right thing for america. they're proving to the country that they're just destructionists, and that's -- that's not what we need to do as a party. that's why republicans failed and i'm really tired of it. >> republican congresswoman marjorie taylor greene with those words -- >> reminds me of scenes of "ghostbusters" when bill murray bursts into the mayor's office. >> yeah. her party standing in the way of kevin mccarthy's bid for speaker. >> dogs are cats, and everything's backwards. it's upside-down. >> without a speaker after mccarthy failed to win enough support in an historic three rounds of voting. it went on and on and on and he couldn't get the voes. >> ice age? it went on and on and on. people have -- you have these

fights behind closed doors. you walk out and -- wow. willie -- what? >> you know. nancy pelosi would never allow this -- >> never. >> -- to happen. >> never. >> you just don't go out there and get humiliated three times in a row. >> what a contrast. nancy pelosi never went to the house floor. people saying, what it's going to happen? you went to the house floor, you knew if nancy put it on the floor it's going to pass. did all the work before. hear from a lot of people, willie, kevin pl m had a month to lock it up and didn't do it. he didn't flow how to closed deal so humiliated yesterday. i got to say, that marjorie taylor greene fed up saying she's had enough. you had kevin mccarthy attacking members of his own caucus yesterday. you have the "wall street journal" editorial page, gop chaos caucus. house republicans said they want to drain the swamp and save america, but they can't even get through day one without a

display of dysfunction. it's just -- it's just chaos. "new york post" and another murdoch newspaper and the official newspaper of "morning joe," the -- of record -- just getting attacked from all sides. >> yeah. actually, new york tabloids. the "post" telling them, "grow up!" go after biden is the message and "daily news" a step further. the gop-esque show starring the liar george santos and the loser kevin mccarthy. but as we sit here this morning, there is no house of representatives. think about that. not only not a speaker, no house of representatives, because they couldn't be sworn in, and i'm sure you guys, too, yesterday and last night, as the day went on and kevin mccarthy lost for a third time, the confidence you heard from people around mccarthy it's going to be ugly but we'll get him there is starting to dissipate, and they don't know how this ends,

because those members who voted against him have been clear that they will never vote for him. >> well, and that's -- i was -- i was -- talking to some people yesterday. calling me up, a couple interviews. people asking me what i thought was going to be happening, and i just said. well, when i was in that position, and it was newt gingrich decided to get out in 1997, nothing was going to change our mind. nothing was going to get in our way. if you were a never newt or a never kevin, that means "never." and you look at the -- the -- madness and lunacy that this party has taken. you actually had somebody yesterday nominating, and supposedly being the voice of reason, kevin mccarthy the speaker trying to overturn the election! jim jordan was the very guy who when he tried to help liz cheney

get out of the chambers she yanked her arm away and said don't touch me. you're the one responsible for this, and these are the people that are running the congress, or trying to run the congress, and so suddenly these voices of reason are actually anything but, and this is just, again, the continued devolution of, of the house gop. >> we'll talk more about this but basically they were voting for when it came to kevin mccarthy he negotiated himself down to nothing. voting for nothing, because if he became elected speaker, he might have been speaker for one minute, five minutes, depending on what people wanted. >>s yeah. >> and the then george santos, the one they needed didn't say anything about, he sat alone in the chamber and announced on social media he was sworn in yesterday. wow. along with joe, willie and me -- we have former u.s. senator now

an nbc news and msnbc political analyst claire mccaskill. up early for us. thank you, claire. author and nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. that was with "way too early." and politico's jonathan lemire and mike allen and on capitol hill, congressional and investigations reporter for the "washington post," jackie alemany is with us. >> senator claire mccaskill thank you so much for being with us. i heard some of your comments yesterday and was struck by them. i want to quote from you a "washington post" op-ed by matt bye. he said the gop is now essentially a gang of walls huffing and puffing at any democratic pillar or foundation they see including their own. turns out once you start tearing down houses, destruction becomes your only reason for existence.

mccarthy must understand this now. and that's it. i've been saying for years. this isn't about ideology. none of this is about ideology. if it were then -- then both liz cheney and i with 95% lifetime acu ratings would be conservatives and in good standing with the republican party. this is a cult and this is about tearing down -- it is just -- it's -- it's not about small government. it's about no government. it's about tearing down, as matt bye said, any foundational pillars of the united states government, and this is where it ends up. >> yeah. the republican party has been hijacked, the caucus has been hijacked by 10% of its members. 90% warrant to the go forward, 10% don't. mccarthy has two huge problems. one -- he's got more than five members that only want one thing.

and that's his head on a platter. that's all they want. they don't want anything else, other than to take him down. the second big problem he has is that he hasn't figured it out. what is he going to do? he's going to vote time after time and just be humiliated over -- it's like -- my god! it's like the -- >> he needs to read the room! >> it's just unbelievable to me. i mean, i just don't get it. he is not respected or feared or liked or trusted by a number of members of his caucus, and that number is large enough to deny him the speakership. it's not going to happen. i really don't believe it is. i'll come back on and say i was stupid and dumb if he pulls this off, but i don't think it's going to happen. so i think a part of our discussion this morning needs to be, who's it going to be if it's not him? >> let's ask jackie alamein.

also a question, a long time coming. what makes it more pathetic is kevin mccarthy spent two years courting the members. that trip to mar-a-lago get himself back in good standing not just with donald trump but with that group of republicans who support him, so cultishly and the voters who voted for donald trump and now here he is having done all of that, looked the other way with all the things those people have done and said would hopefully win their support they denied him having given up everything he it to offer in negotiations, have this if you vote for me. said great, then didn't vote for him. the question is how does he sdet get there? actually losing votes as we going on. >> two years, really since 2015 when he first tried to run for speaker and then eventually seeded. as pete session says, why 16 out of 19 member, not going to

pledge on mccarthy until the cows come home, because they feel like this is someone who wants speaker above all. he's not ideological. more concerned with politics. matt gaetz said, basically sold his soul for this job. this group of house crock is members, law members who refuse to support mccarthy made concessions but they're unrealistic and they are -- they are statements that house freedom caucus asked for just so that mccarthy could turn them down so they could ultimately say we tried to negotiate with you. overnight talking to reporters saying that some of these concessions, again, were unrealistic, and that he's going to try again today and there is no consensus. it's him or nobody. end of the day, jim jordan probably does not have enough votes to get this over the finish line.

there are moderates who don't want to support him, believe it will fracture the caucus, but at the same time, there are these same lawmakers feel like this process is making the party that's supposed to be enters hay day majority first time in quite some time, the party is losing prestige. so we'll see what happens today, but it seems more than likely to be a rerun of what happened yesterday. although mccarthy is feeling pretty confident about it. if you look at the comments played to us last night. >> not sure that confidence is well-advised. of course, a man who already moved into the speaker's office. a long, humiliating day yesterday for kevin mccarthy. not sure if today will be any better, and yesterday he seemingly lost, perhaps someport from donald trump. take a step back. it wasn't just that mccarthy went to. >> melissa:-of- -- mar-a-lago to get back into his graces

apologized from speaking harshly about him on january 6th and prostrated himself, trump seemed to waver yesterday. in part because he doesn't want to be seen backing another loser, so torched by peek who lost in the midterms blamed for that. he doesn't want to be associated with another defeat. at the same time, the people opposing mccarthy are all die-hard trump supporters. is there any role he could play? what factor could he have? >> no. what you're pointing to is why behind the scenes republicans tell us they don't know why anybody wants to be leader or how anybody can be leader. we had a lineup on axio right now. the ungovernable gop. look why. navigating trump. nobody tried harder than kevin mccarthy, and now doesn't seem to be reciprocated. to be a republican leader in this era.

jonathan, look at all the la languages you have to speak. speak maga, speak language of the establishment to raise money. you have to be able to speak the sort of language of the old sort of fox approach. the punchiness of today's podcast, but almost nobody can do it. mitch mcconnell holds on to power, but is widely despised by the rank and file of his own party. so the one person that seems to be cracking this code so far, ron desantis, who yesterday was sworn in for a second term. he sees that by winning, pick the right cultural battles you can win, but can it be done outside florida? sure hasn't been yet. >> and michael beschloss, i want to get, in just a minute, i want to get to the historic nature of what happened yesterday. i followed what you were saying yesterday and found it absolutely fascinating. but first, i want to circle back

quickly to this matt bye column of the "washington post" where he talks about the deevolution of the republican party. really got me thinking and scratching down notes right now about ronald reagan. he -- we -- and as i said, i'm not one of these left and center anti-reagan types. you could agree with him or disagree with him, but he had a governing philosophy and believed that america had a central role in global affairs. so regular versus 40 years of welfare state expansionism. i think even his harshest critics could agree to that and again pushed back on soviets. had an ideology. then newt brought legislation to the legislative branch but also some of the gestures we see now and i know you'll remember this. i was on the panel, but right before we took power in 1994,

newt gingrich for the last, as he said, before the election was, that a south carolina woman who drowned her children, drove a car into a, a lake, she did it, and it was the fault of the democratic party, and democratic policies. that was the sort of thing that we were constantly having to deal with with newt and one of the reasons we ran him out of town. then the tea party. they went from small government to anti-government, and went from positive actions to just, just gestures. and if you don't believe that, just look where they've gone over the past six, seven, eight years. again, it's all gestures, and now, of course, post-trump, you have the chaos that's been happening on the floor. this has been a meltdown of 40, 50 years in the making, and my god. it seems to be an ungovernable party now.

>> i think you're right. and a party that were you a member of, joe, was a party, as i need not tell you, but prided itself on the fact it was able to manage. i mean, nixon, for instance, in 1968 after the democratic convention, that smashup in chicago said a party that cannot unite itself cannot unite america. no one's goal to unite america, sadly, in this moment in 2023, but at least yesterday we got our first look at the republicans as a governing majority in the house, and it was a food fight. now, you had marjorie taylor greene denouncing mccarthy, and mccarthy denouncing her and others. and all sorts of things that in public that just as you said would never have been said under nancy pelosi, and it looked almost like, you know, on a late-night show sometimes they show a video of some parliament in another country where the they get into a fight and hitting each other and throwing chairs. you know, we never thought we'd

see this kind of thing figuratively in our own country, and also last night, as you know, there was a letter, this was almost the piece of resistance. matt gaetz wrote to the architect of the capitol saying by what right does kevin mccarthy sit in the speaker's office? he didn't do well today. he said how much time has to pass before these are gaetz' words before mccarthy is considered a squatter? now the prospect of mccarthy thrown out of the speaker's suite, presumably on live television and this idea in your mind, or at least in mine, maybe it will be a reality tv show? but, you know, gaetz will go they there and throw his lounger out of the speaker's window and this would look more like these parliaments in other countries that we're just not used to. >> i mean, on many levels it was

cartoonish yesterday and so many destructive forces within the republican party and i understand how you could say, joe, decades in the making. at the same time to a point you were making yesterday for kevin mccarthy himself in terms of basic negotiation, wasn't this preventible? >> well, it should have been. >> should have been. >> he had a month to do the deals. when i say nancy pelosi would have never taken this to the floor. if nancy pelosi had known she sdrn the votes, she would have had a press conference a week before and announced she was stepping away. but what nancy pelosi would have done is, is, somebody told me last night, she would have found five great codels for five democratic member whose were going to vote against her to go on, and in assurance when they came back they were going to have more influence in the house than ever before. she would have done what was necessary to get the votes, or she shouldn't have hadal her

name on the ballot. for me and i think for nancy pelosi and other people who actually know how to do this sort of stuff, what's so confounding. you take a vote where you don't know the outcome of the vote on the house floor that you just -- i'm sorry. that's not even a rookie mistake. that's just bush league and you wonder how a guy in congress that long, where he doesn't know the outcome of this thing. you don't -- listen -- you don't wing it. you don't wing it when the whole world's watching, and your career is on the line. but that's exactly what happened yesterday. i really -- you know, it's interesting. hearing michael beschloss talk about the republican party, that it was actually once seen as the party that knew how to get things done. i'm reminded of "the simpson the" episode went to the democrat and republican conventions and republicans unhurled a huge banner that

said, "we don't like people" and went to the democratic party unhurling a banner that said, "we can't govern," and that applies, of course, to this republican party now. "we can't govern." again, this is just -- this is just a follow-up to a disastrous 2022. this is only happening because republicans screwed up the midterms so horribly. should have won by 30, 40, 50 seats. they should have won the senate. they should have had that red wave that all the republican pollsters were predicting but they didn't, and now they compound the problem by looking like complete fools in front of the entire world. and those swing voters out there looking at this going -- okay. yeah. good thing i didn't vote for republicans, because -- they really -- they just -- they don't know how to govern. >> and it raises the obvious question. if they can't stroet vote to

elect a house speaker, what about the business of congress? debt ceiling, balanced budgets, all those things, claire, and this group of people holding up the vote right now. republicans, these are the insurrectionists, andy biggs, honorary member of the cyber ninjas in arizona. martial law around the election. people pulling the strings of the party and as many people noted, kevin mccarthy earned this moment by courting them so closely, and this is what he's left with. >> yeah. some of the people who voted against him yesterday he spent big money in they're races electing them. the 10% that are standing against kevin mccarthy are the same 10% that cost him seats. so they're denying him the speakership in two ways. one, they blew a bunch of elections, because of the yahoos and now these same yahoos are making the republican party look like a joke. i think it's important to remember what united states

political parties. principle leadership and policies they believe in. and the problem with the modern day republican party is they have no policies they united around. all they want to do is be against the other guy. on the democratic side it's lower health care costs more gun safety, reproductive freedom. protecting our democracy. you can easily tick off the things that unite the democratic party. the only thing that held the republican party together with chewing gum and bailing wire was that narcissist down in some sand trap in florida. it was donald trump. and he didn't have principle leadership. and clearly kevin mccarthy doesn't have principle leadership. so this is not going to have a safe landing for the republican party, unless and until they reunite around policies that the american people can sign off on. >> yeah. you know, kevin mccarthy and a number of republicans along the way and nancy pelosi touched on

this, lost his moral compass. he didn't -- did he need the midterms, truly, to understand that people prefer their democracy intact? did they need the midterms to understand that people don't like insurrections, and crawling back to donald trump. i mean, this man did not know the line. did not know his value, if i may, and jackie alemany, can you talk a little about the democratic response in the room yesterday? and then what is on tap today? what can the house republicans do next? >> yeah, mika. i want to get to that but just have the to say, you know, i think even if kevin mccarthy had found his conscience, this set group of members would never support him and speaks to the broader issue facing congress today as one of the perverted incentives for these members to be obstructionists, to beat kevin mccarthy. andy biggs sending out

fund-raising emails amid all of this drama yesterday saying that he was proud to block kevin mccarthy and was going to bring conservative power back to washington, d.c. i'd love to see the fund-raising numbers for lauren boebert and matt gaetz. all of these people who are profiting in some way politically, on social media with their own personal following, own personal brand that they've created from holding up legislating, becoming an actual member, members in this congress. as for today and for the democratic response, actually remarkable to watch former house speaker nancy pelosi who now just a regular congresswoman handing on the floor of the house with democrat colleagues. the difference between mccarthy and pelosi. their demeanor couldn't have been more stark and different. pelosi all smiles. you know, socializing with

democratic members. and democrats were just there to witness the show. there is no way at all democrats were going to get involved here. i know it's something that moderates and even mccarthy potentially tossed around ultimately bring in some democratic support, but democrats are here to watch republicans essentially implode. as for today, i think we're going to see what we saw yesterday pap few more iterations of these votes, and we might see the vote count against mccarthy actually broaden. but that being said, the write-in candidate, house member jim jordan of ohio, does not want this job. he said so repeatedly. you're knot going to see him fold. you're not going to see the moderates, he would need their support into actually become speaker. it's going to be a bit of a mess but at the same time we also

heard last night that some members of leadership are going to socialize some of the negotiations with a broader conference, and so we'll see if the party can come to the table today at noon when lawmakers get here with some sort of, of new agreement with these house green caucus members. >> michael beschloss, whenever we use the phrase, hasn't happened in 100 years we think of you because are your profession, not your age. so, please, the chaos we saw yesterday and chaos almost certainly we are going to see today, please, do put it in historic context for us. >> the question i'd ask, and would have asked if if i were around in 1855 or 1923, which thankfully i wasn't in either case when these speakers races went on to many, many, although not with eye of television or modern coverage, but here's the question i'd ask all our friends watching this morning -- you saw what happened yesterday.

