Morning Joe - Morning Joe 1/24/25

Episode Date: January 24, 2025

Hegseth's nomination to lead the Pentagon clears a key hurdle in the Senate

Trump has issued a number of executive orders. Some of them are awful, some are just blatantly unconstitutional, but one of them, I have to admit, I'm a little bit excited about. Lastly, sir, we have an executive order ordering the declassification of files relating to the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That's a big one, huh? A lot of people are waiting for this for a long, for years. Robert F. Kennedy and the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. That's a big one, huh?

A lot of people are waiting for this for a long, for years, for decades. And everything will be revealed. Ten bucks says we're going to find out Joe Biden killed JFK. All right. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Friday. Anybody happy about that? Anyone? Anyone? Raise your hand.

Happy Friday. Yes, we're all here. Yeah. January 24th. We have a lot to get to this morning, including Pete Hegsat's nomination for defense secretary, which cleared a key hurdle yesterday. We'll look at where support stands for the former Fox News host ahead of an expected final vote today in the Senate. Plus, President Trump delivers the first international speech of his new term. We'll have the key moments from his address to business and political leaders. Also ahead, we'll bring you the very latest

on the wildfires still burning in Southern California. As the president says, he will get a firsthand look at the devastation. And another former Trump administration official is losing his security detail, despite threats from foreign groups. We'll talk about that along with Joe, Willie and me. We have the co-host of our fourth hour, Jonathan LaMere.

He's a contributing writer at the Atlantic covering the White House and national politics. Managing editor at the Bullwork, Sam Stein, White House reporter for the Washington Post, Jackie Alamany and the host of Wait Too Early, Ali Vitale is with us. So Joe, it's a busy Friday. We have a huge Friday. You know, because Sam Stein's here and he's fascinated by this Blake Lively story.

We're going to be covering that in the 7 o'clock hour. Thank you. Finally. We have Pablo coming on in 30 minutes. We've got a lot of stuff going on today. I do want to start, though, with what you read off the top, the news off the top. The Wall Street Journal has written about it,

where they talk about some ex-Trump officials losing security. This is what they say in their editorial, the Wall Street Journal editorial page today, a Murdoch paper. Trump leaves ex-aids unprotected. The possibility of falling out of President Trump's good graces is an occupational hazard for good people who serve in his administration. But this looks like a new low. Mr. Trump reportedly has ordered an end to security protection

for three former advisors who are living under the threat of assassination by Iran. Pray it won't happen, but what if one of them now gets attacked? If Iran commits violence against any of these men, Mr. Trump won't be able to escape responsibility. Also, what is Secretary of State Marco Rubio supposed to think about the boss's refusal to protect his predecessor? So Wall Street Journal editorial page, obviously really a lot of people talking about this, but again, these men are under threat of death by Iran because they were the ones that helped carry out

the attack on Soleimani back when they were serving for none other than Donald Trump. Yeah, I mean, that's exactly the point, which is they are under threat because of the orders they received from Donald Trump, because of the policies of the Trump administration. And now for petty reasons, some grievance that Donald Trump has,

you have to dig deep to remember what it is. He's pulling, according to all this reporting, security for not just Mike Pompeo, but others. John Bolton, we talked about a couple of days ago, but one of the top aides to Mike this reporting, security for not just Mike Pompeo, but others. John Bolton, we talked about a couple days ago, but one of the top aides to Mike Pompeo, also having his security pulled, somebody who was at his side for all of these decisions. So when Donald Trump promised retribution

during the campaign, it turns out he meant it. When he promised to empty the jails of January 6 convicts, it turns out he meant it. So we're learning in this very first week, these first few days of the Trump administration, if people didn't already to take seriously his threats. Well, you know, Meekin, what's so fascinating about this list is, of course, people have seen that John Bolton has been critical of Donald Trump. Mike Pompeo, not so much.

But Brian Hook, what's so fascinating about Brian Hook is, and so many people in Washington are asking the question why. He's a guy who kept his head down, a professional, a professional who's an envoy to Iran and didn't get out there attacking anybody, stayed non-political. So it is deeply perplexing to a lot of people why his security clearance got pulled, and

of course, obviously disturbing that the others too, did, when again, like President Trump, they are under direct threat from the Iranian government. Yeah. To our top story now, President Trump's pick to lead the central intelligence agency was confirmed on a bipartisan basis yesterday. John Radcliffe, Trump's former director of national intelligence and a former Republican congressman from Texas, was confirmed 74 to 25 with 21 Democrats voting in favor of his nomination.

He was sworn into office shortly after the vote. Meanwhile, the final Senate vote on Pete Hegseth's nomination as defense secretary is expected to be held tonight after he narrowly cleared a required procedural vote yesterday. Fifty-one senators voted to move forward with his nomination. Two Republicans, Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, sided with Democrats in voting against Hegseth. Senator Murkowski announced her opposition ahead of the vote, writing in a statement, quote, the leader of the Department of Defense must demonstrate and model the standards of behavior and character we expect of all service members and Mr. Hegseth's nomination to the

role poses significant concerns that I cannot overlook. Senator Susan Collins also explained her decision in a statement noting Hegseth's changing position on women in combat roles, quote, He and I had a candid conversation in December about his past statements and apparently evolving views. I am not convinced that his position on women serving in combat roles has changed. Now Republicans can only afford to lose one more vote. If that occurs, Vice President JD Vance would have to vote in favor to break the tie and confirm Hegseth. Senator Mitch McConnell

chose to advance Hegseth to a final vote, but has not signaled he is not sold on his... but he has signaled that he's not sold on his nomination. And Senator Tom Tillis told reporters yesterday he was still looking into allegations that Hegseth denies. I'll be voting in favor of closing the day. I'm still examining the record. You know what I'm trying to explain to everyone, and I don't know why some people are getting it, is I go through extensive due diligence. If people want to reach out to me and want to talk about their account, I do it. I have talked to numerous people. I've spent hours on the phone. I have yet to find, I see these accounts, I have yet to find one instance of a firsthand

account with cooperation to support the allegations. If I find that, then it would influence my vote. Well, you know, that is fascinating, what Tom Tillis said. We've heard that several of the whistleblower reports were actually blocked by Republicans. So those people that made those complaints couldn't come forward with it. It'd be interesting to see if Tom Tillis has tried to reach out to those. So first of all, with the Ratcliffe vote, another fairly bipartisan vote like Marco Rubio and like several others that are going through it. Like we suspect, the Treasury Secretary nominee will also breeze through.

