have they not commented on santos' controversy. do they have the votes? do they need the votes? are they worried about him not being there to vote? >> that's something that we're very closely monitoring because we know that mccarthy has been really trying to make these concessions to the far-right members of his party, trying to secure each and every last vote that he's going to need -- he knows he's going to need for that speakership vote that happens on january 3rd. so far, as you mentioned mccarthy has been silent on this issue, as well as other house gop leadership like steve scalise, elise stefanik, we've reached out to the u.s. congressional committee and have not heard back from this issue. as you mentioned there is violence from the gop house leadership, it's not too surprising considering that house republicans who have been embroiled in controversies and scandals over the last few years faced very little if any backlash or repercussions. we also know that santos helped republicans gain that they're yo

majority in the house. so, it's understandable that and almost justified that mccarthy is not wanting to ruffle any feathers before this important vote on january 3rd. >> all right. nbc news capitol hill correspondent allie raffa thank you so much. thank you for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. and there it is, the u.s. capitol. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, december 29th. and we're going to get right to the news. prosecutors are turning up the heat on congressman-elect george santos, after the revelations he lied about his resume. we're going to have more on the investigation by a fellow republican district attorney. plus, the very latest on the weather emergency in buffalo, new york. first, the snow, and now concerns about flooding and questions about the response to the deadly blizzard.

and we're following the latest on the southwest airlines meltdown. more cancellations and delays are expected today as the unions speak out to say this disaster could have been avoid. i'm jonathan lemire we're in for joe, mika and willie who all have a well-deserved day off. thanks for tuning in. we have white house editor sam stein taking the helm at "way too early" just now, and ed luce, and the bbc's katty kay will be with us in just a moment. it has been days since that winter storm paralyzed much of the country yet there is little relief expected anytime soon for southwest airlines customers. the company has already cancelled more than 2300 flights today, about 58% of its daily schedule. this, after more than 2500 flights were cancelled yesterday. and a total of 11,000 over the past week. many passengers say they still have not received any refunds

for cancelled flights, even after being told to do so by the department of transportation. the southwest airlines pilots and flightunions say the meltdown was avoidable and they have wanted the airlines for years to update its systems. it reads as part, for more than a decade, leadership shortcomings in adapting, innovating and safe guarding our operations have led to repeated system disruptions, countless disappointed passengers and millions in lost profits. the transportation workers union blasted the company for paying shareholders, quote, huge dividends instead of investing in their passengers and workers. the airline apologized again yesterday and pledged to, quote, do everything to make it right. ed luce, does it actually seem like they've done everything to make it right? it has been days since the storm hit. other airlines, yeah, they had a

few -- they had some cancellations but nothing like this. this storm has exposed real vulnerability, but not just in how southwest books its flight but also takes care of its staffing, and passengers are paying the price. >> yeah, it's quite surprising, with a week ago which was hands-downmalformed against others. you wouldn't have predicted southwest, and across the other airline sector. with other stuff with outdated systems and bad relations with staff and unions for many, many years. so, clearly, there is something -- you know, over and above that that's unique to southwest, being really harshly exposed. i don't know -- i don't know what they're doing to fix this. i do know, though, their brand is going to be damaged for many

years. the only survival point here is that regulators have actually got to regulate. the department of transportation has powers it could use. and pete buttigieg is talking about using them. i suggest it would be a good time to start imposing very heavy fines on this airline for failing to recompense passengers for flights on time. and some of which are putting a cap on their prices in order to accommodate them. so this is a brand disaster for southwest. and their passengers and their customers are going to remember this for many, many, many years. >> yeah. i mean, it's a brand disaster, obviously for southwest, it's a human disaster for those trying to travel. and you think about it this way, what if you had to get back home for work and you're told by the

airline, no, we can't book you for four days. your job can be endangered by this mistake from the company. one of the things it points to is the role that government has to play here. and yes, after the fact there is going to be scrutiny on southwest. pete buttigieg, of course, needs to step in more aggressively. what is in the tool shed, i'm not entirely clear. but going forward, you know, we've seen calls from, among others, elizabeth warren, that federal regulators need to look at airline regulation here. you have just too few airlines and manned too many flights. if there were more competition, companies like southwest wouldn't get so fat and so complacent and you wouldn't have them suffer the consequences not just reputationally but economically going forward. ed, i'm not totally sure how big of a hit southwest will take. ultimately passengers need to get from point a. to point b. and there are in a few cases a

few airlines that cover those flight patterns. so southwest is in some ways essential. survival is essential. and that's monopolistic there. >> and certainly, in the days ahead, sam mentioned some perhaps not able to get work, and for others, maybe it's the first holiday trip in a couple years from the pandemic and still stranded and not seeing loved ones. let's turn to congressman-elect george santos now under investigation by law enforcement for the lies he told regarding his background and experience. the nassau county district attorney, a former republican, called revelations about santos' history nothing short of stunning and promised that if a crime was committed in this county, we will prosecute it. it's not just his lies about his college or personal life that could land santos in hot water. as the saying goes, follow the

money, we're going to do just that. fellow new york congressman-elect dan goldman is now calling for investigation into potential campaign finance fraud after the business santos founded just last year was dissolved shortly before the election. sources told cbs news that peril prosecutors are also reportedly looking into santos' financial disclosure filings. when santos first ran for congress back in 2020, his financial disclosure listed his salary of 55,000 for a company called link bridge investors but this cycle, just two years later, mother jones reported that santos claimed he made between 3.5 and $11.5 million from other company. he then loaned his campaign more than $700,000. semafor the website reports

before founding his company, santos worked for harbor city capital, a florida firm that the s.e.c. accused in 2021 running a $17 million ponzi scheme. hmm. santos said he left the company the month before it was charged and he has not been named in the case. santos claimed within the first six months before starts devolder, he landed a contract. he could not say what his contacts entailed or share the names of the business. nbc news has reached out to the congress ol committee and all three gop have not received response. congressman-elect did apologize in another recent interview where he admitted to

embellishing his resume. katty kay is with us, ka katty, seems by the day there are lies told by santos, but some could land him in hot water. >> yeah, for american politics, when you follow the money and where the money came from, a whole host of questions have been raised about santos that are more serious than resume embellishment or whatever it is he likes to call it. so the digging of the patch has begun a year ago, and it's now being done and depicted and does not look pretty. democratic congressman-elect jared moskowitz from florida is calling santos out. in a tweet, lying about your family almost being gassed in showers or being put in ovens in order to win an election is the lowest form of humanity. and i say that as someone whose

grandmother was part of the kinder transport out of germany from the holocaust. and joining us, congressman-elect, thank you for joining us. your great grandparents were killed in auschwitz. and your grandparents escaped kinder transport. what do you make of santos and his heritage? >> yeah, good morning. it starts about lying about your college, it starts lying about your job and a charity that he said he wrote but didn't. and lying and the employees with the mass murder at a florida nightclub and in the trafficking of lies, it's that he has family members that escaped the holocaust. and so, you know, the idea that there's someone out there, someone out there in congress

who thought electorally it would be significantly advantageous to him that he would come up with a lie that he had family members close to him, his grandparents, escape one of the world's greatest tragedies, it's just the lowest form of humanity. but not surprising, unfortunately, because this is what folks on his side of the aisle have learned. they have learned this from, you know, the leader of their party. that you can traffic in these lies and you can get away with them. >> mr. moskowitz, stay with us, because we want to play to you santos referring to himself as jewish, at the republican jewish coalition last month. and then hear his explanation when he was called out on inconsistencies on a television interview just this week. listen to this. ♪♪ >> good morning -- shalom to everybody. thank you for being here, thank you for having me. my name is george santos.

lee zeldin really paved the way for all of us in new york. [ applause ] lee has served as an inspiration, as a friend, and as a leader for the jewish folks in congress. and for all of us in this room, by one point being just two members. so, now, we're going to be three. >> are you jewish? we got a letter that your campaign sent out earlier this year which reads as follows, as a proud american jew, i've been to israel numerous times for educational, business and leisurely trips. you said there in that letter that you are, quote, a proud american jew. how do you explain that? >> well, my heritage is jewish. i've always identified as jewish. i was raised and practiced catholic. i think i've gone through this. i think even not being raised a practicing jew, i've always joked with friends in circles in the campaign i'd say guys, i'm

jew-ish, remember, i was raised catholic. look, i understand everyone wants to nitpick at me. >> mr. moskowitz, when you listen to what santos said, to his excuse of what he was saying, would you expect the republican caucus in the house, on the jewish members of congress, to stand up and say to kevin mccarthy, but actually all republican members of congress to stand up and say to kevin mccarthy, we can't sit this guy. the lies he's told are tool egregious? >> yeah, the republican jewish coalition has taken a position he won't be invited to any of their events. but listen, as you all know what's going on in washington right now, republicans have been begging for power for years saying everything the democrats are doing wrong. and in their very first moment of having power they're in complete disarray and can't decide on a speaker.

