nikki haley and mitch mcconnell never actually did anything to stop trump because all along this whole time they knew they needed trump. haley wanted to win over trump's voters, and mcconnell needed the support ofel trump's allies in congress. and what makes today so utterly disappointing is thatut neitherf them actually needs trump anymore.em nikki haley has left the race. she says she's off to life as a private citizen. mitch mcconnell has announced the retirement at the conclusion of his current. they're still looking to him as the future of their party. the fantasy here of a different republican party, of something other than the darkness trump represents is officially over. yes, you may still know plenty of people who are republicans and don't like donald trump. but as far as republicans in power,s the people who could he tried to stop trump from the inside, they didn't. and now they're gone. joining mew now are brenden bu, msnbc political analyst, and charlie sykes, msnbc contributor and columnist. thanks both of you guys for being here tonight. brenden, i know you have some thou

she was disappointing, but let's just stick with mitch mcconnell for a moment. mitch mcconnell knows what donald trump did on january 6th, he came very close, i think, to voting to convict him, to spare us this particular moment. the attacks on his wife, the attacks on him, and yet he's decided, as brendan points out, that this is what he has to do in order to win the senate. at some point, you would hope that there would be other republicans who would follow the example of liz cheney and say, there are some things that are more important than winning an election. there are some things more important than holding onto the seat. mitch mcconnell is over 80 years old, he's not running for re-election. he has nothing to lose. if there's ever a moment in which you say, this is right, this is wrong, this man poses a danger to the republic, i have watched him and i know what he will do. this will be the moment. the fact that mitch mcconnell is so immersed in this political cynicism, this endless loop of search for power, it is really a pathetic commentary. it's not new

and does that also apply to mitch mcconnell?and i were talking earlier is he going to still be revengeful against mitch mcconnell? >> i think he's expecting her to move to him. i don't think he's going to do anything to reach out to her explicitly. i think his experience is that republicans will come to him. he doesn't need to actually do anything other than intimidate them, which is what's clearly happened. all these republicans who said they would never support him again, all these republicans who said he was unfit for office, all these republicans who decried his actions on january 6th. mitch mcconnell gave the most, you know, vigorous attack on donald trump on the day of the senate impeachment trial finale, even as he voted to acquit him. he gave as tough a speech as any democrat gave denouncing donald trump, and here they all are falling in line. donald trump has said to his associates they all come and bend the knee in front of him. that's his expectation, and he has every reason to expect that. >> peter in your book, you

president biden has said this about mitch mcconnell from the day he was elected. een friends for a long time. and he felt like he could work with it. the fact is, to a large extent, they did. if you look at the bipartisan legislation that was successful over the first couple of years of the biden administration, the pack act, the infrastructure bill, those kinds of things. i think it's a genuine thing. president biden has worked with a lot of people over the years. he knew he had to work with senator mcconnell. the fact is, they had a mutual respect. they may disagree with each other on a lot politically, but they could trust each other. that is incredibly important in the senate and quite frankly i think it is something that is slowly being eroded in the senate today. >> what do you make of talk of some democrats, that, yes, mitch mcconnell was bad for this country but it's much better to have him running the senate shia peyton what might come in the form of a trump acolyte? are they forgetting just how bad mitch mcconnell was? specifically for the supreme court,

mitch mcconnell and his wife, coco chow. coco. >> mitch mcconnell has been a disaster for our country. and his wife coco chow, who i got to know very well. she you can have her to >> yes. you heard it right there in his own words, the former president really said all that. yet today, the retiring senate leader said it was clear donald trump header and the support of republican voters and quote, it should come as no surprise that as nominee, he will have my support a short time later, cetera number connell said this to cnn's manu raju >> i don't have anything to add to what i just said. i said in february of 2021 shortly after the attack on the capitol that i would support president trump if he were the nominee of our party. and he obviously is going to be the nominee of our party okay >> so in a single day, mitch mcconnell and joni ernst fell in line. nikki haley remained open to one day, perhaps doing the same last night, we learned the two resolution circulating inside the republican national committee are now dead, cement

