just yet another data point that will and can be used against trump. i guess the question that i've had throughout this entire process is whether a republican running against him will cite these data points aggressively we know mike pence at the grind iron did bring it up it was overstated, how hard he went at trump. in part, he'd made similar state p statements in his book he hasn't done it in front of cameras. that said, it's the most aggressive any republican in the field has gone after trump on january 6th, the election denials and stuff. i still don't see it as a huge vulnerability for trump in the context of a republican primary. it is, of course, a big, big, big one in the context of a general election if he gets there. >> that's exactly right. great point. white house editor for "politico," sam stein. thank you. we'll talk to you in a few minutes on "morning joe. thanks for getting up "way too

early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. this isn't a question of vindication. it is not a question, as i stated before, about revenge this is a -- my position is that, at the end of the day, donald trump needs to be held accountable for his dirty deeds if, in fact, that's the way that the facts play out >> that was donald trump's former fixer after wrapping up his testimony to a manhattan grand jury >> by the way, former fixer who went to jail, actually got convicted and went to jail for being part of this scheme that donald trump is now being investigated for. >> michael cohen spent two days on the stand answering questions about the hush money given to stormy daniels, the porn star. now, we're learning that she is talking to prosecutors also ahead, we'll dig into the new reporting out of georgia on another phone call the former president made to an election official there in the aftermath

of the 2020 election. >> it's like the end of "the hunt for red october." >> my gosh. >> you mean there's another phone call >> yeah. the first was pretty bad. >> there's another georgia phone call. >> do we need another phone call >> we got one. >> okay. plus, the latest on the credit suisse crisis which has investors on edge about the stability of the global financial system. >> whether what started in silicon valley goes across to europe, comes back to the big banks here in the united states. > >> elizabeth war ren is going after the fed after the collapse welcome to "morning joe. it is thursday, march 16th we have the host of "way too ea early," "politico's" jonathan lemire bbc news' katty kay is with us white house editor at "politico," sam stein.

>> we'll get to the case where people believe this is when donald trump finally gets indicted you certainly see things lining up that way. what are they saying in trump world? wra what are you hearing about this investigation and where it is headed >> it seems to be in the final stages we know michael cohen and stormy daniels have both spoken cohen to the grand jury. daniels with prosecutors in recent days. this seems to be the end stage of this probe. there are preparations being made for the -- it's not done -- possible indictment of the former president trump it would be history it's never happened before it could come in the next couple weeks. trump world not thrilled with that they think there might be a political benefit. they're sharpening their attacks. they'll claim this was a bias prosecutor in a deep blue, liberal city, trying to make hay by taking down donald trump in a sort of witch hunt-like

investigation. >> right. >> you can read through all that but it's still going to happen as much as trump world has said about the legal cases, this is the one they worry least about they have delay tactics to push this off beyond the campaign this would still be a moment, were he to be indicted, he'd be booked he'd have to turn in there would be a mug shot. something we'd have to get used to there is worry there, even if they think it won't hurt in the gop primary field. they know it would be in the general election. >> by the way, you never know. we're four years after 2020, when evangelicals blindly lined up behind a guy who shared none of their faith, none of their belief system, none of their values personally. they were willing to look the other way with the porn star scandal in 2016. chances are good now going into the primary, with evangelicals starting to look ron desantis' way, other republicans' way, this could be a split screen mug shot of donald trump and the

porn star who he paid off with hush money before the 2016 election i'm not saying this is a bridge too far for evangelicals because these political evangelicals have crossed every bridge already and burnt it >> yeah. >> that said, this could be a convenient excuse for many of them to say, "we can't follow him. it's too mesmessy. this isn't a russia investigation, ukrainian investigation. this is him paying hush money to a porn star. they can act shocked and stunned and deeply saddened that there has been gambling going on in the back of the bar. >> right they can act shocked, even though this has been going on since before he was elected president. >> right. >> and many have wondered if it would start and end with hush money to a porn star for donald trump. >> we're about to find out we're going to get to that andrew weissmann, obviously, critical investigator in the mueller investigation, will be here in a minute

let's go through the other stories. other stories making big news this morning, three u.s. officials tell nbc news that the aggressive action taken by moscow to bring down a u.s. drone over the black sea was approved by, quote, the highest levels of the kremlin. moscow is working to recover debris from the crash site u.s. officials say there are no indications those efforts have been successful to this point. >> katty kay, a bit of a provocation, obviously we did hear from lloyd austin, that he spoke to officials in moscow what can you tell us >> well, i moan, it's good the conversations are taking place and they're not being met with radio silence, which has happened sometimes in the past the americans seem fairly confident that there is nothing on that drone that would give russia very much information but even more confident that it'll be difficult for them to find it. the expectation is that, by now, that has sunk to the bottom, several thousand feet to the

bottom of the black sea, and it would be extremely hard for russia to recuperate anything of value. so i think the biggest issue here is that it shows that mistakes or provocations can happen very easily this is a hot zone, and we are in a situation where wars can be unpredish unprediblt unpredictable you don't know what can lead to an escalation. people are looking at this drone incident, be careful you don't want things to escalate for a reason like this. >> no. meanwhile, "the new york times" reports the u.s. is promising to fully and quickly give ukraine the weapons it needs for a spring counteroffensive against russia. speaking at a virtual meeting with some 50 countries, defense secretary lloyd austin pledged to support kyiv in the fight ahead. ukraine has been burning through its arsenal to fend off russia's invasion >> we hear the same thing coming

from germany seems to me, sam stein, that, yes, it's very important when the two leading candidates for the republican nomination start sounding like ron paul when it food comes to being an isolationist, an america first type policy, but i wonder if we're over focusing on that right now you look, at least in the senate, and even with the leadership in the house, and republicans, one after another, whether it's mitch mcconnell, john fume came out yesterday talking about it lindsey graham, very aggressive, talking about how stupid ron desantis' isolationism is. who else john cornyn. marco rubio. a lot of people that don't always stick their neck out on issues that may not be popular with the base. doesn't it seem like the european allies and biden administration, most republicans

are still standing shoulder to shoulder with ukraine? >> i think we need to distinguish between the center republicans and the house republicans. yes, senate republicans kind of almost universally came out in condemnation of the ron desantis statement in which he said it was not strategic interest to the united states. of course, there are members of the chamber, i'm thinking of rand paul, for instance, who probably do agree with it. the house republicans are a different beast. they are much more closely aligned with the tucker carlson wing of the party. they will commit to future aid for ukraine. they want it audited and want to understand where the money is going. that's a cover for saying, we want to slow down our alignment with ukraine i think where you end up, though, is, to your point, joe, if you read ron desantis' statement a couple times over, first of all, yes, it was aligning with tucker and trump, but there were some caveats in there i think were meant to

cover his backside. >> right. >> he said, we want to provide them with weaponry but not in an escalatory manner. give them some weapons, give them defensive capabilities, but don't give them the stuff that could escalate the conflict. i think he is going to try to wiggle out by saying, i don't want to cut off ukraine. i want to fund them to the point where it's a stalemate >> i've got to say, i saw this a good bit when i was in the house. you'd have people come out and make these statements, like ron desantis did about maybe involvement somewhere else across the globe, but it is always general enough that when the time came, when push came to shove, they almost always sup pors supported what the president wanted to do even when the president was bill clinton and the speaker was newt gingrich look at desantis' statement, kevin mccarthy's statement i'd be very surprised if they took the position of trump yeah, whether they were that extreme and say, oh, this war

will be over in 24 hours, which means, of course, donald trump would do what we all know he'd do betray the freedom fighters in ukraine and side with vladimir putin. >> correct. >> like he always does. >> 100%. >> did he say he was brilliant savvy? >> okay. >> he called the invasion beautiful. >> moving on. the biden administration is demanding tiktok's chinese owners sell their stakes in the app, or else the u.s. may ban it completely that's according to sources cited by "the wall street journal. the popular video sharingapp i owned by a beijing-based company. many believe it poses a national security risk. i don't know when this is going to come to a head. i keep trying to get it off my phone, and then someone sends me a tiktok video doesn't that put it back on your phone? i don't understand it. >> only if you download the app. everybody worried about the balloon so much, they're letting china into -- >> i know. >> -- their phones. >> everyone's homes. >> every day. >> anything they --

>> every day. >> we'll be following that story. i suggest, perhaps, we ought to reconsider tiktok on a number of platforms that are used. hundreds of thousands of protesters took to the streets of paris to join a national strike over president emmanuel macron's plan to raise the retirement age the plan would raise the age from 62 to 64. in addition, it would deny a full pension to anyone who retires at that age without having worked for 43 years the contested bill comes to a vote later today we will be following that. now to the legal news this morning, michael cohen, the one-time attorney and fixer for former president donald trump, wrapped up his testimony before a grand jury, convened by the manhattan district attorney's office in its investigation of trump and hush money paid to adult film actress stormy daniels.

cohen spent two hours yesterday testifying before the grand jury after his first appearance on monday when he testified for about three hours. and the woman at the center of the hush money payments has now spoken with prosecutors in the case, as well. daniels' attorney and daniels met with the prosecutor by zoom, calling the conversation, quote, substantive and a good meeting the attorney said daniels, whose real name is stephanie clifford, spoke her mind during the call, and that she would make herself available as a witness moving forward if needed. daniels alleges he had an affair with former president trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 in exchange for her silence during the 2016 election. no word yet on whether she will testify before the grand jury. >> again, to underline the fact,

michael cohen has already gone to jail for being part of donald trump's scheme to give her hush money right before the election. let's bring in nbc news legal analyst, andrew weissmann. he's a former general counsel of the fbi and served as lead prosecutor in the mueller special counsel's office if the boston red sox get as many wins this year as i've heard people say, the legal walls are closing in on donald trump, the sox -- through the years, the sox will have a great year probably win 145 games, win the world series my question to you, since we know that's not going to happen, my question to you is, how is this time different than all the other times we've heard over the past five years that, quote, the walls are closing in on donald trump? >> that is a great question. the analogy is also pretty

great. so i think there is a big difference here. it is hard to imagine that alvin bragg, the d.a. in manhattan, would be engaging in these kind of very public steps of having -- >> let me stop you right there for skeptics that are watching, i'm so dpglad you started with that the end of the day, alvin bragg, he's a politician, he's a d.a. he has to get elected. let me ask you the question this way, can you conceive of a reason why an elected d.a. would go through all of these steps and not indict donald trump at the end of the day >> exactly i don't see him doing this and not indicting. because the expectations in the media and, you know, for sort of

all the electorate, is this is going to happen. i'd say another piece that is worth considering is defense counsel for donald trump have reportedly already been in to make arguments to alvin bragg. that's an important step that you do at the very end of a case before you indict, you give the other side an opportunity to be heard, to make any and all arguments. that has already happened. with that happening, which clearly can be made public and has been, and you have michael cohen, who is somebody who obviously speaks a lot to the media, they knew if they put him in the grand jury, that'd become very well-known, it's really hard to see that there won't be a decision on this imminently. whether alvin bragg is a pog t politician or a straight shooter of a d.a., i think that he is going to look at this evidence, and it is really hard to imagine he wouldn't go forward it is also worth remembering,

this is the d.a. who rejected the mcase, saying it wasn't reay to go forward. he is not going with politics but deciding on the merits, is there enough proof here? we'll see. i think we should be very, very conscious that this is likely to come down very soon. >> andrew, we shall be vigilant. let's take the step and suggest that the indictment does happen. walk us through, explain to the viewers here the difference. there could be dismmisdemeanor, could be a felony. by what you know of the evidence, indictment is one thing, is it strong enough for a potential conviction >> great questions so there is a real complication on the issue of how this could get charged under state law.

there is a very strong misdemeanor, which means you can only go to jail for up to a year obviously, it's just by the fact that it's called a misdemeanor suggests that it is not as serious as any felony. that misdemeanor isfiling a false business record. the factual predication for that would be the cover-up scheme for the payment of the money, which was it was not denominated as hush money payments to keep a porn star from talking and damaging his election possibilities. it was categorized as legal fees to michael cohen michael cohen has testified before congress and admitted that was just a ruse that was used that would be the misdemeanor. in order for it to be a felony, it has to be -- that crime of making a false statement has to be in furtherance or to cover up another crime.

