potential recession, how much money are people going to spend on electric vehicles, what happens to his customer base, so it's facing challenges that are both external and elon musk specific. >> yeah, not a great holiday for musk coming up. >> well, we'll see. business and policy reporter for the "new york times" lauren hirsch, thank you so much for joining us. and thank you for getting up "way too early" with us. "morning joe" starts right now. they threw everything against us, the battle of the bulge, through everything, they had the free world just like the brave american soldiers which held their lines and fought back hitler's forces during the christmas of 1944. brave ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to putin's forces this christmas.

[ applause ] ukraine holds its lines and will never surrender. [ applause ]. >> a remarkable speech. a remarkable occasion. ukrainian president zelenskyy addressing an extraordinary joint session of congress, pressing republicans and democrats alike for continued support as republicans prepare to take control of the house. we're going to have much more on this address from the capitol and from zelenskyy's meeting with president biden. plus, a major winter storm set to impact just about every corner of america. millions bracing for heavy snow and freezing temperatures, and it's set to arrive at the peak period for holiday travel.

good morning, and welcome to "morning joe." it's december 22nd. with us, we have former aide to george w. bush white house and state department's elise jordan. president of the council on foreign relations, richard haass, and u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay, and staff writer at the atlantic, david frum. mika and willie have the morning off. katty, obviously as you know i'm a bit of an anglafile, and i've grown up listening to speeches of churchill in the darkest days of 1940, going into the winter of '41, i think we have all read the history of that, the history of this relationship between churchill and roosevelt, churchill coming to the white house understanding that the new world needed to step in and save the old world in his words and i'm just wondering, with parents and grandparents and an entire

generation that shaped your life having this as the defining moment, world war ii, victory in world war ii, a war in europe against a foreign tyrant. what were your thoughts last night, the parallels that you were drawing in your mind when president zelenskyy was addressing a joint session of congress. >> and of course even the timing that president zelenskyy himself referred to the fact that he was coming here just a couple of days before christmas. churchill came here to make a similar plea to the americans just the day after christmas. zelenskyy's english is not his native language. he was speaking ukrainian, but, i mean, you know, as a ukrainian speaking a foreign language, and yet that didn't diminish the power of what he said. and he was very conscious of that. he was conscious this was a historic moment. he referred to historical figures as he was making that plea of a european leader come to go america amid tight security to ask the great

american power for help to defend his country from an oppressor. it felt so similar to churchill coming to america. the difference, perhaps, was that churchill drank an awful lot before the speech because he was nervous. zelenskyy, if he was nervous, didn't give very much sign of it, and i doubt very much he had been sloging back the whiskey as churchill. but he entered the house chamber to thunderous applause, shaking hands with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. here is some of that historic address. >> against all odds and doom and gloom, ukraine didn't fall. ukraine is alive and kicking. [ applause ] thank you for both financial packages you have already provided us with and the ones you may be willing to decide on. your money is not charity.

it's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. if russian missiles attack us, we'll do our best to protect ourselves. if they attack us with iranian drones and our people will have took to bomb shelters on christmas eve, ukrainians will still sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other, and we don't have to know everyone's wish as we know that all of us, millions of ukrainians, wish the same. victory, only victory. [ applause ]. standing here today, i recall the wars of the president franklin delano roosevelt. which is, i think, so good for this moment.

the american people, their might, willed them through absolute victory. the ukrainian people will win that, absolutely. [ applause ]. >> there you see republicans and democrats alike giving president zelenskyy a standing ovation. richard haass, i'd love to get your insights on the speech, what it means. also, something that we've talked about an awful lot, something that you've said, one of the great challenges for america doesn't come from overseas, but right here at home. republicans and democrats needing to work together at foreign policy, at politics ending at water's edge. and i look at last night as a positive sign for america, for washington, you look at the bipartisan legislation passed over the last two years. you look at the negotiations and

the legislation that may be going through in a bipartisan manner. coming up, it actually shows a washington that is working. >> there was considerable bipartisanship, depending on the spending bill, which includes considerable funds to ukraine being part of it. just a 10 second aside, a reform of the 1877 electoral account account, which doesn't get a lot of attention, but might be the single most important thing congress does in the run up to the 2024 election. president search made a real appeal to explain why this was in america's interest. i thought the line that money he spend was not charity but investment. and essentially in our own extended self-interest was exactly right. might have been the most important line of the speech. an educational line, and i think that was a big part of his purpose was to shore up support, obviously worried about what a republican house might do. worried about the left side of

the democratic party. part of his message was to appeal to congress, both sides, to the american people, but also put pressure on the administration, when he basically said about tanks, about missiles, about airplanes we can learn to use these. we can use these responsibly, and part of the backdrop to this visit was continuing friction, if you want to call it that, or some disagreement about how aggressively to prosecute this war. the ukrainians want to prosecute it aggressively, quote unquote to win. the americans are clear the united states has given them enough support, some unease about being too aggressive, concern about how the russians might react about the possibility of escalation, and also some friction or, again, not exactly on the same page about what the definition of victory is. mr. zelenskyy obviously talking about getting back all of their territory for some people in the administration again or for outsiders, say henry kissinger who wrote a peace the other day that puts russia in a corner,

and again, could risk escalation. i thought it was a positive speech. hard not to be emotional watching that. i think we shouldn't kid ourselves, there's big unresolved issues in the backdrop. >> richard, i think you make an important point, talking about the unresolved issues. president search really couldn't have done a more incredible job of the emotive part of the argument and what the stakes are for the ukrainian people, and my question is did he answer the question why this is in the interest of the american people successfully. and did he make that case successfully enough to congress that this new billions of spending that is going to be used responsibly, and i guess i go to david with that. did he successfully make that case to the american people that our continued aid is in the american national interest? >> president zelenskyy came to

say thank you, and maybe he knows and maybe he doesn't that one of the talking points of the maga right, the anti-ukraine faction in american politics has been to criticize him as ungrateful, maybe even a little uppity and to seize on details like his clothing to say he's not grateful enough. so he expressed gratitude over and over again. i don't know about others. as he did that, i felt a pang of something like shame that the united states has given generously of money. it's given generously of equipment, but in the end, these are only things. zelenskyy's people are giving their lives. they are suffering without heat and light to defend their country. democracy, an american partner. and i think at some point we need to say thank you to them. i mean, they're shedding blood, their sons, their daughters, they're giving everything. i hope there is a little, like, you know, the seasonal stories

we tell this time of year. he touched something in the american heart when he said thank you, maybe one too many times. >> yeah, you know, the thing is, though, it's so interesting i had referenced churchill, and by the way, yes, to be very clear, churchill did drink before delivering that speech, but in his defense, he drank after the speech as well, and way into the morning. he drank in the bathtub, he drank all the time, but i've mentioned it before on this show, and i'll say this with absolutely no reticence i say this, during the darkest moments of 2017 and 2018 when i thought our backs were against the wall and asked whether this democracy would survive, i would listen to churchill at night as i was going to bed, and i would listen to his speeches and i sat there

thinking, but there's just such an immediacy there, and i can't imagine what it must have been like. well, you can imagine it now because zelenskyy actually, and zelenskyy's wife, and zelenskyy's family and the ukrainian people are actually in just as harrowing a position if not more, and the bravery from that very first night when they went out in the streets of ukraine and they took that video and put it up on instagram, it's been nothing short of extraordinary, and we would hope looking at their courage, that it would reflect back on us as a people too and remind us of all the things that we have done as a people together through the years, whether it was fighting the nazis, fighting the communists, and this is something that david touched on in his latest piece. zelenskyy recalled us to

ourselves, and this is what david wrote. maybe our ideals were not so out of date. maybe our institutions were not so broken. maybe the people the ukrainians needed to be, maybe those were the people we could be again. what the western world is getting in return for its aid to a powerful recommitment to be its own best self. we didn't believe the ukrainians could do it, in part because we didn't believe we could do it, but they did, and so did we. and we now look at both ukraine and ourselves in new ways. the extremists and conspiracy theorist, the populists, the authoritarians, the kleptocrats, the theocrats who have gained ascendancy in recent years, they do not see us, and sometimes

americans forget that. richard, i have spent my adult life, david, let me go to you first, and then richard, david, i have spent my adult life. i met you as a young man when i first got to washington. i met you one of the first days i got to washington, almost 30 years ago, and we had a talk. since that time, i have spent my adult life telling americans it's going to be okay. madisonian democracy will see us through. our court system will see us through. our military will see us through. how many people told me donald trump would never leave the white house, and i had to say you just don't know the men and women of the united states military. and you don't know people in the secret service. bad apples, you don't understand the essence of america, and let me expand that out. you don't understand the essence

of western civilization. yes, i just said it. western civilization. like all civilizations, terrible sense in our background that we should confront every day to become a better people, but let's remember we, just we as a nation, we americans have fed and freed more people than any country in the history of this planet, and we have done it with our most steadfast allies. and britain and france, across the west. and you are right, that's something that we forget too easily in these days of podcasts and cable news shows and screeching editorials and screeching social media posts. we still, we still are resolved to spread freedom across the globe. and to help our brothers and

sisters in ukraine. >> well, it was touch and go for some minutes, and one of the symbolic significances of president zelenskyy is he's a man who has defied not only putin, but also donald trump. that if it was up to donald trump, he would have squeezed zelenskyy, broken him and used him to corrupt the american political system, that's what the first donald trump impeachment system was about. it was about trump's attack on zelenskyy, and i think a big part of the rage that the pro trump forces and the remains of the trump family expressed toward zelenskyy on social media everywhere they can is their awareness he stood up to trump, and he foiled trump's scheme. the whole hunter biden, that's the epilogue to the big play, which was to break zelenskyy and use him as a weapon in american politics. and zelenskyy refused. he defied trump, and that was our first indication of the measure of search's courage and leadership. he would not go along with one

bully, and turn around and he led his nation to fight an even more dangerous, more heavily armed, more aggressive bully in vult. >> vladimir putin. >> we may have dodged a bullet domestically. i think there's been some salutary international consequences, and joe, you were getting at it. one is a reminder that there still is a west. second of all that american leadership still counts. not leading from behind. we have led from ahead here. europe would not have done much of what it did without the united states, which chose the value of american leadership, which chose the centrality of alliances. a lot of the things, the policies that led to the cold war ending on terms that were so supportive of our interests and values were seeing something of a revival of those things, and i think that's important. and it makes the case, again, across the political spectrum that the united states has to stay involved. it gets back to the zelenskyy's line.

