there are new developments on whether steve bannon will testify before the committee. and nbc news chief white house correspondent kristen welker has the latest. >> reporter: in just hours, the committee's 7th hearing will butt the spotlight on members of extremist groups who stormed the capitol, aiming to show their ties to trump world and link the forrer president's words and their actions. a source familiar with the process telling nbc news, stephen ayres is skpeblted to test. last month he pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and admitted he reposted mr. trump's december 19th tweet encouraging supporters to go to the capitol hill on the sixth saying it will be wild. no comment from his lawyer. another major focus, taped testimony from pat cipollone who answered questions for more than eight hours last week. committee member jamie rask inteling ali vitali.

>> pat cipollone has corroborated almost everything that we have learned from the prior hearings. and he had clearly tried to talk president trump down from his efforts to override the election. >> reporter: cipollone speaking to the committee after bombshell testimony by former white house aide cassidy hutchinson. >> he said something to the effect of please make sure we don't go up to the capitol, cassidy. keep in touch with me. we're going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen. >> reporter: meanwhile, in a stunning reversal, steve bannon now saying he is willing to testify publicly before the january 6 committee. after spending months refusing to cooperate. on monday, a judge ruled bannon's new willingness to testify will not delay his trial next week. for contempt of congress. charges brought because bannon

stonewalled the committees's repeated questions. federal prosecutors calling it a last ditch attempt to avoid accountability. the main focus, bannon's role in the run-up to the 6th and the fiery comments the day before the attack. >> all hell is going to break loose tomorrow. >> that was on january 5th. kristen welker reporting there. let's bring in reporter for "the washington post," jackie alemany explains how the committee will delve into the origins of that trump tweet saying it will be wild. jackie, good morning. so pat cipollone, that testimony of about eight hours adds a layer to what we might hear today. and also this tweet that you're reporting on. how it came to be and what people, extremists took from it. >> and that was a great interview by ali of congressman

raskin who after several days of sort of wondering just how far pat cipollone had gone, we've learned that he did corroborate key parts of the testimony and probably provided even more and new information which we've also been told. but looking at today, that december 18th tweet is going to be a key part of the hearing today. we know that the meeting that was held at the white house prior to that tweet being issued between rudy giuliani, sidney powell, michael flynn, patrick burn, some of the fringiest outliers putting forth the most conspiracy-laden theories, ideas like seizing voting machines, things like italy-gate. conspiracy theories across the board trying to convince the president to go through with them and shortly after that meeting is when trump tweeted we will please come to the capitol, will be wild.

so the committee has described it to us as sort of a pivot that happened after december 14th which was the official electorate college certification where the former president started turning toward alternative options of trying to hold on to power and that increasing desperation and that is what we're going to see a lot of today. >> so jackie, we'll all be watching. of course full coverage tomorrow morning on "morning joe." but there was supposed to be another hearing, i believe on thursday. during prime time. what do you know about the cancellations and are they dragging this out, is there a strategy here? >> these cancellations are for good reasons or postponements rather. it is because the committee is obtaining so much new evidence every week that goes by. not only from republicans who have come forward since cassidy hutchinson's bombshell testimony and pass like doleman, the cfo of the trump campaign, there is another deposition being held

simultaneously this week. we've known all along that this is a very live investigation. but there is also records that are now being obtained as well. the national archives still owes and is planning on sending the committee records requests that were made nearly a year ago. but just have taken some time, i believe they're almost on the 10th tranche. so as the committee gets deeper into this, there is more new evidence coming in and they need some more time in order to reflect what they're new findings, really. >> and a parallel investigation going down in fulton county, georgia. judge in georgia has ordered lindsey graham of south carolina to testify next month before a special grand jury investigating former president trump's alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. and the judge declared the republican senator a necessary and material witness to the investigation. graham's office did not respond to a request for comment. the attorneys did say last week

he would not comply with a subpoena issued by the grand jury. so jackie, more intrigue here now down in the state of georgia. specifically in fulton county as the d.a. looked at what the campaign did and what the supporters may have done and some aides like lindsey graham may have done in called brad raffensperger to look again at some absentee ballots. >> this parallel track investigation has been far more aggressive than what we've seen coming out of the department of justice. if you talk to those close to the committee or constitutional legal experts, people who are watching this closely, they have pinned the atlanta case and fannie willis as someone most likely to lodge ultimately criminal charges against the players involved. and if you look at georgia, it was ground zero for some of the electoral schemes that the president and his allies were