But on Pete Hegseth, you have, of course, Mitch McConnell and we just heard there, Tom Tillis. I still am wondering about two people. Have we heard yet from Senator Young, who again has committed his life to strengthening the United States military and certainly understands that Pete Hegseth is not qualified, regardless of these allegations, to be Secretary of Defense at this stage of his life. And also, if we heard anything from Dave McCormick, a West Point grad who's not up for reelection for six years, and certainly understands, as well as anybody on Capitol Hill, that Pete Hegseth is not up to the challenges of serving in

the Pentagon? John? Yeah, so a few things here. First of all, on Ratcliffe, much like Rubio, the bipartisan support, there are some Democrats who have signaled they don't necessarily agree with all of his beliefs, but they think he is qualified for the role, and therefore he is going to, he was confirmed without much in the way of opposition. Hegseth is a different matter.

There are been questions here. Some late breaking revelations in these last few days. Former family members stepping forward, more witness accounts coming forward, some with names attached, which for some Republicans, deeply important. And we now have, as Tom Tillis suggested, these last 24 hours. Yes, he moved to advance, but now has these last few moments here to do some last minute investigating and perhaps soul searching.

We heard from Collins and Murkowski, two senators, their opposition was expected in, both delivered pretty strong statements as to why they couldn't support this candidate. So the question is, is there one more that would force the vice president to break a tie or perhaps two more? Senator Young has suggested he will support Pete Hegseth to answer one of your questions.

So we will see if anything changes in the last 24 hours, in these final 24 hours. I've also been told there are some Republicans who have misgivings about Hegseth but might be saving their no vote for Tulsi Gabbard thinking they can only do one for fear of really alienating President Trump, and they think Gabbard even less qualified than Hegseth. So, Allie, let's go to you. You obviously cover the Hill each and every day. What's the latest you've heard here about Hegseth's momentum?

Could there be a late breaking no voter to that could jeopardize his nomination when the votes taken this evening? Well, these are the four names that we've been talking about for the entirety of the head Seth nominating fight It's always been Murkowski Collins McConnell and of course Tom Tillis But what I hear in that Tom Tillis statement is that he might be pointing to the pitfalls of the background check process and certainly all of us here have talked about that how it's not been a wholehearted and far reaching process with clear glaring gaps. But what Tillis is saying there is he's leaving himself an out for if and when he does end up voting to confirm Hegseth.

The lack of first person accounts is what he's looking for and has yet to find. But there are probably reasons for that, including but not limited to something that our team reported late last night, which is that there was a non-disparagement clause in Hegsett's second divorce, and that might prevent his second wife from coming out and talking about the pieces of their marriage that have been alleged,

this idea that she was fearing for herself, for her safety, that there might have been threats of abuse. That's something that our team had reported on. And so there could be explanations for why Tillis has not yet been able to find a first-person account. But what I see in that statement

is not someone who is looking for the way to lay the groundwork to getting to know. He's also a 2026 senator up for reelection. We know primary challenges have been a key threat over the course of this process.

And that's certainly something that's not far from mine for folks on the Hill either. So, you know, Sam Stein, yeah, Todd Young said last week that he was gonna support Pete Hegseth in this vote. Last night, we should point out the Senator Dave McCormick, the new incoming Senator, he's here now, incoming Senator from Pennsylvania, who is also a combat veteran.

He voted to move forward to the final vote, but also has signaled his support for Pete Hegseth. So do you see anything derailing Hegseth's confirmation at this point? And if not, where are, as John pointed out, where are Republicans looking? Because next Thursday, six days from now, you have the confirmation hearings for both Tulsi Gabbard and Cash Patel. Are some Republicans holding their no votes perhaps for one of those two nominees?

Well, first of all, when do we get to Blake Lively? That's why I came here. That's why I came here. That's why I came here. That's why I came here. Simmer down. I was asked to talk about one thing this morning. On the Hegseth nomination, I think this is not

performative because obviously there are two Republican senators who have come out in opposition to it, but when you see, like Ali said, when you see Tom Tillis's statement, it's clear to me that what he's saying in essence is, I'm open-minded but I haven't seen anything yet that will dissuade me from voting for it. And we got hints yesterday That the expectation is a very narrow vote potentially 50-50 vote But that HEC-SETH will be confirmed ultimately and and notable here look obviously there's a ton of scandal around this has been incredibly messy confirmation process But I thought Collins statement was the most notable one. Just I don't believe you in essence

I don't believe you, in essence. I don't believe your conversions that you say you've had on women in combat are real. And it gets to the fundamental issue with Hegseth that wasn't, in essence, convincing enough for all Republicans, which is that he's not really, compared to anyone else for this post, qualified for it. He just doesn't have the qualifications for it. That got overshadowed by some of the more salacious allegations against him, which in anyone else for this post qualified for it. He just doesn't have the qualifications for it. That got overshadowed by some of the more salacious allegations against him, which in

a way actually allowed Republicans to get over the other qualification issue. Now, Willie, as to your other point, what does this mean for other nominations? I've been talking to Republicans on the Hill. The biggest one that they think is at risk would be Tulsi Gabbard's. She's not had the confirmation hearing meetings with senators that have gone well like the others have. In fact, some of the senators have left those meetings saying they still have questions that they need to answer.

