that is going to do it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. "way too early" with jonathan le mire is up next. i've committed that if i'm elected president to have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, it will be, i will appoint the first black woman to the courts. it's required that they have representation now, it's long overdue. >> that was president biden's pledge during the 2020 presidential campaign. now that supreme court justice stephen breyer is expected to announce his retirement, the question is, who is on the short list to replace him? >> plus, new developments in the effort to de-escalate tensions in eastern europe. as the u.s. rejects russia's demand to ban ukraine from joining nato. the state department says moscow

has been on a serious diplomatic path forward. the question is will russia take it. stock futures turned lower overnight as investors digest news pointing to a likely interest rate hike next month, will the move from the head be enough to address raging inflation? it's "way too early." good morning. welcome to "way too early." the show that is lobbying for a new job on the supreme court. thursday, january 27th. let's start with the news. justice stephen breyer will step down from the supreme court at the end of the current term according to people familiar with his thinking. president joe biden and breyer are scheduled to appear together at the white house to announcement his retirement, sources familiar to the matter confirms to nbc news. breyer reportedly informed the white house of his plans last week but the president wasn't ready to break the news himself.

>> every justice has the right and opportunity to decide when he or she is going to do and announce it on their own, there have been no announcements from justice breyer, let him make whatever statement he is going to make and i'll be happy to talk about it later. >> 83-year-old breyer was appointed by president bill clinton in 1994 and confirmed by a vote of 87-9. remember those days? some congressional democrats reportedly saw his retirement to shore up the liberal wing of the court while the party still controls the senate. chuck schumer issued a statement calling breyer a model jurist adding president biden's nominee will receive a prompt hearing in the senate judiciary committee and will be considered and confirmed by the full u.s. senate with all deliberate speed. joining us now nbc news correspondent, josh, what are you hearing about any concerns

that the process might not move as quickly as senator schumer just suggested it would? >> well, look, i think the white house is less caught up on the exact date and whether it's 27 days like it was with amy coney barrett, or slightly longer, but clearly they know they have to act quickly and it has to get done before the midterms really get into full swing and we have the election in november. i think the white house feels fairly confident at this point, obviously we don't have a nominee. we are don't officially have an announcement from breyer, although of course we expect we will have that within hours. but they look at the politics of this, even. so early comments from republicans, lindsey graham, saying last night, elections have consequences, president biden should get his pick as long as it's someone who is competent and, you know, perhaps liberal, but not radical. and they think that they have a very good case to make for why their pick should be confirmed

fairly easily. they're even optimistic about the prospect that they could peel off a few republican votes in favor of this nominee, whoever she may be. for example judge brown jackson, nominated to the current role in the fellow appellate bench when merrick garland was put the head of the justice department, he was confirmed fairly recently by numerous republican senators, including susan collins, including lisa murkowski, so it would be hard pressed for those senators to argue a year later that that person was not qualified for the supreme court. so they feel that the politics of this are good for them. both in terms of the confirmation and what they're going to be able to do with this heading into the midterms, really energizing a democratic base that has been fairly pessimistic recently but can really rally around particularly if president biden follows

through with his vow and nominates the first female black justice on the supreme court. >> a few republican votes of course passes the harmony and bipartisanship in today's washington, stay with me, another big story i want to get your take on in just a second. the u.s. and nato have formally responded to moscow's security demands and are offering quote a serious diplomatic path forward to de-escalate the situation in ukraine. secretary of state antony blinken says the letter proposes several areas where the u.s. is willing to negotiate. but there have been no change in the bidden administration's position on nato. >> i can tell you that it will be set publicly for many weeks and in a sense for many years. that we will uphold the principle of nato's open door, and that's, as i've said

repeatedly, in recent weeks, a commitment that we're bound to. >> we and our allies and partners are united across the board. now, we will continue to press forward and prepare. it remains up to russia to decide how to respond. we're ready either way. >> the letter which was hand-delivered yesterday by the u.s. ambassador to russia came in response to a string of security demands that russia made last month. including calls for a permanent ban on ukraine from joining nato. he said the letter will not be released publicly in order to provide space for confidential bilateral talks. no reaction from moscow yet but blinken says he will be speaking to the russian foreign minister in the coming days. meanwhile the kremlin continues to increase its military presence near ukraine's border. mr. blinchen encouraged all americans in ukraine to leave the country. josh is still with us and

