thank you for being with us. good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york. good night from our nbc headquarters here in new york. president trump's inaugural committee gets subpoenaed by federal prosecutors. investigators want to see documents related to do for months and spending including any possible foreign donations. >> chaos in virginia. governor ralph northam is receiving calls to resign and lieutenant governor justin fairfax is speaking out about what he's calling a totally fabricated of sexual assault against him. >> president trump will address the state of the union address as another government shutdown looms.

on. good morning. it's tuesday, february 5th. i'm ayman mohyeldin along side yasmin vossoughian and louis burgdorf. president trump's inaugural committee is being subpoenaed. they want to see where the $107 million fund came from and what, if any, benefits donors received in exchange. the "wall street journal" which broke the news of a criminal investigation into the committee in december was able to view a copy. now according to the "journal" the subpoena requests documents related to the committee's donors and spending including communications about payments made directly by donors to vendors which would flout disclosure rules. federal prosecutors are seeking documents related to a los angeles financier who gave money through his private equity firm and once registered as a foreign agent working on behalf of the

sri lanka government. a spokesman for the inaugural committee said we just received the subpoena for the documents approximately while we're reviewing the subpoena it's our intention to cooperate. a federal judge delayed paul manafort's sentencing date by a week. the scheduling change took place after a closed door hearing regarding the allegations that manafort lied to the special counsel's office. manafort will now be sentenced on march 13th instead of march 5th. the delay gives lawyers for mueller and manafort more time to hash out the dispute over whether trump's former campaign chair broke the terms of his cooperation agreement. as president trump prepares to give his state of the union speech tonight and mulls the possibility of building a border wall a number of gop members are speaking out against the move. shooting down the possible path for the president to get his

path. in interviews yesterday republicans including senator jon cornyn said they have made efforts to steer trump away from going around congress. >> i think it's a dangerous step. one because of the precedent it sets. two, the president is going to get sued and it won't accomplish his goal. third, because i think nancy pelosi may introduce her resolution of disapproval. to me it strikes me as not a good strategy. >> as you heard there senator cornyn say a potential national emergency declaration by the president could result in congress trying to block him by using a resolution of disapproval. if the democratic controlled house passes the resolution, the senate would be forced to take it up and would require just four republican defections along

with senate democrats to rebuke the president. the president would then be forced to veto the measure intended to block him. >> one top senate republican is warning his colleagues not to resist president trump if he declares a national emergency to get his wall. speaking in his home state of south carolina yesterday, senator lindsey graham called on his fellow republicans to you night around trump if he decides to go around congress to get his wall. adding there could be a political war within the party. >> to every republican, if you don't stand behind this president we're not going to stand behind you when it comes to the wall. this is the defining moment of his presidency. it's not just about a wall. it's about him being treated different than every other president. >> all right let's get now to the politicalize in virginia. state's lieutenant governor who

could become governor denies sexually assaulting a woman inside a boston hotel room in 2004. the allegation against justin fairfax was reported by the same right-wing website that posted the racist photo from governor ralph northam's yearbook page. "the washington post" says the accuser reached out to the paper after fairfax won election in november of 2017 and before he was inaugurated the following january. she accuses him of sexually assaulting her at the democratic national convention. fairfax says the encounter was consensual. however the lieutenant governor's claim the "post" found inconsistencies within the allegations is incorrect. the reason the paper says it did not run the story at the time is because reporters could not find anyone to corroborate either version. >> "washington post" executive editor later issued a statement

explaining why the paper decided to go ahead and publish the uncorroborated allegation yesterday. writing in part quote lieutenant governor fairfax is a public official who may well rise to the position of governor. he began the morning by issuing a statement regarding allegations against him making specific representations about "post" reporting that had not resulted in publication. we had an obligation to clarify. yesterday fairfax was asked if he believes the governor's team is spreading misinformation about him. >> i don't know precisely where this is coming from. we've heard different things. here's the thing, does anybody think it's any coincidence on the eve of potentially my being elevated that's when this uncorroborated smear comes out. does anybody believes that's a coincidence? you don't have to be cynical or understand politics to understand when somebody is trying to manipulate a process to harm somebody's character without any basis whatsoever.

