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a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to ""alex witt reports."" we beginning with the breaking news coverage of the bomb cyclone bringing snow to the northeast right now, creating dangerous conditions for any kind of travel. the pare of providence, rhode island, among leaders pleading with drivers to stay off roadways. >> i lived here my entire life. i've never seen the conditions as bad in terms of the amount of snow and the wind put together. we're telling folks -- in fact, there's a travel ban in effect. unless you absolutely need to leave the house in an emergency, just please stay home. that's the best folks can do. >> and here are some new satellite images of the storm at this hour. it's ginormous, absolutely huge, spanning from the southern tip of florida all the way up to new england. blizzard conditions are slamming massachusetts with temperatures around 17 degrees at this hour,

and the real feel temperature, that's around minus 12. thousands of flights have been canceled today. laguardia airport in new york city is announcing 98% of cancellations but raising questions about the remaining 2%, certainly, my goodness. our team is covering it all for you. nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman is monitoring the maps. nbc's kathy park, emily and ellison barber, they are our rock star reporters reporting from the field for us. first to the bullseye of the storm right now and nbc's kathy park in boston. how's it going there? it still looks just terrible. i'm going to tell you. the last two hours, i've felt badly every time we show you on camera, kathy. >> reporter: yeah, it is brutal out here, alex, and it's not getting any better, and we have several more hours of this. i'm standing right here in boston's long wharf area, and it looks almost unrecognizable. typically, when you are out here and there isn't a historic blizzard, it's a beautiful park, but it almost looks like a

frozen tundra. the snow is falling at a rate of 3 inches per hour, but man, you can just see these winds picking up, the wind gusts clocking at 30 to 40 miles per hour. what's incredible, alex, is that we're actually seeing folks starting to kind of come out to take in this blizzard. in fact, we spoke with one woman who said she was out here to kind of do a winter hike. take a listen. >> i was here in 2015, yeah. >> reporter: so how does that storm compare to this one? >> that was a lot more snow. that was just walls of snow everywhere for over a month. it was completely changed life for a while. >> reporter: and alex, the snow is certainly accumulating here, but the coastal communities, boy, they are getting slammed with over a foot of snow. they're also seeing flooding in communities like situa right there by the water, and widespread power outages. at last check, over 100,000

customers now without power, and that could turn dangerous, especially if they don't get the power back on right away, because obviously, they need the heat. it is freezing out here. it's just right around, you know, in the teens, and only expected to get colder as we get into the evening hours but conditions are expected to stay like this for several more hours, so when this is all said and done, alex, we're looking at up to either a foot, maybe even two feet of snow in this area. alex? >> okay. i got to tell you, i will not be anchoring the next hour so i'm going to feel a lot better about not having to drag you out and do a live shot for us. kathy park, thank you so much. let's go from there now to long island, new york, and emily. so, emily, again, feeling badly, but what's the latest there for you? >> reporter: well, already, this bomb cyclone, a storm for the record books. atlantic city, new jersey, recording its snowiest january on record. we'll likely see other areas follow suit. we are here in long island, new

york, which has already seen a foot of snow. we're going to see that snowfall total continue to rise. i'm really trudging through here because of how deep the snow is, and it's this light, fluffy stuff. take a look at the consistency here, which allows the wind and we're seeing some significant gusts for sure, pick it up, blow it around and really reduce the low visibility. that's why you will hear forecasters and experts warn people, if you don't have to go outside today, stay home, because the travel conditions are just absolutely treacherous. it's impacting trains. it's impacting the roadways, clearly. it's also impacting flights. nearly all flights canceled at a lot of new york area airports, so this is going to be the condition. this is what people are going to be dealing with throughout the day. one other thing i will add, just the bitter cold. it's -- we're going to see some windchills really drop below zero, so two words. layer up. back to you. >> okay. we'll take it. thank you so much, emily, for that. let's go to nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman. so, where are the worst conditions right now?

