all right. that is going to do it for us tonight. i'll see you again this time tomorrow. "way too early" is up next. ♪♪ leaders from capitol hill reach a deal to avoid the nation's first ever debt default. it's a complicated process so the question is how soon can lawmakers get it done? plus, two steps back for the house investigation in the january 6th capitol attack. mark meadows is backing out of his deal to cooperate, while roger stone, he's pleading the fifth. the question is how will the committee respond? and president biden warns vladimir putin about russia's military buildup near the border of ukraine. the question is will that lead to a diplomatic solution? "way too early" for this.

good morning. welcome to "way too early." the show that has been unable to make a seamless order for 24 hours because of that amazon urge. we'll talk about that in the show. i'm also jonathan lemire, on this wednesday, december 8th. let's start with the news, president biden is warning vladimir putin about the invasion of ukraine. the biden called it tense but occasionally lightened by humor. >> hello. >> good evening. >> good to see you again. unfortunately, we didn't get to see each other in the g20, i hope next time we do it in person. >> and making it clear that any

military action by moscow would end the hopes for a key natural gas pipeline. officials say putin gave no intention of his intent but asked for, quote, reliable guarantees that nato will not expand into ukraine. officials say biden made no commitments on that. the high-staking call came as russia has moved nearly 100,000 troops to the border in recent weeks. joining us now to talk about this, nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley. matt, good morning. thank you so much for being here. we certainly heard the readouts from both sides, the kremlin going into unusual detail. and it seems that neither side really got a strong commitment. what's your sense of the call? i know you've been following this closely. is there any hope that this will ease any of the tensions between russia and ukraine. >> yeah, jonathan, this is a good question. this is a throwback to the cold

war style meeting and that's kind of where putin maybe feels most comfortable with. these are two elder statesmen. this is not their first rodeo for either of them. and in many ways they know each other in a statesmen capacity. a little different than the way donald trump approached vladimir putin. which is a situation loaded with all sorts of other baggage, but, you know, this was a big summit that didn't come up with anything. both sides walked away without any resolute decisions on either side but that is not something to necessity disparage. because that's how most of these negotiations go. you're not going to necessarily see some massive breakthrough. most of this hinges on motives of both sides, mostly on the motives of vladimir putin which is mysterious, why is he amassing the troops at the border for him, and joyces

within moscow, it's obvious, they see the west as the aggressor. and they're probably as convinced of that as so many in europe, who see russia simply pushing up against european borders and really as a provocateur here. and it's not sure which side will prevail because nothing really came out of this meeting. but in terms of what's going to happen next, i think we're going to probably see more talking along these lines. this wasn't a disaster. this didn't know that neither side could get along with each other, even though it didn't so a resolute at the end of this meeting. but it just sets the stage for further talks. >> u.s. u.s. intelligence suggests that russia could be in a position to invade even by early next year. and it would be a surprise to many if suddenly some of those troops started withdrawing from the ukrainian border. i keep coming back to this, if

putin's red line is the idea of nato, pulling out of the region and we heard from biden yesterday, saying that's day dealbreaker, that's not going to happen. doesn't that mean that the impasse continues indefinitely and as long as the troops are there, doesn't that mean something indefinitely could lead to violence? >> that's all a really good point. because at the end of the day, having a lot of troops on the border, we've seen this before, that can lead to flare-ups. but remember, this is not the first time that russia has martialed troops along the border with ukraine. and even though it may invade ukraine, this wouldn't be the first time that russia has invaded ukraine either. so this isn't necessarily a unprecedented thing, all this is doing is this isn't an imminent disaster, but we have to remember that we've been here

before. both sides have to remember that. this isn't something that can't be walked away and de-escalated. it was just months ago, recently, that putin had troops and withdrew them. 'midst all of the same handling and concern that they could invade, this could happen. it doesn't necessarily mean that invasion or violence is inevitable. >> and both sides said on staff level that the discussions would continue in the weeks ahead. and certainly, the russian side has pushed another face-to-face in-person summit that has happened between biden and putin before too long. nbc's matt bradley, thank you. we also also note that biden is expecting to speak to ukrainian president zelensky tomorrow. meanwhile, republican senator ted cruz is blaming biden for this. and simultaneously blocking the white house from filling yet another key state department

