. >>> and chief justice john roberts issues a rare rebuke after senate minority leader chuck schumer said yesterday that justices will quote pay the price for a vote against abortion rights. >>> good morning, everybody, it is thursday, march 5th. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin. we're going to begin with the latest from the super tuesday earthquake that rocked the race for the democratic presidential nomination. joe biden added a tenth state to his list of super tuesday victories after nbc news declared him the apparent winner of maine as we are awaiting the results there. the only state we haven't been able to call is california. sanders holds a nine point lead in that state as of now. of the state's massive 415 delegates, sanders has been awarded 161 so far. biden 100. the former vice president still leads the overall delegate count, 527, you see there, to 475, a difference of just 52 delegates. meanwhile, michael bloomberg's decision to end his campaign means biden now has the room to charge ahead in the moderate lane all by himself. looking ahead to next tuesday'

talk us through this most recent decision and john roberts deciding -- justice john roberts siding with the liberal judges? >> this is a case where've when you have a conservative supreme court, you have precedence on the other side with roe v. wade and even a case four years ago which involved a substantially identical texas law. the issue here really is, as states whittle away and put little obstacles in front of people who want to have an abortion, for example, requiring doctors to have admitting privileges to a hospital within 30 miles, does that create an undue burden by placing a substantial obstacle in the way of women who want to get abortions, and what's interesting here is that justice roberts -- this should not be viewed as a shift from justice roberts to the liberal side. quite the opposite. as you said, he would have voted against the prior case, but now that that prior case is precedent, he's constrained to vote with the majority. you could say if justice roberts were king, he would not have voted this way, but because he's a supreme court justice, he must follow precedent

robert redfield is pushing back on schools reopening. he says the cdc is providing additional reference documents. >> i think it's really important. it's not a revicks of terevisio guidelines. it's to provide additional information to help schools be able to use the guidance we put forward. that's what the cdc has done. they put forth guidances. they're not requirements. the students are best served by getting the schools reopened. right now we're working with local jurisdictions to take what we give them to make it practical for the schools to reopen. >> dr. anthony fauci conceded in an interview yesterday that the u.s. is struggling to handle the coronavirus pandemic because many states are not adhering to the proper guidelines. >> how do you think the u.s. is doing right now? like just in a -- if you're looking across the world, what are your feelings about how we're doing right now? >> as a country when you compare us to other country, i don't think you can say we're doing great. i mean we're just not. >> after that, an interview on

while the supreme court has ruled the president cannot shut down daca, chief roberts was the deciding vote and author of the opinion where the 5-4 decision allows daca recipients to remain in the country they call home. >> the decision is amazing. i'm so happy. these kids and their families, i feel for them, and i think all of america does. >> an emotional chuck schumer there, but the roberts opinion joined by all four liberal members of the court did not address the constitutionality of the daca program. the decision instead was based on errors of the program to rescind it provide nothing reasoned analysis for doing so. robert writes, dhs has the flexibility in addressing any reliance interests and could have considered various accommodations. while the agency was not required to pursue these accommodations, it was required to assess the existence and strength of any reliance interests and weigh them against competing policy concerns. clarence thomas writes today's decision must be recognized for what it is, an effort to avoid a politically controversial but legally correct decision.

the supreme court who presides over presidential impeachment trials and those who have studied john roberts say he is unlikely to intervene. >>> senator lamar alexander said he's a no vote on witnesses, he also did not exonerate the president. in a statement released after last night's question and answer session, the senator wrote there is no need for evidence to prove that the president asked ukraine to investigate joe biden and his son hunter. he said this on his july 25th telephone call. there is no need to pressure ukraine to investigate the bidens. the house managers have proved this with what they call a mountain of overwhelming evidence. it was inappropriate for the president to ask a foreign leader to investigate his political opponent. and to withhold the united states aid to encourage that investigation. when elected officials inappropriately interfere with such investigations, it undermines the principle of equal justice under the law. but the constitution does not give the senate the power to remove the president from office and ban him from this year's ballot simply for action

robert stayed in the hospital overnight and released the next morning. they believed the chief justice was dehydrated and ruled out seizures as the source of the fall. >>> still ahead, health officials across the country issue a new warning about protective gear as coronavirus cases surge in several states. we'll be back in a moment. >>> medical workers across the nation are warning of yet another desire short avenue of personal protective equipment as coronavirus resurges. according to the associated press, a doctor's association said that physicians offices are closing because they cannot get masks and other necessary protective supplies. a national nurse's union is concerned that the gear will need to be reused. citing the results of a survey, the president of national nurses united told the ap, quote, we're five months into this and there's still shortages of gowns, hair covers, shoe covers and masks. they're being doled out and we're told to reuse them. a national strategy to require and distribute gear in answer of the crisis worsening into the fal