>> virginia governor ralph northam continues to weigh his options as calls for him to step down intensify. "the washington post" reporting that northam gathered cabinet members and staff yesterday morning to apologize for the ongoing racist photo controversy. and to ask for more time to clear his name. the governor urged staffers not to quit and promised he would make a decision about his fate soon but did not give an exact time frame according to three people familiar with the meeting. northam continues to survey his wavering political support as he searches for evidence that would prove his innocence in the photo scandal. meanwhile, a morning consult poll shows the governor's approval rating among virginians sharply dropped 19 points since january to 29%. northam's disapproval rating has grown to 48%.

president trump's new campaign has launched a challenge. they deployed an unprecedented effort to monitor and influence local party operations. the snift has included taking steps to change state party rules, crowd out potential rivals and quell any early signs of opposition that could embarrass the trump. the campaign has used lobbying and rule changes to increase the ability only loyal participants make it to the national convention. jim lyons defeated the candidate backed by massachusetts republican charlie baker, a trump critic to serve as the state party chairman. one senior adviser to the trump campaign calls it a process of ensuring that the national convention is a television commercial for the president for an audience of 300 million and not an internal fight.

a new mammoth university poll finds republicans are split on president trump's winning the nomination. 49% want to see him run unopposed. 43% want him to face a challenger. senator ted cruz gathered only 21% to president trump's 66% and john kasich losing by 14% to 73%. joining us now reporter for axios. elena, good morning. let's talk about these poll numbers that louis was going through. what do you make of them obviously in favor of president trump's. >> 43% wanting another primary challenge certificate a pretty big number but i think you have to be wary of poll numbers especially this early on in an

election cycle. granted, i mean there's not looking like anyone would step up to the plate against president trump or anybody would win. he's still incredibly popular among his base and financially, you know, he's pouring a lot of money into 2020. i'm looking ahead to that. i think a lot of people will be afraid to challenge him and not likely they can crowd him out of that. >> i was going to say, the "new york times" interview the president seemed confident he would win the primary. >> the bigger challenge right now in conversations i've had with people at the white house and looking ahead to 2020 is they are trying to not only -- they've been focused on his base so far but it's reaching beyond that in trying to ensure they are keeping those industrial midwestern states like pennsylvania, wisconsin that go beyond his base that's where the

concern is rather than looking at another potential primary challenger ahead of 2020. >> one thing to possibly dent the president a little bit are the investigations that are constantly in the pipeline and let's talk a little bit about that subpoena that we referenced at the top of the show of the trump magnituinaugural committe. >> this president has been bogged down by investigation offer investigation. a lot of people were hoping that mu robert mueller's investigation, the subpoena and documents being requested from the inaugural committee show despite what happens with this russia investigation there will be financial and other investigations that are going to plague him ahead of the 2020 election. and it's damaging. right now it's still unclear. they are not excusing anyone of wrongdoing yet but i think that the southern district ever new

york investigation what's going on in new york has been overlooked in many ways compared to the mural investigation, especially when you consider that people like the trump organization's chief financial officer, he has complete immunity in some of these investigations and really could be potentially even more damaging than what we're seeing happening with the russia investigation right now. >> thanks. we'll talk to you again in a little bit. still ahead as the u.s. military moves forward with a plan to pull out troops from syria the pentagon is issuing a warning about isis trying to regroup. we'll have details from that new report. venezuela's opposition leader juan guaido speaks out to nbc news as more european countries signal their support. those stories and a check on your weather when we come back. why bother mastering something?