the house has huge responsibility for the future and health of your families. your economic health. you know, if there's god forbid a terrorist crisis, would you feel good about your family's lives being in the hands of the leadership that you saw yesterday? you know, you mentioned donald trump. you know, donald trump was the one who was pushing -- i was going say joe mccarthy. really operating in history. pushing kevin mccarthy and asked by our friend garrett haake yesterday are you still for mccarthy? trump said, well, we'll see what happens. you know, trump is always there when he needs you, but maybe not otherwise. like "titanic" is going down. what are you going to do, mr. trump? well, we'll see what happens. the serious thing above all of this is something i think we've really got to focus on. yesterday the new republican majority in the house took out magnetometers. reduced security in the capitol. why is that?

we are two days before the anniversary of january 6th, two years ago. there have been shooting in the house chamber in the past, you know, with reduced security. why is this happening? so soon after we had an insurrection that almost cost us our democracy. >> wow. great question. nbc news presidential historian michael beschloss. thank you very much, and the "washington post" jackie alemany, thank you for your reporting as well. and still ahead on "morning joe," democratic congressman pete aguilar takes a slap at kevin mccarthy during speakership nominations yesterday. we'll show you those remarks that got thunderous applause. plus, veteran democratic strategist james carville joins us with his takeaways from yesterday's speakership stalemate. also ahead, democratic governor andy beshear of kentucky will be our guest as president biden prepared to visit his state today in a bipartisan event with

mitch mcconnell. and up next, we'll go live to the hospital in's cincinnati where damar hamlin remains in critical condition. what the family of the buffalo bills safety is saying about his health after suffering cardiac arrest on the field. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. did you know you can get discounts on your meds even if you don't have a medicare prescription drug plan? it's true. all you have to do is go to singlecare.com type in your prescription, and then present the coupon to your pharmacist. it's that simple. not to mention, it's free. singlecare is accepted by major pharmacies across the country and it works for everyone,

whether you have insurance or not. next time you need a prescription filled, go to singlecare to make sure you get the best price. visit singlecare.com and start saving today.

over 5 million people have fallen in love with a portable blender.

blendjet 2 gives you ice-crushing, big blender power on-the-go. so you can throw in your favorite ingredients and blend up a delicious smoothie anytime, anywhere. blendjet 2 even cleans itself. just add water, a drop of soap, recharge quickly with any usb port. ready to fall in love? order yours now on blendjet.com

why are 93% of sleep number sleepers satisfied with their bed? maybe it's because you can gently raise your partner's head to help relieve snoring. ready to fall in love? so, you can both stay comfortable all night. the queen sleep number 360 c2 smart bed is only $899. save $200. ends monday i'll say this about damar hamlin. it's a really personal thing for me, being a pittsburgher and that young man being a pittsburgher. i've known that guy probably since he was about 12. this guy, just got a lot of love and respect for him as a human being. his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what it is he's doing right now, which is playing in the nfl, and to watch him make personal decisions and make that a

realization, is just an honor to get to know young people like that and i got a lot of love for that man who lifted him and that organization up in prayer. reached out to sean mcdermott to lend whatever assistance i could. but -- i don't have a lot to add other than that. i just respect the fact that you guys appreciate how personal it is for me, not only for me but just for all of us. >> that is longtime pittsburgh steelers head coach mike tomlin yesterday reflecting on his own relationship with buffalo bills safety damar hamlin who remains hospitalized in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest on the football field in cincinnati monday night. joining us from cincinnati outside the trauma center where hamlin is being treated nbc news correspondent maggie vespa. what's the latest there? >> reporter: willie, the family is giving updates how hamlin is doing and basically as far as his status is concerned.

it hasn't changed. still in critical condition inside the icu but uncle telling media flipped on to his stomach trying to increase the circulation of blood into this heart, draining that, intubating but needing less oxygen than he used to. a sign of improvement and over the next days hope to take him off oxygen altogether. more of what his uncle had to say to cnn last night. take a listen. >> right now they got him on a ventilator. so trying to get him to breathe on his own. so just kind of taking it day by day. still in the icu. they have him sedated. >> he's still sedated right now. they just want him to have a better chance of recovering better. so they thought if these sedated his body can heal a lot faster and feels if he was on his own possibly causing other

complications. his heart health went out and had to resuscitate him twice. on the field and resuscitated a second time at the hospital. >> reporter: we've heard from medical experts the next few days crucial to see if hamlin will breathe more on his own. bring you updates as we can. the family releasing a statement from inside the hospital. got that. part of it, just warranted to thank everybody including football nation for, again, expressing sincere gratitude for the love and support and asked people to, please, keep damar in their prayers. another big element of this story making a lot of traction online is the gofundme for a toy drive that damar started in 2020 to help buy toys for children in need. he had a goal this year of $2,500. as you it see now approaching $6 million. fans just flooding that gofundme to show support, again, for

damar. obviously coming up on 36 hours since this happened. since wednesday morning. it happened monday night. updates from inside the hospital showing signs of slow improvement, but again the family, as all fans are incredibly hopeful that continues and we get more updates. >> hope that improvement continues. nbc's megi vespa outside the hospital in cincinnati. thanks so much. and guys, heard from the nfl yesterday the game will not be played this week. talk of trying to fit it in. these teams don't want to play, not ready to play, may never play that game. play scheduled games on sunday but we're hearing from the family there. heard from his uncle, talked about damar being resuscitated a second time in the hospital. hadn't heard that previously, but will continue to wait for the hospital and the doctors to give us medical updates as well. >> right. this is -- this is obviously, such a -- with this type of

injuries from everything that we've heard, everybody we've read about, there is absolutely no speculating. it can go in any direction, and -- and so the doctors, the family, and the millions of fans who are out there praying will continue doing that, and we can only hope for, for his recovery. be it speedy or slow. just his recovery, but it's, right now it's -- >> really tough. >> it's hour-by-hour. coming up, we're going to dig into this morning's must-read opinion pages on the house republican caucus in chaos. plus -- chris matthews will join the conversation. he worked for one of the longest-serving house speakers in american history. "morning joe" will be right back.

- elites. now that we've made travel so expensive, we have this hotel to our...selves..? - how'd you get here? - kayak! they compared hundreds of travel sites to find a great deal on my flight, car, and hotel. - kayak. search one and done.

are you going to vote for mccarthy today? >> do you have any comment at all on the protests going on outside of your new york legislative office? >> any comment at all? >> in long island, they voted for you based on -- >> sir, do you plan to resign? >> and -- leadership -- >> what is your legal name? >> whoa. >> what is your legal name? >> i've got to say, walking around those halls, the tunnels underneath, the first day. it's -- it's like, if it's not confusing enough. i can't imagine with all the cameras and everybody running after, going after you. >> and piercing and legit. >> yeah. >> this guy has lied his way into office, and there are a lot of questions about what is next for him.

congressman-elect george santos yesterday ignoring reporter questions about his future in washington. his time in the house starting off with him playing fast and loose with the truth. in a statement released by his office, santos said he was sworn in by the speaker of the highways yesterday. that, of course, did not happen. because there was no speaker elected. that statement since removed from his official congressional website. let's turn now to the must-read opinion pages. we have two must-reads from conservative publications. editorial board of the "wall street journal" has a piece entitled "the gop's chaos caucus returns." it reads in part this. house republicans want to drain the swamp and save america but they can't even get through day one without a display of dysfunction. more than a few republicans, alas have a history of preferring combative soundbites to actual governing, and the

fiasco tuesday is an ominous sign of old habits being reasserted. without 218 republican votes in the house, republicans will have no leverage to negotiate with a democratic senate and white house no matter who the speaker. house republicans have won two years from majority to show the electorate they can govern better that democrats and president biden. they aren't even setting the stage for losing the house in short. >> and mark halperin newsletter, sums it up pretty well. who exactly is on the -- the fold, the gang of 500, murdoch win of the conservative movement, the democratic party north of 90% of house

republicans, most of red media plus the odd couple of rhodes and greene all think what rebels are doing is pointless, selfless, self-destructive, and counterproductive. everybody's against this, but these 20 people. how does this end? >> yeah. a little math problem there. so first, embedded in what you said, marjorie taylor greene suddenly as the voice of reason? like, that's what everybody has been scratching their heads about, but what i'm hearing is purely a power play that she wants to be on the winning side. what she thought was going to be the winning side, she wanted to be mccarthy's go-to maga ally. when he rolled out his plan for the, of the midterms last fall she was in the camera shot right behind him at the time. nobody understood why. but it's a part of courting this

group that just didn't work. that it just didn't sell with enough of them, but somebody said to me last night, if you're going to sell your soul you have to make sure someone is buying. and that's the dilemma for the mccarthy forces. they were right about one thing. they were going in, hanging their hat on the idea that there was not a feesable, realistic alternative. well, that's part turners out to be true. it turned out not to save him so far, and they thought they could win a war of attrition, but now it's going the wrong way. >> this from the "new york post," jim jordan exactly right on renominating kevin mccarthy speaker of the house. the "post"writes, jim jordan got it right. gave republican majority aclear mandate and honoring that should be top priority of every gop

member. yesterday we urged rebels to grow up. they failed to heed our request just as they failed to heed jordan's wisdom and for what? not for country. not for voters. for their own heady ends. add in on fox news almost across the board hosts of the primetime shows admonishing this group of 20. some of them on the air confronting them directly saying what are you doing? what's the end game here except to look, make the republican party look like a clown show? >> yeah. it's hard for me to go along with an editorial that says that jim jordan is exactly right, and full of wisdom. >> fair. >> that is -- that is a little bit a bridge too far for me at this time in the morning. interesting thing is, anybody who wants to say, well, it's such a close margin. it's so hard. please, understand for the last two years the democrats grew with a closer margin.

50-50 in the senate and fewer democrats versus republicans than the republicans have now in terms of majority. pelosi and schumer and biden managed to get so much done. with incredibly tight margins. these guys can't even find their way to the bathroom, or elect a speaker with bigger margins than nancy pelosi had for the last two years. so it is really damning for the republican party, and that's why you see fox news panicky. why you see the "post" panicking, you see the "wall street journal" panicking, because this does not help them in 2024, and that's the prize their eyes are on right now. >> so interesting. >> this really was, all along, jonathan lemire, if you talk to team biden, after the elections, a lot of them quietly said, never say it publicly but quietly said it. let's get this straight. we control the united states senate.

so we can get all the judges through we want, all the ambassadors through we want, all the cabinet members we want. don't control the house, thought it blowout, but you're going to have the craziest people in washington, d.c. deciding which direction that place runs? i mean, the biden people i spoke with were pretty gleeful about how this set them up for 2024. and that was like a couple of days after the election. ah -- they had it exactly right. this is -- for -- for 2024, this is terrible news for republicans, and pretty great news for democrats. >> yeah. here's an image suching up yesterday in the west wing. every tv, tuned, of course, to the votes for the speaker. smiles and laughter among biden aides, how badly this is going right out of the gate for republicans. you're right. look, republicans eventually when they sort this through, a lot of investigations.

no white house likes that. biden aides i've talked to are bracing themselves how unpleasant some of that will be, but politically, absolutely. a good dynamic. increase margin in the senate. get their ambassadors through. the president renominated a bunch yesterday. get judges confirmed. they have what they need there. the president going with mitch mcconnell, talk more about this later, to kentucky today an act of bipartisan, looking like a grown-up, stark consistent of what you see with the chaos in the house. not that republicans have the house. the margin is so slim, so unruly, and the lunatic fringe as a biden aide put it to me is so empowered likely overreach, backfire and the white house only look goods by comparison which sets them up so well for eelection bid we believe coming. >> we have to go to break. quickly, claire. as a conservative, as a

supporter of law enforcement, as a supporter of the intel community. coming out of -- and i know you saw it in missouri, too. coming out of this reaction to the 1960s, where the pentagon was attacked and our troops were attacked and the intel community was attacked. like, every conservative i ever knew campaigned against the church commission and how they gutted, how they gutted, the intel community and stopped them from doing what they needed to do to keep americans safe across the world and at home. right? i say that to say, this is one of the sticking points for these extremists. they want their own private fund to be able to gut their sort of church commission investigations to go after, attack and a lot of them say dismantle the federal bureau of investigations. it is -- it's -- it's just

radicalism that will make america much less safe! >> you know, playing to the cheap seats has a steep price and what they're doing when they say they want to do away with the irs, our country is in debt. make sure nobody pays their fair share. makes no sense. two ways receivables except in a businesses that failing is just dumb. do away with the fbi? which is the most respected agency in the world? go after the military? this whole idea that the republican party has become the flag-waving, we want to get rid of everybody in uniform because we don't trust them anymore is terrible for our country, and even worse for the republican party. >> and then get rid of it, why? because they're holding donald trump accountable as far as the fbi, and also because the

military actually don't their own and didn't subvert the constitution of the united states of america for donald trump, and that's their crime. >> claire mccaskill and mike allen, thank very much for being on this morning. we appreciate it. and still ahead, with his goal of becoming house speaker on the line, kevin mccarthy makes time to mock a journalist wearing a mask. >> what a child. >> what a child. when you see it, this guy's walking out to a press conference where his future's on the line and he starts by trying to be funny. >> taking a pot shot. >> attacking a guy, because he's wearing a mask. plus, take a look how things played out in the senate yesterday. including mitch mcconnell's new remarks about becoming the longest serving party leader. "morning joe" is coming right back.