trying to implement. like the alternate slate of electors. we reported on most recently, it was a secret meeting that was held by the trump campaign to put together this alternate slate of electors. we learned that some of the people who were involved with that scheme were recently subpoenaed by this investigation to appear before the grand jury. and now they're moving up the totem pole and most recently obviously have secured potentially lindsey graham, we'll see though if this further escalates. if he declined to materialize for this appearance. but the way that other criminal investigations has been working is sort of all aligned. they're gradually working their way up towards the former president as they get more information from these smaller fish who were really doing the bidding of the trump campaign. >> "the washington post" jackie alemany, thank you very much for being on this morning. we'll be watching today. and president biden will depart

tonight for his first visit to the middle east since taking office. there the president will meet with israeli allies and will come face-to-face with the crown prince believed to have ordered the murder of washington post journalist jam ackhashoggi back in 2018. this morning we asked council coordinator for strategic communities at the white house. john kirby what we should expect from this trip. >> will president biden confront the crown prince about the murder of jamal khashoggi. >> i think civil rights is always on the agenda when the president meets are foreign leaders. we lead with our values and that is evident by the work we've done with the saudis to try to get a cease-fire extended in yemen, the longest period of peace in 7 years in yemen. so i have no doubt that the president will in every discussion that he has on this trip raise our concerns over values and human rights.

i'm not going to get ahead of specific conversations but the president was very clear when he took office about holding saudi arabia accountable for mr. khashoggi's murder and that we wanted to reorient that relationship. but not rupture it. saudi arabia is a key strategic partner in the region. there is an awful lot of work to be done, not just buy latterly, but in with the main purpose here on saturday. >> we're joined by the white house reporter for politico and eugene daniels. eugene, obviously the white house has plans. they want to accomplish a lot in the middle east. but boy, some complications. you look at the publisher of "the washington post," fred ryan, just a searing op-ed about the visit and some problems also with israel right now. and kind of reminded of the old don rumsfeld line that you don't go to war with a army that you

want. well you don't get to go tolt middle east, with the middle east that you want. you go to the middle east with the middle east that you have. and this one is kind of complicated for the white house, isn't it. >> no, it absolutely is. and one of the reasons it is complicated, this is not a trip that president biden seems to be thrilled on. he doesn't want to focus on the middle east. he wanted to back up on that when it comes to the foreign policy. and then out of the complicating factors you just outlined hearing from and having more pressure to bring up to whether it is an israel or whether it comes to the issue between israel and palestine or saudi arabia with the myriad of issues with civil rights. we've spoken to some 9/11 families who want so see the president bring up 9/11 and what saudi arabia may have done and been involved in that. so there is a lot of pressure on the president on this trip.

and israel is something that we're watching and you may heard the word is integration of middle east countries and economic and political concerns and this is where the eyes are going to be. everyone is going to try to figure out, is he going to shake mbs's hand, will there be a picture of them together. is he going to bring up the killing of "the washington post" reporter and bring up 9/11 to these folks and that is something that this white house has been talking about. and they know even kind of no matter what happens ore there, it is going to have a lot of pain points. president biden wrote a column in "the washington post" over the weekend outlining how he views it. but this trip is definitely one that is coming at a difficult time. one of the reasons that kirby didn't say this in the clip, one of the reasons that the white house is working to get these relationships back with saudi arabia is also because israel, a key ally, wants them to.

mbs going to be around for a long time. and also you have this one ukraine making the oil conversation much more complicated than it was before. >> while he travels, the president will be watching some domestic business, his senate democrats are working to revive at least some parts of the build back better spending deal. it would focus on lowering health care costs and fighting climate change. this time democrats appear to have buy-in from joe manchin of west virginia and some of the provisions. it was his decision not to support the larger spending bill nearly 7 months ago. that killed the president's biggest domestic agenda item. so far top democrats have worked out with manchin new agreements that would cut drug costs for seniors and improve the financial health of medicare and close a tax loophole that benefits the wealthy. senator manchin is expected to meet with senator chuck schumer in the coming days. so, eugene, as always these days, this seems to swing on the

