mitch mcconnell and his wife in extremely personal terms over the last few months. they always had sort of a rocky relationship and trump has decided, you know, he was backing rick scott to challenge mcconnell for the senate republican leadership. this is clearly a relationship that, on the rocks would be putting it delicately and it's not going to be repaired anytime soon. i do think, you know -- you hear certain echoes of 2016 when you hear a lot of republican leaders, you know, talking in, i don't want to say vague terms but refusing to use the former president's name when they condemn him. if republicans in washington want to get onboard with another candidate, you know, that's really going to be the only thing that is going to stop someone like donald trump with a very high floor of support among republican voters from becoming the nominee. so unless those denunciations get much more forceful, consistent and explicit and

widespread, you know, we see another 2016 situation where the trump skeptical vote dozen diff candidates and donald trump sails to the nomination once again. >> politics reporter, great stuff as always. thank you for joining us this morning. and thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. a hard-fought campaign -- [ cheers ] -- or should i say campaigns. [ cheers and applause ] it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy. "the people have spoken"! [ cheers ] the 118th united states congress is now complete.

incumbent senator raphael warnock re-elected giving democrats an outright senate majority. 51 seats and doing away with the power sharing agreement between the two parties. steve kornacki is standing by at the big board for how the vote played out. and we'll discuss what this means for the state of the republican party what it means for congress what it tells us about the state of georgia and donald trump's influence on u.s. politics. we're also following the latest legal drama involving the former president. the trump organization found guilty of criminal tax fraud. the doj special counsel investigating the 2020 election, subpoenas, local officials in key swing states seeking information on trump and his failed campaign. and -- the house select committee investigating january 6th could soon be moving forward with criminal referrals. wow.

a bad day for trump. a good day for democracy, i guess, and an incredible speech by herschel walker. good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it's wednesday, december 7th. with us we have former aid to the george w. bush elyse jordan with us and msnbc political analyst member of "new york times" mara gay joins us and host of "way too early," jonathan lemire and of politico, and will e! just doesn't stop. so much news. >> incredible race talking about more than a year and a decision. after one competitive primary, two general elections, two runoffs senator raphael warnock has won a full six-year term in the united states senate. the incumbent beat republican challenger herschel walker for that last senate seat of the midterm cycle with 99% of the vote in this morning, warnock holds advantage of nearly

100,000 votes. warnock's win gives democrats that crucial 51st seat after two years of an evenly split senate. senator warnock thanked supporters in a speech last night. >> let's celebrate for a little while on this mountain. [ cheers ] let's dance, because we deserve it. but tomorrow we go back down into the valley to do the work. i could hear my dad of blessed memory saying, get up, get dressed, put your shoes on! get ready! are you ready, georgia? [ cheers ] i'm ready! stand up for workers! stand up for women! stand up for our children! [ applause ] get ready to build a stronger georgia! >> herschel walker's loss, a major blow to former president

trump, who first recruited the former football star to run for that seat. republican strategists say trump may have hurt walker's chances by refusing to wait until of a the runoff for his presidential bid. he gave a concession speech after the race was called last night. >> i want to say i want to thank all of you. have we not, a tough journey? when they called the journey, one of the things i want to tell all of you is to never stop dreaming. i don't want any of to you stop dreaming, to stop believing in america. i want you to believe in america and continue to believe in the constitution and believe in our elected officials most of all. so i want to thank all of you as were you, because there's no excuses in life and i'm not making excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight, and that's what we got to do. because this is much bigger, this is much bigger than

herschel walker. >> wow. >> warnock's victory means every senate incumbent won re-election in this year's midterms and democrats bucking historical trends, inflation, everything else, actually pick up a seat in the senate. >> did you hear that speech? i mean, believing in america, believing in the constitution. i mean, i have to say it was good, number one, and probably the best speech he's given, unless i've missed something, and it was a little bit of a push back to donald trump who didn't show up for him in the end. who picked him. and for his comments on the constitution, elise. >> where was herschel walker talking like this during the campaign? if he had spoken like this he might have actually won over some of those independent, some of those moderate republicans who will wary of his behavior. >> yeah. joe, by the way, is probably back tomorrow. he's been fighting a horrible, horrible sinus infection, and his ears are horrendous. tinnitus, but he did tweet and

here it is given the incoherences as campaign speeches i was struck by herschel's moving concession speech. it was beautiful, and in its simplicity. no excuses. walker showed grace and a reaffirmation of american values showing victory in defeat and that is especially true at this time of election denying. but let's talk about the race as a whole. this was incredible. this runoff election, willie. >> yeah. right over to steve kornacki and see how senator warnock did it. nbc news be political correspondent. steve, a lot to look at here. look at the rural counties also certainly the atlanta suburbs decisive for senator warnock? >> that's the headline in terms how did he end up winning it? warnock by nearly three points. remember in the preliminary back in november warnock finished in first ahead of walker. the margin a little under one point. warnock expands his margin over walker to nearly three points in

the runoff. biggest snell reason the blue lava counties you see right here in and around atlanta. the immediate atlanta metro area, and the core democratic area. it's the core population center for the state and also a place here county after county where warnock had done really well in november, because, remember, in november republicans had a good night in georgia overall. brian kemp, republican governor easily re-elected over stacey abrams. raffensperger easily re-elected. republicans winning state-wide races in november. this was the exception, the sna senate race, walker finished second. and gwinnett county one of the fastest grows in georgia. nearly a million people here. take a look. the number that warnock got, what you see here on the right. back in november. warnock got nearly 59% here. a fantastic number for warnock out of gwinnett county back in november. he jumped it up to 62% last

night. herschel walker meanwhile fell from 38.6 to 37.9. the kinds of differences that make all the difference in an election like this and you saw it throughout the atlanta metro area. take a look at cobb county. another biggy. warnock's campaigned thrilled with 56.8 they got in november. built that nearly three points to 59.5% last night. so in one county after another in the immediate atlanta metro area, warnock actually met his november number and then built on it and walker in most cases actually slid back a little from what he got. that's the single biggest ingredient and if you zoom out, the bigger picture on this. in terms of georgia. why we now talk about georgia as a competitive state politically. joe biden carrying it in 2020. we expect it to very much be on the map of competitive states in 2024. has everything to do with this atlanta metro area. so striking to me. wept back in time 10, 20 years say 2004 presidential campaign when george w. bush was

re-elected over john kerry. this a red county, this a red county, this a red county, this red and this would have been red. three blue counties in the atlanta metro area. george w. bush winning some of these counties by 25, 30, 35 points. they have now swung all the way around where warnock's winning them last night by 20, 25, 30 points. massive population growth in migrations, counties are bigger, massively bluer. it's the biggest snell reason why warnock wins last night and georgia's a competitive state and the second biggest reason is get outside this immediate atlanta metro area, still have biggies. sort of in the excerpt, far suburbs of atlanta. not bigger than cherokee county, 45 minutes north of atlanta. the biggest single republican vote-producing county in georgia. one of the biggest republican vote-producing counies of any county in the united states of america.

herschel walker last night got 69% here. he needed more than that. he got about 67.5 back in november. this is what a republican win in sga looks like. this is brian kemp's number in the governor's race back in november. 74% of the vote won the county by almost 50 points. that's the kind of marge fn you're a republican trying to win in georgia. you're not getting it in the immediate atlanta metro area anymore. you have to go to the next level of excerpts need it in a place like cherokee county. brie be kemp won it in november. won the state easily. look how far behind kemp. one of his challenges to really drive that number up. well over 70%. he barely hit 69% in cherokee county. just one county after another sort of next tier, next level of counties outside the immediate atlanta metro area. still a lot, high populations, not quite at high, but high

populations, still a lot of republicans voters and walker lagged in november behind brian kemp, behind the rest of the republican ticket. the question for his campaign coming into yesterday was, okay. he had kemp campaigning for him. he had it seem like more of a unified party behind him. could he get the voters who voted republican in november but not for him in november. could he get them to the polls and get them to check his name off this time? really the answer to that, a few did. mostly the answer is, no. he didn't get the gains, kind of growth needed in that next level. so that one-two punch right there, warnock driving up the score in the core democratic areas getting more and more blue. this is a trend. election after election. a long-term significant trend in georgia, and walker missing his targets in one big republican county after another. we could find rural counties on the map here where walker actually had good news last night. some of those were earliest reporting counties last night. after that, news pretty uniformly bad for walker and

results in a victory of nearly three points for raphael warnock. put in perspective, when's the last time a democrat won a u.s. senate race in georgia by more than two points? you could say 2000. a special election that year. zell miller, a conservative democrat, who later would be keynote speech at the democratic convention, won a special election, non-partisan. take that one out go all the way back to 1990. >> wow. >> sam nunn reelected in 1990 in a very different georgia on a very different map. that's a bit of a breakthrough in terms of margin for democrats to win by nearly three in a senate race. >> fascinating, just to see history of the atlanta suburbs and where we are now. interesting to note, steve, raphael warnock, senator warnock, is the only democrat who won statewide in this election. in fact, republicans won comfortably. you mention governor kemp. is this the story of a bg

candidate in senator warnock, a terrible canidate in herschel walker or really about a state that started to make a turn. >> it's about a couple -- a combination of factors right there. i mean, the changing demographics in the atlanta area in the state made this possible. it made it possible for warnock, i think to capitalize on the situation. but the type of voter, again, call it up. see if this will get the governor's rates if i can call -- here you go. the result last night. this is the result in the preliminary. and this is result in the governor's race that you're talking about. yeah. brian kemp easily won the governor's race. that turnout existed. electorate existed in november's general election was overall a pretty republican-friendly electorate. exit poll back in november biden's approval rating in georgia just 41%. what did kemp get walker didn't get? a certain type of voter that disapproves of biden, still very skeptical of the democratic party. the democratic party become more

liberal, too, hasn't helped whip that voter. but that voter also does not like donald trump. >> that's it. >> i think that's the difference that you see. those counties where you saw the biggest lag between kemp and walker. demographically they were republican counties but republican counties that had high concentrations of college graduates. that's the wing sort of demographically the democratic party. this college non-college divide among all voters, but it's among republican voters, where, you know, trump really excels with non-college voters. non-college white voters in particular. counties in georgia that are republican but have high concentrations of voters with college degrees, that's where kemp excelled, and where walker really ran into trouble in november, and it's where walker really failed to move the needle last night. >> well, steve, that point you made about trump and biden is so interesting. if we pull back a little bit. a real negative trump factor

