Morning Joe - Morning Joe 1/3/25

Episode Date: January 3, 2025

FBI says New Orleans attacker likely acted alone

Bomb making materials found in Houston, explosives packed inside a cooler found in the French Quarter. These are just some of the new details officials uncovered in their investigation into the New Orleans terror suspect. We'll go live on the ground with the very latest. Plus, we now know the identity of the Cybertruck driver whose car exploded outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas.

We'll dig into what was found at the scene as authorities raced to find a motive there. And also ahead, just hours from now, Mike Johnson will face a tough fight to remain Speaker of the House. We'll break down how this could all play out and the Republicans to watch ahead of today's critical vote.

Also, President Joe Biden honors Liz Cheney and Bennie Thompson, the leaders of the January 6th Select Committee, with one of the nation's top civilian awards. But not everybody was happy about it and that's an understatement. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Friday, January 3rd. Thank you for being with us. I'm Jonathan Lemire.

We've got a great group to get us started and a lot of news to cover. With us we have Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and associate editor of the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent, Ali Vitale, who I'm happy to say officially takes over hosting duties of way too early on Monday, we'll be watching, and President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass.

He is the author of the weekly newsletter, Home and Away, available on Substack. Joe and Mika also will return on Monday. We'll begin this morning with the latest developments in the investigation of the deadly New Year's Day terrorist attack in the great city of New Orleans. Authorities say the attacker most likely acted alone when he drove a pickup truck through a crowd on Bourbon Street early Wednesday morning.

At least 14 people died in the attack and dozens of others were injured. The attacker was then killed in a shootout with police. He's identified as a 42-year-old Army veteran from Texas. According to the FBI, he was inspired by ISIS and claimed to have joined the terrorist group before the summer. Investigators say that before the attack, the man posted a series of five videos on Facebook. According to the officials, in the first video, the attacker explains he originally planned

to harm his family and friends, but was concerned that news headlines would not focus on what he called the war between the believers and the disbelievers. The FBI also released these images from surveillance footage that appears to show the man walking down the street about an hour before the attack. Another image shows a blue cooler that authorities say contained an explosive device. President Biden addressed the discovery of those devices after a meeting with members of his Homeland Security team in the Situation Room yesterday. The FBI briefed me that as of now, no information, we have no information that anyone else is involved in the attack. They've established that the attacker was the same person who planted the explosives

in those ice coolers in two nearby locations in the French Quarter just a few hours before he rammed into the crowd with his vehicle. They assessed he had a remote detonator in his vehicle to set off those two ice chests. Joining us now from New Orleans, outside the University Medical Center Hospital, is NBC News correspondent Jesse Kersh. Jesse, good to see you. What's the latest here about the investigation and what are officials learning about the suspect?

So, Jonathan, let's go back to what the president just said there that the suspect allegedly planted these IEDs in the French Quarter multiple hours before the ramming attack and so what that means is that there were explosive devices that had gone undetected around Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve into New Year's Day for quite some time. And I asked officials yesterday if there had been bomb sniffing dogs that would have been sweeping this area on New Year's Eve. And the governor's response was effectively suggesting

that dogs couldn't sniff something like that out on a street that would have so much going on there. So we're not getting full explanation from officials at this point still as to what kind of sweeps would have been done for something potentially like that on Bourbon Street on New Year's Eve. So from an investigative standpoint that is something that I think still leaves us wanting for answers at this point. We're also learning more about the victims, Jonathan, and I can tell you we're talking about multiple young people whose lives have been cut horribly short. We're talking about two 18-year-olds, multiple parents, people who were early in their careers,

someone who was about to start nursing school, people and one one account that really stuck out with me is hearing of a 25 year old young man who was about to who went out on Bourbon Street for New Year's Eve and had dinner with his parents beforehand so just imagine you have dinner with your child and then this happens to them so these are the kinds of accounts we're hearing about the lives that were lost. And again, all this is happening is Bourbon Street has been reopened, but there's still a lot of outstanding questions.

And I gotta tell you, Jonathan, I went last night and walked around Bourbon Street in the late evening hours to get a sense of what it was like on the first night reopened. There were hundreds of people out there. There were certainly plenty of visible law enforcement personnel, including military police and camouflage. But I also have to tell you, Jonathan,

it appears that that street is still vulnerable. Because as I was walking down Bourbon Street last night and I looked through the intersections, I saw at multiple points side streets that did not appear to be heavily fortified. And here's what I mean by that. I was able to walk from Bourbon Street down one of the intersecting side streets.

