Morning Joe - Judge clears path for former NFL players to join LSU roster

Episode Date: September 4, 2026

September 4, 2026: 7am — Judge clears path for former NFL players to join LSU roster 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.

Every president has free reign with what they do to the White House. You know, I'm not sure on specifics of what they've done. But once again, it just comes down to you got to do what's right for the people. So if you're going to spend millions making your life more comfortable in the White House, what are you going to do for us? I like Trump. I'm a Reagan Republican, but I don't see much of Reagan and Trump right now. What do you mean by that? the prices are going up. Everything's going up and it's getting harder to survive. I don't like the high

gas prices. I don't think they should be this high and it keeps us from traveling more. Are you frustrated? Are you disappointed and the person you voted three times for? A little bit, yeah. If you could talk to him directly, what would you say right now? I don't know that I would vote for him again. Why? Because he hasn't kept his promises. He hasn't kept his word. Gas 415 a gallon as we wake up this morning. MS now is Alex Tabin catching up there with voters in Florida, raising questions about President Trump despite supporting him in the past. Welcome back to Morning Joe. It's Friday, September 4th. Jonathan Lemire is still with us and joining the conversation. MS now's senior Capitol Hill reporter, host of way too early, Ali Vitale, the host of Politics

Nation and MSN now Reverend Al Sharpton. He's a president, of course, of the National Action Network, and MSN now political analyst Matthew Bartlett. He's a former Trump appointee at the State Department during the first Trump administration, a great group assembled for this hour. Matt, I'll just let you take some of that sound that we just heard there from a group of Trump voters. Again, that's just a small sampling of people at a gas station. But obviously, some of the things that President Trump promised, like not getting into what he would have called stupid wars and bringing prices down have not happened in this first year and a half for people who supported him. Yeah, precisely, Willie. You know, none of this is.

surprising, but in terms of a political coalition, it is just staggering how in a short amount of time, you know, the 2024 winning coalition has just crumbled for the president. So much of it around the economic angst, now around the war. Again, reality is not measured in rhetoric. It's measured in results. And this second term has not delivered anything for the American public. It's reflective in the polls, and I think it's going to be reflective on election day as well. So let's talk about the appearance by Vice President J.D. Vance at the White House turning to foreign policy. He rejected the use of the word war to describe the war with Iran. Moments after he praised President Trump for being the only president in the past 40 years to win a war.

America has fought a lot of wars since I've been alive, 42 years, and we have won almost none of them. until Donald J. Trump became the President of the United States. Will this war be over by the time of the midterm elections? Well, Caitlin, again, I don't, I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no active shooting. I recognize there have been places where this is flared up. Major combat operations, again, major combat operations lasted for about six weeks. Matt, we cataloged this with David Rode in our last hour.

All the things that are wrong with that statement, that there was shots being fired back and forth. There were attacks made very public by the Pentagon by the United States just a couple of days ago. Our Gulf neighbors are being attacked. 18 American service members have been killed. Hundreds more injured. The Strait of Hormuz has closed. Very much a war.

And by the way, don't take my word for it. It's a word President Trump has used many, many times. So why is the vice president trying to kind of wish this away and minimize what's going on right now? You know, the vice president is not stupid, but it seems he thinks that the American public is. We've had a war with Iran now for over six months. It was supposed to be six weeks. This is just a rinse and repeat strategy of escalation, de-escalation, a notion of victory, of peace, of MOUs.

It's been schizophrenic at best. And then you have, of course, the Secretary of Defense, Pete Heggseth, who you would go out daily and make statements that we were winning this war. Obviously, he could not win this war. The vice president went to Geneva, tried to negotiate a peace, came up with a preposterous idea that we were going to sell them soybeans. It was all fantasy talk. And now recently we've seen, I guess, General Scott Besant launched economic D-Day. Of course, D-Day, an illusion to World War II. So now to have the vice president come out and say that this is not a war, it seems not only does this administration lack a coherent strategy for engaging, winning, or ending this war. But I don't even think they're talking to each other in terms of the same page or the same message.

