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Manhunt for Charlie Kirk shooter focuses on video of man fleeing rooftop
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Manhunt for Charlie Kirk shooter focuses on video of man fleeing rooftop
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- [00:01]
Jonathan Lemire
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- [00:31]
Willie Geist
Substance use disorder and addiction is so isolating.
- [00:35]
Mika Brzezinski
And so as a black woman in recovery, hope must be loud.
- [00:42]
Willie Geist
It grows louder when you ask for.
- [00:44]
Mika Brzezinski
Help and you're vulnerable. It is the thread that lets you.
- [00:48]
Nicole Wallace
Know that no matter what happens, you will be okay. When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible.
- [00:55]
Ali Vitale
Find out how@startwithhope.com brought to you by the National Council for Mental well Being, Shatterproof and the AD Council.
- [01:03]
Tom Winter
I know you can't say too much here, but is it your understanding that this individual may be close by or still in Utah?
- [01:10]
Nicole Wallace
We have no idea.
- [01:11]
Tom Winter
We're exploring leads for individuals out of.
- [01:14]
Willie Geist
State and individuals that live close by.
- [01:16]
Tom Winter
We literally have persons of interest tips.
- [01:19]
Willie Geist
Coming in on the tip line that are spanning far, far and wide.
- [01:25]
Mika Brzezinski
All right. The commissioner of the Utah Department of Public Safety with a pretty blunt answer last night answer yesterday as the search continue for the suspect who shot and killed Charlie Kirk on Wednesday afternoon. NBC's Tom Winter will join us in just a moment with the latest in the investigation. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Friday, September 12th. With us we have the co host of our fourth hour staff writer at the Atlantic, Jonathan Lemire and Willie still no arrest in the Kirk assassination and a lot of misinformation flying around.
- [02:03]
Jonathan Lemire
Yeah, we're two days out now and still no arrest. Not encouraging. When you hear the head of public safety there saying we have no idea whether this person is in state or out of state. There is an id, some video anyway that they're hoping they can help to make an id. And as you say, there's a lot of bad information flying around. That manhunt still underway this morning for the gunman who killed prominent conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Authorities now urging the public to help identify the shooter. Release releasing new photos and video of the suspect last night offering a reward up to $100,000 for information leading to the ID and arrest of the shooter. Utah Governor Spencer Cox spoke about the search for the suspect during a news conference last night.
- [02:48]
Willie Geist
We also continue to implore the public to support this investigation and come forward with any Information. We are truly hopeful that this video and new photos will lead to even more tips. We are processing. We have an incredible team, a state and team working together to process those tips. We are going out in tandem to interview any potential person of interest or suspects. But we need, again, we need as much help as we can possibly get. There is a tremendous amount of disinformation. We are tracking our team, the state team, and I'm sure the federal team as well. What we're seeing is our adversaries want violence. China, we have bots from Russia, China, all over the world that are trying to instill disinformation and encourage violence. I would encourage you to ignore those, to turn off those streams and to spend a little more time with our families.
- [03:52]
Jonathan Lemire
And some of that bad information was coming though from trusted news sources here in the United States. NBC News correspondent Steve Patterson is in Utah with details. Steve.
- [04:03]
Willie Geist
Guys, good morning. The latest came late last night. Another joint press conference with the FBI with officials from the state of Utah, including Utah Department of Public Safety, detailing a little bit more of the investigative material that they have, including more video. This time we have video from the suspected shooter, the person of interest hopping off of that roof. Obviously they talked about a timeline a little bit earlier. The the person of interest entering a staircase into that building, creating a vantage point from about 175 yards away, firing that fatal shot and then hopping off the roof. Well, they finally showed, of course, evidence of that happening and then hopping down off of the roof where he created these handprints and boot prints. We didn't know where they came from originally. Now we know that was from him actually leaving the scene of the roof, then heading into a wooded area where he apparently dope dump that single action rifle in the woods there. Meanwhile, you know, obviously authorities talking a little bit more about what they have, including 7,000 leads, that's the word that we got from the presser, which would be the largest amount of leads and tips that they've had since the Boston bombing. That's according to state officials. And then 200 reviews, interviews conducted with people on the ground as well. So obviously the information is moving. The investigation is vibrant. They have material that they are working with, but still no suspect in custody at this time. And you can tell that they continue to rely on the public for help because they released another series of photos last night as well. So key, so pertinent to the information that anybody that might know this person gets in contact with the FBI, they're not afraid to ask for Help at this point, this deep into the investigation. We'll send it back to you.
- [05:47]
Mika Brzezinski
All right, let's bring in NBC News national law enforcement and intelligence correspondent Tom Winter. So a lot of unanswered questions, Tom, but what do we know so far and what stands out to you?
