Morning Joe - Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

June 18, 2026: 7am — Obama Presidential Center opens in Chicago To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I would have never given them back to money. I would have said the money is off the table, let's start negotiating. And you know what, I would have won that negotiation. This was a deal at the highest level of incompetence. This deal is catastrophic for America, for Israel, and for the whole of the Middle East. We've rewarded the world's leading state sponsor of terror with $150 billion. and we received absolutely nothing in return. The Iran deal was so bad.

We paid $150 billion to sign a horrible agreement. My God. Wow. They sting. The words they have to stink. All those that said Donald Trump's going to do something that no other American president has done with Iran and they were right. Yeah. Yeah.

$150 billion? Oh no. Oh, no. Child's play. This is child's play. This MOU gives Iran $300 billion in reconstruction costs, $100 billion in non-freezing funds all across the globe. $60 billion a year in oil revenue estimates the Wall Street Journal this morning. About half a trillion dollars while saying, while the president,

said yesterday, well, of course they should have a nuclear program. All their neighbors have the nuclear program. Of course, they should have ballistic missile program. The Saudis have a ballistic missile program. And we can go on and on and on. But man, Willie, this is just, it's the worst, the worst deal I've ever seen in my life. And you have the president and somebody other Republicans that have been attacking Barack Obama for giving $400 million in pallets of cash and, you know, $100 billion. They're giving half a trillion dollars to the Iranians, telling the Iranians that they're going to be able to have a nuclear program,

that they're going to be able to have a ballistic missile program. And also, as a Wall Street Journal writes this morning, they and Oman are going to decide what fees to charge 60 days from now the Strait of Hormuz for the first time. In Iranian history, they have control. because of this war of the straight. And the world economy will never be the same, Willie. Well, we have videotape, and there it was.

Some of it from 10 years ago, some of it even more recent President Trump attacking President Obama's Iran deal, the JCPOA. And for a guy who prides himself on being a dealmaker, remember, that was part of the sale in 2015 and 16. He knows how to make deals, right? He gets what he wants from people, sometimes from brute force, and he always gets the best deal. He did it in New York real estate. He's going to do it for the country. Well, here we are with, as you described it. And by the way, don't take our word for it. Listen to Senate Republicans. Look at the Wall Street Journal editorial page. Listen to the New York Post again today. Just ripping this deal as plainly and nakedly bad for the United States of America, as bad for the Middle East, as bad for Israel. And as you said, Joe, handing over what could be more than half a trillion dollars to a regime that J.D. Vance is saying publicly now he hopes now will become. a normal country. We're going to welcome them into the world community. We're going to bring them

into the circle of trust, give them a bunch of money and cross our fingers that they do the right thing, that they don't pursue a nuclear weapon. We're going to trust them and hope that they do that. Well, if you read a history book, you know that's very unlikely to happen and hasn't happened since 1979. Well, the sense of betrayal in Israel is off the charts this morning from all sides of the political spectrum. I wonder about all this people that said, oh, we're going to vote for Donald Trump, because he's going to be stronger on Israel than Joe Biden. Well, Joe Biden again, gave $18 billion in support to Israel after October the 7th. Donald Trump is giving half a billion dollars to the country that has been chanting death to America and death to Israel since 1979.

We're going to talk about that. Right. Unfortunately, talk about just how bad this deal. is it's mind-boggling. I hope the president will back off of it. I don't know that he will. He's in full pitch mode now, but it is a dreadful deal. With us, to talk about this, we still have Jonathan Lemire, also MS now contributor to Mike Barnacle. And also we have with this Congressman Dan Goldman of New York. He's a member of both the Homeland Security and the judiciary committees. Now, before we get to this, let's talk a little sports congressman and talk about that New York

next tie you're wearing today. Oh, yes. We've got the parade. The streets are already packed as of, I think, 4 a.m. People coming in from all over the place expecting potentially 3 billion people in lower Manhattan today. It's going to be great. Yeah, Willie, what does this mean to you? Well, first of all, the congressman shoes mean a lot to Nix fans everywhere. I think we've got a shot of his shoes as well. There's the cover of the New York Post.

