reminded that we are talking about homes, we are talking about businesses, we are talking about familiar sites that have been integral parts of these communities for years, decades, generations even now, entirely gone. and for so many people, alex, they're trying to get through tonight worried about what could happen in other parts of los angeles and the los angeles county region, and also trying to just process how they pick up their lives because they have nothing left here. >> alex. just a staggering amount of destruction. that video footage from the helicopter gives you a sense of those wind gusts. nbc news correspondent ellison barber doing some real essential reporting on the ground. thank you for hanging late tonight. i appreciate it. that is our show for tonight. way too early with ali. vitali is coming up next. >> in june of 2020, then-president trump directed former secretary of defense mark esper to shoot protesters in the legs in downtown d.c, an order. secretary esper refused to

comply with. would you carry out such an order from president trump? >> senator, i was in the washington, dc national guard unit that was in lafayette square during those. >> would you carry out an order to shoot protesters in the legs? i saw 50 secret service agents to get injured by rioters trying to jump over the fence, set a church on fire and destroy. that sounds to me that you will comply with such an order. you will shoot protesters in the in the leg. >> that was defense secretary nominee pete hegseth getting grilled by senator mazie hirono of hawaii yesterday, one of several big moments from the four hours he spent before the senate armed services committee. >> the question is, did he do enough to convince republican lawmakers that he's qualified for the job? ahead, winds across southern california were not as strong as predicted yesterday. >> as firefighters continue to battle the now week old wildfires. the question is, will the strong santa ana winds return overnight? plus, president biden will give his farewell address to the nation

tonight from the oval office. and the question is, will his speech sway the perception of his legacy? it's way too early for this. welcome to way too early, the show that is ready for another eventful day in washington, d.c. i'm ali vitali on this wednesday, january 15th, and we'll start with the news. we begin in southern california, where the death toll from the devastating wildfires has now climbed to 25. >> it comes as crews are dealing with strong santa ana winds that have ignited new fires. >> fortunately, many of those flames are under control. >> the winds are expected to last, though, until thursday. >> as of now, the largest of those wildfires, the palisades fire, is only 18% contained. >> the eaton fire is at 35% containment. >> in all, the fires have swept through 40,000 acres, nearly the same size as right here in washington, d.c. joining us now live from altadena, california,

is nbc news correspondent steve patterson. steve, thanks for joining us. >> talk to us about what you're seeing on the ground today. >> ali, it is destruction as far as the eye can see. we've seen it now for several days, more than a week. these fires have been burning. this, of course, is the eton fire. you can see the devastation. it is street after street. it is block after block. it is home after home. it covers this entire area. i could show you the next block and would look very similar to what we're seeing today. meanwhile, we are awaiting, as you mentioned, the possibility of more wind. we are under what's called a particularly particularly dangerous situation and designation from the national weather service that is meant to even denote something that is more severe than the red flag winds, than the santa ana winds that we've been predicting and seeing over the last few days. we've been in it for a little more than 24 hours, almost 48 hours now, actually, and we're waiting for sunrise and sunset. those are sort of the particularly worst parts of

this. if we get more of those winds coming up in the next few hours or so, it's a particularly dangerous situation for firefighters, for crews that are trying to secure these scenes, but also the possibility that we see new fire starts. we see maybe about a handful, half dozen or so new fire starts, brush fires, spot fires all across the southern california region. but firefighters, because the winds have died down during the day, have been able to quickly get on top of them and put them out. so it hasn't resulted in something much larger. but of course, that is the worry. meanwhile, residents still waiting to get back into. scenes like this to find out if their homes are okay. to see if they can start. sort of the process of insurance, of contacting fema, of getting sort of their documentation ready in a very, very long journey for homeowners that are realizing sort of the wake of the devastation here. >> meanwhile, the investigation is underway at both of these fires here at the eaton fire. there's been numerous lawsuits against the power company, socal

edison. >> they say there were not any anomalies before the fire started. meanwhile, the palisades fire, they've started to narrow down what could have caused that. what could have sparked it? they've really ruled out lightning strikes. there weren't any power, any electric sort of poles in the area that may have started from there. so they're looking, of course, at the possibility that was human caused. that doesn't mean necessarily it was intentionally set, but that is sort of on the list of possibilities. as firefighters work to clear the hotspots, to really get on top of this and to put these fires out once and for all before the danger increases here again. steve, that's a really important distinction that you make there about as they go about trying to figure out how this even happened for you, who's been covering this story the entire time? what are some of the questions that you would ask the people who are doing the investigating, the things that you still feel haven't fully been explored and need to be? >> i mean, obviously, the timeline for officials, how