not as a favor to others, but the best way to protect ourselves at home. that's the lesson that has to be repeated again and again and again. >> and katty, how fascinating that in the age of autocrats, the rise of autocrats, i remember the foreign affairs cover that talked about the age of autocracy. and there was a rise in autocracy over the past five years or so, but how fascinating that americans, the british people, the french, of course the polls, and those are the baltic states. regardless of what was going on internally, there was almost an immediate return to first principles. wait a second, this is who we are. we push back against aggression, against a country that is trying to break out and move toward the west, and move towards democracy. >> yeah, i mean, i think the big question and the reason

zelenskyy came when he did is how long that unity of commitment lasts, not just in words, but in terms of military supplies, obviously there's been fewer military supplies from europe than there has from the united states, and with a change of congress coming in now after the new year, zelenskyy is aware that america may not be as generous and the new congress may not be as generous as the previous one has been. he needs to try and rally those forces. at the same time, you know, we can't be polly annaish about this. last night was a moment of celebration and triumph and applause for zelenskyy who has been a remarkable leader. he goes back to a country who's well aware that russian troops are amassing on the belarus border and there could be a new incursion towards kyiv in the new year. his people will be going to bed tonight without any heat. it's freezing cold. think of the cold storm in america right now, and imagine those people without heat and light. that's the kind of conditions ukrainians are living in, and back in russia, vladimir putin

has a reasonably strong economy. it hasn't collapsed. the sanctions have not destroyed the russian economy yet. he still has access to markets for his oil. he is still managing to resupply his armed forces even though he is heavily sanctioned with things like supply chips. those don't seem to have had the kind of impact that the west thought they would have. i mean, the expectation would be that the russian economy would be on its knees by now, and it isn't. so yesterday was a triumph in terms of the relationship and a very important moment, a historic moment in u.s., european relations but let's not underestimate the kind of challenge, and i don't think zelenskyy would want us to for a moment underestimate the kind of challenges he's flying back to. >> great challenges ahead obviously for the ukrainians, and there will be challenges in the united states' relationship with the ukrainians as we move

through the winter into the spring, and perhaps talk of a negotiated peace comes to the fore front. there's going to be a challenge to see whether all of our interests align perfectly. i suspect they won't, so much more ahead here. and we have much more ahead from ukrainian president zelenskyy's visit to washington including a stop at the white house. plus, new remarks from russian president vladimir putin who admits the situation in occupied ukraine is complicated. but he says the war will go on. first, let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the major winter storm that's going to impact millions of holiday travelers. angie, it's rough out there. tell us about it. >> rough to say the least, joe, it's going to be a bitter cold couple of days. a busy couple of days when it comes to snow and rain. windchill alerts are up for almost all of the country.

millions will be impacted by this. when we look at how cold in places like pier, minus 47 windchill. denver had a temperature drop of 67 degrees in 24 hours. incredible cold working in. this is going to spread east to the northeast, new york coming in at just 0 degrees for your windchill on saturday. minus 1 for atlanta and places like orlando, maybe you were heading south, getting away for the cold for the holiday weekend, no you aren't, it's a single digit kind of day, with all 50 states going to feel below freezing for the next couple of days. blizzard conditions expected in places like michigan. we'll see snowfall in chicago which will impact travel, beware if you're traveling to any major hubs in the midwest. also the rain could potentially cause flooding around the i-95 corridor, again, not great for travel. and those winds, they will be impressive.

63 miles per hour winds in buffalo. this is going to make travel a nightmare for folks. not to mention that rush of cold air that's expected for the northeast. that's going to cause problems, joe, when it comes to flash freezing on the road. it's not just the air travel that will be impacted but also those roadways with black ice. >> and boy, like you said, the temperatures just dropping, the numbers out of denver, incredible. they're going to be rough in the northeast as well. angie lassman, do we say thank you? yes, we say thank you for warning us of just terrible weather. we greatly appreciate it. and still ahead, we're going to dig into the new transcripts released by the house select committee investigating january 6th, which includes one witness after another pleading the fifth hundreds of sometimes. i thought as donald trump said, only the mob pled the fifth. what's he saying about his own people? you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. u're watchi" we'll be right back.

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and stay on top of the market. hey, mika, joe, willie, look at this, happy anniversary to you and the gang. you got a bit of a gang there. you know, you're lucky. i don't have a gang. i'm not that fortunate to have a gang. i wish i had a gang. anyway, happy anniversary. and, you know, every conversation i have when i bring up anything political, i take it from your show. and i don't attribute it to any of you, but you're making me seem a lot smarter than i am, so thank you. >> thank you, larry.

we paresthesia that. larry told me, he says, this is a terrible idea. don't do this show, it won't last 15 minutes. anyway, thank you, larry. the full report from the january 6th committee is expected to be released today. it was supposed to come out yesterday, but the panel pushed it back yesterday with some low -- logistical problems from printing report. others didn't want to take attention away from president zelenskyy. and a batch of 34 witnesses who repeatedly took the fifth. here are some of the notable names on the list. john eastman, i hope he got a good lawyer. the trump lawyer the committee has called the master mind behind the fake electors plot. and he cited his fifth amendment right 155 times. trump adviser roger stone responded the fifth to more than

70 questions, and white nationalist, nick fuentes, normer national security adviser michael flynn, conspiracy theorist, alex jones. and the oath keepers, the proud boys, but both used the fifth amendment. all of these people used the fifth. donald trump, what do you think about using the fifth? >> taking the fifth, i think it's disgraceful. >> what happened? he pleaded the fifth, right. ? he pleaded the fifth. >> fifth amendment. fifth amendment, fifth amendment, fifth amendment, horrible. horrible. >> the mob takes the fifth. if you're innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment? >> well, and that's of course a question, katty, that he can ask everybody around him that worked with him to overthrow a peaceful election, a fair election, an

open american election. only the mob takes the fifth, katty, is what donald trump says. >> only the mob. you know with donald trump, there's always either a tweet or thankfully a piece of video that directly conflicts what he's saying in the present. we have found that over the past six years. mike pence continues to come to the defense of donald trump despite the former president reportedly saying quote, pence deserved to be hanged on january 6th. the former vice president spoke out against charging trump with crimes relating to the capitol attack. instead, pence suggested it was trump's lawyers who were responsible for efforts to overturn the 2020 election, not the former president himself. during the house january 6th hearings, we heard from one of those lawyers who made it clear that he opposed plans to challenge the election results. here is what pence had to say this week and what we previously heard from white house lawyer

eric herschmann. >> i would hope that they would not bring charges against the former president. look, as i wrote in my book, i think the president's actions and words on january 6th were reckless. but i don't know that it's criminal to take bad advice from lawyers. >> he started to ask me about something dealing with georgia and preserving something potentially for appeal. and i said to him, are you out of your effing mind. i said i only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on. orderly transition. i said i don't want to hear any other effing words coming out of your mouth no matter what other than orderly transition. repeat those words to me. >> what did he say. >> eventually he said orderly

transition, i said good, john, now i'm going to give you the best free legal advice you're ever getting in your life. get a great effing criminal defense lawyer, you're going to need it. >> and of course he does need it now, and they all need it, and they're all pleading the fifth. as donald trump would say, like the mob, because of course, donald trump doesn't understand the constitution. and the protections that the constitution and the amendments give us. it's interesting, you know, i think one of the most fascinating moments here is when pat cipollone, the president's attorney was asked, did anybody in the white house, any lawyers, any staff members, did anybody agree with what was going on at the capitol or with donald trump trying to overthrow an election? and pat cipollone said, no, not one. and yet here we have mike pence trying to blame the lawyers.

