as america emerged from the pandemic. and you're right, there are warning signs from the bond market and we could be coming from a hard landing. this is an effort to sort of coax up the economy, but keep americans realistic. >> mike allen, an early happy thanksgiving to you as well. thanks for joining us this morning. i'll take this moment to say thanks to sam stein, katty kay, lisa menendez when i was traveling in asia the last week and a half. thank you for getting up "way too early" on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. i'm thinking at any second this man could bust through the door and kill us if he really wanted to. thank god he didn't really know i guess where he was going. the police didn't even know we were in the dressing room. once they found us, we were escorted out. when we were escorted out, bodies on the ground, blood,

shattered glass. people dead. it was sad. >> a witness describing the scene and what he saw just around midnight saturday after a gunman entered an lgbtq nightclub in colorado and began to fire, killing five people, injuring 25 more before he was confronted and subdued by two people inside the club. we'll have a live report from colorado springs in just a moment. plus attorney general merrick garland names a special counsel to investigate ongoing federal probes into donald trump. we will have reaction and take a closer look at the veteran prosecutor who will decide whether trump should be charged. meanwhile, high profile republicans continue to urge the republican party to move on from trump, including former appointees and allies. we'll have the very latest. welcome to "morning joe,"

monday, november 21st, we have with us the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief of "politico," back from his ten-day bender in southeast asia, mr. jonathan lemire, and also with us, msnbc contributor, mike barnicle. joe and mika have the morning off. we want to begin, though, in colorado springs where a community is grieving this morning following the deadly mass shooting in an lgbtq nightclub. five people were killed, 25 others hurt. after a man with an ar-15 rifle and handgun opened fire inside club q just before midnight. the one person who survived the shooting telling "the new york times" he thought the gunshots were part of the music on saturday night. but then he saw the muzzle of a gun and ran. police say the tragedy would have been much worse if not for the brave actions of two people inside that club. >> while the suspect was inside of the club, at least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect and were able to stop

the suspect from continuing to kill and harm others. we owe them a great debt of thanks. >> police have identified the gunman as 22-year-old anderson lee aldrich but have not determined a motive. joining us now from colorado springs, nbc news correspondent priscilla thompson. what do you see and hear, and what more do we know about a potential motive here? >> reporter: well, willie, good morning. you see this memorial behind me that has grown over the past 24 hours, as people from this community come here to pay their respects for those five victims. what we are learning at this moment, we know that there are those 25 people who were injured. at least 18 of them are still hospitalized. some in critical condition, and of course the big question is why. why did this happen? why did the shooter walk into this club and commit such a devastating act of violence.

we know that there was someone by the same name and with the same birth date who was arrested last year for making bomb threats to his mother. but we don't know the status of that case. officials have declined to say whether or not the suspect in this case is the same person that was arrested last year. but they do say that they are looking at that case in relation to what happened here over the weekend. and i have been speaking to community members who have been coming here. a lot of people just overcome with emotion as they come to pay their respects. i spoke to one person, sophie, and i want to play a little bit of what they said to me about how it feels right now to be someone of the lgbtq plus community after a tragedy like this has happened here. take a listen. >> this is not an easy day. this is a lot to just wake up to as a transgender person living in colorado springs. this is a hard city to live in

already, so waking up to something this in your face is just a reminder of the hate that we live with in the city every day, and the love that we need to fight it with. you can't fight hate with hate, so we tried to bring a little bit of love here today. >> reporter: and still so much hurt in this community, but also so many questions and also praise for those two people that you noted who essentially fought with the gunman. the mayor saying that they were able to take a gun from him and actually hit the gunman and get him on the ground. and just to give you context about the time line here, they say that within one minute, those patrons rushed that gunman. within one minute, he was able to kill five people, injure 25 people, and we're still working to learn about if there were any red flag laws that might have been raised here about this suspect, and how exactly he obtained this gain and of course

the biggest question of all, why. willie. >> and to that question, priscilla, we know and respect the fact that the police want to know until they wait to describe a motive to what happened here. this is an lgbtq club, they had advertised a drag brunch for transgender remembrance day and the man according to witnesses walked in with a rifle and started shooting indiscriminately. where will the investigation go from here? what else will police be looking at? >> reporter: police have obtained multiple search warrants to search the suspect's home, looking at social media accounts to see if they can find anything to show that he had hate towards a targeted group, of course in this case, the lgbtq plus community. of course that suspect is expected to survive. he was injured. he is hospitalized, but police are working to interview and actually speak to him and try to see what they can learn from him

about why he chose to commit this act of violence. speaking to family members and friends and of course speaking to the witnesses who were here over the weekend about what they heard, what they saw as the incident unfolded. a lot of people that i have spoken to on the ground here feel like this was absolutely a hate crime. they feel like this was a targeted attack. this is known to be a safe space for this group in this community, and they feel like there is no reason that someone would have walked into this club and committed this crime were it not for hate against this community, willie. >> a terrible, terrible tragedy which could have been much worse as you say if not for some of the heroism of people inside that club. priscilla thompson in colorado springs. a man with the same name and age of the club shooting suspect was arrested in june after last year after the man's mother called police to report he threatened her with a bomb and other weapons. he surrendered to police after a

three-hour standoff that forced neighbors to evacuate. he was booked on felony kidnapping and menacing charges but the associated press points out there's no public record prosecutors moved forward with that case or that police or relatives ever tried to trigger colorado's red flag law. coming up on "morning joe," we'll speak with the district attorney on colorado springs overseeing potential charges here, and the president and ceo of g.l.a.d., sarah kate ellis, that's in a few minutes. attorney general merrick garland is appointing a special counsel to oversee the ongoing investigations into donald trump concerning 2020 election interference and the mar-a-lago documents case along with obstruction in that investigation. garland has named veteran prosecutor jack smith to the position. the justice department says smith has resigned from his position at the hague where he investigated war crimes committed during the kosovo war. he will return to the united

states immediately to begin his new assignment. naming a special counsel gives garland some distance from the investigation should his boss, president biden, face off against president trump in the next presidential election. based on recent developments, including the former president's announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election, and the sitting president's stated intention to be a candidate as well, i have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel. such an appointment underscores the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive matters. throughout his career, jack smith has built a reputation as an impartial and determined prosecutor who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead. as special counsel, he will exercise independent prosecutorial judgment to decide

whether charges should be brought. >> again, attorney general garland appointed by president biden, wanted to give himself some distance from this investigation. now that trump has gotten into the race. the former president spent the weekend railing against attorney general garland's announcement. in a mar-a-lago event, the 2024 presidential candidate demoaned what he called the witch hunts he has dealt with over the years. this horrendous abuse of power is the latest in a long series of witch hunts. it started a long time ago. they want to do bad things to the greatest movement in the history of our country but in particular bad things to me. but i've gotten used to it. lucky. it's lucky. a lot of people wouldn't get used to it so easily. this is a rigged deal just as the 2020 election was rigged and we can't let them get away with it. over the years, i've given millions and millions of pages

of documents, tax returns and everything else, and they have found nothing, which means i've proven to be one of the most honest and innocent people ever in our country. >> again, the two investigations the special prosecutor will be looking into despite what the president said there are his leading of an attempted coup against the government around the 2020 election and the taking of classified documents from the white house to mar-a-lago. let's bring in former u.s. attorney joyce vance, an msnbc legal analyst and founder of the conservative web site, the bulwark, charlie sykes. let me start with you and what we know about jack smith, a prosecutor at the federal level and a war crimes prosecutor at the hag. what do you make of the move here and the choice of mr. smith? >> well, merrick garland clearly wasn't trying to appeal to the former president because there's nothing that could convince him that any investigation into his conduct has integrity.

what garland is trying to do here is simply doing the right thing in the right way, and it's something of a signal that he believes there may well be sufficient evidence to indict trump because if that wasn't going to be the case, there would have been no reason for garland himself to decline on an investigation, so not to read the tea leaves too far, but it does seem to signal that doj believes that there's serious business ahead. smith is well qualified. he has experienced both justice, and out in the field at u.s. attorneys offices, and there's nothing like trying a lot of cases to help you understand when you have enough evidence to proceed in a very serious case. there's just no substitute for that experience. so he brings that along with managerial ability. he was briefly an acting united states attorney in nashville during the trump administration, and also he brings his experience in kosovo where he joined that team. it's interesting, willie, they

had actually been in progress for over a year with the investigation. no charges had been brought. he joined us. they call it the specialist counsel in that situation. and charges were brought over a hundred of them. he seems well positioned to hit the ground running here. >> let's stay with you and talk a time line. there's a sense of real momentum in the investigations over the summer into early fall before doj pushes pause, at least publicly because of that unwritten rule about not talking, publicly commenting about an investigation 60 days near an election. that is coming on. bringing in a new person like this, is there a sense here as qualified as he is, that this is going to slow things down? is this going to extend the process of the investigation until we get a resolution one way or another about possible criminal charges? >> so garland says no, and he offers some compelling reasons to believe him. i'll say i think it's appropriate for us to all be

watchful. but the argument runs something like this. smith has a track record of jumping into existing investigations and hitting the ground running. the statement that smith himself issued was a vow that the investigation would not shift into neutral while he got up to speed. garland has promised that he will get all of the resources that he needs. and this is a very different situation from the mueller investigation. mueller became special counsel eight days after jim comey, the fbi director was fired by donald trump. there was no preexisting investigation for him to pick up and run with. he had to build everything from ground zero. he nonetheless removed remarkably quickly. i remember how surprised we all were when the first indictments began to come down. smith has a very different scenario. he's got prosecutors and agents who are working on these matters because it's both of the investigations, january 6th as well as mar-a-lago, and those folks will be able to shift

over. he will continue to working with them, with the professionals in the national security division. he should be able to move with some speed, even in this december period where doj is normally a little bit quieter, and that's what i'll be looking for to see if they run through the tape at the end of the year. >> mike, the criticism we have heard from donald trump in the last couple of days and other republicans over the weekend is about the timing, which is that donald trump announces he's running for president and a couple of days later, the attorney general announces a special counsel where it's actually just the opposite. the attorney general has said because donald trump announced he's running for president, i need to remove myself from this because i was appointed by president biden who might be his opponent, and hand this over to someone who will be independent. and who is not tied to the administration in that way. >> yeah, well, willie, the former president has never been known for being reflective about events that surround him, which leads me to ask you, charlie sykes, the clip that we just

