controversial and wrong, he's only doing more harm to himself and his potential bid and making republicans that we have talked to and heard from consider other alternatives, someone like florida governor ron desantis more seriously, and that's reflected in op-eds and pieces from the "wall street journal," and editorial boards and others who are firmly putting pa plant in the ground, a flag in the ground. saying look, donald trump is no longer the republican leader that we want moving forward. >> we have heard from a few republicans criticizing it. boy, the opportunity is there for governor desantis, widely considered trump's biggest rival, if he were to give an unequivocal condemnation. that's a moment to do that. you can draw a clear line between you and trump, but so far he has not. alexi mccammond, thank you so much for joining us this morning, and thank you for getting up "way too early" on this tuesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. mr. trump tried distancing

himself, posting on social media that west called me to have dinner, education pressed no anti-semitism, and claimed i didn't know nick fuentes. >> yeah, in trump's defense, i mean, how would he know the guy kanye rolls with could be a white supremacist. i just wanted to have dinner with this anti-semite, i didn't know he was going to bring a friend. >> as more republicans speak out against the former president's meeting with a white nationalist. >> and by the way, donald trump, you know, he said he didn't know who david duke was. he was lying. he didn't know who the proud boys were, he was lying. he didn't know who qanon was, he's lying. he's probably lying about this neo-nazi, but regardless, how many days has it been? he still refuses to condemn him. he still refuses to say that he disagrees with his philosophy

because as we heard reports yesterday, he doesn't want to defend the white nationalists and neo-nazis in his own base. >> and as georgia breaks its single day record for early voting, there's new reporting this morning that donald trump will not visit the state ahead of next week's senate runoff. we'll have the latest from georgia. we'll also get a live report from beijing amid the rare protests in china over the country's draconian covid lockdowns and, how the protests are affecting the global economy. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it is tuesday, november 29th. good to have you all with us along with joe, willie, and me, we have u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay, and the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. >> so willie, here we have in the "wall street journal" the words that a lot of soccer fans are thinking about this morning,

football fans. today it is win or go home at the world cup for team usa. >> it is, joe, it's on all the newspapers in new york too. this is the back page of the "new york post," says weight of the world, the daily news going a step further, the end of the world, meaning that the usa loses today, it's the end of their run in the world cup. there's of course a lot more than soccer in the background here. team usa's fate at the world cup, resting on a must win match against iran this afternoon. a draw or a loss today eliminates the american team after the americans tied both wales and england. let's go right to qatar. we find nbc news correspondent megan fitzgerald in doha. what's it like ahead of this big game. >> reporter: they're excited, pumped up. look, as you mentioned, there's a lot going on here. this is a major game for team usa. >> we don't have meghan's audio. we'll get back to you in a

second. joe, you are the massive soccer fan on this panel. we have been watching this tournament not just for the soccer but all the protests in the background, everything that's going on, particularly with iran, the players a couple of games ago, not singing along to the national anthem in a huge act of courage given what's going on in their home country and what may await them when they get home after doing that. what is at stake today beyond soccer? >> again, the eyes of the world going to be on this match for a lot of different reasons. you talk about iran. my god, it's been at the center obviously of news over the past month or so with the growing protests there. and you are right, the players refuse to sing the national anthem in the first match. it was obviously -- it was very courageous move, very dangerous move for them. but just as jonathan, as you just talk about the game of

futbol, the iranians are a good team. this is a good squad. they know exactly who they are. anybody who thinks team usa is going to roll over them is going to be sadly mistaken. this should be quite a fascinating match. >> yeah, and the iranians, of course, defeated wales in the second game while the u.s. only managed a draw with the welsh squad. this will be a tight match. both teams still alive to head to the knockout round with a win, and it's pretty simple. there's no loss, obviously knocks the u.s. out. it's not a difference of goal differential. win and you're in. the stakes are high obviously. relations between these two countries, not exactly warm right now, and have not been for a very long time. we can ask jimmy carter about that. and certainly, willie, we also know there's reports that the

iranians if they were caught not singing the national anthem, there's reports that their families would be threatened. there's a lot at stake here, beyond what we're going to see on the pitch. >> they have been put on notice. we have megan fitzgerald back. i'll let you pick it up. >> reporter: you're absolutely right. you talked about how this is a crucial game for team usa and you think about the mental game as well. there's so much going on off the pitch that they're wrapped up in as well. the u.s. soccer federation removing the islamic republic emblem from the team social media accountings and the iranians not happy about that, calling on fifa to suspend team usa for ten games, kick them out of the world cup, and of course yesterday we saw this press conference, this hotly contested press conference between team captain tyler adams and the head coach of team usa being grilled by these members of the iranian

state media. so much so that the coach even apologized for the actions of the u.s. soccer federation even though the team and coach said they knew nothing about the actions. and of course we saw the team captain being grilled about discrimination in the united states, and how he can play for the u.s., under the fact that there's challenges in the u.s. with black americans. so these players are now dealing with a lot, just focusing on the game but also the politics of it all. we had an opportunity to catch up with a georgetown professor who studies the world cup and the intersection of politics. i want you to listen to a little bit of our conversation. how significant is it that we are seeing collide with sport in this world cup? >> i think we should not expect from the 22 players of the pitch to restore the nuclear deals.

that's the job of the government, but what the players can do, they can compete with each other hard but fair, and can send a strong signal for a good understanding between the people of the two countries. we are living in an age of activism. the time of shut up and dribble are over. we have athletes that express their political views. >> reporter: could we see the iranian team jailed because of what they did on the field? >> unfortunately in iran, everything is possible. what the iranian players did was very brave. they are risking their own lives. they are risking the lives of their families in iran. but it clearly shows that they have sympathy and solidarity with the protesters. >> reporter: yeah, so that last question that i asked dr. reiche there, he was referring to the fact that we saw the iranian

team not singing the national anthem. some of them looking begolden gate bridge -- begrudgingly. all eyes on this game. the stakes are high on both sides. >> for people to get sort of a feel about how intense this rivalry is or at least how intense the iranians are feeling, as you talk about that press conference yesterday, and the anger from the iranian, i guess it's iranian state media going after the coaches but then attacking our captain, tyler adams, and first of all going, you mispronounced our country's name. how disrespectful of you, and how can you play for a team where there's so much racism in your country, and again, the hypocrisy coming from iran. but i was blown away by tyler adam's response. what a captain. he said, first of all, i'm very

sorry for mispronouncing iran instead of iran. i've been all around the world. there's racism around the world. what i love about the united states, we continue to work on it. we continue to try to get better, and i thought the grace under fire was extraordinary, but i did take note the anger and the hostility toward the iranians for him even mispronouncing the name of their country. if i thought was very revealing. >> reporter: yeah, absolutely. you know, i mean you, hit the nail on the head. the way in which we saw our team captain responding with such class, such composure. we're talking about kids in their 20s. these are young men, of course. the composure under fire.

some frustration from the iranian state media there, really just grilling them, and the fact that he said, look, as you mentioned, i have traveled all over the world. i have seen discrimination all over the world. here in america, we are conscious of that. there's an effort to try and improve and get better. we're talking about issues aside from the game. now this young man has to rally his team and hit the field and try and get a win with all of these things circulating. you have to give it to team usa, they have a lot going on, when they're trying to focus on what they came to qatar for, to win a world cup title. >> meagan fitzgerald, live from doha, qatar. thank you so much, and we greatly appreciate it. have fun there, at least during the game if you can. not word association, we're going to do year association. i'm going to name a random world, and you tell me what comes to mind. >> oh, i wouldn't want to play

this game. what are you doing? >> 1966, katty. >> so we're not going there again, right? the state of the game we played against the usa the other day, it didn't look so good for the england team. i'm hoping, you have just spoken about one great rivalry today, which is usa match. you completely forgot to mention the england wales match which is almost as big a rivalry happening at the same time to see who comes out of group one. the prince of wales actually asked who he was supporting in this, which might be awkward, given he's the prince of wales, and clearly english and had to admit he was clearly english. i thought you guys looked great over the weekend on friday. it's a younger fitter team than the english team, and the doha weather is tough on teams that don't have stamina. by that 90th minute, they are dripping with sweat, so i'm not

sure this is going to be -- i don't know. i should be a good american optimist and say, yes, this is the year that england is going to win the world cup again. >> yes, and of course, willie, 1966, the last year that england brought the world cup home. and the pressure has mounted through the years. we'll see what happens. i should say, katty is right. a lot of cramping, especially from teams from northern europe. who would have ever foreseen that if you held a world cup in doha that you would have cramping problems and nine or ten minutes added to each match. >> and that's after they moved it out of summer. the world cup is supposed to be in summer so all the teams can be together and not be on their professional teams but it was going to be 110 or 115, so they moved it to the fall to avoid

all the cramping and problems we have seen. we'll focus on action on the field, there's a lot to talk about off the field with this world cup in qatar. >> and alex just got in my ear. we ought to talk about the cramps the hamstring problems. four hours on "morning joe." there's a rough training regimen. >> marathon gels, you get one here. we have water stations on the side of the set. it's a long haul. >> it's so difficult. >> splash in my face, and we keep going. time for politics now here at home. a growing number of republicans are speaking out against donald trump's dinner with a white nationalist including his former vice president now in a rare interview yesterday, mike pence denounced trump's meal last week with holocaust denier, nicholas fuentes and disgraced rapper kanye west. >> it's wrong to give a white

nationalist, an anti-semite, and a holocaust denier a seat at the table. i think he should apologize for it, and he should denounce those individuals and their hateful rhetoric without qualification. i think the president demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table. >> so that was actually a full throated robust response to it. he's calling on the former president to apologize for what he's done. it's very different than saying, yeah, maybe i would have done something different or i wouldn't have done that, hemming and hauing out of it. mike pence is lining up. >> he's doing what we should be doing. >> should have done, some would say. >> but again, they played just as i am, mike's walking down to the front, the invitation, we're going to accept him.