now, mitch mcconnell has endorsed donald trump. if trump could get mcconnell, is this the day that biden can get mentioned >> well i understand what's going on and i understand how it's happening. and with that being said, i just want to know i went to joe biden to be the joe biden. i've known all these years always being a centrist center left a little bit, but always center. someone makes a deal and he's made some great things happen. we've been able to work together. >> he's got a giant speech tomorrow night's state of the union is always important for any president. this is a reelection senior speech for the president united states at a time, when his approval rating is underwater, when other big issues like immigration, the economy, donald trump narrowly beat some obaida from by a ton of points to say you need to hear the old centers. joe biden again, what one thing could he do tomorrow night to get joe manchin to say that's it. i'll pick up the phone. i'm on team biden. >> well, i would love to see him basically knowledge. we

mark murray, thank you my friend. >>> in a stunning reversal, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell an in washington endorsed donald trump today. the two men have clashed for years, most notably over january 6th, which at least at one point mcconnell blamed on trump, but following trump's dominant super tuesday performance, mcconnell today said it's abundantly clear the former president has earned the support of republican voters and therefore his support. it does underscore just how commanding trump's control over his party has become with moderate opposition all but gone now. that dynamic is playing out in the race to replace mcconnell, the longest serving senate leader in history. whether they have any choice but to bend to the base and go full maga is very much an open question. nbc's ryan nobles is reporting from capitol hill. i'm wondering what's the reaction to this endorsement and is the expectation that it is trump who will have the major influence on who replaces him? >> reporter: to answer your first question, in his statement mitch mcconnell said it should come as no surp

mitch mcconnell endorsed him yesterday.back in line with the man who brought us all of this. speaking of that race now with nikki haley having dropped out yesterday, there are questions about where her voters will end up. mark thiessen argues in the "washington post," trump need haley voters to win back the white house. the issue facing him is not never trump voters, it is not trump again voters who are open to his policies and might have voted for him before but don't like how he behaved particularly after the 2020 election and supported haley in the primary. trump has to go out and persuade them. trump can't take back the presidency without bringing the not-maga republicans into his fold. we heard yesterday after nikki haley dropped out of the race, the biden campaign very quick to begin to court some of those voters who said i will never vote for donald trump. i voted for nikki haley. i know she lost. i'm not voting for donald trump. biden making a play for that set of voters. >> i think the contrast and the reaction is

the retiring senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell who announced he's leaving senate leadership butme that he continued this slow rolling and capitulation to donald trump. mcconnell, who has criticized trump for so many things today endorses trump. it's concrete evidence of how mcconnell, for all of his political skills and he does have some, could never figure out a way to use them to blunt donald trump. perhaps it's even more painful given mcconnell's some time bluster heading into 2016. >> donald trump is not going to think -- change what i think. he's not going to change the platform of the republican party, the views of the republican party. i think we're much more likely to change him. because if he is president, he's going to have to deal within sort of the right of center world, which is where most of us are. >> false. mcconnell was wrong. he was not able to change donald trump on any major items. and after donald trump lost and exhausted all his court remedies and went through all the whole thing we lived through and summoned his fans to washington where they attacked the c

today the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell formally endorsed donald trump for president, and there was a moment after january 6th when mcconnell said explicitly that donald trump was practically and morally responsible for the insurrection but that did not stop niche mcconnell from enabling him before and after either directly or indirectly, by carrying out trump's bidding when it was convenient, or avoiding comment when it was not convenient and by the way when a comment was very much needed, and a critical one at that. >> are you concerned at all, comfortable with your party embracing the former president when you said he was morally responsible for january 6th? >> i do think we need to be talking about the future and not the past. >> you think it's appropriate, the way that the former president was storing those classified documents at his private estate of mar-a-lago. >> i don't really have a comment on this whole investigation. >> former president trump ridiculed mcconnell saying he had a death wish he also went after connell's wife with a racist attack, what did mc

that would be how mitch mcconnell is remember.ipulation. and for that one day that he had a chance to step up, and step into history, and he chose not to. >> and eugene, in a sense you are in the news side here at the table, and you know all of those folks in that building over there. the likelihood that any of the three johns -- and thune, who are part of mitch mcconnell's leadership team, will any one of them be the next elite republican leader, given their relationship with trump? >> they are hopeful. but -- probably has the best relationship, and kind of the best -- when it comes to the maga wing of the republican party. i will say, rick scott from florida says he is going to have some kind of announcement this week, he has been very quiet about what it is. so we might see somebody other than -- >> in all i'm going to say is, my response to rick scott getting in that race is, sure champ. eugene daniels, -- former congresswoman, thank you all so much for coming back to the sunday show. and next, reflecting on today's anniversar

