secretary has a big agenda, and it's for somebody with a big brain. >> and so is that guy. >> and those are some of the questions i'm really going to be listening to. >> i imagine senators are going to be asking exactly that. you and i will have our ears glued to that hearing this morning. eugene robinson, thank you for joining us on way too early. we're both sticking around for some morning joe, but that was way too early for this tuesday morning. and morning joe starts right now. >> these hearings, in a very real way, are the opening salvo for holding the trump administration accountable to the public. we will use these hearings to show the contrast between donald trump's agenda of helping the special interests, especially the very wealthy, and the democrats agenda to fight for working americans. nominees should expect tough, candid, but fair questioning. >> senate minority leader chuck schumer laying out the democrats

approach to this week's confirmation hearings for donald trump's cabinet. today, pete hegseth, the president elect's pick to lead the pentagon, will be the first to face lawmakers. we're going to go through the new reporting on a critical witness connected to the former fox news host, whose calls to the fbi were not returned. plus, jack smith releases his team's report on donald trump's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. we'll dig into why the special counsel is confident the case would have resulted in a conviction. >> also ahead, president biden delivers his final foreign policy speech highlighting his accomplishments on the world stage, strengthening relationships with our allies while putting more pressure on america's adversaries will play for you. >> the key moments from that address. meanwhile, in that speech, the president suggested a ceasefire and hostage deal between israel and hamas could

be imminent. we'll have the latest on those negotiations. good morning, and welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, january 14th. along with joe, willie and me, we have the co-host of our fourth hour, jonathan lemire and msnbc contributor mike barnicle is with us. we have all those stories ahead. but, willie, of course, we start in california. >> yeah, dangerous day ahead, it looks like, because those strong winds expected to return to los angeles county today, posing a new danger for the wildfires that have ravaged that area for a week now, officials say the winds could reach up to 70 miles an hour, leading to explosive growth of the fire. >> this comes as the fires have burned through nearly 40,000 acres, destroying thousands of homes. the winds are expected to die down by wednesday evening. that's still two full days away. meanwhile, firefighters say they've made significant progress in battling the two largest wildfires in the area the eaton fire. 33% contained.

while the palisades fire is at 14% containment. the hurst fire is 97% contained. joining us now live from pacific palisades, a town that effectively has been wiped out is nbc's jay gray. jay, what are you seeing on the ground there today? and what do we expect over the next couple of days? >> yeah, willie, overwhelming destruction here. and that real concern as you talk about that this footprint could grow in the next 48 hours. some disturbing news to report right off the bat. we've got a new fire burning to the north in ventura county. the auto fire right now, 56 acres burning at this point. and that's a result of the changing conditions here. winds building overnight into the early morning. and that's just going to continue. i want to give you a look at what we're seeing on the ground here right now. and it's just complete destruction. and this is something that, again, stretches for miles across this region.

now look, the winds, the national weather center says are going to intensify as the sun comes up and reach peak mid morning. then continuing through midday tomorrow. gusts like you talked about at times over 70 miles an hour, conditions that they say could lead to and i'm quoting here, rapid growth and explosive fire behavior. we have seen a number of smaller new brush fire sparked as a result of these winds. but there are mobile strike teams in place right now and really scattered across the region in strategic areas to rush in quickly. and they've done that to this point, handling some of those brush fires. but i think it's worth repeating, guys, we've got a new fire burning in ventura county just to the north, 56 acres. they're calling it the auto fire. and that's the kind of situation that is causing some real concern as we go into this 48 hour period, i would expect

and fire officials say they expect to see more evacuations, more areas put on standby and hold and ready to evacuate. and so all these areas have been living through these massive blazes and now on edge again, they can't they can't get in and clean up any of this right now. not until the fires are contained. but they've got to worry about more flames. and that's going to be a tough go over the next couple of days here. >> as you say, jay. >> i mean, i know people who live not far from where you're standing who obviously everything has been lost. there are some pockets where some homes were still standing. people could go in for five minutes with police to get out. some things that they may need prescriptions or other things like that. right. i'm just curious, though, jay, because it has been a couple of days of low winds. firefighters feel like, as we reported, making some progress against the biggest of the fires, but are they ready for what's coming today and tomorrow, and how can they possibly be when we've learned

that these winds can blow on a whim, one direction to the next, putting new areas under threat? >> no, it's a great point, willie. and you're right. they they've dug in, they're on the front lines. and then we've got these mobile strike teams that i talked about. but when you pull aside some of these firefighters and talk to them, they'll say it's not much of a fight. when the wind gets to hurricane strength, then it's just an issue of trying to protect whatever you can and trying to rescue trying to get people out of harm's way and move people out of the direction of these fires. the problem is we'll likely see these winds really picking up. according to the weather service to the north, and in areas where there is a lot of fuel left, you know, there's not a lot left to burn in places like this. but to the north you've got that dry brush and undergrowth, you've got trees that are dried out. they haven't seen rain in quite some time. and so you've got that fuel that will fire embers that are sparked up by these winds and pushed across that area. so

yeah, they're ready. they're not going to give up the fight. but it's not much of a fight when mother nature's weapon is winds over 70 miles an hour. >> we're expecting those to kick up later this morning. nbc's jay gray in pacific palisades. jay, thanks so much for your reporting. let's go over to meteorologist angie lassman. angie, good morning. so what is the forecast exactly for those winds today? >> we're going to see those elevate, especially as we get into the later parts of our afternoon or of our morning willie. >> and then we'll kind of see a fluctuation through the afternoon and into tomorrow. >> here's those four fires that we're watching. >> there's that auto fire that you heard jay mention 56 acres, 0% contained, but a really good chunk of this region still under that red flag warning. and this one is called a particularly dangerous situation. that's just kind of an extra layer of seriousness that is issued by the national weather service. specifically, the los angeles area has only ever issued these five other times. two this year in january. we had a couple in november and december last year, and then one back in 2020. so that gives you some sort of sense of just how rare these

are, and it's for good reason. we've got those extremely critical fire weather conditions lasting across this region once again today. large fires, explosive growth all on the table. so here's how the winds play out as we get into the later parts of this morning. that's when we can expect the worst of the winds. so 50 to 75 mile per hour gusts. notice humidity levels 10 to 25%, but either way, not a lot of moisture for us to tap into in this atmosphere to help us at all along with the dry vegetation. as we get into later this afternoon and evening, those come down slightly. i mean, we make some improvements 40 to 55 mile per hour winds, but still we're going to still see kind of an elevated gust situation even as we get into overnight tonight. those ramp back up, high end 65mph, especially in the higher elevations. you'll notice that. but even closer to the coast, 20, 30, 40 mile per hour winds. and then we get into tomorrow. this is when we'll start to see a bit of relief, willie. we'll see. high higher ends up to 45mph, but a little better than what we're going to be dealing with for at least the next 24 hours. >> all right. andrew lassman, thanks so much. we appreciate it

guys. when you hear explosive fire growth coming from fire officials, that is a big warning of what may be ahead today and tomorrow, not over. >> we'll be watching this. of course we'll be revisiting this story throughout the show this morning. we'll move on now to the senate confirmation hearings for president elect donald trump's cabinet, which began this morning with one of his most controversial selections, pete hegseth, trump's pick for secretary of defense. >> members of the senate armed services committee huddled for a briefing on the fbi background check in texas yesterday. >> now, as is customary, only the heads of the committee, republican chair roger wicker and ranking member jack reed, were given physical access to the full fbi report. >> they then were responsible for relaying those findings to all other committee members. >> this, as nbc news reports, the contents of the report may be lacking. the fbi security

check of hegseth does not include interviews with any of his ex-wives, or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. >> that's according to three three sources with direct knowledge of the background check. >> hegseth was denied any wrongdoing in that case, and the local district attorney declined to file charges, saying there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt the assault took place. democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm that there may be additional key information left out of the report. >> i only know that some of the folks that have the women in his past, women in his life, have wanted to be interviewed, but have not been interviewed by the vetters. >> the transition team has slow walked and stonewalled us, but we do know that there are significant gaps in that background check. it's incomplete and so far as we know, inadequate. >> and i am deeply concerned

that there are facts that so far have been hidden from this committee. >> what are they hiding that they won't give us this kind of information? >> meanwhile, the new york times reports that investigators reached out to pete hegseth second ex-wife, samantha hegseth. >> the couple were married from 2010 until 2018, and according to the times, fbi investigators had an initial initial perfunctory conversation with her on january 8th, according to people familiar with the apprized or apprized of the report. >> mr. hegseth then made multiple attempts to contact the bureau for a more substantive discussion, but her calls were not returned last week, said those with knowledge of the investigation, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. let's bring in the host of way too early, ali vitali and pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate

editor of the washington post, eugene robinson. >> thank you all for being with us. let's start. jon lemire, let me ask you, what is the reaction? and i guess, to this very incomplete fbi report, but also, more importantly, a lot of people asking, how do you have an fbi report on pete hegseth when those with the most explosive charges aren't even a part of that fbi report, and you have one person trying to contact the fbi repeatedly who doesn't get her calls returned. >> yeah, the report seems extraordinarily incomplete. >> and we just heard a little bit of real democratic outrage yesterday about that fact. let's recall, of course, that the trump team, initially for weeks, stonewalled the idea of any background checks, certainly by the fbi, as they, as the president elect, began selecting his possible cabinet members. >> they wanted to do the background checks through a private company. >> there were real concerns

there that that wouldn't be complete. they eventually relented and let the fbi take part. >> but it seems here, not able to talk to every pertinent person, including these ex-wives and those who suggested hegseth behaved inappropriately with them. so i think right from the get go in this hearing today, slated for this morning, the first of a series of high profile and some incendiary hearings, we're going to hear from democrats crying foul on this very process now. pete hegseth himself, he's his testimony prepared testimony leaked to axios. other places we know he's going to say it's time for someone who served in combat. he is a veteran to lead the department to lead the pentagon. he's going to talk about his, you know, mistakes in his life. he says he's found god. his new wife has changed his behavior. >> we know in the confirmation interviews with senators, he said he'd stop drinking and the like. >> but there are real questions here he's going to have to face. and some pointed questions from democrats about his personal conduct as well as his qualifications. and few suggest that this fox news contributor

would have the bona fides to lead this department. >> we will see where this goes. >> whip count republicans are growing more and more confident they have the votes, but no one knows for sure as to where this goes next. >> and there are a few eyes, certainly joni ernst, a couple other republicans seen as the key votes here. and i think a lot of people say it's still up in the air. well, it depends what happens today at the hearing. >> well, yeah. >> and ali, please feel free to, to give us more insight on what you're hearing on the hill. but again, the question that's raised here is who directed the fbi not to talk to the person with the most explosive testimony against pete hegseth? the charges of rape against pete hegseth, the police. again, we all we've said the police did not press the charges, but the fact that you don't have this woman that has come forward with all of this information about that, that, that california

event. and then again, one of his ex-wife's trying to reach the fbi and not getting return calls. so is there any suggestion that that the trump transition team directed the fbi to what it could or could not investigate, or would that be the republicans in the senate that would would tell the fbi, don't talk to the people that may have the most germane evidence against pete hegseth. >> well, we don't know at this point if that direction was given. but it's important to remember that as one of our reporters who's been covering this said to me yesterday on way too early, the client for the people doing the investigation is not congress. the job is not to give congress the most information possible. the job is to do the investigating at the direction of the client, in this case, the trump transition team. and so that's going to be important for us to keep in mind when we watch democrats talk about the gaps in this report. and i think we're right to lay out how glaring they absolutely

are. and it's something that democrats are now going to use in their lines of questioning. they were already going to talk about the sexual assault allegation. they were already going to talk about the potential themes around his ex-wives. but now we're going to see them not just talk about that, but also ask the question of why this wouldn't have been included in the kind of report that senators have gotten quite used to getting, even if they're not reading the report itself, being briefed in full on what's in the report. and it's clear these are the rules of this committee. that's not the thing that's odd here. the thing that's odd here is that there are pieces of this report that seem very obvious to have investigators at least ask questions about and bring back to congress, and that wasn't done here. and that's just the gaps in the report on the sexual violence and sexual assault allegation, and also things that his ex-wife's ex-wives might have said. but then there's also the misuse of funds that veterans organizations. there are the allegations that nbc news has reported on that he was abusing alcohol. all of that is

going to be in this hearing that is going to be quite explosive on capitol hill. >> jeanne, this is an extraordinary moment in terms of senate hearings, i would imagine there is no director of the fbi. >> chris wray has resigned. there's an acting director. >> we don't know what the fbi is doing in terms of pursuing any extraordinary or extra questioning of the potential witnesses of people who are willing to give testimony about pete hegseth. >> but we do know that the post is not like the postmaster general. it's the secretary of defense in a very dangerous world and on paper. and according to everything you hear from, including some republicans, pete hegseth is extraordinarily unqualified. so where does the senate committee go from here with with not as much information as they need and not as much cooperation, perhaps from the federal bureau of investigation? >> well, that's a very good

question because the hearing is today. right. so they're supposed to have the information the, the, the committee chairman and the ranking member have already looked at the background reports. they're ready to go. and so, you know, it's really frustrating to have to talk about this investigation in retrospect. but that's kind of where we are now. unless something extraordinary happens and there's some attempt to sort of go back into this in, look, merrick garland is still the attorney general, right? i mean, you know, joe biden is still the president. it's not as if the transition has already happened. so i am really curious as to why, with a job this important, it's not just these allegations against hegseth. it's the whole question of whether he is remotely capable of doing what

is really one of the most important jobs in our government, a job that's that's that's doubly important now because there are all these questions about the readiness of the us defense department. if perish the thought we ever had to, to fight or deter a major war. and, you know, these are big questions about what we're doing militarily to counter the rise of china. and is pete hegseth the guy to figure that out? and, and i want to know more about that. >> well, yeah, i've got to say again, of all the character issues aside, i can tell you there's not a single person in washington, d.c. that i've talked to that thinks that he's qualified to run the pentagon. again, all character, all character questions aside,

that's something that joni ernst knows. she knows he's not qualified to run the pentagon. that's something that john thune knows. he knows pete hegseth is not qualified to run the pentagon. that's something mitch mcconnell knows. that's something that lisa murkowski knows. that's something that susan collins knows. it's something, of course, that todd young, one of the more serious thinkers, most serious thinkers on national defense issues, know. so, again, all of these character questions aside, these these so-called john tower questions. all of those aside, everybody knows the underlying truth that nobody will be served. i mean, the dod will not be served by this. americans will not be served by it. the armed forces won't be served by it. even the commander in chief, donald trump, ultimately will not be served by having somebody running the dod that's ill equipped just because of

experience, or lack thereof, of running the dod. still, i the question this morning regarding the start of this hearing, jonathan lemire has to go back to why didn't the fbi ask the most basic questions from the most, most germane witnesses? were they were they instructed not to by somebody, or do you think they were doing it because they didn't want to offend the incoming administration? >> that is the great question. >> now to ali's point. the parameters are usually set by the transition team. >> so and that would be the case here as well. >> so we there's likely some of this at least is instructions from the trump team. the specifics we don't know. we're still reporting. the new york times broke the story pieces of the story last night. >> they don't have either. >> there is a suggestion. we know tammy duckworth. we played a little bit of sound from her a few moments ago. the senator from illinois, i was just reading further from what she

had to say yesterday. she also wondered that in some cases, the women involved may not have wanted to come forward because they were fearful of their safety or the safety of their children. so i think that's an element here. but we know that's not the case, at least for the one ex-wife who proactively reached out to the fbi. so why she was rebuffed, why she was ignored. that will be one of the mysteries that i think we heard this from senator blumenthal as well. i was just reading his his notes that will we will probably hear in the first minutes of the hearing today. why did it happen this way? >> i need to understand more. the transition team gets to tell the fbi how to do a background check, because last i checked, a background check isn't a background check unless it's a background check. like the way they do it. >> i well but but but but in the in this case though, there were negotiations on whether there would be an fbi background check at all on pete hegseth. it was it was finally when roger wicker and other republican senators said, we need an fbi background check, that we even moved in that direction. but again, it is

fascinating that the team that that is most invested in getting a candidate through is the one that defines the outline, the outlines of the investigation itself. so, i mean, it would it would be fascinating if they said, you can't interview these. most the people that are, again, most germane to the investigation on whether he has the ability to run the department or not. >> and that's not to say that democrats aren't also trying to reach out to these same people, especially now with the information that the fbi might not have or did not speak with them. but i do think that it's important, as we illuminate various aspects of this process, for folks to realize the way that these kinds of background checks are done. and i think mika brings up a really good point to the casual viewer. isn't a background check a background check that no one can put any parameters on here in washington? that might not be the answer to the question, but certainly it's the question that will continue asking. and then i

think the other piece of this, as we move forward is the ways that democrats try to highlight this. i know that there's some talk of surprises this morning during this hearing, and we'll see them pretty early on as, as jonathan says. but then also coming back to the republicans and the way that they handle this, there was a view at the end of the year that, yes, they wanted background checks. they pushed for that. everyone from roger wicker, the head of the committee, but also susan collins and lisa murkowski, making clear that they were skeptical of this nomination and they needed more information to go off of. that was a really big push to actually get this investigatory process going in the typical sense. but then also when you leave glaring gaps in it, you give people what they ask for, but only kind of do the gaps make them that much more skeptical. democrats are going to play that up. but for someone like joni ernst, who is sitting on this committee who already clearly had questions, what is she going to do with this lack of information? do the primary challenges on capitol hill

ultimately lend to republicans being able to ram all of these nominees, however skeptical or unqualified people think they might be down the throats of congress, and thusly, the american people. that's sort of been the litmus test for the entirety of this nominating contest. and so the fact that we're here for the very first one could tell us early what we're in for the host of way too early, ali vitali, thank you very much. >> we appreciate it. and still ahead on morning joe, we're going to break down special counsel jack smith's report on the election interference case against donald trump and how this could impact the president elect's plans to pardon the january 6th rioters, plus, israel and hamas, appear to be closing in on a cease fire deal. we'll have the latest on the negotiations. you're watching morning joe. we'll be back in 90s. >> well, you're in the big leagues now. >> how was your vacation, sir? well, i needed one with your 10% loyalty program discount. >> that's $225 for the night.

