Morning Joe - Trump promises lower fuel prices at Nebraska rally

Episode Date: October 6, 2026

October 6, 2026: 8am — Trump promises lower fuel prices at Nebraska rally 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 again, remember, with the word, it's just artificial, it's a little bit high, it's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. That's, this is a very small price to pay, and it's going to be over with very soon. It's essentially almost over with, and they might keep going a little long, you know. They always say they have a big threshold for pain. They need it.

Let me tell you, they need it. But it's going to end very soon. And it'll end one way or the other and your gas and your gasoline and all of the things. President Trump last night in Nebraska, again, trying to justify the higher prices Americans are paying for fuel and other goods, while also just casually calling for Iran to attack two of the most populous cities in the United States, Joe. Yeah, you know, um, there will be some, say, oh, he's just joking.

He's just, well, okay, well, great. Tell me then, please, what other American president in our history, post-Civil War, have called for the destruction of entire cities? Joking. If this is your joke, this is your idea of a presidential joke, joking about the killing of 10 million or so people? Is that where we are? Because I thought it was bad enough when he was joking in front of California Republicans.

several years ago, I think it was in 22, about an elderly man getting the hell beaten out of him and almost dying. Paul Pelosi, remember? And he led those California. And they were just laughing their asses off, thinking that's just the funniest thing in the world, talking about the brutalization and near killing of a man who, by the way, a lot of people on the Magorite spent about a week suggesting, you know, drumming up rumors about Paul Pelosi, the man who was the victim of it. So I thought I thought it was pretty bad, Willie, when you're joking about the battering and the abusing of an elderly man, almost killing an elderly man. I'm going to say, a president of the United States, we're not talking about Hennie Youngman here. We're not talking about Jack Bay.

We're talking about the president of the United States, talking about the obliteration of San Diego and Los Angeles as a joke. That's what I've already heard this morning. Oh, he was just joking. You people just don't get. No, I don't get when the president of the United States says Iran can obliterate Los Angeles and San Diego. Not funny if you're an American who actually believes that president should do more than divide us. Yeah, and this is sort of the response and the reaction when the president says something like this over the years, immediately his team or those who defend him on podcasts or social media say he owned the media.

own the left because they got upset about the thing he said, well, yeah, there are certain things that you ought to be upset about. And if he was joking, what's the joke? I mean, I'm happy to, if there's a joke in there somewhere, I don't understand what the joke is. And embedded in that alleged joke, embedded in the alleged joke is, well, California is blue. Those are lefties. So let them bomb L.A. and San Diego. We've got to protect Omaha and the places I care about. that's not the voice obviously of an American president. And as you say, Joe, it goes without saying that if any other president, especially a Democrat, let's say Barack Obama, for example, or Joe Biden made that joke, there would be outrage across

the board and maybe calls for impeachment. Well, of course, there'd be calls for impeachment. If he called for the obliteration of, say, Jacksonville or Birmingham, or if it were a Democratic president calling for the obliteration of Republican cities. Of course, of course, there'd be immediate calls for impeachment. But again, this is what, and by the way, the president, Jonathan will me are calling for the destruction of two American cities in the closing run of a critically important midterm election. You do wonder, you do wonder if you're a Republican running in California, do you now, do you now go along with the president's joke and say, hey, that's pretty funny.

Pretty funny. He's talking about the obliteration of 10 million or so people. What a funny joke that is. He should take his act up to the Catskills after he's finished at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Do you go along with that joke because you are just that weak of a man? Or do you actually stand up and say, you know what? That's really out of line. Joking about the killing of 10 million or so Americans. We'll see what he does, but like I said, they laughed when he talked about Paul Pelosi almost being beaten to death. Now, jokes about the killing. I guess if you're in California, it's funny when you talk about somebody being brutalized or entire cities being wiped from the face of the earth. That's now a joke. That's now a joke for Donald Trump. I think actually what it suggests, folks, is just how low this president has.

taken himself and his party after 10 years in American politics that people in that audience laughed at the prospects of 10 million or so other Americans being wiped off the face of the earth by a nuke from Iran. Yeah, there's no bottom here. I mean, President Trump is going to take shots at his political foes. And those often, he just deems them, there are other Americans. He's never tried to be president of the entire country. He's never. tried to be president of blue states and red. We see that from his governing. We see that from his rhetoric. And yes, there were laughs in that audience last night. Today, there will be, you know, some California Republicans, you know, who are going to be asked about this. And yet again,

they're going to be put on the spot as to whether they defend President Trump or not. Odds are they will. They'll say it was a joke. They'll play it off. It's so rare to have a Republican actually defy him, but it's also just another unnecessary distraction. And yes, this is, this is, we'll be on to the next outrage tomorrow, almost certainly, right? But this is, but this is the problem that Trump has created for Republicans, whether it's his policies, because the war in Iran or his tariffs or everything else, or what he says. He's giving them nothing to work with, Joe, nothing. And we're now a month from the election. And I've talked to Republicans last week for my piece.

