jews in germany. >> reporter: do you compare what's happening to the holocaust? >> you know what is so sad? i'm afraid to answer your question because i will be attacked for saying that. i mean, people say that that is what it is like. they're like, we feel like that's happening. >> i think it is clear through her online postings and the letter to the judge that she's all over the map on whether she accepts responsibility for her actions. >> i'll end up losing weight in prison. >> reporter: her posts have drawn fans and fury. >> we hope you get beat in prison. >> reporter: some people see you as a giant attempt to get publicity. >> okay. >> reporter: to make your name, increase your following. what do you say? >> they do say that, and that is so -- you know, i'll say yes. >> reporter: but for the next six weeks, she's sitting in federal prison in bryan, texas. >> an important story. we'll be covering the one-year anniversary of the capitol hill riots tomorrow and all week on msnbc. thanks for getting up "way

too early" on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. one year later should be a simple, solemn commemoration of what happened and a collective, unified determination to never let anything like that ever happen again. i'm even more worried now because the moment of unity is gone and, most importantly, the moment of moral clarity, of collective, patriotic outrage is fading. it went from republicans being apologetic about their president to voting to exonerate him. it went from republicans being angry at him and denouncing him to voting against putting a bipartisan commission together to get all of the facts out. >> democratic senator brian schatz warning yesterday the next attempt to overthrow american democracy is being organized right now. ahead this morning, we're going to speak with congressman jamie

raskin, who led the second impeachment effort against donald trump following the january 6th attack on the capitol. and we'll be joined by one of the men who defended the capitol that day. u.s. capitol police officer harry dunn. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is wednesday, january 5th. with us, along with joe, willie, and me, we have the host of "way too early" and white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. and bureau chief for "usa today," susan page is with us this morning. the story we were covering throughout the show yesterday, going throughout the day and throughout the night, the thousands of drivers trapped for more than 24 hours along interstate 95 in virginia, after parts of the highway became impassable due to a snowstorm. nbc news correspondent tom costello takes us through the

ordeal. >> reporter: an epic traffic disaster. thousands of cars brought to a standstill by that massive storm dropping a foot of snow on the d.c. region. overwhelming road crews and trapping thousands of people. the elderly, kids, and pets in their cars. a sea of static red taillights in freezing temps. overnight, nbc washington's news chopper. >> some folks stuck in vehicles overnight with little food and water. >> reporter: no restrooms. a 50-mile stretch of i-9d 5 from care line county to dunphries. we're doing the best we can. there are people who need assist

assistance more than we do. >> reporter: this family had the kids asleep in the backseat. >> we haven't moved since 9:00 last night. that's kind of how it's been. >> reporter: also stuck, senator tim kaine. >> there's families with kids. families with seniors in the car, people with medical issues. people are running out of gas. >> reporter: sisters gabrielle and noel bundling up in blankets and playing video games. >> they're sharing food, walking down the lanes and offering snacks up. >> so the roads are now clear, but questions remain as to why it took so long for help to arrive. i mean, we were in contact, joe, with people who were out on the highway. they were still on route 1 between quantico, virginia, and stafford, virginia, inching along, trying to find a hotel somewhere because there was no power. there was no way to get gas. it was impossible. apocalyptic was the word that was used. >> they were doing that going into the second night. >> yes. >> they'd already been out on the road for 20 hours. again, it was just the worst-case scenario. the question is, what the hell

was outgoing virginia governor ralph northam doing? well, he had a press conference yesterday. get this, he blamed the drivers. >> i can certainly understand that many drivers may have been from out of state and so missed the clear and consistent messaging from vdot and emergency responders to stay off the roads during the winter storm. >> willie, i really don't have any words for the stupidity in that statement. i-95 brings people. it's the artery, the main artery that takes people from florida all the way up to maine. people travel i-95. they're not used to bumpkins being too stupid to prepare the roads before the snow starts. they're not used to bumpkins being too stupid to plow the roads in a timely manner.

but that's exactly what happened with ralph northam. then he blamed the drivers for just a hellish, hellish landscape out there. >> i had to read that twice when i saw that yesterday from governor northam. it is i-95. it is not some back road through rural virginia. there are going to be cars on that road, whatever warning may have been. the question at that point is, what are you doing to help those people, not blaming them for being there in the first place. tim kaine, the senator from virginia, was there for 27 hours. his was just the most high-profile case. he said, i'm one of the lucky ones. i was healthy and had a bag of popcorn. there were people with young kids, pets, people who were diabetic in their cars and didn't have their medication. blaming the drivers and the people sitting there making desperate pleas for help going into two days strikes me as not a great move on your last couple days heading out of office. >> yeah. well, let's be very clear, my

comments are directed, jonathan lemire, directly to the governor himself. i've been through so many hurricanes where you look to the governor. especially when i served in public service, jeb bush was governor of the state of florida. i learned very quickly how great leaders respond in a time of crisis. this is just the opposite. this will be part of ralph northam's legacy, a bad part of his legacy. >> in his final stretch in office. you're right, in a moment of crisis, and a snowstorm like this is one, you look to a leader to actually show leadership and communicate. first of all, that's what we heard from so many drivers yesterday as we followed this story. the absence of any kind of directions from the state of virginia or any local communities there as to what was going on, how much longer the drivers might be trapped there. afterwards, as their situation

began to ease yesterday afternoon, to hear the governor blame the drivers, those who had been out there 24 hours in the freezing cold, extraordinary. let's just hope that there are no reports of any real significant ailments or injuries that stem from this. it'd be borderline miraculous if that were to be the case. senator tim kaine was remarkably good humored. immediately got out and was swarmed by reporters, camera in his face. all smiles. said, indeed, as willie put it, he was one of the lucky ones. he thanked a family from connecticut that had a bag of oranges that wandered car to car, handing them out to people to give food. there he is. i'll say this, if i had stepped out of a car after 27 hours, i would not be looking like that. >> he did good. >> i will say, we heard stories, reports all day yesterday that the truck drivers were real heros during this.

they went around. obviously carry extra food on their long hauls and extra blankets. it was the truck drivers that many motorists were saying were the heros. took care of people. gave them blankets. gave them extra food. you know, did whatever they could to ease their burdens. especially the elderly, parents with young children. susan page, i want to underline what jonathan lemire said. what is so surprising to me is, we would be talking to people in cars and communicating with friends who had been stuck out on the road for 15 hours, 12, 15 hours and asking what the state authorities said to them. they said nothing. >> zero. >> that's after they'd been in cars 15 hours and were facing a second night sitting in a cold, dark car. >> two thing sz are remarkable. one, the lack of state action to try to help them. the other is the good humor not

just of senator tim kaine but the other people you were interviewing in your piece who had been trapped in this. i mean, there was a real sense of other people were in worse situations than i was. we bundled up. people shared the food and drink they had. i mean, a real sense of camaraderie among the people trapped there, even in the face of the lack of the government help that you'd really expect in virginia. a state that, you know, has a lot of resources accustomed to i-95 being a big transit way 365 days a year. kudos to the folks who hung together when they were out there for 24 hours and more. >> i still think we're going to hear more about what exactly what happened to some peopl in this unbelievably life-threatening situation, who i think are still dealing with it today. whether they were sent off, you know, way off into virginia to

try to find a hotel, to try and find a town that had power. it's too much. there are a lot of questions. i still think more consequences to this, as well. we want to turn to the question of whether the omicron variant is peaking in new york city. the seven-day positivity rate in manhattan dipped monday for the first time since the latest surge. the rolling average was 11.9% back on december 27th and has been steadily increasing. it hit 18.7% january 2nd, then dropped off to 18.3%. if south africa is a guide, this variant could be peaking. >> willie, this was -- several of these charts retweeted by scott gottlieb, someone we love something on the show and seems to be keeping a level head on this.

never an alarmist, just calmly walking people through the numbers. it appears, again, as we've been saying since the beginning, cases skyrocket and hospitalizations are going up. visits to the icu, "the new york times" is reporting this morning, don't seem to be skyrocketing. certainly as was the case in south africa, no huge surge in deaths either. >> yeah, we'll take that chart. it is good news for now. we don't want to jump to too many conclusions yet because there's a lot of road ahead of us here. yeah, that's part of the reason you're hearing the calls to keep the schools open. now from new york city mayor eric adams, to get businesses open. pushing back on companies delaying bringing workers back into the office. he said it is time to feed our financial decision. he defended his decision to keep schools open during this phase of the crisis. >> it is very clear, the safest place for children right now is in a school building. that's the safest place for them. i'm going to continue to have my

children be in a safe environment that all science is saying is the best place for them. i'm not going to allow the hysteria to prevent the future of my children receiving the quality education and the development that all sociologists are stating that they need. i'm going to be focused on that because i know that our children must be in school. we're not sending an unclear message of what is going to happen day to day. i'm going to tell you what's going to happen day to day. we are staying open. we are going to do everything that we have to do to keep our schools open. i know there's questions about staffing. i know there's questions about testing. there's a lot of questions. but we're going to turn the question marks into an exclamation point. we're staying open. >> mayor adams rejected requests from the city's largest teachers union to temporarily move schools to remote learning. joe, i can tell you, there are a lot of parents across new york

city these last couple of days standing and applauding mayor eric adams for his interview with us on monday and the interview and statement he gave yesterday. he said schools are going to be open. we have enough data now, two years into this, to know schools are safe places. we're not shutting down an entire system when a few kids get sick. we'll test the kids in the class, make sure they're safe, and get on with business. the costs of not being in school far outweigh being inside the buildings. >> he was a straight talker. one conservative pundit yesterday tweeted, eric "margaret thatcher" adams. just a decoder for people that may not have a conservative viewpoint, that's the highest praise, actually. you stand up and say things that are unpopular because you're less interested in what special interests are talking about than

you are in children. but, really, it was a very straightforward, very definitive statement. that is the type of leadership that new yorkers -- not just new yorkers, but americans really want right now. >> yeah. what he refused to do also, if you watch the interviews, is get into a battle with the teachers union. he said, no, i talked to the head of the teachers union three times a day, i think he said yesterday. we have a great relationship. but i've been clear with him, we're going to keep the schools safe and open. jonathan lemire, i know this is a story that hits home for you, in particular, as well. a lot of parents are listening to this, having been through the last yearly two years of in and out remote learning and all we've been through in this city and the country and said, yes, yes, this is the right message for us. >> yeah, this is a story near and dear to my heart, as my two kids are in new york city public schools. let's give credit first to adams' predecessor, bill de blasio. now out of office, but he made this a central driving force for

his administration, saying, look, schools are going to be open. we're going to do what we can to do it safely. adams has picked it up and really embraced it. the messaging has been clear and consistent and really welcomed by parents. look, attendance has been down the last couple days. it's understandable. some kids held out longer after the winter break. you know, obviously, there have been kids testing positive. certainly, the efforts here, you know, with classes open, with the surging of tests to schools, if there are positive cases, these are all good things. study after study after study shows how beneficial it is for kids to be in class. they learn more in class. that's good for working parents, of course, if their students are in class. and, of course, there are students who rely on schools for things like meals and other essential services. so this is important. it's only been a couple days, but this is good news for new york city kids. >> well, it is not going to go perfectly, just like you said, jonathan lemire. some kids may have covid. teachers may have covid.