>> not bad. >> $155 for the night. >> hold up. how? it's easy when you know where to look. trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. save up to 40%. >> trivago is my secret tactic. businesses start small, but a lot of them take off. as your business grows, shipstation grows with you. so you can sync and manage all your orders... no matter how big you get. ♪♪ shipstation's custom automations maximize your team's time. plus, you get more carrier options, at the lowest possible rates. ♪♪ keep your business growing. head to shipstation.com to start your free trial today. ♪♪ you didn't start a business just to keep the lights on. lucky for you, shopify built the just one-tapping, ridiculously fast-acting, sky-high sales stacking champion of checkouts. businesses that

want to win, win with shopify. gut, especially for perimenopausal and menopausal women who are trying to figure out what supplement to take. this is a key part of it for me. >> special counsel jack smith's report on his investigation into donald trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election was released to the public overnight, just a few hours ago. the report summarizes smith's investigation into trump's efforts to hold on to power. the final line of that report reads, quote, indeed. but for mr. trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial. the report cites examples of such evidence, including how trump pressed vice president mike pence to overturn the results of the election, writing, quote,

mr. trump wanted no one else speaking with vice president pence because he and coconspirators were already implementing a secret plan to use mr. pence's ministerial role as president of the senate to mr. trump's advantage. end quote. the report also cites how trump privately acknowledged he lost the election, writing at times mr. trump made comments implicitly acknowledging he knew he had lost the election. for example, in a january 3rd, 2021 oval office meeting regarding a national security matter, mr. trump stated in part, it's too late for us. we're going to give that to the next guy, meaning president elect biden, the report continues in private, in contrast with his public false claims, mr. trump made admissions that reflected his understanding that he had lost. in a private moment, mr. trump confessed to his family members that it doesn't matter if he won or lost the election, you still have to fight like hell. when president elect biden appeared on television in november, mr. trump said to a staffer, quote,

can you believe i lost to this effing guy? and when his own vice president declined to join the conspiracy, mr. trump berated him for being, quote, too honest. trump criticized the report on social media in a post at 1:41 a.m. eastern time. let's bring in nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian and former litigator and msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin. good morning to you both. a lot to sift through in these overnight hours, ken, 174 pages, released by jack smith by the special counsel's office. most of the detail at this point had been public knowledge through media reports and other investigations. but to see it in one place and to hear jack smith say we had enough evidence to convict, but we had to step away because mr. trump was reelected. >> yeah, that's right willie. >> it was powerful. >> not really surprising, but what was most interesting to me, actually, was the introductory letter, which was from jack

smith and in his own words and in his own voice, where he really tried to push back against the false charges that donald trump and his supporters have been making from the beginning, that this whole thing was politicized, that this prosecution was engineered by joe biden and his democratic allies to stop donald trump from becoming president. >> he has a whole long passage on that. >> and then he concludes what i thought was the most interesting line of the whole report, which is, and to all who know me well, the claim from mr. trump that my decisions as prosecutor were influenced or directed by the biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable. and that's absolutely true for those of us who cover the justice department and know anything about jack smith and the people around him. this was an investigation pursued by career fbi agents and career prosecutors brought from different parts of the justice department or former officials like jack smith. there was no involvement whatsoever by anybody political, by joe biden, or even really by merrick garland, other than to be briefed on the results. and what

you have here is a powerful narrative, really sort of laying out what we already knew, but in more explicit fashion. and you hit some of the really most important points that he hammered, which is that donald trump, according to the evidence that they've marshaled, knew that the claims, the false claims that he was making about fraud were, in fact false. and that was the basis for charging him with defrauding the american public. and they also go into some great detail here about how they believe that he actually incited the january 6th riot. and while he did say in the ellipse speech, you know, urging people to be peaceful, he used the word fight more than ten times. and they say they considered charging him with incitement, but ended up tripping over the free speech issues. it's a really difficult charge to bring. they also consider the charge of insurrection, but decided that insurrection is so loosely defined in the statute had been so seldomly brought that they didn't want to go down that road. so, look, you know, this

was the last effort by jack smith to try to explain to the american public why he did what he did. at the end of the day, the american people spoke and the world that we thought we lived in. >> when richard nixon was driven out of office during watergate, where republicans and democrats came together, that's not the world we're living in anymore. >> it's very clear, lisa, this hit just before 1:00 in the morning. and again, jack smith makes very clear that donald trump was saved only by his own reelection, which is to say he goes through over 174 pages. the evidence that he has, he said, we for sure, we believe, have enough evidence to convict him, but we had to let it go. >> yeah. and willie, people like me are going to be spending the next several days or even the next several months. looking at the footnotes of this report you mentioned in your introduction, i'm a former litigator, and i'm looking through this report through that prism. what do we know from this report that we didn't know before? it's true, as ken said, that the bulk of this is really known to the american public, particularly those of us who closely follow this litigation, like ken and

me, on the other hand, are there tidbits here that we hadn't seen before? absolutely. i want to tell you about one of them. one of the things that the department of justice is saying in this report, to explain why they made their charging decisions is not only did trump know that his claims were false after and at the time that he made them, but it was always the plan to declare victory. and they say that trump had a plan to declare victory first, irrespective of what the election results showed. how do they know that they drop a footnote in which there are citations to what appeared to be at least five different interviews or grand jury testimonies from people who heard him say that that's the kind of evidence that's all replete throughout this report, and that people like me are going to focus on. he also warned mike pence when pence said, i can't do this for you, i'm going to have to go after you. i don't remember that from prior recitations of the facts here, but he basically told pence, i'm going to publicly criticize you. and then what did he do in the next breath? he

lied to the public and said that he and pence were in agreement about the plan going forward to throw out votes. when they then got together with john eastman and pence said, look, i can't do that. i can't return these electoral votes to the states. trump said to him, well, i like the other thing better. the other thing being just throw them all out altogether. you know, that's the kind of detail here that while it's not game changing, there are some additional details here that i think will inform the way that people understood jack smith's charging decisions, both in terms of what he did charge and as ken mentioned, what he didn't in terms of insurrection and some of the other options that were on the table. >> ken, i want to ask you about two other investigations. will we ever see the final report on the classified documents case, the other federal probe into donald trump? >> that's first. and secondly, we did hear from special counsel david weiss yesterday about the hunter biden probe. >> tell us what he had to say, including some criticisms of the current president. >> yeah, jonathan, that was remarkable. first, on the classified documents case, judge aileen cannon of florida appears to be doing her level best to

run out the clock so that the biden administration, the biden justice department, merrick garland's justice department will not have a chance to release that report. that doesn't necessarily mean we'll never see it, because ■right no we're not seeing it because there are current pending charges against two of donald trump's co-defendants. and there is a federal rule in local rule in florida that makes it difficult to release information about a case that's pending. >> so they're not going to release it. >> but once those charges go away, which we assume they will during the trump administration, that report will be subject to the freedom of information act. and we can sue, and we probably will to try to get a copy of that redacted, though it may be. so. i think at some point that report may see the light of day. congress may try to get it. the classified documents report, in terms of special counsel david weiss, who prosecuted hunter biden, there was even less new information in that report than there was in this report. the most significant thing about it was that weiss went on at length criticizing president biden for the justification he cited in

pardoning his son. he said it was corrosive to the justice system. he he essentially accused joe biden of doing what donald trump has been doing for years, which is casting doubt on the motives of prosecutors and bringing these charges against his son. he went on at length about the idea that the charges that he brought were reasonable and were brought in other forums. even the gun charge had been used many, many times. >> the tax charges, he said, look, mr. biden made millions of dollars, made a conscious decision not to pay the taxes on it. >> yes, he was addicted to drugs, but he was engaging in complicated business transactions throughout that period. but he reserved his his his sharpest words again for president biden for saying, essentially, the president said that this was a miscarriage of justice. that was an attack on fair minded prosecutors. it shouldn't have happened. >> can ken, can we go back to and then i want to ask lisa this question as well about the fbi investigations into pete hegseth. do you have any insight on why the investigation may

have stayed away from some of the witnesses that may have had some of the most pertinent testimony regarding questions regarding the california allegations, and also the fact that one of his ex-wives tried to contact the fbi, but they would not return her calls. >> joe, the fbi has been a closed book on this. we've been trying to get information from that side of the fence and really have been unsuccessful. but i will say that officials have emphasized to us throughout this process that, again, this is not the fbi conducting a criminal investigation where they follow their own procedures. this is the fbi essentially performing a service for a client, which is donald trump and the transition. and we saw this with the brett kavanaugh investigation, if you recall, that it took they did a week of background check when brett kavanaugh was accused of sexual assault in his high school days. and there were many tips that came in on a tip line that we later learned from a senate investigation were never

followed up on by the fbi because they were instructed not to. they didn't interview key witnesses in that case, people who came forward. it looks like the same thing is going on here. now, the other thing you should keep in mind is nobody has to talk to the fbi. so we don't know in some cases whether the fbi reached out to some of these ex-wives and other witnesses. and they said, no thanks, i don't want to talk to you, but at least in one case, we're seeing reporting that one of the ex-wives did want to talk and was not engaged with. and the most likely explanation for that is that the trump transition team instructed the fbi not to pursue that avenue. but again, we'll have to do more reporting to find out the answer. >> obviously, lisa, that's not the way this is supposed to work. the transition team is not supposed to instruct the fbi to do anything. the fbi conducts an independent investigation, provides results in a report, gives it to the senate armed services committee ahead of a hearing that starts a few hours from now. can you make any sense of this? >> well, that's not how it's supposed to work, willie. but yet again, we know that's how it works. how do we know that's how it worked? sheldon whitehouse

wrote a report investigating what happened during the fbi background check of brett kavanaugh. and during that, he noted that while the trump administration was publicly saying that the fbi had been instructed to conduct a thorough background check behind the scenes, the trump white house was instructing the fbi to do exactly the opposite. white house has a 30 to 40 page report delineating everything that happened during that period. and i would submit to you that the senate has to get its own house in order if it's going to exert its advice and consent powers in a meaningful way, they have to figure out how to do a sufficient, responsible, thorough and get informed background check that doesn't subject people who are accusing folks of sexual misconduct, harassment, or even assault of this sort of last minute barrage and fusillade of questions that destroys people's lives. we've already undergone this with christine blasey ford. we have had the experience of anita hill, folks like samantha

hegseth, if she has something interesting and important to say, or the accuser and the monterey, california incident with pete hegseth shouldn't be treated similarly. we've had decades to figure this out. the senate needs to figure it out now. >> but in terms of the politics and the theater of this hearing, the hegseth theory is coming. both lisa and ken mentioned the important name here is brett kavanaugh. the kavanaugh hearings have established a playbook for republicans. that's what i've been told how they're going to approach this, the sort of angry defiance, maybe from hegseth himself, but certainly from his defenders in the senate. we remember lindsey graham in the brett kavanaugh hearings. expect more of that. this idea you're trying to take down a good man. there are no allegations here. it's innuendo. it's rumors. where are they? that's the sort of approach we're going to see from the trump and others want joe. the idea that like don't give in, always fight, don't abandon it, and even potentially smear the reputations of the accusers suggest it's all just hearsay. look for the brett kavanaugh playbook to be, you know, in full display for hegseth and perhaps some of the other

hearings in the weeks ahead as well. >> the difference, though, mike barnicle, between the allegations against brett kavanaugh, memories from high school, which a lot of people didn't agree on, and squee! yeah, didn't agree on, and maybe a drunken recollection from a friend at yale that everybody didn't agree on. and the specifics of this case, a police report, evidence of financial mismanagement in two, not 1 in 2 veterans organizations. specific details of poor treatment of abuse of treatment of women. according to pete hegseth, own mother. and then you add on top of that a series of other very specific, very recent fact

patterns that even members of fox news told nbc news reporters, even in in recent times, this is very explicit. it's very specific. it's very relevant to what's going on in the here and the now. joe, what we're talking about here is a perfect portrayal of the frustrating failure of the federal government of the united states senate, of the federal bureau of investigation, of all sorts of investigatory bodies now circling around candidates for offices that truly affect our national security. lisa pointed out that the united states senate has got to get its act together. they have about three hours to do it before the hearings begin. so we know that's not going to happen. pete hegseth and jonathan is absolutely correct. it's going to be the brett kavanaugh playbook. and this playbook has been, in effect, an operative

for so many candidates for office under under both administrations, actually just but the combativeness and the fight that the republican nominees bring to the table has changed american politics, slowly but surely over the past ten years. and now it's regarded as almost normal that you have someone completely ill equipped to be secretary of defense is on the precipice of becoming secretary of defense. shame on us. well, well, let's wait and see. there are republicans again that, if you look at their past record, would have absolutely no reason to confirm this nominee. and, you know, we i've spoken of todd young who's a very serious thinker on on foreign policy and national security and has dedicated much of his adult life to that. you have the dave mccormick, the new the new senator from the state of

pennsylvania, who, by the way, is not up for reelection for six years. but again, he campaigned talking about military culture and being raised in a military culture. so, of course, this is not somebody that dave mccormick would ever hire for a job without extensive background checks in private sector. >> and he too, served well. >> that's what i'm saying. he served and he would know. but you also, of course, have joni ernst. you take the issues that joni ernst has fought about women in combat, also fighting against sexual harassment, sexual abuse. these are two issues that have been central to what joni ernst has tried to do to make the armed forces stronger, and specifically make the lives of women in the armed services equal and fair to men who are also serving their country. lisa murkowski, susan

collins, mitch mcconnell. i must say i understand the cynicism. you know, so many people are are that way for great reason about washington, d.c. but of those i named and so many others who actually care about the armed services of the united states of america and america's national security, i just it would be a dark day if there were not four republican senators who understood that we need someone. the president needs someone. the commander in chief needs someone running the pentagon. that actually is up to the task of that job. and when crisis hits across the world, whether it's with china, whether it's with russia, whether it's in the middle east, that the president has somebody standing on guard at the pentagon who is up to

that task, there is no doubt. again, character issues aside, mika, there is no doubt among republicans and democrats in the senate and the house across washington dc, that pete hegseth is not qualified to hold that position. all character questions pushed aside. >> msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin and nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian. thank you both very much for coming on this morning. up next, we're going to dig into gene robinson's recent column entitled time caught up with biden. it will also prove him right. morning, joe. we'll be right back. no one sees a broken wrist. >> here you go. >> is there any way to get a better price on this? >> have you checked single care? whenever my customers ask how to get a better price on their meds, i tell them about single care. it's a free app accepted at pharmacies nationwide.

>> before i pick up my prescription, i always check the single care price. >> it's quick, easy, and totally free to use. >> single care can literally beat my insurance copay. >> you just search for your prescription and show your single care coupon at the pharmacy. >> so i just show the coupon and >> so i just show the coupon and get this the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. same towers as big wireless but then passes the savings onto you.

>> so i get the same vast nationwide coverage if i switch. >> yep. >> save your money for something else. >> speaking of, i ordered us some thai food. >> thank you. oh, shoot. >> i'll go get it. >> pretty high up here, isn't it? >> for unlimited talk and text >> for unlimited talk and text with rel(man) coverage. and your mm, hey, honey. looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy! (man) give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. they don't ask about your health? (man) no health questions. -physical exam? -don't need one. it's colonial penn guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance. if you're between the ages of 50 and 85, your acceptance is guaranteed in most states,

even if you're not in the best health. options start at $9.95 a month, 35 cents a day. once insured, your rate will never increase. a lifetime rate lock guarantees it. keep in mind, this is lifetime protection. as long as you pay your premiums, it's yours to keep. call for more information and the simple form you need to apply today. there's no obligation, and you'll receive a free beneficiary planner just for calling. 650 6900. there's no obligation. that number again is one 800

let's say you're deep in a show or a game or the game. on a train, at home, at work. okay, maybe not at work. point is at xfinity. we're constantly engineering new ways to get the entertainment you love to you faster and easier than ever. that's what i do. is that love island?

is ten minutes before the top of the hour. the white house is pushing for a ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. that could be finalized within days, according to u.s. officials. under the proposal, hamas would release the first hostages 48 hours after the ceasefire begins. one of those u.s. officials warns the hostages to be released first are in, quote, very bad shape. the remaining hostages, which include americans, would be released later. israeli prime minister netanyahu has invited families

of the hostages for a meeting today in conjunction with the deal. the plan also includes israel withdrawing from gaza's populated areas to the border. the cease fire deal between israel and hamas were among the topics president biden addressed in his speech yesterday at the state department, in which he touted his foreign policy achievements. >> today, i can report to the american people our adversaries are weaker than we were when we came into this job four years ago. just consider russia. when putin invaded ukraine, he thought he'd conquer kyiv in a matter of days. but the truth is, since that war began, i'm the only one that stood in the center of kyiv. not him, who'd never had. think about it. new challenges will certainly emerge in the months and years ahead. but even. but even so, it's clear my administration is leaving the next administration

with a very strong hand to play. and we're leaving them an america with more friends and stronger alliances whose adversaries are weaker and under pressure. an america that once again is leading, uniting countries, setting the agenda, bringing others together behind our plans and visions. >> jean, i love the title of your piece time caught up with biden. it'll also prove him right. i want you to talk about that. i want you to talk about foreign policy. but it does bear repeating whether you want to talk about the price of eggs or gasoline or some of the things that people say moved voters during this election. and certainly it certainly had to move some voters. at the same time, historians, you say time is on his side, just like time was on harry truman's side when he left with the 22% approval rating history. the data is

clear right now. as we've said on this show repeatedly, the us is the envy. our economy is the envy of the world. jobless rates are at record lows. the stock market's at at record highs. workers wages keep going up year over year. the crime rate keeps going down year over year. violent crime is actually at a 50 year low right now. and even illegal immigration which was the issue that so many pundits said caused donald trump to defeat joe biden. as we said, even before the election, illegal immigration across the southern border at lower rates now than it was during donald trump's last year in office. so and that's not to say that he didn't have a disastrous policy the first two years. we're talking about, though, where he ends up. add to that fact, more

bipartisan legislation passed and one of the most partizan times in american history. and then on top of that foreign policy, it's a record that may be getting kicked around right now. but historians, jane, like you said, with the passage of time, hard not to see how they don't look at his achievements and say he did a pretty damn good job. >> well, historians, joe will have to look at the country when joe biden took office and the country as he leaves office. and the difference is just dramatic. we forget when he took office, we were still in the middle of covid, and so much of the country was shut down. we had the vaccines thanks to the trump administration, but we didn't have a way to distribute them. we had we were two weeks after

january 6th, this unprecedented violent assault on on our democracy, on the central ritual of our democracy. we were we were stunned and reeling from that, that we were in the country was in dire shape when joe biden took over. and look at the country now, as you said, our economy is the envy of the world. we have, thanks to bipartisan legislation, we have made historic, long overdue investments in our infrastructure, in climate change, in manufacturing of computer chips and other technology that sets us up for the future. we have we're in so much better shape in terms of our foreign policy. you know,

administrations going back, 2 or 3 of them always talked about, we're going to make this pivot to asia because we have to counter the rise of china. we're going to pivot to asia. nobody did it. joe biden did it. he formed these new these new partnerships, these new alliances, the quad group, the aukus group that makes the united states more of a of a presence and a player in asia than it was before. and that sets us up. well, it's really quite dramatic when you step back and look at the achievements of joe biden. he made some mistakes and he paid politically for them. but but it was quite a record in only one term. >> i was going to say he made mistakes. afghanistan, inflation, the southern border and not ceding the stage to

other democrats in 2023 so they could have a competitive primary that will be balanced, though against his successes. and i think historians, most historians will find that he had a quite successful presidency, i completely agree. >> gene robinson, thank you very much. still ahead on morning joe, we're following the latest out of california, where strong winds are expected to resurge, which could further complicate the fight against the flames. we'll speak with the fire chief for orange county for what he's seeing on the ground. also ahead, we'll go live to the pentagon, where nbc's courtney kube will break down her new reporting on how some military officers worry. pete hegseth could turn a blind eye to u.s. war crimes. morning joe will be right back. out in the great work. >> play. blink. relief. work.

play. blink. relief. play. blink. relief. >> the only ♪♪ your pain shouldn't be minimized or forgotten. ♪♪ when medicine gets better, all of us can get better.

beautiful shot. >> the sun coming up.

>> new york city, new york city, balmy 75 degrees out there today. >> go out there. got your jogging shorts or just get up and go to work. >> welcome to morning joe. let's see this the second hour. second hour of morning joe. it's tuesday, january 14th. jonathan lemire, mike barnicle, stay with us. >> and we're going to but, you know, we really last night, man, you know, as you know, some of us have to go to bed early. okay? laimbeer shaking his head pretty hard. why, what happened last night, man? i will tell you. the minnesota vikings looking unbeatable with with sam darnold for about 14 weeks. and then they got crushed by the lions and got crushed again last night i mean what i mean and these rams you can't i can't figure them out. nobody can figure the rams out i mean they're looking pretty darn good right now i mean think about a week ago the vikings were playing for the number one seed in the nfc.