>> he was his vice president. >> but we're glad. >> really, okay? >> i'm going to work on that one. >> you're not glad that he didn't -- >> i'm glad, but -- >> but he did it. right? he did it. >> he did it. >> he did it. mark that down. one step forward, right? >> one step forward. >> and he did it, willie. >> how are you doing? >> i'm good. >> he did it without qualifications. said trump should apologize without qualification, and at least in that clip we heard there wasn't any qualifying. there wasn't any hedging, anything like that. it's funny. we can't do shows for 80 weeks saying people must say this, and they say it, yeah, but, he said it. it's a positive step forward, of course we've talked every day ad nauseam about what these

people have not done over the past six years, and for good reason. but -- >> it's happening. >> let's celebrate that mike pence said he needed to apologize without qualification. >> he did say it, and he's not alone in saying it. we're also together not saying that the republican party is completely turning its back on donald trump. we have been through too much, we know better but in this moment, they are saying it. with that caveat, this is an easy one. donald trump sat down with a holocaust denier and white supremacist, should be easier to condemn. he did say he doesn't believe donald trump is an anti-semite partially because his grandchildren are jewish. trump facing backlash from republicans in the senate along with mike pence. here are some of their responses when asked by reporters about the former president's dinner with the white supremacist and holocaust denier. >> the meeting was bad. he shouldn't have done it.

but again, there's a double standard about this kind of stuff, and i don't think it will matter in terms of his political future. i do believe we have to watch who we meet with. >> i wouldn't have dinner with either one of those guys. you make the most of that you want to. >> he surely would disavow any of that stuff. most would. how he took a meeting, i don't know. >> there's no room in the republican party for white supremacists, anti-semitism. it's wrong. >> i think it's ridiculous that he had that meeting. it's ridiculous, and that's all i'm going to say about it. just crazy. >> i think it's disgusting to invite people like to meet with a former president of the united states. i think it's been clear there's no bottom to the degree to which president trump will degrade himself and the nation. >> john, you can almost hear it in the voices of senators. i do not want to answer questions about donald trump for the next two or six years.

you can see the exhaustion on their faces. that said, if he becomes the nominee, it may be another story. >> we see the beginnings of a beard on mitt romney's face. we were taken aback. setting that aside. these are the senators some of whom, romney in particular, occasionally would speak out against trump while in office. lindsey graham is a different story. trump's allies are saying this is a bridge too far. this is a lay up, and we'll see how fleeting this is. is this just the latest trump controversy that was sur planted by another trump controversy in a matter of days, and we all move on. the larger point is exhaustion. republicans are tired of trump. they recognize, we're not saying they're turning the page. no one should bury trump as the head of the political party that is the republican party until he actually is gone. but right now there is a sense of he's just the past, and he is exhausting and more republicans suggesting we're tired of talking about 2020. we're tired of being swept up in

whatever nonsense he creates out of mar-a-lago. the question will be does desantis or another leading figure taking him on in 2024. maybe that mike pence. i don't think many see him as a serious contender for the republican nominee. do they fully break with him, and rally supporters to finally leave trump. so far they haven't. polls suggest trump is still the guy. this is clearly wearing on the leaders of the party if nobody else. >> again, just having to constantly be answering questions about donald trump. of course, some say, oh, you people in the media, no, no, don't try the antitrumpism bs on us when the guy sits down with a neo-nazi who says that jews that died in the holocaust, compared them to burnt cookies, and said extraordinarily heinous things about not only jews but so many

other americans. i thought it was interesting. there was a sliding scale there. you could almost hear lindsey graham going, yeah, i wouldn't meet with him. it's bad, but that was not unequivocal. i'll certainly give you that. some of the others seemed tepid. rick scott was fairly straightforward. joni ernst very tough, calling it ridiculous. >> disgusting. >> mitt romney, also very harsh about it. what's interesting is that we are hearing republican senators being critical of donald trump, sort of feeds into what we have been saying here for quite some time, the three parties, there's the democratic party, the republican senate party, and there's the republican house party. interesting, not surprising, unfortunately, and sad and pa

-- pathetic, we haven't heard kevin mccarthy, and other leaders come out and criticize. donald trump, why? they don't get to become speaker unless certain people who have spoken, actually spoken to white nationalist conventions with this guy this introducing them, i think without their support. so kevin mccarthy thinks his support depends on having white nationalists and supporters of neo-nazis voting for him for speaker of the house. where does that put the house republican party in 2023. >> it certainly is not the party of mitt romney and joni ernst. they were clear in their house of representatives. you've got moderate republicans in the house of representatives. they're not the people who at the moment, kevin mccarthy feels he needs to win over if he's going to get na speakership.

that's going to be a hell of a job. lord knows why he wants it. he's going to have to be continuously in hook to marjorie taylor greene and matt gaetz and the others in that wing and jim jordan in the trumpian wing of his party. his job is going to be both a nightmare, and almost impossible to do. so he may rethink all of those years of craving that job. i don't quite see what's in it for him, beyond pure ambition. no, clearly he knows which way the votes lie, and the votes don't lie with the moderates of the party at the moment. it's a very -- it is a very different republican party, although i would say, yes, we've heard these senators come out. as mika said, it's pretty clear. this was, you know, this was a pretty clear moment for condemnation, and lindsey graham, somebody on the staff should get fired. what he said was not exactly a massive repudiation of donald

trump's own choices. >> no. let's get to other headlines we're following this morning. president biden is urging congress to approve a labor deal that would avert what he called a potentially crippling national rail shut down. in response, house speaker nancy pelosi immediately announced she will call a vote this week. the tentative agreement would provide a 24% pay raise for rail workers and improved health care benefits. if the deal is not approved, unions representing freight railway workers could strike as early as next week. for the first time in almost ten years, britain's prince and princess of wales will be visiting the u.s. the royal couple will travel to boston tomorrow to attend the second annual earth shot prize award ceremony. organization founded by william, to help entrepreneurs with solutions to climate change, and environmental issues. according to the royal

household. william and kate will be limiting their visit to the boston area from tomorrow to friday. >> hey, willie, can you make sure you've got him right there, can you make sure lemire doesn't go home? we can't have lemire back up in boston. >> keep him here. >> i think he's afraid i might heckle the royals after i came out so strongly for usa, in the usa/england game last week. that's the concern. i'll be here, joe. it will be fine. one more news story here -- >> that will be like season seven of the crown, the lemire incident. you know? >> katty, are you a fan of "the crown,". >> i didn't love the last season. i loved the early seasons, claire foy. i found the last season grim, it's basically about failed marriages all around, and the queen's difficult marriage at that moment, diana and charles. i felt like voyeuristic, and i

didn't want to watch it, to be honest. >> you know, it was -- i'm a huge fan of the crown and like you, loved the early seasons. well, i loved all the seasons. this season was a very difficult season to get through. >> yeah. >> but, you know, the thing is really does show how much the queen went through in the '90s. kept her head down. it's pretty remarkable at the end of that very grim season as they're moving towards the death of diana to think, wow, okay, so everything seemed to be blowing up in their personal lives then, but, katty, you think about how she said good-bye to the world a couple of months ago, it is incredible. one other thing quickly, that reminds me, so much was just

made up in this season of the crown. when you go back and fact check. there was never the times story, there was never the queen victoria effect. the poll that they took, which supposedly showed she was unpopular, you go back and see the "times" poll, she had like a 90% approval rating. they made up so much. i don't mind a little, you know, fiction, a little artistic license, but man they went over board this season. >> yeah, there's been an outcry in the uk over that, and you have had some quite important figures, john major, for example, speaking out and saying hold on for a second, that meeting i was reported to have had with prince charles, that just didn't happen. the conversation about should the queen abdicate and should he take over just didn't happen reportedly. they didn't make up some of the little stuff. i think they went further than they have in the other scenes making up the big stuff, and people speaking out, helen

mirren saying this is too much. they have misrepresented the relationship between prince charles and his mother and his wanting to get her out of the way so he could become king. >> and prime minister. >> and, willie, of course it was jarring to us that judi dench said the same thing about "the crown" that she has about "morning joe" for years, fictionalized drama. that's what i expected. >> that's what she said about about "the crown." >> and they should have a diskramer. >> i don't want to get on the wrong side of dame judi dench. >> when you gave the disclaimer on the eve of the midterms, everything we just said was wrong. >> no, i was wrong when i said everything we said was wrong because what we said ended up not being wrong, but ended up, willie, being right. there was no red wave. >> correct. >> how you doing this morning?

>> i'm doing good. i'm doing good. >> everything all right? yes, one more story for this block. >> you want to tell everybody what you did before the change? >> no. do you want me to? >> this is a change. we have been doing this show for 15 years, and mika started a new routine. >> i have decided to work out before the show. i don't know why this is interesting. >> it's too early. >> look at katty. she wakes up at 3:00 in the morning, and she has this -- >> full hour. >> -- program where she runs full steam on a treadmill for an hour. i'm sitting there cheering her on, doing my morning routine. i got a martini, an old fashioned, actually, smoking a get, and you know, some hash browns from mcdonald's, i'm saying you go girl. but like three in the morning. >> it's nice when the show is over to not have to still

workout. does anyone get that? >> in my "way too early" days, i tried that just to get through the day, and i would wake up at 3:00, and it lasted about a week, and i decided the hour of the sleep was more valuable than the exercise in the morning, but you're stronger than i am. i bet you'll stay with it. >> we'll see. okay, hawaii's mauna loa, the world's largest volcano is erupting for the first time in 40 years. the lava is currently not a threat to any nearby communities. authorities have opened shelters on the island as a precaution. we'll be watching that. and still ahead on "morning joe," we'll go live to beijing for the latest on the growing unrest amid severe covid restrictions. plus, we'll take a look at how those protests across china and other global factors like russia are impacting the price of oil.

cnbc's brian sullivan breaks it down. and also ahead, there is a legal fight in arizona after one county failed to certify the 2022 midterm results. >> these people are such dopes, that's a county kari lake won. so if they don't certify the results, then the shadow gets even more. the shadow of katie hobbs gets even more of a victory. >> yeah, kari lake lost to the shadow. and minority leader kevin mccarthy issues a new warning to republicans as he struggles to secure enough votes to become the next speaker of the house. we'll have the latest on that rift within the gop. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. gop. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention

with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. ♪things are getting clearer♪ ♪i feel free to bare my skin♪ ♪yeah, that's all me♪ ♪nothing and me go hand in hand♪ ♪nothing on my skin♪ ♪that's my new plan♪ ♪nothing is everything♪

achieve clearer skin with skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. in another study, most people had 90% clearer skin, even at 4 years. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. ♪it's my moment, so i just gotta say♪ ♪nothing is everything♪ serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections, or a lower ability to fight them, may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. ♪nothing is everything♪ now's the time to ask your doctor about skyrizi, the number one dermatologist prescribed biologic. learn how abbvie could help you save. for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis who are positive for acetylcholine receptor antibodies,

it may feel like the world is moving without you. but the picture is changing, with vyvgart. in a clinical trial, participants achieved improved daily abilities with vyvgart added to their current treatment. and vyvgart helped clinical trial participants achieve reduced muscle weakness. vyvgart may increase the risk of infection. in a clinical study, the most common infections were urinary tract and respiratory tract infections. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or if you have symptoms of an infection. vyvgart can cause allergic reactions. the most common side effects include respiratory tract infection, headache, and urinary tract infection. picture your life in motion with vyvgart. a treatment designed using a fragment of an antibody. ask your neurologist if vyvgart could be right for you. the day you get your clearchoice dental implants amakes every day...t

a "let's dig in" day... mm. ...a "chow down" day... a "take a big bite" day... a "perfectly delicious" day... - mm. [ chuckles ] - ...a "love my new teeth" day. because your clearchoice day is the day everything is back on the menu. a clearchoice day changes every day. schedule a free consultation. find your beat your moment of calm find your potential then own it support your immune system with a potent blend of nutrients and emerge your best every day with emergen-c vo: it's a new day. because now updated covid vaccines protect against both the original covid virus and omicron. just in time to say, “oh, you bet i'll be there!” a whole lot more.

