to say about the possibility of taking the witness stand in his own defense in the classified documents case. and also ahead an update on president biden's covid status following the first lady's infection as he's set to leave today for a major summit overseas. good morning, and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, september 7th. i'm jonathan lemire, thanks for starting your day with us. and we'll begin with the first major hearing for the fulton county election interference case that ended in a loss for two defendants. sidney powell and kenneth chesebro were denied their requests to split their trials. the pair each requested speedy trials but did not want to be in court together. district attorney fani willis is still pushing to keep all 19 codefendants together, trying them all on the expedited trial date that chesebro was granted. now, fulton county superior court judge scott mcafee did not seemed convinced that could be possible. >> it just seems a bit unrealistic to think we could handle all 19 in 40-something days. that's my initial reaction. >> the judge told the district attorney's office to file a briefing by early next week with its reasoning why all of the defendants should stay together. the state was also asked to estimate how long a trial could take if all 19 defendants did, in fact, remain together. the answer was about four months to present the case with about 150 witnesses being called. another issue with the proposed time line presented, motions by at least five defendants to move their cases to federal court. if the state trial continues on the proposed date, it could clash with that ruling, according to the judge. >> it could potentially even optimistically be a six-month turn around just for the 11th circuit to come up with a decision. so if it's a four-month trial that starts in october we're potentially sitting at a point where we presented the entire state's case, maybe the jury has entered a verdict but we can't enter that level of conviction is that kind of the scenario we're playing out here? >> the judge also said he hope tuesday have a decision on whether he will keep all the codefendants together by some time next week. meanwhile in an interview yesterday former president donald trump was asked whether he'd take the stand in his own defense if the criminal cases against him go to trial. take a look at what trump had to say. >> so if you have to go to trial, will you testify in your own defense? >> oh, yes, absolutely. >> you'll take the stand? >> that i i look forward to. >> i think that obstrakz charge is going to get to trial, mr. president. >> at trial, i'll testify. >> if you do they'll ask you on the stand did you order anyone to move boxes, how would you answer? >> i'm not answering that question for you, but i'm totally covered under the law. if you read the presidential records act, just read it. you take a look at it. i'm totally covered under the law. it's a civil act. it's civil. now, biden has no civil act. the things he did are criminal, but he doesn't have a deranged person on his case. you know they gave me deranged jack smith. he's got a man who's a normal person, what can i tell you? >> we should note most of what you just heard is not true. another legal blow to trump came as a judge has reruled he defamed writer e. jean carroll when he was president back in 2019. carroll filed the lawsuit in response to the comments the former president made shortly after she came forward with the allegation he had raped her in a new york city department store. the case is separate from the lawsuit carroll won back in may when a jury found trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. that defamation award stems from statements that trump made on truth social last year calling carroll a, quote, con job. a federal judge has now decided those comments and the ones mentioned in the second lawsuit are substantially the same, so there's no need to argue that in court again. as a result, the case will only focus on how much money in damages trump should pay carroll. the trial for that is set to begin in january. trump has already been ordered to pay carroll $5 million for the first lawsuit, but he's appealing that verdict. if the decision is overturned, trump's attorney says the judge's latest ruling would no longer be valid. meanwhile, secretary of state antony blinken is in ukraine this morning wrapping up his trip to that nation's capitol of kyiv. so far he's announced more than $1 billion in new american aid for the country. 300 million of which will go toward paying ukrainian law enforcement in the illegally annexed eastern regions. also included in the package is demining assistance, which will help ukraine clear russian land mines throughout the country in an effort to protect its own civilians. secretary blinken also met yesterday with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. blinken reaffirmed america's commitment to continue walking side by side with ukraine as it defends itself against the russian invasion. afterwards, at a joint press conference, secretary blinken spoke about that meeting and delivered a message to the embattled ukrainian people. >> today with president zelenskyy discussed longer term sustainable security arrangements which will provide ongoing security assistance and modern military equipment across land, air, sea and cyberspace as well as training and intelligence sharing. the state department is leading these discussions which will continue in the months ahead. my message today on behalf of president biden and the united states and the ukrainian people is just as we have stood with you to ensure your nation's survival over these past 20 months, so we will stand with you as you determine your future and rebuild a free, a resilient, a thriving ukraine. >> this afternoon president