Morning Joe 4/5/26 | MSNBC Breaking News Today April 5, 2026 - video Dailymotion

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Watch Morning Joe full episode – April 5, 2026 on MSNOW Breaking News Today. Hosts Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist present in-depth and informed discussions that help drive the day's current political conversation, White House updates, breaking developments from Congress, Supreme Court rulings, U.S. national security, global affairs, and Election 2026 coverage. This episode features exclusive reporting, expert commentary, and real-time coverage of the most important political stories shaping America and the world. In This Episode: Breaking White House developments Biden administration updates Congress and Senate investigations Supreme Court legal news Election 2026 campaign coverage U.S. economy and policy updates Global political affairs Stay informed with trusted journalism from MSNBC.  👉 Subscribe for daily breaking political news, full episodes, and real-time coverage. Morning Joe full episode Morning Joe April 5 2026 MSNOW breaking news today White House breaking news MSNOW live today US politics today Biden administration news Congress breaking news Supreme Court news Election 2026 news American politics today Breaking news USA #morningjoe #MSNOWBreakingNews #WhiteHouseToday #JoeScarborough #Mika #USPolitics #BreakingNews #MSNBCLive #PoliticsToday #AmericaNews #Election2026 #BidenAdministration #CongressNews #SupremeCourt #GlobalNews

Transcript

00:00Terrorists who have nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat.

00:05The most violent and thuggish regime on earth would be free to carry out their campaigns of terror, coercion, conquest,

00:13and mass murder from behind a nuclear shield.

00:16I will never let that happen, and neither should any of our past presidents.

00:22This situation has been going on for 47 years and should have been handled long before I arrived in office.

00:32Many Americans have been concerned to see the recent rise in gasoline prices here at home.

00:39This short-term increase has been entirely the result of the Iranian regime launching deranged terror attacks against commercial oil

00:47tankers in neighboring countries that have nothing to do with the conflict.

00:51This is yet more proof that Iran can never be trusted with nuclear weapons.

00:57They will use them, and they will use them quickly.

01:00Iran has been essentially decimated.

01:04The hard part is done, so it should be easy.

01:07And in any event, when this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally.

01:12It'll just open up naturally.

01:14They're going to want to be able to sell oil, because that's all they have to try and rebuild.

01:19It will resume the flowing, and the gas prices will rapidly come back down.

01:25Stock prices will rapidly go back up.

01:28I've made clear from the beginning of Operation Epic Fury that we will continue until our objectives are fully achieved.

01:35Thanks to the progress we've made, I can say tonight that we are on track to complete all of America's

01:42military objectives shortly, very shortly.

01:45We're going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks.

01:50We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong.

01:56So, Willie, I think the natural reaction to a lot of what the president said last night will be negative

02:01across other media outlets,

02:03and it may be quite negative from the friends that we have around the table today,

02:07very smart people, smarter than me, that are sitting around the table.

02:10I do want to go through a few things, because I often fact-check Donald Trump,

02:15and it's usually fact-checking him in a way that is quite negative.

02:19But in this case, I'm going to fact-check a couple things that are the established belief of the foreign

02:28policy establishment in Washington, D.C.

02:31Number one, he said a nuclear Iran is intolerable.

02:34I think most foreign policy experts in Washington, D.C. believe that it is intolerable.

02:41He said they have been building this strength for 47 years.

02:47This should have been taken care of much earlier.

02:52That is also a belief.

02:54I've had several intel officers who did not like how the war began.

03:01Some of America's greatest experts on Iran through the decades telling me,

03:06I don't like how this war began.

03:09I don't like the lack of planning.

03:11But at the same time, presidents have been kicking the can down the road.

03:15If we didn't go in now, we were eventually going to have to go in.

03:20So he's correct there.

03:21This should have been taken care of earlier, 47 years earlier.

03:25Now, the president said most of our military objectives have been met, will be met over the next two to

03:31three weeks.

03:32Again, whether you're talking to military or intel officials, they will tell you, yes, that is also true.

03:38And again, we have to separate military objectives with political objectives.

03:44Those are two radically different things.

03:46But on the military side of the ledger, the president may be correct.

03:51On the political side of the ledger, of course, serious problems with the straits.

03:57I suspect we may, the Wall Street Journal, and I mean, it is remarkable.

04:01We say it all the time.

04:02It is remarkable, though, the work the Wall Street Journal is doing.

04:06They seem to lap their competition every morning.

