Way Too Early With Ali Vitali : MSNBCW : February 18, 2025 2:00am-3:00am PST : Free Borrow & Streaming : Internet Archive (2025)

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powerful part of today was there was just just people. no countries, no nothing. it was just people together helping each other. >> a blessing there that no one was hurt. but that was a man who was on the delta flight that overturned yesterday after landing in toronto. the question is what went wrong? we'll have the latest on that crash just ahead. plus, u.s. and russian officials are holding diplomatic talks right now in saudi arabia and negotiating possible terms to the end of the war in ukraine. the question is, are peace talks legitimate without any ukrainian officials at the table? and another top federal official is resigning after denying elon musk access to sensitive data. the question is, will a judge today limit his dodge teams access and ability to terminate employees? it's way too early for this. good morning and welcome to way too early, the show that admittedly had to

hit the snooze button a few times before actually waking up this morning. i'm ali vitali on this tuesday, february 18th. and we'll start with the news. we begin with the diplomatic talks between the u.s. and russian officials over in saudi arabia. secretary of state marco rubio is meeting right now with a russian delegation led by foreign minister sergey lavrov. the group is supposed to discuss options for ending russia's invasion of ukraine. but the talks have drawn criticism for not including any ukrainian officials. but still, this is the first face to face meeting between a u.s. secretary of state and their russian counterpart since january of 2022. meanwhile, leaders from across europe met in paris yesterday to align their position on ukraine after being excluded from those talks between the u.s. and russia. hosted by french president emmanuel macron. the leaders of the u.k, uk, eu and germany were in attendance, among others. macron spoke with president trump before the meeting, and then he later spoke with ukrainian president zelenskyy, who posted on social media saying macron had briefed him on what was discussed. the meeting

of europe's leaders comes as concerns rise over today's talks in saudi arabia, again between u.s. russian officials. u.s. and russian officials were keeping an eye on those talks as they unfold. but joining us now, retired cia officer marc polymeropoulos. he's an nbc news security and intelligence analyst who thankfully, has been tracking all of this with me over the course of the last week. plus, as it's been unfolding. you've got that and other headlines from over the past few days regarding ukraine. what's top of mind for you right now? what are you looking ahead to? >> you know ali well. first of. >> all good morning. >> but but you know, there's. >> an old diplomatic adage. >> you know, if you're not. >> at the. >> table. >> you'll. >> be eaten. there's lots of variations of that. but the ukrainians are understandably nervous. >> as all the as are. >> the europeans. >> because ultimately the us is meeting with russia alone. there's not many in. >> the diplomatic. >> world, in the. >> foreign policy world, who really understand the us goals here. you know, president biden. and his team had managed to isolate russia. vladimir putin,

vladimir putin is. >> a is a designated. >> war criminal. >> so what are we doing here? >> you know, in. >> essence, the us was was. >> the. >> good guys. >> we stood for something and now we seem. >> to. >> be walking away to a. >> position of almost neutrality. >> and i think that's something that is. >> pretty shocking to. >> the international system. >> you know, i do think one of the things. >> that i've heard from experts who share your concern around the way that these negotiations or pre negotiations, the talking about talking phase, the way that they're unfolding, yes, there's concern from europe, from others, but many are saying that there is some silver lining to the fact that rubio waltz, these are people who understand the threat of russia. does that give you any kind of comfort as we go into this phase? >> that's a great. >> question, because marco rubio. >> is someone who, you know, is known in the international world. he stood for some things that were. >> certainly right. >> over the years, human rights in. >> cuba and. >> other places. he understands about authoritarianism. same thing with mike walsh, who is a former green beret and

influential. foreign policy voice. but you really have to ask the question. does this matter? >> because what we saw at the. >> munich security conference is that, you know. >> america is. >> not speaking. >> with one voice. >> whether it's. >> president trump. >> prior to that. >> saying some things that that were in essence, disturbing to then j.d. vance coming and throwing. >> kind of europe into disarray. and then, of course. >> other u.s. officials also providing mixed messages, such as pete hegseth. so ultimately, it's donald trump's call. in the. >> end, it's good. >> perhaps the team we have there. the question is, does it matter. >> as it always is? donald trump's call. many an official has learned that the hard way in past administrations. but but i think as we look at as we look at the landscape here, of course, we're tracking the fact that the us and the russians are meeting right now as we speak, but they're doing so in riyadh in saudi arabia. we'll talk about the meeting that rubio had with the crown prince there, but talk about the role that saudi arabia is making for itself right now, at this moment in the