joining us live from moscow mbss in's -- nbc's, matthew, and let's look at the standoff, and how concerned are they in the administration that diplomacy might not be working and we're coming closer to some kind of possible military conflict? >> that is certainly the sense here in washington and among national security officials. you know, if you were to step back, or rewind to a week ago, the tone from the administration really was one of we want to choose the diplomatic off-ramp, we are giving president putin a chance to resolve this through diplomacy and negotiations each as we make clear that he chooses the path of conflict that there will be a swift clear response from the u.s. et cetera. now you look at the overall emphasis of what the administration has been saying publicly and privately in the last few days, and it is all about really trying to make vividly clear to president putin what the potential military

ramifications are, how the u.s. and all of its nato allies are really trying to step up their visible military presence in the region and while the u.s. is still leaving that door open to diplomacy, very few signs that they expect that's the direction it is going to go, including that response in writing to the russians, although as you point out, it's not something that we've seen on paper, administration officials tell us there's nothing new in there, that that is a written formulation of what the administration has been saying to russia publicly and privately for some time now. it is just look, we are willing to talk to you about some of the transparency measures, about our posture in europe, we're willing to talk about the position of nuclear capable missiles in europe. we are not willing to talk about closing the door to nato expansion or inclusion of ukraine. that is a nonstarter. violating other country's sovereignty is a nonstarter. so what this nonpaper, as the

administration has been referring to it, serves to do is put the ball back into putin's court, to make the next decision about this, even as the u.s. is really emphasizing these shipments of aid to ukraine, including lethal weapon ry such as those javelin anti-tank missiles. certainly you're right, this is taking on a more military tone from the biden administration. >> i was listening to a russian mp yesterday very firmly blaming all of this escalation on the west. if this letter contains nothing new, and it's still rejecting russia's request that ukraine not be allowed to join nato, what are the chances that there is some kind of diplomatic outcome do you think from moscow's point of view? >> we haven't really heard from president putin yet, and that's kind of the big question now, so we're waiting for the daily press briefing, that to happen any minute and president putin has not spoken publicly on this

issue, since december 23rd. that was the end of the press conference. and of course, in the leadup, during that press conference in the days and weeks and months before, that he had an awful lot to say. but what i'm trying to get at here is putin has left himself quite a fair amount of room to maneuver, so there is this question, has deterrents been established, have the efforts from the biden administration deferred president putin from presumably an intention to do something militarily in ukraine, we don't know, but it looks like from here, he does have enough room for an out or a democrat diplomatic out and we brought the u.s. to the table on the arms control and several other issues so i think there is still hope for a diplomatic outcome but we still see the troops moving west. >> putin has a very weak hand but he's capable of painting this as a win. nbc's josh lederman and matthew, in moscow, thank you very much. still ahead while most people recover from covid, many

have battled the symptoms for months. what we're learning about the risk factors for what is called long covid. plus a group of democrats are fighting for the build back better act. ng for the build bac better act are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas or abdominal discomfort? taking align can help. align contains a quality probiotic

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the level that we want to so-called accept living with it, we want to make it low enough so that it doesn't disrupt our capability to function in society, in a relatively normal way. that's what we want to be. and i believe that we will get there. hopefully sooner rather than later but as i say that, i say we still will always be prepared for the possibility that there may be a variant that will make that timetable turn around. >> 5:15 on the east coast.

