Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/7/24

Episode Date: October 7, 2024

Trump and his allies blame Democrats for assassination attempt

Is there anybody here that's going to vote for Lyon Kamala? Please raise your hand. Please raise your hand. Actually, I should say, don't raise your hand. It would be very dangerous. We don't want to see anybody get hurt. Please don't raise your hand. Former President Trump in Wisconsin yesterday flat out suggesting that his followers would

physically harm those who support his political opponent. We're going to have more on his increasingly dangerous rhetoric one month now from the election. Today also marks one year since the deadly attacks in Israel carried out by Hamas terrorists, sparking a war in Gaza that has no end in sight will look back at that dark day and get a live report from Israel on the current situation there. Meanwhile, Donald Trump continues to lie about the federal response to Hurricane Halil. Well, entire networks continue to lie about it. Republicans continue to lie about it, even when Republicans and senators and governors from the states that are affected are actually calling Donald Trump a liar, actually calling Republicans. These state officials are calling them a liar.

And North Carolina's largest newspaper yesterday said that Donald Trump's lies are the last thing this battered region needs right now. But he's ratcheting up on every level, hatred and lies. It comes as the Biden administration sends more desperately needed aid and resources to the areas hit the hardest. And more severe weather is likely to hit Florida this week with Hurricane Milton expected to make landfall sometime later this week. A lot to get to. Yeah, yesterday, Bill, Karen showed, as that was just starting to develop, showed that Tampa might once again be a bullseye and said something like he felt like crying.

This is going to be, this is a region already devastated like North Carolina and another storm hitting this area. Some of these places just completely wiped out. Yeah, we're going to get to it. We have so much to get to this morning, plus sports news as well. A special guest for you. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Monday, October 7th. With us, we have the host of Way Too Early, White House Beer Chief at Politico, Jonathan Lemire, U.S. Special Cor for BBC News. Katty Kay is with us. NBC News national affairs analyst and a partner and chief political columnist at Puck, John

Heilman, and managing editor at The Bulwark, Sam Stein. Good to have you all this morning. We will begin with former President Trump, who on Saturday returned to the site of the first assassination attempt against him. Now, during that rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, he and his allies accused Democrats of trying to kill him. Over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot,

and who knows, maybe even tried to kill me. You know, I always say there's an enemy from within and there's an outside enemy. And if you're smart, the outside enemy is not going to be a problem. Russia, China, North Korea, we're not going to have a problem if you have a smart president. If you have not such a smart president, then it's a problem. But we have an enemy from within, which I think is much more dangerous than the outside enemy.

First, they tried to silence him. When that didn't work, they tried to bankrupt him. When that didn't work, they tried to jail him. And with all't work, they tried to jail him. And with all the hatred they have spewed at President Trump, it was only a matter of time before somebody tried to kill him. And then, guys, they tried to kill him.

They tried to kill him. And it's because the Democratic Party, they can't do anything right. They can't do anything right. You see it this week in the FEMA response in North Carolina and in Georgia and in South Carolina and in Florida. This is a pivotal moment for our country. And I don't even have to tell anybody that here. We can all feel it. This is no longer a fight between Republican versus Democrat, left versus right. It is good versus evil. And good is going to win this battle, ladies and gentlemen.

The the the the level. Of un-American activity that you just saw is stunning. That is un-American. They know they're lying. Donald Trump knows that's a lie. He will tell you that the Secret Service, he thought, did the best job they could do. The fact that J.D. Vance and Trump's family would out and out say what they said takes the threat of violence, takes the threat beyond where it was even leading up to January the 6th. This is an increasingly desperate person, an increasingly desperate family.

Who's preparing for civil war? They just are. Talking about they're trying to kill him. Democrats are trying to kill him. This is it. And the lies. Think about this. I saw part of Donald Trump's speech this weekend.

It was remarkable. The lies, not just on things this year, but even on policy. It just make up things and just throw it out there. And I'd be shocked if the audience was really that stupid to believe the crazy lies that he was throwing out there. But he does it so much. It is the falsehood, the firehood of falsehoods. But they continue lying about 2020. Vance continues lying about 2020. Trump continues lying about 2020. Senators will not say on Sunday news shows that

Donald Trump lost in 2020, despite the fact Republican officials in every one of those states that mattered said that, yes, in fact, Donald Trump lost. Brian Kemp said it in Georgia. Republican officials said it in Michigan. Republican officials said it in Pennsylvania. They said it in Arizona. They have said it repeatedly. Trump and Vance lying about people of Ohio eating dogs and cats. And yet the governor of Ohio, the Republican governor of Ohio, lifelong Republican, telling them to stop, that it is a lie. And now with the people of the Carolinas suffering in a way that only those who have gone through tragic hurricanes like Hurricane Katrina, Hurricane Camille, and now this hurricane could imagine Donald Trump, J.D. Vance, Eric Trump, everyone else in the Republican Party, entire news channels out and out lying about what's going on on the ground there.

