he's offering an apology. and the question is, what will an independent investigator find? it's "way too early" for this. good morning! and welcome to "way too early." i am kasie hunt on this monday, march 1st. we survived february, everyone. now, as you know, we start here with the news, and not false claims from a former president. so, let's begin with an important update on the fight to stamp out covid-19. an advisory panel for the centers for disease control voted yesterday to recommend the johnson & johnson coronavirus vaccine for widespread use. this is the final clearance for the only single-dose vaccine, paving the way for mass distribution after the fda authorized it for emergency use on saturday. local public health authorities will use fda and cdc guidance as they administer the first 4 million doses and the first shipment of shots is going to go out this morning. johnson & johnson expects to ship 100 million doses by mid-2021. that's enough to vaccinate nearly one-third of all americans. and dr. anthony fauci threw his support behind this new johnson & johnson vaccine on "meet the press" yesterday. watch. >> you now have three highly efficacious vaccines, for sure. there's foe doubt about that. and particularly, the recent results from j&j. all three of them are really quite good, and people should take the one that's most available to them. i think people need to get vaccinated as quickly and as expeditiously as possible. and if i would go to a place where they had j&j, i would have no hesitancy whatsoever to take it. >> it is really nice to start out this new month as we head into spring with a little bit of good news. let's turn now, though, to the former president. in his first major address since leaving office, former president trump took the stage last night at the annual conservative political action conference held this year in orlando, florida. in a speech that lasted well over an hour, trump tried to reaffirm his control of the republican party by tearing into gop lawmakers who backed the impeachment effort and repeating the lie that he won the election in 2020. >> instead of attacking me, and more importantly, the voters of our movement, top establishment republicans in washington should be spending their energy in opposing biden, pelosi, schumer, and the democrats. the democrats don't have grandstanders like mitt romney, little ben sasse richard burr, bill cassidy, susan collins, lisa murkowski, pat toomey -- [ booing ] the warmonger, a person who loves seeing our troops fighting, liz cheney. the good news is, in her state, she's been censured, and in her state, her poll numbers have dropped faster than any human being i've ever seen. so, hopefully, they'll get rid of her with the next election. get rid of them all. all across our country, i stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we begin together, we went through a journey like nobody else has. there's never been a journey like it. there's never been a journey so successful. we began it together four years ago, and it is far from being over. [ cheers and applause ] actually, as you know, they just lost the white house, but it's one of those -- but who knows. who knows. i may even decide to beat them for a third time, okay? >> as you know, that right there, a version of that big lie where he manages to slip in this idea that he claims he won, when, in fact, he lost. there was more of that, too, but we're not showing it to you. unsurprisingly, a majority of cpac attendees say they would support donald trump in a hypothetical 2024 presidential primary, that according to the annual, and of course, very unscientific straw poll that's taken at this event every year. 68% of attendees said they'd like to see trump run again in 2024, compared to 15% who said he shouldn't run again. when stacked up against a list of 20 other republicans, trump's support was 55%. florida governor ron desantis was in a distant second place with 21%. south dakota governor kristi noem had 4%. former u.n. ambassador nikki haley had 3%. and former secretary of state mike pompeo and senator ted cruz each had 2%. what you don't see on that graphic is the near 1% for mike pence. joining us now, author of "the washington post's" early-morning newsletter "power up," jacqueline alemany. jackie, good morning. thank you so much for getting up with us this morning. so, a couple things about cpac here. obviously, the president, former president, trying to insist that he's going to remain in control of the republican party, saying he's not going to found a third party, also not actually declaring that he was going to run for president in 2024, which i actually thought was pretty interesting, especially because, you know, we know he filed papers the very first day that he could to run for re-election back once he took office in 2016. what is your take on, obviously, yes, the strength we saw that donald trump had with that crowd, but also some significant questions about his future and a chunk of the audience that wasn't excited. about 32% of that audience said in the poll they weren't necessarily sure they wanted donald trump to run again. i actually thought that was surprisingly high. >> you're completely right, especially at an event like cpac, which is tailor-made for trump, from the entire lineup to the people who are there present to the gold mold of the former president that was, you know, spotted in the hallways of this conservative