It's hard to believe it's here that we're getting a parade. You know, the Yankees have done it over the years, and the Rangers finally broke through in 94, and they did it. We've had teams win World Series, but when you wait 53 years for this, and the way they did it, and the way they rallied the city, and the way that people who couldn't get into Madison Square Garden because there were only 19,000 seats, filled the streets by the tens of thousands through these playoffs,

and particularly last week, after the comeback, the 29-point comeback a week ago today and then winning it on Saturday night. The city has been alive. It has been electric. It has been unified. It has felt communal. It's one of those strangers hugging strangers' experiences. And it's going to be just that way today as the heroes now, these gods of New York, Jalen Brunson, chief among them, parade through the streets and the canyon of heroes. They're just unbelievable. And as Jim McKay would say, the thrill of victory. And Mike Barnacle,

as we talk about the Boston Red Sox, let's talk about the agony of defeat. It's such a dreadful situation. And it's a dreadful situation for so many reasons. We, of course, we didn't keep Bregman. We should have kept Bragman.

That's looking like a bigger mistake every day. We've got people running... Joe, you're bringing us down. You're really bringing us down. A great day. Outside. No, absolutely. No, hey, hey, I'm talking to the 617 caucus here, if I can finish.

So, Mike, you know, I was just thinking, and it's very weird for people that have, saw money ball, and they see how, you know, computer analytics have taken over baseball. People have gone overboard. They're idiots. They don't understand that baseball is, there's a reason why. team gets hot in a playoff. One batter starts hitting than the whole team does. You can't explain that away with analytics. And with the Red Sox, you've got a guy like Roman Anthony, who had the most natural swing.

I was considered one of the great since Ted Williams. And it reminds. It's outrageous. It reminds me of, they've got a long nap ahead of them. It reminds me, Mike. When I was in Congress, I talked to the Chief of Naval Aviation and Training. And this is a lesson not just about baseball, but about life. And what he told me, what John Federman told me was, he goes, you know, the pilots that they send now, they're all engineers.

They're all technically proficient. He goes, but let me tell you, in Vietnam, I would have rather had a guy with a phys ed degree that had the feel, you know, when he was up there. That's who I wanted by my side. That's why John Glenn wanted Ted Williams by his side in World War II and Korea. And these drive-line nerds have destroyed the Red Sox and are destroying baseball. Well, the biggest driveline guy of all who was employed by the Red Sox for at least a year, year and a half, he just left the club yesterday. He's gone.

So maybe that's the beginning of getting back to baseball rather than majoring in analytics. The Red Sox, I will just end this discussion about the Red Sox by telling you. there at 9 and 31 when the other team scores first. So that gives you an idea of what they're all about. We're talking about parades. The congressman is here. He's going down to the parade. William Lemieux won't be at the parade.

Willie will be at the parade. There's the second largest parade taking place today. We've been talking about it all morning long. The second largest parade taking place today is in the streets of Tehran because they won big. There you go. Yeah, I mean, Jonathan Lemire, they won huge. You can talk about that or you can talk about the Boston Red Sox. I will, this is like Popari, you take your choice. But I guess since he leaned into Tehran, we might as well talk about it. I mean, and we've been discussing at the

first hour, the Iranians are going to get half a trillion dollars after Donald Trump was attacking Barack Obama during the campaign for giving much less. He said, why, of course the Iranians need to have a nuclear program. Their neighbors have a nuclear program. Of course. They've said they're only going to use it for peaceful purposes. That has been the status quo for 47 years. That's what Iran, that's what every Ayatollah has said for 47 years. I've got to say the terms of this deal, shocking even by Donald Trump standards, the Israelis think it's a betrayal or allies in the region, think of it as a betrayal. Republicans on the Hill think of it. of it as a betrayal. Anybody that's been an Iran hawk through the years think of it as a betrayal.

And yet, they seem content on moving forward with it. It is a, most people consider it to be one of the greatest foreign policy disasters in recent memory. Yeah, I will spare the viewers, my own Red Sox thoughts. They're pretty bleak. But yes, on this, there is extraordinary unhappiness on both sides of the aisle right now about this deal. And what's so striking is, President Trump, we know, never made a pitch to the American people about why we went to war in the first place. Eventually, as the conflict went on, he suggested there were a number of goals, and none of them were met. And not only Congressmen were none of them met, in the last few days, we have seen him furiously back away from those, where, you know, suddenly the straight of four moves, which had to be open with no toll structure. Well, that's going to happen for a while, but Iran's already suggested tolls could be applied in 60 days.

and regardless, we know they have far more control over that waterway now. They've shown they can close it at any time. As Joe just said, the president and the Pentagon had said, well, the Iraq can't have ballistic missiles. We can't have any kind of nuke program. And now Trump's saying like, eh, maybe they can. Maybe that's not a big deal. So at the end of the day, the question has to be asked, what was this for? Well, I've been asking that question since day one.

