i'm jonathan lemire.ssional caucus chair joyce beatty after he made a controversial comment after her asking him to put on a mask. tweeting today while heading to the house floor for votes i respectfully asked my colleague represent hal rogers to put on a mask while. he then poked by back demanding i get on the train. when i asked him not to touch me, he responded kiss my -- blank. folks, he didn't say blank. >> here we are in our place of work, we talk about preventing workplace harassment. this was harassment of a woman. a black woman, and a woman in leadership because he put his hands on her. he told her to kiss his -- part of his butt. and i can tell you, being a little black girl from the east side of detroit, i would not take that standing or sitting. and i'm not going to take it standing or sitting for one of our own to be disrespected. >> who does hal rogers think he is? how dare he put his hands on anyone, man, woman or child. how dare he assault joyce beatty. how dare he jab her aggressively in

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next . >>> former president trump gets dumped by his long-time accounting firm. a decades worth of the trump organization's financial statements can no longer be relied upon. the question is, what does this mean for two major investigations in the trump's business practices? >>> plus, amid growing tensions over ukraine, vladimir putin is signaling he remains open to a diplomatic resolution, and breaking this morning, russia says it is pulling back some troops. the question now, is moscow trying to de-escalate? >>> and after the super bowl team's win, los angeles rams head coach sean mcvay speaks to reporters in what he jokingly calls a torturous news conference, and who schedules an event like that at 830 a.m. the morning after a super bowl? it's way too early for this. >>> good morning. and welcome to "way too early," and frankly a show that thinks anything that starts at 8:30 in the morning is three and a half hour to late. >> presid

it is jonathan lemire.or the biden administration in the jobs report. talk to us though, we also have seen in the last few months a record number of people quitting their jobs, perhaps the great resignation, if you will, early retirements or people looking for better opportunities. how is the administration sort of managing and watching that development? >> yeah, another important question. the way you teed it up is right. on one hand there's a lot of talk about the great resignation, but we know for a fact that many -- and i think possibly even most of the people who are quitting are moving up to jobs that they prefer, better jobs, often with better pay. that's one of the reasons why you see some very nice pressure on the wage side. you talked about a 5.7% increase. that's the fastest wage gains thus far over the pandemic. if you look at middle and lower wage workers you get closer to 7%, 6.9% year over year for wage gains. that's a sign of upward mobility, where rates enable people to take better jobs. an

it is jonathan lemire. i wanted to get you on two things related to this.t your take on that. president zelensky in ukraine said safety was his primary interest for his country and he thought nato might be the only way for it to happen, entry into nato might be the only way for that to happen. what do you think of ukraine's entry into that alliance? >> i think there's a chance we can pass sanctions in the senate. i don't know how much authority the president needs. he has standing authority to do some of the most significant and impactful sanctions. i think we have agreement on about 95% of this bill. we are just having trouble getting the finishing touch but we'll continue to work through the rest of the week and weekend to see if we can come up with something. on nato, listen, it is up to nato members and to ukraine as to whether ukraine joins. it is no secret, ukraine is not ready right now. ukraine still has to make some significant reforms domestically, some anti-corruption forms to qualify for nato membership, but it is absolutely possible within the

i'm jonathan lemire.n at an impasse, republican senators are now unveiling their own bill. the proposed legislation is spearheaded by senator james risch of idaho. the bill would slap sanctions on the nord stream 2 gas pipeline and russian officials and provide financial assistance to ukraine and speed up arms to the yoourp people country. the january 6th committee issued six new subpoenas to people they said were involved in organizing slates of alternate electors to challenge joe biden's 2020 election victory. one went to republican kelly ward who tried to overturn biden's victory in her state and has sued to block the commit from getting her phone records and was part of a bogus part of electors from arizona. pennsylvania's senator doug mass triano was also subpoenaed. along with mark finchem running for secretary of state and endorsed by former president trump. a subpoena to him as well. none of the three immediately responded to request for comment. joining us now, co-founder of punchbowl news anna p

i'm jonathan lemire.that the january 6th committee is now investigating donald trump's role in trying to seize voting machines. that's according to three people with knowledge of the committee's activities. the "times" says it's unclear what evidence lawmakers are examining but likely in the mix, the draft executive order that circulated among the former president's attorneys that would have authorized the pentagon to seize voting machines in key swing states. the former president is also doubling down on his idea of pardoning january 6th rioters if he's re-elected. in an interview with news max he criticized republican lindsey graham who called that suggest inappropriate. here's a reminder what senator graham said on sunday followed by trump's new comments. >> well, i think it's inappropriate. i don't want to reinforce that defouling the capitol was okay. i want to deter people who did what they did on january 6th. and those who did it i hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them because they d