we just saw the lawyers right there. we heard the lawyers all against this horrible plan. all desperate to get donald trump to call the insurrectionists and the mobsters off when mike pence's life was in danger. and all despaired when he refused to do it. all of them. every single one. and yet david frum, you and i have known mike pence for a long time. so discouraged for such a long part of donald trump's administration, how he just, he shamed himself. he humiliated himself, and on january the 6th, i was so proud of him. standing up for american democracy. i was like, okay, all is well that ends well. and now we have him back in the old role of really humiliating himself and lying for donald

trump. >> yeah, he might as well speak his mind instead of, as you say, he did the right thing at the moment that it counted and honor to that, but since then it's been like he's writing op-eds for op-eds, the case for hanging mike pence by mike pence. let's also keep an eye on who those lawyers really are, pat cipollone who said no one defended what happened on january 6th, pat cipollone led president trump's defense in the first impeachment trial when trump was being charged for trying in advance to pervert the election, and if he had succeeded in that scheme, he wouldn't have needed to use violence, trying to pervert the election by blackmailing, extorting ukraine and president zelenskyy in order to corrupt the american election of 2020 in advance. that was okay. that was not an impeachable offense. if the impeachment before the election had put michael pence into the role of an incumbent president in 2020, none of this would have happened, we would

have had a fair election, a peaceful transition no matter whether mike pence won reelection as he should have done or whether joe biden defeated him. >> we have two reactions listening to all of this. on pence, he actually has to make a decision, and he failed. he should be running as the anti-trump candidate, he can't bring himself to do that. he's caught in between. it's bad on every level from the legality to the politics. the other is that there's got to be some irony here. all of these people citing the fifth amendment to the constitution in order to defend their ability or protect themselves from the consequences of everything they did to undermine the constitution. maybe that's what makes it so great that we even allow it to provide protections for those who would destroy it but that's what we're seeing here. >> no, i mean, to what you're saying, richard, the politics of the moment, pence just seems to be stuck in the past, and every candidate at some point has to get over their presidential ambitions. you look at what mitt romney did

and ran for the senate, and is going to be remembered well in history as standing up against trump. you look at what liz cheney did, standing up to donald trump, and giving up her political future in the republican party. joe, why can mike pence not move on from his presidential ambitions or do you think it's something else? >> well, it just comes down to the fact that he doesn't understand. i said it yesterday, it's like a political version of the sixth sense. he doesn't know politically that he's dead. he's not going to win anything. he's never going to be elected to office again. donald trump will make sure of that. there are enough trumpists in the base. they'll never forgive him for that. if you're not going to get elected because you did the right thing. do what liz cheney did. other than anthony fauci, i say that and i know it triggers the snowflakes on the trump right. snowflakes, please, lock

yourself in a freezer so you don't melt. anthony fauci, the most popular man in america when it comes to public service. number two, please, snowflakes, don't get triggered. liz cheney. because liz made a decision. she knew she could do the right thing or get reelected. liz lived politically to fight another day. that's a decision mike pence needs to make right now. we don't know what the political landscape is going to look like in two years, five years, ten years. mike pence could have a future there. he's trying to get elected in donald trump's republican party. it's never going to happen. as old texas politicians say, there's nothing in the middle of text but kwhit white lines and

armadillos. there's not a path for mike pence. he needs to do the right thing, and that, elise, is what he's trying to do right now, and he's going to fail. on that happy news, not happy because, i mean, i like mike. i wish he would keep doing the right thing, but david frum, he doesn't seem to understand he's not going to be president in donald trump's party. so, again, why not keep doing the right thing like he did before and during january 6th. >> yeah, well, if you won't believe in your own accomplishments, and that's, i guess, maybe the theme of this show. if you can't believe in yourself, who else will believe in you. he did the right thing on january 6th, and he should believe in that. that is his message, his legacy. that's the most important thing he did in his whole political career. if he can't take ownership of that. what is the point of him. if your best moment is not

defining you, what are you going to be defined by? >> i don't want to be too mellow dramatic. we started by talking about winston churchill, the famous saying, when he's right, he's right, when he's wrong, my god. there are many my god moments throughout winston churchill's career, but he got 1940 right, and he saved western civilization from naziism until the new world could come to the aid of the old, as he would say. mike pence got january 6th right. he needs to make that his legacy. david frum, thank you so much for being with us, and coming up, the spending bill to fund the government installed in the senate. we're going to tell you what's holding it up and how senators are feeling about getting it passed. elon musk is defending his massive cost cutting measures at twitter, comparing the social

media sight to a plane that's about to crash. that's going to make investors feel better. a former billionaire is back in the u.s. this morning. how long will he be behind bars. we're going to have the latest on that case and much more on "morning joe." "morning joe." hey, it's ken, there are so few moments left in the country right now that we feel like we are part of something together. for 15 years, "morning joe" has been a meeting place for so many of us who care about politics. it's place where smart conversations take place. it's a place where america matters good or bad. and where we are connected by shared values, even when we may disagree on certain issues. i'm so very very grateful for that. thank you, joe, mika, willie,

mike, and the whole "morning joe" team. congrats on this accomplishment. g joe" team. congrats on this accomplishment.

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6:45 in the morning. elon musk is defending his massive cost cuts at twitter as necessary for the social media giant's survival, saying in a call tuesday, quote. this company is like basically you're in a plane that is headed towards the ground at high speed with the engines on fire and the controls don't work. the twitter ceo placed partial blame for the company's financial status on the roughly $12 billion worth of debt payments tied to his overall $44 billion purchase of the company. the multibillionaire also blamed the recent interest rate hikes by the federal reserve. musk said without a strong paid subscription service, twitter may be operating with a

$3 billion negative cash flow next year. this revelation comes as musk announced he will resign as ceo as soon as he can find a replacement. however, he says he will stay with the company to oversee twitter's software and service teams, a position that still holds significant power. meanwhile, not a great day for sam bankman-fried, the former crypto mogul accused of one of the largest financial frauds in history is back in u.s. custody this morning. the 30-year-old was extradited from the bahamas and flown to new york last night accompanied by a federal law enforcement officials. bankman-fried could make an initial appearance in federal court as soon as today. the big question is whether he'll be granted bail. his lawyers have reportedly discussed an agreement that would allow him to be released pending trial. he faces charges including wire fraud and none laundering stemming from the dramatic collapse of his massive cryptocurrency exchange, ftx. and coming up, more from

ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy's historic visit to washington, d.c. and its potential impact on future u.s. aid for his nation's war effort. but will anything zelenskyy said yesterday actually matter to the incoming house majority. the chair of the foreign relations committee, congressman greg meeks will weigh in on that. and yankees slugger aaron judge is getting more than a massive contract this off season. we'll tell you about the exclusive group he just joined. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ed u'yore watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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make sure if you're traveling, you get on the road early enough. as mika likes to say, pack your patience. the new york yankees have named aaron judge as the new captain of their team. in a conference yesterday, the slugger's new nine-year, $360 million contract was announced, and judge was named the 16th captain in franchise history and the first since derek jeter who held the title from 2003 through 2014. meanwhile, across town in queens, mets fans are still buzzing over the surprise acquisition of super star carlos correa. the team's latest off season signing, a 12-year, $315 million contract put the teams tab for the upcoming season at nearly half a billion dollars. the figure which includes payroll and luxury taxes makes the mets the most expensive team

in north american history. and, richard, by my calculation, the mets payroll next season will be higher than the gdp of eight concerns. >> i think we should give steve cohen a vote in the u.n. general assembly, but he's basically undoing everything jay powell has tried to get accomplished. every time rates go up, steve spends more and the economy overheats. the aaron judge thing is great. babe ruth, lou gehrig, don mattingly, thurman munson, and derek jeter, what a great tradition. i like the idea this is one of the things. it's $300 million plus to get him to stay in new york, but this is a great tradition, so i'm exited, joe. i'm excited and i think it increases the chances that yet again we dominate your team, and that will make for a good warm, comfortable summer. >> well, dominating our team is not hard.

it wasn't hard last year. it's not going to be hard next year. the only way to put it is the front office is trying to be a poor man's tampa, and they're succeeding quite well. coming up, donald trump's hold on what once was considered one of his most loyal voting blocks. that hole appears to be slipping. we're going to dig into a new report on why evangelicals are ditching the bid to retake the white house. "morning joe" coming right back. . "morning joe" coming right back.

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and now ukraine desperately needs more capabilities including long range missiles. maybe i sound naive, but can we make long story short and give ukraine all capabilities it

needs, and sooner than later. thank you. >> his answer is yes. >> i agree. >> a moment of levity between president biden and president zelenskyy of ukraine as the two leaders held a joint news conference at the white house yesterday. a historic moment. later in the day, zelenskyy entered the house chamber to thunderous applause, shaking hands with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. here's some of that historic address. >> against all odds, and doom and gloom scenarios, ukraine didn't fall. ukraine is alive and kicking. thank you for both financial packages you have already provided us with and the ones you may be willing to decide on.

your money is not charity. it's an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way. if russian missiles attack us. we'll do our best to protect ourselves. if they attack us with iranian drones, and our people will have to go to bomb shelters on christmas eve, ukrainians will still sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other. and we don't have to know everyone's wish, as we know that all of us are, millions of ukrainians wish the same, victory. only victory. [ applause ] standing here today, i recall the wars of the president franklin delano roosevelt, which is, i think, so

good for this moment. the american people in their righteous mind will win through to absolute victory. the ukrainian people will win too, absolutely. [ applause ]. >> what a moving moment. only victory. and in a moving moment at the end of the address, zelenskyy presented nancy pelosi and vice president kamala harris the ukrainian flag flown on the front lines of the war. and they presented president search the flag that flew over the capitol yesterday in his honor. a beautiful, beautiful day. anne applebaum, only victory. what an extraordinary speech last night. an extraordinary bipartisan display, your take away from --

main take away from president zelenskyy's day in washington yesterday? >> i think the most important thing that he said is one of the sentences you just captured, namely that this is not charity. that this is an american investment in american security and international security. all you have to do is think about what would have happened if the russian war plane had gone according to plan. what if ukraine had been occupied in six weeks, kyiv destroyed, zelenskyy murdered, concentration camps set up all over the country. we would then be living in a completely different world. one in which russia was empowered, russian troops were on the border with poland. china was empowered, probably ready to invade taiwan. we would be talking about the end of the liberal democratic world, the end of the liberal democratic century and the rise of autocracy and nothing else. and we wouldn't be saving any money. instead we would be investing

them in the coming wars, the next wars that would come because we hadn't avoided those with this one. i think zelenskyy's point is that this is in our interest, in our mutual interest to continue supporting ukraine, in its fight against russia, was absolutely the right one to make. >> claire, where does zelenskyy's visit leave the debate that we heard from the joint chiefs of staff in november, mark milley, suggesting this war is unwinnable in purely military terms. maybe it is time this winter to start talking about what kind of negotiated settlement might look like. are you any clearer on where that is, and what the thinking is in washington amongst those who believe that we have to start getting to the negotiating table even if that means ukraine giving up some territory, and those who say, no, we should just carrying on supplying them with weapons for as long as they want to and that this is ukraine's decision to make?

