Oil prices rise amid renewed U.S.-Iran strikes

0:00Hey everybody, it's Rachel Maddo here. Forgive me popping in deer feed like this, but I want to tell you that more than a dozen of us from MSNOW are gonna be in Texas on Saturday, September 26th. I'm gonna be there. Lauren Soudon will be there. So will Jen Saki and Stephanie Rool and Ali Velshi and Chris Hayes and Jacob Soberoff and Simone Sanders Townsend and and and a whole bunch of us are all gonna be there in Texas. Tickets started just over 30 bucks each. It's in Arlington just outside Dallas. There's a ton to do there. If you come you'll get to meet all of us. You'll also get to meet everybody else there. All these other great people from our great MSNOW community. We'd love to see you. And if you buy a ticket to the Texas event, you will get access to our new MSNOW membership free for a year. We're really excited about it. It launches later this summer. You'll be able to talk with me, talk with some of the other hosts, but tickets for Texas are on sale now. You can learn more at ms.nail slash together. Hope to see you in Texas. Yeah, as soon as I hugged him, I seen he was crying already and I was like, man, I know.

1:00I've been there. I've been there twice to be fair. Well, some five, obviously, you know, I wasn't serving for it for the maximum extent. But he's young and he hasn't been there. We're super tight. Like we've always had great relationship. We laugh and joke all the time. He's like one of my good buddies on tour and I know how much that hurts. I know how much you wanted it today. Something that you dream about. So I was told and broke. I know, but you won't be here so many more times, man. And I'm going to be in a rocking chair when you do so. So. Francis Tiafo talking about his post match hug with fellow American Alex Mikkelsen, who he eliminated yesterday at the US Open after Mikkelsen was just a few points away from advancing to his first ever grand slam semi-finity. And you were there to last. I was there for the match after. Right. But this one went so long that I walked into this incredible moment that last shot. Good morning. Welcome to Morning Joe. It's Wednesday, September 9th, along with Joe,

2:02Willie and me. We have the co-host of our eight-hims to our staff writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire. MSNOW, National Security Reporter David Road and managing editor at the Bullworks. Sam Stein is with us. Right. Sam's up to it. Sam's all ready. You can have a job interview with me. He does have one. You know, you're asking it. You're asking it. Yeah. Perhaps school wins one day. One day we're all out. No. Cold, tough, world, tough. Sam, it's going to be okay. You're all sharp. The oldest, the oldest, all this, prepschool grad. He's the door. He's something you can get into Dartmouth. He's my flat. You know what? Don't think green is Sam. It's something else. You're eligible. You're going to love that orientation. They take you on a camping trail. It's very nice. Very nice. Just to be clear, all these guys are talking simultaneously. And it's impossible to hear you. I know what you're saying. Yeah. You're asking… That's what he was saying. Yeah. Exactly, that's what he said. That's what he said. That's what he said. That's what he said. That's what he said. That's what he said. That's what he said. íasas. So whatever else you'd like to be.

3:02Besides him we already recognised him as Sam. Yeah. If we're gonna die in two years. That's what he tried to achieve. That's what he made. I know Christians, either ancestors or всего, I know Christians. I know that Christian men, Christians ands family offend artists, because of treatment and upkeep prank produced by your family at the time, to live you where they live in an old office with him. And he learns tennis. And here we are. He's now going into the semi-finals of the US open. Willie, that is the American dream. A lot of people in the White House don't understand it, not getting politically or they don't like these stories. They don't understand these stories. They think these people from other countries should be kept out. No, no, this is America. This is what makes our hearts swell with pride to see that in America anything is possible. It's family refugees from war and Sierra Leone. So they fled to the United States. His father, as you said, was a custodian. At a tennis center, they built it out. Tiafone, his twin brother lived there.

4:04Just took up tennis because it was there and look at him now in the semi-finals of the US open with a chance to clear a hurdle. He hasn't been able to get over now. He will play in the semi-final, Shelton. Come on, man. Who? And Max Lai. And Max did it. It's 3.33 AM. Eastern. I'm just leaving the worth an inch. That's right. We stopped by. We were in flushing anyway. Of course. It was probably. Shelton wins. Beats Alchoraz in five sets. Max is four hours and 30 minutes. By the way, still a lot of people there. 3.30 in the morning, impressive crowd. Just an incredible match. Now we get an all-American semi-final. Tiafone Shelton, Guaranteen John. We get an American in the men's final this weekend. We don't long overdue an American make that run. It's a Maittiafo. It's such an extraordinary story. And that was such a critical match. And yet, maybe not the best of the day. That's how good last night was, too. I will note, and not just to be a grumpy guy who has to get up early. These matches start a little bit late. Yeah, really. It's scheduled to start at 10.30. No, I know. Yeah, it's going to be. It doesn't make it.