position. >> this invasion that we are facing, the very real pros inspect of is joe biden's fault. i want to be very clear. a lot of discussion about joe biden having a phone call with putin today. well, that phone call's real nice, but it's not going to stop an invasion. i'll tell you what will stop an invasion, joe biden can stop the invasion today by simply following the law and sanctioning them. >> the texas senator blocked a motion to unanimously confirm rufus gifford. cruz has pledged to hold up all of the president's nominations to protest the lifting of sanctions on russia's nord stream pipeline. but the ukraine government has warned it can make the country

even more vulnerable to pressure tactics for moscow. until reversal of a deal made last week with the january 6th select committee, former chief of staff to donald trump mark meadows announced that he would not appear today for his scheduled deposition. committee members immediately threatened to hold meadows in contempt of congress, arguing that he has no intention to speak to the panel as he writes a book. a joint statement by cheney and thompson reads, if indeed mr. meadows refuses to appear, the select committee will be left no choice but to advance contempt proceeding. meadows explained his reversal in a media appearance yesterday. >> we found that in spite of our cooperation in sharing documents with them, they had issues

unbeknown to us. and at this point, we feel like it is best that we just continue to honor the executive privilege. and it looks like the courts are going to have to weigh in on this. >> the timing of this, of course, is noteworthy, that meadows does an about-face just as he draws the wrath of his former boss donald trump because of revelations in his book about when trump tested positive for covid in 2020. meanwhile, roger stone, a longtime adviser to the former president is invoking his fifth amendment right not to testify. and he won't for a deposition before the select committee or provide any documents. that's from a letter from stone's attorney. it reads begin that the select committee's demand for documents is overboard, overreaching and far too wide ranging to be

deemed anything, other than a fishing expedition, mr. stone has a constitutional right to decline to respond. and coming up, congresswoman debbie dingell, one of our favorites, joins me to talk about how house democrats take a step of raising the debt limit. a beautiful shot where i'm sitting, predawn on this wednesday morning.

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across the country, omicron cases are spreading rapidly. early indications show the strain may, we emphasize, may not be as severe as dealt tax but it's likely more transmissible. meanwhile, new questions arising over the effectiveness of certain vaccines. nbc news correspondent miguel

almaguer. >> reporter: showing that the pfizer vaccine is less effective against the omicron variant, but research does show those who are infected and vaccinated fared much better, indicating boosters may provide adequate protection. spreading here at home and faster, omicron have been identified in a third of the nation. reason for concern but not alarm. the new variant is not fuelling the current spike in cases in the u.s. what we're seeing at hospitals like this one, and across swaths of the country are a direct and deadly result of delta. fatalities up 57% since last week. >> hospitals, particularly in our state, we see all seven of our regional hub hospitals have icu capacities well above 100% of their licensed capacity. >> reporter: while delta is driving 99% of new indirections in the u.s., fear is fuelling

omicron concerns. the white house covid task force, sharing this chart to demonstrate the explosion of new omicron cases in south africa, still exploring its transmissibility, officials say, because of the virus' many mutations, early evidence suggest increased infectivity. for that reason it could become the dominant strain here at home. >> i think it's clear what that would mean if omicron were to replace the delta variant. the combination adding on of omicron with what we're doing is causing concern. >> reporter: expected to be detected across the country in coming days, omicron appears to be infecting americans through community spread. too early to know the true severity of the disease, anecdotal evidence suggests it might be less severe than delta but many of the infected are young and healthy. some of the six were vaccinated and even boosted. a critical layer of protection, especially now say experts.

>> i would not at all be surprised if it's somewhat a little less effective. but i would be very surprised if it didn't provide any protection at all. >> reporter: still, fearing a wave of new infections some companies includingford or delaying a return to work. but officials say family gathering this holidays are safe if americans follow long-standing advice. >> know this, every american is either going to get vaccinated or get covid. senate lawmakers are expected to grill on instagram. adam la sari will testify on the senate's subcommittee on consumer protection. this comes as instagram's parent company meta, faces intense scrutiny over internal information leaked by a whistle-blower. those studies show that

instagram can weaken the body and particularly teenage girls. in a move yesterday, he announced that instagram will provide its first parental control feature in march. that will allow parents to limit the amount of time children spend on the app. on "morning joe" senator richard blumenthal will be a guest to talk about this. french police say they arrested one of the men believed to be guilty in the killing of journalist jamal khashoggi. he was detained on a turkish warrants at charles de gaulle airport. a man with the same name is listed by the treasury department as one of the 17 saudi nationals sanctioned in connection with khashoggi's killing. a saudi official said, quote, the man had nothing to do with the case in question and expects that the embassy expects his immediate release. the ap report of french

authorities varioused tuesday evening his identity. msg was a critic of saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman. a report released proved that mohammed bin salman approved khashoggi's killing. still ahead, another country joins the diplomatic boycott in beijing. plus, a scary moment when a black hawk player gets taken out of the ice on a stretcher. we'll explain what happened, next on sports. n what happened, next on sports n-wash freshness boosters. just pour a capful of beads into your washing machine before each load. to give your laundry a light scent that lasts longer than detergent alone, with no heavy perfumes or dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day! new downy light, available in four naturally-inspired scents.

