Morning Joe - Supreme Court rejects Trump's vote by mail restrictions

Episode Date: September 15, 2026

September 15, 2026 – 6am:Trump dismisses AI concerns as a 'hoax'The Atlantic: ‘Trump’s See-No-Evil AI Policy’ by Jonathan LemireSupreme Court rejects Trump’s vote by mail restrictionsMitch McConnell returns to Senate after long absenceDon Jr’s wife defends wedding gift from Russian oligarchLatest on Russia’s war with Ukraine78th Annual Emmy Awards recap 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.

And I have an expression. It's whoever wins, AI wins. That's how big it is. It's bigger than the Internet. And whoever wins, AI wins. And we can't let this kind of stuff happen. And that includes, very much includes data centers. There are communities that we're dying that have data centers right now.

And now they're wealthy communities. Yeah, no, they're not wealthy communities. And yeah, what's he talking about? We can't let happen. Like the end of humanity. Yeah, I agree. If that's what he's talking about. But, Mika, I don't think that's what he was talking about.

I think he's talking about any sort of second look at the pacing of how quickly this technology is moving along, which is, of course, the issue of our time, but you would never know that. Looking at how idiots in Washington, D.C. are responding to the crisis of our time. He actually crashed the taping of a podcast, dismissing the safety concerns about AI and criticisms of data centers. We're going to dig into his support of two issues that are unpopular. with Americans and perhaps logic. So, you know, Richard, obviously, we, this requires, actually,

that we have politicians in Washington, D.C., and yes, people in the industry that can juggle two or three thoughts simultaneously in their own mind. Just requires thought. Right? Innovation, cutting-edge innovation, that will change the world that will make us healthier,

make us more productive, make us stronger economically. safety concerns that will stop the sort of swarms from going out and ending mankind. And yes, everybody you talk to that's actually involved in this, it's honest, says, you know, we can't let the genie out of the bottle five, ten years from now. I say five, ten months from now as quickly as this is moving. There could be real concerns, whether you're talking about bio hazards, whether you're talking about completely shutting down our financial sectors,

whether you're talking about completely shutting down our electrical grits, that could happen, that most likely will happen if Washington, starting with the president of the United States, doesn't get serious about this quickly. And the third thing, of course, is China. But I will say Hillary Clinton said something that's been in the back of my mind for weeks, which is if President Xi arrests his top tech guy, and we don't hear from Jack Mauff, for years because of old line tech.

I mean, do we expect she to go, oh, let a thousand flowers bloom. Wherever this crazy, wacky AI thing goes, just let it go there. No, he's never going to do that. He's going to be on top of it, squelching it at every turn, if he thinks it's going to challenge his absolute power. It is a threat to the surveillance state and to basically one person, one party controlled in China. It's also a threat to their economy. What you were saying about the U.S. economy, the ability of this to undermine the entire financial system,

the thing, you know, we assume that we go online and we look at our accounts and what was there when we went to sleep, we'll be there in the morning. What happens the day that it's not? Right. And that day is not necessarily that far away. That could affect China as well. China's not immune. There are people who, shall we say, whose enthusiasm for Xi and China is finite.

But coming back to your basic point, that's just one angle of it. We can't let this conversation be dominated just by the fear of China and competition. The domestic dimension, the gap show, between how potentially perilousness is and the lack of a serious response, that gap is about as large and as bad as I've seen. Well, I mean, the American people are so far ahead of politicians in Washington. They're so far ahead of Donald Trump. They're so far ahead of a lot of Republican leaders. And it's, again, it's not only is it dangerous for us on all of these fronts, the promise is

extraordinary. It just takes grown-ups to sit down and sort through this instead of having absolutists from both sides. And that's exactly what we have. I can say one other thing, too, just on a side note, you know, it doesn't really matter if we're all extinct in like 2029, what happens in the 26 midterms? I really, I will say it again. If the Democratic Party had decided to launch in 2014, like the worst double agent in the history of political history,

they could not have drawn up anybody better than Donald Trump. Because for Donald Trump to take this stand right now, when as you said, and I can tell you, Everybody is talking about this issue. And he's gone, what me? Worry? Don't worry. Be happy. Don't worry, don't worry, fella.

It's like Saddam Hussein in South Park. Don't worry, fella. Everything's going to be okay. We're worried. We are worried. And this is the worst take that he could possibly have, not only for our safety, not only for hopefully,

the continued, excelling of this industry, but also for the Republican's fortunes a month and a half from now. It is striking how out of step he is right now. First one beat on China just yesterday, a report from the New York Times that China's top spy chief warned Xi Jinping about AI saying it's a threat to Chinese communist rule

that is not necessarily about the end of humanity, but it could undermine their power because of things like, you know, and the algorithms and so on in a way they can mobilize protest and opposition to him. So that's number one. So this would seem to be an opportunity for Trump and she to get together to talk about AI. And conveniently, they're meeting next week. They're meeting next week for a summit in Washington.

But what we saw yesterday from President Trump shows he has, at least right now, zero interest in putting any regulations on this industry at all. I wrote a piece yesterday that came out last night for The Atlantic on this very topic that it is the topic of conversation in recent days. people want guidelines, industry leaders want guidelines. Trump, in a series of increasingly deranged true social posts. I think he, by the last count, six or seven yesterday, all full-throated defensive AI. He doesn't want to have any slowdowns at all because he is concerned about China,

but more than that, I'm told he's concerned about what it could do to the stock market, which of course is his measure of the nation's economic health, and he doesn't want the bubble to burst. Well, again, the stupidity of all this is that, of course, if you have reasonable regulations, that will actually help the stock market go up. The stock market actually went up when it looked like interest rates might go up because you actually would stop runaway inflation. So this whole idea,

give them absolutely everything that they want, no regulations whatsoever. I mean, that's a big difference from over-regulating or the stories that we heard out of the Biden White House. There is, you know, middle ground somewhere there. Well, there is definitely not nothing to see here. Maraget, a opinion writer of the New York Times, is with us as well as David French. And we'll get to you both on our top story this morning.