- [05:59]
Tom Winter
I think the clearest thing that we know this morning is that investigators are clearly relying upon the public's help. To your point, Mika, there are a lot of questions this morning. We continue to have the questions as to motive, who this person is. Obviously where they could be hearing some very blunt answers from Bo Mason, the Utah Department of Public Safety, to our colleague earlier, this idea that, look, they're not sure where this person is at this point. What they were able to discover over in the overnight hours and during the day yesterday is the path of this individual. You're looking at them coming up the stairwell. They reference this video that they have and these still images that we're getting here overnight and into this morning going up to the roof. So this is on his way up to the roof. Now we have the video after he fires the shot. He's running across right there and then he's going to be jumping down in just a second. Whether or not he's injured after that or not is unclear. TMZ put out a video of him limping through a neighborhood. Appears to show him limping through a neighborhood, but it's not clear whether it was that or maybe he had the rifle on his pants leg. So all a lot of questions here this morning. What we don't get from this video is another clear shot of his face. So this individual has a hat on, they have sunglasses on. That makes it a little bit more difficult. The shirt is fairly unique. You're looking at one of the images right there passed around by the FBI yesterday. So basically they really need the public's help to try to identify this person. There's a lot of technical things that they can do behind the scenes, but those things take time. It's a challenge for them right now. And the palm print potentially really helpful. But if they don't have a nexus to that palm print before, if this was an illegal gun sale, a person to person gun sale, there's not any sort of a fingerprint match for anybody. It could be hard here. These cases do take a while. Remind everybody, Luigi Mangione in New York City, four or five days there, a couple of days for the Boston Marathon bombers. Those were investigations had equal scrutiny.
- [07:54]
Nicole Wallace
So Tom, reset for us in terms of what we know about the evidence that's been recovered. There's a lot of stories flying around yesterday about something that was found. There was ideology attached to it. Later media outlets were backed away from that, although it's been seized upon on the Right. So tell us about that. But also just the fact that this guy is still at large, that clearly a lot of planning went into this. He knew what he was doing, he knew how to get out. Does that give us any sort of clues, if you will, as to whether this guy was trained to do this, how much of his stage operation?
- [08:27]
Tom Winter
What we actually know about this individual right now is very limited. We do have some additional details on the gun. Bolt action rifle. That's an update from yesterday morning when we were talking about this. So that's going to be a rifle that at this range, approximately 200 yards. Somebody could be quite accurate with that. That is not a distance for that rifle. That is a particular challenge for somebody who knew what they were doing. But based on some of the video we started to see emerge from the crime scene yester in some of the still images that were released, it does appear that this individual certainly had a very good sense of where to set up. And the fact that Kirk was covered by a tent and the fact that this was an elevated position, they really needed to know the angle to be able to fire under that tent from farther away. And remember, Kirk was down lower. He was kind of in like a little bit of an amphitheater there, as we saw from the initial video when this shooting happened. So we don't have a lot of details about this person's background. Did they have any sort of prior training, sort of military service? All questions that law enforcement is asking, but the fact that they knew exactly where to go. We see the still images here from the stairwell and then runs from the scene, escapes in a way that would not have been near where police were. Police are going to be. They had six officers at this event. Police are going to be rushing to the scene to help out Kirk number one. But two, try to find this person was able to leave kind of from the back undetected and then walk through the neighborhood where, according to law enforcement, they do have video, a video canvas from the neighborhood where they are able to kind of track this person as he starts to leave. Where he goes from there, as you've heard, is an open question. The statistic that they have that there is as much digital evidence as they had in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Kevin Swindon, who is the now retired special agent, ran the Analysis of that and kind of set that whole program up because the FBI put the phone number out when the Boston Marathon bombing first happened, the phones weren't really ringing. And then they realized that their email system was choked with tips digitally online. And I remember Swindon, we interviewed, walking us through exactly where these images came from and showing us some of the key images from the crowd not captured by press cameras, not captured by video cameras or surveillance cameras that really helped them start to key in on the individuals we now know as the Tsarnaev brothers.
- [10:44]
Mika Brzezinski
So we're looking for that, Willie.
- [10:47]
Jonathan Lemire
So, Tom, we've become so accustomed because our law enforcement is so good and the technology is so strong to people being apprehended quickly because of cameras and all the things that you've been laid out. Just curious what it looks like now as we come up on 48 hours a few hours from now. What does that tell you about where they are in the investigation? And I'm also curious about how many resources are being brought to bear here. Obviously, a high profile assassination from someone beloved by millions of people, but also someone who is a close friend of the president, who clearly is applying downward pressure to get someone apprehended in this case.