>> come on. >> jonathan lemire is still with us.ident of the national action network, the reverend al sharpton. also with us, sports editor of "the nation" dave cyron." author of "the kaepernick book." >> great to have you with us. jonathan lemire, everybody i knew were rooting for the underdogs, rooting for the bengals, just a success story. you know, they did very well for three quarters. they hung tough, and just at the end once again had their hearts broken like they have before, like, you know, montana did to 'em and now it is stafford and kupp. >> yeah. the bengals never won a super bowl championship. i was rooting for them as well. it would have meant so much to the people, the fan base there of southern ohio. the rams' defensive line were the story the second half. burrow, a great young quarterback, and this bengals team have a future ahead of them. they will have another shot. the defensive line was immense. give credit to matthew stafford, stuck in nfl perg torrey of detroit for a long time, purgatory perhaps being kind, w

i'm jonathan lemire.nvestigating the capitol attack is out with a new piece in the "the wall street journal" titled "the january 6th committee won't be intimidated," she writes in part this, republicans used to advocate fidelity to the rule of law and the plain text of the constitution. in 2020, mr. trump convinced many to abandon those principles. as the select committee will demonstrate in hearings later this year, no foreign power corrupted america's voting machines, and no massive secret fraud changed the election outcome. almost all members of congress know this. although many lack the courage to say it out loud. mr. trump knew it, too. those who do not wish the truth of january 6th to come out have predictably resorted to attacking the process. claiming it is tainted and political. our hearings will show this charge to be wrong. we're focused on the facts, not rhetoric, and we will present those facts without exaggeration, no matter what criticism we face. joining us now, founder of the conservative

it's jonathan lemire.y which of course we know the two things aren't exactly hand in hand. the market has been up and a lot of down lately and adding to a general sense of unease a among a lot of americans. what's the white house's message about that and also as you eye potential interest rate hikes from the federal reserve in the weeks ahead? >> well, look, we always keep a careful eye and monitoring capital markets but as you mentioned joe biden's view of a metric of success for the economy is much broader than the financial markets, it's really a question of are working class people able to achieve their economic goals. on that front we are making a lot of progress. in addition to jobs, in addition to growth, last year there was a new report that came out this morning that showed that the bottom 50% of earners, people in the bottom half of the income spectrum, saw their incomes, real incomes after inflation, go up by 8.5% in 2021. that's real progress. that's the kind of progress that we need to continu

"way too early" is jonathan lemire is up next. >>> breaking news overnight. as the u.s. military carries out its largest operation in syria in years. the question is, who was the target? >>> and after placing u.s. forces on alert, the pentagon says the president will deploy about 3,000 troops to reinforce nato allies ahead of a possible russian invasion of ukraine. the question is, how long will the mission last? >>> and thousands of flights grounded as a powerful winter storm moves across the country. with snow, sleet and freezing rain, the question is, how much damage and disruption will it cause? it's "way too early" for this. t cause? it's "way too early" for this. >>> good morning. and welcome to "way too early." the show that can't blame the ground hog for the approaching storm. he did predict more winter after all. i'm jonathan lemire on thursday, february 3rd. breaking news overnight, the pentagon says that u.s. special forces carried out a successful counter-terrorism mission in northwest syria early this morning. it's unclear who is targeted. but syrian sources