you and i both know they're not getting rid of anybody at the moment when the vote counts. but it is a shame, the first person that i've ever heard of especially in politics, who thought you know what, i need to add to my resume, i need to add the only reason i exist on this planet is because my family escaped the holocaust. it's just the most ridiculous thing you've ever heard of. something tells me that this story is not finished, that we're going to hear more. because if you're willing to lie that your family members just, you know, narrowlyescaped gas chambers, something tells me we're going to find out stuff as it unravels. >> congressman-elect, sam stein here, in terms of appropriating a biography, i'm curious as a practical matter, what are the avenues of recourse here?

obviously, the house has to vote to expel a member, and we do not necessarily expect that to be considered from a republican-led house. but is it really just a matter of did he lie on his financial disclosure form? is that the one mechanism that could prove vulnerable for congressman-elect santos here? because everything else seems to be in the hands of kevin mccarthy, as you outlined he wants the santos vote for his speakership. >> yeah, listen, i think and again, there's probably stuff we don't know as people are combing through the financial reports and other forms that they may have lied on that might have a legal repercussion. so there's definitely -- i know people are looking into that, i'm sure they may find that he has some legal exposure. at least that appears right now that may be the potential resource. look, we don't get a long time to serve in congress as you all know. he's going to be back on the ballot in two years. he's going to have an election -- running for re-election in less than a

year's time from now. look, there's no way the voters are going to stand for this. i mean, again, this guy started with lying that he had employees die at a mass shooting at the pulse nightclub and thought, you know what, i got away with that. what else can i get away with? well, let's try the holocaust. so, look, you know, we absolutely welcome people who discover that they're jewish, want to be jewish. but there's no such thing as being jew and then ish with a hyphen in between. he stole that from the jewish cookbook by the way called "jew-ish cooking." with the people that have earned the ability to be there, so, we'll have to see where the story ends but something tells me this is just the beginning of george santos' journey.

>> congressman-elect jared moskowitz, i think we're right there are new revelations ahead. >> you may find out that george said he was in the book of revelations. who knows. >> at this point, we seem to be on pace for that. thank you for joining us. as we mentioned congressman-elect dan goldman will be the guest later today on "morning joe." shifting gears, for the first time a federal judge has cited the january 6 final report since it was made public last week, indicating that then president donald trump's remarks on january 6, 2021, telling a crowd to, quote, fight like hell, before the capitol attack may suggest that trump was asking them to break the law. in a court order in the case against january 6th defendant alexander shepherd, u.s. district judge john bates rules that shepherd could not raise

the so-called public authority events at trial. after his lawyer had argued that trump had authorized his client's actions at the capitol that day. judge bates who is a george w. bush appointee rejected that defense. writing that trump did not tell the crowd that entering the capitol or impeding the certification of the vote was lawful. in a footnote, judge bates went on to note that his ruling was not out of step with the january 6th final report which concluded that trump acted, quote, corruptly, because he knew stopping the certification was unlawful. katty, this feels like a bit of a moment here, the january 6 committee toiling for a year on the final product that report issued to the public last week. we're still getting transcripts seemingly every day. here is one cited by a federal judge? >> yeah, look, we still have, what, three more days this year, and they are racing to get out

everything they can before the end of the year. so there could be even more that we don't know that could lead, you know, as -- serve as more fodder for lawsuits as well. let's see what else they have to release in the next few days. meanwhile, the house sergeant at arms weighed in on the january 6 attack during the testimony with the house select committee. according to his transcript, williams j. walker told the panel that response would have looked much different had the rioters been black americans instead of overwhelmingly white. walker who served in the national guard during the attack said i think it would have been more bloodshed had it been different. and noting that the stark difference to the summer of 2020 when pentagon officials constantly called him to discuss the protest that unfolded in washington after the murder of george floyd. jonathan, we knew there was a difference. now, we have testimony spelling

it out from inside. >> yeah, we do. that's something that joe was saying the morning of january 7th, how differently that day would have gone if it had been different people storming the capitol. another january 6th related head line here, out west, new court documents reveal during an hour's long standoff with the fbi, a january 6 defendant points a gun at the entrance of his home and told officers they, quote, better come in here shooting. a man named eric christy refused to leave his california home for two hours last week even after his attorney, friends and family arrived at the scene. christie claimed that the fbi had no lawful authority. the fbi finally arrested him after the hour's long standoff in sherman oaks. documents indicate that christie purchased a gun days after served with a grand jury subpoena back in march.

christi appeared to be armed with a hammer outside of the u.s. capitol on january 6th, 2021. a number of republicans, meanwhile, have stepped up their attacks on the fbi in an attempt to undermine the agency as it continues to take the lead in a plethora of investigations of former president trump. the assault comes as republicans are poised to take over the house next week. "the new york times" reporting that ohio congressman jim jordan, there he is, is set to chair the judiciary committee, has pledged to investigate what he describes as the politicization of the fbi, as well as that of the doj, the committee released a 1,000 page report last month that accused trump of spying on the campaign and ridicuing americans. ed luce, i think the two stories deserve to be linked. we have the rhetoric from

republicans who picked up anafter 6, again this summer, after the fbi search of mar-a-lago that found the documents held there by former president trump. the sort of attacks, insinuating relations against the fbi. and we have records, statistics, number of threats against federal law enforcement picked up dramatically right afterwards. and now, we have a moment here in california, where this man a january 6th defendant, said fbi agents better come in with their guns blazing. >> yeah, we're going to see more of this. i mean, we've seen a couple of attempts. there was one in ohio a few weeks ago, on fbi agents, regional officers. you know, the important thing to remember is there is no evidence of established institutional bias. the fbi makes mistakes like any other institution. and there was a couple of mistakes with the wording of

subpoenas. and altering an email for one of the pfizer court warrants to tap. while there's no consistent bias of the fbi, after a few weeks, though, of jim jordan, and of course, marjorie taylor greene, you know, who kevin mccarthy has got, she'll be on the oversight committee, which is why he's got her vote. there's going to be an extraordinary amount of noise and performing politics by the fbi that believe that the fbi is part of a deep state plot. i don't know what can be done about this, other than people in our profession do tend to amplify such hearings, because they are newsworthy. they are, you know, they are theater. but the substance, that underlies these claims, this consensus now in the republican

party, is so far yet to be seen. and i'll be very surprised if any substance to systematic bias, political bias can be found. the only really significant political effect that the fbi has had in the last few years is when james comey reopened the email investigation a few days before the election. so if one party or the other could be enflamed or annoyed by fbi errors it would be the democratic party. >> a good point there about james comey. he violated doj guidelines to do so. and certainly, so much of this anti-fbi rhetoric can be directly linked to the attacks on the deep state by former president donald trump, attacks without evidence. still ahead here on "morning joe," a live report from st. croix, where president biden is taking time off returning to

republican-controlled house. hey, who got that assignment for us -- plus a new round of attacks targeting the infrastructure power grid has left people in the dark. and we're going to talk to ed luce about why he says ron desantis key is the future of trumpism. you're watching "morning joe." and we'll be right back.

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♪♪ it is 6:30 in the morning here in washington, d.c. that is reagan national airport. we hope there are happier travelers this morning. assuming they will get their luggage met with them again. good luck if you're taking to the skies today. ed luce, your recent column to the "financial times" is "the

meaning of ron desantis." you write, an enduring debate about donald trump is whether he stands for clear ideology or just donald trump. the latter was never in doubt. but it has dane ron desantis florida's governor and the former u.s. president's chief rival to fashion a world view from trump's gut instincts. those who hope the republican party will revert to the me-trump character after he has gone are missing the plot. in some ways, desantis is even further and desantis has shown that he can take on large corporations such as disney and the cruise liner industry and the pharmaceutical sector and still rake in campaign contributions. he has also proved that doing battle with fortune 500 companies so called woke

capitalism is a vote winner. his method is to convert resentment of corporate and educational elites into grow and governing program. unlike trump, who trolled liberals on twitter also also craving the establishment's approval, desantis basks in their hatred. if trump did not exist, you might describe desantis philosophy as fossil fuel. i love the way, ed, that you call him his heir unapparent. he's not just different in personality from trump. is he also different in ideology? >> so, i think that's really the key question. i mean, the first bit, the

personality, while it's a very important one, because we see him, you know, leading trump in several big polls by big margins and yet, he hasn't been tested really outside of florida. or even that much within florida, because his events are very sort of set up and orchestrated. and, my observation of him, and others is that he's not just uncharismatic, he's anti-charismatic. you know, we have seen great republican hopes like scott walker and marco rubio heralded before only to crash when they hit new hampshire or iowa or wherever they're interacting with real people and sharing the likes of their lives. but in terms of your question about ideology, yes, i think what he's done is he's packaged trump's capricious sort of set of instincts, really nasty instincts that trump gathers by

crowd-testing rallies as much as anything else into something verysystematic which is a cultural program of resentment. it's a harvesting of resentment against people who went to the kinds of universities he went to. he was a harvard law school graduate. and he's turned this into a predictable form of organized troving. that trump is just not capable throughs indiscipline of stick ing to. with the result of cultural elites. it wins blue collar votes not just with hispanics, but all kinds of hispanic backgrounds. he launches investigations into big pharma for allegedly misserving vaccines. he's called on fauci a bit like elon musk, to be held to account

