jonathan lemire, veteran white house reporter, host of the 5:00 a.m. broadcast on this network.is also politico's white house bureau chief. susan page, seasoned journalist and author and washington bureau chief for "usa today" and cynthia alksne, former federal prosecutor. good evening and welcome. susan, first question to you. what will this new phase of the pandemic do to the best laid plans of the biden presidency, their domestic agenda? >> of course, joe biden was elected with a promise, with a job one of bringing the pandemic under control, and i think there was a brief shining moment earlier this year when we thought that was around the corner. that's not the case. omicron is an unwelcome reminder that the pandemic is here, it's here to stay for some time. we are learning to deal it, although we are very weary of mask mandates. it affects everything else. it affects the economy. it affects education. it affects the nation's mood, which has turned pretty sour. it affects the president's approval rating. so the idea that it's going to be over anytime soon, we can just shelf

it's jonathan lemire.rimes, talk to us about your plan to improve that part of citizens quality of life. >> yes, just as you said across the country there is been a spike in crime and atlanta is no difference. we experienced crime increase in the city since 2020 and it's my job as mayor to bring that crime rate down so this does not become the new normal. i public a safety plan. we are about 450 officers short where with we desire to be. i am going to hire 250 officers and train them in community-based and racial sensitivity and make sure they understand deescalation tactics . just be present and what we really have is a youth related crime problem. about 60% of our crimes is conducted by individuals under 24. i am really going to wrap my arms around them with a lot of nurturing programs at our parks and recs, my technology program that i have to train them how to code and do iphone repairs and get into the arts and stems and sports. we'll do a lot of your youths to keep them out of trouble. >> mayor dicke

with that, our starting line with jonathan lemire, host of the 5:00 a.m. broadcast on this network, "way too early," also politico's white house chief, susan page and cynthia, former federal prosecutor of tl justice department, good evening and welcome to you all. susan, first question goes to you, what will this new phase of the pandemic do to the best laid plans of the biden presidency, their domestic agenda? >> joe biden is elected with a job one of the pandemic under control. there was as brief shining moment that we thought was just around the corner, that was not the case. omicron is a reminder that the pandemic is here to stay for some time and we are learning to deal with it. it affects everything else. it affects the economy and it affects education, it affects the nation's mood which has turned sour and i affects the president's approval rating. the idea that it's going to beover any time soon we can shove that. we'll be living with that for some time. that's sobering news for president biden. >> jonathan lemire, this white house has had several

we have host of "way too early" and bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. and best selling author of "the confidence code" series, katty kay. good to have you both on board. >> yeah. let's really quickly, jonathan, we're going to talk about what the president did yesterday, but you're a new york guy. it's really -- you talk to anybody in new york city, and what they're going to be telling you is they can't get tested. i mean, it is -- the frustration is mounting. >> hard to find a booster, too. >> it is also sort of a -- we are so far removed from march 2020. everybody is getting this. it is spreading like wildfire. i have yet to really meet anybody who is freaking out about it. it is kind of like, all right, we'll get through this. it's not as serious. but at the same time, heck of a challenge, though, for government agencies trying to figure out exactly how to thread the needle. >> yeah. just, certainly, we're not march 2020. those of us who were in new york at the time remember the steady sounds of ambulance sirens wailing through the night. i mean, there

i'm jonathan lemire on this thursday, december 23rd. we'll start with the news.sident biden is defending his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. here he is in a new interview with abc news. >>> we're nearly two years in into the pandemic, presidency, empty shelves, no test kits in some places three days before christmas when it's so important. is that good enough? >> no, nothing's been good enough, but, look, look where we are. when last christmas we were in a situation where we were, we had significantly fewer people vaccinated, emergency rooms were filled, hospitals had backups, causing great difficulties. we're in a situation now where we have 200 million people fully vaccinated. 200 million people fully vaccinated. we have more than that that have had at least one shot, and they're getting these booster shots as well. >> the president also reportedly told abc news, quote, i wish i would have thought about ordering 500 at-home tests two months ago. here's what scott gottlieb said about that on cnbc yesterday. >> we should have been doing this all along. we s

i'm jonathan lemire.k schumer is teeing up a vote as early as tomorrow to extend the debt ceiling. schumer cut a deal that would allow the democrats to eventually pass the debt ceiling hike. without, members of the gop need to join democrats in order to pass a separate bill for cuts for medicare. that bill allows democrats to raise the debt limit to just a 51-vote majority. >> i think this is in the best interest of the country by avoiding default. i think it's also in the best interest of republicans who feel very strongly, if the previous debt ceilings that we agreed to when president trump was here carried us through august. and this current debt ceiling is indeed about the future. and not about the past. so, i believe we've reached here a solution to the debt ceiling issue. that's consistent with republican views. of raising the debt ceiling for this amount, at this particular time. and allows the democrats to proudly own it, which they're happy to do. >> congressional leaders announced the deal yeste

