on the air in 11 hours, at 11:00 a.m. eastern time in anticipation of the 1:00 p.m. start of the senate trial. so for now, good night from our nbc news headquarters here in new york today the senate impeachment trial of president donald j. trump gets underway in earnest. majority leader mitch mcconnell has laid out the rules calling for two 12-hour days of opening arguments per side. while the trial gets underway on capitol hill, president trump is in davos, switzerland where he's expected to deliver remarks in the hour. bernie sanders offers joe biden an apology after one of his surrogates accused the former vice president of corruption. good morning, everyone, it is tuesday january 21st, i'm ayman

mohyeldin alongside yasmin vossoughian. we begin with the impeachment trial of president trump which resumes this afternoon and majority leader mitch mcconnell has unveiled the ground rules for the proceedings. mcconnell released the four-page organizing resolution which outlines the rules that will govern the trial late yesterday afternoon. it offers both the democratic prosecutors and the white house defense team 24 hours in total to make opening statements but the time must be confined to two working days or basically two 12-hour slots. when each side has made its case, senators will be given 16 hours to ask questions in writing. the senate will consider subpoenaing witnesses or documents and vote on whether to do so. the resolution does not automatically admit evidence from the house impeachment inquiry. >> the impeachment rules set forward by mitch mcconnell vary from those of the impeachment trial of president bill clinton. according to "the new york times," while the trial is expected to unfold in a similar sequence to the 1999 one with

opening statements, then questions from senators followed by an up or down vote on whether to consider calling witnesses or new evidence, mcconnell's plan would speed up the proceedings. the times reports that when the clinton trial opened the senate admitted into evidence, printed and shared with senators all record generated by the house impeachment inquiry into clinton but that is not the case this time. and while the draft resolution similarly does not incorporate democratic demands that the trial guarantee witness testimony or requests for new documents, mcconnell's proposal still differs slightly. according to the paper, the resolution says that after senators conclude their questioning, they will not immediately entertain motions to call individual witnesses or documents. instead, they will decide first whether they want to consider new evidence at all. only if a majority of senators agree to do so will the managers and prosecutors be allowed to propose and argue for specific

witnesses or documents. each of which would then be subject it to an additional vote. "the times" reports that mcconnell's resolution does not include a guarantee that the senate will vote on a motion to dismiss the case after opening arguments rather than see the trial to a full conclusion. a guarantee that was included in the clinton era rules. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle weighed in on the organizing resolution outlining the rules that will govern the impeachment trial with two key moderate republicans to watch when it comes to the witness vote, senator mitt romney, and lamar alexander. in a statement senator romney said i made clear to my colleagues and the public that the senate should have the opportunity to decide on witnesses following the opening arguments as occurred in the clinton trial. the organizing resolution includes this step and overall it aligns closely with the rules packaged approved 100 to 0 during the clinton trial. if attempts are made to vote on witnesses prior to opening

arguments, i would oppose those efforts. senator alexander released a statement reading in part quote the resolution i am supporting guarantees a vote on whether we need additional evidence at the appropriate time. >> their support does not come as a surprise considering majority leader mitch mcconnell announced previously that he has 53 republican votes in favor of the resolution. democratic minority leader chuck schumer meanwhile said he will offer amendments quote to address the many flaws in this resolution. in a statement just yesterday, schumer writes quote this, senator mcconnell repeatedly promised senators the public and the press that his rules for the trial would be the same as the rules for president clinton's trial. after reading his resolution, it's clear senator mcconnell is hell bent on making it much more difficult to get witnesses and documents and intent on rushing the trial through quote on something as important as impeachment. senator mcconnell's resolution is nothing short of a national disgrace. pretty strong words there from

senator schumer. speaking to reporters last night, schumer accused mcconnell of orchestrating a cover up. >> impeachment is one of the few powers that congress has when a president overreaches. to so limit impeachment and make it so less serious is so so wrong. we will fight that tooth and nail. we hope that four brave republicans will resist mcconnell's cover up. the fate of honor in the republic is on their shoulders. >> and by the way, senator schumer will be joining us later on "morning joe." joining us here on msnbc, legal analyst, danny cevallos. and senior staff writer for "the hill" scott wong. run us through what we will see today as president trump's impeachment trial resumes. are we going to hear 12 hours of opening arguments from the

prosecution? >> well, things kick off in earnest today at 1:00 p.m. eastern. we're finally here. this is the senate impeachment trial but before we even get to the opening arguments, which will start on wednesday, we are going to have this big fight over senator mcconnell's resolution governing the rules of engagement for this senate trial and specifically senator schumer and the democrats have one big objection, and that is that this resolution lays out a very accelerated time line as you guys mentioned 24 hours of argument, that's pretty standard, but that 24 hours will be consolidated or condensed into two working days, two sessions. what that means is when you start at 1:00 p.m. each day to allow for john roberts to conduct his work over in the supreme court and walk across the street to the united states senate, it means that these days

