it said i did well. encouraging. >> that's how we do it around here. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪ >> re can get done shooting on day and i'll come home and turn on the news and i'll think our story lines are not that crazy, they are really not. some people 99% of the show is accurate and the 1% isn't you could never get an education past that. >> it seems like president obama a little bit of frank underwood in him. >> i can't imagine why he would. i found over the last year, it must be really interesting not just an american public, but people around the world to view a very effective congress that

gets things done and so i can imagine he must feel, gosh, i wish we could move that quickly. >> in some ways, you wish there was more of a parallel because they actually got something done on that show. good morning, everyone. it's monday, february 17th. welcome to "morning joe." what are you saying, mark halpern, what? >> a little bit of downsides has the cards down. >> what is that? >> kind of a little evil. >> well, yes. >> dark. >> there's that. but it's true. he has people arrested and things. with us on set -- i think he is a murderer, right. with us now msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halpern. white house correspondent for the associated press, julie pace. interesting. the host of "way too early" thomas roberts. thomas, hello. i still don't know what was happening what i walked in on with you and louis. i don't think i want to know. do i?

>> all in clean fun. halpern said we needed to do that. >> you got to fight fire with fire. >> oh, god. i don't need to see that! louis! >> big people work for it. >> some of the competition are trying to trump thomas roberts with eye candy. thomas is fighting fire with fire. >> you mean the legs? >> the endless legs. >> legs in gloss. legs in gloss. legs in gloss. you will never ever be able to trump that. >> i love a challenge. >> that is -- >> you have just thrown it down. double challenge. i love it. >> he is adding substance as like a wild card. >> that could be it. that just could be it but i doubt it actually. >> i appreciate your support. >> on this president' day, pulitzer prize winning award winner jon meacham. it must be a rugged day in

tennessee! he is not wearing a tie and he didn't shave! >> it's very difficult down here. >> what did you walk through to get here? >> you have no idea. it's very difficult down here. >> thank you, meacham. thank you so much. we have so much to get to and i'm going to save biden for joe, because i think it will be interesting to see him respond. new reporting by steve kornacki which supports a port authority police officer with close ties to governor christie with the george washington bridge scandal. text messches submitted to the committee says the officer personally drove david wildstein who supervised the area with a tour of area with chip michaels. michaels has a history, both with christie and wildstein, all three men grew up in the same town in livingston, new jersey.

michaels has coached christie's son in little league hockey and his brother is a top lobbyist in the state. none of those things really mean anything, except for the fact they might have been driving around in the traffic, is that the takeaway there may be more information that comes after that fact is revealed? >> someone historically close to governor christie was involved in the earliest days of checking out the traffic problem. more people close to christie are going to be implicated in the planning. there has to be a reality based on the workings of that office. this guy we need to learn not only more about his past associations with governor christie but how they are in real time. >> but something deliberate happened here. there's a text message that says can we make this better? >> sure the circle of people is expanding. at this point, there is no indication that some people have told chris christie -- >> bless you.

>> i don't know where that came from! >> that was john meacham. >> there were many buzzards that got caught. >> allergies. >> you need to take your claritin d, jon! >> the circle seems to be expanding of people who knew about the lane closures but at this point we don't know who directly tooled chris christie. until that happens he is able to preserve some of what he said in that -- >> i'm in a charitable mood because it's presidents' day. how do you fix this problem? >> the text was from the new name in this story? the text saying we could make this better? >> allegedly. >> yeah. i think it seems to me that chris christie can preserve technically, possibly some things, but how can he -- i don't know.

what point do you stop saying technically he didn't know? >> at what point is it okay if everyone around you knows and thinks this is okay, even if you personally didn't know what was going on? >> this is an interesting development and there will be more but until people start going under oath, i think we are still in the prelims. >> true. at some point, though, when all is said and done, and let's say he technically is untouched, he is going to have to address how that's possible and why that's bad too. so the question is, you know, the damaging influence of even what happened in the circle around him. i don't know. it does not look good at all. a couple of other stories to get to this morning. the united autoworkers is reevaluating steps volkswagen voted going against the union. a big defeat for organized

labor. the uaw spent millions of dollars on the campaign and while volkswagen did not get involved, local politicians did pushing anti-union arguments. it's a setback for the unions to organization other auto plans in the south. there were fewer than 400,000 members of the uaw today and down 75% from 1979. overall, just 11.3 of all american workers are union members. in a statement following the vote, the uaw said, in part, quote this. we were outraged by politicians and outside special interest groups interfering with the basic legal right of workers to form a union. we're proud that these workers were brave and stood up to the tremendous pressure from outside. "wall street journal" editorial board writes this, quote. don't believe those who say this means the end of the uar. it has too many friends in high political places, as the 2009 auto bailouts proved. federal law is also stacked in favor of unions and president

obama's nlrb is rhinely stretching and breaking the law to make it even more so, but the fact that the unions must rely on brute government force shows how out of touch they are with modern economic reality. american manufacturing is making a modest comeback with the help of rising labor costs in china and the american energy revolution, but it could stage an even bigger revival without the threat that unions could once again make american production uncompetitive. the last thing the u.s. economy needs is to import union labor practices in chattanooga and not in the first place the workers are smarter than management. jon meacham, that number 75% down since 1979, is that not a trend that goes against the editorial i just read? >> absolutely. one of the two stories here is

the in the south, which has never been wildly hospitable to labor unions, safe to say, there have been a number of manufacturing coos here. whether it's nissan who makes cars here and volkswagen and chattanooga where i come from. there has been investment in the south and we would like to think it's because of our fine climate and our choice in footwear and our great charm. but part of it is that it's not a climate that is hospitable to organized labor. whether that trend line can be roofed is a terrific question for the left, as it begins to address in the popular political conversation the income inequality question. it's -- but i must say that the jobs are coming, in part, because the climate is not hospitable to organized labor. so there's an irony here that is going to be very hard to get around.

>> a big loss for the labor movement. >> huge. >> given the circumstances there. the company did not oppose the vote and the workers there had every reason to vote yes. it would seem the outside groups clearly played a role but that is part of our national politics now. can they do better under different circumstances in the south or just write it off? >> it really hurts what has been the growth plan for the uaw, which is to start this plant and try to expand through other plants through the south. do they take this as just one loss and try to put their efforts elsewhere or do they have to re-evaluate going into the south in general? let's get to politics on the republican side here and the democrats as well in washington. listen to this. former republican presidential nominee mitt romney appeared on sunday's "meet the press" and spoke about the possibility of the clintons returning to the white house in 2016. >> i think hillary clinton, if she becomes the nominee, will

have plenty to discuss about her own record. i don't imagine that bill clinton is going to be a bill part of it. that being said, the times when he was president were, by and large, positive economic times for the country. on the other hand, he embarrassed the nation, he breached his responsibility, i think, as an adult and i think as a leader in this relationship. but i think that is very unfortunate. but i don't think that's hillary clinton's to explain. she has her own record, her own mission for where she would take the country and i think that is something which we debated extensively during the 2016 campaign. >> he denied any interest in running for president in 2016. some republicans have been bringing this up along the way and doubling down on it. i just have one question for mark halpern. if bill clinton could run for president, would he win? >> 2 for 2, i think he would take on all comers.

governor romney praised his economic record and -- >> no, no. they are asking, especially some of the moral issues that happened in the white house. these republicans are leading up and leading to more questions to be like mitt romney about the monica lewinsky affair and problems in his marriage and whether or not that would affect hillary clinton. let me ask you again. if bill clinton ran again, if he could, would he win? >> i think he would beat any republican i can think of. >> any republican who is dredging this up is a misogynistic sexist hypocrite because if bill clinton can win again with all of these problems and hillary clinton, they can bring down because of this and they think they can each go after it, they are clueless and they are complete sexists because it's not even her affair. now, let me ask you this. if she had an affair in the white house with a younger man,

would the same result be 20 years later, ten years later, would she be able to run again and win? hell, no. this is still a man's world. you guys are all -- i'm sorry, not you but, please. i better not go on. this whole thing is ridiculous and these republicans, please. please keep doing it. rand paul, please. i beg you, keep going after it. because i'll tell you right now, it will backfire so badly. it will backfire so badly and you guys will be in the same exact place where you are right now. >> it's insulting to hillary clinton because it's not -- >> it's insulting to women. >> and insulting to women and hillary in particular because it's not as though she would run for office having just come from being first lady and we're still in the '90s. >> we are not there. >> if she does run, she is running as former secretary of state, former senator and has a long record there that you can look at and analyze and take it to and it's not that these issues from the white house

aren't going to come up but it's not central to who she would be as a candidate. >> and, quite frankly, she was a u.s. senator and secretary of state after all of that. a lot of people wouldn't make it through. >> absolutely. >> just wouldn't. >> absolutely. >> wouldn't be able to go on because it's traumatic. >> if there are unresolved feelings with the american public not feeling forgive us for their president which is bill clinton that is between the american public and bill clinton and not between the american people and hillary. >> there is a man/woman misogynistic hypocritical thing going on here. >> i have a take on bill clinton. if you see a turtle on a fence post. you know it didn't get there by itself. i think some of these are not planning to use this in hillary clinton runs. they are trying to intimidate her out of running and give her pause to say do you really want to go through this? they will not make it an election issue but if you're hillary clinton and you're weighing whether to run, is this what you want to face?

