Morning Joe - Morning Joe 3/28/24

Episode Date: March 28, 2024

The Morning Joe panel discusses the latest in U.S. and world news, politics, sports and culture

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It's been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Oh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come.

Yes, they will. And that will start today. And I mean, Mika got chills and white tears from her eyes a couple of times. I understand. I understand that. I got to watch that movie again, Willie. I got to tell you, every time I watch movies over and over again, by the way. Sure. I might say, why not not and that's an amazing scene also when kevin costner drives off and the van comes around and shows james earl jones and he says two words moonlight ground getting chills but you know it is some people see that that don't understand and think it's very hokey. But when I hear that, I think of my dad taking me when I was a five-year-old kid to Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, and he'd get the

score book out. You know, my dad would always keep score, taught us how to keep score. By the time we got a little older, we all would be keeping score, like Doris Kearns Goodwin talks about in baseball, in Ken Burns' documentary. But I remember taking Joey, my son, to Fenway in 99 to the All-Star game and tears looking to the left and right of me and tears coming out of grown men's, you know, coming down streaking grown men's, you know, coming down, streaking grown men's faces, just about the old century team.

My children, grown up, I've got pictures of all of my kids grown up, you know, from three to five to ten. Now, Jack, who just loves your show, little Jack, who's now six foot four. We when we're driving in the car we're talking about the red socks we're talking about baseball i mean it it connects it really does connect generations and today jack and i will be just as excited watching the red socks opening game as my dad and I were, God, 50 something years ago at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium watching the Atlanta Braves. Yeah, I mean, it's all brought home. If you want to get another quote from Field of Dreams, Dad, you want to catch at the end of that game. If that doesn't just melt you, I think we grew up a different way because that is that what that's the one that gets me every time, having a catch with your dad.

Yeah, and the beautiful thing about opening day is that everybody's got a shot. Even the Boston Red Sox. Jonathan Lemire is about to disagree. That's not true. Everybody's got a shot on opening day as we launch today. The New York Yankees, Jonathan Lemire, I know you're excited about them going to play the Houston Astros, obviously up against whatever cheating system they've devised for this season. It makes it a

little bit more difficult, but it is. There's something about this day. I know you're pessimistic about the Red Sox chances. It's here. We've been waiting all year for it. We're coming into spring. The weather's getting better and our teams are taking the field. Willie, it's opening day and for the Red Sox, season's over. They are disappointing their fans this offseason. They did very little. We certainly, Joe and I and Mike, all expect another last place finish and frankly, a lot of fan anger towards the team this year. But still, it is opening day and it is a national holiday. It is the beginning of spring in most ways, even though it's raining here in New York. We've already gotten a couple of rainouts.

Mets won't play today. But it is a beautiful thing. It is a sign of hope and renewal. It is the best. Sox are on the West Coast. Too late for me to stay up and watch live tonight, but I know I'll be watching this weekend with my sons, who are as big of fans as I am and as you guys are with your kids and my dad.

So it is always really special, even though this season will likely end with pain and misery, Joe. Well, I don't understand, Jonathan. Everybody's 0-0, but I looked in the standings, and they already have us two and a half games back. We're both all 0-0. How do we start two and a half games? It's bad.

But I'm going to be watching tonight. I know you can't believe that, but Alabama plays UNC in Sweet 16. And that's at 930 tonight, I think, out in the West Coast. So I'm going to have to stay up for that. And then the Red Sox start at 10. I will be worthless tomorrow morning, but it'll be worth it. Reverend Al, I want to talk about a man that you came to know and grow and love. Just a great, a great man, a great man.

You know, I see the I see these left with far left wing progressives that will pick out a vote here or a vote there and just absolutely trash him even in death. And that shows you the real lack of humanity in politics. And and and it's disgusting because Joe Lieberman was a public servant his entire life. He was a great man. You didn't have to agree with him 100 percent of the time and you didn't agree with him 100 percent of the time. But you ran for president with him, got to know him and got an understanding of just what what a throwback he was to the politics of old, where he would talk to John McCain, Lindsey Graham. He would talk to Republicans on the other side. He would work to get things done. And and he just so beloved in the state of Connecticut and beyond. Rev. No, no question about it. In 2004, we both were in the Democratic primaries.

And I remember when I entered the race, I was on the opposite side of the Democratic Party from Joe Lieberman. Joe Lieberman was considered part of the Democratic Leadership Council, the DLC, the sort of what we considered right wing of the Democratic Party. I was on the left. And I was surprised the first day I came for the first debate I was in, he welcomed me. He walked over and said, glad you're here. Glad you're going to express yourself. Anybody pick on you, you come to me. And we kind of got along. We didn't agree on many of the issues. I was anti the Iraq war. He was very much pro. But after every debate, he would come and talk and meet my daughters. And and he was a gentleman and one that really believed in what he believed, though I didn't agree with it. He believed that he was not demagogic. He was not the kind of performative politicians we see now.

