plus, if a vice president can overturn an election, what is stopping kamala harris from doing that in 2024? it is the constitution, of course. now some of the same voices who gave donald trump cover for years are finally speaking out. also making headlines this morning, new jersey is lifting mask mandates in schools with several other states considering the same. >> as omicron variant, the number of infections just dropped straight down. >> yeah. >> it is really, really on the decline fortunately. >> it is a big topic in georgia right now after a candidate for government tweeted and then deleted a photo that is sure to pop up in campaign ads this fall. and on the foreign policy front, the u.s. says the european capital could fall within hours of a russian invasion. according to the biden administration, war in eastern europe could break out any day. good morning and welcome to

"morning joe." it is a busy monday, february 7th. with us we have the host of "way too early" and white house bureau chief at "politico" jonathan lemire. and national security expert, columnist at "usa today", tom nichols joins us. the republican national committee is facing growing push back from some members of the party following a vote on friday to censer representatives liz cheney and adam kinzinger. the measure describes cheney and kinzinger as, quote, participating in a democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse. several republicans, including senators mitt romney, bill cassidy and lisa murkowski along with maryland governor larry hogan either criticized or questioned the move to censure those two lawmakers. some members of the party are taking issue with the rnc's characterization of the capitol

attack as legitimate political discourse. >> did you see legitimate political discourse that day? >> from my seat i did not see a lot of legitimate political discourse. >> and do you believe january 6th was in any way legitimate political discourse? >> no, it was illegitimate political discourse because it was an assault on the first branch of government. >> i think that there's two mistakes here by the rnc. first of all, they say that part of the reason for the resolution is they want to keep the phoning us on joe biden and the failures of the democratic administration. well, how did that work for you? all anybody is talking about this weekend is this resolution rather than talking about the failures of the biden administration. secondly, it is not picking up on what is, i sense around the country from traveling around, a shift that is occurring, which

is that people are tired of hearing about the 2020 election from donald trump and from some who support him. >> tom nichols, you actually -- you look at political polls inside the republican party, and what chris christie is saying actually seems to be bearing out reality there, that republicans are growing weary of trump. they're identifying themselves more as members of the republican party instead of followers of donald trump. you even have josh hawley and lindsey graham coming out and criticizing the violence of january 6th, which is deeply ironic, of course, but both of them saying people committing crimes on that day should be sent to jail. the "wall street journal" editorial page came out with a fire-breathing editorial in support of pence and calling donald trump a three-time loser. i am just wondering as somebody like me who is seeing this as a

former republican, do you see any, any trend toward normalcy by even a small part of the republican party? >> well, i wish i could join you in the optimism this morning, joe, but if these are cracks in the wall, they are very tiny cracks. they are microscopic cracks. they're cracks that are coming over a year after the event. i was tempted to say that a fair number of high-visibility republicans are breaking not with trump but with ronna mcdaniel, you know, over a poorly chosen press release. you know, i think it is understandable that when pence comes out and says trump was wrong that there are a lot of relieved conservatives, republicans or not, who are going to say, "ah, there it is,

finally, there is the life raft we can cling to," but i don't think that's very much. the vice president could have said, "and joe biden won the election and he's the president of the united states and we have one president at a time," all of the things we used to say that sound quaint now after an election. but all he did was stand up and say, "well, you know, donald trump told me i could do this thing and that was wrong." i want to be more optimistic, but the fact that the crazy, kind of the kook wing of the party is fully in control of the gop doesn't cheer my heart just because the "wall street journal" is happy that mike pence said one thing that put some distance between him and donald trump, unfortunately. i wish i could be more optimistic. i just can't. >> the move by the rnc to censure cheney and kinks came after vice president mike pence openly rebuked donald trump, this is what we're talking about, while speaking to a group of conservative lawyers.

here is the former vice president pushing back at trump's claim that pence could have overturned the 2020 election. >> this week that president trump said i had the right to overturn the election. president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election. the presidency belongs to the american people and the american people alone. frankly, there is no idea more unamerican than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. the truth is there's more at stake than our party or political fortunes. men and women, if we lose faith in the constitution we won't just lose elections, we will lose our country. >> i actually think that's a very significant thing. tom and i differ on that point because i think that's quite significant, and so does the

"wall street journal" editorial page. in a piece entitled "mike pence's constitution," they write this. mr. pence stands out as a rare republican these days willing to stand up to mr. trump's disgraceful behavior after the election. too many in the gop seem to have lost their constitutional moorings in thrall of one man. the conventional wisdom now is that mr. trump controls the republican party and can have 2024's nomination if he wants it. but someone should remained voters that mr. trump ended a three-time election loser. he mobilized democrats against him in historic numbers to cost the gop the house in 2018, then the white house in 2020, and finally the two georgia senate seats in 2021. mr. trump had significant policy successes, but mr. pence has received too little credit for his policy and personal advice.

his conservative network and instincts helped to avoid more than one trumpian self-implosion. he was loyal to trump, and the president repaid him by pressuring him publicly and privately to commit an unconstitutional act. we will end it there. so it is very interesting, if you look, jonathan lemire, at the arc of mike pence's service. here is a guy who actually before he was selected as donald trump's vice president was very critical of him in private conversations. then he became a loyalist, even moving water in the same direction where mr. trump would move water at meetings. but last week actually, to me at least, that was quite a break, quite a difference from how he and the rest of the party have

been acting, and it wasn't lost on me or i'm sure you that he did it at the federalist society. >> no, it was not. the federalist society, of course, one of the groups responsible for some of what republicans would say donald trump's greatest triumphs, naming three conservative supreme court justices to the bench while in office. you are right to trace the arc of pence's career. first of all he was likely going to lose his reelection and candidacy for governor of indiana when trump picked him to be his vp to shore up his support with more traditional conservatives and evangelicals, and then pence game the loyalist loyalist with the dear- leaderesque cabinet meetings he started praising the president. there has, of course, been a fall out over january 6th. after election day when it became clear that january 6th was the former president and his team's best efforts to prevent joe biden from being elected and taking office, you know, a lot of that plan hinged on pence, who had been so loyal they

thought he would be again and follow throughwith what donald trump wanted. pence was not. we remember the hang mike pence chants that went up from the crowd and now pence has had a balancing act where he has been firm. hey, i did the right thing on january 6th, he's saying, i did my constitutional duty, i had no other choice. at the same time pence clearly wants to run for president himself in 2024. we will see if he does if trump follows through with his own bid. right now he is trying to continue to say he did the right thing but at the same time not anger trump or trump loyalists too much while doing so. i think that's what we heard from a lot of other republicans as well this week and in the wake of those remarks and in this wake of the legitimate political discourse conversation where they can say, hey, pence, we support what mike pence did on january 6th but we still think donald trump is the overwhelming favorite in 2024 and he would have our support

were he the republican nominee. >> yeah. so, tom, let me ask you, i'm curious here. you look at a lot of data points. we've been talking about the fact that now only 60 percent of republicans are saying they want donald trump to run for reelection, 40% say they don't. i just quoted the ap poll that said the majority of republicans consider themselves republicans first, only 35% consider themselves to be trump supporters first over party members. that's a pretty dramatic swing. you look at the fact that republicans for some reason -- and i say some reason. actually, i know why. they're seeing things in the poll. republicans, even josh hawley, are starting to come out criticizing the violence that happened on january 6th. i'm curious. why do you think we are seeing some movement in the direction of normalcy? i'm not trying to normalize donald trump? i'm not trying to normalize my former party. i am just curious.

do you see any trend lines moving away from the complete lunacy of the trump years in the republican party? >> well, i think you see cross currents. certainly a lot of these folks are looking at polls of the kind you just pointed out and saying, you know, there's room now to say i don't have to be part of the cult because, as you pointed out, there are people saying, "i'm a republican first, i'm a trumper second." but i also think there are current in the other direction. i mean we are talking about this, as mika just pointed out, in the shadow of the censure of the last two independent republicans in congress, that were talking about this while other republicans had to push back against the republican national committee trying to white wash january 6th. the "wall street journal's" language was interesting.

they said, good for mike pence saying that the president pressured him to commit an unconstitutional act. doesn't that tell us how far and how low the standards in the party have dropped that a year, over a year later mike pence is kind of getting a golf clap for saying, yes, the president asked me to do something i shouldn't have done, when in an earlier, i think better time, republicans would have said we have to do something about the fact that the de facto leader of the party is an enemy of the constitution. so, you know, i'm happy to say two cheers for mike pence, but maybe just one and a half or two. but i still think that this isn't -- you know, this is too late and at least a bit too little. >> yeah. mika, of course, i think it is shocking even coming from donald trump's rnc and he still owns this rnc. >> i know. >> the language that january 6th was, quote, legitimate political

discourse is about to say that violence, that sort of violence was legitimate political discourse actually unfortunately fits very tightly into the definition of fascism in any country, in this country or any other country. >> well, at the same time -- and several things can be going at the same time when you are dealing with a situation like this and our democracy is core of the discussion here, is that it is important to make space for comments like this, to reinforce good behavior. because i don't know how things get turned around unless the space is made for it, and hopefully mike pence did that. we'll see. the select committee investigating january 6th is piecing together information on former president trump, quite literally. some of the white house records handed over to the committee were reportedly torn and taped back together while some couldn't be sent because they were already gone.