trump administration. >> so the saudis are. >> actually playing this. >> you know, quite brilliantly. >> obviously, mohammed bin salman has. >> a very good relationship with. >> the with donald trump, with the us administration. >> they consider. >> themselves. >> you know, almost, you know, peacemakers. >> and so they're positioning themselves. >> on the. >> international stage. >> and, you know, you know, quite smartly. and of course this all goes, you know, to the to the idea of saudi is totally rehabilitated. now after they murdered. >> washington post. >> reporter khashoggi. >> years ago. >> which. >> caused all sorts. >> of problems for. >> the crown prince. that's long in the rear. >> view. mirror now. >> maybe long in the rear view mirror from a foreign policy perspective, but certainly important that you and i remember that and mark it here. marc polymeropoulos, thank you, as always for joining us. and ahead of this morning's talks on ukraine, as we just mentioned, secretary of state marco rubio met with saudi arabia's crown prince yesterday to discuss the future of gaza. national security adviser mike mike waltz and middle east envoy steve

witkoff also took part in that meeting. you see it there on the screen. it comes after president trump called for the u.s. to take over and redevelop the gaza strip, and said arab countries should take in displaced palestinians, according to the state department. secretary rubio and the crown prince reaffirmed their commitment to implementing the ceasefire in gaza. and rubio underscored the importance of an arrangement for gaza that contributes to regional security. meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, along with other high ranking israeli officials in tel aviv yesterday. the delegation was led by senator lindsey graham of south carolina and also included bipartisan senators dan sullivan, sheldon whitehouse, richard blumenthal, joni ernst, adam schiff and andy kim. following that meeting, the senators dismissed president trump's idea to take over the gaza strip and turn it into, in his words, the riviera of the middle east. the lawmakers were, however, optimistic that a meeting next week between the gulf states would result in a stronger alternative plan for

gaza. >> i'll be. >> very blunt. >> my view is that the. >> trump plan. >> is a non plan. >> it's a hot mess. the possibility. >> of takeover by the. >> united states is a nonstarter. my talks with king abdullah convinced me that the. >> plan that. >> the arab. >> states will offer. >> to president trump provides. >> a realistic. prospect for normalizing relations. self-determination by. >> the. >> palestinians, regional. defense arrangements and security for israel. >> i think it. >> would be foolish to expect. >> israel to just leave. the day. >> after hamas. >> is destroyed. >> you have. >> legitimate security concerns that will require. >> some form of military presence. >> but let me tell you what would. >> be equally. >> implausible is. >> to occupy gaza permanently.

you can't. >> do that. >> that will. >> result in israeli soldiers being killed every week. >> an interesting moment that we're watching here as we track the republican and democratic fallout to decisions and actions by the trump administration. you're seeing there a rare moment. it's rare at this early point in the admin for republicans and democrats alike, to say that at least when it comes to this gaza redevelopment plan, it can't happen. tonally, it sounds different. blumenthal calling it a hot mess. graham instead just saying it would be implausible, but an important place for us to watch and continue to follow. still ahead this morning, what we're learning about a terrifying incident in canada where a plane crashed and overturned at the toronto airport. plus, the latest on the controversy surrounding new york city mayor eric adams as the governor weighs whether to remove him from office. those stories in a check on sports, on the weather. when we come right back. >> we saw elon musk take kind of. >> a powerful role.

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1-800-403-7539. that's one 804 037539. >> coming back now to the story

we showed you at the top of our show. at least 18 people were injured after a plane overturned upon landing at the toronto pearson international airport yesterday. this is the moment a delta airlines flight with 80 people on board from minneapolis ended up upside down on the runway. emergency workers on the scene raced to evacuate the passengers. two passengers, now believed to be in critical condition, were airlifted to a nearby trauma center, while one child was rushed to a children's hospital. several others sustained minor injuries, but here's a cell phone video that captured the chaotic scene as people were deplaning. you can see crew members helping passengers escape through the emergency exits. snow was blowing at the airport all day, but snow was not reported or on radars at the time of the incident. the fire chief stated that the runway was dry and there were no crosswind conditions when the delta plane overturned. miraculously, no deaths were reported. here's how one passenger recounted the crash. >> when we hit. >> it was.