i'm jonathan lemire on this friday, february 18th. a lot going on, let's get started. president joe biden is warning that russia could launch an attack on ukraine within the next several days. speaking at the white house yesterday, biden also said that the u.s. saw no signs that russia was withdrawing its troops from ukraine's border. >> how high is the threat of a russian invasion right now? >> it's very high. >> why? >> because they have not -- they have not moved any of their troops out, they have moved more troops in. we have reason to believe that they are engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in. every indication we have is they are prepared to go into ukraine, attack ukraine. >> is your sense that this is going to happen -- >> yes. my sense this will happen within the next several days. >> the president's comments came after kyiv said a kindergarten school in eastern ukraine was shelled with heavy artillery weapons by moscow-backed separatists while the separatists accused the ukrainian army of firing on the tear toe they control. nbc news co

i'm jonathan lemire.attorney general bill barr to testify before the january 6th select committee. this, after recent reports of attempts by former president trump and some members of his inner circle, to seize voting machines in battleground states where trump and his allies have contended without evidence that president biden's victory was the result of fraud. the hill writes, additional reports have quote added layers of detail to barr's one-on-one interactions with trump in late 2020 while these plans were still in motion. barr resiped just before the end of 2020, having asserted shortly after the election there was no evidence of rampant fraud in the contest. according to the chairman bennie thompson, barr has been in informal talks with the attorney and told the panel he has no special insights into the capitol attack but some have wanted to subpoena the attorney general despite cooperation and out of office january 6th. former first daughter ivanka trump will not be appearing before the committee a

i'm hallie jackson in for jonathan lemire this morning.ing now over whether russian president vladimir putin intends to put more troops beyond the pro-russian territories he already controls. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the latest from ukraine. >> reporter: this is what it's like to live in a ukrainian village next to separatists backed by russia. the ukrainian military said separatist fire killed at least one man here. the separatists have dramatically increased their attacks over the last several days. goading the ukrainian military to fire back, now that they're protected by russian president vladimir putin and the 150,000 plus troops he has near the border. armored vehicles without markings were seen on the move in the pro-russian enclave after putin recognized their independent. people there speak russian. and russia already has thousands of troops there. nato says more russian forces have arrived. but putin is now signaling he's interested in more than just territory russia already controls. on russian tele

i'm jonathan lemire on this thursday, february 10th. we'll start with the news. after running from reporters on tuesday, nbc news caught up with house minority leader kevin mccarthy twice yesterday to talk about the rnc censure of liz cheney and adam kinzinger as well as what constitutes legitimate political discourse. take a look. >> what do you call legitimate political discourse? >> i think anybody who enters this building, that rioters were not engaged in legitimate political discourse. i think there is a reason why that it is happening. >> the rnc's job is to help the republican party continue to grow, but the rnc has, they also have a responsibility to say their own opinion of others, and i mean, i think a lot of republicans out there look at some of the actions of adam and liz and have real problems with it. >> both liz cheney and adam kinzinger have responded to comments by the minority lead ther week. after mccarthy's suggestion that cheney isn't planning to run for re-election, her spokesman says quote, as anyone knows, truth has never been his strong s

i'm jonathan lemire on this thursday, february 17th. thanks for joining us. let's start with the news. russian troops have not been withdrawing from the border with ukraine. despite moscow's claim to the contrary. according to u.s. officials last night. we now know it is false. a senior biden official briefed reporters yesterday evening adding that russia has added as many as 7,000 troops to the 150,000 already stationed near the border in recent days. the official also warned that moscow could launch a false pretext to invade ukraine at any moment. >> those could include, but not be limited to, the report you just referenced, claims of provocation in donbas, false state media reports which i think you should all, everybody should keep their eyes open and aware of that potential, of fake video, false accusations about chemical weapons, or accounts of attacks on russian soldiers that have not actually occurred. >> in a bid to back up its claims of withdrawal, the russian defense ministry released more video this morning, you're seeing some of it here, showing

i'm jonathan lemire.d school mask mandates. effective this friday, delaware will no longer require masks indoors. the state's governor made the announcement yesterday, the same day that california health officials declared an end to the mandate there as well. meanwhile, officials in oregon say the state's indoor mask mandate will end no later than march 31. as for schools, connecticut is set to lift its requirement february 28. followed by new jersey in early march and oregon at the end of next month. delaware school mask mandate was temporarily extended yesterday, but it's still set to expire before the calendar turns to april. despite the statewide mandates being lifted, school districts will still have the power to require masks if they choose. in virginia, the state supreme court has dismissed a lawsuit challenge the executive order which makes mask wearing optional in schools. the court tossed out the suit from a group of parents who had argued against the order signed by republican governor glen you

