pence's good deed will be rewarded. that's a wrap on tonight. something is amissed. >> the out going president did not attend today's inauguration. >> president trump was absent. >> he was nowhere to be seen. >> where is he? >> he may be gone but he'll always be with us. >> i will be watching and i will be listening and i will tell you that the future of this country had never been better. i wish they knew -- i wish the new administration great luck and success. >> you are fired! >> while the future of the virus is uncertain, america can't breathe a sigh of relief with a new steadfast leader, ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. >> hello. >> ugh. good luck. this has been this week in covid history. the omicron variant, the last wave of the covid pandemic. we'll play for you the latest outlook from dr. fauci. senate democrats will begin to debate the new voting rights protection even in the face of almost certain failure. we'll discuss why chuck schumer is still forging ahead. former president trump asked what republicans should do if they take back congress and surprisingly he had little to offer by way of specifics. there is an update in the behind the scenes feud that erupted between trump and ron desantis, we'll explain how mitch mcconnell factors in. this morning, exciting news, it's another big day for the forbes and know your value partnership. last week we launched our 50 over 50:asia list, featuring women like global fashion brands, technology, science media and international business. today we expand to another big list, more continents as we unveil the list which covers europe. the middle east, and africa. later on "morning joe," we'll reveal the inaugural honorees on this global list along with the u.s. list and the 50 over 50 asia list. all of these honorees will come to the summit. today is middle east and africa, 50 incredible women just wait until you meet them. with us this morning, we have the host of "way too early," jonathan lemire, mara gay, along with willie and me. joe is under the water. you have an update of the synagogue event in dallas. >> we are getting details of what happened during the saturday service. how the rabbi managed to escape and got everyone else out of the building. morgan chesky has the details. >> reporter: the hostage crisis is now international. authorities id'ed the suspect. a 44-year-old british citizen who the fbi said acted alone. a senior law enforcement official sharing police in the u.k. questioned akram's two teenage son who were in touch with the suspect on saturday. there is no indications they're being considered as a suspect. he arrived on december 29th. the rabbi walker says he didn't know anything suspicious until he heard a click during the prayer and turned to see a gun. he spoke to cbs. >> it was terrifying and overwhelming. >> reporter: stacey silverman was watching the live stream for hours. >> we heard this man ranting for hours. >> reporter: akram requests the release of the lady known as lady al-qaeda. as time went by, the rabbi says he became more agitated. >> i threw a chair at the gunman and i headed for the door. all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired. the suspect died after the fbi moved in. his family says he suffered from mental illness. jeffery cohen, one of the hostages. >> at one point, the terrorist let us call our family, basically telling them that i am here and he claims to have a bomb. things don't look good right now, i love you and remember me. >> reporter: this highlights what rabbi payly called a threat for the jewish community. >> nobody wants to have arms of security or layers of security around them. that's not a vision of the world we want to live in. >> reporter: in 2019, one person was killed when a man with a ma machete attacked during a synagogue. >> we reject this, this is not okay. you are not alone. >> morgan chesky reporting for us there. real heroism for the rabbi in colleyville, texas, throwing the chair after ten hours. the man holding them hostag was about to do something. luckily, they knew what to do. >> they do. the senate bill that won't pass. a filibuster needed to end the debate and vote on the measures. republicans are expected to block the bills. majority leader chuck schumer says he'll put forward a vote on a filibuster change after it's used to block the voting rights legislation. that's right. that vote is also likely to fail with democratic senator manchin and senator sinema publicly affirming their opposition to changing the filibuster rule. nancy pelosi made her case for changing the filibuster in a speech yesterday. >> so i ask our colleagues in the senate respectfully for what they think filibuster means to compare that to weigh the equities against our democracy. nothing less is at stake than our democracy. if you really truly want to honor dr. king, don't dishonor him by using a congressional custom as an excuse for protecting our democracy. >> jonathan lemire, what is the strategy given the fact that this is all expected to fail, why go through the motions? >> well, senator schumer and other democrats feel it's important to put this on the record so people can see where each individual lawmaker stands. the white house is going to shift to executive orders, trying to do things at the state level to protect voting rights. they're recogniing it right any way. mara gay. i want to ask you about this, a number of civil rights group set mlk day as a deadline for democrats to show progress on voting rights. let's be clear, republicans unanimously are not in supportive of this. let's not lose sight of that. the focus had to shift on democrats. reverend sharpton was on my show, what's your sense of this that's going to keep the democratic base this fall? >> it's incredibly frustrating. the failure to get manchin and sinema on board is in some ways is structural and i think joe biden came into this white house in a moment where he had a massive structural disadvantage. you kind of understand that. on the other hand is strategic failure because this was predictable. now the democrats are in a situation and frankly it's not just the democrats if anybody who allow every american to vote and to have access that ballot. now those groups and interests are going to have to essentially fight us prebattle for democracy for state by state and in some cases county by county. it's going to be take an enormous amount of resources, money and time and energy and organizing on the ground, knocking on doors and waging campaign and using union and safe groups to really make sure every american can access to right to vote and can get to the polls. it's going to be a leader effort and involves church group. that's all well and good. the fact that it should not be that hard to vote, right? it should be easier to get veto kid than to vote. this is ridiculous. we all know that. black americans frankly have been through worse and they understand there are forces that try to keep them from their full citizenship. it's exhausting and worrisome. really they need to rally the troops so to speak, not just along partisan line. they need to have those faith leaders out there and get the message we are not going to allow americans to be disenfranchise no matter what it takes. in the words of dr. king, if you can't fly, run, if you can't walk then crawl. keep moving forward. we need to see a little bit of that energy right now. >> sorry mara, i didn't mean to interrupt you. what's your sense of the value of this protracted fight if it looks like this is a dead end because joe manchin and sinema has been explicit they don't want to change the filibuster. what's the value of having this conversation and having to go on and on if in fact it's a dead end? >> i agree with john that there is immense value in getting these senators on the record. so that's really important. so you do actually want to move forward with this. you want to know where people are. you want to show the american people who's willing to stand up for democracy and who's not. sure, that makes perfect sense. you don't want to drag it on as long that this becomes another protracted failure politically if the democrats leading into the midterms and on top of that you are wasting valuable time that is going to need to be used to do what i was talking about which is really a massive get out the vote and vote a protection effort across all of the states, the swing states at least. you really have to walk and chew gum at once. >> jonathan lemire, do we have any understanding of the republicans that won't vote for this and also why sinema and manchin are standing in the way of it. have they given their reasoning? >> there are a couple of things here. sinema delivered at the white house to protake president biden to the capitol to make her pitch of voting rights. she's fearful of what would happen if filibuster goes away and republicans can take control and how they can use it. senator manchin says he feels voting rights should be something that should be done in a bipartisan fashion that he's got his own bill out there that has more than a year to find enough republicans to go along with it. he's coming up empty. he says we need republicans to sign on the fiibuster reform. that's not going to happen either. it's not their interest. that's the explanation of the frustration a lot of their fellow democrats. for republicans we are seeing this is another impact of what we saw in november of 2020 in donald trump's big lie. the effort to restrict the ballot is not limited to donald trump when it comes to the republican party. there is other efforts enforce voter id and to tighten access to the ballot. they're seizing on trump's big lie and his erroneous election fraud. >> we'll be following this today. is the pressure of 2024 already getting two of the top republican contenders? >> there is mounting discord between former president trump and desantis. we'll explain how mitch mcconnell fits into this picture. plus, some democrats are calling to look at the options on the table for surviving a possible red wave. and, just 24 hours before the new 5-g cell network rolls out nationwide, what the country's airlines are saying of potential massive disruptions. you are watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. you are watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. biden: this is the challenge of our collective lifetime. and every day we delay, the cost of inaction increases. we have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable, clean energy future, and in the process, create millions of good-paying jobs and opportunities around the world. there's no more time to hang back or sit on the fence or argue amongst ourselves. so let this be the moment that we answer history's call. welcome to silversneakers. are you ready to get moving? 