us. we begin with the news that broke yesterday with the supreme court. justice breyer plans to step down at 28 years on the bench. his formal announcement could come as soon as today. his decision gives president biden a chance to name his replacement while democrats still control the senate. nbc news justice corner pete williams has the details. >> reporter: people close to justice breyer say he made the decision to step down within the past several weeks and prepared to formally notify the white house this week. at age 83, he is the court's oldest justice and appears to be in good health. he remains highly productive, writing last term as, some of last year's decisions. he knows how washington works. he was well aware some progressives said justice ruth bader ginsberg stayed on the court too long despite battles with cancer. he death allowed president trump to appoint amy comey barrett. he said last fall he knew of the pressure for him to step down. >> most of the considerations in mind and i simply have to weigh them and think about them and decide when the proper time is. i have also said that i hope i don't die on the supreme court. >> reporter: any nominee of president biden's succeed justice breyer would maintain the 6-3 ideological split. bill clinton, nominated breyer, then a federal judge in boston in 1994. he was confirmed, 87-9. he quickly established himself as one of the supreme court's moderate liberals who believed that interpreting the constitution must be practical, changing with the times. >> the reason that i do that is because law in jenny think grows out of communities in people who have some problems they want to solve. >> reporter: he wrote the court's opinion striking down a state law that banned some long-term abortions. he supported affirmative action and other civil rights measure. in a widely noted dissent in 2015 he said the death penalty in america had become so arbitrarily it was probably unconstitutional. >> his real legacy is trying to take the law in a pragmatic direction. he wanted the law to work. he didn't want abstract legal rules that made no sense in the real world. >> reporter: justice breyer will be around until at least late june when the term ends, one of the most important terms in years. >> so, jon meacham, here we go again. these obviously become extraordinarily partisan. people as of act as if they've only been partisan for the past years, but it would be hard to beat the bourque hearings or actually the bourque nomination even before, you know, any hearings began, how intense and how partisan that was. miguel estrada as well and, of course, merrick garland not even given the decency, shown the decency of people meeting with him in their senate offices. so, yes, here we go again. any reason to believe that this is going to be less heated than past nomination fights? >> i don't think so. i think you are right, that history would say that the numbers guide this, as long as there aren't some other factors about the particular nominee that we don't know about coming in. if the white house keeps the 50 senators plus the vice president, it probably moves fairly quickly. i think that that is a sentence you could pluck out of context and apply to several different things over the last 14 months, and the conditional "if" didn't come to pass. so you just never know. the significance is almost impossible to overstate for all of the reasons that pete's reporting shows up. you know, our finest hours as a country have come in some ways because of the supreme court and some of our worst. you know, this is an institution that gave us dred scott and plessy and brown versus board of education. i think as you know well the focus on the right side of politics, the conservative side of politics on the court, particularly since eisenhower appointed chief justice warren, you have seen its fruition in the graphic you just showed, the intense view that judgeships matter. it is pretty clear to me that in the popular imagination these judgeships, not just the supreme court, they've always been hugely important but they took on this particular ideological significance really after the criminal justice decisions, the integration decisions, the idea that the warring court had gone too far. we are sort of in the 70th year of that. >> yeah, and you are right. i saw you yesterday talking about after the nomination, talking about one of the reasons why republican are so intense and so focused on every nominee now. you go back, you traced, you know, one republican president after another. of course, it was ike that gave america earl warren and then brennon. you can take that all the way through. a lot of republicans angry at sandra day o'conner and kennedy when they had chances time and time again to end roe v. wade, they always refused to do it. so this is a conservative court, a 6-3 court at the same time as we mentioned on this program it is also a court that was really one of the only branches, one of the three branches -- i guess the better way to say the one of the three branches that actually took their charge from the constitution seriously, being a separate but equal power, standing up to donald trump and attempts to overthrow the election in case after case after case. >> yeah, absolutely. and, yeah, of course nixon is another example of that, right. so i mean he gets four appointees because of the -- well, when you get into a conversation where abe fortis comes in, it is probably time to keep moving. but, you know, harry blackmon was his appointee, who wrote roe v. wade. there's been a sense of institutionalized betrayal to some extent and the right is never going to be fooled again, is sort of the articulation there. i think that if the constitution, as i hope and pray and i know you do, endures through this particular moment of stress and strain, it may well be because of article three, the judicial branch. so much -- it is so interesting and this is why this confirmation is going to be interesting. so much of our country depends on the spirit as opposed to the letter of law and custom, right. one of the things that the last five years has shown us is that there's an authoritarian streak in the country that puts power above almost anything else, sends fake electors to the national archives. we know how fragile this is. we have also known it intellectually. everyone quotes benjamin frankly, the middle point pillow of a republic if you can keep it. that's moved from the quaint to the existential in the last -- i think in the last two years in particular. it may well be that the court is the place where an election challenge, some 14th amendment challenge to having an election result overturned, something like that is probably going to end up in that room and these justices are going to decide. >> so how is president biden looking at this pick? joining us now nbc news correspondent josh letterman who covers the white house. josh, good to see you this morning. present made an explicit promise to democratic voters, first in south carolina, remember, where he was reeling coming out of new hampshire and won thank to black voters in south carolina, thanks to jim clyburn in south carolina and said, "i will pick a black woman to be my first supreme court justice." well, here we are. who is out there, who is on the board and how is he looking at this? >> you think back to that moment in the campaign and the jump start to president biden's campaign and his declaration if elected president he would name the first black woman to the supreme court, those two things are so rolled up in one, willie, it is easy to see why now the white house is looking at this moment as a real opportunity, especially when they look ahead to the mid terms. it is right they know this is likely to be a big fight, but it is a fight the white house would rather be having than, for example, a fight between progressives and moderates over build back better. you know, it is one that is -- there's no issue other than this that's going to energize the base as much and give the president a chance to deliver on that commitment. the white house already making very clear that president biden stands behind that pledge to name a black woman to this seat, even though we haven't heard at length yet from president biden on that, although we do expect the president to appear today at the white house with justice breyer for that retirement announcement. unlikely we will get a pick today from president biden, but we do know that he has long had this list at the ready of black women who are, you know, in many cases already sitting on appellate benches and could easily be put into this position. of course, first and foremost on everyone's minds this morning is judge ketangi brown jackson on the d.c. circuit, both because of her long, distinguished career that really puts her in a good -- her resume for this role, but also the fact it was not that long ago that she was confirmed by the senate, including by several key republican senators who would now have to explain why they would vote against her confirmation to the supreme court, folks like senator collins and senator murkowski. even though this is not likely to be an overwhelming vote in favor of a nominee, we haven't seen that in quite sometime, the white house feeling fairly confident that regardless of which one of these women based left, they're going to be able to get this through in fairly short order and it will help them change the narrative that's been so difficult for the biden administration over the last couple of months, willie. >> yeah, josh, an interesting point of judge jackson where the vote just last june to have her confirmed to the d.c. circuit, arguably the most important court outside of the supreme court in this country, was a 53-44 vote. collins, murkowski and, yes, lindsey graham voted to confirm judge jackson. there is a long list prepared for candidates for this position. >> it is interesting that lindsey voted for her nomination. graham also vote years ago, back in the ice age, for ruth bader ginsberg's nomination i believe when rbg got close to 90 votes. a different time completely. mike barnicle, what can you tell us about this selection, about this vacancy, how it came about? also about justice breyer's legacy. >> boy, joe, that's an interesting question given the context of the times we are talking about right now. justice breyer's judicial career began in a time in the united states senate and a system that doesn't exist today. it is 1979, 1980, jimmy carter is president of the united states. ted kennedy is chairman of the senate judicial committee. strom thurmond is the ranking member in the senate judicial committee and joseph r. biden is a member of the committee. stephen breyer is counsel to that committee and there's a vacancy in the federal appeals court out of boston, massachusetts. senator kennedy, who was obviously having a contentious time with jimmy carter running against him in a presidential primary, wants archibald cox to get the open slot. carter says, no, not happening. time passes. kennedy withdraws from the presidency, and ken feinberg, who went on to become the pay czar, ran ted kennedy's office suggests that steve breyer, the counsel, get the slot. kennedy asks carter to nominate breyer to the federal appeals court in boston. carter agrees to it. he becomes a federal judge in 1980, and 14 years later when there was an opening on the court ted kennedy asks bill clinton to put stephen breyer on the court. that's how it happened. strom thurmond was instrumental in asking ronald reagan after he beat carter handily in 1980 not to remove breyer's then nomination from the list because strom thurmond tells reagan breyer is a really good guy, gets along with everybody, a lot of common sense. i, strom thurmond, like stephen breyer, could you do me a favor and let that nomination stand. ronald reagan did. that would never, ever happen in today's political climate. >> no, it would not. we are going to continue to talk about this, but we want to move to the other big story of the morning. there's been no let-up in the tensions in this region of the world, especially in ukraine, as russia continues to add troops near the country's border. they continue to do it. this comes as the u.s. and nato formally respond to moscow's security demand in a letter. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has the details from ukraine. >> this. >> reporter: this time russia mobilized its ships in the black sea as it continues its military buildup for a possible invasion of ukraine. a western intelligence official tells nbc news russia has 112,000 to 120,000 troops on ukraine's borders in 60 battalion tactical groups with more, maybe many, many more on the way. russia says it is all in response to what the foreign minister called hysterical threats from the west to attack russia and punish it with sanctions, insisting russia will not invade. diplomatically, the united states formally gave russia written answers as requested which fell far short of vladimir putin's sweeping demand that nato expansion since the collapse of the soviet union be undone and ukraine never be allowed to join. >> i can tell you that it reiterates what we've said publicly for many weeks and in a sense for many years, that we will uphold the principle of nato's open door. >> so, katty, the question here is obviously -- the key question is whether vladimir putin will be invading ukraine, that's only what all of this craziness has been about the past couple of weeks. i will say, a really fascinating sub plot and one i never saw coming, was the near betrayal of our german allies who have been extraordinary allies since 1945, post-war, and the fact they're acting like iran, making people who want to stop this invasion from putin fly around their airspace, doing everything they can to stand in the way of a defense against the invasion. i'm curious what your thoughts are, also what you are hearing from other nato allies about the fact that germany seems to be more interested in protecting vladimir putin than a country that's now teetering on the brink of invasion. >> ye, germany's intransigence is rankling allies as well. the brits didn't ask the germans if they could fly their transport planes they were sending ukraine over their airspace because they didn't want to put germany in the position of saying no. then the estonians wanted to send arms to help the ukrainian effort, and germany said no because they said they originated in germany, you bought them from us. particularly the central european countries and are very nerves, poland where mika is, romania, all nato members who are nervous about what russia is doing in ukrainian. the answer is simple. it is self-interest. germany last year