- [11:26]
Tom Winter
I'm not sure at this stage. Well, first off, let me back up. The FBI has an evidence response team. The Utah Department of Public Safety has a robust law enforcement operation. They have procedures and plans in place. So as much as everybody would like him to be captured yesterday, the idea that they can go through the 7,000 leads, all of this digital evidence, and do it in a quick fashion, the worst thing you want to do is skip over something to miss something that you already have in your possession. So there are procedures, there are plans in place. It's all very well laid out for them. They bring in agents from other squads or other parts of the FBI. Same with other parts of law enforcement agencies. They surge the resources into this, from a person perspective, to be able to go through this information as fast as possible. But as we learned from the Luigi Mangione investigation, investigation into the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, those things take time. And sometimes you're behind where the person is versus the tips that you're getting. People might be calling in information right now that might have this individual name, but you have to go through each one methodically so you don't skip over somebody that eventually could be your suspect. It takes a while, and I know it sounds frustrating.
- [12:39]
Nicole Wallace
So, Tom, we know that FBI Director Kash Patel now there on scene to help personally respond to this is it. As each hour goes by, you know, what are traditionally anyway, law enforcement, what do they tell you about just how vital it is to find a suspect, make an arrest early? How much harder does it get? The longer it takes, the colder the trail gets.
- [12:58]
Tom Winter
Yeah, it potentially gets harder. However, then the, the scrutiny and the attention from the public also rises. I mean, we're at that stage right now where everybody's kind of like, where is he? Who is this person? Do I know this person? And so for now, as long as the public's attention is focused on it, they've got a pretty good chance. And I think that's the reason why they're putting out these images kind of a little bit more consistently now, trying to update as they get more information because they want this to remain in the public sphere. It's the best way they can to capture. Look, Luigi Mangina was captured in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania, and was spotted by a McDonald's worker who had the wherewithal to try to recognize this guy called police. It was local police that said, you know, can you take your mask down? So it's going to require potentially that type of work. On the other hand, they might get lucky with a cell phone. They might get lucky with a ping, and we have an arrest that way, too. It's just a bit of a toss up at the moment.
- [13:55]
Ali Vitale
Tom.
- [13:55]
Mika Brzezinski
We'll be following this. NBC's Tom Winter. Thank you so much for your reporting. And still ahead of Morning Joe, our conversation on the assassination of Charlie Kirk will continue with a look at the rise in political violence in America and the safety concerns lawmakers are now raising. Plus, a trove of new emails are shedding light on Jeffrey Epstein's relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell. We'll dig into that and the impact this could have on the Trump administration as it continues to f backlash for its handling of the case. And a reminder, the Morning Joe podcast is available each weekday. You can listen wherever you get your podcasts. You're watching Morning Joe. We'll be right back.
- [14:45]
Jonathan Lemire
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- [15:51]
Willie Geist
Substance use disorder and addiction is so isolating.
- [15:55]
Mika Brzezinski
And so as a Black woman in recovery, hope must be loud.
- [16:02]
Willie Geist
It grows louder when you ask for.
- [16:04]
Mika Brzezinski
Help and you're vulnerable. It is the thread that lets you.
- [16:08]
Nicole Wallace
Know that no matter what happens, you will be okay.
- [16:11]
Ali Vitale
When we learn the power of hope, recovery is possible. Find out how@startwithhope.com brought to you by the National Council for Mental well Being, Shatterproof and the AD Council.
- [16:25]
Jonathan Lemire
A look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. All 15 members of the United Nations Security Security Council, including the United States, signed on to a statement yesterday condemning the Israeli strike on Qatar. It follows an emergency meeting at the UN after the Israeli military bombed a residential compound in Doha targeting senior Hamas officials. Yesterday's joint statement was a rare display of unity regarding issues around Israel. Jonathan Lemire, you almost never see this, which is the United States States stepping out of its support, its shoulder to shoulder support of Israel in the case. Obviously President Trump was not happy with the attack from Israel in that residential compound targeting Hamas officials in Doha, and we saw it show up at the UN yesterday.
- [17:13]
Nicole Wallace
Yeah, the US Usually either objects or abstains from something like that at the UN but it's reflective of how angry President Trump is about what happened the other day. This is, I believe, the seventh, seventh different country that Israel has launched an attack in since October 7th while part of its conducting its war against Hamas and other militant groups in the region. But the president in particular finds this one unhelpful, like it was. In fact, there was going to be negotiations in Doha at behest of Trump, Steve Witkoff and the United States team saying, look, let's get to the table again, let's make this happen, let's try to get a deal. And instead these negotiators were there and the attack. Now it's not clear who was killed. It seems like the lead Hamas negotiators even survived this attack, but certainly some were killed and some Qatari citizens as well Mika. So there's real anger from the Middle East. Qataris have suggested perhaps they won't mediate anymore, which would be a setback to the, of course, any potential for a peace process. And we don't know yet. If President Trump, beyond what we saw at the UN yesterday, will there be real repercussions in terms of US changing US Policy towards Israel, at least so far? That's not the case. But his advisors told me this week his patience with Netanyahu has completely worn thin.