hing of senator manchin. will there be a big package passed through the senate. >> if they allow joe manchin to work this out, possibly. the last time it happened was because joe manchin felt attacked by this white house when they zero in and singled him out. even though he was one of the only senators holding up and killing build back better. behind the scenes, these reconciliation talks we're not sure what to call it, build back better or build better america so the reconciliation talks have been happening largely without president biden. one of the reasons that -- one the lessons that was learned during last time was that they don't want president biden to be seen as the kind of 101st senator and negotiating every piece of legislation and that sometimes it may actually even make it more difficult. and so some of the provisions that you just outlined, willie, sound similar to what joe manchin told the white house in the fall in the winter, that he

was willing to accept. so they're kind of back in those negotiations areas. i will say something that folks should keep an eye on, is republicans are saying that if they move forward, if democrats move forward into this reconciliation package, that they're looking to tank the china competitiveness bill. this is something that mitch mcconnell brought up last week. and more republicans are getting buy in on that. joe manchin, that doesn't make him nervous. he told some of our colleagues that he's not walking away just because of that. and timing-wise, possibly september is what we're hearing about a deal. so, a lot of time. a bill that will never die. >> politico's eugene daniels. thank you. and still ahead, how donald trump could cost republicans control of congress again. that is the take from the "wall street journal" editorial board. we'll read from the new piece. and big news on the economy.

the euro is close to the value of the dollar for the first time in 20 years. andrew ross sorkin explains what a surging dollar and a weak euro means for america and the global economy. and the latest from on the ground in yosemite national park. as crews battle that major fire threatening america's grove of historic sequoias. "morning joe" is coming right back. sequoias. "morning joe" is coming right back

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did you see a ufo in that cloud? the farmer's dog helpsnope. out. run! ♪ ♪ [ droning sound ] back in 19 after the hour. the raging wildfiren dangering husband hundreds of the giant iconic soakoya trees in yosemite, continues to burn as scores of firefighters battle the blaze. miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: this morning a race

to save one of earth's natural treasures. extreme heat and low humidity fuelling the washburn fire in yosemite national park. home to hundreds of iconic towering sequoia trees. >> when you see fire conditions like this, what is the biggest threat. >> we're trying to keep the fire from climbing the trees. >> more than 500 firefighters trying to protect these giants, clearing bone dry vegetation and running sprinklers to keep flames at bay. the fire fight here is literally going tree top to tree top. this crew is trying to put out hot spots before it jumps to the other side of the fire break. >> fire's edge is active. >> reporter: the fire's outer rim forcing the closure of yosemite's popular south entrance and the evacuation of some 1600 people from nearby homes and hotels. fames mariposa grove is a top tourist spot for its sequoias. some of the tallest and oldest trees in the planet. the iconic grizzly giant first

began sprouting a thousand years bc. sequoias could stand up to 200 feet tall, higher than italy's leaning tower of pisa. these were celebrated as natural wonders. president lincoln signed legislation to protect them. and taft posing in front of the massive trunks. although sequoias have adapted to survive flames, they're no match for modern wildfires, driven by climate change, and extreme drought. 20% of giant sequoias have been lost in the last two years alone. >> we've lot more giant sequoia trees in the past, i think it is 15 years than in history. >> now firefighters doing all they can to save centuries of trees from this growing inferno. >> miguel almaguer reporting

from yosemite national park. and mika, those trees, as miguel said, are measured in the thousands of years. and for that reason they put in the sprinkler systems and trying to clear the brush away but still that huge wildfire is spreading quickly and threatening a lot of them. >> yeah. we'll have to continue to follow that. hopefully they could salvage them. now for a look at some of the this morning's must-read opinion pages. in its latest editor allen titled "donald trump and the midterms", the "wall street journal" writes in part, if the record of mr. biden and democrats in congress is the dominant issue in november, the gop should regain control of the house and senate. to put it more starkly. less than 4 months before election day it would take surprising events or political mal practice for the gop to lose. enter mr. trump who may announce his presidential candidacy before the midterms which we can't recall a major candidate doing that.