by the law for alleged crimes against science and public communication. these are the result of intensive leading, market research. and planning and consultation. they are programs, but they're not whimsical, they don't come from tweets. they come from a lot of homework. and i think you can call it trumpism, but it's trumpism without trump. it's trumpism without really indiscipline. >> ed luce, thank you so much. that certainly will be a test. governor desantis not yet nationally vetted and you pointed to his lack of charisma, so much to the appeal of trump celebrity that can keep a crowd going. and we know, katty, he can draw tens of thousands of people to a rally. there's no evidence that ron desantis has any sort of those

political skill sskills. >> yeah, you've been to a trump rally, it's fun, it's almost like he whips up the crowd. it's kind of predictable. people go for the entertainment. he was an entertainer, after all. and yet, i can see where ron desantis is more disciplined and where he taps into similar grievances. it's just going to be very interesting once trump is out of the picture what happens to somebody like ron desantis. does he just become a more hard line version of a traditional conservative republican, more of a hawk on certain issues? where does he end up, when he doesn't have to do the sort of trump line? it's a very interesting idea. what happens to trumpism after trump. >> yeah, we know what the polls say now, there are a lot of republicans when you put those two on stage together, their money would be on trump. coming up, hardline positions by russia and ukraine are casting doubt on the potential for any meaningful

peace talks. but our next guest says the war has him feeling optimistic as the year comes to a close. the "the atlantic's" frank ford will explain next on "morning joe." hey, stephen king here, i just want to wish joe, mika and willie a happy anniversary. i think it's number 15. man, you guys are a lot younger when we started. on the other hand, so am i am, anyway, boom, take care of yourself. have a great day. >> mika, joe, you guys have been nice enough to have me on the show a couple times. and the only thing better than being on the show is watching the snow. so, congratulations on 15 years. and here's to the next 15 years of keeping america informed. congratulations.

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welcome back. let's turn now to the latest in ukraine. parts of the war-torn country are in the dark this morning after a new round of russian missile strikes hit overnight. the massive wave of strikes once again appearing to target the country's energy grid. this comes as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy ramps up pressure for his country to join the european union, making his latest plea during an annual address to his parliament yesterday. zelenskyy said ukraine cements the eu, and the entire free world with the struggle for freedom and peace. zelenskyy stressed that negotiations should start for the country's entry into the union. an katty, certainly, one of the many unintended consequences of vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine is pushing kyiv into the arms of europe. >> yeah, and europe embracing

kyiv as fast as it can. joining us now, staff writer for "the atlantic" frank ford. your piece is titled the cynic's dilemma. as 2022 comes to a close, i feel something unfamiliar, something i can't entirely trust, optimism. for a long moment in global politics, the planet seemed to be hurtling toward authoritarianism. but several months back, my sense of dread began to end. back in march, francis fukui yaum ma a prophet of optimism suggested that ukraine's example of resistance might help spiritually rally liberal democracies against threats. that prediction, when i doubted when he issued it, has come to pass. since the start of the ukraine war, western democracies have voted to cast acyte populist goons.

emmanuel macron held off marine le pen in october. brazilians disposed of jair bolsonaro. and, in the midterm, elections, united states repudiated republicans. frank, raining down on ukraine, despite saying the war is deadlocked. we've got iran getting closer to russia. we've got climate change. we've got afghan girls not being allowed to school. i like this, a need a dose of this? >> well it definitely going in the face of my deeply engrained instincts. we're accustomed to assuming the worst when good news arrives, it's hard to is assimilate. but it's a master narrative of our times the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism.

as we look back at the ledger of this year, i think we have to say on balance, more than just on balance, the democracy side came out the winner. it all begins with ukraine. nobody expected that this western alliance would rally to the defense of ukraine. nobody expected that the ukrainians would mount the defense that they did of their own country. and i think that those two facts have echoed and reverberated throughout the year. that we've had the series of electoral contests you just described in the beginning. and that's the primary evidence, but it goes beyond that. that we've seen protest movements in iran and china. places where nobody expected to see them emerge. and it's hard to know exactly where those go. do those go to -- they may just be flashes in the pan. but it's really, for the first time, over the course of maybe five or six years, we've seen the forces of democracy really on the march. >> frank, it's sam stein here,

i'm going to echo what katty said, i wonder what kind of drug cocktail you've taken to have such optimism. and can i get my hands on it as a legal. but certainly, on a more serious note, why is it that you think in the case of optimism, why is it that you think with so many people, when you look at any public opinion poll believe that their personal situation is bleak, or bleaker than it was. and that the future does not look as optimistic as they hoped would be? >> yeah, let me be your dealer, sam. so, look, we are objective conditions are miserable when you have this sort of inflation that we've had. and i think people are generally accustomed to, over the course of the last couple years, to not being -- especially optimistic, coming out of the pandemic and the like. life has been profoundly disrupted by events.

and i think that's what makes in part, the midterm election result here so interesting and surprising, where people, to some extent, rally to protect democracy, despite whatever view that, you know, that biden may not be in their own economic self-interests. to some sense, we've transcended some of the optimistic concerns in order to rally for democracy. that's definitely for the ukraine war writ large, where certainly not in the short-term interest to rally in defense of ukraine, and yet they continue to hold quite firm in response to everything. and one thing i would add, the joe biden theory of democracy, is that democracy survives when it shows that it can get things done. that's another reason why i would walk out of this year on the optimistic side, it's that congress after years of

cirrhosis and dysfunction has actually had a season of legislating. i think when you look back on this year as some distance, i think the inflation reduction act which people had to really celebrate -- it's quite a big deal than it actually is, will be seen as a turning point moment in the history of climate policy. it's something that we probably underestimated as we described what it will do for the climate, in that the tax credits and the inflation reduction act are untapped. so it starts to push the economy which is already moving in the direction of alternative energies more radically in the direction, it will just keep spending to reinforcing that cycle. >> and frank, president biden also has said the next century will be defined by the competition between democracies and autocracies. let me ask you about china and

iran, we've seen protests there in those two autocracies, do you feel there's hope there, perhaps the start of change? or do you worry they'll just be repressively put to bed? >> i don't know. and i think that maybe the protests in iran seem like they've had more staying power than the protests in china. the protests in china were significant because they dislodged this hard policy that xi had around covid. and it's the first time in a long time where the chinese government has shown some sensitivity to public opinion, because it obviously feared what public opinion would do to the state. and in iran, i think it's just interesting to me this is coming on the heels of ukraine. you know, i could never prove any sort of connection between the two. but one of the things that we see is historically is protests movements are of their own

beneficent form of contagion where it tends to spread from one country to another. and it comes in these packets of activism that we see. that's what happened in 1989, which was not just an eastern european movement. it spread to places like china and into other countries. and it does feel like there has been this sort of democratic contagion that's happened. and once these things get unleashed, they tend to be hard to stuff back into the bottle. >> perhaps. injection of optimism that we all need, from your piece with the "the atlantic" which is titled the "cynic's dilemma" frank foer, thank you for joining us. still ahead here on "morning joe," covid cases are spiking across the country, adding to hospitalizations from the so-called tripledemic that is already overwhelming the nation's medical system. we're going to check in with a leading health expert on this sobering news. that will be ahead on "morning joe."

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♪♪ gorgeous shot of the sun coming up here in new york city. 6:54 a.m. here on the east coast. and that also means it's time now for a look at the "morning papers." we'll begin just across the river in new jersey where the "star ledger" reports auto insurance is about to get more expensive for millions of drivers in that state. a controversial new law signed by governor phil murphy will go into effect next year to increase the light that drivers need to have.

the tampa bay times is taking a look at new census data that shows that florida is the fastest growing state in the country. for the first time in 65 years, the sunshine state takes the top spot for population growth. now on to kansas where the wichita eagle reports that governor laura kelly has signed an executive order banning tiktok on state-issued devices for executive branch employees. this comes, of course, as congress in several other states have also moved to ban tiktok on government devices amid growing security concerns. coming up here on "morning joe," how a perfectly normal new york suburb elected a con man. former congressman steve israel will join us with his new op-ed on the embattled lawmaker elected to his old seat in congress. plus, the colleague to be of george santos who will also be representing new york in the house, congressman-elect daniel goldman. he'll join the conversation as well. "morning joe" will be right back.