Talking about civil war. It's staggering. Just staggering when you have Republican governors from those states, Republican senators from those states, Republican mayors from those states, Republican county commissioners from those states, Republican officials from those states, Republican mayors from those states, Republican county commissioners from those states, Republican officials from those states saying that they're doing great. In a tragic situation, they are coordinating very well with the federal government. Donald Trump,

shame on Donald Trump. Show this, show the Charlotte Observer headline. It's a it's an editorial from the largest paper in the state of North Carolina. Shame on Donald Trump for worsening North Carolina's tragedy with political lies. And now the lie about Democrats trying to kill him. The lie about a person whose family had a Trump sign in his front yard trying to kill him, or the person who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, the lie that they were somehow part of a federal government conspiracy. They can't run on the truth because they're losing on the truth. And so the lies continue and the lies get more dangerous, increasingly desperate tactics. It's unbelievable, increasingly deranged talk, increasingly dangerous provocation and perhaps a provocation that is preparation for his loss at

the ballot box and a call for civil war. And let me tell you, there are hosts. In fact, there is a specific host on another network, the most popular host on that network that has called for civil war, that has said, let's stop trying to figure this out at the ballot box. Let's move to civil war. Great. Does anything sound conservative about this? Because I spent this weekend. I spent this weekend going back through. The books that I grew up on. Not this one. This one came out in 13. It's Charles Krauthammer, who is an extraordinary conservative,

a man that every conservative I respected just loved and respected. Also, a man who understood the danger of Donald Trump and warned about the danger of Donald Trump before he died. A man who won the Pulitzer Prize, who may be the great conservative mind of our time, that Donald Trump called a, I think, quote, dummy. With all this talk this weekend and this desperate, desperate

move towards a civil war if they lose at a ballot box, I went back and I reread Peggy Noonan, Charles Krauthammer, The Conservative Mind by Russell Kirk, Edmund Burke. And I will tell you, for people that are trying to find the permission structure who claim to be conservative vote for this man, you cannot find it. You cannot find it in 240 years of conservative writing. You cannot find that justification for any writing before Donald Trump's rise and the right's capitulation to him. Charles Krauthammer wrote in his introduction to Things That Matter and explaining why he stopped being a psychiatrist and began writing columns.

In the end, everything lives and dies by politics. You can have the most advanced of cultures, get your politics wrong, and everything stands to get swept away. Everything stands to get swept away. And Krauthammer concludes by saying, this is not ancient history. This is Germany, 1933. The point applies even if this is not Germany 1933. The point applies if this is something not as savage as Germany 1933, but simply an autocrat who decides to be a dictator on day one, who decides to arrest all those who he doesn't like, to take news networks off the

TV, as he said he would do if they're not supportive of him, who's talked about assassinating generals that aren't sufficiently loyal to him, has complained to his chief of staff that his generals should be more like Hitler's generals. Of course, Hitler's generals tried to kill Adolf Hitler, but Donald Trump didn't know history, so he didn't know that. Whose own lawyer said in court he could use SEAL Team 6 to assassinate, to assassinate political rivals. And if he were president of the United States, he could not be arrested. Nothing, nothing, nothing conservative about this.

I really do wish anybody that would try to justify a vote for Donald Trump. I really do wish they'd just read the introduction to Russell Kirk, the conservative mind, seventh edition. And I'll just read one line here. To general principles in politics, the conservative subscribes. These are principles arrived at by convention and compromise. These are principles arrived at by convention and compromise, tested by long experience and applied with prudence. And applied with prudence.

And for those who would say, how could David French, how could Liz Cheney, how could hundreds of people who voted and worked for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, and yes, for Donald Trump, how could they vote for Kamala Harris?

