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for the love of home. Deep

0:31

center. He's

0:33

certainly got enough of this one

0:35

in me. An absolute bomb to

0:37

straightaway center. Lattie's

0:40

first of the season.

0:42

It's been untouchable. 11

0:46

strikeouts for Corbin

0:49

Burns in his oral debut. There's

0:51

a base hit to right field. Rubon runs

0:53

third, they're raving him hard. Here's the throw

0:55

from second. Here's the play.

0:58

He's. Oh, they got him. Infield

1:01

moves back. And it passes right

1:04

right center. He is going to get the redemption. Heim

1:06

walks it off. The

1:09

Rangers win the opener. A

1:11

little walk-off baseball on opening

1:13

day. Some of the big moments

1:15

yesterday, including that walk-off win. For

1:18

the Texas Rangers to begin their World Series title

1:21

defense, you also saw the ninth inning

1:23

game-saving assists by Grant Yankee. Brand

1:26

new Yankee, Juan Soto. What

1:28

a throw that was. And the

1:30

11th strikeout debut with the Baltimore

1:32

Orioles from ace pitcher Corbin Burns.

1:34

Meanwhile, last night in Seattle, Boston's Tyler

1:36

O'Neill set

1:39

a major league record, home

1:41

ring in his fifth consecutive opening day game. As

1:44

the Red Sox beat the Mariners 6-4. Welcome

1:47

to morning, Joe. It's Friday, March

1:49

29th. Joe, it's

1:51

Friday, March 29th. Joe,

1:54

it's like you were saying yesterday. This

1:56

Red Sox team may go

1:58

undefeated. Twenty Seven

2:00

Yankee Now go through these years and

2:02

look at that performance last night. I.

2:05

Just stab I alighted. I'd yeah,

2:07

like the I forgot that There

2:10

is no doubt the Jonathan will

2:12

mirrors right? Ah, that this may

2:14

be. The Best! Red

2:16

Sox same a symbol and

2:18

ahead and add ah and

2:20

or through through the years

2:23

and will mere last night

2:25

dad called me at at

2:27

one o'clock. And he said,

2:29

you know. I think

2:31

Ted Williams might be riding the pine if

2:34

he were around on this date. May not

2:36

be able to make this thing. is that

2:38

right? Lemaire. Dream. The Impossible

2:40

Dream Joe This is home springs

2:42

eternal This Red Sox team, as

2:44

we've been saying all winter long

2:46

as spent money. To. Committed to

2:48

any. Felt an all

2:51

star or brought a lot roster with

2:53

with a towel, a fight and player

2:55

at every position. The ceiling staff the

2:57

sky's the limit for this particular Old

2:59

Town to him. As often

3:01

as advil and little guilty to be

3:04

honest with you but I will tell

3:06

you this you could not dream be

3:08

impossible dream last night America's Mark Polymeropoulos

3:10

was texting you and me and my

3:13

soreness or a after you and it's

3:15

not realize have waking up games on

3:17

the west coast as as as tags

3:20

when i always every three minutes or

3:22

someone that's great and then it be

3:24

like. Wow. Okay, he fell

3:26

babbel of, well, some sort

3:29

of sadness. And

3:31

get out. eleventh Hour one. What do

3:33

you think the next pitch is going

3:35

to walk away. Toys

3:38

I was off because I

3:40

don't know if you saw

3:42

it with there was this

3:45

them as your things are

3:47

as a shooting star from

3:49

Devil's Lake north. Dakota.

3:52

All. The way across De

3:54

Los Angeles a blinding. Light.

3:57

Ah a credible player. Mr.

4:01

Nelson. It was

4:03

just Grant Nelson. Absolutely incredible. Fourth-seated

4:06

Alabama is going to be in

4:08

the Elite Eight now for just

4:10

the second time in school history.

4:13

Crimson Tide are the first team

4:15

in this year's knockout tournament

4:17

to knock out a number one seed. Feed North Carolina

4:19

87, 89 to 87. Who

4:23

would think, I'm on two hours sleep. Who

4:25

would think I could read anything? Alabama

4:28

is going to not take on Clemson. So really

4:30

I can't read anything because I can't see anything

4:32

because well right now I

4:34

can't even feel my teeth. I'm

4:36

so tired. But I will tell you this has

4:39

been a wild ride if you're not UConn. I

4:45

mean this is UConn's tournament.

4:47

They are just massive and

4:49

congratulations. I think that Illinois

4:51

won. So congratulations to your dad

4:54

and fighting Illinois in

4:56

there as well. But yeah,

4:58

this is UConn's tournament but

5:00

there are teams like

5:03

Fighting Illinois and Alabama Crimson Tide

5:05

that can still dream that they

5:07

can get there. And Clemson beat

5:10

Arizona yesterday. So

5:13

yeah, I mean crazy stuff, huh? Yeah,

5:16

it was. And now so

5:18

Alabama Clemson, what looks like a college

5:20

football playoff, like a national championship game

5:22

in football, playing for the right to go

5:24

to the final four. Incredible. Clemson looks

5:26

really good. It's funny these teams you don't

5:28

think about all year. You see them in

5:30

the tournament. You go, wow, these guys are

5:32

good, including Alabama. Here's the clinching three point

5:35

play near the end of the game for

5:37

Clemson to beat Arizona, Alabama, as you said,

5:39

beaten top seed in North Carolina by two

5:41

points. UConn just rolling, the

5:43

defending champ. It was a rematch of last

5:45

year's national championship game against San Diego State.

5:49

They won by 30 points. And yes, the

5:51

Place where my parents met, Champaign,

5:53

Illinois, the Fighting Alliance of Illinois, beating

5:56

Iowa State the second seed by three

5:58

points. Great.

6:00

Season they've gone of the Elite Eight have

6:03

a herculean task of place in Boston which

6:05

effectively the home game for you. Comments against

6:07

one of the best teams that only this

6:09

year. I think Johnson Limericks were the best

6:11

teams we've seen in college basketball in a

6:13

long time. I'm not quite sure why

6:15

that game started at ten o'clock last and on

6:18

the east coast was being played in violence is

6:20

Vines. Yeah that that said the I mean I

6:22

don't know why people stayed up to see if

6:24

you can't dominant they they are they this in

6:26

a in a T in a season the cause

6:28

basketball works if or topsy turvy. A lot of

6:30

teams were ranked number one for various stretches they'd

6:32

hold of for week or two, then lose and

6:34

foldouts Yukon has come on so strong to Jos

6:36

point is it is therefore to lose. That doesn't

6:39

mean they can get picked off. it is March

6:41

Madness, but they are the prohibitive favorite at this

6:43

point. We should note the women Sweet Sixteen. Starts

6:45

this afternoon but will they want to

6:47

go back to you your Yankees They

6:49

sell down for office after to to

6:51

ninja half ourselves ah and a shift

6:54

away and. Their. Been some panic on

6:56

scant he's we asked our cole who these

6:58

guys that can hit but yet steady duddy

7:00

gritty underdog and he's as you know ah

7:03

with a salon and fifty million dollar payroll

7:05

and and the new guy with a really

7:07

good for oh that's I guess was out

7:09

of the point I'm not quite sure his

7:12

eyes and my name they call them out

7:14

so we'll we'll let to have more that

7:16

they call them out. confirmed by replay he

7:18

was I am on on for nothing. Nestor

7:21

Cortez are opening day starter because they're called

7:23

out for problem as very shaky. Me

7:25

the game for kind of right it himself

7:27

in his well as beyond that for sitting

7:29

and it's true Joe If you look as

7:32

if if the Yankees can fix this year

7:34

which is always the open question for any

7:36

team of people get hurt that why now

7:39

is brutal. I mean there's no break in

7:41

it for for the opponents of you've got

7:43

a soda and judge coming max they're going

7:45

to be very tough but the divisions are

7:48

your yeah I'm afraid the games can be

7:50

tapped. Yeah yeah. I still say

7:52

when we. Were. Near.