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♪♪ well, good morning, shalom to everybody. and thank you for being here, thank you for having me. my name is george santos. lee zeldin really paved the way for all of us in new york. [ applause ] lee has served as an inspiration, as a friend and as a leader for the jewish folks in congress. and for all of us in this room, by one point being two members. so, now, we're going to be three. >> i believe the word is chutzpah. congressman-elect george santos referring to himself as jewish, at the republican jewish coalition last month. in a moment, we'll have much more into the growing scrutiny into his background.

federal prosecutors are also now getting involved. welcome back to "morning joe" on this thursday, december 29th. let's take a moment and look at that shot. sunrise in lower manhattan here. new york city, just spectacular. what remarkable images put together by our crew each and every day. i'm jonathan lemire i'm alongside bbc's katty kay, and politico's sam stein. joe, mika, and willie have the day off. but beautiful felt elsewhere in the state? >> yeah, we're still seeing the storm area, amazing pictures, we begin in buffalo, new york, where the death toll has reached 29 people due to last weekend's winter storm. crews are still working on clearing the streets. but warmer weather is creating new concerns because of potential flooding from the over four feet of snow in the area. temperatures are expected to range from the lower 40s all the way to the mid-50s over the next

five days. in response, new york governor kathy hochul is urging state agencies to prepare flood response assets for the area. while the governor is coordinating assets before potential flooding. questions are humaning as local officials could have enacted a driving ban much earlier to prevent people from being out of their homes when the storm actually hit, erie county executive mark poloncarz and mayor brown commented on each other. take a listen. >> the reason why state and county have come in and took over operations, i know i'd be happy to hear it, we took over one-third of the city of buffalo because we knew we could get in there and clean it quickly. the mayor is not going to be happy to hear about it, storm after storm after storm, the city unfortunately is the last one to be open. that shouldn't be the case. it's embarrassing to tell you the truth. >> people have been working around the clock since the

beginning of this storm. you know some people handle that pressure a lot differently. some keep working. some keep trying to help the residents of our community. and some break down and lash out. so, don't really know what the county executive is talking about. >> discouraging to hear that fighting between those officials. in a tweet later in the day, poloncarz took response for the timing of the driving ban, writing in part, i do not know if it would have changed anything but it was my decision, and i bear full responsibility. we do see those awful picture of people being stuck in their cars. >> meanwhile, the miserable week of travel continues as more than 2,000 have been cancelled today, more than half just from southwest airlines. and now vowing to get involve. emilie ikeda has the report. >> reporter: as travel for southwest passengers presses on. >> they told us the flight was

cancelled. >> reporter: making up 90% of cancellations, southwest 2500 flights on top of 11,000 already cancelled in the last week. >> i really hope they figure out whatever the problems are and get back on track. >> reporter: so what's keeping one of the country's largest carriers from bouncing back? industry experts blame a trifecta of bad weather, the airlines outdated scheduling system. and lower cost point-to-point flight design which sends planes from one destination to the next. and so on, instead of the popular hub and spoke system connecting passengers and crews through a central point. >> in a point-to-point system like southwest, you can see a domino effect of kansal las vegas cancellations if one flight gets cancelled it puts that crew and plane at risk. >> reporter: and the pilots association. >> we've been warning about this over the last five years, the last two years we've seen more meltdowns, they've been more

severe. >> reporter: the senate investigating authority promises to investigate and the cascading effects seen with the scores of unclaimed suitcases from dallas to st. louis, to chicago and baltimore. where a viewer fetched his luggage after spotting it from a report from amare stone. >> i was supposed to be in denver. i drove back. >> reporter: telling them, the continued mayhem is southwest's direct responsibility. >> they told me in their words they would go above and beyond their written customer service plan. i'm going to be holding them accountable for doing that. >> does that mean financially? >> absolutely. >> i'm truly sorry. >> reporter: the southwest ceo apologizing to customers and travelers, rolling out a new website for compensation which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars. but for some passengers it will be too little too late.

>> we need to be compensated than just our flights. >> nbc's emilie ikeda with that report. and ahead, we'll speak with the president of the transport workers union which represents southwest airlines flight attendants, we'll see what they have to say, jon. >> yeah, people traveling thousands of miles to drive to get their bags. it is a mess, it has not gotten any better. speaking of messes, that's a segway for you, congressman-elect george santos is not under investigation for the lies. and calling it nothing short of stunning and promised if a crime is committed in the county, we will prosecute it. it's not just his lies about his college or personal life that could land santos in hot water. as the saying knows, follow the money. fellow new york congressman

elect democrat dan goldman with whom we'll speak in just a moment is now calling for investigation into potential finance fraud after the business that sand those founded just last year, a company named devolder was dissolved shortly before the election. sorts tell cbs that federal pers are looking into santos' financial disclosures. he listed a salary of 55,000s as the vice president of a company called link bridge investors but this cycle, just two years later, mother jones reports santos claimed he made between 3.5 and $11.5 million from devolder. we're talking a jump from 55,000 to maybe 11.5 million in just two years. santos then loaned his campaign this time around more than

$700,000. semafor reports before founding his company, santos worked for harbor city capital, a florida firm, the s.e.c. accused in april 2021 of running a $17 million ponzi scheme. santos says he left that company, the month before it was charged, and that he has not been named in the case. speaking to semafor, the news website, santos claimed within the first six months of starting devolder he, quote, landed a couple of million dollar contracts. santos did not respond to follow-up questions asking what the million dollar contracts entailed, or if he could share the names of previous clients from his business. nbc news has reached out to the national republican congressional committee, and all three offices of house gop leadership for comment and have not received a response. santos himself has also not responded to a request for comment but the

congressman-elect apologized again in a recent interview where he admitted to embellishing his resume. joining us now former assistant united states attorney for the southern district of new york, the aforementioned congressman-elect dan goldman. and steve israel, george santos won his former congressional district. congressman-elect, let's start with you, you will be serving with congressman-elect santos in a number of days unless something changes for him. talk to us with the backs of these lies and the potential threats that you feel should be investigated. look, the sad reality is this republican party, the leadership has not made a single comment about the extreme series and web of lies that george santos

continues to perpetrate. he ostensibly came forward to apologize but continues to lie. continues to lie about his jewish religion. he is not usual, but yet he claims he is, quote, jew-ish which as a jew, i find incredibly offensive. but his web of lies, deceit to voters, and voters who voted for steve, i'm interested to hear what he has to say about that. but it's not being rebuked by house leadership. there's no comment. and what it really just goes to say is that george santos' view of elections is very consistent with republicans' view of elections. is that they no longer need to be free and fair. they just need to make sure that republicans win. and in addition to his lies about his background, his education, his work experience, his religion, his properties, i mean, the list goes on and on and on, he's got real, real

suspicious financial activity. and i think the easiest way to explain it is, there are either two situations here, both of which are bad for him. one is that he used his entity that he created as a pass-through for donors to far exceed campaign finance limits by, essentially, giving his corporation money which then santos transferred from the corporation to his own bank account. and then from his bank account to his campaign. that's a violation of campaign finance laws. but even if it was legitimate, and even if somehow this corporation that was created a year ago, all of a sudden had millions of dollars of, quote, contracts or agreements, it still isn't legal. because then santos is the pass-through for a corporation to give to his own campaign. so, these financial investigations that we're now learning are going -- i'm happy

that the eastern district of new york heeded my call to investigate him for federal violations of the campaign finance laws. they're going to dig into this. because even his explanation, the quote, multimillion-dollar -- a couple of million dollar agreements, he has said what he did is, quote, capital introduction. you don't have a contract for capital introduction. it's essentially serving as you get referrals and you don't enter into a contract. what we know very wealthy republican donors have agreements with santos. the daily beast reported that. but that begs the question is this really a way to funnel even more money into his campaign for his seat in new york. >> well, steve, you have penned in "the atlantic" "how a perfectly normal new york suburb

elected a con man." and you write, how did george santos, a republican newly elected to new york's third congressional district on long island get away with running for office with an almost completely fictitious resume. the answer is a combination of democratic complacency, republican extremeively and media decline in a house district that i know intimately. we shouldn't let the republican party off the hook. republicans accepted santos' narrative without due diligence because they prioritized extreme ideology over actual qualifications. santos was at the ellipse on january 6, and has even claimed that he helped arrest insurrectionists with their legal fees. politicians embellish resumes. if that was a crime, every candidate in america would be in prison. but santos' lies are an sought on democratic norms. the republicans should have

vetted sant tots. the democrats should have checked him out more thoroughly. it's a shame for my old district. but it's more than that for the country. this should be a warning. steve, it's an interesting point that you raise, partly about the republican power and their desire to get power. we saw this in georgia with herschel walker, a similar narrative occurred there. it's built partly on customs and norms. once those customs and norms get broke, the system itself is increasingly fragile? >> well, you're exactly right. and democracy requires one other thing and that is transparency. it requires investigative journalism. this would not have happened had the media, both local and national, had the resources to really focus on mr. santos. i mean, what is integral to this is that nobody took this guy

seriously. long island, my former congressional district, you know, my former constituents, they will tolerate disagreement, but not dishonesty. the reason that dishonesty was able to thrive was that mr. santos wasn't taken seriously. nobody believed he could win. when his opponent, his democratic opponent, mr. zimmerman received the opposition research, saw those red flags and brought those red flags to the attention of many in the local media, the response was, this guy's not going to win. this is not a story. he's a tree that fell in the forest. the consolidation of print journalism, the reduction in budgets for journalists. the escalation of news, allowed mr. santos who fall under the radar. we need to hold candidates

accountable, the best way is to make sure they can be investigated by journalists in markets in communities like the ones i used to represent. >> let me jump in there. i agree with that point, to a degree. the reason we're talking about george santos right now is precisely because of journalism. "the new york times" exposed the lies of his resume, after the election, which is the issue here. of course, i can't disagree wih the idea that the newspapers have been gutted and deserve more resources and advantageous for the writ large society. i just want to make that point. but i want to take that point of what the former congressman said and direct it to the incoming congressman dan, and ask him about the culpability of this case, of the new york democratic party, which has come under a lot of criticism for not properly going after george santos prior to the election.

