-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ hello, i'm victor blackwell. welcome to "cnn newsroom." >> and i'm alisyn camerota. there's growing concern in the biden administration about the human fallout if russia invades ukraine. a senior administration official says the biggest worry is mass casualties and a refugee crisis in europe. officials estimate there could be between 25,000 to 50,000 civilian deaths and up to 35,000 troops killed. >> there's more of this shuttle diplomacy to try to de-escalate things there. it's happening today. fresh off his meeting with vladimir putin, french president emmanuel macron met with ukraine's leader, zelensky, as

cnn's senior national security correspondent alex marquardt is in kyiv. what are you learning about this meeting between macron and zelensky? >> reporter: hi there, victor and alisyn. this meeting comes on the heels of his meeting with president putin in russia and ahead of his meeting in berlin with the german chancellor. this flurry of diplomatic activity, aimed, of course at de-escalating the situation along the various loborders of ukraine. we are hearing positive sounds from president macron, who said today that he does believe that there are what he called concrete, practical solutions to ease this crisis. he said -- he said he is positive, but at the same time, he is realistic, and that this would take months of perseverance, months of tough work, but that there are primarily two things that need to happen that would lead to peace. the first is to solve the fighting that has been taking place in eastern ukraine, that has been raging for years, and that, he says, needs to be done through what's called the minsk

agreements. that's a series of agreements that were put into place after russia invaded ukraine in 2014. so, end the fighting there through those agreements. the second, he says, is through more discussions about security in europe, cooperation and guarantees. of course, this is something that we've heard repeatedly from president putin, that russia feels threatened by what's happening with nato countries and european countries, and so work on some sort of european security cooperation and guarantees there with russia. here's a little bit more of what president macron and president zelensky had to say today at their joint press conference. >> translator: president macron and i have a very common position on the security threats for ukraine and all of europe and the whole world. they need new positions, new approaches from the european leadership. we stand for the deoccupation of our territory. >> translator: we had an exchange with the president who told me that he would not be the cause of an escalation the

second important element is that there will be no fixed base or deployment of sensitive equipment in belarus. >> reporter: now, the kremlin did take issue with some of what macron says took place in moscow. the kremlin says they did not agree to a military de-escalation, and they did not agree on a date on when to pull their troops out of belarus. alisyn and victor, you'll remember that exercises between belarus and russia are due to take place, start later this week. of course, you would expect at the end of exercises, that russian troops would be pulled out. the kremlin today saying that they don't have a date for when those troops will be pulled out. those troops, among the many tens of thousands, over 100,000 threatening ukraine with a potential invasion that, as you said, could lead to tens of thousands of casualties and hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing ukraine. alisyn and victor? >> alex marquardt, thank you for the update. cnn international diplomatic

editor nick h robertson is in moscow. how does the kremlin view this meeting? >> reporter: they are seeing this perhaps through the prism of president putin and some of his sort of, i think you can only describe it as most undiplomatic language that he used to describe ukraine and president zelensky late yesterday evening. this is language that you wouldn't expect to normally hear in this sort of forum, but it is the sort of language that president putin has used in the past. he was talking about the minsk talks, alex was just explaining there, and saying that he expected ukraine and the president there, despite whatever they think, you know, whether they like it or not, he said, essentially, you know, get on with it, darling. this was sort of overtones of gross sexual innuendo there from president putin, although the kremlin denies that. but it -- what it does is gives a very clear impression of the

way that president putin views zelensky and ukraine at the moment in very derogatory terms. of course, a journalist did ask zelensky about this, and zelensky was sort of able to parry it back in much more diplomatic style. he said, oh, well, you know, we can't -- president putin's right. ukraine is a beautiful place. he said that when president putin says, it's my -- ukraine or implies it's my ukraine, which is more or less what he said, then he's wrong. that's a mistake. but in terms of, you'll have to endure this, you know, you'll have to take it, was essentially what president putin said. zelensky said, look, we're good at patience. we do this. so, that gives you the sort of understanding of the tone that exists from president putin towards president zelensky, but the kremlin today really dismissing, really, i would say, pretty much moving off the table

