>> well, this book we definitely would love to have you at 30/50 to talk about. so we would love to have you come back as a speaker, paulina. and my goodness, thank you so much for sharing all of this and coming on "morning joe" today. >> my pleasure. so nice to see you guys. and i hope to see you in person. >> we're going to do it. >> yes. >> the book is "no filter: the good, the bad, and the beautiful." for more about paulina's incredible story, held over to knowyourvalue.com. and stay tuned in the coming weeks for more exciting details about the forbes know your value second annual 30/50 summit for international women's day. it's going to take place in abu dhabi. it is exactly the top of the hour, the fourth hour of "morning joe," 9:00 a.m. on the east coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. donald trump set to announce plans to run for re-election tonight following yet another

midterm loss. >> i mean, he keeps losing. >> how many? is it three now? >> he lost -- really you can go back to 2017. >> okay. >> he lost virginia. >> true. >> the assembly. >> then? >> and i could go on, but go two to 2018, historic losses there. >> '20? >> he lost in '20, the first president to lose the house, the senate, and the white house. >> '22. >> then in '22. >> that's four. >> he keeps lose, and it's entering, we'll see if republicans continue to stay on this path that guarantees them more losses in 2024.

others said it before the election, conservative right wink hosts, we have to move on. but some republicans still can't do that. >> well, meanwhile, former vice president mike pence is speaking out in a new interview saying donald trump's announcement won't stop him if he decides to make his own presidential run. we're going to play those remarks for you. and with his race now over, georgia governor brian kemp is set to testify today in that state's investigation into interference in the 2020 election. we'll go live to the courthouse in atlanta for a report on that. but we start with the nbc news decision desk projecting democrat katie hobbs defeating republican kari lake in the race to become arizona's next governor. nbc news senior capitol correspondent garrett haake has the latest from west palm beach, where, as we mentioned, former president trump has been teasing a big announcement.

>> reporter: this morning, another major symbolic defeat for donald trump in the midterms just as he's set to announce his third run for the white house. democrat katie hobbs narrowly beating republican kari lake for arizona governor. lake had been one of mr. trump's most prominent allies in the midterms and one of the staunchest supporters of his false claims denying the results from the 2020 election. >> do we love this man or what? >> reporter: lake continuing to question her own race's results last night, tweeting, "arizona knows b.s. when they see it." but there is no evidence of any fraud in the election, and the winner hobbs ran on a message of trust in the electoral system. ahead his mar-a-lago speech, mr. trump's influence on the republican party is now under intense scrutiny with many of the election denying republicans he supported falling short against democratic opponents. >> i think president trump was an albatross on the electoral prospects of some of our candidates.

>> reporter: overnight, the conservative "wall street journal" editorial board writing that democrats will be, quote, elated with trump's announcement, adding, "last week's elections showed that clinging to 2020 election denial as mr. trump has is a loser's game." it comings as the man who was once his most loyal defender now speaking out against the former president and his role in the january 6th insurrection. >> the president's words were reckless, and his actions were reck res. >> reporter: former vice president mike pence expected to prepare his own campaign, opposing his former boss. >> do you believe that donald trump should ever be president again? >> i think that's up to the american people, but i think we'll have better choices in the future. >> reporter: despite these critiques, mr. trump's announcement of a third run for the white house will go forward today according to a top adviser. >> this is going to be a very professional, very buttoned-up announcement. >> reporter: mr. trump has been revving up attacks against perceived opponents, especially

florida governor ron desantis. but polling released by a conservative group a o posing trump shows desantis with significant leads over the former president in key primary states. >> garrett haake reporting there. joining us now jonathan karl, "betrayal," is out today. we always like when you have a book out because we get to talk to you on our show. >> good morning. >> let's talk about the event you're covering tonight at mar-a-lago, donald trump expected announce another run, but in a very different position he would have been even a week ago making this announcement. >> i mean, joe went through it, the incredible series of losses that the republican party has taken based on donald trump's actions and that the midterm elections, not to mention the flurry of criminal investigations, civil lawsuits, his own loyal vice president coming out and calling him reckless, saying that he put his family in danger and all the

people in the capitol. it's quite a time. all systems go according to people working for trump and it's a much smaller group, this political operation very small. they say it's all systems go. but what i'll tell you, willie, i learned yesterday that two of trump's most high-profile allies were trying to convince him as recently as sunday afternoon to call this thing off and to wait until at least after the georgia runoff, but he's not listening to any of that. >> no surprise there. just to underline your point, in those swing states, those major races, jd vance won, he backed him in ohio, but joe lombardo in nevada to be governor, ron johnson won in wisconsin to be senator, and that's it, pending the race in georgia. so, massive failures across the board for donald trump candidates. so what is your sense inside that tight circle of donald trump? and it is smaller than ever it seems. but about his prospects now?