5:04And that can't be good for television ratings. That can't be good to grow the sport. People are missing these matches. But yes, we talk about it every year. The US Open arguably is the best two weeks. The New York sports calendar. And it has more than lived up to the hype. We've got two Americans there. We've got Americans alive on the women's side as well. I mean, imagine that you had one of those matches prime time T.A.F. Open. I know. And then that one prime time tonight, everybody would be watching. Even the semi finals this Friday night, the second men's semi-finals beover at midnight. Oh, yeah. And something like that. But on the women's side, Jessica Pagula advanced. So she's in the semi-finals has to play Saba Linka again. And you might get Coco Goss if she wins today. She could be in the semi-season. You know, it's crazy. They show the stat every year and every year. I mean, for people that are a bit more casual, tennis watchers like myself, they show the stat that no American is won a major since 2003. That's crazy. Andy Rodic. Right? US Open way back. Gosh. Go on on 25 years then. One year after year, incredible one.

6:072002, Willie wins the Open. Nobody saw that coming. We were eliminated very early in doubles though. We were. We just didn't have the stamina. And we should not have been smoking in between sets. Well, the problem was I walked in the court and I had to cut off chains and keep on trucking T-shirt. I was in the same win. I thought Sam won. I think Sam won. He wasn't even going to change the junior season. OK. He's still in the junior season. I can't share, I think. Playing for Lane Pissie. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. All right, let's get to that. He is grumpy to do. Let's get to the news. Can we please be in the United States military says it destroyed five Iranian oil tankers yesterday in response to Iran's recent attempted attacks on a US Navy warship, the latest back and forth, comes as the war stretches into its seventh month. US Central Command released this video of the strikes saying they hit four of Tehran's tankers in the Gulf of Oman and one near Kharg Island, a hub for Iranian oil exports.

7:09The statement said the crews of the five vessels were told to abandon ship before the attacks. In response, Iran launched missiles toward American targets in Jordan. With Jordan's military saying its air defense systems intercepted 18 ballistic missiles, while two others fell in unpopulated areas. This renewed cycle of strikes is one that may continue. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters yesterday during his troop to Columbia that the US would respond every time Iran targeted its naval ships. All of this sending oil prices back up, reaching $100 a barrel this morning for the first time in months. You know, David, if the president's kind of pursued the strategy, he's going to pursue which is to really choker on off economically. That's really his only good play left. This does make sense.

8:09I mean, he's hitting economic targets right now. And you're getting the first glimpse over the past couple of weeks of the Iranians starting to say we've got in this war. Certainly, the political leaders trying to get the revolutionary guard to understand that this economy is in full cl- I mean, this is a crazy thing. The Iranian Iran's government was buckling because their economy was so bad in February. Yes. When this war began, now imagine how terrible the economy is right now. And with these strikes, again, it's bad news for American consumers, but at the same time, this appears to be the only path this president or any president could go down that finds themselves in this quandary. It does seem to be a clear strategy and it is having an impact. They've stopped all exports of oil from Iran in terms of taking out these tankers. But so Iran is trying again to escalate this escalation dominance thing we talked about

9:11in the beginning of the war where whenever the US strikes something, they hit back even harder. But many people say this is the first consistent strategy in a while. You're going to see oil prices go up, hitting $100 a barrel. And essentially the Iranians think that Trump at some point is going to blink. He and we'll talk about this more, but it's the same thing. But I thought knowing Donald Trump has I've known him for a long time. A lot of other observers thought he would have blinked a long time ago. He tried to blink. He tried to bribe the Iranians and then he learned very quickly. They couldn't even be bribed for $500 billion. So at that point, what choice do you have? Yes. And I would just say the critical thing is that he stick to a clear message. The eradicating messaging where it's sort of, we're going to annihilate you with the civilization or they suddenly are going into peace talks. If he sticks with this embargo strategy, which I think is something the US military has been pushing, that's the question is can he be consistent for weeks and months?

10:13And John, there was a moment before David Ignatius went on break that David brought up yesterday where the president said, basically we're going to keep our head down. We're going to kind of low key this and see what happens. If you sort through all of the madness and all of the chaos that came after that to now, that's actually, if you look at what's been going on, that sort of been the strategy as far as choking them off economically. Yeah, I mean, we're greedy on the curve here, but in terms of message discipline, Trump has largely stuck to this idea that what's going to be this economic chokehold and will hit as needed. But I mean, we're not seeing tweets and say, peace is at hand. No, we, oh my gosh, we have a peace still. It's going to be signed on Sunday. It's been a while since that. That's not. And we've also, they've also stopped the talk of like wiping out their civilization and we've had a praise beat to Allah in a few weeks either. The problem is it's still two competing goals here for this white house. On one hand, there is this, this economic strategy, which is going to be a longer term