any sense that they're about to reduce their troop strength around ukraine at all. >> all right, nic robertson in moscow for us. thank you, nic. meanwhile, president biden is vowing to cut off that critical gas pipeline between russia and germany if putin invades ukraine. >> but after the president's meeting with the german chancellor yesterday, it's unclear if germany is on board with that. germany is heavily dependent on russian energy. cnn chief white house correspondent kaitlan collins is with us now. so, the president said that he could, quote, bring an end to the pipeline if russia invades. how can he? and he didn't offer many details, at least yesterday, guarantee that? >> reporter: that was the big question. how specifically can you do that if germany in and of itself given the chancellor would not commit to it yesterday is not also in agreement with that statement? and supportive of the u.s. position that if russia does invade ukraine, that nordstream ii would not go forward. right now it's under review, not operational but it could easily

become operational pretty quickly so that has been the big question for the president because he did say yesterday that he is quite clear he believes it would not become operable if that would happen but he's not saying how and that's been a big question here. they could impose heavy financial sanctions on people associated with the pipeline. whether that happens remiains t be seen because that has been a path you've seen lawmakers pursue for several months now, trying to go after nord stream 2. it's been a point of contention at times and it's something you've seen secretary blinken, officials here at the white house say they believe nord stream 2 was a bad idea. he said that during his confirmation hearing almost a year ago on capitol hill and now it's, of course, still back at the center of this issue and the big questions, of course, over what's going to happen. i think the larger picture of this, victor and alisyn, is of course still what russia is going to do. that is something that president biden says he believes that president putin only knows what he wants to do here, and it's not something that they believe is really something that's being shared with even other senior russian officials. and so, that's really still the

big point of question here at the white house, which is, all of these threats that they are making of sanctions, of making sure nord stream 2 would not go forward, it all, of course, is dependent on what russia does. >> kaitlan, president biden is also set to speak soon on manufacturing in the u.s. do we know what he's going to say? >> reporter: this is -- they're going to be talking largely about the president's desire to bring back manufacturing and revive it here in the united states. but also talking about this australian company that plans to build a manufacturing facility in tennessee, to build those chargers for electric cars. that has been a big part of the president's plan here is to put more of those chargers throughout the united states to inspire more people to use electric vehicles because, of course, that has been one of the aspects, challenges, i guess you would say, of this is that people say there need to be more of those. that's part of the president's infrastructure plan, something they have talked about, and so you will see the energy secretary appearing alongside president biden and the transportation secretary here when he speaks in just a few moments. >> okay. we'll be watching.

kaitlan collins, thank you. jared bernstein is a member of the white house council of economic advisors. good to see you again, thank you for your time. >> thank you, victor. >> so, the president today is going to be touting these charging stations. of course he wants to boost manufacturing. but the overlap there, we've got a u.s. auto maker, ford, that is pausing or altering manufacturing at four of its north american plants because of the shortage of semiconductor chips. commerce department says that the shortage could lead some factories in several areas to close. where's the administration on this, and how are you going to help solve this problem? >> it's a great question for which we have a very solid answer, but before i get to that, let me just say that when we talk about building manufacturing jobs, that's not just a future-looking thing. that's something that's occurred since this president took office. 367,000 manufacturing jobs since president biden took office.

that's the most in 30 years. so there's a bit of a renaissance already going on there. you heard the company you're talking about, named tritium, australian company, going to build 30,000 ev chargers here in the u.s. in tennessee, hundreds of jobs, good jobs, good paying jobs. now, you raise a great question about semiconductor chips. there is very important legislation. it's moved through the senate. in fact, it got 68 votes in the senate. what gets 68 votes in the senate these days? not much. but this bill did. that became the competes bill in the house, which is also passed so that has to go to conference. the president wants that bill on his desk as soon as possible. it invests $50 billion in domestic production of computer chips, critically important to help mend the medium, longer term supply chain issues that you raise. when it comes to nearer term issues, we've done a lot there

