are following that tradition, but when we're at our best, we have found a way for religious liberty to really be at the center of our republican, lower case "r," conversation. before james madison did anything, he wrote into the virginia state constitution the idea that we would not simply be religiously tolerant, which pre-supposed there was a power that tolerated others, but that we would fight for religious liberty. the freedom to worship or not worship. and the entire point of the

american identity in the best sense is not ethnicity or race or birthplace, it's an ascent to an idea. and here we have the president of the united states once again, instead of emphasizing what sets us apart, trying to break us apart. >> and julia, all in the service of politics, he's trying to make some political point to make these congresswomen the face of the democratic party. but in doing so, as joe said, the numbers from pew are actually 79% of american yous voted democratic in the 2018 memory elections. so accusing disloyalty of 79% of american jewss. disloyal to whom, it's not entirely clear. disloyal to america or israel or perhaps to both. >> i think to both. but i think it does call into question jewish american loyalty. and as joe pointed out, this trope has a long and sordid

history. my family suffered from it that created the anticosmopolitan campaign by joseph stalin that said that jewss already have a homeland so why are in the soviet union, or they were suspected of being loyal to another country. but you know what else has a long and sordid history? donald trump playing footsie with anti-semites and himself parroting anti-semitic tropes. we dealt with this during the campaign in 2016 when he refused to condemn his fans that attacked jewish journalists. when he ran the closing ad of his campaign, which was basically kind of the greatest hits of the elders of zion. when he we tweeted that photoshopped image of hillary clinton with the star of david on top of a pile of money and deflected and said it was an allusion to "frozen." after the charlottesville rally, after he was president, when people were chanting jews will

not replace us, he said there were very fine people on both sides. this trope may have a very long and sordid history, but so does donald trump. >> julia ioffe, thank you so much. coming up on donald trump, we'll talk with the director of a new documentary series who got a little help from some recognizable faces, barack and michelle obama. we'll look at their new project and why the former first family got involved. "morning joe" is back in a moment. involved "morning joe" is back in a moment you're out there,

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we stand here today with a plant that's closing, but i'm extremely proud of the people that work in this plant here. >> for a year and a half, i didn't have anything. we lost our home, we lost a vehicle. >> where you sit today used to be a general motors plant. and now there are over 1,000 employees working here. >> is this a union shop?

>> it is our desire to not be. >> doing the same thing over and over again, that wears on your body and your soul. a look at the new award-winning netflix documentary, "american factory," it's the first documentary produced by barack and michelle obama's production company, higher ground. as part of their production partnership with netflix. and here's what president obama told the filmmakers about the story's importance to america's changing economy. >> we all have a sacred story in us, right? a story that gives us meaning and purpose in how we organize our lives. if you know someone, if you talk

to them face to face, if you can forge a connection, you may not agree with them on everything, but there's some common ground to be found and you can move forward together. we want people to be able to get outside of themselves and experience and understand the lives of somebody else, which is what a good story does. it helps all of us feel some sort of solidarity with each other. >> and joining us now, oscar-nominated director, producer, and cinematographer behind the documentary, "american factory," julia reichert. good to have you. so i want to hear a lot about the documentary and what folks are going to see, but first, explain the connection and the involvement that the obamas have. what did they do to put this together? >> well, actually, they saw the film at just around the time of the sundance film festival. so the film was totally finished

already. >> oh. >> but they can do whatever they want and they picked our film out of many that they saw to be their first release on their new company, higher ground. >> so let's talk about the story, julia. 2008, december 23rd, 2008, this factory shuts down. 2,400 people on the spot lose their job, benefits, and everything that comes with it. what happens from there? >> our town was dayton, ohio, which is where i live, also. our town was really devastated, as were many towns throughout the midwest and south of the u.s. people not only lost their jobs, but they lost their homes, they lost their cars. people were living in the streets, living in their cars. there were suicides. it really zafted our town. and we wondered, it was frightening and we wondered, what's going to happen now? what's going to happen to us? and what -- if you fast forward about seven or eight years, we all read in the news that that

general motors plant, right, which had been abandoned by general motors, was bought. and there was going to be manufacturing again and jobs again in dayton. but then it turned out the person who bought it was a chinese billionaire entrepreneur and he was going to bring over hundreds of chinese supervisors and workers to work with blue collar americans. and we could see from our vantage point there in dayton that this was going to be a really unusual and important story. so we had the opportunity to get in there for three years and follow that. >> so what happened to the 2,400 workers? how many of them were then re-hired, as was promised, that manufacturing was coming back? >> you know, actually, a lot of gm workers went back to work there and also some younger workers. and at first, there was a lot of curiosity about working with chinese people. it was kind of fun. you know, the chinese, let's not forget, were focus who came over from their small city in china, flew over and landed in dayton,

ohio, and had to set up a new life there, right? so here they are on the shop floor today. and sometimes -- you know, the language barrier is huge. and sometimes it's really funny to see what happens. and sometimes the sort of management style that the chinese folks brought over and the american -- the sort of proud blue collar americans, there was collision skand it became difficult at times. the wages in particular were much lower. people talk about, they used to make about 30 bucks an hour at the general motors plant and now they're making 12, almost 10 years later, the same people. >> today they're making $12 an hour? >> today they're making $14, $16. some who have been there for a while, make $18. but it's a hard job, though. factory work is hard. >> you know, one element of this story is almost like a universal, and it's about loss.

