MS NOW/SnapStream Ahead of Tuesday’s Michigan Democratic Senate primary between Abdul El-Sayed and incumbent Representative Haley Stevens, MS NOW Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali previewed the race on Monday’s Morning Joe and spent most of her report on Israel and AIPAC, used frequently in attacks on Stevens. In her own later analysis, frequent Morning Joe guest Katty Kay said affordability was really the “primary concern” of the race, and promoted a comparison of El-Sayed to “an early Bill Clinton.”Vitali began her report, “The mittens are off in the Michigan Democratic Senate primary,” and labeled the election as an “intraparty brawl.” On Monday’s Morning Joe, Ali Vitali previewed the Michigan Democratic Senate primary and focused heavily on Israel and the prevalence of AIPAC, a focus of El-Sayed's campaign, in what she called an “intraparty brawl.” pic.twitter.com/tjHB18X2qH— Nick (@nspin310) August 3, 2026 After multiple clips played of El Sayed railing against money poured into the race, Vitali began to parrot his points:El-Sayed is running as a political outsider, bucking the progressive label but boosted by and sounding like many of them.Vitali returned to the issue of election money, as she explained, “The money is central, especially with groups like the pro-Israel AIPAC spending millions to back Stevens.”El-Sayed then stated in an interview with Vitali, “This is a record spend. Now, the big difference is I'm fighting for Medicare for All. I'm willing to say we need to abolish ICE.”As images from Gaza played on screen, El-Sayed remarked, “To me, it is about why are we sending bombs and tanks for no reason to other countries? That doesn't make sense to me.”Vitali continued to focus on Israel in her questions to Stevens: “Is there anything that would make you reassess the U.S. Aid posture towards Israel right now?”In its own form of a promotion of a candidate, Vitali touted Stevens’ “past work with President Obama” and also her work on “affordability.”After the report, former Obama Communications Director Jennifer Palmeri noted the focus of Gaza in the primary campaign, but asked: “Do you have a sense from reporters - from voters, you know, what is weighing most heavily on them and when they're making this choice on the Democratic side?”Vitali answered, “The idea of Gaza certainly is one of the big litmus tests here,” but turned to the war in Iran and everyday costs: “I also heard a lot, though, when I talked to voters, both Trump voters and Democratic voters, that cost of everything is weighing on them. I think the biggest difference was how much patience or leeway they are willing to give the president, for example, on something like gas prices, that they are connecting to the war in Iran." After the long report on the Michigan Democratic Senate Primary, Katty Kay said the real leading issue of the race is affordability, not Israel, as was heavily featured in Ali Vitali’s report.She also shared a comparison from Ron Fournier that compared “El-Sayed to an early… https://t.co/TiWkfPG4l7 pic.twitter.com/bB4lbVmKKO— Nick (@nspin310) August 3, 2026 To close, Katty Kay disagreed with Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and said the race wasn’t as much about Israel/Gaza, as was primarily featured in Vitali’s report, and more about “affordability”:And one of the things that she was pointing out is that this has become kind of an election campaign, this Senate race, that got into a fight between about Gaza and Israel. But actually, that is not the primary concern, as Ali was saying, of most Michigan voters. Their primary concern is the concern of voters all around the country. And that's affordability.If affordability was the primary issue, it certainly was not the main focus of the piece.She then promoted a comparison of El-Sayed’s talents to former President Bill Clinton:"And if he does [win], is that because he's a Progressive, or is it because he's a particular political talent? I mean, you've got Ron Fournier comparing El-Sayed to an early Bill Clinton. That's an extraordinary endorsement of his political talents."The transcript from Morning Joe is below. Click "expand":MS NOW’s Morning JoeAugust 3, 20267:41:40 AM Eastern(...)ALI VITALI: Yeah, you're right that there's a lot of eyes on this race, because what we're talking about here is really what does it mean to be a Democrat from Michigan in 2026? The Mitten State is always a battleground, but Tuesday night, the battle between two Democrats, who each say they are best positioned to win this toss-up seat in November with two very distinct messages.[Cuts to video]The mittens are off in the Michigan democratic senate primary.ABDUL EL-SAYED (D-MI): I have no doubt that if you're a corporate PAC, Congresswoman Stevens is really good at getting stuff done for you.REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): It was offensive to hear my opponent say I can't string together two sentences. I certainly did that on the auto rescue.VITALI: This intraparty brawl between doctor Abdul El-Sayed and Congresswoman Haley Stevens will say as much about this perennial battleground as it does the future of the Democratic Party.EL-SAYED: [To crowd] Money out of -CROWD: Politics!VITALI: El-Sayed is running as a political outsider, bucking the Progressive label but boosted by and sounding like many of them.SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): This is an election between Abdul and the billionaire class.EL-SAYED: This is the money