building. that will be the reality that kevin mccarthy and other republicans who are trying to convince corporate donors to give them money while said former president is still out there insisting he didn't lose. thanks for getting up "way too early" on this tuesday morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. >> in at washington's national institutes of health, america's top official anthony fauci said coronavirus is spreading and america may need to take drastic actions. . >> what are we dealing with this coronavirus, covid-19? >> we're dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that has now reached outbreak proportions and likely pandemic proportions. if we get a major outbreak in this country that would mean perhaps closing schools temporarily, getting people to do more teleworking, canceling

events where there is a lot of crowds, canceling unnecessary travel so you are not on an airplane for five hours with people who might be infected. >> that would be a huge step. >> yes, it would. but it would be temporary, but it would be necessary. >> wow. a fascinating time capsule from one year ago today, guys. dr. anthony fauci warning the nation what it was up against and what a year it has been. willie, he predicted it to a t. and things got worse because of how badly things were run trying to counter the pandemic. >> it's amazing, isn't it, to listen to that. that was one year ago today. and you look down at the lower right side of your screen and see 516,000 americans, more than that, have died pause of this. and all the things dr. fauci said there, it was interesting,

we had to spruce who he was. now he has become part of the furniture of our lives every day. but he is talking about school closings, potentially, canceling events, maybe some teleworking. we have passed all of these other anniversaries where president trump said it would disaer into, it was from one person coming from china. when dr. fauci was sounding the alarm, we were getting the message it would be okay if we just closed our eyes and let it disappear. >> just to put things in proper prospective, february, march, april seem to be a blur to so many of us, dr. fauci said that march 2nd. i believe it was in february where bob woodward sat down with donald trump who already was saying this was going to be a killer virus, it was going to affect the old and the young, five times as bad as the flu, it

was really deadly and a big problem. and it was actually more than a month before that that joe biden wrote an op-ed. >> "usa today". in "usa today". in that op second, he said we are not prepared for a pandemic. and the president would do well to listen to his scientists and his doctors, talking about then president donald trump. and that just never happened. willie, the consequences are really -- it's hard to fathom. >> it is. you know, if we pass the 500,000 death mark, half a million mark a few days ago. remember, we sat here and said a year ago there was some talk of 100,000, 240,000 deaths on the high end. that seemed unthinkable and impossible. now we have marched past half a million deaths. it takes a moment to watch that a year ago. it's hard to remember a time when we were speculating that

schools might have to close for a short period of time, maybe events would be canceled. since then businesses have closed, children have lost a year of education, people have lost loved ones. it has completely changed this country in the year since that interview has taken place >> it really has. we have vanderbilt university jon meacham. he unofficially sometimes advises joe biden. we have a lot to get to this morning. on the virus, the first doses of johnson & johnson's vaccine are rolling out across the country as the cdc director warns, it's not time to ease up to restrictions yet. social distancing and mask wearing. the senate is expected to vote on the coronavirus relief bill. a bill that is among the most popular bills in decades. we'll show you the numbers on that. also this morning, a third woman

has come forward with a harassment allegation against new york governor andrew cuomo. now some democrats are calling for him to resign. also, u.s. sanctions on russia are expected as early as today. we will get the new reporting on that. but, joe, a lot to get to. i thought it was so interesting over the weekend, the cpac event and former president trump's speech. it was almost like he walked off the stage and, like, he became invisible again. everything sort of fell flat. i don't think he got the reaction that he wanted. and all the discussions we have about the party and the impact he's having on the party it is interesting to watch just general reaction to him. i'm just not seeing it. getting reporting a day later. he wasn't pleased with the speech. he went the first hour on toll

prompter. somebody there described it as almost a sound check for a band. you're inside this big hall. it's a third full. and that's because of covid. it's not in washington. it's down in orlando. and the whole thing seemed very small to him. he was irritated. >> so he didn't get the reaction he wanted. >> and after an hour he went off script and started churning up the conspiracy theories, which upset people there, upset his people there who thought he really needed to stay away from the conspiracy theories. so all in all, it didn't go well. and then of course, mika, i saw last night "the wall street journal" opinion page who we have been following very closely because at times they have seemed far too -- well, they

have kowtowed to donald trump at times. there have been other times they have drawn a line in the sand and been very tough. and it certainly seems like this morning's op-ed is one of those times. it's like they've had enough. and i've got to say, democrats and people in the media wring their hands when donald trump comes out now. we talked about it yesterday. and the wall street journal is saying, and they may be right, when he comes out, democrats should cheer about because he is genuinely bad for their party. and this editorial, let's read a little bit of the editorial, mika. this editorial really has to be the must read, especially for republicans on capitol hill today. . >> yeah. okay. so it's entitled "the grievances of trump past" in which they

ask, if he was so great politically for the gop, why is the party now out of power? and the board writes in part this. mr. trump said sunday that he won't form a third because it would divide the center-right coalition and elect democrats. but he also laid out his political enemies list and is clearly bent on revenge against anyone who voted to impeach or convict him or disagrees with his election claims. these intraparty fights will sap gop energy and resources when their priority now should be retaking congress in 2022. mr. trump's base of support means he will play an important role in the gop. buff as the biden months roll on and the policy consequences of the 2020 defeat become stark, perhaps the party's grassroots will begin to look past the trump era to a new generation of

potential standard barriers. as long as republicans focus on the grievances of the trump past, they won't be a governing majority. so, joe, what they're saying is trump equals losing. . >> he does. they are the party of grievance. as "the wall street journal" said, the party of grievances past. i want you to compare the republican party right now. you have the democratic party that lined up behind a candidate. let's talk about bernie sanders and aoc. they lined up behind a candidate, joe biden, as aoc said in any other country would be in another party from her. they consider joe biden to be a relic from a different age idealogically. democratic party past. what did they do? they worked around the clock to get him elected. you talk to biden people off the record they will tell you bernie

sanders worked as hard as anybody to get them elected. aoc as well. other progressives who disagreed with joe biden on a lot of issues. now democrats are trying to figure out how to come together. from bernie sanders to joe manchin, to pass a bill that 76% americans support. and the republican party is opposing that bill. the democratic party is acting -- and i know republicans understand this on the hill. the democratic party right now is acting like a governing majority, a party that wants to pass legislation, who wants to make a difference, who wants to advance their causes that are near and dear to them. and guess what, they're willing to compromise. even with joe manchin. even with bernie sanders. they want to move the ball down the field. and then you have the republican party that has turn into a party

of gestures, empty gestures, and grievance. >> anger. >> this is not a contest. this is not close. the republican party, unless they actually read "the wall street journal" editorial today and take it to heart and figure out how to start being constructive and understand -- i said this yesterday. this is so important. understand that this is not 2009. the battlefield is always changing. you lose by fighting the last war. that's the old saying. joe biden is not barack obama. you can't just obstruct in 2021 and think you're going to get the same results you got from 2009 to 2016. it's not going to work. they're going to pass legislation. they're going to run over you, they're going to run around you, they're going to run through you

all day. because they were did in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. they understand. they understand even when donald trump got elected, you hardly passed any landmark legislation. you passed a tax cut. yes, good for you. good for you. you made tech billionaires even richer. you made sure amazon paid zero in taxes. you made sure that all the people you claim to hate made billions and billions and billions of dollars during this covid crisis while working class americans and middleclass americans were suffering so badly. you did that. and donald trump went down to mar-a-lago and bragged to all of his friends. okay, great. so that's the one thing you have done legislatively since 2009. it's not going to cut it. and so the rest is just

grievance. you ivy league boys going up attacking ivy league schools. ted cruz going up and attacking parties of country club when ted cruz is worshipping a guy, it's really sad, weak and pathetic. he is continuing to worship a guy politically who actually lives in his own country club and spent a lot of his presidency in his own country clubs that he owned. jon meacham, there's a part of this that i think cuts to the quick. suburb answer voters proceeded to lose the white house november 3rd and cost the gop two senate races january 5th. as he made his claims of election fraud, the main issue, rather than checking mr. biden and nancy pelosi. mr. trump essentially told georgia supporters that their votes didn't matter. and they stayed home.

so the gop lost the senate. mr. trump, says the wall street editorial page, is now trying to rewrite this history as someone else's fault. democrats who cheated, republicans who won't, quote, fight, cowardly supreme court that includes three of his appointees. anybody but himself. this isn't true as another pollster made clear. mr. trump had one landmark victory in 2016 but he has cost the gop dearly sense. well, jon meacham, in the famous words of harry truman when he got off the train and a guy screamed at him for 10 minutes and said if he was the last man on earth he would never vote for harry truman. and he said i'll walk you down as undecided then, and walked on.

we'll mark this wall street journal page as undecided. trump at this point is actually good for them building their majorities. >> perhaps. to me there are a couple divisions in the broad trump coalition. you don't get to 74 million people with just the readers of the wall street journal editorial page or just the maga folks that you saw in the -- in orlando and beyond. it's this fusion on of a couple of different things. and one of the things that i think has been puzzling to a lot of us who have followed and in some ways admired the republican party of eisenhower and reagan

and the bushes, is that what is it about the culture of grievance, the populist demagoguic cultive trump appeal that is going to get you the 35%, 40% perhaps. joe mccarthy had 35% of the country after he was censured. you know, you can get 40% of the country to say almost anything. but that 10% to 12%, and i'm not sure what the millions would be in the 74 million people who voted for donald trump, pointing out that 81 million people voted for joe biden. it's the people you and i know, that you and i like, who were mccain republicans, romney republicans, jeb bush

republicans until all of a sudden donald trump becomes the nominee. there they may not be all in culturely but they are all in when it matters, which is voting. and these have to be some of the folks who say joe biden wasn't legitimately elected president. you usually get the undercount of the trump poll. you are getting more than 50% of republicans saying, oh, biden is not the real president. that's not just the paranoid style of american politics people. those are people we talk to and know. what i'm wondering is let's not outrun the evidence. we remain in a national emergency about the durability of democracy. >> joe, one of the concerns i've heard from republicans, the kind that jon is talking about, john

mccain, george w. bush, reagan republicans, even if donald trump doesn't run again. even if he's pushed to the side and forgotten over the next few years, it's all the mini trumps coming up through the system having learned a lesson that the way to become president of the united states in trump's case is to be seen as fighting, not to get mired down in policy discussions and depatz in the senate, but to always be aggrieved and always seen as fighting. we see that with ted cruz and a bunch of freshman members too. >> yeah. i understand that. and i think i'm in the distinct minority when i say this. i don't think trumpism is transferrable as a national message only because, after eight years of ronald reagan, republicans were sure they were going to be able to extend

reaganism over the next decade as far as continuing to win the white house after reagan and bush, what is it, democrats have won seven of eight popular votes starting in 1992. obamaism, the new rising coalition that was going to forever dominate american politics in 2008. that was not transferrable either. bill clinton. his success was not transferrable. i'm just not sure, mika, if there is another person that wrote a book in the 1980s about success when he was the pweug biggest loser in the history of the united states. and then to have a celebrity show after he went bankrupt about 20 times, i exaggerate, in

casinos in atlantic city. and then ran for president. josh hawley can't pull that off. ted cruz barely beat beto o'rourke in texas a couple of years ago. >> yeah. . >> and i just -- i don't see it as being transferrable. i may be very naive. i believe it shows i have been naive with the threads of democracy. we need to remain vigilant because we have seen over the past four years the very real challenges to our constitutional republic and what we need to be on guard for as we move forward through the 2021 century. >> you mentioned aoc being for biden even though she was as far away from the party as possible.