And he was a genuine, decent guy. So when I heard of his passing yesterday, I immediately told people, no, you can't judge him by what we may agree with politically. You have to judge people by what they believe. He believed it, but he was not a human being that dealt with acrimony and dealt with the kind of demagoguery that has polluted politics now. And I wish his family all of the best because Joe Lieberman believed in this country. He might have looked at it through different lenses. You know, that decency and civility that Ravel brings up is actually even more an important part of his legacy now, given the disgraceful display that we're seeing in our

politics now and the danger that we're seeing in our politics now. Senator Lieberman's family announced yesterday that his death was caused by complications from a fall in his home. He was a four term senator. He represented the great state of Connecticut from 1989 to 2006. Then he switched to being an independent before retiring in 2013. He was the first Jewish candidate on a major party's presidential ticket when Al Gore picked him as his running mate in the 2000 presidential election. Lieberman was 82, and I should just say he was a family friend. He and his wife Hadassah knew my parents well. And it also brings

me back to my early days as a reporter in Connecticut. Lieberman and Dodd were the Connecticut senators. And you said Richard Blumenthal was the attorney general. They were always so respectful and decent. Incredible. And, you know, as I said, he became an independent. And that's the story here in his legacy. He disagreed with his party, but always civil, always a gentleman, always about finding common ground, finding common ground. And Willie, while the progressives on the far left may have disagreed with him and may have their issues with him still, Most of Americans are looking for somebody that finds a political space, that people like Joe Lieberman.

There's Lindsey Graham back when he was one of those people. Joe Lieberman, Susan Collins, Sam Nunn, Howard Baker. Those were the type of people that would work in the center of American politics. I hear it all the time. I know there are extremes and freaks on both sides. And I know the MAGA extremists are causing a real concern to those of us that love American capitalism and love American democracy. I speak for myself. But Joe Lieberman, Sam Dunn, Howard Baker, John McCain. If people want to know why Congress isn't working, it's because those people are gone because those people get voted out, other than Susan Collins, those people get voted out if they try to deal with the other side.

And that's why Washington, you know, people love to bitch and whine about how broken Washington, D.C. is. And then they send extremist freaks up to represent them. If they want to know why Washington is broken, it's because of them. Because they don't elect more people like John McCain. They don't elect more people like Joe Lie them, because they don't elect more people like John McCain. They don't elect more people like Joe Lieberman. They don't elect more people like Sam Nunn. They don't elect more people like Howard Baker anymore. And Lindsey Graham, he forgot who he was.

Yeah, Lindsey Graham's in all these photographs, right? I mean, he was John McCain's right hand, a good friend of Senator Joe Lieberman. And look at Lindsey Graham now. You're right. Obviously, Senator Lieberman frustrated, progresses with his Iraq war vote. It cost him a primary in Connecticut when he was running. He became an independent, actually won reelection that way. Remember, he endorsed John McCain in 2008 for the presidency when Barack Obama was running, ultimately came around and did endorse Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020.

But he definitely represents a different era. And as we talk about how he looks even better in hindsight in the year 2000, he and Al Gore, despite their objections to the Supreme Court decision to stop the counting of the ballots in Florida, they walked away. They conceded the election, which was notable at the time, but not viewed perhaps in the way it should be viewed now, because Donald Trump, of course, continues his lie about election that he lost by many, many, many more votes in 2020. So I think maybe history smiles a little wider on Senator Lieberman today, even because of the way he conducted himself after that election. Obviously, he continued to protest years later, but he was a man from a different time. And as you say, Joe, they are vanishing very quickly, men like Senator Joe Lieberman in Washington.

And we are poor as a nation for it. Yeah, you just look at Congress. Well, we're going to be talking to throughout the show this morning, people who knew Joe Lieberman very well, who ran against him. They're all going to be joining us throughout the four hours to examine his legacy as it pertains to the challenges that we are confronting today. But we have some new polling to tell you about that shows you a tight general election race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. In the first from Quinnipiac University, Biden leads Trump by three points, 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters.

That's within the polls margin of error. That follows polling this week that shows a neck and neck battle for key swing states in the latest Bloomberg Morning Console poll. Trump and Biden are tied at 45 percent in Michigan and Pennsylvania and in Wisconsin. Biden leads by a single point, which is within the margin of error. Very close with with us. We have special correspondent at Vanity Fair and host of the Fast Politics podcast, Molly Jong Fast. She's an MSNBC political analyst and also with us this morning, conservative attorney George Conway back with us. So also one more thing. The new polling also shows that Donald Trump has a big problem. Well, of course, with women voters in the Quinnipiac University survey, 60 percent of women say they plan to vote for Joe Biden compared to just 35 percent for Trump. If that happens in November, it would be a three point improvement on Biden's 2020 numbers.

