I came to office determined with the duty to care and get us through one of our toughest periods in history. And we have. President joe biden continues to hit the former president on the Campaign Trail as the former president yesterday appeared to float cutting Social Security and medicare. Meanwhile, trump is also now flipflopping on tiktok, the platform he pushed to ban when he was in office. It comes as the house is set to vote tomorrow. Plus, theres more fallout from alabama senator katie britts state of the Union Rebuttal and how her speech highlights republicans fears of losing women voters this election. Good morning and welcome to way too early on this tuesday, march 12th. Im jonathan lemire. Thanks for starting your day with us. Former President Donald Trump is vowing to release Hundreds Of January 6th defendants currently behind bars if he were to be releected this november. On truth social last night trump explained that one of his first acts as president would be to, quote, free the january 6th hostages being wrongfully imprisoned. Trump has previously suggested that he would pardon people charged in the january 6th attacks. Nearly 500 people involved in the insurrection have been sentenced to prison, and over 1,000 people have been charged over their connection to the capitol riot. Meanwhile, trump is also now floating the idea of cutting spending under Social Security and medicare. The former president made these comments during an interview yesterday morning on cnbcs squawk box. Take a listen. There is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting, and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements, tremendous bad management of entitlements. Theres a tremendous amount of things and number of things you can do. And so i dont necessarily agree with the statement. I know that theyre going to end up weakening Social Security because the country is weakened. Take a look at outside the Stock Market Our what were going through hell. People are going through hell. A spokesperson for the Trump Campaign quickly sought to clarify the former president s comments saying he was simply referring to, quote, cutting waste and fraud. Adding that trump will protect Social Security and medicare if elected. But trump has not offered a single policy plan for those programs. Meanwhile, on the Campaign Trail up in new hampshire, President Biden pushed back on trumps remarks and touted his own Budget Proposal released yesterday, which seeks to raise taxes on the rich. Folks, we have two ways to go on Social Security and medicare. Republicans will cut Social Security and medicare to give as much tax cuts to the wealthy. Even this morning donald trump said cuts to Social Security and medicare are on the table again. When asked if he changed his position, he said, quote, theres a lot you can do in terms of cutting, tremendous amount of things you can cut. Tremendous amount of things you can do, not cut. The bottom line is hes still at it. Im never going to allow that to happen, and i wont cut Social Security, i wont cut medicare. Instead of Cutting Medicare and medicaid and give tax break tuesday the wealthy, i will strengthen and protect Social Security and medicare and make the wealthy begin to pay their fair share. Also on the Campaign Trail just days after trumps allies took over the Republican National committee, dozens of rnc officials have already been pushed out of the organization. Two sources tell nbc news at least four senior staffers were terminated yesterday and as many as 60 officials could be laid off. According to politico, which broke the story, the rncs new Chief Operating Officer sent a letter to employees explaining the new Leadership Team was in the process of evaluating the organization and staff to ensure the building is aligned with its vision. As politico notes, the shakeup underscores the swiftness with which trumps team is moving to take over the Republican Party operations after the former president all but clenched the gop president ial nomination last week. And heading into the election, Trumps Campaign is facing an early cash gap as some allies worry hes spending far too much political money on his legal bills. Theres even concern he may not be able to afford to hold his signature rallies. Take a look at how our colleague Vaughn Hilliard explained the situation. Not only are they looking at a deficit in finances compared to biden, but also theres the reality here at play that 80 billion have already gone towards legalrelated expenses over the last two years for Trump Affiliated super pacs so theyre already starting into a deficit. Add onto the reality here the rnc is having to figure out how to best fund senate endowed ballot races. Theres serious Question Marks for trump and the team and howl theyre going to be able to compete. Heres also a reality at play. It takes man power. Money can also help. Money can help towards actually putting folks on the ground in these states in areas where they are going to rely onto pull off victories are in rural parts of georgia, rural parts of wisconsin, rural parts of michigan, rural parts of arizona. And to get folks that normally dont vote, youve got to go and tell them we need you to come vote. And so bull head city, arizona, if you dont have the money to finance some actual staff out in those areas, it makes it a lot more harder. And you can go have a rally in those places but those rallies cost 400,000. Dont expect to see donald trump parading around the country because those events Costs Hundreds Of Thousands to put on. Theyre in a predict now whether theyd like to admit it or not. Joining us now Alex Thompson to cover a lot of 2024 for us. Lets start on the republican side, these mass layoffs at the rnc as well as what vaughn