what do they hear around all the noise around ron desantis, and people now, some republicans, not exactly profiles in courage at this point, but sticking their heads out and saying it's time to move on from donald trump? >> i mean, they're aware of all that. obviously, some of them will candidly acknowledge that this is a truly heavy lift to say the least. but, you know, the truth is that donald trump may not still have the juice to win again, even a republican nomination, that remains to be seen, but what he does still have the ability to do is to destroy the party or his opponents if he fails to win. one thing i describe in "betrayal" was an incredible scene on january 20th shortly after he leaves the white house at 8:00 in the morning. he goes to andrews air force base, he has a little farewell,

and he goes on to air force one for his last flight on the plane, and he receives a call from the chair of the republican party, who is just calling to wish him well. and he tells her that he is leaving the republican party, he's going to create his own party and he's done with it. he's, like, you guys didn't help me, you don't deserve to win, i'm going my own way. and mcdaniel, you know, kind of really worries this will destroy the party, you know, if he takes his voters, the republicans will be a permanent minority party. in the course of the next several days they make threats and negotiations and he agrees to stay. but that thread is there still. he may or may not be able to win another republican nomination, but he's not going to stand by and watch somebody else win and somebody else, you know, take what he believes he built. >> yeah, john. so fascinating you brought that up because i was going to ask

you about a possible independent win if things don't goal go well in the independent party. isn't trump setting himself up right now into a trap? you read stories in "the new york post" this morning, the rise in pennsylvania, goes back to pennsylvania yesterday, talking to all of these former trump people, and what turned them off? attacking ron desantis. now he's setting himself up. we show these polls. we know donald. he can't avoid going after the person who's beating him by 20 points in the poll. the more he attacks ron desantis, the more he hurts himself and the republican party. and it seems to me if he's going to do that, his only alternative is running as an independent. >> yeah. look, he is singularly focused on desantis right now. he believes that he created desantis, in large part he's actually right, desantis wouldn't be governor if it weren't for donald trump. but trump didn't endorse him in

his re-election bid, and desantis goes on to win that decisive victory. i went out a few days before the election to a rally that trump had in sioux city and found in talking to the crowd there, these are the red hat wearing, the true believers, most of them, you know, going to the fifth, sixth, seventh trump rally, these people really like ron desantis too. you know, trump may be singularly focused on taking ds down because he believes desantis is not sufficiently loyal or grateful for all that donald trump has done for him, but, you know, trump's supporters like desantis. you can imagine -- imagine there's a debate -- imagine this actually gets to the point where you have a republican debate and desantis is on the stage with donald trump. i mean, one issue that is driving so many of these

supporters is anti-vax, hatred of anthony fauci, kind of truthism around covid. donald trump's the guy who, you know, created -- you know, likes to take credit for creating the vaccine and for a while called it the trump vaccine. that's guy who had anthony fauci as one of his top advisers on his covid task force. you can imagine ron desantis saying, wait a minute, you know, who on this stage hired anthony fauci or had anthony fauci on the payroll? and, you know, donald trump, why couldn't you say those two worlds? why couldn't you say "you're fired"? i would have. so, look, i think it's dangerous not just for desantis, this confrontation, i think it's dangerous for trump. >> as you know, a lot of obituaries we read in newspapers are written ahead of time, especially for prominent people, so they run when the person dies. >> i've written a few, yeah. >> do you get the sense that tonight, whatever happens