A year when women cast more votes than ever before and turned out at higher rates than men. It would also mean a seven point drop in support for Trump. You know, Molly, it is. By the way, you look at these numbers. I think we're going to be seeing sort of a post state of the union lift for Joe Biden for quite some time because the Republicans are they're such idiots when it comes to approaching Joe Biden. And again, Newt Gingrich said it after 22, after they were idiots again and underestimated Biden and the Democrats and they lost. Gingrich said, you know, we just keep underestimating this guy the same way that Democrats underestimated Eisenhower and Reagan. And they they kept getting beat. So here we go again. And again, we have a special election not in Massachusetts, right? Not in the Berkshires,

but in Alabama. Oh, wow. Yeah. And a Republican district and a woman on running on IVF, running on women's issues that impact men. Marilyn Lanz. She wins in a landslide in Alabama. And now you're looking at this polling things. And again, she's going to be on today. We're we're only in March. We're only in March. And, you know, all these Democrats that have been whining so much, the numbers are showing

it's going to be a tight race. But you know what? You there's a reason the Biden administration, why people in this White House are as confident as they are. They believe they've got a candidate that they can pound politically from now until November. And they believe that they have an issue in women's rights, women's health care and democracy that that that are going to carry them and Democrats to victory. And my God, if you looked at anything over the past couple of years, you've got to you got to say, well, they know what they're talking about. Yeah. I mean, Alabama is such a great example because they really painted themselves into a corner with this idea that a five celled embryo is somehow a person. And you saw it stopped IVF in the state. Then the governor indemnified IVF clinics. So that means if you kill a five celled embryonic person, you are somehow legally OK. I mean, this is you know, this is

what happens. And this has happened a lot with Republican legislation. They sort of never think through the legislation. So they decide embryos are people and this won't cause any problems. And in fact, it causes problems with birth control and IVF. And now you're seeing, I mean, in Alabama, the Democrat won by 23 points. Like this is not normal. This is an electorate that is really worried that they're not going to be able to get birth control and IVF. And the things that we you know, these miracles of modern science that we as a you know, that make America great. Right. Well, it's not just a miracle of modern science, which is, again, extraordinary.

And I don't know a family that's not touched by it, including our own. And it's just glorious for moms and dads that don't think they're going to be able to have babies, to be able to have babies. That's the positive side of it as we talk about it. On the negative side, I'm just reading this ABC News headline. Just chilling.

A 13 year old rape victim. Let's just stop right there. Think about it. Moms and dads. Grandmoms and granddads. Because of Donald Trump, who has bragged repeatedly that he terminated a woman's right to choose. Because of Donald Trump, young rape victims are having state-forced births. And in this case, a 13-year-old rape victim has baby amid confusion over the state's ban. And the DNA from the baby actually is how they convicted the rapist.

This little girl was raped in a yard and was too scared to talk about it. And her mother only found out about this when she went to the hospital very sick. And then that is when the chaos started for this mom who worked several jobs, was living on the edge, just trying to get by. She noticed her daughter had become withdrawn, was changing. And then, of course, this revelation in the hospital. But there were all there was all this confusion. Can you get the abortion health care you need? They didn't know. People were talking to her about her having to leave the state. And this mom didn't have the fifteen hundred dollars or whatever was necessary to get to another state, literally had to decide on going through with the pregnancy because she didn't understand what was available to her because of all the new laws in place.

People were giving her the sense that she would have to leave the state to get. Well, and Molly doctors, doctors, she actually would have applied. It actually would have to leave the state to get well and molly doctors doctors she actually would have applied it actually would have applied to her doctors don't understand a lot of times a lot of times doctors are scared to perform this because donald trump bragged about terminating roe v wade and bragged about sending it to the states and And then the state legislatures, as you said, they make the most extreme bills to play to their most extreme elements. And you end up having 10 year old rape victims in Ohio having to flee the state. 13 year old rape victims here just just confused having to carry their their the baby to term because they were raped.

And this is this is Donald Trump's America now. This is Donald Trump's America. And I would add that it is, you know, this post-war America is actually not a very safe place to be a pregnant woman. That's what we're seeing. We're seeing doctors. I mean, this Lyft Louisiana report out last week showed that in Louisiana, doctors try to treat the OBGYNs are trying to

treat after 12 weeks because they're worried about getting blamed for miscarriages because before 12 weeks, you're much more likely to miscarry. I mean, this is crazy. We are already a country that really struggles with maternal fetal health, and it's only getting worse in this post-Roe America. And look, in 1973, the reason that Roe v. Wade was decided so broadly by a fairly conservative court was because of doctors afraid to treat, afraid to be jailed or fined or lose their licenses. And that's what we're going back to. So we've got this issue front and center in this presidential campaign. Also, all the legal issues that Donald Trump is facing. Less than 24 hours after he was hit with a gag order in his upcoming hush money trial, Trump has repeatedly lashed out again at the judge overseeing the case.

On True Social yesterday, Trump called the judge biased and conflicted. He also criticized the judge's daughter, saying she used an image of him behind bars as a social media profile picture. But that claim is false. The New York state court system says the account is bogus. Under the gag order imposed this week, Trump must refrain refrain from discussing witnesses, jurors, lawyers, court staff and employees in the Manhattan district attorney's office. The order did not mention the judge and his family. So George Conway, technically not a violation of the gag order because he's going after the judge, not witnesses, potential jurors. But Donald Trump continues down this road to no one's surprise, lying about a fake Twitter account

that he thinks he saw. Yep, lying, intimidating, bullying. That's that's Donald Trump at his worst. And that's Donald Trump always. And he's always going to find the one thing that he can do if there's a list of things that he cannot do and that he doesn't think he can get away with. And he has no compunction about it. He has no conscience. And at some point, I think, though, he can't help himself. He's going to end up violating the gag order. And that's going to be an interesting, an interesting moment. I mean, he's arguably already violated some other gag orders, but we're going to see him pushing the envelope as much as possible, particularly when he actually gets into that courtroom on April 15th and has to sit there and listen to all the evidence against him and listen to the arguments against him.

