Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/6/22

Episode Date: October 6, 2022

Biden meets with DeSantis while surveying Hurricane Ian damage in Florida

Today, we have one job and only one job, and that's to make sure the people of Florida get everything that they need to fully, thoroughly recover. We're one of the few nations in the world that on the basis of a crisis we face, we're the only nation that comes out of it better than we went into it. And that's what we're going to do this time around, come out of it better. President Biden and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis put politics aside at least for a day as the president tours more hurricane damage and even compliments his potential 2024 rival. Plus, there's a new claim from the woman who says Herschel Walker paid for her abortion. Meanwhile, Walker doubles down on his defense that everyone but him is lying. Also ahead, what a dramatic cut in oil production overseas could mean for the price we pay at the pump. We have a lot ahead this morning. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is

Thursday, October 6th. Along with Joe, Willie and me, we have U.S. special correspondent for BBC News, Katie Kaye, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele is with us this morning. And as always, the host of way too early White House bureau chief at Politico, Jonathan Lemire. So we'll get to our top story this morning. Willie. Yeah, it's front page of all the newspapers.

Pictures of President Biden and Governor Ron DeSantis together one week after Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida. President Biden warning more storms will come. The president visited Florida yesterday, just days after surveying storm damage in Puerto Rico. In Florida, President Biden and Governor Ron DeSantis temporarily put politics aside as they met with residents in the Fort Myers area. We were very fortunate to have good coordination with the White House and with FEMA.

I think one of the things that you're seeing in this response, we are cutting through the bureaucracy. We are cutting through the red tape. And that's from local government, state government, all the way up to the president. So we appreciate the team effort. I think he's done a good job. Look, I called in, I think even before he called me when I heard the storm was on its way. We've worked hand in glove. We have very different political philosophies, but we've worked hand in glove. I've been to a lot of disaster areas in the last couple months, last six months. There's a lot going on. And I think the one thing this has finally ended is a discussion about whether or not there's climate change.

We should do something about it. Build back to what it was before. You got to build back better because we know more is coming. We'll have a live report from Florida in just a moment here on Morning Joe. So, Joe, it should not be extraordinary, but I think people were relieved perhaps that there was nothing political about yesterday. It was Joe Biden complimenting Governor DeSantis on the job he's done after the storm and Governor DeSantis likewise nodding to President Biden in his role there. Well, yeah, I mean, not extraordinary for most of our history,

but extraordinary right now. And, you know, I always thought that Chris Christie catching all the grief he got for hugging Barack Obama just showed the insanity of of of our political situation, because people don't understand that when you're in a hurricane zone, you always hear you always hear this this nonsense about, oh, a president shouldn't come or a governor shouldn't come because we're trying. We're busy clearing this busy. Let me tell you something. My first year in Congress, we had three hurricanes in Northwest Florida. I ran against Bill Clinton when I was on the campaign trail. That guy was in every sentence. And you know what I found out when those hurricanes came? That when the president of the United States, be he or she a Republican

or a Democrat, when they come into the middle of a hurricane situation, same thing with the governor. You know what? If you're having problems with FEMA, if you're having problems with SBA, if you're having problems with any of these government agencies, you got the president there. You say, Mr. President, we're having trouble. We're having trouble getting these SBA loans lined up.

We've had some trouble with FEMA. They're not letting people go back out, even though it's safe out on the island. They're not letting people go back out, even though it's safe out on the island. They're not letting them go back to their houses and see if they have any of their mementos left to see to see, you know, how their house is, whether it's still standing up. You get you have the president or the governor there. If and if they're good at what they're doing, everything clears for you bureaucratically. So let me just say, this is such a good thing for people who have really taken a horrible storm, maybe the worst storm in Florida in decades.

And Mika, it's a good thing that Joe Biden and Ron DeSantis were there and that they were cooperative and working together. And I hope that everybody can look at that and celebrate it, just like we tried to celebrate when there are bipartisan bills that are passed through Congress. nonsense, despite all the anti-American talk about fake election results. These are moments that you grab hold to and say, this is how we tie the fabric of America together. No. And critics of the Christie hug, I bet you none of them were near a hurricane zone when people are hurting. Exactly. And people are desperate and their homes have been decimated. Nobody wants to see anything but unity between a governor and a president. They do not want to see any daylight between them when it comes to getting their lives back on track. By the way, Joe, President Biden is getting a bit of encouraging news with just over a month ago until the midterm elections. The latest NPR Marist National Poll finds the president's approval rating

is up to 44 percent, the third straight month of improvement. Biden's approval among Democrats is at 87 percent, 39 percent among independents and 6 percent among Republicans. But the poll has warning signs for Democrats as well, as seven in 10 people think the country is headed in the wrong direction. Among the top issues, voters say they are thinking about inflation. And so I wonder, Joe, what you think. We talk about abortion being such a galvanizing issue. And I I think I can count on many women coming out just for that issue. But inflation, that goes across the board. Well, it really does.