and ted cruz being a poser for trump. aoc was working for texas when ted cruz was out of texas in cancun. it's not a low blow. my point is democrats are working on their issues, like them or not. and they are performing public service, doing their jobs. i don't know what these republicans are doing. they're angry. they're undermining. and they're always lying. they're trying to sort of adopt the trump mythology, but it's not working as much, or maybe it won't. but the worry in me is that, you know, trump got by everybody. >> the thing is, willie, when trump went out on stage. and still the same. obviously, you know, i said he's like with no disrespect to the king, he's like elvis in the final year. . >> yeah. >> he's doing everything -- >> the jumpsuit. >> jumpsuit, lazily throwing the

scarf off into the audience. . >> it does seem like that. . >> all sweaty. but i will say trump was able to fill stadiums. . >> yes. >> trump was able to fill arenas. >> like it or not. >> one thing we never said about donald trump is he needs acting lessons. because people believed him. it was all a lie. it was all b.s. you look at ted cruz, i'm so glad you weren't here yesterday. you were spared watching ted cruz's mel gibson. . >> oh, i saw it. >> it was horrible. and josh hawley, doggone it. i'm being censored. i'm so weak. i went to yale. i went to stanford. poor me. it's really, i mean, these guys, you look at them and go, oh.

i do want us to consider starting a go fund me site for their acting lessons. because they're so bad. but we say that just to say, again, what donald trump was able to do in 2016 before he lost every election after that. >> yeah. >> none of these other people can do. and they just look like clowns when they try. >> and so many people have looked like clowns over the years. remember during the 2016 campaign when marco rubio tried the trump act for a couple of days. >> yes. >> it just doesn't work unless you're donald trump. and donald trump could fill the stadiums and fly in on his plane and dip his wings in mobile, alabama and fill the seat. the senate will take up the covid relief package this week. it passed with a $15 minimum

wage in it. but the senate democrats will not overrule the parliamentarian who ruled the measure was not permissible under the rules of budget reconciliation. nbc news reports the senate parliamentarian will allow pension plan protection and assistance with paying cobra premiums to remain in the bill. author of the "washington post" "power up" and data journalist elliott morris. how is this going to roll out? are they going to peel off the $15 minimum wage and pass it with democratic votes? >> that's a good question, willie. that is something still up in the air. the chairman of the budget committee, senator bernie sanders, is pushing this provision despite the senate parliamentarian's ruling. it can't be protected by budget reconciliation. it would be quite dramatic and something that the white house

has said they are against. that being said, senator sanders said he is going to raise it as an amendment and essentially daring people like senator joe manchin who have said they don't want to overrule the parliamentarian to vote on the $15 minimum wage hike as the senate begins to debate this final covid package. the white house also said they are against overruling the parliamentary when in 2001 was fired. it was described as a pretty shocking situation that was almost unprecedented. you have progressives and people like sanders and senator warren pressing this ahead calling for, one, overruling the parliamentarian, or two, overruling the filibuster. >> if you are have them saying this has to be in or we have to

pass this by some other means, where does that leave the white house. what do they say to bernie sanders and elizabeth warren? >> mr. it's unclear what it looks like. from a public perspective, we had both sides sticking with their, you know, proclamations that they are not budging either way. but right now, as it stands, democrats don't have a way forward of delivering a signature policy proposal that they have been promising of hiking the minimum wage because it doesn't deny congress doesn't have the votes -- sorry, democratic senators don't have the votes on the republican side to pass it as a stand-alone bill because senators haven't agreed, like joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, haven't agreed to eliminate the filibuster. the white house so far has done a pretty good job at accommodating progressive, leftist flank on these sorts of

provisions. perhaps they will budge on a different provision like increasing unemployment insurance, extending it a month or two. but that's something we will see play out on the hill starting today. >> elliott, you look at the polling on this, and i know you have been studying it, this is one of the most popular pieces of legislation we have seen in a long time. obviously, it helps people get back on their feet in many ways. it pushes it to getting schools reopened. whether you're democrat or republican, there's obviously something in here for you. >> that's right. we compared this polling data to sources from chris morshaw at george washington university. on average polls that asked for support for covid relief bill 70% of americans, as high as 76% depending on the poll, support it.

that's higher support of any president trump's legislation the last four and a half, five years. this is a staggeringly popular bill. americans want it. we have to ask the question why this is not being done in the senate and what is stalling the progress. >> republicans are all lined up against this. i understand some of those concerns that actually i have had the past four years, and none of them have had, i don't think, which is i don't think it's as focused as it should be. the national debt is not something they have worried about at all. but you do sit and wonder, how

does this party, if they're willing to bow to trump, how does this party turn their backs on one of the most popular bills in, my gosh, the past 50 years. a bill that 76% of americans support and the majority of republicans support? is this, once again, the republican party playing off an old playbook? >> i think so. i think they're going to call it socialism, even though they have already voted for similar stuff. there's going to be a kind of functional weaponized cynicism about this p. because this bill is popular, because it is part of a biden, new administration push to vaccinate the country, to try to stop the -- to try to

soften the economic pain that so many people are feeling, i think that even they are capable of seeing the logic that if a democratic president successfully vaccinates us and successfully ameliorates the difficulties that so many people are facing, he's going to have a case to take to the people for other things he wants to do. right? it's not simply walking into a ballroom and yapping about it. it's not simply tweeting about it. it is not simply pushing a culture of grievance and victimhood. one of the great iroies in our life, a party that sustains victimhood sustain it. they are victims of big tech. . >> oh, god, yeah. >> it's just on and on and on.

and i somewhat parenthetically, i didn't see a lot of attention paid to it. his comments about the supreme court and the courts from sunday are incredibly revealing. because one of the ways the republic survived, and that's not hyperbole. one of the ways the republic survived is that one of the three branches laid out in the constitution did the right thing, and that was the courts. and we haven't paid a lot of attention to it. and here's how what an awful time we're in. i even hesitate to say it. but the courts played their constitutional role at a moment when the president was not. he was self-evidently and actively undermining the

democratic republic. and he had so many allies in congress who were willing to do it with him. and so i don't want to go so far as to say the supreme court saved america. but it came pretty damned close. imagine what would have happened if they had granted cert to one of those cases and in a 5-4, they failed to certify the election. the whole thing falls apart. >> i think one of the unwritten stories in the past year, and i also -- we talked about it before. other than the fact that jim clyburn was probably the man who moved history more than anybody else in 2020. for reasons that really should

be self-evident to everyone. he had as much to do with donald trump losing than anybody else. but as far as holding the line for this constitutional republic, there has to be one day a story written, a book written not just about the united states supreme court and what they did, the line they held during the 2020 election. but the entire federal court system. >> yeah. >> and not just at the end. but you can go all the way back to february of 2017 when a washington state judge put an injunction on i believe it was trump's so-called muslim ban. and donald trump challenged that bush-appointed judge, called him a so-called judge, questioned his integrity. immediately, federal judges, whether they were liberalists, federal society judges, all, all

understood at that moment that the independence of the federal judiciary was at risk. and they acted accordingly over the next four years. and it is an extraordinary story. our constitutional republic survived so many of the challenges. and if you believe, like i do, that things could have gone extraordinarily badly and we could have lost the democracy that we came to recognize, jon, i think we -- those of us who believe that owe federal judges of all stripes a great debt of gratitude. >> federal judges, absolutely. it's like the heroes in the civil rights era. these white tkrtic appointed

district judges who were brave in the mail strom. the others are the secretary of state. the state officials, election officials who stood up to remarkable political pressure. and we talk so much about what goes wrong, understandably. but this is a case where the constitution only works if there is a human agency and an often unseen but clearly felt devotion to it. and those folks who were guardians of the democracy, and i don't mean to be overly grand about it. but watching him again the other day, i thought, god almighty, we came so close. and blessedly -- i feel guilty for bringing this all up again. you're talking about the covid relief bill.

you're showing fauci. we're governing a big multiethnic diverse country again. but that force that almost wrecked us and that sent people into the capitol is not going away. it's a perennial force. it ebbs and it flows. and it flowed during the trump years. and, god willing, we're done with the trump years. but i don't think anybody who is concerned about the future of democracy, the future of our prosperity, the future of what has made us a more perfect union, can afford to rest >> all right, jon meacham. that was actually not boring at all. thank you for that. also, data journalist for the economist elliott morris and the "washington post" jacqueline alemany. thank you for your reporting and your analysis this morning. now to multiple sources

telling nbc news that the u.s. and european union are expected to impose coordinated sanctions on russia as early as today. the sapbgdzs sanctions come after alexei navalny and will be the first to target moscow since biden became president when he opened a comprehensive review of u.s.-russia, including the solar winds hack, and reported bounties offered to taliban-linked groups to target u.s. forces in afghanistan. that's a lot that's been happening over the past few years. let's bring in white house correspondent for politico and msnbc contributor, natasha bertrand. good to have you back on the

show. tell us the latest with the sanctions and on navalny. . >> yeah. so we are expecting them as soon as today. there's going to be kind of more discussions among white house officials on how though roll this out in coordination with the european union. this is something they had been discussing since biden came into office. they were doing this massive russia review. they were trying to figure out the best way to penalize russia for human rights abuses, navalny poisoning, the espionage that affected agencies in the united states, and reports that russians were putting bounties on americans troops's heads in afghanistan. what's happening now, there was a package, sanctions package left by the trump administration for the biden administration that never got passed at the former president's last couple days in office.

and they have been deciding whether or not to use parts of that sanctions package or whether to just, you know, kind of reestablish their own parameters for penalizing russia. it looks like they wanted this to be more multilateral, wanted to work more with the european union on this. that is what we will see this week. it is an important step in the biden administration's plans to hold russia accountable. how is putin viewing this new biden administration and how seriously is he taking the sanctions? >> it's a blow for sure. the united states has of course imposed sanctions many times on russia. it hassy et to change vladimir putin's behavior. one of the big things that activists and that foreign

policy experts and that former administration officials say could change his behavior is nicksing the gas pipeline to russia. that is something that allies of the united states, including ukraine, who are foes of russia, are really pushing biden to consider. taking harsher steps to just completely impede the construction of that pipeline. it doesn't look like that is going to happen. ukraine is in the crosshairs of russian aggression. but sanctions are a first step for signaling to the russians that this administration is willing to hold them accountable in the way that at least the former president wasn't. of course he never confronted vladimir putin on anything. >> all right. natasha bertrand, thank you very much for that update this

morning. we appreciate it. and still ahead on "morning joe", the impact of johnson & johnson's coronavirus vaccine now making its way across the country. plus, the new reporting of a third allegation of harassment against new york governor andrew cuomo and the growing calls for him to step down. you're watching "morning joe". we'll be right back. joe". we'll be right back. ♪ hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play ♪ ♪ hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid ♪ ♪ and all that glitters is gold ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side? discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching

...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™ janssen can help you explore cost support options. alright, i brought in ensure max protein... ...to give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you don't (grunting noise) i'll take that. yeeeeeah! 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar drink, play, and win big in the powered by protein challenge!