And I noticed a police car parallel parked along the curb, so not blocking the middle of the street. And there was metal barricading, the kind of thing you would see at a parade. Nothing that appeared to be heavy or re-fortified. And that was all I saw between traffic moving down a side street and access to Bourbon Street. So to be clear, after Bourbon Street has been reopened, after officials have made a show showing us heavy vehicles,

I have still been able to see what appears to be traffic driving right by a side street that is not fortified by much beyond a metal gate. And of course, authorities may have deployed something that we cannot see. We have asked police about this. We asked them about this overnight. They have not gotten back to us with any kind of explanation. But I can tell you, Jonathan, having been out there again, I saw multiple vehicles, including a taxi.

So certainly not law enforcement vehicles in all instances driving right by what appeared to be an easy access point onto Bourbon Street and leaves open the possibility that a vehicle could potentially do this again and that is the scenario after they've reopened the street and we continue to ask for a lot of different answers from authorities on how this could have happened and what is being done to prevent something like this. Again, of course, they had that football game overnight here. Thankfully, that appears to have gone off smoothly by all accounts.

I haven't heard anything. And I was there for some of that game, didn't see anything, definitely saw a heavy law enforcement presence. But of course, the bigger picture around all of this moving forward, top of mind, the victims, the families who are grieving right now, but top of mind from a security standpoint moving forward, the Super Bowl is here in about a month and there are a lot of questions about the city's ability to handle that. Jonathan. Now you're right to highlight the possible vulnerabilities with such a major event on the horizon, one of the biggest our nation holds every year. NBC

News correspondent Jesse Kirsch live from New Orleans. Thank you Jesse. So President-elect Trump and his allies continue to falsely imply that that attack in New Orleans was the result of insufficient border security. Even though we have learned the attacker was a U.S. citizen born and raised in Texas. Now Trump has not directly acknowledged the attack since Wednesday and the hours after it happened.

But in several social media posts yesterday, he criticized the Biden administration and Democrats for open door, open border policies that he claims have led to radical Islamic terrorism. And going further, during an interview on Fox News yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson also falsely suggested that the New Orleans attack had something to do with the border.

The Biden administration has been completely derelict in its duty. The congressional Republicans, we here in the House and the Senate have repeatedly asked the DHS under the Biden administration about the correlation, the obvious concern about terrorism and the wide open border. The idea that dangerous people were coming here in droves and setting up potentially terrorist cells around the

country. We have been ringing the alarms. Eugene Robinson, let's be clear yet again. This terrorist suspect was born in Texas, U.S. citizen, served in the Army. It seems to have nothing to do with the border, but yet the fear mongering here from Trump and his fellow Republicans, including the man who in a few hours wants to retain his post as House Speaker, it goes on unabated and frankly strikes me as dangerous. Well, it's extremely dangerous, Jonathan.

And look, this is so transparent. I mean, he's a US citizen. He was born here. He was raised I mean, he's a US citizen. He was born here. He was raised in Texas. He's a Texan. He's not some sort of foreign radical terrorist. He appears to have been a homegrown radical terrorist who happened to serve in the US military.

This is, it's innuendo and implication that's just completely off base and completely wrong. It's a way of attacking Democrats and the Biden administration yet again. And for, you know, Speaker Johnson, I suppose it's a way for to try to get people to focus on that and not on his own difficulties and his own questions about his speakership, which I guess we'll see decided later today. But again, it's just a lie. I mean, that would kind of be the simplest and most direct way of saying it.

It is a lie that Republicans are telling about this tragic incident. So Richard Haass, I mean, it is. It's a lie. And it's also the latest in a pattern of Donald Trump being unable to make a mistake. In the hours after the attack, there was some erroneous reporting elsewhere that suggested that this attack may have had

something to do with the border. He seized on that, made that the narrative. That reporting had to be retracted. Officials have cleaned it up. We now know it's nothing to do with it border. He seized on that, made that the narrative. That reporting had to be retracted. Officials have cleaned it up. We now know it's nothing to do with it, but he can't let it go. And he's trying to use it for his political purposes, no matter, even though it could hinder the investigation

and certainly could leave other people vulnerable because of his dangerous rhetoric. There's also a time lag here. For several years, it was fair to criticize the Biden administration for their border policy, but over the last year or so, it has gotten tightened up. And actually, Donald Trump inherits a border situation that's not the crisis that it had been.

So that's point one. Second, well, Jonathan, there are some real issues here. There's the question of the local defense preparations or the lack of them. We heard even maybe it wasn't fixed yet. Also the idea that someone could post videos and why aren't, isn't there an ability to react in real time to this kind of menacing video things. The other thing, this is an aside that I found interesting, let me put on my foreign policy hat for a second, that what he was talking about was the between believers and non-believers.