And I must say, Michael Steele, it's interesting. Three, four months ago, people were saying, well, Biden's approval ratings are low, but the Democrats are doing very well. Now we have Joe Biden doing pretty well. There's also a morning consult poll that was out yesterday where Joe Biden's up to 46 percent. Democrats are doing pretty well in the generic ballot test. But what you're hearing on in media, what you're reading in media about the top issues, about Dobbs, about abortion, being an overwhelming motivator this year, not showing up in polls. Now, I'm not, please, as Elton John said, don't shoot me, I'm only the piano player. Maybe it will be. Maybe, I suspect, probably, like Kansas, women are going to be a lot more engaged than even polls pick up. But Michael,

man, if you look at one poll after another poll after there are three issues and you know what those three issues are? Inflation, inflation, inflation. And Democrats are going to have to deal with that. And by the way, below inflation is crime. So so I know what everybody's saying. And maybe abortion will turn out to to put Democrats over the top. I don't see it in these polls right now. Well, you don't see it in the polls and it doesn't manifest itself that way. Look, the economy is close. the closest thing to everybody. Abortion is a specific issue for this person or that person. Preserving democracy may be a specific issue for this person or that person.

But here's the way you also have to look at this. While abortion or the democracy question may not be their number one, it doesn't mean it doesn't resonate. And it doesn't mean they're not going to vote on that issue. They may be concerned about inflation. And we've seen this, Joe. We've seen this trend line in the numbers. Voters are beginning to bifurcate and pocket how they're looking at these issues. Joe Biden is underwater, but Democrats are carrying the generic ballot, right? Joe Biden's numbers may be below 50 percent, but Democrats in of a broader set of issues that the voters are going to be looking at and up that issue or part of that issue in a way that voters go into the ballot

box? They go, yeah, inflation is number one. But I'm really concerned about democracy, too. And I don't like that candidate's position on democracy. And that weighs as much on how they vote. Well, there's a national poll, obviously, Willie, and we've talked about it before, you can't really tell generic how the generic polls are going to play out because Democrats may get a lot of support in states like California, New York. And perhaps that might inflate it a little bit. But it's a race by race, district by district, state by state campaign. You look at the state of Michigan and you look at Gretchen Whitmer. She is doing great because her opponent is extreme on abortion, says 14 year old girls who get raped by their uncle are a perfect example of why she wants the state to force them to have the rapist baby. Yeah, there was a new poll out

two days ago that shows Gretchen Whitmer, Governor Whitmer, up by 15 points now in that race. A lot of that goes to the extreme language we've heard from her opponent, including the fact that she said an abortion, excuse me, rape can be healing to deliver the baby of the rapist. So that's not working in the state of Michigan, at least. Katty K, inflation, That's the word that comes out of the mouth of every Republican candidate in this race, including around the story of Herschel Walker. We've got more details about that. Republicans say this is all a distraction from the cost of gas and groceries and from crime.

It's all they want to talk about. And you can see why in a poll like this. Generally not good news to see high inflation and a wrong track number 70 percent for the party in power heading into a midterm election. Yeah. And we'll get to it later. But that news out of OPEC saying that they're going to cut oil production only is going to raise prices and raise inflation more. The time at the if we think back over the last few months, Willie, when was it that Republicans were looking particularly strong and Democrats were looking particularly on their back feet? It was when we had oil prices, gas prices at, what, $7 a gallon at the pump. And that was killing Democrats and Democratic

candidates around the country. And although Joe's right, this is a state-by-state issue, and it's a candidate-by-candidate issue. And if you're running against a very weak candidate like Gretchen Whitmer is, that helps you. But inflation is a countrywide problem. And you feel it in every single state that you're in. If the gas prices start creeping back up again between now and November, between now and polling day, that is only going to hurt Democrats in almost every state in every district. Interesting, John, to see the use of President Biden now, too. He'll be in upstate New York today visiting the IBM factory. And what a president with a 44 percent approval

rating and 70 percent wrong track, what he can do or what he may not want to do for certain candidates in these races. Yeah, it's a deliberate White House strategy to tout accomplishments. In this case, the Semiconductor Act, the CHIPS Act is going to talk about that's done there in a swing district in upstate New York, as well as fundraise. He's got fundraisers in New York and New Jersey tonight. He's making money for his party. They think that's a better use of his time and travel than heading to some of the more competitive districts out there. White House, certainly nervous. I know we'll talk about OPEC a little later. It's gas prices. Chief of Staff Ron Klain says he starts every day checking the price of gas. That's not going to be a great number. Republicans bullish right now.

They feel like the national conversation is turning to the economy. It's turning to inflation. They think that's good for their candidates. They're briefing reporters on a daily basis saying, hey, we think we've got momentum. Democrats, though, they push back with this. They do think Dobbs is still an animating factor. The last couple of cycles, Republicans with Trump have had more success bringing new voters to the polls. Democrats think this time around it's them. It's new voters, new women voters who come and vote Democratic in November. And perhaps in the state of Georgia. I mentioned Herschel Walker this morning, another allegation against the Georgia Republican Senate candidate. The woman who told the Daily Beast earlier this week

that Walker paid for her to have an abortion in 2009 now says she also had a child with him. If true, that claim would undercut Walker's defense that he did not know the woman who claimed to be an ex-girlfriend. The Daily Beast article states this, quote, when the woman first told the Daily Beast her story, we agreed not to reveal certain details about her identity over her concerns for safety and privacy.

