"way too early" on this monday morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. . >> found something good to read there, biscuit. >> oh, yes, idea. just reading from the good book, "becoming," michigan shell obama. >> ain't nothing finer than sipping your lemonade through a reusable straw. >> do you know where the men's room is? >> yeah. it's back in 2015. we don't have a men's restroom. but the alt restroom is around the corner. . >> i think everybody thinks we're all crazy christian top. >> it's fine. i'm jewish. >> oh, no. you're jewish? >> yes.

>> i hope you know what we do down here, we elect them. >> good morning and welcome to "morning joe". it is monday, february 1st. joe is under the weather today. with us we have white house reporter for "the associated press" jonathan lemire. host of msnbc's politics nation and president of the national action network, research ender al sharpton. and host of "way too early" kasie hunt stays with us. and matt lewis joins us this morning from "the daily beast". thank you all for jumping on board this morning. we have even more to get to than usual on this monday morning, if that's possible. a group of republican senators head to the white house today to pitch president biden on their much smaller counteroffer to his covid relief proposal. we're learning more about democrat strategy for the trump impeachment trial as the former

president scrambling to put together a legal team. it's a funny thing that happens when you're not president anymore. if people think you're wrong, they leave. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene will meet with kevin mccarthy as things heat up between her and a colleague on the hill. the south african coronavirus strain is discovered in another u.s. state. a massive winter storm moves east with a brutal mix of snow,s rain and high winds. we'll get to bill karins in a moment on that. a lot to cover this morning. we'll begin, though, with that group of 10 republican senators who will meet with president biden at the white house today to discuss their counteroffer to his nearly $2 trillion economic relief proposal. the group of mostly moderate senators outlined their proposal in a letter to the senate

yesterday. the republican outreach is an attempt to prevent democrats from using the process of reconciliation to push through biden's proposal without any republican support. the $600 billion counteroffer is less than a third of what the president is proposing. it includes $160 billion for vaccines, $4 billion for economic assistance and help for schools. it does not mention democrat's priorities like state and local aid. chuck schumer has already pushed back telling the new york daily news, quote, they should negotiate with us not a take it or leave it offer. kasie, what's happening here? pause obviously there's a lot that needs to be rectified in terms of response to covid. and president biden seems to be covering that, you know, from soup to nuts on trying to get

the train back on the tracks or on the tracks in the first place. but are they trying to put in too much of biden's agenda in this bill? . >> that's the question here, mika. of course biden, big picture, comes into office and has to grapple with more crises than perhaps any other president in the last century. and they tried. i think their goal by putting out a bill this big was to try and address as many of those problems up front as possible. but it's left republicans looking at it and saying is a $15 minimum wage part of an emergency relief package. it's a policy democrats have been pushing for many years. they said, look, if you want to do this bipartisanship pitch that you pitched during your campaign, we need to have a conversation. just however biden is doing this, having them down to the white house, is different than

what we saw with president trump. the question, how is biden going to interact with them? how does he demand the caucus. no. we waited for deals to be done with us under the obama administration. they didn't do it. we need to move ahead. republicans used the procedures a couple of times under the trump administration and they didn't blink twice without doing it without democratic votes. so that's what he is going to have to balance today. >> jonathan, this is supposed to be a big page turner from the trump white house to the biden white house. one of the things that joe biden campaigned on and promised in, you know, on the day that he was elected is that he would be a president for all people, even people who didn't vote for him, and that he would try to bring bipartisanship back to the white house, where both sides debated issues. and they went through the process. so the view from the white house

on this massive bill is what? >> mika, you're certainly right about that. my colleagues and i looked at it this weekend. biden really framed himself as a candidate, as someone who could bring the parties today, together down the temperature on donald trump. as senator and vice president would work with republicans. he was barack obama's liaison to the hill. it was his dealings with leader mcconnell that really got a lot of things, fiscal cliff, debt negotiations done for that white house. and he has been indeed working the phones to senators of both parties, it should be noted, in recent days. certainly there is also a need to keep some moderate democrats in line. manchin, sinema, from west virginia and arizona in particular. they would love to have some republicans on here. but at the same time, they have been sending signals they are

willing to go it alone, to do this legislative procedure known as reconciliation which could be done just with democrats. certainly president biden, he's eager to have the meeting. they're having these senators over there today. and even getting 700, 800 billion, whatever that number may be, in a bipartisan deal. even if it falls wall short of what they want now. it will be a difficult sell to some of the democrats. each side will have to give some in order to get this done with a bipartisan print. other priorities in a second piece. we'll have to see if it changes. next week the impeachment trial

of donald trump begins, which will take up the heat even further. . >> we have a lot to get to this morning. reverend al, you did speak to majority leader chuck schumer. any room for negotiation? what's his mind set on this? >> first, i think senator schumer, who was on with us saturday night before this meeting was agreed upon, but made it clear they were going to fight all the way around this $1.9 trillion package the white house had presented. i think he said subsequently very clearly that the republicans in the senate ought to be negotiating with the democrats in the senate and not just going to the white house trying to give a take it or leave it package to the president. whether the president will go down from 1.9 trillion to 700 or 800 billion, is a huge gap he will have to try to deal with not only the progressive wing of the democrats, but people looking for more assistance

during covid-19 which is what is in his package. those who are needing more vaccination and distribution of covid-19 testing. so there's a lot on the table here. and the american people expect him to deliver. and i think he's right to meet with them. but meeting and caving is two different things. >> all right. coming up, we will talk to economists on the wisdom of this bill. 77 days, the "new york times" front page looks at the time spent by president trump in his unprecedented campaign to subvert the results of the presidential election, all leading up to the capitol riots january 6th when a pro-trump mob tried to violently stop congress's constitutional duty of certifying the victory of president joe biden. the thyme's day-by-day examination of the days leading

up to the moment, shows the lie that mr. trump had been grooming for years finally overwhelmed the republican party. and as brake after brake fell away, was propelled forward by new and more radical lawyers, political organizers, tppbteers, and the surround-sound right-wing media. as the paper puts it, across those 77 days, the forces of disorder were summoned and directed by the departing president who wielded the power derived from his near infallible status among the party faithful in one final norm-defying act of a reality-denying presidency. trump announced yesterday a new legal team that will represent him at his second impeachment trial set next week. he is changing legal teams now a week before. nbc news reports lawyers david

schone and caston are coming on board. they chose to part ways with the legal team a week before the trial. trump spokesman jason miller calls it fake news. sources speaking anonymously told the "washington post" the south carolina team was uncomfortable making the unsubstantiated claims and wanted to argue the unconstitutional ality of impeaching a president who has already left office. meanwhile, "new york times" reporter michael grimbaum said his new legal team met with jeffrey epstein in prison and told fox he didn't believe epstein killed himself.

the other declined to prosecute bill cosby in 2005 for sexual assault, citing in sufficient evidence. so, matt lewis, first of all, just the optics of the president's legal team leaving him a week before the trial begins shows me what a difference the presidency makes. when you're president, you have certain authority and power and people want access to you and they will bend sometimes to stay close to power. when you're not president, you look at someone speaking stuff that makes no sense, or that could get them in legal trouble, you walk away. your thoughts? >> there is a lot of benefits to being president. executive privilege may end up being another one. i think the problem, though, for those of us who think donald trump should be impeached and convicted, is that it's not about the lawyers. it's about the jury.

i don't expect there is going to be a great defense of donald trump. even if you had the best attorneys in the world. i don't think there is a compelling defense of donald trump that you could actually make. the problem of course is the jury pool. and some of which are co-conspirators i would actually say. this is not good for donald trump. but i still think he's probably in pretty good shape in terms of acquittal. . >> jonathan lemire, your take on this. you have been following trump. you get a sense of what could be happening behind closed doors. there's a lot of people who know he is obsessed with saying that he won the election. and i don't think that tune will change even as he is facing another impeachment trial. your thoughts? >> no question, mika.

he has suggested he wants to use this trial to, again, make that assertion that he did win this election. we haven't heard from him in a couple of weeks. the lack of his twitter account is important. privately he is still talking about the election, that it was stolen to him. he has listened to aide's advice to not do interviews. they feel confident he is being acquitted. they don't want him to rock the boat. at least for now he is willing to do that. of course that could change because he's -- well, he's donald trump. and things change with him on an impulse or win at any time. they do feel confident despite the perception that there's really no real legal strategy, that they are going to be acquitted. reverend sharpton, we know what the outcome of this is before it

against. the democrats will forge forward here. we know how important this is. you spoke to majority leader schumer. what did he say in terms of legal strategy? what are they trying to push? would they be willing to settle for a censure? . >> i was struck by the fact that the majority leader senator schumer said to us that the trial was going to be full with videos, with dramatic evidence of what the president did in terms of the attempted coup d'etat and insurrection. they seem to be going full steam for the trial. i asked if they are going forward with the censure? he said woulder going to go forward with the trial. if he's not convicted, we will discuss other things.

i think the former president will try to say somehow the election was stolen. it doesn't address what he is being impeached for. he is impeached for inciting an insurrection. it has nothing to do with the election. i think people need to deal with what he is facing there. he needs to answer his conduct leading to the takeover, siege, and threatening of life and and taking the five lives on the capitol. it has nothing to do with his illusions of what happened november 3rd. >> that brings us to this. cory bush of missouri announced on friday that she is moving her congressional office away from congresswoman marjorie taylor greene. after a heated exchange where bush confronted the georgia republican about not wearing a mask in a hallway on capitol hill. bush tweeted, a maskless marjorie taylor greene and her staff berated me in the hall way.