11:15play. It's going to take a while to, you know, the roll out the sanctions that this chokehold because the Tehran has shown a remarkable resilience so far with their economy. And frankly, they don't much care if their people are suffering. So there's, that's one, that's going to take a while. The problem is the clock is sticking towards the midterms. And as David just said, this strategy, though it's probably his best play, though it's, though it very well, some of his nervous think this could work, it's going to keep oil prices high. And if there are these sporadic strikes, Willie, it's going to keep the war in the headlines, which is the last thing Republicans want now two months until voters go to the polls. Another dishonor of Trump is trying to turn the page for months on this war. I'm just looking over David's shoulder at the prices there. Crude $95 a barrel. Brent crude $100 a barrel Sam Stein. So obviously, this is an economic strategy at this point from the White House, but as the guys just said, just to underline it by attacking those oil tankers, the price of oil goes up, making President Trump's domestic problems even worse, making gas prices higher here for people going to the pump and making Republicans running for re-election

12:17this fall, making their job much more difficult. Yeah, and I don't disagree with anything that was said, but I guess the only question I have is to what end are we doing this, right? What does the offering actually look like? We had a memorandum of understanding that was pretty vague in terms of its objectives. Is the idea here regime change? Is it weapons inspectors getting access to sites? Is it ending formally the nuclear ambitions? I mean, what is the actual end game? I think that matters here because if we are going to do this long-term economic focus strategy, if we are going to just rest on an embargo, attack their oil tankers and endure the pain at the pump, there has to be some sort of diplomatic offering. And from everything I've seen, it's unclear if there's actually diplomatic backchannels happening in real diplomatic backchannels, not these sort of talks here and there. And also a stated clear list of objectives that we want to get done. After that, this is just a crisis in Stasis, right?

13:17Right, it is, David. I would guess that looks though at the end, this straight up and the status quo after the war that we had before the war. So Iran can't run around saying we've actually improved our standing economically since somewhere that's number one and number two. Some sort of nuclear inspection, Donald Trump won't get rid of the Iranian nuclear program but if they can go back to some sort of inspection regime, then he can say we won. Yes, and there are players just in Sam's question, the Qataris are trying to work this out. The Pakistanis and the Omani's are as well. And you have a divide in the Iranian government. The hardliners do think that Trump will blink and be erratic. And we are here because of five, six months of just mixed messaging. This strategy could have been settled on much sooner and we'll see if the president can stick to it. And you're writing about the uprising, the Trump called for, and Iran never happened why? So, and this is more critical of the president, my apologies, but I talked to six current

14:18and former US officials and the president who started calling again for an uprising. It's sort of a microcosm for the entire war. It was completely rushed and there was sort of no thorough planning. These six officials called me this idea of an uprising in the way the US approach that and the Israelis to be fair. It was rushed, amateurish, not realistic, flawed from the beginning and a fantasy. And it's been a messaging problem with the president. He initially called for this in the February 28th speech for them to rise up. And then he starts changing his messaging immediately in March where he's suddenly saying also that there's going to be an incursion by armed Kurds from Iraq. But then President Erdogan of Turkey pushes back against that and he sort of calls that off all of a sudden. He then sort of after calling for Iranian's to rise up, he says, well, we're not sure people should go out in the streets and he correctly is warning about, you know, in the problem, of course, is the Iranian government governing, governing, I'm sorry, gunning people down. And so essentially this failed.

15:18It's just a microcosm of the president's messaging being off. And then there's the key question of what did Netanyahu promise here? Did the massage say we're going to be able to quickly stoke a massive uprising? And it would have taken ending an internet blackout in Iran. You'd need some army units to switch over to the side of them and then this possible Kurdish incursion. So it's just again a tragedy for the Iranian people that was a result of a rushed war in Fort Black. You didn't have to look far though, David. It'd been what a month, six weeks before that when young Iranians did take to the streets at the beginning of this year and were by some estimates, gunned down in numbers up to 30 or 40,000. So did they not look at that and say, well, an uprising just because we've decapitated the top of the government is not going to work here. There's a one former CIA official who supports what the president is doing, wants to see this regime, you know, fall in Iran. But the moment was then in January, we didn't do that because our carriers and other forces were in Venezuela.

16:20We had, we couldn't do it then. We didn't have enough forces. So it's again, this kind of going to war too quickly over estimating what we can achieve, over estimating what our service members can carry out. And instead, you know, fewer things over longer times, a clearer focus will lead to more success. All right, President Trump is set to deliver the keynote speech and closing remarks tonight at the first of its kind Republican midterm convention in Dallas. The two-day event is part of an effort to mobilize donors for no longer. November's elections that will decide if the GOP stays in control of Congress. Thank you for the music. Night one is expected to highlight Republican policies. Wait. The Patriots are coming out of the Navy. Patriots in the sea. Rematch. I'm like, this is a re-intouch of the Super Bowl in prime time. This is a great, Mike Turekot. I'm a sure enough, I'm a sure enough. I'm a sure enough, Mike Turekot. No one's going to watch the NFL. So what you're going to have here is beta-mails watching the Republican Convention and