But then Walker categorically denied the story and said he did not know who was making this allegation. The report goes on to state, quote, The woman, a registered Democrat whose years long relationship with Walker continued after the abortion, told the Daily Beast her chief concern with revealing her name was because she is the mother of one of Walker's own children and she wanted to protect her family's privacy as best she could while also coming forward with the truth. The article goes on, Walker has publicly acknowledged the child as his own and the woman proved she is the child's mother and provided credible evidence of a long-term relationship with Walker. Walker responded to the new report last night, providing NBC News with this statement, quote, as I've already said, there's no truth to this or any other Daily Beast report.

Walker had already denied the allegation he paid for an abortion, calling it a, quote, flat-out lie. He's threatened a lawsuit against the Daily Beast, but has yet to file one. It's important to note NBC News has not confirmed the Daily Beast reporting on this. So the question is, how do Republicans respond to this? His campaign has raised more than half a million dollars since his Monday appearance on Fox News, during which he denied claims he paid for a girlfriend's abortion back in 2009. And since the Daily Beast publication of the story, we continue to see Republicans rallying behind Walker.

Here's Ted Cruz. Herschel Walker is going to win that race. Georgia is a red state. It's going to be represented by a Republican. Listen, I get it's real nasty. I believe Herschel Walker is going to be the next senator. I'm proud to support Herschel Walker. Senator Lindsey Graham also came out in support of Walker while slamming the media for attacking Republicans.

And Senator Rick Scott, the head of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, made similar comments, Joe. And it's not even the claims of the abortion, which I think, you know, at this point we have reports, he's denying them. That's where that stands. But the more information that comes out about things like this with Herschel Walker is they turn out to be true. It turns out he has more children than he claims to have. It turns out, you know, he didn't manage hospitals. He donated. You know, there's all sorts of twists and turns to his claims about himself. And Republicans just stick with him. I don't get it. Michael, still, this is a new phenomenon. I mean, you ran the Republican Party. If you had a candidate who lied about his educational degree, lied about being in the FBI, well, that'd be enough right there. Like pre-Trump, that would have finished a candidate right there.

But then stories about how he put a gun to his ex-wife's head, lied about the children he had, has four children out of wedlock that his son says didn't raise a single one. This report comes up. Republicans are still backing him. This report comes up and they're still supporting him. And now a follow up where Hershel Walker said, you didn't know this woman. I didn't know anything about this. It wasn't true. And now we're finding out, according to the latest report that and my gosh, that actually she has one of his children that he's not raising. And Republicans are still coming out saying that they're supporting him. I again, I just is there nobody in any of these members offices saying, hey, boss, maybe you should back off a little bit here. Just just let let it stay its course, because there's no reason why these people should be supporting a guy this this terribly flawed. They're supporting him because the voters in Georgia don't care. They're not getting phone calls from from people in Georgia or anywhere else screaming to back away from Walker.

So they lean in. Look, this whole family values ruse of the GOP has been busted. They've cold busted it. Democrats didn't expose it. They didn't expose the family values lie, right? Republicans exposed their own lie. You know, for 25, 30, 40 years, they've been telling people how to live, who to love, what to believe, when they themselves weren't applying those standards to themselves.

And now that's exposed, and they don't care, because the only thing that matters is that Republicans hold that—get that Georgia seat. This is about power politics. They know they're going to have a sycophant in Walker who's going to come to the Senate and do whatever he's told to do, period. That's the only thing that matters. He's a vote on the board, and he's one more step to taking absolute control of the government. That's the game. And so it doesn't matter. You can have a picture of Herschel Walker, you know, engaged in all kinds of crazy stuff. You can have more women come out. You can have men come out. It don't matter. At this point, they don't care. There's no value here for them other than the owning of Democrats getting this particular seat. So until their voters are expressing concern and a lack of

interest in the campaign because of these types of issues, they're going to lean in. Ted Cruz, I'm going to lean in. That's my guy. Yes, he's got how many kids? I don't know. I don't care. But it's a vote in the Senate. So, Michael Steele, to build on your point, this goes back to Donald Trump, Willie, saying, yeah, I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue. No one will care. It's not like these allegations and these revelations about Herschel Walker are stunning new allegations. We never knew this before about this good man. They knew all of this. They knew that he had a checkered past. They knew about these allegations of abuse. They knew he had this already out there and they didn't care when they chose him. And when did people stop caring about a man putting a gun to his wife? I mean, this is going to blow your brain when Donald Trump said I can shoot someone on Fifth Avenue.

And you know what? He continued to go on to win the nomination and the presidency. And he continued to bully people, to face shame people, to be racist, to be completely inappropriate, to call countries, you know, what whole countries he has desensitized the country and the entire Republican Party from anything that is remotely close to decent. Well, this is the Trump playbook, isn't it, Katty K? I mean, behave badly, lie about your behavior, dig in your heels. And then when confronted about it and you know you're caught, as Herschel Walker appears to be here, you say, well, Democrats in the media are out to get us again. Hit this button to give me some more money so we can go fight and win. And many Republicans are just saying what Michael Steele just said out loud. We need the vote. So whatever he did, we can't afford to care about it because we need

the vote in the United States Senate that is split 50-50. So power takes precedent over anything else. Morals, ethics, holding a gun to your wife's head and saying you're going to blow her brains out. Yeah, I mean, all of these things that Joe mentioned that when, you know, two cycles ago in politics would have ruined a candidate, now actually just seem to produce a fundraising bonanza. And we've seen the money pouring into Herschel Walker's campaign since these revelations on Monday because Republicans are afraid

that actually maybe this will weaken him. And so they counter it not just by supporting him verbally, but actually by supporting him financially as well. And in a weird way, this becomes a benefit to him because it fills his campaign coffers. We're in a very, very different place in this country from where we were even just a few years ago on the issue of character.