"the washington post" has new reporting out the morning on just how widespread and indiscriminate trump's shredding of paper in the white house was throughout his presidency, despite multiple admonishments doing so was against federal law. first reported by "politico" in 2018, then president trump's staffers often had to piece together papers he tore because of the presidential records act. that is the federal law that requires administrations to keep their files. it is a law trump seems to have known about. here he is referencing the law when he criticized speaker nancy pelosi for ripping up his state of the union speech. remember that back in 2020? >> i thought it was a terrible thing when she ripped up the speech. first of all, it is an official document. you're not allowed. it is illegal, what she did. she broke the law. it was terrible. it is a terrible -- so

disrespectful to our country and actually very illegal what she did. >> very illegal. very illegal. >> he knows the law. >> i mean everything trump says is either confession or projection. let's bring in "washington post" jackie almane who co-wrote the report. he knew it was an illegal act to tear up these reports, but you have reporting he did it repeated throughout the administration. explain. >> that's right. he was told repeatedly by white house counsel, chief of staff, those around him, that the ripping continued and they had to implement new protocols around his shredding habits. these are important to maintaining our democracy. there's a reason why people want to keep presidential records under the presidential records act. they're for the american public.

they help historians write our history. they add new colors, mementos. they're also really important to just national security issues for the previous administration to leave a detailed record of conversations, dialogue, their various policy conversations that happen between leaders and different countries. and for the next administration to come in and hit the ground running so that they have a record of those decisions made, but this president was very vigilant with his shredding and single handedly made the decision of what records could be thrown out and what was considered presidential record and what wasn't. this is not how it is supposed to work. there is an entire office dedicated to this, the white house office of records and management. they are supposed to go around and basically catalogue every single record that the president touches under the presidential records act. essentially every record that is

created in the white house should be stored. now, the national archives at the end of the day after four years doesn't want every shred or piece of paper, but there's a process for a reason. one detail that really stood out in my mind, a historian told me over the weekend that when fdr was in office he was such a meticulous record keeper, he kept this amazing diary that he included details like albert einstein came over on x date for dinner with him and eleanor and they stayed in this room and they left at x time the next day. this helps to paint a more colorful and better american history. these records belong to the american people and the former president did not give two shreds about the documents going through the white house. >> hey, jackie. it is jonathan. well played there. i'm not sure that former president trump would have had albert einstein over for dinner. two questions for you on this. one, though it is against the

law, there isn't really much teeth to this regulation, right? there's not much punishment former president trump faces for shredding documents. secondly, how much of a hindrance has this been to the january 6th committee as they continue their investigation? >> yeah, those are two really good points. we are not exactly sure sort of the impetus for our most recent reporting, which is that the national archives actually had to retrieve multiple boxes and out of the ordinary amount from mar-a-lago from the former president last month. it could potentially have to do with january 6th since there has been a lot of request and the national archive has been responsive to those requests to the january 6th committee. we ran it kind of by stephanie murphy's office. she is a panelist on the committee, who said while this behavior is not shocking, it might not necessarily impede the work of the committee since they have a lot of sources and methods for getting their hands on various documents. so if they wanted something they would potentially go to staffers or those who were with the

former president who could then document and layout those records themselves. on the question of the enforcement mechanism, you're right. the pra is unfortunately very toothless. it is very rare and uncommon and challenging for the national archives to then go out and punish a president for his failure to keep a comprehensive records management system in place. but, you know, this former president has set a lot of new precedent and we will see if maybe that changes this time around. >> all right. jackie, thank you so much for your great reporting. as always, we love having you on this show. thanks so much. tom, you can't help but go back and look at just the screeching and the howling and the wining and the snowflake melting over hilary clinton's e-mails and what did she destroy, and how dare she, how dare she use a private e-mail

and how dare she delete some of the documents when you have donald trump consciously shredding documents as president of the united states, knowing that he's breaking the law every step of the way. >> yeah, and if there's anything that really indicates consciousness of guilt, you know, it is sitting there at your desk ripping paper up. you know, as a former federal employee, you know, records -- there is a records act, and i just had this image in my mind of the poor folks that had to pull innings out of waste baskets and piece them together because this guy -- i think it is also a reminder how weird donald trump is that, you know, the president of the united states was sitting there ripping paper apart and throwing them in waste baskets. but, you know, there was an outcry about hilary clinton because, again, there is a federal regulation. there were things that, you know, she did that were just wrong. but, again, it shows how our standards have changed over the

years that, you know, now we had a president who was acting like a personal two-handed shredder. i can't do better than jackie -- what jackie just said, but, you know, was sitting at his desk shredding stuff. then actually having people have to piece them together to try to rescue the historical record of a presidential administration. but i think, again, you know, the term that comes to my mind is consciousness of guilt. he knew there were things and he just wanted to put in the burn bags and never see again. >> yeah, and destroy them. mika, again, talking about the hypocrisy vis-a-vis hilary clinton and donald trump, you can talk about donald trump attacking her for deleted e-mails while he is consciously destroying documents with direct relevance on his presidency as he goes through the presidency. then, of course, that great quote, you know, what did he say, only mobsters, they invoke

the fifth amendment because they're guilty. yet you look at one trumper after another trumper through the past few years invoking the fifth amendment. all of the things, all of the things that michael flynn and rudy giuliani and donald trump, all of the things they said about hilary clinton in 2016 turned around and bit them. >> and the term "very illegal" is interesting. still ahead on "morning joe," congressman adam kinzinger joins us on the heels of the rnc voting to censure both him and liz cheney. plus, the white house warns of russian invasion of ukraine could come any day now. the latest on the growing tensions overseas. also ahead, more controversy for podcaster joe rogan. boy, has this been snowballing over the weekend. he's apologizing for his use of a racial slur many times in past

episodes, and spotify is standing by him amid a mounting outcry. pro golfer jordan spieth had viewers on the edge of their seats with this shot over the weekend. we'll go over what happened here. you are watching "morning joe." we will be right back. back.sev. oregon just declared a state of emergency... seattle temperatures are... new evacuations... triple digit heat... thousand acres burned... flash flood threats... extreme heat... [nurce voices] ...state of emergency... [flames burning] [wind blowing]

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28 past the hour. here is a look at some other news making headlines this morning. the u.s. has hit yet another grim covid-19 milestone as more than 900,000 people have died from the virus as of friday. in response, president biden urged every american to get vaccinated, saying the toll would have been higher without vaccines. but new coronavirus cases are falling quickly across the country. according to "the new york times," fewer than half as many

infections are being identified each day as at the peak of the omicron surge in mid-january. new cases are plummeting in almost every state. in kansas and virginia, new infection reports are down about 50% in the last two weeks. in new york and maryland new cases are down more than 70% in the last two weeks. >> i tell you, the numbers in new york as you look at deaths for all of the united states, going down but a dramatic drop in places like new york, across the east coast, florida. those numbers for omicron are just plummeting and going straight down, which is great news. >> a virginia judge has temporarily halted an executive order from the state's republican governor which made mask wearing optional in schools. the circuit court judge sided with seven school districts on friday suing governor youngkin

over the law. in his order last month, youngkin gave parents the power to choose whether their children wore masks in schools regardless of individual district policies. but the judge asserted that not even the governor can override virginia's constitution, which grants school boards the power to make health and safety decisions. since it took effect at least 70 virginia school districts have defied the order and continued to require masks for all students. >> tom nichols, this is another one of these things where as somebody -- as a former republican who actually still conservative and still believes, you know, believes things that republicans used to believe, is a part of this -- again, i understand that politics, especially covid politics, makes a lot of republican governors stupid. youngkin seems to be cut from a different cloth, but what did we always say? what i always said, what

republicans that came in with me in '94 said was we want to put the decisions for our school as close to the parents, the teachers, the students, the semiconductors. that's where we want as many decisions to be made on how they run their schools. you have these laboratories, legislative laboratories, educational laboratories in 50 states, and you trust local school boards to know what is best for them. now, you take a state like florida, it has 67 counties. miami-dade radically different than, let's say, escambia county. the 67 counties in between, they're like four different states, four different cultures. yet you have ron desantis here, you have the new virginia governor up in virginia. you have these other republican governors who are saying, oh, no, we are going to tell every school what to do in our state. we are going to tell every small

business what to do in our state. it is the antithesis of sort of this bottom-up belief that localities know what to do best when it comes to schools. >> and not just about schools. conservatives used to be about less bureaucracy and less central control, you know, letting people tax and legislate and governor and close to the people affected by those policies as they could with the national government doing things like making sure the constitution and its rights are followed consistently throughout the united states, that there was a common defense, that, you know, there were interstate roads and airports and things like that. it is amazing that the republicans, once the party of smaller government and local control, is now the government of rule by the highest executive officer they can find who will

implement what they want, you know, with a fist. that is -- i mean it is remarkable because this is the kind of thing republicans used to complain about 25 and 30 years ago, too many mandates coming out of washington or state capitals and that you had to trust people in the towns they lived in, again, within the limits of the constitution, which was why we have the federal government, to make sure that we all follow the constitution and don't trample on the rights of other citizens. but it is just amazing to me that the same republicans who are all, you know, in a lather about big governments and big government and judges are now relying on governors and control of the courts to get what they want because they can't seem to convince anyone in the electoral process to agree with them. >> yeah, and they want to step -- mika, they want to step on the decisions of teachers, they want to step on the decisions of principals, they want to step on the decisions of

school boards. again, it is the antithesis of what they claim to once believe. >> new jersey's governor, phil murphy, will no longer require students and school employees to wear masks. it is a notable change for the democrat who championed some of the nation's most stringent mandates during the pandemic. as "the new york times" frames it, the decision signals a deliberate shift toward treating the coronavirus as a part of daily life. pennsylvania's democratic governor rescinded his state's school mask mandate last month, and now new york and connecticut are re-evaluating school mask mandates as well. finally, one of the most dramatic golf shots you might ever see. jordan spieth risked falling off a cliff, all to make par on pebble beach's famous par 4 8th hole on saturday. watch this scene. >> -- has the stomach for this

shot. we haven't. >> my gosh. >> stay stable. >> that was a smart move. >> i'll be honest, i was watching him more than the ball. >> shut. >> you watch, his body will go back as he actually made contact. >> oh, my goodness. >> he ran back. >> i would run back, too. that's a shot to kill for right there. >> all right. >> i mean seriously -- >> did it make it over? i can't see. >> yeah, he made it over. >> oh, my gosh. look at that. that's amazing. >> yeah. jonathan lemire -- >> and i don't even like golf. >> -- i think i would drop and take the stroke. >> that absolutely would be my strategy as well. you could see him like leaning backwards as he hits it, like he doesn't want to follow through too far and plummet down a ravine. this feels like perhaps unnecessary risk. that's not -- you know, my golf game is limited to dodging the windmills on the mini golf course with my son, so i

wouldn't be trying anywhere near this. but i'm glad he is okay and i'm glad he made a pretty good shot at the end of the day. >> all right. coming up -- >> yeah. >> -- the latest moves from the january 6th committee including new information on the lawmakers donald trump spoke with the morning of the attack. plus, the playbook the committee is borrowing from to get witnesses to talk. superintendent troops land in poland to reinforce nato allies as the white house warns russia could invade ukraine, quote, any day now. "morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming right "morning joe" is coming right back wait, you're new too nobody told you? subway's refreshing with better ingredients, better footlongs, and better spokespeople. because you gotta you gotta refresh to be fresh with voltaren arthritis pain gel.