as well. but on the chips, those investments are already being made in this country. >> let's talk about gas prices. a gallon of regular now up to $3.46 on average. a new seven-year high, up more -- it's up a dollar, almost, from a year ago. the president ordered release of 50 million barrels from the reserve. that was back in november, i believe it was, hit the market in december. opec is not ramping up increases to the desires of the u.s. what is the plan to control gas prices? this is something that's hitting people every single day. >> a three-part plan coming from president biden, who first of all, starts out by being very clear about precisely the stressors you just mentioned. anyone -- and that's most of us -- who have had to fill up their tank understands what you're talking about. number one, we are engaging internationally, both with oil-producing and oil-consuming

countries in terms of oil-producing countries, we want them to live up to their supply commitments, and we're engaged in diplomatic measures to make that happen. >> opec says they're going to stick to 400,000 barrels a day. they're not ramping up in the way that you're asking them to. so, you may be approaching them, but they're not responding as quickly as you'd like. >> so, let's talk about what we can do. so, oil-consuming countries have strategic reserves, and the last time we released 50 million barrels, many of which are still in train, by the way, the price of gasoline -- it wasn't just the strategic release. but it helped. the price of gasoline actually fell by ten cents a gallon. >> for a very short time. are you going to do that again? >> that is certainly an option that can be put on the table as needed. finally, we got to protect consumers from any abuse and the president is making sure that every legal and regulatory authority we have is going to be tapped to make sure that any

price gains are being -- any price decreases are being passed along to consumers. we're seeing very high profitability in these oil companies, lots of stock share buybacks. this president wants to make sure that in a period of such strong demand, that some of those benefits are being passed along to consumers, and he will look at the regulatory authorities to make sure that happens. >> jared, the last time you were on with me, it felt like you were softening the blow for a disappointing january jobs report where you were saying that some people were saying there were going to be a loss of jobs. man, were you wrong. i mean, 467,000 jobs in january. the question is, how is the administration -- we're seeing the adjustments at the bls, these private banks are getting it wrong. how are they, you all, getting this so wrong month after month? >> well, first of all, let me say that i have never been happier to be more wrong. >> i bet you are. >> as you would imagine. yeah. secondly, we are learning, and in fact, this isn't our first

lesson, by a long shot, that when it comes to the kind of uncertainty created by a pandemic upon the land, a situation we really haven't had in this world for about a hundred years, it makes these kinds of forecasts extremely difficult. that's why it's probably most important for us to do what we've really tried to do every time i've talked to you and others out here, victor, which is not to take one month but to look at the trends. so, we know that gdp grew last year across the whole year, adjusting for inflation, so, even with elevated prices, at the fastest growth rate in almost 40 years. we know that 6.6 million jobs were created over the year. not one month. over the year. the fastest job gain on record. unemployment falling faster than it has before. and so, those are baked in the cake. they're longer-term trends, they get away from the monthly bipar bipa bips and bops. we were worried about the extent to which people who were on sent from work and unpaid wouldn't be

counted on payrolls and many of them managed to power through and get on those payrolls, but at the same time, january was a tough month for a lot of families dealing with omicron. we don't want to lose that thread either. >> certainly was. jared bernstein, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you, victor. okay, victor, we're told that we are just moments away now from president biden at the white house talking about manufacturing, so we will go back to that. in the meantime, there's a critical supreme court decision that will allow a new congressional map, drawn by republicans, to remain in place, even though critics say it spells bad news for black voters. and nfl commissioner roger goodell met with civil rights leaders to talk about hiring practices after a lawsuit alleged racial discrimination. we will speak to one of those leaders in that room for that meeting next.