imported as much as 75% of its natural gas from russia and it is very dependent. gas prices have soared in europe this year. they're up 300%. people are being crippled by their gas bills, and the german government is just very nervous about doing anything that might lead to it not getting the gas reserves it needs to heat its people in the middle of a cold european winter. so they are looking at their pocketbooks and they're playing a sort of, you know, politic game as far as they are concerned. but it could come back to bite them because if russia actually moves on ukraine, you will see pressure within germany and this new coalition government, particularly from the green party members like the foreign ministers, saying, we have to be tougher on russia. >> josh, as you know if you talk to people around the white house or the state department or defense, they haven't fully conceded putin is going to go into ukraine but they will say it is looking more likely based on troop and equipment movements to the border, in that direction. we've heard that they offered the answers to the demand and the white house was intimately involved in this. what is the white house's view on where it is headed? >> they are very concerned about what katty was describing about the fears in europe about maintaining this unity between the suss and nato partners. one of the things that the administration is trying to do in the last few days is figure out if there are ways the united states could actually shore up the energy supplies of the european countries if russia were to cut them off in the midst of a military conflict, and they are hoping that the europeans will then be more willing to be forward leaning in cracking down on russia and imposing sanctions, et cetera, if they're not as worried about their own energy supplies. by all outside appearances that effort is really just coming together. they're kind of building that plane as they fly it. in the meantime, the u.s. providing that written european response that you were describing, willie, and i have to say, you know, president biden -- president putin made it clear this was something he was insisting on and the u.s. agreed to provide it in writing. by all accounts, though it hasn't been made public, officials are saying there's nothing new that is in there, there's nothing surprising that the u.s. put in there and they're laying out what they're willing to discuss in a potential off-ramp to the con flint, such as transparency around force posture in europe and placement of nuclear capable missiles within the continent. but barring ukraine or anyone else from nato is still a no-go. it is not like there's a shift in u.s. position reflected in that and there's not a shift from the russian side either. the only thing shifting in the last few days is more and more russian troops towards the border into belarus as well. that's the reason that the white house, as you point out, willie, really feels like it is moving in the direction of a military conflict even as they try to keep that door open for diplomacy if they can get putin to take it. >> nbc's josh letterman covering a busy morning at the white house for us. thanks so much. mika. all right. still ahead on "morning joe," fed chair jerome powell signals an interest rate hike could be coming soon. what that means for the markets this morning. plus, white house officials acknowledge coronavirus may never go away. what dr. anthony fauci is saying about finding normalcy. also ahead, a powerful winter storm is expected to hit the east coast this weekend, bringing heavy snow and strong winds. we'll have a look at where the storm is tracking. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. "morning j. we'll be right back. this is the new world of work. each day looks different than the last. but whatever work becomes, the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding new ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office? what's an office? ...or solving a workplace challenge that's yet to come. wherever the new world of work takes your business, the world works with servicenow. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. it's still the eat fresh refresh™ so subway's upping their avocado game. we're talking just two great ingredients. perfectly ripe, hand-scooped hass avocados and a touch of sea salt. it's like a double double for your tastebuds. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and refreshing... to make my vision a reality my varilux progressive lenses provide seamlessly transition from near to far. with every detail in sharp focus. that's seeing no limits. varilux lenses by essilor. i fell in love with these kids and i didn't want to see them fall victim to the system, so i made them a promise. i told them that if they graduated from high school, i would pay for their college education. i have made some empty promises in my life, but hands down that was the most generous. >> oh, my gosh. >> that was some of the most painful. >> i can't watch that one. your son jack hates that episode. >> well, to jack and i -- i said, jack, you have to see this. >> he didn't. >> willie, when he started talking about scott's tie and he goes in and he's going to tell them instead of a laptop, an education he is going to give them a laptop. then instead of a laptop it will be a battery. by the end he is asking for the battery back from one of the -- it is a screamer. it is just one of those things. yeah, jack had to leave the room. he said, i can't watch that anymore. scott's tight. >> so bad. >> what are you going to do? what are you going to do? hey, mr. scott. hey, mr. scott. >> talk about a show that holds up, oh, my god, through the generation. >> yes. >> it is funny, richie gervais originated that. he was asked which he likes better, which version. why did we show you that scene in "the office"? there's a university in maryland that told them they would full scholarship, the honors program, $5,000 to study abroad. how exciting is that? it turns out the message was sent by mistake when the school was testing out its new messaging technology. oh, no. there is a happy ending though. central michigan university now says it does plan to pay full tuition for the students who had been sent the message by mistake. the other perks however will not be a part of the deal. they send this e-mail blast as a test of their system. they students erupt, they can't believe their good luck and it was a big mistake. good news, they will get the tuition at least. >> hey, my scott. hey, mr. scott. oh, my god. do you think you get -- why don't you do a test of your system, mika, test. send it and see if it works. do not promise rocket ship trips to mars, things could go very, very badly. very badly indeed. >> just don't do that. okay. also making headlines this morning, president biden will travel to new york city next week to meet with mayor eric adams. according to the white house, they're going to discuss strategies for combatting gun crimes. the meeting comes on the heels of a second nypd officer dying from injuries sustained during a shooting last friday night in harlem. new york city has seen an uptick in gun crime. this week mayor adams laid out a plan that would put more officers on patrol, expand the partnership between city and state police and restore a controversial anti-gun police unit. and one of the largest icebergs ever has melted. the iceberg, known as the a68a first made headlines in 2017 when it broke off an ice shelf on the an arctic peninsula. at its largest it was more than 100 miles long and 30 miles wide and was about 800 feet thick with 85% of its mass hidden below the water line. as it thinned out and melted into, quote, nothingness, the iceberg released a huge quantity of fresh water into the sea, enough to fill an olympic-size swimming pool 61 million times over. the influx of so much fresh water could affect plankton and other organisms in the food chain. that's a big story. also a major storm headed to the northeast. let's go straight to meteorologist bill karins for the latest on that. what can you tell us? >> saturday will be a blizzard. it looks like from cape cod through the boston area, into areas of maine, that looks like the guaranteed portion of the forecast. the rest we still have a lot to determine. first off, to get a big snowstorm you need it to be cold and it is plenty chilly out there. it is negative 28 degrees in caribou. right now 34 million people are included in winter storm watches including boston, philadelphia, most of new jersey, down through richmond. washington, d.c. is not in the winter storm watch and that's a hint of who will be hit hardest by the storm. we still have disagreement unfortunately. our european computer model is saying a decent shot of snow from philly to boston. our model is closer to the canadian maritimes and has barely any snow for hartford, new york and philadelphia. we still have disagreement. as for now we use the national blended model, a combination of a lot of different models, kind of like taking an average. the thinking is an inch or two in d.c. new york city on the evenly of what could be heavy snow or a lighter event. right now new york city is in the 3 to 6-inch range. on long island it could be up to 12 inches. the albany capital, the district area, probably very little snow for you. when you head towards boston, towards nantucket blizzard conditions are likely with gusts. 1 to 2 feet of snow up to cape cod. with 50 to 60-mile-per-hour winds we could see power outages, too. hopefully by tomorrow when everyone has to make final calls for travel plans we will be able to pinpoint the d.c. to new york city forecast better for you. we know for a fact eastern new england is in for a good, old fashioned snowstorm come saturday. >> here it comes. bill karins, thank you very much for that report. we appreciate it. coming up, first it was accusations of parties during covid lockdown. now it is evacuations of animals from afghanistan. we are going to explain the latest development around british prime minister boris johnson that's adding to calls for his resignation. and neil young is no longer on spotify. it has nothing to do with music. he says the streaming service is spreading covid misinformation. we're going to dive into all of that a little later on "morning joe." we will be right back. "morning joe. we will be right back. biden: when i think about climate change, the word i think of is jobs. these investments are a win, win, win, for this country. creating jobs, cutting energy protecting our climate. so let's not waste anymore time. let's get to work. it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new baja turkey avocado with smashed avocado, oven-roasted turkey, and baja chipotle sauce. it's three great things together. wait! who else is known for nailing threes? hmm. can't think of anyone! subway keeps refreshing and re... thinkorswim® by td ameritrade is more than a trading platform. it's an entire trading experience. that pushes you to be even better. and just might change how you trade—forever. because once you experience thinkorswim® by td ameritrade ♪♪♪ there's no going back. 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. biden: i know that climate change you can pick the best plan for each employee is a challenge that is going to define our american future. i know meeting the challenge will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to jolt new life into our economy. so let's not waste any more time. let's get to work. nice shot of london. it is not quite, hey, mr. scott, what you gonna do to make our dreams come true, but it is pretty close. what an incredible song. willie, i got to say, man, just an incredible artist and the words -- just i love this song so much, and his hair was perfect. >> was perfect. >> it is perfect. >> i have to say whenever i see a crosswalk like that in london, all i think about is abby road. i know it is not abby road, but you see those lines and the whole thing. >> exactly, exactly. you know, things are pretty calm over there politically. oh, is that abby road? no way. >> wow. >> look at that. >> i was making that up. amazing. >> finally, after 15 years. after 15 years "morning joe" finally gets it abby road cam in. is that rika walking across the street? anyway, so this morning british prime minister boris johnson, get this, is once again on the defense over another issue. this time it is whether he authorized the evacuation of cats and dogs from afghanistan. not making this up. a batch of leaked e-mails appear to contradict johnson's claims of nothing to do with the evacuation of animals in afghanistan as the country fell to the taliban and humans were scrambling to find a way out. johnson has dismissed that he prioritized the safety of cats and dogs over people, and he said it was complete rubbish or nonsense. that appears to be contradicted by a message from a british diplomat made public on wednesday. downing street continues to deny that the prime minister had any involvement in this cats and dogs episode. johnson is already facing accusations, of course, of misleading authorities over parties at downing street that may have broken covid-19 policies. katty, weigh saw yesterday a picture of one of the parties. my god, he was outside on a roof top. he looked pretty socially distanced to me. again, i asked the question, are things going so well in great britain that they're going to continue to obsess over him talking to people outside and now this cats-and-dogs caper of sorts. seriously, is this going to bring boris johnson down. >> it is raining cats and dogs and parties and problems for him at the moment. >> yes. >> he can't seem to catch a break. i think what is at the heart of all of this, you mentioned one of the things the prime minister had said about the cats-and-dogs scandal and whether he prioritized getting animals outside of afghanistan rather than people and he was asked about it and he said it was complete non-sen. i don't think it is one or two individual parties. it is a pattern of the prime minister denying things or in this case appearing to have lied about them and thinking that he can get away with doing things that other people aren't doing. that's what is causing him problems. boris johnson is useful to the conservative party when he is popular. if he starts being unpopular, the conservative party is pretty ruthless, as we know around margaret thatcher. they can turn on him if they choose to. he has to deliver the goods for them. at the moment the one thing he is meant to being as this popular, roguish politician, and the british are souring on that. he is going to manage to do what he needs to do to keep the conservatives happy? we will see. we are waiting for