Again, I'm not sure what the vice president thought this was going to do for him or the American public, but for somebody who may have potential future ambitions. it's not a good look. No, and that's just so I can hear is that the administration has talked about this war so poorly that they haven't been able to settle on goals, they haven't been able to try to sell the American people on why we're in this conflict in the first place. And Ali Vitale, that has led, you know, the combination of, you know, unable to talk about it and, frankly, not able to prosecute it well, has led Americans really, really unhappy with it. We see the poll numbers consistently, how much Americans don't like this conflict and, frankly,

how much they don't like President Trump, which leaves Republicans with a whole lot of problems coming up this fall. You know, that Trump's signature campaign promise to bring prices down, what he's done has made it worse because of the war end will add his tariffs. And now, looking around, I mean, I remember Matt was on the show a few weeks ago, and he and I had a conversation about what Republicans could run on this fall. And his answer kind of went viral because he went, Nothing. Like, we don't have anything. And that hasn't changed as we now barrel into Labor

Day weekend. And Republicans are now on the Hill this week trying to pitch that they've been the most productive Congress in history. And there's a bunch of different ways that we can show that that's not true. But even the things that they say they're running on, for example, their signature reconciliation bill that the biggest feature of it was extending the first Trump-era tax cuts. Okay, except that when tax season rolled around and people were supposed to be receiving the high point of the benefit of that policy, it was also the moment where the war with Iran was starting to hit people's pocketbooks as well as the tariffs. And so it completely undercut at tax rebate season the biggest argument that Republicans had in their pockets.

I think at the end of the day, though, Republican operatives and strategists and members who I'm talking to agree that this is pretty much baked in the cake. I know that other outlets are doing that reporting as well. They're having to figure out how do they run successfully in the landscape that they are given. For some, that means sticking close to the president, just trying to bring out any single voter they can that's been part of that MAGA coalition. And then for others of them, it's figuring out where is the right place to distance themselves. It is such a high wire act that only a few of them are going to be able to pull off. But at the same time, not that many of them may have to, because the map, at least from a House perspective, is just so small because of

gerrymandering, because of the ways not just mid-cycle gerrymandering, but in past years, the swing seats that are at play have just become so tiny. And so Republicans I speak to, Democrats I speak to, they know that they are all battling over the same like 25 to 30 seats. If it's a wave year, yeah, maybe there's a few surprising seats that come into play. But I just don't know anyone that is really and truly banking on a wave. This is going to come down to a few select seats and a few select members who are able to either walk the high wire well or end up falling off of it in November, and a lot of that is going to be because of Trump. Let's talk about that vote. Missouri, Maryland, state Supreme Courts both now have issued

major rulings on congressional redistricting, delivering dual victories for Democrats seeking to counter those partisan map changes. In Missouri, the court unanimously blocked a new Republican-backed congressional map from being used in November's upcoming election. The court also approved putting a referendum on the November ballot, allowing voters to decide whether to use that map in future Similarly, the Maryland Supreme Court ruled yesterday a Democratic-backed constitutional amendment concerning the state's redistricting rules must appear on the November ballot. The move reverses to lower court rulings that had originally blocked it from going to voters. Analysts say the Missouri ruling is likely to keep one seat in Democratic hands as Republicans

fight to preserve their razor-thin majority, while the Maryland ruling could benefit Democrats in 28 if voters do in fact approve the proposed map. So, Rev, we've seen back and forth on this. We've seen victories for Republicans that kind of tilt the map in their favor, this time going in the favor of Democrats, in these two places, at least. It goes in the favor of Democrats, but it also goes in the favor of the districts that were already there. It's not like the courts is giving something to the Democrats. In Missouri, you have an iconic figure there who has represented that district for many years. So you're looking at them really saying states run elections and we want to keep the districts

that have been outlined by the states and that the voters have historically did. So rather than paint this as progress, I think that it is more accurately to say that we have seen the state courts stand up to the regress that the federal courts under the direction of President Trump and his cohorts has tried to do and really tried to manipulate the Supreme Court decision with the K-LAS decision, try to restructure voting rights in a real backlash strategy of we're just going to redraw districts that neutralize certain elements of our society, whether it's based on party or race? You know, Matt, Allie was talking about Republicans running this fall.