it's 35 past the hour. beautiful shot of the sun coming up over new york city. we've been following the protests across china because of the strict covid policies, and joining us now from beijing, nbc news foreign correspondent, janis mackey frayer, good to have you back with us. >> "the times" was talking about how china's government is prepared for protests. i did a little bit of research this morning and actually saw they doubled their budget over the past decade for internal security, and right now, some reports suggesting they spend more money on internal security than they do on national defense. so what is this going to look like? do you expect chinese authorities to clamp down pretty tough in the coming days and weeks? >> well, there's no secret that

national security is a priority here, even at the 20th congress in october when xi jinping was giving his speech. he mentioned security 73 times, i think it was over the course of the time that he was speaking. there is a massive security apparatus that's been established here at the same time over the past ten years of xi jinping. there has been a tightening over other controls on the internet, bans on human rights groups, the censorship has been ramped up. so what we're seeing is the potential for a national movement here with these protests happening simultaneously in multiple cities across the country. these people rallying around a single cause, but at the same time, there is not the expectation that organizers are going to be able to organize. they are trying to use coded

messages on social media, trying to evade the sensors and also using other techniques, but the problem now is that there are police everywhere. you go to any of the sites of the protests over the past few days, and streets that have been filled with people chanting are now filled with barriers x they're all under guard. police fanned out today in several cities across country. and they are visibly clamping down. in shanghai, they were even checking people's mobile phones, looking for images or messaging apps that could connect a person to the protests, and there was a lot of talk about that on social media today among people who are interested in joining these protests saying that they were deleting photos and chat histories so they could avoid detention. so certainly the leadership here has the potential to crack down in a very serious way, whether

they actually do that remains to be seen. it's unclear at this point whether the protests are going to have their moment. there's the will on the part of the leadership to snuff them out, and xi jinping certainly in quelling the protests isn't going to walk back on his covid policy. it's his signature policy, and he has said very firmly, and very publicly that china is sticking to it. >> and there are just so many challenges obviously for xi, many of his own making. i was struck that a hong kong court ruled in favor of a media tycoon that china had arrested. >> reporter: the reach of the controls has been quite staggering. during the hong kong protests when we were there and covering the protest, there was all of the talk about how beijing was going to crack down, and people

were expecting, you know, the s.w.a.t teams to go through the streets, and they were there, but they weren't doing the crack down. the crack down was happening here. it was happening through legal controls, through laws, and so if we put that in the context of how these protests are now being mounted here, they're going to run into a lot of obstacles, a lot of barriers. it is really unclear whether they will last, but there certainly has been an extraordinary effort on the part of these people over the last 72 hours. >> all right. nbc's janis mackey frayer, thank you very much for your reporting on this this morning. willie. >> oil prices appear to be rebounding a little bit this morning, after fall to go an 11-month low, amid protests in china, and developments out of europe. joining us now, msnbc senior national correspondent brian sullivan. great to see you. let's start in china. >> it's been a while. >> it's been a while in person. >> since the before times. good to see you. >> way over there, how are you? >> good to see you, man.

let's talk about link between the oil prices falling to an 11-month low yesterday and what janis was talking about, the covid lockdowns in china. >> here's a text i got from a friend who lives outside shanghai. this was today overnight. everyone in my neighborhood just went into lockdown. the building next to ours was taken to government quarantine facilities. taken to government quarantine facilities. >> the whole building, everybody that lives there. >> that was a text last night from a friend of mine in shanghai. china uses about 15% of the world's oil, when you think about the economy coming, not to a halt, they're driving around, there's some activity there. there's very little travel to china. when you have the world's second biggest economy and the scenes we're seeing on tv, it's a humanitarian disaster first. but there's a massive economic angle to this. i guess the weird side of it is

that oil prices have come down. so we get lower gas prices, but look at the suffering there, it's tough. >> let's talk about europe and how the war in russia plays into all of this, and sort of growing tension between the europe and the u.s. over capping the price of russian energy, which is going to provide a tense backdrop to the macron biden meeting in the white house. >> it's getting tense with europe. "politico" had a story the other day, citing unnamed sources which i don't like, but many in europe are accusing the white house of war profiteering. the white house is accusing oil and gas companies of war profiteering, and europe is getting mad at our strategy because we're selling them so much natural gas and some other things that there is going to be some tension at these meetings. now, what people don't realize is about the same amount of russian oil is still flowing into europe. we think, oh, they're not buying russian oil. they are. they are doing it through

trading firms. companies that buy the oil and resell it. as of monday, december 5th. we're going to see these full sanctions kick in. and they're talking about a price cap. it's very confusing. two separate things. sanctions, price cap. europe can't agree on the price. here's the thing. the white house wants russian oil to keep flowing around the world. they don't want to cut off all supplies. then our prices would soar. we want it at a price point where putin doesn't make any money, and poland wants it really tight, and other countries don't. so it's this huge game of energy chess, and i think you're right. macron biden visit could be a little tense. we'll see. europe's got a real energy crisis, all winter. >> at the same time, going into winter with oil prices dropping from 125, 130, down to 75, 80, hopefully provides a little bit of relief for consumers there,

but also what does that do to russia's economy considering how depend they are on high oil prices, not only to fight their war, but to run their country. >> yeah, oil, they are a petro state, joe, that's the bottom line. they don't make a lot of money on natural gas. oil is where the money is. they have been having to sell their oil at about a 15 to $20 per barrel discount, compared to the rest of the world, depending on the numbers you look at. could be as low as 10, as high as 20. their money has been cut down, but it has not been cut off, and right now, we've got the full sanctions kicking in on monday that prevents most russian oil from being directly sold into europe. the price cap is designed to keep oil flowing to countries like india, china and others that are still buying russian oil that are not part of the sanctions, but yet, the price would be so low that, okay, you get the oil to flow, but if you

cut the number too much, joe, vladimir putin says you know what, we're taking the oil off the market, and the white house here is really worried, yeah, we want to starve putin of revenue, but we also don't want to send oil to $125 a barrel because they take a couple million barrels off the market. they can't make any money. they say the heck with it. that's this delicate dance, and oh, by the way. opec meets on sunday in vienna , austria, they're likely to cut oil production again. sunday meeting, thank you, opec. they're the best. >> okay. and speaking of the meeting between president biden and emanuel macron, we're going to be having the french ambassador to the u.s. on "morning joe" in the next hour, so we'll be talking a lot about that among other things. >> that too. >> we're going to be talking

about the world. >> cnbc's brian sullivan. >> we'll answer questions about brian sullivan today, he's allowed to actually speak french. >> we'll see. i think the answer is no. that's more like canadian french. >> your dad spoke canadian french. >> horrible french. >> harsh. >> how did it offend your sensibilities. >> my mother and i, our ears hurt. there's nothing wrong with canadian french, but polish canadian french. think about that. it's rough. >> i played in my college alternative band was called messy canadian french. >> my grandmother on my mother's side was a translator during world war ii. she spoke eleven languages and she taught me french, real french. >> really? >> so you and your grandmother

would look down at your father. >> that's 12 more than i speak. >> she was amazing. >> i took latin. >> that's good. >> like in 8th grade for like 15 minutes. that's all i got. it's been nine months since vladimir putin sent troops into ukraine. it appears he's losing support at home. nbc's keir simmons joins us with more on that. plus, it is the home stretch for herschel walker's campaign in the georgia senate runoff election. >> it's getting close. he's trying to jump over that barbed wire fence. >> he's getting there to get to the cows. now is the time, baby, take the jump. >> something's going on. >> you know something's going on there. >> something is definitely going on, but a big name in the gop is staying away from that race. who is it and why. and will smith gives his first late night interview since the slap seen around the world. >> still hurts.

>> we'll show you what he has to say about that night ahead on "morning joe." s to say about that night ahead on "morning joe."

trelegy for copd. ♪birds flyin' high, you know how i feel.♪ ♪breeze driftin' on by...♪ ♪...you know how i feel.♪ you don't have to take... [coughing] ...copd sitting down. ♪it's a new dawn,...♪ ♪...it's a new day,♪ it's time to make a stand. ♪and i'm feelin' good.♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd... ...medicine has the power to treat copd... ...in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler,... ...trelegy makes breathing easier for a full 24 hours, improves lung function, and helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler... ...for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating,... ...vision changes, or eye pain occur. take a stand, and start a new day with trelegy.

ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy... ...and save at trelegy.com. why are 93% of sleep number sleepers satisfied with their bed? maybe it's because you can adjust your comfort and firmness on either side. your sleep number setting. to help relieve pressure points and keep you both comfortable all night. and now, save $1,000 on select sleep number 360 smart beds and adjustable bases. ends monday. i'd like to thank our sponsor liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. contestants ready? go! only pay for what you need. jingle: liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. as a business owner, onl your bottom line iseed. always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts. saving you up to 60% a year. and it's only available to comcast business

internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.

. a live picture as the sun comes up over the white house. 6:51 in the morning on the east coast. as the war in ukraine rages on, there are increasing signs the commitment to the effort inside russia is wavering. more on that, we're joined by nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons. good morning. >> good morning, it's an incredibly mixed picture in moscow. you see still restaurants and cafes full of people. the streets are busy. in some ways you wouldn't notice any difference, but then if you scratch beneath the surface and you talk to particularly young people, what you find is deep concern. deep despondency, and a feeling that they can't do anything to change things. the ukraine conflict is tearing

at the fabric of russian society. in moscow, we sat down with five students who didn't want to show their faces so they could speak freely. >> i think the majority of my generation wants this to end, and we want to live in peace. >> reporter: while it's impossible to measure, overall support for the conflict, these students say many friends are despondent, families divided. >> i'm really sorry for the entire, like, younger generation, because they might have struggles they have to face will be just incredible. the attitude toward russians is basically ruined. >> you have arguments with people, do you? >> yes, all of the time. >> reporter: arguing all of the time? >> yes, especially with my family. >> reporter: divisions visible even on state tv. here, a hard line talk show host fights with a lawmaker over

whether the ukraine campaign is justified. unheard of just a few months ago. but russia's former deputy foreign minister tells me those around president putin think there's no turning back now. >> as many people in russia say, the defeat of russia, the defeat of putin means the crash of the whole system. >> reporter: the students we spoke to also fear for russia's future. >> if we don't have the internet we become like north korea. >> reporter: with protests purged, they too believe president putin will begin 2023 with a firm grip on power. put up your hand if you believe anytime soon people will go into the streets in huge numbers to try and change things? it's not going to happen. not one of them put their hands up, that tells you something, doesn't it?

listen, when i was in russia in the beginning of the invasion, there was the wave of unequivocal support on russian television. that isn't the case now. you see open criticism. that doesn't mean what we're looking at is the overflow of president putin. his network is extraordinary. many of the people running the different agencies have known him for decades and different guises in the fsb and st. petersburg. you can't underestimate his strength, his ability to continue, and yet at the same time there are these rumblings, and these criticisms. >> what's your sense, keir, of the story russians are being told by their own media, the state media. we have eyes on ukraine, we know what's happening there. it seems the people of russia, though they do have access to the internet, and they can find the right information are being told a narrative that this is a righteous campaign to take back land that belongs to them. >> they are being told that and there is the criticism. i think one aspect of russia that you can never forget is you're talking about 11 time

zones. it's an enormous land mass, and so there is inevitably the difference between views within a city like moscow, and views in regions, you know, hours and hours and hours away, just in time from a city like moscow. so there are those differences. and that, in a sense, is one of the issues that president putin has to manage because there will be families in other parts of russia saying why are our boys, our husbands having to go to ukraine so far away from us. >> keir simmons with a report out of russia. thanks, keir. good to see you. >> and guys? >> the problem, we have been saying it for years, the problem with russia is that it's become -- the government has just become so tied to vladimir putin that even the thought of anyone replacing him is just not crossed anyone's mind. we don't know how that looks.