do you think that the new york democratic party has introspection here? or shore undertake some introspection here? and what changes would you like to see for your neck of woods as i acknowledge journalism has some introspection as well. >> look, i think these are all interesting conversations, but they missed the point. it is not investigative journalism's fault, or the democrats fault that we have a con man who absolutely obliterated the truth in order to get elected. that is george santos' fault. and that needs to be where the conversation is. this guy is, clearly, an investored impostor who continues to lie and lie. it's not the media fault, it's not the democrats' fault. it's george santos' fault. and it's now the republicans

fault because they're not speaking out against him and they're welcoming him into congress because they can become an anti-democratic party that does not care about free and care elections. instead, they care about power and winning and they'll do it at all costs. we saw tell with donald trump in 2020 and across the country in recent elections but george santos is the continuation of that attack on democracy. and until the republican party will stand up for democracy, that is the greatest threat for our country. it's not lack of funding for journalism, it's not the fact that the democrats' opposition research may have left something to be desired. it's the fact that george santos felt welcome in a party to essentially dely deceive his vo and potentially break the law in doing so so he can be elected. >> a lot of blame to go around squarely on the republicans and

that includes kevin mccarthy who has remained silent, steve, because he's counting on george santos' vote. you were in congress a long time. tell us a little bit about that dynamic. how you foresee the next few days. the first week or two of santos' time in office, assuming he does get there, and we have reason to believe he will. what's it going to be like for him in the halls of the capitol, particularly with the mccarthy speakership in the balance? >> well, two things, first, long islanders and the country deserve better than george santos. he will begin on january 3rd, assuming he takes his oath of office, rather than ironic, by the way. he will begin, not focused on things like infrastructure and the environment and the tax burden on long island, he's going to be begin his term thinking about himself. thinking about potential office of congressional ethics investigation. thinking about an ethics committee investigation. thinking about a nassau county district attorney's investigation, a new york state

attorney general's investigation and a federal investigation. so this guy begins with a disservice, unable to discharge his duties as a representative, having to deal with all of these legal problems. secondly, let's understand exactly what the dynamic is going to be with respect to kevin mccarthy and republicans in congress. they are playing for time. kevin mccarthy cannot afford to lose a republican vote in his quest for speaker on january 3rd. so my assumption, the assumption of many of my former colleagues is they're going to do what they have to do to keep this guy in his seat, as undeserved as it is until they reach january 3rd. but that raises another problem for mr. mccarthy and the republicans and that is, if mr. santos is forced to resign or if he loses his seat somehow before the next election, that triggers a special election. as dan knows the last thing a new republican majority wants to deal with is a special election

on long island that they're likely to lose. it's going to cost a lot of money. it's going to begin a narrative just as they took the slim majority they're on the verge of losing it. so, i believe that despite the very serious legal and political problems that mr. santos has, they're going to do everything they can to get to the next two years. this guy is not going to run in two years. but they're going to do everything they can to get through the next two years without a special election. >> that appears like a pretty accurate is depiction. and those constituents in long island who voted for someone who wasn't who they thought he was. former congressman israel. and dan goldman. and congressman jamie raskin announced he's been diagnosed with a serious but curable cancer. it led to diagnosis of diffuse

large cell lymphoma who added that his prognosis is good. raskin said he's about to start chemotherapy and seemed hopeful about his situation. >> it's very serious and it's aggressive. but the great news is because of all of the investments we've been making in medical research and science and technology, that it's very treatable. and we're getting it early enough that if i take well to the chemotherapy which starts this week, and i go through all of my six sessions, that i'll be in good shape. and i'm very grateful and thankful for that. and i have an amazing staff and great constituents and a loving family and friends. so, it is total my plan, chris, to make this through this thing. >> congressman raskin has had a lot of heartache in his life. and always seems to have a very brave face. we, of course, know him so well

from the january 6th select committee hearings. katty, we wish him the very best in his recovery. >> yeah. agency you say, he's had a tough few years and managing to be optimistic despite it all. >> our thoughts are with him. still ahead here on "morning joe," our next guest says coronavirus isn't the only reason children's vaccination rates are falling. we'll talk to dr. zeke emanuel about that, and the new variants emerging this winter. plus, politico magazine editors have picked out some of the top stories that explained the year that was, 2022. we'll take a look at that list and what it means for next year. you're watching "morning joe." and we'll be right back.

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starting next week, the united states will require all

travelers from china for show a negative covid-19 test result, before flying into the country. the new report comes amid a surge in cases in china and fears of a new variant emerge. according to health officials, passengers flying from the u.s. to china must get tested month more than two days before flying. they will need to provide prove to the airline before boarding. travelers who test positive more than ten days before their flight might provide documentation of their recovery. the new rules apply both to anyone flying directly to the u.s. from china, as well as those connecting from a hub including toronto, vancouver and seoul. the u.s. has expressed concerns over china's lack of transparency following the most recent surge in cases. the biden administration argues that the lack of information from beijing makes it difficult for health officials to detect new strains of the coronavirus. the tripledemic is overwhelming

hospitals as cases across the nation accelerate the last three weeks. as we near three full years of the pandemic, nbc news correspondent marissa parra visits one hospital looking at the mental toll of saving the lives. >> reporter: at a hospital in virginia, the work is never over. >> we're seeing a lot more flu. a lot more covid. a lot more rsv. so it just seems like it just never ends. >> reporter: in the past two weeks, covid cases have increased 19% nationwide, this, as three omicron subvariants now make up nearly 90% of covid cases across new england with new jersey seeing high transmission cases in all counties. always hospitals grapple with the season's influx of flu and rsv. >> in the last few months when you come to work it's frantic, it's not busy, it's frantic. >> reporter: the medical

director of the children's e.r. where they saw a 60% rise since 2020. at one point, you were so busy you brought hospital beds to the interim? >> we got hospital beds to any flat space we could find. >> reporter: it's been all hands on deck. because of the surge in rsv, you don't work with kids but you're being trained. >> exactly. >> reporter: a lesson when omicron numbers were surging. how do you guys cope? >> i think that we lean on each other, because we went through something that was so difficult, i'm sure there's some level of trauma bonding per se. >> reporter: when you're sprinting during a marathon, burnout is inevitable. >> we're already stretched. they be you get the surge which it's hard to handle. >> reporter: harder to handle when you don't know if there's a finish line? >> yeah.

i'm trying to plan on whether i need more staff for next year. i have no idea what january will be. >> nbc's marissa parra. joining us dr. zeke emanuel, he's an nbc news and msnbc distributor. dr. emanuel, thank you for joining us. i listen to that doctor and you hear how tough it is in the hospitals at the moment. and the fear of new variants, mixed with flu, that's coming on. you would think that the country would say okay, make sure you're up to date. i had a strange conversation with my 16-year-old and 20-year-old last month, i booked you with covid vax. you're both going to get your boosters. both have said, no, we don't want them. we've had enough vaccines. i was shocked and appalled. is this the kind of response from young people? they think this is over and they

don't need any more vaccines? >> yes, but i would say, you know, we keep thinking vaccines are going to prevent getting covid. >> right. >> they don't prevent getting covid. what they prevent is serious illness, hospitalization and death. and young people think they're invincible. yes, they are at lower risk from covid, but that's not zero risk. there are only two things that really can prevent transmission of covid virus. one is a good mask. and n95 mask and wearing it especially in crowded situations on airplanes and transportation. and the other is better indoor ventilation. unfortunately, we've gotten into a situation where neither of them seem to be a very high priority to reduce the transmission. and i think that's where we're at, putting every emphasis on vaccines is not going to solve this problem. >> dr. emanuel, are we seeing any signs of a new variant emerging here in the u.s. or perhaps in this ongoing explosive outbreak in china?

>> well, we're seeing spread of variants that we've had. and more dominant xbb and other omicron variants. what i'm worried about in china is throughout the world, we've had 650 million confirmed covid cases. six variants of concern. the most serious variants. china is expected to have 800 million people infected within the next 90 days, beating the entire rest of the world. and as katty said in the start, not a lot of transparency about the number of cases, the genetics, the variants, and we need that information to track things, to examine the waste water and to really prepare ourselves. unfortunately, we are entering exhaustion period, i think as the doctor said, but it's for the whole society. we want this over. and it's not that simple. we're still having 125,000

deaths from covid a year. 125,000. >> yeah. and katty just mentioned many of the vaccination rates, dr. emanuel, you wrote on that in a new piece in "the new york times" that analyzing the falling rates for children in the united states. you say it's not just because of covid. you write in part this, the decline is rooted in long-standing policies among some states that allow, for instance, for nonmedical exemptions, failures to rigorously enforce vaccination requirements and inadequate public health campaigns. here's how the decline can be reversed. states should eliminate nonmedical exemptions. states should also end extensions granted to school children to complete routine vaccinations and undertake vigorous community outreach and communication. children aged 14 and older, should be allowed to obtain without parental permission all missed childhood polio, measles

and other vaccinations finally, states should undertake the necessary technology upgrades and data standardization to improve data links mongol 62s, local and state immunization programs and the cdc to track routine childhood immunization rates. doctor, many people listening to this would say, well that should be the case but where do they need changed? >> well, we've had a lot of states that have had very expansive exemptions that allow people to exempt for personal views for religious views. and really if they just don't want their kids to get a vaccine, wisconsin, idaho are high on that list. interestingly, there are red states which say no exemptions except medical exemptions, like mississippi and west virginia. and they're very high on the number of people who have gotten vaccinated. mississippi is the stop state, in terms of childhood vaccinations in the country.

