Morning Joe - Court hearing set for Venezuelan immigrant shot by ICE

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

September 23, 2026: 8am — Court hearing set for Venezuelan immigrant shot by ICE To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm thrilled to be here at the second meeting of the Shield of Americas. The Shield of the Americas is a big deal. Maybe you don't know it, but it's a big deal. Very important. And this is the largest and most powerful lines for economic and national security ever to convene in the Western Hemisphere. And I'd say that's pretty good. I want to thank Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Where is Marco? Where is Marco? Where is Marco? He's never very far away, right? President Trump, they're losing track of the Secretary of State who was sitting right next to him. That moment came after the president addressed the UN General Assembly, where he threatened to annihilate Iran and attempted to rename artificial intelligence. Good morning and welcome to morning, Joe. It is Wednesday, September 23rd with us. We have the co-host of our 8 a.m. hour, staff writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire. co-host of the rest is politics podcast, the BBC's Caddy Kay is with us, along with President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haas. He's author of The Substack, Home and Away, and lead world news presenter for Sky News on the set with us this morning, Yalda Hakim. Good to have you all with us this morning. A lot happening here in New York City, Willie, yesterday with the president at the UN making some news.

There is, and Yaldah has been polite and patient as these morons talk about the Jackson dark injury. With everything else going on the world, we're very focused on the fall of the Giants quarterback. Thank you, Yolda. But let's get to the news. We begin with President Trump's speech yesterday at the U.N. General Assembly. The President was at the podium for about 40 minutes covering a number of topics. His comments about Iran receiving the most attention, though. The President threatening to annihilate, in his words, the Islamic Republic, then claimed once again,

there would soon be a deal to end the war. He made clear he does not care how the conflict is impacting the midterm elections here in America. But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic public and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again. Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election because it doesn't make sense for them not to. They're waiting to see how I do in the midterm election.

What they don't realize is that I'm not running. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran. It doesn't even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. The cowards and traders would love to say the United States is low on munitions, but that's not true. We have more munitions than we could ever possibly. even think of using, and we're building them at levels that we have never done before. We are adding to our stockpiles faster than we have ever been able to do before.

Top of the line stuff. That's objectively untrue, has been reported by many media outlets, and as members of the Department of Defense have told media outlets. That was a written speech? Yeah, that was a written speech. There's a lot in there, Richard. Let's go back to the beginning, though, with the comments. about Iran. He's going to annihilate them, drive them into hell, in his words, potentially.

Many problems with that. Number one, there are 93 million people living in Iran. You kill many, many, tens of millions of civilians if you did that. But also the bigger problem strategically is the Iranians don't believe him. They don't believe that he has the military might or the will at this point to annihilate Iran, whatever he takes that to mean. Meanwhile, meeting on the sideline between the United States delegation and Iranian delegation to work out some kind of a peace deal. So I guess this is a leverage play, but is Iran buying it anymore? Absolutely not. I mean, repeatedly throughout this war, we've threatened to erase civilizations. Now the phrase is annihilate. It's not serious. The main reason, it's not simply that we lack

the means, is that if we were to go after Iran's principal remaining asset, which is its oil and gas infrastructure, they would go after the oil and gas infrastructure of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and so forth. And we would, we would, would have the world in recession in about an hour. So it's not a serious threat. And the fact that negotiations were happening on the margins is true. So the real question, since economic coercion and military escalation have been demonstrated for seven months not to work, is what are we prepared to agree to, essentially to compromise on in these negotiations? That's the only serious question before this administration. And we'll see. Yelda, what questions do you have when you hear a president

make such pronouncements about annihilating a country at the UN General Assembly, what has been the reaction that you've heard from world leaders and other countries? And also, can you talk a little bit more about this concept of, I think from the get-go, it appears that the president may have perhaps misunderstood the way Iranians think it's very differently than they don't take these threats in a way, perhaps another country might, and perhaps might even sort of enjoy toying with him. Yeah, I mean, make it we've seen throughout the course of the last seven, eight, nine months of this war that's raged on. Donald Trump talk about bombing their civilization, you know, and now, as Richard said, talking about annihilating them. Not to mention that annihilating a nation