welcome back. that was dr. fauci at yesterday's white house covid briefing weighing in on the future of the coronavirus. moderna meanwhile announced it has begun a study for a new booster shot designed specifically for the omicron variant. the announcement yesterday comes one day after pfizer and biontech said they have launched a study of their own omicron specific shot. moderna also announced the results of the study suggesting the protection its current booster shot provides against omicron is likely to fade over the course of six months. according to the company, after a single dose of its current booster, the level of omicron fight be antibodies rose by 20 times. but after six months, antibody levels fell more than six fold. there's also plenty of research under way of long covid and who is at the highest risk of developing it. according to a new study published in the journal, researchers identified biological factors that may help predict if a person will develop

long covid. the four factors include the level of covid rna in the blood early in the infection, the presence of certain auto-antibodies, the reactivation of epstein bar virus which infects most people when they are young and then usually becomes dormant and having type two diabetes. the study followed more than 200 patients for two to three months after their covid diagnosis. it is brutal long covid. we really feel for those who suffer from it. still ahead the first member of team usa tests positive for covid, but there's still a chance they can compete in beijing. and the hornets make it rain in indianapolis. their amazing point total is coming up in sports. "way too early" coming right back. t total is coming up in sports. "way too early" coming right "way too early" coming right back ♪takes everything you've got♪ ♪ ♪taking a break from all your worries ♪ ♪sure would help a lot ♪

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half court. >> he made it! >> welcome back. time now, that half court heave at the buzzer earned miami a 78-75 victory over virginia tech last night. the win lifts the hurricanes to a half game lead over florida state and duke atop the acc standings. to the nba court in indianapolis where the charlotte hornets made 20 three-pointers last night and broke the franchise's single game scoring record and produced the highest point total in the league this season with a 158-126 win over the pacers. and just over a week from the opening ceremony at the winter olympics in beijing, the first member of team usa has tested positive for coronavirus. u.s. bobsledder josh williamson will not travel with his teammates to china today after revealing he returned a positive test result on sunday morning. williamson announced the news in a post on instagram yesterday, writing quote this has not been

an easy pill to swallow. but with bobsled events not scheduled until the final week of the games, he remains hopeful that he will still get a chance to compete. olympic organizers have several options available as far as flights for athletes to get to beijing and u.s. bobsled also has contingency plans. but williamson will need to return several negative tests before he is allowed to fly to china, and everyone traveling to beijing for the olympics will need to test negative again upon arrival. now, to melbourne, where the action at the australian open is heating up. when we left you yesterday morning, second seeded medvedev was fighting for the final spot in the men's semifinals, rally from two sets down advances to the next phase. tomorrow morning, rafael nadal will meet in the other men's semi tonight. on the women's side, ash barty

cruises to the finals making easy work of the american, in a straight set win this morning. barty will take on the winner of the other women's semifinal match set to begin in just a few minutes actually from now. now, time for the weather. with meteorologist bill karins there. it's really, really cold in washington. what's happening? >> we're setting the stage for that snowstorm. it has been bitter cold the last two days, and we're going to take advantage of this cold air mass. this looks to be about a 100% snowstorm which is pretty rare for the east coast. often you get messy storms, slow to sleet to rain, to freezing rain, this one looks to be all snow. let's get into the details. it's cold pretty much everywhere east of the rockies. 4 in detroit. how about our friends in northern maine this morning, negative 26. that's not even the wind chill,

that's the actual temperature. so yes, i won't complain about 18 in new york. maine at negative 26. winter storm watches in boston, nantucket, coastal connecticut, long island and new york city, and coastal new jersey, maryland, and delaware and eastern portions of virginia and eastern north carolina, and 34 million people are included, but we're still, we're on the fence a little bit between who is still going to get hit and who is not going to get hit. it is high confidence you have a major storm, rhode island, eastern half of connecticut and long island. we know that those areas are going to get hit by this big storm, possibly blizzard conditions, and the forecast, a little more iffy from dc to philly to new york, low confidence and the european computer model has enough snow to now, especially philly to new york down through jersey and maryland and delaware, but the american model is still more off the coast, and has barely any snow at all from dc to new york, so this is hopefully something

we have to iron out during the day today. in the meantime, we will use what we call our national blended model and takes all of our models and puts them together to get a rough estimate of what to expect from the storm. and a little bit of snow in virginia and north carolina, and more through norfolk to edenton, two to four inches and coastal salisbury, ocean city to atlantic city, a possibility of three to six inches and new york city, three to six inches from the city isself on long island, a possibility of nine to 12 and blizzard-like conditions possible for cape cod, all the way through boston and high winds with this, too. possibility of gusts up to 60 miles an hour on the long island, and 50 on long island. and we know we have a high impact storm, definitely for eastern new england, and hopefully during the day to iron out that forecast a little better for everyone from new york city down to dc and pinpoint exactly how much snow you're going to get. it looks like i should be thankful we're not getting a ton of snow thinking of those people in the northeast.

