Gene is bringing a little bit of dignity to the show. A little mean. Mean, but accurate. Thats what we strive for. Freaks and geeks. I love any category that donny is in. A fair assessment. We have serious stuff to get to. Police in missouri arrested a man yesterday after he brandished a loaded tactical style rifle inside a walmart. A 20yearold man was taken in to custody within three minutes of police receiving panicked calls to the springfield missouri, walmart. He recorded himself walking through the store when the manager pulled the fire alarm. Thats according to our local affiliate station and then the suspect made his way out the emergency exit where an off duty firefighter held him at gunpoint in the parking lot until Police Arrived. The suspect seen here was wearing a bulletproof vest. He had more than 100 rounds of ammunition on him. Police still determining a motive. But say the mans intent was to quote obviously cause chaos. No shots were fired, thank god, nobody was injured. Charges of making a terrorist threat in the first degree are pending according to jail records. We dont know anything about the mans motive but well stay on that story. Now to the pressure to pass new Gun Legislation. More than 200 mayors have signed a letter calling on the senate to return early from summer break to pass the background check bills already approved by the house. President ial candidate tim ryan has joined a caravan of protesters headed to Mitch Mcconnells home state of kentucky to pressure him to act. While he has rejected the call to return to washington his tone has seemed to change when it comes to taking up any Gun Legislation at all. Youre not calling people in early well, if we did that, wed have people scoring points and nothing would happen. There has to be a bipartisan discussion here of what we can agree on. Background checks and red flags would probably lead the discussion, but a lot of other things have come up as well. What we cant do is fail to pass something. You know . By just locking up and failing to pass, thats unacceptable. Leader mcconnell also said a ban on assault weapons likely will be among the proposals discussed although he expressed skepticism over an assault weapons ban. For leader mcconnell there a little bit of progress or some movement where he says we cant do nothing. What do you suspect he means by that . I suspect he means that we need to strike while the irons hot. Because that is what everybody wants. And in the event that they do not, which is what normally happens, the urgency for these sort of things dissipate and mcconnell and republicans generally feel the pressure lift. And dont have to ability. The problem that i see is that hes right. Theres no consensus around some sort of reform. Stronger background checks to capture private individuals selling to private individuals. Those are the only people who arent captured by background checks. Red flags are popular, they have concerns among the civil libertarians. So the specifics will bog down and august is the time when you can generate some enthusiastic in the grass roots for this sort of thing. So keeping members out of washington is beneficial to those interested in gun reform. Bringing them back into washington you will see the hardening of positions, more debating of members and that things wouldnt move forward. Universal background checks are popular with republicans and with democrats and a majority of nra supporters are for it, and expanding what they are. The red flag law has been supported in theory, john thune, Lamar Alexander, Lindsey Graham among them. What did you hear in Mitch Mcconnells voice yesterday . Do you believe hes interested in doing something . I did not hear what noah said, we must strike while the irons hot. I think that was the phrase at the top. I think he has zero interest of doing anything on gun reform. I think by keeping it at the moment when theres the most urgency to say we wont come back early despite the fact theyre theres growing pressure on that direction, especially on the house side all i read there was were not coming back in. Saying the words we must do something and well talk about this and that is exactly how gun reform has died every time its come up in the wake of every other mass shooting. He has no interest in passing a gun reform bill ever and the notion he wants to do something, i think what hes trying to do right now is stall and figure out if the president is going to move or not. And what happens between the president and the president of the nra. Mcconnells posture is if trump wont sign it, i wont pass it and we have seen trump saying hes willing to do the background checks and the nra slapped him and then he capitulated to the nra. Mcconnell said i wont get them near the senate and lets see what happens between trump and the nra and go from there. I think its a moment in time. I think the democrats need to stand up at this moment. Its about assault weapons. Yeah, its so ridiculous to talk about i know its oh, its a move on background checks and that would not have stopped the shootings and the journal of trauma the surgeon at acute trauma have done a study that 70 of the Mass Shootings 70 would not have died if not for assault weapons. Thats the game. What i dont understand now from both the human and political point is 70 support for a ban on assault weapons. Democrats draw a line. The Republican Party you are the party of assault weapons and we are against it. I find it ironic that the democrats will push for impeachment and go, we know its not politically expedient but ideologically we have to stand by it but they wont do it when it comes to the assault weapons. Every democratic candidate should say were the party of protection and the republicans are the party of assault, not only assault weapons but assault on the truth, assault on wages, assault on universal health care. Make them the party of assault. This is a moment in