tonight, will be just anecdotal evidence for another paragraph in donald trump's political obituary? >> you know, the subtitle of "betrayal" was the final act of the trump show, so i think we're still kind of watching that final act play out. and i do believe that -- it doesn't seem like this is the beginning of a great comeback. it would require a rewriting of the first paragraph of the to -- obit. you may be on to something. >> checking my notes, you have run against donald trump in 2016 working alongside hillary clinton of course. what is your sense of the challenge or perhaps a welcome challenge for democrats now that donald trump, he will announce tonight, he's still, if you look at polling, leads the national polling anyway in head to held with ron desantis -- how do democrats handle this time now that they've got this record of

the last six years effectively of his dragging republicans down in so many of these elections? >> it's one of the things i'm actually curious to ask what jonathan thinks, given that he's covered, you know, four u.s. presidents in the last four decades, this notion of whether it's easier to cover the biden administration or harder, because with trump he was so available to speak all the time, and i would hope that the democrats continue doing the work that they're doing, that the administration, you know, the president's in asia right now and this idea of continuing to do the work. and i think what we saw last week is that's what americans recognized, is that the administration's doing the work, democrats are doing the work up and down the ticket, and they rewarded that. so it's just continuing to talk about the work is what i think democrats need to do and let desantis and trump duke it out amongst themselves, which i am

sure they will do. >> john, what's your sense of that? how are democrats feeling about donald trump still, still being at the center of conversation of our politics? >> well, one of the most controversial things that the democrats did during these midterms was supporting the trump clones, the trump acolytes, the election demi v -- denier, people like bolduc in new hampshire or john gibbs, who defeated peter meijer, who voted to impeach trump. there was a lot of criticism of that strategy. and from just a pure political opportunism measure, it was successful. i mean, those candidates, those trump candidates, universally the ones supported by democrats, universally lost. i think it's frustrating for democrats to see trump still to the extent he has dominating the discussion, but i think it's

also big thing that drove their successes in the midterms. not just the candidates they supported in the republican primaries, but, you know, the fact that donald trump hung over this midterm was clearly what dragged republicans and what should have been, should have been under any other objective historical measure, should have been a big, big election for republicans, wasn't, and it wasn't because in large part donald trump. >> whether they like it or not, he's right back in it. tonight around 9:00 eastern time. jonathan karl, great to see you. "betrayal: the final act of the trump show," is out today in paper back. come back soon. good to see you. mika? joining us now, pennsylvania's governor elect, josh shapiro, setting a record for most votes in a pennsylvania gubernatorial election last week in his defeat of republican doug mastriano. governor-elect, we were saying it as we were seeing it,

especially you, joe, that you were able to communicate everything at once, and it didn't seem hard for you, especially democracy and abortion. >> people were saying, well, we can't talk about inflation and crime because we need to talk about democracy and abortion. you're, like, yeah, hold my beer, i'm going to talk about it all. tell us how that worked for you in pennsylvania. >> yeah. i'll tell you what, joe and mika, here's what we learned, this is big story line, and i was saying this every day during the campaign, pennsylvanians know how to walk and chew gum at the same time, right? i mean, they can care about safety in their communities, they can care about rising costs, they can also care about their personal freedoms, whether it's the right to make decisions over their own bodies or the right to vote. and i felt that no matter where i was, on farms or on street corners, in our urban -- in our cities. folks can care about a whole bunch of things.

we showed up, we listened, and pennsylvanians proved that they can walk and chew gum at the same time. >> so, governor-elect, help us out. we're look at an exit poll that shows 37%. talked about abortion being a top issue. it's interesting, we saw that in pennsylvania, we saw that in michigan. and i remember early in the evening looking at polls that said abortion was really high on a lot of voters' minds. and yet you look at all of the issue polls that the media put out in i'd say the last month and abortion at 5%, 6%, 7%. it didn't make any sense to us, but all the issue polls kept coming back that way. what did you hear on the campaign trail? i'm curious about post dobbs up until election day and not just from traditional democratic voters but even from independent who is might be a bit more pro-life than, say, you.

