Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/31/23

Episode Date: October 31, 2023

Netanyahu rejects calls for a ceasefire

I hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight. Because Israel's fight is your fight. Because if Hamas and Iran's axis of evil win, you will be their next target. That's why Israel's victory will be your victory. But make no mistake, regardless of who stands with Israel, Israel will fight until this battle is won and Israel will prevail. Just part of a defiant speech yesterday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where he rejected calls for a ceasefire and his resignation. We'll have more

of his comments and get a live report from the Israel-Gaza border straight ahead. Meanwhile, aid for Israel is a top priority on Capitol Hill, but the two chambers have very different plans for delivering it. We're going to go through that potential funding fight. Also ahead, an update on the expected testimony from Donald Trump and his three oldest children in his civil fraud trial, plus why a tentative new deal for autoworkers is a win for the union and President Biden and the continued support for actor Matthew Perry with his friends, co-stars now releasing a statement following his passing. We'll read for you their emotional comments. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe.

It is Tuesday, October 34th. Happy Halloween. Happy Halloween. Yeah. Along with Joe, Willie, and me, we have the house. Is that it? We don't have to go around and ask everybody? What are you going as?

What are your kids going as? No. Willie, you have to do the Today Show thing. I can't tell you. Don't tell anybody. I can't tell you. You've got to watch us till 10. I'm waiting with bated breath.

And then go watch the West Coast feed. What are your kids doing? The youngest is going as Shoeless Joe Jackson. He's got an old school white socks jersey. Going barefoot, gambling. He'll be thrown out. He's got the DraftKings app on his phone.

And then the oldest is, you know how you drive by a car car wash or car dealership they have those things sure yeah he's got an inflatable thing so that's not really good really good not bad i'm going as a tired person that's yeah that's what i'm getting this year yeah it's a staple for me poor thing that's good bro and any uh i've been telling my daughter i want to take my four-year-old grandson trick-or-treating at my daughter I want to take my four year old grandson trick or treating at Trump Towers. I want to wear the Donald Trump costume. Oh, maybe a judge is right. Yeah. My daughter. One of my daughters was Polly Pocket.

Yeah, it's cute. You guys know what Polly Pocket. I don't think I know what that is. Anyhow, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, is with us as well. Good to have you, Michael. Let's jump right into the news. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting the growing international calls for a ceasefire in its war against Hamas. Instead, at a press conference yesterday, Netanyahu asked other nations support for Israel's fight. Just as the United States would not agree to a ceasefire after the bombing of Pearl Harbor or after the terrorist attack of 9-11,

Israel will not agree to a cessation of hostilities with Hamas after the horrific attacks of October 7th. Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen. This is a time for war, a war for our common future. Today we draw a line between the forces of civilization and the forces of barbarism. It is a time for everyone to decide where they stand. Israel will stand against the forces of barbarism until victory.

I hope and pray that civilized nations everywhere will back this fight. Because Israel's fight is your fight. Netanyahu also defended his own actions surrounding the war. His political opponents have called for his resignation over his failure to prevent the October 7th attacks. And some have also accused the prime minister of punishing innocent civilians by cutting off electricity, food and other supplies to Gaza. The only thing that I intend to have resign is Hamas. We're going to resign them to the dustbin of history. That's my goal.

That's my responsibility. That's what I'm leading the country to do. Not a single civilian has to die. Hamas merely has to let them go to the safe zone that we created in southeastern Gaza Strip. There's a safe zone there. Not a single civilian has to die. But Hamas is preventing them from leaving, keeping them in the areas of conflict.

So I think that you should direct your questions to Hamas. But I can tell you one thing. We're going out of our way to prevent civilian casualties. So, Willie, I think for many supporters of Israel, right message in many ways, wrong messenger, certainly him defending himself in the lead up to the attacks. That's not a message that the overwhelming majority of people in Israel believe. There's no way they could believe that. He left Israelis completely vulnerable to the most vicious attacks since the Holocaust. So, again, I think it is wildly inappropriate for him to, but of course, it's what he's going to do, but to somehow try to entangle Israel's survival with his own.

But again, many things he said, true. We wouldn't have talked about a ceasefire on December 8th, 1941 or on September 12th, 2001. Also very true that Hamas has hidden behind civilians their entire career. We said this the day after the attacks. We said when a Jew dies, that's a victory for Hamas. When a Palestinian dies, that's a victory for Hamas. They are just excited about Palestinians dying, maybe even more than they are when Jews die, because they consider that a victory. That's why they hide in hospitals. That's why they hide in an apartment buildings. That's why they hide behind civilians.