have seen everything that happened since then, trump attacking mcconnell, trump going after mitch mcconnell's wife, elaine chao, and really rather racist terms attack mcconnell rarely even says trump's name. i asked them regularly about trump the campaign trail. he doesn't even want to discuss any of it, but he had set for some time that he would ultimately endorse the nominee, and that's what he said. in that statement today. i'm here to endorse the nominee. now, dana, this is not just mcconnell falling ally. this is the republican party establishment falling line, including mcconnell's potential successors, john thune and john cornyn, both of them are running to replace it's mitch mcconnell in the next congress, i caught up with both of them today. both of them had expressed concerns about trump's viability in the election in the past, about how we can appeal to voters in the suburbs. i asked her if they still have those concerns and they made clear they're willing to look past that are you still concerned about trump's trump's viability in the suburbs and the impact down ticket as your can

but his last republican rival vanquished even mitch mcconnell is throwing his support behind trump. and trump is making a head-snapping new demand will tell you that in a moment. so maggie haberman will join me live on what elon musk was doing at mar-a-lago as trump was pleading with a judge for mercy, which for him means more time. the cough of the many millions that he already and tonight, the agonizing choice to leave your home state to terminate a pregnancy. texas mom, kate cox explain to her deeply personal decision ahead of a huge moment in the national spotlight, she's president biden's guest at the state of the union tomorrow night. >> i'm kaitlan collins since this is the source it's this equal that most americans didn't want. but apparently it's the only thing play. super tuesday has all but cemented the biden versus trump rematch at the top of their party's tickets. nikki haley is out and mitch mcconnell is apparently on board more on the outgoing senate republican leader in a moment. but this is notable 170,000 voters backs nikki haley over donald trump in the battlegrou

>> mitch mcconnell's legacy is the court. mitch mcconnell's legacy is overturning roe v. wade because when he did not allow a sitting president to put his nominee forward, give merrick garland a hearing, that's mitch mcconnell's legacy, and we will never forget it. >> it's secret ballots behind closed doors who people vote for, but the elections do matter. >> this will be on the back burner i think for at least a few more months. >> have some fun, reince. come on. there's a primary left. >> let's talk about biden some more. >> jonathan: when we come up -- when we come up, a note on this week's defiant memorial service for alexei navalny. i launched our campaign at this union hall. let's go win this thing! then we hit the road and never stopped. you shared with me your frustration at working harder to barely get by and afford a place to live. your fears for our democracy and freedoms and your dreams for yourself, your family, and the future. it is not too late to realize those dreams. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this messag

we all know mitch mcconnell and donald trump hate each other. it's mutual, but mitch mcconnell has been a republican his entire life. his recent of been his raison, d'etre is partisanship, is getting republicans elected. and what he is signaling with this is, look, i hate the guy, but i'm drinking my medicine because i am a party guy. i think isa hutchinson is absolutely right. there's going to be some republicans who come back home >> she >> never underestimate republicans ability to do that. he did that after we heard a lot of republicans did that after we heard donald trump on those access hollywood tapes, some of them will not vote, and some of them will vote for biden. i would be shocked if i liz cheney came out and endorse trump. i would be shocked if a mitt romney came out and endorse trump. if nikki haley or mitch mcconnell do that to me is not shot. >> well, let me play a few clips for you, ana, and get your thoughts she was pretty gracious. i thought today in wishing him well, congratulating him, but listen to what she he said. in rece

up next the race to replace mitch mcconnell taking shape behind the scenes. what senator john cornyn told me about his bid for geo there'll be leader in this conversation with donald trump >> tonight. >> van jones. it's home find out what is driving the divide in tennessee politics. >> there has been a very active 20 to 30 year effort to separate us. >> the whole story with anderson cooper i did eight on cnn >> what's your sap >> that's why vision >> works, makes it simple to schedule an eye exam that works for you, even if you have a big trip to plan around meghan, see you right now. >> that's convenient >> vision works. see the difference >> are you still struggling with your bra? it's time for you to try next, makers of the world comfy us wireless bras for revolutionary support without under wires and sizes up to a g can find your new favorite products today at next.com >> okay, everyone. our mission is to provide complete balanced nutrition for strength and energy >> ensure with 27 vitamin the minerals, nutrients for immune health, and ensure complete wit