>> in that game against the lions. they win that game. they get a bye. they're gliding home field advantage to the playoffs. they lose that game handily. and last night in a game that was moved from la to arizona the home of the cardinals because of the wildfires, they just got stormed by the defense by the rams defense. donald was sacked nine times. and you could hear just watching the first half, troy aikman, the color guy, getting increasingly annoyed with sam darnold saying get rid of the ball. you can't stand in the pocket for seven seconds. throw it away or step up in the pocket. there's one of the interceptions, but nine sacks nine sacks tied an nfl playoff record. john blowout win, 27 to 9. they did. finally, the vikings scored a touchdown in the third quarter. but the game was never close. >> no, it wasn't more pain for long suffering vikings fans, but never won a super bowl. as joe said two weeks ago, the vikings had it looked like they would have one of the favorites. their season is already over. sam darnold i hate to say it, he was

a great story all year long, but so dreadful these last two weeks. he just cost himself a lot of money. he's a free agent now. real question is whether the vikings do they bring him back? do they turn it over to the injured rookie quarterback j.j. mccarthy? they drafted in the first round last year. does darnold come back maybe on a franchise tag. we will see the rams also i think you know their defense not particularly heralded this year. they were terrific last night matt stafford and sean mcvay played a near perfect first half. clearly also motivated with some real emotion playing for those at home suffering in southern california and now setting up a really intriguing second round matchup against the philadelphia eagles, who keep winning but don't look very good while they do it. although it's a tall order now for the rams, who have to go back home to southern california to deal with the situation there. with the fire still burning, then fly across the country, play in the cold, very hostile environment there in philadelphia. but there's our slate of games next weekend. ravens bills the clear headliner, but some some pretty good ones. >> yeah i mean joe ravens bills. it's a shame that one of those teams has to end its season this early because those are two

super bowl caliber teams there, no doubt about it. >> also ashamed that one of those two quarterbacks are going to lose. you've got two quarterbacks that have kind of had the knock against them that they they've struggled in the playoffs. but the two best quarterbacks in football are going to be playing, and it's just a shame that it couldn't have been lined up in a way where that was the afc championship game. but of course that didn't happen because the chiefs always figured out a way to beat pensacola catholic high school 13 to 12, in a last second safety. i mean, it's just crazy. >> now, of course, we had a game being moved up because of the devastating wildfires. our news begins there. powerful santa ana winds have returned to the los angeles area, bringing the potential for explosive fire growth. nbc news senior national correspondent tom llamas has the latest reporter. >> fire crews working nonstop, waging an all out battle from

the air and the ground as they brace for the worst of those punishing santa ana winds. >> the national weather service warning conditions to be as bad as it gets, with the potential for hurricane force winds over the next 48 hours, 13 million are under red flag warnings stretching north of santa barbara to san diego county, with more than 8000 firefighters now on the front lines, officials insist they're better prepared with more ground and air resources this time around. just behind us here, you can see a massive burn scar. there's no more smoke, no more fire. but there's still a danger. and that's why there are lines of firefighters right now with cutting tools like chainsaws and axes, clearing all the brush, making sure there's no fuel in case those winds pick up and carry embers. >> we were with cal fire as they worked to clear brush before those dangerous winds hit burn zones. >> so you're worried about this area because there's still brush here and it's so close to those homes right there?

>> that's correct. >> firefighters lined up on cliffs, scaling canyons and on the lookout. >> they're putting their lives on the line to get out in front of something that most people wouldn't get in front of right now. >> over the weekend, california's national guard dropping flame retardant on hotspots in the palisades fire after flare ups forced new evacuations in encino and brentwood, triggering this eerie fire. nato, the eaton and palisades fire is still mostly uncontained, with speculation on the origins of the infernos running rampant. the atf now leading a newly formed task force to investigate the cause of the palisades fire. as multiple law enforcement sources tell nbc news that a possible human cause is an early focus. >> in this case, they're identifying cause and origin for each of these separate fires. >> there's so many of them there, none have been ruled out of arson. >> the death toll is expected to rise, including 95 year old dudley's momma dee curry of

altadena. >> that was her refrigerator. >> this is where she would be her granddaughter looking for her remains in what's left of her home. >> mama dee, are you here? >> officials are urging residents to stay out of evacuation zones. people are saying, i just want to go look at my house and i want to see what's left. >> we know that, but we have people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors. law enforcement in the region announcing more than 70 arrests, including looting and burglary charges. the fbi says unauthorized drones over the fire zones are now well into the double digits as they search for the drone pilot that crashed into a canadian super scooper last week, grounding the aircraft for days. the los angeles unified school district reopened most of its 1000 campuses, giving students some return to normalcy. >> i've been pretty scared coming here, but i feel. but as long as the doors are open, i

feel safe. >> schools damaged by the fires or inside the evacuation zones remain closed, with tens of thousands pushed from their homes now forced to start over. one estimate says the insured losses are already at least $30 billion. >> right now, i'm trying to just keep it together to find us a place to live for us, temporary living for our family and my parents. >> andrea heindel lost her family home, as did her parents. >> how tough is it? >> it is tough. there's millions of people looking at millions of different places. and so we just have to figure out one step at a time how we're going to handle it. >> and, you know, really the lead in the new york times this morning. also, l.a. times has done extensive reporting on it, looking for the origin of the palisades fire in particular. and they keyed in on the hiking trail and an area called skull rock and trying to figure out. and they're actually calling it a crime scene. and yet they're

not saying it's arson. but the question, the question is whether it was, in fact arson, whether it was teenagers playing there, whether it was a possibility of fireworks that may have started the fire. and so a lot of a lot, a lot of investigation going on right now about what started this just absolutely calamitous that may impact insurance coverage. disaster. yeah. and of course, if it if it's arson that that reporting also shows that may impact what is covered by insurance companies and what is not. >> yeah. there's police tape up in that area of that hiking trail and that park they investigate. and kind of amazing after only a week that they're able to pinpoint it in that way. nothing definitive yet, but there is reason to believe that this may have been started by a human act, which is just takes your breath away when you look at what happened afterward over the last several days, let's go to los angeles, where we find staff, our staff writer for the la times, ron lin, has been

covering the wildfires for the paper. ron, thanks for being with us. what more can you tell us about that investigation? we can start there and kind of work forward. what are you hearing about origins of this fire? >> yeah, well, some of my colleagues, they've spoken with people at the origin of the palisades fire. and, you know, some of the initial look is, you know, whether or not there were new year's fireworks and there was a fire that had been doused around that time. >> and there are questions about whether it wasn't snuffed out completely, and that when we got those very fast winds last week, that that was a rekindling. >> and then over at the eaton fire, which was the fire over in altadena, there are questions about whether or not there are neighbors in that area who have photos of an electrical tower appearing to show the first flames coming from the base of a southern california edison electrical transmission tower. edison so far has said that they don't believe they're

responsible, but that is a look at the investigation is at that point. >> so, ron, let's talk about today. now we're hearing from our meteorologist. and i know you're hearing the same there that those winds are going to pick up again here in just a couple of hours and really last through tomorrow night. so you're looking at a couple of very difficult days for firefighters. what are they expecting. what are officials expecting now. they put some strike teams in position. they believe they can do better than they did when they didn't know what was coming, obviously a week ago. what are we expecting over the next 48 hours? >> well, it's just after 4 a.m. here in california. >> and so we've now entered this, this zone of a particularly dangerous situation, the pds, that is the most extreme of a red flag fire weather warning for, for our region. and that means we're expected to see gusts of up to 70mph. this will be more of a typical santa ana wind event. it won't be as bad as last week in terms of the winds. however, you know, we've had very, very

little rain. we've had an astonishing 0.16in of rain since october. think about it. at this time of year, this is supposed to be the peak of our, of our of our rainy season. we should be seeing green grass on our hills overnight. there was even a fire out in ventura county. the auto fire in the river in a riverbed. luckily forward progress has been stopped, but this will be a very tense day for southern california as we see these santa ana wind gusts continue through to wednesday midday. >> brian, can you give us a sense of what it's like to be living in an area of southern california, los angeles county, where thousands of people, families are now seeking temporary shelter, and many of those thousands are living with the knowledge that they will never be able to afford rebuilding places where they lived. >> i mean, it is it's astonishing and heartbreaking. i mean, you seeing the images of seeing, you know, many, many

city blocks, all, you know, burned to the ground. it's heartbreaking. these are now we now know that this is one of the most destructive and one of the most deadliest fires in california history. and it's heartbreaking. in the pacific palisades, for example, you have community institutions that are lost. two elementary schools substantially destroyed, one high school that can't open as expected in the coming days, because most of the because a great deal of that campus has been destroyed. it is it is, you know, it's stunning to me in hearing from people talk about the situation that, you know, you go back to a neighborhood where, you know, you grew up and you just can't recognize it because all the things that made it where you know what it was are gone. >> staff writer for the los angeles times, ron lin, thank you very much for your reporting

this morning. our other top story this morning, the senate confirmation hearings for pete hegseth kick off this morning with what could be a patchy background check on the president elect's pick to run the pentagon. members of the senate armed services committee huddled for a briefing yesterday on the fbi's findings. >> but as nbc news reports, the contents of that report may be lacking. >> the fbi security check of hegseth does not include interviews with any of his ex-wives or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. that's according to three sources with direct knowledge of the background check. hegseth has denied any wrongdoing in that case, and the local district attorney declined to file charges, saying there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt the assault took place. meanwhile, the new york times reports that investigators reached out to pete hegseth

second ex-wife, samantha hegseth. the couple were married from 2010 until 2018, according to the times, fbi investigators had an initial perfunctory conversation with her on january 8th, according to people familiar with or apprized of the report. mr. hegseth then made multiple attempts to contact the bureau for a more substantive discussion, but her calls were not returned last week, said those with knowledge of the investigation, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. >> and willie, the wall street journal editorial page, has editorial this morning about pete hegseth and the nomination. hegseth faces a skeptical senate. it begins by explaining that donald trump selected pete hegseth to fight the, quote, woke military, but said this

could have been done so much easier without actually putting somebody ill equipped to be secretary of defense in that position. something, again, that would not only hurt the country and the pentagon, but also the incoming president. but this is what the wall street journal editorial says. there are larger and more urgent issues at the pentagon than this woke issue, they say. and the 44 year old hegseth lacks the experience typically required. he has never run an organization of any size, never mind a bureaucracy with as many snares as the pentagon. his deputy secretary, mr. feinberg, also lacks familiarity with the vast defense department. such experience is crucial lest mr. hegseth be swallowed up by the bureaucracy. he has an admirable combat record, but his private life has mainly been focused on political combat. the real

concern is judgment. someone should ask also if mr. hegseth was forthcoming when under consideration for the job and whether he in fact told the trump transition team the truth about his background, the wall street journal says mr. trump's social media enforcers have been threatening senators with reprisals if they vote against mr. hegseth, which suggests they know he still has doubts to overcome. this is too fraught a moment in global affairs for senators not to ask hard questions, willie says, the wall street journal editorial page. >> and we'll see today. they are skeptical. as you pointed out earlier, privately, when you talk to them about pete hegseth, the senators, even republicans skeptical about pete hegseth qualification for the job, about his character. but will they out in the open in a hearing at 930 this morning, the senate armed services committee, will they go after him? will they actually

ask tough questions? do they dare cross donald trump in such a public way? we're about to find out. let's bring in nbc news senior executive editor for national security, david rowe. david, good morning. it's good to see you. let's start with you on this fbi background check. we've been asking the question all morning about why they would not at least ask. in one case, according to some reporting, one of the women in pete hegseth life, one of his ex-wives, or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in california in 2017 to sit for an interview. what's your assessment of why that would have been left out? >> i think the fbi background check process is broken. >> we saw this with the brett kavanaugh case. >> we're seeing it again now. >> ken dilanian, our colleague, said earlier that the fbi views it as there's an agency that asks for one of these background reviews. >> this would be, you know, the cia is trying to hire someone for a senior position. there's an fbi background check, but the client, the agency in this case, the trump transition. i know, you know, there's a dispute

about this, but the fbi seems to be taking the position that they will do what the trump transition tells them in terms of the depth of this investigation. and in the partizan divide in the senate, republicans, when it helps them say that looks good, when, you know, when democrats and it helps them, they they want minimal investigation as well. >> so david, obviously open questions about what happened here with the fbi background check. i'm sure democrats will raise them publicly in just a few hours time. they've also hinted to reporters they've got a few surprises perhaps coming coming out during the proceedings. what is your estimate, though? what do you expect in terms of these accusations about his personal misconduct, whether it would be treating women the case in california, alleging sexual assault, you know, or even his mismanagement of some of these va groups? what are you looking for today in terms of what we'll hear at the hearing? >> i think we'll definitely have the sexual assault brought up. joni ernst, you know, a veteran herself who was sexually assaulted in the military is going to raise that clearly. his view of women in combat, that's

a huge step backward. none of the studies show that having women in combat has created any problems. and an unlooked at thing. you know, when we reported ourselves nbc news on the drinking that, you know, nearly a dozen former colleagues of fox news say he drank to such excess that they worried about him. and the last thing is he really did. there's less reporting on this, but he worked in these two nonprofits for veterans, and he mismanaged the finances. there was real leadership problems when he ran those organizations as well. so i think all that will come up. is it enough to overcome the pressure that donald trump is putting on these republican senators? you know, we won't know until they vote. >> so, david, the role of the fbi in this, they have a client. it's the trump transition team, and they're acting on behalf of their client, the trump transition team. >> i have spoken to a couple of fbi personnel over the past couple of weeks who are astounded at the change in the fbi over things just like this. >> we need and i'll say, sorry, we need independent, nonpartisan

sort of umpires in our government fact finders. that includes me, as you know, a nonpartisan journalist, the national security editor here at nbc news. so that's the danger here. the fbi, you know, is under enormous political pressure. kash patel, who is a partizan actor, you know, will be coming up for, you know, in a confirmation hearing as well. and pam bondi, who will oversee the fbi as the attorney general. so this is a core problem. i've said it before. we need election clerks who count the numbers of votes and present them accurately. we need judges who are sort of trying to rule in cases in fair ways. and the more this hyper partizanship, everybody's partizan, everybody's leaning towards one side or the other, creates this kind of chaos and this doubt among voters, i think, among americans about our system. >> all right. nbc news, senior executive editor for national security david rohde, thank you very much for that insight. we're going to take a look now at some of the other stories making headlines this morning.

elon musk's preparing for donald trump's inauguration by setting up space inside the white house complex. according to the new york times, the billionaire is securing a room in the eisenhower executive building, not far from the oval office. musk, whose companies have billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, is tasked by the new administration to slash spending on capitol hill. new research suggests cases of dementia will double by the year 2060. over the coming decades, 1 in 2 americans are expected to experience cognitive difficulties after the age of 55. new dementia cases will increase about 514,000 from that number in 2020 to around 1,000,000 in 2060. the rise is associated to an aging population and poor health

conditions, including high blood pressure and sedentary lifestyles. >> so, mike barnicle, i looked into this story for you and me. i think it's relevant and basically what it what it suggests we need to do is, first of all, exercise more like mika. but we need to see mike there. yeah. he's there. okay, good. i'm glad to see it right there. thank you. tj. i thought mike might have had an irish goodbye. did his walk away, put him put his jacket, his $15 jacket on the back sitting right there and say we'll be right back. so, mike, we need to take our lipitor. right? right. that's important. it's good for the heart. it's good for the brain. these stories and studies are showing we need to exercise, be more like mika. >> i know where you're going. >> here. that certainly helps. we need to wear our hearing aids. it is interesting. over the past several years, hearing aids actually plays a big role in preventing dementia. because when people don't use hearing

aids or they can't hear very well, they get more isolated and move away. and number four, continue to socialize. mike, i know you and i like to sit in our la-z-boys and our barcaloungers and watch the red sox 162 times a year, but they're saying we need to get out and talk to people a little bit more than we are, joe. we need to get out and talk to people. but more importantly, we need to listen to people. we got to take the earbuds out of our ears when we take walks. we've got to stop and talk to people we know or people we don't know. we've got to talk to people in drugstores and supermarkets. you find out what is on people's minds. they talk to you. people like to converse. people like to have conversations. and the art of conversation in this country, i would submit, is in critical condition. >> but we've got to take long walks and listen. >> well, it is, and if you try to have conversations, a lot of times people on both sides go absolutely crazy. but i want to follow up with what you just said. one of the interesting

things about the first time i ran for congress knocking on doors, people who, you know, it's a 30 year old kid. i would knock on doors throughout the day. sometimes you had to knock around dinnertime just because you had a certain number that you had to get to, and some people would be eating early and you'd knock on doors and i'd say, oh, i'm so sorry. i'm, you know, didn't didn't mean to interrupt your dinner. they go, no, come on in. come here. we're having spaghetti. and like you said, people love to talk. people love love to share love love, love to love to communicate. and so you are right. people really like to talk, to be listened to, to engage. and that's something really that we need to do a better job of is, is, you know, one thing i have found out over the course of my long and very, very lucky life. everyone has a story. everyone. yeah, everyone has a story and everyone has a story. and that story is not told on social media or on text.

that's. or on text. that story is told in person. and again, that's something that that gosh, i hope we can do that not only for ourselves but more importantly for our children and grandchildren. totally agree that we can reconnect, reconnect some of those bonds that have been broken by smartphones, by social media, and by algorithms that pull so many americans further and further apart. >> all right, more news. >> the first hearing in the impeachment proceedings against south korea's president ended after just four minutes because the embattled leader refused to attend. his lawyers say his absence was for his own safety. the country was plunged into chaos last month after the leaderships failed attempt to impose martial law. and still ahead on morning joe, we're going to dig into jack smith's final report on donald trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the evidence the special counsel believes would

have convinced a jury to convict trump. also ahead, our next guest will defend partizanship and explain why he believes it could be central to progress for both political parties. you're watching morning joe. we'll be right back. the apron and the clothes she wore. >> umbrella. >> well, you're in the big leagues now. >> how was your vacation, sir? >> well, i needed one with your 10% loyalty program discount. that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. >> hold up. how? >> it's easy when you know where to look. trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. you can save up to 40%. >> trivago is my secret tactic. if you have bladder leaks when you laugh or cough like we did, there's a treatment that can help: bulkamid and the relief can last for years. we're so glad we got bulkamid.

call this number, today. get your bladder back. big wireless, but then passes the savings on to you. >> so i get the same fast nationwide coverage if i switch. >> yup. for unlimited talk and text with reliable coverage and your second month free call consumer cellular. >> the dentist will be right in. >> hey, i heard you're retiring soon. >> are you excited? >> yeah, doc, but there's so much to consider. >> medicare? >> finances. >> oh, and i lose my dental insurance. >> you can get your own from physicians mutual. easiest decision ever. >> it's real dental insurance that's real affordable. >> well, i think my work here is done. >> wait, what? >> hey, i heard you're retiring soon. are you excited? >> affordable dental insurance from physicians mutual insurance company. one of the easiest retirement decisions you can make for a free information kit, call now. this dental insurance

helps cover over 400 procedures, everything from cleanings and fillings to crowns and dentures. see any dentist you want with no deductibles and no annual maximum? >> well, i think my work here is done. >> wait, what? >> to get your free information kit with all the details, call kit with all the details, call now or visit send ♪♪ imagine checking your own heart with medical precision from anywhere. introducing kardiamobile 6l, the fda-cleared ekg that provides six-times more heart data than any smartwatch. and it detects three of the most common arrhythmias in just 30 seconds, including atrial fibrillation, bradycardia and tachycardia. check your heart with the most advanced personal ekg outside the hospital. get yours at kardia.com or amazon. ♪♪ for people who feel limited by the unpredictability of generalized myasthenia gravis, season to season, ultomiris is continuous symptom control,

with improvement in activities of daily living and reduced muscle weakness. and ultomiris is the only long-acting gmg treatment with the freedom of just 6 to 7 infusions per year, for a predictable routine i can count on. ultomiris may lower your immune system's ability to fight infections, increasing your chance of serious meningococcal and other infections which may become life-threatening or fatal. complete or update meningococcal vaccines at least 2 weeks before you start. if treatment is urgent, and you're not vaccinated, you should receive antibiotics with your vaccines. don't start if you have a meningococcal infection. infusion reactions may include back, belly, limb, or chest pain, muscle spasms, blood pressure changes, tiredness, shaking chills, bad taste, breathing problems, or face, tongue, or throat swelling. ultomiris is continuous symptom control. ask your neurologist about starting ultomiris. (♪♪)

z's bakery is looking to add a pizza oven, about starting ultomiris. arissa's hair salon wants to expand their space, and steve's t-shirt shop wants to bring on more help. with the comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee, they can think more about possibilities for their business and not the cost of their internet. it's five years of gig-speeds and advanced security. all from the company with 99.9% network reliability. get the 5-year price lock guarantee, now back for a limited time. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities™.