A couple more over the weekend who just say it's almost he's not trying. He's not, it's almost as if he's actively hurting our chances or at the very least he's doing nothing to help. Yet another negative distraction for the GOP's chances. Well, he does. And this is, by the way, this is exactly me, what Karl Rove is warning about. Don't let Donald Trump go out on the road. You people that are talking about sending him out on the road, this is a terrible idea.

Because every day, he's going to say something else that's going to. to hurt Republican candidates. And if you're in California and you're trying to figure out whether to vote for a Republican or a Democrat right now, all things being equal, well, this certainly doesn't help Republican candidates' chances. And also, again, he's got more things to worry about, right, than going around and deeply offending people in California. And I've got to say across the country, you've got gas prices at record highs, you've got diesel prices at record eyes, just telling people, hey, don't worry about it. This is just short-term pain. Don't worry about it. It's worth it. It's worth it. You know, by the way, if they do get nukes, let them annihilate

Los Angeles and San Diego. But it's worth it. I don't know that that's a good closing message for a Republican Party that is fearing worse in polls than, you know, yesterday there was a Gallup poll that showed, I think, 11-point division between Republicans and Democrats on the generic ballot test. You have Dr. Oz going on Fox News lying about the price of butter saying, oh, it's only a dollar. Laura Ingham goes, where are you shopping? Yeah. I mean, even Fox hosts or wait, wait a second, what's wrong with you? Like, wait, how out of touch are you? And we're seeing exactly how out of touch they all are in this final run. I, you know, I think it's generous to say it's a joke.

I think this is all part of the, he didn't mean it, mind game, that he plays with his party and his supporters and the American people. He didn't mean it when it came to the tariffs. So many people were so surprised that the tariffs happened. And I saw that in real time. You saw it in real time, Joe. Mass deportations. I saw it from the worst of the worst. Yeah.

Meeker, we saw it from the Treasury Secretary before he was Treasury Secretary who told us, oh, he doesn't mean it on tariffs. He doesn't mean it. This is just his opening bid. He's not going to do that. Right. Or what about January 6th or what about retribution? I mean, all these things, he didn't mean it.

He doesn't really mean it. He doesn't really mean it. John Hellman, how many times have we heard that? And by the way, it's either he doesn't mean it or I haven't been watching the news is what you'll hear from people who want to protect. the behavior of this president, which every day seems more and more dangerous to the safety of this country? I mean, you're right, because those are the two options that Republicans are often given. I didn't read his Twitter feed, or now, I guess his truth.

Just not reading the news. I just, I don't know. I'm not familiar with what the president said. I'm not paying attention to that. That's a, that's the, probably the less objectionable than the, you know, President Trump didn't mean it. What he said, because often, again, I'll go back to our, to our standard framework, projection or confession.

In this case, I think, Mika, you're coming down on the side of projection. You know, he's starting to talk about things that, you know, on some level, you know, he wouldn't mind seeing it happening. Not really, maybe not actively trying to make them happen, but it wouldn't be I would take it seriously.

Wouldn't be terrible. I would take it seriously too, because as we know about Donald Trump, he says a lot of things that he never does anything about. He also says, he also really does anything that he hasn't previously forecast. He telegraphs every every punch and every one of his desires comes out. Everything, there is no, there is no filter on him. And I think to Joe's point, you know, it's four weeks out. Yeah. And I mean, the most fundamental

thing driving the elections across the country everywhere is voters who do not think Donald Trump cares about what they care about, that he's not addressing issues that matter to them in the most kind of fundamental way. Whatever you think about his motivations and saying this, whatever you think he's going on inside that head of his, there is no, there's not a vote that that wins. It doesn't turn, it doesn't help any Republican candidate anywhere, not just in California, but anywhere in the country where the Republican looks up and says, well, Donald Trump said that yesterday, I can run on that. That's part of a message that's designed to reassure some of the Skittish voters who are

turning away from the party that tries to help people feel like maybe the president and the Republican Party are on their side and focused on the real lives of those real people. There's not nothing with, there's no, there's no analysis by which you could come up with that argument that this helps even a little bit for him to be saying these kind of things. And the message does go far and wide. People say, well, he's just going to red states. It's like, have you lived in America? We live in a nationalized media environment where he doesn't matter if he says it in Oklahoma, if he says it in Illinois or if he says it in Missouri, if he says it to Washington, D.C. Every Republican candidate now has to get to answer questions about another dumbass thing that the president said.