I actually would have thought that something like Gaza might have been something much more specific and political might have been the motive. But no, this is really truly fundamentalist. He was dividing the world between believers and non-believers. And the question is, we've been very lucky as a society. We haven't had a lot of this kind of religious or politically inspired terrorism over the last years. And the concern is obviously what New Orleans shows, a tiny number, a small number of people

can wreak havoc in a modern open society. So I think this is actually a really serious development, particularly when it's juxtaposed about what happened in Nevada at the same time. Yeah. And certainly officials were yesterday where there was some suggestion that this suspect, a lot of his own demons, shall we say, with his life crumbling, he was maybe looking for an outlet to lash out in violence.

He found this rhetoric from the terror group and was able to act. I just also, this is a man who was once president, is about to be president again, dealing in outright lies on national security issues is deeply, deeply dangerous. Meanwhile, while New Orleans happened, we also know there was that same day that incident in Las Vegas.

And authorities have now identified the man who died in the Tesla cyber truck explosion outside of the Trump International Hotel there in Vegas, just off the strip. Officials said the identification belonged to a decorated US Army soldier that was found at the strip. Officials said the identification belonged to a decorated U.S. Army soldier that was found at the scene. The 37-year-old was an active duty master sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Forces and a resident of Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was initially believed to have died in the explosion, but investigators now believe he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound just prior to the blast.

Officials say military ID, passport, and credit cards were found at the scene, as well as two handguns. As of now, it's unclear how the explosive device in the vehicle was detonated. Authorities have stated that they had not found any association between the Las Vegas event and the attack that took place in New Orleans. Investigators though are still working to determine a motive. We of course will keep you posted.

We turn to politics now and as we alluded to at the beginning of the show, the 119th Congress is set to convene today and the first item on the House's to-do list, choose a speaker. Democrats are expected to universally oppose the current Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, meaning Johnson can only afford to lose one vote among his caucus. Now, while Johnson is expected to win most of the GOP conference,

he is having trouble with a handful of far-right members. The issue at hand for these rebel members appears to be government spending and the way that Johnson handled last month's government funding fight. Take a listen to what they're saying, followed by Johnson's response. You know, he would have a hard time to become a speaker as of this point. So I'm not sure what other conversations are. So I think hopefully he will become more, you know, determined to have some country changes.

You can pull all my fingernails out. You can shove bamboo up in them. You can start cutting off my fingers. I am not voting for Mike Johnson tomorrow. And you can take that to the bank. One day before the election, why are there still people? People are talking through process changes they want and those kinds of things and I'm open to that and I think tomorrow's gonna go gonna go well. So that was speaker Johnson there alley you're there on Capitol Hill you'll be there later maybe for a very long time as we figure out what happens today give us the latest though as to where things stand what is Johnson Johnson doing to win over these holdouts? Do you think he's going to be successful? Well, look, they're making demands and past as prologue shows their right to do that, especially in a world of these razor thin margins, they should ask because they know that the speaker is hemmed in anyway. And so 99% of the members that I've been speaking

to and who will go to the Capitol today to vote for the speaker believe that Johnson should be fine, but they also know that there's a permission structure for chaos as predicated by two years ago, the last time we did this only with Kevin McCarthy at the helm and not Mike Johnson. So there is an incentive structure for being a holdout, but I think, and Congressman Gabe Amo and I

were having this conversation on way too early, we will see a lot just by the way that this process actually goes because they vote alphabetically. You know that when you get to M, you're gonna lose one. That is the only one that Johnson actually can lose, but we're gonna see members like Burchette at B, Crane at C, and if any of them vote present, that means that the number is no longer 218 for Johnson.

It lowers the threshold. If they vote no, then you know that the entire round is moot and that Johnson's not going to get it on that balloting round. Hakeem Jeffries, of course, will stay at the 215 hard votes that he has in his corner because Democrats have shown consistency and their willingness to go along with leadership as a united front. But Republicans Republicans the alphabet actually going to be quite instructive here and we'll see

do they let him twist in the wind for around or 2 do they instead just get this whole thing over with because the prevailing view at the end of the day is that no one else can get to 218 but that's the conventional wisdom until it's not. Yeah, that's a good point the alphabet will be instructive wise words here this morning. So the editors of the National Review argue Republicans should stick with Mike Johnson