Yeah. You know, Jonathan Lemire, you know, we've been talking a lot about all the money that Donald Trump is going to have to pay. You look at look at how much of it is self-inflicted. About 90 million dollars of that is self-inflicted. With Eugene Carroll, that case was over and he just started defaming her again. You know, so the case is over. He pays, I don't know, five, ten million dollars is a lot of money for other people. But Trump would say not for himself. And then he ignores everything, starts defaming her again repeatedly. And this time the court comes back and they make a decision.

I think the jury made a decision. We've got to do something to stop him from defaming this woman because you would think a five or ten million dollar verdict would be enough. But no, it wasn't. And so so much of this whining. I mean, as is always the case with Donald Trump, so much of his problems are self-inflicted problems. And here we go again. So I don't want to hear people say, oh, well, if he ends up going to jail for a couple of nights for for for for violating this order, you know, it's on Donald Trump. It's on him. The rest of us, all three hundred and forty million Americans would not get away with what Donald Trump get away. I'd mark that down.

340 million of us would not get away with trashing a judge. Not even close. And and lying about the judge's daughter. I, I, I. For all the I practice law for a few a few years. And I practice law long enough to know that if you did something like this in Northwest Florida, you would be sent to jail for a night or two to think about it. Yeah, it is a two-tiered system of justice, but Donald Trump's got the advantage,

unlike what is what he always says. And we should be clear, this gag order is largely because of worries about threats of violence. There are many people attached to this. This trial and others have received threats from Trump supporters. This is an effort here to try to tamp that down, to try to get Trump to stay quiet. You know, but he can't help himself. As you just chronicled, he has gotten himself in so much trouble because he simply can't stop talking or truthing on his social media site. And Rev, and that's sort of what, first of all, that's going to have implications for his criminal trial. I think we've been living with this for so

long now that Trump is in legal trouble. It's still going to be jarring when he actually, as a former president, the first former president to sit in a courtroom in about a month's time and face criminal charges. But it also, that's the political problem for Trump. It's that he can't stop talking. Famously, he was disciplined for like the last two weeks of the 2016 campaign. And that did help him as he came back and to beat Hillary Clinton. But the Biden campaigns, they firmly believe the more Trump talks, the more he gets himself in trouble legally and politically, the better it is for the president. No, and I think they're right. I think that Trump will continue talking and they will continue the Biden and Democrats to benefit from it because he appears unhinged to the voters. But I think you must realize that Donald Trump wants to provoke a confrontation.

He wants to play martyr and he wants them to answer him, come down on him so he can play to his base, see what they're doing to me. Not that he's provoked it. I mean, to attack a judge's daughter and a judge who just said, don't do these kinds of things. And as you rightfully say, with violence being threatened, I mean, we're not doing this to stop free speech. We're doing this because people are being threatened and potential jurors will be concerned. I think it shows the irresponsibility of someone that you would want

to put back in the behind the chair in the Oval Office. It's absolutely, to me, frightening. Well, George Conway and Molly, George, you first. I mean, I think, first of all, the reason for these gag orders, as Jonathan Lemire pointed out, is because of the fear of violence, retribution. And Donald Trump is proven on that point in many different ways. We could talk for four hours about all the different ways he has threatened people. And then, of course, we have January 6th. And I just have to say, I was watching one of his networks because I like to see what Trump voters are hearing from places that call themselves news networks. And they were talking about January 6th in a discussion, in a discourse about us, actually, and saying that

we want to put out there that January 6th was more than just a little thing. And that is the problem with the discourse. Let's just come out and say it. You can hear on Fox News people saying that nothing was wrong with January 6th for the most part. Yeah, if someone believes it was a little thing. And others saying, you know, that network, they actually sit there. And people that watch that network

actually think January 6th was an important event. And you're you're sitting there. Wait a second. Were there not more than a little where they're not seeing newspapers in 19 in the 1930s saying, you know, Kristallnacht. There are some people who actually think that was a bad thing. This is the fact that Donald Trump has numbed people so much that the same people who said it was a horrible thing on January the 7th are now coming back into the cult,

back into the folds, going, you know, some people are stupid enough to say that that was a really terrible thing. Mind-blowing to me. Mind-blowing to me that that was a really terrible thing. Mind blowing to me. Mind blowing to me. That can't be the debate. That they actually are are able to say that on a network that's paid dearly for election lies.