- [18:22]
Mika Brzezinski
Then there's this. Russia and Belarus are carrying out joint military drills today, just two days after Poland shot down suspected Russian drones over its airspace. The Kremlin claims the drills are not aimed against any country. Still, as Reuters reports, this week's drone incident over Poland. Poland was seen in the west as an alarm call for NATO and a test of its responses. That makes sense, doesn't it?
- [18:51]
Nicole Wallace
Yeah. Both of these incidents, Poland and now, what we saw yesterday does feel like Russia testing NATO. What kind of response will we get if we do expand this conflict even to a degree beyond the Ukrainian borders? Obviously, lots of objections from Europe. The US hasn't had much to say about it yet. That that worries some over there in.
- [19:08]
Mika Brzezinski
The continent, I can imagine. And for the first time, there are more children around the world who are OBEs compared to the number who are underweight. That's according to a new report on child nutrition from unicef. One in ten children now has obesity and one in five is overweight. The share of underweight children, meanwhile, has dropped over the past two decades. Willie.
- [19:35]
Jonathan Lemire
Yesterday, a number of historically black colleges and universities locked down campuses, cancelled classes or ordered students to shelter in place after receiving credible threats of violence. Many of the precautionary measures no longer in effect this morning. The schools did not provide details, but all said they are working with local law enforcement. Alabama State University, Clark Atlanta College and Virginia State University were among those affected. The FBI calling the incidents a hoax, citing no information to indicate a credible threat. House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries released a statement on the threats, calling them despicable. And yet another indication that the explosion of hateful extremism is out of control. Mika.
- [20:18]
Mika Brzezinski
Meanwhile, the assassination of Charlie Kirk is sending shockwaves through Capitol Hill, with members on both sides of the aisle expressing fear for their own safety. A handful of lawmakers say they are beefing up their own security, moving public events indoors or canceling them altogether. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez of New York postponed two public events in North Carolina, citing outdated security protocols. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who is running for governor, has canceled all outdoor and public events and said she will now carry a firearm at all times. House Speaker Mike Johnson says he's been getting calls from members concerned since the shooting and has assured lawmakers that his office is undertaken taking a, quote, very thorough review of the existing options and looking into how to enhance security to ensure members safety. U.S. capitol Police say it is on track to work through 14,000 threat assessment cases involving members by the end of the year, up from 9,000 last year. Let's go to the host of Way Too early msnbc senior Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitale. So, Ali, let's talk a little bit more about the climate on Capitol Hill and what's being done to deal with it, because this is a problem that does not appear to be going away.
- [21:47]
Ali Vitale
A problem that doesn't appear to be going away. And you cited some of the Capitol Police threat numbers that they are dealing with. If you were to plot it out even before just over the course of the last 10 years, it's basically a straight upward line of an increase in threats made to members of Congress. Capitol Police has been dealing with this for a while. But but of course, you think about and I was having conversations with members around this earlier this summer when those horrific shootings happened in Minnesota of Democratic lawmakers at the state level there. People were scared then, they are scared now. We had Congressman Jared Moskowitz tell a group of reporters on Capitol Hill yesterday, people are scared to death. I had one Democratic member on my show just this morning, Chris d' Aluzio of Pennsylvania, who referenced the fact that people are really freaked out, they are anxious. We've seen a range of member reactions from just anger and frustration and to people near tears saying that something needs to be done specifically around their security, but then also in the climate writ large. And so when it comes to security, I think that for people to understand, when you hear Speaker Mike Johnson say that they're doing some kind of expedited enhanced assessment of what it looks like for members to have security on Capitol Hill, there's basically a certain amount of money that's allotted to each member office for security, the thinking being that if they want to use that money for that, they can and it's there. But oftentimes for some of these members who are more high profile, they need more than what that number can allow. And in some other places, it's a question of, okay, are they just having it when they're in Washington? Is it more beneficial if they have it when they're at home. So this is something that they're thinking about, not just for lawmakers themselves. And Congressman d' Aluisio made this point with me this morning. He's not just thinking about his own safety. He's also thinking about the safety the of. Of his staff, what happens in campaign offices. So all of this is very much in the ether. It's urgent, it's important, but unfortunately, it's also not new.
