Transcripts For MSNBC Way Too Early With Kasie Hunt 20240711

The question is, is the brokerage app ready to reverse that decision . Plus, democrats prepare to move forward with the president s economic aid package, but with the plan struggling to win the support of republicans, the question is, will democrats try to pass it without them . And capitol security. An arrest near the capitol yesterday shows why lawmakers continue to fear for their own safety. The question is, should the peoples house be behind a fence . Its Way Too Early for this. Good morning and welcome to Way Too Early, the show thats kind of wondering if its just safer to keep the money under the mattress. I am kasie hunt on this friday, january 29th. We will start with the news. Democrats are making plans to push through the president s nearly 2 trillion economic aid package with or without republican support. Speaker nancy pelosi says the house will lay the groundwork next week for whats called reconciliation, and that process would let them pass the bill with only democratic votes. Yesterday, White House Press secretary jen psaki reiterated that they would like republican support, and lawmakers say that bipartisan talks are ongoing. The president spoke to senators Susan Collins and rob portman this week, as he tries to assess where republicans stand on the bill. But some Administration Officials acknowledge privately, the Reconciliation Option seems increasingly likely. Remember, that limits the Policy Options that they can put into this bill because they have to be relative to the budget, so thats a bit of a challenge for democrats. And were going to talk more about this in just a moment. But first, lawmakers are expressing fears about their ongoing safety in the wake of the deadly capitol riots. A bipartisan letter addressed to house leadership yesterday warns that they are easy, quote, targets, as personal information, including their home addresses, event schedules, are all public. Theyre asking for increased funds to this years member representational allowance, citing that increased threat level. The money is usually used to fund Office Operations for congress members. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi agreed with their concerns and also warned against internal threats coming from their fellow lawmakers. We want to have a scientific approach to how we protect members. I do believe, and i have said this all along, that we will probably need a supplemental for more security for members when the enemy is within the house of representatives, a threat that members are concerned about, in addition to what is happening outside. And its not just lawmakers who are feeling the effects of the insurrection. Roll call interviewed more than a dozen capitol hill staffers who are struggling with trauma, guilt, and fear in its aftermath. Remember, there are plenty of regular folks that work up on capitol hill who serve food, who open doors, who clean the hallways, and they were there also on january 6th. And the acting chief of the Capitol Police is calling for permanent fencing around the capitol building. In a statement, Chief Pittman also requested the availability of ready backup forces in close proximity to the capitol. It comes days after she said the department, quote, failed, when protesters stormed the capitol earlier this month. But d. C. s mayor, muriel bowser, disagrees. Despite having heightened Security Measures in place right now, she doesnt believe fencing or extra forces should become a permanent fixture at the capitol. Well talk some more about this, too. Meanwhile, ongoing Security Threats at the u. S. Capitol continue to surface. The d. C. Police arrested a 71yearold West Virginia man near the capitol yesterday with a gun, 20 rounds of ammunition, and Stop The Steal paperwork in his car. Court documents show that Dennis Westover allegedly told police he was, quote, concerned about the honesty and integrity of the election. He was charged with carrying a gun without a license, possession of unregistered ammunition, and Unlawful Possession of a firearm. According to an Incident Report obtained by nbc news. Joining us now, congressional reporter for politico, andrew desiderio. Andrew, good morning to you. It is a bit good morning. Of a grim day for talking about the beat that you and i both cover, in that, i want to start with the concerns that lawmakers have about their safety and how to address it, because that letter that was sent that we cited a second ago was really about security in their districts, because of course, a lot of people spend time at the capitol and again, i want to talk about the fence here in a second but they also spend, frankly, most of their time in their districts, where they dont necessarily have support from the Capitol Police and where the threats are just off the charts, compared to what they used to be. I mean, what do we need to do to try and make sure they are protected as they are out in their Home Districts and traveling to and from washington . And of course, you remember those videos of lawmakers from both parties getting harassed at airports, for example, as theyve been