I was in a briefing with one Republican member of Congress who went through all of the controversial ones, Hegseth, RFK Jr., Patel, and they were pretty bullish on all of them, and then it got to Gabbard, and it's like, you know, she still has work to do. But I also talked to a, and I'll shut up after this, but I also talked to a lobbyist, a Republican lobbyist on the Hill, who said, the issue here is that if any of these nominees go down,

it hurts John Thune, and John Thune has to deliver these nominees for Trump, and the establishment, Republicans Republicans want Thune to remain Senate Majority Leader. So they have that other calculation that they have to consider when making this vote. OK. We'll be following that today. Joe? Yeah, I've just got to say, first of all, you have people that have, again, served in the military. You have Dave McCormick, who Willie just said is going to support.

Dave McCormick knows, he knows Pete Hegseth is not qualified to run the Pentagon. He knows that. So, and he's not up for six years, so that's fascinating. You say the same thing for Todd Young. He knows Pete Hegseth is not qualified. So you look at these votes, and some of them are just, again, just absolutely baffling. They say, well, you know, we can't vote against two people. So we're going to let this guy with a thousand different questions about him.

And he's not qualified to run it. We're going to let him run the most important bureaucracy in the world. And he's going to be in the like nuclear line of succession here. And I don't, I don't, I don't know. I guess I'm too naive. I don't understand that line of thinking. Yeah, well we're gonna follow this as it a lot of it could happen today, at least late into the day. In other news, House Speaker Mike Johnson is denying a Washington Post report that claims an aid to Johnson

advised Republicans last year to not reach out to former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson for their January 6th Capitol riot investigation because of sexually explicit texts to lawmakers sent to her. NBC News has not seen the document, the Washington Post story sites, and has not been able to independently verify the reporting. This comes as Speaker Johnson is launching a new select committee to investigate the attack and the Democratic Party's probe into it. There's no reason to issue this, you know, because Cassidy Hutchinson was a volunteer

in December and didn't come, presumably because she wanted to try to sell more books. It didn't make sense to give her any more attention. She'd already testified. There's all these allegations that somebody on my staff was communicating with somebody else on staff. I'm not privy to all my staff's conversations, but that didn't have anything to do with me. So Jackie, this is your reporting. So this involves texts that were sent to her and if revealed it would be damaging to Republican

lawmakers. What were these texts? Yeah, Mika, well, I want to be clear. We haven't actually reviewed the alleged text message, the purported text messages that members approached an aide in Mike Johnson's house about warning her that if elevated by Cassidy Hutchinson potentially through a subpoena and through discovery that these text messages could potentially be made public and provide embarrassing fodder and information about members of Congress that would be unnecessary. Throughout the past year, obviously, Cassidy Hutchinson has been a central target of the

counter effort to investigate the January 6th investigation and essentially re-report the report completed by the House Select Committee that investigated it and finished their report in 2022 that was led by Liz Cheney. They've accused Liz Cheney of witness tampering with regards to Cassidy Hutchinson as a part of sort of recruiting her to be a part of their investigation, but notably did not subpoena her or call her in to testify under oath. Now Cassidy Hutchinson's lawyer provided a statement for us saying that Hutchinson has willingly cooperated with the investigation and that a subpoena wouldn't be necessary.

But there are people who are involved with the probe who told the Post that that was a source of contention and disagreement, and that Mike Johnson also was against bringing Cassidy in and elevating her story, though he did not echo the sentiments about there being sexually explicit text messages and concern about that. Instead, as you just heard, what he said was he was worried about embarrassing unnecessary information being raised and elevated again by Hutchinson, providing a platform for her. I just have to understand. You're talking about grown men, Republican lawmakers, sending

what? That's a very good question. But again, we have not actually reviewed any of these purported text messages or seen them. Just know that members raised concerns to Mike Johnson's office about the potential release of whatever these texts may be, but we do know that they were purported to be sexually explicit and highly inappropriate, enough for an aide to raise concerns and communicate that to the staff of the lawmaker Barry Laudermermilk who is conducting the investigation. And Speaker Johnson denies it. I guess we'll follow this. Thank you, Jackie. Stay with us. Still ahead on Morning Joe, the latest from Los

Angeles where multiple wildfires are burning right now. Crews are gaining ground on one fast-moving blaze as some much-needed rain is being forecast this weekend. Also ahead, when it comes to the southern border, Republicans are making it clear Democrats won't be part of the conversation when it comes to passing President Trump's immigration priorities. We'll dig into that. Morning Joe is back in 90 seconds. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning.

President Donald Trump ordering the government to declassify records related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. It's unclear when exactly the documents will be made public. While most historians doubt the files will offer any groundbreaking information,

Trump told reporters yesterday, quote, everything will be revealed. New data shows a new record number of people are making just the minimum payments on their credit cards. More consumers are also falling into delinquency. people are making just the minimum payments on their credit cards. More consumers are also falling into delinquency as the average interest rates have soared. According to the Fed, average credit card rates are about 50% higher than three years ago.