thank you very much. still ahead, as lawmakers debate over what to do with build back better some democrats are pushing the president to extend the child tax credit. that and the latest on all of that up on capitol hill coming up for you just after the break. and before we go to break, we want to know why are you awake? email your reasons to "way too early," way too early@msnbc.com. . this is a gamechanger, who dares to be fearless even when her bladder leaks. our softest, smoothest fabric keeping her comfortable, ted, and undeniably sleek. depend. the only thing stronger than us, is you. trelegy for copd. [coughing] ♪ birds flyin' high, you know how i feel. ♪ ♪ breeze driftin' on by... ♪ if you've been playing down your copd,...

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welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast. 2:30 out west. a group of democratic senators are keeping the pressure on president biden to make sure the expanded child tax credit remains in the build back better act. the senators sent a letter to the white house arguing the administration should make sure the program is included in any renegotiated package. they write, quote, the consequences of failing to extend the child tax credit expansion are dire. particularly as families face another wave of the covid-19 pandemic. without the expanded credit, nearly 10 million children will be thrown back into or deeper into poverty this winter. the child tax credit was a center piece of president biden's anti-poverty plan. it was stripped from the build back better act at the end of last year, after opposition from

west virginia senator joe manchin, he wants to remove the provision from the democratic only reconciliation package and instead work on it as a bipartisan measure. joining us now, co-founder of punch bowl news, anna palm ir, msnbc contributor, thanks for joining us. so senator manchin says he wants the child tax credit in a separate bill and wants to get republican support for it. do you think that's going to happen? >> it's interesting, it is one of the provisions that typically is bipartisan, that over the years, you found some republicans and democrats able to work together when there's been some more job requirements, more different things that it has become much more political over the past couple of years. at this point it is hard to see republicans really going for a large scale ctc tax credit which is one of the reasons democrats have been fitting so hard to keep it as part of this larger build back better act. >> so the white house has to start from scratch of the previous round of negotiations were incredibly torturous.

what does the time frame look like for this one? we're entering into an extremely busy time on capitol hill. especially now that you have justice breyer's retirement, government funding, this build back better act is kind of on life support, joe manchin wants to throw it all out and start anew and i think right now they're trying to figure out are there things that they could cobble together where they already have agreement but some of these key provisions that were things that joe biden ran on, include can the child tax credit, including college, payments for college, things like that, have gone by the wayside here, so i think for democrats where they're going to have to say, what are the key priorities, what has to make it in there and what can they live without if they are going to try to get something done before the 2022 midterms. >> so let's talk about the electoral politics of this. some democrats believe that if they managed to pass this package before the virginia gubernatorial election and

manship would have stayed in democratic hands, it's not clear that was the case and the belief among some democrats, if they manage to pass something this time around, do you think it has an impact on the midterms or not very much. >> i think for democrats right now, when you look at the last several months, it has been really a tough time for them in washington, and the president's agenda has largely been stalled when it comes to this and basically every other issue on capitol hill, including some of the most important base issues for democrats, voting rights is probably the most recent, all of the effort, including the white house behind it and it failed abysmally. so i think the reason you are trying to see democrats on the build back better, a lot of the provisions very popular, together, they haven't done a good job of messaging it but i think there is a lot of fear among democrats they will come into the election season and not have anything positive to run on so that's why you're going to try and see democrats here in the next month or two really

