Vladimir putin. Oh, yeah. He would do that for 200,000. You have to pay putin in singles for the shirtless. Morning joe starts right now. Claudia, move. Dennis okay. I dont know what that was, but good morning, everybody. Welcome to morning joe. It is friday, july 12th. With us on set we have the chairman of deutsch incorporated donny deutsch. Hello. That was sharknado. I know it was. I cant believe we opened with it. Sometimes art flows over you. Something like that. Msnbcs thomas roberts. It was sharkariffic. From govevermont, be howard. Willie and joe. I know joe didnt watch that. He has Better Things to do. Im sure you didnt. Willie did. Of course i did. No, you didnt. I dvred it and watching it in a loop right now. Is it a joke . I dont understand. Is it a joke . Yeah. Is mozart a joke . Thank you. Is beethoven a joke . Artist subjective. I get home from dinner late last night, get on the twitter, when i tell you every tweet in my feed, every from the smartest people in politics, was about sharknado i said what is this . I got on the menu on the tv and scrolled, find sharknado. Magnificent. Ian ziering from 90210 the main actor, tara reid from american pie staging her comeback. Just a bunch of washed up people who have nothing that hurt. Joe, youre not here in the studio, im going to jump in, things you would say, you mention mozart, i would put in picasso. Sometimes progressive art is not for everybody, but then for People Like Us waiting for it, we soak it in. There it is. We take it. Im just thankful today, thats all i can say. Honestly if you build it, if you build it, they will come. Oh, god. Some people, joe, just arent ready for tornadoes full of sharks that kill people on land. And thats their problem. But if you have a chainsaw you can take them out. Some people werent ready for shakespeare. Some people werent ready for shakespeare. I would love to have been in the picture meeting. Here you go. I got it. Ready . We got this tornado, right, but the tornado takes the sharks out of the ocean, spin them around and everybody is like jumping. Yes, yes, yes. There is a real story about social media, the buildup to this. Its kind of intentionally terrible and the buildup on social media was huge and last night it was a top trending thing in the United States all night. Caught fire worldwide. If any of you are wondering ian ziering. Letting this go four minutes in, joe, its because what i have to show you that came out of washington yesterday. Worse. Isnt much better. It might even be worse. Willie and i, as we always say about sporting events, you know, this is a divided country, democratic against republican. Liberal against conservative. Willie, last night. For two short hours, joe. America got a break. Across the aisle. Stupid. We came together. We came together. It was the promise of george w. Bush of being a uniter and not a divider and last night that promise was realized. Its four minutes into the show. How does it end . Whats going on, mika . Guess what were doing today . Whats that. We have Elizabeth Warren coming on the show. Im so excited. Shes working on a bipartisan bill that is really quite frankly exactly what she went to washington to do and intended to prevent the next financial crisis, shes going to be talking about that. Dont we look forward to that, joe . What . She went to washington to draft a bill that nobody is going to pass, is that really why she went to washington . You stop. Okay. You know what, i have a feeling you might want to sit this one out if thats your attitude. No. Im just saying, nothing is passing washington right now. Thats true. I mean its the most miserable existence being a congressman or senator unless you intentionally want to block action from happening. And its just a terrible, terrible time up there right now. I havent given up hope in Elizabeth Warren, though. Okay. So we will be talking to her a little later. First well get to our top story of the morning, later today, 24 days after the murder trial of George Zimmerman began, the defense will deliver its Closing Argument as nbcs ron mott reports, yesterdays final presentation by prosecutors capped weeks of dramatic testimony. A teenager is dead. He is dead through no fault of his own. He is dead because another man made assumptions. Reporter the state started its closing in the less explosive fashion than it opened. [ bleep ] punks. These [ bleep ] punks they always get away. Reporter but made the same argument about Trayvon Martins killing to the allwomen jury. The man that is guilty of seconddegree murder. Reporter that George Zimmerman should go to prison for profiling, following, confronting and shooting the unarmed teenager last year. Why does this defendant get out of the car and he thinks that Trayvon Martin is a threat to him . Why . Why . Because hes got a gun. Hes got the equalizer. Reporter with zimmermans and martins parents all in court for the First Time Since day one. [ bleep ] they always get away. Reporter the prosecutor said zimmerman sized up martin as a criminal during a call to police. I would submit to you he uttered it under his breath and that itself indicates ill will and hatred. For a second straight day. Hes saying that armpits how does he get the gone out . Reporter the states lifesized foam dummy was thrown into the mix. [ inaudible ]. Do you see where hes pointing to, where hes grabbing, where he has his firearm . Reporter with the prosecutor questioning zimmermans account. This was never an easy seconddegree murder case for the prosecution. It seemed to get more difficult every day of trial. While the Closing Argument seemed effective it may not be enough for the crime of murder. Reporter earlier sparks flew as both sides sparred over adding lesser charges of manslaughter and thirddegree felony murder. Doesnt the court realize this was a trick by the state just when i thought this case couldnt get any more bizarre the state is seeking third degree murder based on child abuse . Reporter martin was 17 when he was killed. The judge