So again, I think most supporters of Israel would agree with Benjamin Netanyahu in many ways, except the Benjamin Netanyahu part. He was responsible for that and not just directly by by Israel sleeping and the defense forces sleeping and him obsessing over wars against the courts instead of war against Hamas. And also because what he did for well over a decade, doing everything he could to avoid peace talks that would lead to a two-state solution. He was so obsessed with the West Bank and so obsessed to allowing religious extremists to bulldoze down Palestinian homes

for political purposes, because he knew that would help him with the far right, the far right religiously, politically, that he took his eyes off the terrorists who promised to kill Jews, took his eyes completely off of it for political reasons. So, yeah, that that speech last night, a little discordant for a lot of people. And I'll say, including myself, that are fierce defenders of Israel. You can't be a fierce defender of Israel and listen to what Benjamin Netanyahu said. Go. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds about right, because 80 percent of people inside of Israel think he's responsible. Well, that's the thing in this moment of national unity inside of Israel. There is dissent about the man leading the country right now. Big dissent. And you hear

it in the questions he's asked, even in those news briefings. He is a man who's built his reputation as a national security hawk, as the man who can protect Israel from all the aggressors that surround it every minute of every day. And on October 7th, that all fell to pieces. The fact that people could walk across the border effectively and murder a couple thousand civilians, that fell away for him. So he's vulnerable to that. And his argument now, Joe, is that there'll be a time to talk about who's responsible. There'll be a time for that. Right now, we have to crush Hamas. Well, Jonathan, Willie's exactly right. I wouldn't want to put off that conversation. Why? You don't want the same people that allowed the attacks to happen on October 7th to lead this war? No. Because he put clowns around him. I have friends in Israel

that told me for a year that he was taking out the pros and bringing in idiots and clowns. What does that sound like? Yeah. What does that sound like? Yeah. What does that sound like? It sounds like Donald Trump in the United States. And again, they didn't tell me this on October 8th. They were telling me this in June and July. They were telling me it's a certain kind of show over there.

And and I had warnings time and time again, people saying time and again, he's dividing the very people who protect our existence. And so now he's going out. Willie's right. You know, he's built himself up as this hawk through the years. He will be remembered as the man who was responsible for the greatest slaughter of Jews worldwide since the Holocaust. I'm not saying that Israelis are saying that the ones who are there, the ones who lost sons, the ones who lost daughters, the ones who lost kids, who lost who lost parents, who lost grandparents. They're the ones saying it. That's why he can't go out and answer questions from Israelis. That's why the cabinet ministers won't go out to the people, because they know they're responsible.

Yeah, his legacy will be that he took his eye off the ball. The number one job for an Israeli prime minister is to keep Israeli citizens safe. His focus was the battle with the courts. His focus was the settlements. His focus was appeasing the far right members of his coalition. And he lost the you know, he lost the ability to keep those Israelis safe. And he's facing a lot of questions now. There's real sense in the Biden White House that his days politically are numbered. They suspect he will keep his position through this first wave of the war.

But at a certain point, polls suggest Israelis will want a new leader. So let's go right to the Israel Gaza border. NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel is there. Richard, you can weigh in on this topic of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and also the latest on the Israeli push inside Gaza. So the prime minister's career is definitely in trouble. There is anger building against him every time he speaks to local press or foreign press. He's facing questions whether he should resign, whether he will accept responsibility for took place over the course of several hours, where Hamas was able to go from community to community, butchering people, taking hostages. And now some Israelis are saying that he is doing this campaign to both attack Hamas,

but also to try and save his own political career, potentially at the expense of the hostages. And there are every night in Tel Aviv vigils by the expense of the hostages. And there are every night in Tel Aviv vigils by the families of the hostages. They're trying to stay apolitical. They're trying not to criticize the government. But they are angry with Netanyahu. And they say, we one day, when this is over, we will express our opinions about the prime minister and what needs to be done. But in a major development, the first hostage has been freed by Israeli troops, Israeli troops operating in Gaza. A young Israeli woman, she was taken by Hamas from a guard tower in a kibbutz.

Twelve soldiers were killed in that attack, and several others along with her remain as hostages. But inside Gaza, one thing that cannot be mentioned, and several others along with her remain as hostages. But inside Gaza, one thing that cannot be mentioned, cannot, is important to mention, he talked about a safe zone in southern Gaza. Our reporters in Gaza say there's nothing like a safe zone, that Israeli strikes continue all across the Gaza Strip,

including in the south, that the idea that there is some safe haven where palestinians can go and not come under attack is simply all right nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard angle richard thanks so much for reporting as always so a bit of good news that the 19 year old soldier was released the hostage but 240 remain according to the israeli. It's just such agony for the families. We'll be returning back to this story throughout the four hours of Morning Joe. Let's get to politics here at home. In his first major move since becoming Speaker of the House,

Mike Johnson is taking the bipartisan goodwill of providing aid for Israel and launching a fight with President Biden over his signature achievement while setting up a collision course with the Senate. House Republicans released the details of their aid package for Israel yesterday. It includes $14.3 billion in emergency funding. But here's the catch. The bill rescinds that same amount of IRS funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. The act is the major climate health care and tax law that President Biden signed into law last year.