i'm jonathan lemire.ladimir putin amid ongoing fears that moscow plans to invade ukraine again. it comes weeks after the two leaders held a two-hour virtual meeting where biden warned moscow of economic consequences if it invades ukraine. according to a statement from the national security council, the two leaders are expected to discuss, quote, a range of topics including upcoming diplomatic engagements with russia. the u.s. is ready for a diplomatic path forward but is also, quote, prepared to respond if moscow moves ahead with an invasion. there will be security talk that will include moscow's demand that ukraine not join nato. russia has mirrored nearly 100,000 troops near the ukraine border sparking fears of an invasion. joining us to talk about this, white house correspondent for "politico" and contributor to msnbc. it's so good to see you, my friend. there's a sense on both sides that any deal will be made at the principal level. give us your sense of it. is there any sense that this call will actu

you should probably get it out yesterday. >> jonathan lemire is with us and has a question. the onion links on text message. white house warns supply chain shortages could lead americans to discover the true meaning of christmas, the latest one. i want to ask how the events of the last couple of years, the pandemic and all the darkness associated with it, has that influenced what you do at all? are there certain things you feel like you should lean into more heavily? we know you don't shy away from the big moments of the day. your 9/11 head loin is one of your most famous. talk about how this challenge would, i assume you're all working from home and not in a writers room, influence what you do? >> it's been a dark, lonely time, where we're sitting in front of our computers. that looks more like an al qaeda meeting than an onion writers meeting. but, yeah, it's been a challenging time. you know, there's just -- coronavirus has, like, been a very difficult thing to, you know, cover. but, you know, we kind of lean into that and kind of expose what's really going on and have jus

i'm jonathan lemire.iden signed into law a $768 billion national defense authorization act. he issued a statement supportive of the measure overall but critical provisions that effectively prevent him from closing the guantanamo defencing facility. it bars the use of funds to transfer detainees into the united states unless certain conditions are met. i urge the congress to eliminate these restrictions as soon as possible. the bill authorizes $740 billion for the defense department, which is $25 billion more than the president requested. that includes a 2.7% pay raise for service members. it also includes just under $28 billion for defense-related activities in the department of energy. >>> amid a smart increase in covid cases and a long line for testing, president biden is assuring state and local leaders about the response to the pandemic. biden held a phone call with several governors yesterday promising to provide aid for those struggling with the omicron variant. but he acknowledged governors will ne

i'm jonathan lemire. >>> democratic senator joe manchin is still a holdout.ave the final component of his agenda, president biden spoke on the phone to discuss a path forward. the senator made clear he isn't committed to voting for or against a bill this month. >> different iterations. that's all. anything's possible here. >> you're still willing -- you're still engaged in these negotiations? >> i'm engaged. yes, we're engaged. >> both manchin and the white house say the phone call was -- wait for it -- productive and agreed to follow up with another in the coming days. joining us now, co-founder of "punchbowl news," jake sherman. he's an msnbc contributor. jake, i hope this interview is productive. give us a sense of how -- there's a lot of anticipation for this conversation yesterday. it ended up being a phone call, not an in-person reading. give us your readout. no one is better sourced on where things stand on this bill. is there any chance at all it gets passed before year's end? >> as manchin told us yesterday, anything is possible. indeed anything is p

jonathan lemire, i'm skeptical. >> it's not that difficult. >> jonathan, she says she's an easy person'll get you that year. >> great, thanks. >> i can start working on some correspondence to send your way for christmas as well. my shopping i'm doing okay, better than i usually am. >> a dash around walgreens, thanks. >> any supply chain problems for you, katty? one of my 87 kids wanted a play station 4 or 5, impossible to get. everything is off the shelves. >> i have several -- the wonderful thing about the supply chain problem you can blame it on the supply chain. it's the best excuse ever. i was going to get you that wonderful rare xbox blah, blah, blah -- you can't get it. it was the supply chain. it would have been there, that very expensive cashmere sweater would have been there of course. >> so you're embracing the supply chain crisis. i was just going to say santa claus was drunk, baby, and couldn't help you out. we'll go back to the supply chain. maybe that will be better. let's go from christmas shopping to a not so merry day. what happened on january 6th? >> yeah, the right h

surgeon general, good morning, jonathan lemire.afe for schools to remain open? >> i say this not just as a doctor but father of two small kids who are in school right now but were not last year during the pandemic, keeping our kids in school is so, so important. we have to do everything we can to make sure that continues to be the case. now, i'm certainly happy that this year we've been able to get more than 95% of kids back in school, but here's the key, we have tools to make it safer for our kids to be in school. we just have to make sure we're using those tools. the billions of dollars that the administration secured in the american rescue plan to help schools afford testing, improve ventilation, get masks, make sure precautions were in place, many schools used those but we want more to do so because we can keep rates of infection in our schools low and keep kids learning and that helps their families as well. >> as a father of two underage children in school, i could not agree more. can you update us on the covid-19 medication,

