Morning Joe - U.S. and Iran trade new rounds of strikes

Episode Date: July 13, 2026

July 13, 2026: 8am — U.S. and Iran trade new rounds of strikes 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.

The United States and Iran traded strikes throughout the weekend in another volatile flare-up of attacks with ramifications stretching across the wider Middle East. The hostilities were set off Saturday when Iran fired at a container ship in the Strait of Hormuz and declared the key waterway closed. The U.S. military responded with a series of strikes, hitting 140 Iranian military targets on Saturday and dozens more on Sunday. According to U.S. Central Command, Tehran responded with attacks on U.S. allies, American military bases, and other targets across the region, including in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Jordan, and Oman. Missile alerts sounded in Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navy's fifth fleet, as Kuwait said, it was intercepting hostile fire, and Jordan's military said it

shot down four Iranian missiles. Qatar, a key mediator in talks between the U.S. and Iran, said two adults and a child were injured by falling debris as the country defended itself against Iranian attacks. The IRGC also said it fired on a commercial port in southern Oman. And Oman reported a drone attack near the Strait of Hormuz as Iran continues to seek control over the key waterway. President Trump claims the strait is open. Caddy, the strait's not open. Obviously, there's no insurance company that's going to insure any of those ships going through the strait while we're having these attacks. And this was so widespread. Obviously, over 140 attacks on Iranian positions,

but also our allies all across the region getting hammered by the Iranians. What's next? I think we are in for more of this, Joe. I mean, the real risk, speaking to people who kind of cover security in the Middle East, based in the Middle East. What they're concerned about is that we are entering a period of more volatility in the region. You've got these disagreements now emerging between the Emirates, between the UAE and the Saudis about how to handle Iran. The region certainly seems more volatile than it did.

You're right, the strait is not open. The insurers are looking not just at the cost of the tanker, but then of the cost of the tanker being out of action and the risk of that is just too high. So we're already seeing that reflected in the oil prices. President Trump clearly doesn't want to get back into a full stale kinetic war with Iran, but a lot of the economic damage that was caused over the last few weeks can be done by this kind of a skirmish. We don't have to be back to full-scale war for there to be enormous implications of what was happening just in the Strait of Hulmoos. So where do we go from that here?

Are we back into some sort of a ceasefire that holds some days and not other days? is this going to be a ramping up? Have the Iranians used the last few weeks to restock just enough to be able to cause havoc again in the region? And how does the region stay unified when clearly what's happened during the Iran war is to fracture these allies and make the region more precarious? And David, I think that's right. That seems like the future right now is this sort of off and on low intensity battle

where Trump's going to declare the war's not off. and he might even say the ceasefire is holding. Negotiations will continue, but yet there's going to be this exchange, and we'll see Iran be able to exert its power, both on the Strait of Hormuz, obviously extremely important, but also to reign violence upon its neighbors. It's extraordinary what's happening. We are in essentially a low-intensity war now for who controls the Strait of Hormuz. And if you step back to the launch of this war, the various goals that were met, you know, topple the regime, not happen. We have a harder-line regime.

now, Iran's nuclear program, I don't see any credible negotiations about its nuclear program at all now in the future. The 60-day window seems to be gone. And Iran is now gained full, or is trying to gain full control of the Strait of Hormuz. And there was a CIA analysis, the Washington Post reported this. This was from May. The estimate at that point was that Iran could had 2,500 ballistic missiles left and 70% of its launchers and drones already there. And they're able to actually make these drones in smaller buildings that don't look like targets. And in terms of even if the U.S. were to put a blockade in to stop the shipments from coming out of Iran, which isn't even happening right now, they could last for three to four months.

So Iran can wage this low-level conflict for months now. And it just doesn't seem to be, neither side seems to be winning. Coming up, our next guest serves the city of Houston. We're an ice agent shot and killed a man early last week who, wasn't even the person they were searching for. Congressman Christian Menefi brings us an update on that deadly incident straight ahead on Morning Joe. Welcome back. The New York Times says several of its journalists were issued subpoenas on Friday after they reported on security concerns involving President Trump's new Qatari donated Air Force One.