>> well, i think behind the scenes, katty, there are discussions. i think everyone is very aware that it is very important for the public facing ukrainian effort to be without chinks, without any kind of crease that would indicate an unwillingness to prosecute this war to its fullest. there's obviously discussions going on quietly and in private about what is the end game, but i would remind you, america has a history of funding things for a very long time where no end game is part of the equation. look at afghanistan. look at the years we were putting money into afghanistan, and providing them with things they knew were not sustainable long-term. unlike ukraine where there is a real chance of a flourishing democracy and a leader in europe post this war if we can get them to the other side without putin prevailing in any way.

i think one of the most interesting things about the politics of this is how the republican party has changed. in my time in congress, there would be no question that the republican party would be monolithic in its support for ukraine, and you see real cracks in the republican party right now, more so in the democratic party. i mean, my successor, josh hawley, and marjorie taylor greene didn't even show up for zelenskyy's speech. and many of the republicans refused to applaud. so that's the other crack that's coming. that's how are they going to navigate this funding with a real scism in the republican party. >> it's richard haass, this question of supporting ukraine, which i actually think is a big one, yes, does the outliars in -- outliers who may not be interesting. whether the support should extend to liberating crimea, whether the only acceptable definition of success is going back to the pre-2014, 1991

situation or whether there's something else or something less that might be acceptable, a way of saving money, ending the war, avoiding a risk of escalation. that's the argument. where do you come out on that, and where do you think things will play out along that argument? >> i think it's way too early to keep talking about crimea. the only reason we're having this discussion is because of the staggering incompetence of the russian military. this war is only ten months old, which i think, you know, going back to claire's point about how long we will fund things or tough it out, i mean, ten months in the big scheme of things is the blink of an eye in terms of the kind of commitments america has made in the past, whether it's been in korea or vietnam or other places where we either fought or provided support. and i think we have to have a certain amount of patient. on the other hand, i think we're also jumping the gun to say --

to start talking about the ultimate limits of ukrainian offenses. during this winter, ukraine is going to have to just survive, and i think to some extent, it takes the discussion off track when we start talking about whether or not the ukrainian should, you know, drive toward the sea in crimea. i just think it's a really premature discussion, and one thing i want to add about all of this, whether it's crimea or any other kind of settlement or end to this war, the russians have to want to end this war. they get a vote on ending this war. the problem that everybody is running into, whether it's mark milley or president zelenskyy or anybody else, the russians don't want to end this war. that's the biggest obstacle we're facing and so i think we're getting way over our skis to start talking about the end

state in, you know, sevastopol or something when we're about to come up against a winter where people are literally going to be freezing and starving and bombards and we just have to get the ukrainians through that in one piece with as little carnage as possible. >> tom makes the point that we can't focus too much on the end state, but for president biden, that's just not politically palatable. there's a large portion of the country that doesn't support unlimited aid to this effort, and president biden has done, in my opinion, a good job of a balancing act of not being too far out there, but actually having american support. how does he navigate this going into 2023 and republican control of the house? >> it's also not palatable for president zelenskyy in the united states, right, and i think one of the reasons we all heard him talk about this plan, a talk about a summit for peace,

lay out the ten-point peace plan for the public here but also for europeans. they need to hear his willingness to participate in a peace process. the russians have been pushing disinformation as we all know in europe and other places, saying zelenskyy is not willing to come to the table. i will say it's also important for him. for president biden, you know, this trip that happened yesterday has been in discussion for months. president zelenskyy wanted to come because he knew not just that there's going to be a turnover of republicans in congress, but also that they are headed into -- they're already in it, not only additional assistance for military support but additional assistance to address their energy needs, the fact that 2/3 of kyiv doesn't even have power right now, and he last night not only made the case of how strong they are, but he also made the case that they need more and to stick with him. so i think president biden knows he's very -- he's a powerful

voice. no one more powerful than president zelenskyy in make thag -- making that case, in order to keep people together to support the ukrainians. >> what are they making of the current situation in moscow. russian president vladimir putin has been making concessions about his military's shortcomings in ukraine. he says there are quote no limits to what he will provide in order to win. yesterday he addressed multiple concerns surrounding russia's capabilities in the war. putin said russia must improve its ability to counter ukrainian artillery and he addressed reports of soldiers equipped with outdated technology, charging officers to pay better attention to assets like medical kits and uniforms. the concessions mark the first time that putin has acknowledged the issues his military faces. but he vowed that russia will continue its war on ukraine. he insists russia will prevail and said there are quote no limits in terms of financing when it comes to the war, adding

the government has provided everything for which the army has asked. there are issues with some of the equipment as he acknowledged. one of the things that perhaps surprised and dismayed people in washington is the draft of sanctions and export controls, export bans that the united states and the west have imposed haven't crippled putin's ability to resupply his military faster. i mean, i remember when i was having conversations with people back in the spring, they were looking at this fall as the time that we would really see those sanctions kick in. is it just a question of the timing being wrong or has putin managed to find income of exports of oil that perhaps the west underestimated. >> it's clear that he has other sources of support. he has support from iran, which has been sending him drones.

he's able to trade with china and india, and he's also bluffing. parts of this is his game to persuade us to stop supporting ukraine. there's a part of the republican party in the u.s., part of the french and german and british political elite that want to stop funding the war. he's playing to those forces, trying to encourage them by insisting that everything is fine, and he's got plenty of money, and he can keep going. i think it's important for us to understand what that is. we know he's lost at least half of his tanks and armored vehicles. he's way down in terms of ammunition and in terms of missiles. we know his soldiers are demoralized and so what we need to do is continue to display our unity and continue to support ukraine and show him that we're not going to be blackmailed by this kind of talk. >> and how remarkable, how

depressing that a tyrant in russia sees the republican party as the soft spot in american resolve, a long way from the republican party that anne and richard and i grew up in, but now a republican party that putin saw as a soft spot when the last president was in office, and now he sees it with republicans taking over the house. i want to ask you, though, tom, you had asked this question yesterday in the atlantic, is there anything zelenskyy can say that will matter to a republican party that has decided to torment the ghost of ronald reagan by taking sides with a neo imperial soviet nostalgist.

we did see mitch mcconnell, he stood shoulder to shoulder with the people of ukraine. he has visited kyiv. we've seen other republican leaders stand shoulder to shoulder. we do have that out there. at the same time, putin is is banking on republicans to ultimately undermine zelenskyy's funding. so did he say anything last night that will keep republicans standing shoulder to shoulder with zelenskyy? >> i think, you know, it's a great question, joe, because there is this rift in the republican party and the rift is not so much among the republican electeds. it's between republican electeds and the base who have really been propagandized to believe zelenskyy is a criminal and the war is being run by defense

contractors. really a trip down the rabbit hole into kind of crazy town. i think zelenskyy came and was credible and eloquent leader, and one of the things that really struck me. that speech was really well constructed and it was really well constructed for americans. it was not, you know, a kind of generic speech to the u.n. or to the european community. i mean, he invoked saratoga, which i said last night, i hope most americans understood that reference. and he said something else that's really important that american -- and it could be part of -- if some of these republicans really want to keep this bipartisan consensus going because outside of the republican base, american support for ukraine is bipartisan, and zelenskyy was relentless in his insistence on bipartisanship. he kept thanking both parties. all americans, but the other thing he said that was really

important that republicans used to hammer on as the national security party back when you and i were still republicans, your well being, you americans, your well being is a product of your investment in national security. and that, i think, is really the key phrase that could, i think, speak to a lot of republicans who could understand this in that very kind of hard headed way that says that investing in national security is an investment in the security and the well being of the united states. >> right, and it's more than just building weapons systems, and of course republicans harshly critical when democratic presidents talked about leading from behind. now some of them, it seems, want to do that, and before i let you and tom go, i just, i want to bring -- i want to follow up on something that we haven't talked about on this show yet, but something that tom had said. it's not just the elected. it's elected republicans, there are a lot of think tanks out there. i look with absolute horror at

the american firsters, the charles lindberghs who have taken over heritage foundation, which was, of course, the think tank of reaganism. the think tank of cold warriors. now we're starting to see the republican party and republican supporters infected by this isolationist thinking that, again, straight out of munich. america first. charles lindbergh couldn't say it better than the people that are running heritage. >> well, the america first, original america firsters were heavily influenced by nazi propaganda, and this group of american firsters are influenced by russian propaganda, the national rifle association, it's in the air, you can almost tell

when tucker carlson has been reading it or speaking to somebody who's been feeding him those lines. it's very disturbing. it's very unlike, as you say, not just the republican party of the past, but really american politics of the past. or a leading institution like that to be taking its cues and taking its direction from an autocracy, and really from the whole autocratic world. it does represent a kind of sea change, and i hope over the next few years that the rest of the republican party will fight back against it. >> you do wonder how the heritage foundation got from where it was in the early '80s to where it is now. a sad story, a sad intellectual decline. tom nichols and anne applebaum, thank you so much. and richard haass, title 42 obviously a big part of the debate going on right now, and

the funding resolution maybe making its way through congress, but right now, that's the hold up. many republicans, and i'll tell you what, quite a few democrats would like to make title 42 permanent. what's your thought. >> it's before the supreme court, they're going to have to decide. whether it becomes permanent or not. we shouldn't kid ourselves. we do not have a viable immigration policy. >> why is that, richard? why is that? this last year, the numbers have been heinous. democrats are now starting to wake up to this reality. there are a lot of democrats on the campaign trail, progressives saying keep title 42 in place, for a year, democrats were saying that's republican talking points, democratic mayors on the border were in a state of panic over the chaos, and let me say again, the humanitarian crisis going on at the southern border.