quickly they responded to this, i think is on top of mind for a lot of angelenos and people who live in this area. what did they know and when could they have positioned some of the firefighters and firefighting utensils and utilities in place before the fire started, specifically in the palisades zone, where that fire was huge, where the warnings were pretty apparent before this all went down. >> and then, of course, the water shutoffs, the utility, they said they didn't have access to one of the major reservoirs in the area. >> that is such a big deal because firefighters did not have the water pressure they needed during the fire. and we saw that we were in these neighborhoods as the fire broke out. a lot of times it was neighbors putting water on their own homes. we didn't see a fire truck in sight because they were spread too thin. and then when they were on scene, you see, they didn't have the tools that they needed. i think that's been well documented. we want to know why, ali, all of those really excellent questions. nbc news correspondent steve patterson, thank you for your reporting and keep asking them.

>> and back here in washington, house speaker mike johnson says he's continuing to discuss adding conditions to future california wildfire relief aid. >> speaking to reporters yesterday following a call with president elect trump, johnson indicated congress could be getting ready for a potential political battle over relief funding. >> we're watching with heartache the people in the los angeles area and southern california who are just devastated by this, this disaster. >> the leader and i come from a disaster prone state, louisiana. we deal with hurricanes and floods and tornadoes all the time and wildfires as well. >> we all know that. we all feel that we're all americans and the americans there that are affected, you know, desperately need and deserve help. >> but you've also heard us talk about our concerns with the governance of the state of california, state and local. and to the extent that there is complicity involved in the scope of the disaster, then we think that's something that needs to be carefully regarded. we have

to make sure there are safeguards on the precious treasure of the american people. there are natural disasters, of course, but if they are made much worse by human error and deliberate policy choices that were unwise and were stated as such at the time, then i think that that's something that that needs to be carefully regarded. >> house democratic leaders, especially california lawmakers whose districts are affected by those fires, call johnson's suggestion that conditions should be tacked on to disaster aid outrageous. >> and even republican members from states like florida and north carolina have said that this aid should not be treated differently than past aid in the instances of hurricanes. >> but it comes as trump's team mulls having the president elect visit los angeles to view the wildfire damage. >> that's according to two sources familiar with those discussions. >> trump, who has repeatedly criticized local and state officials for their response to the fires, has been invited out by democratic governor gavin newsom and congresswoman judy

chu and president elect donald trump's picks for pick for defense secretary pete hegseth was grilled on capitol hill yesterday in a contentious senate confirmation hearing. the combat veteran and former fox news host faced support and opposition along party lines. nbc news senior white house correspondent garrett hake has more. >> reporter president elect trump's embattled pick to lead the pentagon. >> former fox news host and combat veteran pete hegseth, making an impassioned pitch for the job that it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm. >> my only special interest is the war fighter arguing he's the target of false attacks. there was a coordinated smear campaign orchestrated in the media against us. >> but hegseth, facing a grilling from senate democrats, including over a 2017 sexual assault allegation police investigated, but no charges were filed. the local prosecutor saying, quote, no charges were supported by proof beyond a

reasonable doubt. >> you've admitted that it was consensual and you were still married and you just had a child by another woman. again, how do you explain your judgment? >> false charges against me. you know, i investigated and i was completely clear. >> you have admitted that you had sex while you were married to wife two, after you just had fathered a child by wife three you've admitted that now, if it had been a sexual assault that would be disqualifying to be secretary of defense, wouldn't it? >> it was a false claim then, and a false claim now. >> republicans rallying to his defense. >> we need somebody who's going to go in there and fight for innovation. fight for change. i think you're that person, and i appreciate your willingness to sit here and listen to some of these undignified attacks. it's ridiculous. >> democrats also going after hegseth past opposition to women in combat roles. >> you will have to change how you see women to do this job well, and i don't know if you are capable of that. >> but in a positive sign for hegseth, iowa's joni ernst, a combat veteran previously seen as a hegseth skeptic, appearing