[drum beat and keyboard typing] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [keyboard typing] ♪♪ [trumpet] [keyboard typing] so you're a small business, or a big one.

you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business.

45 past the hour. a third woman has come forward to accuse new york governor andrew cuomo of an unwanted advance. according to the "new york times", anna ruch met the governor at a friend's wedding. the claims are cuomo approached her and put his hands are her

bare lower back. she removed his hand with her own hand. he said she seemed, quote, aggressive and placed his hands on her cheeks. she claims that cuomo asked if he could kiss her, loudly enough for a friend standing nearby to hear. she then pulled away as the governor drew closer. a spokesman for cuomo did not directly address the account and instead referred to the times of a general statement released on sunday acknowledging that some things he had said, quote, may have been misinterpreted as an unwanted flirtation. nbc news also contacted cuomo's office for comment but has not heard back. meanwhile, the new york attorney general's office is investigating the two sexual harassment allegations leveled against governor cuomo by two

former female employees. letitia james confirmed she received the necessary referral letter to begin the process. he suggested an investigation by a lawyer of his choosing and then under immense political pressure said he would allow a review to take place by james. the governor continues to deny the allegations. and some democrats are calling on governor cuomo to step down. congresswoman kathleen rice, who represents a district on long island posted the "new york times" report about the third cuomo allegation and wrote the time has come. the governor must reseen. mayor bill de blasio said the governor should step down if an investigation corroborates the accusations. >> he issued an apology, i guess

you could all it an apology.

. touts his relationship with former president trump saying he allowed me to be in his world. ew. we'll play that for you ahead on "morning joe"d on . an ...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. get 0% apr financing on the 2021 is 300. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance get 0% apr financing on the 2021 is 300. so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... uh-oh, sorry... oh... what? i'm an emu! no, buddy! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ i'm a performer. always have been. and always will be. never letting anything get in my way.

not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. and certainly not arthritis. voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. and it can help you too. feel the joy of movement with voltaren. age-related macular degeneration may lead to severe vision loss. so the national eye institute did 20 years of clinical studies on a formula only found in preservision. if it were my vision, i'd ask my doctor about preservision. it's the most studied eye vitamin brand. if it were my vision, i'd look into preservision. only preservision areds2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the nei to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. i have amd. it is my vision so my plan includes preservision.

i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side? discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter.

i told you all you could launch a candidacy. you launched bill clinton and barack obama now you launched on our campaign to beating donald trump. >> that was february 29th of last year, just over one year ago, the night of the south carolina primary, that crucial win would help to catapult him to the top of the democratic race. joining us now, jonathan allen

and for the hill aaron parns, co-authors of "lucky" how joe biden barely won the presidency. amie, we talked a lot about interview joe biden on the day of the new hampshire primary, coming off the fourth place finish in iowa, about to fall to a fifth place in new hampshire and how it felt a lot like a political wake talking to him. so how did they get lucky? how did that campaign rise up and become president of the united states? >> there were amount of breaks, willie, in this campaign for now the vice president -- the former vice president, now president. i think what you could say is, you know, as you said in new hampshire, iowa, they didn't do so well. he did off a dinner, the liberty and justice dinner. he is like why isn't this crowd large? what are we doing wrong here? he goes into new hampshire and finds an even worse atmosphere

there. the lights even go out in the campaign in one of the campaign hotels, it's reported in the book. we take you really inside this book and tell you what happened. i think he had a few lucky breaks. elizabeth warren completely struck out, which we talk about. we go inside what her strategy was in taking him out. and then clyburn endorsement. that wasn't for certain. he wanted that endorsement months and months earlier. and we talk about that. we talk about how that came to be. and that was a very, very crucial turning point in the campaign, obviously. >> yeah. jonathan, there's no question that james clyburn changed the race and the history of this country with that endorsement. what ultimately led him to endorse biden? >> they fought very hard for it.

it took months of cajoling, begging. they sat down with him before clyburn was ready to endorse. he said this campaign is dying. he said i'm going to wake. we take you to a moment where clyburn said he's going to elect a black woman. he is watching the audience. he basically said you better do this. i'll tell you something, willie, in the general election and in the post election, you just had jon meacham on talking about a

donald trump second term. he was talking about the supreme court. when you see in this book 42,918 votes over the three pivotal electoral college states, and donald trump would have been president. so our republic held. and for that we are all lucky. and joe biden's's came in part from jon meacham's book about the soul of the nation. >> the new book is "lucky" how joe biden barely won the presidency. jonathan allen and amie parnes. we'll have to have you back. thank you both very much. we'll be back with the latest reporting from the white house. e marie could only imagine enjoying freshly squeezed orange juice. now no fruit is forbidden. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts

for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser-drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. tylenol rapid release gels.

trump just a few minutes ago and i said, listen, it's not necessary for everybody to like each other. i actually like president trump. he's been very nice to me. he's allowed me to be in his world. he allows me to give my two cents about different issues when he was president. this is his party. if you don't get that, you missed a lot of cpac. donald trump has the nomination now and nobody can take it away from him if he wants to run. >> he's allowed me to be in his world. oy!

senator lindsey graham touting his relationship with former president trump and weighing in on the future of the republican party. god. cult-like. welcome back to "morning joe". sit tuesday, march 2nd. along with joe, willie and me, we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle, associate editor of the "washington post" eugene robinson, and pbs news hour correspondent yamiche alcindor. trucks carrying doses left distribution centers with vaccinations on track to begin as early as today. u.p.s. and fedex are splitting the deliveries. the goal is to distribute 100 million shots by june and 1 billion by the end of 2021.

but with new coronavirus variants on the rise, the director of the centers for decease control and prevention is warning that now is not the time to loosen covid restrictions. >> i remain deeply concerned about a potential shift in the trajectory of the pandemic. the latest cdc data continues to suggest that recent declines in cases have leveled off at a very high number. we cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day. 2,000 daily deaths. please hear me clearly. at this level of cases with variants spreading, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can stop the spread of covid-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. >> meanwhile, senate majority leader chuck schumer announced the senate will take up the covid relief plan for package

this weekend. it passed with the $15 men mum wage in it. but dick durbin said senate democrats will not overrule the parliamentarian. yamiche, where is this headed? you have bernie sanders, elizabeth warren pushing to keep the $15 minimum wage in. the white house says we want to respect the norms of the senate. so what gives? >> what's going to happen is this bill will be passed and most likely it will not have the $15 minimum wage in it. but what it will have is a plan by the white house to say, look, we're going to get this big 1.9 trillion passed. and then afterwards we're going to come back and think about minimum wage and find a way to pass it.

earlier on president biden said he didn't think it would make it into the white house. he was a little cautious about revealing why he felt so confident in saying that in an interview. what we now see is this is simply a rule that the parliamentarian is not going to allow. what we are probably going to see is a roll call vote. senator sanders wants it to be on the record who is for the $15 minimum wage and those who didn't. progress if's are angry they can't get up to $15 minimum wage. so many people in this country, not just teenagers, but mothers and bread winners that work these jobs that keep our economy going or in a these minimum wage jobs. that being said, president biden and the white house are just so excited about the idea that

they're going to be able to pass this legislation. they not only will be able to say this is a big promise that president biden was able to keep. they're also going to be able to say this is how we're going to have to be able to work on legislation. they will be talking about this bill as bipartisan. because, as you have noted on the show, more than 70% of americans back it. and you are also seeing there are republicans in state and local government who want to see the bill passed. >> and so, gene robinson, it seems like winning propositions for democrats regardless. they've got one of the most popular bills the past 50 years. 76% of americans support the bill. we showed a graph of how popular the bill is historically. you will see the second or third most popular was the last time

minimum wage was raised. even if it's booted out of this bill, it sets the republicans up to have to take two separate really bad votes. one on a popular covid relief bill and, two, on a popular minimum wage bill. again, the voters of florida supported increasing minimum wage of $15 on a referendum on the same day they voted to re-elect donald trump, president of the united states. it shows you just how popular this idea is nationwide. >> it's really popular. and i don't quite get it. i don't understand why republicans want to take that vote against the $15 minimum wage. let's be clear, this is not just people who are making the federal minimum, $7.25, which is

ridiculous. it's not a minimum wage at all. it is not realistic. but also people making $10 an hour, $11 an hour. which you also can't live on. you can't have a working class life working full-time earning that kind of money. so it is a big deal. the democrats will keep bringing this up. if it can't be in this bill, it will be a separate measure and they will want to vote against that. and they can't get that through reconciliation. republicans would have to vote against it again as well as other really, really popular stuff.