justices will unleash a major grass roots movement on the issue of reproductive rights for justice roberts to follow the right wing's deliberate m misinterpretation of what senator schumer said and remaining silent shows justice

postmaster louis degiant robert duncan have been called oomz e testify on the recent cuts. and six states are huddling to discuss possible lawsuits as lawmakers are scrambling for ways to give voters more options. >>> and president trump raised the alarm as to when we'll know the results of the november presidential election, warning it could take months or even years due to mail-in ballots. >> the problem with the mail-in voting, number one, you're never going to know when the election is over. we're going to have an election that takes place on a beautiful day, november 3rd, and usual at the end of the day, they'll say, donald trump has won the election, donald trump is your new president, whatever they say. you know what? you're not going to know this, possibly if you did it right, for months or for years because these ballots are all going to be lost, they're going to be gone. >> all right. so the coronavirus pandemic sparked most states to change their mail-in ballot laws to enable residents to vote safely. nbc news has reviewed more than 175 lawsuits in 43 states and

. >>> and as supreme court chief justice john roberts plans to preside over the senate, we have come to take democracy for granted and civic education has fallen by the wayside. in our age, when social media can instantly spread rumors and false information on a grand scale, the public seems to understand our government and the protection it provides, it is ever more vital. he also stressed the importance of maintaining public trust, writing we should reflect on our duty to judge without fear and favor, and we should each resolve to do our best to maintain's the public's trust that we are faithfully discharging our solemn obligation. and the wide-ranging efforts to appoint judges who will rule in the likeness of his nation. he writes, quote, we should celebrate our strong and independent judiciary, a key source of naushl unity and stability. but we should also remember that justice is not inevitable. >> let's talk about some of this, joining us, white house and washington consumer reporter for "politico," daniel lippman. happy new year. good to see you on this second day of january.

robert redfield, urging the president as we played earlier, to wear a mask. and also said universal mask wearing over the next four to eight weeks could help stem, bring the epidemic under control. what effects are we seeing lawmakers, specifically, to spread the outbreak, we saw the vice president wearing the mask and florida governor ron desantis for the first time as well. what are you seeing? >> right, it's interesting, speaking of florida because i've been reporting from here for the past couple of months, ron desantis has been very slow to issue a statewide response to this pandemic. it took him a while to issue that first stay-at-home earlier in the spring. and he's yet to issue a statewide mask order and leaving it to the counties. and by law, you see that in miami-dade county as well. it's interesting, though, in texas with republican governor greg abbott there's a statewide mask mandate there. so there's definitely some push among some republicans among the rise in cases to definitely wear a mask because it shows that wearing a mask could definitely

bragg, fort robert e. lee, and many other military bases is in the plan. >> they came up with a plan to rename at least ten bases within three years. >>> all right. let's switch gears and get a check on your forecast with meteorologist janessa webb. good morning to you, janessa. >> good morning, yasmin. good morning, everyone wchl're seeing great conditions across portions of the east coast. we're still dealing with rain across the south. people are not able to enjoy the heat as it's going to be stifling. this is currently what it feels like. 73 degrees in kansas city, lower 70s for st. louis. we expect it to rev up to the 90s in some spots. the feels-like temperature on your skin, in the triple territory. you're seeing the heat rise all the way across to missouri. new orleans, you start to get in on this as well as atlanta. we could potentially get up to about 30 million people this afternoon. so high heat and humidity going to be in place for today. cincinnati, you're at 90 degrees. we have record temper

robert redfield said yesterday a vaccine will not be widely

after that chief justice john roberts was sworn in as the presiding judge for the trial. he then asked the nation's senators to solemnly swear to do impartial jugstice according to the constitution and laws. the senators replied i do in unison. the trial will start tuesday. before that the house must deliver trial briefs laying out arguments by 5:00 a.m. tomorrow. white house counsel must deliver trial briefs by noon. it must be handed over by noon on tuesday. at the white house yesterday president trump was asked about the upcoming impeachment trial, and once again, he described his phone call with the president of ukraine, an issue that is at the center of all of this impeachment as perfect. >> well, i think it should go very quickly. it's a hoax. it's a hoax. everybody knows that. it's a complete hoax. the whole thing with ukraine. >> now, according to "the new york times," president trump capped his day by meeting with several campaign aids and grilling them on how voters were receiving the impeachment news. speaking with advisers yesterday, trump reepeated that he co

but robert o'brien, there's a lot of questions around when he tested positive, who he was around. certainly he was back at work last week. and, you know, what sort of contact tracing they need do. they know he traveled to france last week with the best deal day and squaring shoulder to shoulder with officials, not wearing a mask. there's a lot more questions here than the white house is answering, and i think they're going to in coming days be forced to respond to because this is actually a far bigger deal than the president is acting like it is. >> you make such a good point because on the one hand you have the president trying to downplay this thing saying, look, i haven't been near him. things look good. i haven't been near him. the question is, wait a minute. why haven't you been in contact with your national security adviser. that's a really important relationship to have and to boo speaking to with someone on a regular bay sichls nbc's carol lee. great to see you as always. >> thank you. you too. >>> the university of notre dame has announced yesterday it has withdrawn its h