more supportive today. >> will you support women continuing to have the opportunity to serve in combat roles? >> my answer is yes. exactly the way that you caveated it. yes, women will have access to ground combat roles, combat roles, given the standards remain high and will have a review to ensure. >> that was nbc's garrett hake reporting. and those senate confirmation hearings continue today, with six more of trump's cabinet picks set to face lawmakers. >> homeland security secretary nominee kristi noem was supposed to be among them, but the hearing for the south dakota governor was pushed back to friday morning because of a delay on her fbi background check. >> today's high profile hearings, though, include senator marco rubio, who is the president elect's pick for secretary of state. >> rubio is one of those that's expected to have a smooth path to confirmation, with likely bipartisan support. >> but john ratcliffe, trump's selection for cia director director, and pam bondi, the nominee for attorney general, are likely to face much more

scrutiny from democrats. >> still ahead this morning, what we're learning about donald trump's plan to create the internal revenue service. plus, the sec has filed a lawsuit against elon musk for his takeover of twitter. we'll break down the allegations against the billionaire. those stories and a check on the weather when we come right back. >> tomorrow, president biden sits down with lawrence o'donnell in the final exclusive oval office interview of his presidency. they'll discuss his achievements, his legacy and what's ahead for the country. the last word tomorrow at 10:00 on msnbc. when you need brutal honesty, when you need answers first thing in the morning, when you need to go deep inside washington and hear from someone who's been there. you need your who's been there. you need your morning joe. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday.

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was a huge relief. >> create your estate plan at trust and wilcom. welcome back. president elect trump has revealed plans to create the, quote, external revenue service that's aimed at collecting tariffs, duties and other revenue from foreign sources. >> trump made the announcement yesterday on social media. yes, we're back to that, stating that the irs would begin its work on january 20th, the same day of his inauguration. >> but he didn't give any additional details about the proposed government entity. >> currently, u.s. customs and border protection is responsible for collecting tariffs and keeping it in trump world. the

securities and exchange commission is suing billionaire elon musk, alleging he committed securities fraud by acquiring twitter shares at, quote, artificially low prices. >> the lawsuit alleges musk failed to disclose that he had amassed an active stake in twitter before purchasing the social media platform for $44 billion in late 2022. >> musk allegedly built up a position in the company of greater than 5%, which would have required disclosing his holdings to the public within ten days of reaching that threshold, according to the complaint. musk was more than ten days late in reporting, which allowed him, quote, to underpay by at least $150 million for shares he purchased after his financial beneficial ownership report was due. musk's lawyer said in a statement that the sec's action is an admission that they cannot bring an actual case, adding that musk has done nothing wrong. and while the supreme court weighs the future of tiktok in the united states, some of the social media apps rivals appear to be seeing a sudden surge in new users. >> nbc news correspondent

savannah sellers has more on that. >> we're just going to tiktok's other app amid fear a tiktok ban could take effect later this week, some americans flocking to chinese apps like red note. >> i'm a tiktok refugee and lemonade. >> hello, lemonade. this is my first video. both apps have similarities to tiktok and lemonade shares a parent company, bytedance. the platforms topping apple's downloads. >> we are doing this to spite our own government. >> some say it's a form of protest by going to an app like red note. >> they're saying no, no, no. i am in control of where i give my data. >> some users even protesting american owned media. >> you will not catch me on instagram reels. >> the law that could ban tiktok largely focuses on u.s. government concerns that china could manipulate content americans see or steal user data. tiktok denies this. tiktok's parent company, bytedance, is explicitly named in the law. users for now,

assuming the government isn't prepared to also block other apps like red note, but they could eventually be impacted because of their chinese ownership. bytedance could sell tiktok to an american owner. questions swirling if elon musk is in the mix to buy it, after bloomberg reported. chinese officials have discussed that, according to people familiar with the matter. tiktok tells nbc news that's pure fiction. >> that was nbc's savannah sellers reporting. a lot of eyes on that. still ahead, naomi osaka rallies her way into the third round at the australian open. >> we'll have highlights from her comeback win, and we'll explain what prompted this shattering meltdown in melbourne when way too early returns. but first, we want to know why are you awake? >> email your reasons to. way too early@msnbc.com. >> or tell me directly on social media at ali vitali using the hashtag way too early. we're going to read our favorite answers, as always later in the answers, as always later in the show.