is a war crime. You know, to say that to a member state at the General Assembly, is disturbing, deeply disturbing coming from the leader of the free world. And the fact is that 93 million people do live in that country. And, you know, Donald Trump has continued to talk about destroying their nation. And you're right. I mean, you saw the Iranian delegation sit there and essentially not take him seriously. So there's a lot of hyperbole. There's a lot of drama.

Is any of it effective? That's the big question, because he might say, listen, I'm not really worried about Iranians threatening me or saying that they're going to try and hurt me ahead of the midterms. I'm not worried. But Richard and I were talking about it. When you say that, it's obviously something that's on your mind. So Yaldah just crystallized sort of my reaction when I was listening to this and realizing this was a written speech in the prompter. And he's talking about a war crime.

You have a president in the United States saying I'm going to commit potentially a war crime if I feel like it against a country. It doesn't that cause pause and perhaps concern on the world stage and perhaps even those who follow war crimes. It should and it does. And hold them accountable. And Donald Trump believes it's just loose talk and it's hyperbole and it's Trump and doing what he does. Yeah, no, it's a written speech. So, Jonathan, to Rich's point, this gets at the question of what's left in the toolbox, both diplomatic and military, to end this war. If he's talking about wiping out the entire nation, Iran doesn't believe he's going to do that.

believes it's negotiating leverage, whatever he thinks. And then on the sideline, you have Jared Kushner and Steve Whitkoff and the usual cast trying to get some kind of a resolution. But to Richard's other point, what does that look like? What can we give up? Are we willing to give the United States control permanently in some way of the Strait of Hormuz, for example, to Iran, who's not going to give that up at this point. That's the button they can push when they need it. No, they've found that's their best possible leverage. They've stumbled into that during this conflict. And certainly there's additional gravity, these threats being made at the UN, but he's made them repeatedly. And that's why Iran doesn't take him seriously anymore. And yes, you know, he, Trump suggested

that progress was made in these talks, but he said that before too. And Iran certainly seems willing to be patient. They're willing to play the waiting game. They say, they know that Trump, they have leverage right now. And with the Houthis also, you know, potentially seizing another key waterway in the Middle East, gas and energy prices are only going to go up. And Richard, you made the point also about, you know, if we were to strike at Iran, you know, they would strike back at our allies, sending, you know, adding to the economic pain, but also we have no ability to defend them because we're so low on munitions and interceptors. So the president doesn't have any good options here, Caddy, but one place he could potentially apply a little leverage would be

with China, which has helped Iran, which has supplied Iran, you know, in the, during this conflict, President Trump hosting Xi Jinping. It arrives later today. The summit's set for tomorrow. But Trump has made clear what it means on AI, but also on this, he doesn't want to confront Beijing about anything. Yeah. I mean, it's been a really fascinating few days here in terms of international politics, but also domestic politics. With the president talking the way he's been talking in Iran, honestly, the rest of the world kind of shrugging their shoulders because they've heard so much of this language now.

This is very different from August of 2017 when he threatened fire and fury against North Korea and the world was shocked and terrified. Now I think the reaction has been like, yeah, well, we hear him say this kind of thing. And we don't know that that means he's actually going to follow through with it. But you've also had both on China and on Iran itself, you're starting to see Republicans distance themselves from the president. You've got two Republican senators saying, hold on a second, we don't want to have to pay the gas. They're up in tight races. You've got another Republican saying he shouldn't be treating President Xi the way that he's planning to treat him with all of the pomp and circumstance of this state visit. We need to be much tougher on him.

