range, but, yeah, big -- big winter storm coming, willie, this weekend. some people in florida complaining it may get down to 40, 41, 42 this weekend. it is cold. it is cold all over. those florida people drive me absolutely crazy. what, you got any plans this weekend in the snow? >> close the schools in florida, joe, it is going to be 44 one of these days. >> whew. >> yeah, it is supposed to get to a foot in some places here in the new york area. i think i saw this morning wnbc said between 8 and 12 inches in new york city. 12 to 18, a foot and a half out on long island. then two feet up in boston. i won't still bill karins' thunder but it is a massive storm rolling through. >> you know, there's a joke in washington, d.c. that the debate between whether it was a northern city or a southern city always ended when the first two inches of snow came down and it was obviously southern city. i always thought the same thing, that the debate between, you

know, where somebody is from a lot of time ends when the snow comes down. as a southerner when i'm in new york or connecticut and the snow starts coming down, i -- you know, i'm like a kid. i love the snow. i always love -- you know, natives just look at me like i'm out of my mind. >> well, you know, i'm from the north and i love a good snowstorm. you get the shreds out, you get the fire going, all of that shed. the kids are a little disappointed around here today because the snow is not supposed to hit until tonight going into saturday. it does not buy them a snow day sadly. >> no snow day at all. we have pulitzer prize winner columnist, editor for "the washington post" eugene robinson and we have katty kay, she of "the confidence code." i need that right now. co-founder and ceo of "axios"

jim vanderhei. mika is traveling back from warsaw. in tribute to, well, not only mika but also jim vandehei's fallen green bay packers let's talk about the nfl playoffs this weekend. first of all, vandehei, aaron rodgers is a loveable guy. you know, what is a playoff without aaron rodgers in there? but what are you thinking this weekend? who do you like, the '9ers and the rams and then the bengals and the chiefs? >> i can't think of anything i care less about. i can't believe you are pouring salt into that wound. it is supposed to be the packers. one, i got to get a life. like i couldn't get out of bed on sunday. i assume the rams will win. i assume we'll see the rams even potentially win the super bowl but i just don't care anymore. honestly, the thing is everyone seems to have it, everyone loves football now. the ratings are way up. i have to find something other than aaron rodgers and the

packers. >> yeah, maybe try australian rules football. better yet, trade aaron rodgers and get somebody who knows how to win in the collection and you will be in good shape. not to pour salt in the wound, but come on. this guy just can't win. i would insert a vaccine joke but it was so last week. jim robinson, i haven't watched nfl in years. i have been watching college football like i watch college basketball. i love, you know, premier league football. i have to tell you, i have been watching the nfl the last four, five, six weeks with jack. >> yeah. >> and it is like i'm 6 years old again with, you know, my nfl blanket on. it is just -- it has been incredible. i will tell you a team that's jumped out at me, the 49ers. i guess it is because jack and i were watching their comeback against the rams when they were about to be eliminated. there's no way they should have been in the playoffs, and then there's no way they should have

beaten the cowboys and there's no way they should have beaten the packers. this just seems to be one of those teams of destiny despite the fact they have a quarterback that can't throw a seven-and-out route. >> that's right. look, they are -- they're a throwback team, aren't they? >> yes. >> you know, they run the ball, you know, blocking and tackling. i mean they have dominated the line of scrimmage when they have needed to. yes, with a quarterback who is not, frankly, in the league of the other quarterbacks that are left in the playoffs. but, boy, that victory over the packers, jim vandehei, was incredible. all of the games last weekend were so compelling that you got to, you know, you got to get the popcorn ready and prepare for sunday. i like the chiefs. i like the rams. i like the favorites going into

this weekend, but if you like the favorites going into last weekend you didn't do very well. so we'll have to see. >> yeah. >> the nfl wanted parity and they wanted to see some -- you know, a season where anything could happen. they got it. >> yeah, willie, you know, a team i guess we shouldn't fall asleep on because they're not the favorites so they'll probably win, you look at the bengals. when you look at the bengals you just look at a guy like joe burrow who is the opposite, i'm just going to keep on. i'm keeping on, sorry vandehei. he is the opposite of aaron rodgers. you put aaron rodgers in a game he has to win, he's not coming through for you. burrow is a lot like allen last week. he is a lot like mahomes. of course, they're the best in the league. but joe burrow is just a guy that knows how to win football games, a natural-born leader. he never want to count him or the bengals out. man, they have a shot of beating

a great chiefs' team. >> they do. it is going to be tough playing on the road at arrow head on sunday but i agree. i love that team. i have been picking them all through these playoffs. they're young, they're sort of carefree, they're rising to the moment, they don't feel the pressure it would appear. if you think back a generation really, the bengals have been the joke of the league, along with the jets, of course. >> yeah. >> in two years what they've done since they drafted joe burrow -- >> with the jets, of course. >> and they have ja'marr chase, the wide receiver, both of who played for lsu, winning a national title, they turned it around that quickly because of some guys and the moves on defense. i love the way they play. they're fun to watch. that said, going in against patrick mahomes and an experienced and really good chiefs' team on sunday with a chance to go to the super bowl is a tall order. if they do it, my god, joe burrow is a legend already. >> oh, no doubt about it. katty kay -- hold on one second. we will get to the green bay

cheering second in a second but i need to go to katty first. katty, all of america's eyes are going to have a split screen. they will be looking, of course, at these nfl games, extraordinary nfl games as well as prehere league. i know in your household they have to be very happy. man city looks like they've already locked it down even before we get into february. it will be very hard for them, for liverpool to catch them. also i think your son's an arsenal fan. arsenal is actually doing a little better this year. >> i was just realizing i have been calls it the bengals and it is the bengals. i will have to revise my nfl terminology, but, yes, my husband had the audacity to say the other today, who is the city fan, it is actually getting kind of boring because they're so far ahead, which i didn't think you would like to hear, joe. i'm sorry. i should have told him to pipe down. yes, two happy men in my household. >> yeah, your husband walking around with a top hand and a

monacle in a man city jersey and showering pounds from above because they buy every win. >> all of the money, all of the money. >> it is absolutely horrible. it is like what we face against the yankees, us poor liverpool years. but jim vandehei, i'm sorry. let's go back to the lambeau field discussion. i've got to say, i just wonder, can you separate your love for the packers with your love of the game? let's just face it, what is best for the nfl and what is best for america, and look at that game last week and not say to yourself that is a classic? people are going to be talking about that game for decades. it was ice bowl. they called another gase ice bowl, too. this was ice bowl 2, extraordinary, 1957 football classic. >> the game sucked. we should have won.

garoppolo is a -- on twitter, i'm going to defend a-rod. listen, super bowl, easily the best regular season quarterback in the history of football and it is not close. look at the stats, look at the wins, look at the errors, look at the differentials and any team other than maybe five would take him in a heartbeat if he decides to get traded. he says a lot of dopie things when he goes on the radio show and i wish he didn't, but there's no doubt he gives us the best chance to win. that's the reason most teams would give up three number ones and probably -- to get him. the guy is a good quarterback. yes, he says idiotic things at times and i wish he didn't, but i would rather have him than jordan love or probably any other quarterback other than maybe three others of the young guys. >> i think my point is this. not that he is not a quarterback. not that he can't flick the ball 40 yards down the field while he is going to his left, he is an

extraordinary athlete and he's a really good quarterback, but he's just not a guy that most of the time is going to get you into -- he's not going to win. you know, you have people like montana and brady, of course, is most extreme examples of this, but last week we saw with mahomes and josh allen. they just weren't going to lose. they're a team that they don't care if there's 13 seconds on the clock, they jog out to the field, they talk to their teams, say, come on, let's go, and they figure out a way to score, they figure out a way to win. he gets more conservative when it is crunch time. he sort of -- sort of like lebron was in his first two nba championships, he doesn't step up. of course, lebron, the greatest of all time, so that's sort of an apples and oranges analogy. i'm just saying though, he is not joe montana driving his team 94 yards with 50 seconds left in the super bowl. >> well, obviously he's not

doing that right now. we have been in the nfc championship two of the last three years and i think he's healthy enough you could have four or five years in him. but they win a super bowl and we'll have a different "morning joe" five years from now. yes, that game sucked, he sucked. [ laughter ] >> you know, this reminds me, willie, vandehei is about -- his mike has gone out, unfortunately, but vandehei reminds me. he is exactly where i was. there's an alabama game, maybe it was in 2013, 2014, where we were in the iron bowl and we were kicking a field goal i think to win and auburn blocked it and ran it all the way back and scored a touchdown. >> oh, yeah. >> at least that's what people tell me because the second the kick was blocked i knew what was going to happen. i got up, i walked out of the

room, and i still almost a decade later, i never have seen that play. i will never see that play because it is still -- it is as bad as it gets. i would guess seeing that blocked punt with not a '9ers team that, again, didn't know how to throw a seven and out, see them lose that way has to be awfully painful. but ease your pain, trade aaron rodgers, get some draft picks, start over. >> you can see that jim is still wounded, but i think the healing process begins this morning as we talk through this ad nauseam on national television, jim. we're happy to help out. >> in seven stages, in seven stages. so we're getting him through the anger stage right now. >> we're happy to help. joe, you don't want to see the famous kick six down on the plains. that was an amazing play by auburn. >> no, no, no. >> let's turn to the news now. long-time democratic strategist james carville wants his party to rethink how it

organizes and spends money. in an interview with vox he said this, jamie harrison raised over $100 million only to lose his senate race to lindsey graham by 10 points. amy mcgrath runs for senate in kentucky and raises over $90 million only to get crushed by mitch mcconnell. they were always going to lose those races but democrats keep doing this stupid stuff. they're too emotional. democrats obsess over high-profile races they can't win because that's where all of the attention is. we are addicted to hope fluorosalicic causes. james continues, what about the secretary of state in wisconsin or the attorney general race in michigan? how much money are democrats and progressives around the country sending to those candidates. i'm telling you, if democrats are worried about voting rights and election integrity, then these are the sorts of races they should support and volunteer for because this is where the action is and where things will be decided. joe, james never mincing words, talking to his fellow democrats

in this new vox interview. >> he's so right. this is something that i'm going to start talking about the difference between democrats and republicans and how they think. republicans think more strategically for the most part. it is calculating. they figure out the power. you can go back to the moral majority and ralph freed, what did they do? they started with school boards. they started with local elections. they built from the ground you have. by the time they were running national races, i mean things were, you know, they had built it up. the same thing that's been happening with the republicans, you know, jim vandehei, you know this very well. republicans have focused on state legislatures. they focused on local races and then they will whine about, you know, the rittenhouse jury, the instructions that they're getting. they will say, oh, american democracy sucks and how in the world could anybody be allowed to do what rittenhouse was allowed to do and walk? i will tell you how. you know, people go out and vote

and they elect state representatives that are going to pass certain laws that a lot -- and i'm talking about rittenhouse now, but you could talk about jury instructions in any state. i will hear some progressive complaining about it and they act as if these laws come down from on high. they act as if the redistricting woes are just part of a broken democratic system. no, no, it is not. our democracy works, and the people that are redistricting are the people that win local races, that win state legislatures, that control governorships. carville is right. democrats are always focusing on the lost cause, always focusing on the big prize. they're too emotional. republicans are just far more calculating and democrats need to take a page from their book. >> well, stipulating that carville seems to pop up every three months with some kind of attack on his own party, which is usually what gets him into the conversation, he's not wrong. as you said, republicans are more ruthless and they've been more methodical about what

matters. how do you control the redistricting process? by winning local races most people ignore. how do you control the courts? now they control the courts essentially for a generation, specifically if you look at the supreme court. i don't think democrat's problems was not raising enough money. they raised gobs of money, more money than we thought they would raise. i think it is about can you accommodate the candidates in districts that might not fit with the common orthodoxie, particularly if you hear from activists on twitter or activists on cable tv inside the democratic party. it is much more about the candidates. the map is tough in some areas for democrats. if you look at demographics they should be doing better. they should be doing better than they're doing, and i think it is why they're in a tough spot this time around. think about the republican party. they're probably going to win the house. looks like they have a very good chance to win the house in what shouldn't be a great environment for them. you think about january 6th. you think about the trump years. think about some of the internal divisions they have, and yet

because they thought about redistricting not just this last round by ten years ago, you have a map that doesn't match population in terms of if you just allocate who wins how many votes, how many seats that you have. it works for them to their advantage. those little things matter while we pay attention to sort of the big often distractions. i think democrats at the establishment level too often get distracted by that. >> gene, do you -- i mean this was a criticism raised when barack obama left office, that he left the democratic party nationally in a pretty poor condition. has the party just got seduced slightly by the idea that demographics is destiny and so they haven't paid as much attention as they needed to, to this scaffolding of the party around the country, to the infrastructure of the party? >> well, look, i think it is true that democrats have not paid enough attention to state level and local races. i mean that's just a fact. they haven't emphasized those

races. they haven't put in the -- they haven't found the right candidates and they haven't supported them in the right way that they could win. so, you know, if you look at the demographics of the country, the population as a whole and you look at how many states are controlled by republicans in the state houses, in the legislatures and the governor's mansions, there's a mismatch. so, yes, i mean i think the basic point is true. i don't think it is necessarily a mistake, despite what my friend james carville says, to spend money on a candidate like jamie harrison was in south carolina against lindsey graham. that i would argue is a laying of a foundation for the democratic party in south carolina, that kind of

investment that did not pay off last year but that could pay off ten years from now as the state changes and as it becomes -- you know, it is a red state now. it could trend toward purple. so you have to do both things. i think you have to -- you have to play in those big, high-profile races, but you definitely have to do more on the local level to make those decisions that really count and that decide our national politics. i mean, you know, the playing field for the house is warped and it shouldn't be. >> another point james makes in that interview is we shouldn't be trying, he says about democrats, to run joe manchin and kyrsten sinema out of the party. we ought to elect more to get something done in the senate. jim vandehei, we'll let you go.