That doesn't help their cause at all. And again, incredibly flippant about the cost of gas. Sure. It's going to come down. I'm going to end the war soon. Well, he said it was four to six weeks when we started the war. We're into our eighth month now. Diesel is $6 a gallon in Nebraska.

And his explanation, part of the context for that comment was, I need to keep fighting the war so they don't have a nuclear weapon. Don't worry. We'll end it soon and gas will come down. Will it? When? When will the war end? He's been promising that for months. Let's bring in MSNOW, Congressional reporter Michael Schnell, who joins us live from Grand Island, Nebraska,

of the site of that rally last night. Michael, good morning. Thanks for getting up early for us. Tell us what was like inside the room last night. Well, I mean, Willie, it was very clear that President Trump is well aware that he has a big problem on his hands, and it's what you guys were just talking about. It's these gas prices. Gas is well over $4 a gallon. It's well over $6 a gallon for diesel here in Nebraska, a state where farmers are at the heart of the workforce, and they're really struggling with these high diesel prices. So President Trump came in here to Grand Island, Nebraska, and he made a pitch on gas prices. Within minutes of speaking, he said that the war in Iran was worth it

and that this blip of high gas prices, which we know has not been a blip. It's been like this for months is worth it and a worthy reason for being in the war in Iran. He also said that gas prices would be below $1.85 a gallon very soon. By the way, the last time gas was that low was during COVID-19. And before that, it was in 2016. And then he rolled out an executive order that waived off-road requirements for a certain type of diesel, insisting that this would save money for Nebraska's. The gas prices was the constant theme throughout this speech. But of course, the big question is,

was this too little too late? Is there enough time for gas prices to calibrate? I've been talking to lawmakers, Republicans back in Washington, who say, we are too late in the game right now, 28 days away from the election. There is no time for these prices to come down in a substantial way to change voters. But I spoke to a lot of voters who were at the rally last night, and they were craving some sort of guidance from the president.

I heard from a number of Trump supporters, one woman who was wearing a sequence MAGA jacket, who said gas prices right now are just too high, and the president is not doing enough to address them. Her husband, by the way, is a farmer, so he's really feeling the squeeze from these diesel prices. So whether or not this message was enough to move the minds of voters, that's, of course, going to be the optimal question.

And it all comes on the backdrop, guys, of this very competitive Senate race that we're seeing here in Nebraska, unexpectedly competitive. President Trump won the state of Nebraska by 20 percentage points back in 2024. That same year, though, Deb Fisher, who's currently the Republican senator from Nebraska, she beat independent Dan Osborne, who's currently running by only seven percentage points. So the Republican candidates have run behind Trump. Now Dan Osborne is up against Pete Ricketts this time, the Republican Senate incumbent, hoping to turn this red state blue. Now, it was very clear that President felt the need to come in for a rescue mission. It's his latest stop on this tour of red states around the

country as Republicans have been on defense trying to defend these very, very key Senate races if they want any chance of keeping hold of their majority come November. And then one more thing I'll note, guys, is that President Trump went back to a similar refrain that we've heard in different rallies in recent weeks saying he may not be on the ballot, but urging Republicans to vote as if he is. He's very aware that who controls Congress will have a large bearing on how his last two months, two years in office play out. And as you say, Michael Dan Osborne, running as an independent, making some serious noise in that race. MS now congressional reporter Michael Schnell, live from Grand Island, Nebraska.

Thank you. A couple other notes from the president's speech last night. He blamed Ukraine for high gas prices for their attacks on refineries in Russia, not his war in Iran, blaming Ukraine, which was invaded, of course, four years ago. He said he drove past a gas station in Iowa where gas was less than $2 a gallon. It's coming down. The average price of a gallon of regular in Iowa was $4.11. Made that up out of whole cloth.