jonathan lemire, like reverend al, you handed out covid tests and unfortunately to your two young childrenyou slipped it out the door, take the covid test and when they finish, they can come out to see santa. they were thankfully were negative. but, my son did have a different approach. they received gifts. it was a triumph of capitalism this week in my house. santa was very generous to them. it was a nice couple of days, a couple of good meals. they got a bunch of wonderful toys they were excited about including the red sox jersey that moved them to tears. so we did have a good christmas. how about you, joe? >> we had a very good christmas. several years ago i told my kids i didn't want presents. i didn't want stuff to write me a letter if they wanted to give me christmas presents. that said, even with that hard rule. this was the beatles holiday. i got paul mccartney lyrics book and i have it where ever i go. it was a very beatles and some letters and always the white sox, the exercise socks that my kids always steal. >> wait a minute, i got you overall to jump into the lobster boat. >>

jonathan lemire is still with us. it's great to have all of you with us. >> it's great to have all of you guys with us. if i were in the white house right now, i would be -- >> santa. i would be bumper stickers out, peter baker, talking about the white house who saved christmas. joe biden is santa. >> whatever happens to that supply chain thing? we keep on having ups trucks and fedex trucks showing up to our place for presents santa is bringing them of course. >> there is hardly any blimp and two days later numbers came out to confirm that our supply chain is working great. >> prediction of a great crisis turned out not what it's. a lot of work have been done in order to obvert that. a lot of people putting in a lot of work to get things up to speed. it reminds me of the obama presidency of the oil spill in the gulf would be able to kill them. it turned out not to be politico had predicted. keep these predictions with a grain of salt. everyone posted on the internet about my newspaper and an article of this young radi

. >> let's bring in jonathan lemire and mara gay. >> people like rand paul in congress would do the same and something would need in their district they would beg for it and anybody else, telling them go straight to hell. we see in hurricanes, i guess unfortunately i have seen damage like this far too much. hurricanes and tornados and whether you are in a red state or blue state, there are just something the federal government can do that nobody else can do. it's widespread. this tornado, you got to put it up there. tornado of 1974. the horrible tornado that hit one of my hometown tuscaloosa in 2011 and more tornados in 2013. red states, blue states and sandy hitting blue states. we are all in this together. we really should act that way and help our brothers and sisters out in kentucky. >> yeah, the footage here is almost beyond belief, the drones and cameras that had flown over head. we are looking at now, factories destroyed and the entire city is gone. the whole town is swallowed over night by this devastating storm, two hours in over six states. the death toll is too high as it is a

it's jonathan lemire.e tests may have influenced the cdc's decision to get rid of the requirement or to do away with the requirement of testing negative before entering everyday life because they can't get their hands on one. i wanted to ask but this, speculation the last 24 hours, the definition of fully vaccinated may change. previously it had been two shots of pfizer and moderna or one of johnson & johnson but now with omicron and the need for boosters, it could change. what do you think? >> if you go back on this very show i think in august i thought full vaccinate status should include that third dose. and so i've all along said this was not really about two doses and a booster this is a three prime vaccine. i agree right now that if you want to have the most protection against becoming infected or, in particular preventing illness, hospitalizations or deaths, that third dose is really important. so absolutely i think it should be implemented as a full vaccination. i understand the concerns about the

joyce vance, jonathan lemire, thank you for being part of our breaking news coverage.u what we're going to do. we're going too dive into this breaking opinion and appeals court ruling that donald trump's claims of executive privilege do not hold water, at least with them. the next hour of "deadline white house" starts after a quick break. hite house" starts after a quick break. real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ♪ 'tis the season to break tradition in a cadillac. don't just put on a light show—be the light show. make your nights anything but silent. and ride in a sleigh that really slays. because in a cadillac, tradition is yours to define. so visit a cadillac showroom, and start celebrating today. ♪ ♪ there is no place like home y'all! so visit a cadillac showroom, and start celebrating today. and these people know that there is no place like way

i'm jonathan lemire on this tuesday, december 21st. >>> senator from west virginia joe manchin is speaking on why he rejected the president's build back better plan. he said in a radio program the democrats never came around to his decision. >> surely we could badger and beat one person, certainly we could get enough protesters to make him uncomfortable enough that they'll just say, okay, i'll vote for anything just quit. >> he told senators in private conversations he was concerned parents would use their child credit tax care payments to buy drugs two. sawyerss say manchin also raised concerns over paid time off telling colleagues he feared west virginians would use the time to go deer hunting. a spokesman for senator manchin said, quote, senator manchin has made clear he supports the child tax credit and believes the money should is be targeted to those who need it most. he has also expressed support for a paid leave program that has a dedicated funding system. he has a sense of frustration with white house aides. take a listen. >> basically i've always been like, you know me, i'm alway