>> you know, i heard and felt it everywhere. i remember an older woman in lawrence county, pennsylvania, i mean, a pretty republican community, literally, joe, like grabbed me by the jacket, pulled me in to her face and with a finger in my face, said do not let us go back to what it was like before roe. you wouldn't expect to hear that in lawrence county. then we saw, for example, students just mobilizing and organizing like we've never seen before, over 50 students for shapiro chapter, and shout-out to our daughter, sophia, who started those beginning on pitt's campus. it was incredible to see young people motivated by that. finally, and this is something that i think it's important and shouldn't be lost, a whole bunch of dads who would come over to me and sort of quietly lean over and say, i have a daughter, don't let them take away her rights. >> yes. >> i heard that a lot too. again, i hate to keep repeating

this, but folks know how to walk and chew gum at the same time. they can care about those issues and also care about the so-called kitchen-table issues. that's what we focused on every day, protecting people's freedoms. >> absolutely. >> making sure everybody gets a good education, safe community, and an economy that lifts everybody up. >> huma abedin, to governor-elect shapiro's point, i always thought there were not just a lot of women turning out and voting about the abortion issue, about their rights being taken away, but a lot of men too who happen to care about the women in their lives. >> absolutely. >> congratulations, governor-elect. you were an attorney general since 2017 and this ha s an issue that has stymied democrats in pars of the country and others have managed to turn it around. i'm curious what you saw on the

campaign that made crime a winning issue, certainly in your state. >> i talked about this issue every day, and i think you have to begin the conversation, hue marx by recognizing that people have a right to both be safe and feel safe in their communities. the government has a fundamental responsibility to deliver that. i talked a lot about not just my record on crime, arrested over 8,000 drug dealers, 500 child predators, over 500 gun traffickers, but also my plans for future to hire more police, to make sure they're properly trained, that they look like the communities they're sworn to protect. i wasn't afraid to lean in on that issue and no democrat should be. we have to make sure people understand we have plans to keep them safe. i'm going to continue to not just talk about issues but work on them, and this is something i

think is critical for us as a party to get back to. >> mr. governor-elect, i'm ticking through some of the counties in pennsylvania, seeing how you did in a lot of them, some that have been written off as red counties or trump counties. beaver was plus 18 for donald trump in 2020. you won that by three points. berks, you won it by about four points. cumberland, plus 10.5 for trump, you won by almost 8 points two years later. and luzerne, plus 14, you flipped that by 2 points as well. what did you do in those counties in particular and tell those voter who is almost uniformly by double digits went two years ago for donald trump? >> you know, i showed up, and i treated people with respect and i talked about issues that actually mattered to them, not the noise that they were used to hearing from politicians. i showed them my record of

success in their communities but also my plans to try to make their lives better. the good people of pennsylvania just want to know you're fighting for them and will deliver something good for them and you' show up in their neighborhoods, at their diner, treat them with respect, learn about their businesses and see what you can do to help them flourish, you'll care about their kids. i want's also important to note that this ain't my first rodeo. i've won twice statewide, and actually in all three elections i've earned more votes than anyone on the ballot and more than anyone in the history of pennsylvania. i'm not saying that to pat myself on the back. i'm saying that because i have a record of showing up in these communities and delivering for these folks and this was another example of that. we're proud of the campaign we ran in all 67 counties in pennsylvania. >> you did fairly well among your constituency that democrats have hard times lately identifying and getting to vote for them.

white men from working-class families. how did you do it going forward? how does the democratic party do it? >> mike, great question. i hate to even have to answer a question at this point in the morning as a celtics fan, but i will do it because of my respect for you and this show. god. but anyway, look, i think it goes back to what i said a moment ago. you each got to show up and treat people with respect. i think too many in our party have written off constituencies or written off communities, and the bottom line here is we have to lift everybody up, and i think we're a party with real and meaningful answers to some of the pressing problems today and tomorrow. and i think in the way you show up, in the language that you use, in the way you engage with people, it has to be predicated upon respect. i think we've had too many candidates over the last decade

or so who come in and try and tell people what they need to know and what they need to hear instead of listening. i think i have a strong track record of listening and turning that into action and delivering for people. pennsylvanians know who i am and what i can deliver for them, and that's what i'll continue to do as their next governor. >> governor-elect josh shapiro of pennsylvania, congratulations. and thank you for being on the show. >> congratulations. good luck. >> thank you. >> let's talk about the los angeles mayor's race because, mika, that's a race that so many people were thinking caruso might be able to squeak out a victory. he was ahead in fact tuesday night, wednesday night. going into friday, though, congresswoman bass moved ahead. you go to the "l.a. times" and they're talking about the votes remaining to be counted. we don't know.