biden is set to do some overseas traveling of his own. he'll board air force one for the g20 summit. in yesterday's press briefing kareen jean pierre. eyebrows were raised yesterday when he was not wearing a mask and joked about not wearing a mask while in the white house. the white house says while he's in india he'll follow cdc guidelines which involves a combination of masking, testing and monitoring for symptoms. top of mind for the summit itself will be on the going war in europe but also the glaring absence of chinese leader xi jinping. as tensions are on the rise, the two countries are currently kwarling over a border region in the himalayas among other issues. joining us now national security reporter for "the wall street journal." vivian, great to see you this morning. i know you've been preparing to watch the summit carefully. the president's agenda, let's talk about the message he's going to be delivering to nations overseas, some of which don't have the warmest ties to the united states but particularly the focus is going to be about china, whether president xi is there or not. >> this was the looming question, john, going into this summit because there was a lot of attention president biden may be meeting with xi jinkpening at a critical time where the two may be looking to solve their relationship and develop a more constructive alliance with each other on various issues ranging from climate change to military issues and what not. and so this was something that we were looking forward to in high anticipation. and so when xi jinping pulled out, this was something that even president biden himself described as disappointing because they were really looking forward to taking the next steps in the relationship. secretary blinken and other member of the cabinet have been to beijing in the last few weeks, and so they were really looking for that leader level meeting to seal the deal on so many of the issues that have been discussed ranging from those issues and financial cooperation as well. with that you mention in the rift with india that's partially to blame for it for sure because india among other things is a member of an alliance called the quadwith the united states and other nations, and it is military cooperation that china has essentially seen as infringing upon its territorial claims around the east asia and especially the sea around china. and so it sees this as a provocation more than anything else, and it is essentially -- they're essentially punishing india for that. >> u.s. officials hope president biden and president xi can meet in san francisco at another summit. vladimir putin not going to the summit either but the russians will have a presence. talk to us a little about the message president biden is going to try to send about the war in ukraine and some of the nations he'll be addressing -- and india among them and saudi arabia and others have not always been as sympathetic to the ukrainian cause as the white house would like. >> john, the ukraine war is definitely going to be a major focus and something that has caused a lot of disagreements among members of the g20. vladimir putin not going for very different reasons. he's been indicted by the international criminal court for war crimes related to ukraine war, so it's very difficult for him to move around in most places, so his foreign minister is likely going to be the one attending. this is coming at a time when the ukraine war is hitting a grind, a long-term grind if anything. the current counter offensive has been intense and slow going, and the u.s. is really looking to get a number of allies onboard to be able to pressure russia to stand down, to be willing to negotiate. right now they're looking at countries like india, which has continued to buy russian oil on discount since the beginning of the war. they're trying to push saudi arabia to take a more constructive role as well. but those countries have their own relationship with moscow, and it's been a difficult thing to persuade them to just cut the russians off. >> national security reporter for "the wall street journal," vivian salaama, we'd love to speak to you again soon. thank you for joining us this morning. still ahead here on "way too early," what we're learning about a new indictment against the president's son hunter expected later this month. plus senate minority leader mitch mcconnell faces questions about retirement following his recent health scares. what mcconnell had to say to reporters yesterday. we'll bring you that, the morning's other top headlines as well as a check on sports and weather when we come right back. weather when we come right back. my most important kitchen tool? my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. 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[sfx: spilling sound] [sfx: family gasp] nooo... aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and bounty is 2x more absorbent so you can use less and get the job done with one. you've got a bit of your face on your face. bounty, the quicker picker upper. every day, businesses everywhere are asking: is it possible? with comcast business... it is. is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues? we can help with that. can we provide health care virtually anywhere? we can help with that, too. is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations? yeah! absolutely. with the advanced connectivity and intelligence of global secure networking from comcast business. it's not just possible. it's happening. welcome back. as we take a look at some of the morning's other top headlines now. the department of justice special counsel leading an investigation into president joe biden's son is seeking a grand jury indictment before the end of this month. in a court filing yesterday u.s. attorney david weiss revealed the