Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/4/22

Episode Date: October 4, 2022

Rep. Liz Cheney criticizes Trump for his comments against Sen. McConnell

Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Tuesday, October 4th. A lot to cover this morning. Major developments out of Ukraine, sweeping new gains for Kiev as the Ukrainian military forces Russia to retreat from areas Vladimir Putin claims to have. And next, also new revelations on the Trump documents case. Did the former president try to get one of his lawyers to make a false claim to prosecutors that all of the government documents had been returned? We'll have the latest reporting on that and the most high profile trial yet connected to the Capitol attack. as the Justice Department accuses the far right militia group, the Oath Keepers, of plotting an armed rebellion to keep Donald Trump in power. We'll go live to the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where testimony begins today. And Liz Cheney steps up again, this time speaking out against Trump's recent attack on Mitch McConnell and McConnell's wife, calling Trump's remarks about Elaine Chao, quote, absolutely despicable and racist.

And we'll have the latest update on a growing scandal. That's one elected Republican. That's actually Willie. That's one Republican that's spoken out exactly against Donald Trump attacking the Senate majority leader with violent rhetoric and making racist statements about his wife. I don't really not a lot of other Republicans elected Republicans who've done that. I guess we can't be shocked anymore, but it is shocking. It still is shocking that the leader of the United States Senate and the Republican Party had a, quote, death wish placed on him by the former president of the United States. His wife was attacked with racist slurs and no one says anything. Mitch McConnell has a whole lot of friends in the United States

Senate, people he's worked with for decades, long before they ever met Donald Trump. They won't even stand up in this moment of all moments and defend him against that. It's still stunning, even though it shouldn't be. It really is. It is still stunning. You do not realize this guy is not going to be in politics forever. Yeah. They're going to have to live with all of the decisions that they've made over the past five, six years. And those decisions keep getting worse. It's like we were talking about before. This is this is a moment where it's obvious the legal problems are mounting. He's becoming more vicious in his rhetoric. He's putting a death wish on the top Republican in the United States Senate. And this is a good chance

for them to step away, whether they support Ron DeSantis or whether they support the Virginia governor or whether they support somebody else who could carry through on the same issues. They won't do it, despite the fact he's now embracing QAnon and even more rabid conspiracy theories. The thing is that we should be shocked every time Donald Trump does this, he desensitizes the Republican Party, which seems in some ways mostly like members of his cult, and Americans to this type of behavior. Republicans, I'm not a huge Mitch McConnell supporter, but I'll do your job for you. No, you should not threaten Mitch McConnell. You should not make racist attacks on his wife. You should not put him in danger. You should not put his wife in danger.

These people may not agree with them. Serve our country, have served our country, served in the administration. This is wrong. It's not hard. Willie, I can't even begin to tell you, and I know this is obvious, but from my time when I served, if anybody had made a statement closely approaching this, they would be condemned and they would be sitting in their office wondering if they were going to have to be shoved out of public service. I saw members of Congress make really stupid statements, statements they had to immediately go out and apologize for. And they still got in trouble. They still saw their political careers, their lives in public service damaged greatly because of a mistake they would

make here or there. This is so beyond the pale, just like everything that this guy has said is so beyond the pale. And again, why elected Republicans in the United States Senate aren't speaking out and defending Mitch McConnell, why they're not speaking out and defending Mitch McConnell's family. It's just it's be it's beyond beyond crazy. You can make the case, guys, that the fear of Donald Trump is the strongest force in American politics, because if you're a United States senator, Republican, you're sitting there when you read that statement privately. We know what they all say. They're disgusted by him and by that message. But they're saying, do I stick up for my friend and do the obviously right thing and say that's a disgusting statement? He shouldn't

have said that. Or do I criticize Donald Trump? Do I back off? What do I do here? And the answer always has been I got to back off because I don't want to upset Donald Trump. I don't want to upset his supporters. It's the same reason I imagine we won't hear much criticism of Herschel Walker, despite the stories we saw yesterday. We'll get into that a little bit later. But the fear of Donald Trump is guiding all the decision making in the Republican Party. It's also chipping away at the fabric of who we are. So we're going to introduce everybody and going to talk about this and much more. But let's take a hard turn right here really, really quickly.