>> if you're hillary clinton and you're weighing whether to run, and these little peanuts do this, you're inspiring her to run. >> she has lived through this both when it was happening in her senate race and her first presidential campaign. this wouldn't be her first go round. >> she is struggling is this what i want to go through? the republican party has no one who can beat her. >> that's right. >> today, they have no one to beat her. >> and they have no one in general. we will play what joe biden said coming up because that is an interesting point of view of where are they. can they agree on anything? as far as hillary clinton is concerned, i'd say bring it on. jon meacham, have i said anything you don't agree with? >> no, i agree and i agree with mark here. we adjudicated this once in real-time and the people were ahead of the political class throughout. we all remember this. every time something was about

to happen, we thought, as soon as they hear the grand jury testimony, then they will turn on it. as soon as they her monica's voice, they will turn on it. there was always a then and then and then and it was like lucy and the football. if we went through it in real-time, yes, it begs for unpleasant morning conversations, but, you know, the clintons have built a formidable political force on being ahead and right on the issues, where the people are opposed to the political class. >> not to be like the house of cards later. i have a problem with what bill clinton did, a huge one with bill clinton. and the opportunities lost because of time wasted on that story, on that young lady who was taken advantage of, that is a tragedy for our country that we had to live through. again, nothing to do with hillary clinton. it's interesting to see them swinging wildly this way.

it will be fun to watch it completely backfire in their places. please, keep going. coming up on "morning joe," congresswoman marsha blackburn will join the tape and msnbc's chuck todd and reverend al sharpton and then jennifer senior on parenting. here is bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill? >> would you like more snow? >> no, no, no. >> one more? >> no. >> don't listen then. snow is coming tomorrow in the northeast. today it's in the central plains and the great lakes tonight. let's break it down. so far, we have 56 million people once again under either winter storm warnings or advisories. in the heart of the storm is from minneapolis to chicago during the day today. tonight through the great lakes. it's plenty cold enough. can't catch a break. either it's snowing or bitterly cold in this region and by far

one the worst winters we have seen in a long time. snow moving through iowa and minnesota and chicago from around noon to about midnight and 6 inches possible in chicago and 4 or 5 in pittsburgh and buffalo and d.c. and new york could see a couple of inches but not significant impacts. as far as the southern half of the country goes, i think this is starting to frustrate in the north the rest of the country is warming up and looking beautiful while we are still suffering from this never ending winter type weather. we live you on this presidents' say with a nice shot of the jefferson memorial. you're watching "morning joe." ♪ weekdays are for rising to the challenge. they're the days to take care of business. when possibilities become reality. with centurylink as your trusted partner,

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time to take a look at the morning papers. "usa today" ethiopiian airlines pilot is in custody after allegedly hiking a flight

defendant tined for rome. the man allegedly forced the plane to land in an airport in geneva. he is apparently seeking asylum after threatened in his home country. the airline relieved a statement saying all crew and passengers are safe. "the miami herald." a florida man could face 60 years in prison for opening fire on teenagers in an suv after arguing about the volume of their music. michael dunn was found guilty of second-degree murder but the jury deadlocked on the murder charge for davis who was hit by three of dunn's bullets. dunn says he used a handgun because he says the teens threatened him with shotgun but the police never found the shotgun. more than 200 workers are trapped underground after a collapse at a gold mine outside of jo they want to avoid being

arrested rescue crews say the miners could emerge any time. a college education program will be launched for prisoners. governor cuomo wants to reduce -- in the prison population. it could offer both associates and bachelor's degrees. >> bullying may have a lasting impact on the health of children "the sacramento bee." victims of bullying suffer from mental and physical health issues. the study shows these problems can persist for years after bullying subsides. victims also suffer from chronic depression and low self-worth. "the new york times."

"the tonight show" return to its birth place, new york city. it's the same place where johnny carson hosted it before he moved it to california. fallon has big shoes to follow after 22 run by jay leno. >> do you think -- he's such a nice guy. >> a great guy. >> do you think he is nervous? can you imagine? my lord. >> i don't know. he's a really talented gifted guy. >> so talented. >> i think he is going to do well. >> it will be fun to wash. speaking of fun to wash, with us now is chief white house correspondent for politico, mike allen here with the morning playbook. good morning, mike. >> good morning, mika. happy holiday. >> thank you. house democrats plan to neutralize obamacare this year, explain. >> you will not hear a lot of democrats on the campaign trail

saying obamacare is awesome. you'll hear democrats saying they want to fix it, that they want to improve it and we got our hands on this five-page memo that went out to house democratic campaign saying here are 17 specific things that we have tested with focus groups, tested in polls that you can insert into your commercials, that you can insert into your campaign speeches that will work. what they are going to focus on is saying that republicans would be worse, that repealing it would be giving a raise to insurance companies take away senior protection and hurt seniors and women and young people and specific ads targeted in each of those. the group's most sensitive what would happen if there were changes to obamacare. >> politico's mike allen, happy presidents' day. thank you very much. >> thank you. coming up, bode miller gets back to the podium in the olympics. we will have his post-race interview. "morning joe" sports is next.

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look at that picture. jen sending love from sochi around a valentine's day heart. a live look at sochi for you this morning. it looks a little foggy into the mountains and clear down below.

brian shactman is in sochi for us this morning. explain the fog some of the worst you've seen so far. >> it's just nutty, thomas. thank you. here it was raining earlier and broken up and some clouds. i was up there this morning. it is so foggy you can't see 20 yards in front of you so they cancelled the biathlon and the snowboard cross and thousands of fans waiting for those events so they we don't know when they will pick up again. two men bobsled and u.s. men in second place right now and i'm super fired up for ice dancing tonight which i'm very excited about. a quick look at the medal count. netherlands in the lead with 17. 16 of those are from speed skating. the u.s. is tied with russia. if you take out the x-games, aerial skiing or snowboarding they would only have 7 and be tied with switzerland for eighth. kind of skewed there when it comes to the medal count. one in the traditional sport was

super-g bode miller bgot a bronze. he is 36 and he got another medal in the olympics, i want to share a little bit of what happened because he lost his brother a year ago and this is the interview afterwards. >> you're showing so much emotion down here. what is going through your mind? >> i mean, a lot obviously. just a long struggle coming in here and just a tough year. and -- >> i know you wanted to be here with julie really experiencing these games. how much does it mean to you to come up with a great performance for him and was it for him? >> i mean, i don't know if it's really for him, but i wanted to come here and -- i don't know. i guess make myself proud, but -- >> when you look up in the sky at the start, we see you there

and it looks like you're talking to somebody. what is going on there? >> well, of course, he lost his little brother who died last year. there was a lot of controversy about the interview. some people, thomas, thought the interview had maybe pushed him just a little bit but he went on twitter to say, don't blame her. it was just an intense, emotional day. >> kristen cooper was the correspondent talking to him and bode actually brought up the loss of his brother first. >> yes. >> that is where the conversation went from there and talking about that, i think kristen knows the miller family pretty well and knew the younger brother. i think the younger brother suffered a brain injury from a dirt bike accident and had seizures after that. your heart breaks for bode miller who was powering his heart and soul into this competition and so grateful to see him on that medal stand there at the end, though. >> in some ways he encapsulates

america. he was saying he was on his own and a custody battle over one of his children and he is newly married. he has all of this stuff going on yet he is this incredible skier and people want to see him win and so even to get a medal, there's a lot of people that are really rooting for him. >> he gets to go out on top with this. brian, fill us in as all americans are rooting for the men's hockey team because they lifted all of us through because they did such a great job over the weekend. >> they play again on wednesday. they go straight through to the quarterfinals. they are not the top seed. sweden gets that because of the shoot-out against the russians wasn't a regulation victory so even though they won all three games, they don't get the top seed. we don't know who they play yet. clearly, they are doing extremely well. i know the canadians are considered the best team in this tournament but not a single person in this olympic park want to see the awesome going for the

gold medal. everyone is talking about on the twitter followers that kotsenburg did after he won. the women's hockey team have a semifinal game in 45 minutes against sweden. i had never played goalie before and hadn't spent much time with the team so i channeled my inner louis bergdorf and i did both at the same time. ♪ >> luck. butterflies and flips. in hockey, the goaltender is the last line of defense and will do anything to protect the net. >> short side. another intersect! >> how do you deal with the pressure? >> i think every goalie looks forward to the first shot on net and go from there. you can't predict it so just have fun with it. >> how do you embrace the

pressure. >> i think you should. otherwise, you better get out. >> the goalies for team usa face rapid fire daily. it's a dangerous element of what you do. >> when have you that much action going on, you don't have time to think about anything else. >> you really feel like you have developed a sixth sense where the puck is? >> for the most part, yeah, you hope you know where it is or you hope you know where it is. >> reporter: i hope for the best as i took my turn at the net but, first, i had to look the part. >> here and there. u.s. jersey. >> reporter: this is it, folks. hey, coach. luckily for me, goalie coach rob stauffer was there. >> how does it feel? >> it doesn't feel great. that's a pretty good stance,

would you think, goalies? . now your move, side-to-side. that's good. we call that shuffling. you're shuffling. >> don't let that stick come up! i get yelled at every day for that! >> reporter: now push! >> once i got comfortable moving around the accuracy and making a save, coach thought i was ready for the ultimate test. >> go! ♪ >> reporter: i'm done! >> ah! >> reporter: i play hockey my whole life and i never played goalie. i'm 42 and out of shape and i was dying out there. >> brian, you're a very good sport to go do that. >> brian, i got a call saturday

morning and my son, who usually tells me on saturday morning, he works hard and late during the week. saturday morning, i don't call him because he is usually up till -- he sleeps and he wakes up at 1:00 or 2:00. he called me and said, are you watching this? i go what is he talking about? and he turn on the tv and a shoot-out. not used to that, that was some intense stuff. >> reporter: it's games like that that bring the casual fan and whether it's patriotic or what. we live tweet those events and everybody was following it and people south, north, west, east. i had friends in hawaii and in california that were watching that game, and so the nhl people hope it builds into something i don't know. i tend to think this is special. the fact we are in russia and people harkening bark to 1980 and something different about that matchup i think is bringing people together.

t. jch t. t. t.j.oshi, nobody had ever heard him. >> my son said he is getting a jersey the next day. they september sending the same guy out. not like football or soccer they ultimate. they kept giving it to oshi and the guy was fearless. >> he's on the team because of that. supposedly he is a good player but supposedly they brought him on for that potential scenario. he said he was surprised they kept calling his name but on youtube all of these one-on-one tributes because he is that good. he went 5-hole, are you familiar with that, mika? >> yes, sure. what? >> no. what is it? >> you don't know what the 5-hole is either, joe? come on, thomas! >> between the legs. >> it's not the pie hole. it's the 5-hole! >> oh, i thought you said pie hole! we have a bad connection from russia. >> reporter: i'm going to shut

it down right now. >> thank you, brian, so much. that was a great package, by the way. it really was. i like to see louis do that except get slammed. >> a lot of clothing you have to wear. a lot of clothing. >> you look naked on "way too early." >> why was he naked? >> it was partial. >> it was thomas. >> valentine's day club. >> look at him! >> oh, my god. >> what? >> that is the first laugh of the week. >> that is so on funny. >> ew. ew. ew. coming up, marsha blackburn will join us for the must read opinion pages. we will be right back. ♪ what if you could shrink your pores just by washing your face?

