Morning Joe - Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed joins Morning Joe

Episode Date: August 5, 2026

August 5, 2026 - 7am: Michigan Senate candidate Dr. Abdul El-Sayed joins Morning Joe for his first live TV interview following a close primary race MS NOW’s Peter Alexander joins Morning Joe to discuss the Michigan primary, what voters there say they want, and his new MS NOW show, ‘State of Play with Peter Alexander’ The latest edition of ‘Brand Up, Brand Down with Donny Deutsch’  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 picture the United States Capitol just after 7 o'clock on this Wednesday morning. Michigan's closely watched Democratic Senate race remains too close to call still this morning. As of the moment, progressive candidate, Abdul Al-Sayyad remains in the lead with Congresswoman Haley Stevens, trailing by about one percentage point, less than 20,000 votes. The race much closer than polling had indicated showing perhaps a double-digit win for El-Sayed. still coming in from Wayne County, which includes the city of Detroit. And we are joined now by Abdul al-Sayed. He is the likely Democratic nominee in that Senate race. That's what our election desk is calling you, sir, though not yet the nominee. What are you hearing on the ground right now

about how close this race is and how it might turn out? Well, I'll tell you folks are related. And NBC did call it yesterday. And so we need to move forward and start bringing this party together. Obviously, it was an extremely close election. We got outspent. 11 to 1 took $70 million of spending against us. And I'm just really proud of the movement we built despite this. But on August 5th, both Congressman Stevens and I had committed to bringing the party back together. We understand that she still wants to hold on to a path. We're focused on trying to figure out how we bring the party together to defeat Mike Rogers in November.

And as those votes come in from Wayne County, it may be called a short time from now. We'll keep a close eye on that. I think Mr. El-Sayed, a lot of people maybe across the country who've been paying some attention have just tuned in now this morning. They wanted to see the outcome of this race, reading about you, learning about you, your history, some of your views, and where you might take the state of Michigan and what kind of United States Senator you potentially could become. Some people have painted you as extreme on issues like Israel. What is the core of your message? And if you do turn out to win this race, what will have made the difference? We want to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all.

We started this campaign back in April of 2025, going to places big and small, and in across living rooms in Lansing and backyards in Grand Rapids, and VFW halls in Ascanaba and churches in Detroit. I heard what people were complaining about. They said, I don't know why it is this hard. It just shouldn't be this hard to afford a bag of groceries or to pay or rent or ever believe you could own a home or see a doctor in the richest, most powerful country in the world. or pay your taxes and believe that that money is being spent on you rather than being dropped in the form of bombs on somebody else. We've got an opportunity to bring ourselves back together, to come together around a movement, to take our democracy back, to make sure we have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, rather than of the corporations, by the billionaires and for the special interests.

And that's exactly why. $70 million was spent against me in this race. They see me as an existential threat to the system of politics that is making it way too hard on everyday people. But we're really proud of the movement we built, and we're looking forward to defeating Mike Rogers. November. Mr. Senator, good morning. As we say, if you are indeed the Democratic nominee for Senate, you I'm sure have heard. Republicans are welcoming that.

A lot of Republicans have made plain that they were hoping that you would emerge from this contest, that they like their chances with Mike Rogers against you going forward, pointing to the idea that Michigan was won by Donald Trump two out of three times. Why do you think that what is to you Rogers' biggest flaws as a candidate? How would you make the case against him, if indeed you are moving into the general election? Yeah, well, look, Mike Rogers served in Congress. He served the special interest in Congress, but says he served the state of Michigan. He did it for 14 years.

He took, I don't know how much money, nearly a million dollars from the pharmaceutical industry, voted to raise prescription drug prices, helped to architect the legislation that kicked off the opioid epidemic. This is a guy who's never seen a corporate dollar he did not want to use to corrupt his office. he made $14 million after leaving Congress and moving to Florida to play golf. And he's back for a second helping. We know that if we bring people together around a movement to take our politics back, we really can beat him. And what he's missing is that politics has changed since the year 2000 when he got to office. Now it's not enough to just get, what, $70 million and run 32nd ads on television.