that pervaded midterms. what does the republican party do with this? jonathan lemire go back to steve, the bigger broader look at this trump brought them losses. four elections at this point and, wow, massive loss for trump republicans. this was a time everybody said joe biden was a weight on the party smop he even stand next to candidates. no. it was trump who shown stand next to the candidates, and yet he picked them. he picked them, and except for i think j.d. vance, correct me if i'm wrong here, trump's picks lost georgia, arizona, pennsylvania, new hampshire, am i missing anything? >> governor's races. >> the governor's races. jonathan lemire, the writing is on the wall. >> yeah. the republican party gave the keys to donald trump a few years ago and at least this cycle he's

repeatedly crashed the car. it was a number of hand-picked choices you just said gone down in tweet. 's in particular so toxic in georgia. walker hand-picked by trump, walker campaign said we don't want you down here. don't campaign for us here. they knew that would turn off voters. and now we have a moment where the legal pressure on trump is only increasing. talking about later here on the show and republicans have yet another chance to walk away from him. the question is, will they do so? steve, let's also talk a little more about the remarkable congressman raphael warnock. first black man or woman to be elected senator from georgia and now first one to get a full term from georgia. certainly considered a rising star in the democratic party. perhaps eyes on other offices down the road. talk to us a lot how historic this accomplishment is-for-him and underscore, if you will, how remarkable this cycle was for democrats? that they came into office 50-50, barely pulling off the

georgia runoff last time to have that type in the senate and now even gained a seat. >> yeah. end up losing nine in the house, single-digit losses in the house goes from coming into the cycle, 222-213 in the house. for democrats. coming out into the new congress it's going to be 222-213 for the republicans. democrats are going to lose the house but not lose it by anywhere near the margin i think most had expected. yes, on the senate side. going to go from that 50-50 tie anomaly have control thanks to kamala harris the vice president breaking ties to now be at 51-49. i think what's especially significant if you look long term here on getting that 51st seat for democrats is played out to 2024. i know still 2022. sorry to get ahead of myself here but in 2024 look at the senate map. not good on paper for democrats. west virginia, donald trump's best state. in ohio, in montana.

very exposed political seats in the senate in 2024. one thing the victory in georgia does, not much of a pad but gives them a bit of a pad. more of a pad. now at 51 than at 50. i think when you start looking at that map in 2024, if you're a democrat trying to think about, can you hold on to the senate in 2024? having that 51st seat does offer a few more possibilities than if you were stuck at 50-50 still. >> wow. steve kornacki, as always, thank you very much for breaking it all down for us. the "washington post" said editorial board has a new piece entitled "georgia is turning purple" and should be an early primary state. writes in part former president donald trump saddled republicans with this nominee despite widespread warnings mr. walker was unelectable. mr. trump deserves as much blame as anyone for his party's failure to win back the senate. historical trends and the

national environment should have made it easier. the runoff results add to the evidence that the peach state has turned purple. georgia, with 11 million residents and 16 electoral votes is becoming in american politic what's ohio and florida used to be. a genuinely competitive battleground. a primary win in georgia would send a senate that a candidate has broad appeal and ultimately that they would be a credible contender as a party standard bearer in the 2024 general election. it's so interesting, because what trump has done has maybe created this scenario. what do you think of the editorial, mara gay? this i feel was more, as pointed out, more about trump, even for people who were not for joe biden and traditionally would vote republican. they just couldn't vote for this candidate. >> that's true. i think there's another story and it's a good news story that

we haven't talked enough about, which, you know, we come on the show. we talk so much ash the threats to democracy and rightly so, but there's another occurrence in the united states which is the continued democratization of the country and the you see it actually happening in georgia. in a really exciting way. where a coalition, a multiracial coalition for the first time since reconstruction is making it possible to have competitive elections. and that is a really exciting thing. i mean, you have to go back to, you know, raphael warnock thinking about this in history. one of only 11 black senators that have ever served in the u.s. senate that began with rebels from mississippi in 1970 who fought in the battle of vicksburg. you have to go back that far. so i think when you think about georgia you have to also think

about who was voting in this coalition. you have moderate white republicans, moderate voters. you have conservatives who didn't like the republican candidate. you have a third of the electorate black voters showing up in large numbers and then you have in raphael warnock somebody who shared a pulpit, that martin luther king jr. used to preach from. so, you know, overall, this is actually an exciting trend. >> hmm. >> because, you know, democracy is still alive and wellives to y so that the idea that we would focus on georgia, i have to agree that, with my colleagues in d.c. it makes sense. >> has to be underlined, that link to history, raphael warnock is a creature of the same pulpit where martin luther king stood for so many years and now the first black man or woman to serve, all the history that came before segregation and all that, politically important and also

an important day for history. >> talked about herschel walker's speech. i mean, watching raphael warnock in his victory speech, he's really come along, too. i mean, he's really found his voice, and what an incredible night. still ahead on "morning joe," a manhattan jury finds the trump organization guilty of tax crimes. we'll talk about the implications of yesterday's verdict, plus what we're learning about potential criminal referrals from the house select committee investigating january 6th, and the latest from ukraine after russia suffering a second day of drone strikes within the country's border. a lot more ahead. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. research shows people remember commercials with nostalgia.

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organization guilty on all charges in a 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors said was orchestrated by top executives at the company. jurors deliberated for about 11 hours over two days before finding the organization guilty on 17 counts including scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. former cfo allen weisselberg indicted last year and pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges in august. he served as the prosecutor's star witness. former president donald trump was not indicted in the case. he release add statement promising to appeal while stating that any and all tax fraud was weisselberg's personal doing and had nothing to do with the trump organization. the company faces roughly $1.6

million in fines, sentencing is set for january 13th. joining us now, lecturer at columbia law school, a federal criminal defense attorney and former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade an msnbc legal analyst. barbara, first of all, the fines, not a big deal. does this have larger implications? >> absolutely. you're right. $1.6 million for an organization like the trump organization is probably something that isn't going to break the bank, but i do think it has a couple other implications. one is, it does expose with a felony conviction against the organization, exposes it to recall of loans. oftentimes loans in other business deals have out clauses when there's a criminal matter involved in a case. that practical implication and also on a larger scale significant implications here. even though donald trump was not a defendant, was not convicted, there was evidence in the case he directly paid some of these

benefits, and that he approved others. when the trump organization is sump a small business that has his name on it, really is very much the alter egeg of ego of donald trump. bringing to light the fact donald trump's statement, shoot someone on fifth avenue is not the case. he's not teflon. can't get away with anyone and maybe em bonds other prosecutors. >> exactly caroline. avoids consequence here again. i wonder how that's possible and confused. does wieselberg still work for the trump organization? >> trump avoided consequence here today however i think it's a canary in a coal mine situation for trump. those close to trump, ivanka, evidence, don jr., those close to the family received benefits of this sort of nature having to do with it. i think alvin bragg is going back to his office.

said last night on "the beat" with ari, this is the first chapter. he's obligated not to speak about ongoing investigation but that's lawyer speak for i think he has his eyes set on the individual. got a lot of flak when two top prosecutors resigned from the office because cy vance wanted to move forward with charges against donald trump in individual capacity. resigned when it seems bragg didn't have's appetite to do so. the zombie theory it just won't die in terms of they're taking another look at the stormy daniels hush money payments. a lot going on here and it sounded like bragg is open to the possibility of moving forward with more criminal indictments potentially against trump himself. >> caroline, the defense sort of was allen weisselberg was acting alone. went rogue, got himself private school tuition for his

grandkids, apartments and others said this is the kind of stuff companies do. give perks to executives. does this go beyond allen weisselberg, though, to your point a minute ago? could this extend? the reach get further? >> absolutely does. weisselberg walked a really fine line even a state witness, he testified for the prosecution. he basically said that this was an insulated, you know, scheme of his own. trump organization pushed back on that saying that, you know, how could that possibly be true and prosecutors in closing arguments actually said that trump did sanction some of this conduct. now, bragg said last night sanctions the conduct is different from actually moving forward with what you would need for a criminal indictment. however, i think it's very, very interesting that prosecutors brought up trump in their closing arguments again. it portends, perhaps they're sort of looking to the future. >> can i ask, how do you think

about the approach of the manhattan d.a.'s office in terms of its aggressiveness, or not, when you think about the way trump and his organizations have been prosecuted in local offices across the country? where do they stack up? how do we read the tea leaves? >> yeah. so this is a big deal in that it's a criminal case heretofore only seen civil implications for a trump organization. right? the new york attorney general tish james has a sprawling investigation. this puts new wind in her sails as barb noted, $1.6 million, drop in the bucket really to trump org. it's the civil investigation to james' office in coordination with the manhattan district attorney here with this prosecution. that's where it could really hit where it hurts in terms of shutting down the trump organization. >> then this, the house select committee investigating january 6th could soon move forward with criminal referrals. speaking to reporters yesterday, chairman bennie thompson

suggested the committee will call for criminal charges as the panel wraps up its work. >> we have not made a decision as to who, but we have made decisions that criminal referrals will happen. i wish i could tell you one, two, three, four, but all that's still being discussed. >> barbara mcquade, break it down for us. i mean, who, who possibly could they be talking about? >> well, until they actually announce it, i suppose it's hard to know and i think they have to to consensus. two different things. hard to imagine that list will not include donald trump. we heard liz cheney says donald trump and close associates engage in the conspiracy to defraud the united states, and

obstruction of an official proceeding. even if they don't have evidence that connects donald trump to the actual physical attack on the capitol, those two crimes can be proved simply by the pressure applyed on mike pence to try to delay and subvert the counting of the election on january 6th. i'd be really surprised if his name is not on the list. it would also include others assisting in that plot like john eastman and jeffrey clark but, of course, remains to be seen. now, it's largely symbolic. the justice department will do what it wants to do but i think it's important that symbolically this committee does give that referral to send the message to the country that this is what we found, and i think that's important for accountability purposes. >> jon, you literally wrote a book on this "the big lie." they don't have the power to prosecutor criminally but can say here are volumes and volumes of evidence, all the testimony,

everything we know about it. run with it, justice. >> and really created a road map, the department of justice. doj has its on investigation, too, but at times seems they're taking cues from the january 6th committee, uncovered what we all thought january 6th entailed, uncovered new witnesses and new testimony and new material in the report as well. let me ask you. only part of, criminal referrals, could be about what happened in the days leading up to january 6th. couldn't they also be about things that have happened since then during the investigation? trump officials, secret service committing perjury and the light? >> absolutely. cassidy hutchinson's bombshell testimony and what happened in the van that day. i would note that i think that barb's absolutely right. merrick garland and jack smith don't need criminal referrals to

do their job, but you're right. a lot of daylight between the committee and doj, and doj has made it clear that they want the information from the committee. they want the transcripts. they want the information, because they are sort of taking their cues, which is sort of different from what one might have expected. we'll see. >> and then the documents. so many different -- my god -- former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst, thank you both very much for coming on this morning. appreciate it. coming up, looking back on a date which will live in infamy. presidential historian jon meacham and retired navy admiral dave stavridis joins us to mark the 81st anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor that launched the united states into world war ii. plus, the latest on the current war in eastern europe after a second day of ukrainian