7:55

Wants. to the yankees play

7:57

the astros it's weird

8:00

It is really like, okay, Hitler

8:03

versus Stalin. Like who are you

8:05

going to, wow. I guess. Okay.

8:07

Okay. Measles. Yeah, exactly. He wants

8:09

measles. Moms might be a better

8:12

way to put it, but yeah.

8:14

No. That's

8:16

quite something, but not your right. That's

8:19

a great thing. Gene Robinson, let's get

8:21

to you because, uh, uh, Michigan's

8:23

not in the, uh, tournament and

8:25

the national. Welcome. Um,

8:27

so when you get, you get to that, the,

8:29

the final 16 of the, well,

8:33

our, these NCAA tournaments, the great thing

8:35

is you can get kids that just

8:37

come out of nowhere. I mean, seriously, last night,

8:40

you had this grant Nelson guy

8:42

that, that a couple of games

8:45

before they handed him a basketball and

8:47

he was dribbling like this. Last

8:50

night he was the reincarnation of Larry

8:52

Bird. They'd literally turned the ball over

8:54

to this six 11 guy,

8:56

the point guard. Sears stopped bringing

8:58

it down the court. They literally

9:00

turn it over to this six 11 kid

9:03

from devils Lake North Dakota, who's

9:05

dribbling between his legs. He's playing

9:07

point guard. He's shooting three pointers.

9:09

He's, he's stuffing the best player

9:11

in North Carolina. One of the

9:14

best inside players in UNC history.

9:16

It's what's so great about, uh, about

9:19

college basketball. Any kid, at

9:22

any given time can rise up like that. It

9:24

was amazing. I'm like you this morning,

9:27

Joe. I'm running on fumes cause I

9:29

was taken up to watch that game

9:31

and then some of the Yukon game

9:33

as well. But, uh, but grant Nelson

9:35

was amazing. He dominated inside. He was,

9:38

he dominated outside. It was, and

9:40

I'm kind of looking up, you know,

9:43

uh, Googling, like, who is this kid

9:45

who, uh, who absolutely, uh,

9:48

was just a star. And

9:51

if he can play like that again,

9:53

there's no telling where this Alabama

9:55

team can go. They just,

9:57

you know, they, it seems.

10:00

like they wouldn't catch up, they

10:02

might not catch up and then when

10:04

they did, I don't know about

10:07

you, but I just kind of had the strange feeling

10:09

that they were going to find a way to

10:12

win that game and they did. It

10:15

was amazing. It

10:19

was a tough battle up and

10:21

down the court and it was really brutal,

10:23

tough. But

10:25

you guys, Willie and Lemire, you ought to

10:28

see the highlights later on. This

10:30

kid has dominated

10:32

inside, rebounds and then suddenly he

10:35

sinks a three pointer, suddenly he's

10:37

picking and rolling off the top

10:40

of the key and suddenly he's

10:42

shooting three pointers and by the

10:44

end they just hand the ball

10:47

to him and they're like, you take it

10:49

down. I swear to God, they pass him,

10:51

this 11-yard guy, he's dribbling between his legs

10:53

and he's running the offense for the last

10:55

20 minutes of

10:58

this game and he, Estrada and another

11:00

two or three kids you wouldn't have

11:02

expected were the guys that rose up

11:04

when the Stars weren't having a good

11:07

game. It was something to say. Grant

11:10

Nelson turned into Kevin Durant last night,

11:12

it was unbelievable. As

11:14

you said, the magic of this tournament is a

11:16

guy like him and a team like Alabama or

11:19

a team even a lower C that you've never

11:21

heard of making these deep runs into the tournament.

11:23

So we'll be watching closely. I do want to

11:25

check in with Caddy Kay and see how hard

11:27

she's rolling her eyes as we

11:29

have the discussion, the level

11:31

of exasperation on Caddy Kay's

11:33

face. I'm wondering why I

11:35

was booked this morning but anyway, here I

11:37

am. I'm reading

11:40

actually, look, have you

11:42

got the Wall Street Journal

11:44

and that great front page they've done on Evan

11:46

Gerskovich and his one-year improvement? Emma

11:49

Tuck has done just a great job on reporting

11:51

on his stolen year. love

12:00

about what she's done

12:02

since she's taken taking

12:04

control of the journal, especially on

12:06

I mean, it's just always a

12:08

great paper, even though editorial

12:11

page loses its mind once in a

12:13

great while. And they write about

12:17

the but but look at look

12:19

at that. Look at that front page. And

12:21

I'm telling you, we

12:23

understand what's at stake, but

12:25

it takes a bold editor.

12:28

Yeah, say we're going to do

12:30

this. We're going to make a

12:32

point of it. They keep putting

12:35

full page ads in. Emitak

12:38

is doing a great job over

12:41

at the journal in many

12:43

ways, but especially especially highlighting

12:45

Evan Gurskovich is unbelievable

12:47

plight. And you know what, the

12:49

former Soviet Union that's looking more

12:51

and more like the Soviet Union

12:53

every day. Yeah, not to fly the

12:56

flag, but have you noticed how many Brits are over

12:58

here at the top of American news organizations?

13:00

Just saying, just saying, yeah,

13:02

yeah, we're gonna talk. You're

13:06

at the top of morning Joe, we end up here. Definitely

13:08

at the top of all of your sports

13:12

coverage. Well, you're

13:14

going to be talking about the city arsenal

13:16

game on Monday, I'm sure. I

13:18

will be that when I will happy son

13:21

or a happy husband, I'm going to have

13:23

to choose between the two. Yeah. Okay.

13:25

Good luck with that one. Willie, what do we get

13:27

today? By the way, on this, I guess,

13:30

happy good Friday. Let's say blessed

13:32

good Friday to everybody watching

13:35

today. Yes, we're going

13:37

to talk much more about that. We're going to

13:39

talk about Evan Gurskovich coming up in just a

13:42

moment. This is the one year anniversary of

13:44

his arrest. He's been in prison

13:47

for a year now. He's been in prison for

13:50

an entire year. We're going to talk much more

13:52

about Evan in just a moment. We do want

13:54

to turn to the news here with President Biden's

13:56

star studded fundraiser at Radio City Music Hall last

13:58

night. The Biden campaign says It

14:00

raised more than $26 million at the event of 5,000 people

14:02

attended. It

14:06

was hosted by actor and comedian,

14:08

Mindy Kaling, special guests, Queen Latifah,

14:10

Lizzo, Ben Platt, all performed the

14:12

highlight of the fundraiser, though, a

14:14

conversation between President Biden and former

14:17

presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.

14:19

The discussion was moderated by late

14:21

night host, Stephen Colbert. The presidents

14:23

talk about a wide range of

14:25

issues, including the war in Gaza

14:27

and the need to protect our

14:29

democracy. They also took some

14:31

jabs at former president and presumptive Republican

14:33

nominee Donald Trump. The

14:36

event was met with pro-Palestinian protesters,

14:38

some of whom interrupted that conversation

14:40

among the presidents. A

14:42

large group also marched outside of Radio

14:44

City Music Hall, calling for an end

14:46

to the war in Gaza. Let's bring

14:48

in White House correspondent for Reuters, Jeff

14:50

Mason. He was one of the few

14:52

reporters inside Radio City for last night's

14:55

event. Jeff, good morning. Thanks for stopping

14:57

through on your way out of town

14:59

after the event last night. Take

15:01

us inside the room if you could. What was it like during

15:03

that event? My pleasure, Willie. It

15:05

was electric in that room. There were more than 5,000

15:08

people in Radio City Music Hall, so a lot

15:10

of bodies, a lot of energy, a lot

15:13

of excitement, especially to see, I think,

15:15

the former presidents and, of course, President Biden.

