the show that is not quite ready for round two, but here we go! i am kasie hunt on this tuesday, february 9th. we will start with the news. today begins the historic second impeachment trial of former president donald trump, accused of incitement of insurrection for the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol that left five dead. trump is the only president to be impeached twice and the only former president to face trial in the senate. the floor is already set. the house prosecutors and trump defense attorneys are going to sit at two long tables. you can see them there, allowing enough room for social distancing. the proceedings expected to begin, as mandated by the rules, at 1:00 p.m., with one update. senators will need to pass a new organizing resolution after trump's attorney, david schoen, withdrew his request to pause the trial at the end of the week for the sabbath. schoen says his portion of the defense will be completed by then and that they no longer need to pause for that. after adopting the new rules, the trial will continue with four hours of debate on whether the trial, itself, is constitutional. the senate jurors will then vote on whether to proceed, a measure that only needs a simple majority and is expected to pass easily. opening arguments are expected to begin tomorrow, putting the trial on track for a possible verdict by early next week. right now, though, there are no scheduled witnesses. this is the one thing that could throw things awry. sources point out that the senate jurors, themselves, are also witnesses to what happened that day and we're also told to expect personal stories from impeachment managers who felt their lives were in danger on january 6th. some of those people were in the chamber on the house side when those rioters breached the walls. and in their last legal filing before the start of the impeachment trial, former president donald trump's defense team yesterday argued that holding him responsible for the deadly capitol attack was nothing more than, quote, political theater from democrats and that the senate had no constitutional power to sit in judgment of a former president. in a 78-page brief, trump's lawyers said he did not, quote, direct anyone to commit unlawful actions or deserve blame for the conduct of what they called a small group of criminals who broke into the capitol. just going to go out on a limb and say, i was there. this is not just a small group of criminals. that was a mob. the trump team asserted that their client's false claims about a stolen election delivered at a rally right before supporters began their deadly assault -- they literally walked down the street from that rally to the capitol -- were protected by the first amendment. trump's lawyers say that when their client told his supporters to fight like hell, he meant it in a, quote, figurative sense. they added that rioters attacked the capitol for their own reasons and cited a discredited source that claims rioters were anti-trump forces. kevin mccarthy, the republican leader, has said, i was there, these were maga people, meaning trump supporters. in their five-page response brief, democrats countered that the constitution provides them jurisdiction for the trial and that president trump's conduct was, quote, categorically unacceptable and merits conviction and disqualification from holding future office. and here's this. three men facing federal charges for their alleged actions in the capitol are pointing the finger directly at the 45th president. the "washington post" reports that an attorney for one suspect is calling donald trump, quote, an unindicted co-conspirator in the january 6th attack. he sort of has been indicted by the house. the paper goes on to say, to date, the former president has been named by federal prosecutors or defense attorneys in more than two dozen of the cases that are related to the capitol assault. matthew ryan miller, who is a 21-year-old construction worker from maryland, accused of wielding a fire extinguisher against police on the capitol steps, wrote through a lawyer monday that he was merely following the directions of then president trump, the country's chief law enforcement officer. that's the thing, isn't it? and ethan nordean said in a filing sunday that he was, quote, egged on by donald trump, other politicians, his legal advocates and news media. federal authorities argue that nordean and other members of the proud boys, a far-right group with a history of violence, planned for a confrontation with the police january 6th. joining us now, the co-founder of punch bowl news, jake sherman. he is an msnbc political contributor. jake, good morning! always great to see you. we are, of course, kicking off the second impeachment trial of donald trump in about a year's time, and i don't think that when you and i were having similar conversations to this back in 2020 that we ever imagined we would be doing it again so soon, but here we are. my question for you is, are you looking for any surprises today or any dramatic moments that, perhaps, may change the course of something that feels like we already know the ending? >> no. i mean, the things that i'm looking for, kasie, are, is anybody persuadable? i mean, we know the universe of people on the republican side who may or may not vote to convict donald trump. it's about five people. pat toomey, ben sasse mitt romney, susan collins, lisa murkowski. and that's about it. i mean, the only surprise that we could have is if somebody changes their mind and wants to vote for witnesses, but that's not even going to come today. that's going to come, as you note here, later this week or early next week. so, really not much, kasie, that we don't know at this point. >> let's talk about witnesses for a