it's not completely transparent in los angeles. california takes such a long time to count votes. but they're sorting through it, they're doing it patiently, doing it according to the law there. and we'll just keep the count. but, again, mike barnicle, this is a race, and if, in fact, congresswoman bass holds on to that lead, this is a race that defied expectations. there were so many people when i went out to los angeles that were quietly predicting, because of crime, because of quality of life issues, because of homelessness, they thought the former republican was going to take more of a tough approach. also the ads, he overwhelmed congresswoman bass with ads. but it looks right now, karen bass, again, widening her lead. we to don't know which direction this is going to go, but if she wins, she was of course a

favorite throughout much of the race, but it would be one more example of defying expectations at the very end, because she's showing her strength as these votes keep moving forward. >> yeah. that's for sure, joe. both candidates, caruso and congresswoman bass, raised enormous amounts of money. caruso spent enormous amounts of his own money on this race. the thing is los angeles county, the city itself is such a sprawl of urban neighborhoods, different ethnicities in each neighborhood. the mystery to me in los angeles and it extend beyond los angeles is why in 2022 the united states of america doesn't know how to count investments, doesn't know how to run -- elections are run efficiently, but the number of volts that are found a week, ten days later, that people wait to come in to find them and dropping off bundles of votes, even today, it is beyond acceptable.

it's unacceptable. >> the thing is it's not that they are finding these votes, it's that these votes of course are mailed in at the end. >> you have to get to them. >> everything that you see we predicted beforehand. remember i joked, mee cha, time and again before, i said my god, hem us if the senate comes down to arizona and nevada, because i talked about matt who ran in 2002. called him wednesday pop you winning? i don't know. it's going to take -- it kept dragging on and on. in 2020, it kept dragging on and on. and i joked that they count two volts, they eat a ham sandwich, they go home. it's not that way. what they're doing -- and this is what's so important for you to understand -- they're doing what the state legislatures tell them to do. they're following the law, whether it's in maricopa county, whether in clark county --

>> and we appreciate what they're doing. >> we so appreciate what they're doing. but, you know, it used to be i would be campaigning and people would be yelling about the tax cold and say the irs is this. i said don't blame the irs. blame members of congress because there's nothing in the code that congress didn't write. well, here, arizona has the system they have. if you don't like it, tell your representatives to change it. los angeles, the same way. again, i just keep going back to florida, where we can tell you other than the 2000 recount of course which was just a nightmare, other than that race where it was so close, we usually know by 7:30, 8:00, 8:30 at night based on how miami-dade, broward, and palm beach county come in, we can usually tell who's going to win statewide because florida

legislatures have always made sure that there were laws on the books that allow you to vote, count the early votes when they come in. see, if arizona had that law, if nevada had that law, california had that vote and said get the votes out there, let people mail in their ballots, have a deadline that allows you to count the votes when they come in, then -- in florida, 7:00 p.m., the polls close, boom. you see about where about a third of the vote is going already. so this is all preordained. there's nothing magic here, conspiracy theorists can say what they want to say, but it's all because of the legislatures, all because of the law. for the life of me, and what mike said, why don't -- why don't states follow the florida model? because it sure would take a lot of guesswork out of the way and it would literally suck the air out of conspiracy theorists --

>> yes. >> -- who are talking about stolen elections or ballots found here and there. >> clarity as early as possible. >> and transparency so we know by 10:00, 11:00, who wins the race. >> huma abedin, thank you so much for being on this morning. well see you again soon. we have a lot of 30/50 news to get to with you. still ahead, georgia governor brian kemp will testify this morning in the fulton county probe into former president trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. we'll get a live report from outside the courthouse in just a moment. also ahead, treasury secretary janet yellen weighs in on when she expects inflation to return to normal levels. she used the word "years" in her answer. >> oh, boy. >> we'll play her comments.

