Morning Joe - Morning Joe 11/8/24

Episode Date: November 8, 2024

The Morning Joe panel recaps the outcome of the 2024 presidential race.

President Biden addressed the nation for the first time since Trump won the election. Democrats were like, well, I guess at this point we can let him speak again. Yeah. Let him talk. What's going to happen? During his speech, Biden said, you can't love your country only when you win.

Then he said, but since I didn't win or lose, I can do whatever the hell I want. So, I mean, it doesn't matter. I mean, Biden had baby's leg, yeah. Biden also tried to comfort Democrats by saying, the America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up. And Biden said, now, excuse me, I need to go take a nap. While many expected a speech about the peaceful transfer of power and moving on, old Joe had another idea.

He had a major announcement up his sleeve. I'm staying in the race. Who's going to tell him, man? The sun is coming up over New York City. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Friday, November 8th. It felt like Friday yesterday, but today it actually is Friday. President Biden is pledging a peaceful and orderly transition of power following Donald Trump's election win. We're going to dig into more of his address to the nation as he prepares to welcome the

man he once called a threat to democracy back into the White House. Plus, Trump and his transition team are already vetting potential candidates who could serve in his administration. We'll tell you who he just named to be his White House chief of staff and why he's weighing bringing in outsiders over elected officials into his new cabinet. Also ahead, we'll take a look at Trump's plan to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history, which he says must be done regardless of the financial price tag. Along with Joe, Willie and me, we have the host of way too early White House bureau chief at Politico, Jonathan Lemire.

President of the National Action Network and host of MSNBT's Politics Nation, Reverend Al Sharpton. Editor-in-chief of The Economist, Zannie Minton-Bettos is here with us. And former Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo of Florida is with us as well. So Joe, this morning we look back on the week that was and what's ahead. Well, and what's ahead not only for the United States, but also what's ahead for the world. I saw a piece in the Financial Times this morning. Many people would say a poor man's economist.

Thank you so much for being with us, Annie. But it struck my attention on Francis Fukuyama talking about why exactly Donald Trump succeeded so well and why the Republicans swept, what Trump unleashed and what it means for America. But I thought that as you dug into it, it really talked about it. Alex, I don't know, do we have the full screen on that or not? I have it here. Not quite yet. Not quite yet? You can read it.

Not quite yet. Well, it really, it went to Zannie, I'll go with you here. There's been an ongoing problem in America that I know I'm sure you've been concerned about. I've been concerned about over the past 20, 30 years, the deindustrialization of the West, what that means for those that have been scattered in the job market, what it means, the distortions that it's caused to the economy, whether it was... Well, here, they've actually gotten the prompt, let me read this and then have you respond.

He writes, when Trump was first elected in 2016, it was easy to believe that the event was an aberration. He was running against a weak opponent who didn't take him seriously. And in any case, Trump didn't win the popular vote. When Biden won the White House four years later, it seemed as if things had snapped back to normal after a disastrous one-term presidency. Tuesday's vote following it, and now

seems that it was the Biden presidency that was the anomaly, and that Trump is inaugurating a new era in US politics, and perhaps the world as a whole. Americans were voting with full knowledge of who Trump was and what he represented. But what is the underlying nature of this new phase of American history? Classical liberalism is a doctrine built around respect for the equal dignity of individuals through rule of law that protects their rights through constitutional checks and balances

on the state's ability to interfere with those rights. But over the past half century, that basic impulse underwent two great distortions. The first was the rise of neoliberalism, an economic doctrine that sanctified markets and reduced the ability of governments to protect those hurt by economic change. The world got a lot richer in the aggregate, while the working class lost jobs and opportunity. Power shifted away from the places that hosted the original Industrial Revolution to Asia and other parts of the developing world. shifted away from the places that hosted the original Industrial Revolution to Asia and

other parts of the developing world. The second distortion was the rise of identity politics, or what one might call woke liberalism, in which progressive concerns for the working class was replaced by targeted protections for a narrower set of marginalized groups, racial minorities, immigrants, sexual minorities, and the like. State power increasingly was used not in the service of impartial justice, but rather to promote specific social outcomes for these groups. In the meantime, labor markets were shifting into an information economy.