You actually have to stand for something. And this is a guy who doesn't want to actually explain why he's backing Donald Trump on the worst, most ridiculous war that we've seen that they swore up and down that we'd never fight. He doesn't want to explain why he drives an EV but doesn't want you to. He doesn't want to explain why he's okay with everybody paying $5 gas because of adventurism abroad. So we're looking forward to forcing him to explain all of those things to the people of the state of Michigan and then sending him back to Florida so he can golf with his buddies. So you have syndicated in the past that you support abolishing the immigration and customs enforcement agency,

ICE. You know, certainly polls suggest that Americans are unhappy with the conduct of Now, that said, they also support President Trump's efforts in tightening the closing the southern border, tightening some immigration restrictions. So my question to you is it's one thing to say, let's abolish ICE. But then what do you replace it with? Well, as you well know, ICE has nothing to do with the southern border. That's customs and border protection. I believe in a secure border.

I also believe in immigration enforcement. But I also believe in not shooting Americans in the back of the head in the face while you're trying to do it. And maybe it's because I've served in government agencies. But once a government agency like that is told that it has impunity to do the worst things and violate the highest law of the land, which is the Constitution itself, I don't think you can reform or retrain that. I think we need to start from scratch. And ICE is not very old. It's 15 years younger than I am. It was starting.

It started. It was a bad experiment. It's been weaponized to do the worst things. And I think we need to abolish it and start from scratch. Perhaps going back to something like the INS, which for a very long time, very capable, enforced immigration policy without, of course, shooting Americans and violating our civil liberties. Mr. El-Said, you've been out there running for this seat for a long time. You've heard a lot, and you've said a lot in response to what you hear. I'm going to ask you a question,

pretending that I'm from Dearborn, Michigan, and I'm 43 years of age. I have a wife and two children, one in elementary school, one in high school. I work paycheck to paycheck. My wife and I both work, Paycheck to paycheck. If one of my kids ever got sick, we're done. What are you going to do for me? I believe in Medicare for all. I mean, this is the cause of my career in public service. I know that right now too often, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, either you might be on Medicaid or you might have private insurance that you can't afford because your deductible is what, $4,500 to $6,000, meaning you're going to go potentially into bankruptcy if you or one of your kids got sick. we can guarantee you health insurance without having to worry about a premium, a copay, or deductible in the same way that we provide health insurance to our seniors, the people who are most likely to get sick in our society. And on top of that, I think we can make Medicare whole for those seniors,

covering things like vision, dental, and hearing, taking away the spend down or the deductible, taking away the premium and offering it to everybody and making it more sustainable. We can do that. But the thing that's standing in our way right now is the power of big medicines, the power of big pharma. It's the power of big insurance, nickel and dimeing politicians, which is why I want to get money out of politics so that we can finally guarantee Medicare for all

and get a little bit more money in your pocket. Mr. El-Sai, let's talk about foreign policy just a little bit. As you said, a moment ago, lobbying group spent a ton of money to defeat you. We'll see if they were successful when this race is called one way or another shortly. A-PAC was chief among them, spending tens of millions of dollars. They believe that you're dangerous for Israel. You think we should cut off military aid to the military aid to the United States. state of Israel. Can you explain your position on foreign aid as it applies to Israel, but also

more broadly? Yeah. Look, I just don't believe in unconditional foreign military aid. That includes Egypt. That also includes Israel, excuse me, Israel, but it also includes Egypt where my family immigrated from. And to me, that's because I believe that our kids have a right to our tax dollars, that I'm about 10 minutes away from schools that look like they did 50 years ago. Our money should be spent here rather than sent in the form of bombs or tanks to foreign governments, particularly when they're doing the most heinous things with them, as is the case with the government of Israel. I also just believe in international law, and I think we need to hold all foreign actors accountable

to that international law. We've watched as Israel has conducted a genocide, has at baseline, done apartheid, and has taken us into a war. We have no business fighting. So why, of course, are we sending money to that country to fund their military? So is your complaint with the state of Israel or is it with Benjamin Netanyahu and the way he has prosecuted this campaign in Gaza? Those things, of course, are inextricable. But I think we've seen the worst of what the Israeli government has done. But let's not forget that we've been talking about an illegal apartheid regime for a very, very

long time. And that supersedes Netanyahu himself. So I just think we need to treat Israel the way we would treat any other country who behave the way that Israel is behaving. I understand that Netanyahu is a big reason why they've gotten so aggressive. and frankly, so bloodthirsty under his reign. But I also understand that it's impossible for us to say that we want a two-state solution while we've been aiding, arming, and abetting the very people who've been trying to foreclose