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♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ . apparently not pathogenic as delta. i would hope that's the case. that would only be the case if we don't get another variant that lose the response of the prior variant. it's an open question whether or not omicron is the life vaccination that everyone hopes for because you have a great deal of variability of new variants emerging. >> dr. fauci speaking on the davos online conference saying it's too soon to tell if omicron is the final wave of the pandemic. there are new signs that covid infections may have peaked in parts of the country. miguel almaguer has the latest. >> reporter: there are signs of progress among setbacks. while cases are rising in every state in some regions first hard hit by omicron, stalts like connecticut and new jersey, cases appeared to peak. in new york, a drop of 47% from earlier this month. the most encouraging signs in weeks though not widespread enough. >> we are in no way seeing a plateau or declining. the numbers are still going up. >> reporter: as hospital networks like mass general cancelling thousands of surgeries every week so overwhelmed staff can care for covid patients. the surgeon general says the u.s. may be weeks away from a national peak. >> reporter: some hospitals turning back to the past. this one in virginia using its parking garage as a field hospital. >> across california, patients are waiting hours just to be unloaded from an ambulance. >> as the ambulance is waiting in the er to transfer patients, there are 911 calls coming in and still accidents and these crews are not available to respond. >> reporter: with more breakthrough expected, general mark millie is isolating at home with minor symptoms. americans can go online and start to order four free at home covid tests per household but with delivery expected 7 to 12 days later, they may arrive at the end of omicron surge. >> my hope is yes, omicron is beginning of the end but i am ready to continue fighting if we have to. >> reporter: our nation facing the promise of a better future while still battling a grim reality. >> miguel almaguer reporting for us there. joining us now brian sullivan. it's good to see you. one way to look at where we are in this pandemic is to look at the market and our business. what's that part of the story telling you? >> well, it's telling us that some of the optimistic forecast, willie, may be right. we have been tracking this from the beginning, i try to provide some hope and optism. over the weekend, the ceo of pfizer, one of the vaccine makers came out really the next couple of months, life should be back to normal. i know that's cold comfort. what he's referring to is not just vaccinations. you have to remember there is a lot of oral antivirus treatments as well. things that we didn't have a year ago, two years ago to treat this. so from a business perspective, the price of oil this morning. why? there is some optimism that there damn pandemic final ly burns out. international travels may pick up and domestic travels which is really hot by the way may accelerate more and there i say returning to the office. i know everybody at home may still be working. that rto returning to office may be coming sooner. i know a lot of people enjoyed not commuting but that's not going to last forever. all that added demands for things like gasoline and jet fuel is playing out for good reasons, i guess. >> i know we are hesitant and almost declaring from something being almost over. there is optimism and on that return to office, sully, yes, people will return back to the office but looks like it will be a different world even when we are through this when ever that date is that people may have some hybrid of two days at work and two days at home. it does appear among many things this pandemic has changed permanently is the way we work. >> there was a number and don't quote me on the number. goldman sachs put out a report yesterday and they said something about $600 billion in work from home productivity benefits by people not commuting. you think of the average commute in this area, forget about america, what is it? an hour on a train or bus or the port authority or the atrain down the lower manhattan or whatever it may be. that's two hours a day and 10 hours a week and plus delays. that productivity gain and that happiness index people not having to deal with that and going to pen station everyday, right? pen station is not the loveliest place to see. there is a quantifiable benefit productivity benefits and a different -- the people been able to be home and see how their life is different. companies is not going to be able to jam people back into the office five days a week like they did. they'll face with a lot of people who decide to do something else for companies that won't make them do it. it's going to be -- an in delicate operation over the next couple of months and quarter. it's going to be hard. >> with a lot of people calling the shots. brian sullivan, great stuff as always, thank you for being with us this morning. coming up, a new report from the new york times says russia is thinning out its embassy in kiev. what it could be telling us about putin's next move in the ukraine. "morning joe" is coming right back. ukraine. 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all three. the russians most likely knew the americans and the ukrainians would become apart of the puzzle of what happens next. let's bring informer chief of staff of the cia national security analyst is jeremy bash. >> is it a bigger strategy to do with the pipeline, are they emboldened and weaken by the foreign infrastructure the past few years, what's behind it? >> when you look at the routes that russia has on ukraine border, you got 100,000 russian troops masking there. they're building towards that. and so i think the united states has correctly assess with our nato allies that russia put in place all the pieces to launch a massive invasion of ukraine. russia invaded in the country, conducted cyber attack and they use chemical weapons. you can't tell a country who to be an ally with and you can't force the conversation without the europeans in the room. united states diplomacy trying to deter and preventing this conflict. we don't know if vladimir putin will invade ukraine but he's putting in place all the pieces to do so. >> so we don't know and there have been meetings for this deterrence and diplomacy to be effort on the united states part. we don't know overall what putin wants. is that why we don't know whether or not an invasion can happen which appears to be at least that's the direction of all the preps are looking at. i know it could be a game but is there any sense of what putin wants out of this? >> well, i think you put your finger on it, we know he wants to fracture nato. but what we don't know, we don't know is whether he's using military force. we know he's using cyber attacks against ukraine that we saw some cyber attacks against the ukrainian ministry last week. he launched the cyber attack against the power grid of 2016 and other times. we know he's willing to send little green men to evoke the border. we know he's willing to sabotage to force the pretext so he can go over the line and go over the border and invade and this thinning out of the embassy personnel looks to me like a concoction. i was looking at the post telegram which the public board and the russian foreign ministry there is saying we are under threat of ukraine and that's why we are leaving. that sounds like a propaganda and a pretext to quote on quote "protect your personnel." >> putin is going to call the bluff of the west and the united states. if i go into ukraine so what is the white house's calculation on the other side of that and how seriously are they taking these threats from russia? putin's motive remains a mystery. they're trying to gain this out on what putin wants. right now the u.s. responds if needed looks like more financial and cyber and target attacks and they set a warning and no uncertain terms and trying to cripple the economic system if putin were to pull the trigger and go in. i want to get your sense on something else. officials i have talked to saying this is going to happen. it's going to have to happen fairly soon because the weather there, the ukraine's muddy season would be hard to move tanks across large swath of trains. that's coing soon. what other signs should we and officials be looking for that could be a signal that putin is actually going to do this, cyber attacks? what else? >> i think jonathan, you are asking a great question. what is the indication and warning of a russian attack? launching a ground invasion over the border is absurd. we are watching it carefully. when that ground thaws, that's going to make it that much harder for their battalion tactical group to move over the lines. we want to see what their naval forces are doing and we want to see what their artillery units are doing. we want to understand what electronic warfare elements are being put in place potential jamming and other propaganda activities. there is a whole sweep of indications and warning. if there is this quote on quote separate violence, that could be a clear sign that russia is preparing for something more violent. >> jeremy bash, thank you very much. i am sure we'll be talking to you again very soon about this. now to new york city mayor, eric adams, who ran and won on a message making the city safer. a shocking murder in a new york city subway station is being a test of the mayor's central campaign promise. michelle go was pushed to her death. a horrific killing. the man administered the crime was homeless and had a history of mental episode gives new urf public debating. in his first week in office, adams and governor kathy hochul said they plan to have police officers conduct more regular sweeps of the subway system and announced effort to expand homeless team. >> this is not something that's going to change over night but what happened at the subway station shows how brazen and chilling the situation is. is eric adams up to the task? >> you know i think he does understand what's needed. i mean first of all this is tragic and it's a nightmare of any new yorkers who commutes. it's something you think about and even though it's really rare. it's important to say this is not happening on every platform by any means all the time. this is horrific and should never happen, 40 years old, that's heartbreaking. it's scary. i mean the thing that's frustrating here is that the solutions are actually not easy fix. mayor adams and governor hochul know that. the biggest thing that needs to happen is not just having more police officers in the subways which i know some on the left, overwhelmingly is something that new yorkers do want to see in their subways especially when you have fewer commuters and fewer eyes in the subway to begin with during the panpandem. that's number one. this man appears to be suffering some mental health challenges and of course most people who suffered from mental health challenges never become violent. there is an issue in new york city and elsewhere we need pet better and more services to service population who of new yorkers who are mentally ill and are not living in shelter or refusing to come into shelter or need more services. that's something mayor adam is going to have to work closely alongside governor hochul to accomplish because the city needs states services in order to set up that mental health infrastructure. and so the state and the city are going to have to work hand in hand which is something we did not see with governor cuomo and former mayor de blasio. they'll have to work hand in hand to make sure everybody who needs services get them and that those who may pose a danger to others are off the streets. rather than shutting people off to the trouble jail complex there. many people should be in a mental health facility getting the help they need. that's a complicated reality. when something like this happens, first instinct is just to do something and we do need to act but we need to be thoughtful and also just reminded of the amount of resource that's going to take to resolve this problem. >> john, you cover new york city for a long time. this is a hideous and horrific tragedy. this woman miss go in her spare time volunteered and worked with the homeless. she did not see him coming. she was standing there and just got pushed from behind and had no interaction with the man according to police. it has been interesting to watch to mara's point and governor hochul and mayor adams, cuomo and de blasio never talked about solutions to this problem. mara is right, it's a problem of homelessness and mental health. this is what worries new yorkers trying to get around the city. >> right, that's exactly. this is a nightmare story and it's every new yorker's fear. it should be tomorrow's point noted. these are isolated things and it does not happen very often. there is a sense around the city that things are off kilter. coming out and still in the pandemic and obviously homelessness up and people with mental health issues up. needing more services and we are seeing encouragingly steps from the mayor and governor to address this. new york is still one of the safest big cities in america. we can't say that enough compares to where it was and certainly the early '90s to where it's now. these are two different places. no doubt, crimes have risen up as it's nationally the last few years because of the pandemic and economic factors. new york is still certainly a safe place to be. there is certainly increase scrutiny right now on the mayor and particular to keep it that way and he has said his rhetoric has changed on policing and law enforcement than his presence. >> we'll be watching and staying on this issue. mara gay, thank you very much for being on. still ahead, there seems to be more tension between former president trump and ron desantis and now mitch mcconnell is catching some blame for making things worse. we'll explain why. and, first for the nfl playoffs, a