>> just. >> a super hard like, hit the ground and the plane went sideways and i believe we skidded, like on our. side and then flipped over. >> on. >> our back. where we. >> ended up. >> there was like a big. fireball out this left side of the plane. and when we got finished, it was. >> i was. >> upside down. everybody else was there as well. >> i think. >> thankfully everybody was okay, but we tried to get. >> out of there. >> as quickly as possible. >> thankfully, everyone was okay. right now, the cause of the crash remains under investigation. meanwhile, amid alarming real world incidents like what we saw there in toronto, as well as last month's deadly mid-air collision here near reagan national airport, the trump administration has started firing several hundred federal aviation administration employees. the professional aviation safety specialists, a union that represents faa employees, says close to 300 of their members received

termination notices by email on friday. they came via an exec order microsoft email address rather than an official gov government address. the union says it wasn't given any warning about the firings, and that those affected were probationary employees who worked as maintenance mechanics, aviation safety assistants and more. in a statement, the union says the firings didn't account for the already understaffed workforce, mission critical needs and public safety. a department of transportation spokesperson said yesterday the agency has retained employees who perform safety critical functions. meanwhile, nbc news has learned the trump administration is preparing to fire hundreds of high level employees within the department of homeland security. three sources familiar with that matter say the administration has a centralized plan and a list of people in high level positions across every component of dhs who would be let go this week. these new firings would come in addition to the hundreds of cuts that began across dhs on friday night. we're tracking that across multiple agencies

now. and then there's this in new york for top officials in new york city. in the new york city mayor's office have resigned amid the controversy over the justice department's move to dismiss corruption charges against mayor eric adams, the city's first deputy mayor, and three other deputy mayors all announced they would leave city hall yesterday. it's a significant blow to adams, as the officials oversee much of the operations of the city's government. in a statement, adams said he understood their decision and wished them well. he also clarified that all four deputy mayors will remain in place for now as a transition period. in response, new york state governor kathy hochul called for a meeting today to discuss the mayor's future. the governor does officially have the authority to remove a mayor from office, but those powers have never been used in the state's history. in a statement, governor hochul noted the gravity of such a decision, writing in part overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. that said, the alleged conduct at city hall has been

that has been reported over the past two weeks, is troubling and cannot be ignored. the mayor's office has been embroiled in controversy since last year, when mayor adams was indicted on federal bribery charges. he has maintained his innocence. still ahead this morning, we'll turn to sports and a look at some early headlines coming out of mlb spring training. been talking a lot about pitchers and catchers. yankees star aaron judge shared his thoughts on former teammate juan soto joining the mets. meanwhile, the boston red sox could have a problem brewing over who gets to play third base. we'll explain that and get a check on the weather forecast. but first, we want to know why are you awake? email your reasons to. way too early at msnbc.com or tell me on social media. i'm ali vitali. you can use the hashtag way too you can use the hashtag way too early. we're going to some people have minor joint pain plus certain stomach problems. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol. it won't irritate your stomach the way aleve, advil or motrin can.

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in. >> it's a 17 to 1. >> run for the fighting irish. >> that was part of a big second half for notre dame last night, as the irish dismantled 11th ranked duke in their first game as the nation's number one team. the 64 to 49 victory over the blue devils is notre dame's 18th win in a row. and turning now to major league baseball as teams prepare for their first spring training contests of the season. that includes new york yankees captain aaron judge spoke to reporters yesterday about former teammate juan soto's move to the mets. >> juan's decision, and his apparent conclusion. >> that he had a better. >> chance to win with the mets and the yankees. >> you know, it's his opinion. he can he can say what he wants. i definitely disagree with him, but. i wasn't i wasn't too surprised by it. you know, it's i think that's where he wanted to be. i think that's where it was best for him and his family. and he got a you got a pretty

nice deal over there. so i think you can't say no to that. but i'm happy for him. you can't replace a guy like juan soto. but you bring in guys like this that are, you know, all stars, mvp caliber players. you know, it's we did a pretty good job. >> elsewhere in the al east. there's trouble brewing in the boston clubhouse. after the red sox signed free agent third baseman alex bregman. it's because boston's rafael devers was adamant yesterday that he's not interested in a scenery change, telling reporters through a translator, quote, third base is my position. and then there's this canada and the united states will meet in the nhl four nation face off championship. canada's victory over finland yesterday clinched its spot in the final and a rematch against the americans, who won a brutal battle in montreal just on saturday. but team usa will be hampered by a handful of injuries, with forward brady tkachuk added to the list last night after he exited the team's 2 to 1 loss to sweden in a game that no. that had no bearing on the tournament. the four nations

final is thursday night at boston's td garden. and time now for a check on the weather. for that, we go to meteorologist angie lastman for the forecast. angie. what's up? >> hi there ali. good morning. >> to you. we've got another. busy week when it. >> comes to. >> the weather. and we've. >> got plenty. >> of alerts. >> up as we speak. >> 50 million. >> from the. >> plains to the gulf or. >> to the rather. >> east coast. >> we're going to see. >> folks impacted all. across the country. >> we've got the. >> snow already. >> this morning. >> for kansas. >> city and saint louis. >> that's going to ramp up. >> as the day goes on. we'll also. see the potential. >> for some heavy rain and some ice across this region. notice those gusty. >> storms that. >> we could see across parts of the south as well. the system moves further east. >> tomorrow it will. >> race through the tennessee valley. >> we'll see. >> some snow and ice across parts of virginia. >> and north carolina. >> and some of those. >> storms for. >> parts of the southeast. >> and then we'll finally. >> start to see. >> it shift offshore. >> but we're. >> not done with the snow across. >> the mid-atlantic. >> and into. >> the great lakes. >> and even the northeast. by the. >> time we get into. >> thursday, when it's all said. >> and done.

