Good Morning And Welcome to Way Too Early, the show thats offering All Of You a friendly reminder that sunday is Mothers Day. I am Kasie Hunt on this friday, may 7th. Well start with the news. In the united states, covid19 infections are now at their lowest levels in seven months, a sign that vaccines are working and saving lives. Deaths and serious illnesses related to the Coronavirus Have dropped significantly, as well. The u. S. Averaged about 48,000 new cases per day over the past week. That is a 13 improvement over the week before, and its The First Time since october that average daily cases have dipped below 50,000, according to axios. Over half of all american adults have now received at least one shot of a vaccine and 41 of adults are fully vaccinated. Also some more good news on this front. Two new studies show the Pfizer Biontech Vaccine is highly effective against virus variants. Researchers used realworld data from vaccinated people in qatar and israel, with both studies together, using over 400,000 people. During time of the studies, the Uk Variant and the South Africa Variant were circulating heavily in those areas, and both studies suggest the vaccine is effective against both extraneous and highly effective at preventing serious illness from the virus. The studies also showed that a second dose of a vaccine provides even higher protection. And moderna released new Data Yesterday showing its Coronavirus Vaccine is 96 effective in kids aged 12 to 17. This latest Vaccine Trial for teens involved more than 3,200 participants, just 12 cases of coronavirus were recorded during the two weeks after the teens got their first dose. Moderna says its not identified any serious safety concerns to date. And with cases down and vaccinations up, as weve just outlined, former Fda Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says its time to start easing back indoor mask requirements. When do you think the cdc can have a meaningful conversation about lifting the Mask Mandates indoors. I think we should do it right about now. I think we should start lifting these restrictions as aggressively as we put them in. I think over the course of this month, were going to see the picture improve sharply enough that by The End of the month, well be lifting these Mask Mandates. Certainly outdoors, but i think youll see the municipalities lift the Mask Mandates for indoors, as well. The cdcs most recent guidelines still recommend wearing masks during all indoor gatherings, even if you are vaccinated. President biden pitched his 2. 3 trillion Infrastructure Plan in Louisiana Yesterday with a battered bridge as his backdrop. Biden put pressure on republicans to support the deal and extended his willingness to compromise. When it comes to bridges and roads and the like, ive never seen a republican or a democrat road. I just see roads. Last four years, how many times have you said, this is going to be infrastructure week. Well, i got so tired of Hearing Infrastructure week. Nothing happened. Im willing to hear ideas from both sides. Im meeting with my republican friends and ready to compromise. What im not ready to do, im not ready to do nothing. Im not ready to have another period where america has another Infrastructure Month and doesnt change a damned thing. Senate Minority Leader Mitch Mcconnell, meanwhile, tried yesterday to clarify his remarks after he seemed to tip his hand in the infrastructure debate, as he sidestepped a question about Congresswoman Liz cheneys future. What im focusing on is this new administration. Im looking forward, not backward, and unifying my troops and the senate around reacting to where we are today and going forward. Im anxious to stop the biden agenda, depending on what it is. Joining us now, senior white House Reporter for Nbc News digital, shannon petpettypeace. I want to focus in on that last bit of what he said there. It sounded like he was trying to clean up the comments he made a little bit earlier this week, where he seemed to suggest that he was blanket 100 trying to stop everything that biden was doing, which made us think, hes going to run the same strategy that he ran against obama in 2009. But he clearly tries to have some imperative to change his comments a little bit. I took away from it, a sense that he thinks it may be damaging for them to seem like theyre trying to obstruct all of this, an acknowledgement that these policies are pretty popular right now. Right. And not wanting to be accused of republicans just being there to obstruct for the sake of obstructing, which is something that the republicans accused democrats of doing for four years. These policies, as you mentioned, certainly are very popular. You know, on the whole. The White House, though, is also very aware, and you mentioned that sort of echo of where we were they were in 2009 with mcconnell and the obama administration. They are very aware of not getting dragged down a path of seemingly endless, monthslong negotiations where mcconnell looks like