Morning Joe - Morning Joe 9/5/22

Episode Date: September 5, 2022

More detailed list released of items FBI seized from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home

On this from the beginning was, you know, loads of classified information sitting in Mar-a-Lago. People say this was unprecedented. Well, it's also unprecedented for a president to take all this classified information and put them in a country club, okay? And how long is the government going to try to get that back? You know, they jawboned for a year. They were deceived on the voluntary actions taken. They then went and got a subpoena.

They were deceived on that, they feel. And the record, the facts are starting to show that they were being jerked around. And so how long, you know, how long do they wait? Former Attorney General Bill Barr, who did much of Donald Trump's bidding during the Russia investigation, defends the FBI decision to seize classified documents from the former president's Florida estate. This as we learn more about what was found in that search, including dozens of empty folders marked classified. Plus, the former president sharpens his attacks against federal law enforcement, calling the FBI and DOJ, quote, vicious monsters while warning of unprecedented backlash. How will his supporters interpret that?

And President Biden hits the campaign trail this Labor Day, visiting two key battleground states, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, both union strongholds. We'll have a preview of his holiday campaign events. Good morning. It's Monday, September 5th, and welcome to a special Labor Day edition of Morning Joe. I'm Jonathan Lemire. Thanks for starting your holiday with us. We now have a much clearer account of what the FBI sees from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, after a federal judge unsealed a more detailed inventory list of items on Friday. In addition to the troves of information marked top secret, secret, and classified, the FBI search turned up more than 40 empty folders with classified banners on them. But it's unclear what happened to the information that had been inside those folders. They also found almost

four dozen empty folders marked, return to staff secretary, military aid. The search turned up more than 11,000 U.S. government documents and photographs without classification markings. They were found mixed in with classified material in boxes and containers in Trump's office and a storage room. It's important to note seven documents marked top secret were found in Trump's office, as well as 17 records that came from the White House were being kept in a Mar-a-Lago storage room, which agents had asked be kept secure. According, that's according to the government's court filings, a spokesperson for Trump issued a statement on Twitter about the expanded inventory list saying, quote, the new detailed inventory list only further proves that this unprecedented and unnecessary raid of President Trump's home was not some surgical, confined search and retrieval that the Biden administration claims it was a smash and grab.

These document disputes should be resolved under the Presidential Records Act, which requires cooperation and negotiation by the National Archives and Records Administration, not an armed FBI raid. Trump held his first rally since the FBI search of his home this weekend. He campaigned in Pennsylvania Saturday and, unsurprisingly, used much of his speech to attack the FBI and his political opponents. He also claimed there would be, quote, backlash, which, backlash, which, given Trump's history, could be interpreted as a warning of violence. The FBI and the Justice Department have become vicious monsters controlled by radical left

scoundrels, lawyers and the media who tell them what to do, you people right there, and when to do it. They're trying to silence me, and more importantly, they are trying to silence you. But we will not be silenced, right? Very dishonest, sick people. Very dishonest, sick people. Very dishonest people. Americans are sick of the lies, sick of the hoaxes and scams, and above all, sick of the hypocrisy. But our opponents have badly miscalculated.

This egregious abuse of the law is going to produce a backlash, the likes of which nobody has ever seen before. A warning of violence, or perhaps an incitement to violence. Joining us now to talk about this is former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance. She's an MSNBC legal analyst and national political reporter for The Washington Post, Michael Schur. Thanks, guys, for being with us on this holiday. Joyce, let's start with you. We now have a more detailed inventory of what the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago last month.

You've looked through it. What stands out most to you? So what stands out, Jonathan, is that when DOJ evaluates whether to prosecute cases that involve mishandling of classified materials, they're always looking for a plus factor. It's typically more than just straight up mishandling. And the inventory provides further evidence for this litany that you've done a great job of reciting of everything that the president did. There are massive quantities of documents. This isn't just

two or three items. And most troubling here, in addition to the notion that there was obstruction, that there is a very willful effort to prevent the government from reclaiming classified materials, we now see that in addition to mishandling, we have items missing from folders, items that are intermingled with nonclassified material, which of course amps up the risk that it could somehow spoil out into the public or into other hands. And so we see increasing indicia that this information that is very sensitive, some of it top secret information that if it were to be released in an unauthorized fashion could do grave damage

to the national security, that it was handled in a cavalier fashion across literally hundreds of pages of documents. And, you know, you don't like as a prosecutor to evaluate whether you're going to take a case before you've looked at all of the evidence, including evidence that's favorable to a defendant. But simply looking at this evidence, the massive body that's now public, let alone what DOJ has that's private, it becomes increasingly clear that this is the type of case that DOJ will consider very seriously for prosecution. So, Michael, we just played a little bit from the former president's rally over the weekend in Pennsylvania. It was a big crowd and loud when he condemned the FBI's search of Mar-a-Lago.