on their way traveling to and from washington, to and from their Home Districts, that is. But it really does appear as if congress is heading toward something that you and i might have thought was, you know, crazy just a year ago, which is a supplemental appropriations package, specifically tailored for the safety and security of lawmakers while theyre traveling to and from their districts and while theyre actually home in their districts, due to these increased threats. And you know, the nature of those threats is not going away. Federal Law Enforcement agencies have continued to warn about that. We saw that this week from the department of Homeland Security issuing that terrorism bulletin. And weve reported that the National Guard is going to remain in washington through at least the end of march. There are a number of threats they are watching, including the possibility of mass demonstrations coinciding with former President Trumps upcoming Impeachment Trial in the senate. Yeah, no, its a good point. So, lets talk about the precautions that did go up in the wake of january 6th to protect the inauguration and that are now sticking around. You mentioned the National Guard troops. But when we go to work every day, the thing that sticks out is the fence. Its still up there, still covered in razor wire. And now there is this proposal to potentially permanently put a fence around the capitol complex. It would really affect the neighborhood and change the character, really, the accessibility of the capitol complex. Whats the right balance . And how are lawmakers trying to find the right balance between protecting themselves and not giving in to these violent threats and reacting in a way that limits americans access to their government . Yeah, its a really difficult balance right now, kasie. You know, you and i have to go through extra checkpoints now just to get to our offices at the capitol, and it is really quite sad seeing those tenfoot barriers and razor wire basically creating a perimeter around the capitol, which, again, would have been unheard of, you know, in normal times, before the pandemic. There were tour groups coming to the capitol almost every day, from every state across the country, getting tours from their member of congress, from their senator, taking pictures on the capitol steps. All of that is not possible right now, and it really is just sad to see. But were seeing lawmakers starting to come out in opposition to this recommendation from the acting Capitol Police chief, specifically because they dont see a reason for it based on the Threat Assessments that they, the lawmakers, have received behind closed doors. Republicans and democrats alike have told us that they dont see a reason for that fencing to stay up past, for example, march, when we know the National Guard troops will remain in washington to protect, specifically, the capitol against these unspecified threats. But i think once, you know, this becomes something that lawmakers have to consider, maybe as part of a supplemental appropriations package, youre going to see more and more come out in opposition to this idea of erecting a permanent fence and having whats known as a qrf a Quick Response force deployed thats ready to respond to threats at the u. S. Capitol. Lawmakers are increasingly coming out in opposition to this, and i think youll stheem address that as part of this new pot of money that theyre going to create for their own safety and security. Yeah, well, and it is possible to make that building more secure in a way that doesnt limit it, but it does likely cost more money than just building a fence. Politicos andrew desiderio, thank you very much for getting up early with us. Always appreciate your reporting and your insights. And still ahead here, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle want to take action against, after gamestop investors rocked wall street. Plus, the latest on the unrest in russia after a court rejected an appeal by Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny for his release from jail. Were going to have those stories and a check on your weather when we come right back. This is what Community Looks like. Caring for each other, protecting each other. And as the Covid Vaccine rolls out, well be ready to administer it. vo businesses are always making choices. Heres a choice you dont have to make administer it. The largest 5g network. Awardwinning customer satisfaction. Or insanely great value. Now, with tmobile for business, theres no compromise. Network. Support. Value. Choose. All. Three. Tmobile for business. Ready when you are. Nicorette knows, Quitting Smoking is freaking hard. You get advice like just stop. Get a hobby. You should meditate. Eat crunchy foods. Go for a run. Go for 10 runs run a marathon. Are you kidding me . instead, start small. With nicorette. Which can lead to something big. Start stopping with Nicorette Another Good Play by blackwell. Moves in and he scores his first nhl goal Alexei Lafreniere scores in overtime what a goal what a moment for the number one rangers pick thats top overall draft pick Alexei Lafreniere netting his first goal in the