In a world which most workers sat in front of cuter screen rather than lifted heavy objects off factory floors, women experienced a more equal footing. This transformed power within households and led to the perception of a seemingly constant celebration of female achievement. The rise of these distortions, understandings of liberalism, drove a major shift in the social basis of political power. The working class felt that the left-wing political parties

were no longer defending their interests and began voting for parties of the right. Thus, the Democrats lost touch with their working class base and became a party dominated by educated urban professionals. The former chose to vote Republican. And Zanny, as I was reading this, I also saw in the New York Times, I believe, a story yesterday that said the 10 richest people in the world made $64 billion. What was it, Alex?

Last week, in an extraordinarily short amount... Okay, Trump's victory adds a record $64 billion to the wealth of the richest top 10, while again the working class get poorer and poorer. And Democrats, left of center groups, have had no answer for this now for 30 years. So it's interesting, Joe, that Frank Fukuyama wrote that piece. He of course was the man who 30 years ago wrote an article famously in 1989 called The End of History. And he thought history had finished then, and my goodness, he was wrong. And I agree with him that this is now the end of

what you might call the post-war era of the world, where the American-led rules-based order is definitely being challenged. And you could say, as Frank Fukuyama said, perhaps first time around, it was an aberration. Now it is absolutely not. Americans have voted very clearly for a very different conception of their economy and of their role in the world. What caused it? I think he touches on many of the important points.

I don't think you can put this—it's partly a backlash against the economy. It's partly a backlash against particularly the inflation of the last four years. If you look around the world, this has been a really bad year for incumbents. Incumbents have been turfed out in many countries, not just the U.S. But I do think he's also right that there is a sense in many Americans that the Democrats have lost touch with ordinary Americans. And I think the social aspect has a lot to do with that. People don't feel that the Democrats are thinking of them.

They think they look down on them and they think they are the party of their elite. And that's a real problem for the Democrats. And Carlos, importantly, out of this election, what we can read into these numbers is that I think it was long believed that white working class voters were by and large Trump supporters, but the coalition got so much broader over the last couple of years and it showed itself in the vote on Tuesday night with Latino Americans, 45% going to Donald Trump, black young men going toward Donald Trump, not overwhelmingly, but making moves in that direction.

Young voters going toward Donald Trump. This was not just about white working class voters. This was something much bigger, a much broader coalition than most people realized. That's right, Willie. And I think part of the explanation is in what Joe just read. Democrats, it's been decades since Democrats speak

to this country as one nation, as one American people. You know, it's always, we're gonna do this this for the Hispanics, and we're going to do this for the African Americans, and we're going to do this with the LGBTQ community. And Donald Trump, you know, for all his flaws, and of course, a lot of his speech is objectionable, but he speaks to all Americans with the same message. And I think, you know, that's a big explanation here. People are looking for all these policy explanations. Well, which policies does Trump support that people like?

It's really more about culture. It's really more about the way he addresses the country in an odd way. I think it's unifying, whereas Democrats have really fractionalized the country and tried to win all these different coalitions. I think that's over.

I mean, this idea that Democrats have pushed for a couple decades that demography is destiny. Well, we can declare the death of that. I mean, we're in a new era now and Democrats have to learn how to win in this new era. You know, Mika, Frank Bruni has also written an op-ed today that we're going to be talking about and he also talks about what Democrats missed and talk about how Democrats would see the shocking things that Donald Trump would say on the campaign trail and they would think that was going to be what made the difference. Him rambling about Hannibal Lecter, him rambling about electric boats, him rambling about sharks, him rambling about going after Nancy Pelosi,

