Morning Joe - Polls: More Americans blame Trump and GOP for shutdown

Episode Date: October 31, 2025

As Trump calls to scrap the filibuster, new polls show most Americans, especially independents, blaming him and Republicans for the 31-day shutdown. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I've never said we're not going to talk to congressional Democrats until they reopen the government. What I've said is we are not going to give in on policy demands under the threat of hostage taking. I mean, if any moderate Democrat or any Democrat period from the United States Senate wants to comb over, they're welcome to walk into these doors in an hour. I'm happy to talk to them about how to end the government shutdown. Well, I mean, that's positive. I mean, the last. Last time they went over there, what happened? Jonathan? Didn't Donald Trump put somebody in a sombrero hat?

Multiple people in sombrows, and he threw a Trump-2020 hat at Hakeem Jeffries. Yeah, there you go. Well, there you have it. All right. So today's Friday, everybody. And it's Halloween. Halloween. And tonight, Game 6 of the World Series.

I'm very excited about that, Mike, do you have a, what's your first Halloween memory? My first Halloween memory, oh my God, I think World War II had just ended. We were all very happy to be out of the streets. Go team. I have no. You have no memory of it. No. I mean, every day was Halloween for us in the street that I grew up in.

You mean, you mean going into the dime store and stealing candy and running out the back? The drugstore. The drugstore. The drugstore. The drug store. You get a comic book and a small glass of Coca-Cola and that was it and you didn't have to pay. I like that. What town did you grow up in? Fitchburg, Massachusetts.

Fitchburg, all right. An old mill town. And you don't remember? I remember everything about the street I grew up on, Joe. It was filled with World War II veterans and immigrant families from Russia, from Italy, from Poland. It was America. It was incredible. And what's the state of the old mill town now?

I'm asking, this isn't a leading question. It's in tough shape. It's in tough shape. What happened to the mills? When did they shut down? The textile mills moved south about three. 30, 40 years ago. The paper mills closed down about 10, 15 years ago. I think there's probably one mill left going. It used to be such that they made so much paper in that town that the river

would turn purple and pink during the summer because of the overflow and the pollutants that they would put in the river from making the paper. Those were the good old days, Mike. Those were the good old days. You could tell what month it was by the smell and the air. By the smell and the air. I always remember driving over the old bridge going into Mobile, Alabama. And when that paper plant was going, he just breathed through your mouth, baby. So, you know, we're going to be talking a second about AI. Jim Vanda, hi, and Mike Allen have a great story on AI. They're talking about how the future of the Democratic Party may be,

and nobody needs to jump on this, but may be anti-AI and pro-socialist, sort of like a mom-dani, AOC, sort of person who is anti-A-I. And I don't know about that. I do know, though, Mike, that the reason I ask you about what happened to your town is, you know, for the past 30 years, politicians have been talking about trying to bring back those kind of jobs to America. Yeah.

And then you had the information age that got people fired. You had the tech age that got people fired. We're coming up, as Jim Vandahai has said, on the age. AI apocalypse. It's here now. Kids aren't getting hired out of college, not five years from now, not three years from now. Now. So the question is, what happens? We've seen what happened with the waves of the tech revolution and the information age, all the people that lost their jobs there. AI, it's going to be so much worse. I mean, politicians need to stop fighting over really stupid things. And they need to start figuring out what they're going to do to save the middle class. Well, Dunn, to the exact point, to your point that you just raised, AI is going to threaten a lot of people's jobs. AI might also be the perfect in terms of potential for Democrats running for office because it gives them the ability to talk to people who work with their hands. Right. Who built America, who are trying to still build something today.

AI can't build a house. Well, no. You know, they can't hammer an ale in a two-by-four. You're right. I mean, a lot of need for electricians, plumbers. everything else. Yeah. But you, you, you unfortunately, though, also have the robotics revolution that's upon us, too. So there's a lot of challenges, a lot of challenges. In sports, we have game six of the World Series tonight. Yeah, the Blue Jays come home with a chance to win their first

championship since 1993. After losing that 18-ending heartbreaker in game three, they turned around and won two in a row in L.A. took to pick themselves off the mat. A theory here, Joe, that And Mike, that the Dodgers, the older team, that 18- inning game, though they won it, it took a lot more out of them than the Blue Jays. There's even some advanced stats that show how the Dodgers swings have slowed down in the last couple of days, perhaps because of this. So Jays come home, they have momentum, but the Dodgers put Yamamoto on the mound, who has thrown complete games in each of his last two starts.