nhl, lifting the New York Rangers to a 32 overtime win against the Buffalo Sabres last night. He is the first number one pick to score his first goal in overtime. Meanwhile, another nhl game has been postponed as the season continues to be disrupted by the pandemic. Last nights matchup between the st. Louis blues and the Vegas Golden Knights was called off after the league said One Vegas Player and another member of the teams Coaching Staff entered covid19 protocols. The Golden Knights have also closed their Training Facilities until further notice. Nine nhl games have been postponed so far this season, most involving the Carolina Hurricanes and the dallas stars. The stars did not begin their season until last friday because of an outbreak. And the hurricanes last four games have been postponed because several plays tested positive. The nba has also made a number of schedule changes after saying on wednesday it would begin shifting games because of coronavirusrelated postponements this season. The league announced yesterday that torontos game in boston will now be played on february 11th. Thats moved up a day. While detroit is going to play boston on february 12th, instead of the 14th. In another two matchups which were supposed to take place in the second half of the season are now scheduled for next month. Also yesterday, the league pushed back the start times of 16 upcoming contests in order to allow for more time to Process Coronavirus Tests before players take the floor. 22 nba games have been postponed this season. 21 of those games since january 10th. And Tampa Bay Buccaneers Quarterback Tom Brady will chase his seventh super bowl title against the Kansas City Chiefs one week from sunday. And hell do it with the support of his parents, who he says are doing well after recovering from covid19 early this season and will be among the family in the stands to root for him in the big game. Well, thats pretty cool. If youre already betting on brady and the bucs to pull out a win against the defending champs, there are also a number of Special Prop Bets to gamble on, ranging from Whether Brady will attempt to highfive an official to how many commercials will have a dog in them and whether well see miley cyrus belly button during her halftime performance. There are even odds featuring joe biden, such as how many times will his name be mentioned or whether hell tweet during the game. Bettors can also gamble on bidens pregame interview, a tradition shelved after former President Trump turned down a request from nbc in 2018. Hmm. I wonder if its smarter to put your money there or buy gamestop. Anyway, time now for the weather lets go to meteorologist bill karins for a check on the forecast. Bill, good morning happy friday. Yeah, happy friday, kasie. Its a cold friday, too. A lot of people can hear the wind in the northeast as they were sleeping last night, and the temperatures have dropped, all because of this huge ocean storm. This was a storm that brought the snow yesterday to north carolina. That storm is so massive that its just causing the wind to come down straight from canada, and it is a cold morning. D. C. Windchill is 12. This is easily the coldest morning of the year, of the winter season, for all areas of the northeast. Boston, negative 9, burlington negative 16. And its cold all the way through areas of north carolina, ohio valley, great lakes. Obviously, this is the peak of winter. And you know, todays forecast, its not that bad st. Louis southwards, but still cold and windy through the northeast. Of course, californias been having all these huge issues with this huge storm. That storm is on the move starting today. It will get into the middle of the country by the time we get through saturday. Mostly rain, but then it moves into some of that colder air saturday night. Chicago breaks out into snow. Areas of southern wisconsin, the ohio valley. Snow moves into areas like washington, d. C. , come sunday, and it looks like some of that snow will move into areas like New York City monday, boston monday night, and then lasting all the way through Tuesday Morning for some people. Kasie, as far as the Snow Potential goes, right now, d. C. Could get nailed with some heavy snow, it looks like. A little too early for the exact snowfall amounts, but this is the biggest snow threat in the washington, d. C. , area in a couple of years, kasie. Yikes all right. I guess id better get out there and find my snow shovel, which we dont normally really need very often, so ill have to dig it out of the garage. Maybe my husband knows where it is. All right, bill karins, thank you very much, my friend. Have a good weekend. Still ahead here, President Trumps Impeachment Trial is set to kick off next month, and one of the Capitol Rioters is reportedly willing to testify in front of lawmakers. Well be back in just a moment. Front of lawmakers well be back in just a moment at tmobile, we have a plan built just for customers 55 and up. Saving 50 vs. Other carriers with 2 unlimited lines for less than 30 each. Call 1800tmobile or go to tmobile. Com 55. With audible, i can be transported somewhere that is impossible to go. The audible plus catalog is awesome. Its like having a streaming service, but just for audio content. Theres so many options. Theres podcasts. Ill listen to the meditations. I love audible originals. Mythology, anthropology, a lot of the ologies. They pretty much have whatever you like. Its just endless. To start your free 30day trial, just text join 16 to 500500. 