The Supreme Court has rejected President Trump's attempt to restrict mail-in ballots for the November midterms. In a brief order issued last night, the 7-2 majority did not explain its reasoning for leaving in place a lower court order blocking the administration's plans. Instead, the majority wrote that the Trump administration was, quote, unlikely to succeed on the merits of its challenge to the lower court order. Justices, Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissented. I am shocked. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote in a concurrence that there was, quote, at least a fair prospect. The administration's actions were within its authority, but it, quote, would be arbitrary and capricious to impose the change. in the midterms because state and local authorities would not have time to implement them.

The challenge stems from President Trump's executive order signed in March that requires states to submit lists of voters approved to receive mail-in ballots. And then, of course, it had the Postal Service interfere more. Right, right. This is, you know, we go back, the Supreme Court does some things, like dragging their feet that has been absolutely maddening over the last year. But when it comes to these election challenges, they were 63 and out. against Donald Trump in 2020.

And here we are, back at that seven-two count for whatever Donald Trump steps over the line and does something that is going to completely interfere with free democratic elections. It's usually seven-two. Of course, Alito and Thomas perfectly fine with them destroying democracy. And yes, I just said that. If Donald Trump wants to destroy democracy, they're all in. Oh, they're cheering him on. Yeah, they're cheering him on.

It's inexplicable. As long as it hurts Democrats, they're for it. That's a great legacy for those two to have. I hope they live with it quite comfortably. Yeah, it's, first of all, it's good news. This is good news. This is great news. This is a relief.

Yep. There were even Republican-led states that had issued their own concerns about this with the court. They had registered complaints. Ballots have already gone out in several states, including in North Carolina, clearly a swing state, and a very competitive state. And so this is a relief. It will not be the end, though, of Donald Trump's efforts to steal this election for the Republicans

so that Congress will not hold him accountable. And this should have been unanimous. This should have been unanimous. But it's encouraging because I think many of the efforts that the Trump administration is undertaking at various levels and at various agencies to undermine the election system, ultimately, if we see those through, if they try and play those through, they will end up at the Supreme Court. So this is a preview of what we could see where the Supreme Court is willing to hold the line here. So that's a relief, but that doesn't mean that any of us should rest in our laurels.

Well, the fight continues as Donald Trump continues to try to interfere with fair and free elections. David French, though, I will say Amy Coney Barrett and John Roberts once again prove themselves to be conservative. The kind of conservative you and I are, the conservative with a small C, the conservative that actually reads a constitution, understands a constitution, understands that states are supposed to run elections, understands that a White House is not supposed to seize voter rolls. And if states don't give them those voter rolls, and they're going to tell, you know, the United States post office how to run state elections. So it was nice to see, as we have seen before in these sort of election cases, Amy Coney Barrett and John Roberts. And this time, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh, actually being conservative with a small C, really conservative, not the bullshit conservative that passes for conservative these days in Trump's Washington. Well, look, I mean, this is the second time in less than a week that Supreme Court has stepped

in on an election issue. We cannot forget the shenanigans that were happening in Missouri, where there was outright defiance of the Missouri Supreme Court leading to a contempt ruling. But what really solidified the election fairness in Missouri was the Supreme. Court turning aside, you know, a MAGA legal initiative to try to subvert Missouri law to redistrict. And so you've got two recent cases that also stand in the line of, remember going back to 2020, the Supreme Court was rock solid in the election challenges in 2020. So again and again, Trump and MAGA are volleying up to the Supreme Court, these really radical legal theories that would enable them to engage in really electoral manipulation in really extreme ways.

And time and again, the Supreme Court says no, no, no, no. And it infuriates Donald Trump. It will continue to infuriate Donald Trump. But I don't think anyone who watches the court who's seen this history over the last few years is surprised at this outcome. I mean, this is, it's a no-brainer. Here you have the Constitution reserves for states and for Congress, the regulation of these elections, states and Congress, not presidents. An executive order is not an act of Congress. This should not surprise anyone at this outcome. But we're only, Joe, we're only in the opening salvos here.

It's just September. We're not in November yet. We're not in the immediate and we're not in the counting phase yet. And so there is a lot more to be concerned about. And these are just the warning shots. Circle January 3rd on your. your calendar. Yes. And see just how much Donald Trump tries to break democracy if Democrats run to victory. Joining us now, publisher of the contrarian, Norm Eisen, he's co-founder of Democracy

Defender's Action, which took part in challenging the Trump administration over its mail-in voting restrictions. Thanks for coming on the show this morning. First year reaction to the Supreme Court rejecting Trump's mail-in voting restrictions. And what are your concerns moving? forward? A sigh of relief that the Roberts Court did the right thing here. Interpreting that very brief order, the statement that the Trump administration was unlikely to succeed on the merits can be read as, it's crazy for you to think you can rewrite Article 1, Section 4 of the Constitution, which doesn't even mention the President.

and it gives this power to the states and to Congress. And the balance of equities that they're talking about is, how can you do this right before an election? It would have thrown chaos into mail in voting. But the larger significance, we made this point. We filed briefs here at the Supreme Court, and in 13 cases, the larger significance is that when Trump tries all of, of the other activity that he's signaling lies ahead that the rule of law, as it has so often,

serves as a bulwark. We actually won another injunction yesterday, extending the protection against this absurd USPS rule nationwide, prohibiting even voluntary compliance. So it's a feeling of relief that our elections remain safe, free, and fair. And every voter watching can know that they could cast their ballot, whether by mail or otherwise, and voterally, to express their will. That's the foundation of democracy. Yeah, you know, this year, Norm has been like the Barry Bonds of Washington lawyers, minus the steroids, of course. But he's had that 70, 70 home run year. He just keeps on base percentage. He's on base half the time, probably half the time. Three quarters of that time.