there's always a fresh deal on the subway app. like this one! 50% off?! that deal's so good we don't even need an

eight-time all-star to tell you about it. wait what? get it before it's gone on the subway app! hello, world. or is it goodbye? you know, it seems like hope and trust are in short supply. [clap] now, as businesses we can blame and shame. or... [whistles] we can make a change. [clap] we can make work, work for our communities. create more equal opportunities. [clap] it's time for business to show its true worth. because it's not goodbye, world. it's hello, team earth. [clap] ♪♪ choosing miracle-ear was a great decision. like when i decided to host family movie nights.

miracle-ear made it easy. i just booked an appointment and a certified hearing care professional evaluated my hearing loss and helped me find the right device calibrated to my unique hearing needs. now i enjoy every moment. the quiet ones and the loud ones. make a sound decision. call 1-800 miracle now, and book your free hearing evaluation. make a sound decision. call 1-800 miracle now, i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪

after my car accident, ♪ call owondnder whahatmy c cas. eight million ♪ so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. youour cidedentase e woh than insurance offered? call the barnes firm now to find out. yoyou ght t beurprpris are prostate concerns keeping you awake? force factor prostate helps reduce nighttime bathroom trips call the barnes firm now to find out. and promote a normal prostate size. "i feel like myself again." rush to walmart for force factor prostate, from the #1 fastest-growing men's health brand in america.

a few minutes before top of the hour. time for a quick look at the papers. indiana, covers latest fund-raising from a senate in the 2024 gubernatorial raise. his campaign raised about $1.5 million since formally launched his bid just over a month ago. he's transferred about $1.5 million from his senate campaign fund as he forgoes a re-election bid. in kentucky the courier journal reports on how the so-called tripledemic is impacting the child care system. a record 100,000 people missed work last october due to child care problems. meanwhile, doctors are bracing for the number of post-holiday infections to surge. in massachusetts, the "boston globe" reports the state's largest teachers union is pushing to change the state lew allowing teachers to strike.

the legislation, expected to be filed this month giving all public sector workers the right to strike. the move comes as massachusetts schools struggle to overcome learning losses from the pandemic. and "the arkansas democrat gizette" leads with a soaring number of children accidentally consuming cannabis products. more than 3,000 cases reported this year. that is more than a 1300% increase compared to five years ago. coming up, we'll get insight on kevin mccarthy's speaker battle from a former aide to the previous republicans who held that position. plus, we'll be joined by republican congress man mike lawler supporting mccarthy whether it's the first vote, second vote or third vote or the 100th vote. we're back in one minute.

after my car accident, wondnder whahatmy c cas. so i called the barnes firm. i'm rich barnes. youour cidedentase e woh than insurance offered? call the barnes firm now to find out. yoyou ght t beurprpris call the barnes firm now when that car hit my motorcycle, yoyou ght t beurprpris insurance wasn't fair. so i called the barnes firm, it was the best call i could've made. call the barnes firm now,

and find out what your case could be worth. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million no person has reserved majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname. a speak hear not been elected. ♪ put your hand in mine there ain't no mountain can't climb ♪ >> no person having received majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speak hear not been elected. ♪ then put your little hand in mine ♪ there ain't no mountain we can't climb ♪ >> no person having received the majority of the whole number of votes cast by surname, a speaker has not been elected. ♪ then put your little hand in

mine ♪ ♪ there ain't no hill or mountain we can't climb ♪ baby ♪ i get to you babe ♪♪ it's groundhog day all over again as kevin mccarthy trais to figure out how to win the house speakership. is it possible at this point? who knows. welcome back to "morning joe." >> i don't see a panel forward. maybe. maybe. >> aye. what a humiliating day. it is wednesday january 4th, jonathan lemire is with us, and mike barnicle former white house communications director under president obama, co-host of showtime the "the circus" and strategist and former aide to house speakers ryan and boehner brendan buck and msnbc political

analyst. >> all right. house of representatives is at a standtill this morning after republicans failed to coalesce around a single nominee for speaker during the first day of the 118th congress. >> yeah. house republicans kicked off their new position in the majority plunging the lower chamber into a level of disarray it hasn't seen in a century. for the first time since 1923 a vote on the next speaker wasn't decided on the first ballot. it wasn't on the second or the third either. needing 218 votes to secure the speakership, a small group of his own gop colleagues played spoiler to new majority leader kevin mccarthy in his quest for the gavel. >> unbelievable. >> they argued mccarthy was too much of an establishment figure to bring the real change they want to see in the house. shortly after the first vote failed, the house tried to elect a speaker for a second time.

and then a third time. with both subsequent votes ending in the same result. and he's sitting right there, watching this all go down. lawmakers then approved a motion to adjourn until noon today giving both factions of the republican party time to reasays their strategies. mccarthy hunkering down for a long night after the three failed notes, with nbc news spotting a cart of pizzas rolled into the speaker's office he prematurely moved into. the embattled republican briefly spoke to reporters following the unprecedented rejection from members of his own party saying he had no plans to back down once congress reconvenes today. >> are there circumstances under which you would consider pulling out of from the speakership? >> no. >> there's none? >> no.

look. it doesn't work negotiating with you. none of you have a vote, so we'll talk -- >> so, i had a quote -- earlier -- just -- i was looking at the members, the 5, 10, 15, 20 members. i don't know. 435-person congress, that were holding all of this up and looking at halperin's newsletter. a full gang of 500, influencers, murdoch wing of the conservative movement, democratic party more than 90% of republicans, red media plus odd couple of rhodes and greene all think what the recs is doing is pointless, selfless, self-destructive and adding counter predictive. here is the "wall street journal" editorial page that i have. willie has the "new york post"

that also going, going after this, this gang that couldn't shoot straight, but you literally have a handful of these republican extreme i6789s extremists playing right into boo the democratic party hands. >> this is the house that kevin mccarthy built, and the lesson is, you can't be crass fluff to lead absence any sort of agenda other than leading itself. you know, kevin mccarthy came in. he came in as a young gun. remember that? with paul ryan, eric cantor. not they would win, ideological purists bring the republican party back to its conservative roots, to its conservative policy agenda and then he's one of the ones that resisted trump in 2016 and then embraced him. he -- he dissed trump january 6th then ran down to mar-a-lago

to beg for his forgiveness. a lot good that did him winning a 20-seat majority in the house a lot of good that did him to get trump to endorse him to be speaker. when marjorie taylor greene was attacked by democrats and having committee assignments taken away from her threw her under the bus then propped her back up to campaign for republicans in the fall elections and now he finds that even she is not extreme enough for the people who are holding him hostage. this is the house, this didn't happen by accident. it's not just that he's a bad leader, which he also is. he's crass enough to lead the republican party in opposition when it is, when donald trump is in power, but not savvy, strategic enough, has some sort of coalescing agenda around which he can lobby members of his own party to support him to

be leader. >> you know -- and willie, as matt bye mentioned this morning in his "washington post" column, these young guns that jen was talking about, eric cantor. undone by the tea party. and -- paul ryan. undone by the maga forces. exited as -- as, and wrote this morning out the back door to escape what was certainly going to be his fate, and now kevin mccarthy undone by a new republican party that's filled with anti-vaxxers, election deniers, weirdos, insurrectionists and freaks. >> yeah. and they're running the party right now and will run him away from the he's held. not the first time he wanted speaker. tried in 2015 failed then too. thought courted them close enough, looked at wa, no

comment, run away. thought kept him close be there for him in the end and they haven't been including up to a couple days ago gave them almost everything they wanted including right to kick him out when they had that whim and still it wasn't enough to earn their votes. brendan, i ask you as someone an aide to both john boehner and paul ryan, a couple speakers of the house, what you made of the spectacle yesterday, number one, and number two, where does this go from here? i mean, you've got a guy in kevin mccarthy who says i'm not bowing out. a group of congressmen saying we're not voting for the guy. he doesn't have the votes. now what? >> you make an interesting point the way he's gotten close with conservatives over the last few years and not, it not panning out. boehner and ryan had freedom caucus problems and both had much more rocky relationships with the freedom caucus. kevin mccarthy saw that said if i want to be speaker i need to be allies with them and spend time trying to develop those

relationships, which is odd now. at this point his whole strategy, take the fight to them. the strategy hasn't played out and hoping for a fight and hoping peer pressure will get the job done. problem is these are people who's don't really care what their peers think and trying to gauge a test of wills, with radicals, frankly, who are stealing for the fight themselves and that's w radical -- first place. they may come in at noon and adjourn again because they feel they don't have progressing to show and don't want another vote. we'll see if they do that. right now there's obviously conversations taking place. ultimately this comes down to, does kevin mccarthy still think there's a path? and if he does, can he convince his friends that they should stick with him? one thing for mccarthy to say i'm sticking around and break the record for 134 votes, if

that's what it takes and another for allies in the house to feel its worth putting up that fight. this could take weeks at the rate we're goinggoingality -- g at right now. >> they want to be chairman of committees to open, joe listed earlier, ingest gatiens into the fbi, the irs, weaponization of the federal government, tear down the military for being too woke. will he hand them the keys to those committees? >> i don't know. i can't say. he might have to give things unpopular. using this defense that the rest of the conference wouldn't like that and won't goep along. reality is, if kevin mccarthy can strike a deal with these folks others will come along happy it's over. a few things to do, representation on committees is one. hasn't gone down a single vote on the motion 0 vacate any one member can trigary vote to kick him out. wept down to five kpp go lower

on that. not a lot to give and the problem is this, for a lot of them isn't just an winning. it's about defeating the leader. not even about mccarthy. it's no the about kevin mccarthy in a lot of ways but a question for the 200 other members. will they let the 20 decide they're in charge? looks like they may at end of the day. >> hmm. so many strings to pull on within this story. one is obviously there is no house of representatives today. congress is not complete. house of representatives, members have not been sworn in, because there is no speaker. the second element of it is, kevin mccarthy clearly forget before you get to ideology and soothing the ruffled wings of the republican party you've got to get to math. got to be ale to add. and the third aspect that

interests me the speakers have have known and approached them and spoke off the record, tip o'neill, tom foley and speaker nancy pelosi. and the idea yesterday visually watching kevin mccarthy sitting on the house floor as his dignity was stripped from him minute by minute was shocking to me. wondering then about his character, or lack of character. >> yes. and somebody that loves congress, loves politics and really believes in democracy, it's offensive even to watch just the -- the incompetence and remember in 2015, kevin mccarthy backed out of running for speaker because he said i don't have a path to win. that is why he didn't do it. remember? got limbs in trouble in 2015 because he committed a gaffe. saying the truth which was that

basically saying the committee drive down hillary clinton's approval ratings and that claimed he claimed victory he did that and after that he said he was going to run for speaker. thought that was when boehner was retiring. thought he, was in line to do that and said i don't have a path. i'm not going to do it. didn't have a path yesterday and he went and he went ahead and did it. talking about all of the speakers. all of those speakers found a way to get most, to get not just, you know, at least their party, of them, members of the other party to doe coalesce around something. right? that is what -- hakeem jeffries had a great answer yesterday when he got asked about what do you make of all the republican dysfunction? he said, you know, basically we had a similar majority. right? and here's all the things we got done. but it's because democrats

debated and, not prit to watch but coalesced around an agenda. bipartisan infrastructure, build back better done, medicare for insulin costs lowered. got, they passed the american rescue plan. but you have to coalesce around something other than just winning for the sake of winning. >> brendan, curious that, if kevin mccarthy as speaker seems untenable at this point, because say if these 20 republicans he gets a few, finally gets there somehow, what he's offering is a speakership that the remaining crazies can -- bring to a halt at a moment's notice. so how does anything function? how does anything happen? >> yeah. i think it's going to start off really broken. if he does have to give in, motion to vacate to remove him at any time, could be a very short speakership. one. things when paul ryan took over,

need to get rid of this rule and change it so it's not hanging over me and never actually got rid of it, a handshake deal they wouldn't use it against him. no leash to do much of anything. maybe the good thing is expectations are super low that they're going to accomplish a whole lot. is a divided government. thare things you have to do. fund the government at some point. the thing that keeps me up at night, increase the debt limit, avoid a debt default and providing republican votes to do that will be extremely hard and the kind of thing if you even try to do it they can kick you out. i have very low expectation what's they're able to do. not just kevin mccarthy. comes down to whoever is in charge, whoever becomes speaker probably has to live under these rules because these people asserted authority over the rest of the group and i don't see a way out of it. >> and ask you this question. we were, when -- when we got there in '94 throughout a large period of time that we were

there, the large group of freshmen that came in, we were able to control so much of what happened in the caucus, because we always sort of had the veto, and it took a couple years, because we had nothing to lose. we were freshmen and always willing to walk into a room and blow ourselves up politically, and were going up against people that were horrified we were willing to do it. it's a lot like what's going on here and i remember one time about two or three years' in a moderate standing up going, wait a second. why are we letting them do this? there are only like 10 or 11 of them! we're not going to let them do it anymore and then shut us down, and i just wonder -- the other 200. like, are they really going to let 5, 6, 7, 10 people dominate? i can't imagine every second that goes by they aren't more angry by the moment and all of

those -- those candidates, elected in districts that joe biden won? they know every day this goes on they're losing. so -- they can't really give in. can they? >> it's a change in culture in the conference. certainly from the time when you came in and over the time that i was there. in the beginning a lot more moderates and a recognition moderates were what gave you majority. people isn't swing seats. the seats that decide who's in majority. in the beginning think about that. think how far you could go. putting these people in a bad position? over time when there's gerrymandering, whatever it is, the party changed so much. the culture in the house republican conference is such that nobody really cares at all about swing seats from moderates. all they care about is primary voters and base voters. moderates are fewer in number and they just don't really feel like they have the space -- those 200, not all moderate. lots of conservatives in there. reality is --

>> i -- i guess instead of moderate -- i've allowed my, my political definitions to be redefined in a way they shouldn't be redefined. let me just say those 200 conservatives as opposed to the handful of insurrectionists, weirdos and freaks holding this party hostage right now, those republican conservatives really what i'm talking about. the mccarthy supporters, can they allow anybody to run them over right now? because if they do, they will be owned by them the next two years. >> that's the question they need to ask themselves. like i said. kevin mccarthy can say he wants to stick around forever. he needs those 200 to say they're sticking around and not handing over the keys to it these people. this is just the beginning. get it here, they'll get it on everything they want going forward and be in charge. the way to think about it. it's not just about kevin

mccarthy but whether the overwhelming majority of the conference has direction or these radicals do. >> brendan buck, thank you very much for being on this morning. and still ahead on "morning joe," longtime democratic strategist james carville joins us in a few minutes to weigh in. >> i bet he'll have a few words to say about this. >> maybe just a few. and on the republican chaos we saw play out in the house. talking about that. plus joined by one gop congressman-elect who voted in favor of kevin mccarthy yesterday. also this morning, the 28-year-old man accused of killing four university of idaho students appears before a judge. we'll take a look what happened in the courtroom yesterday. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. k.

ooh, we're firing up the chewy app. can't say no to these prices! hmm, clumping litter? resounding yes! salmon paté? love that for me! essentials? check!

