please welcome, john heilemann, mark mckinnon, and alex wagner.ard. >> stephen: you guys, the last time we talked together was election night, at the end of which, we really did not know exactly what was going on. now we know exactly what's going on. and it's extraordinarily harrowing. i know you guys were-- all three of you were in d.c. this week. what is it like to be there with 15,000 national guard troops on the streets? >> i mean, i'll tell you, as someone who grew up in washington, d.c., i have never, ever seen the town like that. i have traveled to places, you know, on the chad sudan border and the thai-burma border to places with very unstable governments and it turns out ours is just the same. i mean, it really feels like the stability that we have once known as a country in terms of our government is gone. i-- i do really think that, like a lot of the security measures you see now, some of them are going to be permanent. i remember walking down pennsylvania avenue, driving down pennsylvania avenue in front of the white house when i was g

because that's part of what they believe. >> senator claire mccaskill and alex wagner, thank you both for starting off our conversation tonight. we really appreciate it. >> thanks lawrence. >> thank you. >> you bet. >>> up next, why republicans have no plan -- no plan at all -- for repairing what they have broken. david frum joins us next. n. david frum joins us next it's either the assurance of a 165-point certification process. or it isn't. it's either testing an array of advanced safety systems. or it isn't. it's either the peace of mind of a standard unlimited mileage warranty. or it isn't. for those who never settle, it's either mercedes-benz certified pre-owned. or it isn't. the mercedes-benz certified pre-owned sales event. now through march 1st. shop online or drop by your local dealer today. (burke) at farmers, we know how nice it is to save on your auto policy. but it's even nicer knowing that if this happens... ...or this... ...or even this... ...we've seen and covered it. so, call 1-800-farmers and get a quote today. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ with rel

because that's part of what they believe. >> senator claire mccaskill and alex wagner, thank you both for starting off our conversation tonight. we really appreciate it. >> thanks, lawrence. >> thank you. >> you bet. >>> up next, why republicans have no plan -- no plan at all -- for repairing what they have broken. david frum joins us next. start the year right with the beautiful iphone 12 on the 5g from america's most reliable network. this new iphone plus verizon 5g? game changer. unlimited plans include 5g. and now, iphone 12 pro with 5g is on us when you switch. only on verizon. what is humana doing sending me a diy test kit? old health insurance reminds you to schedule a screening, say, for colon cancer. humana does you one better and sends you an at-home test kit, when it's overdue. huh! one of those tests could save your life, or at least a little hassle. or both. yeah! you get it, you do it, you send it back. i get it, i do it, i send it back. you get it, you do it, you send it back. yeah, i got it. you got it! ♪ ♪ humana. a more human way to healthcare. want to sell the best

i want to just come back to you alex wagner on your point about really decades, generations of work bylead to tonight. and i wonder if there is anything that you saw in steve's early report that gives you me indication of how that has gone? >> well, look, i talked to the campaigns about how they're looking at these early numbers and they have their own math. their going to be looking intently at trump areas of the state to see what those numbers are. because i think internally they have a number that they think is democratic votes that have come in early. and they want to know how that tallies against what happens in parts of the state that don't favor the democrats, right. they think they know where the baseline is at. at this point, nobody in any campaign believes this is a short night. they think it is a long night. we're talking about multiple changes of clothes, maybe not for steve kornacki because he loves those khakis. but there is no polling in georgia for a runoff election and even the polling that we had in november was not that reliable. so i do want to touch on something th

be alex wagner is a contributing writer for "the atlantic" and both join me now. nicole, let me start with you. i wanted to have you here tonight on this occasion because that essay that is in the 1619 project talks about kind of the promise and peril of the nation, it seems with the eyes of your father and the flag that he would hoist over your house, and the sort of movements of progress and backlash. it does seem like nothing is settled at this moment. everything feels unsettled. but something -- some force of darkness was temporarily put in place in this political struggle that we've seen. >> yeah, thanks for having me on and taking us on that journey. it's been a long four years. you know, we are a country that from our founding have been at war with these two different sides of ourselves. we are a country that was at once founded on these majestic ideas, inalienable rights of universal freedoms and also the practice of slavery. and what we've seen with the election of obama in 2008 and 2012 followed by the election of a white nationalist president, donald tr