going after Liz Cheney, all of these other things. And what Frank Bruni said is, they weren't paying attention to it. Even the big things they were paying attention to, the debates, said that a lot of people and a lot of Democrats looked at those big media events, those big political events, thinking that that would smudge over the reality of inflation

and how much groceries cost and how much gas cost and how hard it was to get into a home. And Frank Bruni says Democrats never got it. Then while we were looking at all of the crazy things Donald Trump was saying on the campaign trail, all of the frightening things Donald Trump was saying on the campaign trail, all of the frightening things Donald Trump was saying on the campaign trail, they were looking at their wallet. They were looking what groceries cost,

what gas costs, what rent costs. And none of that really penetrated their conscience when they went to vote. Right, it's, I think, hard for a hardworking American who's busy, who's got kids, who's got a lot of things to worry about, to even take a moment to comprehend enemy from within, or Hitler's generals, or things that really seem very jarring to students of politics and American who do this for a living.

But I agree, it kind of washed over, because I think if those comments were taken seriously, perhaps the results might have been a little different. And the comments are real, and the history with Donald Trump is real. But I don't think the Democratic side was able to communicate that effectively, or they over-communicated on it as important as it was, and left out other areas, left other areas for the Trump side to take. And then there was disinformation. President-elect Trump successfully

harnessed the anger and frustration felt by millions of Americans and used it to score a decisive election victory. This is a new analysis by the New York Times finding how Trump won came down to one essential bet that his grievances could meld with those of the MAGA movement and then with the Republican Party and then with more than half the country. His mugshot became a best-selling shirt. His criminal conviction inspired $100 million in donations in one day.

The images of him bleeding after a failed assassination attempt became the symbol of what supporters saw as a campaign of destiny. The paper continues, at times Mr. Trump could be so crude and self-indulgent on the stump that aides wondered if he were engaged in an absurdist experiment to test how much aberrant behavior voters would tolerate. However, Trump tapped into the anger and frustration millions of voters felt about some of the very institutions and systems he will soon control as the country's 47th president. Voters unhappy with the nation's direction turned him into a vessel for their rage.

Reverend Dowell, what do you make of that assessment? I think it's right on. I think that they hit the real reason that we are where we are. And that is that everyday people of all races that were suffering from economic insecurity, inflation and others felt they were not being addressed and Many of us kept warning that you can't have the beltway intellectuals guide this there were people in the campaign trying to fight back Then young more leah dorsi was telling him wait a minute. You gotta listen to people Trump was very in a very crafty way saying yes Butters too high. Yes, you're suffering. And they did it.

Well, the other side was not saying why this was the case. Therefore, it was interpreted that you don't understand what I'm going through. And telling me about all this stuff that he's done doesn't answer the reason I'm in the condition I'm in. I saw them try, but I guess not enough. Yeah. I mean, there are certainly similarities

to what we saw in 2016 and now, where there was just this anger that the elites were doing well, the rest of us were suffering. That's what the vote, the bet was. And it was after the aftermath of the Great Recession. And now the aftermath of the pandemic resulting inflation, we're seeing leaders of democracies across the globe either lose jobs or at least be severely weakened in its aftermath. So, Xanye, your publication has a new piece which has the title, Welcome to Trump's World.

The economist writes in part this, in 2016, some people comforted themselves with the thought that Mr. Trump's presidency was an aberration. By choosing to overlook his attempts to stop the transfer of power to Mr. Biden in 2020, voters have shown how wrong that conclusion was. Instead, they have endorsed Mr. Trump's unbounded exploitation of partisanship as the basis of his politics, including the slander of his opponents as corrupt and treacherous.