denied the thirddegree murder charge, but ruled the jury may consider manslaughter in lieu of seconddegree murder. Zimmermans attorney objected to any lesser charge. You are in agreement with that . Yes, your honor. Reporter zimmerman pleaded not guilty saying he shot martin in selfdefense after being attacked. The state has charged him with seconddegree murder. They should be required to prove it if they can. They cant prove it, then that is the failing of the prosecution. Now its a matter of time. That was ron mott reporting. Thomas, youve been following this case. What do you make of both sides . Its been a wild one to watch, especially now as we enter the final chapter. The defense i think Court Observers would say have provided enough holes in the prosecutions theory which really hasnt come together all that much until the end where the prosecution wants that manny can was introduced almost conceded to the fact that Trayvon Martin was on top during this altercation that went down. So were going to watch what the, you know, what we see from the defense today and then the prosecution is going to have the last word. Theyre going to take the final hour to be able to come back and leave in the minds of the jury where they want to go. It was interesting in that report that we saw there, the attempt by the state to bring in the lesser charge of felony murder in the third degree based on child abuse, now obviously in the state of florida Trayvon Martin is considered to be a child because he was only 17 years old. The judge had issue with intent on this because they were trying to describe the intent of being George Zimmerman carrying this gun, obviously he had intent to use it on Trayvon Martin, did he have an intent to take his life or just wound him in that altercation . The judge was fishy on that. That will to the be included. She didnt feel that was a proper way to go. Its a matter of time now. Well be watching your coverage throughout the day on msnbc. Meanwhile i touched on this earlier, up on capitol hill, if you were watching what was happening in washington, you would see this. Majority leader wants written on his tom stone he presided over the end of the senate. Well, if this majority leader caves to the fringes, and lets this happen, im afraid thats exactly what theyll write. These are dark days in the history of the senate. I hate that we have come to this point. Weve witnessed the majority leader break his word to the United States senate. No matter how often my friend rudely talks about me not breaking my word im not going to respond talking about how many times hes broken his word. It makes me sad. All my members are angry. Im more sad about it. I guess he follows the theory, i hope not, the more you Say Something even if its false people start believing it. This is a sad, sad day for the United States senate and if we dont pull back from the brink here, be my friend the majority leader is going to be remembered as the worst leader of the senate ever. Senators harry reid and Mitch Mcconnell tangled over reids plan to go nuclear and blow up Traditional Senate rules. It all stems from continued efforts of republicans to block president obamas appointments. This has been going on for years now literally. Reid wants to alter the dynamic requiring a simple majority to change senate rules as opposed to the 67 currently needed so that actually something could happen. And to filibuster on an executive Branch Nominee could be broken with 51 votes instead of the current 60 vote threshold so maybe hopefully joe something could happen, but instead, what we watch is these two guys droning on about how much they dont like each other. Yeah. You know, harry reid may, in fact, be remembered as a subparma jorty leader presiding over some of the worst days in the history of the senate in modern history. He has been a shadow of what George Mitchell was, what bob dole was, what tom daschle was. People even in our time have been. But, if, in fact, howard dean, he is remembered as a less than effective majority leader, it sure as hell wont be because he changed filibuster rules that actually helped things get done in the United States senate. It is a very interesting debate because it shows the depths to which the senate has already sunk long before either of these two folks were in their present positions. What youve got is a group of people who have basically put their party in front of their country and getting rid of the filibuster is a serious step because the constitution protects the rights of the minority. Its one of the things that makes this political situation in this country a great country. Unlike egypt where morsi got into trouble because he didnt care about the rights of the minority, of any minority. And to see this happen is a huge step, but i think it probably has to happen. I dont see how a small group of people can tie up the entire country which is what has been going on for four years under mcconnell. I dont see what choice reid has and i hope the democrats will stick with him. All right. I dont disagree at all with that and its sort of pathetic that were at this stage right now. It is. Thats what i think so too. I agree. This is pathetic. Its outrageous. Its why politics is essentially becoming irrelevant. Almost. You know, the thing is, mika, democrats just have to realize that as i always try to explain to my republican friends when we were in the majority, we wont be in the majority for ever and what we do now, is going to be used by democrats to justify what they do when were in the minority. Democrats need to understand, im perfectly fine with this, in fact i would like to see things start moving in the senate. Democrats need to understand that when you have 51 republicans in charge, that a bill by ted cruz, for instance, is not going to be able to be held up by a filibuster. Thats actually not what theyre proposing. What theyre proposing is milder than that. Theyre proposing simply that the majority be respected on the matter of the president s