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welcome back, everybody. a new pentagon report reveals isis is regrouping faster in

iraq than in syria. it comes as the u.s. appears to be moving forward with a plan to withdraw the country's military presence from syria. however the assessment also states without quote sustained military pressure cisco regain territory in the region in as little as six to 12 months. in addition isis is attracting an estimated 50 new foreign fighters per month and still has multiple revenue streams inside of syria. the terror group will likely claim victory over the u.s. troop withdrawal. it comes as iraqi president is rebuking president trump after trump said over the weekend that he wants to keep u.s. troops in iraq to quote watch iran because iran is a back problem. yesterday he said don't overburden iraq with your own issues and that he will quote not allow it. explaining that the u.s. does not have the right to use iraq to watch iran or any other countries since under a joint

agreement the specific mission is combat terrorism. last night the senate officially passed mitch mcconnell's amendment rebuking trump on his syria and afghanistan positions. as the crisis in venezuela slats country's opposition leader juan guaido is speaking out to nbc news after the uk, germany and france joined the u.s. in recognizing him as the country's interim president over the embattled nicolas maduro. kerry sanders has the latest. >> reporter: this weekend massive crowds supporting this man, opposition leader juan guaido who has declared him venezuela's legitimate president excusing nicolas maduro of claiming victory in a sham election. >> who is the president here in venezuela? >> juan guaido. >> that's you? >> it's me. >> who is nicolas maduro? >> reporter: the military remains under maduro's control.

maduro excusing the u.s. of an attempted coup. the u.s. and now many in europe backing juan guaido. russia and china supporting maduro. all this and a new crisis for venezuelans who have been struggling for years. empty shelves in pharmacies and inflation rate going up to 10,000%. juan guaido told us some low level members of the military have also defected to his side. kerry sanders, nbc news, caracas. tomorrow president trump is expected to nominate treasury department official david malpas to head world bank. he is an outspoken critic of

multi-national institutions and has a long called for the overhaul of the world bank. he previously was the chief economist at the now defunct investment bank bear stearns from 1993 until the bank's collapse in 2008. the process for selecting the next world bank president was led by the president's daughter ivanka and steve mnuchkin and mick mulvaney in the decision-making process. >> let's get a check of your weather with meteorologist bill karins. >> we have a really split country. an ice storm and snow we'll deal with in the midwest. east coast is shorts and t-shirt weather. 73 in richmond. that's incredible for this time of year. let's talk about the troublesome travel weather. we just had an ice storm wang issued for chicago. that's obviously going to cause some problems. tonight and then through this time tomorrow morning. so if you have travel plans in and out of chicago late this evening or early tomorrow morning there will be some

delays. advisori winter weather advisories. in the pink that's where ice storm warnings are issued. there's a potential for power outages. here's the ice forecast from one of our computer models. once you get over to about a quarter inch, the blue, that's the potential for getting power outages. that's that area from rockford to almost towards milwaukee. a little bit here in areas of central missouri. does show the potential for icing in central portions of michigan. north of the ice is where you get snow. this is in two parts. some later tonight then we'll get another batch as we go throughout wednesday night into thursday. plowable four to six inches possible from minneapolis north of lacrosse, northern portions of wisconsin, fargo to central portions of south dakota. that's the cold side of the story. let's talk about the warm side of everything. the warm air today, all on the east coast. it's going to stick this way as

we go throughout the next couple of days. for today temperatures, they are going to be warming up significant. ly. we're starting off cool and then get a lot warmer this afternoon. as we go throughout this afternoon, the plains you see the difference. we'll be 73 in richmond and 7 in bismarck. some really, really contrasting temperatures out there. just depends on where you are in the country. it's a battle between spring and winter. >> remember our agreement if you see winter make its way to new york, give me a heads up so i can flee the country. >> you came back just in time with the warm up. >> you need a flight out friday afternoon. book him something. >> nice. still ahead supreme court justice ruth baden ginsburg has made her first public appearance since undergoing cancer surgery. we'll have the very latest on her recovery coming up. coming p sometimes, the pressures of today's world can make it tough