she tattered me and others on social media. i'm moving my office away from hers for my team's safety. she said in fact, the democratic congresswoman berated her. . >> then they funded, then they supported bail bond links for criminals -- >> wear a mask. . >> you know what, yeah, don't yell at people. you know what, you shouldn't bring covid-positive members in here spreading covid everywhere. stop being a hypocrite. >> yeah. this is how it is here now. this is how it is. stop being a hypocrite. >> the incident led speaker nancy pelosi to approve bush's request to move her office as tensions have grown in the aftermath of the capitol riot. a senior republican aide tells

nbc news that kevin mccarthy is expected to meet with congresswoman greene this week. it is unclear exactly when the meeting will be taking place. and senator mitt romney weighed in that marjorie taylor green had spoken by phone with former president trump. he tweeted lies of a feather flock together. marjorie taylor greene's nonsense and the big lie of the stolen election. his tweet came in response to tkpraoepb praising her phone call in a series of tweets. she said i had a greatcall with my all time favorite potus, president trump. i'm so grateful for his support. more importantly, the people of this country are absolutely 100% loyal to him because 100% loyal to the people and america first. you know, kasie, there's so much more that this woman has brought to the table than even i just reported, including pictures of herself pointing a gun towards

members of congress, screaming at parkland victims, running after them. i mean, this congresswoman is not something the republicans want to represent them if they want bipartisanship. this is not major problem. i'm curious if you have any intel or gut feels on this meeting with kevin mccarthy because kevin mccarthy, in my opinion, doesn't get it either. . >> so, mika, you're right to point out that the things that marjorie taylor greene has said online, many of them are really astonishing, especially i would put at the top of the list the idea that the school shootings, all those children who died at sandy hook was a false flag event. parkland, similarly, the high school in florida. and to have her placed on the education committee. i have seen some sandy hook

parents tweeting and talking about the grief this has caused them. she is also out there questioning september 11th, the attacks, and indulging in conspiracy theories around that. and the reality is they knew this going in. republican leaders did. most of this stuff is old. it's been out there. some of it was written about before the election. and i remember talking to republican sources before she was elected and saying to them, what are you doing about this? don't you think this is going to be a big problem if this person wins your primary? because if they win the primary, they are almost guaranteed to become a member of congress. the decision at the time, they didn't want to poke the bear really. they didn't want to take a risk that potentially they would be in trouble with then president trump if they went after her. more reasonable minds thought we may draw attention to her in a way that would make it more likely she would win if we enforced and fought for her primary opponent. we're just going to let this

happen. even though we know this is ongoing. heading into the meeting this week, it's the same set of questions. they didn't do anything about her before. why is anything going to change here. if they had all of this information going into it. so, you know, i think kevin mccarthy is clearly trying to please everybody. i struggle to see how kevin mccarthy is going to say no. . >> president trump is not in charge anymore. maybe i'm missing something here. matt, if let met get your take on this. you might explain it to me. marjorie taylor greene and your latest piece, gop will be staying with trump right to the graveyard. you write in part this, donald trump is now the definition of a loser. a one-term president who lost the house and the senate. instead of being chastened by him, republicans are chasing

him. not only is the gop going mad, they are also clinging to a failed political leader and losing electoral strategy. and if you think my calling them insane is too harsh, remember that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. matt, what's going on? how do you help these people? >> help me help you. that's what i say to them. >> yes. >> it's a vicious cycle. there are perverse incentives. this has been going on for a long time. but now there is a different sort of in sur recollection, right? the call is coming from inside the building. they are not just activists or voters who believe in conspiracy theories. now we have members of congress who were elected who believe in crazy conspiracy theories. it's gone progressively worse over time. look, casey has a point.

i think republicans -- they saw this coming. they didn't know how to deal with it. and i think at first there's an argument, you know, ignore it, it will go away. or we can wait out trump. trump is going to fizzle eventually, and i will inherit his voters. we don't want to turn trump or marjorie taylor greene into a martyr. that didn't work. the idea of ignoring this problem and hoping it will go away did not work. now republicans are at a point, and it probably is too late to do this. any adults who are left have to throw out that strategy. it really has to be this is a -- a battle for the heart and soul of the republican party. is this going to be the party of lincoln and reagan. there ought to be a party of defending the right to light, and a strong national defense.

right now there is not a party. the president will represent a lot of views that i probably don't agree with. there ought to be a decent center right political party in america. and there needs to be adults to fight for it. that's one of the big stories. donald trump understood that the elites in the republican party were basically inept and they were weak. and that is one of the big stories. mitch mcconnell, to his credit, did some of that in the u.s. senate. it obviously hasn't happened in the house. >> matt lewis, thank you very, very much. we have a lot to get to, especially pertaining to the coronavirus. still ahead on "morning joe", two big city players join us with the latest on their struggle to get enough vaccine. new york city's bill de blasio and chicago's lori lightfoot,

who is dealing with covid and a battle with the teachers union over getting teachers abouting -- back in the classroom. but first a check of the severe weather slamming the northeast. bill? >> hey, good morning to you, mika. new york city is well under way to seeing their biggest snowstorm in five years. many areas of the northeast will be digging out from at least a foot of snow this time tomorrow morning. 75 million people are under winter weather alerts. either advisories or warnings. areas in red will get it the worst. philadelphia through new england. the blue is the snow. the areas of green is the rain. so south of philadelphia and the jersey shore with rain overnight. long island, new york city, expanding through southern new england. 2 to 4 inches on the ground. additional snowfall. everywhere you see in pink is 18 inches, purple is 12, blue is at least an additional 3 to 6

inches. here's the snowfall forecast for the big cities. new york city could easily see the highest totals of any big city. some will get 20 inches when this is all said and done. this is from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. here's the timing for some of our big cities out there. it does look like philadelphia especially is going to see some of the heaviest snow as we go throughout late this afternoon, whatever is last for you. the worst of the snow in philadelphia will be over with by about, say, 7:00 or 8:00 p.m. tonight. 4 to 8 inches total. new york city, this could be historic. near blizzard conditions. totals 12 to 16 inches. peak gusts 30 to 40 miles per hour. that will be quite the sight to see later this afternoon and maybe even lightning and thunder with some of the snow bands. here's a shot of times square.

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over 5,000 people were arrested in russia over protests for navalny. for the second weekend in a row, demonstrators took to the streets, clashing with police as authorities arrested several supporters of navalny. his team has called for more protests tomorrow when he is expected to face another court hearing. and breaking overnight, myanmar's military seized power in a coup and detained the

civilian government led by an sung suu kyi. the military announced that it expects to hold another election in a year. and would hand over power to the winner. last week's stock market frenzy fueled by inflated values of game stop, amc and other companies left major concerns over the market's instability. they have now lost 50% on investments in january. casino like swings in stock prices of game stop reflect wild

levels to don't help game stop's workers or customers and could lead to market instability. incredible drone footage shows damage to highway 1 in big sur. heavy rains washed the road into the ocean. the gap was discovered by workers on friday. no one was injured in the collapse. that stretch of highway had been closed since tuesday due to heavy rains. finally, the major league baseball's association is considering a proposal to delay the start of the new season because of the pandemic. the plan presented by the league on friday would push back the start of spring training by about a month, slating opening day for april 28th instead of the 1st and cut the regular season from 162 games to 154.

espn now reports that if the union does not provide a counteroffer by early next week spring training will likely start in mid-february as scheduled. jonathan lemire, they are trying to make this happen in a safe way. what would be the argument against a little bit of a delay? >> well, certainly, mika, on a day when so much of the country is being pounded by a snowstorm, the thought of of spring training is an appealing one. there is a lot of distrust between the players union and mlb owners. there were thorny negotiations a year ago during that covid season. the game itself, major league baseball, suggesting push things back, a wider distribution of the vaccine will be distributed by then, hopefully the number of cases will come down. it will allow more fans to enter the ballparks. they won't be full. buff thousands of fans could sit in the stadiums anyway to watch the games.

and they're offering full pay. even if it's 154 games rather than 162. that is very important to the players. the players feel they're not getting enough in exchange. they also want expanded playoffs, universal d.h. and things of that matter. there is a lot of unease between the two sides. this is certainly a sport that needs to come to a deal. it needs to come to a compromise. they can't go through another round of labor war with the collective bargaining unit expiring at the end of the year. let's hope they get a deal done and can play paul ball safely. i know joe is looking forward to it. sit black history month. a black american who impacted their lives. reverend al, we'll look at you. >> chisholm.

elected in 1968. she ran for president in 1972. she ran at a time she had to not only fight racism, but misogyny, sexism in her own community. i was honored as a teenager to work on her campaign. i got to know her well. she was an educator by profession. she made us sit erect and speak well. she taught us we could be whatever we dreamed of being as she tried to bring down walls. as we look at a black woman as president of the united states that it started with an audacious woman from brooklyn, new york, named shirley chisholm. she made a path that many

followed and many are walking down. . >> thank you, rev. coming up, our next guest questions if president biden is serious about bipartisan unity. but is covid relief the issue he should compromise on? steve ratner puts the president's proposal side by side with the gop counteroffer to prepare. "morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming ri back think you're managing your moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease? i did. until i realized something was missing...me.