conference that was held in orlando this past weekend. but i think it's really interesting the way he teased his run and what it is, is essentially freezing the field. i think this is a president who is more eager than anything to regain his political influence and maintain it, regardless of, you know, whether or not he's decided on running in 2024 again. he wants to be the ring bearer. he wants to saddle up again as the leader of the republican party. that's exactly what we saw this weekend. and he wants to do so by continuing to spread falsehoods and denunciations of president joe biden. i think a large portion of this is also part of the president's comeback from january 6th. and you know, it's happening pretty quickly, less than two months after provoking an insurrection at capitol hill. you've seen republicans who forcibly denounced him now kissing the ring again and hugging this president as, again, the leader of the party, when i think there was this window of opportunity to expunge him as the leader. but you know, this president is set on maintaining his position. >> yeah, i mean, they, essentially, declined to do that. even lindsey graham was advising, hey, don't go there, don't say the election was stolen. and like we've said a couple times this morning, we're not going to disseminate that big lie, but donald trump engaged in it yet again at cpac, despite the fact that there, of course, were police officers injured, killed in that riot that was sparked by his supporters after a speech that he gave here in washington. jackie, you mentioned joe biden. and the other thing that i thought was so interesting about some of the coverage coming out of cpac and -- i didn't go this year, but i have been to many, many of those conventions in the past. and there were some reporting from dave weigel and others who noticed that joe biden is simply not -- current president biden is simply not the same kind of demonized figure that animated a lot of these people in the past when they were trying to get president obama out of office, when hillary clinton was running. those two candidates really sparked a lot of opposition. and you know, in many cases, that's what ultimately wins elections. and here, president biden just isn't that kind of figure that inspires a fear and anger in the way some other democrats have. what do you think that means for conservatives? >> yeah. policy, there was a noticeable lack of policy discussion or repudiation of the current policy that the new administration is implementing right now. and i really think that speaks to, actually, you know, the popularity of the covid relief bill at hand. it's something that republicans have been grappling with. it was a topic that we heard, you know, nearly nothing about this weekend, even though there is zero republican support for this bill that just passed the house and is going to be coming to the senate this week. you know, you saw republicans harp on the topics of cancel culture. you saw people like senator josh hawley who electrified the room by, again, repeating these falsehoods of the big lie, of a rigged election, claiming, you know, taking the mantle as the person who came to object to the electoral -- to certifying the electoral results. that's what this audience ate up. it wasn't, you know, condemnations of joe biden that were appealing in any way to them. >> all right. the "washington post's" jacqueline alemany, thank you. and if you want to hear some more about that reporting from weigel, he is going to join us coming up on "morning joe," so we have some more of that ahead. still ahead here on "way too early," the house passes president biden's $1.9 trillion covid relief package, but what is going to happen next when it heads to the senate. plus, new information about the investigation into the death of a capitol police officer stemming from the january 6th riot at the capitol. the fbi is now targeting a single assailant. we'll have those stories and more. we'll have those stories and more if you need the key to fresh laundry try gain flings. they have more freshness ingredients compared to bargain liquid detergent. they have 3 super powered ingredients that fight stink oxi boost febreze odor remover and concentrated detergent. try gain flings and smell the difference. 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. want to brain better? ask your doctor a 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. so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. welcome back. time now for sports and the final round of golf's wgc workday championship in bradenton, florida, where 24-year-old collin morikawa held his lead entering the day to become just the second player under the age of 25 to win both a major and a world golf championship. the first was, you guessed it, tiger woods. and in another nod to woods yesterday, quite a few pga stars showed their support for the golfer, who remains hospitalized as he recovers from last week's car crash, by dressing in tiger's iconic sunday red. woods responded in a tweet, saying, quote, it's hard to explain how touching today was when i turned on the tv and saw all the red shirts. to every golfer and every fan, you are truly helping me get through this tough time. very, very nice. and we wish tiger a speedy recovery. all right, major league baseball teams took to the diamond for the first games of spring training yesterday. i have never needed baseball so badly. in