game on monday night football. we'll have a look at the next round of matchups when "morning joe" comes right back. d of matc 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(vo) ask your doctor if it's right for you. learn how we could help you save on imbruvica. people stop talking about that. here is odell beckham jr., he wants to throw it. the running back are in control in this game. turning it around. into the end zone. touchdown, rams! >> all right up 21-0 at the half last night. the rams extended their lead at the third quarter with odell beckham jr. a second of a touchdown thrown by matthew stafford and also ran one in. the 34-11 playoff victories is the first of stafford's 13 years nfl career. the rams now visiting the buccaneers on sunday for a spot in the nfc. you look at that there, that rams team is tough. their offense is cooking and defense is complete shut down a good cardinal defense. >> the cardinals seem out of force and the state seems too big for him. i would say this past weekend, certainly a lackluster slate of games and with the cowboys, the ending yesterday. just trying to figure out what dak prescott and the cowboys tried to do there. it does set up a great slate this weekend. the rams played really well last night. the titans at the number one seat in the nfc taking on the ben bengals. saturday night, aaron rodgers likely is the mvp this year. it's going to be about 10 degrees in green bay. the 49ers are built like a team that could win. good running game, good defense. the question is garoppolo, their quarterback making any mistakes and cap off of the weekend could be a classic. the bills, winner of that game, a rematch of last year's game. the winner of this game is the favor to represent afc in the super bowl. josh allen and patrick mahomes, that's going to be a lot of pun. >> that's a great matchup. the packers at home and at home at lambo field. you don't want to go in there. we'll see what happens. you mentioned the bengals and kyle murray maybe not looking up to the task last night. joe burrow may not be affected by this. he's just slinging the ball around out there to his former lsu teammate. those bengals could be a sneaky team for the rest of the playoffs. >> use mayor adams' favorite word, -- defense is a little bit. the titans, we'll see. there are some people who believe they are a little smoking this year. derek henry, the best running back of the league, he goes down. tannehill is better. they're at home but one wonders if the bengals have a shot there to pull off a bit of an upset. it should be a good set of games but to end this where we started, tom brady, he's 44 years old, he's ageless and devastaing handsome and he played great over the weekend. i expect more of the same. the bucs under the radar. >> are you okay, jonathan lemire. maybe let's get you a cold shower or a fan under the desk there. >> wow, that was something. >> he's great. >> it's pretty, okay, coming up senate democrats are forging ahead on voting rights today even though the effect appears doomed. it comes as some members of the party turned up the heat on joe manchin and sinema. plus, what will the gop do first if they win back the majority in congress this year? there are so many different issues that they could really talk about and get ready to prepare their platform. but it seems that donald trump does not have an answer for that question, not one. 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[limu emu squawks] woo! new personal record, limu! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ finally. our honeymoon. it took awhile, but at least we got a great deal on our hotel with kayak. i was afraid we wouldn't go.. with our divorce and.... great divorce guys. yeah... search 100s of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. need to get your prescriptions refilled? scapsule pharmacy can hands deliver. your medications - today - for free. go to capsule.com. we handle your insurance. all you have to do is schedule delivery. go to capsule.com to get started in 15 seconds today. look at that live shot of new york city, beautiful morning. kind of gray but pretty morning in new york city. welcome back to "morning joe," it's just at the top of the hour on this tuesday, january 18th, jonathan lemire is still with us and joining the conversation, we have chief white house correspondent for the new york times. peter baker and our eugene robinson. along with willie and me and joe is under the weather. we begin with a new development in the growing feud of donald trump and florida governor desantis. advisers to trump are blaming senate minority leader mitch mcconnell for stoking the tension. it all stems from this answer, desantis gave in a recent podcast. >> i never thought in february early march that it would lead to locking down the country. i didn't think it was on the radar. i was dealing with, i had pence and the cdc director down at port everglades talking about cruise ships and no one is talking about shutting down the country. knowing what i know then if that was a threat earlier, i would have been much louder. >> that recent dig from desantis of the recent lockdown. it was hosted by long time mcconnell's adviser josh holmes. he's a subsidiary of mcconnell world. there is no way you can tell me this was all a coincidence. those sentiment were echoed by four others who spoke on the condition of anonymity. although minority trump nor desantis have announced 2024 campaigns, the governor has seen his political prospect rise since the pandemic began. the subject of trump, one ex adviser says "i don't think he likes people being more popular than him. that's part of it. joining us now senior national political reporter for nbc news, mark caputo. can you fill in the blanks here on what's going on between donald trump, desantis and the mitch mcconnell angle? >> it's kind of a, it looks like desantis may have been caught in the cross fire. the reality is for political insiders and you have the media at large and the ruthless podcast. the story line of desantis and donald trump is irresistible. desantis shown a little bit of independence. one of the problems covering trump's world is there is a lot of people who let's say have their own agendas and figuring out what the president said about desantis. with that said, it's pretty clear that the former president is pretty cranky these days. he does not like the good press. desantis won't impart because why should he? a lot of republicans want desantis to run for president. it makes him more of a national figure and he's raking in the money. >> is there my peril for trump and desantis to be in a feud to the point where they almost cancel each other out? >> i think at this point and notice how i said at this point, donald trump is the center party. he's got so much way that he can crush desantis. however, as time goes on and desantis becoming more popular in the gop, things could changed. >> so mark, as you know talking to conservatives and republicans, they all say they like desantis because he has the fight of donald trump without all the baggage. he's not as crazy and he's more disciplined than donald trump. what's his end game here? is he riding this out to see if donald trump decides to run in 2024 or what's the upside for him to push back a little bit in a way that frankly not another republican publicly will do? >> well, desantis for some time though got attention at this time. he's been lamenting having done it from at least april. sort of the timing that made it the perfect storm. i think you answer your own question, desantis is being strategic about it or tactical, i think the answer is yes. one republican had described to me, this is sort of the back drafting primary. you got all of these trum m's candidates that are back drafting behind it and it will come a little out behind and you kind of distinguish themselves out of circumstances or on purpose. and for mike pence or by circumstances. i think that's the more accurate way to look at it. it does not look like desantis want to run for president. that's 2024 and it's a lifetime away. >> as mark writes in his piece. desantis appeared in an interview that aired yesterday on news max, former president trump himself went after mitch mcconnell. >> i am not a fan of mcconnell, i have not been. i helped him get elected. without me he would have lost his race and he goes in and made stupid statements after january 6th. this was a stupid thing he did. he's a bad leader, he gave them a two-month stay and two months of adjustment, he gave them the power they should have never had. i am not a fan of him and i think he's hurting the party very badly, mcconnell. >> peter baker, you cover donald trump closely for the past four or five years. he's upset here that mitch mcconnell over turning the results of the 2020 election. what's your sense of the dynamic here between donald trump and governor desantis in florida and what may happen down the road here in 2024? >> the republican party is trying to figure out where it's in this process of the trumpification. is there another light and who'll succeed him? we don't know if trump is going to run. he's making noises like he is. a lot of people are convinced that he will run. everybody out there is angling for this presidency desantis is prime among them, he's trying to appeal that trumpian base. it's fascinaing to see if that softens on trump. trump has been more aggressive and touting the vaccines even when he says he's not foreman dates. his biggest accomplishment is the warped operation. this slight distinction between him and desantis is can someone take trump's base away from him? probably not. can they inherit it. that's the big question. >> hey mark, it's jonathan lemire, i won't ask you to comment of the clip where the former president seems like he had his collar opened a little more than needed. how governor desantis seems to be sticking out a position to the right of the president when it comes to covid. we heard in the podcast that he's critical of the shutdown now and we have seen him coming down hard on things like mask mandates and the vaccines. he won't say if whether or not he got booster which also anger donald trump. giver us a sense of that calculation. why does desantis feel like that's the quarter he wants to be on? >> there is an interesting every aleutian that happened around desantis. he got elected in 2018. and large 2020, the pandemic happens. and he was a subject to a lot of criticism from the national news media and from a lot of ex perlts and at first things changed with the delta variant. in august what you saw up until august of 2021 was desantis became more and more powerful with the base as he resisted more with the experts of the media and what democrats should do with mask mandates and so he sort of grew into that role. desantis has a real kind of take on all comers. he can get in a fight on an empty room. the base loves that. he's going to swing back hard and win. >> senior political reporter for nbc news, mark caputo. thank you for coming on. in that same interview with news max, trump was asked what should republicans do first if they retake congress. >> sounds like what do you want to see them do first if they do take back control. >> these are radicalized and horrible people that hate our country. what they are doing with the open border and the judges and all of the things they have been doing is so sad and you look at afghanistan is the top or the way they came out. we were coming out and coming out strong with dignity. there is never been a lower point of what happened in afghanistan in my opinion. we got to win the house and i think we can win the senate also. we should not win the house handedly, i think we should win the senate. >> so many observations i can make but i guess the bottom line is there is no real answers there. axios is reporting that kevin mccarthy is signaling he'll institutionalize key trump authorities. gene robinson, it seems like a platform that does not have a lot of issues kpep for pushing people away or some would see it as hate. what's the platform there that we are hearing from trump or mccarthy? >> there is no platform. the republican party has not had a platform for some time. they had no platform to run in the 2020 elections. just astounding, right? every election cycles and each party spends pain staking hours and weeks and months putting together a platform. it's executive pirates and the republican party last