15:17

They came onto stage by

15:19

being sort of lifted up with

15:22

one of those platforms that comes up. It

15:25

was a rock star moment, and it

15:27

was a rock star night for the

15:29

Democrats and for President Biden. They

15:31

had a long discussion with Colbert, as you mentioned,

15:34

about everything from peace in

15:36

the Middle East to the economy.

15:39

And the former presidents really laid out a

15:41

case for Biden. We've been hearing

15:43

Biden lay out his own case, but last night

15:45

what he did was he sort of sat aside

15:47

and let his predecessors talk about what it's like

15:49

to be president and why he should get a

15:51

second term. I mean, $26 million, Jeff. Such

15:55

a staggering sum for one night. And it just

15:57

adds to An already significant and

15:59

growing cast. The managed by the the Democrats

16:01

have over our Trump and the Republicans.

16:03

As is Willie noted there there are

16:05

worse and protests outside and and some

16:07

interruptions inside the hall as well. About

16:09

the War in Gaza. Tell us how

16:11

the President's pretty President Obama handle this

16:14

and whether you think that could almost

16:16

be a blueprint for President Biden or

16:18

Forces issues, knock on away. It's certainly

16:20

not going away. and it's been dogging

16:22

President Biden throughout this campaign. They're politically.

16:24

I thought it was interesting to see

16:26

how present Obama responded he was giving

16:28

a response about Gaza and and. Was

16:30

interrupted and said look, you have to

16:32

listen and not just talk and that

16:34

wow isn't That was a moment that

16:36

really resonated with the crowd. A was

16:38

caught a sharp in a way that

16:41

we haven't seen. Biden be sharp when

16:43

I understand that the President is it.

16:45

Tried to show lot of understanding for

16:47

the people who disagree with his policies

16:49

said before. Let them talk to be

16:51

feel passionately about this And they do.

16:53

And it's an important part of the

16:56

Presence coalition that he's trying to get

16:58

back before November. But Obama and. Clinton

17:00

laid out a real reasons for the

17:02

people who have: maybe it's moved away

17:04

from Biden to come back in. One

17:07

of them was saying it's President Biden

17:09

in a way that President Trump probably

17:11

would not be, is an advocate for

17:14

Palestinians, has been pushing really hard for

17:16

a two state solution and will continue

17:18

to do that. and President Biden also

17:20

sees a prisoner bomb. Also made an

17:23

interesting statement about saying if they can't

17:25

be a purity tests and he spoke

17:27

about that from his perspective with having.

17:30

Been in the White House. Got.

17:32

Ya Gene! Just hearing hearing

17:34

about was surprising Obama did

17:36

last night by a dell

17:38

Does remind me how great.

17:41

He. Is in this I remember as

17:43

a if there was a sort of

17:45

sight of work. As a man I

17:47

don't say that the trigger any bodies.

17:49

I just use that term because you

17:52

know Two thousand and seventeen. Two thousand

17:54

and eighteen. Two thousand and nineteen. Was.

17:56

Sort of feet. Wow. Chasm?

17:58

of course. The robbers will

18:01

say that. They're. All coming

18:03

to eat our our bones

18:05

one day soon by specific

18:07

in the middle of let's

18:09

just say the most, kids.

18:11

Debate. Maybe is twenty twenty.

18:14

Obama was present. Obama was

18:16

at. Speaking of

18:18

Mandela, Nelson Mandela Day at

18:20

an event. And.

18:24

He. Said listen. If

18:26

you don't let somebody. Debate.

18:29

And talk And their words are

18:31

invalid because they're white. Average

18:34

Is there a man? Or because

18:36

they're hispanic? Or. Because they're

18:39

black. Well, You.

18:41

Really, don't have a real debate

18:43

and you're only hurting yourself. And.

18:46

It was a message that. Is. Not

18:48

Not. Mad. That. Just

18:50

because he was black, but because his

18:52

Barack Obama the he can do these

18:54

things so well. It was a massive

18:57

sit only Obama to deliver as the

18:59

same thing last night when Obama is

19:01

telling. A that a

19:03

left wing protesters? Hey yeah

19:05

now. We. Gotta learn to talk

19:07

to each other. It. Resumes

19:09

and it A or it it

19:11

is as quite a moment last

19:13

night there. Be. I really

19:15

was quite a moment. He's very

19:18

very good at said listen Differ

19:20

from the Roundabout is very very

19:22

good at very telling you you

19:24

you former this year old way

19:26

that if if if not harming

19:28

them something close to where there

19:31

are a N N getting the

19:33

message across M M making pay

19:35

attention seeking armed I had been

19:37

on the end of that sort

19:39

of you for that of message

19:41

from Obama double died when I

19:43

know what it's like. stieg his

19:46

arm or the you'd better

19:48

what a collection of a

19:50

political towers on that stage

19:52

it's last night a burrito

19:54

if if you've got a

19:57

barack obama and you've got

19:59

build And they know a

20:01

bit about being

20:03

president, and they talked a lot about that.

20:05

But they also know a whole lot about

20:08

running for president and about

20:11

speaking to this country in

20:14

a way that represents

20:17

Democratic Party views, progressive

20:21

views to varying

20:23

degrees, now

20:26

not sort of turning

20:28

others off necessarily.

20:33

And it triggers, obviously Obama triggers

20:35

some people, he triggers Donald Trump

20:37

massively. But

20:40

wow, what a night, what an event, and $26 million. It's

20:47

just a staggering amount of money

20:49

to have raised in one evening.

20:52

It just boggles the

20:54

mind. It gives a

20:56

sense of the Biden campaign as

20:58

something of a juggernaut

21:01

while Donald Trump worries about

21:03

his court cases and cheats

21:05

to win his own golf tournament.

21:08

Yeah, Jeff, Obama clearly triggers

21:11

Donald Trump to the degree that Trump still

21:13

seems to think he's running against Obama or

21:15

has run against Obama at some point.

21:17

There was also that phone call for

21:19

the donors who couldn't actually make it

21:21

to Radio City, be there

21:24

in person. There was a phone call

21:26

with campaign managers beforehand, which

21:28

I thought was really interesting, where they laid out,

21:30

the three presidents laid out their theory of the

21:32

case with the campaign managers as well to

21:35

donors. Give us a sense of what they, there

21:37

was a bit about personal stories, how they felt

21:39

that was going to be so important. Did

21:41

you have a sense of that from that call

21:44

of what we should be looking ahead to? Well,

21:46

I think it was another, in part,

21:48

an opportunity for the three presidents to bring

21:50

in non big dollar donors. The Biden campaign

21:52

has been proud of saying that a good

21:55

chunk, I think 80 or 90% of the

21:58

money that they've brought in has been. from

22:00

people who donate less than $200. And

22:03

last night was a big glitzy event with

22:05

the tickets that in some cases cost as

22:07

much as $500,000. And

22:10

I think to stay on brand, they also

22:12

wanted to have a chance for other people

22:14

to weigh in and

22:16

to have a chance to see the three presidents.

22:18

So I think that was the

22:20

goal and personal story, certainly part of it.