we don't know what comes after putin for a country that has more nuclear weapons than any other country in the world. we certainly know what things look like before putin, and yes, they are absolutely horrific now. but, you know, throughout much of the '90s, there was political, military, social an -- anarchy in russia. everywhere you look, there's danger. >> he has been very deliberate about not having a succession plan. he didn't want that. he made himself president again in order for there not to be a succession plan, and we don't know what it would like for him personally not to lose, and for russia with all of its nuclear weapons to lose in ukraine either. the question has to be, you know, if we get rid of putin, if they get out of ukraine, all of which are big ifs, then what happens within russia, and is that a russia that would ever be more friendly to the west than the one that we have at the

moment. still ahead on "morning joe," "the washington post's" gene robinson, the real reasons georgia should elect rafael warnock. and back to normal after being up ended by the coronavirus pandemic. are we ready for what one of our next guests call the approaching loneliness epidemic. that discussion is straight ahead. "morning joe" will be right back. ahead. "morning joe" will brie ght back

kanye west went to mar-a-lago to have dinner with donald trump which sounds like the beginning of a joke, and as his plus one we brought a well known white supremacist/holocaust denier, and trump claims he didn't know about it. if he didn't know, which is worse, having a guy over for dinner or having a racist guy into a house that was full of

top documents. two words, and you know you're eating with scrum bag, sitting down with the ku klux kanye, that's hard to say, by the way. >> that's quite a plus one to bring to mar-a-lago with you, kanye. welcome back to "morning joe," it is tuesday, november 29th. jonathan lemire and katty kay are still with us, and joining the conversation, we have pulitzer prize winning columnist at "the washington post" eugene robinson, former u.s. senator now an nbc news and msnbc political analyst, claire mccaskill, and msnbc contributor, mike barnicle is with us this morning. good to have you with us. we're one week away from the runoff with rafael warnock and heschel walker. 4,000 people turned out to the

polls. they won a lawsuit to allow for voting on saturday, specifically that saturday after thanksgiving. yesterday alone, more than 300,000 georgians cast their ballots. chief operating officer for secretary of state gabriel sterling tweeted, the state eclipsed the previous record of 233,000. meanwhile, herschel walker is now back on the campaign trail after taking a five-day thanksgiving break from public events even as incumbent senator rafael warnock crisscrossed the state over the weekend. walker reappeared last night on newsmax for an interview on the importance of the race. take a listen. >> i know last time we had a lot of republicans that chose not to vote early. so what are you doing to target them and turn them out? >> well, what i'm doing, i'm getting out on a bus tour. sort of like it was kind of

weird, as soon as we knew there was a runoff, we got on the bus tour, and we started hitting the road again. we started letting the people know how important it was to get out the turn out, and have your vote counted because it is very very important. this election here is about controlling the senate. we're not going to let them take the senate away. right now we can have everyone, have the different committees, now the committee can be even, whereas if the republican lose that senate seat, then the democrat got total control. right now, we got a chance to make all the committees even that we can still do some correction on it, and that's what i'm going to fight for. >> i'm sure the posts there -- >> if you want to. >> i'm sure they corrected him. i'm sure they said, you know, democrats will keep control of the senate regardless of the outcome in georgia, i'm sure, right, they fact checked the candidate. >> if warnock wins, and if

walker wins, it's split. and democrats control it because of the vice president. >> the "atlanta journal-constitution" points out that walker's closing argument has little to no policy positions. the paper notes on the campaign trail he engages in the culture wars that fire up conservative voters but don't generally reflect the highest profile issues standing before the senate. walker has attacked warnock's record, often by tying him to president joe biden, and his lagging approval numbers. without creating a contrast with how he would govern. >> that said, though, willie, you must admit he goes deep on vampires. these are things people don't usually have the courage to go there, but herschel walker has

told the voters of georgia exactly where he stands on that, and cows, bulls. >> pregnant cows, yeah. >> pregnant cows. so there's that. also a bold move to take five days off the week before the all important reelection campaign. donald trump, we should point out will not campaign for herschel walker in georgia ahead of next tuesday's runoff. officials from both camps telling "the new york times" the former president's appearance in the state carries more risk than reward. instead of a rally, trump is planning a call with supporters in georgia, and will send online fundraising e-mails. republicans have asked the former president to stay away from the state given his lack of success there recently. in 2020, he was the first republican candidate to lose the state in 20 years. his hand picked primary candidates for governor and secretary of state both lost by wide margins, joe, so we'll see if he can hold on to this.

with a week to go, he's not scheduled to appear in the state, on behalf of herschel walker, his hand picked candidate for the senate there. >> we're talking this morning about donald trump's future in the republican party. claire mccaskill, donald trump, the first republican to lose the state in 28 years. donald trump goes after the republican governor of the state of georgia, goes after the republican secretary of state, says that it's his top priority for them to lose their primaries. they both win massive landslides there. you look now at the warnock race, and, again, it would be one thing if this were colorado or, you know, new york. colorado, a bit more purple than new york. if it were one of those states, it would be one thing. this is georgia. deep red, deep south, heart of dixie, as they would say, the

empire state of the south, and donald trump's told stay away, you're so unpopular. >> please don't come. >> what possible nominee for any party is going to be able to win that party's nomination if they are radio active in swing states in the deep south? >> yeah, it's really interesting, if you look at the difference in the vote totals between kim, who trump didn't work harder against anyone than kim. if you look at his vote total, he's not in a runoff. kemp won by a comfortable margin. if you look across all the races, there's one difference between those republicans that won by wide margins, one word, and those who lost, and it's trump. and interestingly enough, even to this moment, most

republicans, especially kevin mccarthy are afraid, not so much now anymore of donald trump, but of his supporters who still represent a healthy block of republican primary voters or republican voters in red districts. and the other thing, joe, they have shot themselves in the foot on voting. you and i both remember a time when republicans were so good at getting early voters and absentee voters and mail-in voters to access their right to vote in the most efficient and effective way possible. republicans have now mostly because of donald trump have convinced their voters that they should not do anything but vote in person on election day. that is allowing democrats to run up the score and it is a self-inflicted wound by the republican party who's decided encouraging people not to vote is more important than winning. >> wow. >> it really is, and we've talked about georgia here, and how weak donald trump's reach is

in georgia, even in the republican party. we could also go out to arizona, and you can see that, yes, democrats had a great day on election day out in arizona against people who were election deniers, and those that followed donald trump. however, when you have people who distance themselves from donald trump and distance themselves from election denying, those republicans did well statewide, right? and they won congressional seats. republicans had a good day in arizona on election day if they weren't election deniers and they distanced themselves from donald trump. >> so gene robinson, in your latest "washington post" op-ed, it's entitled the real reasons georgia should reelection rafael warnock, you write in part this, warnock has been a reliable, and necessary vote for biden's legislative initiatives, including the infrastructure bill, the $1.9 trillion covid-19

rescue bill, and the inflation reduction act, which included the nation's biggest investment in fighting climate change. georgia voters, you have an eloquent smart who has worked across the aisle and delivered real benefits. go to the polls, please, and do the right thing. if not for the country as a whole, then for yourselves. so i think the argument also, gene, is the lack of qualifications, and that is the understatement of the century, that the republican candidate has. >> oh, absolutely. >> it will be malpractice. >> absolutely, mika. i have already written two columns about warnock's opponent and the utter lack of qualifications. i'm surprised that he seems to be giving up the vampire vote. but, you know, that's kind of -- it's absurd. i think i wrote one column

saying that if herschel walker is elected senator, america will have lost its mind, and i think that's true. it's just ridiculous that he is in this position. but i also wanted to make the affirmative case for rafael warnock. he has been a really really good senator. he is demonstrably sort of statistically one of the most bipartisan members of the senate. he has worked across the aisle with ted cruz, susan collins, other republicans on issues that are important to constituents. he has worked very hard for the people of georgia. he goes to every corner of the state including the most conservative parts of the state, and he talks to people. he listens to people, and he communicates, and they respect that. they respond to that.

so i think there is a good case to be made that even if he were running against an opponent that's reasonable and qualified, and not crazy, warnock would still have a really really good argument for reelection in the current circumstance against herschel walker, this should not be a question. you have a good senator on the one hand, and a werewolf, worshipping. >> now he wants to be a werewolf. >> there we go. >> as we were bringing in this story, we saw once against records shattered for early voters, and we've seen that time

and again. more americans participating in elections than in quite some time. this is all very good news as we talk about threats to american democracy. a lot of people came out and beat every major election denying candidate. so that's all great news, and you look at the state of georgia. they're breaking these early records, early voting records, just one after another keeps falling, despite the fact that we heard, and we called it out at the time when democrats were talking about jim crow 2.0 in georgia, and major league baseball yanked the all star game out of atlanta, which they should have never done. stacey abrams said they never should have done that. you look, just massive numbers of people getting out to vote, i mean, it's okay to celebrate that, isn't it?

americans are getting more engaged in this election. >> and we're hoping, i think all of us are hoping that they're doing the right thing, all of the early voters. i mean, the idea that herschel walker is actually a candidate for the united states senate is beyond horrifying. it's beyond horrifying, and he's the latest gift to the republican party presented by donald trump. a gift that keeps on giving. i mean, the idea that we have a former president of the united states who has no idea who he's having dinner with, that's just incredible in and of itself, given he had dinner with a 24-year-old who hates jews, blacks, gays, women, i mean, more than half the human race. and now we have on the ballot in georgia a former heisman trophy winner, and that's basically his credential to run for the united states senate other than the endorsement of donald trump. thank you, donald trump. >> yep, thank you very much.