This has spread a cynicism and despair about the merits of government that may serve him, but will not serve America's democracy. MAGA is a movement of iconoclasm against the kind of benign internationalists who occupied the White House for 70 years. This week, a majority of voters embraced it with their eyes open. And I'm digging a little deeper on this. It's not just that we've all seen Trump's conduct in office with the impeachments and the insurrection, but also what he has pledged to do, mass deportations, a crackdown on his enemies,

and a majority of Americans looked around and said, yes, we'll take it. That's just what we want. They did, but I think I would frame it slightly different to the New York Times, which is I think there was definitely, amongst his core supporters, there's a sort of fanatical Trumpism in the belief in everything he does. I think many ordinary people, many Americans of all walks of life, when it wasn't necessarily

rage, it was just they thought, actually, he says a whole bunch of things that I don't believe. The first term was pretty good. And on important things that matter to me, he actually is talking, they think, sense on immigration. It is true that this government has failed to deal with the border until very recently. It's a real problem.

He got it. He got the sense that many people feel that the kind of culture wars and the progressive slant of the Democratic Party is out of sync with Americans on gender, on trans issues, on all of that kind of stuff. And those are the ads that really went. And I think he taps into a sense which is not so much just a feeling of rage. It's a sense that people, Americans across the board, think that he is closer to them

than Democrats are. But the reason we wrote this bigger picture editorial is that what is definitely clear is that his sense of America's role and what America should be doing in the world is very different than the last 70 years. This is a protectionist view. This is a view of much more akin to the 1930s. That's why I think this is a shift really, we have to go back 70 years to see a shift like this.

And I would posit that the consequences for those of us who live outside America are going to be as alarming or more alarming. And I think that you can go around the world and see, and it's not surprising that foreign leaders are picking up the phone and tweeting out congratulations as fast as they could. Because no one kind of knows what he's going to do. Everyone wants to get on his right side. Everyone knows he's transactional. He wants American strength.

They don't quite know what that means. And so they're trying to position themselves to get in his good books. And actually, I think, and this may surprise you, he may not be as bad, for example, for Ukraine as many people think. And I was very struck in our reporting this week. My colleague based in Kiev wrote an excellent piece

that suggests senior people in Kiev were rather hoping for a Trump victory because they were so fed up of the sort of self denial and timidity of the Biden administration that they felt you know with they weren't getting the weaponry that they needed there was a sense that there was so much worry in Washington right now about escalation by Trump by Putin so I think we're just, it's like the whole post-war order has been thrown up, shaken up. And we spoke last week and I said, when we wrote our endorsement leader,

I said, it may be that we'll get through this and it'll be like Trump won. And my goodness, I hope that's right. The risks were too high for me, which is why we were worried about it. I just hope these tail risks don't come to pass and that we actually get... There are some good things that could come of this.

I know it's hard for you to think about that right now, but there are areas that could be deregulation. I think there is a huge amount that he could do, good things that he could do. There are good things that could be done in foreign policy. We just have to hope they get done and the risks aren't. And I think rather than... I'm trying to look forward and I'm trying to look positive about it,

and I think that at the moment it's just up in the air and it depends what trump we get. To see where it lands. And as we're looking back, Willie, to Zenni's point, Joe had been mentioning those ads, those misleading trans ads that they spent, I think, $30 million on. And we're airing just everywhere,

especially in front of football audiences and made a difference. Yeah, no question about it. We've talked about that. Those broke through and that showed up in the exit polling. So as the Democratic Party now shattered, picks up the pieces and tries to evaluate what exactly happened, President Biden, who of course stepped aside from the race back in July, addressed the nation yesterday for the first time since Vice President Kamala Harris lost

the election to Donald Trump. Speaking from the White House, Biden emphasized the importance of a peaceful transfer of power and urged Americans to unite over their love of the country. The people vote and choose their own leaders and they do it peacefully. And we're in a democracy. The will of the people always prevails. Yesterday, I spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his victory.

And I assured him that I'd direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That's what the American people deserve. I will do my duty as president. I'll fulfill my oath and I will honor the Constitution. On January 20th, we'll have a peaceful transfer of power here in America.