22:23

And more broadly, just laying out that case

22:25

again for why Biden should have

22:27

a second term. Meanwhile

22:29

guys, former president Donald Trump also in New

22:32

York yesterday to attend the wake of an

22:34

NYPD officer killed the other day in the

22:36

line of duty. Trump met

22:38

with the family of officer Jonathan Diller

22:40

yesterday during the memorial service on Long

22:42

Island, where hundreds of law enforcement officers

22:45

were on hand to pay their respects.

22:48

Officer Diller was shot and killed on

22:50

Monday while approaching an illegally parked car

22:52

in Queens. Police say the suspect in

22:54

the shooting has nearly two dozen previous

22:56

arrests. After meeting with

22:59

officer Diller's family who invited Trump to the

23:01

service, Trump spoke to reporters

23:03

outside describing the officer's death as a

23:05

horrible thing and calling for a return

23:07

to law and order. Trump

23:10

has accused president Biden of not being

23:12

tough enough on crime. And his campaign

23:14

looked to contrast his visit with Biden's

23:16

fundraiser in New York city with former

23:18

presidents Obama and Clinton. Jonathan

23:21

Lemire, just a horrific tragedy, officer Diller

23:23

killed, has a one year old child

23:25

at home, a rally

23:27

of support around the city, across

23:29

the country for officer Diller paying off

23:32

his mortgage, making sure his family is

23:34

taken care of. But a reminder that

23:36

there's no such thing. I'm always reminded by

23:38

cops as a routine traffic stop as this

23:41

was just a pullover in Queens

23:43

and officer Diller was shot and killed.

23:45

Yeah, each officer starts each day

23:47

not knowing if it'll be their last shift on the job.

23:49

I covered the NYPD for a long time and covered a

23:51

lot of funerals just like this. It

23:54

is a remarkable outpouring of support from the

23:56

community and the nation when something like this

23:58

happens. But of course, because he's not. Trump,

24:00

he's making it political. And

24:02

look, his aides were very clear yesterday

24:05

that they liked this split screen of

24:07

President Biden being at Radio City Music

24:09

Hall with two other presidents for a

24:11

big dollar glitzy fundraiser while Donald Trump

24:14

was out in Queens and

24:16

then Long Island meeting with the family of a slain

24:18

officer. Now we'll get into later in the show how

24:20

Trump also

24:22

spent his day attacking the daughter of a judge.

24:25

But at least in this moment, he tried to stay

24:27

on message, Jeff Mason, and talk about crime. Trump

24:29

and Republicans are trying to make

24:32

crime a central issue this election. We should

24:34

note that the crime has actually fallen most

24:36

places in this country over the last couple

24:38

of years since its post-pandemic high. But

24:41

just the politics of crime, we should note

24:43

President Biden called Mayor Adams to express condolences

24:46

about the slain officer. How

24:48

worried are Democrats that this could be an issue

24:50

that resonates this November? I think Democrats think they

24:52

have their own case to make on crime. President

24:55

Biden has been very, very active in

24:57

working on gun violence

25:00

issues. He started an office at the

25:02

White House on gun violence and they

25:04

see that it's completely connected to crime

25:06

in a way that Republicans don't like

25:08

to make that connection. So I think

25:10

you can also look back at some

25:12

previous elections, 2022, 2020, where Republicans

25:15

were talking a lot about crime ahead

25:17

of time and then it didn't resonate

25:19

as much at the polls as they

25:21

were expecting. So I think it's an

25:23

issue that Republicans will see as a

25:25

vulnerability and you certainly see President Trump

25:27

trying to make it one

25:29

for the Democrats, but I think they're ready. All

25:33

right, White House correspondent for Reuters,

25:35

Jeff Mason. Jeff, thanks so much.

25:37

We really appreciate it. Still ahead

25:39

on Morning Joe, as we mentioned,

25:41

it has been one year since

25:43

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkiewicz

25:45

was wrongfully imprisoned by Vladimir Putin.

25:47

NBC's Keir Simmons joins the conversation

25:50

on that next. Plus speaker Mike

25:52

Johnson getting a firsthand account yesterday

25:54

of the dire situation in Ukraine.

25:56

We'll talk through his conversation with

25:59

Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky. Plus,

26:01

we'll show you how Liz Cheney is

26:04

warning about a possible second Trump presidency and

26:06

the reception she got to it. You're watching

26:08

Morning Joe. We'll be right back. Today

26:28

and every day Planned Parenthood is

26:30

committed to ensuring that everyone has

26:32

the information and resources they need to

26:35

make their own decisions about their bodies,

26:37

including abortion care. Lawmakers who

26:39

oppose abortion are attacking Planned Parenthood, which

26:41

means affordable, high-quality, basic health care for

26:43

more than two million people is at

26:46

stake. The right to control our bodies

26:48

and get the health care we need

26:50

has been stolen from us. And now, politicians

26:52

in nearly every state have introduced bills

26:55

that would block people from getting the

26:57

sexual and reproductive care they need. Planned

26:59

Parenthood believes everyone deserves health care. It's

27:02

a human right. That's why

27:04

they fight every day to push for

27:06

common-sense policies to protect our right to

27:08

control our own bodies and against policies

27:10

that interfere with decisions between patients and

27:12

their doctor. Planned Parenthood needs

27:15

your support now more than ever.

27:17

With supporters like you, we

27:19

can reclaim our rights and

27:22

protect and expand access to

27:24

abortion care. Visit Planned parenthood.org/future.

27:26

That's Planned parenthood.org/future. Beautiful

27:38

look at New York City. Hope

27:41

you have a wonderful Easter weekend.

27:44

And Willie, I just want

27:46

to circle back. And

27:48

of course, our

27:51

thoughts always, as we say, with the men

27:53

and women, the

27:56

NYPD, for all they do, for

27:59

the bravery they show every day and we

28:01

are, we are truly grateful. I

28:04

do want to just circle back and

28:06

just, there's an NBC article that I

28:09

just now posted on my threads account.

28:13

And it just shows the facts. I know the

28:15

facts don't matter to Donald Trump, but crime

28:18

rates keep dropping. Crime,

28:21

in fact, the rate is lower now than

28:24

when Donald Trump was in office,

28:27

lower than it was in 2020, even

28:30

slightly lower than it was in Trump's

28:33

best year as it

28:35

pertains to crime in 2019. Murder

28:41

rates over the past year in the

28:43

big city said he's constantly harping

28:45

on it down 20%, rapes down 16%. You

28:50

can go down the list on

28:52

and on. The most serious crimes way down.

28:56

And again, the overall crime rate for

29:00

2022, the last year recorded crime

29:03

rates lower again

29:05

than Donald

29:08

Trump's best year in 2019, certainly

29:10

a lot lower than 2020. So

29:13

he'll say what he says. Republicans

29:15

will keep lying. Other news outlets will keep lying

29:18

about it. And people whip

29:20

themselves into a frenzy and say, what about

29:22

crime? And you can show them the facts.

29:24

Seriously, it's just like I can show

29:26

people, maybe

29:29

they're UNC fans, they don't want to

29:31

know that Alabama won last night. I

29:33

think it was 79, 77, but Alabama

29:35

beat UNC. And

29:38

they go, no, no, no, it's not. It's

29:41

the fact. It's just the fact. They may not like

29:43

it, but it's the fact. And

29:45

that's how Trump extremists have

29:47

gotten into. It's how cable news networks

29:49

run. It's their business model to lie

29:52

about the facts, to twist and

29:55

distort reality for viewers day in,

29:57

day out, night in, night out.