on the possibility of a Palestinian state. And ultimately, in the end, I don't think any of us pay our taxes so that a foreign government gets a bomb or a tank. We pay our taxes so that our kids get good schools and functional infrastructure. And too many of our kids just don't have those things right now. So there are voters watching this right now in the state of Michigan, supported Haley Stevens, Jewish voters who backed her because of some of what you just said there. What is your message to them because you are going to need them to win what's expected to be a

very close race? My commitment to Jewish safety is the same as my commitment to the safety of my own kids. We have a responsibility to take on anti-Semitism in all of its forms wherever we see it. It's the same responsibility we have to take on Islamophobia. I know what it's like to be discriminated against for how I pray. I've experienced it myself, and nobody should have to feel that in a country where we believe in basic freedoms. And so the things that bring us together are so much bigger than the things that divide us. Whatever we may think about our funding for a government 6,000 miles away,

I think we all agree about the funding for our schools that might be two miles away, and the funding for our roads that we drive on to get there, and the funding for our health care that we all need and deserve. So as I've always said to my Jewish sisters and brothers, I'm looking forward to fighting the fight against anti-Semitism and Islamophobia with you. I'm looking forward to joining you. If you open the door for me, I'm happy to come in. I'm looking forward to building relationships.

I hope that you'll join this movement. And in the end, what are we against? We're against somebody like Mike Rogers and Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a guy who has said the most heinous things and pushed a set of tropes that are just deeply inconsistent with believing in freedom of religion in our country. We have to beat that. And I'm looking forward to partnering alongside you to do it. And just to put a fine point in this, for those Jewish voters who may be now, considering you

are an independent voter in the general election, considering you versus Mike Rogers, do you believe we should cut off all support to Israel? I believe that we cannot continue to do unconditional foreign military aid. I believe that we have to follow our own laws, the Leahy laws, where we don't sell weaponry to countries that have engaged in human rights abuses. And that's the same approach that I take to Israel, which is the approach that I would take to the country where my parents immigrated from Egypt. I would also take it to Pakistan, and I'd take it to Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. I just think it's about

principle, and we need to be applying those principles everywhere. Mr. Jesse, it's switching gears. There's been a lot of political commentary about how this race in Michigan for Democrats is almost like a stand-in, if you will, for a real debate within the heart of the party right now, the progressives versus the moderates. Do you view it that way as well? I mean, we've just been to be spent some time here this morning. Obviously, you and Ms. Stevens disagree on a lot of significant issues. How are those fences mended? Is the Democratic Party able to be a big enough tent right now when passions are so inflamed on some of these issues? This is not about the future of a party. This is about the future of the people of the state of Michigan who deserve to know that their

roads are competent, deserve to know where they'll get their health care when they need it, who deserve to know that their kids go to great schools. That's what I'm focused on. And if more of us were focused on that, I think a lot of the bigger issues that we tend to fight on would become a lot clearer. We're against the way that outside money can buy politicians, can come in, flood elections,

and too often there's a pro quo that comes with that quid. But here's the thing. The things that unite us are so much bigger than the things that divide us. So to anybody who might not have sported me in this primary, I'm asking you to join this movement, to get money out of politics, put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all,

stand up to Mike Rogers and Donald Trump, take our democracy back against the power of big corporations who've rigged the system too often and help us defeat the kind of lawlessness that we've seen out of the Trump administration. And so this is a big movement. And in order for us to build together, we're going to have to be able to come together

around the things that unite us. It's the feeling that we get when we look our kids in the eye. It's the feeling that we get when we think about what our country ought to be. And it's the opportunity we have to take on all that Donald Trump has done to corrupt our country and to corrupt our government. And finally, sir, you went to the University of Michigan. Are you confident that Sparty fans also will come around to you?

Look, as long as we're not going red and going to Ohio, I'm good with it. Okay. I think that's the correct answer in the state of Michigan. Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in Michigan, as we said now, the likely nominee as our elections desk is categorizing it until this race is called Abdul Al-Sayed. Mr. El-Sayed, thank you very much for your time this morning.

We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Still ahead on Morning, Joe. Our new MS Now colleague, Peter Alexander, we're very excited to say, is standing by. He's been talking to voters in Michigan. He joins us here in studio

with much more on that. Morty Joe comes right back. Wow. Guys, that's a live picture of Niagara Falls. You don't need a reason to show Niagara Falls. We just have a camera at Niagara Falls. We do. Welcome to MS now.