second, jake, because, obviously, democrats are in control of the senate this time. and in theory, that's a vote that they could possibly win, if they wanted to go that route, but that, obviously, would make the trial potentially weeks long, and it seems like that's not what the white house, the biden white house, particularly wants. what are the dynamics there? >> i don't think it's what anyone wants. democrats want to move on to their agenda, which is confirming a cabinet and getting a coronavirus bill through, and they're not going to be able to do that with the speed that they'd like if they have witnesses. that's number one. number two, republicans just don't want to talk about donald trump anymore. and clearly, joe biden's idea here, his plan is to pretty much ignore this trial and go about his life, which is a, frankly, a smart political plan for him. so, i just don't think it's in anyone's interests at this point. there's no witness that's going to get 17 republicans to vote to convict donald trump. perhaps you could think it's unfortunate or it's unfair or it's illegitimate, but that's just the reality. there is no witness that -- and by the way, if you have witnesses, it's going to require a lot of back-and-forth between the witness and the members of congress. it's just going to be a long process that i don't think anybody is interested in. >> lots of lawyers involved. jake, can we talk about mitch mcconnell for a second? because he has been out there saying, you know what, this was a terrible day for the country. he has condemned the role that the president played in the day. he seemed to be trying to lead his conference, potentially, in the direction of a conviction. what happened? why didn't what he's done make more of a difference inside the republican conference? >> well, john boehner used to say, as you might remember, a leader without followers is a man taking a walk. so, i think that, perhaps, that when mitch mcconnell saw that none of his republicans were following him, he decided that he would back off and would move back to where the conference is, which is, you know, not in support, not supporting donald trump's removal from office or, frankly, his impeachment. i don't think mitch mcconnell is going to do anything to surprise us here. he has now voted to call the impeachment unconstitutional, and i just don't expect that anything will change from there. >> another test of that, of course, coming today as they spend the day debating the constitutionality of this trial. punch bowl news' jake sherman, thanks for kicking us off on this historic day. appreciate it. still ahead here, georgia's secretary of state launches a new investigation into former president trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in that state. plus, the latest on the pandemic as the first sitting member of congress passes away from covid. we're going to have those stories and a check on your whether when we come right back. stay restless with the icon that does the same. the rx crafted by lexus. lease the 2021 rx 350 for $429 a month for thirty six months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. are you managing your diabetes... ...using fingersticks? 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the chairman of the maryland stadium authority, which is the landlord for the o's and for the nfl's ravens on behalf of the state, tells "the baltimore sun" that they are currently discussing terms of a new lease and capital reinvestment would keep the team playing in an upgraded camden yards that would involve increased economic benefits from both baseball and year-round non-baseball uses. they could also extend the current deal for an additional five years. i cannot imagine baltimore without the orioles. and finally, now is your chance to ball like obama. sotheby's is going to sell a pair of nike basketball sneakers custom made for the former president back in 2009. in addition to the hallmarks of other hyperdunks, a model created for and worn by team usa players at the 2008 beijing summer olympics, this pair includes a number of custom details, like the official presidential seal on the tongues, a red-and-blue 44 embroidered on the medial side of both toes, and insoles that feature patriotic design motifs, including bald eagles and the date 1776. the sneakers, which are considered one of only two pairs in existence, are on exhibition at sotheby's new york galleries before they'll be made available online for $25,000 on friday. those shoes are too rich for my blood, but i imagine there is some buyer for them out there. all right, time now for weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. bill, i hear we might be getting some more snow here in the northeast corridor. >> yeah, more snow, more cold, and then rinse and repeat, kasie. we're going to do it all again, too, maybe once or twice by the weekend. so, let's get into it. today we're now seeing these winter weather advisories and everything else extended pretty far. we're going all the way back now into areas of the midwest. i kind of fast-forwarded through my maps a little quick there. we have 41 million people that are right now under these winter weather advisories and warnings and watches, and even memphis is now under a winter storm watch. some of the southern cities are starting to get into this. but today the action is mostly going to be pennsylvania and then through southern portions of new england. the blue on the map shows you where the snow is. it's not a big ordeal, but about 1 to 3 inches in many areas. snowing pretty decently right now on i-70 from columbus to pittsburgh, right through pennsylvania. and most of this will be just north of new york city, not really expecting much snow in new york city today. but if you're