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( ♪ ) the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, affordably and on-time. (ringing) ( ♪ ) the future only happens with people who really know how to deliver it. welcome back. time now for sports. patriots 13-3 victory on sunday made for the lowest scoring super bowl in history. preliminary ratings for the big game reveal the lowest viewership of an nfl championship since 2009, with household rating down by 5% compared to last year's. viewership was especially low in the city of new orleans, no surprise there. we're only about a quarter of the market tuned in to watch following the saints controversial loss in the nfc championship game. in less than one day after coaching the new england defense to a near shut out in the super

bowl patriots assistant and de facto defensive coordinator has been named the head coach of the miami dolphins. let's turn from the field to the ice here where in the nhl a scary moment on the ice in philadelphia where vancouver alexander edler's stick gets tangled up on the opposing player's skates. a bloodied edler received an ovation as he was stretchered off the rink. as for the game the flyers beat the canucks 2-1 in that one. hope he's okay. finally former manchester united soccer coach was on hand for a ceremonial puck drop at the khl game in russia but as he walks off he slips on the red carpet and falls on the ice. fortunately the only thing that's really hurt is his pride.

>> listen the point louis made was the thing that hurts the most is his pride. some describe him as very arrogant and very serious. >> not a guy that takes a fall-like that. >> there's the replay. thanks guy. >> he'll probably blame somebody. >> we're done. >> he's already walking away from the puck drop before, you know, he even shakes hand. >> a lot of football fans in england watching that. >> definitely. make the highlight reel for sure. still ahead as president trump mulls whether to declare an emergency to build the wall where will the money come from? >> pope francis making the first papal trip to the arabian

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welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning top hours. virginia's house speaker is renewing calls for ralph northam resignation over a racist photo from the governor's yearbook page but stopped calling for his impeachment. >> i think there's a rightful hesitation about removal from office because, obviously, you have to consider that to some degree you overturn an election.

impeachment, that's a very high standard. so i think that's why we've called for the resignation. we hope that's what the governor does. i think that would obviously be less pain for everyone. >> so white house counsel kellyanne conway weighed in on the northam controversy yesterday. >> if somebody did a quick focus group or wrote the stuff for him to write. i'm so sorry for what i did. now it's 24 hours later i didn't do it but i might want to moon walk. >> what the president's aide did not mention is president trump once apologized to the "access hollywood" tape but then later raised the prospect with allies that it may not have been him on the tape after all. so here's how the white house responded to that report at the time back in 2017. >> does the president still accept the authenticity of the "access hollywood" tape that he apologized for during the campaign >> look the president addressed

this. this was litigated and certainly answered during the election. by the overwhelming support for the president and the fact that he's sitting here in the oval office here today. he's made his position on that clear at that time as have the american people and his support of him. john decker. >> would seem to acknowledge the authenticity and that position hasn't changed? >> the president hasn'ted changed i had position. if anything the president questions is the media's reporting on that accuracy. >> president trump's family company has fired undocumented workers from five of its golf clubs in new york and new jersey after reports that the organization elm employed workers without legal status to work in the united states. the washington reports that at least 18 undocumented workers have been terminated from five of trump's golf clubs after the report surfaced. erik trump who has day-to-day control of the trump organization confirmed the firings to the "post" yesterday.

there were three undocumented workers in moan rose to, new jersey and three others in pine hill, new jersey as well. another employee was fired from trump's golf club in hopewell junction, new york. erik trump did not address the firings of undocumented employees in bedminster, new jersey. the "post" reported a purge of a dozen undocumented workers from his club in westchester, new york. erik trump put the number fired 11. the "post" said it was unable to independently verify those fundamentals. >> if president trump declares a national emergency to fund the border wall the redirected money could likely come from efforts to counter russian aggression. projects include a $60 million aircraft maintenance hangar at marine core station at cherry point, north carolina. $500 million command center in hawaii. $2 million vehicle maintenance