arizona secretary of state and governor elect katie hobbs is suing a republican controlled county for refusing to certify its election results. yesterday was the deadline for arizona's 15 counties to report results from the november 8th election to the secretary of state's office. cochesk county was the only one that failed to certify the results. hobbs says the county's decision to let the deadline for certification lapse, quote, disenfranchise tens of thousands of voters. despite a wave of backlash from election deniers. here's some of what was said during an open hearing yesterday. >> i came here today to get an up close and personal look at the seven traitors to the united

states constitution who are sitting at that desk. interference in an election in the united states of america, mr. gates, is a capital offense, it's considered treason, punishable by the death penalty. >> this whole thing was a sham. you're violating the constitution. you're violating our rights by saying you can only petition the government for two minutes, where is your authority to do that? who died and made you king. >> what we saw on election day was outrageous and to say it was anything but that, either you think we're stupid or you're just that arrogant. if you certify today, the only thing you'll be certifying is your corruption. >> the way you can sit there, it's disgusting, watching you pledge allegiance to my flag was disgusting, the way that you sold us out. a curse upon you, upon all of you, you smug, smug people. >> whoa. it is worth noting the maricopa

county board of supervisors boarded unanimously to certify the 2022 midterm election results. the board's republican chairman said quote this was not a perfect election but it was safe and secure. the votes have been counted accurately. willie, that was just a taste of some of the comments that we saw yesterday. there were some doozies. >> yeah, when you have people talking about treason and the death penalty and making those threats, it's shocking but not surprising, if you followed arizona, if you followed american politics over the last four years, it's the kind of stuff we have heard from people in power. kari lake, from mark finchem, running to be secretary of state. blake masters, running to be senator of the state. this is the culture they created with the help of donald trump. that's completely unsurprising. there it is. it's shocking to hear it out loud. you spent a lot of time over the summer in the state of arizona,

covering kari lake, following her around, talking to supporters of hers. what do you make of what you just heard in that room? >> i mean, honestly, it doesn't surprise me. in fact, what surprises me, willie is so far, at least, the results have been accepted with the anger you heard in the room. we haven't had violence in arizona, and when i was down there, i heard people who literally said to me, if the republicans don't win the midterm elections, they would take up arms and fight. we haven't seen that. i mean, in a way, what has happened in arizona despite, you know, those poor officials having to sit through that kind of haranguing, which they didn't deserve, has actually been, considering the kinds of things we were hearing beforehand, it's actually been relatively, you know, peaceful and calm and has proceeded the way it should have proceeded. kari lake is tweeting that there have been mostly what she seems to be saying is it's been a botched election, once or twice

she has referred to possibly something worse than that, although she never spells out what that may be. intimating there's fraud, but she has presented no evidence of fraud whatsoever, so the election, as the arizona county officials have said was not perfect because of those machines breaking down, but it was free and fair and the count was accurate, and the people of arizona seem to have accepted the result. >> this theory rests, as you say, katty, on printers that weren't working at the beginning of the day, that got fixed. they were counted by machine, and then hand counted. cochise, largely republican, voted for kari lake and blake masters, they're saying you can't have our votes. maybe the democrats won by more than we thought if you're not going to give us your votes. they're cutting off their noses to spite their face. >> katie hobbs margin is growing

because of that decision. this is yet another election where there's been no evidence of widespread voter fraud. another election in the united states conducted free and fairly, despite what republicans have tried to gin up. claire mccaskill, katty was just bringing up kari lake, she was seen as potentially the favorite to win the race, as well as on the fast track to be donald trump's vice presidential nominee or whatever. she had a glowing future in the republican party it would seem. give us your assessment here. as katty said she had complaints about the election, and she certainly has conceded, nor has he riled up an insurrection on the state house in phoenix. is this the flavor of the month that goes away or is she going to be a voice we have to hear from in the republican party. >> i think she should give sarah palin a call because she reminds me in many ways of sarah palin,

and that didn't work out so well for sarah palin over the long run. she was flavor of the month for a while, but, you know, here's the thing that's going on, willie. i think that what happened in arizona is a really good example of voters getting worn out by the bombastic craziness that is represented by the likes of kari lake. every time we play clips of those people testifying in front of that election board, every time we play clips from crazy town that chases moderate voters into the arms of the democratic party. a lot of those moderate voters were willing to take a chance on donald trump because he was different, and everybody wants change always, but now it is just wearing folks out, especially those moderate voters who are capable of voting for either party. that's what's going on. now people like kemp and sununu and desantis, they're managing to keep a lot of those independent moderate voters in their camp, but not the crazy

election deniers that are all about a toxic mix of guns and outrage, and grievance. >> yeah. all right, so let's pause the conversation for just a moment, and take a look at a few of the others stories making news this morning. "the washington post" is reporting on america's homicide crisis. homicides have reached their highest levels in decades over the last three years. and while high profile mass shootings tend to get a lot of attention, daily gun violence in america's cities is the main driver of the high rates of homicide. according to "the washington post" database, the rate of killings rose nearly 30% in 2020. and remained high the following year. rates have since slowed a bit. but are still above prepandemic levels. elon musk claiming now apple has threatened to withhold twitter from its app store without

explanation. apple has previously revoked app store privileges from companies that broke its security policies or hosted violence and other problematic content. in a series of tweets, musk also said apple had mostly stopped advertising on his newly purchased social media platform. according to "the washington post," in the first quarter, apple was the top advertiser on twitter, spending $48 million on ads on the social network. apple's spending accounted for more than 4% of twitter's revenue that quarter. musk pressured apple ceo tim cook for the spending pause, tweeting apple has mostly stopped advertising on twitter. do they hate free speech in america? twitter, like other companies, has warned investors in regulatory filings that the success of its services is dependent on their survival review for compliance with app store rules. apple did not respond to

requests for comment. still ahead on "morning joe," a lame duck congress has returned to washington this week. we're taking a look at what's on the agenda for lawmakers including kevin mccarthy's fight to be the next speaker of the house. plus, black friday, cyber monday, and now giving tuesday. we'll be joined by the creator of the global movement that is celebrating its tenth year. also this morning, our next guest is warning of a new approach epidemic, loneliness. we're digging into the data and what it means for different communities, especially young people. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... trust safelite. this couple was headed to the farmers market... when they got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ if your business kept on employees through the pandemic, innovation refunds

could qualify it for a payroll tax refund of up to $26,000 per employee. all it takes is eight minutes to find out. then work with highly qualified professionals to fill out your forms and submit the application. go to innovationrefunds.com to learn more. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 different ways. opdivo and yervoy can cause your immune system to harm healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. these problems can be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have a cough; chest pain; shortness of breath; irregular heartbeat; diarrhea; constipation; severe stomach pain; severe nausea or vomiting; dizziness; fainting; eye problems; extreme tiredness; changes in appetite, thirst or urine; rash; itching; confusion; memory problems;

muscle pain or weakness; joint pain; flushing; or fever. these are not all the possible side effects. problems can occur together and more often when opdivo is used with yervoy. tell your doctor about all medical conditions including immune or nervous system problems, if you've had or plan to have an organ or stem cell transplant, or received chest radiation. your search for 2 immunotherapies starts here. ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. a chance to live longer. research shows people remember commercials ask your doctor about opdivo plus yervoy. 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? it customizes our home insurance so we only pay for what we need! and what did you get, mike? i got a bike. ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

why are 93% of sleep number sleepers satisfied with their bed? maybe it's because you can gently raise your partner's head to help relieve snoring. so, you can both stay comfortable all night. and now, save $1,000 on select sleep number 360 smart beds and adjustable bases. ends monday.

[coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry. . a terrible thought. are these feelings even real? or are they just programming?

that idea really hurts. and then i get angry at myself for even having pain. what a sad trick. >> it didn't feel real to me, samantha. >> that was a clip from the 2013 movie "her" in which a lonely man, played by joaquin phoenix becomes emotionally attached to his new computer operating system, voiced by scarlett johansson. this morning, a new piece in "the financial times" is taking a serious look at loneliness in our society. it's entitled are we ready for the approaching loneliness epidemic and the author of the article, federica cocoa, thank you for joining us. you approached this topic with a lot of data you highlight

several stats writing quote in developed countries the share of people who report having friends or relatives they can count on has been steadily dropping over the past fifteen years. older people are consistently worse affected, on average, 53% of americans aged over 65 spend more than eight hours of waking time on their own every day. according to my analysis of data from the american time use survey. and you're looking at other things like the rise of single person households. tell us what you found? well, one surprising thing that i found is that the share of young people that spend more than eight hours of their waking time alone has risen quite markedly since 2011, so in the last ten years. so for women, for example, young women. only 7% in 2011 used to spend

time, more than eight hours a day alone, and now the share has effectively doubled. it's more than 14%, and a similar dynamic has spent -- is happening for men. and i looked also at a separate survey, because there's quite a difference between spending time on your own and feeling lonely. in terms of feeling lonely, young women are much more likely to feel lonely. 40% say so. 22% of men, and the share compared to older people are actually much higher. >> you know, what's so fascinating is even before the pandemic, we had talked about an epidemic, a mental health epidemic in this country for especially with younger americans, anxiety, depression,

suicidal ideations. all of this seemed to be brewing before the pandemic, and i think it's too easy for people to look at the pandemic and say, well, no, that was just an accelerator. can you tell me, what has caused this move towards isolation over the past decade? >> yeah, i mean, there was that famous book, "bowling alone" by robert putnam which came out in 2000. it has been happening for centuries, and it has to do with urbanization, with dropping fertility rates, with women entering the labor force, going into education, and delaying marriage and child bearing, so as i mentioned in the article, it is also a mark of a wealthy society. a lot of messages and e-mails, some of them were saying, i'm quite happy living alone. i'm independent, i have my freedom, and communities can actually be suffocating in some sense. and young people feel that, too.

but that doesn't mean that there aren't also some people who would rather not be alone, and who don't suffer the health consequences, as you say. because people when they live together, in each other's company, they hold each other accountable. if you spend more time alone, you're more unlikely to engage in unhealthy behavior, you might smoke more, eat unhealthy food. you might have more stress because you don't somebody comforting you and supporting you. that leads to higher rates of insomnia and heart disease. >> this is such a fascinating topic. and as you say it's been going on for a long time. my social relationships are on my phone. i don't need to come the into office. it's a waste of time to commute in and out. but for a lot of us, the community of being here, the community of being with friends is what makes life worth living. do you think this will change in some way or is this just the direction we're headed as a

culture, we are more insular, we are more lonely? >> what can change, you can't force people to be in other people's companies. what can change is the support that's offered. when you go to a doctor, they will ask you, do you smoke or how many glasses of alcohol do you have, but they never ask you, do you feel alone, and those community services coming from doctors, from the health services can help. so, for example, there's a small town of frum in england that has been experimenting with certain services, there's a talking bench. if anyone feels alone, they can sit on the bench, and there will be community nurses that have a chat with people, and they are informed about the services so they can tell their customers if they get a sense because people say certain things when they feel alone and isolated so they can offer those services but

something definitely needs to be done, because high rates of loneliness are correlated with more aggressive behavior, more paranoid behavior. also leading to violent extremism. it is something that needs to be tackled at a certain level from society. >> and we're going to go to mike barnicle in a second. i just want to follow up. one of the things i felt was fascinating about your article was that some people may go, oh, it sounds hokey. you're going to have places where people can sit on benches and talk with one another. actually, in that town, talk about it. this is one of the reasons we wanted to have you on. people will say, there's nothing we can do. your article provides hope because actually in that town, you talked about how it made a difference. >> yes, so rates of hospitalization dropped markedly in frum, where as in the wider county, they increased by 28%. so it definitely had an effect.