are going to run well into the night. perhaps into the wee mornings the next day, and so democrats and schumer are concerned that a lot of the arguments are going to be happening when the american public is not paying attention. that's why you're hearing words like a cover up. they are accusing mcconnell and the republicans of being an accomplice in the quote cover up by allowing this to run late into the night when most americans are not tuning in. >> danny, walk us through sort of your sense with regards to this resolution that mcconnell released yesterday. first and foremost, the timing in which scott got into a little bit with this 24 hours over two working days, which i want to get your take on, and also obviously this question of witnesses, which we have talked about repeatedly as to whether or not big names like john bolton are going to be called forward. it seems like every step of the way you're going to have to get

votes before you can get to the point whether or not they can ask if they can submit witnesses for the impeachment trial. >> if you are hearing the sound of our voices at this moment, then you are not likely to be watching the senate trial at one in the morning. it's five in the morning now. most folks hearing this right now are asleep well before one in the morning when the trial is going to conclude each day. this is a very condensed trial in that it's going to force a lot of evidence to be jammed into the record in marathon sessions. so it's really interesting strategically how each side is going to present its arguments and now what becomes critical is what time of day do you present your arguments. do you get them out there during prime time or at 1:00 p.m. when do you make these main legal arguments. your best legal arguments. very different from a courtroom trial where you have a jury that is forced to be attentive at least for the time you're there, the normal 8-hour working day for a normal 8 hours. it will be interesting to see

the strategies they use moving forward. >> do you think an element is for public consumption making the opening statements or public statements. you as a lawyer would take that into consideration is what i'm asking. >> absolutely because you have a jury unlike any other. you have a jury that is not only already biassed because they were elected for their bias but influenced by all the other people watching television. those are their constituents and those people write letters and e-mails and they vote people in and out. the very jury members that are going to be hearing this case, so yes, it is very important. it's an extremely important consideration in fashioning these rules as to who is going to be watching not just senators but the american public as a whole. >> as a leader, mcconnell does not want this to be about public consumption considering the timing of it. >> that has to be true, and leader mcconnell wants this to be finished very soon in a short period of time, even though the same number of hours may be allotted, they're jammed into a few days, working also on

saturday. the mission is clear and i have to say at least leader mcconnell is consistent with his position during the clinton impeachment trial. he wanted to streamline it, not a lot of witnesses. the only difference is now he's in a much greater position of power. but as similar, i have to say similarly, republicans in the clinton trial and a more partisan era did not want to see a lot of witnesses. did want to get the trial over with quickly. >> how does majority leader mcconnell's ground rules for the trial intensify the battle over including impeachment witnesses and documents? >> well, as your previous segment alluded to, the fight over documents and witnesses sort of gets put off or punted until much later until after the oral arguments and so chuck schumer is avowing to hold repeated votes at the outset so later this afternoon we will see the democrats try to force votes

to call witnesses to allow certain evidence to be admitted into this trial from the start, but because republicans including lamar alexander and mitt romney, and some of those on the fence republicans have said they are willing to support mitch mcconnell's resolution, it looks like he now has the 51 votes needed to pass the resolution. that means that this whole fight over documents and witnesses will be punted until well after the oral argument or perhaps we won't even see this fight happen at all after the arguments. >> danny cevallos, do not underestimate the endurance of our viewers. they might be watching now and may very well be watching at 1:00 a.m. >> i know my endurance, and it's not happening. >> danny cevallos onset, thank you very much. scott wong, we'll talk to you in just a little bit. still ahead in just about 20 minutes from now, president trump is in davos as we said

earlier. he is going to speak at the world economic forum. we are going to go live to davos for a preview of what we can expect. new reporting about how trump's legal team and other republican allies are trying to ensure john bolton does not publicly testify in the impeachment trial. those stories and of course a check on your weather when we come back. course a check on your weather when we come back. i don't keep track of regrets. and i don't add up the years. but what i do count on is boost high protein. and now, introducing new boost mobility with collagen for joint health. when taken daily, its key nutrients help support joints, muscles, and strong bones.

new, boost mobility.

wherever, however, whenever. we'll deliver lunch or dinner right to you. order delivery at panerabread.com. panera. food as it should be.