Some of them, depending on their district, hugging Donald Trump close, others running in the other direction, which calls to mind this convention that they're going to have in Dallas next week on Wednesday and Thursday, which some are calling Trump a Paloosa. Republicans being charged $25,000 for an audience with President Trump, who's apparently going to speak on both nights, many of them telling us and other news outlets they're going to stay away from that. they need money. They don't need to be giving up money and they need to be on the trail. And frankly, many of them don't want to be seized sort of standing in that dear leader way applauding the man that they may be trying to avoid to win a tough election. Yeah, the Trump Texas rodeo. Side show, you know, starts on Tuesday. And I'm just not sure how many people are quite interested in what's going to happen. Again, this is a novel approach to the midterms. As you said, members would much rather be out there with their voters than be in Texas. But the general public,

not only will you be competing with the NFL, which is having games on Wednesday and Thursday night. But again, this Trump fatigue is real. And the base has kind of heard all of it on a day-to-day basis from the Oval Office, not sure what changes in Texas. So in terms of a strategy, I'm not sure this does anything, but put a further spotlight on a very unpopular president nationalizing all of these races. I'm sure the Democrats are quite happy about this, but from a Republican perspective, I don't see a lot of blue sky down there in Texas. And yet I will say I was struck by the way that Vice President Vance was basically yesterday trying to give some of these lawmakers the space. this convention is a forced effort by the White House to nationalize it to bring attention back to Trump. Susie Wiles over a year ago now said we are going to make it as if Trump is on the ballot.

And there are some Republicans, even vulnerable ones, who have told me that they see upside in that because at this point, they say Trump is the president. Everyone knows Trump is the president. Everyone knows that we've both got ours after our name. And we've got to do what we need to do to actually just turn out those voters, Willie. But at the end of the day, I think it's important for us to look at the ways that Vance might be giving these reports. publicans space. I think the question that I've heard from lawmakers on the hill is they know that they need to be able to make these decisions in real time. It's just sort of a question if the president will allow them to do so because I think in some of these races where he has relationships with

Republicans, he is aware of the ways that they sometimes need to go like this and put distance, but that in other instances will welcome him, for example, to their districts to do rallies. I'm thinking of people like Tom Barrett in Michigan or Mike Lawler in New York, they have welcomed him for rallies, even though they are in some of these front-line seats. And Lawler is an example of someone who told me he's going to the convention. He sees an upside and knowing New York 17th congressional, yeah, Kamala Harris won there, but Trump was also able to make gains if you look at that district over time. There are conservative pockets, and that's one of the places where potentially maybe Lawler can pull something off. He's got a strong challenger. But that's one example that I'm looking at as

we head into next week. And so I think Republicans need the space to make their own decisions. Vance obviously seems to realize that. But that's the thing with this unpredictable president is, is he okay with that? And again, the White House is the one forcing this issue. They're making Republicans have to decide and have to answer questions from reporters like me, hey, what are you going to do when Trump is the central focal point of the convention? And nobody else was having to answer that question until Trump said, let's do a convention. And remember President Trump at that RNC meeting this week, promised or perhaps threatened in some cases to get really involved in these races, tight races, wide open races, whatever they are. When he wasn't mocking Ken Paxton at that event,

he was promising to get involved with that $400 million he has sitting in his super PAC. Allie, interested in your take on this story. Democratic Senator John Federman of Pennsylvania facing criticism this morning amid a Wall Street Journal report that claims he dodges constituents, alienates fellow Democrats, and just shows very little interest in his job on Capitol Hill. The journal citing interviews with more than a dozen former staffers and lawmakers reports behind closed doors. Federman has focused more on cultivating his relationships with conservative media figures and advocating for Israel than doing the job. In one instance, Senator Federman reportedly skipped a June meeting with three paralyzed veterans from his state, but appeared on Fox News less than an hour later despite telling staff he had to miss the meeting because he felt ill.