the civil report that comes out on the parties. there's a lot of suffering amongst brits who suffered through lockdowns and were very adherent to these rules. even if it was outside, they don't have a soft spot for people that broke them, particularly for the people who made them in first place. >> no doubt, just like gavin newsom in california, it caused him some problems. i wonder, jon meachem, if what we're seeing in britain may be coming to america soon where a right-wing national who seems to be able to get away with just about anything and defy political gravity may finally get his come uppance. we see in britain one small nick that may cause johnson to bleed out. over here, it seems donald trump every other day has a setback, either in new york state, with the supreme court or in georgia with the grand jury. the bad news seems to keep coming for him as well. >> yes. you know, in a world where donald trump was elected president anything is possible. i think -- i offer that as a hypothesis that is probably a theory given the evidence. i think you layout what history would tell us, that figures who burn so brightly do tend to burn out. it is just almost impossible to -- strike almost. it is impossible to know exactly how that happens. and if it, in fact, happens again. we are as polarized as we have ever been by the political science measurements. polarization is at a global high for us in a global context. but, you know, history is full of people who -- public figures who overreached, outstayed their welcome, and i think we just -- that cycle unfolds. i think that the country, the united states, i think the most important thing we can do -- and this is not a partisan point -- is decide do we want to be a country that works toward fulfilling the declaration of independence and creates prosperity and opportunity for all? because if everybody has an opportunity, that means my opportunity is safe. do you make that argument and push it or do you constrict that opportunity? that, i think, is the central question. >> all right. jon meachem, as always, thank you so much for being with us this morning. >> thanks. >> we greatly appreciate it. mika, what do we have coming up? we've got a lot still ahead. a new report finds that more than 100 candidates running in the midterm elections have ties to extremism. the head of the anti-defamation league says there's never been a moment like this. we'll talk about it ahead on "morning joe." l talk about it an "morning joe." way in the world today♪ ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ find your rhythm. your happy place. ♪ find your breaking point. then break it. every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. need to get your prescriptions refilled? 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[flames burning] [wind blowing] ♪♪ welcome back to "morning joe." ten minutes before the top of the hour on a thursday morning as we look at a live picture of times square in new york city. the federal reserve is suggesting it plans to raise interest rates as soon as march in an effort to fight inflation. nbc news correspondent tom costello explains. >> expectations. >> mona, we are going to interrupt and go to steve liesman with the fed decision. >> the committee expects it will, quote, soon be appropriate to raise the target range. >> it is a central bank strategy to fight skyrocketing prices from grocery aisles to gas stations. the federal reserve suggesting it will soon start slowly raising interest rates. >> i think there is quite a bit of room to raise interest rates without threatening the labor market. >> analysts believe the fed will raise rates gradually in quarter point steps beginning in march. higher interest rates will likely lead to more expensive car and student loans, credit cards and new home mortgages, even as home prices nationally are up 14% in a year. here in phoenix where new home prices have jumped 30%, jacob dennis and his wife nicole are struggling to find a new home and fear it could soon be out of reach. >> it has turned into more of a business transaction rather than our first-time home buying experience together that should be fun anden joy oobl. >> the coming rate heights follow an unprecedented two years. >> the stock market plugging, worst single-day drop in history. >> the market was pushed into a steep dive. the fed quickly dropped interest rates to near zero, helping to support the economy and limit the recession. two years later consumers are paying more for everything from food and clothing to cars and gasoline. >> as we're seeing inflation rise, that is a signal to the federal reserve that something needs to be done. >> tom costello reporting there. joining us, former treasury official, "morning joe" economic analyst, steve rattner. good morning. i want to get to your charts in a minute, but what did you make of the fed's signal come march it will play with the rates to do something about the inflation that's pushing up against 7% now? >> yes, it is something we expected, the market expected. the fed has been signaling that for a while now. the only question is whether in effect they may have waited too long. as you know, inflation has gone up a lot. the economy is roaring. you just saw what is going on with house prices, which is a principle target of interest rate policy to keep house prices from going up as fast as they've been going up, but we are trying to land a plane going at a very high speed at the moment, and the market is, as you saw in the stock market numbers, quite nervous about there. there will be a lot of interest rate hikes, but the question is are there going to be so many that contrary to what the chairman just said it does affect the job market, it does affect growth, it affects the overall economy. there are not a lot of examples of us trying to decelerate an economy with this much inflation this quickly without a lot of effect on economic growth and possibly ending in recession. >> steve, by all accounts if you look at the economy, at any many indications, at my levels of the economy we are doing very well. yet you go into a store, you go to the gas station and the rise in prices shock you. what is going on? what has happened? what can you tell us about it? >> that's a great lead into my charts. thanks so much. >> perfect. >> let's look at biden's first year and how he has done on those three points as well as a few other things and a couple of noneconomic things. to your point, if you look at the chart you can see when we started the year economists thought growth would be about 4.5%, which is robust but we were coming out of the pandemic. it ended at 5.6%, so well ahead of expectations. unemployment we thought would be over 5% and ended at 3.9%. as you suggested and we know, inflation hit the highest level in years, up 6.7% compared to expectations of 2.2%. we got inflation completely wrong. >> two questions for you. one, how does a quarter point raise in the interest rates as they indicated they might do, how does that tamp down inflation? b, the big question, you might not be able to answer, and you may not be able to answer, why don't people want to go to work. >> those are separate questions. on the first nobody thinks a quarter point will make a difference. it is simply, as you saw in tom costello's report, part of a process. it is not unusual to go up half a point if you have to. there's a lot of division among economists where interest rates are going but some predict they have to go up an awful lot to slow this economy down. to your second question about why people don't want to go back to work, i think there are really three reasons, complicated question but no one answer. people were given a lot of money during the pandemic, a lot of stimulus checks, unemployment insurance, they still have health concerns and a lot don't want to go back to the old jobs they had. you can see on this chart notwithstanding that we had 6.4 million jobs created last year compared to an estimate of 4.7. if you look back, this chart goes back to 1951. it is 50% more jobs than have ever been created in a single year. to your point, there's still 10.6 million open jobs in this country, a record number of jobs. >> wow. >> and 2.3 million people have left the labor force, all to your point, not actively looking. let's look before you finish on a couple of noneconomic things that happened last year to president biden. so first we all know build back better isn't passing, but you can see in this chart a way to sort of look at the overall picture which is the fact congress has been doing less and less every year. if you go back to the 1980s it was passing 230 bill as year. a lot were small, naming post offices and things. 230 bills. now it is down to 81 in the first year of this congress, one of the lowest, second lowest ever really in history. on the right, and this is very timely given the news about justice breyer, where president biden has done exceptionally well and not gotten that much attention for it is judicial appointments. he had 42 justices confirmed to the district court and the courts of appeals, higher than reagan. you have to go back to kennedy to find a record of that many confirmations. now, of course, he will get his first court pick which puts him in the company of trump, obama, clinton and reagan for having had a first-year court pick. >> mika. >> there you go. stay with us. coming up, the purpose to make sure joe biden keeps his campaign promise to nominate a black woman to the supreme court. and forced to choose between a popular podcaster who spreads misinformation and the music of neil young, spotify chooses the podcaster. we'll discuss the many dynamics at play in the controversy over joe rogan. i think i know what i'm doing with my spotify account. "morning joe" is coming right back. "morning joe" is coming right back this is the new world of work. each day looks different than the last. but whatever work becomes, the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding new ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office? what's an office? ...or solving a workplace challenge that's yet to come. wherever the new world of work takes your business, the world works with servicenow. it's our january sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. wherever the new world of work takes your business, 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. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. ♪ ♪ ♪ "how bizarre" by omc ♪ no annual fee on any discover card. ♪ ♪ it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new honey mustard rotisserie-style chicken. it's sweet, it's tangy, it's tender, it never misses. you could say it's the steph curry of footlongs. you could, but i'm not gonna. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and re... this is going viral on tiktok. a police officer in south dakota showed up at a woman's door for an unusual reason. look at this video. >> i know i'm not who you are expecting. >> hi. >> but your driver got arrested, so i figured i would bring this for you. >> thank you. >> take care. >> thanks. >> come on. >> oh, my. >> oh, my god. that's great. welcome back to "morning joe." i mean it is not great the driver got arrested, but it was great that the police officer fulfilled his duty there. it is thursday -- not the police officer's duty but the duty of the doordasher or whoever it was. it is thursday, january 27th. mike barnicle, katty kay and steve rattner still with us. steve, i wanted to keep you around. i wanted to have a discussion about the economy, how biden did the first year with the economy. you look at the numbers and, again, everything, just there is a huge lack of perspective i think on, again -- and it is the democrat's fault in large part because they've been obsessing over, you know, passing, you know, kazillion programs every three weeks and calling themselves utter failures and joe biden a sell-out if they don't pass those programs every three weeks. let's look at the economy the first year. he over performed on job creation, record job creation the first year. over performed on job openings, record job openings. 5.6% growth for our economy. that's an over performance. 3.9% unemployment. again, incredible job there. inflation much higher than we expected it to be. so let's look at the entire economy, not only where we are now but i am just curious what your thoughts are. please disagree with me because i need to be corrected if i'm making assumptions that don't make sense. but you've got $2 trillion sitting on the sideline. people aren't going back to work not just because of the money the government gave them, but as you said to us people saved $2 trillion collectively as a country because they couldn't spend their money. so they say, i don't think i'm going back to work at walmart, i think i will spend some of the money first and not go back to the grind, but that's going to burn out. i mean that's $2 trillion that we have that we know is going to be spent. people aren't going to hold that $2 trillion over the next year or two. that money is going to be spent. those record job openings are going to be filled. unemployment most likely, unless there's some really giant intervening occurrence, unemployment is going to stay low. chances are very good as the supply chain catches up and china reopens in the next two years, they're taking such a long time to do that, chances are, it seems to me, that inflation burns out over the next year or so. i just look at these things where people are like screaming and jumping from roof top us base biden's approval ratings are at 38%, 39%, and i would say this if it were a republican president. he is sitting in a pretty good position right now if you look at the basics of this economy. i'm curious if you agree with that over the next 18 months or so or if there are some things that cause you serious concerns. >> sure. it is a great question. i mostly agree with you. first one, just small asterisk, of the $2 trillion, roughly half is extra income people got heavily from the federal government in terms of the stimulus checks, unemployment and so forth, the other half is what you said, basically people couldn't spend so they didn't. but you're completely right. the economy, as i said, is growing very fast, creating lots of jobs. plenty of jobs out there for people who want to go back to work. there is an issue about them not going back to work but, as you say, eventually they are going to spend the money, come out and go back to work. the issue really is the fact wages have been going up quite quickly by any historic measure and particularly going up for people at the bottom, unusually. that's all great. problem is even those large increases, 4%, 5% in wages, have