>> all right, well, i mean, really looking at kathy's live shot, you can see she is struggling out there. it is cold. it is windy. that snow is coming down so, so hard, and she's doing just such a great job out there. so, let's show you on radar where it is, because we are looking at better conditions in the eastern shore of maryland, the del mar, southern new jersey, philadelphia, we're over with it by now. but the heaviest stuff is falling in parts of new england. so, connecticut, rhode island, nantucket, martha's vineyard, cape cod getting pounded right now. it's not just the snow. that is one part of the story. yes, some spots are going to get two or three feet of snow before this is all said and done but it's those winds that is so gusty and windchills well below zero in many spots and that's going to be the story tomorrow for all the clean-up that will be happening on your sunday. where you see the whiter colors, that's the heavier snow. so, boston in it right now where kathy is, rhode island, parts of nantucket and martha's vineyard

and winds gusting at tropical storm force winds, near hurricane force winds in some spots. 44 million of us still under winter weather alerts where you see that purple, that blizzard warning, all up and down the coast. we'll see that dropping probably pretty soon along the new jersey coast, but still they've got 16 inches of snow in some spots there, and the pink, that's your winter storm warning. once you go further inland, less of an impact. that's where we're seeing the wind sheer weather advisory and that lines up with where we'll see the biggest impact. this is extremely powerful storm but it's moving very quickly so it's going to be out of here later on this evening but in the meantime, impossible travel in whiteout conditions, extreme snowfall rates from 2 to 4 inches so that's going to pile up quickly. this is really fluffy snow. you saw that in emily's, where she kicked it around there. it's cold air so it's light and fluffy. it blows very easily. that's why you see those reduced visibilities. but take a look at some of these totals. we haven't seen totals like this in four years in boston. 18 to 24 inches, some spots just

south of boston could see nearly 3 feet of snow. portland, 18 to 24 as well. and long island, you're getting a lot of snow as well, along with those gusty, gusty winds. so, no doubt there's major impacts to the airlines and portland, boston, down in new york city and philadelphia, you're seeing lots of delays and on the roadways, if you can stay home, i know some of us have to work, but if you can stay home, please heed the warnings because we're looking at tough travels from philadelphia to bangor, boston to buffalo and that really will be the case over the next several hours. look at that snow on those roadways. it sticks because the roadways are so cold and it's not going to melt. we're looking at windchills well below zero over the next several days. we'll look at that in a second. but winds are gusting at 64 miles per hour. >> i'm just going to say, i want viewers to know this is a live picture right now and to your point, the snowplows are out there in boston, they're doing their thing but it's not dissimilar to what i experienced just outside of new york city

trying to come into work today. you can take the snow off the roads, but it's still coming down. so, you know, you never feel like you've got a clean roadway to drive on, and as it's so cold, ice will build up. it can be so dangerous. >> yeah. >> so, anyway, yeah. to your point >> there's so many factors to it. you're right. there's so many factors to it. think about the snow that came first yesterday with the cold front. that landed on the ground. some of it stopped but then the sun was shining and it melted. there's your ice. and anything that's falling right now is sticking, and it's sticking fast so hard to get rid of even that small, small layer. then you're adding snowfall, 2 to 3 inches per hour, and it's blowing, so it's blowing right back on top. it is so difficult. i mean, i feel for all these workers out there, because that's a really, really tough job, plus you have gusty winds. we saw 80-mile-per-hour winds. those are hurricane force winds that knocked out some gauges up in new england and then take a look at the graphics because this is what we're looking at as we go ahead over the next

several days. this is a big story for sure, the blizzard. but we're also looking at really dangerously cold air over the next few days, that canadian high pressure, then that nor'easter that we're dealing with right now. these two are going to team up and funnel in cold air so emily and kathy are telling us about that right now, bitterly cold windchills, looking at 6 below zero in syracuse tonight but look what happens on sunday because i think this is what we're going to be talking about. at least through monday and tuesday. orlando, alex, sunday morning, it's going to feel like 24 degrees. they are not used to that. big crop-growing area, 24. it's the coldest it's been in ten years in parts of southern and central florida. >> okay. well, yeah, usually people want to escape to florida. i guess not this month. michelle grossman, thank you so much for keeping track of all of it. for all of you, new today, the white house publicly identifying one name on the list of who president biden is considering to replace supreme court justice steven beyer, nbc news confirming, j. michelle

