Morning Joe - Trump lashes out at former president Obama after being asked about the Iran agreement

Episode Date: June 17, 2026

June 17, 2026 - 7am: Trump lashes out at former president Obama after being asked about the Iran agreement 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.

Live look at Washington, D.C. and the algae-filled reflecting pool for you there as we wake up on this Wednesday morning. Top of the second hour of morning, Joe, June 17. So pretty, Joe. I think it adds really, I think the green algae adds a nice little contrast to it. So, you know, it would be boring if it were just blue and nice like it used to be. So the green algae kind of, you know, you can kind of see it starting to kind of, kind of, you know, kind of see. build and grow to the center of it all. Can't get it to go away.

Listen, listen, this is going to be a great habitat for insects of all kinds. It's going to be very exciting. Kids can go to, you know, Willie kids can go to the reflecting pool. Of course, they'll need to wear their masks, you know, their mosquito masks and you know, and maybe walking the mosquito tents.

But still, it'll be, it certainly adds a new dimension to walking down the mall, right, in the summer? Yeah, you just got to get all your vaccines. Like for international travel, if you go on a safari or something, you got to take your malaria pills and all that kind of stuff. If you're going to walk past the reflecting pool, do the wildlife now and the insects that will be attracted. And if only someone, everyone, or people who know things, had spoken up and said, well, if you painted a lighter color, it attracts more sunlight, it gets hotter and it grows algae. That's a terrible idea. There's a reason we had it painted that way for all these years. If only someone had said that,

all the experts did say that, but Donald Trump had a pool guy and he wanted to give a contract to. Well, I mean, it's just like the Iran War. People had only said this might have ended badly going into Iran. I do want to say this morning, though, just for people tuning in, there's thus far an unconfirmed report by Bloomberg, who has released the contents of the MOU draft. Much of it has already been confirmed by the Wall Street Journal, confirmed by J.D. Vance. But, Willie, I just want to go out into these numbers really quickly. Wall Street Journal talks about the ending of all sanctions,

which is an extraordinary windfall that the Iranians could have never expected under any circumstances. Certainly not before we began this disastrous war. Jady Vance has admitted on TV to the $300 billion. He was asked about this $300 billion fund, which really is, it's reparations for Iran. It's as if we lost the war. $300 billion in the MOU language that we have seen, the draft language, says that the financing will be guaranteed by the United States of America. So we're guaranteeing $300 billion in reparations.

funding for Iran. And then Wall Street Journal also reporting the unfreezing of Iranian funds across the globe. That's an additional $100 billion, the Wall Street Journal and other experts estimate. That adds up to a tidy $500 billion slush fund for Iran to use on their nuke programs, to use for Hamas, to use for Islamic Shihad, to use for Hezbollah, to use for terrorism attacks terrorism attacks across the globe. It is, again, half a trillion dollars

for a regime that was about to fall before we went in and gave them new life. There's a reason why the Wall Street Journal editorial page quote somebody saying that Iran is euphoric. the word euphoric over what has happened. They're going to be getting a half a trillion dollar windfall according to these numbers. And we'll see, again, caveat, we'll see the final numbers question. Why haven't we seen them already?

But let's say half a trillion dollars plus, and most importantly for this radicalized Iranian regime, Willie, what they're talking about is that they took the great Satan's best punch. They stepped into the ring with the great Satan. They took the great, they've been calling us that for 47 years and we're now going to help them get $500 billion. They took America's best punch and they've come out stronger, richer, and more powerful because of it. That is, that's what the administration is going to have to do with, not with Democrats on the Hill, with Republicans on the Hill, and with people inside the administration who right now are

aghast that this deal, the outlines of this deal, seem to be emerging the way they are being reported in the Wall Street Journal of Bloomberg and across other news agencies. And maybe the terms of the MOU will change, given all the criticism from inside the administration, from Republicans on Capitol Hill, not from us, but from Republicans. Maybe that will change the posture here of President Trump and the administration. But what's in there right now and is supposed to be signed in a couple of days in Switzerland is disastrous, frankly. You could add to the list to the front page of the journal this morning that Iran following this deal would be able to start selling oil again. So you have the slush fund, you have the unfrozen assets,

you have the lifting of sanctions, and the ability to sell oil again. President Trump said just yesterday that the new regime in Tehran has been, quote, nice to deal with. that it is, quote, not radicalized and that they are, quote, very rational people. That's the President of the United States talking about the regime in Tehran that has called for the death of the United States for 47 years. And Joe, you made the point that Iran feels like it took its best punch. It also made a bet that all the bluster from President Trump was just that bluster when he said, if civilization is going to die tonight. If they don't come to the table and get rid of the nuclear program, we're going to hit them harder than never be hit.