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welcome back to "morning joe." joining us now is republican congresswoman from tennessee, representative marsha blackburn on the set with us. >> good to see you. >> happy presidents' day. >> indeed. i'm going to bake my cherry pie. >> i'd like a piece of that. this is a story at the top of the show pretending to the uaw and even the numbers alone in terms of the diminishing. if you look at, for example, i think since 1979, the membership is down 400,000. it, alone, is having a hard time staying afloat, is it fair to say? >> i think it is fair to say that, because even if you look at what had happened with gm and the saturn plant and their arrival in tennessee, 30 years

ago, believe it or not. >> unbelievable. >> what you see, they have a different contract and had gone in and made some adjustments. more workers, more individuals want to have say over their own productivity, and i think that is one of the reasons that you're seeing the diminishment in individuals, some of these production teams. if we achieve certain output levels in production, we want to be rewarded for that. >> let's explain to everybody for, obviously, the uaw had a vote. they were going to try to unionize the volkswagen plant. volkswagen stayed out of it. and basically let them do what they wanted to do. two years of lobbying, millions of dollars spent. at the end of the day, the voters -- >> what is the message here? >> the workers decided they didn't want to unionize and that was seen as -- how important is that for automakers and, more importantly, workers across the deep south, in your opinion?

>> in my opinion, what you saw was this massive effort. 89% participation from all of the workers, which was really quite phenomenal. they sent the message that they like things the way they are. they are delighted to have vw there and they are delighted to have the jobs, but they don't want to change their work environment. also for all of the companies that are tied back in to the auto manufacturing industry in tennessee, 33% of all manufacturing jobs are tied to auto. what they were saying is we like having this production here, the jobs being within 500-mile one-day drive to detroit for parts and replacement. you look what is happening in alabama and mississippi with production. you have so many of these manufacturers in tennessee that are saying, we like it like it is, don't mess it up. >> all across the deep south. the big growth. >> mark, i'm going to read and then talk to you here. just a part of "the wall street

journal." we read it in the first block, but american manufacturing is making a modest comeback with the help of rising labor costs in china and the american energy revolution. but it could stage an even bigger revival without the threat that unions could once again make american production uncompetitive. the last thing the u.s. economy need is to import european labor practices. in choog and not for the first time, the workers are smarter than management. >> american labor union movement is laying onity back and the "the wall street journal" editorial page is putting its boot on its neck to try to deep -- do you think the unions are good for america? would you like to see more unions in tennessee or are you like "the journal" and saying there is no place for them in your state? >> what i would like to see is greater output and more export. i would love for a lot of the manufacturing come back onshore. >> is that compatible with

unions? >> you know, maybe some of the unions will say, okay, let's see how we can work with you to be more competitive. have a 3r0ed thproduct that is be more competitive and that would be good for everybody. >> as it stands right now, it is incompatible. >> it is. because the labor costs are driving up the costs. whether it is clothing manufacturing or auto manufacturing, you know? >> it's not a coincidence that all of these auto plants the last 30 years have been going to tennessee instead of connecticut. alabama, instead of new york. you name it. they are going to the deep south. >> absolutely. for people who may be from the northeast or from the midwest where unions are so entrenched in their culture, could you just explain a little bit how the culture in the south views unions and why it's been so difficult for uaw and other unions to break in there? >> one of the things i think so important there is employers in the south are very raeelational

and have great relationships with the people who work in their companies and people like that and people like to be rewarded for the work they do. tennessee has the lowest of any state in the country and we are in the top five for business and top five for lowest taxes and top five for shovel ready survived industrial site. so you have all of these good things that are positives that make it easy for companies to do business. our governor is doing a great job. you can go back to when senator alexander was governor and brought the first nissan facility into the state. we have had people that have been committed to growing jobs there in tennessee and for increasing exports. we have increased our intorexpo

the last 20 years. >> looking forward to the cherry pie. >> we know parents shape their kids. but what about the other way around? authorev eveeve eveeve eveever senior is coming up next to talk about that. thank you, alex. we will be right back. honestly? this deal was way too good to believe. instead of paying too much for an ipad, i got the surface 2. first of all, it comes with office and outlook. then, with free skype calls to phones in over 60 countries, i can talk to my cousins any time. and then, i got 200 gigs of cloud storage -- free -- so i can get my photos and stuff almost anywhere. others charge for that. surface is such a great deal. i feel like i should tell somebody. hey! ♪ honestly ♪ i want to see you be brave ♪

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let's take a look at what jon meacham has to say in "time" magazine on presidents' day. how the presidents judge one another. a look back suggests that the presidents appreciate what voters appreciate. leaders who, at once, think big and act smartly and learn more about the service of ends than the specifics of means. for the presidents, history is always provisual and always conditional and the greatest leaders are the ones like jefferson and jackson and lincoln and fdr and jfk and reagan are willing to depart from dogma to make the country

stronger and more secure. so how do presidents judge other presidents? two themes emerge. first, they often evoke their predecessors in search of the sanction for present. i think presidents tend to see as they would be seen and one concluding as presidents think of themselves is to note of how they think of their predecessors. >> jon, on this presidents' day, what president do you go back to and find the most fascinating intellectually challenging president to study? >> for me, it was jefferson. he was a philosophical figure and put together coalitions of opinions to solve real opinions of real time. he found in practice he could not live up to the philosophical servitudes of which he could

articulate so brilliantly but he find out ultimately as you know and anybody in the arena knows, it's a lot easier to speak in consistent terms than it is to act in them. >> on this presidents' day, let's talk about the presidents. our first and possibly our greatest, seems our most remote. >> yeah. >> it's not justice a passage of time. can you read your book on jefferson or read books about adams, read books about almost, you know, the whole 43 presidents. none seem as remote as our first. why is george washington still so hard for historians to penetrate and americans to understand? >> i think, in part, because the president was remote. it was part of his appeal. the century model was one where you wanted a leader who seemed reluctant to be drawn into the fray. you wanted someone who was above

the wars of the moment to enter into the wars of the moment and fight them. there is a wonderful line from gilbert stewart when he was painting washington, he looked into his eyes and found them ferocious and pierce and i'm paraphrasing but if washington had been born in the forest, he would have been the fiercest chieftan out there. >> isn't that fascinating? this guy that goes behind a mask and seems so remote, you hear one account after another of the fact it was all calculated remoteness and he had actually had to detain his anger. >> to me, this is why history is fun and it's why it's important, too. i think it can lower all of our blood pressures collectively. even with george washington, the constitutional convention went easy on the specifics of the presidential office, in part, because everybody was convinced that washington would be the

first president. so they didn't worry quite so much about how the office would work because they implicitly trusted washington to do it well. someone with that amount of public trust, that amount of throw-away, even he is human -- or jefferson called him wrathful at one point. he said he was not a first-rate intellect but he was someone the country trusted because he could manage the conflicting factions at the time. >> jon meacham, thank you. good luck as you wander back into that thick forest behind you. >> we got volkswagen. >> coming up at the top of the hour, nbc news political director chuck todd. plus the reverend al sharpton will join the conversation. "morning joe" is back in a moment. ♪ peace of mind is important when you're running a successful business. so we provide it services you can rely on.

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there isn't a republican party. i wish there were. i wish there was a republican party. i wish there was one person you could sit across the table from and make a deal, make a compromise and know when you got up from that table, it was done. >> wow. welcome back to "morning joe." look at that beautiful chopper shot over new york city. mark halpern and julie page are still with us at the table. the host of msnbc politics nation and president of the national action network,

reverend al sharpton. in washington, nbc news chief white house correspondent and local director and host of "the daily rundown," chuck todd. joe, joe biden. >> i was going to say the second i read those words, i was like give me more, give me more. chuck todd and mark halpern and julie and all of us here, you know that is almost like locker room and something you put in a locker room and you put up on a wall and everybody goes in and laughs at it after you beat the team of who said that. there isn't a republican party. i don't know. something about this that said this sounds like what people were saying about the republican party in 1979. >> well, no one you can sit across the table and not know and they walk away. i can name a few names here that appear to have done that. >> so we are not a dictatorship. we don't have one person telling us how to do everything. >> that is is not what he is

saying. >> we are more democratic. >> he was talking about actually cutting deals and people coming to the table and not being completely radically unmovable on everything. >> you love america too much. chuck, i think if we are going to talk about the republican party, i personally like what i'm seeing. i think ted cruz represents a large part of the republican party, an important part that knocks on doors and makes phone calls and really does help the party get elected, but the other side, mitch mcconnell and others who have been flexing their muscles on the other side sort of the main street republicans as well saying you know what? you go your way and we will go ours and see what happens. it seems like we are in a better place than six months ago leading up to the shutdown. >> i'm trying to figure out when a political party out of power didn't look like they were trying to sort themselves out. when they don't have the white house, then the factions rise

up. you don't think if the democrats lost the white house tomorrow that everything that hillary and obama frankly are papering over in the democratic party wouldn't pop up immediately? we talk about this issue of trade, for instance. the president would like fast track authority. his party, many in his party don't want to give it to him. that would be the type of issue that would be more explosive if there were no democrat in the white house. so this is -- you know what biden is saying. it's, obviously, part of the message that the democrats want to run on. they want to be able to say, hey, those republicans, they are obstructionists on one side. they don't know -- they don't want to govern and they want to make that part of their message. i think there was an aspect to them six months ago that looked like that they were not interested in governing. but when you look at the moves that boehner made last week, you know, there is clearly a

multiple factions inside the party. yes, is there a power struggle. you know what? it will sort itself out. >> after narrowly avoiding a filibuster by senator ted cruz, john mccain was asked if he could relate it to his colleague in texas. >> i understand where senator cruz is coming from. we have a cordial relationship and i respect his rights to exercise his rights as a u.s. senator which he did last week. but i allege that there was no plan. there was no plan once we had taken the united states on the brink of this financial crisis that we were approaching. i appreciate our leadership, voting the way that they did, even though they faced primary oppositions, especially senator mcconnell. >> he defended his vote to raise the debt ceiling despite opposition from his own party saying, quote, my job is to

protect our country when i can and i step up and lead on those occasions when it's required. that is what i did. and that, i think, might have been one of the examples joe biden was using about sort of who are they? what do they stand for? >> understand what everybody did. mitch mcconnell i think in the long run will be helped by the vote that he cast in his home state and help him with independent and swing voters but there is a base out there that you can't turn away from. guys like ted cruz, mike lee, they speak for a lot of people and in this case, i was against what they did six months ago, but in this case, yes, if you're going to raise the debt ceiling and you're not going to do a damn thing about the medicare and medicaid crisis and sit there and let this government

continue to spend electrictrill dollars and they can't put in one structural reform with all of the trillions of dollars we have wasted through the years? by the way, i'm not talking about entitlement programs p.m. i'm talking about layers after layers of programs that are wasteful in the pentagon. it seems to me at least get a vote out. that was my criticism last week. i wasn't say shut down the government or default on our debt. i was saying show a little bit of leadership. and i don't see that coming from capitol hill right now in the form of republicans. i was critical on one side six months ago, but now i've got to say if somebody didn't stand up on a debt ceiling vote saying, okay, i'm going to require you to have 60 votes, the base would be pretty upset. mark, it is a balancing act here and i like what i'm seeing.