The GOP bill also focuses solely on Israel, despite President Biden's request for aid to both Israel and Ukraine. The measure is set to be considered by the rules committee when the House returns tomorrow and a vote in the full chamber could happen later this week. Speaker Johnson spoke about the bill to Fox News in an interview set to air later this afternoon. We understand what's at stake here and I hope that everyone will put politics aside, get that bill over the line. We're going to have payfors in it. We're not just going to print money and send it overseas, because the other concern we have that is overriding this is our own strength as a nation, which is tied to our fiscal stability.

And that's a big problem that we have as well. We have to keep it in mind as we try to help everyone else. If the bill passes the Republican control house, the IRS provisions are all but guaranteed to be rejected by the Democratic led Senate and the White House, setting up a clash over how to approve the aid to Israel and, of course, leaving Ukraine out of the conversation. Well, of course, leaving Ukraine out, Michael, still, though, I mean, it's great start. Remarkable, remarkable how tone deaf, how tone deaf my former party is. They are actually they are actually putting billionaires between the protection of Israel and the United States Congress, they are slashing funding for the IRS to go after billionaire tax cheats. Let me say that again. They're taking the money that was passed. They're taking the money and they're gutting the IRS's ability to go after rich billionaire tax cheats. And they think this is the solution.

I would say, I've got a solution. Why don't we just have a billionaire tax? Like all the parts of the Trump tax cuts that were giveaways to billionaires and multinational corporations? Why don't we take that money from the multinational corporations that got massive windfalls and did all of those stock buybacks and take all of the billions that billionaires got from the Trump tax cuts? Why don't we take that money and help the Israelis, instead of having the Republicans in the House, try to help billionaire tax cheats. It's really it's breathtaking, Michael.

It's breathtaking. You know, at this point, it is actually beyond breathtaking because you just realize just the crass political nature of it. You know, all of the all of the soft tones soft tones and, you know, the new look of the speaker belies the fact that at the end of the day, that they're going to try to do the offset game. Now we're concerned about pay-fors. Now we're concerned about the cost of things. Now we're concerned because, oh, some people in our base are upset that we're sending money overseas, where those weren't concerns before.

They spent $8 trillion under Donald Trump. To your point, go back and look at all of that money and go into that budget that you set up that really allowed for the wealthiest of the country to benefit, to say, okay, we're going to need some of that back. If you're really that concerned, this idea of setting up a fight with the president, right, as the critical juncture of Israel, Ukraine, and just the general thrust of where the global setting is going,

to me is an unnecessary fight. But this is what it's all about, Joe. This is not about the seriousness of budget policy, the seriousness of economic and fiscal health of the country. It is about, okay, you want money for Israel? Then pay for it out of a program that we disagreed with, but we voted for it in the first place. Yeah, I mean, it's fascinating, Rev. We got this Mike Johnson guy who was part of a Congress that spent more money and drove us deeper into debt over a four-year period than any Congress in the history of the United States of America. In fact, Mike Johnson and Donald Trump

together ran up debt more in four years than America did in its first 210 years of existence. That's how serious Mike Johnson was. Oh, we've got to pay for that. We've got to pay for it. Did anybody, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't follow the news. I don't have to in the job I'm in, but did anybody ever hear Mike Johnson holding up a bill under Donald Trump because it wasn't paid for in all of the $8 trillion? No, he's just up in the door. He's there. Yeah. Cause it's just, just, just, just drive, drive the trucks through of, of, of debt. 1 billion, 2 billion, Mike Johnson's 3 billion, four billion, five billion, six billion, seven billion, eight billion dollars. Mike Johnson and Donald Trump gave America in debt.

And now suddenly he won't even help Jews protect themselves. It is so gross. And making it even grosser, he says, this is what we're going to do. We will protect the Jews if you protect the billionaires. We want billionaire tax cheats to get away with stealing more money from the American people. So we'll let you protect the Jews, Joe Biden. But you have to let us protect our donors, our billionaire donors that are tax cheats. I've never truly heard of a dumber plan to start a speakership than to put Jews life in danger. So you could protect billionaire tax cheats. And he knows he knows.

He knows. This is never going to pass. Because they're not going to let billionaires continue to cheat on their taxes. He knows this. And yet, that's what he said. We'll let you, Joe Biden, protect the Jews. We'll let Democrats protect the Jews. But you've got to let us Republicans protect billionaire tax cheats. It's just so grotesque. It is not only politically dumb and grotesque.