30:00

And when you talk about crime, it's

30:02

not as low as I wanted to be. It's not

30:04

as low as you wanted to be. We both said

30:06

we think the bail issue in New

30:09

York City is a joke. We

30:11

think cops aren't allowed to do their jobs

30:13

enough. We think that's a joke. That

30:16

said, if you look at the numbers, Donald Trump

30:18

is lying when he says crime rates are way

30:20

up. They're not. They're down. They're lower than they

30:22

were when he was president. Yeah,

30:25

that's just a fact. And violent crime in

30:27

particular, all the ones you just laid out,

30:29

are down double digits year over year. They

30:31

spiked in 19 and 20 and about the

30:33

end of last year and really into the

30:35

beginning of this year, have come

30:38

way down. Criminologists, law enforcement experts,

30:40

they debate about why those numbers come down.

30:42

They talked about that in the 90s in

30:44

New York. Why did this work? The

30:46

fact is they are down. And it's that

30:49

perception versus reality thing that we talk about

30:51

a little bit with the economy, right, Joe?

30:53

Where you say, look at the data. You

30:55

have number after number showing how strong

30:57

the economy is, how resilient it is.

31:00

We know inflation is too high. And

31:02

yet in polling, just like in crime,

31:04

people say, the economy is

31:06

not good or crime is bad in

31:08

this country. A lot

31:10

of times it's a matter of perception. It's a way

31:12

you feel walking down a street in New York City

31:15

if you see things like street safety that don't make

31:17

you feel good. And I get that. We all have

31:19

some of that. But if you want to talk about

31:21

data, violent crime in America is

31:23

down significantly year over year. That is

31:25

just a fact. But you can bet

31:28

that will remain an issue with

31:30

Donald Trump and many others in this race. Let's

31:33

turn to something we're talking about

31:35

at the top of the show.

31:37

Today marks exactly one year since

31:39

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich

31:41

was wrongfully detained in Russia for

31:43

alleged espionage, a charge both his

31:45

employer and the US government deny

31:47

strongly. Earlier this

31:49

week, a court in Moscow extended Evan's

31:51

pretrial detention for a fifth

31:53

time, stretching his imprisonment to

31:55

at least the end of June and perhaps

31:58

beyond. Joining us now, NBC News. News

32:00

chief international correspondent, Kier Simmons, who's

32:02

been covering this story so closely.

32:05

Kier, good morning. That very powerful front

32:07

page of the Wall Street Journal, a

32:09

blank white space where the paper says

32:12

Evan Gershkovich's reporting should be this

32:14

morning. What do

32:16

we know? We know he just had

32:18

his pretrial detention extended. What do

32:21

we know about his fate and the efforts to bring

32:23

him home? Well,

32:25

really, they're huge efforts to bring him home.

32:29

What we know about his fate is

32:31

very difficult to read, honestly. He can

32:33

be kept in the Fortobot prison in

32:36

Moscow for as long as the Russians want

32:38

to keep him there. That

32:40

hearing that you talked about where, again, we

32:42

asked to be there, our team in Moscow asked to

32:44

be there, the press and media were

32:46

told that they weren't going to be allowed in. That

32:51

hearing was really about whether

32:53

he should still be held in

32:56

pretrial detention. He's not being

32:58

tried. We don't

33:00

really even quite know what he's accused

33:02

of beyond that it's an accusation of

33:04

espionage, which, of course, the Wall Street

33:06

Journal absolutely deny and say that he

33:09

is a journalist. You

33:11

mentioned that front page. I

33:14

think John has that front page there.

33:17

The front page was the blank space where

33:19

his story would be and then the back,

33:22

his face, of course. Yeah, absolutely

33:24

powerful message from the Wall

33:26

Street Journal. Look, this is a

33:29

story in part of how

33:31

Russia is now an intelligence

33:34

agency, security agency run

33:36

country. He

33:39

is accused of espionage. There are

33:41

others, of course, Paul Whelan,

33:43

who is jailed there, accused of espionage,

33:46

again, denies it. Elsa

33:49

Kormachova from Radio Free Europe,

33:52

who is accused of supporting Ukraine again

33:54

by the FSB. Kestnya

33:57

Karolina from California accused of

33:59

And again, denies that she

34:02

was supporting Ukraine but accused

34:04

of making donations. Again,

34:06

it's the FSB running

34:08

that, the FSB, the former KGB, the fourth-

34:26

country, are

34:28

the FSB, the SVR.

34:31

And in fact, we

34:33

are pretty, it's pretty clear, Putin

34:36

makes it pretty obvious that what

34:38

they want to do is swap

34:40

Evan and others for Russians

34:42

held, particularly at this stage

34:44

it looks like a Russian held

34:46

in Germany serving a

34:49

life sentence for murder who is an

34:52

FSB officer. And

34:55

of course, Putin keeps seizing Americans.

34:58

Wall Street Journal had a great

35:00

story, Gene Robinson, yesterday about

35:02

that, how Putin just keeps seizing

35:05

Americans and uses them as pawns

35:07

and as Americans to get the

35:09

worst actors out of prison. I don't know

35:11

if you had a chance to see any

35:14

of the Netflix series, Turning Point,

35:17

but for those that have not, it

35:19

is a great reminder, especially for younger

35:21

Americans, to understand just how

35:23

brutal, how savage the reign

35:25

of Stalin was, the millions

35:27

and millions of Ukrainians he

35:29

deliberately starved to death and

35:31

the government's ancient famine, the

35:33

millions of Kulok's tens, some

35:36

people estimate 20, 30

35:38

million Russians died at Stalin's hands. And

35:42

after Stalin's death, Khrushchev called

35:45

out these crimes. And these crimes

35:47

have been recognized up until recently.

35:49

The police state that he had,

35:51

now you actually have Vladimir Putin

35:54

praising Stalin, Stalin, once

35:56

again, the figure of

35:58

adoration. old

36:00

Soviet Union, and it

36:03

lines up very neatly with a police

36:05

state that Russia has

36:08

become, as Kier said, even more

36:10

so than before over the past

36:12

year or two. Absolutely. You

36:14

know, I have not seen that theory, but

36:16

I've read a lot about Stalin

36:19

biographies and histories,

36:21

and it's

36:23

absolutely one of the worst

36:27

monsters of the 20th

36:29

century responsible for

36:32

tens of millions of

36:34

deaths, intentional deaths,

36:36

including the

36:39

horrific famine in Ukraine that

36:42

he engineered and presided

36:45

over with

36:47

satisfaction. And this is what

36:52

Vladimir Putin looks back on with

36:54

great admiration and nostalgia,

36:56

and he looks upon himself,

36:58

I think, as Vladimir

37:00

the Great, who's

37:03

going to restore, let's

37:06

just say, at the Soviet Union, Stalin's

37:09

creation, the Soviet Union

37:11

to its former glory.