Alexander. That's what I'm saying. We've got cameras all over the place. 720 on this Wednesday morning. Joining the conversation, former U.S. Senator, MS Now political analyst, Claire McCaskill, opinion writer at the New York Times, Marra Gay, the host of On Brand with Donnie Deutsch. Donnie Deutsch. And as you just heard, MS Now, Chief National Reporter, Peter Alexander, Peter's new show, State of Play, debuted this coming Monday, 11 a.m. Eastern right here on MS Now. Peter, we couldn't be more excited to have you in the family. We've been colleagues for a long time. We've been in the family.

We've been to sit at the table together. Yeah. Here in Times Square. Welcome aboard, man. Thank you for having me. This is, I'm excited to be a part of this. Got to sit with Rachel and Nicole and, you know, the big kid table, as they say last last night.

That was a lot of fun. I'm glad to be with you guys here on Morning Joe. For our purposes, as we've been talking, you just had the conversation with Abdul Al-Said. We went to Saginaw on Michigan just in the last couple of days to get a real sense from what these voters of what they were thinking. We saw the way the polls were trending in recent weeks. This was nowhere near a 15-point race like those polls showed. It was a lot closer, and that was the experience we had on the ground.

Specifically, we went to Saginaw. It's about 100 miles northwest, depending how you drive. You can do it in an hour and a half, right? This is a state, and specifically a part of the state that has been right on in picking political winners. They did Obama twice, Trump. They did Biden and Trump again, which is why we went there. And here's what some of the voters were telling us about specifically what they are looking for in their Senate pick as we still away to an official winner.

You all mind if I join you guys? We're talking Democrats and Republicans trying to get a better understanding. We're somewhat disappointed in the Democratic Party as a currency sits, not to mean we're going to walk away. We're looking for fighters. I'm independent. I've got history with the Republican and the Democratic Party, but I tend to vote Democrat. The Democrats that Republicans really don't give you anything to vote for because I have Trump

derangement syndrome. Probably, you say. He's probably. You know, my hope is that the Democrats take both the House and the Senate or at least one, because we got to put some breaks on this current administration. This dude is reckless. But what do you say to Democrats who right now are still making up their mind about what matters most in the primary election here in Michigan? Choose the strongest candidate.

And even though the Democrats have a lot of momentum, you still have to choose a person. Because Mike Rogers is no joke. He's a strong candidate. At the end of the day, what is your priority? Who is going to get there and set the policies that's going to affect my family, my well-being, my community? We need candidates that are actually going to work for the people and hold integrity when they take office. Are you satisfied with the way Democrats have handled Donald Trump the second term?

No. Not even close. What do you want to see more of? A backbone. Agreed. He's running rough shot. And nobody even trying to trip him. You want someone that's going to fight? I do. Hello, whoa!

Hi! What do you say to those national Democrats right now? What do you say to Democrats around the country right now who are watching this race closely? Have faith in their voters, listen to their voters, and consider all aspects, not just big employers and what those dollars look like for them, but what the small businesses and how,

what their decisions are doing are impacting us. So one month in, your advice, Anybody looking to start a business right now? Do it scared? You can absolutely be fearful, but you just fear less. That seems like there's a message in there for Democrats right now, right? Absolutely. Move forward with what we know needs to be done and stand ten toes deep in it.

To you, is this vote about Donald Trump or more about what benefits your life and your community? It's more about what benefits my community. A lot of Democrats are just expected to win because they're not Donald Trump. That's a lot of the messaging they have, you know, look how scary Donald Trump is. It's never for themselves and the good that they can bring. Yeah, I believe that the old guard is trying to hold on to power, move on. A new group people wants my kids, the politicians, my kids want in the office, they need to move over so they can get in office. The Democrat Party as a whole is still stuck in 2016.

They're still stuck in that mindset. And the Republican Party is rapidly changing. If the Democrats don't try to change their own to fight back, it's going to be a lost cause. You want to be energized, not just voting for you who's going to win. You want to vote for who excites you. And to actually feel like somebody actually cares? So nice to have those conversations, to let people speak and to hear their voices as they make these decisions. The words we kept hearing over and over, as you saw there, this idea of they wanted a fighter in many ways.

El-Sayed sort of represents, even embodies physically what they want in a fighter. He walks around when he campaigns, often in a T-shirt, sort of looks the part for these folks. It's fighting for things, though, not the big picture national topics as we discuss them, but things that affect them on the ground there, the idea of affordability. We heard over and over. Gas prices, $4.30-something as we were driving across the state just a couple of days ago. That's up 13 percent in just the last week. That is as high as it has been since May right now.