and it never happened. And that was the bet that this regime made that Donald Trump was all talk. And to this point, it appears that he has been and that none of those objectives laid out on February 28th has been achieved yet. We'll see if further negotiations go deeper into the nuclear program. But from what we're seeing this morning, nothing is there for the U.S. Well, you know, I, and I've said on the show before, I had a meeting at the beginning of this war in Washington with leaders, not only thought leaders and journalists, but also leaders from other countries, people, members of government of other countries and from the region, who kept saying, America must finish the job it started. We didn't want them to get into this war, but America must finish the job it started. And I kept hearing this and I said, that's not going to happen.

And they became quite indignant. And they said, it has to happen. There's no other choice. They said, you're dealing with Donald Trump. At some point, this is. is going to become too uncomfortable. Yeah. And he's just going to pull the rip cord and get out of there when it becomes too uncomfortable politically. They became quite indignant and said, that's not a possibility. I said, well, you've got to know who you're dealing with now, and that is very much a

possibility. As far as a nuclear program goes, Donald Trump kept saying Iran can't have a nuclear weapon. And seven presidents before him have agreed with him. And, you know, he has said, I'm the only one that's going to take care of that. Now he's become extraordinarily disinterested. Even in that topic, you talked about him saying nuclear material, nuclear dust, ah, that's not even important anyway. I quoted Senator John Kennedy from Louisiana yesterday, who when asked, will Iran stick to the terms of a nuclear deal?

He said, well, if you believe they will, then you were obviously homeschooled by what did he say, a day drinker. He says that's a Louisiana term. You are homeschooled by a day drinker. It will never happen. But that's where we are. And Willie, you showed, again, this is not left-winger's

like at the nation or at MS now or at the New York Times editorial page. This is coming from Republicans and from Murdoch's own newspapers show as you did before. I think you're reaching

for it right now. Talk about what that means. They obviously, they obviously have gotten, and some editorial writers inside there who Donald Trump's biggest supporters going after him hard now. Yeah, this is the front page of the New York Post, which has been over backwards, even on the war in Iran, to support Donald Trump, effectively calling this a love bomb, that we bombed Iran at the beginning of the campaign, and now we're ending this war with a love bomb, meaning it's showering to put it in New York Post term, showering the mullahs with cash and taking away the sanctions, calling the president out for saying the Islamic regime is not radical.

All on the front page of the New York Post, I showed you the Wall Street Journal that's openly critical. You have people on Fox News panelists calling the President of the United States Neville Trump. That's on Fox News, comparing him to Neville Chamberlain, not going over well. And we're hearing that now publicly, but certainly privately from a lot of Republicans on Capitol Hill as well,

saying we cannot agree to this deal. And some senators saying, you've got to put this in front of us for a vote if you actually want to get this. Let's bring a Chief White House correspondent for the New York Times, Peter Baker and staff writer at the Atlantic Frank Four. Good morning to you both. Peter, I'll start with you. Can you shed any more light about this memorandum of understanding?

It is just that. For now, it's an agreement to talk further down the road. But some of the terms that Bloomberg, the New York Post and others are reporting would be unacceptable to most Republicans on Capitol Hill and frankly, probably to most Americans. Yeah, this is what unconditional surrender looks like under the Trump administration. Remember, of course, he said he wasn't going to end the war unless he got unconditional surrender. Well, the question is who, I guess, did the surrendering. That's what you're going to hear from Republicans who think this deal looks a lot like the Obama deal or worse in some ways.