This is a guy who professes to be this ardent, practicing, moral Christian. So you're saying that we are not going to vote to protect not only Israelis. We are still having 240 people hostage there while we have this debate. And the debate is we're going to take care of our billionaires or we're going to not give the money that you want for Israel. And by the way, democracy, we're not even going to discuss Ukraine. Take that off the table of dealing with fighting to protect democracy in terms of Ukraine and Russia. This is his opening. I didn't even get to Ukraine. He's basically said, let Vladimir Putin have his way. That's right. Let Vladimir Putin have his way. And if Hamas wants to have its way with the Jews. Well, if we can't protect our billionaires, then let Hamas have their way with the Jews. Let the Ukrainians have their way, because we know he's lying through his teeth when he talks about like we have too big of a debt because he didn't care when he and Donald Trump were running up the largest debt in American history. It's their debt. It's a debt that they created. So now you want to deal with your debt that you

and Donald Trump, who is clearly his hero, that you created by saying hostages, don't worry about it. I'm not worried about the safety of Israelis. And I'm not going to even deal with democracy in Ukraine. We've got to protect our billionaires and you take care of the Israelis and the hostages. And Putin can have his way. This is his opening act as the speaker of the House. And this is the new speaker, Jonathan, saying, look, we're defunding the IRS, just like we chanted and talked about. But he's doing it as a condition of giving support to Israel. We should point out to our viewers, this isn't how this works. Typically that emergency funding or aid to an ally, you can negotiate the number up and down. That's reasonable and responsible. But to say, hold on a second, you're not getting that unless I get what I want on a

pet domestic issue of taking money away from the IRS. It's it's a new thing for a new speaker. It truly is. And we're hearing buzzes like pay for us and offsets. Not that's not this is this is is two things. First of all, it's another effort to try to undo the debt ceiling deal that President Biden struck with Kevin McCarthy earlier in the year. It's to try to up to undo part of the Biden signature legislation from a year ago, which Republicans obviously opposed. It's also politically foolish to Joe's point, not just on national security issues, which, of course, that is paramount, making you endangering Israeli lives and Ukrainian lives, but also even in terms of political gambit. We know the Republicans are supporting Israel. A lot of them have had real questions about Ukraine.

Just make them separate. If they had simply said, hey, just vote on Israel, then you put Democrats in a box where are you going to actually oppose Israeli funding because there's not Ukraine attached? They didn't do that. Instead, they connected to this and the IRS defending billionaires. It is a political malpractice. And certainly it also White House just gives Democrats an easy way out. They can oppose it. No problem. The White House just throws up their hands and say, this is not OK. We have to go back to the drug war. That's what I don't understand, Michael. Still, that they're so stupid that they would actually again, they would let the hostages just languish. They would let Joe

Biden be the champion of Israel even more. Joe Biden wanting to get money to Israel and them blocking it, basically telling Israel and Jews to go to hell unless they get something. Again, it's mind boggling. It's mind boggling. No, Joe Biden, we're not we're not going to help you help Jews and help Israel unless you let billionaires cheat on their taxes, unless you got the IRS so much that your billionaire friends like the Republicans, billionaire friends can cheat on their taxes. It's such malpractice. They're basically saying to Joe Biden, you side with Israel, we'll side with tax cheats. I'm sorry, I'm not good at this politics thing, but I don't think that's going to poll well in Wisconsin.

It's not. But again, Joe, this is not geared towards your typical voter in Wisconsin or in Michigan or anywhere else in the country. This is a key towards a MAGA base that has been hyped up to believe one thing about Ukraine and another about Israel funding. Not so much the Israeli story, the back story about the hostages and the attacks. That everyone is like, oh my God, no. But when it comes to the funding, you've got this emerging narrative that somehow, to the point of everyone at the table, that what's in balance is support for Israel versus support for the IRS. And I'm sitting here going, what? What in the world? And how does that work? Does Israel have an IRS we didn't know about? I mean, I don't understand. So Americans are going to sit there and scratch their heads over this. But they don't care. I mean, you know, to the ref's point, this is the opening conversation that the new speaker wants to have with the president of the United States in the middle of a crisis is let's elevate our concerns about the IRS

and the 80,000 employees that were added to their ranks for what purpose? Oh, I don't know. Collecting taxes from billionaires and everyone else who tries to cheat the system to pay for all the stuff that they claim we need to pay for. So this is incongruent with everything that we know from the past, Joe, about how you negotiate this type of request from the president. As Willie said, the numbers go up and down. We all know how that works. OK, you want one hundred and thirty billion. I will give you one hundred and twenty. OK, have that conversation. But then to say, well, you get the money only if you cut the IRS. You just look stupid. Yeah, they do. Great start. All right. And

cold and harsh. Yes. Still ahead. We're going to tell you about the new steps being taken by the Biden White House to combat the major uptick in anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses since the Hamas terror attack. Boy, it is bad, Willie. It is so awful on college campuses. Every day there's something new. For Jewish kids. Unbelievable. Plus, what Matthew Perry's friends, co-stars are saying about the loss of their beloved castmate.

We're back in just a moment. I can say yes and follow up and do it. When I die, I don't want friends to be the first thing that's mentioned. I want that to be the first thing mentioned. That was the late actor Matthew Perry just last year, detailing how he wanted to be remembered beyond the hit show Friends instead for helping people struggling with addiction. Yesterday, the five surviving cast members of Friends paid tribute to their co-star in a joint message, writing in part, we are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew.