- [23:37]
Nicole Wallace
Yeah, security concerns obviously very valid at this moment. I'll note Congresswoman Mace not helping matters when she blames Democrats and the media for the assassination of Charlie Kirk, when, of course, we don't even know who the suspect is or what any sort of motive was. Ali, there's certainly other flashpoints, other tension there on the Hill. Talk to us about what we've seen here. The nuclear option's been involved in terms of the Republicans trying to get through President Trump's judicial nominations and the like.
- [24:03]
Tom Winter
It is.
- [24:03]
Nicole Wallace
Walk us through what we're seeing there and what's a very tense time.
- [24:06]
Ali Vitale
Yeah, it's actually been a really busy week in Congress. And I think this is once again where it comes into view that there are really powerful political issues that Congress is grappling with. Things that do make people have visceral reactions if they're political watchers from either side of the aisle. It's everything from the upcoming government shutdown to, to, of course, the looming Jeffrey Epstein files and the transparency over that. And then the Senate just in the last 24 hours, doing a thing where they call it going nuclear, but effectively changing the ways that we confirm batches of nominees for various positions, positions like ambassadorships, typically they're confirmed one by one, but in this instance now, they're gonna be confirmed in batches. And I think what's important is this just gives more power to the majority party. So in this instance, it's gonna be Republicans who have the ability, if they see a nominee in a battle of nominees that's being confirmed or considered on the floor, Republicans can raise concerns or a flag on a nominee, but Democrats will no longer have that ability. And look, the big thing in Congress, whenever you go, go nuclear, and both parties have done this, changing the process at various times for various kinds of nominees. But the thing to remember is the reason that they try not to do this is because the shoe will eventually be on the other partisan foot. And so for now, Republicans making this an easier glide path for them with President Trump's nominations, we know that the president has been been frustrated at the pace of things on Capitol Hill when it comes to getting his administration in order. This will ease that. But again, it's a big change that just kind of lessens the bipartisan action in the way that Congress actually functions.
- [25:37]
Mika Brzezinski
Yeah, and Allie, stay with us. You mentioned the Epstein files. Coming up, new reporting from Bloomberg is giving us more insight on the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. One of the co authors of that report joins us next on Morning Joe.
- [26:14]
Nicole Wallace
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- [26:44]
Mika Brzezinski
I think that you have to have faith that in the end it'll all be okay. That no matter who wins a presidential election, we will live in a democracy. The First Amendment will govern what journalists can say and do. The Constitution will protect the rights of everybody if you can agree that most.
- [27:00]
Eva Benny Morrison
People want those things.
- [27:01]
Mika Brzezinski
Our show is about trying to bend the arc toward that end result.
- [27:06]
Nicole Wallace
Deadline White House with Nicole Wallace, weekdays from 4 to 6pm Eastern on MSNBC. Start your day with the MSNBC daily newsletter. Each morning, read sharp insights from the voice, voices you trust. Catch standout moments from your favorite shows. The second Trump administration has gone to.
- [27:25]
Eva Benny Morrison
Unprecedented lengths to radically transform America.
- [27:29]
Nicole Wallace
Stay up to speed with our latest podcasts and documentaries and get fresh perspectives from experts shaping the news. It's everything you love about MSNBC delivered to your inbox. Sign up now@msnbc.com.
- [27:45]
Tom Winter
News from across the.
- [27:46]
Nicole Wallace
Pond because the UK ambassador to the US has been fired over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Those English are so funny. They call an elevator a lift, a truck, a lorry. Links to Jeffrey Epstein, a fireable offense.
- [28:02]
Mika Brzezinski
The guy in question.
- [28:08]
Jonathan Lemire
Stephen Colbert. Last night. Newly uncovered emails are shedding more light on Jeffrey Epstein's relationship. Relationship with his convicted accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. NBC's Hallie Jackson has details.
- [28:20]
Hallie Jackson
New insight into the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell from a trove of purported emails, more than 18,000 published by Bloomberg News, which suggests Maxwell and Epstein were closer in many respects than either publicly admitted. In her July interview with the deputy attorney general, Maxwell, Epstein's convicted co conspirator recounts asking Epstein about the initial investigation into him.
- [28:45]
Mika Brzezinski
He said not to worry. He didn't say. He didn't share. I wasn't part of it at all.
- [28:52]
Hallie Jackson
The Bloomberg report suggests she counseled Epstein after that. At one point he asked her advice on what charge to negotiate in his 2008 plea agreement. I suppose lewd and lascivious conduct, she responded. NBC News has not independently obtained or verified the emails. Bloomberg says they were authenticated using cryptographic and metadata analysis and corroboration with external sources. The outlet says one email included a detailed spreadsheet of 2000 gifts and payments like quote, lingerie and chocolates, some for teenage girls who later lodged sexual abuse complaints. Except for three minor instances, Bloomberg says the emails do not otherwise mention President Trump who has said his relationship with Epstein ended in the early 2000s. The White House calling it in part stupid fake news. Maxwell's attorney has not responded to NBC's request for comment. And for the first time, revelations Maxwell and Epstein were going through a fertility treatment together. According to Bloomberg, years after she said they broke up in 2005. Bloomberg says Maxwell emailed Epstein detailed instructions on a sperm donation, adding you can do the sample at home.