been swamped by almost 7% inflation. just to be overwhelm simplistic about it, unemployment effects some relatively small percentage of the population that might be out of a job any point in time and as we talked even fewer really at this moment can't get a job. but inflation affects everybody. it is a huge issue for people. when you look at the polling of what is the most important issue, when you ask people how they feel about the economy, when you ask whether they think the economy is on the right or wrong track you get numbers just as low if not lower than biden's approval ratings. that is the key issue we face at the moment, which is how to land the plane, if you don't mind the analogy, and getting inflation down without affecting the rest of the economy. that's going to be a big job and it is going to be tough and it is going to be risky. so you give biden very, very high marks. to your point he doesn't nearly get enough credit for the growth of jobs and wages that have occurred in this pandemic, but inflation is something unfortunately the administration, the fed and a lot of private forecasters missed and it is the biggest challenge economically. >> it is something you warned about, something larry somers warned about, a lot of people warned about inflation coming so people can't suggest it caught anybody by surprise. they shouldn't have been surprised by it. steve, if inflation remains the one great challenge of this economy, what are your thoughts about the fed's modest rate hike? are they being too conservative with a small "c", should they have pushed the rate up even faster? >> sure. actually i wanted to say one other thing about what you said before. it is not clear inflation is going to go down on its own. there's still a lot of inflationary pressures in this economy. the housing price increases are not yet fully reflected in the inflation numbers. you get into the higher wages are not yet reflected in companies fully raising prices to offset them. there's still a lot of inflationary pressure which to your question means that a quarter point isn't going to make any difference. a full percentage point may not make any difference. it took huge interest rate increases in the late '70s and early '80s to deal with inflation but it was a much, much higher level. this is the real worry, that i think you will see before this is over very substantially highest interest rates. i will not make a forecast, but certainly 2%, 3%, 4%, 5% interest rates on the fed and then higher mortgage interest rates coming from that. it will be difficult to slow the plane down and land it without ending up in a recession. >> it is fascinating so few people in washington, d.c. have ever had to deal with passing legislation to address inflation, or not pass certain bills to address inflation simply because we haven't had this problem in 30, 35, 40 years. thanks so much for being with us, steve. mika, what do we have going on? what else is going on in the new? >> well, we are turning now to the fight against covid, and these comments from dr. anthony fauci at yesterday's white house covid briefing. >> the level that we want to so-call accept living weather and traffic, we want to make it low enough so it doesn't disrupt our ability to live in a society in a relatively normal way. that's where we want to be and i believe we will get there, hopefully sooner rather than later. as i say that, i say we still always will be prepared for the possibility there may be a variant that will make that timetable turn around. >> meanwhile, if you go on spotify this morning you won't find most of neil young's music. the singer asked the streaming service to pull his work, accusing the platform of spreading covid misinformation. in a letter to his management team, which he posted online and then deleted, young wrote this. i'm doing this because spotify is spreading fake information about vaccines, potentially causing death to those who believe the disinformation being spread by them. they can have rogan or young, not both. young is referring to joe rogan, whose podcast on spotify reaches an estimated 11 million listeners each episode. rogan has been criticized for spreading misinformation about covid and the vaccines. nbc's emily eketa has more on the controversy. >> adverse risk. >> yes. >> two to four-fold increase in the instances of myocarditis. >> yes. >> versus hospitalization. >> you know there's a risk of myocarditis among that age cohort from getting covid as well which exceeds the risk from the vaccine. >> i don't think that's true. >> it is. >> no, no, i don't think there's an increased risk of mayo kafrd itis from people catching covid from people that are young. >> yes. >> let's look it up. myocarditis more common after vaccine than infection. is this with children? we are talking about children. >> men and boys, aged under 30. >> with children is the issue. >> no, we were talking about 15 year olds. >> we are talking about young children, a child. >> 12 to 17. >> 12 to 17, myocarditis at a rate of 450 cases per million infection compared to 67 cases following their second dose of pfizer. >> they're about eight times likelier to get myocarditis from getting covid than the vaccine. >> that's interesting. it is not what i've read before. it is like when we are reading these things, where is it from? even from the vaers reports when they report this stuff, it is like the amount of people that report, it is like the under reporting. >> that's joe rogan being checked out in real-time. it sounds awfully familiar. for my friends who get information from chinese conspiracy websites, when confronted with the facts they go, well, that's not what i heard before. then questions actually the information. so that was him being called out in real-time. as for spotify, the company says it regrets neil young's decision but hopes to welcome him back soon. let's bring in senior writer for rolling stone andy green. epidemiologist, dr. katrine wallace. she was one of the doctors who called on spotify to take action on rogan's spreading covid misinformation. all ari melber, host of "the beat." doctor, let's start with you. you and other doctors put out a letter, sent it to spotify complaining about the misinformation. he has a massive audience, i think 10 million, 11 million listen to each of his podcasts. why did you feel a need to send a letter to spotify? >> when misinformation about -- i mean we are in a global health emergency right now. when misinformation is allowed to spread unchecked on a platform of that size, it creates a sense of false balance where it is like there's two sides to the scientific data when really there's not. the overwhelming evidence is that the vaccines are safe and effective, and we have normalized between 1,000 and 2,000 deaths per day in this country from largely preventable deaths from covid. between june and november of 2021 it was estimated over 160,000 of those deaths could have been prevented with vaccines. so misinformation about vaccines and about the pandemic is actually killing people. >> so when you sent this information to spotify, any reaction to these group of doctors expressing concern about the misinformation that 11 million people are hearing in podcasts? >> we did not get any response from spotify ourselves. the first time we heard anything was yesterday when they issued a perplexing statement that they have a policy to moderate misinformation on their platform and they said they have removed about 20,000 podcasts about covid, but they didn't really say why they were removed or if it was because of misinformation and there's nothing on there prohibited content listing on their website about the pandemic. so it is really hard to say why those were removed and not these other kind of egregious podcasts that go out to 11 million users. >> yeah. so, andy, let me bring you in here. what is going on with spotify? they claim, they certainly claim to be trying to snuff out anti-vax information, but touching joe rogan, is you just too powerful for spotify to cross, even when he is putting out dangerous information? >> yeah. i mean i think that joe rogan is their biggest superstar, and they paid him about $100 million and he is their biggest draw. i'm sure they like neil young but neil is nowhere near that. so they had to choose and they picked the star and they picked the money, at least so far. i think it is possible a few more big stars leave it will put more pressure on spotify and they might reconsider. it is sort of hard for me to see that now. i think that neil is a very bold guy and he puts principle above profit. i'm not sure that many of his peers will do the same thing unfortunately. >> yeah, and i mean he's always -- neil young has always been that way, andy. obviously he never shies away from a fight or a challenge. it is interesting, isn't it, spotify has put themselves out as a forward-thinking, progressive swedish company, corporation, that you just walk through there, you talk to the people who run it. there is no doubt these people like to think of themselves as very forward thinking. >> sure. >> so for their brand to be connected with a guy who is talking about ivermectin and passing out just information that public health officials are horrified by, it is not a tight fit for their corporate culture, is it? >> no, but they want to be apple and they want to beat amazon, and they have the same albums that they do. so they want their own content. they want their own stars, and they hired rogan and i don't think they quite realized that this would happen. so they're being pretty squeezed right now. but i think they stick with him. you know, it is a sad thing but they paid him a ton of money and i think -- i think their goal is to just ride this out and pray that no people follow neil and this kind of goes away. >> yeah. it will be interesting to see if other stars will follow neil young's lead. it is funny the way you started that sentence. you said, "no, they want" and you finished it with "they want to beat apple." i was going to finish your sentence four. no, but they want the money. >> yes. >> ari melber, it all comes down to the money. joe rogan is a big draw, regardless of the conspiracies that he spreads, regardless of whether, you know, whether it is alex jones-type conspiracies or bad information on ivermectin. you know, he has a huge following and spotify seems willing to allow him to put out dangerous information because they're getting even wealthier. >> yeah, i think that's the big challenge. i think the science questions here are much clearer than the free speech to be. the doctor just told us 1,000-plus preventable deaths. we have been through this enough, we're journalists to deal with facts. if the scientists and doctors are telling you something that matters, joe, you don't need to have a heart of gold to think about 1,000 to 2,000 people a day dying, let's get the facts out there because we all care about that. when it turns to the financial interests being documented, and it may be driving it, but spotify is going through the growing pains that facebook and other entities have gone through, where they say they have values but then they say they want to make money but can do it within their values and then they say, well, we're just a platform. then you run into the tests, do you support this, do you support that, how far out do you want to go? what do your standards and policies mean whether it is dealing with attacks on democracy, incitement to violence, these kind of unscientific claims that may, as the doctor said, be a part of the misinformation dynamic that leads to deaths in what lawyers would call a proximate call, not a direct cause, how much do they care about that? this may not be the best test case but there are certain situations where unpopular or misleading stuff still should find a home in our free speech debate in this rich country rather than completely deplatforming everything. i agree with you, joe rogan may not be the best poster child for that, but it is also why the platforms and publishers have tricky things to figure out in this environment. >> yeah, i mean joe rogan, obviously free speech allows him to say whatever he wants to say, allows us to say whatever we want to say, allows everybody to say whatever they want to say. but spotify, it seems to me, has an inconsistent argument. i mean they can't say, oh, this is about free speech and so we're going to keep him up because of free speech because they in the same breath, they brag about deplatforming other people or taking podcasts down from other people who are not profitable, are not as profitable as joe rogan because they spread covid misinformation. but you notice they don't take joe rogan's covid misinformation because, again, he's obviously the ceo of spotify now. he is obviously running spotify, and so he makes the policies. so if you want to make the first amendment argument, fine, that's awesome. i don't want people to be deplatformed. i don't want people to be cancelled. that's awesome. if you are spotify, you can't have it both ways. you can't deplatform the little guys or take their podcasts down while staying away from the ceo of spotify, the guy who actually runs the company now for all intents and purposes. >> yeah. as you say, their statement asserts that 20,000 installments or episodes have come down but not these. i think that you put your finger on it. if these companies are going to have policies and if they're going to be -- i mean these companies when i was growing up, joe, it was like "new york times" was the be all, end all. they're still a tremendous outlet that has tremendous reach, but we are in a world where some of the platforms are as big or larger than any single media outlet, even the biggies, when it comes to who they reach. as you say, if with that power and reach they claim to do one thing but really only take down the little fish, then i think that creates a conflict. i think the issues where you are going to see it with the most import are these matters of something that relates to your health and safety. and if there's a middle ground, i'm not yet seeing them pursue that, which is you can try to take a piece of an episode or have more warning around it or do something to make sure people understand because the clip you show, people relying on that as their main information, not getting others, they may be really good people who think they're getting good information. that's why fraud and the law -- we talk about free speech. there is free speech, but fraud is different. there might be people perpetuating a certain type of medical fraud which is troubling. as a free speech person, and that's why i said it, i know you said it, there's the larger issue of, no, you don't want to take down people's ability to get their words out because we want to have a clash of ideas, but fraud in the middle of a health crisis at that level can be quite different. >> so, dr. wallace, what are your thoughts on what we're talking about here? these are two dangerous situations. there's obviously the danger of misinformation about the virus, and a lot of people have made died because of believing the misinformation that's out there. but on the other hand, the misinformation or direction in terms of how to deal with it, to take down a joe rogan show, to take his podcast off the air, i mean these are two really, you know, hot topics. where are you coming from on a situation like this? >> yeah, thank you for that question and the opportunity to clarify. the open letter from the medical professionals and scientists did not ask for censorship or deplatforming. we asked for a clear public policy to moderate misinformation on the platform, which could take the form of a listing of what is and is not allowed. youtube is a good example of that. they have a listing of what you can and cannot say when it comes to, you know, going off the scientific evidence will get you restricted from using their platform, either temporarily or permanently. just a listing is good or maybe a way to report misinformation or label things as false information would be a start. right now we are not asking for any censorship. it isn't really censorship to label something as misinformation that has been considered, studied and proven to be false or harmful to the public. >> yeah. dr. katrine wallace, ari melber and thank you all. this was a great conversation. i'm still hoping spotify does the right thing. still ahead on "morning joe," we are digging deeper into u.s. and russian relations. our next guest explains how lessons from the cold war can help leaders today make better informed, strategic decisions. plus, president biden will get to name a possible replacement for supreme court justice stephen breyer. we are looking back at the promise he made on the campaign trail. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. we will be right back. work bec, the servicenow platform will make it just, flow. whether it's finding new ways to help you serve your customers, orchestrating a safe return to the office... wait. an office? what's an office? ...or solving a workplace challenge that's yet to come. wherever the new world of work takes your business, the world works with servicenow. my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. colorado devastated... as many as one thousand homes burned... most devastating tornado in kentucky's history... ripped through the state and seven others... oregon just declared a state of emergency... seattle temperatures are... new evacuations... triple digit heat... thousand acres burned... flash flood threats... extreme heat... [news source voices] ...state of emergency... [flames burning] [wind blowing] as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business: powering possibilities. ♪♪ live pictures of warsaw for you this morning. it is 1:30 in the afternoon here, 7:30 eastern time in the usa. another gray day in warsaw. we get used to this type of weather here. now to the news, which has a direct impact on this region. the u.s. and nato have formally responded to moscow's security demand in a letter and are offering, quote, a serious diplomatic path forward to deescalate the situation in ukraine. secretary of state antony blinken says the letter proposes several areas where the u.s. is willing to negotiate, but there has been no change in the biden administration's position on nato. >> i can tell you that it reiterates what we said publicly for many weeks and in a sense for many years, that we will up hold the principle of nato's open door, and that's, as i have said repeatedly in recent weeks, a commitment that we're bound to. >> we and our allies and partners are united across the board. now, we'll continue to press forward and prepare. it remains up to russia to decide how to respond. we are ready either way. >> the letter, which was hand delivered yesterday by the u.s. ambassador to russia, came in response to a string of security demands that russia made last month including calls for a permanent ban on ukraine from joining nato. i wonder if that's a no-go. that's a no-go. joining us staff writer at "the atlantic" anne applebaum and distinguished professor of global affairs at johns hopkins school of advanced international study hal brands. he is author of the new book entitled "the twilight struggle wherein what the cold war teaches us about great power rivalry today." joe, the issue of nato is not going to work. >> well, it has just began. it has been a nonstarter from the beginning. you just wonder whether, again, it is a semantics game where we give a nod and wink that we're not going to admit ukraine in for a certain period of time and they back off. we will see what happens. let's ask though "the atlantic's" anne applebaum and hal brands. anne, i'm curious. yesterday we heard mitch mcconnell say he thought joe biden was moving in the right direction. i'm curious. do you agree? do you think the biden administration has been forward leaning enough? >> so, yes, i have been impressed by the biden administration's willingness to talk very loudly and publicly about this. they started doing it a couple of months ago. they got some intelligence warning them of some kind of major invasion being planned for ukraine. they've alerted european allies and they've been very up front. i mean, of course, the great flaw in american foreign policy, and it is not biden's fault but it goes back several years, is that we haven't prepared ukraine, we haven't sufficiently armed ukraine, although there are weapons going there now. the question is whether there are enough weapons, enough anti-tank weapons, enough anti-aircraft weapons to deter russia. one of the paradoxes of the situation is one of the ways we can prevent war is by arming ukraine and by raising the price of some kind of capricious invasion. >> yeah. anne, why are we been dragging our feet? we made a commitment to the ukrainians. we told them if they gave up their nuclear weapons we and the world community would protect their borders, protect their sovereigty. the united states, the obama administration refused to even send them defensive weapons for quite sometime, and then we went through the entire trump administration and really there wasn't that much of a change. so here we are seven, eight years after the first ukrainian invasion and they still aren't prepare. >> president obama didn't take this issue seriously. he thought russia was a minor power, you know, an irritant, it didn't require some kind of major deterrence. i will say that obama did reinforce the eastern nato states. he did send troops into poland, romania and elsewhere and i think it has made a difference in terms of perception of safety in that part of the world. i think as you will probably remember, the trump administration not only didn't take it seriously, at least the president didn't, he tried to bargain with ukrainian military aid. that's what the first impeachment trial was about. he told the ukrainians, we won't send you money unless you give us dirt on joe biden. and so, you know, the sovereigty of ukraine, the future of democracy of ukraine and actually the future of borders and stability in europe were not taken seriously at all in the last administration, at least not by the main person in the white house, and to some extent the biden administration is paying the price for that. putin has calculated this is a good moment for something like this. the united states is focused internally. the west is divided in various different ways. people are distracted by covid, by the economy, and he thinks this might be maybe even his last opportunity. for him, the very existence of ukraine is an irritant, of a country that aspires to be a democracy right on his borders, aspires to be integrated with europe. that's a challenge to his autocratic, kleptocratic system, and he may feel it is the last moment, the last chance to truly undermine the country. >> hal, it is katty kay here in washington. your book is about the cold war and what it teaches us about the present and about the great power rivalries that we see. to what extent was the moment we have arrived at today almost inevitable, particularly in the light of the fact that not just in past history but in 2008 there was not much reaction, putin didn't pay a price for going into georgia, he didn't pay a price for taking crimea, he got away with it. so he may have well ended up thinking, i can do this again and i can do what i want and act with impunity because the west isn't going to stop me. >> he certainly seems to have learned that the costs of this sort of action are bearable for him. so the western response to the invasion of georgia in 2008 was relatively modest. the response to the invasion of ukraine was a bit better in 2014 but still modest. so i think putin went into this crisis expecting whatever cost, whatever sanctions, whatever isolation the united states and the allies might be able to throw russia simply weren't enough to deter him from doing what he apparently plans to do vis-a-vis ukraine. i think the biden administration has done a fair job of starting to advertise some of the penalties that it would put in place if putin were to do this, and we are looking at some fairly serious financial and technological sanctions from recent media reports. but it may simply be that putin believes that what he can gain by further dismembering ukraine and ensuring it won't be able to turn toward the west, that's his goal at least, outweighs whatever cost he might are to pay in his relations with the west. >> what have we learned from the cold war? what lessons, which of those lessons can we apply to the current crisis in ukraine? >> i think the most important lesson right now is simply that this issue isn't going away. we shouldn't see the current crisis as a one-off event that will either be resolved or won't and then we will move on to other things. the united states is engaged in a much longer term, very high-stakes competition with russia, even as you could say american relations with china. one of the things the cold war teaches us is that these competitions typically are not resolved quickly. they can drag on for years and even decades. so you have to view each crisis as a part of the whole and gird yourself for competition over a longer period of time. >> i ask you the same question as someone who not only studied the cold war but lived it, what lessons can we learn, can we take from that long twilight struggle and apply to the current crisis with russia? >> so probably the most important question from the cold war is that deterrence works. you can prevent an invasion. you can prevent a war by deterring it. we had 300,000 u.s. troops in west germany during the cold war. we had tanks all over the region. most were never used for anything except exercises, which is good. but the presence of -- but a military presence as well as a strong and clear diplomacy that focuses on organizing allies, the united states is always much stronger when it speaks together with others. that can lead, you know, with the persistence that hal described, that can lead over the long term to success. >> so, hal, you explain in the book -- and if you could just explain for our viewers here why we have a return of the great power rivalries on christmas day 1991, the soviet union fell. we thought that a democracy could grow there. boris yeltsin proved it could not. americans were investing and hong con was, you know, the center of commerce and in asia. that's all changed radically over the past few years. talk about the return of these great power rivalries. >> one thing that history teaches us is great-power rivalry is basically normal. it is not an aberration. we might have thought it was an aberration if, like me, one happened to come of age during the post-cold war era. but it was actually the post-cold war era that was the aberration, because the united states was so dominant and its power and values were so dominant after the end of the cold war that the normal competition we see from countries vying for leadership of the international system seem to recede a little bit. i think what happened really was a couple of things. so first was that russia and china never really bought into the u.s.-led international system. in china's case, its leaders bought into parts of it. they liked having access to foreign markets and foreign technology to speed their own development, but they were always worried that a liberal, international system led by a democratic superpower could potentially be fatal to their own ill-liberal politics at home. i think you can say something similar about vladimir putin. as anne mentioned a few minutes ago. so there was always a degree of resistance to this, but the balance of power has also shifted over the past 25 years. so russia has recovered from its extreme post-cold war weakness. china has experienced growth really unlike anything we have seen in the modern world. so it is not entirely surprising as these countries that see the world differently than the united states start to become more powerful, they start to con contest the international system and the international system on multiple fronts at one. >> all right. the new book is "the twilight struggle: what the cold war teaches us about great power rivalry today." hal brands, thank you. and "the atlantic's" anne applebaum. i had some pleasure spending some time with your husband here in warsaw before i was leaving for work. he was at the embassy visiting with my brother, and i can report to you your book is one of the first things i saw at the embassy and we'll be referring to it a lot, but they're looking forward to having dinner with you. so come home, anne applebaum. so thank you, as well as for being on. how will president biden pick to replace supreme court justice stephen breyer? our next guest argues biden must keep his campaign promise to nominate a black woman to sit on the nation's highest court. 