>> snowfall totals quite impressive. >> specifically across parts of the midwest. >> and the plains. >> notice springfield up to a foot possible. >> but even atlantic city, norfolk. we're getting. >> multiple inches of snow between. >> now and. >> thursday, so we'll. >> deal. >> with travel difficulty along. >> with some. >> ice accumulation on. >> those roadways and some heavy rain across parts of the south. plus, we've got really wintry weather when it comes to what it feels like out there. 80 million people. >> under these cold. >> weather alerts. >> check out these actual wind chill values. >> right now you see. >> temperatures 30 and 40. >> degrees below. across parts. >> of the northern plains. >> it doesn't. >> take long for somewhere. >> like minneapolis. >> where it's. >> 30 below for what it feels like right now to see frostbite set in. that's just a 15 minute time frame. >> so some. >> scary cold. settling in for folks. >> across this region. our highs. >> only end up single digits for. >> minneapolis omaha. >> but look at. >> dallas running. >> way below. >> normal for this time of year into the 40s. >> for those. afternoon highs. >> it is going to continue to. >> feel like winter across this. >> region for the coming days. >> ali. >> yeah, winter very much still present as you show us. andrew lassman. thank you, my friend. and still ahead this morning, we'll get to the legal fight over whether elon musk and his

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on us. of tiktok in the us. >> president trump. >> has promised to carry out the largest deportation force in american history. >> reporting from. >> philadelphia. >> el paso. >> and. >> the palisades. >> virginia. >> from msnbc. >> world headquarters. >> here in new york. >> welcome back to way too early. just a few minutes before 530 on the east coast. 230 out west. i'm ali vitali, the top official at the social security administration has stepped down after she refused a request from elon musk's department of government efficiency to access sensitive government records at the agency. that's according to two sources familiar with the situation. a white house spokesperson, meanwhile,

confirmed that michelle king left her position at the administration over the weekend. one of the sources said the dispute leading to king's departure involved americans bank information, social security numbers, earnings records, marital statuses, dates of birth and in some cases, medical records. if a person had already applied for disability benefits. so the most sensitive of data. as a result, president trump has appointed leland dudik, a manager in charge of the social security's anti-fraud office, as acting commissioner of the ssa. now that king is out and we could get a decision sometime today from a federal judge in washington, d.c. that could potentially limit elon musk and his team from doing things like that, accessing government systems and firing federal employees. the lawsuit was filed by more than a dozen state attorneys general, but judge tanya chutkan hinted at a hearing yesterday that she might not impose immediate roadblocks to musk's infiltration of the nation's government agencies. judge chutkan called the doj's

actions, quote, concerning and troubling. but she also said the state's argument was too broad and hypothetical, basically, that she needed to see more evidence of imminent harm before she granted a request for a temporary restraining order that would curtail what musk and his team are doing. and then, in a surprise filing last night, the department of justice stated musk is actually not the administrator of doge, nor is he making personnel decisions at federal agencies. might be news to many of us as we've been following this, because elon is clearly at the center. but in that three page declaration, a white house personnel official revealed that musk's title is senior advisor to the president and that he has no, quote, actual or formal authority to make government decisions himself. it's there that we're going to start with former u.s. attorney and msnbc contributor barbara mcquade. i want to get your reaction to that, barbara, because it seems important from a legal perspective that these suits are being filed against musk and doge. but the white house is saying, no, no, he's

not technically in charge here. it's not going to work. >> it's a really interesting. >> revelation. >> ali, because i think. >> all. >> of us had assumed that elon. >> musk was. >> the head of doge, not. >> just that he worked for doge. >> in fact. >> at that oval. >> office press. >> conference last week. >> donald trump asked elon musk to speak about what he was doing at doge and what he was finding through. >> his work with doge. >> and so if he simply an advisor to president trump, he doesn't have any authority whatsoever. so i do think that this is an important. revelation that came in this case. maybe this tips the scale for judge chutkan to. have a new perspective on. what's going on here. or maybe it just opens the door to a different lawsuit to try to clarify what elon musk's role is and. who is in charge of doge. >> this does, of course, bring us back to a frequent refrain that we've had on this program on morning joe, around the lack of transparency within doge. that's a problem in and of