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the parents of the alleged michigan school shooter, ethan crumbly, appeared in court today for a preliminary examination. acquaintances of the couple testified and shared messages exchanged with jennifer crumbley. one witness said she was alarmed by an image that jennifer had shared that ethan had drawn. and a former boss said jennifer was concerned about losing her job in the aftermath of the incident. >> james and jennifer crumbley are charged with four counts each of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly ignoring warning signs their son was a threat. shimon prokupecz has been following this case. >> reporter: the key thing is we're getting a window into the prosecution's case and why they feel they should take this to trial and get a conviction and some of the text messages from that day certainly very

troubling, prosecutors trying to show that the mother here was more concerned about her job than about what was going on with her son, and then when we look at some of the text messages that authorities here have reviewed, it goes into the fact that some of the warning signs, perhaps, perhaps, may have been ignored and that the mother texts a friend, a woman who owns a horse farm owner, saying that, i wish we had warnings, saying that he's a good kid and ultimately just surprised that something like this would happen. but then there are more texts between the mother and her boss where it's certainly very damning for the defense in that she says that the gun is gone. this is the gun that was allegedly used in the shooting, and so are the bullets, and then she says, he must be the shooter, and then a short time later, there's a response from her saying, ethan did it and that she's going to need a lawyer. and then she also talks about how she hopes this doesn't affect her job as she really

needs to keep her job. and her boss telling the prosecutors here that he was really surprised that that is what she was more concerned about than the fact that what had just happened which involved her son. >> great point. we had also heard in a previous court appearance that the parents were behaving really inappropriately, all of this pda that they were exchanging. >> and kind of whispering, "i love you" to each other and touching each other. so what happened is the prosecutors asked the judge, and there was a motion filed on this, to tell them to cut it out, and so far, from what we can see from our cameras, none of that has really been going on. they've sat there quietly and helping their lawyers out through the examination of some of these witnesses, but again, the key here is that we're getting a real window into what the prosecution's case is going to be. there's a detective on the stand right now. i want to thank secretary granholm and buttigieg and gina mccarthy for being here today and congressman jim cooper, an

old friend who did an awful lot to get this to go in tennessee. and governor bill lee of tennessee, he deserves credit as well. he wasn't able to be here today, but he worked hard to help make this happen. another example of what america can achieve when we come together, democrats and republicans, to get things done. the new manufacturing facility of tritium that's announced today is more than just great news for tennessee. yes, it's going to create more than 500 good-paying jobs in tennessee, but it's going to deliver greater dignity and a little more breathing room to workers and their families and it's going to have a ripple effect beyond -- far beyond the one state. this is great news for workers across the country for an economy, and frankly, for the planet. when we wrote and passed the bipartisan infrastructure law, we included $7.5 billion for electric vehicle chargers like the one jane brought along today. it's a little thing. you can see. but all kidding aside,

secretaries granholm and buttigieg have been helping lead this effort from our administration, and later this week, we're going to announce a state-by-state allocation for $5 billion of the funding for these chargers. so, states can start making plans to build out what will become a national network of electric vehicle chargers. tritium's new facility is going to produce up to 30,000 of these chargers every year. they'll use american parts, american iron, american steel, and they'll be installed up and down the highways and our communities all across the country by union workers from the ibw and the electrical workers union. so, the benefits are going to ripple thousands of miles in every direction. and these jobs will multiply and steel mills, small part suppliers, construction sites, all over the country in the years to come. it's going to help ensure that the american -- america leads the world on electric vehicles. china has been a leading that race up to now.

but this is about to change. because america's building a convenient, reliable, equitable national public charging network, so wherever you live, charging an electric vehicle will be quick and easy. and the foundation will help build american automakers set the pace for electric vehicles. which means even more good-paying jobs producing batteries, materials and parts. it's going to save hundreds of billions of gallons of gasoline over time, saving an average driver who chooses an electric vehicle up to a thousand dollars a year on fuel. making our country more economically competitive, lowering air pollution and keeping families healthier as we tackle the climate crisis. here's the key point. announcements like this don't happen by accident. they require a vision and a commitment to build a future that's made in america. i made it clear from day one, when the federal government