have a microphone where i can fight back. you people don't. >> the tea party people are incredible people. these are people that work hard and they love the country. and then they get just beat up all the time by the media. it's disgusting. and you will be surprised how big you are. you don't know how big you are. you don't know the power that you have. i mean it. >> that was then candidate donald trump nearly a decade ago, in the summer of 2015, courting the tea party vote in the 2016 republican primary, trump's combative style appealed to large swaths of the republican electorate continues to do so, especially those of the tea party movement back then who saw no value in compromising with democrats, even with some of their fellow republicans. our next guest argues, in order to heal the partizan wounds inflamed by trump and the tea party, the united states must further embrace partizanship. let's bring in professor of history and public affairs at princeton university, julian zelizer. he's the author of the new book titled in defense of partizanship. professor, it's

great to have you back at the table with us. thanks for having me. i would add in a word that you repeat many times in the book, which is responsible partizanship. so what does that look like for people? we were just discussing kids in particular, who grew up in this age of trump, where it's all about partizanship and combativeness and insults and grievance. what is responsible partizanship look like to you? >> it's partizanship with guardrails, meaning we've had a hyper partizanship over the last 2 or 3 decades where i try to trace it to the republican party, where any limitations on what you can do, what procedures are fair game for partizan war? everything is on the table that's not responsible. >> partizanship so you need leaders that accept boundaries. >> you need certain procedures that are insulated from this kind of attack. >> and then you can have robust parties that reflect the differences of the country and help operate politics in a very fragmented system of government. >> so it's a great idea on paper, but you also need the

actors who can behave the way that behavior is required to carry this out. it appears we're headed in a direction away from that. so what do you do about the human element of this? >> well, i'm glad i'm a historian and i'm not the politician, but i do call for a new kind of leadership. >> and i think ultimately, voters are going to be the ones who apply the pressure, and they're going to have to send signals that certain kinds of leaders who don't abide by any kind of guardrails are ultimately not good for the party, not good for the democracy, but it will come down to the ballot box. i don't have a magic solution. >> i try to outline what kinds of leaders we need, removing certain kinds of procedures like the debt ceiling, which i think have become dangerous tools for the parties, and a few more recommendations. so let's go through a couple of those recommendations. they are including expanding the size of the house of representatives, eliminating the filibuster in the senate, and then two on how campaigns are funded, suggesting that there needs to be a public finance system for congress and

overturning the citizens united ruling, which, of course, basically allows unlimited money into these into these campaigns. so walk us through a little bit as to why those matter. well, the campaign finance is important. >> i think if we have a system that is just bundled toward big contributors and big contributions, you have a bigger disconnect between the parties and voters. and people have a partizan system where they feel isolated from it. and i think encouraging small donations, really continuing to try to expand the base of who gives money is actually a healthy way to integrate citizens into the party. the filibuster, eliminating, reforming it, as we have done many times in american history, it has become a powerful weapon, not of bipartisanship. it's actually a tool to create gridlock. so i think reforms are very useful. the debt ceiling is now just a very dangerous mechanism that the parties that the republicans have used to threaten to send the nation into default over budget disputes. and so i think

reforms can take some of these away. and those are a couple that i talk about in terms of partizanship. >> what do we do about the following? the speaker of the house is from louisiana, new orleans, louisiana, during hurricane katrina was basically saved by the federal government of the united states of america, throwing money at new orleans, the speaker of the house within the last 48 hours has said whatever help is thrown to southern california, los angeles county, we've got to watch out how they spend their money because they've been foolish in spending their money and basically saying they were basically blamed for the fires that were wind whipped, 90 mile per hour winds. what do we do about partizanship that deep, that destructive, that damaging? >> well, there you're not talking just about partizanship. you're talking about the republican party and you're talking about the speaker of the

house in particular and the caucus. and so one answer is that democrats have to use their muscle in the next two years leading into the midterms to check that. and they have to remain disciplined. they have to remain united, as they did on the budget battle to keep the budget funded. and they are going to be the principal weapons or barriers to that kind of politics in the next few years. so their partizanship by democrats is actually going to be quite important in the very short term in the next few months. hopefully the political pressure will overcome that kind of action. >> so let's follow your argument down the road, professor. what would in a few years from now, potentially, if we can end up in this place of responsible partizanship, how much more efficient would the government be? >> well, you can look at great moments in american history. >> you don't get a ronald reagan, you don't get an fdr without strong republican party, a strong democratic party. >> so a party that's strong, that's smart, that's

responsible, can produce great leaders or great candidates in the next election cycle. a strong party, as i was trying to suggest in the short term, can become a principal check on a very aggressive president, on a very aggressive use of presidential power. those are just two kind of goals. and finally, strong parties can actually reflect, debate and negotiate some of the real differences that we have in the country over questions from voting rights to reproductive rights to the budget and more so in the next few years, if we had two parties that were strong but responsible, that's the kind of politics we can have, as we had in much of american history, going all the way back to the founding. >> we can hope the new book, in defense of partizanship, is on sale now. author and professor of history and public affairs at princeton university, julian zelizer, thanks so much, professor. good to see you. >> thank you, thank you. >> coming up, award winning talk show host graham norton will be our guest with a look at his

long running late night bbc program and his new novel, morning joe is coming right back. it's got to be a man when there's a gun in your. >> hand. don't ask me. >> your business needs to hire someone now. so in addition to managing your business, you have to go through hundreds of resumes and hope for the best. or you can go and get the best. introducing paychex recruiting copilot it uses ai to help find potential candidates from millions of profiles, whether they're looking for a job or not. then it helps you get in touch and get them hired five times faster than job postings. get your own paychex recruiting copilot now at paychex.com/tv. >> doctors recommend colon stool softener for gentle, dependable relief from constipation. >> it's so gentle. doctors even recommended during pregnancy and after surgery. colace increases water in the stool, making it softer so it's easier to go. >> no harsh laxatives, cramping, or straining colas.

>> consumer cellular is lowering the price for those 50 and up. >> get two unlimited lines for $30 each. >> that's just $60 a month. so switch to the carrier ranked number one in network coverage satisfaction. >> now new customers get your second month free when you switch. >> the guy made a lift into the river. >> daddy's home. hey, you got that thing? >> yeah, i got that thing. >> throw it in the fridge. oh. what's this? >> you keep dog food in the fridge? >> it's not dog food, it's fresh pet. we'll meet real veggies from my boy junior for disrespect. >> but what are we doing here? >> but what are we doing here? >> anybody ask if you have generalized myasthenia gravis, picture what life could look like with vyvgart hytrulo, a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90 seconds. for one thing, could it mean more time for you? vyvgart hytrulo can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you.

do not use vyvgart hytrulo if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients. it can cause serious allergic reactions like trouble breathing and decrease in blood pressure leading to fainting, and allergic reactions such as rashes, swelling under the skin, shortness of breath, and hives. the most common side effects are respiratory and urinary tract infections, headache, and injection site reactions. it may increase the risk of infusion-related reactions and infection. tell your doctor if you have a history of infections or symptoms of an infection. talk to your neurologist about vyvgart hytrulo for gmg and picture your life in motion. shipstation lets you keep up with the growth of your business. you can sync inventory and manage returns across all your sales channels. so you ship the right products to the right customers. ♪♪ head to shipstation.com to start your free trial.

lines for $30 each. >> that's just $60 a month. so switch to the carrier ranked switch to the carrier ranked number one in network [monologue] i got somebody for that! ♪♪ i got somebody for that. ♪♪ i got somebody for that! you guys got somebody for peyronie's disease? ♪♪ there's hope for the estimated 1 in 10 men who may have peyronie's disease, or pd. a urology specialist who treats pd can help you create a plan— including nonsurgical options. find somebody today at gogetsomebody.com 10% loyalty program discount. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. >> hold up. how?

>> it's easy when you know where to look. trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. >> trivago is my secret tactic. >> hotel trivago. some people like doing things the hard way, like doing their finances with a spreadsheet instead of using quicken. quicken pulls all your financial info together in one place and updates it automatically. how easy is that? >> how did a bomb get onto flight 103? >> the cia had known about it all along. >> are we ever going to know what really happened? >> it's far from over. >> as you know, it has been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week here in la where we work, where we live, where our kids go to school. >> we are back at our studio,

which we had to evacuate on wednesday. this is, that's that's our our building right there, the el capitan. >> that is how close this fire was to our theater here. >> many of us had to leave our homes in a hurry. some of our coworkers lost their homes. >> that's hollywood. >> it's been terrible. >> it's been a terrible. >> everyone who lives in this city knows someone. most of us, multiple people, families, friends, colleagues, neighbors whose houses burned down. >> and the truth is, we don't even know if it's over. we had a 100 mile per hour winds fueling this nightmare. as of tonight, the winds are back, and i think i speak for all of us when i say it has been a sickening, shocking, awful experience. but it's also been, in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience because once again, we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other, people who lost their own homes

were volunteering in parking lots, helping others who lost theirs. and tonight, i don't know, i don't want. >> all right. still ahead on morning joe, we're going to speak with the orange county fire chief on the effort to combat the wildfires as firefighters battle to contain the blaze with high winds. high winds predicted ten plus hours from now. pete hegseth, trump's defense secretary pick, will face a potentially combative confirmation hearing on the hill as senators question whether he's fit to lead the military. nbc's garrett hake is live at the capitol with the very latest. and up next, award winning talk show host graham norton is live in studio to share the inspiration behind his new book, frankie. morning joe new book, frankie. morning joe will be my mental health was better. but uncontrollable movements called td,tardive dyskinesia, started disrupting my day. td felt embarrassing. i felt like disconnecting.

i asked my doctor about treating my td, and learned about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ ingrezza is clinically proven to treat td, quickly reducing td by greater than five times at two weeks. number-one prescribed ingrezza has dosing that's alwaental. ingrezza can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. call your doctor if you become depressed, have sudden behavior or mood changes, or suicidal thoughts. don't take ingrezza if allergic. serious side effects may include allergic reactions like sudden, potentially fatal swelling and hives, sleepiness, the most common side effect, and heart rhythm problems. know how ingrezza affects you before operating a car or dangerous machinery. report fever, stiff muscles, or problems thinking, as these might be life threatening. shaking, stiffness, drooling, and trouble with moving or balance may occur. take control by asking your doctor about ingrezza. ♪ ingrezza ♪ relax tense muscles so i can

rest comfortably and slow. mag rest comfortably and slow. mag tablets have a slow tamra, izzy and emma... they respond to emails with phone-calls... and they don't "circle back" they're already there. they wear business sneakers and pad their keyboards with something that makes their clickety- clacking... clickety-clackier. but no one loves logistics as much as they do. you need tamra, izzy and emma. they need a retirement plan. work with principal so we can help you with a retirement and benefits plan that's right for your team. let our expertise round out yours. work for me? >> you ripped me off. >> i'll kill you! >> i'll kill you! >> what's your name again? it all started with a small business idea. it's a pillow with a speaker in it! that's right craig. pulling in the perfect team to get the job done. i'm just here for the internets. at&t, it's super-fast!

you locked us out?! and when thrown a curveball... arrggghh! ahhhh! [crashing sounds] we had everything we needed. is the internet out? don't worry, we have at&t internet back-up. the next level network for small business. ♪♪ i sold a pillow! >> why are you screaming? because you're screaming. >> are you hiding from used car shopping? >> yeah. >> what if i overpay? >> i get it, nearly half of all used cars have been in an accident. but that's nothing to be afraid of. >> show me carfax. >> knowing how a car's accident history impacts price means, you don't have to overpay. >> way better. >> popcorn? >> definitely no fear. just fox. say show me a carfax. >> com. >> some people like doing things the hard way, like doing their finances with a spreadsheet instead of using quicken.

>> quicken pulls all your >> quicken pulls all your financial info together in dexcom g7 sends your glucose numbers to your phone and watch, so you can always see where you're heading without fingersticks. dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm, so you can manage your diabetes with confidence. ♪♪

>> beautiful live picture of our building here at 30 rockefeller center. 749 in the morning in new york city. our next guest is known for entertaining audiences as the host of the long running late night bbc program the graham norton show, where he interviews the world's biggest celebrities. >> david beckham, you've gone off, you have met your match. >> oh! both rebel and ben have talked about working with you, ricky, and that it's quite annoying. >> haha.

>> not for me. >> was it a deep tissue massage you were having? >> where are you going with this? graham? >> what are you. what, are you having a turkish massage or something? >> i don't know what it has to do with what we're talking about, but it's a funny story. >> tell it. >> so. >> welcome back, welcome back, welcome back. so. >> so you. so you. you've never been on the show. >> i think he was impersonating you. what people may not know about graham norton. he also is a new york times bestselling novelist. and out with a new book titled frankie, which tells the story of an elderly irish woman recounting her colorful life from a difficult childhood in ireland to crossing paths with some of the biggest celebrities in new york in the 1960s. and we are so excited to say that graham joins us now live in studio. it's great to see you and lovely to be here. we've been embarrassing ourselves in the break, fawning over your show and telling you all the ways in which we're loving it and all the ways in

which we love it. for american audiences who don't know, i think most of them do. the format of your show is it's you as host, of course, but the format is really wonderful, where all the guests come out at once, and that interplay with them is what brings out so much. >> yeah, because i think some shows kind of add guests as the show goes along. and that was the old carson way and stuff, but we just got no, they're all here at the beginning. and then they kind of on a good night they talk to each other. you know, i just i'm just sort of the comedy butler at the side. and, and that's when the conversation takes off and the couch comes alive. and those are the nights when, you know, i don't really earn my money at all. >> do you know when you're sitting down, this is going to be a good night, based on the guests who were there and the way you can the first couple of minutes, you can see, yes, i think, you know, pretty quickly if there's a spark, if they like each other, sometimes there's a big, you know, just dead block in the middle of the sofa. >> they will have to talk around

that. do you have any names? >> does it happen? >> did your host or a referee? >> oh, nearly always a host. >> the number of times, because i started doing track shows back in 98. and it's like the number of times i've had to be a referee. very, very few, very, very few. >> so we were marveling just i mean, it is a-lister after a-lister after a-lister. is there a guest or two you have not had yet that's on your wish list? >> and honestly, i used to say julia roberts. >> and then last season she came on. so we tick. i think the only ones we left now, brad pitt, we haven't had brad pitt and i take a few young royals. i'd have a i'd have some of them never. i mean, i don't know why they would ever do it, but at one stage there was a rumor that harry was going to come on the show, and we got really excited about it, and we looked into where that rumor had come from, and it was me. i. i started that rumor. >> you forgotten you had said that somewhere online. yes. so

let's talk about your other career as a very successful novelist. i mentioned you've already had bestselling novels out with a new one. you got started rather late in life as a novelist. what prompted that for you? >> and i turned 50. and you know that thing when you turn 50, i. there's a sense that maybe you take your feet off the pedals a bit and you coast. and then someone explained to me, graham, if you stay healthy, you've got, you know, another 30, maybe 40 years left. so i thought, right, what have i always wanted to do? i've always wanted to write fiction. so i woke up age 52, a debut novelist. and it's i think it's a great reminder that, you know, you can be a debut, anything at any age. you've got more time than you think. so i turned to fiction writing and they're very different. you know, it's my name on the cover, but anyone who's familiar with the tv show, once you open the book, you're like, is this the same graham norton? because they're they're. yeah. they're not reflective of that

personality. this is these are kind of quiet books. they're emotional books. this one, it's you know, it's about aging. it's about memory. it's about kind of what constitutes a significant life. it's very different. >> so tell me you're writing about my grandmother. okay, frankie. yeah. okay. >> born in ireland, lived in england for a bit. comes to the united states, not new york, but boston, massachusetts. >> okay, that is so close to frankie's journey. >> so she recounted story after story after story about her life losing one of her sons in world war two. things like that. >> tell me about frankie. >> well, frankie, when we meet her, she's an old lady and she has a fall. she's living in london and she has a carer. and the carer is a young guy who happens to be from the same little bit of ireland that she's from. and that connection kind of triggers something in her and, and sparks her to start telling him stories about her childhood in west cork. and then

the story goes on and she ends up coming to london in the kind of late 50s. and then she comes to new york, and she lives a kind of a passive life, you know, things happen to her. she makes very few decisions in her life, but her life touches all these other things, and she kind of gets involved in kind of that huge explosion of the pop art scene in new york in the 1960s. and. and then her life touches the aids epidemic in the 80s. it sort of packs a lot in odd that someone of irish heritage is a storyteller. yes, there is something about irish people they do like for a little island. we do a lot of writing. i mean, a lot of books come out of ireland. >> if you go and talk to us about how ireland is always a character in your books, too. >> yeah. >> i mean, i think certainly the sections that are set in ireland could only be set in ireland. and there's a sense of the past is always quite close to you in ireland. you never you never very far away from your history. >> now, we should ask, you are

stepping away from your show, but you will be back. you're going on a comedy tour. >> i'm going to australia. yeah! woo hoo! all right. >> but you'll be back soon. >> yeah, yeah. >> don't want to worry anymore. >> yeah. no no no, i'm. i think i'm only missing one show. oh. oh, no, it sounds like a break. yeah. no. >> yeah. >> so. but it sounded like i was going for months. yeah. >> just wanted to get that straight. so the new novel frankie, already a bestseller in the uk, on sale now here in the us. new york times bestselling author, talk show host, graham norton. graham, so great to have you here today. >> really nice to meet you all. >> thank you so much. still ahead, we will continue to get the latest on the wildfires burning in southern california with heavy winds picking up as we speak. plus, a live report from capitol hill as pete hegseth faces the senate armed services committee today in his bid to become secretary of defense. also ahead, a conversation on how to engage with checked out teenagers. we'll be joined by two authors who want to help kids learn better, feel better and live better. morning joe is coming

right back. of course. right back. of course. >> talkin bout the old tap into etsy for home and style staples to help you set any vibe. from custom lighting under 150 dollars to vintage jackets under 100. for affordable pieces to help you make a fresh start, etsy has it. doctor recommended. qanon coq10 qanon has the number one cardiologist recommended form of coq10 quinol the brand i trust. >> consumer cellular ranked number one in network coverage and customer satisfaction. >> hi, my friend linda has you guys and gets way better coverage than i do. >> sounds like linda has you beat only in coverage and plans beat only in coverage and plans start (auctioneer) let's start the bidding at 5 million dollars. thank you, sir. (man) these people of privilege... hoarding the financial advantages for far too long. (auctioneer) 7.5 at the back. (man) look at them — unaware that robinhood gold members

now enjoy the vip treatment — a 3% ira match on retirement contributions. (auctioneer) 11 million sir. (man) once they discover their privileges are no longer exclusive... their fragile reality will plunge into disarray. ♪ oh. what's this? >> you keep dog food in the fridge. >> it's not dog food, it's fresh pet. we'll meet real veggies from my boy, junior. >> disrespect. >> but what are we doing here? >> anybody asks, we were at grandma's fresh pet. >> it's not dog food. it's food. food? >> i was drowning in debt. >> i had over $36,000 in debt.