administrators may have covid. they go home. they ride it out. they come back to school. so it might be a bumpy start as we get through the omicron variant, but they're keeping the doors open. it's the same thing we're hearing is happening in great britain with the prime minister there saying, hey, this has been a rough ride, but we're going to continue moving forward. susan page, though, i was really glad to hear theayor work in their offices. i know i'm an old man and this is not in vogue, but it is maddening when you go to new york city and all the bars are packed. you can't get into restaurants because all the restaurants are packed. sporting events, packed to the gills, as they say in northwest florida. wherever you go, i mean, people are just -- it is packed. then you just drive down sixth

avenue in new york city, and it is a ghost town. i mean, it's out of the "book of eli." the office space is dark. people are like, oh, no, no, no, no, we can't go back until at least the middle of february. by the way, you want to go out and get a drink tonight, then we'll go to a restaurant. it is crazy, what's happening. >> you know, joe, going into the third year of this pandemic, people are ready to see a different kind of balance. i think there is an understanding that covid is not going to go away. we'll be living with it for a long time. maybe different variants. maybe different virulence, but they have to figure out how to go back to work and keep our kids in school. it is going to create some conflicts. i think in the workforce, the workplace, i think the one that politically has more peril is in education and the way that, in

some districts, like in chicago, you really have parents and teachers at odds with each other about what to do. that is going to create some real challenges for policymakers. >> yeah. you mentioned chicago. quite a different story there where public school officials canceled classes today after the teachers union voted to switch to remote learning. the chicago teachers union action approved by 73% of its members called for a pause on in-person learning and to work remotely until january 18th or until covid cases fall below a particular threshold. the union also demanded the city require negative tests from students and staff before returning to school. >> okay, that's ridiculous. >> it's never going to happen. >> they understand that sometimes you don't get a negative test for 30 days. >> a long time. the science is clear. >> if you don't want to teach, don't teach. quit. just stay at home and stop

teaching children, okay? because when you set up -- when you set up that barrier to getting back to class, when health care officials say that you can still be testing positive 30 days after, well, you obviously -- if that's your standard, you are either ignorant when it come to science or you just don't want to be in classes. if you don't want to be in class classes, that's fine. thank you for your service to our children. now go get another job. >> in response to the union, chicago mayor lori lightfoot labeled it an illegal work action and said teachers who do not show up will not be paid. school buildings in the city will be open today to provide essential services, such as meals and covid-19 testing. coronavirus cases have recently skyrocketed in chicago to their highest rate since the pandemic began. more than 330,000 students are enrolled in the chicago public schools, the nation's third largest school district.

these kids need school. >> i'll tell ya what, jonathan lemire, what is maddening is, what we heard all last year is let's put teachers at the front of the line. we said it here on the show. put teachers at the front of the line for vaccines so they can get back in. put teachers at the front of the line for boosters so they can get back into schools. teachers said, listen, we'll go back to school. we just need the vaccines. give us the vaccines, we'll go back to school. they got the vaccines. >> yeah. >> you still have some unions, not all, not all, and so we're notd paint not painting with a broad brush, but certainly in chicago, you have teachers walking out on kids after they got the vaccines or they were able to, able to get boosters, and not showing up for work. >> right. joe, that's a key point here. there's access to vaccines. there's access to boosters. obviously, are there some teachers with underlying health concerns who now at the height of the omicron wave perhaps shouldn't be in the classroom? sure. >> it's understood. >> right. most of the school systems and most unions, and credit to the

new york city here where they have said, look, though there are some suggestions of remote learning, we heard from the head of the teachers union yesterday who said, the mayor and i are speaking and this is what we're going to do. the mayor made clear they are going to have here in new york teachers in classrooms, students in classrooms. that's not the case, of course, in chicago. we have heard from the biden administration throughout the pandemic, and certainly now throughout this wave of omicron, that they do also believe students should be in classrooms. they believe in in-person learning. they're trying to surge funding as part of the covid relief act to these school systems to make sure that can happen. one does wonder, as a democratic strategist yesterday texted me last night, wondering if, indeed, chicago, this situation, whether it'd end up on president biden's plate. in-person classrooms and education is a priority for this administration. they want the kids in school. >> and joe biden yesterday,

mika, in his talk in the afternoon said that the federal government, through a covid relief act earlier this year, had spent over $1 billion in making schools safer. giing local school districts money to retrofit some of the schools with ventilation and do the things necessary to keep kids in school. >> some states, he said, chose to do different things with the money. and we need to still push everybody to, willie geist, try and focus on creating an environment that is safe for children and not holding onto disinformation and, you know, pushing against vaccines, which really, at this point, seems archaic. >> yeah. just to go back to the schools, this isn't march of 2020. we know a lot more about what it means to be inside a school, how safe it is. >> right. >> two years to put in some of this ventilation, the mitigation

efforts. it is true in almost every public school district, but it is very true in chicago, which is the kids who are going to be hardest hit by this decision by the teachers union are kids in poverty. it's not the kids in the private schools, the parochial schools or the northern suburbs of chicago. they're going to be fine. it is these kids who count on this as a place to eat, as a place to be safe, as a place to be warm. those are the kids who are suffering the most because of these shutdowns. >> 100%. still ahead on "morning joe," new polling shows red flags for both parties ahead of the midterm elections. we'll have the new numbers. and if republicans take back the house, will they try to impeach president biden just to get even with democrats for impeaching donald trump twice? what senator ted cruz is saying. plus, the cdc refuses to bow to pressure from the medical community over whether a negative covid test should be recommended before leaving isolation. we'll talk about that. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back.

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the cdc is facing criticism for its latest recommendations of isolation after quarantine. if you can find a rapid test after five days of isolating, you can take a rapid test, but you don't have to get one. cdc director rachelle wolensky defended the decision by saying people are most contagious two days before they start showing symptoms and three days after they feel sick. she says that timeframe makes up for about 90% of infections. critics of the cdc's decision to not require a negative test say it is because there aren't

enough rapid tests for everyone right now. >> okay, that's just stupid. you know, susan page, my 13-year-old son got covid. this was six, nine months ago. he was home for four or five days. the school said, "we need a negative test before he goes back to school." he kept doing tests. he hadn't had symptoms in three or four days. we called the doctor and said, "what do we do?" the doctor said, tell the school to go to the cdc website which says you can continue getting positive tests for 30 days! that's not the test. the doctor said six, nine months ago. five days past the last symptom, he is good to go back to school. let me write him a note. here we are in 2022, still acting shocked, shocked that you shouldn't require a negative

test to get out of isolation is, well, it's just stupid. it is also about nine months late. they're way behind the science here. >> yeah. i think one of the problems has been that the cdc guidance has been, on various things, has been confusing. sometimes they seem to be sending a mixed message. i think even people well-meaning can feel bewildered about exactly what they're supposed to do, what is safe to do. that's been, i think, one of the issues here, even as we try to deal with convincing people to get vaccinated, for instance. convincing people when it is important to wear a mask. most importantly, when is it okay for a kid to go back to school? >> yeah. mika, i'm not a doctor, and thank god i don't even play one on tv, but i do know i've read an awful lot because i have four kids. we've been dealing with this for, like everybody, a couple of years. everything i've read all along says you are the most contagious those first two or three days,

as we just heard the cdc director say. and, as you move beyond that, as you move beyond the five days, if five days without any symptoms, you're good to go back. again, you're not -- most people are not going to get a negative test, okay? so those who want to keep this country shut down for an additional 30 days, whether you're in a teachers union in chicago or whether you're just idealogically out there, science is not on your side. please, step aside and let the rest of america get back to work and get back to school, get back to their lives. >> yes. obviously, there's been an ongoing push from the medical community to get everybody vaccinated. >> and that's a way we can do it. >> right. a california deputy district attorney, though, who vehemently opposed vaccine mandates, has died of covid-related

complications. kelly ernby, republican activist from huntington beach, was an ardent and vocal opponent of covid-19 vaccine mandates, according to the "la times." she spoke out against them as a turning point usa rally in early december. she worked for ten years as an orange county deputy district attorney and ran two years ago for state assembly seat. she was only 46 years old. >> she left a husband behind. willie, it's such a tragedy. these are the sort of tragedies. they certainly don't happen as often with younger americans, but these are the sort of tragedies that we've seen too much of over the past couple of years. that's why it is just so important to get vaccines. it is so important to get booster shots and do everything you can to encourage other people to. yes, if you don't have vaccines and if you don't get a booster shot, you may not go to the

hospital. you may not end up in the icu. you may not, you know -- you may not die. you may not have a ventilator put in you. and if you smoke a lot of cigarettes, who knows? maybe you can dodge lung cancer for a long time, too. if you put on a blindfold and walk across i-95 in the middle of the night, maybe you won't get hit. why don't you do the smart thing? take care of yourself. take care of your loved ones. take care of your families. i just -- it breaks my heart every time i read about a tragedy like this one out of orange county. >> it is a tragedy. for all the people who love her, that's a terrible, terrible story, to have to endure, when i'm sure there are people in her life who wanted her to get vaccinated. you know, it is not a hill most people are willing to die on. forgive the term there, but, i mean, she was someone who was very vocal and outspoken. for the ghoulish people, mostly on twitter, thank god, so it doesn't mean much, who celebrate

moments like this, don't do that. somebody just died. her family is very sad. hopefully people can take lessons from it. even if you do think you're young and healthy, even if you have questions about the vaccine, it might save your life. >> boy, we really are all in this together. all of us. all of us. i'm not -- i don't feel anger toward people that haven't taken the vaccine. i pray for them. i'm a little upset at powerful people who have gotten the vaccine and rush their children to get the vaccines and rush to get the booster and get to the front of the line. for tv networks that have a requirement that everybody has vaccines and everybody has boosters, and that's a requirement to walk into the buildings, but once you're in the buildings, they sow distrust toward vaccines, that's a problem. for middle class americans, working class americans who have been duped, it's a tragedy.

we need to talk to them. we need to pray for them. mika, we have to hope that tragedies like this story become fewer and fewer as we move forward. coming up, donald trump cancels his plans to counterprogram tomorrow's events. >> that's good. >> marking the one year since the january 6th attack on the capitol. we'll tell you why. plus, former white house economic adviser peter navarro details the plan he made with steve bannon to keep trump in power. and it sounds a lot like a coup. we'll show you his comments. "morning joe" is coming right back. inner voice (sneaker shop owner): i'm surprising my team with a preview of the latest sneaker drop. because i can answer any question about any shoe. but i'm stumped when it comes to payroll. intuit quickbooks helps you easily run payroll in less than 5 minutes... ...so you can stay...