So I think this is a week where you're starting to hear a few Republicans not happy with the way that the president is talking about foreign policy. And we're not happy with the things that he's doing either. Richard. All that sure. And the danger with the China is we could have, quote, unquote, a successful summit by the president's lights. And that would mean we'd essentially sell out. Taiwan, we'd give up everything geopolitically in order to get what the president wants politically and economically.

Can I make a larger point about yesterday's speech? For 80 years, the United States has been successful in the world because we had people work with us because they wanted to. We have basically been the leader of the world through consent. What we heard yesterday was a very different United States. We've thrown consent out the window. Now it's about coercion. It's about crude force.

To the victor goes to spoils, threatening annihilation. annihilation. What we've done is fundamentally changed the relationship between the United States and the rest of the world, friend and foe alike. And people now, we shouldn't wonder that people see us differently, and they are going to recalibrate their relationship with us and with the world. We have basically set ourselves apart from everyone else, the irony that we're doing this at the UN, however broken the UN is. But basically, this is the end of 80 years of American foreign policy. We shouldn't underestimate this. This is serious, serious stuff. This is a massive departure, and the rest of the world has taken note.

They can no longer depend on us to protect them. We're unable to, and we're unwilling to. And instead, to the victor goes to spoils. We have goals in foreign policy. If it's good for us, we're going to do it. And if it's not good for others, too bad. And that was a line directly pulled from the speech. President Trump.

He was talking about Venezuela yesterday. We deposed Maduro. We went in and we took the oil. Good for us. That seems to be the foreign policy. Coming up, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, state representative James Telerico is standing by. He joins us live straight ahead on Morning Joe. Welcome back. Women are building businesses at remarkable rates. In fact, women entrepreneurs now

account for nearly half, 49 percent of all new businesses, a 69 percent increase from 2019 to 2024. Yet new research from HSBC in partnership with Know Your Value shows that even as women build with confidence, they face a unique set of financial challenges from planning for the future to navigating market volatility to making the most of the wealth they're creating. It's a conversation Know Your Value and HSBC. Our sponsor will be taking further tonight at our third Women and Wealth event right here in New York City. I'll be moderating a panel along with Raquel Oden, the U.S. head of international wealth premier and private banking at HSBC, MS now contributor, Huma Abidine, and beauty pioneer Bobby Brown. The conversation will focus on women entrepreneurs and draw on our recent research, and we'll be telling everyone about how that goes through our social channels.

But for a little preview, Raquel Oden and Huma Abidine, join us right now. It's good to have the team together. Okay, so Raquel, let's just start with the tension at the heart of the research here. So women entrepreneurs, very confident, and they're obviously building businesses. But they don't feel prepared about what comes next. What is this gap and what does this research show us? So thank you. So excited about tonight as well. And so happy to be here with you guys kicking it off.

But I think to the point that you're making here is women are going to be, are the business owners. So when we talk about the transfer of wealth, it's also the transfer of businesses going to women. And the importance about that is, one, I feel good about the report that talks about their confidence in the standpoint that they believe their businesses are going to do pretty well right now, and their personal wealth. They're pretty confident about it growing. What they are most challenged by, as you stated here, is quite honestly, the concern of succession planning. When you think about as an entrepreneur, the number one thing that you concern yourself about is will my business, my dream, my growth aspirations carry on beyond me. So when we think about wealth creation, it's also creating wealth for your businesses. And that's really at the heart of what is causing the most concern for many of these female entrepreneurs.

Kind of set up for the future. One of the things you talk about in the report is the term financial fluency, which I think some young women might find entrepreneurs as exciting and confident as they are, find that a little intimidating? How do you explain financial fluency to people who are reading the report for the first time? So that's a great question. And I think to your point, hopefully the statement financial fluency makes you feel more empowered, right? It's not literacy, it's fluency.