We've heard him do this before. Most of his, frankly, rallies are about his own personal grievances and very little about the candidates that he is essentially there to support. What struck out to you here? How much of a tinderbox is this right now? I mean, in that crowd, it's quite a tinderbox. There wasn't really a person in that whole arena who didn't have some sort of Trump paraphernalia on, who wasn't there for him, despite the presence of the other candidates. I think, you know, we will see going forward what effect this has in the midterms. There's an odd moment now where both President Biden and former President Trump basically have

the same message, which is, let's talk about President Trump. And the president is hoping that this peels off some Republican voters from the former president. And the former president is hoping to bring home Republican voters to candidates like Mehmet Oz, who just haven't yet solidified the Republican base in places like Pennsylvania. And so, you know, we just we just don't know where it'll go next. Yeah. White House aides have told me over the weekend they think that any day the conversation is about Trump is a good day for them because of how toxic and polarizing he is right now with the midterms looming. And on that note, top Justice Department

officials face some major questions as November approaches, whether to temporarily scale back work in criminal investigations involving former President Trump. According to new reporting in The New York Times, the DOJ is worried about the so-called 60 day rule. It's an unwritten rule in which the department tries to avoid taking action in the lead up to elections to avoid the possibility of influencing democracy. Trump, of course, is not on the ballot this year, but he is still the most significant member of the Republican Party, endorsed most of their Senate candidates. And it's unclear whether the 60-day rule applies to a high-profile political figure who is not technically a candidate in the coming election. This Thursday marks 60 days from the midterms. The Times reports that a Justice

Department spokesperson declined to comment on the matter. So, Joyce, I want to get you to weigh in here. President Trump, former President Trump, not on the ballot, but in many ways is all over the ballot. And he shadows this entire race. What's your assessment? What would be the appropriate course of action here from the DOJ? So, as you point out, Jonathan, this is an unwritten rule. But the 60-day rule is something every prosecutor is aware of. I spent 25 years at DOJ, and during many election years, not a

surprise, we had open investigations on people who were going to be on the ballot, either in the primary or the general. And the way the rule was typically understood in U.S. attorney's offices across the country, as well as at main justice in Washington, was that it meant you didn't take any overt steps, steps in an investigation that would become public during that 60-day grace period for a candidate who was on the ballot. It's, of course, an unwritten rule. And so in thinking about how to apply it here, rather than in adhering to those strict contours of what was always understood about candidates on the ballot,

DOJ will have to consider the purpose of the rule, which is to avoid interfering in elections, to avoid influencing elections in any way. I think that there's an awfully good argument to be made that Trump simply doesn't fall within the ambit of this rule because he's not on the ballot in this campaign. But folks at DOJ appreciate that the country in many ways is a powder keg. They'll want to think through this carefully. And one way they might ultimately decide to split the baby here is to be very careful about taking overt steps, steps that would become public in their investigation, like searching another location. At the same time, that doesn't keep them whether they'll get here, but it could include beginning the process of drafting indictments or working with witnesses who might provide helpful information, even including speaking with some of the folks around Trump who could possibly have liability for what

went on at Mar-a-Lago and finding ways to move the case forward without doing it in a public fashion. And of course, any discussion of his unwritten rule causes screams from Hillary Clinton's campaign and supporters because, of course, James Comey's decision to reopen her investigation to her emails just 10 days or so before the 2016 election. Michael, I want to go to turn to your new piece, which you co-authored, and it's titled Trump Plots Aggressive Midterm Strategy Seen in GOP as a Double Edged Sword. Walk us through what you found. Well, just like I said, Republicans all cycle have been running on a dual mission.