sarasota, florida, orioles first baseman trey mancini received a standing ovation from both dugouts and the 25% capacity crowd in his return to the lineup, almost exactly one year since being diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. he underwent surgery last march and then completed six months of chemotherapy in september, returned to baseball activity in october and remains cancer-free. mancini followed up the curtain call with a single hit to center field. when speaking after the game, mancini called it one of his favorite moments of his baseball career, saying, "i almost teared up. it meant the world to me." the orioles open their grapefruit league schedule with a 6-4 loss to the pirates. the final line a little more in keeping with what it's like to be an orioles fan. fingers crossed we get better from here. time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. hey, bill. >> hey, good morning, kasie. it was a classic move by the um pyre, too. you clean the plate for an extra 30 seconds to keep the ovation coming. so great moment. march is coming in like a lion. it will be an interesting weather day in the northeast and ohio valley. we had this horrendous rain event over the weekend. we still have about 15 million people under flood watches and flood warnings. a lot of areas of kentucky and west virginia have a lot of high rivers right now. and everywhere you see the maroon is river flood warnings, see the areas near memphis, too. as far as what's going to happen today, the strong cold front is finally going to push the rain out of the ohio valley, the tennessee valley, and out of the northeast, but with it will come some really strong winds and a blast of cold air. about 53 million people are impacted in the northeast, in areas of new england. so, the high winds come in later tonight and then tomorrow morning, it's going to be cold. i mean, it's going to be a blast of cold air. windchills are going to be in the negative numbers from albany to boston, maine, vermont, new hampshire, much of upstate new york, even d.c. to philadelphia, windchills will be in the teens. so kind of a little shock to the system after all the rainy, mild weather. and even during the day tomorrow, temperatures will struggle into the 20s and 30s. so, the only good news out of this is that it's a one-day blast of cold air, kasie. but yeah, pretty interesting. you go from like 50s and rainy, and later on tonight, people in the northeast will have trouble sleeping because it will be so windy and loud. >> not my favorite. all right. bill karins, thank you. i hope that, fingers crossed, we'll have a much more cheerful conversation coming up tomorrow, but i will see you then. still ahead here, new york governor andrew cuomo's new remarks following a second sexual harassment allegation by a former aide. and what the white house is saying about an investigation. we'll be back in just a moment. . 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email us your reasons to waytooearly@msnbc.com or drop me a tweet @kasie. use #waytooearly, and we will read our favorite answers coming up later on in the show. favorig up later on in the show. ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so dad bought puffs plus lotion, and rescued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion puffs bring soothing softness and relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. wealth is breaking ground on your biggest project yet. worth is giving the people who build it a solid foundation. wealth is shutting down the office for mike's retirement party. worth is giving the employee who spent half his life with you, the party of a lifetime. wealth is watching your business grow. worth is watching your employees grow with it. principal. for all it's worth. this is an athlete, twenty reps deep, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. gillette proglide. five blades and a pivoting flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. so you're ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. for a limited time get a 5th cartridge free. ♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 here on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm kasie hunt. the house voted to pass president joe biden's $1.9 trillion covid-19 relief package over the weekend. the saturday morning vote was split largely along partisan lines at 219-212, and the bill includes money for coronavirus vaccinations and testing, $1,400 direct payments, and a $400-a-week federal unemployment bonus. the bill now heads to the senate, where a provision to raise the minimum wage is likely to be removed from the package. biden thanked the house in a brief address and urged the senate to move quickly to finalize passage of the bill. >> we have no time to waste. if we act now, decisively, quickly, and boldly, we can finally get ahead of this virus, we can finally get our economy moving again, and the people of this country have suffered far too much for too long. we need to relieve that suffering. >> and senate democrats are abandoning plans to try and figure out a plan "b" after their minimum wage policy was struck from this complex budget process. they first had raised this idea after the parliamentarian ruled that the wage hike up to $15 was invalid under these rules. the backup plan, which was floated thursday night by senators ron wyden and bernie sanders, was aimed at trying to use tax incentives to punish companies