shop in fort campbell, kentucky. a significant portion of that money is dedicated to projects that are part of the european deterrence initiative in an effort to help u.s. allies in europe shore up their defers against russia. at home members of congress are bracing for the cuts to politically popular home state projects. president trump announced that he's nominated former oil and gas lobbyist and current deputy of the department of the interior david bernhardt to lead that agency. he replaces ryan zinke. bernhardt first served in the department during the george h.w. bush administration. trump announced his pick writing david has done a fantastic job from the day he arrived. we look forward to having his nomination officially confirmed. "the washington post" reports that while in the number two position at the interior, bernhardt's past as a lobbyist

representing many businesses he now has to regulate, having to carry a small card listing all the potential conflict of interest. majority of voters continue to say they would like to see the president defeated next year. 38% tell mammoth university poll trump so be re-elected. 57% says it's time for someone no. no change from the poll in november. 79% of republicans say the president should be re-elected while only 16% say he should not. 55% of independent voters and 94 of democrats oppose a second trump term. democratic voters are more concerned with winning than where the candidate stands. mammoth university poll found 56% prefer someone they disagree with on the issue but a stronger candidate against trump. one in three say they want a nominee who they align with on the issues even if that candidate is weaker against trump. as for who the current national preference. former vice president joe biden

is the early front-runner. he has 29%. followed by bernie standers at 16%. kamala harris in third with 11% and elizabeth warren at 8%. two candidates not yet in the race, beto o'rourke and mike bloomberg they each take about 7%. 7% and 4%. corey book serat 4% and amy klobuchar. >> what about the widely expanding group of democrats. what's the significance of these numbers? >> as we can see it's already looking like it will be an extremely crowded democratic primary. if there's anything we've learned from 2016 it's that whoever the democratic nominee is they have to transcend party politics, appeal to moderate voters, independent voters, swing voters that president

trump tapped into in 2016. i think that we're seeing a potential run from former vice president joe biden. he's at the top of those numbers. and from the people i have spoken with at the white house and those working on 20 someone like joe biden is who the president and his team are worried the most about because he can tap into those voters especially those who swung for the president in 2016 the independents and the suburban female voters. so that's really -- these numbers are showing what i think the president and his team are most worried about. >> so before we get to 20 let's talk about tonight. the president really sort of having the opportunity to set up the second half of his first term here. what can we expect to hear from the president tonight? >> well this is interesting. of course there's this massive immigration fight that's going down in washington and the president will definitely try to defend what he's been doing and defend what he thinks is a crisis on the southern border and the money that he wants for

the wall. he's also going be focusing on unity. this is a nod to 2020. he'll be playing up some of the bipartisan ship that we've seen from the white house so far with the criminal justice reform bill. play up the accomplishments of the republican tax reform. the white house recognizes that over the next two years ahead of the election there's not much they can get done from a policy perspective with democrats in the house. so they are trying to play up this thing of unity tonight. but, of course, with this fight going on, especially with president trump versus speaker pelosi any calls for bipartisanship will be whipped apart by the left and other people watching that state of the union tonight. >> when you look at the list of people that have been invited by first lady, you see the theme that many of them have is all about immigration. you get a sense the president will hammer home that theme today at the state of the union. >> also be interesting to hear from stacy abrams.

>> elena, thank you. always a pleasure. still ahead pope francis arrives in the uae for the first-ever visit by a pontiff. >> we have more on the message he's delivering to thousands gathered for his visit. >> bill karins is back tracking the weather. whiplash in some parts of the country. they are face record temperatures. if you feel like you spend too much time in the bathroom with recurring constipation and belly pain talk to your doctor