They have to hold the Trump voters who turned out in 2020. That includes a lot of former Democrats, white working class voters who don't normally vote. And they have to find a way to win over the swing voters who are just unhappy with Biden, but also unhappy with Trump. And those are two different messages. And so Trump is very good at doing the first. He's very bad at doing the second. And, you know, you have these odd situations where, I mean, in Pennsylvania over the weekend, you had a number of candidates attending, getting cheers from Trump, who've recently rewritten their websites to take away some of the mentions of the former president because they're trying not to scare away these voters in Pennsylvania who don't support the former president. And this is exactly the strategy we see now Democrats leaning into.

It's a sort of divide and conquer strategy. They believe by going after what they call MAGA Republicans, they are going after swing voters, lean Republican voters, independents who are unhappy with the current president. And they're trying to remind them they don't like the former president either, and that that's the referendum they should be voting on. Not a referendum on Biden, but a referendum on former President Trump. And certainly this surge and its fallout has become one of the defining issues of the midterms,

along with inflation and, of course, the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. National political reporter for The Washington Post, Michael Scherer, thank you so much for joining us this morning. And also former U.S. attorney, MSNBC legal analyst, and one of our favorite people, Joyce Vance, thank you as well. Uvalde schools will reopen tomorrow for the first time since the deadly shooting at Robb Elementary, which took the lives of 19 children and two teachers. The school district is installing security improvements such as new fencing, new door locks, and over 500 security cameras. Officers and staff are also required to take part in specific police training. In addition, the district is partnering with telehealth and non-profit services to connect

children with mental health resources. However, the Wall Street Journal reports a number of parents said they have lost trust in the school district for not providing enough accountability as evidence has come out about the response to the massacre, including that law enforcement waited outside the classroom where victims were bleeding to death for more than an hour. Over the weekend, members of the Houston Texans football team visited Evaldi, surprising the high school football team at dinner and picking up the tab. The NFL team also hosted football clinics and camps and attended the high schoolers' first game Friday night. They wore stickers on their helmets which read,

Evaldi strong, Evaldi Team, won their opener. Meanwhile, a manhunt is underway in Canada after a mass stabbing yesterday left at least 10 people dead and 15 others hospitalized. The stabbing spree occurred in an indigenous community and nearby village in Canada's Saskatchewan province. Canadian police have identified two suspects in connection with the crimes. Police say they are armed and dangerous and may be traveling in a black Nissan Rogue. There is no information about a motive at this time. This is among one of the deadliest mass

killings in Canadian history. Still ahead here on Morning Joe, in just over an hour, the United Kingdom will know who their next prime minister will be. We'll go live to London with what to expect. Plus, we'll get a live report from Ukraine after Europe's largest nuclear power plant lost connection to its main power over the weekend. And later, a Trump White House insider reveals in a brand new PBS documentary how the then president admitted he had lost to Joe Biden, then clearly went in a completely different direction. You're watching Morning Joe. The next prime minister of the United Kingdom will be announced this morning,

two months after Boris Johnson quit in the wake of several scandals. The ruling Conservative Party is set to announce the results of its leadership election around 12.30 p.m. local time, which is 7.30 a.m. for those of us on the East Coast United States. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and former Chancellor Rishi Sunak are the two contenders. They will find out which of them has been chosen by Tory members as their country faces a significant cost of living crisis. The winner will be formally appointed prime minister by the queen tomorrow. Then they'll begin the process of appointing ministers to their own new cabinet. In July, Johnson was forced to step down after a series of scandals caused his

party to revolt. Johnson will remain in office until the transfer of power is fully complete. Joining us from London is NBC News senior international correspondent Keir Simmons. Morning, Keir. Give us a sense here. What is this going to look like? How this gets announced? And what is the chatter as to who's going to win? We, as you say, expect the announcement in around an hour's time. The two candidates likely to find out around 10 minutes beforehand. It will happen in this Westminster conference centre. Jonathan, it is a little like a primary. It is the person, not the party, that is changing.