planned time line to charge hunter biden for possessing a gun while using narcotics. both the gun felony and a separate tax fraud charge were expected to be resolved through a plea deal last month. that deal, of course, fell apart. under its terms the gun charge would have been dismissed in two years if hunter stayed out of trouble. the deal collapsed when a judge raised questions about in a hearing. it prevents any additional charges from being filed against mr. biden. the gump has pushed back against those claims saying the terms of the plea deal were never finalized. the special counsel has hinted their investigations into other matters as well. it's unclear if charges will ever be brought there. meanwhile as house speaker kevin mccarthy publicly talks about launching an impeachment inquiry into president biden, a member of his own caucus is now saying he doesn't believe there's enough evidence to do so. colorado congressman ken buck's comments could throw a wrench in the impeachment plans as the speaker can only afford to lose five votes through his party's slim majority. take a listen to what bucks said on the issue. >> i don't see any reason to start an impeachment inquiry at this point in time when all the power, all the resources that we can muster are now being used to investigate whether joe biden received money from hunter biden or hunter biden's activities or whether he in some way knew about hunter biden's activities. i don't think there's a need to have an impeachment inquiry when there's work that will lead to an impeachment inquiry. >> i've got news how the white house is preparing how mccarthy will bring that to the forefront or mr.icate those upset with him for the current spending negotiations. the white house believes those things are linked to mccarthy trying to push forward this. they also confidencely believe it'll be a political winner for them. no white house wants to go through an impeachment inquiry. they're time consoming and exhausting. they feel the american public has been this matter has been litigated already and there'll be backlash against republicans. we'll bring you more on this as it develops when the house returns next week. still ahead here we'll turn to sports and the possibility of an all womens final at the u.s. open is still alive. plus the big martian here at new york city. we'll have the highlights here across major league baseball next. highlights here across major league baseball next metamucil gummies make it easy to get the fiber you need. promoting your digestive health for a better you. metamucil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber. businesses need 5g solutions today. that's why they choose t-mobile for business. mlb partners with t-mobile to not only enhance the fan experience, but to advance how the game is played. aaa relies on t-mobile's network to stay connected nationwide, so they can help get their members back on the road. and we're helping pano ai innovate, to stop the spread of wildfires. now's the time to see what america's largest 5g network can do for your business. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv the astros trying to open this one up. >> there is a ball drilled deep to left field. score four with that one. a grand slam for jose abreu. and that was just the start of a huge night for jose abreu. the houston astros first baseman broke the game open with that grand slam in the top of the third making it 7-1 houston. he'd add a three run shot in the top of the ninth right there, a bullet over the line. that turns out to be a 7 rbi night. the houston astros dominating the texas rangers yet again. final on this one is 12-3. the astros hit 16 home runs in their three-game sweep of the rangers. let's move now to the bronx where the yankee's top prospect had another big night. >> and lead off, that one is drilled deep to right field. there it goes, see ya. his first yankees stadium home run, an absolute bullet. >> jason dominguez with his first home run, solo shot. he had a three hit night for new york. the yankees get a 4-3 win over the tigers and sweep the series in detroit. they've actually been playing really well the last couple of weeks. meanwhile, down in tampa the rays starter was simply electric on the mound. he tied a career high with 14 strikeouts allowing only three hits across six innings in tampa's 3-1 win over boston. in miami the marlins put together a nine-run fifth inning en route to an 11-4 win over the dodgers, the marlins sent 14 batters to the plate with three of them going yard. that's six straight wins for the fish who currently hold the final wild card spot in the national league. another american, meanwhile, is onto the semifinals at the u.s. open, madison keys cruised past the reigning wimbledon champion yesterday fending off nine break points she faced. it's been five years since she made the time four in flushing meadows. the two-faced off earlier this year at wimbledon with keys losing in straight sets. 19-year-old coco gauff also takes the court. and finally football is back. the nfl season kicks off tonight in kansas city. the reigning super bowl champions hosted the detroit lions who are getting a lot of buzz coming into this season and favorites to win the division. they finished last year strong. as for the chiefs star tight end travis kelce is questionable in tonight's game. it is way too hot. >> it is way too hot. and by the way, i'm a lions fan so we'll talk about this a little tomorrow what happens. way too hot in new york, philadelphia, in washington, d.c., down through dallas. we've still got these heat alerts that are up and more than 60 million people are dealing with this. this is going to be something we see not just today but extended periods for part of the south. we will have a bit of relief on the horizon for folks extending down