he wants to negotiate, but never really actually comes to the table in some meaningful way. That was the White Houses experience many of the people in the biden white Houses Administration during the obama years. They are very well ware of not repeating that. So far people in the White House say, this is classic mcconnell. They have seen this before. They have seen him say, he is not able to work together. I dont think there would be much of a change of strong going on behind the scenes at the White House. Theyre really sort of plowing ahead with trying to do some bipartisan talks, but putting a bit of a limit on how long theyre going to go with those. They still really want to see some meaningful process by memorial day. Shannon, at this point, how likely do you think it is that we may see two separate packages here, one that includes billions, potentially, in money for bridges and hard infrastructure, and a second package that includes a lot of these democratic priorities. The White House has said that theyre open to breaking this up. To putting in whatever way they can essentially get through. And ive talked to people on the Senate Side involved in talks and im sure you have, as well. If they wanted to pass a 600 Billion roads and bridges package, they could probably do that today. It sounds like theres support in the senate to get that through today. Could they get it through the house . Probably. But if they want to do something on the basic Bare Bones infrastructure level, there is support to do that. That is certainly an option. The White House will see how far they can get to their priorities. They want to see counterproposals by midmay. There are bipartisan counterproposals being discussed behind the scenes in the senate right now. Were going to get a sense of what those will look like in the next two weeks. Biden has made clear, his only Red Line is not doing anything. If that means making compromises on the tax rate, making compromises on the sides, hes certainly open to that. And theres a sense that they would like to hang on to this rather than get bogged down again like i said in months of negotiations that dont go anywhere, because theyre trying to do too much at once. Reporter yeah, and the sources that ive talked to expressed that exactly, the politics of this, people are telling us that they need to get something done. They dont necessarily mind if we compromise or work with republicans, they just want an outcome. And that is coloring everything heading into midterm elections with control of the White House on the line. Shannon petty piece, thanks very much. And one General Manager is weighing whether to cut players who havent been vaccinated against coronavirus. And Ron Desantis signs new Voting Rights into law, and media werent allowed to cover the event except for Fox News. Well have those stories and a check on your weather when we come back right back. Her when w come back right back at jackson hewitt, we offer safe and easy ways to file with a skilled Tax Pro. Securely drop off your documents, have them picked up, or upload them, and work with a Tax Pro online from home. Safe and easy ways to file that work around you. Experience capability, crafted by lexus. The Remarkable Gx and lx. Lease the 2021 Gx 460 for 529 a month for 36 months. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. Antibacterial or moisturizing Body Wash . Definitely moisturizer antibacterial can i have both . New Dove Care protect Body Wash eliminates 99 of bacteria and moisturizes for hours two for one can i keep it . New Dove Care protect, zero Compromise Tide pods Ultra Oxi one ups the Cleaning Power of liquid. Can it one up whatever theyre doing . For sure. Seriously . One up the power of liquid, one up the toughest stains. Any further questions . Uh uh one up the power of liquid with Tide Pods Ultra Oxi. The International Olympic Committee says pfizer and its german partner, biontech, will donate Coronavirus Vaccine doses for athletes and officials preparing for the tokyo games. Initial doses are expected to be delivered this month in order to give participating olympic delegations time to be fully vaccinated with a second shot ahead of arrivals for the Opening Ceremony on july 23rd. Meanwhile, spain has joined a host of other nations in announcing yesterday that all of its athletes competing in tokyo will be vaccinated. Olympic officials remain determined to begin the games as scheduled, despite Reports Japan is considering extending a virusspurred State Of Emergency in tokyo and other major urban areas as they battle a surge in cases. Now this question. Could the decision not to be vaccinated cost you your job . That could be the case for nfl players in buffalo, where bills general Manager Brandon Bean said yesterday he would consider cutting nonvaccinated players if it meant giving him his team a leg up. The bills are among teams planning to host spectators at full capacity this season, but only if fans are fully vaccinated. All right. Lets turn