just detailed for us. The real cash gaps and democrats have far more money on hand than trump and republicans do. Give us your analysis here for the lay of the land for donald trump. Absolutely. It has been really striking. You mentioned earlier just before vaughns comments about trumps comments about Social Security, medicare, also his comments about releasing prisoners from january 6th. This is not a pivot to the center that you usually see a general election person go. After you win the primary most candidates they pivot to the senate, they try to reach the people who werent with them before. And instead donald trump had Marjorie Taylor greene introduced him at a rally. Youre not seeing the equivalent of a left winger introducing joe biden at his rallies. Its been really striking. To your other point there, quickly making the rnc indistinguishable from the Trump Campaign. Now, that could help the Trump Campaign because as you noted they dont have a lot of money, and the rnc also doesnt have a lot of money. But we need to remember the rnc has a much higher limit on how much money they can get than the Trump Campaign. The Trump Campaign its about 2,800. The rnc can do hundreds of thousands of dollars with one check. Thats part of the reason why youre seeing them quickly take over and reassemble the team. Lets move over the democratic side. President Biden Feeling Good after the State Of The Union, hit the Campaign Trail, pennsylvania and georgia last week, he had wisconsin and michigan later in the week. He did seize on it yesterday. It seems medicare, Social Security biden has done a pretty good job aiming at voteders, particularly older voters who turn out to vote. Give us your sense of the strategy there. Do dems feel good about it . Absolutely. Weve talked about the poor poll numbers joe biden has had, and they havent been great. Hes doing very well among old voters, especially older white voters. Thats why hes performing better in midwestern states. Youre talking wisconsin, talking michigan. Hes always been closer than some of those the states in the southwest. So, you know, focusing on medicare, focusing on insulin prices, on some of the reforms he has done, youre seeing it in the polling numbers, and its going to be a huge part of his campaign all through 2024. Democrats think they have a real Ace In The Hole here at least in that midwest region. All right, starting us off this morning a Alex Thompson, thank you. And we will speak to you again soon i am certain. Still ahead here on way too early, special counsel robert hur will appear on capitol hill today after questioning President Bidens memory in a recent report. Plus former President Trump renews his attacks on writer e. Jean carroll, what her lawyers are saying about his most recent comments. Those stories and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. K on sports and weather when we come right back heres to Getting Better with age. Heres to beating these two every thursday. Help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need. Without the stuff you dont. So, heres to now. Boost. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little Puppy Diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. psst psst ahhh with flonase, allergies dont have to be scary. Spraying Flonase Daily gives you long lasting nondrowsy relief. Flonase all good. Also, try our Allergy Headache and nighttime pills. Jordans sore nose let out a fiery sneeze, so dad grabbed puffs plus lotion to soothe her with ease. Puffs plus lotion is gentle on sensitive skin and locks in moisture to provide soothing relief. A nose in need deserves puffs indeed. Americas 1 lotion tissue. Heres to Getting Better with age. Heres to beating these two every thursday. Help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need. Without the stuff you dont. So, heres to now. Boost. My name is oluseyi and some of my favorite moments. Throughout my life are watching sports with my dad. Now, i work at comcast as part of the team that created our ai highlights technology, which uses ai to detect the major plays in a sports game. Giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport. Welcome back. As we turn to some of the mornings other top headlines now including this one coming up today in washington. Where special Council Robert hur is expected to testify later this morning before the republican led House Judiciary Committee hearing. The hearing will be hurs first Public Comments since the release of his report on President Bidens handling of classified documents. A Committee Aide tells nbc news that republicans top priority will be to highlight hurs description of biden as a, quote, sympathetic, wellmeaning, elderly man with a poor memory and his references to bidens diminished faculties. Ranking member of the House Oversight Committee Jamie Raskin says democrats are more likely to ask hur about the differences in the way President Biden and former President Trump handled classified documents and their cooperation with respect to investigations. Of course, biden cleared of wrongdoing, but hurs Report Setoff a political firestorm. Meanwhile, former President Trump is expected to attend a hearing this thursday in the federal criminal case involving his own handling of classified documents at his maralago estate in florida. Trump, of course, was charged with a crime. U. S. District judge Aileen Cannon will hear arguments on two of trumps motions to dismiss his indictment with his attorneys set to argue the case should be thrown out because of the president ial records act. Now, trump is not required to be at the hearing in fort pierce, florida, but his lawyers indicated that he and his two codefendants would attend in a court filing they put in yesterday. Elsewhere, on