The paper reports the subpoenas seek to force the reporters to testify before a grand jury, in Manhattan on Wednesday. In some cases, the subpoenas were delivered by federal agents who showed up at reporters' homes. The New York Times reported last week that President Trump flew out of Turkey, which borders Iran, on the old Air Force One as a security precaution because the Qatari-gifted plane lacks the same defensive countermeasures, including its advanced anti-missile capabilities. That's according to multiple officials who have been briefed on how the jet was retrofitted. The president denied there was any security reason for the plane change.

As for the subpoenas, the New York Times reports the documents contain few specifics, asking only that the journalists testify in regard to an alleged violation of federal criminal law. The paper says the subpoenas were issued by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, who was recently nominated by President Trump to serve as Director of National Intelligence. John Lemire, talk about what an extraordinary breach this is in a president's attempt to intimidate reporters, having subpoenas show up, and agents, federal agents showing up at their house for simply doing their job and reporting on, well, whether a president is actually safe or not as he travels across the globe?

This is unprecedented and it's deeply dangerous. And I'm glad we're spending time on it this morning, despite everything else that's going on. The President of the United States was embarrassed because he accepted a $400 million jet from the Qataris because he was desperate to have a better plane than the old Air Force one. And in their rush to get this plane to bring it up to presidential travel standards, you know, they simply don't have the reporting shows by multiple outlets, not just the Times, multiple outlets. It does not have the necessary security equipment, at least not yet. Perhaps it could be added, but it's not there. And Secret Service got antsy about the President of the United States traveling,

flying overseas, you know, from Turkey, which borders Iran, as the ceasefire seemed to be breaking down there in the Middle East. As Iran, the United States were suddenly exchanging strikes again in that region, the Secret Service. per reporting from multiple outlets, did not want the president flying on that plane. He then obviously was very upset about this. And then it was the Times wrote this story. Cash Patel, FBI director, was summoned to the White House for lengthy meeting. And now we have these subpoenas. And the Times, of course, denounced this. The White House Corresponds Association, other press groups denounce this.

This is a deeply dangerous development. And indeed, an escalation in President Trump's war on the media when he doesn't like their coverage. For more, let's bring in investigative reporter for the New York Times, Michael Schmidt, as well as MS now contributor, Mike Barnacle. Michael Schmidt will, of course, start with you. Give us the latest here as to what transpired and why. Indeed, this is such a chilling development. These are reporters simply doing their jobs. Yeah, as you were saying, the five reporters for the Times that were on the story had federal agents try to serve them or serve them with these subpoenas on Friday evening at their homes. These were not subpoenas that were

sent to the Times or the Times General Counsel. These were subpoenas that were taken directly to their homes. These are five of the Times and of our best reporters. Eric Schmidt, one of the the best conflict reporters of his generation. Someone who's worked at the Times for 40 years, covered every war since 1991. Eric Lipton, who just won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Trump administration and the blurring line between making money and governing. Tyler Pager, one of our young stars on the White House, Adam Goldman, a national security reporter for us out of London and Julian Barnes, who has the incredibly difficult job of covering the intelligence community for us. These are five people who are at the front of the Times coverage of the administration.

And just knowing them, working with them, I can tell you that these are people who saw these subpoenas, obviously took note of it, sent it to our general counsels and went right back to work. And we'll continue to do that work. And as our executive editor, Joe Kahn said over the weekend, this is a naked attempt to intimidate us, and it will not stop us as we continue to do accountability reporting of the Trump administration. If there's anything that the New York Times has shown during Trump's first or second term or while he was out of office, is that we will not be intimidated by his attempts to try and stop us from doing our First Amendment protected jobs.