So if he's anywhere near as good as he was in game two, Jays throw Gaussman, I mean, perhaps a classic tonight, perhaps a game seven. tomorrow. The Dodgers and the Blue Jays, I would have never assumed that had the possibility of being a classic world series. But Mike, it has a possibility of being a classic world series. The Dodgers also have a possibility, very real possibility, have been calling them bums if they lose this year with a team they have. Well, I'm hoping that it'll go seven games because I hate to put the storm windows on prematurely. But once the seventh game of the World Series is over. Winter sets in.

Yeah. But the big thing about the Dodgers is you can talk to my sons, my three boys, before the World Series began, I tell them, I'm going to tell you something. I love the Dodgers, I love Mookie Betts. Toronto's going to do very well in this World Series for one large reason. The Dodgers are clearly getting old right in front of our eyes.

I've got a big payroll. When you get old, my fastball isn't what it used to be. Oh, I don't believe that at all. I can still bring it, but not nearly as good as I used to. That's true. You need more down days. You know who else is getting old? Managing editor of the Bullork, Sam Stein.

He only seemed yesterday he was in prep school. Yeah. You know, skipping second period coming on Morning Joe, telling us what his homework was in geometry. Sam, thank you for being with us. What are your kids going as tonight for Halloween? You know, thanks for asking, Joe. I'm old enough to have kids.

Wait, wait, why can't even say that without. sounding sarcastic. Go ahead Sam. So one of my kids is going to go classically as a skeleton. I know a very bold choice. My other kid who I'm really proud of for doing this, he watched Back to the Future with me and he loved it and he's like, I want to go as Marty McFly. No way. Nice. Yeah. Good for him. So he's going with Marty Fy. He's got the vest. We're going to be carrying a little bit of plutonium. We're going to be looking for a DeLorean. It's going to be great. Yeah. That is so cool. And how nice. Your son going to as a character from 1986 and make all the parents really happy.

85. Let's just be clear about this. All the parents very happy and make all the children say, who's that dork? Who is this guy? We also have Washington Borough Chief of the USA today, Susan Page. Susan, where did you grow up? What was your hometown and you're wearing orange today? Thank you for actually understanding the importance of this day.

Where did you grow up and what's the first Halloween you remember? You know, TV is a visual medium. I can't believe none of the you are in costume. We're guys. We're dumb. I woke up going, he said, spring or fall? But anyway, thank you for, you know. But yeah, what was your hometown?

And what's the first Halloween you remember? Born and raised in Wichita, Kansas. Did not, by the way, step outside the state of Kansas until I went to college. Oh, wow. So definitely, a Kansan through and through Brookfield Lane. and you knew which houses to go to and which houses you would never, never go to when you were trick-or-treating. Yeah, it sounds like a scene out of To Kill a Mockingbird. Seth, what about you?

Where were you born? What was your hometown? Marblehead in Massachusetts. And what's your, the mean streets of Marvelhead? What was your first Halloween you can remember? I just remember how easy it seemed to carve a pumpkin. when my dad was doing it. Now that I'm a dad, and it's kind of tough.

It is tough, and I couldn't do it. I did, you know, end up cutting off some fingers if I tried. So, all right. Well, I grew up in Dorerville, Georgia. Was the first Halloween? Green Oak Drive. I remember, I must have been four or five. I remember my sister and I went out because my brother was sick,

and my sister was asking, she's kind of pushy and tough, asking for extra Halloween candy for my brother. They thought she was making the story out. She wasn't. Today marks day 31 of the government shutdown. That was a hard turn. And now millions of Americans are starting to feel an even bigger impact.

Tomorrow benefits for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, are not going to be issued. And that's going to leave about 42 million Americans uncertain about how they're going to eat. Paychecks for federal workers continue to be missed among those Americans' workers. working without pay are, and this really worries me and should worry you, air traffic controllers and TSA agents who are calling in sick, prompting delays and ground stops at major airports. I can tell you, Mike, I had family that was going to be flying in the Boston this week today, in fact. Good luck. Everything was like three hours late. Weather conditions not making, I mean, going to be next impossible to fly in the Northeast today. On top of that, the Affordable Care Act Open enrollment opens tomorrow, and millions of Americans are going to see dramatically higher premiums because enhanced tax credits are going to expire. Meanwhile, President Trump is calling on the Senate to get rid of the filibuster, which would allow Republicans to reopen the government.

The president made the request via very long social media post last night. The filibuster, of course, is a long-standing tactic in the Senate that blocks their delays votes. in a bill, 60 votes are required to get past that filibuster. Earlier this month, Majority Leader John Thune dismissed the idea of changing the filibuster into the shutdown, adding that the White House had not pressured him on the issue. The Senate adjourned yesterday, and it's not scheduled to meet again until Monday. So how's everything breaking down on the shutdown? Well, not good for Republicans, as we've been saying over the past week.