I know for some people, it's a time for victory to state the obvious. For others, it's a time for victory to state the obvious. For others, it's a time of loss, campaigns or contests, of competing visions. The country chooses one or the other. We accept the choice the country made. I've said many times, you can't love your country only when you win. You can't love your neighbor only when you agree. Something I hope we can do, no matter who you voted for, is see each other not as adversaries, but as fellow Americans. Bring down the temperature.

I also hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system. It is honest, it is fair, and it is transparent. And it can be trusted, win or lose. Setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. We all get knocked down. But the measure of our character, as my dad would say, is how quickly we get back up. Remember, a defeat does not mean we are defeated.

We lost this battle. The America of your dreams is calling for you to get back up. That's the story of America for over 240 years and counting. It's a story for all of us, not just some of us. The American experiment endures. We're going to be okay, but we need to stay engaged. We need to keep going. And above all, we need to keep the faith.

Carlos, the president talking about the peaceful transfer of power, it is worth noting a quick concession the next day from Kamala Harris, clear what the result was, not clear if the margins had been the same. The other way that we'd be talking right now about a peaceful transfer of power. But no question about who won this race. So let's talk about the blame game that's going on among Democrats.

I'm sure you're hearing it as we all are from sources and some of it's spilling out into the public. Some saying, well, if Joe Biden had gotten out earlier, allowed for a real primary process, it would have tested the candidate, would have introduced a candidate. Perhaps it would have been someone different from Kamala Harris. Everybody has the answer this morning after such a wipeout on Tuesday. What is your sense of what could have been done differently, immaterial at this point,

as now Democrats need to look forward and figure out how they win again? Well, real quick, Willie. First, on both Vice President Harris speech and President Biden's speech they deliver the speeches the message that the country needed at this time and you really have to tip your hat to them I think that was one of Joe Biden's best speeches in in months maybe even in years so the nation should be grateful for that tone and for that attitude

that's what my dad used to always say about this country and how it was different from Latin American countries where our families came from. Americans fight and then they embrace after the fight. Hopefully we can get back on track. In terms of what Democrats could have done differently, what Vice President Harris could have done differently, I don't think in the 100 days that she had to campaign,

she could have addressed the structural challenges that Democrats faced and which delivered another victory to Donald Trump, a significant victory. I do think that looking back at the Biden-Harris administration and their four years in office, I think when Americans picked Joe Biden in 2020, they wanted someone to heal the country. They wanted someone to bridge the political gap, the divide. And I do think in that sense, they wanted someone to heal the country. They wanted someone to bridge the political gap, the divide. And I do think in that sense, they did not succeed. And when you look at the right track, wrong track numbers in polls, I think it really

does confirm that. I think President Biden really had an opportunity perhaps to decide he was going to be a one-term president from the beginning. He kind of alluded to that during his campaign in 2020 and tried to bridge the political gap and really lower the temperature in this country. But despite some bipartisan victories in Congress, you know, you look at the polling, you look at how people feel, and they did not succeed in healing the country the way I think Americans were looking for them to do in 2020, trying to turn the page on what was a very chaotic Trump presidency.

Although certainly Trump didn't exit the stage and continued to feed into that tumult and divide. Rev, I mean, it was remarkable that President Biden yesterday, he has deemed Donald Trump a threat to the democracy, but yet he committed, of course, the peaceful transfer of power. That is what the American experiment is supposed to be about. There's a lot, as you've heard it, a lot of finger pointing behind the scenes right now between the Biden camp, between the Harris camp, some believing that had President Biden stepped away after the midterms per se, things could have been different.

There could have been an open primary process, maybe resulting in a better chance for Democrats to win. But let's remember, President Biden at the time, two successful legislative years, a strong state of the union, that would have been a tall order. But the election results show this isn't just a Biden or Harris problem.

The Democrats have a party problem. Republicans won around the clock. No, I think that that is really what the Democratic Party has to face. They have an existential problem, which is why I commended some that have been inside fighting saying that, like Ben Young, like Lee and others, saying, you got to get back to real people.