played of the former president speaking, it struck me and i think others that he does not wear well the costume of a victim. >> no, but he likes to put it on, doesn't he. this is one of the great paradoxes, i alone can fix this. i am the great man. i will return america to greatness but i'm this besieged victim all the time. my first reaction was a little bit of disappointment that it looked like the attorney general was punting. i think that joyce's analysis, though, is reassuring, and i think jonathan asked really the correct question, what is the speed of this. is it going to be slowed down? i think it's naive to think that by appointing a special counsel that he's going to reduce the criticism you're going to get from maga world and from republicans, but as you mention, it was interesting watching that clip of donald trump once again

wallowing in his victim hood and looking past. i think it's going to be interesting over the next couple of months to see how other republicans react to all of this, particularly now that donald trump is alone as an announced candidate with a spotlight on him so intensely. >> we're going to hear from some republicans condemning donald trump in just a few minutes, and meanwhile in an interview they aired hours after the announcement of the special counsel, former attorney general under trump bill barr said the department of justice does have a legitimate basis to indict donald trump over the classified documents seized from mar-a-lago. here's what he said. >> if the department of justice can show that these were indeed very sensitive documents, which i think they probably were, and also show that the president consciously was involved in misleading the department, deceiving the government, and playing games after he had received the subpoena for the

documents, those are serious charges. >> that's a serious enough crime to -- >> i personally think that they probably have a basis for legitimately indicting the president. i don't know, i'm speculating, but given what's gone on, i think they probably have evidence that would check the box. they have the case. >> do you think they will? >> i think it's becoming increasingly more likely. >> increasingly more likely the justice department will indict donald trump, says his attorney general. and his views about donald trump around 2020 and the election, everything that happened with january 6th. he did say, though, i will note that, while if donald trump ends up being the nominee, i'll have to consider voting for him. we can put that to the side. does he right? does it look like from where you're sitting that the justice department has enough to indict donald trump on the classified

documents? >> far be it from me to agree with anything bill barr says. i think he sort of x'd himself out of discourse when he lied about the mueller report that exonerated donald trump supposedly. i think in this case what his comments signal is increasingly the public observers who are looking at the evidence that is publicly known. it looks like trump's conduct with regard to the classified documents is right inside of the heart land of cases that doj prosecutes. it's really important to say that we don't know the evidence that doj has internally. sometimes as a prosecutor you have evidence that's exculpatory. evidence that tends to show that someone isn't criminally liable, and that evidence might not be publicly available, so it would be a mistake for us to pre-judge. but based on what we've seen, and i was one of the coauthors of a piece published in just security last week that

exhaustively views the evidence and the law and concludes that prosecution is merited both on the documents charges and on obstruction of justice charges. >> we will see what the special counsel, jack smith, how quickly they move there. joyce vance, thank you for walking us through this. we appreciate it. thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," a growing number of republicans are urging their party to break from donald trump ahead of 2024. we'll take a look at what some leading gop voices and potential white house contenders had to say over the weekend, and how long this break may last. plus, elon musk restores the former president's twitter account. but trump says he has no interest in returning to the site, at least for now. what it means for the continued chaos inside twitter. and parts of western new york are digging out after a record setting winter storm passed through the region. 80 inches of snow in orchard park, new york, home of the buffalo bills. we'll have a live report from buffalo when "morning joe" comes

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with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. . it's a beautiful live picture as the sun begins to come up at 6:24 in the morning in washington. a number of top republicans there continue to urge the party to break from trump ahead of 2024. former secretary of state mike pompeo who's mulling his own presidential bid tweeted this on friday. we were told we would get tired of winning, but i'm tired of losing and so are most republicans. here's what new hampshire governor, chris sununu said in a meeting of the republican jewish coalition on saturday. >> candidate quality matters. holy cow have we learned that one the tough way. look, here's a good policy, i got a great policy for the

republican party, let's stop supporting crazy unelectable candidates in our primaries and start getting behind winners that can close the deal in november. there's a unique decision for you. i mean, really, holy cow. that's important. don't just assume it's all going to work out. we keep losing and losing and losing. and the fact of the matter is the reason we're losing is because donald trump has put himself before everybody else. donald trump picked candidates with one criteria, only one, not electability, not experience, not wisdom, not charisma, not the ability to govern, but do you believe the 2020 election was stolen or not. if you do, i endorse you. if you don't, i reject you. let me tell you, that's not what

this party stands for, it's not what it should stand for in the future, and we have to stop it now. >> governor christie said over the weekend, republicans have to stop treating trump like volodymyr, they need to say his name out loud and confront him. paul ryan warned yesterday republicans will lose the white house if the party supports donald trump in 2024. >> it's palpable right now. we get past trump, we start winning elections. we stick with trump, we keep losing elections. that's how i see it. >> he had incredible power in the primaries. his candidates won in the primaries across the board. >> he can get the people to the primaries but can't win general elections. it's clear, i think the republican voter is going to move on. i don't think he ends up winning the nomination at the end of the day. i think we have a great stable of good capable conservatives who are more than capable of winning this primary for presidency and winning the election, and i think republican voters know that. so that's why i think our voters

ultimately who want to win are going to give us candidates who can win. >> what will it mean to the republican party if he actually wins the nomination again? >> we would probably likely lose the white house. we just did in '20. we would probably lose the white house for trump. my guess is we win the white house. >> if he wins the general election, the way liz cheney has put it, it's an existential threat. >> you think he's more popular since the '20 election or the swing voter. >> there's no evidence at all. he does seem to have a hold on the republican party, whether or not it's a majority, we'll see. >> i think he's going to continue to lose altitude because we want to win, and we know with him we lose. we have a string of losses to prove that point, and there are a lot of really good capable conservatives who people i think like that are more than capable of not only being good conservatives in office but can win elections.

>> look, i was not an ever trumper. >> you worked with the speaker. >> i governed with him, and i'm proud of those days. i'm proud of the accomplishments of the tax reform, deregulation of criminal justice reform. i'm excited about the judges we the bench, not just the supreme court. i'm a never again trumper because i want to win. and we lose with trump. it was really clear to us in '18, '20 and now 2022. >> former house speaker paul ryan. there will be people watching those clips and say, okay, but we have seen this movie before. after january 6th republicans walked out on the ledge and said i'm done, enough, we can't have donald trump with us. they turned around and saw there weren't a whole lot of people with them, and walked back where they were. is this time different just for the practical question of he lost the midterm elections effectively for them a couple of weeks ago.

he lost the white house. he lost in '18. he lost the special election in 2021, and they want to hold on to power? >> yeah, it's only going to be different if it's different. having seen all of the other times the republicans have walked up to this line, but having said that, i think one of the most interesting things over the weekend was watching that parade of presidential candidates. donald trump did not sweep the field by preemptively getting into the race. nobody backed away. if, in fact, he did have an iron grip on the party, and he is still the dominant force in the party, you would have thought that other candidates would have backed away from a direct challenge. they didn't. on the other hand, listening to my good friend paul ryan, and i wish he would have said these things a long time ago, you'll notice he's confining himself to saying that trump is a loser. i think this is important that republicans, i think this is a

significant development, republicans are now saying we need to turn the page, we need to move on. he will lose for us, and maybe that will hit with primary voters, but then he was asked the question, if donald trump became president again, what would that mean. and he's not willing to say donald trump is unfit to be president of the united states. he is unwilling to say it's not just a matter of winning and losing, but this is a man who lacks the character to be president of the united states. that he does pose an existential threat to our democratic order, and so i wonder whether or not it's necessary that republicans notice he's a loser, but i wonder whether it's sufficient because if you're going to continue to say he was a great president, and i was proud to work with him. it's all about losing, i'm not sure that's going to be enough to dethrone donald trump. >> we just heard from chris christie a moment ago saying the republican party was not the party that embraced the big lie, and i'm going to respectfully disagree, that is who they are, the vast majority of republicans have kowtowed to whatever trump

wants, and yes, as you just mentioned there have been moments the party could have broken from trump, it never ever does, and we should tap the brakes here. trump maybe is at a weak moment as we sit in the middle of november, late november, but polling suggests he has a significant lead over ron desantis, perhaps his most formidable 2024 opponent. and mike barnicle, it is encouraging, i suppose, for some republicans to see there are voices willing to speak out. we heard from pence, pompeo, christie, there have been others, and a lot of them are mulling their own 2024 presidential bid. in a way, that plays right into trump's hands. trump has a loyal base of support, and the bigger that field gets, the more likely he's going to come out on top. >> yeah, i mean, if it's a large field, he has a better shot at coming out on top. charlie put his finger on a key point here. we saw governor sununu and christie both speaking, and charlie's point is valid, and i

wonder about it myself. and charlie, maybe you can expand upon it. doesn't it really prove the point that donald trump has instilled such fear in other republican candidates that they go right up to the trip wire of answering the question of if he does indeed, god forbid, become president of the united states again, it poses a threat to national security, and a threat to the larger existence of the united states of america, as we know it. >> yes, that's exactly right. of course the big fear is that donald trump is prepared to burn the house down if he doesn't get the nomination. it's going to be a little bit of tentativeness there. but also the recognition that if you say that, you've essentially ex-communicated yourself from this republican party, you know, ask liz cheney what happens when you say, you know, never again trumper in that particular way. so, you know, that is one of the lines that they don't want to cross. they don't want to say that they would not support a republican or that they would vote for a

democrat. and, again, does that really sound the alarm about donald trump. i mean, i understand the logic here that if you're going to move past trump, you're going to have to get republican voters who will say, okay, that was fine. let's give him a gold watch. we need to turn the page, and this is the theme. we need to turn the page because we are losing. i'm not sure the content free, morality free is going to be enough. >> interesting, charlie, to hear bill barr, talking about the investigations, talking about his former boss, as a presidential candidate this time around said trump should quote step aside, but also says there's a chance he would support trump if he's the party's nominee. >> if he would just -- if he had just exerted some self-control and discipline and dialled back his, you know, pugnasity and

nastiness a little bit, he would have won the presidency and had a second term. he didn't do that. he failed. he didn't do what the whole country hoped, that he would rise to the occasion and rise to the office, and he didn't do that, so he's had his chance. he obviously does not have the qualities necessary to unite the party, which is the first step on the road back, and he should stand aside. >> if donald trump were the nominee for the republican party again, would you support him? >> i'm just hoping it never comes to that, because i think it would be a tragedy if he's our nominee, if he's the republican nominee. >> could you vote against him? could you vote not for the republican if donald trump were the republican nominee? >> it comes down to what i said, i would have to make the judgment at that point, the impact on the country, and i'll have to see what's going on in the world, who the democratic nominee is. if it's a progressive democratic

nominee, i can't imagine voting for them. >> idealogically progressive, versus someone orchestrated an attack on the capitol, as you said in your words, you still might vote for him. >> mm-hmm. it's hard for me to project what the future holds. the question is always a comparative one, you have to make a choice between two people. i don't believe in throwing my vote away on a third party. >> you don't rule out voting for president trump again. >> no, i don't, depends on the circumstances. >> it remains astounding, he has done this before, to lay out the case, not just a political or policy case against donald trump but a moral case against him. a case for democracy against donald trump. we can't afford to have him there. he's failed, and he goes down, ticks down the list. i'll have to see, maybe i'll vote for him. we have to see what happens. it likely will be joe biden running against him. it's not necessarily a wild eyed

lefty running against donald trump if joe biden does, in fact, run. what did you make of this argument, he's not alone. we've heard it before. i don't like donald trump but i can't vote for the democrat. >> that was the story in 2016, wasn't it, that it became a by anyway choice, and the people who thought this was a terrible choice went along with it anyway. we've now seen what it's done. if you're bill barr, you have seen he's a failure, he lacks the character to be president. he was diluted about a variety of things. it shouldn't be that hard to say this man should never be president again. the tug of the loyalty is so strong he's not able to carry it, i'm not going to give him back the nuclear codes, i'm not going to put him in charge of the fbi and irs and the department of justice and the cia. i'm never going to make him commander in chief again. what are you crazy. they cannot bring themselves to say it.