And how do I take command and take control of my finances? Beyond the succession planning, the additional concern that entrepreneurs are having specifically with female entrepreneurs, very specifically, is the economic environment we're in. So what's keeping them up at night is the market volatility. It's what's actually happening we're calling stubborn inflation. What's happening geopolitically that causes them concern. So as they think about navigating their businesses today, while they're confident about what they would like to do with their business,

they do realize the economic forces around them ensure that they need to be financially fluent in making decisions in this market. And I would say to you, as we all know, market volatility isn't going away anytime soon, right? As you think about your personal wealth and you think about your business, that will absolutely cause concerns. And the reality is, as we take a look as we're going into midterm elections, We do know we tend to see market volatility until then. Post elections, depending, no matter who wins, ultimately equity markets always do better

after elections are done. And then secondly, most importantly, we tend to see a fourth quarter rally. So what I tell entrepreneurs right now, it's about staying invested in the market, but you have to be actively managing your portfolios. And I think the important piece here is rebalancing and very importantly engaging on active management right now, because as these things are happening around us, And I talk about the volatility, I talk about energy. And of course, what we're talking about here

as it relates to inflation and interest rates that are actually going up, you still have to be able to respond to the markets and have active movement in your portfolios as well as your business. But ultimately, it is about staying the course. Right. You can't be avoidant.

That sounds very financially fluent. Don't be avoidant. I think is the bottom line here. One of the findings from HSBC's entrepreneurial research that struck me was 64% of multi-generational entrepreneurs wish they had been more prepared before taking over a family business.

So Raquel, you advise women on all of these issues and set them up for success. What does preparation actually look like? And what do you wish more women entrepreneurs were asking themselves earlier in the game? Yeah. So I think this is one at the core

of what I said before. It's the succession planning, right? And so the importance of that that really says when you want to turn over your business or prepare for that next phase, believe it or not, you start 10 years out. And that next generation coming in means for the next 10 years, you're preparing them for that spot. That, one, requires intentionality. I think as a founder and as an owner, it's hard to bring people in day one.

So we do a ton of work with our family office and our small, you know, and our what I call business owners to help them prepare for this concept of this succession plan. And you can't wake up on a Tuesday and say, I'm ready to retire. Right. Right. And then hope all things work out. This is about fluency as well, right? The importance of understanding of how do you pull whoever this succession is going to be. If it's family, incredible. If not, it could be somebody else that you're grooming. But it really is making sure they understand the P&L. They understand the core business. They understand the intention of what you want for this company. But importantly, allow them the path to grow it. And so as founders, it is also hard to have somebody else come in with some newer ideas. And so that's why the succession process, is a process. And it happens over time. And we give a ton of guidance and advice. And it really is how do we prepare next gen? Well, it's interesting you're talking about succession planning as a process. We're also having Bobby Brown join us on the panel tonight. A beauty pioneer started

her first business in 1990 and then relaunched or started a new business altogether in 2020. What do you think our audience will learn from Bobby's own experience in planning? and in forecasting and, you know, the unexpected. What do you think she's going to share with us? Well, all of us. We're so excited to have Bobby Brown, and I think what you find is a successful entrepreneur, female entrepreneur,

has not only done it once, but done it twice, and we'll do it again. And there's a formula that she used, and I think part of these gatherings are important that we're sharing these best practices with each other. And what she's hopefully going to share is, one, your first idea is the greatest idea, right? And it is your baby.

And then the fact that you can replicate this incredible success again tells you that you've really thought through what this really looks like. And so I'm going to walk out inspired hearing her story, but more importantly, walking away knowing what's possible. And I think when we gather women together specifically entrepreneurs and business owners, they realize sky's the limit because we are optimistic, but there's also technique, process, and fluency that we need to embrace to make sure we have. have that same success. Broad question to end on beyond entrepreneurs. I've noticed working with women through Know Your Value that a lot of them really shut down when talking about their own personal finances, you know, asking for a raise, asking for money for themselves is all so hard. And there's an avoidance issue for sure. And I think we're getting better. But I'm wondering like what concrete piece of advice or action you would want all women to take when it comes to financial