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the telegraph newspaper said britain is considering limited attendance but a full ban of representation remains a possibility. a report out of japan cites unidentified sources saying the government won't send cabinet members. meanwhile, china saying the u.s. violating the olympic spirit and adding that the u.s. will pay a praise. speaking of olympics, olympic swim keady ledecky has matched michael phelps record, with golden goggles. matching phelps who won seven times. this was in an event last night in miami, honoring the accomplishments of u.s. swimming. turning to the court in los angeles, the nba, i tried to get this highlight removed from the show rundown. there's lebron james, he led the lakers with 30 points, russell

westbrook led with 24. and l.a. beat yep, boston celtics, 117-102. i doubt we'll see a rematch in the finals considering both of these teams right now are buried in the middle. to the nhl and chicago. scary moment where blackhawks forward jujhar khaira needs to be stretchered off the rink after getting leveled by jacob trouba. oh, my god. he's out. that's not easy to watch. the team said that khaira suffered an upper body blow before being taken by ambulance to the hospital. where later, thankfully, he was said to be up and talking and responsive. that's good to hear. in happier nhl news, watch this, in buffalo, an incredible goal as anaheim swoops the puck on the blade of the stick behind the net and lobes it over the goalie's head to a teammate

waiting on the edge of the crease. he batted in. almost like a baseball pass. it's the pass and the swoop. incredible. one of the best goals of the year. they blanked the sabres 2-0. also from sports, "sports illustrated," sports person of the year award, tom brady announced last night. there he is. this show, it will not surprise you, approves of the choice. time now for the weather. and let's go to meteorologist bill karins for the forecast. bill, i'm sorry you were runner-up for that competition in the marathon. how does it look out there? >> yeah, i saw that, too. i saw that the vegas odds favor tampa versus new england for the super bowl. do you believe that? >> if that happened bill -- bill, if that were to happen, it would put tom brady, my guy, versus bill belichick, my coach, i'd probably be in a medically

induced coma for two weeks and just miss the whole thing. >> yeah, you wouldn't be alone. so, we were talking the last couple of days that there's a little snow heading to east coast. at least a chance of it, the big city you may see flakes in d.c., baltimore. i don't think you'll see flakes in new york and possibly philadelphia. the only accumulating snow we're going to get is interior sections of new england. especially northern portions of new england and the northeast. hartford and boston. will you see rainy conditions in the southeast. it's still cold through minneapolis up through the great lakes. then as we go throughout thursday, this is where we see a new storm in the rockies. and that snow will spread to the central plains, that's where winter weather is. everything else is very mild. look at this, jonathan, another

day in the 60s from boston to d.c. next week looks exceptionally warm, so for the winter snow lovers, you'll have to wait until the new year. >> we're about two weeks from christmas and talking 60s. bill karins, thank you. still ahead on "way too early," chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell broker a deal. we'll have the latest on the capitol hill negotiations in a moment. before we go to break, we want to know, why are you awake? email @jonathan lemire or tweet me. we'll read the favor answers later on in the show. my hygienist personalizes my cleaning. so does my oral-b oral-b delivers the wow of a professional clean feel every day. find your rhythm. your happy place. find your breaking point.