the east coast. meanwhile today 96 degrees in washington, d.c., mid-90s for folks headed to the u.s. open today. we're going to see really uncomfortable conditions in new york once again. new orleans feels like 107, and triple digits on tap for folks all across parts of texas. this is a cold front we're waiting to inch a little farther to the east. it's going to leave us a little unsettled in parts of the north east and mid-atlantic today, and that will be the case tomorrow, too. but it'll bring some improvement to our temperatures and really start to reflect on those highs as we get into saturday and pittsburgh 70s and mid-70s by sunday. new york will finally get back to more seasonable levs and mid-80s. unfortunately, i sound like a broken record here, jonathan. for our friends in the south the triple digits are here to stay. this is not something we'll see a whole lot of relief from at least in the long-term. >> punishing heat. i'm certainly with you tonight, go lions. >> there you go. we like to hear it. >> angie lassman, thank you you as always. still ahead on "way too early," 2024 hopeful mike pence goes after his former boss, donald trump, while he was campaigning in new hampshire. we'll show you what pence had to say about a divide within the gop. we'll be right back with that. . . flex. wanna schedule one online while prepping dinner? gravy. avoid the wait by scheduling for you... ...or the whole crew. or if you prefer to just pop in? do you. and if you wanna even tack on a covid-19 vaccine to your flu shot, feel free! and speaking of free? our flu shots are... well... free. really? yes, really. healthier is getting a flu shot on your schedule. cvs. healthier happens together. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv trying vapes to quit smoking now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. might feel like progress, but with 3x more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes - vapes increase cravings - trapping you in an endless craving loop. nicorette reduces cravings until they're gone for good. i may be known for my legendary football career, but truth is, i love a bunch of sports. the only trouble is knowing where to find them. that's why i got xfinity. so, i can easily find and watch whatever sport i'm into all in one place without missing a thing. even if it's football, australian football, or football football. in a word—it's fitz-credible. i got to trademark that one. this season, eligible xfinity rewards members can get up to $100 off nfl sunday ticket from youtube. sign up for xfinity rewards now. welcome back to "way too early." it is exactly 5:30 a.m. on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. mike pence is railing against his former running mate. in a speech in new hampshire yesterday the former vp highlighted the differences in ideologies within the republican party. pence called it a divide between reaganite conservatives including himself and popialists including the one he served, donald trump. >> a populist movement is rising in the republican party. the growing faction would substitute our faith in limited government and traditional values with an agenda stitched together by personal grievances and performative outrage. a leading candidate for the republican nomination last year called for the, quote, termination of all rules, regulations and articles even those found in the constitution, closed quote. while these imitators in this primary have demonstrated a willingness to brandish government power to impose their will on opponents. >> as you might imagine trump responded to pence's speech on truth social calling his former vice president's criticism false and writing this -- i never said for him to put me before the constitution. mike failed badly on calling out voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election with no money or support. he obviously did the wrong thing. joining us now, politics reporter for semafor, shelby talcott. let's talk about mike pence. what does it also say about his take on the republican party as a whole? it also seems like the trump side of it is winning. >> yeah, it's a good question, and mike pence has certainly come out swinging in a way that i think a lot of us didn't expect. and the big question is mike pence wants to return to this kind of old school republican motto and these old school republican principles. the problem that i see on the ground is is there enough support? a lot of republican voters seem more interested in the -- in exactly what pence described as what we should not be doing at this point as a country, right, this grievance politics. when i talked to republican voters on the ground, they seem to want a fighter, and they seem to want maybe someone that is more new school, someone like donald trump or vivek ramaswamy, and mike pence is kind of adhering to this older school of the party. and so the question here is there enough support, and time will tell. i think right now it seems like based on the polls donald trump is clearly ahead, and so that would indicate to me that this more populism type republicanism is winning out. >> yeah, and pence, you know, polling in the low single digits in most surveys we've seen both state and national and trump as you say way, way ahead and because he's so far ahead it seem like he may be on his way to walking to the gop nomination. there's already been some speculation about who his running mate might be, and you've got brand new reporting, shelby, about some of the options. walk us through potential candidates for trump's vp. >> yeah, it's very early, but it's certainly notable that donald trump himself publicly has talked about vice presidential options, and so some of these options could be his defeated opponents. vivek ramaswamy he's praised repeatedly and suggested he could be an option on