17:22Alphamel watching the Republican Convention. Wait, and this is like an oxymoron or something. And some people, why is this a lot of beta-mails participating in the game against that? They're going to be talking about Republican policies on health care? Really? That's going to be great. Are they going to remind people that so much health care was taken away from them? They can't afford it and women don't have access to life-saving health care? Probably so. That's going to be a great convention. And do you think that those going to come out and play the role of Taylor or they would come sterilize? Picture show and seeing sweet trends. Great platform. There's so many, so many Republican senators. I can feel that. It's talk about moral hospitals. That's a good one too. I'm sorry, you wanted to go to Vaughn, I believe, but I just had some interest in it. I know we were talking about Republicans and their platform. Being beta-mails and the Rocky Horror Quature. They're quite beta. That's probably going to be the opening of the whole convention. That'd be smart. Yeah. We'd be on brand. Yeah. I mean, they tried to keep it off brand. So. I'm alpha. I'm alpha. But we're going to be watching.

18:22Oh, yeah. Da, da, da, da, da. Football. It's America, maybe. So how do you feel about the healthcare? The Patriots will be good. Yeah. They bolster their offense, but look, I met last year. They were the product of a pretty soft schedule. That's not the case this year. It's a brutal run. Yeah. And starting. Not as brutal. Not as brutal. Not as brutal the run as a coach had of not a season. I don't know what you're talking about. That was a brutal run. Not as brutal. Not as brutal. I don't know what you're talking about. But, yes, opening up in the other teams building the team that just beaching the football as they raised the banner. I mean, that's motivating. That's, that's a tough one for our wheel. Yeah, that's a tough last night. Back to Texas. Back to Texas. You can go back. You can go back. You can go back. Yeah, yeah. We'll think of also when their platform on health care talk about how they don't want people to get vaccinated. That's a good one too. This could be a fun night. It's really crazy. It's an out-of-the-song. I get the program. All my betas are in Texas. Yeah. Really, like they're going there. Fun, yeah? No, they are going there. And then we get, you know, this was a funny, they're all like attacking Tallariko.

19:22Oh, he's paid a, you know, like whatever. He's a talented guy. Tallariko. He's running against maybe the worst politician. If you've ever seen a worst politician on a national level, entitled by his own party that Ken Paxen, but Tallariko, Tallariko, he's moving people. I think Republicans have a real blind spot there. It's going to be a close race. Texas, again, usually fools, golds for Democrats. We'll see if this year's different. You should say Tallariko handles the dumb nickname questions better than anyone. I've seen do it. Maybe the president of other or some others, but the way he just completely deflects the dumb nicknames are going to bring out care. Love it. I'm going to lower braces all that stuff. All right. Now, see your White House reporter. Vaughn Hilliard is there. Vaughn, there's been so much consternation about this. Should Republicans go? Will they go? Donald Trump speaking on both nights. What do you expect to see there in the arena? Right, Willie. This is kind of a byproduct of the 10-year story that we've been covering of Donald Trump

20:26shaping their Republican Party in its image. Tonight is going to be a byproduct of that. And the fact that you have vulnerable Republicans, John Hughes said from Ohio, Mike Rogers from Michigan, you have Ken Paxson trying to hold on and win a Senate seat here in Texas, all coming here. And that is because they understand, and they believe, that they need Donald Trump's help in convincing us wath of the American public to come and vote over the next 55 days. If you take the state of Michigan, early ballots go out in just 10 days from now. But it's not just those candidates like Mike Lawler, another House vulnerable candidate that are here in Dallas, but you also have the likes of Scott Besent, the Treasury secretary. You have Todd Blanch set to deliver a speech here. This is more than just a political campaign event. This is an administration event coming off the heels of an increase in tension in Iran, of the rise in gas prices, of inflation and food and domestic prices continuing to remain high as the president escalates his trade war with Canada.

21:30But I just got to tell you guys, walking into this arena here in the heart of Dallas here this morning. You don't see pictures of Mike Rogers lining the concourse that folks, thousands of folks are going to be walking past. You see an image of Donald Trump, an image of Donald Trump, an image of Donald Trump, in our credentials here. Everybody's got different pictures of Donald Trump. And so it's more of a Donald Trump show than it is any of these House Senate candidates. Wow. That's it. That's it. What's he going to do that I can give a speech attacking? With someone? Lichtenstein, right. Or maybe Luxembourg. I don't know. Get some jobs in. Yeah. I always fight people at dinner parties. He loves to get him stuff. I almost beat him up. It's so rare to have him. Don't you love forests? I do too. MS now, senior White House reporter Von Hill. Hey, Vaughn, let me ask you. Yeah. Judy, like tonight, the Patriots are the Seahawks.

22:31I think we're going to stick out West. We'll go with the Seahawks. But Dallas, they're actually not going to be here in town. I know they're going over to be across the Hudson over at the Medallans. So Dallas, they get to focus on one thing here. And that's this. Yeah. Are you an Arizona Cardinals fan? I am an Arizona Cardinals fan for that's what that's worth. We get one win this year. I think we're going to be in a decent place. Okay. Well, we can talk. I'm a Falcon's fan. So God bless you, my son. God bless you. All right, thank you, Vaughn. Say hi, Monica. Still ahead on Morning Joe. President Trump has added a new claim to his disputed account of what took place on September 11th following the terror attacks of the Lord of Manhattan. What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? Did he fight? Did he fight? I said, I'm scared. White snow is like Superman. What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? What did he say? You know what, Maestra Day. A mid-two competing court orders will run through that legal fight.