what is working for the biden administration right now is that he is proposing popular policies. republicans don't seem to get that. >> mike, i suspect when you go to get your dunkin', people aren't going to be talking about this or the parliament tear yann's ruling. they just know there are $1400 checks in this that might keep their small business afloat, it might push their kids back in school, it might get them or someone they love a vaccine. there's a reason this bill is so popular across the. >> as i wait in line with my three splendas, it's mystifying to me as a normal person, and i happen to be a normal person, it's mystifying how one

preliminary party, the republican party, can't understand they have now placed themselves in a position where the other party, the democrats, human beings, democrats are saying, here, we are here to help you. we know you've had a tough time over the past year. we know you have been threatened physically by the virus and economically by the ripple effect of what the virus has done to the economy. we are here to help you save your house, to help your family, to open up schools again. and yet on the other hand, the republican party is standing there saying, no, no, we don't want to do that. we don't want to do that. i don't know how they get out of this politically. i just don't. $7.25 minimum wage is a joke. corporation after corporation in this country are paying at least a minimum wage, $15 to oremployees. many of them are up to $20, $21

for the minimum wage. so the republicans have a real problem in addition to the fact that they have branded themselves over the weekend as the party of hate and revenge. that's not a palatable option at dunkin' doughnuts or anywhere else in america. . >> minority leader mitch mcconnell said senate republicans will support lisa murkowski's re-election bid next year. that news after former president trump attacked his republican critics, including murkowski in his cpac speech over the weekend, calling on the republican party to get rid of the gop lawmakers who voted to impeach him. here is senator mcconnell. >> will the nrsc support lisa murkowski despite president trump saying that they should get rid of all of these republicans who voted against

him on impeachment? >> yeah, absolutely. >> are you concerned at all that his efforts will hurt her chance to get re-elected? >> no. >> i don't think mitch mcconnell really cares. if you listen to that. yep. we're going to support him. no, not going to. yes, donald trump. he can gesture, go down, give a speech. then he goes back to mar-a-lago. it is mitch mcconnell day in and day out running the united states senate. and people like ron johnson can try to swipe at mitch mcconnell at the end of the day, he's running the republican party and he understands and, yes, liz cheney and the house understands that if they're going to have any future, they're going to have to do it in a way that is

going to help them, let's be really blunt, raise money for the next campaign. right now there are so many republicans who have disgraced themselves that are too closely tied to a guy that committed insurrection against the united states of america. . >> first of all, joe, i want to thank you for letting me into your life, much like lindsey with trump. it means the world to me. . >> well, actually, yes. >> can you imagine saying something like that. >> it's really sad. who says that? . >> approximate by the way, i don't believe that you're glad to be welcomed into my life any more than i believe mike barnicle is a normal guy. that would come to breaking news to ann and all the kids. you're right. it's a perfect example, willie. compare and contrast mitch mcconnell who is trying to figure out how to cobble together a majority. and lindsey graham, who is

trying to stay on the right side of the seditionists and qanon people. >> on january 6th he pounded the desk and said, enough is enough. i'm out of here. i'm out! and now he is back playing golf and grateful for being in his life. . >> three people and a chihuahua chased him through the airport and he completely melted. >> that could be really scary. all he is is a strategist. he wants to win back the senate, wants the house to republican to republican control. he needs votes. that's all he cares about. he's not going to go down a sentimental road about donald trump. he wants to make sure they get enough seats to take back control of the senate. we're talking about senator murkowski, who mcconnell will support. senate murkowski seen as the swing vote that could make or break the nomination. she said she and tanden met

face-to-face. >> well, i can tell you that i met with her today and we had a sitdown meeting, which was good. i haven't had a sitdown meeting in quite a while but she was in the building and asked if i could come in person, and so i said sure, come on up. . >> senator murkowski and neera tanden had a meeting. she sent tweets about lisa murkowski and other folks she would need to be confirmed. what's your take on this? is murkowski still a holdout? is there a chance she might vote for tanden despite everything. >> i mean, this is an easy one. if you just look at politics and you want to remove neera tanden and mean tweets, i can just tell you this is an easy one. at least in my day people will be lining up around the white house going, yeah, i'll vote for

her. by the way, the hurricanes really messed up some small businesses in northwest florida. i'm worried about that. but we can talk about that later. but let's talk about neera tanden. why is this -- i mean, this is so easy for her. oh, you said a mean tweet about me? great. can i get something for alaska? can i get something to help my state? can i get something that the people of alaska need for a vote, for a woman who is qualified but -- yeah. gene robinson, this is easy. i understand tweets upset a lot of people. i wouldn't know about anybody tweeting bad things about me. i have a feeling lisa murkowski cares about mean tweets as much as i do. if you're in that position where you're a senator and you can

actually help the would you say out on a vote for near va tanden even though she had something and you get a chip in return to help your state. line me up for that deal any day of the week. >> wasn't alaska where the original bridge to nowhere was going to be? i know she is smart and canny enough to know what kind of leverage she has. she doesn't worry about any potential repercussion in the republican party because she's lisa murkowski. . >> right. >> i said it on a write-in campaign with the name murkowski in alaska. she doesn't have that to worry about.

why shouldn't she get what she wants for the state for a vote. my guess is that what she is doing. and she is talking to the white house pretty intensely. and to put a price on it, what would her price be. >> yamiche, i know you're following this. what is the latest reporting on this? >> the white house is still very much trying to muscle neera tanden through the senate. but as lisa murkowski said, she's undecided. that's where all eyes are. this is a political test for this white house, early test for this white house. neera tanden was someone, when she was announced, there were people who said is she going to get through the senate. this is a white house who said they haven't been clearing before they nominated people, names with senators. we are now in a situation where a white house is trying to use

all the political capital they have not only of course to pass the $1.9 trillion covid bill but to get the nominees through, including neera tanden. at the office of management and budget is clear for that. this is going to be something that we will see how the "post" trump social era evolves. joe made a point earlier this morning that said not everyone can be president trump. i'm not saying neera tanden's tweets were as bad as president trump. but when we see people on twitter being a little bit loose, attacking specific senators, and having to go into the senate and asking the same senators for their votes, it puts into perspective i'm not just why you should be in some ways cautious, but how they will connect to the very people who are holding her fate and omb

nominee in their hands. the white house is not backing down. when i talk to sources at the white house, they say she is very qualified, one of the most qualified. they still feel this was not a blunder or problem on their part. this was not a mistake on their part. but they are of course having to really deal with this headache. it's still unclear whether they will be able to do that job >> he ya. if you're running for president, if you're running for of his yourself, if the only people you have to answer to are voters, tweet away. but if you think one day you may need to be approved by the senate, confirmed by the senate, you may want to guard your words

a little more carefully in this age we live in. mike barnicle, this lisa murkowski story, the possibility that one republican senator could make the difference in getting her over the finish line if joe manchin is not being supportive just does show how dynamic this congress will be, how dynamic the next two years will be. not just in the senate but in the house where only four seats separate democrats and republicans. crazy things can happen at that point. . >> oh, absolutely, joe. first of all, the $1.9 trillion package of assistance for every american family, that should pass. after that, what follows after that. hr1 voting rights bill? terrible trouble. it is so precarious.

it's 50/50. this is what you end up with, just like with lisa murkowski being the middle vote in neera tanden's confirmation. i'm looking forward to the day all of us, willie, mika, you, me and our families can take that high-speed train ride around alaska that will soon be built, with the coastal highways. lisa murkowski is going to get anything she wants. it's going to be beautiful. we'll have a great time. . >> it will be beautiful. >> i like it. still ahead on "morning joe", the united states is ramping up the pace of coronavirus vaccinations with the new johnson & johnson vaccine. making sure minority communities get prioritized. we'll talk about the importance of that next on "morning joe". o. >> trump and i we have had a hell of a journey. i hate it ending this way. oh, my god, i hate it.

from my point of view, he's been a consequential president. but today the first thing you will see, all i can say is count me out. enough is enough. i've tried to be helpful. . >> it breaks my heart that my friend, a president of a consequence, would allow yesterday to happen. and it will be a major part of his presidency. i just talked to president trump just a few minutes ago. and i said, listen, it's not necessary for everybody to like each other. i actually like president trump. he's been very nice to me. he's allowed me to be in his world. he allows me to give my two cents about different issues when he was president. this is his party. if you don't get that, you missed a lot of cpac. donald trump has the nomination right now, and nobody can take it away from him if he wants to run. im if he wants to run.

is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis... stelara® can provide relief and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc! stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection... flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting remission can start with stelara®.

if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, janssen may be able to help.

keeping your oysters business growing if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, has you swamped. you need to hire. i need indeed indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a shortlist of quality candidates from a resume data base claim your seventy-five-dollar credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/promo ♪ and a little bit of chicken fried ♪ ♪ cold beer on a friday night ♪ ♪ a pair of jeans that fit just right ♪ ♪ and the radio up ♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's. it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute.

wait, a minute? but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today.

welcome back to "morning joe". 7:25 on the east coast. joining from newark, new jersey. we know there might be another wave around the corner. with the introduction and the authorization of the j&j vaccine, that will be pushed into the market. shots in arms the next couple of days. it is looking good on the vaccination front. what are you seeing in your hospital and across new jersey? >> well, thank you so much for having me again. it really is a good development. you're talking about a single shot vaccine that's going to add by state tens of thousands of doses per week potentially to the tote up pole. first of all, it will significantly expand access to vaccination and get all those folks in line in there sooner. secondly, a lot of states, including new jersey, are adding particularly vulnerable groups that have been waiting a while, inclusive of teachers, transit

workers, motor vehicles, a lot of other essential workers who happen to be, by the way, significantly represented by minority communities but also homeless folks and people who are particularly vulnerable if they get covid-19 and of course vulnerable to spread of the virus. it's a really good development in the vaccinationest. . >> we are seeing reopening of raupblts, movie theaters. some with capacity, some wide open. where do you think we are broadly in this crisis? . >> well, one benchmark we have that's really useful is israel's experience. it's a small country but a country that has vaccinated

people very efficiently. they are starting to see the effects of heard immunity. we are learning when that happens. so while we're not quite there yet with a number of people who have gone a first dose of the vaccine, we are seeing very encouraging trends in terms of decreases in cases, in hospitalizations. that said, and as you alluded to in your question, we have seen this before. we saw this in late spring, late summer in many states that had a second wave and now a third wave. what we can't do is roll back restrictions too fast. the other "spectre" in front of us is we are sequencing more of the virus, especially now in countries in south america, for example, where certain variants have really overtaken the country, as well as south africa, which we have known about for a while. we have to really be vigilant about stopping the spread as much as possible even as we vaccinate so we don't have more variants that come up that may

be resistant. i would say states of course should make sure vaccinated people know they can do certain things they couldn't do before. it's not like you can't necessarily see family members, et cetera. the cdc will have a lot more information on that soon. but restrictions should really be paced in a responsible way. >> so, doctor, i don't know if you're looking at models around the world or what could get us to an answer to this. when will the vaccine rate impact the death rate in america and slow it down? >> what we know from vulnerable populations and the degree of which they are vaccinated in israel and other countries as well, you really don't start to see the effects of herd immunity until you reach about 40% to 50% of any given population. the good news in the united states is that for seniors, we're already pretty much there.