. welcome back, while impeachment plays out on capitol hill, president trump is in davos switzerland for the world economic forum. joining us now senior white house correspondent for digital, shannon pettypiece, thank you for joining us on this. talk about the president's agenda this morning considering the split screen moment we're going to have throughout the day with the senate impeachment trial underway. >> reporter: right. it's another effort by the president to do some counter programming here, to try and shift the narrative away from impeachment and on to the topics he would like to emphasize in his reelection bid, for example, the economy, trade deals with

china, trade deals with mexico that he has finalized recently. but of course as we've seen from these past foreign trips, even when he attempts to counter program and have a split screen moment as you said where he is being presidential on the international stage, we often find him pulled back into these domestic sagas playing out back at home. and actually i remember being here in 2018 when the big news all of a sudden was that he had tried to fire then special counsel robert mueller, and so the second day of his trip was engrossed in his response to that. so he'll have a speech here in actually a few minutes or so where he's expected to emphasize the economy and then he has meetings with world leaders later today where hopefully we'll hear from them again. >> let me get your thoughts quickly, as we talk about this particular, as you just mentioned the particular moment in this presidency. the president railed against the very type of institution that is the world economic forum. he railed against what he called global elites.

he railed against the international community even the relationships that are forged by many of these events including the bilateral relationships have been strained. what compels him then to turn around and go, especially in an election year like this, to go to davos to try to make this appearance and this speech? >> reporter: right. that's such a great point because to his base, this is really this crowd of the global elite, everything they fought against. this is the global swamp, you could say, but the president has really embraced wall street, embraced the business community since his election. i mentioned he was here in 2018, and at that time there was this tension and this question about what his relationship was going to be like with wall street, and as we've seen, he only, you know, often invites executives to the white house. he has touted how rich he has made people through gains in the stock market, and so at this event, there's not an expectation that there will be those same tensions between this, you know, protectionist

populist president, this global community, but i will say one thing that will be a big thing this year, particularly more so than other years is the issue of climate change and that is the focus of this event. a lot of the executives here are going to be announcing actions they're going to take on climate change. great that thunberg, the teenage environmental activist is here. i think that will be an area where we could see the president spar a bit with this community. >> we will be watching for the president's speech, and bring it to you live from davos, switzerland, shannon pettypiece also joining "morning joe" later this morning. appreciate it. since it is one of the biggest issues at the world economic foreign, about how important it is to see climate change addressed on that level. so important as shannon was saying that it is going to be the main theme of this year's world economic forum. >> there's supposed to be a big announcement, there's supposed to be a bunch of companies and

countries, and they're supposed to be releasing that. >> we'll see if the president addresses it given his track record on the issue. >> exactly. which may have been one of the reasons he didn't want to go, you know. all right, so let's get into this. the temperatures out there, the windchills have been the story over the last two days, and they continue to be. you'll notice all the way down into florida, tallahassee feels like 25 degrees this morning. so we're all in the same boat together. this has been one of the coldest arctic outbreaks we have had. typically winterish, minneapolis at negative 13. 6 in kansas city. 0 in burlington. boston's at about 7. the next big storm, this is going to be a slow move across the country. typically when you have a really cold air mass and the next storm moves in it means a lot of winter weather. this is moving so slow that the atmosphere is going to warm up a little bit. we're going to get some winter weather out of it. right now just a rain event going on in the pacific northwest. it's a rainy day for friends in california, the northwest. this storm will slowly be moving

on shore during the day today. typical high elevation, mountain snows, and the rain on the coast will continue, wednesday as this system lingers, and then as all the storms move into the middle of the country, by the time we get to wednesday afternoon and thursday, a little bit of light snow from kansas city northwards and by the time we get into thursday, some of that winter weather will be moving through the great lakes. as i mentioned, this isn't like a block buster snow event, the snow events will be kind of light and rain as we end the week down in areas of the southeast. sometimes we get this really cold air, and then once we get the next storm, it could be like a big block buster snow event. this will be another one of those small ones, arrive in the northeast, friday, saturday, sunday. >> perfect timing for the weekend. as long as it stays on the weekend, i can live with that. it's when it gets into the weekdays. for the kids. >> his long commute, you know, you're driving all across america. >> for the kids, of course, always for the kids. still ahead, rudy giuliani's former associate lev parnas

wants attorney general bill barr to recuse himself from the criminal finance case against him. plus, what giuliani is now saying about allegations parnas made against him. we're back in a moment. made against him we're back in a moment right now, switch to t-mobile and get 2 lines of unlimited for only $90 and 2 iphone 11s on us. all on t-mobile's newest, most powerful signal that goes farther than ever before. get twice the deal, 2 lines of unlimited for $90 and 2 iphone 11s on us. ♪ only at t-mobile. ♪the beat goes onp for heart failure look like? it looks like emily cooking dinner for ten. ♪the beat goes on it looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. ♪la-di-la-di-di entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps your heart, so you can keep on doing what you love. entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital.

heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ♪the beat goes on ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure. ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure yeah! entrust your heart to entresto. ♪the beat goes on fred would do anything for his daughter! get in fred! even if it means being the back half of a unicorn. fear not fred! the front half washed his shirt with gain detergent. that's the scent that puts the giddy in giddy up! ahhh. the irresistible scent of gain.

for a scent with even more giddy up, try gain scent blast in detergent, fabric softener and scent beads. it's beautiful. you want to take it for a test-drive? definitely. we're gonna go in that. seriously? i thought we were going on a test drive. we are. a heavy-duty test drive. woo-hoo! this is dope. i've never been on a test drive like this before. this silverado offers a 6.6 liter duramax diesel that can tow up to 35,500 pounds. awesome! let's take these logs up that hill. let's do it. wow! this truck's a beast. are you sure there's a trailer back there? this is incredible. best test drive ever. [chuckle] . welcome back, everyone. president trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani struck back against his one time indicted associate lev parnas with his own interview after parnas spoke with rachel maddow in an alleged

plot to pressure ukraine to investigate former vice president bide skn and his son hunter. giuliani cast doubt on parnas's claims and his character. here are some excerpts. >> lev is someone i was close to. obviously i was misled by him. i feel very bad. god father to his child and svetlana's child. i still feel sorry for him. i'm not going to respond to him for each and every one of the misrepresentations he's made because there are so many. >> now, how many times do i have to prove a man is a liar before he isn't featured any longer as the main witness for all you people in the press. the man is a demonstrated liar. >> meanwhile, parnas has sent a letter to attorney general bill barr requesting that he recuse himself from the investigation and appoint a special prosecutor, according to a new court filing. a copy of the letter was filed

yesterday on parnas's docket, in his federal campaign finance violation case brought by new york prosecutors. the three-page letter was sent to bar days after parnas spoke out publicly for the first time about his role assisting giuliani in urging ukraine officials to launch and investigate joe biden. in an interview from last week with rachel maddow, parnas claimed barr was fully aware of the effort. >> do you know if mr. giuliani was ever in contact with mr. barr specifically about the fact that he was trying to get ukraine to announce these investigations into joe biden? >> oh, absolutely. >> mr. barr knew about that? >> mr. barr had to have known everything. >> however, last night on fox news, giuliani denied those claims. >> was the attorney general in on whatever was going on there in the ukraine? >> i have never spoken to attorney general barr about this investigation ever. not one word to attorney general barr about this investigation. not even a congratulations on

how well he's handling it. i have been circumspect, careful, exceedingly careful. not only that, parnas knows that. i told parnas several times i would make sure i would never go to the attorney general with this. i wouldn't compromise him. >> coming up ahead of opening arguments in the senate impeachment trial, president trump is expanding his defense team. we're going to take a look at his last minute reinforcements. bernie sanders offers joe biden an apology after one of his campaign associates launched an attack on the former vice president. we're going to have those stories and much more coming up next. e those stories and much more coming up next a majority of adults who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. here's your a1c. oh! my a1c is under 7! (announcer) and you may lose weight. adults who took ozempic® lost on average up to 12 pounds. i lost almost 12 pounds! oh! (announcer) ozempic® does not increase the risk of major cardiovascular events

like heart attack, stroke, or death. there's no increased risk. oh! and i only have to take it once a week. oh! ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) ozempic® should not be the first medicine for treating diabetes, or for people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. do not share needles or pens. don't reuse needles. do not take ozempic® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to ozempic®. stop taking ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, itching, rash, or trouble breathing. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your doctor if you have diabetic retinopathy or vision changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. once-weekly ozempic® is helping me reach my blood sugar goal. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ (announcer) you may pay as little as $25 per prescription. ask your health care provider today

about once-weekly ozempic®.

welcome back, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian, alongside ayman mohyeldin, we are following developing news right now from davos, switzerland, president trump set to deliver as you see there in some live pictures the opening remarks from the world economic forum at any moment now. this is a live picture inside of that venue. the president arrived in switzerland early this morning. he is expected to hold several bilateral meetings after his speech this morning including with the president of iraq, the prime minister of pakistan, the president of the kurdish regional government and the president of the regional commission. the president expected to take the stage at any moment now. we will carry those remarks live as soon as he does. the white house has announced a list of house members that will be aiding president trump's defense team during the senate impeachment trial but a senior administration official says the members are not part of the official legal team and will not be presenting arguments on the senate floor during the trial.