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What im concerned about is the Republican Leadership in the house of representatives, who is willing to overlook, ignore those statements, assigning her to the Education Committee, when she has mocked the killing of little children at sandy hook elementary school, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjorie Stoneham Douglas high school. What could they be thinking, or thinking too generous a word, for what they might be doing . Its absolutely appalling. That was house Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticizing Republican Leaders for not doing more to denounce the newly elected republican congresswoman from georgia who has expressed support for the qanon Conspiracy Theories and has made other alarming statements about guns, among other things. Speaker pelosi was especially critical of gops Leadership Decision to assign the congresswoman to the Education Committee after reports that she called some of those School Shootings that were referenced there false flag events. Meanwhile, former President Trumps Impeachment Trial is set to get under way the week of february 8th, and the lawyer for an arizona man who took part in the capitol riot says his client is willing to testify. Jacob chansley, who calls himself the qanon shaman, is facing federal charges stemming from the siege. Youll recall, he was the Shirtless Rioter who sported face paint and a horned hat. In an interview with the associated press, chansleys lawyer says his client was previously horrendously smitten by trump, but now feels let down after trumps refusal to grant chansley and others who participated in the insurrection a pardon, saying, quote, he felt like he was betrayed by the president. Court records show that chansley told investigators he came to the capitol, quote, at the request of the president , that all patriots come to d. C. On january 6th. And in an effort to mend fences, house gop leader Kevin Mccarthy mend fences im going add a clause there after the insurrection. Kevin mccarthy met with former President Trump at maralago yesterday, two weeks after mccarthy made a speech on the house floor where he claimed that the former president , quote, bears responsibility, end quote, for the deadly attack at the capitol. After the meeting, mccarthys Office Issued a statement with this picture, saying that the two agreed to Work Together on republicans taking back the house in 2022. Later, mccarthy tweeted, united and ready to win. The meeting shows, of course, that republicans are not yet ready to cut ties with trump, despite the fallout from the capitol hill riot, an event, of course, that threatened the very lives of all of the members of congress and where people chanted hang mike pence, who, of course, was then the republican Vice President. Still ahead here, fema is requesting help from the Department Of Defense to boost coronavirus vaccinations. Were going to talk about the ongoing efforts from the Biden Administration to get more doses out more quickly. But before we go to break, we want to know, why are you awake . Email us your reasons for being up and watching on this friday to waytooearly msnbc. Com or drop me a tweet. Its kasie. Use waytooearly, and well read the best answers coming up later on in the show. Oming up later on in the show trelegy for copd. Birds flyin high you know how i feel breeze drifting on by you know how i feel [man coughing] its a new dawn, its a new day. 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But its even nicer knowing that if this happens. Or this happens. Or this. Or even this. Weve seen and covered it. So, call 1800farmers to switch your auto policy and you could save an average of Four Hundred Seventy dollars. Get a quote today. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum welcome back to Way Too Early. Its just before 5 30 here on the east coast, 2 30 out west. Im kasie hunt. As the weeklong hysteria over gamestop and other surging stocks backed by reddit users continues to cloud the business world, online Brokerage Firms are now taking action and restricting trading in these inflated shares. Robinhood, t. D. Ameritrade, and other Interactive Brokerage groups made the decision yesterday to limit activity on these stocks, only allowing traders who were hoping to capitalize on the gains with two options hold or sell. However, hedge funds were still able to make moves on these stocks, and this caused a dip in shares for the highflying stocks. Gamestop dropped 44 , amc 57 , and other targets of the Wall Street Bets Reddit Forum nokia, blackberry, bed, bath beyond, express, and tootsie roll all posted losses, despite being up for the week. This move by the Trading Platforms ignited widespread criticism, and a group of individual investors