if i would have just made the minimum payments, it would have taken me 59 years to pay off. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> national debt relief reduced my debt by over $27,000. >> with national debt relief, you have a powerful team that knows how to talk to your creditors. >> national debt relief. >> they got me out of debt. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. >> doctors recommend colon stool softener for gentle, dependable relief from constipation. >> it's so gentle. doctors even recommended during pregnancy and after surgery. colace increases water in the

pete g. writes, "my tween wants a new phone. how do i not break the bank?" we got you, pete. xfinity mobile was designed to save you money and gives you access to wifi speeds up to a gig. so you get high speeds for low prices. better than getting low speeds for high prices. right, bruce? -jealous? yeah, look at that. -honestly. someone get a helmet on this guy. xfinity internet customers, ask how to get an unlimited line free for a year, plus a free 5g phone. for holding the trump administration accountable to the public. we will use these hearings to show the contrast between donald trump's agenda of helping the special interests, especially the very wealthy, and the democrats agenda to fight

for working americans. >> nominees should expect tough, candid but fair questioning. >> senate minority leader chuck schumer laying out the democrats approach to this week's confirmation hearings for donald trump's cabinet today, pete hegseth, the president elect's pick to lead the pentagon, will be the first to face lawmakers. we're going to go through the new reporting on a critical witness connected to the former fox news host, whose calls to the fbi were not returned. plus, jack smith releases his team's report on donald trump's effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election. we'll dig into why the special counsel is confident the case would have resulted in a conviction. good morning, and welcome to morning joe. it is tuesday, january 14th. along with joe, willie and me, we have the co-host of our fourth hour, jonathan lemire and msnbc contributor mike barnicle is with us. we have all those

stories ahead. but willie, of course, we start in california. >> yeah, dangerous day ahead, it looks like, because those strong winds expected to return to los angeles county today, posing a new danger for the wildfires that have ravaged that area for a week now, officials say the winds could reach up to 70 miles an hour, leading to explosive growth of the fire. this comes as the fires have burned through nearly 40,000 acres, destroying thousands of homes. the winds are expected to die down by wednesday evening. that's still two full days away. meanwhile, firefighters say they've made significant progress in battling the two largest wildfires in the area the eaton fire. 33% contained, while the palisades fire is at 14% containment. the hurst fire is 97% contained. joining us now live from pacific palisades, a town that effectively has been wiped out is nbc's jay gray. jay, what are you seeing on the ground there today? and what do we expect over the next couple of days?

>> yeah, willie, overwhelming destruction here. and that real concern as you talk about that this footprint could grow in the next 48 hours. some disturbing news to report right off the bat. we've got a new fire burning to the north in ventura county. the auto fire right now, 56 acres burning at this point. and that's a result of the changing conditions here. winds building overnight into the early morning. and that's just going to continue. i want to give you a look at what we're seeing on the ground here right now. and it's just complete destruction. and this is something that, again stretches for miles across this region. now look, the winds, the national weather center says are going to intensify as the sun comes up and reach their peak mid morning, then continuing through midday tomorrow. gusts like you talked about at times over 70 miles and hour conditions that they say could

lead to. and i'm quoting here, rapid growth and explosive fire behavior. we have seen a number of smaller new brush fire sparked as a result of these winds. but there are mobile strike teams in place right now and really scattered across the region in strategic areas to rush in quickly. and they've done that to this point, handling some of those brush fires. but i think it's worth repeating, guys, we've got a new fire burning in ventura county just to the north, 56 acres. they're calling it the auto fire. and that's the kind of situation that is causing some real concern as we go into this 48 hour period, i would expect and fire officials say they expect to see more evacuations, more areas put on standby and hold and ready to evacuate. and so all these areas have been living through these massive blazes and now on edge again, they can't they can't get in and

clean up any of this right now. not until the fires are contained. but they've got to worry about more flames. and that's going to be a tough go over the next couple of days here. >> as you say, jay. i mean, i know people who live not far from where you're standing who obviously everything has been lost. there's some pockets where some homes were still standing. people could go in for five minutes with police to get out. some things that they may need prescriptions or other things like that. right. i'm just curious, though, jay, because it has been a couple of days of low winds. firefighters feel like, as we reported, making some progress against the biggest of the fires, but are they ready for what's coming today and tomorrow, and how can they possibly be when we've learned that these winds can blow on a whim, one direction to the next, putting new areas under threat? >> no, it's a great point, willie. and you're right. they they've dug in, they're on the front lines. and then we've got these mobile strike teams that i talked about. but when you pull aside some of these firefighters

and talk to them, they'll say it's not much of a fight. when the wind gets to hurricane strength, then it's just an issue of trying to protect whatever you can and trying to rescue trying to get people out of harm's way and move people out of the direction of these fires. the problem is we'll likely see these winds really picking up. according to the weather service to the north, and in where there is a lot of fuel left, you know, there's not a lot left to burn in places like this. but to the north you've got that dry brush and undergrowth, you've got trees that are dried out. they haven't seen rain in quite some time. and so you've got that fuel that will fire embers that are sparked up by these winds and pushed across that area. so yeah, they're ready. they're not going to give up the fight. but it's not much of a fight when mother nature's weapon is winds over 70 miles an hour. >> we're expecting those to kick up later this morning. nbc's jay gray in pacific palisades. jay, thanks so much for your reporting. let's go over to meteorologist angie lassman.

angie, good morning. so what is the forecast exactly for those winds today? >> we're going to see those elevate, especially as we get into the later parts of our afternoon or of our morning willie. and then we'll kind of see a fluctuation through the afternoon and into tomorrow. here's those four fires that we're watching. there's that auto fire that you heard jay mention 56 acres, 0% contained, but a really good chunk of this region still under that red flag warning. and this one is called a particularly dangerous situation. >> that's just kind of an extra layer of seriousness that is issued by the national weather service. >> specifically, the los angeles area has only ever issued these five other times. two this year in january. we had a couple in november and december last year, and then one back in 2020. so that gives you some sort of sense of just how rare these are, and it's for good reason. we've got those extremely critical fire weather conditions lasting across this region once again today. large fires, explosive growth all on the table. so here's how the winds play out as we get into the later parts of this morning. that's when we can expect the worst of the winds. so 50 to 75 mile per hour gusts. notice

humidity levels 10 to 25%, but either way, not a lot of moisture for us to tap into in this atmosphere to help us at all, along with the dry vegetation. as we get into later this afternoon and evening, those come down slightly. i mean, we make some improvements 40 to 55 mile per hour winds, but still we're going to still see kind of an elevated gust situation even as we get into overnight tonight. those ramp back up, high end 65mph, especially in the higher elevations. you'll notice that. but even closer to the coast, 20, 30, 40 mile per hour winds. and then we get into tomorrow. this is when we'll start to see a bit of relief, willie. we'll see. high higher ends up to 45mph, but a little better than what we're going to be dealing with for at least the next 24 hours. >> coming up, the senate confirmation hearing for pete hegseth is scheduled to kick off just over an hour from now. we'll have full coverage live from capitol hill, straight from capitol hill, straight ahead on morning joe. come [coughing] copd isn't pretty. from the struggle to breathe... to getting stopped in your tracks.

bye, grandma. ♪♪ but with trelegy, i can finally move forward. with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. once-daily trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes or eye pain occur. ♪what a wonderful world♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful, all day and night. need a shipping solution that'll grow with you? with shipstation, you can manage and fulfill all your orders in one place. plus, you get more carrier options, at the lowest rates.

keep your business growing. head to shipstation.com to start your free trial. it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. >> hotel. trivago. >> we'll move on now to the senate confirmation hearings for president elect donald trump's cabinet, which began this morning with one of his most controversial selections. pete hegseth, trump's pick for secretary of defense. members of the senate armed services committee, huddled for a briefing on the fbi background check in texas yesterday. now, as is customary, only the heads of the committee republican chair roger wicker and ranking member jack reed, were given physical access to the full fbi

report. they then were responsible for relaying those findings to all other committee members. this as nbc news reports, the contents of the report may be lacking. the fbi security check of hegseth does not include interviews with any of his ex-wives, or the woman who accused him of sexual assault in 2017. that's according to three three sources with direct knowledge of the background check. hegseth was denied any wrongdoing in that case, and the local district attorney declined to file charges, saying there was no proof beyond a reasonable doubt the assault took place. democratic lawmakers are sounding the alarm that there may be additional key information left out of the report. >> i only know that some of the folks that have been the women in his past, women in his life, have wanted to be interviewed, but have not been interviewed by the vetters. >> the transition team has slow

walked and stonewalled us, but we do know that there are significant gaps in that background check. it's incomplete and so far as we know, inadequate. and i am deeply concerned that there are facts that so far have been hidden from this committee. what are they hiding that they won't give us this kind of information? >> meanwhile, the new york times reports that investigators reached out to pete hegseth second ex-wife, samantha hegseth. the couple were married from 2010 until 2018, and according to the times, fbi investigators had an initial initial perfunctory conversation with her on january 8th. according to people familiar with the apprized or apprized of the report, mr. hegseth then made multiple attempts to contact the bureau for a more substantive discussion, but her calls were not returned last

week, said those with knowledge of the investigation, who were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. let's bring in the host of way too early, ali vitali and pulitzer prize winning columnist and associate editor of the washington post, eugene robinson. >> thank you all for being with us. let's start. jon lemire, let me ask you, what is the reaction and i guess, to this very incomplete fbi report, but also, more importantly, a lot of people are asking, how do you have an fbi report on pete hegseth when those with the most explosive charges aren't even a part of that fbi report? and you have one person trying to contact the fbi repeatedly who doesn't get her calls returned. >> yeah, the report seems extraordinarily incomplete. and we just heard a little bit of real democratic outrage yesterday about that fact. let's recall, of course, that the trump team, initially for weeks,

stonewalled the idea of any background checks, certainly by the fbi, as they, as the president elect, began selecting his possible cabinet members. they wanted to do the background checks through a private company. there were real concerns there that that wouldn't be complete. they eventually relented and let the fbi take part. but it seems here, not able to talk to every pertinent person, including these ex-wives and those who suggested hegseth behaved inappropriately with them. so i think right from the get go in this hearing today, slated for this morning, the first of a series of high profile and some incendiary hearings, we're going to hear from democrats crying foul on this very process now. pete hegseth himself, he's his testimony prepared testimony leaked to axios and other places. we know he's going to say it's time for someone who served in combat. he is a veteran to lead the department, to lead the pentagon. he's going to talk about his, you know, mistakes in his life. he says he's found god. his new wife has changed his behavior. we know in the confirmation interviews with

senators, he said he'd stop drinking and the like. but there are real questions here he's going to have to face. and some pointed questions from democrats about his personal conduct as well as his qualifications. and few suggest that this fox news contributor would have the bona fides to lead this department. we will see where this goes. whip count republicans are growing more and more confident they have the votes, but no one knows for sure as to where this goes next. and there are a few eyes, certainly joni ernst, a couple other republicans seen as the key votes here. and i think a lot of people say it's still up in the air. it depends what happens today at the hearing. well, yeah. >> and ali, please feel free to give us more insight on what you're hearing on the hill. but again, the question that's raised here is who directed the fbi not to talk to the person with the most explosive testimony against pete hegseth? the charges of rape against pete hegseth, the police. again, we

all we've said the police did not press the charges, but the fact that you don't have this woman that has come forward with all of this information about that, that, that california event. and then again, one of his ex-wives trying to reach the fbi and not getting return calls. so is there any suggestion that that the trump transition team directed the fbi to what it could or could not investigate, or would that be the republicans in the senate that would would tell the fbi, don't talk to the people that may have the most germane evidence against pete hegseth. >> well, we don't know at this point if that direction was given. but it's important to remember that as one of our reporters who's been covering this said to me yesterday on way too early, the client for the people doing the investigation is not congress. the job is not to give congress the most information possible. the job is to do the investigating at the

direction of the client, in this case, the trump transition team. and so that's going to be important for us to keep in mind when we watch democrats talk about the gaps in this report. and i think we're right to lay out how glaring they absolutely are. and it's something that democrats are now going to use in their lines of questioning. they were already going to talk about the sexual assault allegation. they were already going to talk about the potential themes around his ex-wives. but now we're going to see them not just talk about that, but also ask the question of why this wouldn't have been included in the kind of report that senators have gotten quite used to getting, even if they're not reading the report itself, being briefed in full on what's in the report. and it's clear these are the rules of this committee. that's not the thing that's odd here. the thing that's odd here is that there are pieces of this report that seem very obvious to have investigators at least ask questions about and bring back to congress, and that wasn't done here. and that's just the gaps in the report on the sexual

violence and sexual assault allegation, and also things that his ex-wife's ex-wives might have said. but then there's also the misuse of funds of veterans organizations. there are the allegations that nbc news has reported on that he was abusing alcohol. all of that is going to be in this hearing that is going to be quite explosive on capitol hill. >> jeanne, this is an extraordinary moment in terms of senate hearings, i would imagine there is no director of the fbi. chris wray has resigned. there's an acting director. we don't know what the fbi is doing in terms of pursuing any extraordinary or extra questioning of potential witnesses. people are willing to give testimony about pete hegseth, but we do know that the post is not like the postmaster general. it's the secretary of defense in a very dangerous world and on paper, and according to everything you hear from, including some republicans, pete hegseth is extraordinarily unqualified. >> so where does the senate

committee go from here with with not as much information as they need and not as much cooperation, perhaps from the federal bureau of investigation? >> well, that's a very good question because the hearing is today. right. so they're supposed to have the information the, the, the committee chairman and the ranking member have already looked at the background reports. they're ready to go. and so, you know, it's really frustrating to have to talk about this investigation in retrospect. but that's kind of where we are now. unless something extraordinary happens and there's some attempt to sort of go back into this in, look, merrick garland is still the attorney general, right? i mean, you know, joe biden is still the president. it's not as if the transition has already happened. so i am really curious as to

why, with a job this important, it's not just these allegations against hegseth. it's the whole question of whether he is remotely capable of doing what is really one of the most important jobs in our government, a job that's that's that's doubly important now because there are all these questions about the readiness of the us defense department. if perish the thought we ever had to, to fight or deter a major war. and, you know, these are big questions about what we're doing militarily to counter the rise of china. and it's pete hegseth, the guy to figure that out. and, and i want to know more about that. >> well, i've got to say again, of all the character issues aside, i can tell you there's not a single person in

washington, d.c. that i've talked to that thinks that he's qualified to run the pentagon. again, all character, all character questions aside, that's something that joni ernst knows. she knows he's not qualified to run the pentagon. that's something that john thune knows. he knows pete hegseth is not qualified to run the pentagon. that's something mitch mcconnell knows. that's something that lisa murkowski knows. that's something that susan collins knows. it's something, of course, that todd young, one of the more serious thinkers, most serious thinkers on national defense issues, know. so, again, all of these character questions aside, these these so-called john tower questions. all of those aside, everybody knows the underlying truth that nobody will be served. i mean, the dod will not

be served by this. americans will not be served by it. the armed forces won't be served by it. even the commander in chief, donald trump, ultimately will not be served by having somebody running the dod that's ill equipped just because of experience, or lack thereof, of running the dod. still, i the question this morning regarding the start of this hearing, jonathan lamar has to go back to why didn't the fbi ask the most basic questions from the most, most germane witnesses? were they were they instructed not to by somebody, or do you think they were doing it because they didn't want to offend the incoming administration? >> that is the great question. >> now to ali's point. the parameters are usually set by the transition team. so and that would be the case here as well. so we there's likely some of this at least is or instructions from the trump team. the specifics we don't know. we're still reporting. the new york

times broke this story. pieces of the story last night. they don't have either. there is a suggestion. we know tammy duckworth. we played a little bit of sound from her a few moments ago. the senator from illinois, i was just reading further from what she had to say yesterday. she also wondered that in some cases, the women involved may not have wanted to come forward because they were fearful of their safety or the safety of their children. so i think that's an element here. but we know that's not the case, at least for the one ex-wife who proactively reached out to the fbi. so why she was rebuffed, why she was ignored. that will be one of the mysteries that i think we heard this from senator blumenthal as well. i was just reading his his notes that will we will probably hear in the first minutes of the hearing today. why did it happen this way? >> i need to understand more. the transition team gets to tell the fbi how to do a background check, because last i checked, a background check isn't a background check unless it's a background check. like the way they do it. >> i well but but but but in the in this case ali though there were negotiations on whether

there would be an fbi background check at all on pete hegseth, it was it was finally when roger wicker, another republican senator, said, we need an fbi background check that we even moved in that direction. but again, it is fascinating that the team that that is most invested in getting a candidate through is the one that defines the outline, the outlines of the investigation itself. so, i mean, it would it would be fascinating if they said, you can't interview these. most the people that are, again, most germane to the investigation. on whether he has the ability to run the department or not. >> and that's not to say that democrats aren't also trying to reach out to these same people, especially now with the information that the fbi might not have or did not speak with them. but i do think that it's important, as we illuminate various aspects of this process, for folks to realize the way that these kinds of background checks are done. and i think

mika brings up a really good point to the casual viewer. isn't a background check a background check that no one can put any parameters on here in washington? that might not be the answer to the question, but certainly it's the question that will continue asking. and then i think the other piece of this as we move forward, is the ways that democrats try to highlight this. i know that there's some talk of surprises this morning during this hearing, and we'll see them pretty early on as, as jonathan says. but then also coming back to the republicans and the way that they handle this, there was a view at the end of the year that, yes, they wanted background checks. they pushed for that. everyone from roger wicker, the head of the committee, but also susan collins and lisa murkowski, making clear that they were skeptical of this nomination and they needed more information to go off of. that was a really big push to actually get this investigatory process going in the typical sense. but then also when you leave glaring gaps in it, you give people what they ask for, but only kind of do the gaps make them that much more

skeptical. democrats are going to play that up. but for someone like joni ernst, who is sitting on this committee who already clearly had questions, what is she going to do with this lack of information? do the primary challenges on capitol hill ultimately lend to republicans being able to ram all of these nominees, however skeptical or unqualified people think they might be down the throats of congress, and thusly, the american people. that's sort of been the litmus test for the entirety of this nominating contest. and so the fact that we're here for the very first one could tell us early what we're in for. >> coming up, our next guest has been fighting wildfires for almost five decades. orange county fire chief brian fennessy weighs in on the battle to contain the flames in los angeles. when morning joe comes right back. oh. >> my muscle cramps were keeping me up at night. >> so then i tried slimming the magnesium plus calcium supplement that helps relax

tense muscles so i can rest comfortably and slow. meg comfortably and slow. meg tablets have a slow release i was stuck. unresolved depression symptoms were in my way. i needed more from my antidepressant. vraylar helped give it a lift. adding vraylar to an antidepressant is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms better than an antidepressant alone. vraylar is not approved for elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis due to increased risk of death or stroke. report changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts to your doctor. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles or confusion which may be life-threatening or uncontrolled muscle movements which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain and high cholesterol may occur. difficulty moving, tremors, slow or uncontrolled body movements, restlessness and feeling like you need to move, nausea, constipation, insomnia, dizziness, increased appetite, and fatigue are common. side effects may not appear for several weeks. visit vraylar.com to see additional side effects. i didn't have to change my treatment. i just gave it a lift.

ask about vraylar. abbvie could help you save. (♪♪) years of hard work. decades of dedication. committed to giving back. you've been there, done that. and you're still here for more. so now that you're 50 or older, and at increased risk for pneumococcal pneumonia and ipd be proactive with capvaxive- a vaccine specifically designed for adults to help protect against pneumonia and invasive disease caused by certain types of pneumococcal bacteria. capvaxive is the only vaccine that helps protect against the strains that cause 84% of ipd in adults 50 or older compared with up to 52% by other pneumococcal conjugate vaccines. don't get capvaxive if you're allergic to the vaccine or its ingredients. tell your doctor if you have a weakened immune system. common side effects include injection-site reactions, feeling tired, headache, muscle aches, and fever. whether you've had another pneumococcal vaccine or not ask your doctor or pharmacist about capvaxive.