that's the rub where people have a lot of questions about what crime the d.a. is going to use i think that is a real issue your issue about whether this will hold up i think that's the piece that's the most vulnerable. the misdemeanor seems very, very clear, and there should be very strong proof whether they can link it to another crime and, thus, make it a felony and a more serious charge, that's going to be an issue. >> andrew, what would all of that mean, then, in terms of sentencing i know there has been -- i mean, the conventional wisdom is that this doesn't carry jail time do you see any circumstances in which it might do, and if it doesn't, what are the other sentencing possibilities, charging possibilities >> sure. so that, obviously, is way down the road there would have to be a trial that could take -- that could, frankly, unfortunately, take years before that happens. we know from the trump organization and allen

weisselberg cases, those took 16 months to go to trial. since this is trump expertise of throwing sand in the gears to delay things, this could take even longer. if there is a trial and charges, and if he is convicted, the issue of whether he goes to jail, i do think, in large part, will depend on whether it's a misdemeanor or a felony that holds up at the end of the day and what the d.a. has done -- >> andrew, the felony is going to be very hard goto get, right? the nellfelony is a reach here >> it could be there's been a lot of discussion about what that other felony could be for instance, it could be a federal crime that this is in furtherance of, campaign finance violations there's an issue under state law

about whether any federal crime would be sufficient or whether the state criminal statute requires there to be another state crime. you assure that donald trump will challenge that. you know what? another federal case wouldn't be enough it has to be another state crime. then the issue is, what state crime are they going to use? that's where, i think, a lot of people are scratching their head, trying to figure out exactly what alvin bragg is going to do. one of the, i think, only remaining issues is how is he going to try to figure out to make this a felony >> nbc news legal analyst andrew weissmann, thank you so much greatly appreciate it. let me throw it open to the panel, anybody who wants to jump in, feel free to jump in i'm wondering, does it make sense to charge donald trump, a former president, for a misdemeanor when we keep hearing

that a felony, actual jail time, is a reach we've all talked about the documents case it seems the documents case, his obstruction actions during the documents case is -- if there is a slam dunk out there, would be the slam dunk. but starting with a case that trump has a good shot of beating? jonathan lemire, you've been following this guy forever doesn't that play into donald trump's hand isn't that exactly what donald trump would want >> yeah, they'd probably welcome that then they could paint every other investigation with the same brush and say, "look, it's all bias this is nonsense look how weak this is. this is a stretch. they'd have legal analysts talk, and perhaps in this case, as andrew did, very credibly, saying a felony here on this particular case would be a reach. it would be so typical trump, frankly, for him to be able to slip off the hook here, potentially in other cases, as well, because of this one. he'd be able to shape the

political perception, that this is all bias. it feeds into this narrative that he's created already. of course, every case is going to be tried on its own merits. one prosecutor probably won't be looking at another to make his or her own decision. certainly the documents case is probably the most easily proved. that's what analysts say georgia also poses a real threat to trump january 6th, the biggest of all, we heard it'll be a difficult case we don't know where jack smith is in that investigation this one in manhattan, there's some risk here of this backfiring, giving trump some political life. >> i guess if the argument -- if we are a nation of laws and no man is above the law, a guy commits a misdemeanor, he commits a misdemeanor and needs to be charged. >> i don't think the law is looking at -- >> whether he is an ex-president, a construction worker, or whether she's a teacher or whatever.

again, the law is the law at the end of the day. >> that's right. >> no person is supposed to be above the law. even though donald trump has lived his whole life that way. >> that's right. we're going to see what happens and come back to this. we have a lot of other stories going on this morning. credit suisse is showing signs of life this morning shares are up 23% in overseas trading. the rally comes after a late night announcement that it would borrow about $54 billion from the swiss national bank. on tuesday, the 166-year-old lender acknowledged problems with its financial reports yesterday, a dramatic stock sell-off was sparked by credit suisse's top investor, the saudi national bank, saying it wouldn't provide more money for the bank the decision was because of regulatory issues. "the new york times" points out that credit suisse has been battered by years of mistakes and controversies, including

huge trading losses, involvement in money laundering, and spying on former employees. >> wow. >> joining us now, cnbc's frank holland. >> frank, thank you so much for being with us. you look at what happened with the red hot start-up bank that, of course, had been around for decades, but was the place for silicon valley entrepreneurs to go and investors to go they got in trouble last week. now, you've got a 166-year-old european institution getting in trouble this week. both of them requiring, in effect, bailouts it doesn't seem so limited is the entire banking system worldwide in crisis? do we have reason to worry >> well, first off, good morning. thanks for having me on there's a crisis of confidence when it comes to liquidity, all the banks globally, in general, are better off than they were at the start of the financial crisis there's a lot more regulation.

we have increased stress tests when it comes to banks a different position when it comes to balance sheets. the crisis could be in the confidence in the regional banks here in the united states. credit suisse, this has a history of problems. that's not indicative of the entire european banking sector this is a bank that a lot of analysts called a problem child. there's been issues. spying on employees, liquidity right now, i mean, it continues to be something going on with this bank. there certainly is the crisis of confidence in the united states. we saw people pulling deposits out of silicon valley bank in the united states, we don't have a problem withic liquidit with the major banks we could have a problem if there are too many inflows into the big banks, it could be difficult for the smaller banks to succeed and thrive someone said it well on cnbc we had too big to fail in the financial crisis now, we may have too small to succeed when it comes to small banks. >> i like that, frank. any time somebody says, wait, winston churchill didn't say

that, i say, okay, i'll take credit for it. >> good writers steal. >> exactly >> frank holland >> great artists steal thank you, frank appreciate it. before we go to break, we want to revisit one of our top stories this morning the downing of that u.s. drone over the black sea by russia we have video now of the drone's interaction with the russian jet. the video was taken from a camera on the drone's underside and shows two different passes take bin by the jets to spray te drone by fuel. the second interaction shows the collision with the propeller at the rear of the drone, which is seen in the footage. this now has been released we'll be following this. ahead on "morning joe" -- >> wait, i'm just curious, did -- i mean, i wouldn't be shocked if it happened, but -- >> yeah? >> sam stein, did the russians accidentally hit the drone

>> no. >> i think they were trying to spray it with fuel. >> and they hit it >> they accidentally hit it, which would be par for the course for russia's military in 2022 and 2023. oh >> it's a distinction without a difference i don't know, it is clumsy, yes. i suppose a direct hit is better than a spray with fuel that's russian military. >> i guess it is okay >> all right still ahead on "morning joe," the first trump to desantis detecfection inside the republican party which lawmaker is throwing his support behind the florida governor. >> kind of a surprise. >> it is even though the governor is not even in the race. >> not yet. also, new reporting -- >> have you seen him throw a baseball wee! >> flippy-floppy also ahead, the former president is building to fight off a potential challenge from ron desantis that's straight ahead. plus, we have a full wrap-up

of the second annual 30/50 summit in abu dhabi. really, it's hard -- i was putting this together with our editors. it is really hard to believe how remarkable this event was and how amazing all the women were who came from 50 countries, 500 women coming together to really mentor, work together, make connections, cross cultural, cross generational it was really the most incredible women's summit i've ever been to. >> well, it was actually -- "forbes" put it best, it was the greatest global gathering of women in history you look at what our audience, what our friends saw last week, where you're talking to hillary clinton, to olena zelenska, billie jean king, gloria steinem. icons. >> all on the same stage. >> then you look at all the other people throughout the week really, just an absolutely

incredible, incredible event, at the crossroads of the world. >> we have the highlights coming up, and also how you can get involved and also nominate someone for the next u.s. 50 over 50 list the nominations are open we'll have all -- you can nominate someone starting now. we'll have all the information for you coming up on "morning joe.

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♪ ♪ ♪ get directv with a two year price guarantee. beautiful shot of new york city boat coming out. >> are you on that boat? >> sun going up. >> no, that was scutro. >> first time we met >> that literally happened we can bump with that shot. >> look at that shot, though it's like a painting. >> beautiful >> it's time now at 34 past the hour for a look at the morning

papers we begin in arkansas "the sentinel record" reports lawmakers advanced a bill that allows parents to challenge certain library books. the bill would require libraries to form committees to review challenges to books and file an appeal librarians who knowingly distribute material considered obscene to children could face criminal prosecution the legislation heads to the senate. >> by the way, i have to say, the generality, the ambiguity, that's the entire purpose of this. >> you got the whole internet for kids to go to, by the way. bigger problems. >> in florida, ron desantis scares the hell out of teachers and lie brlibrarians, then theye books off the shelf. he catches grief for it. then he said, no, i didn't want a book on roberto clemente

banned, that's stupid. when, of course, the whole argument was that if there's any suggestion of systemic racism out there, if there are things that line up with critical race theory. >> so dumb. >> when they ask him to actually specify what the requirements are, he deliberately keeps it ambi ambiguous. same thing with the arkansas law. you spread fear among educators so they don't know what to put on the shelves you know, and do know what to put on the shelves it's outrageous. >> the prospect of banning books in america in the 21st century seems, on the face of it, you talked about fascism in this country, and i have quibbles with the term "fascism," but where do we know countries ban books? authoritarian regimes. there's a smack of that happening in schools in the united states at the moment. often, it's been driven by

very -- a minority of people who are incredibly vocal and are making their views known but aren't representative of where the majority of americans are. we see this happening time and again in this country. a minority of people on the extremes of the political spectrum are disrupting the center that seems to be what's happening with the banning of these books in schools >> right they use the term obscene. don't want my children to see obscene books in school. i don't want first graders, second, third, fourth, fifth define obscene here's an idea, have your department of education list the books that cause you grave concern. make the guidelines tight enough that there is not ambiguity. what ron desantis wants to be able to do is go, oh, they want little kids to read critical race theory. or, oh, they want little kids to read obscene books but keeps it so general. you've got people in 67

different counties in the state of florida, educators scared that if they make the wrong move, if they aren't aggressive enough in taking more books off the shelf than not, then they'll lose their job. >> ridiculous. >> again, this is not -- don't give us the false choice of, oh, you're either for third graders reading obscene books or, you know, you're for a book that -- no this is very simple. provide guidelines give our educators guidance. >> all right in new york, "the buffalo news" highlights new research on the covid pandemic and maternal deaths according to government data, more than 1,200 pregnant women died in 2021, an increase from the year before. a separate report found covid was a contributing factor in at least 400 maternal deaths in 2021 experts say the pandemic worsened the u.s.' already high

maternal rate. we'll be following that in know your value in illinois, sporting betting for march madness is expected to hit a new record according to the american gaming association. 68 million people are expected to bet a total of $15.5 billion on the tournament. last year, march madness generated about $3 billion in wagers >> sam stein, are you one of those people have you filled out a bracket yet? >> i filled out a bracket, but i'm not wagering money i get too emotionally invested in uconn hoops so if i had anything more invested in it, i'd probably disintegrate into a pool of anxiety. no, i'm not going to do it. >> that's one way to put it. >> jonathan lemire, you jumping in have you picked any pools, winners yet, put money on these games? >> in fact, filling out my bracket as we speak. the "morning joe" pool ucla, duke, houston, alabama for

the final four >> he's really going at it. >> how are you feeling i'm working hard here, multi-tasking. how are we feeling >> he's out in front of us. >> the crimson tide. football powerhouse. something new here with basketball. >> it is there's a cloud, obviously, over the team. >> yes. >> there is a cloud because of the crimes that have been committed. i think the star is a witness to the crime. may have actually brought -- i don't want to -- i don't know. okay, so he -- one he the guy that allegedly brought the gun to the player? >> correct. >> yeah, so that's hanging over the entire tournament. it's kind of hard to go, woo-hoo, roll tide, cheer or bama listen, i've been wanting to see alabama do great in basketball s for a really long time when i was there 800 years ago, they reached the sweet 16 three or four times.

very exciting. in normal circumstances, this would be an absolutely thrilling year, but these aren't normal circumstances. still, we'll see what happens. hope all goes well. all right. last week, in honor of international women's day, "forbes" and know your value hosted the second annual 30/50 summit in abu dhabi, the multi-cultural, multi-generational, historic event. it was attended by over 500 women from 50 different countries. we were joined by global icons, legends who truly changed the world for women and are changing the world. here's a recap of the greatest global gathering of women in history. ♪ >> hello to everybody on "morning joe" from everyone here at the 30/50 summit in abu dhabi. we're having a great time.

we need to teach all women to know their value and to communicate it effectively it's one thing to know it, but you've got to be able to say it. i need you to say something to me i am not ashamed, and it's all about the money. let's all say it i am not ashamed, and it's all about the money. the unbelievably successful women in this room, you can know that this runway is made for you and it is longer than you can ever imagine. >> what really inspires me is that, previously, it was thought that first ladies are just soft power. but we have shown that it is not just a formality we are a force, and we can continue to change the world. >> every one of us is an influencer everything you do does matter. you can do this. this is your chance to change

the world. >> i just want us to value laughter more. it is the only emotion that cannot be compelled. >> be willing to do whatever it takes to feel confident that you know whatever it is you're talking about and you have a very clear idea that you want to communicate. >> 29, something like that, getting up there already i'm ancient now at 40. so to be getting -- >> mika will tell you, that's absolutely not true. >> that's not -- it's not true, but that was my frame of mind. >> i have two young girls and a son, and it's just so -- my intention and my drive comes from a place of wanting to, you know, level the playing field for them >> i treat men and women the same. >> same thing. >> be intimidateintimidated. i will stare you right now. >> this is helping business advice when negotiating, don't fill silence

like as women, we always talk and, like, i used to do this and get uncomfortable and just say more in negotiations, in meetings, stop >> stop. >> don't fill the silence. if you make someone uncomfortable, let them be super uncomfortable. >> how do you deal with men intimidated by your power? >> say, "are you all right?" >> i became an entrepreneur really out of necessity. i was 27 years old, pregnant with my first child. i used a certain laundry detergent marketed for baby clothing, and i had an allergic reaction to it my lungs closing having all of these issues with my health. >> if you don't have outside accountability from black women, you are not going to be able to do this for the long haul. no one is going to do this perfectly. growing is weird and painful, and what i say to people is stumbling is evidence of momentum >> stumbling is evidence of

momentum if we are taking gems, that is one for me >> so i'm waiting for my husband to toss to me. for those who have watched "morning joe," this could be a while. >> mika, take it away. >> all right, joe. thank you so much. we're about to have a really important conversation our next guests have dedicated their lives to advancing the cause of women around the world. >> pay equity is so important. until we have this one-to-one, we have a long way to go please, women, follow the money. follow the money >> how different the history of my country and the world would have been had we had hillary clinton instead of trump >> that's a conversation stopper. the message should be that there's not one day to celebrate women, and there's not one day to talk about the challenges we