23:34And now, as we go to break a quick look at the Traveler's forecast this morning from AccuWeathers Berney Reino. Berney how's it looking? Meakeh. It's going to be a wet morning from Detroit towards Chicago. Some thunderstorms this afternoon, though. Set loose toward Indianapolis. Dracula the forecast calling for a bit more humidity along east coast with increasing clouds. the New Thunderstorm Burlington Albany Buffalo. We'll have the usual Thunderstorm Florida and East Texas. The rest of the southeast is just hot and dry. Travel delays we're gonna have them today in Miami and across the Florida Peninsula, but not along these coasts. They help you make the best decisions and be more in the know, download the Accu with the rep. Today. Home to the Rachel Maddo Show. Morning Joe, the briefing with Jen Socky and more voices you know and trust. MS now is your source for news, opinion and the world. Learn more at MS.Now.

24:37Is that you? Uh, that's Eddie Sullivan. He's my brother-in-law. He, uh, he died on September 11th. Oh my gosh. Oh, I'm so sorry. Yeah. Terrible. He was in the building? No, no, he was uptown on 57th Street. He got hit by a bike messenger. So awful. Uptown? Yeah, yeah. Bike messenger. Hit him. What a shame. Later on, Larry says that's wrong. And then the skill fight breaks out between the two. So perhaps out of the plot from curbure enthusiasm, there's a reason we showed that clip. President Trump yesterday gave a new account

25:39of what he says happened in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks. Speaking at a ceremony yesterday, honoring those killed, Trump said he went to Lower Manhattan shortly after the attacks and claimed to firefighters, physically carried him to safety when a nearby building appeared ready to collapse. I'll never forget two firemen. We thought it was coming down on top of us and two firemen, big, strong guys. And I'm not the smallest guy in the world. They grabbed me under the arm, and said, gotta get out of here. And they literally lifted me up. This is not easy to do. I'm big. They lifted me up and they started running with me. They said, fellas, I can run myself, but they were amazing, but they thought it was coming down. It didn't come down. Wait, what in the world? Trump has made similar claims about his presence at ground zero for years. Yet there is no evidence supporting the account

26:39that firefighters carried him from the site. A photograph of Trump dated September 18th, 2001, has also circulated online as supposed evidence. He was heavily involved in the recovery effort. Though accounts of his role at the site have been disputed. Of course, we're coming up on, wow, is it the 25th? Wow, anniversary of 9-11. That's great. Sam Stein, your thoughts on the president's accounts? I mean, I have questions when they picked him up and carried him. Is it under each shoulder? Did one of them grab the ankles and the other one grabbed the arms? Like, what is he talking about here? How did this happen? I would love some photographic or video evidence. And on a more serious note, it's like, that's kind of blasphemous in a way, right? Yeah. To put himself at the center of the, it's very unbranded, of course, to put himself as the central character

27:40in this tragic event. But he's done this for years and there's just no evidence to substantiate the claims. Now, he did go down to the site afterwards. There's definitely video evidence of that. But to add on these flourishes that, the building was about to collapse and these two guys had to lift him up and run him out of there, it's someone necessary. And it really is, frankly, demeaning to the people who were there, who did die, who did flee further safety. Never came forward. And the fact that he doesn't know that, the fact that he can't comprehend that, or maybe he does and he still tells these fibs anyway, it really says a lot about the guy. Yeah, I mean, when you think about Dave, what people actually experienced that day and he did come out yesterday in a post where he attacked people who were criticizing him yesterday for the story and saying it wasn't the day of, it was later. But just to be in the mindset, we're talking about 9-11, which is so sacred to most of us and to insert yourself somehow in the story, we know, infamously, he was in Midtown Manhattan

28:42on September 11th. He called into Channel 9, W-W-O-R, was talking through it for 45 minutes and said, well, now my building, 40 Wall Street, is the tallest in Lower Manhattan. That was his immediate reaction to the story. Also told him, he was giving honor yesterday to the man with the Red Bandana Wells Crowder, who we found out after a rescue in so many people and ultimately died that day and he paused to say, he's more famous than I am now. I don't like that. He's more famous than I am. Just this inability to feel a sacred moment and to insert himself into it. He was in Trump Tower when he gave that radio interview. That's four miles from Ground Zero, four miles. And then I was there, several of us were there that day. I was standing in two blocks away as the building's burned. When the South Tower came down, I ran for my life. And then when the second one came down again, I was there all day. I worked with a photographer at Ground Zero. You think of all those workers who were searching for bodies. He died of cancer several years ago. His name was Ed Keating. He took this amazing picture of a T-Set covered in dust. T-Sets now in the 9-11 museum.