Again, minus the steroids. He just keeps women. Yeah, no, having a great season to be sure. Norm, we should also note, there are some Republican election officials, some GOP secretaries of state who cheer this decision, even just on the basis of timing, saying, look, you can't mess up with the male imbalance right now, considering how close the elections are. So you just kind of teased where I wanted to go next. Like, this won't be the last salvo from the Trump administration.

So are there things that you and your organization can do proactively right now to try to safeguard the ballots, either legally or even just putting the word out to state officials for what could come next from this administration. Yeah, Jonathan, it's so important to look down the line. Trump does broadcast what he's going to try, and we were on, my colleagues and I were on the other side of many of those 63 cases in 2020, including a similar one at the United States Supreme Court representing Pennsylvania when Texas sued Pennsylvania to throw out the Pennsylvania results. So I've told our organization, many of my colleagues have moved over with me, instead of 63, to be ready for 126 of these. We're preparing, we're drafting the

complaints for ice to be deployed to the polls, for ballots to be seized. We successfully litigated the Fulton County case, quashing the criminal subpoena based on a ballot seizure there. And not just the court of law, but the court of public opinion, communications, mobilization are so important here. So voters understand your vote is safe, free and fair. Vote early, vote by mail, or whatever is best for you. And then we're prepared the ultimate safeguard to litigate all the way up to January 3rd. That's another reason. This win was so important because there's court presidents, including the Adam Clayton Powell case. Of course, a Mike Johnson can't play games in Congress. Now we know we can go to court. We can enforce that. It's a very good day for elections. Norm did. Norm said vote early,

you know, vote by mail. But you notice, unlike Donald Trump, he did not say vote illegal. No. Or vote twice. Donald Trump, Mara is saying vote illegally after whining about. Well, he's saying really don't vote at all. Yeah, actually. I don't vote at all. Even better.

Norm, of all the schemes and tactics underway at the White House to undermine our elections, can you tell us about what is keeping you up at night moving forward? Is there a specific state? Is there a specific tactic? that you think is most likely to be successful for them, fortunately. Mara, I don't think the tactics will work there. We had Democracy Defenders Action and Democracy Defenders Fund. We have over 300 legal matters.

And time and again, they'll do something crazy. I'm going to court on the Kennedy Center case today. And they keep trying to rename the Kennedy Center. The judge has ruled, but you can't rename the Kennedy Center. Kennedy Center. They actually backed down late last night. They're like, oh, we decided we won't try to rename the Kennedy Center for the third time. So I'm not that worried about their legal moves. You have to be ready for them. You have to counter them. I'm most worried about voter anxiety or confusion. And that's why when I talk about this, I say to voters, I don't ask them to vote illegally. I don't require them to take a pledge to me. But I do say to voters, please be confident that your vote is going to be free, fair, and secure. The states have your back. We represent states at times.

The civil rights, democracy rights, and voting rights community have your back. Vote early. Vote with confidence. Vote however suits you best, including vote by mail. And if the voters do that, then my worries will be acquitted. And I think they will. I think they understand what is at stake. We're seeing great pro-democracy voter intensity.

And I think you're going to see a strong surge at the polls, a kind of landmark year of all Americans rising up to defend our democracy against this authoritarian regime. Co-founder of Democracy Defender's Action, Warren Eisen. Thank you very much for coming on the show this morning, despite this group here. All right. So still ahead on Morning Joe, we're digging into a new floor. So they tried to change the Kennedy Center again.

Yeah. And they're going, oh, it's going bankrupt. Why is he going? It's going bankrupt because of them. They're letting it fall apart. And there would only be money found. It chopped all the trees down. If only.

Despite the fact that membership plummeted when he added his name. No, he's going to say that. Finances plunged when he added his name. Maybe you could get a Russian oligarch to fund it. They're busy funding other things. Who might that be? Oh, interesting. Let's see.

Yeah, I'll get to that. Okay. We'll get to that. Still ahead on Morning, Joe. We're digging into a new report on the conditions inside the now closed alligator Alcatraz immigration detention facility in Florida, including some detainees being held in small metal enclosures. Plus, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom, McPhilifornia, lays out one.

reason. He wouldn't run for president in 2028. I'll show you what he's saying about that. Okay. Hey, you know what I think would be a great image? You go fly fishing with Jake Tapper. No, that didn't happen. Are you serious? Oddly tired, too. I don't want to see it.

Yeah. I don't want to see it. I don't want to see it. Someone needs to call in. Okay, as we go to break, a look at the travelers' forecast this morning from Accuweathers. Bernie Rayno. Never done it. Bernie, how's it looking?

It's boring as hell. Meeky, it's a terrific Tuesday across the northeast, the mid-Atlantic acque weather says sunshine, fall by some clouds. Now, wet weather travel delays in Chicago, especially this morning, shower, thunderstorm in Detroit. Look at the heat in St. Louis, Louisville, Nashville, Oklahoma, City, Dallas, temperatures near 100 degrees. Watch for the spotty thunderstorms, Miami, Tampa, and Orlando.

And that's the only place I see. travel delays today. They help you make the best decisions and be more in the know. Download the Acuether app today and enjoy the view. Just about half past the hour, a beautiful shot of Capitol Hill this morning for you. Republican Senator Mitch McConnell returned to Capitol Hill yesterday after a prolonged three-month absence. In a post on social media, the Kentucky Senator stated that he looked forward to being back on the Senate floor and seeing his colleagues while casting his first vote since June. This is video of McConnell returning to the Senate floor in a wheelchair yesterday.

The appearance follows months of speculation about his health and ability to serve out his term. The 84-year-old was first admitted to the hospital on June 14th. McConnell acknowledged yesterday he is not fully recovered, stating in part, quote, My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process. and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven't made it any easier. I'm still not quite back to 100%. But I have assured Leader Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our conference needs me.