>> it's not just democratic mayors and governors at the border, it's people like the democratic mayor of new york city. this is now a national problem, and it's hitting cities at a time they don't have the resources. it's that simple. they simply cannot provide for these people when they show up or for obvious reasons, extremely needing and wanting. i think the administration is making a cosmic mistake in terms of policy and politics. they should challenge the republicans, look, you want to do something about border security, so do we, have a comprehensive proposal. whether it's linked to daca, 2 1/2 million legal immigrants short where we would have been if we had kept the old numbers in place. trump changed them. the biden administration hasn't changed that. it's one of the reasons we have inflation. we have a labor shortage. there's a deal out here, one

element has to be border security. i think it's, again, a major policy, economic as well as political mistake for the administration not to be leaning into it. >> and claire, i mean, you look at the way the republican party has changed on immigration. it used to be the party of -- you feel like immigration someone of those indicators of how much of a sea change it's gone through, having been the party that's pro business, pro immigration, especially high end immigration, and now don't even speak about it, except in terms of the border and the border wall and security. nothing coming out of the republican side that resembles kinds of plans they would have come up, especially not from the business community. that's what's surprising, it used to be the republican business community, the ones championing more immigration into the united states and they have gone kind of silent on this. >> it's become such a political hot button. it has become so difficult to do the right thing because so many

people are playing to the cheap seats, and i remember when i first came to the senate, you know who lobbied me for immigration reform, none other than who had me over to the white house, president bush and the republican members of the senate were lobbying me after they ran these horrible ads against me saying how soft i was on immigration, then they wanted me to vote for immigration reform, and you know who else was for it, the american farm bureau. one of the most conservative political organizations in the country was out there working on immigration reform. where are they? they need those workers. american farms need those workers. it's about finding a sweet pot and letting others argue about it. find a sweet spot for legal immigration and the workers we need, and border security. don't try to get everything for everyone. that's the biggest problem. the left wants more than the

right is willing to give and nobody is very attracted to the middle. >> having lived through this for a year and a half in the biden administration, this is not the republican party of ten years ago. there was a plan that president biden put forward on his first day in office. there are no takers in having conversations about that. and the challenge is that you can't get an immigration bill passed with 51 votes. you can't. that's not how the senate works. the challenge, which everybody has addressed, there is no viable plan. there's no viable policy right now. the issue at the border is that they cannot -- they have no capacity to deal with not just people coming over from mexico, which is what everybody thinks is happening. people are coming from all over south america, and all over the world to, you know, to leave difficult circumstances. so right now, unless there was a different waybills get passed or a republican party that was willing to gather enough votes, ten votes to get a senate bill passed, we're going to be in this stalled challenging

circumstance in a cyclical way every year, year after year moving forward. >> so elise, i guess the question is, we have talked about the democrat shortcoming, what the democrats need to do. let's ask about the republicans. would they like to be part of the solution? give democrats the ten votes. come up with a solution. let's move forward together. >> i can't think of ten republicans right now in the senate who want to solve the problem and want to give up this political football that at the end of the day is causing huge human suffering. unfairly to so many people who have this dream of coming to america and they pursue a pathway that they aren't going to get through, and so you have just an unviable policy and too few serious people who actually want to address it, and you look at elections where 2018, it became the migrant caravan. it's always going to be a

convenient republican talking point until they actually want to come together and solve the human suffering at the root of the problem. >> well, and here's the thing, it's never worked as a political issue. they used the caravans in 2018. they lost. republican gubernatorial candidates used it in 2019. they lost. republicans in the house, the senate, running for the white house used it in 2020. they lost. used it in 2022. they're the washington generals, they lost. it doesn't work as an issue. maybe it works in some cable news networks. maybe it works for podcasters. right? it does not work as an issue. our democrats wouldn't keep winning every year, and again, this, as richard said, this is the most important thing to understand.

farmers need immigrants that they're not getting. we're below levels that farmers need. that people who run hardware stores need. that restaurant owners, family businesses need. there is still a shortage of workers in america for jobs that immigrants have done for decades. for hundreds of years. so, yes, we see these horrifying pictures at the border. there is a human crisis, a humanitarian crisis, but you ask small business owners, you ask people that run family restaurants, you ask people that run small businesses that run hardware stores on your main street, they will tell you they are being hurt because legal immigration, legal immigration is down. and immigration overall is down despite this humanitarian crisis.

it's causing inflation. it's causing problems in main street america. it's causing problems for businesses along with a humanitarian catastrophe that continues to unfold on the southern border. republicans and democrats need to get together and fix this problem. richard haass, thank you so much for being with us. and still ahead on "morning joe," we're going to be talking to the chairman of the house foreign affairs committee about the last night's address to congress by presidentzelenskyy and key findings for the president's taxes released this week, a few red flags coming under scrutiny for donald trump. and a record number of guns being confiscated at airports. a shot of kansas city, missouri, you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. uri, you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

time now for a look at the morning papers. the "news-press" covers the alarming number of guns being confiscated at florida airports. the tsa has recorded a record breaking number of travelers who have tried to board a plane with a gun. southwest florida international airport alone, tsa has reported nearly 50 gun confiscations. who would have thought. the ledger inquirer reports 20 hospitals in georgia will receive additional funding to hire more workers and ensure diversity. $500 million will go to 21 teaching hospitals across the state. it comes amid a historic shortage of health care workers and a lack of diversity in medical personnel. the and sun bulletin reports new york lawmakers are proposed to vote today on a 32,000 pay

raise, making them the highest paid lawmakers in the nation. i suspect there will be some new yorkers who will be questioning that decision. the courier news leads with the dip in gas prices in new jersey. right now, the statewide average for a gallon of gas is around $3.27. that is nearly a $2 drop compared with just six months ago. and we're also following news from afghanistan where the taliban has now banned university education for women. in fact, girls are now restricted from any education beyond the 6th grade. it led some women to protest on the streets of kabul. a dangerous proposition, given the taliban's record for abusing demonstrators. video posted to social media purportedly shows some male students also walking out of class in a show of solidarity with their female classmates. do not forget the women of afghanistan. and coming up, is ron

desantis everything republican voters want the wanted in donal without the baggage, a new report digging into that next, and the author of that piece joining us next on "morning joe." of that piece joining us next on "morning joe.

washington. that rain is headed our way. just weeks after his company was found guilty of criminal tax fraud, donald trump himself is coming under scrutiny for a series of questionable financial practices. on tuesday, the house ways and means committee voted to publicly release six years of the former president's tax returns. although it's expected to take a few more days, the committee did raise questions about trump's filings into two summary reports released after that vote.

among those questions whether what was billed as loans made to trump's children were actually loans or gifts disguised as loans for the purpose of avoiding gift taxes. the committee also flagged some of trump's tax write offs and whether he framed payments from his personal business, from his personal life as business expenses. those include frequent trips on his private jet and as "the new york times" reported in 2020, more than $70,000 paid to style his hair. as for why those claims weren't audited, an internal irs memo cited a lack of resources. the agency also wrote that it wanted to quote explore other options, rather than risk worsening trump's preexisting animosity for the irs. joe, i don't know, 70,000 on somebody's hair. i spend a lot on my hair. i'm sure you spend a lot on your hair, but 70,000, wouldn't that

trigger some little red flag at the irs, that alone. >> mika makes me go out in the yard, and she'll let me, you know. >> $7, not 70,000. >> i get the hose and then some dog clippers. it's very thick. yeah, so it's just outrageous, everything about this is outrageous, and claire mccaskill, you look at the irs, the further corruption of the federal government on all levels. the irs is supposed to audit every president. they don't audit donald trump they say because of a lack of resources. it's because they were scared. they wouldn't even do what they're required to do because they didn't want to upset donald trump. he's a snowflakes. he gets triggered. and everybody -- everybody has to make donald trump believe or had to make donald trump believe that he was bigger than the office himself. which is why he's likely going to get indicted by the department of justice because he stole government documents.