And this is the problem that you end up with when you have such an important. ineptitude and incompetence, Donald Trump ran on a whole platform of no wars, no more wars. And what clearly happened is he saw his own stature diminishing so greatly here in the United States domestically. The Epstein files were closing in around him that at a minimum, he completely rushed into this war.

He, as Joe said, he did not make a case to the American people. He did not make a case to Congress. He went in illegally and recklessly with no plan, no strategy, nothing. And there are consequences when you do that. It's not just, oh, too bad. We'll pull out and then we'll do it next year. You don't have that opportunity. And this is going to have dramatic impacts. And this is why you don't just rush into stupid wars. War is not something. something that you throw around like a distraction from what's going on here and from what's going on domestically. And what's going on domestically was already bad. And the war made it so much worse. So Americans have been struggling under Donald Trump far more than they were before. Then gas prices go up. Now inflation is going up. And it's all because of this reckless illegal war that Donald Trump, for some unknown reason, decided had to be done now, and we're paying the consequences. And he even said along the way in the last few weeks, he found this boring, he wanted to move on. He said two days ago, I would just want to put this

in the rear view mirror. He conceded yesterday that really what was at the heart of this is, I don't want to be Herbert Hoover. I didn't want the economy to collapse and I'd be responsible for that. I just had to end it. And this is the deal that ends it. I'm always curious because we're hearing now publicly from more Republicans. We've heard from them today in Congress criticizing this deal, but some other things that the president's doing as well. What are you hearing specifically about this deal from your Republican colleagues? Are they still falling in line with Donald Trump, or are they critical? Well, they seem to be tiptoeing into some criticism. It is bewildering to me by being down in Washington for the last year and a half,

to see the degree that Republicans in Congress have just rolled over for a completely irrational, reckless destruction coming from the White House. And yes, it's on foreign policy, but it is an immigration where this dragnet, this absolute disgusting deportation dragnet is going on,

where, even though they promise the worst of the worst, what we are seeing is 95% of the immigrants who are being arrested have no serious criminal record. And the list goes on and on. Obviously, the corruption and the grifting, the weaponization of the Department of Justice, but taking away a trillion dollars of Medicaid and food nutrition, gas prices going up, literally in the entire framework, every single thing that he is doing, is tearing apart the country, tearing down the country, and recklessly destroying the basic values of our Constitution.

That's why we have to take back the majority, and that's why we are going to have to leave the Congress because the Republicans cannot in holding Donald Trump accountable for all of his horrific actions. Well, if I could maybe develop on the point you were making about migrants in these detention centers and all the different ways in which not just our values

but laws are being overlooked and breached, whether it's ICE agents or the way migrants, whether they are slightly documented, undocumented, or happen to be U.S. citizens stuck in these detention centers.

It appears Republicans, whether it's this unbelievable deal that Iran is being given, a gift, a gift, like a gift. wasn't the whole reason that they came out with after they went to war with Iran was to make sure that Iran never has a nuclear weapon and now they can have one and here's some money to go along with it. Republicans stand in the breach, whether it's this incredibly horrific and almost

nonsensical. I mean, I would be concerned if this were my president doing this with Iran. Like there's something incredibly self-sabotaging happening here if you are representing the United States of America or as it pertains to migrants. Republicans stand in the breach. Is there anything that they are noticing, that your colleagues are noticing about his, not just his behavior, but his actual actions? Well, what was striking to me, Mika, is when you saw the negotiations around the, reconciliation bill in the Senate. Many of the Republican senators were speaking up against the $1.8 billion slush fund. They thought, oh, and it looked like, oh, that was finally over the line.