By one measure, it would take 22 years and cost 18 grand in interest to pay off $10,000 in debt. And the New York Post is reporting on a study that shows smartphones are making teenagers more aggressive, detached from reality, and even causing them to hallucinate. According to one psychologist quoted in the piece, screen time essentially acts as a toxin that stunts both brain development and social development. A staggering 37% of 13-year-olds reported experiencing aggression. The researchers also warned the phones are making kids withdraw from society. And Willie, as I toss to you, it's especially kids who have their phones all night long

and they're just scrolling and up all night. Hi Joe. Yeah, I'm Joe. The other guy's Willie. We'll go to him in a second. But we did worry about this though. I mean, and we saw it firsthand when prep school phenom Sam Stein came on set. Lightest smartphones were coming in and he with all these

things that you were talking about little Sam went through when he was in prep school and I think oh look at him right now see look at that Willie. That unfortunately is the truth. Sam is doing a very good imitation of today's teenager. He's still doing it. You know, Willie, I saw a doctor, and this is fascinating, I saw a doctor, and I'm sure you may have seen the clip too, saying that she would rather her teenager smoke cigarettes than be addicted to a smartphone because if they only smoke cigarettes like for a couple of years in their teens their body could

actually heal itself but unfortunately so much of the wiring for the brain goes on between you know 13 and 18, 19, 20 that she's very worried that the neurological defects stay with the children even as they move beyond the teenage years, Willie. Yeah, I mean, it's not even a debate anymore. Books have been written, studies have been done. They've been terrible.

You can look at social anxiety, depression, suicide rates among teenagers since the advent of the smartphone and social media. It's all right there. And the data, and you're right, a lot of us have noticed how aggressive Sam Stein has become. He froths at the mouth. It's all right there and the data and you're right. A lot of us have noticed how aggressive Sam Stein has become, he froths at the mouth. It's horrible.

Ever since the iPhone came out, he's a different guy and a lot of us are scared of him, quite frankly. We keep him at a safe distance. I gotta read up on Blake Lovley. Why do you think he's in a box right now, man? I mean, we keep him in a box. I went to a baseball game with him at Fenway a few years ago, and I mean, he was just climbing over the seats,

taking people's nachos. Like, you can't even drink. You can't go out with him. The smartphone has completely changed him. Absolutely. Sam, you're... Go ahead, Sam, go ahead. Well, I just feel like I'm being him. Absolutely. Am I supposed to respond to this? Go ahead, Sam. Go ahead.

Well, I just feel like I'm being maligned here. You know, how are you supposed to keep on your Blake Lively news if you don't have your smartphone on you at all times? You gotta check on your feeds here. Sam, we're gonna get your Blake Lively coverage in just a moment, but that is a very... I have not been following the Blake Lively thing at all. I just wanna be clear. I don't know how this started.

Don't come to me for it, please. It's gonna be embarrassing. All right, all right Sam, just chill man, chill. But yeah, that is a huge story. As the parent of two teenagers, the phone story is the story of our time for sure. All right, let's get to the fires again now in Southern California.

Crews working to get several of them under control this morning. Some much needed rain is expected over the weekend, but that is prompting concerns now about possible mudslides. NBC News correspondent Liz Kreut says the latest. Relentless Santa Ana winds sparking multiple new fires across Southern California, forcing firefighters into what

seems like a volatile game of whack a mole from Ventura County to San Diego to Los Angeles, a brush fire ignited near the famous Getty Center closing in on one of the city's busiest highways and prompting evacuation mornings in Bel Air. I can see it spreading in both directions crews knocking it down. Well also waging a massive air and ground attack to get a handle on the Hughes fire in North LA County,

which forced 30,000 people from their homes. We were able to get a lot of personnel and equipment on scene in a relatively short amount of time. Across Southern California, 10 million people facing dangerous fire conditions with up to 70 mile per hour winds but rain now in the forecast after months of bone dry conditions rain is it a good thing or a bad thing right now what's predicted looks like a good thing because it's not a lot but we're not taking any chances the rain is also bringing concerns

about mudslides with unstable land and the burn scars and all this toxic debris concerns about mudslides with unstable land and the burn scars and all this toxic debris. Crews clearing debris, installing concrete barriers and giving out sandbags to shore up vulnerable areas. If the rain does pound for a significant period of time, there will be a slide. Despite a city on edge, multiple schools near Altadena reopening for the first time since the Eaton fire. Some of my best friends might have lost their homes only no one whose house burned to the ground so that was a sad thing. An attempt to return to normalcy as the

fire threat looms large. Liz Kreutz reporting from Los Angeles County there. Jonathan Lemire, President Trump will travel to the fire zone later today, but that'll be after he visits North Carolina, which is still devastated by the flooding that happened after Hurricane Helene. Tens of billions of dollars of damage there. More than 100 people died. He's been very critical. He was during the campaign of the federal response there in North Carolina. So a long and busy day for the president today. Yeah, he's heading to both disaster sites. First, as you say, Western North Carolina. So a long and busy day for the president today. Yeah, he's heading to both disaster sites first.

As you say, Western North Carolina, Hurricane Helene, he's gonna tour the damaged areas, promise some sort of federal help, and then he heads out to California. And look, for presidents, these trips to disaster zones are usually moments to unify, to say, well'll set aside politics and just work together to help the Republicans and Democrats alike

here on the ground who have suffered. In his first term, Donald Trump didn't often do that. He politicized a lot of these events. He certainly did during this past campaign as well. We will have to see what happens today. One note of note, he is inviting Congressman Schiff, who he is deeply critical of, to join him for touring the California disaster zone Schiff

Of course represents that state the now the senator Schiff I should say newly elevated and then Gavin Newsom the governor of California Who of course is another political foe of Donald Trump is gonna meet him at the airport when he arrives in, California So we'll have to see what tone all of these men take here. Past his prologue, Trump could make it political, we'll see. And then as a final note, he then heads to Las Vegas tomorrow

for just one week into his term, already holding his first rally. Yeah, and Senator Schiff, by the way, will be our guest here in a couple of hours on Morning Joe. President Trump will be greeted at the airport in Asheville, North Carolina at the first stop by the new Democratic governor of North Carolina, Josh Stein. So it'll be interesting to watch all the dynamics there.