I mean, that's a lot of money that people are paying. So that's a big billboard that's going to be a challenge for the Republicans as Mike Rogers tries to regain that seat. And separately, I think what it told us is that these folks, their decisions are being governed by their heart and by their gut, right? It's an emotional. It's a visceral reaction right now. And they don't want to be told the way to vote. They don't want Chuck Schumer to come in and say, do this or the next thing. They want to follow what they want and what they believe is best for their lives and their community.

Donnie, so much of the conversation, again, in this Michigan primary was about left-right, who's the Democratic Socialist, who's left, who's right. But we hear again from voters again and again that it's really top-down, that it's establishment, it's people who've been in government forever, who haven't done anything to make my life better. We want new people in there. We want fighters in there. Yeah, look, if you're an outsider or somewhat of an outsider, you don't have a track record, and you get to come in and say, let's blow this up, let's blow out, let's blow out.

That's a very enviable position. The problem I have with El-Sayed is, I think in general election, he's going to have a lot of challenges with Rogers. And I also just on a personal level, the fact that he can't say that Israel has the right to be a Jewish state. I have an issue with that. Samar, let's get your thoughts on what we saw last night in Michigan, a race that Poles had started to suggest might be somewhat a lopsided victory. Very much not. In fact, we haven't been able to call it just yet, although El-Said is expected, the likely nominee is how we're categorizing it. And how what we just heard there from Peter's report might inform that idea.

Like why, the sampling of voice voices are there, why do we think that that's where Democrats may be going? Well, you know, I think we need to look at the exit polls. We have to have the race called to kind of really understand what happened here. The most interesting piece of this to me so far is if you look at Wayne County, Michigan, which is home to both Dearborn and Detroit, you know, that is, has lots of black voters, minority voters, Arab voters. And it's, it went for Stevens.

but narrowly. And so what's interesting about that to me is you have to take into effect in this race. People are divided. The Democratic Party is divided and even black voters. The jury's out on progressives. And also the amount of money that was spent in this race specifically on behalf of Stevens clearly played a role because there was over $50 million in attack ads on Syed tying him to a tax than Michelle Obama that he really didn't make in the way that they were insinuating, also insinuating that Haley Stevens was endorsed by Obama, which was not the case. He didn't get involved in this race. All this is to say it's very clear that black voters were deluged, including members of my

family who live in the state with attack ads. And so all of that played a role. At the end of the day, though, it's obvious. And when you look at your reporting, Peter, it is very clear that. voters in Michigan, just like in Brooklyn, okay, are looking for fighters. They're looking for outside candidates. And I do think that Abdul was helped by a trend in the Democratic Party, just an anger toward the establishment. And Abdul has been angry about the Democratic establishment since we were in college at Michigan together. So, you know, whether you dislike him,

whether you like him. That is an authentic position that he has taken for about 20 years. This is clearly a change period away from a sort of a party-centric system, right? This idea that the progressive movement is pushing right now. I think one of the things that struck me in that conversation, the last young man, the dad we talked to was talking about Democrats, he feels like got left behind in 2016 and they're still trying to figure out a way to catch up. They feel like the Trump model should be teaching them something too, which is that those old rules don't apply anymore, right? You can't be told this is the only person that can win.

This is what it needs to look like. They want the things that apply to them. You were talking, though, about some of the divisions that are now being exposed here. I was speaking to someone close to President Trump late yesterday, a person who's in his ear, and we're already getting a real preview, I think, as you would anticipate what this is likely to look like, if they'll say Ed Holds on right now, as we were talking about in the break, the Trump folks are salivating at this idea.

They want to use this. They want to try to exploit. Those divisions that they say are now being exposed within the Democratic Party, as one of them said, as this aide said to me, ally said to me last night. They said this is, this is more evidence that the Democrats are who we said they were. They are extreme far left liberals. And that's the language you know you're going to be hearing as they try to separate some of those Democrats from one another ahead of this. So Claire McCaskill, you obviously served for a long time in the United States Senate. Curious to hear what you think, if this is the outcome of this race, as it.

that appears that it will be if Abdul al-Sayed does become the Democratic nominee. So far we haven't called it, he's the likely nominee, according to our elections desk. What does that portend for Democrats, not just in Michigan, but perhaps even nationally? Well, first of all, let's acknowledge this is a talented candidate. He is very good. And, you know, sometimes that really matters, Willie, you know, how good a candidate is. And I think he has tapped into, in many ways, what Ron referenced earlier in an earlier segment, this grievance that is fueled 100% by income inequality in this country.