and that loss is restricted in large part to certain, specific areas of this country. not on either coast. dayton, midwestern states, parts of the south. and in addition to the economic loss that many of these people sustained in 2008, 2009, many of them are the same people whose families go and fight the wars that we've been involved with for 18, 19 years. and i'm wondering, the people you encountered, the people whose stories are encompassed in this documentary and others, how do they feel about the fact that seemingly so few public people know how to address their loss? >> you know, i'm so glad you brought that up. because to me the battle for the heart and soul of america is taking place in the midwest. is taking place in the heartland of our country. is taking place in places like dayton, ohio. is taking place -- that struggle

for who wins the heart and soul of americans. although i will say, i was driving here at 7:00 a.m. this morning, coming to this show and i thought about, wow, the shift is about to begin at the factory. and i see people here rushing to work with their backpacks on, some of them in jeans, some of them in suits. but we're all working people. we all work for a living. and waall want many of the same things. we want a sense of security about our lives. we want a fence thsense that wel be fairly treated at work and a sense that we have an economic future that's secure. and i honestly feel, where i come from, that future is not secure. i mean, we all talk about the american dream. maybe that's partly what you're alluding to. and the film does touch on that. can the american dream still live in the heartland of america? and i think our film really

raises that question. what has happened to workers' rights on the job? whether you're here in new york city or a big city or whether you're in the midwest, the rights of workers, the dignity of working people, your sense of sort of agency at the job that you have something to say about the conditions of your work, those are all very important questions and all of that came up sort of naturally through our making this film in that one factory. it's just one factory, although we do go to china and we see what work life is like in a city in china, too. and that turns out to be pretty different. and interesting. >> all right. >> the documentary, "american factory" premieres worldwide on netflix today. julia reichert, thank you very, very much. >> thanks, julia. and it's time now for business before the bell.

despite the economic uncertainty as the trump administration considers steps to boost the economy, the american consumer appears to still be strong with a number of companies exceeding earnings expectations. joining us now is cnbc's dominic chu to break down the latest results for us, dom. >> so the two biggest corporate stories of the morning so far are target and lowe's, because both of them posted better than expected profit, sales. they also forecast better results for the rest of the year. target was helped along by things like more customers trying in-store pickups, also online ordering and same-day shipping and lowe's was helped by better demand for the spring season, seasonal holiday sales, and it's an important look. we looked at whether or not the consumer can continue to be the crux of that decade-long economic expansion in america. remember, some estimates have the consumer spending side of things making up around 70% of u.s. gross domestic product. so it might be a big topic in that ongoing debate about whether recession actually comes

or or not. one other place we're seeing some economic impact in america is on the job front, specifically for women in the workplace. 2019 could be the first time that women will make up the majority of america's college-educated labor force. that's according to the "wall street journal" citing research from the economic policy institute, georgetown university and others. since around 2013, female share of college-educated workers has been around 49%. this development may lead to changes in the way that employers recruit and retain skilled talent for workers especially for women. and sci-fi movie fans, you can rejoice. how about another chapter to "the matrix" trilogy. that other chapter has been green lit by warner brothers. can you believe it was 1999 that that first movie came out? that movie was written and directed of course by the wh wachowskis. it altered the way audiences viewed special effects.

keanu reeves and carrie lee moss will reprise their roles as neo and trinity. >> thank you so much. we appreciate it! another story we're watching that has really big implications for europe, italy's government collapse yesterday plunging another key european nation into a period of crisis and uncertainty. mika, big news. >> italian premiere giuseppe conti announced his resignation. he blamed the collapse of his populist government on his right-wing interior minister, mateo salvini. his government attempted to force early elections. during conte's short tenure, the government's increasingly anti-migrant, anti-establishment policies isolated it inside

europe, while economic growth has slowed. he came to power just 14 months ago, amid a surge of antiestablishment frustration in italy. it remains to be seen if the hard-line anti-migrant salvini can force new elections in hopes of grabbing the premiership. >> elise, valsalvini, of course has associated himself with vladimir putin, donald trump. he has taken over the past several months to instagram and other social media outlets and he's been flamboyant, bombastic, and a demagogue of the first order. frightening for a lot of people in europe, that a man like this might rise to por wer in italy. and while he may be shut out of the next government, he has a 30% approval rating in italy,

which is extraordinarily high in that divided country. >> it remains to be seen if this power grab is going to be successful, but it certainly is worrisome. you look at the trend of far-right nationalist really gaining such a strong hold, really, you know, in the western world in europe and you look at what's happening with our own government right now. i find it telling that the current p.m. wasn't nationalist enough. he wasn't anti-immigrant enough, even, to fit the current climate in italy. and you have to wonder about the ripple effect of how this is going to further destabilize european economies with italy holding so much public debt. and i wonder how another election throws the continent into even more turmoil. >> yeah. up next, the toxic effect of