childs is a potential candidate. she, of course, just one of several black women whose name is being floated as a possible pick for the high court and joining me now is geoff bennett, msnbc political contributor and chief washington correspondent for "pbs newshour" and my really good friend and i asked you last sunday if you would come back this weekend, and you're here. >> here i am. >> let's talk about the significance of president biden's decision to nominate a black woman. how big a deal is this, geoff? >> it's a big deal on two levels. one, it's the president is fulfilling a key campaign promise that he made almost a year ago, exactly a year ago, and then big picture, alex, i think what's important about this moment is that for generations, for centuries, in fact, the supreme court has interpreted law for all americans to include black women but has never had the voice of a black woman sitting on that bench. and so that will change,

certainly within months. this confirmation process is expected to be kickstarted by the end of february as president biden has said, by the end of february, he expects to make his nomination, make his nominee known, and then senate democrats, i'm told, are trying to condense this process and use a timeline, a fairly quick timeline that republicans used to push amy coney barrett's nomination through successfully. so, it does matter a lot, and certainly, i think, the president and for this white house that could have used a political break, they have got one. and here's why. a supreme court confirmation process is really under the control of a white house and the party that controls the senate. right now, that's democrats. and so for the last six months, the president has been dealing with issues outside of his control. covid, inflation, even ukraine, but when it comes to the supreme court nomination process and the confirmation process, largely, this is all within their control, and this is a white house that has a lot of experience with this. >> so, it begs the question, do

you see anything potentially derailing it? >> unless there's something unforeseen in a nominee's background, and i don't expect that to be the case, as you know, when someone is nominated to be the first or the only, generally that person has to have sterling credentials, and of the three names that have been sort of out there as the front runners and the white house official told me last night that there are more than three women the white house is considering, but of the three names that we've heard so far, judge ketanji brown jackson, leondra kruger and also j. michelle childs of south carolina, they all have sterling qualifications and deep lived experience that democrats feel good about, and so i don't foresee any major issues. the real strength that this white house has had has been judicial nominations. president biden has had 42 judges confirmed to the federal bench so far, more than all of

his predecessors, going back decades. of that number, 78% were women. 50% were people of color. and so, you look at the chief of staff, ron klain, he's had 30 years of experience. before ron klain was chief of staff, he was clerk to joe biden and it was ron klain who advised the obama white house for the nominations of elena kagan and sonia sotomayor so when i spoke about the experience this white house has when it comes to supreme court nomination processes, that's what i was speaking about. so this is something the white house feels really good about. of course, me saying this might jinx it for them, who knows, but they do feel like this puts some wind in their sails. >> 100%. to what degree, though, because as we look at the president's beginning of his second year in office and all these low poll numbers that he is facing, pretty much across the board, do you think this historic supreme court nomination will help improve overall the perception of his presidency? as more information gets out,

the likes of which you have just shared, you know, i mean, that's super positive. you would think that across the board, a lot of people would applaud that. >> yeah, and certainly, he would have been held to account if he didn't fulfill this major campaign promise. but i think when it comes to the midterms and when it comes to the re-election if president biden decides to throw his hat in the ring one more time, it will really be things more like the economy. it will be about the state of the pandemic. it will be about inflation if people feel like at the end of the day that their salary has kept pace with the cost of food and gas and things like that. so, i think those are the more sort of the kitchen table issues that it will be more resonant in both elections, both the midterm and the re-elect, but certainly, when it comes to something like the supreme court, as consequential a decision as that is, the president, if he handles it correctly and it all goes well for him, will, i think, get credit for that, certainly from the parts of the democratic base, alex. >> listen. i'm going to ask again if you can come back and see me next

week because i love having you on. i'm just asking. >> see you next week. >> thank you, geoff bennett, appreciate it. the supreme court will be just one of the topics i'll cover when i speak with jim clyburn. that conversation coming your way at the bottom of the hour. meantime, next up, whether the u.s. is doing enough to help ukraine as 130,000 russian soldiers are gathering on its border. plus we're going to take you back to a nor'easter is hitting the hardest, the potential for power outages and coastal flooding. that's next. power outages and coastal flooding many more cities and up to 10 times the speed at no extra cost, the downloads are flying fast! verizon is going ultra, so your business can too. subway's eat fresh refresh 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, aka "the smokeshow." save big. order through the app.