year or two years ago said we are for donald trump. we are for whatever trump wants. that was the whole platform. that was the whole party. it has no legislative program. this is an absent that i think politically democrats at least need to try to exploit by pressing republicans, okay, what would you want to do? what do you want to do if you have power? well, what do you want to accomplish? this bill or that bill or this issue or that issue? and the answer is there is not an answer. it's donald trump. it's donald trump. >> jonathan lemire, i feel like every answer had something to do with owning the libs. >> no question. >> that seems to be the animating principle of a lot of at least the maga portion of the republican party. whether it's online or something that's relatively harmless as a tweet or far more serious or policy in actions or owning the libs seems to be at the core principle here. peter baker, i wanted to get you in on this as well. there does seems to be from kevin mccarthy who certainly measuring the drapes in the speaker's office. it's not a sure thing. he seems to be taking the party and as trump's fashion as possible. he seems to be putting himself in that quarter but what's the alternative here? is there a struggle of the soul of the republican party right now? does mitch mcconnell side have a shock? >> that's a really good question. the very least most republicans even though they are not fans of trump, paying some to his base or if not him. you see a lot of republicans and a lot of conventional mainstream establishment talking about glenn youngkin. as you put it without necessarily bringing trump back in and youngkin can manage his race and he was identified with race and cultural war issues as he did and banning critical race theory from virginia school which they don't teach at all. that's the model you are seeing. what's interesting about mcconnell is how much trump is trying to bait him. mcconnell ignores him which is the thing that donald trump hates the most. you hear donald trump say in the interview, mcconnell is a bad guy and he said it repeatedly over the past six months that mcconnell is a bad guy and republicans should get rid of him. republicans ignored him. we talk about his power in the party and there is no question he definitely has it. the senate republicans have given the back of their hands to trump who demanded this mcconnell to be removed and they have ignored him entirely even though the conservative republican in the senate basically said now we are not going to do that. it's a matter of frustration for trump. it's the part of the party he does not control and has not been able to bow to his tuition before. >> the conversation today on capitol hill is about voting rights for the united states of senate and the house of representatives. ahead of the midterms, some house democrats are looking at build back better bill, calling on party leaders to develop a new strategy that breaks up part of the bill. some democrats running for reelection and competitive are to hold votes on the record. soaring inflation and other issues that have dragged down president biden's approval ratings. a lot of democrats say the build back better bill has no chance to get through. there are important pieces inside of it that they think could pass, the challenging could be convincing to progress progressive. >> it's reality verses issue. insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. and, if in fact it's that possible to get 51 votes in the senate for build back better bill as presently constructed then if you are going to do anything. you need a different strategy and that's a bitter pill to swallow and a lot of people don't like that fact but it's a fact. i mean you need those 51 votes and so, the next question is okay, what can you get 51 votes for? what can you get done if indeed the elements of build back better bill so beneficial and urgent as democrats have said all along. as i agree with and the child tax credit is extremely important. child poverty at a level we have never seen at this country and an amazing achievement. there are elements of that package that i would think that every democrat would like to be able to run on in the midterms and so the question is how do they get if they can't get all of it. how do they get some of it? >> peter baker, thank you for your reporting this morning. >> why did covid-19 symptoms varied so much from person to person. there could be genetic factors at play. we'll explain that. the newly sworn in governor of virginia, glenn youngkin waited no time before over turning a mask mandate for state workers. turning a mask mandate e workers. you are watching "morning joe," we'll be right back. are watchin are watchin we'll besorry, one sec. doug blows a whistle. [a vulture squawks.] oh boy. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty♪ our new virtual classes were designed for you and millions of seniors like you. you can now choose from thousands of live virtual classes every week. get moving wherever you have an internet connection. and when you're ready, enjoy access to thousands of locations nationwide. with silversneakers, you're free to move. enroll today at no additional cost by visiting getsilversneakers dot com. 22 past the hour. governor youngkin's order to rescind the mask mandate. he's calling it a matter of individual liberty. he signs an executive action allowing parents to opt out mask mandates in schools. in response, arlington public school wrote in a tweet that masks would still be required for students and staffs and visitors in schools and on buses. a new study identified a genetic risk factors by the reason of the loss of smell after covid-19 infection. six months after contracting covid as many as 1.6 million people are still unable to smell properly. scientists published their findings which they say covid induced loss of smell stems from damage of the cell that protects olfactory neurons that help people smell. willie, we are learning more of covid-19 as time goes by. >> two years of science taught us a lot about this virus. the family of an amazon delivery driver who died when the tornado caused the illinois warehouse he worked at collapsed. the lawsuit is believed to be the first legal action taken in response of the death of the december's tornado. the plaintiff is seeking $50,000 from each of the four defendants named in suit including amazon and construction property. amazon says the lawsuit "misunderstand key facts." severe weather watches are common in this part of the country. we believe our team did the right thing as soon as a warning was issued, mika. three days after a gigantic volcanic eruption. the massive under water eruption severed an under sea cable, ham perring relief efforts. new zealand military says it's sending drinking water and other supplies to the island. new zealand is sending aide ships and pledged more than 680,000 u.s. dollars in aide. the damage is still being assessed and at least two people were killed over the weekend after tsunami waves crashed into tonga's shoreline. coming up, the college grad who took the seat of a long time incumbent at 22 years old. will haskell became the youngest state senator in the country and he tells us more on that when next on "morning joe." s more on next on "morning joe." inner voice (sneaker shop owner): i'm surprising my team with a preview of the latest sneaker drop. because i can answer any question about any shoe. but i'm stumped when it comes to payroll. intuit quickbooks helps you easily run payroll in less than 5 minutes... ...so you can stay... one step ahead. biden: this is the challenge ...so you can stay... of our collective lifetime. and every day we delay, the cost of inaction increases. we have the ability to invest in ourselves and build an equitable, clean energy future, and in the process, create millions of good-paying jobs and opportunities around the world. there's no more time to hang back or sit on the fence or argue amongst ourselves. so let this be the moment that we answer history's call. hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. [copy machine printing] ♪ ♪ who would've thought printing... could lead to growing trees. ♪ if you are disappointed by your elected officials, grab a clipboard and some signatures, run for office yourself. [ applause ] show up, dive in. stay at it. >> that was former president obama at his farewell speech back in 2017 encouraging americans to act instead of saying they just want change. that's what state's senator will haskell did last year. he did some thought was impossible. he beat the incumbent who held that seat for decades. in his book, he tells his story of how he won. the youngest member of connecticut general assembly joins us now. i was a connecticut reporter long before you were born. and so tell me who you represent and who did you beat? >> thank you so much for having me, mika. >> i represent the 26th district. by the way, there is still many fine memories from the hartford news area at your time as a local anchor there. >> you have been visiting and talking to people closer to my age. that's nice of you. yes, i work with dennis house and eye witness news daybreak with joe fury in the morning. that was my first life on tv. little information i am share rg information with our viewers. that's an incredible era and group of people to represent. tell us about your 100,000 bosses and how you won them over? >> sure. i sort of after college decided to do something a little unusual. that was to come back to my hometown and start knocking on doors. the reason i made that decision was largely because of president obama's farewell address that you just played. he said if you are disappointed in your elected officials, you should grab a clipboard and run for office. i was really disappointed in general. somebody that's been in office longer than i have been, so, i decided to hire my college roommates to be my campaign manager and the morning after graduation. we came back and started new yorking -- knocking on doors and i wrote this book to encourage young people to take that book of faith and to run for office themselves. whether it's town halls or state capitols or in washington, d.c. >> damn right, here is what you wrote. "when i entered politics, i learned that the government is filled with people who are similarly ordinary." erin sorkin instilled in me the belief of the president in the united states should perceive a perfect score in an saturday. perhaps our politics would be functional if we had a realistic expectation and understanding who represented us and government, maybe more smart and competence people will decide to run for office if they realize they dependent need to be worldly brilliant. the last few years taught me hard work pays off more than anything in this job. some of the challenging forces we have seen at the top level in politics are from yale and harvard and it's all confusing. let me ask you this. there is some concern that in your age group, there is a lot of talk about wokeness and those issues while sort of the house is burning down. january 6th. our democracy at is are k. what are your views in term of how we show up this democracy and stick to our values. do you think that matters among people in your age group? >> well, it matters tremendously. there is a lot of hammering in the democratic party as to whether or not the past victory lies through persuading moderate voters and suburbs like the ones that i represent or mobiliing i can activists. i do know any path is going to be paved by young voters. we showed up a big way and that became a new normals. young voters show up in michigan and pennsylvania and arizona with such a strong margins for democrats. the challenge now for the democratic party is kind of hardest of the potential of their part of the coalition. we are still growing in some cases. it's time for elected officials spending more time talking to young people as to opposed talking about them. it's going to be a challenge for a party led by frankly, there are more senior colleagues to figure out how to talk about issues in the way that resonates with the next generation. as i lay out in this book, how can we take down some of the barriers and how we can take down some of barriers preventing people and getting their name on the ballot and running for office. >> good morning, will, it's willie geist. the title of your book refers to your constituents. how did you go door-to-door at 