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♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast. 2:30 out west. i'm jonathan lemire. senate majority leader chuck schumer is teeing up a vote as early as tomorrow to extend the debt ceiling. schumer cut a deal that would allow the democrats to eventually pass the debt ceiling hike. without, members of the gop need to join democrats in order to pass a separate bill for cuts for medicare. that bill allows democrats to raise the debt limit to just a 51-vote majority. >> i think this is in the best interest of the country by avoiding default. i think it's also in the best interest of republicans who feel very strongly, if the previous

debt ceilings that we agreed to when president trump was here carried us through august. and this current debt ceiling is indeed about the future. and not about the past. so, i believe we've reached here a solution to the debt ceiling issue. that's consistent with republican views. of raising the debt ceiling for this amount, at this particular time. and allows the democrats to proudly own it, which they're happy to do. >> congressional leaders announced the deal yesterday. and it passed the house just hours later in a 222 to 212 vote. only one republican, congressman adam kinzinger of illinois voted with democrats. the dealal allows the debt ceiling to be raised while giving republicans cover to say they did not vote for it, again, this is traditionally, a bipartisan process. the national authorization act one of the many passed bills

on congress' docket will now move to the senate. the bill sailed by an overwhelming 363 to 70 vote. more republicans supported the measure than democrats. house armed services committee leaders fought for a compromise of the multibillion dollar deal that includes an increase. the bill has been a bipartisan fight in the senate over which amendments would be allowed on the floor for a vote. the hill reports that schumer said on monday he would instead bring the compromise to the floor. joining us to talk about the latest machinations, co-founder of punchbowl news, anna palmer, she's an msnbc contributor and a friend of the show. anna, let's start with the debt ceiling deal. there is a lot of sighs of relief that this is on the verge of it happening, let's put it no other way, a fiscal calamity for the united states. are there fiscal obstacles that

remain in the senate? and what about the politics in this, we just heard from mnl saying, hey, we're giving this to democrats. how is that playing with democrats, they're happy to take this? and is it hypocritical for mcconnell to say this is about future spending? >> well, it's definitely a gimme. but mcconnell got there, he has been negotiating on the past week with trying to fine a path forward. because there's so many republicans that refuse to vote in a bipartisan manner to raise the debt limit. they found a way for it in a procedural motion to help democrats here and have democrats split. and i do think this is going to pass and find the ten republicans to support this, but we're watching closely who they are, because there isn't unanimity in who is going to

support this. you have senator joni ernst and john barrasso, it's going to take ten and it's going to be interesting to see how mcconnell will corral his members but at this point, it feels like in the next couple of days, you're going to find a path forward where you'll see the debt ceiling raised through the end of the year. >> this still feels like far more of a politicized process than it should be, but it would be indeed good news if the bill is verted. let's talk about the defense ndaa, did a deal go there? we know that senator warren is one that came out over the summer with several measures she wanted in the legislation. do we have a sense of whether she and the other senators are okay with what they're going to have to vote on? >> listen, this is something that's been negotiated again, among the four leaders here. and i think that vote in the house really is strong.

i mean, almost 200 republicans supporting this bill, going forward. i do think there's going to be different negotiations and you're going to see probably senator warren and others trying to say, hey, we want amendments. you're going to have leadership on both sides, republicans and democrats, kill those amendments, but this is the bill, right? they are not going to have a bunch of changes in the senate and then bringing it back to the house. the house is out after the end of this week. so right now, for the rest of the year. so, this is going to be the bill that passes, like most things in congress, it's never just easy up or down. i would expect a little bit of drama to happen in the next few days. >> anna, one more quick one for you, you said the house is expected to be gone at the end of this week. the senate, correct me if i'm wrong, they're around this week

and the debt ceiling will be done, does that free back some space to try to get the build back better agenda done before christmas? >> certainly, if you're chuck schumer he would be holding out for a christmas miracle at this point. he was the only one pushing for trying to find a better way forward for the build back better act before the end of the year. the cbo in the senate is going to come out but we still don't have word on where the parliamentarian is going to end up with the so-called birdbath. but there's a lot of things procedurally that need to happen in the next couple of weeks with the passage of this bill. i think the bigger issue for senator schumer and joe manchin and others who have thrown water on this for the end of the year. i think it would truly be a christmas miracle for chuck schumer for that to get done in the next couple of weeks but we're watching it quickly.

>> certainly think you will. certainly going away for the holidays and revisiting it, co-founder of punchbowl news, anna palmer. still ahead, the president's pick for the top banking regulator withdraws her name from the decision. the business news you need to start your day next, on "way too early." new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones.