come together, see if they can get something done. >> and talking more about the supreme court and the potential nominee, in just a moment but before i let you know, up on capitol hill, what are you hearing in terms of a timetable specifically whether there is anything that republicans may do that could derail the democrats' desire, the white house's desire to get this done quickly? >> there's a lot of rumors going around that republicans can potentially stop something, and put a stop to that right now. democrats have the 50 votes that they need. i think you will see them move as expeditiously as possible for two reasons. one, joe biden wants a win here. this would be a legacy-making thing to put a supreme court nominee on there. i think the other thing that is really important, is this a seat majority in the senate, if anybody were to get sick or have a health issue, they would have an issue so you will see democrats try to move as fast as possible and the other thing is

joe biden has a deep history when it comes to judges. he is going to be the first president who actually shares the committee where justice breyer was actually, went through and he will be able to appoint the successor for the first time in history and this is something that they're going to look to as one of the legacies of the first term. >> anna palmer, punch bowl nus, up early with me this morning and i appreciate it. thank you. new york attorney general letitia james is asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit from donald trump which seeks to end her investigation into the former president's company. in a new moment, james argues the trump organization has had years to challenge the legal basis of the civil probe and only did so after the former president was subpoenaed last month. the finding reads in part quote the timing of this lawsuit against the attorney general, coming only as the office of the attorney general is nearing a conclusion of its investigation, is contemplating the filing of an enforcement action, and has sought mr. trump's sworn

testimony, belies any notion that there is any objective behind this suit other than distraction and delay. in his lawsuit, trump claims that the investigation is politically motivated and violates his right, the ag's office says it has obtained quote significant evidence suggesting that the trump organization inflated the value of its properties by more than a billion dollars. that civil probe is separate from but running parallel to a criminal investigation being led by the manhattan district attorney. a lot going on in that case. still ahead, we'll go to cnbc live for an early look at the markets as investors react to news on interest rates. and the latest on party-gate, it's the scandal of the u.k. british prime minister, "way too early" will be right back. e u.k. british prime minis,

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i fell in love with these kids and i didn't want to see them fall victim to the system so i made them a promise, i told them if they graduated from high school i would pay for their college education. i made some empty promises in my life. but hands down that was the most generous. >> that scene from "the office," something similar, a university of michigan told 68 high school seniors they would receive a full scholarship, including tuition, room and board and admission to the honors program and $5,000 though study abroad, turns out the message was sent by mistake. when the school was testing out a new messaging technology. there is however a good ending here. central michigan university now says it does plan to pay full tuition for the students who had been mistakenly sent the message. those other perks, that $5,000,

to france, not part of the deal, unfortunately. bewear, new technology, it beware, new technology, it can be very expensive. let's bring in cnbc live from london of the federal reserve yesterday indicated it could soon raise interest rates for the first time in, what, more than three years. what's the reaction? >> the reaction has been pretty spoofed, i think its fair to say that we have seen in covering the markets. i'll come to that. the all important fed announcement is what the markets are standing by to listen, the feds saying no change in interest rates at the moment and they had been marked between 0 and 0.25% for some time but likely as soon as the next meeting in march you will see a rate hike. the question will it be 25 basis points or 50 basis points. the other big question is when will the fed begin reducing the balance sheet which sits at $9 trillion.

and that will come sometime soon, but cnbc has done its survey and respondents reckoning that july will likely be the month that the balance sheet runoff will begin. within the fed's time frame. within the markets, as some refer to it as taking you a way the punch bowl, and kind of easy monetary policy in place supporting the markets throughout the pandemic. the question is how quickly the fed will do that. the markets will get spooked if that punch bowl is removed too quickly. they have been used to getting drunk on the supply if you like. recent fed statements have marked a massive change, the fed leaving itself a lot of room to maneuver and a lot of flexibility and not explicitly saying when things will happen. >> since the brits seem to have taken over "way too early" this morning just for a second, let's switch to british politics and the latest on what is called party-gate, what are the new pressures on boris johnson, the prime minister, what does his

feature look like? >> i mean you really couldn't say will is any more pressure on boris johnson at the moment. i think it is fair to say, i interviewed a conservative mp down the line from westminster, he has publicly come forward with a letter of no confident in the prime minister and what essentially is happening in british politics in the moment, in the conservative party is a series of mps coming forward with their no confidence, and there needs to be 54 in total to trigger something called the 1922 committee, which is the process by which you could have a no confidence sort of vote in the leadership and a change of leadership within the conservative, now we are of course awaiting the findings of the sue gray report, a report being put together by senior civil servants about the parties that went on during lockdown in downing street between 2020, 2021, the findings of that report could be ready as soon as today, and apparently the lawyers are wrangling with sue graves and that is behind the delay.