mitch mcconnell has always been a party guy.l tell ya, if my husband were mitch mcconnell, i would have changed the locks after what donald trump said about his wife. howard: all right. >> and -- i've got to jump in. >> he had the opportunity to do that, but he's, you know, a republican through and through to the end. howard: all right. look, you have a lot of self-appointed media guardians saying we must save democracy, but a chunk of the country hears that as we must if elect joe biden. and as we go to break, a big programming announcement. i'll be doing an in-depth interview this week with former president donald trump at mar-a-lago, and we'll bring you that on next sunday's program. when we come back, all those pundits who said states should kick donald trump off the ballot, even the liberal supreme court justices don't agree with that. ♪ ♪ my magic. just one aleve. 12 hours of uninterrupted pain relief. aleve. who do you take it for? and for fast topical pain relief, try alevex. howard: when colorado decided it would be a f

so, kim, what do you think mitch mcconnell's legacy is as senate leader? lot of legacies, paul, but i think the ones hard going to be remembered are, most importantly, the efforts he got to get a majority starting in 2014 and to keep that majority there in the early parts of the trump years. that was especially important when you had that, when antonin scalia's death happened, and he kept that seat open. he essentially at that point put donald trump and his pick for a supreme court on the ballot. that may well have helped donald trump win that election are. obviously, they went on for, to fill three supreme court seats under donald trump's tenure, remade part of the federal jewish disturbly and used that majority to really enable other aspects of the trump presidency from the if tax cuts, for instance, to rolling back a lot of obama regulations. this was a guy who knew how to get things done as a majority leader. paul: i don't think donald trump is president in he doesn't keep that -- if he doesn't keep that seat open. they wouldn't have the court legacy w

the great mitch mcconnell. that talking point for the democrats.never negotiated it. and everett negotiated in secret because there was never going to be good faith on the side of the democrats. and biden created this anarchy, the situation. this massive slavery that is taking place on our border. the worst slavery we have seen in this country since the end of the civil war again the democrats. now what was in this hr too? nobody wants to discuss it so i will bring it up. this is of the democrats invited not want to vote on but requires a department of homeland security resume activities to construct a wall along the us-mexico border. we know biden killed that. provide statutory authorization for operation stone garden which provides grants to law enforcement agencies for certain border security operations. wow. prohibits dhs from processing the entry of non-us nationals. that's aliens under federal law arriving between ports of entry in other words it requires a manageable administrative process. these are the ports of entry you want to come in, y

there are election of duty, trump >> characteristically turned on mcconnell even more harshly. >> mitch mcconnell is a disgrace, even leveling a racist insinuation toward mcconnell's wife elaine chao, who was born in taiwan and served as trump's own transportation secretary, calling her in a tweet, mcconnell's quote, china loving wife, coco chow. now analysts say it's trump, who's likely crowing over the 82 year-old's departure from leadership. >> i'm sure donald trump thinks that this is another victory for him. >> another analyst says, with mitch mcconnell's departure, some of the last remnants of resistance within the republican party to donald trump's agenda will likely have collapsed almost completely if trump wins a second term in the white house brian todd, cnn, washington >> brian, thank you. and thank you for joining me this evening. i'm jessica dean. i'm going to see you back here tomorrow morning at 06:00 a.m. up next is king charles, followed by an episode of jake tapper's series knighted states of scandal have a great night >> gayle king and charles barkley are shaking things up on c

mitch mcconnell may be returning to the microphone. listen here. >> come on, man.er joe biden, american families can barely afford to keep food on the table, gas tanks full, prices up 18% since he took office. wasteful spending continues. and sadly, under joe biden's weaknesses, our enemies are emboldened, the world is less safe. look back on that horrible afghanistan withdrawal. look at that embarrassing chinese spy balloon that came over my state of montana, over our icbm silos, look at the war in ukraine and the middle east. under joe biden, the state of the union is dire and no amount of sugar coating he'll try tomorrow night can convince the american people otherwise. >> how do you reconcile your trump endorsement with the fact you called him practically immorally responsible for january 6th and that he insulted you and your wife repeatedly. >> february 25, 2021, shortly after the attack on the capitol, i was asked a similar question, and i said i would support the nominee for president even if it were the former president. >> mr. mcconnell, in april of last y

trump actually, in the intervening time has attacked mitch mcconnell's wife. has that all kinds of things about him? it's not surprising and yet it is notable. it's been assigned at the time we're going to have here since their last conversation, by the way, i'm not sure the future conversation is on the table either. >> endorsed him. i don't i don't think the frostiness of the relationship is going to go away. and quite frankly mitch mcconnell's endorsement is purely symbolic at this point. i mean, it's not like it brings something with them to donald trump or that donald trump would be missing something huge without it. it's the symbolism of the essence of the anti-trump establishment which mitch mcconnell would push back and say he's not but of an anti-trump establishment getting on bored with the reality that this is donald trump. >> it's also a little bit about a mitch mcconnell making sure donald trump doesn't hurt them to put it nicely. and in some of these senate races, this could be a very good year for the senate, for the republican if they do things