the legal front lawyers for writer e. Jean carroll say theyre monitoring trumps latest comments in which he appears to defame her once again. Carroll, of course, sued trump twice amid allegations he raped her in a Department Store in New York City back in the 1990s. In may trump was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation. Then in january a jury ordered he pay another 83 million plus interest to carroll for the defamatory comments he made about her back in 2019 while he was in president. Still, the verdict not stopping the apparent gop nominee from talking about the case. After expressing frustration over having to post a 91 million bond at a rally in georgia over the weekend, trump again criticized the case in that interview with cnbc yesterday. Take a listen. If i didnt win on appeal, the most ridiculous decisions including the miss bergdoff goodman, a person i never met, i have no idea who she is. Except one thing, i got sued. From that point on i said, wow, thats crazy what this is. I got charged. I was given a false accusation and had a post of 91 million bond on a false accusation. People arent moving into new york because of the kind of crap theyre pulling on me. So carrolls attorneys now telling nbc news that another lawsuit against trump isnt necessarily off the table, saying in part the statute of limitations for defamation in most jurisdictions is between one and three years. We continue to monitor every statement that donald trump makes about our client. Next up, well turn to sports. And March Madness is just around the corner as two more teams make the cut. Well share the latest additions to the ncaa tournament. Plus the Philadelphia Eagles swoop in and snag a giant addition for their back field. Well share some of the biggest moves on the biggest day of free agency across the nfl. Well be right back with that. B. Power e trades awardwinning trading app makes trading easier. With its customizable options chain, easytouse tools and Paper Trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. E trade from morgan stanley. [coughing] copd hasnt been pretty. Its tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. But trelegy has shown me that theres still beauty and breath to be had. Because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flareups. And with one dose a day, trelegy improves Lung Function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. What a Wonderful World ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful. What is cirkul . Cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. Cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. Cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. Cirkul, available at walmart and drinkcirkul. Com. Ah mornings cough . Congestion . Im feeling better. All in one and done with new Mucinex Kickstart. Headache . Better now. New Mucinex Kickstart gives allinone and done relief with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. Its comeback season. Head shoulders is launching something huge. With a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. The bare minimum. Antidandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients no sulfates, silicones or dyes and packaged with 45 less plastic giving you outstanding Dandruff Protection and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized. Major Dandruff Protection, minimal ingredients. Job done. New Head Shoulders bare. With the freestyle libre 3 system. Know your Glucose Levels no fingersticks needed. All with the worlds smallest and thinnest sensor. Manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. Try it for free at freestylelibre. Us. A 20point victory. Lined up and for the first time in 11 years is going dancing. For the First Time Since 2000 theyre going dancing. Two more tickets punched to the ncaa mens basketball tournament last night. Thats samford celebrating its First Southern conference title after holding off east Tennessee State 7669 and uppering it a March Madness bid for the first time in nearly a quarter century. And before that you saw James Madison claim the sun belt tournament championship with a 9171 win over arkansas state, that sends the dukes for the tournament for the First Time Since 2017. Luka doncic had 27 points in yet another tripledouble but did so without scoring 30 in seven games. He exited midway through the fourth quarter. Mavericks still blow out the bulls. Meanwhile in los angeles pretty embarrassing here. The lakers say theyre planning to fit a handful of errors etched into the marble base of the statue of kobe bryant unveiled last month outside the teams home arena in downtown l. A. Among mistakes are misspellings of the names of former nba players in a rendering of the box score from bryants fame 81point game back in 2006. Another phrase misspelled, coaches decision. Authorize also minor formatting mistakes. The statues are the first of three of bryant slated to stand outside the arena. Now to another busy, busy day of free agency across the nfl. Heres your headline. Star running back Saquan Barclay is trading his blue jersey for green leaving to join the Philadelphia Eagles for a reported threeyear deal worth 38 million. Giants have tried to Lock Up Barclay but they prioritize an daniel jones. Now they lose their star running back. The Cincinnati Bengals have reportedly released. According to espn moss and bengals have agreed to a deal wort 28 million. Meanwhile the falcons agreening on a reported fouryear deal with former Minnesota Vikings kirk cousins worth up to 180 million. The signings could become official when the new league begin tomorrow. I think that means the patriots will certainly draft the qb this year as well. To protennis now and a stunner on the courts at the Indiana