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it is 41 past the hour. a live look at capitol hill on this monday morning. it's february 1st, everybody. back now to the negotiations for the latest covid relief bill. democratic senator joe manchin pushed back at parts of the covid relief plan, said he doesn't appreciate the administration's plan to win his support. kamala harris went straight to

his constituents talking about the need for leaders to, quote, step up. >> the president and i feel very strongly that these are the moments when we are facing a crisis of unbelievable proportion, that the american people deserve their leaders to step up and stand up for them. >> i saw it. i couldn't believe it. no one contacted me. we will find a bipartisan pathway. but we need to work together. that's not what working together, what was done. . >> joining us now columnist for the national journal josh, former treasury official and "morning joe" analyst steve ratner and professor at london college mariana with a new book called "mission economy." a moonshot guide to changing capitalism.

josh, you you write they would be making a mistake not to find middle grounds with republicans. this bill includes all of things in it. kamala harris going straight to west virginia local tv, i don't know, i feel like manchin is someone you can pick up the phone and talk to. . >> yeah, mika. it's a challenge when you have a 50/50 senate, a president that made an inauguration pledge made on unity and bipartisanship, and you have everyone in the caucus but mitt romney against you, and the most moderate senator speaking out against your proposal while you're trying to sell it in west virginia. look, i think there's reason to question whether republicans truly want a bipartisan deal. but i think part of joe biden's promise as president is he would work to try to keep these deals, to work to union vie the country, work for some degree of

by partisanship. sit a good instinct to find some common ground. i think you've got to make the effort. that was part of the political promise biden made. a lot of folks in the middle are watching to see if there can be any room for bipartisanship in washington. >> so would it help if it were a stand-alone bill, josh? a $15 minimum wage. i'm all for that. but does it need to be in this bill? can't that be addressed later and soon? >> yeah. the white house said this is a crisis. this is an emergency they have to deal with right away. so there is a plan you could come up, as you note, mika, where you could spend money to help the vaccine distribution. you could put the money for schools and have that dealt with right away.

and then deal with the stimulus checks and minimum wage separately. and use reconciliation. but if it is such a crisis, if we need the money as soon as possible, there are obvious areas of bipartisan agreement. and it's one -- it's easy to see how they could work to the ground if it is such an emergency to get the money to the people. . >> to an extent, steve ratner, you could argue minimum wage is an issue right now because people are suffering so much. the insure times quoted several economists who said this 1.9 trillion price tag was actually higher than the actual economic hold that the economy is in caused by the crisis. should biden and republicans work toward the output.

>> you asked what's the right number to solve this problem. i think the question that everybody is grappling with today is how do you bring the republicans and the democrats together. biden is negotiating on multifronts. negotiating will be today and will be going forward, i believe, in good faith with the republicans. he's going to be negotiate anything a sense with joe manchin. and he's also -- and the other moderate democrats. and he's going to be negotiating with the liberal, the progressive part of the democratic party, which is putting enormous pressure on him to go big. they think we have had a problem for a while that needs to be addressed. you can see a chart on the screen which illustrates the problem of negotiating with the republicans. you have 10 republicans who proposed a $600 billion package. that's the small circle on the left. and then you have biden, who proposed $1.9 trillion package, the large circle on the right. they overlap.

we do not know all the details of the republican proposal yet. i think we'll know them today. one is on vaccines and containment. everyone agrees on that. $160 billion. but after that, there are enormous differences. the republicans believe, and i think there's some merit to this, that the stimulus checks should be more targeted to the people who really need them. during the last negotiation in december, one piece that fell out of critical importance, was the $350 million for state and local deposits. we'll see if the republicans propose any of that back. but for the democrats, i think that is pretty close to a nonnegotiable demand. i'm in the pessimistic camp. i would love to see us reach an agreement, us the democrats, with the republicans on this. let's just do a quick bit of history. in 2009, president obama came in, a different crisis but a big crisis, got zero votes in the house of representatives after

trying to negotiate with john boehner. eventually pried off three republican votes under the rules they were using to pass the bill. snow, "spectre". not sure he can replace those with any others. and so i'm just, i see the snap enormous as 1 600 billion and 1.9 trillion. i assume both sides will be prepared top compromise somewhat. the republicans would have to keep 10 members of their caucus on board for whatever they added to the $600 billion. president biden would have to keep his progressive wing on board as he went down from 1.9 trillion. and i wish i could be positive. but i think it's a very tough situation to believe we will have a bipartisan compromise. >> kasie hunt, jump in. . >> so, josh, steve brings up 2009. there are clearly a lot of lessons being learned from that

stimulus package and the experience of trying to pass the affordable care act. democrats really do need to make a choice. do they want to try to get republicans on board only to potentially see no one go along with them, or do they want to use this strategy that frankly republicans have employed without looking back. everything they have done in the last four years under trump were the rules. it was the rules mitch mcconnell to use. is this the only chance -- president biden is going to have to build a bipartisan consensus? and does the call he makes in this moment determine the next two years, or will there be another shot? . >> so, kasie, i think this is an important first shot. and the big difference between obama in 2009 and biden right now is that obama has 59 democratic senators.

biden needs to build back better politically. he doesn't even have some of the more moderate democrats like joe manchin in his corner. and he really needs political capital right now. he needs a big win if he could get republicans to break off. it would be a big political win, signal. even if you couldn't get 10 republicans, which i acknowledge is a tough challenge in our divided washington, if you make the effort and prove that republicans aren't willing to make the deals in the compromises necessary, it's also a political win. you show you made the effort. republicans weren't willing to deal and you get some political capital. if you push through the most progressive legislation possible on a party line vote, and it's good they are having this meeting this afternoon. they are trying to reach out. it looked initially like it would be a bipartisan package and one they didn't even want to have to talk to republicans

about. >> jonathan lemire? >> mariana, i want to pose a different question to you. why not go big, right? your big is about changing the fundamentals, the foundation of the economy. and we certainly know these numbers, the margins are small. democrats are 50/50 in the senate. bobbi is playing with some somewhat of a limited hand else in power. democrats do control both branches of congress. there is the ability and reconciliation to pass something along the party lines vote. give us the argument. should this be where they do go big, to use this moment to try to change the very nature of the american economy? >> well, i think the answer is absolutely yes. and, you know, janet yellen's point earlier last week that without further action now and proper big action now we irish a much more -- she called it a long-term scarring of the economy. that's going to be bad for

business, bad for americans. thinking through the details. i've been listening to the program now. we need to talk about the structures that biden is putting back into place. one of the first things he did was to say he had to open up the u.s. office of science and technology. that will help make america great again. we have been focused on walls, trade agreements, beating the enemy abroad. this is rethinking america's place in the global economy. getting a stimulus that's proper, not one-third of that. but how you structure it in such a way that fosters long-term growth and productivity, innovation, and long-term growth that actually helps solve the biggest problems that the u.s. has around health, inequality and climate. either you solve the vaccine

problem or we go after pollution. it is so interesting to see how some countries put conditionalities whether it's air france and renault in france where they had to lower carbon aoe myselves in order to access the economic package. davos talked about stakeholder capitalism. this is a moment to stop talking about is left and right, republicans and democrats, to build back real business, government, and trade unions talking about how to structure the recovery. >> so steve ratner, real quick, just trying to play both sides, the lib in me. isn't the $15 an hour minimum wage potentially a part of covid relief, or could it be argued that it would be? are there other things perhaps that are less related that could be taken out of the bill? >> yes.

you could argue that the $15 minimum wage is part of covid relief. extending unemployment is more targeted relief. what the biden administration is trying to do is a bit of both. covid relief and a number of provisions on child care, tax credits and things like that designed to help people at the bottom and in a more general way as the beginning of the build back better initiative that he is pushing forward. >> got it. josh, steve, mariana, thank you all very much for being on in this important conversation. still ahead, dr. zeke emanuel will be our guest as the south african covid strain is detected in another u.s. state. plus, the "new york times" michael schmidt with more from his wide-ranging new piece with

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how are we going to get the pizza, fellow foragers. >> you're under arrest for storming the capitol. >> yes, i am. you got me. >> what? brad, you stormed the capitol? >> i'm sorry, everyone. i wasn't in the bathroom that day. i was out at d.c., with my boys. >> oh, my god, brad. why are earth would you do that.

>> what else was i supposed to do. the guy i wanted to win didn't win. >> there all right. let's go. >> let me grab my coat first. >> my god. i just -- i can't believe this. i mean, is this really happening? >> tell my story. >> that is "saturday night live"'s take on the ongoing arrests of the rioters who attacked the capitol, a place that is belonging to all of us. it is so beautiful this morning, this monday morning at the top of the hour. welcome back to "morning joe". it's february 1st, everybody. the ap's jonathan lemire and reverend al sharpton still with us. but first we're following a lot with developments on the coronavirus. the number of total cases in the u.s. now exceeds 26 million. the u.s. death toll is over

442,000, on track to reach half a million this month. half a million dead. the united states case count is over 15 million, more than india, the country with the next highest amount. and now a second state in the u.s. has recorded a case of the highly infectious south african variant of the coronavirus. maryland now joins south carolina in reporting a case of the b-135 variant. this mutation does not appear to cause more severe illness or increase the chance of death but does appear to be more transmissible. and vaccines have been proven to be less effective against it. this is not good news. meanwhile, the top epidemiologist michael osterholm said the u.s. needs to get ahead of its vaccine rollout ahead of the mass spread of this uk

variant. >> do you believe we are now at a point where we may have to call an audible here on how we distribute the vaccine? >> let me say right now we do have to call an audible. i think there's no doubt about it. the fact is that the surge that is likely to occur with this new variant from england is going to happen in the next 6 to 14 weeks. if we see that happens, which my 45 years in the trenches tells us we will, we will see something we have not seen yet in this country. i think right now in advance of the surge, we need to get as many one doses and as many people over 65 as we possibly can, to reduce the serious illness and deaths that are going to occur over the weeks ahead. >> let's bring in former obama white house adviser for health policy and vice provost for global initiatives at the university of pennsylvania, dr. ezequiel emmanuel, a member of

the biden transition covid-19 advisory board and is author of the book "which country has the world's best health care." vehicle, the variant, how worried should we worry about this running rampant in the u.s.? >> well, it's already here. it's not just the uk variant. that's the one we're looking at. >> right. >> but we have the south african variant, the braziln variant, los angeles variants. there will be a lot more variants because the virus is smart and keeps mutate to go try to spread. mike is right, this is going to cause a surge. we will add to the surge because a lot of states, they have seen their numbers go down now. we're at the top of the curve coming down and they are opening up prematurely. they are increasing the size of groups that can occur, which is not good.

it will enhance spread with a more transmissible virus out there. so woulder going to have this surge. and that's the real worry. >> so is the focus -- i mean, obviously there are huge issues with being able to reopen and getting on the same page between schools, the economy, restaurants, stores, hospitals, everything. but isn't the bottom line getting this vaccine distributed to this country in a way that is more effective? here in florida, my mom can't get it. it is supposed to be the elderly first. but there's no vaccine to be found. >> right. we need to do multiple things at once, not just the vaccine. but the vaccine is top priority. and we do have to district it. -- distribute it. one dose versus two dose is a question of uncertainty. we don't know the situation. we don't know the surge.

but i think there's a lot of logic on both sides. the science says two doses. that gives you 95% protection in the pfizer vaccine and month der that vaccine. on the other hand, you get more people if you do one dose. and i think a lot of people don't understand that effectiveness number. so i like to say if you have 20 million to distribute and you gave two doses to everyone, you would get 10 million vaccinated and 9.5 million of them would have protection. on the other hand, if you give one toes to 20 million people, and it's not 95% effective but say it is 75% effective, 14 million people have protection because the protection is 100% with the people who get it. that's 50% more people are protected. and that's why lots of people, like mike osterholm, are pushing to one dose to protect the surge. >> jonathan lemire?