that would thrill democrats who are eager to change the subject from inflation and the biden record, if the main issue in november is gop fealty to mr. trump's claims that the election was stolen, democrats may have a chance to hold congress. which brings us back to "the new york times" poll. for all of the bad news for mr. bider, he still beats mr. trump 44% to 41% in a theoretical 2024 presidential rematch. what does it say that joe biden, the least popular president in modern times, still beats donald trump. and joe, that was the issue that you were pointing to yesterday and today with how bad can you be if your poll numbers are bad, but if you're the potential republican nominee again, and yours are worse. >> well the "wall street journal" is writing, i'm sure publicly, what mitch mcconnell and other republican leaders are thinking privately. they're thinking, oh, my god,

are we really going to have more elections with todd akin types and sharron angle types and christine mcdonald saying i'm not a witch and now they're talking about bamboo and ballot and italian dudes stealing elections and jewish space lasers. the republican party has gone every bit as crazy as it was in 2010 and 2012. this is a republican party talking about inflation, that is talking about crime, and should be talking about chaos at the southern border. if you look at issues in a -- that would work for them in the past and that would usually control news cycles. but it can't because they're now competing with january 6, mass murderers in schoolyards and at fourth of july parades because of a crazy, crazy attitude towards military weapons of war

and the 18-year-olds abilities to get hands on military weapons of war and of course a roe decision where you now have women, and again i guess the men running can't figure this out, but women now in all parties are thinking, i don't have control over my body. and for young girls who are being raped, for older women who are being raped, who are being told by republicans, you know what, we're going to do, we're going to compel you, we're going to have your state, your centralized state compel you to have a forced birth. i'm not really good at politics. but i don't think that is a 90/10 issue. universal background checks are issues, but democrats are for that and republicans are against that.

roe was a 75/25 issue. democrats are for that and republicans are it. you look time and time and time again. and it's just a republican party that is not between the guardrails of american politics, they have driven their runaway beer truck with all of the primary winners and they have careened through the guardrails and are taking the rest of the party off of the cliff. you look at some of the poll that's we talked about earlier today, mika, i'd life to show for our friends in the west coast that have just tuned in this morning. you look at what is happening for instance in pennsylvania, pennsylvania is a state that republicans could have very easily won. and they still may win. even though dr. oz seems to be running his pennsylvania campaign from new jersey. and you look at the polls there, and you actually have fetterman

well ahead. i don't know if we have this poll. john fetterman, 46% in this usa today suffolk poll of likely voters. and you have dr. oz of new jersey, and didn't he vote like in turkey? did i get that right? >> yeah. >> last time he voted from turkey. >> there is a lot of issues. i don't get this at all. >> with we sure about the whole pennsylvania thing and i don't think pennsylvania voters get it either. he is losing this there. they could have have dave mccormick, but no. they went with -- as the "wall street journal" said, they went with donald trump's pick. let's go to ohio, they had somebody that they could have gotten that was a mainstream, pro-life and progun and pro-capitalism republican, but instead, they got j.d. vance. the guy is like i love san francisco. i hate san francisco. when he's in ohio, i love

silicon valley. it is where everything is very exciting. i love being out here in my little silicon valley vest. that is what he said when he was in silicon valley. look at me, i'm just an ivy league, you know, vent you'll capitalist in silicon valley. and then he goes and campaigns in ohio and he's like, i hate silicon valley. and so, it is funny how he talks like a southpark character. he just does. but you look and you see tim ryan up, again here is a guy from ohio, youngstown, ohio, and loves ohio. campaigning in ohio. and he's ahead there too. once again, republicans could have picked somebody that wasn't going around talking about crackpot theories about stolen elections. >> or just being -- >> but this is what the republican party is doing. so i know that a lot of you

republicans when you hear me talk, you say we don't like joe because joe was a conservative and now joe is a conservative and it makes us angry that he's still a conservative. >> joe scarborough. >> it makes us angry. so we won't listen to him. so if you don't want to listen to me because i humiliate you, because i still am a conservative. >> joe -- >> and you shamed yourself by becoming a big spending socialist for donald trump, read the "wall street journal" editorial page today. they will tell you, they will tell you that donald trump is going to lose your senate majority again if you don't take control of your party. >> okay. >> i don't know how many times i could tell you. unlike the guy in the 1970s midas ads. you could pay me now or you could pay me later.