>> enjoy it, buddy. >> i don't know if that was a counsellor or a tore meanter. >> we have a special brand of grief counseling. still ahead on "morning joe," with negotiations stalled on capital hill progressives are applying new pressure on president biden to get build back better passed. we will talk about whether it is realistic. plus, for decades laguardia was considered one of the worst airports in the country, because it was. now we are getting a look at its brand-new $4 billion makeover. >> hey, willie, have you been to the new laguardia much? >> i have and it is beautiful. they've done a great job. >> no, they -- it is beautiful. i mean that's the good news. it is beautiful. the bad news is that the gates i always have to go to are in pennsylvania. it is -- i seriously, i have my apple watch and i wake up in the morning when i'm in new york. i say, okay, am i going to exercise?

oh, wait, i'm going to laguardia so i will get my 10,000 steps in going to the gate. >> you didn't realize you checked in in new york city and flew out of scranton, pennsylvania, after you made that walk. >> exactly. i actually said something i never thought i would say. the last time as we were, you know, about two or three just couldn't make it. they put their bags down and they laid down and they couldn't make the gate. but as i got there, as i finally got to the gate i sat down and i said, oh, i miss old laguardia. i would even take the dirty bathrooms right now. it is just not working right now. they've got to figure out how to -- yeah, not scranton. let's -- you know, i don't even mind if they're in the hamptons or, you know, if they're in outer queens, somewhere in nassau county, but they need to get the gates closer. >> yeah. you need to be able to enter the airport closer to your gate. you enter over here and then you walk five miles to your gate. but we're whining now.

we will talk more about laguardia in a minute. also ahead, ukraine has asked for military aid amid russia's troop buildup along its border. the united states and the uk have responded now, but germany's offer of help has left some officials unimpressed. we will talk to pentagon press secretary john kirby about the escalating tensions and what role the united states may play here. you are watching "morning joe." we will be right back. we will be right back. this is the new world of work. each day looks different than the last. but whatever work becomes, the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding new ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office?

what's an office? ...or solving a workplace challenge that's yet to come. wherever the new world of work takes your business, the world works with servicenow. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new baja turkey avocado with smashed avocado, oven-roasted turkey, and baja chipotle sauce. it's three great things together. wait! who else is known for nailing threes? hmm. can't think of anyone! subway keeps refreshing and re... we gotta tell people that liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast.

[limu emu squawks] woo! new personal record, limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ colorado devastated... as many as one thousand homes burned... most devastating tornado in kentucky's history... ripped through the state and seven others... oregon just declared a state of emergency... seattle temperatures are... new evacuations... triple digit heat... thousand acres burned... flash flood threats... extreme heat... [news source voices] ...state of emergency... [flames burning] [wind blowing] you're a one-man stitchwork master. but your staffing plan needs to go up a size.

you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. age-related macular degeneration may lead to severe vision loss. and if you're taking a multivitamin alone, you may be missing a critical piece. preservision. preservision areds 2 contains the only clinically proven nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. "preservision is backed by 20 years of clinical studies"

"and its from the eye experts at bausch and lomb" so, ask your doctor about adding preservision. and fill in a missing piece of your plan. like i did with preservision" if i blindfolded someone and took him at 2:00 in the morning into the airport in hong kong and said, "where do you think you are" they would say "this must be america, it is a modern airport." if i took him blindfolded to

laguardia airport in new york, he would think -- >> that's joe biden in 2014 taking a shot at laguardia. after six years and billions of dollars, the new laguardia airport terminal is now fully open to the public. the airport was famous for its old, broken interior, regularly finding itself at bottom of airport ranking. the then-vice president famously calling laguardia a third world country in 2014. that was then and this is now. laguardia's upgrade is getting rave reviews since its unveiling. a panel of international judges named it the best new airport building in the world. wow. this shiny, new main terminal is complete with state-of-the-art technology, gourmet dining, a children's park. it has everything. the terminal is now open. not quite done yet. a second terminal from delta is scheduled to finish in the spring. joe, i guess we were not on that panel of judges. >> come on. >> in terms of the walk. it is gleaming, it is beautiful. the design, the execution was

good. we need to cup a couple more entrances in so you can go in somewhere near your gate, you don't have to walk 30 minutes to gets to it. >> i mean, again, it is a beautiful place, but -- it is. as you are walking for the first three miles to your gate you are going, this is lovely. and then, like, you know, by mile 14 you are going, i probably should have taken a bus. then by the time you finally get to your gate and you look outside and there are amish people, seriously, like riding their horses out to put the baggage on the plane, you realize you are in lancaster county, pennsylvania. you are like, what is going on. so i can only guess that the people who said this was the greatest airport in the world actually said it because they're from lancaster, pennsylvania, where most of the gates are. some of them, when you get the scranton gate, it is not quite

as far. but, willie, i am hoping, i am hoping that they'll organize it much better. bill karins, let me ask you something before we ask you about the weather, because, of course, you know, the 87 million people who watch this show on the east coast are going to want to know what exactly happens. also, of course, on armed forces radio across the world. bill, have you been to laguardia yet? >> i have not been to the new laguardia. i had my fond memories of catching taxis at the old one. >> yeah, okay, well, bring your hiking outfit. get a backpack. bring a couple of extra changes of clothes and anything else you may need for the hike. hopefully as they move along they will figure out a way to make it a little more efficient than dulles. i mean it is just this side of dulles right now. >> they could do it like the -- they can do like the new york city marathon. they can have little stations

with the bananas and the water as you are going to kind of hydrate you as you are going through, joe. >> see, that was the thing. when they gave me the number and asked me to pin the number to my suit when i went in there, i should have known something was up. all right. so i wonder, for people waking up this morning who may have a flight today or may be taking off later on this afternoon up and down the east coast, can you give them a run down of what the weather is looking like? >> yeah. joe, overnight things have changed a little bit, especially for the worse. the forecast has gone up in new york city for snowfall, same for philadelphia. the storm's going to be closer to the coast. let me break it down for you, kind of give you the timing. we are very fortunate it is mostly a saturday event. if it was during the week everything would be shut down, businesses, schools and everything. saturday at least helps mitigate that a little bit. 65 million people are included in this. we have the first blizzard warning for our cape cod to boston, the jersey shore, maryland and delaware since 2018. it is one of the most severe

winter storms we have had in a good four or five years. here is the latest snowfall forecast. the area we are most concerned with is eastern new england. that's 18 inches of snow in the pink. that covers a huge section of new england, from hartford to boston, cape may, new hampshire, long island also included in that, too. we could saturday during the day get snowfall rates of 2 to 4 inches. that's when you do not want to be on the roads. we want to avoid people getting stranded on the highways. here is the latest thinking for total snowfall. new york has gone up. yesterday when you went to bed it was around 6 to 8 inches. now we are looking at 8 to 12 and the possibility in boston of 18 to 24 inches of snow. by the way, the most snow boston has ever had in a january snowstorm in 24 inches so it could be a historic-type storm, especially for eastern massachusetts. notice d.c. and baltimore, you get a little snow tonight, you wake up tomorrow morning but it is pretty much a miss for you. it is fifth northwards where we will have the most severe impacts.

joe was mentioning the possibility of airport delays, i think the airports could close down for a good chunk of saturday from new york, hartford, providence, logan and boston. philly, i don't think you will close but you have will cancellations and delays to deal with. as far as the timing goes, philadelphia looks like the worst for you 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on saturday. new york city, the timing for the heaviest snow 4:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. it ends in the afternoon. as we go through hartford and boston it is pretty much an all-day saturday event. joe, you get the idea, willie too, this is a pretty significant snowstorm by anyone's standards even in the northeast, in new england, and possibly the biggest we have seen in a couple of years. >> wow. >> just for joe out there too, willie, miami's forecast is 37 degrees sunday morning. a lot of people in south florida think that they're going to be in the 30s is a bigger deal than the blizzard up here. >> much bigger. >> yes, we'll be weeping for them as we're under two feet of snow here. thank you, bill karins.

we appreciate it. coming up next here, president biden got some good news on the economy. growth we have not seen since the early 1980s despite the pandemic. we will dive into those numbers just ahead. we also will take a look at gene robinson's new op-ed about how democrats can capitalize on the nomination of a new supreme court justice. "morning joe" is coming right back. > "morning joe" is c right back biden: when i think about climate change, the word i think of is jobs. these investmee a win, win, win, for this country. creating jobs, cutting energy costs, protecting our climate. so let's not waste anymore time. let's get to work.

like pulsing, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare? it's how some people describe... shingles. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks. forget social events and weekend getaways. if you've had chickenpox, the virus that causes shingles is already inside of you.

if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. [copy machine printing] ♪ ♪ who would've thought printing... could lead to growing trees.

♪ it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new honey mustard rotisserie-style chicken. it's sweet, it's tangy, it's tender, it never misses. you could say it's the steph curry of footlongs. you could, but i'm not gonna. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and re... biden: i know that climate change is a challenge that is going to define our american future. i know meeting the challenge will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to jolt new life into our economy. so let's not waste any more time. let's get to work.

welcome back to "morning joe." 6:37 on a friday morning. this is a live look at times square, the calm before the major storm bill karins was just telling us about. the u.s. economy grew at its strongest pace in nearly 40 years last year despite the

pandemic. the commerce department reports the nation's gross domestic product, which is the sum of all goods and services, expanded 5.7% overall in 2021. it is the strongest calendar year growth since 1984. it was aided by a better than expected fourth quarter where gdp grew at 6.9%, far outpacing economists predictions in the face of the surging omicron variant. some analysts however are now warning the economy could be in for a slow down this year due to inflation and ongoing pandemic. joining us, host of the podcast "on brand" donny deutsch and also kurt berdella. donny, i will start with you, piggy backing off the james carville interview we were talking about earlier into the messaging piece about what democrats could be saying about the first year when you have gdp numbers, unemployment numbers,

massive pieces of legislation to help people weather the pandemic. how should the democrats be talking about what they've done in the first year under joe biden? >> like a "dragnet" show, just the facts, ma'am, give me the facts. unemployment, 3.9%, all-time low. $2 trillion, two separate $2 trillion packages. you know, i have said on the show before joe biden himself has not necessarily been the messenger but the message is there. they need to be pounding their chests more. republicans are so much better at bragging. i don't mean that in a bad sense of the word. so they've just got to get the messages out there. what they're walking into right now is a headwind of inflation because inflation -- no matter how good the numbers are, the macro numbers, what people feel every day when they guy their groceries and the gas and the prices are higher, then we have the inflation issue, now what is the fed going to do? they're going to start to raise interest rates a little bit, so you get into that cycle.