More Americans are blaming President Trump and Republicans. in Congress than Democrats for the current government shutdown. According to the latest Washington Post, ABC News Ipsos poll, 45% blamed the president and the Republicans. Only 33% blame the Democrats. Blame does fall largely among partisan lines, but this is important among independents. 46% blame Republicans.

Only half of that blame the Democrats. The poll also revealed three-quarters of American adults say they're very or somewhat concerned about the shutdown. So Jonathan, this isn't really a surprise. I mean, I'm saying this isn't a surprise, not just us, but to the White House. As you've been reporting, I mean, they've been wanting the president to get back from his important trips overseas, but wanted him to get back and start focusing on this and do a deal with them. Democrats. They won't say that publicly, but they, Republicans want a deal done with Democrats, because right now instead of, you know, us talking about crime, we're talking about health care. And Republicans are going to lose on that every day.

Yeah, anxieties within the West Wing, behind closed doors, have been rising over the last week or two to be sure. They can read the polls. This is just the latest one that shows that most people in this country blame Republicans. They blame the president. The GOP, of course, controls all. three branches of government, the real world impact of the shutdown growing by the day. November 1st, that's tomorrow. That's the snap deadline. So people are going to feel that even further. And their president, by his own sort of admission, has been focused on other things. And for a while there was a deliberate strategy. But I am told now that he is back. And perhaps that very lengthy social media post last night is his first step back into the negotiating

for it. We will see if he takes a more active role. Congressman, you're here. You can be here in part because Speaker Johnson won't let you do your job. The House, of course, has been out now for about a month. So talk to us about, we know there's some growing impatience within the Republicans. Some of them do want to come back and get to work. Give us the latest as to where things stand from your perspective. Well, I mean, Speaker Johnson has us on a paid vacation. I'm not taking a paycheck, but most of my colleagues are.

And so we're not there to negotiate. And as you said, ultimately, this is a negotiation. Now, what Democrats have put on the table is something that's good. for everybody in America. Yes, our constituents need to be able to afford health care. But guess what? Marjorie Taylor Green's family does too. And that's why one of the most conservative Republicans in all of the world, let alone Congress, has come out and blamed her fellow Republicans for this shutdown and said, let's get back to work, let's be able to afford health care. It's not a lot to ask. Yeah, you know, the first time I ran for Congress, I actually

ran against taxes. And now, Bill Clinton had raised taxes along the Democrats a year before, but there had been a series of property tax assessments that had just absolutely blown away voters. Everybody's thinking taxes, taxes, taxes. And I just ran an ad, said, tax killer,

had my picture, that was it. Boom, made all the difference in the world. And that's because people sort of blur. You know, if you're, if my taxes are going up, it doesn't matter what level my taxes going up on, you know, I'm voting for the guy who wants to cut taxes. Well, there are a couple polls that are out today out of New Jersey and Virginia. And what do they prove? They prove that it doesn't matter that the government shutdown is a federal issue. It is impacting state races, and it's hurting the Republicans. Take a look at these two polls from Virginia and New Jersey,

races that we're going to see next week. And T.J., I'll take either one of them right now, baby. There's a Virginia governor's race. This race was too close for comfort for Democrats not so long ago. We had a Washington Post poll that had Abigail Spanberger up by a dozen point. last week. Now, she's up by 10 points. And that race, of course, not hard to figure out why with all the federal employees that live in Northern Virginia. Let's go to New Jersey. In New Jersey, a race that has been way too close to call. Mikey Cheryl has opened up an eight-point lead,

according to the latest cue poll. And again, so much of that also has to be about the government shutdown and Susan Page, Donald Trump bragging that he had killed a tunnel project that would help New Jersey commuters get to work faster. Talk about, well, first of all, the fact that independents are really breaking hard against Republicans right now on the shutdown. And also these two polls that show momentum and the wind at Democrats back right now in large part because of the shutdown. Yeah. Now, Democrats have figured they were going to win Virginia, the Virginia governorship.

The New Jersey race closer, you know how long it's been since one party has held the New Jersey governorship for a third consecutive term? It's been six decades. This will be a break with history, and there is, in fact, a credible Republican candidate there. So a big victory for Democrats in New Jersey, and especially a big victory, an eight-point victory, would be something that sends a message, I think, about kind of the mood not only in New Jersey, but some signal about how voters are feeling in other places, too. And we'll see. I mean,

we figure the Democrats going to win in New York, and we think that the referendum in California is going to pass easily. New Jersey is kind of the closest race we've got next Tuesday to watch to see for kind of signals for what's happening nationally. And Joe, let me just pick up on what you were saying, the Gateway Tunnel Project, I do sort of wonder if Trump views these races as kind of extortion exercises. By that, I mean, you know, he's being very openly friendly to Republican governors, passing FEMA aid for their states, not for blue states. Obviously, he's killing projects in blue states, Ross Vod is.