now to major League Baseball and the potential end to hall of Fame Career of albert pujols. The angels have released pujols, Designating The Slumping Star for assignment just two months into the last year of a Tenyear Contract with the team. It comes as pujols has reportedly been dissatisfied with irregular playing time. L. A. Manager Joe Madden says the 41yearold tentime allstar is determined to play first base regularly for another team after he clears waivers. Pujols was a threetime national League Mvp with the st. Louis cardinals. He ranks fifth on the alltime Home Runs List And 13th in career hits. All right. Some highlights now. The show continues in anaheim for Angels Twoway Star who launched his tenth Home Run of the season. But the two runs provided by otani, not enough to outlast an offensive explosion by the rays in the eighth, as tampa scored seven runs in the frame to complete a fourgame sweep, 83. And the boos continued in the Bronx Yesterday for the finale of the astros first series at Yankee Stadium since that highly publicized Cheating Scandal in 2017 that some say robbed New York of a World Series title. But houstons Jose Altuve did not let it spoil his 31st birthday, Quieting The Jeering crowd with a Goahead Threerun Homer in the eighth. The Astros Go On to win it, 74. And finally, a Blast From The Past on the links at Quail Hallow in charlotte, north carolina, where after nine month after a finish in the top 20, Golfer Phil Mickelson is poised to make the cut at the Wells Fargo championship as the 50yearold enters todays second round with a twoshot lead, following his opening round, 7 under 64 yesterday. We watched the lefty on the course this weekend. Time now for the weather. Lets go now to Meteorologist Bill karins for a check on the weekend forecast. Hows Mothers Day looking . Iffy in some spots. Lets pinpoint it. Its still cool in the northeast, a little bit of Light Rain coming through d. C. And areas like pittsburgh. Temperatures are in the 40s. Its kind of similar to Yesterday Morning. Wherever you were Yesterday Morning will work again today and even this afternoon. Still only the 50s from minneapolis, chicago, detroit. In the 60s in New York, philly, baltimore, and washington, d. C. But you can see some of that rain there in the nations capital. Lets get to the Mothers Day forecast and into the weekend. Still a little cool and damp. Especially areas, philadelphia, buffalo to syracuse. And then that next Storm System Diving down out of the rockies, thats the storm that will be trouble for Mothers Day. The best Chance Of Rain on Mothers Day, st. Louis early in the day, indianapolis, it looks like during the afternoon. Areas from columbus to cincinnati to pittsburgh has a good chance of getting rain, too. Heres the timing of it. 7 00 a. M. , light Rain Chicago southwards. And as we go throughout the Brunch Hour into the early afternoon, that rain will be in areas of kentucky, indiana, ohio, and entering into pittsburgh. We will be actually seeing a dry day in areas of the midatlantic, but there will be a little bit of Light Rain, moving there, new York City, late afternoon, 6 00 p. M. Into the Evening Hour for Anyones Dinner plans. Kasie, i think the worst of ift will be in the Ohio Valley and possibly areas of tennessee and kentucky. So, you know, maybe Saturday Wuk take your mom out instead if you want to get out in the sunshine. Thanks for that, bill karins. Enjoy your weekend. Well see you on monday. Still ahead here, it has been four months since the deadly insurrection at the u. S. Capitol. And the fbi is still making arrests. Well have the very latest on that ongoing effort, coming up next. Y lastte on that ongoing effort, coming up next smoking is freaking hard. You get advice like just stop. Get a hobby. You should meditate. Eat crunchy foods. Go for a run. Go for 10 runs run a marathon. Are you kidding me . instead, start small. With nicorette. Which can lead to something big. Start stopping with nicorette my name is douglas. Im a Writer Director and im still working. In the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. 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Securely drop off your documents, have them picked up, or upload them, and work with a Tax Pro online from home. Safe and easy ways to file that work around you. Welcome back. Four months after the January 6th riot at the u. S. Capitol, Fbi Agents continue to arrest people accused of taking part. Nbc news reports more than 440 people have been charged, coming from all but six states, mississippi, North And South dakota, vermont, and wyoming. The largest number come from texas, pennsylvania, and florida, in that order. In nearly 90 of the cases, charges have been based on their own Social Media accounts. Prosecutors are seeking to reach plea dealing to release the number of trials. Now this. An agreement reviving the iran nuclear deal could come in a matter of weeks. A senior Administration Official gave the update to report yesterday before