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ask an asthma specialist about fasenra. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. but in my mind i'm still 35. that's why i take osteo bi-flex to keep me moving the way i was made to. it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long-term. osteo bi-flex because i'm made to move. welcome back, everyone. pope francis has made history by becoming the first pontiff to visit the arabian peninsula. during his trip the pope and the head signed a treaty. so i know you were there in attendance today at the mass. how important was this trip, the significance of it is certainly not lost on the region. >> reporter: absolutely. now as you can see behind macive clean superunder way because a

couple of hours ago we saw pope francis in his first trip to the arabian peninsula, first trip to the arabian gulf ever. 170,000 people were here. not justin stadium but they were overflowing around the park as well. uae, the united arab emirates have decided to make this year their year of tolerance. the pope of not meeting with folks here on the ground he was meeting other religious leaders as well. they were having long conversations about a decollar jafgs peace, what they want to do with regard to yemen, syria and other areas of conflict not justin middle east but globally. this pope oftentimes has said that he believes there's massive social inequality. he's gone after leaders on climate change and refugees. certainly for folks in the arabian gulf this is unheard of. first time the pontiff has visit this area. certainly we've seen a lot of

opening up in the last couple of years particularly for countries like the uae. he visited the saudi arabia in the last few months. for the uae, massive undertake. 170,000 people here to hear the pope's message. thank you. now for an update on justice ruth baden ginsburg who is not expected to attend the state of the union this evening but she has made her first public appearance since undergoing cancer surgery in december. the justice attended a production of notorious rbg in song for high school students for national women in the arts. her appearance was not announced and noticed only as people left. she missed oral arguments for the first time last month and has been working from home after undergoing a surgery that requires six to eight weeks of

recovery. her noticeable absence had some fearing the worst but begin begins's family says she's on track for a full recovery, walking a mile a day and resuming sessions with her private trainer. good news there. let's get a check on your weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> once again we talked about the ice storm warning for chicago. first time in ten years chicago has had an ice storm morning. big deal for that region p.m. let's talk about the incredible snowstorm in the west. seattle had three inches of snow yesterday. this is pictures from seattle. now, by the way seattle had three inches. boston we're still at about two and a half. we had more snow in seattle than boston. that's rare. the pictures from the central portions of the sierra nevada mountain range, four to six feet have been incredible too. let's shift back to the east coast. all these little yellow dots from areas of arkansas, northern mississippi, to nashville, to greensboro, areas of the northeast these are potential

areas that will set record highs today. the expected definitely breaking it. looks like manchester new hampshire should break. how warm? 62 degrees in new york city. that's 21 degrees warmer than normal. nashville should be 71. raleigh 73 degrees. 70s all the way up through the mid-atlantic region. it's not like it's a one day thing. we'll do this again on wednesday with atlanta at 71. louisville at 68 degrees. . 60s and 70s widespread and even into thursday we're still in the upper 50s in philadelphia and almost near 80 in charlotte, north carolina on thursday. finally on friday things will cool off. all that cold air now is bottled up in the northern plains and that's where it will stay frigid over the next three days. just depends where you are in the country today. a lot going on. >> the crazy thing is last week it was almost negative 70 in certain places. >> negative 70. >> wind chill was close to that.

sounds like she's exaggerating, but she's not. >> we'll fact check. still ahead oil prices are on the rise as new u.s. sanctions hit venezuela. details on what that means for your wallet. >> jerome powell and president trump sit down for dinner. the message powell delivered to trump about their road ahead together. together that's why i take osteo bi-flex to keep me moving the way i was made to. it nourishes and strengthens my joints for the long-term. osteo bi-flex because i'm made to move.

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welcome back. federal reserve chairman jerome powell met with the president for an informal dinner at the white house yesterday. first meeting since powell's nomination and after months of strong from the president. willem marx joins us with more. what can you tell bus this meeting on the eve of the state of the union? >> it wasn't just the two of them. there was also the voos chairicn of the fed there, along with steven mnuchin. the fed said it was, quote, to discuss recent economic developments and the outlook for growth, employment and inflation. you mentioned that trump last year very critical of the fed's actions when it came to raising interest rates, saying he wasn't at all happy that he'd ut jay powell in this top job. powell stressed it will depend

entirely on incoming economic information. another area colliding is venezuela. we've seen huge collapse in the country's oil production and now u.s. sanctions will target that even more. it it's the second largest provider of oil to the united states. it's a particular type of heavy crude. when you mix that with the shale crude, that's light, you need that mix of heavy and light for refineries in the u.s. so we could see higher prices as a consequence. >> one of my favorite stories of the morning, a girl scout in california is being praised for creedi creating a cardi b. video to sell her girl scout cookies.