So, Mike, basically, the five times reporters were subpoenaed for embarrassing the president in print. That's basically what this is all about. But there's a larger question involved, the Washington Press Corps. It's scheduled for a couple of weeks now for the White House correspondence dinner to take place. I'm wondering what your feelings are, and if they're the same as mine, which are they should cancel that dinner and not have it, given the war that the president's and then has waged against the press. What are your feelings about that? Luckily, many years ago, the Times made a decision to not have a table at the White House

correspondence dinner. That was the decision by our former executive editor, Dean Beck-K. And that sort of took us out of the dinner question. So I've never been to the dinner, and many of my colleagues have never been to the dinner. Look, I think if there's anything that the Times has to a fault, it's that we're just going to get back to doing the work and to not being distracted by, you know, whatever Trump throws at us. You know, the Times has a lawsuit against the Trump administration to gain access to the Pentagon. Trump has a lawsuit against the Times that I was initially a part of and that I'm no longer a party to, you know, in which he's suing the Times reporters for liable. There's an EEOC case the administration is bringing against the Times.

These are obviously highly unusual dynamics between an administration and a newspaper, but if anything, it is clarifying to us about what our mission is and what our job is. Marty Barron, the former editor of the Washington Post, used to say, you know, we're not at war. We're at work. And as corny or as much as the cliche as that sounds, that's how we have to approach. it on a day-to-day basis. And I know the five reporters, you know, who I hold in as high regard as possible, who are served with these subpoenas will do nothing but get back to work. Coming up, how to wield power in a post-Trump world. Our next guest is offering a playbook

for progressives once this presidency comes to a close. Author Brian Tyler Cohen joins our conversation straight ahead on Morning Joe. Welcome back. Democratic Congressman Roe Kana of California is calling for an investigation after he says he was detained by Israeli settlers during a trip to the occupied West Bank last week. Kana said his team was held by armed settlers for about 20 minutes before the IDF arrived. And when they did, Kana says the soldiers did not assist him, but rather interacted with the settlers in a friendly manner and then detained him. meaning the congressman for more than an hour until officials from the U.S. Embassy arrived. Congressman Kana shared this video on social media showing the detainment in a statement over the weekend, a spokesperson for the Israeli military,

said it dispatched troops after it received a report on settlers blocking vehicles. The military disputed that its soldiers had participated in blocking the roadway and said that the identity of an armed civilian was being reviewed. Both Congressman Kana as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed the incident yesterday on Meet the Press. There is a vigilante effort not by the settler community. They're 99.9% you know, law-abiding citizens. They work. They serve in the army and so on. There are 150 juvenile delinquents that are not part of that community. They come from the other parts of Israel. We are, I don't want vigilantes of any kind. And we are working to put them under the law.

But I think if we put things in perspective, we should see that we have thousands of attacks. And some few, but obvious breaking of the law, then we apply the full measure of the law against them. Israel, unlike our neighbors, is a democracy and a country of law, and we act against those who break the law. The prime minister needs to open an investigation on these violent settlers, and he needs to have an investigation on these four IDF officers. Security cameras can see that they were involved in the detention of American citizens. How dare they mistreat people with an American passport? We will continue to follow the story in the days ahead.

In other news, prediction market users have waged more than $197 million on this November's midterm elections. according to an NBC news analysis on betting platforms, Kalshi and Polymarket. The numbers reflect increasing interest in political wagering after betters placed more than $3 billion on the 2024 presidential election. The rise in election betting also comes amid increased scrutiny with recent federal cases alleging insiders used non-public information to profit on prediction markets. A recent Politico survey found that 44% of America,

believe that betting on election results should be illegal. And Moana, the live-action remake, failed to make much of a splash at the box office in its opening weekend debut. Despite costing $250 million to produce and even more in marketing expenses, the film was only able to bring in $43 million domestically. The ticket sales were still enough to make it number one at the box office this weekend, even as the film came up against two other major family-friendly friends. franchises, Universal Elimination's Minions and Monsters, as well as Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5. We saw unlike that one.