And I think you can go back to what Mika was saying about shooting somebody, Donald Trump saying he could shoot somebody, and the Access Hollywood tapes. And it's not just that the candidates now are getting away with more. It's that the voters themselves are tolerating so much more. It's that Faustian pact that Donald Trump made with evangelicals to say, OK, you overlook everything that you don't like about my personal life, and I will deliver conservative judges to you. I will deliver a Supreme Court to you that is in line with what you want. I will deliver the overturning of Roe v.

Wade, which is what you want. And he's done it. And that's the feel it. That's exactly the calculation that's being made around Herschel Walker right now. If we can get the Senate, we can get more of those conservative judges. We can get more of the conservative policies that we like. And you know what? We'll just overlook the rest of it. And it doesn't seem to be making any difference. But here's my question. Why are the two standards? I mean, Jonathan Lemire, you look, the Democrats have had to deal with Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin and beg for their votes for a reason, because they had North Carolina in the bag in 2020. And in the closing weeks, a candidate, Cunningham, admitted to an extramarital affair. And kaboom, for a Democrat, that's the end of his campaign, at least in 2020, in the age of Trump.

That's the end of his campaign, at least in 2020, in the age of Trump. That's the end of the campaign. And my God, what Republicans said about that and what Republicans wrote about that with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. But for some reason, it's disqualifying for Democrats. But in 2022, in 2020, in 2016, not disqualifying for Republicans. It's fascinating. A double standard there. The word is hypocrisy.

And that is what we're seeing. Two parties playing with two very different playbooks on most of these issues. And you're right to highlight how Democrats have had to kowtow to what Manchin and Sinema want because they were stuck with 50-50. The Republicans, their goal was one thing, to turn the word minority in Mitch McConnell's title to majority. That's all they want. And they're following, Mika, the Trump playbook where it's not just full steam ahead. It's deny, deny, deny. You don't give an inch. You don't acknowledge any wrongdoing. You certainly don't apologize. You blame the fake media. You blame the Democrats.

You blame the deep state, whatever it is to get a political advantage, to raise more money and just try to win. That's all that matters. Hypocrisy is not new. Acceptance of it and complicity with it within an entire party. This is interesting. This is something that I haven't seen in my lifetime to the complicity to Trump that now is dribbling down to statewide races. The woman at the center of the story who says Walker paid for the abortion and that she is a mother of a child said, well, I guess when she was asked, what do you make of his denials that he knows you?

She said, well, I guess there are so many of us with his children. It's possible he's forgotten about me. Joe, I mean, this is the thing. Yeah. And by the way, what separates Herschel Walker from Donald Trump, from everybody else? It's just it's it is acceptance of it all. It's almost like a perfect lab experiment to see how low the Republican Party can go with people it's willing to put in the United States Senate, what used to be called the world's most exclusive club. Again, Willie rightly keeps going back to the thing that is so

jarring that his ex-wife said he put a gun to her head and said he was going to kill her. He's never denied that. And that you've had one horrible story after another horrible story about his lies, about his behavior, his son saying he was terrorized, saying that they've been terrorized. I mean, again, you have all of this regarding whether he's actually fit to serve or not. And like I've said, and I wouldn't be the first, many have worried through the years that he might not have the mental, emotional stability required, being polite here, to be in the United States Senate. And all of this comes even before we get to the fact that Republicans understand he's not qualified to be senator. He doesn't know the issues. He can't talk about any issues in a way that that's cogent, that makes any sense whatsoever. People in his own hometown who grew up and whose kids play at Herschel Walker Stadium in a rural Georgia town say.

Herschel, they said with a laugh, he he couldn't even be mayor of our little town, let alone a United States senator. But this is this is almost like the perfect experiment lab experiment on just how low Republican voters are willing to go to, quote, own the libs. It's it's not worth it. They'll learn that at some point, but they sure, sure haven't at this point. Well, still ahead on Morning Joe, we've got a lot to get to. We're going to get a live report from Fort Myers, Florida, where residents continue to take stock of the damage left behind by Hurricane Ian. Plus, Congresswoman Liz Cheney is out with a warning to Arizona voters ahead of next month's midterm elections. We'll show you her new comments about the Republican nominees for Arizona governor and secretary of state. Also ahead, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney will be our guest this

morning. President Biden making a stop in his district today to tout new investments coming from the recently passed CHIPS Act. And it's a big day for Know Your Value and Forbes, our 50 over 50 partnership. We're going to be revealing the second annual 50 over 50 list. Women who have achieved great success well after the age of 50. We have some big surprises on the list today. We have Nobel Prize winners, civil rights activists, entrepreneurs, and someone very close to us. We're very excited about the big reveal this morning right here on Morning Joe. That's exactly right. That's exactly right.

President Biden with a hot moment. Did he say? What was the context around that? I looked at the tape and I couldn't make out what else they were saying. So a couple of us, we went back and tried to listen to the audio. It wasn't clear. It's not clear. So that was a local official there, the Fort Myers Beach mayor.