chief justice john roberts role in all of this will be something to watch. of course the way that trump responds and what trump does. and any new information that people watching and people on the hill are getting that we didn't necessarily have during the house impeachment trial i think is really important to focus on as we're watching what's happening in the senate. >> what are you also hearing with regards to susan collins, lisa murkowski, the mitt romneys of the world as to which way they are swaying these days? >> we know based on polling that has come out in the last few days they are already under water this terms of favorability in their states because of what's happening with impeachment. we have seen some senators like lisa murkowski ask mitch mcconnell for more time in hearing the case and even being open to the idea of potentially having additional witnesses, but we are also watching certain democratic senators like doug jones of alabama, kyrsten sinema of arizona and joe march inn of west virginia who are in tight races because of impeachment an

n your weather when we come back i am robert strickler. i've been involved in communications in the media for 45 years. i've been taking prevagen on a regular basis for at least eight years. for me, the greatest benefit over the years has been that prevagen seems to help me recall things and also think more clearly. and i enthusiastically recommend prevagen. it has helped me an awful lot. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. with multiple lawsuits start around the country, they look at the funding of the post office. the lawsuit filed indicates that president trump and dejoy can t cannot. jones tweeted an announcement of the suit and new york state senator al sandra biaggi. four filed a suit to reverse the post office changes. meanwhile republican attorney general of ohio david yost sent a letter to the president saying, quote, although the post office is a perennial change, changes should wait until after the election. he said. this making radical changes only weeks before early voting begins however fiscally well-founded would place t

e" is coming up back in a moment i am robert strickler. i've been involved in communications in the media for 45 years. i've been taking prevagen on a regular basis for at least eight years. for me, the greatest benefit over the years has been that prevagen seems to help me recall things and also think more clearly. and i enthusiastically recommend prevagen. it has helped me an awful lot. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. even if you're on a statin? are you still at risk for a heart attack or stroke? statins may lower some risks, but may not be enough. that's why science delivered vascepa. for people who have persistent cardiovascular risk factors and take a statin only vascepa is clinically proven to provide 25% lower risk from heart attack and stroke. don't take vascepa if you're allergic to icosapent ethyl or any inactive ingredient in vascepa. tell your doctor about any medicines you take, and if you are allergic to fish or shellfish. stop taking vascepa and seek medical help if you have symptoms of an allergic reaction. serious

so according to the experts from woodward's new book, national security adviser robert o'brien warned everyone of this. this will be the biggest national security threat you'll face in your presidency. this will be the roughest thing you'll face. despite that warning, the president continued to mislead the public. here he is just a month later. >> one of my people came up to me and said, mr. president, they tried to beat you on russia, russia, russia. that didn't work out too well. they tried the impeachment hoax, and this is their new hoax. >> so president trump acknowledged yesterday that he did downplay the coronavirus earlier this year, telling reporters that he wanted to reduce panic. he also criticized bob woodward's book as a political hit job, and in an interview last night with fox news, the president accused joe biden of also downplaying the virus. >> did you mislead the public by saying you downplayed the coronavirus and you repeat lid did that in order to reduce panic? did you mislead the public? >> i think when you said in order to reduce panic, i'm a cheerleader for this

texted reveal that ambassador yovanovitch had been receiving text messages from robert hyde. >> joining us from washington, nbc news josh fetterman. >> what a twist in the story. >> what a twist to you of this. talk to us about what you know with regards to the story? >> this guy anthony decalway has been a mystery. he's a dutch citizen but he was living in belgium, but he was kind of this trump superfan that showed up at pro-trump events in florida and in washington. and when these texts came out, anthony decalloway said it was a joke but the nbc news investigation found troubling things in his past, including the fact that he's been identifying himself as a dea agent, a federal law enforcement official, even sometimes flashing a badge when he would meet people to assert that he really was a dea agent. and he's been telling people that he was starting a company that could actually track people or electronics through rfid which raised concerns about whether that could potentially be used to actually monitor someone. and also when this came out, he told us he had no connections to ukrain