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1941, a date which will live in infamy. the united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of japan. >> i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by japan on sunday december 7, 1941, a state of war has existed

between the united states and the japanese empire. >> president franklin delano roosevelt making an address following japan's attack on pearl harbor 81 years ago today. joining us now, presidential historian jon meacham and retired four-star general james stavridis. december 7, 1941, reminded of your book "franklin and winston" winston churchill spent years writing love letters trying to get the united states to enter world war ii. please, please. and then as far as fdr was

willing to go, but on this day december 7th, everything changed. >> uh-huh. >> it did. you know, that night, churchill heard the news on the bbc on a birthday dinner at checkers and immediately wanted to declare war on japan. the american envoy that said you can't declare war on a radio broadcast but there was phone call that night between roosevelt and churchill and churchill said, is it true, mr. president? and roosevelt said, it's true, we're all in the same boat now. and you could argue we, in fact had been in the same boat since december 1939 when hitler invaded poland, but isolationism in america was so strong, so ambient, you could feel it, that even after that great secret conference in august of 1941, fdr meets churchill. they issue the atlantic charter,

democratic, lower case, principles, and fdr comes home and the draft renewed by a single vote in the congress. that's how divided we were. and it was this day and then four days later adolf hitler making the world historic mistake of declaring war on the united states that really brought us fully into this bloodiest of centuries and created the america that we know, because it was the america that became a superpower, became a hyperpower, and the admiral has more about this than i know. but i just want to say i have not used the word dastardly in a long time and i think any american president that can say dastardly as an adverb is for our time. >> we probably could use it.

>> as a man who commanded ships and was a sailor himself and now an analyst, your thoughts on just looking at these images, first of all and the significance of what happened that day. >> two things really stand out to me as you look at those really remarkable photographs and some of the footage we're seeing here. first, you're seeing a lot of pictures of "uss arizona" one of the nine battleships at pearl harbor on the day of the strike. a quiet sunday morning. most sailors are at home with families off the ship, many of them. but many of the young ones are on that ship. the one you're seeing most there is "arizona" and she was hit and lost m that single ship, and it is today, "arizona" the memorial itself. it flipped over and you see a structure on top of where the final resting place is for 1,100 of those sailors. point one, dastardly probably doesn't begin to get at what the

nation felt at that moment. and then secondly, resolve. you know, we mentioned winston churchill. in today's world you'd have to look at someone like zelenskyy. >> absolutely. >> and say, boy, he's playing the role, he's channeling churchill here as he faces the same kind of, if you will, dastardly attacks. >> let's go there. drones stuck inside russian territory second straight day yesterday hitting an airport in the country's southwest kursk region. the drone strikes ignited a system of fuel tankses. raising the question about russia's air capabilities as the sites struck on both days are well within russia's borders. in another instance yesterday an industrial plant roughly 50 miles from the ukrainian border was hit with drones, but no fuel lines or gas sources were hit. so admiral, what's happening

here? is there a dynamic shift? and let's talk more about volodymyr zelenskyy in light of the historic day that we are marking? >> these strikes are, in fact, quite significant in two ways. one, symbolically. here are the ukrainians quite clearly reaching out and touching russian long-range air which has just been pummeling the people of ukraine, going after electric grid, the water plants. clear war crimes. so the ukrainians are striking out. that's symbolic, but secondly, to the point you made in the readout, these show that the air defenses are vulnerable. that's quite significant, and final thought here. go back to world war ii. right after pearl harbor, the united states mounted an attack on tokyo. jimmy doolittle's raid from aircraft carriers showing the

japanese they were not vulnerable in their capital city. >> jonathan lemire, announcing "times'" "person of the year," i don't imagine how it's not volodymyr zelenskyy. we'll see. >> odds on favorite, i would say. one note on this. i do this relationships to watch key in washington. washington and the west repeatedly not given ukraine weapons where they could strike deep into russia. ukraine doing it on their own free lancing with these drones. a tension point we should watch in months ahead if they keep those up. jon meacham back to volodymyr zelenskyy somebody you have written a lot of great historical figures churchill, roosevelt, lincoln and more. talk to us about him as we remember the somber day. potentially zelenskyy may get an honor later on, what parallels do you see about the remarkable leadership he has shown during this devastating war in his home country? >> hmm. >> well, what vladimir putin launched here was the oldest

kind of human enterprise. it was ambition and appetite that were given military form. he saw something. he sees something that he wants. so he decided to take it. and what zelenskyy did was stand up with that noble, to use the admiral's term, that noble kind of reaction to appetite and ambition which is the resolve to defend what is one's own from an unprovoked and, do it one more time, dastardly attack on his homeland. so you have this ancient drama playing out anew in the 21st century, and putin is acting on the worst fundamental impulses in human nature. zelenskyy is being fired by the best fundamental impulses in human nature, which is to stand,

to defend, to articulate, to fight back. and i think it's also important to remember that he is a performer. that's where he started. john paul ii was a performer. ronald reagan was a performer. winston churchill understood the means of the media of his time. he understood the power of radio. franklin roosevelt understand stood radio. it's not coincidental that great leaders understand. influential leaders, great and not so -- and not so great, understand how to reach the people where they are in that given moment, and that's hugely important, a hugely important lesson for the forces of light as they step up to combat the forces of shadow. >> and elise, as we talk about great leaders, it's also just, when you look at what volodymyr zelenskyy is doing, and what

ukraine, how he's galvanizing ukrainians to fight and die and endure atrocities for safety of the world? it's hard not to think about how weak the republicans are, that they can't even talk back to a failed reality tv show host, who is losing elections for them. and i say this, it's not a dig. it's really incredible, because democracy is sacred, as volodymyr zelenskyy is showing the world. >> well, you see the stakes for ukrainians and how they have put so much on the line and how they fought. such underdogs. david versus goliath and the world is cheering them on and hoping that this war is going to come to a conclusion, and that they are going to prevail. what's the realistic outcome for the ukrainians? >> right. >> in the next couple of months? >> just one last point on zelenskyy. i'd invite everyone to think, if you're on the front lines in ukraine, and you look over your shoulder, what do you see?

you see your spouse, your children, your elders, your parents, your society, your language. powerful motivating force. so to that point, elise, i think that the ukrainians are going to continue to succeed in this land war side. they are going to have to do better and we need to help them do better in the air war. >> uh-huh. >> that's why these drone strikes are, in fact, important going after russian air capabilities. but the end game here, let us hope, maybe six months from now as the winter concludes, turns to a negotiation. our job here in the united states just like we did for winston churchill, churchill said, give us the tools. we will do the job. we need to give the ukrainians those tools. >> retired four-star admiral james stavridis, thank you, and presidential historian, jon meacham thank you as well. his latest book, "and there was

light: abraham lincoln and the american struggle." thank you to you both. and still ahead, a live report from georgia on the heels of senator raphael warnock's re-election win last night in the runoff. plus, maryland becomes the latest state to restrict tiktok from government devices. we'll take a look at that new order from republican governor larry hogan. "morning joe" is coming right back. for people living with h-i-v, keep being you. and ask your doctor about biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in certain adults. it's not a cure, but with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to and stay undetectable. that's when the amount of virus is so low it cannot be measured by a lab test. research shows people who take h-i-v treatment every day

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so -- he got called all day and -- and so he finally tweeted he went to the pharmacy. which is great. you can get your flu shot at any local pharmacy. walk in there and it's really quick. it's really easy. and doesn't hurt. it doesn't hurt. >> you can get an appointment these days. not like in the old days, had to wait, last year. >> and, guys, the flu is really bad this year. it's worth it. so thank you, eddie. thank you, eddie's wife. i know who got that done. what are you looking at today, mara gay? >> changed landscape for democrats. an additional seat. how do they plan to take advantage of that. >> mara, thanks for being on today. and coming up, back to the election in georgia last night, the election of raphael warnock. and comedian mike birbiglia joins us to discuss his new show on broadway. we'll be right back.