And he was just simply thanking the president for being there. And that's the card the president played. I like it. It's not sure why. I like it. It's not sure why. I like it. But it's a certain swagger, if nothing else. Yeah. I was looking for some context.

It turns out there isn't. There's no context. He just walked up to a stranger and said that. Well, that's okay. I mean, sure. Joe, I think, I mean, you say that to everyone, right? Yeah. Well, I say that nobody does that to the Peaky Blinders.

So maybe he watches the Peaky Blinders a lot. Maybe he's being Arthur. But yeah, I mean, listen, this guy liked it. It's so funny. You look at these shows that are, oh, Joe Biden's losing his mind. He said this crazy thing or he said that crazy thing. Where have they been for like 40 years? He got run out of a presidential campaign in 1987 for saying the craziest things. You're like, what? What? This is what he does.

But I will tell you, I will tell you, I don't I'm sure Republicans and Democrats will be offended by this. But, you know, somebody was was talking to a member of the Bush administration in 40, 43. And they were asking him, they said that he's like this. You know, you're your boss. A lot of times you can't talk in complete sentences when he's in front of cameras. He's great off camera, but he's just he's sometimes he says and does the craziest things, you know, the sort of things that would laugh about here. And the person said, yeah, but you know what we pick up in the polling? People liking he's a real guy. He's human. He's not like this smooth talking BS or people can see that sometimes he's struggling when he's in front of 300 members of the press corps.

He's a real guy. And so this person, who was very close to Bush 43 and the White House, said it actually works for us. And I do think there's a bit of that in Joe Biden. I mean, this is, he's president of the United States. He's a regular guy. And I'm not encouraging kids to go around and say that when you go to school this morning, when somebody asks if you got your homework done, I'm not encouraging. Like if you take your car to get the tires rotated and they say, well, sir, would would you like our 15 percent discount plan?

You don't say it at that point either. I'm just saying it's kind of like, you know, it's just what he does and what he's been doing for 40 years. You know, I'm flying out of LaGuardia today. I'm going to try that at TSA. No, please don't. Just see what happens. Is that a good place to start or no? Yeah, no, your flight time at the airport might be extended if you do that. Two points on that person close to the president. Remember last week when he called for at an event, a congressman who had died in a car accident earlier in the week and it was sort of like, well, that's a, it was pointed to the conservative media that that's a

sign that he's slipping and people around him were like, no, this is to Joe's point. This is who he's always been. In 1988, he once asked a local lawmaker to stand up to be recognized. That person was in a wheelchair. That's what Joe Biden does that moment. But a more serious note, it was also striking. Our colleagues on the ground yesterday noted just how the people there in Fort Myers Beach responded to him, that he has that personal touch. The people, some of them were very clear they did not vote for him. And yet they were happy to shake his hand. See that guy's response?

He was very empathetic to people like that's what does, is he's able to connect with voters. He's able to do that now in a way that he couldn't during the height of the pandemic. And we saw yesterday, there were people there who said, look, I didn't vote for this guy, but he was here. He heard me. I understand. I like him. Yeah. And, you know, I mean, the first time I met the guy at a reception back in, I think it was probably 1995, I was considered, you know, I was considered to be one of the right wing nuts in the class of 94. Of course, those same ideas now get me called a rhino or a left wing or something like that. But he just came up to me and started talking and basically said, I know you're crazy. And that said, we were laughing and had a great conversation just because he is a very likable, decent guy.

It's so fascinating when people, Willie, are trying to put horns on him. You know, they go, oh, Nancy Pelosi, she's going to take him. Oh, AOC. And oh, it you know, it doesn't work with Joe Biden. Again, as I've always said, this guy's supposed to be a left wing radical that's going to turn America into a communist country. The biggest knock against him when he was in the Senate was he was too close to the credit card companies. He was too close to the banks. He's from Delaware. He's a regular guy who also has been pro probusiness and pro-corporation on a lot of different issues. So yeah, a lot of these attacks of him being this left-wing Marxist, they just

don't stick. And he's at his best when people are in need and are hurting. And that was on display yesterday. He shows that empathy down there. Let's go to Fort Myers where the president was yesterday. NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch is in Fort Myers Beach. Jesse, what more can you tell us from the ground there? Yeah, well, we saw one of those moments that we often see in the aftermath of calamity in this country, where as the presidential motorcade made its way through here in Fort Myers Beach, people stopped and watched. And I asked one of the business owners who was trying to get things back together over here what that moment was like. And he said it's good for morale. But he also said that in reality, they need that visit to get over with so they can get on with cleanup, because that is the reality on the ground for people here. But no question, this was a rare

moment of solidarity between two political leaders who often do not see eye to eye, both Governor Ron DeSantis and President Joe Biden, echoing the sentiment that their administrations have been in lockstep on this recovery, even from before Hurricane Ian made landfall in the United States. The president toured some of the disaster zone by air aboard Marine One before going into the area on the ground. And he saw an area nearby where we've been, where we've seen boats stacked up on top of each other like dominoes. And the motorcade would have made its way. We saw it making its way right