and i think that's been the history of the republican party for the last six years. they know who he is. but they're unable to quit him even when the evidence is absolutely overwhelming. >> and so charlie, do comments like that lead you to believe we'll hear all of these protests for a while. it's how 2016 started as well, by the way, he can't be president, and the moment he looks like the most powerful candidate and the base starts to rally, all of these republicans will fall in line behind him? >> that's been the history. until they change that, you assume that's what happens again. a couple polls show maybe he can, you have nothing if you're not willing to make the moral political constitutional case against donald trump. >> charlie sykes, thanks as always for your insights, we appreciate it. coming up next, the first public appearance of kim jong un's daughter has some speculating about a possible

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"the washington post" reports this morning russia has secured a deal with iran to begin making drones and other unmanned aircraft in russia for russia to use in its war against ukraine. russia has been using iranian made drones for weeks now, targeting key infrastructure facilities and residential buildings. according to the post, officials say both russia and iran are ramping up the design process and could begin production in months. if russia acquires its own assembly line, it will increase its inventory of highly destructive weapons. russia is using the drones to attack heat, power, and water sources. jonathan lemire, obviously this is something the white house has been grappling with as well. what to do about this supply

line from iran into russia in the war against ukraine with the united states of course on the other side of that deal. >> yeah, and it's a disturbing development u.s. officials tell me because even though the russians are not particularly skilled in using the drones in the most accurate fashion, they don't have to be. these are loaded with explosives. they can be in the area and still cause real damage, and that's what they're seeing here is the russians have struggled on nearly every front in this war. we have seen one humiliating retreat after another. but they have hit upon something here that is working. that's targeting civilian infrastructure, and let's set aside just how terrible that is. these are not military targets. these are people. if russia wants to sow chaos, and try to unrest in ukraine, this is a way to do it. and they have hit power structures. they have hit heating, electrical grids, and they have plunged a lot of ukraine into darkness. temperatures are getting colder there. winter is approaching, and there's real fear, willie, that a lot of ukraine is going to

spend the winter in the dark. that's a real worry. they are using drones to take out the infrastructure targets and temperatures are freezing. in fact, just this morning, ukrainian officials signaling they're going to give evacuation orders to cities, including kherson, which they reclaimed because they feel like it will be a humanitarian crisis. residents are there over the winter if they don't have heat or power. russians able to up their inventory, they will be able to continue the offensive in perhaps more widespread fashion. >> russia continues to terrorize the civilian population, now doing it with the help of iran and the drones. north korea's latest missile launch took place on friday with kim jong un standing near the platform to watch the blast off of the country's largest, intercontinental ballistic missile. so was his daughter. it's the first time kim has revealed one of his children to the world. photographs published by north korean state media on saturday show kim holding hands with the girl in front of a missile. joining us now from beijing. nbc news foreign correspondent

janis mackey frayer. those photos raising speculation, i understand, about a possible succession plan in north korea. >> reporter: well, the images are fascinating because we haven't known that this child has existed before, and there they are, holding hands, she's wearing little red shoes, and they're watching the launch of this towering icbm. it's believed her name is juai. that information coming from dennis rodman after he visited pyongyang in 2013, but the question, willie, is why at this of all events did kim choose to reveal one of his children. and there are a lot of ways to look at it. that he may be telegraphing this message that there is a fourth generation power succession. it could also be that this was an attempt to humanize him, to soften his image. we saw that happen when his wife was eased into the picture back around 2011 or 2012.

the officials in pyongyang have a very highly calibrated public messaging, and the higher the propaganda goes, the more weight that message carries, so the fact that kim unveiled his daughter was seen as a message to the world. there's also a need to look at this through the domestic lens. this a launch of the largest rogue mobile icbm, capable of striking anywhere in the united states, and this for north korea is seen as an achievement, a reason to celebrate inside the country. when kimmel was with his daughter, state media wasn't hyping her up or even naming her. they referred to her simply as his beloved daughter, and his wife was there too. so there are many ways that analysts are looking at this. the surprise of a little girl was one aspect of this missile launch. the other little surprise came

in the form of a video. officials have not released a video of a missile launch for fooich years. so there are analysts all over the world. there are analysts parsing this for any information they can gather about the acceleration of the missile, what it suggests about how the weapons program is advancing and its overall performance because there just aren't any diplomatic channels that are open right now. the nfc confirms that on friday saying there are no lines of communication in or out of north korea, and the north koreans really aren't interested in talking anyway. willie. >> south korea concerned about the increase in frequency of some of these tests they have seen missiles lobbed in their direction. nbc's janis mackey frayer, reporting from beijing this morning. thank you so much. still ahead, we'll get the latest from buffalo where they are waking up with several feet of snow, still on the ground

following a historic storm. we'll take you there when we come right back. ic storm we'll take you there when we come right back.

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last time he touched it. cordero patterson, splits it, good-bye, cordell patterson, the ninth time in his nfl career. hurts, pulls the trigger, end zone, touchdown. from the 16 yard line, marcus jones, got a block, here he goes, he's going to try to beat the cutter, he does, he's gone, and that is a touchdown. >> third down and nine, dalton heaves this one down field. it is caught and taken in for a

saints touchdown. >> and in that direction, it's intercepted. he was throwing, but kendall fuller has a take away, and that's a commanders touchdown. >> fake to jacobs, carr, loads up, adams is open. walk-off touchdown. a sweep of the broncos for las vegas. >> going deep, pollard has the catch and no one will touch him again. touchdown, dallas. >> 40-3. the cowboys beat the vikings, and the vikings are good this year. crazy sunday, and then there was a sunday night game, a good one between the los angeles chargers, they hosted the kansas city chiefs. quarterback patrick mahomes connecting with travis kelce for three touchdowns. big development for my fantasy team, including the go ahead score with 31 seconds left in the game. the chiefs extend their lead atop the nfc west with a 30-27

win over the chargers. so jonathan lemire, crazy day in the nfl, we have to go back and i'm sorry to jets fans, they're definitely moving in the right direction. they're playing better this year. but talk about a heartbreaker for jets fans, and i know you're celebrating as pats fans. effectively, the walk-off punt return for the patriots to win a terrible game, 10-3. >> that was one of the worst games in the history of football. it was horrendous. there were more punts than completions. it was dreadful, this game. but there is a truism. at the end of the day, the jets will be the jets. and this is now in a game where neither offense could do anything, how can you pump the ball to give that guy, marcus jones, special teams player, a chance to return it. and he breaks it with, you know, scores of five seconds to go. more or less a walk-off punt, and the patriots find yet another way to beat the jets or rephrase, the jets find another way to lose to the patriots.

that is now 14 straight times the pats have beaten the jets. >> that's incredible. almost impossible to do in the nfl, and mike, just for context. people didn't see the game. punted away, go to overtime, 3-3. eventually put us out of their mercy. they kick to this kid who runs about a 4.3. and dusts them to win the game. >> third round pick, being the jones boy, the jets being the jets, i'm on a plane yesterday afternoon watching this game. 3-3, and i didn't know what was more dreadful, the bumpy flight or the 3-3 game that i was watching. but then i turned to the other channel on the plane, and i'm watching the new york football giants, and they're getting hammered. i'm getting hammered by a team that's inferior to them, and man, what a sunday. did you have travis kelce on your fantasy team, willie? >> i do. he was an early pick for me. three touchdowns really put it away last night. i feel good moving into second

place in my division, but i won't bore you with those details. the giants, trap game. a lot of them saw that coming. a good season, a new coach, the lions not having a great year, and they wipe out the giants. it was a terrible game. the buffalo bills, terrible game for the giants. buffalo bills beat the cleveland browns 31-23 after the league moved buffalo's home game to detroit because of several feet of snow that blanketed western new york. this is a look inside buffalo's high mark stadium over the weekend. in orchard park where the buffalo bills play, they got 80 inches of snow. 80. i can't even do the math, but that's a lot of snow. the historic storm dropped more than 6 feet of snow on the region. there's the math. at the peak of the storm, 21 1/2 inches of snow fell in a 24-hour period, almost tripling the previous record of 7.6 inches. two people died from cardiac

related evens caused by shoveling and snow blowing. kathy hochul activated the national guard to help clear the roads. joining us is nbc news correspondent, marissa parra, what a scene in buffalo. >> reporter: you can see the massive snow piles. to give you a little bit of perspective because it might be hard to tell just how giant they are, you can see the light poles, and you can see just how far the snow comes up there. now, this is snow from not just the surrounding streets. you mentioned the stadium where the bills play, where they're supposed to play but didn't on sunday. instead, they played in detroit, and if you followed the twitter account for the bills, you know just how much snow was in the surrounding areas. you talked about how many inches fell in the orchard park area, one report, over a foot taller

than i am standing right here. so right now, even though there is no snow falling, this area is still very much under a state of emergency because of this clean up that's happening behind you. behind me, rather. but i want to talk about what we have seen since we have been on the ground since thursday. so when the snow was really at its peak on friday, i mean, the lake effect snow is so intense that there would be moments where it would be clear like this, right here right now, and then not even seconds later, there would be an intense wall of snow where we couldn't even see. i would not have been able to see the camera. we had a couple of live shots where you could barely make out my silhouette through the thick, blanket of snow. you can imagine what havoc that left on the roads. there was still people that were out and about on the roads, and it made it very difficult for crews to come through and plow the roads. what we saw were a lot of people getting stuck, one after another