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an will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to jolt new life into our economy. so let's not waste any more time. let's get to work with the news of justice breyer's retirement, the attention is now on the white house as president biden gets his first chance to shape the supreme court. on the campaign trail biden vowed to nominate a black woman to the bench, and speculation is growing as to who is on the president's short list. nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander has the latest. >> reporter: president biden preparing to wield one of the presidency's most consequential powers, picking a supreme court nominee. >> there has been no announcement from justice breyer. let him make whatever statement he is going to make and i will be happy to talk about it later. >> reporter: now the focus turns to the president's short list with the white house saying president biden will stick to this campaign promise. >> i'm looking forward to making sure there's a black woman on the supreme court to make sure that, in fact, we get every representation. >> reporter: president biden has nominated eight black women to federal appellate courts so far and one of the top contenders for the supreme court comes from that list. 51-year-old ketanji brown jackson, a harvard law graduate who formerly clerked for justice breyer, nominated last year for the u.s. court of appeals of the d.c. circuit. >> i am even handedly applying the law in every case. >> reporter: she won support from all 50 kihei maekawas and three republicans. another front-runner lee and raw kruger. kruger, a former justice lawyer has argued several cases before the u.s. supreme court. the white house brushing off speculation that the president might nominate kamala harris. >> the president has every intention of running for reelection and running with vice president harris on the ticket as his partner. >> reporter: the pickle not change the balance of the conservative court, but with president biden with inflation soaring, his agenda stalling and poll numbers sinking it is a chance for a much-needed commit cal win. >> joining us now, former republican counsel to the house government reform and oversight investigative committee, now ooh contributing editor for "the grillo" sophia nelson. she is out with a new piece entitled "joe biden must put a black woman on the supreme court." sophia, that appears to be his promise and some of the options were just put on the table by peter alexander, including the vice president, which would be quite an incredible thing. >> ed good morning, mika. it is great to see you. i don't think the vice president will be his choice. i think it is interesting punditry banter. i like judge kruger from california, but if you are watching jim clyburn make the rounds on television he is pushing judge childs from south carolina because he believes she will get the support of lindsey graham and tim scott. i think it is a horse race. it is going to be a black woman so i'm excited about that. i think every one of these women we are talking about is over qualified. they're young. you know, they're in their 50s, mika, some in their 40s. so i think that it is going to be a really interesting thing to watch, and i'm very excited about this. >> sophia, it is clear it is going to be a black woman and president biden is going to stick to that promise he made to jim clyburn, whether it is one of the ones in the top three, we don't know yet. how much, whoever it is, how much does it change the court? how historic is this? >> great question. i go back to being in high school, a freshman i think when ronald reagan school, a freshman when ronald reagan nominated justice o'connor, what a big moment that was for women. we have waited so long to see a with him on the court. as a black woman, it's exciting to see someone who will look like me be on the counter. anyone who knows my story knows when i was young, i went around saying i wanted to be the first female court justice. it will happen. it's historic because we have been missing from that bench. we had justice sotomayor. she has been holding it down. i think each person that comes with their unique diversity, they bring a lens of light, of experience. they bring a different and unique perspective when the justices sit around the table and they debate which cases they will take. when the debate, how they're going to come down on cases. you need that voice from an african-american woman at the table and it's like i said, it's pretty clear to me, he's going to honor the promise. i see a lot of to hims on the right, saying, it's affirmative action. that's not fair. you should pick the most qualified. again sit down with that because we had about 180 questions of only white middle men on the bench, thurgood marshal and clarence thomas. then we finally got women on the bench. with enthis happens, there will be four women on the supreme court out of nine. that's pretty cool. i am excited about this. >> sofia to the point you just raised, most people know there are only nine slots. so there is not a lot of option. there is only nine justices. but if you look at course of history across the course of history and the appointments to the supreme court, in retrospect, it is shocking that for so long it was basically an old white guy's club and only when thur good marshall arise did we get someone of color on the court. i am wondering your thoughts on the present composition of the court and going forward how this can reflect the country more readily and more realistically? >> well, thur good marshall was appointed the year i was born in 1967. so that again look at that with the voting act. to your question, this court reflects the great diversity of our great country. what a wonderful sight it will be to finally see a sister, a black woman on the court and there will be a black man, there are white women on the court, jewish women on the court, catholics, some are older, some are younger. that's exactly who we are. so to me, we are finally reflecting this great epluribus unum in our diversity. i think at this moment when we are talking about crt and teaching racial history and who will get offended and who is uncomfortable? we ought to take a deep breath to remember this country is at its best when it looks the way it does reflective on our high court, which will be next october when presumably we'll have this new justice on, i guess. >> all right. sofia nelson, thank you. you brought up critical race stories. books on race have been thrown out as a pushback from critical race theory. now a tennessee school board is banning a pulitzer prize-winning book that depicts the holocaust. we'll talk about that ahead on "morning joe." t ahead on for in-depth analysis let's go to marshawn lynch. what? 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"we're back in two minutes. . an office? what's an office? ...or solving a workplace challenge that's yet to come. wherever the new world of work takes your business, the world works with servicenow. . live pictures of a beautiful warsaw on this thursday, january 27th. it is 2:00 in the afternoon here. 8:00 on the east coast. good to have you all with us on "morning joe." i still won some office supplies. because you will love these notepads with the really tiny lines. so i'm sneaking out of tvn with office supplies. it's not like i'm faux pas is it, probably not in. >> well, you said it on air. i must say both willie and i are intrigued why you think i would prefer polish notepads to american notepads. but i await with baited breath riding on your polish notepads. >> oh. oh, you just wait. you will be eating your words, will you love these. okay. let's get to the news. we have now polling from monmouth university this morning showing president biden's approval rating remaining low, but his policies drawing higher marks. overall, 24% of those surveyed said the country is on the right track. 71% say we're headed in the wrong direction. 39% of voters approve of president biden's job performance. 54% disapprove. but his programs are much more popular. 63% approve of the bipartisan infrastructure deal that passed last year. 61% approve of key elements of the now stalled build back better program, expanding infrastructure, healthcare, child care, tuition support. republicans currently have a slight edge, a very slight one when it comes to which parties should control congress. 35% prefer republicans. 33% want democrats. willie. >> let's bring into our conversation the republican governor of maryland larry hogan. governor hogan, thank you for being with us. information is based on covid. in this pandemic we have been under the last couple of years, have you hospitalizations coming down, case numbers coming down if maryland. can you give us a snapshot of what's happening in your state and how you as an executive there respond to that in terms of policy? there has been so much debate whether there should be masks in schools, mask mandates, vaccination requirements. all these things. how is it going in maryland right now? >> well, we are doing much, much better than we were just a couple of weeks ago with the omicron surge. it spiked in our state and everywhere else across the country. we took a lot of steps to try to turn that an. now we have the largest drop in hospitalizations of all 50 states. we have the lowest case rates in america out of every state in the country. so it's very encouraging. but it's not behind us. you know, we're heading in the right direction and we're not going to quit the fight. but it's looking much, much better when we were having really serious runs on our hospitals and overloading our healthcare workers and you know too many people getting sick. so we're trending in the right direction. it's still, you know, somewhat higher than it was before but not, you know, we had reached almost a peak of the entire crisis. but our status is one of the most vaccinated in america. we're 94.4% vaccinated with at least one dose and, you know, we are the fifth best in the country with respect to mask compliance, without a state wide pan date. people are doing the same thing and following the clear advice we have been giving for the past two years. >> governor, as the sitting governor. as a moderate republican like charlie bakener massachusetts, i mean, you people, new governors are closer to the ground certainly than the president of the united states you has ukraine to worry about and things like this. being closer to the ground has gotten you mentioned in several places as a potential candidate for president at some point. so i am wondering, set that aside, how do you view your party when you got at guy and i don't want to mention his name, running for the senate in ohio, who accepts the endorsement of marjorie taylor green and thanks her for the endorsement in a tweet and refers to taking the country back from the scumbags. how does someone like you who exists and lives and talks with ord fare people every day of the week because you're governor, how do you fit into such a party? >> well, i'm not sure all those folks that you are referring to should fit into the party or do at this time into the party. i'm a life-long right of center republican. i'm governing in the blue state of america. you were going through some of those poll numbers. i'm at a 79% approval rating in my state. that includes republicans, democrats and independents. i'm the complete opposite of what you were talking about. it seems to be working. the people in my state are happy with the job we're doing. i think they're avoiding the kind of angry, divisive rhetoric and the crazy conspiracy theories that many of the folks in my party are doing. we're seeing this on both sides. the over the top rhetoric. the divisiveness. it's not what most people in the country want, which is why some of my fellow governors are also some of the most popular elect officials in the country. usually the republican governors if blue states are the ones most popular. we work together and get things done in a pragmatic bipartisan way. >> so, i wanted to ask you about that, governor. it is, you look at the polls of the governors and it is striking. you guys -- >> yes. >> -- northeast republican governors, you should write a book, do a seminar on how to be popular. it's incredible. your numbers, you are always around 70%. chris sununu around 70%. scott around 70%. charlie baker always around 70%. republicans in a region, especially new england, where national candidates can't get elected are doing extraordinarily well. so the question first of all is why does that happen? why do you all have such remarkable success? one. and two, why doesn't the republican party figure out that there is a roadmap that does not no through donald trump being enormously successful politician? >> well, joe, first of all, i did write a book about that. i'm make sure i get you a copy of that it's called "still standing" about some of the things we accomplished and how we did. i think it's because the average person wants their elected officials to tell it like it is, to get things done and they want them to be able to work across the aisle, not demonize the other side but define common sense solutions. that's is similarity. we are all different types in different states. the reason why we work in that way. it's the opposite of what happens in washington these days on both sides of the aisle where there is demonizing and fighting and yelling ab issues. the public doesn't like it. which is why i'm probably 30/40 points ahead of biden and trump in my state. i think part of it is the parties moving further to the left, further to the right. not being able to agree on a basic set of facts. about 70% of the people in the country are more in tune with where me and my fellow northeast republican governors are. >> so how do we fix it? do you think charlie baker who, again, his approval ratings have been in the 70s pretty consistently, but people close to them say, he's not going to deal with the extremes into the republican party in massachusetts right now. how do we fix this primary system? not to stifle anybody's voice, but make the primary system, so it actually rewards people who cannot only win big but can govern in a big way? >> well, it's really important, first of all, charlie baker is a good friend and a great governor. it's unfortunate that kind of the crazy extremes of the party are you know making it difficult for him to continue to stay if office, even though he's done a great job and is very popular. the process is difficult. we do now have in 28 states some form of open primaries where either independents can vote and the republican or democratic primary and/or anybody can cross over and vote. that opens up a broader process of people selecting the nominees. i think in a general election, people typically are frustrated. these are the two choice we have. that's the way the nominating process works. so we get the most far left democrat. most far right republican and it's not always the most electable in a general election. so this is what i have been focused on. i'm trying successful politics. it's about addition and multiplication not subtraction and division so we have been winning in a blue state by appealing not