ooh, we have enough to splurge on catnip toys! we did it, i feel so accomplished. pet me, please! okay that's enough. now back to me time. luv you! great prices. happy pets. chewy. >> tech: when you have auto glass damage, trust safelite. this dad and daughter great were drivingy pets. when they got a crack in their windshield. [smash] >> dad: it's okay. pull over. >> tech: he wouldn't take his car just anywhere... ♪ pop rock music ♪ >> tech: ...so he brought it to safelite. we replaced the windshield and recalibrated their car's advanced safety system, so features like automatic emergency braking will work properly. >> tech: alright, all finished. >> dad: wow, that's great. thanks. >> tech: stay safe with safelite. schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

(bright music) - [announcer] what if there is a hearing aid that could keep up with you? this is jabra enhance select. it's a smart hearing solution that makes hearing aids more convenient and less expensive. it connects with your phone so you can stream calls and music. with jabra enhance select, better hearing doesn't have to start in a doctor's office. it starts with a free online hearing test you can take almost anywhere, so you can get your hearing aids custom programmed for you and delivered in days. from there, you can fine tune your settings with your remote audiology team seven days a week, so your hearing aids work when it matters most. take it from more than 95% of our customers who report hearing better with their friends, family, and colleagues.

and jabra enhance select hearing aids cost thousands less than you'd expect, so hearing well is easier than ever before. try it risk-free for 100 days. visit jabraenhance.com we believe our military heroes try it risk-free for 100 days. deserve a company who will fight for them just as they do for us. from buying to refinancing, the loan professionals at newday usa have given enlisted veterans a different kind of financial experience. with more ways to help more veterans, no bank, no lender, no one knows veterans like newday usa. haven't heard much from the hospital on buffalo bills safety damar hamlin remains in critical

condition since going into cardiac arrest on the field monday night. we have the latest. >> reporter: this morning we are learning new details about damar hamlin's injuries and how doctors are helping him fight for his life in the icu will he remains in critical condition. his uncle saying the bills play sir flipened flipped on his stomach and the next goal to breathe on his oath. >> sedated right now. they want him to have a better chance of recovering better this heartbreaking scene like that. >> reporter: and family sending platitudes for all fans sending support writing in a statement your generosity and compassion mean the world to us. outside the hospital -- >> we're praying for damar. >> reporter: and in buffalo near highmark stadium prayers from

across the nation for hamlin's recovery. >> feels like a gut punch. >> reporter: football fans across the country stunned when hamlin fell back after a tackle and had to receive cpr. >> the last thing you quantity to see. >> reporter: the bills say the 24-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest and his heartbeat restored on the field. >> had they not been there, he would be gone. >> reporter: reviewing resuscitated a second time at the hospital, and grew up just outside pittsburgh. high school standout went on to play college football for the pitt panthers. >> recovered by hamlin the safety. >> reporter: and signed with the buffalo bills in 2021. >> worked very hard for a career in the national football league and when he achieved it wanted to go back into his community and help other people achieve theirs. >> reporter: hamlin passionate about his family who regularly cheers him on from the sidelines. >> my mom, my dad. my little brother. pretty much my whole world.

>> maggie vespa. it's unclear which the game will be rescheduled. matchup for the final week of the regular seize been go on as planned. definitely not this week for that bills/bengals game. mike, talking about this a couple days now, but for those of us watching sports for a very long time, this was as horrifying a scene i've ever seen and unlike anything any of us has ever seen. >> life and death from the 40 yardline. literally. no wonder that the players are so grieving in public. >> yeah. >> watching what was happening on the field. watching their teammate, their associate if you're a bengal, someone they all knew. players today in all leagues but especially the national football league and major league baseball play on a lot of teams. free agency gives them ability to go from team to team to team, work out with each other even on different teams during the

winter. a young man 24 years of age literally brought back to life during a game. shocking for everyone. especially for players right there. >> and certainly a real kinship in the league. they all know the risks when they take the field each and every sunday, and you see people, players, from both teams rally around any injured player. break and ankle or something. this have very different here. and just underscores talking about violence in sports and league hoping obvious lis game itself very secondary to his recovery, that, hoping that this week sorts out the playoff picture so never have to finish this game if it does complicate matters more. >> and mika, haven't heard a lot from the hospital. still in critical condition. the information is from him uncle in a series of interviews saying he is on less oxygen anyway than when first in the hospital if you want a little

good news. report from his uncle, resuscitated again at the hospital after having been resuss pated with cpr on the field is troubling to a lot of people watching the story. >> all right. we'll be waiting to hear the latest of his condition when doctors tell us what is going on. the suspect in a quadruple murder in idaho made his first koert appearance yesterday in pennsylvania. nbc news correspondent gadi schwartz has the latest from moscow, idaho. >> bryan, did you do it? >> reporter: seen for the first time since hi arrest in a pennsylvania extradition hearing bryan kohberger awaiting high high-security transport. >> and security moving any prisoner. anytime move to another place. >> reporter: the suspect the family including mother and sisters also as tuesday's extradition hearing he agreed to be transported across the country to idaho. kohberger's pennsylvania public defender has said he expects him

to plead not guilty. >> being very calm, very aware. he understands proceedings. he said it's just not him. he basically claims he'll be exonerated. >> reporter: his parents? western pennsylvania. >> tactical assets on-scene in the neighborhood of 50. >> reporter: kohberger's father made the cross-country drive together from washington state in the their hometown in pennsylvania in mid-december. a journey paused by two stops in indiana. bodycam footage showing the father and son driving the same model car. a white hyundai elantra investigators had been looking for. for now kohberger is held at the monroe county correctional facility while officials in idaho get ready for his imminent arrival and unseal a document

laying out the case against him. >> i definitely believe one of the main reasons the defendant chose to waive extradition and hurry his return back to idaho was the need to know what was in those documents. >> lm. nbc's gaudy schwartz with that report. coming up, compared to republicans a very different day for house democrats on the hill yesterday. we'll show you that party's message of unity amid the gop chaos. and james carville joins the conversation. we'll be right back with much more "morning joe."

business can happen anytime, anywhere. so help yours thrive and stay connected with the comcast business complete connectivity solution. it's the largest, fastest, reliable network. advanced gig speed wifi. and cyberthreat protection. starting at just $49.99 a month. plus, you can save up to 60% a year when you add comcast business mobile. or, ask how to get up to a $750 prepaid card. complete connectivity. one solution, for wherever business takes you. comcast business. powering possibilities.

science proves quality sleep is vital to your mental, emotional, and physical health. and we know 80% of couples sleep too hot or too cold. introducing the new sleep number climate 360 smart bed. the only smart bed in the world that actively cools, warms, and effortlessly responds to both of you. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. proven quality sleep. only from sleep number. today madam, house democrats

are united -- [ cheers ] -- united by a speak here will put people over politics. hakeem jeffries worked his entire life to improve economic opportunity for all people. he does not traffic in extremism. [ applause ] he does not grovel to or make excuses for a twice impeached so-called former president. [ applause ] madam floor, he does not bend a knee to anyone who would seek to undermine our democracy. [ applause ] >> you see, that's -- that's amazingly powerful. >> yeah. >> i'll tell you, it's amazingly power because, because there's constantly a battle between the two political parties for control of the moderate voters, the swing voters, the

independent voters, that determine elections. not a lot of watching deal with ideological and maybe befitting by that, but a reason people voted for ronald reagan twice, for bill clinton twice, barack obama twice, george bush twice and then it's donald trump and joe biden. it's the middle. swing voters decide states like wisconsin, accomplish mish, pennsylvania and keep going back and forth and back and forth and always a battle on who is the most extreme. republicans trying to paint democrats as being extreme for the past five years, ten years. but especially past five years and whether it's the southern border. whether it's lgbtq issues, whether it's -- it's covid. you name it. they've been trying to do it. >> yeah.

they've lost that bottle colossally. talking about transswimmers, transathletes. americans care about. 80% of americans don't think somebody transitions after puberty should be able to compete against girls and young women. okay. fine. that's an issue. that's an issue. but you have inflation. and you have gas prices. you've got russia. you've got -- all of these other issues, and you get republicans who have actually been the ones that have likely been painted in the corner of being insurrectionists, weirdos, and freaks. and that's why that speech yesterday, while america was watching, watching the republicans continue to implode, continuing to allow extremists to take control of their party,

and run their party. not just take it. run their party from donald trump to lauren boebert to the rest of the clown show, the insurrectionist weirdos and freaks that took over yesterday. so that's why the line by the congressman, he does not traffic in extremism. it's a powerful line. just like the line about the election denying and, by the way, while talking about the tragedy of a football player fighting for his life, while he's fighting for his life the weirdos, the freaks, the insurrectionists, the whack jobs going on twitter and did most grotesque anti-vaxing screens. >> oh, my lord. >> against this young man. using a young man's tragedy for her own political purposes? and, again is again, just an extreme, whacked out position that even hosts on fox news were

attacking last night, but this has become the faction of the party that controls republicans. so they're losing that fight. if you want to know, i always talk about them losing from 2017, losing from 2018, losing in 2019 losing in 2020, losing in 2021, in 2022, because they keep losing suburban voters, swing voters, independent -- they're like -- these guys are too crazy to run america, and this, of course, for a republican party, people used to vote for in spite of the fact they thought they were too harsh. thought they could get things done. no more. >> another version of donald trump losing again and again and again because the reason they're in this position they never could break away from donald trump. not even after january 6th. joining us now, democratic strategist and co-host of the "politics warroom" podcast james carville. great to have you on this morning. how would you characterize what

the heck happened yesterday on capitol hill? >> first of all, mika, congratulations, beautiful purple you have on. contrasts very nicely. >> thank you. that's nice. thank you. >> you know, one does a lot of speculation in columns about about what would the post-trump republican party look like? we now have the answer. [ laughter ] if anything -- it's as bad as -- trump will probably -- to joe's point. the democrats have a much better year than expected in an off year congressional races and the main driver is about three times more of republicans voted democratic than democrats voted republican. and independents vote, vote for democrats. i can't imagine where there's a single one of these people that didn't washout yesterday and say, watch that, glad i voted for my party and didn't vote for these clowns and go rises to the heart of point. they looked extreme.

they looked catty. putting on a show. i'll call it political pawn, you can't take your eyes off of it. and it's going to go on and on. >> james, even inside the republican caucus we're hearing loud voices, like dan crenshaw of texas going hard after this group of 19 or 20 people saying they are the enemy now. saying a bunch of democrats to infiltrate our caucus what it looks like. making us look incompetent and like we don't deserve any gavels. control the house. not by much but got the votes. whatever happens in the speaker's race, what are the next couple years going to look like? >> i defer to joe on this but i think if -- in a party fight, when it's the democrats and republicans, we don't much like each other. intraparty fights, they really hate each other. and the residual effects of

this, not going away. well, it's all over now. let's go back and work and get to the capitol next. no. it's not going to work like that. the people will form a cakes. can't believe that they're watching -- whatever you want to call it. idiots. but they're not going to live and let live. other people are not going to live and let live. this is going to be, i think, a pretty difficult breach to repair going forward over a reasonable time. but, joe, you know that better than i do. >> i completely agree with us. >> it's personal. >> people yesterday looking at jim jordan and jim jordan was giving a speech for kevin mccarthy, and they said, oh. you know, i heard commentators on tv, well jim jordan's giving a speech for kevin mccarthy. that means he certainly doesn't want to be speaker himself. oh, no, no, no. what you always look out for and

you are right. people are thinking that, you know, steve scalise is a guy that can get to 218 votes. people close together to mccarthy are probably going to try to block that, and they're going to block that, because as you said, these inner party fight, that's where it really gets ugly. it's like a theology fight inside of a church. you're not as angry as people at other churches as you are, james, for people inside your own church. >> that's so -- so correct. and like you say, it's not like you take a hard lickin' get up and dust yourself up and go back in the huddle. it's not going to work like that. >> no. >> and the -- you know, most people that watch your show, i watch fox from time to time and took a call on this, 180 degrees different. it's just kind of interesting to, i look around the computer,

and to see what the writers are saying, and it's kind of fun, actually. >> so -- james -- >> and his party, everybody cheering and everybody on the same team kind of refreshing to see. >> james, yesterday watching this, it struck -- not just me. i think a lot of people. the difference between the two parties yesterday visually, verbally, was one party seems to be interested in governing. the other party seems to be interested in grievances. so if you get a call today from hakeem jeffries that said, james, i need your help. need you to come up here and help me think through how we are going to position ourselves against these crazy people on the other side of the aisle what would you tell him? >> watch out. i'll take my time getting up there, because right now doing a printy good job just sitting there watching them. you know? there's a lot of cherishing there, okay, if you watch every

now and then. right now, this won't happen for much longer but a certifying caucus behind him. when you get moments of unity, you drive them home, and i don't think the democrats have much interest in getting in the the way of these headlines. frankly enjoying themselves. and that's okay. politics can be fun sometimes, too, but it's quite remarkable. >> so, adding to the republican chaos, the role one donald trump is playing, very much in a trump party. yesterday seems to waver. literally one minute ago on his truth social site posted a full endorsement. time to vote kevin. close the deal. take the victory. do not turn a giant victory in a giant defeat. kevin mccarthy will do a good job, maybe eve an great job. a dig there at the end. what does this mean now? we know those standing up to

mccarthy some of trump's movie fervent disciples. will they defy trump and doesn't it add to the in es? >> means no plan b. right? it means somebody convinced donald trump of something. hard to do anyway. and he is, he's decided there is no plan b. he said, yes, wait and see how this pans out. and he's been convinced that he needs to weigh in. he does hold something back, as you know, maybe we can be great. right now saying kevin is good. a luke-warm endorsement, and i think joe is right. when i saw jim jordan yesterday he was the only person who, when he spoke in favor of mccarthy -- he was the only person that articulated an agenda. granted not agenda. not built back better, hold back on the money. not what they were going to do

but weren't going to do. but if trump is still backing mccarthy he's convinced that's not going to work out. we have no 118 congress. this is not a joke. it's a serious thing. no house of representatives. these people are not sworn in. congressman-elect lawler on soon but he's not actually a congressman. two day of no house representatives seated. >> amazing. >> so, james, if donald trump gist came out gave an endorsement on truth social forekevin mccarthy and a lot of the people, insurrectionists weirdos and freaks are donald trump's big effort supporters do you think maybe they work something out and mccarthy may get the votes today? or do you think that these most extreme members are going to will willing to buck donald trump today? >> joe, that's what i say, it doesn't matter what donald trump does.