>> or a disadvantage into an advantage. >> that is another one. that is -- >> go ahead, willie. >> we should tell workers we're still workshoping j.d. vance impersonation. this is just a first pass. we'll get there. we'll get there. >> willie, it is always, my default is terrance and philip. hey, betty, what is wrong with you. what is wrong with you? it is a southpark thing. default back to southpark. >> we're going to get you some voice work one of these days. so from the los angeles times, jonah goldberg has a new piece looking at this from the sitting president, where did biden go wrong. in this piece, goldberg writes there is a lot of theories why he's such a political mess. and my own is their correct to one extent or another but the biggest problem is ideological

and structural. he will be remembered as last democratic president shaped by the old fdr coalition and reliance on the white working class and bipartisanship. meanwhile the democratic party base is philosophically and cultural contemptuous of politics, yes, the same is true of the gop and all too happy to blow up that old coalition. and if biden had followed an eisenhower like policy as leaning into his image as a grandfatherly figure, above the childish biggers of washington, it might have worked but biden let his vanity, the prospect of outsigning barack obama as a transformal president and instinct to placate the left got the better of him and now he's left with an agenda biden can't sell in no small part because voters don't want it. what do you make of that? >> i think jonah is right on a lot of it. would you say it is joe biden's

vanity. i think the big mistake is that bill clinton made, he went too far left in '93 and '94. got wiped out in the midterms and then corrected himself and got dick morrison, talk about the white house hating and other people hating. but bill clinton and dick morris worked together and started triangulating the extremes on the left and the right. people like me. and they figured out a middle path. they got bill clinton re-elected in '96. i think joe biden won as a moderate and i will just say, again, i don't -- you look at fetterman in pennsylvania, he's a progressive. and so i don't think it is about -- when you look at ohio, my god, sherrod brown, a real progressive. that guy opens ohio. a state that is getting redder by the day. it is not progressive or

moderate. it is being true to who you are. joe biden is not a progressive. he's never been a progressive. he needs to be who he is. and i think he's starting to be who he is. he needs to be that moderate leader that progresses mocked after he lost iowa, that progressives mocked after he lost new hampshire and he needs to be that moderate that black voters voted for in south carolina and that other americans voted for and got him elected president. that is who he is. that is what is so most natural to him. just like bill clinton and that is the direction that i think he needs to continue moving toward. >> i'm just going to jump in. we're following some breaking news. the pentagon is expected to announce later in morning that it has killed the leader of isis in syria in an air strike earlier today. he was one of four top isis leader overall. the strike also targeted his deputy but it's unclear if the

deputy was killed. no civilian casualties. a spokesperson for u.s. central command said, quote, the removal of the isis leaders will disrupt the terrorist's organizations ability to further plot and carry out attacks. we'll be following this development of course. >> it is so important for us to remember, we're at war with isis. isis is -- even if we don't think we are, isis is at war with us. all we have to do is think back to our withdrawal from afghanistan. that was isis. and so, yeah, they are against u.s. interests across the world. and so today the united states strikes back. >> hopefully with no civilian casualties. still ahead, the justice department is now investigating the pga tour after it suspended top players for competing in a rival tournament. and tiger woods weighed in just this morning on this controversy. we'll have that. you're watching "morning joe."

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so, as far as the second part of your question about the players who have chosen to go to live and to play on -- to play there, i disagree with it. i think that what they've done is they've turned their back on what has allowed them to goat to this position. some players have never got a chance to even experience it. they've got right from the amateur ranks right into that organization. and never really got a chance to play out here and what it feels like to play a tour schedule or to play in some big events. >> tiger woods just today answering a question ahead of the open championship at st.

andrews in scotland, about the pga tour defectors to the saudi-backed li viv tour. and whether the liv tour suspended a number of players including phil mickelson and dustin johnson after they chose to compete in the first saudi-backed golf tournament. the "wall street journal" which first reported the investigation reports that the doj is looking into the pga tour's bylaws regarding the ability of players to compete in other golf events. that is according to the journal. the emerging of liv golf has plunged the sport into tumult. they offer $25 million in prize money at tournaments, far more than offering on the pga tour. in addition to the seemingly massive sums, the top pros are receiving for simply signing on. that is from the "wall street journal." joining us now, columnist for "the new york times" deal book

and co-anchor of cnbc's squawk box, andrew ross sorkin. andrew. good to see you this morning. tiger woods just a little while ago saying much more than we've heard him say to date about the tour. he they had they're turning their backs on the pga tour that got them there. mocking the lif tour and maybe those guys just don't have it in and a bad way for young players to start. but he turned down almost a billion dollars to join that tour according to greg norman. what is the sort of going on with this lawsuit here, is this brought by liv. >> it is become a business story. and a global one now with all sorts of implications. the idea here now is that the department of justice is effectively arguing on behalf of liv and which we've discussed is backed by saudi arabia against the pga.