the table. he's privately told aides do not publicly attack tim scott. he's a big fan of him. even nikki haley could be on the table. then you have a whole list of governors who could be options, sarah huckabee sanders, henry mcmaster. you've got christy nome. i've been told aides think he might pick a woman, but obviously this is very early in the game. there's also the whole maga pick, the picks like margery taylor greene who seems to be openly advocating for herself to be a vice presidential option. he has a lot of options here, but the field for vice president for donald trump is wide open right now. >> christy nomes, the governor of south dakota, that's a name i feel like is picking up buzz in recent weeks and trump is appearing with her at a rally in south dakota in the days ahead. thank you for joining us this morning. we'll talk to you again soon. coming up here on "way too early," we'll go live to cnbc for a look at the morning's business headlines and some insight on the markets which are off to a rough start this morning. we'll be right back with that. we'll be right back with that. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv mmm, popcorn. 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(alternate voice) poligrip power hold + seal gives our strongest hold and 5x food seal. if your mouth could talk, it would ask for... poligrip. time now for business, and for that let's bring in cnbc's arabile gumede. who joins us live from london. arabile, good morning. with earnings season winding down, wall street is shifting focus back to the federal reserve's next move on interest rates. tell us about that and what appears to be driving the markets this morning. >> yeah, so september's usually seen as a kind of down beat time when it comes to the market, right? and that's actually what you're getting pretty much right now. you're seeing pretty much a slump as they've kicked off the month of september in a fairly negative stance there as well. yes, you're quite right focus shifting back towards the fed and what they're expected to do, a more than 90% chance the federal reserve will actually keep rates on hold at the current level right now. 5.25 being the maximum point with regard to those rates. there is the anticipation, however, at least the 60 odd percent chance they could actually move those rates then in november, so that will be very interesting to note. inflation pressures are what they'll be looking out for. >> we mentioned on the show the g20 set to kick off in india, and one of the major story lines has been the sagging chinese economy. and you've highlighted another red flag for us on that. tell us about that latest data. >> yeah, unfortunately, the growth of that chinese economy certainly waning quite considerably, right? and it's the import, export data which has kind of shown the next piece of downward pressure then on that economy. it's another drop in imports and exports. this time less anticipated but still down unfortunately. you have exports going down by 8.8% in the month of august compare today a year ago. it is still a fall, 8.8%. imports in u.s. dollar terms also falling by 7.3% in the month of august. so clearly that demand out of china not as high as some would have liked it to be. although that number is better than the 9% that was initially anticipated. exports have fallen year on year every month since april as global demand for chinese goods continues to drop off. imports have now fallen every single month in 2023 compared to a year ago, so it does tell you despite the opening up of that chinese economy, things still aren't looking too good. >> and one more from overseas. the second largest city in the united kingdom, where you are now, says it can't balance its books. tell us about that. >> yeah, so birmingham city is the city, their second biggest city off of london as well has decided or has rather told residents all bets are off with regards to the number of services and what kind of services may actually even be cut back on lack of employees or perhaps not delivered as well as they used to be. they could cut anything from the libraries. they could shut libraries. they could lessen the frequency of bin collections and even raise council tax issued in that section 114 notice meaning it cannot meet its financial liabilities. it did blame all this on a $760 million pound payment of equal pay they had to make, an equal pay claim that was put forward to the council. there's also been expenses when it comes to a new i.t. system plus years of funding cuts by a successive conservative party governments that have been in place in the counsel which of course was run by the conservative party, now run by the labor party here in u.k. so, unfortunately, the second biggest city in the u.k. now unable to fund itself effectively, saying it is bankrupt for all intents and purposes. >> a major story line there with elections expected to be faing in the united kingdom next year. cnbc's arabile gumede live from london, thank you for joining us this morning. still ahead here on "way too early," fulton county d.a. fani willis is now seeking to keep the identities of the jury in that georgia elections case secret. what else she requested from the judge and how it hits close to home for her. we'll get into that when we come right back. that when we come right back with mr. clean clean freak, conquering messes is that easy. clean freak's mist is three times more powerful, and it works on contact. clean freak, just freak, wipe, done. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv since the citi custom cash® card automatically adjusts to earn me more cash back in my top eligible category... suddenly, life's feeling a little more automatic... oooooohhh... automatic sashimi! earn cash back that automatically adjusts to how you spend with the citi custom cash® card. 