♪ i will remember you ♪ >> this erection is about the people. ♪ will you remember me ♪ >> open up a can of a bear. ♪ don't let your love pass you by ♪ >> at one time said man came from apes. if that's true, why are there apes? ♪ memories ♪ >> i wasn't aware of that dog today. that dog probably say, i don't know. >> is that your signature? >> i haven't seen it, but, you know, i can tell you i sent out so many get wells, sent out so

much of anything. >> pronoun? what the heck is a pronoun, i'm pronoun sick and tired of talking about pronoun. >> don't y'all know got peanuts for a brain? ♪ don't let your love pass you by ♪ >> a werewolf can kill a vampire. do you know that? ♪ hang on for the memories ♪ >> the saddest part is he probably doesn't know any of it. welcome back to "morning joe." is wednesday december 7th and i don't know how i feel about that, like, mashup. it's funny, but he gave a really good concession speech that was important for america. jonathan lemire still with us and joining the conversation we have the host of msnbc's "politicsnation" and president of the national action be network reverend al sharpton joins us and former white house press second and now msnbc host general psaki. good to have you both. willie, runoff, incredible

result with raphael warnock giving an incredible speech, but it was herschel walker who really had some important words when he conceded talking about america, democracy -- the constitution -- donald trump -- i feel kind of saying, you know what, guys, thanks but no thanks. >> grading on a curve. he did say the right things in a kind of after-concession. raphael warnock won a six-year term in the senate. defeated republican candidate herschel walker in the georgia senate runoff last night and the victory gives democrats an yowl right majority. here's more from senator warnock followed by walker's concession speech. >> you endures the rain, you endured the long lines, and you voted, and you did it, because

you believe, as i do, that democracy is the political enactment of a spiritual idea. this notion that each of us has within us a spark of the divine that we were created in the marko day, in the image of god, and if you're not given to that kind of religious language, that's fine. our tent is big. [ cheers ] simply put it this way. each of us has value. and if we have value, we ought to have a voice, and the way to have a voice is to have a vote to determine the direction of your country and your destiny within it. >> i want to say that i want to thank you all of you as well, because we've had a tough journey. have we not? but one of the things i said

when they called the race, i said results don't look like 245ir going to add up. one of the things i want to tell all of you is you never stop dreaming. i don't want any of you to stop dreaming, to stop believing in america. i want you to believe in america and believe in the constitution and believe in our elected officials most of all. so i want to thank all of you as were you because there's no excuses in life and i'm not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight, and that's what we got to do. because this is much bigger, this is much bigger than herschel walker. >> whether he intended or not, a lot of people noted he mentioned the constitution after donald trump who hand-picked him to run for the senate seat talked about terminating parts of the constitution just a few days ago. rev talk big picture about this race. in the end a relatively comfortable victory for senator raphael warnock by 100,000 votes almost cleaned up in the atlanta suburbs. of course, donald trump a big part of that. voters just didn't want to see

anymore of trumpism there. >> absolutely. i think it really was a repudiation of trump. i give credit to herschel for making a good speech last night. >> seems like -- >> the only good speech he made in the whole race, unfortunately for him, and very proud of senate warnock. i've known him a long time. in fact, the first time, he always seizes me, talked last night. first time he went to jail on civil rights, when i was a senator, but chuck schumer should be given a lot of credit. chuck schumer literally called us to ask raphael to run. but schumer talked him into running and now he is the guy that will put the democrats in a position to be able to confirm judges, to really affect committees. so this is not just a personal win for those of us that love

raphael. it really has an affective policy input in the senate in terms we couldn't go last senate. the way it effects committees, confirm aces and all is in fact real and i think that's why that victory last night was important. >> wow. these midterms. my god. >> impressive campaign. i don't think senator warnock gets enough credit because so much talk how bad a candidate herschel walker was's in a state like that, as mentioned in the last half hour, republicans won every race except for this race with raphael warnock. ran a state campaign. not just about getting out the base in atlanta but talking peanut farmers, worked with republicans on back in washington. >> yeah. look, deserves a lot of credit running a strong you campaign and his campaign manager the entire team.

went everywhere in the state, as you said. went to really red counties hardly any democrats. they went to metro atlanta a lot obviously and ran up the vote there and did even better than i think they had done in previous elections. he's been on the ballot a number of times here, and really won them over. what they also did, i think, after the general election, just a month ago, they really probably met and said, where can we improve? what canbetter? the sign of a smart campaign. i do disagree. not just him. georgia democrats have beenars. this is not just last night or last month. remember, they flipped the georgia sixth seat just several years ago. flipped 40 municipal seats. flipped mayoral seats, won obviously two senate seats. first time a presidential candidate won in 28 years. so this is a state that's not quite blue but it's moving from deep red because they've done the work. >> this cycle republicans won

state-wide. >> no question. the rev made, a point, take it to you jen. in your previous job a lot of worries about senator manchin and sinema, and in our -- >> everything. >> with 51 votes, talk how it changes dynamic in washington. spoked a lot how historic midpsych crewal. lost the house only by a few seats. talk ho that will change? >> a major pain in the neck to have a 50/50 split sitting in the white house. sitting in the white house today and talked to a number of them last night, a big difference between 51 and 50, to the reverend's point. not just because you have committee control. right now it's split on committees. right? republicans can use procedural shenanigans to delay things. prevent things from moving forward, prevent nominees from moving forward. there already on track to have a

historic number of jur judicial nominations and subpoena power which is huge. a lot of things -- chuck schumer, joe biden, every democrat that's been working over the last two years to get just one more seat makes a big difference. >> a big, big, big win, willie, for democrats. big win for joe biden who everyone underestimated and he sat there and stuck to what he knee politically was the winner. democracy and women's rights. he stayed focused and in those final weeks, fluttering around thinking got to be this, that, polls saying something different. went with his gut. went with quite frankly everything he's been running on in some ways his entire life, especially when it comes to women's rights and broadly, trump lost. this was trump's candidate. and trump's candidate in his concession speech said, no thank you, sir.

i love america. and i love the constitution. no, thank you, and i lost, which trump can't even say a couple of idiots in arizona can't even say, but most people now are accepting the fact that democracy has prevailed here, and trump has lost. >> mitch mcconnell would tell you privately donald trump lost them the senate. by putting herschel walker in, dr. oz in. go down the list. >> in arizona. >> raises the question, at what point will republicans start to say "no" to donald trump? >> such sabotagers. >> lose and lose and come back for more. to atlanta, nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard. talking to steve kornacki and others how senator warnock got it done. what are you hearing on the ground? >> reporter: hard not to think of it, where herschel walker, the uprates, fake uprights

there. look at over the course of the year. we've traveled around the country, and donald trump essentially built the football team. the nfl team he always wanted to own here, yet time and again, the players faltered here. finally, it was herschel walker, running back that kept looking for the same route consistently never willing to change his route even after a general election in which he lost by 38,000 votes. finally the general manager sidelined. donald trump was nowhere to be seen here this final month, and then tried to bring in the likes of governor brian kemp on the o line to box out and build air for herschel to run through but unable to. in large part not only because of donald trump but because what warnock was able to offer as a democratic candidate as you just outlined. we on the campaign trail with the democrat who traveled from the likes of college campuses, from athens to here in atlanta also down to fort valley state university, historically a black university with just a couple

thousand students there and just in closing days he was driving home the message that he helped direct millions of dollars towards hbcus made the pitch pressed the obama administration on student debt relief and making a pitch to seniors he was instrumental in implementing that $35 insulin cap here and that was the consequence of a democratic majority in the u.s. senate. he made the case, moreabout the state of georgia. it was about the actual results that democrats were able to deliver, and what happens? democrats yet again proved they were willing to come out and not a president's general election but in a runoff just like two years ago. also, you noted that republicans won every other state-wide office here in georgia. it proved republicans, independents, those we talked to on the ground and heard it from pennsylvania to arizona to michigan to wisconsin and yet again here in georgia. it's that republicas

conservatives and independents are willing to ross party lines and vote on character. you saw it again here, guys. >> live from atlanta. thank you very much. rev, your thoughts given vaughn's analysis as well. talking about this two days when you were on. are those african american voters especially going to go into the booth and feel like they could vote for herschel walker? >> i think that from everyone i talked to. i'm not talking about just the majority. everyone i talked to. they were afraid that herschel walker would represent the results of decades of struggle to have blacks in position. >> exactly. >> because you want to prove you have people that are quality, not just talking. i think donald trump did herschel walker a disservice by using him. >> terrible. >> did a disservice to the black

community and disservice to the republican party to just put anybody up there that was not qualified. i'm sure herschel's good in other things but certainly wasn't qualified to do that, and i think that when we talk about how democrats had been building towards jen's point. don't forget stacey abrams that had built a great infrastructure that benefited, and when she was defeated, she did not get in raphael warnock's way. you haven't heard from her. she let him run his race, not said anything. i'm saying thank stacey abrams also for yesterday. >> don't disagree. >> pause and talk about history knowing reverend warnock well before becoming a nights senator and stood at the same pulpit martin luther king stood at ebenezer baptist church in atlanta. it's not lost in the history of this, the state of georgia, seg

segregation, the man who preaches from the same pulpit at martin luther king now a senator. >> and the night obama won, we went to atlanta hosted by raphael warnock. we had a watch night service he did new year's eve, and i sat with dr. king's sister and reverend warnock and martin luther king iii when it was announced obama won. right across the street from the church is the grave of martin luther king and coretta scott king. every week that reverend warnock preaches he's preaching directly across the street from dr. king's grave. to see that grave and now a u.s. senator of the united states, chasing blacks out of the restaurant with an ax handle shows that dr. king's dream was

not a pipe dream. it's a reality. >> while all this is going on in, when you do a show like this and you move to different stories, the next story, each story has a story slug. you're learning this, right? >> yeah. >> this one's called "trump's horrific month." and it can't be called anything less than that. donald trump faced one setback after another in the few weeks since launching his 2024 presidential campaign. the team at axios compiled this list. just yesterday a justice department special counsel subpoenaed three states for their commune caucuses with trump and his allies as part of an investigation into trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. we know some of these are on tape. the january 6th committee chair said that the committee was closing in on making criminal reach referrals and the trump organization was convicted of conducting a 15-year scheme to defraud state and federal tax

authorities and backing -- and backing up a few days, trump drew massive backlash for hosting a dinner with kanye west and a white nationalist as well as pushing for the suspension of the constitution, and an appeals court jumped the trump's team after to appoint a special master reviews documents from mar-a-lago. another big setback for trump in a really important case about stealing class classified documents and the supreme court denied him not submitting tax returns and fraught judge ordered trump's former white house lawyers to provide additional grand jury testimony. all of this amid a series of polls that showed trump struggling against his accepted 20 thrival florida governor ron desantis. but, wait. there's more. no -- just kidding.

i mean, how could there be? i mean, that is an impossible month. jonathan lemire, author of "the big lie." i mean, this man is getting it from all sides legally and it seems they're getting closer to him. >> a consensus this is the weakest trump has been actually than ever, but certainly the immediate aftermath of january 6th and right after that "hollywood access" tape dropped in 2016, a moment republicans could start to go in another direction. we've seen them edging that way. most are still there. at least for now. poll numbers slipped. no question, but he's still in most registers still highest of any republican. he is still also the one who,lo able to hand-pick them. so, jen, is this dynamic finally going to change? there is lots of evidence, every time we think one of these rolls around, it doesn't. he is weaker. no question. he's had about as bad of a campaign launch as one can have, but do you have any hope that

anything will change among republicans? >> look, everybody has to be clear-eyed about donald trump here. he's come back from the dead. he's like a cat. keeps coming back from the dead and what's not clear, what's a challenge, i should say, for republicans is, ron desantis over here, but ron desantis right now may be at his peak. he's been painted by every republican as what they want, every hope and dream they have for a republican candidate. obviously done quite well in florida. completely untested nationwide. nobody has looked at the hood, kicked the tires as my former boss barack obama used to say and when you start to, people really start to make decisions. i don't think democrats or people who dislike trump, whatever their political flavor, should underestimate trump, because he has come back and he has come back and come back, but i also agree that there are chips not just chips out of him. not just on the legal front but the political front and some questions whether it's advantageous to the republican party. >> republicans must be quietly hoping for another option?