as speaker. They write in part this, emerging from nowhere to the speakership, Johnson has filled the role ably. He's a reliable and thoughtful conservative who has proved a shrewd tactician. Likeable and non-threatening, he will never become a hate figure like some of his predecessors. He has managed, for anyone in his role, the all-important relationship with Trump well, given the circumstances. In the real world, given that there is currently no other candidate who can garner 218 votes

and that the House cannot conduct business without a speaker in place, the only alternative to Johnson is chaos. If trying the same thing while hoping for a different result is the definition of insanity, it is time for the insanity to end, especially given that Republicans already have a worthy speaker in place. So Gene Robinson, I think it's debatable whether Johnson has been a shrewd tactician. He's had a lot of trouble getting things done next to no success without the help of Democrats. He's also saddled with this very slim margin.

But that's the compelling case that Johnson's trying to make here. If not me, who? If it's not me, then you go to sideline and potentially sabotage the Trump agenda coming in the door, what you read on this situation, is that going to be persuasive? I think probably in the end it will be persuasive because again, there is no viable alternative that any of us can think of right now, anybody else who could get to 218 votes. That said, there is no 218 vote majority in the House for an effective speaker, for a

speaker who gets anything done, because that requires working with the Democrats. And so let's assume that either on a first ballot or on a subsequent ballot, Mike Johnson gets reelected as speaker. Great, okay. Is that really first prize or is that somewhere down the list? Because at some point, relatively soon, he's going to be trying to pass some piece of legislation, like keeping the government open, like raising the debt ceiling, whatever. He's going to need Democratic votes. And so he's going to get them. And again, there will be this threat.

One question is, are some of the naysayers, are they demanding a rule change that would once again make it easier for them to get rid of the speaker with just one member coming up and saying, let know, let's vote him out. He managed, Johnson managed to raise that number to, I believe, nine. And so that gives him a little cushion. But are some members demanding that they go back to this sort of very precarious one vote teetering situation for the speaker, which will make him even less effective.

It's interesting. What these two stories we talked about this morning, New Orleans and this have in common, is it shows the Republicans, Trump and those around them, haven't yet made the transition from being outsiders to the party of government. They own the White House in less than three weeks. The Senate, the House, you've got a Supreme Court, shall we say, that's tilting in their direction. The reaction to New Orleans getting the facts wrong, claiming this was about the border

when it wasn't, shows, yeah, where's the seriousness about homeland security? How are they going to deal with that? Then we have this story with Johnson. They're going to be responsible for getting a budget passed, for getting legislation passed. And there's a major move that has to happen to become the party of government. And what this shows me is Donald Trump and the House Republicans, or certainly a number of them, are not yet ready, if you will. They haven't made the transition through the transition to become the party of government.

They're going to own this in about three weeks. And what this shows me, Jonathan, they're not ready. Yeah. Well, Trump has privately said all along that he much prefers campaigning than governing. And I think we're seeing that from his party as well, particularly those on the extreme MAGA right. They prefer to the outsiders throwing darts rather than being in there getting things done.

Much more fun. It's liberating. Ultimately, you're not accountable. You're not responsible. Governing's hard. 90% of governing is not throwing darts. It's getting things done. It's the messy stuff of legislation, of implementation.

People haven't yet dealt with the 90 percent. That's coming come January 20th. Yeah, no doubt. We will revisit all these stories throughout the morning here on Morning Joe. Coming up next, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes the war in Ukraine could end once Donald Trump takes power. We'll take into his optimistic outlook for 2025 and why he's now saying that Trump's unpredictability could work in his favor. Also ahead, a man broke into the home of New York City Mayor Eric Adams over the holidays. We'll tell you what he stole and what happened next.

We're back in just 90 seconds. We're back in just 90 seconds. Time now for a look at some of the other stories making headlines this morning. The small Balkan country of Montenegro is considering a complete ban on gun ownership. It comes after a shooter opened fired on New Year's Day and killed 12 people. The suspect then died of self-inflicted injuries. In the aftermath of this tragedy, the country's president said that weapons must not be on the streets and in the hands

of those who can harm others. Back here at home, a federal court has ended the government's long running effort to gain stronger oversight over the internet. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals said the Federal Communications Commission lacked the authority to oversee wireless and broadband services.

The issue stems from concerns that companies could play favorites in picking which websites they carry. And a New York City man is accused of breaking into the mayor's official residence. Authorities say the suspect scaled a fence, entered Gracie Mansion, and stole a Christmas ornament. Mayor Eric Adams was not home at the time. Not only was the man recorded by surveillance video there in the Upper East Side Mansion,

he also filmed himself committing the crime using a cell phone. That's according to investigators. I suspect that's their first clue. We turn now back overseas where authorities in South Korea are locked in a standoff with the impeached president's security team for hours yesterday as they tried to carry out an arrest warrant.