Well, absolutely. I mean, they've created their own little bubble. It's a little bubble that Trump lives in and that all of the people who a lot of the people who support him live in. But the question is, what what do the people in the middle think? And and the people in the middle don't want that chaos. They don't really want that chaos. They're not thinking about Donald Trump quite yet as much as all of us do, because they're not it's it's only it's only March. And so I think that, you know, the strategy that the Biden campaign has, which is going to be to keep pounding on him and keep pointing out the crazy, keep pointing out the abnormal in Donald Trump is the right one, because it's going to actually have, as I as I like to say, kind of a a feedback effect. The more you pound on him and they have the resources and it

seems like they have the idea that they're going to really pound on him in a way that they did not in 2020. You provoke him and you get more of the kind of conduct that you can point to and say, this man should not be anywhere near the steering wheel of an ice cream truck, let alone the Oval Office. So I think, you know, I think that the dynamics are going to work in favor of, I mean, they're going to hurt Donald Trump as he becomes more and more exposed and faces more and more pressure from these criminal cases. Yeah, I think so. And again, the fact that that they are living in a bubble, that Donald Trump's living in a bubble. This reminds me so much, Molly, of 2012, where Mitt Romney and his team watched Fox News and nothing else. They looked at websites that told them they were up by 11 points in the Gallup poll.

They believed until election night in what they were hearing inside that bubble. It's happening again. And whether you're a fascist or a cult member or an insurrectionist or a weirdo or just a freak or just a confused person that has stumbled in the wrong direction, that is a bubble that has led to Republicans losing in 2017, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23. So so so little idiots over there that say I'm a left winger or something. First of all, I've got a 95 percent ACU rating. I'm more conservative than any of them. I was part of Congress and a big part of the reason, if anybody was around, they'll tell you that we balanced the budget for

four years in a row for the first time and the only time in 100 years. And so when I say all of this and say, wake up, you're in a bubble. I'm saying it as a conservative. And these cult members will look at anybody, will look at Liz Cheney, who I think also has a 95% ACU rating, will look at me, will look at George Conway, who liberals hated most of his life, will look at all these other people who gave their lives to the conservative cause that are saying, wake up, wake up. You're going to lose. This guy is a huckster. Well, they don't listen. Instead, they try to shoot the messenger who's trying to help them. And thank God. Right. Because this is this very autocratic vision for America. And, you know, look, we have one party that is not believing right now in the tenets of democracy.

Liz Cheney, George Conway, they're doing this because they're worried about American democracy. Right. This is no longer about left or right. This is about our system of government versus some other fever, Trumpy fever dream. And so I do, you know, again, George and I are friends. We disagree vehemently on many, many, many, many things, including abortion, which we fight about all the time and judges. But in the Supreme Court. But we also agree in democracy. Right. Do we fight about this all the time? This is what it's all about, actually, right here. And this is what is lacking in our discourse, our political discourse.

So we heard them fighting. Yeah, but they fight as the Republicans. That's true. And the Republicans that you named, you know, their crime in their party is that they spoke their mind. And the problem that we're seeing right now is you have a lot of people on the media that leans to the right and has that take is that they are right now cutting down people. They're speaking their mind. They are right now cutting down people who speak their mind despite who pays them. And they are proving that they take one for the team every day. You don't know what you're watching. Well, and they actually admitted over the past week. Time and time again.

They said, I would never say anything that my boss doesn't want me to say. I would never speak my mind. They literally said that on the air. They called it insubordination. And they assured their viewers that they would never speak their mind. If their boss didn't want them to speak their mind. No core values and that's what we're speaking stereo here because we believe it a lot that's one of the reasons why when we keep talking

about it sorry go ahead i was just talking to my friends that's one of the reasons why when when the tucker carlson stuff was going on and all the texts came out, Americans got to read the text and they found out, oh, wait a second, they're lying to us on the air. This is not what they believe. They're lying to us because we're seeing the text of what they really believe. And it's the same thing here. When they go, I would never say anything. My boss didn't want me like i truly believe what planet are they on i a good guess but george tucker i just have to finish with you george because i've got to say one of my favorite moments usually i don't i just outside of this good damn we talk politics for four hours outside of this i get off the air and I just I just don't talk politics.

But if I'm walking through an airport and somebody makes the mistake of saying I used to like you when you were a conservative. I don't. Oh, it's not. I'm like, you know, really, really. All right. And then I go down the list of issues. Where are you on this? Where are you on this? Well, I'll tell you what, you're a liberal on spending if you support Donald Trump. You're a liberal. And then you just go down the list of things. It is so funny, George, you and I were conservatives and are conservatives, but we were conservatives when some of these women on Fox News who call us liberals were still playing with their Barbies, Of course, Ava Braun

edition. We were fighting for conservative values. We were fighting to balance the budget. We were fighting to reform welfare. We were fighting to hold Democratic administrations accountable when they were in grade school and have done it our entire life? What's the difference when an anti-democratic, fascist leaning guy wants to be president of the United States? You know what? We're Americans first. Let's work with other people who support democracy. Yeah, I mean, that's absolutely right. I mean, the Republican Party and the conservative movement are no longer about conservatism and no longer about the republic. It's about Donald Trump. It's a it's a cult. It's a it's basically people will you know,

it's a it is a party that didn't have a platform in 2020 because they couldn't agree on a platform. They don't believe in anything. Donald Trump could turn around tomorrow on anything but, I guess, vaccines. I guess that's the one thing he doesn't dare cross the base on. And he could say anything and they'll say, yeah, that's right. That's right. As long a political party. It's a it's a it's self-destructive. It's not. And it's it doesn't get anywhere. It doesn't help the country in any respect, which is why, you know, it's so good that we're remembering Joe Lieberman. All politics is the art of the possible. And these people don't care about what's possible. They don't care about reality at all. Conservative attorney George Conway, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. And Molly Jong fast. Thank you as well. And before we go to break a few stories making headlines this morning, Russia is stepping up its efforts to prevent further U.S. support for

