tonight. very happy to9w3 have you here. i'll seec youxd again tomorrow night. "way too early" is up next. ♪♪ thñ taliban is-9 making sweeping advances across afghanistan.?; this morning only añi handfulú government xdcontrol. the united statesñr is seiå 3,000 troopsñi back to theokñr to help with evacuations. the question is will we see the afghan government collapse within the next month? plus, the supreme court deu&ines a request3w by colleger students to5a block the coronavirus vaccine mandate. impact will this rule having on similarw3 lawsuits? and after months of public pressure, the father of

grammy-winning singercñiw3 ofjfy spears says koçóhe'sñi willing p down andko conservator. the question is the pop star finally free to sing? it's "way too early" for this. good morning and welcome to "way too early," the showçó tha on thisxd friday the 13th saw a black cat cross under a ladder after breaking a mirror on the way into the studio today. i'm jonathan lemire. itcy is indeed friday the 13th august. let's start with the x]quáyñi we'll begin overseas where the taliban is rapidlyçó gaining control of afghanistan. just this morning the "associated press" reports they captured two provincial cities. they took over the key city of kandahar r largest city of the country as well as the third largest city,b herat. "the new york times" reports many afghan soldiersok deserted the cities in the final days of

the battle andñi some even chan3 sides. this has sentxd cities fleeing some say the u.s. capitol may oh fears completely collapse within 30 days.w3 meanwhile theok biden troops to the kabul airport to help with a partialfá evacuatio of the u.s. embassy. the movet( described by the lpl as a sign of waning confidence to hold off the taliban surge to hold .s. the taliban surge is set to end its nearly 20-year is set to end its nearly 20-year missionlñt) p'istan. this as three american officials tell "the new york times" that americanñi negotiators are tryi to extr&[uok assurances from thp &háhp &hc% attack the u.s. embassy in kabul if the extremist group takes over the country's government and ever wantslpq toxdr foreign aid.e1ñi non-essential personnel had already been withdrawn fromt 12.

with this rapid advance of taliban forces, it seems like another piece of military falls to them. what is your sense of the people you talk to, the reporting you've done? how close are they to a full takeover by the taliban? >> well, jonathan, as we're

closer than we would have been, the speed at which the taliban has taken over the territory has left u.s. officials reeling. what you saw yesterday is truly stunning. remember, there were only about 3,000 u.s. forces in afghanistan, a small counterterrorism base force, you know, mostly around kabul. you know, when president biden decided that he wanted to pull out. we're sending 3,000 troops back in to get the americans out along with some vulnerable afghans, plus another 3,500 troops stationed nearby in kabul -- excuse me -- in kuwait that they could go into kabul if things got really, really bad. that is an amazing reversal in a short period of time, and it's all due to the fact that there is growing, growing fear certainly among u.s. officials, among our allies, britain,

canada, among them, that the government in kabul could fall in as soon as a month or maybe a little bit longer. remember, the taliban forces have deliberately not gone directly at kabul yesterday. but they are gaining ground around the city, essentially encircling it ahead of the possible peace talks in doha that you referenced in the opener. obviously their leverage is going up. the more territory they get, the more control they have, the more power they have to decide what happens next. >> certainly u.s. officials i talked to are stunned by just how swift this has been. anne, talk to us a little bit about president biden's long-term views of afghanistan, what his -- how he's viewed this country, you know, since his time as vice president to now, and is there anything that you're seeing from him where they could -- he and his

administration could reverse their decision to remove troops in the country. i know a few days ago he said he had no regrets about the call he had made. >> right. i think it's important to look back a little bit at the president's views of afghanistan. he was initially a supporter of the 2001 invasion in afghanistan. in fact, he appeared at the white house alongside president biden when president biden signed the congressional authorization for use of force to do that. but he very quickly changed his mind within a couple of years, certainly by 2005. he was calling that vote a mistake. he's never looked back. he has considered that the u.s. military operation in afghanistan was always really not doing very much to do much more than prop up the government in kabul. and while there were lots of social benefits, including the ability of women and girls go to

school, the series of elections that produced a civilian government in kabul, all good things from the americans' perspective, in biden's view, none of this was ever going to be sustainable without a real change in the way the afghan government ran itself. he never saw that. and, you know, all the time that he was vice president, he was arguing to president obama that they needed to be tougher, that they needed to lay down the law and say the united states isn't going to be there forever. they opposed the surge during the biden administration, and as president he came in determined to finish what he felt should have been started a long time ago and pull out. >> certainly this story line and the taliban's relentless advance is dominating what the administration is trying to do at this very moment. we'll have morn this story later in the show.