versus the many.VITALI: The money is central, especially with groups like the pro-Israel AIPAC spending millions to back Stevens.EL-SAYED: This is a record spend. Now, the big difference is I'm fighting for Medicare for All. I'm willing to say we need to abolish ICE.VITALI: They also differ on continued U.S. Aid to Israel.EL-SAYED: To me, it is about why are we sending bombs and tanks for no reason to other countries? That doesn't make sense to me.VITALI: You've spoken specifically about Israel, but I wonder how that would manifest when it comes to aid of other kinds. So, for example, if you're in the Senate and a Ukraine aid package comes up, would you vote against that?EL-SAYED: So, what I'm against is unconditional foreign military aid. Ukraine aid is not unconditional. We're not just funding the military of Ukraine because we want to. We're funding the Ukrainian military because they are actively fighting a war against a guy who transgressed against their boundaries. That's conditions.VITALI: [To Stevens] Is there anything that would make you reassess the U.S. Aid posture towards the Israel right now?STEVENS: You know, look, I'm running for a six-year term and that is certainly a long runway for issues to continue to evolve. I want the U.S. and Israel to be working together to get aid into Gaza.VITALI: Stevens’ closing pitch is all about receipts.STEVENS: I'm a tough as nails Democrat who wins races and who fights and delivers for people when it matters most.VITALI: Touting past work with President Obama and flipping her House seat while promising action on affordability.STEVENS: We need a manufacturing champion in the halls of the United States Senate. Meaning jobs, meaning lessening our dependence on China through our supply chain to lower those costs.VOTER 1: I’m a fan of Haley Stevens.VITALI: She's backed by most of Michigan's top Democrats.GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): There are few leaders, few leaders with more fight in them than Haley Stevens.VITALI: What should voters read into not just the closing message, but the closing messengers in this race?EL-SAYED: You know, Michiganders understand that the Democratic Party has been a little clique in Michigan for a very long time. And that clique always likes to uplift its own.VITALI: Is Whitmer in the clique?EL_SAYED: Look, corporate Democrats have made their choice. And I think it's time for the folks in Michigan to make theirs.STEVENS: These are folks who fight and win for Michigan. They win tough races. That's what's at stake right now.VITALI: This will be a tough race.TRUMP: Great to be back in Michigan.VITALI: Republican Mike Rogers is back on the ballot after a narrow loss in 2024. So this primary is paramount.(...)7:45:21 AM EasternVITALI: Do you worry about what people say: Can he win? Can he beat the Republicans?VOTER 2: I don't give a crap about that anymore. I'm tired of that negotiated politics.[Cuts back to live]VITALI: That negotiated politics, I think, was a sign of the frustration and pushback on traditional ideas of who's electable. And that's a very real strain within the Democratic Party right now. As we all know, if that sentiment prevails, that's likely good for El-Sayed. There are polls that show him with momentum. But Stevens is the candidate who beats Rogers in the general. Ultimately, we will see.But this seat is a must-win for Democrats if they have any hope of reclaiming control of the Senate. And on Tuesday night, voters are going to give us some real answers about what kind of candidate Progressive versus moderate, insider versus outsider, that they think can win in a battleground.JONATHAN LEMIRE: Jen, you know Michigan really well. What are your thoughts here?JEN PALMERI: Well, first of all, it's obviously a very important Senate race, but also the sort of opening bell of the 2028 race. Because if El-Sayed wins and then goes on to win Michigan, that proves that. And he has said he's not a democratic socialist, but obviously very Progressive. Has made Gaza a big issue that I think gives that side a lot of momentum going into 2028. And if Haley Stevens holds on, goes on to win, that puts you in a different footing. But Ali, what does it feel like on the ground? What are people worried about? How - I know, you know, Gaza was a huge issue in 2024. Hurt Kamala Harris then. Do you have a sense from reporters - from voters, you know, what is weighing most heavily on them and when they're making this choice on the democratic side?VITALI: I'll give my sense as a reporter. The idea of Gaza certainly is one of the big litmus tests here. And I think for Democratic voters, that is something they are grappling with in Michigan.I also heard a lot, though, when I talked to voters, both Trump voters and Democratic voters, that cost of everything is weighing on them. I think the biggest difference was how much patience or leeway are they willing to give the president, for example, on something like gas prices, that they are connecting to the war in Iran? And I think the consistent thing I heard was whether or not they wanted to have patience or give him leeway on the issue, was that they never felt like the war itself was explained to them. And so I think that's one of the key pieces of this. But for Democrats broadly grappling with this, the reason that I think it's such a test, and I love that you frame it through 2028, Jen, is because this is really one of the first battleground states where consistently we've seen Democrats put up, quote unquote, “moderate candidates,” people like Elissa Slotkin, to win in purplish states. This would be the first real test if El Sayed wins, if he goes on to win in November of seeing a more progressive candidate win statewide. And I think that might change some of the strategy around what electability looks like in 2028.