And I wonder if they think, well, maybe voters will reward us by saying, hey, uncle, like, you know, we'll elect Republicans so you could turn the spigots back on. Clearly, if these polls are to be believed, that's not the case. independents specifically are appalled by the actions the administration has taken in terms of cutting off projects and then, of course, firing federal employees. And I think sort of in general, the direction they're taking on a host of fronts. And so I do wonder if the White House kind of miscalculated the politics here or if it's just a case where if you're hammered, in this case, Donald Trump, everything looks like a nail and he just hammer away. Well, and voters, when they go into voting booths, I have found, and I'm sure the congressman's also found, they don't play three-dimensional chess.

They say, what's my situation like? Am I better off now than I was a couple of years ago? How's my family going to be better off two years from now? And if I'm commuting and it takes me an hour and a half to get from Jersey into the city and an hour and a half to get back home at night, that's three hours I'm away from my family. If there's a project that's going to give me more time with my family, more time with my friends, more time in my community in New Jersey, and Donald Trump, is openly bragging about killing that project,

they're not going to be like Sherlock. They're not going to be like talking a thousand miles an hour going, well, actually, they said, well, maybe we should, no, they're just going to say, you know what, my love, my life's tough enough. And this, this joker is killing this project that was going to help me spend more time at home, you know, keep me out of the car commuting, keep me off the train. remain commuting, keep me, you know, make my life a little bit easier.

And for political gamesmanship, he's decided to kill it because he's thinking he's getting the best of Chuck Schumer. Now, he's not getting the best of Chuck Schumer. He's getting the best of me and my family. He's screwing a lot of Americans. And the other thing that matters in both of these races is when Americans are hurting, when they see Washington as totally dysfunctional, when there are two different Americas, you know, the White House supported billionaire class

and then working people across America who can't even afford to rent a home, to buy a home. One of the things their health insurance... Their health insurance. One of the things in a crisis like that Americans are looking for is leadership. And while everything you're saying about these races is right in the way that they're being federalized

and what's happening in Washington matters in these gubernatorial races, let's not take anything away from just what extraordinary, leaders Abigail Spanberger and Mikey Cheryl are. These are two veterans who represent a new generation of leadership in the Democratic Party, people who are willing to break with the status quo, not just do what the party leaders say in Washington. And that is the kind of forward-looking leadership that Americans want and need right now. You know, Willie, they have been independent.

Mikey Sherrill has not run a great race. Donald Trump is, you know, she should have a picture of Donald Trump up in her governor's office if she wins, because big assist, like he's just giving her the alley-oop on this with the tunnel, the government shut down, and everything, I mean, Marie Antoinette's ballroom. I'm serious. All those things add up in the aggregate when people go, they don't think the way Washington pundits think, or congressmen or senators think, they just think, things are a mess. You look at the right track, wrong track? Whoa. I'd hate to be the party that's running Washington, D.C. right now. And president's numbers, as we showed yesterday, on the economy deep underwater. They see all that.

That's how they feel about how the president's running their economic lives. But you're right. This race, I can say, as a New Jersey native, has been much, much closer than it was comfortable for Democrats. It has gotten a little more purple in New Jersey in recent years, certainly that presidential election last time around was closer than Democrats wanted it to be. But it does look like Mikey Sherrill's opened up a little space. I'm curious for you, though, Congressman, just sort of big picture. You just touched on some of the issues at the center of these two races, but then looking ahead to the midterm elections, just a clear message from Democrats about what's happening in the country right now, whether you want to talk about the expiration of these subsidies for the Affordable Care Act, taking away people's health care with these so-called big, beautiful bill, hospitals closing in urban and rural parts of the country, red and blue. it just frankly being too expensive to live in this country.

As you see it right now, what is the most effective message for Democrats in this moment? The Democrats are here to help working people in America, and Republicans are here to protect the billionaire class. And just what you see time and again from this White House, you know? If you're a criminal, you're going to buy your way to freedom with Trump. If you are one of the people like him who took advantage of young girls with Jeffrey Epstein, then we're going to sort of make that go away. I mean, fundamentally, Speaker Johnson is...

Well, we don't have evidence that he took advantage of young girls with Jeffrey Epstein. Right, right, right. Just common sense be damned. I'm not saying common sense be damned. I'm saying facts. Let's look at the facts.