This is what Russell Kirk writes at the end of the introduction. But the impulse to improve and the impulse to conserve are necessary to the healthy functioning of our society. Whether we join our energies to the party of progress or the party of permanence must depend upon the circumstances of our time. And add to this the fact that Charles Krauthammer, all the way back to Edmund Burke, has written about how tyrants and

dictators and radicals can tear down in one day institutions that took centuries to build up by compromise, convention, and prudence. Less than a month from now, there is a clear choice. And we saw yesterday the most, we all watched football this weekend. We all had a wonderful time this weekend. Sometimes things come at us so quickly that we're numbed by it. Newspapers certainly numbed by it. People in TV that follow

this every day numbed by it. We're numbed by it. Everybody's numbed by it. But mark this weekend on your calendar. This is the weekend that Donald Trump spread the virus in the heads of all of his supporters, as did his family, as did his vice presidential candidate. The Democrats plotted to assassinate him. John Heilman, if there's been a more dangerous, dangerous political strategy in the final month of a presidential campaign, I certainly can't even begin to imagine when it was or what it was. Tell us just how dangerous this new territory is that Donald Trump, Vance and his family have put us as a nation. It's pretty dangerous, Joe. I struggle for the right superlatives.

You know, this has been coming for a while, right? It's not, this is not the first time that Donald Trump, he maybe was more direct about it this weekend than he's ever been himself. J.D. Vance and others in his orbit have been advancing this claim now for, well, really since the assassination attempt at Butler. It was within a few hours of the shot being taken at him, of him being hit in the ear, that the rhetoric started. And if you went back and looked at

what J.D. Vance and others on Twitter and in some television interviews are saying literally that day, that was where the virus, the mind virus first germinated, I suppose you'd say, in the MAGA lab. It's now it was a while where Trump did not himself personally endorse that view. It was inevitable, I would say, that he would come to that view. Sadly, inevitable. But it gives, it puts so much of the lie to the notion that somehow the left Democrats, Kamala Harris, others are the ones who are germinating political discord and division and dangerous incitement to violence in the country. said this weekend and not reached the conclusion that some people and maybe many of the most important people right now in the Republican Party are not merely campaigning on division and hatred, but are, in fact, actively rooting for and inciting a split, you know, a division in the country. As you said, there are people in the conservative ecosystem who have been very explicit about wanting that. It is, I think, obvious where

the Republican ticket now, what they imagine happening and what they're preparing for in the wake of a possibility that they lose this election on November 5th. And I'm not a very fearful person. I'm nervous about, very nervous about what that will look like. I'm not a catastrophizer. I obviously, like everybody, concerned about where this country is going, but this is something to be so concerned about. And it's something that, again, as you said, has germinated for quite some time. And and again, it's not just some people in the Republican Party of the presidential candidate, the vice presidential candidate, members of his family are the most popular hosts on the most popular right wing network suggesting this and and basically calling for civil war, calling for civil war. when people actually,

the Republican Party looked up to Charles Krauthammer and followed Charles Krauthammer's wisdom, actually believed what Burke said and Kirk said. In past lifetimes, there would be a rush of Republicans who work with Democrats every day, whether it's bringing hurricane relief on the ground in North Carolina or trying to put a bipartisan bill together in Washington, D.C. for the betterment of Americans. In the past, Republicans would rush forward and condemn this type of talk. And I wonder today how many Republicans will want to distance themselves from a presidential candidate that is saying people they work with every day

for the betterment of Americans are trying to assassinate a political rival. It is a very small number, Joe. Perhaps Liz Cheney, perhaps Mitt Romney, a few others. But most Republicans will keep their mouths shut. They won't say anything publicly because it does. This is not the Republican Party of those conservative intellectual heavyweights anymore. It's simply not. It's Donald Trump's Republican Party, at least for the time being. It is thoroughly his party. And we should note, of course, let's do a little fact checking here. The law enforcement has said there was no known motivation for the shooter in Butler County, Pennsylvania, no known political ideology there.

It remains a bit of a mystery as to why he did what he did. He, of course, now dead. We also know that in the immediate aftermath of that shooting, President Biden, Vice President Harris, other top Democrats immediately condemned it. And Biden, throughout his entire political career, and particularly his time in the White House this time around, has spoken out strongly on a near daily basis against political violence, saying it has no place in our culture. And yet it's the Republican side that not only has inspired violence before January 6th, but their rhetoric suggests they're trying to do so again. And we know in that VP debate, J.D. Vance once more refused to suggest that Donald Trump lost in 2020

and has refused to say he would certify a Trump loss in 2024. Caddy, there's so much dangerous rhetoric here to go through. But one thing that struck us was at one moment, Trump said that he thought that his political enemies, i.e. Democrats, were more dangerous to our nation than our outside forces, our outside adversaries, Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and the rest, suggesting that his his political rivals are traitors and are un-American. Yeah. And we've seen this sentiment growing in American politics for a while. I mean, over the course of the last decade, the number of Republicans who believe that Democrats

represent a threat to national security has grown a lot. The number of Democrats who believe that Republicans represent a threat to national security has also grown. But what's new in the equation is, I keep thinking back to that book, How Democracies Die by Ziblatt and Levitsky, and they talk about the two things that are needed for democracies to die in countries that have been democratic. And one is the demonization of the other, two things that are needed for democracies to die in countries that have been democratic.