only to the republican base but independents and suburban women and getting 35% of the black vote by winning asians and hispanics. if that's a formula for success nationwide, donald trump's formula was we lost the white house we lost the senate, we lost governors and we lost state legislative bodies. it's not a winning formula by shrinking the base and shrinking the tent. >> all right. larry hogan, thank you so much. governor larry hogan of maryland, not only extraordinarily popular governor as all of you know also author of the landmark political book "still standing." make sure to get it on amazon right now. thank you so much, governor. greatly appreciate it. mika, it is something, you look at governor hogan and again sitting at 70%, chris sununu a republican in new hampshire sitting around 70%. governor scott in vermont a republican around 70%. charlie baker, a governor in massachusetts around 70%. you know, i'm not really good at this politics thing. but if i were the national party leaders, i would look and say, how do we replicate that across the country? because if we replicate that across the country, we wouldn't be in the minority in the house, in the senate and now in the white house right now. >> i know, in the white house, among many other things. now to this, a tennessee school board is ban ac critically acclaimed graphic novel about the holocaust. the mcmin county school board voted unanimously to remove the book from their 8th grade curriculum over profanity and an image of a new female character the book's characterers are animals, jews are depictted a mice, nazis are cats. maus tells the story of the author's parents time in a nazi concentration camp, the only graphic novel to ever win a pulitzer prize. the author called it or well yan. they said it serves no purpose other than to rob the next generation of knowledge. the ceo national director of the anti-defamation league jonathan greenblat, his new book, "it could happen here, why america is tiping from hate to the unthinkable and how we can stop it." jonathan, i'd love to hear more from your reaction and especially as we note that today is international holocaust remembrance day. >> well, it is, meek california today is the 77th anniversary of the liberation of the auschwitz death camp, which was in many ways the symbol of the systematic extermination of 6 million jews, the final nazi death machine and so it is a remarkable and appalling moment when the school board in tennessee hands a pulitzer prize-winning book about the holocaust. because we're living in a moment today when ignorance about that genocide is unfortunately on rise. we saw a poll that more than half of americans were unaware 6 million jews were killed in the holocaust. thatic new orleans feels anti-semitism today. adl did polling last year that found 63% of american jews have seen or experienced anti-semitism in the last year. 65% don't feel as safe as they used to. i appreciate school boards should play an important role in evaluating curriculum for their kids, banning books that teach about the holocaust or suggest as we saw if texas that there is two sides to the nazi story i think is abominable. it is an overcorrection at best and just route right intolerant at worst. >> it plays into the title of your book for sure. i would love to point out to you my brother is in auschwitz right now to remember with his team at the embassy. joe. >> yeah, i was just going to say, john, mark brzezinski and others are at auschwitz to commemorate the liberation of that nazi death camp. but jonathan, it seems to me, i remember in the 1970s when i was a young kid seeing "60 minute" pieces about the rise of neo-nazis in germany. in the '80s when i was in college, i remember openly anti-semitic professors at some of the best universities in this country. in the '90s, i took note of the rise just by reading papers every day, took note of the rise of anti-semitism really rising again in europe. and over the past 20 years, things have not gotten better. it seems people have become even more callous and some want to completely whitewash what happened at auschwitz and at other death camps. >> we have certainly seen extremism in europe, united nations, and around the world. memory of the holocaust seems to be trampled on a holocaust distortionism where you have a congressman in ohio who compares having to issue a vaccine card to walk into a restaurant to the nuremburg laws that literally dehumanized my grandfather into the ghetto before they hauled them off in cattle cars. or rfk this past weekend comparing himself to anne frank because of the vaccine. you see this kind of really ugly distortionism on the far left and the far right and extreism is on the rise, adl released a new report looking at extremists running for office in this country and our center on extremism is tracking more than 100 candidates across 32 states. dozens of whom, dozens of whom are outright members of the extremist groups, openly affiliate. we have a county commissioner, excuse me, in georgia, who is a former kkk leader and a member of the neo-nazi party. we have someone running for the picture on your screen in front of you, a person running for the state house in oregon who is a 3 percenter. we have people running who are oath keepers, proud boys. in addition to the explicit extremists, joe, we have almost 45 candidate who's are openly espousing qanon and supporting tenets of that wild, evil conspiracy theory that promotes there is a cabal trying to control the country. it is stunning, we got the virus of covid and the virus of ignorance that seems to be everywhere across the spectrum. it's frightening. >> it's willie geist. as you pointed to, there has been recently especially a cheapening of the language around the holocaust, trivializing it by people on cable news who want to say dr. fauci is like the dr. of death from the nazis and just so easily and as i say cheaply making those comparisons. what is the sort of aggregate impact of that kind of language creeping pack into the national dialogue and discourse? and as you point to some of these candidates, the people in the shad dos in the past coming out of the shadows, running for office and being put on television. >> it's a great question, willie, you just pointed out what is so important and so seminole. there has always been a lunatic fringe. somehow they seem to be in the forefront of the public conversation. these extremists have exploited all of the uncertainty at the moment and leaders on both sides don't call this stuff out. and the claims conference made, did a campaign last year called it starts with words. i will not draw comparisons to the holocaust. it was a singular event of evil in human history. but let's be opened and let's be honest about the fact that when you have leaders in positions of authority who look away or don't call out when people make you know suggestions that george soros is trying to create a white genocide. it's suggesting the jewish state is the nazi regime committing genocide. it's a hateful idea that leads to hate at home. we need people to say this denial, extortionism is wrong. it sets the stage for violence here. >> by the way, mike, there is actually believe it or not a link with our earlier segment about joe rogan and this. and in the letter that the doctors sent to spotify, they talked about robert malone, a physician who bills himself as an expert. but he's a skeptic of vaccines. and the letter says this, quote, notably, dr. malone is one of two recent joe rogan guests who have compared pandemic policies to the holocaust. mike. >> yeah, well, you know, joe, anti-semitism has been prevalent in our culture for decades, for eions. jonathan it's something you can't poll to are you anti-semitic? everybody is going to say, yes, i am. it does emerge in situations where people in in podcasts or radio or tv. it emerged in public in charlottesville. but what is your personal sense of a crest or a growing sense of anti-spittism in this country? economy over the past four or five years? >> well, there is no doubt the data doesn't lie. they have been tracking anti-semitic incidents for decades. the numbers we see are staggering. after a nearly 15% decline in 2016, the numbers jumped 24%. in 2017, 57% n. 2018 it dipped a little, that was year of pittsburgh, the most violent anti-semitic attack in history. the highest total we ever counted in more than four decades, in 2020 a year when we were all socially distancing and college campuses were closed, businesses were shuttered. we still had the third highest total ever. last may after the fighting in gaza, right, when people had strong feelings, some became open season on jews. jewish people were attacked. in charlottesville they were wearing maga hats if you will. in may, they were coming from anti-israel rallies. there were folks on the far left. so i think one of the real lessons is why you have them miracle rise in these incidents. we are seeing the kind of ugliness on both sides of the ideological spectrum. no one has a monopoly on reality. i would say really, mike, anti-semitism isn't a jewish problem. it's an american problem. it's a sign that the decay of our society and as we've seen time and time again throughout history. as it goes for the jews, so it goes for the rest of the country. >> jonathan, so grad you brought up, i'm glad you brought up the last point, jonathan, that, you can hear me? >> i don't hear. i don't hear. >> doesn't hear. okay. well, the point, yeah, mike, the point i was about to make is maybe you can pass it along, i am grad that he brought up the fact that we have anti-semitism on the right, obviously, but also, we have it on the left. and we have had it on left for quite some time. i was just curious, though, as to why we see it often and we have seen it often from some, why do we see anti-semitism from some of the most elite institutions and universities. what you have seen time and again a jewish student being not just harassed, i know he hears me, my god. >> i hear you. >> you guys start talking. okay. okay. you have people saying you hear me. >> i hear you. >> i get it. i'm on my snowplow. let me go through the snow bank. you guys stop telling me the snow plow is working. okay, here we go. why is it there is anti-semitism on some of the elite college campuses that always seem to have been anti-semitism on the elite college campuses. we seen it from the right. everybody talks about charlottesville. people don't talk about ivy league schools and the anti-semitism that happens not only in the classrooms sometimes to students and their student life. >> no doubt. we've seen it at tuffs university, duke university, michigan, usc conventions, across the country. so i think this is a good example of sort of the overreaction of parts of the far left where the jewish has been demonized and delegitimized to the fact that it affects students we know, we've done polling analysis. we found in double digits they need to hide their identity on college campuses. again this is a good example of where the best of intentions can go, so far wrong. and so we've seen it from middle east studies departments, and other groups like last year, joe, we had a situation where the summarize movement, an environmental group wanted to ban and step out of a rally for d.c. statehood, because the national council of jewish women was participating. they were quote/unquote zionist was. this is an example the far left extortions the jewish state. it impacts people. it is okay, fine to talk about and critique policies of the israeli go. do i that. but there is something different when you demonize and delegitimize an entire country in a moment when hatred against people associated with that country is the on the rise. and look, if you don't think it's okay to assault asian-american people because you are upset about covid-19, it shouldn't be okay to assault jewish people because you are upset about policies in the middle east. i'm sorry, hate is hate, no matter who it's directed at. all of it is wrong. >> ceo and national director of the anti-defamation league jonathan greenblatt, thank you so much. >> mika, what do we have coming up? >> richard engel takes us inside ukraine as it braces to have a professional russian invasion. plus the cost of the covid vaccine. health officials warn about a so-called stealth version of the omicron variant. and for one pan, it could mean missing out on a new heart. we'll explain that. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. u are watchg (coughing) ♪ breeze driftin' on by ♪ ♪ you know how i feel ♪ copd may have gotten you here, but you decide what's next. we'll be right back. start a new day with trelegy. ♪ ...feelin' good ♪ no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or 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$500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. powering possibilities. welcome back. we've been covering the new developments this morning in the standoff over ukraine. russia appears poised to invade that country as the biden administration warns of severe consequences. here's nbc news chief fortunate correspondent richard engel with a look at how the kremlin is building up its arsenal. >> reporter: deep in eastern ukraine this morning, ukrainian troops are bracing for the worst. the soldiers say they're ready for anything as the prospect of a russian invasion appears to be increasing. we're in good spirits, no morale issues, no panic says the xander. russia and ukrainian separatists have been training here leaving villages largely empty, destroyed and lifeless. ukrainians call these ghost villages. the only sounds you hear are all the stray dogs that have moved in. but they fear what could be coming may be far worse. russia's military buildup is ac sell rating, disguised, u.s. officials say, by military exercises in the black sea. these firing drills in the baltic sea and along three sides of the ukrainian border, including these forces in new satellite images. a western intelligence official tells nbc news, russia has deployed up to 120,000 troops in 60 battalion tactical groups with more, maybe many, many more on the way. the buildup possibly reaching 100 battalion groups in the next two-to-three weeks. enough, they estimate, for a total invasion of ukraine. russia has also brought in missile launchers and mobilized medical and logistics units needed to support an invasion. russia repeatedly saying it has no plans to invade, suggesting the troop buildup is in response to what the foreign minister calls hysterical threats from the west to punish russia with sanctions. diplomatically, the u.s. gave russia written answers as requested which fell short of vladimir putin's sweeping demand that nato expansion since