he's a gone pecan. he's occupied so much space in our minds and so much space in everything, and was backing mccarthy. made calls. no one cared. no matter what the day was, they stop caring. i don't think they're very interested in him. i don't think he can help mccarthy. i just don't think he is much of a political force anymore. i guess he's got some residual pile within a certain element of the republican party, but not as much as people think, and certainly a ton less than he did months ache. i really don't think he's that big of a factor. >> james carville, thank you very much for being on this morning. we appreciate it. it's nice to see you. >> thank you, james. >> very good to have you on. thank you. >> wear my crimson tie next. >> and -- that -- that's

unbelievable. >> i -- i guess the green could be for the wave, baby. the wave, the usc trojans, huh? >> here we go. >> yep thank you. appreciate it. thank you. up next something we could all use right about now. lessons from the world's longest scientific study of happiness. >> oh, wow. >> "morning joe" is coming right back. i'd like to thank our sponsor liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. contestants ready? go! only pay for what you need. jingle: liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.

at booking.com, finding perfect isn't rocket science. kitchen? sorted. hot tub, why not? and of course, puppy-friendly. we don't like to say perfect, but it's pretty perfect. booking.com, booking.yeah.

beautiful live picture of new york city and the top of our building here at rockefeller center. the well news letter from the new york city times launched what it calls is the 7-day happy challenge. it focuses on ways to strengthen

your relationships. it's written by columnist for the well news letter, james c. dunn who wrote the book "the good life." the longest scientific study of happiness ever conducted, and they join us now. great to see you. >> good morning. >> let's start with the study. i think people read a little about this but don't understand how comprehensive it was and what exactly it told us about happiness and what makes us happy. >> this is the longest study of the same people that ever has been done, and we are in our 85th year and we followed over 2,000 people in two generations, their whole lives. >> it comes back to relationships. for 85 years there's a

consistent thread that enter personal relationships is the key. >> let's talk about the exercises that you offered. i mentioned the eight-minute phone call. >> yes. >> tell us about that. >> we wanted people to connect, and i have been doing this whacky thing, and i say give me eight minutes, and it's not five minutes, it's not ten, and i text them first and when you have the eight minutes you really get down to business. you don't waste time and there's no opening chitchat. you get right to it. i solved problems and discussed any issues i am having, and we update each other and then we get off the phone, and it has gotten a great reaction because

it's doable. >> mike, if you can keep your phone calls to eight minutes, that would be great. i am a hard out with you. >> i am two minutes. first of all, i am very happy to see you guys here today. seven days, a news letter, seven days straight. how does that work in an age when people are so cynical and get so cranky just watching one hour's worth of news or one hour's daily events, and how does seven straight days of news letters help out? >> well, if we turn towards each other and work on our relationships actively with little activities, like sending a text, sending an e-mail and picking up the phone, and if we do that we get little hits of well-being that make us feel better. >> what are contained in the

news letters. there are exercises, and reaching out to somebody they lost touch with, and having that eight-minute phone call, and talking to a stranger, which it turns out to make us happier than we think it's going to. >> you set up an eight-minute phone call, and that eliminates small talk, and one other example is small talk has big benefits. explain that. >> yeah, it's strangers and maybe you know their faces but maybe never exchanged words, and can you get a big boost of happiness with just weak ties, and so the checkout clerk at your grocery store or a neighbor. i had a neighbor -- i can give you an example. i had a neighbor whose dachshunds barked at me, and i said how can he make him like

me, and she said, petey doesn't like people that wear hats, and so now when i see petey i pull my hat off, and it makes my neighborhood friendlier. i fell in love with petey and i know my neighbor now, and that's a chitchat big benefit. >> you said our social life is a living system and needs exercise, and it's one that has huge benefits. i am not sure people think about it that way, and it's just something that happens, but you have to work at keeping up those relationships. >> yeah, it's like physical fitness. we don't go to the gym and say i am done, i'm good. we have to keep at it. relationships really thrive if we keep paying attention to

them, if we make sure that it happens. >> if you neglect them they can go away. you can't take them for granted. >> perfectly good relationships can wither away because of the neglect. >> i want to ask as a society, we continue to seem to be more and more isolated. when i first ran for political office in '94, i thought i was living in the suburbs of atlanta in 1969 and 1970, and everybody lived there, and i found out even back 30 years ago in the middle of the day, the neighborhoods were vacant and nobody was there, and i had to go with organizations and then we get into the age of social media and those organizations start breaking up, and suddenly this sense of community and sense of belonging has been blown to pieces over the past 30

years. these are some of the ways to do it, but how important is it for us to realize we have to be active and engaging because the world we knew growing up socially no longer exists? >> you are talking about all these social forces that keep pulling us away from each other, and it's the path of least resistance to stay by ourselves and on our screens, and we have to be more intentional to turn to each other at home and in our community, and that intention is something that we can put into practice each day. each week we can make sure, who have i not seen that i may be able to reach out to and reconnect with. it's not hard to do. >> it does feel like we have turned inward as a society and

accelerated by the pandemic, maybe, and sometimes you don't know who lives on the other side of the wall. >> i was talking to a lady, and she said i have friends that i have not connected with since before the pandemic, and i thought, i do, too. there's some from 2019 that you have not seen. bob had an exercise in his book where he said picture the closest picture to you, and are they somebody that you have access to. how often have you seen them in the past year? my closest friend who lives right near here, and i live in new jersey, not antarctica, and i tallied up the year and it was six hours, which is probably what i spent on instagram over the weekend. it was six hours. three meetings of two hours each. i thought, this is wrong. i called her after i read that

in bob's book and said, i'm seeing you today. >> when people got to their 80s we asked them to look back in their lives, and we asked what do you regret the most. they said i wish i would have spent more time with the people i cared about. >> a lot of times you feel like you are in touch and you are texting, and then you stop and say i have not seen that person in two or three years. pick up the phone and make the call, but eight minutes, eight minutes only. thank you both so much. you can sign up for the seven-day happiness challenge by subscribing to the news letter. the book is titled "the good life," and it's out next tuesday. >> powerful. back to our top story of the morning and the fact that at the moment we have no house of representatives, literally. the house adjourned last night without a speaker after kevin

mccarthy failed to win enough support in three rounds of voting. joining us now, former msnbc host, chris matthews. we have never seen anything like this in 100 years. what is going on? what is going to happen? >> there are so many things wrong. where do i begin? i think this whole republican caucus, the gop caucus this time is really a destructive force. it was founded on a lie that donald trump did not have anything to do with the attack on the capitol in january 6th of '21, and he had nothing to do with it. all of these people from kevin mccarthy on down who went down and saw him and got his approval. mccarthy is in league with trump on that, and trump is in league with him, and the whole idea of him having a good relationship

with his party is right. if you watch pelosi, and this has nothing to do with right wing or left wing politics. she made a point to have good relationships with the people on the hard lift, and when she had to hold up that bill on infrastructure, she had to hold it up more than a month because the squad said we want you to hold up that popular bill with the center because our stuff has to be considered, and she held it up for almost a month and she said you had your time and we will have to vote on the infrastructure and she ended up getting it all passed. you have to have finesse. i don't think kevin mccarthy has any finesse and there's nobody afraid of him. they hate him. that's for sure. they hate him. they want his head. they want him gone. they want to hurt him and for him to feel bad about himself and his career. that's what they want.

this is a personal thing. that's what i think. i think in a normal transition he would get that message today or tomorrow and scalise will get the leadership, but i don't know if this is normal times. seems like that's the normal way it could happen. >> speaking of normal, you look at nancy pelosi again and you look back at her time as speaker, she never put things on the floor she thought was going to lose. if something got on the floor it meant she had the floats and if it didn't go to the floor she didn't have the votes. she held things up for a long time, and shepherd them through and got them passed, and she worked for a guy, tip o'neal, chris, you were tip's guy and you were running the house, and for people like me, because i was in the house i saw the

fights and i also saw, you know, and newt gingrich had the way. for those of us that have been there and done this, yesterday was shocking because you just don't put votes on the floor that are this kwan sequential consequential until you have the votes. you would have held a press conference and said good-bye if you did not have the votes. nobody would have sat there to be humiliated by a handful of insurrectionists and freaks. >> you knew exactly who they were and what they were going to do. you know, joe and mika, when you lose an election like the

mondale election, you know the knives are coming out for the leadership. that's the normal way. you have to go after the top guys in office to make them pay for this for having put up the wrong nominee. and then he never got a leadership challenge because he got rid of it, okay. remember the southern democrats, how many there were and how conservative they were in the '80s, and he got it down to about 29 votes and they gave up. it's about working relationships. people working in the cloakroom and in the mail room, little members you do for favors for, and he didn't have to have a fight. nancy pelosi says when she is in a tough fight, she has five votes to get and win it by 218, and she would say, give me the

list and leave me alone with them. give me the list and leave me alone. she knew what each one of those members faced at home, what threats they faced, the bad guys coming at them on the left or on the right, and she was -- she could help them get through it. they are fending for their lives, these members, and when they are fighting over a social program, it passed. now we have hakeem jeffries, a guy that would be a good leader. they put it together. the democrats never looked so smart. maybe that's just in comparison. >> it was something watching nancy pelosi eight or nine rows up watching this happen. let's bring into the conversation somebody who is involved in this from capitol hill, republican mike lawler from new york. we need to call you

congressman-elect, sir, since nobody was sworn in yesterday. where does the vote stand? how do you see this breaking? it looks like a staring contest where neither side will blank? >> obviously it looks like a game of chicken. the bottom line is, the vast majority of caucus supports kevin mccarthy. we had our elections back in november and he received 85% of the vote. yesterday on the floor he received 91% of the vote. the bottom line for me is these folks, you know, need to get onboard. kevin has negotiated in good faith with them to address their concerns. we have made over 20 rules changes that will be adopted by the conference when we elect a speaker. for them to continue to gripe and air petty grievances,

frankly, is disgraceful. they need to get onboard so we can get about the work we were elected to do. we were elected to govern. too many of these folks want to hold us hostage. >> you are right, they are hell-bent and show no signs to change their votes. how do you change the minds or change the votes of those 19 or 20 republicans? >> you can't allow a handful of people to run the conference here. >> right. >> with a margin like this, 222, 18 districts, including myself, representing districts joe biden won in the 2020 presidential election, we're not going to allow a handful of people to overrun the conference. we are either going to work together and advance our agenda

or not, and they have a choice there, but the 203 of us that are supporting kevin on the first ballot, the second ballot, the third ballot and so on, we are not going to be overrun by them, and that's the bottom line here. >> so congressman -- i will call you congressman, it's a matter of time, congratulations on your victory. >> thanks, joe. >> i do wonder -- i was talking about when a group of us used to -- 10 or 11 of us would decide which direction the congress was going by voting down a rule, and after a while the rest of the caucus caught on and said wait a second, we can run over them and they started running over us pretty regularly. i am wondering what you are saying about not surrendering to them, is there an understanding with the 200 plus people that

support kevin mccarthy for speaker, is there an understanding if you back down now that you are hostage to these people for the next two years? >> 1,000%, and that's why we are not going to do so. it's unattainable in a conference to do this. there's too much at stake and we are not going to allow a handful of people to overrun the conference or the will of the american people. the american people wanted to end one-party rule. they wanted to restore balance and common sense in government. by the way, the democrats have to work with us, too, and it's not just republicans working with democrats, and there will be a speaker and joe biden will

have to deal with him. there's a lot of challenges ahead. we have to be serious and sober about them, and i am fully committed to doing that. >> congressman, it's jennifer palmieri, and congratulations on your win. you represent a district that president biden won and it was a tough race in '22, and it will be a tough race in 2024, and are you thinking now about how you will convince your constituents that you can play a productive role here, how if you are going to need to distance yourself from the republican leadership, but people see chaos so far and dysfunction, and what are you going to do to make sure your constituents see you are getting results in doing the job of representing them? >> look, there's no question. i won a tough district. there are 70,000 more democrats than republicans, and the district is home to hillary

clinton and george sorros. i have been able to win because of my message and the work that i have done. in albany i had among the most bipartisan voting records in the state legislature, and i will do the same down here in washington. i am not concerned about my ability to convince the voters in my district of the job that i am doing. we will move forward as a conference and focus on the issues that matter. we need to reign in the reckless and out-of-control spending, and these are issues i ran on and won on in this district that joe biden won by ten points. the results speak for themselves and people are very interested in seeing serious leadership and results.

that's what i am going to deliver over the next two years. >> congressman, let me ask you quickly, because it would be malpractice if i didn't ask about george santos. what should his fate be? >> look, his election was certified and he was on the floor yesterday voting, but there are multiple investigations under way, federal, state and local. i am sure the house ethics investigation will commence once we elect a speaker, but he will have to cooperate with every single investigation, including the one that seemingly was opened in brazil. these are serious charges that have been leveled against him. obviously his conduct is embarrassing and unbecoming, but his election was certified so he will be seated and we will see what the investigations produce, and obviously deal with it from there. >> right. leave it to the voters and the

courts and ethics committee. quickly, before we let you go, since you are going to be a new member, mika and i know a lot about the 17th congressional district, and tell us about the 17th congressional district and what are you going to do for them? locally, what does the 17th congressional district need from you? >> well, look, it's among the highest property taxed counties in america, and rockland county, and westchester county, the northern section, and i want to lift the cap on salt, and democrats talked about doing it when they had complete control and they failed to do that. i want to move people on this issue and work with senator schumer and the president to address it. people are struggling.

you know, inflation is at a 41 record high. we need to reduce the cost of living and make it more affordable. new york is a tough place to live, and we need to tackle that. i want to increase domestic production of energy, and we have sky high production costs, and we need to fix immigration. it's a broken process. we need to secure the border and fix the immigration system and address the 20 plus million people here undocumented. this is unsustainable for the future and we need to be serious for it. >> i think you can find a lot of bipartisan support for everything you said there. republican congressman -- congressman-elect, and we are still going to >> he will be this morning, i think. >> at some point. well, welcome to the money house. good luck. >> yes, good luck to you. >> thanks, and it makes albany

look like beanbag. >> nice. joining us now, democratic congresswoman susan delbene. i wonder what you make of what is happening in the house right now, and what opportunity this poses for democrats? >> well, good morning. it's great to be with you. it has been chaos. the republicans have been the chaos caucus and they are proving that yet again, inability -- there's not leadership there to help bring people together. the american people want to see us govern and we can't govern, as you mentioned, when we can't even swear in members of congress, put them in their positions going forward, so there's a lot that needs to happen. the -- kevin mccarthy's desire

to be speaker is something he has been working on a long time, and i don't know what changes at the last minute when these conversations have been going on for months. >> congratulations. tell us your agenda as this congress will get seated soon? >> it's an honor to be chair of the new dddc and work with our leadership team. we want to make sure that we can see the governance works, and when democrats are in the majority we were able to make things happen for the american people. we only need to net five seats to have that majority again. we will work hard. i started in congress coming from a swing district serving as one of the -- having to get re-elected as a front line member, one of those folks who are targets on the republican side, so i know what it's like

to run in a tough district. we have a lot of great members. we have 18 seats out there that republicans hold that biden won in 2020, so we have an incredible opportunity to take back the majority in 2024 and continue to put us on a good path going forward. i will work hard across country and build a good team at the dccc, and make sure we have the resources to support our candidates running. we have a strong and unified message for the people to support the needs of our communities and govern. >> hi, congresswoman. 2024 is going to be a tough year. i talked to republicans that won biden districts, and we just had

congressman lawler on, and he's one of them. how are you thinking about holding those responsible for the chaos accountable? >> we want to see governance work, and that's a bipartisan statement. and that is by having policy come forward and building coalitions necessary to move policy. i think we showed that we can do that. we had a very small majority as well. all of the republicans who will be serving, they are accountable for making that happen, too. clearly they can't elect a speaker right now, and that shows the dysfunction. it's unclear how they will work to build coalitions. we are going to show that we will continue to work to build coalitions to get legislation

moving that supports our communities and families across the country. >> new chair of the dccc, congratulations and thank you for being on the show this morning. chris matthews, when we had james carvel on earlier, i asked if he thought donald trump weighing in this morning would help kevin mccarthy. he was skeptical. i also checked with a couple of pretty well-wired sources after he was on the show, who have told me that based on his -- all of his information, and all of his reporting, that trump's calls are not moving these members and it's one of the reasons he has not been more aggressive because at least up until now, trump is not moving those 19 or 20 people, or not moving enough of them.