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conflict would come at, quote, enormous human cost, but adds that the u.s. and its allies are ready to respond to any contingency. >> we're in the window where something could happen that is a military escalation, an invasion of ukraine could happen at any time. we believe that the russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into ukraine, and we have been working hard to prepare a response. >> a new u.s. intelligence assessment finds moscow has already assembled 70% of the forces it would need to launch a full-scale invasion of ukraine. the report says that if the kremlin were to attack, the ukrainian capital, kyiv, would be the most likely to be captured in the early days of the invasion, possibly within the first 48 hours. it also says that as many as 25,000 ukrainian troops could be

killed or wounded and up to 5 million people could be become refugees. >> so, tom, i'm curious. what is your take on where the united states is right now and nato allies? are we adequately prepared for a possible russian invasion or have we taken the appropriate steps to deter such an invasion? >> you know, it is a hard question because there isn't much we can do. ukraine is not a nato ally. we have reinforced our existing nato allies. we have sent troops to those areas as a show of solidarity with our allies, but if this happens it is not going to involve us. it is going to be a cross-border invasion from russia to ukraine that isn't going to involve u.s. forces or nato. all we can do is warn about sanctions and about how difficult we can make life for

the russian oligarchs if they do this, but who is -- >> so is biden doing enough right now? is biden doing enough right now to send the right messages? >> i think he is doing everything he can. yeah, i think he's -- i don't think there's much more he can do. he certainly can't threaten a military response. i wish he were being a little clearer, and the white house has started to go in this direction, about talking about the way they could really make this hurt for the people around putin and their money and their ability to move easily through the capitals of the world. but i think that, you know, at this point there isn't much biden can say. this whole thing is inside putin's head. only he knows why he would do it, and what he wants to do. deterring that is a really -- that's a really hard job, especially when this isn't part of the nato alliance we are talking about here meanwhile, president biden is scheduled to host german

chancellor olaf schultz at the white house later today. the meeting comes as germany has faced criticism over not taking a more active role with its european allies in preparing a response to russian aggression toward ukraine. among the subjects reportedly on the agenda, a russian sanctions package and the nearly complete natural gas pipeline connecting germany and russia. those details, according to "the washington post", this will be the german chancellor's first visit to washington since taking office two months ago. >> so i guess, jonathan lemire, the question is olaf who? i mean this is a guy who is the german chancellor ghosting not only all of nato but all of washington, d.c. he has been trying to keep his head down as much as possible. germany has been trying to do as little as they can to deter this massive invasion of a european country. give us the white house's read on the new chancellor as well as

germany, where it is now. is germany moving in the right direction finally? >> well, it has been the source of some real frustration in the biden administration that germany has been slow to join other european allies, key nato allies, and really resisting what russia is doing here. in part, for the reasons mika just outlined, for the emergency pipeline, how they're dependent on russia for that. there's hope that this meeting can get germany more where the u.s. wants it to be. of course, chancellor schultz just took over for angela merkel who was leading for so long and was seen as the putin whisper, the conduit to russia. just as president biden is meeting with the german chancellor today, we have earlier this week french president macron meeting with putin, which is seen as a

significant moment where he will maybe lend his voice to deescalate, maybe step into angela merkel's shoes. it comes with a breakdown where we have the ukrainian saying, listen, calm down, we think putin is bluffing. but warnings are getting more dire, including over the weekend where officials talked to the media saying it could happen any time. we saw putin and xi hanging out in beijing the other day, and it could lead to over 50,000 ukrainian citizens killed or injured. it could be cataclysmic if it were to happen, which is why there's so much focus on diplomacy this week. >> tom nichols, thank you for being on this morning. we will be reading your latest analysis in "the atlantic" where you are a contributing writer.

still ahead, the bide inadministration had been planning to defend a weak jobs report last week, explaining it, but it turns out they got to celebrate a number much better than expected. we will speak with top economic advisor to president biden, jared bernstein, when "morning joe" comes right back. back. wi. 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. migraine attacks? qulipta™ can help prevent migraine attacks. it can't prevent triggers, like stress or changes in weather.

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51 past the hour. queen elizabeth makes history with a major royal milestone, celebrating 70 years on the throne. we are now hearing from her son, prince charles, who is reacting to a big announcement the queen made by the royal family's future. nbc news foreign correspondent molly hunter has the latest from london. >> reporter: queen elizabeth marks an extraordinary historic 70 years on the throne. releasing a photograph at her

sandringham estate and turning her attention to the next generation. when charles becomes king, she writes, it is my sincere wish that camilla will be known as queen con sort as she continues her own loyal service. prince charles, next in line for the throne, grateful for the royal blessing saying we are deeply conscious of the honor represented by my mother's wish. 70 years ago, a 25-year-old then-princess elizabeth was on tour in kenya when her father, king george vi, died. she returned home as a queen. >> throughout all of my life i shall strive to be worthy of your trust. >> reporter: her coronation, the first to be televised. an ambassador like no other, visiting 110 countries, meeting 114 prime ministers and 13 u.s. presidents. president biden giving queen elizabeth the ruth bader ginsberg women in leadership award. the white house tweeting,

throughout the last 70 years, she has strengthened the ties of friendship, shared ideals and faith in democracy that forever unite our country. >> nbc's molly hunter with that report. she is amazing. >> she is amazing. again, 70 years. think of the prime ministers that have come and gone. she started with winston churchill when she began her reign. she was presiding over an empire, an empire that the sun never set on that empire. through the years that empire collapsed. the economy collapsed in the '60s and '70s. it was -- you know, some days they could only have power on at night, lights on at night three or four days a week. it was just, just an absolute miserable condition in the '60s and '70s. there was a renaissance. it now is, again, one of the

largest economies in the word. for those that have suggested britain is in decline and never returned, well, that's just wrong. it is one of the largest economies in the world. it is one of the most influential culturally and it still has a political impact, an outsized political impact. it is a very powerful, very strong country that she is still the queen of. 70 years. >> unbelievable. >> later and always doing it -- >> with elegance. >> -- with elegance and dignity, even when those around her may not have. >> may not meet that. also making headlines this morning, chinese tennis star peng shuai has emerged amid olympic competition in beijing. peng became subject of international concern when she vanished from public view last year after appearing to make sexual assault accusations on social media against a former high-ranking member of the chinese government.

she touched on allegations in a controlled interview published by a french sports newspaper yesterday, delivering her answers in front of a chinese olympic official. peng echoed comments she previously made to chinese language media saying there had been a huge misunderstanding in the outside world. the three-time olympian and former doubles player said her life was nothing special since that day and she deleted the post herself. she also denied she disappeared. the 36 year old also announced her retirement in the interview. the international olympic committee all worked to diffuse the situation, saying peng dined with them over the weekend but offered little details about the meeting, making no mention of the allegations. coming up, why the january 6th select committee appears to

be using techniques reserved for mobsters and terrorists in its investigation into the capitol attack. plus, "new york times" reporter jeremy peters joins us with an early look at his new book, including exclusive audio from his interview with former president donald trump. we'll play that for you. what trump had to say about the vice president's decision to certify the election results on january 6th and his reaction to the chants of "hang mike pence" during the riot. "morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming right back it's our ultimate sleep evp number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and it's temperature balancing so you both sleep just right.

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what do you think your music does for these people? why does it excite them so much? >> we don't know really. if we knew, we would form another group and be managers. >> this date in history,

february 7th, 1964, the beatle arrived at jfk airport and began their first american tour. that was only three months after john kennedy had been assassinated, and their appearance on ed sullivan sent shock waves across the country and changed music, changed culture, changed the country and the world. it really is remarkable, mika, 50 years later. >> it is. >> 50 years later those four young kids that came to america, 50 years later still considered to be the greatest songwriters and the greatest musical act of the century. >> welcome back to "morning joe." it is monday, february 7th. jonathan lemire is still with us. joining the conversation we have the host of the podcast "on brand with donny deutsch" and "new york times" reporter jeremy peters. he is the author of the new book

"insurgency: how republicans lost their party and got everything they ever wanted." it is out officially tomorrow and it is perfect timing, perfect morning that you have given the developments this morning that we have to report. >> oh, my gosh. >> with the republican party. >> just absolutely crazy. donny deutsch, how was your weekend? do we want to know how your weekend was? >> yeah, that's a -- why would you ask him that? >> it was kind of like low key. i had dinner with my daughter friday night, dinner with friends on saturday. >> good, great. >> it is just not that interesting. i really -- i hate to disappoint. i got no parties, no festivities, no debaucherie to report. i'm sorry i'm disappointing. sorry i don't have more to report. >> that's very good. thank you very much, donny. >> we live vicariously. i'm a bit surprised. >> i will get to the news now.