so not necessarily sunny skies ahead, but certainly enough to brag about in the last year. >> katty, that's the thing. again, i'm sorry, we just have to keep bringing it up because it is just the reality of american politics. republicans know how to brag about the economy much better than democrats do. donald trump every day would say this is the greatest economy ever, even when it wasn't close to being the greatest economy ever. i would actually see news people on liberal channels saying, well, okay, of course the economy is doing better than it has in a very long time but. and by him saying that every day, i mean it -- he actually started influencing not only his allies but what his political opponents were saying. if you are biden and if you are democrats, instead of whining and complaining all the time, the democrats on the hill, i mean talk about the great economic numbers. i mean most countries in europe would kill for -- especially

putin, kill for gdp numbers like we have. biden has had record-setting job growth this year. there's a record number of job openings right now. 3.9% unemployment. it is only getting better. $2 trillion is on the sidelines now. that's going to get pushed into the economy. you know what a republican would say about inflation? well, of course there's inflation right now. the economy hasn't been this hot in 40 years. we're going to cool it down, okay, but, yeah, you have inflation when the economy is just exploding. it will be exploding for the next couple of years. hold on, people, this will be the best economy of all time. that's how republicans would do it and voters would listen and vote for 'em. >> and vote for 'em. you can hear the trump superlatives, right, just in what you were just saying. you can exactly hear how donald trump would be phrasing everything that's going on in the economy, how he would be

phrasing the fact it is the biggest growth in 40 years in the u.s. economy. it would be the headline coming out of the white house, how it's been a booming stock market. investors have done incredibly well since joe biden came into office, but you don't hear it very much from the white house. it is almost as if the president wanted to distinguish himself so much from donald trump he doesn't do all of that. he often says, i don't measure myself by the stock market, which is a good thing. it is a good thing not to measure yourself by the stock market but it is not a bad thing either to take credit for your successes. curt, it is not just joe biden, right. barack obama used to get criticized for not going out and doing enough to tout the successes of the affordable care act, for not getting out there and touting his successes, too. is there something here in a pattern of democrats versus republicans or are we extrapolating from just a couple of people? >> well, i do think that the inherent dna of republicans is very different than democrats in terms of being bragging and

taking credit and doing so at almost an obnoxious level. the difference here is democrats and the president they actually have cause to be bragging. we are seeing an historic level of economic growth. it is truly a biden boom when it comes to the economy right now and democrats should be across the board out there thumping their press, thanking the president. i'm so sick of seeing stories, democrats are weary of being seen with the president. that's not the way to do it. republicans have not shied away from embracing their demagogue leader who has no accomplishments. we have plenty of reason to wrap our arms around the president, but every time we project a little bit of fear republicans seize on that. they paint the picture for the media that we have something to be afraid of, that we're scared of our own shadow. we have to get away from that. we have lot to be successful on. we have a lot to convince voters

for. we have a better message. what the president said at the press conference is 100% right. what are republicans for? they are against every single one of the measures that delivered the booming economy and we have to make that contrast. >> meanwhile, progressives in the democratic caucus want to go further, pushing the white house to act quickly on a resurrected build back better act. caucus share pramila jayapal gave them a deadline to pass the package. march 1st she argues a deal at the president's state of the union address would give the administration a much-needed win. she said in a statement, in the months since negotiations around the build back better act stalled, the case for this legislation has only become more urgent. there is agreement on the need to reduce rising costs facing ordinary americans and that's exactly what build back better does. key holdout joe manchin of west virginia said yesterday he is still open to participating in negotiations but cautioned democrats to, quote, be realistic. gene robinson, this looks to a lot of people in the country, a

lot of democrats even like a losing fight here. is there something that's changed that would make congresswoman jayapal and the progressive caucus among democrats think that now somehow they can get build back better through the senate? >> no, nothing has changed. the build back better as originally conceived and written as it came up in the senate is not going to get through the senate. so it will be a different, smaller build back better package. you could still call it that if you wanted to, although i think maybe a little rebranding would be in order. but you can still do a lot of good stuff. you know, you could still move on universal pre-k. you can still move potentially on some version of the child tax credit. you can do a lot of things, and if you want to still call it build back better call it that, but it will be a different package because, you know, it is

just a matter of counting to 50 and you don't have 50 votes for that original package. so it is not going to happen. i also am not -- i think democrats should be wary of sending yet another deadline for this to pass because they've said deadline after deadline after deadline and, of course, that is traditionally the way you get things done in washington, i excess, but enough is enough. i think, you know, ultimately the solution might be to pass it in discrete parts or chunks, and i understand why some people wouldn't like that. i think it is better all together, but you can only do what you can do and you should do it and then go out and tell people about it and tell people why it is so great. >> yeah. you can only do what you can do. you have got 50 votes. donny, for the life of me i

can't figure out why they keep doing this, you know, going to the press, setting false deadlines, deadlines that are going to fail. this is pretty simple stuff. let me say that again. this is pretty simple stuff. you get the head of the progressive caucus, you get joe manchin and you get joe biden and you put them in a room and you say, "we're not going to get out of this room until one of two things happen. one, we have a deal, or, two, we are going to have a press conference where we go out and announce that joe manchin does not support any piece of legislation regarding build back better." senator manchin has said he would support universal pre-k, full $1.75 trillion. that would be an extraordinary new entitlement for american

families. if that's the case, you don't find that out by talking to reporters or setting deadlines. you get in the room. not with 1,000 people. get manchin, get the head of the progressive caucus, get joe biden, sit at a table and do it like you have done it, like every other business person has done it for years, and say, "okay, let's make a deal or let's just walk away from this." i mean if you take manchin at his word, he's already committed. he shook biden's hand. he said, "i'll give you $1.75 trillion." you start by saying, "joe, show us your bill, not what you might support, show us your bill and let's see where we go from there." then walk out and make the announcement. we either have a bill or joe manchin will never support anything and he has been lying to us for the past year and a half. it is very clear. i don't think joe has been

lying. i just think they keep talking around him and they're talking to their constituents and they're talking to other people in the house and they're talking to other people in the senate instead of talking to the guy that's going to give them the 49th and 50th vote. >> you know, you started the show with a breakdown on the nfl and i will just use analogies. democrats don't have a play offense. they play defense. what you are talking about is just going on offense very, very strong, getting your guards to pull out and tuck the ball under your arm and run and run hard and go on offense. it is no more complicated. joe, you laid it out. i don't know what i would add to that other than to say that's just a win/win formula. it is an attachment to just this overall democratic psyche of just not playing to win, just playing to not lose. it is in the dna, it is in the blood, and going back to what we talked about earlier, learn to brag, you know. james carville had a great --

when you talked about him earlier had a great saying in the '92 election, it is the economy, stupid. i would hang on to this, it is the economy, stupid, brag, stupid. go on and do this one-on-one stuff and brag, but it is not culturally in their blood and i don't know how we inject it in there. >> hold on a second. if it is not culturally in democratic politicians blood, i don't want to play pop psychologist here, but perhaps it is not in the blood of democratic voters either. would democratic voters reward democratic politicians for behaving the way republicans do and bragging? >> i think it is about results. i think if we had a situation -- >> but the results are there. the economy is growing really fast and the stock market is doing really well. the results are there. >> but i think it is about expectation management. if you go out, and we talked about this here, if you set a deadline and you don't meet it, you set an expectation for yourself that you haven't met. we have to stop doing that to

ourselves and i live in a world where you should do what you can when you can do it, take it and label it a win and sell it, sell it, sell it. that's what democrats need to do. whether we get build back better or whether it was biff before last year, most voters don't know what those things are, they don't know what policy is named which. you have to go out and get stuff done. people respond to momentum. that's what republicans have already gotten, they understood. during the obama years when they didn't have all of the reins of power they convinced the american people they were constantly about forward momentum. by hitting the bully pulpit, by being aggressive, being proactive you can tell your voters you are doing something even if you are not getting everything done you want to get done or said you would get done, voter reece respond to the forward motion. that's what democrats need to project. >> donny, we will be looking for

your "brag stupid" merchandise coming very soon. >> can i say one thing before i go with a grievance since you were talking about laguardia. at teterboro they moved the cappuccino machines 20 yards. you know, that is not talked about as much. you know, literally it is ten strides. you know, i don't want to seem bitter, but there's problems everywhere, it is not just laguardia. let's get that on the table, okay. >> let me ask you this, donny, too. i understand one of the guys that are in the red vests, they go around and clear off the snow on the weekend, i was going up, just taking a walk with the kids and we walked past your street. they had said that you were having a terrible time with your helicopter, that something -- that the facilities at the helipad in manhattan aren't what they used to be. what is that about? >> yeah, i don't want to go in too many different directions because, you know, it seems like you are just complaining a lot.

that's for kind of next week's show, but this teterboro thing, let's not skip over that. you might want to start the segment with that also, okay. >> yeah. >> and the supply chain problem. >> and it is murder on the cheese tray on your private jet. thoughts and prayers to you, donny. >> thoughts and prayers. >> oh, my goodness. donny, we will see you next week. still ahead, covid deaths are up, cases are down. we will get an update on where things stand in the fight against covid from former fda commissioner scott gottlieb. he has new information to share with us on "morning joe." with us on "morning joe. to be a thriver with metastatic breast cancer means asking for what we want. and need.

and we need more time. so, we want kisqali. women are living longer than ever before with kisqali when taken with an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant in postmenopausal women with hr+, her2- metastatic breast cancer. kisqali is a pill that's significantly more effective at delaying disease progression versus an aromatase inhibitor or fulvestrant alone. kisqali can cause lung problems, or an abnormal heartbeat, which can lead to death. it can cause serious skin reactions, liver problems, and low white blood cell counts that may result in severe infections. tell your doctor right away if you have new or worsening symptoms, including breathing problems, cough, chest pain, a change in your heartbeat, dizziness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, tiredness, loss of appetite, abdomen pain, bleeding, bruising, fever, chills or other symptoms of an infection, a severe or worsening rash, are or plan to become pregnant, or breastfeeding. avoid grapefruit during treatment. ask your doctor about living longer with kisqali. ♪3, 4♪ ♪ ask your doctor about living longer

♪hey♪ ♪ ♪are you ready for me♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card.

♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪

straight ahead on "morning joe," an update on a story we talked about yesterday, neil young 'demand that spotify remove his music because of its partnership with podcaster joe rogan. now some of spotify's

competitors are promoting young's music. we will explain. but new york city mayor eric adams weighing in on sarah palin choosing to dine out in the city again, this time after testing positive for covid-19. he's not pleased again to say the least. "morning joe" is back in two minutes. "morning joe" is back in two minutes.

welcome back to "morning joe." almost 7:00 on the east coast. you can see the statue of liberty. enjoy it because not too long from now snow is going to be all over the place. visibility down to zero. or, you know, bill karins might be wrong. maybe it will be a sunny, beautiful weekend, but i doubt it. no, it will be messy up and down the east coast. be very careful making travel plans this weekend. it is friday, january 28th. mika is en route back from poland. katty kay and eugene robinson are still very much in the united states of america and with us still. joining the conversation we have former u.s. senator now and msnbc political analyst claire mccaskill. claire, it is such a shame, such a shame that we did all of our

nfl talk last hour and we don't have time to talk about nfl playoffs. let's go straight to the donald trump -- >> yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. no, no, no, no. >> -- investigations. so, claire, mahomes and the chiefs win a couple of years ago. we talked about this before. i always grew up, very warm feeling for the chiefs. i was a really big glen dawson fan. super bowl iv was one of my big memories. the chiefs won the super bowl and didn't win last year. i thought, okay, is that their one shot. i thought, man, patrick mahomes last week and josh allen, it was magical, one of the greatest nfl games ever played. talk about that game really quickly and what you are expecting this weekend. >> well, first of all, how much fun was it?