>> doctor, i wanted to go there on the idea of the one dose vaccine. johnson & johnson, they have released results saying theirs is effective. 60%, 70%, rather than pfizer and moderna, which is in the 90s. give us an explanation why it is. it is the single shot. when do we think it's going to come online? when could americans start receiving the vaccine? i know in recent days i have talked to people who have been nervous saying look at that number. that is not if you have. i want to hold out for the other one. talk about americans' concerns over that one? . >> first of all, we really need to be clear. just looking at that, 60% is not getting the full picture. because 85% of people were protected against severe infection, which is, you know, causes hospitalization and death. and that's very important.

more importantly, in that number, after 49 days, no one in the vaccinated group got an infection, which is really important. seven weeks after infection, no further severe cases. and that one died in the vaccinated group. you know, if i was offered a johnson & johnson vaccine, i would run and take it. before we had a vaccine available, the w.h.o., the fda, everyone was saying anything over 50%, that is going to be an effective vaccine that's useful to the world. and here we have something that is well over that. i would not just focus on that number. of how much effectiveness in the first round. you have to look at the overall picture. and the overall picture is that it's a very good vaccine and we definitely need to add it to our

armenthetary. supply issues will decrease. >> dr. ezequiel emmanuel, we really appreciate it and appreciate your expertise. the fbi continues to follow leads detailing a high level of coordination in the january 6th assault on the u.s. capitol. some inside the bureau have described the riot investigation as their biggest case since the september 11th attacks as they work to determine how much of the chaos was preplanned. according to a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation and video footage obtained by the "washington post", two pipe bombs that were discovered at the headquarters of the republican and democratic national committees are believed to have been planted the night before. meanwhile, body cam video obtained by the "new york times" shows a new angle at the clash of the capitol's west entrance

that left one woman dead. the footage shows how rioters, in their efforts to attack the police, tramp el erred her even as her friend shouted she was dying and needed help. we are learning more about those who hemmed fund the insurrectionists. they paid for this. "the wall street journal" alt right radio host alex jones personally pledged more than 50,000 in seed money for donald trump's rally that morning. jones also helped arrange for julie jenkins fancelli, a prominent gop donor and heiress to the publix supermarket chain to donate 300,000 to the event. federal prosecutors charged two members of the proud boys for conspiracy in their roles in the capitol siege. the indictment filed friday claims the two men, one a former

marine, worked together to obstruct and interfere with law enforcement officers protecting congress on january 6th. the two men allegedly helped lead the charge both outside and inside the capitol. they were indicted on 11 counts and all, including assaulting an officer, and civil disorder. analysis by cnn of pentagon records and court proceedings show at least 14% of the capitol arrests are current or former members of the u.s. military. that is more than double the proportion of servicemen and women and veterans in the adult u.s. population. and a woman who was seen on video claiming she wanted to shoot house speaker nancy pelosi during the riot has been arrested. at least 160 people have been federally charged with crimes tied to the riots so far. meanwhile, former president trump yesterday announced a new

legal team will represent him at his second impeachment trial set to begin next week. nbc news reports lawyers david vchen and bruce caster are coming on board after deborah barbier parted ways with trump. they wanted him to falsely argue he won the election and that it was stolen through voter fraud. trump spokesman jason miller calls that reporting fake news. but if you know donald trump, you could see him doing that. sources speaking anonymously told the "washington post" that the south carolina team was uncomfortable, making the an substantiated claims and instead wanted to argue the unconstitutionality of impeaching a president that has already left office. let's bring in george conway, co

founder of the lincoln on project. also with us "new york times" reporter and msnbc national security analyst michael schmidt. george conway, i'll start with you on the president's legal team leaving him. and him apparently taking on a new one because he wants to argue that he won the election. i don't know how many times you can put your hand on a hot stove before you realize that's probably not a good idea. but what do you make of donald trump's clinging to this strategy? >> it's classic donald trump. i mean, he will, to the day he dies, assert that he won the election. even though he knows he didn't. even though he admitted privately that he hasn't. his instability and inability to be rational has always caused him difficulty in retaining lawyers. it happened back when he was looking for counsel and he actually asked me for advice for

counsel for the mueller investigation. and it happened again for the impeachment trial. he did have his in-house white house counsel staff argue some matters. but he couldn't get a truly good lawyer to argue on that. he's always had trouble to getting lawyers to argue with him. for one thing, he's not a very good client. he doesn't take advice very well. he's unpredictable. and he doesn't pay his bills. so it's not surprising that he's had trouble here maintaining counsel. it's not surprising that he's asking them to violate the rules of professional ethics by making factually unfounded arguments saying he won the election. and not surprising that a week before the impeachment trial he had to go out and find another

pair of lawyers. and it's pretty amazing that somebody who supposedly is a billionaire and who was president of the united states has such trouble finding lawyers. >> michael schmidt, you have a sweeping piece pore the paper this morning. a front page look at the time spent by president trump in his unprecedented campaign to subvert the results of the presidential election. it feeds into george conway's notion that he is obsessed with this and you will hold on to it to the day he dies. tell us about this new reporting. >> the story shows the saga, if not tragedy of what happened in the aftermath of the election, how the president was told by those around him that the claims that there was widespread election fraud were not true.

but a small group captivated the president and indulged his worst instincts about this and went along and fed him false information about what had occurred. as you read the piece, the story builds on itself and builds on itself until you get to january 6th. and you see the president using his megaphone to scope this skepticism about the election among his base and throughout the country. and you see how people, even like bill barr, who was sphopb who trump really liked and really trusted, who were unwilling to go along with this and who were telling the president, look, we looked into these accusations. they're not true. and trump continuing to steamroll over these people and

for there eventually to be -- there are events that the president runs out of chances of questioning. he's trying to, you know, raise questions about the certification. he's trying to stop the statement legislators and states from certifying it. and you can't do that. they drive this lawsuit at the supreme court. ultimately building up to the rally on january 6th. this sort of last stand for the president. and him goading and pushing his supporters into what they did. and it's -- when you take the totality of it and you look over the 8,000 words of our story, you see the pattern of what happened. >> so former president trump's focus on antifa reportedly distracted the department of justice from the impending tprar right threat. the "new york times" citing reports that the shift came at a time when the threat from the far right was building

ominously. the diversion spurred from racial justice protests that erupted nationwide last year, the message was amplified by william barr and trump's top homeland security officials who translated it to a shift of national justice. trump's efforts to focus his administration on leftist groups did not stop the justice department and the fbi from pursuing cases of right-wing extremism. but the officials say the effect of his direction was nonetheless substantial. reverend al, your thoughts, and you certainly can take the next question to george conway. >> yeah. my thoughts are that we're dealing with the fact that the right wingers were all over social media, were very public about their intention. they were not hiding the fact that they were telling people bring your weapons to washington. so it did not take a lot of deep dive for the justice department

and investigators to look at both if they wanted to. i think that it is a political that they wanted to look at the left and what was in plain view and threats and planning and obvious public planning by the right. one of the things i have known about donald trump having fought with him through the years is his ability to play three card monty, keeping your eye off the ball. as i was listening to you a few minutes ago, isn't part of his strategy trying to change the trial that starts next week, whether he incited the indiana sur recollection to the election. whether he won the election or not does not justify him in

inciting the seizing of the capitol building and inciting an insurrection. as long as he's arguing the wrong part, we miss what is really being tried for. >> i think it's true that there is an effect of distraction in almost everything he does. i've always disagreed, though, with the notion that he engages in any form of strategy. i think what he does is essentially to -- he's impulsive. he just does what he feels like doing at any given moment that he thinks promotes himself or is advantageous to himself. it is important, though, reverend, not to be distracted from the many, many issues that we have actually only begun to scratch the surface on. for example, there is this issue of did anybody refuse to or delay providing help to the capitol? there's also the issue, which i want to mention, because we did

mention mike's extraordinary piece the "new york times" this morning. there is a discussion in that article about how the original plans by the original organizers of the save america rally, didn't plan on a march to the capitol. and then some of the planning was turned over to people connected to the white house. even donald trump personally was involved in selecting the music. and at that point it was decided that there would be a march to the capitol. what did the white house, what did trump's people know, and did he participate in that decision to expand the rally? there's so much here that we cannot be allowed to be distracted from. and it's just -- you're absolutely right. we have to keep our eye on the ball here. jonathan lemire?