Glad he's all right. Glad he's back. Donald Trump Jr.'s new wife, Bettina, is unapologetically confirming that Russian sports, sports official Umar Kremlin helped fund their lavish celebrations following their May wedding in the Bahamas. ProPublica reports Kremlin covered hundreds of thousands of dollars in expenses, including private island rentals, fireworks, entertainment. Kremlin is closely associated with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the days leading up to the wedding celebrations. Kremlin traveled to China as part of a delegation accompanying Putin. A month before, Putin had also given Kremlin a state honor.

The Order of Friendship. In a post on Instagram, Batina Trump called Kremlin a dear friend and defended the gift. Writing, generosity doesn't automatically come with an agenda. Yeah, from the Russians, I find, Tina, it actually does. The couple says the Bahamas festivities were a previously planned weekend with friends. Kremlin's... All right, we've read enough of this. It's just...

So, yeah. Just Hunter Biden, of course. Well, I mean, Hunter Biden sold one of his pieces of art for like $15 or something, I don't know, 50, $75,000 or whatever. And then they had some $3 million contract

and how much he made out of that, who knows. And he let a business official fly on Air Force 2 along with Joe Biden and the right melted down, not the right, MAGA, melted down. And now you see, of course, what's happening. It's just kind of like, can you remember there was a time with Donald Trump actually called Joe Biden's

Sleepy Joe? Oh my gosh, the man's asleep all the time. I'm sleeping during the 9-11 ceremonies. I wish I could get that much sleep at night. I mean, sleeping sound like. Just slumped in a chair. It just doesn't matter. It really doesn't matter.

They are, they are David French, absolutely shameless. absolutely shameless that again, they scream and yell about the Biden crime family because however much money Hunter Biden made, which he shouldn't have made. He shouldn't have made even though it was one-one billion less than

what Trump sons are making right now and what Russian oligarchs are funneling their way. But I think I saw Jay Norlander yesterday with National Review, one of the real conservative. with a small sea who hasn't lost his mind over the past decade, said, you know,

what's so heartbreaking about this is just the lack of shock out there. People just expect this. Oh, paid off by a Russian oligarch. Oh, you know, making billions of dollars on scams, crypto scams. If you're in the Trump family, oh, yeah, of course they are. There's no shock anymore. You know, I mean, look, I'm with you. The Hunter Biden stuff was terrible.

but these guys, it seems like their real beef against him, was that he was an amateur. Like, he wasn't as good at it as they are. I mean, their position is let a pro have a go at corruption here. I mean, look, I think there are two things that went through my mind at once. One was, in any other administration, this kind of scandal would be a nine alarm fire for week after week after week. There would be congressional hearings. There would be an enormous amount of alarm radiating throughout the country. But this is the Trump administration.

It's coming on the heels of a Qatari Air Force One. It's coming on the heels of sweetheart crypto deals. It's coming on the heels of meme coins that have made the Trump family hundreds of millions of dollars. I mean, we're looking at a level of corruption. Don't forget the defense contracts that Don Jr. has reeled up. Getting into a firm, I think 1789, right after his father becomes president of the United States, getting into a firm. And then suddenly just getting getting. millions and millions of dollars in these,

these Pentagon contracts. Joe, it's so much, it's impossible to remember and list it all at once. And so what these guys are counting on, they're counting on the fact that now 10 years into this, 11 years into this Trump era, that enough of MAGA essentially supports him no matter what, that it's a part of their identity, that they can't,

they will back Trump, continue to back Trump. And I think many of them will, but I think there, in for a rude awakening come November, because there's one thing that we know about the American public is that, yeah, it's very unfortunate. When times are good, people will have a kind of a large permission structure for their politicians. But when they feel a crunch financially, that permission structure closes instantaneously. It closes immediately. And so I think you're going to see electoral consequences for this corruption that's going to be related to the fact that it's so obviously

happening at the expense of the rest of us. Well, and David French, you and I know the conservatives figure this out during the Clinton administration. The economy was good example. There was peace. Republicans were sitting there yelling, wait, he committed perjury, wait, he's been disbarred, wait. He has a 64% approval rating.

And people just don't want to hear it. It's like, okay, that's personal. And so same thing here. Oh, they're making billions of dollars, Russian oligarchs. That lower third doesn't matter when gas is $1.50 a gallon. It doesn't matter when grocery prices are good and inflation is down. It matters in times like these because then you're where Orban was in Hungary. Did Orban lose, Lemire, because of pro-democracy problems or because he was crushing free press

or because he was destroying the judiciary? No. No, it was because of economic problem. and the corruption that his opponent tied, the new prime minister, tied. So when corruption gets tied to a bad economy, suddenly, as David said brilliantly, the permission structure for all of this goes away overnight. That's the link, is that if I'm an average citizen doing poorly, life is harder. If you're doing well, you're like, ah, we're all politicians are bad.

So, yeah. But here, I'm struggling and they're flourishing. and the corruption resonates much harder. I remind you, of course, President Trump didn't actually attend his son's wedding there. Richard, let's also link it though. He's very busy. He's very busy. Let's link it to what's happening in the talks with Russia and Ukraine right now.

We just saw Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner over there, offer praise for Vladimir Putin. Well, they finally made their trip to, they made it to Kiev, and they also had time in Moscow last week. It seems like things have completely stalled there in negotiations. Zelensky put forth some new ideas. is yesterday, you know, does not seem to have any U.S. approval just yet. And meanwhile, winter is approaching. You know, Russia continues to pummel Ukrainian cities. And even if the battlefield's frozen, it seems like Putin is going to make another big lunge here to try to hurt Ukraine. He knows he has to take a deal at some point while Trump's in office. He's not going to do better

with whoever Trump's successor is, but he's not done yet. He wants to make another go at it. Absolutely. And these negotiations have been mishandled from day one. We've embraced the Russian position. Most recently, why would you possibly? What's the case you're going to Russia before you go to Ukraine? Whatever you do? Well, and Steve Whitkoff saying this is like one of the great thrills of my life, the man that has kidnapped thousands and thousands of Russian children, the man who continues to kill civilians every day, Ukrainian children,

the man who is sending young Russian boys to the front line to get mowed down. They last about 30 minutes, yeah. They last 30 minutes. And Steve Whitkoff says, this is the great thrill. in honor of my life when I look back on all I have done, me sitting here with you, the man who kidnaps, the man who kills, the man who invades, the man who starts wars, the man, I mean, that's real, the one who kills grandmothers sleeping in their apartments in Kiev. That's the great thrill of Steve Whitkov's life. That's a hell of a life he's lived.