Wells open in california. Top seated Novack Djokovic was eliminated fall in three sets to 20yearold of italy. Ranked 123rd is the lowest ranked player to beat djokovic. And lastly bow go to Major League Baseball in port st. Lucy, florida, where The Sound Of Trumpets Burglaried over the system for the first time in a year. He made his first appearance in the game since last march when he tore a tendon in his knee while celebrating puerto ricos victory in the world baseball classic. That theme song is so much fun. Diaz entered in the fifth inning and struck out the side. Despite his return mets last to the marlins 10. And fans of the other team holding their breath this morning awaiting the results of gary coles mri complaining of elbow discomfort. Time now for the weather. Angie, hows it looking out there . Good morning, jonathan. Its looking all right. Weve got to look out to the west see the impactful system moving onshore. Weve got the alerts up from the rockies to the coast and does include the potential for heavy snow as well as additional rain for parts of the north west. Well also keep an eye for parts of the plains as we gear up for heavy rain and strong storms for that region especially the central plains. This for tomorrow and the bulls eye is right around kansas city. Well see that in the afternoon and evening hours. The biggest threat large hail and wind gusts and cant rule out a couple of tornadoes. Meanwhile, today low humidity and strong winds up to 40 Miles Per Hour going to leave us the potential for elevated fire weather. El paso and amarillo and up into wichita included in that. And well watch this through the afternoon hours today. Meanwhile, it sure feels like spring maybe even early summer in parts of the midwest and great lakes. Weve got 73 degrees on tap for chicago today, 27 degrees above normal this time of year. Kansas city hits the 70s, Nashville Into The 70s and this warmth continues into tomorrow, too. New york 68 degrees, washington, d. C. Hits 72. Well start to see things cooling off by the time the end of the Workweek Rolls around and into the weekend. Still holding onto the 60s in places like philadelphia as we get to saturday. Upper 50s morgan town, cleveland goes from the mid60s on thursday to the mid50s and on saturday 53 degrees. Overall it really is going to feel like spring over the next couple of days. At this point for me if its not going to snow anymore, on with the warmer weather. Were done with the umer 40s. Either give us the last round of winter or lets move to spring. We agree. Angie lassman, thank you so much. Talk to you tomorrow. Coming up on way too early, House Lawmakers are moving ahead with legislation that could potentially ban the popular social media app tiktok. Big story. Well have the very latest from capitol hill when we come right back. Y latest from capitol hill when we come right back hey asthmas got you going through it . Grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. Nucala is a oncemonthly addon injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. Not for sudden breathing problems. Allergic reactions can occur. Get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. Infections that can cause shingles have occurred. Dont stop steroids unless told by your doctor. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. May cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. Ask an Asthma Specialist if nucala is right for you. Heres to Getting Better with age. Heres to beating these two every thursday. Help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need. Without the stuff you dont. So, heres to now. Boost. Bladder leak underwear has one job. I just want to feel protected especially for those sudden gush moments. Always discreet protects like no other. With a rapid dry core that locks in your heaviest gush quickly for up to zero leaks. Always discreet the protection we deserve man excuse me, would you mind taking a picture of us . Always discreet tony oh, no problem. man thanks. tony yes, problem. You need verizon. Tradein that old thing and get a new iphone 15 pro with tons of storage. So you can take all the pics so many selfies. A preposterous amount of pano that means panoramic. And as many portraits of me as your heart desires. woman how about none . boy none. man yea none feels right. vo tradein any iphone in any condition and get a new iphone 15 pro and an ipad and apple watch se all on us. Only on verizon. My name is oluseyi and some of my favorite moments throughout my life are watching sports with my dad. Now, i work at comcast as part of the team that created our ai highlights technology, which uses ai to detect the major plays in a sports game. Giving millions of fans, like my dad and me, new ways of catching up on their favorite sport. I could have banned tiktok. I had it banned just about. I could have gotten it done, but i said you know what, but ill leave it up to you. I didnt push them too hard because let them do their own research and development, and they decided not to do it. But i was at the point i could have grabbed the gun if i wanted to. I said you guys decide, you make that decision because its a tough decision to make. Frankly there are a lot of people on tiktok that love it. There are a lot of young kids on tiktok who will go crazy without it. There are a lot of users, you know, theres a lot of good. And theres a lot of bad with tiktok. But the thing i dont like is that without tiktok, you could make facebook bigger, and i consider facebook to be an enemy of the people along with a lot of the media. Welcome back to way too early. It is 5 30 a. M. On the east coast, 2 30 out west on this tuesday morning. Im jonathan lemire. That was donald trump on cnbc yesterday. And despite the former president