after another. it was for miles. we saw a combination of people, i ended up getting out of the car to talk to them. people coming from niagara falls, and take a listen to this guy who lives just outside of buffalo who said he was on his way somewhere, he ended up getting stranded, woke up the next morning getting carried to a warming shelter by firefighters. >> they didn't even know us. strangers walking through with gas cans, trying to get gas to our cars to stay warm, and i'm soaking wet. by the time i got here, we ran out of gas, i was slivering, frostbite in my fingers, and i'm a veteran in this, this is hoodie weather for us, and they're saying it's too cold for hoodies. >> reporter: one big concern here is just how dense the snow is, the weight, the pressure it

puts on everything. one roof collapsed, that governor hochul did visit the other day. there's the fear over whether we could see more like we did in 2014. you mentioned two people who died from cardiovascular arrest shoveling the snow. take caution as you're taking care of your homes. willie. >> dangerous situation. you can't get over the snow totals, incredible scenes, nbc's marissa parra in buffalo. thank you so much. we appreciate it. we are at the top of the hour, and we begin with the latest in the deadly mass shooting at an lgbtq nightclub in colorado springs. five people were killed. 25 others were hurt after a man armed with an ar-15 style rifle and a handgun opened fire inside club q just before midnight on saturday. police and the club's owner are praising two patrons who ran toward the gunman, subduing him until officers got there. nbc news correspondent morgan

cheskey details. >> reporter: authorities swarming club q, an lgbtq nightclub attacked by a gunman who police say made his way inside just before midnight and opened fire. >> reports of ten people shot. >> it literally happened in the blink of an eye. one minute i was on the dance floor. next minute i'm on the ground trying to keep two women, you know, calm, as calm as possible while this man literally butchers my friends. >> reporter: joshua thurman helped others hide in a dressing room where he called 911 over gunfire. sharing the shooter didn't stop until he was tackled. >> at least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect, and were able to stop the suspect from continuing to kill and harm others. >> reporter: police recovered two guns at the scene and confirmed the gunman used a long rifle to turn the beloved club

into a massive crime scene. when you crawled out of the dressing room, joshua, what did you see? >> i saw bodies on the floor. blood, shattered glass, broken cups. people covered up in white sheets. people trying to be resuscitated and worked on. >> reporter: thurman says several victims were friends. by the time it was over, authorities say five people were dead, 25 others wounded. the gunman identified by police is anderson lee aldrich, a 22 22-year-old who the club's owners say they didn't recognize or know. >> when you look at the amount of fire power that one individual did in literally a minute to two minutes, there's -- there's no way to defend against it. >> reporter: with a motive unknown, at community faces the

loss of both loved ones and security. >> how? how? i mean, we have no choice but to move on, but to rebuild, right, but how can we even feel safe? >> reporter: nbc's morgan chesky reporting there. michael allen, district attorney of the fourth judicial district in colorado springs. thanks for your time this morning. my condolences to the people in the place where you live, in colorado springs, the place where you work. this is a terrible tragedy, and i'm wondering as you build the case against this 22-year-old suspect what more can you tell us? can you fill in the blanks about what brought him there that night and what happened after he walked in the door? good morning, willie, thank you for having me. obviously at this point we're still in the early stages of the investigation. those details are still to be determined and i think it would be a little bit reckless what might have been the motive. we're looking at this as a bias motivated or hate crime

incident. we'll learn more as the investigation progresses. >> what does it mean to identify something as a hate crime, as you say, you haven't done there yet, but you are looking into it. what does that mean from your point of view? how does that change things if in fact, in fact, a hate crime? >> really what it does is signify what type of crime this was, what kind of motivation led to the shooting. as we know, there were five people killed. those are top level charges. it will not increase the sentencing. it will mark him potentially as a person that committed a hate crime violation, and, you know, hopefully we have enough evidence to go forward. obviously we know too that everybody that's charged with a crime is presumed innocent beyond a reasonable doubt. it's important to note that, even in highly charged situations like this. >> in speaking with the suspect, do you feel that you're close to arriving at a motive about why he did this? >> it would be too early to say

that at this point. this just happened, you know, just a little bit ago, over 24 hours ago. we are still in the early stages of this investigation. >> there's been some reporting, mr. district attorney, about an incident in june of last year, a bomb threat, his mother called in. can you confirm this was the same man in that incident last year? >> i have to be a little bit careful about the way we talk about those kinds of things. colorado has a very restrictive sealing statute. we're aware of prior allegations based on a press release that the sheriff's office put out from june of 2021. we'll be looking into that as well and make determinations as to how that may or may not be related to this incident. >> as for the firearm, the ar-15 style rifle that is reported to have been used, was that gun purchased legally by the suspect? >> we're still looking into that, and if there are any

avenues to show that somebody else assisted him in acquiring that rifle, we'll be looking to those people as well. it's too early. i hate to say that. people want information at this stage, you know, people deserve to know what happened here as much as we possibly can tell them. we also need to be able to protect the judicial process we'll be following up in this investigation so we can hold somebody accountable for what happened here. by all accounts, it's one person, and that's mr. aldrich. >> prior to the shooting, in the moments prior to the shooting, the entryway to this club, do we know whether there was anyone on the door, is there ordinarily no one on the door? how does a person walk across ostensibly from a parking lot with an ar-15, and walk into a club shooting? >> i think that's a great question. i personally have not been into the crime scene yet. i hope to do that today.

i'll know more answers as it relates to tt question. those are good questions to be asking and certainly something i want to know as well. >> mr. district attorney, we have heard reports about acts of heroism from those inside the club. they were able to subdue the shooter before he was able to get off more rounds. tell us more about what happened, and how many more lives were saved? >> so it is my understanding that two people inside the club were able to respond to the shooting and immediately engage with the shooter and take him down and subdue him. i think those people are heroic. they stopped other people from being shot and killed, and their actions can't be commended enough. absolutely heroic. especially in a time of horrific danger that they were facing. >> absolutely. we can't say that enough. and we know you're still looking into all the details. we look forward to talking with you much more as you learn more. district attorney michael allen of the fourth judicial district in colorado springs. thank you so much for taking time with us this morning.

we appreciate it. >> thank you. meanwhile, attorney general merrick garland is appointing a special counsel to oversee the ongoing investigations into donald trump, concerning 2020 election interference and the mar-a-lago documents case, along with possible obstruction in that investigation. garland has named veteran prosecutor jack smith to the position. a veteran when it comes to investigating public corruption. smith led the justice department's public integrity unit from 2010 to 2015, overseeing corruption and elections related investigations. he began as a prosecutor in 1994. as assistant district attorney in manhattan. he also was a federal prosecutor in new york and tennessee. as for his career bringing war criminals to justice there, his most recent work at the hag, in addition to the two years he served at the international criminal court. he will return to the united states immediately to begin his new assignment. let's bring in former general

counsel at the fbi, andrew weissmann, former u.s. attorney, barbara mcquade, both msnbc legal analysts. also with us, nbc news national affairs analyst, executive editor of the recount, and cohost of show time's the circus, john heilemann, and senior political analyst of the washington examiner, david dominican republicer. -- drucker. what is the significance of it, attorney general garland saying with donald trump in the race and him being appointed by joe biden, he needs to remove himself from the prosecutions, what does it all mean? >> the decision by merrick garland is something the doj regulations call for. it wasn't required but within his discretion, he could decide that the day-to-day operations of this investigation are going to be handled by a special

counsel. it is important to remember that the special counsel is a part of the department of justice. and ultimately the attorney general can decide that an indictment should not be brought. if that happens, that has to be reported to congress. but it's not like the attorney general gives up total control over what happens. but i do think that giving this to jack smith, who the public is going to get to know, is a great choice because he was head of the public integrity section that deals with public corruption cases and he doesn't have a political bone in his body, so this is really a great choice of a career experienced investigator and trial lawyer, so i think on the plus side for those people who want to see this investigation come to fruition one way or the other, jack smith is a really good choice because he's going to move it along quickly. >> barbara mcquade, i would like you to read tea leaves, if you

will, and appointing the special counsel, what do you suppose this means for, a, a time line of potential charges against donald trump, but, b, just the likelihood, suggests if the doj is going this route, we may have the indictment of a former president. >> one concern that has been expressed is the appointment of a special counsel will result in delay in this investigation. i don't know that that's right or if there is some day, i imagine it will be relatively minor, and that's because the teams that have already been investigating both of these cases are going to continue to do their work. the agents and prosecutors on both of these teams have been working for many months and they're going to continue to do so. even while jack smith gets up to speed, they can still continue with all of the work that they had on their calendars. you know, even for today. so i don't know that the delay will be substantial. so in terms of a time line, you

know, it's hard to predict exactly what that time line looks like. i don't think there has been any additional delay caused by the appointment of the special counsel. your other question about what does this portend, i think the decision truly will be up to jack smith with overnight ability to reject that by merrick garland. but i don't think merrick garland would have gone to the trouble of appointing a special counsel unless he believed that there was a very real possibility that indictments in one or both of these cases could very well be forthcoming. so i don't think, you know, the decision is a done deal, but i think that there is sufficient evidence here that merrick garland thought there are some serious decisions to be made mere, and we need an independent voice. >> both barbara and andrew pointed out the potential of a time line, and jack smith coming in and reviewing what's being done in an investigative capacity for quite some time, catch you up to speed on that. there's another time line i want

to ask you about, and that's the republican house of representatives about to take office in january. >> i think there's another time all together, mike, the same time line, jonathan lemire has been thinking about this. i have seen his comments all morning thinking about this. republican presidential election is underway. donald trump got in for a reason, to provoke the reaction that merrick garland is react to go, and people say, well, that's a long way away. we're going to have republican debates starting in the spring, april, may, debates start to happen. usually on a normal time line. a bunch of republicans, we saw the republican jewish coalition, they're starting to make all kinds of noise. imagine if you're donald trump and part of the game you're playing here is they're out to get me. it's a whole game which is there's a conspiracy against me to keep me from becoming president again.