and the pga have talked about itself as an american iconic franchise. it is an interesting issue because what is happened here is the pga said, look, if you want to play with liv, you can't play with us. it is different than a basketball or football player who is an employee of a team which is part ever a league. these are all independent contractors if you will, that play different matches throughout the year that are part of this tour. and as a result, the anti-trust argument is that the tour is using its monopoly power to prevent other competitors like liv from doing what it is doing and establishing itself. having said that, there is all sorts of issues about liv itself and what means to the game of golf and the saudis this all comes as president biden is making his way to saudi arabia right now and so there is sort

of a larger sort of geopolitical questions at play. and then the other pieces, in terms of priority average, there are a lot people are saying what is the department of justice doing, there are a lot of things they could be looking at in terms of anti-competitive issues and also the issue of inflation in this country. you've heard the administration say they believe that competition, there is too little competition in all sorts of parts of business in america. and here we are talking about golf. >> it is a little crazy. i mean, you're exactly right. the justice department has a lot -- perhaps they want to continue focusing on january 6, perhaps they want to focus again on -- on the behavior of big oil companies, if they really believe that they're acting in a noncompetitive manner. would you say the same thing with airlines who take billions of tax dollars and then, again,

they're in operations that just century competitive. but speaking of airlines, mika and i, andrew, we're about to go on vacation and we're going to have to go down to the ozarks. we have some business to clean up down there. >> excuse me. >> but if we didn't have business to clean up in the ozarks and i'll explain later, honey. we'll go to europe. because right now the euro and the dollar is about even. i don't do a lot of traveling, but i understand that is highly unusual that the euro is about even with the dollar. does that mean that the united states economy is strong or europe's economy is -- >> what it suggests right now is that the u.s. economy is strong, or stronger on a relative basis and there are now increasing fears as we've been talking about the last couple of months about a recession throughout europe and that is plaguing the euro. but i will say if you do make your way to europe this summer, you might have a little bit of trouble getting back to the

united states if you're going through heathrow. i know you probably saw that earlier story. heathrow is now capping the number of flights that it is going to be having on the way back which will create inflationary pressures given there is less supply of flights. so they're trying to prevent more problems. but they may be creating some in the process. >> that is interesting, because my friend that said i needs to go the ozarks, said i may have trouble getting back from there as well. >> okay. thank you very much. >> great to see you there. >> okay. so a new covid strain, thank you andrew, is driving a spike in case and reinfections and we'll tell you more about ba.5 and how it impact the future of booster shots. >> and we have a rusty update. i talked about -- i talked about this a good bit. rusty bowers, the speaker of the

house, an update on whether he's going to be supporting donald trump or not when we return. e s trump or not when we return.

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willie, i'm afraid i have to, i have to make a correction. to, i have to make a correction. it was actually -- i was corrected, it was fram oil filters. the dipstick tells the story fram says. of course, you

can use that in political talk, now. but yeah, fram oil filters definitely does. that's where i'm going to go. did you hear about this rusty guy who was speaker of the house and then he comes and said jesus inspired the constitution and because of that there is no way he would ever undermine the constitution of the united states. i was deeply moved by that and i know people viewing it were. >> it was very moving. >> then the next day he said, yes, i would vote for donald trump again. >> where does jesus fit into that if you think that jesus' work on earth is undermining donald trump? and then we have from arizona, rusty bowers in support of donald trump saying, i will be

supporting somebody else in the 2024 primary other than mr. trump. just a little update on the honorable speaker of the house, rusty bowers. >> we had talked about him as an example of what is going on in the republican party. they are disgusted with what they saw on january 6th and then they say, would you vote again for donald trump and they say they probably would. and he is not happy with the thought of a robust primary not producing somebody better than donald trump, for crying out loud. he will vote for republican but maybe not donald trump. >> he spoke his mind about what he felt about the president trying to overturn the election for himself. now to the battle against covid-19 and a new strain driving surges nationwide. more people are contracting the