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tensions growing in the u.s. or rather as the u.s. and its european allies are scrambling to deter a russian invasion of ukraine. president biden now says he will move some u.s. troops to eastern europe and nato countries in the near term, but adding that the number would not be a lot. the comments come after president biden warned there is a distinct possibility that russia could invade ukraine next month.

joining me now is california congressman john garamendi. welcome, sir. it's awfully good to see you again and i know that you in particular are quite familiar with the situation in ukraine. in fact, you traveled there back in 2018 and you met with president zelensky. and apparently just last week you were part of that classified briefing as well on the situation there. >> right. >> so, ukraine's defense minister told parliament there are 130,000 russian troops along their borders. do you, sir, feel that an invasion is imminent? what do you think putin would possibly be waiting for? is there any chance that he backs down? >> well, i think the answer to that last question is really depending upon what the united states does. if we really impose or are willing to impose and not only threat but actually impose very serious sanctions on russia, for example, cutting off their access to the international financial system, putting particular sanctions on putin

and other key individuals, lock up their money wherever it may be around the world and also cut off the flow and oil and gas and then supplement using american and other gas resources, backfill for the european countries. if we're really serious about it, then i think putin's going to have some second thoughts, because his economy can be devastated by those kinds of very, very tough sanctions. and good news is, there is a bill in the senate that would do that. senator menendez has put forth such a bill. that ought to move immediately so that putin knows it's not just the president, but it is also the congress, the senate and the house, that are standing firmly with the president on the sanction regime. with regard to ukraine being able to defend itself, you've seen pictures. most of america has seen pictures, and surely putin has seen photos and has specific information about the very

deadly, very dangerous, for him, armaments that are now being sent into ukraine to deal with russia's armored vehicles. so, putin's got some heavy thinking now ahead. sanctions are coming, mr. putin. don't doubt that. and ukraine will fight back. they will have the armaments to do so. >> what do you envision happening if the russians were to make it to kyiv? >> well, that would be a puppet state. this is something russia has done. it was done in the soviet union. stalin did that at the end of world war ii, set up all those puppet states in eastern europe, and that's quite possibly one of the things that putin is thinking about. he's often talked about the worst thing to ever happen in the 20th century was the dissolution of the union of soviet socialist republics, ussr, and there's clear

indication that he intends to re-establish puppet states around his country. and ukraine would be a very big, big win for him. it also is devastating to ukraine. it would be devastating to the ukraine's democracy, to their economy, and to the hopes and dreams of the free people of ukraine. many of whom -- well, very clear, don't want to be a puppet state, don't want to be a colony of russia. they want their own independence. so, this is a very, very difficult situation for ukraine. they've got -- they're prepared to fight back. that's what i learned when i was there from the military and from the current political leadership. keep in mind that ukraine is a democracy. zelensky was elected three years ago in a free and fair election that pushed the russian oligarchs aside and zelensky has

made moves to connect with the west, both economically in the european union as well as with nato. russia doesn't want that. that's what this is about. it's really about more than all of that, and that is, if russia has its way here, this is a very serious threat to the other eastern european countries. >> indeed. okay. sir, let's switch gears and talk about the growing push to limit or outright, in fact, ban lawmakers from trading stocks. there's a bipartisan group of 27 house colleagues of yours who sent a letter to speaker pelosi and minority leader mccarthy urging them to bring a ban to the floor. this letter comes after insider found 54 members of congress violated a law designed to prevent conflicts of interest, and last month, speaker pelosi opposed a ban on lawmaker stock trades but has recently signalled being open to it if it gets enough support. i'm curious how you see it. do members of congress, because of the information they have

access to, sometimes have a financial advantage when it comes to picking stocks? >> well, members of congress should not be in the stock market, period. and i will support that legislation. there's been some introduced in the senate side. there's been talk of introduction in the house side, and i'll certainly support it. do we have specific information that might be useful, inside trading? that's entirely possible. we certainly saw that in the run-up to the pandemic on the senate side with a couple of senators bailing out of stocks and buying certain stocks just ahead of the announcement of the seriousness of the pandemic. so, there ought to be a limit. and in fact, there is one today that requires immediate notification of any stock transaction, whether -- and that's not a violation. that is within line of the current law. but we need to go further, just prohibit it, period. done. move on to much more important issues, such as ukraine.