We were more than just castmates. We are a family. There's so much to say, but right now we're going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss. In time, we will say more as and when we are able. The 54-year-old shot to fame playing Chandler Bing on the hit 90s sitcom, but his life was not without hardship. The actor was open about his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction. In 2013, he received the Champion of Recovery Award from the White House. So far, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner says Perry's autopsy report is inconclusive. The agency is waiting on toxicology results that could take three to four months.

Meanwhile, in Manhattan, the building where they shot the exterior of the apartment for friends has become a de facto memorial for the Hollywood star with fans leaving flowers outside. Such a sad story. We knew he had been struggling for many, many years. He talked about watching himself on Friends and saying, I just see a guy who's lost because I know it was happening in his life off the screen. We don't know why exactly he died the other day, but such a sad moment for one of the stars of the biggest shows in the history of TV. Yeah. And I do hope that he

will be remembered for the work, fighting recovery, the work and fighting recovery and the work trying to help other people. Mike, I know when I was young and I saw somebody who had addiction problems, you know, you looked at and We all looked at them as problematic and different. As you get older and you, I mean, I have friends that struggled with addiction, some who didn't survive. You understand every day they wake up is a battle. And what really, really hit me and made sense to me, it might not make sense to people that have never been around people

that have had real addiction problems. But when he said, I'm saying this to help other people, I may not be able to help myself. Maybe I can't take this. Maybe I can't take this advice myself sometime, but I'm trying. But I can help other people. It is. It is a daily battle. Some days you win, some days you lose. And

some days, unfortunately, there's tragedy, like the tragedy that visited him. You know, one of the untold stories in America, Joe, is that what happened here, what we're talking about right now, is a universal in this country. Nearly every family in this country either has been touched by addiction or knows a family member, cousin, whatever, who also has been touched by it. Matthew Perry's gift was he spoke to this. Yes. Strongly. Consistently. A lot of people who have been addicted over the years to things, they want to hide it. They want to run from it. They don't want any publicity about it. They're in recovery every six months or so, every other couple of years.

It's a universal in America, a country addicted to addiction. Matthew Perry spoke to this. And Gene, it does. I'm sorry. We're about to talk about Gene Robinson. Rev, it doesn't matter, really, does it? What your background is, what your faith is, how much, you know, this isn't like a question of do you love Jesus or do you love alcohol? Or are you a faithful Christian or an observant Jew? It is often, it is a battle, those two things existing together at the same time. And just a terrible, those two things existing together at the same time. And just a terrible, terrible battle. I know you've ministered to people throughout your adult life that have had trouble with addiction. And family members I've had to deal with. And the thing that I most admired

about Matthew is he owned it and said that I have a problem. because everyone that I've dealt with, whether they've been stars in entertainment or cousins, they all justify it. It's because of this. It's not really bad, but I was caused by my environment. I was caused by once you own it, then you can begin to heal. You can't you cannot be healed unless you first admit that you're sick. And Matthew taught the world that I'm sick. Right. I'm dealing with it, but I'm sick. And I think you can never heal people.

Even Jesus couldn't heal people until they first said, I have an infirmity. Right. And as long as you deny the infirmity, you'll never heal. He talked about it. And I know that there are people who are struggling with addiction right now that are going back, looking at those videos, his tragedy, opening some doors right now for people who are having problems, loved ones who have friends who have problems or children have problems. And I'm sure they're looking at what he said and it is going to resonate and is going to have an impact. I brought up Gene, a guy that we just love, a member of our family. We feel like he's

our brother. We're so, so grieving for Gene this morning. Yes, we are. Our hearts are broken for our dear friend and really member of the Morning Joe family, Gene Robinson and his family. On Saturday, Gene's wife of 45 years, Avis Collins Robinson, passed away after a brave battle with cancer. A talented visual artist, she was known for her paintings and abstract quilts that explore America's tensions over race, gender, oppression, and history. Avis captured some famous faces as well, from former President Barack Obama to guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. Avis's portrait of Abraham Lincoln has been on display in Ford's Theater, the lobby, since 2009.

Avis Collins Robinson grew up in Montgomery County, Maryland, where she graduated from the University of Maryland. She went on to earn her master's degree in economics and finance from Harvard and Golden Gate University. And in 1979, when Gene got his first job at the Washington Post, the couple moved to Arlington, where Avis would serve as the deputy director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs at the EPA. In 2003, she shifted her focus to philanthropy, creating the Washington Metropolitan Scholars Program, which pairs academically gifted African-American students with elite universities. The program has provided millions of dollars in scholarships. On social media, Gene called Avis the love of his life, writing, she was an

extraordinary woman, and my profound grief is tempered by gratitude that she allowed me to share her extraordinary life. Avis Collins Robinson was 70 years old. Both unbeaten in this postseason, wins scoring first. Texas also unbeaten this postseason on the road, 8-0ory seager smashes the ball down three to nothing texas crushed cory seager padding the rangers lead over the diamondbacks last night with a two-run home run into the right field seats part of a three-run third inning to help keep texas perfect on the road this postseason. Max Scherzer pitched three scoreless innings before he left with back tightness. Four Texas relievers did their part to