But then, even though they, many of them said they weren't going to pass the $90 billion for ICE and CBP through reconciliation, because as if they need any more money for the this dreadful dragnet, but they were going to stand up and say, we're not doing that until you get rid of the slush fund. Well, they, they caved there. And that's what we're seeing in the immigration space as well. And I'm on the Homeland Security Committee and the Judiciary Committee, the two committees of jurisdiction.

And the Republicans are just sitting there watching American civil rights be trampled on. They are watching due process get trampled on. They are watching this administration try desperately to take away Congress's oversight power. I ended up leading a lawsuit against this administration to force them to allow members of Congress to do

oversight of those detention facilities you mentioned. They are in dreadful condition. And it is absolutely un-American and the Republicans are consistently silent. It is why it is so important that we take back the majority and

that we lead a resurrection, a rehabilitation of our basic values and our Constitution. And I'm looking forward to being right there and doing that. You know, it's interesting, Willie, that the Wall Street Journal today did talk about some of the things that the congressman just mentioned. And that is that some of the senators are beginning to stand up. John Thune, there's an article in the Wall Street Journal today about John Thune just standing

up on some things. Listen, I don't want to get into a fight with the president. I'm not going to have this back and forth and say, bad things about him for the press. There's just some things that we're not going to agree on, some things we're not going to do. We first noticed that when the president came in and tried to browbeat Thune and the rest of the Republicans to get rid of the filibuster. Thune said, quote, that ain't happening. And Mike Rounds laughed at the president, out loud at the meeting. You look at what's happened recently. Republican senators said no to the Marie Antoinette ballroom.

They said no to the $1.8 billion slush fund for the cop beaters, this cop beater relief fund. They've said no. Some of them said no to this so-called Save Act that Donald Trump is now doubling down on, which let me say again, not about voter ID, along with about 80% of Americans, I support voter ID. The Save Act is a voter suppression bill. 45 drivers licenses, 45 states' drivers' licenses that are issued would not be allowed under this voter suppression bill that Donald Trump wants to pass. We've heard all the stories about women who get married and how they would have a hard time. A lot of them also registering to vote.

So there are some things that John Thune and the Republicans in the Senate have stood up on it. I said, listen, we can't do this. It violates the law. First of all, and secondly, it's just horrific politics. So we are starting to see some of that in the Senate, and now with Bill Cassidy, and now with John Corny, of course, with the others that have voted against him in the past. You're now seeing five, six, maybe even seven Republican senators that say, listen, we're done going over the political cliff with a guy that has approval rate.

in the mid-30s. Yeah, Leader Thune has swatted away some of the worst ideas of the president of the United States. Punch Bull News this morning has a very interesting look inside a Republican Senate meeting yesterday, which effectively was a rally around John Thune meeting, in which the Louisiana senator was quoted as saying, if you don't like John Thune, you don't like golden retrievers. And then they came out of the meeting and said, yes, we all support John Thune. and it was Tom Tillis who said, we've got to stop acting like a rubber stamp for this president.

We need to be the board of directors that we're supposed to be. So you're starting to hear grumbling and a lot of support for John Thune. On the point of the SAVE Act and these coming elections, Congressman, you have new legislation you're introducing this morning, exclusively on Morning Joe, focused on combating election interference by the federal government. It's called the Voting Systems Protection Act. Take us inside the legislation, if you would,

and tell us why you think it's so important. as we head to the midterms. Well, I think everybody is understandably and correctly, very concerned about whether or not this upcoming election is going to be free and fair. And there are lots of different ways that Donald Trump has already started laying the foundation to undermine them, influence them, or even cheat in them. And one of the ways that we have seen over and over is, including in Georgia, is seizure of the voting machines or the voter rolls. This bill is a fairly simple way of ensuring that the federal government does not tamper with those things. So there is an oversight mechanism by someone from the state who will always be with whatever seizures,

whatever rolls or materials or technology or voter equipment is, if it is ever taken. So they'll oversee it to make sure. There are additional criminal penalties if there is any tampering with those voter rolls or those machines. There's a 48-hour requirement, and this is important, the notice requirement before any seizure can happen, even if it is through legitimate means. and it has to be reported to Congress. So this is a way of safeguarding whatever pretext Donald Trump and his government may use to seize