22 years old as you described in your book. okay, i just got out of college, i don't know the experience and i don't have the breath of understanding any issues to do that. >> how did you begin at 22 years old to earn the respect of those 100,000. how did you show them you were ready for that job? >> well, it was a challenge, willie. the truth the fatter is that, young voters continue have all the perspective and don't have all the experience with sochl our colleagues. i don't know what it's like to take out a mortgage -- i spent a lot more time listening than talking. conversely gen z brings a lift perspective. we know what it's like to hear loud noise in the hallway and worry about where we how old hide in the event of the next sandy hook or the columbine arrived in our high school. >> we know that climate change is not an academic societity that we learned in school. we know how hard it's to afford a college degree in the 21st century. >> so the traumas of representative of democracy, every generation has a voice. every perspective has a voice. that's why we need to elect more people of women and color. we need to higher more -- and they do so without input from the next generation, it's invested in that future. >> the. book is "100,000 first bosses" as the 22-year-old senator. say hi to my friend. >> i was there when you were not. >> but you were born after. >> our next guest focuses on, john della volpe. the book is out today. passion to save america. you heard our last guest, will, talking about the outlook of younger people who not have had the insights and wisdom for people who tenners their 50s or 40s. the challenges they face from tech to guns. and the first chapter of your book you write about what zoomer says unite them as americans. tell us about that, first. >> thanks, mika, what a thrill it's to follow will. senator haskell from connecticut. he shows you so well everything we thought we. >> about jen z is very wrong. >> we are talking about seven americans born and which i believe have grown up the most traumatic times in american history and at least 75 year ls. millions of young people lost their homes with their families due to the crisis and top of that we have the whiplash, obama to trump and we have school shootings. they never felt secure even in their own schools. concerns of our democracy and institutions. it stead of withdrawing and all of which accelerated by social media. they decides to lean into fight to get angry and be motivated and change for our america. >> i want to read about your book transitioning from the calm, thoughtful of assure nesz of president obama. >> i came face-to-face with this anxiety during a series of in-depth conversations i hosted with students from across the country that summer. when i asked my question, what unites us as american, before i can follow up, she continues. let's see fear of death, fear of our rights being infringed upon. fear of our future for our kids. fear for our family and our pelt. >> fear was on its way to season the soul of the next generation. most of is members reach adoult hood. >> few moments and a focus group has had a greater impact on me than when i asked for an explanation of what older generations don't get about jen z. >> an older generation would not understand walking into a classroom and thinking about how easy would i be for everyone to shoot it up. that's what children feel about living or dying. >> john, i could not agree more with grace. i brought up my children in this age and i watch fear over take them. my husband and i were reporters and we were covering shootings. these kids are seeing and hearing it. it's important that we validate that. >> and what i am so proud of this generation is there actually mentioning that. when i asked him in the focus group, what they want to see in their leaders, they want a recognition of this fear and distress and anxiety. this is the first time they came of age and it's a complete chaos from florida's closings and steve bannon being on the national security council to being pull out of the paris accord. the state of our politics has been submitting on people. what i found, we need to talk abt. we can't normalize not talk about it. we need to talk about these fears and concerns like will can engage in this process, trying to make the country and themselves better. >> congrats about the book. the five influential defense. i will give you a quick sense to why? >> occupy wall street, the parkland shooting gorge floyd murder and climb change. - climate change. >> that's right. that was a gift from other generations to younger americans and that completely shapes the way the economic and security and the difference between the rich and the poor, something that hispaniced him very rerl in live. >> we talked about the chaos around trump and the parkland shootsing and the difference. >> so many people made by challenging other americans to stand up and do something about that was extraordinary led to the highest turn out i don't think young people in midterm history. doubling the previous tune out. of course we have frazier, the 17-year-old high school student from minnesota with her iphone taped that the world saw and the death and murder of george floyd. >> john, good morning, it's will wie. >> every generation has its own fear just to get your basic rights in this country. you could be scared being drafted going to vietnam. these are unique new fear. this is a generation that's grown up through the financial crisis, they were young and katrina and 9/11 and the iraq war. >> the grown ups were letting them down. has their trusts be broken in terms of relationships with leaders and the government in this country? >> it has. every generation does have fear but unlike previous general recission have not seen or celebrate the promise of america. as gen-x. >> and what was likely tame together after stevens or the challenger disaster. this generation have not hadding a collective moment where we feel good to be america. there has not been that connective issue between younger people in their institutions. they believe in a robust government, they believe in a government to help those who are vulnerable and need it. because there is a lack of security and cig kabs lack of faith. >> we got two elections in a row where young people have voted a record numbers. by the way, genz, they represent 40% of the american electric. there will be more younger people been those generation voting. >> the baby boomers. >> there are thoughts on currency politics that are very different. >> this is jonathan lemire. we did vote bigger number in 2018 and 2020. they still vetoed in smaller numbers as a percentage than older americans. >> will that change and how can that change? why is that? it's one thing to want to be active in, but there is another thing. >> it's a fair point. records by the 2018 elections was 23% or 43%. baby boomers wrote in the teens in those midterm elections. it's not enough. i think if we are truly to save this in doks, we need to double down. if we had 7% of young voters turn out, the 2004, we have a different country over night. it's good that we are making progress. they need toll vote at the same or if not more higher levels than their parents. >> the new book is "fight," how jens zi. thank you very much for coming on the show this morning. >> still ahead, the aviation voicing a concern as 5-g develops. kyrie irving does not appear to be wavering on his covid-19 vaccine stance. even with an injure kevin durand. "morning joe" is coming right back. durand "morning joe" is coming right back hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a thirty-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. ♪ it wasn't me by shaggy ♪ you can experience better hearing with no obligation. you're never responsible for unauthorized purchases on your discover card. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need indeed. indeed you do. indeed instant match instantly delivers quality candidates matching your job description. visit indeed.com/hire welcome back to "morning joe." it is 7:53 on a tuesday morning on a sleepy times square this morning. nba superstar all-star guard kyrie irving has refused to get his covid vaccine and that means he cannot play in home games in new york city games that require vaccinations. his star forward, kevin durant, he got injured, and he will be out about six weeks. that made some speculate maybe kyrie will get the vaccine so he can play in the home games. not so much as he reminded us after last night's game. >> kevin's going to be okay. we'll have to deal with that as his teammates but in terms of where i am with my life outside of this, i stay rooted in my decision, and that's just what it is. i love being with my teammates, i love playing with the nets but i have already been away from this enough time to be able to process this, make the decision, strong and understand people will agree and disagree. >> jonathan, he said he's standing in his decision despite the fact they will not have durant six weeks and can really use kyrie irving in home games. he said this is a principled decision he made, i will play in the road games, played in the lost against cleveland but he will not be there for home for six weeks, eastbound with the absence of durant. >> and durant was playing at an mvp-type level and nets are in trouble without him. one wonders how this is received by the rest of the team, especially if the nets are depleted. they still have james harden, sure, but this is a moment where kyrie irving could step up and help his teammates and he won't do it. one wonders in the clubhouse how that will be perceived, a selfish move. we know, of course, novak djokovic not able to play in the australian open and may not be able to play in the french open either if it looks like. and then there's aaron rodgers, right now top-seated packers, could be heading to the super bowl. boy, two weeks of a discourse about aaron rodgers and the vaccination is probably not what america needs right now. still ahead -- democrats push ahead on voting rights legislation without the support needed to pass it. so why? we'll look at the strategy for bringing it to the floor today. a live report from the white house is just ahead plus, new details in the tenth hostage standoff inside a texas synagogue. the action the rabbi took to help the other hostages escape. "morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming right back ♪ ♪ ♪ this is elodia. she's a recording artist. ♪ 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities. it is the top of the hour. a live look at washington on a gray day in d.c. welcome back to "morning joe." it is tuesday, january 18th. today democrats will bring two voting rights bills to the floor, but without the votes to pass those bills and without the votes to change the senate rules, it's going to fail. joining us now, nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander. peter, what is the strategy here? >> that's a good point you make, mika. this is all doomed to fail before they get started here. for the white house and top democrats, this is a top priority. those two voting rights bills are going to be debated on at some point this afternoon. democrats will be meeting this evening, last push to get sinema and joe manchin on board. but it's clear where they stand. and they don't have the votes to change these voting rules to pass it on their own. with the voting rights legislation likely doomed, president biden and party leaders are warning the consequences of inaction are grave. >> the attack on our democracy is real from the january 6th insurrection to the onslaught of anti-voting laws in a number of states. >> reporter: with the martin luther king jr. rally serving as a rally cry, a renewed since of urgency. years after the march on washington, the civil right's leader son in d.c. demanding democrats deliver on the very issues his father championed for years. >> don't tell us what you believe in, show us with your votes. history will be watching what happens tomorrow. >> reporter: with republicans united against both bills -- >> it's about winning elections. >> now president biden is trying to change the subject by talking about race, and he's mismanaging that. >> reporter: pressure has intensified on democrats joe manchin and kyrsten sinema, who drew criticism for her tweet monday remember dr. king. both favor the legislation but oppose changing the filibuster rules, that would