Still waiting. Still waiting for number 62, Judge. And I don't care. I don't care whether you're a Yankees fan, a Red Sox fan, an Astros fan. You've got to be rooting for this guy. He's just such a good guy. Waiting for him to get to 62 home runs and be the all time single season home run champ. Because Major League Baseball needs to wipe out all the steroid.

All the cheaters need to wipe them off the record books. If Judge hits 62, he's the all time home run champ for a year. And so we're still waiting there while Pujols yawning his way into the 700s just one night after another. Yeah, he hit another one last night, Pujols did. Just incredible what he's done at 42 years old. But Aaron Judge has three more games. They have a doubleheader in Texas today.

There was some question last week of whether he'd sit one of the games. You can't sit him now. Now he's only got three more shots to break the record. Had an infield single last night, struck out. He was in the actually on-deck circle, Joe, when the final out for the Yankees was made and the crowd booed because they wanted to see him hit one more time. So two games today, one game tomorrow. In those three games, if he gets up enough, you like to think he'd be able to put one out, but he's been in a drought, he hit the one in Toronto to tie the record.

But the last couple of weeks, obviously, with this much attention on it, he's certainly feeling that. So three more chances to break the record. And I sure hope he does. All right. Along with Joe, Willie and me, we have U.S. special correspondent for BBC News, Katty Kay and the host of way too early White House bureau chief at Politico. Jonathan Lemire is with us. And we are still learning this morning the toll of Hurricane Ian after at least 100 people are now confirmed dead in Florida. Search and rescue crews continue to sift through the rubble in one of the hardest hit communities looking for life. NBC News correspondent Sam Brock has the latest.

Gut-wrenching look at Fort Myers Beach from the ground level for the first time since Hurricane Ian made landfall. No structure on this island has gone unscathed. Our cameras, the first to tour what's now just frames of homes, unrecognizable lots with nothing left except air conditioning units, toilets and rubble. The International Association of Firefighters President Edward Kelly leading us through the wreckage. This island was devastated. He says there are 10 search and rescue units on the ground comprised of hundreds of firefighters. Search and rescue! Searching 3,500 properties just in Fort Myers Beach. How long do you think that's going to go on for?

You know, it's a common question. And a lot of people want to know the time frame. And unfortunately, time frames are very dynamic. They're fluid. As you look at the thousands of properties on Fort Myers Island, they basically run the gamut from homes that look like they're pretty much still standing to piles of rubble that have to be sifted through layer by layer to other properties that look structurally unsafe.

And all of them require a different approach and delicacy to go through. For homes at risk of collapse, the process can take hours to protect anybody that could still be inside, as well as the emergency responders. We don't want to create more victims and more victims from the storm and more victims from the rescuers. But criticism is growing around when Lee officials called for those evacuations. and more victims from the storm and more victims from the rescuers. But criticism is growing around when Lee officials called for those evacuations. The National Hurricane Center cited life-threatening storm surge for Fort Myers at 5 p.m. Monday.

On Tuesday morning, the first mandatory orders were issued and expanded throughout the day. I think that was a little late. I think it should have been like Monday, sometime Monday, because it's such a low-lying area. And even though it was hitting Tampa, Tampa's right there. It's their whole life. People don't want to leave their valuables behind. In the midst of this dark chapter, the chairman and CEO of Florida Power and Light says recent changes to the infrastructure will help expediting repairs. We believe we are going to be done with everybody who can accept power and understand there are thousands of structures that will not be able to accept power by the close of business on Friday. A glimmer of light for a community still stunned by so much loss.

This is my mother's house. This is my whole life. My mom was supposed to retire here and spend the rest of her life and be happy. And now we have nothing. NBC's Sam Brock with that report. And we're going to go live to Florida's hardest hit community just ahead. Our coverage will continue on that. Willie. Looking overseas now, Ukraine making more major breakthroughs on the battlefield this morning with forces gaining getting ground in parts of the country that's long been controlled by Russia. NBC News correspondent Aaron McLaughlin has the latest. Ukrainian forces say they're now making stunning gains to the south, liberating two territories in the occupied Kherson region.