>> reporter: you may recall the tweet put out by roberts general manager towards the end of last year in support of the hong kong protesters and didn't go down well with authorities. cutting ties with houston rockets. none of the nba games played on chinese state media. we found out yet from adam silver it will cost them as much as $400 million in lost revenue. a substantial number. could even tally up to $1 billion according to some estimates, but there's still optimism a diplomatic solution can be found and still saying they're committed to working with china in the long rung. >> thanks. >>> coming up on "morning joe," mike bloomberg's democratic rivals take tame with super tuesday now just 15 days away. a.p.'s jonathan lemire and robert costa join us with their laters reporting. >>> analysis from the reverend al sharpton and the "washington post"'s david ignatius with his new op-ed on the re-emergence of the moderate democrat. "morning joe," everyone, just moments away. be tough. you diet. exercise. but if you're also taking fish oil supplements... you should know... they are not f

robert redfield. but they told "the new york times" it was redirected and dropped it on the cdc's website, flouting the process an email from dr. redfield says this, the guidelines in con jk n conjunction with the coronavirus ta task force received appropriate attention, consultation, and input from the task force experts. they say it's sharply out of step with the agency's usually neutral and scientific tone. the revelations are coming days after reports that hhs officials have pressured the cdc to change health reports to align with president trump's more optimistic message about this outbreak. >>> the nation's top infection out disease expert dr. anthony fauci has weighed in on a timeline for the coronavirus vaccine following a directive from dr. robert redfield and the president. while the president has recommended it could start being distributed as early as october. here's what dr. fauci told msnbc last night. >> first of all, we have to realize, we don't know when and if there's going to be an

who threw the president a $10 million fund-raiser on saturday, backed pardoning milken, as well as robert kraft, fox host maria bartiromo and elaine cho. at least one, according to daily beast, it appears cold hard cash did the talking. paul pogue, a construction company owner who pleaded guilty to underpaying his taxes by $500,000 and received three years' probation received a full clemency by the president. pogue's family has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct conditions and in kind air travel to the trump committee pogue's son and his wife made over $200,000 to the contribution and campaign. >>> and a federal judge has refused to delay the sentencing for president trump's ally roger stone. judge amiy jackson will move forward with sentencing stone on lying. despite his attorney's best efforts to delay the decision, judge jackson said, quote, it would not be a prudent thing to do. yesterday's ruling appears to make judge jackson the target of trump who yet again tweeted for calling for a new trial. meanwhile "the new york times" said trump has raised the prospect of comm

robert redfield tells "the washington post"

on the impeachment defense team pam bondi and former independent counsel robert ray. the "washington post" reporting that they were selected personally by president trump for their celebrity and vocal defenses of the president in the media despite their baggage. mean while, alan dershowitz is arguing that the president should not be removed from office even if he is guilty of the house charges. watch this. >> as you know, the house materials have cited crimes that were committed as -- >> but they are not articles of impeachment. the articles of impeachment are two noncriminal actions namely obstruction of congress and abuse of power and those are what have to be voted on by the senate. >> is it your position that president trump should not be impeached even in all the evidence and arguments laid out by the house are accepted as fact? >> that's right. >> so mean while constitutional law professor at harvard laurence tribe is among those pushing back against the dershowitz argument that the articles should be dismissed because abuse of power and obstruction of congress

each day to allow for john roberts to conduct his work over in the supreme court and walk across the street to the united states senate, it means that these days are going to run well into the night. perhaps into the wee mornings the next day, and so democrats and schumer are concerned that a lot of the arguments are going to be happening when the american public is not paying attention. that's why you're hearing words like a cover up. they are accusing mcconnell and the republicans of being an accomplice in the quote cover up by allowing this to run late into the night when most americans are not tuning in. >> danny, walk us through sort of your sense with regards to this resolution that mcconnell released yesterday. first and foremost, the timing in which scott got into a little bit with this 24 hours over two working days, which i want to get your take on, and also obviously this question of witnesses, which we have talked about repeatedly as to whether or not big names like john bolton are going to be called forward. it seems like every step of the way you're going to have to get

robert redfield based his estimate on blood samples of antibodies. for every confirmed case of covid, ten more had antibodies meaning they were able to fight off the virus. >>> and amid hospitalizations and covid cases, several governors announced they're hitting pause on reopening plans. this is coming afternoon a record single-day spike, bringing the total number of infected to over 2.43 million people nationwide. texas, new mexico, arizona, and florida are on the list of states currently halting reopening plans. texas has reported record surges, and its rolling average has increased by 340% since memorial day. governor greg abbott also holds elective surgeries in several counties to ensure systems do not become overwhelmed as they're on track to do some of and as coronavirus cases continue to surge in texas, republican senators ted cruz and john cornyn, they're urging the trump administration to not pull federal funding to several covid testing sites in the lone star state. the lawmaker says, quote, it's a risk not worth taking. the move in the wh