04:09And this morning, they have stories about the islands that control the flow of oil,

04:13not just CARG, but the others throughout the straits.

04:16I suspect that may be those islands may be targets directly or indirectly.

04:24And maybe that's why the buildup is is going.

04:27I just noted the timing of the Wall Street Journal article.

04:31So but anyway, Willie, so those are on the plus side of the fact check.

04:36On the other side, the president said the hard work's been done and things are going to be easier from

04:41this point on.

04:42I don't think that's the case at all.

04:43I think this is continue to be a difficult situation, which is one of the reasons why the UAE, the

04:49Saudis,

04:50a lot of our other allies don't want the president to cut and run.

04:53They want him to stay there another two, three, four weeks and try to get as much of the job

04:57done as possible.

04:59And then the president said that the straits are going to open up naturally.

05:03No, they're not.

05:03They're not going to open up naturally.

05:05We're either going to have to get a deal with the Iranians or we're going to have to figure out

05:08a way to force those straits open.

05:10The European allies are incapable of doing that.

05:12Our allies in the region are incapable of doing that.

05:15The only the only force that can do that is the United States military.

05:19And we either do it directly or we do it hopefully, hopefully through negotiations.

05:25But that's my rundown of the speech.

05:27I'm curious what you thought.

05:28Yeah, I mean, that's there's a lot in there.

05:30I mean, obviously, I think most people agree with you that a nuclear Iran is intolerable.

05:34It's just unclear in this latest version of the war how that has been debilitated, how the nuclear program has

05:41been debilitated.

05:42If it wasn't already obliterated, to use the president's term last June, what has changed through this operation over the

05:49last month or so?

05:50I think we can officially abandon hearing the two to three week timeline since he says it every day, which

05:56means that timeline hasn't changed and has been saying it for a long time.

05:59So don't put much stock in that. And obviously, like you said, opening the straits will open naturally when we

06:05leave.

06:06That's not true. The short term increase in gas prices here at home.

06:10Very dismissive of what people are living through and going through right now at four dollars a gallon.

06:15He's not a great legal scholar, so he probably thought a Supreme Court argument was going to be like this.

06:20I want the truth. You can't handle the truth.

06:23When actually it was more like this is the application of that general rule limited only to the situations that

06:33they had in mind when they adopted the general rule.

06:37Or do we say they adopted a general rule they meant for that to apply to later applications that might

06:47come up?

06:49OK, there is no way Donald Trump was still awake at that point.

06:54That's The Daily Show's take last night. Supreme Court justices appeared skeptical of the White House argument against birthright citizenship

07:01at yesterday's hearing.

07:03The case hinges on the meaning of the Constitution's 14th Amendment, which has been understood to give U.S. citizenship

07:09to people born on American soil.

07:12The Trump administration is challenging that interpretation when the president signed an executive order limiting to whom citizenship applies.

07:20Solicitor General John Sauer, who you heard there, faced tough questions for both liberal and conservative justices.

07:27He argued the amendment was written specifically with the children of former enslaved people in mind and that what he

07:33called birth tourism was creating a massive number of children with citizenship, but no real ties to the United States.

07:39Here are some of the arguments from yesterday's hearing.

07:44You say that the purpose of the 14th Amendment was to put all slaves on equal footing, newly freed slaves

07:50on equal footing, and so they would be citizens.

07:52But that's not textual.

07:54Eight billion people are one plane ride away from having a child who's a U.S. citizen.

07:59Well, it's a new world. It's the same Constitution.

08:01I get the point thinking about, gee, European countries don't have this, or most other countries, many other countries in

08:09the world don't have this, doesn't that, I guess I'm not seeing the relevance as a legal, constitutional, interpretive matter.

08:16How are we determining when or whether a newborn child is a citizen of the United States under your rule?

08:24I'm just talking about the particulars, because now you say your rule turns on whether the person intended to stay

08:29in the United States, and I think Justice Barrett brought this up.

08:32So are we bringing pregnant women in for depositions? What are we doing to figure this out?

08:39Do you think Native Americans today are birthright citizens under your test and under your friend's test?

08:45I think so. I mean, obviously they've been granted citizenship by statute.

08:50Put aside the statute. Do you think they're birthright citizens?

08:52No, I think the clear understanding that everybody agrees in the congressional debates is that the children of tribal Indians

08:57are not birthright citizens.

08:58I understand that's what they said, but your test is the domicile of the parents, and that would be the

09:05test you'd have us apply today, right?