a deep red state which doesn't do a lot of other things well in terms of public health. but on vaccines they are, no -- no bs, you got to get your vaccine. and they enforce it. on the other hand, washington, d.c., we're pretty lax on whether, you know, we would have a requirement, but pretty lax about enforcing it. and that enforcement is absolutely critical for kids. and when we don't get kids vaccinations, they get sick. as we're seeing in columbus, ohio. we saw it in the polio outbreak in new york. those are serious, serious health problems. by the way, they cost all of us extra money. and we don't have a lot of money to spare on preventible diseases. >> doctor, you mentioned the mask and the ventilation beginning of this interview. who has the authority, the respect and the trust at the moment, to try and launch a campaign to say to people, listen, we know you want this to

be over. the truth of it is isn't quite over. but if you could just use your mask a bit more, make sure you have ventilation, for the next three months while we're in this difficult winter period, then that would make an enormous difference to our health system and to your own personal health. who is it, the president, is it your personal doctor? who would be the most effective messenger for that? >> well, i think personal physicians are the most effective messenger. and personal physicians emphasizing high-quality masks in crowded situations. indoor ventilation is a longer term issue that has to be done with local housing codes. but also we have a lot of money for schools that could upgrade indoor ventilation. we want to prevent kids from getting flu, rsv and covid. and, by the way, asthma and other things. improving indoor ventilation in schools is very important and a top priority. and there are tens of billions

of dollars available in the federal government for schools. and this, i would make a top priority, it will keep kids healthy, it will make their cognitive function better. indoor ventilation in schools should be a top national priority. >> it sounds so simple. dr. zeke emanuel, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. coming up with digging into another public health problem. opioid addiction, nbc news is looking into how schools are stepping in for the overdose among american teenagers. "morning joe" will be richt back.

welcome back. this morning, we have an update on the nation's opioid crisis. as the number of teenagers overdosing on the synthetic opioid fentanyl reaches a record high, schools across the country

are working to meet the problem with a new kind of solution. nbc news correspondent morgan radford joins us now. and, morgan, we've heard a lot about the alarming deaths or spike in deaths from fentanyl recently, particularly among the american youth. what are schools doing? >> they're taking the war into the schools themselves. hundreds of break-in case of emergency style kits sort of like fire extinguishers. they're putting them in hallways and libraries and nurse's offices. and they say this is just the beginning when it comes to confronting the crisis head on. >> reporter: when tonya lost her son j.j. he was just 19 years old. >> he ingested cocaine. he had enough fentanyl in his system to kill 30 adults. >> reporter: a tragic story

becoming more increasingly common. deaths reaching a record high, surging 133% in just two years. the vast majority of them caused by fentanyl, a drug that's often found in fake pills made to resemble prescription drugs like oxycodone, xanax or adderall. that's why in camden, new jersey -- >> break the glass. >> reporter: they're bringing a new solution to students. it's almost like a fire extinguisher, you break the glass? >> that's exactly what it is. >> reporter: the school district is installing 175 kits just like this countywide each one stacked with narcan a drug that can reverse overdoses. schools have allowed schools to stock naloxone training staff how to use it.

>> it's so prominent in the community. >> reporter: data is showing that the number of overdoses among teens is going up but drug use among teens is actually going down. how do you square that? >> really, that's because of the strength of fentanyl, just a few grams of fentanyl can kill someone. we think the fact that fentanyl is now mixed in with the drugs being used is attributing to the higher rate of the deaths. >> reporter: those fatal mixes the drug enforcement administration saying often finding into the hands through social media. >> through people who are willing to buy drugs. >> online? >> yes, online. >> reporter: a campaign of events parents like tanya hopes to prevent any way possible. what about parents who feel like putting the naloxone kits in schools is going too far, that it sends the wrong message to drugs? >> i think it's with anything, like kids with peanuts, why not

have it available for people that need to have it. i truly think you don't know what's going on in the bathroom. you don't know what happened in the car in the parking lot. if this is a way to keep kids from dying, so be it. >> reporter: a new tool in the fight over overdoses, reaching a younger generation. >> you can sort of hear the heart of the debate there. camden county officials tell us this is just the beginning and a broader overdose preparation plan, because ultimately, they hope to get the same kits on to buses and libraries and public parks basically anyplace they believe that an overdose could be likely to happen. meanwhile, the california legislature is set to take up a bill in the upcoming session january 4th to allow the public schools to stock naloxone to require them to at least keep two doses on hand, jon. >> it's terrifying and so widespread and seems to reach younger people. worth trying anything.

nbc's morgan radford, thank you so much. a really important report and happy new year to you. still ahead here on "morning joe," a new biography is taking a look at the most important nonelected officials of 20th century. we'll tell you who that is. and the editor of politico is joining us to explain the best stories of 2022 and an offer of his of what might be coming next. "morning joe" will be right back.

each graduation is a forward step in law enforcement and in the progress of law. as we look back to the formation of the national academy of the federal bureau of investigation in 1935 i think we can with a great deal of pride see that we have had over 2,800 graduates in the police departments of this country most of them ranking officials of those departments. there is a new spirit of

cooperation through the facilities recorded by the national academy. it is the answer to the demand for a national police without the evil and the obstacles of following to a structure established in our country. >> that was then fbi director j. edgar hoover addressing the 53rd graduating class in washington speaking to the benefit that the federal bureau of investigation provides the nation. he himself and his quite complicated legacy are the subject of a new book, the first major biography of his life released in decades titled "g-man." and named as one of the top ten books reviewed by staff at "the atlantic" and today the book's author beverly gage joins us.

it is hard to -- just the length of the tenure. director from 1924 to the death in 1972. almost unfathomable that one man wields so much power for so long. >> yeah. the book is the story of how he did that and making that power happen. he was 29 when he became director under coolidge and there until the day he died under nixon so a vast swath of the century and how the american security state was built. >> give us a primer. what are the high and low points of his tenure. >> hoover is a pure creature of washington. born in washington in 1895 and

died in washington in 1972 and deep in the government the whole time. started out as a reformer. a believer of good government but the fbi had abuses and the things that we think of when we think about hoover today. >> we know the clashes with the kennedys and dr. martin luther king and tell us about how while alive revered in many parts of american society but today 2022 decades after his death largely reviled. >> yeah. there's lots of new details in this book but maybe the most surprising is reminding everyone that hoover was popular when he

was alive but at the height of the anti-red scare he was the most popular public servant in washington. >> professor, he had supporters. enabled by lbj and nixon. was there anyone that tried to stop him and saw the darker side who he was and tried to rein him in? >> there were along the way. he always had lot of critics on the left. within the presidency he came at odds with harry truman in particular but hoover was more influential and powerful than truman. and the he had major clashes with the kennedys but worried

about what hoover knew and the political power and popularity. >> the new book is "g-man" getting rave reviews. i can't wait to read it. thank you so much for joining us this morning still ahead on "morning joe," a live report from san croix where president biden is vacationing. plus, new signs pointing to potential charges for the former president after a federal judge said donald trump's speech on january 6 could have signaled to supporters that he wanted them to do something more than just protest. also ahead, joe's conversation with an american music i con. "morning joe" will be right back.

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shot there of the rockefeller center christmas tree. and a glimpse of the ice skating rink. i think i see mark barnacle getting in a few laps before he joins us at the 9:00 hour. welcome back the "morning joe" on this thursday, december 29th. i'm jonathan lemire with the bbc's katty kay. ice there on the rink. ice still on the roads. certainly in buffalo, new york. still digging out. passengers remain stranded at airlines across the country. >> i'm glad it's mike doing the laps and not me. yeah. we begin this hour with the chaos of southwest airlines. flights still canceled.

flyers are scrambling for a plan "b." blayne alexander has the latest. >> reporter: the family picture of an unparalleled travel holiday meltdown. >> waited in two hours to get rebooked. >> reporter: canceling flights by southwest. more airline executives are offering some relief. >> if you are still waiting on a bag you can submit information how to receive it at no cost to you. sub mate full refund request for canceled flights and any travel expenses you can submit the receipts on the website. >> reporter: other major airlines are helping. delta, american and united to help stranded passengers. >> this was like our first

experience to being out of control. >> reporter: they were stranded in kansas city and rented a car. drove to colorado and bought six plane tickets on a different airline to get to san diego. all told nearly $3,000 in unplanned expenses. >> i would like to be reimbursed but, you know, that's out of my control. >> reporter: passenger in nashville this video of an officer telling passengers without tickets that they can be arrested for trespassing. >> you will be arrested if you refuse to leave. >> reporter: southwest airlines personal requested a police officer to escort passengers to the presecurity ticketing

counters. experts say it's important to know what you are entitled to. >> you have a right for a refund of any ticket where the airline cancels it. >> reporter: coming to reimbursements there's not always a guarantee. >> may have to extend the money and hope the airline will honor it. >> blayne alexander with that report. i'm looking forward to report to show if the people got the money back. >> there's going to be a lot of government oversight into what happened. president biden is in st. croix this morning. he got there not on southwest. he's scheduled to return to washington on january 2, the day before the democratic party

cedes control of the house the republicans. looming is the decision whether to run for president. mike memoli drew the tough reporting assignment live from st. croix. come on! you win. we lose. president biden should take rest because he is coming back to a lot. questions about the future but also a divided washington and house gop intent to make life very challenging for the president and his west wing. >> reporter: yeah. that's right. i take a backseat to nobody coming to the presidential vacation assignment. i had the duty to travel back and forth to waikiki in the obama administration and last year spent the week in a similar pa are dice. delaware. >> love it.