Last September, according to the journal, when an aide told Federman officials with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia wanted to meet because of concerns about Medicaid cuts, he was dismissive, writing a text message, quote, I'm convinced they just want free trips to D.C. The report goes on to read, since Federman got out of the hospital in 2023, he has repeatedly expressed disdain for several core day-to-day aspects of life as a senator. That's according to several former staffers. Things like meeting, with constituents, attending hearings, making public in-state appearances like town halls. Senator Federman did not reply to the journal's multiple requests for an interview for that story. Allie, you're on Capitol Hill every day. Does that track with what you see and hear

about Senator Federman? I mean, there are so many former staffers, Willie, at this point, speaking out, the fact that the journal was able to look at text messages between former aides and the senator, I just cannot stress enough. how rare it is that you see this. Yes, there are staffers who don't like their bosses, who leave the office, who whisper about it off the record, but to have it be put in writing, not just in the journal, but you look on social media platforms,

and there are former staffers who are saying they regret ever working to help elect this senator. This was someone who really rose to prominence in the national view because he brought sort of a no-nonsense, progressive approach to his Senate role. And he has just become, in the words of former staffers that I've spoken to, a completely different person, not just on policy, but in his desire to do parts of the job that are so important. One of the things that I saw was so striking in that

journal piece was they have text messages where staffers are talking to Federman about needing to go to a funeral for four law, for three law enforcement officials back home in Pennsylvania and that it was going to be a lengthy funeral. And at one point, he allegedly says that's a non-starter. I mean, constituent services showing up for members that will vote for you again, theory, in two years. This is literally the bread and butter of being a lawmaker. And I have been so stunned at the ways that former staffers have been willing to throw their former boss under the bus. And all of it is going to culminate, Lemire. You know this. In what happens come 2028 when this seat is once again back on the table. There are questions about what Federman does. Does he run again? Does he run again

as a Democrat? Does he run as a Republican? I mean, all of this is very much in the ether. And there's a more pressing question, I think, in the near term, which is what happens when the Senate balance of power gets even slimmer? Does Federman stay a Democrat? Schumer's been doing the work to try to praise him as a valuable member of the caucus? Or does he see that he could be the person that flips whatever happens in the Senate and does he switch parties? I mean, all of it is a very much a live ball. Yeah, that right there is where I was going to start. That's becoming a growing fear among Democrats is what happens this fall. If the Democrats, let's say get to, you know, get that 51st seat.

Does Federer become kind of like a free agent where, I mean, in the Joe Manchin role, well, he'll sometimes go with them, sometimes won't? Or does he flat out switch parties? Which I know people around him have denied, but there are some people who said he, there's real Democratic fear that he might and that he could swing back. He could change parties to be Republican, and that would give J.D. Vance to tie-breaking vote, and the Republicans would still have the majority, Willie. But yeah, I mean, the Texas Exchange that Allie highlighted about the three police officers killed near his home, even.

And he was saying that's a non-starter because it could take three hours. And the story goes into great detail about time and again. He simply doesn't want to talk to his constituents. And it's such a stark contrast from his original campaign where he was known for having town halls, going out talking to places, including talking to voters that Democrats had sort of ignored in that state for a while. none of that now, and there's real questions about what his political future might be. Yeah, such a metaphor for his time in the Senate right now, which is skipping a meeting with paralyzed veterans to go do a Fox News hit and trashed Democrats. It seems to be where he is right now. Matt, before we let you go, I see you've been writing a bit about the 2028 presidential race on the Republican side.