that didn't pay their workers a certain wage. and referring to the march 14th deadline, which is when federal benefits expire, one source told nbc news, quote, we worked through the weekend, and it became clear that finalizing plan "b" with the caucus would delay passage and risk going over the jobless benefits cliff. basically, it would take too long to get all democrats on board with it to get this bill passed and finalized before millions are set to lose their benefits on march 14th. and of course, just weeks after leaving office, former president trump was back in the spotlight last night attacking joe biden's fledgling presidency in an appearance at cpac. he treated the speech like a maga rally and trump made it clear he doesn't want to go anywhere. >> we all knew that the biden administration was going to be bad, but none of us even imagined just how bad they would be and how far left they would go. joe biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history. that's true. in just one short month, we have gone from america first to america last. you think about it, right? america last. for the next four years, the brave republicans in this room will be at the heart of the effort to oppose the radical democrats, the fake news media, and their toxic cancel culture. i want you to know that i am going to continue to fight right by your side. we will do what we've done right from the beginning, which is to win. you know, they kept saying, he's going to start a brand-new party. we have the republican party. it's going to unite and be stronger than ever before. i am not starting a new party. that was fake news. >> all right. joining us now, "the new york times" national political reporter lisa lair. lisa, so happy to have you here on "way too early." let's talk a little bit about cpac here, because it really seemed to me, watching and listening to the way that the cheers went up and down, that there's a lot more energy in that room and among trump supporters for taking down other republicans who have opposed donald trump than there maybe even is, perhaps, about worrying about joe biden. that does not seem like a recipe for recovering from losing the white house, the house, the senate, over the last several years. >> oh, i think that's exactly right, kasie. there was really no consistent message coming out of cpac that was against the new administration. there was very little talk about the new stimulus bill, about opposing other measures. it was largely focused on internal divides and really cultural issues like so-called cancer culture, relitigating the 2020 election, and this is, of course, a reflection of the man who is the dominant energy in that party, which is former president trump. those are the issues that he cares about and the party is following along in the path that he set, even though he's no longer in office. >> so, lisa, i mean, what is your sense of whether republicans do have a path back to being a majority governing party as long as trump is on the scene? i mean, part of this was extending the teas, right? he wouldn't say for sure he was going to get into the 2024 presidential primary for republicans, but that also has the effect of holding everyone else in place and not letting them move past him. >> right. i mean, i think even if president trump doesn't run again, there is little question that trumpism has won, right? the folks who spoke, like governor ron desantis, people who are seen as rising stars in the party, largely echoed what trump has been saying, the platform he's laid out and run on, as much as there is a policy platform. the republican party of the future is not -- the thought that the republican party would revert to the party of president george bush is not going to happen. that's not where the grassroots is. that's not where the party is. it is going to become something new. the question is whether donald trump can lead that party into becoming something new that can win, as you point out, a governing coalition with trump at the top of the ticket, given how polarizing he is. it is hard to see how that could happen. it would be really difficult. but if someone else could come in and maybe carry on the banner of trumpism, a trumpism light, i suppose it could happen. it's just hard to see, at least for now, the former president really relinquishing his hold on the party. >> yeah, and even in the instances where people have tried to step in and shoulder some of that mantle, you've seen some people like kristi noem have a little bit of success with it, but it's been a lot harder for some others who, of course, tried it in 2016 against trump in some ways. it sure did not work then. "the new york times" lisa lerer, thank you so much. appreciate you getting up early to be with us this morning. still ahead here, something totally different involving a high-def view from out of this world. "way too early" back in a moment. is world. "way too early" back in a moment this is an athlete, twenty reps deep, sprinting past every leak in our softest, smoothest fabric. she's confident, protected, her strength respected. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. depend. why are we doing this? why are we doing what? using my old spice moisturize with shea butter body wash... all i wanted was to use your body wash and all i wanted was to have a body wash. i'm morgan, and there's more to me than hiv. more love,... more adventure,... more community. but with my hiv treatment,... there's not more medicines in my pill. i talked to my doctor... and switched to... fewer medicines with dovato. prescription dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment or replacing their current hiv-1 regimen. with... just 2 medicines... in 1 pill,... dovato is as effective as a 3-drug regimen... to help you reach and stay undetectable. research shows people who take hiv treatment as prescribed... and get to and stay undetectable... can no longer transmit hiv through sex. don't take dovato if you're allergic to any of its ingredients... or if you take dofetilide. hepatitis b can become harder to treat while taking dovato. do not stop dovato without talking to your doctor,... as your hepatitis b may worsen or become life-threatening. serious or life-threatening side effects can occur, including... allergic reactions, lactic acid buildup, and liver problems. if you have a rash and other symptoms of an allergic reaction,... stop taking dovato and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis b or c,... or if you are, may be, or plan to be pregnant. your doctor may prescribe a different medicine... than dovato if you plan to be pregnant or if pregnancy is confirmed during the first trimester. dovato may harm your unborn baby. use effective birth control... while taking dovato. most common side effects are headache, nausea,... diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. so much goes... into who i am. hiv medicine is one part of it. ask your doctor about dovato—i did. at "golden globes," we give out awards for movies and tv, but i mean, it's hard to tell them apart this year because movie theaters were closed and we watched everything on our phones. >> so, you may be confused which nominees count as movies and which are considered tv. >> now, tv is the one that i watch five hours straight, but a movie is the one that i don't turn on because it's two hours. i don't want to be in front of my tv for two hours. i want to be in front of the tv for one hour five times. >> that is totally me! time now for something totally different. it was a golden globes like no other, surrounded by controversy, filled with celebrities zooming in and broadcasted from two coasts. globes veterans tina fey and amy poehler worked together from new york and l.a. to host the pandemic-safe award show using some tv manningic to make it seem like they were together. awesome. their opening included some lighthearted jokes as well as seriously calling out the hollywood foreign press association for its lack of diversity. it follows an article in the "los angeles times" revealing there are no black members in the association. ranking members from the hfpa took the stage to address the controversy and pledged to do better and diversify their membership. kicking off the awards, daniel koluuya for best supporting actor for "judas in "black messiah." he was joined by andra day for best actress in a motion picture drama, the first black woman to win in that category in 35 years. chadwick boseman won posthumously for "black bottom." his wife, simone bozeman, tearfully accepted the award on his behalf. borat's subsequent movie film took home best picture for musical or comedy and "nomadland" won best drama. jason sudeikis casually dressed in a tie dye hoodie accepted the award for best actor for his role as ted lasso. i absolutely loved ted lasso. if you have not watched ted lasso yet, you must! catherine o'hara took home the golden globe for best actress with her show also winning best television series for comedy. favorite season, awards. and lastly, netflix won big as critically acclaimed series "the crown" and "the queen's gambit" took home the top prizes. really, really great stuff out there right now. i, you know, it's a pandemic. we're taking more time to enjoy that. you guys should, too. all right, now to this. nasa astronauts kate rubins and victor glover conducted a seven-hour space walk outside the international space station on sunday, for the first time in high definition, the walk was live-streamed from a camera attached to rubins' helmet, providing us the closest look yet at the outside of the station from an astronaut's perspective. the two worked to install support structures for upcoming solar panel upgrades expected to arrive at the space station later on this year. very cool. all right, still ahead here, we're going to talk to former republican congressman carlos curbelo about what donald trump's return to the stage spells for the future of the gop. don't go anywhere. gop. dot n'go anywhere. 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number two, political organizations and campaigns are about winning. over the last four years, we lost the house of representatives, the senate, and the presidency. that has not happened in a single four years under a president since herbert hoover. now, if we plan to win in 2022 and 2024, we have to listen to the voters. we had economic policies that were working. so, if that's the case, and we can speak to those policies, to those families, then we'll win. but if we idolize one person, we will lose. and that's kind of clear from the last election. >> as mitch mcconnell likes to say, winners make policy and losers go home. that was republican senator bill cassidy of louisiana, who voted to convict former president trump for incitement of insurrection, warning yesterday about the impact of his party's continued embrace of