Just days after a victory in the eastern town of Liman, hoisting the Ukrainian flag and tearing Russian signs down from areas where just days ago, Russian President Putin declared the Ukrainian territory would be Russia's forever. A long-awaited breakthrough in a bloody war that's potentially entering a new phase. While liberated areas have been left devastated by Russian occupation, including the village of Kamyanka. This man says a bomb blew a 30-foot hole in his backyard. How did you survive? I don't know, he says. Russian state TV now bluntly warning its viewers we should not be expecting good news. And airing this video of draftees training before heading to Ukraine. But around half of the

soldiers conscripted in a region of the Far East now being sent home after being deemed unfit, according to a Russian official. The leader of Chechnya releasing this footage, claiming to show his teenage sons, including his 14-year-old, preparing for war. Days after the Putin ally called for Russia to use low-yield nuclear weapons on the battlefield. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin reporting from Ukraine for us. Joining us now, retired U.S. Army General Steph Twitty. He served a number of combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. And prior to his retirement in 2020, he was deputy commander of United States European Command.

He is also an MSNBC military analyst. General Twitty, thanks so much for being with us this morning. So what do you make of the reports we're hearing there from on the ground about the gains made by Ukraine in the South, contrasted with the rhetoric we've been hearing from Vladimir Putin over the last several days,

that they have now taken back those four regions, that they are on the march, that Russia is achieving its objectives, and in fact, that it may use low-yield nuclear weapons. What is the state of the war right now? Well, Willie, it's been impressive to watch the Ukrainians. They've taken the city of Liman, as you just reported, and it did not, Donetsk, and they're headed now to take Crimea and Luhansk.

So they're pushing deeper in the east. And oh, by the way, in the south, they push deeper today, north of Kyrgyzstan, headed to the Dnieper River. If they can cut the Dnieper River, then that will stop the logistics that are going from the east to the south. And so they're forced to Russian's hand and they have been fighting on a two front war. And the Russians cannot mask because of this. And so the tactics that the Ukrainians are using are pretty good tactics at this point. They just need to keep the momentum. In terms of the rhetoric we're hearing

out of Russia, what I will tell you is we should be concerned about nuclear weapons, tactical weapons, chemical weapons, but we should not be deterred. And as you can see, the Ukrainians, they're continuing this momentum here. They're not deterred. And so from the West perspective, we just need to continue to support them and get them the equipment that they need so they can continue this momentum. You know, let's go to BBC's Katty K. Katty, it's very interesting that when Vladimir Putin waves the bloody flag of nuclear blackmail, it seems very daunting at first. And then the more people seem to analyze it, they understand what a lose-lose proposition it is that if he were to use even a limited nuclear strike, there's some American military

people would say that the U.S. would be justified to go and destroy the Russian army, sink their Navy and basically finish him off. Of course, that would that would that would lead, obviously, to other other consequences as well. But it is a no win scenario for Vladimir Putin the second he steps through that door. Yeah, my understanding, Joe, is that Bill Burns, the head of the CIA, has made that pretty clear to the Russians of the CIA, has made that pretty clear to the Russians in conversations that they've had that were there to be the use of any kind of low-grade or tactical nuclear weapon in the field in Ukraine, which is what the assumption

would be, is that's where they would try to use it in the theater of operations in Ukraine, that actually the Americans may well respond at that point with some kind of strike against Russian forces in the east of the country. And they did it in Kosovo. They did it incredibly effectively in Kosovo. We've seen the Americans do this before from the air, have impact like that. So you're right that there would be a loose proposition there from the Russians, which I think Vladimir Putin is weighing up. But General, one question to you. If Vladimir Putin now says that the areas of the country that Ukrainians are making advances in are actually part of Russia, which seems to be what that declaration implies, what does that mean for his retaliation against the Ukrainians? Or was that declaration just

an empty threat if it doesn't actually change the facts on the ground in terms of retaliation against Ukrainian forces? Well, I personally think it was an empty threat. We must remember, in order to claim terrain, you must be able to hold it. And right now, when you take a look at the four oblasts, Russian soldiers do not own any of them. And so it looks like the Ukrainians will be able to hold on to those four oblasts and continue to march deeper in them. And so you can claim by voice all you want that you have particular land. If you don't have boots on the ground holding it, it means nothing. All right. Retired U.S. Army General Steph Twitty, thank you very much for your insight this morning. We'll be following this. We have a new development to report this morning in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.