stressing that both countries still have several key issues to discuss. Officials said negotiators would need to speed up talks to reach an agreement before iran holds its next president ial election in june. Nbc reports, the pace of the discussion would depend on irans willingness, quote, in iran makes the political decision that it genuinely wants to return to the jcpoa it negotiated, it can be done relatively quickly and implementation can be relatively swift. The iranian Foreign Minister said earlier this week there is, quote, ample hope that we can revive the deal. The biden administration has made rejoining the Deal A Key Policy deal. The former administration pulled the u. S. Back from the agreement in 2018. And now here at home, Unemployment Claims have reached their lowest level since the start of the pandemic. New filings fell below 500,000 last week, according to the Labor Department to 498,000. Thats the lowest in 14 months and also the latest sign that the economy is continuing to recover. However, it is still well above prepandemic levels when Unemployment Claims were roughly half of what they are now. And were going to get a better idea of how the recovery is going when we get the monthly Jobs Numbers later on this morning. And Morning Joe will have a full breakdown of that straight ahead. All right. Still ahead here, were going to talk about the new republicanled Voting Restrictions that have been signed into law in florida and texas, plus, amid an effort to oust Liz Cheney from gop leader, Congresswoman Elise Stefanick praises President Trump as The Voice of the republican party. But before we go to break, we want to know, as always, why are you awake . Email your reasons for being up and watching. Well read our favorite answers coming up later on in the show. Coming up later on in the show before Voltaren Arthritis Pain gel, my husband would have been on the sidelines. 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A reporter for the local Cbs Affiliate tweeted, the signing of a law that will affect all floridians and there wont be a camera from a Florida Tv Station allowed inside. A spokeswoman for desantis later said he did not sign the actual bill on camera and the event was purely ceremonial. Heres how the governor explained it. We were happy to give them the exclusive on that. And i think it went really, really well. But thats broadcast to millions of people, not just in obviously, throughout the entire country. And we probably had A Thousand people in the crowd. The crowd that desantis just referred to actually was a group from Donald Trumps fan club. They were already in place at a West Palm Beach hotel. In fact, desantis addressed the group before the live event. Fox news released a statement saying the show did not Request Or Mandate for the signing to be exclusive. Okay, as for the new law itself, it adds new hurdles from mailin voting, limits who can collect and drop off ballots, and makes it harder to provide water to voters waiting in line. In 2018, 16, and 14, republicans outnumbered democrats in mailin vote. Desantis says the law will restore confidence in the states elections, yet Donald Trump have won florida and there have been no legitimate allegations or evidence of widespread Voter Fraud. The ap called florida a model for what voting should be and even desantis himself praised how well the state has its elections. The Way Florida did it inspires confidence. Rather than us be at a center of a Bush Versus Gore in 2020, were now being looked at as the state that did it right and the state that these other states should emulate. The result of 2020 from an administrative perspective was that florida had the most transparent and efficient election anywhere in the country. As the New York times notes, the state has now weakened key parts of the Voting Infrastructure that was built after the 2000 election fiasco. Floridas new Election Law already seeing pushback. The naacp has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the law violates the constitution, the Voting Rights act, and the americans with disabilities act. And several civil Rights Group have filed suit against state and local election officials. The group includes the black voters matters fund. And just hours after florida Governor Desantis signed those new Voting Restrictions, texas emerged as the next state To Push forward with theirs. The republican majority and the Texas State Legislature moved to debate a controversial Voting Bill that they say would protect from election fraud. Democrats have vowed to file more than 100 amendments aimed at either derailing the legislation or at least limiting its impact from its passed. During yesterdays debate, the House Sponsor of the bill was unable to cite a single case of Voter Fraud in texas. The Texas Bill would among a slew of other reforms ban election officials from proactively mailing out Absentee Ballots or applications, empower partisan Poll Watchers and make it harder to remove them from bad