i think we all need to take a pause every once in a while and just talk about the enjoyment of watching a sporting event where the very best of the best go head to head. of course, you can imagine in missouri, joe, all over the state tee shirts are popping up saying, we got 13 seconds, no problem. it really was something. the fun thing about the end of that game is when you learn that really the two plays that were called from scrimmage after they -- when they had only 13 seconds, that was kind of kelce and tyreek hill and mahomes saying, okay, let's play a little back lot football. you know, hit the scene. it wasn't some complicated play that came in from the sidelines. they worked so well together and we've got honey badger back for the weekend. the bengals are a great team and we know what could happen because they beat us during the regular season, but i think sunday will be another great game and we will see one of the

few teams in history hopefully to go to the super bowl three years in a row. >> yeah, hey. gene robinson, i don't want to overstate anything so i'm going to chuck this with you, but was that game last week not one of the greatest nfl games we've ever seen? >> absolutely. it certainly, certainly is one of the greatest if not the greatest i have ever seen. i mean it was just -- it was incredible the two quarterbacks alone, the level of play was just spectacular. you just don't see that. you don't see two, you know, young quarterbacks in their prime at their best making -- making throws, making -- scrambling, doing everything they needed to do to get their teams to win and, you know, 13 seconds. i mean, you know, down the field. just amazing.

just amazing. >> yeah. >> you know, you could still -- you could argue, and we should about the overtime rule and how that works. they still haven't fixed it because you really thought, you know, yes, the chiefs scored that touchdown and that ended the game. who doubts that the bills wouldn't have come back and scored a -- you know, josh allen was on fire. he would have scored a touchdown if they had gotten the ball. those are the rules, but they need to keep tinkering with that overtime rule. >> i'm sure they will. and i'm sure it will be called the josh allen rule. speaking of josh allen, you know, we have times in sports we see a great player that comes up short. it happened to michael jordan an awful lot in the 1980s when he was still having to deal with larry bird and magic. how would you like to be competing with those guys? but i think with josh allen, we actually -- we may look back at

this game and say, okay, that's the last time josh allen was ever denied because patrick mahomes is crazy great. i don't know though i have ever seen josh allen, i have ever seen a guy rolling out and throwing a rope, a tight spiral as accurately as i have seen josh -- what i saw from josh allen last week. i also saw like defensive backs come up to hit him that curled up on the ground and were like grabbing their ribs as he ran over them. this guy is something special. >> yeah. it doesn't make sense because you are supposed to be either a big, tall pocket passer like dan marino or a running quarterback, a mobile quarterback. well, he is both. he is the size of dan marino, he is 6'5", 240, whatever he is, and he eludes people as patrick mahomes does and, as you say, runs over them at the end.

he is a phenomenal talent. he is so good. they have bright things ahead of them in buffalo. i will say about that game, yes, it was one of the greatest games of all time. who wanted that to end? people say, yes, the coin toss is okay, let's get the game over. you wanted that game over? it could have gone all night, everybody would have loved to see that. with all of the talk of the, ratings are down, 43 million people watched that game. >> whoa. >> that does not happen anymore in this era of television. >> that's amazing. >> they put on a show that drew that many people. so, yes, one of the great games of all time. we will see what is in store this weekend. let's turn back to other headlines today. we are seeing a mixed picture on the pandemic right now. encouraging signs in some areas where cases are falling, but more of those infected in recent weeks are dying. nbc news correspondent kate snow explains. >> reporter: a deadline for health care workers in 25 states including new york and california. they must now have at least first dose of vaccine. it comes as some hospitals still

face staffing shortages. in california where average daily case numbers are up 27%, l.a. county reported its youngest ever fatality, a 15-month-old baby. in washington state they're averaging more deaths now than ever. nationally, the death rate is still rising. but the average number of daily cases is going down because some states are past their peak or leveling off. experts are closely watching a subvariant of omicron that's now been found in a number of states. early data suggests it is not more severe than the original omicron. >> it may be a little bit more contagious, and that's what we have to pay attention to and that's what we're learning. >> does that mean we could look at another wave or an addition to the wave we are already in? >> i think another major wave is really unlikely out of this subvariant. >> two weeks ago we were inside a covid icu at the cleveland clinic and met ron. >> reporter: what would you say to people who think omicron is mild and no big deal?

>> i'm willing to walk out the door and they can come and sit in here and see what it is like. >> reporter: ron is back home and slowly recovering but his son has been hospitalized for 71 days with double pneumonia and covid. >> what's the lesson we should learn from what your family has been through? >> i think appreciate family. tell them you love them. hug them. the times are short. >> reporter: he is hopeful his son will be home soon, too. >> nbc's kate snow reporting for us there. let's bring in former fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. he's a member of the board of directors at pfizer. help recent book is titled "uncontrolled spread: why covid-19 crushed us and how we can defeat the next pandemic." good morning, dr. gottlieb. this all gets kind of confusing, so if you can break down for our viewers where we are. it feels like we're on the back end of this wave of omicron, yet

yesterday 2,500 people in this country died of covid-19, hospitalizations spiking in some places. i know it is different by region. we have to stipulate again most of the people who die from this right now are unvaccinated. so from your view where are we in this pandemic? >> look, parts of the country are rapidly improving. other parts of the country probably are reaching their epidemic peak when you look at the mountain states, parts of the southwest, deaths are unfortunately a lagging indicator. deaths will continue to go up as infections go down. when you look at the mid atlantic, florida, places with the infection early they're clearly coming down. we could see in the united states a longer tail. that's what we saw in south africa and what we're seeing in the uk right now and other european nations where the declines aren't as sharp as the rises in terms of new infections. this ba.2 variant that was set up in the piece appears to be more contagious than the strain

of omicron spread through the united states, it is probably not going to evade the immunity we acquired and not going to cause a second wave of infection like delta caused a wave of infection or ba.1.1.7 did, it could set up a longer tail where it gets in and starts to spread. you don't see a sharp decline on the back end. i believe we are going to see cases come down pretty sharply, but they could get extended out a longer period of time than what we perceive and certainly longer than what we saw on the way up. >> we've been talking a lot this week, there's an idea of being done with covid. i think we all feel that way based on simple exhaustion, we're done with covid as you and other doctors have said. covid is not necessarily done with us if you look at the death rates and other things. as a sort of mentally exhausted country deals with this, what would you say about, you know, being done with covid and where we are right now and how we should be thinking about mask mandates in schools and all of these things that people frankly are just done with? >> yeah, look, this is going to

be a persistent risk. we have to think differently about respiratory pathogens in the wintertime. i think infection levels will continue to come down as we get into the spring and summer. hopefully we have the quiet summer i thought we would have last year and delta came along. i think we will have a period where infection levels will be low, prevalence will be low. people will resume normal lives this spring and summer. we don't see anything on the horizon that will alter that trajectory. again, delta surprised us last year. but the situation is we have more immunity in the population and our immunity is deeper. it compromises delta immune people, people infected with delta and now with omicron and upwards of 50% of the population will be infected with omicron by the way the wave is over, and a lot of people have been vaccinated. 85% of americans have had at least one dose, 63% of americans have been fully vaccinated. the final point is i think we need to prescribe clear goalposts how we take the

mitigation measures off. when do we lift the vaccine mandates, when do we stop wearing masks in schools? as conditions improve we should be willing to raise these conditions that create acrimony, particularly with masks in schools where we wants kids back to normalcy. we should be as aggressive as lifting them as we were about putting them in place and it will help us preserve authority among public health officials to reimplement measures in the future if, in fact, this returns next winter. >> well, of course, doctor, that's what you said before delta. you said, listen, let's relax some guidelines so if we are hit with another variant we have the authority to impose them. i wanted to ask you about resistance just generally, where we as americans are with resistance. we grew up -- be patient with me for a second. grew up hearing the story about fdr. fdr got polio because his mother kept him isolated, he didn't play with other kids, i didn't

build up resistance to a lot of different things and maybe that's why he got polio. that's at least what we learned. that's why i told my mother i was only taking a shower once a week, but that's another story. in this case i hear the story of china and china locks down if one person gets sick in a city it seems. i am just wondering, is china going to have a harder problem in the long term getting out of this? because they haven't built up the societal resistance that the united states has. i know, i have been traveling nonstop over the past two or three months. i have been in places where i was sure i was going to get covid but because i've been out so much i think i have built up a resistance. i am still taking other precautions. i am still wearing the masks, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, when i'm in large groups, but i can't help but think that all of the people around us that have been traveling, we've just built up resistance that you may not see in china. do you think china may regret over the next two -- one or two

years not being a bit more aggressive in letting people go out, live their lives, even if they get infected? >> well, look, i do think china is more vulnerable than a lot of other developed countries right now in the world. they have very little immunity from prior infection. outside of wuhan the prevalence has been exceedingly low, and i think the information coming out of china is accurate, that he haven't had a lot of spread. they also deployed vaccines that don't work as well against omicron. they're trying to develop an mrna vaccine to deploy that, but these have substantially less immunity in their population. they are exceedingly vulnerable and densely populated cities. i don't think their zero covid policy is sustainable in the long run, and i said that before. the uk, certainly the u.s., most parts of europe, we paid for it in the hard way in many cases, a lot of people got infected but the reality is we have a lot of immunity in our population. that will be a back stop against the kind of spread we saw in the

past where new variants can rip through the population. it will take something dramatically different, with a different profile than what we've seen previously from other variants of omicron to have the capacity to move through the population the way delta did and the way omicron did. >> doctor, can you talk to me about travel? clearly the restrictions on troofl around the world are hampering businesses and hampering economies around the world. when you talk about relaxing restrictions as we start to come out of this omicron wave, would you start to look at advising governments around the world to relax their travel restrictions that are currently in place? >> well, look, you are already seeing countries do it. you saw the uk do it, right. i think this is going to continue and i think the u.s. is going to have to look at relaxing provisions in a reciprocal way. some countries are bait behind us, maybe two weeks behind us in terms of omicron, but i expect if we have a summer with low prevalence, so will europe. i think travel certainly between the u.s. and europe will be

quite normalized as we head into the spring and the summer. >> all right. former fda commissioner scott gottlieb. thank you so much. greatly appreciate it. always good to see you. i love him. i love when he comes on the show. didn't even crack a smile when he talked about my lack of showers. maybe because -- he was in there, he was in the ball game. he was like dr. fauci. i made a joke to dr. fauci last time now, we got him smiling. it is okay to smile here! i'm the clown. thank you so much for being with us, dr. gottlieb. always love having you here. so, claire mccaskill, i want to talk to you. we talk about democrats a lot here and democratic senate, what they should do, what democratic politicians should do. since you were a democratic politician that succeeded extraordinarily well in a red state, i think we should ask you some of these questions. first of all, there was a story in "the new york times" a couple of days ago where democratic

politicians, the governor of pennsylvania was saying, "listen, we have to move on, all right, i get it, we will take the precautions but americans are ready to move on." we as a democratic party have got to stop being the people telling people no all the time, we need to -- which is what dr. gottlieb said. we need to move forward any chance we get to reopen this country, reopen schools, move past mandates. >> yeah. i think it is important -- i thought joe biden did a pretty good job in his press conference reminding people that 95% of the schools are open. we do have staffing shortages everywhere in the economy right now because of covid, but it is really about what you guys were talking about in an earlier segment. this is about message discipline. this isn't about whether or not the democrats believe in science or whether or not democrats believe everyone should take healthy precautions to protect themselves and others. this is about what do you talk

about the most, not shaming people about mask wearing or quarantining or vaccinations. what you should be talking about is what we have done well. the messaged discipline, the simple message discipline where you don't complicate things, where you just lead with your strongest suit, especially in this mid year election coming up. that's a big mistake for the democrats. i think by the time the midterms get here this will be in the rearview mirror by and large in this country, but the sooner we get it there the better for the democrats holding on to power on capital hill. >> you know, it is like willie said a couple of days ago. we have learned an awful lot over the past couple of years. we understand what works, we understand what doesn't work. immunity is way up. we have over 200 million americans that have vaccines. the playing field is far different than it was two years ago, and so democrats don't need to play by the old rules.

they can move a bit more aggressively. one other thing i wanted to talk to you about, claire, and you have been in the senate so you actually understand this. i wanted to ask you, i'm frustrated with the democratic party. once again we have the progressives coming out, setting a deadline for when bbb should pass. we all know, i mean politics is the art of the possible. i am just wondering why you don't have a leader of the progressives, joe manchin and joe biden sitting in a room in the white house, and they look at manchin and say, "okay, manchin, you said you're going to do a $1.75 trillion bill. tell us what you will do and we will sign on? is it just universal pre-k, let's do that and announce it." instead of this talking they have to nail joe down. if joe means what he says, then they have a $1.75 trillion pre-k

bill that when signed into law will be historic. don't they need to just get into a room and stop all of this talking with reporters at press conferences and setting false deadlines? >> yeah, i think the progressive setting the deadline is manna from heaven for the republicans as they gear up for the midterms. keep in mind now we have redistricting, we have a midterm election for a sitting president which historically is always bad. there's a lot of dark clouds on the horizon right now nor the democratic party. now is the time for us to unify, get done what we can and move on. by the way, they set the deadline, or what? what are they going to do if it doesn't pass by march 1st? declare themselves no longer members of the democratic party? declare they're going to work for the republicans in the fall? i mean i don't understand what the leverage they have behind the deadline is. you're right.