Coming up, we'll take a quick break from news and politics and talk to our friend Pablo Torre to preview Championship Weekend in the NFL Playoffs. Pablo, next on Morning Joe. Last the hour, American Madison Keys will play in a Grand Slam final for the second time in her career. Eight years after her runner-up finish at the U.S. Open, Keys has earned another swing at a major rallying from a set down yesterday to upset second-seeded Egas Vjatec. And advanced to the Australian Open Final. Keys will meet two time defending champion

Irina Soboleina in the title match tomorrow night. On the men's side, Alexander Zverev got a free pass through the semis after Novak Djokovic retired midway through the match with an injury. Zverev had just secured an 81 minute first set in a tie break when Djokovic, who was playing with a muscle tear in his left leg, conceded the contest and confirmed Zverev's spot in Sunday's final. Zverev will take on top ranked Italian Yannick Sinner, who advanced this morning after eliminating American Ben Shelton in straight sets.

So Joe, I love the Polish Ika Sviateck. I like her. It was an incredible tiebreaker. It was a 10 point tiebreaker, and Ika was ahead through most of the tiebreaker. And so incredible ending there, and Djokovic, of course, it's always fun watching part of the tiebreaker. And so, incredible ending there. And Djokovic, of course, it's always fun watching part of the interruption

and hearing the back and forth on Wilbon calling Djokovic the goat, and they're saying if he won this time, he definitely would be the goat. Not so in this case. Willie, the Wall Street Journal has a headline, the Buffalo Bills have a Chiefs problem. The solution weighs 1,909 pounds. And they talk about their massive offensive line

and how the Bills use the jumbo package. They use six linemen instead of five. And it's worked this year. The Bills, the Wall Street Journal records, have averaged the most yards per down and also scored the most touchdowns so I do think if there's a year

as I said a couple of weeks ago when Pablo said no no don't do it I think if there's a year that Josh Allen and these bills can stop the Chiefs this is the year. We'll see they got to go on the road again they did beat the Chiefs the only team to beat the Chiefs this is the year. We'll see. They got to go on the road again. They did beat the Chiefs,

the only team to beat the Chiefs this season, beat them earlier this season, but it's a different gear for these Chiefs when they get to the playoffs. But this is clearly a more flawed Chiefs team that has been in past years. Had so many narrow victories, lucky bounces, bad calls, you could argue, last week go in their favor.

We'll see if they get lucky again this weekend. So the finalists for the NFL MVP were Josh Allen right now, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, Lamar Jackson, and Saquon Barkley, lone running back in the group, finalists for the MVP. That announcement came yesterday, but just two of those star players are still in contention for the Lombardi Trophy set to play in conference championships this weekend. The Eagles will count on Barclay heavily Sunday to carry them through the NFC title game against division rival the Washington Commanders. Sunday night in the AFC, Allen and the Bills

head out on the road to Arrowhead where they will try to stop the two-time defending champion chiefs from booking a third straight trip to the Super Bowl as they seek a three-peat. Joining us now the host of Pablo Torre finds out on Meadowlark Media and SMBC contributor Pablo Torre. Pablo good to see you. Good morning. All right viewers guide for the weekend what are you gonna be watching? Yeah I mean let's start in chronological order. I mean the commander's eagle sting will start there because they're going to give us that first. The commanders are in an interesting position, like an NCAA tournament position to me.

They have obviously the hottest team right now, but also they have the best player right now. When it comes to just look at this matchup, compare every position group. The Eagles have at every other position than quarterback an advantage, but at the most important one, it's the rookie having the greatest rookie season, I think in NFL history.

And so for me, as much as the Eagles have all that, Lily, I'm leaning commanders here. I really am. You know, the thing is, it's so hard to say how a rookie and how an up-and-coming team is going to perform as the stakes get higher every week. And of course, when you're at the NFC Championship game, that's as high as it gets.

I've been thinking that, too, this week, that it's certainly a possibility. Because like the Chiefs the Eagles at times have won ugly have just sort of you know they ground their their opponents out if Jaden Daniels is hot if he takes it to the next level this is gonna be yeah a really fascinating game either side could win but I'm with you Daniels could do it. Yeah, look, Jaylen Hurts, your guy, right? Alabama's own Jaylen Hurts.

He's been struggling and he's been hurting and that has been an issue. So the defense of the Eagles, to be clear, probably the best in the league at every position. Certainly running back, they have Saquon Barkley aforementioned, we've talked about him all year. But beyond that, it's like, can Jaden Daniels be the guy where you strap a heart rate monitor to him,

and you're like, this guy shows signs of calmness in live fire. And that's what we've seen. And I just think when you're at a two-minute drill scenario, you want the guy who's most calm. And the guy I trust the most right now is Jaden Daniels and I like that stuff. Yeah, yeah certainly we have seen Cinderella playoff runs before Pablo sort of end when the when the they face a tough defense the Eagles great defense

they can run the ball they're really good they're home but Daniels is special and it's also a division game they won't be scared of it. NFC East tends to be messy historically. Yeah, so let's turn now to the marquee matchup. The 630 game on Sunday. It is Bills at Chiefs. The Bills, as Willie said, beat the Chiefs during the regular season. But the Chiefs are undefeated 3-0 against them

in the playoffs. You know, they will have home field advantage. That is a tough, tough place to play. My heart is with the Bills. I think a lot of America is ready for something different. They'd love to see Josh Allen and that long-suffering fan base back in the Super Bowl. Man, it's tough to bet against Chiefs. Yeah, look, comeuppance is overdue. A revolution is brewing against Kansas City. Claire McCaskill,

of course, is trying to suppress that revolution at every turn. She's running out. She's not here to defend herself. But I can feel her. I can feel her presence. I bet you can. Look, I love the movie Amadeus. And I bring that up. I bring that up, Mika, to bring you in. The archives.