And that grievance is all about big money in politics, is all about corporate power. It's all about corruption of what's going on in Washington right now, especially as it relates to this administration. So he tapped into that in a very effective way. Now, the question is the pressure now is on the progressive movement. And they get this across the finish line. And if they can, they will have to have the help of the same people that Al-Sayed called corporate bad guys, namely the governor of Michigan, the former senators of Michigan,

the people that voted for Haley Stevens because they thought she'd be a stronger candidate. if they if we lose the senate because al-seid cannot get it across the finish line in November that will have big repercussions for 28 on the other hand if he can unite the democrats and if the democrats can stay united and stay focused on the issues that we all agree on which is the majority of these issues then i think will be fine and mike rogers still has to answer for Donald trump yeah no question there rogers is going to be tied to the trump record donnie clear set me up perfectly what i wanted to ask you both the candidates themselves stevens el-el have pledged, hey, we're in this together, we'll support the other, we'll appear at these events later this week.

But this is on the ground reporting in Michigan, there's a lot of bad blood. This was a nastier primary fight that we're used to seeing. And there's definitely been some, you know, over the last few days, reporters in Michigan talking to Stevens supporters and saying, hey, well, if your candidate doesn't win, will you back the other side? The answer was, maybe not. And vice versa. So there's going to be, there's going to be some real, real work at healing that has to get done to Claire's point. otherwise the Dems could lose a seat that they need desperately for the Senate. Yeah, I think this is bad news for the Dems. I think a lot of these are very, very progressive candidates talk about it's a big tent,

but are they welcoming more moderates into the tent? I think that's going to be the big question going forward. And I also just have an issue that he would not separate Beebe with Israel when you asked that question about, you know, you can have issues with BB. Now it does that mean you have issues with Israel? And he clearly didn't answer that question. Claire, do you think that's a problem for him going forward, the question of Israel? Yeah, I think it's a problem.

But I think Donnie's right. I think he should lay more of this at the feet of beating Netanyahu. Because beating Netanyahu is the leader that has made support of Israel no longer a bipartisan issue. He took sides. He took the Trump Republican side. And then he did things in Gaza that are unspeakable. So was what Hamas did to the people of Israel in October of that year that we all. watched in horror as what these horrible animals did to Israeli citizens. So I, you know, yeah,

it's a problem. It is definitely a problem. But I will say this. He's right about big money in politics. I don't think people realize how much money is being spent behind the curtain now. It used to be in the old days that hard money was what you really wanted. You had an advantage with hard money. You could get more, less expensive advertising. The Supreme Court threw that out earlier this year. Now, big money behind the curtain, dark money reigns supreme. And if we don't do something about that, we got income inequality that is a challenge this country has to face. And we have to face up to this big money behind the curtain in politics. It is evil. And it is, in fact, a billionaire class trying to put their finger on the scale. And I think that's going to

resonate with voters more than people realize. Yeah, and that's part of El-Sayad's message to underline a point Claire made a moment ago. Ron Fornier, who's covered politics in Michigan for decades and decades said of El Cayed, quote, he's one of the most talented political athletes I've ever seen, which is saying something from Ron Fornier in Michigan. MS now political analyst, Claire McCaskill, Claire, thanks so much. So, Peter, the other point to be made here that Claire kind of touched on is Democrats cannot lose this seat if they have any hopes of taking back the Senate, which is a steep climb to begin with. If they lose this seat, it's highly unlikely. Well, to be clear, when we have conversations about the Democrats trying to take back the Senate,

it's the seats that they need to gain. They need to hold this one, and this one is now potentially vulnerable. Certainly the Republicans, Donald Trump and his allies view this is now a seat that they could regain right now. And a reminder of what this thing looked like just two years ago, Alyssa Slotkin, who's a much more moderate Canada, I think we would all agree, than El-Sayed. She won that state by barely 19,000 votes out of five and a half million. that were cash. You won Saginaw, where I was, by a total of nine votes, right? This thing is going to be close. Mike Rogers is a tough one, John, you made a good point about the challenges

that the Democrats face right now, and we were talking. I asked them, they were passionate about their position on either side, the L-Sayed folks. I even called some of them last night as the returns were coming in and said, you know, if this pivots and Haley-Stevens wins, are you going to vote for Haley Stevens? And they said, I think ultimately we'll have to, but we need to think out it had been a little bit longer. And separately, the other way around, the Haley Stevens folks said to me, it can't be someone who supports Donald Trump, but it may be tough to vote for LSA. Really, on that point, you know, if LSA, it does emerge as a nominee, he's going to have work to do, of course, to reach out to the other side. But it also will take, you know,

Stevens being a good Democratic soldier, and I think look for the governor to step in, too. She'll need to choose a Stevens supporter. She's popular. She'll also, if she's popular, she'll also need to give her permission structure to say, look, to these disappointed Stevens backers, look, this is more important than your feelings. Here, the party needs to win. And you would fully expect her to do that. MS Now, Chief National Reporter, Peter Alexander, great to have you with us. So glad to be on the table again.