this voting equipment and ensure that it is not tampered with. It is one of many different ways that we are working on, the Democrats, safeguarding our elections. This one is a very common sense way that does not provide an onerous burden still would, in theory, allow the federal government through court order or otherwise to do something if they could show there's a reason for it, but it also makes sure that the states have a role in it. Congressman Dan Goldman of New York, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. Thank you. Go Nix. All right. Go Nix. Still ahead on morning, Joe. We'll get a live report from Lower Manhattan

where Nix fans are already gearing up for the team. celebratory ticker tape parade this morning. My lord, you're watching Morning Joe. We'll be right back. Live picture of New York City coming up on 7.30 in the morning, still a couple hours away from the parade and the streets already are packed. New York City celebrating the NBA champion. Nix, I can't believe I'm saying that.

The NBA champion, it's the team's first ever ticker tape parade set to tip off at 10 a.m. down at Battery Park in lower Manhattan, then travel. up Broadway through the Canyon of Heroes to City Hall, where the team will be presented with a ceremonial key to the city. Let's bring an MS Now reporter Mark Santia. He joins us live from Lower Manhattan along the parade route. Boy, it looks busy out there already, Mark. Oh, Willie, it's packed. They're actually talking about they possibly may have to turn people away because they're going to be at capacity. We're on Broadway here. This is a party, Willie, 53 years in the making. You can see people already.

lined up. A lot of police officers are out here today. There's actually more than 10,000 officers here. This is the largest police sort of a gathering for an event. They're here. You have to go through magnetometers. But you see, fans are out here early. All right, talk to me. How excited are you today? Really excited. It's been 53 years. I think next year, the NICs are going to win. Well, you're already thinking ahead. So I know you don't remember 53 years ago. But But who are you most excited to see today? Jalen Brunton, In New Towns, and O.G. Ananobe. There you go. Let's go. Nix.

Willie, people are pumped out here. It goes several rows deep here on the Canyon of Heroes. All right, you all made the drive from Jersey. Barbara, talk to me. You said this is a very special day. Yes, it is. A very special day for me. I've been rocking with the Nix ever since I was 14 years old.

I'm now 67. I never thought I see this in my lifetime. I'm proud of my NICs. All right, you could be anywhere today. I'm happy to June and Dave. I'll be right here. Why is this so important for it to be right here today? It's so important to me.

Oh, my God. I've been waiting this all my life. All right. Willie, everybody's pretty excited. We're going to send it back. Let's send it back to Willie. Will you. We'll see you in a bit.

We'll see you down here. All right. We'll be down there shortly. MS. Now is Mark Santia in the thick of things and the parade route. Still two and a half hours before he starts. They got to keep that energy up.

Mark, thanks so much. These are amazing scenes. We'll see if there's actual ticker tape. from up top, there usually is. What do you got? Right. And literally, while we're having that up here, that hit, NYPD just posted on Twitter, all viewing pens are full. So already, the crowds have

exceeded capacity there. I'm sure there are other areas where you could find a space, but the official viewing pens are already full. It's remarkable. There's no car south of Canal Street. There's no train south of Canal Street. We saw images earlier. Subway, it was taking 15, 20 minutes for people to get out of a subway station because

the crowds were that big. It shows how excited most New Yorkers are about today. It's, you know, it's refreshing to see the sense of municipality in this city because of the New York Next. It's really refreshing. People are kinder. They seem more thoughtful.

They seem happier than they've been in quite some time. All because of sports and one specific team, the New York Next. New York Knicks. 53 years of pent-up energy all coming out this morning. Can you imagine how we in Boston feel about this? You guys are fine. We understand it. You've won your third national championship, you know. You have 15 more to go to reach the Celtics 18, but you're doing well. Why always the sore losing from Boston? It's still, you won your title, the curse is over. Embrace it. It's a beautiful thing. I do. I do. We'll see you down at the parade today. Coming up, today also is the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. The CEO of the Obama Foundation, Valerie Jarrett joins to talk about what to expect and much more.