the selected members include republican congressman doug collins of georgia, mike johnson of louisiana, jim jordan of ohio, mark meadows of ohio, lee zelden of new york, along with congresswoman debbie lesko of arizona, and the official notes that each member is set to give critical guidance on the case because of their strong familiarity of the facts and evidence and they will continue to push those and the message in the media. >> and president trump's legal team is prepared to assert that he did quote absolutely nothing wrong and should be swiftly acquitted in the senate impeachment trial. a 110-page brief submitted yesterday called calls the two impeachment articles abuse of power and obstruction of congress flimsy, arguing that the charges brought by house democrats do not remotely approach the constitutional threshold of removing a president from office. trump's lawyers write this, the diluted standard asserted here

would permanently weaken the presidency, and alter the balance of the among the branches of government in a manner that offends. it also does not deny that trump withheld military aid for kyiv approved by congress. a democratic aide working on the impeachment trial telling nbc news that trump's team and argument misstates the law calling the document an extremely extended version of a presidential tweet. "the washington post" reports that senate republicans are quietly gaming out a plan, if democrats win enough votes to force witnesses at the trial. multiple officials familiar with the discussion say it includes an effort to keep john bolton if in fact he is called to testify from doing so in public. sources close to senate republicans tell the post that majority leader mitch mcconnell is expected to ensure that questioning would be done in a closed-door session. sources say that would also apply to hunter biden if he were

called to testify. >> one of the president's impeachment attorneys allen des dershowitz is trying to explain the inconsistency between his various remarks on impeachment. during the clinton proceedings in 1998 dershowitz said quote certainly doesn't have to be a crime to be impeachable. now he's claiming the opposite in his defense of the president. here's how he tried to clear things up just last night. >> so corrupting the office of the president, is that in your criminal lights or criminal like behavior. >> it's not. >> that was rejected. >> you're saying you were wrong back then. >> i was saying that i'm much more correct right now, having done multiple research. >> much more correct? >> that's the issue. >> please don't shut me off. two against one here, let me make my point. >> i'm not on anyone's side. i'm trying to understand rationally what you're saying. >> listen. maybe you'll understand if you listen. i didn't do research back then. please let me finish, because that issue was not presented in

the clinton impeachment. everybody knew that he was charged with a crime. >> so hard just to say you're wrong. just over half of americans say they believe the senate should vote to convict and remove president trump from auchs. according to the latest -- office. according to the latest cnn srs poll, 51% believe he should have been removed from office. 69% said the senate impeachment trial should include testimony from new witnesses. 20% disagreed. broken down by party, those who agree with allowing witnesses to testify, 86% of democrats, 69% of independents, and 48% of republicans. when asked about the charges against president trump, 58% of americans said they believe trump abused the powers of his presidency. 57% said trump obstructed congress. joining us now from washington once again senior staff writer for "the hill" scott wong. i want to discuss the role of

some of president trump's surrogates which will be on the senate floor this morning. what are they going to be doing here, and is this addition unprecedented during an impeachment trial? >> i think it's certainly unusual. these are household names, if you're a viewer of fox news, you see these folks on cable news regularly. we know these individuals in the capital. mark meadows, and jim jordan, of course freedom caucus leaders, people like elise stefanik who played a key role in the intelligence committee investigation. these are people president trump feels comfortable with. he likes their messaging on tv. and so these republicans, i think, are not going to have necessarily, they're not going to be able to argue the case on the senate floor. they're not going to have speaking roles. but what they will have is an ability to go on cable news and to amplify the president's defense team's message on tv, talk to reporters in the capital and really get his message out

and make the case for his defense to the press. >> i wonder if matt geotz is upset he didn't get the call. he's one of the president's biggest defenders. let's turn to a moment to the trial itself and the brief that was filed by president trump's legal team. i believe it was like a hundred plus pages. what do you make of your argument that trump did quote doing nothing wrong being the corner stone of their approach that they fail to deny some of the specific claims against him? >> yeah, i think because there has been this overwhelming amount of evidence pointing to the president and his top attorney rudy giuliani pressuring ukraine to investigate his chief political rival joe biden, i think because we've seen all the evidence you've seen white house officials and state department officials attest to that themselves and so the president,

his defense team has really been in a bind and so they're turning to political arguments saying in a blanket statement he did nothing wrong. they're turning to technical arguments, you heard alan dershowitz say that because congress did not, the two articles that congress produced did not point to a specific crime in the criminal code, therefore it's not an impeachable offense, you know, that's the argument that you're seeing and i think it's going to be easily refuted by democrats because there is a precedent as lawrence tribe and other legal scholars have noted, there have been people removed from office, judges thrown out of office because they were convicted of abuse of power, not necessarily a specific crime. i think you're going to see the democrats and adam schiff stick to the facts of this case rather than try to go toe-to-toe in