face and the opportunities that are there for us to take advantage of, and there is strength in numbers. supporting each other, supporting our own path forward, but bringing others along with us, that should be our goal. that's really what this conference is all about. >> it exactly is. >> i would like to thank all of the women on the stage because, thanks to them, i understand that equality is normal. i think the next step we need to make is to make sure that all women understand that it is normal not only women, men also [ applause ] >> happy international women's day! >> that was three days, a three-day summit, three and a

half, but it was really -- it was absolutely remarkable. >> it's extraordinary that so much happened in such a short period of time it was so positive, too. the vibe there was extraordinarily positive as hillary clinton said at the end with you, there's strength in numbers. >> mm-hmm. >> you saw the numbers there women from 50 different country s determined. >> it was a joy and a great vibe. >> all parts of the world. congratulations to you, your team, did an extraordinary job, "forbes," great partner. this was something. >> we'll have huma, maggie and randle on in the coming weeks to follow up on including two women i met on the "kelly clarkson show" who went there. it was a great story i save it. katty kay, what i saw in terms of the connections being made,

because we had so much mentoring and so many networking events and legitimate ways that you could actually pick and connect with people, it reminded me of the advice you give with the "confidence code." i know you and poppy were traveling, so you need to come next year. there are so many women banking confidence, which is what you talk about banking confidence by way of the connections and the support they were giving to each other. >> yeah, first of all, yes, i will definitely be there that looks like so much fun. >> it was. >> that's my takeaway from all of this and all the work you've done on the summit, mika there were tangible results. there were things that people could take away from it, that they could then use in their lives to make their lives better, to make their careers better, to make their own lives better i think that's what -- it's not just talk. there's a real value in that summit that people will keep with them. the other thing is, i was thinking of my mom i grew up in the middle east, not far from where the summit was held she would have been so amazed to see all of those arab women

attending a summit empowering women. that's just great that you did it there. >> there were a lot of dynamics going on there that made it historic honestly, i thank everybody for your coverage. what you were talking about, katty, in terms of those connections and the real results from this, we're going to have a lot of follow-up stories showing you those results taking place for extensive coverage of our summit, head to knowyourvalue.com. also, to be involved next year, some way, some how, guess what nominations for "forbes" and know your value's third annual u.s. 50 over 50 list, they're open now you can nominate someone we're looking to spotlight women over the age of 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, who are shattering age and gender norms across every sector of business, politics, the sciences and society nominate that woman or even nominate yourself today. head over to forbes.com for more

details on that. end up at the summit next year also, we'll be going global again with the list, so there will be more nominations opening up for asia, europe, middle east and africa we truly are global at this point. coming up, the mayor of greater manchester is on an american road trip, forging new partnerships for his city in the u.s. he makes his stop on "morning joe," just ahead plus, dr. anthony fauci joins us amid renewed criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic "morning joe" will be right back ♪ ♪ to all the chevy silverado owners out there. the adventurers and the doers. to everyone that works hard and plays hard. whether it's your first silverado or your tenth.

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xfinity rewards creates experiences big and small, and once-in-a-lifetime. that's a beautiful shot of new york city as the sun is coming up. beautiful skyline. the mayor of greater manchester in the uk is hitting the road on a tour of the u.s.

he started in north carolina, where in a push to strengthen economic ties, he and the governor of that state have agreed on a trade deal he then traveled to texas, where he attended the famous south by southwest music festival, a type of event he is planning to bring to the uk. interesting. greater manchester mayor, andy burnham, is now in the big apple, and he joins us live. good to have you with us, sir. >> mr. mayor, thank you so much for being with us. >> great to be with you. >> first of all, i am sorry you're an everton fan. we'll let you and roger bennett deal with that. >> maybe this should end now. >> we thank you and the people of manchester for giving liverpool its one highlight this year. >> oh, that caused -- >> victory over united. >> that caused grief for us. disappointed you've brought that up we're recovering from that >> you know, we went, actually -- i did something for nbc sports in the rivalry, the

derby between united and city. i was blown away by manchester i grew up, like everybody else, listening to the manchester sound from, you know, from this -- and i expected post industrial rot to be all around me it was an extraordinarily vibrant city you went to south by southwest i can't think of a better place to have a music festival, an arts festival, a cultural festival, a tech festival, than in your own city, in manchester. >> yeah. we're bringing one to manchester later this year. we were in south to launch it. it'll be called beyond the music. it'll be like south by southwest, but, you know, a little manchester twist on it. we took a little-known english band with us called new order. i don't know whether "morning joe" viewers know them, but they cause quite a stir there it was fantastic i even found out that the second gentleman of the united states of america is a new order fan

and a manchester united fan. we'll take that. >> that's good >> very nice jonathan >> certainly, yes, good tastes in music maybe not the football there from the second gentleman. let's talk about why else you're here, some of the economic ties. tell us a little bit about this partnership you're hoping to establish in north carolina, which is sort of seen as an up-and-coming financial hub here in the u.s. >> yes as you've just heard, we are a very vibrant city. we are the fastest growing digital and tech hub in europe the manchester of old that people might think of, the factories, very grimy, that's not today's manchester we're really on the move cities like charlotte in north carolina have got a lot in common with us, as has austin. so i was meeting the mayor of austin you know, we are the football capital of the uk. we are the music capital of the uk we really are a global center

now for digital tech, life sciences, low carbon this is why i'm here from the uk the message is simple, look beyond london. manchester is actually the place where it is all happening. only yesterday, the uk government agreed a new devolution deal for us, meaning we can do more for ourselves, like a u.s. city or u.s. mayor these are exciting times. >> i'm married to a man who has been the city supporter since the age of 7 they have a match with liverpool on april 1st, which joe might be interested in, too. >> i'm rooting for them. i'm an everton supporter. >> i know. >> so they're the other people in liverpool you know, it is hard when you're the mayor of greater manchester and you're born in liverpool i don't know if you can be the mayor of new york and born in san francisco. >> i'm surprised you didn't have to switch your allegiance. listen, you know, the uk has

been trying to get a comprehensive trade deal with the u.s. since brexit, and they haven't managed to get it. it's clear it's been on the back burner is this the pfuture, cities to cities doing trade on culture and climate change is that where the energy is? >> that's where the action is as far as i'm concerned i came to meet mike bloomberg when i first got elected that was the message he gave me, it'll be city to city going forward. it takes the politics out of it. national level, there's always tensions between states and countries. you get to the city level, it's just all about, you know, get things done. i think the city-to-city relationship is the key thing. >> all right mayor of greater manchester, andy burnham. >> good to have you on. >> thank you so much. >> thank you. >> hope to see you over this fall in manchester >> st. patrick's day in new york couldn't be better for someone with irish heritage like me. >> there you go. >> true. >> by the way, i mean, i will

say, we did have two new york mayors in a row that were red sox fans. >> this is true. >> they somehow survived it. five terms between them. >> they did. ahead, we'll break down the latest polling on the 2024 presidential race, including the president candidate that's in a dead heat with president joe biden. plus, one of our next guests argues that american politics has become too complacent to heed mike pence's warnings about the former president that conversation is straight ahead on "morning joe. bear? ♪ we're gonna catch a big one♪ ♪ we're gonna catch a big one. ♪ ♪ look out for the water. ♪ ♪ can't go under it. ♪ ♪ the rocks and the mud. ♪ ♪ can't go over it. ♪ ♪ gotta go through it! ♪ ♪ we're going on a bear hunt.♪ ♪ we're going on a bear hunt.♪ ♪ oh going on a bear hunt!♪ ♪ going on a bear hunt! ♪ ♪ yeah we're going on a ber hunt! ♪ -bear! ♪ going on a bear hunt! ♪ - such a good boy. ♪ going on a bear hunt! ♪ ♪ oh what a beautiful day.♪ [ dog barks ]

welcome back to "morning joe. look at that beautiful shot of washington, d.c., as we launch into the second hour of "morning joe. it is thursday, march 16th it's great to have you with us jonathan lemire and katty kay are still with us. joining the conversation, we have msnbc contributor mike

barnicle and we also have a packed hour ahead. staff writer at "the atlantic," tom nichols is with us his latest piece says mike pence is warning us about trump, but we're too complacent to hear it. we'll just ask, why doesn't he say it on camera anywho " "vanity fair," molly, making the case why gop elites may be done with trump but he isn't done with the party last but not least, senior writer for "the dispatch," david dru drucker. he explains why republican candidates might be making a mistake by bypassing the mainstream media. >> mike barnicle, let's first talk really quickly. jonathan lemire pointed this out. the most mets thing ever happened last night. jonathan, you want to take us through this the most mets thing ever happened last night. >> yeah, it's the world baseball classic under way right uerto rn

rep republic the closer signed a huge contract strikes out the side, i believe. afterwards, celebrating with his teammates, jumping up and down, suddenly collapses apiepears to have suffered a mar knee injury. carried off the field. then he is put in a wheelchair because he can't put any weight on it. tests will come later today. we don't know the severity yet it looks bad boy, is it all about -- that's who the new york mets are. >> imagine how happy the owner of the mets must be. i mean, he's just bought a $360 million payroll or whatever, well over the major league baseball tax this is his, clearly, the star reliever in the national league, maybe in all of major league baseball last year he could be undergoing probably arthroscopic surgery later today. >> oh, my gosh. >> he was beloved by the team, the fans he had this exciting entrance to

every game. >> let's play it. >> trumpets going. maybe play it next commercial break. here he is i mean, maybe it's a hyperextension maybe it's a few weeks it could be a lot worse. i will say, briefly, a lot of players afterwards said, look, this was a freak thing we still want to be in the world baseball classic we don't want this injury to prevent players from playing in future tournaments. >> joe, we have decided here, jonathan and i, not to do the same celebration we do at the end of each program. >> for jeuinjury risk. >> we'll keep it low key today. >> thanks. >> we go off, and people don't understand, but, like, everybody, it's a huge thing. >> yeah. >> ups and downs. >> bunch of idiots. >> yeah, i mean, first of all, i've got to say, with all the money, mike, i understand this tournament is exciting, but with all the money that these players are being given -- and i don't be begrudge them getting the money. because, what, should the owners keep it all?

no, i understand it is big business, big money. come on, you really, put the -- and people are loving this, but to put this in the middle of spring training when they should be getting ready to earn their tens of millions of dollars? it seems kind of crazy >> well, it is it's horribly misplaced. it should be played after the season is over in november or in january, prior to spring training starts. you've got a legitimate two-week disruption in spring training for most of the star players who have gone to these teams and i don't know whether the fans are really thinking this is really great i'd like to see what the ratings are. i don't know what they are my strong suspicion is, given some of the matchups i've seen, they're not drawing much. >> okay. all right. let's start with a new poll that shows donald trump has widened his lead over florida governor ron desantis for the 2024 republican nomination. the latest quinnipiac poll finds

trump with 46% support from republican and republican-leaning voters. followed by desantis with 32%. trump's 14-point lead is up from six points last month. however, when it comes to a hypothetical matchup with joe biden, it is a different story the poll finds biden leads trump in a head-to-head matchup, 49% t to 45% when matched up against desantis, the president is in a virtual dead heat. 47% to 46%, which falls within the poll's margin of error what do you make of that, joe? >> what i make of it is, this is what we've been talking about since 2017 that is, what's good for donald trump in the republican primary is bad for the republican party in the general election. here you have donald trump once again looking like he can run away with this race, doing

better against ron desantis but doing worse in the general election david drucker, it's so -- a year before 2024, i find the most fascinating thing about this presidential race is you have the presumptive nominees in both parties. one, a sitting president, with people in their own party going, "i like him. i'm grateful for what he's done. i hope we can find somebody else." democrats are saying that about joe biden wherever you go. they do it every two weeks. >> they are not. they are not. >> they do it every two weeks. joe biden wins the midterms, and they finally stop. two weeks later, they're like, "oh, we have to find somebody else." joe biden gives a great state of the union address, they're like, "he's pretty good. two weeks later, "they need to find somebody else." >> they need to shut up. >> mika, you know this is the reality. what's so fascinating is, i mean, that's been happening to biden his whole career he's been underestimated

on the republican side, david, i know you've heard this, too, people going, "donald trump, we're grateful for what he's done it's time to move on." yet, here we are in both parties. i suspect we're probably going to get a rematch of 2020, even though there are whispers in both parties about how they'd prefer somebody else. >> right well, look, joe, i mean, you are right about the constant whispers that aren't always whispers, frankly. there's so much conversation about a desire on the part of voters in both parties i talk to voters about this all the time, even on the democratic side they're pleased with how biden has governed they think he's done an admiral job. yet, they keep talking about this idea that it'd be great to have somebody who is just, you know, not 80 years old i hear the same thing but in a different way about donald trump. in that, even a lot of republican voters that wish he

would have won, that voted for him and that wouldn't necessarily be all that upset if he were president again, are worried that he cannot win a general election i've talked to republicans who are supporting, you know, whether it is nikki haley or ron desantis, and i'll say, you know, "are you just finished with trump?" they'll tell me, "no, i'm not necessarily finished with trump, i just don't think he can win. they'll have all sorts of reasons why he can't win usually it is bozos like me in the media or somebody giving hi a hard time, and that's why he can't win. fair enough, i'm pragmatic about it, so can't we move on? the question is, if ron desantis is going to run, once he is an actual candidate, can he take the fight to trump that's what republican primary voters want to see does becoming an actual candidate change some of the polling? i think it is too early to decide that trump is a de facto nominee. he is a strong front