>> mike, two questions for you. one about that january 6th rally. tell us a little more in your reporting, and the piece is terrific, about some of the organizers, this women for america first group, some of the money behind this event. it takes -- it does take some funding to pull off an event of that size and, to george's point, any coordination you picked up with the white house? obviously, national security is your forte. we saw the elevated threat level in recent days from the federal government. tell us the latest into what you're hearing, the concerns of violence that still may be coming connected to joe biden's election. >> the -- on the violence, the larger problem that we are going to be unwinding as a country, not just in the weeks and months to come, but i think for years to come, is simply the fact that a significant portion of americans were told something

that was false. they were told an election was stolen. and we are going to have to unwind that. because those people believed that something terrible is going on, that the election has been stolen. and when you have the president of the united states doing what trump did and the way he did it, you are going to push people in the direction of violence. we saw that on john 6th. and i think it's naive to think that those are the only people that are upset. and that are out there. this is an unprecedented domestic terrorism problem for the fbi. as you guys were pointing out earlier, in the reporting it is shown that this is one of the most complex investigations that the bureau has undertaken since 9/11. and that's just what happened at the capitol. that's not every different threat that is poring in from local and state law enforcement about individuals making comments online, comments to friends, comments to family

members about their intentions to take out violence. and this will force the fbi to reconfiguration and reallocate how it deals with this pworpblg onning problem, a problem the president thought was more about the left than it was throughout the right throughout the summer as there were protests in this country. and it's, you know, we're going to have to deal with this problem head-on in a way that i'm not sure how we fix that. and i think we have to recognize that. in terms of the piece of the funding that goes into the rally, this was the sort of culminating event of the lighter fluid that the president -- the president took his base, and he soaked it in lighter fluid for two months after the election. and the culminating event is

what happened january 6th. he got supporters to put on the rally. they have done rallies everywhere. this one happened to be right outside the white house. the president obviously, as you were pointing out, had a role in picking the music, had a role in setting the scene. mike flynn to alex jones was there, either the night before or the day of. and, you know, the result was one of the great scars we have had in recent history on the country. >> all right. michael schmidt, thank you very much for your reporting. and george conway, thanks for being on this morning. i'd be remiss not to ask you about the story about john weaver, who is a founding member of the lincoln project, 21 men accusing him of online harassment. you have a clear statement on harassment. i wanted to ask you directly about this issue. >> yeah. it's terrible and awful and appalling and unfathomable.

i didn't know john very well. i only spoke to him a couple times on the phone early on in the lincoln project. it's almost -- i don't even know what to say. it's just terrible. it leaves me speechless, frankly. >> all right. well, thank you so much for being on. we certainly hope to have you back. and i appreciate you taking that question. we'll be following. george conway, thank you very much. and still ahead on "morning joe", the winter storm hammering new york city right now, is forcing officials to postpone covid vaccination appointments. new york city mayor bill de blasio will join us next to update us on this situation with his ideas on increasing the vaccine supply. you're watching "morning joe". we'll be right back. joe". we'll be right back.

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all right. you're looking live at rockefeller plaza at 29 past the hour. a snowy, cold, brutally chilly morning. today's major snowstorm is creating extra challenges for mass covid vaccinations across the northeast region. vaccine sites in the new york metro area are closed because of severe weather. the winter storm disrupted vaccinations in washington, d.c., philadelphia, new jersey, and elsewhere. according to mayor bill de blasio, vaccinations scheduled for tomorrow in new york city have not been canceled for now. but look at new york city. what a mess.

and mayor bill de blasio joins us now. boy, do you have your hands full. we're here to talk a lot about different things and discussions on how to get the vaccine to the american people on a grand scale. first, how is new york doing to continue the vaccination when you have the city basically swamped in ice and snow. >> you know, what do they say? when it rains, it powers. . >> yeah. . >> right now we're hearing we could have as much as 22 inches of snow. i declared a state of emergency. i said, folks, stay off the roads. it's dangerous. job one right now is to protect people's lives by dealing with the snow first. we really want to get back to vaccination tomorrow, god willing. but, mika, you can't make this stuff up. there will be locusts next at the rate we're going. >> i know. i know. it's not good. so let's talk about the vaccine

distribution overall. there are some major companies that are making headway on creating the vaccine. then there are some other companies that are getting there or starts and stops. you have ideas how to streamline this. what are they? >> thank you, mika. by my analysis, there are 27 companies in this country in the pharmaceutical, biotech industry that could right now be part of the vaccine effort. there's 27 major american corporations right now that could be producing vaccine using what's already been discovered by moderna and pfizer. unfortunately, we have a situation where because of patent issues, corporate rivalry, concerns over profit, these companies are not in the game. it's as simple as this. the federal government needs to step in, get every company on the same page producing the vaccines that we have now that

we know work. now, this may sound way outside the box if you're talking about business as usual in this country. this is a wartime dynamic. i'll give you a simple example. it's so powerful. in world war ii, boeing and lochhead agreed to work together for the war effort. ford motor company didn't make aircraft engines but took a patent, retooled their assembly lines, and started making aircraft parts. why is merck, ely lily, novartis, not making them under the direction of the federal government? because everyone should be on the same team at this point to save lives. instead what's happening, merck tried to make a vaccine, didn't succeed. now they are going to go off and do other types of drugs. i disagree. i think the federal government should be, no, merck, you're

producing the ones we have now because we have a massive shortage. hundreds of thousands of doses were not given in the last week because we didn't have supply. we could have given them, but we didn't have the supply. we could have protected lives, but we didn't have the supply. >> i mean, this is the key to america moving on. jonathan lemire? >> good morning, mr. mayor. pandemic or no, clearing the states or no, a snowstorm is a big task for any mayor. you painted a serious picture of needing the vaccines to be distributed because of how serious the matter is right now in new york city. the governor announced on valentine's day, assuming the positivity rate stays where it is, indoor dining will resume at 25% capacity. restaurants are a major source of transmission. so do you think, do you agree with that decision, sir?

do you agree right now with the new variant arriving in the united states with the urgency of the vaccine program but one that has fallen behind schedule, is now the right time to reopen dining? >> jonathan, look, that call is one for the state. they get to make that decision. i've said very clearly, i am worried about the variant. i am worried about what we could be facing next. indoor dining isn't the essential issue, vaccine is. when we can't vaccinate our people because of lack of supply, that's the whole ball grimes right now. what's striking is sometimes we look at a problem and don't think about what we can do differently. we're so used to assuming that the companies out there that we depend on will do things in a rational way. what is rationale about companies being on the sideline

when they could be producing vaccine right now. a profound lack of vaccine supply all over the country and people dying for lack of vaccine. we are not really on a wartime effort yet. and i have to say the trump administration never got us to that wartime effort. but i do think joe biden has this instinct. and i think if he ordered the companies of america into line we could have the vaccine supply we need. >> mr. mayor, al sharpton. as you have put through efforts around trying to educate a lot of areas in the city, and for that matter, around the country. but you focused on your city, that had questions about the vaccine, giving vaccine education to them, giving comfort to them. as you make this appeal for companies to provide more of the vaccines, tell us how that will be distributed in areas that have been neglected. because not only have you run

out of vaccines, when we had them come in and when we have had them come in. they have not been as fairly distributed as you have tried to argue and tried to maintain. and i think this is a problem nationwide. on one hand, we have people that have genuine and well-placed fears because of history. and once we get past that, the vaccine is not available to them. >> talk about catch-22, rev. you're exactly right. the disparity problem with covid and with the vaccine is one of the clearest advertisements for the problem of structural racism in this country that you are ever going to see. when we saw the original information about which communities were hardest hit by covid, where the most people died, it was exactly the same map we had known for years of where people had not had their fair share of income, where people had not gone enough health care for decades and

decades. this is structural. the answer is supply, supply, supply. if we have enough supply of this vaccine, what will happen is by focusing on communities of color, by focusing on where the need is greatest, the most powerful thing happens, rev. when you know someone in your neighborhood got vaccinated, the person you worship with in church get vaccinated, people have more faith. there is massive distrust towards government, towards the medical community because of the bad history. but the same problem is answered by the same answer in my view, which is supply. you're right, we can't convince people if it doesn't show up. or you show up and it gets canceled the next time. this shows to me that the country is not on wartime footing. if this was all hands on deck, you would see every biotech, pharmaceutical company in

america contributing to the manufacture of vaccines. we have two. two companies in the game. it's not like the nation is unified around the concept to vaccinate everyone as quickly as possible to sorry safe. trump was a free marketeer. he didn't want to push corporate america to do things they didn't want to do. joe biden has been much more aggressive about saying the federal government is going to use the defense production act and lead. if you had enough vaccine, you could go after the disparity problem too. we've got to get there. if we want a recovery, we better have enough vaccine. >> mayor de blasio, thank you very much for coming forward with those ideas. today is the start of black history month. and all month we're going to be asking our guests to talk about a black american who has inspired them.

and and you have chosen someone pretty close to home. who did you choose? >> i chose my wife. as first lady of new york city, she has created something that never existed before. the strongest approach to mental health anywhere in the country, thrive nyc. the most comprehensive way of getting mental health services to people who need it. it's being copied all over the world, in london, toronto, in cities all over this country. she made history by putting mental health on the map in a different way in this city and destigmatizing and telling people it's okay to come forward if you need help. i love her and honor her. that's my choice, mika. >> send her my love as well. new york city mayor bill de blasio, thank you for coming on the show this morning. >> still ahead, the push to reopen schools in chicago could spur another teacher's strike.