>> oversight matters. oversight really matters. and i think the most important thing about what the committee has done is exposed that a mandatory requirement in our government that every president be audited that had gone on for more than 40 years, obama had all the audits, joe biden has had the audits, the only president in all of these years that didn't get the mandatory audits while he was president, was donald j. trump. now, that is a block buster oversight finding. forget about everybody worried about the privacy of his tax returns, and all of that. the fact that the irs was shielding donald trump because they were afraid of him is outrageous. and i bet we'll hear a lot more about this, and i think some heads will probably roll at irs before it's all said and done. >> well, i mean, what is amazing

to me is the fact, elise jordan, that donald trump lied for years to his voters. he lied for years to his supporters. he lied for years to "the new york times." he lied for years to the "washington post." he lied to everybody saying i'm under audit. and what do we find, not only was he not under audit but the very audit the irs was required to do of his taxes, they didn't do. so of course, it's not just a lie. it's an extreme lie. it's actually even worse than "the new york times" and all of his political enemies as he liked to call them ever suspected. >> joe, i'd like to say i'm done being shocked by trump, and how he gets away with absolutely everything, but here, yet another example. we're like, oh, another example

of something that a normal person, that a normal president would have had to undergo. and yet he's completely free of any consequences as always. and so that's what i'm watching in 2023 is donald trump finally going to face consequences for the illegalities that have plagued his presidency and his entire life and rear. >> career. >> i don't think i was aware you didn't have to release your tax returns on presidential campaigns. that's what you always do. there's a reason this is important to come back to. the american people deserve to see what people's investments are, whether they have conflicts of interest when they're going to be governing the country. this is all important to see, and this audit has been in place since nixon. this has been in place for decades. so i completely agree with claire, there are going to be heads that roll. this is not the kind of thing that just happens in washington and nobody follows up on it. there's more to see in these tax

returns as well for sure. >> and again, it's just remarkable what a delicate snowflakes donald trump is, that people were scared. oh, we don't want to audit him. we don't want to do our job. we don't want to follow the law because donald trump might get upset. because he's so frail. he's such a snowflakes. he's so easily triggered. that's the great irony. throughout 2020, i had to look at the trump flags up and down the east coast that said f your feelings. trump 2020. see, that's the funny thing, they act as if everybody is against them, they're snowflakes, they're triggered. they're the biggest snowflakes of all. what did we hear after donald trump lost an election. oh, if you will, just let

minimum be a little bit. the wee lad is sad. he'll come to terms with it. let him come. he's grieving right now. i don't know who the leprechaun around trump was, but they were there, and that's all we heard. donald trump's feelings are hurt by losing. just give him time. the little snowflakes will grow strong enough to not melt. he never did, and we almost lost our democracy because of it. he's still triggered that the irs might do their job. triggered that he might have to do what every other president has done in recent memory? just never did it. he just never did it. that shouldn't be a star by cpac, that should be a snowflakes because that's what donald trump is, and that's what trumpists are. they are snowflakes that think

that the rules that apply to everybody else applies to them, they will melt. poor, poor things. poor triggered snowflakes. now to this, donald trump is currently the only declared presidential candidate for 2024, but the lack of official competition hasn't stopped a lot of republican voters from looking elsewhere. in a new report in vanity fair outlines how support from one of his most loyal voting block, evangelicals could, and there's a big could, already be slipping away. let's bring in the author of that piece, staff reporter at "vanity fair," caleb ekarma. the latest piece entitled "we will get destroyed" you write this. trump's influence on the republican party has held strong. he's centered many of the culture wars that evangelical

voters have been harping on for decades, and increasingly, the party's agenda has become nearly interchangeable with the attitudes of evangelical voters. it could be what contributes to his demise, evangelical university south of los angeles. evangelical voters like the rest of the gop base, waller explained, may be inclined to desantis because he has trump's pugnacious instincts something they long wanted prior to trump but never the baggage, and you know, they understand, trump lost in '17, '18, '19, '20, '22, and joe biden over his first term is going to appoint more federal judges than any president in one term in u.s. history. and that only gets worse for

them if federal judges is what they care about the most, it only gets worse for them if trump's up and loses the next four years. >> yeah, i mean, i think that's a big reason right now. it could be a mirage, as you noted. with trump specifically, a lot has been coming out with him since the midterm has sort of been loser talk. specifically the stuff against desantis, you know, desantis hasn't even left the bull pen and trump is swinging at his stuff. that shows a sign of weakness to voters who have already felt a sense of disappointment, coming down not just from the midterms but the last two election cycles before that. i think there's a lot of, you know, the morale is not very high among republican voters, and i think evangelicals especially, despite all the victories that trump, you know, earned for him in his four years in office.

>> caleb, i'm curious, you know, it seems to me this jumping on the desantis thing, i get it that he is fully engaged in the culture wars, which the evangelical community loves, but, you know, this guy is not particularly charismatic, he's completely untested on a

it is interesting if you look. you look at at the social issues. that republicans keep using. it is a critical issue. but you know? it is always they'll talk about people coming with leprosy. this past year and there's a big debate about athletes in high school sports and college that are transitioning. especially post puberty. most americans are against that.

we get it. we understand where americans are. there are republicans that send out mailer after mailers on transathletes in high school with inflation going up. let's just use the republicans' talking points against them. with inflation going up. with crime being a major concern. with southern border a major concern. ten mailers from republicans about transathletes that maybe make up 0.0003% of the high school population and suddenly voters are going -- >> what's happening here? >> people lost the plot. all of these things they think trigger the left, the things that they think own the libs ended up owning republican candidates year after year after year. >> you don't strike me as a fan

of the movie "clueless" but i am and they want to take these social issues and make them an issue that for the masses of the public to care about. they do not. transgender issues is a perfect example. i'm a believe. they're human rights. people believe that and don't believe that the issue and the question of the neighbor's neighbor born a boy is a girl is a discussion that family decides. to your point the republicans are making a huge mistake by not talking about cost, inflation, health care. issues impacting people every day and trying to demonize people and how they live their lives. >> again, putting such a

disproportionate emphasis on these issues. a lot of people do care about on both sides but not so much that they want that to be the center piece of their politics. not only has it not helped republicans, you look at what happened with roe. my god. it caused massive losses for republicans across -- yeah. republicans across america. so one day perhaps they'll learn. you know, i did like "clueless." i also liked "mean girls" and i think you have -- >> you called me out. i need more coffee. "mean girls." exactly. they try to make fetch happen in

the republican party. >> either way. it is not working some medicines are in short supply as you heard as more people come down with covid, the flu and rsv. the bingo card is filled with these things. we have tips. plus there are blizzard warnings. what will we have next, locusts? bismarck to buffalo right now as a major winter storm moves across the country. holiday travel straight ahead on "morning joe."

i hope you and president

putin get together and can solve your problem. that would be a tremendous achievement. >> putin has no intention to stop this cruel war and the united states is committed toen suring that the brave ukrainian people can continue to defend their country as long as it takes. >> that first guy, president's message, that was supported by vladimir putin. probably delivered him the message to read it. maybe he didn't. maybe -- maybe -- there's no maybes about it. he likes tyrants. he just likes autocrats. he likes people who actually execute those who oppose their leadership whether it's putin, whether it's, you know, north korea's tyrant he sends love

letters to. you saw two very different meetings and their ukrainian counterpart president zelenskyy. did you catch the look on his face? trump urged him to get together with the killer threatening the country's demise. look at that. what am i doing here? welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, december 22. everybody who hosts this show is off. i'm subbing. trying to get us through the morning. we have the best with us, katty kay. the pro. zelenskyy's eyes, right? my god. he is like, what am i doing

here? i forget exactly who brought it up earlier today because the show is 47 hours long but somebody brought up the fact that zelenskyy showed his character early on when donald trump tried to blackmail him with funding that congress had approved and said i'll give you the weapons if you give me dirt. that was that indication this guy was not for turning. >> yeah. if you have not watching zelenskyy's tv show "servant of the people" he is a good comic actor but plays a president of the ukraine and stands up against corruption and remind me of the phone call of donald

trump saying give me something that i'll give you something and the characters they are the same. zelenskyy would not do the corrupt thing. he didn't do it there either. first today the senate is holing a session to fannish work. the upper chamber hoping to fennish voting and pass the bill last night but a last-minute push over a vote to keep title 42 in place derailed the progress. senator lee wanted a simple majority vote to preserve title 42 that allows migrants to be sent back to mexico after crossing the border. democrats were only offering a 60-vote threshold for the amendment as the senate's

timeline would not be tighter. government funding runs out tomorrow night if a deal is not made. they wanted to avoid the snowstorm barrelling down on the northwest. they are talking about a plan "b" if a deal isn't reached on time. it was supposed to give the senate time to finish the full funding bill. i hope you followed that. last night ukrainian president zelenskyy made a plea for continued u.s. aid.