becoming a candidate changes voters' perception we saw niit with trump, but started with ted cruz, the wasnt he sure finished a lot higher than he started. so did trump >> yeah. thanks to trumpists in congress, trumpists on fox news, family members who watch fox news, people who still stand with trump, the nonsensical is still completely mainstream. i mean, you can't -- we are desensitized at this point in so many different ways as it pertains to donald trump now, we have a candidate being supported by a number of the entities that i just mentioned to you, even though he has at least four legitimate legal challenges facing him, potential indictments. yet, you say the gop elite simply can't wish him away

i mean, they can't get rid of him. >> yeah. i would say the problem with comparing biden to trump is that biden has won three elections. trump has lost three elections. >> biden actually wins. >> right i mean -- >> good point. >> the truth is, trump is, you know -- has all these legal jeopardy, but he's also just -- he does not win, right his candidates, more than that, trumpism doesn't scale we see this again and again. a lot of these candidates want to run again by the way, their new thing is they think they won, right they'll say, actually, i won so we are getting further and further removed from reality i ultimately think, i don't know how you play chess when you're playing some other game, when you're playing checkers. >> great point. >> mike barnicle, it would be -- >> well said. >> -- as if the red sox had a bad year last year, let's say, finished in last place, then had an offseason where they dealt as

if they won the world series and didn't pick up anybody wait, that happened. i love, though, molly had just said -- molly has put what i tried to say for eight years perfectly. >> eight seconds, by the way. >> trumpism, republicans, i've been trying to help you. maybe molly can help you trumpism doesn't scale it doesn't. >> where is kari lake? >> it's a cottage industry that makes hundreds of millions of dollars for donald trump raising money. makes millions of dollars for trumpists with podcasts. makes tens of millions of dollars for trumpists lying about january 6th and lying about the election makes millions of dollars for everybody else out there that is on the trump wagon, because they know that's how they get viewers, that's how they get clicks, that's how they get listens. when it comes to general

elections, molly nailed it, trumpism doesn't scale >> you know, joe, perhaps the most interesting aspect of anything you'll encounter in the world is human nature. what we have here is a selection of people, a substantial number of people who have been delilutd into thinking and believing they won, that they won it is astounding i mean, people of some confidence. >> can i ask you, mike, can i ask you? >> anything. >> because i'm actually -- >> there is a reason they believe that. >> i'm moving on this. >> okay. >> i have so many friends and relatives who have voted for trump, bought in to the lie, supposedly the more i talk to them, the more i don't think they really believe it i really don't i think they're owning the libs. i think they're owning the media. i think they know it's provocative. it's fun for them to say

but the more i talk to them, the more i realize, they understand it's all rank horse crap. they don't believe it in their heart of hearts. they don't that's my take, mike. >> i don't know. i don't know that. >> i think so, too. >> people aren't around me in massachusetts, not around tom in rhode island, but i've encountered people who look you right in the eye and say, the president won. he's still president go to new hampshire you'll find them in new hampshire. >> and the polling >> yes at the same time, it's just so strange. i moean, we're in this point, joe, where he could become indicted once, twice. >> right. >> i don't know if he can get hauled off to jail, but there is the possibility. >> right. >> yet, these people, even with the video of january 6th, even some of them who ran down to the

capitol because he told them to, who are still, "oh, i know what that's like. we've said it a million times, it's a cult. >> here's the interesting thing, and i've been doing calculations. >> here we go. >> i've been doing calculations. molly said something else. >> molly said it better than you. instead of you going on and on and on, she said, trumpism doesn't scale. >> just to help drive home the point. >> but -- >> i never really thought about this before. she said biden wins, trump loses. i just went back you're not going to believe is this. >> i know. >> trump lost in 2017. >> yeah. >> trump lost in 2018. trump lost in 2019 trump lost in 2020 >> oh, yeah. >> trump lost in 2021. trump lost in 2022 and he's going to lose in 2024 that's what i don't understand like, why do they like losing so much >> so the question i have is not for the people who have been

tricked, misled, taken advantage of and used by this guy. >> come on. >> used. >> of course. >> used. i leave those american citizens aside. but it's the leaders in congress and the trumpists in media who know who this man is they know exactly who this man is and they continue to push the lies. >> yeah. >> they continue to push the conspiracy theories. they continue to make money off of it or get votes off of it that is un-american. >> well, because we know this, we know they don't believe it because we've read their words we've heard their voices. >> we knew it before we read their words but okay. >> we knew. >> they're proven, they're exposed, they're discredited. >> members of congress have been saying this since 2015 they hate donald trump

they loathe him. yet, they go along >> that's the part that hurts. >> what's so funny, they'll go, "oh, you have trump derangement syndrome on camera." >> actually, you do. >> when they're off camera, they say the same things off camera. >> i think that's -- >> that we say on camera. >> who is deranged >> you know, off camera, they'll say -- >> you deranged or are we? i'm just thinking, that's deranged behavior. >> well, tom nichols, you actually have the new piece out in "the atlantic" about mike pence, whose comments about january 6th at the gridiron dinner, when he said president trump was wrong, "i had no right to overcome the election and his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the capitol that day, and i know history will hold trump accountable." >> he continued, "make no mistake about it, what happened that day was a disgrace, and it mocks decency to portray it any other way.

tom's new piece in "the atlanta" is entitled "mike pence is warning us about trump, but we are too complacent to hear it. tom, you write, quote, pence told us something horrifying this weekend about the condition of our democracy the national underreaction to his comments, however, is a warning that we have all become too complacent about the danger my former party now represents let us stipulate here that pence is shamefully late to this criticism and has no obvious intention of going further he had his one moment of courage, and there will be no others it might not sound like much for pence to admit what millions of people already know, but within the republican party, this is about as close as you can get to open heresy. pence's team deliberated making even this small move against trump.

yet, pence's comments have been shrugged off by the press and the public republican leaders have no intention of speaking the truth or decency to their base, and until someone in the party of lincoln is able to muster even the tiniest fraction of lincoln's courage, we will indulge our complacency about the republicans at our peril >> for the most part, tom, they just keep it to themselves when they say, again, off camera, that donald trump is a threat to america, that donald trump is a threat to democracy, that donald trump destroys everything he touches, and that they worry about it for the four years when he is president of the united states. then they go out in front of cameras and talk about how great the guy is. >> yet, here's mike pence saying something thatea earth-shattering in the piece, i did a thought experiment imagine if hubert humphrey after the riots in chicago in '68 said, "lincoln johnson sent

those people, and i was in danger hundreds of innocent chicagoans were in danger history will hold lincoln johnson accountable. it would have changed our politics, would have been earth shaking, the pillars of our republic would have trembled this vice president goes out an says, "donald trump endangered my life and the life of everybody on capitol hill. nationally, we go, well, it's donald trump what are you going to do >> wow. >> that's part of the republican it's not just the republicans hiding in the tall grass it's all of us it is a national underreaction to a vice president telling us that the president of the united states is a dangerous autocrat who put everybody's lives in jeopardy our reaction to that has been, you know, this kind of national shrug. i think that's really dangerous. >> molly, what do we think these january 6th comments, as striking as they were, and they

were done off camera but, still, they matter, does this change a single vote, a single vote within the republican primary field. >> no. and the thing i think about pence that has really undermined him here is that he was very quiet for a very long time now, he's coming in right before -- i mean, we think he is running. so i think that undermines a lot of it. but he also did not go on camera he did not write, you know, an op-ed saying, "look, we're in trouble, people. he said these comments, so i don't think it changes the needle ultimately, it's too late. republicans had a chance to break with trump after january 6th, after the first impe impeachment, after the second impeachment. they keep having an opportunity, and they keep not taking it. now, he is -- when he is left alone, he grows. you see these february polls he had four polls that show a trump bump you know, you can't get rid of him without pain. >> you know, david drucker, there's a reason why mike pence

and nikki haley and all these other republicans who want to be president are afraid to cross donald trump because just as trumpism doesn't scale in general elections, anti-trumpism doesn't scale in the gop. just ask liz cheney at 2%. >> yeah. i think that's key here. i understand, and i've talked to voters about this, their frustration with republicans i've talked particularly to voters who voted republican for decades until trump or until 2020 they will complain to me all the time, why won't, you know, and name some republican you know that serves in washington or high up in a state level, why won't they tell truth about trump? why won't they criticize him why won't they fight him of course, i always explain to them, it's their voters that they don't want to make angry at them it's their voters that they don't want to appear as though they're calling them stupid.

as a politician, trump aside, one of the worst things you can do is tell the people that you need to vote for you that they done know what they're doing that the choices they made politically were moronic choices, false choices, were poor choices they find themselves caught in this box because the republican base still really appreciates trump. to the extent that you can eliminate trump in a primary, the way you have to do it is not relitigate 2020 and fight with trump about stolen elections you have to point out that it's an issue of effectiveness and wins and losses. that's an argument you can make, and that's an argument that you can win. but just having the argument that, can't you see what happened don't you understand they're going to look at you and say, the whole thing is rigged even if it wasn't rigged, it wasn't fair. or why are you telling me that this is worse than what we have?

so it may be cathartic for a lot of people, but the way you do this is by saying, i will do it better that can work. >> tom, i was in the gridiron when pence made those comments, and at the time, they did sound forceful everybody i spoke to was pretty struck i know there was some criticism of the fact he said it too late and it wasn't on camera, but he was -- he was as forceful as i've certainly ever heard him about trump. he also, by the way, said the only republican nominee he would promise to support was himself it does sound pretty much like he is running. do you think the fact -- if you think the media is moving on from the story quickly, is it because we've become used to general drama around trump himself, and this is one more data point of people who worked with trump turning against trump? we've seen a slew of them from previous white house officials who have written books exposing how terrible it was to work with trump, how much chaos there was

in the white house is it that, that trump himself engenders a certain amount of, well, we've seen this before, because there's been so much of it >> i would even say numbed, exhausted. >> exhausted. >> we're just exhausted by it. you know, trump counts on that i mean, when you think of the things that happened, not just on january 6th, but right before and right after, you know, these were incredible events that, somehow, we've just gotten used to it. i think that that is -- you know, the real danger here to democracy is complacency we say, well, the guardrails held, you know, the system is resilient. that's really not an answer. >> it's not enough. >> if you were in an elevator that plunged 100 floors and the emergency brakes kicked in at the last minute, you wouldn't say, i'll do that again. i'll take that elevator. >> right.

>> you would actually want to look at that and figure out what went wrong i think people are wiped out by it. >> mika, what would probably have more impact from former vice president pence than a tough statement at the gridiron is if he were cooperating with any of the investigations into donald trump he is not. he's chosen repeatedly, time and time again, to stonewall the probes that'd have far more impact for the greater good and potentially separate himself from the republican field >> and to lie about them, he continues to do that and to christians, members of congress, media figures who support this fascist's lies, is it going to be a former porn star who reveals to the american people that this shyster is not speaking, acting and behavieingn a way that's in support of the constitution and the american people is this how it is going to end >> no, this is not how it is

going to end. >> someone has to help them understand. >> nobody is going to help them understand they have alternative information coming to them >> so they don't believe that a hush money payment was paid to a porn star? >> whether it is other networks, whether it is websites that are run by chinese religious cults, people will go where they want to go to find the information they want to find. we found that over the past six years, so people believe one conspiracy theory after another jewish space laser conspiracy theory after another bizarre conspiracy theory about you name it they're out there all the time so we'll see what happens. you know, on the mike pence case, i think it is simple i think mike pence probably understands, and his lawyers understand, that his claims are bogus. he's going to have to end up

testifying anyway. i think he's probably doing this just to say, i tried, then i was forced to testify. then he'll end up -- >> i tried to help the fascist, but i couldn't. >> david drucker, molly, thank you so much. tom, stay with us if you will. we're going to get your reaction to the new video showing that u.s. drone brought down by a russian fighter jet who apparently hit it accidentally >> no. >> trying to -- >> was it accidental >> yeah, it's russians learn to fly a jet. janet yellen prepares to testify before congress today amid concerns over two major bank failures. coming up in our fourth hour, award-winning actor steve buscemi is our guest you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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welcome back half past the hour now to new, dramatic video released by the u.s. military, showing the encounter between an american drone and a russian fighter jet over the black sea nbc news chief international correspondent keir simmons has the very latest. >> reporter: this morning, stunning, new video showing russia's mid-air clash with the american drone in the declassified video released by the u.s. military, you can see what the u.s. says is fuel being poured onto the unmanned drone by an su-27 russian fighter jet. it comes back to drop even more fuel and ends up colliding with the drone, temporarily cutting off the m camera feed. when it returns, you can see the propeller clearly damaged, forcing the military to bring down the drone into the black sea, with the u.s. saying there were efforts to wipe all its

sensitive data three u.s. officials telling nbc news, the highest levels of the russian government approved those actions over the black sea. but the collision itself was not likely intentional according to those officials who believe it was pilot error the russians have previously denied the u.s. version of events washington and moscow putting aside the escalating tension and angry exchanges and finally resuming diplomatic communication. >> i just got off the phone where my russian counterpart as i have said repeatedly, it is important that great powers be models of transparency and communication. >> reporter: this morning, russia racing to find what's left of the downed drone security council secretary niccolai patrushev, saying, i don't know if we can get it or not, but saying they'll try. general milley expressing doubts over whether it'll be recovered. >> probably sank