you know, there's a chance that by the time we get to that first republican debate donald trump's ahead in the nomination polling by 40, 50 points. ron desantis doesn't run, no one else serious in the race. trump's towering over the field. at that moment, the doj is going to indict donald trump, i would like to think none of that matters to the doj, but man, donald trump has got in investigation on the clock, and so i want to go back to andrew weissman. everybody that has your expertise, your background, the role you play in these investigations, sometimes to your own frustration, this is an open and shut case. merrick garland could be waiting for election day, and could come out and indict donald trump. that's how clear cut this is. i know you feel that way on the

law. i can't help but ask the question, you know, is there not an enormous risk here that donald trump has been rewarded for his maneuver of getting in the race the way he did, and the same kind of dynamic could play to donald trump's advantage all winter and spring and even if you're moving fast, this could take a little while, right? >> i don't think that anyone who knows jack smith could view it as a reward to have jack smith designated as the lead prosecutor given his skill and tenacity, and he's known for being really fast and cutting to the chase. i heard you that there may be a short period of time to get up to seed, i had barb's reaction, this portends that there are serious, serious consequences that are going to throw from

this. it's not a done deal. if i were a betting man, i would say that you're going to see at least the mar-a-lago documents case being charged in the next couple of months. so i do think in many ways, the time line, to my mind is moving up because of jack being appointed to this position. >> that's the legal front of it but john heilemann notes the little lens we have to look through this as well. you were at the coalition meeting where we heard from a number of prominent republicans, some of who were very critical of donald trump. they seemed more emboldened to take shots at him than they have in a long time. it's true, he's the loudest and most powerful voice in the party. give us your sense of it here as we are in the very early stages, but the stages all the same of this republican race in 2024. where do things stand?

i've got my base, i'm bigger than all of you. >> well, look, one of the things that struck me over a few days in las vegas was the degree to which republican activists and donors are very grateful for trump's policy accomplishments. would have liked to have seen him reelected. there is no doubt about that. after three electoral defeats, i saw more discussion about the need to move on from donald trump than i had seen over the last seven years. everybody points out correctly that his relationship with the base is very strong, and that we have seen the beginnings of this movie before. people are concerned about donald trump. they eventually fall in line, and if donald trump is the nominee in 2024, almost all of them will fall in line. but the difference between trump today and trump then is trump in 2016 was a change agent who had not taken everybody through the paces all the way through the end of the 2020 election and beyond. they had not seen him cause the

party problems both in 2018, in 2020, and now in 2022. and so he is, in a sense, an incumbent retread, if you will, a very strong one, but a much different political figure in their eyes, and after living with him for seven years, there's this belief that the party doesn't have to go backward in order to go forward. and so i think that trump is in a different position but that also the tough talk we're hearing from republican activists and donors, not all of them but a lot of them, they're also looking at this from a different vantage point. i don't think we can immediately say we know how this thing is going to turn out. we can't immediately say trump can't make history again doing exactly what he did before but i don't think the party is in the same place, vis-a-vis, him as its leader as it was in 2015,

2016, and even in 2020. >> barbara, we're looking at this, all of us, from a distance. but to andrew's point, if you're jack smith and you're coming in and just reading about this, or at least we're just reading about this, just the documents alone at mar-a-lago, wouldn't that seem to be from your legal point of view, through your eyes, just the easiest way to indict someone, whether it's donald trump or anybody for obstruction of justice. >> yes, i think that that one is a far easier case to get your arms around than the january 6th investigation, which is very sprawling and has some innovative legal theories that would need to be tested. the mar-a-lago case is the kind of case that the justice department charges quite routinely. most often, the defendants are not former presidents. they are contractors and government employees who take government documents for various

reasons. but usually prosecutors look for some aggravating factor in addition to mere mishandling of documents, which itself is a crime, but they typically exercise discretion to charge a case when there's some aggravating factors, and some of those factors are present here, it tears. the evidence will have to bear this out. if there's a willful violation of the law, i knew it was illegal, and i took them anyway. that would be a story. storing them in a way to expose their disclosure. if they're in a basement of mar-a-lago in a country club with members wandering around, that fact is met, and the third one is obstruction of justice and so we have those facts to know that in response to a grand jury subpoena, only a couple months later, they found more boxes in the basement. i agree with you. this seems to be on a course toward indictment. the facts matter and proving

donald trump's criminal intent and a direct line to him as opposed to his lawyers, aides, would also be important for the justice department to button down. david, i told you i was going to ask you a political question. your three or four days in vegas, and that was promising a whole different avenue of discussion that we can have off air because, you know, i want to know vegas is back, baby. but i also want to know about chris christie who you did a piece on in "the examiner" last week. you're talking about people talking tough about trump. chris christie is talking abz tough. they won't say his name. that fails the leadership test, you're going to run against him, say his name. is christie still in a place where he was before. he's willing to say donald trump's name, but not willing to

say he wouldn't vote for him or back minimum in 2024 if trump is the nominee. doesn't that fail a leadership test and a test of fortitude or something? >> i think it depends on how you talk about donald trump. from the perspective of republicans who are running against him or thinking of running against him. they're party people. the deal they make is never to oppose the nominee, no matter what they say about him in the context of a primary campaign. it can look to voters like you're being disingenuous, and your lacking of political courage. that usually will come from voters outside the party who think that donald trump is an existential threat to american democracy or something like that. when you talk to republicans, their battle with trump is they think he's bad for the republican party. look, in talking to activist donors and republican governors and former governors over the

weekend, what i learned most and it wasn't surprising, is that they think donald trump is bad for the party because he has led them to three consecutive losses. there wasn't any talk about needing to dethrone trump from the leadership of their party because he's bad for the country or because he is a danger to american democracy. this is what you're going to hear in democratic party circles. and if you talk to swing voters and independents, you'll hear that sometimes. these are republicans. as mike pence said in an interview recently, i am a party person, so once some of these candidates win their nominations, then i'm going to help them -- try to help them win. that's where all of these republicans are. people can criticize that form of involvement. i don't think that means that chris christie or anybody else in the republican party is not being forthright about their disagreements with trump. i think it's important to understand the context of those disagreements. >> david, how long does this last, though, that's the

question, many of the same people rolled their eyes in 2015, even early 2016 at the idea of donald trump as the nominee, and then they fell in behind him when it was clear he was going to be that guy. when that starts to happen again, if he opens up a 40, 50 point lead, what happens to all the people who today are saying never donald trump. >> well, what they are saying is that the party should have fresh leadership because donald trump is a loser. and that has always been their biggest issue with trump. there's so much that goes along with him. so much they have to swallow if he's not winning, then they don't see what the point is. if he's winning again and opens up a big insurmountable lead that never goes away from this primary, they will fall in line and work to help him and the party win in 2024. that's the plain fact of party politics, and donald trump has

not changed that aspect of republican party politics even though he himself does not give his party the same courtesy that everybody else gives him. what i do think republicans are trying to figure out is how can we engage in a primary where we don't give donald trump the opportunity to win with 30, 35% of the vote, and there is this big desire not to just pick my favorite and hope he or she is the new leader, but who's going to run, who's not going to run. we shouldn't all jump in and have, you know, a five-tiered debate stage. we need to rally around maybe one or two alternatives. maybe three at the most, and therefore at least have a fighting chance to put together a coalition in the primary that can defeat trump, and that's a lot of the discussions that are happening right now. >> john heilemann, there's a sense that we have seen this movie before, people going after donald trump, attacking his morality and everything else.

he does have a track record now, different from when he ran in '15 and '16 of losing, of fomenting an attempted coup against the government but are republicans going to walk away if he steps forward and appears to be maybe wounded by the strongest candidate in the field. >> i get that it's different after three, willie, three losses, three times donald trump has hurt the party. he hurt the party in 2018 when he was sitting president, hurt the party in 2020, not only lost the white house, and hurt everything he touched, losing the senate by his interventions in the georgia race, people stuck with him, even after he tried a coup and led an insurrection. and i totally take david's point at which i think is correct, kind of depressing, when he says these are party people. they look past the fact that the former president led a coup in office. chris christie wrote about it

brutally. mike pence have said what donald trump did on january 6th, leading up to january 6th was wrong. the next step, hey, we saw that. it was bad, really bad, but if he ends up being our nominee, we'll fall in line behind him. david's reporting i'm sure is right on the money. i know what 2015 and 2016 were like, there was a big field, and republicans said, trump will never get him. one of us will get them one by one and take them down. in the end, what we know about the democratic process in both parties is the elites are not in control. the candidates are not in control. the party people are not in control. the activists aren't even in control. the only people in control of presidential politics are the primary voters, and that's true in both parties but the reason that donald trump has maintained his power is because a lot of republicans -- people say the base. it's just a giant chunk of today's republican party still

loves donald trump, and if that is the case doesn't matter what chris christie says, ron desantis, most people don't know who ron desantis is. the activists do. but not republican voters in iowa. they know donald trump. they like donald trump. if that continues to be the says, this will be shadow boxing in the end and trump will roll past everyone. we'll see. it would not surprise me if we ended up in the same place. >> it feels very familiar. it was nice to see you perk up at the mention of three days in las vegas. we'll have to get back there. >> yes, you're a monster there just like me. >> thank you very much, sir. david drucker, barbara mcquade, thank you for your insights. still ahead, we'll be joined by the president and ceo of the lgbtq advocacy group glaad following the colorado springs nightclub shooting, and a rise

in hate crimes across the country more broadly. plus, just a few weeks after taking over twitter, elon musk reinstates former president trump's account. we'll talk about what that could mean for the social media site. and there's been a major shake up at the walt disney company. we'll have the latest reporting on that, and the return of a disney icon. just ahead on "morning joe." disney icon. just ahead on "morning joe." ♪limu emu & doug♪ it's nice to unwind after a long week of telling people how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. showtime. whoo! i'm on fire tonight. (limu squawks) yes! limu, you're a natural. we're not counting that. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ the eat fresh® refresh just won't stop! now, subway® is refreshing their catering with easy-order platters and lunchboxes perfect for any party. pool parties... tailgates... holiday parties...