Real people are suffering, and Trump is the only one blaming something. So they go for that, because we're not identifying, yes, you're suffering. These things led to that. And I think that the Democratic Party has to really deal with listening to some of the people in the party that is trying to reconnect them to their roots, what they stood for. I think that's fair, but I think we have to factor in massive disinformation as well. Oh, yeah, absolutely. I mean, we can't just pretend Democrats are... But you have to answer the disinformation you have to address.

I hear you. I totally agree with that. Former Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo and editor-in-chief of The Economist, Zannie Minton Betos. Thank you both very much for being on this morning. We really appreciate it. And still ahead on Morning Joe, new reporting about how some Republicans are already looking to scale back a few of President-elect Trump's more expensive economic proposals, plus betting on who would become the next president surged in the final weeks ahead of the election.

And for some who put their money on Trump, the gamble paid off. We'll talk about the impact of that next on Morning Joe. We're back in 90 seconds. This morning NBC News is projecting President-elect Donald Trump officially now has won the state of Nevada and its six electoral votes. This marks the first time a Republican has won that state since 2004. Trump campaigned frequently in Las Vegas promoting his No Tax on Tips pledge, where a significant number of residents worked for tipped wages.

With the Nevada win, Trump's total electoral vote now stands at 301. Arizona now remains the last state yet to be called. Jonathan Lemire, Donald Trump leading comfortably now in Arizona as well. That's 11 electoral votes. We'll put them up to 312. So basically Donald Trump should sit at 312 and you have a few of these outstanding Senate races

that have yet to be called as well. But we can stop now and say for all the talk over these months and months about those seven battleground states with Arizona still outstanding, it looks almost certain that he will sweep all seven of those states. Yeah, Trump's going to run the table here, which is truly striking. He'll end up with more electoral votes than he did in 2016. We already know that he is on pace to win the popular vote this time around, something that a Republican presidential candidate has not done since 2004. Now,

there are a few things still hanging in the balance. The Democrats did get some good news in the Senate. Alyssa Slotkin narrowly going to win in Michigan. Tammy Baldwin narrowly going to hang on to her seat there in Wisconsin. Nothing projected yet, but we have leads for Senator Rosen in Nevada, as well as Ruben Gallego, the congressman in Arizona. Pennsylvania, though, might go the other way. It appears that Senator Casey might lose his seat there to Dave McCormick. And it leads us, Willie, to an interesting dynamic here of ticket splitting, where we have a number of Democratic Senate candidates who still manage to win.

Wisconsin and Michigan's already happened. Nevada and Arizona, Mika seem likely. Pennsylvania, the only exception to the rule. But where this leaves us is Donald Trump, Republicans will have the presidency. They will have the Senate and by enough of a margin, they don't always need the votes of Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, Republicans who were willing to defy Trump in the past. They're going to be able to do it without them. Right. And the House has not yet been called. There are still paths for Democrats to win, but that path is very narrow.

It looks like Republicans will get the House and have a clean sweep. So the FBI is investigating reports of racist text messages sent to black Americans after the presidential election. NBC News correspondent Zin Klay-Esemoy has the latest. Corin Freeman was at home with her kids on Wednesday when she got a text from a number she didn't recognize. It was this odd, ominous feeling text message basically saying hello, you've been selected to be a slave on a plantation and you're scheduled to get picked up on at 12 AM on November 13th. How did it feel when you got that text message? Well,

I was immediately disturbed and she's not alone. Social media sites have been flooded with people from New York to Florida who say they've gotten these racist messages. Freeman and others believe the texts may have been sparked by the current political climate. I think that this is intentional to scare people of color, black people into a reality that we don't want to go back to. The wording of the texts appear to differ. Some have misspellings, others address individuals by name. But the

theme is consistent, telling recipients they've been selected to pick cotton. All of the people NBC News spoke to who got these messages are black. Several universities confirmed their students have reported receiving the text. Clemson says they came from numbers associated with online spoofing sites. It remains unclear who is behind the messages. Text Now, which offers free phone numbers online, tells NBC News at least one of its accounts may be involved, writing in a statement in part, we do not tolerate or condone the use of our service

to send harassing or spam messages, adding they shut down the accounts and are working with authorities. For recipients like Corinne Freeman, the digital hate is fueling her real world concerns. I am overwhelmed with anxiety and fear about how I'm going to help my children make sense of the world that they have to navigate as black children. NBC's Zin Clay Esamah with that report. and joining us now, the president and CEO of the