Flip now on mail-in voting. He's supporting mail-in voting now. Wait, wait. He said, I need you to vote however you can vote. I'd rather you vote in person, but it's okay. Now I say you can vote mail. And as he signed that executive order that Michael mentioned on Diesel, Natalie Harp walked it out to him.

He signed it and he said, this is like the price is right when the perfect person hands you this. document and that signed it. A penny for the thoughts of the first lady. Coming up, our next guest is running for U.S. Senate in Arkansas. Democrat Halle Schaffner is challenging Tom Cotton, the incumbent Republican who just had a dust up with President Trump over daylight savings time. We'll talk about that race and so much more. Straight ahead on Morning Joe.

Welcome back. The Trump administration is ramping up deportations of immigrants. so-called third countries. These are countries they are not from, nor have any ties to. Let's bring in Amos now, international reporter Innes to Lecuiterra, who joins us live from Ghana with exclusive reporting on a father and community pastor from Texas who was deported to one of these third countries in West Africa. Ines, what did he tell you about the situation he's now facing? Hey, good morning, Mika. Yeah, so at least 25,000. people have been deported to third countries so far. We know of Latin American migrants who've

been deported to the Democratic Republic of Congo, a pro-democracy Iranian activist deported to the Central African Republic. And we spoke to Pastor Samuel Namdi, who is someone who fled religious persecution in Nigeria, had been living in the U.S. for the last eight years, has American kids, was working full-time for UPS and has no criminal record. And he was deported to Ghana. Pray for personality. There's a crucial figure missing from this church service in Mesquite, Texas. A nine-year-old hasn't seen her dad in months.

It's been hard. He calls up sometimes and I start to miss him. A father of five, a pastor in his community, and a full-time UPS driver with no criminal record. All of us feel we are crying like somebody die. On July 31st, Pastor Samuel Namdi was deported to Ghana, a country he had never been to, has no ties to. Under the Trump administration's expanded use of so-called third country deportations. How do I start all over again when all the ties I have is in America, all the connections are built in America, my work is in America, my life is in America, my family, everything is there.

We met him in an undisclosed location in West Africa. where he is now stuck in limbo. You are welcome, welcome, welcome. It really felt like a dream. I could not reconcile the fact that I am far removed from my family. I could not reconcile the fact. I kept saying, where is this? What is this?

Samuel got to the U.S. back in 2018, fleeing the growing persecution of Christians in Nigeria after gunman stormed his home. I don't want to relieve it, it was traumatic. This was what led me to take my family to safety. It's a cause the Trump administration has repeatedly drawn attention to. We've had very serious problems with Christians who have been murdered, killed in Nigeria. We're going to be working on that problem. So in Samuel's case, a U.S. immigration judge ruled that his life could be at risk if he was sent

back to Nigeria and issued him what's known as a withholding of removal, essentially preventing officials from sending him back. But technically, there was nothing preventing officials from sending him to a different country. On July 6th, Samuel was detained on his way to work. This was all of the outfit I had on me. He was wearing his UPS uniform when they deported him. Like this. Going to work, doing what I do every day. Deportees told us their hands and feet were shackled for hours on the flights. Upon arrival in Ghana, most are then sent back to their countries of origin against their will, where they say their lives could be at risk. This is a cynical attempt to bypass the U.S. courts by bringing them to Ghana and letting Ghana do the dirty work.

What we found in our reporting is that the vast majority of the people being brought here are then forced onto their countries of origin, which is refoundment, which is in breach of international law. We have heard a number of lawyers make these allegations, but they remain allegations. lawyers say things. It's not everything that is said that is in the assembly true. That's what we're hearing as well from talking to deportees. As you said, you've heard. You know, it's one thing to hear sometimes, it's like another to be able to substantiate and verify, yes. So you're denying that chain refoulement is happening? As far as I know, it is not the policy of the government of Ghana to do that.

It's unclear what many of the countries who've signed up to this are getting in return. In many cases, the terms of the deals have not been made public, but are costing U.S. taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. The Ghanaian foreign minister has publicly said that as part of this deal, Ghana got the U.S. to lift visa restrictions on its citizens. I might be in a precarious place. I must be in a hard-breaking place. Thousands of miles from home, Samuel has begun preaching, saying it's a way to keep

himself from depression. President Trump had promised to target the worst of the worst. But for Samuel, the consequences have been devastating, tearing a family apart and depriving American children of their father. One of the pains I have seen in this life is children not having their father at all. I do not want to be an sensitive father. All I wanted to do was to raise my children, to raise my family. Now, the Supreme Court has ruled that third country deportations can continue for now while it reviews whether the policy is lawful. We did get a statement from DHS.