robert redfield to change that. what's changed here is there isn't enough data to make decision about how this might affect kids because they were pulled out of school so many months ago when the pandemic started. so while it does appear that younger people are not affected as seriously as others for coronavirus, there simply isn't enough information. so how do you make these decisions about which kids can go back to school and which counties. that does fall, imseems, to the governors and state executives. it's something that will ultimately be made by specifics. what the president brought into this as well now is a funding threat. even though most comes from the state, he has said that now that may be a factor in deciding what schools get what money from the federal government depending on whether they reopen or not, alex. >> very interesting. okay. it has been 19 days since that tulsa rally. plenty of time in which the coronavirus could incubate, right is it's greater, in fact, than that two-week period some of wi

that's a message that we've heard time and time again from robert mueller, james comey and a litany of former intel officers and members of the community who have appeared before the public to warn of russian interference. that being said, the other underlying factor here is that trump had contacts. the 1,000 pages supports that. saying yesterday and maintaining that russian interference was a hoax and gop senators coming out and saying that was no collusion, there was in fact extensive communication. and some of -- one of paul manafort's business partners, in fact, was labeled an intelligence -- a member of russian intelligence, and a grave intelligence threat. that was president trump's campaign manager. so, you know, at the end of the day, there was technically no collusion found by congress. but the findings of this report are really important to keep in mind, going into 2020. and safe guarding the integrity of the election from the russians as putin tries to, you know, do 2016 all over again. >> all right. "washington post" jackie alemany. great to see you this morning, jackie. >>

. >>> plus, actor robert de niro will start the conversation ahead of a ten-day digital film festival that will help those suffering from the coronavirus pandemic. "morning joe" is moments away. it neutralizes bacteria for a healthier mouth than even the leading multi-benefit toothpaste. crest. you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. but you're not, because you have e*trade whose tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. don't get mad, get e*trade. >>> welcome back, everybody. joining me now with a look at axios am, the co-founder of "axios," mike allen. good the see yo see you. >> morning. >> talk about axios' one big thing. >> twitter's quick hit. we've seen on the show how twitter has lolly gagged in responding to president trump's tweets. 1 12:53 in the morning eastern time, the president was tweeting about minneapolis. he took a shot at the minneapolis mayor. and he said, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. now, twitter quickly pointed out that that was a reference to a 1967 threat b

circuit upheld a lower court order that gives congress access to secret materials from robert mueller's investigation into the 2016 election. the 20-page appeals court opinion found that in its impeachment investigation the house was legally engaged in a judicial process that exempts congress from secrecy rules. the divided ruling, however, can be appealed. that does not mean that redacted material from mueller's final report will eventually public or turned over to congress. >> joining us on set to talk more about this, msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. good morning, danny, how are you doing? >> i'm feeling very well. please, don't send me home. >> we like to do health checks of people on set. >> i feel terrific. >> as ayman just brought up, this is the important thing, these aren't about to be handed over to congress immediately. what can the democrats do in the house to make sure they see the documents? >> first, some background, grand jury documents have to be kept secret. that's because in order to induce people to come in and testify honestly about criminal activity, we have to

and the interesting thing is, robert mueller never learned this fact when he investigated because the white house limited the scope of john kelly's interview with the mueller team. >> by the way, michael schmidt is going to join joe and mika tomorrow morning on "morning joe." >> he's a good reporter. >> good to see you this morning, my friend. he's a great reporter, as are you. you can sign up for the newsletter at signup.axios.com. that does it for me on this monday morning. i'm yasmin vossoughian. "morning joe" starts right now. >>> good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, august 31st. with us we have white house reporter for the associated press jonathan lemire. the host of msnbc's politics nation and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. columnist david ignatius and white house correspondent for pbs news hour, yamiche alcindor. >> i need to start with jonathan lemire. >> of course you do. >> another red sox victory, two in a

washington post" came and ran this story yesterday, literally the day after the funeral services for robert trump. >> meanwhile, house speaker nancy pelosi had this to say. >> it's heartbreaking to think that a family member of the president of the united states would have that view of him. you know, the president is calling everything a hoax. he calls the virus a hoax for a while, he's called the russian interference in our election a hoax, he calls everything a hoax. which is just a projection of what he is, a hoax, and this is just further evidence of his inauthenticity and his lack of integrity. a hoax. >> all right. joining me once again, author of "the washington post" early morning newsletter, "power alem. another weekend, more revelations coming out, more leaks coming out. now these recorded tapes of the president's sister. what reaction, in addition to what i just played, are you hearing over the revelation from some of these recordings? >> yeah, well something to add to the litany of trump officials who came out on the sunday shows over the weekend to defend the president is that

robert redfield was totally misquoted in the media on a statement about the fall season and the virus, totally misquoted. >> you were accurately quoted, correct? >> i'm accurately quoted in "the washington post." >> what dr. redfield was clearly asking for, just like we ask for every american to follow the guidelines, he's saying please add to the guidelines getting your flu shot and making sure you're protected. >> there's a good chance that covid will not come back. >> we don't know -- >> and if it comes back, it's in a small confined area -- >> the great thing is, we'll be able to find it earlier this time. >> it might not come back at all, jeff. he's talking about a worst case scenario where you have a big flu and some corona. >> we will have coronavirus in the fall. i am convinced of that. there will be coronavirus in the fall. >> not necessarily on the same page there, i think we can all say that. also, a top foishlofficial at t department of health and human services who led the effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine who said he was removed from his position for pushing back o