Is he in the Epstein files? He's obviously in the Epstein files. And the reason that fundamentally, Speaker Johnson has this on vacation is because he does not want to see the newly elected Democratic Democratic representative. But you said he took advantage of young girls. You have no, you have absolutely no evidence of that. I think it's pretty obvious that that's what's going on here.

You think it's pretty obvious? I do. And I think it's pretty obvious to the Republican. John Lamar? And you're reporting on this? Well, we know that he's friends with Epstein. We know the birthday card was in there. I mean, he has not been accused of any wrongdoing. No. I think that's the point you're trying to make. But also certainly here, we know that Speaker Johnson has kept the House out of session, in large part, to not seat the woman, the Congresswoman elect from Arizona who would provide the decisive votes to release more material. So, yeah, certainly that would be any association with further embarrassment for Trump, but we don't know. Also, the book, the book that Virginia Giffray wrote said he was, she never saw him around there. And I'm not

doing his bidding. I'm just saying there's enough things to talk about Donald Trump without without talking about what's not been proved. The bottom line is that his administration, whether they're protecting Trump or whoever else, they protect people who can buy their way to the White House. That's what this administration is all about. And I think that all the rest of America who recognizes that, you know, there are people who play by one set of rules

and people who play by the rest. There are people who are getting tax breaks. There are people who can buy pardons. And there's all the rest of us just trying to afford a home. That's a reality for Americans today. And the more that Democrats can speak to that other America, the real America, actually, the people who are trying to play by the rules

and get ahead and maybe even just be able to go on vacation once a year, then we're going to help them. Well, I mean, that makes sense. There's a long leap from that to what you said. I just, again, just want to be very clear. There's enough to talk about Donald Trump. and without making that assumption. If you want to make that assumption,

you can do that on the floor, the house floor, and if you have documents on it, then I'm sure the American people want to see that. Let's talk about ships being blown up off the coast of Venezuela. Rand Paul is correct that a lot of times when people, when law enforcement people think somebody may be carrying drugs

or somebody may be committing a crime, sometimes they get it wrong. They have to actually talk to the people, investigate the people that have trials. Now they're just blowing them up off the coast of Venezuela. The Intel leaders from the administration came over only talked to Republicans instead of Democrats. Talk about your concerns. Also, for my Republican brothers and sisters, former brothers and sisters, let's talk about how dangerous this is for them. What happens when the Democratic president decides, well, you know what?

The Trump administration didn't give intel to Democrats, so we're not going to give intel the Republicans. Look, we actually had a bipartisan briefing on the Armed Services Committee yesterday in the House, and I went down to Washington to hear it. And I found their justification for what they're doing so flimsy that it makes the case for the Iraq War look like a slam dunk.

I mean, it was that bad. And by the way, at the last week, minute, they pulled the lawyers from the briefing. So all the questions that both Democrats and Republicans had about exactly what you're getting to. What is the legal justification for this? What is the legal justification for the actions that this administration is making our troops take? They weren't there to explain it. And I'll tell you, when I left that briefing, the last thing I did is I went up to the front of the room. And I spoke to the Admiral, who was by far the most impressive person there and I said, I hope you recognize the constitutional peril that you are in and the

peril that you are putting our troops in. I got the impression from that admiral that this wasn't lost on him. But amongst all of us who want to stop drugs, we recognize that a lot of Americans are getting killed by drugs. You still have to follow the law and you still have to use our military for what they're constitutionally allowed to do. Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, thank you so much. Happy Halloween. And Willie, what's coming up?

Still ahead. We're breaking down new polling that shows what Americans think about President Trump's proposed ballroom plans. You're watching Morning Joe. I don't think they like them. They don't like it. No. I don't know. Oh, yeah.

Come on. Let's dance, baby. And where do you dance? Let's dance, baby. Where did Marie Antoinette love to dance the most? In that ballroom. In her gold-lined ballroom. The gilded ballroom.

So let's see how Americans are feeling about the new... Oh, I bet they love it. The Washington Post, ABC News, Ipsos poll, we were talking about earlier, also found a majority of Americans do not support President Trump's ballroom at the White House. Fifty-six percent who owes the project. That coming. Only 28 percent of Americans support that expensive new ballroom, 16 percent, not sure yet. Can I ask you question, Willie? Who is that 28 percent? They love it. Are these like MAGA people that are like having trouble, like, like paying their

car loans and, you know, paying their health care? And they're going, oh, I love the idea of the president deciding in the middle of this crisis and government shutdown to tear down half of the White House and put up a Marie Antoinette Memorial Ballroom. I mean, who are those 28 percent? People ride or dies with Donald Trump. Right or die, baby. When the Washington Post calls, you say, I'm with him. I'm with him. Independence, by the way, overwhelmingly against the ballroom. 61% of them. Those people vote a lot. They oppose that addition to the White House. Well, not a huge surprise there, but just now we see it in the numbers. Yeah, and you know, Sam Stein, I guess the question is, why? Again, with, I mean, with everything that's going on right now, is there no Republican that can go over to the White House and say, Mr. President, you're really not helping matters here?