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satisfaction. now new customers get your second month free when you switch. >> a statement. >> win for the four time grand slam champion. and what a way to. do it. >> you love to see it. >> two time australian open champion naomi osaka completing a three set comeback victory over number 20 karolina muchova in melbourne. >> melbourne yesterday osaka, now 21 and six in major three set matches, ties billie jean king for the third best record in the open era. she moves on to face tokyo olympic gold medalist belinda bencic in the third round. >> meanwhile, men's number five daniil medvedev might be facing a stiff fine after a first round meltdown. frustrated because he was trailing against a wild card entry from thailand, medvedev used his racket to smash a tiny

camera attached to the net. medvedev swinging his racket with full force five times in the display of anger that earned him a code violation warning for racket abuse from the chair umpire. >> medvedev would eventually avoid the monumental upset, winning in five sets to advance to round two and turning now to the nba, the oklahoma city thunder extended their lead atop the western conference with a 118 to 102 win on the road last night against the philadelphia 76 ers. >> and they celebrated by having some fun with a reporter. >> after the game. >> you made your first eight shots. just continue to be so aggressive and so efficient. tell me about your night tonight. >> yeah i just tried to be aggressive. try to set the tone. like i said long road trip. try to get in and get out. >> yeah. and you guys played great on this trip. and the fact of the matter is that you guys faced some really good teams on this trip. and what do you think about the way that this group has continued to respond night in and night out? all right guys. >> so i'm sorry nick. the

children i'm so sorry. >> thunder sideline reporter nick gallo keeping it professional as players pile towels on top of him while he conducts a post-game interview. >> i don't even know what the congressional equivalent of that would have been, but kudos to you because i don't know that i could have kept that together. and time now for a weather check. let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. angie, we're not piling towels on you, but i am asking, how are the winds looking in southern california? >> those are so critical to wildfires. >> wildfire fighters out there. you're exactly right, ali. and unfortunately, as expected, that santa ana wind event has kind of ramped up over the past 24 hours. and we've seen some fluctuations. so this morning we're kicking it off with 10 million people under these red flag warnings. >> same area basically from san luis obispo all the way down to the mexican border. >> the wind gusts are elevated 45 to 65mph. >> but we do still have that same warning that that pds, the particularly dangerous situation wording that's coming out of the national weather service across this region, still expecting in places like the simi valley, the

san fernando valley, the san gabriel mountains, just to the north and east or north and west of la, under that kind of extra elevated risk, here's why. >> we've got winds down slightly, especially closer to the coast, ten, 15, 20 plus miles per hour across this region, a couple of spots gusting over 60mph. but we'll really start to see those winds ramping up here as we get into the later morning hours. >> so that's when we see the peak gusts 45 to 65mph for more of a widespread area. >> humidity levels will be somewhere around 15 to 30%, so a little better than they have been in couple in the past couple really week or so. >> but we'll slowly but surely start to see those kind of creeping down as far as the wind speeds are concerned as the day goes on. still 30 to 50mph through the afternoon hours, but overnight tonight, topping out around 35mph, we'll still see some breezy conditions across parts of the hills and the mountains, but again, closer to the coast will be a little bit of an improvement today. still a critical risk across this region, so it will be something to watch. >> meanwhile, the eastern half of the country boy, it is

chilly. we've got single digit temperatures in minneapolis. >> it feels like ten below chicago, waking up to just six, new york 23 degrees, but feeling like 11. and we kind of keep this trend going of the 10 to 20 degrees below normal for this region, at least through today and tomorrow, ali, we'll start to see some improvements. >> we'll also deal with a little bit of lake effect snow around the great lakes region. >> back over to you. yeah, i'm waiting for it to warm up a little bit. angie lassman thank you. >> amen. and coming up still ahead. >> hours from now, president biden will deliver his farewell address as he's set to reflect on his accomplishments. >> we'll go over what to expect and the significance of this speech. >> just days before donald trump is sworn in. is sworn in. >> way too early 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!