65 plus approaching 50% in many states exceeding that, as well as in many other states. hopefully we'll really start to see a decrease in hospitalizations soon because that is the most vulnerable group. but, again, remember, as cases lag deaths don't start to go down for at least a few weeks after that. so we won't know the effects for some time in terms of the next month or so. >> and it seemed like you were saying earlier that if we can get the vaccine out we will push back the variants. did i understand that correctly? and who will the vaccine not work for? >> it's a good question. all of that has to do with the way the variants develop in the first place.

it replicates millions of times. and the machinery inside the virus that replicates it sometimes makes mistakes. sometimes they create mutations that can cause the virus to be spread more easily or even become more severe. and so if you stop the spread, if you limit the spread, you decrease the likelihood of new variants forming. of course when people travel from abroad or other places, even state to state, they can bring the new variants to new populations that can then overtake what people have in that state or that area. you have to stop the spread in order to prevent the variants from happening in the first place. >> yamiche, jump in. >> i have a two-part question. the first is what do you make of the racial makeup of the people getting the vaccine? it seems there are much lower numbers of african-americans getting the vaccine as compared

to white americans. also, when it comes to the j&j vaccine, are you worried one vaccine over another should be used in populations in communities of color? >> that's a very important question. we have seen in our townhalls, in our community engagement efforts, there is some concern about the overall effectiveness being slightly lower for the johnson & johnson vaccine. so are you offering us a less effective vaccine? first of all, we have been offering moderna and pfizer to the community we serve, which is a majority/minority community. the bottleneck so far has been hesitancy. the most important thing to mention when it comes to the most important reason we vaccination to, prevent hospitalizations and death, the johnson & johnson vaccine is just as good the pfizer and moderna vaccines, the two that are already available. the name of the game is

preventing bad outcomes. j&j is just as good. when you present the facts to communities, they do understand. but we have to make sure we don't emphasize things that matter less such as preventing mild disease. we know what the real goal is for public health. . >> all right. president and ceo of newark, new jersey hospital dr. that hal. thank you for being on the show this morning. ahead, our next guest is pointing out five pandemic mistakes that we keep repeating. we'll tell you what those are when "morning joe" comes right back. when "morning joe" comes right ck

i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side? discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ hey limu! [ squawks ]iggling) that's my turtle. how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... oh, sorry... [ laughter ] woops! [ laughter ] good evening! meow! nope. oh... what? i'm an emu! ah ha ha. no, buddy! buddy, it's a filter! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ i'm a performer. always have been. and always will be. never letting anything get in my way.

not the doubts, distractions, or voice in my head. and certainly not arthritis. voltaren provides powerful arthritis pain relief to help me keep moving. and it can help you too. feel the joy of movement with voltaren. bike shop please hold. bike sales are booming. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed

you get a shortlist of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your $75 credit when you post your first job at indeed.com/bike. so you want to make the best burger ever? then make it! when you post your first job that means selling everything. and eating nothing but cheese till you find the perfect slice... even if everyone asks you... another burger truck? don't listen to them! that means cooking day and night until you get... [ ding ] you got paid! that means adding people to the payroll. hi mom. that means... best burger ever. intuit quickbooks helps small businesses be more successful with payments, payroll, banking and live bookkeeping.

the latest piece on the five pandemic mistakes we keep repeating.

you say risk compensation. what do you mean? >> well, what i mean is from the beginning of the pandemic we have had a lot of message from public health authorities that worry if they told us that something made us safer we would just go out and be reckless and undo the safety edition. we saw this with masks. we are seeing it now with vaccinations. it is almost like we got the messaging optimized for behavior that thought we should do rather than saying here's the information and here's what will keep you safer. so that's the first method. it is a real problem with medical advice is they worry the patients will just be reckless.

. >> obviously we had a president controlling the message with bad information for a long time. zeynep, number two on your list, rules in place of mechanisms and in tuitions. what rewe talking about here? >> for example, right now the guidelines to this day do not distinguish properly between indoors and outdoors. they don't really explain to people how the transmission we know occurs, which is mostly through the aerosols and sort of the things we inhale. which to this day i have not been able to track a single confirmed outdoor superspreader event. this is a pathogen that's very superspreader germ, right? most people to not transmit but people in poorly ventilated places transmit a lot. we need to avoiding indoor spaces.

we should be going out. we should be going for a walk. instead, we have rules like six feet, 15 minutes. well, that doesn't make sense. what happens at five feet? is that the same indoors and outdoors. what we should do, once again, is empower people. this is how it spreads. when you see the very crowded grocery store, it doesn't matter. six feet is not safer because the little floaty things can accumulate there. outdoors, you don't need to panic if somebody passes by you less than six feet for a second because the air will dilute that virus. i think that kind of in tuitions how it spreads will help us make better decisions. instead, we have these very strict rules which didn't really completely apply. we have a lot of research six feet in 15 minutes depends where you are. we should tell people that part, not strict rules. >> mike barnicle.

>> zeynep, the third element is scolding and shaming. now i have been scolded and shamed since parochial school, so i have a little thicker skin than most people. why should i be be scolded and shamed for wanting to go see my grandchildren more often, for wanting more socialization in my life when i will well aware of the dangers of the virus. i try to read up on it. i try to keep up on it. we refer to it multiple times each and every day. the element of scolding and shaming that surrounds this, how damaging has it been? . >> i think it's been terribly damaging for two major reasons. one, we don't even scold the right things. we have people going to the beach being shamed. the beach is probably the safest thing you can do. we have people being scolded and shamed for wanting to see their grandchildren. which of course is normal and of course you will take the

necessary precautions based on your vaccination status and what is involved. we didn't even scold the right things. the second thing is the scolding focuses on things we can see. we will see people at a restaurant and we will scold them. i wouldn't go to an indoor restaurant. it doesn't seem like a reasonable thing. but the biggest risk there is to the cooks and the waitresses. line cook is the highest danger for death in california, according to a paper. the scolding focuses on safe things, very often, things we can see rather than the essential workers that we don't really see or erases the real victim. it just entrenches people's polarization. since when has a finger wagging been convincing. what you need to say is, yeah, we will stop scolding things like beaches and outdoors, and we're not even going to scold

things we know should be avoided. we will educate people and say if you want to socialize, here's how to do it safer. and that's what will get us out of here. not sort of constantly saying, no, no, no, shame on you, shame on you. it's here's how to do it better, and then we'll get there. . >> all right. four more on harm reduction and the balance between balance and action much more go to the atlantic's website to get 5 pandemic mistakes we keep repeating. zeynep, thank you for coming on the show this morning. georgia went through in 2020 thanks to record turnout. now republicans in the state want to pass strict new voting requirements. we'll talk about that next on "morning joe". xt on "morning joe".

♪ for every idea out there, that gets the love it should ♪ ♪ there are 5 more that don't succeed ♪ ♪ and so are lost for good ♪ ♪ and some of them are pretty flawed ♪ ♪ and some of them are slightly odd ♪ ♪ but many are small businesses that simply lack the tool ♪ ♪ to find excited people who will stop and say 'that's cool'♪ ♪ and these two, they like this idea ♪ ♪ and those three like that one.♪ ♪ and that's 'cause personalized ads ♪ ♪ find good ideas for everyone ♪ my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful.

emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™ janssen can help you explore cost support options.

for veteran families, when it comes to finding and buying your dream home, we'll be there to make it happen. we'll be there when you want better rates too. or to get money for retirement. we'll be there because we work only with veteran families like yours to help you get the most life out of a home for the life of your family find your rhythm. your happy place. find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c.

republican lawmakers in georgia are pushing to roll back

voting access just months after record voter turnout in the previously deep red state elected democrats to the white house and the senate. georgia house bill 531 passed largely along party lines over the objection of state democrats and amid protests by civil rights groups angry over voter suppression. the new law, if passed by the state senate, would require voter. i.d. for an kwrepbt see voting, limit the amount of time voters to to request an absentee ballot, restricts where ballot dropboxs can be located, restricts when ballot boxes can be accessed, and limits early voting hours on weekends, among many other changes. republicans say it is needed to restore the public's confidence in elections after former president donald trump and his allies relentlessly pushed false

claims about fraud. the senate ethics committee voted friday to eliminate no excuse absentee voting altogether, a measure that will soon go to the full senate. gene robinson, your writing is related to this. what do you make of, first of all, what they're trying to do in georgia? >> well, what they're trying to do in georgia is limit the african-american vote. and that's what republicans in charge of the state legislature are trying to do in order to hold onto power. and on the state wide level, reclaim power. it is -- it is -- and that's full stop. that's what's going on. this looks like a sort of knee-jerk reaction to the donald trump's loss and the losses of senators perdue, loeffler in the election. but i think there's a lot more calculation than that.

in what's happening now. georgia has been trending purple and now blueish for a while. and republicans have seen those maybe they can lower the democratic vote by putting -- by hurting the opportunities of african-americans to vote in central atlanta, maybe they can come at them in the atlanta suburbs. georgia is not the only state, but this is perhaps the most egregious example, given all the focus on georgia and also given the senate outcomes. >> this is a national issue

that's drawn the attention of the white house. stacey abrams most prominently there in the state of georgia as well. where else are we seeing this crop up? they would have swung that election and perhaps given the white house to donald trump. but this is not unique to georgia, as you write about. >> no. we're seeing it particularly in the states where former president trump contested the election results. there are even more and more ridiculous anti-democratic legislation being put up by republicans in arizona, for example, including a bill that would allow the state legislature to pick their own electors no matter what the election laws. but you are seeing it in pennsylvania, wisconsin. you are actually seeing it in 33

states. and there are these kinds of measures in 33 states across the country. >> wow. so basically the bottom line on this in georgia is they are putting limits on this in absentee votes. two-thirds of them went for joe biden. >> yeah. willie, it is not just georgia, too. now in arizona and other states they are trying to change the system whereby electors are appointed. and in further reference to bag the next presidential election. and, gene, i don't think it's too harsh to describe all of these activities taking place and put forward by one political party, the republican party, as that political party at the

national level and in many instances at the state level living in fear of the constant changing face of america. >> absolutely. absolutely. i mean, this is -- i describe it in my piece as very much akin to jim crowe era voting restrictions on african-americans. not just african-americans who were targeted in arizona, for example, it would be more hispanic voters that are being targeted. but this is becoming a majority/minority country. it will be a white anglo majority in this country around the year 2045. that's already the case in our more populus states and our populus cities. this is, i think, in direct reaction to that. the republican party has become the white party, and the white

party is trying to hold power. >> the next phase of the republican party is going to be about restricting the right to vote and really trying to find ways to make it so that they can win at the ballot box in some ways by shrinking the people. i'm saying that objectively as a reporter because if you listen to president trump's speech at cpac, he did not like mail-in voting because that's how he lost the election when in fact the way he lost the election was a lot about messages, they didn't want him to be in power in the middle of pandemic that he had been downplaying, rather than the actual messaging that got him not elected. but it was clear he was laying out this idea that he wanted to see only voting in one day, that

absentee voting has to be much, much harder. what we have seen were republicans, especially, where they have control of the state legislatures, which is in majority of states they used that power to curtail voting. you can't have that conversation without realizing we have having it on the eve of bloody sunday where john lewis and so many others went to try to fight for voting fights and were almost killed doing that. i think with the first bloody sunday happening without john lewis being here, it shouldn't be lost on any american that the right to vote was not something that just came up, that people had to fight and die for women to vote, for black people to vote in this country. and we remember that judge in north carolina saying republicans targeted

african-americans with surgical precision. this is something we have to think about, the way our democracy was attacked and is functioning in this country. it is something that is troubling but also something that is top of mind for so many people. >> absolutely. thank you for that. and still ahead, fbi director christopher wray is expected to answer questions about the january 6th riot today. the latest on that testimony from ken delanion and ari mel burr. plus, if donald trump was so great for the g.o.p., why is the republican party out of power? that's next on "morning joe." ♪

when you drive this smooth, you save with allstate. you've never been in better hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today. [drum beat and keyboard typing] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [keyboard typing] ♪♪ [trumpet] [keyboard typing] nicorette® knows, quitting smoking is hard. you get advice like: try hypnosis... or... quit cold turkey are you kidding me?! instead, start small. with nicorette®. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette® i have the power to lower my a1c. because i can still make my own insulin.