itself. but is this just the white house trying to basically get it on a technicality? i mean, when we see musk in action prominently speaking from the oval office about the efforts that doge is undertaking. can the judge not take that in tandem with the technical piece of this that the white house is saying? >> yeah. >> i. >> think so. i mean, when you. file an affidavit in court, as this was, you can't make stuff up the way you can when you're just shooting the breeze in the oval office. and so this is an important clarification about what his actual role really is. i don't. >> think this is an. >> effort to get away with it on a technicality. the judge specifically asked for this. what what is his role anyway? and so they were forced to answer that question very specifically. but i think. >> what it. >> does highlight is the limits of his authority. certainly the government and the executive branch is permitted to root out waste, fraud and abuse. in fact, that's what inspectors general

are there for. but of course, many of them have now been fired. but only congress can decide whether to eliminate entire agencies and whether to decline to spend funds that have already been appropriated. >> so this is a good. >> clarifying moment. and i do think it begs the question, if not elon musk, then who is running doge? and you know, doge is by most accounts just a renaming of the us digital services, which is an agency set up by the executive branch to try to improve our computer systems in the federal government. but clarification of that would be useful. >> yeah, definitely clarification needed because i had the same question that you did. okay. if musk is not actually in charge here, who is? i think many people would like to know that. and then i also want to talk to you about something overnight. you were one signatory on an open letter to federal prosecutors from former u.s. attorneys and other prosecutors, basically saying and supporting them in the way that they've stood up to some actions from this department of

justice, specifically when it came to forcing folks to dismiss the charges against new york city mayor eric adams. talk a little bit about that letter. how unusual is it for former prosecutors to put their names on something like this? >> yeah. >> you know, former prosecutors, like current prosecutors, are apolitical in their. work toward the department of justice. this is. a group of former justice department lawyers who are appalled by what we have seen in the eric adams case, and we wanted to show our support for the prosecutors who remain across our country, who are being asked to do the right thing, but might find themselves under similar pressure that danielle sassoon found herself under. and the other six prosecutors who chose to resign. we support that decision, but we also want to say you need to stay in there and stand up for the rule of law. we're counting on you to get that job done. and so it is completely appalling to see emile bove and others

suggest that a criminal case can be dismissed simply to gain political advantage in a case. that is not how the work is done. and we wanted to make that clear to the american people who might not understand the non-transactional nature of criminal prosecution. >> yeah, people are definitely getting a crash course in how things typically and now typically work from a department of justice and law enforcement perspective. barbara mcquade, thank you for joining us this morning. >> thanks. >> and still ahead, we'll go live to cnbc for an early look at what's driving the day on wall street. as one major airline announces unprecedented layoffs. way too early. we'll be right back. >> the first 100 days. it's a critical time for our country. and rachel maddow is on five nights a week. >> now is the time. so we're going to do it. settle in. >> the rachel maddow show weeknights at nine on msnbc. stay up to date on the biggest

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>> well. >> at this stage, futures. >> suggest we could see wall street opening higher today. >> despite the shortened trading week. >> no doubt. >> that earnings are front and center for investors. >> we're going to hear from several. >> companies today. >> but on top of that this. >> week we're also. >> going to get the latest. >> minutes from. >> the. >> last meeting. >> of. >> the federal reserve. so investors will be. >> looking at. that very. >> closely as well. >> on top. >> of that, just. >> a final note. >> to say that. >> defense stocks are also front and. >> center. >> for investors. >> as we. >> are monitoring. >> these changes in geopolitics. with the us having conversations. >> with russia. >> about potentially finding peace over the war in ukraine. >> so that. >> is also. >> having impact. >> on on. >> a business perspective. on defense stocks. >> yeah. big story with a lot of ripple effects as you mentioned there. and then there's this in the airlines first major round of layoffs in 53 years. you've got southwest airlines slated to shed 15% of its corporate

workforce a massive number. what prompted that decision? >> yeah. yeah. >> so no, that's very solid news here, ali. the reason behind this is. >> that the. >> company is slashing costs. they want to become more effective. and indeed, the ceo announced this unprecedented move. they're basically ending. about 15%. >> of the work. >> contracts that. >> they have. >> in practical. >> terms. >> this means laying off about 1750 people. >> the idea is to do. >> this in the second quarter of this year. but of course, the ceo admitted. >> yesterday that. this was. >> a. >> difficult decision to make. >> now i want to shift us to the box office briefly. walt disney's new release, captain america brave new world, was number one at the box office over president's weekend. so how so? so much there for the bad reviews, right? >> absolutely. when you look at the numbers, some staggering figures here, let me share some. >> of. >> them with you. captain