For weeks now, officials have been trying to bring the president in for questioning after he declared martial law last month. Authorities spent roughly five hours trying to serve the arrest warrant, but according to Reuters, some 200 presidential guards and military troops blocked those efforts. Lawyers for South Korea's impeached president argue that the arrest warrant is a legal significant story there. We will keep you posted.

To Europe now, where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is now expressing some optimism that President-elect Trump could help end Russia's invasion. In an interview that aired on Ukrainian television yesterday, Zelensky called Trump, quote, strong and unpredictable, adding, I would really like to see President Trump's unpredictability apply to Russia. Those comments come as Trump has claimed he will end the nearly three-year conflict in just 24 hours once in office, though he's backed off that pledge a little bit. Richard, now I've, over the last year, anytime Zelensky talks about Trump, you have to read

it as he's trying to butter Trump up. He doesn't necessarily believe these things. There's a lot of spin here from Keith, but maybe he has a point. So let me ask you, do you think Trump's unpredictability and, shall we say, his bizarre relationship with Vladimir Putin may actually lead to a quicker end to this conflict? I actually think Zelensky does have a point. You're right.

I think he is trying to get on Trump's good side. And I think what you're seeing is the beginning of a deal between Zelensky and Trump that the United States will continue to support Ukraine militarily in exchange for Ukraine totally embracing a ceasefire. That then allows Trump to pivot, to go to his good flan Putin and say, hey, the Ukrainians are willing to have a ceasefire. What about you? Trump is clearly on record, wanting to bring a halt to this war.

So I think there is a decent chance. Russia's economy is really faltering. They're running short of manpower. They're going to enormous lengths to get enough people out there on the battlefield. So I actually think, Jonathan, it is not wildly optimistic to say that 2025 is going to be the year of not peace, but a year of a ceasefire. I think the odds are at least even. And Russia's efforts to reinforce the troops with North Korean service members has not

worked. It's a sign of desperation that hasn't worked. It has not worked. All right. We'll be watching that. Back here at home, President Biden yesterday awarded the two leaders of the January 6th Select Committee with the Presidential Citizens Medal and a White House ceremony. The medal is the second highest award that a civilian can earn here in the United States. It's a higher standard set by women and men we celebrate here today.

You know, for the final time as president, I have the privilege of bestowing the Presidential Citizens Medal, one of our nation's highest honors, an extraordinary, and I mean an extraordinary group of Americans. You are elected officials. We served in difficult times with honor, decency, and ensure our democracy delivers. I think it's pretty damn simple. Our democracy begins and ends with the duties of citizenship. That's our work for the ages.

That's what all of you, and I mean this, all of you embody. Committee Chairman, Congressman Benny Thompson of Mississippi, a Democrat, and Vice Chair, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming, a Republican, were both awarded medals for their work leading the investigation into the January 6th insurrection. Both received standing ovations when their names were called. Some of the other Americans awarded included former senators, multiple veterans, and civil rights activists.

And Ali Fatali, you know, we saw there an emotional response from the room, and then an emotional outburst from Donald Trump's and his allies really criticizing this idea that Liz Cheney could be honored for her work to investigate what happened on January 6th. Yeah, fellow Wyoming elected John Barrasso, who's in Republican Senate leadership saying she doesn't deserve this. In his words, she represents partisanship and divisiveness, not Wyoming.

Of course, she doesn't represent Wyoming anymore because of that Trump-backed primary challenger to push her out for investigating an attack on the Capitol. And this is going to continue to be such a stark divide in American politics, the reaction to January 6th, and those members who, in bipartisan fashion, rushed to figure out what happened, who was involved, how high this went, and who knew about what was going to happen

at the Capitol on January 6th. The fact that you've got Biden forced to contemplate, do I pardon the people who were involved in this ahead of Trump coming to office, while Trump himself asks whether or not he should pardon the January 6th rioters themselves. I mean, Eugene Robinson, it's a really striking moment in American politics. You can look at a standing ovation at the White House for Benny Thompson and Liz Cheney,

who investigated in colorful detail what happened on January 6th. And then you'll see it in an administration that comes in mere weeks later saying that was not a big deal at all. Right. And so let's not memory hole what happened on January 6. It was unprecedented in American history. It was shocking. It was violent.