chief robert said they could go into it immediately allowing the district court to advance even quicker. in a 7-2 ruling the justices decided trump doesn't have absolute immunity from legal cases, but in their decision they specified that he can still challenge the subpoena on the other grounds. while the president's legal team did not oppose the move, they have until july 27 to raise their new legal challenges to the subpoena joining me now msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos good morning, danny. great to see you on this monday morning. >> great to see you too. >> what do you make of the supreme court's decision to fast track their earlier ruling to acquire eight years of the president's tax returns? >> it's not so much the supreme court's order but the request by the manhattan d.a. keep in mind, this order would have gone into effect from the supreme court on august 3rd. that's less than two weeks away. the question arises, what's the big rush why couldn't they wait the extra few days the answer could be within the lines of their request because the manhattan d.a. says the statute of l

the opinion was written by neil gorsuch who along with justice john roberts voted with the members of the liberal court. the titling at of 1964 which discriminates on the basis of sex and transgender status. gorsuch writes this -- an employer who fires an individual for being homosexual or transgender fires that person for traits or actions it would not have questioned in members of a different sex. sex plays a necessary role. justice alito said no one in 1964 would have thought, quote, discrimination because of sex meant because of sexual orientation or gender identity. joining me now, nbc legal analyst danny cevallos. good morning. a major win for the lgbtq community at large with all of this, but it did surprise a lot of folks that this conservative-leaning supreme court would decide in favor of the lgbtq community. what did you make of it? >> i'm one of the very surprised people that this opinion came from justice gorsuch. when you think about it, it's considered very simple. you look at the statute. does the statute say the words "transgender" or address sexual preference? it doe

. >>> still ahead, white house national security adviser robert o'brien says a few bad apples are to blame. we'll show you his comments, coming up next. comments, coming up next really? can it one up breakfast in bed? yeah, for sure. thanks, boys. what about that? uhh, yep! it can? yeah, even that! i would very much like to see that. me too. introducing new tide power pods. one up the toughest stains with 50% more cleaning power than liquid detergent. any further questions? uh uh! nope! one up the power of liquid with new tide power pods. pete davidson is the king well, dad's still dead. i want to be a real tattoo artist. your work is mad inconsistent. obama ain't right. you don't get to act crazy your whole life just 'cause dad died, ok. your dad was a hero. and hero's are necessary. [ cheering ] ♪ why do i have to clean this anyway? what are you trying to show up sexy to a fire? i like him. that go out today get delivered. there are people who can only get food from amazon. when you come into work, that's what drives you. my little one, i would say he's definitely proud of me. ev

lamar alexander, roy blount, susan collins, lisa murkowski, pat roberts, chuck grassley. that's a lot of congress members. they plan to skip their party's convention. joining me now, political reporter for the "washington pos post", eugene scott. eugene, good morning to you. thanks for getting up this morning. lots to cover. get let's get to the gop senators who say they're skipping the national convention, an unprecedent break from the trump administration as we have seen them resistant do this before, but saying they assume a lot of folks aren't even going to be going. what reaction are you hearing? >> well, it's unsurprising to many people who followed some of these senators, particularly people like susan collins and mitt romney who very often attempt to distance themselves from the president and the republican party as a whole, but i think the fact that you have so many lawmakers perhaps not really willing and/or wanting to be seen interacting with the president and the leadership of their own party, it's alarming. it suggests that perhaps on issues related to policy

roberts paul arguing that his client's charges should be dropped for lack of probable cause. thao had to know the others were going to commit a crime and also that thao intended to commit the actions. he says it disputes such a finding. how likely is he to win this motion especially when you have multiple angles of camera footage showing him standing over george floyd's body and actually keeping folks from interfering when, in fact, they thought george floyd was strugen or not breathing? >> he's not likely to win mostly because determinations of probable cause are tough to beat it. goes beyond reasonable doubt. more likely than not. and most probable cause determination stand, even if challenged. the attorneys are challenging early on the government's evidence against their client, and it will be interesting because not only are they putting out the body cam, but they're also introducing policies and procedures, and those are going to be political battlegrounds in this case for others like officer chalvin. it's a very common defense throughout history and we'll see fit works.