>> reporter: they resume a tradition of a decade coming here to st. croix. first time as the president and the first sitting president since truman arriving by yacht. this is an unusual political moment. we haven't had what we see right now which is members of the president's party questioning whether or not this president will seek re-election. and so that's the backdrop against which president biden has come here. i will say there's been a lot talk about the family meeting an important decision point for the bidens over the years. my reporting and the conversation that colleagues and i had with dr. jill biden in october reporting that the family is fully supportive of

president biden seeking another term is down played. the president is clear. every time asked about this he intend to run for re-election. second part he says i'm a great respecter of faith. in 2016 considering a run. death of his son beau interceded. all signs are that the president is pointing towards running for re-election. this is a time for him to enjoy the time with his family. his daughter ashley, two grand children are here. people here are intending to give the president space to enjoy the time off. it's interesting that the president doesn't have much of a staff footprint. jake sullivan is here but dealing with the new republican majority is under way for weeks.

they look at the new republican majority as potentially a good political foyle for the president. they will be focused on the successful legislative track record over two years with a democratic congress and while they focus on cutting ribbons, more jobs announcements, the new provisions of the inflation reduction act, they're happy to let republicans send a flurry of lotters and launch investigations they think the public will not be receptive to. the president made clear. he does see some hope for legislating and a faction of that new republican majority in biden districts and more than anything looking to confirm more

judges. >> nbc's mike memoli, the first man to wear a suit on the beach on a presidential trip since nixon himself did it in the 1970s. history made this morning on "morning joe." put sunscreen on. thank you for joining us this morning. republicans have been hitting the president about how prices are still high. inflation cooled but higher. there's an area where things are cheap jer that's the pump. experts say the cost of gas expected to be cheaper overall in 2023. correspondent kerry sanders has the latest on that story. >> reporter: positive news at the pump this morning. estimates for 2023 predict gas prices cheaper overall next year. >> i think i would be happy.

>> reporter: those savings are expected to be significant. on average gas should cost nearly 50 cents less per gallon in 2023. the price of gas is expected to be down not up. you say -- >> it is a welcomed thing. >> reporter: welcomed for drivers here and across the country after consistently high fuel prices dominated in 2022 and set off inflation alarm bells and crushed confidence. >> horrific. what are you going to do? >> reporter: between now and may of 2023 prices are expected to remain low but slight inkroess in the warmer months. with priuses potentially reaching the $4 per gallon mark did enmany jay, june, july and august. >> prices are seasonal. as the weather starts to war up

in march we start to see americans outside more. >> reporter: despite the summertime increases americaning should see more money in the wallet. >> the average household spending $277 less on gasoline in 2023 than 2022. >> reporter: hopefully the strain easing in the new year. >> nbc's kerry sanders with that report. prices falling and rising at the pump one of the major stories we follow in the coming year. >> what are we following the past year? joining now is editor of politico with the stories to explain 2022. there are 22 stories for '22. not looking at all of them. let's draw out some that caught my attention. dogs triggered a vasectomy

revolution. >> yeah. there have been a lot of impacts of the dobbs decision over the past year. this is a more surprising i'll admit. doctors and hospitals are recording the rides of men seeking vasectomies showing us that men are taking more control of their own contraception as abortion becomes harder to get in the united states. a reporter found a doctor running a mobile vasectomy clinic. in missouri cities to the reddest rural areas of the state and talked to men, democrats, republicans about the decisions to get a vasectomy and found that the majority of them decided to do it because of the dobbs decision.

>> so interesting. liz cheney winning the gop's manhood contest. we heard about her this year of course but in this piece you link her to a border crisis in the republican party. explain that. >> oh yeah john harris wrote this article. coming from senator josh hawley with the speech saying that he believed that there was an attack going on on the traditional masculine values of courage and independence and john harris taking aim at that idea saying if you hold the values up as the highest values of masculinity who in the republican party is displaying them? who is standing up to trump and

the lies about january 6? john harris said it looks like liz cheney as the member of the republican party best embodying the traditional masculine values. >> she is the man in that case. no look at 2022 of course would be thorough without looking abroad and without looking at ukraine and what happened in russia. i remember this weise with fiona hill on putin and nukes and came out when we were worried that putin might use nuclear weapons. fiona hill had a different take. >> this interview struck a cord. people were really eager for expert analysis and she is an expert in explaining putin's

mindset. how he came to the point he came to. what is the sort of philosophy and ideology behind the invasion of ukraine. she is saying that putin wants to return to the ruin empire. this is a return of the countries once within russia's sphere of influence back to the same fear of influbs today and won't stop. this idea that putin won't go that far. could never invade this country. she is really taking aim saying putin has a single minded goal and he won't stop. he will continue going until he gets there. >> let's shift back home now and the story of the georgia senate race is the story of herschel

walker but this is about warnock and no one like him in the senate perceived as a rising star with a bright political future ahead. >> oh yeah. he is undoubtedly a rising star in the democratic party. they want to take a look at who the democratic and republican bench is. it is no small feat and this story written by michael cruz looks at warnock's background and he is both an activist preacher. he is the preacher who preaches at martin luther king's church in atlanta.

haggling over drug prices and insulin costs. about the new sides of this rising star. >> michael kruse author of this last story and this one is about donald trump and in order to be president he had to vanish one florida governor. >> going to be how the republican -- the results of the midterm election. many people perceive donald trump as weak and they see ron desantis as a rising star in the republican party to give donald trump a real run for the money as they both seek the gop nomination in 2024. so donald trump has a history of going up against florida

governors. he succeeded in weakening you could say emasculating jeb bush with the comments of low energy jeb and could he do it again? in this case many of the people told michael in the piece that the shoe could be on the other foot. in this case donald trump could be the weaker of the two candidates. of course on the other hand people learned never to discount donald trump. >> that's true. maybe this is the end. we don't know yet. politico's picks for the stories that best explain 2022 is out now. we got to 5 of the 22 in the issue. check that out. editor elizabeth ralph, thank you for joining us. congressman-elect george santos admitted he lied about the college and work history.

and now federal prosecutors are getting involved. a judge weighs in on the final report on the january 6 attack and how trump urged the crowd to fight like hell that day. justice reporter ryan riley joins us with more on that. you're watching "morning joe." the unknown is not empty. it's a storm that crashes, and consumes, replacing thought with worry. but one thing can calm uncertainty. an answer. uncovered through exploration, teamwork, and innovation. an answer that leads to even more answers.

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let's turn now to congressman-elect george santos under investigation by lawmaker for the lies he told regarding the background and experience. the nassau county district attorney, a fellow republican, called revelations about his

history nothing short of stunning and promised if a crime is committed in this country we'll prosecute it. not just the lies about the college or personal life to land him in hot water. follow the money. we'll do that. democrat dan goldman the calling for an investigation into potential campaign finance fraud after the business santos founded just last year was dissolved shortly before the election. sources told cbs news that federal prosecutors are also reportedly locking into his financial disclosure filings. when santos first ran for congress in 2020 they listed a salary of $55,000 as vice president of link bridge. mother jones reported that santos claimed he made between

3.5 and $11.5 million and loaned the campaign more than $700,000. semafor reports that santos worked for harbor city capital that the s.e.c. accused of running a $17 million ponzi scheme. santos said he left the company the month before it was charged. santos claimed within the first six months he quote landed a couple of million-dollar contracts and did not respond to follow-up questions. nbc news has reached out to the national republican congressional committee and all

republican offices but did not respond. congressman-elect did apologize admitting to embellishing the resume. seems by the day there's more revelations told by santos but some of these new ones could land him in legal hot water. >> yeah. it is a good rule in american politics to look at where the money came from. there are questions that are more serious. the digging that perhaps should have been done a year ago on this congressman-elect is now being done 'picture doesn't look pretty. jared moskowitz is calling

santos out about his religion. to win an election is the lowest form of humanity. and i say that as someone whose grandmother was part of the transport out of germany from the holocaust. thank you very much for joining us. your great grand parents killed in auschwitz. what do you make of what santos is claiming about his heritage? >> yeah. good morning. look. it starts with lying about the college, the job. it goes to lying about a charity he says he ran that he didn't and then lost employees in mass murder at pulse nightclub in florida and the religion and then the trafficking in lies is

that he has family members that escaped the holocaust. so the idea that there is someone out there, someone who now serves in congress who thought it would be significantly advantageous to him to come up with a lie with family members close to him escape one of the world's greatest tragedies is lowest form of humanity but not surprising because this is what folks on his side of the aisle have learned that you can traffic in lies and get away with them. >> stay with us. we want to play you santos referring to him as jewish last month and then hear the explanation when called out in a television interview this week.