Where are we going to be 11 a.m. on Monday morning? I'm glad you asked, Donnie. We'll be tuning in to the debut of State of Play. That's Monday, 11 a.m. Eastern joining our morning lineup here on MS Now. Peter, we'll see you then. Appreciate you, my friend. Donnie, stay with us. We've got a brand-new edition of Brand Up, Brand Down.

We'll tell us how the news. I love these teases. The new Spider-Man movie, State Fares, and protein maxing. Yeah. It's all in there. Protein maxing. Protein maxing. All right, everything up to this point has been prelude because now it is time for brand up,

brand down with the one and only Donnie Deutsch. All right, Donnie, let's start Spider-Man. Massive weekend. Big Brand-up for Spidey. Close to a billion dollars in the first few days. It set a domestic record 300. 60 million opening weekend, just through the roof. The Spider-Man franchise now owns the first, second, and fourth place for opening

domestic weekends. It just shows that Hollywood is going the 10-pull direction. But once again, Tom Holland back, Zendaya back, a huge success. They beat Avengers Endgame, which I think had $357 million. Jonathan, you said adjusting for inflation. You might not be the case. But just a huge, huge opening. And this thing is just off the charts.

And what a summer for Tom Holland and Zendaya, also in the Odyssey. Yeah, also in the Odyssey. which we were just talking about. Two of the biggest movies of all time. The teenage boys love Spider-Man. I haven't seen it, but they came back the other night with a report. Two thumbs up. All right, let's talk about Hollywood-made TV shows.

Brand-down? Way down. 47% less shows being made for TV than they were in, I think, the peak year, which is 2022. There was what was called the peak years of TV, because streaming came on the scene in 2015, and everyone was just flooding the airways of shows. That's cut way back, especially shows. that are not big franchise shows. The shows that spend a million to $5 million are way down,

the shows that's still spending a lot of money, the shows that we love that we talk about are way up. But there's this condensation, I mean, a condensment of TV shows being produced, and particularly in Los Angeles. They're really, really suffering. Writers, art directors. Absolutely, industry's been gutted there.

It's sad, but a great point. Dye, number three, Americans love to grill in the summer. Beats too expensive. So what do they put on the Bobby instead? Chicken on the Barbie brand up. Beef prices up over $6 a pound. Chicken prices more like $4 a pound. That's a big, big difference.

The average family spends, the average family for a cook out of 10 people, 74 bucks. So people are going chicken. The chains that sell chicken, chick filets, the raisin canes, the wingstops are doing very well. McDonald's burgers are getting suffered. Wingstop. Who does another level of a wink stop?

And also, raising canes and chick filet. My mouth is wondering, big. But beef is having a hard time. look, there's so many things we do in Brandup, Brand Down, that show what's going on in the economy and is going to hurt Trump in the midterms. This is certainly an example. The Raisin-Kane's flagship is just a block away.

I'll note, so maybe that's breakfast. Highly wants. Wow. Yeah. Brand-down, protein maxing? Yeah, we've been selling, but Willie, I know you work out, you pump weights, you eat protein. The average American takes in 100 grams of protein a day, which is twice the recommended daily dosage.

And the irony is they've been saying that that's good for aging. A lot of research, they took 350 studies, they kind of amalgamated them, they looked at them. They said, no, protein that can actually hurt the aging process, can hurt metabolism, can cause inflammation. This is a big, big thing right now because protein had been the V thing, and they're really seeing, may not be the thing. Might be a study tomorrow that says the opposite.

Stick with it. All right, brand up state fairs. I always have loved the state fair. Why now? State fairs are going through the roof. And particularly the food that they're selling has been going on TikTok, 2.3 billion views, if you go, hashtag State Fair Food, Iowa, Texas, Minnesota, the top three, six. And here are some of the delicacies you can get.