appointments. I think they ought to go a little further and allow the president s judicial appointments to also be considered without a filibuster. But i wouldnt go as far and the president excuse me, and reid hasnt gone as far as suggesting bills be exempt from the filibuster. I think thats right. Let me put it this way, when ted cruz is nominated to the United States supreme court, democrats arent going to be able to stop it. Does that make you feel better . Yes. That makes me feel better. But that is what democrats need to understand, what theyre setting up. I agree with that. This is serious. Republicans are going to have a judicial nominee that democrats will find offensive and they wont be able to stop it with a filibuster and thats perfectly fine with me. Okay. Can i move on to some other news, please, because i dont think that bickering on capitol hill deserves any more attention seriously. When they want to do something, give us a call. Maybe Elizabeth Warren can help us out. What i find interesting before we get off those two guys viscerally, those are the two faces of the two parties and thats not where the country is. Its interesting how you look at them and i dont think either party would say thats our guyp. No. They are speaking for us. No. And there will be changes coming. All right. So ive got two other news items to get to and we will talk to i think a future leader, one who already is but i think she will break out as someone you can finally break whatever it is that we just saw happening there. Eliot spitzer was on the show earlier. Donny, you didnt see it. Im going to show you a portion. Theres a bit of news that relates. He needed nearly 4,000 signatures to make a run for new York City Comptroller. He got 27,000. Its possible his top competition Scott Stringer could challenge their validity. Spitzer made a surprise entry into the race earlier this week and already at least one poll shows him with a lead and donny, i ask for your opinion on this because its i think really tough for someone to come back from what he did. And for a number of reasons. And yet, the poll is showing hes in the lead and a lot of people are saying the way he has presented himself especially on an interview on this show may have had something to do with it. Do we have a portion of that, alex . Ill let you take a look. Here are the polls. And then this is what happened at the very end of our interview with him a few days ago. As personal as you can answer this question, dont give me a pat answer, dont give me one that you prepare in your mind, how are you different than you were five, six years ago . What has changed personally . A lot of pain. A lot of pain. Thats it . You go through that pain, you change. That was after 15 minutes of me asking him questions about since he broke the law, whether or not we could ever trust him again to pay the citys bills, let alone anything else, then joe going after him several times about whether or not he can be trusted after what he did and how you actually move past that and what it was that drove it and Mark Halperin asking him about six or seven questions on the same issue and then finally we talked about what he wanted to do for the job, and then it ended that way. Fascinating. Actually that was the first time i saw that. It was incredibly compelling. Heres the good news for spitzer and what hes doing right. First of all, the fact that hes going for an office, a comptroller office, lowlevel office, the reason hes ahead off the bat, such name awareness versus an unknown thing that you pop immediately, thats whats happening with weiner also in the mayoral race. You have these wellknown figures, whether liked, disliked, so polarizing, theyre still known. They get the pass for that. Another thing happening i think also on a much bigger macro social thing. I think were evolving to a society that extramarital affairs, infidelities, sexual indiscretions, i think people just dont care that much anymore. I think weve come to a place where whether its the internet, whether it is everything is so weve been so overwhelmed, oh, my god, what are we going to see next, a governor impregnating his housekeeper that i think with time, and with true contrition is what you saw there, that was true contrition, the sexiest thing in the world is to take somebody down and the next sexiest thing is to bring them back up. Spitzer, youre seeing a new society now with a new level of forgiveness and elasticity of understanding of human flaws. Donny, i think youre right. You can go down the line and a crisis that in the moment feels like the worst thing thats ever happened in the history of the world, eventually passes whether you talk about a president of the United States, you talk about tiger woods, you talk about athletes, celebrities, politicians. The storms pass and if you handle it the right way, lay low, as mark sanford did,ant knee weiner has done, spitzer is doing now, you come out, confront it, talk about every question asked about it, it passes and people forgive you. Key point is authenticity and honesty. Joe . Speaking of that, mika, authenticity, after we got off the show a lot of people were asking whether you believed that he was really crying, was he really upset, was it all just a bad act . You talked to me right afterwards and said that you could tell it was, again, and youve been as tough a critic on spitzer as anybody, but you said it was very clear in person a few feet away, it was very authentic and he was, in fact, very upset. He was shaking. He definitely was. And the questions that we put before him were not just the questions. People have asked him the questions before. We did a repeated pounding of questions, first from me, then from you, then halperin and back to me, and we basically made him lay it all out and he talked about everything from personal indiscretion to, you know, sexual flaws or whatever, anything that we wanted to ask he was there ready to answer and to answer seriously and not making fun of himself and why he wanted t