s opposition, the house will move forward with Bipartisan Legislation that targets tiktok. Its happening this week. Speaker mike johnson said the bill will be on the floor tomorrow. It would require tiktok to either split from its chinese Parent Company,bytedance, or be banned from app Stores Across america. Tiktoks ceo will be on the hill today to meet with senators. If the bill passes today its not clear how or if the senate would vote on it. Some said yesterday theyre looking at a larger package that addresses more than just the Parent Company of the one app. Its a political hot button issue, and joining us to talk about is cofounder of Punch Bowl News, anna palmer. She is an msnbc contributor. Morning, anna. This striking about face from donald trump, who a major trump donor urging him to keep tiktok going. That seems to be part of his thinking here as well as the fact tiktok is home to a lot of conservative rightwing outlets. But talk to us what were going to see in d. C. This week. Do we think theres enough support in the house to pass his tiktok bill even with trump coming out against it . And whats your sense of the senate . Were seeing a very odd relationship here between the Biden Administration, House Republicans uniting on an issue, something that rarely happens. We are reporting this morning that the fbi and doj and other National Security officials will be on capitol hill to brief House Lawmakers. Part of this Full Corp Press by the Biden Administration to try to galvanize and keep the support to ban tiktok in the house. It is very swift, right . Rarely do you see a bill being reduced and passed out of committee 500. So all republican and all democrats supporting this tiktok ban in the house. We expect this to move forward despite as you played at the top there former President Donald Trump changing his position on tiktok and before hed been really for banning it and now coming out saying maybe that isnt such a good idea. Well be watching this story carefully all week long. And lets switch gears. We mentioned earlier in the show that special counsel robert hur is going to testify today, called by republicans there in the house. Give us a sense what we should expect. The white house is readying a Rapid Response opwragz for what hur might have to say. Of course biden got some momentum coming out of the State Of The Union. The last thing they want to do is talk about his age again. Do we think hur is going to do what special counsels normally do is stick to the confines of the report or might he go further . He was accused of being gratuitous before. Hes no longer employed by the doj, so some of those strictures and rules when youre an actually employee might be removed from the ability to actually speak more freely. The thing were looking at really closely is republicans are going to want to try and press and kind of find those Pressure Points of the point in the report and whether they can get him to go further about bidens mental acuity. Clearly the democrats are going to try to push back as much as absolutely possible. But to your point, if this hearing had happened before the State Of The Union, i think there might be more news to surround it. But the fact you had a very strong, a very agile president up on stage showing his vigor last week, theres probably less less issue here in termles of just trying to get through it by democrats, get through it by this administration and move forward. Certainly when you look at the totality of impeachment effort by House Republicans it is ending on a whimper, not as robust as they had hoped. Yeah, no question there. And lastly, Punch Bowl News has got some new reporting on a push for ukraine funding in the house. Fill us in, please. Yeah, so theres a lot of frustration among House Republicans and democrats with the fact that Speaker Mike Johnson has no plans to move forward with that senate aid package that passed a few weeks ago. And so youre starting to see even more effort around this Discharge Petition, a very unlikely legislative maneuver. But brian fitzpatrick, republican from pennsylvania, trying to shore up different factions of the Republican Party, adding Different Things to this potential Discharge Petition that would be make it much more palatable to republicans to get onboard with this effort. Again, i think this is still a lastditch effort and would have oo show basically every single other legislative maneuver or the fact johnson was not going to put this forward before he would be able to kind of move forward with it with the potential for it to actually succeed, but i think it just shows once again this agitation among lawmakers if they want to move forward with something when it comes to ukraine despite kind of the more loud part of their their conference that is very opposed to it. So, again, well have see, but this is just another kind of data point of frustration and the willingness of some to move forward on ukraine. As this debate continues, ukraine continues to lose ground to russia. Covering a lot of ground for us this morning, anna palmer, cofounder of Punch Bowl News. Thank you again. Still ahead here, well go live to cnbc for an early look whats driving markets this morning. Plus, bitcoin hits a new record price. Well take a look at whats behind the crypto currency surge when we come right back. O curree when we come right back. Business. Its not a ninetofive proposition. Its all day and into the night. Its all the things that keep this world turning. Its the gotos that keep us going. The places we cheer. Trust. Hang out. And check in. They all choose the advanced Network Solutions and round the Clock Partnership from Comcast Business. Powering more businesses than anyone. Powering possibilities. [cough] honey. Honey. Nyquil