through where I am now, including past a boat, probably 30, 40 feet long with an SUV crumpled underneath it. That is part of what the president of the United States was seeing in this disaster zone. A couple of the stats that we heard from the governor and the president, the president says more than 3,800 rescues have been carried out. More than almost 100,000 structures have been searched, according to the governor. And that coordination is going to carry forward, those two said. The president saying, bottom line, the job to do here is get Florida what it needs. And some hopeful news on the rebuilding efforts here came yesterday. The governor says a temporary bridge to Pine Island, one of the communities that has been largely cut off, that temporary bridge has been completed and is now open, according to the governor. Sanibel Island,

however, which had its major causeway swept away in parts by hurricane Ian, that causeway still needs to be rebuilt. But the governor hopes that that temporary roadway will be up and running at some point later this month. So that is where things stand on recovery be rebuilt. But the governor hopes that that temporary roadway will be up and running at some point later this month. So that is where things stand on recovery and rebuilding. But of course, there is that grim reality continuing to set in here. The death toll again climbing now 127 confirmed dead in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian and all but five of those deaths in the state of Florida. Willie. Yeah. When you look at that footage, we've been showing you're talking. President Biden said it yesterday. And it's true. It's going to take years and years to recover from this. NBC's Jesse Kirsch live from Fort Myers

Beach. Jesse, thanks so much. All right. We're going to turn now to a horrific report out of Thailand now still breaking, still developing as we're getting numbers in here. Authorities say at least 24 children and 11 adults were killed today in an attack that began at a child care center in the northeastern part of the country. Now, according to police there, the gunman fled the scene, shooting from his car as he drove home where he killed his wife and child before taking his own life. The Washington Post citing Thai authorities reporting the gunman was a 34-year-old former police officer who was dismissed from the force after being caught with drugs. We will continue to follow this story as it develops this morning. Also ahead, a major decision overseas could undo months of falling gas prices.

We'll look at the latest projections on the impact of OPEC's production cut. Plus, Kim Jong-un launches more missiles, raising tensions in the Korean Peninsula and prompting a show of force from the U.S. and our allies. Beautiful shot of Washington, D.C. this morning. Look at that. So pretty. We're going to have the latest at 46 past the hour on the dramatic cuts in oil production announced by OPEC and its partners. The Alliance of Oil Exporting Countries said it will slash oil output by two million barrels a day in action that is expected to send gas prices higher after weeks of decline. NBC News correspondent Emily Ikeda has the details. expected to send gas prices higher after weeks of decline.

NBC News correspondent Emily Ikeda has the details. After a year of tumultuous gas prices, signs of pain at the pump could worsen as some of the world's top oil producers, including Saudi Arabia and Russia, promised deep cuts to output. OPEC Plus announced it will slash production by 2 million barrels per day to spur a recovery in crude prices. The White House calling the decision short-sighted. We are providing security, stability to the energy markets. The move defying an aggressive push from President Biden to keep fuel flowing, even visiting Saudi Arabia this summer to convince them to increase oil production. With midterms just weeks away,

higher energy prices could be a blow to Democrats and undo months of steadily dropping costs at the pump in most areas of the country. Talk to me about the timing of the cuts. The barrels that are going to be cut will be cut in November. But what it means also is higher prices for drivers, higher prices for heating, higher prices for holiday travel. In parts of California, gas prices are already topping $7 a gallon. I got to go to where I'm going, so I got to pay it, but I'm not happy about it. And across the country in Massachusetts, Scott McFarlane has been in the heating oil business for more than 50 years. He says customers should be prepared to pay more as temperatures there fall.

The timing is awful for us. It's going to be a tough winter for everybody, the consumers and the anybody in business. Adding insult to injury for families already struggling with soaring inflation. Hey, let's bring in former Treasury official and Morning Joe economic analyst Steve Ratner. Steve, what's the economic impact for Americans? Of the OPEC decision, the economic impact is going to be, as your correspondent said, higher prices in the oil market. Prices have already gone up about eight dollars a barrel, which works out to roughly 20 cents a gallon when it filters its way through the system. And this is really part of the Saudis trying to manage

oil prices. They are the drivers of this. They try to keep oil prices. They'd love to keep oil prices in a band of 80, 90 to 100 dollars a barrel, which is roughly where it is now. And what they saw starting to happen was oil prices falling in part because of lack of demand that as the world moves into a slower economic growth, possibly a recession, demand for oil tends to go down. And you were seeing that, especially also out of China. And then on the other side of the coin, the Russian oil supply has really not been cut at all. The fact is almost every barrel of Russian oil is still finding its way into the oil system. So prices were starting to fall. And the Saudis and the other members of OPEC Plus stepped

in and said, we want to stop this and get oil back into the range that we like. And the consequences, as I said, could be maybe 20 cents a gallon on the price of gasoline and then obviously on heating oil and so forth for American consumers. Yeah. You know, though, you know, Steve, it's fascinating. You look at the timing of this one month before an election. You look at the fact that Joe Biden caught a lot of grief for going over and visiting the Saudi leader, a guy, of course, accused of murdering a Washington Post columnist, a Virginia resident. And this is what he gets a month before the election. This is what he gets when Vladimir Putin is on his back heels. What's your thought about Biden's overtures to Saudi Arabia and how basically Biden's,