NAACP, Derek Johnson. I guess we'll start there and then broaden out. What do you make of these tax messages and what's it signifying in terms of what's to come? Well, not surprising. If you can recall, when Trump was in office before, we seen an increase in racial hate crimes. In one week alone, attacks on Latinos in El Paso, African Americans in Louisville, and

the Jewish community in Pittsburgh just in a one week span with mass shootings. And so we are not surprised that this has taken place. And unfortunately, we are in for four years of this. Rev, your take? Well, we must remember in the four years that Donald Trump was president. That is when George Floyd happened. That's when Breonna Taylor happened. That's when Ahmaud Arbery.

Probably three of the most memorable racial cases of our time. And he said nothing as president. He went in front of a church and lectured the protesters holding up a Bible. And I think that as Derek, as we started getting calls in National Action Network, and I know you were overwhelmed yesterday about these text messages, it brings back this whole feeling of our community under siege. And you've got to remember Trump just a couple of weeks ago said, well, some slavery could have stayed in. These people are being emboldened and feel empowered with the reelection of Donald Trump. And I think that that message didn't get through even to some young black men because of the

anxiety of the economic woes we were dealing with. Yeah. You know, in terms of the election itself, the democratic business model is dysfunctional. It's a diminishing return on investment. They emphasize nationalizing the campaign or media buys, and they don't spend enough time on the doors. They don't empower local and state actors. They're not expanding the pie.

And so what we have seen over the last 15 plus years is the same playbook, and we're getting diminishing returns. VP, her execution of this campaign was flawless. She did exactly what she was supposed to do. But when I got to Pennsylvania, when I was in Atlanta, I realized some gaps there that the people who were working in the campaign that was hired before the VP was in place, they were disconnected from the communities. And African Americans, we're a reliable voting block, but we have to be persuaded.

We have to be mobilized. And the model they use is mobilization only and not persuasion. The median age of our community is 32 years old. Think about that. A significant number of individuals, they didn't grow up looking at broadcast news. They didn't grow up looking at cable news.

They grew up looking at social media platforms that's unregulated, full of mis and disinformation. And so we have to communicate with them differently. Nailed it. Yeah. No question there. So let's talk big picture. Where does the party go from here? I mean, certainly, Donald Trump tried to court black voters this time around, didn't actually

end up having much success. He had major inroads though with the Latino population. But what you, you know, so many voters on the trail though, and Rev, you can attest to this, is there are so many members of the black community who just feel like their vote has been taken for granted. They just show up every, you know, the candidate shows up every four years. So how can that fundamental dynamic change? How can they feel more included, more part of the process?

One, the black vote should not be taken for granted. We need to have a conversation with the black community, and it's a persuasion conversation. Two, the consultant class gotta be pushed back because they are controlling multi-billion dollar campaigns with no real accountability and a lot of self-dealings. And so what you find is no infrastructure between elections, individuals being grossly enriched,

and the candidates can be perfect. And what happens is, regardless of the candidate, the infrastructure is still in place, and that goes back 15, 20 years. And it's frustrating to say the least. I can imagine. President and CEO of the NAACP, Derek Johnson, thank you. I'm so sorry. Still ahead, we'll speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning

journalist Bob Woodward on a look ahead to the domestic and global issues Donald Trump will inherit when he returns to the White House. Plus, Jim Van De Hei, a Vaxius, will join the conversation with his new piece, Behind the Curtain, Deep Democratic Depression, and he'll lay out why he says Democrats lost so badly. Also ahead, Emmy award winning actor Jason Sudeikis will be a guest