to some dsignificant depths any recovery would be difficult. >> reporter: president putin meeting with syrian dictator president assad, saying nothing about his country's latest tense exchange with america. how much he knew or whether he authorized the mid-air confrontation, unclear this morning. >> i mean, you know, you don't -- maybe we shouldn't let the russians know this you're not supposed to play bumper carts with fighter jets i mean, i don't want to -- we don't want to give away any secrets, but, marc polymeropoulos was saying, there's a lot of questions remaining, but one thing is for sure, russian tactics, he said, were fairly idiotic. tom, they tried to spray a drone and end up colliding with it i think that neatly sums up a year of war for the russian military. >> this is about as close as a russian pilot is going to get to being an ace

you know, by flying and bumping into an american drone it's incredibly stupid, incredibly reckless maneuver you know, not something, by the way, aside from the obvious violation of international law and what the pilot did in international air space, dumping all this fuel on our drone and into the black sea, not something you want to the do with a high-performance military jet by, you know, bumping into the propeller of a drone there's -- that guy is going to probably get a talking to when he gets home >> yeah. >> the russians have been doing this for a long time they've been doing these dangerous, close-up maneuvers, you know, as a way of trying to intimidate the americans doesn't work it's something they do, these close fly byes now, they've knocked down a drone by running into it with a

fighter jet. okay [ laughter ] >> i mean, they just make themselves look more incompetent. it's absolutely crazy. >> from the first day of the war, that has been why people like me underestimated the ability of the ukrainians to hang on? because we overestimated the professionalism of the russian military it's been a staggering parade of incompetence for over a year now. >> from top to bottom, from beginning to end, mike barnicle, i remember reading, actually, a tweet by a general a couple nights before the russians were about to invade, and he was just commenting on the lack of discipline, even moving the military vehicles through a town he said, my gosh, the people running this division, if they were americans, would be abso absolutely, you know -- would be kicked out said, this is -- he could just tell, and we've seen it time and time again, that this is a

systemic problem doesn't matter how many prisoners, how many convicts, how many people they throw at the ukrainians ukrainians, of course, taking massive losses, as well. they're going to get the weapons they need. but the russians, for them to be able to change the outcome of this war, it would take a complete reimagining of their military system, top to bottom, and well over a decade they just aren't ever going to be able to do that. >> you know, joe, when this began a year go, a little more than a year ago, i think many of us, myself included, tom included, were filled with p trepidation about what was going to happen. how quickly would the russians be in kyiv three days into the warfare, after it became, i was talking to someone in the pentagon they indicated to me, you know, the russians have a 75 to 90

mile an hour long trail of tanks heading to kyiv. they are then 125 miles from their resupply center. he said, this is going to be a disaster for the russians. turned out that that was just the tip of the disaster the russian army has been going through. now, they are down to basically world war i or chinese human wave attacks in the east of ukraine. just human slaughter i'm told again, at least a third of the wagner troops, prisoners, who were forced into this human slaughter are heading into it weaponless, charging without weapons. >> unbelievable. >> horrible. >> tom nichols, thank you very much coming up on "morning joe," seaweed washing up on florida beaches is nothing new, but a massive blob that is floating in the gulf of mexico right now

could be a big problem when it gets to shore. >> talking about it rotting and being toxic. >> we'll explain why. and you'll still have a few more hours to get your march madness bracket filled out jonathan lemire's is already done we'll take a look at the top teams and underdogs in this year's tournament. we'll be 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! why are 93% of sleep number sleepers very satisfied with their bed? waimaybe it's because you can gently raise your partner's head to help relieve snoring. so you can both stay comfortable all night save $1,200 on the sleep number 360 i10 smart bed. only for a limited time. the first time your sales reached 100k with godaddy was also the first time your profits left you speechless.

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live look at the white house at 42 past the hour. beautiful day in washington, d.c. we turn now to award winning journalist, michelle miller, who is sharing a deeply personal story about her upbringing born in los angeles in 1967 and raised largely by her father and paternal grandmother, michelle never met her mother revealing in a memoir, she was abandoned at birth

at age 22, with her father dying of cancer, he instructed her, "go find your mother." she details the decades long quest to find her in her new book, "belonging, a daughter's search for identity through loss and love." joining us now is the author of that memoir, award-winning journalist, and my friend michelle miller. michelle -- >> and your friend >> we worked together. >> not just we worked together how about when i came to cbs news, you were like this, "come to me! i'm going to take care of you. you helped me find belonging there, and i am forever grateful >> well, i saw -- i will say, i was right. you are a superstar. i'll take the credit for that. now, this book is amazing. the journey is incredible. i want to know what made you think, i can share this? >> you know, my husband had been telling me, good friend of

yours, mark morial, to write this story for years it wasn't until i was asked to -- or assigned, rather, to tell the story of my experience through social justice, my coverage of it, after the death of george floyd in 2020, that i turned the lens on myself 20 seconds into a story about what had taken place in the last 30 years in the country, with policing and my coverage of it i said to the world, i am my mother's secret. to this day, she doesn't know i exist. the reason for it is racism. i think it resonated in a way with so many people, including a publisher who emailed me 37 minutes after the story aired and said, "you've got a story. i hope to be the person to publish the book." >> tell me about that conversation with your father and --

>> wow. >> -- what it was like in that moment and then about how you began to search for your mom and what t that felt like. >> i'm my mother's secret, mika. families keep secrets. they don't discuss what has transpired there's a lot of shame associated with these circumstances at birth which, you know, mine is -- i was a love child my father had an extramarital affair, but he carried on a relationship with this woman who was hispanic-american, and she and her family just couldn't see a future there, a future with an african-american man, no matter what for me, this is a story of true -- i would have to say it's a love letter to the people who have embrace d me throughout my life, who have told me, "you are worthy." people who have stepped in to

ensure that i was nurtured i want people to know that you can create family, community, friendship on your own, no matter what your circumstances are. you can achieve, you can move beyond it. really, that is what i hope people glean from this experience. >> you can belong. >> it's katty here one of the -- you look back through history, novels and literature, and one of the kind of recurring themes of tragedy is an unnaturalness is often portrayed at mothers leaving their daughters. how do you now feel about your mother have you forgiven her? do you feel angry toward her how have you reconciled yourself to the fact your mother left you? >> the unusual thing was, i was never angry with my mother for leaving. i understood the circumstances once i learned them. it's a very strange feeling, and it's an emotion that is hard to

admit. it was only until i had my own children, and i asked her to acknowledge me and them to her family she said no, then i became angry. i became unwilling to be quiet although i promised i would never reveal her identity, i thought it was important to push that sense, that need of mine to be acknowledged. acknowledgment matters it matters on so many levels to so many people in communities across the th country and world. people deserve it. that is something that i think i try to bring to my reporting i try to acknowledge marginalized communities, and i want people to see them. i want people to see their rich history and their contributions to this nation. >> michelle, along your journey through your formative years,

teenage, difficult years for anybody, how many times did you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror getting ready to go to school, whatever, look in the mirror and you say, "who am i? >> the mirror was my best friend i didn't have a lot of friends in my formative -- my early formative years, so i would talk to that girl in the mirror i looked so different from many of the people in my community. i'm from south central los angeles. it was a beautiful groundswell of neighbors that really embraced me, but many of them didn't look like me. i felt isolated in some cases when i went to school. sometimes i was misunderstood. but i found myself wishing i were one or the other. the middle is sometimes the hardest place to be.

>> wow michelle, i'm so glad you wrote this the book is "belonging." so happy for you on so many levels i hope you believe me now. >> i do. mika brzezinski, you are a true sister and i'm so glad that, you know, you are doing so successfully well here at nbc news. msnbc. >> yeah, thank you very much i appreciate the support it's really, really great to see you. the book, again, is "belonging, a daughter's search 23for identy through loss and love. michelle miller x th, thank youy much. >> and love. >> lots of it. the latest legal trouble for donald trump, his former fixer goes before a before a grand jury and adult star stormy daniels meets with prosecutors among a hush-money probe. "morning joe" will be right back

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a few minutes before the to which the third hour of morning joe, just as people are flocking to florida and the gulf coast for a little spring break, fun in the sun, a monster seaweed bloom is on a collision course with some of the country's favorite beaches nbc news correspondent sam brock as the latest on timing and the impact >> reporter: surf, sand and -- s seaweed? enormous amounts are now floating toward florida. >> more and more sometimes you can't even get in the water. >> reporter: the popular shores of south beach are only speckled with this kind of seaweed called sargassum. in several weeks that's likely to change -- a lot. >> the fresh stuff is lighter. >> reporter: this doctor is coastal scientist at florida

international university, he says some of the clumps cur currently coasting through the gulf of mexico will arrive if the end of march and last through summer. >> it's coming in huge masses of stuff. >> reporter: he says scientists aren't sure what's caused the explosion growth but pollution from fertilizers in amazon and deforestation in brazil likely play a role. citings already this month in key west, the crowded mexican resort of playa decarmen this phenomenal is not the same thing as the red tide. >> they're totally different the good thing about sargassum it's not harmful, it's not going to affect the seafood, the fish.

>> reporter: the biggest issue the seawood is serious rotten egg smell. not ideal for tourism. officials from south beach to broward county are spending millions to clean up the seaweed and get in front of the problem. in fort lauderdale they're converting it to come post part of the atlantic sargassum belt, 5,500 from west africa to the gulf of mexico local governments left to clean up the mess. still ahead the pandemic is back if the spotlight on capitol hill now that republicans are in control of the house we'll talk to dr. anthony fauci about criticism from the gop and recent reports on the origins of the virus. that's straight ahead on

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i'm just proud to say that whenduring covid the world los its mind, when commonsense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, the state of florida served as a refuge of freedom. a citadel of freedom all over this country we refused to let our state descend into some type fauci-dystopian. where their freedoms were curtailed. we chose freedom just like iowa. we were right and they were wrong. >> isn't that -- it's crazy, when you said we used to talk

about how, people would say republicans were anti-science. they're anti-math also because you look at the deficits and every time a republican is in the white house, it's like, budgets don't matter, numbers don't matter deficits don't matter. they just explode. but et's just bizarre. here's a guy who now -- he's running and he's attacking even vaccines which he used to promote all the time >> on television everyone saw him doing it. >> again, it's so politicized. the best example of this you look at the states that had the highest vaccination rates before covid, on all of the things that -- that guy had his kids get vaccines for, that guy and his family they were first in line for covid vaccines.

he was bragging about how florida had covid vaccines he was get covid vaccines out t senior citizens. states like mississippi had the highest vaccination rates in america, one of the reasons why they would have no religious excep exceptions, no, kid wants to go to school, has to get vaccine, five, six vaccines in a lot of cases just like i had to get when i went to school in first grade in mississippi now some of these same states they're anti-vaxxers just for political reasons it's complete insanity they've lost -- they've lost their bearings they're unmoored i fear for them and their

children we've seen a lot of these diseases that we almost eradicated coming back. >> we have to dr. anthony fauci standing by. we'll be speaking with him in just a moment. last saturday marked three full years since the world health organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic selected to lead the u.s. response at the time was dr. fauci. a lifelong health professional he's been serving a as the director of national institute of allergy with this partisan politics spiraling out of control, he's spent the better part of the past two years as a target from relentless attacks coming from the gop >> president biden says we follow the science dr. fauci says i'm skiengs i don't think he answers to the president. >> i'm very proud to sponsor the

fire fauci act and i'm grateful to my colleagues here for co-sponsoring this bill because the american people deserve answers. >> we need to fire fauci we need to do the investigation of the national institute of allergies and infectious diseases my hat is off to governor desantis florida chose freedom over fauci. >> fauci doesn't know anything about the economy. he doesn't know anything about education. he doesn't know anything about your rights. indeed he doesn't care about your rights. >> should there be accountability in? any sane he would be prosecuted for lying under oath he would go to jail for lying under oath to congress >> it's really -- it's really crazy. again, you have to feel sorry for those people and the people that listen to them and believe them because, again, you talk about a

lack of priorities, skewed priorities, they're putting of course hackry -- political hackery above reality. i keep talking about how these people are sort of on the darkness, edge of town politically, how, you know, as molly said trumpism doesn't scale, this garbage, these lies don't scale, they're in a bubble i think it's so fascinating through all the years, you heard all the attacks against dr. fauci, i see one poll after another they talk about the most trusted people in the america and during all of those attacks it was always dr. fauci with who had higher approval ratings. for more than any other public figure let's bring in former director of national institute of infectious diseases dr. fauci, thanks so much for

being with us. so, let me ask you, i know it's radical, let me ask you a medical question, are we doing in the covid battle right now. >> well, we still have an issue that we're having more deaths than many of us in the public health sector feel that are acceptable, if you compare where we were a year or a year and a half ago we're much better about 800,000 to 900,000 infections a day and 3,000 to 4,000 deaths we're doing comparatively speaking much better we got to get that death rate around 400 or so, sometimes as high as 500, sometimes down to 300 per day, we've really got to

do better than that. if you look at the relative percentage of people who are updated on their boosters, we have less than 20% of the eligible people have received that updated boost we got to do better than that. even though we're doing much better than they were. >> it seems to me that the steady stream of disinformation keeps moving out there lot of people picked up on a cochran summary on mask studies and ran with that a couple of weeks ago, see this proves, this proves masks don't work. they had to come out and say you're misreading our data yet that disinformation gets out of the door and people just run with it. looking back, we learned a loft things over the past three years. tell me what are some of the

major takeways that you've learned over the last three years, perhaps some things that before we knew exactly how covid was going to develop, what have you learned three years in about covid? >> well, there's a long, long list, joe, of what we learned. particularly if you look at the evolution of information, from the first weeks when it was felt that this was not a particularly easy virus to transmit from person to person feeling that it was, you know, maybe jumped from an animal to a human and one human would infect another very inefficiently then we found out it was extremely transmissable. and this is aerosol transmission, it changed how we looked at the need to wear mask.