the "washington post's" anne gearan. thank you so much for being here. meanwhile alarming new numbers. daily hospitalizations now average almost 10,000 nationwide. that's up 31% in a week. in just a day, at least 152,000 new cases were confirmed with almost 900 more deaths. nbc news correspondent morgan chesky has the latest. >> reporter: hospitals running low on rooms staffed. florida reporting 41%. >> very, very tired and feeling defeated. >> federal officials announcing the next step in fighting covid announced booster shots for the immunocompromised. >> it's especially important as the delta variant spreads. >> reporter: they're now recommending another shot for the most vulnerable such as cancer patients and transplant recipients. with 90% of u.s. counties

experiencing high or substantial rates at a breaking point especially in the south where vaccination rates remain low. >> along the ppp crisis, it's care crisis. >> we're not machines. >> our rates of increased cases is a straight line up. >> reporter: florida has now seen more cases in the last week than 30 states combined, and in texas at "dallas's" parkland hospital, chief medical hospital's joseph chang said they're short nurses. >> where does that put you? >> it puts us in a really bad spot. >> reporter: he said parkland's maternity ward is doing the unthinkable. >> i had to make the decision a few weeks ago to transfer pregnant patient as way i, to not be able to take transfers because i'm so full of volume.

gut-wrenching. >> reporter: the nation's largest educators are endorsing teachers getting vaccinated. they say teachers and other educators should have the option to submit to regular testing but added that her 3 million members should embrace vaccinations ahead of the new school year. it is clear vaccinations is one of the most effective ways to keep schools safe. meanwhile the american federation of teachers, the nation's second largest teachers union has stopped short of enforcing vaccine requirements. according to politico, union officials instead voted to encourage its workers to mandate potential mandates with local governments and school systems. additionally the supreme court refused to block indiana university's requirement that students be vaccinated against covid-19 in order to attend classes in the fall sme southeast mester.

this was the first legal test of a covid vaccine mandate to come before the justices. bc news reports a challenge to the policy was directed to amy coney barrett, the justice in charge of that region of the country who denied it. there were no noted dissents from other justices. eight students asked the court for an emergency order, arguing that the risks associated with the vaccine outweigh the potential benefits for the population in their age group. a federal judge ruled last month that the school had a right to pursue, quote, a reasonable and due process of a vaccination in the legitimate interest of the public health for its students, faculty, and staff. the second circuit court of appeals and staff agreed. they will allow exceptions for students who object for medical and other reasons. still ahead, major league baseball "field of dreams" ends in dramatic fashion. plus, is pop star britney spears finally free from a

13-year conservatorship? those stories and we'll look at the weather as we look at dark skies here on "way too early." we'll be right back. too early." we'll be right back. (customer) hi? (burke) happy anniversary. (customer) for what? (burke) every year you're with us, you get fifty dollars toward your home deductible. it's a policy perk for being a farmers customer. (customer) do i have to do anything? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) nothing? (burke) nothing. (customer) hmm, that is really something. (burke) you get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. see ya. (kid) may i have a balloon, too?

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in a field that was once formed, there's probably one question to answer.

is this heaven? i don't think i heard you. is this heaven? yes, it is. >> from the big screen to the big leagues, major league baseball brought the "field of dreams" to life in last night's game complete with an ending so thrilling it seems scripted. the star kevin costner made and appearance and the teams came out of the corn. how cool is that. they turned the movie-themed event into a home run derby launched out deep into the night and into the cornfield. aaron judge and jean carlos stanton each had homers to give the yankees a one-run lead. but in a hollywood finish, they had an answer in the bottom of the frame. >> anderson to the right. to the wall, and the white sox

win it. >> anderson's two-run home run walked them off in a game that was an unqualified suggest. major league baseball suggested that i'll try to resume this next year, perhaps annual, my suggestion, let's make sure the yankees lose in heartbreaking fashion each time. the three-game series continued tomorrow night in chicago. coming up on "morning joe," usa's katie ledecky will be a guest later this morning. during the tokyo olympics she added a gold and two silvers to her collection. you won't want to miss that conversation. time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. bill, any break from the heat? >> eventually. have one more hot day and then we'll trend back to what it typically should be like. the pacific northwest, you have today and a little bit tomorrow, the dangerous heat, of course, the fires are still going in many of the areas. we don't want to see them