Mines and Monsters pulled in $20.5 million, nearly a 50% decline from its debut weekend, while Toy Story 5 earned yet another $18.5 million in its fourth weekend in theaters, putting the film on track to surpass a billion dollars worldwide. At the end of this week, The Odyssey goes into wide release, much anticipated. Still add here on Morning Joe, last year, President Trump trolled Democratic leaders with Trump 2028 hats on the desk during Oval Office negotiations ahead of a government shutdown. Despite that, even Trump now admits this will be his last term in office. So what will come next for the opposing party?

Our next guest is offering some answers. We'll be right back with that. Welcome back. Our next guest has garnered billions of views online. billions for his takes on the biggest political stories of the day. Now, YouTuber, hit podcast host, and New York Times best-selling author, Brian Tyler Cohen, is out with a new book, it's on sale tomorrow, titled The Day After, How to Wheel Power in a Post-Trump The Progressive Content Creator says it's not a book of despair, but rather a playbook that prepares

Democrats for what comes next. Brian joins us now, as does opinion via the New York Times, Mara Gay. Our thanks to you both. Brian, congrats on the book. And we'll just read a little bit right now from the prologue. You write in part this. We're not teetering on the brink of autocracy. We've fallen off the cliff of democracy and we need to be ready for what comes next. One of the main reasons that Trump 2.0 damaged these United States so much more than Trump 1.0 was because they planned for it. We need to learn from our weaknesses and from their strengths. Like the best facts, vaccines, the ones that scientifically save lives, we'll need to mimic the virus so we can beat it with our own natural defenses. Because after four years of wanton vandalism and corruption,

it will take guts to do this. And it will take power, not just winning power, but wielding it effectively once progressives have gotten it back. And of course, progressives, Brian, still have to do that. But let's take the assumption that they do. What do you mean, though? I'm really struck the phrase, mimic a virus. What do you mean by the lessons, I suppose, that progressive, the liberals, the Democrats could take from these Republicans? So the book really explores the extent to which Republicans have abused their power, and Democrats have for so long failed to wield it. Democrats look at anything as an obstacle, whether it's norms, traditions, institutions, the filibuster, the parliamentarian, those things are always just the biggest obstacle, the biggest

hurdle that we refuse to overcome. And we've seen the extent to which these institutions are not sacrosanct. Like Donald Trump won't let anything stand in his way. Now, he does it for self-enrichment. He does it for his vanity projects. And so my argument here is that Democrats need to look at the institutions in the same way that the Republicans do, but we have to do it for virtuous reasons. We have to do it so that we can deliver health care, so that we can combat climate change, so that we can usher in a just economy, so that we can expand voting rights. especially at a time when they're shrinking across the country. But we cannot allow, you know, the smallest of hurdles to block us because, frankly, folks are going to lose faith that government

is going to be able to work for them unless we're able to deliver. So, Brian, give us a few specifics. I mean, obviously, you know, Trump is an unprecedented figure in the way he has wielded power and used the levers of government to fulfill his wins. is something we've never seen before. So give us some examples of what Democrats could do were they to retake the White House and Congress? I argue that Democrats need to expand the court. So right now, we have nine Supreme Court justices

that is not in the Constitution. That number is not sacrosanct. History has shown that the number of Supreme Court justices has, for most of our history, comported with the number of federal court circuits. In the 1800s, that number was six, came up to nine. Now we have nine Supreme Court justices and 13 federal court circuits.

Again, that number is not sacrosanct. Mish McConnell brought that number from nine to eight when they were holding Merrick Garland off of the court for a year because they were holding that seat for Amy Coney-Barrant. So there is a historical argument, and then there is also a moral imperative to do so. If Democrats are able to retake the House, the Senate, the White House,

already a pretty Herculean feat unto itself, and then managed to actually pass progressive legislation another Herculean feat, then leaving in place this 6-3 conservative court is basically saying that we're completely content to leave in place a veto against any and all progressive legislation that we're okay just getting caught trying, we're notching symbolic victories, and then allowing this court to immediately strike it down when they get their hands on it, just like they did for Roe, just like they did for the Voting Rights Act. It's not good enough to get caught trying.