and trulicity activates my body to release it. once-weekly trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. most people taking it reached an a1c under 7%. trulicity may also help you lose up to 10 pounds and lower your risk of cardiovascular events, whether you know you're at risk or not. trulicity isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. it's not approved for use in children. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. taking trulicity with sulfonylurea or insulin raises low blood sugar risk. side effects include nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and may worsen kidney problems. i have it within me to lower my a1c. ask your doctor about once-weekly trulicity. i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side?

discover never holds you responsible for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter.

it all starts with an invitation... ...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. lease the 2021 nx 300 for $359 a month for 36 month's and we'll make your first month's payment. experience amazing. at washington national institutes of health, america's top virus official dr. anthony fauci says the coronavirus is spreading and america may need to take drastic actions. >> what are we dealing with this coronavirus? >> we're dealing with clearly an emerging infectious disease that has now reached out break proportions and likely pandemic proportions. if we get a major out break of

this coronavirus in this country, that would mean closing schools, getting people to do more teleworking, canceling events where there is a lot of crowds in confined places, canceling unnecessary travel so that you are not on an airplane for five hours with a bunch of people who might be infected. >> that would have a huge step. that would have huge implications. >> it would. but it would be temporary, but it would be necessary. >> wow. a fascinating time capsule from one year ago today, guys. dr. anthony fauci warning the nation what it was up against and what a year it has been. willie, he predicted it to a tee and things got worse because of how badly things were run trying to counter the pandemic. >> that was one year ago today and then you look at the lower

right hand side of your screen and see 516,000 americans have died because of this. all the things mr. fauci said there. he's become such a part of the furniture of our lives every day. but he's talking about school closings, make some teleworking. here we are a year later shut down and we pass these other anniversaries where president trump said he was going to disappear. while people like dr. fauci were sounding the alarm a year ago, we were still getting from our government the message it was going to be okay if we just closed our eyes and let it disappear. >> just to put things in proper perspective because i know february, march, april seemed to be a blur to so many of us, dr. fauci said that on march the 2nd. i believe it was in february

where bob woodward sat down with donald trump who already was saying this is going to be a killer virus. it was going to affect the old and the young. it was five times as bad as the flu, that it was really deadly and a big problem. it was more than a month before that that joe biden wrote an op-ed in usa today where he said, we are not prepared for a pandemic. and the president would do well to listen to his scientists and his doctors of course talking about then president donald trump. that just never happened. and, willie, the consequences are hard to fathom. >> it is. you know, if we pass the 500,000 death mark a few days ago. remember, we had here and said a year ago there was a talk of maybe 240,000 on the high end and that seemed unthinkable,

impossible. our lives have been completely upended and it takes a moment like that to watch that year ago. it is hard to remember a time when we were speculating schools would have to close, maybe some events would be canceled. since then, businesses have closed, children have lost a year of education, people have lost loved ones. it has completely changed the country. >> we have a lot to get to this morning. on the virus, the first doses of johnson & johnson's vaccine are rolling out across the country as the cdc director warns it is not time to ease up on restrictions yet. social distancing and mask wearing. the senate is expected to vote on president biden's coronavirus relief bill. we'll show you the numbers on that. also this morning a third woman has come forward with a harassment allegation against

new york governor andrew cuomo. and now some democrats are calling for him to resign. also, u.s. sanctions on russia are expected as early as today. we will get the new reporting on that. but, joe, a lot to get to because i thought it was so interesting over the weekend the cpac event and form president trump's speech, it was almost like he walked off the stage and like he became invisible again. everything sort of fell flat. i don't think he got the reaction that he wanted. and all the discussions that we have about the party and the impact that he's having on the party, it is also sort of interesting to watch just general reaction to him. i'm not seeing it. >> getting reporting a day later, he wasn't pleased with the speech. but he was inside. somebody there described it almost like a sound check for a

band. you are inside this big hall. it is a third full, and that's because of covid. it's not in washington. it's down in orlando. and the whole thing seemed very small to him. and he was irritated. >> so he didn't get the reaction he wanted. >> he didn't get the reaction he wanted. but then after an hour he went off script. and when he went off script, that's when he really started churning out the conspiracy theories, which upset people there, upset his people there who thought he really needed to stay away from the conspiracy theories. so all in all, it didn't go well. and then of course, miikka, i saw last night "the wall street journal" opinion page who we have been following very closely because at times they have -- they have seemed far too -- well, they have cowed down to donald trump at times. but there have been other times

where they have drawn a line in the sand and before very tough. and it certainly seems like this morn's op-ed is one of those times. it's like they have had enough. and i've got to say, democrats and people in the media wring their hands when donald trump comes out now. we talked about it yesterday. >> uh-huh. >> and "the wall street journal" is saying, and i think they may be right that actually donald trump when he comes out is something democrats should cheer about because he's genuinely bad for their party. and this editorial, let's read a little bit of the editorial, miikka. this editorial really is -- it has to be the must read, especially for republicans on capitol hill today. >> yeah. okay. so it's entitled "the grievances of trump past," in which they ask if he was so great politically for the g.o.p., why

is the party now out of power? and the board writes this, mr. trump said sunday that he won't form a third party because it would divide the center right coalition and elect democrats. he also laid out his political enemies list and is clearly bent on revenge against anyone who voted to impeach or convict him or disagrees with his election claims. these intraparty fights will zap g.o.p. energy and resources when their priority should be retaking congress in 2022. mr. trump's base of support means he will play an important role in the g.o.p. but as the biden months go on and the policy consequences of the 2020 defeat become stark, perhaps the party's grass roots will begin to look passed the trump era to a new generation of potential standard bearers.

as long as republicans focus on grievances of trump past, they won't be a governing majority. so, joe, what they're saying is trump equals losing. >> well, he does. they're the party of grievance. compare the democratic party right now with the republican party right now. you have the democratic party that lined up behind a candidate. let's talk about bernie sanders and aoc. they lined up behind a candidate, joe biden, who, as aoc said, in any other country would be in another party from her. very little in common. they consider joe biden to be a relic from a different age idealogically. democratic party passed. yet, what do they do? they work around the clock to getting elected. talk to biden people off the record. they will tell you that bernie sanders worked as hard as

anybody to get them elected. aoc worked hard as well. other progressives that disagreed with joe biden on a lot of issues. even thousand democrats figuring out how to come together from bernie sanders to joe manchin that pass a bill that actually 76% of americans support. and the republican party is opposing that bill. the democratic party is acting -- and i know republicans understand this on the hill. the democratic party right now is acting like a governing majority. they're acting like a party that wants to pass legislation, who wants to make a difference, who wants to advance their causes that are near and dear to them. and guess what? they're willing to compromise, even with joe manchin, even with bernie sanders. they want to move the ball down the field. and then you have the republican party that has turned into a

party of gestures, empty gestures and grievance. >> anger. >> this is not a contest. >> uhn-uhn. >> this is not close. the republican party, unless they actually read "the wall street journal" editorial today and take it to heart and figure out how to start be constructive and understand. i said this yesterday. this is so important. understand that this is not 2009. the battlefield is always changing. you lose by fighting the last war. that's the old saying. joe biden is not barack obama. you can't just obstruct in 2021 and they you are going to get the same results you got from 2009 to 2016. it is not going to work. they're going to pass legislation. they're going to run over you. they're going to run around you. they're going to run through you all day because they know what you did in 2009/2010, 2011,

2012. they understand. they understand that even when donald trump got elected, you hardly passed any landmark legislation. you passed a tax cut, yes. good for you. good for you. you made tech billionaires even richer. you made sure that am san paid zero in taxes. you made sure that all the people you claim to hate made billions and billions and billions of dollars in this covid crisis while working class and middle class americans were suffering so badly. yeah, you did that. donald trump, as you know, went down to mar-a-lago and dragged to his millionaire friends, i've made you all richer. so that's the one thing you have done legislatively since 2009. it is not going to cut it. and, so, the rest is just grievance. if you ivy league boys going up

attacking ivy league schools. ted cruz attacking country clubs when ted cruz has continued to worship a guy politically who actually lives in his own country club and spent a lot of his presidency in his own country clubs that he owns. >> polling the public on covid relief. what the numbers say about americans appetite for more help from washington. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. are you managing your diabetes... ...using fingersticks? with the new freestyle libre 2 system, a continuous glucose monitor, you can check your glucose with a painless, one-second scan. and now with optional alarms, you can choose to be notified if you go too high or too low. and for those who qualify,

the freestyle libre 2 system is now covered by medicare. ask your doctor for a prescription. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestyle libre 2 dot u.s. ♪♪ re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the morning! i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. i made a business out of my passion. i mean, who doesn't love obsessing over network security? all our techs are pros. they know exactly which parking lots have the strongest signal. i just don't have the bandwidth for more business. seriously, i don't have the bandwidth. glitchy video calls with regional offices?

yeah, that's my thing. with at&t business, you do the things you love. our people and network will help do the things you don't. let's take care of business. at&t. my plaque psoriasis... ...the itching ...the burning. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. my psoriatic arthritis, made my joints stiff, swollen... painful. emerge tremfyant™ with tremfya®, adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis...