Also, the hypocrisy here. You know, Donald Trump goes to the American people and say, the price of energy is gone off. That's not too much to pay, you know, for preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, as though this war were about that. So, but now he's putting pressure on Ukraine not to attack Russian energy infrastructure because he's worried about the price of diesel worldwide. So I guess Ukraine rewarding aggression is not too big of a price to pay, giving up its country to Russia. So the... We're the Republicans here.

Well, that's the biggest story. Where are the Republicans here? They know. Where are the sanctions? Why did... Mike Johnson's been allowed to kill this bill. Why? I guess say also, what we're...

asking why, why are Republicans going home without us getting the Epstein files released? There is a law on the books that requires the Epstein files to be released. And they aren't being released. And Mike Johnson is okay with that. But that's good, when the history of this period is written, that's the story. It's not that Donald Trump reached and reached and overreached. It's that he was enabled. He was allowed. It's as if somebody repealed Article 1 of the Constitution. where the hell is the legislative branch? And the court did the right thing yesterday, but more often than not,

this court has given this president an enormous discretion, way too much. John Roberts, I would say it, is essentially living in some faculty lounge, not understanding the consequences of his decisions. But the real scandal is what the Congress of the United States and the Republicans of Congress are not doing. That is the scandal of this era.

The Republican Senate's probably going to pass something in Lindsay Graham's honor later this week. And by the way, Republican Senate's have been Hawks, or senators have been hawks. They were in the first term. Marco was there. They actually held Donald Trump to account on Russia. Let's hope they will be next week.

And let's hope Mike Johnson will be shamed as Ukrainian children continue to be kidnapped, as Ukrainian grandmothers continue to be slaughtered. Ukraine is blamed for gas prices. As Ukrainians are blamed for gas prices, well, the Middle East is on fire. Yeah, let's hope there is some modicum of shame there. That match. Since you raised it, 10 seconds, there's been a massive, massive change in the Middle East. Maybe we'll have more time to talk about it.

But we now have a multi-front war. Yeah. The entire cushion that's kept energy prices to roughly $70 a barrel, which was uncomfortable, we could live with. That cushion is gone. We're now at $110 a barrel. What we have seen as a transformation of this war and the calamity that we were hoping to avoid and avoid it for seven months, that's now arriving. And David French, so let's talk about, let's talk about, let's talk about it. about this sometime. Think about all the things that are happening all at once. Think about this

AI crisis that we actually have watching. And this is not a, don't worry, be happy. And nobody looking at them, I'm not even talking about regulating it out of existence, but let's sit down and act like Grum. So you've got the AI crisis where people, a lot of people that actually know this better than anybody else say, we've got a 10, 20 percent. chance of humanity being wiped out. Then if you look at economics of it, you've got a 10-year vines over 10 percent, I mean over 5 percent now, hasn't been that way since 2007. That's a great precursor of the market's crashing. And then on top of that, you've got oil over a hundred. A lot of things are a hundred a barrel. A lot of things are colliding right now at the same

time, the pace is quickening. I saw Gerard Baker write about this. A lot of things happening all at once. None of them good. You know, Joe, I want to get to a theme you talked about at the very top of the show, which is leadership. You know, look, it is not unusual in human history, especially in the last 100 or so years, to have new technologies that are incredibly promising, but also incredibly perilous. I mean, we went through industrial revolution-fueled wars that killed more people than all other wars before. We've walked through the Cold War threat of extinction from nuclear holocaust, and now we have a new threat. But one of the problems that we have right now is that this new threat is emerging. It's a promising technology. It's also a perilous technology.

It's emerging at a time when we probably have the worst leadership in modern American history, if not American history writ large. You know, writing about the metastasizing war recently, I said, what's worse than an unconstitutional war? Well, it's an unconstitutional war that is spiraling out of American control. If you look at what is happening in the Middle East, our bases have been pulverized. Now you have larger zones of control. The Houthis have the Saudis on the run. We're seeing an energy crunch due to negative developments in the war that are going to be continuing to hit the pump here. And look, it's very clear. I think, again, early in the show, then we hit the next. nail on the head and describing why is he pumping up AI so much? Why is he so frenzied about this?

Because that's one of the last pillars holding up an economy that his other policies are tearing, is tearing down. And let me explain really quickly to you. You know, S&P 500 is usually the 500 best stocks. Basically, it's four or five of these AI stocks now that are carrying the load for most of the S&P 500. Well, and that's what he's looking at. He's trying to look at the stock market It has his ultimate report card. So he's trying to keep that propped up. You see the timing and the way he talks about the war. It's very carefully designed to try to manipulate markets.

So this is right now what he's got his eye on. And he's stampeding us heedlessly into a new future, again, with the technology that has a lot of promise, but also has a lot of peril with just absurd minute-by-minute news cycle, stock market ticker-driven policymaking, if you can, even call it that with a war that is spiraling out of control. This is one of the more dangerous times than modern history. It really is. And Miko, we're talking about killing the golden goose here. They don't understand that by going back and saying, oh, we can't do anything about this, we just have to let it continue like this wild raging river where we don't know where it's going to go. That actually hurts the AI companies. That actually hurts confidence in this technology, where, if you actually figured out a way to put a team together, to start looking around the corner,

to see what the real risks are. Yeah, I understand that. And I'm saying because we're so far from that and because a lot of people in the industry are saying, don't do anything about this, don't even get together and get wise people together to talk about it, it's going to end up hurting those companies. It's going to hurt those stocks. it's going to cause the markets to crash at some point. Opinion calmness for the New York Times, David French.