The Washington Post reports former President Donald Trump asked one of his lawyers in early 2022 to tell the National Archives that Trump had returned all materials requested by the agency. But that lawyer, Alex Cannon, declined to do so because he was not sure if that claim was true. He didn't want to lie to the Justice Department. I want to be put in that position. That is, according to people familiar with the matter. Let's bring in the co-author of this new report, congressional investigations reporter for The Washington Post, Jackie Alimany. Jackie, what more can you tell us? Yeah, Mika, what our reporting has told us yesterday is that President, the former President Trump, is actually now at the center of the mishandling of improper classified documents.

This story has him asking one of his lawyers to tell the National Archives in early 2022 that he had returned all of the materials requested by the agency. But that lawyer declined because he was unsure that the statement was true, according to people familiar with the matter. Obviously, later on, when the FBI actually executed that search warrant of Mar-a-Lago, they discovered hundreds of other documents that had yet to be retrieved after that initial January haul. We know that the former president actually wanted this lawyer to tell the archives that he had, again, handed over everything. He had suggested a certain statement. And again, this lawyer refused to do so. So, Jackie, tell us a little bit more about Alex Cannon. Do we know this attorney who

wisely decided not to follow the president's orders there. Has he been interviewed by the Department of Justice? Do we know if the January 6th committee is talking to him? And also, per this reporting, if Trump's telling him to lie, that sure seems to indicate obstruction, no? Yeah, those are all very good questions and points, John. We haven't figured out the answers to those first two things, but we do know that the DOJ has really been engaged in exhaustive interviews with a lot of the parties involved with the Mar-a-Lago boxes investigation. And actually,

that investigation, we've been told, is further ahead than the January 6th investigation. So I would presume that it would make sense that Alex Cannon would have been interviewed by these investigators, as many of the staff who dealt with this already have been. But that is still unclear. And with regards to January 6th, it would also seem like Cannon would be a good person for them to interview as well, because Cannon was the person who initially arranged for these boxes and these records to be located at Mar-a-Lago, although he did tell staffers not to go through the boxes. He was at that time worried that there could have been classified information in some of

those boxes, and he didn't want any other staffers for the former president to sort of implicate themselves in any potential wrongdoing. We also know, actually, I left this out, my first answer to Mika, but this is important, that Cannon initially told the archives as early as December that he thought that there could be more documents. That is also key to this investigation and key to the belief from the Department of Justice that there were still missing documents. Jackie, you've got a detail in your story that we've heard before, but it's fascinating where you say that Donald Trump personally packed the boxes back in January that were going to go off to the National Archives, which is a tough visual to grab, first of all, that he's actually doing the work himself,

but more importantly, that he was hand-sifting the former president of the United States through these documents and deciding which would go back and which would stay at Mar-a-Lago? Yeah, thank you for reading very closely. This is true that Trump himself eventually packed all of the boxes after very reluctantly agreeing to do so. Remember, the National Archives and Trump's lawyers were going back and forth on this as early as May. This issue, again, was flagged by lawyers in Trump's White House two weeks prior to Trump even leaving the White House

and going down to Mar-a-Lago. But again, this does put the former president at the center of all of this, that he himself was packing the boxes. He was very secretive about the process, we were also told, despite having staffers who, you know, live in Palm Beach and work very closely with him on the premise. But again, Alex Cannon had also recommended that staffers try to stay out of this. And he did ultimately arrange for one staffer to be there when the National Archives contractor eventually picked up the boxes in late January. But Trump is really the one who knew exactly what was in those boxes. All right. The Washington Post, Jackie Alamany, as always, thank you so much. We greatly appreciate

it. Willie, I know it gets old and I don't like to talk about it every year. You know what I'm going to say? No, no. We go listen every summer and we don't like to talk about it. But Willie and I, we go to the beach and we if we just spend a week, hold up doing our physics experiments. And this past year, this past year, and I don't have to tell you, Willie, you know, but we did experiments in entangled photons and quantum mechanics. What are you talking about?

Well, we just did. We did. And they did it to us again. The Nobel Committee ripped us off. That was our work, Willie. And now they're going out awarding what we're doing in the Delaware Beach House, just out of the love of the game, and they're giving the Nobel Prize for physics to somebody else. The thing about us, Joe, is we don't do quantum mechanics for the awards.