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msnbc world headquarters. welcome back to way too early. it's 530 on the east coast, 230 out west. i'm ali vitali. >> president biden will deliver a farewell address to the nation tonight from the oval office. >> the white house has not released many details about what the president will discuss in his remarks. >> they're scheduled for 8 p.m. eastern. >> but according to sources, biden is expected to reflect on his decades of service to the country and will also include a message to americans about the country's future. >> joining us now is white house senior deputy press secretary emily simons. >> so we know the white house hasn't released many details, but you are the white house. >> so talk to us about what we should be expecting to hear from the president tonight. so tonight, the president will be honoring a time honored tradition sitting behind the resolute desk in the oval office, addressing millions of americans, really putting us in the moment. where are we as a country right now? what can we

expect going forward? as you mentioned, he'll be drawing on his 50 years of public service for in the white house. >> aide as vice president, 36 as a senator, and really culminating in this moment of who we are today, who we are as americans, and that we are stronger when we are united. >> we'll hear a lot about all of the accomplishments we've had, everything from lowering prescription drug costs, all of the work on our roads and bridges, especially the work we've done in the tech space, cybersecurity and semiconductor chips. what this means for our place in the world, both national security and domestic security going forward. yeah, certainly a lot of work in that chip space as well. that's going to have a long tail. there's also the other piece of this though, too, that there is some criticism from within the party about the way that biden stayed in this race. and about now, donald trump coming in for a second term. do you think that there's anything in this speech that grapples with either those

criticisms or bucking them? we are focused on everything that we have delivered and explaining that to the american people. right now, there are 72,000 projects underway across the country on our roads and bridges and ports and waterways and airports. these are things that are going to make a real difference to everyday people. >> there's also a lot of work that's being done in a historic way. >> the biggest single drop in opioid deaths ever, lowest border encounters, biggest crime drop in 50 years. >> this type of thing makes a really big difference to people in every corner of the country. it doesn't matter if you're a republican, if you're a democrat. >> this has been a president that has spoken and fought for all americans. >> the other piece of this, too, when i think about joe biden in covering the 2020 race, is the whole frame was the battle for the soul of a nation democracy. small d was so central to that. >> is that going to be something that we hear him talk about, especially as he talks about the future? >> this is a president who has

restored honor, decency, character to the white house. >> you see it in everything he does, and i think you will hear directly from him about the importance of those attributes, what it does for us, not just at home vis a vis americans, but also what it really can do for us on the world stage, the strengthening of our alliances. so much of it is because the president has these long standing relationships everywhere between the indo-pacific, ukraine, europe and the middle east. and that work is ongoing now. but when you have someone with that heart, that character in the oval, it makes a big difference. >> i think the other thing i'm thinking about, too, is the fact that biden will be having the trumps over for the more traditional pre-inauguration meetings. >> of course, he will be going to the inauguration. >> all of these things not afforded to him by the man who is now being inaugurated after him. >> how is he thinking about what's happening on monday, the

transition of power and the role that he's playing in sort of traditional izing, something that felt bent severely, if not almost broken back in 2021. >> so the edicts that we have had directly from the president, as his staff is to ensure we have a peaceful, orderly transition of power. that is what the american people deserve, and that is exactly what we are doing. we are working closely with our counterparts. >> we are exchanging information as appropriate, and we will ensure that monday inauguration is a peaceful transfer of power and follows by the book all the things that are typically done. >> the inaugural t the joint motorcade folding in together and ultimately that passing to a new administration as is written in the constitution. >> and then after monday he is a private citizen, something that he has not been since 30 years ago, when plus when he was elected to the senate. what's next for him? is he going to be

active? >> he is going to be active. he has told us we are going to hear from him. >> he is loving that. >> we are. you know, he's a family man. >> i think throughout this presidency he spent a lot of time with his family. >> he's going to continue doing that. he has a new great grandchild, but i think he is extremely committed. he's a lifelong public servant, and he is going to continue doing what he can on behalf of this nation, speaking to important events. and we'll be hearing from him. >> yeah. 40 years. you don't just quit cold turkey overnight. >> emily simons, white house senior deputy press secretary. >> thank you for joining us. and still ahead this morning, a new year, a new moon exploration mission will tell you about the successful spacex launch that features two totally different landers. >> that's next on way too early. >> the second inauguration of donald trump morning joe kicks off coverage. then at 10 a.m,