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>> what dr. monahan's report addressed was concerns people might have with some things that happened to me, did happen or they didn't, and, really, i have nothing to add to that. i think he pretty well covered the subject. >> what do you say to those who are calling on you to step down? do you have any plans to retire any time soon? >> i have no announcements to make on that subject. >> what do you say to those who -- >> i'm going to finish my term as leader, and i'm going to finish my senate term. >> joining us now, nbc news capitol hill correspondent julie tsirkin. great to see you. i'm not sure that appearance will silence the questions and whispers about mcconnell's health. clearly diminished, more frail than he was a few months ago, but he said he'll finish out his term, ending 2027. what is the latest you're hearing from the republicans in the senate as to whether they think that's realistic? >> look, publicly, they're all standing behind him. before mcconnell addressed reporters for the first time since the august break, remember the last time we saw him in the capitol, he had that first freezing moment, republicans in a closed door lunch heard from the leader. he spoke for a couple of minutes, i'm told about three to four, about his health. it is not something comfortable for him. he is a private person, a personal person, so opening up about his health, though he didn't take questions, was certainly a big step, even for mcconnell. i've got to tell you, aside from senator rand paul and maybe josh hawley, there weren't many criticizing him, calling him to step down pubpublicly. even rick scott who challenged unsuccessfully mcconnell for leader. he said, "i don't have any concerns." what was interesting, after mcconnell spoke, his top fundraising aide came in and presented a fundraising haul mcconnell achieved over the month of august, showing he is doing his job despite the concerns. then they pivoted for abortion polling, not a forum for questions. i found it interesting. >> the white house watching this carefully, as well, as mcconnell has turned into an unlikely ally on certain issues, including ukraine and going against the maga forces in the gop. mike rogers has announced he is jumping into the senate race in the state of michigan. michigan, of course, 2024 battleground for the presidential, but it is going to be a closely watched senate race, as well. break it down for us. >> exactly. it's the only open swing state pickup opportunity for senate republicans, and they certainly were courting mike rogers for quite some time. he is the first prominent republican to jump into the race. slotkin is seen as the favorite among democrats. she still has to win the primary, though. republicans were struggling to find a candidate they thought could actually win in a general election. since donald trump won in 2016, it's been shifting over to the left. last year, all the state legislatures, all the lawmakers at the top, from the governorship down to the state and local level, democrats really swept that up. the republican party in the state is having some financial turmoil right now and an identity crisis. republicans, led by the nrc, of course, the cam campaign arm for the senate, is excited that he's gotten into the race. they were courting him to get in there. peter meyer, former congressman, john tuttle, vice chairman of the new york stock exchange are eyeing the seat, as well. it'll be a heated primary, interesting one. interesting to see whether former president trump makes an endorsement there. >> rogers seen as a credible candidate. julie, senate is back. house comes back next week. that means congress only has a little over three weeks to agree on a plan to fund the government. there's been a lot of pushback about a proposal for short-term solutions. give us the very latest there from the hill. >> yeah, it's going to be tough to see anything move forward here in terms of a full government funding effort. most likely, it is going to be a short-term seat. a lot of this is dependent on speaker mccarthy and how he can control his conference, a good amount, enough that he could lose, want to see the government shutdown because tey're not satisfied with the spending levels and what mccarthy negotiated with president biden to avoid the default debt crisis the end of may. they're really pushing for lower spending, and that includes on defense and on ukraine. certainly, that is a big priority on the other side of the chamber. as you mentioned from minority leader mcconnell and also top republicans, senator graham and others, who want to keep that attached to a continuing resolution, as does the white house. will the republicans in the house swallow that? i don't think so. it is unlikely mccarthy can keep those together. democrats haven't indicated that is a red line, but it'll be interesting to watch, certainly between now and the end of the year. i think it is likely there will be a short-term shutdown. we'll see what republicans are able to agree upon when they get back. >> there are a number of republicans, including those in the senate, who fear a shutdown would blow up in the faces of the gop. all right. a lot covered for us this morning from nbc news capitol hill correspondent julie turkeyen. -- tsirkin. thank you for getting up with us "way too early." "morning joe" begins now. the republican party didn't begin on a golden escalator in 2015. long before that day, it was forged and defended and defined as the conservative party in america. and so it should ever be. >> mike pence gives some of his sharpest criticism yet of his former running mate, calling the future of the republican party a battle between conservatism and populism. we'll have more of his comments just ahead. plus, what donald trump had