and the economy. and all of the things that are currently on our agenda. get it done, move on. >> california congressman and our friend, john garamendi, good to see you, sir. thank you so much. meantime, as the january 6th select committee closes in around former trump associates, the former president is setting his sights on texas. he's set to hold a rally near houston today, a little more than a month ahead of the march 1st primaries. the state's top officials all up for re-election in the first contest since the governor signed a controversial voting bill into law. let's go to nbc's gary graumbach joining us from con roe, texas. remind us how this is going to impact the upcoming primaries. >> reporter: yeah, this was a bill that garnered a lot of attention this past summer. there were a number of voting rights marches and protests down at the state house in austin, and it even led a group of democratic lawmakers from texas to fly to d.c. as a part of

making sure there wasn't a quorum in the legislature. it was really something that was remarkably done and there was a lot going on when it comes to what is being done in the senate bill 1. this includes voting, drive-thru voting bans. it includes a ban on 24-hour voting. it includes tighter provisions when it comes to who can vote by mail and also it's really important to note here, alex, we've been talking to folks here all day at this trump rally. the primary, which is going to be on march 1st, is not something that's really on their minds. instead, it's the issues that matter to them. >> okay, gary, i'm going to have to cut it there. your picture is going in and out just a wee built but we certainly got the gist of your reporting. thank you so much. pictures that make you glad you're staying inside. we're going to show you the scene in new york city and then there is this, the scene on the road in long island. we'll get it all for you next. road in long island. we'll get it all for you next.

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right now, whiteout conditions are making travel, quote, nearly impossible for people across the northeast and new england. heavy snowfall and whipping winds are leaving windchills in the single digits, and according to flight aware, more than 4,600 flights have been canceled across the u.s. let's go to nbc's ellison barber, still braving the elements for us in brooklyn, new york. have you seen anybody out there trying to trek out in the snow? we haven't seen many people in your live shots the last couple of hours. >> reporter: there are, in the last little bit, people have started to kind of make their way out a little more. this road, in particular, where there are some restaurants, we have seen people. if you look around with us, you can see a man down the way shoveling one of the sidewalks. we have seen people start to come out, particularly a lot of people with dogs, people appearing to realize that the wind seems to have lessened a bit. is know is not as heavy as it was earlier in the morning. a little less wet. they are now making their way

out. we've seen cars come in and out of this area. this moped scooter here spinning out just a little bit. that right there, though, is why the mayor and other city officials are saying they would like for new yorkers to stay at home, because they are still in the process of trying to clear roads, trying to get things safe for travel in the area. they have said that people should stay inside today if they can. that they should take public transportation if they must travel, but they really want people to stay off of the roads. they have some 1,700 snowplows out working. we just saw one drive through about a block away from here. but they still have a ways to go. but in the last, you know, 30, 40 minutes, we've seen more people start to come out in this area, start to brave the elements, but again, officials here, they would like people to keep hunkering down because it's cold now and they expect it to get colder. the national weather service has issued a winter system statement saying that you could see

windchills in new york city near zero, and they have that statement, that warning out through tomorrow morning. alex? >> well, all i can say, definitely not a typical saturday afternoon foot traffic in brooklyn, new york. for that, we can definitely confirm all that. okay, ellison barber, thank you so much. turning now to the pandemic, half of u.s. states are reporting an increase in cases over the past 14 days, but nbc news analysis shows nearly two dozen states are no longer experiencing a surge in cases. florida is adding tens of thousands of cases a day, but it appears the number of omicron cases has already peaked there, and that is certainly welcome news to thousands celebrating right now at one of tampa bay's biggest festivals. let's go to nbc's stefani stanton there for us in tampa. stephanie, i know this big parade, along with this festival, that was canceled because of covid but how about this year? what's going on? >> reporter: well, alex, you