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next . >>> former president trump gets dumped by his long-time accounting firm. a decades worth of the trump organization's financial statements can no longer be relied upon. the question is, what does this mean for two major investigations in the trump's business practices? >>> plus, amid growing tensions over ukraine, vladimir putin is signaling he remains open to a diplomatic resolution, and breaking this morning, russia says it is pulling back some troops. the question now, is moscow trying to de-escalate? >>> and after the super bowl

also joining us, julia ioffe, founding partner of puck news, and jonathan lemire is here, politico'sc's "way too early," also an msnbc contributor. colonel vindman, i start with you. two-part question for you. your reaction to the president's speech and your sense of what is actually happening on the ground. >> well, i was very glad to hear the president give public remarks on this topic. i think they were a long time coming. i think the american public deserves to understand that we're on the brink of a very, very serious scenario from unfolding with significant consequences to the u.s. public. within these remarks, i picked out a couple of moments that were of particular concern. the fact that there's likely still a scenario, even if it's not conventional, of a cyber scenario and that there are -- that would be significant repercussions. symmetric or asymmetric responses to that as well as the idea that if russia targets u.s. personnel in ukraine, they would be a swift and decisive response. i think that's particularly important, because there were some ambiguity about u.s. personn

jonathan lemire and katty kay are still with us as well.n calls it a water shed moment. can we expect more? >> yes. you cannot imagine the number of meetings we have had in all sectors, and what we have announced, the third in one week, the third series of massive sanctions including the closure of space as -- of the airspace to russian, s.w.i.f.t., central bank of russia, but also for the first time the eu as such giving weapons and defensive weapons, of course, to a country which is being attacked. this has never happened and it is the effect of the crisis and the invasion of russia has for result to make the eu not only more united but different and stronger. >> mr. ambassador, you know germany very well from your time there. were you surprised by how quickly germany changed and do you think this is now essentially permanent, this is now the new germany, that merkel's germany was one thing, schultz's germany is something else given the new conditions? >> i will not speak for germany because i speak for france but i was, indeed, in german

jonathan lemire and michael steele are still with us. trucker. with "politico," sam stein. and we just saw her, republican strategist and msnbc political analyst, susan del percio joins us. good to have you all on board this hour. let's launch right in. >>> mitch mcconnell added his voice to the number of republicans criticizing the rnc following a censure vote against republicans liz cheney and adam kinzinger. here is some of what he had to say yesterday. >> i'll give my view of what happened january 6th, and we all were here. we saw what happened. it was a violent insurrection for the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimacy certified election. with regard to the suggestion that the rnc should be in the business of picking and choosing republicans who ought to be supported, traditionally, the view of the national party committees is that we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues. the issue is whether or not the rnc should be sort of singling out members of ou

i'm jonathan lemire.investigating january 6th is piecing together information on former president trump. literally. some of the white house records handed over to the committee were reportedly torn and taped back together. while some couldn't be sent because they were already gone. the destroyed documents highlight former president trump's reported habit of ripping up papers despite that being against federal law. first reported by "politico" back in 2018, then president trump's staffers had to piece together papers he had to tore because of the presidential records act. that is the federal law that requires administrations to keep their files. trump himself seemed to reference the law when he criticized speaker nancy pelosi's ripping up of the state of the union speech in 2020. take a look. >> i thought it was a terrible thing when she ripped up the speech. and first of all, it is an official document. you're not allowed. it was legal. she broke the way. it was terrible, so disrespectle to our country an

i'm jonathan lemire.talks with the january 6th committee about testifying. giuliani was subpoenaed last month for his work leading the effort to get the 2020 election overturned. as donald trump's former lawyer, it's unclear to what extent giuliani may try to claim attorney-client privilege. the committee would not comment on negotiations but said giuliani was allowed to reschedule a deposition that was set for last week. giuliani's lawyer also declined to comment. >>> and in a private meeting last week, former president barack obama advised house democrats to recognize the pain and struggle american families are experiencing as lawmakers are out on the campaign trail this year. in the virtual meeting on thursday, obama told democrats that it's been a tough couple of years for americans who have navigated the pandemic, interrupted schooling, and inflation. he encouraged democrats to connect with voters and avoid focusing on what the party has been unable to accomplish. joining us now, to talk about this,