joining discussion now msnbc national affairs analyst and executive editor of "the recount" and alex wagnerntributor. let me begin with you, alex. you grew up in washington. i think you're in washington tonight, aren't you? >> i am, indeed. >> what is it like -- just what is that atmosphere like for you, especially someone who has lived and breathed it for so long? >> yeah, it is unrecognizable, lawrence. i have a lot of friends from washington who are still here, and the sense of doom, the sense of fear, the sense of a lost america is just -- it's in the air. the entire city is on lockdown. i mean, there's covid, of course, but there are gates erected all over the city, boarded up businesses. you can't get anywhere near the capitol. there are national guardsmen. there are 100 of them staying in my hotel tonight. they're everywhere along the streets. it does feel like the green zone. it does feel like baghdad. it feels like a foreign capital in an unstable country somewhere else in the world, only it's washington, d.c. it feels apocalyptic. i spent the day yesterday with erik swalwell and w

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and alex wagner, who is down in georgia covering the senate runoff. that note. i was looking at pictures of you down in georgia covering the race. were you -- i was shocked by that result. we haven't had time to process it because of everything that's happened. were you surprised by the victories? >> i think everybody sort of expected that this wouldn't go democrats' way, but if you were down in georgia, what would have struck you is the ferocious amount of discipline that both ossoff and warnock have had on the campaign trail for months, right? like the rest of the country has been talking about trump. the rest of the country has been -- you know, had their finger in the wind to see which way the national news was going and where trump's, you know, sort of twitter feed was hour by hour. but down in atlanta, down in georgia, two candidates were running with a remarkable amount of message discipline and focus. the only thing, the only thing that raphael warnock and jon ossoff were talking about were issues that georgians care about. and those issues we

alex wagner is a co-host of show time's "the circuit" and veteran of msnbc and juanita oliver. good evening to both of you. your thoughts, alex. >> there's a lot of work to do, ari. the country's in crisis. the biden administration realized they're going to have to walk and chew gum and cook dinner and dance backwards in heels and all the things at the same time. look, i think in addition to the multiple crises facing the country, we're dealing with a republican party that's imploding before our very eyes. we talk about the fact that mitch mcconnell be is trying to weaponize an organizing resolution. everybody should take a moment and absorb that. this is the organizing resolution is a pro forma piece of senate parliamentary procedure. mitch mcconnell tried to weaponize it. that to me indicates the republican party will leave no stone unturned in terms of the levers of power. if they could weaponize the senate gym, they would. anything that there is, they will try to use as a lever of power because they understand they are dealing with an administration and a democratic party th

. >> nikole hannah-jones and alex wagner, i will look for your footage on "the circus." that will be really interesting. thank you both, that was great. appreciate it. >>> next, the trump administration may be in his final hours, but the masses aren't going anywhere. what jordan heard during the attack on the capitol after this. n the ca pitol after this is. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred... ...as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results. your doctor should monitor your bloodwork. tell your doctor about any infections...and if you are or may become pregnant while taking

alex wagner, i think you focused my fears on the reality of this, and the sort of nationalized nature of this, that likely in every community there are members of a militia group. you have that stunning interview with folks who believed and were willing to fight with arms for an election result other than donald trump's victory. i wonder if you've stayed in touch with them. i wonder what you think how this is all played out. it was very prescient what you reported. >> i one it ware prescient. when i interviewed them, they were so explicit about violence. they were so explicit about their plans for insurrection. they were so explicit about the civil war, it almost made you dowd if it could by real. we were always taught that terrorist activities are covert, they happen far away, and domestic terrorism wasn't part of the day-to-day vocabulary. i even talked to law enforcement officials who are trying to calibrate how worried they should have been in advance. i talked to the michigan attorney general there, who was one of the people who foiled the plot against governor whitmer. even then

wagner. i was watching you earlier. there were literally thousands there at a standoff with police. what are things like there? >> things are calming down literally, alex there are pockets of protesters moving around the city based on reports we are seeing. one is actually outside of the very that torres detention center. and we also saw other areas in the city center, people dispersed in the late afternoon from the primary meeting spot where we were earlier today, funneled down some of the other streets. at one point along one of mosquio's famous boulevards started resisting the cops by throwing snowballs at them. we did see one incident turn violent. there's reports one cop was injured. that's actually a very new development for the russian opposition. i think it's something to really pay attention to. we have not really seen protesters fight back here in russia. this is something we saw early on in both ukraine several years ago and belarus recently. so i'm sure the authorities will be paying very close attention to that. i have to say when we were on the grounds, we did see several very rough arrests early on. unfortunately we had to move back as t