Remember, the criticisms of the Obama deal were that it didn't, it gave Iran access to money again and it allowed them to have some of its own sanctioned funds in exchange for a promise not to, you know, pursue nuclear weapons and not to do a certain amount of enrichment for a certain number of years. And it did not make any promises on reigning in their terrorist proxies. It did not make any promises on ballistic missiles. Well, this deal doesn't have anything to do of ballistic missiles or reining in proxies either. And they're getting money in exchange for commitment potentially down the road if it's actually worked out in details to restrain. their nuclear program. It seems an awful lot like the same concept that Donald Trump ripped up

when he came into office. And even when Obama made his deal in 2015, you didn't hear him praise the Iranian leadership as being not radical and being reasonable people to deal with. So I think you're going to hear, yeah, you're going to hear a lot of people, at least if they're consistent with their past views on the Hill, asking a lot of tough questions. Yeah, and President Trump's going to face those questions. And he is going to try to bluster in spin past them. But as I wrote in the Atlantic this morning, President Trump lost this war. The United States leaves it weaker, economically, strategically, militarily, and for President Trump perhaps foreshadowing his eventual lame duck status, where we are seeing leaders of the world

begin to defy him, Europe doing so on Ukraine, Xi Jinping and China refusing to give him a trade deal, and now it appears Iran gets the best of him in this, again. agreement. This is a war in which Trump achieved none of his goals. He's now walked away from most of them. Iran still has the ability to support terror groups with this windfall, perhaps, that they will soon get $300 billion. They have far more control over the Strait of Hormuz than they ever had before. And then said in 60 days, they have suggested they will put together some sort of toll or fees mechanism there. Trump even walking away from trying to get the uranium that's in Iran saying yesterday, well, what's the point? It's no big deal of it anyway. And Frank Ford,

the other thing that's happened here that would be considered a win for Iran is it suddenly it appears Israel may be checked in its ability to strike in the region. Trump has told Prime Minister Netanyahu several times in recent days, don't do this, don't go to Beirut, don't hit them. When Netanyahu has authorized some attacks anyway, Trump has been sharply critical, calling him a difficult person and worse in some interviews. And this whole agreement could be endangered if Israel continues to lash out Lebanon, including reports of attacks this morning. Right. I mean, Donald Trump was just a month ago touting himself as the most popular politician in Israel saying he could be president of Israel. But now that story has completely flipped because Israelis are

very frustrated that Iran seems to have this veto power over Israel's ability to operate in Lebanon that the north of Israel has continued to be attacked and they're not able to respond by striking Hezbollah leadership in Beirut. And so this is just one among the many ways in which Iran has proven, well, you just described the point that Donald Trump is a lame duck president. They patiently waited him out here. They were able to maintain to achieve some of the most important goals here, which is that they wanted to restore their deterrence, which I think they effectively did by showing that they could take our best punch. They wanted to be able to maintain their most important military proxy, which is Hesbalah, which they've effectively

been able to do. And when it comes to these negotiations that are about to happen, what leverage does the United States have? The details matter in these types of agreements. Whatever negotiation happens over nuclear materials, the details matter. And we don't have leverage in these negotiations. The blockade is gone. The promises that are made in this understanding suggest our ability to fold. They've waited us out. Fold. I mean, this is running away tail between legs. I mean, the entire basis of this war when President Trump was asked to give one after he attacked Iran was that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. Marco Rubio parroted that. Everybody said Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I mean, if Bloomberg's reporting on this MOU bears out and it doesn't change in any way,

this is more than folding. And meanwhile, look at what President Trump is doing right now. He's lashing out at former President Obama. It just happened moments ago when he was asked about the Iran Memorandum. Nobody could have made this deal. I mean, the JCPOA done by Obama, he handed him a billion seven in cash, gave him hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of, gave him billions and billions of dollars, but he gave him $1.7 billion in cash, green cash from banks,

into a Boeing 757 and flew it into Iran. And they stood at the plane. I have pictures of it like, oh my God, look at this. Money's giving us. He tried to bribe his way out. I didn't do that. Nobody mentions that. 1.7 billion and hundreds of millions of dollars.

They tried to bribe their way out of it. And you know what? The Iranians did? They laughed at Obama and they said he's a stupid son of a bitch. Yeah, now are they actually, you know, the thing is, a couple of things. The president said there that nobody could have made this deal. Let me just change one word in there. Nobody would have made this deal.