>> that's something that political -- democrats do this, too. right? kind of think, oh. i'm going back to the way back machine to wesley clark, right? or to mike, less of a way back machine or howard shultz, where democrats think i know who the answer is. look -- look at all of the things they check off on a piece of paper. and then they see them in person and think, whoa. that is not a person who could be elected. we don't know if that's happening with desantis. >> and also legal fallout, how it will play. indictment comes, send republicans scurry away from him or electrify him and have them rally around? ahead, digging further into some items on trump's horrific week, month, year. nbc's ken dilanian joins us about the trump organization convictions and what they could mean for the former president and his family. named a lot in this. also ahead, police officers who fought to protect the capitol on january 6th are

honored during a congressional ceremony. while gop leaders, mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy get snubbed during this ceremony. we'll be right back. ♪limu emu & doug♪ it's nice to unwind after a long week of telling people how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. showtime. whoo! i'm on fire tonight. (limu squawks) yes! limu, you're a natural. we're not counting that. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

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side effects may include allergic reactions, injection site pain, headache, eyebrow, eyelid drooping, and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history. muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins. as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. see for yourself at botoxcosmetic.com first let me just say that -- anyone seeking the presidency that thinks that the constitution should now be suspended or not followed, seems to me would have a very hard time being sworn in as president of the united states. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell yesterday condemning former president trump, though not by name, for trump's social media post about terminating the constitution. he did write that. it's still there. it was the second week in a row mcconnell opened his weekly press conference with remarks about donald trump. so, jen, talking about this in

the break. the bargain with donald trump always has been about power. you have to back him, awe frayed of voters, gets us elected but keeps losing. >> yeah. >> if there's no power at the other end of that deal what's in it for republicans to continue on supporting him? >> that's the big question. right? for mitch mcconnell, i mean, privately everybody knows this. so many republicans in washington. we all talk to them will say, oh, my god. this is such a nightmare. we're losing seats. also says crazy things, attacks the constitution, but unless it is clear, it is not politically advantageous to hitch their wagons they will still hitch their wagons. mitch mcconnell has come cloegs close al times, did the right, courageous thing getting the debt limit through a year ago and had moments like that and has kind of spoken out about the impact of trumpism, you know, on elections and republicans trying to gain power in the senate but

doesn't go too far. we'll zoo have to see. >> a resounding condemnation just don't want to say his name. i think mitch mcconnell is probably at this point absolutely fed up with having anything to do with a total loser. >> oh, i'm sure he is. i guess what i think, maybe i'm waiting for, or others are waiting for, is for him to say, it is not good for us to hook our wagons to donald trump. right? >> i'm assuming that's the stuff that's said behind closed doors, but in public, i mean, he doesn't want to mention his name, because who wants to be affiliated with that name is what i'm thinking. i'm going to say, he basically said these words are inappropriate. this is not a candidate. this is not someone who could be sworn in as president. >> yeah. >> and not even talking about him. >> but still going to vote for him. >> that's the -- >> he has said recently if he were the nominee he would vote for him. >> the question you would have

to ask. >> even bill barr. come all the way around on january 6th and everything else but if he's the nominee of my party i have to vote for him. let's leave the door open for change. the trump organization is guilty of tax fraud, by the way. need help with that, republicans. the company accused of lining top executive pockets with benefits off the books. nbc news senior capitol hill correspondent garrett haake has more. >> reporter: guilty on all counts. a manhattan jury convicted two of trump's businesses on 17 counts after fewer than 11 hours of deliberation. the case against the trump organization reaching back more than a decade. >> the case about lying, cheating, false documents to the end of evading taxes with individuals and the corporations -- now held accountable in a court of law.

>> reporter: the verdict marking the first-ever conviction of one of former president trump's companies. the case is what prosecutors describe as a sweeping 13-year tax fraud scheme by the trump organization with former trump organization cfo allen weisselberg's star witness. weisselberg pled guilty to tax evasion in exchange for a five-month sentence received a private apartment and private schooling for grandchildren. all off official books so did not pay taxes. other executives compensated with similar perks prosecutors said, many signed off on by former president trump himself. mr. trump was not charged in the case. the trump organization pleaded not guilty saying weisselberg acted on his own. the company says it will appeal. the trial comes just as mr. trump launched another bid for the white house. the former president regularly attacking the proceedings on his social media platform saying new york's democratic district attorney was wasting time and

money fighting a political witch-hunt for d.c. against trump over fringe benefits. >> nbc's garrett haake reporting there. joining us now, nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian. ken, good morning. so unanimous verdict here, trump organization convicted on all 17 counts. what's the significance of this beyond allen weisselberg? exposure for the rest of the organization and potentially for donald trump himself? >> reporter: good morning, willie. i don't think legally in this particular case. trump was not a defendant. the trump organization could be disbanded. the trump organization really has a group of 500 companies. these particular companies could be done away with and he could still continue. on the other hand, it forever brands a company associated with trump's name as felonious, and it's part of a picture in which the trump brand is already in decline. reminded of that every time i walk into the justice department.

the old post office building once the trump hotel in the center of power in washington and now a wall of astoria. trump made along of money but brand in decline in business. around the world, embolden the district attorney alvin bragg recently reinvigorated a criminal investigation conducting of the trump organization and around taxes whether it committed fraud overvaluing buildings linked to the new york state attorney general civil investigation and also recently learned once again investigating the payments of hush money to a porn actress. a lot swirls around this. a symbolic defeat. trump the response essentially tried to blame allen weisselberg, his longtime cfo, but not clear it will have huge legal repercussions for trump himself.

>> that rogue, that rogue allen weisselberg. >> still works there. >> and trump guilty of tax fraud, just one of the badly-led lines for donald trump yesterday. another appeared to be the january 6th senate heard from chairman thompson, tossing over criminal reaches to department of justice in relation to their investigation. give a sense who this could be? you know, we know doj doesn't have to act upon it. how significant might this be? >> reporter: jonathan, depends. if the criminal referrals revolve around the sdwran january 6th telly vised hearings, some spurred the justice department into greater action on this, particularly the cass hutchinson testimony. they don't need more. however, separate conduct, for example, potential perjury or

witness tampering that the committee wants to point the justice department to, that would be new. far as we know the justice department isn't investigating anythingable those lines but new allegations, that to me would be significant. >> nbc's ken dilanian, thank you. and the police officers defending the capitol during the january 6th attack were awarded congressional gold medals yesterday, the highest honor from congress. >> january 6th was a day of horror and heartbreak. yet also a moment of extraordinary heroism. it is my honor to present the congressional gold medal to the united states capitol police, the metropolitan police and every hero of january 6th from every agent that responded that day. >> hmm. several officers and surviving family members were awarded individual medals, and after

receiving their awards, recipients lined up to shake hands of top lawmakers from both parties. but the family of officer brian sicknick who died of a stroke the day after the capitol attack snubbed the top republicans in the house and the senate. kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell. here is the family explaining why. >> we got together and said we're not going to shake their hands. >> came out right away to condemn what happened on january 6th and whatever hold has on them, back stepping, won't admit to wrongdoing. not necessarily them themselves but of trump, of the rioters. unlike bush-cheney, no idea what integrity is. can't stand up between right and wrong.

>> certainly can understand the frustration. must be so, so difficult for those families. jen psaki, thank you for coming in today. what are you looking at today? >> now that the desk is clear on georgia, warnock headed back to the senate. making a list of nominees to get through. >> christmas list. >> they're christmas list. do have more work to get done in the lame duck. keeping the government open. omnibus funding bill. after that more work to be done in 2023. that's pretty exciting. >> jen psaki, thank you so much for coming on the show this morning, and still ahead from bach to the beatles, and beyond. a new documentary takes us behind the scenes of nearly a century of recordings of the longest-running studio in the world, and for the film's director abbey road studios, more than an icon but a home away from home and the place where her parents made their

seminal records. mary mccartney would join us with "if these walls could sing." "morning joe" will be right back. back lief you need. mind if i root through your trash? robitussin. the only brand with real honeyand elderberry.