Good morning, Joe comes right back. I hope people tune in to the grand opening because it's going to be a celebration, not just of the center opening, but of this community and the work of so many public servants, many of whom will be there, to help make this country better. Hopefully it'll be a reminder for people of what's possible when we come together and are able to get past some of our divisions and work for a common purpose. That was former President Barack Obama sharing his hopes for the Obama Presidential Center. The dedication and grand opening ceremony for Chicago's newest landmark takes place later this morning,

kicking off a full weekend of celebrations and festivities over the Juneteenth holiday. Former presidents Biden, Bush, Ann Clinton are all expected to attend. There are also going to be several high-profile musicians, including Bruce Springsteen, Christina Aguilera and Stevie Wonder. Now, the 19th acre campus is located on Chicago's south side and conveniently only a few miles from the Chicago White Sox-Rate Field and will also be home to a public library, a playground, a cafe, and a restaurant, community spaces,

and of course, a museum. Let's bring in right now the CEO of the Obama Foundation, Valerie Jarrett. Valerie, congratulations. I know this is a day you've been looking forward to for a very long time. You got that right, Joe. Welcome to the opening of the Obama presidential center. You're going to hear the Roots Band rehearsing in a minute right behind me, and we just can't wait to welcome people, whether they came from across the street or around the world,

to our celebration today. It's great. You know, Valerie, before we get into the remarkable center that you've helped oversee the development, the building of and also the remarkable festivities are going to go on today. Just a joyful celebration, Republican and Democratic presidents coming together to celebrate what's best in America.

We can't shy away from where we are right now. Donald Trump, we played a clip of the current president attacking Barack Obama's Obama deal, the Iran deal, which of course was far more stingy than what we've seen in the MOU right now, far more restrictive. I'm just curious your thoughts as you see all of this play out.

And also, just a dreadful spectacle that took place on the White House lawn where the First Lady was viciously attacked and Republicans didn't come out and attack the president or the event is the way I think most Americans would have in the past. Well, Joe, I think that's part of why this campus is so special, is that this is a place of hope. It's an opportunity to remind people not just of President Obama's legacy during his time in office, which we do,

but also we begin with the Declaration of Independence. We talk about the zigzags of the American democracy that brings us to the current day. And what's clear is that our union is not yet perfected, but we all have the responsibility of the glorious task of continuing to improve this great nations. That's what's written up on the side of our museum building. That's what's in our hearts. And so rather than focusing on what's happening right today, we are trying to prepare the change makers for tomorrow. People with values that are about respect and compassion and empathy and goodness of spirit, which I believe, we believe, is still. deep in the hearts of most Americans. And that's what we want to bring out. And that's what I've

seen from the folks who've come in and toured our center during our pre-opening. People treat each other with respect. They appreciate the zigzags of history. And I think they leave a little more heartened that they can improve our country. We all have that potential. So that's where our focus is. And here come the roots. Oh, yeah, I hear them. Valerie, I've been following this vision being carried out. It's just incredible. what it offers to the community, the library, the connection with the Chicago Public Library, there's a playground, a sledding hill, the museum, community spaces, a lot of interaction with the Chicago community. I'm curious, first of all, any themes of the opening day that

you'd like to touch on, and if you could talk about what the vision was for this and if it has been completed. Yes, so, Micah, I'm so glad you describe it. the campus because on a personal note, I grew up not far from here. I used to ride my bike through this very park as a child. And I often saw the disinvestment on the south side compared to the north side. And so the fact that the Obamas chose this location to make a major investment in the city that I love. And the themes are all about, won't surprise you, hope. It's about ordinary people who are working together and believe in this country and love this country, don't always agree on every single issue,

but can work together to do extraordinary things. And our country is full of that rich history, and we want to tell that history to remind people, not just of what the Obama's accomplished, but all of the people upon whose shoulders they stand, all of the people who they worked with very hard during those eight years to try to improve our country, and knowing that there's still a lot of hard work left to do.

Valerie, as you know, we live in a country that has been seriously divided of the recent past. Could you speak a little about the concept of the reality of three former presidents arriving today in Chicago to celebrate Barack Obama's library? One of the presidents is a Republican, George W. Bush, and the theme of cohesion among people who once fought each other politically showing up for this event. Could you talk about that just a bit? I'm so glad you mentioned that, because as I have said many times, President Bush was so cooperative with our administration coming in during the transition.