sends taxpayers' dollars, we're going to buy american. american products made in america, including american component parts. that's why i established the made in america office at the white house, led by celeste drake. she's here on the stage. where is celeste? there she is. celeste drake. to ensure that the trillion dollars we're investing in infrastructure is spent on american workers and american manufacturing. on the way over here, by the way, i was talking with gina. we were talking about, we have how many vehicles in a fleet, gina, roughly? >> 600,000. >> we have 600,000 federal vehicles that we -- the federal government owns. they're going to end up all being electric vehicles. electric vehicles. that's what it means to finally make buying america a reality and not an empty promise. it means bringing manufacturing jobs back and building supply chains here at home so we have better jobs at lower prices and it means a federal government that just doesn't give lip

service to buy american but actually takes action, investing in innovation and manufacturing which powers up companies like tritium to do what they do best. create great products and good-paying jobs. that's been my approach from day one and now we're beginning to see the results. my first full year as president, the economy created 6.6 million new jobs. that's never happened before in american history. and that includes 375,000 manufacturing jobs. 2021 saw the highest increase in u.s. manufacturing jobs in nearly 30 years. and let me give you one example. a few weeks ago, the ceo of intel, pat gelsinger, came to the white house to announce a new $20 billion semiconductor factory that they're going -- they call a campus outside of columbus, ohio. i had the two senators from ohio here standing with me, one republican, one democrat.

creating 7,000 construction jobs at that facility and 3,000 permanent jobs running the facility with an average salary of running the facility at $135,000 a year. those semiconductors, microchips, power virtually everything in our everyday lives, cell phones, automobiles, refrigerators, the internet, the electric grid. without semiconductors, those things cannot fully function. so, the spinoff of this is that we're going to create thousands of additional jobs, helping build america's products here in america. manufacturing automobiles and appliances and so much more. >> all right, you've been listening to president biden discussing boosting manufacturing here in the u.s. and also the shift to electric vehicles and complimenting this australian company and the bringing of these charging stations and he's going to see those pop up, more and more, across the country. we'll continue to monitor that event, but we also have this

just in to cnn. white house officials have begun reaching out to president biden's potential supreme court picks. they're gathering more information about the records, and as part of the normal vetting process, the fbi has conducted friends and former colleagues of potential nominees. there are about three weeks until the president's self-imposed deadline to announce his final choice. okay, now to a consequential ruling from the supreme court that will impact voters in alabama. the justices have allowed a redistricting map drawn by state republicans to stay in place. the map had been criticized for racial bias against black voters. a lower court ruled that the map likely violates the voting rights act. but in a 5-4 decision, the nation's highest court decided to keep the map in place for now, which means it will be used for the state's primary in may. let's bring in melanie campbell, the president for the national coalition on black civic participation. thank you so much for being

here. justice elena kagan wrote the dissension for the minority. she wrote black alabamans will suffer clear vote deluilution. what does this mean for black voters there? >> thank you. thank you for the invitation to join you. it means that black voting power will be deleted. it means that voters in alabama won't be protected when it comes to the ability to elect candidates of choice. this u.s. supreme court is another blow to the voting rights act of 1965. what we continue to find, because the senate, the u.s. senate, has not acted, had the opportunity to act but because of a rule, did not act to reform the voting rights act as far as enforcement powers to make sure that discriminatory practices based on race would be eliminated. and so, here we are. going into the '22 election, let alone the 2024 election that's

coming up, that we are not -- our rights are not protected in this country. >> i want to read you something that congressman mo brooks of alabama, republican, has said, and i am reluctant to quote congressman mo brooks ever since he told the angry mob outside of the capitol to go kick some ass that day, but i think that i'm going to break my rule, because it's relevant, and i think that a lot of people might share his sentiment about what this act -- what the supreme court just decided. so, he says the concept that blacks can only be elected in black districts and whites should have districts of their own in which they get elected, i believe that is racist and i oppose it. what's your response to his logic? >> well, the way they draw these lines, we call they can packing or cracking, right? where it has partisan advantage. really, it's the problem. it's not that you're trying to make sure that it's a majority black. most of the congressional black caucus members that are in the