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remission, nearly one year after receiving her cancer diagnosis. kate middleton made the announcement on social media yesterday, saying she's focused on her recovery and, quote, looking forward to a fulfilling year. princess also made a surprise visit to the hospital, where she received treatment to meet with patients and personally thank the staff who took care of her. experts note while remission is a good sign, the princess will most likely still need to be monitored and receive maintenance therapy in the years to come. still good news there. >> and two robotic landers from private companies are now headed to the moon. >> three two. >> one. >> ignition and liftoff. >> go! go! i say go! >> that was overnight as a spacex rocket carrying the landers lifted off from nasa's kennedy space center in florida. one of the landers developed by a texas based company is called blue ghost, and will survey an

area of the moon that's believed to be the site of an ancient asteroid impact. the other mission, which is being run by a japanese company, will target a site in the moon's far north. >> and apologies to the people who like a mimosa with brunch or a glass of wine at the end of the day, because a new federal report finds an alcoholic drink, a day may not keep the doctor away. >> researchers say just one daily drink can lead to an increased risk of liver cirrhosis and several cancers. >> it can, however, lower the risk of a stroke. but that benefit could also be canceled out by occasional binge drinking. >> the report follows another federal study that found moderate drinking was linked with a lower risk of death, but a higher risk of breast cancer. >> researchers say it's now time to reassess the current guidelines for the amount of alcohol women and men should consume. >> and still ahead this morning, we'll turn back to the senate confirmation hearings for donald trump's cabinet picks. >> plus, take a closer look at the republican party's strategy to push those nominations through and how democrats are responding. way too early is

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actually behind closed doors? >> they're still asking what the hell happened? >> welcome back. >> following a contentious confirmation hearing yesterday, republican senator joni ernst of iowa has said she will support peaked head, seeks nomination to be donald trump's secretary of defense. >> ernst, a combat veteran and survivor of sexual assault, was seen as one of the most likely republicans to defect against hegseth, who has previously expressed opposition to women serving in combat roles and has been accused of sexual assault, an allegation he denies. >> at the hearing yesterday, hegseth confirmed to ernst that he does support women now serving in active combat, saying, quote, it would be the privilege of a lifetime if confirmed to be the secretary of defense for all men and women in uniform who fight so heroically. >> joining us now, msnbc political analyst brendan buck. he was communications strategist and former aide to house speaker paul ryan and john boehner, and also with us, jonathan cott. he's a former senior adviser to democratic senators joe manchin and chris.

>> so two hill veterans here. >> i'll start with you, brendan. >> do you think that hegseth is going to be confirmed? >> i do. joni ernst coming out last night and announcing her support for him, i think was really the whole ballgame. and i think a lot of senators on that panel yesterday understood that where she comes down is ultimately going to decide his fate. she had questions going into this about his role, his view on the role of women in military. and democrats hammered that question over and over again. the problem for them is he just readily conceded he's changed his view on that. and so it made it really hard to stick. and after a while that that that sort of line of questioning ran out of steam and you could tell when she was not really going after him. she didn't want that glare, that spotlight on her. and that's what we saw early on when she first met with him. >> she was the center of the universe on pete hegseth. >> and as somebody who, you know, i don't want to minimize her concerns about the role of women in the military. certainly as a sexual assault survivor, her questions about those, we shouldn't minimize that. but

let's not pretend that there aren't politics going on here. >> this is a senator who is up in 2026 and needs to win a primary. >> and there were a lot of republicans on the outside who made clear that would be a problem for her if she if she very loudly. yeah. >> and so, you know, ultimately when she sits down and says, you know, what are the things that, you know, priorities i need to set here, maybe maybe she she leaned on the political side after seeing yesterday. >> john, do you agree that the winds seem to now be pushing hegseth towards confirmation? and for democrats part, they, fd about his qualifications, his character, his experience. >> but did any of them really land? >> i think the only ones that really landed were senator duckworth's questions about his knowledge and ability to actually do the job. >> the other ones, i think in donald trump's america, if you just deny everything and sort of push them off like he did yesterday, no matter what questions were asked, he sort of gave the same answer. >> he said, these are baseless anonymous accusations. >> no, i didn't do that. >> and, you know, asked and answered. >> and he moved on. her answers

were her questions were substantive and he just didn't know the answers to them. if every member of that committee had asked those, he would have looked just grossly unqualified by the end of it. and i think it would have given pause to maybe some other senators like lisa murkowski, john curtis, maybe mitch mcconnell, to say, i don't know if i can vote for this guy who doesn't have a basic understanding about how the department of defense works. >> and i think that's what democrats should be like. >> they should use senator duckworth's example for all the other nominees. >> the other person who, when i was talking to democrats on the hill yesterday, democrats seemed to think was able to at least showcase some of the pitfalls to this nomination was senator tim kaine, who, through multiple lines of questioning around the sexual assault allegation, around the fact that even though there were no charges pressed, that was an instance where hegseth was cheating on his wife. >> so did that work? i mean, are democrats on the hill just kind of grasping at straws? >> they all know where this is going, but i think they were