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it's a beautiful live picture of the united states capitol at 9:34 in the morning, 6:34 out west. republicans are setting out fund-raising emails now asking republican voters to, quote, help save america by getting behind herschel walker in his december 6th runoff election. what's not immediately clear to recipients of those emails is how lit offensively that money actually goes to walker's campaign, just 10 cents on the dollar. the campaign is asking fellow republicans to stop such fund-raising practices or at least start sharing more with the candidate himself. the campaign said it first noticed the problem when former president trump's save america pac sent out an email asking respective donors to, quote,

contribute any amount immediately to the official georgia runoff fund-raising goal and increase your impact by 1,200%. but if donors did not see a link that said "click here for details" or to edit allocation, they would not have noticed that 90% of their contributions automatically went to trump with the remaining 10% going to walker. after that 90/10 ratio was highlighted on social media, trump's committee changed the allocation to a 50/50 split. emails from other political committees eventually defaulted, though, to 90/10 divisions as well. joe, this speaks to what we've been talking about this morning and for many, many months, which is the money that comes in, and it looks like it's going to a bigger cause, maybe stop the steal rally or republican candidates, actually just finding its way into donald trump's pocket. >> let's change the word like cher's 1970s hit, "gypsies,

tramps and thieves" to grifters, tramps and thieves. these people are stealing money. >> they steal elections. >> they steal money from trump supporters with the stop the steal scam. they steal money from trump supporters on steve bannon's build the wall scam that he got arrested for. and now they're doing it to herschel walker. but here's the thing. of course we know that donald trump is the tammy fae bakker of politics. we've been talking about it for some time. we know mar-a-lago is the new ptl club hand. but how would you like to be herschel walker and see that this same scam is being used by people that you may be working with? the latest is john kennedy, the senator in louisiana. marc caputo, a brilliant reporting here, he's keeping track, it did start with trump and then it was the north carolina republican party that

was stealing money from herschel walker's pocket. then it was senator elect jd vance, who surprised here, raise a hand, anybody, anybody, bueller, anybody, nobody's surprised that scam artist butters actually stealing money from somebody that he may be serving with, and it's the same thing -- let's see, who else did marc caputo say. oh, ted bud, the guy that just got elected in north carolina. and mike barnicle, i would be shocked but it's kind of like what we said last week before the election when we saw how these people were responding to pelosi getting -- they're lit ramally stealing money from a guy they want to serve with and using his fight for his political life as a way for them to get more money.

and you just ask yourself the question, who raised these people? who raised these people? it's a disgrace, and it always catches up with them. it's caught up with trump. when are they going to ever learn? >> well, they're not going to learn, joe, and they have no shame. a couple hours ago just this morning we pointed out that donald trump has $94 million in his own personal campaign bank account. that's money that was sent to him for myriad causes from a lot of innocent people out there who have some sense of belief in what donald trump says. that's their problem. but the point is that $94 million he has on hand, he views that the same way he viewed all of the top-secret documents that were strewn around his bedroom floor in mar-a-lago. they belong to me. that's what he thinks. he thinks the money belongs to him. i don't know about the other candidates you just mentioned who are literally ripping off people in their own party for

their own greed, but donald trump believes that that money belongs to him. >> well, newly re-elected georgia governor brian kemp will testify today before the fulton county special grand jury that is investigating donald trump and his allies' alleged criminal meddling in georgia's 2020 elections. kemp's appearance represents a hard-fought victory for the fulton county district attorney's office, which has been angling for kemp's testimony for a year and a half now. spokespeople for kemp and fulton county district attorney fannie will liles declined to comment, but that should be interesting. let's bring in nbc news correspondent blayne alexander live from outside the courthouse in fulton county. blayne, what's the very latest? >> reporter: well, mika, we can confirm the brian governor brian kemp is inside the building according to a source who's familiar with the arrangements.

we're told he entered through an underground entrance largely away from camera view around 9:00 this morning. as for the testimony itself, remember, all of this is going to happen behind closed doors so we don't know exactly what is going to be said, what's going to be asked of him, but the d.a. certainly had a rather long laundry list of what she wants to ask from him. all of this of course goes back to any sort of communication that governor kemp had with former president trump and members of trump's inner circle, members of his team, about efforts to overturn the election results in georgia. the d.a. is going to ask him whether or not he had any sort of communication from members of trump's team asking him about the results, whether he had communications with the trump campaign about their false claims surrounding georgia's election, and of course any conversations that he had with the president himself asking him to take action on the election results here in georgia. what's interesting about all of this of course is we know the very public conversation that launched this entire investigation. that was the phone call from