time that leaders step up i just find that we all go blah blah blah blah blah. It doesnt matter until we get the assault weapons. The laws are in now for the increased assault weapon bans. When democrats are in a room with each other 25 years ago, samesex marriage was loopholes allowed weapons that are assault weapons in every form and function with the exception of some cosmetic features allowed them to have exist. They want stronger language and nobody can capture assault weapons but not semiautomatics broadly. Make the republicans be the party of the assault weapons. Ask every politician not a slippery slope question, are you for or against assault weapons . And karine, a lot of the Democratic Candidates have come out for a long list of these things. We have been in this place before as you know where theres a terrible trauma in this country, a horrible incident. We say if not now, when . Do you see this as being different than any time before, for example, sandy hook seven years ago . Look, what i heard, willie, from that clip of Mitch Mcconnell talking about all of this, i think its just bs. Its hog wash. He is stalling. Hes not going to move on this and thats the most disheartening part of this because this is going on for years now. We have seen kids get gunned down and killed. We saw moms and dads getting killed for shopping for their kids for school supplies. You know, we see people getting shot down. Church goers at church. This has been going on for a long time and this is at the feet of Mitch Mcconnell. In february, the house passed a background check bill that could i think could get bipartisan support in the senate but theyre on vacation is and Mitch Mcconnell refuses to bring them back. I kind of disagree on not focusing on the background check. Because if you can save one life, then you should do it. If a bill can save one life, then move forward with it. Its a start. We cannot do not do nothing. To your question, willie, i think that nothing is going to happen. Because this is on republicans. Republicans in the senate need to move with Mitch Mcconnell leading the senate. Like they have to start moving. And so with democrats this week its in particular the 2020 candidates i think they have shown leadership. I think they are out there talking about this in a real way, just in one of the democratic debates. We talked about gun reform. The first time we had a real conversation about it on the debate stage. So i think we are headed in the good place with democrats really fighting for this. But it has to be on the republicans. We have to keep pushing republicans. It is at their feet here. Karine, let me i love you, youre one of my favorite people, but if at the end of the day, background checks would not have stopped any of the shootings what are we doing . We have we have to start somewhere. If it would save one life, it would do something. I think we move with something and we go further. We cant not do nothing. We cant. And one of the things that democrats did in the house, they tried to pass the most simplest things. The easiest things so that they can try and get bipartisanship. They can get republicans on board and they got that out of the house. Look whats happening in the senate. Look whats happening. Mitch mcconnell is doing nothing. He doesnt care. He wants the time hes not going to move. We have to continue to push. We have to continue to push. And gene, im reminded after sandy hook in 2013 the Manchin Toomey bill that would have expanded background checks even after sandy hook where first graders were slaughtered in their classroom that went nowhere. Donny mentioned the politico poll that shows 70 of americans support banning assaultstyle weapons in this country. Yeah. And i agree with him, but that is the i mean, thats the issue. Thats what we need and, you know, im always puzzled by the position that, well, its impossible to decide whats on assault weapon and what isnt. Well, no. You decide. You decide and then, you know, you make a list, basically. And the list has to be modified and changed. Gun manufacturers will try to get around it. You have to keep up with that. But its not rocket science. Its not you know, this is not quantum physics. This is, you know, you have got these weapons of war that do incredible damage. Talk to doctors about what these weapons do to a human body and how that differs from what you know semiautomatic handgun does to the human body. Its a stark and delaware stating devastating difference. I think this is the moment to push and to push and to keep pushing and, you know, maybe nothing will happen. Clearly Mitch Mcconnell doesnt want anything to happen, but that ought to be on him. And it ought to be on the Republican Party. And if, you know, we know a lot more about the nra now and its corruption and if thats the way you want to go, Republican Party, then youre going to have to stand up and go that way. Gene, one thing about the nra and i threw this idea out earlier in the week as a business guy. It would be interesting if one democratic president ial candidate said on all of my donation forms, theres going to be a check you can put at the bottom if you want 10 of your donation to go to the fund called the assault on assault weapons, and if ever every democratic candidate put that in there we would raise almost half a billion dollars and on top of that we do the assault on assault. Every democratic voter, put 5 into this. You could raise 1 billion. Once again, you wouldnt hurt the democrats because it would be all equal. They would be all be putting into the pot. This the time for out of the box thinking. And the nra is in the president s ear. He spoke with Wayne Lapierre, the president of the nra. He said you better not even do universal background checks. And the president is on the record is on on seven or eight occasions said he was going to be pushing for background checks. Well get background checks. Solid background