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welcome back to "morning joe." willie, just when you think it can't go any lower, donald trump retweeted this morning a tweet in thanking somebody who called him, said he was like the king of israel and the second coming of god. of course, evangelicals in their day would have actually called that blasphemous to suggest that you were the second coming of god and comparing yourself to jesus christ. there we have it. why don't we read the tweets and see what the president said and how the evangelicals will defend him today? >> i'll paraphrase and quote this one piece from a guest on another show who said the jewish people in israel love him, talking about president trump, like he's the king of israel.

they love him like he is the second coming of god, but american jews don't like him, they don't even know what he's saying anymore. so the guest is quoting extensively over three tweets is also a man who is an early adopter of birtherriism, who thought the shooting was a muslim attack. this is aym man who has been in the darkest conspiracy theories saying that many are trying to get guns out of people's hands, and you have the president of the united states not only quoting someone who says he's the king of israel and the second coming of god, but also pushing deplorable conspiracy theories.

>> and for people who don't understand the biblical reference that donald trump embraced, and i'm just going to give you the benefit of the doubt and hope he was ignorant of what he was embracing, jesus, on the cross, was called the king of israel. and old testament profits talked about the coming king of israel, which is what many called jesus christ. donald trump now, of course, associating himself, suggesting he is the king of israel and the second coming of god. >> you know, joe, you said it right on. you were right on with it when you said it's blasphemy. i am retweeting that is blasphemous 110%, but we have to see how donald trump sees himself. he sees himself as a king. he praises dictators.

he sees himself as an autocrat. he praises vladimir putin, an adversary of ours, someone who cyb cyberattacked our democracy. he doesn't understand democracy. he praised vladimir putin. i'm sure when he saw that tweet, he said, that's exactly who i am. we this out to the evangelicals today, is this who you support, this man? do you truly think he's going to lead us in the right direction? >> and, mike barnicle, the hypocrisy is breathtaking when you go back -- i remember back when bill clinton in his second term talked about a new covenant, creating a new covenant with the american people and evangelical leaders

and conservatives were outraged because the new covenant was what jesus christ was referenced, the new covenant. they're upset at those words when a democrat is in the white house, and yet you have a president today who actually embraces being called the second coming and also the king of israel. i'm sure there will be silence and justification from the likes of falwell and graham. >> joe, let's not make the mistake, and i don't think we are making the mistake, but americans out there, don't make the mistake of thinking these retweets and this aligning himself with such blasphemous thoughts as he does is thoughtlessness. it's not. it's part of a plan. the three-legged stool of the trump campaign's reelection campaign is hate, fear and division. those are the three legs that

he's depending on getting back to the white house using. >> it blows my mind. you know, he can be in a tornado shelter with victims who are survivors, have lost everything, and donald trump is going around autographing bibles, like his signature is on par with the word of god and deserves to desecrate the word of god. so this is just more par for the course, and it's just great that joe is a fellow bible driller and he can really deconstruct, he can use that southern baptist education he got to deconstruct some of these biblical references for the audience. >> right. well, and mika, again, not only do we speak for evangelicals, for evangelicals, there is, of course, jesus says that all sins are forgivable, that all have

sinned and fallen short of the glory of god, and everyone has sinned except for one and that is blasphemy. and at the heart of the evangelicals is for gigiveness. if you ask for forgive, god will give that to you. many have said that the man of god never had the need to ask jesus christ for forgiveness. that's his life, his decision, that's fine. but evangelicals know better. they know better, and yet we now have evangelicals supporting ayman who calls himself the king of israel and thanked somebody for saying he's the second coming of god. >> so, joe, before we go, another major american city is suffering from a growing water crisis. on the heels of the tragedy in

flint, michigan, our attention now turns to the east coast and newark, new jersey, and a growing lead contamination crisis. author harry a. washington is out with a new book called "a terrible thing to waste. environmental racism and its assault on the american mind. we're going to bring you that full, very important interview later in the week. it is definitely a story we all want to keep in mind and help address. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks, mirkska. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle. hopes for new gun legislation is slipping away again. the president backing out on promises, saying