as the weeks went by, we learned that this virus is transmitted p predominantly are from someone who has no symptoms at all, which completely smashes the paradigm of respiratory transmissability and then the big surprise of all, when we expected that it would go up and go back down and sort of disappear and go in the background we wound up having variant after variant and surge after surge right up to what we're having now so this has been really a moving target that's the reason why we've had many times change some of the things that we said and recommended. people saying that flip-flopping but it isn't it's learning as you go along and making your recommendations

according to new data as it evolves. >> right, and it's ever evolving and evolving very quickly. it's just like vaccines. people still go like, you got covid even though you got a vaccine. we didn't know how those vaccines would impact the virus. but we've learned quite a few things about the vaccines, too a very resilient virus a very durable virus and it morphs very quickly. so develop a vaccine and it stills helps in a positive way it doesn't wipe out covid. can you explain what we learned about vaccines overthe last tw years? >> well, there's one very, very obvious fact that's borne up by very solid data. joe, we know that if you compare unvaccinated people with vaccinated people, with regard to hospitalizations and death, there's an overwhelming and

dramatic difference of a greater likelihood of hospitalization and death among the unvaccinated as the months went by, if you compare vaccinated but not up to date with boosters, with people who are totally up to date on boosters there's still a difference in the sense of vaccinated and updated boosted people do much better with regard of severity of disease. that's an open and shut case no doubt about that vaccines work another thing that's a bit sobering that we learned that this virus is so high ly transmissable, that when you're vaccinated you may not get protected against infection but clearly you get protected against severe disease and this's caused a lot of confusion among people the original wild type or ancestral strain of the virus

spreading in january and february of 2020 as we evolve into different variants including omicron, it became much more transmisable, not necessarily more serious but more transmisable. people who were vaccinated were getting infected the critical issue that should not be lost that the vaccinated clearly prevented them for the most part from getting the severity of the disease. joe, as the months and the years went by we learned more and more when you learn more and more you've not to keep up with that information. >> time keeps moving, mike i want to underline really quickly what dr. fauci said because it's so important. there's so much disinformation going on out there especially the vaccines the vaccines help with the

severity of the overwhelming majority of people that get the vaccines, of course elderly people, obviously will still have challenges, others will still have challenges but the data is just so clear. i know there are people out there who spread disinformation daily but because it's not black and white it seems that they moved this more radically. but the fact is, it makes for most americans the reactionless severe. >> well, that leads to the question and we'd like the answer from dr. fauci. you're the pride of holy cross college. i don't think you were in medical school with ted cruz and jim jordan how many booster shots we'll be getting -- how long in the future we will be getting booster shots? >> you know, we don't know definitely the answer to that.

but it's likely that this thing is not going to disappear. it's not going to be rad kated it's going to be around for the foreseeable future, likely we'll require an intermittent likely at the same time we get a flu vaccine once a year. very similar to cope updated on our immunity against influenza very likely a similar situation we'll be experiencing with covid. getting a booster shot once year probably at the same time we get an influenza shot. >> dr. fauci, as you know, still questions that remain as to the origin of covid. the u.s. department of energy two weeks ago put out an assessment saying they have with low confidence there's a possibility that this emerged from a lab right now, where do you think covid came from? >> yeah.

well, first of all, we don't know and i think that's where a lot of the accusations and confusion about who said what, we don't know the definitive answer to that obviously there are two possibilities that are being entertained. and i think we need to keep a completely open mind until we have definite proof. however, having said that, if you look at the information, because something might be possible one or the other, that doesn't mean one is more probable than the other and if you look historically as well as information that has recently been published by a considerably large group of highly respected international evolutionary virologyists, they published in the peer-reviewed literature, when you look at virologic information from wuhan they feel and have published this, it's more likely, not definitive, but

more likely that's a natural occurrence from an animal reservoir to a human having said since it's not definitive we must keep a completely open mind that it could be one or the other. rather than fighting about it we should find out what it is in the meantime do whatever you can to prevent either option from happening again if it's a lab leak, make the labs much more safe. get good regulations about what you can do so that in the future the possibility of this is diminished if it's a natural evolution from animal reservoir, animals from the wild are bringing brought into wet markets which exposes them to the human population we can right now even without knowing definitively what the

origin is, we can work on both of those possibilities >> dr. fauci, of course, in the past you believed that it was from a transmission from animal. natural origin it sounds like you're still leading that way but with a caveat. >> absolutely. >> then lastly, though, on that point, how difficult is it to determine its origin with the lack of cooperation with your colleagues in china. >> very difficult to do that we have to do surveillance in china, the animals there, we got to gtake a look at what's going on in the laboratories there >> can i ask you just really quickly on that point, china cooperation, donald trump as this crisis was exploding said on january 24th, he said china has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus, the united states greatly

appreciates their efforts and transparency, trump went on to say it will all work out well on the behalf of the american people i want to thank president xi is there any -- any evidence that what donald trump said china has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus and the united states greatly appreciates china's efforts and transparency would you characterize their efforts as being transparent in any way whatsoever >> joe, two things that you just said you need to separate them. one is trying hard to contain it and the other is transparent they shut down their country so they did a draconian move to c contain it transparency is a different one.

from the beginning there was a of transparency. even to this day for reasons that are very complicated we don't have the information that we need unfortunately. >> all right, dr. anthony fauci, thank you so much. greatly appreciate it. >> thank you for being on today. >> mika, donald trump said on january 4th, china has been working very hard and the united states greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency on behalf of the american people i want to thank president xi this was the most critical time, this was after the start of the virus when we still had evidence that we could have gotten from china but they were stone walling us they kept warning the president of that. donald trump still said, the

united states greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency, it will work out well >> think about that. put a frame around that. this isn't the only former leader that he's cozied up to who's a little less than honest. this is the same guy who wanted to shake down ukraine's leader for dirt on a political rival. t and yet we move forward. >> the scene of the crime. this was at the scene of crime >> so many scenes. >> as covid was breaking out, he had a chance to put pressure on china and actually get information. >> he failed the american people. >> how this started. the nature of the disease. instead, he just thanks president xi for his, quote, transparency on behalf of the american people i want to thank president xi it still doesn't make sense all these years later. >> no this morning, fallout growing from those recent bank

failures wall street is e set to open in a limit ottle over an hour. another bank overseas could be the next to fall >> reporter: all eyes are on wall street this morning after a roller coaster day of trading sent stocks sliding with nervous investors worry about the health of the banking system >> another day of banking concerns dragging down the markets. >> reporter: another concern is credit suisse, one of the largest banks in the world overnight, it accepted help, borrow up to $54 billion in an effort to reassure investors here in the u.s. the focus is on california-based first republic. two credit ratings agencies downgraded the bank citing

elevated risk of customers pulling their funds. >> if more banks domestically were to fail what would that do to the economy >> that would significantly weaken the lending growth the growth to businesses and house holds. that would undermine the economy. >> reporter: those concerns causing some first republic customers to visit their branches shortsly after silicon valley and signature banks went under. >> i feel confident enough i'm not taking money out. >> reporter: experts say those worried about those savings account insured banks protect up to $250,000 per depositor. for people looking alt in news and going i need to pull money out of my bank, what do you say? >> no. when it comes to banks there's

fdic insurance, that comes in to play with loss of deposits >> all right, joining us now is msnbc symone sanders i haven't seen since 3050. thank you for having me, mika. today secretary yellen is on the hill supposed to be about the budget, but it seems like this will be taking center stage. what are you hearing in. >> i'm hearing yes, silicon valley bank the issue with how to respond going forward, answers on how the administration is going to further hold these bank executives accountable, democrats and republicans have questions. you got senator elizabeth warren's been on our network a number of times since the news on the runs on the bank and

she's got a bill along with senator ron wyden and others to kind of restore these protections from 2008 that were passed under the trump administration, frankly a rollback that republicans and democrats voted for, many questions that democrats on that panel have would the 2018 regulations have made a difference here still in place with in this last week what's the administration going to do here republicans have questions they want to know, you know, was this something -- which i disagree with -- some of the questions i'm hearing that republicans will have, you know, was this a special bailout for banks in silicon valley because the silicon valley bank because who the did democrat constituents might be? new regulations thrust on them

because something silicon valley bank did whether you're -- i'm not a financial expert, i used to do the talking points for the people but i do think questions remain the united states government moved very quickly to do something to ward off this crisis, as they should, right, as they should but when we look at the crisis when it comes to housing in this country, when we look at the looming conversation around student debts, the federal government has not moved as quickly to step in and do something there. i think that regulatorr folks across the country are wondering -- >> you worked in the administration, the question is, how did the fed miss this? why didn't they see this coming? >> well, lots of other folks have those questions as well you can exhibit that senators, both republicans and democrats

are going to ask those questions of secretary yellen. senator warren has been critical of fed chair powell. i think the fed needs to answer questions. does the administration support an independent probe of the fed here maybe we'll get answers from secretary yellen this morning. yesterday i was if conversation with the second gentleman, i asked him over the past weekend, was vice president harris engaged on this issue, she has a special relationship in history if you will with the banks, when she was attorney general, in 2011, 2012, banded together with the administration to get settlements from the banks for the financial crisis that was

caused due to mortgages. she was on phone and engaged this is something that the administration is watching closely. >> symone sanders-june townsend, thank you so much for being on this morning still ahead on morning joe, new developments in the hush money probe involving former president trump. technology will define the future of geopolitics. we'll read from that new piece you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back.

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time for a look at some of the morning headlines. 20 years after the u.s. led invasion of iraq lawmakers are one step closer to formally ending decades-old war authorizations that many argue are outdated and unnecessary senators are set to vote today on whether to advance a bill that would repeal authorizations

for the use of military force in iraq two democratic senators are absent due to recent hospitalizations but the measures upon sos tim kaine and todd young of indiana are confident it will pass a wisconsin man has pleaded guilty to his involvement in the kidnapping plot of michigan governor gretchen whitmer. 54-year-old brian higgins admitted to providing material support for terrorism as part of plea deal with prosecutors higgins still faces up to five years in prison and will have to testify against four other men who face similar charges seven other men have been convicted and sentenced on charges related to the foiled kidnapping plot and two others have been acquitted. two potential republican white house candidates are planning trips to new hampshire amid 2024 speculation. former vice president mike pence

will be in the state today and will speak at an event hosted by the republican committee as we discuds pence has recently begun sharpens his criticism of former president donald trump. pine while former new jersey governor chris christie is also planning to make a stop in new hampshire later this month coming up, a federal judge is weighing to ban an abortion pill that's been used for decades. it could have national implications "morning joe" is coming right back

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if honor of international women's day forbes and know your value hosted the second annual summit in abu dhabi. we were joined by global icons legends who truly changed the world and are changing the world. here's rearecap of the greatest global gathering of women in history. ♪ >> hello to everybody from to 3050 summit. we're having a great time.

♪ we need to teach all women to know their value and to communicate it effectively it's one thing to know it but you got to be able to say it i need you to say something to me i'm not ashamed and it's all about the money. let's all say it i'm not ashamed and it's all about the money. the unbelievably successful women in this room you can know that this runway is made for you and it's longer than you could ever imagine >> what really inspires me that first ladies are just soft power but we have shown that it's just a formality but we're a force and we continue to change the world. >> every one of us is an

influencer it matters >> i just want us to value laughter more. it's the only emotion that cannot be compelled. >> be willing to do whatever it takes to feel confident that you know whatever it is you're t talking about and you have a very clear idea what you want to communicate. >> to be getting that opportunity -- >> i have two young girls and a son, it's just so -- my intention and my drive comes from a place of wanting to, you know, level the playing field for them >> i treat men and women the same be intimidated >> this is just like really

helpful business advice in negotiating. don't fall silent. i get uncomfortable. just say more. in negotiations, in meetings, stop don't, don't fell the silence. >> how do you deal with men who are intimidated by your power? >> say, are you all right? >> i became an entrepreneur really out of necessity. i was 27 years old, pregnant with my first child. i used a certain laundry detergent that's marketed for baby clothing and i had an allergic reangst to it my lungs closing, having these issues with my health. >> if you don't have outside accountability from black women you won't be able to do this for the long haul. growing is weird and painful

stumbling is evidence of momentum. >> stumbling is evidence of momentum if we're taking gems that's one of them. >> i'm waiting for my husband to toss to me having watched "morning joe" this could be a while. >> mika, take it away. >> we're about to have a really important conversation our next guests have dedicated their lives to advancing the cause of women around the world. >> pay equity is so important, until we have this 1:1 we have a long way to go please women, follow the money follow the money >> how different the history of my country and the world would have been had we had hillary clinton instead of trump >> that's a conversation stopper. the message should be, there's not one day to celebrate women

and there's not one day to talk about the challenges we face and the opportunities that are there for us to take advantage of and that there's strength in numbers. supporting each other. supporting our own path forward but bringing others along with us that should be our goal and that's really what this conference is all about. >> exactly is. >> i'd like to thank all of the women on this stage. i understand that equality is normal the next step we need to make is to makesure all women are equal. >> happy international women's day.