In particular, it was interesting, J.D. Vance at that briefing yesterday was asked about Ted Cruz. Cruz's prospects as a presidential candidate. Vice President Vance, very diplomatic, said he'd be great. He wishes him well, all of those things. But there's whispers about Pete Heggzeth, whispers about Ted Cruz. And then obviously, you have the central debate about should it be J.D. Vance or Marco Rubio. A long way off, I understand. We've got to get through the midterms. What's your sense of things? Listen, that 2028 race, it is on the horizon. And right now, it seems as if Democrats are searching for nominee. You almost get the feeling that Republicans are certain on their nominee. I would argue

that it is J.D. Vance until or unless it is not. In that which case, you know, I think Rubio would be the next. I don't think they're going to run against each other. There's a real question as to who would even challenge Vance for the Republican nomination. As you said, it seems of Ted Cruz, who just had a very interesting interview with Allie just last week, is certainly pondering that. I'm heading up to New Hampshire this weekend. I'm going to grab my Mark McKinnon hat and scarf, hit the trail. You'll have Senator Mark Kelly, Roe Conno, but also Tom Cotton will be heading to New Hampshire. Rick Scott will be heading to New Hampshire. That's starting to raise some eyeballs. We'll see what happens, what things look like after the midterms. Matt, not everyone

can pull off the McKinnon look. Just be careful. Give it a look where you head out the door. New Hampshire. They'll eat you alive out there. MS. Now, political analyst, Matthew Bartlett. and the host of way too early, Ali Vitale, thank you both. Have a great long Labor Day weekend. We'll see you soon. Still ahead on morning, Joe. Our next guest says, what doesn't break you, builds you. That's the idea behind a new podcast, focused on the failures and breakthroughs for some of

today's most accomplished entrepreneurs, creators, athletes, business leaders, and more. The founder of Kind Snacks and Shark Tank investor, Daniel Labetski, joins us straight ahead. And coming up this weekend over on NBC Sunday today, my guest will be crossover country superstar Megan Maroney. Megan and I got together and actually rode the New York City subway from Manhattan out to Brooklyn for her sold-out show at Barclays Arena. She's got a number one album, packing arenas across the country, one of the biggest stars in music right now. Megan Maroney coming up this weekend over on NBC Sunday today. And we'll be right back here on Morning Joe.

Who wants to go on the fling of their lifetime and help us scale up the future of the fairway? All right, who wants it coming up? I'll try it out. I don't know anything about golf. It's not golf. Wait, hold on. You also do what Mark's doing. Aim that way.

Daniel, you're throwing it this way? Yeah, you might want to really go away. Let me show you. What you do is you hold it back here. You drop it way down your back, then put your other hand up, and then... There you go. I'll do 300 for 25%. And he goes away in five, three, two, one.

Done. Nick and moves there. Our next guest, social entrepreneur, kind snacks founder, and yes, Shark Tank investor, Daniel Labetsky, no stranger to finding success in business. And now Daniel's sitting down with a wide range of the world's most fearless builders,

from business leaders to athletes and entertainers, learning about their accomplishments and just as importantly, their failures. Those conversations are featured in Daniel's new podcast, build or break. And Daniel joins us. Now, Daniel, it's so great to see you again, your kind bars power us through these long shows at these early hours. Thanks for being here.

Congrats on the podcast. You know, it's so fascinating. I'm sure this has been your experience, but almost every successful person I sit down and talk to about how they got to where they are, talks first about their failures, how bad their first idea was, what they learned from it. So what's the idea behind this podcast for you? It's 100% that. I think without those setbacks, you, a kind would have not existed had it not been because of the many, many setbacks that I had ahead of time with PeaceWorks trying to build a company that was bringing Arabs and Israelis together, making thousands of mistakes, but it's from those mistakes that we learned the lessons to eventually build kind. And it's like you said,

almost everybody that's achieved something had to get comfortable, being uncomfortable, and stretching themselves. Yeah, and I want to offer a disclosure at the top. I just had a kind bar. was very good. Let's talk some of the podcasts. I was struck by, as you sat down, we're chatting in the break. Some real sort of people acknowledging their vulnerabilities here. I was struck, Chris Paul is an episode that's out now, for those who don't know. Future NBA Hall of Famer, had an illustrious career. Point Guard, played a number of teams, including memorably for the Clippers. And he came back to the Clippers this year, you know, and for what was supposed to be sort of a victory lap. We're going to listen to a little bit of that clip now, and then we'll talk about it. 12-time All-Star, including, I think, five of the Clippers.