And one is the demonization of the other, of any other group of kind of a minority group and the normalization of the rhetoric of violence and political violence. And I think that's where we've seen a ratcheting up of that ever since the 2016 election. But even back in 2020, 2022, it grew. And now with this rally, I think in Butler, we're really seeing that, you know, at a new level of they tried to kill us. And in a country with so many guns, it doesn't take very much people and perhaps not a huge leap of imagination to imagine communities that were Donald Trump to lose would see this as a reason, as a giving them permission, if you like, to take out some kind of vendants on people who didn't vote for him and

didn't support him. And another great example of the normalization of violence is January 6th and the riot at the Capitol and the former president planning to pardon the people convicted of crimes on that day. And most Republicans saying that January 6th was much ado about nothing. Singing in the choir. They weren't that way the day after January the 6th. They weren't that way even three, four, five, six months after. But so many Republicans have allowed themselves to be conditioned to believe that January 6th is much ado about nothing.

We showed you, and speaking of Vanderbilt, we've got Willie Geist coming up, but we showed you that Vanderbilt survey last week that showed that people that support Donald Trump consider them self-identified MAGA voters, that 54% of them think Vladimir Putin is doing a good job as president. And only 18 percent, Joe Biden, when asked who is doing a better job as president, Vladimir Putin or Joe Biden. That's just how twisted the Republican Party has gotten in knots in this personality cult that is just getting increasingly dangerous. And, you know, again, final quote from Charles Krauthammer for this morning. Politics is the moat, the walls beyond which are the barbarians.

Fail to keep them at bay and everything burns. Now, that could be barbarians on the far right. That could be barbarians on the far left trying to separate America from its history, trying to to apply this this universal guilt to entire groups of people. violence. Even that is not as dangerous right now as a presidential candidate saying that the other party is trying to kill him. We are in new territory here and it's dangerous. We're going to have more in a moment on this extremely dangerous time in our country's politics. We'll get Sam Stein into the conversation also ahead. Israel marking one year of the deadly Hamas terrorist attack. We'll take a look back at all that has happened since. And the battles Israel is now facing on multiple fronts.

Plus, we'll debunk the lies Donald Trump and his allies continue to spread about the Biden administration's efforts to help those impacted by Hurricane Helena. And we really don't have to debunk it because Republican governors and senators and mayors and local officials are all saying Donald Trump simply lying. But you knew that. We'll be right back. 28 past the hour today marks the one year anniversary of the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel when Hamas fighters stormed across the Gaza border, rampaging communities in southern Israel. Here is a look at what happened exactly one year ago and what has transpired since. I could hear people speaking in Arabic outside their door and they broke, and the last thing I heard was the youngest,

who's 12, saying to them, I'm too young, don't take me. And that was it. That was the last time I heard from them. So in this moment, we must be crystal clear. We stand with Israel. We stand with Israel. They said, gee, I hope Hezbollah doesn't attack from the north because that's the most vulnerable spot. I said, wait a minute. You know, Hezbollah is very smart. They're all very smart. The press doesn't like when they say. Under armed guard, Hamas handed over 11 hostages,

two women and nine children to the Red Cross last night, including two three-year-old twin girls. As Israel defends itself, it matters how. The United States is unequivocal. International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Celebrations on the streets of Tehran, even as the Israeli war cabinet meets today to consider what any retaliation could look like after its military neutralized hundreds of Iranian drones

and missiles. New York's Columbia University tonight, again, a flashpoint in the rise in anti-Semitism on college campuses. As pro-Palestinian protests continue across the country and Jewish students report being targeted or feeling unsafe. In the Middle East, Iran's axis of terror confronts America, Israel and our Arab friends. This is not a clash of civilizations. It's a clash between barbarism and civilization. Applause Tonight, thousands rallying outside Israel's defense ministry as the largest protests since the start of the war surge on. Public fury mounting over Hamas's murder of these six young hostages and the Israeli government's failure to bring them back alive. Under the ruins of Beirut, recovery workers

unearthed the body of Hezbollah's slain leader, Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed in a series of huge explosions. The death of Nasrallah shocked Lebanon and dealt a body blow to regional politics. Sam Stein, absolutely tragic year. Starting October the 7th. The worst slaughter. Let's underline this because this is how this year began. And there are some people that want to talk about the year and actually gloss over how it began. That would be like talking about World War II in 1943 and somehow forgetting about Pearl Harbor. But a year ago today, the worst slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust. And since that time, Hamas knew, and we said it here, I knew it the second I saw it, Hamas knew exactly what they were going to do.