now, let me also give a little shot to my friend joe manchin. he keeps moving the goalpost, joe. it is hard to make a deal with somebody who can't make up his mind what the deal should be. so you say, oh, just tell joe manchin, you know, tell us what you are for, he keeps changing what he is for depending on which meeting it is, which member of the press he is talking to. so two things. tie joe manchin down and get done what you can and hold hands and say, "we are the democrats, we have a record economy, we have record job creation, we have record growth, we are building bridges, we are doing highways, we are doing all of the things trump couldn't do" and win some elections in november so we cannot turn over the power to mccarthy and mcconnell. >> well, i mean, claire, why do you think i was saying get joe manchin in a room and say, "okay, joe, what do you want." you start talking to him one day and say, "joe, what do you want

in the $1.75 trillion." i will tell you the way a person in west virginia will look at a bobcat. i don't even know if they have bobcats in west virginia, but i know this. i know that the man from west virginia took hands with the man from scranton, pennsylvania, and he gave him his word as a man. we all saw "oceans 13." if you shake sinatra's hand you have to play by a certain code. i know joe lives by that code. i shook joe biden's hand as a man, gave him his word, $1.75 trillion. get him in a room and say, "joe, one of two things are going to happen. we're going to get out here and we're all going to hold a press conference and we're going to tell 'em that you just don't know what you want yet so we

can't do this or else we will tell them what your $1.75 trillion bill looks like and we will start working toward it." i agree, i love joe. joe is a good friend of mine. when he is talking about the bobcats in west virginia it is kind of hard to figure out exactly where he is going on what legislation he wants, claire. >> yeah, it is hard. you know, you have kyrsten sinema, too, and part of the challenge here is the two of them don't really agree on what should be in and what should be out in terms of the final package. so there's two things happening right now. they've got to get the supreme court nominee through and confirmed very quickly, and they need to get what they can get. here is what i say to all of the progressives out there that are frustrated with joe manchin, frustrated with kyrsten sinema, elect more democratic senators. that's the way you do this. you know, in many instances these guys are immovable

objects. i don't agree with them, but they have been immovable objects. if you want to dilute their power in the democratic party, we have to win elections in november or we will be dealing with the kind of obstruction barack obama dealt with when mitch mcconnell was in charge when he was president. >> willie, again, just like i was saying, instead of bloggers, progressive bloggers talking about democracy doesn't work or america is broken because of, let's say, jury instructions in wisconsin or in georgia or wherever they are. no, that's democracy actually working. people get elected to the state legislature, republicans focused on taking over the state legislature in wisconsin about 12 years ago and they did it. in this case joe manchin is joe manchin -- is what joe manchin doing anti-democratic? no. look at the polls. look at the polls in his state. he is so much more popular than

any other democrat would ever be in west virginia. in the latest ppp poll i think has him in the high 50s. the last poll i saw of kirsten sinema she is doing better in arizona than mark kelly. they're listening to their constituents. joe manchin would be the first to tell you, elect more democrats, stop relying on me, i represent west virginia. you know how this story is going to end. so i agree. they need to stop talking about taking those two out and talking about electing two or three more so they never need joe manchin or kirstin sinema's vote again. >> i guess it feels good to progressives to say, run joe manchin out of his seat. i don't think they would like who came after joe manchin if there were an open election in the state of west virginia. they might loose in the senate. the strategy is to elect more

democrats, more senators, put them in state houses across the country and in the states you are worried up. joe, to button up, there are plenty of bobcats, they're plentiful and running free across the state of west virginia. >> that's good to news. three houston police officers are in stable conditions after they were shot yesterday. officers were responding to a domestic disturbance call around 3:00 when the incident began. after shooting at officers police say the suspect drove off and crashed during the pursuit. he alleged ily began firing gem and carjacked another vehicle. he surrendered after barricading himself in a house for several hours. this comes after houston deputy charles galloway was shot and killed during a traffic stop on sunday. the suspect in that case since has been arrested. the new york city police

department mourning the death ofs two of its own. hundreds expected to attend a public funeral service for 22-year-old jason rivera today. rivera and his partner, 27-year-old wilber mora, both were shot while responding to a domestic disturbance call in manhattan last week. the suspect in that case also was shot by a third officer and later died from his injuries. joining us now out site st. patrick's cathedral in new york city where today's funeral will be held, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard. what is it looking like today? >> reporter: willie, for those who know manhattan here, several blocks around 30 rock where we are located and right outside st. patrick's cathedral where the funeral for 22-year-old jason rivera will be held today are shut down. already hundreds of nypd officers are here on site ahead of the funeral service that is slated to start in just an hour and a half. we are talking about a 22-year-old officer, a young officer, a married man who was

shot last friday night responding to a domestic violence call in harlem. his partner died three days later. you see him there, wilbert mora, 27 years old. his funeral will be held next wednesday. to see this sight here is a recognition of what officers not only here in new york city endure but also around the country. in 2021 there was a 30% rise in officer-involved shooting deaths. 62 officers around the country last year died. these two officers were followed by a third individual who was a rookie officer here with nypd who shot the individual, a 47-year-old man who shot those individuals. this is a city here but also along with so many other major american cities reckoning with the rise in gun-related shootings directed at police officers here around the country. if you look at the stats here, throughout this pandemic there are a lot of questions as to why.

is it the extent to which guns have become more available? is it domestic incidents? is this an issue of mental health here? there are a lot of questions so many are trying to understand. when you look at here in new york city alone, the number of shooting incidents in 2021, more than 1,400. that's double the number that new york city saw in 2019. but also when you look at the number of homicides here, the number of homicides on the rise. a nearly 40% increase if homicides in 2021 compared to 2019. willie, this is a moment in which a 20-year vet cop, eric adams, took over just this month as the new mayor of new york city. just earlier this week he gave a speech, a solemn speech in which he addressed the need to address gun incidents here in the city. part of that was putting greater focus on increasing the charges that individuals will face for gun trafficking, but he also

talked about a potential bail reform, essentially giving judges the ability to determine one's dangerousness based off their criminal record or the situations involving the incident for which they were arrested to potentially offer bail or not. he has also talked about setting up a program this summer here in which they partner with large corporations to offer internships to young individuals who in the city are without work and are not in school. this is a tough situation here in the city, but also not just in new york city. when you are looking around the country, a new report released just earlier this week said that there was an increase in homicides in the 22 major american cities of 44%. willie. >> there's a lot in there. this new mayor, eric adams, part of his platform was to solve some of these quality-of-life problems for the city. we should point out president biden will be in new york next week to join mayor adams to talk about gun crime in america. in the meantime we mourn the

loss of two brave officers, mora and rivera. those officers going on calls and never know what is on the other side of the door. vaughn hillyard outside st. patrick's cathedral. still ahead on "morning joe," it has been more than a month since the january 6th select committee recommended contempt charges for mark meadows. what is the hold up? we will get into that next on "morning joe." l get into that n "morning joe."

this is the new world of work. each day looks different than the last. but whatever work becomes, the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding new ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office? what's an office? ...or solving a workplace challenge that's yet to come. wherever the new world of work takes your business, the world works with servicenow. from the beginning, newday has been the mortgage company wherever the new world of work takes your business, for enlisted veterans, helping thousands buy a home, get cash, or lower their mortgage payments. we start by asking one simple question: how can we help that veteran? with more ways to help more veterans, no bank,

no lender, no one knows veterans like newday usa. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

medusa lived with a hideous curse. uhh, i mean the whole turning people to stone thing was a bit of a buzz kill, right? so she ordered sunglasses with prime, one day delivery. ♪♪ clever girl. people realized she's actually hilarious once you get to know her.

eugh. as if. ♪♪ well, he was asking for it. prime changes everything. there's so much new in the new chicken & bacon ranch, but the clock is ticking, so we gotta hurry. there's new rotisserie-style chicken, new peppercorn ranch, new hickory-smoked bacon, new... (whistle blowing) did you just spike the footlong? sorry, i didn't want the delay of game. save big. order through the app. ♪♪ welcome back to "morning joe." 7:35 in the morning. a foggy start to the day here in new york city before the massive snowstorm comes through and moves its way, dumping perhaps

as many as 2 feet of snow on boston before it is all said and done. the new york city mayor's office says former alaska governor and vice presidential candidate sarah palin is putting new yorkers at ring and needs to isolate while she has covid. the former alaska governor was spotted dining out two days after testing positive for the virus. she made headlines earlier this week before testing positive for eating indoors at that same restaurant despite being unvaccinated, which violates new york city regulations. in a statement the mayor's office criticized palin for what it called a complete disregard for health and safety protocols. the new york health commissioner also weighed in with a tweet, saying, "after you have test positive you must isolate for at least five days and you cannot eat at restaurants." palin is in new york city for a libel trial against "the new york times." that trial is delayed until next thursday to allow her to recover from covid. she knew she had covid, she went out to eat anyway. neil young is not on spotify

anymore but his radio channel is back on sirius xm. the satellite radio company reached out to the singer while his dispute with spotify was playing out. he had a channel last month on xm but for a limb itted run. on monday young demanded it remove his music over the partnership with rogan. young says rogan spreads false information with covid. spotify took down his music saying it hoped he would return soon. spot fight bought the rights to rogan for a reported $100 million. a group of doctors called on spotify to take action against rogan's podcast for spreading misinformation. meanwhile, peter frampton is giving young support. frampton tweeting,, "good for you, neil. i've always been an apple guy for streaming. no joe rogan for me. thank you."

joe, there always will be a home, a place to find neil young's music. he was taking a stand in this case and forcing spotify to make a choice. >> yeah. i guess the question is, gene robinson, whether other artists are going to have spotify make that choice either. it is not about deplatforming -- deplatforming the $100 million guy who is effectively running spotify right now. it could just be, hey, listen, if you are going to take down other people's covid misinformation, anti-vax garbage, the nonsense that spotify has been taking down by lesser people, then they should do it for everybody. they're still not doing it with joe rogan. so, you know, they can't even make the free speech argument. >> no, they can't. i mean it is just a matter of choice really, and it will be interesting to see if other artists do make the choice to do what neil young did.

i mean it is -- you know, that's free enterprise. this isn't the cancel culture. this is the way capitalism works and nobody forces him to associate his name and his music with joe rogan's misinformation about covid. so, you know, this is the way it works and we'll see. spotify may have some choices to make, although it seems that spotify has already made its decision. i mean they've bet the house on rogan, and so they're going to stick with him but there can be a cost for that. >> well, i mean, yeah, willie, certainly neil young is a big artist, a great legacy rock and roller. but, you know, until you start having people like taylor swift and other major artists deciding, jay-z, hey, i don't want to be associated with a streaming platform that allows

misinformation, disinformation out there, until you have this critical mass, yeah, spotify is not going to make a move. >> yeah. they made a business decision. joe rogan is crazy, crazy popular. he is one of the most influential media figures in the country by far and they decided to stick with him and they were willing to spare neil young to do it. coming up next here, kyle rittenhouse was acquitted for shooting and killing two men and injuring another. now he wants his gun back. a judge will hear arguments in that case today. we will have the latest straight ahead. ahead. before discovering nexium 24hr to treat her frequent heartburn... claire could only imagine enjoying chocolate cake. now, she can have her cake and eat it too. nexium 24hr stops acid before it starts for all-day,

all-night protection. can you imagine 24 hours without heartburn? your doctor gives you a prescription. “let's get you on some antibiotics right away.” we could bring it right to your door. with 1 to 2 day delivery from your local cvs. or same day if you need it sooner. but aren't you glad you can also just swing by to pick it up, and get your questions answered? because peace of mind is something you just can't get in a cardboard box. that's how healthier happens together with cvs.