fluency. So I think what's incredible about that, and I think you're right, it's a great problem to have, right? We think about the great transfer of wealth that's going to take place and the great transfer of businesses that are going to take place where women are going to be in the driver's seat. I think what's going to be important about that is, one, we have to have this type of dialogue more often. So while we're doing this gathering, our fourth one, the idea is we need to keep gathering, right? We need to keep sharing these stories and having incredibly successful entrepreneurs and those that were not as successful. And what Bobby Brown's going to tell us, there are moments where it wasn't successful, right?

And it really is us understanding those pitfalls and things that we're going to see and how we face them. We will repeat them, but at the same time, we can also learn from them. So for that, I'm excited. The bumps in the road is where you learn the most. We're going to continue this conversation at tonight's event. HSBC's Raquel Oden, an MS now contributor and know your values. Huma Abidine. Thank you both very much.

And coming up, new polling is showing Democrats leading in two key states for the midterms. we're going to dig into those new numbers and much more. Next time morning, Joe. Half past the hour, there is new polling on President Trump and the economy, and it paints a bleak picture for Republicans this November. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS shows just 27% of Americans approve of Trump on the economy. 73% disapprove. Those numbers mirror how voters feel about the state of the economy overall. Just 20. 28% rated as good. 72% say it's poor.

There's also new polling showing Democrats leading in a pair of closely watched Senate races ahead of November. In Iowa, a new Marist poll finds Democratic State Representative Josh Turrick leading Republican Congressman Ashley Hinson by eight points, 50% to 42%. And in Texas, the latest Marist poll finds Democratic State Representative James Tala Rico ahead of Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton by six points, 50 percent to 44 percent. And James Telerico will be our guest next on Morning Joe. Welcome back today to Democratic lawmakers' plan to visit the Venezuelan immigrant, who still has a bullet lodged in his back nearly 72 hours after being shot by an ICE agent in Texas.

Congressman Greg Kazar and Joaquin Castro say they will demand the release of Wilbur Rafael Garces Perez. He's due in court next week as questions continue to mount about why he was shot. MS-Now reporter Britt Miller has more. We're getting a closer look at the traffic stop that ended with an ice agent opening fire. Venezuelan immigrant Wilbur Rafael Garces Perez was shot while making a door-dash delivery in Austin. Sunday. Body camera video released by Austin police show the 28-year-old holding his shoulder. Is he under arrest? Then he's placed in handcuffs. Officers then cut his shirt, revealing a bloody gunshot wound. Garces Perez says he was taken to the hospital for a few hours and barely

received pain medication. His attorney says he was taken to the hospital for a second time after losing mobility in his arm. When they took him to the hospital, they cuffed him. chained his ankles and put him in a waist chain and were pretty rough with him. Later learning, the gunshot apparently fractured his clavicle. The attorney says Garses Perez is now wearing a sling with the bullet still lodged in his back as he sits in isolation at a detention center. But the Department of Homeland Security defending his treatment, posting on X, he has been given some of the best medical care he's ever received in his life. If any person was shot, if a member of Congress had taken a bullet and then went to a hospital, do you really think that after

three hours they'd be pulled out? Texas Congressman Greg Khazar is one of more than a hundred Democratic lawmakers demanding answers. In a letter to DHS, they want Garces Perez released so he can receive proper medical care. I think everybody can agree that the government should not be allowed to shoot you from an unmarked vehicle and then deny you. you adequate medical care and then try to deport you from the country before you can testify about what happened. Still among the unanswered questions, why an ICE agent fired his weapon. DHS has yet to provide a reason and has not answered our repeated requests for video, though multiple reports say the officer who shot Garces Perez was a new ICE recruit who was