- [30:01]
Mika Brzezinski
All right, NBC's Hallie Jackson with that report. Joining us now, one of the co authors of the report, senior legal reporter for for Bloomberg News, Eva Fanny Morrison. Eva, great work here. A lot of interesting details coming out in these emails, but what's the big takeaway that they reveal?
- [30:22]
Eva Benny Morrison
These emails really shed new light on the partnership between Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein over the years. We've only heard a few times. In her own words, Maxwell described the relationship with Epstein. She said she was a one time girlfriend, but mainly a property manager who faded from from his life in the early 2000s. That was a critical period for Epstein because he was facing child sexual abuse allegations in Florida. She said she wasn't in the loop about those negotiations he was having with prosecutors. These emails and our reporting show that he did in fact keep her in the loop. He asked her what charge she would prefer that he plead guilty to while he was locked in these negotiations with prosecutors. It also shows that he that she helped distribute more than $1.8 million in gifts, gifts to victims to young women, to politically connected figures and business associates as well. It also reveals a new closeness that we didn't previously know existed between the pair. They were discussing a shared fertility Procedure, including in the lead up to him.
- [31:26]
Mika Brzezinski
Reporting to prison and she was trying to have his baby.
- [31:30]
Eva Benny Morrison
We can only go on what we've seen in the emails, but they're discussing the instructions to a fertility procedure and him fulfilling. He's part of that arrangement.
- [31:41]
Nicole Wallace
So Maxwell, obviously very much a figure back in the news, just had this interview with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanch a few weeks ago, then was transferred to a much more milder prison in Texas. What do these emails tell us about her and her credibility in terms of what we've learned that she's told investigators.
- [31:59]
Eva Benny Morrison
There have long been questions around her credibility and these emails emails certainly add to those questions. It raises doubts about the truthfulness of some of her recent statements, particularly around those negotiations in Florida in the mid-2000s. She told Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in July that Epstein told her not to worry about it, that she wasn't really part of what was going on. But the email seemed to suggest that he turned to her for advice and she was involved in some of the strategy behind so also talk to us.
- [32:31]
Nicole Wallace
About every time we hear anything new Epstein related, there's always a hankering for, well, other names there. Are there new revolutions in terms of new people in the mix? Did we find any of that there? As I toss my pen across the.
- [32:42]
Eva Benny Morrison
Desk, there's some names that come up in the inbox that we know already had associations with Jeffrey Epstein. So in particular we know that Ghislaine Maxwell helped organise visits to his private island in the Caribbean by tech billionaires and that there were she was attempts to organise seats on board his private jet as well. For example, there's an email where she is trying to organize a visit by Google co founder Sergey brin to Little St. James in late 2000.
- [33:17]
Mika Brzezinski
Interesting. We have our Capitol Hill correspondent standing by in Washington, Ali Vitale and she, she has a question.
- [33:23]
Ali Vitale
Ali, hey, thank you for doing this reporting. I think that this is obviously a live ball issue on Capitol Hill as the Oversight committee is looking into various new avenues that they might pursue. How might this factor into that ongoing investigation? To me, the first thing that I think of and I wonder your take is the way that this once again calls into question Ghislaine Maxwell's credibility. It was already something that was openly questioned by the speaker of the House House. But I think that it could add pressure to lawmakers who need to ask Todd Blanche, for example, why would you go do a two day deposition with someone who obviously hasn't been perfectly truthful throughout the time that she's been in the legal hot seat over her dealings and relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. So talk about both Maxwell's credibility and then the way that this might factor into these ongoing investigations.
- [34:11]
Eva Benny Morrison
It certainly adds to the questions around her credibility. It was very unusual for the deputy attorney general to sit down for this two day interview with Maxwell, but she had offered to tell him whatever she knew about the Epstein investigation, what she didn't know. And her attorney had said publicly around the time that they would welcome any relief from the Trump administration. Whether that looks like a pardon or a commutation, we don't know. In terms of the ongoing investigations and the calls for release around more files, we've had a steady drip of information over the past few years about Epstein. And this is just another piece of of the puzzle and it certainly increases interest in seeing what other information there is out there about the Epstein case.
- [34:55]
Mika Brzezinski
All right.
- [34:56]
Nicole Wallace
We should note that the U.S. the UK ambassador, the U.S. lost his job, was fired in part because of connections to Epstein uncovered by those at Bloomberg.