know, this is the gasparilla parade. think of it as mardi gras meets pirates and there are thousands of people, take a look behind me, lining the streets of tampa right now in anticipation of this 4.5-mile parade through the city. there will be more than 100 floats here. this is a uniquely tampa event here. we are getting brisk temperatures and windy conditions, but organizers say they expect huge crowds here because this event, as you said, was canceled last year due to covid. covid cases here in florida are still going strong, but they have fallen well below the peak that we saw in early january. last week, the state saw an official case count of nearly 200,000 cases, but that is down from about 430,000 positive cases that we saw on the peak january 7th. now, keep in mind, those are official cases. they do not include those who may have taken those at-home tests or those who were sick and didn't take a test at all. but i can tell you here, at this

parade, and we are starting to see the police come down the parade route, the -- there are no vax mandates, no mask mandates. however, the mayor is advising those who are immunocompromised to stay home. but we talked to some folks here, and as you can see, judging by the crowds, it appears that covid does not appear to be top of mind for these folks. >> it's gasparilla. it's tampa's number one holiday. >> covid canceled us and now we're back, i think stronger than ever. >> take your vaccine, take your booster and you have a life to live, right? i'm glad we're outside. obviously, uv is against covid and we have that in our favor and not making out with anybody random, so that will be a police. >> what does a pirate say? >> arrrrgh. >> reporter: so adorable. so, nationwide, some good news as well. we are seeing cases head downward. last week, the seven-day moving

average was about 520,000 cases per day, and that's a 20% drop from the previous week. so, there is some good news here, and the people here, you know, they are feeling it. after this parade being canceled last year, everyone is happy to be outside. it is a beautiful day here. it is sunny, although very brisk. 50 degrees and very windy. alex, back to you. >> can i just say? i remember last time i saw you reporting from tampa wearing a turtleneck, my friend, i mean, clearly it is chillier than usual. all the folks there in the crowd, too, we saw sweatshirts and caps that your cameraman panned over and provided for us. we've been talking about weather today, i guess there's a little to talk about in florida as well. thank you so much. good to see you, stephanie. >> reporter: i don't want to rub it in too much, alex. >> i appreciate that. yeah. very nice. okay, my friend. congressman jim clyburn is going to join me in just minutes to talk about the supreme court and how the president is doubling down on a campaign promise. that's next. doubling down on a campaign promise. that's next.

president biden is doubling down on a campaign promise as speculation intensifies over who will replace supreme court justice stephen breyer. >> i've made no decision except one. the person i will nominate will be someone with extraordinary qualifications, character, experience, and integrity, and that person will be the first black woman ever nominated to the united states supreme court. >> and now, we're getting our first look at just who that could be. a white house spokesman confirming last night the president is indeed considering judge j. michelle childs as a potential supreme court justice candidate. judge childs is also the preferred choice of my next guest, and joining me now is south carolina congressman jim clyburn. house majority whip. very good to see you again, sir. thank you for joining me. we're going to talk more about judge childs in just a moment, but first, i'd like to take a step back and get your broader thoughts on the president's commitment to nominating the

first black woman to serve on the supreme court. how significant will that moment be for this country? >> very, very, very significant. i think that all of us have been talking about african americans have value and not just to the country but to the democratic party and i maintain, as i learned in the projects i grew up in, that our word must be met with deed. and i think that what joe biden committed to do way back in the south carolina primary, he is going to keep that promise, and i think this is a great thing to do. it's a glass ceiling that's about to be broken through, and it should have been broken through a long, long time ago. >> and it's interesting, sir, that you recall the primary, because you told nbc news that the president's pledge to