former president trump to secretary of state brad raffensperger. that was recorded and released publicly for the world to hear. but these conversations the former president had with the governor, those are largely unknown. that's something that the d.a. is trying to uncover. now, of course, we know very well what happened on the other side of those. we know about the attacks the president launched at the former governor and what happened afterwards. the d.a. is going to be trying to get into those conversations. one other note just about the timing here, of course all of this is coming at the end of a so-called quiet period around georgia's elections. it was one week ago to the day that brian kemp won re-election. the judge ordered him to come soon after, and here he is testifying today, guys. >> blayne alexander live in atlanta, thank you very much for that report. we'll turn now to the economy. nbc news correspondent peter alexander just spoke with treasury secretary janet yellen on the sidelines of the g-20 summit in bali, indonesia, about

when she expects inflation in the u.s. to come down from near four-decade highs. here's what she had to say. >> i think we see some good indications that inflation is poised to come down, but -- >> poised to come down. how long should we anticipate we sort of live in this climate? >> well, i think, look, over the next couple years i definitely think that inflation will come back down toward normal levels we're accustomed to. i don't want to forecast on a month-by-month basis. >> let's bring the co-anchor of cnbc's "squawk box" andrew ross sorkin. andrew, janet yellen, the biden administration, they've already been burned once by trying to predict how quickly inflation was going to leave. transitory i think was the term. >> right. >> hanging over for quite some time.

doesn't look like janet yellen is willing to take the bait again. >> it's hard to make a prediction. there is some good news for the biden administration and it happened this morning. the producer price index down by 0.2% in october, below the 0.4% estimate. it signals that along with the consumer price index that maybe we have peaked out. it doesn't mean it's come down yet, it just means potentially we've plateaued and have to hope things get better. what it does mean is the stock market's already starting to move higher on the expectations that things do get better and arguably that the federal reserve, which we've all been watching at some point, quote, unquote, pivots away from continuing to raise interest rates. the question of course is what do they do next month, but not just what they do next month but what they ultimately do over the next year. i think that's what the market is betting on more than anything else. but janet yellen said it best. it will still be likely years, two, three years before we get

back down to, you know, 2% inflation. >> more signs about where the economy is and amazon, but "the new york times," "wall street journal," others reporting thousands, perhaps up to 10,000 people being laid off from their jobs. that would be the largest cuts in the companies' history. what do we read into this? >> i think we're starting to see the employment picture shifting. employment's been super strong as we've watched the unemployment rate come down to what looked like historic lows. woe we've heard from amazon and a number of big tech companies and other, and over the next few months i think we'll see that unemployment rate creep up. perversely, that creep up might be good for inflation coming down, but at the same time of course those who have lost their jobs get hurt in the process. that's what we' seeing.

home depot reported earnings today, strong numbers but less people going into the stores, the volume, the amount of traffic in the stores coming down, the number of purchases coming down, yet what they've been able to do is pass those costs on to consumers. the question is, come next year, are there going to be less people in the store and can they still pass those costs on to consumers. if they can't, in some ways that represents good news because it means that the inflation piece of this will start to subside. >> cnbc's andrew ross sorkin, than you very much. coming up, nbc's keir simmons brings us the story of a girls' school in kenya where an inspiring head mistress is a role model for girls facing dire situations. as we go to break, a big headline out of california. officials there are reporting an unprecedented rise in flu cases that are reaching levels not seen in years, a positivity rate in l.a. county alone now at 25%.

that's nearly double from last week alone. >> and, you know, that's the thing about covid. we moved through covid, there were a lot of people that -- >> the flu shot. >> -- a lot of people that weren't out as much, weren't exposed as much, wearing masks. now you get to the other side of that and the resistance may be down. >> we'll be following that story. "morning joe" will be right back. ♪♪ subway's drafting 12 new subs for the all-new subway series menu the new monster has juicy steak and crispy bacon. but what about the new boss? it looks so good it makes me hangry! settle down there, big guy the new subway series. what's your pick? you might take something for your heart... your joints... or your digestion... so why wouldn't you take something for the most important part of you... your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish,

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take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us . the war in ukraine as well as the pandemic and an historic years' long drought has led to severe food shortages across africa. millions are struggling to feed themselves and their families especially in northern kenya where food and water are scarce. and keir simmons was in east africa and is joining us with his reporting. >> and it is just not getting enough reporting. there is a huge drought and starvation crisis unfolding in east africa right now. and while you guys have been onner a, the u.n.