I had the privilege of co-chairing President Obama's transition, and so I saw how willing his team was to brief us on every single issue. Even if we disagreed with them, they wanted us to start and hit the ground running. And in the Oval Office, we have a complete replica of the Oval Office inside of the museum, you open the drawer, there's the letter that President Bush wrote. And it was just all about, I wish you well, I'm rooting for you, I know you love our country. You know, you're going to have a lot of folks that are pushing and pulling in all different directions, but just know I'm rooting for you. And so we're so honored that President and Laura Bush would come today to join us in this celebration. And I will say throughout the administration, anytime we called President Bush, whether it was to help with the Haiti Relief Fund or any issue, he was right there being supportive because he loves his country. there you go that's what it's all about CEO of the Obama Foundation Valerie Jarrett thank you so much for coming on the show we can't wait to get there and I want to I want a tour with you thank you so much for being on this morning and today at 11 o'clock Eastern MS now will be live from Chicago for the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center and tomorrow night Michelle Norris hosts a special behind the scenes

look inside the center featuring exclusive interviews with the former president, former First Lady Michelle Obama, and members of their inner circle. Again, that's today starting at 11 a.m. Eastern right here on MS now. And up next, we'll have a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning, including a Republican-led state dismissing an effort to redraw its congressional map before the midterms. Morning Joe will be right back. Welcome back. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. House oversight and judiciary committee staff members visited the Texas federal prison, where late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's longtime associate and co-conspiracy, Elaine Maxwell, is being held. According to the panel's top Democrats, Congressman Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia staff traveled to the facility on Tuesday as part of the panel's

ongoing investigation into Epstein and were in search of, quote, answers about Maxwell's unprecedented transfer and VIP treatment. Maxwell was transferred from a Florida prison to a minimum security prison camp in Texas in August of last year, following a meeting with then Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche about the Epstein case. And Willie, I wonder how that prison will compared to the detention centers in Texas. Interesting question. Big news out of Georgia this morning, where Republicans in the state house have decided not to go through with plans to redraw political maps ahead of the midterms. During a special legislative session yesterday, Republican state lawmakers sent a letter

to Governor Brian Kemp announcing their decision to drop the redistricting effort. It's a blow for the governor who is pushing to redraw lines to shore up Republican gains in the state. But it comes As some Republicans argue, the effort would energize Democrats ahead of the midterms. And a proposed wealth tax on billionaires has gathered enough signatures to make it on California's ballot this November. The controversial measure would impose a one-time tax of up to 5% on Californians worth more than $1 billion. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom has criticized the measure saying it could cause billionaires to move out of the state. And the Trump administration reportedly is planning to install a permanent fence now around Lafayette Square.

That's, of course, the public park right across from the White House frequented by tourists, but also used for protests. The plan, reported by the Washington Post, would give officials the ability to shut down the park if they feel it's necessary. According to three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the Secret Service has been pushing for that plan. The idea of a permanent fence previously was discussed. us during the first Trump administration after demonstrators flooded the park at the height of the

George Floyd protests. At one point, authorities remember, used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear that area of protesters so President Trump could walk across the square for a photo op. Obviously, John Lafayette Square fraught during the Trump administration because of that incident that we recall, they had the National Guard come in and clear the square so Donald Trump could walk through and go to the church. Putting up a fence here, perhaps deterring protests, they might be expecting around the America 250 celebrations. Yeah, a couple of things here.

First of all, you're right to recall that what happened in 2020 is seen real violence there. People thought that the federal law enforcement and the National Guard went way too far in clearing out those protests. Lafayette Park has always been a traditional site of protest in Washington. There had even been some, I've walked through that park many times,

you have to go through it to get to the White House, a permanent protest structure. Like there was an anti-nuke thing. The Trump already cleared out. They didn't like how it looked. And so that's part of this. This is part of Trump's effort to beautify Washington

and remake it in his image. But it's also about infringing on space to protest. And going on the ongoing fortification of the White House. There are more and more security measures making, it have gone up in recent months,

making it far less accessible to the people. It is the people's house. And this is the excuse that the administration is using to try to build this ballroom. They've now turned it into it's a security measure that they feel like the president needs to have this in order

to be safe there in the executive mansion. This all seems connected as part of an effort to really sort of harden what should be a space with appropriate security that is for the American people. All right. We'll see if and how soon those fences go up. Still ahead. We'll take a look at how President Trump is defending or at least attempting to defend his deal with Iran amid widespread criticism, including from members of his own party and leading conservative publications. Morning Joe's coming right back. Thank you.