(♪♪) i'm not a doctor. i'm not even in a doctor's office. i'm standing on the streets talking to real people about their heart. how's your heart? my heart's pretty good. —you sure? —i think so. how do you know? you're driving a car, you have the check engine light. but the heart doesn't have a hey, check heart sign. i want to show you something. put both fingers right on those pads. there you go. in 30 seconds we're going to have a medical-grade ekg reading. —there it is! —that is you. look at that. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds from anywhere. kardiamobile is proven to detect atrial fibrillation, one of the leading causes of stroke. and it's the only personal ekg that's fda-cleared to detect normal heart rhythm, bradycardia and tachycardia. how much do you think this device costs? probably a thousand. $99! wow. that's impressive. checking your heart anytime, anywhere has never been easier. and kardiamobile is how hsa/fsa eligible. get kardiamobile today for just $79 at kardia.com

or amazon. ♪♪ interview of his presidency. they'll discuss his achievements, his legacy and what's ahead for the country. the last word thursday at ten on msnbc. >> new reaction now is the result of the presidential election reverberate throughout this country. >> we are getting a picture of what a donald trump cabinet will look like. >> president elect trump's return to the white house has shaken nato allies. >> president elect trump will likely inherit a chaotic situation in the middle east. >> firefighters on both coasts battling dangerous blazes. >> the federal reserve is widely expected to lower interest rates in el paso from philadelphia in israel, new hampshire from msnbc world headquarters. >> special counsel jack smith's

report on his investigation into donald trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election was released to the public overnight just a few hours ago. the report summarizes smith's investigation into trump's efforts to hold on to power. the final line of that report reads, quote, indeed. but for mr. trump's election and imminent return to the presidency, the office assessed that the admissible evidence was sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction at trial. the report cites examples of such evidence, including how trump pressed vice president mike pence to overturn the results of the election, writing, quote, mr. trump wanted no one else speaking with vice president pence because he and coconspirators were already implementing a secret plan to use mr. pence's ministerial role as president of the senate to mr. trump's advantage. end quote. the report also cites how trump privately acknowledged he lost the election, writing at times mr. trump made comments implicitly acknowledging he knew he had lost the election. for

example, in a january 3rd, 2021 oval office meeting regarding a national security matter, mr. trump stated in part, it's too late for us. we're going to give that to the next guy, meaning president elect biden, the report continues in private, in contrast with his public false claims, mr. trump made admissions that reflected his understanding that he had lost. in a private moment, mr. trump confessed to his family members that it doesn't matter if he won or lost the election, you still have to fight like hell. when president elect biden appeared on television in november, mr. trump said to a staffer, quote, can you believe i lost to this effing guy? and when his own vice president declined to join the conspiracy, mr. trump berated him for being, quote, too honest. trump criticized the report on social media in a post at 1:41 a.m. eastern time. let's bring in nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian and former litigator and msnbc legal correspondent

lisa rubin. good morning to you both. a lot to sift through in these overnight hours, ken. 174 pages released by jack smith by the special counsel's office. most of the detail at this point had been public knowledge through media reports and other investigations. but to see it in one place and to hear jack smith say we had enough evidence to convict, but we had to step away because mr. trump was reelected. >> yeah, that's right willie. it was powerful. not really surprising, but what was most interesting to me, actually, was the introductory letter, which was from jack smith and in his own words and in his own voice, where he really tried to push back against the false charges that donald trump and his supporters have been making from the beginning, that this whole thing was politicized, that this prosecution was engineered by joe biden and his democratic allies to stop donald trump from becoming president. he has a whole long passage on that. and then he concludes what i thought was the most interesting line of the whole report, which is, and

to all who know me well, the claim from mr. trump that my decisions as prosecutor were influenced or directed by the biden administration or other political actors is, in a word, laughable. and that's absolutely true for those of us who cover the justice department and know anything about jack smith and the people around him. this was an investigation pursued by career fbi agents and career prosecutors brought from different parts of the justice department or former officials like jack smith. there was no involvement whatsoever by anybody political, by joe biden, or even really by merrick garland, other than to be briefed on the results. and what you have here is a powerful narrative, really sort of laying out what we already knew, but in more explicit fashion. and you hit some of the really most important points that he hammered, which is that donald trump, according to the evidence that they've marshaled, knew that the claims, the false claims that he was making about fraud were, in fact false. and that was the basis for charging him with defrauding the american public. and they also go into

some great detail here about how they believe that he actually incited the january 6th riot. and while he did say in the ellipse speech, you know, urging people to be peaceful, he used the word fight more than ten times. and they say they considered charging him with incitement, but ended up tripping over the free speech issues. it's a really difficult charge to bring. they also considered the charge of insurrection, but decided that insurrection is so loosely defined in the statute, had been so seldomly brought that they didn't want to go down that road. so, look, you know, this was the last effort by jack smith to try to explain to the american public why he did what he did. at the end of the day, the american people spoke and the world that we thought we lived in. when richard nixon was driven out of office during watergate, where republicans and democrats came together, that's not the world we're living in anymore. it's very clear. >> yeah. lisa, this hit just before 1:00 in the morning. and again, jack smith makes very clear that donald trump was

saved only by his own reelection, which is to say he goes through over 174 pages. the evidence that he has, he said, we for sure, we believe, have enough evidence to convict him, but we had to let it go. yeah. >> and willie, people like me are going to be spending the next several days or even the next several months. looking at the footnotes of this report you mentioned in your introduction, i'm a former litigator, and i'm looking through this report through that prism. what do we know from this report that we didn't know before? it's true, as ken said, that the bulk of this is really known to the american public, particularly those of us who closely follow this litigation, like ken and me, on the other hand, are there tidbits here that we hadn't seen before? absolutely. i want to tell you about one of them. one of the things that the department of justice is saying in this report, to explain why they made their charging decisions is not only did trump know that his claims were false after and at the time that he made them, but it was always the plan to declare victory. and they say that trump had a plan to declare victory first,

irrespective of what the election results showed. how do they know that they drop a footnote in which there are citations to what appeared to be at least five different interviews or grand jury testimonies from people who heard him say that that's the kind of evidence that's all replete throughout this report, and that people like me are going to focus on. he also warned mike pence when pence said, i can't do this for you, i'm going to have to go after you. i don't remember that from prior recitations of the facts here, but he basically told pence, i'm going to publicly criticize you. and then what did he do in the next breath? he lied to the public and said that he and pence were in agreement about the plan going forward to throw out votes. when they then got together with john eastman and pence said, look, i can't do that. i can't return these electoral votes to the states. trump said to him, well, i like the other thing better. the other thing being just throw them all out altogether. you know, that's the kind of detail here that while it's not game changing, there are some

additional details here that i think will inform the way that people understood jack smith's charging decisions, both in terms of what he did charge and as ken mentioned, what he didn't in terms of insurrection and some of the other options that were on the table. >> coming up, how the pentagon is preparing for a change of command. nbc's courtney kube joins us on the incoming administration's approach to the us military. that's straight ahead on morning joe. in some way. >> this is what drives your business numbers, data sales, sure. but it's your people who define your business. that's why paychex just reinvented the way to find and keep the best peopl. smart, streamlined hr technology assisted by ai in our team of hr experts. everything you need to recruit, motivate and support your employees because your your employees because your people are your business.

go-friends, gather! keke! chris! jason! boop! friends. let's go, let's go, friends! hold onto your dice. woohoo!! -nice frosting, pratt. -thank you! how we doin', keke? tastes like money to me. i can't go back to jail! wait, did you rob my bank? -hehe. -are we winning!? -ha ha ha! -oh boy! yeah! money, power, friendship. let's go! solution. it's muddy math. the anti mud mat that keeps your dog's paws clean before they make a mess inside. use muddy mat under your pet's food dish in the bathroom. even catch spills in the kitchen. call or go online to order your muddy mat right away through this introductory offer. order two and get one free for only 19.95

each. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. >> how it's easy when you know where to look. >> trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. >> hotel trivago for plant based, healthy blood pressure support. there's one brand at walmart that stands above the rest. it's super beats. discover why more cardiologists recommend super beats for heart health support than any other beat brand at super beats. >> com consumer cellular ranked number one in network coverage and customer satisfaction. >> hi! my friend linda has you guys and gets way better coverage than i do. >> sounds like linda has you beat only in coverage and plans start at $20. >> okay, price to get your second month free when you switch to consumer cellular. >> my hair was thinning all around my hairline. >> my dermatologist recommended nutrafol. it's 100% drug free and clinically tested. >> my hair is longer,

with disasters like the la wildfires. historian walter isaacson is digging into that, and he joins the conversation straight ahead on morning joe. you. need to.

>> i was drowning in debt. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. if i would have just made the minimum payments, it would have taken me 59 years to pay off. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> national debt relief reduced my debt by over $27,000. >> with national debt r you have a powerful team that knows how to talk to your creditors. >> national debt relief that got me out of debt. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. >> consumer cellular ranked number one in network coverage and customer satisfaction. >> hi. my friend linda has you guys and gets way better coverage than i do. >> sounds like linda has you beat only in coverage and plans beat only in coverage and plans start at $20. (auctioneer) let's start the bidding at 5 million dollars. thank you, sir. (man) these people of privilege... hoarding the financial advantages for far too long. (auctioneer) 7.5 at the back. (man) look at them — unaware that robinhood gold members now enjoy the vip treatment — a 3% ira match

on retirement contributions. (auctioneer) 11 million sir. (man) once they discover their privileges are no longer exclusive... their fragile reality will plunge into disarray. ♪ line that's streaming? repairs are expensive. good contractors, hard to find. the plan from homeserve is like a subscription for peace of mind for one small monthly fee. when a covered system breaks, we'll send a qualified contractor and pay for the repair. why worry? get homeserve and chill plans from homeserve. start at just 4.99 a month. call 1-800-324-6114 or visit homeserve. >> calm. within two two and a half weeks, i noticed immediately a difference in my wellness and my gut, especially for perimenopausal and menopausal women who are trying to figure out what supplement to

take. >> this is a key part of it for me. >> your cardiovascular system is at the center of your heart health, and at the center of every blood pressure supplement from human, clinically studied, plant based ingredients inspired plant based ingredients inspired by groundbreaking before i started playing basketball, i was kind of quiet. i wasn't really that confident or outgoing. but now, with basketball, i feel like a leader. yo, cayden! sport for good means to me that i'll be able

to give back to my family and my community. goals can be accomplished, dreams can be accomplished, but dreams are just dreams if you don't go out and try to achieve them. learn more about sport for good at laureususa.com. msnbc original podcasts, exclusive bonus content, and all of your favorite msnbc shows now ad free. subscribe on apple podcasts. >> a very busy day of news. >> we have never seen anything like it. >> we're going to report the facts out together. >> there are several stories breaking what protects the country? >> what protects the constitution? >> do you still believe that the collapse of the regime is inevitable? >> what's your level of concern and fear for your own future? >> america is dealing with many issues, from grocery prices to gun violence. >> it has been over 400 days since the war in gaza started. >> you're watching trump hire a

fiercely loyal staff. >> much more to come here tonight. stay with us. >> in 1930, the republican controlled house of representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the. anyone. anyone. the great depression passed. the anyone. anyone, a tariff bill, the hawley-smoot tariff act, which anyone raised or lowered, raised tariffs in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. did it work? anyone? anyone know the effects? it did not work. and the united states sank deeper into the great depression. >> i was the first girl. a lot has changed since ferris bueller's day off. remember that movie? but not everything. many teenagers are just as zoned out today, and not only during a lecture on history or economics. authors jenny anderson and rebecca winthrop are out with a

new book detailing how young people are more checked out and stressed out than ever before. and that's having a dire impact on their ability to flourish both academically and emotionally. the book is entitled the disengaged teen helping kids learn better, feel better, and live better, and we need that. jenny and rebecca join us now! along with msnbc contributor and vice chair of the forbes and know your value 3050 summit, huma abedin and editor of forbes women, maggie mcgrath. good to have you all. jenny, i'll start with you. for the past five years, you and rebecca have been investigating why so many children lose their love of learning in adolescence. what exactly did you find, and how much of a role did covid and phones play in this? >> yeah, the data we found was heartbreaking. >> really. >> so in elementary school, about 75% of kids love going to

school. by high school, that has dropped to 25%. i mean, it is, you know, a staggering fall. and that's heartbreaking. so what's going on? >> what's driving this? as we just saw in ferris bueller, that relevance piece is so key. >> there has always been a gap between what happens in school and what happens in the real world. that gap is a chasm now, right? kids see it and feel it with their phones. you asked about phones. they know what's happening and they don't feel like they're being prepared. and only 30% of kids feel that what they're learning in school, that they can develop their own interests, that they are interested in what they're learning and how kids feel about what they learn has a direct impact on how they perform in their learning and how they feel about themselves as learners. so that's what's going on. >> rebecca, i want to ask you, we talked earlier. i have a teen. he fits into this category of hating school. everyone in my community of moms says it's all about the phones. what did you find is driving the teen

disengagement crisis in your research? >> the teen disengagement crisis has existed for longer than cell phones have existed and longer than covid. both of those things exacerbate it, exacerbate it, and make it much worse. but really, it is a lack of autonomy, control, agency and relevance that are making kids check out. teens today are subject to ten times more rules than adults, and two times more rules than incarcerated felons. we are not giving teens the space to actually learn to be the author of their own lives. and so they have a choice. they either push back, freak out, resist, or mode, or they just check out and say, fine, i have to be here. i'm forced to be here. so many kids we spoke to said, school feels like prison and they just coasted along. so that's passenger mode for you. and that's what teens are doing. >> jenny, rebecca just mentioned two modes, and you write that people should parent the kid that they have in the mode that they are in. can you talk about what these modes are and why

it's so important that we understand them? >> yeah. >> so we found four modes. >> kids turn up to their learning in four modes. rebecca just mentioned one passenger mode. that's when they're coasting along doing the bare minimum. we've all seen those ferris bueller's day off. we have achiever mode. these are the kids trying to get a gold star at everything that's put in front of them. then we have resister mode. we all know the resister mode kids because they are the ones that are dubbed the problem children. they act out, they withdraw, they are noticed, they are using the voice. they have to let you know that learning is not working for them. and then we have explorer mode. >> this is where we want kids to be all the time. >> kids are proactively engaged in making their learning, bending their learning for them. they want to bring their interests into the mix. think about the kid who learns about tornadoes in science, and he comes home and he goes on youtube and he asks you questions. he's super annoying at the dinner table. that kid is really developing initiative and proactivity around learning. that's explorer. we want all

kids to have that because that spark really fuels a positive, virtuous cycle of learning. jenny, i want to follow up on that. >> i wish, first of all, we need more explorers. but you and rebecca wrote a piece in the new york times about giving teens more autonomy. >> take us practically through a day of what that looks like. >> sure. >> absolutely. >> so less instructional, more invitational. less. do your homework. more. what's your plan to get your homework done? some choice. give them some choice. they, as rebecca said, they feel the world is being done to them. they're trying to develop a sense of agency, a sense of doing things on their own. so we have to let them. so what are you going to do your homework now? more. what's the plan for doing homework? and then the next day, if that plan doesn't work, make another plan. these are skills themselves. these learning to learn skills are the skills we're trying to develop. >> we focus so much on the grades and the and the performance in school and less on this real sense of agency. >> so less instructional, more

invitational, more choice, more autonomy. >> let them choose their extracurriculars. and if they're not productive interests, it's okay. let them develop the thing they care about. >> and rebecca, what's the advice you would give to educators and teachers about sparking a love for learning or reigniting a love for learning for kids both in and out of school? >> so less than 4% of kids in middle school and high school are brookings and transcend, research found, have the opportunity to explore in school so teachers have a big role to play, as do parents who can help their kids explore outside of school. but teachers can do seven different instructional practices, which have been proven across 14 countries, 35 rcts. they don't have to change their curriculum, their disciplinary procedures, and that will spark kids interest. little things like, hey, we're going to teach about the solar system today instead of let me start and tell you what's happening. do you guys have any questions about the solar system? just that act makes kids

reflect, think all of a sudden spark curiosity? it's a tiny thing. it takes less than 60s and if you do that repeatedly, it makes a huge difference. >> really tangible advice on this really difficult topic. an important book for teachers and parents alike. the new book, the disengaged teen, it's out now. authors jenny anderson and rebecca winthrop. thank you both very much. and huma and maggie, thank you as always. i can't wait to see you guys on thursday. you'll be back. we have some big announcements about our upcoming 3050 summit. so yay team! i'll see you guys thursday. thank you so much. up next, we're going to turn back to our top stories of the day, including an update on the southern california wildfires as extreme winds continue to fan the flames across the los angeles area. plus, we'll go live to capitol hill, where the first confirmation hearing for donald trump's cabinet will get underway in a matter of moments.

also ahead, cnbc's andrew ross sorkin joins us to discuss a potential buyer for tiktok, days before the app is set to be banned in the u.s. a jam packed fourth hour of morning joe is straight ahead. you sit down now. >> do you want a ding to your credit? i don't want to ding. so when i needed a new credit card, i went to experian. see these cards with no ding decline. your credit won't take a ding if you're declined, so you can apply with confidence. get the experian app now. >> introducing the zpack from copper fit, our groundbreaking technology designed for compression support of your lower back and core like you've never experienced before, the x back evenly distributes the support across a broader surface area of your back for relief of lower back aches and pains. an orthopedic designed alloy support panel, and four built in flexible stabilizers to help improve alignment and promote

improve alignment and promote better posture. available at g tap into etsy for original and affordable home and style pieces like like lighting under 150 dollars to brighten your vibe. for under 100 dollars, put your best look forward with vintage jackets. or pick up custom shelving for under 50 to make space without emptying your pockets. and get cozy with linen robes for 75 or less. for affordable home and style finds to help you welcome whatever's next, etsy has it. cargurus, we get it. as the number one most visited car number one most visited car shopping site, we make sure ♪ unnecessary action hero ♪ missing punches. unnecessary. check reversals. unnecessary. time sheet corrections. unnecessary. unanswered sick time. (yelling) (glass breaking) get paycom and make the unnecessary, unnecessary.