he's just spitting Biden's face. He did. All of those things are absolutely true. Look, the Saudis have always been kind of frenemies. They act in their own interests, as most nations do. I'm certainly not going to excuse or condone in any way, shape or form what happened with Khashoggi. But in general, in terms of how they try to manage oil, they do it based on their interests and trying to maximize the long term value of oil and make sure current prices aren't too low. And so they had absolutely no interest in accommodating anything Biden was trying to do. They did what they thought they needed to do for themselves and for the other members of OPEC. It's the way it's always been. And unfortunately, it is the way it is always going to be until we change our energy situation around and become

less dependent as a world on Saudi oil. Of course, as you know, the U.S. is not dependent on it. We have we are actually an exporter of oil, but the world oil price affects us just as much as it does the rest of the world. You know, I've talked to others in the region who, Katty Kay, about this move, and they just said it's a short sighted, stupid move that the Saudis arguments didn't make any sense whatsoever. And I'm not being a conspiracy theorist here. When when I bring up the fact that MBS very close to Jared Kushner, very close to the Trump administration, I suspect if you're watching news out of America and you really don't understand the subtleties of American politics, you might think that Donald Trump's going to be president again. I mean, you'd really again, I could see how people overseas might think that it's I'd be shocked if it happened about as shocked as if the Red Sox won the World Series this year. It's not going to happen. But still,

I can't help but think they made a calculation. They don't like Biden. They're close to Jared Kushner. They're close to Trump. Trump never gave him any grief about chopping up a Washington Post reporter and lying about it to the world. So stick it to Biden. Listen, I'm all for countries doing what's in their best interest. Again, this didn't make sense. Doesn't make sense for the Saudis when you have Biden going over there, catching a lot of grief at home for doing that,

but reaching out to the Saudis and then they spit in his face. The future, I don't think the future is going to be exactly what the Saudis think the future is going to be. This is such a short-sighted move. I mean, it's one of those things that when you talk to Trump supporters around the country and you say, well, you know, about the gas prices, they say, oh, well, this would never have happened if it had been Donald Trump in office. I mean, that kind of ignores the whole Ukraine situation,

which is really what precipitated the big price hike in the beginning of the summer. But Trump supporters certainly believe that, you know, a Trump cozy relationship with the Saudis would have helped the gas prices at the moment. And it doesn't look great for the White House, does it? I mean, they go there, they get a tiny boost in production after Biden's visit, but then weeks later get a much bigger cut in production. And Steve, just in terms of, you know, the American consumer, what tools are left in the toolbox for the White House to try to offset any price hike at the petrol pump between now and November?

Because the timing of this could hit just, you know, I mean, couldn't hit worse for the Democrats as they head into those midterms. No, it's not great for the Democrats. Oil prices at the gas prices at the pump had already started moving up a bit. I think they're up about 12 cents a gallon from their absolute low, simply as oil prices, you know, move around in world markets and are volatile. But we have released a lot of oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It actually has made a difference. Some people estimate as much as 40 cents a gallon. It could have been 40 cents a gallon higher if we hadn't released that oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve. But we really

are doing as much of that as we can. So the unfortunate news for the White House is there really isn't much else they can do between now and the election. As I said, the only good news is that oil prices have jumped about $8 a barrel, but they're nowhere near where they were at the worst of Ukraine when they were well over up to as much as $130 a barrel. So you won't see gas prices going back to where they were in the worst of it. They are just going to continue to edge up over these next couple of months. And there is, as I said, for I'll say it one more time, unfortunately, there isn't really much else the White House can do about that. Yeah. And let's just again, let's be clear here. You talk to people who know

what's going on. This is the Saudis getting involved in American domestic politics. This move doesn't make any sense economically. It makes no sense diplomatically. Who's the next president that's going to stick their neck out for MBS? Who's going to do that? Because Joe Biden did it. There are a lot of people saying, yes, what he did was horrible. We need to move forward with our relationship. He's going to be there for a long time. We need to do it. So Biden does it. And this is what they do a month before the election.

Now, for me, obviously, what's even more distressing is you have Ukrainians fighting for their lives, fighting for their hometowns, fighting for freedom. And here the Saudis go helping Vladimir Putin out, making sure that oil prices go up. So he makes more money. It's it's disturbing. Speaking of disturbing, Steve, let's talk about something that the United States has inflicted upon themselves. Republicans and Democrats alike over the past 40 years are actually, let's see, 25 years. When I left Congress, there was actually a balanced budget and we were talking about paying off the debt. Now we're over $31 trillion, the New York Times reports a couple of days ago. And, you know, Steve, you and I have been talking, worrying about the debt, the inflationary pressures that massive debt brings.

But what we'd always say is, fortunately, interest rates are at historic lows. So if your interest rates are at historic lows, servicing the debt doesn't cost quite as much as it would if interest rates go up. But you warned, I warned, everybody that's cared about this issue for years has warned, once interest rates go up, there's a snowball effect. And here we are at $31 trillion. We are at $31 trillion. So the interesting fact, Joe, is that in the first 200 years of our

country's existence, we incurred $4 trillion of debt. And the last 25 years or so, as you said, we've incurred $27 trillion more of debt. Now, obviously, the dollar is worth less and so on and so forth. But the change in deficits has been dramatic. And it really started, as you also implied, Clinton actually did balance the budget with help from Congress, of course, had a surplus. And then when George W. Bush came along, the mentality really shifted. Dick Cheney famously said in the Oval Office, deficits don't matter. Reagan proved that. And the Bush administration began creating deficit spending. And then, of course, it ballooned during the financial crisis. And that was really nobody's fault. We had to respond to that.