driving around newberg, poughkeepsie, the hudson valley, hartford, the mass pike, into areas of boston, that's where most of the accumulating snow will be. so you notice there columbus and pittsburgh, only about an inch. but when you start getting into that blue, that's 2 to 3 inches. that pink is 4 to 5 inches. so, careful driving anywhere in the hudson valley, mass pike, northern sections of connecticut during the day today. it will be light and it will be fluffy in most cases, so pretty easy shoveling. the other story, the cold. and as we mentioned yesterday, this isn't going anywhere any time soon. 19 million people impacted by either windchill advisories, and we do have a few spots with windchill warnings. when you get to the windchill warning criteria, that's when it feels like negative 30 in fargo, negative 34 in duluth. even kansas city has a negative windchill this morning. and chicago, this is your coldest morning of the winter season. your windchill this morning when you head out the door is negative 15 right now. so, for today, light snow in the northeast, bitter cold will continue in the middle of the country, and kasie, not bad in d.c. today, 50 degrees. tomorrow a little bit cooler, temperatures in the 30s in the northeast. but yeah, as we said, this is kind of the peak of the winter season right now, kasie, and the cold is here to stay. >> if only i had a chance to get out in that nice weather here today, but i will be at the capitol for many hours with the impeachment trial. >> a little busy, right? >> bill karins, thank you. exactly. thank you, as always, my friend. we'll see you tomorrow. and still ahead here, maskless super bowl celebrations in florida sparked new coronavirus concerns. what the mayor of tampa is saying about images like this one. we'll be back in just a moment. t trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high you know how i feel ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing] ♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't 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. it's time to start a new day. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. for decades, most bladder leak pads were similar. until always discreet changed that. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. by inventing a pad you never thought possible. it's incredibly thin. because it protects differently. with two rapiddry layers that overlap, where you need it most. for strong protection, that's always discreet. it's time to question your protection. it's time for always discreet. you're strong. you power through chronic migraine-15 or more headache days a month each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. so, if you haven't tried botox® for your chronic migraine check with your doctor if botox® is right for you and, if samples are available. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions neck and injection site pain fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. 95% of patients may pay as little as zero dollars for botox® so, text to see how you can save. botox is the #1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. so, ask your doctor about botox® today. want to brain better? unlike ordinary memory supplements— neuriva has clinically proven ingredients that fuel 5 indicators of brain performance. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference. obsession has many names. this is ours. the new lexus is. all in on the sports sedan. lease the 2021 is 300 for $359 a month for thirty nine months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. welcome back. georgia's secretary of state's office has opened an investigation into former president trump's attempts to overturn the state's election results. as part of the probe, secretary of state brad raffensperger will examine trump's january 2nd call to the secretary, where he pressured the official to find -- to, quote, find enough votes to reverse the loss. they managed to know exactly how many they needed. in a statement, the office said the investigations are, quote, fact-finding and administrative in nature, and the results will be shown to the republican-controlled state board of elections, which will decide whether to refer them for prosecution to the state attorney general or to another agency. and former president trump's 2016 campaign chairman paul manafort will not face mortgage fraud charges in new york after the state's highest court declined to revisit lower court decisions that barred prosecuting him on double jeopardy grounds. manafort was facing charges for mortgage fraud and other state felonies, similar to the crimes that he was federally convicted for. manafort's lawyer argued double jeopardy, saying the new york case was a copy of the federal one. and less than a year into his nearly 7 1/2-year sentence, manafort was released to home confinement because of concerns about the coronavirus. trump pardoned him just before christmas. and some sad news. republican congressman ron wright of texas passed away on sunday after suffering health complications a little over two weeks after being diagnosed with covid-19. the congressman had also been battling cancer for several years. wright is the first sitting member of congress to die after being diagnosed with the virus, and the house held a moment of silence for wright yesterday afternoon during a pro forma session on the floor. in a statement, house minority leader kevin mccarthy said congressman wright emulated the very best of america and they were fortunate to have had the opportunity to call him a colleague and a friend. the congressman was 67 years old. and we are thinking of his family this morning. and despite efforts to adhere to cdc's coronavirus guidelines, video has emerged of