again, i think this is a big improvement from six months ago where john mccain saying i respectfully disagree with ted cruz, instead of calling him a horny frogged toad or whatever he called him six months ago, whacko bird or whatever. i think we win when there are two wings of the republican party. >> the republicans took a huge hit with the shutdown last year and the president sticking to his position he wouldn't negotiate anything on the debt ceiling. what mitch mcconnell and john boehner have done is put republicans in a good position to do well in the mid terms. had they tried to break the president's will and failed on raising the debt ceiling, the party could have been back to a lower point than they were. >> what i've been saying it's not an all or nothing. there is a middle ground. jon meacham brought this up last wreak. it's not nuclear war or total

surrender. we had nuclear war a month ago and paid for it and this last weekend we had total surrender. >> boehner and mcconnell have decided no deal they can make with the president on substance or policy. >> i find a total surrender. >> i think what is funny about this a lot of people inside the white house saying the fever has broken on the debt ceiling issue and our strategy has worked. this was a midterm move by john boehner. this was clearing the decks. don't give democrats something else to latch on to. let us keep talking about health care and the economy which is not really a fever breaking moment siege. >> i think a lot of republicans were glad to let this ballots go past, despite what i was saying. we can talk about obamacare now. >> they just agreed to a two-year budget provision that they all voted on a month ago,

so it would have been pretty hypocritical to say we have agreed to this budgetout line but not give you the ability to pay for this budget a month later. i do think when you look at what they just voted for at the end of december on that budget, then there really isn't a compelling policy -- this isn't a compelling policy move to say, okay, now we are not going to give you the money to pay for that budget we agreed to. >> i got one for the reverend now and joe here. i chimed in a tad bit at the top of the show. >> you made me a little uncomfortable but go ahead. former presidential nominee mitt romney appeared on sunday's "meet the press" and spoke about the possibility of the clintons returning to the white house in 2016. >> i think hillary clinton, if she becomes the nominee, will have plenty to discuss about her

own record. i don't imagine that bill clinton is going to be a big part of it. that being said, the times when he was president were, by and large, positive economic times for the country. on the other hand, he embarrassed the nation, he breached his responsibility, i think, as an adult and i think as a leader in this relationship. but i think that is very unfortunate. but i don't think that's hillary clinton's to explain. she has her own record, her own vision for where she would take the country and i think that is something which we debated extensively during the 2016 campaign. >> romney also denied have any interest in running for president again in 2016. there were rumors swirling about that. >> at wide open field. >> it is. reverend al, obviously, that came in the form of a question that mitt romney was answering and the republicans have brought this up in terms of hillary and how connected she is to scandal in the white house and whether or not that impacts her own

personal running for the white house. i say the more people do this the more she will say, you know what? i'm going to have to run because i think it's insult to go women that this is even an issue. >> no. i think it is very insulting to women and americans. first of all, i think the pot leading out of this is she was a victim of her husband cheating. what are we saying to women? if your husband or boyfriend cheats, you, therefore, can't be president or on you, therefore, can't hold some position? i mean, how proverted is that? we talking about the actions that also violated her. we are not talking about anything she did. so i think that are really treading on dangerous ground to even bring it up. secondly, you're just lae eliminating her whole resume. she has been a senator and secretary of state all since those issues and she was able to

come back after whatever trauma or pain she had being a victim in the situation they are raising and performing these duties. you will not judge her about that. you will judge her about the actions not of herself but of her mate that violated their wedding vows? that is the most, in my opinion, misogynist think you could do. >> i absolutely agree. >> not the most massagist thing. >> it ranks up there. >> we could probably get a list of this story misogynist things that have been done in the past. i think rand paul's mistake -- and he started this conversation -- is by prig hillary into it. if he wanted to talk about women's rights groups that are now turning their guns on republicans in the, quote, war on women, they can. very legitimately say, wait a second. where were you when juanita broadrick went out crying and a

lot of people thought she really was raped. where were you and go down the list, where were you? if they want to talk about that and get stuck back into a debate that has already been debated, let them do that, but i agree with the reverend. to drag hillary clinton in as the wife that was the victim of this behavior as well, that's just -- that's insane. >> i think it's insulting to her. i think it really glosses over the record that she had. the fact that she went through this experience in public. we have litigated this in the american public, in the news media. she went through it. she became a senator and secretary of state. she will run on her record in those jobs if she runs as president. she will not run as a wife who went through this public ordeal. >> the fact we are even talking about this. usually, i'm so proud of how far women have come, glass ceilings have been broken, we are

working, we're finding a place for ourselves, but to me in times like this is just an example of how much work needs to be done because of different standards that are applied to women. the fact that we are even talking about pj. fa this. the fact that some short-minded republicans would even think that this is something that is a legitimate tactic against her is unbelievable to me. it reminds me of the argument people are having about wendy davis and her parenting. there are things that people don't talk about with men. in fact, as you said, bill clinton would be elected today. it's okay with everybody! >> a political strategy. >> should be gone. >> let's bring -- i want to bring up wendy davis. we read the article, we both did. mika and i called each other saying do we want to do a segment on this yesterday?

i go, oh! i go, did you see what happened? i personally think all of that gunk they are drudging up on wendy i think is garbage. but the hollywood, like the total hollywood take on wendy davis in the race, i just don't think anybody would really bet any money that she could win. as a conservative, just made my head explode because it was such a pub feast. you read it. you actually were really moved by that. >> well, i read it to the end which is a difference. the first five paragraphs, i agree with you completely. then as you dig deeper into the story. >> you're saying i didn't read it? >> i just look at the pictures and the captions! >> you went back after we talked and read it to the end. >> what is your point? >> in the beginning, it really was -- i was like was she a mayor or a governor? like they acted as if she was --

it was really -- >> guys over dallas and ft. worth were bluer because she was a counsel. >> they would not have done that on their first piece on sarah palin. >> oh, my god. what if sarah palin had been caught playing with her bio? oh, sweet jesus! save her and the entire extended palin family and we would all be put on a rack and stretched. here, again, it's not about wendy davis. an inspiring story but -- unbelievable. >> parenting expert is coming up. a lot of parents would have issues with the decisions she made and i find her decisions to be brave and for her children and it wasn't the time living in the trailer whenever that was. >> you were inspired by her decisions when she went to harvard? >> she went to harvard and everybody is saying shfs bait w

bankrolled by her husband. she graduated from harvard with highest honors. harvard law school. >> when i was reading it, i was going to say, i had one child at the university of florida, joey was a newborn in my first semester and even that was pretty mind boggling. >> she has two kids and she is at harvard law school. after about a year, i remember this happening when i was working overnight when i went to the doctor and the doctor is like, i need to take your blood pressure. she had this situation where the doctor took her by her hands and said what is going on at home? >> you started tearing up. >> i did. because she made a decision what can i do that is best for my kids. my instinct is she sent them home to be with her mother and her husband because she would be cared for better than her as she was getting her hard vred degva

which would be for them in the long run because it would build them up and open the doors for them. a father can make that decision. >> it was very touching. it showed a real kind of strength and good judgment on her part. and i thought that showed me something. >> reverend al, you -- >> what i found amazing as a city council woman she was responsible for the berlin wall coming down. i thought that was more of a reagan thing but, seriously, she was going to a cowboys game and gorbachev, let's tear down that wall, y'all. >> i read that. i felt like if you read it all the way to the end, i thought robert draper, who did the piece, i hear you at the beginning was very puff, but i thought he painted an interesting portrait. i came away with very he thetic

to the decision she had to make as young mother who had these opportunities put in front of her and, by the way, any male politician in the same -- >> exactly. >> decided to send their kids, okay, no doubt that -- but he also painted a picture of a candidate that is not ready. also there were so many examples in this profile that i took away that said, wow, this is -- she's not ready -- they are not ready for the big spotlight that was going to come on to them and they have not figured out how they are going to run for governor. they know that they have struck lightning in a bottle on a couple of big moments. they have got national fund-raising ability. in many ways, her campaign is all about national groups being able to use her to raise money for themselves and for her, but i thought that draper very

shrewdly painted a picture of somebody who just isn't quite figuring out how she is going to go about this campaign and what she is going to run on. >> i'm sure when she entered the college that she went to -- sorry, joe, i'm sorry to interrupt you but i'm sure when she entered the college in texas that she didn't think she was ready for harvard law school and somehow got there. i don't know. i find -- >> i will say her biography and we are stuck on trailers in 1921. her going to harvard law school with two kids. >> it's the american dream. >> exactly. >> what everybody wants for their kids. >> it's breath taking and how smart she is, she graduated with honors. i don't think she has a path forward in texas right now. maybe five, ten years from now. i could see if she were in a swing state, michigan, or heck,

even kentucky talk about her on the short list next five years being a leader in the republican party. what do you see her path forward in texas? >> i don't see it. she is coming out in a red state. the one issue that gave her national and statewide brand is abortion, that's not something to run statewide on in texas. i thought draper did a very good job of showing that they are struggling with figuring out, well, they got rid of one pollster because giving too much advice they should run a more negative campaign. i feel like she was rushed into this, pushed. she certainly strikes me she was pushed into this race. perhaps it was by national groups who themselves are raising a ton of money off of her because she has got this national following now. you wonder would she have been better off sort of taking one step at a time preparing for a statewide run maybe in 2016?

if there is a u.s. senate seat that is open, something like that. >> chuck, thank you very much. we will see you at 9:00 a.m. on "the daily rundown." reverend al, stay with us, if you can. up next, we got a huge response the first time she was on the show, so she brought best selling author jennifer senior back for more on her new book which pushes parents to reconsider some of the most basic beliefs on parenting. but, first, i just can't -- >> you get a good response about me and that is why you keep bringing me back, right? >> no. actually, we have no choice. >> teleprompter. >> you're the only weather man available. >> i don't believe you. no way we are going to get more snow. you stop it right now. >> i know. it may even be trending more than expected for tomorrow too. the cold air is here. it hasn't given us a break in like six weeks. the end of the week will be much warmer but first deal with the snowstorm. the cold air is in place and snow is falling in minneapolis. we have about 56 million people that will be impacted by this

snowstorm and by the time it's said and done, probably up that number to about 80,000 to a hundred million. the blue is the heavy snow. right now over minneapolis and cedar rapids and des moines and chicago and milwaukee, you are mexican. this isn't a huge amount of snow but a lot of us have about two feet on the ground already and we will add another 4 to 6 inches and in chicago maybe 6 to 8 inches. these are the snow totals for the midwest. area in the northeast may be lower along i-95 but it will happen tomorrow morning at this time. anyone who has to drive i-95, be prepared to do that in a couple of inches of snow. you're watching "morning joe," on this snowy, blustery, new york city day, presidents' day. ♪ ♪