also trying to raise some early red flags. >> yeah, it was a skillful effort to point those things out. i think he did well. but there's this sort of dynamic on the hill, and certainly in this moment where when you were seen as sort of attacking the guy or by proxy attacking donald trump, it turns into a shirts versus skins game, us versus them, and they rally together. and i think that's more of what you saw. and you saw a lot of republican senators rushing to his defense. we are so tribal at this point that that ends up becoming the prevailing dynamic in a way where the, you know, the sort of, i don't know, character flaws question is probably less relevant. if you were supporting donald trump, you're probably not worried about character flaws in the first place. i don't mean to be cute about that, but like that probably was not what was going to sink him. >> i think jonathan is absolutely right. >> the substantive questions are where all of these people are going to be vulnerable. and if democrats continue to go down the route of doing this sort of cheap shots, and not that they're not legitimate, but the cheap shots rather than the substance, i think they're going to have the same situation happen over again, where republicans rally together and it creates a glide path for all

of these people. >> do you notice both in this hearing and then also the way that the democrats on the hill have reacted to even the naming of some of these picks? do you notice a change in the tone? to me, they seem a little bit less hair on fire. the world is ending. that was very much the tone, i think, of the pushback in the first trump era. >> do you notice a strategic communications shift? >> i think they're a little surprised by the sort of completely outside the box and grossly unqualified picks, so they don't know how to handle it. >> also, we're coming off a huge loss and there's no leadership. >> and there's a you know, there's a void of what do we do and what's our message going forward. and, you know, you don't have a president at the top of the ticket. you don't have somebody who's leading and saying, here's our message. >> chuck schumer is leading the senate democrats. >> but each one of them have, you know, a different agenda. senator peters is up for reelection. >> he's going to look differently. >> senator fetterman is sort of carving his own, you know, box out there where he's going to be his, you know, lone wolf. >> some people are calling him

the new mansion. >> i don't know if he likes that new nickname, but, you know, you're going to have people like ruben gallego who's going to do his own thing. >> so i don't think there is unified as they were in the past when donald trump won in 2016, and it was just an all out assault of no, no, no. but i also think they're just so surprised, like nobody expected. tulsi gabbard, who most of them remember from the 2016 russia investigation and have very strong concerns about who she is, you know, and her ties to some foreign governments that they were shocked that she was named robert kennedy jr. they'rt really know how to attack them yet. >> and that's what they're trying to figure out. so that brings me to my quick final question, which is it seems like pete hegseth is going to be fine. >> but to each of you, is there one name that you think might be a sleeper that doesn't get through court? >> and then brendan, i think tulsi gabbard, i think the intel committee is a serious committee. >> they have serious concerns about there. they've had concerns about her since 2016. >> i've heard members over the last 5 or 6 years when i worked

up there, expressed concerns about her. >> yeah, i agree that's probably the most likely the other one, of course, i'll throw out is rfk. he's so outside of the box, and if he presents himself as frankly, very weird and has a lot of strange things come up and he doesn't seem to understand how government works, i think that could be a problem. he's my sleeper pick too, because they have issues with him both on the vaccine front and then also on the abortion front. and that's just from republicans. guys, thank you so much for getting up early, getting up early with us. >> hope to have you back again soon. earlier in the show we asked you, why are you awake? curtis is already at the office this morning. >> same, he says, working on year end financials. exciting stuff. let me know if you're ever up way too early or way too late, and i'll tell you all about it. >> it's a sure cure for insomnia. >> marissa is up because she's hungry, uncomfortable, and 38 weeks pregnant. baby boy coming soon. >> congratulations. and shelly emails. >> i'm up working on my new year's resolution to get in 2025 miles in 2025. okay, so we just crunched the numbers in the control room, and that's over five miles a day.

>> wow. >> brendan is a runner. >> he's shaking his head here in support. >> or maybe you're driving instead of exercising, which might be a little bit impressive if you're cruising down the highway like that. coming up next, what we're learning about plans for donald trump's second inauguration, including one notable name not on the guest list. >> we'll tell you who it is. and coming up on morning joe, the key takeaways from pete hegseth contentious confirmation hearing after he was grilled about misconduct allegations and his views on women in the military. a trio of democratic senators will weigh in on trump's choice to lead the defense department, as well as the other controversial picks set for confirmation hearings later this week. and also ahead this morning, white house senior advisor and communications director ben labolt will preview president biden's farewell address to the nation. morning joe is just moments away. >> what's this? >> my new pony. and i love him. >> yeah. no, no, no, thank you. >> i ran the numbers on quicken. it's totally in my budget. bad.