spreading rapidly. it's not windy, but it's hot. in the northeast we're seeing mostly the i-95 corridor that's impacted. we still have heat warnings. philadelphia, hartford, boston, d.c., it will be hot but not as sticky. it won't be refreshing until saturday or sunday. for new york ;uócity, it will f like 104. same for washington, d.c. same for raleigh. the relief is coming from the great lakes and midwest. what a beautiful day it will be in minneapolis. chicago will feel better and detroit with highs in the mid-80s. notice on sunday, d.c. high of only 80. boston only in the upper 70s. so saturday, pretty warm. sunday and monday should be very nice. it should be a great sunday, by the way. we still have to watch what happens with what should be tropical storm fred over the weekend. we now have key west up to key largo under tropical storm

warnings. ft. myers and naples under tropical storm watches. right now it's barely a storm at all. there's not even a lot of rain wit. but we do think it's going to get a little more organized, come over the keys and right along the west coast of florida as we go through saturday night and a landfall around panama city as we go through sunday night. when i say landfall, you think of a big powerful hurricane. this is going to be a big rainmaker. the winds will not cause any issues. one more hot day in the northwest. in the northeast t temperatures stay 95 for d.c., 95 for new york. as we go through the weekend, we'll watch the rain from fred in the southeast. and on sunday, soaking rain and flood threats in areas of the gulf coast. jonathan, the bottom line is it won't be a big huge issue. we could have another storm behind it. we'll talk a lot more about that one next week. that one has a little more potential to be problematic. >> tha's a relief about fred. bill karins, thank you so much.

have a great weekend. coming up, as florida governor ron desantisback pedals from his threat to withhold school officials' pay due to mask mandates. what he's saying about that ongoing fight ahead. ongoing fight ahead. 5g in every plan, so you get it all. [♪♪] if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost today.

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the court is expected to respond to the petition at a hearing next month. when it comes to our metabolism, we all think we know the main point, it slows down with age and women's are slower than men's. but in a new study published yesterday it challenges everything we think we know about our metabolic day tachlt -- data. researchers found there are four distinct periods of our life. the first peaks around age 1 when babies burn calories 50% faster than adults and gradually declines 3% a year until age 20. from there metabolism plateaus to around age 60. the study found no real differences in the metabolic rates between the two genders. senator rand paul disclosed wednesday his wife purchase 15d$,000 worth of stock in gilead sciences, a country that

manufactures a drug used to fight covid-19 back in 2019 when it was beginning to come to light. the "washington post" reports, quote, a disclose nur a filing with the senate came 16 months after the 45-day reporting deadline set forth in the stock app which is designed to combat insider trading. since 2012 the senator and his wife had not bought or sold stock in an individual company in at least ten years before buying these shares. paul has disclosed nearly 200,000 transactions involving mutual funds, trusts, and government bonds. the senator sits on the senate health committee which was briefed on the coronavirus threat a month before his wife purchased those shares. >> still ahead, with the school year just getting under way, hundreds of schools in one florida county have been forced to kwarn team over covid concerns. plus, what the new 2020

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welcome back to "way too early." it's coming up on 5:30 on the east coast, 2:30 out west.

i'm jonathan lemire. nbc 6 in miami is reporting that three teachers and a teacher's assistant in broward county have died this week. all for were on summer break when they contracted the virus. they also told nbc 6 there's another teacher's assistant currently in the hospital battling covid. just the week the public schools board voted to approve masks in school. nearly 500 students in palm beach county, florida, have been quarantined boston of covid-19, just two days into the school year. so far 51 cases have been confirmed. 37 are students and 14 employees. the school district, the tenth largest in the country, now requires face masks for all students and staff members. around 5,700 students have opted out per an order from governor ron desantis that allows parents to give their children permission to do so. however, governor desantis is