not wearing a body camera. All this, as DHS tries to deport him saying he's in the U.S. illegally. But his attorney claims Garces Perez lawfully enter the country as an asylum seeker, and his current immigration records are unclear in the system. Whether or not it turns out that he had lawful status a couple of days ago or not, Wilbur is a human being. And all human beings in the United States of America have basic constitutional rights. Everyone in this country is unsafe when the federal government can shoot someone in the back and then try to see. say that it's their fault. And in response to a lawsuit filed by his attorney, a federal judge ordered Garces Perez to appear in person at a hearing next week, effectively putting a pause on his deportation

for now. Back to you. Wow. We're joined now by the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas State Representative James Telerico. It's good to have you back on the show. This is now one of several and in some cases deadly ice shootings, just in Texas alone, two dead, one man with a bullet in his back. Can you talk about the terror in Texas regarding ICE? What questions do you have about this latest shooting? And what are you hearing from voters?

Yeah, ICE said they would go after criminals. But Wilbert Perez came to this country legally. He has no criminal record. Yet ICE agents shot him in the back three times while he was doing his job, making food deliveries. This is outrageous. And I think most people want to see accountability. They promised they would go after criminals. How does paralyzing a door dash driver make anyone more safe? He spent that night on a prison cell floor with a bullet still lodged in his back. And now he can't move the left side of his body.

And so we need a complete, exhaustive, transparent, independent investigation into this incident to ensure that this never happens again in the state of Texas. So you said he came to this country legally. Because while he was on the detention center floor with a bullet in his back, DHS released a statement saying Homeland Security with the assistance of FBI is leading investigation into an officer involved shooting of an illegal alien. from Venezuela, who illegally entered our country. So which is it? Yeah, that's right. And this is an agency that has shown time and time again that they can't be trusted to share complete, full, accurate information with the public.

And that's the bare minimum of what we should expect from any federal agency. So what are you hearing from voters in communities across Texas as you campaign about this issue? Do they bring it up? Is it a big one compared to other issues of affordability that you are addressing? Yeah, it is one of the top issues that I hear about everywhere I go across the state of Texas. And, you know, Meek, I stay till the very end of all of our rallies. I shake every hand.

I answer every question. I get to hear directly one-on-one from the Texans who are showing up at our events. I have so many of my fellow Texans coming up to me, particularly young people, who are terrified for their parents, for their aunts and uncles, for their family members, their co-workers, their neighbors. And they are fearing the moment that their loved ones will be kidnapped off the street without any warrant, without any answers. And so there is deep fear across the state of Texas.

I think most Texans, most Americans want elected officials who are going to fix this broken immigration system, including border security. they want us to get rid of these masked men in unmarked vehicles who are terrorizing communities all over the state of Texas, all over this country. Representative Talleyco, good morning. And what you hear from the other side is, okay, well, James Talarico and others, they want open borders. They want lawlessness.

That's what they want. In fact, we're seeing lawlessness from ICE agents. We can put that to the side for a moment. But what is your remedy to the problem? Because as you say, most Americans do want a strong border where there's a legal system under which people come and go, that people can have asylum. them when they come here and get a speedy hearing, all the rest of it. So how do you capture for people who are on the fence, they want a strong border, but they don't like what they're seeing from ICE?

What is your proposal? What is your policy? What is the remedy to what we're seeing right now? Well, a few months ago, I rolled out a common sense border security agenda, and it was endorsed by Democratic and Republican law enforcement officials along our southern border. We need more Border Patrol agents. We need more immigration judges. We need to modernize. our ports of entry to detect illicit substances like fentanyl, and we need to make sure that we overhaul this entire system, including the asylum system. We deserve to know who's coming into our country. We deserve a safe, orderly process that ensures public safety. That is not mutually exclusive with the goal of preventing our neighbors from being shot in the back