So it's a little like a primary there, except with the general election already decided. Or to put it another way, it's like President Biden resigns, but Kamala Harris doesn't immediately become president. The Democratic Party gets to have a primary to decide who the next president will be. That is the British system. And then tomorrow, there will be a constitutional moment unprecedented in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, because the Prime Minister and then the new Prime Minister will go all the way to Balmoral in Scotland, not to Buckingham Palace, just a few streets from here, because of the health challenges that the Queen has been

facing. So that will be some pomp and ceremony, if you like. That's the political theatre. But for the new prime minister who we do expect to be liz trust britain's third female prime minister who has been compared to margaret thatcher we see her facing some enormous challenges you could say just as margaret thatcher did uh back in the early 1980s because of course there is the inflation challenge here that you are seeing there some talk here of inflation reaching 20 percent and already there is talk of the new prime minister Liz Truss bringing in a 100 billion pound that's probably around 120 billion dollars package to stop businesses going bust because Jonathan Jonathan, there is even talk

that British pubs up and down the country will have to close their doors and shut down over the winter because they simply can't afford to heat their pubs. In Germany, a $65 billion package also being proposed. So you're really seeing the impact of that war in Ukraine across Europe. And I think you're going to see that for the new prime minister here, Jonathan. So Keir Borch-Johnson, the outgoing prime minister, beset by a number of scandals, but received high marks for his support of Keith, that he repeatedly visited Zelensky, UK, a firm ally, along with the United States, for the war effort there in Ukraine.

What has Liz Truss, who is expected, as you say, to emerge victorious here, what has she said about the British effort to continue to back the war effort? She's been absolutely firm that she will continue that policy of Boris Johnson in support of Ukraine. Remember, while Britain is seeing gas prices go up, Britain doesn't take a lot of gas from Russia. In fact, earlier this year when Liz Truss, as Foreign Secretary, met with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, he described it as like talking to a deaf person. So I don't think you're going to see very much change there. I think, frankly, much as you're seeing in the US, a lot of the challenges for this new prime minister are going to be domestic. Certainly, initially, there is potentially an economic crisis coming here in the UK.

Certainly, the Bank of England predicting a drawn out recession. There is concerns about the value of the pound. You're seeing it drop in relation to the dollar getting cheaper and cheaper. A good time to come here for a vacation, Jonathan. Not necessarily a good time for the British people looking ahead. I will look at airfare to London soon. Keir, one more. We know that Liz Truss certainly inheriting a lot. You mentioned it, the inflation crisis, you know, potential more COVID waves down the road.

But what happens now to Boris Johnson, the larger than life, if disheveled figure, whose tumultuous reign ends on a note of scandal? What's next for him in his political life? Yeah, Boris Johnson's prime ministership, remember, he got an enormous wave of support at the last election, is not being painted in positive colours, honestly. There is now, though, and he is the great survivor, there is now, though, talk that he may wait in the wings and perhaps even look for another opportunity to be prime minister. I think that gives you just a picture of the febrile atmosphere here politically with so

many challenges looking ahead. I think for Boris Johnson, this will be a very difficult political moment. The man who not always accurately has been compared to President Trump will be packing his bags now. And in that very cutthroat nature of British politics, tomorrow in Downing Street, you'll see him thrown out and the new prime minister brought in in pretty short order. I do suspect, though, we probably have not seen the last of Boris Johnson. NBC, I'm curious. Thank you so much. We'll get to check back with you

later on when we've got a result there in London. Let's turn now to the war in Ukraine, where shelling near Europe's largest nuclear power plant continues, despite the presence of a team of United Nations inspectors. The plant lost its main connection to the power grid on Saturday as a result of attacks the day before, forcing it to use lower voltage reserve line to power the cooling equipment needed to prevent any disasters. Both Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the shelling. The chief of the U.N. agency says the power line is being deliberately targeted. He also said, as of now, only one of the six reactors is functioning. The U.N.'s investigative team currently on site is likely to present its report on the status of the plant sometime this week. Meanwhile, the United States

ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, is leaving his post in Moscow. Sullivan was appointed by President Trump in 2019, but was asked to stay on by President Biden. Sullivan has spent 40 years in public service, including serving as deputy secretary of state, as well as senior positions in the Department of Justice, Defense, and Commerce. His departure comes as the Russian invasion of Ukraine drags on, and disputes over detained Americans in Russia go unresolved. Elizabeth Rood, who was the deputy chief at the embassy, will take over until a successor is appointed and confirmed.