They told us that illegal aliens being sent to a third country received notice and assurances prior to their removal. In Samuel's case, his lawyer tells us that did not happen. The family did not get proper notice. And I will say, well, we've also been reaching out to Senator Ted Cruz, Cruz being from Texas, which is where Samuel was living. And Cruz, obviously, being someone who's also spoken out a lot about the persecutions of Christians in Nigeria. They have not responded to our repeated request for comment. incredible reporting and Samuel is just one of many. MS now international reporter and Nestle, Lekwetara, live from Ghana.

Thank you very much for your reporting this morning. And we'll be right back with much more morning Joe. If you look historically, you know, go back to the Obama administration with the Affordable Care Act, you have the people's government using tax dollars to advertise about what the government is doing. It's part of actually, I think, living in a constitutional republic, you have to be honest with the American people about what you're doing, about what's going on. And part of that is getting out there and telling the message. So I don't think there's anything unusual or unorthodox about it. I'm sure that some people probably don't like it.

But if you look at the message of those advertisements, they're not partisan. They're not, you know, it's not like we're advocating for a particular candidate. We're trying to tell a story, I think, about how great the United States of America is. So that was Vice President J.D. Vance yesterday defending the use of tax. taxpayer money for television ads promoting the Trump administration. But shortly after those comments from the VP, President Trump announced his Super PAC will actually start paying for those TV spots after all. Whoops, sorry, JD.

Trump wrote on social media, I have decided to do the patriotic ads, among others, and pay for them myself with money I raised for Maga Inc. The campaign style ads began airing last month and include text paid for by the U.S. government. At least one of those ads includes footage that originally appeared in a 2024 Trump campaign video. The political ad tracking firm at impact estimates that the government has spent at least $10 million to air the ads across cable and network television. Let's bring in contributing writer, contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, Molly Jong Fast. And Molly, first of all, Vice President Vance left to about an island there, not for the first time. But again, it just shows, let's combine a few things we've been talking about this morning,

that this president, again, just doing things that would be unthinkable for any of his predecessors. And that includes these taxpayer funded ads. That includes joking last night about having Los Angeles and San Diego wiped out by an Iranian attack. And yesterday, on true social, going after the Democratic candidate for Senate in South Carolina, calling her Annie Tranny Andrews, using the same sort of slurr rhetoric that his defense secretary used a few days prior.

Yeah, so I thought it was particularly interesting this, watching J.D. Vance defense something and immediately seeing the admin pull the rug from under him, which we have seen a number of times. I think the larger message here is that pushback actually works, right? Because it was the pushback

that caused the Trump administration to reverse themselves on this. And I think that's really important. And it's an important lesson going into the midterms when people are anxious about the possibility of this administration doing something untoward. That's a really good message, which is that these people tend to lose in court, that if there are the right channels to push back, IG lawyers and the law, that they tend to back down. And I think that's a really important data point. For that South Carolina Senate race, I think it's pretty interesting to see that Republicans are on the back foot here, which is incredible, right? Like, Darlene Graham is just not the candidate her brother was.

I think that's pretty clear. She can't answer the questions the way he can. She doesn't have the background. And so they're really starting to worry about this race. And that's why we're seeing it on Trump's social media. I mean, no one's really suggested South Carolina isn't play yet. But the fact that Trump has taken a moment to talk about it suggests, well, maybe he see some polling. Or there's anxiety.

It could be. At the very least, yes, some real fear that a wave could be coming. Meanwhile, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton claims he has very little control over his own embattled U.S. Senate campaign. That's in some newly leaked audio. Politico released the audio yesterday, which was recorded in Washington almost two weeks ago during a small fundraising event. It comes down to your messaging, which in a federal race comes from other people a lot of times, which you don't control. So I have a little control over my bucket. That's about it. in my little bit of time that I can go out and hit to as many people as I can. But I've never been a raise where I felt less control over the campaign and like what issues are going to matter because it's all coming, you know, from D.C. And I don't control message or what we're doing.