ba.5 variant multiple times and in sequence compared to other variants. it is highly transmissible and immunity from prior infections does not help as much as it used to. so far there is no evidence that ba.5 causes more serious illness but the cdc recommends masks in public indoor settings. joining us now is a journalist and writer at large who has a new book called "the desperate hours" where you detail the heroes inside of the new york presbyterian hospital. at one part you recount how

stephen corwin the hospital president and ceo addressed the employees saying we are in this together and there is no calvary coming. you are saying the calvary rushton from every part of the hospital. accountants worked as transporters wheeling the dying and the dead. they got the option to pay for $3000 motel rooms around the city. food and extended childcare for families who needed help. a billion-dollar outline and he insisted on and unlimited line of credit to fund the doctors and nurses and to have rescue medics from the air force and to make sure there was a field hospital. cosmetic companies and gourmet markets delivered skin creams and delicacies for everyone working on the front line. surgeons, urologists, medical

students and cardiologist and a retired internist fanned out through the corridors of the systems hospitals emptying trash cans and learning to titrate medicines in the icu. many of the older doctors had not used that since medical school. marie, it was incredible. you remember the 5:00 bells ringing in the city during shift change ? there was so much support for those working on the front lines, but no one would have known what it was like but for the people that were there. >> it was transformational and incredible day to be talking about this question of character and what is it in crisis that causes people to come together for the common good. it was extraordinary moral fire and i have learned from the game of thrones which is the

ride the dragon effect. the dragon comes and you don't think you can ride it and then you ride the dragon. how does that happen? you read that you had this three act play, essentially. this was a story that on folded like a drama, a rocket hitting new york. battlefield conditions in this mt. olympus hospital, perhaps one of the greatest hospitals in america and certainly number one in new york. it is a mt. olympus. all of these medical astronauts were suddenly confronted with the mystery of covid and the fact that the hospital was unprepared and the city was unprepared and that there was no federal leadership . no one trained you in medical school how to deal with the kind of man is coming from the white house. there they were, they were left

to figure it out for themselves. they were trying everything in the intensive care units. they were trying steroids for the first time. one doctor had grown up in the barrio in columbia that killed himself trying to get hired at new york presbyterian. against the advice of all of those in the hospital and the academic people he worked with, but he wanted to try a small clamp to save a patient who was dying on a ventilator, and it worked. it was this kind of transformative sense of, oh, my god, the exhilaration of what science can be when people come to gather, it was really, really remarkable. it said so much about new yorkers coming together. >> absolutely and marie, congratulations on the book coming together. the medical

professionals have our internal gratitude for those of us up close and watch it every day, you talk about the obstacles and the slow gears of government and bureaucracy were a getting going. how did the doctors and nurses and medical professionals overcome some of this. as you write in the book, they were making it up as they went? >> there was so much drama. i'm a storyteller and i wanted to find the voices that could speak in authentic way behind the masks and the shields of what they had done in the pandemic who could bring these experiences to life. it is a split screen reality in the academic world of hospital medicine. it is the medicine side with their belief that doctors who know things should be allowed to speak out. then the corporate side uses the standard disaster messaging and communications tools. remember

this is a three act play. in the early days, the first few weeks of march 2020, there was real panic inside the hospital and there were no tests. in the first week of march, only 30 people in all of new york had been tested. one doctor who is one of america's greatest experts on bacteria and epidemiology went on the squawk box and said, i've just come from the emergency room at my hospital and we have no tests. it was like a call to action. that afternoon he was shut down by the hospital and threatened with having one of his titles taken away. of course, the doctors are working on the medical school side and the hospital doesn't really have power over them, but there was constant dissonance between what the doctors would be allowed to say to alert the public and what the hospital felt could either harm the brand or as the classic trump

white house language, cause panic. >> there was a real dissonance inside the hospital. >> it is hard to put into words what everybody on the front lines went through and i'm so glad you did in this new book called the "the desperate hours" . one hospital's fight to save a city on the front lines. thank you marie brenner, it is incredible. in the next hour, the white house covid czar joins us for a live interview. we pick up the coverage right now. good morning, it is 10:00 a.m. eastern time and 7:00 a.m. pacific time.