(...)7:48:56 AM EasternKATTY KAY: We definitely need to add Detroit to our to our tour. Jonathan, clearly. Look, I had a conversation with Debbie Dingell, the congresswoman from Michigan last night. And one of the things that she was pointing out is that this has become kind of an election campaign, this Senate race, that got into a fight between about Gaza and Israel. But actually, that is not the primary concern, as Ali was saying, of most Michigan voters. Their primary concern is the concern of voters all around the country. And that's affordability. And I think the real question for Abdul El-Sayed is he being - if he wins on Tuesday and the polls suggest he may well win on Tuesday - can he kind of prove those other general election polls wrong? Can he prove that a Progressive can actually win statewide? And if he does, is that because he's a Progressive, or is it because he's a particular political talent? I mean, you've got Ron Fournier comparing El-Sayed to an early Bill Clinton. That's an extraordinary endorsement of his political talents. And is that really why he's up against Haley Stevens, who most people in Michigan would accept is not a great candidate? Her team has not been particularly good. So, what was the real race here about? Was it about progressivism? Was it about Gaza/Israel, or was it just that he's been great on social media. He's a very good political athlete, and she isn't. And is that why he's ahead in the polls?(...)

David French Morning Joe 8-3-26 New York Times columnist David French appeared on Monday's Morning Joe to promote his latest alarm: the world is “walking a path toward a world war.”In his Sunday New York Times column, titled “The War That Could Swallow the World,” French wrote that Trump has lost control of the conflict with Iran. Host Jonathan Lemire read key passages on air:“The only thing worse than President Trump starting an unconstitutional war is Trump losing control of that war. I’ve often wondered what it was like to be alive in the summer of 1914, much less 1938 and 1939. When did people start to realize that the world was on the brink of catastrophe? Speak up too soon or too frequently, and you look ridiculous, like the Chicken Little of World War. Speak up too late, and you live, if you live, with bitter regret. "I do not think that World War is inevitable, nor do I think it’s probable. But it is now more possible than it has been at any other time since the end of the Cold War, and the American government is led by the worst rulers in the modern history of the United States."French expanded on the theme in his Morning Joe appearance. He said Trump never expected the war to spread across the region the way it has, with the Houthis entering the fight and threatening the Red Sea. He also cited a Ukrainian strike on an Iranian vessel, reported Russian assistance helping Iran target U.S. bases, a Russian missile landing in Poland, and Chinese missile supplies to Iran.“This war is not in his control,” French said. “And right now, every combatant in every one of the major world conflicts is escalating… These two conflicts to some degree are merging. And they’re expanding. And this is extraordinarily dangerous.”He closed by asking which world leaders are serious about resolution: “I don’t see anyone quite yet.”  Catastrophize Much? David French Says 'World Walking Path Toward a World War' pic.twitter.com/XDw0F6eXsq— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) August 3, 2026 French hedged carefully. On the one hand, he wrote that "world war is neither inevitable nor probable." On the other, in the same column he darkly proclaimed: "The world is walking a path toward a world war, and no one — including the president of the United States — seems to be in command of events."French's solution to the allegedly looming catastrophe? Vote Democrat! Or as he put it in thinly veiled terms in his column:“Our future may depend in part on American voters deciding to give Congress a spinal transplant."The Iran campaign has not gone according to Trump’s early expectations. Escalation risks and operational setbacks are legitimate subjects for debate. But turning those challenges into world war fear-mongering, complete with a partisan Democratic pitch? Auditioning for a 2028 Democrat hopeful speechwriting gig, David?Here's the transcript.MS NOWMorning Joe8/3/266:17 am EDTJONATHAN LEMIRE: David French, your latest opinion piece for the New York Times is titled " The War That Could Swallow the World," and in it, you write in part this: "The only thing worse than President Trump starting an unconstitutional war is Trump losing control of that war. I've often wondered what it was like to be alive in the summer of 1914, much less 1938 and 1939. When did people start to realize that the world was on the brink of catastrophe? Speak up too soon or too frequently, and you look ridiculous, like the Chicken Little of World War. Speak up too late, and you live, if you live, with bitter regret. "I do not think that World War is inevitable, nor do I think it's probable. But it is now more possible than it has been at any other time since the end of the Cold War, and the American government is led by