They were going to slaughter Jews. They're going to hide behind civilians. And their attitude was, and we've said it from day one, that if you kill a Jew, that's a good day. But if if Palestinians are killed, that's a great day because they knew how the West would respond. They knew how the world would respond. And so all of that has happened. And I've got to say, Sam, the. The question a year later that Israel will not answer, specifically Israel's government, that Netanyahu will not answer, is how could it be that the Mossad, how could it be that the IDF could make pagers blow up simultaneously, can have everything planned, their attacks against Hezbollah so ruthlessly planned over the years? Precision. With precision. And yet on October the 7th, after warnings, especially from women in the government,

that Hamas was going to attack Israel, they had the plan for a year. Netanyahu still going to Qatar, demanding that they give Hamas hundreds of millions of dollars through the years. Donald Trump and Netanyahu knowing where Hamas's illicit funding came from in 2018 and refusing to do anything. Question still after all this time is, how did it happen? And how were women, grandparents, survivors of the Holocaust, left to wait for up to 12, 14 hours for their own government to come protect them against Hamas terrorists? Again, a year later, the question remains. And a year later, the tragedy of October 7th hangs over all of this. Right. Well, there's another question, too. And

that is, how does this end? I remember there was an interview with Netanyahu just weeks after the tragic attack on October 7th, where they're talking about, well, if you go into Gaza, what comes next? If you refuse to allow the Palestinian Authority to take over political operations in Gaza, what comes next? And there wasn't an answer then, and frankly, there's not an answer now. That's not to say that the war's objectives have been, you know, wrought or bad. I mean, obviously, you have to respond to an attack like that. And you have to, as a state, take out the threats for an attack like that happening in the future. And to a degree, Netanyahu has done that. But the long-term strategy here remains complicated and kind of

invisible in a way. And, you know, let me separate that, the politics, and then let me talk a little bit about sort of the personal, too, which is watching that video. It's hard to believe it's been a year, and it's difficult to relive that day. I remember I had not been to services in a long time. I went a week after October 7th because I just felt compelled to go back. And this has sparked a huge, you know, existential question within the Jewish community about what it is to be a proud Jew, right? What it is to celebrate your Judaism and what it is to openly celebrate your Judaism. I was at a sermon for Rosh Hashanah last week where we talked about that. You know, are there places, are there

sanctuaries where you can be proudly Jewish anymore? Part of that, of course, we have to admit is tied to the conduct of the war. But part of it is because the world continues to be filled with anti-Semitic behavior. Part of it is because there's a presidential candidate who says that if he loses, the Jews will be to blame. And these questions have been compounded over the past year. They haven't been solved. They've been compounded over the past year. And I think, you know, grappling with that, grappling with what October 7th exposed about us as a civilization, humanity, and also what it exposed about the Israeli government has been really tricky. And obviously, a year on, we have this reflection point. And I still don't think we have these answers, which is making it incredibly frustrating, too. I think what Sam is demonstrating this morning is something we've not had nearly enough of over the last year,

and that's empathy and reflection and an ability to hold in your heart that two things can be true at once, and the awful suffering of October the 7th and the awful suffering of Palestinians in Gaza. And there's been a distressing lack of that ability over the course of the last year, and it's lovely to hear Sam talk about that. The concern I have as we mark this awful anniversary reminds me of what the White House said to Bibi Netanyahu straight

after October the 7th, which is don't act in anger, don't rush to do things that you may not be able to complete or that may lead to disaster. And of course, the memory was of America after 9-11 and that moment where we thought it was possible to kind of remake the Middle East by force of will. And I hear echoes of that today, that somehow Israel is at a moment where there's a once-in-a-generation opportunity to impose its will through military force on the Middle East and remake the region. But all of us can look back to the invasion of Iraq and realize that actually what happened was a Middle East that was less stable, less secure. And if Israel's aim is an area of the world in which it's safe, if that's the strategy, at the moment it's having tactical victories, clearly, against Iran. But