Obama worked the deficit back down to about $500 billion from well over a trillion and then COVID hit. But the mentality has been dramatically different because even if you take COVID out of the equation, under Donald Trump, his policies, his tax cuts combined with a lot more spending, which people aren't generally aware of, added $4.5 trillion to the debt. And Joe Biden has spent a lot of money, but it's only, in quotes, $2.5 trillion. So really, Trump has been so far by far the worst president in terms of incurring deficits and adding debt. And those numbers I gave you don't include COVID. COVID spending was emergency spending.

We can put that aside. But even without that, you're talking about four and a half trillion dollars of additional spending and tax cuts under Trump that have really put us in this position of having deficits over a trillion dollars as far as the eye can see. You know, when I first ran, I ran on the issue of deficits, on the issue of debt, on the issue of balancing the budget. And when I left Congress in 2001, get this, we had $155 billion surplus, Michael Steele, $155 billion yearly surplus. And this is the partisan in me coming out, the old former Republican partisan coming out. Democrats fought us every step of the way, said we're going to destroy the country, said if you try to balance the budget in seven years,

that you're going to wreck the economy. We didn't wreck the economy. The economy did pretty darn well. So, yes, Bill Clinton took credit for it in his book. Great. He was freaking out about it, though, at the time when we were trying to do it, saying we're wrecking the economy. But since then, look what happened. The deficit exploded to five point seven trillion under George W. Bush, exploded to eleven and a half trillion under Barack Obama, under Donald Trump. I'm sorry. I have that. It was five seven when Bush started, went up to over eleven trillion dollars, jumped up to $19 trillion by the time Barack Obama left office. And Donald Trump, even without COVID, even without COVID, these so-called conservative Republicans, biggest deficits ever, biggest federal debt ever, biggest budgets ever, every year, bigger deficits, bigger budgets than before. Fiscally, they were radicals even before COVID. And then

COVID hit. And there you go. We're at thirty one trillion dollars. Yeah. And we're seeing the pressure on the economy from all of that spending, coupled with the Fed policy with respect to interest rates right now. And we're sitting here waiting to see as we come into the, you know, get through the rest of this quarter and then the first quarter of next year, what the Fed policy is going to be and increasing interest rates further. The market is all over the place. Yeah, we had a 700 plus day Dow, but it's down, you know, the leading indicator since this morning is it's down. So, you're going to have this back and forth with respect to these externalities, Joe, which puts the pressure, the onus, as you rightly noted, on Congress to sort of manage that with

its spending policies, with the types of policies that attach to what the nation's priorities are going to be to help Americans sort of weather this rough patch. From 94 to 2000, your generation of republicanism spoke, not just spoke about the impact, the positive impact of deficit control, controlled spending, but actually implemented it and found the consensus in Congress to get that done. We're now, again, operationalizing government on a day-by-day ad hoc basis. There is no long-term fiscal policy. There's not even a short-term financial understanding of how this economy is working. So the American people, going back to our first part of our discussion this morning about inflation, they're rightly nervous about it

because they don't see anyone in Washington who has a damn clue what to do about it. They don't understand how to help them and their businesses navigate through this, as Steve Ratner pointed out, giving with some of these externalities like MBS and his slap at the Biden administration, pushing OPEC to increase production. So all of this is now is going to play out politically going into this fall and into next year. And we're not going to be any better off from it. And, you know, the real problem is, I mean, if you're like me and you're concerned about deficits, you're concerned about the federal debt, you're concerned about the fact, as Steve said, that over 200 years we accumulated four trillion dollars in debt.

And over the past 20 years, we've accumulated another 20, 25, 26 trillion dollars in debt. The problem is there's not a party that actually is going to answer your concerns. The only time Republicans give a damn about deficits are when Democrats are in the White House. It's the only time. If you look at the deficit skyrocketing under George W. Bush and under Donald Trump, it is again under Donald Trump, especially it's record breaking. And by the way, Kat, he could tell you this is what this what populist right wing populists across the globe do. It's like they use it to complain about. Yeah. They attack immigrants. They they they they attack. They attack the libs. They go after the LBGTQ community. They get these social issues. They whip people up into a frenzy

and then they spend like drunken socialists. Correct. That's that's what they do in Italy. That's what Le Pen said she wanted to do in France. That was that's what Donald Trump did there. Pump up spending for the welfare state and talk like a conservative. Oh, he's pro-life. OK, well, he can spend us into debt.

That's cool. Oh, he's taking an extreme position. He doesn't like background checks for guns, even though 90 percent of. OK, cool. Then that alone, the libs. Great. OK, yeah, he can spend our children. He can keep stealing from our children and our grandchildren and destroy their economic future. They just wave the bloody flags of these social issues and they can act as radical and left wing and spend like socialists all day. And they have. You look at spending under Donald Trump pre-COVID, the biggest, most bloated budgets in the history of America. But conservatives didn't care because he said the

right things. The gestures were right for them. And he owned the libs. Great. I hope you enjoyed owning the libs. And I hope you enjoyed the gestures because he damn near bankrupted America. So and with that, I just want to say the admiral on the set says it's drunken sailors. Just clarifying. Steve Ratner.

In this case, drunken socialists, drunken socialists. OK, Steve Ratner, thank you so much for being on. It's great to see you.