behavior and set strict new rules for assisting voters. Nbc news reports republicans were able to fastrack the legislation by replacing the text of a different bill, sb7, which is a senate elections bill, with hb6. Protesters at the capitol decried the bill as a blatant Voter Suppression that would disproportionately affect people of color. Joining us now, a reporter for the washington post, eugene scott. Eugene, its always great to see you. Thanks for being here this morning. We heard from the deputy White House press secretary, Karine Jeanpierre about floridas new law, saying its built on a lie, the state is moving in the wrong direction. What have you been reporting in terms of the administrations plans to combat some of these laws . And i also find it noteworthy, these are states that Donald Trump won in 2020. Yes, but we know that theyre states that he didnt win by the margin he was expecting, especially in some of the communities that have large populations, groups that vote against the gop. What we know the White House is doing this year alone is working with the Democratic National Committee to spend at least 20 Million on messaging to communicate to voter that what florida, what texas, what arizona, what some of these other states are trying to do works in opposed to many of the goals that these citizens say they want when it comes to voting in particular. And as much as weve seen these democratic leaders and the white House Focus on how these new laws make voting difficult for communities of color, i think one of the main pivots were going to see is this coalition that helped democrats win in 2020 is going to hear about how voting is now becoming very difficult for them. For example, these decreased drop boxes, this voting by mail, its not just making voting difficult according to democrats for communities of color, but for elderly people, for people in rural america, for people with disabilities. And so, youre going to see more groups like the League Of Women Voters joining the naacp To Push back against these new restrictions. Yeah, and a lot of those voters, frankly, are traditionally republican voters, or at least have been in the past. Which is part of why this is so confusing. Lets talk a little bit about what we saw from President Biden yesterday, i know you were part of the team covering his event down in louisiana. He talked about infrastructure, pointed at the bridge over his shoulder, says, hey, this is not a partisan issue. Somehow the White House feeling right now about their push for this Infrastructure Plan . Are there more concerns about the levels of spending than they expecteder . Any issues or concerns about where democrats are on this, even as they try to negotiate with republicans . Well, one of the main approaches, shall we say, that the White House is taking is trying to remind voters that republicans gave Tax Cuts to large corporations and rich americans. And so concerns about spending seem disingenuous coming from the right. Biden is in louisiana, visiting these red states, trying to talk directly with voters. Not trying to work with gop lawmakers as much as he would think in the past, because hes realizing hes not getting much movement there. But he does have the support of most republicans. Nearly 60 of republicans support the american jobs plan. But thats not as high as the administration wants. So theyre thinking that if they go to these communities, remind people that, as biden said yesterday, theres no such thing as a democratic bridge or a republican bridge, that maybe these voters who have sent people to washington, who oppose this plan, will actually end up supporting the plan themselves, and maybe push their lawmakers towards buying into it, also. All right. The washington posts eugene scott, thank you very much, as always, for being up early with us. We really appreciate you being here. And still ahead here, the totally different reason why Spongebob Squarepants cost one Mom Thousands of dollars on amazon. Oh, dear. Way too early back in just a moment. Way too early back in just a moment im morgan, and theres more to me than hiv. More love,. More adventure,. More community. But with my Hiv Treatment,. Theres not more medicines in my pill. I talked to my doctor. And switched to. Fewer medicines with dovato. 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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. Vo Nobody dreams in conventional thinking. It didnt get us to the moon. Hiv medicine is one part of it. It doesnt ring the bell on wall street. Or disrupt the status quo. Tmobile for business uses unconventional thinking to help you realize new possibilities. Like our new work from anywhere solutions, so your teams can collaborate almost anywhere. Plus Customer Experience that finds solutions in the moment. And firstclass benefits, like 5g with every plan. Network, Support And Value without any tradeoffs. Thats tmobile for business. Oh. Whats going on . 