>> jonathan lemire is at our groundhog desk with an update for us. what happened? >> jonathan?i have a bit of an expertise in this, since i did cover when bill de blasio dropped the groundhog and murdered him a few years ago. i was at city hall at the time. i can speak about this, yes. it was a groundhog who died in new jersey. not this one, not punxsutawney phil. this is normally their biggest day of the year, whether they see their shadow or not. and "groundhog day," the movie, top ten of all time. here we're seeing footage from a few years ago of the mayor. there is the groundhog. there goes the groundhog. >> oh, my gosh. >> to wrap this up, the lead i'm most proud of in my entire journalist career came from this story. i said the lead was, the shadow was one of the last things he saw. >> oh! >> oh, no. >> did that groundhog die? >> yeah. >> yes. >> few days later. >> he killed it? >> let me ask you, did de blasio plea out? this was before criminal justice reform. did he plea out? >> he killed it! >> they knocked it down to manslaughter. >> rodent slaughter, really. >> groun

this is "way too early" on february 24th, i'm in for jonathan lemire. it is noon in kyiv, 1:00 moscow, 5:00 a.m. eastern here in washington and it's happened, russia has attacked ukraine after months of military buildup near the country's borders. reset how we got here. if you have been sleeping overnight, watching our coverage, the attack started as you know early in the morning about, 5:00 a.m. local time, neighboring belarus, ally of moscow, explosions in several cities across ukraine, including the capital kyiv, you heard air-raid sirens across that city, ukrainian officials reporting ballistic missiles targeting military control centers and the office of police says six people killed, seven people hurt near the area of odessa. the ukrainian president closed schools and put hospitals on high alert. there was a huge exodus, you can see, it thousands of people, trying to get out, the attack started just minutes after russian president vladimir putin said in a public address that he authorized military action because he says the west had pushed too far

jonathan lemire. former aide at the former bush and trump white house, elise jordan. richard haass is with us along with the host of msnbc "politics nation" and president of the national action network, reverend al sharpton. joe has the morning off. willie, a lot going on abroad, which is great we have haas with us this morning. but also here in the states frankly in the big apple there was big news. >> a busy friday morning including the opening ceremony of the olympics about to get going in beijing. we will talk about it in a second. >>> as you say, we want to begin with president biden meeting with new york city mayor eric adams along with top officials from new york to discuss vans to reduce gun violence. crime is up 39% in new york this year according to the nypd. nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez has details. >> reporter: under pressure to do more about surging crime, president biden in new york city meeting new mayor eric adams and others. >> we want to crack down on the flow of fi

and jonathan lemire, thank you, both of you, for starting us off this hour.against terror, president joe biden giving the go-ahead to an operation by u.s. special forces in syria that left the head of isis did. we'll have new details on that raid after a quick break. >>> plus, from fighting terrorism to fighting crime to exposing a potential false flag operation in ukraine, it has been a very busy day at president joe biden's white house. we're happy to have a chance to talk to white house communications director kate benning field coming up this hour. >>> and later for us, another severe weather storm in the nation's midsection means more blackouts in the state of texas, even after a promise by that state's governor that the lights would stay on. "deadline white house" continues after a quick break. uld stay on. "deadline white house" continues after a quick break. every business is on a journey. and along the ride, you'll find many challenges. ♪ your dell technologies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your cu

people are tired it's been years at this point. >> hey, brian, jonathan lemire.ng in a new direction. democrats should take the win. do you have polling error or thoughts as to what would happen if god forbid another variant shows up, some restrictions have to get put back into place. how does messaging about easing things up a up, play, in needed, we might put masks back on. >> i think that's a really good question. there is another thing we haven't seen, which is a much more deadly two people that are vaccinated strain that could change things again. i think people understand things will change from time to time. 83% of people think this is going to be endemic. i think people will be more that than on a constant war footing. >> thank you very much, for this conversation and bringing us poll rules. >>> we have breaking news from overseas, prince charles has tested positive for covid-19 for the second time. the announcement came just a day after the 73-year-old prince of wales and his wife. the duchess of cornwall attended and i vent alongside a number of top gov