what do you think? if that is, in fact, the case, are we seeing the end of the trump era in the republican party? >> look, i think about history and i look at the 50th congress that came in in 1946, and it was called a do-nothing congress, and this looks like a do-nothing congress coming in on the house side. looks to me like they don't want to do much. if liz cheney had gotten the vote in the last two days, she would have voted against kevin mccarthy. she was not on the right wing side but on the truth side. this leadership is a problem and i am not sure they have a positive objective, and if joe biden runs again he will run against a do-nothing house of representatives, and they used to say back in truman's day, opened every day with a prayer and ended with a probe. if that's all they are going to do is make trouble for hunter biden and all that, and the way they looked yesterday that's what they want to be is a

trouble-making caucus, it's going to help biden get re-elected. >> wow. chris matthews, thank you for being on this morning. great to have your insights. still ahead on "morning joe." damar hamlin remains in critical condition this morning, but his family says he's still fighting. we will have an update on his health. later this morning, we will be joined by andy beshear. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. (bright music) - [announcer] what if there is a hearing aid that could keep up with you? this is jabra enhance select. it's a smart hearing solution that makes hearing aids more convenient and less expensive. it connects with your phone so you can stream calls and music. with jabra enhance select, better hearing doesn't have to start in a doctor's office.

it starts with a free online hearing test you can take almost anywhere, so you can get your hearing aids custom programmed for you and delivered in days. from there, you can fine tune your settings with your remote audiology team seven days a week, so your hearing aids work when it matters most. take it from more than 95% of our customers who report hearing better with their friends, family, and colleagues. and jabra enhance select hearing aids cost thousands less than you'd expect, so hearing well is easier than ever before. try it risk-free for 100 days. visit jabraenhance.com

well, we fell in love through gaming. try it risk-free for 100 days. but now the internet lags and it throws the whole thing off. when did you first discover this lag? i signed us up for t-mobile home internet. ugh! but, we found other interests. i guess we have. [both] finch! let's go! oh yeah! it's not the same. what could you do to solve the problem? we could get xfinity? that's actually super adult of you to suggest.

i can't wait to squad up. i love it when you talk nerdy to me. guy, guys, guys, we're still in session. and i don't know what the heck you're talking about. i will say this about damar hamlin. man, it's a really personal thing for me being a pittsburgher, and that young man, i have known that guy since he was about 12.

just got a lot of respect and love for him as a human being. his commitment to the pursuit of his goals and dreams of doing what it is he's doing right now, which is playing in the nfl and to watch him make personal decisions and make that a realization, it's just an honor to get to know young people like that. i have a lot of young for that young man and we lifted him and that organization up in prayer and reached out to mcdermott to lend whatever assistance i could. i don't have a lot to add other than the fact that you respect how personal it is for me and not only me but for all of us. >> that's a long-time pittsburgh steelers coach, mike tomlin, talking about damar hamlin who remains hospitalized after going into cardiac arrest on the football field monday night.

and nbc news correspondent, maggie vespa joins us. >> reporter: he's still in critical condition at the icu in this trauma center, and his uncle said last night, he is still on oxygen and intebaited, but he's needing less oxygen which is a sign of improvement. over the next few days they hope to take him off oxygen altogether. here's more of what his uncle had to say to cnn last night. take a listen. >> right now they got him on a ventilator, and they are trying to get him to breathe on his own. we're just taking it day by day. still in the icu. they have him sedated. he's still sedated right now,

and they just want him to have a better chance of recovering better, so they thought if he is sedated his body can heal faster than if he was woke and possibly causing other complications. his heart went out so they resuscitated him on the field before they brought him to the hospital, and they resuscitated him a second time when he got to the hospital. >> we heard from medical experts that these next few days will be crucial to see if he can breathe more on his own. in the meantime, the family also releasing just a written statement from inside that hospital. we got that and wanted to show you part of it. they wanted to thank everybody, including football nation for expressing sincere gratitude for the love and support and they are asking for people to keep damar in their prayers. we are coming up on 36 hours since this happened, and this is wednesday morning and it happened on monday night. we are getting updates from the

hospital and he's showing signs of slow improvement, but the family as are all the fans, hope that continues. >> yeah, let's hope that improvement continues. maggie, thanks so much. guys, we learned from the nfl yesterday the game will not be played this week. there was talk of trying to fit it in, and these teams don't want to play and they may never play that game, and they will play their scheduled games on sunday, but we are hearing from the family there. we heard from his uncle that talked about damar hamlin being resuscitated a second time in the hospital, which is something we had not heard previously, and we will continue to wait for the hospital and doctors to give us medical updates as well. >> this is obviously so touch and go. it also -- for this type of injury from everything we heard and read about, there's

absolutely no speculating. it can go in any direction. so the doctors, the family, and the millions of fans who are out there praying will continue doing that and we can only hope for his recovery, be it speedy or slow, just his recovery. but it's -- right now it's -- >> it's touch and go. >> it's hour by hour. coming up, we will dig into this morning's must read opinion pages on the house republican caucus in chaos. "morning joe" will be right back. avoiding triggers but can't keep migraines away? qulipta® can help prevent migraines. you can't always prevent what's going on outside... that's why qulipta® helps what's going on inside. qulipta® gets right to work. in a 3-month study, qulipta® significantly reduced monthly migraine days

and the majority of people reduced them by 50 to 100%. qulipta® blocks cgrp a protein believed to be a cause of migraines. qulipta® is a preventive treatment for episodic migraine. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and tiredness. learn how abbvie could help you save on qulipta®.

millions have made the switch from the big three nausea, constipation, and tiredness. to the best kept secret in wireless: xfinity mobile that means millions are saving hundreds a year with the fastest mobile service. and now, introducing, the best price for two lines of unlimited. just $30 per line

there are millions of happy campers out there. and this is the perfect time to join them... save hundreds a year over t-mobile, verizon, and at&t with xfinity mobile, and for a limited time get $400 off a new eligible 5g phone. switch today. for mccarthy today?

>> any comment? >> statement for the voters on long island? a statement? >> sir, do you plan to resign? >> what is your legal name? >> what is your legal name? i have to say walking around those halls, the tunnels underneath the first day, it's like confusing enough. you can imagine with all the cameras and everybody running after you -- >> the questions were piercing and legit. this guy has lied his way into office. there are a lot of questions about what is next for him. congressman-elect, george santos, yesterday ignoring reporter questions, and in a statement released by his office, santos said he was sworn in by the speaker of the house yesterday. that, of course, did not happen

because there was no speaker elected. that statement has since been removed from his official congressional website. let's turn now to the must-read opinion pages. we have two must-reads from pretty conservative publications, the editorial board of the "wall street journal" has a piece titled, the gop's chaos caucus returns. they can't get through day one about without a display of dysfunction. more than a few republicans have a past of combating sound bites to the governing, and it's a sign of old habits being reasserted. without 218 republican votes in the house, republicans will have no leverage to negotiate with a democratic senate and white house no matter who the speaker.

house republicans have won two years of the majority to show the electorate they can govern democrats and biden. >> you are hearing this from absolutely -- it seems everybody. mike allen in mark halperin's news letter this morning, he writes and it sums up pretty well who is on the side of the rebels. the whole point, the murdoch wing of the conservative movement, and the democratic party, and 90% of republicans, and plus the odd couple of karl rove and marjorie taylor greene all think what the rebels are doing is pointless and counter productive. everybody is against this, but these 20 people -- how does this

end? >> a little math problem. first, embedded in what you said, marjorie taylor greene suddenly as the voice of reason? that's what everybody has been scratching their heads about. what i am hearing is it's purely a power play that she wants to be on the winning side. what she thought was going to be the winning side, she wanted to be mccarthy's go-to maga ally, and last fall she was in the camera shot behind him at the time and nobody understood why. it's part of courting this group that just didn't work, it just didn't sell with enough of them. what somebody said to me last night, if you are going to sell your soul, you have to make sure that somebody is buying. that's the dilemma for the mccarthy forces. they were right about one thing,

they are going in and hanging their hat on the idea that there was not a feasible realistic alternative. well, that part turns out to be true. it turned out not to save him so far, and they thought they could win a war of attrition, but now it's going the wrong way. >> claire mccaskill, this from the editorial post, jim jordan is exactly right on renominating kevin mccarthy for speaker of the house. the post writes jim jordan got it right in his speech renominating kevin mccarthy for speaker of the house. honoring that should be the top priority of every gop member. not for the country and not for the voters, but for their own petty ends. last night on fox news across the board, claire, the host of

the primetime show started admonishing the group, and they asked what are you doing here except trying to make the republican party look like a clown show? >> it's hard to go along with an editorial that says jim jordan is exactly right and full of wisdom. that's a bridge too far for me this time of the morning. interesting thing is, anybody that wants to say, well, it's such a close margin, it's so hard, please understand that for the last two years the democrats have ruled with a closer margin, 50/50 in the senate, and a fewer democrats versus republicans than the republicans have now for the majority. pelosi, schumer and biden managed to get so much done with incredibly tight margins. these guys can't even find their

way to the bathroom or elect a speaker than -- that's why you see "the posts" and "wall street journal" panicking, because this does not help them in 2024. coming up, kentucky's andy beshear joins the conversation. he will preview today's effect alongside president biden that is drawing together both parties. "morning joe" is coming right back.

did you know you can get discounts on your meds even if you don't have a medicare prescription drug plan? it's true. all you have to do is go to singlecare.com type in your prescription, and then present the coupon to your pharmacist. it's that simple. not to mention, it's free. singlecare is accepted by major

pharmacies across the country and it works for everyone, whether you have insurance or not. next time you need a prescription filled, go to singlecare to make sure you get the best price. visit singlecare.com and start saving today.

time now for a quick look at the morning papers. in indiana the truth covers the

gubernatorial race. his campaign raised about $1.5 million since he launched his bid over a month ago. and he has transferred about 1.5 million from his senate campaign fund as he foregoes a re-election bid. in kentucky, the courier journal reports on how the so-called tripledemic is impacting the childcare system. a record 100,000 people missed work last october due to childcare problems. meanwhile doctors are bracing for the number of post holiday infections to surge. in massachusetts "the boston globe" reports the largest teacher's union is pushing to t strike. the legislation which is expected to be filed this month would give all public sector workers the right to strike. the move comes as massachusetts schools struggle to overcome learning losses from the pandemic.

and the arkansas "democrat-gazette" leads with the soaring number of children accidentally consuming cannabis products. more than 3,000 cases were reported this year, that is more than a 1300% increase compared to five years ago. coming up, we'll go back to capitol hill ahead of another make or break today for kevin mccarthy who might be asking himself why do i even want this job? his battle to become house speaker, next on "morning joe." .

in less than an hour, president biden is scheduled to depart the white house to head to kentucky where he will join senate minority leader mitch mcconnell for an event announcing a new major project

funded by the president's infrastructure bill. the white house says biden's remarks will focus on how his economic plan is rebuilding u.s. infrastructure, creating good paying jobs and revitalizing communities that have been left behind. the bipartisan showing will also feature ohio's republican governor mike dewine and kentucky's democratic governor andy bashir who joins us now. governor, thank you so much for being on this morning. what is the goal today at this event which is a far cry from what we're seeing on capitol hill with this public display of bipartisanship? >> today is a big day for kentucky, for ohio, and for the united states of america. i think we're showing what happens when you push partisanship and division aside. we come together democrats and republicans, the federal, state and local governments and

communities and together you deliver one of the largest projects in the history of the united states. people have been talking about building the companion bridge that runs from cincinnati to northern kentucky for decades. and multiple presidents have talked about it. and yet today we're getting it done after years of talking about it, and of not seeing progress, it is going to happen. and this is a bridge that carries so much of the country's gdp across it every single day. while structurally sound was never designed for the amount of traffic that goes across it. so it will unlock economic potential all across the country. it will create great jobs for people that will be able to send their kids to college because they worked on this project. and is this a big in an partisan win for the people of the united states and i'm thrilled that the

largest infrastructure grant in u.s. history is coming to kentucky and ohio too. >> and so just curious, given the division that we're seeing in washington and how politics are playing out, can you tell us a little bit about how you won in a red state in the land of mitch mcconnell and rand paul, what was it that you were able to do or say that really helped voters gain your trust? >> governor's election isn't about who is in the white house, it is about what is going on in your house. most people when they sit down at night and they breathe, the things that they worry about aren't partisan at all. it is do i have a good paying job, can i take my kids or parents to a doctor when they are sick, do i feel safe in my community. and is my family safe. it is those types of basic concerns that you should run for these jobs to address.

and that is what we not only talked about in my campaign, but that is what we've been doing. we've had the best two year stretch for economic development in the history of kentucky. we've become the electric vehicle battery capital of the united states. we've set the lowest rate for unemployment three straight times and longest stretch for low unemployment. i'm going to deliver the four largest budget surpluses we've ever had and we have the largest rainy day fund ever. but all of that is about focusing on the needs of our people, about putting our state first, and just not worrying about the day to day fights between rs and ds or red and blue. because just like this bridge in northern kentucky, there is nothing partisan about it. yet somehow we end up with this partisanship or division creep into things that we used to just work together on and argue about other things. as i think to build the type of america that we want and to get back to being able to talk to our neighbors and not fight or

argue with them, let's just try to do what is right for each other, try to be good people and try to push all that division aside. >> governor beshear, good morning. we should note president biden when he was in cincinnati across the river there from your state back in 2021, he vowed to fix that him damn bridge of your ad that is going to happen. but i want to ask you about democrats. in 2023 both in the senate and also in governor's races like your, there will be a need to appeal to the rural voter. there is fear that the democratic party has lost the ability to talk to the rural voter. how can your party correct that? >> it starts with just caring about people, about meeting folks where they are, listening to their concerns and working to address it. rural voters just like our ban

urban voters are worried about the kitchen table issue, are they making enough to provide their kids the types of opportunities that they want them to have. do they have access to affordable health care. when we expanded medicaid, it preserved our rural hospitals and we've invested an additional $2 billion in those and all of our other hospitals to expand access to health care. we're even building the first hospital in west end of louisville in 150 years. things like having services to where you don't have to drive an hour and a half if you have a child with autism but can get the services in your community. and more importantly, it is they willing to know you, getting to know your values, it is about talking about critical things that make up who you are. for me certainly, my faith, my family, things that i care about and things love.