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the always pan. all right. the rain's clearing a little bit. kind of an ugly couple of days here, but the sun's coming out. it's 7:40 in the morning here in new york city. yesterday saw a flurry of free agent signings in major league baseball. philadelphia phillies getting after it this off-season. snagged star shortstop trea turner on a big deal. good for them. keeping taijuan walker and adding matt strahm to its bullpen. the cubs, short-term contract

with former allstore and bolsters rotation in a deal for right-hander jameson taillon. speaking of yankees, we fans holding collective breath as reigning mvp and aaron judge mulls a major offer to join the san francisco giants. "new york post" offering the star slugger in the naked of $360 million to play in the bay area. so jonathan lemire, an alarming report yesterday he'd agreed to go to the giants. not true. a nice offer. $360 million. point out, his hometown team. grew up a fan of the san francisco giants. said from the beginning he wanted to stay in new york but also said in that "time" magazine, insulted the way it went down beginning of the season. yankees, offered all this money

didn't take it. let's hope cooler heads prevail at yankees back up the brinks truck and give him whatever he needs. >> you could offer that. >> and first offer public, judge said he didn't like the fact he and his teams were booed in yankees stadium. >> bounced from playoffs by the houston astros. >> yes, a poll here. judge, bay area guy. giants, desperate to compete in star-studded addition with dodgers and padres looking for a new face of the franchise and you're right. a report last night said a deal was done. pulled down. but there was chatter at the winter meetings other reporters there independently said the buzz around the game is that judge is leaning towards san francisco. that said, as you know, yankees have ultimate trump card bp note goinging beat on an offer if they want to be. pay judge $400 million nine years they can. probably take the deal, but find out in the next couple days it

would be, just talking about you sass a red sox fan losing somebody like mookie betts. catastrophic to the new york fan base. the production and players but who he represents to the fans, the kids, to the organization. >> face of the franchise. >> what judge is to the yankees. remember, if they were to lose losing mvp season and a season he hit a record for home runs. stunning if you were to lose him. you're right. speaking as someone several years later in mourning they lost mookie betts. my youngest son's favorite player, mookie betts red sox shirt hoping he'll come back some day. same for yankees fans with aaron judge. >> hopeful and optimistic. >> san francisco. >> lovely in san francisco. >> no. >> oh, no. it's great. turn to the world cup. the first world cup held in the middle east will see the first team from an arab nation in the quarterfinals. how about this? morocco competed spain

yesterday. 3-0 in penalty shots. after the game was scoreless all the way through extra time. morocco played saturday morning against portugal romped over switzerland 6-2. the striker delivered a hat trick in place of ronaldo benched start of the match. world cup finals set two games on friday. two games on saturday. great matchups there, mika. time now for a look at the morning papers. in new york, the "times" union reports wastewater samples from three counties continue to show signs of the virus that causes polio. rockland, sullivan anding on counties reported polio detections statewide more than 90 wastewater samples collected between march and last month have tested positive for the virus. in kentucky reporting ford started building its $5.8 billion battery plant in the

state that will help automaker, produce 2 million electric vehicles per year. the 1,500 acre facility largest in the world and begin production in 2025 and also expected to create 5,000 new jobs. the battle creek inquirer covers pfizer's new manufacturing facility in michigan. the pharmaceutical giant will invest $750 million in the facility to increase production of injectable medicine and vaccines. pfizer could hire as many as 300 new workers for that facility. and in maine, the kennebec journal reporting janet mills reveal add winter mech relief plan. providing maine residents with emergency fuel programs and short-term housing to avoid homelessness this winter and

provide $450 aid with home heating bills. that will come. coming up, live to atlanta on the heels of yesterday's big win in the runoff election for senator. raphael warnock, a look how that vote unfolded and what it means for the biden agenda on capitol hill. "morning joe" will be back in a moment. 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

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did you see this? this is real. during a hearing rudy giuliani was caught on a hot mic telling his attorney he is wearing two watches. >> i am at a good place to stop, mr. chair. >> you know i have two watches on? >> just a reminder, that was

trump's top lawyer. two watches? >> oh, my gosh. what in the world? who wears two watches by mistake? how does that happen? >> when you put the second one on, don't you see the first one there? >> you would think. >> i think we leave that right there. >> yeah, that speaks for itself. in more serious matters, in the race for the next house speaker, republican congressman, andy biggs, of arizona is officially running against kevin mccarthy in january. he is trying to, quote, break the establishment and urges his colleagues to do the same. at least he's kind of an extremist, andy biggs, and he's running against kevin mccarthy without much of a chance, and there's talk, like, maybe it's

not going to be kevin mccarthy, but many big names are behind kevin mccarthy. >> yeah, he's way more popular than kevin mccarthy. i think this is not great for kevin mccarthy, you know, biggs throwing his hat in the ring but it's not a game killer, and i would watch the moderate republicans -- >> do you think there's an opportunity there? >> yesterday -- i think it's far fetched but it could happen. this could be a messy, messy couple of weeks. the state of maryland has banned the use of tiktok and other chinese and russian products on state devices, and

it was argued that the products present a cyber security risk to the state. and there is a report about chinese-backed hackers that stole covid money, and they believe the bans are driven by misinformation about the company, and there are also efforts to block the app in south carolina and wisconsin. by only question is -- i mean, there are so many, you know, social media sites that, like, have disinformation spewing across them -- >> i think this is because -- a friend of mine that works at very high levels in silicon valley said do not let your child use tiktok, and it's a

data mining project for the chinese, and this is about the chinese government -- >> a clear danger, they say. today lawrence o'donnell will get the first word and he joins the take to talk about the runoff in georgia, and that's next on "morning joe." from buying to refinancing, the loan professionals at newday usa have given enlisted veterans a different kind of financial experience. with more ways to help more veterans, no bank, no lender, no one knows veterans like newday usa.

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here's what i've learned as a pastor. you can't lead the people unless you love the people. you can't love the people unless you know the people and you can't know the people unless you walk among the people. you cannot serve me if you cannot see me. i just want you to know that i

see you. let's celebrate for a little while on this mountain. let's dance because we deserve it. but tomorrow we go back down into the valley to do the work. i can hear my dad in blessed memories say, get up, get dressed, put your shoes on. get ready! are you ready, georgia! i'm ready to stand up for workers, to stand up for women, and to stand up for our children. i'm ready to build a stronger georgia. >> incumbent senator, raphael warnock, delivering his victory speech after winning re-election in georgia last night. welcome back to "morning joe."

reverend al sharpton still with us, and joining the table, the host of "the last word" on msnbc, mr. o'donnell. >> i was here a few hours ago in this room. >> oh, wow. >> we were just talking during the break, this outcome is what it sort of felt like all along, that warnock is going to do it and do it by a point or two. when you are feeling, i think he's going to win but it's going to be wicked close, and that's not a good feeling. >> even with herschel walker as a candidate, it was a trump pick, and it meant a lot to the democrats to really seal their majority and make it more, quite frankly, defining in terms of politics in the months ahead. >> at the end of the day, 99% of

the vote is in, and it's warnock by almost 100,000 votes, and the incumbent raphael warnock delivered his party an out right majority in the senate. nbc news chief white house correspondent, peter alexander, has details. >> reporter: raphael warnock walking away with a win. >> after a hard-fought campaign, you got me for six more years. >> the incumbent narrowly defeating his republican challenger, herschel walker, and now the democrats with the 51-49 advantage. warnock reflecting on his mother's extraordinary journey. >> she grew up in the 1950s in

waycross, georgia, picking somebody else's cotton, and somebody else's tobacco, but tonight she picked her son as senator. >> i don't want any of you to stop believing in america. i will not make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. >> and walker overcame from accusations he paid for two women to have abortions, and claims he vehemently denies. from arizona to pennsylvania, candidates backed by mr. trump not only failed to win back the senate for republicans, but ultimately costs them a seat. all of it reigniting questions about mr. trump's political capitol, just weeks after he announced a 2024 white house bid. overnight president biden

calling to congratulate warnock saying tonight georgia voters stood up for a democracy. jennifer, a georgia republican, telling us she would not vote for walker. >> i think it's proof that trump just can't back candidates and have them win with no substance. >> once a traditionally strong republican stronghold, georgia solidifying itself as a purple state. >> a lot going on here, lawrence. a good campaign run by senator warnock, and let's not overlook that, and the terrible candidate in herschel walker and the hand of trump again pulling down the republican party. >> one way i remained on the confident side of senator warnock getting re-elected in this, every day just asking myself, okay, i am running the walker campaign -- >> right. >> -- and what do i do and where

do i go? the answer is silence. you couldn't strategize that campaign to victory. but when you look at the 100,000, you have to wonder, you have to wonder, if they simply had reasonable -- reasonable voting laws in georgia -- by the way, reasonable operational hours, if they were open for a couple more hours, how much more would it have been. would warnock have won by 300,000? what did that voter suppression score turn out to be? when you are donald trump and you say i only want you to vote on election day. the very next thing he has to say, which he is too stupid to ever say is make sure you leave those polls open until at least 9:00 like new york does, and don't close at 7:00 like georgia, and in georgia it's 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., and new york is 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., 15 hours in new york.

if your thing is only vote on election day, your next sentence has to be keep the polls open longer. >> eddie, did you get your covid shot? >> three of them. >> we will talk later. i will read something to you and then show you something. >> then what? >> then i am very interested in your response, okay. >> okay. >> let's read one op-ed in the guardian. it's entitled georgia's runoff was a resounding rebuke of trumpism. will republicans hear it? lloyd writes in part, quote, the x university of georgia football great now joins the ranks of other trump-endorsed casualties.

unfortunately for them swing state america earned for normal. trump's big lie emerged as a turnoff and his recent call for the constitution to be scrapped injured himself and walker. the thing is certain, if elected walker would have willingly rolled over and he's far from alone. the real question is what does the base of the party think? senator mitt romney recently acknowledged, they are firmly still behind him. i want to show you, herschel walker's speech last night, which was good and also seemed to be responding to the man that put him in this position. take a listen. >> i want to say that i want to thank all you as well, because we have had a tough journey, have we not? one of the things i said when they called the race, i said the numbers don't look like they are going to add up, and one of the things i want to tell you, you

never stop dreaming. i don't want any of you to stop dreaming in america. i want you to believe in america and believe in the constitution and believe in our elected officials, most of all. i want to thank all you as well, because there are no excuses in life and i will not make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight. that's what we got to do, because this is much bigger -- this is much bigger than herschel walker. >> talked about the constitution as well, and his love for america. it seemed to me, especially since trump deserted him in the last week and didn't show up, but it seems to me, herschel walker, that was not a bad speech. >> in the sense that all those words were parched in english -- i am not kidding, and herschel walker had a hard time making english sentenced that you could understand, and that, at least,

you could understand. i don't want to over read -- from a normal candidate i would have said that it may be some kind of a vague message to donald trump, a repudiation to trump, a veiled one. walker got confused yesterday whether he was running for the senate or the house. there are so many examples of that i find it hard to read a lot into anything that he is saying. the question "the guardian" columnists wrote, that piece you read from, mika, outlines the precise situation in the republican party. >> yes. >> you have people like the columnists saying will the republicans get the message? which republicans are we talking about? in many cases op-ed and pundits