nominate a black woman to the supreme court was, in fact, kind of the critical final piece securing your endorsement in the run-up to the south carolina primary. that endorsement helped propel biden to the nomination, eventually, of course, becoming president. so, as the white house now confirms that it is considering judge childs, do you, sir, have influence with the president on precisely who will get picked? >> well, i think there are seven or eight people who have been mentioned. i know some of them, not all. i'm sure that all of them are eminently qualified. the ones i know are very, very well qualified. but you know, like i always said, we, as a party, the democratic party, we have to lead the way, especially when it comes to diversity, not just male and female, not just black and white, but also in a regional way. i don't think that these appointments ought to limit

people by the zip codes that they may live in. you know, ms. childs, zip code is here in the south. her husband is one of the few african americans, gastroenterologist here in south carolina. they have made their life commitment to moving a new south, moving things to a better place in this part of the country, and she has a resume. it will do just that. four degrees from public institutions. she is just all that we need at this particular time when it comes to diversifying the supreme court. >> well, i know you've clearly had the president's ear on this. you've been speaking with him about her, specifically for the last 15 months, which may indeed have propelled him to nominate her for the d.c. court. which that nomination has been

put on hold in terms of any confirmation process as she potentially may be a supreme court pick. but to that end, if she were the supreme court nominee, you have said that she would garner republican support in the senate. can you, sir, elaborate on that? i mean, which senators do you think would support her? would it be tim scott? would it be lindsey graham from her state there? would it be others? >> i think it would be others. i do believe the two senators from south carolina know her or of her. i know that lindsey graham knows her. and i have spoken with both of them about her. and they have told me that they are very, very pleased at all they hear about her, and so i suspect that, you know, you don't know what's going to come up when you have these hearings, but i suspect that she'll do well. she's gotten unanimous support before. she's been 11 years as a

district court judge, and she got unanimous support of the senate when she was approved or confirmed for that job. >> so, politically speaking, do you see this as an opportunity, this nomination of a supreme court justice, might that shift momentum within the democratic party as a whole? you're well aware of the year has started with poor polling, we should say, in the senate, and key pieces of the biden agenda remain stalled in the senate, but do you think democrats now feel like there's a kind of wind in their sails with this, and if so, what impact could it have? >> it would have a positive impact, no question about that. because a lot of people looked aghast when the president made his commitment back -- it was during the debate, the south carolina debate before the south carolina primary. some people advised him not to do it. publicly, anyway.

but he felt that it was something that needed to be put on the table, and he did. and now, he has reiterated that the promise he's going to keep and that's what people are going to focus on. people are beginning to focus on his agenda now. he has four big pieces that he's been pushing for a year now, two of them are now law. and so, the glass is half full. we ought to be talking about the glass being half full rather than continue to talk about the two things that he didn't get done as being half empty. so, we've got time to do these other two things. we're going to work on the voter rights bill. we're still working on build back better, and i think a lot of what's in build back better is going to become law very soon, and i think you'll see his numbers turn around. >> i'm a glass half full perspective kind of person so i appreciate that coming from you. let me ask you, though. the fact that president biden, during the primary process that we spoke of, your endorsement

really helped propel him to where he is today. so, there are those who would suggest he owes you for that. if j. michelle childs is not the supreme court nominee, and ultimately rises to the bench there, will you be disappointed? >> sure i'll be disappointed. but it will not dissuade me from supporting whichever one he anonymities. as you said earlier, he's already been put forth for the d.c. circuit, which is called the second most important court in the country. so, she can't get the most important and get the second most important, i'll be disappointed, but i think that that's a pretty good deal. >> okay. last question before i let you go, sir. what is your reaction to house speaker nancy pelosi announcing she is running for re-election? how important is it to the democratic party that speaker pelosi run again? how important is her presence in congress, regardless of the

outcome of the midterm elections? >> well, i've read her statement, and the statement said she was running for re-election to the congress from california. i was pleased to hear that. she has not said yet what she is going to do about the speakership. i will be pleased if she were to run again for the speaker's job. look, i believe in youthful development. i do it all the time. i don't think there's anybody in south carolina that's committed more to bringing young people along. that's what the scholarship program is all about, the clyburn fellows, all that about developing young people but we must always remember, and it's biblical, the young are called because of their strength. the older are called because they know the way. we must have a healthy dose of both those things, people strong enough to do it and people wise