>> she's trying to raise money to a trip to the national monument in washington, d.c. she's hoping to feed people in the homeless shelters. i really like the chorus line, "i got girls in my room, girl, cookies to the roof." sounds like my kind of room. >> the rap passion. coming up, everybody, axios' nicks johnston has this morning's "1 big thing." and more on the new subpoena over the donor's spending. >> independent senator angus king of maine will weigh in on this and discuss what he hopes to hear from president trump at his state of the union speech later today. and a very busy "morning joe" coming up live from washington, d.c. just moments away.

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joining us from washington, axios editor in chief. talk about our "1 big thing today." >> it's trump's 2019 foretold. we pulled all the subject matters to get a sense of what might be in the nustate of the union in 2020. some of the ones that scrum ed out on me on technical regulation, this is going to be a big year for privacy regulation, moving in congress as lawmakers learn more and more about what these giant tech companies know about us and what they're not telling us they know about us. also on big business, a big sweeping growth across the world, not ju the united statno states, about anti-trust regulation and find out if they need to be broken up.

taxes will be a big issue driven by house democrats. a lot of democrats running for president looking for increase and higher taxes. how does that become a big policy debate and climate change is something the president is very hostile to policies on, it's being driven by house democrats and presidential candidates have jumped on that. globally, the president has big meetings with the president of china and north korea this year. those could set the stage for a lot of big news later in the year. >> a pretty hefty list there if the president is trying to get all of that done. the question then becomes what is the biggest challenge in terms of preventing the president from achieving this agenda? is it going to be domestic opposition in the house, investigations, what have you? >> the biggest challenge will be sitting right over the president's shoulder tonight when nancy pelosi is right there behind him. house democrats will be a huge thorn. just looking at short term, just in the fight over keeping the government reopened later this

month, getting the fight over the funding for the wall, democrats are going to be a key element in that and then almost all of the issues i just went through, democrats in the house have a particular interest in all of those, either pushing legislation or leading investigations. that will be a thorn in the president's side for the next year. >> while we have you, i want to quickly turn to that stunning report about the president's schedule. what are you hearing now from the white house officially over the fallout? >> the white house is officially saying that the schedule just shows that the president does all sorts of things in executive time, it's a wide free-flowing time he gets to makes phone call. as every president will say, you're never not the president. but the white house was rattled at the magnitude of this leak, 95 pages. but it's one of a part and parcel since of beginning of this administration, we'll run a list of the biggest leaks started from day one when sean

spicer started checking phones for leaks where the president disparaged other countries, when an aide made fun of john mccain before he died. this is one in a long series of leaks. >> i remember when john kelly became chief of staff, he asked people to check their personal phones at the door to make sure leaking want happening there. >> our views can sign up to the newsletter. >> that does it for us. i'm yasmin vossoughian alongside ayman mohyeldin and louis burgdorf. "morning joe" starts right now. >> tonight i have the high privilege to begin the state of the union address with these words, madam speaker. [ cheers and applause ]

>> and 12 years later nancy pelosi will sit in the same seat tonight as a very different republican president delivers the state of the union. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, february 5, we're in washington to cover tonight's state of the union address. along with joe, willie and me -- >> we're really actually here to cover what's going on in virginia. >> wow. and then there's that, too. we were just talking about that coming in. >> as the world turns. >> we have msnbc political analyst michael steele, washington bureau chief for "usa today" susan page and pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of "the washington post" and political analyst eugene robinson. you write about virginia so we'll get to that and what is going on there. it's incredible drama. but when president trump takes the podium on capitol hill tonight,