Well, hold on one second. Let's wait and see what the polls look like after folks see the gold trimmings in the chandeliers. They haven't seen the final product, okay? This is premature. That is true. That is true. And you know, maybe if they hold up their insurance premiums to the gold chandeliers,

maybe they see like a secret message in their lottery numbers. I don't know. Honestly, this has been kind of mind-blowing to me. It's kind of mind-blowing to me. It's mind-blowing. I mean, the metaphor, obviously, of tearing down the White House is one thing. But, you know, the building of a structure that's going to dwarf the White House and to have it financed by the biggest corporations in the world and have it, you know, decked out in gold

and dangle the possibility that's going to be the Donald J. Trump ballroom. I mean, this isn't, like, genius stuff to realize that this is going to backfire on you. But, Susan, I mean, you've been writing about East Wing and in the White House and sort of, the nostalgia that people actually feel for the institution and the building itself. Speak a little bit to that. I mean, just like voters look at this and they're like, wait a second, they're tearing history away from us. The pictures of that backhoe were pretty dramatic tearing down one side of the White House. You know, every American who's gone on a White House tour has walked through the East Wing down that long hallway with the wood paneling and the beautiful portraits.

It's something that not just people who go to state dinners have experienced. And it was at odds with what President Trump said this ballroom would be. He said it would be next to the east wing, not replacing the east wing. And he depicted it as something that would be a little less dominating than we think it's going to be. The number in that Washington Post poll that interests me the most, Republicans who support the ballroom, 62%. Now, that may sound like a lot, but for asking Republicans if they support something Donald Trump has done, the number to be only 62 percent is something we haven't seen on any other issue that he's been associated with. Yeah, I mean, and Jonathan, I mean, it is important for us to say that the president has denied that he's going to call it the Donald J. Trump ballroom.

But, you know, he also said he was not going to touch the existing structure. I want to show those numbers again of independence because, again, all of this, again, we're doing this. for a reason. All of this meshes together. Whether you're a New Jersey voter, whether you're a Virginia voter, whether you're voting out in California, whether you're a New York voter, you look at these independents, only 17%. I just don't see numbers this low. Support the president, just completely obliterating the East Wing of the White House. And again, history there, incredible history in the East Wing, but obliterating it and then, you know, the proposed grand, golden-lined ballroom, the tone may be a little off.

Yeah, as we have, President Trump has a challenging relationship with the truth, but I would argue that perhaps one of his biggest lies ever would be that he would not name the ballroom after himself. In fact, we reported in last week or so that he's already talking about what kind of gold font might use for the Donald J. Trump ballroom. But no, it's the timing of this is everything else. It's to do it in the middle of a shutdown, to lie, to, to, to, to, to disqualify. the people about the nature of the project and the scope of it, to just tear it down.

First of all, as costs still high, inflation is still up, and as the government is shut down and to do this and to provide Democrats with literally an on-the-nose metaphor of what you're doing as president by tearing down half of the people's house. And if there had been, there might have been a way. There have been projects at the White House before. You go through the process. You take time. You bring in experts.

Okay, maybe. But that's not at all what happened to you. And there are people that are saying, you know, if he had done it the right way, if he had talked to others, there would be a lot of people that say, you know what, maybe it's a good idea when the president of France comes over that we don't take him out and have to set up a tent to have a state dinner. He could have gotten support for this. He actually could have gotten support. If he had done something that he doesn't like doing, that is actually work with other people and set up a ballroom that's not. grotesquely out of, you know, out of proportion with the rest of the White House and to keep the east wing where it is. This could have easily been done. You just didn't do it that way, Willie. And again, it's all about timing. You look at the government shutdown, of course, you look at the right track, wrong track numbers. I mean, they're really bad and upside down for the president. And you look at

the president's standing on the economy. It's lower than it's ever been, like first term or second term. If you look at the five polls that came out this past week, I think they average, you know, in the mid to high 30s. So the wrong time to be tearing down the east wing of the White House and proposing the grand ballroom that many people believe will be the Donald J. Trump grand ballroom. And no average American will ever see the inside of that ballroom. No average American will sit on that new Mar-a-Lago-style patio that was the Rose Garden. He's creating a country club for the wealthy and rich donors to come and visit him. Another concerning number for this White House this week, new numbers among young voters. They've made some progress.