it comes down to showing up that you care and showing up to prove that you are going to work for them and earning your trust. >> all right. democratic governor of kentucky andy bashir, we'll be watching the big event today. we're 1:30 into the fourth hour of "morning joe." 6:00 a.m. on the west coast. 9:00 a.m. in washington, d.c. where house republicans are a mess. they cannot figure out a way to elect a speaker. complete chaos as republican leader kevin mccarthy repeatedly fell short of the 218 votes needed to ensure the speaker's gavel. garrett haake has the latest. >> reporter: the new republican house is in kay organization failing to elect a speaker on single ballot for the first time in a century. kevin mccarthy facing a right wing revolt falling short of the

218 votes needed to secure the top job after three rounds balloting. >> a speaker has not been elected, a speaker has not been elected. a speaker has not been elected. >> reporter: the house adjourning until noon today with republicans huddling behind closed doors trying to break the impasse. >> i think that we'll find a way to get there. this is a healthy debate. might not happen on the day we want it, but it will happen. >> reporter: driving the debate a small fraction of right wing members digging in their heels against mccarthy. >> if you ask me what do you want? i want the tools or i want the leadership to stop the swamp from running over the average american every single day. >> reporter: the holdouts have already extracted major concessions from mccarthy and now have more demands including prime committee seats, commitments to vote on specific legislation and rules changes including some that would make it easier to oust a speaker. >> this is just a game to them. >> reporter: their choice for

speaker jim jordan says he doesn't want the job. >> i think kevin mccarthy is the right guy lead us. >> reporter: the house is constitutionally bound to elect a speaker before taking up any other business including swearing in new members. and now in the minority, house democrats are rallying behind their new leader hakim jeffreys who received more votes than mccarthy though he has no path to the speaker ship. asked if democrats could get behind a moderate republican for speaker? >> we're looking for a willing partner to solve problems for the american people, not save the republicans from their dysfunction. >> garrett haake reporting there. and joining us live with more is ali vitali. good morning. and so set up the day for us. three failed attempts yesterday by kevin mccarthy and by the third vote he actually lost one vote of support. so things moving in the wrong direction for him. and yet he says he is not going anywhere, he will stay in the race. on the other side you have these

19 or 20 republicans saying we're never going to vote for kevin mccarthy. >> reporter: everybody is never going to do anything, but at some point they have they will have to change something or else we'll end up with ballot 10, 11, 12. and nobody wants that. when they come back to noon, they will roll right back into it picking up with their fourth ballot. and if you are mccarthy, what is going to change is that these negotiations that they have been engaging with will bear some fruit. he has five close allies, other member, many of them moderate, engaged in talks with freedom caucus members. but the important thing to remember, for each of these 20 members, they have a slightly different reason of why they are voting against kevin mccarthy impeach for someone like congressman chip roy, the procedural changes are the point for him. he wants to be able to have 72 hours between a bill being introduced and then it being voted on. he wants to see things get a little bit slower here because

he thinks that that is the way the process needs to play out in the house. for other of these member, it is the idea of the motion to vacate, making it easier to oust a speaker. that group of people have already gotten concessions. that was a red line and he agreed to a compromise where five members could come together and move to oust a speaker. those members who that is still important this them, they want it to be one member to trigger that, but that is not likely something that mccarthy could compromise on but if he did, that could earn more members. i think the main point for these moderates, they are aware of the fact that they are speaking with really 20 individuals august of whom have different ideas of what they want out of this. >> are the people you are talking to capitol hill overnight and this morning, this very prepared for the possibility that the speaker could be someone other than kevin mccarthy at this point and if so, who realistically has a shot? >> privately i think that some

people concede that that could be where it goes if these talks don't actually change anything as we get into today. but i think that one of the key things about this story is something we've talked about a lot, you can't beat mccarthy with nobody and the names that we're hearing about, potentially steve scalise or maybe brian fitzpatrick, jim jordan of course is the consensus candidate that this rebel faction is backing, jim jordan nominated kevin mccarthy to be speaker. ryan fitzpatrick says he isn't want the job. steve scalise laughed me off. all of these people are still pointing back to mccarthy because is he defiant in the space of these 20 republicans because he says no one else can get more votings than he does and he is the top vote getter. he will stay in. >> ali vitali, another busy day ahead for you on capitol hill. we'll check back in with you throughout the course of the

day. so joe, you've been in these rooms before when you served in the house. you've had these fights, newt gingrich was the man for you, you guys kind of ran him out of town. what is happening this morning right now in some of those meetings, what is kevin mccarthy saying or at least his emissaries saying to this group to try to twist their arms and convince them to come on board? a group who said we don't like you and we won't vote for you. >> yeah, they ordered pizzas late into the night. can you imagine by this morning, nerves are very frayed. so gloves off, what are they saying? >> just trying to figure out who they can break. the thing is if you are dealing with five people, i mean, you can work anything out. right? if not with those five people, you can run over them and that is what i talked about yesterday. when you have three votes and it is 19 people voting against you

first time, 19 the second time and then 20 the third time, things get a lot more difficult. you can't run over 20 people. still a minority of the caucus. right now mccarthy is trying to figure out what do. >> what does he have left to give? >> he doesn't have a whole lot. he has weakened his hand so much. i keep hearing about the motion to vacate the chair. and how they want to have it town to one person. that is what i remember reading the rule book back when we wanted to get gingrich out. and wait a second, only need one person do this, anybody can stand up and do this. and if we stop newt from getting 2018 votes, he has no choice. but a big shock. and then paul ryan changed that like ten years late person you don't want somebody like me to be able to stand up anytime and

just stop things. and so kevin mccarthy already by getting it down to like five, that is a real problem too. so, you know, what can he be saying right now, what can he be promising that he hasn't already promised? i think right now if you listen to congressman-elect lawler or the rest of them, i read the letter that he sent around, i mean, nobody is moving right now. i think they really both sides will just try to wear each other out. and i'm going to say, if i'm kevin mccarthy, at this point i just make sure that i have my 200 plus people together and i say, all right, guys, this is going to be a marathon, we'll run it through the night. we'll keep running it through the night. if we have to be here five days in a row, that is what we'll do. we're not breaking. i need you to stay here. because at some point either the

radicals, insurrectionists, weirdos, freaks will give up and go home or the democrats will say enough and we'll get rid of enough of them that suddenly i won't need 218 votes, i'll need 210 or 20 # 5 and then i'll be the next speaker. that is really the last card that he has to play.the next sp. that is really the last card that he has to play.210 or 20 # the next speaker. that is really the last card that he has to play.# 5 and the the next speaker. that is really the last card that he has to play. 5 and thene next speaker. that is really the last card that he has to play.5 and then next speaker. that is really the last card that he has to play. just grind them down to dust. and if you have your people with you, the football analogy, it is three yards and a cloud of dust and you just keep going at them and keep going at them and you keep voting and you keep voting until they finally give up, they walk off the house floor or the democrats say not my fight, i'm going home. >> and you're right, that could take days or weeks to grind them down. and let's get insight from punch bowl news.

good morning. what are you hearing on capitol hill today about kevin mccarthy's chances of any of those 19 or 20 votes moving in his direction? >> yeah, i think that joe had a great point, i mean, mccarthy has to keep his support together. he has it 202 votes. and he has to keep them in line. but he has to show some progress today. i think that the big moment yesterday was -- there were a lot of big moments but the third vote when they lost byron d donalds of florida and he turned around and voted for jordan, and he joined the reb rebels and became the 20th vote, that was a big vote. mccarthy planned to just keep voting. but then they worried are we losing more members. and i do think that that was a significant moment.

they lost a vote, were they going to lose more, so they adjourned. one more point i want to make her, mccarthy is not negotiating with the freedom caucus. and i think that is significant. he has been talking to these guys for weeks. scott perry and some of the other member, he's been talking for weeks. now his emissaries are doing that. and so he is trying to, you know, cool things down a little bit. but i also think, you know, if i'm, you know, perry and the rebels, if i don't hear it from mccarthy, i don't have a deal. so like sooner or later he will have to get in the room with these guys again and make a deal. and as joe said, it is 20 members. how do you make a deal with 20 members. if it is 2 or 3 or 5, that is somebody that you can negotiate with. 20 members, that is like negotiating with a balloon, you push it in one place and it pops out somewhere else. >> so according to what you hear from various members, what are the odds of kevin mccarthy,

craziness goes on through most of the day and late this evening and early this evening kevin mccarthy finally decides the only way out, the only way for me to perhaps become speaker is to cut a deal with the democrats. and he goes to hakeem jeffries and says that there are 20 pending resolutions that the crazy people have put on the docket for the republicans. i'd be willing to negotiate and get 10 of them or however many off the charts if i need 10 or 15 democratic votes to become speaker. >> i don't see that happening. i mean, why would the democrats help mccarthy out here? they have him over a barrel at this point. they will stay behind jeffries. they see mccarthy too closely aligned with trump. they still remember after january 6 two weeks -- or three weeks after january 6, mccarthy goes to florida and meets with trump because he needed trump. he needed trump in order to be

speaker. i don't see this happening, i don't see democrats or jeffries doing a deal with mccarthy. this is a republican problem as far as the democrats are concerned. i think that will continue to be their position. >> and so i'll note also, much hike your punch bowl colleague, new year is looking good. team building exercise there. well done. but to kurt, it feels like it is a long time coming. you've got a new piece that suggests that the chaos we're seeing among republicans on the hill years in the making even predating trump. explain. >> yeah, for me a lot of what we're seeing now, which is really the complete neutering of leadership started about eight years ago in june in 2014 when dave bratt defeated eric cantor. that was the first chink in the armor of leadership. this is the first time that this right wing faction within the republican party at the time the tea party now has morphed into

the maga movement, they successfully took one of the members down. and they have always been operating from the assumption that democrats were the opposition, but their own leadership, their own establishment was their true enemy. that is what the steve ban nons and ingrahams and lavins in that crowd preached. an defeating cantor, they were able to see that through. and then john boehner not just leaves the speaker ship, but he leaves congress. and then paul ryan leaves congress all together. so they have seen this collective ability to take down the top leaders in the party and it has been just a few of them, just small voices that have hijacked the party. every single time this confrontation has come to a head, the republican leadership capitulates. they back down. >> and so let me ask you this, willie said i've been in the room, what would you do. and john knows, john was around

back when we were going through all the newt stuff. five, six, seven, ten. you can manage that. you get up to 20, suddenly it is a bit more unmanageable. the one thing that i do know reflecting on what willie said, i've been through end of session marathons. and when you get those appropriation bills on the floor and it gets past 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, members get really angry. as claire mccaskill said yesterday, older members get really angry. no other word for it. they start bitching. you bring out the cots and there

is open rebellion. i'm wondering if you don't just roll over them. if you are kevin mccarthy, you get your people together and you say we're going to stay in as long as it takes. i don't think how long the insurrectionist back companies whackos and freaks will fight it out, but dnls won't be doing this through the night for two, three, four nights. so stay with me and we'll win. is that what you recommend to mccarthy or does that not even work? >> kind of like the immovable object meets the unmovable force. and i think that you have to grind everyone down. put them in the chamber, basically lock the doors and just vote over and over and over again and increase the pressure. and is this a test of wills. this is a staring contest. at some point someone will blink, but if you just do three

rounds and let everybody go home, you will never get it done. no way. >> i agree. and brez, your thoughts, is that whatyou do, just grind them down and make sure your people stay in there? >> i think part of that is true. though i do think also that there is the danger of, you know, if you -- i was watching -- i was in the chamber watching the votes yesterday and some of these guys weren't even leaving their seats between the votes. they weren't going anywhere. they were holding on like grim death. chip roy, you may criticize him, but chip roy is consistent in his position. he has been consistent in his position since he's been a member. he believe that the chamber is broken, the problem is the leadership on both sides. he doesn't see a difference or slight difference in leadership on both sides and he has some

points. there has not been an amendment vote on the floor in the house since 2016. that is ridiculous. the leadership is too strong in a lot of ways. gingrich changed the leadership and then pelosi took it to a place where it is ultra powerful. think about it, pelosi passed a $3 trillion covid relief bill and there wasn't a committee hearing, they took it to the floor and passed it. i think that he is -- they have got some points in it. there is some sympathy in their position. mccarthy is banking on if they turn it into if it is just against kevin, just anti-kevin, then you can say to all his other members that they are just in it for themselves, they don't care about the rest of you. but i think that mccarthy either has to show progress, he has to pick up a vote or two somewhere.

i really think this is a-of. >> he's got to. >> he has to show some progress to his guys today. >> if it was all about regular order, that sounds boring to people watching right now, but it is anything but boring. there has not been regular order in the house in well over a decade. if you study civics or listen to schoolhouse rock, you know how a bill is made and you go through, you know, subcommittee, committee, house vote, senate subcommittee, and let me just continue, house vote, then the two sides come together and they try to negotiate it out. then they go back, they have votes again. and then they decide. that is regular order. and that is what chip roy is talking about. he is also talking about a lot of things we talked about too. where they will give you this

massive trillion dollar omnibus bill and say vote up or down. and chip roy is saying give us 72 hours. if you are going to spend a trillion dollars in taxpayer money, we should be able to review it for at least 72 hours. leadership has never done it because they want you to vote up or down on this and they i think people vote up on it because they want to get out of town and go home. and so you bring up, john, a great point about some of these issues that really do -- and it has gotten worse and worse where you have three leaders in the house, three leaders in the senate, and a president determining how trillions and trillions are spent with absolutely no input from members. i'm just wondering how many other of these people fighting mccarthy are taking that stand that chip roy is taking on being able to read the legislation and

also on regular order returning to the house. >> i think some, not all. some of this, this is their own positioning, they want to be on ways and means or other committees. leadership election is not a popularity contest. it is not because they love kevin mccarthy or hate kevin mccarthy. they will vote for a leader because it helps them on some level. they have to figure out how it helps them. could be an endorsement in a race, it could be a committee, it could be a bill, could be -- a lot of different ways that it t. could help a member. so it is not a popularity contest. and that the point for the right, for these folks on the right and their districts, voting for kevin mccarthy doesn't help them. voting against him does. and they get on tv, they can go on -- you know, they go on red media, conservative media and

just blast the leadership. and that is a position that they have had for years. this doesn't hurt them. so the problem for mccarthy, how does he find a way to change that balance. and i don't know if he can get there. i just don't know. and part of it, they just don't like mccarthy. he didn't get there in 2015 and seven years later this is the one thing he's wanted. do they give it to him now. so this for him, this is his whole career. if he doesn't get it, he has to leave. >> maybe they want him to leave. >> and kurt, let me follow you up real quickly. we're way over. but follow up because john makes a great point. when you are in this position, you don't really care what the "wall street journal" editorial page says. you don't care what the new york "post" headline is. you care about your district and being able to go on the right wing radio shows in your

district or right wing podcasts and beat your chest and say i stood up to the k street lackeys. and get what, i'm even getting attacked by my own people. it is the swamp -- all it does, not use b one, but strike them down. whether new york "post," new york time, fox knows, strike them town and you only make them stronger. and this goes back to gerrymandering. it is really put the house out of whack. >> yeah, i mean you want to bet that all of these rebels how much money they have probably raised the last 24 hours? >> oh, my god. >> they love this. and it is ironic watching some of the outlet, these people are a creation of those outlets making they spent the last five, six, seven years elevating these

voices, giving them a platform, egging them on, encouraging their ways of defying the establishment, defying tradition and even democracy. why is anyone surprised that they can't be negotiated with? they can't be reasoned with. there is a reason why the policy of the united states government is we do not negotiate with terrorists. it does not end well. they will only ask for more until you cannot give them what they want. that is as kevin mccarthy has found himself in. >> yes, he has. kurt, john, thank you both very much. >> thank you, guys. a bit later this hour, we'll be joined by democratic congresswoman elyssa slot kin who says the republican chaos on the hill is bad for the entire country. and up nexten a update on bills safety damar hamlin and what his family is saying about his health after suffering cardiac arrest on the field. suffering c arrest on the field.