america. >> brave new world. >> it brought in $88.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend. on top of that, walt disney actually believes that it. >> will hit. >> $100 million domestically. and on top of that so far, when you look at these figures, indeed, the movie has been the biggest opener so far in 2025. so let's see how this is going to unfold. who else is going to go and watch the movie? but thus far, these initial figures suggest that the marvel franchise could be re-energized. >> look, i'm a marvel fan, so i love to see these movies succeed. i haven't gone yet, though. i got. >> to get. >> on that. >> silvia amaro live with us from london. thank you. up next time with the academy awards, less than two weeks away, we want to talk about one other film making headlines. that's the only girl in the orchestra nominated in the category of best documentary short. the film follows ora o'brien, the first female musician to ever play in

the new york philharmonic. the trailblazing, trailblazing bassist was hired by legendary composer leonard bernstein nearly 60 years ago. she went on to play with the philharmonic for a remarkable 55 years. o'brien, who endured sexism from her colleagues and audiences alike, recently told the guardian of her early days playing with the new york philharmonic, quote, i never let a man carry my bass. for me, the only girl in the orchestra is streaming now on netflix, and you can see who takes home the oscar for best documentary short on sunday, march 2nd. still ahead, we're learning more about the trump administration's layoffs at the department of health and human services over the weekend, and how those cuts could impact the country's response to the current ongoing bird flu outbreak. those details nice to meet ya. bird flu outbreak. those details wh my name is david. i've been a pharmacist for 44 years and i'm from flowery branch, georgia. when i have customers come in, i recommend prevagen. number one, because it's effective. does not require a prescription.

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ice coming to knock on your front door? >> t for president trump's first 100 days? alex wagner travels to the story to talk with people most impacted by the policies. >> were you there on january? >> i was there on january 6th. >> did it surprise you that you were. >> fired. >> given how resolutely nonpartisan you have been? >> and for more in-depth reporting, follow her podcast trumpland with alex wagner. >> welcome back. we're learning more about what agencies have been affected by the trump administration's continued mass

layoffs across the health and human services department. that is, of course, just one. but several sources tell politico the cuts have hit staffers at the food and drug administration, as well as the centers for medicare and medicaid services, centers for disease control and prevention, and the national institutes of health. the firings were part of cuts affecting about 3600 probationary employees across the department. joining us now, white house correspondent for politico, adam cancryn. adam, first, trump officials are saying that these are methodological firings and that they are meant to serve the larger goal of cutting 10% of the workforce. but there are actual tangible impacts to this. >> there absolutely is. anytime you do. >> a. >> culling of. >> this many. >> people and we're talking. >> about the administration is said about 3600 people across. the health department that's. >> going to hit several. >> offices. it's going. >> to hit. >> several offices abruptly. >> and from what we've. >> heard, the evidence that we've seen so far. these haven't. >> been kind of precision. >> surgical cuts. these are. >> people who are finding. >> out out of the blue that they are being fired. these are

people. who have been fired without their supervisor's knowledge or even trump political appointees in. >> the agencies, knowing who of their. >> reports is going. >> to. be out and. >> what the impact is going to be afterward. >> so it's the same kind of a method that we've seen this slash and burn, maybe ask questions afterwards. is there any sense that when you look, for example, at disease preparedness and response teams, again, amid an avian bird flu outbreak, as the white house has said, senior officials have said to me, well, you know, this is something that we're prepared to deal with, and yet they're slashing people from the very place that is dealing with it. how does that work? >> well, absolutely. i mean. >> we've seen. >> cuts at the centers for disease control and prevention, right. the. >> main public. >> health agency for this country. >> hhs has an emergency. >> preparedness and response unit, which is a lot of times on. >> the front. >> line of things like the bird flu. >> response and monitoring ebola. >> overseas, that kind of thing. there were. cuts in that office. >> as well. >> over the weekend. and so there's just this. >> core. tension of. >> how much. >> can you pare. >> down while still making.