Coming up, we've got a lot more on the search of Mar-a-Lago, including how documents not found at the former president's home could be the most concerning of all. We'll explain that right ahead. Oh, brother, I can't, I can't get through. I've been trying hard to reach you cause I don't know what to do. Morning there at the White House, 6.32 a.m. here on the East Coast. Welcome back to the special Labor Day edition of Morning Joe.

I'm Jonathan Lemire. This morning, we're following the new developments in the Department of Justice's investigation into the classified materials that former President Trump took with him when he was at his Florida home and golf club after he left the White House. On Friday, a federal judge unsealed a more detailed inventory list of items, giving us a clearer account of what the FBI seized. Included in these seized items detailed were dozens of empty classified folders. Also, we've got House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. He's making good on his promise to investigate Attorney General Merrick Garland. In the wake of

that FBI search, the GOP leader sent a letter to the AG requesting that he testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee. The notice is also signed by the ranking members of the Judiciary Intel and Oversight Committees. In the letter, McCarthy writes in part this, In these extraordinary circumstances, the DOJ is proceeding in a manner that is eroding public trust and confidence. The Republicans are also asking for FBI Director Christopher Wray to appear. Some of the Republican criticism of the Department of Justice has been quieted in recent days.

Kevin McCarthy has an audience of one, Donald J. Trump. Joining us now to talk about it is congressional reporter at Politico, Nicholas Wu, who joins me here on set. Nicholas, great to see you. First, let's just start with what we learned at the end of last week about the search in Mar-a-Lago. We have a more detailed list, the inventory. We're also still waiting for a decision on the special master. What should we expect to learn in the days ahead? Well, we might learn more about these empty folders right now.

We don't know whether there were any files that were taken out of these folders at some point. All we know is that there were these dozens of folders that were marked empty, these empty folders marked classified among all these documents taken from Mar-a-Lago. And so we might learn more there. As for the special master, we're still waiting on a ruling from that federal judge, Judge Cannon. But we know, based on the arguments last week in court, that she did seem somewhat inclined to entertain this, putting some kinds of restraints on the federal search of all these documents. At the same time, the FBI has already

gone through a lot of them. And so it remains to be seen what effect that would actually have. So the folders, the empty folders, those on the right, a number of Trump's allies, including his eldest son, took that to mean like, hey, what's the problem here? Look, they're empty. But shouldn't we view it the other way? That like if they're empty folders, what happened to the documents? Right. Yeah, that's exactly it. We don't know whether exactly there were documents that were in there at some point that were possibly also classified. But that's a very real possibility. Not to mention the fact that there were all of these empty folders among that set that were marked return to staff secretary or military aid. Now, those might not necessarily have been

classified, but that's still information that was important enough to be marked to bring it back to the staff secretary to go back through him and the rest of the White House for possible implementation. So let's talk some of the politics here. We just mentioned the House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has called the Attorney General to testify. Is that going to happen? And what are the Republicans looking to accomplish here? The ask that Leader McCarthy sent out is a little more than a very polite request. As members of the House Minority, they just don't have the power to compel the attorney general and other DOJ officials to testify. It's just a very nice letter that they sent out. At the same time, this does show what Republicans are likely to do if they take the House majority next year. Then they will be able to compel the testimony of top federal officials. And it shows

that they want to, in some ways, investigate the investigators if it comes to it. So related, the January 6th committee, which, of course, we've heard from some of their members in recent days saying that what we've learned about Mar-a-Lago is further proof that Donald Trump is unfit to serve, even though, of course, not directly tied to what they're doing. But it's now September. It's Labor Day. Tomorrow, in many ways, begins the unofficial kickoff of fall. And we had heard from the committee that the fall is when we're going to start hearing from them again, including some more hearings. What's the latest on a potential timetable? Well, we're expecting a few more hearings from them this month,

but the actual contents of them have been very closely held. But we did see the committee take its first public action last week in many weeks after the August recess when they called Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker, to testify. And in doing so, they revealed that they had even more emails and messages that they hadn't shown us yet. And so this is the kind of thing that we can probably expect to see from the committee once they come back this month, once they start doing more hearings and as they start rolling out their final report. Labor Day, the unofficial start of fall and also the unofficial start of the stretch run to the midterm campaigns. And to mark that, President Biden is going to visit two battleground states today. He's going to travel to both Wisconsin and Pennsylvania