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we approach the one year mark on the attack on that building, the assault on our democracy in process. former president donald trump has canceled a news conference planned for the anniversary of that day, the day of the insurrection. "the new york times" reports trump's initial decision on december 30th to counterprogram the remembrance event had drawn immediate concern from republicans and allies, who questioned the wisdom of his seizing the spotlight for himself. saying it would be a needless and harmful distraction. in a statement, trump blamed the cancellation on both the january 6th select committee and the media. he said he will instead discuss, quote, many of those important topics at a january 15th rally in arizona. adding, it will be a big crowd. >> jonathan lemire, again, i just am -- i just am skeptical,

for those who claim things are just happening and donald trump is suddenly being aggressively supportive of the vaccine mandate now that he's cancelling a january 6th speech, which would draw attention to the fact that 60% of americans blame him for the violence on january 6th. i do think that this is another example of him not trying to burn down the house every time he goes public. maybe keeping a closer eye on 2024, even in 2022, than most people think he is. >> that's part of the calculation according to people in trump's orbit i talked to in the last 24 hours. there are a number of republicans that made public and private appeals to him, including senator graham, who said to the former president, nothing good can come of this. the republican party as a whole is trying to observe tomorrow as quietly as possible.

they're trying to ignore it even happens. of course, that is terrible in its own way, as an overall principle. but in terms of their political calculation, they're like, look, we're trying to get this day over with. we're not going to mark it with anything. you're going to do more harm than good. to be clear, trump heard that, but he's not been one known to make decisions always for the good of the party in mind. that, while part of his thinking, his aides told me. other networks were not carrying it live. they were fearful it wasn't going to get the media attention he hoped so, therefore, he is taking a pass, sparking relief from republicans. we should expect to hear from the former president at his rally in arizona in two weeks' time. joe, i think you're also right to a point there, where people around the president say, look, for him -- again, let's caution this -- for him, treading a

little carefully. he reads polls, too, and sees republicans are in a good place and doesn't want to mess things up. >> let's bring in gene robinson, pulitzer prize-winning columnist for the "washington post." donald trump loves polls, can read polls. i'm sure he saw the poll this past week that said 60% of americans and majority of independents still blame him for what happened on january 6th. so why draw even more attention to it? >> well, yeah. i'm sure that probably was a factor in his thinking. but my guess, you know, donald trump, i mean, i think the bigger factor is probably that networks weren't going to take him live. he wasn't going to make -- you know, the thing he hates most is not making as big a splash as he

would like, as he has told the world he is going to make. you remember the worst thing that ever happened to him was that tulsa rally where nobody showed up and everybody got covid. but, you know, look, if they weren't going to take him live, call me cynical, i think that's probably the largest factor in this situation. i take your point that this is the second thing that he's done recently that is a fairly rational political decision. that's not like him. so we'll have to watch. >> well, i think -- well, okay. we can talk at length about this in a bit. in his new book, peter navarro puts the quiet part in writing, detailing the plan he hatched with steve bannon to keep donald trump in power, like a coup, to steal the election. when pressed on the effort in an

interview last night with msnbc's ari melber, here's part of the exchange. >> the question is -- >> sure. >> -- what was the plan itself, and who was in on it? >> exactly. and i'm going to tell you that. the plan was simply this. we had over 100 congressmen and senators on capitol hill ready to implement the sweep. the sweep was simply that. we were going to challenge the results of the election in the six battleground states. they were michigan, pennsylvania, georgia, wisconsin, nevada. and, basically, these were the places we believe that if votes were sent back to those battleground states and looked at again, that there would be enough concern amongst the legislatures, that most or all of those states would de-certify the election. that would throw the election to the house of representatives. i would say to you here, ari,

that all of of this, again, was in the lanes legally. it was prescribed by the constitution. there is a provision to go rather than through the electoral college to the house of representatives. all that's required was peace and calm on capitol hill. at 1:00 p.m., ted cruz, senator ted cruz and gosar, the representative, started the green bay sweep beautifully, challenging the results of arizona. >> you just described this plan as a way to take an election where the outcome was established by independent secretaries of state, by the voters of those states, and legal remedies have been exhausted with the supreme court never even taking, let alone siding with, any of the claims that you just referred to. so, legally, they went nowhere. then you're describing the way that the incumbent -- >> and -- >> hold on. you'll get your turn. let's go back and forth, sir.

then you'll use the incumbent losing party's power, the republican party that was losing power, to overtake and reverse that outcome. do you realize you are describing a coup? >> no, i totally reject many of your premises there. >> don't you understand why people see your -- whatever you want to call it. don't want to call it a coup, your thing that when you lose, you stay in power, they see that as really dangerous? >> you're presumption is the remedies were exhausted. my presumption is the remedies weren't exhausted at all. >> we have an entire system designed to thwart -- and i want to say this respectfully, but it's the truth -- people like you, to stop people like you who think that you can anoint yourself the reviewers of the voters, of the american people, of what they lawfully did, that you trump the supreme court -- no pun intended. people like you are what the constitution are designed to stop, and it worked. it did stop you. >> whoa.

>> willie, i stand by my original take on peter navarro. he reminds me of dusty from the royal tinnenbaum, the fake doctor for royal when he needed his wife, thinking she was dying, to get back into the house. all that, he said the quiet part out loud and has written a book. >> helpful. >> this is what we did after 63 federal courts, after the united states supreme court, after every federal court in america had said there was no widespread fraud, voting fraud, and joe biden was president of the united states. this is what we did anyway to overthrow the results of, oh, i don't know, 130, 140 million people who voted. >> it's extraordinary to listen to that, when you consider reporters and members of

congress have spent months, almost a year now, trying to get to the bottom of what happened, how it happened, why it happened. peter navarro wrote a book, even giving it a name, the green bay sweep. you go to royal. i'll go to scooby-doo. the end of the episode, they pull off the mask of the bad guy. he says, i would have gotten away with it if it weren't for the meddling kids. the meddling kids, he says, peter navarro, are those who attacked the capitol. we would have pulled this off and gotten away with it if the people who caused all the trouble, as he calls it, at the capitol hadn't done what they did. we could have done this quietly and pulled it off. he also blames not just the rioters and the people attacking the capitol, but the former vice president of the united states, saying that mike pence was the quarterback in this play they were calling, the green bay sweep. the quarterback failed to do his job, according to peter navarro and steve bannon. extraordinary to have somebody write it in a book and go on tv, interview after interview, and just say out loud and describe

in very specific terms how he tried, and they tried, to overturn a presidential election in america. >> and just laid out a blue blueprint, susan page, for, i think, future congresses to look at, study closely, to see why they need to change certain voting laws, why they certainly need to go back to the 19th century electoral voting act that still a i allo allows this to take place. >> yeah. the one thing that is remarkable, the matter of fact tone peter navarro takes, even when challenged about what he is describing the plan was. it's really shocking. this, of course, is not just some crazy guy yelling on a street corner. peter navarro, there was a time he definitely had the president of the united states' ear. you do see an effort in congress to try to tighten some of these

procedures to prevent it from happening again. but there is a big fight over that. you know, some republicans support the electoral count act, it doesn't go nearly as far as democrats want to go when it comes to election reform and protection. not clear what is going to happen with that. but this is surely one of the most shocking things we have ever seen. somebody who had the president's ear describing the green bay sweep. >> yes. >> yeah, which is, again, a great code for a coup. a coup against a democratically elected incoming president and his administration. yeah, it's breathtaking. you know, it is interesting also, mika. peter navarro, who we will give credit for warning the president early on of all the deaths that could come out of covid. the president, of course, ignored that memo. but peter navarro was blaming the rioters on january 6th. he should have blamed the president of the united states.

>> yeah. >> because, of course, we're learning more and more every day that it was donald trump who ignored the advice of sean hannity, ignored the advice of don jr., ignored the advice of ivanka trump, ignored the advice of laura ingraham, ignored the advice of steve. i think that's what -- >> kev. >> yeah, that's what donald trump called steve mccarthy. ignored the advice of all his allies who were saying, do what you can to stop this. he wouldn't do it. he kept looking. he loved the images. you know, navarro, if he has an issue with the riots, he doesn't ned to look to capitol hill. he needs to look to the other side of pennsylvania avenue. that's why they began, and that's why it took so long for them to come to an end. because donald trump refused to call it off. when they finally forced him to make a video to send, to get people to disperse, i think it

took him three takes before he finally could be forced to tell them to leave the capitol area. >> yeah. a place that he told them to go to and said he would meet them there. susan page, thank you very much. still ahead, we'll talk to one of the police officers who defended the capitol when it was attacked last january. harry dunn says he now suffers from ptsd, anxiety, and depression. he will share his story. plus, the congressman who led the impeachment investigation into donald trump following the capitol insurrection. democrat jamie raskin joins us. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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it is two minutes before the top of the hour in washington, where the nfl team there will

unveil its new name and logo it announced yesterday on february 2nd. commanders, admirals, brigade, red hogs, and presidents are among the favorites. oh, red hogs and wolves are no longer possible because of other organization trademarks. there are teases featuring the burgundy and gold colors are three stars on the collar and stripes on the shoulders of jerseys. hmm. we like the uniforms, gene robinson. what is the consensus down there? how are people feeling about a team name? i sort of liked red wolves, but apparently there is a copyright problem there. >> apparently, there is a problem there. you know, i wish when they were announcing the new name, which they sorely needed. got rid of the old name years ago. i wish they were announcing the new owner, as well. dan snyder --

>> you're not alone. >> -- has not been a good steward of a once great franchise. you know, there was a time when i went to games fairly regularly. the last few years, i just can't. i just couldn't. you know, it'd be nice to get back to being able to support a local team, as i said. you know, a once great franchise that, for a variety of reasons, its owner has just run into the ground. still a valuable franchise. i hope they pick a decent name. i hope this is a parting gift from dan snyder to the washington team, although i know it's not. >> a decent name would be fine. gene is right, willie, a new owner would be better. dan snyder has driven this once

great franchise straight into the ground. i remember going to games at rfk in the '90s. i wasn't even a redskins fan. i grew up a cowboys fan. when the cowboys and redskins played, i was always cheering for roger because my father was. when i walked into rfk, i was like, man, this is about as special of a place to watch a football game as i've ever seen. you know, i grew up in s.e.c. football territory. now, they have structures falling on football players, gene. it is a slab of concrete up in maryland. >> yeah. >> i went to one game upmiserab >> it is a terrible experience. nothing compared to rfk, where, boy, the whole stadium was rocking. i don't know how safe that was.

>> literally. >> the whole stadium literally rocked and moved. it was just a great scene. i used to go with my late father-in-law who lived locally. we'd go. we'd just have a great time. that just seems all lost. yeah, they moved way out to maryland. the soulless, huge -- i think it is still fedex field. railings are falling off. it is not the experience it was. it was one of the truly greatest experiences in, not just in the nfl, but in football. hey, i went to michigan. i know football experiences. this was a great football experience. >> right. >> in the past. >> lemire, let's talk about -- again, the contrasts of where they are now and where they were before dan snyder, i mean, it was -- those redskins games,

man, they were the greatest shows, like, on earth if you were from washington, d.c. everybody wanted to get into that stadium. everybody wanted to see those games. it was a must-get ticket. it is an example of how one owner can completely destroy the entire atmosphere surrounding a franchise. i mean, that's what dan snyder has done. he has taken it from the highest of highs to the lowest of lows. >> yeah. the franchise, think back to the '80s, the early to mid '90s. joe gibbs is the coach. hogs were the offensive line. they had a theme song, the only one in the nfl. the ticket list was decades long. decades long. now, when the washington football team has a home game up there at fedex field in maryland, you can usually -- there are more fans of the visiting team often than the home team. it is an easy ticket to get.