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president barack obama. tech leaders elon musk, mark zuckerberg and jeff bezos are also expected to be there and will be seated on the inaugural platform, positioned near cabinet officials and elected leaders, but notably missing from the list former first lady michelle obama. so far, no reason was given for her absence, but she's previously stated that trump's 2017 inauguration was not an enjoyable experience for her. >> meanwhile, house speaker mike johnson ordered the flags at capitol hill to be raised full staff for the inauguration and then lowered to half staff for former president jimmy carter the next day. joining us now is race and politics reporter for the hill and the host of the switch up podcast, cheyenne daniels. just first, your reaction to michelle obama not going to the inauguration? we also didn't see her at the funeral for jimmy carter. what do you make of this? i actually am not surprised that she's not attending the inauguration, as you said. she said it wasn't a pleasurable experience. >> and, you know, during the campaign, she really didn't pull any punches for how she feels

about the president elect. so i don't think this comes as a big shock to anybody. i think it was more shocking to not see her at carter's funeral, actually. >> yeah. >> so we'll miss the memorable moments at this year's inauguration between michelle obama and george w bush. >> but it's also noteworthy that come monday, trump's inauguration is also happening on mlk junior day. you've talked with members of the king family on your podcast. >> what do they say about this confluence of events on the calendar? yeah, it's super interesting because they've mentioned that this year does feel different for a lot of reasons. not only is it inauguration day for trump, who has backed individuals who have said some very derogatory things about their family, notably north carolina gubernatorial candidate mark robinson, but also, you know, they pointed to the wildfires. they pointed to carter passing away and saying, you know, this year has just started off very differently than many other years, but they think that there is a moment here for people to take away as

the inauguration and mlk day and saying, this is a moment to be able to see why their father's work was so important, why realizing that dream is so important. >> you've also been doing some work that i want to talk about, about the congressional black caucus and some of their potential priorities, and focuses in the second trump term. when you and i sat down, the first thing that i thought of was the criminal justice reform efforts that democrats, including people like hakeem jeffries, have mentioned to me as something that they felt good about getting done in the first trump term and potentially could see more to in a second. >> is that a cbc focus and where else are they looking? absolutely. >> so members of the cbc, including the new chairwoman of that card, have said that they want to continue focusing on the topics that are most impacting black americans from criminal justice reform, which, of course, many are thinking about the george floyd justice in policing act to voting rights, which is a huge concern for them, and particularly dei

initiatives, which we are seeing roll back across the country. >> but it's very interesting because when i was speaking with members and they pointed out, you know, the republicans don't have as large of a majority as they would like to think. they said. >> and so at some point, at some point, they said they are going to need one of us to vote for something for them. >> we will then have them in our pocket to be able to do something for us. >> is there any something that they've actually detailed? >> is it taxes? >> is it something on any, any of the other immigration? is there potential commonality there, any of the other priorities? i think they're probably going to be looking toward those taxes and businesses. >> and how is that going to work out? >> and then probably how then do we maintain that dei initiative, you know, programs, all of those things in order to get republicans the legislation that they want on those taxes and businesses, they better be having those conversations now. because the thing that struck me when i was listening to pete hegseth yesterday is the way, during a question about diversity and inclusion

initiatives, he was asked and he said, there's going to be a lot of executive orders coming down on day one, and you got to imagine that's going to be one of the first things that the trump administration tries to roll back. >> yeah, and the cbc is incredibly worried about this already. of course, we have seen you know, you think about walmart, you think about lowe's. you think about all of these companies that are rolling back. >> you think about the house office of diversity and inclusion being gone. >> so definitely a top of concern for the cbc. >> cheyenne daniels, thank you for joining us and waking up. and that was way too early for wednesday morning. morning joe starts right now. >> you know, perhaps the most damning comment about pete hegseth came from pete hegseth himself, when he was explaining what the military needs in its leadership. >> the die policies of today are not putting meritocracy first. every single senior officer will be reviewed based on meritocracy. getting anything that doesn't contribute to meritocracy out of how decisions are made inside the pentagon, ensuring