the former president. he also said he doesn't believe donald trump will be the republican presidential nominee in 2024. joining us now, former republican congressman carlos curbelo of florida. he is an nbc news and msnbc political contributor. first of all, congressman, happy birthday. we did not realize we were asking you to get up so early on your birthday, so, thank you very much for kicking it off here with us. let's talk a little bit about what you saw at cpac, what the president did, didn't do. there seemed to be a chunk of the crowd that actually didn't want to see him run again in 2024. i was, yes, 68% said, of course, but i was surprised that that second number was so high. >> well, kasie, good morning. and thank you. thanks to you, i get to have a really long birthday. woke up early to do this interview, and i appreciate the opportunity. >> exactly. >> but you know, i agree that in many ways, the trump appearance yesterday, after a month of, over a month of silence, there was so much anticipation for it, and it kind of fell flat. he seemed old and tired, and his message was certainly old and tired. and yes, he had his fans in the room, but when we think back at the old trump rallies, the ones that we had become accustomed to, this really was kind of a letdown. and while donald trump continues being the driving force in the republican party, the biggest figure, certainly, there is a sense that he is on the decline, that people are kind of moving on, and that's dangerous for him, because he's someone that in order to be effective has to be the center of attention all the time. everything has to be focused on him. so, i think donald trump is really going to struggle to regain his footing here in the next few months. however, he is still the most relevant person, by far, in the republican party. >> well, and to pick up that very point that you make. i mean, i was looking at the straw poll results, and the challenge, of course, is that you can't beat somebody with nothing, and that will hold true in a republican primary as much as it will in a general election. and all of the other -- ron desantis was way up there. we should remind people, this was actually held in florida, so he probably is more familiar to a lot of those people down there than he may be to the rest of the country. you also saw a kristi noem pop-up. she has been someone who has, i think, been successful in channeling some of whatever, you know, all of the things that president trump brought to the table. but i'm also interested in your take on mike pence, very bottom of the list, 1% after four years of being incredibly loyal to the president. now, apparently, being punished for doing the right thing at the very end. >> that's right, kasie. and it's also a reminder that the republican party is still, in some ways, a big fan club for donald trump. and mike pence is someone who donald trump tasked as someone who was disloyal to him, who did not do the things that donald trump asked him to do. and of course, donald trump is someone who demands absolute loyalty. if you cross him one time or if you disagree with him one time, you're on the outs. and certainly, his supporters follow people. and that's why so many republicans are still fearful. people say, well, why do republicans -- why don't they speak out? why do they keep following donald trump? well, look at what happened to mike pence. this man was super loyal. there every day for the president during four years. and before that, in the campaign. and then he refuses to participate in this scheme to steal an election, essentially. and now, he's on the outs. he's no longer a member of the club. so, again, we have this dichotomy right now where donald trump's popularity, his relevance seems to be on the decline, but still, he owns the republican party, and that's why vice president pence isn't doing as well as he used to do with some of these trump republican voters. >> yeah, it's important to underscore that it used to be that cpac would be exactly the right crowd for mike pence. i mean, i've been covering him since he was thinking about running for president, you know, 10, 11 years ago, and these were always his people. and to think that the president, former president, was back on stage talking about what happened after pence, himself, stood up, did the right thing, said, no, i'm not going to support not certifying this election, only to have insurrectionists come into the building and chant, hang mike pence. former congressman carlos carbelo, thank you for joining us. enjoy the rest of your long birthday. we asked all of you, eye are you awake. catherine is getting in a run before the rain starts in atlanta. just beat it. get out there. mike said i was up to get your report on the os. i, too, am a life long oriole fan and it's great to have one on msnbc. jeff said i'm up for my job grandpa duty. retirement never felt so good. hi there. adorable. very sweet. melissa said i've waited a long time for being up "way too early", after having covid, losing my job of 12 years last may, diaw to covid, i am finally headed to a full-time job today. >> we'll look at the "axios" 1 big thing. and we'll hear from adam kinzinger who said he's surprised it took donald trump this long to call him out. and coronavirus vaccine eligibility in new jersey. don't go anywhere. 