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remember that baby? >> no, i don't. >> that baby was could suit.

we need to go back on the campaign trail. >> a lot of babies out there i don't remember. just joking! the mick jagger of the morning show world. what you going to do? >> you remember that little guy. >> do you remember that baby? >> no, i don't remember that one. what was that? hamburg '64? maybe '61? >> so cute. >> that was 2012. it was december of love. >> here with us now is contributing editor of "new york" magazine, jennifer senior. the author of "all now and no fun the paradox of modern parenthood." i want to get into the title, but first guilt. can we talk about joe for a second? >> oh, no. >> we work at 3:00, home by 11:00. i call him about the show. he is driving his kid to tennis and driving his daughter home

from school. >> oh, my god. >> he is watching jogo. like seven hours. why? why does he need to do that? it's too much. >> it's way too much. >> they have too much access to him. >> i don't need this lecture on national tv. what am i doing wrong? >> the emerging parenthood thing? >> they don't go to bed on time and up late watching tv for them. >> you feel bad because you're not seeing them enough. >> i'm with them all the time. >> two things i can describe here. one, something we talked about a little bit last time that the family has become the -- meaning kids are at the top of the heap ever since they loved their production, they used to work for us but not any more. >> are talking about the inverted pyramid? >> i said this the last time. only half of all american kids graduated from high school.

they were working for us throughout the history. >> they liked it! >> no. >> rational economic sense. there was at least something economically rational. you did something for them and they kicked something back in. what is strange is their new work is their new work. it's driving them to soccer. that is their new work. it's going over their homework and going to kuomo. >> my little girl says we are not going to go there. guilt. >> can i tell us about something else you're doing on behalf of your kid? it was much easier to raise our kids tock like us. if they inherited our farm, it was easy piectimes. you don't know now what future is for your kid. i don't know the name of the job title my kid is going to have.

>> right. >> what you're doing is raising your kids for every possible future because you don't know what specific future they are going to be a part of. can you imagine like larry page and sergei being like, i'm going to find -- >> let me ask you this. it's weird, being a parent. i got four kids. but it's strange these days. sometimes the parents that others would go, oh, gosh, they are so tough with their kids. where they basically treat them the way our parents treated us. >> right. >> on one hand, other parents are going they are not spending enough time with their children. on the other hand, you sit there and go, wait a second. are they doing it the right way by not letting their children dominate every second of their lives? >> because i said to a model has gone out the window, the idea you could possibly utter to our children. look. this isn't a democracy. i'm still the boss here has completely, i think, just been

checked away. >> why? >> well, you know, the new theory about if you're middle class and you are college educated, the way you prepare your kids for the world, when they ask you a question, you don't respond with a directive. you respond with another question. what do you think of that? on the one hand, i guess it's a nice thing in that it tells kids, look, no institution is too difficult for them to navigate, no environment is too challenging. on the other hand, how realistic is that? the reason, again, i'm going back to this idea, this is an, a, historical moment. we didn't used to sit there and cater to our children as if we were their valet. >> you know what the amazing thing is? it doesn't make them love you any more than i loved my dad. no, i'm dead serious. i'm not trying to be funny here. sometimes -- sometimes when there is so much immersion,

actually, it wreaks contempt. i'm not talking about my kids because i love them. but, you know, my dad went to work, he came home, you know, he coached baseball on the weekends. >> right. >> we didn't a whole lot of, hey, how are you, dad. but i love him every bit as much as my children love me and my children love me a lot. >> a sociologist writes about this. she points to the very fact out that the very habits we are encouraging in our kids to challenge to feel like they can penetrate any hierarchy and navigate any institution, they can also challenge their authority and they can hold you in contempt. they can negotiate with the teacher and they can negotiate with you. it's hard on parents and especially hard if you've sacrificed all of these hours. you're saying your father had some distance. he came home and he wasn't --

>> he worked. >> well, he worked and his love for you, i'm sure, ran in the background. like you had no question about that. >> no question at all. >> now there is a strange thing we feel if we are not at every activity -- i'll tell you something else. i wonder if this has an effect because of what you do for a living. you are constantly working. you come home and still working. you have the opportunity because you're working all the time to feel guilty all the time. >> that's right. he does. >> also the fact that life as in america has changed given technology and all. >> oh, my gosh. >> when i was growing up, my mother raised me, i would depend on her for all of the information. >> total. >> when my kids were growing up, they could google up the answer and they were testing me to see if i knew the right answer. it's a different world. >> not only that. you have to go to them. you're sitting there barking

about screen time. but then you say, how do i put these parental controls in place and can i friend you on facebook to see what you're doing. going back to the guilt thing and technology for a second. here is what i find so interesting. how many parents bring up e-mail? because here is -- and guilt surrounding e-mail. you can talk about anything and they will bring this up. we are in this position where we feel like our kids are interrupting us while we are doing our e-mail and not that our e-mail is interrupting us while we are hanging out with our kids. in some ways it's easier to focus on your e-mail. your e-mail doesn't talk back. you can get into this kind of zone. >> it's not hard. >> it's not hard and it's emotionallily neutral. >> exactly. >> where your kids are these emotionally disrupters. >> they are a challenge. >> they are a challenge. if they are younger they are like -- eyes all over their

heads and they are hard to focus whereas, e-mail is extreme focus. parents fill this guilt because it's easy to sit there. >> you should feel guilty about that, don't you think? >> yes. well, i don't like -- >> hold on. by the way, i say this as a guy that if you tried to e-mail me, you know i don't check my e-mail much more because i'm trying to get away from it a lot, especially when i'm at home, just don't do it. that said, for every kid that complains about their parents being on e-mail and being wired up to this and these are the enemies of a lot of kids. would you rather them be in your presence or would you rather them be in a factory downtown which they were in because they had to be there and communicate that way? of course, a lot of parents that use this way too much around their kids and it really ticks me off. >> you're right.

>> that said, though, sometimes parents shouldn't feel guilty about being home with their kids instead of at work. >> that is precisely the thing. you're right, discipline and self-discipline all a good thing. considering the alternative or the fact you're working less at the office. you're at the very least at home. there are advantages to this stuff but there has to be a consistent policy. i'm assuming you have teenage daughters. >> yes. >> don't you find them sleep at home with their iphones in their hands and faces on their laptops in bed. >> i sometimes text them when i'm in the same room to get their attention. no, i'm serious. you're going to need to come back. we never got to the title. >> the kids technology is the enemy. >> i found a key to my daughters heart through text and i'll tell but that next time. the book is "all joy and no

fun." although this has been fun and we will talk about that title at some point. jennifer senior, thank you so much. reverend al, we will see you on "politics nation". >> what are you talking about tonight? >> the michael dunn trial and stand your ground law and it's going to be an exciting show. >> reverend al, thank you so much. still ahead, how every tweet, tag, and like translates into big business for corporations. a new documentary say companies are enlisting kids as foot soldiers in a marketing machine. that has something to do with them. up next, hollywood big stars gathered last night for the last major award show before the oscars. what did it mean in the race for the academy award's top prize? >> are we going? >> i hope so. >> there is the baby that wanted to hear what you to say! his name is graham.

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people are really responsive to that. >> good stuff. >> what is that? >> a nice topic to talk about music. although political wire had this

thing about "the wall street journal" and your play lists can disseminate your play list. it's very interesting. let's talk about the movies. if you haven't been to the movie theaters you're out of time in terms of the awards show. we witnessed last night the bafta last night. the big show across the pond and celebrating the best actors and any indication of things to come in hollywood because there is one movie in particular could be in for a big night come oscar. >> the bafta is awarded to "12 years a slave." >> if you're not familiar, this is a film about a man kidnapped and sold into slavery and taking home the top prize at the baftas last night in london. its lead actor won the prize for best actor and many insiders say this film is the favorite to

take home best picture honors at the academy awards. "gravity" walked away with the most trophies. six in all including best director, cinematographer and best film. >> has anyone seen it? >> it's good and definitely worth seeing. >> is it better than the trailers? >> longer than the trailer. >> that just didn't look realistic. >> see it in 3d and not our ipad. >> have you seen out blue jasmine." cate blanchett won for her role in that film and see how she does come oscar time. angelina jolie caught the camera's attention by wearing a matching tux to her partner brad

pitt who produced "12 years a slave." i shouldn't look down at the monitor while i'm reading outloud. >> were you looking at the outfit? >> yes. >> joe, what do you think? >> i think "12 years a slave "will do well. it's a great film. but we will see cate blanchett, she continues to steam roll along as the best actress. watch "the wolf." >> wall street? too long. too long. >> i've heard some -- >> yeah. >> one says it's too racy. too racy. >> go ahead. fans, friends and followers. the latest fronts line documentary explains a complicated relationship between teens and people targeting them. stay with us on "morning joe."

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if you like something online, a product or a brand or a celebrity, it becomes part of the identity that they broadcast to the world, the way a t-shirt or a bedroom poster defined me when i was a teen. for kids today, you are what you like. >> i like urban outfitters. >> mcdonald. >> twizzlers. >> too many to name. >> that was a clip from front line's upcoming documentary "generation like." with us a correspondent for the film, douglas. >> great to have you. you say corporations are using kids as willing foot soldiers for brand awareness? >> it's interesting. when i started making this, i was looking for team resistance. for my era you tried to resist the corporations and the man. i was trying to figure out how kids use the corporations and

their data and kids don't seem to care. oh, no if i retweet what this soft drink company said i will get more likes myself. it changes the way corporations and brands push themselves in a radical way. >> the kids come after them? >> they created this. they are spending hours making these consumer profiles and putting them online. >> this is where perception is relate for these kids. a lot of us were growing up and we go after brand like you were saying the t-shirts. for me it was getting opi shorts. if i got the cheap knockoff i was p.o.'d! because the other kids had the

opi shorts. now you can make your brand oited as a part of your social profile so you fit in. most kids just want to fit in. >> so now as i know i change my skateboard shoes and other people will follow it the company will figure that out because of social the social me. and now they'll start giving me free stuff. >> earlier, you seemed to compare twizzlers to the man, i have to take issue with that. but moving forward, are kids sophisticated about this? are they lemings doing -- >> do they seem empowered by it? >> empowered in a way. they're more sophisticated with the technology than we r if a kid knows retweeting "hunger games" will get them points on the site, they'll know this better than i.

they know how to tweet the networks. what they're less aware of is the power gradients in the social media. they're less aware of the way it turns everybody into a marketer. and while they may have entered this, "oh, i want to be a singer, i want to be a ska skateboarder, a writer," when you're trying to get a number on the screen, to get it higher, then the singing looks like a stunt act. >> so just who influences who? are the kids being influenced in some way? >> well, i think underneath it all, i think both the marketers and the kids are being influenced by the platforms themselves. here you have multibilli multibillion-dollar companies that tonight make multibillion dollar s. the valuation has little to do with profit and more to do with traffic. when you have a platform, the nasdaq is now depending on more traffic from people than both

companies and kids alike are really just their values being extracted in the terms of the activity. >> you can watch "front lines: generation alike" tomorrow at 10:00 p.m. on pbs. douglas rushkoff, thank you. and, thomas, really, opi shorts. i have a story for you about a pair of -- >> cheap knockoffs. >> let me say those did not fit well on most people. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ no two people have the same financial goals. pnc investments works with you to understand yours and helps plan for your retirement. talk to a pnc investments financial advisor today.