No. Republican politician, the United States Senate, would have made this deal. None of Donald Trump's allies at the Wall Street Journal or the New York Post would have made this deal. No allies in the region would have made this deal. And Donald Trump is talking about $400 million in pallets of cash, which, you know, it's kind of like when I would go around talking about balancing the budget and getting rid of the National Helium Reserve. It's a cute story, but you got to make tough choices if you want to balance a budget four years in a row, which we did. But this Republican Party runs up the biggest debt in the history of mankind.

But nobody's calling Barack Obama a stupid son of a bitch that it's actually looking at these terms because, well, Donald Trump was talking about them getting hundreds of millions of dollars. Let me go over the numbers again based on reporting from Wall Street. Journal, New York Post, and others in Bloomberg. We're talking about the ending of all sanctions. That's what this draft MOU says. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that. As Willie said, lead is they can now sell their oil.

Vance confessed to the $300 billion in reparations to Iran. This MOU draft says the financing will be guaranteed by the United States. we're guaranteeing $300 billion in reparations for Iran. That's, that's, I'm sure that's considerably more than the Germans had to give the Allied forces at Versailles, $300 billion. Maybe not adjusted, but then the unfreezing of, of Iranian funds across the globe, the Wall Street Journal adds that up to $100 billion. That's $500 billion. You're talking about $400,000? million in cash for pallets, $1.7 trillion overall. Here we're talking $500 billion, a half a trillion dollars.

That is, of course, why they're euphoric. I want to go back to Israel for a second, though, with Frank for Frank. Let's talk about what it is to be an Israeli this morning. morning, looking at the United States. I've heard from a lot of strong supporters of Israel over the last day. They feel betrayed. You had on October 7th more Jews killed than any day since the Holocaust. Netanyahu started a three-year war. Much of it I've just absolutely found to be way over the line. the abuse heaped upon people in Gaza and leveling half of Lebanon.

But the Israeli people went along with it, support it because of October the 7th. But they launched a three-year war against Iranian proxies and Iran itself. Netanyahu went in and pushed Donald Trump into starting this war. So where do we end? We end with Iran getting... If this MOU is even partially correct, if this is where they end up six months from now, half a trillion dollars to rebuild their terror proxies across the region and across the globe, you have the United States president attacking the Israeli prime minister,

and talking about how difficult he is to deal with, and most devastating for the Israeli people, if they're interested in their safety and security over the next 50 years, the fact that popular support for Israel has plummeted to all-time low since 1948. You have Democrats as well as Republicans abandoning Israel, a large part because of what Netanyahu has done since October 7th, and also because Netanyahu is the one who insisted on funding Hamas. before October 7th. But I can't imagine the Israelis feeling secure this morning, based on everything they're hearing out of Washington, D.C., and understanding just how hostile the American president and a lot of Americans are towards Israel

because of the events of the last three years. Yeah, it's a pretty damning strategic picture that you paint and kind of a damning indictment of the way that Israel has prosecuted these wars. But if you think back to the day before Trump and the Israelis attacked Iran, Israel was sitting in a very strong strategic position in the region. They had essentially, they'd put Hezbollah in a box, they'd put Iran in a box, Hamas, they, for, you know, all of the moral problems with the way that they prosecuted, that war, Hamas was essentially contained.

And you look at where they sit right now. Their existential enemy, the Iranians, are stronger now than they were that the day the war started because they've proved that they can take, as you say, the best punch that Trump and the Israelis can throw at them. Hezbollah is protected by this deal. And so I think Israelis have spent the last couple months running to their bomb shelters every night. They're exhausted. There was incredible sacrifice that the people paid over the course of this war. And what do they have to show for it? It's their enemy is strengthened and they're

completely isolated in the world. Peter Baker, you've been at this business of covering presidents in Washington, D.C. for quite a period of time. So we have an 80-year-old president today calling a former president in the United States a stupid son of a bitch. An 80-year-old president who seems to be obsessed with the past about past losses, about past actions by past presidents, in this case, Barack Obama. How does that result every day in Washington? What's the mood in Washington about this behavior and this president? Well, I think there's a sense in Washington that he, as you say, at 80, is beginning to show his, you know, his real priorities. His priorities are to build his own legacy, to put his name on things. But the bigger legacy would have been to have a

better result to this war, right? I mean, this is a strategic situation that he will face in this second term if he leaves behind when he leaves office and bolden Iran, as Frank said, an isolated ally in Israel and an uncertain future in the Middle East, that means a whole lot more than having your name on the Kennedy Center. That means a whole lot more than whether the reflecting pool has algae or not. You know what I mean? I think that he has spent so much time on on the fight cage on the South Lawn and things like that, people are questioning whether he has his eyes on the right priorities. You know, the Kennedy Center, just a quick point about that,

because it just, it shows the person, it shows what he considers important, that canopy that they have put over the changing of the name of the Kennedy Center, taking Donald Trump's name off. Is that still up? Like, is he too scared to show that to the American people or too humiliated? It's a strange behavior. And that is the mindset that's dealing with this war in Iran and other hotspots around the world.