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the republican party has lost its way. if we are to lead again, we muster the courage to remember who we are. we need to remember what we believe and why we believe it. looking in the mirror can be hard. but the time has come to choose what kind of party we will be. >> that was adam kin singer of illinois called country 1st. the campaign style video decries the departure of the gop from its core values and its evolution into the party of trump. kin zinger was one of 10 who voted to impeach for the

insurrection at the capitol. jonathan lemire, where do you see this going given that the republicans seem so addicted to donald trump? >> yeah. the congressman has a steep hill to climb here, mika. i mean, he is making this financial vehicle to challenge those in the trumpist wing of the party. marjorie taylor greene, the qanon congresswoman is chief among them. we see in his absence the hold that trump still has on his party. how kevin mccarthy went down there last week, begged for forgiveness to stay in the president's good graces as he eyes running for speaker in 2022. in his meeting later this week who herself was promoted by president trump in that phone call because he is so appreciative of anyone who defends him on television. i think there will be more moderate republicans, romney

republicans who will be glad this exists. perhaps there will be support for him. but that is not right now where the republican party is. this will be a tough hill to climb. >> all right. thank you very much on that. so still ahead on "morning joe", we are getting thousands of submissions to know your value 50 over 50 list with forbes. the response is remarkable. we teamed up with forbes to highlight women over 50 who have achieved great success and paid it forward to other women. you can nominate someone in your life or nominate yourself. go to know your value.com. we'll share more about this coming up on "morning joe", how you can get involved, how you can nominate someone or nominate yourself. also speaking of powerful women, next hour on "morning joe", we're going to talk about four women who came out of nowhere to get elected. democrat and republican. their stories in our 50 over 50 series ahead on "morning joe". n.

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. it's 51 passed the hour. this is a live look at london. and i need to understand the zigzag street painting there, but that's the way they do it in london, i guess. we're showing you london because we're going to soccer us now. joining us now cohost of ""men in blazers."" i was going to drag joe in his pajamas to help me out with this. but i figured i can do this, even though i don't know what you're talking about. >> all you talk about, football, football, football. let's do it. >> okay. liverpool defeats west ham. i'm doing to tell you what happened this weekend.

liverpool defeats west ham. and putting him in position for the golden boot. roger, go. >> nothing says big-time sports like bubbles. defending champion liverpool against west ham controlled by two english por nothing gra pers, nip and tuck. 11 minutes later, watch this goal. even thousand drive in the ball by bryson dechambeau off the tee. the egyptian king. one touch of a tender lover. oh, three men. look at this. six touches, entire length of the feed. west ham defense goal. this is art, miikka. let's frame it. it's hang it in the louvre.

liverpool in crisis. four points behind man city. well played. well played. can we do one more game, miikka? because that was human poetry. you know what the other one is, right, chelsea. he just looks like an extra in berlin bubble. against burnley. unleashes a shot. america, first goal and first kiss on the same day. big morning for that kid. romance. 84th minute. to the rest of the world, this was an unbelievable goal. to those of us who are freedom loving americans like me, we just marvel at the assist.

there he is. 22-year-old, a fine swivel and a smash. couldn't miss that when the americans set him up on the play. miikka, even for you these goals transcend human poetry. they make you feel alive, which is why we watch and probably why sports in the time of pandemic are more important than ever. >> there you go, roger. i have roger on my sleep routine because i have no idea what he's talking about, but it is weird sounding. >> samesies. samesies. >> go away! good-bye. there is a link between soccer and a major story rocking russia right now. the opposition leader aleksi navalny is still behind bars there and it is sparking mass protests on the streets. now british lawmakers are challenging the u.k. government to impose sanctions on two

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"becoming" by michelle obama. >> hey, before we eat, i should wash my hands. do you know where the men's room is? >> yes, back in 2015. we don't have a men's room. but the alt gender rest rooms is just down the way. >> sheriff, i think your cousin thinks we're all crazy christian types. >> i never said that. it's fine. holden. even if you are, i'm jewish. >> i hope you know what we do to jewish folks out here in georgia. we elect them. >> "saturday night live" take on the traditional red state of georgia flipping blue in the 2020 election. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." joe is under the weather today. with us we have white house

reporter jonathan la mere. host of msnbc politics nation, reverend al sharpton. correspondent and the host of "way too early" kasie hunt stays with us and senior columnist for "the daily beast" matt lewis is with us. we have more to get to than usual on this monday morning, if that's a possible. a group of republican senators head to the white house to pitch president biden on their much smaller counter offer to his covid-relief proposal. we're learning more about democrat strategy for the trump impeachment trial as the former president scrambles to put together a legal team. the funny thing that happens when you are not president anymore, if people think you are wrong, they leave. qanon congresswoman will meet with week with minority leader kevin mccarthy as things heat up

between her and a colleague on the hill. the south african coronavirus strain is discovered in another u.s. state. a massive winter storm moves east, expected to affect more than 100 million americans with a brutal mix of snow, rain and high winds. we'll get to bill in a moment on that. a lot to cover this morning. we'll begin, though, with that group of ten republican senators who will meet with president biden at the white house today to discuss their counter offer to his newly $2 trillion proposal. they outlined their proposal in a letter to the president yesterday. it is an attempt to prevent democrats from using the process of reconciliation to push through biden's proposal without any republican support. the $600 billion counter offer is less than a third of what the

president is proposing. it includes $160 billion for vaccines. $4 billion for health services. continuation employment and help for schools. it does not mention democrats prior ties like state and local aid. chuck schumer has already pushed back telling the new york daily news, quote, they should negotiate with us, not a take it or leave it offer. what's happening here? because obviously there is a lot that needs to be rectified in terms of response to covid and president biden seems to be covering that, you know, from soup to nuts on trying to get the train back on the tracks or on the tracks in the first place. but are they trying to put in too much of sort of biden's agenda in this bill? >> that's the question here, miikka. and of course biden big picture comes into office and has to grapple with more crises than

perhaps any other president in the last century. and they tried. i think their goal by putting out a bill this big was to try and address as many of those problems upfront as possible. but it's left republicans looking at it saying is a $15 minimum a part of an emergency package? they're saying, look, if you want to do this bipartisan ship you have pitched during your campaign, we need to have a different kind of conversation. i think that's going to be the question today. just how biden is doing this, having them down to the white house is different than what we saw from president trump. and how does he balance the demand from the progressives in his caucus in the senate who are saying, no. we need to move ahead.

honestly, republicans used these procedures a couple of times under the trump administration and they didn't blink twice about doing it without democratic votes. >> what's the view from the white house because this is supposed to be a big page turner from the trump white house to the biden white house. and one of the things that joe biden campaigned on and promised on the day that he was elected is that he will with a president for all people and that he would try and bring bipartisan ship back to the white house where both sides delated issues and went through the process. so the view from the white house on this massive bill is what? >> miikka, you are certainly right about that. and my colleagues and i looked at it this weekend. biden really framed himself as a candidate, as somebody who could take down the temperature of an over heated washington under

donald trump. and he as a senator, particularly as vice president would work with barack obama. it was his dealings with leader mcconnell that really got a lot of things, fiscal cliff and debt negotiation done for that white house. and he has been indeed working the phones to. to senators of both parties. there is a need to keep some moderate democrats in line. they would love to have some republicans on here. at the same time, they have been sending signals that they're willing to do this alone. let's say a procedure known as reconciliation that can be done with democrats. president biden is eager to have the meeting. they're having these senators over there today. even getting $800 million would

be a windfall for biden. that is going to be a difficult cell to some of the democrats. i think we need to see some sort of negotiation here. each side might have to give some in order to get this deal done. also interesting to watch, the white house has been reluctant to split this bill in two, to just focus and virus and priorities in one. we'll have to see if that changes, but certainly this is a big week if this is going to come together in a bipartisan fashion. if not, democrats will push along. next week the impeachment trial of president trump events. >> president trump's struggles to lockup a legal team. we'll talk about that straight ahead.

but first another check on the winter storm that is churning through the northeast. bill? >> miikka, we just got work from new york city and mayor de blasio is telling everyone to stay off the roads. we expect it to ramp up moving over new york's tri-state airy from now until 4:00 p.m. we could get snowfall rates one to two inches an hour. we worry about cars getting stranded on the highways. if the cars get stranded, then they can't clear the road. stay at home. 75 million people impacted by this storm all the way from kentucky, mountains of tennessee. but the real heart of it is happening now north of philadelphia in allentown, northern new jersey, the hudson valley. the blue shows you where the snow is on this map. this is the radar map. inside of that blue, the white is the heavy snow. you can notice that filling in now to central new jersey and starting to head over new

jersey. that's why the roads will get treacherous in a hurry. wind gusts at 30 to 40 miles an hour. the pink on this map is 18 inches of snow. definitely the mountainous areas get the most. 12 to 16. already reports of 5 to 6 inches in our areas of long island and new jersey. a lot more snow to come on later today. the wind gusts will be anywhere from 40 to 50 miles an hour. that's where we get the blowing anddrifting out there. in philly, snow last night. there it is, near new york city blizzard like conditions and easily over a foot of snow in central park. we'll continue to watch it here for you throughout the day. taking a look at the rink at 30 rockefeller plaza. you are watching "morning joe."