29:44He's gone because he tried. He spent weeks and months there documenting the cleanup. So it is, I think, insulting. And you have thousands of Americans who died in Afghanistan. There hasn't been a major terrorist attack on this country in 20 years. That's their credit. So it's extraordinary to have a president making this claim. And that last, that picture of him, that's September 18th. That's a week later. That's 40 Wall Street. That's many, many blocks from Ground Zero. You couldn't get in. Jonathan, I know you were there also. Mika, that was just false. Yeah. And Mika was down there. By the way, on cancer victims coming out of 9-11, I saw a report yesterday. I'm sure I'll have you to more people have died of cancer following 9-11 that were on the side around the site than died on that day. And of course, the government lying through their teeth to people telling that it was safe when they were down there. Mika was down there from the beginning.

30:47Randown had just been hired by CBS News. Rand from 57th Street all the way down there. And was like you, when the building first building collapsed, turned around with her coworker and Rand to find shelter. And so Mika, I don't have to even ask you whether you saw Donald Trump down there. You were down there for what, two weeks, three weeks, right? That's five. Five weeks, right? Yeah. Five weeks straight. And what's interesting is, and I'm just curious, just on a personal note, all these people died of cancer. You from day one, you wrapped a cloth around your mouth and nose. It just seems like the thing to do. Well, we ran by Rand Pitson. I ran from that rolling cloud of debris when the tower came down. And you just think about it. That entire building is in there, everything. And so it didn't seem safe. And we ended up actually wearing gas masks at times

31:51during our coverage and just took them off to do our reports. But yeah, there was a lot of concern, especially for the people who worked for months and months and months in the pit. They suffered long-term injuries. I mean, there's so many, so many incredibly tragic stories that came out of that day and the thousands of people who just didn't go home on that beautiful, beautiful, first day of school feeling September morning. I can't imagine making up stuff about it. I just, that is as low as it gets. And John, you were... That's needy. You were down there, obviously, as well. It, on the side of this, that more people have now died, of cancer from being down there than actually on the day of the attack itself. The government, the federal government, state, and the law, everybody lied about this. They all said it was safe, not to worry about it.

32:52Thank God, Meekah was wearing a mask and some other people were wearing masks down there. But those who didn't, chances are very good. They got cancer. And I guess Mamdani has ordered the release of documents showing how much the government lied. Yeah, that's the story that Willie just held up. The city hall this week is releasing a trove of documents, thousands of thousands, concerning the air quality at ground zero in the days and weeks, months after September 11th. And they weren't very... They were not forthcoming at the time. Yes, there were some warnings at time. You may or truly, I remember once, I urge people to wear masks, but those warnings were sporadic. A lot of people didn't. I was down there, not as long as Meekah, but I was down there for some time as well, had a mask for part of it. There were, there are now thousands of people who have died. And people who are still very sick to this day, that number's only going to grow. People who have gotten sick from cancer because of their time there at ground zero. It is hard to believe it is 25 years. It is not hard to believe, sadly, that President Trump would try to make himself part of his story in a way that was simply not true. We're going to talk more about the 25th, 25 years later,

33:52after 9-11 with Hillary Clinton, who's going to join us tomorrow morning. We're going to take a brief break. We'll have more news for you. Morning, Joe, continues in just a moment. Join MS now live in Texas for our biggest event yet, with Rachel Maddo, Chen Zaki, Michael Steele, and more. MS now live together in Texas, September 26th. Get tickets today at ms.now slash together. I've shot a New York City, the 2026 NFL regular season kicks off tonight for the first time since 2016. Opening night is a rematch of the Super Bowl, the defending champion Seahawks, hosting the New England Patriots, kick off 820 Eastern on NBC. Can I just say, you know, last year, throughout the entire season, of course, our wonderful computer picked the top five teams throughout the entire year. It was amazing. Yeah. The Seahawks, I kind of draw parallel between the Seahawks and Spain and the World Cup, right?

34:56Nobody really at the beginning said, this is the team, wow, they're great. Look at all the stars. You know, but by the end, you're going, oh my God, this is a team. They play together as a team. They think move, breathe as a team. I mean, the Seahawks were an extraordinary example of a team that won by being a team, not a collection of superstars. It was really inspiring. Great defense. I think part of that was a lot of people weren't sold on Sam Darnold. Yeah. We've seen him be good, but both seen him be bad. And he was good all season. Was great through the playoffs. Yeah. When the Super Bowl, they played a night joining. It's now a Pulitzer prize when he hosts a publicatory finds out MS now, a concerted publicatory. And senior writer for ESPN Seth Wickersham. He's author of the new book, Be On That Hill. Stories from the Summits of Sport, which comes out later this month. Guys, good morning. Good to see you both. I'm tired, man. You were, did you stay up and watch? I fell asleep. US Open, we're talking during Alker, Washington. But I'm enjoying the post game show,