I don't know that it's closer to its strategy of making itself safer. Well, and you can talk about exactly what we were all saying in America in 2003, 70 percent of Americans supporting an invasion into Iraq. The majority of senators supporting that invasion more so than supported the first Gulf War. Tactical success. Just almost record speed going in to Baghdad. And then the most horrific of quagmires. You can also look, of course, Katty, at Lebanon 1982. And again, the IDF goes into Lebanon. They have overwhelming firepower like they have right now. And they are stuck as David Ignatius, a young David Ignatius saw up for up close. They're stuck in a hellish quagmire. Now, I'm not saying that the United States wouldn't respond the same way. I've always said if Mexico fired three missiles at the United States and Texas, our troops would be in Mexico City by nightfall.

So I'm not saying that the United, for those who believe this is the time they can remake the map of the Middle East, history suggests that, well, it doesn't repeat itself. But in the Middle East, it has been rhyming for 3000 years. And I am curious, Caddy, who really believes that this attack, this invasion, this regional war against Iran is going to change things. Yes, we all I think we all understand them going after Hamas with a vengeance and them going after Hezbollah. But starting a regional war with Iran, do they really believe they can remake the Middle East? I mean, there are many questions that Bibi Netanyahu has failed to answer since October the 7th. The failure of intelligence, the failure of the troops to get to the kibbutz is quicker than they did. Lots of things that they haven't answered.

The failure to get the hostages out, the failure to agree to a ceasefire agreement. But hanging over all of that is the fact that he will not address the question of what the political strategy is. And he seems to go from military endeavor to military endeavor to tactical endeavor to tactical endeavor. Some of them have gone better for him than others in order to extend his political lifeline, because answering the political question he cannot do and he will not do. And unfortunately, the country that may be able to impose some sort of or negotiate some sort of political settlement in the Middle East at the moment, the only country in the world that may have been able to get the parties around the table together and was close to doing so before October the 7th, is the United States.

And the United States over the last year has had very little leverage indeed with the government of Netanyahu. Despite the fact that the United States has gotten Sunni Arab neighbors to agree, to help with peacekeeping, to help with rebuilding, and yet it continues. And so, Mika, I think it's very fair to agree, to help with peacekeeping, to help with rebuilding. And yet it continues. And so, Mika, I think it's very fair to ask Benjamin Netanyahu. You think that you can redraw the map of the Middle East with a regional war? You think that you can rewrite 3,000 years of history, but you can't even protect people in your own country. You can't even help women being raped and grandmothers being burned alive 12 hours after the attack begins in your own country.

They funded the perpetrators. After funding, after Benjamin Netanyahu told Qatar to continue funding the rapists, the murderers, and those who committed the worst atrocities against Jews since the Holocaust. Now we're going to get a live report from Israel for a look at the remembrance ceremonies there, as well as the latest on Israel's fight with Hamas in Gaza and against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Also ahead, FEMA Director D.N. Criswell will join us to talk about federal relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and preparations for yet another storm expected to hit Florida this week. Plus, we'll have the latest from the presidential campaign trail as Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz launch a media blitz in the final month before the election. Morning Joe, we'll be right back. And what an investment they've made in Diego Pavia. This attitude, this program, and the biggest win on the West End.

Vanderbilt takes down number one Alabama. That was the final moment. Look for Willie Geist on the field there. That was the final moment and one of the most shocking wins in recent college football history on Saturday. Vandy takes down top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide crimson tide incredible 40 to 35 and for alabama fans the worst part of it was it wasn't a fluke they just outplayed it's beginning to end let's bring it right now usb and commentator paul feinbaum and the host of pablo tory finds out on matalark media msnbc contributor pablo tory paul let's begin with you i've've got to say, as an Alabama fan, you take the final two quarters of the Georgia game and the four quarters of the Vandy game,

I have not seen a defense play for Alabama so badly in over six quarters in 20 years. And the sad part is we weren't outplayed. We were outcoached. They knew what we were doing before we knew what we were doing. Joe, I have to compliment you. A week ago, I was drunk with enthusiasm over Kalen DeBoer, and you stopped me, and I haven't forgotten that.