. >> mitch mcconnell there, that was in 2021. it was a month after january 6th , blaming donald trump for the insurrection, squarely, yesterday, mitch mcconnell endorsed president trump for president. >> who saw that come snag >> donald trump relentlessly attacked in a racist way, mitch mcconnell's wife. he said i have said for a long time, i will endorse whoever the nominee is, even if it's the guy i blame for an attempted coup for the united states government. >> we say a lot of bad things sometimes about ted cruz here. there is a difference between mitch mcconnell and ted cruz. if donald trump had ever attacked ted cruz's wife, ever called her ugly, ever struck out at her in the most personal of terms, that is texas tough right there. you cross that line with ted, you know what? you might as well as crossed the rio grand, my friend. >> on the way to cancun. >> call senator cruz's wife is ugly, or father assassinated jfk, he will not support you. he won't do it. >> at least not at the convention. >> he will vote, and a few mont

senate minority ader mitch mcconnell endorsed trump within 24 hours after his super tuesday wins. same man, mitch mcconnell, who called from morally and practically responsible for the january 6 insurrection. does his attempt at unity reflect the reality for voters? mr. riggleman: i think it does. if you look at mitch mcconnell, it is no different then he went to mar-a-lago after blaming trump for january 6. we see individuals coming home. a lot of that has to do with lee's politics. i will do what has to be done. it is unbelievable. what did trump get, about 70 5% of the vote? a lot of individual said they would not vote for trump. most people do come home. i remember in a convention in a church, everyone saying denver, we will never vote for this guy, he is awful but they did. laura: barrett, denver said republicans will come home but nikki haley voters that if trump is convicted of a crime that he is unfit to be president. as a lifelong republican, to y think the former president is unfit for office? mr. marson: it will be up to voters to decide if trump is unfit but he is cert

there's also the stunning news of mitch mcconnell stepping down as republican leader.embarrassing hearing for georgia d.a. fani willis and hunter biden being grilled again behind closed congressional doors, not to mention the former president clobbering nikki haley in michigan heading into super tuesday. so you can see why those of us in the news business are suffering from vertigo, staggering from one huge story to the next just trying to keep up. i'm howard or kurtz and this is "mediabuzz". ♪ ♪ ♪ howard: let's turn to the calamity at the southern border which president biden decided to visit on thursday and donald trump decided to visit on thursday knowing full well the media would turn out in force. the former president went to the border in eagle pass, texas, and the current president was 300 mile away in brownsville with the pundits waging rhetorical war. >> this is a joe biden invasion. this is a biden invasion over the past three years. credit carded joe has -- crooked joe as the blood of countless victims. >> here's what i would say to mr. trump: instead of pla

mitch mcconnell endorsed trump despite their famously frosty relationship. for years trump viciously attacked mcconnell on dimestore twitter. once calling him a, quote, broken down hack politician. trump also hurled racist slime at mitch's wife, elaine chao, calling her cocoa chao and suggesting she was a chinese agent. you could sense mcconnell viewed trump as a pest, but the two remained essential allies to pass sweeping tax cuts and stack the courts, only for their uneasy alliance to crumble after mcconnell blasted trump for his role in the 2021 mob siege of the capitol. >> there's no question, none, that president trump is practically and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. >> and then the two didn't speak for years. but here mitch mcconnell is, falling in line, kissing the ring, party over country till the bitter end. the longest-serving senate leader in history has sur rended to donald trump a remarkable turn around, though not surprising, right? this isn't mcconnell's party anymore. and it hasn't been for a long time. it's been tru