jonathan lemire, thank you. >> jonathan, what are you working on today?cky, of course, to console those impacted by those terrible tornadoes. and we will, indeed, keep watching capitol hill for any progress on the build back better agenda. and if, indeed, we're starting to see talk with senator warnock yesterday, if there could be a shift to voting rights. >> you'll be back at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow for "way too early." >> you can tell he is excited about that too. >> we get to sleep in, 6:00 a.m. >>> still ahead on "morning joe," the world health organization says the omicron variant is now spreading faster than any covid strain before it. we'll have the latest moves to keep americans safe. >>> plus, the district of columbia files a lawsuit against two far-right groups for their roles in the january 6th attack on the capitol. we'll talk to the attorney general of d.c. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ biden: this is the challenge of our collective lifetime. and every day we delay, the cost of inaction increases

i'm jonathan lemire on this thursday, december 9th. we'll start with the news.mer trump white house chief of staff mark meadows is now suing house speaker nancy pelosi and the committee investigating the january 6th attack on the capitol. the lawsuit came just hours after the committee said it will move forward with plans to hold meadows in contempt for ending his cooperation in the investigation. meadows, who was a no-show for another scheduled deposition yesterday, argued the lawsuit and overly broad subpoenaed should be invalid. quote, mr. meadows'flawed lawsuit won't succeed at slowing down the select committee's investigation or stopping us from getting information we're seeking. the committee also revealed new information on the role meadows played in trying to overturn the election. in a letter to meadows' attorney, committee chairman bennie thompson outlined some of the documents meadows turned over. they included, quote, a november 7, 2020, email, discussing the appointment of alternate slates of electors as part of a direct and collateral attack agains

i'm jonathan lemire. >>> we've been covering the passing of former senator bob dole.gacy has been shaped by his time as a soldier and for politics afterward. he always fought for those he served. nbc news chief correspondent andrea michmitchell. >> an old soldier reporting to duty. bob dole in the final years of a lifetime of public service, having led a campaign to build a memorial to serve all those who seved in the war that forever changed his life. >> whether you were in the army, marines, merchant marines, but, you know, if i'm in town, i'll be here. during the week sometimes aisle come on wednesdays and saturdays. >>> he was a star football play ter in his small hometown of russell, kansas, planning to become a surgeon. called to active duty he was 21 years old. the germans began firing on his platoon. >> the morning i was wounded, my radio man had been wounded, and i crawled out to get him back in the little ravine and i got shot, and he didn't make it. he passed away. so i tried, but i couldn't save him. >> reporter: flying metal hit dole's right shoulder and

i'm jonathan lemire on this monday, december 20th. >>> after months of negotiations, senator joe manchine linchpin in the 50/50 senate, said he will not support president biden's build back better plan, effectively killing the $2 trillion social spending proposal in its current form. in an interview on fox news sunday, the democrat cited debt, inflation, and covid for the reasons why he is opposed. >> the president put out that you still supported $1.7 trillion. he said you needed more time to finalize negotiations, and reporters asked you. you said, the president put out that statement, not mine, which makes more sense. you're a no. >> here's the thing. i tried, i really did. the president was trying hard, too. he has a lot of irons in the fire. i'm having the difficulties i'm having and basically the challenges we have from different parts of our party, basically pushing in different ways. so everyone still has the aspirational things they want to do. they said, can we still make this fit? we'll just cut it down to two years instead of ten, four years versus ten or one year versus ten.

i'm jonathan lemire.'s start with the news. >>> a federal appeals court has unanimously denied former president donald trump's request to block the release of documents by the national archives to the january 6th select committee. the ruling upheld a lower court's opinion which said in an executive privilege dispute between a current and past president, the sitting president must prevail. the court gave the former president 14 days to file an appeal with the supreme court, during which the injunction to halt the transfer of documents will remain in place. in a 68-page opinion, the panel concluded that, quote, former president trump has provided no basis for this court to override president biden's judgment and the agreement and accommodations worked out between the political branches over these documents. it goes on to say both branches agree there's a unique need for these legislative documents and they're directly relevant to the committee's inquiry on the attack on the legislative branch and the role o

i'm jonathan lemire. the january 6th committee has asked the supreme court to respond.urs after trump filed his appeal of the d.c. appellate court ruling to release the records. lawyers from the committee say moving quickly s quote, warranted because of the indisputable importance and urgency of the select committee's investigation, adding that any delay in their decision would inflict a serious injury on the select committee and the public. committee chairman bennie thompson, he tells "the washington post" the panel is focused on trump's hours of silence after the attack and the several videos he recorded to ask supporters go home before one was finally released. we know from reporting there were several takes that never saw the light of day. the president's delayed response to the capitol attack could be a factor in the decision whether to make a referral to the justice department to charge him with a crime. >>> in other committee news, trump spokesman taylor buddh which who the committee says was involved in the stop the steal rally on january 6th blocked the s&p for