>> sure that you're. >> doing the surveillance, doing the research, doing the. >> kind of activities that are going to make sure that this country remains safe from all these various health threats. and that's really. >> the question. >> here, is whether this white house feels like it can really, really shrink the workforce. >> and at the. >> same time, keep an eye on these kind of constant things that are at threat of coming into the country, because. >> it's. not just the layoffs that we're seeing, you know, at the agencies themselves. when you also talk about the funding freeze, you're seeing people who receive grants from these agencies doing important research on all manner of diseases, also seeing their funding pulled, i think on the layoffs piece, though, there might be people who are wondering, is there an end in sight for this? it does feel and you and i were saying this during the break, like every friday we get to a point where you go into a weekend of just hearing about layoff news. >> yeah, i mean, this has been the main. source of anxiety talking to people. in the health and human services building. >> as an. >> example of people just. don't know when this is going to be over. and it's ironic. we're talking about government

efficiency, because i'm talking to folks who say, i haven't actually been able to do my. >> job. >> in the. last few days, because we're just trying to figure out if we will have jobs. >> one example, there was an office in. >> the medicare and medicaid agency that around. 4 p.m. friday, there had been no notices of terminations. supervisors were. >> telling their employees. >> i think we're safe because i think we do something. this administration values. >> termination started rolling in friday. >> afternoon into saturday morning and afternoon. and now suddenly people are saying, oh, i'm i guess i'm out of a job. i guess i wasn't valued that much. so really. >> a lot. >> of anxiety and nervousness. >> a lot of anxiety. we've been having this conversation the entire time. and again, i think the important reminder here is these are not faceless government entities. it is people who want to go to work. they want to do their jobs. they want to help their fellow americans in whatever service capacity they are in. adam cancryn, thank you so much for following this story. earlier in the show we asked you, why are you awake? mary says it's school vacation week. my kids had a sleepover last night, so i need

a head start before they wake up. good luck. carter says he's been up all night watching msnbc, and was also waiting for the audiobook version to be released. the author of that new book on snl, creator lorne michaels, will be a guest later on morning joe. i'm also waiting to read that. that one's going to be good. and one viewer says he hasn't gone to sleep because he's in hawaii. aloha. i love when our friends in hawaii always weigh in. they are watching. we got it. we got to be aware the time difference works for them. coming up next hours from now, the senate will vote on president trump's commerce secretary pick. that's howard lutnick will break down what to expect as he's poised to be confirmed along party lines. and coming up on morning joe live reporting from saudi arabia, where top russian and american officials are holding a high stakes meeting about ending the war in ukraine. but they're doing so without representatives from kyiv or european allies present. plus, the latest on the delta plane that flipped upside down on the runway in toronto, injuring at least 18 people. also ahead this morning, planned parenthood president alexis mcgill johnson will be a guest.

mcgill johnson will be a guest. morning joe some people have minor joint pain plus certain stomach problems. they may not be able to take just anything for pain. that's why doctors recommend tylenol. it won't irritate your stomach the way aleve, advil or motrin can. for trusted relief, trust tylenol. >> climbing up on solsbury hill, i could see the city light, my heart going boom, boom, boom. hey, he said, grab your things. i want to take you away. come i want to take you away. come on, take me ♪♪ amazing. jerry, you've got to see this. i've seen it. trust me, after 15 walks, it gets a little old. ugh. stop waiting. start investing.

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>> online right. >> now to schedule your free in-home design consultation. >> i'm howie. >> mandel. >> the. >> newest ambassador of skechers. >> funny story. >> how i became an ambassador. i went to the store and i lied. >> and said i. >> was an ambassador. do i. >> get a discount? >> the owner. >> called me and said, would you like to be. an ambassador for skechers? and i said, yes, try skechers slip ins. >> you. >> you're making. >> everything orange. >> we're showing we're. >> consumer cellular. >> gets great coverage. >> we use the same. >> towers as big wireless. so you get. >> the same coverage. >> well. >> for unlimited. >> talk and text with reliable coverage starting at just $20, call or visit consumer cellular. >> the show. >> began and. >> continues being the place to have the hard conversations. >> president trump's first 100 days. watch. >> i'm going to be here five days a week again. >> read and listen. >> staying up half the night reading executive orders. >> for this defining time in the second trump presidency. stay with msnbc. >> democratic strategist james

carville has advice for democrats who oppose president trump's takeover of the federal government, telling them to, quote, do nothing. >> we're seeing signs and protesters saying, james, this is not even what people voted for, even if they are anti-trump voters. they're calling out a lot of things that they say exceed the president's authority or are dangerous or are gutting of the federal government. what's happening here? what do you see? >> what i see is something organic coming up from around the country. i don't think that there was a lot of organization. if you remember, in 2017, you had like a million women on the mall. this is happening all around the country. so the question is, how should democratic politicians respond to this? and what i think they should do is what we call in rural america play possum. just let it go. don't get in the way of it. or as we like to say, don't just stand there, do nothing. let it. let this germinate. we don't need to be.