140 police officers were injured. Several later died. Circumstances connected with this. A woman was shot to death in the middle of a riot, an invasion that threatened the lives of the members of the U.S. Congress, in a way that has never just happened before in our history. That's what took place. And I don't understand how Republicans believe they can pretend that that just didn't happen,

that it was some other, you know, you know, a bunch of tourists going through the Capitol or peaceful protests or whatever. And it's it's also fascinating that they're not angry at Benny Thompson, right? They're angry at Liz Cheney because she's a Republican and she called them out and validated it. And she validated the investigation and she called them out and said, come on, come on, seriously. And so this divide, you're right, this is going to continue. We're not coming together on the narrative of January 6th at all.

And of course, Monday will be the four-year anniversary of the insurrection. We expect this time around, the certification of the capital to go on without a hitch. And of course, Donald Trump has pledged to pardon most of these January six riders soon after taking office in just a couple of weeks. Coming up, we'll turn to sports and with the college football playoffs, semi-finals now set, Pablo Torre joins us with a look at some of the surprising teams who advanced to the final four. Oh Irish, morning Joe, be right back. To stop the run continue to force take away saying if they beat us throwing the ball So be it he stressed their eggs rushers playing relentless wants them to continue their intensity

The Notre Dame fighting Irish taking the second half kickoff of yesterday's Sugar Bowl to the house. They also scored twice right before the half, combining for 17 points in just 54 seconds of game time. Georgia answered the kickoff return with a TD just a few minutes later, scoring on this 32 yard pass by quarterback Gunner Stockton to running back Cash Jones. But it wasn't enough.

Notre Dame stopped Georgia from scoring again in the second half and picked up the upset win there in New Orleans. The game of course was originally set to be played on Wednesday but was delayed one day due to the Bourbon Street terror attack. So with Notre Dame winning and advancing to the next round, that means the college football playoff semifinals are now set. Penn State will face off against the Irish in the Capital One Orange Bowl on January 9th.

And then Texas will play Ohio State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic a day later. The winners will then go on to play in the national championship game on January 20th. Let's bring in the host of Pablo Torre Finds Out on Metal Arch Media, MSNBC contributor Pablo Torre. So Pablo, let's start with that surprising result yesterday. First and foremost, we should say, of course, we're glad the game went off safely. I know there was a moment of silence there to honor what happened the day before. Yes, yes, yes.

We, of course, are thinking about that. In recent years, Notre Dame has been that team that puts together impressive regular season record. And if they go to a competitive bowl game or a CFP playoff game, they get smoked. Yesterday, I know Georgia's down a quarterback, but yesterday, Georgia was the pick of many to win this whole thing. And Notre Dame just beat them and beat them solidly. They were my pick.

I should confess this. There we go. We're in the Catholic mode of seeking penance for our sins. Georgia was his pick. Georgia was my pick. I have been brainwashed, I suppose, into SEC exceptionalism by hanging out around this table, tucking a finebob in Joe this often. Notre Dame, for the record, had not run a major bowl game,

John, to your point, since 1994. And Georgia had not lost a bowl game in six years. And so when stuff like this happens, the 17 points in 54 seconds, on top of just a dominating run game, on top of a dominating defense, there is a wake up the echoes kind of dynamic here. Notre Dame is this, there's always been,

my friends who go to Notre Dame, they hate when I say this, but there has been like a Dallas Cowboys dynamic here. The brand has always drawn. It's always been so strong. It's always been one of the great television draws. They have their own non-conference independent sort of station above and beyond college football Notre Dame does.

And here finally, they make good on the premise of the promise that actually you might have one of the biggest brands in college football playing up to their reputation for the first time in almost 40 years. So let's take the next the quarter, the semifinal games one at a time. Let's start here. Notre Dame gets Penn State. You know, that's seems to me a pretty even matchup.

Both teams pulled off solid wins this time around. Do you think that Notre Dame can keep this three going? Yeah, I do. I do. I think Penn State, as much as they have had a remarkable run in their own right here, against really good teams. Look at James Franklin's record, the head coach of Penn State

against top 10 teams. It hasn't been great. Penn State's road to this, beating Boise state. Yeah, look at impressive win, but I don't think they have been tested to the level of Notre Dame just quite yet and so to me look at this bracket. It's the other side John it's the other side of the bracket that I am most intrigued by that's the heavyweight side yeah some ways Ohio State Texas and I think for many Ohio State

What was just a pure? Dismantling of number one, Oregon They're the favorites probably not just in that game but to win the whole thing super startling to see Ohio State which had again We had we the royal we the national media We had fired their coach Ryan day because he could not beat Michigan as one in four against Michigan I believe in the last five years. That guy was basically a dead man walking except for what he's done since then and beating blowing out Oregon has been the most impressive win of the college football playoff so far and so that team cruising against a Texas team which just narrowly survived double overtime

against Arizona State. Ohio State is definitely the favorite in the betting markets in the field right now. So Richard, you know, this is the first time of the expanded 12-team playoff. So this whole, the results this year are going to be viewed as a referendum as to whether the system works. What do you think so far? Is this the way to do it? I like the home games rather than playing some of the games on neutral field. If it's Ohio State, it's kind of interesting to give a team almost a second chance that you don't have to go through the season with no losses or at most one loss.