severe honey. Powerful cold and flu relief with a Dreamy Honey Taste Nyquil honey, [street noise] [car door shuts] [paparazzi taking pictures] introducing, neds plaque psoriasis. Ned, ned, who are you wearing . He thinks his flaky red patches are all people see otezla is the 1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. Ned . Otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. With no routine blood tests required. Doctors have been prescribing otezla for nearly a decade. Otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. Dont use otezla if youre allergic to it. Serious allergic reactions can happen. Otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. Upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. With clearer skin movie night, is a groovy night live in the moment. Ask your doctor about otezla. If you have Chronic Kidney Disease you can reduce the risk of Kidney Failure with farxiga. Because there are places youd like to be. Farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. A rare, lifethreatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. Stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. Farxiga so this is pickleball . Pickle ah, these guys are intense. With e trade from morgan stanley, were ready for whatever gets served up. Dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. Id rather work on saving for retirement. Or college, since you like to get schooled. Thats a pretty good burn, right . Sometimes Jonah Wrestles with falling asleep. So he takes zzzquil. The worlds 1 sleep aid brand. And wakes up feeling like himself. Get the rest to be your best with nonhabit forming zzzquil. Time now for business, and for that lets bring in cnbcs Arabile Gumede who joins us live from london. Good morning, arabile. So a key inflation report, the Consumer Price index is due out a little later this morning. What are economists expecting . Yeah, so its a slight uptick perhaps in some regards, but it is actually mainly flat on the Headline Figure that is anticipated, john. 3. 1 is the anticipated Headline Number for that Inflation Print which would be the same then as january. Of course this is the february print were talking about. The Core Cpi Print is the one to really look out for. Theyre anticipating 0. 3 on a month on basis and 3. 7 on a year on year basis. I think what really is the Question Mark is how sensitive the market will be to any movement higher or lower than the estimated figure at this level because the market is pretty much basing that things will continue to come down gradually. Will we see the u. S. Economy continue to get a hold of inflation and dip into that 2 handle finally, or will things remain above 3 , which then stalls the chances of a rate cut happening even at the middle of the year. Arabile, the crypto rally continues to surprise with bitcoin, its price hitting a new record high. Tell us whats behind this. Do we think its going to continue . Yeah, well, it certainly looks like it will continue, right . Its actually moving in lock step with gold, which has also reached record highs recently. And whats really happened is since the middle of january we saw the sec approved etfs to attract bitcoin. Bitcoin etfs coming to the market. At least Ten Companies grayscale, the likes of black. Rock, all of those bringing their etfs to market. What you then saw is a whole host of retailer investors and Corporate Investors willing to go into bitcoin a little bit more, and that drove the price up quite prodigiously. Youre seeing the record highs, that continues to be the case right now. So more flows into bitcoin ultimately helping that price reach those record highs. Some investors are saying the price could go up into 100,000, so itll be interesting to see that mark. All right, cnbcs arabile dpu meade live from london. Thank you as always. Still ahead, alabama senator katie britts state of the Union Response is now spotlighting the gops struggle to appeal to women voters. Julia manchester is standing by with her new reporting on a critical voting block that could impact races up and down the ballots. Way too early will be right back with that. Way too early will be right back with that for those 60 years and older protect against rsv with arexvy. Arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower Respiratory Disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. Arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. Those with weakened Immune Systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. The most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. I chose arexvy. Rsv . Make it arexvy. Power e trades awardwinning trading app makes trading easier. With its customizable options chain, easytouse tools and Paper Trading to help sharpen your skills, you can stay on top of the market from wherever you are. E trade from morgan stanley. You know that feeling of having to rewash dishes that didnt get clean . I dont. Cascade Platinum Plus has me doing dishes. Differently. Scrub, soak . Nope. I just scrape, load. And im done. Platinum plus is cascades best clean ever. With double the dawn and double the scrubbers, it removes the toughest grease and food residue for an irresistible clean and shine. Rewash . Not in my house. Upgrade to cascade Platinum Plus. Dare to dish differently. Heres to Getting Better with age. Heres to beating these two every thursday. Help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need. Without the stuff you dont. So, heres to now. Boost. Business. Its not a ninetofive so proposition. Ow. Its all day and into the night. Its all the things that keep this world turning. The gotos that keep us going. The places we cheer. And check in. They all choose the advanced Network Solutions and round the Clock Partnership from Comcast Business. See why Comcast Business powers more Small Businesses than anyone else. Get started for 49. 