37:15

And so why would anyone think

37:18

that he would, for example, stop

37:20

with Ukraine if he

37:22

is successful there? Why

37:25

would anyone think it's not a good

37:27

idea for the

37:29

United States and the West to

37:32

do everything it can to thwart

37:35

him in Ukraine to contain

37:38

this 21st

37:40

century monster who

37:43

wants to reclaim the Soviet

37:46

Union's former, what

37:48

he would consider glory? What

37:53

he's done to Evan Gershkovich

37:55

and the other Americans, he

37:57

has cynically kidnapped and is

37:59

holding as hostages

38:02

is deplorable, it's

38:05

disgusting, it's illegal, it's

38:07

wrong, and of course,

38:10

there is very little we

38:12

can do about it except keep

38:14

on the pressure. And

38:17

I so commend The Wall Street Journal

38:19

for what it's done to keep Evan's

38:21

name and

38:24

situation in the news, other news

38:26

organizations are doing whatever they can

38:28

to try to help

38:30

in this effort knowing that

38:33

this is really out of our hands. Yeah,

38:36

as Joe said at the start of the program, it's a bold editor

38:38

who leaves half of the front page blank, as

38:41

Emmet Hacker has done in The Wall Street Journal today. Keir,

38:43

talk to us a little bit about

38:45

your understanding of these negotiations. That

38:48

FSC officer who's in jail in Germany,

38:50

he was raised around the time that

38:52

Brittany Griner's negotiations were taking place and

38:55

obviously she got out in exchange for

38:57

Victor Boot and the Germans wouldn't release

38:59

that FSC officer. Do

39:02

you get any sense from the kind of

39:04

back channels, the reporting that you do, that

39:06

there is a path for Evan to get out,

39:08

that there may be, the Americans

39:10

may be able to talk to the Germans and

39:12

get this FSC officer out and if they did

39:14

get, if the Germans agreed, would that be enough?

39:16

Would the Russians then release Evan? We

39:20

make a really important point

39:22

because he's being

39:24

held in Germany. He's not being

39:26

held here in the States. So

39:29

there's a diplomatic challenge here. It

39:31

goes to Putin's absolute belief that

39:33

America runs the West,

39:36

that America is able to just say

39:38

to Germany, release this guy and

39:40

Germany will do it. And of course

39:42

that isn't the case, although absolutely, you

39:44

know, the American government is enormously powerful.

39:47

So those negotiations continue. Putin

39:49

has said that, sorry,

39:52

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman has

39:54

said that they're better behind closed

39:56

doors. That may be right.

39:59

I do think there's... an aspect of this though,

40:01

just listening to the conversation which I think

40:03

is worth highlighting. From my trips to Russia,

40:06

I can tell you that that revisionist

40:09

history that Joe is talking about is

40:12

absolutely embedded now there, that

40:14

it is believed by many, many Russians. And I've

40:16

said on this show many times, made the point

40:18

that Putin does have a lot of support. And

40:21

I think that should concern us, because

40:23

the combination of that and the military-industrial

40:26

changes in Russia, the way that it's

40:28

becoming a military economy,

40:30

that is going to be a threat

40:32

over a sustained period. And

40:35

the point I'm making is that this really is

40:37

a wider lens than just Putin, although of course

40:39

we focus on Putin. And I'll just say one

40:41

other thing about that. This goes to these negotiations.

40:44

Putin when he spoke at that news conference

40:47

after his election, his so-called election,

40:50

he talked about how he had asked

40:52

for election, he'd agreed for election, I'm

40:55

sorry, for election of only to be

40:57

released from

40:59

Russia, and said that just a few

41:02

days later, Navalny was dead. Now,

41:04

clearly, you can't believe things that Putin

41:06

says. But if that's true, if there's

41:09

an element of truth in that, then what

41:11

does that tell us about the way Russia

41:13

is run, that the president,

41:16

President Putin, says he wants

41:18

him released, and a few days

41:20

later he's dead? What does that tell

41:22

us about the nature of that country? And

41:25

again, what does that tell us

41:27

about the threat from Russia that

41:29

potentially goes beyond just

41:31

Putin and lasts for longer

41:34

than Putin, although of

41:36

course at this stage we're looking at potentially

41:38

12 more years of Putin at least? Well,

41:42

and that brings up a good point. We can

41:44

just look at the character

41:46

who was looking to overthrow Vladimir Putin,

41:48

a man who said he needed to

41:51

turn Russia

41:54

into a North Korea, and

41:56

they needed to have even more

41:58

aggressive war. Not only with

42:00

Ukraine, but also the west. So yes, Vladimir

42:04

Putin is a problem. But if

42:06

anybody thinks that removing Vladimir Putin Makes

42:09

Russia a safer more stable place. Well, they

42:11

weren't alive in 1991 1992 1993 Uh,

42:17

it's it's not Always the

42:19

case. Let me read uh, imitalkers

42:22

part of imitalkers letter, uh

42:24

to her readers at the wall street journal

42:27

Evan has shown remarkable willpower strength

42:29

and even humor during his wrongful

42:31

detention We are amazed at

42:33

this and it is family's steadfastness in

42:36

the face of such a harrowing ordeal

42:39

But their fortitude doesn't change the fact

42:41

that evans detention is a blatant

42:44

attack on the rights of the

42:46

free press at a time

42:48

when evidence abounds around the globe

42:50

of the vital role that quality

42:53

journalism plays in our society's Understanding

42:56

of world events and in

42:58

bearing witness to history This

43:01

one-year anniversary is an opportunity to

43:03

express our admiration for our colleague

43:05

and his family It

43:07

is a reminder of the dangerous

43:09

facing journalists worldwide as they pursue

43:11

their essential mission And

43:13

it energizes us to continue the effort

43:16

To ensure that this is

43:18

the last milestone That

43:21

evan spins in prison

43:23

sincerely imitalker

43:26

editor-in-chief the wall

43:28

street journal Jonathan

43:30

lemier Uh powerful words

43:32

there the sub headline here on the

43:35

front page of the wall street journal one

43:37

year stolen and that's right one year evan Evan's

43:40

life stolen spent behind bars in a

43:42

russian cell for something. He did not

43:45

Uh commit and of course the backdrop to his

43:47

detention is the war in ukraine Yesterday

43:49

we received word that house speaker mike johnson

43:51

had a phone call of ukrainian president zalensky

43:54

and zalensky Pushed

43:56

again the dire situation in his country

43:58

and the dramatic need for

44:01

the US to step up and send that funding,

44:03

send that money, send that military equipment to Ukraine,

44:05

which is literally running out of ammunition on

44:08

the front lines. And

44:10

Speaker Johnson has signaled more positively

44:12

in recent days that when the House returns

44:14

from its recess in a couple of weeks,

44:16

he'll push forward on Ukraine, though they may

44:18

jeopardize his job if he does

44:20

so. But talk to us a little

44:22

bit more just about the state of the conflict right now, what

44:25

you're aware of. It appears to be a

44:27

really frozen front and Putin, who

44:30

has really escalated, though, the number of airstrikes,

44:32

including a number of overnight, just the last

44:34

few hours, it seems like he's willing to

44:36

buy this time for November to see if

44:38

Donald Trump gets back in. I think he's

44:40

definitely prepared to take time. You

44:43

know, that is without

44:45

question a enduring

44:47

Russian approach to war,

44:50

frankly, and to

44:53

this war now, whether

44:55

or not he's waiting for November, what

45:00

Putin will say and his

45:03

spokesman Dmitry Pashkov will say and other members of

45:05

that Russian government is that they don't care

45:07

if he becomes president in

45:10

the US. Is that true?

45:13

Well, just back

45:15

to what I said at the beginning here, President

45:19

Putin is an intelligence

45:21

officer. His

45:23

worldview is that the world is

45:25

about battles between intelligence agencies. His

45:29

perspective is, and you can hear

45:31

the kind of echoes of a

45:34

Trump perspective, right? His perspective

45:36

is that it doesn't really

45:38

matter who the leader of

45:40

the US is because the US is

45:42

being run by the

45:45

intelligence agencies. That's

45:48

where the real fight is. Now, clearly,

45:51

he's wrong about that, but don't

45:53

underestimate the extent to which President

45:56

Putin truly believes the things that

45:58

he says. sense

46:00

that is, that's the

46:02

danger that that kind of focus

46:05

puts the focus on where the real risk is, that

46:09

he is somebody who is not

46:11

just saying these things, he

46:13

really believes these things. Now,

46:16

clearly, what happens

46:19

on the front line is, is unpredictable,

46:22

because war is unpredictable. Will

46:25

that front line stay fixed?