secretary-general at the g-20 has said that what is looming is a raging food catastrophe. take a look at this picture. this is an image of school girls with access to running water in northern kenya. it is a picture of what can be done. ♪♪ >> reporter: these girls are learning to hope despite horrifying hardship. finally they have fresh water at this girls school, part of unicef's work to ease a fast developing drought. their performance tells of terrible times at home. without food, some families forced to marry their young daughters off as child brides. their school fights to protect

them from that fate. their head mistress is an inspiration. >> i'm their mentor, like a mother to every one of them. and i am always their mentor because when it seems like it has all gone ahead of them, it encourages them. >> you can show these girls that woman can -- >> can make it. >> can make it. can make it in life. in these harsh times, with no food, they can still make it. >> reporter: the school has some food, but she has to ration it, only the very youngest and these students facing exams get lunch. >> see porridge. >> reporter: you'd think that might knock their spirits. not these girls. are you hopeful that you will do well on your exams? >> yes, of course. i'm the first one to grow up, want to be lou like journalist.

>> reporter: you want to be a journalist? >> yes, that is my dream. >> reporter: is it hard to keep telling them that message with everything that is happening? >> it is not hard. it is not hard. they embrace it especially when they see that motherly love from you. >> reporter: an hour's drive from the school, crossing dry river beds, more of the climate change disaster impacting 22 million people in east africa right now. we find a community in unimaginable conditions. we just arrived in this community and look, everywhere there are these deep, deep holes. the desert is punctured with holes at least 30 feet deep. and then we see this, mothers and even their children clamoring down, disappearing underground, risking their lives to pass up buckets of brown

water. it caved in over here? >> yeah. and people fall. >> reporter: people fall down when they are going down there. >> way down. yeah. >> reporter: and they say one mother was killed when a hole fell in. aren't you frightened to go down there? >> because of the problems that they face, they have no choice. >> reporter: and we're thirsty, shenandoah. when you see families having to do this just to get water, it is so frustrating when you know how possible it is to provide clean water. i sit down with the village elder, he is 70. he was born here. he has never seen anything like this. we had a good rain about ten years ago, tells me, where it was all pastures here. ten years ago was your last good rain? ten years ago. you see the depths of the hole, they are so deep because of the lack of rain. we need a way to get water so that the people will not have to

risk their lives in these holes, he says. as we leave the women dance, a tradition dramatizing their plight. while back at the school -- >> a takes big victory, but the challenge is more than just this one place. >> reporter: the ge girls tell that they love learning and the hope of a future that is a little less certain. it is frank lit clearly too late to prevent those people's lives from being changed by climate change and in the end what is going to need to happen is that help will need to have to be provided to frankly get them through it. but just listen to this, mika, america is the biggest global

contributor to unicef. when americans see images like that, they are incredibly generous. >> keir simmons, thank you very much for that report and if you want to help unicef in its fight against hunger in kenya and around the world, visit unicef usa.org/nbc. >> and keir is on right. americans, the american government, has long been extraordinarily generous. but obviously we need to do more right now. and there are organizations like unicef. willie, also, you know, we've been involved for some time with global citizen who are fighting extreme poverty. and they are trying to do it by working with governments. so it is not just one person here or -- it is a collective, nations rising up, a global initiative to help so much

people suffering right now. >> and the good news is there is progress being made if you look at worldwide poverty rates. but you look at those kids, those families, you look at those young girls that the school, and if you don't see your own child in there, you should. >> you're not looking closely enough. >> yeah. and that is a worth while cause. just an amazing and thought-provoking report from keir there. >> and that does it for us this morning. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage after a quick final break. uick final break. 'twas a wintry day, and at ihop quite soon hot cinnamon apples would be coaxed with a spoon on the fluffiest french toast with red currants on top we wish you a happy holiday, only at ihop. new gingersnap apple french toast, part of our new holiday menu. try all three flavors. i brought in ensure max protein with 30 grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. uhhhh... here, i'll take that. [woo hoo!] ensure max protein, with 30 grams of protein,

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good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern,:00 a.m. pacific. and we start with a new win for democrats. and nbc news projects katie hobbs will be the next governor of arizona defeating her trump backed opponent kari lake. up on capitol hill,