99 a month plus ask how to get up to an 800 prepaid card. Dont wait call today. We see you. We hear you. And we stand with you. If youre if youre going to stand with me, could you stand a little bit further away . Senator katie britts republican response to the State Of The Union continues to provide a lot of late night laughs. And more importantly our next guest says it highlights the gops struggle to appeal to women ahead of novembers elections. Joining us now National Politics reporter for the hill, julia manchester. Her latest piece has this headline. Britt backlash stokes gop fears among losing women voters. Lets talk about your piece. How does the backlash over britts rebuttal illustrate this republican struggle in. Yeah, jonathan. A few things. Look, in this address itself, in this rebustle it was very clear katie britt was trying to appeal to a number of groups but particularly republican women or maybe independent or swing women, but it was done at what many critics say at a cost. It was done from her kitchen, and her supporters say, look, this is to be emblematic of Kitchen Table issues, if you will. But then that choice got a lot of backlash saying it was going back to a very old trope, out dated trope saying essentially women belong in the kitchen or suggesting that. And she was talking about a lot of issues that have fired up republicans and maybe some independent or swing voters. But the problem is a lot of sources i talk to republicans and maybe those on the left said the way it was delivered wasnt in a way that would actually appeal to these voters. A lot of people walked away from this finding it weird. And then on time of that you of course had the backlash for her using that Sex Trafficking Story and, you know, obviously the push back that it didnt happen, that anecdote she used didnt happen under the Biden Administration. So were not talking about this rebuttal for the right reasons, and i think its a sort of some republicans ive even talked to said its emblematic of the partys struggle to appeal to those women voters. Yeah, remembered for all the wrong things much like marco rubios rebuttal where he had to reach off camera to get a glass of water. Were going to wree talking about the parody of this for years to come. Tell us more about what you learned there and about how republicans struggle to connect with suburban voters not just women but overall. Yeah. So essentially that swing group was or that i should say focus group was conducted by an antitrump organization i talked about in the piece. And they found that, you know, from a number of swing states, not necessarily all suburban voters, but voters in swing states, many of them have large pockets of suburban voters, they said they walked away from her rebuttal with one take away, that it was essentially weird. So thats thats a big issue obviously going forward. Were not talking about it for the right reasons. But overall, i mean this is big for republicans. This is big issue for republicans, not really the rebuttal itself. I mean in this moment it is, but republicans have been struggling going back to 2018 to win suburban voters, not just women voters but suburban voters that have become very much a part of that democratic coalition. And certainly the issue of Abortion Rights plays into this as well. Democrats hammering home that issue, which so important to many suburban women. Lastly, just tell us a little bit about the democratic strategies here . How do they continue to press their advantage with these suburban women . Look, jonathan, on that point i think part of the choice to have katie britt deliver the response was initially probably seen as a good idea from republicans because she had done a lot to rally other republicans around ivf, invitro fertilization, following that state Supreme Court ruling on embryos. Of course were not talking about that right now, but for suburban women voters, look, were hearing democrats talk about two major things. Obviously Abortion Rights are huge but also this issue of democracy protecting democracy. We heard that quite a bit in President Bidens speech. Now, is that going to be a Blanket Issue to appeal to all democratic voters in that coalition or all swing voters . No, because theres obviously other issues that may appeal, like the economy, for example. But for these, you know, highly educated suburban voters, this issue of protecting democracy has been found to poll pretty well. All right. Terrific stuff, as always, from National Politics reporter for the hill, julia manchester. Thank you. Up next on way too early, did President Bidens state of the Union Address have the impact his campaign was hoping for . Well break down the latest poll results straight ahead. Coming up on morning joe, donald trump seeking to clarify his stance on entitlements after he floated the idea of cutting retirement spending. Well dig into that backlash and how President Biden responded. Plus, well hear from the republican chairman and the ranking democrat on the House Intelligence Committee ahead of todays hearing on the Global Threats facing the united states. Also ahead, awardwinning actor Ewan Mcgregor will be live in studio. Hell join us with a look at his mini series, a gentleman in moscow. You wont want to miss that. Morning joe a few moments away. Away ody deodorant. Everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your sfx deoderant being sprayed secret whole body deodorant. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little Puppy Diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. It aint my dads razor, dad. Ay watch it its from gillettelabs. This green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. Gamechanga . While the flexdisc contours to it. So the five blades can get virtually every hair in one stroke. For the ultimate gillette shaving experience. The best a man can get is gillettelabs. Welcome back. New polling suggests president joe bidens state of the Union Address didnt break through to most americans, at least not yet. In the latest abc news ipsos survey, 29 said it was better than expected and 12 said it was worse. Tv ratings up from a year ago. As for bidens handling of key issues, his Approval Numbers are low, but they have ticked up slightly since an october poll. His biggest improvement comes on the topic of abortion, up from 39 to 47 . The only issue where bidens Approval Rating has gone down since october is his handling of the israel hamas war, which dropped from 41 to 30 . There have been a few national polls, though, in recent days that have him up over donald trump, within the margin of error. Joining us now, White House Reporter for politico, also the coauthor of The West Wing playbook newsletter, a mustread every afternoon. Eli, lets talk about how the white house feels after the State Of The Union. A lot of buzz. They took the age issue head on, followed up with campaign travel. These poll numbers are middling but not unexpected. What are you hearing . I think inside the white house, john, as you know, they feel good about the way it came off, at least settling nerves within the Democratic Party about bidens argument through november. Would they like the polls to show a bigger bounce . Absolutely. You know, i think they know this is a long haul to november. The campaign in wilmington, they are just starting to really press their financial advantage over the Trump Campaign, just starting to launch tv ads highlighting the biden record while drawing sharp contrast with trump. It is going to take time to press their advantage, they believe, and really, you know, within the white house, there are also some questions about whether Approval Ratings are really the best measurement of where the president stands or whether he has a chance to win reelection. Im thinking back to 2022 after Emmanuel Macron won the reelection in france, his Chief Of Staff tweeted, oh, look, a president can win reelection with a low approval number. That is an understanding that Approval Rating in american politics, given how crabby people are, polarized things are, there is a sense Approval Rating may not be the best metric. It is hard to get your rating over 40 these days once youve been in office for any stretch of time. Good point about the Approval Ratings and the nations crabbiness. We indicated the president has seen his Approval Ratings slip on the israel hamas war. Members of his own party think he is not doing enough to help the civilians there in gaza, not pushing israel enough. We have new reporting we broke last night about how there will be a red line with rafah. If israel goes into rafah, a fullscale invasion, the president may condition military aid to the nation, which they have not done so far. Tell us the thinking behind that, and also just both The Big Picture political ramifications of President Biden potentially changing tactics with netanyahu and the handling of the war. This is a political liability for the president. Hes not controlling the war on either side, but as the american commander in chief, there is some influence that you would think that biden would have over israel, a really important ally. At this point, that has not been the case. Netanyahu is prosecuting the war how he likes it, and biden has ratcheted up the rhetoric, going back a month or so when he first said israels campaign in gaza is over the top. Weve seen the slow Ratcheting Up of the rhetoric, now talking about red lines. Netanyahu pushing back, saying he doesnt care about bidens red line. His red line is not having another october 7th attack. It seems like they are really talking past one another, and it would be remarkable if biden decided to condition aid on whether or not israel sort of scales back its operation. You know, the white house wouldnt really go further than what biden said in his interview on sunday or on saturday, rather, with jonathan capehart. I dont know how likely we are to see this in the coming weeks, but there is a real sense that this is hurting the president politically. You cant wish this war away. Its not just going to disappear by the fall. It is a real problem and a problem beyond just michigan with younger voters. There is an awareness of that and, rhetorically, youre seeing the president recalibrate a little bit. Whether they go further with actual changes in policy toward israel, which would be a dramatic step, a lot of that depends on how things go after ramadan, what this potential new Israeli Offensive looks like. Staying with Foreign Policy briefly, leaders in poland will be at the white house today to talk about the ukraine war. What does the white house hope to get out of this meeting . Show unity. Poland would be the most affected nato ally if russia were to expand the war beyond ukraine. Two leaders in Poland On Opposite Sides domestically but the same side with ukraine, they come to washington at a time when ukraine aid is stuck. Theyre trying to show a united front even as the proukraine coalition in the west seems to be a little stuck in the mud. Between the ukraine story and the israel story, we are seeing an american president with big ambitions to reassert American Leadership on the world stage. We are seeing at this point that that looks increasingly challenging. And hard to do given the politics here and in europe. Terrific stuff as always from White House Reporter for politico, eli stokols. Thank you very