enough to know what needs to be done. you get those two things together, you can be successful. and that's what we're doing here. nancy pelosi has been an outstanding speaker, and if she were to continue in that role, it would be pretty fine with me. >> wise perspective from you, sir. we remind our viewers, house majority whip, representative jim clyburn. thank you so much. it's good to see you. have a good start. saturday meantime, the former president and the alleged fake elector scheme, that has taken a new turn. elector scheme, that has taken a new turn

now to a major development in the investigation into donald trump's alleged fake elector scheme, the january 6th committee sent subpoenas on friday for 14 of these so-called alternate electors who signed documents falsely asserting donald trump was the winner in

battleground states that he actually lost. the committee wants information from individuals listed as chairperson or secretary of the slate of bogus electors. it's across seven states, in fact, arizona, georgia, michigan, new mexico, nevada, pennsylvania, and wisconsin. let's bring in msnbc legal analyst and former u.s. attorney joyce vance. joyce, as i welcome you, these subpoenas come days after deputy attorney general lisa monaco also confirmed that federal prosecutors are looking into this matter. the doj is considering whether or not to press criminal charges. what do you think makes that determination? >> well, first, i think i would caution folks not to overread what deputy attorney general monaco said. i think she was acknowledging that doj had received a referral on these cases, these investigations from state prosecutors, and that they were determining whether or not to open a matter. i wouldn't view this as a full-on acknowledgment that doj is investigating. but that threshold matter aside,

while the january 6th committee is on a fact-finding mission, it's up to the justice department to decide where criminal conduct occurred, and increasingly here, it's very difficult to avoid the clear cut evidence that suggests that there has to be an investigation into whether there was some form of criminal conspiracy to interfere with the 2020 election. >> okay, you well know the state of alabama, so we're going to turn to that now and the redistricting issues there. the state has filed an emergency application with the u.s. supreme court to overrule a lower court decision ordering lawmakers to rework their redistricting map because it likely violated the voting rights act. the judges had told legislators that they had two weeks to create a new map that will need to include two districts in which black voters either comprise a voting age majority or something quite close to it. first of all, do you expect the supreme court to take this case? and if so, how consequential would that be?

>> well, this case is, i think, a turning point, alex, and the fact that the alabama legislature, which has only 14 days to draw these new maps, the fact that they've not yet scheduled a special session suggests that they're very confident that they will win in the supreme court. they have asked the court to take the case, but pending right now on the supreme court's shadow docket is a motion that would keep the district court's ruling from going into effect. in essence, that would mean alabama would keep the same maps it already has that draws only one of its seven congressional districts in a method that black voters have even a chance at winning. black voters make up about 25% of alabama's population. the real problem here is this. you know, alabama, that's the state where section 5 of the voting rights act died in the shelby county vs. holder case. now we have the prospect that section 2 of the voting rights act could be horribly compromised in this litigation.

if anything, this really turns up the pressure on the senate to reconsider and to vote on measures currently pending in front of them to protect our elections. >> these redistricting maps, were they drawn specifically to disenfranchise black voters? >> i think it's difficult to say that as a matter of fact and hard to avoid that conclusion when you look at how the maps are drawn. the reality is that there is history here, that there are problems with alabama and suppression of black voters. traditionally, the state has not used widespread absentee voting. you've got to have strictly categorized reasons in order to vote absentee. there is only one day to vote. there's no early voting in alabama, and drive-up, dropoff voting is unheard of here, so over time, it's very difficult to avoid the impression that suppression measures here have been employed. this decision addresses only how the maps have been drawn and

reaches a very strong conclusion. one of these judges was a recent trump appointee, and the decision that she has made and the other judges have made drives straight up the middle on the law and says alabama, you've got to give your voters a chance to pick their elected officials. you can't just let the elected officials pick who their voters are. >> okay, joyce vance, thank you, my friend. that's going to do it for me on this edition of "alex witt reports." i'll see you tomorrow at noon eastern. yasmin vossoughian will continue our coverage in just a couple minutes. an will continue our coverage in just a couple our coverage in just a couple minutes. ♪ who would've thought printing... could lead to growing trees. ♪

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