on our streets. Most Americans, most Texans want to see strong border security, and they want to protect our neighbors who are contributing to our economy every day, contributing to our communities every day. Those are not mutually exclusive goals. And I will be a senator who will fight for that comprehensive immigration reform to secure our border and protect our neighbors. So you're hearing about immigration and ICE out on the campaign trail. You're probably hearing even more about the cost of gas right now as of this morning. 447 a gallon, about four bucks a little under in the state of Texas. The 447 is the national number. But diesel. 6.53 a gallon setting records every day, it seems. What has been the impact on the people of Texas,

and what are you hearing from them about this? Yeah, everywhere I go across the state, I hear from Texans who are drowning, who are struggling to survive in this economy. And it's not like Texans are spending their money on nice cars or nice clothes or nice vacations. We are spending our money on the basics, on gas, groceries, utilities, health insurance, the things that we need to survive, the necessities. And this recent spike in gas prices and diesel prices, it's the straw that's breaking the camel's back all over the state of Texas. And it's why way back in the spring, I rolled out a plan to immediately suspend the gas tax and the federal diesel tax, which would save Texas families hundreds of dollars immediately every month. And that's the kind of real

relief that people need as we seek to bring this disastrous war on Iran to a close so we can start to really bring down gas and diesel prices. That will help the entire economy. Not only is there pain at the pump for our drivers, but when the price of diesel goes up, the price of everything goes up because everything you buy was shipped by diesel. And so it is just exacerbating this affordability crisis in the state of Texas and across this country, and we need leaders who are going to bring both parties together to solve it. Representative Telarico on the subject of energy costs, can you speak to the impact of AI data centers, which is something that initially had been very popular idea in your state,

and now we're seeing a swift backlash. What's the added strain there on the grid and on the finances of your average Texas? Yeah, I was up in Abilene, Texas. I met with residents, Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike, who are so frustrated by the three giant data centers that are being built in their community without their consent, without their input. I met a mother who she and her husband moved out to Abilene. They bought their dream home to raise their kids. Now their young boy wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks it's day because the lights shining through his bedroom window from this giant data center. And so I've rolled out a plan to crack down on these data center companies. If a data center can't meet the demands of a community, if they can't pay for their own energy,

if they can't pay for their own water, if they can't recycle that water, if they can't get the input of the people who live there, then they shouldn't be built, period, full stop. This has to be a two-way street. And that's not what we're seeing across Texas right now. And I'll just say this is in stark contrast to my opponent. this race. Ken Paxton has taken nearly half a million dollars from data center companies, and so he has bought and paid for by big data centers. We need a senator who's going to hold these companies accountable and fight for our communities, not for these corporate special interests.

So speaking of your opponent, a new poll from NPR Marist, finds you up six points in that race. And there has been some question about whether or not you will have a debate with him. We should note that Paxton has not participated in a general election debate since first running statewide office in 2014. There had been some suggestion that he would debate you, but yet as the clock ticks and we barrel towards election day, nothing's on the books. Has your campaign received an update as to whether or not he will debate you? And if he won't, what does that tell you? Yeah, we haven't received any update from Ken Paxton or his campaign. Unfortunately, you know, we have agreed to, I think it's five debates.

as of today. And Ken Paxton has declined every single one. And the people of Texas deserve to hear from the two candidates seeking to represent them in the U.S. Senate. We have had debates between Senate candidates for at least the last two decades in Texas. And Ken Paxton may be trying to break that streak. And that is tragic for the people of Texas who deserve an opportunity to hear directly from us on the issues that they care about. But I get it. If I had Ken Paxton's career of corruption, I wouldn't want to answer these questions either. I wouldn't want to answer the question, why did you give an Epstein-style sweetheart deal to an admitted child predator? Why were you impeached by your fellow Republicans, by your own party? Why do you own 15 homes on a government

salary? Those are uncomfortable questions, and I'm sure he doesn't want to answer them, but the people of Texas deserve answers. And so I hope that we will get a debate before voting starts in just about a month. Well, Representative Talariko, it's Huma, Abidine. Hi, the last time I heard you speak, you were talking about looking forward to debating him. Does your campaign have a strategy