Ukraine. According to The New York Times, Russian intel operatives are using technology to amplify arguments for American isolationism ahead of the fall election. Citing U.S. officials and independent researchers, The Times reports Russia may be preparing to make a strong push to support candidates who oppose aiding Ukraine or who seek to withdraw the United States from NATO. The paper reports Russian intelligence agencies are actively replicating and distorting legitimate news sites in an effort to undermine future aid for Ukraine. We'll stay on that, Willie. The White House, meanwhile, says the Israeli government has agreed to reschedule now that visit to Washington. Yesterday, officials announced they're working to find a convenient date for both parties. The president asked to meet with

Israeli leaders to discuss alternatives to a ground offensive in Rafah, where more than a million people have sought refuge. A delegation was supposed to come to Washington this week, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled that trip after the United States allowed the U.N. to pass a ceasefire resolution. So a little hint of progress. Jonathan Lemire, this was obviously a huge point of contention between the two sides. The defense ministers, Defense Secretary Austin, did meet in Washington. But Netanyahu canceling this trip was seen as a huge rift between them, hopefully now bridging that gap. And about facing Netanyahu yesterday, White House aides told me they felt like this was more about him playing to some domestic political audiences at home.

He's facing real heat for a measure there that might conscript ultra Orthodox Jews into the military. He needed to show that he was standing up to the White House and keeping his options open for potentially a full on assault into Rafah, which polls suggest Israelis support, though very much President Biden and his aides do not. And that is the point of this meeting. So a flashpoint still looms here, is whether or not Israel and Washington can agree on what sort of operation will happen in Rafah. Biden's team, of course, pushing Israel to be very mindful to limit civilian casualties there and the humanitarian crisis. But yes, a step in the right direction. The date yet has not been scheduled, pushing Israel to be very mindful to limit civilian casualties there and the humanitarian crisis. But yes, a step in the right direction. The date yet has not been scheduled, but it also does go show, and I reported this last night, that so much of President Biden's foreign policy,

he bases on, he believes, personal relationships. That's across the globe. And Netanyahu, someone he's known for a very long time, that hasn't helped him here. Netanyahu has his own political futures that he's prioritizing, and the president and his aides, frustration with the situation, only growing. Trip is back on. It doesn't mean that Netanyahu's not going to go into RAFA. It might just be symbolic. We'll see. Still ahead on Morning Joe, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Senator Richard Blumenthal join us to talk about the life and legacy of their former home state senator, Joe Lieberman, who, as we've mentioned, died yesterday at the age of 82. Plus, the latest from Baltimore, as officials now have identified, two victims recovered from the underwater rubble in the aftermath of the

collapse of the Key Bridge. You're watching Morning Show. Quite a shot of New York City. It's a big night tonight in the Big Apple. It's shaping up to be one of the biggest nights in Democratic politics since President Biden's inauguration. Former Presidents Obama and Clinton will join Biden in New York City for an hours-long fundraiser, including moderated conversations with Stephen Colbert and a lineup of musical performances that include Queen, Latifah, Lizzo and Ben Platt. I've been Jordan Roth.

I love Queen Latifah. Put that together. Jordan did that? Jordan did. Oh, I love it. It's going to means it's going to be amazing. The massive effort, which is expected to host over 5,000 people, has already raised over $25 million for Biden, according to his reelection campaign. In addition to the main event, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden will

be hosting an afterparty at Radio City Music Hall with an additional 500 guests. Obama and Clinton are trying to expand Biden's cash advantage over former President Trump. In the latest filings, Biden's soared over the former president with a whopping 40 million dollar cash advantage. And the great news is that Biden voters won't have to pay any legal bills for Joe Biden. He uses the money for the campaign. He doesn't have like, you know, massive allegations, 88 counts. Well, he doesn't. He doesn't have family members inside the DNC making sure that the money that comes in goes straight to legal bills. First, they have that set up at the RNC. And man, that's going to cause some real problems. But what's not going to cause problems, Rev, is any rift between the current Democratic president and the past Democratic president.