congress aren't even in majority black districts. so, it's not that. it's making sure that you draw lines that are fair, that you don't put people in these squiggly lines all over the place to make sure you only have republicans that will vote your way and that's what's happening across this country, in too many states, including the state of texas and other places, so what we don't have is the ability to look at -- to make sure that the maps are fair for the voters to be able to say, let candidates of choice and not the elected officials making sure they have the ability to make sure that only one party has the ability to win these congressional races. it doesn't stop there. it goes all the way down to the school board. so we are talking about the ability to, again, elect candidates of choice. >> very quickly, because i want to get to your meeting with nfl commissioner roger goodell, but is this something that the electoral count act could fix? >> i'm not sure about that.

that's really about what happens when you try to decide the president. but first of all, you have to have the ability for the voters to be able to vote and have that vote protected. and at the back end of that is worrying about who is able to do the ceremonial things that the vice president does in a presidential election. >> great point. >> it's about voters. >> great point. so, you just met this week with the nfl commissioner, roger goodell, yesterday, as i understand it. it was about the rooney rule. as we know, it basically designated that the nfl teams had to interview at least two external minority candidates for coaching and other top jobs, but we've learned from brian flores recently that that was basically being disregarded. so, you met with roger goodell and, you know, brian flores had said this is all a sham, so what did commissioner goodell say he's going to do about it? >> well, one, we're going to keep talking, but the one key thing it was about was, what

happened with that -- with that text. it revealed why there's -- we're even having this conversation today, that the rooney rule is not working if people are just doing window dressing, if you will, and know that they're going to do what they want to do, then they're not really following a fair process to make sure that the diversity that really needs to be in the nfl is there. it didn't just start with that, so it just revealed what was already there, what people suspected. >> are you satisfied with his declaration that you'll keep talking? do you want him to do something more specific right now? >> no, we want action. we want action. we didn't meet there just to talk. but the idea of putting it out there with my colleagues, my civil rights colleagues, with mark and reverend sharpton and barbara skinner and derek rick johnson yesterday was really just to enforce the issue or -- not force it but really just implore them to put together a

strategy with the owners and others to really address this issue that's been out there for a very long time, and you have to do that with real structure. one of the things that people talk about when they talk about the owners is when the owners make the decision. well, the owners, when you talk about the nfl, it's subsidized by taxpayer dollars. i don't care where you go, whether you're talking about buildings, stadiums, others, really in some cases, the fans are also part owners when you think about that. and so, the league needs to reflect the diversity from the locker room to the owners' box that shows that this -- the nfl is about inclusion and opportunity. >> melanie campbell, thank you. really interesting to get your perspective on all this. >> thank you. thank you so much. house minority leader kevin mccarthy is now defending the rnc calling january 6th legitimate political discourse. the resolution is once again creating a rift within the gop. we're going to discuss that ahead.

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all right, we have some breaking political news, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell offering his first comments about the rnc resolution that censured lawmakers adam kinzinger and liz cheney and that resolution that called january 6th, legitimate political discourse.

here it is. >> that the rnc should be in the business of picking and choosing republicans who ought to be supported. traditionally, the view of the national party committees is that we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues. >> do you have confidence in her, the chairwoman of the committee? >> i do, but the issue is whether or not the rnc should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority. that's not the job of the rnc. >> leader mcconnell -- >> okay, so, that resolution is now sparking growing frustration, as you can see, for gop lawmakers and some backlash. house minority leader kevin mccarthy, though, defended it. he claims the resolution was not referring to anybody who broke in and caused damage. hard to know, since they didn't specify that it was omitting those people. >> certainly didn't. >> but instead was directed at