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>> reporter: police have yet to confirm a motive, the assault is likely part of a disturbing trend. last year, anti-gay crimes surged by 50%, up slightly. the latest attack stirring up memories of the 2016 pulse nightclub mass shooting. 49 people gunned down in orlando, the second deadliest shooting in history. now another historically painful day. >> we are again, we have been screaming from the tops of mountains of lgbtq leadership that an environment like this is being created of violence against our community and so to see it play out this morning, or late last night, was horrible yet again. >> reporter: hate crimes increasing for the fourth year in a row, driven in larger u.s. cities by incidents targeting asian, jewish, and lgbtq communities. >> we've seen it around all of these marginalized communities whose voices take up a smaller piece of the pie in this

country. but need more protection because we're victims and we're being targeted by these extremist communities. >> reporter: in new york, police thwarted a potential attack against the jewish community, arresting two armed men in penn station, one wearing a swastika. the nypd now ramping up police presence in communities that are potential targets. colorado, a community wounded but not broken. >> this is a dangerous world we live in. it is full of violence as we have seen last night, but you can't let hate shut you down from living a life of love and loving who you are. >> in steve's report, we heard from the president and ceo of glaad, sarah kate ellis, and she joins us now. thank you so much for your time this morning on a dark day. we have been reporting. we just spoke to the district attorney in colorado springs that did confirm they are looking into the possibility of this being a hate crime. they're not calling it that at this time as they develop the evidence, talk to witnesses and

everything else. your reaction, as you said this is getting exhausting, these tragedies to watch this happening. your reaction to what we saw around midnight, in colorado springs over the weekend. >> unfortunately when i woke up to the news, i felt heartbroken like so many americans, and i also felt not surprised. because we have seen in this past year about 300 anti-lgbtq bills proposed. that creates an environment and culture of hate and discrimination. we've seen in our own poll at glaad, seven out of ten lgbtq folks report feeling discrimination in the past year. that's up 11% year over year. 24% from 2020. we're seeing these large numbers happen because we're living in an environment that's driven by two things. politicians who are using us to bolster their couriers by creating division and hate, and

number two is social media platforms that are monetizing hate, and especially against marginalized communities. they're choosing profits over hate. and it's killing, literally killing our community. >> so sarah kate, let's dig in deeper on that, some of the rhetoric we hear from politicians, particularly on transgender issues and transgender people. brunches have been targets before for violent rhetoric, and we know club q is hosting a drag diva show that night, the night before, the trans day of remembrance. how concerned that this hateful rhetoric has been injected in the political bloodstream, and we're going to have more incidents like this. >> i'm very concerned. we're about to release a report that shows there have been over 100 violent or violent in nature or threats violence to drag shows or events over the past year. the year is not even over.

that's 100 just this weekend on saturday night, a bar here in new york city in hell's kitchen had a brick thrown through the window. it's the fourth time in a week. so, yeah, we're really heightened. we don't feel safe as a community, and we don't have any reason to feel safe as a community. we're under attack, and the rhetoric is driving it. whether or not, whatever the motive comes out on this, we know that we've seen an uptick in violence against our community. we feel it, and we don't feel safe when we're out and about. >> sarah kate, can you explain the logic and the fear that seems to propel most of the feeling about transgender people? it begins maybe some parts of it begin with various politicians who run for office and claim that, you know, transgender people in schools, grammar schools, ought not to be allowed to be in class. ought not to be allowed to

participate in athletics. could you explain it? >> absolutely. here's some numbers for you. nine out of ten americans know someone who's gay or lesbian or b i. three out of ten americans know someone who's transgender. it's a matter of knowing trans people and understanding who they are. when you don't know, you fear. and politicians are using that lack of knowledge, that lack of knowing to create fear and build their careers. look, in terms of trans kids and gender affirming care, the american medical association, the pediatric association has confirmed that these are safe procedures. this is finished business. it's politicians and junk science who's creating some kind of debate or argument about this. this has been going on. why is it now so significant and so important? because people have found ways

to build their careers out of fear. and it's been working for them. so i think telling our stories, meeting folks who are trans, that takes all of it away. we know this from marriage equality, right. like when people met me, and now my wife, they were like, oh, this is what it a gay couple is. i thought it was monsters in a closet, and it's not. so i think that when we meet people, when we tell our stories, when we use media to tell our stories, that helps to bridge the gap. >> we certainly appreciate you being here to tell yours, and to be the face and the voice of people who really need it right now. the president and ceo of glaad, sarah kate ellis, thanks for being here. thank you so much. a short lived tenure for disney's ceo has the company welcoming back a familiar face to the top executive position. we'll go live to cnbc with the shake up on the entertainment

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the rockefeller plaza. the scaffolding around the iconic tree going to come down here pretty soon as we turn for thanksgiving and the holidays. 7:45 in the morning in new york. there has been a shakeup this morning at the walt disney county. bob iger welcomed back as ceo. bob chapek stepped down after 11 months on the job. let's bring in cnbc's dom chu. >> what happened here? >> bob chapek, he started as ceo in 2020, right before the real depths of the pandemic. he took over disney at a time that was very much an unprecedented one with covid lockdowns, the changing paradigm and structure with which we

consume media. people no longer being able to go to parks anymore. that sort of thing. bob iger coming back is a security blanket for disney and the board of directors. bob iger is arguably the most iconic ceo that disney has had. certainly the most recognizable in modern times. he was responsible for much of the expansion of the disney empire as we know it today. he was the one who initiated and saw the acquisition of big properties like lucas film, like marvel, all of those. he executed on the unveiling of disney plus, its streaming service, and all of that happened while adding billions and billions and billions of shareholder and market value to disney. now, with bob chapek, there were a number of things or missteps that may have been characterized that way, willie, in terms of his tenure there, not the least of which, spats with actors like scarlett johansson with her

black widow movie release on streaming. and firing of executives and restructuring. all of this is happening now with bob iger coming back to try to renew a sense of pride in the disney brand, also the board saying he'll be there for just two years, the point of which is to set a new strategic direction for growth for disney, and also eventually, and maybe this is the most important willie, to find a successor for him yet again, and remember that bob chapek was bob iger's original hand picked successor for disney. one of the most recognizable media in the world. >> the stock price way down this year as well. cnbc dom chu, thank you very much. appreciate it. speaking of leadership changes at top american companies, jack welch pushed general electric to record high profits during his 20-year run as ceo. his legacy includes a decision he called the biggest mistake he ever made, though, choosing his

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what is the role of a leader? well, the first one clearly is to be the chief meaning officer. to let everyone in the place know where you're going, why you're going there, and most importantly, what's in it for them to get there with you. people like to talk about where they're going, why they're going there, but they always leave out the third thing. when you come into a new job and you say we want a change. change is great. we got to do it. you forget people hate change. you got to explain what's in it for them to change with you. >> that is the late business icon jack welch.

he was the chairman and ceo of general electric from 1981 to 2001. in his time in charge he grew the ge market cap to more than $450 billion. over the following 20 years the number was cult by more than half. joining us is william cohan who wrote "power failure." congratulations on the book. good to see you. mike barnacle has the first question. mike? >> before the epic work and it is an epic piece -- >> thank you. >> bob iger. surprised? >> it had been long rumored for a year and a half. i think a number of factors go into it. stock down 30%. an activist investor bought stock this year. when the stock goes down, he got

a representative on the board of directors. when that happens just like at ge frankly when frank immelt was replaced, brought in another hedge fund, not a great thing, these things happen more often than you think. lightning round? >> nobody covers business the way you do for puck. >> thank you. >> so elon musk and twitter, what is going on? >> you have got two things happening simultaneously. you have a financial meltdown because he way overpaid, used too much debt and the equity is probably worthless at the moment. then you have an operational disaster. being unclear about the future.

not doing what jack welch said in that clip. people don't like change. musk is 0 for 2 on both and the world's richest guy so maybe he can absorb this and come out okay. maybe he has a great vision for twitter. doesn't look good right now. >> the book. >> the book. >> jack welch. 198 first basemans ceo of general electric. it becomes the most fabled and famous company perhaps in the word. >> yes. most powerful. jeff immelt is the successor. hand picked in 2001. it begins a downward spiral? one of the greatest companies ever on earth. what happened? >> that's what this book is about. i wanted to know what happened. right? you had the company that was the

most valuable in the world, most respected in the world. when jack took it over in 1981 it had a market cap of $12 billion. it was more than $650 billion when he left. around that when he turned it over in 2001. don't forget, jeff immelt and was jack's hand picked successor. the fist thing out of jack's mouth is that he felt like he made a mistake and a stunning admission for the greatest ceo to make. he took over september 7, 2001. first day in the office was september 10, 2001. jack welch who created this network, his book came out -- the memory. he was on the "today" show that

morning and then everything changed. ge made the jet engines on the plane. reinsured buildings at the world trade network. nbc did not have ads for a week or so costing ge hundreds of millions of dollars. i tell that story in the book. i think the biggest factor was the 2008 financial crisis because ge was making half of the profits from ge capital and i don't have jeff immelt understood the risks to ge. >> he acknowledged right away this mistake but what did he point to say what he should have done instead to take the reins? >> he had a lot of incredible choices of other candidates to make. the two others in the running, jim mcnernery and the other that

became ceo of home depot and had dave coaty and jack fired earlier that became the ceo of honeywell. he had a lot of talent and not including dave calhoun who's now the ceo of boeing. he had a lot of people. i would say he told me the biggest mistake is not choosing one of them. it's a hypothetical. you'll never know. >> "power failure." bill, thank you so much. congratulations on the book. >> thank you. still ahead, a safe haven for the lgbtq community in colorado springs shattered. we'll have the latest on the shooting and the suspect's past. we're back in just one minute.

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colorado springs and killed five people and injuring 25 more. we'll have a live report from colorado springs in just a moment. plus, attorney general garland names a special counsel to investigate federal probes into donald trump. we'll have reaction and take a look at the veteran prosecutor who will decide whether trump should be charged. republicans continue to urge the republican party to move on from trump. we'll have the very latest. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is monday, november 21st. with us is white house bure chief at politico back from the bender in southeast asia mr. jonathan lemire and mike barnacle. joe and mika have the morning off. the colorado springs community is mourning.

five people killed. 25 others hurt after a man wearing body armor with a rifle and a handgun open fire in club q. one person who survived telling "the new york times" he thought the gunshots were part of the music and then saw the muzzle of a gun and ran. police say the tragedy could have been much worse if not for the brave actions of two people inside that club. >> at least two heroic people inside the club confronted and fought with the suspect. and were able to stop the suspect from continuing to kill and harm others. we owe them a great debt of thanks. >> police identified the gunman as 22-year-old anderson lee aldrich but has not identified a

motive. joining us is priscilla thompson. what do we know of a motive? >> reporter: good morning. you see the memorial that's grown over the past 24 hours as people come here to pay the respects for those five victims. what we are learning, we know that there are those 25 people who were injured. at least 18 of them are still hospitalized. some in critical condition. of course, the big question is why. why did this happen? why did the shooter walk into the club and commit such a devastating act of violence? we know there's someone by the same name and birth date arrested last year for making bomb threats to his mother but we don't know the status of that case. the officials declined to say if the suspect in this case is the

same person arrested last year but looking at that case in relation to what happened here over the weekend. i have been speaking to community members coming here, people overcome with emotion coming to pay the respects. i spoke to a person, sophie. i want to say what they said to me about how it feels right now to be someone of the lgbtq community after a tragedy like this happened. take a listen. >> this is not an easy day. this is a lot to just wake up to as a transgender person living in colorado springs. waking up to something this in your face is just a reminder of the hate and the love we need to fight it with. you can't fight hate with hate so we tried to bring love here today.