talk about some republican party that may get to lead the party, and there's no -- mitch mcconnell could denounce donald trump, and kevin mccarthy -- >> i don't think they want to say their name. >> they won't say their name, and they will never get rid of him if they don't say his name. and in some sense, them denouncing trump would be good for the party in a million ways. >> uh-huh. >> but in the end, the only thing that matters is what mitt romney said, what do the voters in the republican party think? one of the toxic elements of populism, once it gets unleashed in the party, and when the elites stand up and say you must reject donald trump, often that's a signal to the base of the party to say, f you, and we

think fox news is an establishment, and the signals from the elitist, it's too late. the base of the party will pick the next nominee. the voters in the republican party will pick the next nominee, and if the voters in the republican party are still for donald trump, and the evidence suggests donald trump is the strongest with the voters in the republican party, and i urge all republicans to not vote for donald trump, but it doesn't matter if they like him. >> but he loses. rev, pick up. he loses elections. >> i agree somewhat with john, but here's where i would differ. one is i think you will never get all of the people that are the big trump followers that have drunk the kool-aid. i think there's more people now

in the republican party that you can get because trump's people lost everywhere. trump, being the bully he is, and i have known him for years and followed him for years, he does not fight people that keep fighting him. he will throw a few blows and they cower, like you saw ted cruz before. he's a bully. he will not fight if you fight back. if mitch mcconnell took a shot at him, he will shoot back, and if mcconnell keeps coming at him, trump will try and find a way to avoid the fight, because trump has a glass jaw. >> the battle here, the decision about whether this party remains the party of trump or not does not lie in the hands of mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy, it relies in the hands of the republican voters. if the republican voters decide if he is a loser and he's toxic

or whatever, if they decide that -- >> the republican party, if the base, sees donald trump has no clothes, if somebody takes him on and not cower to him -- because he has bluffed everybody, they will start rooting for the other side, or at least see him not as the champion they do. he has come through as an infallible undefeatable guy that has been able to beat everybody down. he needs somebody to come and swing back. >> what republican could go toe-to-toe with trump? lawrence, do you see -- >> we will see. we will find out. the most important words that i heard from herschel walker there were senate twice, and no excuses. that is what good athletes say when they lose to a good and honorable politicians say when they lose, and those are the

words and many other factors that mean herschel walker will not be invited to mar-a-lago for his kari lake loser reception. donald trump will pretend he never met this guy. >> but to john's point, lawrence, there's no alternative yet. there may come along an alternative where republicans get a chance to say if it's a or b and do the taste test. >> for the speculation on the next presidential election started right before joe biden's inauguration, somewhere around there. and my thing about trump from the start has simply been, when you tell me how strong he will be, and then you have to tell me how many crimes he will be charged with or on trial for. yes, you can run for president and go to iowa and those states

while your criminal which i will -- criminal trial is going on, and his life is so unpredictable politically, it's the most unpredictable life politically and legally with the prosecutions closing in on him. >> we had mitch mcconnell -- do we have the sound bite? i would love to show it. i think this was actually a robust condemnation of trump's behavior. take a listen. >> first, let me just say that anyone seeking the presidency who thinks that the constitution could somehow be suspended or not followed, seems to me would have a very hard time being sworn in as president of the united states. >> not a lot of people agree with me, lawrence. >> that's right. it's the key question that follows it, which is, yes,

senator mcconnell, if donald trump is the republican nominee, will you vote for him? there's not one of them who says i will not vote for him. >> didn't he just say he will not by saying that? >> no, he said he is unlikely to get it. he was unlikely to get it the first time he ran. it's something. it's really something, but it's the next part of it that he fails on, which is he would vote for him for president. >> he said donald trump was responsible for the insurrection, and he said i will support the nominee of my party, which is saying i will still support donald trump. he never said donald trump is out and i will walk away if donald trump is the nominee. it's not that hard. i just did it. any of these people can say it and none of them have. >> this is why the family of officer sicknick could bring

themselves to shake the hand of mitch mcconnell or kevin mccarthy. >> when the republicans have been followed through the halls by reporters, and asked about the former president who wants to be president again, and having dinner with guys, and they duck in the bathroom. they won't answer the questions. >> this guy is costing them. can't they read and see the writing on the wall? >> it's the voters. none of them -- if you really diagram the fear, none of them are afraid of donald trump personally. i think they all know -- reverend al knows he's a coward and he's a joke, however, they are afraid of their voters that love donald trump.

their voters are driving their behavior. >> lawrence, it has been so long, and it has been a pandemic since we have seen you, but since we have known you have have an incredible initiative. update us on the kind fund. >> kids in need of desks for schools in malawi. i talk about it once a year, and you can buy a desk in honor of anybody on your guest list, your holiday gift list and unicef will send an acknowledgment of that, and there's a tremendous surge of generosity. and there are kids whose lives have changes, and i couldn't be more grateful for the network for always supporting it. the first time i came on this

show to talk about this, we got a surge at 9:00 a.m. like we had never seen before. >> let's hear from two students in malawi who are part of the initiatives, and one received a desk and one even attended high school on a scholarship. >> at first i was afraid to associate with others because i didn't have what they had. i didn't have like books, there were a few, and now, i can say that i have friends, good friends, and i am not afraid. i was afraid maybe they would laugh at me, that i don't have the necessities for migration. >> that is so beautiful. we will put up the website again, lawrence. $35 million raised over ten

years. 310,000 desks to benefit more than 1 million kids in malawi. go back to the beginning. how did you come up with this and get involved? >> a friend of mine in boston runs a school there in malawi, and her niece was a doctor there and she was going to visit her niece, and she went around to schools and said what do you need? they said chairs. they wanted kids to get off the floor, and they didn't say desks for them to have something to write on, and they were just saying chairs, and i thought, can't we do something about that? turns out it's difficult. getting them manufactured in malawi who is making them, and there was one man that was making a desk that you see

there, hoping the ministry of education would want to try and put desks in schools on a larger level. i asked him, can you make me 30 of those this week and we can deliver them to the school down the street? he said, sure, i can do it in 48 hours. i said, how are you going to do that? he said i will walk out on the street and i will find carpenters and welders and they are all trained and unemployed, and i will have these for you in 48 hours. >> brilliant. >> friday morning we did it, and now it's, you know, a million desks later. >> my gosh. if you would like to donate to the k.i.n.d. initiative, you can do so at lastworddesks.msnbc.com. lawrence o'donnell, what a wonderful journey for you. thank you very much. >> did i -- did this audition

work? >> you were grumpy. you came in complaining. right off the bat, had not seen you in three years and, boom. >> nothing has changed. >> yeah, i love it. we will see you soon. >> poor lawrence, you will see him on "the last word" tonight at 10:00 eastern on msnbc. >> you should have a little nap. still ahead on "morning joe," we are looking at the potential fallout for the new tax crime convictions for the trump organization. and we have the behind the scenes abby road studios director joins us, mary mccartney. and then we are joined by others to look at the defining

moment in american history. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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a jury has found the trump organization guilty on all charges in a 15-year tax fraud scheme that prosecutors say was orchestrated by talk executives at the company. jurors deliberated for two days after finding the organization guilty on 17 counts including scheme to defraud, criminal tax fraud and conspiracy and falsifying tax records. former president donald trump was not indicted in the case. he released a statement promising to appeal stating that any tax fraud was weisselberg's

doing and had nothing to do with the organization. the company faces $1.6 million in fines. sentencing is set for january 13th. joining us now, a federal criminal defense attorney, and former u.s. attorney, barbara mcquade, and she's an msnbc legal analysts. barbara, first of all, the fine is not a big deal. does this have larger implications? >> absolutely. you're right, $1.6 million for an organization like the trump organization is probably something that is not going to break the bank, but it has a couple other implications. it does expose with a felony conviction with the organization, and it exposes it to a recall of loans, and when there's a criminal matter involved in a case, they have recall loans and there is that implication. and donald trump was not a defendant or convicted, there

was evidence in the case that he directly paid some of these benefits and approved others. when the trump organization is such a small business, it has his name on it, it really is very much the alter ego of donald trump. i think the accountability here is an important step that brings to light the fact that donald trump's statement that he could shoot somebody on fifth avenue is not the case. he's not teflon and can't get away with anything. >> he avoids consequence here again, and i wonder how that is possible? i am confused. does weisselberg still work for the trump organization? >> it's a canary in the coal mine type of thing, and those close to the family received benefits, and i think alvin

bragg is going back to his office. he said last night on "the beat" that this is the first chapter. he is not able to speak to other ongoing investigations, and i think he has his eyes set on the individual. he got a lot of flack earlier this year when two of his prosecutors resigned from the office because he intimated he wanted to move forward with criminal indictments against donald trump in his individual capacity, and they resigned when it did not look like he had the appetite to do so and it won't die and they are taking another look at the stormy daniels hush money payments. it sounded like brag is open to the possibility of moving forward with more criminal indictments against trump himself potentially. >> the defense was allen weisselberg was acting alone, and he was a lone wolf and he

got apartments and all this other stuff, and many have said this is what companies do, give perks to executives. does this go beyond weisselberg? >> it does. and he walked a fine line even though he was a state witness. right, he testified for the prosecution. he basically said that this was an insulated, you know, scheme, of his own. now trump organization pushed back on that saying how could that possibly be true, and prosecutors in their closing arguments actually said that trump did sanction some of this conduct. and bragg said last night sanctioning that is different,

and it poor tends perhaps their look into the future. >> and in terms of the d.a.'s office and its aggressiveness or not when you think about how trump's businesses has been prosecuted in different offices across the country? >> this is a big deal in that it's a criminal case, heretofore we have only seen civil implications for trump, right, and this will put new wind in others' sails, and that's where it could really hit where it hurts. >> federal criminal defense attorney and former u.s. attorney, and msnbc legal analysts, thank you both for coming on this morning. we appreciate it.

coming up, we are looking back on a date which will live in infamy. presidential historian, jon meacham will join us to mark the 81st anniversary of the attack on pearl harbor that launched the united states into world war ii. plus, the latest on the current war in eastern europe after a second day of ukrainian attacks inside russia. "morning joe" will be right back. 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. ♪

december 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy. united states of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by navel and air forces by the empire of japan.