The New York Times has a great article detailing the history of these two men's relationship, President Biden and President Obama. And it says it wasn't always smooth. They didn't always agree with each other. It took a little while for them to warm up to each other. It took a little while for them to warm up to each other. But they have become good friends, trusted allies. And Barack Obama, and I think every Democrat can really be grateful for this, Barack Obama is all in. He is focused on helping Joe Biden win this election. No doubt about it. And even those that are close to a former President Obama will tell you he's all in. I was able in the eight years that President Obama was in the White House

to have a lot of access when we would talk about criminal justice issues, civil rights issues. And I can tell you that I watched both then Vice President Biden and President Obama really come together on issues. Joe Biden was one of the first to advocate dealing with LGBTQ rights and same sex marriage. I was in meetings where he was advocating, yes, we need to deal with police reform. And this is before George Floyd. This was around other issues. And they had a meeting of the minds and developed a synergy that moved the country forward. And I think when you look at the Affordable Care Act, what we call Obamacare, you have to deal with the fingerprints of Joe Biden there pushing all the way and working the hill for President Obama. So I think tonight is a culmination of a bond and a friendship that didn't start with them

always agreeing on things, but they learned how to work together for the good of the country. It also represents a slight change in tactics for former President Obama as he views his elections. He has really fancied himself as the closer in 2016 and 2020, sort of just appearing at the end of the race with a bunch of rallies, big crowds, a lot of enthusiasm. We expect that again, but he's playing a more active role earlier this time, more behind the scenes. He and President Biden speak frequently. Obama himself also calls White House Chief of Staff Jeff Sines. He's talked to reelection campaign officials, offering strategy, expressing worry about a close race and how it's possible Trump could win again. But he is pushing Biden earlier this time than he has

in the past. And that will continue tonight across the street from here at Radio City Music Hall, joined also by President Clinton. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump soon will begin to receive briefings from the U.S. intelligence community, even as he faces several criminal charges accusing him of mishandling classified information. While Intel briefings for presidential nominees are standard practice, the House is expected to debate new legislation that could change the rules regarding who can receive classified information. Join us now here in New York, NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Serkin. Julie, great to see you in New York.

So let's talk about this legislation proposed by Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill of New Jersey, targeted ostensibly at her New Jersey colleague, Senator Robert Menendez, but also that could, I guess, be applied to President Trump as well. Yeah, and that was really important to Sherrill in terms of the timing of this, because as you said, you know, we have reported that despite former President Trump being indicted for holding onto those classified documents improperly, he is going to start receiving those briefings soon anyway. And that is something that Mikey Sherrill, who's a former federal prosecutor, she was a Navy pilot. That's what she told me yesterday on the phone. We were talking about this. She was like, I just can't believe that somebody who was indicted for doing the very thing that he's

now going to have more access to is that's still going to go on. Obviously, this process has happened since 1952, and the intelligence community isn't planning on stopping it now. But this is also a dig at her colleague from New Jersey, Senator Bob Menendez, who has refused to step aside, even though more than 30 of his Democratic colleagues in the Senate have called on him to do so. He still attends classified briefings. You know, he stepped down as the chair of the Foreign Relations Committee after the September indictment and the superseding indictment. Since he's still been around introducing bills, getting that classified information, attending briefings on Ukraine.

And so now Cheryl is introducing this legislation to really force him and really force any candidate who is either running for federal office, is currently in federal office, from obtaining and viewing classified information if they were charged with bribery, acting as a foreign agent or obstructing justice, all three charges that, of course, apply to Menendez here. Yeah, among those 18 counts in the indictment against him being an illegal foreign agent of the Egyptian government, but he's still receiving those briefings. So what future does this have, this bill? Does it look like it's something that actually might go through, because obviously with Donald Trump and everything that we've talked about for months and months down at Mar-a-Lago, bringing classified documents

to the Beach Club, obstructing the investigation to retrieve them. There are a lot of people interested in seeing him perhaps not have access to current intelligence. There are, but I don't think part of that list is House Speaker Mike Johnson and his Republican allies, especially in the House, who support him, who think there's a double standard even when it comes to President Biden not being charged, although the two cases are so different with those classified documents. So, look, I don't think it's going to go anywhere in terms of actually passing on the House floor. It's clear that Sheryl is, yes, targeting Menendez, but also this is really a dig at the former president here, too. Senator John Fetterman from Pennsylvania had very similar legislation in the form of a resolution that didn't go anywhere, even though

that chamber is controlled by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who's a Democrat, who has not, by the way, called on Menendez to step aside. But it is interesting. And it's just Democrats continuing to pile on to Menendez, who, by the way, interesting. And it's just Democrats continuing to pile on to Menendez, who, by the way, said he's not going anywhere. And as we reported first, is still considering running for independent. And Mikey Sherrill told me yesterday, this is frankly Trump like behavior, including trying to fundraise potentially to pay his legal bills. So you mentioned Speaker Johnson. Let's talk about the latest as to his efforts to hold on to his job. Marjorie Taylor Greene says she's going to put forth this motion to vacate.

Do we think that's going to happen? And is our Democrats potentially going to come to bail out Johnson? Look, we've been talking about this for months now, right? We had reporting back in January that not only did some Democrats, moderates mainly, raise this idea of saving Johnson because they see what could be worse in a potentially Speaker Jordan, especially when it comes to the issue of Ukraine. I want to be clear, that's what this would likely be tied to. They raise this in front of President Biden in the White House. So this is something that they have not been quiet about. And in recent weeks, you know, Tom Suozzi, who just won in New York, he said he would come out and save Johnson, too. Look, there has been a lot of backlash and anger even over this recess as Congress has been out to Marjorie Taylor Greene's motion to vacate. It's not privileged,