But also because when I see Mahomes and I see Josh Allen, I'm reminded of Mozart and Salieri respectively. It was a good movie. Salieri, just for people. Not only a great character in a great movie, a good, if not great, composer in his own right. The issue is much as they are four and four, by the way, Joe. Allen and Mahomes are four and four head to head career. Salieri, Josh Allen, is 0 and 3 in the postseason. And so this is the thing we talk about in sports. When the spotlight turns up, when the heat gets turned up, who becomes better and who becomes worse? And when you're going up against Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,

maybe we should stop pretending that they're the same guy. And I love Josh Allen. I do. It's just really hard to bet against. He's so leery. To get against Mozart, yes, yes. Yeah, it is, but we'll see what happens. I mean, you know, rivalries are one sided until they're not.

Of course, we saw what the Red Sox did to the Yankees in 04. You didn't have to bring that up, that boy. That wasn't necessary. That changed everything. Just thank you for the opening there. I wanna quickly go around and I want to ask everybody the MVP choice. And Willie, let's start with you. I mean, you know, I understand you want to make the vote before the playoffs are over.

You know, there's no doubt about it. The MVP for the regular season was Lamar Jackson. I love Lamar. But how do you name somebody an MVP that can't ever take their team to the promise? And he's supposed to be the most valuable player. The person who takes... I mean, if we're just going by season, I mean, Joe Burrow could get it. I mean, nobody was hotter than him the second half of the season. But if Josh Allen takes his team to the Super Bowl, it's going to be kind of strange having

Lamar Jackson once again, who had the best season, regular season, Lamar winning the MVP again. I just think they need to push the voting back, because it does matter how you play in December and January. Yeah, but the MVP award has never really been the most valuable player. It's been the best player. And Lamar Jackson clearly had the best year, and he would never say this because he's a classy and good teammate.

But he might be playing this weekend, if not for a couple of terrible dropped passes by his always reliable tight end. So I think Lamar is probably the easy pick here. And I would say it doesn't go to running backs much anymore, but Saquon Barkley had an absolutely incredible year. And as a Giants fan, I can't root for the Eagles exactly, but I am rooting for him. So if they won, I'd be very, very happy for Saquon Barkley because he's a great guy and a phenomenal player and he deserves it. And by the way if you're talking about a most valuable player who's you know that sort of the war equivalent in baseball I mean the guy that's made the biggest difference Sam Stein it's hard

not to say that it is Barkclay I mean he gave the Eagles a jolt and it gave him yeah wait have you been on your phone like all year on Blake library or do you have you actually followed the NFL? I have, I have, I have. Okay. My MVP is Gabby Gay. So your MVP? Daniel Jones man what a year.

Oh my God. No. No, my giants are terrible. Obviously, I have an affinity, a love for Saquon. Like Willie, I am so happy for the year he's had, and it's remarkable to see all that talent unlocked. And frankly, I do think it's a little bit weird that we just overlook running backs at this point in time.

So I would actually cast my vote for him. But this is ultimately improbable. This is right. I'm assuming. This is a regular season award. So unfortunately, because obviously the playoff heroics, in our mind, in our estimation, they matter. They should.

And they're the ultimate arbiter of how successful you are for your team. But this is a regular season award. So I'm with you that it's going to end up with Lamar. OK, keep the Brady box bunch up. Alex says we have to go, but I'm going to go around very quickly. MVP, Jonathan Olme or who? I think it's going to be Josh Allen,

because I think it's a narrative award. I think he's going to win. Yeah. It is. It is a narrative award. It shouldn't be. Allie, who's the MVP this year? I'm with my fellow Suffering Giants fans, Saquon Barkley.

Mika, you talk about know your value. That is a guy who knew his value. Oh my God, Giants fans are gonna be crying over that, especially with the MVP. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Yeah, he should be. Jackie, you're MVP. I wish I could play along with this and tell you that I just googled who the MVP should be

Figure it out on chat GBT I will just go with as a fellow New Yorker None of us should collapse on the fainting couches if it's Saquon or Lamar or Josh Allen. All of them are deserving, honestly, parody in the contest. Just announce it before the postseason. It's a regular season award. Give it to him before it looks dumb

that you gave it to the guy who just choked in the playoffs, even though he's a three-time MVP. It's Lamar Jackson. It will be Lamar Jackson. Okay, host of Pablo Torrey finds out on Metal Arch Media. Pablo Torrey, thank thank you by the way. I'm making your answer. Yes, I'm with Ali that's your answer for MVP. I'm with Ali battalion. Okay, yeah by the

way Pablo mentioned Amadeus and the man who won the Academy Award for playing so Larry F Murray Abraham will be our guest on morning Joe on Monday. I can't even see that. Abraham will be our guest on Morning Joe on Monday. Whoa! Deep T's. I call him F. Me and F hang out all the time. Synergy. Still ahead, we'll speak with former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, on President Trump's return to the White House

and how leaders overseas view his comeback. Plus, Senator Adam Schiff will join the conversation with his concerns surrounding newly confirmed CIA Director John Radcliffe. Also ahead, we'll show you my sit down interview with Academy Award winning actress Michelle Yeoh, where we discuss Yeoh's historic, lengthy career in Hollywood. Morning Joe, we'll be right back. Music Welcome back to Morning Joe. A beautiful shot of Capitol Hill. Chilly! Capitol Hill at 6 54 am in the morning.