terms of making those political arguments. they're going to stick to the facts of the case regarding y ukraine. >> as we have seen the defense and they began especially during the congressional hearing saying that the president even didn't ask for this investigation, and there was no quid pro quo, there was no withholding of any military aid to ukraine, and they have progressed to now saying not necessarily denying the president doing these sorts of things but instead saying it does not rise to an impeachable offense, if in fact, this senate impeachment trial is for public consumption, do you think this argument will resonate? >> well, latiet's see how the ps play out. i did think it was interesting that the recent poll showed that the overwhelming majority of americans do want to see witnesses called in this trial, whether that happens according to "the washington post" report behind closed doors or whether they happen in classified

settings or in an open setting, we don't really know at this point, but i do think we will be watching the polling very carefully. as you pointed out, it has been a very inconsistent message from republicans when it comes to defending this president. >> all right. scott wong, thank you. appreciate it scott. thank you. still ahead, president trump set to deliver remarks any moment now from davos, switzerland, we will have that live for you when it gets underway. plus, senator bernie sanders apologizes to joe biden after a supporter pens an op-ed accusing the vice president of having a corruption problem. also a show of unity among presidential candidates on martin luther king jr. day. your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment. ay your first look at "morning joe" is back in a moment.

you should be mad at tech that's unnecessarily complicated. make ice. making ice. but you're not because you have e*trade which isn't complicated. their tools make trading quicker and simpler so you can take on the markets with confidence. don't get mad get e*trade.

brushing only reacheson the markets with confidence. 25% of your mouth. listerine® cleans virtually 100%. helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. never settle for 25%. always go for 100. bring out the bold™ (burke) we've seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. even a "gold medal grizzly." (sports announcer) what an unlikely field in this final heat. hang on... you're about to see history in the making. (burke) not exactly a skinny dipper, but we covered it. at farmers, we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

(vo) visit farmers-dot-com and get a quote today. for your worst sore throat pain, try vicks vapocool drops. it's not candy, it's powerful relief. ahhh vaporize sore throat pain with vicks vapocool drops and try new vapocool spray. if that was the last time ti was going to do that thing. coming to cancer treatment centers of america, they treat the whole person. everything is here. imaging, infusion. i don't have to go anywhere else. they cared about me as a person beyond just being a cancer patient. they're my second family. get care like no other. call us at cancer treatment centers of america. what about saying he has a corruption problem? >> i think that how you characterize that is up to the

voter and that's fine for them to decide, but what's important is for us to have a conversation on tv. not about conflict between candidates. >> what does that mean to let the voter decide about a corruption problem, your speech writer, joe biden has a corruption problem. is that a campaign sanctioned thing? does the campaign believe that joe biden has a corruption problem? >> what the article is describing is the fact that joe biden has made deals with republicans over the course of his career in order to cut social security and raise the retirement age. >> is that corrupt? >> if someone wants to describe that as krucorrupt, that is up them. >> that was the national press secretary for bernie sanders's 2020 campaign, after sanders apologized, accusing biden of having a quote corruption problem. sanders supporters yesterday wrote an op-ed for the guardian entitled middle class joe biden has a corruption problem. it makes him a weak candidate.

in it she writes in part quote it looks like middle class joe has perfected the art of taking big contributions, then representing his corporate donors at the cost of middle and working class americans. converting campaign con bug contributions in legislative favorites, it is the kind of transactional politics americans have come to loathe. sanders later apologized to the piece telling cbs news it's not my view that joe is corrupt in any way, and i'm sorry that op-ed appeared. biden accepted the apology, thanks for acknowledging this bernie, these attacks have no place in the primary. >> meanwhile, joe biden clarified that he would make quote no compromise on cutting medicare or social security after taking heat from fellow democratic presidential hopefuls over his stance on the issue. yesterday he spoke at the iowa brown and black presidential

forum and defended his record on social security. >> do you think, though, that it's fair for voters to question your commitment to social security, when in the past you proposed a freeze to it. >> i didn't propose a freeze. look, we're talking about -- >> you did. >> you mean when we went together and decided -- >> cow talk about it in the context of -- you talk about it in the context of balancing the budget. >> the context of we save social security when the reagan administration was about to go under. everybody from teddy kennedy on voted for that. my proposal on social security has been straightforward from the beginning, we have to increase the taxes on people making over $400,000, so they pay the same percentage of their income as you pay if you're making 50,000 or 20,000 or $128,000. >> bloomberg reporter steven dennis said the other day, mcconnell has told me he hopes to work with the next democratic president to trim social security, medicare, medicaid, says you need bipartisan deal to do so. do you think he's talking about you in that context? >> there will be no compromise