allow democrats to pass the bills with just 50 votes. >> if you really truly want to honor dr. king, don't dishonor him by using a congressional custom as an excuse for protecting our democracy. >> reporter: the democratic legislation includes requiring all states to allow mail-in voting, making election day a national holiday, and loosening state voter i.d. requirements. so all of this, of course, is going to mark a significant setback for president biden. you might ask, why go ahead with these votes in the days ahead? the bottom line for the white house, aides here and top democrats, they think it's critical they put all lawmakers on the record. they want to put the emphasis on republicans for unanimously opposing this but, again, it threatens to undermine and demonstrate the divisions among democrats. you asked earlier, mika, about the strategy and what it is going forward. we have new reporting from nbc news this morning about the potential for reset as it relates to communications, that going forward after this series and other sort of setbacks, the white house is going to try to do more to put emphasis less on president biden's behind-the-scenes dealings with lawmakers and put him position to speak directly to the american help, less than legislator in chief but not to the senate but president of the united states. >> peter alexander, chief correspondent, thank you. willie? let's turn to texas. we're learning new details about the synagogue hostage standoff that took place over the weekend there. the rabbi said he and two members of his congregation were able to escape only after he threw a chair at the gunman that had been holding them captive some 11 hours. nbc news correspondent morgan chesky has new details. >> reporter: overnight the congregation beth israel coming together and their rabbi hero speaking out. >> i love you all. while very few of us are doing okay now, we'll get through it. >> reporter: earlier citron-walker describing the terrifying moments at a standoff at a texas synagogue last weekend. >> when your life is threatened, you need to do whatever you can to get to safety. you need to do whatever you can to get out. >> reporter: after a gunman identified by authorities as 44-year-old british citizen akram interrupted the synagogue in the morning and took hostages. >> right before he revealed himself, i heard a click. and it could have been anything, and it turned out that it was his gun. >> reporter: citron-walker telling cbs, after hours of negotiating seemed to be failing, he took an opportunity to flee, first making sure the other hostages were with him and ready to run. then using a chair as a weapon. >> the exit wasn't too far away. i told them to go, i threw a chair at the gun, and i headed for the door and all three of us were able to get out without even a shot being fired. >> reporter: another hostage describing the frightening moments of the escape. >> i started crawling under the hedge row that is there. one of the fbi agents yelled "to the front, run to the front," and i got up and i ran. >> reporter: now the community slowly healing. >> somehow together we made it through that traumatic ordeal. >> religious leaders in texas have come together in the wake the hostage standoff. joining us now is dr. omar suleiman, an imam and founder and president for akiem institute research. and with him, a program that convenes rabbis and imams and pastors across cities in the united states, something that is so important right now. dr. suleiman, i will start with you, i know you want to start with the importance of unity, especially now. >> yes, there are emphasis on the last moments of the standoff but if you go to the very beginning, charlie refused to turn away from a man in front of his synagogue that he thought needed help. he let him in, despite any security concerns, made him a cup of tea and sat him down. and i think that's really emblematic what the best of us could be, what our potential is, when we refuse to turn away from the homeless, when we refuse to turn away from a hostage situation, when we refuse to turn away from hurt and oppression, no matter who it is taking place against. and that is something i learned from my faith. do not scold the beggar, and the prophet muhammad said do not turn away the poor man. so i think that's something he bid with great ability and as a community in texas we're trying not to turn away from him and our jewish neighbors that are in great pain right now. >> pastor bob roberts of the multi safe neighbors network, what is the network doing now to try to sort of accommodate the needs of the moment? >> mobilizing pastors, imams and rabbis across the twin cities we work in in the united states to help them build bridges. i do this in the u.s. i do it around the world in places like pakistan and sudan and all over the world, but it was just surreal. rabbi charlie lives just literally half a mile from me, his synagogue about 3 miles from where i live. i thought i'm going all over the world to do this and right here in my own backyard. but i think one of the reasons why the community came together is because we have all of these relationships that we built. and as a result of that, we were able to stand firm together. and one of my real priorities is we move from just a concept of religious freedom to religious responsibility. and i'm a big believer in religious freedom. i work with bad safir steen and ambassador brownback. but it's time we put our arms together and we work together and we realize we all have a responsibility to change things in our country, to push back on this harsh rhetoric that's just destroying us. it's a moment, i believe, for faith leaders to stand up and speak out. and i think it's painful because sometimes the people we're going to have to speak out the most about are those in our own tribe. >> well said. dr. suleiman, let me ask you about your experience saturday. you heard about the news saturday and rushed over to the synagogue to see if you could help and take time to spend with the rabbi and three others taken hostage. what did you do when you arrived, and what was the scene that played out in the building where you were sort of adjacent to the synagogue as family members came through? >> you know, it's really something because when you get there, all of the politics really disappears and it really just becomes about securing the release of four innocent human beings. and you're looking at a wife and charlie, being charlie's wife and daughter, wondering if they're going to get their husband and father back, somehow finding the way to not just make sure they were eating and drinking and doing what they needed to do to survive those hours, but checking up on the rest of us. i think for me i just wanted to be there, i wanted to be there to help in any way i could. that meant pastoral support to the families and that's why pastor roberts also came down there and we had a group of us that went down there, or if that was de-escalating the situation, just wanted to be there. and i will share this moment, because i think it's an important moment actually, and i actually sought her permission to share it yesterday. while this was all going on outside, all of the noise and all of the discussions about the circumstances of it, there was a deeply profound moment where two women enter into the building and very few people were allowed to enter at that time. and there were two pakistani muslim women. and they were close friends to charlie's family, charlie's wife and daughter and when they walked in there and hugged them, i was crying because it was a lengthy hug and clearly these were not just people they met at an interfaith dialogue or a community event once a year. these were two dear close friends to them, two women from pakistan. and they brought this dinner from pakistan and said charlie's going to eat this dinner with us tonight. i thought to myself, how beautiful, if people can see that moment right now, how much different would the commentary to the situation be? and that's really what it comes down to again, we don't turn them away. when we resist the urge to turn away and instead honor tha god-giving instinct to show mercy and kindness and stand with and for those that are being harmed in the moment, then that's when we have our best collective potential. and i'm just glad that they came home and everyone went home, and i hope we can be there for our neighbors as they now start to heal for the long term. >> that is indeed a beautiful moment. pastor roberts, you both have said real words of -- powerful words of healing but you also said something a moment ago i wanted to get you to expound upon a little further. you said you have to confront sometimes when there is hatred or evil within your own tribe. how do you do that, how do you speak to someone there, and how do you get that person, he or she, to change their ways when they're surrounded by such rhetoric, anger, which we have now during this difficult time? >> three things, number one, you have to do what the bible says, see people in the image of god. if i look at someone first as a muslim or christian, i'm putting label on them, but if i do really what the bible says, i see this person is created in the image of god. there's this divine fingerprint on them. i think the second thing that is critical to do is build a relationship. it's easy to read books, listen to news stories, but talk to the jews and muslims and atheists, they're all around you. and when you have those relationships, you're ready for a crisis like this. at first it was erroneous but we were told it was a palestinian person. who did i think of first? i live down the street from where this happened, omar suleiman. so i called up a friend of mine and said, we got to get him over there. what does he do? pick up the phone, omar says, i'm on my way. he doesn't have to do that. so what am i doing? using my relationships with the police chief in colleyville, working to get this muslim imam in because he can probably do a better job. imam, i would have gone in with you. i was there. you weren't to be alone. but the reality is, i trust this man. i don't agree with some of your theology and politics but i love you and i know you care about people. in the moment it's like omar said, how do we de-escalate this and how do we work it out? see, if you have those relationships, then you can be ready to do stuff like this. if you don't, you get nice nothing at news conferences, like we have to pray and it's sad and tragic. that's great. what are we doing to build civility right now, right now? and i'm just tired of people pulling our country apart, whether it's politicians, our pastors. we're the people that are saying, we got to love one another, we got to pull this thing together or we're going to lose our country and i'm tired of that. i refuse to do so. >> i hear you, and what an important conversation to have in an interfaith way. immar omar suleiman and pastor roberts, thank you very much. we really appreciate it. turning now to the millions of americans facing treachery conditions this morning after a major winter storm swept across the country yesterday. at least 30 states have been hard hit. nbc news correspondent emilie ikeda joins us from a snowy pittsburgh. what can you tell us? >> good morning, it is snow like this has have prompted delays and closures in parts of the northeast, including here in pittsburgh. cities up and down the coast recovering from the year's first major winter wallop that experts say won't be the last. this morning more fallout after a massive winter storm pummeled the majority of the country. shovels and snowplows put to work, as many head back to work. but the roadways proving difficult for even emergency crews to handle. >> this is major recovery. when you got trucks hanging over the highway. >> reporter: driving conditions up and down the coast, treacherous. crashes and spinouts piling up on roadways. in north carolina the storm taking a deadly turn, two killed after a car veered off the interstate. and injuries in virginia, where state patrol responded to 1,000 crashes and disabled cars on sunday alone. more mayhem anticipated today, after temperatures plummeted overnight, officials are again warning of icy roads. the holiday weekend, a travel headache. at the airport in buffalo, a record breaking 16 inches, almost doubling the previous record. across the country monday, more than 5,000 flights were canceled or delayed. >> it