Peter Baker of the New York Times. Thank you very much. The Atlantic's Frank Four, thank you as well. And still ahead on Morning Joe, the Trump administration's deportation push, immigration attorneys and DACA recipients, say the government is increasingly detaining people who hold protected or legal status and have no criminal record. MS now Laura Barone Lopez joins us straight ahead with more on that. You're watching Morning Joe. We will be right back.

14 years ago this week, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, was created protecting certain undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. as children from deportation. But as the Trump administration ramps up deportations, immigration attorneys and DACA recipients say people with legal or protected status and no criminal record are increasingly being detained and facing renewal delays. Let's bring in MSN now White House reporter Laura Barone Lopez. She recently spoke with one DACA recipient who was deported by ICE earlier this year and separated from her three children, all of whom are U.S. citizens. So, Laura, first of all, I want to hear what she told you.

There are so many stories like this. It feels like the rules keep changing on people, or they're too afraid to even go to their appointments to continue the process legally. The rules do keep shifting. Mika, and you're right. There are so many stories like this. But I spoke to Jessica Trevino Villegas.

She's 34 years old. and she has valid DACA status until spring of 2027. She also renewed her DACA under this Trump administration last year. Despite the fact that her DACA is valid, ICE, DHS, this Trump administration, deported her to Mexico and separated from her from her three U.S. citizen children, which are pictured in those photos. And Jessica talked to me about the pain of being separated from her kids and the trauma that has been inflicted on her kids when she and her husband were arrested by ICE agents and her husband was hit with a baton. She told me during that arrest in December. I also spoke to Sarah,

the 14-year-old daughter of Jessica, who is a U.S. citizen. And Sarah told me about how difficult it was to witness her parents' arrest and then the experience of their deportation and how she feels about the United States now. Take a listen. One of the ICE agents, like, manhandle me and, like, hit me against the car, and, like, they leave me bruises, like, right around my neck. And my sister, during the car accident, like, she, like, her whole body was sore with bruises. My mom's ankle was all swollen up, like purple and blue. And I was crying, saying that, why were they doing this? That they didn't do anything wrong because my parents don't have a bad background. They never, like, had any criminal

records. Do you feel betrayed it all by the United States? Do you feel, do you feel angry at the president or the United States for what has happened to your parents? I'm not mad at the country. I'm more mad at the president because of him making all of these comments saying that illegal aliens shouldn't be in this country. I'm mostly that. I'm mostly that. like angry at the president because like, why is he like, um, just separating families? Like, is that what he likes to see? Like, does that make him like caffeine? Like, seeing my family separate kids, like, crying, struggling to live and everything.

Now, I asked DHS about Jessica Trevino's case and about the circumstances of her arrest and deportation. And they didn't answer any specifics about that case. In the past, DHS has told us that DACA doesn't confer any legal status. But, of course, immigration lawyers, including Jessica's lawyer, have said that DACA, valid DACA, prevents the government from deporting someone or removing them from the United States. Now, Mika, to your point earlier, Sarah, that 14-year-old little girl is one example of multiple U.S. citizen children who have been separated from their immigrant parents during this crackdown by the administration. And Jessica's story also represent so many other immigrants, dreamers or otherwise, who have no criminal history, who had some form of protected or legal status. And the administration is still choosing to detain them, in many cases deport them, and it's all in their effort to reach as many deportations as possible.