>> ukraine didn't fall. ukraine is alive and kicking. >> reporter: in his 25-minute address, zelenskyy, clad in his signature army green sweater, urging congress not to abandon the defense of his country. after 10 months of war. >> and next year will be a turning point, i know it, the point when ukrainian courage and american resolve must guarantee the future of our common freedom. >> reporter: he pushed law make stories approve an additional $45 billion in aid, while acknowledging republican reservations about giving ukraine a blank check. >> your money is not charity. it's an investment in the global security and democracy. >> reporter: ukraine's president receiving repeated standing ovations from both sides of the aisle as the one-time comedian briefly returned to his roots. >> we have artillery, yes. thank you.

we have it. is it enough? honestly, not really. >> reporter: punctuating a speech, zelenskyy's gift to congress, a ukrainian battle flag signed by soldiers on the front lines. >> this flag is a symbol of our victory in this war. >> reporter: the speech capping off zelenskyy's dramatic visit to washington, his first trip outside ukraine since the war began. earlier in the day meeting with president biden at the white house. >> president zelenskyy, the united states stands with the great people of ukraine. we stand with you. >> thanks. from our ordinary people, to your ordinary people, americans. >> reporter: after requests for air defenses, president biden announced the u.s. will provide a single patriot missile defense

system and train them how to use it. and posting these behind the scenes videos with the first lady. the trip coming after days of secret planning, all ending with a poignant and powerful holiday wish for victory. >> we'll celebrate christmas. celebrate christmas and even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith, in ourselves will indeed put out. >> that's nbc's peter alexander with that report. let's bring in democratic congressman gregory meeks of new york. let me ask you, mr. chairman. are you a mets or yankees fan? >> mets fan. >> maybe we can divert the mets money. the mets now have a gdp.

a payroll bigger than the gdp of quite a few small countries. i hope the mets have a great year the next year. what were some of the main takeaways from that historic moment? >> it was historic. you could feel the determination of president delen -- zelenskyy of the ukraine people and working together for the good. he re-emphasized the thanks to the american people but that he needs more. with e can't quit in the middle of success. we can see success at the end. he talked about how sometime next year he believes if we stay together we will and the spirit of ukraine people when i visited

ukraine you understand that the dollars that the american people are giving is tremendously important and what's making this war winnable. it's -- he was inspirational. i think the number of standing ovations that he received is a reflection and i hope what the republican colleagues will do when the vote comes up and continue support for ukraine is asked for. >> mr. chairman, your ranking member michael mccaul has i believe been a steadfast champion of aid to ukraine. will he be the next chairman of the committee? if so will you keep working together to guarantee support

out of your committee for funding in ukraine? >> i know that we will continue to work together. i do have concerns about other republican members. we just had a mark-up in the economy tee with the other 50 hearings and briefings about crown and oversight and making shire the dollars are spent and marjorie taylor greene had a request of inquiries and wants to end support to ukraine. no one challenged her. mike tried to a degree saying to give ukraine everything that he needs but in the beginning give them everything they need and criticizing the biden

administration and we were doing our oversight responsibility. in fact it is unprecedented the oversight done on the committee and now saying that wait a minute. we can't give them this money as president zelenskyy said that this is not a blank check given to them. it is an investment in democracy and the stabilization of european and all democratic countries around the world so i have concerns. i know that we will be able to work together but i have concerns about other members of the republican party following marjorie taylor greene saying the funding should stop. >> there's some speculation that president ze learn ski would lay out a road map. he didn't do that. what would you like to hear from the ukrainian government on when

they would be prepared to negotiate something? specifically, what do you think the status of crimea will be in those negotiations? >> what i would like to hear and see is putin to stop bombing their infrastructure. to stop destroying their water systems. stop destroying the electricity. we see millions of ukrainians suffering every day. how can you yield to that? what president zelenskyy is looking for and why it is important for us to continue funding ukraine is to push back on putin to stop the war crime committed on the ukrainian people. we shouldn't be putting pressure on zelenskyy. it is the unprecedented illegal

war that was instituted and being propagated by vladimir putin. until that changes i don't see how president zelenskyy can say we'll give up and let them continue to do what they have done and the damage and the lost lives and the war crimes done by putin. >> let's dig in to what you said about republicans. republican voters are divided on if they think that they bought into putin's propaganda and they believe that this is all a big hoax or more traditional republicans who see this as putin's aggression to be countered for international security. what is your sense, are more many ebbs with greene or the traditional republican votes there? >> i'm concerned about the traditional republican votes

being unyielding to the extremists on the republican side like greene. it seems to me that overwhelmingly the voices of those that were supporting marjorie taylor greene is what we heard and not the moderates. mike mccall said we have to give ukrainians what they need. kevin mccarthy is trying to get the votes to be speaker and if he makes commitments to them then i think the moderate republicans are in jeopardy. it is worrisome to me in the 118th congress. >> much to be resolved for

republicans as they move into the congress and figure out who is running the party in the house. democrat gregory meeks, thank you. katty, question heard from wnba star brittney griner about the imprisonment and release. >> a lovely message to fans. star brittney griner wrote a message following the release if a russian penal colony. posted a picture on instagram. thanks to efforts of many including you i am home. you showed me you cared and i want to say that your effort mattered. the letters helped me to not

lose home when i was vulnerable in ways i could have never imagined. thank you. i hope you will join me in writing to paul whelan. she closed by providing an address to which whelan can be reached. russia refused to include him in the deal to free her calling the deal one or none. particularly nice to reach out to whelan. the midwest is brausing for a historic winter storm. nbc news correspondent tom costello has the details on that. ire have you guys deiced that

yet? >> reporter: deicing critical across a big chunk of the country as airports and airlines try to keep operations moving as long as possible. today and tomorrow scheduled to be the busiest. now this. >> this is the kind of hiccup you don't need this time of year. timing could have been better. >> good morning. hi there. welcome. >> passenger valium is rivaling 2019 levels. heading to california. >> trying to beat the snow. >> looks forecast is difficult. >> to keep the system moving the command center opened military air space across the coast.

>> things went so well but this time around unfortunately it's just not going to be as smooth with the weather. >> reporter: where are you going? >> south africa. >> reporter: south africa? >> yes. we need a timeout. >> reporter: leave early. pack a lunch and clothes and a backup plan and optimism doesn't hurt. fly right through the stuff? >> yes. yes. we're hoping for smooth air. choppy air is no problem. >> of course. he is father christmas. tom costello with that report. goodwill you can to everyone traveling. impacting the traveling is covid, flu and rsv and a shortage of medicine. sam brock has more on how to navigate the chaos.

empty shelves. inside the worsening shortage of popular medicines as the nation's most severe flu season in a decade intensifies. >> giving her son rex. >> what do you think it says that so parents have to check three, four, five different places just to find a normal over-the-counter drug? >> it's shocking. it feels really wild to go to multiple stores to find something that is really, really a household item. >> reporter: america is quickly confronting the shortfall of fluw and fever-fighting medicines. national pharmacy chains cvs, walgreens, and mainstay kroger have placed restrictions on how many of those products consumers can buy at one time. the shortage affecting people of all ages. >> we are seeing it across the board. >> reporter: kids and adults?

>> kids and adults. >> reporter: dr. kim tran for jackson health in miami, one of the largest health care systems in the country, has some tips for families. are there any viable alternatives if you can't find kids tylenol or advil? what would you recommend parents do? >> definitely talk to your doctor. don't make substitutions on your own. a pharmacist can also recommend other therapies to the doctor. if the doctor is okay with it, the doctor can write a different prescription. >> reporter: other useful points to emphasize, generic tylenol advil are equally as effective. if your child has a mild fever, you can let it ride out with a lukewarm bath a helpful option. and do not under any circumstances give kids adult medication without consulting a doctor. the federal government announcing plans to unlock fresh supplies of tamiflu from the national strategic stockpile. congress making it clear the medication shortage is on its radar.

and many parents expect better. >> i don't understand why we don't make sure that we collectively all have access to these basic things we all need. it's food, it's water, it's medicine. i feel like we should be beyond this. >> a lot of parents thinking. that's nbc's sam brock with that report. i talked about it on the show a little bit. i came back from the queen's funeral. got covid. first time i had covid throughout the whole time. got past that and then i got this respiratory infection which i don't -- i don't -- i can't ever remember having another one and stayed with me for three, four weeks? i have some symptoms from it. it seems like everybody over the past couple months getting sick and it is certainly not just covid but the flu and upper

respiratory problems. i guess it is the impact of us being isolated for a couple years and the resistance going down. >> yeah. i feel the same. when you are hit, you are hit hard by it. you can't do anything. i think we have taken off the masks and closeted for a couple years. we need to get a doctor on next week. there's so much stuff around. we hope you don't get sick. a look at the transcripts released by the january 6 committee and the key witnesses that pleaded the fifth multiple times. you are watching "morning joe." >> to joe, mika, willie,

congratulations. as a friend of the show and we have many friend in the house of representatives, warm thanks for the 15 years of work on the air. when your team speaks america listens. it's a smart, honest conversation about the issues that matter. best wishes for a lovely celebration and many more years of success and congratulations on having a great title. "morning joe." thank you.