keep Arizona's offense quiet for just about the entire game. The Rangers also lost slugger Adalas Garcia, who left in the eighth with tightness on his left side after a pinger injured himself on a swing. An MRI will determine the severity of that injury. The Rangers rebound from that 9-1 loss on Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over the D-backs. Texas now leads the series two games to one. Game four is tonight in Phoenix. Meanwhile, the Rangers' comeback victory in game one,

a great game on Friday night, did, though, mark the least- least watched World Series opener in history. The extra innings game averaged just 9.35 million viewers across Fox platforms. That's a decline from the previous low in 2020 between the Dodgers and Rays. That game was played during the pandemic with Arlington as the neutral site of the game. It's not a huge surprise given this matchup, but it doesn't mean it's not a great series. That first game particularly was a classic. Yeah, and Mike, it's a shame that this year,

with the rule changes and the speed of the game going, that they're not getting more viewership for the Diamondbacks and the Rangers. But it's not a real surprise, is it? No, it's not. It's not. But, you know, at the end of the day, it's baseball. So you watch it because it's baseball. Not everybody's going to be inclined to watch these two teams.

They're two good teams, but they're not great national teams. It's like in football or any other sport, really. But baseball, much more so. You need one of the big power teams. You need the Yankees or the Dodgers or the Cubs, the Red Sox. You need a national team in the World Series to attract them. Well, you know, the Phillies would have been. Even the Phillies and the Rangers would have been explosive.

Or the Diamondbacks and, I don't know, the Dodgers. Now I guess that wouldn't work, would it? No, that wouldn't work. I mean, TV ratings were up all year, but they're not going to be for this matchup. But there's still some good storylines here. I mean, Corey Seager is a postseason hero. He did it in 2020 for the Dodgers. He's doing it again now.

It's a young, fun Diamondbacks team that seems to be here ahead of schedule. Another postseason injury for Max Scherzer. Keep selling. Yeah, and I'm trying my best here. We've been watching it. The boys and I have been watching it. Sure. I do think we're destined for a long series, though, six, seven games.

All right. Now, who can we match the Diamondbacks with that would be a good? 2001 rematch. Beat the Yankees again. The Yankees, that fourth place, they weren't even sniffing the one series. Our teams were. You and my dad were the only two people i stand by in 2001 your dad too yeah what i said seriously dad no i know my dad was

cheering for the diamond back i said i thought you liked lee greenwood man what's up put yourself in october of 2001 i know if you don't live in Maricopa County, there is no justification for cheering for the Diamondbacks. I loathe the Yankees. I cheered for the Yankees in 2001. I've defended this on this show many times. In a time of national

tumult, you stay true to who you are. And if I had rooted for the Yankees, the terrorists would have won. And I rooted for the Diamondbacks. And they also won. I think you've got that backwards. And the Lions won last night, right? They did.

They did pretty good. The Raiders. And it was by two touchdowns. Yeah. I mean, the Lions are such an exciting team. I love their coach. Oh, he's amazing. Amazing.

And they're just a great dynamic team. I remember last year they started out like one and five. And we were looking at them going, this is a great team. How are they 1-5? And sure enough, they've taken off. I remember a time when the Lions were the pivotal team in the Thanksgiving Day football game televised nationally. It would be Lions and Bears every year. This year we'll actually want to see the Lions on Thanksgiving.

But not against the Bears. But they're running away with that division, and the Vikings just lost their quarterback, Kirk Cousins' injury. So, yeah, Lions. And here we go. There's Jared Goff throwing a touchdown pass to the rookie tight end. How about Goff, man? Goff has been underrated his entire NFL career.

That guy has really come through. Yeah, he had trouble in that Super Bowl against the Patriots defense a few years ago. Belichick played some mind games on it. But he's bounced back nicely with the Lions. He's a good quarterback for them, and that's an explosive offense. And you're happy for that city. Oh, my God. You hope it keeps rolling.

Plus, they've got a rage. Yeah. Now, it's great. But what a crazy week in the NFL, though. I mean, and the Niners. I thought three weeks ago the 49ers were going to be undefeated. Yeah. Brock's struggling a little bit right now, too.

Brock is struggling. A little bit. And the Chiefs have beaten the Broncos, I think, 16 straight times. They got crushed. You know, the Chiefs, man, they have, even in their victories, they haven't looked sharp. They've been struggling. It's very strange.

But, I mean, that's a team that can struggle and figure out a way to win, end up in the Super Bowl again. But, man, they have been struggling. They depend so much on their quarterback. I mean, he's much of their team. He's a good guy to depend on if you have to. Oh, my gosh. But there's something wrong there, physically, I think. I mean, seriously, Taylor Swift can't do it all, as Alex just said.