You made so many amazing memories there, but then that last chapter, the way they handled it, at least to me, did not feel right. And then I'm thinking about your wife, and I'm thinking about your children, and how they must have felt, and how they most of them. You haven't commented a lot about that. My wife actually commented on Instagram, which was really funny. I think she put something like Girl Bye. But was interesting about that whole situation

is it's probably one of the most disrespectful things that I've endured. I didn't been through a lot of wild stuff in my career. And having older kids and a wife who's very tapped in and they know the daily goings on as far as that team and that organization, obviously I was upset, but my family, my people,

like everybody. Yeah, yeah. Paul was sort of unceremoniously released, you know, his crew were forced into retirement here. And obviously, you know, by a team that he had done so much for for years. And it clearly didn't sit well with him. Yeah, no. And what's incredible about that conversation

and every other conversation we have is how comfortable people are opening up and sharing their feelings. And we try to create an environment where people can be both self-reflective, but also very constructive. because our goal is to help people. It's kind of like eating a kind, but we want you to enjoy it,

but then feel like you did something good for your buddy. Have fun, enjoy the conversation. Sometimes they're hilariously funny. Sometimes they get very emotional. Kevin O'Leary broke down and was very, very emotional. Kendra Scott talks about some of her biggest failures and how they led her to the lessons that helped her people and ultimately build a multi-billion-dollar jewelry business.

and the goal is to provide very practical advice for builders because in today's society, we're facing major, major threats to defend the things that we really, really care about. And so all of us need to join to build together rather than tear each other apart. And this is the advice from the most iconic builders on how to do so very practically.

Daniel, as you do these podcasts talking about those that, overcome failures. I had a mentor that used to say every setback is a set-up for your next move. How much of it do you get out of your guest is based on their own self-confidence, their self-concept when they come to whatever venture they're trying to do, and they have a certain amount of self-confidence and self-image of who they are, that they come in with an innate ability to overcome their I love that question in so many pieces because it's something you need to work on, right? And if you do not have enough self-love and self-confidence, how are you going to be comfortable being tough on yourself?

But you need to separate that. And we talk a lot about it on the show. You need to be able to be on one side, self-critical, analyze how you can improve on the other sides, be more forgiving on yourself. Because during those failures, it's not like you don't, like when I was building pieceworks and I had terrible setbacks and even unkind, sometimes I would cry. And I think it's important for people to understand

that they're starting whatever their careers and ventures are, that it's okay to mourn, to have difficult moments. But then what are the tools for you to spring back up and self-confidence and belief in, as long as you're doing your best, as long as you're treating others with dignity and looking at in people's eyes and respecting humans, that's all you can truly ask of yourself,

then get back on the horse and try again. And there's very practical tools on how to do so, how to learn. And we're going to the creative process from Luke Stilde, the lead of Empire of the Son, Robert Rodriguez, chef Jose Andres, it's a spectrum of extraordinary, fascinating people that have been able to do so.

Matthew McConaughey talks about the point you made, Reverend. He talks about how when he was a kid, he thought he had won little Mr. Texas and his entire life he thought he had one little Mr. Texas. When he was writing his book, he notices in the picture, it says, runner up. He didn't win. And he tells his mom, and he's like, Mom, what the hell?

And she says, for me, you're always little Mr. Texas. And he talks about how sometimes you need to tell yourself the stories that are going to help you get there. So on a sort of a related topic, I also touched briefly upon, there's a new pop-up, an immersive pop-up exhibit happening here in New York called Art of Films. that runs today, tomorrow. Tell us what we would find. Yeah, the art of failure celebrates all of these setbacks, almost as pieces of art.

It was a great idea from my team, Christian Schneider, on how these are moments for self-reflection. And you go through that one, Kendra Scott, there's one of my failures, Danny Meyer, Andrew Yang, Mark Cuban, and every one of them has a very different thing. Like in Mark's case, he was a little bit too bad. And I find that a lot of times our greatest strength is our greatest weakness, right? Like that passion drives you to do things, but sometimes can get you in trouble.