it's jonathan lemire.e unvaccinated. tell me if that seems wise to you? >> i think relying on symptoms when we know many people can be asymptomatic and pass on the virus and not using the vaccination test is not where i would have gone. i think we do know that the unvaccinated are much more likely to be hospitalized and likely to end up in the intense care unit and die. 40% of our population is still not vaccinated and 70% of our people have had to doses but don't have a booster. >> dr. emanuel bringing some clarity into a confusing policy. thank you very much, he's the author of "which country has the world's best healthcare." >>> a recent washington post reports growing frustration over the biden administration handling of the pandemic according to the post, white house officials acknowledged that not enough have been done to secure tests and they are scrambling to change that, holiday travel and the onset of the contagious variant. other officials working for the biden administration confirms that accou

i'm jonathan lemire on this friday, december 17th.ll start with the news. >>> president biden says it could take weeks to approve his plan. according to a statement from the president, talks between the white house and senator joe manchin will continue next week. the statement reads in part this. we will, we must get build back better passed, even in the face of republican opposition. at the same time, we must also press forward on voting rights legislation and make progress on this as quickly as possible. democrats also lost their fight to have work permits for undocumented immigrants included in the bill. this is the third time the provision was rejected. senator dick durbin said the senate parliamentarian offered the same reasoning, quote, just too many rights extended, durbin said, adding, quote, we're not going to stop fighting for them. joining us now, white house reporter, josh wingrove. so much to get to. it seemed like for a while charles schumer thought it might pass. yesterday the president conceded it's not going to happen

i'm jonathan lemire on this tuesday, december 7th. we'll start with the news. >>> a former national guard official is accusing two army generals over the january 6 siege on the u.s. capitol. the officer wrote a 36-page memo to the house select committee. he claims charles flynn and lieutenant walter pyatt repeatedly misquoted, misstated, or mislead the house oversight committee and the house inspector general. he claims they didn't have the training to quickly respond the day of the insurrection. he writes every letter in the d.c. guard wants more. he goes on to call flynn and pyatt liars for their categorization of the events of that day. flynn and pyatt didn't respond to messages from politico seeking comment. an army spokesperson tells nbc news the army's actions on january 6th have been well douchlted, and lieutenant flynn and lieutenant pyatt have been open, honest, and thorough with their sworn testimony to congress and doj investigators. >>> a meeting is set between president biden and putin as tensions continue to escalate ove

i'm jonathan lemire on this wednesday, december 29th. we'll start with the news. longtime senate majority leader harry reid has died. his wife of 62 years announced in a statement last night that he passed away peacefully, while surrounded by friends following a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. reid was elected in the senate in 1987 after serving two terms in the house of representatives. he held the role of senate majority leader from 2007 to 2015 and was a pivotal figure on capitol hill with president bush and barack obama. paying tribute to a dear american and dear friend. in a statement, he wrote, if harry said he would do something, he did it. if he gave you his word, you could bank on it. that's how he got things done for the good of the country for decades. biden cited a number of reid's accomplishments including passing the affordable care act in the wake of the legislation. and nbc's chris clackum has more on his legislation. >> but the highlight at least for me. >> reporter: harry reid was known as a tenacious fighter even before becoming a senat

i'm jonathan lemire on this friday, december 3rd.tart with the news. >>> as the white house urges more americans to get vaccinated, new omicron cases are emerging in the u.s. and around the world. the latest here domestically are now confirmed in colorado, minnesota, and new york. nbc news senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell has the latest. >> reporter: expected, but still unnerving. more cases of the omicron variant detected inside the u.s. new york officials calling a news conference to announce omicron is there. add colorado to california and minnesota. officials identified omicron in a denver area woman who returned after a tour in southern africa. she was fully vaccinated, but had not received a booster. >> she is experiencing mild symptoms and is isolating at home. >> reporter: in minnesota, governor tim wolfe tried to assure everyone. a man was boosted and attended an anime convention last month held at the javits center, the very place that once served as a covid field hospital. conventiongoers urged to get teste

i'm jonathan lemire.emocrats on capitol hill are publicly calling out senator joe manchin for refusing to support the build back better act, republicans are trying to use the discord to add him to their ranks. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell is offering an open invitation saying the west virginia senator is welcome to switch parties anytime. >> i don't know if joe will ever become a republican, but i can tell you this for sure, it's a completely uncomfortable fit for joe. i think he's probably, for example, the only pro-life democrat of the 50. he doesn't fit well over there. but that's a decision he ultimately has to make. we certainly welcome him to join us if he was so inclined. >> mcconnell isn't the only republican reaching out. senator john cornyn of texas said he texted manchin about switching parties but hasn't heard back. cornyn tells a tv station, quote, i don't know what he will decide to do but i do know that west virginia has gotten increasingly red. that would change the majority. no