We don't do it for that kind of stuff. If they want to give it to us, that's fine. We do it for the love of quantum mechanics. But it's a little bit like, remember back in the 90s when Michael Jordan clearly was always the best player in the NBA, but it got old to give him the MVP award every year. They throw in a Barkley and a Karl Malone. I think that's what's happening here. We're so accomplished in the field of quantum mechanics

that it just gets old to honor us every year. Every single year. Why do you have to go to him, Will? So this year they give it to Elaine Aspect, John Clouser, and Anton Zeliger. They're good. Whatever. They're good, but seriously.

That's the way Morning Joe does Nobel Prizes. Okay, still ahead on Morning Joe. We'll go live to Fort Myers Beach for the very latest on... It's like when they won the Masters in 87. Nobody remembers it because Nicholas won it in 86. Thank you. We're going to get the latest on recovery efforts across Florida following Hurricane Ian.

Plus, a look at the big takeaways from a dramatic first day in the trial against five members of the Oath Keepers. We'll look at the case being laid out by the Justice Department. And we are digging into new reporting on Republican Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker. There are new questions being raised over his stance on abortion. Also this morning, a look at the morning papers across the country, including new reporting on the most expensive governor's race in the country. You're watching Morning Joe. We'll be right back. We continue to follow the devastation in the wake of Hurricane Ian and death. The total now for the hurricane is at 100. Fort Myers and the surrounding area really ground zero for the hurricane when it made landfall at a very strong

category four. Some questions about Lee County and whether or not people were evacuated or given an evacuation order soon enough. We'll be following that. Joining us now live from Fort Myers Beach, Florida, NBC News correspondent Dasha Burns. Dasha, what's the latest there? Well, Mika, every morning, you know, we stand in front of a new pile of rubble because the options are frankly endless. This behind me, this is everywhere. And it's the scale and the scope of the search and rescue and the recovery effort that is overwhelming to comprehend right now. Let me just give you a couple of numbers to give you

a picture of just how big this effort really is. FEMA tells us that they have a total of 17 urban search and rescue task forces, 104 boat squads, more than 60 canines in the field, a total of 1,289 personnel and counting. I'm sure those numbers have already increased because they continue to ramp this up. But I'll tell you something, what you won't hear in those numbers and what you won't hear in those press conferences are some of the unsung heroes of this tragedy, of this devastation. And I want to introduce you to one of them. Her name is Eileen, and she is a nurse at one of the hospitals here, Golisano Children's Hospital. She spent four days sleeping, living at this hospital, taking care of pediatric ICU patients. Eileen is pregnant with twins. She has a one and a half year old daughter

at home. She was disconnected from her husband and her daughter for 24 to 36 hours, which to her, you can imagine, felt like forever. She was watching out the window as the parking lot of the hospital flooded, as cars began to float, her own car getting destroyed, and imagining what could be happening at home. She couldn't contact her husband. When they were able to call 911, she says they got a dial tone. You can imagine what runs through the mind of a mother in that moment. I want you to hear just some of her story. I lost contact with my husband very early on. Um, you didn't know what was going on. If they were okay. If our retention pond behind our house flooded and the house was underwater, if they were alive, no. Do they have flotation devices? Does she have a helmet?

Can they get to somewhere? Can they get to somewhere? Can someone get to them? And the answer to that question was no, because at some point during the hurricane, as we were checking on our co-workers, we called 911 for welfare checks once the storm was over, and there was no 911. So, Mika, as she's thinking about her own child, she is taking care of other people's children under incredibly difficult circumstances. Ultimately, she did get reunited with her husband and her daughter. They're okay. Their roof is damaged. Their pipes have burst. They're trying

to now get their home prepared for these twins that are coming. She is 32 weeks pregnant. You can just put yourself in those shoes, what it's like to be a young mom, to have those kids on the way and to just have gone through all of this trauma. She was having contractions, stress contractions in the middle of our interview. And those kinds of stories, Mika, are all over this place. Amazing. NBC's Dasha Burns, thank you so much for bringing us that story. Willie? Back to some politics, Mika. Former University of Georgia and NFL running back, now the Republican nominee for Georgia Senate, Herschel Walker, says he wants to completely ban abortion, likening it to murder and claiming there should be no exceptions

for rape, incest or even the life of the mother. But the Daily Beast is reporting this morning Walker urged a woman who asked not to be identified because of privacy concerns to have an abortion after she became pregnant with his child when they were dating in 2009. The woman said she did have the procedure and that Walker reimbursed her for it. According to the Daily Beast, quote, she supported her claims with a five hundred seventy five dollar receipt from the abortion clinic, a get well card from Walker and a bank deposit receipt that included an image of a signed seven hundred dollar personal check from Walker. The Daily Beast independently corroborated details of the woman's claims with a close friend, she told at the time, and who, according to the woman and the friend, took care of her in the days after the procedure. A lawyer representing Walker's campaign told the publication the story was false.