large crowds of mostly maskless fans celebrating the super bowl win for the tampa bay buccaneers in florida. tampa mayor jane castor said that around 200,000 masks were handed out ahead of the game and that a, quote, majority of people and businesses followed the rules. she did, however, express her concern with some fans, saying yesterday, quote, it's a little frustrating because we have worked so hard. at this point in dealing with covid-19, there is a level of frustration when you see that. white house press secretary jen psaki weighed in on the matter as well, saying that we are all concerned about the celebration scenes coming out of florida, this as the "usa today" reports that florida on sunday became the first state to report 200 cases of coronavirus variants. everything is still spreading very quickly. and new york city middle schools will open this month after being closed since november, officials announced yesterday. the plan will allow about 62,000 students who opted for in-person learning last year to return for at least part of the week, beginning on february 25th. it will be the first time since november that students in grades 6 through 8 in the nation's largest public school system will be able to attend in person. however, "the new york times" reports that roughly 70% of the city's students have opted out of in-person classes altogether and decided to learn from home through the rest of the school year. no plan to reopen the city's high schools has been announced. so, really tough time for our kids right now. and still ahead, the latest on democrats' efforts to move ahead with president biden's coronavirus relief package, including the debate over who qualifies for stimulus checks and how much. nbc's mike memoli joins us for more on that. but before we go to break, we want to know, as always, why are you awake? email us your reasons for being up and watching to waytooearly@msnbc.com or drop me a tweet @kasie. use #waytooearly, and we will read the best answers coming up later on in the show. est answer later on in the show wanna build a gaming business that breaks the internet? that means working night and day... ...and delegating to an experienced live bookkeeper for peace of mind. your books are all set. so you can finally give john some attention. trusted experts. guaranteed accurate books. intuit quickbooks live. darrell's family uses gain flings now so their laundry smells more amazing than ever. isn't that the dog's towel? hey, me towel su towel. more gain scent plus oxi boost and febreze in every gain fling. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein... -with 20 grams of protein for muscle health- -versus only 16 grams in ensure® high protein. and now enjoy boost® high protein in café mocha flavor. when you've got a business, you don't want to worry about slow internet or confusing cybersecurity. so get comcast business internet with fast, reliable speeds, and add the advanced security of comcast business securityedge. it combines the speed you need with threat protection. plus there's 24/7 support. it's internet and advanced security - made simple. so bounce forward - with comcast business. get started with a powerful internet and voice solution for just $64.90 a month. and ask how to add comcast business securityedge. call today. ♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it is 5:30 here on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kasie hunt. the senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of confirming president biden's pick for veterans affair secretary yesterday. denis mcdonough was confirmed in an 87-7 vote, making him the seventh biden cabinet nominee to be confirmed. mcdonough is only the second veterans affairs secretary to have never served in the armed forces, but he does have an extensive resume in policy, holding posts like president obama's chief of staff and deputy national security adviser and several other positions in the white house. and house democrats continue to grapple over the details of the next coronavirus relief bill, including stimulus checks. senior lawmakers have proposed sending $1,400 payments to single americans making up to $75,000 and couples earning $150,000 per year. the move rejects an earlier proposal to cap out at $50,000 and $100,000 respectively. centrist democrats like west virginia senator joe manchin have embraced the lower cutoff bracket, arguing that higher earning americans with jobs don't need the extra money. according to a summary of the proposal, the stimulus checks would be based on taxpayers' 2019 or 2020 income tax returns. i imagine for a lot of people, those two numbers are very, very different. and the congressional budget office predicts that raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, as president biden has proposed, would lift 900,000 americans out of poverty but cost 1.4 million jobs over the next four years. biden wants to increase the minimum wage from its current $7.25 an hour. however, many republicans and economists warn doing so could cost jobs as the country recovers from pandemic layoffs. according to the "wall street journal," the new study shows that while many americans would see raises, the increase to $15 would cause prices to rise, the federal budget deficit to widen and overall economic output to slightly decrease over the next decade. joining us now, the newly minted nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli, who is, of course, exactly where he should be, covering the biden administration. mike, let's talk big picture here about what the white house is looking at as we start this historic second impeachment trial of president trump. they are, of course, trying to keep the focus on this coronavirus relief bill. what are they doing behind