>> so federica, the loneliness of the elderly, people 65, 70 years of age and older is sad, but it's kind of understandable. their partners die, their friends die, and so loneliness sets in for many of them. but what do we do about the loneliness of the young? teenagers, people in their 20s whose best friend is an iphone? >> yeah. >> well, somebody suggested that maybe the two should meet, so for example, i used take part in this lunch club for widows or men who had been recently widowed who never learned to cook, and i used to go in this community center and cook with them. and we'd learn together. so something like that could possibly be another solution. it's very fun for me, and i met a lot of very interesting people

there. >> the new piece is online for the financial times. it is absolutely worth the read. >> this is so important. >> federica coco, thank you for being on the show. >> claire mccaskill, i want to go to you. >> i see it in the young people. >> gene, if you want to jump in too. our children are namely older, but we sure do see the remnant of it, the loneliness, the isolation of teenagers, of young adults, of people even into their 30s. it's so different than when we were younger. i just, i hurt for so many young people that i know. >> you know, and i think, you know, willie makes a good point. if i look back on my life where many of my formative friendships

really happened was in the workplace. it was people i worked with as a young prosecutor, people i worked with in the state legislature, people i worked with in group settings where there was a sense of collegiality and purpose, and a sense of sharing our lives. and i get it. i mean, i think back when i was a single mom. would it have been easier to be at home every day instead of figuring out, you know, child care and all the after school care, and all the things that went with that, yes, it would have been easier but i think my life would have changed dramatically because of it. and i do think we also have to recognize which wasn't mentioned here so far that alcohol and drugs become part of this lifestyle because you are so isolated and looking for some kind of self-medication to ease your loneliness. that's the other reason you have seen the increase in the addiction problems we have seen, and overdoses we have seen in the last several years. >> yeah, you know, so much has

changed. when i was a kid, i was hardly ever alone. there was six people in my household, my parents, my sister and i. my grandmother, my great aunt. so you were never alone, and we knew our neighbors, of course. and so they were always coming in and out. there was -- and this is a cliche, but there was more of a sense of community, and i think one thing people can do to help loneliness among young people and older people is just be a good neighbor. know your neighbors. we had a neighbor, avis and i had a neighbor across the street for a long time. an elderly widow, lived alone, didn't have a lot of friends. we would just invite her over for dinner, invite her over for thanksgiving, include her in events and other neighbors did the same thing. it just takes a little bit of effort, and you'd be surprised at what you get from those

relationships. >> exactly. >> what you learn, and how good it is for you. it's not just doing a good deed for other people. it's also nurturing for you and your for own growth. >> enriching eugene robinson and claire mccaskill, thank you very much. coming up, an amazing story of texas, a woman missing for 51 years is found living just minutes away from where she was kidnapped as a toddler. we'll explain how her family finally found her. plus, will smith opens up about his slap at the oscars. what he says led up to that infamous moment. we're back in just a moment. t infamous moment. we're back in just a moment. okay season 6! aw... this'll take forev—or not. do i just focus on when things don't work, and not appreciate when they do? i love it when work actually works! i just booked this parking spot...

this desk... and this conference room! i am filing status reports on an app that i made! i'm not even a coder! and it works!... i like your bag! when your digital solutions work, the world works. that's why the world works with servicenow.

in the next minute, 250 couples will discover... (laughs) they're gonna need more space... yep...the house... we gotta sell it! we gotta stage it. excuse me. fix it up. they don't pre-rinse. strangers touching everything. or, skip the hassles and sell with confidence to opendoor. close in a matter of days. oh, wow. when life's doors open, we'll handle the house. request a cash offer at opendoor.com well, we fell in love through gaming. but now the internet lags and it throws the whole thing off. when did you first discover this lag? i signed us up for t-mobile home internet. ugh! but, we found other interests. i guess we have. [both] finch!

let's go! oh yeah! it's not the same. what could you do to solve the problem? we could get xfinity? that's actually super adult of you to suggest. i can't wait to squad up. i love it when you talk nerdy to me. guy, guys, guys, we're still in session. and i don't know what the heck you're talking about. will smith gave an interview

about his infamous slap during the oscars. telling trevor noah it was a horrific night and he just lost. will smith also tried to explain what led up to the slap of chris rock. >> there's many nuances and complexities to it, you know. but at the end of the day, i just, i lost it, you know. and i guess what i would say, you just never know what somebody is going through. i was going through something that night, you know. and not that that, you know, justifies my behavior at all. you're asking what did i learn. and it's that we just got to be nice to each other, man, you know, it's like, it's hard. and i guess the thing that was most painful for me is i took my

hard and made it hard for other people. i understand the idea when they say, hurt people hurt people. >> smith is banned from attending the academy award for many years. i'm not sure that interview is going to satisfy people. he did what he did, he didn't explain in detail what the reasons were, just that he was going through something. >> complexity. i mean, complexities, a lot of nuances, i was going through something, so i hit somebody. >> he assaulted someone. >> the thing is you could just say i really screwed up. that was just terrible. there is no nuance to battery. there is, you know, to assault, to battery. there's no, like, complexity. what complexity? like he should have just stayed off tv until he could say i screwed up. there's just no excuse for it. i was out of my head. i'm so so sorry. >> i think that's what i was trying to say. >> i still don't hear an apology. >> well, he apologized to -- he

apologized, i guess, in the week after. >> yeah, but it was all about him. >> i'm just uncomfortable. >> i was going through something, and hurt people hurt people, what does that even mean? >> i'm just uncomfortable as a viewer, kind of feeling like are you trying to pull me into thinking that was okay and everybody is going through something. no. he assaulted someone on national television. some people go to jail for that. >> i don't know, mike. >> just walking up to someone and hitting them. >> how hard is it to just go on a year later, and say, man, i really screwed up. i don't know what i was going through. no, there are a lot of complexities and nuances. there's no nuance to going up and hitting somebody at an oscars ceremony. >> he also indicated one of the solutions was be nice to other people, and then he added but it's hard, it's hard. how hard is it to be nice to other people. i mean, for 15 years, i have sat here alongside willie, i have never slapped him once.

>> and you really should have. >> not on the air. >> at least had the good sense to wait until after. >> exactly. are the cameras off? are the cameras off? now. i mean, come on, i mean, listen, i like this guy. i like him. i'm cheering for him. >> i don't get it. >> but, man, just take your medicine. we have this incredible story now, a woman who was kidnapped as a baby more than five decades ago was reunited with her family in fort worth, texas, over the weekend. thanks to a dna match from the ancestry service 23 and me. melissa highsmith was 22 months old in 1971 when her mother, who was working as a waitress needed a babysitter. so melissa's mother left her with a roommate who handed her off to a babysitter, but that babysitter never returned melissa, and her case turned into one of the oldest missing person cases in the country. last week, melissa, now 53 years

old was reunited with her mother and her father and two of her siblings for the first time thanks to a home dna test. melissa has been living in fort worth for most of her life, and never knew that she had been kidnapped, her family wrote in a post on a facebook page. the family says they have met with fort worth police about this new development. the department released a statement to a local tv station saying it will give melissa an official dna test to confirm her identity, and it will continue to investigate melissa's disappearance, even though the statute of limitations in the case expired 15 years ago. what a painful, but poignant development for this family to be reunited after such a horrific time, and i read more about it in the babysitter kept her as her own and raised her,

and it was not a good -- it was a terrible childhood as she puts it. coming up, we'll have the latest from the war in eastern europe, as nato leaders meet in romania this morning to iron out a significant new aid package for ukraine. the war will also be a major topic of discussion at the white house this week during french president emmanuel macron's first state visit to joe biden's presidency. the french ambassador to the u.s. will join us ahead of that meeting right here on "morning joe." plus, our next guest wrote the book on how to stand up to a dictator, noble prize winning journalist maria ressa joins us straight ahead. "morning joe" will be right back. raight ahead "morning joe" will be right back remember this? but i spoke to our advisor, and our vanguard investments are on track. “we got this, babe.” so go do what you love. thanks for being our superhero.

only at vanguard, you're more than just an investor—you're an owner. giving you flexibility to follow your dreams. that's the value of ownership. [coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but that cough looks pretty bad. try this robitussin honey. the real honey you love, plus the powerful cough relief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry.

why should you care about what happens in the philippines? we spend the most time on the internet, more than ten hours a day. we spend the most time on social media globally. as we found out lies laced with

anger and hate spread fastest. when you only look at content it is a whack-a-mole game. i want to look at the lie and the network that spreads the lies. that's the nervous system. we started to look at one account attacking all journalists are corrupt. one account that had 25 followers. they were all following each other. we fact checked every single item. these were all fake accounts. we began to count and found that 26 fake accounts can influence up to 3 million other accounts. 3 million. >> that was a clip from a 2020 pbs documentary about fill pina and american journalist maria ressa. she spent years reporting on government corruption. although her work earned global

recognition including a nobel peace prize standing up to those in power come at a cost. in 2020 she was arrested and convicted of charges and could spend her life in prison. maria joins us now. ceo and co-founder and president of ra 3pler and author of "house to stand up to a dictator." great to have you with us. fellow new jersey-ian. people know you won the nobel prize and you were "time" person of the year go through the president put on president duterte and what that cost you. >> this is my 36th year as a journalist and watched how technology has changed everything. i set up the bureaus for a

network and all of a sudden facts became debatable. when technology took over from journalists and abdicated responsibility for facts. for the safety of use everies. the company i had set up in 2012 i was a truist of true believers in social media. i thought the technology could jump start development in the country and have media and help build institutions bottom up. all that went downhill when information operations began and then the political dominos began to fall with the election of duterte. >> what's the nexus there for you between social media and authoritarianism around the world? >> thank you for asking. by design -- we know this from a

2018 mit statement, lies spread faster than facts. facts are boring. we try to keep your attention to tell you compelling stories but because the goal is scrolling the biology is used against us. it is to sow fear, anger, hate the more the lie the longer you stay. when that happens the way in to change your world views through your emotions and once you change the world view that goes to the vote. right? so for example, it is not a coincidence that 60% of the world is under authoritarian rule. we rolled back democracy globally to 1989 levels and continue to elect leaders that crumble institutions and ally together, shifting power.

sorry. that is a lot. >> one of the leaders is duterte. talk about the showdowns with him and the legal jeopardy you face. >> weaponization of social media. you say a lie a million times it becomes a fact. in our case is attacking journalists. in 2017 president duterte says the same thing about me. we get the first subpoena. weaponization of social media and then the law. i continue to fight. in 2019 there were a six-week period arrested twice. the government filed ten arrest warrants against me in two years. thank you for having me here. i have to ask permission to travel. you don't know how much you value the freedom until you begin to lose it. >> rap pler started in 2012.

duterte was the head figure. >> 2016. >> a killer? a killer. >> he says so proudly. right? >> yes. my question is, did you ever feel your life was in danger? >> once online violence is real world violence. impunity online is impunity offline. when the threats started coming, this is not one or two death threat for breakfast. it is 90 hate messages an hour. we had to increase security six times in less than a year and continue to look at this. yes. am i afraid of it? it is part of the air you breathe so you get used to it and what the government is -- >> used to it?