Walker also released a statement calling the story a lie and threatened to sue the Daily Beast for defamation. NBC News has not yet verified the allegations or reviewed those documents. Hours after the story broke, Walker's son blasted his father's bid for a Senate seat, calling him a bad father, a liar and a hypocrite. In a series of tweets, Christian Walker wrote this, quote, Every family member of Herschel Walker asked him not to run for office because we all knew some of his past, every single one. He decided to give us the middle finger and air out all of his dirty laundry in public while simultaneously lying about it. I'm done. He went on, I don't care about someone who has a bad past and takes accountability, but how dare you lie and act as though you're some

moral Christian upright man. You've lived a life of destroying other people's lives. How dare you? Again, that is from Herschel Walker's son. Joining us now, national political correspondent for Politico, Elena Schneider. Elena, good morning. What more can you tell us about these accusations from the Daily Beast? Who Christian Walker is besides being Herschel Walker's son? Because I think that's important as well. And what this means for Herschel Walker's campaign. Many Georgia Republicans

don't seem to mind any of the accusations we've seen come down the pike. So, look, these allegations just came out less than 24 hours ago. So we're still going to see how this is going to affect this race. But even in these early hours, we've seen that this has had a pretty significant impact on this race. And this is one of the most important races in Senate races across the entire country. This is one where Herschel Walker is challenging Senator Raphael Warnock, who won this seat in the 2021 runoffs, which was important in giving Democrats their 50-50 split in the Senate. So that's how important this race is. But as you said, this is really sort of a one-two punch for Herschel Walker in his race. First, we obviously saw the allegations that

came out yesterday from the Daily Beast that laid out some pretty compelling evidence about an abortion that he paid for or that he allegedly paid for in 2009, even though he's a candidate who said that he does not support abortions and basically in any cases, no exceptions for rape or incest. So this is a really a clear divergence in sort of what he says publicly, but what he says versus what he does personally. But the second sort of even more devastating blow potentially is what his father, I mean, excuse me, what his son has said, Christian Walker. So Christian Walker is a TikTok influencer, sort of a conservative Gen Z influencer star who has really become very popular in social media and who has, you know,

been supportive of his father, not so much even on his social media as conservatives in Georgia would like, but has generally been supportive. And so it's notable that he has come out and said that he now has not only told his father to not run, but is really further bringing to light these accusations about his violence and his hypocrisy. So it's sort of this really difficult one-two punch for Herschel Walker. The problem, though, is that, as you said, he's weathered a number of these controversies over the course of the summer and has managed to keep this race very, very tight. And I think it's important to remember how the Access Hollywood tape, you know, although it was very shocking when it came out in 2016,

ultimately did not dissuade people from voting for Donald Trump. And I think that in some ways, the electorate in Georgia is somewhat similarly dug in, but it'll be really fascinating to see how Democrats in Georgia try to use this as a way to continue to disqualify Herschel Walker as a candidate. Yeah. And if the information bears out, Katie Kay, how Republican voters respond to it. I mean, there's two issues here. If the reports are true, it's the ultimate hypocrisy on the issue of abortion to be against it in any scenario, but to find it convenient in your life. That's the ultimate hypocrisy on an issue that is incredibly important to many Americans. And then I think the letter from his son is piercing. It just remains to be seen if people are tuned in to these issues or just don't care and kind of stay in line again for someone like Trump, for example, without thinking about these details as you would perhaps if it was someone else.