the scenes? and what are aides telling you about just how quickly they want this to be over with? >> reporter: well, joe biden -- excuse me, i have joe manchin on the brain listening to the debate over the minimum wage and stimulus checks there -- he left the sent 12 years ago, joe biden did. and what's the old saying about the senate? it's the cooling saucer that sort of reins in the heated impulses of the house. and joe biden is, in some ways, has become his own one-man cooling saucer. you heard him yesterday for the mpteenth time trying to deflect questions about this senate impeachment trial. he wants to do everything he can to avoid being pulled into that political quagmire, for several reasons, but he especially wants to make sure he gives republicans who might be inclined to vote for conviction, but more importantly, republicans who might be inclined to support his legislative agenda the space to do so without being seen as, you know, affiliating themselves with joe biden in a way that could be problematic in the primary. so, we're seeing the white house press ahead this week with its own sort of counterprogramming, each day trying to put the president out there in different settings to continue to press the case for his rescue plan. today he'll be meeting with treasury secretary janet yellen to try to push that forward. but obviously, they recognize there's a little bit of momentum being stalled here by the fact that, you talked about dennis mcdonough's confirmations. you're not seeing the continued confirmations of his cabinet. they want to see a press urgency with regard to moving forward with this legislation, but they also think there's an audience out there that also, like them, has a little bit of trump fatigue, and they can continue to build public pressure from the outside in, meeting with mayors, meeting with governors and members of the business community to ramp up pressure and political pressure as well on republicans to try to understand why they wouldn't support the same stimulus checks, for instance, that president trump, himself, had proposed just a few months ago. so, that's a little bit of a window into what is a very difficult balancing act this week at the white house, kasie. >> yeah, it is. it's pretty remarkable, mike. it's a good point. on the one hand, you have the way political momentum has changed for republicans in the wake of january 6th and how that's shaping what they're going to decide to do or not about convicting donald trump, but there's also just the general feeling of, okay, donald trump is gone, let's keep moving on. i think democrats also want to wrap this up, hill democrats as well. so, i think it's a good point. let's talk for a second about the details of the package and where these fights are shaping up. how nervous is the white house that they're not going to be able to get all democrats on the same page in terms of where these stimulus checks should come in, based on income, and whether this minimum wage question in particular seems to be something that may be headed for a showdown in the senate? >> reporter: yeah, you have sort of a clash here of fiscal sense, political sense, common sense, as democrats grapple with this question of those $1,400 checks that the president promised very clearly over the course of that, especially georgia runoff campaign. you even at the beginning of this had questions from democrats -- why aren't you proposing an additional $2,000, let alone the $1,400 and the means testing that some democrats want? but welcome to the realities of a 50-50 senate, where you can't lose a single democratic vote, and you do have a democrat -- and some of the republicans who the white house still thinks might be poachable. remember, they aren't any more convinced that they could get 60 votes, but they wouldn't mind getting 52, 53 votes. so this question of means testing, common sense says, you know, millionaires don't need a $600, $1,400 stimulus check, but then you have democrats also raising the political point -- why would we put ourselves in the position of giving less relief three months later than what president trump, a republican president and a republican congress, senate, at least, had overwhelmingly approved? it's just sort of a difficult thing for them to wrap their heads around. now, the minimum wage, you know, i thought it was interesting to see jen psaki yesterday sort of hide behind the senate parliamentarian, maybe with the democratic insider debate. but if he doesn't push for this to be in this final package, joe biden's going to be under real pressure to follow through on this. the fight for 15 was a real mantra throughout the democratic party that he ascribed himself with very closely. the question is, if you can't get it now, when can you get it? that's bernie sanders' point, certainly. >> it's a valid one. it's hard to see how they would get it done if they don't force it through here. nbc's mike memoli, thank you, as always, for being up early with us, my friend, and congratulations. all right, still ahead here, new york state sets the stage for the return of live shows. plus, what's fueling calls to free britney spears? i don't know about you, but i wondered what this was. we're going to explain it next in "the cooler." 