this was an idea, mostly pushed by robert cadillac, the assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the department of health and human services. the idea was the federal government to partner with hanes and fruit of the loom. it'd be the u.s. postal service delivering cotton masks to every single person in america. that was one version of the idea. the other one was to send it to hot zones, the areas worst affected by the virus. huge-scale idea. cadillac was very keen on it, but there was a lot of skepticism at the senior level. a number of the officials just didn't think it was the role of the federal government to be doing that. given the cdc was recommending facial coverings, it was thought the government ought to provide it for their citizens. >> so what happened? where did it land? >> it died. at least it has been tabled. >> okay. >> it doesn't look very healthy at the moment, i'll tell you that. >> not necessarily promising, especially when you have the president, a coronavirus task force press briefing, basically saying, you know, i know it's a recommendation, but i'm not

. >> so in light of the intelligence report, national security adviser robert o'brien was pressed on whether the president confronted russian president vladimir putin about meddling in u.s. elections. >> when president trump spoke to vladimir putin july 23rd, did he tell him to knock this off? >> the president's told the russians and we've told the russians, our counterparts, many, many times not to get involved in the election. >> but did president trump tell president putin -- >> what i don't get involved in unlike my predecessors, i don't get into the conversations the president has with foreign heads of state, whether it's russia or france or the uk for that matter. those are private conversations. what i can tell you, we made it very clear to the russians, very clear. no administration has been tougher we've sanctioned hundreds of russian entities the troll farm. >> the message clearly wasn't received. did president trump say to vladimir putin knock it off this time? >> margaret, there's almost nothing we can sanction left. we put so many sanctions on the russians -- by the way,

. >> cdc director robert redfield denying reports that the white house rejected his agency's guidelines for reopening the country and says that the coronavirus task force gave constructive criticism on the draft recommendations that were revised and quietly released this week. while down playing any tensions between the cdc and the white house, redfield in an interview with politico just yesterday also said his agency has had, quote, extensive communication with the public throughout the coronavirus response to commit to reinstate cdc briefings that were held nearly daily in the first few months of the outbreak. politico points out that those were replaced with regular white house briefings. president trump blasted a new columbia university study which found delays in lockdowns caused at least 36,000 deaths calling the research, quote, a political hit job. watch this. >> the columbia university put out a report today that 36,000 people a would have been saved if i guys did social distancing measures just one week earlier. do you believe that? what was your reaction to that? >> i was ear

meanwhile, the national security adviser, robert o'brien, was saying on "meet the press" yesterday that the u.s. will assess hong kong's autonomy. the special status that it ejoy enjoys, that makes it a special hub, that it believes china should hold dear. they say they'll watch china's next move closely, as laws are expected to be put into effect by the end of the week. >> it seeks specifically the protesters in hong kong, they don't want beijing, they don't want china to have the ability to have more power, more security forces in their region, in their city. what has beenexplanat explana explanatoion for why now? >> reporter: i saw families, elderly people, kids. there was a different spirit that seemed to exist at the beginning of the protest by the time we saw september/october rolling around. the protests had escalated, at times becoming violent. beijing has used this as part of its argument to say that there needs to be security and stability for hong kong in order to protect the economy, which is in recession there. in order for it to be able to have the sense of control. the pe

that a lawsuit seeks to prevent ralph northam's administration from removing a statue of confederate robert e. lee may go forward. a richmond state judge dismissed a suit to allow the statue along the boulevard where the statue sits. plaintiffs say the governor does not have the authority to remove the statue because it would violate terms and conditions of the transfer of the statue of the land that it sits on. the trial is set to begin this fall. and in the ongoing pandemic, new questions are emerging over the president's emergency removal of blood plasma treatment for hospitalized patients. on sunday, president trump and two of his health officials cited that the treatment has reduced deaths by 35%. now, a lot of experts are confused about where that key statistic came from, leave something scientists to say the fda had grossly misrepresented the data. according to the "the new york times" a statistic was not found in the fda's official authorization letter in a 17-page memo written by fda scientists or in the mayo clinic analysis cited by the administration. with the data appearing to b

the "washington post" robert costa reported this yesterday. a trump adviser tells me this morning that many in the president's circle are eager to turn to biden and china, to make that front the battleground. very little appetite for this continued focus on race. but the president in60s on driving his own message t adviser says. meanwhile coronavirus has left no state unscathed as cases continue to surge. so far the u.s. has over 3 million cases and reported at least 131,000 deaths. the u.s. has added 330,000 cases in the week of july. the surges are seen in tennessee, west virginia, and florida. hospitals have reported they're almost at capacity. yesterday morning arizona announced that 89% of the state's intensive care unit beds were full. meanwhile mixed messaging continues to come from the white house with president trump making the false claim that 99% of covid-19 cases are, quote, harmless. meanwhile, dr. thounanthony fau said it's the beginning of the pandemic. he urged for the situation to be addressed immediately. >> the current state