- [35:06]
Mika Brzezinski
There you go. Great reporting. The new report is available online right now. And senior legal reporter for Bloomberg News, Ava Benny Morrison. Thank you very much. Come back. We'd love to continue following your coverage and the host of Way Too early msnbc, senior Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitale. Thank you as well. And still ahead on MORNING joe, we're going to dig into new data on inflation and how it could impact the Fed's next move on interest rates. Also ahead, Brazil's former president is headed to prison for attempting to overthrow an election he lost. We'll bring you those details and we'll show you. Aaron just Judge's historic performance last night in the Bronx tying a Yankees legend. Morning Joe will be right back.
- [36:08]
Tom Winter
From the eight to the outside, wide open touchdown. Tucker Ra.
- [36:17]
Jonathan Lemire
Part of a career night for Tucker Craft, the South Dakota State Jackrabbit. Six catches, 124 yards and that touchdown. The Green Bay packers now 2, 0, winning last night 27:18 over the Washington Commanders thanks to a dominant defensive performance as well. Green Bay gets another impressive win at home over a team that made the playoffs last year after beating the Detroit Lions just five days ago. Last year year the packers went.06 against playoff teams. Jonathan Lemire, this narrative had set in that the packers were pretty good last year, but they couldn't beat any good teams. Well, they're kind of putting that to rest in the span of about 5 days so far this year.
- [36:56]
Nicole Wallace
Yeah, they've been really impressive to this point. Jordan Love, many People think could take a leap this year and really elevate himself into that top tier or maybe second tier of NFL quarterbacks. But the biggest difference is this packers team defense is excellent. They're fast, they cover a ton of ground. And that was even before they added Micah Parsons. And now, you know, look, it's a home team always has an advantage on a Thursday night. It's the short week, but they were great last night. Commander's a little shaky to start and yeah, Detroit, Detroit, you know, they beat Detroit last week and Now Green Bay 2, 0. They were some people's NFC Super bowl pick. I'll just note this one and it was one of them. And now I'd say, right, it's only, it's early but they in Philly come out of the gate strongest in that conference.
- [37:39]
Jonathan Lemire
Yeah, they looked really good last night. Micah Parsons says he loves this atmosphere at Lambeau. He's looking pretty comfortable there already. In baseball, President Trump attended last night's Yankees game commemorating the 24th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Before the first pitch, the President stopped by the Yankee clubhouse shaking hands, posing for photos here with Aaron Judge, he gave a little pep talk in the locker room, saying he used to be the team's good luck charm back when he was a regular at games with the late owner George Steinbrenner. Inside the stadium, the President sat behind newly installed bulletproof glass alongside Yankees president Randy Levine and owner Hal Steinbrenner. President met with a mix of boos and cheers, as presidents often are every time he appeared on the jumbotron. As for the game, Aaron Judge put on another show last night.
- [38:34]
Nicole Wallace
Drill deep to left center field. Going back, green looking up. See ya. Home run number 45 for Johns. You've done it 18 times as a.
- [38:45]
Tom Winter
Home run as your first hit.
- [38:49]
Nicole Wallace
High drive left center field, green back track wall. See ya. Another home run for Judge.
- [38:58]
Jonathan Lemire
That is not a replay. That is a second home run in Aaron Judge's first two at bats, giving him 361 career home runs and tying him with Yankee legend Joe DiMaggio for fourth all time on the franchise list. It was the 45th multi homer game of Judge's career. Yankees win 9 3. They needed that one. After getting getting smoked in the first two games of the series, New York now heads to Boston for that big three game series with the Red Sox that begins tonight. So Jonathan Lemire couldn't have drawn this up any better. We're effectively tied. We're a half game up only because we played one less game than the Red Sox. Same number of wins. Two weeks left in the season. Kind of tied there at the top of the All Star. If the season ended today, we'd play each other in that wild card game game. This is going to be a great weekend in Boston.
- [39:47]
Nicole Wallace
I'm keeping an eye on my phone, Willie, for President Trump's true social post. Taking credit for Aaron Judge's two home runs last night. No question, no word if Trump, a Yankee fan, also had some sharp words for Anthony Volpe in the clubhouse beforehand, the struggling shortstop. But you're right, this is what you want. It's mid September. It is Yankees. Red Sox at Fenway. The Sox have, look, let's be clear, have done well against the Yankees so far this year. They've won eight of 10. And the Red Sox have their best three pitchers lined up. G. Lito tonight, Baio tomorrow, crochet on Sunday. But Willie, the issue is our offense comes limping in. Our superstar rookie Roman Anthony, he's out. Willie Abreu out. Sox have struggled to score runs. How you feeling about this weekend, Yankees? They get Freed going tomorrow. Their pitching looks okay, too.