the subpoenas of six rnc members who were not at the capitol on the day of the riot. >> utah senator mitt romney says to suggest that a violent attack on the seat of democracy is legitimate applying discourse is so far from accurate. trump ally senator kevin kramer lashes out at the rnc and he says this. i think they're out of their league, quite honestly. more than 140 republican and conservative leaders also signed a statement condemning the rnc's censure. they wrote this. there can be no justifying the horrific attack that day, and we condemn the committee for excusing the actions of men and women who battered police officers, ransacked our nation's capitol. joe walsh is a former republican congressman from illinois who signed that statement. scott jennings is a former special assistant to george w. bush. scott, let me start with you. there is this rift in the party on -- i mean, it is -- it's unbelievable that the video we watched can in any way be described as a legitimate

political discourse, and you've got some people defending that now. what does this mean for your party as you try to convince people in this country to give your majorities in the house and senate? >> yeah, i mean, it's a huge mistake. it's an unforced error. it's wrong. as a political, tactical matter, it's a massive distraction from what the, you know, correct political strategy would be for the republicans right now, which should be to talk about the future, talk about the state of the country, talk about, you know, anything other than trying to justify, going back in time and trying to justify something that we all saw with our own eyes on television. where you get in trouble in politics is when you try to convince somebody they didn't really see what just happened or they're not really feeling what they're actually feeling. and that statement, and i recognize they've tried to clean it up afterwards, after the fact, god help them, but that statement did not delineate between people who were ransacking the capitol and people who just showed up for some political speeches. and the idea that you would be able to convince anybody that we didn't see what we all saw is

ludicrous, and so it was a major mistake, and i'm glad some republicans, especially in the senate, have called them out. >> and joe, you're one of the people who's called them out on paper. you were one of 140 republicans who sent a letter saying that, of course, violence like that isn't political discourse. i'll read a portion of your letter. history will mark this censure as a turning point for the rnc, a time of choosing between civility and patriotism on the one hand and conspiracy and political violence on the other. you know, i think so often, we see something that seems shocking, and we think it's a tipping point or a turning point. what makes you think, joe, that this one really is? >> it won't be, alisyn. it won't be a turning point. look, i'm proud to have signed that letter, but i'm a former congressman. the problem with that letter, alisyn, is there are too many formers. there aren't enough current. the current republicans generally keep their damn mouths shut.

i agree with everything scott just said, but look, there's no rift in the republican party. i know i sound like a broken record. the party is really unified. the party base is really unified, and most of the rest of the world just doesn't get that. this is trump's party. i'm done, alicsyn, i'm done wit defining moments. to hell with defining moments. we're miles past those. >> let me ask you. this group that signed this, from renew america, i went back and read the creation statement, the mission statement, and let's put that up for these hundred-plus. when our democratic republic forces of conspiracy, division, and despotism arise, it is the patriotic duty of citizens to act collectively in defense of liberty and justice. we, therefore, declare our intent to catalyze an american renewal and either reimagine a

republican party dedicated to our founding ideals or haste tennesseen the creation of such an alternative. where are you on moving forward on either of these missions? >> what's interesting, victor, is of all of us that joined that movement and signed that letter, we're all over the map on the future of the republican party. i've been pretty clear that i do not believe this party can change. i do not believe this party can be saved. i think we are looking at, in the next couple of election cycles, a brand-new political party. there are -- victor, there are too many good, decent republicans and conservatives who have left this party, and there's no room for them. there's no room for adam kinzinger in this party. there's no room right now for liz cheney in this party. and that's not changing any time soon. >> very quickly, scott, i just want you to respond, because we are seeing people like mitt romney and mitch mcconnell, which you just heard there, say

that they don't like, basically, what the rnc is doing. so, is this possibly -- i mean, i know that joe says, i'm done with defining moments, but do you see it a little differently? >> well, look, i think the reason that mitch mcconnell spoke out today is because he's singularly focused on trying to win elections for his party in the fall, and he knows that this is a huge albatross around the republican party's neck. if we're going to run this midterm or trying to justify what happened on january 6th or run this or the next election on rationalizing or relitigating whether the 2020 election was stolen, which it was not, we're going to lose. this is a chance for the republican party to get in its own way or focus on the future and focus on the things that the members of this conference want to focus on. so, i don't know -- look. the republican party is in a terrific position to win elections as long as it focuses on what people care about and as long as it doesn't try to convince the american people of things, you know, that aren't reality. and we all know the reality of january 6th. anybody with eyes and ears knows what happened that day.