donald trump's team, as we have reported before, >> likud party, the senate republican leader mitch mcconnell of just endorsed trump despite a year's long history of friction between them. let's go to our chief congressional corresponding amount of raja these up on capitol hill mono tell us about this major endorsement and how it actually came about well, mitch mcconnell has indicated for some time that he would ultimately endorse the republican now many, but he has a tortured passed with donald trump. he had not spoken since december 2020 in the aftermath of the electoral college certification of joe biden's victory, mitch mcconnell declared joe biden in the winter. they have not spoken since that point. the form of the then president was angry at him that mcconnell did would acquit him in his second impeachment trial after january 6, but then blamed him on the floor of the senate, said, trump was mortally impractically responsible for the attacks that day ultimately trumped and bashed mcconnell and his wife repeatedly, sometimes in racist terms, to his wife, elaine chao, a taiwanese immigra

it is fascinating with the race on to replace mitch mcconnell. you've been focusing on house races as well. credible primary contests today in california and other places. i'm thinking of congressman david bell day-o in california -- david valdeo, in california, fighting for his life there. how are you looking at these races? >> there are competitive ones like california and then there are these your red or very primaries. so many members of congress are elected basically in the primary. so the kinds of candidates that win will tell us a lot about the kind of members we are going to see in congress in the next election. some have been endorsed by donald trump. some are coming from the freedom caucus or have been endorsed by the freedom caucus. the folks who have been a thorn in the side of leadership on the republican side. so that -- i do think what is so different about this moment in time then say where we were in 2017 where you really did have a bifurcated party, there was donald trump and then the republican party doing its thing , these are

[background noises] mitch mcconnell was asked about his endorsement of donald trump for president in 2024. he's practically and morally responsible for the generous six attack on the u.s. capitol. the state of the union speech. this conference is about 15 minutes. >> good afternoon everyone. as you already know we avoided a government shutdownde last week. this week we are going to pass the first of six appropriation bills. wewe are making our best efforto do the other six before march 22. that is important to the government funded and getting i funded and a non- cr way. secondly the speaker and i recommended our junior senator from alabama reply to the president tomorrow night we think she is particularly effective to make the points many americans are concerned about. we are pretty excited to have her do the response for president biden. >> we are finally and i emphasize the finely turning to the appropriations process around here. the house will send over a minibus that includes six appropriation bills. remember the fiscal year stirred october 1 we are well into this fiscal year a

at least mitch mcconnell did not mention the alternative version of speaker mike johnson during his speechggest you listen to what he said today. vladimir putin does not play for a draw. he does not seek to sit down at the negotiating table. he will not stop at ukraine. he told us that himself. he showed us this many times. equipping ukraine for success on the battlefield is the best way to help to our friends to resolve this war from a position of strength. supporting ukraine is exhausting the army. forces of our common adversary, and also strengthens america's interests. at the same time, these are direct investments in our own military and defense-industrial capacities. it's time for the house to take up the senate-passed supplemental relief bill and finish the job it started. katya, are there any time frames, what is known about when this draft law could theoretically be? put up for voting. in general, this it should be expected no earlier than the government's budget will be approved. and as you know, the deadline for this is march 22, but after that the congress will go on break agai

i've had my differences with mitch mcconnell over the years, that's no secret. truth is, he's an old man. he's served in our senate for almost four decades, and so i just want to put aside politics for a moment and say sincerely uhhhh... ah! yesterday both parties held their primaries in the great state of michigan. [cheers] yeah! yes. thank you. and on the democratic side, biden won with 81% of the vote. [cheers] 81%. 1% percent for every year he's been alive. and god help us, that joke works. coming in second place behind biden was "uncommitted" with 13.3%. this was the result of an organized campaign to register discontent about biden's policies on israel and was designed to be a warning from progressives, young voters, and arab-american democrats. so these are people who previously supported biden, just wanted to send him a message to change his behavior. it's like how you would tell a child, "you can't have dessert until you clean your room and figure out who gets jerusalem." the next highest vote-getter was marianne williamson, who got 3%, even though she

the race is on to replace mitch mcconnell.d not run for the position. in a letter to his colleagues, barrasso, third most powerful republican in the senate, announced that instead he would run for the number two position of whip. the race for the top spot is now between john thune of south dakota and former whip john cornyn of texas. yes, all the men have the first name john. those two cornyn and thune have both formally announced they are running for mcconnell's job. the election for the gop conference chair is also shaping up to be a close fight. joni ernst who is considering a run for the position called out her colleague senator tom cotton yesterday after he announced a bid without giving his party a head's up. >> i want to be in whatever role i can help my fellow senators and president biden best achieve our shared goals for the american people. some colleagues have approached me about the conference chair job. i'm focusing on that position right now. >> elections for senate republican leadership will be held behind close