that was three days, three-day summit 3.5. it was absolutely remarkable. >> it's extraordinary that so much happened in a such short period of time it was so positive the vibe there was extraordinarily positive as hillary clinton said at the end with you, there's strength in numbers and you saw the numbers there. women from 50 different countries determine a level playing field. >> from all generations. it was just a joy and great vibe. >> all parts of the world. so congratulations, you, your team did an extraordinary job. forbes, what a great partner. >> we'll have huma and maggie on in the coming weeks to followup. coming up, steve buscemi joins us with a blook at his

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after a 30-year winner of sectarian violence northern ireland today has the promise of a springtime of peace. the agreement that has enemerge from the northern ireland peace talks, build a society based on enduring peace, justice and equality >> nearly 25 years ago, president bill clinton announced the signing of the good friday agreement. bringing an end to the three

decades of fighting in northern ireland known as the troubles. earlier this week, the current president joe biden announced plans to visit his ancestral home of ireland next month to officially mark the 25th anniversary of the peace deal, but before then, his irish counterpart is here in the u.s. for a three-day trip of his own. the leader of ireland joins us now. i know this is bit of a tradition for this visit but it was interrupted by covid. tell us if you can what you hope to accomplish this time around >> yes, so it's tradition that goes back more than 20 years, to tip o'neil and goe back more than 20 years to tip o'neal and ronald reagan where we had the opportunity to visit the white house on st. patrick's day and do some events around that it's particularly relevant this

year because it's 25 years since the good friday agreement brought peace to ireland unfortunately, those institutions aren't up and running at the moment, but we do have peace in ireland. the last 25 years have made the country a lot better place as a result of that in part, that was because of american leadership. i don't think those good friday accords would have been agreed if it had not been for the trust in the american political system and both parties thank you for that and thank you for your interest and commitment to my country. >> if you can talk more about american leadership today on a global scale, partnerships between america and its european counterparts and the shared values, are they more significant today in some ways given what we're seeing in eastern europe >> you know, i think for ireland

it's been hugely important because of the irish/american diaspora and those culture and economic links we have now going both ways. ireland is now the ninth biggest investor in the u.s. with 100,000 americans working for irish-owned firms. values are more important than ever we're facing a war in europe ukraine has been invaded the basic values that we as irish people and americans and europeans share is a belief in democracy, freedom and countries being able to determine their own future, a belief in the rule of law is now under threat again in europe. the u.s. in the last century stood up against fascism and the nazis, led the fight against communism, helped us bring down the berlin wall and reunify europe now those values are being attacked again and we're seeing

american leadership working with europe and the world to try and stop this terrible war in ukraine. we're grateful that america is a force for good in the world. you don't get everything right, but by and large you're a force for good in the world. >> president biden has announced his intention to visit ireland and northern ireland in a few weeks' time to mark the 25th anniversary of the good friday accords. please talk about what that will mean to you and your country to have the president there, particularly this president, who misses no opportunity to discuss how proud he is of his own irish-american heritage. >> the dates haven't been confirmed as yet any time an american president comes to ireland, we roll out the red carpet and make sure he gets a very, very good welcome this is a particularly special

one because president biden is so clear and so articulate about the fact that he sees himself as an irishman. in many ways it's going to be a homecoming, not just an official visit. looking forward to that. people all over the country, i think, are going to be looking forward to the visit don't know the details just yet, but it's going to be really good, i think. >> the president said he wouldn't be able to travel until some of the details with brexit were ironed out. give us a sense of what has happened that could make this trip possible? >> we are going to mark 25 years since the good friday agreement. no matter what, that's worth celebrating. it's brought peace and greater prosperity and equality to our island north and south the u.k. left the european union. that's caused some problems for

us we have a new agreement called the windsor framework. i think that helps to improve relations again between ireland and britain, which is important to us, our nearest neighbor, and also ireland and the european union. we have a lot of things to deal with whether it's the energy crisis or the war in ukraine, it's best that we all work together. >> thank you so much for coming on the show this morning we really look forward to hearing about all the meetings thank you very much. jonathan lemire, talk about joe biden on the world stage i don't think it's been stated enough how much he has managed during all the other different political problems we've been facing here at home. >> i'll be at the white house tomorrow for some of the st. patrick's day events you're right, it will be another

moment where we see this american president sitting next to one of his european counterparts in a display of unity and alliance president biden has put that at the center of his foreign policy repairing the alliances so badly strained during the four years of donald trump, and he was already doing that before russia's invasion of ukraine it was such a centerpiece of his first trip to europe in 2021 he has done a remarkable job keeping that alliance together that war has a long way to go. difficult days are ahead in keeping all these world capitals together, but right now he has done that. we hear a common refrain thanking joebtd for his leadership and moving them all in the right objection. up next, the latest on the banking crisis consuming capitol hill right now we'll get a live report.

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♪ welcome back to "morning joe. we're getting ready for the fourth hour. we've been up and running for three hours now. wake up, los angeles it's 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. you know what? we have a lot to get to this hour, including a significant threat to abortion medication that's been used for over 20 years. we'll get a live report from texas, where a trump-appointed judge could make the unprecedented move of revoking fda approval for the drug. also ahead, it's been six months since the death of mahsa aknmam.

we'll look back at the events that transpired and extraordinary backlash that the regime has rattled later this hour, steve buschemi joins us we begin on capitol hill, where the main focus this morning is the us banking system. senator elizabeth warren is criticizing moderate democrats for their support over the 2018 banking deregulation bill that she says created the environment for silicon valley bank to fail. warren also says federal reserve chair jerome powell supported that bill, left her with no confidence in him. >> i opposed him when he was renominated and i opposed him for specifically the reason that he was too light on regulations. i said at the time, i thought it

was dangerous to have someone like powell, who was willing to deregulate the banks, in the position as the head of the fed. i think some of that danger has now shown itself right out in public >> this comes as treasury secretary janet yellen is set to testify at 10:00 a.m. before the senate finance committee on president biden's budget there's no question she'll face a lot of questions on the health of the us banking system meanwhile, first republic bank has fallen more than 30% in pre-market trading, fifth double-digit decline in the last seven days. >> this was the main bank people were concerned about first republic collapsing if joe biden, the white house, treasury didn't come in over the weekend and provide a backstop even with that backstop, still some real concerns for first republic, obviously credit

suisse across the ocean having problems there there's just a question whether this contagion spreads from silicon valley to a swiss bank across the world. >> joining us, garrett haake also with us garrett, what are we likely to hear from secretary yellen this morning? >> reporter: you mentioned elizabeth warren she is on the senate finance committee and will likely have some fairly sharp questions down this line of bank deregulation in this hearing,which is basically congress's first bite at what's increasingly appearing to be a very large apple on the question of bank failures both with silicon valley bank and how the government is posturing itself to prevent that contagion from spreading this hearing was supposed to be about the budget that's not going to stop lawmakers' lines of questioning here i think you're going to see some intraparty disagreement on the

democrat side over that banking deregulation bill in 2018. on the republican side, particularly in this committee this is probably the friendliest group of republicans that secretary yellen is likely to sp face i think they're going to have some pointed questions, but republicans have largely taken an approach of let's try to figure out what happened here. they are far less likely to offer legislative remedy to the banking system than have been democrats in this moment expect some difficult questions on the banking issue expect some difficult questions on the president's budget. that's still something i think republicans on this panel are likely to hammer the secretary about. and expect this to be the first, not the last, in a very long series of hearings both of a

regulatory nature and an investigative nature as congress, with the house coming back next week, particularly starts to wade into this issue in a much more substantive way. >> obviously the white house moved aggressively along with treasury to shore up the banking system with what was happening at silicon valley bank it was supposed to give people, investors confidence in first republic and other regional banks. but obviously the markets are still rattled. can you help us understand why >> investors are trying to figure out which other regional banks have similar balance sheets to svb and which have uninsured deposits, more long-term loans. unfortunately first republic is at the top of that list, which is why you're seeing shares down about 31%. reports that first republic is looking to put itself up for sale

deposits are worried, should they move their money to a different bank personally, i have a joint bank account there with my husband, so we are definitely debating that also, across the pond credit suisse has been around for 60 years, but it's been prone to scandal. their shares plunged yesterday because a huge shareholder saudi national bank said it wouldn't provide any more money to credit suisse the swiss national bank stepped in with a $54 billion lifeline i guess it brings up the conversation too big to fail, right? >> tell us a little bit more about how congress, both sides of the aisle, are looking right now at the banking system and just the overall financial picture here, which comes at a moment where we still have high inflation, though cooled

slightly, robust jobs report and people still wondering what sort of soft landing we may or may not even need? >> reporter: the mixed economic picture where you get strong jobs reports, strong consumer spending reports mixed with high inflation, has made it more difficult for congress the get their hands around or it's a rorschach test, depending on your political persuasion, you can provide your own prescriptions as to how to fix it republicans remain laser focused in terms of the economic picture on inflation i think you'll hear that even today with republicans suggesting it's an inflationary environment we're in and perhaps even some of the fed's actions to combat it have fuelled this banking crisis democrats look at it through a regulatory framework chuck schumer was asked about

this yesterday he said he would like to see something bipartisan that nets negotiated it's not clear there's any appetite for this. i think we're going to see two dynamics at play the senate finance committee is about as adult of a committee as you're going to see in congress. the house, when they come back into town next week, there's a huge percentage of house members who were not here in 2008 for the last banking crisis, the last major economic crisis congress was forced to grapple with house members have a quicker trigger in terms of legislative approach to anything if they want to go about it this way i think it's going to be very interesting to watch and could be dependent on what the executive branch, the fed, the treasury steps are taken in the

coming days. now to texas, where women's rights advocates are bracing for a decision in a case that could restrict access to a key abortion pill nationwide yesterday a federal judge heard the first arguments in a lawsuit that aims to ban a medical abortion drug which has had approval for use for more than two decades. let's bring in nbc news correspondent dasha burns live in amarillo, texas >> reporter: good morning. yesterday was the first time we had public hearings in this very, very high stakes case. the judge tried to delay putting those hearings on the public docket to avoid what he called a circus like atmosphere the proceedings did go through, though make no mistake, what happens here in amarillo, texas, could have an impact nationwide, even in states that have robust

protections for abortion anticipation in amarillo building for weeks as a case in this texas courthouse could restrict access nationwide to the abortion pill, the most commonly used method for terminating pregnancies in the country. a conservative judge appointed by president trump could soon decide whether to issue a preliminary injunction, blocking access to mifepristone the fda approved it in 2000. the judge peppering attorneys with detailed questions. >> i remember before roe v wade and now i'm looking at it all over again. >> i value life. it's extremely precious. >> reporter: the plaintiffs are arguing the fda didn't adequately evaluate its safety and endangered women further when they made the drug available via telemedicine during the pandemic.

the fda said in court a ruling in the plaintiff's favor would cause significant public harm. since its approval in 2000, the fda says more than 5 million women have taken mifepristone with 28 deaths associated with the drug. >> what happens here today will be felt by all americans no matter what your feelings are on abortion. >> reporter: a ruling that could radiate nationwide mika, we don't know when the judge will rule in this case it could be in the coming days or weeks everyone that we talk to says this could be the most consequential ruling on abortion since roe v wade was overturned. >> thank you very much for that report we turn now to washington, where the biden administration is threatening a potential ban of tiktok in the united states if its chinese owners refuse to sell their stakes in the video sharing app, a source close to

the company told nbc news this morning. the source, however, cautioned that the company did not see the administration's move as a final order. the administration's demand first reported by the "wall street journal," signals a significant shift in the u.s. stance toward beijing-based bytedance, which owns the app. the white house and treasury department declined to comment p a spokesperson for tiktok said if protecting national security is the interest, divesting doesn't solve the problem. imposing new ownership would not impose any restrictions on access any selloff by bytedance would have to be approved by the chinese government. tens of thousands of school workers in los angeles are set to strike for three days starting next tuesday over stalled contract talks the union, representing some 30,000 district workers, made the announcement during a rally.

the superintendent is accusing the union of refusing to negotiate and says he was prepared to meet day and night to prevent a strike. reports say the district offered a 15% wage increase and 9% in retention bonuses. the union is pushing for a 30% wage increase. the district is the nation's second largest school system, with more than 500,000 students. >> the l.a. times this morning is editorializing. they're obviously opposed to the strike, saying anything that keeps kids outs of school is a bad idea speaking of schools, texas announced the takeover of the houston school district, citing poor academic performance at several schools and accusing the district of failing to pro

provide adequate special education. the aclu of texas condemned that takeover while democrats accused the move of being political. overseas, hundreds of thousands of protesters are taking to the street in paris joining that national strike that's been going on for quite some time over macron's plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. >> in addition, it would deny a full pension to anyone who retires at that age without having worked for 43 years the contested bill comes to a vote later today coming up, our next guest is looking at the relationship between technology and international relations. we'll talk to the former ceo of google about that. plus, steve bu shem my joins the conversation with a look at his latest film.