why do couples choose a sleep number smart bed? i need it a little cool and i need it a lot of cool. sleep number does that. sleep up to 15 degrees cooler on each side 9 out of 10 couples sleep better. and now, save 40% on our new special edition smart bed. shop a sleep number store near you. 10% loyalty program discount. >> that's $225 for the night. >> not bad. >> $155 for the night. >> hold up. how? >> it's easy when you know where to look. trivago compares hotel prices from hundreds of sites so you can save up to 40%. you can save up to 40%. >> trivago is my secret tactic. with stamps.com you can print stamps and shipping labels. (♪♪) whenever, wherever. (♪♪) get the flexibility you need to run your business. start your risk-free trial today

at stamps.com. carrots and blueberries. >> pyridoxine hydrochloride so much h

hour of morning joe. it is 6 a.m. on the west coast, 9 a.m. in the east in just about 30 minutes, president elect donald trump's cabinet picks will begin facing their most important test to date, appearing for crucial confirmation hearings before senate committees. there's the hearing room there in live pictures for you. first up is trump's controversial pick for secretary of defense, pete hegseth, the former fox news anchor and veteran will sit before the senate armed services committee in what is expected to be a tough and pretty direct

round of questioning. >> and, you know, this morning, the wall street journal editorial page is out with an editorial that hegseth faces a skeptical senate. and this is what the conservative wall street journal editorial page writes. donald trump. they say he was appointed because of concerns over a woke military. but the wall street journal editorial page says that could be taken care of quickly. but there are larger and more urgent issues at the pentagon, and the 44 year old hegseth lacks the experience typically required. he's never run an organization of any size, never mind a bureaucracy with as many snares as the pentagon and his deputy secretary, mr. feinberg also lacks familiarity with the vast defense department. such experience is crucial lest mr. hegseth be swallowed up by that bureaucracy. he has an admirable combat record, but in private life he has mainly been a political combatant. the wall

street journal editorial says the real concern here is judgment, and someone should ask if mr. hegseth was forthcoming with the trump team when under consideration for the job. of course he wasn't. and that's one of the things that they are concerned about still there. and the editorial concludes mr. trump's social media enforcers have been threatening senators with reprisals if they vote against mr. hegseth, which suggests they know he still has doubts to overcome. this is two fraud, a moment in global affairs for senators not to ask the tough questions. and i must say, mika, the one thing again, even the character issues aside, despite the fact it's going to be very hard for people like joni ernst, who's been talking about these same character issues throughout her entire career and making the military a safe place for women to, to, to be able to pursue their careers

in defending the united states of america in tough positions in the armed services, and also women in combat as well. but for joni ernst, for susan collins, for lisa murkowski, for so many other people, mitch mcconnell, todd young, they they're going to have concerns. but i think all of the republican senators that i've spoken with off the record, democratic senators and again, most people who care deeply about the armed services of the united states of america simply say character issues aside, pete hegseth is not up to running the dod, especially when the only two vet organizations he had any part of. reports are he drove them into the ground financially. >> that's the key here. i mean, for the president elect, when you get that call at 3 a.m. and it's a dire piece of information about something that's going on, is the president elect going to want someone who has experience, who has a sense of who to call,

what to do, what comes next, who has an ability to prognosticate and an ability to solve problems and ability to get along with people like that's the big issue is, is this someone who can serve the president effectively at a time of national crisis? >> and also, it must be said, somebody that's going to always be straight with him, because the fact is, the trump transition team was lied to a few times by pete hegseth. first of all, about the incident in california and secondly from from the reporting, the understanding of the police report and the nature of the police report and what was out there. so, yeah, a lot of questions about whether even the president elect will be served by this choice. >> the hearing is set to begin. joining us now, nbc news senior white house correspondent garrett haig. garrett, if you could give us a preview of what we can expect once it gets underway in about 26 minutes.

>> well, mika, the two other confirmation hearings that were scheduled for today have both been pushed back to later in the week, which means pete hegseth will have the spotlight all to himself today. and i expect it will be a very uncomfortable spotlight in his time, since he's been named as donald trump's pick to lead the pentagon. he has not sat for any contentious interviews. he's mostly avoided asking or asking or answering questions from journalists in the hallway here today. he will be grilled by democratic and republican members of what is now. do you recall a republican controlled committee here in the senate armed services committee about all the issues you just mentioned, both his leadership of these veterans organizations, his time in the service and his personal characteristics and personal problems along the way. that incident in monterey, as well as reports about his drinking, both of which he has denied any wrongdoing. democrats here want to sort of expose hegseth, not just nationally, but to the audience of republican senators that you were just talking about who really will hold his confirmation fate in their

hands, and they will be armed with less information than they would have liked, in the form of an fbi background check that was handed over to the committee or to the leadership of the committee late last week. but that, our reporting indicates, does not include interviews with hegseth ex-wives or the woman at the center of that monterey incident. nevertheless, expect this to be a hearing that could at times be deeply uncomfortable and personal for pete hegseth. from the trump side, they say, look, this is somebody who has a nontraditional background. we like that nontraditional background, he said in his opening remarks. he's going to talk about the importance of having somebody with dust on his boots leading the pentagon. and a senior trump adviser today said they expect hegseth to kill the committee with kindness. i think we could expect to see a lot of the morning show host charm deployed by pete hegseth, his last major job and a skill that will be useful talking in front of senators and the entire country today. mika. >> all right. nbc's garrett haake, thank you so much. we'll check back in with you as the morning hearing gets under

underway in a few minutes. you know, jonathan, were there other issues, too? i mean, you go back through the books, pete hegseth books, and you look at as the wall street journal editorial page. again, this is a murdoch newspaper. this is a conservative editorial page, sort of the north star for conservatives in america for a very long time. they made reference to the fact that his time in civilian life has been defined by partizan combat, and not just down the middle, partizan combat or not just partizan combat within within normal parameters, he has said, some extraordinarily offensive, deeply offensive things about the political system and about political revenge. so that's going to be out there as well. and front page of the new york times. and of course, that hearing starting up in about 20, 25 minutes. and we'll go to that. so let's talk about the wildfires. obviously, john, a

story that is just again, it's just it's the scale of devastation so widespread. it's just surreal. the only thing that it reminds me of in my entire life has been hurricane katrina. but you look at the front page of the new york times today, and the lead story is talking about investigations as to what started the fire. police tape around skull rock, which is a part a part of part of a hiking trail in pacific palisades. fears of the possibility that it may have been started by fireworks or may have been arson. >> yeah, cause still under investigation. but there does seem to be at least some evidence that it was manmade in some way. we don't know yet. what's been so difficult here in the last couple of days? we've heard from people who live in the los angeles area. that includes we played a clip from jimmy kimmel earlier in the show. he spoke last night is there's incredible sadness about what's happened, but also this fear, because it's not over yet.

this this is a tragedy that is not yet in the rear view mirror. and that's because powerful santa ana winds have returned to the l.a. area, bringing the potential for explosive fire growth. nbc news national correspondent morgan chesky will bring us the latest now from southern california. >> extreme winds whipping up flames in southern california overnight, sparking a new blaze. the auto fire in ventura county burning through brush and forcing evacuation orders. first responders racing to contain it as across the region, they mount an all out attack to control the much larger fires that have devastated entire sections of los angeles. with those santa ana winds ramping back up overnight and due to peak today. 13 million people under red flag warnings. the national weather service calling the conditions about as bad as it gets. as investigators search the area looking for a cause, multiple

law enforcement sources tell nbc news that an early focus is a possible human cause of the fire, though no conclusions have been reached. a week after the firestorms exploded, homes in the pacific palisades burn zone are still smoldering. crews putting out hotspots here and in altadena. officials urging residents to stay out of evacuation zones. >> people are saying, i just want to go look at my house and i want to see what's left. >> we know that, but we have people literally looking for the remains of your neighbors. >> as thousands of families search for places to stay, the district attorney is vowing to prosecute illegal price gouging. but realtors and families we met say they're seeing homes go for thousands above asking. >> we're going to find a house, i promise, i promise. >> the fires, the palmatier family, including their pup apollo. >> just one of dozens packing an open house in santa monica after flames consumed their beloved palisades home. everybody's

going to have 100 applications, and they're going to pick one, and hopefully they pick you a city on edge, searching for answers as deadly winds still threaten. >> that was nbc's morgan chesky with that report. and joining us now, orange county, california, fire chief brian fennessy. chief, thank you so much for joining us this morning. give us the latest there as the status of these fires that are still raging there in southern california. >> yeah, the fires, you know, are roughly palisades, i believe is about 24, 000 acres and is holding at about 14,000 plus. >> you know, there has not been significant growth in the last day, but per your report, certainly a lot of hotspots. >> and probably our biggest fear is that the winds have resurfaced. >> they're blowing very hard. and ventura, la, orange and riverside counties. >> so and we're we're one ignition away from another disaster sadly.

>> so speak to us if you will, about what, if anything, can be done to sort of blunt the impact of these winds and just to the, to the morale and frankly, fatigue of your officers, of these firefighting personnel who have now been at this for days upon days upon days, you bet the you know, there really is nothing, you know, that that humanly that we can do to prevent or stop these winds. >> you know, the best we can do is, you know, provide information in advance and have people, you know, have their things ready to go and to evacuate right away. but, you know, the santa ana winds are something that we're used to here in southern california, but not at 80 mile an hour sustained or, or 100 mile an hour gusts. i mean, even at 40, 50 sustained and gusts. we have a long history of losing life and structure. so the event last week was extraordinary. and as i've mentioned many times, that

fire was unstoppable until the wind lightened up. we were not going to, you know, get that fire. i mean, it wouldn't have mattered how many thousands of engines we had. that fire was going to go where it was going to go in terms of the morale. you know, firefighters are, you know, optimistic, upbeat. they're on those fire lines and they're giving it all. but yes, we are seeing, you know, signs of fatigue. and we have to be concerned. we being the fire chiefs of these organizations, have to be concerned with the mental health of our firefighters when they return. they've been through something extremely traumatic. and i've seen a lot that maybe some of them haven't seen before. and so, you know, we're prepared to deal with that as well. their mental health is a top priority for us. >> well, chief, we can't imagine how unbelievably difficult it has to be for you and the men and women that are that are giving their all here. i do want

to ask you a question about something you touched on before, and that is a lot of blame going around. that's what politicians do during times like these. and i'm sure we'll have after action reports and there will be people that we can blame. but i want to underline something that you said that i just i just don't know that people realize and that is you're fighting a war right now, that no fire department in america would be equipped to fight from, from from everything that i understand, it's just, again, the winds, the scale of the winds, the wildfires sweeping into urban areas. first of all, if you can expand on that. and secondly, if you have any suggestions right now and it may be way too early, but what does the manhattan project look like for, for future firefighters to

fight these savage conditions? >> well, you're absolutely right. >> you know, and when i say, you know, conditions, the fire was unstoppable. i mean, think about it. we know when hurricanes are going to make landfall. we don't always know where they're going to make landfall. but there's nothing we can do to stop those. same with the tornado. i mean, we don't have this is mother nature, you know, showing us once again that she's in charge. and whether it's climate change or something else, i can tell you, after 47 years of fighting fire and many, many, many santa ana wind fires, we've seen loss of life and destruction. this event last week was absolutely unique in terms of technology maybe. and that manhattan project, i really liked that term you used there, you know, the fire service here in california throughout the west, you know, are very engaged with

innovators, technology. there's a program being developed, and i believe it's i think the first satellite might have been launched already, but low orbit satellites. so a lot of effort on detection. on the response side, you know, we have the quick reaction force. that was an innovative effort by myself, the county fire chief in los angeles and ventura county. we have three large, you know, helicopters that drop retardant at night, 3000 gallons apiece. and they surge and they've been involved in the fight. so we're trying to find unique ways to improve response from the air, you know, and from the ground. but quite frankly, again, this was mother nature having her way, showing us once again. and when people are asking me, should we expect this again, i tell them, yes, because every time we've had a 100 year fire, it's not a few years later

before we have another 100 year fire. so i think this is an indicator that we can expect the same again in the future. >> sadly, orange county fire chief brian fennessy, thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. we will stay in touch. thank you. >> thank you, chief, for all you're doing. yes. we so greatly appreciate it. >> joining us now, professor of history at tulane university, walter isaacson. he served as the vice chair of the louisiana recovery authority from 2005 to 2007, which oversaw the recovery and rebuilding effort in new orleans after hurricane katrina. and we've been saying all along, we can't think of a parallel, except maybe katrina. >> you know, walter, i as i've been saying on the show, i, i drove over from pensacola every day with friends from our church, and we were trying to bring relief to people in mississippi and louisiana before the government, before the government was really stepping in. and i've got to say, i, i've

seen nothing, nothing like these california wildfires in my lifetime other than hurricane katrina. i'm curious your thoughts being there in new orleans, seeing what you saw, what parallels do you draw and what lessons do you what lessons can the people of los angeles take, not only from the tragedy that's still unfolding, but the recovery that has to come? >> well, first of all, joe, thank you for coming to new orleans back 20 years ago when it happened with your church, because one of the lessons you draw is that people are good. they're going to help. and certainly they we rebuilt new orleans stronger than ever because of that. >> one of the lessons we learned is that the united states has a very complex system of governance, meaning that state and local and parish and federal, and there are about 12 different agencies in charge of

everything. >> and what you have to do immediately is make sure it doesn't get more partizan that a republican governor or a republican mayor can work with a democratic mayor or governor. and after katrina, you know, we had george w bush in the white house in the first week or so. the response was pretty lame. i mean, fema wasn't doing well. the small business association, sba wasn't doing well. but soon everybody came together. and i remember meeting from our louisiana group with trent lott and thad cochran and haley barbour, all republicans from mississippi, and we said, okay, let's quit pointing fingers until we deal with this crisis. and in a fire or a hurricane, you got to make sure that every that the state police, the local police, the fire department, fema, the federal government are working together. and nowadays in our politicized poisoned

atmosphere, you see the pointing of fingers more than the reaching out of helping hands. >> so, walter, let me ask you also about a lot of people talking about climate change. there obviously has always been flooding and challenges in new orleans. same thing with wildfires in in california. but if it is climate change, it is also building buildings in the ninth ward and along wild, wild terrain that that just is asking for trouble. what lessons do we learn there? >> one of the things that happened after katrina is that we figured out that we had to protect the core of the city from the 17th street canal to the industrial canal, and i've walked those levees. i've watched them being built. i'll give the corps of engineers great credit. they're a very, very strong levees that can protect the core of the city. the problem is, as you say, when you start sprawling all down

into the bayous and the coast. and in that case, people are going to have to evacuate when the hurricanes. and, you know, i don't know how you do it with fires, but we were able to build a safe and more compact footprint for the city of new orleans. >> all right. professor of history at tulane university, walter isaacson, thank you so much for your insights this morning. and coming up on morning joe as tiktok faces a us ban just days from now, the chinese government is considering it a plan for one well-known trump ally to acquire the social media giant. we'll tell you who it is. plus, we are moments away from pete hegseth confirmation hearing the first of trump's cabinet picks. there he is, walking in picks to be publicly questioned by members of congress. we're going to bring you the hearings live. they are straight ahead. you're watching morning joe come out of the sky and the standard.

>> one i love will be there and we'll see you. >> if you have high blood pressure or diabetes and get a cough, cold or flu safe. tucson is specially formulated for you. powerful, safe and effective cough, cold and flu relief that's formulated so it won't that's formulated so it won't here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! i'll show you a better way. well, you say, i know i said nearly half of all used cars have been in an accident, but there's no reason to shop with fear. well, show me carfax. knowing how a car accident history impacts price means, you don't have to overpay. >> i wasn't scared. >> sure. can we talk about the

pjs? >> i'll talk about them. as long as you keep it positive. because i like these things. >> no fear. just fox. say, show me a carfax. com. >> don't let back pain turn your whole day into a constant struggle. >> take action with doan's proven relief to get you back to your day. doan's maximum strength back pain relief. strength back pain relief. dexcom g7 sends your glucose numbers to your phone and watch, so you can always see where you're heading without fingersticks. dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm, so you can manage your diabetes with confidence. ♪♪ ♪♪ at bombas, we dream of comfort and softness. which is why we make the best socks and slippers in the history of feet. ♪♪ visit bombas.com and get 20% off your first order. vision at human. our plant based

supplements are scientifically formulated to support the center of your health and at the center of super beats heart powder, groundbreaking nitric oxide science supporting your healthy blood pressure, circulation and blood flow with refreshing black cherry flavor at home or on the go. supporting your heart health and all the moments your heart beats for. >> get a free month supply plus free shipping on all bundles at live human.com. >> i was drowning in debt. >> i had over $36,000 in debt. if i would have just made the minimum payments, it would have taken me 59 years to pay off. >> national debt relief can significantly reduce the amount you owe. >> national debt relief reduced my debt by over $27,000. >> with national debt relief, you have a powerful team that knows how to talk to your creditors. >> national debt relief. >> they got me out of debt. >> call or visit national debt relief.com to get started. >> natural has organic broccoli, blueberries and carrots. >> ours has polyethylene glycol,

vitamin e from sunflowers, red 40 lake, which is another way of ♪ ♪ with so much great entertainment out there... wouldn't it be easier if you could find what you want, all in one place? my favorites. get xfinity streamsaver with netflix, apple tv+, and peacock included, for only $15 a month.