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77 days. "the new york times" front page looks at the time spent by president trump in his unprecedented campaign to subvert the results of the presidential elections. all leading up to the capitol riots on january 6th when a pro trump mob tried to violently stop congress's constitutional duty of certifying the victory of president joe biden. the times day by day examination of the events leading up to the moment paints a picture of the lie president trump had been grooming for years. and as break after break fell away was propelled forward by new and more radical lawyers, political organizers, finance

rfinanceers and the right wing media. the forces of disorder were summoned and directed by the departing president who wielded the power derived by his near unfallible status by the party faithful in one defying act of a reality denying presidency. meanwhile, president trump announced a new legal team that would represent him at his second impeachment trial set to begin next week. he's changing legal teams now, a week before. nbc news reports lawyers david shohen and bruce caster coming onboard. that comes days after his attorneys and their team came to a mutual decision to part ways with trump a week before the trial. the president wanted them to

falsely argue that he won the election and it was stolen through voter fraud. trump spokesman jason miller calls that reporting fake news. sources speaking anonymously told the post the south carolina team was uncomfortable making the unsubstantiated claims and instead wanted to argue the unconstitutionality of impeaching a president that already left office. meanwhile, new york times reporter tweeted that trump's new legal team consists of a lawyer that met with jeffrey epstein in prison and told fox he didn't believe jeffrey killed himself. so matt lewis, first of all, just the optics of the president's legal team leaving him a week before the trial begins shows me what a

difference the presidency makes. when you're president, you have certain authority and power and people want access to you. they will bend even against their core values sometimes to stay close to power. when you are not president, you are looking at something who is speaking stuff that makes no sense or that is not true. you get into legal trouble and you walk away. your thoughts? >> there is a lot of benefits to being the president. you just mentioned one of them. executive privilege being under one. i think the problem, though, for those of us who think that donald trump should be impeached and convicted is that it's not about the lawyers. it is about the jury. i think that, you know, i don't expect that there is going to be a great defense of donald trump. even if you had the best attorneys in the world, which donald trump no longer has, i just don't think there is a compelling defense of donald trump that you could actually

make. the problem, of course, is the jury pool. and some of which are coconspirators, i would actually say. so this is not good for donald trump, but i still think that he's probably in pretty good shape in terms of acquittal. coming up, the push to reopen schools in chicago could spur another teachers strike. chicago mayor lori lightfoot joins the conversation. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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on the verge of a strike, chicago public schools will not return to in person learning as planned today. the city's teachers union is demanding that educators be vaccinated before returning to the classroom, among other coronavirus safety measures. remote learning will continue today as the nation's third largest public school district and teachers union continue to work on an agreement. joining us now is the mayor of

chicago, lori lightfoot and jonathan and reverend al sharpton are with us as well. explain to us what is keeping teachers from returning to the classrooms. where are the is that right falls not keeping them safe? >> first of all, thanks for having me on this morning. let me be very clear. our schools are safe. we invested over $100 million on ventilation, other safety protocols, making sure we have masks, safety health screening, temperature checks, all the things you would expect that the cdc guidance told us that we know makes sense to mitigation any issues in schools. we looked at and follow every school across the globe including here in chicago. our schools are safe. you don't have to take my word for it. we have had three weeks of safely implementing our plan until the teachers union blew it

up. we had preschool and special needs teachers back in schools since the beginning of january, so proof positive that our plan actually works. look, i get it. teachers are concerned. they're scared, which is absolutely why we have been working literally night and day for the last two weeks in particular, 70 plus meetings since june to get a deal done. i think we can still get a deal done. we are working diligently to make that happen. a strike would have catastrophic, mostly for our kids. but we're pushing to seal these last few remaining tough issues. it is not about we don't want teachers to be safe. it is not about we don't respect the rights of organized labor. chicago is a labor town. i'm a kid that grew up with a father as a steel worker. it is about putting our kids

first. if we do that, both sides will get a deal done in no time. >> mayor lightfoot, al sharp top. as you know, i have a lot of people i work with in your city and many of them are big supporters of yours. but you understand that on one side you have people that are very concerned about the health of the young children, the students and the other side the health of the teachers. and clearly, as you stated, you get it. there is concerns, which is why you have tried to do some of the steps you have done. is there third parties of clergy or outside influencers that can help you to try to come to terms and deal with both sides of this? because at the end of the day, the students are the ones that are suffering with education. you don't want to put their health at risk, but you don't want teachers to feel their

health is at risk. >> you hit the nail on the head. we understand the fears of teachers, which is why starting in october, we started a process for accommodations for teachers. if you are somebody who yourself has an underlying medical condition, if you are the primary caretaker for someone with an underlying condition, you don't have to come to in person learning, we have given accommodations, thousands of accommodations for those teachers. we are trying to see if there is more we can do. we're waiting for the teachers union to give us a response. in addition to that, we have a very robust vaccination program for teachers. the truth is teachers are already getting vaccinated but above and beyond what they can do through their insurance, we are offering a plan to get teachers vaccinated, particularly if those hardest hit areas. we started a program just last

week called protect chicago plus. we're going deep into the 15 most challenged neighborhoods throughout the pandemic where the case rates are high, and we are going into those neighborhoods and providing them with free vaccine. so if you live in those neighborhoods, if you work in those neighborhoods, we're coming with help and it is here on the horizon. so we are doing everything we can to address what the teachers are expressing to us. but we need them to meet us halfway. as you all know, you have got to take steps in each other's direction. there has got to be compromise. i told my team, spare nothing. stay up night and day to get a deal done. that's what we have been trying to do. we have over 40 plus unions in the city of chicago that serve our workforce.

we have listened to every single one except two, the right wing leadership of the fraternal order of police. we can get this done. >> jonathan? >> the concern for the teachers they're saying is they want to be vaccinated. officials in chicago have said that if teachers don't report to work today, they will be locked out of their ability to have remote classes, too, which leaves 70% of students in the city of chicago without teaching today. how can you ensure these students are receiving their education. i asked biden about this matter. would you welcome the white house's involvement in this impasse with the teachers union? >> well, we are talking to the biden administration. but you know this. these issues are uniquely local

issues. we can get there if the union takes some steps in our direction. come back to us and respond to the plans that we put on the table. and, look, i want to be clear right now. 34%, for example, of preschool students that should have come into our system didn't come this here. at 54% -- 44% of black pre-k students didn't come. absenteeism is at an all-time high. it is extremely high for black students at 13%. and 21.2% for those kids living in unstable housing conditions. we have the first quarter grades in and it's not a pretty picture either despite the fact we put

$50 million into making sure our children have free wifi access. we have mobile devices into our students. plus hot spots. we still see after the first quarter grades that a disproportionate number of our students are failing, and that is particularly true of the black and latin x students. this is what we are fighting for. >> madam mayor, i know you have a lot on your hands, but before you go all month for black history month we have been asking our guests to ask about someone who has inspired them. who did you chose? >> i chose the founder of our city, john desalvo baptiste. he is an amazing, iconic figure in our city. we have to honor the heritage that the city of chicago was actually founded by a black man. no better time to do it than the

first day of black history month. >> there you go. chicago mayor lori lightfoot. i wish you the best of luck getting through all this. thank you so much for coming on the show this morning. up next, new pressure on the biden administration to sanction russia over the arrest of aleksi navalny. we'll talk to the executive director of the anticorruption campaign navalny founded. keep it right here on "morning joe." n "morning joe. want to make a name for yourself in gaming? then make a name for yourself. even if your office, and bank balance are...

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you have condemned this, and the russians responded saying this is gross interference, suggesting that we are behind it. >> the russian government makes a big mistake if it believes this is about us. it's not. it is about them. it is about the government. it is about the frustration that the russian people have with corruption. >> should the u.s. sanction the backers of vladimir putin as

punishment for whatever happened to navalny. >> we're revealing a series of russian actions that are deeply disturbing. >> here we are. that was secretary of state tony blinken speaking exclusively with andrea mitchell, responding to the kremlin's accusations of u.s. interference. blinken noted the kremlin's rampant corruption that has spurred tens of thousands of russians to the streets for the second weekend in a row, clashing with the police in support of jailed opposition leader aleksi navalny. joining us, the executive director of navalny's anticorruption legislation. correspondent for gq magazinema. vladimir, you wrote a piece entitled "sanctions putin's cronies is the only way to force change in russia." you write in part this.

putin's poison doesn't stop at the russian border. his cronies deeply perm nates western markets, financial systems and political establishments. they're trying to weaken the west and make it dysfunctional. existing sanctions don't reach enough of the right people. it is not enough to sanction the low level operatives who just follow orders. the west must sanction the decision makers who have made it national policy to rig elections, steal from the budget and poison people and for sure, vladimir, we are seeing -- we're seeing that kind of spread here to west. you have also reached out to the biden administration? >> yes. well, our position is that for years the west has tolerant.

sanctioning the individuals responsible is one of the only available effective instruments to stem risk. >> and why this tolerance, if you agree with vladimir? >> i of course agree with vladimir. i think the tolerance is because of money, first and foremost in places like london and new york and geneva where a lot of government cronies stash their wealth, in real estate, in secret bank accounts, places like miami, for example. and it's hard to say no to money coming into your country. i think the other thing is that, you know, there is also energy dependence when it comes to places like germany and europe and other economic ties. lastly, it is hard to do something about a country's internal processes. you know, we often overstate the

effect that external actions can have on an internal process. >> so, vladimir, the 5,000 arrested and the thousands of people who are braving the freezing cold and protesting in support of navalny, what do you make of that? how can you describe what is happening in russia right now and what navalny really symbolizes to much of the russian people. >> the number of people that come to the streets in russian cities is not just due to navalny's illegal detention. it's people protest corruption. people protest abuse of political freedoms and human rights. and navalny has become a symbol of this fight against corruption, fight for a more representative political system. the numbers that we have seen over the last two weekends are

unprecedented, and that is the manufacturers that work to reduce those numbers, police brutality, the weather in some cities where protests took place it was minus 30 celsius. and tiresome to go to the streets a week after the first time, but still people come. so i think russia has entered a new period of instability and turbulence. >> jonathan la mere? >> julia, we reported last week of course on president biden's first conversation with his russian counter part. certainly seems to be a sharp break from the warm tone we often heard from president trump towards vladimir putin. i just want to kind of get your analysis on this. we know that president biden ticked off a number of issues. not just navalny but also election interference, the idea of bounties being placed on