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A classmate of his mother, who is studying to become a social worker, set up a gofundme, which exceeded its goal in just one day. So some good will come from Noahs Purchase as an Amazon Spokesperson says the company has, quote, been in touch with the bryants and is fulfilling a Wish List of their choosing in the amount of the order. Thats hilarious. A group of goats is being tasked with protecting the ronald reagan president Ial Library and museum in southern california. Hmm. 350 goats arrived at the property this week to eat the brush surrounding the building over the next few weeks. Ahh this will protect the property from potential wildfires. The Goat Program now in its fifth year serves a as a greener alternative way to clear out the brush that was credited from the 2019 ez fire. Thats creative. And a town in japan is causing a stir after using 230,000 of covid Relief Money to build a giant kid statue. The 43foot flying Squid Statue stands tall in japan. It represents the fishing towns signature delicacy, squid. Town officials hope the town will attract tourists to revitalize the Towns Tourism Revenue postcovid. After facing criticism, officials said they received covid relief fund, and a few million was left over even after constructing the squid. Well, i guess, here we are, talking about the squid. Anyway, still ahead here, former republican Congresswoman Barbara Comstock will weigh in on the rift in the gop regarding their house Conference Chair. Dont go anywhere. Way too early back in just a moment. Anywhere. Way too early back in just a moment were good. The Remarkable Gx and lx. Get 0. 9 Apr Financing on the 2021 Gx 460. Experience amazing, at your lexus dealer. Get 0. 9 Apr Financing on the 2021 Gx 460. The lasting Cologne Scent of old Spice Dynasty helps get you off your couch. And into the drivers seat. Look at whats happened to me. I cant believe it myself. Suddenly im up on top of the world. 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The job of the Conference Chair is to represent the majority of the house republicans. The vast majority of the House Republicans Support President Trump. And they also support his focus on Election Integrity and election security. The job of the Conference Chair is not to attack fellow members of the Conference And Attack President Trump. Its to unify, so that our voters know that they can count on us to deliver results and win back the majority and take the gavel away from Nancy Pelosi once and from all. That was republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanick, who could be on the verge of replacing Liz Cheney as house gop chair, voicing her unwavering support for President Trump. Joining us now, former republican congresswoman, barbara come seatac of virginia. Congresswoman, thank you for getting up early to be with us to talk about this. And im almost as interested in the forum in which Elise Stefanick made those comments, as i am in what she said. It was on the Sebastian Gorka show. Hes, of course, one of the one of a major protrump ally. She also appeared on steve bannons podcast this week. She seems to be trying to make sure she doesnt have any problems with President Trump here. Can you help us understand who Elise Stefanick is . She started off as someone who was pitching herself as a moderate, perhaps bringing more diversity to the republican party at a point when they needed it. And now shes a completely different figure. That is the issue. When we came in together in 2014, when we were elected, she was a member of the tuesday group, which is moderate caucus. I certainly remember when we were, you know, all very frustrated with the likes of, you know, Jim Jordan and the Freedom Caucus, trying to shut down government all the time and not working together to get anything done. But, unfortunately, when Donald Trump came in, you know, the Freedom Caucus, who, lets remember, the Freedom Caucus and people like Matt Gaetz were the people who started this attack on Liz Cheney, because she wouldnt bend the knee to Donald Trump. Of course, the Freedom Caucus has always been on bended knee for Donald Trump. And Liz Cheney came along and stood up and said, i am not going to keep saying the Big Lie. And of course, after January 6th, she, you know, made clear that this unconstitutional assault on democracy was way too far for anybody to put up with. And i commend her for that. But its sad to see whats happening now and i think people are attacking liz saying, shes not staying on message, what was the first Thing Elise did . She got Donald Trumps endorsement and then she goes so low to go on steve bannons radio show, a man who was indicted and pardoned. And at one point, got kicked out of the White House, because he was so problematic. Same thing with Sebastian Gorka. Yet, these are the far right, you know, Conspiracy Theorists that shes chosen to kick that off, even, you know, under current circumstances, i dont understand that rollout. I cant imagine any staffer who was happy