And I thought about that Saturday afternoon watching this game in Nashville. And what was so interesting, as big of an upset as it appeared, and it really was, Vanderbilt didn't even know how to act. I mean, instead of jumping over the fence to tear down the goalposts, I mean, they were tiptoeing down the steps. And the reason for that is that Vanderbilt hasn't beaten Alabama in Nashville since 1969 and hasn't beaten Alabama since 1984. So if you're under 40 years of age as an Alabama fan, you've never lost to Vanderbilt. And I want to explain to the audience, losing to Vanderbilt is not like losing to anyone else in the SEC. Vanderbilt is the perennial doormat. And I know Willie may get upset about

this, and I don't really care, but you don't lose to Vanderbilt. If you're Alabama, that is remote. It's not in the lexicon. It's forbidden. And that's why Kalen DeBoer is in such a mess right now. He's not even seven games into his tenure at Alabama,

and the Saban era is over. And a lot of people are wondering, who is that guy coaching us right now? Well, it happens so rarely that I remember in 1984, walking around a half-empty Denny Stadium. I think it was Bryant-Denny by 84. It was, yeah. But walking around when Vanderbilt beat us in 84 and was just, just could not

believe for a very long time. But I will tell you again, I will tell you, Pablo, the thing about this, okay, so we've talked about Alabama's shortcomings. Let's talk about what Vandy did right. Yes. That, again,

they beat us beginning to end. Their offense dominated our defense beginning to end. And with a quarterback, again, who always said he wanted to be like Johnny Manziel. Let me tell you, there was actually a touchdown that was called back where I said, oh, my God, this guy not only looks like Johnny Manziel, there's some Patrick Mahomes in him. You know, when he was twisting around and he flings the screen pass to the side, the guy scores a touchdown, ultimately called back. But this isn't just a game that Alabama lost.

Make no mistake, this is a game that Vandy won. Yeah, Vandy had over twice the time of possession that Alabama had in this game. This was start to finish a thing that made me think of everybody actually on this show because Paul getting these calls, oh my God. I cannot wait, cannot wait for the callers just to point this all out. Diego Pavia, the quarterback in question, is not just the guy who beat Alabama last year, New Mexico State. He beat Auburn. This is a kid who owns the state of Alabama as a concept at this point. And so when Vanderbilt gets this kid and they get his offensive coordinator

from New Mexico and they have this offense that has a plan and has the talent to execute that plan and execute upsets this is i mean look i came in wanting to laugh about how this is the washington generals beating the harlem globetrotters but when you watch these plays man when you watch these plays the fighting willie geists this was this was not close i mean it just wasn't nearly as close as you'd think an upset to require. As by the way, they form an ant colony and bring this. These go, they literally move the goalposts three miles, three miles and throw it into a river. Just an incredible, incredible day in Nashville. Historical day in Nashville. Again, again, let's make no mistake of it. They dominated from beginning to

end. John Meacham likened it to the president of the science club taking the homecoming queen to prom, except in this case, the the president of science club was six foot five and had a body like a face like Brad Pitt, the body like Schwarzenegger um so Paul let me uh and I'm sure you've already heard it we've talked about how this Vandy team they had a great coaching scheme had a quarterback who again reminded me of the Johnny Manziel that beat us in 2012 um but this is also the same quarterback and the same coaching staff and the same Vandy team that lost to Georgia Southern this year. There's no place to hide if you're the Alabama coaching staff and especially the defensive coordinator. And Joe, there's a lot of aspects of this. This is the new era of the

transfer portal where Vandy can get a good quarterback. But what's so interesting about this is you can't talk about Alabama without talking about Nick Saban. But two weeks ago, Nick Saban was on ESPN and he said the only place in the SEC that's easy to play of the 16 schools is Vanderbilt. And guess what? Vanderbilt clipped that tape, played it repeatedly. And Saban always used to talk about the rat poison. And I know you can't blame Nick Saban for everything, but in some ways, Nick Saban aided and abetted Vanderbilt in this win over his former team by giving them that juice. And it's such a cliche to say every game is a tough one. We all get sick of that.

But in this case, Alabama beat Georgia. It's one of the greatest wins we've ever seen. And they just took the week off. And I know their coaching staff will dispute that. But this is a different era. Kalen DeBoer is a great offensive mind, but he's not this hardcore disciplinarian. His players were giving

interviews. He was giving interviews and they just got gut punched. And as everyone has said, it wasn't really close. It was only close at the end because Alabama's offense is so good. But the defense, Joe, does Alabama have a defense? You know, that's one of the things, Paul, and by the way, I once again will distance myself from your attacks on Nick Saban. But I understand it's 17 years. I remember I remember I get out. I had I had, as Paul has said, I was the one telling Alabama, you're you're you're losers. Go after Nick Saban. Right. At the end of the first year, Paul said Paul calls me up and he says, hey, why don't you come to my show today? I called him up.