Hey, Lamir, I got a question for you. What do you think Mika has against Murray Abraham? What? What did I do? Well, you said F, Murray Abraham. And Joe is invoking the Ted 2 joke that involved F. Scott's Fitzgerald, which led to the characters misunderstood that F was the initial first name

and thought that it was someone insulting that character, Mika. So I know you're a big movie buff. You'd rather you. Did I say something wrong? No, you didn't at all. Are you sure? Yes. someone insulting that character, Mika. So this, I know you're a big movie buff. You, you, it's rare that you- Did I say something wrong? No, you didn't. At all. Are you sure? Yes, this is- No, you, no, you didn't.

This is Joe having a little fun. No, you did not. You will. We'll, we'll show you Ted too. And- You're impacting my confidence. No. No, we're not. Seth MacFarlane's movie and Mark Wahlberg's. And many people say, if you like name

the top three movies of all time, you gotta put Citizen Kane, Godfather II, and Ted II, which again, a lot of people, Willie Dunn, a lot of people say it's remarkable that Ted II actually, like the Godfather series, may have been better than Ted I, especially when they started talking about F. Scott Fitzgerald.

They just keep getting better. Mark Wahlberg at his peak and Seth, wow, wow. Mila Kunis, so you can go down the list, the cast there, Mika, highly recommend Ted two, which you will hate. All right, well, I will. You'll despise it, you will despise not do that. You will despise it. You will despise it.

So Mika and I, we compared notes on wedding crashers. And Mika said that she left after 15 minutes. I did. I actually was almost taken out of the theater at one point, because I was laughing so hard when Will Ferrell appeared on the stairs. And they said, sir, you're going to need to stop laughing so loudly. You're disturbing everybody else.

Yeah, she may not like Ted one or two, but we'll see this weekend. Do you remember when I told Bradley Cooper about that? Because he came on the show, and I was like, that was the worst. And he was good about it. I think he might have agreed deep inside. Oh, was it the hangover? Yeah, that was the...

Alex. He also agreed to be back. Now, now, now you were... Now you actually, I think you insulted Wedding Crashers as well. I thought I did. That's easily one of the top five movies of our time, right? No, just terrible. I don't know where you balance it between the other guys and semi-pro, but it's in there.

All right. All right, Mika, I think back to business. May I move forward? OK. Former Congressman and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has spent the last three years in Japan as U.S. ambassador during President Biden's term. And he has returned stateside to a new reality in America. Donald Trump is back in the White House, and Republicans are in full power across both chambers of Congress.

And Democrats are still unsure of what message they need to unify the party. And Rahm Emanuel joins us now. It's great to have you back on the show, Mr. Ambassador. Thank you. And I'm looking at some comments you made to Financial Times magazine. You can't be lethargic against this guy. I think everyone is getting their sea legs and trying to figure out how to move forward here, watching these nominations go through, watching Republicans as they respond to Donald Trump's pardons of the January 6 rioters, and what advice would you give moving forward? Yeah, well, first of all, you're not going to win it just on the first effort. I mean,

what I would focus on is the long term, which is not just this first week, and while I would oppose these nominations for a series of reasons. The three issues I would focus on, number one, the secretary treasurer in the testimony in front of the finance committee said he was against the minimum wage. In the very week in which CEOs are getting pay hikes 30, 40 percent, he's against the minimum wage and it hasn't been raised in two decades. So that, actually three decades, so that is where I would go first and foremost and hit. Second, that the Republicans are talking

about cutting healthcare subsidies for middle class, working class families to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy. And third, while Donald Trump obviously talked about fighting inflation, I tear for with Canada all the energy, not all four with Canada, all the energy, not all, but the bulk of the energy, oil and gas for the United States,

for the Midwest and the Rocky Mountains, comes from Canada, you're gonna see it at the pump immediately. Go right to the economics, go right to the core issues. I do think as it relates to a number of these nominations, I would fight them on the, if you wanna fight them, I don't think you have to fight every one of them. But where you have clear stands, like I think the idea of the Secretary of Defense, a alcoholic,

and a person with drinking problems and other types of character and judgment issues should be nowhere close to advising the president on nuclear issues. You got 12 nuclear aircraft carriers, 30 plus nuclear submarines, this person clearly is not qualified to be in the situation where we're being advised. But on the core fundamentals, against the minimum wage, while CEO's pay is going up, that picture of all those CEOs is gonna hurt the president in the long term,

cutting healthcare benefits for working in middle class families to pay for a tax cut for the wealthy and making sure that gas prices in the Midwest jump. Remember, you got Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania in the Midwest. That is where a lot of oil and gas from Canada comes to the United States. You're going to see it at the pump with Donald Trump's terraform. Yeah, we'll see the vote. That's where I would go. We'll see the vote for Pete Exxth later tonight. We should note he, of course, has denied the

allegation that he is an alcoholic. He says he would stop drinking if confirmed. Mr. Ambassador. Well, you know, one thing here. I don't agree with Donald Trump. I admire the fact that he has never had a drink in that area. But once you have a drinking problem, you always have a drinking problem. And that job is not stress-free.

I have been in this situation. You are two seats, the Secretary of Defense, down from the President of the United States. You have a million plus men and women under your command. That person should be nowhere close to advising the President, given what he has shown when he was just running a small veterans operation, he could handle the stress. You know the stress of a Secretary of Defense is?

In the situation room? Live or die? Boots on the ground or not? Nowhere. And every senator knows it. Yeah, and the two Republican senators who voiced opposition to his nomination both did cite character issues as part of why they couldn't support him. You were, of course, ambassador to Japan until just very recently. Let's turn to that part of the world right now because we know Donald President Trump has threatened tariffs against China in recent, you know, coming up in a few days. The same time he's talked to Xi Jinping, he wants to have a visit to China soon, it has been reported. There's also been, what is your level of concern about some of the democratic rollback we've seen

in that area, and do you think that Trump foreign policy will be robust enough to the area that former President Biden said that relationship, U.S. and China, is by far the most important of the next century? Well, I have a fundamental principle about the Indo-Pacific. It is a home game for China. It's an away game for the United States, Well, I have a fundamental principle about the Indo-Pacific. It is a home game for China.