meaning there's no timeline for when House leadership needs to put this on the floor. It caught everyone kind of by surprise, including Johnson, who hasn't commented on this, by the way. But, you know, in our reporting just before they left town for recess, we know Johnson, he knows aid to Ukraine is important. You know, this is not rank and file Johnson. This is somebody who's been receiving briefings. He knows not only do we have to aid Ukraine, but that a lot of that money will go to replenishing our own stockpiles, our own military readiness. It's just how does he do it and keep his job? I think personally, this motion to vacate actually weakens Republicans leverage to try and put their

own aid package on the floor, because you can have Senate Democrats, especially who passed that ninety five billion dollar aid package not only to Ukraine, but also to Israel, to Gaza and to the Indo-Pacific, be like, well, why do we need to play your games now if you're being threatened by one of your own? But, Julie, is it not the fear of any of the Republicans that they would be perceived as aiding Putin and aiding the fact that you're dealing with Ukraine, not as helping Ukraine, but as stopping Putin and stopping those that want to bring NATO down, as well as the aid that is needed there for military presence of the United States to be protected. Absolutely, that's a fear. And that is something that Republicans like Senator Lindsey Graham in the Senate have

been trying to say, even as his friend and ally, former President Trump, has been railing against it. You've seen the flip flop even from Graham. But deep down inside, of course, they know that this is something they have to do and that certainly not passing this would enable Putin. But as you pointed to that headline from The New York Times, there are real isolationists, especially in the House, but also in the Senate. This is not, you know, the House is wonky and the Senate is still the Senate. This is really bleeding into both chambers now. And it's going to be really hard for Johnson to figure out

how to muscle this through while keeping his job, because, yes, Democrats said they would save him, but that's not going to bode well for him in his own reelection efforts in November and trying to hold on to power now that he has it. And all of this music to the ears of Vladimir Putin. Keep that funding away from Ukraine. NBC's Julie Serkin. Great to have you with us in New York, Julie. Good to see you. Coming up, we'll explain how Russian disinformation is expanding beyond American politics. Now to the royal family of Great Britain.

Also ahead, we'll have new reporting on the RNC. Trump advisors now involved in the interview process. A specific question they are asking potential hires around the 2020 election. It's all ahead on Morning Joe. People are still talking about this. Former President Trump is now trying to make money by selling $60 Bibles. Trump's selling the Bible, yeah.

It's like if Mike Pence was selling copies of Fifty Shades of Grey. Yep, the guy who's about to go on trial for paying hush money to cover up an affair with a porn star is selling Bibles. And because it's a Trump Bible, most of the Ten Commandments are blacked out. Now, this has come as no surprise to anyone. Making a profit is Trump's religion.

As his Jesusesus famously said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle if you pay me for easy installments of 1995 act now disciples are standing by it's just yeah welcome back to morning joe willie willie i mean Willie, I mean, I had a pastor text me a couple of days ago. Is there no bottom to this? No, no. He is cross-promoting a Bible. And by the way, a Bible he knows absolutely nothing about. Mixed with the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

Emily Greenwood. Not a Christian. I mean, it's crazy. It's just crazy. But it's really, I guess it's not crazy if you're Donald Trump. And cult members. Idols.

Jeremiah, if you want to talk about the Bible, Jeremiah talks about people who follow idols and make themselves worthless. Jeremiah holds up pretty well in 2024. Yeah. And I mean, $60, first of all, he wants you to pay for what he calls his Bible. There's no your Bible or my Bible or Rev's Bible or anybody else. It's my Bible, 60 bucks. And we all know where the money is going. They say it's not going to the campaign, but there are an awful lot of bills that need to be paid. Pair that with the $400 sneakers. He's used cars next. Who knows what he's going to sell? But I think we should defer

to the Reverend Al Sharpton on questions of the Bible here. Blasphemy comes to mind. What else? When you see Donald Trump? Blasphemy certainly comes to mind, but I think that people ought to realize how offensive this is to those of us that really believe in the Bible. He's doing this during Holy Week. I mean, tomorrow is Good Friday. Sunday is Easter. Of all of the times you want to hustle using the Bible, why would you do it during Holy Week, which is really a spit in the face of people that really believe in the Bible from a Christian point of view.

I wonder how many ministers, conservative evangelicals that will go to their pulpit tomorrow or on Sunday, Easter, using the Trump Bible. They ought to be defraud if they would even try and act like this is nothing but what it is. And that's a hustle. And, you know, when I was growing up, I was licensed in the Pentecostal church, the largest black Pentecostal church at the time, Washington Temple. They're respected.

But there was every once in a while a huckster evangelist would come through and they would sell blessed oils and blessed cloth. Let's remember, this man has sold the pieces of his garments that he went to court with. He has sold sneakers now, gold sneakers with red bottoms. Now, Bibles. I mean, if he's not like the old hustlers that used to use tents to go on old ladies that believed that this was the way to God, then I don't know what is. And for those in the evangelical community not to come out and say, wait a minute, during Holy Week, that's a step too far.

Makes us wonder where their commitment really is. And that's the thing, guys. If you have no values or principles, it's all the same stuff. It's a Bible or it's sneakers or it's water or it's steak. It's all the same to Donald Trump, a way to make some money.