Yeah, I mean, Mika, Willie said earlier on the show that Donald Trump is the strongest force in American politics at the moment. And is it the case in the story of Herschel Walker and this, you know, depressingly dysfunctional relationship he seems to have with his son? I mean, who knows what's going on in that relationship? But does it have any impact or is it just really all about Trump? Can Herschel Walker get away with anything? Because he is prepared to support Trump on the single biggest issue that matters to Donald Trump and to Donald Trump supporters increasingly, which is about the lie around the 2020 election. I mean, Elena, these stories about Herschel Walker have been out there in Georgia, it seems like, some people suggesting on social media yesterday, some conservative commentators saying,

look, we kind of knew all of this about Herschel Walker, so what does this actually change? I mean, I guess it's sort of all of that's incredible, incredible that the stories have been out there are not really aired and that conservatives don't really care about those stories, particularly when it comes to any issue of hypocrisy around abortion. Yes. So you're alluding to some Georgia Republicans who basically said on Twitter last night that this is something that was whispered about, gossiped about and sort of assumed that maybe people already knew about this. But I think there is a big difference, though, between what conservatives and what people who move in political circles know privately and what then voters actually know who are not particularly tuned into elections, aren't paying attention to politics every day and are seeing pretty devastating attack ads against Herschel Walker. And it's part of the reason why, I mean, look, this is a red state. Georgia is a very,

very, you know, red leaning state. And it's only in the last couple of years that it has suddenly become incredibly competitive. And so I think it's really notable that Herschel Walker, you know, has faced these weathering attacks yet has kept it close. But I think that this is just sort of another really challenging hurdle that we're going to see manifest in television ads, digital ads, in people's mailboxes, that's going to continue to make them sort of question whether or not this is a candidate that they can support. Politico's Elena Schneider. Elena, thanks so much for being here this morning. We appreciate it. Jonathan Lemire, we can add this list. These are accusations still. Again, this is a report from The Daily Beast, but the woman involved in the story literally has receipts to present to The Daily Beast to show

that she had an abortion and that Herschel Walker asked her to have one. So he says he's pro-life. We have that story. He says he's pro-family. We have the stories about three children out of wedlock that we just learned about during this campaign that he's never spoken of and has no relationship with. We have the accusations from his ex-wife of 20 years that Herschel Walker held a gun to her head and said, I'm going to blow your brains out. He has said of that, the past is the past. I have mental illness.

Let's move on from it. But a real test of whether being pro-family and pro-life actually means anything in this election. No question there. Walker's had to face questions about a number of aspects of his background that he's misrepresented, who he is and things he has done in his life. And you just detailed some of the more disturbing accusations against him. But yet he has managed to stay close here. Polls have him down, but only down a few points consistently here in that such an important race for the U.S. Senate with the balance of the Senate potentially in power. And I think you probably heard some cries of frustration last night from Senate Minority Leader McConnell and his allies, because, of course, he didn't want Walker in the first place. This was Trump's candidate.

Trump pushed him, much like Dr. Oz, as his choice. The party, which includes McConnell, of course, eventually fell behind him. And now they have Walker in some trouble. But it should be noted, and Elena said this on way too early, that this is reminiscent of Donald Trump. Access Hollywood. That was a bad moment. Yet, everybody thought his campaign was doomed. He got through it. Walker maybe gets through it. We still have five weeks to go, Mika. There's time for the story to change. Certainly Democrats are going to pounce on the story. We're going to be hearing about it in the next couple of days, to be sure. But the two candidates have a debate in a few weeks. That will loom large. There is still a lot of time and there are a lot of outside forces,

including abortion rights, inflation, whatever it may be, that likely will be the deciding factors in that in every race. Yeah. And coming up, the latest on a major ballistic missile test by North Korea's military. The launch has an American ally on edge this morning. We'll have a live report straight ahead. Plus, the case against boosting far right candidates and why it will backfire against Democrats next month. That's coming up in this morning's must read opinion pages. Morning Joe is back in just a moment. It's 46 past the hour and take a look at New York City. A foggy, raining morning as the sun's going to struggle to come up over the Big Apple.

The Japanese government this morning issued a rare evacuation order urging residents in its northern regions to take shelter after North Korea reportedly fired a ballistic missile without warning that flew over Japan for the first time in five years. According to Japanese officials, the missile flew nearly 3,000 miles for 20 minutes before falling into the Pacific Ocean. The White House strongly condemned the test as dangerous and reckless. Joining us now live from Beijing, NBC News foreign correspondent Janice Mackey-Frayer. Janice, thanks so much for being with us. Any insight on why such a provocative move would be made by North Korea at this time? Well, it is a major escalation. This missile flew 2,800 miles clear over Japan, and that in itself is rare. Only twice before have missiles flown over Japan.