even filed a Class Action Complaint against robin hood yesterday, claiming that the platform deprived their customers of the ability to use their service as well as potential gains from trading for no legitimate reason. Robinhood has since needed to emergency fundraise 1 billion from existing investors to support activity and will allow limited buys on the reddit stocks today. Yes, you just heard me say that correctly emergency fundraising for 1 billion. Joining us now, senior politics reporter for business insider, grace panetta. Grace, good morning its good to see you. I think everyone has learned a lot, or many people, at least, have learned a lot of new things about the stock market in the past week, and certainly, the hedge funds have learned something about the power of these folks on reddit who have caused all of this. And i think people i mean, im watching this from the outside trying to report on it. It does seem very unfair that robinhood would cut off regular people while allowing hedge funds and other Institutional Investors to continue to operate as normal. Is that whats happening . Why is this happening . What other Decision Options did they have on the table, if any . Yeah, absolutely. So, the robinhood ceo, vlad tenev was on cnn yesterday, making the rounds trying to explain this decision. He essentially argued he restricted trading on these specific securities to, you know, meet various Deposit Clearinghouse Requirements that robinhood is required to clear. He says that they, robinhood, relied on lines of credit from major banks as a proactive measure, but that, of course, did not satisfy the criticisms of a lot of people who thought it was a major double standard. You have other different people, different Trading Platforms who have also restricted trading, like ameritrade, Interactive Brokers, but Robinhood Has really gotten the brunt of the criticism because their entire mission was to democratize finance, make it accessible, especially for younger people to trade from their phones, be players in the market. So, while these other platforms are also restricting trading for example, Interactive Brokers seems to be less keen on reallowing purchases of these stocks its definitely a really tough decision for robinhood, and theyre just trying to sort of, you know, deal with the volatility and be able to meet these certain requirements that they have to, to be a trading platform. Right. Well, and those requirements youre alluding to are the ones that say, okay, yes, there is enough Money In The Bank for us to, should this all go south, make sure that were holding everybody else up and that the whole system doesnt collapse. But i mean, that said, Robinhood Has and there are tweets that say, you know, let the people trade, from back when they started. Yeah. Theyre actually backed by one of these major funds. So, how does that conflict play into this . Who is actually behind robinhood . And are they losing money in this . Yeah, absolutely. And this is a major criticism were seeing from people in the financial industry and lawmakers. Obviously, the involvement of big hedge funds, firms that have backed robinhood. Theres been links between robinhood and citadel, and a lot of these firms have come forward and made statements saying, no, we did not tell robinhood to do this, we are not sort of involved in any of this. Its a decision they made on their own. But it does sort of give the impression that the decisions they made to restrict trading definitely benefited the hedge funds and short sellers who were shorting these stocks at the end of the day. It might be hard for robinhood to recover from that perception that theyre favoring some investors over others. Yeah, no, people are certain to say, no, actually, they take from the poor to give to the rich, which is the opposite of the entire branding scheme. Business insiders grace panetta, thank you very much for being here, and i look forward to continuing this conversation when we Inyeft Library get to capitol hill hearings on this topic, because i have a feeling were going to get to that. Thank you very much. Alexei navalny appeared in Russian Court yesterday by video link from prison. He appealed to be released, but that appeal was denied. The russian Opposition Leader was arrested earlier this month after he returned to moscow from berlin, where he was being treated after being poisoned. Navalny is currently held under fraud and Money Laundering charges, which he says are politically motivated. Meanwhile, russian authorities detained several allies of navalny and even warned social Media Companies about protests in support of him. Last weekend, Tens Of Thousands of russians demonstrated across the country, reflecting growing opposition to russian president vladimir putin. Speaking in court yesterday, navalny warned, you have the power now to put me in handcuffs, but its not going to last forever. Navalnys supporters are reportedly organizing more rallies planned for this sunday. And still ahead here, the cinematic experience in store for the super bowl halftime show. Plus, how her appearance at last weeks inauguration has launched a Modeling