>> reporter: still so much hurt in this community and also so many questions and also praise for those two people you noted who essentially fought with the gunman. the mayor saying they took a gun from him and hit the gunman and get him on the ground. they say within one minute the pa trons rushed that gunman. in one minute he killed five, injure 25. we're working to learn if there's red flag laws that might have been raised about the suspect and how he obtained this gun and of course the biggest question why. willie? >> to that question we know and respect the fact that the police want to wait until they know for sure to awe scribe a motive here but this is an lgbtq club. and this man according to the witnesses walked in with a rifle

and just started shooting. where will the investigation go from here? what else will police be looking at? >> reporter: right. police say that they have been working to obtain multiple search warrants to search the suspect's home looking at the social media accounts to find anything that shows that he had hate towards a targeted group. in this case the lgbtq plus community. that suspect is expected to survive. he is hospitalized. police are working to interview and speak to him to try to learn why he chose to commit the act of violence. speaking to family members and friends and speaking to the witnesses who were here over the week about what they heard and saw as this incident unfolded but a lot of people i have spoken to feel like this was

absolutely a hate crime. known to be a safe space for the group in this community and they feel like there's no reason to walk in to this club and committed this crime were it not for hate against this community, willie. >> terrible tragedy and could have been much worse if not for the people in that club. priscilla thompson, thank you. a man with the same name and age as the club shooting suspect arrested in june of last year after the man's mother called police to say he threatened with a bomb and other weapons. he sundayed to police after a three-hour standoff. but the associated press said there's no public record prosecutors moved forward with the case or they try to trigger the red flag law. coming up, speaking with the

district attorney in colorado spring overseeing potential charges and the president of g.l.a.d. is coming up. attorney general garland is appointing a special counsel for the two ongoing federal investigations into donald trump concerning election interference and the document case. garland has named veteran prosecutor jack smith to the position. the justice department says smith has resigned from the position at the hague. he will return to the united states immediately to begin his new assignment, naming a special counsel gives garland some from the investigation should president biden face off against president trump in the next election. >> based on recent developments and the former president's announcement that he is a

candidate and the sitting president's stated intention to be a candidate, i have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel. such an appointment underscores the department's commitment to both independence and accountability in particularly sensitive mat everies. jack smith has built a reputation as a determined prosecutor who leads teams with energy and focus to follow the facts wherever they lead. he will exercise independent prosecutorial judgment to decide whether charges should be brought. >> wanted to give himself distance now that trump is into the race. the former president was railing against attorney general's announcement. the 2024 presidential candidate

bemoaned what he called the witch hunts. >> this horrendous abuse of power is latest in a long series of witch hunts. they want to do bad things to the greatest movement in the history of our country but in particular bad things to me. but i have gotten used to it. lucky. it's lucky. a lot of people wouldn't get used to it so easily. this is a rigged deal just as the 2020 election was rigged and we can't let them get away. i have tax returns and everything else. they have found nothing. i'm one of the honest and innocent people ever in our country. >> the special prosecutor will be looking into despite what the president said are the leading of an attempted coup against did

government and the taking of classified documents from the white house to mar-a-lago. let's bring in joyce vance, charlie sykes. good morning to you both. jack smith a federal prosecutor and a war crimes prosecutor at the hague. what do you make of the move here and the choice of mr. smith? >> merrick garland clearly wasn't trying to appeal to the former president because there's nothing to convince him that any investigation into the conduct has integrity. he's trying to do the right thing in the right way and something of a signal that he believes that there may well be sufficient evidence to indict trump because if that wasn't going to be the case there's no reason for garland to decline on an investigation. so not to read the tea leaves too far but it seem to signal

that doj believes that there is serious business ahead. smith is well qualified, he has experience in main justice and out in the field at u.s. attorneys offices. there's nothing like trying a lot of cases to help you understand when you have enough evidence to proceed in a very serious case. there's just no substitute for that experience so he brings that along with managerial ability. he was briefly an okaying united states attorney in nashville in the trump administration. and also, he brings the experience in kosovo where he joined that team. they had been in progress for over a year with the investigation. no charges had been brought and he joined as they call it the specialist counsel in that situation and charges were brought, over 100. seems well positioned to hit the ground running here. >> let's talk a little timeline.

there's a sense of momentum in these investigations before doj pushes pause publicly because of that unwritten rule about not talking, publicly commenting about an investigation 60 days to an election. is there a sense here as qualified as he is that this is going to slow things down and extend the process until there's a resolution about possible criminal charges? >> so garland says no. he offers some compelling reasons to believe him. i'll say i think it's appropriate to be watchful but the argument runs like this. smith has a track record of jumping into existing investigations and hitting the ground running. the smith statement was a vow it would not shift into neutral. garland promised he'll get the

resources he needs and this is a difficult situation from the mueller situation. he was special counsel eight days after james comey was fired by donald trump. there's no pre-existing investigation to return with. he none the less with moved remarkably quickly. we were surprised when the first indictments came down. smith has prosecutors and agents on the matters because it's both of the investigations, january and marlo ga. those folks will be able to shift over. he can continue working with them, with the professionals in the national security division he should be able to move with some speed even in the december period where doj is normally quieter and that's what i'll be looking for to see if they run through the tape at the end of

the year. >> the criticism of donald trump and the republicans is about the timing that donald trump announces to run for president and then the attorney general announces a special counsel but it is the opposite. attorney general said because donald trump announced he's running for president i need to remove myself from this and hand it orr to someone who will be independent. >> yeah. willie, the former president is never known for being reflective which needs me to ask you, charlie sykes, the clip we just played of the former president speaking struck me that he does not wear well the costume of a victim. >> nobody likes to put it on. doesn't he? this is one of the great paradoxes. i alone can fix this. i am the great man. i will return america to

greatest but i'm a victim all the time. no. my first reaction is disappointment that it looked like the attorney general was punting. i think that joyce's analysis is reassuring and jonathan asked the correct question. what is the speed of this? is it going to be slowed down? i think it's naive to think appointing a special counsel to reduce the criticism from maga world and republicans but as you mentioned, it was interesting watching that clip of donald trump once again wallowing in his victimhood and looking past. i think it is interesting to see how other republicans react to all this, particularly now that donald trump is alone as an announced candidate with a spotlight on him so intensely. >> yeah. we're going to hear from

republicans condemning donald trump why meanwhile in an interview that aired after the announcement former attorney general bill barr said he believes the department of justice has a legitimate basis to indictment donald trump. here's what he said. >> if the department of justice can show that these were indeed very sensitive documents, which i think they probably were, and show that the president was involved in misleading the department, deceiving the government and playing games after receiving the subpoena for the documents, those are serious charges. >> serious enough to -- >> i think they have the basis for indicting the president. i don't know. i'm speculating. >> yeah. >> given what's gone on they have the case. >> do you think they will?

>> i think it's becoming increasingly more likely. >> increasingly more likely the justice department will indict donald trump. we have heard joyce vance, during the select committee hearings. he did say though i will note that if donald trump is the nominee i have to consider voting for him. is he right? does it like from where you're sitting the justice department has enough to indict donald trump on the classified documents? >> for be it for me to agree anything with bill barr. he issued a false summary that exonerated supposedly donald trump. but in this case, i think what his comments signal is

increasingly the public observers looking at the evidence that's publicly known, it looks like trump's conduct with the classified documents is inside of the heartland of cases that doj prosecutes. it is important to say that we don't know the evidence that doj has internally. sometimes as a prosecutor you have evidence that's exculpatory and shows that someone isn't criminally liable and might not be publicly available and would be a mistake to prejudge but based on what we see, i was one of the co-authors of a piece in just security last week that views the evidence and the law and concludes that prosecution is merited on the documents charges and the obstruction of justice charges. >> now we'll see how quickly they move there. joyce vance, thank you so much. thank you. still ahead on "morning

joe," a growing must be of republicans urge the party to break from donald trump haeds of 2024. we'll take a look at what leading gop voices and potential white house contenders had to say over the weekend. elon musk restores the former president's twiter account but trump said he has no interest to return to the site for now. what it means for the chaos inside twitter. record setting winter storm through the region of new york. 80 inches of snow in orchard park, new york. home of the buffalo bills. "morning joe" is back in a moment. lincoln's witnessed a good bit of history. even made some themselves. makes you wonder... what will they do for an encore? ♪♪

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we were told we'd get tired of winning but i'm tired of losing and so are most republicans. this is what was said in the republican jewish coalition on saturday. >> candidate quality matters. holy cow have we learned that one the tough way. look. here's a good policy. i got a great policy for the republican party. let's stop supporting crazy candidates in the primaries and there's a unique decision for you. i mean, really. holy cow. that's important. don't just assume it is all going to work out. >> we keep losing and losing and losing. and the fact of the matter is the reason we're losing is because donald trump has put

himself before everybody else. donald trump picked candidates with one criteria. only one. not electability. not experience. not wisdom. not charisma. not the ability to govern. but do you believe the 2020 election was stolen or not? let me tell you. that's not what this party stands for and we have to step up and stop it now. >> and said over the weekend republicans have to stop treating trump like voldemort. paul ryan warned yesterday republicans will lose the white house if the party supports donald trump in 2024. >> it is palpable. we get past trump and winning. we stick with trump we lose. that's how i see it. >> his candidates won across the

board. >> that's the point. he can get the people to the primaries but can't win general elections. i think the republican voter will move on. i think we have a great stable of good capable conservatives more than capable to win this election. that's why i think our voters ultimately who want to win are going to give us candidates to win. >> what will it mean to the party if he wins the nomination again? >> likely lose the white house. we just did in '20. if there's someone not named trump my guess is we win the president. i don't think that's going to happen. i don't think he'll win. he's inelectable. you think he's more popular or

less? >> no evidence. he seems to have a hold on a good chunk of the republican party. >> i think he'll continue to lose altitude because we want to win. there are a lot of really good capable conservatives that are more than capable of being good conservatives in office but win elections. i was not a never trumper. i'm proud of those days and proud of the accomplishments. i'm excited about the judges we got on the bench. not just the supreme court but the judiciary. but i am a never again trumper because i want to win and we lose with trump. it was really clear in '18, '20 and 2022.