So that campaign is nowhere near over and is continuing in full force, Mika. So terrible. MS now White House reporter Laura Barone Lopez. Thank you. Please come back with more reporting on these stories. We have to keep telling them. We appreciate your reporting this morning. And coming up on Morning, Joe, a look at the new comedy drama film, The Invite,

co-writers, actress Rashida Jones, and Academy Award-winning director. Director Will McCormick, standing by and we'll join us live. That's next on Morning Chale. Beautiful live picture, Sunny Day, the United States Capitol 740 on this Wednesday morning. President Trump says he now is canceling today's Senate Committee hearing on the nomination of Jay Clayton as the next Director of National Intelligence. It comes amid bipartisan pushback over Trump's earlier pick for acting DNI, the current director of U.S. federal housing, Bill Pulte. In protest of Pulte's choice, Democrats refused to extend a key government intelligence program, and Republicans hope Clayton's confirmation then would clear the way for a FISA extension. But at a social media

post earlier this morning, the president wrote, quote, the Republicans move so fast with the hearings of the great J. Clayton that Pulte would be gone before the Democrats would vote on FISA. Now the Democrats are saying they will vote against FISA. The president adding, he wants to be sure Clayton's current post would be filled by Jamie McDonald, one of his personal lawyers. Jonathan, let me hear a lot going on in that story. A lot of different names, a lot of different positions, a lot of different points of leverage. What's the bottom line there? So the bottom line is this is Trump trying to play fourth dimensional chess, instead knocking over the checkers board. This is something, he was going to get an easy win here.

Jay Clayton is a far more palatable choice for DNI. You know, he has some thoughts about some election conspiracy thoughts, the Democrats don't love, but he's broadly respected. He was going to get confirmed. And it was hand the Republicans in the Senate an easy win. There haven't been many of those of late. Instead, Trump has decided to use this moment as yet another effort to pass the Save Act. That's what this is really about. The effort that would really tighten voter restrictions would many people fear would disenfranchise lots of Americans. And if shoe horns in things like transgendered athletes and the like, that's not going to pass. Republicans have told Trump, He doesn't have the votes.

Trump's encouraged them to blow up the filibuster. Thunas said, we won't do that. So this is another effort to try to ram this through because FISA is important. Though controversial, it has, for the most part, support and it was believed to pass. But Democrats are saying, we're not going to be a tolerate Bill Pulte, who is the housing director and one of the architects of Trump's retribution campaign. So therefore, you know, he wasn't a non-starter. Clayton would have been okay.

It's a lot. It's confusing. But basically what happened here, Trump's still in France. he just blew up the Republicans' agenda on the Senate today, and we'll see how they respond. And he can't just take the win on Jay Clayton, Democrats. So we'll give you Jay Clayton. He has to muddy the waters as usual. All right, coming up next, we'll go through the Republican primary election runoff results in Georgia. Tell you whether the results put Republicans in a better position to flip a United States Senate seat this fall. Details in the morning Joe comes right back.

Joe, put on some music. What kind of music you into, Hawk? What is Chalet? What is Shaw Day? We only get a few chances for meaningful relationships in life. What is going on here? This is crazy. Can we please do a reset?

Is this from a podcast? Yes, it is. We did come down here tonight to invite you. Invite us to join us. Us. That is a look at the new comedy drama, The Invite, starring Seth Rogen, and Olivia Wilde. In it, they portray a couple

whose marriage a little bit on the rocks. But when they invite their upstairs neighbors for a dinner party, the gathering becomes an unexpected night. They'll never forget.

Join us now are the co-writers of the invite, Golden Globe Emmy-nominated actress for Sheeta Jones, an actor, an Academy Award-winning director and writer Will McCormick. Guys, we're so happy

you're here. It's great to see you. So happy to be here. We can dig into the news if you want to, or let's just go to the movie. You're good. You're good.

You just got that. Just wanted to check in with you on that. Rashida, I was just saying that, first of all, let's talk about the cast. You've got Seth and Olivia I mentioned, but also Edward Norton and Penelope Cruz. Just Oscar winners all over the place in this movie. And you guys with the script, so tell us how this material came to you and how you developed it. So this is based on a Spanish movie, a really great Spanish movie, and we were approached by the producers to adapt it. And this is kind of, as movies go, many iterations of the same.

same thing. And luckily, this is the iteration that, you know, made it made it to the, to the public. But we like, you know, we saw this movie and it was great. It's Spanish. So it's very culturally specific to Spain. And we, we saw places where we could like really push and dive in and experiment and be a little bit edgy. And, and it's just like, you know, Will and I are obsessed with relationship dynamics and dysfunction. What's the process like? You've done it before, of course. of writing with Rashida, this collaboration. Oh, my God, it's the best.