09:08Yes, yes. So if a tribal Indian, for example, gives up allegiance to...

09:13Are tribal Indians born today birthright citizens?

09:16I think so, on our test. They're lawfully domiciled here.

09:20I have to think that through, but that's my reaction.

09:24I'll take the yes.

09:26Justice Gorsuch there.

09:27Joining us now, former U.S. attorney, former senior FBI official Chuck Rosenberg, and president of Voto Latino Foundation, Maria

09:33Teresa Kumar.

09:35Good morning to you both.

09:36So, Chuck, the consensus from legal scholars seems to be that it was a tough day for the solicitor general,

09:42because a lot of what we heard yesterday, critical and skeptical of the argument, did come from conservative justices.

09:48We'll point out many of them appointed by Donald J. Trump, who was sitting in the front row for at

09:53least half of the hearing or so.

09:54What were your takeaways yesterday?

09:56Yeah, Willie, I think the solicitor general had a tough day in court.

10:01You got good questions from the so-called liberals and the so-called conservative justices.

10:06By the way, the woman who represented those challenging the executive order also got good and tough questions from both

10:15sides of the court.

10:16I liked the argument.

10:18I think they both did well.

10:19I think she had the stronger position.

10:21I think the solicitor general had much more to defend.

10:24Sometimes it's the hand you're dealt.

10:26But I think that I agree with you, Willie.

10:30It seemed like the court was skeptical of the administration's position.

10:34And I hate predicting votes and I won't predict votes except to say that I think the executive order will

10:40be found to be either unconstitutional or in violation of a 1952 statute that mirrored the language of the 14th

10:48Amendment.

10:49So, Chuck, I'm curious your reaction when you heard the exchange between the solicitor general who said this is a

10:57new world and the chief justice of the United States said it may be a new world, but it's the

11:03same Constitution.

11:05Yeah, I heard what you had to say at the beginning of the show, Joe, and I agree with you.

11:11I think it's an important reminder to Americans about who we are and where we come from and the rules

11:19that bind us all.

11:22Yeah, the world has changed and the world will continue to change, but there are certain basic bedrock principles that

11:29apply.

11:29The 14th Amendment was enacted in 1868.

11:33It's not a new thing.

11:34It was enacted specifically, Joe, to overturn a repulsive Supreme Court decision, Dred Scott, an 1857 decision that held that

11:44blacks never were and never could be citizens of the United States.

11:48Our common understanding of what the 14th Amendment is and does has really been unchanged.

11:55It has been challenged from time to time, but our common understanding has been changed.

12:00I think that's the lesson of what Chief Justice Roberts was saying.

12:04Maybe new facts, but it's the same Constitution.

12:07And as a nation, we are knit together by a set of common rules.

12:12Maria Teresa, we should note that the president, after leaving the Supreme Court, put up an angry post on Truth

12:17Social, blasting birthright citizenship again.

12:20So perhaps that's a clue as to how he felt things went yesterday.

12:24But give us some of your takeaways as you listen to these exchanges with the justices.

12:29Well, I think one of the things that for this justice is what I think is, I think, refreshing is

12:33that we're actually starting to see a separation of government.

12:36I think a lot of folks were very skeptical that the judges would go, the Supreme Court would actually abide

12:42by institutions and rules of law.

12:44And they were very concerned that they were going to be weighted very much by the sway of this president.

12:47And we have not seen that, Willie.

12:49I've just, you know, the fact that they stopped the National Guard from going into Chicago, the fact that they

12:52stopped tariffs and saying, no, that's a legislative congressional issue.

12:55And now basically contesting saying you really have no legs to stand on on birthright citizenship is fundamental because I

13:02think that we're seeing is the Supreme Court that is really reflecting the values of our institutions.

13:08And I know oftentimes, Joe and Willie, we've had these conversations of like, will the Supreme Court have this separation

13:13of powers?

13:13And we are seeing just that.

13:15Still ahead on Morning Joe, what Democratic Congresswoman and Speaker Emerita, Nancy and only female Speaker of the House, with

13:24her career in Congress spanning nearly four decades at 86 years, become one of the most recognizable and powerful figures

13:32in American politics,

13:34shepherding passage of a number of landmark bills from the Affordable Care Act to the American Rescue Plan and becoming

13:43a favorite target of Republicans, including President Trump.

13:47Yesterday, MSNOW senior Capitol Hill reporter and the host of Way Too Early, Ali Vitale, was in attendance as Pelosi's

13:55career was celebrated in her home state of Maryland.