Career for the stepdaughter of Vice President Kamala Harris. Well have those stories coming up next in the cooler. Way too early back in just a moment. Er. Way too early back in just a moment i didnt realize how special it would be for me to discover all of these things that i found through ancestry. I discovered my great aunt ruth signed up as a Nursing Cadet for world war ii. You see this scannedin, handwritten document. The most striking detail is her age. She was only 17. Knowing that she saw this thing happening and was brave enough to get involved and do something that was eye opening. Bring your Family History to life like never before. Get started for free at ancestry. Com this is a color laser printer. To life like never before. And this is the color toner cartridge. Theyre so expensive, people just print in black and white so they dont have to keep buyin them. Walk with me. Thats enough the Epson Ecotank cartridgefree printer. Big ink tanks. Lots of ink. And you can save a ridiculous amount on replacement ink. 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In a recent interview, the weeknd discussed the preparations under way to make his show, quote, cinematic for the viewers at home. To realize his vision, the singer revealed he is dropping 7 million of his own money into the show, and that is on top of the hefty Production Budget that he is getting from pepsi. Quote, weve been really focusing on dialing in on the fans at home and making performances a cinematic experience, and we want to do that with the super bowl. We always had the super bowl on our bucket list, and weve always had timelines for all of our goals. It came a few years earlier than we expected. So, you know what they say, your dreams dont work unless you do. Good for him. And Vice President Kamala Harris stepdaughter, ella emhoff, became a Breakout Fashion Star after the inauguration, and now the 21yearold senior Design Student has officially signed with img models. In a statement, the president of img models said that the fashion world is no longer about shape, size, and gender. Rather, its about authenticity, which emhoff embraces. Emhoff told the new york times, quote, as someone who, like a lot of young girls out there, had selfconfidence issues, its intimidating and scary to go into the world that is hyperfocused on you and your body. And after seeing the industry change to favor diversity and creativity, emhoff says shes excited to be, quote, part of the change. Good luck to her. And nashvillebased singer that did cockrell was ready to give up his music career when jimmy fallon heard his song in a Hardware Store and changed his life. My first trip out in quarantine, and i went to the Hardware Store and i heard this song, and it sounded like, like a George Harrison type of vibe or something to it. Anyway, i shazamed it, and i go, what is this, swinging . Performing swinging, here is Thad Cockrell and the roots cockrell performed on The Tonight Show for the first time on tuesday and blew up over the week, appearing on the today show and all over social media. And yesterday, his song swinging reached the coveted number one spot on itunes. Fallon shared his excitement on twitter, telling People Magazine he almost started crying at the news. Thats pretty awesome. Congratulations, man. And still ahead here, the feared South African Coronavirus Variant makes its way to u. S. Shores. How the vaccines will hold up against the new strain. And as we go to break, lets take a look at this date in history. 19 years ago, in his first state of the union address, president george w. Bush said terrorists were still threatening america, and he warned with that now infamous phrase, an axis of evil, consisting of north korea, iran, and iraq, was out there. Our War On Terror has well begun, but it has only begun. This campaign may not be finished on our watch, yet, it must be, and it will be waged on our watch. And it will be wagedn our watch. If you have moderate to severe psoriasis. Or psoriatic arthritis, little things, can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. Its a pill that treats differently. For psoriasis, 75 clearer skin is achievable. With reduced redness, thickness, and scaliness of plaques. For psoriatic arthritis,. Otezla is proven. To reduce joint swelling, tenderness, and pain. And the otezla Prescribing Information has no requirement for routine lab monitoring. Dont use if youre allergic to otezla. It may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. Otezla is associated with an. Increased risk of depression. Tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts. Or if these feelings develop. Some people taking otezla reported weight loss. Your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. And headache may occur. Tract infection tell your doctor about your medicines and if youre pregnant or planning to be. Otezla. Show more of you. Welcome back. Fema, the federal Emergency Management agency, has asked the pentagon for assistance with president bidens plan to ramp up coronavirus vaccinations. According to the new york times, the pentagon is considering sending activeduty troops to large, federally