How do you temper it? Creativity, all of those things. We go deep into build or break into trying to uncover how do you temper these things. How do you lean into it? How do you get it back out of it? And it's available at 22 Worcester Street open to the public. And it's really fun because you see these artifacts of failure. The door bought that eventually became ring that Jamie Simmons of invented, he went

to Shark Tank did not get a deal. Years later, he came back and sat on the seat as a judge when he built a multibillion-dollar platform. We should remind people, your story is incredible, too. Son of a Holocaust survivor came to America from Mexico at the age of 16 and now built one of the most successful brands in America. The first three episodes of the new podcast, Build or Break, available now with new episodes out every Tuesday. And if you're in New York, you can check out Daniel's Art of Failure Exhibit, Open Now. now through tomorrow. Daniel Leibeski, we always love having you here. Thanks for being here. Thank you, Willie.

Appreciate it. Rev, before we let you go, I wanted to get your reflections this morning on the passing of Gloria Stein, and we broke that news on our air about 24 hours ago, died at 92 this week. Someone that you worked very closely with, I know, on a number of causes. Gloria was an absolute icon. I know that term is used a lot, but the fact is that she was not only a champion of women's rights, and she certainly was that in reproductive rights, she was one of those that really blended it with the civil rights movement. I first met her. I was about 18 years old. She was one of the few feminists that came out and supported Shirley Chisholm for president of the United States in 72. I was Mrs. Chisholm's youth director in New York,

and I was only 18, 17 years old. And all through that people, period from then to now, I would see her at various events. She would join us at Marches National Action Network. We honored her in 2016. She came, made a fiery speech. She never stopped saying that civil rights for everyone is what we're fighting for. Women's Rights is where I enter, but I'm broadly there for everybody. And I think she will be missed, and I think history must be kind to her that she was one of those figures.

that really moved this country forward. Yeah, it seems like wherever progress was being made of any kind, Gloria Stein and was there over the years. Reverend Al Sharpton, Rev, thanks so much. We, of course, will be watching Politics Nation this weekend here on MS now. Coming up here, we'll bring the latest in the legal fight over the NCAA's eligibility rules as players who were just in NFL training camps, like last week, may soon take the field again in college.

How? Why? Morning Joe coming right back. Coach Turnbull, you got another eligible diver? Get your suit on! Go ahead. Oh, not a chance. What a shape. I mean, you could donate my body to science fiction.

Get your suit on! We need you! Come on, pales. Come on, show them what you got. What dive is he going to do? The triple lindy. Unconventional, but ultimately effective. Okay, it's not exactly like the renewed eligibility for thursday.

Thornton Mellon when he went back to school in 1986. How great was Rodney Dangerfield and that. But former NFL players may now get the chance to suit up again in college football after a ruling last night in Louisiana. A judge in East Baton Rouge issued a preliminary injunction against the NCAA just before LSU was required to submit its official roster to the Southeastern Conference. LSU is attempting to add two players who were in training camps with NFL teams, but did not make the final rosters. They testified yesterday they would not have signed with the pro teams this year had they known they might get another year in college.

These players argue they are being denied an opportunity to spend a fifth year in college under newly adopted NCAA rules that allow for five full years of competition. The NCAA says there are 450 athletes across several sports seeking additional eligibility through litigation, with about 300 of them winning the ability to play, at least for now. Join us now. Pulitzer Prize winning host of Pablo Torre finds out, and that's now contributor, Pablo, good to see again this morning. So let's break this down a little bit. So Lane Kiffin is the new head coach at LSU. He jumped from Old Miss at the end of last season. This ruling came down in Baton Rouge, where LSU is located. He wants to bring at least two NFL players. There's talk now of another guy

who was in the Denver Broncos camp, a cornerback maybe coming as well. He's openly recruiting guys who didn't make these teams, but who were on NFL rosters. The SEC made a rule that said, absolutely not. All of the schools agreed to this, I guess, except LSU.