american soldiers' heads in afghanistan. but beyond sanctions, what else can joe biden do? certainly it was important to him. it seems like they reached an agreement on the new start treaty, the arms treaty, which was important. but as biden works in that space, what else can he do to try to punish putin or keep putin in line? >> well, they also spoke about the solar winds hack that allegedly was perpetrated by the russian security services and affected just untold swaths of the u.s. government and private industry. you know, i think this is a big break from the trump administration in the sense that the trump administration had this strange bifurcated policy toward russia where the national security council and treasury and state were rolling out sanctions against russians involved in hacking attempts or kicking out russian diplomats in

realuation for the attempted poisoning in britain. but then you had trump basically covering for putin and saying, well, he told me he wasn't behind it or russia wasn't behind it, so i'm good with that. now we have a more coordinated response, i think, where both the messenger and the message and the policy all align. the question is what they can do. and there is really not much left. after 2014 and the russians illegal annexation of crimea and the sanctions put in place, you know, we had three areas of cooperation left. we had the stark treaty and various arms agreements. we had counter terrorism and we had space. counter terrorism, there seems to be a lot of skepticism in the u.s. intelligence community, and

it seems like that's not much of a priority anymore. what's left is both sides seem to want to get that done as soon as possible. and after that, you know, i don't know what other mutual interests they have to work on. and also, you know, sanctions are cranked up pretty high. it is unclear, you know, anticorruption foundation asked biden to put out a list of russian officials that they would like the biden administration to sanction. again, i think these would still be largely symbolic measures as putin has helped some of the top dogs, his old friends who have been affected by u.s. sanctions. so there is not all that much biden can do, frankly. >> julia, you tweeted out a video that, i mean, really, this could be a movie. it is a -- i'd like you to actually walk me through what exactly we're looking at. but i understand this is a

navalny supporter, and she's being greeted here at the door by an investigative committee that is making her sign papers. i guess she's going to be searched. her apartment is going to be searched. am i correct? tell us what we're seeing. by the way, she never stops playing piano. >> i feel like one of the most russians things i have ever seen. so she runs an ngo of doctors trying to reform the medical system and is an associate and ally of navalny. like so many other navalny associates who were rounded up before the protests happen both last weekend and this weekend, yeah, people came to her house and their apartments were searched. this is what you are seeing

here. >> vladimir, we'll end on you. your thoughts overall on where this revolution is headed and on this video. >> i don't think we can really call it a revolution. it's a misnomer. it is peaceful protests and the forces at this point are really incomparable with tens of thousands of heavily armed police versus unarmed peaceful protesters. in respect to video, the apartment searches are often used as an instrument of pressure put on activists, and this is what we see happening. and she preserves her home and despite this harrowing moments when police come storming into the apartment, they will turn the whole apartment upside down. you don't know what they will find, and you may be taken with

them. and she still plays the piano along the way. >> vladimir, thank you very, very much. and julia, thank you as well. we'll see you see. and a programming note. you can see andrea mitchell's full exclusive interview with antony blinken. his first interview since being confirmed today on andrea mitchell reports right here on msnbc. up next from flight attendant and teacher to congresswoman and mayor. some of the women who seemingly came out of nowhere to get elected. it is part of our 50 over 50 series. keep it right here on "morning joe." when did you see the sign? when i needed to create a better visitor experience.

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>> yes! >> but we've got first time candidates, we've got veterans of iraq and afghanistan. record numbers of women. americans who've previously maybe didn't have an interest in politics as a career, but laced up their shoes and rolled up their sleeves and grabbed a clipboard. because they too believe this time's different. this moment's too important to sit out. >> former president barack obama back in 2018 emphasizing the importance of women candidates running forat office. and women certainly didn't disappoint.

in 2020 more women ran for the u.s. house and senate than ever before. this on topth of what they did during the 2018 election cycle when women ran for and were elected w for office in record numbers. several of those women, all ove the age of 50, came out of nowhere, to get themselves elected to office.el more on that in a moment. but first, a quick explanation on the significance of being over s 50. know your value is teaming up with forbes for a special 50 oversp 50 list to celebrate the women who have achieved significant success after the age of 50. women who are overcoming barriers and shattering misconceptions about age and gender. the project coincides with much of the world navigating how to reopen amid the ongoing covid-19 pandemic. and if this past year has taught us anything it's the need to findhe and utilize undertapped

talent. let's bring in chief content officer of forbes media and editor ofme forbes randall lane. this morning we're looking, randall, at women who came out of nowhere to get elected as part of ourhe series and number one on our little list this morning is lucy mcbeth. tell us about her. >> she came out of nowhere but she had an incredible back story and that'sbl what's great about this project is so many of these women have this incredible experience and now they're just when they have their most experience and mostre wisdom an most knowledge they'rewi puttin it to use. lucy mcbeth is a survivor, she was a delta flight attendant for 32 years, survived breast cancer twice andt her son jordan was killed in 2012 in a violent gun incident when he was just sitting in a gas station not doing anything, and was shot over loudwa music. she vowed to become a gun advocate. after the parkland shooting she

ran in newt gingrich's old district andt won as a democra. it's a -- she didn't run in the center, she ran and spoke authentically, won in 2018 in georgia and won again last year. >> reverend al, you have special insight into how special this woman is, share with us. >> i wasis on a delta flight an she was a flight attendant and he walked over to me, i didn't know her from anyone, and she said reverend al, my son was killed because of loud music. and you got -- you haven't talked about my son, it was ortan davis. that's how i met her, they go to washington and they say give us a minutend the congresswoman wi try to get to you. she took the passion of fighting criminal justice into the political arena and j turned he pain into power and as randall said she won in a district that

was not just an all black district. she won in a district that was very well multiracial, but she never gave in her beliefs or thoughts and she really representedll the new south eve before we saw the entry of ossof and warnock. she did it in newt gingrich's district, she should be celebrated more. >> randall, theou second of our women isco lisa mcclain, a moth of four from michigan. tell us about her. >> she's bipartisan, you saw that y in 2020, a wave of democratic women, in 2020 you saw a lot of republican women getting elected for the first time. lisars mcclain, she probably epitomizes a lot of us who talking politics at the dinner table and her kids got tired of it and said, you know, instead of complaining about everything, do something about it.om she's a trump supporter, got through the primary up in michigan and she won easily in the w general election but here somebody again with -- she was a

fintech executive, no political experience but decided as a and trying to leverage what she learned in the private sector she was going to go to w congress and with no experience at 54 she's now a congresswoman. >> now, another republican maria salazar out of florida, number 3. >> she's out of little havana, born and raised, cuban refugee with her parents. she was a journalist. she's # 59 and spent 25 years, i think she won five emmy awards, a big journalist out of miami and she beat another over 50 woman donna shalalah. ran in 2018 and lost, and an indication of what was happening in florida at large where you had a lot of -- maria salazar, no experience, sweeping in. >> so fourth on the list is north carolina elizabeth city

mayor betty parker and "morning joe" producer caught up with mayorro parker and asked her if her age was ever a factor in her decision to run for office. >> one thing you've got to put the buts and the ifs out of the way, right, you have to keep the fire burning to do service. i didn't look at the number.r. my age, i didn't even think about it. i was 65. so i felt like this was a thing for me to do because it was sort of like a burning in my spirit that i was going to do something beyond what i had already done to help people. i stepped in to politics first as a county commissioner. i stepped up as a woman, and it tookwo bravery to do this, you know, and it took stamina. you take whatever else. but i was determined. and i triggered a primary.

and i won. once you start winning, i don't care what it is, once you see success, that kind of emboldens you. and i feel like, i can do this. >> that is a know your value moment for sure, and randall, boy, she really speaks for herself. i r love her. >> you're right. >> she just kind of did it and then let it build upon itself. >> part of her slogan was when she ran for mayor was retired and inspired, and she's inspiring tosp all of us. she grew up in the jim crow south. she went to a segregated school in north carolina, and then she, you know, became a math teacher. she actually was elected when she was elected she won the primary andwo won the general election 94-6. when they asked her how did you do so well, she said in part, i was a math teacher, i taught all the voters.

here's somebody who is a role model, who does not let where she was born into, the station she was born into, this is somebody who wants to set an example for her community and for the whole country. 72 years old, and incredibly inspiring. >> randall, before you go, obviously this is weekly here, but how is the response going in forbes to this list? so far with nominations and just interest. >> again,st we're pushing towar 10,000 nominations, and nominations are still open for the restna of the month. we're seeing, this is just overwhelming, and it's exactly what you saw in the beginning, mika, untapped talent, and more thanun untapped as we see with these four people we just talked about, these four incredible women, this life experience, these women are at the best stage of their career, and their best stage of their life. they know their most, they understand, and they're applying it for theth public good and wee seeing thousands of people like

mayor bettie parker doing incredible things. >> forbes,ker randall lane, th you very much, we continue this conversation each week here on "morning joe" featuring more women who have achieved significant success after 50. if you know a woman who is shattering age and gender norms and would like to nominate her for our 50 over 50 list which will be featured in forbes, be sure to let us know. go to know your value.com or forbes.com and click on 50 over 50 to learn more and don't forget to know your value and nominate yourself. final thoughts, starting with reverend al sharpton. >> my final thoughts are that we need to keep focused on why donald trump is going to be tried again in the senate, to not let him make this an election issue. he clearly lost the election. the issue, though, is why he instigated any insurrection, fe people died. keep our eye on the ball. don't let him play games.

>> jonathan lemire, how do we help republicans see it that way and keep their eye on the ball for ourhe country? >> well, certainly, mika, the white house schedule today reflects their priorities, we have the coronavirus task force has a briefing this morning. returned and of course tonight joe biden meets with these republican senators as we see if steps can be made to get a bipartisan deal. >> that does it for us this morning, stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle, it is monday, february 1st m, and this morning we are following multiple major stories out of washington. lawmakers could be inching closer to the next covid relief deal. this afternoon ten republican senators are set to meet with president biden at the white house to discuss their proposal, which is much smaller than his $1.9 trillion plan. many democrats have already come out against it but biden has promised to work