the stadium is soulless, falling apart. nearly collapsed on philadelphia eagles quarterback jalen hurts this last sunday. the video clip has been going around. it's going downhill from snyder. rfk stadium still sits there in capitol hill. it's fallen to disrepair. potentially it is ripe for renovation. snyder, as eugene put it, is universally hated throughout the district, but he has been itching, again, for a new stadium. whenever an owner looks for one, it is usually seen as greed. in this case, they probably actually do need one. if there was a chance to come back into the district, i think it'd make a lot of washington fans very, very happy. >> yeah. but how can you have -- how can you have one owner? how many coaches has he had since he took over? schottenheimer. >> spurrier. >> coach after coach after coach. they used to all come to the

post for an introductory lunch. we'd hear about how this is really going to work. it didn't work. because, you know, the fish rots from the head, right? >> oh, my gosh. >> the only explanation is the ownership is just rotten. >> speaking of -- >> i'll tell ya what, willie, gene robinson is talking like a new york knicks fan. since i moved to new york, i've heard the same thing about the dolans. i've heard the same thing about thedolans over and over again. how do do you have the new york knicks? how do you have madison square garden? how do you have the most profitable franchise in the nba, and how do you destroy them every year? takes a special talent. >> the thought crossed my mind,

coming from the new york point of view. the answer, gene pointed to it with dan snyder, is the knicks are the third most valuable franchise in the world. after the cowboys and the yankees. everybody is making money and is happy. this conversation started 8 minutes ago by me asking, gene, what do you like better, the armada or the red hogs? >> not joe's fault this time. >> don't get me started, willie. >> call 'em the washington generals. >> understood. >>let us do that. worked out well. let's try to get to the news. >> and here is jalen hurts. he's like, hi, guys, how you doing? look at this. >> oh, my gosh. >> the stadium is falling. >> are they okay? >> yeah. i mean, jalen was concerned. he wrote the nfl and said, hey, listen, you know, i want to go back and play football at this place sometime, but you are going to have to make guarantees that the stadium doesn't fall

down on my head when i do go back. here's jalen, eagles fans. look at this. you can't laugh, whoever is laughing. don't laugh. they're okay. we're supposed to say at this point, they're okay. collapsing bleachers brought to you by dan snyder. now, let's go to developments of the house select committee. >> you finally got my attention. some developments now with the select committee investigating the january 6th attack on the capitol. the committee's chairman, bennie thompson, said yesterday the panel would like to speak to former vice president mike pence. >> people who had gallows directed upon the lawn of the capitol. trying to hang the vice president. his life was in danger. i would hope that he would do

the right thing and come forward and voluntarily talk to the committee. you know, everybody there didn't have a security detail, so we'd like to know what his security detail told him was going on. and what all went on. i think it is important that the public needs to know. this was a number two person in government. >> a spokesperson for the committee confirms to nbc news that pence has not been formally asked for an interview, but if offered, the committee would accept. we're also learning the committee has requested information from fox news host sean hannity in a letter sent to hannity yesterday. the committee wrote that they are in possession of material that suggests he had, quote, advanced knowledge regarding president trump and his legal

team's planning for january 6th. >> let's bring in right now democratic congressman jamie raskin of maryland. he's a member of the select committee investigating the january 6th attack. author of the new memoir entitled "unthinkable trauma, truth, and the trials of american democracy." congressman, thank you so much for being with us. can you shed any light on the sean hannity aspect of the story and your request that the fox broadcaster come and testify before the committee? >> sean hannity is being -- has become a figure of interest because he is a fact witness, obviously, to the planning that preceded both the attempt at a political coup on january 6th and also, apparently, organizing for the insurrection. based on the evidence of the texts we've seen, it looks like he was very concerned about what was going to happen. we just want to try to reconstruct the chronology of

his involvement. obviously, he is not a figure of interest because of whatever he may have said publicly, and we were clear it has nothing to do with any of his public pronouncements. it all has to do with his role as a fact witness and player in these events. >> we heard he was concerned, obviously, because of the text that you all released, that sean was very concerned about the violence that he saw on january 6th. in fact, was trying to reach out to the president to get it stopped. did you sense -- the information that you have, do you have information suggesting he was just as concerned in the days leading up to january 6th by what he was hearing? >> that's why we want to bring him in, in order to get a statement in his own voice, but those are the bread crumbs we received. that he was concerned about where things were going. obviously, the president and his team were escalating their attacks on mike pence, their attacks on the election and the propagation of the big lie in the days in advance.

so anybody on the inside who was privy to their conversations obviously would have known about where they were headed in terms of both the inside attack on pence, the attempt to destroy joe biden's majority in the electoral college vote, but also the eliciting of violence and insurrectionary movement in the streets. >> it looks, congressman, like you're not going to need to get peter navarro to come up to tell you about his involvement because he wrote it all in a book, then told ari melber about it yesterday in a shocking interview. curious what your reaction was from what you heard from mr. navarro. >> well, my reaction to mr. navarro's statements is that this fulfills a prediction i had made, which is that the actions of the coup plotters would eventually conflict with the actions of the insurrectionists. they had conjured up this

nightmare of mass street violence and a fascist movement, and the coup plotters thought that they had a much more delicate, chess-like arrangement on the inside. they thought that they could thwart biden's electoral college victory of 306 by rejecting arizona, georgia, and pennsylvania, lowering it below 270, and kicking the whole contest into the house of representatives for a so-called contingent election under the 12th amendment. so it was inevitable that people like peter navarro would end up blaming the violent insurrection for interfering with their designs for stealing the election on the inside. >> and suggesting that vice president pence fumbled the ball right at the goal line when they were trying to finish their play, as they called it, a green bay sweep. good morning, congressman. it is willie geist. so much, as you say, of this is out in the open. we've heard public statements from president trump and from many of the people around him. we've had so much media

reporting over the last year about what was going on in the days leading up to january 6th and then on that day. but what more can you tell us this morning about the role that the president himself, then president donald trump, played on that day? who was he talking to that day? what were the conversations like inside the west wing, inside the oval office? >> well, that's probably the final piece of the puzzle that we haven't quite put in place yet. we've had overwhelming cooperation and participation by witnesses up and down the line, except right when you get to the inner entourage surrounding former president trump himself. that is where we've run into a little bit of a brick wall with steve bannon, kind of mark meadows, who had one foot in and one foot out, roger stone and a couple of the other key players right there. but, essentially, with donald trump, it is sufficient, usually, to follow his public pronouncements and his public

conduct. he had been whipping up a violent frenzy in the streets, at the rally, where he said, we never give up. you never give up when there's fraud involved. you've got to go and fight like hell and so on. all of that was obvious, what he was doing. but what has come out, of course, is the inside strategy of trying to destroy biden's electoral college majority and kicking the whole thing into a contingent election. at which point they would have declared trump the victor. then he probably would have invoked the insurrection act, declared something like martial law, and then tried to call in the national guard to put down the insurrection and the chaos he'd unleashed against us. >> congressman raskin, good morning. it is jonathan lemire. there is new reporting today, including from "axios," that suggests the house select committee here on january 6th is considering some primetime hearings to draw more attention, to capture america's eyes on the

work you are doing right around now, the one-year anniversary. can you talk to us about whether it is true and what the next steps of the committee might be? >> i have favored this strategy from the beginning. i remember as a kid getting to watch a bit of the watergate hearings, which were a daily spectacle that the whole country tuned into. if we can do that for, you know, a break-in in a couple of offices in the watergate hotel, certainly, we can do it for a massive break-in into the capitol of the united states, a storming, and a seizure essentially of our government offices, an interruption of the peaceful transfer of power in an attempt to overturn the results of an american presidential election. >> congressman raskin, you are the lead impeachment manager for former president donald trump's second impeachment trial. we want to get your reaction to something republican senator ted cruz of texas said late last month. he said it on a podcast.

that the odds are very high that president biden will be impeached, should republicans retake the house in this year's election. listen to what he said. >> the democrats weaponized impeachment. they used it for partisan purposes to go after trump because they disagreed with him. one of the real disadvantages of doing that, and this is something you and i talked about at great length, is the more you weaponize it and turn it into a partisan thing, you know, what is good for the goose is good for the gander. in a republican house, you can expect an impeachment proceeding. >> your reaction, congressman? >> what a pathetic, sordid speck spectacle, to see ted cruz utter words like that. i think he is a gradual of harvard law school, and he is a shame on my alma matter when he speaks like that.

you don't raise impeachment because you don't like something that another congress did. this is a guy who supported the impeachment of bill clinton for telling one lie about one act of sex but could not bring himself to support the impeachment and the conviction of donald trump for inciting a violent insurrection against his own government. the worst action of a president against the u.s. government, against the people of the united states, in the history of our country.pretending to invoke a high crime and misdemeanor, he says, we're going to use impeachment against joe biden. he is the one, obviously, weaponizing impeachment. he is someone who betrayed his oath of office when he refused to act as an objective and dispassionate juror in the senate trial. so i think that is pathetic. >> yeah. i want to ask about your book and your personal story. literally days just before

impeachment and the insurrection, you lost your son by suicide. you and your wife and your family wrote an incredible piece about him shortly after. which i know joe and i were just so moved by his story and how beautiful your son was. and i wonder if you could tell us about the book and how you navigated these duelling tragedies, personal and the threat of democracy. >> thank you for asking. it was a labor of love i'd produce over five or six months. i'd come home from the capitol around 7:00 or 8:00. when everybody would start to go to bed, i'd stay up and i would write about tommy. i wasn't sleeping anyway. it was pretty much a sleepless year for me in 2021. tommy was a remarkable, young

man and a remarkable boy. he was in his second year at harvard law school when we lost him. but he was a brilliant and joyful and filled with life and purpose and passion. he was a very strong anti-war advocate. he was a great champion of human rights. he was a great champion of animal rights and animal welfare. he was a vegan. he was a poet. he was a playwright. he had a dazzling mind and a perfect heart. he felt all of the pain of the world. when covid-19 came, he was sent back home, like all of the students were, and he grew increasingly isolated and despondent. he left us a note on december 31st, 2020, which said, "please forgive me. my illness won today. look after each other. the animals and the global core for me. all my love, tommy."

he was an extraordinary person, and i wanted to record his life. and that's the beginning of the book, but a week later, after we lost tommy, the day after we buried him was january 6th. i was on the floor of the house of representatives as one of the handful of members that speaker pelosi had asked to respond to the various fraudulent challenges being made against electoral college votes coming in. the same challenges that had been rejected by 62 federal and state courts across the land, including by eight judges donald trump himself named to the bench. and, of course, we were invaded. i'll never forget the sound of the insurrectionists barrelling up against the central door to the house chamber. boom, boom, boom. and people rushed over to try to defend the door. then capitol officers came in

with their guns drawn. speaker pelosi was evacuated. the republican leaders were evacuated. steny hoyer was evacuated. this was chaos and pandemonium. our new house chaplain, who had been on the job for three days, got up and made a prayer for safety and for peace. i looked up in the galleries where a lot of our colleagues were sitting on the democratic side, and they began to move over to the republican side because, as they told it later, they thought there was less chance they would be shot and killed if someone came in with an ar-15. one of our colleagues, susan wild, was having a panic attack. people were calling their wives, their husbands, their kids, their parents to say good-bye. a lot of people thought this was going to be their last day on the earth. and my daughter, tabitha, my son-in-law hank, married to our daughter hannah, had been up in

the gallery. they'd gone back to steny hoyer's office. i got in touch with them. they were with my chief of staff, barricaded themselves in and locked the door. they were hiding under the desk. we were all evacuated to the speaker's lobby while the mob was trying to get into the left side. that's where ashli babbitt was shot and killed when she tried to break in. we were escorted out and made it over to safety into one of the house office buildings, into a committee room. new problems began there when we were all herded in kind of like sardines. the republican members refused to wear their masks. there was conflict around that. anyway, i tell the whole story. i know it's too much detail. but these details are imprinted in my mind. >> yeah, and it is important to tell the story. because the story has been twisted and changed and downplayed and minimized so much

by so many people in this country over the last year. that's what happened on that day, from someone who was inside the room. you talked about your daughter and your son-in-law being in there. they were sheltering in, i believe, steny hoyer's office. that was january 6th. you mentioned you buried your son tommy on january 5th. i was going to read part of his note to you, but, clearly, you have it committed to memory, sadly. please forgive me, my illness won today. i ask you this, just because i think it'll help a lot of other parents who are grappling with these kind of questions. how do you deal with that? how do you deal with what happened to your son, and how do you deal with that kind of an illness in a child? >> well, there are no real experts on this, and we're still finding our way. so this is a painful and arduous process of saying good-bye to one of your kids. you know, one of the things that i do say is that i fault myself

for, among many other things, not using the word "suicide" and forcing conversations about suicide in our household. not talking to somebody who is depressed about suicide is like not talking about sex to a teenager. you may think that you're somehow suppressing the possibility of its emergence later, but you're not. you're just endowing the word and the idea with more power by not talking about it. so you need to drain it of power by having that conversation. i do make the analogy, when we get into the impeachment trial and so on, to fascism. we have to talk about fascism in american democracy because we clearly have a fascistic movement. we have a political party that has positioned itself outside of the constitutional order and does not accept the outcome and the results of elections that do not favor them. that's an essentially fascist attitude, when you reject the basic premise of democracy, that

we accept the official and legitimate results of an election. you don't question the courts and question all of the counts in order to rev up your troops. >> i want to underline something you said about suicide. it reminds me of what a -- what a family counselor told me about a decade ago, 12 years ago when i was going through a divorce. my wife and i would not use the word "divorce" in front of our young kids. we were talking about it and said, oh, no, no, we don't ever use that word. he said, use the word. they'll see that nobody disappears. you take the power away from that word. suddenly, everybody can talk about it. i've heard the same thing over the past ten years about suicide. say the word. talk about it.