subway's new roast beef footlong has so much new, like hearty multigrain bread and usda choice angus roast beef. for in-depth analysis let's go to marshawn lynch. what? man, you just ate the product shot! save big. order through the app. thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience. that pushes you to be even better. and just might change how you trade—forever. because once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritrade ♪♪♪ there's no going back.

kyle rittenhouse will be back in court today to try to get the gun he used in the kenosha shootings returned to him. judge bruce schroeder who presided over rittenhouse's trial last year will hear arguments on whether the teenager should get back the assault rifle he used to shoot three people during the kenosha street protests in august 2020.

two of the men he shot died, a third was wounded. rittenhouse's attorneys argued he shot them in self-defense. he was acquitted, you will remember, on all charges. his attorney says rittenhouse wants to destroy the semi-automatic rifle and other items so nothing can be used as a symbol to celebrate the shootings. a new york city ethics board has decided mayor eric adams can hire his brother, but not for the position the mayor wanted. mayor adams initially said he would appoint his brother bernard as deputy commissioner of governmental affairs, earning a salary of $242,000 a year. the adams' administration changed course a week later and said his brother would oversee the mayor's security with title of executive director, an nypd position at $210,000 a year. sparking accusations of nepotism, the mayor said he would seek the guidance of the city's conflict of interest board and yesterday came the decision that bernard adams cannot manage his brother's security, but can be hired as an adviser within the mayor's

office with no supervisory role and a salary of $1. bernard adams previously served as a parking and transportation administrator at a virginia university. coming up next, generation z came out in record numbers in the 2020 presidential election, but will it be as motivated to turn out for the midterms this year? new reporting there straight ahead. plus, a look at what to expect from the special grand jury investigating whether donald trump broke the law when he tried to pressure officials in georgia to find the votes to overturn his loss in that state. "morning joe" is coming right back on a friday morning. g

like pulsing, electric shocks, sharp, stabbing pains, or an intense burning sensation. what is this nightmare? it's how some people describe... shingles. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks. forget social events and weekend getaways.

if you've had chickenpox, the virus that causes shingles is already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. my mental health was much better. my mind was in a good place. but my body was telling a different story. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include

potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. it's nice people focus more on me. ask your doctor about ingrezza, #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as zero dollars at ingrezza.com. ♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪

from the white house, members of generation s those born after

1996 voted for the first time in a presidential election. the percentage of college students who voted went up 14 percentage points from 2016. "morning joe" reported more on this generation holding new power in politics. good morning. >> hey, willie, generation z has proven to be a key influential voting age group. the 2020 election fell a breaking record 66% of college students. it's a generation not afraid to go out and create the change they want to see themselves. take a look. >> young people increasingly want a seat at the table where decisions are paid. >> the young folks understand the nuance of how all these issues are connected. >> i certainly believe as a candidatepy view is my strength. we have turned that into a huge strength and asset on the campaign trail. >> reporter: members of generation z born after 1996 are among the 70 million americans

prompted to represent 20% of the elect roar rat by 202004 and 35% by 2026. will is the youngest senator and they will become the first of a generation to hold a seat in congress. >> not only are young americans protesting and becoming active in fighting for things that they care about, but they're working outside the system but also inside the system. >> reporter: at just 22-years-old, he unseated a republican incumbent who had been in office for over two decades. >> it was admittedly a little unusual in terms of running for office from my college dorm room, hiring my college roommate to be my campaign manager. >> reporter: this is a 25-year-old progressive running in florida's 10th congressional district. >> sandy hook shooting is what got me involved in the first place. >> reporter: by 24, caroline leavitt worked in the white house and congress. now she's adding her own name on the ballot in her district of new hampshire. >> being one of the few

conservatives on my college campus, i felt compelled having that experience in walk and also having a democrat representative here in my whole district. the feeling is, though, i felt compelled to run for office not only to beat my democrat representative but really to change the hearts and minds of young voters. because republican party has not done a good if you have job reaching out to them. >> reporter: from witnessing the rise of global warming, coming of age during the financial opioid crisis in the rise of white nationalism and black lives matter movement. generation z has been shaped by politics. >> during the presidential election, we had the highest youth turnout in the history of our country. a part is young organizers got together and figured out how can we inspire people to go out and vote. >> what they are choosing to do is lean in to help each other to make sense of it and to change the system from the outside. >> reporter: we are at a critical moment in our country. we're obviously very divided as a nation.

so standing up, speaking out, whatever that means, running for congress or school board or starting a business at a young age, we have to shake up the system. we need a new wave of leadership, a new generation of ideas. >> people want to look at people the color of their skin and relatively their same age, someone going through similar things they are going through. >> young people are frustrated by the state of our politics. we are no longer content to elect people older than their parents and grandparents and simply crossing their figure and hope they will adegrees student debt or climate change or too often i'm the only person in the committee room or caucus room who knows what it's like to try to afford a degree in the 21st century or who knows what it's like this hear a loud noise in the hallway and worry about where we would hide in the event of the next school shooting. >> gen z broke records in 2018 and 2020 elections, twice as

many young americans voted within gen z became of age in the 2018 mid-terms. it's the most consequential group of young voters this country has ever seen. >> they not only represent the generations to get involved but discontent with representation from their current elected officials. the numbers stack up. almost half of generation z say they don't feel connected to either political party and it remains to be seen if what drove the generation to the fold in 2020 do the same for the upcoming mid-terms. willie. >> it's a taller task in the mid-terms. so interesting. morning joe reporter daniela la cava. thank you. before you go, gene, we want to talk about brier's retirement, it's an opportunity for democrats to rally. not a lot of mystery given the fact that president biden promised a couple times on the campaign trail to put the first black woman on the united states

supreme court. what do you mean when you say democrats shouldn't squander the moment? >> well, it gives them a chance to change the subject and stop moep moaning what they couldn't do and gives them a chance to go to battle in a fight that they are bound to win. right. because they don't have a manchin and sinema practice on judicial nominations. they have been getting federal judges through at a record pace. president biden will get his nominee through and that new justice will be an african-american woman which should energize and elate a big part of the democratic base, the most loyal part of the democratic base is african-american women. it seems like a moment for activism and celebration of the

kind that the democrats really need rather than doing a debbie downer ac about i want. >> and you can read gene's full column as always at washingtonpost.com. gene, thanks so much. have a great weekend. we'll see you soon. still ahead, moscow signals there is little ground for optimism to end the standoff in eastern europe. we will talk to pentagon press secretary john kirby about the american effort to deter russia from invading ukraine. "morning joe" is coming right back. ading ukraine. subway's eat fresh refresh ading ukraine. "morning joe has so many new footlongs, here's how they line up. we got the new chicken & bacon ranch, new baja steak & jack, and the new baja chicken & bacon, back aka "the smokeshow." save big. order through the app. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks

it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

welcome back to "morning joe." it is friday, january 28th, 8:00 on the east coast. it's 5:00 on the west coast.

katty kay and claire mccaskill are with us. one of the exciting things, doing 18 hours of "morning joe." some of our friends on the west coast will be able to actually wake up to the sounds of football and baseball in the morning. >> well, we should stipulate very specific football and baseball. only the teams that interest us impact our lives directly. so you got red sox, yankees, and that's about the end of the discussion right there. >> yeah, well, i mean, then, of course, we'll also talk liverpool and a few other things, catholic high school. i'm sure a lot of people will be fascinated by all of this we may actually have to start focusing on west coast things. we have run up a 49ers once or twice this week. >> they will have fun to have west coast folks with us soon. let's turn to the news at the

top of the hour as tensions escalate in ukraine, president biden held a call with the president of that country, warning him of a stingt possibility russia could launch an attack in february. meanwhile, moscow continues with naval exercises near the ukrainian border, chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest. >> reporter: as russian troops conduct more live fire exercises near ukraine's border and continue to build up at the present times, fighter jets, warships and missile launchers around the country's borders, president biden once again called president zelensky promising support. nato members have repeatedly said no troops will be coming to ukraine's assistance. but it's increasingly clear, the biden admin straight and president zelensky don't agree on the risk of a russian invasion. >> we've always said and for quite some time another

incursion by russia could be imminent. imminent means imminent. >> president biden along with most european leaders has warned with so much force assembled, a russian invasion should be expected. >> i guess he will move in. >> reporter: with a chance increasing, a western intelligence official tells us, as vladimir putin mobilizes more troops over the next two-to-three weeks nor exercises in belarus. president zelensky told his people there is no unusual risk and blames the united states for stirring panic. it's left many ukrainians not knowing what to do. there are no public orders for drilling, no mask call-ups of reserves, no tents of emergency response system, just life as normal. >> it seems there will be no military invasion. i believe him. i want to believe it. >> reporter: some ukrainians accuse president zelensky

publicly urging calm to bolster support as she challenge by ukraine's former president and exchampion boxer kyev. ignore it or not, the threat u.s. and nato officials say is real and mounting. >> richard engel reporting for us there. the situation is getting more intense with russia reportedly extending medical units to the ukrainian front. western defense officials reporting that bit of information in the wall street journal. the journal continues this way, quote, who ill the moves don't mean an attack is certain, they are pre requisites for battle and debate over russian president vladimir putin's intentions, u.s. allies, particularly germany and france appear to be drawing different

conclusions from intelligence. admiral kirby, thanks so much for being with us. we appreciate it. we know that president biden and president zelensky talked for over an hour yesterday, some conflicting accounts of how that call went and the assessments whether russia may make this move or notp what in the value of the pentagon right now how close vladimir putin, russia is to invading its neighbor? >> we are watching this closely. you heard me say this yesterday, we have long said now some kind of incursion is possible, could be imminent. we don't know exactly what mr. putin is thinking. we don't believe he has made a final decision. as he continues to accumulate military information and in the mediterranean and atlantic, he is increaing his combat availability and options available to him.

it's very difficult to be perfectly predictable about when, where, or in what capacity should he decide to invade, which is why we are trying to pursue this diplomatic bath path to where there is no armed conflict. >> admiral kirby, how can it be the germans or french allies have such a different outlook at what's going to be happening over the next month as well as the ukrainians, themselves? yesterday, president zelensky strangely enough, sounding like a character on the simpsons, nothing to see here, move along, move along, while over 100,000 russians are amassing on his borders here? >> it shouldn't come as a surprise that you know people in the neighborhood have their own perspectives and views on this as do we from over here. we're sharing that information. we are gaining per spect tifls tives from folks right there.

that's what's important here. it's not that there may be differences of opinion. that's to be expect. you have an alliance of 30 nations. we're not going to see everything the same way. we are talking, coordinating, consulting, that's what really matters. >> eight years ago, russia moved on crimea in late february when they obviously the ground was frozen, they can move more quickly s. that what you all are planning for right now? are you expecting a late february invasion if they go in? >> i won't get predictive, certainly, things like the weather and the quality of the ground, obviously, those are military considerations that is not uncommon for arms to consider before they make some move or operate. so we're watching all those factors and the accumulation. we're doing to the best we can to try to stitch together what the options might be. that is again why, i think we are trying to pursue a

diplomatic path here. look. none of this has to be inevitable. mr. putin could easily deescalate some of the tension by moving those troops home. >> what do you do with germans? they have been wonderful allies of this country, post-war, since '45, '46, '47. but, my god, they are dragging their feet in every way. this new government doesn't seem to have any interest in standing up to a possible russian invasion. talk about the level of frustration among nato allies and the eu. >> reporter: look, back in 2011, angela merkel decided to ditch nuclear power program in favor of climate change. that would have been great except the renewables didn't happen. now you have a position where they still use a lot of coal and half of their energy supplies

comes from russia liquid natural gas. that put germany in this position of being very dcht on russia. i think actually the white house played the allies as well as it could. fact, the chancellor of jordan has been invited to the white house as an important move, one that shows the white house is talking to germans. they hope to get them on board. admiral kerby, in your conversations with your german counterparts what are the red lines for them? what would it take for them to get more in line with the u.s. and the rest of nato's position when it comes to ukraine? >> i will be careful we won't talk about private conversations we're having with our counterparts, but i can tell you that we are in touch with all our allies, looking at ways in which they're seeing. looking at ways if they want defensive capabilities, they want extra u.s. assistance on allied territory that we are prepared to do that. again, i won't speak for them and what they need to see or not.