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"the new york times" recently released "framing britney spears," a feature-length documentary interviewing key players from throughout spears' life and examining how media handled one of the biggest popstars of all time. celebrities like sarah jessica parker, bette midler, andy cohen, even "the view" co-host meghan mccain all tweeted support of their star after watching the controversial documentary. last december, a court extended the conservatorship through next september with a plan to review jamie spears' asset handling this year. the next hearing is scheduled for this thursday. i have not watched this, but all my friends are talking about it, so, maybe i should put it on the list. all right, new york state is taking one step closer to bringing back broadway and live shows! governor andrew cuomo announced the launch of new york pops up, a 100-day rollout of 300 free concerts, recitals, comedy shows and more in venues across new york. broadway stars like idiana menzel will join amy schumer, kenan thompson, chris rock, and many more in performing for these free shows. new york pops up is part of the arts recovery initiative after the industry was completely shut down by the pandemic, which has been really, really tough for all the people in that industry. and almost a year -- after almost a year of staying home as much as possible, i don't know about you, but i and many people have had some face palm moments. actress jamie lee curtis took to instagram to laugh about her most recent work-from-home gaffe. curtis posted this photo to instagram with the caption, "so, i am definitely over this whole isolation thing. i picked up my earpod and put it in my ear and was trying to figure out why i couldn't hear." to be clear, that is a piece of popcorn. and in fairness, popcorn kind of looks like earpods, maybe? i don't know. but i'm right there. i think probably a lot of you are, too. anyway. coming up next here, another republican announces he will not seek re-election in 2022. we're going to talk to a democrat looking to fill one of those seats when pennsylvania lieutenant governor john fetterman joins us, straight ahead. don't go anywhere! 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should they raise the minimum wage to $15, even if there is some job loss as a result? >> yeah, absolutely. in fact, i put out a tweet yesterday, and i think it's up to 125,000 likes. i mean, it went nuts. it's just like, if you don't support raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, you should live and work for $7.25 an hour so you can demonstrate how you survive, let alone, feed a family on that. because it's just a mathematical impossiblity. so i don't know why we're pretending that leaving that alone at $7.25 is okay. i mean, it's great to give stimulus checks. people deserve them and they need them during this pandemic, but why not give people a lifeline, you know, out of that kind of below the poverty line deprivation and give them a baseline of a living wage of $15 an hour? that to me would be a hard flex. >> so, the biden administration also, out of the gate, pulled out of the keystone pipeline project, which, again, is energy-related, and obviously, a lot of folks in western pennsylvania rely on the energy industry for their jobs to feed their families. do you think that was a good call by the biden team? >> i mean, it's certainly -- i don't think it was one that joe biden went into and didn't put a lot of thought into it, and i'm sure he is -- i know he's concerned about any of the potential job losses. out west here, it's definitely a conversation that we've had with respects to the energy sector, and i've always maintained the position of republicans have to acknowledge the emergency that we have with climate and that we need to transition away from fossil fuels to green renewable energy, and democrats, my party, has to acknowledge that there are realities with respects to energy, whether that's how much of our nation's electricity comes from coal and natural gas and making sure that we safeguard those union jobs and make sure that those industries have a transition towards green energy where job loss is eliminated, or at least at a minimum, minimized. >> let's talk briefly about the vaccine rollout in pennsylvania also. there have been some struggles in the state, philadelphia in particular has really struggled. what do you think the wolf administration that you're a part of, the governor in pennsylvania, what mistakes have been made in the rollout? what needs to be fixed? >> well, i don't necessarily think any mistakes were made with the governor. i can't speak to philadelphia's situation. i know some local officials picked an operation that turned out not to be what it was, but with respects to the governor, i do know that we have had zero leadership from a federal level for months and months and months, up until only when joe biden took office. and when you have a pandemic that's now almost been a year long and you have two weeks of a president who says, hey, it's okay to wear a mask, hey, this virus, we need to take seriously, you know, republicans wouldn't even wear masks in the senate chambers in pennsylvania, and they claim that they weren't afraid of this virus. so, the vaccine rollout was a logistical challenge, and it's ramping up and it's getting going. i know a lot of people that have been successful in getting their vaccination, and i'm not -- i have not, nor would i until nor until any pennsylvanian can walk into rite aid and felt a shot. wawa, they have the best hoagies in the state of pennsylvania. i don't know how there is a conversation about wawa versus sheetz. >> it is a pennsylvania resident who has been unlucky enough never to have been to a sheetz. that's true. wawa is great when you are 50 miles or more from a sheetz. that's how i bring pennsylvanians together. sheetz of course is better. if you're 50 miles away from sheetz, wawa is an outstanding option. >> i'm willing to reverse that and i will go to a sheetz if there is no wawa. thank you for indulging in pennsylvania fun. thank you very much. we will be following your campaign. we asked why are you all awake? rachel is up "way too early" because her husband takes oath of allegiance at a citizenship ceremony today. congratulations. that's awesome. proud dad michael tweeted this photo as he feeds cody as big sister kennedy looks on. and becca, happy to be up "way too early" watching kasie for the first time in three weeks. covid knocked me down but i'm back and so thankful. now on to today's lesson plan, vaccinate teachers. we are glad you are okay and are behind that message as well. the call to convict donald trump by adam kinzinger. and congressman hakeem jeffries, what he expects from prosecutors today, and the push for the next coronavirus relief bill. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" just moments away. . 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(sam) 5g ultra wideband, now in parts of many cities. this is 5g built right. only from verizon. of course you've seen underwear that fits like this... but never for bladder leaks. new always discreet boutique black. i feel protected all day, in a fit so discreet, you'd never know they're for bladder leaks. always discreet boutique welcome back. congressman adam kinzinger, who was one of 10 house republicans who voted to impeach president trump last month is out with a new op-ed in the "washington post" titled my fellow republicans, convicting trump is necessary to save america. he writes this. if the gop doesn't take a stand, the chaos from the last four years could quickly return. the future of our party and our country depends on confronting what happened so it doesn't happen again. firmly believe the majority of americans republican democrat independent you name it reject the madness of the past four years. but we'll never move forward by ignoring what happened and holding accounting those responsible. that will embolden the few who led us here and dishearten the many who know america is better than this. it will make it more likely that we see more anger, violence and coys on. the better path is to learn the lessons of the recent past. convicting donald trump is necessary to save america from going further down a sad road. it seems we are on track for republicans to continue to treat the phenomenon that generate thad mob as something to be ignored. they are wishing that it would go away. that is how they have handled it. and kinzinger's point was that is the wrong way to do it. it seems this week we are on track to see that happen again. >> yeah. you know, right after the january 6th riots, there really was a feeling, a brief moment in time where we thought the dam was going to break with republicans. and you saw mitch mcconnell even flirting with impeachment. you saw kevin mccarthy calling for trump to be censured. and it really didn't take long, though, before republicans essentially started crawling back to donald trump. kevin mccarthy himself trekked down to mar-a-lago to make amends with the president. so, yes, for the most part, republicans do not want to defend his behavior. most have condemned him, blamed the president for his role in these deadly riots. but i think what we are going to see is most republicans are going to hide behind a process argument and say it is not constitutional to impeach someone who is no longer in office. and i think you saw 45 republicans, including mcconnell, say it is unconstitutional is pretty a pretty good indicator where this is all headed. >> so, melanie, let's talk about mccobble for a second. and i know you have written about this. i have spent a lot of time thinking about this. he did step out frankly the day the votes were certified, he made a speech before the mob reached the walls that was remarkable and said president trump bears some responsibility. it doesn't seem there are many republicans who are following him in a potential vote to convict. >> no. and i think he saw that. he doesn't usually move out of lock-step with him. since the condemnations we saw from mcconnell, he is taking a quieter, more cautious approach. he is telling members to vote their conscience. at the same time, he brought in a constitutional scholar to talk to his members during one of the closed door sessions. and so, you know, like i said, i don't expect him to be convicting the president but he is trying to be much more cautious. he's not trying to make any more sudden movements. that is in stark contrast who has hugged the president tightly or liz cheney who doubled down. i think that is a reflection how the senate and house are different beasts. you have the jerry manned erred conservative districts in the house. a lot in the house voted to overturn the election. i think mcconnell is trying to take a more cautious approach even though everyone on capitol hill knows where he will end up in the end. >> right. well, and he also, mcconnell has such an eye for history. and i think my big question about him has been where does he see his historical place in all of this? and is he ready to put that history question ahead of the politics of the moment? >> i mean, i think he has shown signs where he thinks the party should head in the post trump era even if he doesn't vote to convict. he has not talked to the ex-president since last december. he said we need to purge the far right extremists from the party, like marjorie taylor greene, and embrace more establishment republicans like liz cheney. while i don't think he is voting to convict, i think he is going to be weighing in about where he thinks the party should head in the post-trump era. >> thank you so much for being up early with us today. i'll say it again are you putting history first or politics first. thank you all for getting up "way too early" on this tuesday morning. don't go anywhere. "morning joe" starts right now. . >> will all senators stand or remain standing and raise their right hand. do you solemnly swear that