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and became an american citizen in 2005. at a confirmation hearing last might, you'll remember this, at least one senator john kennedy of louisiana falsely suggested she may have communist ties. >> you used to be a member of a group called the young communist, didn't you? >> senator, are you referring to my membership in the youth communist organization while i was growing up in the soviet union? >> i don't know, i wanted to ask you that question. >> senator, i was born and grew up in the soviet union. >> yes, ma'am, but were you a member of that -- >> every member of the member of the communist organization. >> so you are a member? >> that was a part of normal progress in school. >> that line of questioning remains deeply ignorant and offensive. omarova, though, also lacked

unanimous support from democrats. according to "the wall street journal" a group of moderate privately voiced their opposition. several digital services are recovering after amazon's outages. it interrupted platforms on disney plus, venmo, slack, seamless, the associated press, tinder and even the mcdonald's app. amazon said many recovered by the end of the day on tuesday but did not give a time line when it expects all of those services thereafter those apps to be restored. still ahead, congresswoman debbie dingell joins me on the heels of her meeting with the u.s. commercial secretary. how she views the headlines trending into 2022. as we go to break, a look at this date in history. 41 years ago, former beatle john lennon was killed outside of his new york city apartment building. >> they kept a vigil all day

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republican congressman dan crenshaw of texas took i'm at the freedom caucus this weekend referring to the group as performance artists and grifteres. saying there's two types of members of congress, there's performance artists and there's legislators. the performance artists get all of the attention, they know how to say slogan real well. they know how to recite the lines that they know our voters want to hear.

crenshaw sentence that at the top of the list supporting it, everyone at the freedom caucus, we have grifteres in the conservative movement. lie after lie, they know it's about the conservative part. hmm, joining us democratic congresswoman debbie dingell. congresswoman dingell, great to see you. congressman crenshaw didn't name that many names but certainly, we know which gop lawmakers seem to be interested in the headlines, often with very offensive material. do you agree with the congressman's take here that there are some members of congress, from either party, particularly republicans who might be there to go viral, instead of trying to legislate? >> well, i think -- they may not -- when they want to get elected, they may think they

want to make a difference. but we do have a lot of members that are more interested in going viral. getting the attention. they raise a lot of money in being outrageous. and actually, i have to say with dan crenshaw, we don't agree on issues, but we talk about the exchange of ideas. but i've seen him walk across the floor very disappointed with the behavior that he's seen there. >> now, we just mentioned that commerce secretary raimondo went to your state of michigan to discuss the semiconductor chip shortage. obviously, those chips are in everything. and also a vital part for cars which is a big deal for the state of michigan. how has this hurt your constituents and what do you think -- is there a way for congress to help? >> we have to do something and there is a way for congress to help. and i'm trying very hard to get it done by the end of the year. but as you know, to get anything

done by the end of the year is a challenge. our plants have been closed. but the world pickup in the vehicles is down several million units because of this chip shortage. but the price because our company has had inflation, costs are up, parts are more expensive, some still making profits. while your workers have been put on layoffs for weeks on end. if you drive down michigan avenue in my hometown, dealerships that normally are always full of cars have nothing on them. they're empty parking lots. this has hurt my district significantly. and other industries. congress has got to pass a chip bill and we've got to bring the production of chips back to this country. we used to produce almost 40% of them. and now, we're down to 12%. we really have the price for

offline. >> congresswoman, staying in your home state, first of all, i should note that your local office in dearborn was the site of a break-in earlier this week. give us a sense of what authorities think may have happened there but also we know that covid cases are surging in michigan rightplease, as to where things stand, hospital capacity, how is your stae holding up right now? what are you worried about? >> i want to talk about covid because i met with a group of front line workers, i met with public health, our hospital -- and not just our community hospitals -- the university of michigan, henry ford health system, beaumont health system, which is the larger health systems in the state, are at capacity. the intensive care unit have many people on ventilators, and the hospitals, which i am talking to every day now because i am trying to stay on top of this, say patients that are in the icus are mostly unvaccinated

people. our front line workers are burnt out. they are -- i mean, some were just crying. yesterday, i talked to some of the nurses who just wanted somebody to hear what was happening. it's a problem. you know, people get mad. they don't want mask mandates or vaccination mandates, but our schools are being closed. quite frankly, because of surges in covid and because we've had a surge after the horrific incident at oxford. our schools are being closed because we've had so many -- i hope they are fake -- but threats to the schools. our prosecutors just in the county i live in have prosecuted 15 to 20 students or are going to press charges because of that. it is a little rough in michigan right now, to be perfectly frank. >> yeah. we should underscore the number of school districts that have been closed because of the threats, copycat threats, after the terrible school shooting. a trying time for the state of michigan. congresswoman debbie dingell, we