We were 6-6 Nick Saban's first year. And he goes, so, Joe, do you think you're really right about Nick Saban? He's 6-6 this year. That's not Saban. So old habits die hard. But I will tell you, Paul, what I was thinking during this game when we were being dominated so badly. And what I think is I get so tired of people saying, oh, Alabama got this five-star player and this five-star player and this four-star cornerback and this five-star linebacker. We're in an age of parody. And in this case, man, the team of superstars were just dominated

beginning to end by Vanderbilt. And the funny thing is, the game wasn't as close as the score, was it? No. And, Joe, one more thing, if you're trying to figure out this new CFP path to get to the playoffs, Alabama has four road games this year in the SEC. Vanderbilt was the easiest of the road games. They have to go to Knoxville in two weeks, another team that was upset. They go to LSU and they go to Oklahoma.

So if you were buying your Rose Bowl tickets again, Joe, beware. This is no sure. A week ago, it was a lock. Today, it's a long way from Alabama getting back into the playoffs. Well, and it is also a long season. And, you know, Nick Saban won, I think, six national championships. clamor getting back into the playoffs. Well, and it is also a long season. And, you know, Nick Saban won, I think, six national championships. Five of them had a loss attached to them, I believe.

Four or five of them did. We've been five of the six. So we can survive a loss, especially this year. But, man, they've got to figure out how to play defense. ESPN's Paul Feinbaum, thank you so much. Good luck today. It's going to be rough. Pablo, so last night. Are we going to talk about the Mets?

Well, we can talk about the Mets, but you don't want to talk about that Mets this morning. But Pablo, a lot to talk about in the NFL. You talk about parity. You never know what's going to happen. I will say last night, I found myself in a strange position of actually rooting for Dak. And man, he had a rough night. CeeDee Lamb once again goes off. What is wrong with that guy? He's basically a franchise player. And he keeps calling out his quarterback on the sideline at the very time he needs to go over, put his arm around and go, we're going to get a man. You're great. Stick with it. Yeah. None of this felt like a win, even though it was, of course, technically a win. This was a game that was

delayed 90 minutes because of weather. The whole thing was ugly. It was a slog in the most classic sense. Nobody felt good about what was happening. Dallas fans were ready to seemingly jump off the bandwagon that had mostly been abandoned by the nation at this point, but they eke out this win. And of course, this is in spite of a couple of picks for Dak, in spite of a fumble, in spite of red zone turnovers. And you're right, Joe, if you're looking at the sideline, I don't just play body language doctor here, but who has confidence in this team? Who is on this team? It's one thing for me to come on the show and laugh at how the Cowboys are cowboysing. But when you look at the way that this team is carrying itself, you're right.

The CD Lambeck Prescott thing, it makes you feel bad for somehow. And this is this is this is a strange thing for the highest paid quarterback in the history of the NFL. Exactly. That's just not a thing you should necessarily feel, but we do. Yeah. We do. 55 million plus, and we're feeling sorry for Dak. We've only got about a minute left, but I'm going to name two quarterbacks who had

two great days. One in a winning effort, one in a losing effort. Jaden Daniels, I mean, come on. Come on, the Commanders. This is incredible. But also, grateful to see as a fan, Joe Burrow have a great day, even in a losing effort. Oh, yeah, Joe Burrow is excellent. I've never had doubts about him, even though he got off to a slow start recovering from injury. But this game, this clip in particular, Jaden Daniels, again, having the greatest rookie season at this pace we've ever seen,

juxtaposed against, and it comes up often when I talk to you Joe on Monday mornings, against Deshaun Watson. And just for people who don't remember how this went, the worst trade in the history of the NFL, the most morally compromised transaction in the history of the NFL, the most uncredible contract. Worse than the Herschel Walker trade. The worst ever in every way.

Yes. Six draft picks, three first rounders. They're paying this guy nine figures left on just dead cap hits. If they cut him, which means they can't. So will they pull the plug? They cannot. But what they can do is bench him. They should bench him every time they go and watch Deshaun Watson play against,

let alone Jaden Daniels, but any average quarterback. It's Jameis Winston time in Cleveland, despite everything we've said about what they gave up to get Deshaun Watson, which is wild on its own. All right. The host of Pablo Torre finds out on Meadowlark Media. Pablo Torre, thank you. We'll talk to Pablo later this week.

Later this week. We're going to be talking the playoffs. Yeah, thank you.