If we want meaningful lasting legislation, then we need to be willing to expand the Supreme Court. on this idea of court expansion, Governor Shapiro, when he was a guest on our show, didn't exactly knock it down. We've also heard former Vice President Harris suggest that it was an idea worth exploring. That's right. Also, there are other proposals,

for example, increasing the number of people serving, members serving the House of Representatives, the inclusion of Washington, D.C. as a state, there are reforms that can be made. I think one thing we forget as Americans is that our Constitution, which is a beautiful document and a living document to many of us. It's an old democracy.

So many of the Western democracies that were competitive with in Europe, they actually formed a democracy post-World War II. And so we might want to make some updates. And I think especially in cases where, you know, for example, the number of folks on the Supreme Court is it's not something that's fixed. But one question I had for you, Brian, is, you know, There's no question that the anger among Democratic voters in the base toward the establishment is there.

We're seeing it in primary races all across the country. What do you think the progressive capacity for winning in swing states and swing districts is in those more moderate districts where the establishment says, hey, that's nice that you're electing Democratic Socialists in New York, but what are we going to do to win Congress? in these more conservative parts of America. How do they do that? I think the beauty of a big ten party is that you have to be willing to be a big ten party.

There are going to be districts where moderates can win, and that's okay. Who gets elected in New York is not necessarily who's going to look the same in Texas or in Florida. That's okay. If we have more progressive members in more progressive cities,

then so be it. So I think that the onus is on us as well to recognize that we are part of a Big Ten party, and that means that you have to offer up certain compromises on what you're willing to accept. Now, I don't necessarily think that Democratic Socialists versus moderate Democrats means that you can't still fight for what you believe in.

Even among the whole raft of the ideological spectrum on the left, there are people who believe in health care, in voting rights, in combating climate change. So I don't know that you need to sacrifice certain things just because you may be a Democratic Socialist. or a moderate Democrat, I think everybody across the ideological spectrum has an appetite to actually see Democrats accomplish something, to see them win, especially in light of the way that the Republicans have acted over the last 10 years and more.

These are the kind of conversations that are happening across Democratic politics right now. The Thought-provoking New Book titled The Day After How to Weald Power in a Post-Trump World. It Goes on Sale Tomorrow. Best Selling Author and So Much More. Brian, Tyler Cohen. Brian, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We'll talk to you again down the road. Up next here on Morning Joe, Democratic Congressman Christian Menethy, who represents the Houston area, will join us to discuss the new details coming out in the ice-related shooting death of an undocumented immigrant. Keep it right here on Morning Joe. Welcome back. Newly released surveillance footage and some bystandard video is shedding more light on last week's fatal ice shooting in Houston of Mexico. National Lorenzo Salgado O'Rajo, as demand grows for an independent investigation.

MS now reporter Britt Miller brings us more. Calls for justice and accountability continue this morning after protests spilled into the streets of Houston over the weekend. The community outcry comes days after the deadly shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Arajo, the father of three killed by an ICE agent on his way to work Tuesday. Now local leaders say they're preparing for the next steps, including a national vigil, possible legal action, and a congressional hearing. First and foremost, it continues to highlight these militarization and excessive use of force tactics. There's also a unified push for an independent investigation as the Department of Homeland Security leads the shooting investigation, and the FBI looks into the, quote, potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