Thank you very much. And coming up on the way, I'm sorry, can you imagine if the power grid for the East Coast goes down? Can you imagine if one of the major banks are completely gutted? Can you imagine one of a thousand crises that could come because swarms of these AI agents get out of the box, and are able to do this. Then what does that do to the markets? What's the likelihood of that happening? Well, you talk to a lot of people.

It's kind of high that this could happen in the next one, two, three, five years. So isn't that why we buy insurance? Isn't that why we take precautions? It's an odd IPO pitch. There's only a 20% a chance. It's going to lead to extinction. Yeah. Other industries have safeguards, regulations, inspectors.

This one should too. That's the pitch. so many lawmakers are really trying to make this week. I remember in, I'm sorry, in this last thing I'll say, I remember in 1998 or 1999 had all the banks coming to us on the floor saying, regulation is bad, regulation is bad. And they talked to us because we were Republicans and we were thinking about all the small business owners in our district. And we're like, yeah, regulation is bad.

And the bank said, let us get in to investing. Let us get into these other areas. And we're like, well, okay, investment is bad. I mean, regulation is bad. Glass-Steagel. And Glass-Steagel. Right. And then suddenly, nine years later, the economy crashed.

Okay. Coming up, we're going to take a break from politics and run through the highlights from last night's 78th annual, primetime Emmy Awards, including some history-making moments. That's all straight ahead on Morning Joe. The men stay standing. The girls get to sit down. I'm serious.

No, I'm serious. Every time this happens, I think of the girls are going, I just got comfortable. Why did she have to... Oh my God. You got your spanks and your corset and your tape and your shoes that are cutting your toes off. You're going, oh, my God, she's not that good.

You just stood up because she's old. That was legendary actress Gene Smart after winning her fifth straight Emmy last night for her role as Deborah Vance on the comedy series Hacks. made history with that award, becoming the first woman ever to win an Emmy for every season of a show's run. She wins every year.

Hello. It's amazing. Last night's Emmy Awards were full of record-setting wins. Actor, Matthew Reese, became the first person to ever win two lead acting trophies in a single night for The Best in Me on Netflix and Apple TV's Widows Bay. Did I say something wrong? The Beast in Me. Sorry, I don't know the show.

I guess I need to watch it. He was the best in it. He was. Well, now I'll watch it. The Beast in Me. That show set a new single-season record for comedy winning 14 awards last night. Other big winners include HBO's hit medical drama The Pit and the limited series DTF St. Louis, which won seven awards each. Joining us, extremely early out in LA.

It's really early. We appreciate this. Matthew, it's so early. After attending last night's awards, his founding partner of Puck, Matthew Bellany. He's the author of Puck's flagship newsletter, What I'm Hearing, and host of the podcast, The Town. He's also the former editor of the Hollywood Reporter. He also has not gone to sleep yet. If you think he went to sleep after the parties and just woke up.

I did for a few hours. Yes. It's bright and early here. I am totally fine. Give us a big headline. Well, listen, everybody in Hollywood looks at these awards as a scorecard. And last night, Apple TV was the bell of the ball. Widows Bay taking home 14 awards, a record for comedy series.

This is a show that nobody was talking about a couple months ago, and it's the least watched of all of the nominees. I think that's going to get a big bump. And the pit, the pit winning is a big deal. That's the second year in a row. But honestly, I think the big story is Widows Bay. And, you know, I bet you guys haven't seen it yet. You know, my shoe,

Susan has been telling me to watch Widows Bay and the Pit now from the first time they've come on. I'm going to have to watch now. I watched it. I watched it. It's hilarious. It's brilliant. Widows Bay is amazing. It's about a curse that's besetting an island.

And it is, you know, Matthew Reese is the mayor. He's incredible. And he's kind of that jaws like mayor. Apples. Apples. And you love rooting for him and laughing at him. But I did want to ask if you saw any themes in terms of the kind of shows and the kind of productions that had been popular right now with viewers. Do you see any trends there?

Yeah. One of the producers for The Pit made a nice speech about that and how in all of, you know, everything that's going on and the craziness in the world and we don't know what's going to happen in the news tomorrow. these shows look to kind of everyday heroes, and that, I think, is why the pit has really resonated. It's not just an Emmy show. This is the most watched of all of the nominees in the comedy and drama category, because I think it's resonating with people.

These are ordinary heroes. It is a harrowing show. And I think you see that through line. I mean, a lot of the nominees there shows like The Diplomat and shows that sort of highlight, people doing good things in the world in complicated times. And I think that was a big thing. Also, last night during the show, there were a number of moments that were just kind of

stand up and applaud moments. You know, Michael J. Fox got an honorary award. There was a great tribute to Rob Reiner by Jamie Lee Curtis. There were actresses like Gene Smart and Sally Field that have just kind of been around and we all know. And people just kind of felt like getting up and applauding for them and it was a nice moment. The Michael J. Foxing was amazing. Yeah, we're seeing

it. We're seeing it there. Matthew. So, G, it seemed like Mariska Hargate well-liked in the room. Some nice cameos there from Jalen Brunson, Taylor Swift. That's pretty good. We should note, though, at least one show that's been... I imagine the Taylor Swift video will probably do pretty well online. Yeah, I think so. I saw it a bunch of places on social media

this morning. Is there a place where Jalen is not these days? He's pretty big. He's hosting SNL, too. He's hosting the Premier of S&L's weeks. I sure hope it doesn't negatively impact the next season. That would be really disappointing. It's really, really disappointing. Hopefully he's not overextended. Everybody in Boston's scared.

I don't know. Let's hope not. Matthew, wanted to ask you, there he is. Want to ask you about a show that one last night that has been since canceled. Of course, Stephen Colbert, one last Emmy for late night television. Talk to us about that moment. How was that received? Listen, I saw him at the HBO party.