- [40:32]
Jonathan Lemire
Yeah, I was going to say you miss Radon, who's been great this year. But we do have Freed going tomorrow. Looked good last night. Had won the previous big series. You know, they took it from the Astros. But the first two games of the Tigers series were just horrendous. We're outscored 23 to 3. Looking a little shaky. We needed that little boost last night, so feeling pretty good. But I mean, this is a hinge series. If some one of us gets swept here, it kind of makes the last two weeks tough on both of us.
- [41:01]
Nicole Wallace
Yeah, I think the Blue Jays might.
- [41:02]
Tom Winter
Be out of reach.
- [41:03]
Nicole Wallace
Well, I mean, three games I guess is their lead. Three and a half games with with two weeks or so to play. But really it's going to come down. Tameka to the Red Sox. Yankees. It looks like they're going to play in the first round of the playoffs. And the questions? It will be a best of three series and whoever finishes with a better record will get that series at home. That's a big deal.
- [41:20]
Mika Brzezinski
That's a big deal. All right. Coming up, the South Koreans detained in an ice raid in Georgia are back in Seoul this morning, but it came after a lengthy delay. We'll explain why. Plus we'll turn back to the search for the suspect in the murder of Charlie Karl Kirk. We'll go live to Utah for the very latest. That's next on Morning Joe.
- [41:45]
Ali Vitale
More than.
- [41:46]
Mika Brzezinski
300 South Korean nationals detained in last week's immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia have now returned home. A chartered Korean air jet carrying the workers landed near Seoul earlier this morning after being delayed for more than a day. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the holdup was due to President Trump ordering a pause to check whether the workers wanted to remain in the US Only one chose to stay. The president of South Korea called the entire ordeal extremely bewildering and warned it could discourage companies from investing in American manufacturing and force them to reconsider whether whether doing business in the US is worth the risk. A fair question. Jonathan LeMere very much so.
- [42:37]
Nicole Wallace
The Trump administration policy here is scattershot and contradictory. We've heard, of course, the numbers they have, goals they have set in terms of deportations and not just those at the border, not just those with criminal records. We have seen them look at places of work, including this Hyundai plant in Georgia, and it was met with fierce criticism from South Korea. And there does seem to be, with President Trump, President Trump intervening, a growing recognition that his immigration policies are hurting the economy. Andrew Sorkin told us that a few times this week we've had those conversations. This growing sense that these workers are leaving, there aren't going to be those replacement, particularly jobs like this, which require skills and training. You know, they can't just be acquired overnight. It's a worry. And I think that if I'm hearing from the West Wing, more and more concern about some of the underlying economic data.
- [43:25]
Mika Brzezinski
Yeah, between that and the tariffs. Yeah. Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was sentenced yesterday to 27 years in prison, hours after being convicted of plotting a coup to remain in power despite losing the 2022 election. The 70 year old is the first former president in the country's history to be convicted for attacking democracy. The ruling will likely escalate tensions with the United States and Brazil. President Trump had called the case a witch hu and in retaliation hit Brazil with tariff hikes. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio posted on social media that the court had unjustly ruled, adding the United States will respond accordingly to this witch hunt. JONATHAN lemere well, first of all, what are their threats based on? What do they plan to do to push back against what they're calling a witch hunt?
- [44:27]
Nicole Wallace
Well, there's certainly parallels to Bolsonaro's efforts to overturn that election to what we saw here after the 2020 election difference being here in the United States, it was only the sort of low level the rioters of January 6th.
- [44:38]
Mika Brzezinski
Right.
- [44:38]
Nicole Wallace
Who faced criminal charges, although many of them have now been pardoned. None of the elected officials did in in Brazil's case, Bolsonaro did so and now has been convicted. But when Trump is an ally of Bolsonaro's, he and some of the people, some of the of Trump's political strategists have gone to work for Bolsonaro as well in Brazil. So there's definitely an overlap there. And we have seen Trump put together what can only be described as retaliatory tariffs. Basically, we're going to hit Brazil and their economy because we don't like what you're doing to our political friend, which is a new place. We've never seen that before in terms of U.S. economic policy. And in light of what happened yesterday, though, nothing official from the White House yet. It wouldn't be a surprise if they were to ramp those up, right? MSNBC presents the chart topping original podcast, the Best People with Nicole Wallace. Each week, Nicole speaks with some of the people who inspire her the most. This week, she sits down with activist Stacey Abrams.
- [45:30]
Ali Vitale
My mission is to activate the potential in everyone else. This is our country, this is our fight, and we can win.
- [45:38]
Nicole Wallace
The Best People with Nicole Wallace. Listen now, wherever you get your podcast.