They got young men to come support them. Young people in this country, it is a struggle with you talk about it enough. It's hard to find a job, first of all. You can't buy a house until you're 40 years old or whatever the average age is now. There's real struggle, and young people don't see a government that's helping them get through that. No, no doubt. A lot of it adding up right now. Coming up next, one of our next guests is asking the question,

Rahm Emanuel for president? The Atlantic's Ashley Parker joins us with her new profile of the former mayor of Chicago. Plus, does the future success of the Democratic Party lie within anti-AI socialist? That's what Mike Allen of Axios argues. He'll join us ahead to explain. Morning Joe's coming right back.

Ryan Kelly, trying to get the UCLA job, or the U.S., yeah, UCLA job? Or he's a surfer, yeah, he just, shape-shifter. Whatever, whatever boy, whatever accent you want, Brian Kelly will give it to that. Brian Kelly was doomed from that first little rally. During an LSU basketball game,

we spoke to the crowd and dipped into it. You tried on a southern accent. Southern accent. And everyone went, ooh-oh. No, they're not going to work. You just, no, don't do that. Don't do that. Radio Free Europe, one of the great songs

of the early 19-80s, by the way. Holy cow. It's one of the songs when I heard that. It's like, who's this? Yeah, man. You know. Athens, Georgia being having to push like hair metal fans aside. So I go, who is that? Music! It was incredible. Athens GA, baby.

This week, we launched our newsletter, The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe. They make me say, spilled by Morning Joe. Every time I write it because they're afraid will be sued because somebody may own the tea. I don't think they do. But anyway, that's why they'll always say, The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe.

featuring our takes on politics, sports, music, entertainment, and more. We've gotten some great reader feedback so far. Carolyn, Michigan says, so glad I have a place that I can get in touch with you in the future. I'm 82 years old and enjoy your show every day. One from our neighbors up north. Connie in British Columbia says just wanted to say from a Canadian friend of democracy that I love the show and this newsletter is fantastic addition. Peter in Pennsylvania wants to know, great alliteration there. What is the best and worst part of doing Morning Joe for so many years?

I think we can all answer that, Willie. I mean, for me, the best part really is, and this sounds hokey, it's true, that feel like we have a family that watches us every day. When I see people, whether it's in airports, whether I'm watching a baseball game, with, I'm in the grocery or wherever I am, people come up to me, and it's not like they know me, they know me. They'll hug me. They'll say, how's Barnacle doing? Did you hear what Lemire said last week? Da-da-da-da-da. Stop talking sports so much.

You need to listen to Mika more. That's the best part. And so a lot of times when I'll ask guests, hey, talk to our family that's watching right now. It is a family. And that's, I don't know. I mean, this is really about the only TV I've done, but everybody tells me that's really unusual. That's the part. Worst part is just the hours, you know, waking up at 4 o'clock every day.

When you're 44, it's one thing. When you're 62, it's another. And it's just, it's not so much harder getting up in the morning, but it's like later in the afternoon, fading faster. And, you know, you want to be there for your kids. So if they have a 7.30, you know, baseball game or something like that, you do it, but it gets harder. Yeah, I would agree with you. Not complaining. I'm so lucky.

but he asked, and I'm just saying, yeah, a lot of wear and tear on the body. For 18 years, we've all felt a little bit like we have perpetual jet lag, right? Or you're a little bit tired, which is fine, because I transition to the best part. You're tired, but then you get in here, and you're sitting there, and Mika's there, and barnacles there, and Lamere's here, and we start joking around and talking about the game last night or anything other than the news for a little while, and that's when the best part clicks in, which is being around a table, getting to be your pure, authentic self,

which you don't really get to do on TV in other places, talk about what you want to talk about, be the way you are. We can range from sports, which frustrates some of our viewers to music and, of course, to our red-and-butter politics. But it's this table for me. Yeah, same thing.

And it's like I learned early on. I'd be exhausted. We would get here at 559. I'd be like, how am I going to do that? Then you and I'd sit, talk. We'll look at paper. We'd start laughing, joking about something on the news. York Post or something else. And then you're like awake and ready to go. And we have too much

to talk about. A question from Beth in Pittsburgh of everything written in Project 2025, how much has been accomplished so far by the Trump administration? John Lemire, you're the smart one here. Why don't you, why don't you tell us? What do you think? How many, how much of Project 2025 has been enacted? What if I just start talking about sports right now? Yeah, that would frustrate everybody. A fair amount. I mean, it's, it's got to eat. of course is slashing the federal government. And we saw Doge do that early on, and we're seeing Russ vote attempting to it now. But it's also beyond just simply like cuts.