all i can say is what we are seeing and watching and our concerns are. we are taking this very, very seriously. that's why we put additional troops here in the states on heightened alert in case they need to contribute to the nato response force. >> this is an interesting move by putin in terms of timing and pardon the cynic in me, and i know you well enough to know this is probably a topic you do not want to go near. but there is no question that putin would prefer his bestie back in office. what kind of intelligence can you speak to that shows this is a brazen political move by putin to distract russians from the -- their very bad economic conditions and to influence american politics to try to weaken joyed? >> it's very difficult to get inside vladimir putin's brain. like i said, we don't believe

he's actually made a final decision here about another incursion, which is why we are continuing to pursue this diplomatic path. you mentioned the economy. i think that's a good point. this is not a very strong economy and we have been nothing but clear with mr. putin should there be another incursion of any size or scale, fought major or small, another incursion at all, there will be severe economic consequences. this is not a country that can afford another round of consequences. we hope that factors into his calculus, again, it remains to be seen. >> let's hope it does factor into his calculus and we can avoid even more strain in the u.s.-russian relationship. it would be nice to get it back on a more positive track. pentagon press secretary john kirby, thank you so much for being with us, admiral. we greatly appreciate it. catty, this offer that the germans made, it's almost like,

you know, it's almost like they're trolling us. they made a request for 5,000 helmets. they're so frightened of the russians. they are allowing energy and a really bad decision that angela merkel made to get rid of nuclear power, which, of course, doesn't have a carbon foot print and now they're captive to russian oil and gas. >> yeah, which is why the ukrainians quipped back. it was in ret -- you can understand the decision at the time there was a lot of concern about nuclear power. there was less concern, you know, they were going to be this dependent on russia. maybe the international community as well should have seen this coming as tensions with russia built.

and now we're left in the position where the kind of the u.s. is trying to scramble to get countries like qatar, for example, to help relieve some of the pressure on germany, so germany is not as dependent on russia, germany will agree to help in the nato position. it's a mess, photographic lip. i think it could have been foreseen. we have known for a woo ill that germany was dependent on nord stream 2. we could have seen it coming. one small thing, there is a split in the german coalition, historically, she has been more hawkish about russia. the greens are less focused and more focused on renewables. that's a split that may play to the white house' advantage. >> like you said, a very good thing that the invitation has been sent to germans at the white house. now on to senate minority leader

mitch mcconnell. reiterating his approval of the january 6th committee's efforts to prosecute and investigate those who were involved in the insurrection. >> i think we are all pretty much aware of what happened january 6th. we were all witnesses. we were there. and i expect the committee will turn up additional interesting evidence about who said what to whom but in terms of what happened, it should never happen again and it was totally unacceptable. >> you know, claire mccaskill, two days ago we heard mitch mcconnell praising joe biden on ukraine striking a more positive tone. he's been right on january 6th. since january 6th, we all wish he would have approved a

bipartisan bicameral january 6th commission. but his caucus wasn't with him. but this is, he continues to support the january 6th investigation and prosecuting people. it shows, again, you can oppose mitch mcconnell's policies, you can oppose his politics, i will say in this case, though, man, there is a big difference between being a house republican and being a senate republican right now. >> yeah, i got to say, though, joe, i'm going to gently push back a little. >> i few you would. >> yeah, i think all it would take for the republican party so get back to its roots would be for mitch mcconnell and really just a handful of others, you have liz cheney doing the right thing. have you mitch mcconnell when he's asked point blank, he says things like that. but he could have gotten that commission through if he wanted

to. he has that kind of power in his caucus. he is trying to play both sides of this. he is most interested in getting power, period so get power he needs the win mid-term elections. he has to cow the tail to donald trump. he is cowtailing to donald trump a lot. yes, he said the right thing. so did lindsey graham the day of, kevin mccarthy said the right thing. as time went on, they have a gravitational pull to mar-a-lago. they are now all still genullecting. could it be worse? of course, it could be, it sure could be a hell of a lot better. >> he is in a far different place than lindsey graham or

kevin mccarthy are regarding january 6th. meanwhile, it's now been more than 40 days since a criminal referral for a former white house chief of staff mark meadows to the justice department, recommending he be charged with contempt of congress, however, no action has yet been taken. dave erinberg. what do you think about this with mark meadows after they did wit steve bannon? >> joe, i just got back from washington, d.c. cal capitol conference. i asked her point blank if the supreme court's definitive ruling on executive privilege would impact the mark meadows' consideration, impact her decision on whether or not to indict mark meadows.

she said the supreme court decision would have an impact on january 6th defendants. she didn't specifically mention mark meadows. then she reit righted the line that tomorrow merrick garland gave, they will follow the facts wherever they lead. they will hold everyone accountable with january 6th. it has been frustrating it has been six weeks since the full house sent the referral to the department of justice and nothing has happened. now that the supreme court has ruled, i would think there is no reason for any further delaych i do think it's encouraging the deputy monica said the department of justice was investigating that fraudulent scheme up to possibly rudy guiliani, for mail fraud. but investigations are one thing. indictments are another and many are wondering if the department of justice will have the back of the january 6th committee and whether merritt garland has the stomach for this fight. >> that's request question, claire, a lot of people have

been suggesting over the past couple of months, democrats, some editorial writers have been suggesting he doesn't have the stomach for this, he's not tough enough. curious, what is your thought? >> well, certainly, mark meadow's case is a little different from bannon. clearly, he has produced a lot of documents and did cooperate up to a certain extent. it's a black and white case, though, as dave said. because he didn't even show up to his search any privilege. he just decided not to show up. so, you've got, you know, you've got an issue of the law which says black and white he violated it in terms of being contempt chuous of congress. have you the ugly notification of a jury nullification, which i'm sure they are thinking of. i was a states attorney. he and i will agree on one thing, the feds take too long

always. if they had to answer 911 calls, they'd go much more quickly. >> for sure. they are far more delivered, when they prosecute, they usually win. it's so funny. they do take a long time. so, catty, mark meadows is in this really interesting position. legally, it's not the smartest position of the world. he turned over so many documents and he was so cooperative in getting back to what claire had said a couple minutes ago about republicans. and then donald trump spoke out against him and he froze. to the degree now that he will be held in contempt of congress and possibly charged. but, claire brings up a good point. he has cooperated, he has turned

over a ton of documents. i wonder if that's what's freezing the justice department in place right now. he has been a cooperative witness or was up until the point that donald trump made him attack the investigation and attack his own book. >>. >> yeah,' you say, you can put it in a book. they didn't have to go far to find the information that mark meadows was going to give them. dave said earlier, i'm not a dumb country lawyer at all unlike you, joe, if you subpoena somebody, doesn't that mean they have to comply? i don't see what the -- i don't see what the wiggle room here is? even if the doj is thinking, well, he has been cooperative up until now, what's the legal wiggle room here? >> yeah, joe, first off, you are not a dumb country lawyer. >> he says that, not me, by the way. that is not my words. >> i'm just a simple, simple dumb country lawyer. i fell off the turnup truck.

it's a funny story i'll get to it sometime. dave, so, catty is right, you don't get extra points for producing documents and then deciding you are going to completely ignore a subpoena, do you? no extra points? >> no and catty is right. subpoenas are not optional. you got to comply with them. you don't get a get out of jail free card because you were a good actor initially. what happened was, he decided to follow the steve bannon modem. senator mccaskill is right. i think the department of justice should treat mark meadows like steve bannon. mark meadows published this book and donald trump started to express displeasure and mark meadows said, okay, i will change course. he knows what happens when the former president disprove% of a book. ask chris christie, his book ended up on the discount bin quickly. that's what's going on here. hopefully, the department of

justice will act soon. because this is more about the january 6th committee. this is about the rule of law. >> all right. david erenberg. it was a special moment when mark meadows went on tv attacking his own book filled with lies because donald trump told him to. >> yeah, he retweeted donald trump's tweet that called it fake news on the week his book was published, retweeted. astounding. head spinning. whew. still ahead on "morning joe", the olympics kick off next week, a week from today, actually, the united states will lead a diplomatic boycott of the games over coin's record on human rights. the treatment of a minority group, the wiggers is the motive for that keir simmons takes us into a place where children were

separated from their parents and forced to flee. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. "morning joe. "morning joe. we'll be righteating jobs, cutty costs, protecting our climate. so let's not waste anymore time. let's get to work. >>

thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience. that pushes you to be even better. and just might change how you trade—forever. because once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritrade ♪♪♪ there's no going back.

such tree-mendous views. i'm at a moss for words. ♪♪♪ when a cough tries to steal dad's punchlines, he takes robitussin naturals powered by 100% drug-free ingredients. are you gonna leaf me hanging? soothe your cough naturally. ♪ ♪ ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new baja turkey avocado with smashed avocado, oven-roasted turkey, and baja chipotle sauce. it's three great things together. wait! who else is known for nailing threes? hmm. can't think of anyone! subway keeps refreshing and re... biden: i know that climate change hmm. can't think of anyone! is a challenge that is going to define our american future. i know meeting the challenge will be a once in a lifetime opportunity

to jolt new life into our economy. so let's not waste any more time. let's get to work. new year, new start. and now comcast business is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee. it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

>> two years ago keir simmons went to china to press officials on the treatment of the mus lick minority in that country. he has new reporting on the impact of beijing's policies. >> reporter: in this orphanage and school in turkey, more than 100 children study together, eat together, live together. >> they are far from home. their families torn apart pause they areest mick wuiggers. their families fleeing persecution for their faith. for some, the orphanage director

has become their lifeline. >> you are their parents. >> i can be their father, i can can be their mother. they have all my attention, he tells me. many of these children's relatives, he says, have been sent to ba they call chinese concentration camps. the state department reports that in 2017, at least a million wuiggers have been held against their will in as many as 1,200 state-run internment facilities. witnesses making allegations not only of family spacing but sterilization, torture and forced labor, which the u.s. calls genocide. china rejects that, calling it vocational reeducation krerntsz. we visited in 2019. the chinese came to show us their program aimed as reliving' leaving residents of extremism.

one of my guides this month in an exclusive interview denied china is deliberately separating families. >> those living overseas from the region and want to get in contact with family members back in the region can do so through the channels. >> who are these young guys? >> back in turkey, he introduces me to two of the youngest children in the orphanage. >> before you introduce me -- >> how old are you? smr 11. >> you are 11. can i ask you a difficult question? when did you last see your mum and dad? >> reporter: they tell me they haven't seen their parents in more than five years. do you remember what they said to you? >> my mother said try your best to study hard, don't let me down. every day he and his volunteers

work to feed the children. they too have their own stories. in a cafeteria, a 17-year-old helping out in the kitchen tells us her father went missing after going home to see relatives four years ago. >> we didn't do anything. we were really asking, the only thing we did is that twerp muslims. >> they believe he, too, were sent to a camp. >> your mom is crying, too. >> it's not that easy for us without a family. >> back out in the hallway, he tells me his family, too, has been torn apart. >>py sister, my little brothers if my homeland. i miss him. >> and he says 45 of his relatives have been sent to the camp. >> did you say family? >> about 45. >> reporter: 45?

>> yes. roof every day overcoming his own pain to give these children hope, that they will be reunited with their parents. >> one day you will see them again? >> yeah. >> yeah. one day. >> nbc's keir simmons. the run-up to super bowl lvi. will we see another wild weekend in the nfl? some great games coming up. that's ahead on "morning joe." .

football fans are gearing up for another big nfl sunday. the four remaining teams now just one win away from super bowl lvi. nbc news' morgan chesky has the look at the weekend's conference championship matchups. >> reporter: this sunday, it's the nfl's version of the final four. battling it out for a spot in

the super bowl. >> we're not done, we're trying to go out there and win the afc championship and try to get to the super bowl. >> reporter: patrick ma homes and the kansas city chiefs one way from winning the game for the third straight year. coming off a sensational victory against the bills considered one of the best nfl games ever. >> i thought i turned the page quickly. i'm trying to get better every single day. >> there is a history-making bengals team ready to stand in their way a. matchup mahomes had his eye on earlier this season. second-year quarterback joe borough leading cincinnati to their championship game in 33 years. and a notoriously one at arrowhead stadium.