the republican national committee is pushing growing push back from members of the party following a vote on friday to censure representatives liz cheney and adam kinzinger. the measure which was adopted by a voice vote at the rnc's annual meeting describes cheney and kinzinger as a, quote, oh, my god, participating in a democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engased in legitimate political discourse. >> let's say democratic led, i don't know. republicans had a chance to be involved but chose not to be. but mitch mcconnell is following charge closely and said he is looking forward to the outcome of it, he wants to have the chips fall where they may. i'm not so sure it is quite as partisan as that statement would like to make it. you know, donny, this is such a stupid move by the democrats --

by the republicans, such a stupid move by the republicans, that they could just sit back, criticize joe biden because of inflation, criticize joe biden because of afghanistan. i don't know, you do your laundry list. supply chain, whatever -- the crime, the southern border. instead, by passing this stupid resolution with fascist-style language saying that what happened on january 6th was legitimate political discourse, they distract from all of that and they go, no, no, no, no, let's have all of america look once again on january 6th and how we're still trying to justify police officers having their brains bashed in by american flags and trump flags. it is a uniquely stupid thing that this republican party did

over this past week to distract from the very things they should be talking about leading into the mid terms. >> it is interesting. they're usually the party of offense and this is defense and, as you said, just drawing attention to, you know, it is -- it defies any logic and it also attacks to, joe, what you talked about in the first hour, i believe so strongly insofar as the trump voice, trump -- there is this losing in the party. there's this type of thing i think is going to get staler and staler as we get closer to -- >> yeah. >> it just doesn't -- beyond the statistics you quoted as far as 56% now identify with republicans as opposed to trump, it feels dated. it feels dated. it feels it is a lounge act. it just doesn't really resonate anymore. there's nothing to add. the republicans now are going in this direction, they've really kind of fallen down and can't get up. there's a lot to work with to go after democrats, just starting

with inflation. i mean that is the thing that really hits home more than anything. the fact that they are hitting on this and the fact that trump is starting to, i feel, lose control of the party. i know it is still early on that. republicans are really kind of wandering in the wilderness. >> yeah, it doesn't really make sense. jeremy, talk about the tale of two parties. yes, we know it is still donald trump's party, but you have mike pence coming out, speaking out against donald trump. you have had actually lindsey graham coming out, doing the same thing, rebuking donald trump for something he said last week in his speech. you even had josh hawley, a guy who was in the middle of the insurgency on january 6th saying those that committed crimes on january 6th should be punished. the language is definitely changing. they are moving away from where they were six months ago, and yet you have the rnc coming out with this bizarre statement and this attack of two people -- again, to distract from what they should be talking about if

they want to win in the fall. can you talk about that split? why did the rnc feel the need to do this? >> because donald trump wanted them to. in essence this is still very much donald trump's republican party. i mean this is the story of my book about the insurgencies, the eruptions, the episodes that told us time and time again over the last three decades that this party always belonged to donald trump even before donald trump was officially a republican. trumpism was never very far from the surface. i think when you look at what mike pence said the other day, okay, a lot of people will say, including the national review, including many other republicans, some of whom have been loath to criticize president trump in the past, this is enough, this is too far. but i would say mike pence told the truth. what good has telling the truth done for other republicans in this current political climate? what good has it done for adam

kinzinger? what good has it done for liz cheney? now, that may change but at the moment what you are stuck with, and this is really kind of, i think, at the score of understanding the soul of the republican party at the moment, is donald trump is still calling the shots. he has obliterated the model that politicians like mike pence used for decades to get elected. mike pence was married to the same woman for decades, could recite the bible, chapter and verse, evangelical. he was one of them, one of the base. but as soon as trump came along and smashed that model, pence's relevance evaporated. i think that's really still very true. as i get into in the book there's a chapter called "give them what they want," and that is a direct quote from donald trump referring to evangelical christians and social conservatives. trump did that, he gave them what they wanted and in doing so

made politicians like mike pence, who had been doing this for 30 years, irrelevant. >> it makes also what mike pence said such a stunning turn. i mean here it is. mike pence openly rebuking donald trump while speaking to a group of conservative lawyers. >> this week that president trump said i had the right to overturn the election, but president trump is wrong. i had no right to overturn the election. the presidency belongs to the american people and the american people alone, and, frankly, there is no idea more unamerican than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. the truth is there's more at stake than our party or political fortunes. men and women, if we lose faith in the constitution we won't just lose elections, we will lose our country.

>> again, mika, i know most of the people watching this show don't like mike pence's politics, don't like the way he has acted over the past five years. i have known mike for a very long time. i have been very disappointed. i have stated it on this show repeatedly. but when you have moments like that you actually focus on those moments and you underline those moments because they suggest a turn, hopefully a turn in the right direction in the coming years and a turn away from donald trump dominating that party. maybe it won't happen. who knows? but i'm really glad he said that last week and i'm glad he said it in front of the federalist society. it makes a difference. >> so, jeremy, you interviewed trump last year for your book, and you asked him about former vice president mike pence's decision to certify the election results on january 6th, and here is a little of that interview.

>> i like mike, but i think mike made a mistake. i think he made a mistake for the country, but i think he made also much less importantly a mistake for himself. we never had a problem until this one event. and the event was -- mike should have done something else. i think he had very bad advice. i was surprised that he did it. i thought that he would -- you know, there was just enough downside. everybody wants to have a free and fair election and a correct election. there was no downside to sending it back to the legislatures. >> did it bother you to hear them say that they wanted to kill mike pence? >> yeah, i don't -- yes, it did bother me. i didn't like it. i think it was an expression. i don't think they would have ever thought of doing it. i also think that there was an infiltration with some very bad people in there. it was an infiltration. >> like antifa?

>> absolutely. >> so let's start there, jeremy. first of all -- >> my god. >> -- there's no evidence antifa was involved. >> no. >> investigators of the attack say that's not the case. let's establish that. we should know when mike pence made that, no applause. >> the same reaction. no applause. no reaction until he criticized joe biden. >> on one hand, he is backing up his decision. look, i did the right thing on january 6th. i did my constitutional duty. but he is clearly trying not to antagonize the former president and the former president's base too much because he is eyeing his own presidential run, right? >> he is. that's one of the reasons i pressed president trump on what he thought of mike pence's role on january 6th and how it affected mike pence's political future in his mind. one of the things that trump wouldn't do was commit to putting mike pence on the ticket

should he run again. another thing is, as we heard, kind of this astonishing disconnect with reality in the president's head about what the rioters intended to do. here they were saying, "hang mike pence" and president trump tells me, "oh, they didn't really mean it, it was just like a figure of speech, it was an expression." that -- i mean it would be so much -- it would be different if that was just in president trump's head. but because of the lies that he has told and the lies that many republicans have perpetuated over the course of the last year about what happened on january 6th, that has become the reality of the republican party, that january 6th was just a legitimate expression of political discourse. now, think about that for a minute. now, to get to joe's point earlier about, you know, whether or not this is a rupture, the beginning of kind of a fissure with trump and the republican party, i'm not ruling that out.

the book is called "insurgency" for a reason. that's because over the last decade there's been an insurgency in the ranks that has destabilized the leadership. i don't think trump is immune to that because i think what trump brought into the party is so self-destructive in a lot of ways that it risks taking him out as well, just like it took john boehner out. the story of the republican party over the last decades is the story of leaders of that party bringing in and trying to coopt people that couldn't be cooperated. so the question is, is this the party of marjorie taylor greene or the party of donald trump? if it is the party of marjorie taylor greene, then donald trump is in for a rough ride. >> donny deutsch, like me you have known donald for a long time. i'm curious. where do you think he is right

now? in reading these polls, going the wrong direction for him inside the republican party, hearing these proclamations that antifa was there when he knows they weren't there. i'm curious, what is your latest read? >> in terms of where i think his head is at or in terms of where he fits in? >> no, where his head is at and the eternal question of whether he will run again in 2024, or this guy understands in his gut it is slipping away? >> you know, most people that are inside his psyche know he has always been more afraid of losing than winning. that to be a loser is the worst thing in the world. you know, it was drilled from his father from the time he was born. there are killers and there are losers in this world. obviously, you talked also, he has already been a three-time loser. if you were going to put a gun to my head, i don't know if that's a politically correct thing to say anymore, as i apologize. >> i don't --

>> i actually think he doesn't run. i think he wants to run but not be president. he seems older lately. he seems -- and i think that we're just, as you talked, we're starting to see the cracks. i think the glenn youngkins of the party showed where there's an alternative way to go, and i think a lot of republican voters know in a general election he is a losing proposition. so, you know, my gut tells me he is playing. if i was a betting man i would say he does not run again. i know it is not the consensus. that's just my gut. >> yeah, and i have been wrong about him so many times that i have lost count. when i tried to make these -- but i'm just with you. i think the parade is passing him by. he didn't expect to win the first time. it was one of the -- it was one of the worst branding ideas gone horribly wrong. he won. i think he loved being in the white house, but he can see -- i

think the parade has passed him by. jonathan lemire, of course, he is still raising a lot of money. he's still in the middle of the mix. the question is though how does he keep up with the even more extreme brand of republicanism that we're seeing out there when, of course, we saw over the past month or so him actually doing the responsible thing on vaccines and on getting boosts and you have people like ron desantis trying to outflank him on the extreme rate. >> yeah, he has raised a lot of money. he hasn't doled much of it out. he is hoarding it for himself right now, so the war chest will be full if he is to run again. of note, you are right. had a few weeks where he talked about vaccines and boosters. his last rally in texas, not a word.