to discuss his annual fundraising event, Thunder Gong. Morning Joe will be right back. Chase lined up to the right side. Looks that way. What a grab. Joe Burroughs third touchdown pass to Jamar Chase sets up the Cincinnati Bengals late in the game for a game winning two point attempt against the Ravens. Decide not to tie it and play overtime. They're going for the win with under a minute. But, Burroughs throw on that two-point try. False incomplete after officials appear to miss two blatant penalties committed by Baltimore during the play. A hold on tight end Mike Jesicki.

And what looked like roughing the passer on Burroughs. At least that hold though for sure. The Ravens come away with the win after quarterback Lamar Jackson was absolutely brilliant. The MVP leading Baltimore back from a 14-point deficit, finishing with four touchdown passes, three of them coming in that fourth quarter rally. Ravens beat the Bengals, 35 to 34. Jonathan Lemire, what a display of quarterback play from Lamar Jackson, but also from Joe Burrow who threw for four touchdowns, 428 yards, including those three to Jamar Chase. Some people will question why the Bengals went for two.

I like it. You're on the road. Go for the win. Clearly your defense hasn't been stopping Lamar Jackson in that fourth quarter. Yeah, totally agree with the call to go for two and the win there on the road. More coaches should do that. I was frustrated a week ago when the Patriots did not when they tied the game up in the last second.

Yeah, in a year where offense has kind of been down this year in the league and quarterback play has not been that great. Man, what an exception last night. Both Lamar and Burrow, fantastic. And Willie, you and I have talked a lot about how our respective NFL teams the Patriots and Giants have given us nothing to cheer for this year so therefore we've shifted solely our focus to fantasy football I'll just note my team has both Lamar Jackson and Jamar Chase so no between two players 88 points last night so I like my chances this week if nothing

else that is unbelievable. Congrats to you. Also exciting John, 930 I know you and the kids will be glued to the TV. 930 a.m. on Sunday we are exporting the Giants and the Panthers to Munich which seems unfair and an act of poor diplomacy. Sunday today, Sunday today, Giants, Panthers, already Trump is disrupting the international order by sending the worst football game we could imagine to Europe. Oh my God, I guess I'll watch, I don't know, we'll see.

Meanwhile, LSU has a huge game tomorrow night against Alabama and reportedly, for inspiration, will have a live tiger in the stadium tomorrow night in Death Valley. Vibra tradition stopped nearly a decade ago because of concerns over animal safety. They used to have the tiger on the sideline. No. A state senator telling the Louisiana Illuminator, the live tiger set to attend the game, will not be the eight-year-old tiger who became LSU's mascot in 2017 and lives in an enclosure

across from the stadium. They have a tiger who lives outside the basketball arena at LSU's mascot in 2017 and lives in an enclosure across from the stadium. They have a tiger who lives outside the basketball arena at LSU. According to WBRZ, a different tiger brought in from out of state from a refuge will assume the mascot role for tomorrow's game. So, John, reviving a tradition in what effectively, by the way, is an elimination game. Alabama and LSU, both with two losses, loser of this game is not making the playoffs. Again, norms falling apart.

There's gonna be a tiger on the sidelines. But yeah, I mean, this is, to your point, this is something that they used to do. They stopped for safety concerns. Apparently those safety concerns aren't valid anymore. But you're right, it's a huge game. Even with the expanded playoff format here, we're seeing the current top 12.

It'll be 12 teams that make it. Yeah, these teams can't afford another loss. So, Mika, it seems though you have registered some objections to this time you're being here. I don't like it. No, that's going to be, that's not, that's animal abuse. So, coming up, Russian President Vladimir Putin is now commenting on America's presidential election.

We'll tell you what he's saying about Donald Trump's victory just ahead on Morning Joe.