with, you know, putting a member of congress with those two, you know, i dont even know if Matt Gaetz spends a lot of time with those two, these days. So i dont understand it. I imagine that it likely has more to do, i imagine with trying to speak directly to the former president , who as we know, is incredibly sensitive to any perception of disloyalty. Can we talk a little bit about the Gender Politics of this here . I saw that you had tweeted about this. You said, the attacks on Liz Cheney have sexism behind them, but trying to replace her with a trumpapproved woman is every bit as sexist, stupid, and offensive. Yeah, it is. You know, replacing a skirt with a skirt, you know, they think the Freedom Caucus guys who usually, you know, they do not like, you know, Gender Politics or political correctness. A few of them are grousing, i think, saying, gee, why does it have to be a woman . Well, this is how they think. Oh, well be real clever. We can take liz out with another woman. And then theyre also having a woman put in the resolution. So its just kind of sad to be used as a handmaiden for these guys. And i think nothing accentuates that more than by the fact that you go on steve bannon. You want the approval of all of these you know, these guys are low lives. For any republican to have to ask for permission from steve bannon, you know, whos his business partner, i guess, yesterday, has more legal problems. A guy that he got the charges you know, were going after him, now has even more legal problems. Bannon got pardoned. So its just so unseemly. And this is the test to be in leadership. But also theyre trying to Donald Trump wants to make a test to just be a republican so why not just put Matt Gaetz in a blue dress and have him be your leader if thats the test. The fact that Matt Gaetz, people have less problem with him than, you know, with Liz Cheney, its just, you know i cant even even if you went back to october, i couldnt have imagined this type of thing happening. We are six months away from the election, yet the Big Lie is gathering more Force And Donald trump is insisting on it. And when we worked so hard i mean, i worked very hard. I am a republican. I voted for Tax Cuts, elise didnt. But, you know, ive worked to get so many women elected and the women and minority candidates were the ones who flipped these swing seats. And if were going to get to the majority, it is not through Donald Trump. Its through people, you know, like susan collins, who very much outran him. Young kim, you know, women who were able to stand up and be their own person, not just have to mouth the talking points. But that is what, you know, the Freedom Caucus gang, you know, theyve always been on their knees and now theyre trying to get the rest of the caucus to be down there with them. Well, and that visual of Matt Gaetz in a blue dress is, thats an excellent way to start the morning. Im not sure totally what to do with that visual. Former congresswoman barbara come seatac, thank you very much for getting up early with us. All right. Earlier on in the show, we asked, why are you awake . Don writes, im up early juggling two clients in my burgeoning small business. After years of not working, its both exhilarating and exhausting. Congratulations another viewer tweeted, im up Way Too Early due to a hungry Visitor Scratching at my patio door. Cheryl tweets, i am up because i have a trainer who likes early morning torture. Hope it pays off. Tavis tweets, he was up early to go to the gym, but found himself shopping for new clothes instead. Who doesnt love a deal ideally, if you go to the gym, youll have a reason to buy the clothes. Have a lovely weekend, everyone. Coming up next, the republicans taking credit for a Relief Plan they never supported in the first place. And coming up on Morning Joe, former u. S. Ambassadors to ukraine, bill taylors testimony helped build the case for impeaching Donald Trump The First Time. Now hes helping to rebuild some of americas seemingly collapsed democratic institutions. Hell join the conversation. Morning joe, just moments away. Onversation. Morning joe, just moments away why not both . Visibly diminish wrinkled skin in. Crepe corrector lotion. Only from gold bond. Nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. You get advice like just stop. Get a hobby. You should meditate. Eat crunchy foods. Go for a run. Go for 10 runs run a marathon. Are you kidding me . instead, start small. 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Safe and easy ways to file that work around you. Look at whats happened to me. And work with a Tax Pro online from home. I cant believe it myself. Suddenly im up on top of the world. Maybe it is dirtier than it looks. Shouldve been somebody else. It is dirtier than it looks. Try new Tide Hygienic clean. Welcome back. As the president continues to tout the american Rescue Plan this week, republican members of congress, all of whom voted against the 1. 