>> it is like a sword over the head and it becomes effective if you let it stop you. i tried to keep going. that's what we try to do in rappler. maybe it is new jersey. >> you are hanging in there. >> maria, great to meet you. we have all been standing in admiration and watching you for years and praying for your safety. thank you for the efforts you have been leading. you have a road map for how we can counter this. not just in the philippines but everywhere. and what you said once it is out there it is a fact. we have misinformation correspondents. what works to counter this? what are the bright spots or the road map to try to follow out there? >> thank you. thank you so much for asking. if we were -- if you were

marginalized in the world, like women in the philippines attacked ten times more than men. there's a book done by international center for journalists calling "the chilling." 60% of attacks meant to tear down my credibility and the spirit. how do we move forward? in this september this year the russian journalist who won the nobel peace prize together in 2021 we came out with a ten-point action plan with ten others and 100 different groups working on disinformation. information operations why the goal is three buckets. the first is stop surveillance for profit. it begins with data privacy and cloning us and using that to microtarget the weakest point to

a message. the second is stop coded bias. right? this tech that was groomed in silicon valley and moves to tiktok is extremely pounds inequality. finally the third one is journalism as an antidote to tyranny. there's a lot of work to be done. i'm part of the internet governance forum and it is time to jump in. >> there's lessons in the united states. "how to stand up to a dictator." maria, the pride of tom's river, new jersey, thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you. a growing number of republicans and religious groups are standing out against donald trump's dinner with holocaust denier niklas fuentes and

disgraced rapper kanye west. some supporters say they cannot ignore the abetting of bigotry. not all leaders. spoken out but some are peeling away from a former president who for years insisted no ties to the bigoted far right. morton klein told the paper donald trump is not an anti-semite. he loves israel. he loves jews. but he mainstreams, he legitimizes jew haters. >> if you want to say pro-israel

in the political life. mainstreams anti-semitism for political purposes. mainstreams white nationalism for political purposes. don't matter what his personal feelings are. if he's promoting that hatred that leads to jewish americans and jews across the world being in more danger. >> meanwhile in an interview yesterday former vice president mike pence denounced trump's actions and while on capitol hill republicans criticized the party's leader. >> wrong to give a white nationalist a seat at the table. i think he should apologize for it. he should denounce those individuals and their hateful

rhetoric without qualification. i think the president demonstrated profoundly poor judgment in giving those individuals a seat at the table. >> the meeting was bad. he shouldn't have done it. but again, there's a double standard about this kind of stuff. i don't think it'll matter in terms of his political future but i do believe we need to watch who we meet with. >> i wouldn't want to have dinner with either one of those guys. you make the most of that you want to. >> he surely would disavow any of that stuff. most would. >> there's no room in the republican party for white supremacists and anti-semitism so it's wrong. >> i think it's ridiculous that he had that meeting. just ridiculous. just crazy. >> good for them. i do want to go back, though.

this both sides-ism bs that graham tried to trot out there. >> what was that? >> the thing is people have been saying since this has come up talking about omar and some things that she said. jonathan lemire, if i'm not mistaken nancy pelosi and the leadership and everybody else in america jumped on ilhan omar's comments immediately. were very critical of her. took her to task. the media did the same thing. there's no double standard here. the double standard is that -- you know, the difference between republicans and democrats are all the democrats seemed to come out, leaders came out criticized ilhan omar's statement. right? or statements. and yet republicans are mute. lindsay graham with a half-assed

remark. it is sad. it is pa thetdic. it is just what graham does. >> yeah. what about it is a plank for republicans right now. omar is a good example. democrats did criticize what she had to say and not all that much longer donald trump singled her out at a rally and then received death threats to go back to her own country. just before the election, attack on paul pelosi. and how there was criticism, the republicans claimed when steve scalise was shot by a liberal democrats didn't do anything. we played on the show the statements from nancy pelosi and senator sanders denouncing what happened and that's not met with the same sort of forceful

denunciation after the pelosi attack. good to have some republicans saying this is bad but still so many hedging the bets with eyes on voters who they think they might need, too. >> what does donald trump say? nancy pelosi says we are all the same team and members of the family after steve scalise is shot. donald trump, what's he say? guy trying to assassinate the speaker of the house. yeah. how's she doing? how's nancy doing lately? disgusting. here's the good news, everybody. people understand this. >> yeah, even -- >> look at the voting. republicans, republicans are paying the price at the ballot box for all of the things that they're doing like this. >> yeah. >> you know? just because republicans aren't

saying and aren't condemning donald trump for being an anti-semite and being anti-democratic by denying election results, like republicans are like babies. they think if they cover their eyes nobody can see them. they can. >> republicans are saying something. joining us now from capitol hill nbc news senior national correspondent sahil kapur. republican criticism of trump is building. senate moneys. >> not republican leaders in the house? >> reporter: not yet. we'll see when the house gavels in today what they have to say. we have not heard from mccarthy trying to become speaker of the house. but let's go with what senator republicans are saying. this one hits differently

because it is not just the usual suspect who are criticizing trump. it is republicans nominal allies of the president who rarely if ever criticize him. that includes joanie ernst. deb fisher the senator from nebraska said it was wrong to elevate the rhetoric of white supremacist like nick fuentes. lindsay graham is a golfing buddy of trump and said he shouldn't have done it. this is unusual criticism from republicans who like who say i didn't hear about it. i don't follow the tweets or social media posts. that is not happening this time and there's particularly sharp criticisms from republicans like mitt romney seeing this as

vindication and voted to remove trump from office two times and doesn't believe he belongs to the white house. let's play more of what he had to say. >> i think it is disgusting to invite people like that to meet with a former president of the united states. i think it's clear there's no bottom to the degree to which president trump will degrade himself and the nation. >> reporter: beyond that there's rick scott and chairs of the senate republican campaign arm with criticisms of donald trump condemning anti-semitism. it's been a week now since that dinner happened with nick fuentes and rapper yeh embroiled in anti-semitic rhetoric and no apology from donald trump and not a simple i messed up. i apologize for that.

ordinarily republicans look beyond a controversy but the dinner guest is an anti-semite and comes on the heels of an election as republicans punished for associate with donald trump. polls show many voters voted against republican candidates even though he is out of power. of course finally this comes to a question about the soul of the republican party. will they tolerate any form or fashion individuals who promote white supremacy and anti-semitism for political gain or a door to firmly shut? many believe they should no quarter to these individuals. that doesn't work when the standard bearer has dinner with them. >> sahil kapur, thank you for the reporting this morning. >> going to be so fascinating to see what happens when the house gavels in.

what will kevin mccarthy do? >> i think we know what he will do. >> willie, there's this miscalculation that usually plays for freedom caucus types and the miscalculation always is, oh, mccarthy has to give in 0 the demands. right? that's fine until suddenly the moderates, the people that won in joe biden districts go, hold on. if i'm in marjorie taylor greene's party and nick fuentes' republican party, i'm going to lose my seat in new york in two years. so suddenly that's counter balanced by seven people on the other side, as well. mccarthy can't give up four people on the right and biden

districts. it's not that easy. i don't know how he doesn't come out and criticize this meeting later today because again the media obsesses. on the total crazies on the far right. they forget there are a lot of other republicans that have to get re-elected in two years. >> think about this. will mccarthy or won't he condemn the former president having din we are a holocaust denier and a white supremacist. it is a real conundrum. but to be speaker of the house he has to give a nod to greene and consider the centrists. that is still up in the air and has to manage that and fascinating to see how he handles it today as a snapshot to keep the party together. his caucus together in some way but, my god, if you can't

condemn this immediately then what can you condemn? >> i'll say, mike, the problem here is not marjorie taylor greene or the other extremists. the problem is mccarthy who wanted the position too much. if you want a position this badly then you get what you deserve. somebody telling me i can't condemn a white supremacist. good luck finding your speaker! i will be smoking a cigar watching you get to 218 votes trying to fight white nationalists. nobody will be speaker. that's fine. that's fine. you want to destroy the republican party. you destroy the republican party. not me. like, mccarthy doesn't have that in him. >> he wants it too badly. >> to stare somebody down. tell them to go straight to

hell. he doesn't have it in him. what he doesn't realize is this position is worth absolutely nothing if you have to kowtow to white supremacists and holocaust deniers. >> to that point it seems a couple things on here. mccarthy to become speaker clearly made more deals with more people on both sides of the ideological floor that it is going to condemn the speakership if he becomes speaker. like an anchor around the neck and won't be able to function and legislate. second thing it seems to a lot of people is more mysterious and hard to define and lies in the fact that donald trump not for the first time at dinner at mar-a-lago but for the past few years has opened the door of the party to white nationalists and

nationalism. do they increase a new constituency? do they try to reclaim another constituency? older republicans that voted for a republican party that disappeared? >> they got the answer. >> easy for you. >> no. kevin mccarthy said we'll win 60 seats. new york's assembly doesn't know how to redistrict. right? >> uh-huh. >> they get slaughtered in all of these races with election deniers. extremism doesn't sell. for every white supremacist that donald trump doesn't offend he offends ten suburban voters. this is easy. this is basic. >> should be easy. >> but republicans just keep

losing. i don't know if i told you this. they lost in 2017 because of trump. >> one, two, three. >> 2019 because of trump. >> and four. >> and -- they got really beaten up in 2022. election deniers slammed. they lost the senate. it should have been a walk in the park. should have been a red wave. trump loses. that's what he does. i don't know why republicans can't figure it out. >> we have a special guest. nato's chief says ukraine will be a member of the security organization and reaffirmed torn country as u.s. secretary of state blinken is in romania this morning meeting with nato leaders to iron out a substantial aid plan for ukraine. meanwhile this week in washington french president macron will be at the white house for his first state visit

of joe biden's presidency. firms say the topics will be ukraine, iran's nuclear program and china. joining us now the french ambassador to the united states, philippe entian. >> great to have you here. let's talk about the pressing issue. the french national team. will you go all the way and win it again? >> oh, well, we must be humble. thank you for inviting me. i know football is a passion even in the u.s. i see that. we were the winners last time but we are happy and proud of the first two games but every game is a new story and old teams are very much in it and

very good. so far so good. we have hope but also -- yes. remain humble. >> a very, very diplomatic answer. a-plus-plus. >> even in sport. even in sport. >> even in sport, mr. ambassador. we were talking about energy this morning as maybe some differences between president macron and president biden. what do you think? what are the key issues that going to be discussed this week? >> for sure the confirmation of the strong unity facing the russian aggression and supporting ukraine and its people is a very important theme. including the fact that together with president zelenskyy, our president decided to organize with the u.s. support a conference in france to support

through this winter in spite of the brutal bombings but russia but of course also this unity means to avoid any divergence in the economy, in the economic development, to remain united we keep the support of the people and finally also to convince rest of the world to support us so all this conundrum and global dimension of the war will be i'm sure very important point on the agenda. >> yes. and as the two leaders discuss that, is the expectation as the winter progresses that even if more support is needed that there will be unity on that? >> well, i think it is a miss and we need. and we need to support ukraine not only militarily which of

course is essential, but also, to keep or to repair the infrastructures. and then in our own countries also we have issues with energy, with the other consequences of the war and also the consequences of the sanctions we have taken against russia. we have to mitigate this also and on this france to be remain united together since we have been since the beginning of this aggression on february 24. this unity is really important. it is an asset. >> mr. ambassador, a thing that france perhaps and america are not united on is the reduction act which is seen as a subsidy. when you mentioned european industries are suffering with inflation in europe itself. how are you going to approach this with the white house? what can you say to president biden? this is a done deal here in the united states.

a popular policy that the biden administration implemented for american producers. what leverage do you have to get relief? >> first, subsidies is okay to promote the policy goals such as carbon neutrality. we welcome the ambition of the u.s. in this respect. we try to do the same in the eu, a leader against the climate change through active industrial policies. the need is for more maybe a better coordination on the issue is not the inflation reduction act or the goals but some provisions, not only grants but provisions which discriminate against our companies and this is an issue we try to solve not only with france but the

european union. it is a discussion. of course, our leaders will discuss the whole context including this fact and mitigating the effects but the discussion is taking place with the europe union with the task force created to try as you say it. if the change cannot happen at the level of the act or the legislation and the implementation provisions how to implement it in a way to not discriminate against european companies. >> here in the united states almost a year in now the will of the people, of the administration, of the government to support ukraine against russia remains steadfast. some republicans of congress said to focus on matters at home. the argument is made you can do both at the same time.