as well as that, you have the police here in london with their own inquiry into that public problem and we'll be standing by to see what the police say as well. >> those parties have caused a lot of issues. live from london, thank you. still ahead a closer look at the potential replacements for justice stephen breyer, and the impending supreme court confirmation fight on capitol hill. it's coming up. "way too early" will be right back. ll it's coming up "way too early" will be right "way too early" will be right back i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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. the president has stated and reiterated his commitment to nominating a black woman to the supreme court and certainly stands by that. >> welcome back. the white house is confirming president biden's pledge when it comes to the supreme court. front-runners for the seat to replace stephen breyer are all

sitting judges. jackson, a one-time public defender who clerked for justice brian is reportedly the front-runner. michelle childs is a federal judge from south carolina with a pending confirmation to the dc circuit. she is a favorite of house majority whip jim clyburn who is credited with saving joe biden's presidential campaign. and leondra krugger sits on the california supreme court and has argued before the supreme court as a deputy solicitor general and has turned down offers to serve in the biden administration. joining us now, secretary and ceo of the phi beta kappa society, frederick lawrence, former president of the university and the author of the book "punishing hate, bias crimes under american law" thanks for joining us, lawrence. >> good morning. >> so this doesn't of course change the political makeup of the supreme court but how

significant is it that president biden has announced he will choose a black woman to replace stephen breyer? >> it's very significant. the point that he will make as everyone now knows the first black woman on the court, only the third african american, to serve on the court after clarence thomas who is still on the court and justice thurgood marshall the first african american on the court and one of only six women on the court, and still a very significant pick. >> talk to us about the confirmation process. of course, it was very fast for amy coney barrett. that's what the white house would like to see here. do you think they're going to get a quick easy process? >> i think they'll get a quick process. i don't know if they will get an easy process. but i believe it will be a successful process. they have the a votes that they can hold along with the vice president to break a tie if that's what it takes. one of the things that makes judge brown such a, judge brown

jackson such a prominent pick, hes should was just confirmed to the dc circuit. the dc circuit court of appeals is often referred to as the second most important point counter in the country and 53-44 confirmed and it shows you how far we've fallen in our politics, that it should be that close. there's nothing that should be close. she may not be the judge that everybody would pick, but after all, she is this president's pick, and she is clearly eminently qualified. >> we're a long way from those days and my understanding and you can fill me in, something that stephen breyer himself really regrets that he would hope that he would serve on a court that was more united and less politically divided. what's the court he leaves behind? and what does his leaving it mean to the supreme court? >> justice breyer was one of the voices in the middle, of course he has moved to the left not so

much in his views but in terms of the court, and it will still be a divided 6-3 court. no matter who justice, whatever justice is appointed by president biden, it is still going to be a 6-3 court but wis thoughtfulness, his, if you will, sort of gentleness on the court i think will be a voice that is missed. at the same time i think any of the picks of the names we've been talking about, the names that you reviewed will very quickly take themselves into the court as a major voice on that court and, undoubtedly a major voice in the liberal wing of three along with justices kagan and sotomayor. >> fredrick lawrence, thank you for joining us. earlier in the show we asked, where are you awake? robin writes, waiting to say happy 16th birthday to my daughter. it is definitely way too early.

oh, so cute. dan, anything else from the control room? >> a tweet from janet who says, nothing but praise from here in the cheap seats for your sportscasting duties. pet that one in the win column. >> that's very kind of you. becca writes this teacher is up to enjoy some quiet time before the madness of the last day of exams. good for you. up next and coming up on "morning joe," more on the future of the supreme court. the u.s. formally rejects russia's demand that ukraine be pro hinted from joining nato. what it means going forward for eastern europe. governor hogan will join the conversation on "morning joe" just moments away. n "morning jo n "morning jo just moments away. from all your worries ♪