Or I can't, I have no, I don't have ability to change anything. So I have to live with whatever I've got. So it is a challenge. Politico reports that one attendee who was granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting said that Paxson never explicitly said. he was referring to Trump's team controlling his campaign, but, quote, everybody knew what he was talking about. In a statement to Politico, a campaign advisor for Paxton said this. Campaigns don't coordinate with Super PACS, and that's obviously what A.G. Paxton was referring to. This all comes just days after the New York Times released audio of Paxton privately saying that Trump's midterm convention in Dallas had hurt his poll numbers.

The same advisor for Paxton dismissed that recording as manipulated nonsense. but, huh, two leaked recordings, same campaign, blaming others. Huh, that's interesting. President Trump, meanwhile, is set to hold a rally tomorrow in San Antonio for Paxton and other Republican candidates. Paxton is expected to be there and to give a speech before the president takes the stage. From Texas now to neighboring Arkansas, where Republicans are pouring millions of dollars into elections there, including the race for U.S. Senate. As Republican incumbent Tom Cotton and his allies are outspending his Democratic, his Democratic,

challenger, Hallie Schafter, 65 to 1. That's according to ad impact data. And as Punchbowl news points out, it's possible Cotton loses nothing by blasting his politically fresh opponent. Because she is airing so few of her own ads, Cotton is likely raising voters awareness of her candidacy. Hallie Schafter joins us now. Great to see you. We appreciate you being here. We should start with what appears to be, at least in President Trump's mind. the single most important issue for your state, as he's badgering Tom Cotton over daylight savings time. Can you explain to us what this is about,

but more than that, how Trump and Cotton, though, yes, they disagree on this, but Senator Cotton has certainly, for the large part, carried Trump's agenda, including with a very unpopular war in Iran. Well, thank you so much for having me. I'll tell you, over the 450 days that I've been on the campaign, Paine Trail. Not once have I been asked about daylight savings time. I mean, what Arkansasans are talking about. They're talking about gas prices and grocery prices. They're talking about health care.

I mean, to your point about the attention and spending on this race, I mean, the Republican Party, the National Republican Party is paying more attention to this race than the National Democratic Party. They've spent $13.5 million in Arkansas against a farmer and a first-time candidate. And Tom Cotton, still isn't showing up. I mean, we're having a debate next week, and I will be standing on stage without him. I mean, I hear from Democrats and conservatives every day. I hear from Republican farmers. I hear from folks telling me about what Republicans are saying across the state, and they're saying they're going to vote for me. And that is because this is all about traveling the state, showing up, building trust, listening to Arkansasans every single day, showing them that they matter

in a way that Tom Cotton hasn't and never will. So let me follow up there about the funding discrepancy. Can you take us inside the room in terms of pleas you perhaps have made to national Democrats for this money? Because there does see, we have seen polls tighten all over the country in places that would be unthinkable a few months ago. We are seeing Democrats suddenly with real shots in places like Kansas, Iowa. There's even some chatter in South Dakota. What's stopping Arkansas from being on the list? Well, I don't think that necessarily we have to outspend Tom Cotton. We certainly have to outwork him and we've been doing that. I've been on the campaign trail for a year and a half now. I'll tell you, in January, we did an internal poll that showed only about 30% of Arkansas's electorate knew who I was. The poll, the independent poll in August, 70% of voters know who I am now. And the only one spending money so far until recently was Tom Cotton. I'm happy for him to keep saying my name because Arkansasans,

We are so fed up with politics right now. I mean, left, right, liberal and conservative, we're real people. We have real problems. We're crying out for someone who believes that the purpose of government is to solve problems and create progress and not just posture around for the next election. These ads, it's posturing, it's fear mongering. It's not addressing the things that Arkansas care about, gas, groceries, health care. Um, Haley, it's Molly John Quest. You're high.

Hey, Molly. I interviewed Rob Sand, uh, go. running for governor of Iowa for my podcast. And he talked about some of these other farming issues like polluted groundwater, right? That I was the number two cancer state with new cancers because of some of the groundwater problems from farming. I wonder from some of the pesticides. I wonder if you could talk about some of the sort of local farming related or pesticide related or agriculture-related problems. For example, I know diesel is historically high,

and so that's caused a real problem for farmers. I just am curious what the sort of local problems you're having in your state are. Well, and of course I talk to a lot of farmers. I'm a sixth-generation soybean and rice farmer myself, and I wouldn't be here if last year I hadn't closed my family's 150-year-old farm because of the farm crisis. And you're absolutely right.