one democratic aide telling nbc news that robert o'brien occasionally chiming in -- >> we need to hear from the heads of the intelligence agencies. in my view, the right people were not in the room to give us the kind of briefing we needed to get. >> i thought this briefing was the white house personnel telling us their perspective. i think we knew the white house perspective. what we need to know is the intelligence perspectives. >> the president called this a hoax. publicly. nothing in the briefing that we have just received led me to believe it is a hoax. >> this was a red flag. it either was not waved, or the president ignored the wave. president truman said the buck stops here. president trump says i never saw the buck. >> so, the sources telling nbc news that the white house will brief the partisan gang of aet on the bounty issue today that is, the democratic and republican leaders of the house and senate and the chairman and ranking members of the house and senate intel communities. also senator mitch mcconnell was asked if he would support new sanctions on russia, he didn't ans

anthony fauci and cdc's robert redfield. the officials wrote in part this. while it remains unclear how long the pandemic will last, covid activity will likely continue for some time. if there is covid-19 and flu activity at the same time, this could place a tremendous burden on the health care system related to bed occupancy, laboratory needs, personal protective ee kwipgs, and work health care safety. >>> still ahead, the latest from clul. the senate is set to vote on the bill. your first look at morning joe is back in a moment. - [narrator] the shark vacmop combines powerful suction with spray mopping to lock away debris and absorb wet messes, all in one disposable pad. just vacuum, spray mop, and toss. the shark vacmop, a complete clean all in one pad. wherelove...feels the same. truths are universal joy... is a joint expression, and health... is an essential need for all. yet with so much we share, there's one thing we don't: around our world, millions live in places with little to no access to hospitals. at mercy ships, we've made it our mission to cha

this comes from a conversation recently with the new national security adviser robert o'brien. trying to restart talks that stalled last year in october, in europe. haven't had movement lately. trump trying to work on his personal relationship with president kim. he speaks fondly of him, talks about the communications at the summit meeting hoping to use that relation to get things moving again and o'brien tells us somewhat optimistic about chances for new talks. remember, the christmas surprise never happened. a lot of talk, what kind of christmas present north korea would give to the world. phrasing for a new nuclear test. there wasn't one of those. o'brien is optimistic because no nuke colors test over the holidays may be open to communications again. and in the future remember what a former national security adviser john bolton said recently. the trump administration tried to talk with north korea and time to admit nothing will come of them. >> and a focus group with pennsylvania voters. what was their reaction to president trump's decision to order the killing of iran's top

. >>> national security adviser robert o'brien says he's seen no evidence that russia is seeking to aid the president's reelection but said reports that russia is trying to boost bernie sanders' presidential campaign were, quote, no surprise. >> there are these reports that they want bernie sanders to get elected president. that's no surprise. he honey mooned in moscow. the president trump has rebuilt the american military to an extent we haven't seen since ronald reagan. i don't think it's any surprise that russia or china or iran would want somebody other than president trump. >> have you seen analysis from the intelligence community that shows that one of their aims is to help president trump. >> i haven't seen that. i've seen the reports from that briefing at the intel committee, i wasn't there, but i've seen no intelligence that suggests that. i've also heard from the briefers that that's not what they intended the story to be. so, look, who knows what happened over at the house and the intelligence committee, but i haven't seen any evidence that russia is doing anything to attempt

compelled susan collins in a note to chief justice roberts that led him to admonish jerry nadler. a step too far, and put off by rhetoric congressman schiff has been using. a fine line making sure you can speak to the democratic base and get through to wavering republicans. >> a coverup on national television, a different thing to use it on the senate floor. >> right. reprimanded by the chief justice. >> ask you quickly preparing for the president's defense getting under way tomorrow. what do we expect to hear? the overarching defense theory or strategy? >> key thing to think about in the defense, you won't hear a lot of it. don't expect republicans to use all 24 hours. similar to the last impeachment of president clinton. defense didn't use a lot of time. a lot of republicans don't want to do this. a quick time. nobody wants to watch this on a saturday. >> give us prediction of timing on this thing? >> they don't get the votes on witnesses, could be over in a little, about a week. >> wow. end of next week? >> make that number four so important. >> all right. always a pleasure. gr

anthony fauci, fda commissioner steven hahn and cdc director robert redfield are in quarantine. the vice president laid low over the weekend, but his office now says he will not self-quarantine and does plan to be at the white house today. "the washington post" reports that all white house staffers received a memo from the white house management office on friday encouraging employees to, quote, practice maximum telework and to work remotely if at all possible. but the paper reports this, several administration officials say white house staffers were encouraged to come into the office by their supervisors. here is one of the president's senior economic advisers, kevin hassett, discussing his concerns about working in the cramped west wing. >> it is scary to go to work. you know, i was not part of the white house in march. i think that i'd be a lot safer if i was sitting at home than i would be going to the west wing. but i think everybody knows going to work, you've been in the west wing. it's a small, crowded place. it's a little bit risky. but you have to do it because you have