the worst rulers in the modern history of the United States. "Our future may depend in part on American voters deciding to give Congress a spinal transplant. But that requires us to do something that democracies have rarely, if ever, done successfully. See the catastrophe coming and act decisively before a terrible war swallows the world.LEMIRE: David French, obviously an ominous warning there. We have seen signs in the recent week or two that this war could expand. Other countries, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, more getting involved. Tell us more as to why you think that might just be the beginning and this could expand much further and in a much more disastrous fashion. FRENCH: Well, consider this. When I said at the very beginning Trump has lost control of this war, I don't think that when he walked into it, he expected it would be spreading across the region the way that it has. He's said as much. I don't think that this is what he wants: to have the Houthis enter the conflict and begin to try to control the Red Sea. Already in the region, it's expanded beyond Trump's control and beyond Trump's reach. And then you have these other really ominous developments. You've had the Ukrainian strike on an Iranian boat that Ukraine claims was transporting weapons and other related war material between Iran and Russia. You've had information and evidence that Russia is helping Iran target U.S. bases, making Iranian strikes more comprehensive. At the same time, Russia continues to be undeterred, even though it's taking massive battlefield losses. You recently had a Russian missile landing in a Polish field. There have been drones that have crossed into Poland, first missile from Russia that we know of that's crossed into Polish airspace impacting in Poland. And just again and again and again, you're seeing China supply missiles to Iran reportedly. This war is not in his control. And right now, every combatant in every one of the major world conflicts is escalating. And so this is a situation I wanted people to begin to try to move their eyes just from focusing in on the in and outs of each ceasefire or false ceasefire or each deal or each fake deal and instead take a bigger, broader view. These two conflicts to some degree are merging. And they're expanding. And this is extraordinarily dangerous. And which of our world leaders, which of our world leaders is serious about trying to reach a resolution?  I don't see anyone quite yet.

Media Research Center President David Bozell joined The Wilkow Majority Monday afternoon to expose the horrific hubris of the left-wing media in light of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s recent congressional hearing. After Senator Rand Paul exposed Fauci’s diaries, CBS devoted a paltry 24 seconds to the actual records; meanwhile, broadcast news networks racked up at least 27 minutes aggressively attacking the senator instead.Bozell highlighted how deliberate this media sleight-of-hand really is, noting, “It also comes down to story selection and what they choose to ignore.” He added:The media also mischaracterized the nature of the diaries, framing it as if Rand | Paul reached into Dr. Fauci's personal desk drawer. These records were on| government servers, created on government tech during government time.This distortion of reality is business as usual for the Left. Bozell pointed out that CNN anchor Dana Bash claims to rely on scientific studies yet routinely gets her talking points directly from insider bureaucrats.MRC's @DavidBozell on @WilkowMajority lauds RFK Jr. for hammering CNN's Dana Bash over the media's COVID coverage."The media believe that they, and only they, can and should be tasked with telling the American people what to think." pic.twitter.com/X58olo9oBf— Media Research Center (@theMRC) August 3, 2026Bozell drew a direct parallel between the media’s hubris and that of Dr. Fauci himself, who “believes to his core that he, and only he, should set public policy for the entire country.” Yet Fauci repeatedly demonstrates his own hypocrisy. While lecturing ordinary Americans against gathering with family for Thanksgiving, he had no issue celebrating at the home of his media ally, CNN journalist Jake Tapper.MRC's @DavidBozell on @WilkowMajority rips into entitled bureaucrat Dr. Fauci for coddling up to the leftist media in order to enrich himself and win awards. pic.twitter.com/ZtY9fPLcAM— Media Research Center (@theMRC) August 3, 2026Whenever Fauci’s disastrous record surfaces on-air, the network apparatus shuts down debate. During one recent CNN segment, hosts abruptly derailed the discussion, “asserting they weren't going to talk about Fauci,” Bozell explained.The legacy media loves nothing more than twisting narrative threads to posture as righteous truth-tellers. But the moment their arrogance and misdirection are exposed, they run away with their tails between their legs. Watch the entire segment here:

The U.S. Justice Department announced “unprecedented fraud enforcement”  on Thursday, citing new federal partnerships with seven southern states aimed at combating and eliminating fraud.The partnerships include the FBI, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies, as well as state and federal attorneys in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. These states have entered into data-sharing agreements with the federal government, allowing the Fraud Division to access corporate registration and public benefits data, which it will use to more efficiently detect fraud.In an accompanying press conference, Colin McDonald, the assistant attorney general for the National Fraud Enforcement Division, stressed the importance of the partnership in eliminating fraud.“These partnerships are critical to solving our nationwide fraud epidemic. Fraudsters thrive on government agencies not partnering, not sharing data, not sharing intelligence. The fraud fighting team assembled here today is resolved to work together to break those cycles and bring the fraudsters out into the light. When federal prosecutors work with state agencies to share leads, data and strategy, the American people win......“And I can't overemphasize that these are not victimless crimes. Every fraud case prevents bread from going to the table of a needy family or health care from going to the elderly or a child from receiving the education that they deserve.” The press release that announced the partnership also highlighted many recent successes of federal enforcement actions against individuals responsible for more than $360 million in fraud across the seven southern states.The most egregious example of such fraud comes from the New Orleans-based Eastern District of Louisiana, where co-conspirators John M. Spivey and Jamie McNamara were recently sentenced for committing Medicare fraud. The two submitted $174 million in fraudulent claims for the performance of medically unnecessary cancer and cardiovascular genetic testing in laboratories they owned. Other examples include Michael Shine of Birmingham, Alabama, who has been charged with filing false tax records on behalf of clients. According to research by Web Stat’s News Room, he allegedly claimed residential energy credits for geothermal heat pumps that investigators have concluded do not exist. According to that article, he allegedly claimed the credit on 90% of the tax returns he filed as a tax professional between 2022 and 2026, compared to the Alabama state average of 2.2% for that credit. In total, he is accused of fraudulently claiming $70 million from the IRS.In a South Florida case, four co-conspirators, including two foreign nationals and one with a deportation order, sold SNAP benefits for cash at a Kwik Stop convenience store. According to reporting from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, businesses owned by the four individuals allegedly charged SNAP for food that recipients did not actually buy, provided kickbacks to the recipients, and pocketed the difference. In total, they allegedly caused nearly $20 million in fraudulent EBT transactions.In a less lucrative North Carolina case, two illegal-alien Romanian brothers pled guilty to a fraud scheme that caused nearly $766,000 in loss. The press release includes a remark on the scheme’s effect on a victim: “A victim reported that she was shopping with her family on their monthly grocery run for approximately $700 of SNAP-eligible items. Because the defendants had used her SNAP benefits, the transaction was denied, and the victim was unable to purchase food or school supplies for her family.” 

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was justified Sunday when he denounced CNN’s Dana Bash for making unsupportable claims in defense of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s comments and conduct regarding the COVID epidemic, Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.“I think RFK was right to call out CNN,” DeSantis said in a Fox News Channel interview, referring to the Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary’s interview with Bash on CNN’s State of the Union.As Kennedy pointed out in the interview, Bash repeatedly made claims without evidence and failed to cite her sources each time the HHS secretary asked her to do so. Instead, as Kennedy noted, Bash simply parroted liberal, legacy media talking points, some of which Kennedy directly refuted, in order to defend and justify the former COVID czar.“This may well be one of the first times, if not the first, that anyone brings accountability to the Elitist Media for their role in spreading Covid propaganda and helping squash any dissent against the measures,” NewsBusters noted in an analysis of the CNN interview:“Whether the vaccine, the lockdowns, the social distancing, or the school closures, Kennedy called her out and then demanded she bolster her claims with science.“And Bash learned the hard way that there is a difference between The Science™ the media pushed and the actual science the people needed to hear.”“The legacy media really imbued him with a certain amount of informal authority that, any edict that he would issue, that would be put out in every media channel as equating to science,” Gov. DeSantis told Fox News.“And Fauci even said at one time that ‘I am the science. If you disagree with me, you disagree with science,’” DeSantis recalled, going on to list several times when Fauci’s decrees turned out to be both false and destructive. What’s more, Fauci’s own recently-released diaries admit as much, DeSantis said.“Fauci himself, in March of 2020, said the masks wouldn’t do it. So, the diaries I think really validate what I saw early on: this is a guy that was drinking his own Kool-Aid,” Gov. DeSantis said.“He was venerated by the media,” DeSantis said, adding that “I think he liked the fact that he had a lot of this informal power.”Today, I joined America’s Newsroom on Fox News. pic.twitter.com/Zjh1NnMQew— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) August 3, 2026