talk about suicidal ideations. it takes the power away from the word, and it begins the dialogue. what you're saying is so critically important, especially for fathers and mothers of boys. three out of four suicides are actually of boys. we sit here and talk about health care crises and how it is impacting young girls on instagram. young girls are actually more expressive and talk about suicidal ideations, talk about the possibility of suicide. it is harder for young men to do that. that's why it is so important, what you're saying. it is so critically important. >> well, that emotional and psychological honesty is essential in the family, the way the political and intellectual honesty is essential in our society. but you're making a point that my son tommy used to make a lot. he was a great feminist and really lived a life where he believed that men and women were equal and boys and girls were equally important. but he made the point that boys

and men are in special trouble today. i mean, he would say, look who is in the prisons. look who is in the homeless shelters. look who is at the bottom of society. look who is suffering the most in this emotional and mental health crisis. so he felt very much what you're saying, that young men and boys need to be paid attention to in the various crises of our time. whether we're talking about the opioid crisis, the emotional and mental health crisis, and so on. it is not to discount in any way the experience of women and girls, which has also been horrific during this period. >> congressman jamie raskin, father of tommy, thank you so much for being on the show this morning and sharing so deeply with us. >> i appreciate it. thank you for having me. >> thank you. the new book "unthinkable trauma, truth and the trials of american democracy" is available

now. we'd like to make a programming note concerning congressman raskin. on sunday, february 6th, msnbc films presented a new feature documentary entitled "love and the constitution." an intimate look at both a nation and a congressman in crisis at the same time. "love and the constitution" airs sunday, february 6th, at 10:00 p.m. eastern here on msnbc. we want to turn now to all the different problems due to the massive winter storm that stranded thousands of drivers along i-95 in virginia. some for more than 20 hours. including one u.s. senator. nbc news correspondent tom costello is in arlington with the very latest. tom? >> reporter: yeah, by the way, that was one of the most impactful segments i've seen on ms in a long time. nice job with representative raskin. listen, if you are familiar with

i-95, that means you likely know about how critical this artery is right on the east coast. 50 miles of it yesterday were really shut down. 36 hours shut down. we had people in their cars 24, 28, some people even more more hours. they finally got i-95 open. it is moving this morning. finally got i-95 open late last night. then all those people got stuck on the feeder roads, on the side roads. some people didn't get home for 36 hours. a lot of people simply had to abandon their cars and walk away. how could this happen? thousands of drivers in virginia trapped for 20 plus hours in frigid temps along a nearly 50-mile stretch of the east coast's busiest highway, i-95. state officials blame a perfect storm of conditions, including rapidly decreasing temperatures and an enormous amount of snow in a short period of time.

>> the snowfall rates were 2 to 3 and even 4 inches per-mile-per-hour. >> reporter: all of it coupled with several inches of ice kept tow trucks from being able to move the multiple jackknifed big rigs blocking traffic. andrew stein spent 27 hours in his car, sleeping in it overnight. >> abandoned cars everywhere. people either ran out of gas or got stuck in the snow. >> reporter: he, like many others, forced to decide between saving gas and staying warm. for those able to leave their cars, many gas stations were out of fuel or without power. as cars slowly started to clear the interstate late tuesday, local roads became overwhelmed with traffic. vonya and her two young children in the car. she feared the worst as the temperatures fell, even asking first responders passing by for help. >> i was begging, can you take my kids?

you don't need the take us. just take my kids, please. i kept thinking, you know, they're going to die in this cold. >> reporter: that ems worker brought the family to his ambulance, where they managed to get some rest. >> 26 1/2 hours. >> reporter: virginia senator tim kaine's typically two-hour journey from richmond to d.c. took more than a day. >> i had one orange and one dr. pepper. that was the entire nutrition consumed in the 26 1/2 hours. >> reporter: one bright spot, a local bakery truck that was stuck with everybody else passed out bread to hungry folks in dozens of cars. one thankful woman called it one of the kindest moments she has ever witnessed. virginia's governor has been asked, why didn't he call out the national guard? he makes the point, it takes 12 to 24 hours to mobilize the national guard. i-95 and that stretch has very few off-ramps. you can't get people off. you can't get people on. how would you get the national

guard into the middle of i-95, bumper and bumper with thousands of trucks and cars. it was an epic, epic meltdown. back to you. >> nightmare. nbc's tom costello, thank you very, very much. coming up, u.s. capitol police officer harry dunn says the attempts to whitewash the events of january 6th by some of the very same people he protected from the violence that day is a betrayal of law enforcement officers. officer dunn joins us with his call for accountability next on "morning joe."

the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. he should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.

these facts require immediate action by president trump. accept his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest, and ensure president elect biden able to successfully begin his term. >> when i talk to president trump about it, i was the first person to contact him when the riots was going on. he didn't see it. when he ended the call, he was telling me he'll put something out to make sure to stop this. that's what he did. he put a video out later. >> that was house minority leader kevin mccarthy. first, a week after the attack on the capitol. a different take three months later. joining us now, capitol police officer harry dunn, who in july, testified before the select committee investigating the attack and is calling for all responsible for the insurrection to be held accountable. officer dunn, good morning. it is good to have you with us. thank you for your service to the country. thank you for your defense of the capitol that day. as we come up on this anniversary, this is the eve of a day that changed the country in many ways, certainly changed

your life. what are your thoughts as we come up one year later? >> morning. thanks for having me on. happy new year. it's hard to believe that it's been a year. time doesn't really -- doesn't really matter, doesn't seem to register when you're focused on something. your mind is on other things, so it is hard to believe it's been a year. but here we are, still trying to figure out exactly what happened. so that's why i believe that -- >> what -- >> i guess i'm still at it, like so many other people are. because we don't really know the full scope of what happened. only then, once we understand what has fully happened, can true healing actually begin. >> what has it been like for you to hear -- we just listened to kevin mccarthy. he is hardly alone. just over the course of 12 months, to hear a day we all witnessed with our eyes. you certainly saw from a different and terrible vantage

point yourself inside the capitol that day. what is it like for you to hear prominent public officials, prominent media personalities, minimize what happened that day? vice president pence said it was one day in january. they said it was a bad day. sure, there were bad people there. some of them, it was like a normal tourist visit, one member of congress said. what does it feel like for you, someone who stood in the breach that day, to hear people talk about january 6th that way? >> well, i think -- so i think that's why it is so important to get all the facts out. as you saw in the clip that you just played, the leader had different views as time went on. maybe he found out more information. maybe my viewpoint had changed as i find out more information. i don't see how, but it's just -- get all the facts out. you know, let people make reasonable decisions about what happened. once all the facts are out, then

you can't argue with facts. you can argue with people's opinions, but you can't argue about facts of what happened. right now, a lot of people just have opinions about what happened. until all the facts are known and all the facts come out, then everybody just has their opinion about what happened. my opinion, obviously, is a little different than some of the other people, but, you know, it is what it is. >> officer, can you describe your experience that day, or since that day, and whether or not you experienced a sense of abandonment? if so, why? >> speaking about that day specifically, i don't believe i've felt abandonment that particular day. i work with a great group of men and women, and we all had each other's backs that day. and although, yeah, we were completely outnumbered, i felt i was surrounded by people who i know had my back.

it was reciprocated on my end. also the metropolitan police department, they have a bunch of brave men and women who helped save us, save the capitol, save democracy. kudos to them. in the days following, you find out more information about delays about the national guard, et cetera, but there has been no accurate -- excuse me, no formal report put out about on what exactly happened, at least to my knowledge. everything has been opinions and people saying their accounts of what happened. so, yeah, i'm just waiting for all the evidence and all the facts to come out. but, yeah, i have my opinion about what happened, sure. who doesn't? we'll wait and see what happens. >> you talked about your colleagues and how you had each other's backs that day. how are you colleagues doing?

>> i'm not going to speculate about how they're doing. i can tell just the things i've seen. a lot of people heal in different ways. some people act like, you know, they're okay. some people probably are okay. there are days i'm okay. most of the days, i'm doing all right. you know, seeing all this new coverage, new information, i mean, every day you look at it, there is a new subpoena, a new set of information, new text message released about what happened that day. and from people who have downplayed it or remained mum about what happened, then you're finding out these people knew more or they, i don't know, maybe knew about what happened, it's disappointing and hard to get away from. some people tune it out because that's how they cope with things. in your last segment, joe was talking about with the great congressman jamie raskin, how it

is important to talk about it, say the word, right? that's what i'm doing. i take this head on. that's how i deal with my trauma, my therapy being open and transparent and talking about how i'm feeling, what happened. why it's so important to find out exactly what happened so i can get the pain out of my head and said, all right, this is what really happened. as you're sitting there, you're thinking about all these possible scenarios, these possible outcomes. you don't know which one is true. it's important to find the truth. >> officer dunn, this is gene robinson. happy new year to you. good to see you. you spoke eloquently at the hearing about the racial apuce abuse you experienced that day on january 6th. and were clearly shocked.

i'm wondering, over the year, how have you processed that? how do you look back on that aspect of what you experienced on january 6th? >> to me, i don't know if that aspect takes, you know, precedent or front stage about what happened. there's so much bad stuff that happened that day. you know, yeah, sure, you can't take race out of what happened because it existed. it is my story. however, there are so many people that were there that didn't experience racism, that have different stories. you can talk about how bad it was. i'm not focusing on just the racist part of my story. it's part of what happened. what i'm more sad to see about what happened is the lying, the covering up, where our country is headed. that's what i'm focused on. it is sad to see where we are as a country and how divided we are

as a nation. it is not even really about politics and policies and stuff anymore. it is, hey, are you on the left or the right? are you with us or against us? nobody is allowed to be an individual and have individual thoughts anymore. everyone is grouped into -- it is almost cult like. that's what i'm more sad to say. sure, racism is part of my story, what i experienced. but you ask 100 different officers what they went through that day, you'll get 100 different answers. this is just what i went through. just a part of what i went through, not all of what i went through. >> i can speak for everyone here at "morning joe," we are grateful for you. we'll pray for you. capitol police officer harry dunn, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. >> thanks for having me. have a good day. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," this could be a make-or-break month for voting rights legislation. as senate democrats consider a change to the filibuster.