You have the attorney general in the state of Georgia saying if LSU does this, they should be kicked out of the SEC. So how, to a normal thinking person, is it allowed, is it okay, for NFL players to come back to college? There is no reasonable explanation for that question. The context, though, is hilarious if you are somebody who wants to find, I suppose,

incompetence amusing at the cost, perhaps, of the whole premise of what college sports even are. And I vacillate, Willie. I like that the Van Wilder of college football is coaching LSU, and he is recruiting other fellow adults to pretend to be college players. It's all kind of perfect as a plot line. in a movie. The legal aspect of this, though, is incoherent to the point of perhaps collapse. I'll quote, one of the things that the SEC is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction on the basis of, because it is the conference's First Amendment rights. And I will ask

anybody out there listening, what is the First Amendment have to do with this? Well, the SEC is claiming that by making it associate with conduct that is contrary to the conference's purpose and mission, LSE was violating the SEC's First Amendment rights. And so all of this to say is that I think we're reaching a familiar in its absurdity. Bit of territory here with college sports, which is we're kind of just making stuff up as we go along. But now the literal legal system is involved. And what I worry about is that no one having an answer means that the product becomes is not only indistinguishable from the pros,

it's something that is just caught perpetually in a cycle of lawsuits in which everybody just gets embarrassed. Yeah, I mean, let's start with this. I mean, it is still a very successful proposition. College football is, you know, does huge ratings on TV, certainly not NFL, but bigger than just about anything else. But there is a sense among college sports fans across the country. The thing is just broken, right?

That this would be the latest example of that. Yeah, there's the NIL stuff. And yes, I think obviously arguments, the students, athletes should get paid. Yeah. But people don't like how it's, being done. It's created the system of have and have nots. The college realignment system, where it's geographically nonsensical. There's traditional rivalries are gone. Again, these are

allegedly students, and yet they're going to be traveling all over the country to play a game instead of doing any sort of even semblance of classwork. And also, again, the rise of football at the expense of every other college sport. Oh, by the way. Or suddenly scholarships and such are disappearing for things like track, soccer, the rest. For diving. Rodney Dangerfield might not have a spot on a varsity team. because of football. Well, there are lots of reasons why he might not have a spot on. That body double I want to play me in the movie.

But I think the larger point here is that college football can tolerate a ridiculous amount of absurdity and nonsense. It's kind of defined in its glorious moments by it. But at this point, you're kind of testing the outer threshold of like, okay, if we have literal NFL players now going back to college to play as college football players, no one can even begin to lie to that. themselves around what this really is. And that fiction, that blurred line between fiction and nonfiction around professionalization and amateurism has always been where college football has

been comfortable living. But this is beyond, Willie. It's just beyond what we can tolerate. And the legal system is going to be tested for its own tolerance as well. So Pablo, quickly, are these guys going to play? Are these NFL players going to be on the roster of this LSU team? And if so, what does the SEC do, which says we have a hard rule that you can't do that and you have other athletic directors saying they should be kicked out of the conference. Yeah, I mean, when you have a school against the school, against the conference, against a judge, against another judge, against perhaps the president who wants to intervene, right, to make sure that he can be the person bringing a law in order to the sport, I don't have any bleeping idea.

I like to be the guy who is looking into the crystal ball and saying, this is how this all plays out. We don't know. You can give me a headline tomorrow that says that Lane Kiffin is playing wide receiver, and I'd be like, I guess we're just at the point where everybody's doing everything. Who knows? It is wild. NFL players going back to college. Pablo, stay with us. Coming up, when fall sets in, unfortunately, so does the flu.

MS now senior medical analyst. Dr. Ving Gupta is standing by with a look at the latest vaccine recommendations from medical groups amid a lot of confusion, of course, on this issue from the federal government. Morning Joe's coming right back. We are keeping a close eye on the futures board as we are just most. moments away from the release of the August jobs report. Economists expecting a gain of about 53,000 jobs last month. We'll see if that's where it lines up.

It would be an improvement from July, which saw a loss of 23,000 jobs. CNBC's Dom Chu joins us to break down the numbers as they cross. Morning Joe's coming right back.