to deliver remarks at Labor Day celebration events. In Pennsylvania, the president is expected to meet with Senate candidate John Fetterman. It's unclear, though, if Biden will meet with Wisconsin's Democratic Senate nominee Mandela Barnes. As USA Today notes, this week alone, Biden's schedule will collide with the itineraries of three Democratic Senate candidates in crucial races, testing whether they view him as a liability or strength to their campaign. So, Nicholas, the president, a few months ago, it seemed like Democrats were running away from him, that his poll numbers were really low, inflation was a real issue, and they felt like, you know, there could be a bloodbath in the House, and they didn't

want anything to do with Joe Biden. The calculations have changed. Democrats have a lot of momentum right now. Some of it outside of their control, obviously. That Supreme Court decision on abortion has electrified some of their base. But we've also got the White House and their Democrats on the other side of Pennsylvania Avenue putting together an impressive string of accomplishments. President Biden's poll numbers going up. I know you talk to Democratic lawmakers all the time. What is their current thinking about whether or not they want to stand next to President Biden? Democrats I've talked to are OK with standing by the president now. And I think that's the difference that a few more percentage

points improvement in Biden's poll numbers and these legislative wins can make. We've seen that these gains in the poll numbers came from independents that had previously gone away from the president. And Democrats I've talked to are pretty confident that even if this doesn't mean that they'll keep the House this fall, they're more likely to keep the Senate and they'll limit their losses in the House.

So the president's appearance in Pennsylvania today is the Labor Day parade in Pittsburgh, which has become a totem for him. He marched there in 2015 when mulling a White House bid. He opted against that one. He marched there again in 2018, mulling a White House bid. That time he took the plunge and, of course, was elected. What will you be looking for from him today? Any clues he might drop? I'll be looking to see how he continues this potential general election messaging heading into these last few months of the midterm elections.

We saw the White House preview some of that over the last few weeks, taking this much more aggressive stance against MAGA Republicans and really trying to crystallize the differences between the two parties. And we'll have to see how the president does that now. All right. Congressional reporter Politico, Nicholas Wu, thank you so much. And we, of course, will be paying close attention to the president's appearances today. Coming up here on Morning Joe, Albert Pujols and Aaron Judge continue to slug their way to baseball history. And Serena Williams likely plays her final match at the U.S. Open. Sports, when we come back. A hazy New York City here on Labor Day. It is 6.44 in the morning on the East Coast.

Serena Williams gave an emotional speech on Friday night after what was likely the final match of her professional tennis career in a thrilling three-set defeat in the third round of the U.S. Open. Thank you so much. You guys were amazing today. I tried, but I would just play it a little bit better. Thank you, Daddy. I know you're watching. Thanks, Mom. god, um, it all started with my parents and they deserve everything, so I'm really grateful for them. Oh my god, these are happy tears, I guess. I don't know. And I wouldn't be Serena if it wasn't Venus. So, thank you, Venus.

It's been the most incredible ride and journey I've ever been on, I mean, in my life. And I'm just so grateful to every single person that's ever said, go Serena in their life. I'm just so grateful because, yeah, you got me here. Really, really nice. The 23-time Grand Slam champion first discussed her impending farewell in an essay published by Vogue last month. And asked on Friday night whether she might reconsider, Williams said, I don't think so, but you never know.

If this was the end, this was a really remarkable final little run here in Queens for Serena Williams. The crowds were spectacular. The Friday night match was gripping. She came a little short, but my goodness, the best there ever was in tennis, Serena Williams. Meanwhile, Coco Gauff is blazing a trail for the new generation of American tennis stars. The 18-year-old French Open runner-up advancing in straight sets last night to become the youngest American to make it to the U.S. Open quarterfinals since 2009. On the men's side, Daniel Medvedev's U.S. Open title defense is over. The world number one

eliminated in four sets yesterday against Nick Kyrgos, the temperamental Australian. Looked good. One to watch here as the U.S. Open heads to its second week. Now let's turn to the college gridiron. Let's go to New Orleans. Brian Kelly's coaching debut at LSU spoiled by a blocked extra point with no time remaining. Florida State survived a two-touchdown comeback by LSU,