is mitch mcconnell going to endorse -- is nikki haley going to endorse?s almost more important when you think about how that party is going to vote. and then going back to the very first top pick that we talked, about it's really going to fall into independents and they probably don't need a guilty verdict to know that he's a scoundrel. we all know he's a scoundrel. it's just the ones who got the judges, who got the roe v. wade, who got all this stuff overturned, they are in it for the long haul no matter what he does. and that's why i think the math gets kind of hard for him, especially if biden is going to take the fight now. like going to the border and doing some of these things that i think has not had to do just yet. >> if joe biden, though, couldn't have cracked 60% in south carolina, the media would've never shut up about it. donald trump couldn't do it. and it was a decisive win over nikki haley. >> her point, let's talk about no labels. they had their big meeting coming up this week. they have gotten ballot access for themselves. basil, the issu

. >> senate minority leader mitch mcconnell was asked about his endorsement of donald trump for presidentor 2024 after saying he responsible for the january 6 attack on the u.s. capitol. republican leaders discuss president biden's upcoming state of the union speech. from capitol hill, this news conference is about 15 minutes. >> good afternoon, everyone. as you already last week, and this week we are going to pass the first of six appropriation bills and we will make it our best effort to do the other six before march 22. that's important to get the government funded in getting it funded in a non-cr way. the speaker and i recommended our junior senator from alabama replied to the president tomorrow night. we think she is particularly affected to make the points that many americans are concerned re pretty excited to have her do the response for president biden. >> we are finally, and i emphasize finally, turning to the appropriations process around here. the house will send over a bus that includes six appropriation bills and, remember, this fiscal year started october 1. we are well into

possible successors to mitch mcconnell are trying to lock down support. one wildcard ever the wildcard republican front runner donald trump. and how much influence he should wield in choosing mcconnell's replacement >> my advice to president trump, which president trump's his own man? he's going to make it as decision and he does a good job in that is kind of stay out of the race because it's a lose-lose situation. he needs to work for with whatever leader is there. and let me tell you, whatever leader is there understands that they're going to have to work with president trump too. so it's really not in his best interest to lean in the race at this point. however, if he chooses to do it, it will make a difference. >> all right, joining us now is the atlanta journal constitution to correspondent tia mitchell. tia, good morning. always great to see you this sort of the race to replace mcconnell's already underway. he says he's going to leave in november, but again, the person that looms over all of this consistently is donald trump. why is he kind of frami

without weighing into the legality, do you agree with mitch mcconnell? donald trump practically and morally responsible? >> first of all, if you look at what happened on january 6th, i have said it was a terrible day. it was not a beautiful day. but i also look at the fact that you had a lot of americans going out there, blessed to do in this country with freedom of speech, and what went terribly wrong is we saw complete lawlessness going into the capitol, and what trump's role is not that he had the rally in the first place. that's what we do in america. the problem is when he had the opportunity stop it, you have everybody from fox news anchors to friends to family begging him to say something to get them to stop, including his vice president, and he was silent, and he didn't say anything. so it was, like, why did you allow it to happen because when a leader sees something that goes wrong, you use the power of your voice to make it right. that's what's the question is where was he? why didn't he do it? those are the questions he'll have to answer. >> s

>> we don't appreciate enough the legacy of mitch mcconnell.tremendous legacy that we are not appreciating in all of the other news. when paul ryan stepped aside he left a lot of time that i don't think was helpful in some ways in retrospect to kevin mccarthy because they could try to make deals and they have the sime dynamic in the senate and there is so much time that there will be a lot of transactions and a lot of negotiating here that may not be beneficial to those throwing their hat in the ring. >> if you're merrick garland watching this, he blocked merrick garland from getting a vote from the supreme court, how do democrats see this and what do democrats want to see on thursday night from the state of the union? >> i think what the democrats are going to remind the american people is what happens when you no longer have someone leading the republican party who believes in our institutions. what happens when they all of a sudden become a truly maga party of the most extreme? so that, as we're going into the elections that gives the democr