walking base his administration stretch to withhold pay from officials who defy his anti-mask rule. according to the "miami herald," the government acknowledges the state has no control over local employees' pay. in an email a spokesperson called on desantis to tell them to dock their even salaries if the state follows through. they warn school districts that he, quote, may recommend the state board of education withhold the funds, quote, in an amount equal to salaries of the superintendent and all the members of the school board. meanwhile cities across texas continue to defy governor greg abbott's ban on mask mandates. the largest city in the state, houston, just announced masks must be worn in all public schools and child care facilities. they also voted unanimously to mandate masks in the upcoming school year. the state's four largest counties now require masks in schools. more and more cities, counties,

and school districts in the state have instituted mask requirements and are even suing the governor over his executive order banning it. joining us now, founder and ceo of advancing health equity, dr. uché blackstock. we're grateful she's with us today. >> thank you. >> dr. blackstock, let's start with what's happening in texas. do you think the federal government needs to perhaps step in and intervene in states like there where we're seeing more counties an cities pushing back for mask mandates? >> good morning, jonathan. you absolutely read my mind. there needs to be a stronger and more forceful federal response from the biden administration, from the cdc to really helping these localities and municipalities protect their residents and their students. i mean what's happening is absolutely unacceptable that localities actually have to mount legal challenges to protect students in schools, and

we see what's happening. we see the rates of hospitalizations and deaths are increasing. we see there are outbreaks in schools so we know what needs to happen. there needs to be policies in place like mask mandates and even vaccine mandates to protect students and teachers and staff as well in these environments. >> so school has obviously begun in some parts of the country and pretty much everywhere else over the next couple of weeks. what are you hearing from parents about what are their biggest concerns at this daub of a new academic year. >> right. and i think we talked about this briefly recently, but as a parent, you know, they're concerned. this is really a different school year than last year. all kids are in school, full classrooms, and we have the delta variant. it's highly transmissible. there's really not any room for error. we have to get this right we know what to do.

we know a multi-layered strategy is needed to mitigate the spread of this virus in schools and so parents are understandably incredibly brave. they want schools to do d right thing. i also think the federal response involves supporting schools. we know a lot of funds from the american rescue plan went the toward schools, infrastructure, and testing. we need to make sure every student has a mask available if their parents can't afford to purchase one for them. we need to make sure every family has access to rapid at-home testing. that is incredibly important to spreading the disease. we have to think of ways to support families and schools to make the school as safe as possible. >> we're seeing scary headlines because now because of the delta variant, more young people are more amount to get sick and perhaps getting sicker than they did last year when the coronavirus first arrived here in the united states. what are you hearing? what's the latest research in

terms of just how dangerous is this for children? how sick are they getting? how worried should parents be? >> right. so the delta variant is the worst we've seen thus far. so far we've seen that it's more transmissible, more infectious. because it's more infectious and children remain largely vaccinated, that's the reason we're see more hospitalized. we don't have a lot of data yet, only anecdotally, only that it causes more severe disease, but regardless, we're seeing a record number of children being hospitalized and that really is unacceptable. so we need policies in place to protect children. essentially the country's wide open. you know, we need universal mask mandates. we need areas where there are high transmission levels to think about putting policies in place to decrease the spread, protect our children. >> dr. uché blackstock, thank

you so much. come back soon. >> thank you. still ahead, the totally different reason one olympic athlete is returning her gold medal. "way too early" is back in just a minute. ♪ born to be wild ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ born to be wild ♪ see disney's jungle cruise. applebee's and a movie, now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood.

time now for something totally different. a member of japan's gold medal-winning softball team will have her medal replaced with a new one after the hometown mayor took a bite. he pulled down his mask and put the gold medal between his teeth. tokyo organizers said in a statement, quote, in line with her own intention, the medal is now set to be exchanged for a new one, adding that the ioc

will bear the cost of the change. here's something the world does not need to hear right now. a murder hornet has been spotted in washington state in the first confirmed sighting in 2021. asian giant hornets made headlines last year toward their terrifying ability to demolish whole honeybee hives in mere hours. look at that. they're an invasive species and pose a dangerous threat to the already gindling honeybee population. washington state officials reiterate the important of public reporting so the hornets can be tracked. report and run for your life. in another story, a rugged rock-spewing a stroid with a diameter of one third of a mile is heading in our direction on track to come very close to earth in september of 2135. while the timing for the asteroid's approach is out of our lifetime, nasa scientists say there's no need for future generations to panic. though the asteroid will come

within half the distance of the moon, chances of colliding with earth and causing an armageddon-type destruction are still, you'll be happy to hear, are very low. taco bell has announced it's building a new high-tech drive-through to make getting that late night chalupa easier. it's set to open next year in brooklyn park, mchblt it will have four lanes band two stories high and defy gravity. three of the four lanes will be dedicated to mobile orders requiring customers to scan q.r. codes. food delivery will be contactless with audio and video connections to the restaurant staff in the kitchens above. that can't get here soon enough. still ahead, the latest in the taliban's attack across afghanistan amid fears of the impending fall of the country's capital. "way too early" is coming back with that important update in just a minute. that important u