but there's the block. They come up just short. The Seminoles win 24-23, thwarting LSU's remarkable comeback down the stretch. In another notable season opener, number two Ohio State was sloppy and sluggish, but still beat number five Notre Dame 21-10. Let's turn now to Major League Baseball, and we begin in St. Louis,

where retiring Cardinal slugger Albert Pujols collected career home run No. 695, a two-run pinch-hit shot in the eighth inning that made all the difference in yesterday's 2-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. He is now just one behind Alex Rodriguez on the all-time list and, of course, just five from the magic number of 700. Let's go down to St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Major League leading 53rd home run of the season. That's hit by Yankee slugger Aaron Judge,

fueled the Bronx Bombers' much-needed 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees have been in a free fall of late, but they got a win when they needed it. They're up five games over the Rays, four in the loss. There are 28 games to go for the Bronx Bombers. We should note, though, they do play Tampa again, and they get exactly what they need right now. The Minnesota Twins are next on their schedule. I checked the research. The Yankees lost the Twins in 1981, so they probably will be just fine. There are 28 games to go in the American League schedule, but we'll say Aaron Judge,

he is carrying that slumping team right now. That's your American League MVP. Coming up here on Morning Joe, we'll get a live report from Ukraine as Cruz struggled to keep Europe's largest nuclear power plant online amid intense shelling in the area. Plus, the latest on the kidnapping of a billionaire's granddaughter in Memphis, Tennessee, and the piece of evidence that led to an arrest in that case. Morning Joe, we'll be right back. Despite great outside dangers, our biggest threat remains the sick, sinister and evil people from within our own country. Joe Biden came to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to give the most vicious, hateful and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president. You're all enemies of the state. He's an enemy of the state. You want to know the truth. The danger to democracy comes from the

radical left, not from the right. Not from the right. This November, we're going to stand up to this rising tyranny of sickness, lawlessness and death. And we are going to take back our country. We're going to take it back. Donald Trump accusing another president of being divisive and calling the current occupant of the Oval Office an enemy of the state. The former president spent plenty of time over the weekend bashing the Democratic Party at his rally in Pennsylvania. Both parties are reacting by slamming each other, creating more divisiveness as the midterm ends. It is a particularly toxic moment. Let's bring in former Republican congressman from Florida, David Jolly. He is an MSNBC contributor.

David, thanks for being with us. Lots to fact check there, if if you want from the former president. But let's just let's get your overall take. This was a closely watched rally. His first his first since the Mar-a-Lago search. He didn't hold back. He barely endorsed the Republican candidates on the ballot. This was about him. And it was a particularly potent and potentially dangerous mix of grievances. Yeah, Jonathan, good to be with you. An important historic moment because it's too easy to slip into giving equity to both arguments here, to recognizing that each party has a different perspective. But the truth is there might be two

sides to the story, but there's only one truth. And I think what Donald Trump demonstrated in Pennsylvania at his rally is exactly Joe Biden's point, which is there is no unifying with insurrectionists. If we were to accept that both sides in this case, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, have a valid point, it would require us to kind of suspend truth for a moment and pretend that January 6th never happened. Because in Donald Trump and in Trumpism and the most loyal followers to Donald Trump, what Joe Biden was pointing out, you have a regime that is willing to break the law and resort to violence to accomplish what they cannot accomplish through peaceful political means. That is the call to the Secretary of State of Georgia. That is the violence on January 6th. That is the calling of Joe Biden, an enemy of the state, pardoning of insurrectionists, the threat to arrest others. That is the threat that Joe Biden

was isolating last Thursday. And so this is one of those moments, I think, the presidency, the current presidency is assuming the burden of calling out his predecessor and the cultural movement that Donald Trump represents. But again, it is because there is only one truth in this scenario. And it's important we focus in on that. There is a threat to democracy by Donald Trump and Trump is. Yeah, it's very well said, David. We're gonna take one last quick break before the top of the hour. But stay with us because we want to play a little bit from President Biden. His speech, of course, Thursday night called out the MAGA Republicans. But then he seemed to walk it back a little bit over the next couple of days.

We're going to play that for you. And so much more when Morning Joe comes right back.