She can't do it all. Well, she wasn't there Sunday. That's why they lost. Yeah, exactly. Willie, do you want to weigh in on the worst football game ever played? I was hoping it wouldn't come up. And by the way, I'm not even going to argue with you. I was embarrassed to watch the game.

It was so dreadful. And it was the fans and the rain. It was just like. And how they lost, how the Giants handed that game to the Jets, I will never know. Alex was just reminding me, and you know it's really bad when they walk off the field and they confiscate their helmets and their pads. Okay. All right.

Burn them. All right. They burned them out in the parking lot. We never played this sport. What do they call that? MetLife Stadium? Sure. Isn't that what it is?

Yeah. It's a dreadful place. Can I still call it the Meadowlands? Yeah. Yeah. It's still the Meadowlands region. God, you know, why didn't they put the stadium in New York? I know we would have had a little traffic, but still, I don't care.

They were going to flop it down where Hudson Yards ended up being. It's too much traffic. Okay, a lot of news to get to still ahead. We're going to get back to our big stories of the day. Also ahead, a closer look at the rise in anti-Semitism connected to the Israel-Hamas war, and we'll be joined by a prosecutor in New York State who says the terrorist attack on Israel was a big factor in her decision not to seek re-election. Morning Joe will be right back. The rise around the world. NBC News White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has more.

The U.S. is condemning this pro-Palestinian mob that stormed an airport in Russia looking for Jews. Hundreds of men, some carrying banners with anti-Semitic slogans, rushed onto the tarmac, searching for Israeli passengers. Around the world, demonstrations calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. In Pakistan, some protesters burned Israeli and American flags. How concerned is the White House that these demonstrations will spiral out of control? No, we believe in the right of peaceful protest. Nobody wants to see peaceful protest turn violent or turn dangerous. In the U.S., the Biden administration is announcing new steps to fight anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses,

including federal agencies improving coordination between campus law enforcement and state and local counterparts. At Columbia University. There are Jewish students who do not feel physically safe on campus. At Cornell, police are guarding the Center for Jewish Living after the university says a series of horrendous anti-Semitic messages threatening violence were posted online. Junior Molly Goldstein is the center's president. What's the sense of fear like on campus right now? I would say all students are absolutely terrified. People don't know what to do with themselves and whether they should stay or leave campus. The Anti-Defamation

League reports since the war began, anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. are up nearly 400 percent from the same period last year. As the man accused of stabbing a six-year-old Palestinian American boy to death near Chicago pleaded not guilty. Muslim leaders are reporting an uptick in Islamophobia nationwide, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations citing nearly 800 complaints this month. Incidents like this one at American University, where a Palestinian IT specialist says someone slid a note under his door, threatening, go back to where you came from. You might get lucky with a missile and meet your Allah sooner. This whole eerie feeling just took over. My heart sank.

It's NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reporting. Willie, we've been talking about it for some time and obviously talked about our concern for not only Jewish students, but Muslim students. Right now, the uptick in anti-Semitism worldwide, just off the charts, whether you're in Russia, whether you're in London. I mean, you have Jews in London now who were afraid to show any signs of their faith because they're so targeted. And we talked about it before on college campuses. It is outrageous how and I've heard from far too many people who have children on college campuses that Jewish kids. They've disappeared. A lot of them have disappeared at times, afraid to go out because the anti-Semitism on college campuses, this has always been a problem in America. It just has, especially in the elite universities.

Anti-Semitism. We've talked about it. I've talked about it for the last 30 years. Anti-Semitism on college campuses, especially elite campuses, campuses like Columbia have been historically horrendous. And it's being exposed now. The leaders have got to step up. They've got to do something.

And they haven't, by and large. They've given mealy-mouthed responses to most of what we're seeing on these campuses. And you're right. It's not just the stuff we report that we see. We hear it anecdotally, all kinds. And it's not the veiled anti-Semitism we've become accustomed to and we understand has now just become kill the Jews, die Jews, just saying it out loud. And the justification on college, all over, college campuses, all over, the justification

of shooting babies in cribs, beheading Israelis, burning grandmothers, just the worst things in the world. And on college campuses, they have people chanting in Jews that this is what decolonization looks like. And some of the professors, by the way, people who work for the universities. There's been this whole culture over the last 10, 15 years of emotional safety for students. Right. You're in a classroom. You hear an opinion you disagree with. You feel unsafe and they put you in a safe space with coloring books so you can take care of yourself. Exactly. They bubble wrap everybody, except Jews. You can be OK with Jews getting slaughtered and suddenly they go, oh, no,

we don't use bubble wrap in the campus. Right. Right. Yeah. So now you have actual safety being threatened of Jewish students at campuses across the country. And we're not seeing nearly enough done to protect them. Nothing. I mean, we really aren't. It's the stories. The stories firsthand that I'm hearing, Rev, are outrageous. And I want to commend you again. I've talked about your friendship and your relationship with Jonathan Greenblatt and the ADL. And man, you were making good trouble this weekend in Tallahassee and you delivered a powerful sermon to some college students. Tell us about it. I was there because of the governor DeSantis and what he's doing and Ed Blum and what he's done against affirmative action. But then I met with some students