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the taliban now controls 60% of afghanistan. the u.s. state department ordering americans to evacuate the country as the pentagon sends troops to help the american embassy in kabul. nbc news correspondent kelly cobiella has more. >> reporter: a shock announcement just weeks before the u.s. completes its full withdrawal of troops from afghanistan. >> this is a temporary mission with a narrow focus. >> reporter: 3,000 additional troops will be sent to help. taliban is storming into key cities. nobody is defending us, a man seen recording this says. kandahar in the south, herat to

the west and gaza. many like this interpreter still don't know if their visa is approved. >> we lost our hopes, you know. >> reporter: for the thousands of afghan families who can't leave, they're seeking refuge in kabul, some saying the taliban is terrorizing villages they capture, targeting government and women. the taliban violence is escalating incluing executions of surrendered afghan troops. in kabul today, one of the last big cities, girls rode bikes, women shopped and ran their businesses like this yoga studio, all unthinkable under the taliban, but now the reality is fear. this 19-year-old ran this. her daughter is the same age now. >> would you leave the country?

>> i don't know. [ indiscernible ] >> thank you so much for being here. the pentagon is calling as we heard for the deployment of those 3,000 troops temporatempo but will it really be temporarily? can they actually stay on the ground a short time considering what's happening? >> yes. i mean, that's -- it's not just they're calling it temporary, but they're making sure to call it tailored and for a very specific mission and that is the evacuation of u.s. citizens from the embassy in kabul and then to support the special immigrant visa process. jonathan, it's important to point out, it's not just these 3,000 infantry troops, combination of soldiers and marines going to afghanistan. there's another 3,500 to 4,000 that are going to kuwait that's out of the 82nd airborne in fort brag. they'll be there? case things deteriorate quickly and they need to send them in as

an immediate reaction force. then there's another combination that's going to qatar, who will be helping with the administrative side of the siv. so we're talking about upwards of 8,000 additional u.s. troops that w.h.o. are now being dedicated to afghan in the region because of the deteriorating situation in afghanistan. >> president biden said earlier this summer there wouldn't be a, quote, saigon moment in afghanistan, but is there concern growing where that's where we could be headed? >> absolutely. and it's not just from pundits. people i'm talking about are worried about how -- just how quickly the situation in afghanistan has deteriorated. jonathan, you well know. it's not a surprise the taliban has been able to take over some of the more rural areas, but what's been so shocking here is the speed with which they've been able to do it and some of the major cities they've been able to take very quickly. places in canned hall. it's a symbolic moral victory

for the taliban. that's the birthplace of the taliban is down there? the south in their laterland, but they've also taken critical cities including in ghazni, which is only miles from the capital in kabul. that was really one of the turning points here, is once they took ghazni 80 miles out of kabul, the concern is they'll be moving toward and threatening kabul in a matter of days. most of the military's estimates is the taliban would take many of the more rural areas, slowly make their way thwart kabul, threatening it later this year. now there is a real concern that they have isolated the capital of kabul and they'll be able to threaten it potentially even before the end of this month, jonathan. i mean the way that the taliban -- the military strategy that they have shown in this offensive in these past several weeks has really been pretty remarkable, and that's what's really changed the situation and the calculus on the ground.