with me is host of "way too early," jonathan lemire, jon, congratulations, over the satellite feed, andt we just saw right there. the president is trying to sell his build back better plan and democrats are hoping that by doing so they'll get some better poll numbers or some better expectations for 2022. >> thank you for that, katy, and welcome back. and you have an open invitation if you want to set your alarm real early. this was the latest push from the president. the white house is trying to be more assertive in getting out there and trying to sell this bill. allies are agitated that people didn't know what was in the two parts of the biden agenda, the infrastructure bill and then this larger reconciliation package, saying that, look, everything in here polls well but americans don't recognize what's in there, they're too focused on the price tag. the president is hitting the road more often, he's going to missouri, and today he focused on the prescription pricing plan, who spoke movingly, as well as the speakers before him, about the cost of insulin. they hope to cap it at $35, a l

it's friday, december 10th, jonathan lemire is still with us.tion and nbc news, john, and doris kerns. i have been spending not as much as you, i am sure. i have been spending so much time with abraham lincoln over the past year and a half. it's sadness, personal failure and professional failure. there is that moment that you wrote in your book where you quoted abraham lincoln who said the only thing keeping him alive was he not yet done anything on earth to make anyone remember him after he was gone when he was contemplating suicide. and look at this interview with hillary did with willie and also her reading her speech and i am just struck by what a historical artifact 50 years from now and how important we are seeing hillary clinton revealing this side of her. >> without a question, adversity makes people stronger. that's that great quote of earnest hemmingway. >> i think what she's doing now by allowing herself to reveal emotions she felt and what she would have had she won. anything you can read and hear and now you hear the person is sayin

>> because this is who they are. >> it must be, jonathan lemire.uage that she was using, this islam phobic attack was repeated, it wasn't a one-off. it wasn't a simple mistake. it was like a laugh line that she used at parties, which, to me, really tells us where the republican party is at and the direction it intends to continue to go in. >> right, this wasn't just one poorly phrased comment. this is something she says repeatedly and uses the resulting controversy as a fund-raising mechanism. certainly two things here, mika. it shows, again, the refusal for kevin mccarthy to discipline anyone in his party, particularly those who have ties to the former president because he's so afraid of alienaing trump and his backers, and certainly boebert and marjorie taylor greene and a few others on the fringe are favorites of donald trump. from congresswoman omar, you heard it there, she expects pelosi to take decisive action. it could be a rebuke. it could be her being stripped of committee assignments. it wouldn't be the first time pelosi has had to step a

let's add to the conversation, the host of "way too early," jonathan lemire. good morning, let's pick it up there with marc short and his role in this white house, his role with the vice president, pence. >> marc short was the vice president's closest aide while he was in office, long time ties to mike pence. certainly when it came to this, the matters of the election and everything that led to january 6th, he was mike pence's gut check. people i talked to there, receiving extraordinary amount of pressure from president trump, from trump's closest allies about january 6th and how he would play that a decisive role that he would not oversee the process to certify democratic's victory. trump still believe that pence would cave to the pressure. pence according to aides i have talked to, he wavered at times. marc short told him look, you have to do this right and short texted pence bible courses saying keep your strength. the vice president was afraid to leave the capitol. pence was there pleading for help and getting the national guards there. he's cooperating. a

. >>> for more on this conversation, let me bring in donna edwards, also jonathan lemire. and former chief spokesman for the justice department, matt miller. dear friends of this program. jonathan, let me start with you. the omicron wave is hitting this really sort of fatigued and agitated country maybe for the first time settling back into the concept of a return to a new normal. what do you make of the precarious spot we find ourselves in and the task of the white house who i'm sure would like nothing more to turn the corner on the pandemic? >> it's a herculean task. i talk to white house officials all the time and of course they're fatigued, too, but they also recognize this is the central premise and promise of the biden administration. he was elected, sure, to get rid of donald trump, but to also gain control over this virus. and now this is the second time where the nation just as it seemed like we were starting to return to some normalcy, first over the summer and now we've been crushed by a new variant. delta and now omicron. they are, the white house is of course p

host of "way too early" and chief at "politico," jonathan lemire.the renewed democracy initiative, retired u.s. army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. he is the author of the book "here, right matters, an american story." >> one quick correction. c.s. lewis, i think, is refused with j.r. tolkien there, but we'll get to that later. >> okay. >>> interesting to hear roy blunt say the most insidious form of authoritarianism, more insidious than soviet communism, more insidious than the holocaust, more insidious than stalin's killing of maybe up to 30, 35 million of his own people, more insidious than the 60 million people that were killed, is making people get a vaccine. having a mandate to get a vaccine. when everybody in that picture, everybody around this table, everybody in this studio, everybody sitting in congress had to have five vaccines before they started their education. it really is remarkable, like, how stupid this anti-vaccine debate can be. and the continued comparisons to the holocaust for something that every one of them had to do t