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visit your local t-mobile store today. ♪♪ welcome back. joining us with a look at "axios" a.m., political reporter for "axios", hans nichols.

hans, what is the one big thing for this morning? >> one big thing is the conservative playbook on who the supreme court nominee is going to be. it is not necessarily going to be about stopping that nominee but it is going to be about trying to stop and slow democratic gains in the senate. when you look at the conservative playbook, they're not necessarily targeting and thinking they can win. a simple matter of math, right? 50 votes unless joe manchin says he is not going to be for the nominee, this nominee whoever president biden appoints or nominates likely will be confirmed. what conservative groups are doing are thinking about opposition research, how they can sully this person, how can they motivate their base for tough races in states like arizona, georgia, new hampshire, states that are purple or recently red, moving purple. that's really the playbook here. it is not necessarily about the court, it is more about the senate. >> do you think there's any chance they will get some republicans to vote for the

president's nominee? >> potentially, right. i mean when i get off the call here i will start texting susan collins, lisa murkowski, see if they wake up and respond to me not that i'm texting, i would never betray sources live on television this early in the morning. lindsey graham is the third. they voted for brown jackson the first go, so it is a different calculus, right. you have to remember that for the most part susan collins has always voted for supreme court nominees of both party with one glaring exception, and that's kavanaugh. it is possible those three, but it would be nice to say -- it would give democrats certainly a political argument there's bipartisan support. but as to the makeup of the court, i don't suspect they're going to need republican votes. >> and just briefly, hans, we are assuming all 50 democrats stay together, right? >> again, like i'll text you manchin's number after this call and you can text him and then

get manchin and sinema there. we can do a group text chat and settle this right now and take the next month off, because this will be this month. >> it is clear there is one front-runner, but the stories that are going around washington today about jim clyburn being very keen on a particular nominee from south carolina, how much weight do you think that might have with president biden? >> i put most of the weight on that story on a nice profile written by "the new york times", and that seems to be fuelling a lot of this. i don't mean to disparage the "times" reporting but "the times" liens into the story and everybody is so fast, whoa, not so fast, maybe it will be clyburn. i know the math, that ketangi has been through a confirmation process and has been confirmed. they've done a full vet and biden has met with her, indicates she is less risky

choice. let's pivot to ukraine. it is clear when it comes to ukraine you have members in the senate who have a traditional party take when it comes to russia. then we are hearing more and more of the voices from around the country that are more trumpian when it comes to russia. where are they on the ukraine at the moment. >> it seems like a lot of candidates, and this is from great reporting from my colleague jonathan swan, and there's always been an isolationist stance in the republican party, but it is really coming to the fore over the ukraine issue and in the 2022 primaries. why does it matter in the primaries? because you have to know where your party's base is, where the activists are. from masters in arizona, saying that ukraine is in the top 20 issues.

they're not focusing on it. when they are focusing it they blame biden and they have a non-confrontation stance. it is really acute. it is an interesting moment and we will see to what extent it persists if the conflict there gets more real and heats up. quick note, no one even on the sort of more traditional republican side is talking about an actual supporting and moving, fighting russia in ukraine. this has to do with second effects, sanctions, shipping defensive arms. so go ahead. >> okay. hans nichols with the one big thing, two big things we managed to get in there. thank you for the reporting. thank you for getting up way too early for us, for bearing with my sportscasting on this thursday. "morning joe" starts right now. ♪♪

all right. live pictures of warsaw this morning. another beautiful day here in warsaw. it is a little later here. good morning and welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, january 27th. with us we have msnbc contributor mike barnicle. msnbc contributor and best-selling author of the confidence code siri, katty kay. how are you doing there? getting there? >> a little covid excitement with an abscess on my neck from covid. all of the things covid can give us we didn't know about. if you see the bandage, sorry, guys. i'm much better. >> i think the turtleneck is perfect. and historian at vanderbilt university, jo