>> charlie sykes, people will watch the clips and say, okay. we have seen this movie before. republicans walked out on the ledge said i'm done and enough and not people with them and walked back where they were. is this time different for the practical question of, he lost the midterm elections for them, he lost the white house, lost in '18 and the special election in 2021 and want to hold on to power? >> yeah. it is only different if it is different. having said that, i think one of the most interesting things over the weekend is watching the parade of candidates. donald trump did not sweep the field by getting into the race. nobody backed away. if he had the iron grip on the

party, you would have thought that other candidates would have backed away from a direct challenge but they didn't. listening to my good friend paul ryan you will notice that he is confining himself to say that trump is a loser. this is significant. we need to turn the page and move on. but then he was asked the question, what if donald trump is president again? what would it mean? he is not willing to say that donald trump is unfit to be president of the united states. this is the man that lacks the character to be president of the united states. he does pose a threat to our democratic order. i wonder whether or not it is necessary that republicans notice he's a loser and whether

it's sufficient because if you continue to say he was a great president and proud to work with him, all about losing, i don't know if that's enough. >> chris christie said the republican party did not embrace the big lie and i respectfully disagree. vast majority of republicans embraced the big lie and yes as you mentioned moments where the party could have broken from trump. tap the brakes here. trump may be in a weak moment as we sit here in november but polling suggests there's a lead over ron desantis. it is encouraging i suppose for some republicans to see that there's some voices willing to speak out. we heard from pence, pompeo and

christie. a lot are mulling a presidential bid. in a way that plays into trump's hands because he has a loyal base of support and the bigger the field he comes out on top. >> yeah. he does have a better shot but i think there's a key point here. we saw the governors speaking and charlie's point is valid. maybe you can expand upon it. doesn't it really prove the point that donald trump instilled such fear in republican candidates that they go right up to the trip wire of answering the question of if he does indeed become president of the united states again it poses a threat to national security and a threat to the united states of america as we know it. >> yes. that's exactly right. the big fear is donald trump is

prepared to burn the house down without the nomination. but also the recognition that if you say that you've excommunicated yourself from the republican party. ask liz cheney what happens when you say never again trumper in that way why they don't want to say they would vote for a democrat. does that sound the alarm about donald trump? i understand the logic that if you move past trump and have to get republican voters to say that's fine. turn the page. this is the theme because we are losing. i'm not sure that that content free, morality free position is going to be enough. we have seen it before. >> interesting to hear bill barr talking about the investigations

with his former boss saying trump should step aside and a chance to support trump as the party's nominee. >> if he would just -- if he had just exerted some self control and discipline and dialed back his nastiness a little bit he would have won the presidency and had a second term and he failed. he didn't do what the whole country hoped which then he would rise to the occasion and the office and he didn't do that. so he had his chance. her does not have the qualities to unite the party which is the first step on the road back. and he should stand aside. >> if donald trump were the nominee for the republican party again would you support him

again? >> i hope it doesn't come to that. i think it would be a tragedy if he is the republican nominee. >> could you vote not for the republican? >> it gets down to what i said i would have to make a judgment at that point the impact on the country and will have to see what's going on in the world, who the democratic nominee is. if it's a progressive i can't imagine voting for them. >> ideologically progressive. you still might vote for him? >> uh-huh. depending on the -- it is hard to project what the future holds. the question is always a comparative one. >> you don't rule out supporting president trump again. >> no, i don't. depends on the circumstances. >> it remains astounding to hear

people like bill barr to lay out a case against donald trump, a case for democracy against donald trump. we can't afford to have him there and ticks down the list. i have to see. maybe i vote for him. it likely will be joe biden against him. it is not a wild-eyed lefty running against donald trump if joe biden runs. he is not alone. we have heard it before. i don't like donald trump but i can't vote for the democrat. >> that was the story in 2016. the people who thought that this is a terrible choice went along with it. we have seen what it does. if you're bill barr you said he's a failure. lacks the character to be president. it shouldn't be that hard to say

this man should never be president again. he is not able to carry it to i won't vote to putt him in the oval office. won't put him in charge of the irs and the cia. never going to make him commander in chief again. they cannot say it. that's been the history of the party for six years. they know who he is but unable to quit him even when the evidence is overwhelming. >> charlie, do comments like that lead you to believe we'll hear the protests. that's how 2016 started. the base starts to rally, the republicans will fall in line behind him? >> yeah. well, that's been the history. until they change that you have

to assume that happens again. if your entire case is he can't win and polls show maybe he can then you have nothing. if you don't make the moral political constitutional case against donald trump. >> thank you for your insights. next, the first public appearance of kim jong-un's daughter has some speculating about the north korean loader why that's next on "morning joe." research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's one that'll really take you back. wow! what'd you get, ryan? it's customized home insurance from liberty mutual!!! what does it do, bud?

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"the washington post" reports this morning russia secured a deal with iran to begin making drones and other unmanned aircraft in russia for russia to use in the war against ukraine. russia is using iranian made drones for weeks targeting key infrastructure facilities and residential buildings. officials say russia and iran are ramping up the design process and could begin

production in months. if russia acquires an assembly line it will increase the inventory of weapons that are effective. russia is using the drones to attack heat, power and water sources. this is something the white house has been grappling with. what to do about the supply line from iran into russia. in the war against ukraine with the united states, of course, on the other side of that deal. >> yeah. it is a disturbing development because even know the russias not particularly skilled in the drones they don't have to be. they can be in the area and still cause real damage and that's what they see if the ruins struggled in this war and seen a humiliating retreat after another but hit upon something that's working and targeting civilian infrastructure. these are not war targets.

not military targets. if russia wants to sow chaos and this is a way to do it and they have hit power structures, electrical grids and temperatures are getting colder there. there's real fear that ukraine will be in the dark. that's a real worry. using the drones to take out the infrastructure targets and the temperatures are freezing. just this morning ukrainians officials say there will be evacuation orders. the residents are there over the winter if they don't have heat or power. if the russians do this they can continue. meanwhile north korea's

latest missile launch friday. kim jong-un's daughter was there. photographs published by north korean state media show kim holding hands with the girl in front of a missile. joining us now from beijing is janis mackey frayer. the photos raising speculation about a possible succession plan in north korea. >> reporter: the images are fascinating because we haven't known that this child has existed before and there they are holding hands. she is wearing little red shoes and watching the launch of the towering icbm. dennis rodman visited in 2013 but why? at this of all events did kim choose to reveal one of his

children. there are a lot of ways to look at it. he may be telegraphing a message of a fourth generation power succession or an attempt to humanize him and soften the image. we saw that happen when his wife was eased into the picture around 2011 or 2012. the officials in pyongyang has v a highly calibrated public mess anding and the higher the propaganda goes the more weight that message carries so the fact that kim unveiled his daughter was seen as a message to the world but there's also the need to look at this through the domestic lens. this is the largest icbm and this for north korea is seen as an achievement, a reason to

celebrate inside the country. when kim was with his daughter state media wasn't hyping her up or even naming her referring to her as the beloved daughter. analysts look at this. the surprise of a little girl is an aspect. the other little surprise in video. officials did not release a video of a missile launch for five years. analysts are parsing it for information about the acceleration about the missile, suggests about how the weapons program is advancing and overall performance because there's no diplomatic channels open right now. the nsc confirming that on friday saying there's no lines of communication in or out of north korea and they aren't

interested in talking anyway. >> south korea concerned about the increase in frequency of the tests. missiles in their direction why nbc's janis mackey frayer, thank you we'll live to colorado springs where five were killed and 25 injured after a gunman opened fire in an lgbtq nightclub. we'll have the latest on the investigation next on "morning joe." and twice the choice. sirloin salisbury steak and all-natural salmon. perfect for lunch or dinner. only at ihop. download the app and earn free food with every purchase. space. the boundary of human achievement. the new frontier. ♪♪ eh. ♪♪

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joining us now "new york times" best-selling author james patterson. his latest thriller is entitled "blowback." it deals with a president described as a narcissistic psychopath. tell where you say the inspiration came from. >> you know, back in the '50s and '60s during the cold war, it was a very scary time and we were all afraid a bomb was going to get dropped on us. there were all these wonderful

thrillers, "the manchurian candidate," "seven days in may," "six days in condor," "fail-safe," and this is a thriller for the era we're in right now. >> reading the rough outline of this book -- >> don't read the outline. read the damn book. >> you haven't sent me the book. >> okay. >> all i read was the outline. but it strikes me, some aspects of the principal character's personality, it strikes me that -- did you walk down, you know, along the florida coast and talk to one of your florida residents or neighbors? >> no. no, i didn't. but, you know, it's a time -- there's a lot of scary leaders around the world right now, really scary. we have kim jung, we have brazil, venezuela, we got che, obviously vladimir putin. so it's -- it's a frightening

time like that. and the idea of an american president who is in this case keegan barrett, he's charismatic, and he's a psychopath. he wants to start a world war. >> what happens here? i don't want you to give away the entire plot, but, you know, world war, well, what is the deal here? what happens? >> well, i think one of the cool things about that is, okay, who is our most dangerous enemy? is it iran right now? is it north korea? is it russia? is it china? and he definitely has a target. and we don't find that out till very late in the novel. but it really moves along. you always hope they're going to work out well, and this one worked out pretty well, i think. >> what is it about us as americans who -- you talked about "the manchurian candidate," "seven days," i think about stephen king's "the dead zone," which was incredible. martin sheen played the role in

the movie, an incredible book about this psychopath who got his hands on the nuclear codes and the rest was history so to speak. what is it about that sort of story that draws readerses in so much? is it the fact we grew up in a cold war where we were always just one madman away from extinction? >> well, yeah, sure. i think that's a piece of it, absolutely. you know, with our freedom, which is a wonderful thing, it's also a dangerous thing and can be a scary thing. we're watching in england now, and it's nice, it's comforting to some extent to have this continuity that kind of takes us to cradle to grave as human beings, and i think we're losing that right now. so hopefully we'll get some leadership in the country that will make us all feel a little more comfortable and at ease. but right now i think everybody feels -- i certainly do -- that it's perilous and scary times.

throw in the pandemic and it's crazy. >> it's exciting. the new thriller is entitled "blowback: an american president goes insane." >> thank you. ♪♪ over the last 100 years, lincoln's witnessed a good bit of history. even made some themselves. makes you wonder... what will they do for an encore? ♪♪

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