46:29

What difference will F-16s make? Will

46:32

Putin carry out his threat

46:34

to attack even bases where those F-16s

46:36

are flying from? Would he really do

46:38

that? Would he really take on a

46:40

fight against NATO of that nature? It's

46:42

hard to believe, despite him making those

46:44

threats. And we remember that President

46:47

Putin has made many threats, and

46:50

many of them turned out to be just threats. So

46:55

the issue with the funding for

46:57

Ukraine is that we

47:00

don't know what happens if

47:02

the money doesn't arrive, but

47:06

the risk is that it

47:08

leaves Ukraine deeply vulnerable. And

47:11

Congress is out for the next week

47:14

as well. So there's no urgency from

47:16

this House of Representatives, despite that conversation

47:18

yesterday between Speaker Johnson and President Zelensky.

47:20

NBC's Keir Simmons. Keir, thanks so much

47:23

as always for your insights. We appreciate

47:25

it. Coming up next here, Donald Trump

47:27

lashes out against the daughter of the

47:30

judge presiding over his hush money case,

47:32

calling her out by name using a

47:34

story that is a lie. We'll tell

47:37

you about his latest comments coming just

47:39

one day after a gag order was

47:41

imposed on it. Plus, we have the

47:43

first clip of the conversation between Biden

47:45

and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill

47:47

Clinton on stage at Radio City last

47:50

night. We'll let you listen in with

47:52

us and we'll speak with

47:54

DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison live in our

47:56

studio. He thinks the

47:58

Democratic Party is headed now. Now he'll tell

48:00

us. Morning Joe's coming right back. Luxury

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48:36

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48:39

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48:41

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B2B and advertising on the wrong platform

48:45

doesn't sell B2B either. That's

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48:50

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your next campaign. Go to linkedin.com/results

49:30

to claim your credit. That's

49:33

linkedin.com/results. Terms and conditions

49:35

apply. It's

49:38

about telling a story. People

49:41

are breaking their necks just putting three squares on a

49:44

table every day. Worrying about

49:46

the kid who may be sick. Worrying about a

49:48

mom who may mean help. And

49:51

when I say tell a story, I'm not

49:54

talking about making a story. I'm telling how

49:56

you feel. Because people trust

49:58

you all. Your neighbors. Trust

50:00

you. That's

50:02

a clip of the president's prerecorded interview

50:04

for donors who could not make the

50:06

event at Radio City Music Hall. That's

50:08

the event we've been talking about all

50:10

morning with President Biden, Obama, and President

50:12

Clinton as well. NBC News gained access

50:14

to the live stream of that conversation

50:16

you just heard. The three presidents

50:18

also headlined a major fundraiser in Manhattan

50:20

last night where the Biden campaign says

50:23

it raked in more than $26 million. The

50:27

presidents took part in a conversation

50:29

moderated by Stephen Colbert. The late

50:31

night host brought up Biden's busy

50:33

tour of the country lately while Trump

50:35

has had his eyes on other things.

50:37

Here's a first look at the discussion

50:39

inside Radio City. Donald

50:42

Trump, as far as we can tell, has just

50:44

been trying to win a third championship at his

50:47

own golf course. My

50:49

question to you, sir, can voters

50:51

trust a presidential candidate who has

50:53

not won a single Trump International

50:55

Golf Club trophy? At

50:57

long last, sir, have you no chip

50:59

shot? Well, look, I'd

51:01

be happy to play. I told him this

51:04

before when he came into the Oval, when

51:06

he was being, before he got sworn in. I

51:09

said, I'll give you three strokes if you carry your

51:11

own bag. Oh. Can't

51:17

do that. You know, Willie, there's been some

51:19

whining by a

51:22

few people. And

51:24

of course, gloating by Trumpers,

51:27

talking, oh, this is so

51:29

terrible. Star-studded fundraiser the same

51:31

day that Trump went to the

51:33

funeral of a slain, you know, you know,

51:36

again, we salute anybody

51:38

that will go to

51:41

funeral of a slain NYPD officer.

51:45

This is an event that's been scheduled for a

51:47

very long time. This is

51:49

an event where they had

51:51

an opportunity to get three

51:54

Democratic presidents together to

51:56

explain not only to their base, but

51:58

also to independent swing. swing voters,

52:02

Republicans that could be moved, why

52:04

this election is so important. You

52:07

talk about the bully pulpit that a president

52:09

has. This is three bully pulpits on

52:12

stage. And it was quite a remarkable

52:14

night. Yes, there were protests outside the

52:16

protest on college campuses. There'd be protests

52:18

at the Chicago convention. I think people

52:20

need to stop the ringing of their

52:22

hands. The fact is that, you know,

52:24

Donald Trump has been hiding in South

52:26

Florida or going into courtrooms,

52:28

are playing at club championships and

52:31

miraculously winning yet another club championship

52:33

from a club that

52:35

he's the owner of. So

52:38

the whiners, you know what, just

52:40

keep it to yourself if you

52:42

really think the setup

52:46

was bad. Yes, because it wasn't. It was,

52:48

again, it was a massive,

52:50

massive success for Joe Biden,

52:52

for the campaign, not

52:54

only for the Democratic Party, but

52:57

for pro-democracy forces. And

52:59

as you say, in this moment, important

53:01

to see the solidarity between those three

53:04

presidents, particularly with President Obama, given some

53:06

of the splintering we've heard about in

53:08

the Democratic Party, grumbling from certain factions

53:10

inside the party that are frustrated with

53:12

Joe Biden for this reason or that

53:14

to show. And to hear last

53:16

night in that room, President Obama, President Clinton

53:18

saying, guys, we understand we're always going to

53:20

have differences within our party, but this is

53:23

too important. We've got to get on board

53:25

and keep Donald Trump out of the White

53:27

House and reelect Joe Biden. That was

53:29

their message anyway. And joining us now, Chairman

53:31

of the Democratic National Committee, Jamie Harrison, who

53:33

of course was at last night's event, also

53:35

with us, NBC News White House correspondent Mike

53:38

Memelie, one of the few reporters inside the

53:40

room, plus the host of the podcast on

53:42

brand with Donnie Deutsch, our good buddy Donnie

53:44

Deutsch and staff writer at the Atlantic, Mark

53:47

Levovich, Jonathan Lemire, Caddy Kay, Eugene Robinson are

53:49

still with us as well, a full house

53:52

as we turn to the top of another

53:54

hour. And Chairman Harrison, I'll

53:56

start with you. The event last

53:58

night to you, what was the... significance of

54:00

seeing those three presidents on stage

54:03

together. Well, Willie,

54:05

I can tell you it was electric. The

54:07

atmosphere was just amazing inside that

54:10

house. There was such

54:12

unity within the Democratic Party. And

54:14

you know, those three presidents represent

54:17

honesty, decency, men of

54:20

character, you know, men who as

54:22

president understood that America's greatness

54:25

is not tied into some one body

54:27

or one individual, but America's greatness is

54:29

in its people, in the diversity of

54:32

its people. These are men who understand

54:34

that, you know, their jobs as

54:36

presidents of the United States is about having

54:38

progress over chaos. It's about

54:40

making sure that

54:43

we are moving forward in this

54:45

country. And so it was an

54:47

amazing moment. I call it my

54:49

our Beyonce moment because it was

54:51

the time that Democrats were getting

54:53

in formation because we understand

54:55

what the task is, which is protecting

54:57

American democracy from someone who wants to

54:59

be a dictator on day one, somebody

55:02

who believes in political retribution. And

55:05

and of course 26

55:08

million dollars, the largest event ever, and

55:10

that money will go straight into the

55:12

field. We've already opened, Willie,

55:15

over a hundred offices across the

55:17

country. The Republicans haven't opened anything.