has been crazy, really bad. >> reporter: as millions are still digging out after snow, freezing rain and high-powered winds caused chaos from florida to new england. dangerous wind gusts ripping off the roof of a nursing home in maine. fueling monstrous waves in massachusetts and causing coastal flooding in connecticut, while 13 states logged double-digit snowfall totals. the winter weather beatdown dumped 20 inches in parts of ohio, new york, pennsylvania and north carolina, where heavy snow is being blamed for collapsing a college dorm's roof. the cold weather wallop hanging on in what is looking to be a long winter. and this morning we are thankfully seeing some relief from the snowfall and the wind but for some areas, that won't last long. forecasters warn severe weather could return to the east coast later this week. mika, talk about a 1-2 punch. >> yikes, yeah. nbc news correspondent emilie ikeda, thank you so much. willie? mika, we're just getting news from the state department that secretary of state antony blinken will travel today to kiev to be in ukraine and talk to the president there. we were talking about what's happening on the border and what the united states might be prepared to do if russia goes into ukraine. what does this signal announce to you? >> it's a hastily planned trip and two stops. first going to ukraine to meet with president zelensky and other support of troops at the border and then the secretary of state will move on to berlin where he will be with his organized french counterparts and an organized response to what russia is doing and what they may do if indeed russia steps across the border there as we've been discussing. tensions have risen, talks last week went nowhere, talks with the u.s. and russians. there's a sense russians may be preparing false flag operations to give itself a pretense, fake pretense, for invasion. and the secretary of state's present there, the top man from the united states, underscores how concerned the u.s. is. >> and this morning "the new york times" reporting the week before intense diplomatic began amid buildup of troops on the russian/ukrainian border, american officials watched from afar as russia began emptying out its embassy in kiev. over 50 days they boarded buses back to moscow. and as "the times" points out, how to interpret the evacuation has become part of the mystery of defining the next play by president putin. thinning out the russian agency may be part propaganda, participate preparation for a looming conflict or it could be fake. or some say all three. the russians most likely knew the americans and ukrainians would see have become part of the puzzle of what happens next. so we will be following this closely again, especially with the latest news about the secretary of state headed to ukraine. that is big news. and still ahead on "morning joe," omicron is surging in several states, but may have peaked in others. it has some wondering if this variant could be the last wave of the pandemic? plus, we like the faster speeds of 5g internet but the airline industry says the technology could take out critical systems. we'll dig into that just ahead. and we're just moments away from unveiling the latest global 50 over 50 list from "forbes" and "know your value." it's the europe, middle east and africa list. see who these change-makers are coming up on "morning joe." "mo. ♪♪ for skin that never holds you back. don't for silver. #1 for diabetic dry skin #1 for psoriasis symptom relief and #1 for eczema symptom relief. gold bond. champion your skin. it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. i'm so angry that instead of helping our kids get back in the classroom, the school board focused on renaming schools schools that weren't even open . please recall all three school board members now. for the sake of our kids, we can't wait one more day, never mind a whole year for a fresh start. there's new hope the omicron surge could be on its way out. that can't happen soon enough for schools across the country, many of which are struggling to staff their classrooms. nbc news national correspondent gabe gutierrez reports. >> reporter: the omicron surge is proving hard to predict, with covid cases peaking along the east coast but rising elsewhere around the country. >> i think what happened that no one could have predicted was how quickly the omicron variant spreads. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci says it's too early to tell whether omicron will mark a final wave of the pandemic. >> it is an open question as to whether or not omicron is going to be the live virus vaccination that everyone is hoping for. >> reporter: some places like new jersey, rhode island and connecticut are plateauing. in new york there's been a drop of nearly 47% in covid cases from earlier this morning but other parts of the country are getting slammed. in north kansas city, missouri, 300 teachers out on friday due to covid. >> we're having a pretty difficult time in covering all of our classes. >> reporter: meanwhile public schools in neighboring kansas city, kansas are canceling classes today and tomorrow due to staffing shortages. one online class estimates more than 6,200 schools were actively disrupted last week. and hospitals are struggling too. this medical facility in virginia is using its parking garage as a field hospital. last week we visited upmc children's hospital of pittsburgh and they've never been busier, seeing the number of children hospitalized double. >> it's important to remember every year wintertime is a big peak for children to be hospitalized with respiratory illness. a real difference this year is that we're not seeing other viruses. >> reporter: tomorrow americans can go online to a new government website, covid test.gov and order up to four at-home covid tests per household. it's the latest in president biden's plan to turn the surge of the pandemic. >> my hope is, yes, omicron is the beginning of the end but i'm ready to continue fighting if we have to. >> that was nbc's gabe gutierrez reporting. coming up -- chaos in the airline industry are two things you never want mentioned at the same time. but that's the worry now when it comes to the rollout of new 5g technology. nbc's tom costello takes us inside the cockpit next on "morning joe." the cockpit nextn the cockpit nextn "morning joe." ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ here we go... remember, mom's a kayak denier, so please don't bring it up. bring what up, kayak? excuse me? do the research, todd. listen to me, kayak searches hundreds of travel sites to find you great deals on flights, cars and hotels. they're lying to you! who's they? kayak? arr! open your eyes! compare hundreds of travel sites at once. kayak. search one and done. inner voice (kombucha brewer): i'm dramatically holding this bottle, so the light hits it just right, and people think... wow... ...he knows what he's doing... ...when i'm actually pretty lost with my payroll taxes. intuit quickbooks helps you manage your payroll taxes. cheers. 100% accurate payroll tax calculations guaranteed. technology is pitting the airline industry with cell phone companies. it is around 5g and whether it is safe for the cockpit. nbc's tom costello has more. >> reporter: it's the critical technology pilots rely on for precise altitude readings when landing in poor disability, the radio at tim ter. but the faa, airlines, pilots, boeing and airbus have all warned the new faster 5g cell systems could interfere with the altimeter, just when pilots need it most. now the ceos have written this letter, asking 5g sites wb two miles of airports remain turned off, warning immediate intervention is needed to adestroyed disruption to air passengers, shippers, supply chains and needed medical supplies. >> the faa is uncomfortable with the safety risk and as a consequence, the impact on our operations to mitigate that would be a significant setback. >> reporter: concerned about potential interference, the faa has already issued a notice to pilots. as 5g goes live wednesday, the faa will prohibit pilots from using altimeters during landing at more than 80 airports near 5g sites, including large airport hubs in dallas, new york, chicago and seattle. if those airports experience bad weather, the ceos warn, the vast majority of the traveling and shipping public will essentially be grounded, facing cancellations, diversions or delays. >> this is reckless, it is dangerous, and it's got to stop. take a pause. this is about a cell phone signal and we're focused on protecting lives. >> reporter: but the cell phone industry insists there's no 5g risk to planes, recently telling nbc news, 5g networks operate safely without interference in nearly 40 countries around the world, and it will be no different here. transportation secretary pete buttigieg. >> look, the wireless carriers are inpatient to deploy technology that stands to make a big impact, positive impact on our economy, but on the aviation side, we've also got to make sure that it's safe. >> our thanks to tom costello, who covers aviation for nbc news. and coming up -- we'll stay in the skies for our next story. a giant asteroid is set to soar by earth today. how close will it come next on "morning joe." "morning joe." every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. it's our january sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and it's temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, queen now $1,999. plus, 0% interest for 24 months. why do people who live with generalized myasthenia gravis want a new treatment option? because we want to be able to get up and get ready for work. because the animals need to be cared for, and we like taking care of them. because we want to go out to dinner with our friends. because, in family photos, we want to be able to smile. a new fda-approved treatment for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis could help them do more of the daily activities they care about. to learn more, go to now4gmg.com and talk to your neurologist. welcome back. in just a few hours, a giant asteroid is set to zip by earth. its closest encounter in nearly 90 years. nbc's gadi schwartz has more. >> reporter: when it comes to space rocks, it's all about kmozic timing, from the dinosaur killer that struck our planet nearly 66 million years ago, to the deep impact variety that exploded on the big screen. lucky for us, today's asteroid is going to safely pass by earth, and incredibly a backyard telescope can allow you to catch a glimpse as it zooms by at 43,000 miles an hour. if you don't have one there's a telescope online to livestream the out of this world event. while the netflix smash hit "don't look up" couldn't have been better timed. >> it is unusual to get something this big but it's not that close. >> reporter: that's because it will be five times away from the moon, one of those tracked by the department of defense. and don't worry, they have more credibility than dr. mindy. >> you guys study the government? that's dope. i have a that too of a shooting star on my back. >> it seems like we'll have a defensive mechanism on the horizon, right? >> the ability to defend ourself will take a long time to develop so we should start now. >> reporter: in fact, nasa's trying to crash into an asteroid this fall but the real danger is the one we don't see coming like the fireball that blew up over russia in 2013, the direction of something big enough and what we call armageddon. >> it's a global killer, nothing would survive, not even bacteria. >> if that hit us, that would be end times. . that would be very bad. even 100 yards across would be enough to take out a city. >> reporter: but those chances are getting slimmer the most we plan ahead. >> unlike the dinosaurs, there's nothing they could do, we actually have the capability to do something about this. >> nbc's gadi schwartz reporting for us there. coming up next -- rare footage from one of the world's most iconic sites, the notre dame cathedral in paris, which went up in flames just a few years ago. a new look at the restoration process next on "morning joe." e process next on "morning joe." hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. welcome back this morning. we are getting rare access to the restoration work under way on the roof of the notre dame cathedral in paris. the centuries old building was ravaged by a fire, remember that, more than two years ago. joining us now live from paris, nbc