14:00And in an MSNOW exclusive, the former speaker opened up for a wide ranging interview, speaking on everything from the

14:08state of Congress to patching up her rift with President Biden and the upcoming midterm elections.

14:15And Ali Vitale joins us now with more on her interview.

14:19Ali.

14:20Yeah, Mika, this was an absolutely fascinating day to spend with the Speaker Emerita.

14:25And when it comes to President Biden, as you mentioned, the two, of course, had a long shared, a close

14:30relationship until on this very program in 2024, Pelosi made some comments that then became an inflection point in Biden

14:37ultimately dropping his reelection bid and straining their relationship in the process.

14:42I asked about where things stand now.

14:46I wonder if you factor in the way that Biden's campaign ended when you think about your own legacy.

14:52I think that many people credit you or blame you for the way that that campaign ended.

14:59Well, I don't know.

15:01How can I say this in a nice way?

15:04The Biden administration accomplished great things.

15:08People compared him to LBJ in terms of the amount of and the quality and quantity of accomplishments.

15:15The only thing I asked the president to do were two things.

15:19I get more credit or blame than I deserve.

15:22And that is that I wanted him to have other posters at the table than just listening to one.

15:30And B, I wanted him to assure the public that he could serve the term.

15:35They didn't agree with that.

15:37And so he then decided to step aside.

15:39I thought it was his decision.

15:42Rather than talking about that, I'd rather talk about Kamala Harris.

15:48She was just, it happened so fast.

15:54She met around a great campaign.

15:56She turned out so many more people than who would have voted.

16:00I think she doesn't deserve enough credit for the outcome of the election in terms of,

16:05we would have lost probably 14 seats in that election if she had not been the candidate.

16:13Have you and Biden spoken?

16:15Yes, we have.

16:16When did he call you when you retired?

16:18I'd rather, it'd be up to him to tell people when we spoke.

16:23And you guys know me well.

16:24Of course, that prompted me asking some questions of the Biden orbit.

16:27And a Biden spokesperson actually told me that Pelosi and Biden have recently gotten lunch.

16:33So potentially a thawing to that chilly relationship because of what happened in 2024.

16:39I also thought it was fascinating to hear the way that she talked about Kamala Harris.

16:43We also spoke in the context of women and the presidency, people like Hillary Clinton vying for that top office

16:50and falling short.

16:51Pelosi speaking to the chatter that I've heard from some in the Democratic Party about them not being able to

16:57put a woman forward as the nominee again.

16:59And I thought it was fascinating the way that she said that wasn't fair, but also said that she thought

17:04the country would be more ready for a female president before a female speaker.

17:09Of course, she has broken what she called the marble ceiling as the glass ceiling still remains intact.

17:15Ali, can you tell us a little bit about what the former speaker had to say about the state of

17:19Congress right now?

17:21She said the current speaker has really committed a betrayal against the institution, I believe, in your interview.

17:28Just tell us a little bit about whether she thinks it can be fixed.

17:32Yeah, these were some strong words from the former speaker as she looks at one of her successors in that

17:38top role in Congress,

17:40because this is a question we grapple with a lot on this show, which is, is Congress broken?

17:44It's especially worth asking amid yet another government shutdown.

17:48And I'll play for you what the Speaker Emerita told me and the way that she focused on this Republican

17:53-led Congress when it comes to answering that question.

17:56It does feel like members on both sides agree that the building and the institution is broken right now.

18:02And I wonder if you agree with that assessment.

18:04Well, I think the Republicans have broken it on their side.

18:07But I think that the members of Congress who go there know why they're there.

18:12This is Article I, the legislative branch, and we have a responsibility to the people.

18:19The Republicans have decided to fold to the president.

18:24They have abolished the Congress, actually.

18:27But I don't think people think that the Congress is irretrievable.

18:33As a former speaker, I wonder what you make of the way that Speaker Johnson has been so keen to

18:39seemingly farm out power that should be his, that should be Congress's, to the White House.

18:45What the Speaker is doing is really a betrayal of the Congress of the United States.

18:51The Constitution is clear about what our role is.

18:56And to surrender it to the executive branch, even if they were to surrender it to the Senate, you would

19:03say that's wrong.

19:04But it's at least within Article I, the legislative branch.

19:10That's powerful reporting.

19:12Ali, I wonder if you had any sense whether she could talk about how the Democrats are going to fix

19:19this,

19:19if they are able to win back Congress in the midterms, and what that pathway actually should look like.