it is jonathan lemire. to your point about the clock ticking, reports yesterday from the defense department the russians had blood supplies heading to the border, of course blood very perishable. there's only so long they can keep it there. i wanted to ask you about the diplomatic option, in particular with the u.s. is trying to do to steer putin that way. they're in a remarkable way flooding the zone with information, putting everything out there where the secretary of state dashes to the u.n. to talk to the global audience. do we think there's a chance the strategy is boxing putin in to say, hey, we know you are coming and therefore putin's response is to not or could it just provoke him further? >> it is a mug's game to try to predict exactly how vladimir putin is thinking, but the attempt here -- and i applaud it on the part of the administration -- is if a burglar is sneaking up to your house, turn on the lights. let everybody in the neighborhood see what is happening. hopefully that will create some d

it's jonathan lemire.ant to have the president on the road with them considering at least for now not great poll numbers. obviously, you today next to him. talk to us about the challenges democrats do face including for now a president who had suspect poll numbers as you head into this november's mid-terms? >> i think the introduction that you all gave talking about how things have been hard, talking about the ongoing impact of the pandemic is the feeling we have on the ground here in virginia. there is a lot of up ease, there is a lot of challenges my constituents are facing. certainly the opportunity to put constituents advocating and talking and telling me their stories related to prescription drugs, the ability to put those individuals face-to-face with the president, it's representativive, it's the pinnacle of representation, for me to say not only am i taking your story to capitol hill every single day. when i know the leader of the free world knows how egregious it is between putting fad on your tab

jonathan lemire wicks up the coverage after a very quick break. the coverage after a very quick break. it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed. what if i sleep hot? ...or cold? no problem, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. and it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. don't miss the final days to save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 48 months on all smart beds. ends monday. ♪ this is how we do it.. ♪ turns out, montell jordan knows how to do almost everything. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years. for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. >>> day five of the russian invasion of ukraine,

jonathan lemire is still with us.d "morning joe" economic analyst, steve rattner. president of the counsel on foreign relations, richard haass. the author of the book "war of necessity, war of choice." >> you got a shoutout yesterday from the president yesterday about this "war on necessity, war of choice" nonsense. >> not nonsense. world war ii, the war of necessity. what putin is contemplating would be a war of choice. the president was sending messages to the russian people. >> willie geist, i think the conclusion of all of us around this table is that jon meacham couldn't have helped with the speech yesterday because "soul of america" was not in the speech. >> stop. >> but "war of necessity, war of choice" was. >> huh, richard. >> joe, how do we get our books plugged by the president of the united states? seems everybody else on "morning joe" gets their books in the presidential speeches. >> saving freedom here in america. >> there you go. >> willie's, too. one thing vladimir putin is not, loaded. plead read willi

"way too early with jonathan lemire" is coming up next. >>> biden has given an update on the ukraine the question is somewhere do diplomatic talks stand right now? >>> plus, the state of new york versus donald trump as a battle over the former president's finances heats up. the question is, will a judge force trump to testify? >>> and the russian figure skater at the center of the latest doping scandal claims she took a banned drug by accident. the question is, does new information filed in that case undercut that defense? it's "way too early" for this.

"way too early with jonathan lemire" is up next. >>> there's still time to avert the worst case scenariot will bring untold suffering to millions of people if they move as suggested. the united states and our allies and partners remain open to diplomacy if it is serious. >>> president biden calling russia's actions in ukraine the beginning of an invasion says diplomacy is still on the table. but, listen, the window for that, it is closing really fast. the u.s. cancelling high-level meetings in moscow. we have three questions what diplomatic actions are left? what action is the u.s. taking on the military front? an