That said, some of the teams didn't quite belong in this. So I think that'll be the question of the eligibility. But all things being equal, not bad for the first time around. And if it's Notre Dame against Ohio State, as it looks... Hard to complain. Hard to complain. Yeah, Eugene Robinson, it seems pretty clear that no matter what we get as a championship game matchup, I mean, these are four glamour programs, you know, and three of the four

haven't really won anything in recent years. So I think there's gonna be a lot of compelling storylines up ahead. Yeah, I think you gotta say that this playoff has really worked. I mean, I just flat out will say, I think it has worked despite the fact that it looks like Ohio State could win it all. I can control myself with the fact that they cannot beat Michigan. And so I still have that to hold on to. But wow, they looked so, so tough. And you know, but again, I would not have thought that Notre Dame, which

has been such a disappointment in recent decades, would look as great as they did yesterday. So I think this whole thing is open. I'm not, you know, let's not give it all to those Buckeyes yet. And let's concede that everybody's got a shot at this. So you should take some comfort, though. The Michigan did beat Alabama in a bowl game, granted a bowl game that didn't really matter.

The ReliahQuest bowl. That's it. That immortal contest of the tip of my tongue. The wall timer. Which was the first thing. Alabama in a bowl game granted a bowl game that didn't really the Reliah quest bowl that's it that immortal Contest of the tip of my tongue Quite the Rose Bowl, you know Or the cheese it's bowl, you know, I'm not sure Jerry's too loud on that one So that Alabama's loss Pablo was the first thing that made Joe Scarborough sad in recent days. The second thing. You could hear the wailing.

Yeah. The second thing that made him sad was Baker Mayfield being snubbed from the Pro Bowl. Since we know there is no bigger Baker Mayfield fan than our friend Joe Scarborough. There's no greater political surrogate that Baker Mayfield has than the man who sits in that chair. He loves himself some Baker Mayfield. But let's talk about the switch to the NFL. A couple of quick headlines here before we go.

Quickly on the Pro Bowl first, there were some notable snubs. Baker Mayfield, yes. Patrick Mahomes. That's a big one. And it's just a testament. Look, on paper, it's shocking that the greatest player of his generation defending multiple time Super Bowl champion is not making the Pro Bowl.

But this is a testament, really, to the question that attends every one of these debates, which is, okay, you want him, who you knocking out? Because in the AFC, John, it is Lamar Jackson, it is Josh Allen, it is Joe Burrow. And every MVP hierarchy big board has those three guys ahead of Mahomes, who has, again, yes, only had one loss this season, has had as many comebacks and dramatic one score victories

as we've seen in NFL history consecutively, but just hasn't had the season of those three guys, even though they're all on Mount Rushmore of the modern day together. Yeah, those are probably the best quarterbacks in the league right now, but Holmes' stats aren't there. They're not this year.

They're not. Doesn't mean he can't win another Super Bowl. And he'll probably win the Super Bowl and make us all look stupid for even attending this conversation. Yeah, and he's got obviously a great defense that helps. Let's turn now to what may be the game of the year. So this is the last week.

It's week 18. NFL regular season wraps up this weekend. Most things have been settled in terms of playoff teams and seeding. There's a couple vacancies still to be filled. But we've got Sunday night game. Maybe the two best teams in the league, Lions and Vikings playing with real stakes. The winner not only just wins the division,

but gets the number one seed. So therefore a bye. The loser suddenly falls all the way to number five and has to go on the road in the first round of the playoffs. It's massive on every level in the present tense as you just alluded to. The NFL is a war of attrition. Fewer games to win a Super Bowl is such a massive advantage.

That buy is enormous. But then historically, we've never had a regular season matchup with two teams with this many wins, both 14 and two a top. Again, we've said it all year, the toughest division, I believe, in memory in the NFC North. And so the winner of that not only gets the playoff advantage, but really does decide a question which has been,

OK, who is the best team in the NFC in a really hotly contested race all year? And the Lions and the Vikings are both, I mean, on every level, coach of the year candidates, excellent receivers, quarterbacks who've been reclamation projects in Jared Goff and Sam Darnold. Down to the defenses, which have both been excellent. So a coin flip, I like the Vikings.