listen to this. ♪♪ >> good morning. shabat salom. lee zell din paved the way for us in new york. [ applause ] lee served as an inspiration, a friend and leader for the jewish folks in congress and us by being two members and now we will be three. >> are you jewish? we have a letter of the campaign reading, as a proud american jew i have been to israel numerous times. you said there in the letter a proud american jew. how do you explain that? >> my heritage is jewish and raised a practicing catholic.

i have gone through this. not being raised a practicing jew i always joke and say i'm jew-ish raised catholic. i understand everybody wants to nitpick at me. >> would you having listened to what he said in 2019 and then the excuse for what he was saying, would you expect the republican caucus in the house on the jewish members of congress to say to kevin mccarthy, but actually republican members of congress, to say to kevin mccarthy we can't sit this guy? the lies are too egregious. >> they have taken a position he is not invited to events but in washington the republicans have been begging for power for

years. in the first moment of having power they are in disarray and we both know they're not getting rid of anybody while each vote counts but a shame to have the first person i have heard of especially in politics who thought you know what? add to the resume and the only reason i exist is because my family escaped the holocaust. it is the most ridiculous thing you have heard of. something tells me that this story is not finished and will hear more. if you are willing to lie that your family for a lowly escaped gas chamber we'll find other stuff. >> this is sam stein here.

look. we welcome everybody but limits. i'm curious as a practical matter what are the avenues of recourse here? obviously the house has to vote to expel a member and we do not necessarily expect that to be considered from a republican-run house but is it really just a matter of did he lie on the financial disclosure form? could that prove vulnerable for him? everything else seems to be in the hands of kevin mccarthy. >> yeah. listen. i think -- again, there's probably we don't know with a legal repercussions and there's -- people are looking into that and might find legal exposure.

i peers that might be the potential recourse. we don't get a long time to serve in congress. he will be back on the ballot in two years with an election in less than a year's time from now and so look. there's no way the voters will stand for this. this guy started with lying of employees die at a mass shooting in the pulse nightclub and thought that's -- i got away with that. what else can i get away with? let's try the holocaust. we welcome people who discover and want to be jewish but there's no thing as jew-ish. look. this guy is a clown. he cheapens quite frankly everybody else, republicans and

democrats, that are coming up to washington to do the peoples' business that earned the ability to be there. we have to see where the story ends but this is the beginning of santos' journey. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," neil sadaka is famous for a string of songs. joe got the chance to sit down with the legendary singer/songwriter. that conversation is next on "morning joe."

there's been a lot of talk in the political world whether joe biden would be too old to run for re-election in 2024 but

there's people in the 80s in the prime and that's especially true of the next guest. award winning songwriterneil sadaka. i recently sat down with neil in los angeles and here's that conversation. >> "breaking up is hard to do." ♪♪ ♪ breaking up is hard to do ♪ >> neil sedaka, how this came about. we were having dinner in the same restaurant and i nudged mika. my god, it's neil sedaka. >> you walked over. i said that is "morning joe." >> it was arp the time of john lennon's birthday and i always thought about the immigrant

song. ♪ when strangers were welcome here ♪ >> can we talk about the immigrant song first and why you wrote it? >> well, john lennon was a friend and going through a period where he couldn't get a green card and i thought it would be a nice gesture to dedicate and write a song to him. and i'm from immigrant people. and my co-writer's people from italy. we didn't know how relevant it would be today and how immigrants are such an integral part of america. ♪ to finally close the door ♪ ♪ on wanting anymore ♪ >> john lennon was known as being pretty tough guy at times to get along with imand said something that coming from one of the great songwriters in rock

history said what about is it about brooklyn? they breed the greatest songwriters in the world. >> we had a phenomenon, carole king, barbra streisand, neil diamond lived across the street. i think there was something in the egg cream. so many musical people. >> when did you decide to make the transition to the rock n roll songwriter. >> when i was 13 i discovered that i could write a song and sing. i got a first check for "stupid cupid." for connie francis. i had eight top ten records in a row. happy birth day. sweet 16. breaking up a hard to do.

little devil. many, many songs. >> "where the boys are"? >> yeah. the career took a turn. ♪ they say that breaking up is hard to do ♪ >> you talk about the sounding and the culture? >> yes. mort and friends of mine said there's a new office across the street because it was a young writers for a young market. we were given a little cubicle with a piano and a desk. no windows. went in five days a week and wrote songs on a salary. $50 a week. and if you got a hit then you graduated to a room with a window. ♪♪

>> one of the things that went i'm playing a song or hearing a song, what a gift to write a song. >> not easy. >> talk about how much hard work and sweat it is for you, especially at your level to be able to do that. >> not easy. not easy. part of the brain, the creative side. some days you got a piece of a song or nothing. zilch. but the more you do that the more you develop that side of the brain. i try to reinvent neil sedaka, raise the bar and after five years and 50 million records the bottom fell out. and the beatles came in and the rolling stones. i was a thing of the past. ♪ how i love the rainy days ♪

>> let's talk about your big comeback in '74. how did that happen? you really exploded back on to the scene in '74. >> joe, once you are used to being number one, to that audience standing up, it is like a drug. i wanted it with a passion again. so i listened to in the '70s singer/songwriters and went to england and met a guy named elton john. he was a fan. he said, you are having hits in america. i'm starting rocket records. i would like to siren you. are you interested? am i interested? yes. he put out an album called sedaka back to people who didn't remember the original from the

'50s and the single is "laughter in the rain." they called him ej the deejay and promoted neil sedaka. >> in '74 and '75 elton john was the most massive superstar in the world. >> walking into a radio station and the disk jockeys took notice if he thinks it is good it must be good. sedaka's back. ♪♪ >> let's move forward to what you have been doing the past couple of years. i absolutely love how you kept connecting with fans during covid. >> the three years i did a mini concert five days a week 15 minutes a day 3 songs and i got

from all over the world people said, bless you. thank you for entertaining us and good for me, too. very therapeutic. a friend of mine did it with his phone. and these are the songs they grew up with. ♪ they say that breaking up is hard to do ♪ >> my audience is elderly. it brought back wonderful memories. ♪ don't say this is the end ♪ it brought back memories for me. >> as we look back over your extraordinary career is there one thing that stands out? >> yes. i think the songs will outlive me. songs i wrote 50, 60 years ago i hear on the radio so it's a form of immortality and i leave it to

my children and grand children and the royals go on to 70 years after my death. then it becomes public domain. that i'm most proud of. ♪♪ when we come back, we move to the piano and talk about how he created some of his greatest hits. don't worry. he plays the piano, not me.

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the digital age is waiting. welcome back to "morning joe" and more of my conversation with american music icon neil sedaka. each month he records a show on satellite radio, a fascinating look at his song writing but there's nothing like hearing those stories from neil in person. at the piano. ♪♪

how much did broadway influence your writing as far as song writsing? >> well, my heroes were george gershwin, irving berlin, richard rogers, coal porter, johnny mercer. these are the people i really loved. and they influenced my writing. you know, the do-up. is very simple. >> right. >> doo-wop. but when you have a surprise card -- ♪ warmth of her hand in mine ♪ that's the emotional lift. >> tell me about the immigrant. we know the inspiration. but when did you decide i want to write a song not only about john lennon but my family and my idea of what america really is?

>> i always thought that imgrants was the crux of america and felt it should be told in music and words. and phil cody, who wrote it with me, so i took the g to the a-minus 7. here it is. ♪ open their arms to the young searching foreigner ♪ >> oh, wow. yeah. ♪ come to live ♪ a few chords change the -- >> yeah. >> and of course the hook. ♪ there was a time when strangers were welcome here ♪ ♪ music would play they tell me the day was free and clear ♪

♪ it was a sweeter tune and there was so much room ♪ ♪ that people would come from everywhere ♪ >> fantastic. >> then there's "breaking up is hard to do." should i tell you how i wrote it? >> tell me how you wrote it but then talk about the complete transformation. you're the only artist that's had two number ones with the same song two different arrangements. >> two different tempos. >> and two different tempos. >> the original was. ♪ doobie do down down ♪ ♪ don't take your love ♪ i learned it. ♪ don't you leave my heart in misery ♪ years later, 1976, i was fooling

around at the piano and discovered that "breaking up" worked as a slow jingle song. ♪ don't take your love away from me ♪ and i loved dinah washington. ♪ don't you love my heart in misery ♪ ♪ because if you go ♪ >> beautiful. >> and it was a hit as a jingle song. >> auk about the transition from classical to rock and roll. what was the first rock and roll song you can remember writing as you were making that transition? >> here's one. because of the chopin playing. i wrote -- ♪ it's the only game in town

every road that takes him takes him down ♪ ♪ while life goes on around him everywhere ♪ inspired by chopin. >> right. >> these suspensions. >> beautiful. >> suspensions. you know, that's what it is. if you reach them passionately, make them cry. >> right. >> then you're on the right track. >> you've definitely been on the right track for a very long time. neil sedaka, thank you so much. what a great honor. i'm glad we bumped into each other at the restaurant. >> i'm so glad. we'll have to do it again. >> i'm looking forward to it. ♪♪ three live shows coming up in the next two months. in southern california. and he'll be celebrating his 84th birthday in march. we'll be right back.