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♪ up next, mitt romney goes on the record about hillary clinton for president. his stance on the monica lewinsky affair, and whether it's fair game in the race for 2016. "morning joe" will be right back. [ male announcer ] this is karen and jeremiah.

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we can get done shooting on a day, and i'll come home and turn on the news, and i'll think, our story lines are not that crazy. they're really not. some people feel that 99% of the show's accurate, and that the 1% that isn't is you could never get an education bill past that. >> and it does seem that president obama has frank underwood envy. >> i can't imagine why he would. i thought actually over the last year it must be interesting not just an american public, but people around the world to view a very effective congress that gets things done. and i can imagine he must feel, gosh, i wish we could move that quickly. >> in some ways, you almost wish there was more of a parallel, because they actually got something done on that show. good morning, everyone. it's monday, february 17th. welcome to "morning joe." what are you saying, mark halperin?

what? >> a downside to that, to have cards dow -- >> what's that? >> kind of equal. dark. >> well, there's that. and it's true. he has people arrested and things. with us on set -- i think he's a murderer. right. okay. with us now, msnbc and "time" magazine senior political analyst mark halperin, white house correspondent for associated press julie. huh. hey, julie. and thomas roberting from "it's way too early." i don't know what i walked in on with you and louis, and i don't think i want to know. >> you do. it's good, clean fun. halperin said we needed to do that. >> got to fight fire with fire. >> yes. oh, god, i don't need to see that one. >> there's a second one i just tweeted out. louis. make people work for it. >> some of the competition is trying to trump thomas roberts with eye candy. and thomas is fighting fire with fire.

>> oh, you mean the legs? >> endless legs. >> yeah. legs and gloss. legs and gloss. legs and gloss. you will never, ever be able to trump that. >> i love a challenge. >> you have just thrown it down. double dog dare. >> challenge accepted. >> he's adding substance as, like, a wild card. >> ooh. ooh. that could be it. >> yeah, a lock. >> but i doubt it, actually. >> i appreciate your support. >> yes. on this presidents' day, jon mecham in nashville -- oh, my, look, it must be a rugged day in tennessee. he's not wearing a tie, and he didn't shave. >> very difficult down here. >> what elements did you walk through to get to here? >> it's very difficult. >> new reporting from steve kornacki which connects a port authority police officer with close ties to governor christie to the george washington bridge scandal. text messages submitted to the state's legislative committee

show that the officer personally drove david wildstein, the christie appointee who supervised the closings, on a tour of the area while the lanes were shut down. that officer is lieutenant thomas chip michaels. michaels has a history both with christie and wildstein. all three men grew up in the same town, livingston. he also coached christie's son in hockey, and his brother is a top republican lobbyist in the state. none of those things really mean anything, except for the fact they might have been driving around in the traffic, halperin. is that the biggest takeaway, there may be more information that comes? >> someone historically close to governor christie was involved in the earliest days of checking out the traffic problems. >> yeah. >> and we all know that even best case for governor christie, this is going to get closer to him. more people close to him are going to be implicated in the planning, just a reality based

on the workings of the office. this guy, we need to learn more about not only his past associations with governor christie, but how close they are in realtime. >> but still, something, you know, obviously deliberate happened here, there's a text message, julie, that says, can we make this better. >> sure. the circle of people is expanding. at this point, though, there's no indication that people have told chris christie anything before -- >> bless you. >> i don't know where that came from. >> that was jon mecham. >> there were many flies -- >> take your claritin d, jon. >> a opossum allergy. >> oh, my. sorry, julie. >> the circle seems to be exp d expanding about how knew. but still we don't know if any those people directly told chris christie. until that happens, then he is able to preserve some of what he said in that initial press conference. >> i'm in such charitable mood i'm going to assume when this guy said we can make it better,

he wanted to fix the problem. >> and the text message from the new name in this story, the text, saying would he can make this better? >> allegedly. >> yeah, i think that it seems to me that chris christie can preserve technically, possibly some things. but how can he -- you know, i don't know, at what point do you stop, you know, saying technically he didn't know? >> at what point is it okay if everyone around you knows and thinks this is okay, even if you personally didn't know what was going on? >> yeah. >> i was going to say, this is an interesting development, and there'll be more. until people start going under oath, i think we're still in the prelims. >> true. at some point, though -- >> yeah. >> -- when all is said and done, and let's say he technically is untouched, is going to have to address how that's possible and why that's bad, too. so the question is, you know, the damaging influence of even

what happened in the circle around him. i don't know. it does not look good at all. a couple of other stories to get to. the u nighted autoworkers is reevaluating its next steps after an employee at a volkswagen plant voted against a union. it represents a big defeat for organized labor. the uaw spent millions of dollars on the campaign, and while volkswagen did not get involved, local politicians did, pushing anti-union arguments. it's a setback for the union's plans to organize other auto plants in the south. there were you fewer than 400,000 members of the uaw today, down 75% from 1979. overall, just 11.3 of all american workers are union members. in a statement following the vote, the uaw said, in part, quote, this -- we were outraged by politicians and outside

special interest groups interfering with the basic legal right of workers to form a union. we're proud that these workers were brave and stood up to the tremendous pressure from outside. the "wall street journal" editorial board writes this, quote, don't believe those who say this means the end of the uaw. it has too many friends in high political places. as the 2009 auto bailouts proved. federal law is also stacked in favor of unions, and president obama's nlrb is routinely stretching and breaking the law to make it even more so. but the fact that unions must rely on brute government force shows how out of touch they are with modern economic reality. american manufacturing is making a modest comeback with the help of rising labor costs in china and the american energy revolution, but it could stage an even bigger rerival without the threat that american unions could make products less kpet

tiv. -- competitive. not for the first time, the workers are smarter than management. jon mecham, ben, though, the number 75% down since 1979, is that not a trend that goes against the editorial i just read? >> oh, absolutely. you know, one of the two stories here is the -- in the south, never wildly hospitable to labor unions, safe to say, there have been a number of manufacturing coups here, whether it's nissan, that makes cars here, volkswagen in chattanooga, where i come from. there's been investment in the south, and we'd like to think it was because of our fine climate and our choice in footwear and our great charm. but part of it is that it's not a climate that's hospitable to organized labor, and whether

that trend line can be reduced is a terrific question for the left as it begins to address in the popular political conversation the income inequality question. i must say the jobs are coming in part because the climate is not hospitable to organized labor. and so, there's an irony here that's going to be very hard to get around. >> yes, it is. >> a pretty big loss for the labor union. given the circumstances there, the company did not oppose the vote and the workers there had every reason to vote yes, it would seem the outside groups clearly played a role. but that's part of our national politics now. i think the labor movement really is going to have to look at this and figure out, can they do better under different circumstances in the south, or do they have to write it off? >> it hurts what's been the growth plan for the uaw, to expand to other plants throughout the south. do they take this as one loss and try to put their efforts

elsewhere, or do they have to re-evaluate going into the south in general? >> all right. let's get to politics on the republican side here, and the democrats, as well, in washington. listen to this. former republican presidential nominee mitt romney appeared on sunday's "meet the press" and spoke about the possibility of the clintons returning to the white house in 2016. >> i think hillary clinton, if she becomes the nominee, will have plenty to discuss about her own record. i don't imagine that bill clinton is going to be a big part of it. that being said, the times when he was president were by and large positive economic times for the country. on the other hand, he embarrassed the nation. he breached his responsibility, i think, as an adult and as a leader in his relationship, and i think that's very unfortunate. but i don't think that's hillary clinton's to explain. she has her own record, her own vision for where she would take the country, and i think that's something which we debated

extensively during the 2016 campaign. >> romney also denied having any interest in running for president again in 2016. so obviously some republicans have been bringing this up along the way and doubling down on it. i have just one question for mark halperin. if bill clinton could run for president again, would he win? >> 2 for 2, i think probably if he ran again, he'd take on all comers. the governor praised his economic record. people can say hillary clinton is different than bill clinton -- >> no, no, no, they're asking whether -- especially some of the moral issues that happened in the white house, and the republicans are bringing up, which is leading to more questions, to people like mitt romney about the monica lewinsky affair and moral problems in his marriage, and whether or not that would affect hillary clinton. so let me just ask you again if bill clinton ran again, yes or no, if he could, legally, would he win? >> i think he'd beat any republican i can think of. >> so any republican bringing this up and dredging this up is a misogynistic, sexist

hypocrite. because if bill clinton can win again with all these problems and hillary clinton, they can bring down because of this, and they think they can even go after it, they are clueless and they are complete sexists. because it's not even her affair. now, let me ask you this. if she had an affair in the white house with a younger man, would the same result be 20 years later, 10 years later, would she be able to run again and win? hell, no. this is still a man's world. you guys are all -- i'm sorry, not you. but just, please, i can't -- i better not go on. this whole thing's ridiculous. and these republicans, please, please keep doing it. >> i've got a theory. >> rand paul, please, i beg you, keep going after it, because i tell you right now, it will backfire so badly. it will backfire so badly, and you guys will be in the same exact place where you are right now. >> well, it's insulting to

hillary clinton, because it's not -- >> insulting to women. >> and insulting to women, but insulting to hillary, in particular, because it's not as though she would run for office having just come from being first lady and we're still in the '90s. >> yeah, we're not there. >> she's running, if she does run, running as former secretary of state. >> a former secretary of state, former u.s. senator. >> has a long record there you can look at and analyze and dig into. it's not issues from the white house won't come up, but it's not central to who she would be. >> quite frankly, she was a u.s. senator and secretary of state after all of that. a lot of people wouldn't make it through. >> absolutely. >> they just wouldn't. they wouldn't be able to go on, because it's traumatic, what she went through. >> if there are unresolved feelings, with the american public not feeling forgiveness between bill clinton. that's between the american public and bill clinton. not the american people and hillary. >> and a man/woman sexist, misogynistic, hypocritical thing going on here. >> i have a theory on bill