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. turning now to the war in ukraine, where earlier today ukrainian president zelenskyy posted on social media marking the one-year mark since russia's bombing of a theater in mariupol hundreds were inside outside the theater, the inscription red "children" to try to dissuade russia from striking the building. more than 600 people died in that attack. a new piece details one reason ukraine has been able to hold out and why technology will define the future of geopolitics. it says out gunned and out manned ukraine turned to one area where it held an advantage

over the enemy, the technology the ukrainian government uploaded all of its critical data to the cloud, so it could safeguard information and keep functioning even if russian missiles turned its ministerial offices into rubble. when russia sent drones, ukrainian sent its own drones to intercept its attack, while its military learned to use unfamiliar western supplies by western allallies ukraine simply proved nimbler. what russia imagined would be a quick and easy invasion has turned out to be anything but. >> with us is the author of that piece eric schmidt thanks so much for being with us we're coming up on the 20-year mark of the beginning of the iraq war how much has warfare changed

over the past 20 years because of technology? >> it's going to change a great deal more. the biggest change is going to be the arrival of autonomy that essentially translates into drones if i were a soldier, i'd want 50 drones ahead of me, looking out, defending me, attacking. most of the military techniques on the ukrainian side seem to be clever they're in and out, use himars and shoot something or send a drone over and go behind enemy lines to take them out from the rare these were technologies not available in the past and certainly not available to the russians >> talk to us more about some of the stuff ukraine's been using they've used the starlink satellites to stay connected they've also done a remarkably good job warding off russian cyber attacks, which many thought would be at the forefront of their invasion.

>> everybody assumed russia would destroy their cyber infrastructure russia tried, but the ukrainians managed to hold it off the arrival of starlink made a huge difference. this is the first broadband war. this is the first war where citizens can take a picture of a tank and have it a.i. tanked and take the tank out. that's how the first wave of the war was won in kyiv. >> will the technology also help ukraine move on, rebuild when this war comes to an end >> they're going to have a heck of a lot of technology companies by the time they're done the entrepreneurs, who are not allowed to leave the country anyway, are busy building the companies that will power the new generation of technology,

drones, both land and sea. >> shifting into what some think might be a future cold war, explain how technology is taking place between u.s. and china and a potential standoff down the road. >> i wish i could tell you otherwise, but at the moment i think the leader is china, not the united states. china produces four to five times more stem graduates and is very capitalist in the way it approaches these things. they dominate in new energy, all the batteries that you use they're probably going to dominate in cars they already dominate in financial services they're trying to compete with us in a.i., quantum and synthetic biology. the chips act helped us with a lot of science lending and so forth. the american model is the universities invent stuff, capital at risk funds it and the government helps make the market happen and regulate it

that triad when it works is exceptional. look at operation warp speed and how well it worked we've got to get back to building these things at scale or the chinese will basically beat us. >> let's talk about it we've heard stories of generals being killed because they took out a cell phone, just a crude cell phone to call back home other russians have done the same thing where they're not equipped with advanced technology and they give up their locations time and time again. with the brain drain that is happening in russia and has happened since the start toof te war, doesn't this technology gap only increase? >> it does, so long as russia does not become reliant on the chinese technologists, who are

very, very good. we've got to make sure these smart people come and we give them visas and keep them in the united states. there's no place to hide anymore. there's too many satellites, too many people watching you can't hide your aircraft carriers and so forth. new combat techniques will be hidden, surprise and so forth. imagine a war between north korea and the united states. north korea attacks, the united states defends china decides it's a bad idea. the whole war occurs in about 5 milliseconds because it's a cyber war. they're going to have to figure out what to do because the war happens faster than humans can decide. >> i want to circle back to something you referenced in their last answer. can you talk about how critically important it is that

congress gets their act together and figures out a way to make sure the best and brightest that come to america to get advanced degrees don't have to go back to sc china or india, but we actually have immigration reform that keeps them here? >> this is such an easy argument the top, top papers in a.i., which i work on a lot, aoften have a chinese author, one of five or one of ten those that are in america, we should give each and every one of them a great place in the united states and a visa and the ability to stay here we do not want them going back to china with the things they learned in america to compete with us. that's insane. >> former google ceo and chairman eric schmidt, thank you very much. there's new dramatic video

released by the u.s. military showing that encounter between an american drone and a russian fighter jet over the black sea keir simimons as the latest. >> reporter: stunning new video showing russia's midair clash with that american reaper drone. in the video, you can see what the u.s. says is fuel being poured onto the unmanned drone by an su-27 russian fighter jet, then colliding with the drone, temporarily cutting off the camera feed. when it returns, you can see the propeller clearly damaged, forcing the military to bring down the drone in the black sea. three u.s. officials tell nbc news the highest levels of the russian government approved those actions over the black sea. the collision itself was not likely intentional

according to officials, they believe it was pilot error washington and moscow putting aside the escalating tension and angry exchanges and finally resuming diplomatic communication. >> i just got off the phone with my russian counterpart as i've said repeatedly, it's important that great powers be models of transparency and communication. >> reporter: this morniing russa racing to find what's left of the downed drone one russian official saying i don't know if we will be able to get it or not, but saying they will try general milley also expressing doubt over whether it will be recovered. >> probably sank to some significant depths any recovery operation would be very difficult. >> reporter: putin meeting with syrian dictator president assad, saying nothing about his country's latest tense exchange

with america how much he knew or whether he authorized the midair confrontation is unclear this morning. >> jonathan lemire, pilot error, seriously. again, they can't even do a fly-by of a drone without acting like it's bumper cars running into it. i will say the good news that comes out of this is sort of the reestablishing of normalcy as far as diplomatic relations in talking between our military people and russia's military people it's just so critical that we keep those lines of communication open. >> president biden was in san diego earlier this week at top gun, the actual fighter pilot school the movie is based on needless to say, russia needs their own version of that institution in moscow. it seems like it was an accident and indicative of the mistakes

the russian military has been making for the last year or so there does not appear to be any effort to escalate this from russia it is good to see at least sporadic conversation between the u.s. and russia and their various militaries coming up, we're going to take a look at the save the protest movement in iran now six months to the day of the death of the woman arrested by the country's so-called morality police to keep the people that have been here taking care of us. learn more at getrefunds.com. (psst psst) ahhhh... with flonase, allergies don't have to be scary

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today marks six months since the death of mahsa amini the mysterious circumstances surrounding her death sparked widespread protests that have challenged and rattled the regime while the country's supreme leader has reportedly pardoned more than 22,000 people who participated in protests, activists in iran continue to take a stand against government oppression and police brutality.

joining us from london, a ali aruzi. those protests are continuing across iran? >> good morning. they have substantially gone down, the protests, because of these very heavy handed approaches by the government you still see pockets of defiance and protests in the country, but it's nowhere near where it was last year, because they've killed so many people. there is a deep-seated sense of resentment and hatred and anger towards the government and the feeling this may flare up at any time again mahsa amini was arrested by iran's morality police her alleged crime? violating the country's strict dress code she died days later in the

hospital her family says she had been beaten police deny this for many iranians, especially young women, this was a tipping point. amini's death set into motion a string of events that have iraqed iran to its core. women began to show their solidarity by ripping off their head scarves in protest. this was the most serious challenge to face the islamic republic since its inception in 1979 the regime has ruthlessly enforced strict rules on iran's population, with the hijab mandatory for iran women, becoming a cornerstone of the regime's hold over the people. making scenes like this one all the more astonishing, women defiantly setting their head scarves on fire and cutting

their hair in public crowds of young men and even school children have taken part, an unprecedented de ed display unity. the government's reaction was nothing short of brutal. security forces have fired live rounds at unarmed protesters skirmishes became daily events across iran. at least 522 people have been k killed, including 70 minors. more than 20,000 arrests have been made, 100 of those on charges that can lead to a death sentence at least four have been executed so far these tactics have in some way paid off for now the protests have largely subsided, but already it's clear there's been a fundamental cultural shift in iran many women across the country refuse to wear the hijab, something unthinkable only seven

months ago thousands of schoolgirls reported symptoms of being poisoned across iran authorities in iran are trying to restore a semblance of normality, but for most iranians their country has turned into a dystopia just to give you an idea of the lengths the regime went to to quell these protests, amnesty international released a report detailing horrific accounts of torture and violence against children, including beatings, floggings, electrocutions, rape and other sexual violence to children as young as 12 years old. that was just to keep them off the street to stop them protesting against the government now because they don't want to confront women on the street,

they're using surveillance cameras to catch women without their head scarves and if they are found, they will have their cell phones cut off and be banned from municipal buildings. >> thank you for your reporting this morning coming up, we'll get a look behind the scenes of new movie "the year between. award winning actor steve buscemi joins us to talk about his starring role.

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don't get why people say it. >> i guess you're right. >> what do you mean i'm right? >> well, honestly, i think, i think, i mean, after a point chaos settles. you don't know how long it will take, but then eventually it all just dulls and that feels like it's the end product of "everything will be okay." >> um, cryptic [ laughter ] >> that's the theme from the new movie "the year between. the film is inspired by real events and follows the story of a college student forced to become home after having a mental breakdown

alex, let's start with you this is based in large part through your own life experiences, right >> yes i am a person who has been treated for bipolar disorder for over ten years now during my freshman year of college when i was 19, i had a mental breakdown and left school and went back to my home in the illinois suburbs to live with my family and figure out how to get better and learn to function as an adult. >> steve, i'm curious, first of all, what attracted you to the role secondly, doesn't it seem extraordinarily timely, because we just hear about this every day in so many friends of ours and parents and their children are going through the same exact thing right now. >> well, that's what i loved about the script it's so well written thank you for saying that i have

a starring role, but i actually have a supporting role, which i'm very happy about i don't usually get to play a dad. [ laughter ] so that was very appealing what i loved about the script was that alex's character, she's the one that's going through these incredible struggles, but they're the whole family's struggle as well i think what the film really shows -- and it's important to show this -- is how it affects the people in the family, fri friends. what i love about this family, i mean, i would say they're a little dysfunctional themselves, but they have so much, you know, love for each other. it's just taken for granted that they are a family and they're going to help each other.

>> the film tackles mental illness with humor we have a clip of her trying to explain to her family what she's dealing with and the struggles she's facing take a look. >> you want to sit your family down and explain your treatment could mean change for everyone. >> so you have mania and depression they're basically two diseases, but one. >> so it's mainly mental >> 100% mental, dad. >> oh, that's good at least you're going to survive it. >> not necessarily. >> as a future med student, i obviously know what a mental illness is there's a medical explanation for why she's a mess. >> that's, like, rude, but accurate. >> can i go now? >> where do you have to be on a monday night >> um, anywhere but here. >> thank you all for coming to my ted talk. >> alex, i want to know what it

was like for you to put together this film given what you've been through. was it cathartic or was it painful? >> it was definitely car that are cathartic and painful and a lot of overwhelmingly magical things i really wanted to tell a story about navigating mental illness with family using humor. because i feel like for me a lot of the stories i was seeing surrounding mental illness felt pretty dark and depressing most of the time, and i wanted to show some of those other very many signs of it and moments in between the extremes there is levity and humor and brightness and joy and fun so that was important to me

telling the story. parts of it are filmed in my high school. it was extremely emotional shooting it back in my hometown, but also something that needed to happen for me, weirdly. >> steve, just in closing, how did this role change you, your relationships with people? >> i think awareness is key. i really learned a lot from this film and its story i just hope it gets out there and people see it, because if you're going through something like this, it's important to know there is help, there is support. the only way to address any problem is to acknowledge it ane and important message. >> important time for this movie as the data is telling us, especially young adults, are facing an epidemic of mental health struggles the year between is now playing in select theaters and is

available on demand. steve buscemi and alex heller, thank you both very much congratulations. thank you for doing this >> thank you for having us >> thank you and coming up at the top of the hour, secretary janet yellen is set to testify before the senate finance committee msnbc will have live coverage of that and "morning joe" will be right back with final thoughts moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day.

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but now i can be myself again... with my favorite people in my favorite places. blue-emu is the powerful relief i need. blue-emu, it works fast and you won't stink. a few minutes before the top of the hour. time for a look at some morning papers out west, as we start off with a live look at san francisco. we'll start in california where the daily post leads with a bay area regional board's decision to ban gas powered water heaters and furnaces elected officials voted almost unanimously in favor of the ban yesterday. it will take effect in several stages from 2027 threw 2031. it does not target gas stoves. >> the san francisco chronicle reports a bay area school district is suing several social media giants, including google,

snapchat, and tiktok here it comes, people. the lawsuit claims the apps create, quote, provocative and toxic content that is addictive for children and adds to their growing mental health crises both google and snapchat released statements in response saying they have been working to increase protections for younger users. that's the beginning that is the beginning. >> okay, thank you >> remember cigarettes >> and the thing that really got the cigarette industry on the defensive were internal studies, internal memos where they knew about the dangers of cigarette smoke. >> and right now, they're trying to put protections in so all this has been out there without protections and now you're trying to shore it all up. it's not going to work sorry. a little mad >> and what's going to be the key here is jonathan lemire, the

fact that you actually had facebook that had internal memos saying that their products actually led to suicide, suicidal ideation, anxiety, depression and other mental health challenges for young users. and they swept it aside. so it's going to be fascinating to see where we go jonathan, really quickly, let me ask you, what did you learn today? >> i have learned if your teen wins a baseball game, a simple hand shake line is far safely than jumping up and down with your teammates and potentially blowing out your knee in a devastating injury that could cost you the whole season. also, we deemed it the most metsious thing to happen, i have heard from many mets fans today saying this is not even close. we have a long history of tragic developments >> by the way, while we're talking about stupid injuries,

are the red sox keeping chris sale away from the bikes he likes to ride a bike and get a stick and put it in the spokes he looked pretty good in the last outing. >> keep him away from bikes and put him in bubble wrap until opening day, please. >> that does it for us lindsey reiser picks up the coverage after a quick final break.

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