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there's been no conversations after i made my statement. i think it's basically -- you know, i was very clear. i feel as strongly today as i did then. i'm really not going to talk about build back better anymore, because i think i've been very clear on that. there is no negotiations going on at this time. okay? let me just say that being open to a rules change that would create a nuclear option, it's a very, very difficult, it's a heavy lift. and i think that for us to go it alone, no matter what side does it, it ends up coming back at you pretty hard. >> you said, and it seems like you're saying this again, you would not be open to changing

the rules without republican buy-in in some way, shape, or form? >> that's my absolute preference. >> democratic senator joe manchin yesterday delivering a blow to his party's plans for passing the build back better legislation and on changing senate rules to push through voting rights. jonathan l lemire, what's goingo happen? is there anything that can get past joe manchin? >> that guy again? that's what a lot of white house aides were telling me last night. the build back better act has certainly been put on the back burner for the time being. we know that manchin came out against it in that fox news interview a few weeks ago. he and the president have spoken since and they feel like their person relationship is in tact, but there are no ongoing negotiations right now. and the senate has sort of put the biden legislative agenda, you know, aside for the time being, and wanting to shift to voting rights. in fact, in part because of pressure from civil rights groups, senator schumer has said, he really wants to get

something moving by mlk day, which is, of course, just a couple of weeks from now. you heard from senator manchin there and we have heard similar things from senator sinema, a real resistance to blow up the filibuster entirely. although, it should be noted that careful manchin watchers, that clip we just played, he used the phrase, absolute preference. meaning that the door was not shut entirely. i talked to one aide last night who said, look, we're still going to work with this. the senate majority leader is still hopeful of getting something done. but right now the path does seem murky amid rising frustration from a lot of democrats. >> so gene, as john just said, the white house basically declared and the leadership declared, chuck schumer said, we're going to push build back better to the side, take that up later and voting rights front and center, as if that were a foregone conclusion, which it is not. you still have to get joe manchin onboard. he has rejected the largest proposal on voting rights and

said he would be interested in and open to the john louis voting rights bill. so how do democrats get from "a" to "b" on voting rights in a way they couldn't on build back better? >> well, that's a huge question. i actually think they might have a better chance of actually getting something done on voting rights. i did notice the same thing john lemire noticed, the use of that phrase, absolute preference, as opposed to saying, you know, flat "no," which joe manchin is does when he means flat "no." that said, clearly he doesn't want to change the filibuster rule. his preference would be not to change it at all. and we haven't heard from kyrsten sinema either, who's actually made more sort of sherman-like statements about the filibuster than manchin has. even given all of that, i do

believe both of those senators fundamentally understand the importance of the voting rights legislation, particularly the john louis act, which is incredibly popular and needed. and so, i don't think the door is shut. but it's -- it is going to be a heavy lift, as manchin said, and it's not guaranteed. it's needed, but not guaranteed. >> eugene robinson, thank you so much. still ahead on "morning joe," the transformation of the gop. jeremy peters of the "new york times" joins us to explain how donald trump was able to remake the republican party in his image. plus, the cdc updates its guidance when it comes to covid isolation, but not in the way critics wanted. we'll explain that split in the

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just before the top of the hour, still ahead, job resignations in this country are hitting record levels and it's affecting nearly every industry. we'll talk about how the pandemic has many rethinking their priorities. that and much more when we come back live in just one minute. back live in just one minute so i'm taking zeposia, a once-daily pill. because i won't let uc stop me from being me. zeposia can help people with uc achieve and maintain remission. and it's the first and only s1p receptor modulator approved for uc. don't take zeposia if you've had a heart attack, chest pain, stroke or mini-stroke,

heart failure in the last 6 months, irregular or abnormal heartbeat not corrected by a pacemaker, if you have untreated severe breathing problems during your sleep, or if you take medicines called maois. zeposia may cause serious side effects including infections that can be life-threatening and cause death, slow heart rate, liver or breathing problems, increased blood pressure, macular edema, and swelling and narrowing of the brain's blood vessels. though unlikely, a risk of pml--a rare, serious, potentially fatal brain infection--cannot be ruled out. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions, medications, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. if you can become pregnant, use birth control during treatment and for 3 months after you stop taking zeposia. don't let uc stop you from doing you. ask your doctor about once-daily zeposia. the electoral college certification is supposed to be the functional equivalent of a swearing in. it's where the thing gets made official, but it's not like any decisions are supposed to be made that day. but senatored hawley and cruz

and others with their unlimited ambition, their big brains, and their supposed expertise in the constitution were dancing on the edge of overturning democracy itself. but i actually had no idea how bad it was, that there was an ongoing organized conspiracy to steal the election for real, not in a russian hacking kind of a way or not in a "too many of the people that i don't agree with voted" kind of way, actually overturning the whole thing. >> top of the hour, democratic senator brian schatz of hawaii speaking on the senate floor yesterday and naming names. welcome back to "morning joe." it is wednesday, january 5th. ahead of tomorrow's anniversary of the capitol riot, federal and local agencies are ramping up security at the u.s. capitol complex. meanwhile, there are new developments in the investigation into the

insurrection, focused on texts between fox news host sean hannity, donald trump, and mark meadows. for more, let's turn to nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent, garrett haake in washington. garrett? >> reporter: hey, mika. it seems like every week, we get closer to this anniversary, the january 6th committee moves closer to the former president's inner circle. we now know on the eve of the anniversary itself, that the committee is formally seeking to talk to sean hannity, one of the former president's top allies in the media. and they're also attempting to talk to the former vice president, mike pence. while all of this is going on, over the last year, we've also seen significant changes to the security situation here on the capitol. >> reporter: this morning, the january 6th committee is widening its investigation, requesting testimony from one of donald trump's top television allies, fox news anchor, sean hannity. the committee revealing it's in possession of dozens of text messages between hannity and trump chief of staff, mark

meadows. the committee claims those texts show that hannity had, quote, advanced knowledge, regarding president trump's and his legal team's planning for january 6th. "i'm very worried about the next 48 hours," hannity reportedly writing the night of january 5th. then a few days later, texting meadows and gop congressman jim jordan about an apparent conversation with mr. trump. quote, he can't mention the election again, ever. i did not have a good call with him today. but hannity didn't share those private concerns with his viewers on the night of january 6th, though hannity condemned the violence, he questioned who was behind it. >> i don't care if they're radical right, radical left, i don't know who they are. >> reporter: and echoed some of mr. trump's false rhetoric questioning the election. >> our election, frankly, was a train wreck. >> reporter: and overnight, the committee chairman telling cnn they hope to soon talk to someone even closer to president trump, former vice president mike pence. >> his life was in danger. i would hope that he would do the right thing and come

forward. >> reporter: it all comes as congress prepares to mark the insurrection's anniversary tomorrow. one surprising change of plans in the day from former president donald trump, canceling his planned press conference on the anniversary, after pressure from some fellow republicans. trump saying he'll share his thoughts at a later rally. at the capitol, the head of the u.s. capitol police says there are no major security concerns this week, and insists his department has fixed intelligence and operational failures in the run-up to the insurrection. >> our equipment, our training, our planning all has improved since then. >> reporter: as for hannity, he didn't mention any of this on his program last night, but his attorney tells nbc news that he and hannity are evaluating this request. they say they're concerned about possible first amendment implications of it and that they'll respond as appropriate. willie? >> reporter: garrett haake at the united states capitol. garrett, thanks so much, as always. let's bring in chief washington correspondent for abc news, jonathan carl.

his recent book entitled betrayal, the final act of the trump show, is a best seller. also with us, "new york times" reporter, jeremy peters. his forthcoming book, sure to be a best seller, is entitled "insurgency: how republicans lost their party and got everything they wanted." guys, good morning to you both. i'll start with you, jonathan, so much of what we know about that day, the planning of that day comes from your book, the reporting inside your book. how does what you just heard inside garrett's book about sean hannity and the work this select committee is doing now jives with what you saw in your reporting? >> well, it's entirely consistent with what i had tried to get to the bottom of, trump's actions on january 6th and the reactions of those around him. and what i saw in the reporting for "betrayal," was that there was such concern about trump's state of mind that some of the people closest to him actually talked about invoking the 25th amendment and declaring him mentally unfit for the office of the presidency.

and that those discussions included mike pompeo and steven mnuchin, two of the cabinet secretaries that were closest to donald trump. so now you see, it's not just pompeo and mnuchin, we saw the committee unveil those messages from donald trump jr., absolutely at the end of his rope, begging mark meadows to go in and get his father to stop it. and now we see sean hannity, who never revealed any of this publicly, but you see in these text messages that hannity obviously was not simply a fox news host. he was a top adviser, close confidant of donald trump, and he was at the end of his rope. he was, again, begging trump to get off of this. to stop the crazy talk of using mike pence to overturn the election, that it was going to cause the white house council's office to have lawyers resigning en masse, not just pat

cipollone, but other lawyers in the council's office, and saying that trump should never talk about the election again. that was the state you were in, willie. the people absolutely closest to donald trump during these days. the people now defending him and holding him up were saying, effectively, that he was mentally unfit to lead. >> so, jeremy, this morning, "the times" has an excerpt from your forthcoming book, and you write in part, this. in the immediate aftermath of january 6th, trump's enduring appeal was not so apparent. a pew research poll taken a few days after the attack showed his approval rating reaching the lowest point of his presidency, just 29%. senior republicans had spent the previous four years carefully avoiding direct conflict with trump. now they felt a need to denounce him. one year after that day in japan, polls show that most republicans see little need to

re-examine or even acknowledge what happened. around three quarters of them still view trump favorably. and there is no sure sip that the republican party remains the party of trump than the fact that there remains no obvious or able challenger to him in sight. no one seems more intent on proving how damaging it is politically for a republican to question trump's revisionist accounts of what happened in the 2020 election and on january 6th than trump himself. jeremy, talk about the hold that he still has on the party, but also, i want to connect this conversation to the last conversation we had with congressman jamie raskin, where these republicans are taking part in not confronting reality, which is another reason why a problem is given more and more power. and i think these republicans have gotten themselves into a fix, not describing what happened that day, and taking it

as seriously as they would if a democratic president was in office. >> it's not just that they're not talking about it, mika, it's that they are whitewashing history. that they're trying to sanitize the version of events that unfolded that day, starting with the former vice president himself, who has since referred to january 6th as one day in january. now, that's a direct quote. now, just think about the -- you know, the denial -- here you are, mike pence, you are hustled out of the senate chamber on january 6th by secret service, feared for your safety. and now, because it is politically unpalatable and unsustainable for you to acknowledge that, yes, there were trump supporters marauding through the halls of the capitol, shouting for your execution, you have to basically say, oh, yeah, none of that was really real. and that starts with the

president himself. when i spoke with the former president for this book, i asked him, what did you think of that? like, did that bother you? and without skipping a beat, he said, he didn't think that it was real. he didn't think that those calls to hang mike pence were anything more than what he said was an expression. like a figure of speech. that they wouldn't actually have done anything to harm mike pence if they found him. now, obviously, we -- we know that that was most likely not the case, but that shows you the level of denial that most republicans have been forced to espouse around january 6th, because trump himself has basically declared that, no, this was not real -- these people, whoever they were, were not really trump supporters. so therefore, this version of events is entirely drummed up and whipped up by the left-wing

media in an effort to harm trump. and i think, you know, looking back at the advisory of the republican party, which i try to do in this book, that's very consistent with the othering that many conservative populist candidates have done with their political enemies. and we're seeing that unfold in spades today with trump and his supporters. >> mike pence called it a few months ago, one day in january, despite what he saw, and what he lived through. and john, you're writing this morning about -- you're reporting this morning about mike pence. and it's the question that has been out there for the last year, as we know that he effectively was the last line of defense and ultimately did the right thing in helping to certify joe biden's election. but we were talking earlier about peter navarro, describing in detail on msnbc and wherever there's a camera in the last week or so, this plan called the green bay sweep to overturn the results of the election, and they called mike pence the quarterback, who ultimately didn't get the ball over the goal line.