19:25Well, look, she told me that she was fully confident that House Democrats were going to retake the lower chamber.

19:31Where she said her confidence was waning was, in fact, around security concerns around the midterm elections.

19:38Because I asked her about the ways that the Trump administration is leaving open the possibility, for example, of placing

19:43ice at polling places,

19:45of the ways that they are trying to push forward legislation through the SAVE Act, as they call it,

19:49that would hamper people's ability to access their right to vote.

19:53Of course, the Supreme Court is also entertaining decisions that could impact mail-in balling.

19:57And I asked her, does she have concerns around the midterm elections given that?

20:00And she said that she does have concerns, but that there is a plan in place talking with state legislatures

20:06and state election boards,

20:07trying to make sure that they know what they should be doing as Election Day gets ever closer.

20:12But again, her confidence is clear when it comes to House Democrats' ability to retake control of Congress.

20:18And then, of course, that begged other questions.

20:20We talked, for example, about the role that impeachment might play.

20:23Pelosi herself, having led the impeachment charge against Trump the last time during his first term,

20:29she told me she has no regrets about the way that they did that.

20:32She said that the only person responsible for Trump being impeached is Trump.

20:35But at the same time, I pressed her on the fact that Democrats don't willingly speak about the I-word.

20:41And she says that that's because it's not something that you campaign on, in her mind.

20:45It's something that you build a case on methodically once you get gavel power.

20:50And I think it's clear that that's going to be part and parcel

20:51to what a Democratic majority would bring back to Congress if that happens in November.

20:57What it looks like when generational change actually takes place.

21:02And the mayor has approached the 100-day mark in office.

21:06You know, there are certainly some who have been in dedicated opposition.

21:09I'm looking at the New York Post to my left.

21:12But at this point, they really felt like they haven't really laid a glove on him.

21:15His poll number is really high.

21:17Talk to us about what you wrote, how he's doing.

21:19Yeah, I mean, one of the secrets to his success so far has been really driving the narrative.

21:25He understands that this is an attention economy.

21:27And every day they're putting out not just content on Instagram and social media,

21:32but he's crisscrossing the city.

21:34He's extremely visible.

21:36He cares a lot about that press strategy.

21:40And so far, it's working.

21:42And I think the secret behind that is his youth and the youth of those around him.

21:47I mean, this is a really stark contrast with what we see throughout much of the Democratic Party and its

21:53establishment.

21:54These are people who are in their 30s or even younger.

21:58And so they are working constantly.

22:00They are working around the clock in some cases.

22:03They have late-night phone calls, conference calls.

22:06They're up early.

22:08And they're, you know, across the boroughs, you know, constantly.

22:12And so I think that's something that's hard to replicate.

22:15Of course, we're also seeing some—I wouldn't call them red flags, I would say.

22:19There are just some points of concern that can emerge with this kind of management strategy also,

22:25which is you have to pace yourself.

22:27There's not been a serious crisis yet.

22:29So they haven't done this really difficult job during, you know, any kind of terror attacks or anything like that.

22:37So they're going to have to pace themselves.

22:38But also, we've got to make sure that there's enough people in that room to be sure that someone can

22:44tell the mayor no.

22:45So the people around the mayor and the mayor himself, he's young.

22:49Yep.

22:50He's energetic.

22:50He's full of energy, full of ideas and everything like that.

22:54What are his prospects if he runs afoul of the New York Police Department?

22:58Oh, well, that's a great question.

23:01I mean, listen, his relationship with the New York Police Commissioner, Jessica Tisch, is fascinating.

23:08And the fact that he actually appointed her to that role, even though they have deep differences in policy,

23:15really suggests that he understands that he needs to have the support of some of the establishment in order to

23:22run the city well.

23:24He also cares about people and he wants to keep the public safe.

23:27So, you know, in that they are aligned.

23:31But I do think that ultimately some of those fissures may get larger.

23:37And, you know, that's like an open question.

23:40So far, the city is continuing to be very safe.

23:42So he's going to be allowed to do what he wants to do with his agenda as long as that's

23:47the case.

23:48Coming up next on Morning Joe, with AI becoming more present in our lives,

23:52a new book is exploring the fears that surround what the technology could become.

23:59We're going to talk with the author of The Infinity Machine.

24:02That's straight ahead.

24:03That's all.

24:03That's good.

24:03but we're going to talk to what we're going to talk about.

Morning Joe 4/5/26 | MSNBC Breaking News Today April 5, 2026

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