and host of way too early, jonathan lemire joins us as well.ker pelosi and the committee investigating the january 6th attack on the capitol came hours after the committee says it will move forward with plans to hold meadows in contempt for ending his cooperation in the investigation. he was going to cooperate, he decided not to. he was a no-show yesterday argued in the lawsuit that the subpoenas are quote "overly broad and undually burdensome." mr. meadows stopping us from getting the information we are seeking. the select committee will meet next week to advance a report, recommending cite mr. meadows for contempt of congress and referred him to the department of justice for prosecution. >> it's interesting mark meadows had been cooperating and he gave a ton of materials to the media already. it's like he is virtually signaling to donald trump oh i am going to attack my book and sue nancy pelosi because he got put in the dog house on a couple of days and he went on fox shows and talked about how great donald trump was. it's all sad and pathet

jonathan lemire and reverend al sharpton is still with us.t mean it. >> an author of the "winners take all," alan is here with us. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> that seems more genuine to me. >> a lot of warmth, oh, you look great. please to have helman here. >> so john, before we get on, we are talking about what we were talking about yesterday, you have this past year, you have judges and election officials and you have judges of all strikes appointed by trump and appointed by obama. you name it who literally saved american democracy since it was in its most precarious state in 1885. time magazine -- >> i am not going to try to argue for us because that's a fool's error. "time" magazine said for a long time, i believe hitler was on the cover as he was. they said many times this was not the most valued person or most positive and who's the most consequential. i agree. i think that's the first piece of context. second piece of context, the magazine business is in a lot of trouble and i know there is commercial pressure to sell magaz

i'm jonathan lemire on this thursday, december 2nd.re going to start with the news. >> the inevitable has happened. the first case of the omicron variant of covid-19 has been dedeathed in california. the cdc announces the patient returned from south africa last week and developed symptoms a few days later. the person then tested positive for covid, and genome sequencing confirmed it was the omicron variant. the individual who was fully vaccinated is showing mild symptoms and is recovering in isolation. so far everyone who has had close contact with patient has tested negative. on the heels of that first omicron case, dr. fauci encouraged americans once again to get vaccinated and receive a booster shot as soon as they're eligible. >> people say, well, if this we're going to have a booster-specific vaccine, should we wait? if you're eligibility, namely six months with a double mrna dose or two months with the j&j, get boochtbosted now. we may not need a variant boost. the mistake people may make is in waiting to get one. if you're eligi

"way too early" with jonathan lemire coming up next. >>> as you know well, the cdc has been criticized for mixed messaging throughout the course of this pandemic, whether it's on masks or on boosters. why should americans trust the cdc? >> my job right now is to take all of the science and information that we have and to deliver guidance and recommendations to the american people that is adapted to the science at hand. this pandemic has given us a lot of new and updated science over the last two years, and it is my job to convey that science through those recommendations, and that is exactly what we are doing. >> that's the director of

"way too early" with jonathan lemire coming up next. >>> remembering two titans from two very different worlds, football legend john madden and former senator majority leader harry reid. they both passed away yesterday. the question is how will they be remembered today. >>> plus, the u.s. breaks the record for daily covid cases even as the cdc sharply cuts its estimated omicron cases here in the united states. the question is, what does the latest research show? >>> and new reporting on the investigation into the january 6th attack on the capitol. the question is why is the white house now

i'm jonathan lemire.micphobic remarks from congresswoman lauren boebert has sparked a bitter battle within the republican party that spilled out on social media yesterday. it started out as marjorie taylor greene tweeted calling mace trash with the remarks. mace replied with a series of emojis calling greene crazy but in far more colorful terms. two other republicans jumped in. it was a mess. "the new york times" summed up like this, the carnival-like behavior would amount to little more than a side show if it did not have real implications for midterm campaigns and possibly a fractured republican majority in 2023. party leaders chose to remain mum as their back benchers brawled and democrats took full advantage of the spectacle. and kevin mccarthy has yet to comment on boebert's remarks. the latest from cnn in an event in september. in it she told the same bigoted joke we heard from the november 20th event where she implied that congresswoman omar could be. and then giving an apology, anyone in the commu

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> new treatment and new research offers encounteringfight against covid. as we learn more about the omicron variant, the question is could the strain already be near its peak here in the united states? >>> plus, a pennsylvania congresswoman carjacked at gunpoint. several suspects have been arrested. the question is how is she doing this morning? >>> and president biden talks about whether he plans to run for re-election. the question is what does he think about the prospect of a rematch with donald trump? it's "way too early" for that. ♪♪

our friend jonathan lemire offers this insight into the challenges facing the administration as he puts recognition of the political peril that looms, along with an implicit recognition that the public may not be willing to stomach the more dramatic measures to combat the new variant, even if biden asked them to. well, back with us tonight, jason johnson, campaign veteran and journalist, contributor to the grillo and professor of politics and journalism at morgan state university, who i happened the see anchor an hour on this network. and till miller, communications director for jeb bush formerly. gentlemen, it is a pleasure to have you two friends back with us. tim, i would like to begin with you. there's secret cable news i would ask you not to share with anybody. people like me have gentlemen like you on and we got frothed up over the existential issue of that day, that night, the issue that is just so overwhelmingly important, and then we have these things called weekends and we watch football, we come back monday and we're always surprised to learn there's a new issue at the top of