>> courtney, walk us through what capabilities the u.s. has to slow this, and, secondly, just a few days ago, president biden said he had no regrets about his decision, words that i know some around him wish he could take back. is there any chance of a the ais stepped up their air strikes in the past day or two, there were eight or nine in the south as kandahar was threatened. but these are really tactical air strikes they're taking. they're putting out fires here and there, but it's not having a larger strategic impact. they're hitting stolen military equipment the taliban has taken from the service. but they're not taking strikes that are having a real impact on the overall offensive by the taliban. as far as this idea, you know, there's been a lot of talk will

the u.s. continue air strikes against the taliban, supporting the afghan security forces, defense officials are confident that's not going to happen for a combination of reasons. number one, as the u.s. leaves the country and as the taliban takeover, the u.s. military has very little idea of what's going on on the ground. so taking air strikes is perilous for them. they don't want to kill civilians, they don't have a sense of what they're hitting on the ground and there's very little capability there to do it. so the u.s. ability to do much on the ground at this point is really limited, jonathan. >> courtney kube, thank you so much. we'll stay on this important story. earlier in the show we asked, why are you awake? >> matt writes why am i up way too early to get to the cal lop grounds first. another viewer tweeted this, how

can i sleep with due fuss the cat. aaron writes it doesn't matter why i'm up way too early, i'm just glad i was so i could hear jon lemire talk about a yankees loss. and because the vet put walter on a diet now he gets hungry in the middle of the night. richard writes, i am up way too early because i am retiring today after 40 years at chicago public schools. thank you for that. up next, what data from the census bureau tells us about diversity in the united states. and on "morning joe" we'll hear from the secretary of health and human services. and as we mentioned earlier, katie ledecky will join the

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if you're 55 and up, t-mobile has plans built just for you. switch now and get 2 unlimited lines and 2 free smartphones. and now get netflix on us. it's all included with 2 lines for only $70 bucks! only at t-mobile. diversity in the united states has skyrocketed according to new data from the census

bureau. the number of people who identify as hispanic, asian or more than one race grew. overall the population has slowed but the country did add 23 million more people and that group identifies as hispanic, asian, black or mixed race. for the first time the people that identify as white has declined in the past decade. that was because of the aging of the white population and a drop in the birthrate. that census data is starting the race to redistricting around the country. and joining us to explain that is ally. let's start right there. what does the newly released census data mean for the house of representatives? >>. >> as you mentioned, we're well on our way to becoming a majority minority country. the white population dipped

below 60% for the first time we started taking the census in 1790. democrats feel like that's moving in their favor, the country is becoming less white and more urban. >> as you mentioned, some of the diversity, traditionally anyway, helps with democrats not always clear cut but democrats feel good about this. but combined what we hear from census data versus also the push for gerrymandering as we look towards the midterms and beyond. >> of course. certainly voters of color do not vote as a monolith but the states that are becoming less white are arizona, georgia, florida, texas. states that have a lot of congressional districts but also states that republicans have control of the redistricting process. and certainly their control of the redistricting process has decreased since 2010, so they drew far more congressional maps

in 2010 than they're going to draw in 2020. i think they're aware of the trends and the democrats in d.c. has been don't overreach, draw a ten year map, be aware the country is becoming diverse and don't try to get greedy and draw too many districts in your favor. >> you mentioned arizona, i was looking at the list yesterday and saw there were states with certain population growths, phoenix skyrocketed and the northern cities that had slower growth picked up, chicago, new york, philadelphia, et cetera. so what trends jumped out at you, there's certain states becoming more valuable, areas we'll see shifting priorities from the two parties. >> yeah. so the fact that a lot of these big sun belt states, the population is moving out of the northeast, the midwest and into

the sun belt and those are the most diverse states. so republicans are confronting the issue of the states are getting bigger, more diverse and they're largely in control of those areas. so they have to figure out how to draw maps that are going to draw republican candidates for them in the next four years. and look no further than georgia in 2018, if you don't put the democrats in one district and the republicans in the other, the population is growing so fast you won't be able to predict how those districts are going to perform towards the end of the decade. >> as a final question, we appreciate you being here this morning. we have seen so much talk from the democrats making a push on the state legislatures. they know they can have more influence there, redistricting and so on. are there any states as we start thinking about next fall, we

should be keeping an eye on? >> definitely, yeah. texas, georgia, arizona are states that are going to be incredibly important. remember, the congress is only divided by seats. this is the narrowest majority any party has had in 20 years. so any district if any state can control the house. democrats will have control of new york, illinois and maryland, so those are three places to watch. and the republicans have the sunbelt. >> ally, thank you for being here. and thank you to all of you at home for getting up "way too early" with us on this friday morning. i'll see you back here on monday. and in just a few minutes, "morning joe" starts right now. if you build it, he will come.