run vaccine centers. Fema is hoping to set up roughly 100 vaccine sites across the country as early as next month. Pentagon press secretary john kirby said in a Statement Last night that the Defense Department is evaluating the request and what kinds of support it can provide. Defense secretary lloyd austin has said dod is committed to doing as much as possible to assist the government effort against covid19. And the first known case of the South African variant emerged yesterday in the united states, as the country rushes to push vaccination rates to over 1 million per day. The variant, which is new to the united states, was first identified in two separate cases in south carolina, both adults in different parts of the states. The two people, however, do not appear to be linked and have not traveled recently. Health officials have warned, its almost a certainty that there have been more infections that have not been identified yet. And joining us now is dr. Vin gupta, a pulmonologist and nbc news medical contributor. Dr. Gupta, thank you so much for, i suppose, staying up late with us on your end. Its basically the middle of the night there. So, we really appreciate it, especially because i know so many people are really concerned about this new coronavirus variant and what it means for them. Weve talked about whether you should wear two masks now. What would you urge people to do in terms of different precautions, now that we know that this may be spreading in the community in the u. S. . Good morning, kasie. You know, i think were being prescriptive in ways that are helpful. So, for example, now were talking about quality of masking, whether its doublemasking, so actually putting that threeply medical blue mask ive shown several times on air and then putting a thick cloth mask that fits actually really tightly and snuggly across your cheeks over that mask, thats one strategy. Wearing a kn95 or a kf94 mask that you can get online, just basically increasing the quality of your mask. If youre somebody whos wearing a homemade cloth mask that was one ply or using a neck one, which is a nono, now the quality is really important. Id even add a face shield if you have a preexisting condition or if youre, say g, over 65, even though thats sort of an evidencefree zone here. Some studies suggest it could be helpful. But heres the thing, kasie, and this is where its really important were in a race against time. This south africa variant is already here. And even though the vaccines pfizer and moderna or peer effective against it, still very effective, although the level of effectiveness, as discussed, is lower, theres not a lot of room for error here. We know coronaviruses like to mutate. They often mutate. If we allow Transmission To Go Run amok here for months now, it could continue to change and vaccine effectiveness could continue to lower. So thats the key here. How do we focus on Transmission Reduction . Ill close by saying, theres dissonance right now. Youre being told, dont have your neighbors over for dinner. Youre being told to maybe go to the Grocery Store for less than 15 minutes a week and double mask. And yet, Indoor Dining now is opening up in places like new york, here in Washington State and elsewhere. Were seeing teachers being asked to go into the classroom again. Were seeing airlines open up the middle seat. Theres that dissonance here, where if im listening in, im wondering, well, youre telling me to double mask, yet all these other activities are okay. It doesnt really make sense. So, in that race against time, what do you think the government should be doing on the Vaccine Front . Should they be trying to quickly approve some of the other vaccines that are out there . What is your view on the science of that . Well, were going to see Johnson Johnsons data later in the week, especially visavis the activity against the South African variant, so thats going to be very important. Id say lets be overly prescriptive once Johnson Johnson hopefully gets approved and its deemed to be safe and effective, even if the Effectiveness Level is a little lower against the south africa variant. Lets get that oneshot vaccine to communities that we know theres going to be lower Vaccine Uptake or where theres already lower Vaccine Uptake, rural zip codes where you want an easiertohandle vaccine. I would absolutely say, lets use that one shot to address hesitancy. Ss hesitancy. The military has been underutilized, and we know how to do popup clinics. We know the logistics around it. I just participated in a mass vaccination event where we partnered with an operation specialist. Amazon amazon for example partnered with Virginia Mason and Savi Skill Set was really vital to make sure people had a good experience and it was orderly. And thats so thats going to be vital to have the military across 100 different sites. So supply and logistics really key. It good points, all. Dr. Vin gupta, thank you for takingvi time out of your very important busy and schedule to help us better understand these things. Thank you very much. Earlier in the showes we asked l of you, why are you awake . We got this tweet from