and I told them the kind of blatant anti-Semitic family, right? This is a family. They were homecoming. And we have a chapter of National Action Network there. uh i was saying the blatant anti-semitism uh anti-jewish statements and islamophobia i'm seeing in some campuses around the country if they were saying this about us blacks we'd be marching why are we having longitis here when we challenge jews challenge muslims to stand with us with george floyd or whatever the case may be. You cannot have a sliding morality. You are morally outraged, period. Oh, you're not. Which is why I stood up with when the Israeli attacks happened. And a lot of people said, well, wait a minute, let's see what happens. What do you mean? Let's see what happens. They killed 1300 people, women, children beheaded. What am I waiting for?

And then later I can disagree with Netanyahu, which I do disagree with. One has nothing to do with the other. You don't have the moral standing to stand for yourself if you don't stand for others. And some of this is not disagreeing with Netanyahu policy to say kill the Jews. This is not about whether you agree or not with what the settlements are which all of us have different opinions right to say you're going after jews or to say that muslims ought to go see allah earlier this is an outrage and people that are not jewish and not muslim need to stand up and i mean and we've been really straight here i i know

i have i don't want to speak for anybody else. But I believe we need to fiercely defend Israel's right to protect themselves. There's 15 million Jews worldwide. There's not a safe Jew in the world today. Israel created because six million Jews slaughtered during the Holocaust. And laryngitis is a great word and where is that happening right now mike i just got back from la let me tell you hollywood like if an acorn falls from a tree the wrong way then you know actors will get out and speak about it right writers will get out and speak about it. Suddenly, silence has fallen over Hollywood. Suddenly, people don't want to get political. They don't want to get political about babies being shot up in their cribs or burned in their cribs or kids going to a music festival and facing just just seriously killing swads reminiscent of the Nazis in Germany going going into other European countries.

Silence in Hollywood. Part of it, I think, is in the coverage. And it begins on day one, two weeks ago, when fourteen hundred people were slaughtered right outside the Gaza Strip by Palestinians. And they came to kill Israelis. No, they didn't. They came to kill Jews. That's why Hamas is in business, to kill Jews, not Israelis. In Atlanta, there's a Center for Communicable Diseases where the government spends a lot of money studying diseases. Antisemitism is the oldest disease we live with, and we live with it each and every day. And stunningly, in this day and age, it's grown explosively. On college campuses, Mimi, everywhere, you wonder, how did they get into college? How did they, with these beliefs,

how did they get into college? Because the presidents of the college can't even condemn it. Did you see how long it took? Five tries at Harvard. At Harvard. Five tries. Five tries at Harvard to say raping teenage girls and shooting

kids at concerts and burning babies is terrorism and it's unacceptable. Five tries. Mike mentioned Mimi. Joining us now, district attorney for New York's Westchester County, Mimi Rocha. And Mimi, you announced that you will not run for re-election in 2024, and you cited the Israel-Hamas war as one of the reasons. You wrote in part this, as I approached the decision whether to run for a second term, my thoughts have been occupied in recent weeks by the terrorist attack on Israel and the aftermath, which has profoundly and personally impacted me in ways I did not expect. Can you tell us more about this decision and that factor in your decision? Absolutely. You know, this was a very hard decision. It's a hard decision to step away from public service.

But what happened on October 7th, that massacre, has brought up a feeling in me. And I know I speak for so many Jewish people and non-Jewish people who have just been shocked, frankly, at the level of anti-Semitism that I knew was there. But to see it rise up above the surface the way that it has in this country, my father, not some distant relative, my father escaped the Nazis and the pogroms in 1940. OK, so I am here because he was one of the lucky ones. And so many of us see what is happening now. And I understand now how the Holocaust happened. But what's different now is, first of all, we have allies. We have people who are willing to speak out for us.

And I thank you for that, Rev. And to all of you who are shining a light on this. And we have people in government who are there to protect us. And I need to find a way to be able to use my voice in this time in that way. And I've been the kind of DA that I wanted to be. I think I've made the change I wanted to make, lasting change, but also served with integrity and running for reelection while you're a sitting DA. It wouldn't allow me to be the kind of prosecutor I know to be, which is to keep politics out of it. It's something we talk about on the show all the time,

how do we keep outside influence and politics out of the criminal justice system, right? Trump influencing DOJ. That's something we talk about all the time. I have managed to keep outside influence away from my decisions. That's how I know to be a prosecutor. And so I feel really good about what I've done and what we have accomplished in the office. And I think it's lasting change, exonerating an innocent man by DNA, which is the longest standing wrongful conviction in American history. That's the kind of thing I feel proud of

and I can leave feeling good about, but move on to something else. There's so many big burning issues in this world. And, you know, I don't know exactly what's next. I didn't do this to go, you know, jump into something else, but I know that there's something pulling me in a different direction right now.