they blame him that their plan didn't work and blame the rioters for tarring their effort to overturn the election. what would have happened? let's say mike pence did go along for the ride. let's say he played quarterback in the way that president trump wanted him to have that day. what would have happened from there? >> well, here is, willie, the bottom line of my book, of "betrayal." the bottom line, the thing that runs through the entire thing is that january 6th was a dangerously close call. that trump's plot to overturn the election and to seize power from the incoming president-elect came dangerously close to succeeding. and there are many aspects of this, but i think the most important one is the one that you just asked about, and the one that you talked to peter navarro about. and he was quite candid about. the offer to get mike pence to use his role as the presiding officer over that joint session of congress, to ceremonially count the electoral votes that had already certified by all 50 states, to use that role to undo

biden's victory. so i went further in this story, that we have just posted today. i have spoken to many legal scholars about this over the past year. but i have, today, spoken to michael luddig, a prominent conservative jurist, a former apellete court judge. he is one of the people who advised mike pence that he had no choice but to follow the constitution and simply open and count the votes. that he had no authority to overturn president biden's victory. but what luddig is telling me now is that although pence had no authority to overturn the election, it is not clear who would have had the authority to overrule him if he had followed trump's direct order. there's not clear -- he describes what would have been a constitutional crisis unlike any we have seen, he says, in all of american history, because this was a dispute between the

branches, between the executive branch and between the legislative branch, if pence had gone through with it. and it's not clear that the supreme court would have had the authority to take this up or would have taken it up. and even if the supreme court had decided to do so, it would have taken a period of time, that possibly would have taken us beyond january 20th, with absolute uncertainty over who the actual president of the united states was. this was a really close call. and the thing above all -- but there were many moments, and i outline a lot of them, but the real pivotal moment was pence. if pence had gone along with it, it's really unclear what would have happened. >> hey, jeremy, it's jonathan lemire. i can't wait to read the book. i want to read to you a moment from your excerpt that's in "the new york times" today about how republicans have from time to time tried to dispel the notion that trump totally dominated the party. and you have senator rick scott of florida in here, in a tv interview, saying that the gop belonged to no single person,

but rather to the voters. but trump responds this way. but the people like me the best, by far. so i want to get your take there on the future. you've done so well in the book detailing how trump has a hole on the republican party during his time in office. but what happens next? how you see the republican party staying in or managing to escape trump's grip, whether he runs in 2024 or whether he doesn't? >> well, it's very hard to see anybody other than donald trump leading the party for the foreseeable future, because trump has shown no willingness to step aside. and until he does, the party will be in his grip. i mean, time and time again, we have seen what should have been under normal political circumstances the end of any conventional politician's political career, right? you would think -- i remember having a conversation, as i was reporting in the book, with a very, very senior member of the

republican national committee, and i asked him, at what point do you think republicans would say "enough." donald trump, we're not going to follow you down this road. and he said he thought that that would happen if the president tried to cast doubt on the legitimacy of an election he lost. well, obviously, we didn't -- we now know that that did not turn out to be the case. that even that was not enough for republicans to stand up to trump and say no, you're damaging the fabric of american democracy. this has to stop. they tried. now, people forget, kevin mccarthy, who's a very, very loyal lieutenant of trump's, initially stood up and gave a very impassioned speech on the house floor the day that trump was impeached the second time, and said that the former president bears responsibility for the rioters who attacked the capitol. and he supported a resolution censuring donald trump. well, a few weeks after january 6th, kevin mccarthy went down and paid homage to donald trump at mar-a-lago and ever since then, has resisted any effort to

uncover what happened on january 6th, because it would be politically unsustainable for him, personally, and for the republican party, to try to shed light on the violent acts that trump incited that day. so, when you really get down to it, there -- i quote steve bannon in the book saying, donald trump wants -- donald trump doesn't care about the future of the republican party. donald trump wants the next republican running after him to lose by 40 points. because he alone can do this. as he said during his acceptance speech for the republican nomination in 2016, i, alone, can fix this. and that's basically how he sees the republican party. as his. he sees its successes as his, and it's part of the reason why he can't intellectually grasp the idea that he could lose -- that he could somehow lose the

election when the republican party had so much success at the ballot box when he was in charge. >> "new york times" reporter, jeremy peters, thank you very much. the book, "insurgency: how republicans lost their party and got everything they ever wanted" is out on february 8th. and abc news chief washington correspondent, jonathan carl, thank you, as well. his best seller is entitled "betrayal: the final act of the trump show." and still ahead on "morning joe," pride addresses the frustrating coronavirus testing situation as omicron cases surge across the country. what the administration is doing to help overwhelmed hospitals. plus, a conversation about how the ongoing pandemic is affecting america's children. both at home and in school. and the number of americans quitting their jobs, it's the highest on record. how coronavirus continues to

reshape the way many are choosing to live and work. also ahead this hour, australia's prime minister says tennis star novak djokovic needs to prove his covid-19 vaccine exemption ahead of the australian open or go home. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. re watching" we'll be right back.

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at xfinity.com/moving. welcome back. in the face of mounting criticism, the cdc has now updated its guidance on covid isolating and testinging. but only slightly. it comes as president biden tries to reassure americans that vaccines will protect the vast

majority from severe disease. nbc news correspondent stephanie gosk has the latest. >> reporter: this morning, another clash between educators and cities over covid, ending with kids in chicago staying home. the teacher's union in the nation's third largest school district voted tuesday to switch to remote learning, demanding more testing and adjustments to the new covid surge. city leaders responded by canceling school altogether, even remote learning, for most of the district's 330,000 students. >> there is no basis in the data, the science, or common sense for us to shut an entire system down. >> reporter: it's part of the pressure on schools and parents as covid cases skyrocket. and some have found guidance from authorities confusing. the cdc now clarifying its quarantine guidance again, after it cut covid isolation down from ten days to five for asymptomatic people, without requiring a negative test. but the agency is again under

fire from medical experts who say the guidelines are still confusing and still don't require a negative covid test after sick people are done isolating at home for five days. instead, the newest guidance unveiled tuesday simply says people who have access to a rapid test and want to take it should. the cdc says a positive result on a rapid test after you self-quarantine means that you should keep isolating for another five days. those who don't have tests and are asymptomatic or feeling better on day five can head out with a well-fitting mask. >> that's where it's still ambiguous. it's hard to ask people to judge their own symptoms. >> reporter: covid cases are exploding from coast-to-coast. the sheer volume of sick people is taking a toll on the entire country. >> right now, we have more covid patients in the icu than we ever have. >> reporter: understaffed before this surge hit, hospitals are now dealing with health workers getting sick, too. >> we're all pulling extra shifts, we're all taking care of more patients than we ever have.

we are tired and frustrated. >> our thanks to nbc's stephanie gosk for that report. and still ahead, special treatment for a tennis star? novak djokovic will defend a grand slam title, despite his vaccine status. a look at the reaction to his controversial exemption. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. re watching" we'll be right back. okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪

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earn about covid-19, the more questions we have.

the biggest question now, what's next? what will covid bring in six months, a year? if you're feeling anxious about the future, you're not alone. calhope offers free covid-19 emotional support. call 833-317-4673, or live chat at calhope.org today. there are questions this morning about two sports stars and vaccinations. in the nba, kyrie irving is making his season debut for the brooklyn nets and in tennis, novak djokovic, now will be allowed to play in the australian open due to a medical exemption. nbc news correspondent morgan chesky has more on the reaction to those moves. >> reporter: this morning, two superstar athletes and noted

vaccine skeptics are both preparing for controversial returns to their respective courts. after months of speculation, novak djokovic, the world's top-ranked men's tennis player, will compete in this month's australian open. the 20-time grand slam champ writing on instagram, i'm heading down under with an exemption permission. let's go, 2022. >> for him to get this exemption is going to be a huge backlash. and he's going to be booed. >> reporter: the tournaments are requiring participants to either be vaccinated or receive a medical exemption to compete. djokovic has said in the past that he's opposed to getting vaccinated, while consistently keeping his own status private. >> so what if someone wants to get a vaccine or not, that's completely up to them. >> reporter: and despite other players reportedly receiving the exemption, djokovic's participation is drawing mixed reviews, including from fellow players. >> i think if it was me that wasn't vaccinated, i wouldn't be

getting an exemption. >> reporter: but this morning the australian government saying that all travelers must provide proof of exemption at the border and no one will receive special treatment. in june of 2020, while hosting his own tour with limited social distancing and no masks, djokovic, his wife, and others tested positive. at the time he said, we were wrong and it was too soon. i can't express new how sorry i am for this and every case of infection. just days earlier, the tennis star posted this video from a concert and appeared to visit nightclubs without wearing a mask. meanwhile, a very different situation for brooklyn nets star kyrie irving, who is expected to play his first game since turning down the vaccine. new york city's indoor vaccine mandate has kept the seven-time all-star from playing in home games all season. and after initially barring irving from competing as a part-time player, the nets have now decided to allow him to compete in road games. >> things happen for a reason and now we're here and i'm just grateful for this.

>> reporter: nbc's morgan chesky reporting for us there. coming up, the great resignation hits record levels. the service industry has been hit hardest, but the movement is expanding to other critical jobs. we'll dig into that trend next on "morning joe." g into that trt on "morning joe. as america begins to reunite big oil executives saw a chance to make more money. they hiked up gas prices, right before the holiday season. sky-high gas prices for you meant record profits for them. 174 billion dollars. big oil executives took advantage of a recovering nation. just to make more money. it's time to tell big oil executives that their rigged game is over. america: it's time for clean energy. we hit the bike trails every weekend shinges doesn't care. i grow all my own vegetables shingles doesn't care. we've still got the best moves you've ever seen

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find live sports faster just by using your voice... sports on now. touchdown irish! [cheering] that was awesome. and, the hits won't quit, with peacock premium included at no additional cost. all that entertainment built in. xfinity. a way better way to watch. welcome back. the number of americans quitting their job hit a new record in november. nbc news correspondent kerry sanders has the latest on the rapidly evolving labor market. >> across the country, americans are quitting jobs at record rates. they call it the great resignation. >> i'm going to quit any 9:00 to 5:00 job today. >> reporter: labor department data shows 4.5 million americans quit their jobs in november, the biggest number on record. that's 3% of the workforce.

>> we're seeing people quit in restaurant jobs, hospitality, retail, transportation. those jobs that have gotten the brunt of covid. >> reporter: in florida, be nice restaurant group director greg bear says these days, hiring is a challenge. >> we have to put a lot more effort in than we used to. >> reporter: raising wages doesn't solve this problem? >> paying different rates, it doesn't seem to make a difference. >> reporter: the nearby tarp and river brewing once had 53 employees. now they're down to 28. >> it has been a challenge. especially to keep people. there has been so many, so many employees that we have had that have been here with us since the day we opened three, four years long, that have left to go into other industries. >> we've got brussel sprouts, spinach. >> reporter: it's not just restaurants, the great resignation is impacting nearly every industry. after seven years as a police officer, rachael drewsbik decided to make a change.