But just hours after the shooting, DHS claimed, without providing evidence, Salgado Arajo weaponized his vehicle trying to run over an ICE officer who then shot in self-defense. A spokesperson later told MS now, ICE officers saw a white van with an individual who looked like their target. They also said that they were actually targeting two other men of Guatemalan descent, but all the men in that truck were actually of Mexican descent, Mexican nationals. brown men, Latino men, driving a work truck in a predominantly Latino community. They were casing the community. They were hunting Latinos that morning. Surveillance videos obtained by MS now show some of what happened in the moments before the shooting. At 646 a.m., you see the white van jump the curb

to take a left turn. One ice SUV continues straight, while the other follows the van before closely driving alongside it. Seconds later, the white van does a U-turn. stops briefly and continues down the street. There was a chase, if you will, just around a couple of blocks. And there was no damage at all to the front of the vehicle, to the side of the vehicle, to the side panels of the vehicles. You could clearly see that it wasn't used to ram anything at all. And we have yet to see video of the actual shooting.

But in the moments after, a bloodied Salgado Arajo is seen on the ground, with agents standing over him. A life was lost and it was unfortunately someone who did not deserve it. Lorenzo's son, Ronaldo Salgado, overwhelmed with emotion, telling MS now his father lived in the U.S. for 35 years and was in the process of getting his work permit. This is a man who provided for us who provided for my mom. He promised my mom, you know, that she would never have to work because he got us. That's how I want the world to remember my dad. And he says right now the family is focused on making funeral arrangements.

Meantime, the three other men inside that van were detained by ICE during this incident. One of them was Salgado Arajo's brother. Back to you. MS now is Britt Miller with that report. Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Christian Menofy of Texas, whose district covers part of the east end of Houston where the shooting occurred. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. this morning. Let me start with this. What sort of outstanding questions do you have right now about this investigation? And I mean, frankly, do you have faith that it's going to be conducted

fairly if local officials perhaps are sidelined? I have no confidence in DHS and their ability to independently investigate this killing. What we've seen has been absolutely horrific within hours. Ice came out and said that there was a shooting and that it was an officer who was defending themselves, but every single piece of evidence that we have received since then, including surveillance video and statements made by two of the three other individuals who were in the van show that at no point in time was there an ICE agent standing in front of the vehicle. And it's incredibly troublesome. And we have to remember, this is the exact same agency that said earlier when Renee Good was shot in a different part of the country, that it was

self-defense. And then the video came out and made clear that the act of self-defense there was really just an ICE agent being overzealous. Look, I think we have to draw a clear line. There are times when law enforcement, local police agencies are on the streets. They're forced to defend themselves because they're dealing with folks who have weapons themselves and they're trying to protect themselves and make it back home. But this is just folks at the request of the president, doing enhanced enforcement, ice engagement, and going out into communities and tracking people down. And what it appears here is that they hunt it down, Mr. Salgado-Aarajo, who is a member of our community and should have been treated with the same dignity and respect as any other Houstonian.

Congress, we are certainly right to call into question the reliability of DHS statements, considering that in both fatal instance in Minneapolis, their initial version proved incorrect. Do your sense is that the actions that they were doing at all? This appears to be a case of mistaken identity. Do you agree with the voice we just heard in that news package that these officers were simply out there hunting people with brown skin? Anytime they're doing enforcement operations, they should make sure that anybody that they're tracking is absolutely the person that they intend to be tracking. Anybody who knows anything about Houston knows two things. One, that the East End is a beautiful, vibrant Latino community,

which for a very long time has been home and out in Magnolia Park to so many Hispanic families who are contributors to our economy, who are a part of our Houston family. But the second thing that folks know is that if you are in a city like Houston and a state like Texas, where folks have unadulterated access to firearms, if you see a vehicle following you, and it's an unmarked vehicle and you don't see any indication that this is law enforcement, we have road rage incident after incident, you are not going to pull over. No reasonable driver in Houston would have pulled over, given what we've seen in that surveillance footage. So if you're Mr. Sagato-Arajo, you're just trying to make it to work.