i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked attack by japan on sunday, december 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the united states and the japanese empire. >> president franklin roosevelt making the address on japan's attack on pearl harbor 81 years ago today. and joining us, our analysts. good morning to you both, gentlemen. as i watched that speech, december 7th, 1941, of course,

was one of the highest on that list, and i am reminded of the book where winston churchill sent love letters roosevelt, but on this day, december 7th, everything changed. >> it did. that night, churchill heard the news on the bbc. he was at a birthday dinner at checkers and wanted to immediately declare war on japan. and it was the american envoy that said you can't declare war on a radio broadcast. there was a phone call that night between roosevelt and churchill, and he said, is it true, mr. president? he said, it's true, and we are all in the same boat now. you can argue, in fact, we had been in the same boat since the 1st of september in '39 when

hitler invaded poland, but the isolation of america was so strong and ambient, you could feel it. even after the great secret conference where they have the atlantic charter and there's a democratic, lower case "d" principles, and be then there's a draft that passed by a single vote in congress, and that's how divided we were. and then four days later, hitler making the world historic mistake of declaring war on the united states, that really brought us fully into this bloody of centuries, and then it was the america that became a superpower and a hyperpower, and

the admiral knows more about this than i know, and i want to say, i have not used the word gastardly -- >> yeah, we could probably use it today. >> as a man that commanded ships and a man that was a sailor himself and our own analysts, your thoughts of these images, first of all, and then the significance of what happened that day? >> two things that stand out, you look at the remarkable photographers and some of the footage, and you are seeing a lot of the pictures of "uss arizona," a quiet sunday morning and most sailors are at home with families and off the ship, many of them. but many of the young ones are on that ship and the one you are seeing there mostly is "arizona," and she was hit and

lost 1,100 from that single ship. and today "arizona" is the memorial itself, and she tipped over and tipped over and then we mentioned resolve. in today's world, you would have to look at somebody like zelenskyy, and you say he's channeling churchill in facing those dastardly attacks. the drone strikes ignited a system of fuel tanks, and this

races questions about russia's defense air capabilities, and in another instance yesterday, an industrial plant roughly 50 miles from the ukrainian border was hit with drones but no fuel lines or gas sources were hit. admiral, what is happening here? is there a dynamic shift? let's talk more about volodymyr zelenskyy in light of the historic day that we are marking. >> these strikes are, in fact, quite significant in two ways. one symbolically. here the ukrainians quite clearly reaching out and touching russian long-range air, which has been pummeling the people of ukraine, going after the electric grid, the water plants and clear war crimes. the ukrainians are striking out. that's symbolic. secondly to the point you made in the read up, these show that

air defenses are quite vulnerable. that's significant. and final thought, go back to world war ii, right after pearl harbor the united states mounted an attack on tokyo. jimmy dolittle's raid showed the japanese they were not invulnerable in their capital city. >> thank you. the latest book is titled "and there was light: abraham lincoln and the american struggle." thank you to you both. coming up, "time's" person of the year. that big reveal is just ahead on "morning joe." psoriasis really messes with you. try. hope. fail. no one should suffer like that. i started cosentyx®. five years clear.

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the past, but it's certainly a studio of the future. maybe it's just because i am old school and because i love what abby road represents in my life, i want to share that because people taught me music by sharing with me what other music had meant in their life. >> and you are? >> elise. >> that's how you pronounce it? >> yes. >> so many massive rock 'n' roll records were made here. people don't believe that it was just done by accident. ♪ >> they think there's some magical thing in abby road. the truth of the matter is i feel like that magical thing exists in the artists, but artists are superstitious, and

abby road, in a strange way, as soon as we walk in, a lot of that bonding that needs to take place between artists and producer happens almost instantly. >> that is a scene from the new documentary entitled "if these walls could sing," premiering next friday on disney plus. it has the storied history of the world's most famous recording studio, abby road. joining us now, somebody with a very personal connection to abby road, the film's director, mary mccartney. great to see you in person. >> good morning. >> good morning. good morning. "if these walls could sing," what is the answer to that question? nobody knows. abby road has been part of your life for as long as you can remember, so you have such special insight? >> exactly. when i was approached to direct the documentary, i messaged

my -- the woman that -- i needed pictures, and i was given a picture of me on the floor as a baby in the studio, and so i did it. >> the photo was the inspiration? >> that, and the other inspiration was a picture i had seen of my mom leading a pony called jet across the crossing, which i had seen light-years before, so i said i needed to do it. i did not know any of the history, that it was 90 years old. >> what is the experience? if the walls could sing, what is the answer to the question? >> it's an amazing special place. it really is busy still to this day. what was quite funny, when i was

filming the interviews it was hard to get space for the filming because it's so busy, and so the answer is, yes, it's a magical place and it has a spiritual artistic part of it, and people go to this upper crossing and it's like a pilgrimages and it means so much to be there, and i think you have a feeling you have been inside and you get the atmosphere and you understand why it means so much. >> when mary says zebra, she is referring to zebras -- >> i think i learned the muppeto say -- and then i said z and my dad would say it's zed. >> and if anybody is confused, paul mccartney. >> yes. >> in case anybody is confused

about that. it's an amazing -- the movie is great in a bunch of ways. 90 years. i think most of people think of abbey road started with the beatles, but you go back to 1931 and talk about that this studio has been arguably the best studio in the world for almost a century, which is sort of mind blowing. >> yeah. i really learned it's the people that work there, the technicians, the producers, and it's got a real family atmosphere. and what i learned was that they really do look after the artists, that they facilitate whatever they need. they don't give you a hard time, they're not a buzz kill. it's like we're here, we're going to make the best music we can. andth the same today. studio 1 and studio 2 are the same and they haven't messed with it so you still get that experience. >> you go through this and you get to see jimmy page when he was a session musician and elton john when he was first getting paid to play the piano for people. but your dad and the beatles run

through the heart of it. and i guess i'm curious about watching the various beats of it, the creation of sergeant pepper, your dad tapping his foot when he plays blackbird and how that got picked up by the mics in the studio. were there things that you learned that did not know? what did you learn for the first time? >> well, i learned things luke the thing about abbey road is they have a lot of things lying around, so the pianos on lady madonna is called mrs. mills piano. there's a woman called mrs. mills who used to do her albums there so they were like doing it. a lot of things that were just hanging around at abbey road worked their way onto some of the beatles tracks, which i didn't know any of that. >> we have another scene from the documentary where you actually talk about why abbey

road, the studio, holds such a special place in your heart. >> my name is mary. abbey road studios has been part of my life for as long as i can remember. every time i walk through these corridors, it feels magical. i don't remember the first time i came here. this is me in studio 2, a photograph taken by my mom, who was a photographer, and was in a band with my dad. i want to tell the story of some of the iconic recordings made here over the last nine decades, from classical to pop to film scores. >> one of the reasons i wanted to do this documentary is i remember seeing a picture of mom

leading jack across this. do you remember that? >> yeah. absolutely, yeah. what happened was we lived close by, as you know, and we had this little pony called jet. >> oh, beautiful. >> just spectacular footage, adorable photo of you as a baby. let me ask you a little bit about that moment there with your father. what was that like talking to him about a place that was so important to you, not just to the music world but to your family? >> it's a little nerve racking in a way in that the interviews in the documentary, all of them including dad's, are really important because there's not a lot of archive. you know, it's not etiquette to take pictures and film in a recording session. you kind of don't do that so i was like what footage am i going to use. so the interviews were really important. so i just made it as relaxed and as nice a situation. i interviewed dad in studio 2,

which is the famous studio they were in. i put a few instruments around so he could play and i just made it as relaxed. but i have been talking to him about it because he loves the studio so much. everyone i interviewed, like elton john, he wanted to be in it because he wanted to tell his recollections of the place. so yeah, he was very giving. i think it's a very relaxed interview with him. >> it's very -- >> he was keen to sort of tell me and the viewer about it. >> everybody is very -- all the -- you can tell they very much want to be there. there's not a lot of pulling of teeth and people are very free with their recollections with you. >> yeah. >> about what their fondest memories of what happened in the studios. >> i used a lot of my techniques, my bag of tricks of being a portrait photographer of knowing probably what you guys, you need to make sure that the person in the seat is happy and looked after, so nicely lit. i tried to make it so you'd feel relaxed when you sit down.

>> it's also a beautiful interaction between father and daughter, which i've interviewed my dad and it didn't go as well actually. it didn't. >> i've done it before and it hasn't gone as well. i was like please, let it -- >> he showed up for you. >> it's daunting to interview. elise jordan, i can't even talk thinking about it. >> i want to go back and watch it. >> yeah, do that tomorrow. >> it is, it's nerve racking in the sense that he's been photographed and filmed by all of the most major photographers and directors in the world. >> someone like elton john too -- >> yeah. >> and you said he was revealing. what did you learn from sitting down with him? >> well, i wanted to show in the documentary session musicians and going through the session we found that jimmy page and elton john, reginald dwight as he was then, were session musicians. and so yes. we actually managed to get the

tapes. you can isolate his -- you know that song "he ain't heavy," basically we can isolate his piano in it and you can totally tell that it's elton john playing. it's his style. and it was like early '60. but he was very keen. he also has a funny story. it came out as i talked to more people. we were there and your dad came into the studio. i was like how many times did he gate crash on people? he came in apparently and elton john was like do you want to hear our new song and played "let it be" on the piano. >> mika, the other thing is that her dad came back to abbey road with her mom and they recorded there also and that's another thing that's lovely. your mom -- your missing mother is a presence throughout as the emotional thing of the movie. i think it feels like she's in a lot of the footage, a lot of the photographs. >> chills. >> she's a lot of inspiration

behind it. >> "if these walls could sing" premieres next week on disney plus. and your cooking show mary mccarthy serves it up has returned for a third season. >> she does it all. mary mccartney. >> it's healthy and i like it. >> yes. it's satisfying. i love shortcuts too. >> me too! >> shortcuts, easy. >> well, thank you so much for coming on. it's so nice to see you. and still ahead on "morning joe" we'll get a live report from georgia following senator raphael warnock's re-election win. plus, we're breaking down the big legal stories, including the guilty verdict in new york for the trump organization as well as potential criminal referrals coming from the january 6th select committee. also ahead, comedian mike birbiglia will be here with a look at his new broadway show. "morning joe" will be right back. ning joe" will be right back but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine

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