I went to see the Vikings lose to the Lions in Minnesota in October. I was at that game in person. It was a heartbreaker. I think Minnesota gets its revenge. Vikings are healthier. Richard, we have one minute left. There's also one more race. For the number one overall pick.

I'm so glad we left through this. The number one overall pick. The New York Giants, by somehow winning last week, may have taken themselves out of the race, or at least made it harder. Almost certainly. The New England Patriots now hold pole position, but look like they're going to win that one Sunday. What a sad summit you guys are holding right now.

Two worst teams. You surprised me. When you said the game of the year, I thought you were talking about the Giants-Eagles. No, I was not. Go so much as at stake. Oh, yeah. Eagles are sitting, everyone, including Saquon Barkley, who's not going to run for the record.

To get the record, yeah. He's going to satisify himself with just 2,000 yards, as opposed to going after Dickerson. The Giants, my fear is, could win again, and I'll reduce them to number nine. And that raises the whole question, which is worthy of an entire episode about how the NFL decides draft choices.

There's something wrong if the Giants don't get the top choice. John, emotionally, are you also rooting for defeat in the way that Richard must right now? I am, and I admit I was surprised. Pats have had very little go right for them this year, but it seems like they found their quarterback, rookie Drake May. He's had a good season.

He got banged up last week. There's no point in playing this week. So why are they playing him, John? Because the coach wants to save his job and try to get a win. That's my fear. But yeah, no. Familiar. Here's hoping for a loss.

I will just say it. All right, Pablo Torre, the host of Pablo Torre finds out on MetalArk Media. He's also an MSNBC contributor. Pablo Torre, thank you. As always, we will talk toArk Media. He's also an MSNBC contributor. Apablo Tory, thank you. As always, we will talk to you again soon. Coming up here, back to politics, and mercifully, we'll be joined by a Democratic lawmaker

who's calling on members of his party to try something different with their approach to Donald Trump's second term in office. Also ahead, Joe Scarborough's sit-down interview with longtime Democratic strategist James Carville and former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. What they're saying about the state of the Democratic Party and their advice for Americans who want to see change in two years. Morning Joe, we'll be right back.

Sun coming up there just outside Washington, Reagan National Airport a little before seven o'clock a.m. here on the East Coast. And there in Washington, President Biden and fellow Democrats celebrated the 235 judicial confirmations that Biden secured during his single term. He mentioned it in remarks delivered at the White House yesterday. The judges have all been confirmed to lifetime positions by the Senate, including the one Supreme Court justice. This surpasses the 234 judges

who were confirmed under President-elect Trump during his first term. Biden touted the accomplishment yesterday. These judges will be independent, they'll be fair, and they'll be impartial. I respect the rule of law and most importantly, I never thought I'd be saying this, they'll uphold the constitution. They'll uphold the constitution.

You know, I've appointed the most demographically diverse state of judicial nominees ever in the history of America. It represents all of America in the history of America. It represents all of America and the best of America. There's numerous historic firsts. The president has repeatedly warned against the threat to democratic institutions and went on to say that he believes that his legacy would be creating a bulwark against threats to the nation's democracy.

Ali Vittali, this is a big deal. When Trump put up his number over four years, he and Republicans wrote about it. Democrats now doing the same. President Biden, rightly, I think, saying this is going to be a big piece of how he'll be remembered. I completely agree with you. This is a lasting legacy item. We talked so often when Trump left the White House the first time about the ways in which he

had remade the judiciary. And then we saw the fruits of that, of course, at the Supreme Court, but also at lower level judge levels throughout his legal woes. The fact now that Biden can make the same crow, they can say,

we also remade the judiciary, is notable and important. And it also portends the way that the Senate has been spending its time for the last two years. I mean, not much attention was paid from those of us on Capitol Hill

to the daily workings of the Senate, but largely this was their focus. Senator Dick Durbin, the head of the Judiciary Committee, and of course, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, ushering through these many slates of judicial candidates. It was painstaking work at times. It's not the kind of thing that earns headlines

until you end up in a position like this, where you can then say at the end of a term, you've remade the judiciary in more diverse and more fair structure. Yeah, absolutely. NBC's Ali Vitale, thank you. And we will, of course, be watching at 5 a.m. Eastern on Monday, when you officially take over

the hosting duties of way too early. Congratulations. Get some sleep.