appreciate you being here. good luck, and we'll talk to you soon. earlier in the show, we asked, why are you awake? one viewer writes, i'm up way too early to start on my christmas cookies. send some to the studio, please. dan, anything from the control room? >> yeah. this one sounds pretty nice. one of our listeners emails, we are sailing down the east coast headed for the bahamas, listening to "way too early" on the night watch. satellite radio makes it possible. >> we appreciate the plug for the satellite radio. please tune in. yeah, make some room on the boat. vacation time coming up maybe. jonathan writes this, why am i up? i've got a new friend. look at that cat. pretty cute. that's not me. i'm not that jonathan. up next, a look at the axios 1 big thing. on "morning joe," we'll hear from two members of the senate. richard blumenthal joins the conversation ahead of instagram's hearing on teenagers. and the chair of the

intelligence committee, senator mark warner, is also a guest. plus, with the president traveling to kansas city to promote his signature legislative achievement today, we'll hear from the white house senior adviser responsible for coordinating the implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure bill. don't miss that. "morning joe," look, they're getting ready, i'll see them there too. "morning joe" a few minutes away. hey, get your own vapors relax with vicks vapobath or with vicks vaposhower. take a soothing vicks vapo moment wherever you chose. hi. so you're the scientist here. does my aveeno® daily moisturizer really make my dry skin healthier in one day? it's true jen. this prebiotic oat formula moisturizes to help prevent dry skin. impressive. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature.™ new daily moisture for face. there's a different way to treat hiv. it's once-monthly injectable cabenuva. cabenuva is the only once-a-month,

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joining us now with a look at axios a.m., congressional reporter. always great to see you as always. what is axios' 1 big thing today? >> good morning, jonathan. we're taking a look at the huge victory for leadership last night in the house, when they passed the annual defense authorization bill, as well as found a shortcut, really, to raise the debt limit. i have to say, i mean, heading into december, we all expected this to be a very messy and, you know, dramatic battle.

particularly around the debt limit. it's, honestly, very interesting to see how leaders came up with this almost loophole to create this one-time fast-track process to raise the debt limit with 51 votes. the key was, how will republicans react? it is different from the rhetoric we saw in the lead up to the first fiscal cliff in october, when republicans were very intensely saying, you know, hair on fire type rhetoric, that they'd not help democrats raise the debt limit. now, i mean, they won't. this allows them to say they didn't help democrats raise the debt limit, but they're making it easier with this process. i think a lot of hill reporters, myself included, and lawmakers are surprised that this seemed to be such an easy solution. so it is expected to pass the senate. we'll see. big victory for leadership.

>> hill reporters also now may get a christmas vacation, so that's exciting for you guys as well. >> yeah. >> now, axios is also taking a look today at the treatment of women in congress. what's causing this increase of what appears to be hate and vitriol toward women in power? >> it is awful. we've seen an uptick in threats against all members, but particularly women and minorities. and it's gotten increasingly worse. i think, you know, it is obviously a result and product of the extreme rheoric we've seen in congress as well. we've seen an uptick around january 6th and the fallout of the attack on the capitol, but a lot of members expected that to subside. it hasn't. you had debbie dingell on your show. her office was broken into and vandalized last week. there's been death threats and rape threats against many

members. omar had that terrible voicemail that we saw her unveil last week. other members, republicans as well, had their home broken into. we're seeing this uptick. the capitol police chief said by the end of the year, they expect 9,000 threats against all members. that's massive uptick, almost double what they saw in 2019. it was roughly -- or might have been 2018, forgive me. it was roughly 4,900 threats. so nearly double now. i think it just shows the massive uptick and change, really, in the way not only members to each other but the way the country view lawmakers. it is definitely an issue that many lawmakers are hoping they can pass legislation or find a way to help put an end to it. >> as mentioned, congresswoman debbie dingell who was on the

show, her office in michigan was broken into earlier this week. i talked to both law enforcement officials and those on the hill who are deeply concerned that after january 6th, there's going to be much more political violence as part of the discourse now this year ahead of the midterms and certainly ahead of 2024. disturbing stuff indeed. alayna, thank you as always. thanks to all of you for getting up way too early with us on this wednesday morning. the gang is all here in washington. "morning joe" starts right now. >> hello. good to see you again. unfortunately, last time i -- we didn't get to see each other at the g20. i hope next time we meet, we do it in person. >> okay. president biden -- >> very warm. you can feel just this setup. >> yes. it's always hard on zoom. greeting russian president putin at the start of their call yesterday, as shown by russian