jonathan lemire, you are, of course, "the masked singer" correspondent for "morning joe."rough their mind? >> yeah, i wear many hats here, apparently an animal head costume as well. it is unclear what this was, but certainly there are certain people perhaps who shouldn't be rehabilitated and those being at the leading edge of a plot to overthrow the government of the united states might be one of those in in this case rudy giuliani was on and we will note that he has experienced a costume before. we have seen the clip when he was mayor of new york city where he dressed up in drag for a skit for a new york city reporter's function and posed alongside donald trump. so maybe that was the experience that the producers of "the masked singer" drew upon for the casting call. unclear though. >> that is bizarre. >> it is not cute either. >> yeah. >> it is not cute to have the guy who helped attempt overturn a presidential election, and apparently two of the judges of the four walked out when they saw it was rudy giuliani. we will see when the show airs. >>> a week before the super

. >>> "way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >> it should be flushed one times, as opposedo ten times. >> enough with the toilets. toilets. >> sinks. showers. and what goes with a sink and a shower? >> ten times. ten times. >> you better say it. they only talk about that, because it's sort of gross to talk about, correct? so i won't talk about the fact that people have to flush their toilets 15

heappey, good morning, it's jonathan lemire.frustration with germany in recent weeks saying they were not perhaps as on board with what the rest of the west wanted to here in terms of a unified front against moscow, some encouraging signals in recent days that they are more so now. give us your assessment, has europe and the united states been able to stand together on this? >> well, yes, and i think europe and the united states must stand together and united states leadership is still very welcome here in europe. we have to recognize that the burden of sanctions falls unequally across the western alliance and i think that what matters very much is world leaders are in the final stages of calibrating what the sanction package might be, we have to make sure that it's something that will hold because i think president putin has two main aims, his first is that he may have a territorial aim for ukraine, we'll see what happens on that front over the next few days, but he also has the same of fracturing the western alliance and i hav

"way too early with jonathan lemire" is up next. >>> this is amazing. brady is walking away with the most super bowl appearances wins and mvps. [ applause ] it's strange to say, but he's basically the nfl's meryl streep. [ laughter ] >>> jimmy fallon celebrating tom brady as the football legend officially announces his retirement. folks, i'm barely hanging on. >>> the other big story from the nfl, an explosive lawsuit accusing the legal and three teams of racist hiring practices. the question is, how is the nfl defending itself? >>> plus, whoopi

let's bring in punchbowl news founder jay sherman live on capitol hill and at the white house, jonathan lemireboth are msnbc contributors. jonathan, i'll start with you. look, to me, the chances of any republicans voting for a biden nominee are somewhere up there with, i don't know, ben simmons getting the scoring title once he goes to new jersey. do you think there's any chance that any republicans are going to vote for his nominee or is that just the president trying to appear to be above the partisan fray? >> reporter: lester did miss out on a chance to ask the president what he thought about the james harden trade. we'll wait for the follow-up interview. the president did not name names today in terms of his short list and we expect there might be a few added to the four he says he's done a deep dive upon. some of them, though, have received republican support in the past. a couple of votes. you're right, though, that happened at a different moment and the supreme court seat is certainly draws far more scrutiny than any other bench, any other one a republican senator would have to devote u

that does it for us tonight, we'll see you tomorrow, "way too early with jonathan lemire" is up next.>>> the split in the republican party widens. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell denounces the rnc censure-two republicans committee as the chairwoman defends it. the question is the gop rift too far to be bridged? >>> plus, the latest from eastern europe. the president of france said he received assurances from vladimir putin that russia would not escalate the crisis with ukraine. the question is, but what is the kremlin saying? >>> and new york is expected to join the growing list of states ending mask mandates as covid cases fall

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> russia claims it has pulled back troops from the border of ukraine but the u.s. says the opposite is true. the question this morning, is russia still ramping up its military presence in the region? >> plus, the latest in the battle of mask mandates as the cdc says change is on the way. the question is, will the agency still catch up with the blue state governors who have already eased some restrictions. and it will be an understatement to say the nfl tapped a high profile lawyer to fight allegations of racial discrimination. the question, what is hiring former attorney general

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> not only did former president trump rip up documents, he took some records with him when he left office. and the national archives said they had to retrieve 15 boxes from mar-a-lago last month. the question is, what does this say about trump's compliance with federal law? plus, president biden vows to bring an end to a major gas pipeline, if russia invades ukraine. the question is, will that threat be enough to deter putin? and tom brady has only been retired for a week, but the comeback chatter has already started. the question is, can we start the rumors about a return to new england now?