clinton's expressions, if you see a turtle on a fence post, you know it didn't get there by itself. i think republicans now, not all of them, are not planning to use this if hillary clinton runs. they're trying to intimidate her out of running. they're trying to give her pause to say, you really want to go through this, which doesn't mean they try to make it an election issue, but right now, if you're hillary clinton, and you're weighing whether to run, if this -- >> if you're hillary clinton and you're weighing whether to run and these little peanuts do this, you've inspired her to run for the women of the america. >> i don't think it stops her. >> oh! >> i mean what's happened in the senate race and presidential, this isn't the first go around. >> is she struggling, is that what i want -- the republican party has no one who can beat her. >> that's right. >> today, they have no one that can beat her. >> and they have no one in general. but as far as hillary clinton is concerned, i'd say bring it on. jon mecham, have i said anything

that perhaps you might not agree with? >> no, i do agree. and i agree with mark here. i think that we adjudicated this once in realtime, and the people were ahead of the political class throughout. we all remember this every time something was about to happen, we thought, well, as soon as they hear the grand jury testimony, then they're going to turn on him. well, as soon as they hear monica's voice, they're going to turn on him. and there's always an and then, and then, and then, and like lucy and the football. and if we went through it in realtime, yes, it makes more unpleasant morning conversati s conversations, but, you know, the clintons -- the clintons have built a formidable political force on being ahead and right on the issues where the people are, as opposed to the political class. >> coming up on "morning joe," an update on today's failed hijacking attempt of a passenger jet bound for rome. what officials say the suspect was planning. plus, democrats roll out a

plan to counter the political threats posed by obamacare. that's ahead in the "morning playbook." first, bill karens with a check on the forecast, and it s is -- it's like he's trying to torture us. >> yeah, i'm torturing myself. >> i don't know why, but he just seems to enjoy it. bill? [ laughter ] >> no, not when i'm involved. good morning, everyone. as mika is alluding to, the next snowstorm in our sequence of snowstorms -- and i have to go back when this is all over with, how many in a row -- but this is the latest. tracking through areaing of iowa, minneapolis. we're getting moderate snow in the minneapolis area. it's not a blockbuster event, but enough to plow and shovel in many locations. let's break it down. first off, 56 million people under winter storm warnings or advisory. we haven't even added d.c. or new york or philly or albany, boston, hartford. so the number will go way up later on tonight. the snowfall forekaeft, the pinkish, near chicago, southern

wisconsin, also near portland, maine, a lot of the big cities on the east coast will get sloppy, a coating early. let me break down more specific cities. detroit 4 to 6. milwaukee 4 to 6. san st. louis, some ice. maybe more in new york. but west of 95, that's where we could see as much as 4 to possibly 6 inches of additional snow. absolutely ridiculous. it looks nice once again, but it's freezing cold. wind chill in the teens in new york city. snow this time tomorrow. you're watching "morning joe." aflac. ♪ aflac, aflac, aflac! ♪ [ both sigh ] ♪ ugh! ♪ you told me he was good, dude.

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time for the "morning papers." "usa today," an ethiopian airlines pilot is in custody after hijacking a flight to rome. it forced the plane to land in geneva. he is apparently seeking asylum after feeling threatened in his home country. the airline released a statement saying all crew and passengers are safe. from the parade of papers "the miami herald," a florida man can face 60 years in prison for opening fire on teenagers in an suv after arguing about the volume of their music. >> mm. >> michael dunn was found guilty of second -- of attempted second degree murder, but the jury deadlocked on the murder charge for the death of jordan davis, who was hit by three of dunn's bullets. dunn says he used his handgun because the teens threatened him with a shotgun. >> oh, my goodness. >> but police never found the alleged weapon.

the mixed verdict sets the stage for a retrial on the murder charge. "the new york times" more than 200 workers are trapped underground after a collapse at a gold mine outside of johannesburg, south africa. so far, emergency crews have recused 11 of the trapped miners, but now, some of the workers are refusing to come to the surface. local officials say they're working illegally and want to avoid being arrested. "wall street journal," new york state is going to launch a college education program for prisoners. governor andrew cuomo says he wants to reduce recidivism. >> it's recidivism. >> -- rates, it's a little early, and the programs can roll out across 10 facilities and offer both associate's and bachelor's degrees. the sacramento bee, bullying may have a lasting impact on the health of children. research from boston children's hospital says viktd ims of bullies suffer from mental and

physician head issues. the study shows the problems can persist for years after bullying subsides. victims also suffer from chronic depression and low self-worth. >> and "the new york times," jimmy fallon is taking the stage tonight as host of "the tonight show" tonight. it marks the return of its birthplace, new york city. fallon has big shoes to fill as the sixth host. following jay leno's 22-year run. but fallon says his hosting style is going to be similar to a variety show. >> do you think -- he's such a nice guy. >> a great guy. >> do you think he's nervous? can you imagine? >> i don't know. >> oh, my lord. >> no, i don't know. he's a really talented, gifted guy. >> so talented. >> i think he'll do well. >> yeah, fun to watch. with us now, speaking of fun to watch, chief white house correspondent for politico, mike allen here with the "morning

playbook." good morning, mike. >> good morning, mika. happy holiday. >> thank you. >> you have a look at the republican plan to neutralize obamacare this year. explain. >> mika, you won't hear a lot of democrats on the campaign trail saying that obamacare is awesome. what you're going to hear is democrats saying that they want to fix it, that they want to improve it, and we got our hands on this five-page memo that went out to house democratic campaigns saying here are 17 specific things that we've tested with focus groups, tested in polls, that you can insert into your commercials, that you can insert in your campaign speeches that will work. what they'll focus on is saying republicans would be worse. that repealing it would be giving a raise to insurance companies, would take away consumer protections, and would hurt seniors, women, young people, specific ads targeted at each of those. the groups most sensitive to what would happen if there were changes to obamacare. >> politico's mike allen,

thanks. up next, richard engel is in russia. he travelled outside the bright lights of sochi and into the heart of the country's islamic insurgency. keep it right here on "morning joe." (vo) you are a business pro. seeker of the sublime. you can separate runway ridiculousness...

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♪ welcome back, everybody. a live look at sochi where it's almost 5:30 in the afternoon there, and some fog has hampered some of the mountain events for later today. not very far from sochi, things look very different from the gleaming stadiums of the olympic park. russia, though, is pushing back against an islamic insurgency, and vladimir putin is playing a key role in what's happening there. richard engel travelled to the troubled region and he joins us live back with his report in sochi. richard? >> reporter: thomas, good to talk to you. obviously, security has been a major fact in these games, and obviously, nothing has happened. everyone is quite pleased about that. these games are being held in the caucuses, and one of the most dangerous parts in the kwountry.

it reveals how vladimir putin runs this vast country. >> reporter: the most threatened olympics in modern history has so far been safe, and those not just because of the ring of steel around sochi. we travelled 500 miles from sochi to the north caucuses, the heart of russia's islamic insurgency and saw how vladimir putin is using a combination of crackdowns and payoffs to secure the games. this is grozny today, the capital of chechnya. clean, modern, a downtown that lights up like the vegas strip. russia flattened this place twice in the 1990s when chechnya tried to break away after the collapse of the soviet union. grozny's new central mosque, we met the man who runs chechnya. he's one of putin's close friends, kaderov. it was a special day, a lock of hair believed to come from hu

muhammad was on display. it brought him to tears, he's deeply religious, and he has aligned himself with russia. two days later, we visited his palace for a rare interview. very nice to meet you. the city of grozny was famous being completely destroyed. it has now been rebuilt. how did you rebuild this city? >> translator: we were tired of the war, of looking at destroyed towns and villages. we asked for god's help and constructed the entire republic. >> reporter: kadarov lives with toys, private zoo, model helicopters. this is your private gym. and as we discovered an interview with him is exhausting. this is his boxing ring. you're not expecting me to get in there with you, are you? yes, he was. and he wasn't finished yet. he likes to show off, but he's

also feared in chechnya and is accused of ordering the deaths of his adversaries. people call you a dictator in chechnya. how do you respond to those critics? >> translator: everything the newspapers say is nonsense. >> reporter: opponents say he's brutal, but islamic militants, including the groups that threaten sochi, have mostly fled chechnya, some for the neighboring republic of dagestan. when we visited there, we found a poor and drab place. where putin's forces are hunting down suspected extremists. no carrots here, just the stick. a war that athletes and fans will never see just over the mountains from the olympic park. it's too early to declare this a complete security success. there's just about a week to go, thomas, until the closing ceremony in that stadium behind me. >> richard, we know, as you talk about the ring of steel, the

different cluster, the mountain cluster of events, and seaside cluster, and see the security events you do see, as opposed to what you hear about the security you're not seeing but is definitely present. >> reporter: that's what we were trying to focus on in this piece. we've been talking about the ring of steel around here, around the mountain cluster, the guards, some of them plainclothes guards, the blimps that are in the sky. the specific airport-like security you have to go through to keep the athletes and venues safe. what we were looking at in this piece is the next layer of security, the -- basically the political position and the political strategy that russia is using to try and tamp down the islamic insurgency in the north caucuses, and we saw two completely different approaches. one in chechnya, pumping a lot of money, using a local strongman to try and keep the insurgency in line, to try to keep it tamped down, and then in dagestan, where they don't have a local strongman, a charismatic

leader who's aligned to russia there, they're just doing these very consistent and very punitive counterterrorism operations. >> really fascinating report. you did a great job getting in the ring there, richard. very brave of you. >> reporter: thank you very much. >> nbc's richard engel reporting for us in sochi. still ahead, new details on the commercial flight to italy hijacked by one of the plane's pilots. why he says he needed to get to geneva, switzerland. that's next. "morning joe" is back with more right after this.