we don't need to get in front of it. this. this freight train is moving. let's just get out of the way. and then we're going to have time. in the immortal words of dalton in roadhouse, be nice until it's time not to be nice. and that time is coming shortly. >> play possum. meanwhile, the new democratic chair, the new chair of the democratic national committee, ken martin, is kicking off a multi-state tour this week. he'll be visiting key swing states, including pennsylvania and wisconsin. the blue state of illinois and two red states, texas and missouri. during that trip, he's expected to meet with state parties and labor leaders, but also campaign for candidates in local elections. in a statement, martin wrote in part this it's time for democrats to show up in all, 3244 counties red, purple, blue to make our case. we'll see if he takes carville's advice there and then back here in d.c, the full senate will vote tonight on the confirmation of howard lutnick to be the next

secretary of commerce. that vote is scheduled for around 530 this evening when the senate comes back in town. lutnick is expected to be easily confirmed, even winning potentially some democratic support at his committee vote. also today, the senate will hold a procedural vote to move forward with the nomination of kash patel as fbi director. that means a final vote on patel will likely come this thursday, unless the senate decides to do some magic and make it earlier. joining us now, senior nbc news national politics reporter jonathan allen. jon, i want to start first on the dnc chair there. do you think he's going to end up taking the advice of someone like carville, saying, play possum, especially when democrats are getting so much pressure to just do something, anything? >> no. and i think you point out the reason, which is the tension that exists between the best strategy for the democrats and their stakeholders and their stakeholders want them to do something. they want them to stand up and fight trump. they want them to fight on everything. not all the stakeholders want them to fight on every single issue. it's each different stakeholder has a different issue that they want the democrats to fight on. so james carville, a brilliant

strategist, if he can get all those democratic stakeholders to line up behind his idea, he will be the first democrat to have been able to do that in a long while. the party is trapped by its interests. >> trapped by its interests. and you're even seeing on capitol hill the way that that tension is playing out. you've got the numbers on the senate side favoring republicans. they hold the majority. and yet we've seen democrats try to slow the confirmation process even as they reach their inevitable conclusion, with controversial people like kash patel, who's teed up for later this week. so what's the lesson of the senate here? >> i think the lesson of the senate here is that unless you're dealing with legislation, the democrats don't have any power. they have the power to yell and scream and pound tables. and in the case of chuck schumer, hold up an avocado and a corona, which might not have been the right. >> it was. >> the right thing to do. but they don't they don't have any power there. and they will on legislation. they can block things legislatively. but for now, the president gets his picks. >> the legislation piece, i think, is going to be huge when

they actually start trying to cobble policy together, especially because you and i remember when democrats were doing the reconciliation process and how thorny that got with their many interests on their side. and then, of course, i think there was the news that was striking overnight, the white house saying that elon musk is not actually in charge of doge. we were talking to barbara mcquade about this from the legal side. she was saying, basically, you can't play cute when you're going to court and saying something like this. but for you, who's been covering doj's efforts, the entirety of this administration, is that news to you that musk wasn't in charge? >> absolutely. news to me. i mean, the idea that the trump administration went to court and said that he's basically been cosplaying doge master this whole time, while he's been telling the american public that he's running the show is not only surprising, but it means that someone's being disingenuous. either elon musk is being disingenuous, or the white house in its court filing is being disingenuous. and we've seen judges, over time reprimand the past trump administration

for doing things that the court thinks are clever or too cute by half. so we'll have to see how this plays out. but certainly shocking news last night that the white house went and said, look, elon musk has nothing to do with it politically. maybe less shocking because he's become such a lightning rod. i think at one point he was a heat shield for trump. and now maybe it's even uncomfortable, you know, in the body of the oval office. >> and yet he's always played this really fascinating dual, dual role of the enforcer on the inside, arguably until a few hours agon charge of doge, at least seemingly. and then also the person who could be the enforcer on all these political primary challenges that they like to issue around capitol hill to keep folks in line over there. so just because he's not in charge of doge doesn't mean he's going anywhere. >> no. absolutely not. he is threatening primary challenges. and we saw him spend a quarter of $1 billion on the last election. if he did that in congressional elections, especially in, you know, in primaries, he would blow all the republicans that he went after

out of the water. >> yeah. and i also think, of course, as we talk about regularly, the idea of the lack of transparency around doge is really important. doing things like this, announcing things like this only makes people have more questions, and really underscores the need for more transparency from the white house. >> the doge cloud. >> the doge cloud. nbc's jonathan allen with that. thank you. and that was way too early for this tuesday morning. morning joe kicks off right now. >> good morning and welcome to morning joe. >> it is. >> tuesday february 18th. we've got a lot to. >> get to. >> this morning. >> including the. >> diplomatic talks between u.s. and russian officials. happening now in saudi arabia. >> nbc's keir simmons is there. and standing by to bring us. >> the very latest. >> also ahead, we'll. go through yesterday's. >> plane crash. in toronto, where

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