He was in great spirits. He seemed to just have decided that he was going to celebrate. There was no negative. in his speech. He didn't call out CBS or Paramount or any of the politics that swirled around his cancellation. He pitched his writers

to get new jobs. He said they are available. He noted that the writers were hired on the Emmys show to write jokes for Mariska Hargitay and others. And I think he was just enjoying himself. There was really not a lot of negativity

associated with him where a guy like that you think there could be. Right, right, right. Founding partner of Puck, Matthew Bellany, Thank you so much. Thank you, Matthew. Getting up early for us. Get some sleep.

Yeah, get some sleep. We appreciate it. One more story here. The Pentagon's official watchdog released its first report yesterday on the impact of the ongoing Iran war. It noted that the conflict, quote, has resulted in strategic inventory shortfalls and revealed industrial-based bottlenecks for munitions resupply in regard to advanced weapons. This, despite the administration, continuing to publicly push back against reports of munition shortages. I mean, Hegseth just lice through his teeth and says it's fake news.

He just keeps lying about what his own Pentagon admits is the truth. The report also acknowledged that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and other structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Amaon and Jordan. Something also covered up, right? Constantly covered up. And the costs in physical damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities, which has not been previously publicly released, is an estimated $184 million, according to the report.

And yet, Richard Haas, we definitely are focused, I guess, the administration on what, ballrooms? Well, ballrooms are important. Look, it's not just munition shortages, though. we have, we don't have a military that's right sized and right oriented for the modern moment. Can you explain something to me, Richard? We obsessed on the Armed Services Committee about being able to fight a two front war. That was our entire focus.

Two war strategy, two and a half war strategy. We have a two war strategy, two and a half. How do we fight two wars at the same time? And that was over the past 30 years, how could it be that we fight? a third-rate power, which Iran is. They're not China. They're not even Russia. How do we fight a third-rate power? Basically a one-sided fight where we're the ones lobbying missiles in there. And we run out of munitions in three, four, five months. How does that happen? Taxpayers spend trillions of dollars over the decades. We're told that we have to sacrifice A, B, C, D, that we can't

feed our people, that we can't house our people, that we can't do well, because it has to go to the military. And yet we've spent trillions of dollars and we run out of munitions after four, five, six months. How could that be? Well, we can't even fight a one. We don't even have one more strategy. I know we don't. How can that be? You put your finger. I'll answer it. One of the most important things to understand about Washington, it's not how much you spend. It's how you spend it. So we spend a lot on defense. We just haven't been spending it on the right things. We have an archaic defense budget that builds this force structure that is no longer appropriate for modern era.

You talked about how U.S. bases around the region and our friends in the region are getting hammered. That's a scandal. We can't defend U.S. bases. We can't defend our friends in the region. We shouldn't be surprised, by the way, when they go hat and hand to Tehran. Because they're going to say Americans can't defend us. We've got to cut a deal with the run. You know, any other, any other commander-in-chief, Jonathan O'Meer, would have gone to Ukraine six months ago and said, you guys have figured this out.

Help us out. We need to defend our bases. We need to defend our homeland. How are you doing it in Ukraine? We'll help you guys out. You help us out. But they won't do it, will they? No, they won't.

Why? He would rather American, I mean, I'm asking you this question. Would he rather American troops? with exits, rather American troops die on military bases across the world than actually go to Ukraine and get their help? It sure seems that way because he's not asked, not only is he not asking Ukraine for help, he continues to blame Ukraine for that war, including blaming Ukraine for the higher energy prices, including the price of diesel.

But Richard, I mean, this is a real thing because we're running low on munitions, obviously, but at the same time, the Navy is quietly taking steps to prepare longer deploy. to that region, an overstretched force to be sure. But they're preparing this is going to be a lengthy conflict. This is going to be potentially anyway. One of these forever wars that Trump used to rail against from the campaign trail, but yet there's no clear way out. And we're seeing the energy crisis in that region only grow.

The energy crisis is escalating big time. Yeah, I mean, what does this mean for Taiwan? People like me were saying we need strategic clarity. We can't be ambiguous about our support for. for Taiwan. We're going to have clarity. It's going to be the wrong kind of clarity. What we're moving towards is we won't defend Taiwan because we can't defend Taiwan. The subject of arms sales could have come up next week with the Xi media. That's going to come up. No, this is a, this has been going on for years, but it's reached an acute moment now where the mismatch between

the American military, our global commitments and our capabilities, the mismatches now is stark. It is stark. And it's got real consequences for what Putin's going to test us in Europe. Who knows what the Chinese will do. And if we continue to have the lion's share of our military in the Middle East, what does that mean? It's for readiness and for the rest of the world. This is, again, this is a cloud without a silver lining. Let's just be blunt about this war. It's a war that never ought to have been initiated. But what we're seeing now is the knock on effects, economically, militarily, diplomatically, it is hard to exaggerate them because they are large and bad. I'm sorry to say it.

And we took one to start this war or two, us and Israel. Iran gets a vote on when and how this war ends. And I think the big question is going to be if more force and more economic pressure aren't going to bring an end to the war and they won't. What are we prepared? What's our diplomacy now? What are we prepared to live with? What less than optimal outcome are we prepared to sign up to?

That's going to be the next big conversation. It's not going to be pretty, but that's where we are. Another big issue here at home, the Washington Post has new reporting about the conditions at the now closed Florida detention center, some dubbed alligator Alcatraz. There are many other detention centers that are open right now and holding people, children, many people who are not supposed to be there, most not given their rights. According to the Department of Homeland Security's internal watchdog report, immigrants at the facility were kept. in small metal enclosures for up to nearly two hours. Investigators said they learned at least of one instance where the cage may have been used to discipline a detainee. The facility staff referred to them as calming areas, but the watchdog report reads, quote,

the use of such restrictive spaces is highly unconventional and does not align with standards for humane treatment. And what, like 100 degree heat? The communications director for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, meanwhile, said in a statement that the small cages were a confinement area for violent criminal aliens. Here we go. Who have proven they cannot remain peaceful while awaiting deportation. It says lies on top of lies, on top of lies. Adding quote. To justify savage treatment, it's what's been happening since this started.