and they should not be taking a position on convincing them otherwise. >> all right, joe walsh, scott jennings, thank you as always for the perspective. let's go down to cnn's manu raju, who i just spoke with mitch mcconnell. you know, you have explained to us before that mitch mcconnell, when he does not want to answer a question or focus on a specific topic, he knows how to pivot. this one, he took on. >> reporter: yeah, he did, and he wanted to make clear he disagreed with this move to censure kinzinger and cheney, and even though those two have become essentially pariahs within the republican party because of their role going after donald trump, because of the fact that they have taken on the former president and joined this investigation, that those members are still part of the republican party. because mcconnell, in his view, believes that winning back the senate, taking back the house as well, will require total republican unity and not party infighting, which is why he strongly disagreed with the

censure of these two members. he also made clear that he disagrees with any suggestion that this was any legitimate political discourse, calling it, in my exchange with him just now, quote, a violent insurrection. he did say he did have confidence in the republican national committee chairwoman mcdaniel but he did make clear he disagreed with this move. that is the big one why you're hearing a lot of republicans push back on this, particularly on the senate side because of their belief this will only undercut their message but in the house, such a different calculation with republican leaders like kevin mccarthy, who believe that aligning themselves with donald trump is essential to taking back the house, which is why when i asked mccarthy about this earlier today, he defended the move, defended the language. he didn't say he explicitly supported it, wouldn't respond to a question about that but said essentially there's nothing wrong, didn't offer any objections to the language of legitimate political discourse suggesting that perhaps dealing

with another issue that was not addressed in the resolution, but nevertheless, it shows you the different calculations of the two republican leaders and mcconnell's made a calculation, move away from trump, unite against the biden agenda, and that will take them back to the majority. >> well, manu, it was a great question to leader mcconnell and a really interesting the oscar nominations are out with traditional movie releases dwindling, streaming sfls services are feeling the love. we'll talk about that, next. h. when the world is countingng on you. i'm going to putut this baby into warp speed. buckle up. everybody hang on! and enjoy the ride. wooo. yes! in the all-new lexus nx. this is a whole other level of insane. see moonfall, in theaters february 4th. and experience amazing. ♪ ♪

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we are just getting breaking news into our news room. second gentleman, doug emhoff was ushered out of a room because of o security threat reported at that school. >> we have details. what do you know mj? >> reporter: the information still coming in so we don't know a lot but here is what we do know at this moment. the second gentleman was at an event at a local high school in the washington, d.c. area. what we are learning is he had to be ushered out of the room by security because there was a security threat. what a spokesperson for the metropolitan police department is saying right now is that a bomb threat was placed. that obviously doesn't tell us a

lot of information but in a situation like this, of course, the security is going to be very heavy and you can easily imagine a scenario where if there was a credible bomb threat then he is going to be ushered out of the room. that's what we're being told happened when the second gentleman was in this room. white house press secretary jen psaki is briefing reporters right now. at the top she was asked about the situation. she said she doesn't have details to share now. if she gets additional detalgs she would let reporters know. >> just getting this from from print reporters who were there is he entered the museum of d dunbar at 2:13. ushered out at 2:18. the agent said something like we have to go. the principal followed a few minutes later.

2:34, there was an announcement over the intercom telling teachers to evacuate the school and the pool left the building as well. some details coming from print reporters there as we try to figure out what was the cause of the quick evacuation. some of this information is beginning to trickle in. he left the room. was evacuated because of security threat. the police department saying it was a bomb threat. as soon as we have more information, we will bring that to you. >> yeah, it's a little nerve wracking that it took 16 more minutes to get the teachers out of the building. mj, thank you very much for that. we will continue to follow it. several states are leading the charge when it come dos

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it's the top of the hour on cnn newsroom. >> it's good to be with you. governors and health officials in five states are