on cutting medicare or social security. >> no compromise at all, that's a promise. >> period, it's a promise. >> over the past couple of days, senators bernie sanders and elizabeth warren have come after the former vice president for his stance on social security. on sunday, sanders told "the washington post" this, i think anyone who looks at the vice president's record understands that time after time after time joe has talked about the need to cut social security. i don't think that is disputable. and warren echoed sanders also on sunday telling politico this, as a senator, joe biden had a very different position on social security and i think everyone's record on social security are important in this election. and casting aside their views, the 2020 democratic presidential contenders marched together standing shoulder to shoulder in honor of dr. martin luther king in columbia, south carolina yesterday. senators warren and sanders linked arms after their tense exchange at the last democratic debate. the two senators shared a warm greeting before marching toward the state capitol building for the annual civil rights rally

held on mlk day. former vice president joe biden offered a handshake and a smile to senator sanders after he asked the sanders campaign to retract what he called a distorted video clip of his comments on social security. columbia's annual march commemorating dr. king started two decades ago against a rally planned at the time in support of the state house's confederate flag. let's switch gears and get a check of weather with nbc meteorologist bill karins. the next storm we're going to deal with, cold east of the rockies, no question albout tha. windchills in the teens. gulf coast, we're in the 20s. we're all in this together. the next storm that's going to move across the country, now moving into the pacific northwest, a lot of rain early this morning. 1 or 2 feet of snow in areas of the cascades, that's to be expected with the big storms. this is going to be one of the stormiest spots. this is going to move across the country. by the time we get to wednesday, snow breaks out in the middle of the country. this could be a hairy period of

driving, kansas city to st. louis on i-70. this area of pink and purple, that's about 4 to 6 inches of snow. a decent snow event in the middle of the week wednesday into thursday here in the midwest to the great lakes. then the storm weakens a little bit by the time it gets to friday, and nen on saturday -- then on saturday it heads to the northeast. the i-95 corridor, even though it's cold now, by the time the storm arrives friday and saturday, it looks like it's going to get warmer. looks like no issues from d.c. to baltimore, to philadelphia, to new york city, interior sections of new england, especially on saturday and saturday fighnight, you'll have chance of additional snow out of this. let's go to this map, where is my winter. right now, most of the northern new england has gotten the snow from about boston northward it's been okay. boston about 14 inches. new york city about 4 1/2 inches of snow, but this is below average to date. and it has not that far below for boston. new york city has had about half of average snowfall. south of new york city it's been hard to get any snow at all for

the kids. philadelphia has only had .3. d.c. has only had .6 and these areas usually at this point of the season have about 5 to 8 inches of snow, and it's not alone. it's been a warm winter as we all know, even the snow bell areas that typically get a ton of snow have a deficit, like syracuse, erie and cleveland, a foot to foot and a half behind average. a little bit of snow in the next storm. we'll talk about that ahead. bundle up. president trump is taking the stage in davos, switzerland, being introduced, as you see on the screen. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, we'll go live to davos for the president's remarks. stay with us. he president's remarks. stay with us crest's three dimensional whitening... ...removes stains,... ...whitens in-between teeth... ...and protects from future stains. crest. healthy, beautiful smiles for life. i don't make compromises. i want nutrition made just for me. but i also want great taste.

so i drink boost for women. new boost women with key nutrients to help support thyroid, bone, hair and skin health. all with great taste. new boost women. all with great taste. aveeno® with prebiotic striple oat complex balances skin's microbiome. so skin looks like this and you feel like this. aveeno® skin relief. get skin healthy™ ...depend® silhouette™ briefs feature maximum absorbency, with trusted protection for all out confidence... beautiful colors and an improved fit for a sleek design and personal style. life's better when you're in it. be there with depend®. can you help keep these iguys protected online?? easy, connect to the xfi gateway. what about internet speeds that keep up with my gaming? let's hook you up with the fastest internet from xfinity. what about wireless data options for the family? of course, you can customize and save. can you save me from this conversation?

that we can't do, but come in and see what we can do. we're here to make life simple. easy. awesome. ask. shop. discover. at your local xfinity store today.