You can get in Texas the deep-fried buffalo pecan pie on a stick. Yes, sir. You can get in Texas, the deep-fried buffalo, I'm sorry, you can get in Minnesota, the flaming hot Cheeto corn dog. Yeah, that's right. I mean, this is what makes this country great. It is. What else do you need to know?

You can get in Texas, you can get deep-fried butter, which they take a cube of butter. put it in dough and deep fry it, and you're just eating fried butter. It's brilliant. Just cut right to the chase. It also shows that people are kind of looking for more retro things, kind of more comfortable things, more back to old school things. And I think state fairs are certainly one of them. Cardiologists love state fair.

I love a state fair. All right, brand down back to school spending. What's going on here? It's just through the roof. 38.6 billion up from 36 billion. This is amazing. This is amazing. The average family spends $734.

back to school ages K through 12, which is incredible. College kids, they're spending over $1,000. What's also happening, teachers are supplementing because a lot of things that you used to get in school, crayons, paper, hand wipes, you don't get anymore. The average teacher spends $500 out of their own pocket to supplement and get their classrooms ready for things. I was really telling them.

Thanks. School teachers don't have an extra $500 to spend. So, Donnie, we're the next one as a brand up for an actor who played a legendary soprano's character, whose name I'm not sure I can say on the air. I'll say it. Vincent Pestori, the actor. Sopranos' best series of all time. We lost Vincent Pestory, 80 years old, big pussy on the show.

He had been, oddly enough, you think about him on the entire show, he got whacked season two. He was a turncoat. He became an informant for the FBI. One of the most difficult episodes to watch, to watch Tony and Silvio and Polly Walnuts have to kill their friend on a boat, really tough. But Vincent Pestory, great actor. played a lot of gangsters, and his character was memorable on the show. Every character on the show was so well written by the great David Chase that we're going to miss the big pushing.

Remember in that scene? He says, just not in the face. Not the face. Not in the face. And they didn't shoot him in the face. No, they didn't. All right. Brand down. The Barbie sequel, it's stuck. It may not come out. It may not come out. I mean, they made a billion four the first time around. The problem is it's been so successful that the three core players in it, Greta Gerard, where the director, Ryan Gosling and, of course, Margo Robbie, holding out. Ryan Gosling wants 20 million plus a piece of the profits. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve it. The actor split 200 million in profits the first time around.

Greta Gerardorik says, we're not going forward until everybody's locked in. Warner Brothers has till the end of the year to sign the deal or they lose the franchise and it goes back to Mattel. They can take it anywhere. They want to do anything with it. Oh, that's interesting. They're going to hang out and get more money. All right, rental scams, obviously a brand down.

Yeah, this is one of the news you can use. AI, we're going to, AI pops up every week and brand up and brand down because it has so many implications for so many things. What's happening online is AI is creating video, video tours of apartments with landlords that don't exist, with, with, basically, they create a landlord who has a social media presence. They create very sophisticated leases. They create very sophisticated videos. And the apartment doesn't exist.

And you put down a deposit for an apartment. You send it in Venmo. You lose your money. AI is just, we're going to all have to be on our A games, no pun intended for AI, because there's so many ways. They can do headfakes to us. All right. Let's close as we should with a brand up for William Shattner.

You think we gave William Shatner a lifetime brand up? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. We gave him a dolly partner. Michael J. Fox. I think we put him in there. 95 years old, he's going to be headlining a music festival in Chicago. He's headlining a heavy metal band.

But with real players, people who have played with Ozzy Osbourne, people who have played with Billy Idol. He is a national treasure. Of course, we love the price line ads. This is a real thing. track too. But we're going to go see William Schachton, Chicago headline, a heavy metal band, a lifetime brand off to William Shatner. He's got to be the youngest 95 in the history of 95. He was just in space. It's incredible. Shatner lives in. Incredible. Donnie Deutsch,

Brand up, Brand up, Brand up. Love being here. Brand up for Donnie Deutsch. Always a brand. All right. Speaking of Lifetime Brand up, thanks, Donnie. Up next, we'll show you a President Trump said last night about Janine Piro's future as U.S. attorney in Washington, after her office dismissed several charges connected to the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool. Really hung up on that pool. Morning Joe's coming right back. Just after a short break, our conversation with Democratic candidate in Michigan, Abdul-El-Said on the extremely close race in Michigan's Senate primary. We're calling him the likely nominee, though still have not called it. Plus, we'll discuss how the economy is playing a role

in Democratic socialist candidates winning elections. Morning Joe's coming. right back.