55:19

They've opened a line of credit at a

55:21

bank because they're broke, but

55:23

they haven't opened any offices. We've been

55:26

hiring voter protection staff. And so we are

55:29

ready because we know what is at stake.

55:31

America's freedoms are at stake and we're

55:33

going to do everything in our power

55:36

to protect those. Well,

55:38

I mean, yeah, you're exactly right. Americans'

55:40

freedom is at stake and anybody that

55:42

pretends there's anything less than that. We

55:46

have a guy that schemed with fake electors,

55:48

a guy that intimidated, went out of his

55:50

way to intimidate people, from

55:53

certifying election results, a guy

55:56

who has said he's going

55:58

to terminate the Constitution. guy

56:00

who has said he's going to execute

56:02

generals, a guy who has said he's

56:04

going to find immediate companies guilty of

56:06

treason and try people. A

56:09

guy that said he's going to be

56:11

a dictator on day one, that he's

56:13

going to immediately jail his political opponents.

56:15

I could do this all day. So

56:17

yeah, there is so much at stake.

56:20

So Democrats, again, they don't

56:22

need to wring their hands. When they have a great

56:24

night, it was a great night for

56:27

the Democrats to show United Democratic Party

56:29

to get more money to invest

56:32

in groundwork, to get people out

56:35

to vote while Donald Trump is

56:37

canceling events. He's canceling Hispanic outreach.

56:39

He's canceling so many other things.

56:43

I've seen Democrats when they look out of touch. I've

56:46

seen Democrats when they wring their hands

56:48

for looking out of touch. This isn't

56:50

a Democratic Party in

56:53

this event with Barack Obama, Bill Clinton,

56:55

and Joe Biden that look out of touch. Those

56:59

are Democratic leaders. Those are presidents

57:01

that have spanned a generation. And

57:04

the Democratic Party, the base that

57:06

Joe Biden needs to bring together,

57:08

needs to hear from them in a

57:10

united voice. And last night, they

57:13

did. That's good news.

57:16

And if you have people

57:18

on Fox News today and

57:20

people on Newsmax and people

57:22

across the Trump far right

57:24

whining and screaming, well, because

57:27

they know how good that

57:29

event went last night, how much money

57:31

the campaign got, and just what

57:34

that means when they're

57:36

cheering on a guy who's spending

57:38

his money on lawyers and

57:40

lawsuits. Yeah, you're hinting at the

57:42

text that I think Lemire suggested

57:44

he had had earlier that I've had also overnight from

57:46

people on the Trump campaign saying

57:49

that Biden missed a big opportunity, didn't

57:51

call the widow of the fallen police

57:54

officer who was killed in a traffic stop

57:56

and Donald Trump went out to the wake.

57:58

But you had the cast of Democratic,

58:00

political know-how there. Those are two

58:02

presidents who have both won reelection and

58:05

who are now lending all of their

58:07

star power and their experience and their

58:09

money-raising capabilities to Joe Biden to

58:11

help him try to win reelection as

58:14

well. And they're doing so with advice

58:16

in private but also in public. It's

58:19

unlikely that after the success of raising $26

58:22

million last night, we won't see something

58:24

like this happening again. And Barack Obama

58:26

has made it very clear that he's going to put

58:28

all of the weight that he can behind the Biden

58:30

campaign. There may have been tensions between the two men

58:33

in the past, but you

58:35

heard from Barack Obama last night, this is

58:37

very much about making sure that Donald Trump

58:39

does not get back into the White House

58:41

and at the same time, not just focusing

58:43

it on Donald Trump, but realizing they have to

58:45

sell Joe Biden's positive story as well. Certainly,

58:47

Clinton and Obama. Explainers-in-chief in doing

58:50

that, which should also note, for all the

58:52

gloating Republicans and Trump aides were doing about

58:54

how Trump went to that funeral and President

58:56

Biden did not, others have

58:58

pointed out that Donald Trump did not attend the

59:00

Waker funeral of any officer who died after January

59:02

6th. So Mike Memley, I

59:04

want to zero in on the role that Barack Obama

59:06

played last night. You were in the room, you saw

59:09

him delivering a command performance by all accounts. I'm

59:11

struck by just the calendar. Barack

59:13

Obama fancies himself and his ex-presidency

59:15

as a closure. He comes in in

59:18

late October and he's the one who whips up the enthusiasm.

59:20

He does like two weeks of events, huge crowds, drives people

59:22

to the polls. He's already out there.

59:24

He's playing a much more visible role this time

59:26

around. Talk to us, I know you cover the

59:28

Obama White House too, talk to us about the

59:30

thinking there, why he's so front and center, and

59:32

are we going to be seeing a lot more

59:34

of him between now and November? Well, what the

59:36

Biden campaign sees as the former president's biggest value

59:39

now is speaking first at this point to young

59:41

voters and to Democrats. You saw that last night,

59:43

the effort to get the party fully behind him.

59:45

A lot of that's going to be on video, on

59:48

YouTube, different digital social channels, and then

59:50

in the fall you'll see him out

59:52

on the road, nonstop essentially. But I

59:55

thought what was so fascinating last night

59:57

and probably the most electric moment of

59:59

the night. night was yes, of course

1:00:01

there were protesters. We saw them on the street

1:00:03

outside 30 Rock here, and we saw that in

1:00:05

the room. And they were certainly prepared for that.

1:00:08

And what Barack Obama did was, after President

1:00:10

Biden laid out all the ways in which

1:00:13

he's trying to make the best and try

1:00:15

to resolve the situation in Gaza to the

1:00:17

best of his ability, Barack Obama really, at

1:00:19

one point, scolded those protesters to

1:00:22

say, listen, if you want to talk, you also

1:00:24

have to listen. The crowd erupted. He said, the

1:00:27

presidency, and this is something only a former president

1:00:29

can really he said the presidency

1:00:31

is a lonely seat. There are no easy solutions

1:00:33

to hard problems. And he laid out all

1:00:35

the ways in which you can be both sympathetic,

1:00:38

supportive, wanting to do everything you can

1:00:40

to support the Palestinian people, but also

1:00:42

recognize that Israel's existence is

1:00:44

very much at stake here. And he commended not just

1:00:47

the president's policy, but his

1:00:50

person, his empathy, his character,

1:00:52

in being exactly the kind of president we need at

1:00:54

this moment. I was told that was intentional, that there

1:00:56

was going to be a time for President Obama over

1:00:59

the course of the fall to talk specifically

1:01:01

about issues, the president's record. But he

1:01:03

sees his role now as really about

1:01:05

testifying to President Biden's character. And listen,

1:01:07

you talk to the chairman, you talk

1:01:09

to senior Biden team members. They'll say

1:01:12

the poll numbers, sure, they are what they are. Don't

1:01:14

count President Biden out. He's been underestimated his whole

1:01:16

career. I've been on the road with him as

1:01:19

much as anyone these last 16 years I've seen

1:01:21

that. But they also will recognize that it's

1:01:23

going to take everybody, every Democrat, everybody

1:01:25

who supports President Biden, whether you're a

1:01:28

local community leader, whether you're an influencer

1:01:30

on TikTok, or whether you're the

1:01:32

former president of the United States to do everything you

1:01:35

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1:01:37

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