pete. Im up Way Too Early planning my 2 1 2 daughters activities for the day. Her day care closed last year. Do you have any spare egg cartons or paper towel rolls . If i could send awe a few, we would. Our dog is the house fan of paper towels. Luck today. Wes tweeted posting this feet. Ive been up since 3 00 a. M. Quickly building this pen for my two pet turkeys in a spare bedroom. We are in the single tkeupblg admits ny. I dont think my cat is too happy about the situation. No. Does not seem to happy. I wish you the best of luck. Melissa said im up Way Too Early because im a Nursing Student preparing to attend a covid19 vaccine clinic to administer Covid Vaccines excited. Melissa, thats awesome. Thank you so much. And this tweet from allison is 7 1 2 months pregnant. Sleep getting harder. Embracing the Early Morning hours. Its goodrl practice for what comes next. T congratulations on your baby. Coming up, a look at the axios 1at big thing. And the multitrillion dollar relief package. We will hear from democratic senator sheheen about that. Dont go anywhere. T go anywhere. This is what Community Looks like. 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Call 1800tmobile or go to tmobile. Com 55. Welcome back. Joining us now with a look at axeeo a. M. , jim. Jim, good morning. Whats the axios 1 big thing today. We are looking how conservatives are warning the culture and political wars are going to get even worse. The verdict is in. Theyre siding with donald trump. I know a lot of democrats dont like that. They dont like to hear his name. He continues to be such a force. If you look at what republicans are rallying around, if you listen to it or watch it, there is a common grievance big media, big business, Big Government are trying to shut them out, shut them down and shut them up. You hear it day in and day out. That is Fueling Aeupbg a lot of the energy right now in the conservative movement. The reason this matters, if you take politics as simple as i dont like the government to something that goes to your very being, people are trying to shut you out, shut you down, eliminate your entire party or way of thinking, thats what you get people all hopped up in bad things like the mob at the capitol happens. If you look at some of the warnings we are hearing now from the department of Homeland Security and homeland defense, theyre warning these false narratives around grievance are the reason for escalated security. Thats one of the reasons that nancy pelosi is saying we need more security inside the capitol. Theyre worried about their own members, the behavior of republican members. Hopefully we never have another incident like a mob at the capitol. But when things are so visceral, thats when things get so dangerous out there. For sure. Something i have been thinking a lot about for sure. Jim, how much of this defends on donald trump as personality. How much of this is a movement that would exist and continue to exist if he were to snap your fingers and get rid of him. And how much is dependent on his personality and role here. I dont think you will snap your fingers and he is going to go away. He will loom large the next four years as long as hes on thf you listen to the podcasts, work conservative media, you look at whats happening on facebook, other people picked up the grievance. Whatever reflection is done. They have reflected and said we dont want to impeach him. You might get five photos in the senate. Liz cheney spoke out and is getting crushed back home. 10 members in the house that voted against the president look like they will face a primary challenge. Mccarthy kissing the boot down in florida. He knows if he wants to be speaker, he has to stand side to side and make up with donald trump. Even fan of trumpism lives on. Whats the counter force . Mitch mcconnell is not out there leading some antitrump crusade. He might make comments anonymously or cryptically but he is not a big enough force to stand up to conservative media that sounds a lot like donald trump. People keep trying to separate media from politics. But they are squished together. You are reading theyre shutting you up, shutting you down, of course youre going to get hopped up. Thats what youre getting fed. And then facebook saying we want to get on it of the politics game. Or deplatforming people. They say, ah, theres evidence, theres evidence. Thats why i think you will continue to see more of this. All right. Jim, always a smart conversation. Thank you so much for being up early with us. We really appreciate it. After everything we just talked about with jim, we may be getting some snow here. Im going to focus on taking my toddler out for a fun weekend in the snow if we get it. I need to set this week aside. Hope you can get some time with your families too. Thank you for getting up Way Too Early. Dont go anywhere. Morning joe starts right now. Ive gone from not understanding the stock market to extra not understanding the stock market. Experts are saying the stock market is now in the worlds first ever meme stock bubble. It sounds like the worst musical festival. Luckily, none of this affects me. As you know, all my money is