>> reporter: with everything going on, just covid and everything in this world, i decided that i needed some change and some growth, and i was able to start a company with one of my great friends. >> reporter: kerstin walden left her social media marketing job of five years in august. the pandemic, she says, helped clarify her priorities. >> so it came to a point for me that exchanging my time and my talents at a job 48 hours a week was not worth the exchange in my mental health and wellness. >> reporter: so many now re-evaluating how work fits into their lives. >> our thanks to nbc's kerry sanders for that report. and coming up, in 2020, students across the country fell behind in school because of the coronavirus and now almost two years later, many still haven't caught up. a look at the growing toll the pandemic is having on america's children, next on "morning joe." children, next on "morning joe."

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we're seeing covid-19 cases among vaccinated and in the workplace across america, including here at the white house. but if you're vaccinated and boosted, you are highly protected. you know, be concerned about omicron, but don't be alarmed. if you're unvaccinated, you have some reason to be alarmed. we have the tools to protect people from severe illness due to omicron, if people choose to use the tools. we have the medicines coming along that can save so many lives and dramatically reduce the impact that covid has had on our country. there's a lot of reason to be hopeful in 2020. but for god's sake, please take advantage of what's available. >> 44 past the hour, president biden continues to urge

americans to get vaccinated. if you're unvaccinated, he says, you have reason to be alarmed. with covid-19 hospitalizations in maryland reaching an all-time high, republican governor larry hogan declared a state of emergency to combat the public health crisis. >> maryland hit a record high of 3,057 covid hospitalizations. which is an increase of more than 500% in the last seven weeks, which is now overwhelming normal operations at hospitals. the truth is that the next four to six weeks will be the most challenging time of the entire pandemic. >> governor hogan also called on the biden administration to provide more shipments of monoclonal antibody treatments and to ramp up production and distribution of both covid-19 tests and newly authorized

antiviral medicines. the biden administration yesterday did double its order of pfizer's covid pill treatment, bringing the total to 20 million doses, but getting those pills will take some time. half the order won't be filled until june. the other half, expected to arrive by the end of september. the pills are approved for anyone 12 and older, who are at high risk of severe disease. pfizer says the treatment takes five days and should start as soon as possible, after covid symptoms begin to show. also yesterday, the cdc shortened its timeline for when people can receive a pfizer covid booster shot. the agency now recommends anyone who received the pfizer vaccine get a booster five months after their second dose, instead of six. in addition, the cdc now recommends moderately or severely immunocompromised children between the ages of 5

and 11 receive an additional dose of the vaccine 28 days after their second shot. willie? in new york city, mayor eric adams surging companies who are delaying bringing their workers back into the office, saying, quote, it's time to open up and feed our financial ecosystem. he also is defending his decision to keep schools open, after he rejected requests from the city's largest teacher's union to temporarily move schools to remote learning. >> what we must understand is that the resiliency of returning back to a normal life, if we don't open our cities, there's almost a million people who are behind in their rents right here in the city. we have low-skill employees who can't do remote employment from home or telecommuting. that's not a reality in a city like new york and across america. i need my cities to open.

and it's very clear. the safest place for children right now is in a school building. that's the safest place for them. and i'm going to continue to have my children be in a safe environment that all science is saying is the best place for them. i'm not going to allow the hysteria to prevent the future of my children receiving the quality education and the development that all sociologist are stating that they're needing. and i'm going to be focused on that, because i know that our children must be in school. >> we're not sending an unclear message of what is going to happen day-to-day. i'm going to tell you what's going to happen day-to-day. we are staying open. we are going to do everything that we have to do to keep our schools open. and i know there's questions about staffing. i know there's questions about testing. there's a lot of questions. but we're going to turn those question marks into an exclamation point. we're staying open. >> that's mayor eric adams five

days into the job in new york city. as we've been discussing this morning, a much different story in chicago, where public school officials canceled classes for today after the city's teacher's union voted to switch to remote learning. the chicago teacher's union action approved by 73% of its members called for a pause on in-person learning and to work remotely until january 18th, or until covid cases fall below a specific threshold. the union also demanded the city require negative tests from students and staff before returning to school, which could create a huge mess. in response, chicago mayor lori lightfoot called the move an illegal work action and said teachers who do not show up will not be paid. school buildings in the city will be open today to provide essential services like meals and covid-19 testing. chicago is the nation's third largest school district. joining us now, writer for "the new york times," dave leonard

and emily oster, her new book is entitled "the family firm -- a data-driven guide to decision makinging in the early school years." david, your piece has a lot of people talking, "no way to grow children during this pandemic over the last couple of years. when you put all the data together, you look at the experience we've had, what we've learned since march of 2020 about what it means to be in a school, some of the things we thought maybe were true that have turned out not to be true, what's the picture that you've been able to paint here? >> i mean, it's a grim picture, willy. when you look at kids today, you see over the last two years they've fallen behind in school. probably the average kid is months behind where he or she would be without the pandemic, certainly weeks behind. the gaps are largest for black students, latino students and students who attend schools with a high poverty rate. we see soaring rates of mental health problems. er visits for suspected suicide

attempts by adolescent girls rose 51%. behavior problems among kids have increased, and so we've basically seen as emily's research has helped show that remote learning has been a failure. kids do not learn very much remotely. it creates social isolation, disruption in kids' lives. mayor adams is right. the research does suggest school is the safest place for kids. if omicron leads more schools to close, we know with a high degree of confidence it will damage kids greatly. so the only question becomes do we decide as a society that by keeping schools closed we prevent less damage than we know we are going to do to kids by closing schools. my reading of the evidence is no, we're going to do more damage by closing the schools. the only question is how do we do less damage? >> the great frustration for a lot of people in this country

and a lot of parents who watched the impact of remote learning two years ago, yes, of course we all knew this was true because we watched it happen to our kids, we watched it happen to our kids' friends. why has it taken so long for sort of conventional wisdom to get to this point that remote learning is bad and kids need to be in school? >> yeah, i mean, i think there's a couple of pieces of that. one thing that happened in the spring of 2020, it was widely understood by everybody that this isn't working well, but of course there was so much uncertainty at that time, that i think it made sense. many people thought it made sense to be closed. when we started in september 2020, i think there was for some people a feeling of, oh, we can do it better this time like now that we're prepared it will be better, and i think it took a bit of time for people to understand, no, in fact, we're not doing it better, and really seeing numbers about how much worse it was so the kinds of numbers that we were ultimately able to produce in some of the research we did, you know, 14

percentage point drop in math, the proficiency rates, those drops 10 percentage points larger in fully remote districts than districts that were in person. those kind of numbers took some time to come out. i think it's one thing to say, hey, this doesn't feel like it's working and it's another thing to say this is a generational moment in terms of how much kids are losing. i think it's just taken time for the on the ground data to catch up to what almost all parents who had kids kind of understood. >> yeah, david, this is going to stay with these kids, you know, well into their later years in schooling, and then think about high school kids and college kids who have also suffered setbacks emotionally and in terms of their learning. is there a sense that this is not just in the early years but this goes straight through college and even graduate levels? >> yeah, i mean, if you think -- there are a lot of colleges that have delayed reopening this

month, and so the kids who aren't going back to college campuses are not going to learn as much. for many american college students or commuter students so they effectively look a lot like high school students in terms of they live at home and go to college classes on their campuses. i think you're right, we know these are not simply temporary setbacks. we are doing lifelong damage to kids in many cases, and i think that's really how it raises the question of, wait a second here, are we choosing as a society to harm millions of children mostly to protect adults who have voluntarily chosen not to get vaccinated? i think that's what the united states is doing. we're saying we're going to harm kids to help protect adults who aren't protecting themselves. >> that's certainly a really important point there, david, and emily, i wanted to ask you about children. we know that there are some kids who are under the age of 5, of course, who are not eligible for

the vaccine. they haven't been authorized by the fda and so on, but for those kids and some of those are pre-k, some are in day care, child care centers and the like, they're still seeing closures. they're still seeing kids coming in a few days, losing chances on socialization and learning but also of course impacting the parents. what should be done for those kids, those kids who are too young to be vaccinated? >> so i think we need to think about how to limit the number of quarantines. the cdc has endorsed test to stay for kids in elementary school. let's do the same for child care. let's make it possible for people to have their kids in after an exposure without these extensive quarantines because the fact that this is a really low risk group and we have actually seen data in the last few days even suggesting that with omicron the risk of say an er visit for a kid in the 0 to 4 range is five times lower with omicron than it was with delta. it was already very low. the serious illness risk was

already very low, it's even lower. so this is a low risk group. this is a group that doesn't generally get seriously ill. we need to provide a way for them to stay in school both for them and their parents and for the general family structure. >> david, one of the reasons for this shift in thinking that you outline, i'll just pull from your piece. some researchers now are skeptical school closures reduced cases in most instances. severe instances of covid, including long covid are extremely rare in children. so what is different now as we sit here now 2022 than the thinking from a year ago, certainly from two years ago, but a year ago that now school administrators, superintendents, school boards can take with them as they make these decisions? >> well, i mean, as emily was sketching out a little bit, in the spring of 2020 this was an emergency. there were no vaccines available. we were shutting down everything. the idea that we're going to shut down schools as a part of shutting down society i think made a lot of sense. since then what we've learned is

this is even lower risk to kids than we thought. you are probably almost certainly putting your young child at more risk by placing them in a vehicle than covid presents to your child. it's been really hard to find evidence that shutting schools actually reduces covid cases because kids still go out and do stuff if schools are closed now, even if they're not learning. when you kind of put all this together is and combine it with the availability of vaccines, every single benefit we thought closing schools had has turned out to be smaller than we thought, david leonhardt of the "new york times" and professor of economics at brown university, emily oster thank you so much to you both for being on the show this morning. covid testing has become an all too familiar way of life. the past two years amid the

pandemic. gabe gutierrez got an inside look at one of the country's largest labs processing tests which says it's busier than ever. >> reporter: with lines for rapid covid tests, wait times for more accurate pcr results are also stretching longer. >> i would love to have my results. i want to go back to work. >> reporter: nbc news got a rare look inside one of the largest testing facilities in the country. >> is this running basically 24/7 now? >> correct. 24/7, 365. we never shut down. >> reporter: this is northwell health's 100,000 square foot core lab outside new york city. these samples were processed just within the last few hours. these arrived just within the past day and are about to be put into a machine like that one. right now this lab alone is handling 25,000 tests a day. >> reporter: of those tests about a third turn out to be covid positive, virtually all really omicron.

>> how quickly did the omicron variant really take hold? >> from one week to the next it went from 20% of our cases to 80% of our cases. that was about two weeks ago. we're up in the 100% range now. >> reporter: the typical turn around time for test results here is less than 48 hours. other smaller labs are taking much longer. >> so far we're hanging on, but we're hanging on by our fingernails. >> reporter: northwell is launching a new system where patients can track their results by scanning a unique bar code with their smartphones. >> this tube comes into the laboratory. when it's received here, you get a text message that says your specimen's in the laboratory. >> reporter: but for those still waiting. >> what would you tell people who are frustrated that we're not further along in testing nearly two years into this pandemic? >> yeah, i think it's taken a while for government to get on its footing and to have a coherent response to this. i think we're more on the right track now than we were before, but we're still catching up to this. >> nbc's gabe gutierrez with

that rare access for us. and that does it for us this morning. we'll see you tomorrow morning on "morning joe." 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 wednesday, january 5th, so let's get smarter. a new jaw dropping number when it comes to covid cases. more than 750,000 reported on tuesday alone. it's unclear how much of that might be due to holiday backlogs, but at this point the 14-day average is more than 400,000 cases a day. hospitalizations are up more than 40%, but once again, deaths are down, adding more evidence to the idea that omicron is less deadly than delta. with that in mind, the cdc now says omicron is accounting for 95% of all covid cases in