news senior international correspondent keir simmons. good morning. >> hey, mika, bonjour. this is a nice assignment, right? the restoration of notre dame is finally under way. such was the damage done that until now, they've been cleaning up and making it safe. let me just step aside so we can give you a closer look at the cathedral itself. that was where the spire would have been. look at the size of that scaffolding. an organization called the public establishment of the restoration of notre dame undertaking this work and collaborating with "national geographic" to give us these amazing images. notre dame's cathedral roof, restoration now under way, revealed in new exclusive images. and this morning, broadcast for the first time, stunning aerial video of the gaping hole where her famous spire once stood. the cover story of february's "national geographic," rare access to the 850-year-old cathedral as it rises from the ashes. and in the evening glowing once again. contrast that to the night of flames three years ago, parisians walking helpless as smoke and fire rose above the city. that world famous spire collapsing. "national geographic" reporter, based in the u.s., witnessed the icon burn from the banks of the seine. >> the banks of the seine were crowded with thousands of people singing softly, they were praying, kneeling. a lot of them just staring trans fixed. >> reporter: he returned to paris to see the resurrection. >> you're going to see the churches as you've never seen it before. the outpouring of donations from all over the world, including the u.s., was so strong they have enough money to really do it right. >> reporter: just a year before the fire "today" was given exclusive access to the cathedral. >> are we going to run into quasimodo? >> reporter: to the timber roof where the most famous fictional mab, hunchback of notre dame lived, a fictional man and his lover who couldn't show himself. it was easy to see how that story caught imagination. the famous bell that has rung all through history. >> on big events, the liberation of paris was celebrated with these bells ringing. >> reporter: miraculously surviving the historic inferno. statues of the 12 apostles survived too because incredibly, just four days before the fire, they had been removed for restoration. a photographer using a 19th century wooden camera to capture these images of the gargoyles on glass plates. >> i took it up there inside notre dame, up the bell towers and photographed the gargoyles, which were also coincidentally made about the same time of this cam ara. >> reporter: the new rooftop and famous spire will be rebuilt using the same oak and lead that burned and melted in the inferno, using medieval tools and techniques. a sea of scaffolding inside as they bring notre dame back to life, a cathedral that survived revolution and war, even seeing napoleon crowned emperor, emerging from her battle with the flames, once again making history. difficult to comprehend, mika, we were inside that wooden roof just a year before the fire, inspiring to see the work now under way, and hopeful. the will be finished by 2024, in time for the paris olympics. we do want to -- if you want wait until then, mika, those images and that story is in national geographic's february issue and you can see it on natgeo.com. >> keir simmons live from paris, thank you very much. now to another big moment in the 50 over 50 venture from forbes and know your value. the lists recognize the women who have achieved success after the age of 50, in some cases long after 50. it's a long runway. last week we announced 50 over 50's global expansion with women from asia, and this morning we are revealing the list from europe, middle east and africa, and what a list it is. here now to tell us more is editor of forbes women, maggie mcgrath and "morning joe" reporter daniella pierre bravo. maggie, this list is amazing, let's go through some of the honorees. first that we have she's my age, aslam 54 years old. maggie? >> yes, the doctor is the co-founder and chief medical officer of biontech. everyone knows the name of the company now because of course it partnered with pfizer to bring the covid-19 vaccine to market in less than a year. the doctor oversaw that project which was called project light speed. she is a long-time cancer researcher, that's how she spent most of her career and actually until 2020 biontech had never brought a product to market. so it's a really tremendous accomplishment and a fun fact side note that i just love about her story, she and her husband who is her co-founder, when they got married, they had their ceremony and they were still doing research so they went back to the lab after the ceremony. so she is so intensely focused on science and her patients. >> that is so impressive. moving from germany to south africa, maggie, louisa, tell us about her. >> she is 65 years old, she is the co-founder and ceo of withhold, it is south africa's first women-owned and women focused investment platform. she started it with 500,000 rand, today the portfolio is valued at more than 2 billion rand. she and her co-founders started it because they realized no one was going to create economic opportunity for women in africa except other women. she is focused on right now agricultural companies and entrepreneurs looking to solve food insecurity. >> and let's go to poland. 55-year-old kasha is making waves in poland, maggie, tell us how. >> she is. she runs discovery's europe, middle east and africa portfolio. it's their largest international operation, they have about a billion viewers every year and it encompasses 105 countries. she actually started discovery's polish office in 2000 with just two employees, today she oversees a team of more than 4,000 people. she is quite powerful. >> well, it's interesting, i'm headed to poland this week to help my brother and his family settle in and i will be doing -- i will be doing "morning joe" from warsaw at discovery-owned tvn. so hopefully i will get to meet her. that's really cool. making the forbes 50 over 50, europe, middle east and africa list. let's move on now, daniella, we are going to go to the uae for our orie, raya. >> an award winning architect. she started her career studying in baghdad and later moved to the states and got her graduate degree at mit. she is the founder of raw nyc based in nyc and due bay. the diversity in design she brings to her industry is expansive. her work has been on display around the world. she's been behind everything from new york's first public green school to the award winning aspire sports complex in qatar. she's had a number of accolades and recognition, one of which is most influential architects in the middle east that she's won a number of times. >> all right. and then we go to sweden. sara mcphee, 68, and, boy, does she have so many awards, best ceo, most powerful, the king's medal, you name it. sara mcphee has received it. daniella, tell us why. >> it's like we don't have enough time in the segment to go over everything that she's had. she's had such an impressive amount of leadership experience, having run the business divisions of several companies. her career actually started in the u.n. where she was a program manager in mozambique. she did a little bit of a career pivot, she got her graduate degree in economics in sweden and then from there she went on to have leadership roles at ge capital, pwc and then a number of other places. she's actually had quite a few board director roles as well, places like axel johnson, clarna, and a number of others. >> that's amazing. so these are just some of the women on the 50 over 50 emea list for 2022. this is our inaugural list for europe and beyond. we had 50 over 50 asia and the 50 over 50 u.s. list. this is all building to the forbes 30/50 summit this march, we're bringing together generations of women, all together in abu dhabi to mark international women's day. it's a global event that will link the 30 under 30 and the 50 over 50 lists. it's got a mentoring component between the two lists, but also for women around the world. if you want to go, if you want to send your team, if you want to reward members of your team and send them, visit forbes.com for more information on how to register. we're really pulling together an incredible event, very interactive, amazing speakers, world leaders and stars. you can hear more about the issues at the forefront of this movement on my new limited series podcast, "mika straight up" and you can listen to that wherever you get your podcasts. we will be talking about all of these events and incredible women and the wisdom that they bring to the table, telling younger women there is such a long runway and they really can rethink the way they plan out their lives. no longer are they in a rush thanks to these trailblazers. maggie mcgrath and daniella pierre bravo thank you both very much for bringing that to us. now to a look at the climate crisis through the lens of an urgent call to save the manatees who are struggling to survive. cold temperatures are driving them to warmer waters, but when they get there there's no food for them to eat. nbc news correspondent kerry sanders has more on the fight to keep them alive. >> reporter: this morning manatees, the gentle giants with no predators, not even sharks or alligators, in an unprecedented fight to survive. in the last 12 months a record 1,100 plus manatees have died, most from starvation. >> these animals aren't down 100 pounds, they are not down 200 pounds, we are talking about being down 800, 900 pounds. they're skeletons. >> orlando's sea world with the largest manatee hospital in the world had 36 patients and was at capacity, but over the weekend with the help of shipping giant dhl, teams flew four manatee calves from orlando to the columbus zoo and aquarium. the delicate weekend journey deeded to make room at sea world's hospital because in the wild more and more of these gentle giants are in a life and death struggle. but for all the heartbreaking losses those who are rescued are likely to survive, like the newest arrivals in ohio. >> the columbus zoo and aquarium was more than happy to help out. >> reporter: the us precedented manatee death rate off the atlanta coast the result of fertilizer runoff from farms and lawns, as well as leaky septic tanks. combined the nutrient-rich water becomes super charged causing algae blooms, the thick gunk preventing the sun rays from reaching the ocean's sea bed from sea grasses grow. a big manatee eats up to 300 pounds of sea grass a day. >> there is no sea grass for a 70, 80 mile stretch. >> it like a desert down there. >> it's a desert underwater. there is no food. there's nothing there. >> reporter: in the manatee hospital lettuce is the number one choice to build their weight back up, but in the wild feedings like this have failed. >> we continue to adapt. we are confident at some point we will find a trigger that works. >> all right. that is incredible. i want to point out the list that i announced earlier, we didn't have a picture of kasha. we do have it now. she is on the forbes 50 over 50 europe, middle east and africa list and she is absolutely incredible. she's the president and managing director of discovery emea at 55 years old and last december the company really survived what was a proposed kind of blockade, legislation that would have blocked discovery in poland and it was a big, big moment for free media in poland and kasha is credited for being the mastermind behind that, the person who got it all done and that's one of the many reasons why she is on the forbes 50 over 50 list. so congratulations to her. by the way, i will see you in warsaw, i'm doing the show at tvn in warsaw all next week. so that should be fun. by the way, bill de blasio not running for governor. that does it for us this morning. chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. ♪♪ hi there, i'm chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle, live at msnbc headquarters here in new york. it is tuesday, january 18th, a day democrats insist will live in history, but maybe not for the reasons they'd like. starting just a few hours from now the senate for the first time will begin debating legislation that combines two voting rights bills, the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act. just getting to this debate took months of effort and today is democrats' chance to again make their central argument, that these bills are critical to defendin