the collapse of the soviet union be undone and ukraine never be allowed to join the group. >> that was nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel reporting. coming up, omicron case are dropping but the virus seems to be mutating again. the latest on the pandemic is next on "morning joe." e pandemi next on "morning joe." it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new baja turkey avocado with smashed avocado, oven-roasted turkey, and baja chipotle sauce. it's three great things together. wait! who else is known for nailing threes? hmm. can't think of anyone! subway keeps refreshing and re... . welcome back to "morning joe." health officials are tracking what has been described as a stealth version of omicron as more americans are being re-infected with covid than ever before. here's nbc national correspondent gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: an omicron subvariant detected in 49 countries is now popping up in more states, including california, washington and texas. >> it means the virus is continuing to evolve and we know it will as long as there is unvaccinated people. >> reporter: it's not clear how dangerous it is, public health officials are watching it closely, as are vaccine manufacturers like moderna which says the omicron-specific booster is under way. >> it's unlikely people will need a booth. when that is, it is unknown yet. it is likely to the fall of this year. >> reporter: the current booster's effectiveness declined slightly after six months, though it's still noticeable. >> should anyone be surprised by that? >> i think we fully expected that. we know there are so many tech anythings int omicron spike protein. >> reporter: across the u.s., reported covid cases are down, 6% over the previous week. hospitalizations down 8 performance. deaths up 21%. despite omicron often causing milder symptoms. >> importantly, milder does not mean mild and we cannot look past the strain on our health systems and the substantial number of deaths nearly 2200 a day. >> reporter: meanwhile, covid infections are on the rise, researchers in england spoke with 3500 covid positive reports, two-thirds having a suspected case before. in new york, 80% reinfections happened during the omicron wave. second-timers are up in minnesota and washington state. most of them are unvaccinated. in illinois, brian kuntz spent weeks on a ventilator. >> they told me if i got it again, i would die. >> reporter: this month he got it again and says his recovery is much easier. >> i think they have more medicines for it. coming up next, another story linked to the pandemic. a boston man is being denied a heart transplant because of his vaccination status. nbc's dasha burns has the details next on "morning joe." r r details next o ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪ ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ my mental health was much better. my mind was in a good place. but my body was telling a different story. i felt all people saw were my uncontrolled movements. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. it's nice people focus more on me. ask your doctor about ingrezza, #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as zero dollars at ingrezza.com. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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. instead of helping students get back in the classroom, the school boards spend their time renaming schools and playing politics. schools that weren't even open. on february 15th, please recall school board members collins, lópez and maliga. our kids cannot wait any longer for new start. it's an issue playing out across the country. unvaccinated patients facing off against health centers. here's nbc news correspondent dasha burns with more. >> reporter: this morning it's a race against time for dj ferguson and his family. >> my son is in the hospital. he's in cardiac crisis. >> reporter: the 31-year-old father of two with a third baby on the way desperately needs a heart transplant. his mother in boston says he can't receive an organ donation because he won't get a covid vaccine. >> he's not an anti-vaxer, he's compromised. >> reporter: he is concerned about the potential heart-related side effects. >> the mayo clinic listed on their website the myocar indicts and blood clots. >> reporter: a new study shows a more than 190 million american who's received an mrna covid vaccine before august 2021 just under 2,000 reported a case of myocarditis. do you think the tradeoff for a transplant might be worthwhile? >> well, if they can prove to us it's not going to take his life. i think he would jump on board. >> reporter: in a statement, brigham and women's hospital says they require several vaccines, including the covid-19 vaccine to create both the best chance for a successful operation and to optimize the patient's survival. health experts tell us vaccination requirements are standard procedure, given the risks to transplant patients and a scarcity of available organs. >> it is almost common policy to say, if you don't have all your vaccinations, including covid, are you going to be less eligible for a transplant than other people who will do better with a scarce heart. >> reporter: some hospitals like cleveland clinic require living donors to be vaccinated, too. that policy put pike's kidney transplant on hold days before surgery. mike was vaccinated. his living donor wasn't. >> all i remember feeling was, what are we going to do? where do we go now? >> reporter: right now more than 100,000 men, women and children are on the national transplant waiting list, tragically 17 americans die each day waiting for an organ transplant. back in boston, tracy isn't sure what will happen next. >> i would want the doctors to treat the patient, not the policy. >> that was nbc news correspondent dasha burns reporting. and coming up, we have been going global in values pushed with forbes to highlight women who are stepping up in big ways. but today, we are focused right here at gnome. nominations are opened for this year's 50 over 50 list right here in the u.s. and we'll tell you how you can get involved and nominate someone or nominate yourself next on "morning joe." e yourself next on "morning joe. ♪ limu emu ♪ and doug. we gotta tell people that liberty mutual customizes car insurance so you only pay for what you need, and we gotta do it fast. 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[flames burning] [wind blowing] it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new honey mustard rotisserie-style chicken. it's sweet, it's tangy, it's tender, it never misses. you could say it's the steph curry of footlongs. you could, but i'm not gonna. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and re... my asthma felt anything but normal. ♪ ♪ it was time for a nunormal with nucala. nucala reduces asthma attacks it's a once-monthly add-on treatment for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occured. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nucala. nine minutes before the top of the hour. another live look at warsaw, poland. it's really been wonderful to be here this week on so many levels. and we have another big update this morning with the 50 over 50 project from forbes and know your value. last year after receiving more than 10,000 nominations we launched a remarkable inaugural list of dynamic women all over the age of 50 who are part of an exhilarating movement redefining life's second half and proving that success has no age limit. now it's time for our next annual u.s. "50 over 50" list, and today nominations are officially ohm. we're looking for women who are actively stepping into their power in their sixth, seventh, eighth, or ninth decade, women who are accelerating or re-creating their careers to reach the highest echelons of a business or field well after turning 50. this year's list is open to women whose residence or work is primarily based in the u.s., born on or before december 31st, 1971. so, by the way, you can't lie up about your age, which happened last year, which was fabulous in so many years, but you have to actually be 50 or above. head to forbes.com to nominate someone today or better yet, i love it when people nominate themselves. that's extremely cool. the success of that list as well as the forbes list has led to a global event for women, the forbes 30/50 summit in partnership with know your value will take place this march bringing together generations of women in abu dhabi to mark international women's day. go to forbes.com for more information on that and to register. what i think is cool is if you maybe sponsor someone on your team or several women who you think deserve to go and could use some inspiration. here now to share more details including some of the speakers who are going to be joining us in abu dhabi, the chief content officer of forbes media and editor of "forbes," randall lane. start with the u.s. list. nominations are open now. first of all, great success with the first u.s. list. we have so much fun with that. a great response. how do we inspire women to nominate themselves, what are we looking for, and what is the talk inside the forbes community about the response to this list compared to other list? >> 10,000 people out of the gate is amazing and we want to beat that. it's not just numbers. the more nominations we get, the better the list. we're finding women we wouldn't find otherwise. that's why today is open with this landing page is that we have a team of reporters around the world finding amazing women who are having their best suck sessions over 50, but by having this landing page where we're allowing people to say we can't find everybody, let's make sure it's inclusive, everybody has a chance. so you could nominate yourself. a lot of women you talked about on this show a lot don't want to raise their hand. and they should. the guys nominate themselves for everything. you can nominate your sister, your mother, your daughter, if you're old enough, so, you know, a friend, colleague, but let's hear who it is. let's make sure this list is as inclusive and open as it can be. >> so i want to talk about abu dhabi because we have now some real concrete information as to what's going to be happening at the 30/50 summit. i had dinner last night with a woman who was on the latest global list, the europe, middle east, and africa, kase kelly, who runs discovery and this tv station, as well as like 140 other countries -- europe, middle east, and africa, she's in charge of all tv stations in all these regions. so she's coming to abu dhabi, and we have an idea she would sponsor someone or someone else within her network or someone she knows because it's a great opportunity to reward women who are on the way up but perhaps need a little inspiration. so tell us what we have in store for this three-day event. >> well, it's about mentorship, so it's a great idea. it's about younger women and older women and women with wisdom and knowledge and leaders teaching young women, and young women teaching older women. it's a two-way street, and we're now in a position where we can, you know, be comfortable this is going to be the greatest gathering of women in history, greatest global gathering in history. what we've got is three to four days of just unbelievable venues, unbelievable talent. we're going to start opening at the presidential palace, one of the nicest buildings in the world, makes the taj mahal look small. incredible venue. >> wow. >> just to ourselves. outside under the stars. we'll have a special light show, reception of world leaders. it will be spectacular. we're going to do the programming at the louvre. so talk about inspiration and a place you could think about, and that's where it's going to be on a monday. we'll have a very special monday night we'll be ready to announce in about a week. then on international women's day itself, we're going to focus on turning every single attendee -- we're limiting it to 500 of the best of the best, but we're going to turn every single participant into a speaker. instead of mentoring each other, which we'll be doing across, we'll try to mentor the world by having every single one of these amazing women recording programming and videos we then shoot out to the entire world so that every single person in the world, every single woman and girl in the world can get inspired and get knowledge from this event. >> and so, we've been working together on all of this, and also on who's going to be coming and speaking and performing. and we have a lot to announce in the days to come. in about a week we'll announce someone. but it's the ultimate interview for me. what can we say so far about some of the voices we'll be hearing from? >> again, we have literally hundreds of people already coming, and some of the speakers we're announcing today actually, we have one of the biggest makeup brands in the world on the forbes self-made women list. she's worth half a billion dollars. and mika, you have a great instagram following. i follow you. she's got 50 million instagram followers. this is somebody who really has taken her personality and her fame and her talents -- she was makeup artist to the stars and turned it into a real amazing business. we have jenny just, on the forbes self-made women list, the richest women private equity in the world. she's worth $1.5 billion by buying fintech. that's kind of a mell field, private entity fintech. there's no barrier. we have a princess from saudi arabia. we have a doctor from south africa, one of the greatest philanthropists in africa. you know, all around the world, amazing women from all backgrounds, all ages coming together for what, again, we think will be the greatest gathering of women ever. >> and many, many more announcements on this to come. randall lane, thanks very much. i'll talk to you soon. and you can hear more about the issues at the forefront of this movement on my new limited series podcast "mika straight up." in the latest episode, our theme is longevity. i speak with preventive cardiologist and founder of the srs heart doctor suzanne stein balm about the effects the pandemic has had on our longevity. we talk with tracy chadwell about maximizing your professional longevity. listen wherever you get your podcasts. while you're there, hit subscribe so you can be the first to know when new ones are coming your way. that does it for us this morning. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. hey, there. i'm stephanie ruhle live at ms. nbc headquarters right here in new york city. this is thursday, january 27th, and we begin this morning broadcast with breaking news. we got the latest snapshot of our economy, and boy, does it look good. the gdp numbers for