lack back to "morning joe." we want to read from the piece "zelenskyy recalled us to

ourselves." maybe our ideals were not so out of date. maybe our institutions were not so broken. maybe the people the ukrainians needed to be maybe those were the people we could be again. what the western world is getting in return for its aid is to a powerful recommitment to be its own best self. we didn't believe ukrainians could do it in part because we didn't believe we could do it but they did and so did we. we now look at both ukraine and ourselves in new ways. the extremists ian conspiracy theorists, the populists, the authoritarians who have gained so much in recent years do not speak for us. sometimes americans forget that. and, richard, i have spent my

adult life -- david, you first and then richard. i met you as a young man getting to washington. one of the first days in washington. 30 years ago. we had a talk since that time i have spent my adult life telling americans it is going to be okay. madisonian democracy will see us through. our comfort system and military will see us through. how many people told me donald trump would never leave the white house? i had to say, you just don't know the men and women of the united states military and people in the secret service, do you? bad apples? yeah. there are some but you don't understand the essence of america. you don't understand the essence

of western civilization. i said it. western civilization. like all civilizations, terrible sins in our background that we should confront but let's remember we as a nation, we americans have fed and freed more people than any country in the history of this planet and done wit the most steadfast allies in britain and across -- france, across the west. you are right. that's something that we forget too easily in these days of podcasts and cable news shows and screeching editorials and social media posts. we still are resolved to spread freedom across the globe and to help the brothers and sisters in

ukraine. >> it was touch and go. a symbolic move of zelenskyy that he defied vladimir putin and donald trump. trump would have used him to corrupt the american political system why that's what the first donald trump impeachment was. the attack on zelenskyy. i think a big part of the rage that pro trump forces expressed to zelenskyy they can is awareness to stand up to trump and the hunter biden is the epilogue to the play. he refused and defied trump and the first indication of the measure of the courage and leadership. he did not go along with one

bully. he fought another more aggressive bully in vladimir putin. >> we may have dodged something of a bullet domestically. i think there's some international consequences. wanted to remind you that there's a west. american leadership still counts. we have led from ahead here. europe would not do what it did without the united states. essentially a lot of the things and policy that is led to the cold war ending on terms so supportive of our values we are seeing something of a revival of those things and making the case across the political spectrum that the united states has to stay involved. not as a favor to others and philanthropy but to protech ourselves at home.

that's the lesson to be repeated again. if the mob then why did the former attorney do that when questioned about january 6? the details about the committee investigating the insurrection next on "morning joe." (limu squawks) he's a natural. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

hey! look at this. happy anniversary! to you and the gang. you got a bit of a gang there. you know? you are lucky. i -- i don't have a gang. i'm not that fortunate to have a gang. i wish i had a gang. anyway, happy anniversary! and you know, everything -- conversation i have when i bring up anything political i take it

from your show. and i don't attribute it to any of you but you're making me seem smarter than i am so thank you. >> thank you, larry. we appreciate that. he said this is a terrible idea. don't do the show. thank you. the full report from the january 6 committee expected to be released today. with some logistical problems in printing the 800-page report. others didn't want to take the attention from president zelenskyy's speech to congress and released a batch of transcripts of 34 witnesses that repeatedly took the fifth amendment. here's the notable names on the list. answered few or no questions at all. john eastman. the trump lawyer, the committee

called the master mind behind the fake electors plot and cited the fifth amendment right 155 times. roger stone. there is also white nationalist nick fuentes and michael flynn. alex jones. the panel also questioned leaders of the far right militia leaders. all of these people used the fifth amendment. donald trump, what do you think about people that plead the fifth? >> disgraceful. what happened? he pleaded the fifth! right? he pleaded the fifth. fifth amendment. fifth amendment. fifth amendment. fifth amendment. horrible. horrible. the mob takes the fifth.

if you are innocent why are you taking the fifth amendment? >> a question he can ask everybody around him that worked with him to overthrow a peaceful election. fair election. an open, american election. only the mob takes the fifth. >> with donald trump there's a tweet or thankfully video to contradict what he is saying in the present. meanwhile mike pence continues to come to the defense of donald trump despite him reportedly saying pence deserved to be hanged on january 6. this week the former vice president spoke out. pence suggested trump's lawyers responsible not the former president himself. during the house january 6

hearings we heard from a lawyer saying he opposed to plans to challenge the election results. here's what pence had to say this week and what we heard from the white house lawyer. >> i would hope that they would not bring charges against the former president. look. i think the president's actions and words on january 6 were reckless but i don't know that it's criminal to take bad advice from lawyers. >> he started to ask me about something dealing with georgia and preserving something potentially for appeal. and i said to him, are you out of your "f"-'g mind? i want to hear two words from your mouth now on. orderly transition.

i don't want to hear any other words out of your mouth no matter what. repeat those words to me. eventually he said orderly transition. i said, good, john. this is the best free advice. get a great criminal defense lawyer. you'll need it. >> of course, he does. he does need it now. they're all pleading the fifth as donald trump would say like the mob because donald trump doesn't understand the constitution. and the protections that the constitution and the amendments give us. it is interesting. i think one of the most fascinating moments when pat cipollone was asked did anybody in the white house, any lawyers, any staff members, did anybody

agree with what was going on at the capitol? or with donald trump trying to overthrow an election. and pat cipollone said, no. not one. yet here we have mike pence trying to blame the lawyers. we just saw the lawyers right there. we heard the lawyers. all against this horrible plan. all desperate to get donald trump to call the insurrection to send the mobsters off when mike pence's life was this danger. all despaired when he refused to do it. every single one. yet, david, we have known mike poens for a long time. so diskournled for such a long part of donald trump's administration. how he just shamed himself. he humiliated himself.

on january 6 i was so proud of him. standing up for american democracy. okay. all's well that ends well. now we have him back in the old role of really humiliating himself and lying for donald trump. >> might as well speak his mind. he did the right thing at the moment it counted but since then writing op-eds after op-eds. the case for hanging mike pence. pat cipollone who said no and defended what happened on january 6 and led president trump's defense in the first impeachment trial trying to avert the election. trying to prevert the election but blackmailing ukraine and the president to corrupt the

american election of 2020 in advance. that was okay. not an impeachable offense. if the impeachment before the election put mike pence in the role of the president in 2020 none of this would have happened. no matter mike pence won re-election or joe biden defeeted him. >> on pence he actually has to make a decision. he's failed. he should be running as the anti-trump candidate. he is caught in between. bad on every level from the legality to the politics. joe, got to be some irony. people citing the fifth amendment to the constitution to defend or protect themselves from the consequences to undermine the constitution. maybe that's why it's so great.

>> no. to what you are saying, the politics of the moment pence seems to be stuck in the past. every candidate at some point has to get over the presidential ambitions. look at what mitt romney did and standing up against trump. liz cheney standing up to donald trump and giving up the political future in the republican party why why can mike pence not move on? >> it comes down to the fact he doesn't understand. i said it yesterday. a political version of "the sixth sense." he doesn't know that he's dead. there are enough trumpists in the base and won't forgive him

for that. if you won't be elected doipg the right thing do what liz cheney did who i know it triggers the snowflakes. anthony fauci the most popular man in america coming to public servants. number two, don't get triggered, liz cheney. she made a decision. she could do the right thing or get re-elected. liz has lived politically to live another day. that's the mike pence needs to make. we don't know what the political land skein looks like in ten years. mike pence could have a future there but he is trying to get

elected in donald trump's republican party. it is never going to happen. as texas politicians would say there's nothing in the middle of the road in texas but white lines and dead armadillos. there's no way to work the middle path for mike pence. he needs to do the right thing. he is going to fail. so on that happy news, not happy. i like mike. i wish he would do the right thing. david, he doesn't seem to understand. he is not going to be president. in donald trump's party. so again, why not keep doing the right thing like he did before and during january 6? >> yeah. if you won't believe in your own accomplishments, that's maybe the theme of this show.

he did the right thing on january 6. that is his message and legacy. most important thing in his political career. if he can't take ownership of that what is the moment? what's holding up the spending bill on capitol hill? we'll get the latest as the deadline to fund the government fast approaches. "morning joe" is back in a moment.

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elon musk is defending his massive cost cuts at twitter as necessary for the social media giant's survival, saying in a call tuesday, "this company is, like, basically you're in a plane that is headed towards the ground at high speed with the engines on fire and the controls don't work." the twitter ceo placed partial blame for the company's financial status on the roughly

$12 billion worth of debt payments tied to his overall $44 billion purchase of the company. the multibillionaire also blamed the recent interest rate hikes by the federal reserve. musk said without a strong paid subscription service, twitter may be operating with a $3 billion negative cash flow next year. this revelation comes as musk announced he will dev resign as ceo as soon as he can find a replacement. however, he says he will stay with the company to oversee twitter's software and service team, a position that still holds significant power. meanwhile, not a great day for sam bankman-fried. the crypto mow ghoul is back in u.s. custody this morning. the 30-year-old was extradited from the bahamas and flown to new york last night accompanied by federal law enforcement officials. bankman-fried could make an initial appearance in federal

court as soon as today. the big question is whether he'll be granted bail. his lawyers have reportedly discussed an agreement that would allow him to be released pending trial. he faces charges including wire fraud and money laudering stemming from the dramatic collapse of his massive cryptocurrency exchange ftx. coming up, one of our next guests was a central figure in the first impeachment trial of donald trump. back then marie yovanovitch stood up for ukraine and the rule of law making her a top target of the former president. she joins our conversation next. "puss in boots" has been nominated for best animated movie of the year. ha! ha! and it takes the "shrek" franchise to exciting new places. i am on my last life. it will strike a chord with movie goers of all ages. when you only have one life, that's what makes it special. rated pg. only in theaters.

this guy to his very soul is who he says he is. it's clear who he is. he's willing to give his life for his country and all of the

folks that came with him today. and so i think it's important for him to know we are going to do everything in our power, everything in our power, to see that this succeeds. >> that's president biden speaking about ukrainian president zelenskyy, pledging continued u.s. support during their joint news conference yesterday, and that came just hours before zelenskyy's extraordinary address to a joint session of congress. we have much more on his historic trip to washington in just a moment. also ahead, the january 6th committee releases dozens of witness transcripts that all have one thing in common -- the fifth amendment. meanwhile, a massive spending bill to keep the government hits a snag in the senate, putting lawmakers on the clock to get it approved before tomorrow's deadline. and massive snowstorms moving in. plus, that major winter storm set to impact just about every corner of the country with millions bracing forea