perhaps he is once again responding to some in his base and staying away from a topic that has been politicized. people i talk to around the country say his decision has not been made yet, but many expect him to run again. to donny's point, he is going to keep up the charade of running again. that's where he has the most influence, where he will have the most say within the party, including trying to enact vengeance against those who betrayed him, he feels. if he runs, he will walk in as the favorite. does it mean he is unbeatable? of course not. but he would walk in as the favorite. for now i think most in the republican party still view him that way as well and do anticipate that he will run. >> so if he doesn't run he may have a future as a disk jockey. his mar-a-lago club in palm beach florida sent a note last requested to all members announcing trump's new role of disc jockey during dinner service on friday and saturday

evening. quote, the music will be amazing. it will be lots of fun and it will go until the lady thing. a report from "the new york times". can we just move on? i don't even get that? like what is he doing? he is having his little parties there at mar-a-lago? i guess it is the only audience -- >> i'm sorry. that's kind of a little bit of what we're talking about. the lounge act has gone to a different level. there's a -- there's no teeth there. there's a silliness. there was always a dastardness to him, but that's the example of the things we are leaning to that maybe it is not a guy planning to run for president. >> he is getting more and more petulant because that last statement that he issued about, "everybody knows i'm right." i'm right and everybody knows it. it is child issue. that's what i saw over the course of the year i saw when i spoke to him from the book, he

was becoming angrier and angrier and more detached from the election. that's affecting his impulse about whether or not to run. >> i think he, of course, is insisting on litigating 2020 when so much of the a better wants to move to 2022 where they stand a chance of winning back the house and, of course, 2024. mika, donald trump as deejay, all i have to say is i hope those in the audience real hee like elton john. >> my god. a report from "the new york times" says the january 6th committee is using techniques used against mobsters and terrorists to bray through stonewalling of president trump and his allies. the investigation is being run by a former u.s. attorney and more than a dozen prosecutors. joining us is co-author of the report, michael schmidt. also with us, alexi mccammond

with a report on capitol police targeting, quote, negligence. tell us about your reporting. >> our story looked at the january 6th committee and how it is operating unlike any other congressional committee before. the democrats with liz cheney and kinzinger when they came in, they knew a lot of their previous efforts to stop trump, whether it was mueller or the first two impeachments, had failed. they are using their power in as aggressive ways as we have seen from a congressional committee. they've sent out sweeping subpoenas to telecommunications and phone companies. they have swept up personal data as part of the things we normally see in a criminal investigation. they have used link analysis, which is a tool that connects phone numbers to see who was talking to who. that is something that the fbi

used in the years after 9/11 to identify members in terror networks and to see who was using what phone and where that phone tied back to. and as they have faced this unprecedented stonewalling from trump and the folks around trump, these legal fights where the trump aides will not cooperate or they take the fifth amendment, the committee has gone a tier or two or three out down the chain, looking at the trump org, the actual organization chart, not the organization, and seeing who are the lower level aides, the folks who are less likely to be loyal to trump, the folks who are less likely to be able to avoid a high-end, white-collar defense lawyer who can fight the committee and to interview them and to get information from them as they work from the outside in to develop information. that is a tool that's used when the mafia is investigated by the

justice department. these are techniques that set this committee apart from previous congressional work, and they are using this congressional power as aggressively as anything we have seen in recent times. >> yeah, and the committee has certainly ramped up their efforts in recent months. there's still continuing to be discussions and perhaps televiced primetime hearings at some point this spring. alexi, feel free to weigh in on that. i know "axios" has new reporting about another investigation into january 6th. let's remember, of course, that republicans, they had a chance to have a 9/11 bipartisan commission in the senate. that went away. certainly republicans could have played a larger role, what the house is doing, only cheney and kinzinger jumped in. of course got censured for it. but the gop is having their own shadow investigation. tell us what that might find. >> yeah, look, first of all it is important to point out that michael's great reporting shows the level of sophistication of the formal january 6th committee

that is lacking from the shadow january 6th committee being run by house republicans like congressman jim banks of indiana and others who are really trying to make the case that capitol security and the capitol security apparatus pulled off, they say, negligence at the highest level. so they are really looking to blame capitol police at this point, which is a little different than the narrative that you have heard from other republicans so far, kind of trying to act like it wasn't a big deal or it was americans simply exercising their constitutional rights and disagreeing with might cal narratives. but this would give republicans an alternative way to frame it. but, of course, the facts don't support this conclusion or the reports they say they will put out ahead of the fall's mid terms. as you know well, everyone sitting on the show, the capitol was never breached in the way it was on january 6th in 1814. it is curious they would reach for this explanation now.

>> is this something that kevin mccarthy or the rest of leadership supports, the attacking of police officers. >> come on. >> and blaming the cops getting their heads bashed in by american flags, blaming them for what happened on january 6th? >> i think you are seeing the politics around policing and law enforcement change quickly, but i think one thing is clear. republicans at all levels from leadership on down want to control the narrative around this, and i don't think that that means every single republican will rally around whatever this january 6th shadow committee eventually puts forward, but we have seen how republicans have remained in lock step largely around their messaging with this. again, this will give them something to fight against rather than fighting against themselves and their own role in january 6th. >> michael, you know, i just want to ask you a quick baseball question. you are a former baseball guy. we haven't talked about sports yet today. mika's relieved by that. but i'm just curious.

what in the world is going on with the negotiations between the owners and the players? here we have a sport that, you know, has had two seasons now interrupted by covid. they need to get out and play baseball. the brand is going to be scarred if we have yet another sort of truncated season. again, as an old baseball reporter, can you tell us anything about what is going on? >> well, you don't hear a ton of alarm bells about it but baseball is basically in its biggest labor crisis since 1994 when they lost the world series. we are less than two weeks out from the season -- from spring training starting, and the owners have locked out the players and there has been very little progress in the negotiation. every once in a while i hear from some of the old baseball folks that i talk to, and what is going on here is that the

owners from commissioner rob manford all the way down to the negotiators dealing with this are convinced that the head of the players union and bruce myers, the chief negotiator, have been neutered of their power in that scott boris, the game's biggest agent, has sort of taken over the negotiation. if you are not a baseball fan you probably wonder, why does that matter, what's the big deal of that. scott boris is sort of the caricature of the ruthless negotiator. he will take teams to the end of the earth to get money out of there and really as tough a person for teams to deal was as possible. for teams, you know, that's sort of how things go. but for baseball, if manfred and his negotiators have to confront boris as the person on the other side of the table to make a labor deal, that is a huge

change and a big problem for them. you know, before i covered, you know, comey and mcgahn i covered manfred. he is sort of this ruthless corporate street fighter who at the same time will make a deal with the devil, and baseball is not sure who is on the other side of the table from who they're negotiating with. look, no one is going to feel bad for the owners or the players. these are fights about money, millionaires and billionaires fighting over money. but if you are a baseball fan, what is going on here could be that, you know, it is baseball versus boris and it is not baseball versus the union. what does that mean to the gij of the season? because boris often waits until the last minute to make a deal and, you know, does that mean we lose baseball games again this season and what does that mean to the other players and how does that reverberate.

baseball is in as close to a crisis labor wise as it has been since 1994. >> a spoke to a couple of people close to the negotiations in the last couple of days, joe, who, first of all, back up boris and a team of real hawks are running the show now on the players' side here, and to this point the owners have made -- mlb's side has made concessions. but the players are saying, look, our last labor deal five years ago was perceived as pro owner and it is our turn to get stuff. both sides understand the risks involved if they were to lose games but they don't seem near a deal right now. there is an effort to ask a mediator to step in, and the union rejected that immediately. labor secretary marty walsh expressed interest trying to get involved in this. it is unclear what role that will be. one person i talked to last night said, look, the nfl season

is extended, a week longer than usual, but once monday rolls around the focus is baseball. if the sports world is going to start saying, hey, where is spring training, it will be a problem for the sport. >> it really is. again, after the past two seasons this will be a real black eye on baseball for the players, for the owners, for everybody. >> all right. michael schmidt and alexie mccammond, thank you for your reporting this morning. jamie peters, thank you again. we will see you tomorrow for public day of your new book "insurgency: how republicans lost their party and got everything they ever wanted." still ahead on "morning joe," we will talk to a top white house economic advisor, jared bernstein, about friday's bet ever-than-expected jobs report and what it says about america's economic recovery in the face of the pandemic. coming up a little later, congressman adam kinzinger is

with us. we will get his response on the rnc vote to censure him and fellow republican liz cheney. you are watching "morning joe." we will be right back. we will be right back. life can be a lot to handle. ♪ this magic moment ♪ but heinz knows there's plenty of magic in all that chaos. ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was like any other... ♪ >> woman: what's my safelite story? i see inspiration right through my glass. so when my windshield cracked, i chose safelite. they replaced the glass and recalibrated my safety system. that's service i can trust.

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omicron surge. joining us now, a member of the white house council of economic advisers, jared bernstein. thank you very much for being on this morning. i'll start by asking, why was there concern there might not be very good numbers? there's a lot of sort of pre-explaining, preparing us for bad news, and now that the numbers were different what was it? >> yeah, totally fair question. well, first of all, let me just under score the president's point. thanks to the american rescue plan, shots in arms, checks in pockets, our vaccination program, you know, sometimes i think one of the most important economic statistics is the fact that when we got here less than 1% of the adult population was vaccinated. now it is over 75%, which partially gets to the answer to your question. but the key point is that americans are back to work at a record-setting pace, and some of the president's policies have their fingerprints on that result. now, it is also the case that about 8 million people were

absent from work in january, so it was a tough month thanks to omicron. the resilience of american workers, american employers helped to create not just one month of strong job gains but an underlying trend that added record-setting 6.6 million jobs to the economy last year. >> good morning. it is jonathan lemire. we should report there were revisions upwards for the previous months so all sorts of good news for the biden administration in the jobs report. talk to us though, we also have seen in the last few months a record number of people quitting their jobs, perhaps the great resignation, if you will, early retirements or people looking for better opportunities. how is the administration sort of managing and watching that development? >> yeah, another important question. the way you teed it up is right. on one hand there's a lot of talk about the great resignation, but we know for a fact that many -- and i think possibly even most of the people who are quitting are moving up

to jobs that they prefer, better jobs, often with better pay. that's one of the reasons why you see some very nice pressure on the wage side. you talked about a 5.7% increase. that's the fastest wage gains thus far over the pandemic. if you look at middle and lower wage workers you get closer to 7%, 6.9% year over year for wage gains. that's a sign of upward mobility, where rates enable people to take better jobs. another consequence, by the way, of one of the tightest job markets i have seen in my long career, as you see with this gray hair, tracking our labor markets. one of the things you get when you get a very tight labor marker is high worker bargaining power. workers have more leverage. by the way, that's one of the core of biden-onomics. it is one of the ways we can be sure workers will get their fair share of the growing economy if they have more leverage. >> first off, when you look at biden's economic numbers, he's

not polling well which defies logic because as you laid out and we have, the numbers really add up to a positive story. that's my first question, why is there that disconnect. second is the "i" word, we are up to 6%, 7%. the fed has to keep raising rates and then we get into a little bit of a damned if you do, damned if you don't and then it hurts the economy which consumers are frightened. i would love answers to those questions. >> sure. first of all, the answer to the two questions is related. americans are getting back to work at a record-setting pace in one of the most tight and in terms of the opportunities it is offering people for employment and earnings, one of the best job markets we have seen. at the same time we have covid in this economy. i talked about 8 million people out from work. there was actually a tick down in hours worked last month.

that's probably also an omicron factor, and inflation at levels we haven't seen in decades and the president consistently expresses his concern and recognizes what a challenge it is to working families. that's why i think this message is so important, donny, which is that we are doing everything we can from our side. we're not the federal reserve. first and foremost, the federal reserve controls monetary policy. but we are trying to help at the ports to unsnarl supply chains. that's where some of the price pressures are coming from. our trucks agenda is helping get goods from ship to shelf at some of the speediest rates we've seen in recent years. we have a competition policy to help lower the level of prices in industries where there's too much concentration. of course, longer term with the competes bill, we're trying to incent an investment in u.s. investment, particularly semiconductors which means in longer term some of the car shortages.

we are doing everything we can on our side to help working families continue to benefit from one of the best labor markets i have seen in a pretty long career. >> member of the white house council of economic advisers, jared bernstein. thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. and coming up, spotify doubles down on its support for joe rogan. the latest controversy involving the podcaster and his apology. "morning joe" is back in a moment. "morning joe" is back in a "morning joe" is back in a moment quickbooks can help. an easy way to get paid, pay your staff, and know where your business stands. new business? no problem. success starts with intuit quickbooks. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month, complete hiv treatment for adults who are undetectable. cabenuva helps keep me undetectable. it's two injections, given by a healthcare provider once a month. hiv pills aren't on my mind.