are the french people behind the war and the people of ukraine? how long do you think that lasts? >> europe, the europeans in general, the french people are closer to the war of course, but i see the same kind of discussions in europe and in the united states. also, about how long it will last and can we support this. the answer of a government, on both sides of the atlantic is, yes, we must continue to support ukraine. there needs to be a settlement when they want to negotiate but support ukraine and support it all on the different levels where they need support and then the support of our public opinion i think also in america but sure in europe we also depend on the efficiency of the

policies to mitigate the economic affect. this is a reason why i say all these aspects come together and must be at the core of the unity, the determination to remain united between america and europe. >> france's ambassador to the united states, thank you very much for being on the show this morning. see you soon. still ahead on "morning joe," the latest from beijing as protests continue over china's strict coronavirus lockdown measures. plus one week away from georgia's senate runoff and already seeing record setting early voting. a live report straight ahead on "morning joe." run a marathon. instead, start small. with nicorette. which can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette.

why are 93% of sleep number sleepers satisfied with their bed? maybe it's because you can adjust your comfort and firmness on either side. your sleep number setting. to help relieve pressure points and keep you both comfortable all night. and now, save $1,000 on select sleep number 360 smart beds and adjustable bases. ends monday.

president biden is urging congress to approve a labor deal that would avert what he called a potentially crippling rail

shut down. nancy pelosi announced she will call a vote this week. it would provide a 24% raise for rail workers and improved health care deals. if not approved unions could strike as early as next week. britain's prince and princess of wales will be visiting the u.s. the royal couple will travel to boston tomorrow for the second annual earth shot prize award. organization founded by william. according to the royal household william and kate will be limiting the visit to the boston area from tomorrow to friday. >> willie, can you make sure you got him right there? make sure lemire doesn't go home? can't have him back up in

boston. >> needs you. >> keep him here. >> might heckle the royals after coming out for usa last week. i will be here. >> good. one more news story. hawaii's -- >> season 7 of "the crown." are you a fan of "the crown"? >> i am. i didn't love -- have you watched the last season? i loved the early seasons. i found the last season grim. it's basically about failed marriages all around. the queen's difficult marriage at that moment. diana and charles. i didn't want to watch it to be honest. >> i'm a huge fan of "the crown" and loved the early seasons. all the seasons. this season was a very difficult

season to get through. it was -- >> yeah. >> and -- but you know the thing is it really does show how much the queen went through in the '90s. kept her head down. remarkable at the end of that grim season to think, wow, okay, so everything seemed to be blowing up in the personal lives. but think about how she said good-bye to the world a couple months it is. it is incredible. really quickly that remind me, so much was just made up. when you go back and fact check, like there was never a "times" story and the queen victoria

effect. supposedly a poll that showed that she was unpopular. there was a 90% approval rating. i don't mind a little artistic license but they went overboard. >> there's an outcry in the uk and john major for example speaking out saying that meeting i was reported to have had with prince charles that didn't happen. it didn't happen reportedly. they didn't make up some little stuff but further than before and now had people speaking out. dame helen mirren that it's too much and misrepresented the relationships. >> yeah. >> prime minister. >> willie, of course, it was jarring to us that dame dench

said the same thing about "morning joe" for years. fictionalized drama. that hurt when i heard it. i expected. >> that's what she said about "the crown." >> yeah. >> should have a disclaimer. i don't get on the wrong side of her. >> you said enk we just said is wrong. >> everything. >> well done. you were right. hawaii's -- >> no, no, no. i was wrong when i said everything we said is wrong because it was not wrong but right. there was no red wave. >> correct. okay. >> how you doing this morning? >> doing good. doing good. >> everything all right? >> yes. one more story. >> want to tell everybody what you did before the show? >> no. do you want me to?

>> this is a chase. we have been doing the show for 15 years. she started a new routine. >> yeah. i have decided to work out before the show. >> oh. i used to that try. >> i don't know why anyone cares. >> wakes up at 3:00 in the morning and she has a program -- >> full hour. >> runs full steam on a treadmill for an hour. i'm sitting there cheering her on doing the morning run. a martini. an old fashioned actually. smoking a cigar. hash browns from mcdonald's. 3:00 in the morning. >> it is nice when the show is over to not have to still workout. >> in my way too early days i tried that. lasted about a week and decided the hour of sleep is more

valuable. >> yes. >> you are stronger than i am. >> we'll see. okay. hawaii's mauno lao is erupting. >> no segue there. >> late yesterday on the big island. there wasn't. residents have been warned to be on alert. the lava is currently not a threat to nearby communitys. authorities opened shelters on the island as a precaution. still ahead on "morning joe," to beijing for the latest on the growing unrest amid severe covid restrictions. plus we'll look at how those protests across china and how global factors like russia influence the price of oil. we'll be back with more "morning joe." is driven by eosinophils, which nucala helps reduce. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection

for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala.

you've put your dreams on hold. remember this? but i spoke to our advisor, and our vanguard investments are on track. “we got this, babe.” so go do what you love. thanks for being our superhero. only at vanguard, you're more than just an investor—you're an owner. giving you flexibility to follow your dreams. that's the value of ownership. xfinity rewards is a program giving you flexibility twhose sole purposems. is to say thank you with experiences big, small, and once in a lifetime. sometimes it's about cheering hard enough

to shake the stadium. let's go! -haha, woo! sometimes it's as simple as movie night right here at home, on us. you mean the world to us. so we're bringing you closer to what you love. kinda like this- welcome to 30 rock! join xfinity rewards for free on the xfinity app today. our thanks. your rewards. we have been following the

protests across china because of the strict covid policies and joining us now from beijing nbc news foreign correspondent janis mackey frayer. good to have you back with us. >> "the times" this morning talking about how china's government is prepared for protests. i did a little bit of research this morning and saw they doubled their budget over the past decade for internal security and some reports suggest they spend more money on national security than national defense. what's this going to look like? do you expect chinese authorities to clamp down pretty tough in the coming days and weeks? >> reporter: there's no secret that national security is a priority here. even at the 20th congress in october when xi jinping giving

the speech he mentioned security 73 times i think it was over the course of the time he was speaking. there's a massive security apparatus established here. over the past ten year there is's been a tightening over other controls, on the internet, bans on human rights groups, the censorship is ramped up. what we are seeing is the potential for a national movement here with these protests happening simultaneously in multiple cities across the country. the people rallying around a single cause but at the same time there is not the expectation that organizers will be able to organize. they are trying to use coded messages on social media and also using other techniques but the problem now is that there

are police everywhere. you go to the sites of the protests over the past few days and streets filled with people chanting are now filled with barriers and all under guard. police fanned out today in several cities across the country and they are visibly clamping down. in shanghai they were checking mobile phones looking for images or messaging apps that could connect a person to the protests and a lot of talk about that today among people interested in joining the protests deleting photos and chat histories to avoid detention. so certainly the leadership has down in a very serious way. whether they actually do that remains to be seen. it's unclear at this point whether the protests are going to have the moment.

just the will on the part of the leadership to snuff them out and xi jinping certainly in quelling the protests isn't going to walk back on the covid policy and saying firmly and publicly that china is sticking to it. >> there are just so many challenges for xi. many of his own making. oifs struck a hong kong court ruled in favor of a media tycoon that china has arrested. >> reporter: the reach of the controls has been quite staggering. during the hong kong protests there covering them there's talk about how beijing was going to crack down and people were expecting the s.w.a.t. teams to go through the streets and they were there but not doing the crackdown. that was happening here through legal controls and laws so if we

put that in the context of how these protests are mounted here they run into a lot of obstacles and barriers. it is unclear whether they will last but there's been an extraordinary effort on the part of the people over the last 72 hours. >> thank you very much for your reporting on this. the united states goes head to head with iran on the soccer field. we'll get a live report from the world cup when "morning joe" comes right back. 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.♪ >> tech: when you get a chip in your windshield... only pay for what you need. trust safelite. this couple was headed to the farmers market... when they got a chip. they drove to safelite for a same-day repair. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

we're going to turn to the dramatic rescue after a small plane crashed into a high voltage power line sunday evening in maryland. the exact cause of the crash is still unknown. now, we are hearing the 911 calls from the immediate aftermath. nbc news correspondent tom

costello has the latest. >> 911. what's the address of the emergency? >> reporter: this morning, the 911 call from the pilot inside that private plane that he just crashed into high voltage electrical lines. >> i have flown into a tower. >> reporter: that pilot in a small mooney single engine plane hanging precariously 100 feet above the ground. >> i'm very concerned about my passenger. she was hurt. >> reporter: he had just flown from westchester airport. he was flying below the minimum required altitude. >> totally a visibility issue. we are looking for the airport. i descended to the minimum altitude. then apparently i got down a little bit lower than i should have. i thought i was closer to the airport than i was. >> reporter: john cox.

>> when you have visibility, particularly in a foggy condition like that, everything has a glow around it. you lose crisp definitions of things. >> reporter: responding firefighters and utility crews had a complicated rescue. cutting the power to the lines, securing the plane, then rescuing the victims. 911 dispatchers said to minimize their movement inside the plane as they were hanging in highly charged electrical lines. >> stay as still as you can. don't try to get out of the plane or anything like that. >> reporter: making it more terrifying, strong winds were buffeting the plane. >> we have nothing to protect us. >> reporter: seven hours after the crash, rescuers used a cherry picker to bring them down to the ground and rushed them to an area hospital. the ntsb will investigate what caused the pilot to fly so low on final approach.

>> nbc's tom costello with that report. it's time for a look at the morning papers. in pennsylvania, "pittsburgh post gazette" the election has been certified. "the daily timstimes" covers th chieldz -- childcare crisis in maryland. the state department has approved a $16 million grant for childcare providers which aims to recruit new employees and support open businesses.

in new hampshire "the concord monitor" reports state officials have granted money for school safety projects. those include replacing locks, updating key card systems and security cameras. the state allocated nearly $44 million for similar projects since 2017. in maine, "the republican requested requested leads with the word of the year. it is gaslighting. it's behavior mind manipulating and downright deceitful. searches for the term increased by nearly 2,000% compared to last year. coming up, texas takes immigration to the u.s. supreme court. it's a big case that could reshape the way states challenge federal policies. we will get a report from the supreme court straight ahead on "morning joe." ."

♪ ♪ this... is a glimpse into the no-too-distant future of lincoln. ♪ ♪ it's what sanctuary could look like... feel like... sound like... even smell like. more on that soon. ♪ ♪ the best part? the prequel is pretty sweet too. ♪ ♪

in 3 seconds, this couple will share a perfect moment. oh, wow. but we got to sell our houses. well, almost perfect. don't worry. just sell directly to opendoor. close in a matter of days. get your free offer at opendoor.com

welcome back to "morning joe". look how pretty the tree is. it's going to be so beautiful. the tree lighting is wednesday? >> i don't know. >> so exciting. all the kids love it. >> they do. >> it's exciting. >> all the people around the general area like it. when you look at that tree, what do you think? >> i see commerce, joe. >> exactly. >> we get tourists from around the world. >> why does he do that? >> you create a bottleneck and put them into the nbc store. you merch. >> "sunday today" mug. i like that. >> i don't want to spoil anything. for my kids, esp