...can uncover clearer skin and improve symptoms at 16 weeks. tremfya® is also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. tremfya®. emerge tremfyant™ janssen can help you explore cost support options. before nexium 24hr, anna could only imagine a comfortable night's sleep without frequent heartburn waking her up. now, that dream... . ...is her reality. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts, for all-day, all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn?

senate majority leader chuck schumer announced yesterday the senate will take up the covid relief plan for passage.

this week the house version passed over the weekend with a $15 minimum wage in it. but senate majority whip dick durbin says they will not overrule the parliamentarian who ruled. it was not permissible under the rules of budget reconciliation. they will allow pension plan protection and assistance with paying cobra premiums to remain in the bill. let's bring in jacqueline and elliot morris. good morning to you both. how is this going to roll out this week? are they going to peel off the $15 minimum wage and pass it through reconciliation with democratic votes? >> that's a really good question, willie, and something that's still up in the air. senator bernie sanders is pushing this minimum wage provision despite the senate

parliamentarian's ruling. but overruling the senate parliamentarian would be quite dramatic and something the white house says they are against. senator sanders said he will raise it as an amendment, essentially daring people like senator joe manchin who have said they don't want to overrule the parliamentarian to vote on the $15 minimum wage hike in the vote that will begin as the senate begins to debate this final covid package. but the white house said they are against overruling the senate parliamentarian. people described it to me as a pretty shocking situation that was almost unprecedented. it is hard to imagine democrats doing it, but you have progressive and people like sanders and senator warren pressing this ahead calling for, one, overruling the

parliamentarian or over ruling the filibuster. >> if you have senator warren and senator sanders saying this has to be in, where does that leave the white house? >> yeah. you know, it's unclear what that debate looks like internally right now. but from a public perspective, we had both sides sticking with their, you know, their proclamations that they're not budging either way. right now democrats don't have a way forward of delivering a signature policy proposal of hiking the minimum wage because it does -- congress doesn't have the votes -- sorry, democratic senators don't have the votes to pass this as a stand alone bill because senators haven't agreed -- senators haven't agreed to eliminate the filibuster. it is unclear who is going to

budge here. the white house has done a good job at accommodating progressive leftist flank on these sorts of provisions. perhaps they will budge on a different provision here like increasing unemployment insurance, extending it a month or two, but that's something we will play out on the hill later today. >> you look at the polling on this. i know you have been studying it. this is the most popular pieces of legislation we have seen in a long time. it pushes us closer to getting schools reopened. whether you are a democrat or a republican, there is obviously something in here for you. >> that's right. and i should say we compared this polling data to sources from a political scientist at george washington university, and we found that on average of the polls that asked support for the covid relief bill, about 70% of americans, as high as 76% depending on the polls support

biden's measures. that's higher than the support that the 2007 minimum wage hike or 2009 minimum wage hike. that's higher support than any of trump's legislation asked for in years. americans want, they need really, so we have to also ask the questions of why this isn't being expedited in the senate and what barriers could be stalling the process. >> our next guest says vaccinating educators is key to reopening schools. his new opinion piece straight ahead on "morning joe." it all starts with an invitation...

...to experience lexus. the invitation to lexus sales event. lease the 2021 is 300 for $359 a month for 36 month's and we'll make your first month's payment. experience amazing. was that your great-grandmother, keeping the family together? was that your grandfather, paving the way for change. did they brave mother nature... and walk away stronger? did they face the unknown, with resolve...and triumph. ♪♪ there's strength in every family story. learn more about yours. at ancestry.

introducing voltaren arthritis pain gel. there's strength the first full prescription strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel... available over the counter. voltaren is powerful arthritis pain relief in a gel. voltaren. the joy of movement. with unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans, there's so much to take advantage of. like $0 copays on virtual visits... ♪ wow ♪ uh-huh $0 copays on primary care visits and lab tests. ♪ wow ♪ uh-huh plus, $0 copays on hundreds of prescription drugs. ♪ wow ♪ uh-huh unitedhealthcare medicare advantage plans. including the only plans with the aarp name. most plans have a $0 premium. it's time to take advantage. ♪ wow ♪ limu emu & doug ♪

it's time to take advantage. hey limu! [ squawks ] how great is it that we get to tell everybody how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need? i mean it... oh, sorry... [ laughter ] woops! [ laughter ] good evening! meow! nope. oh... what? i'm an emu! ah ha ha. no, buddy! buddy, it's a filter! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ this is a no-nonsense message from three. small business insurance usually doesn't cover everything you need. it's long on pages. short on coverage. that's why three was created. it covers your entire business in just one policy. because small business owners have enough on their hands. so go with three and leave those old policies in the dust. sawdust. technically. don't interrupt the spokesperson. this commercial is now over. logo. three. no nonsense. just common sense.

multiple sources telling nbc news the u.s. is expected to impose coordinated sanctions on russia as early as today. the sanctions come after the poisoning of russian opposition leader aleksi navalny and will be the first to target moscow

since biden became president, including the kremlin's actions against navalny, interference into the u.s. election, the solarwinds hack and reported bounties offered to taliban-linked groups to target u.s. forces in afghanistan. that's a lot that's been happening over the past few years. let's bring in natasha who has been following all this. tell us about the latest with the sanctions and navalny. >> there is going to be more discussions about how to roll this out in coordination with the european union. this is something they had been discussing since biden came into office. they were doing this review and

trying to figure out the best way to penalize russia. of course poisoning aleksi navalny, the campaign that targeted so many federal agencies and the united states and the reports that russians were putting bounties on american troops heads in afghanistan. what is happening is there was a sanctions package left by the trump administration for the biden administration that never got passed at the end of the president's last couple days in office, and they have been deciding whether or not to use parts of that sanctions package or whether to just, you know, kind of reestablish their own parameters for penalizing russia. looks like they wanted this to be more multilateral. they wanted to work more with the european union on this. but it is an important first step in the biden administration's plans to hold russia accountable.

>> obviously putin had gotten very comfortable the last four years under donald trump knowing there wouldn't be consequences for his actions and we see why he works so hard to get donald trump elected because we're seeing the opposite. how is putin viewing this biden administration and how seriously is he taking these sanctions? >> it's a blow for sure. i mean, the united states has, of course, imposed sanctions many times on russia, and it has yet to really change vladimir putin's behavior. one of the big things that activists and that former policy experts and foreign administration officials say could change his behavior is the gas pipeline from germany to russia. that is something that allies of the united states, including ukraine, who are foes of russia, are really pushing biden to consider, is taking harsher steps to, you know, just

completely impede the construction of that pipeline. it doesn't look like that's going to happen, and that is kind of irking u.s. allies like ukraine who are in the cross hairs at this point. but sanctions are an important first step for signaling to the russians that this administration is willing to hold them accountable in a way the former president wasn't. of course never confronted by putin directly on anything. >> thank you very much for coming on this morning. coming up, fbi director christopher wray could face tough questions this morning stemming from the january 6th riot on capitol hill. that's just ahead on "morning joe."

pain hits fast. so get relief fast. only tylenol rapid release gels have laser-drilled holes. they release medicine fast for fast pain relief. tylenol rapid release gels.

hi sabrina! >>hi jen! so this aveeno® moisturizer goes beyond just soothing sensitive skin? exactly jen! calm + restore oat gel is formulated with prebiotic oat. and strengthens skin's moisture barrier. uh! i love it! aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ it's moving day. and while her friends are doing the heavy lifting, jess is busy moving her xfinity internet and tv services. it only takes about a minute. wait, a minute?

but what have you been doing for the last two hours? delegating? oh, good one. move your xfinity services without breaking a sweat. now that's simple, easy, awesome. xfinity makes moving easy. go online to transfer your services in about a minute. get started today. i remained deeply concerned about a potential shift in the

trajectory of the pandemic. recent declines in cases have levelled off at a very high number. we cannot be resigned to 70,000 cases a day. 2,000 daily deaths. please hear me clearly. at this level of cases, we stand to completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained. now is not the time to relax the critical safe guards we know can stop the spread of covid-19 in our communities. not when we are so close. >> we have three highly efficacious vaccines, a very important number that i want to reemphasize is there is 85% efficacy against severe covid-19 globally, including the united states. this is very important. >> all right. dr. fauci and cdc director warning that now is not the time

to loosen covid restrictions, despite the good vaccine news like the effectiveness of the newly approved johnson & johnson vaccine that dr. anthony fauci was talking about. breaking news, president biden will announce today that the pharmaceutical giant merk will help make johnson & johnson vaccine. a quote unusual pact between fierce competitors that could boost the supply of the vaccine. that's according to senior officials as reported in the post. joining us now pediatrician and founding director of the columbia national center for disaster preparedness. he is an msnbc public health analyst. we appreciate your coming on. what do you make of this unusual relationship between the two companies in terms of disaster

preparedness? it seems like something that's exactly what is needed at the moment. >> good morning, miikka. this is good news. it did not happen by accident. it happened because the biden administration, covid officials and the task forces have been working to get the maximum doses produced of in this case the johnson & johnson vaccine. the whole idea of merk joining with their competitor johnson & johnson is extraordinary and needed. this will push over the top biden's hope to have 100 million doses of vaccine out in the first 100 days. this is tremendous news for making sure we're making the progress we need to make in getting everybody vaccinated. >> you can't overstate the

rivalry between these two companies and what it took to get them together on this, what effectively is a wartime effort where merck is offering a couple of its facility to make j&j product to get it out quicker. now with this new speed, what does it mean for the pace of return to normal? i hesitate to use that phrase, but some version of normal for the country. >> yeah. and by the way, willie, a lot of people have different ideas of what normal is. we have been surveying the public at random. some say i want to visit my grandchildren or go to a grant, whatever it is. but normal from a public health point of view would mean we have tamped down the spread of this horrible virus. yeah, we have a lot of criteria before we can say we're back to normal. but the more people that get vaccinated and as soon as we reach that magic number of between 70% and 90% of americans

being vaccinated, we'll reach the herd immunity that we want. under no circumstances can we relax the institution and compliance with the masking, dissansing and so on. so a lot to do, but having johnson & johnson in the mix is tremendous. it doesn't need the extreme cold transportation and storage that the pfizer and moderna vaccines need. so, yeah, it is big news and now joining up with merck is big news and i'm optimistic that by the summer we will made a lot of progress and that we'll have a normal thanksgiving this year. >> wow. wow. that is something to look forward to. you have a new piece in the atlanta journal constitution entitled "vaccinating educators

now is key to reopening schools." you write my principal concern is the guideline should be much stronger when it comes to vaccinating teachers. vaccinations for teachers should be available as soon as supply allows. but as of now, at least 10 to 15 million doses of vaccine are on shelves and could be available to the nation's 3.7 million public and private school k to 12 teachers. you continue, this would give educators a much needed sense of confidence that they would be safe and protected in schools, especially with increased efforts to make classrooms compliant with essential public health guidelines. i tend to agree with you. i guess my question is who doesn't? at this point we have to figure any essential worker is someone who is exposed to lots of people who could spread the

coronavirus. >> right, miikka. but this is not so much about the teachers. it is about the children. and i think the necessity for getting kids back on track educationally is overwhelming. there is three problems right now with the pandemic. first of all, we have to control the deaths and the illness caused by this virulent virus. secondly the economy. the economy can be fixed by appropriate relief measures. but the thing that's lurking in the wings, miikka, is this horrendous educational disaster for children who have missed so much school. you know, from my own grandchildren and other people's kids who are living in comfort, yeah, they can function with remote learning. but there are millions and millions of children behind the eight ball since the beginning of the pandemic and we have

never seen before the level of educational impairment that's been caused by this disruption of schooling. we're going to look at a marshall plant level task ahead of us to try to get kids back on track. it's going to be really, really difficult. that's an emergency. it is an emergency now and in the future. i would like to see us taking this more seriously in a way and aggressively saying, listen, if teachers need to be vaccinated to get people back into the classroom to get children back in the classroom, let's do it. what are we waiting for? >> couldn't agree with you more. it's felt like an emergency for most families more a year now. there is an entire year now where many children frankly haven't been engaged at all in school. they don't have wifi or the remotely. why hasn't it been more urgent?