35:56because that ended at 3.30. Yeah. And you roll right into this. That's a particularly good thing. Before we talk about, let's talk about what happened last night at the US Open. I mean, just extraordinary first cell TFO, and then Shelton. TFO was dramatic enough. And I apologize for postponing America's past time by talking about the tennis. But when you have a thing that ends at 3.30, and it starts at 11, what a failure of programming scheduling. And yet, part of the myth that you get to enjoy, because Carlos Alkeraz is the best. The best? The best, speaking of great things coming out of Spain. Yeah. And he gets upset by an American who gets to now help ensure that there will be, in fact, an American in the final, the men's final of the US Open. And that's no small thing at, you know, Arthur Ashe Stadium. So a delight. And no doubt. The US Open understands that New York at night, like those matches are special. That's the magic. But Mike, I'm just going to put it out there. That could be 7 PM or 8 PM. It doesn't have to be.

36:57Yeah. It's very hard. It's very hard. I know what to do. We do. I was there. I had to leave. It was impossible. I was. I would have. It was very, very flushing. But I mean, Shelton and Alker, these guys were barfing into their towels. Oh my gosh. So do we have a chance to win for the first time since 2003? Win a major? I think it's, I think this might be it. If not now, then when? So, you know, if not them, then who? That's right. See Safeway Day, as they say. Of course. Willie, that is what they say. Yes, I guess. Let's talk about football. No offense to the US Open. Yes, very helpful. We're here now. It's football season. What do we think about the match up tonight, Seth? Super Bowl rematch. Yeah, it's weird to have a Super Bowl rematch happen so soon. There's a lot going on in Seattle. Obviously, they have new owners. The node coastal bought the team for $9.6 billion. This off season, the league was hoping to get $10 billion. They settled for $9.6. And, you know, I think that like walking into that stadium in that atmosphere as defending

38:00Super Bowl champions would be hard for anybody to come into. But especially the Patriots, having just been kind of clocked by that team. Why don't we do a buzz saw? I think it's going to be tough. As soon as the pay goes for a match, it's a fun. Every time I come on, I have to deliver a bad pay. What's really do? Seth, you're not going to buy that. I went up in the door, even wider for you to go through it. Oh, here we go. And this won't even be about what's happened to Tom Brady and his fashion choices, like light stone choices. I have choices. These live choices. We'll just talk about the Patriots. We're the Patriots. We're the Patriots, the recipients of good fortune last year because of an easy schedule. Or is this a team that's going to be solid again and make the playoffs again? They'll be solid again. I mean, look, they benefited from what they benefited from. I think it helped them a lot that the team they played in the AFC Championship game lost at the starting quarterback three plays before the end of its previous game.

39:00But they're going to contend this year. I mean, they have good players. They just signed Christian Gonzalez to a big contract. Yeah. I think Drake May will keep improving. The coaching staff is intact. Nothing happened to that coaching staff. Well, nothing happened. I think it'll matter with the game and you know, the Patriots. Yeah. Nice boring. Very boring. Very quiet. Yeah. But like, look, they're going to be there. But I think the interesting thing is every year there's a team like the Patriots that kind of comes out of nowhere like Seattle last year that you were talking about that isn't necessarily the preseason favorite. And I'm curious who that'll be this year. Yeah. First, I do think the Pats will be good. They got a round that are the dogs that the weapons around Drake may who I believe in. They're going to be very good. The defense should be good. I'm glad they locked up Gonzalez. No doubt. They'll take a step back this year because they don't have that schedule and your rights at that part of the beauty of the NFL. There are these teams coming out of nowhere. In fact, it's really rare to have one team be deemed a prohibited favorite. But we have one this year. The Rams are considered the team because they tried, traded for Miles Garrett, Aaron

40:04Dawg came out of retirement. They are considered with staffer and the weapons they have. They're considered the favorites, but those favorites don't tend to win. Super teams don't always work in the NFL. Well, it worked last time with the Rams. I mean, as we all remember. And in the book, I actually have a story about Sean McVey. I spent a ton of time with him that off season after he had won it all. And I think the interesting thing, I mean Sean is a tortured soul and he can go to some dark, dark, dark places. And I think that it's a particular challenge when you go through a season and every win is a relief. And not rather than just kind of enjoying it. I'm curious to see. He's done a lot of work on himself both as a coach and as a man. And I'm curious to see how that plays out this year. Well, he was threatening to retire before the Super Bowl. Right. So just Aaron Donald, I'm out. I'm back. Sean McVey, I'm out. I'm back and we're the best. And so there is this like simmering. Are all you guys okay? Like what's going on here? You got to be a top the sport in order to feel satisfied in any regard, which is Brady Esk.