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so spotify continues to support podcaster joe rogan despite another controversy over the weekend. dozens of episodes of rogan's podcast in which he uses the "n" word were removed from the platform. spotify's ceo apologized to employees in a letter yesterday. he condemned the use of the racial slur and agreed with rogan's decision to remove the episodes. but he says silencing rogan is

not the answering and that cancelling voices is a slippery slope. spotify has the exclusive rights to rogan's podcast. the deal is reportedly worth $100 million. the latest controversy started when grammy award-winning singer/song require india arie posted a video on instagram showing clips of rogan using the "n" word over episodes over a 12-year span including an episode where he referred to a black neighborhood as, quote, planet of the aprils. arie is first artist to remove after first neil young and joni mitchell did so in protest over rogan's spread of misinformation over covid vaccines. he apologized and said it was the most regretful and shameful

thing he had to talk about publicly. >> i know to most people there's no context where a white person is ever allowed to say that word, never mind publicly on a podcast, and i agree with that now. i haven't said it in years, but for a long time when i would bring that word up, like if it would come up in conversation instead of saying the "n" word i would just say the word. i thought as long as it was in context people would understand what i was doing. >> so rogan tried to explain that some of the conversations were about comedians and artists, both black and white, who have used the word, but rogan says he realizes now it is not the word to use. this is not the first time rogan has faced backlash for topics not related to covid. in 2020 rogan laughed while a guest described how he forced women to have sex with him in exchange for stage time at a

comedy club, and, donny deutsch, i watched that. i have watched india arie and the pieces that she put out there, but i watched that conversation about this abuse of this young comedian, and it is sick. i mean it is sick what he says. i wouldn't want to be affiliated with him in any way, on a spotify platform or anywhere. >> you use the word affiliation, and that's the word. you're an advertiser and you are selling craft macaroni and cheese and you get letters from people saying, i have been eating your macaroni and cheese for years and i'm no longer going to do that. spotify is sticking by, obviously he is a valuable resource, but it becomes infinitely less valuable when advertisers are backing away. that's the beginning of the problems. this is a pattern of behavior.

sometimes when there's a slip-up or something like that, but when it is a pattern there's another issue. watch the advertisers and that will tell you the fate of what will happen to joe rogan. >> but also, donny, i understand companies, their main, you know, point is to make money, but a lot of companies have values. a lot of companies have philosophies. >> yes. >> and what is spotify saying about itself when it keeps parsing this and it keeps missing the opportunity to do the right thing when artists on the platform -- by the way, it is interesting. you know, rogan gets paid tons of money, these artists don't, which is something india arie brought up. you know, when members of the spotify community are saying, hey, this has to stop, please don't put us with this guy, and they're not listening to something that's really attached to what should be spotify's values.

i mean i think they're missing an opportunity to do something that will age better for them as a company. am i wrong? >> no, you are absolutely right. young consumers today, more than anything just as important as the product itself, is your values, what does the company stand as the product itself is your values, what does it stand for. spotify is in the business of communication, they're not a stodgy, old company. they have to be sensitive to that audience. they've got their backs against the wall here. let's say next week there's a lawsuit about racism in the company. then they just point to this and go, well, the company's condoning this. from a corporate point of view, they've got their hands full. this is not going to go away. rogan is too big for this not to go away. >> they're going to find more.

we'll continue to follow this. next month from march 6 to march 9, forbes and know your value will bring together generations of women for a four-day summit on and around international women's day in abu dhabi. tomorrow we'll have some really big news to announce about who will be speaking, performing and attending. i can't wait to share it all with you. so tune in tomorrow on "morning joe" for our big announcement. it will mark the 30/50 summit as the global event for international women's day for years to come. you can register yourself or send members of your team. it's a great way to lift up other women and pay it forward. also, we are taking submissions right now for the second annual u.s. 50/50 list.

we're looking for women who are actively stepping into their power in their sixth decade or well beyond. so you must be born on or before december 31st, 1971. no lying up. we actually had that happen. after the remarkable success of the first year, i cannot wait to see who we get to honor next. as always, can you find out more on my limited series podcast, mika straight up. the latest is so inspiring. you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, except spotify. pennsylvania has a good chance of changing the balance of power in the senate. republicans hoping to fill the seat of retiring senator pat toomey. "morning joe" is coming right back. joe" is coming right

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when you talk about apology, i think the one that you should really be apologizing for and the thing that you should be apologizing for are the 33,000 emails that you deleted and that you acid washed. >> okay. former president trump got elected to the white house in part by attacking hillary clinton for deleting emails, but as it turns out, he then spent four years destroying his own official documents. we'll have the new reporting on that. plus, republican congressman adam kinzinger is standing by. he joins us on the heels of the rnc vote to censure him. "morning joe" is coming right back. joe" is coming right back

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welcome back to "morning joe," a live look at washington, d.c. on this monday morning, february 7th. jonathan lemire and donnie deutsch are still with us. a measure adopted by a voice vote describes cheney and kinzinger in, quote, participating in a democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse. and adam kinzinger joins us now. i guess my first question to you, sir, is this a badge of honor or how do you look at this censure? >> it's a defining moment for the party and i think it's a

defining moment for every member of the house or the senate or any republican leader. kevin mccarthy obviously who i think asked about this in response, he just went after liz and i, goes to show he is the weakest leader that has ever, frankly, existed in that position. so i think every member of the media, every citizen, every person out there needs to pin down every republican and say do you side with what the rnc did or do you condemn what they did and don't let them -- trust me, politicians are really good at skirting around that answer. don't let them on this one. it's so defining. >> i thought your definition of what happened on january the 6th, people obviously charging in, breaking the law, going into the capitol, committing crimes, committing sedition, bashing in cops' heads with american flags,

jamming cops' heads into doorways, having several cops begging for their lives, thinking about the children they were going to be leaving behind because of the trump rioters beating them within inches of death, what they certainly believe was inches from death. what do you have make about one of the two major political parties in america now calling that legitimate political discourse in. >> that was obviously a huge surprise to me. i expected that maybe this censure thing was going to happen. the amazing thing about it is as rona mcdaniel is out saying that's not what we really meant. this whole thing is coming from the january 6th committee, which we're doing because of the violence. we would not be having a january 6th committee if it was all peaceful and legitimate discourse. for her to say all we were

talking about were the peaceful people, not the rioters. no. that may be what you want to have us believe now. it goes through the rules committee and passes unanimously with a voice so the. you know there are members on that committee that disagreed with this that were too scared to speak up and stop that from happening. there are members of the republican party probably who have been there for 30 years that are scared to death of the mob excluding them that they won't even speak up. the rnc deserves every aspect of backlash that is going to come down on it and this is a defining moment in american poll tux and in the rnc's future. are you for authoritarianism, are you for democracy and are you going to come back to democracy again?

>> you guys are not vetting peaceful behavior. you guys are not investigating people that went up to the capitol and didn't break the law, the people you're investigating and what you're investigating and what the federal government is investigating are people who vie eighted the law, people who broke the law, people who tried to overturn the lebs as mike pence basically admitted last week, donald trump was an authoritarian who wanted one person to decide who became president. look at any definition of fascism and it is a movement that uses violence to get what it wants and to undermine democracy. i'm just curious, based on what the rnc said this week, this past week as far as their definition of legitimate political discourse, does that

not look like a statement of what fascists would say? >> well, you may be smarter in what led up to fascism itself than me. i know it's certainly authoritarianism. the rnc and those driving the train have lost any sense of democracy mattering. and what's happened is they've seen these kind of culture wars that have been skewed -- >> let me read you this, fascism is a form of far right, ultra nationalism, characterized by dictatorialism and far right

nationalism. it talks about yearning for authoritarianism and the use of violence to get there. it sure seems like what happened on january the 6th, beating the hell out of law enforcement officers who would not let them steal an election. seems like we're checking off a lot of boxes there in that definition, aren't we? >> maybe. i don't know. maybe there's fascist elements, maybe it's authoritarianism, maybe it's something else i'm out here seeing what is happening which violates the constitution i believe in is standing for. i know that it is a really serious thing that has gone from being kind of a cancerous line within our party to overtaking the entire rnc. you're going to have a lot of

members of congress that sit around, put their head in the sand and pretend like their job is just to win reelection like none of this ever happened. whether you're a republican, democrat, independent, whatever you are in this country, we've got to stand up and say truly democracy is threatened. that's not just some lune we're going to say because it sound cool. no, it is truly under threat and we are on the verge of legitimate political civil war discussion in this country. i used to say we'd never get interest there in this country. and now we can't even talk to each other anymore and one party believes nothing but lies. it's a concern. >> and there is the rnc's definition of legitimate political discourse. let's just cut the b.s. with people trying to back away from that statement. they have been defending this behavior from the beginning. ron johnson, seeking reelection,

said he didn't feel any danger from this crowd at all. you had another member who actually was standing at the door of the chamber trying to stop people from getting in while guns were drawn, later saying it was nothing but a group of tour us and there has been the attempt, congressman, to define this has a battle between the rnc and aoc. good thinking, free thinking conservatives and west-wing socialists which looks back past the fact that "the wall street journal" editorial page has repeatedly condemned this behavior, cheering this committee on and wants to hear all the evidence, even if he opposed the bi-cameral

committee. there are a lot of republicans that want to get to the bottom of this and have said as much and they want to hear what you have to say. so mccarthy and jim jordan may try to make this a political thing but others are saying, hey, let's get to the bottom of this chaos, of this anarchy, of this violence. >> look, i think it's a good start. i'm heartened by it butty should be which further along. i think we have to look at moments and say that's good. i don't get the hurt feelings that donald trump gets on a daily basis, by the way. but the censure of liz and i is a bring that went way to for by the rnc and donald trump admitted to a coup attempt and you're going to turn your fire on liz and adam.