why haven't we rushed vaccines to teachers and done more work studies for kids? why hasn't this been more of a priority as it has been for parents and kids? >> well, you know, we had a year of misinformation, of missteps, of incompetence and a very, very disorganized messaging coming from the white house. and all of that has left these big problems unattended to and really unfocussed on. and, you know, and what's happened now is we have a bunch of random plans for vaccinating people and teachers and so on. but this issue of focussing on our children has been, to me, one of the most compelling things we should have done and haven't as of yet. we're going to pay a price for this. they will grow up with, you know, educationally impaired realities that prevent them from becoming successful in life, from getting jobs and so on.

it is an american long-term problem as well as a tragic problem for those that missed school. like you said, willie, if you don't have a laptop at home or you have one that's being shared with three kids or parents trying to work remotely, it doesn't work. absenteeism is increasing. it is a literal disaster for america and america's children. we must address this as forcefully and effectively as we possibly can at this point. we can't roll back time, but we can look forward and make sure that we're doing the right thing right now. >> doctor, thank you very much. he's a pediatrician and founding director of the columbia national center for disaster preparedness. president biden will announce today that pharmaceutical giant merck and company will help make johnson & johnson's single shot

coronavirus vaccine. did intelligence analysts miss warning signs before the riot at the u.s. capitol? there are some questions that fbi director christopher wray is expected to face from congress today. straight ahead. stay with us. today. straight ahead stay with us

new projects means new project managers. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. the moment you sponsor a job on indeed you get a short list of quality candidates from our resume database. claim your seventy five dollar credit, when you post your first job at indeed.com/home. ♪ ♪i've got the brains you've got the looks♪ ♪let's make lots of money♪ ♪you've got the brawn♪ ♪i've got the brains♪ ♪let's make lots of♪ ♪uh uh uh♪ ♪oohhh there's a lot of opportunities♪ with allstate, drivers who switched saved over $700. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate click or call to switch today. i think the sketchy website i bought this turtle from stole all of my info. ooh, have you looked on the bright side? discover never holds you responsible

for unauthorized purchases on your card. (giggling) that's my turtle. fraud protection. discover. something brighter. think you're managing your moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease? i did. until i realized something was missing...me. my symptoms were keeping me from being there for him. so, i talked to my doctor and learned... humira is for people who still have uc or crohn's symptoms after trying other medications. and humira

helps people achieve remission that can last, so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. loves me. loves me not. new neutrogena® skin balancing! 3 made-for-you formulas with 2% pha exfoliate and condition for soft, balanced skin. find the one. neutrogena® since the 6th, it has been

suggested that the department was either ignorant of or ignored critical intelligence that indicated that an attack of the magnitude we experienced on january 6th would occur. the department was not ignorant of intelligence, indicating an attack of the size and scale we encountered on the 6th. there was no such intelligence. >> that was acting chief of capitol police testifying last week before congress denying that her department failed to pay attention to intelligence reports ahead of the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol that warned of potential violence. fbi director christopher wray is expected to answer questions about that riot for the first time later today. wray will sit for his yearly senate judiciary committee oversight hearing and will likely have to answer questions surrounding the intelligence

failures that led up to the capitol siege. wray's testimony today will be the first public statement from the fbi on the status of their investigation into the riot. for more on this, let's bring in nbc news correspondent covering national security and intelligence ken dilanian, and host of the beat on msnbc, ari melber. ken, i'll start with you with what we are expecting, or hoping to hear today. >> well, senators are going to want to know how the fbi essentially missed what they are now saying in court documents, mika. because if you look at the charges against some of these capitol reuters, particularly against the militia groups, the people that the fbi said led this insurrection the fbi now has evidence of plotting and planning. there are text messages describing the indictments saying we need to get violent to change this election, going back

to november. the question is, why didn't the fbi detect any of this or did they and did they not share it? they say that, look, there was a lot of chatter on social media and that doesn't add up to intelligence. that's not a credible threat. and, you know, we can debate about that. but they have a point there. but in these court documents they are describing plots and plans by militia groups that have been on their radar for years. as i've said before if it was al qaeda or isis, based on the record of the last 20 years we can expect some of these people never would have made it out of their home airports on january 6th or the day before. why wasn't the same intelligence collection applied to these far right groups? that's one question wray is going to have to answer and then he's also going to have discuss what is the level of resources the fbi is applying to domestic terrorism threat. as recently as 2019 it was 8:/20.

80% of their cases were al qaeda related. the threat is not in that place right now. the greater threat the domestic terrorism threat. >> so ari, on that point obviously director wray, the last time he was before congress, testifying he pointed to the fact that domestic terrorism is the chief threat right now, that the threat's coming from inside. so the questions today will be along the lines of, if that's true, why didn't you do more at the fbi to stop what happened on january 6th given all the chatter there was online? >> yeah, willie, that's a great point, he said that under oath to congress already, that this was the greater threat, which went beyond what the past two fbi directors had said, comey and mueller, almost on par with al qaeda. to your and ken's point and reporting if this is what has been established for so many years what is holding back perhaps equal resources and equal vigilance. the obvious question is whether what's holding that back is something that is wrong, is it some sort of political pressure,

some discomfort with dealing with white supremacist terrorists because they're domestic or because sadly perhaps at times they've aligned with at least wings of right wing politics or the republican party? those are tough questions that he's got to get into and i don't think at a hearing like this, given what happened in the capitol, it's going to be enough to just say, oh, we're right sizing this. there's a lot of pressure today, obviously an important hearing and important for national security. >> ken, the fbi, and we may hear this from director wray will point out they did go around knocking on doors before january 6th based off chatter and told people to stay home and kept some people home. but what is the status of the fbi's attention on domestic terrorism given the fact that director wray signalled how significant it is? >> well, the justice department briefed reporters last week on this and they have promised that they are allocating more resources to this threat, more prosecutors, more investigators

and i think wray is going to detail some of that today. but when i talk to people who work domestic terrorism at the fbi current and former they say there are years of impediments to overcome here, there's a resources question but there's also a legal question. a lot of fbi people think that we need a law criminalizing domestic terrorism, adding penalties, adding a crime of domestic terrorism which we don't have right now because they say that's the only way you're going to get the right attention and focus on this. as of right now a lot of these cases have to be charged as other kinds of crimes, whether from murder to gang cases to drug cases. and the fbi doesn't even seem to have a good handle on the extent of domestic terrorism crimes around the country. i think wray is going to be asked about that today and he may have some answers about new directions in which they're going but this debate about whether there needs to be new laws, that's something that's going to go on for some time because civil liberties groups are very concerned about any new authorities to the fbi, willie.

>> and ari melber, before you go, i mean, this is going to be the top priority, so says merrick garland, the attorney general. it's very close to becoming that, at least. how do you expect this to play out? ? i think for starters what garland is doing and he's ostensibly the over seer of the fbi, the question is what are the larger cases that they want to bring? we've seen the piece by piece cases. we've seen a few more added charges of conspiracy which matters because then it goes beyond a riot or an individual being violent towards an officer and goes to whether the united states wants to charge multiple conspiracies here for what happened on the 6th. but i think for merrick garland and the years ahead sadly january 6 th, beyond everything else exposed a huge security -- any group domestic or otherwise

that saw that, maybe if you can embed with a protest group or a large enough crowd you can farther inside the capitol, even on a big day when national security and the vice president is there and others, what they want to do through charging and fortification, which is preventative law enforcement work is to try to make sure they change that perception at a real level of deterrence. everyone knows the doj brings cases and also it's supposed to work hand in glove with law enforcement to protect united states assets so some of these cases aren't necessary in the first place. >> all right, ari melber, we'll be watching "the beat" at 6:00 eastern time on msnbc. ken dilanian, thank you as well for your reporting as always. finally this morning as we slowly begin to look ahead to life after the pandemic, we're not there yet but there are some still plagued by the lingering effects of the virus and researchers want to know why. nbc news's stephanie gosk

reports. >> reporter: at the national institutes for health the human brain is revealing covid secrets. >> as you can see here all these blood vessels are quite abnormal. dark spots within the blood vessels. >> the dark spots shouldn't be there? >> they shouldn't be there. >> reporter: studying the brains of 30 people who died from covid but never had serious symptoms. >> most of them were found dead in bed. one person was found dead on a subway. another person was just laying with his sister and fell down dead. >> these are people that didn't have a lot of symptoms or if any at all and died suddenly. >> that's correct. >> reporter: i think most people who don't know much about covid think about it as a virus that just affects the lungs. this tells an entirely different story. doesn't it? >> yes, you're absolutely right. >> reporter: these brains, he says, could help answer one of the most perplexing mysteries of covid-19, why is it that long after the virus is gone some people are suffering from

symptoms that simply won't go away? >> i didn't lose my sense of smell, isome elled burning all the time, other things included brain fog. i'd write the same sentence six or seven times. i knew something wasn't right but i didn't know what. >> reporter: carrie was a healthy woman in her 30s a year ago when she first experienced a mild fever. it would take months and a positive antibody test before she realized she had covid. since, she hasn't been able to work. there were days when she couldn't even get out of bed. when she takes a shower her heart rate jumps to 170. it feels like sprinting a mile. >> reporter: you were not someone who was seriously affected by covid in the beginning. you were never on supplementary oxygen, right. >> fact. >> reporter: you never went to the hospital. >> no. >> reporter: you had what would be considered a minor case, right? >> yeah, yeah. >> reporter: now she's taking part in a massive billion dollar initiative at nih studying tens of thousands of people to

understand so called long haulers. >> we certainly are going to have to follow people for months and maybe years. >> reporter: the nih director says long haulers don't follow a pattern. some were really sick at first. others weren't. >> reporter: there's a lot that we don't know, but what are the central big questions you want answered through this study? >> i want to understand how this virus causes an illness that you don't get better from, the way you're supposed to? what is it? have you done harm to the body by some sort of blood clotting problem, by an immune system that's gone haywire? we don't know. >> reporter: the consequences could be felt long after the country is vaccinated. >> when you consider we know 28 million people in the united states have had covid if even 1% of them have chronic long-term consequences, that's a whole lot of people, and we need to find out everything we can about how to help them. >> stephanie gosk reporting there. and some breaking news to report, vernon jordan, a civil rights leader and close adviser

to former president bill clinton died last night. cnbc is reporting that just this morning. jordan served as the leader of the national urban league and worked with presidents from lyndon johnson to barack obama. vernon jordan was 85 years old. mika, vernon jordan known around washington as a hand to bill clinton, but of course had a long career as a civil rights leader before that. >> yup. and that does it for us this morning. thank you for that, willie. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hi there, i'm stephanie ruhle, live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is tuesday, march 2nd, let's get smarter. we start this morning with breaking news in the fight against covid-19. nbc has just confirmed a new historic business partnership, merck, set to join forces with johnson & johnson to ramp up production of johnson & johnson's ne