Both of them were in 2017. This one triggering those warnings for people to take cover. Normally, the missiles are fired higher into the air, so the distance is up into the sky. This one went straight across, landed in the Pacific, 2,000 miles off of the East Coast. Officials are now talking about appropriate reaction, the U.S. and South Korea. South Korean military officials saying that they're already conducting, quote, precision bombing drills as a response. The question on timing, there's certainly been a rapid pace to testing. This is the fifth missile in just over a week. There's also been more of a

showing off of capabilities. North Korea could see an opportunity in the timing to test longer range weapons because the U.S. barely paid any attention to the short range missile testing that it's been doing over the past several months. As well, the Biden administration is obviously focused on Ukraine. And there's also the sense that this could be the preamble to a nuclear test. That's something that hasn't happened, that Kim Jong-un hasn't done since 2017. But there has been evidence of activity around key nuclear testing sites there. So there is the sense that perhaps this is another provocative step toward that. Janice, what are the lines of communication at the moment?

Who's doing the negotiation with North Korea? I mean, sometimes it feels like Kim Jong-un acts out when he's, you know, like a toddler who's not getting attention. And either because he's not getting attention, he feels he can get away with more or he just wants to get the world's attention. But what's the point of contact, given that there are no formal talks going on between the six party talks? Does the U.S. have to rely on Beijing because relations between the U.S. and Beijing aren't particularly good at the moment? Or do they have back channels themselves? There don't seem to be any lines of communication between any of the players, not between South Korea and North Korea, not between Japan and North Korea,

and not between the U.S. and China. Talks broke down or suspended or cancelled, in the words of Chinese officials, after Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and the Chinese military exercises that happened around the island for weeks after that. This is another, we always talk about ramping up tension in the region, but there just seem to be so many dynamics at play here. Remember, too, it was just a few weeks ago that U.S. intelligence suspected that North Korea may be selling weapons to Russia to use in Ukraine. North Korean officials have denied that. But there are all of these things that are conspiring to work together. The fact that China is having its party Congress in just a week where Xi Jinping is expected to assume a third term in power.

So a lot of power plays are in the works here. And there is the implications for the region. Statements have been coming from the embassy in Japan. So there is the sense that if if it was a tension that Kim Jong Un was looking for, perhaps this is the one that got it. Yeah. NBC's Janice McEfrayer in Beijing. Thank you very much for your reporting this morning. And still ahead, $55 million and counting. That is the cost of a governor's race in one battleground state.

We'll tell you where. Plus, a troubling admission from an election supervisor in Georgia just weeks away from voters heading to the polls for the midterms. Morning Joe is coming right back. it's four minutes before the top of the hour time now for a quick look at the headlines across the country in georgia the atlantaonstitution is looking at the upcoming midterms and how election officials across the state are preparing for another intense voting season. One election supervisor told the paper, quote, we're spending a lot of time putting out fires instead of doing what needs to be done, which is serving our voters and doing our jobs.

I know an election supervisor in Florida who spends too much of his time chasing down conspiracy theories that people have. So, again, the basics aren't able to get done as efficiently as before because of all the conspiracy theories and the lies that are being churned up by Donald Trump and his supporters. To New York, where the Post-Standard reports on school districts near Syracuse, adding more armed police, including some elementary schools for the first time. Dozens of new positions were created in an effort to address safety concerns among parents, staff and students. School officials say the move is in part a response to the elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, earlier this year. Let's go to Illinois, where the Chicago Tribune's top story focuses on Mayor Lori Lightfoot's new proposed budget for 2023.

It includes an increase in funding for Chicago police, boosted spending for abortion services and no property tax hike. The moves are aimed at addressing top voter concerns ahead of next year's election. And in Wisconsin, the Sheboygan Press reports the state's governor's race there has become the most expensive gubernatorial campaign in the country. Polls have shown incumbent Governor Tony Evers and his Republican challenger Tim Michaels neck and neck. According to one data analytics company, the two sides have spent $55 million since the August primary.