age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv business can happen anytime, anywhere. n so help yours thrive and stay connected with the comcast business complete connectivity solution.

it's the largest, fastest, reliable network. advanced gig speed wifi. and cyberthreat protection. starting at just $49.99 a month. plus, you can save up to 60% a year when you add comcast business mobile. or, ask how to get up to a $750 prepaid card. complete connectivity. one solution, for wherever business takes you. comcast business. powering possibilities. right now they got him on a

ventilator, so trying to get him to breathe on his own. so we're just taking it day by day. still in the icu. they have him sedated. still sedated right now. they just want him to have a better chance of recovering better so they felt if he is sedated his body can heal a lot faster than he feels if he was woke. and possibly cause other complications. his heart had went out, so they had to resuscitate him twice, on the field before they brought him to the hospital and then a second time when he got to the hospital. >> that is the uncle of buffalo bills safety damar hamlin who remains this morning hospitalized in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest on the field in cincinnati on monday night. we reported earlier hamlin's go fund me page which raises money for his foundation's toy drive is approaching $6 million. now officially has crossed had mark. it is two years order, it

started at $2500 and now we're up over $6 million. and among the donations, families of matt stafford, russell wilson, star quarterbacks all chipping in to show their support. and joining us now, nfl network insider ian rapoport. good to have you back on the show. i know medical information is precious here and we're not hearing a whole lot from the hospital other the fact that hamlin is in critical condition. are you hearing anything else talking to your sources around the league? >> well, first of all, you guys had the interview with the uncle for damar hamlin. he spoke with nfl network off camera before that interview. and i think mentioned that as of this was last night, damar hamlin needed 50% oxygen instead of 100% which is a marked improvement which would indicate that things are going in a positive direction. we have not gotten any official

news, any official update on his health other than he is still at university of cincinnati medical center, still in critical condition and in intensive care. but just that fact alone does indicate that there is some positivity there. but as you know in these situations most important is to wait for official word from people who truly know who are in the room, would are making decisions before we know firmly and finallily just how damar hamlin is doing. >> and grasping on to that bit of optimism. again that is from his uncle. we'd love to hear from the hospital. and this has rocked the league. it started. moment when you saw the two teams huddle the together, many in tears. josh allen, stefon diggs among them. the game called, they haven't given a date to reschedule it if they ever do. but it goes far beyond just those two teams. the entire league is focused on this young man. >> truly incredible. and obviously when you have

these tragic frankly jarring moments, you don't really know what the reaction is going to be. i was like everyone else, i was sitting on my couch watching the game and getting texts and calls from coaches, from general managers, from executives, from players. and first of all, just as far as the football goes, it was unanimous. how can they play. how can they play. because the focus was on damar hamlin's health and making sure that he was okay. and i think that it was a situation where everyone was honestly struggling to just process it and see what it was. and then you see the reaction from the players, you see the reaction from the coaches. there was a sort of disputed discussion which espn and the nfl have kind of gone back and forth now as far as what -- where it came from. but at some point the broadcast stated that there was five minutes -- players would be given five minutes to warm up and you can see that the players

did not that. that was not their thinking at the time. it was how is damar hamlin, how is their brother. you have seen the nfl and this community come together in a way that it has at hard times, but it is a tragedy and difficult, but always a little heart warming to see just how many people care about this player now that so many of them hadn't really heard of until a couple days ago. >> and jonathan lemire, it seems like everybody has their own ax to grind and they are using this tragedy to do that on twitter. we've talked about the grow sesk anti-vaxxers. there are a lot of people jumping all over the nfl.

in this case they made the right decision. i don't know what you think. i've been watching the nfl since i was five years old. and i don't remember anything like this happening. i think the nfl, the bills, bengals, everybody handled it pretty damn well. >> yeah, no way that that case could resume. i remember the player paralyzed in a preseason game back in the 70s. and that game was also canceled. but this is a rarity for a regular season game and we can see the worry on the player's faces from both times. but ian, first of all, good to see you. we went to college together. but i want to ask you about how the league can go forward. we know the nfl has said that this game won't resume, at least not that week. week 18 will go on as scheduled. but the buffalo bills who right now have a teammate, their friend in the hospital, we have no real sense of his condition

or where he'll go from here, how do they prepare to play football this sunday for their next game? >> that is a great question. there are so many of these serious indelible moments that just drive home the fact that these are humans playing this game. right? and we see the uniforms and helmets and there is a lot that we root for as fans, a lot to be analyzed. but these are humans playing. and i think that that was of all the different things that came out of monday night, that was certainly a big one. what the nfl has done, what teams have done is make sure that there are mental health experts available for players. and when roger goodell sent out a memo to the other owners yesterday afternoon, among the notable things that he said is that there is significant mental health resources to help not just bills or bengals, but anyone affected move forward.

we have not yet heard the bills schedule as far as whether they will be practicing today. if they didn't, it would be understandable. but i think that that is one thing that we're waiting on, how they move forward as a team, how they use this -- look, damar hamlin as we said in critical condition. is this not a minute by -- this is not a minute by minute thing. we may have signs of optimism today or tomorrow, but this will be an ongoing very serious medical situation. so they are going to play through this and hopefully manage. and honestly, they will probably to. but i don't know how. and it is truly incredible when they do. >> ian rapoport, thank you for your insight this morning. we appreciate it. and coming up, our next guest says that there is a lesson to be learned from the republican in-fighting on display in the house.

quote, when political parties indicator to their cater to the extremes, american people suffer. that is ahead. extremes, america suffer that is ahead.

when you stay at a vrbo you always get the whole home because is it really a vacation home if you have to share a house with a host? ♪ only with vrbo

my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala is a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma that can mean less oral steroids. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection.

may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. are you going to stay in the race, leader mccarthy? >> i'm not going anywhere. are you sick? >> oh, my god. that is just -- heard about it, hadn't seen it. that is not funny. >> kevin mccarthy mocking a reporter who chose by his own free will to wear a mask inside the capitol. and what is so sad, he actually thinks that he has to do that. ridicule somebody who is making a health care choice to appeal to a crazy -- >> that is the base. >> but again, that is the thing. insurrectionists, weirdos, freaks, anti-vaxxers, election deniers. that is your problem, kevin.

you are looking for love in all the wrong places. >> that base wasn't serving him up quite well yesterday. and joining us now, congresswoman alyssa slotkin of michigan. good to have you on board this morning. i'm curious, there are obviously just by contrast opportunities for democrats here. not just to look and appear, but to be unified. but you also say that this chaos in the republican party is bad for the country. explain. >> yeah, look, watching them go through this internal fight, you know, i guess some people in washington may take it as sport, but back home in michigan people just take it as like washington not functioning. it is not a republican/democrat thing, it is just a continued signal that things are broken this washington. and so i don't think that that is good for the country. i don't think that it sends right signal that we had a pretty close election, republicans only a four seat majority and still we're not

taking that signal and interpreting it as a moment to get to work. so i don't love it. and they are obviously going through something and we're just waiting for them to settle it out. >> so as you look at the spectacle, assuming it ends at some point, it has to i guess, and you can finally be sworn in and seated, what do the next two years from your point of view look like? we've asked some republicans, but you will have to work with a lot of these people that you are watching on display yesterday. how do you get things done, how do you work with some of these people? >> well, we actually have plenty of experience of knowing how do this because we just had a four seat majority for democrats in the last congress. it is amazing that it is kind of a mirror image of what we had. so i know exactly what that is like as a pragmatic democrat. we needed almost always five or ten republicans to come with us on our big infrastructure bill, on the chips legislation.

we'd lose some on our side and we'd need some moderate republicans to come with us. that is how we got the big things done. and it is the same way for them. if they want to deal with the freedom caucus that keeps pulling away, they need 5, 10, 20 democrats to come with them. and i think that makes i hope for some reasonable legislation. or they can just waste the country's time and look backwards to do only investigations, not take anything from the senate and shows that they are the party of the heisman, we'll stop progress because that is our only goal. >> so let's pull that out a little further. as willie indicated, right now there no house of representatives, there is no speaker, there is no capitol that have been sworn in. and rules changes have been proposed and accepted perhaps by kevin mccarthy that he agreed to. some of them are really crazy.

no face mask, whatever, crazy stuff. so the depth of the concern that you have in terms of passing bills in the prior congress, reaching out to moderate republicans, doesn't that -- isn't that going to be doubly difficult now finding them? >> well, well look at what democrats did last congress. it took us a minute to realize that our majority was so slim that had work across the aisle. that is not what they wanted to do. and it took six, eight months until we realized that we needed to be a bit more practical and that is when we started getting things done. so i think that they will have to go through the storming phase where they try to get things passed, it doesn't go anywhere, and hopefully cooler heads prevail. frankly, i'm glad they are having this fight. i'm glad to see people like don

bacon saying we need to have this fight after 12 years. have it. the country wants you to have it. the last election showed us we want to have this fight. and extremes on both sides are not what the average person in america wants. congresswoman, good morning. you mentioned that they will need to reach across the aisle, but there also needs to be a deal done on very big things. a former aide to speakers boehner and ryan said he is up at night, a republican, up at night worried about the debt ceiling, the debt limit, the country could default. are you up at night worried about that too? >> that is one of the big things. as we sort of talk on the floor as we go through these votes, what are the big things that we're most worried about. 100% the debt limit and whether we go into a government shutdown. back in 2014 when ted cruz held out and we went into the shutdown, i don't think that people realized that that cost money that that cost people jobs, that people go home. i mean, i think that the federal

government not functioning may be a joke for some, but for a lot of people it is a really serious thing. so i think that that is up there in like the pantheon of top two or three. and then look, watching them do basic things like threaten the ethics committee, right? we need a neutral ethics committee, clearly there are problems in this place on both sides of the aisle with ethics issues. so please don't take away a more neutral ethics body that can look at people on both sides of the aisle. so there are pretty big things that we're worried about, yes. >> congresswoman slotkin, thank you for being on this morning. appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. and let's bring in our senior national political reporter kapoor. and you have information that this standoff is highlighting how deep the gop divisions are. >> reporter: that's right. and we still don't know how this speaker fight end, but we know enough to draw a couple lessons

regarding what it tells us about the republican party specifically this presents problems for the party on two fronts. a governing problem that mainly getting elected speaker is the easy part, what come he next is much harder, you have to hold the confidence of the narrow majority every day and you have to navigate a democratic led senate and president biden. if kevin mccarthy can't say no to this group of 10 to 20 rebels, if he can't control them, it will be extremely difficult to navigate that and democratic-led senate. and the math simply won't work. he has to find a way to thread that needle. and then there is the political problem which is that republicans are off the heels of an election wherecenter-right voters and swing states broke away from the republicans because they saw them as too trumpy, maybe too dysfunctional. and this speaker mess, which last happened a full century

ago, pours salt in an open wound. those are the two problems that republicans are dealing with. however this ends, this exposes that division that's going to continue to haunt them unless they find some way to navigate it. in terms of what comes next for this speaker battle, the house is likely to gavel in again at noon. at some point this afternoon, we expect further ballots. this continues on auto plot until a speaker is elected for the house motions to adjourn to elect a speak. last night kevin mccarthy revealed some of his thinking in terms of the way forward here he's going to try to convince some republicans to move his way. he's going to try to convince some to vote present. it's either that or mccarthy has to try to cut a deal with democrats. the math has to work. he has to get to a majority of the house. there's only one way to do it. he brings some of the rebels along or he has to do a coalition speaker.

>> sahil, thank you for your reporting. we appreciate it. coming up, the latest on the serious injury suffered by actor jeremy renner in a tragic new year's day accident. the oscar nominee shared a photo from his hospital bed. that's next on "morning joe." ta. that's next on "morning joe.

there are new images this morning of oscar nominee jeremy renner from his hospital bed near lake tahoe where he he is recovering from surgery after he suffered a blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries in a new year's day incident involving his own snowplow. erin mclaughlin has the latest. >> reporter: this morning we're hearing from alaska tort jeremy renner for the first time since is the snowplow accident that left him critically injured.

posting a photo of himself showing the two-time oscar nominee lying in a hospital bed. his face swollen and bruised. the caption reading thank you all for your kind words. i'm too messed up now to type, but i send love to you all. a heartfelt message met with an outpouring of love and support from hollywood and beyond. disclosing new details of how he was run over by a large piece of snow clearing equipment the morning of new year's day. that snowplow seen here in a video obtained by tmz. >> we do not belief he was um paired and we believe this is a tragic accident. >> reporter: the accident happened after reineer used his snow cat weighing more than 14,000 pounds to help free a family member and a vehicle stuck in several feet of fresh snow. >> he got out of his vehicle to speak to his family. at this point, it started to

roll. in an effort to stop the rolling piston, he attempts to get back into the driver's seat. based on our investigation it's at this point that mr. renner is run over. >> before first responders aarrived on the scene, neighboreds rushed to husband rescue with towels. this the kind of compassion showed by renner shown to others in his community. to supporting local charities. >> he has been very generous and he's one of those individuals that i can tell you most of the time you don't know that he's doing it, but he has made a tremendous impact on this community. >> now his family and friends are rally around him to support his recovery as authorities push on with the investigation. >> erin mclaughlin with that report. that does it for us this morning. hallie jackson picks up the coverage in 90 seconds. n 90 secs i've never been healthier.

shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today.

good morning. 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm hallie jackson. we are gearing up for what will or will not go down just two hours from now when the house gets back together to try to figure out who will be the next speaker. here's where things stand this morning. the math has not changed for kevin mccarthy.