The thing that is top of, of mine for farmers, especially as they're going to the field to harvest soybeans, it's diesel prices over $6.50 a gallon for road diesel, a little bit less for farm diesel. And I mean, this is the war in Iran. That's what I'm hearing is folks are really angry that we're in a seemingly endless, expensive foreign conflict that we haven't had a good reason given for. And this is something Tom Cotton's wanted for the last 12 years. He finally got the war. He wanted. And Arkansas farmers and families, we're the ones paying the price. We've lost 25% of the family farming operations in Arkansas.

Our credit agencies are saying that over 50% of farmers right now aren't going to be able to pay back their loans this year, which means we're just going to see more closures. It's our largest industry. We really cannot afford another six years of Tom Cotton. Derrick Credit nominee for U.S. Senate in Arkansas, highly shocked. Thank you. We hope you have you back.

Thank you all so much. Up next here on Morning Joe, after winning the top prize of the Cannes Film Festival, the new drama, Fjord, is set to hit theaters, the star of that film. Academy Award nominated actor Sebastian Stan, he will join us next right here on Morning Joe. With five children, unless there's some discipline now. Hey, come down. I want to talk to you. What happened to do? I just fell down the stairs. You have to pray every day? What happens if you don't do your prayers?

Is there a physical punishment? Define physical. Yes? I'm from the local police. We just need to discuss something with you. Discuss something with me? No? Tell me.

You should talk from my baby. Don't they have to prove what they claim? Not before they take the children. No. That was a look at the new movie, Fjord, which just took home the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Joining us now, one of the stars of the film Academy Award nominee, Sebastian Stann. Sebastian, thank you so much for being here. We should note the film received a 10-minute standing ovation at that film festival.

For those who are just coming to this and trying to learn what this film is about, give us a quick sense. Well, it's quite timely, actually, in the sense that it's about an immigrant family that moves to a different country. And then sort of becomes, comes under scrutiny for their belief systems. and values and their children are taken away. They're torn apart. And the question of the movie is whether it's for the right reasons or for the wrong reasons. And talk to us about why this film, this role, this part resonated with you. Well, I myself was an immigrant. I came to this country when I was 12, very much the age of the kids in the movie. And so I felt not only did I want to reconnect with this country that I'm from initially, you know, Romania, but I also felt like thinking

about fatherhood, wanting kids and asking myself, how can I be the best parent? I can be now. How do we raise kids today? I felt that the themes of the movie were really very aligned to what I was asking myself personally, but also to a lot of what we're all asking ourselves

kind of today, I think. And you're a new father now, we should note. So we have a clip from the film, which your character, as you say, a Romanian immigrant father, is trying to navigate parenthood in a new country and faces a dire situation when his kids are taken away by child protective services.

Apparently we risk prison. Once we admitted that we slapped them. He's met. We can't see it like sheep and watch these people abuse our power. I brought a lawyer. Who plays by the rules? She's doing her best. Her best.

The best is not enough if you want to have the children back. What do you want me to do? Nothing. He did your best. Now I take over. Sebastian, such a powerful movie, and you have talking about, you have a child, how did your feelings about your experiences in an immigrant change? And how do you change from doing this movie?

And what was your experience there? And how, I mean, I think being a parent changes you so much. I'm curious, you know, you did that right before the movie. You had a baby right after the... I did. I didn't have a kid yet when I was doing the movie, but I was thinking about it and it was a plan already in motion. Look, it's really hard. I mean, we were talking about it.

You know, you wake up in today's world and you turn on the TV and you're just, you know, immediately flabbergasted of what you see. But at the same time, you wake up and you see these beautiful, innocent eyes looking at you and you feel this responsibility towards the future and making sure that they have an opportunity, a chance to have at this world that we did. So there's a huge responsibility to it. I think as it pertains to the movie, you know, again, we have these, and I, and same for me, coming from this very traditional upbringing, which is explored in the movie, it's this question of like, where does culture, tradition, and history still serve us, and where does it get in the way now as it pertains to this next generation, how do we raise them? And I think the movie brings all that up.

Yeah, it's certainly a very, very, very timely story. The new movie, if you were out in Select Theater's this Friday. actor Sebastian Stan. We also, of course, see you the new Avengers movie this December as well as the next Batman movie coming up as well. Great to see you.

Thank you for joining us this morning. Thank you guys for having me, big fan. And that does it for us this morning. We appreciate you watching and we'll be back tomorrow at 6am Eastern for another morning. Joe, money power politics, Stephanie Rule is up next here on MS now

after a short final break.