me taking those shots is one thing but, look, this is an insane moment. i think people are slowly starting to speak out but the fear that exists that permeates members of my party, particularly elected officials. we are going to get to the bottom of in. i think the january 6th committee in past and future history, there will be nothing like it because we are working together, pulling in the same direction to get answers. this is not the west wing against the right wing in is authoritarianism, moments of fascism, against democracy. even as bad as the rye p violence was over the summer during the riots, that never threatened the seft government of the united states. interest's no false equivalence.

donald trump likes to say he's always been so unfairly treated. >> let's switch to your work on the january 6th committee and give us app update on where things stand. we've heard from the president the last week or so. all the confessing on a rally stage and the e-mail statements that, yes, he did try to overturn the election. tell us how that's factoring in to the committee's work and what do you want to see from the department of justice considering criminal refers that have already been referred over. >> let me start with the d.o.j. all we can do is provide information particularly in mark meadows' case. he vie slated a subpoena. congress has the spam same subpoena thourt as a court been

how focus is not anything criminal, it's getting answers to the american people and defending the constitution. i think we're making an extreme amount of progress and getting real answers. the problem is we need to produce a report by the summer. i think it will be pretty fulsome. we're have hearings at point. the question is are there people that want to hear it? is this constant leak out of the committee or new information that may be done by the trump folks designed so -- he's basically admitting to a coup every day and we take a yawn and go focus on the latest cancel culture on "the view" or something. this is a big deal. donald trump admitted to a coup d'etat attempt. we have to keep that fresh every

day. >> congressman donny deutsch. i wondered, are you and liz cheney pretty much standing alone, do you ever talk to them personally off the record and say, guys, you know the truth, you're a bright person, you're educated, you see what i saw and you're not dumb. do they look at you like we just want to keep our jobs? what is their explanation to you personally off the record when you talk to them? >> that's a really good question because it can be any number of things. if it's somebody that i know that isn't a crazy person, i'll say i just have to win my primary because trust me, the guy i'm running against is really bad. at some point you have to stand up. you have to quit trying to tell me how to do my job.

you'll get that occasionally. if i asked somebody if they tweeted anything or made a statement in opposition of donald trump at all, have you said anything, hey, i just don't want to get in a twitter war out there. i focus on local issues. again, i can't begrudge anybody how they do their job, everybody's got their responsibility but there is a moment and this is that moment at which if you don't stand up, you are a part of the problem. you are a part of the problem. your silence is complicity and that's what we're dealing with right now. we are in such a dangerous position. every time i talked to anyone like that, i'm disappointed that my friends don't have a red line they won't cross. >> congressman adam kinzinger, thank you very much for coming

on the show this morning. >> competition is heating up in pennsylvania in the race to replace a senator. dasha burns joins us now. >> several candidates in the hotly watched case made their case why they should fill retiring senator pat toomey's seat. there is no endorsement yet from the former president. trump had endorsed parnell but he dropped out, leaving a wide open field. >> reporter: over the weekend at a closed door event, the state republican party voting not to endorse any candidates. the newest maim in the race, david mccormick float money and connections. the former connecticut resident

getting heat from his rivals on his pennsylvania roots and his business dealings in china. >> i've spent the majority of my life in pennsylvania. i'm a pennsylvania taxpayer. this is a continuation of public service to pennsylvania and the country. >> when you were at bridgewater, do you regret some of the business you did in china? was any of that a mistake? >> no, i've been blessed. just like trump's experience helped him be a great government. i want to make sure the american dream is available for them. >> i want to know what's getting your blood pressure up. >> dr. oz holding a rally with lochials. >> i go and talk to voters. i know who dr. oz is but he's not from here and i don't know what he stands for. what do you say? >> i want republican primary voters to be skeptical. kick the tires, find out.

i agree with you the risks of china. >> we've spoken to multiple voters who say they are skeptical, especially of the pennsylvania bona fides. >> i was a skeptic for sure. he answered a lot of questions for thee that were right answers. >> reporter: what were your concerns about dr. oz coming in? >> maybe being a charlton, a grifter. >> there's people parachuting into the state to run, they see huge opportunities. i'm the only candidate who is a lifelong pennsylvanian. >> there's also another performing well in straw polls, kathy barnett. >> it feels very toll

totalitarianish. >> do you believe joe biden fairly won the white house? >> i think there are questions. >> are you hoping for an endorsement from former president trump? >> we would love the former president's support. >> absolutely. >> if president trump endorsed me, i'd be delighted. >> candidates still have a lot to prove to pennsylvania voters. many remain wary of what the candidates say on the trail and on the question pennsylvania bona fides, both mccormick and oz were registered to vote in other states as recently as 2020. mccormick's campaign tells us he's is currently registered in the state as well. >> darka burns, thank you very much. and we have some breaking news

this morning from the airline industry. frontier airlines and spirit airlines, the two low cost carriers in the u.s. have agreed to merge creating what would become the fifth larges airline in the country. the cash and stock deal is valued at $6 billion. the boards of both companies approved the deal over the weekend. donald trump said nancy pelosi, quote, broke the law when she ripped up her copy of his state of the union address. i wonder what he thinks about this. what about his well-known habit of tearing up official white house documents? you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. joe." we'll be right back. ersticks cae a real challenge. that's why i use the freestyle libre 2 system.

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those investigating january 6th, piecing together information of former president trump, quite literally. some. records were reportedly torn and taped back together, while some couldn't be sent because they were already gone. "the washington post" has new reporting out this morning on just how widespread and indiscriminate trump's shredding of paper in the white house was throughout his presidency. despite multiple admonishments that doing so was against federal law. first reported by politico in 2018, then president trump's staffers often had to piece together papers he tore because of the presidential records act. that is the federal law that requires administrations to keep their files. it is a law trump seems to have known about. here he is referencing the law when he criticized speaker nancy pelosi for ripping up his state

of the union speech, remember that, back in 2020. >> i thought it was a terrible thing when she ripped up the speech. first of all, it's an official document. you're not allowed, it's illegal what she did. she broke the law. that was terrible. so disrespectful to our country and actually very illegal what she did. >> very illegal, very illegal. everything trump says is either confession or projection. let's bring in jackie, who co-wrote this new report. he knew tearing up these documents was an illegal act but you have reporting that he did it repeatedly throughout the administration. explain. >> that's exactly right. he was told repeatedly by former white house council and chiefs of staff. but he continued and they had to

implement new protocols around the president's shredding habits. they are rae important to maintaining our democracy. there's a reason why people want to keep presidential records under the presidential records act, they're for the american public, they help historians write our history, they add new color, mementos and it's important for the previous administration to leave a record of various dialogue and policy conversations that happened between leaders and different countries and for the next administration to come in and hit the ground running so they have a record of those decisions made, but this president was very vigilant with his shredding and single handedly made the decision of what records could be thrown out and what was considered a presidential record and what wasn't.

this is not how it's post to work. there is an entire office dedicated this, the white house office of records and manage money and they are supposed to catalogue every sungle record that the president touches. essentially everything record that is created in the white house should be stored. the national archives at the end of the day after four years doesn't want every shred or piece of paper but there's a process for a reason. an historian told me when fdr was in office, he was such a meticulous record keeper that he included details like albert einstein and his wife came over for dinner and they stayed for dinner and ate in this room and this paints a record of history. these records belong to the

country and the former president did not give two shreds about the documents. >> i'm not sure president trump would have had albert einstein for dinner. one, though this is against the law, there isn't much teeth to this rel lags, right? and, secondly, how much of a hindrance has this been to the january 6th committee as they continue their investigation? >> yeah, those are two really good points we're not exactly sure sort of the impetus of the most recent reporting, which is the national archives had to retrieve multiple boxes from mar-a-lago from the former president last month. it could potentially have to do with january 6 since there has been a lot of requests and the national archives has been responsive to those requests to the january 6 committee.

we ran a question by a member of the committee. they say while it's not shocking, it may not impede of the work of the committee because they have a lot of various means to get their hand on documents. they could go to staffers who could document and lay out those records themselves. but on the question of the enforcement mechanism, you're right. the tra is fairly rare and toothless. it's uncommon for the national archives to punish a president for his failure to keep a comprehensive records management systems in place. but this former president has set a lot of new precedent and we'll see if maybe that changes this time around. >> coming up, covid rates are down and the masks are coming off. new jersey is making a major change for kids in the classroom. and some other states may soon

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here's a look at other news making headlines this morning. the u.s. has hit yet another grim covid-19 milestone as more than 900,000 people have died from the virus as of friday. in response, president biden urged every american to get vaccinated, saying the toll would have been higher without vaccines. but new coronavirus cases are falling quickly across the country. according to "the new york times," fewer than half as many infections are being identified each day as at the peak of the omicron surge in mid january. new cases are plummeting in almost every state. in kansas and virginia, new infection reports are down about 50% in the last two weeks. in new york and maryland, new cases are down more than 70% in

the last two weeks. >> the numbers for all of the united states going down but a dramatic drop in places like new york, across the east coast, florida. those numbers for omicron are just plummeting and going straight down, which is great news. >> a virginia judge has temporarily halted an executive order from the state's republican governor, which made mask wearing optional in schools. the circuit court judge sided with seven school districts on friday who are suing governor glen youngkin over the law. in his order last month, youngkin gave parents the power to choose whether their children wore masks in schools. regardless of individual district policies. new jersey's governor, phil murphy, will no longer require students and school employees to wear masks. it's a notable change for the democrat who championed some of

the most stringent mandates during the pandemic. the decision signals a deliberate shift towards creating coronavirus as a part of daily live. and new york and connecticut are now reevaluating school mask mandates as well. coming up, u.s. intel is sizing up a potential full russian invasion of ukraine. it would be fast and there would be a lot of blood spilled. what the biden administration is saying about that next on "morning joe." t next on "morning joe."