They're defanging the federal government. They're starting to destroy the Department of Education. We have seen them, you know, reverse a lot of the inflation reduction act, Joe Biden's signature achievement. A lot of that has been undone. We're doing, of course, a lot of the DHS immigration pieces are part of a part of 2020. And more than anything, its guiding principle is to empower the executive, to make everything come from the president of the United States. The unitary theory of government is what they call it. And we have seen that. I mean, we see it each and every day.

This president basically acts like Congress doesn't exist. And it's helped him do that by sitting out of their power. And for the most part, not entirely, but for the most part, the courts have gone along with it as well. So that to this point, probably 225 has been deeply successful. And there's more to come. Well, when he challenged Mike the other night, he challenged the courts said, I can put the Marines, the Army, the Air Force, the National Guard, anywhere I want, the courts can't do anything to stop me. Just basically told the Supreme Court told John Roberts and Amy County Barrett and every member of the Supreme Court, you don't matter, I can do whatever I want.

Well, and also the court seems to be doing anything that he wants in terms of when a case gets up to them that involves Trump. My question to you, given your knowledge of the White House and the people who were there now, is what drives their level of cruelty? What drives the president of the United States to constantly attack Joe Biden, for instance, or others? But the level of cruelty. Yeah, I mean, I think this president views everything as a zero-sum game. You have to always be on the offense. And there's very little, other than perhaps occasional private moment,

there's not much done for class or grace. it is simply on the attack. He believes that has been the key to his political success. Never apologize, never back down, just always be on offense. And the crazy thing is, those two, when they got together, it was always very positive. Yes. I mean, very chummy. And so, yeah, it's interesting to say the least. And Kathy in Holmishin asks the most important question of the morning, who's the best drummer of all time? Keith Moon or John Bonham? I've got to say, Willie. a few

drum sets produced get me more excited than when I hear the beginning of when the levee breaks with John Bonham, but I don't think it'll surprise you. Like the Who is probably right beneath the Beatles for me, as far as groups go. I'm a Keith Moon man. I like it. I actually just consulted

Rolling Stone. They have their 100 greatest drummers of all time. They go Bonham 1, Keith Moon 2, Ginger Baker. three. That's their top three. I grew up in a Stone's Zeppelin house. I also love The Who, so I'm going to go Bonham. I think I told you when my son, George, started the drums at like eight years old. They started him with Zeppelin. He said, they started him with John Bonham. So I've heard a lot of that in our house lately over the last

few years. So I'm going to go Bonham. What do you go, Mike? Well, he gets really mentioned in the list of great drummers. But if you talk to music, by the way, whether they have Mitch Mitchell. Let me get that for you. I'm sorry, go ahead, Mike. Where's Ringo Starr on this list? Scrolling. Hold on. Very underrated. Still scrolling.

Oh, no. I mean, you talk to a lot. Mitch Mitchell's 8, sorry to interrupt. Mitch Mitchell's 8. And you're still looking for Ringo? Yeah, it'll be here. Just. Sam says he's 14.

I mean, which is absolutely ridiculous. Underrated. Yeah, of course. He's always been, but a lot of great drummers don't underrate that guy. Yeah, never do. What about Charlie Watts? 12. They have him 12 ahead of Ringo.

Yeah? Well, no. Listen, I got nothing against Charlie, but I mean, you know, the Beatles were not the Beatles. And you talk to them and they'll tell you, you put Ringo behind the kit. Suddenly, boom, you know, crazy magic started happening just like it's happening right now. With the tea. With the tea. Yeah. Spilled by morning show. I can't believe I have to say that every time. All right. You can subscribe with the newsletter and avoid lawsuits by scanning the QR code on the screen. You know how to do that. You just get your camera out. You walk up to the screen. You scan that baby. And suddenly, magic gets delivered at 1 p.m. every day. Unless I have an especially late night watching Little League and, well, not, no, not Little League. And they're high school games now. Or you can go to MSNBC.com slash the tea spilled by morning show. That's an awfully long, long URL.

Especially with your finger type. I mean, come on, you just say, boot. All right, Sam Stein, as always, thank you very much. Happy Halloween, Susan Page. That was a good wringo. That was a good wringo. Susan Page, thank you so much. And Mika, thanks you for actually no.

knowing what day it is and dressing accordingly. Still ahead, Republican Congress from Mike Turner of Ohio will be our guest. And we may even ask him, Ringo or Keith Moon or John Bonham, as he pushes for a bill defunds that benefits while the government's shut down. Also, we're going to dig into New York City's Merrill race ahead of Tuesday's election. Morning, Joe, be right back.