It's an away game for the United States. And I hate using sports metaphors on big national security issues, but to understand this, and our allies—Japan, Korea, the Philippines, India, Australia, New Zealand—they level the playing field for the United States. You can't be a credible deterrent force from Long Beach, California in the Indo-Pacific. And you can't fight your adversaries and fight your allies. You got to pick. I happen to think our allies are tremendous resources for the United States. One of the things that China hates most is when the United States, Japan, and Korea under President Biden aligned correctly. Philippines, Japan, the United States aligned correctly.

Now, to their credit, I'll call it out, one of the first meetings Secretary of State Rubio called for was the Quad, which is India, Australia, Japan, and the United States, showing China, our allies stand with us. The isolated party in the Indo-Pacific is China based on their actions. Economic coercion, wolf warrior. You sit there and all of a sudden level up with your adversary, your allies are gonna have real questions about your staying power.

And so we are stronger when China sees a united front, we are weaker when they see divisions with our own allies. And my concern with President Trump, it's not that he has affinity for autocrats stylistically. He actually sees the world like they do. He sees Russia, you want Ukraine, you want Eastern Europe, that's your area of sphere of influence. China, Indo-Pacific, he sees that with this whole move on Greenland and Panama, that these

are spheres of influence. He has a strategic alignment with them. That is fundamentally against America's interest. We have allies which are a multiplier of force and deterrence and the credibility of our deterrence. And my concern is not what everybody else in Washington writes, which is this idea, oh, he has stylistic affinity. No, he is strategically aligned with them.

And his comments about Xi, his comments about Putin as friends, his actually running down our allies weakens the credibility of America's deterrence. You want to stop wars, as he says, and I take his words seriously, you do it with allies aligned with you. And they're ready to be aligned with America's leadership. Ambassador, good morning.

Let's talk a little domestic politics. As you know, many progressives, many Democrats are dejected about what happened in the election. They fully expected that they would move forward with a President Kamala Harris, but now we're four more years of Donald Trump. He won all the swing states, some of them by very narrow margins.

You've been at the center of democratic politics for so long now as a congressman, as a chief of staff inside the Oval Office. What is your message to Democrats about not just how to handle Donald Trump, but how to get back on the horse and look ahead to the midterms, which really get underway about a year from now in terms of campaigning? Well, there's a long thing to unpack, so I'm not sure we're going to be able to do it just here. But I would say, one, you focus on Donald Trump. That's opportunities to kind of create a narrative. But two, focus on the American people, not just Donald Trump. And I think that one of the mistakes for the party was that they became brain dead over

the years because 20 years ago there was demographics as destiny. Don't worry, the demographics are demographics gonna work for the Democratic Party and intellectually policy wise we became brain dead and I think the mistake to make is all we're gonna do is focus on Donald Trump which is where he wants you to focus and not focus on the American people that's number one number two on a your recruitment is gonna be very important. The profile, the story of the candidates, like we did in 06, like in 08, like 2018, their backgrounds in targeted districts

have to tell the story of that district, not what the national Democrats want. And third and foremost, look, we're gonna have, when we talk about kitchen table issues, we gotta stop thinking that they're just economic, although those are important. They're also about schools, about public safety about kitchen table issues, we've got to stop thinking that they're just economic, although those are important. They're also about schools, about public safety, about what's going on in the neighborhood. We had two Democrats get elected president and reelected since Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

President Clinton and President Obama. President Clinton ran on 100,000 community police officers. We became identified with defund the police. One of those worked both policy-wise and politically. President Obama was criticized for being the deporter-in-chief, and then there were a lot of other Democrats who talked about free healthcare at the border if you cross the border illegally. One of those have worked politically and be the right policy. We have to be where the American people are at their kitchen table.

Not where we want them to be, but where they are and talk to them. And the fact is, on a whole slew of issues, just take President Clinton's election in 92. For 20 years, there was a campaign against law and order by Richard Nixon, welfare queens by Ronald Reagan, Willie Horton by George Bush. It was Bill Clinton's message on a slew of issues from crime to immigration to welfare reform to drug policy that got right with the American people so they could hear the rest of what we're talking about. We can't ignore a set of issues, because it makes us uncomfortable, that makes the

American people uncomfortable. If we get right on how they live their lives, how they want to raise their kids, how they want to see what goes on in their communities and in their cities, then we're going to be OK. And I'll give you a classic example. I think this idea on what President Trump is talking about, raiding schools and places of worship on immigration, is as stupid as the Democrats closing schools and places of worship during COVID. And they are going to make a massive mistake of going after immigrants in schools, hospitals, and places of worship. And that's

where Democrats can stand up and say, look, you got a criminal background? Out of here. Schools, hospitals, places of worship? That's as crazy as what we did during COVID. And we advocated. And it was very clear within six months that it was a bad, it was a wrong policy as it relates to public health and achieving educational goals. Here is where there are places to stand and also understand what happens and how people live their lives. Not how we want them to live their lives, but how they actually live their lives and

that we're in touch with it from a value system. They can then hear everything else we have to talk about. Can I weigh in on one other subject? Yeah, go ahead. On the MVP, it's between Lamar and Josh. Down to those two, that's where it is. I know you're, I think every guest here forward should be asked these fundamental questions. Well, it is fundamental. That's my two choices. I know you're I think every guest here forward should be asked these fundamental questions Well, it is my two choices. I like and I have some other choices on the movie All right, and we'll have you weigh in on Blake Lively when you come back next former US

Manual, thank you very much