41:04I might even say that. And you will season of Cowboys hype as well. They become like a sexy Super Bowl. This time it's definitely. This time it's definitely. Every single year we have Cowboys. Poor, I don't understand. Is it at all different this year? Maybe. I mean, constitutionally, I, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results as they often say. I don't have an argument as to why that should be any different this year other than, yes, there is a strong team that's going to enter that tunnel. And they will do some Cowboys stuff and we will not be surprised when they do. Do you have a different view of that? I think the Cowboys are the great team to love in August and they're pretty predictable. I mean, let's just be honest. I mean, they are what they are. I mean, I think that like the LA Chargers, that's kind of my, just like her brick. I mean, I think that if I'm too sure, I'm just curious. You're going to be predicting the chiefs when the Super Bowl every week like you did last year.

42:05Travis is very easy. I was going back to ask the computer to please erase some of the files. Yeah. On time. You saved the exceptional. You saved the exceptional. Very long time. Yeah. They're not looking like good, I should say. Yeah. The chiefs relative. I think that they're going to be over. Yeah. Speaking of going to dark, dark, dark, dark places as you said about McVeigh, let's talk about Lane Kenneth. The SEC, really, this is crazy. The SEC is actually talking about taking a vote to kick LSU out of the SEC. In all the years, we followed SEC football. I can't remember. So the presidents and the chancellors of SEC schools are going to be tomorrow to vote on whether to kick LSU out of the SEC. Two thirds of the 16 school conferences teams would have to approve the measure for that to pass. LSU, the peers have given up though on the effort to add two players who were in NFL training camps. ESPN reports the team has finalized its roster now, adding two other players instead of those

43:07former NFL rookies, eliminating the chance they could suit up for the Tigers this season. So maybe through all the bluster and the talk that Lane Kiffen sees this and it's like, okay, I've pushed this far enough. Maybe I'll step back from the break. But the SEC, they put a rule in place, then they got the court in Baton Rouge to say, Lane, you're good, take the NFL players. So the SEC says, okay, if you want to blatantly and want to break our rules, we're going to vote to kick you out of the league. It's not going to happen. Right. They're not going to throw LSU out of the SEC, but sending a clear message. Sending a clear message and also just like, has anyone been in a collective league's heads like Lane Kiffen has been in in 2026? I mean, this is the year of him trolling almost all of college football, but especially the SEC. It'd be interesting to see. I would love to know if he was ever actually going to play those players or if he was just doing it to force opponents to prepare for them or whatever he was going to do. Lane Kiffen, it's funny what he's doing. College football has always been in terms of wanting to have his cake and eat it to hypocritical.

44:08We're not professional sport, but we generate billions of dollars. Lane Kiffen is one of the largest hypocrites in sports. And so the idea of the mirror being held to pseudo professionalism by a guy who has bounced between the NFL and college and is constantly doing things to wear the costume of professionalism. I mean, Joe, he walked out with Theo Vaughn and Livy Dunn, all his influencers, dapping up people like he's, you know, himself is a presidential candidate in an era in which by the way, he is treated as such. And so I get in the resentment, it's justified and it's also a mirror back to everyone else is trying to do the same thing, but less obnoxiously. And that degree is the politics of us. I said it after Deon Sanders won his first game, Colorado, and was jumping around and yelling. I told you so. I told you so. Take the win. Keep your head down. Bebear Bryant said, those bullboys, they should have lost about 65 points and it's all

45:12my fault. And just keep going. Just sticking your head up like that does not just does not pay off, especially in the SEC. It's just a different level of football. They're not big 10 football, obviously, anymore, but it's a different level of football. They will, they will target him. He lives on it though. He did that halftime interview, which the SEC actually cited in the state mini-Sterrey with Holly Row. They were up by 30 and halftime. He said, imagine how much it'd be if we had pro players. I mean, it was winking and joking, but they said see. He's just, he's just the antithesis again. I will say of Bear Bryant or Nick Sabin. Yeah. It's not how you do it. Give us a story to leave with on the one that seems relevant to the start of this NFL season. There's a story that Don Van Nade and I, my colleague, my frequent colleague did on Jerry Jones and Roger Cadill. It's about, it was in 2017. It was crazy to think that Jerry Jones at the time was thinking about suing the NFL to block Roger Cadill's contract extension.

46:14They were so mad at each other and he was so frustrated with the way that Roger Cadill was running the league and you just saw a couple days ago, new four year deal for Roger that'll take him till he's age 72. He's not going anywhere anytime soon and Jerry Jones was one of the chief champions of that deal. Wow. All right. Senior writer for ESPN, Seth McCrusham. Thank you as new book. To be on that hill, stories from the summits of sport is available September 22nd. It's very good to have you on the schedule. Thank you. MS now contributor, Pablo Torrey. Thank you as well. Thanks guys. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Okay. Coming up, we'll dig into President Trump's plummeting approval rating as Americans continue to voice concerns about rising costs in the state of the U.S. economy just ahead of the midterms. Morning Joe is coming right back. Home to the Rachel Maddo show. Morning Joe, the briefing with Jen Saki and more voices you know and trust. MS now is your source for news, opinion and the world.

47:18Learn more at MS.now.