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try zyrtec-d® to powerfully clear your blocked nose and relieve your other allergy symptoms... so you can breathe easier all day. zyrtec-d®. find it at the pharmacy counter. an ethiopian airline s flit was diverted last night to geneva, switzerland, and now the identity of the hijacker is raising eyebrows.

we want to bring in amman with more on this. and this is truly an inside job? >> absolutely. a very bizarre incident that has a lot of people here in europe puzzled as they try to figure out the motivations behind the hijacker taking over this flight. it gave officials a scare. luckily, it ended without any loss of life. but nonetheless, a lot of questions about why the co-pilot of this plane hijacked this flight. ethiopian airlines flight 702 en route to rome when the co-pilot diverted the plane to switzerland telling a control tower his demand. police say the co-pilot, afraid for his life in ethiopia, hijacked the plane alone, taking over the flight when the captain momentarily left the cockpit. the plane circled the airport several times, seen here on this flight-tracking map. once the plane was secured in

geneva, police escorted passengers off one by one. a police spokesman said at 6:10 a.m., the co-pilot came out of the cockpit using a rope. he was surrounded by police and then revealed that he himself was the hijacker. in a statement, ethiopian airlines say all of its 202 passengers and crew on board were unharmed. now, the swiss officials in the geneva airport say all flight operations are back to normal. there was no incident in which anyone was injured and that all things are running smoothly. thomas? >> have you heard anything else about what the conditions were for why this co-pilot was trying to seek asylum in switzerland? >> reporter: well, police are questioning the co-pilot, and it seems the early indication is he is seeking asylum in switzerland, or perhaps another european country. but the initial assessment is that perhaps he feared for his life in ethiopia. no indication as to why, and

more importantly why switzerland, but nonetheless, he is, as we heard from the audio recording, suggesting he was going to seek asylum once the plane was down in switzerland. >> more to come from that. but while we have you here, i wanted to ask you questions about syria. yesterday, john kerry blamed syria for the stalled peace talks. explain where the side guess from here. again, why this is still an active, volatile military situation, innocent lives are being lost in between. >> well, effectively on the diplomatic front, we are back to, you know, stage one, if you will. this is a talk that was taking place in geneva that's failed this. is the second set of talks. there was geneva one, geneva two, and both of them failed miserably. the regime is on the world stage now because of the olympics. it doesn't want to get bogged down. it is coming under criticism for its policy in supporting the

assad regime which has not let up any of the bombardment or the killing, if you will, of innocent syrian civilians, but at the same time, the opposition is in complete disaway. the military wing of the opposition is coming undone. they've replaced the military leader that for the past year has been coordinating the forces against the regime. so by any measure of the word, the situation in syria is in complete disarray, both diplomatically and on the ground, and there's no end in sight for the killing of the civilians. >> julie pace, your question? >> this is hugely problematic for the white house. we hear from kerry and others that president obama is asking for other options and yet the president said he doesn't believe there's a military solution. what are you hearing in the region in terms of other options, somewhere between a military option and diplomatic talks which aren't going anywhere? what else is on the table? >> well, there's two different sets of categories. if you talk to some of the arab countries that are supporting the opposition, saudi arabia,

qatar, the united arab emirates, many of them are saying what needs to happen on the ground is change the balance of power. the opposition has been fighting with makeshift weapons, small arms, nothing too sophisticated to take on a russian-equipped military regime, and unless the balance of power on the ground changes in the fighting, you won't be able to change the outcome. on a diplomatic level, more pressure has to be exerted on russia. russia continuously blocks efforts in the united nations to sanction punishment, and ultimately to try to remove the regime by forceable sanctions at the u.n. russia continues to veto those, and now, other countries, including those supporting the united states and the syrian opposition, say russia must change its position if the international community is to go ahead and try to bring in some resolution by way of force. and i mean that diplomatic force, not necessarily militarily. >> mark halperin. >> amman, we've seen a spike of interest and concern in the last

few days, some images from syria of refugee situations, of human casualties and loss of life. has that spike been mirrored in europe? is there greater urgency now than there was a week or two ago? >> absolutely. from any measure of the word, again, the humanitarian position is beyond catastrophic. we've heard it described as grotesq grotesque, and even in stronger terms. there's no doubt it has a humanitarian consequence, but a much more realistic consequence for the countries on the ground absorbing the issues, absorbing the refugees and the health issues, sanitation, employment issues. jordan, turkey, lebanon, they are really beginning to buckle under the humanitarian crisis, like lebanon, where one out of every three people in that country is a syrian refugee. it's causing a huge financial burden on the countries. more importantly, inside syria, you have millions of internally displaced people who now in the

dead of winter are not getting their basic needs, and that is what's causing the united nations to ring the alarm bells, some are describing it the worst humanitarian crisis in a generation or more. >> all right, ayman, great to see you, sir. thank you. >> thanks, thomas. >> now, as they say, i think it's commonly said, time for something completely different, and this is completely different. cnbc's brian sullivan is in sochi this morning, but he needed to get ready, prep himself for this big trip to mother russia to figure out what the other side of the world was like. so how did he immerse himself in russian culture? wait until you see it. eye opening to say the least. keep it locked in on "morning joe." like carpools... polly wants to know if we can pick her up. yeah, we can make room. yeah. [ male announcer ] ...office space. yes, we're loving this communal seating. oh, it's great. yeah. [ male announcer ] the best thing to share? a data plan. ♪ new at&t mobile share value plans for business.

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sdwr. >> a live look at sochi, russia, where it's almost 6:00 p.m. over there. but look at the fog that's kind of settled in, and we saw everybody over there earlier today wearing coats, thank god, finally, because i'm sick of seeing them wear short-sleeve shirts and sunglasses. no one wants to stick out as a foreigner when they travel overseas, and that includes cnbc's brian sullivan who got a crash course in russian culture before heading over to sochi. brian joins us from the olympic park. he doesn't look like he's bundled up enough. brian, you're not bundled up enough for us. >> reporter: it's like 50 degrees right now, thomas. >> bracing 50 degrees.

at least there's fog, so the sun is not out, so that makes me happy. >> reporter: it's also after dusk, therefore the sun will go down at night. >> good point! >> reporter: you can -- it's amazing -- this whole rotation of the earth thing it's -- >> was that part of your pre-russian class? >> reporter: it was. sun, earth. kerperticus was right. obviously, rich and and ayman did serious reporting, serious stuff going on in the world, but there is some lighter stuff going on with the olympics. we have someone who speaks fluent russian, and she arced this spectacular night for us in brighton beach, the russia beach in brooklyn. and here's what happened. we may be in america, but you'd never know it if you came here.

my producer is a native russian. she took me to brighton beach in new york to prep me for my trip to sochi. our first stop? >> this is a cranberry infused -- >> reporter: grocery shopping, to literally get a taste of russia. it looks delicious. so what do the russians buy? see, i would eat the whole thing. >> it's a lot of calories. >> reporter: sounds good, and a lipitor that needs -- >> you need it? >> reporter: that's nice. the russians are such nice people. before you buy it, you gotta try it. could you give us your most delicious meat? i made a promise to eat it, but i kept it. kielbasa, known to me, at least, as meat jelly in sliced form. that's good. >> say that again. i want this on the record. >> reporter: that is good. >> veal tongue jelly.

>> reporter: i think it's the tongue that makes it good. now that i have my russian deli meats down, it's off to -- >> the legend of soviet entertainment. the legend of soviet music. >> reporter: this is brighton's biggest russian book, souvenir, dvd store, and we made friends in brooklyn. we're going to sochi, baby. this is fantastic. ♪ and all the russian culture made me very hungry. >> menu in russian. >> i got that. that's all i got. menu. why are you crying, brian? >> that is really spicy. here is to you and your family's long health, happiness, prosperity, and whatever else i can muster after about six shots of vodka.

finally, i decleanse myself and where better to do that than brooklyn banya, or bathhouse. they're going to heat you, they're going to freeze you, and then they're going -- >> reporter: well, when in brooklyn -- what is he doing? oh. >> you okay, brian? >> reporter: it feels good. you ain't kidding. that's hot. whoo! oh. okay. now the hottub. to america, to russia, to a great trip, to sochi. you know, i'm still trying to understand -- i'm still trying to understand why that's fun. leak, 200 degrees, ice water on

you, and then jumping into the pool, which, by the way, is 35 degrees, and then finally the hot tub. they believe in that sort of hot-cold thing. it was interesting, thomas, i'll say that. >> yeah. i hope you go find mcdonald's in the sochi village, so you don't have to eat the jelly tongue. >> reporter: the jelly was the best part of that -- >> really? >> reporter: -- that and the vodka. after enough vodka, anything tastes good. >> yeah, brian, have a good time in sochi. good to see you. >> reporter: thanks, thomas. we want to go to bill karins tracking more snow. bill, say it ain't so. >> next olympics, thomas, i want you doing that. >> no way. no, no. >> very entertaining. >> no jelly tongue for me. >> i know you wouldn't. let's talk about the storm. right now, coming from minneapolis, chicago, and the problem, it's come on top of such snow. everyone is, like, where are we going to put it? in new england alone, 99.6% of

all of new england is covered by snow. i mean, it's just been one storm after another. this is how much additional snow we're going to get on top of what we already have. thankfully, roads won't be too bad with a lot of this, from pittsburgh to new york, 2 to 4 inches. the higher totals later this afternoon, this evening around chicago. and also there right around portland. the good news is we will warm up in the areas towards the end of the week. thomas, we could be as warm as 55 in new york city by friday. >> we'll take it. thank you, bill. what, if anything, did we learn today? that and mof after this. i'm meteorologist bill karins, in the country, we're divided today. the southern half of the country is saying bring on the warmth and spring-like conditions from phoenix, all the way down into areas of georgia. very beautiful weather, even denver, while we're dealing with

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welcome back to "morning joe." it's time to talk about what we learned today. thomas, what did you learn? >> i learned several things about kids and their portability as brands with what they like. and speaking of kids, louis, who has a belated valentine. tweeted this out earlier today. >> oh, my gosh, that's unbelievable. julie, don't look. >> i'm diverting my eyes. i learned i need to put jennifer's book on my reading list before having kids. >> you should. good, good. >> thomas roberts is an old soul and extraordinarily juvenile. all at once. >> yeah, not sure what that means, but okay. >> i learned more snow is coming and i might have a nervous breakdown about that. >> okay. >> and that louis should keep his clothes on, because it's not good. it's just not good. somebody ought to tell him. >> all right.

louis? >> not good. >> joe, did you learn anything? >> i learned if it's way too early, it's "morning joe." stick around, because chuck todd is straight ahead with the "the daily rundown." one, two, three. >> yeah, like that. stop it, louis. is there a solution for syria? president assad is still in power, and he's still bombing his own people. and president obama is sounding like he's ready to try something new to make it all stop. also this morning, southern discomfort. autoworkers reject the union push that would have been a historic first in tennessee. a look at what drove the opposition and what's next for the labor movement. plus, a look at why presidential good-byes are often the best place to start if you want to understand the chief concerns of america's commanders in chief. good morning from washington. happy presidents' day, or washington's birthday, as the federal government still technically calls it. it's monday, february 17th, 2014. and this is a holid