i'm jonathan lemire. the debt ceiling by $2.5 trillion avoiding a catastrophic default. >> full faith and credit of the united states should never be questioned. the health of our economy should never be threatened. the financial security of our families must never be gambled. this has a direct impact on the pockets of the american people. >> the house passed legislation early this morning, hours after the senate approved the bill in the other chamber. just one republican, congressman adam kinzinger in the middle voted with democrats to lift the ceiling. this comes after a bipartisan agreement last week to allow democrats to raise the debt limit with a simple majority, instead of the typical 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. the bill now heads to the white house for president biden's signature. joining us now, political writer for axios sarah. what should we expect next, we know the president is going to sign this. what strat eye? s might be used to pass this when it comes up next in 2023? >> well

. >> really quickly, jonathan lemire, what are you working on today? >> i'll say that's an inspirational story. i'm glad he entered the lion's den again and had the courage to do it here. it will be obviously following the president and his omicron strategy today and also listen to the white house as they try to start prodding forward again on its agenda. >> all right, that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. ♪♪ >>> hey there, i'm stephanie ruhle live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is wednesday, december 22nd, and there is a lot to get to, so sit down. let's get smarter. this morning covid cases are growing at an alarming rate all over this country, but nose numbers only tell part of the story. on tuesday the average number of daily cases jumped to more than 150,000. that is nearly double what it was back on thanksgiving. in the state of florida, cases have tripled in a week, nearly 13,000 on monday alone. in maryland, the average number of new cases doubled in just one day, and in washington,

julie and jonathan lemire and john bresnahan, say hi to jake sherman back there, make sure he's working and not just googling. >>> coming up, why donald trump is filing suit against new york attorney general letitia james. >>> you've gotten vaccinated and boosted and now cases are surging again. what do you do? >>> and jury deliberations begin in the case of the former police officer who said she mistakenly pulled her gun instead of her taser when she shot and killed a black man in minnesota. dle dry weather... ...and dry, cracked skin. new gold bond advanced healing ointment. restore healthy skin, with no sticky feeling. gold bond. champion your skin. at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will work with you on a comprehensive wealth plan across your full financial picture. a plan with tax-smart investing strategies designed to help you keep more of what you earn. this is the planning effect. the airport can be a real challenge for new homeowners who have become their parents... okay, everybody, let's do a ticket check. paper tickets. we're off to a horrible start. ...but we can overcome

katty kay and jonathan lemire and willie is still with us.donny, i will start with you, the republican party and the fox wing and the trump's wing of the republican party is super called out by these text messages which shows how they were feeling. even later on they were calling just another day in january, that was a bunch of bs. this is how they were feeling in realtime. >> i was actually pleasantly surprised that donald trump jr. acted. i thought him and his girlfriend dancing in glorious. my question about all this. if i got two groups, a bunch of democrats or republicans, no matter where this goes, unless we have donald trump saying go get a noose and let's hang mike pence. where does this end? the tea leaves are there already. my question is against the backdrop of local officials being put in place. this coup in the past of what we are looking at does not have a dramatic ending where as the coup that's happening behind the scenes now. that's where the alarm bell -- it's interesting how this takes front and center, the real threat of t

. >> good morning, jonathan lemire.o about culture wars. it seems, as a republican strategist put to me recently, the ethos own the lips. it's not about policy, ideas for constituents, it's about the gotchas, and i wanted to get your thoughts on what you heard. and we've heard from senator josh hawley on things like manhood, big bird, whatever it might be. what is the principle on the culture wars you heard? >> it's based on the idea that there's a culture in sort of coastal cities that is not the real american culture and it's trying to take away church, manhood. donald trump doesn't have to talk about manhood. hawley is trying to fake it so he has to talk about it. but he understands the issues that resonate. and i think what was interesting to me was, you know, the culture wars, trump was a culture war, not a policy president. what was interesting to me about what's emerging on the right, and this is true of rubio, is we need to move beyond the culture wars. the argument is we on the right don't control the media, th

it's jonathan lemire.osaka. i wanted to get your thoughts on the state of the game, not only on the court and off, ms. osaka and her mental health, and simone biles at the olympics. talk to us about the progress you've seen on issues like that since you were playing. >> well, first of all, as a 12-year-old, when i had my epiphany, i wanted tennis to be a platform. what i love about the young players playing today, they're using tennis in a positive way to make the world a better place and talk about issues that matter, black lives matter, or in this case, mental health. naomi is fantastic, what a great champion. of course, simone biles, can't say enough about her. i think it's great they talk about it. now that we have social media, in the old days we didn't have this. there's a way to communicate faster, sometimes better, sometimes not so good. it can be -- that's a double-edged sword, as we all know. but i think it's good. we're all talking about it. that's what is always helpful and maybe it will help t