"way too early" is jonathan lemire is up next. >>> breaking news overnight. as the u.s.itary carries out its largest operation in syria in years. the question is, who was the target? >>> and after placing u.s. forces on alert, the pentagon says the president will deploy about 3,000 troops to reinforce nato allies ahead of a possible russian invasion of ukraine. the question is, how long will the mission last? >>> and thousands of flights grounded as a powerful winter storm moves across the country. with snow, sleet and freezing rain, the question is, how much damage and disruption will it cause? it's "way too early" for this.

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> this morning, new signs of former president trump'sd over the republican party. today, the rnc will vote on censuring two of the most vocal critics of the ex-president. liz cheney and adam kinzinger. the question is, what does this say about the state and future of the gop? plus, new details are emerging about the u.s. raid on the isis leader in syria. the biden administration is calling the mission a success. but the question is what kind of threat remains? and the united states accuses russia of planning to film a

"way too early" with jonathan lemire is up next. >>> more states lift mask mandates as covid cases andospitalizations continue to fall. as governors transition to a new normal, the question is, when will the biden administration do the same? plus, donald trump hammered hillary clinton after investigators uncovered classified information on her private email server. now, a possible turn of events. the question is, will the former president himself be investigated for mishandling sensitive government information? >>> and another trump aide gets called to testify before the january 6th committee. peter navarro has

jonathan lemire, politico white house bureau chief as well as host of "way too early" here on msnbc. in just a little while, helane cooper, she asked kirby a question just a moment ago. peter and helane are both msnbc contributors. peter, let's hear what you learned, you gave us the headlines before this news conference, but it is an american unilateral force under american leadership heading into eastern europe. >> that's exactly right. a total of 3,000 troops, as you heard, the pentagon spokesperson john kirby just detail as nbc news reported. within the last hour, a thousand of these service members will be going from germany to romania. 2,000 of them would be going from the united states to poland and germany. he said the vast majority of those going to poland, notably all of those 3,000 troops or the 2,000 troops, i should say, in the united states, were traveling overseas will be coming from ft. bragg. he detailed their specific units. the 18th airborne corps, the 82nd airborne division, among those who will be contributing forces to this effort. a big takeaway, here, jose, is

we will see the push back, jonathan lemire, but it seems it would have been an easy question.t was we saw on january 6th discourse? which part of the day was legitimate, trying to overturn the election? where was the legitimate discourse in there? it was a question some republicans we just showed answer, but most don't want to talk about it, namely kevin mccarthy. >> it is a throw-back to where he would say or tweet something outrageous and the reporters would go and say, did you see this be, and he would say he didn't see it. it was a clumsy way of trying not to engage. we are seeing more of that now. a few republicans have been willing to speak out at least on parts of this, criticizing the censure of cheney and kinzinger or to say, hey, look, it was not legitimate discourse, it was violence. we should not condone it in any shape or form. a lot of republicans are steering clear of them, even though so many of them, a growing number i have spoken to agree with what joe said a second ago, where they feel like -- as much as they want to turn the page to 202 and they feel really

in his general election campaign against hillary clinton, the helsinki moment, of course, when jonathan lemirein front of the world sided with putin, not the u.s. intelligence agencies, at every turn, not just elevating putin to our level, but above american foreign policy, is it possible that it worked and we now can't as a united country participate with our allies or is it just a divided america? is it -- what do they think? >> no, it didn't work. i don't believe that about this country. i don't believe that about these people. the bottom line is what i see is based on my perspective, having served this country for more than two decades, in combat, in some very, very difficult locates, is a perspective from the american public. we have been in the cocoon of prosperity for a long time. the fact that there is a growing divide between the haves and the have-nots, we're the most prosperous society ever in the history of the world. and because we're in this cocoon, we have lost perspective. we're about to get perspective real quick. what is about to unfold is going to be a catastrophe. this is t