. >> plus mitch mcconnell. no fan of donald trump trying to explain why he just endorsed him >> united states of scandal with jake tapper next sunday at nine on cnn. >> so this has pickleball with e-trade for morgan stanley. we're ready for whatever gets served up. >> didn't get a living trust on rather work on saving for retirement or college since you'd like to get gould has pretty good burn right? >> now, adt professionally installs google nest products. >> they're all set are less system. we >> should go the most trusted name and home security as the intelligence of google, you have a home with no worries brought to you by adt. >> after i received the silver star in afghanistan, i tried everything for pain relief, even cbd, when a small tincture in cost over $100 and it's not approved the du thing this is him, phawna. >> it's guaranteed >> to relieve pain and it's only 1999. i put it on and that pain is gone, period >> power-packed with oil from the cannabis sativa plan and the highest concentration of pain

mitch mcconnell endorsed the former president, we know there's been not a lot of love lost between the two of them, senator john thune endorsed donald trump. i do think that they rush look, this is the way politics works, somebody wins and either you get on the team with them or you sit it out. now she said she is looking forward to being a private citizen, maybe she should sit out. maybe she sits back. she's said she doesn't think he with win the general election. but if she and trump find their way back together, it's possible that they could work together. she does have some leverage. she's got a fair number of voters out there that support her. in a crossover and some independents but the trump philosophy has never been about bringing in moderates. it's always been about expanding the base, and we are seeing expansion in very interesting areas. we're seeing them among hispanic voters, among black voters and they may look al these equations and say we're going to expand the base into areas where we see people coming to us already. and get across the finish line in battleground state

democrat and he said he never thought he would be in a position to say that he was going to miss mitch mcconnell mcconnell his flowers. -- let me give mitch mcconnell his flowers. he is widely and cunning -- wily and cunning. no one knows the rules like mitch mcconnell. he even made up some rules. he stole a supreme court seat from president obama. fast-forward to the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg a month before the election. three days before the election he turned tail and said, we must have a new justice. and justice amy coney barrett got onto the supreme court stealing a conservative -- ceiling a conservative super majority. another thing he did was remake the federal judiciary in the image he wanted it to bn. young and conservative. a pipeline of federal judges, young federal judges some of dubious quality, who would then rise up and fill higher benches in the federal judiciary. and last but not least, senator mcconnell, when he was majority leader, voted not to convict donald trump in his second impeachment trial for his role in the insurrection of january 6. if he had voted to conv

and mitch mcconnell today recognized he had that choice. he did the right thing. i think nikki haley makes that choice. it's a choice made easier if he reaches out. >> bill: here's the latest e-mail. it was a hard fought race but now it's time for us to unite as a party and defeat joe biden. >> dana: that sounds a little more correct. >> bill: that's the one that i was supposed to read. >> dana: i want to bring in matt and felipe on something that we asked jason about earlier. this was about the fact that immigration is now the number one issue in the country and followed closely by the economy. and that's for a lot of reasons, right, because people are seeing things with their eyes and ears and experiencing things in their communities. we talked a lot about deplorables back in 2016. felipe, listen to msnbc last night on immigration. get your reaction on the other side. >> if you look at some of these exit polls. i live in virginia. immigration was the number one issue. again, these could change, in virginia. >> well, virginia does have a board we are west virgini

want to go to capitol hill right now where the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell has just announced he's endorsing trump for president our chief congressional correspondent, manu raju is with us. mondo did this come as a surprise, given shall we say politely, they're complicated relationship? >> well, we'll mcconnell has indicated for some time that he would endorse the eventual nominee, but he is barely uttered. donald trump's name in the aftermath of january 6, and he pointed lead, blamed donald trump in that scathing floor speech in the aftermath of john and january 6, calling it morally and practically it's possible for the events of that day and then would not endorse him as the candidates that he wait to see what would happen in this race. but ultimately, putting out a statement gets said that he is the nominee and obviously he's going to support them in his statement. he goes on and talk about some of the legislative achievements from donald trump's time in office. confirming three supreme court nominees and said that he's ready to get behind trump. now, this is not just mcco

mitch mcconnell as the republican leader. and so far you have two men who were jumping into this race, john cornyn, who previously served as the republican whip and john thune who currently serves as the republican whip, as you noted, sun has worked really closely with mcconnell over the course of the last time several years, but before that, senator john cornyn worked very closely with mitch mcconnell when he was in the number two slot, we did get some news this morning though. john brown and also a member of republican leadership, has decided he will not run for republican leader instead, he will run for that number two slot as the republican in whip is thune and cornyn are now facing off in that leadership race. so a lot of moving parts happening right now as people are moving up, as people are ascending within the common prince, you're starting to see those lower tier races also take shape. in this case, barrasso announcing he's going to run for that number two slot. >> significant races indeed, senator rick scott, who lo