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enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis... stelara® can provide relief and is the only approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc! stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection... flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting remission can start with stelara®. if you've been financially impacted by covid-19, janssen may be able to help. joining us now with a look at "axios" a.m., political reporter for "axios", hands nichols. great to see you. what's the 1 big thing tphorpbg? >> the white house's definition of bipartisanship. a key member of congress went over to the white house to try to manage their outside-inside operations. he's been talking to a lot of members on the hill. he talked to our colleague michael lessen. listen to his definition of bipartisan ship. >> there could be public pressure, the public could mandate, as you put it, the senate democrats, write the rule that exists now and go ahead and pass your skwraepbld with a simple majority. >> no, no. i think the public prefers republicans and democrats come together. if 90% believes the right thing to do, why would 50 people. >> they will pick the biden agenda. >> on the american rescue plan, if our choice is to wait with an in sufficient package, we're not going to do that. >> kasie, that means they're ready to pass that bill with 50 plus 1. 50 senators plus kamala harris. they telegraphed that pretty clearly. here they actually articulated and give a little bit of reasoning behind. republicans, at least in washington, just aren't budging. they're moving in the rest of the country. when you talk to white house officials it's so clear they think there is going to be a political price for republicans to play given the popularity and the polling of this package. when it comes down to vote time, go time, it is clear schumer thinks he has the votes and this package is going to get passed pretty quickly. casey. >> it seems like a pretty careful balancing act. let's talk about schumer for a second. i know you guys have some more reporting on that as well that, you know, he frankly caught a break when they said the parliamentarian said you can't include minimum wage in this bill because no one wants to talk about there were democrats who didn't want to do that blanket raising of the minimum wage. he has been calling everyone, talking to everyone. people's phones ring with schumer on the other end of the line all the time. he knows where his caucus is. it does seem like they feel like absent this minimum wage change they can get this bill through. what are the possible hurdles, challenges over the next couple weeks? >> we don't know, but we know that schumer could crop up, manchin could say i want this for my state. or someone could say, this is crucial in our city. thursday schumer had 10 moderates. they all walked in, demands, fiddling with unemployment insurance, maybe a little bit smaller price tag. but at the end of the day schumer, and he told me he listened to them. they're going to work it out. at the end of the day, they think they have the votes. we get back to what the senator was saying. speed is of the essence. we have the deadline the middle of the month when unemployment checks run out, unemployment programs are going to run dry. that's the deadline. they want to move quickly. and then move to other things. if schumer has the votes, you know this from your time on the hill. if you have the votes, vote. and i suspect we will see that pretty quickly. >> that's very, very true. hans, you are looking at what's going on with andrew cuomo who faced a second allegation of sexual harassment over the weekend. this presents challenges for democrats. what's your reporting on this? . >> well, look, democrats are going to be facing an enormous amount of pressure to held cuomo to the same standard as they held kavanaugh to. senator harris called for impeachment hearings on kavanaugh. this is going to be a crucial discussion across the country for the next few days for however long we can foresee. when you saw a lot of the statements come out, they were statements from members of congress, senators. that's a different dynamic when congress comes back in and reporters are trying to press them exactly on what they think andrew cuomo should do, what the right course of action is. and i suspect we will hear more from andrew cuomo as well. back to your stomping grounds on the hill, it is a different environment when senators have to be asked and be held to account why they were this way on kavanaugh, why they might be another way on cuomo. i don't know how this one ends. >> well, hans, there were some calls over the weekend for an independent investigation. cuomo had to be pressured into that, into the referral to the ag's office. he also has a reputation as a political bully. often that can come back to haunt you. maybe while you had power people were willing to do what you wanted. but i'm not sure that is going to be the case here even while we are putting tough questions to democrats about what to do. >> it's a fair point. one final note on cuomo is he's in cycle. he is likely to face a challenge. he will face a challenge from the left the last two times. this is how we see how good a politician he is and what his skills are. >> hans nichols, thank you very much for being up with us this morning. we really appreciate it. this is going to be a conversation that we're going to be having over the course of the next week. and the reality is that