checks. Well have them. Then in every instance where he has been then talked to by the nra by Wayne Lapierre, hes backed down and his support which is the crucial support in this sense that Mitch Mcconnell will not move legislation until donald trump blesses it. Thats theres just the Senate Majority leader waiting for the president to in a declarative way and unbending way say what he will sign and what trump has done over and over again is suggest and come close to the notion he would sign background checks and get pushed away from that by Wayne Lapierre. Hes now open to it and the nra is brushing him back in a very public way. Over the course of the last 48 hours. Ill just say this. Just to go back to look at that wall the assault ban poll, right now we cant get the background check bill down even though its at 97 . Look at that number right there. The fact that the republican number on banning assault weapons is only 54 . From military grade hardware in the hands of civilians that number is going to have to be higher on the republican side. As long as republicans control the white house and the senate, that number is not good enough to move Mitch Mcconnell and donald trump because that is still a large chunk of Republican Base voters who against this ban on assault weapons and until that number on the republican side looks like the democratic side or democrats control the senate and the white house, thats not going to thats not going anywhere. I want to bring in Jonathan Swan of axios who covers the white house very closely. Let me ask you a question that i asked a lot this week and i havent heard a good answer. What happens if donald trump gets the phone call from Wayne Lapierre and says, screw you, im doing universal background checks. By the way, its supported by your membership a majority of your membership in the nra. Whats the cost in that to the president of the United States, the most powerful man in the world . Well what donald trump has been doing this week is what he does every time which is poll effectively his way of testing a message is to sort of bite at it, nibble at it as heilman was saying. Its him testing the waters. Whats the reaction going to be, am i getting torn up on fox news . Whats the blow back, because he nibbles. His instinct is he wants universal background check. Hes a new yorker, hes not donald trump doesnt come from a culture of wanting to, you know, own guns and be sort of hyper second amendment. He developed this as a political tactic. Hes probably the only politician in america that could actually shift this issue in the Republican Party because he has such a cult following in the Republican Party. Such a hold over that party that if donald trump did come out in favor of a background check position, look there would be a lot of republicans that would defy him. But it would be quite hard for a number of others. The only interesting new factor here is that the nra is in complete disarray. It is an organization roiled by financial malfeasance. It is basically lapierre and a phone at this point in terms of their internal organization. Now, they still have a huge grass roots donor base, money, but boy they have some problems. I wonder if that does add a new little element into this conversation. They have been out shopping for homes for Wayne Lapierre in dallas. What happens if donald trump says im not listening to you anymore, Wayne Lapierre, your own membership is okay with universal background checks. Why cant he just do that . Thats not even a bold or a brave or a risky proposition. I mean, he sort of has. You have seen the fox news personalities move to his position, but that doesnt move members. It would take a democratic senator and a Democratic Congress and the manchin and the toomey bill failed. The background checks wouldnt have captured these killers. Red flag laws might, but that requires a culture of personal responsibility in which individuals take responsibility for the people around them who are exhibiting these kind of behavior patterns that are disturbing. When you have an assault weapons ban, weapons rifle is a defined thing and when you have a ruger mini14 isnt captured in this bill but the ar15 is, its not effective. The democrats and the republicans who are who put their names on the bills will care about the substance. Well continue in a moment. Also Jonathan Swan has new some reporting on the hamptons fundraiser thats caused so much controversy among the patrons of soul cycle. Well talk more about gun violence with Lori Lightfoot. But first here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. Hey, this weekend is not fair for everyone. Some will sweat it out. You expect it in the south but its been very hot. Last night outside of houston in galveston, the temperature never dropped below 87 degrees. The heat index never dropped below 100. You have the feels like of 100 degrees and incredible stuff. Well continue that way as we go throughout much of the day. Heat index is 105 to about 115 as we go throughout the afternoon. The other area of concern here, little spot here in arkansas. We have a Flash Flood Warning in ozarks and watching flash flood watches from tulsa. Not too bad this morning. This will be dropping throughout the afternoon and some of the rain is trying to head for oklahoma city. Lets talk about the good stuff. Beautiful day today, beautiful in the ohio valley. New york not too bad. Saturday and sunday is not bad in the north east. Enjoy this. Theres the hot stuff in the south. Nothing brewing in the tropics right now which is perfect too. If you have outdoor plans this weekend from the great lakes to the northeast, youve got lucky. You chose well because it will be as nice as it gets for this time of the year. Looking at new york city. Were talking about you this weekend. Enjoy. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Woman on phone discover. Hi. Do you have a travel card . Yep. Our