Adding quote, while it adheres to all federal standards for criminal confinement. We'd make it even smaller if we could. Mara, again, where do we even begin on the fact that families are being broken up? Families are being torn apart. Mothers are being taken from their children. Children are being taken from their mothers. And fathers are being removed from families. Many of them just seeking asylum here.

Many of them too scared to show up for their appointments. Many of them, U.S. citizens at times, who are then detained and then let go. The whole system is broken down here. nobody is getting due process. These people are being held for months, and some describe them like concentration camps. Is that an exaggeration after what we just saw here in this reporting? You know, I don't even really care whether they're citizens or not. Exactly.

They're humans. They're people. On American soil. By the way, and can I for people going, oh, she doesn't care. You know who else sit and care when it came to the Constitution? Thank you. Scalia. Scalia said, here's a deal.

The Constitution applies in three cases. one, two, American citizens, two to American citizens across the globe. Three, anybody in America. Right. So these idiots that don't, again, not real conservatives, these idiots that say, oh, they're two different standards, they need to go back and read the Constitution. They need to see what Scalia said. Well, and this is being done in our name.

And so this is a blight on every American citizen. This is a blight on the vision for our country. And it's scary because, let me just say, you know, If this administration can do this to people who are not citizens on U.S. soil, they are capable of doing it to anybody. And I think American voters inherently understand that. The one silver lining, it's not even a silver lining, I would just say I'm encouraged by the fact that the administration knew enough to hide it for as long as they did, these cages. And I think, you know, we should just take a little bit of heart there because I don't think Americans signed up. for this. Even people who voted for Donald Trump, they wanted criminals gone from the streets.

They did not want families separate it. Aren't we hearing that from all the pro podcasters? I'm so shocked, man. I'm so shocked, man. How could this be? He said they were only going to be the worst of the worst. Right. I do think, though, that if the Democrats win. It's a pretty good invitation. It is. Sorry. I just want to give you your five. But no, no, no. I need a mullet. There's no doubt about it. But yeah. Right. Right. No, it's, that's right. But I, I do think this is a situation where we need to have some accountability. And so if the Democrats do take control of Congress in the midterms, there need to be hearings. Yeah. There are people who need

to go to jail. And I don't think that that is an exaggeration. I don't think that's hyperbole. You know, being an ICE agent, for example, does not give you carte blanche to break the law. No. And by the way, shoot people dead in the street. Or shoot people in the street. Execution. Any of these cases stand. That's right. And those individual ICE agents, they have bosses. They have commanders.

They have people who are setting this policy. And we are going to have to have, if not, a truth and reconciliation commission after all this. We're going to have to have some serious accountability. I've warned them in real time. And I've warned on this show in real time that justice will find them. Right. that they're being told right now will pay you X amount of money, you put on this mask, you can go out, you can do whatever you want to do, and Donald Trump will protect you. Donald Trump won't be in the White House forever.

And so these people that are doing this, they don't understand that justice will find them. The courts will find them. Juries will find them. Prosecutors will find them. And they will pay for the laws. They will pay for the laws they've broken. And I'm going to say also you talk about some silver linings here on what this sorry, sorry episode that will, I think historians will look back and our grandchildren, children and grandchildren will read this the same way we read about the internment camps during World War II.

John Lemire, I think historians will also look back and see this. This story as a story that broke the fever. You know, 25, the White House had a run. They could trample over constitutional norms with impunity. The courts were intimidated. You know, the schools were intimidated. Everybody was intimidated by them. But Minneapolis, Minneapolis broke the fever.

Americans saw people in Minneapolis stand up to these people with masks that were breaking the law, that were shooting dead Americans in the street. And even though some people in Fox News tried to justify the killing of Americans in the street of America, good luck with that in the future. Great legacy to have there. Good luck with that. Good luck with that. Even though that happened, Americans woke up. And they said, wait, we didn't sign up for this. We wanted the worst of the worst out. But instead, we're having moms being shot in the streets of Minneapolis. We're having young fathers gun down in the streets of Maine. We're having grandfathers and workers of 30 years loved and respected by his community

being shot and killed in Houston, Texas. That's not what America is about. And if you look at Donald Trump's approval ratings on immigration used to be his strongest point, it's the reason why It's not anymore because this is not who Americans see themselves as being. For many Americans, even those who chose to vote for Donald Trump in 2024, Minneapolis was that moment. The enough is enough. This isn't what we wanted. This isn't who we are.

Because you're right. His 2025, by what he wanted to accomplish, was largely successful. Some hiccups along the way, but largely a successful year. But in 26, with Minneapolis in January, followed by the ill-fated launch of this war, the wheels have certainly fallen off in most ways for the Trump administration. And polls reflect that. There's another poll this morning about the New York Times-Cyna poll, about how Democrats have an eight-point advantage, a generic ballot heading into this November's election.

Trump's approval rating is in the low 30s. It does seem like the-What? The Sienna poll. The New York Times-Sienna poll. No, no, no, I know the poll. Thank you for explaining that to me. But, no, I knew that there was an eight-point advantage. Do they also have Donald Trump's approval rating?

Not today. No, they didn't have that. Because New York Times'clock. Because the New York Times-Janna poll, as we know, Mara, it is a right-wing outfit, and that's a right-wing poll. But it usually sort of, it sort of usually trends more Republican than most polls. So an eight-point generic ballot in the New York Times-Syana poll is interesting. We've tracked for years now. It does seem like Republicans are a little more oversampled in those polls.

And so this is stark for the GOP. All right. President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Hospital. Thank you so much for coming on this morning. We appreciate it. And we're so sorry you didn't have time to talk about the Giants. Okay, still ahead on Morning, Joe. We'll go through the latest projections for key Senate races with less than 50 days until the mid-Derm elections.

Plus, the head of Voto Latino joins us to discuss today's effort to drive voter registration in Texas. Morning Joe, we'll be right back.