to get him to a debate with you so that you can show your contrast? I mean, we just heard that they've spent, the Republicans are putting in an additional $100 million to support his campaign in soft money. This is in addition to the $70 million they'd already spent. Do you guys have a strategy to figure out how to get into a debate? Well, we're going to keep putting the pressure on Ken Paxon, his campaign, to do right by the people

of Texas and accept a debate invitation. And I'm going to keep traveling all over the state answering tough questions from voters. I've been holding town halls on my own where I answered questions directly from from Texans about the issues they care about. And so Ken Paxton, when he gets a tough question, he runs away repeatedly, and I mean literally runs away. If you watch the videos of voters or reporters asking him questions, he just darts in the other direction.

We need a senator who is willing to take the tough questions and answer those tough questions. We don't want a senator who runs away from our concerns. So I'm curious, just looking at your background, you went to UT Austin. Harvard and then the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary or Seminarian and a guest preacher at times. And I just want to ask you sort of about the religious aspect of what's going on in our politics today and ask you about President Trump, who of course endorsed your opponent. How do you explain the draw from faith leaders, especially those in Texas to Trump and how they see him as a protector of Christian? conservative interests, does he? And does your opponent? Well, I think just as much as people are tired of corrupt politics, they're also tired of corrupt religion, you know, religious leaders who

use their influence to accumulate more wealth and power for themselves. But honestly, I'm encouraged because everywhere I go across the state of Texas, I have people of faith coming up to me, even if they don't agree with every one of my policy positions, who are thanking me for speaking about my faith, speaking about my values in an unapologetic way. And I think that's a, it's an opportunity to build a bridge between communities, between neighbors who have been pitted against each other for far too long in our country. And that is what religion is all about. The word religion literally means to religament, to reconnect us to one another. And so they're going to be powerful people, whether they're powerful politicians or powerful faith,

state leaders who are going to use religion, weaponize it to divide us. And then it's up to all of us to remember that religion is really about reconnecting us to one another. And I hope that it can be an opportunity for us to find our way home to each other in this country once again. Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, State Representative James Tellerico, thank you very much for coming on the show today. We appreciate it. And we should should mention we reached out to the campaign for Tala Rica's Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, to offer an interview with him on our show. And we haven't heard back. I don't think he's doing a lot of interviews. So we don't take it personally. No. Okay. It's still

open. Opportunities here. We'll be right back with final thoughts on Morning Joe. Welcome back to Morning Joe. As we wrap up this three-hour journey, Jonathan Lemire. Let's talk about what's coming today now. President Xi arriving at Andrews Air Force Base, tonight, the president, unusual, will be meeting him there. That's something the presidents simply don't do. We don't travel. The president of the United States does not travel to joint-based Andrews, literally rolling out the red carpet to meet the leader of China, Xi Jinping.

And we should note when Trump was in China back in the spring, he did not get similar treatment from Xi. In fact, not only is there the red carpet tarmac arrival, but there's going to be a flyover at some point, too. And then today, it was just the ceremony tomorrow. summit. We'll see if AI comes up. We'll see if Taiwan comes up. We do know that there's going to be a lavish state dinner in the evening, as it certainly Trump does seem to really bring out the best of his office for his authoritarian friends. Well, yeah, I mean, he met Vladimir Putin in Alaska

not long ago, literally rolling out a red carpet on the tarmac to meet him, now doing the same for President Xi. We'll also see if China's support for Iran comes up in the war that we are currently in the middle of driving up gas prices, closing the strait of Hormuz and everything else. Past his prologue, Trump won't push him on any of that. All right. This has been Lemire and Geist for this last 75 seconds. It works. It's good.

We're a little close together, but it works. We'll work on our blocking. That does it for us this morning. We'll see you right back here. Tomorrow morning. Stephanie Ruhl picks up the coverage right now.