9 trillion bill keep trying to take credit for it. The bill provided a third Stimulus Check and also expanded the Child Tax Credit and gave hundreds of billions to state and local governments. But zero republicans supported it. Yet on Social Media, it seems they might have forgotten about that. Applications for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund opened this week and more than a Half Dozen republicans, including house Minority Leader Kevin Mccarthy, New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanick as well as the former Vice President s brother have all promoted it, despite trying to defeat it just three months ago. Joining us now, cofounder of Punch Bowl news, john breznahan, always great to see you. This covid Relief Stuff where theyre now going out and selling something they opposed. What do you take away from that . And this Infrastructure Plan, Mitch Mcconnell almost trying to walk back his suggestion he would oppose Everything Kind of shows you the box that Joe Biden has put republicans in here. Democrats have been harping on this since the american Rescue Plan passed. They called it the vote no but go for the dough caucus. And thats one of the things that you dont do as a member of congress. You dont vote against a bill and take credit for it. Its not illegal, but its a violation of etiquette and bad politics. Unseemly. Its very unseemly. And Nancy Pelosi has been calling them out on this every chance she gets. And the dccc. So i think, look, infrastructure is popular. Theres no question about it, theres no question that its a huge backlog of need in this country, including on issues of broadband, which the pandemic has showed, we have a dramatic need for this, especially in lowincome communities. So, you know, look, i think they have a problem. I think they cant you know, which is why you have Shelly Moore Capito rolling out a hard infrastructure bill. They have to come to the table with something. They cant just say, were against everything because of their experience on the american Rescue Plan. So i think there is a little box there and theyre trying to figure out a way out of it. Yeah, no, its a really interesting shift. I was curious whether the strategy that Mcconnell Ran in 2009 was going to work in this circumstance, and they seem to be slowly learning that thats not actually going to be the case. Lets talk about the gop leadership fight. I know you have some new reporting coming out in Punch Bowl this morning about this behind the seams drama. What have you learned . Yeah, well, were reporting this morning that mike johnson, who is the current Gop Conference Vice chair is upset that Elise Stefanick, who you covered in your last segment pretty thoroughly has been anointed as the new Conference Chair above him to replace Liz Cheney. So hes not going around lobbying against stefanick, but when anybody calls him, hes complaining about it saying, he didnt like that Kevin Mccarthy and Steve Scalise Kind of cleared the field for her. He doesnt think that shes conservative enough. As Barbara Costock pointed out, she voted against President Trumps biggest legislative achievement. And actually, Liz Cheney scores on conservative ratings in terms of her Voting Record than stefanick. But the reality is, its going to be stefanick, shes going to replace Liz Cheney. The other thing were reporting is, this might happen its going to happen in two parts. One is theyre going to remove cheney and put Stefanick In. That might not happen on the sim day. It might happen wednesday is when theyre going to dump cheney and after that is when theyre going to put Stefanick In leadership. That may happen next week, it may slide into the following week. We have to see how that works out. All right. Punch Bowl Newss john breznahan, thank you very much. Ill be keeping an eye on Elise Stefanick and whether she still has to convince former President Trump not to turn on her. Thank you all for getting up Way Too Early with us on this friday morning. Dont go anywhere. Morning joe starts right now. This week in covid history, as we begin may 2020, President Trump soothes an ailing nation. Its all working out. Its all working out. Its horrible that we have to go through it, but its all working out. Yes, everything is going gangbusters. If only the mean old media was onboard. I am greeted with a hostile press the likes of which no president has ever seen. They always said, nobody got treated worse than lincoln. I believe i am treated worse. Penny for your thoughts, abe. Oh, yes, that. And lets not forget who this hurts most. Nobody has taken it harder than me. Were opening up our country again. This is what were doing. Its the reopening of our country. Who ever thought that we would be saying that. Reopening. Reopening. America is back in business but not everybody loves the plan. Mainly, a Nefariously Gang of neardowells called the experts. The experts have been telling us hundreds of thousands of people are going to do. Yeah, those stupid experts. And now its time for laura ingrahams analogy