small businesses. >> all right, live. look in washington, d.c, senate armed services committee going to be holding the hearing for the nomination of pete hegseth, fox news anchor to be nominated by president elect. trump has been for secretary of defense. and there are a lot of questions surrounding this nomination. and we should see some of them, at least some of them play out during this hearing. today, we'll be watching those live pictures as it gets underway. we will take it live. moving on now, we're just five days away from the deadline for tiktok to sell an american to an american investor, or risk a nationwide ban in the u.s, according to a new report from bloomberg. chinese officials are now considering selling the social media site to elon musk. let's

bring in the co-anchor of cnbc's squawk box and the new york times columnist andrew ross. sorkin. andrew. elon with tiktok and x. and what does this say? >> i mean, i think the story says so many things about where we are as a country. >> there's an irony in this. >> if this were to happen, insofar as the fact that, frankly, so many democrats ultimately actually pushed to have tiktok banned in the united states, and it could ultimately get put into the hands of elon musk, with which i think they have some questions about how he might operate a business like that. >> just to put all this just in context, the conversations, at least as i understand them that have happened, are only happening among officials inside of china and not necessarily at the highest of all high levels. i do not believe that there have been meaningful discussions with either elon musk or bytedance, which is the company that owns tiktok. there's a big timing

question as to what happens to tiktok. we keep saying it's going to get banned and yes, it is going to get banned, but there is going to be a period of time, probably at least several weeks, if not longer, where this app can continue to operate in the united states. what, and operate almost as if nothing had happened. what's happening here is that apple, google the others won't be able to allow updates to the to the app, so the app will continue to work. it just won't be allowed to be updated. and so there might be an opportunity post january 19th for there to be negotiations over the future of tiktok. bytedance has tried to take the position, and the chinese government has tried to take the position that there is no deal to be had, almost as a forcing mechanism. but it also raises a whole other set of questions around the idea that elon musk is very close, obviously, to president elect trump. and on the other end, that if china is prepared to sell to anybody that they're thinking that they would feel comfortable selling it to

elon musk, in large part because, let's be honest, they have a lot of leverage over elon musk. elon musk has a huge factory and big tesla investment in china. and so, you know, so far they have been almost unwilling to negotiate with anybody. the idea that they'd negotiate with elon musk then raises questions about where his loyalties lie, and, frankly, may raise new questions in the united states about how close he is to the president. >> you know, john, one of the problems right now in the battle between steve bannon and elon musk is that you keep having steve bannon talking about how elon musk is beholden to beholden for the to the communist chinese government. obviously, a move like this would play into not only a lot of democrats concerns, but also a lot of maga supporters concerns that elon musk is getting far too powerful. >> yeah, there's a dispute there about visas, but also the idea

that musk indeed is too tightly tied to beijing. we have seen steve bannon rail against the him, repeatedly saying he'll try to prevent musk from having much of a say inside the white house. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin, thank you so much. and we are now just moments away from the start of pete hegseth senate confirmation hearing to become the secretary of defense. we just saw him walk in. he's there at in the chamber getting photographed before things started. he will appear before the armed services committee, which will be led by republican senator roger wicker of mississippi, as well as ranking member jack reed of rhode island. hegseth there posing for photographs. joining us now, before we get started, nbc news senior white house correspondent garrett hake and nbc news pentagon correspondent courtney qb. courtney, we'll start with you. you obviously cover the pentagon there. you know, hegseth a veteran. he's going to make that, we are told, a big part of his introduction today. but there are real questions about his qualifications to lead such a

massive, massive organization. >> yeah. and we shouldn't expect to hear that just in his introduction. we should hear that as a big part of pete hegseth side of this confirmation hearing today. he will repeatedly reinforce his role as a combat veteran. what we just heard as he was walking in the room, in fact, were applause and chants of usa! jonathan, i can tell you in the audience today are dozens of former service members, including a group of former navy seals who have gathered in dc today to try to rally and support of pete hegseth. that's something that we should be watching throughout this hearing. they are there in force in that hearing room. >> they're also march gets underway. so you're going to have to tell me they're also marching along up constitution avenue heading towards the capitol. >> but as i said, what we should really expect to hear is pete hegseth reinforce the fact that he is a combat veteran. he will focus on lethality. we will hear the word lethality over and over today, him talking about how he will restore lethality in the pentagon. of course, the big questions that we are we are

waiting to hear how will he address the 2017 allegations of sexual assault in monterey, where he paid off the accusing woman who accused him of sexual assault? and how will he address some of the controversial comments he's made in the past, including his feeling about women and serving in combat? two female combat veterans are on the dais today, and how will he address the allegations of financial mismanagement of some of those veteran organizations? >> garrett, your thoughts here as things are starting? >> jonathan, just one quick note as we get underway. i've been doing this a long time. i just saw something i don't think i've seen at a confirmation hearing before, a standing ovation for the nominee coming in chants of usa! from folks in the crowd who are supportive of pete hegseth, that could make for a very interesting dynamic. when the questioning gets heated later this morning. jonathan, i'll throw it back to you. looks like we're about to get underway. >> yeah. thank you. >> to sheehy of montana and senator

slotkin of michigan. we are excited to have you as committee colleagues and look forward to many important contributions, contributions from each of you. and senator slotkin, as i look down at the end of the dais there, it seems that only a week or two ago, i was sitting in that very chair being recognized by the chairman of the committee, the distinguished senator from michigan. so. time. time flies. now, let me say this. we had very appropriate expression of approval by the members of the pardon me and members of the audience as as our nominee and his family walked in the distinguished ranking member. and i sincerely hope that that is the last

signal of approval or disapproval in in today's hearing, people of the public are here. they're welcome to observe today's hearing. and senator reid and i agree, though, that no disruptions will be allowed. audience members may not verbally or physically distract from the hearing to include shouting, standing or raising signage or gestures that block the view of the audience. and we're we're very serious about this, aren't we? mr. reid, and the those who do so will be immediately escorted from the room. so again, welcome to the witnesses, to his friends, and to interested members of the

public. if confirmed, mr. pete hegseth would assume the role in a moment of consequence, the united states faces the most dangerous security environment since world war two. we're witnessing the explosive growth and reach of china's hard power. we're also observing the emergence of an axis of aggressors. that coalition is characterized by broadening and deepening military cooperation among the dictatorships ruling china, russia, iran and north korea. terrorism remains a threat as israel wages war against hamas and hezbollah, and as the assad regime collapses in syria, america has entered a window of maximum danger and the department needs energetic and focused civilian leadership. those values begin at the top, with the secretary of defense.

many of my distinguished colleagues colleagues have served in a significant tenure on this committee, and our meetings are fairly long. we should reflect over previous secretaries of defense and their hearings and ask ourselves a simple question. has the civilian leadership of the pentagon, under the administration of both parties, proven up to the challenge? often the answer has been no. the civilian leadership has not built the department of defense to meet the moment. and this is our moment to correct that. a few examples illustrate how leaders in the past have fallen short. most of the department's signature programs run years behind schedule, and billions of dollars over cost. vital initiatives have suffered, such as the f-35, the new sentinel icbm, and the navy's shipbuilding program, including the constellation class frigate. the department of defense desperately needs civilian

leaders who listen to the advice of combatant commanders, many of whom would benefit from innovative systems. yet a risk averse dod culture has kept too many promising technologies on the wrong side of the so-called valley of death. that tenuous period between experimental prototypes and production contracts, defense companies backed by venture capital receive less than 1% of defense contracts. as we all know, the pentagon still cannot even pass an audit. the department must simplify and streamline its bureaucracy so it can respond to innovation. staffs have ballooned. organizations are top heavy. civilian leaders have promised time and again to slim down the bureaucracy and perhaps genuinely hoped to. every day, men and women in uniform make tremendous contributions to u.s. security. they and the american people deserve a pentagon that does the same. today's

department of defense is no longer prepared for great power competition. it is not a national defense institution ready to achieve and sustain technological supremacy across the range of operations. admittedly, this nomination is unconventional. the nominee is unconventional. just like that new york developer who rode down the escalator in 2015 to announce his candidacy. candidacy for president. that may be what makes mr. hegseth an excellent choice to improve this unacceptable status quo that i just described. he is a decorated post 911 combat veteran. he will inject a new warrior ethos into the pentagon, a spirit that can cascade from the top down. mr. hegseth will bring energy and fresh ideas to

shake up the bureaucracy. he will focus relentlessly on the warfighter and the military's core missions, deterring wars and winning the ones we must fight. he will bring a swift end to corrosive distractions such as die. today, many simply acknowledge and live with the systemic problems i have mentioned earlier in acquisition, accountability, technology transition, and organizational civil service reform. mr. hegseth will actually move to fix these issues decisively. in short, i'm confident that mr. hegseth, supported by a team of experienced top officials, will get the job done. the secretary of defense is an incredibly important position, but the secretary's span of control is limited. the pentagon is vast with 3 million plus personnel, uniformed civilian and contractor. a successful secretary understands that

steering the ship means focusing his attention on strategic level priorities. the secretary must be supported with exceptional subordinates, who will run the day to day affairs of the office of the secretary of defense, the military services, and the other dod components. i'm also confident that as an infantryman, mr. hegseth understands the military principle of commander's intent. communicate the clear objective, empower subordinates to use initiative and judgment, and hold everybody accountable. we must not underestimate the importance of having a top shelf communicator. as secretary of defense. other than the president, no official plays a larger role in telling the men and women in uniform the congress and the public about the threats we face and the need for a peace through strength defense policy. i have no doubt mr. hegseth will excel in a skill in which many of his

predecessors have fallen short. much has been made of both. mr. hegseth personal life and some of his policy pronouncements. regarding his personal conduct, mr. hegseth has admitted to falling short, as we all do from time to time. it is noteworthy that the vast majority of the accusations leveled at mr. hegseth have come from anonymous sources. contrast these anonymous accusations with the many public letters of support and commendation we have seen letters from people who served with mr. hegseth. these individuals have worked with him professionally. they really know him and his character. these patriotic americans have been willing to put their names and reputations on the line to support mr. hegseth. i look forward to sharing these testimonials with the american people. let me mention one right now. it comes from david bellavia, who earned the medal of honor for heroic actions in

combat in fallujah, iraq. david bellavia writes the following pete is fearless, unflappable, and confronts conflicts head on. he's a leader to the core. when pete is confirmed as the next secretary of defense of the united states of america, this country will finally know the privilege of having a true ambassador able to speak on behalf of this generation and its two decade global war on terror. washington doesn't build men like pete. combat builds men like pete. as i said, there are more letters expressing the same endorsement. today. we will hear from the nominee directly. i want to thank mr. hegseth, as well as his loved ones, for being here today. i look forward to discussing his nomination. i look forward to hearing from mr. hegseth about the ways he hopes to rebuild the american strength that secures the ■peace. and so now i turn to my friend and

colleague, ranking member reed, for his opening remarks. >> well, thank you very much, mr. chairman. i'd like to first congratulate you on your chairmanship. i look forward to continuing our committee's strong tradition of bipartisanship and collaboration. and thank you for your thoughtful and conscientious service to the committee over many years. thank you very much, mr. chairman. i'd also like to take a moment to join chairman wicker in welcoming our new members. senator slotkin, senator banks and senator shaheen, welcome. we look forward to working with you. mr. hegseth. i welcome you and your family to today's hearing. and i'm also glad to recognize my former colleague norm coleman and congressman mike waltz. thank you. congressman. mr. exit, i want to begin by saying that i respect and appreciate your military service in the army national guard. i know from experience that there is no greater privilege than to lead american soldiers. and i thank you for answering the call. you have been nominated to be the

secretary of defense. the secretary is responsible for leading a department of 3.5 million service members and civilians, an annual budget of nearly $900 billion and hundreds of thousands of aircraft, ships, submarines, combat vehicles, satellites and the nuclear arsenal. the secretary also plays a powerful role with our allies, partners and adversaries abroad. and as we speak, china is seeking to undermine our interests, intimidate our friends and challenge our standing in the world. russia's campaign against ukraine threatens not only europe, but the entire global order. ongoing violence in the middle east has teetered on the edge of all out war, and the ideologies and actions of violent extremists endanger our citizens, even on our own soil. as the recent tragedy in new orleans painfully reminds us, these are perilous times, and the position of secretary of defense demands a leader of unparalleled

experience, wisdom, and, above all else, character. the secretary is expected to be a fair, nonpartisan and responsible leader, as well as a trustworthy advocate for the men and women that he leaves, mr. hague said. i do not believe that you are qualified to meet the overwhelming demands of this job. we must acknowledge the concerning public reports against you. a variety of sources, including your own writings, implicate you with disregarding the laws of war, financial mismanagement, racist and sexist remarks about men and women in uniform, alcohol abuse, sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other troubling issues. i have reviewed many of these allegations and find them extremely alarming indeed. the totality of your own writings and alleged conduct would disqualify any service member from holding any leadership position in the military, much less being confirmed as the

secretary of defense. nonetheless, i understand that you reject many of these reports as they involve whistleblowers, non-disclosure agreements, and anonymous. although numerous sources, including those who have faced political intimidation for sharing their experiences. i hope you will address each of these allegations thoroughly and truthfully during your testimony. just as importantly, i hope you will pledge to prevent any repercussions for whistleblowers, both civilian and military. if confirmed. mr. hegseth, during our meeting last week, you said that if confirmed, your top priority would be, quote, restoring a warrior culture to the department of defense because you believe the us military has been weakened by political correctness over the years, you have made clear your opinion of the military's diversity initiatives. as you have said, quote, diversity is not our strength. unity is. and our recent podcast, you said, quote, i'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat

roles. when i joined the army as a young officer in the 1970s, the us military was rife with racial tension. women were prohibited from serving in most roles, gay service members were banned, and we relied on a national draft to fill our ranks. the soldiers i served with were proud to do so, but it was certainly not the nation's most capable military by any standard. we have made great progress since then. today, the department of defense is fully integrated. every race and religion is accepted. women serve in all combat roles and leadership positions. sexual orientation is irrelevant to service, and the all volunteer force visibly reflects the nation it protects. our military is more diverse than it has ever been, but more importantly, it is more lethal than it has ever been. this is not a coincidence, mr. hegstad. i hope you will explain why you believe such diversity is making the military weak, and how you propose to undo that without undermining

military leadership and harming readiness, recruitment and retention, mr. hicks said. another reason i'm deeply concerned about your nomination is your disregard for the law of armed conflict and your support for service members who have been convicted of war crimes. you have championed the pardoning of military members who were turned in by their fellow soldiers and seals. and let me emphasize that they weren't discovered by reporters. they were turned in by fellow soldiers and fellow seals, and also pardoning of military contractors convicted of killing 14 iraqi citizens without cause. you have also advocated for the restitution of interrogation methods like waterboarding that have been defined as torture, and you have belittled the advice and counsel of the judge advocate general while on deployment. in your book, the war on warriors, you write, quote, should we follow the geneva convention? if our warriors are forced to follow

rules arbitrarily and asked to sacrifice more lives so that international tribunals feel better about themselves, aren't we just better off in winning our wars according to our own rules? mr. hegseth, i would ask that you explain how you, if confirmed, would maintain good order and discipline within our forces and the support of our allies and partners by rejecting international law and the law of war. i'm also concerned about your abilities as a competent manager of organizations far less complex than the department of defense. from 2008 to 2010, you led the organization veterans for freedom, which had an annual budget of less than $10 million in each year you were in charge. expenses far exceeded revenues until the organization teetered on bankruptcy and had to be merged with another group. in fact, according to public reporting, an independent forensic accountant reviewed the organization's finances and discovered evidence of gross

financial mismanagement. i would note that this report has not been made available to any government agencies, which is, i think, alarming. but a republican advisor to you during your tenure at the organization who read the report, stated, and i quote, i watched him run an organization very poorly, lose the confidence of donors. the organization ultimately folded and was forced to merge with another organization who individuals felt could run and manage funds on behalf of donors more responsibly than he could. i don't know how he's going to run an organization with an $857 billion budget and 3 million individuals, and that is the only comment we've had, and the only access we've had to the forensic report. a similar thing happened with the concerned veterans for america, a second veterans group that you led from 2011 until 2016. during those five years, tax records show

that the organization spent more than it raised. just as troubling are reports that a significant amount of debt was incurred from social events and parties filled with excessive drinking and questionable personal behavior, mr. hicks said. i hope you will explain what actions you will take, if confirmed, to be a better steward of defense department's large budget. finally, while i appreciate our meeting last week, it is unacceptable that you did not meet with any other democratic members of this committee before this hearing, as has been our bipartisan tradition during my time in the senate, i have voted for and worked closely with secretary of defense, appointed by republican presidents. while we may disagree politically, there was always an understanding that rank partizanship should have no place when it comes to providing for the men and women who serve in uniform. and mr. hicks, that i am troubled by the many comments you have made, both as a commentator and in your published writings. for example, in your book american crusade,

you wrote, quote, modern leftists who represent the soul of the modern democratic party literally hate the foundational ideas of america. you also wrote the other side, the left is not our friend. we are not esteemed colleagues nor mere political opponents. we are foes. either we win or they win. we agree on nothing else. mr. hicks, that if confirmed as secretary of defense, you would lead an organization that, like the country it represents, is composed of democrats and republicans. yet your language suggests that you regard many of these men and women as foes. and i would ask you to explain why service members and civilians who do not share your political opinions can trust that they will not be targeted during your tenure. indeed, the challenge of the secretary of defense is to remove partizan politics from the military. you propose to inject it. this would be an insult to the men and women who

have sworn to uphold their own apolitical duty to the constitution. mr. hicks, you are the ninth nominee for secretary of defense that i've had the honor to consider as a member of the senate armed services committee, i have voted in favor of all your predecessors, including those in the first trump administration. unfortunately, you lack the character and composure and competence to hold the position of secretary of defense. thank you. >> thank you, senator reed. and now it's my privilege and honor and pleasure to recognize my prr and pleasure to recognize two witnesses who have come forward to introduce our nominee. first, i recognize my former colleague and former senator norm coleman of minnesota, for the purpose of

an introduction. norm, we are glad to see you and glad to have you back. and you are recognized for an introduction. >> thank you, mr. chairman. ranking member reed, members of the committee, my former colleagues, i'm honored to introduce a son of minnesota to you. pete hegseth is a senator from minnesota. i spent many hours with this young man as he walked the halls of congress advocating on behalf of america's veterans. and he is young in the best sense of the word. he is strong, focused, intelligent, incisive, a great listener, and is almost supernaturally energetic. just what we need in a secretary of defense in times of massive change. he is the real deal. f scott fitzgerald was a writer in my city of saint paul and said, the problem with america is that there are no second acts. he was wrong. pete was a brave soldier, has been an able communicator, and i believe is about to begin a great second act as our secretary of defense. he has

struggled and overcome great personal challenges. please don't give into the cynical notion that people can't change. we need the ones who can change to lead us to be beacons of hope, and to remind us that grace can lead us home. four years ago, president biden's nominee, lloyd austin, a good and honorable man, received 97 votes on the floor of the senate. and we went through the debacle of the afghanistan withdrawal. putin invaded ukraine. the houthis endanger our shipping lanes. we witnessed israeli miracles against america's enemies in the middle east, where the united states was more of an impediment than a help. our recruitment numbers have sunk dramatically, and our southern border has suffered a slow but dangerous invasion. yes, pete hegseth is an out of the box nominee, and i say it's high time to get out of the box. one more thought. the country longs for a government of less

division and more respect and dignity. my hope is that this committee hearing provides what they are asking for. disagree? yes. strongly if necessary, but then come together to support the nominee. this nominee, pete hegseth of the one president we have at a time laying aside partizan politics for the essential mission of national security, upon which everything else depends. mr. chairman, i yield. >> thank you. norm. i do appreciate that and appreciate your presence today. i now have the honor and pleasure of introducing congressman waltz. i understand, congressman, you are still a member of the house for another day or two. another day or two. okay. and i now recognize congressman waltz for whatever opening statement and introduction he might make. >> thank you. chairman wicker.

and chairman has a very nice ring to it. so congratulations, ranking member reed. distinguished members of this committee. it is a privilege to appear before you today and urge the members of this committee to confirm pete hegseth as our next secretary of defense. and i'm not here today just to advocate on behalf of a future colleague, but to speak on behalf of someone i consider a dear friend. for over a decade now, a decade now. like pete, i served in the us army. like pete, i'm a veteran. we deployed to afghanistan and all over the world at the height of the war on terror, which is the war of our generation. and like thousands of other warfighters, we've witnessed the hardships of war. we've experienced the loss of friends in combat. we've endured too much time away from family and friends. and no one.

i can promise you this. no one hates war more than those who have had to go fight it. no one does. pete's story, though, isn't that much different from the millions of other veterans, and they know it, and they appreciate him for the experiences that he's gone through. and after our country was brutally attacked on nine over 11, pete hegseth answered the call of duty. like so many others, he put the interests of this country ahead of his own. and i can tell you firsthand, as can the hero sitting in this audience behind me. pete's character of country, his selflessness, his duty. these are the key tenets that have shaped him into the leader that he is today. these are the traits that president trump recognized when making the decision to nominate pete for this critical role. he will bring the perspective of being the first secretary of defense

to have served as a junior officer on the front lines, not in the headquarters, on the front lines in the war on terror, and recognizes the human costs, the financial costs and the policy drift that was discussed often in this very room.des and decades of war. so not only does he understand the threats he faces, but as the chairman mentioned, he is brilliant in my mind at communicating those to the american people in a way that is often not communicated in washington, dc. to reach out to the american people so that they understand why the military needs to do what it needs to do. and look, i have no doubt that he is going to get the pentagon back to its primary mission, lethal readiness. that warrior ethos is what our enemies will respect. that warrior ethos is what our enemies will fear, and it's that warrior ethos that

will keep the peace. and so, ladies and gentlemen, in my humble opinion, our military deserves better than it's getting. our country faces a devastating recruitment crisis. men and women are not volunteering to serve at the levels required. our readiness is down, our costs are up, and it seems like nearly every major weapon system, again, often discussed in this very room, is costing too much, delivering too little, and taking way too long. the bottom line is the status quo is unacceptable. it's not working. and the members of this committee, you all know it. you know it's not working. and the members of the house armed services know it's not working. and we have hearing after hearing year after year. and here we are decades later, describing the same problems. the pentagon has