You're trying to protect yourself so that you can get back home to your family. What this appears to be to me is that ICE was out in a predominantly Hispanic part of town, causing chaos and creating havoc. And it resulted in ICE agent shooting point-blank dead, one of our fellow Houstonians. And it's horrific. And that's why you're saying this huge outrage from communities across Houston. And it's not just the Hispanic community. You have black folks, white folks, Asian folks, everybody's coming together saying how reprehensible this killing was.

Congressman, if the Democrats are able to take control of the House this November, what kind of action do you think they should take immediately to hold not only these officers, but this agency accountable? We have to use the power of investigation. Okay. We are the Article 1 body in the federal government, and we have the power to investigate federal agencies, and we should be doing that through multiple committees. I serve on the House Oversight Committee, and that is a perfect committee to ensure that ICE is conducting its enforcement operations consistent with the laws of the land and not breaking the law and taking people's lives. But also, the Homeland Security Committee has some jurisdiction

over ICE, it's going to be imperative that Democrats show up to these committees, were prepared, and that we hold the investigations. We've already seen Democrats do that. With Pam Biden, with Christy Knoem, hold these agency heads accountable, and it resulted in folks losing their job. The exact same thing should be done here at the granular level of what happened in this specific instance. So we have to also make sure that we're legislating that we don't agree to give a single additional penny to ICE and lessen until there are real reforms instituted. If you were really, We were merely going in and trying to enforce immigration law against folks who have committed no crime. And Mr. Sagada-Rahraha, there was no criminal record from what I can tell.

You should not be out there thinking, shoot first, and ask questions later. And we need to reform completely. And I would argue rip down to the studs, an agency that has become so militarized, so radicalized, that they think that they can just kill people in the middle of the street. Democratic Congressman Christian Menofi of Texas. Thank you so much. We really appreciate your being with us this morning. and we'll be right back here with more morning joe he called and he said we're all set for the save

america act he was pushing the save america act like crazy but he he wanted to pass the save america act and i said well we're going to get it done where he was really becoming strong with the save america act that was he was really and i think he was going to be there very very strongly under filibuster he was a strong advocate for save america and that's what he called me about last I mean, I think of it. I spoke to him just, he had already landed. What are your expectations for the Save America Act? Look, this is something that Senator Lindsey Graham spent a lot of time with. Like me, he had a lot of enthusiasm for this bill.

One of the best ways we could honor Lindsey Graham's legacy would be to take this up and pass it this month. That's President Trump and Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah. Using Senator Lindsey Graham's death as an opportunity to push the party's restrictive voter ID bill, the so-called Save America Act, pretty craven. Meanwhile, Graham Platner has now officially dropped out of Maine's closely watched Senate race. The now former Democratic nominee filed the necessary paperwork to end this campaign on Friday. Just days before the required deadline, there had been some speculation.

He might take it right up to the deadline, but he didn't. He's out. Democrats now have just two weeks to find a replacement. The state party has announced it will hold a nominating convention in Bangor on July 25th to decide on their new nominee. MS now has been speaking with a number of main Democratic voters, many of whom said they want a candidate who represents the same ideals as Plattenor, but with less controversy. Plattner himself has suggested he'd like to have some sort of say here. Well, unclear if that'll happen. But, Mara, your thoughts as we see the Democratic Party scramble. Well, I think it's going to be really interesting to see what happens in this convention.

very New England style process, kind of homespun. You know, the reality is that despite the obvious flaws of Graham Platner as a candidate and the vetting process was just not as rigorous as it should have been, there's no question, mistakes were made. The revolt within the Democratic Party is coming from the voters. And so that's not going to stop. And I think ultimately you're going to see that elsewhere. And that's why, you know, you have candidates like Abdul-Syad surging in Michigan.

There's a lot of grassroots progressives. energy right now and anti-establishment feeling permeating the party. We of course will be watching the next two weeks play out there in Maine. That does it for us this morning. Thank you so much for watching. Next morning, Joe, 6am Eastern tomorrow. Up next, money, power, politics with Stephanie Rule. It starts right now.