welcome back. the president is speaking right now from davos, switzerland. let's listen in. >> -- faith in the system. before my presidency began the outlook for many nations was bleak. top economists warns of a protracted worldwide recession. the world bank lowered its projections for global growth to a number that nobody wanted to even think about. pessimism had taken root deep in the minds of leading thinkers, business leaders and policymakers, yet despite all of the cynics, i had never been more confident in america's future. i knew we were on the verge of a

profound economic resurgence if we did things right. one that would generate a historic wave of investment, wage growth and job creation. i knew that if we unleashed the potential of our people, if we cut taxes, slashed regulations and we did that at a level that's never been done before in the history of our country in a short period of time, fixed broken trade deals and fully tapped american energy, that prosperity would come thundering back at a record speed, and that is exactly what we did, and cha is exactly what happened. since my election, america has gained over 7 million jobs, a number unthinkable. i wouldn't say it. i wouldn't talk about it, but that was the number that i had in mind. the projection was 2 million. we did 7 million. more than three times the government's own projections. the unemployment rate is now

less than 3%, 4% and 5% and at 3.5%, that's a number that is the lowest in more than 50 years. the average unemployment rate for my administration is the lowest for any u.s. president in recorded history. we started off with reasonably high rate. for the first time in decades we are no longer simply concentrating wealth in the hands of a few. we're concentrating and creating the most inclusive economy ever to exist. we are lifting up americans of every race, color, religion and creed. unemployment rates among african-americans, hispanic-americans and asian-americans have all reached record lows. african-american youth unemployment has reached the lowest it's ever been in the history of our country. african-american poverty has

plummeted to the lowest rate ever recorded. the unemployment rate for women reached the lowest level since 1953, and women now comprise a majority of the american workforce. that's for the first time. the unemployment rate for veterans has dropped to a record low. the unemployment rate for disabled americans has reached an all-time record low. workers without a high school diploma have achieved the lowest unemployment rate recorded in u.s. history. wages are rising across the board, and those at the bottom of the income ladder are enjoying the percentage by far largest gains. workers wages are now growing faster than management wages. earnings growth for the bottom 10% is out-pacing the top 10%. something that has not happened.

paychecks for high school graduates are rising faster than for college graduates. young americans just entering the workforce are also sharing in america's extraordinary prosperity. since i took office, more than 2 million millennials have gotten jobs, and their wages have grown by nearly 5%. annually, a number that was unthinkable. nobody would have ever thought it was possible three years ago. a reported number of americans between the ages are 25 and 34 are now working. in the eight years before i took office over 300,000 working-aged people left the workforce. in just three years in my administration, 3.5 million people have joined the workforce. 10 million people have been lifted off welfare in less than three years.

celebrating the dignity of work is a fundamental pillar of our agenda. this is a -- >> you have been listening to the president of the united states, president trump there live from the world economic forum in davos, switzerland. bring in villa marks into the conversation live from london watching these remarks. as we've heard mostly from the president before, touting the growth of the u.s. economy and low unemployment rates not touching on climate change yet, although not finished with his speech. >> talking about the american agenda and impressive job numbers. have seen record lows over the 50-year period. wage growth hasn't picked up as quickly or much as it might have done and of course, the wealth disparity in america, last couple of years since the tax deregulation extraordinary.

not something he's likely to highlight. in terms of climate change a big, big focus for the economic forum this time around in davos. a panel early this morning involving four young climate activists one of whom was greta thunberg calling for all the governments and institutions involve ared in the economic forum to divest from fossil fuel, stop subsidies to fossil fuels and a message president trump repeatedly ki edledly dis. interesting to see if he addresses this, climate change, so vital to this summit this year. >> and we mentioned the president touting very much an america first, does the rest of the world share the same economic outlook the president is touting from america for perspective of china, for example, russia, other parts of the world? >> interesting. the mon stare fund,ayman, ahad a

report out. china, higher growth than a few months. not because tariffs reduced by the u.s., but wasn't because of threat additional tariffs. countries like india are seeing a tough time because of what's going on in their credit market, banking system under huge pressure and here in europe because of the trade war over the last 18 months, germany a country relying on exports seen a slowdown in the manufacturing sector, concerned about tariffs on cars made in jgermany from te united states is a little weaker. >> that does it for us. i'm ayman mohyeldin along with yasmin vossoughian. "morning joe" starts right now. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, january 21st.

just hours from now, and only for the third time in american history, the chief justice of the supreme court will gavel in and impeachment trial for the president of the united states before the u.s. senate. while that is happening in washington, donald trump is in davos, where his domestic troubles are never more than a tweet away. he's speaking right now about the u.s. economy. along with joe, willie and me we have president's the council on foreign relations and author of the book "a world in disarray" richard haass. and an nbc news national security analyst jeremy bash is with us and historian, author of "the soul of america" and rogers professor of the presidency, jon meacham. nbc news and msnbc contributor on this very, very important morning. >> very important morning, mika an