>> we will have to be great with our non-verbal communication. >> in los angeles, the rams and 49ers will take their division rival are i to new heights with a trip to a home state super bowl on the line. >> we're excited to play in front of our home fans. >> the 49ers have six straight wins against rams. >> we know nothing will really surprise us i wouldn't say. >> reporter: as the new quarterback's vie for super bowl stardom, speculation is swirling about the future of some of the biggest fames in the game. fans wonder if they see champ tom brady take his final bow. aaron rodgers hasn't committed to returning next season. in pittsburgh, two-time super bowl champion roethlisberger announcing his retirement. >> i retire from football a truly grateful man. >> nbc news' morgan chesky speaking for us.

running back jerome bettis is working towards a different title, college graduate. nbc's anne thompson has the story. >> reporter: the bus is back in school. jerome bettis who powered through 91 touchdowns and ran his way into the hall of fame is once again at notre dame. you are a notre dame class of -- >> oh my goodness, class of 2022. well, i didn't think about that. >> 27 years after he earned that nickname, he is here to finish his business degree, more than twice the age of his fellow student. what is it like to be back in school at age 49? >>s so strange because i am so behind the times. i'm a dinosaur. i don't know where eng anything is. i'm struggling with the technology. >> they take notes on an ipad.

he use aspen and gaetz lost in new buildings. but some things are familiar like the frigid january weather. jerome, where are your gloves? >> i left my gloves -- >> reporter: four courses from graduation, bettis is just another senior. sort of. >> everyone kind of know who's the bus, is especially notre dame. >> reporter: bettis left his junior year for the nfl, a 1993 first round draft pick. he became a power-running eye conwith the pittsburgh steelers. a six-time pro buehler, walter peyton man of the year, super bowl champion, but not a college graduate. why is it so important for you to get that degree? >> one, that i complete the task at hand. that's what i wanted to do. also i promised my mother i would get my degree. most importantly, i have two children. for them to see dad finish a

commitment, i think it says a lot to them. >> are you a better student at 49 than you were at 18, 19 or 20? >> i am a much better student at 49 because i want to learn. i want to know all of this information. >> to put to work in his current business, trucking, staffing, marketing company as well as a tv personality during the nfl season. >> this week, this is going into my accounts. >> 27 years later, bettis' football scholarship is still good. up to 21 members of his football class, 20 earn their degrees. father john joan kins says bettis will be the 21st. >> i say to all our coaches that there are three things we should have, first is integrity, doing things the right way. second is help these kids get a degree and do well and the third is when on the field. jerome is getting a degree after

all his success just underscores how important that is. >> back in the locker room, where he first found national fame especially was somewhere in here. >> bettis shows ne tradition. >> now the first sign, you got to make sure that one you want to tap it. because, there we go. >> reporter: today pursuing a different kind of glory with the same enthusiasm. >> this is that moment where it's all coming together. i mean, right now, it's got me itchy. >> are you ready to go? >> eel not ready to go, i'm excited, though. >> this may he will graduate fulfilling the promise he made to his mom. >> this is education-related. you can never take away the education. finishing one of the best runs of his life. >> nbc news' anne thompson reporting. coming up, millions of americans have trouble with

insomnia, our next guest has a mid-evil way to fix it. bo back to the way people slept before the industrial revolution. wow, we'll explain it. a new piece coming up on "morning joe." it. it. a new piec hashtag challenge. and everyone on social media is trying me. i'm trending so hard that “hashtag common sense” can't keep up. this is going to get tens and tens of views. "morning joe." ♪ but if you don't have the right auto insurance coverage, you could be left to pay for this... yourself. get allstate and be better protected from mayhem for a whole lot less. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

colorado devastated... as many as one thousand homes burned... ♪ ♪ most devastating tornado in kentucky's history... ripped through the state and seven others... oregon just declared a state of emergency... seattle temperatures are... new evacuations... triple digit heat... thousand acres burned... flash flood threats... extreme heat... [news source voices] ...state of emergency... [flames burning] [wind blowing] ♪ ♪making your way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪

♪and they're always glad you came ♪ ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card. look! oh my god... oh wow. i want my daughter riley to know about her ancestors and how important it is to know who you are and to know where you came from. doesn't that look like your papa?

that's your great grandfather. it's like opening a whole 'nother world that we did not know existed. you finally have a face to a name. we're discovering together... it's been an amazing gift. as a business owner, your bottom line we' is always top of mind.... so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.™

for the past six months, i couldn't sleep. insomnia, nothing is real. you feel far away. you have a victim. >> no, you can't die from unsomnia. >> what about narcolepsy? i wake up in strange places, i have no idea how i got there. >> can you please give me something. >> no. >> you need healthy, natural

sleep. get more exercise. >> well, i mean, c'mon. he couldn't sleep six months and went around blowing up buildings? we have been doing this 15 years we haven't started a fight club yet. that's going to be in the second 15 years. yeah. you know i've always heard about the way that people would sleep in medieval times. we have a medieval sleeping pattern here. amid the evil times. during the revolutionary war. have you people with sleep, wake up in the middle of the night, do stuff for a couple hours, go back to sleep it's certainly not the way we do it now. the industrial revolution changed all that. >> for sure, i'm stuck on the "morning joe" fight club. i'm laughing, i'm picturing you, me, barnacle and meacham slapping each other around, taking naps, reading books about churchill. it wouldn't be that great of a

fight club. so as you say, there may be a medieval idea about it. derek joins us now him this is so interesting. let's read from your piece, you write this quote at 3:00 a.m., i'm jolt awake. i scan my phone and scan sports scores and twitter. still awake. a faceless physician whispers in my mind. to overcome, i suffer from so-called mid-keep awakens, perhaps you know the feeling, like hundreds of millions around the world, i suffer from so-called mid-sleep awakenings that can keep me up for hours. in pre-modern europe and perhaps centuries earlier, people routinely went to sleep and woke up around midnight to go to sleep until morning. they slept like i do, they resent about it. then the hackers claim, moderna

came along and pressured everybody to sleep in one big chunk. okay. so derek, help me out here, this is i think we all know this feeling. you wake up in the middle of the night. you think, you write, grab your phone. are you lost in strange wikipedia worm hole. how do we get our way out of it? what do doctors say about sleeping in chunks? >> first off, it's only mildly traumatizing to have my middle of the night insomnia be read out loud. this is good therapy for me. what i think is so interesting is that this idea of waking up in the middle of the night, not being able to go back to sleep is a problem. it's fought quite a disorder. it might be something more like an ancestral echo of the past because people in europe. people around the world, clearly

seem to fall asleep around nightfall, wake up a bit. have an intermission when sleep was pa two-act play. in that intermission, they would work, have sex, go up and do something with family, friends, read by the fire,stories, and t back to sleep in the morning. i reached out to roger eckert, an historian, most responsible for bringing this legacy of two-sleep back to the modern era, and i said what should we think about this? you know, what i really found is that just knowing that my habits were common among premodern europe felt nice. it felt less like a disorder and rather like something endem toik the human race. so i find a little bit of solace knowing the history that two-sleep is, like, written into the genetic code of the human species. >> well, we're really glad to be your counselor, glad you could work through this with us on "morning joe." we helped jim van die earlier

with tough love. confession is good for the soul. i've read in those times they'd do, that they'd write poetry, they would have sex, they would think deep thoughts and go back to sleep and have wonderful sleep for the next four or five hours. i have to say, your article, your look at it was a little more grim. women would wake up in the middle of the night and do house work for a couple of hours. a lot more drudgery than it's often glamorized as being. it seems to me that actually getting your phone out and scrolling twitter for three minutes and falling back to sleep might be a better part of the bargain. >> i'm really glad you said that because my article is not a simple defense of two-sleep. i'm not saying that segmented sleep the the way we should do things, the natural way. if you look at what eckert found

in the premodern era, preindustrial sleep was awful. death stalked. people were killed in the middle of the night all the time. the house itself was so slap dash in its construction that it was constantly leaking, there was obviously no a.c., no hvac, so it was often terribly cold or terribly hot, there were fleas and lice and bedbugs. ancient sleep was a horrible thing to have to suffer through. so we are very, very lucky to have all the comforts, the air conditioning that we have today. i just found a comfort in knowing that -- >> whoops. >> looks like he's frozen right now. >> gone for a second sleep chunk, maybe. >> maybe a second to rest and come back and finish the second part of the interview. i was prized that he said in medieval times people had fleas, lice, and bedbugs. i mean, i thought that was still sort of the normal state of

things. oh, he's back. >> he's back. >> he had his rest and he's ready for the second part of the interview. >> this reminds me of a novel robert harris wrote, all about this. mankind gets wiped out by a mysterious virus so it came out at just the right time for covid. but the key, of course, is that everyone went to bed earlier, right? this was preelectric light bulb. forget the iphone and the ipad, it's the electric that's ruined us. if you go to bed at 11:00, you can barely fit in one sleep let alone two sleeps. >> right. what's true is that the industrial revolution basically took two-sleep in its hairy arms and mushed it together. it's not just the clock, not just electric light, not just gaslight, it's work schedules. basically, people were working longer days in factories. that pushed that sleep.

then they had to wake up around 8:00 anyway to go into the factory so it compressed sleeping time into one eight-hour chunk. the industrial revolution at least in terms of europe took two-slim and meshed it into one phase. even roger eckerts, who discovered two-sleep, i said has this encouraged you to go back to segmented sleep or a spouse or any of your friends? he said not at all. i am not going back. this was two-sleep worked far while, but there's no reason to think that you can't get the exact same high quality rest just taking one seven-, eight-hour chunk if you make it a routine. >> yeah. i want to leave everybody with that fact. i of course read the article and the bottom line was segmented sleep better, and of course he said no, absolutely not. get it all in one chunk if you can. if you do wake up in the middle

of the night, you can be zen about it and fall back asleep after you finish your wikipedia reading on "morning joe." >> yes. thank you. >> greatly appreciate you being here. we'll be reading your piece in "the atlantic." willie, breaking news out of pittsburgh, where joe biden was going to go today to talk about infrastructure. >> president on his way there to talk about infrastructure. we're told he's still traveling despite this news that a bridge has collapsed there just this morning. the president's scheduled to visit the city and talk about this exact problem. according to pittsburgh public safety, the bridge collapsed around 7:00 this morning, sending at least four cars into a ravine. the port authority confirms one of its 60-foot buses was trapped in the wreckage. thankfully, the driver and two passengers were able to escape. another vehicle could be seen dang mg near the edge. the mayor of pittsburgh says three people were injured but no

one is reported dead. again, the president of the united states still scheduled, we're told, to head to pittsburgh to talk about this problem. but a terrible bridge collapse there. so far our reporting tells us no one has been killed. one has been killed. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormnucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

♪ dry eye symptoms keep driving you crazy? inflammation in your eye might be to blame. let's kick ken's ache and burn into gear! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. those drops will probably pass right by me. xiidra works differently, targeting inflammation that can cause dry eye disease. what's that? xiidra? no! it can provide lasting relief. xiidra is the only fda-approved non-steroid eye drop specifically for the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. one drop in each eye, twice a day. don't use if you're allergic to xiidra. common side effects include eye irritation, discomfort or blurred vision when applied to the eye, and unusual taste sensation. don't touch container tip to your eye or any surface. after using xiidra, wait fifteen minutes before reinserting contacts. got any room in your eye? be proactive about managing your symptoms by talking to your doctor about twice-daily xiidra. like i did. i prefer you didn't. xiidra. not today, dry eye.

willie, i'm not going to lie, we're really excited, the intersnaps, the russian tea, i'm going to start making it tomorrow night and jack will come down in his herringbone nickers and he's going to say what's up, papa? and this is, let me tell you something, jamie dornan and katrina balf were extraordinary in "belfast," one of my favorite movies of the year. i'm so excited to see this and little jack is as well, all 6'3" of him. >> "belfast" might win the oscar for best picture. and jamie dornan is the star of

that film. he'll be my guest this morning on "sunday today." first of all, what a great guy. he's from belfast, from northern ireland, and they came to him about this role, and he said are you kidding, i would love to play this. jamie dornan getting a lot of award season talk. of course he's the christian grey and all the "50 shades of grey" movies. jamie dornan coming up on sunday on nbc. we'll see all of you back here on "morning joe" on monday. that does it for us. have a great weekend. good luck out in the storms. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now hey, there. i'm stephanie ruhle live at msnbc headquarters here in almost snowy new york city. it is friday, january 28th. we've got a lot to get to this morning so buckle up and let's get smarter. in just 30 minutes,