I mean, we've known each other for 70 years. 700 years. You know, we used to write on one computer side by side, and now we've sort of evolved over the years, and we have different strengths and skill sets, and I think I've gotten better at things that Rashida used to be got. We've really, you know, evolved as a team,

but now we can write separately, but this movie we wrote side by side together, which was so fun. Yeah. So, Rashida, tell us a little bit more about the setup here in terms of these two couples, how they meet, where we go? The setup is there's a couple who, as Willie said, it's not their best night.

It's not their shining moment. They bicker. That's the way that they communicate. And there is another couple that lives in the same building who has a very different relationship. They invite over for dinner, cocktails. And from there, it goes up and it goes down. And it's really like an excavation of relationship and being with somebody for a long time.

And can you stay together and how do you stay together? And are you really being honest with each other about the nature of your relationship and what it was and what it is now? So, Will, you two wrote the screenplay together, sitting next to each other, whatever. But you have Seth Rogen in this film. How many times did it occur, or maybe it didn't occur, on the set when Seth would say, you know something, I have an idea about this scene. A lot. And you know, you're working with some of the best actors ever who are all, you know, brilliant and prodigious storytellers in their own right. So we welcome that. I mean, you know, a screenplay is a blueprint for a story. And this

movie, magic happened. Olivia, the energy that she brought to the screenplay and what the actors brought in how they were able to tailor the parts to their strengths at idiosyncrasies. And we had a rehearsal process for a week before the movie started, which is so rare. So I get to sit in a room with Penelope Cruz and talk to her about her role. It's like a dream come true. So let's take a look at another clip. This is when those neighbors first arrived setting off all the action. It took you a while to come to the door.

And it sounded like you were arguing. No filter. No, I just want to be honest. We were at the door before we rang and we could hear you were fighting. Oh, we were talking. We were fighting. We were fighting, yeah.

A bit of a contentious environment in here, so I understand if that's repellent to you, no hard feelings, you know what I mean? Completely understand, you know? We love a contentious environment. We love it. Okay. Well.

Really, it's fine. You hit the jackpot then, my friend. You're in for a treat. Oh, man, it's so good. Richie, I have to imagine you write the words on a page and you're like, I think this could be pretty good. But then you see four actors of that caliber, almost like take it to a different place. That's to be so gratifying to watch.

It's so gratifying. It's so gratifying. Like, you can't, you know, there's only so much you can do. Obviously, Will and I, we read things out loud and we have the, you know, the characters in our head and the actor's voices in our head. But then, you know, they bring everything to life. That's what great actors do. So we'll obviously, the film opens a couple of weeks, but I'm sure there's been test screenings and the like, are couples coming out of this arguing? What's happening?

They are either arguing or they're going home and they're getting together. Getting together. With other people. They're either upstairs or downstairs. But I do think it's a real test when you walk out of the film to ask yourself, are you living upstairs or are you living downstairs if you know what I mean? It's a conversation starter. If nothing else, you will be. talk about it after. Which couple are you? Yes. And that could be a bad answer for some couples. Oh no, we're that

couple. Right. Rashida, how do you balance because you've had so many great roles on screen, obviously? I mean, we can list through them from the office to Parks and Rec and Angie Tribeck and all that. Like, maybe I should have been in this movie. Do you have, like, how do you balance the writing with the acting? You know, I'm so,

I'm so compartmentalizing. And also we, for us, the joy of writing is that That's it. I don't, I don't, like, I feel like they're very, you know, tertian state for me. Okay. You know. Makes sense. Yeah. Well, the film is amazing. People are already loving it. And it hits theater. It's called the invite on June 26th. So happy to see you both. Co-writers of this film, Golden Globe Emmy nominated actress Rashida Jones, Academy Award winning director, writer, actor Will McCormick.

Congratulations. Thank you so much. Come back soon. Thank you. Great to see you both. Thank you. Still ahead. We'll get back to our top story of the morning. Rashida May Way in. questions about the agreement between the United States and Iran to end the war. Oh, no, she's leaving. This, as some Senate Republicans argue, Congress should have a vote on any final deal. Morning Joe's coming right back.