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contingency. >> we're in the window where something could happen, that is a military escalation, an invasion of ukraine could happen at any time. we believe that the russians have put in place the capabilities to mount a significant military operation into ukraine and we have been working hard to prepare a response. >> a new u.s. intelligence assessment finds moscow has already assembled 70% of the forces it would need to launch a full-scale invasion of ukraine. the report says that if the kremlin were to attack, the ukrainian capitol, kyiv, would be the most likely to be captured in the early days of the invasion, possibly would be the first 48 hours and says as many as 25,000 ukrainian troops could be killed or wounded and up to 5 million people could become refugees. >> so, tom, i'm curious, what is

your take on where the united states is right now on nato allies? are we adequately prepared for a possible russian invasion or have we taken the appropriate steps to deter such an invasion? >> you know, it's a hard question because there isn't much we can do. ukraine's not a nato ally. we have reinforced our existing nato allies. we've sent troops to those areas as a show of solidarity with our allies, but if this happens, it's not going to involve us. it's going to be a cross-border invasion from russia to ukraine that isn't going to involve u.s. forces or nato. and all we can do is warn about sanctions and about how difficult we can make life for the russian oligarchs if they do this -- >> there as you know -- is biden doing enough right now to send the right messages?

>> i think he's doing everything he can. yeah, i don't think there's much more he could do. he certainly can't threaten a military response. i wish he were being a little clearer and the white house has started to go in this direction, about talking about the way that they could really make this hurt for the people around putin and their money and their ability to move easily through the capitals of the world. i think at this point there isn't much biden can say. this whole thing is inside putin's head. only he knows why he would do it and what he wants to do and deterring that is a really hard job, especially when this isn't part of the nato alliance we're talking about here. >> coming up, michael flynn is still at war. a new look at the ex-general's battle on behalf of donald trump's claims of a rigged election. that's ahead on "morning joe." election that's ahead on "morning joe."

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the u.s. navy has identified kyle mullin as the sailor who died during hell week, a brutal physical and mental task for those wishing to become navy seals. courtney kube has the details. >> reporter: the navy identified kyle mullen as the 24-year-old sailor who died friday. another fellow sailor left hospitalized. they were not actively training but hours earlier had completed one of the most brutal tests of physical endurance, the so-called hell week for those wishing to become navy seals, they must swim for hours, run miles and endure incredible official conditioning. >> they get an average of about pour fours of sleep. it is hell. there's no better way to say it. >> friday evening mullen and the

other sailor both suffered heart producing 200 to 250 s.e.a.l.s every year. >> the attrition rate for zeal sool training or we refer to as buds is about 80%. as you line up on day one, you look to your left, to your right, those guys probably won't be there. >> the training so arduous because their missions are so dangerous. u.s. navy s.e.a.l.s killed osama bin laden in 2011 and are assigned the most dangerous operations. the navy says mullen's cause of death is currently unknown and that an investigation is under way. >> that was correspondent courtney kube with that report.

donald trump's former national security adviser general michael flynn is now combining covid-19 and 2020 election conspiracy theories. >> the world health organization, which has come into the news quite a bit because of all this covid stuff and the responses, but all of these global organizations, the united nations is another one, all these global organizations, they think -- they see themselves and those that are sort of even above them, they see themselves as this is how we can rule the world, this is how we can control societies, this is how we can control humanity. so let's introduce something called covid, and they did it. >> wow. joining us now, contributing writer at "new york times" magazine robert draper. his latest piece, "michael flynn is still at war." in it, robert writes, "in the

year since flynn sought to enlist the military in overturning the election, he has continued to fight the same battle by other means. he has been a key figure in spreading the gospel of the stolen election because war against the federal government is all the more dangerous because it's personal. like several other trump allies, flynn refused to testify as scheduled before the january 6th committee in december and sued to block its subpoena of his phone records." "flynn's defiance of the committee fuels suspiciouses in some corners that flynn has something to hide -- though his reticence would be also be in keeping with someone who insists an election was stole bin the same deep-state operatives who engineered his dismissal from the white house five years ago." >> the guy in charge of the conspiracy had -- or one of the

guys in charge of the conspiracy had military roots. the thing that is so striking about flynn is it wasn't so many years ago that you had top army brass saying that he was one of the brightest intel minds in the military. you know, maybe a decade ago or so. and what a precipitous fall for a guy who, again, was considered maybe in 2009, 2010, to be one of the best and the bright nest the military. >> that's right, joe. he was our chief intelligence officer first this iraq, then in afghanistan. and basically peter principled out when he came back home to washington serving in the defense intelligence agency. and though part of his narrative was he was done in by telling the unkufrtable truth to president obama about the robustness of isis, in fact, he was essentially fired for insubordination and incompetence. that embittered flynn.

it made him believe he was done in by a deep state that particularly when he was trump's national security adviser, was caught lying to the fbi about phone calls he'd engaged in with a russian ambassador to the u.s. so essential to flynn's narrative is he's the poster boy for the power of the deep state. the problem is that it's just factually inaccurate, meaning this is a sad trajectory. >> yeah tell me this, robert, trump fired him and leading up to firing him let everybody know he had little use for him. after he fired him he tweeted he had no choice but to fire him because he was a liar, he lied to the fbi and lied to pence. donald trump said that. so he had to get rid of him. so why is this guy continuing -- >> back in the saddle. >> -- this war for donald trump? >> he was ultimately pardoned by trump on the 25th 2020 and by that time, the their tich had

set in that it was trump versus the deep state. they'd already taken down flynn. they were trying to do the same thing to trump. so upon receiving this pardon, flynn then exerted efforts in this all hands on deck effort to try to overturn a lawfully held election, and flynn's contribution to that was to provide this so-called military option by which the national guard would come in to six contested states and seize all the voting machines and backup ballots. and flynn was telling people that oh, you know, the martial law, no big deal, it's happened 64 times already in united states. but flynn was very much, you know, a part of all that energetic frenzy to overturn the election. and, you know, that's grim and alarming in and of itself, joe and mika, but it's also that he's still intending to do the same. he's still trying to reverse the election results by pushing for state-by-state audits. >> the guy seems to be making it

up as it goes along, caught on tape attacking qanon for conspiracy theories, calls them crack pots and tries to back up. what is his motivation? does he just want to stay on donald trump's radar in case trump gets re-elected in '24? >> i don't think it's trump related. i think flynn believes that is all. i think he believes that forces as nefarious as the ones that did him in or the president trying to do him in -- >> robert, is he making money off of this like all the other grifters? >> yeah, sure. >> look at the lawyers who were grifters. sidney powell, all those other people, are using this to make money. is this just a marketing scheme by this guy? >> it's not just a marketing scheme, but the guy's not going to go be a lobbyist for raytheon at this point. this is the only way he can make a living, going to these kind of

weird conventions and preaching the gospel of the stolen election. he is commanding fairly high speaker fees from kwhands, but it's his only source of income at this point. i do believe he believes that is all stuff. when he's saying to an interviewer that i think that the united nations and other forces created covid to undo an election, it's not just the speaker fee. >> good morning. it's a great piece. i devoured it over the weekend. it seems like there's a through line to his belief and conspiracy theories, anti-muslim while he was in the military. >> yes. >> then qanon and certainly he was willing to flex the power of the military here, martial law, seize vote mag sheens. tell us about the unlikely voice in the room who said we can't do this, this will send us all to jail? >> yeah. it's a very peculiar plot twist when rudy giuliani of all people is the guy saying, hey, a

military option is where we've got to draw a line in the sand because we'll all end up in prison. that is what giuliani said to overstock's ceo, who is a colleague of flynn's in this ongoing effort that he, giuliani, said to trump. we can't do this, sir, because we'll all end up going to prison. >> well, when rudy giuliani is the voice of reason these days, you know you're in trouble. robert draper, thank you so much. >> thank you, robert. >> your new piece is in "new york times" magazine. jonathan, line up the start of this week for us. what's happening at the white house today? what are we expecting to see this week? >> well, certainly the ongoing crisis at the ukraine/russia will dominate this week. chancellor scholz is in washington today. macron meets with putin this week as well. and we should expect to hear

more from white house aides touting that good jobs report and economic recovery, the virus cases starting to go down across the country. they know inflation will be the next battle they need to fight. >> and what about the baseball discussions? when are we at a point where we lose the beginning of the season? we're getting close. right now, it is very unlikely for people close to negotiations for spring training to start on time or near it. they have a couple weeks, i'm told, where they can get this done and opening day will still happen on opening day, but they're running out of time. if this delays much further, we'll start losing games. >> catastrophic for the sport, bald for fans, and bad for all of those communities that literally depend on th two to three months that bring revenue during spring training if they lose it again for the third year in a row.

also, tune in tomorrow on "morning joe." we'll have a big announcement about who's going to be at the 30/50 summit. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. i'm stephanie ruhle. we have a lot to get to. as we come on air, a crucial meeting, vladimir putin sitting face-to-face with france's prime minister emmanuel macron as we learn that russia has 70% of the troops it needs in place for a full invasion of ukraine and that kyiv could be one of the first cities to fall. overnight, new developments in the controversy with joe rogan, spotify taking down some 100 episodes because they contain b. racial slurs.