because of his participation in trying to overturn the election, one of the more extreme examples but a very good one. another one is june yu who wrote the torture memos under george w. bush. laura engram, hate mongering on fox news every night. not all of these individuals go directly into the judiciary. they might work to overturn free and fair elections or whipping up hatred against muslim immigrants, but either way they're preaching from the gospel clarence thomas helped to write. and i'm sure crystal clanton will be set along the exact same path once she graduates from this boot camp. >> this is clarence thomas' arm ay. thanks for making the time tonight. that is our show for this evening. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. it's about telling a story. people have -- people are breaking their necks putting food on the table every day or

about the kid who may be sick. and am i say tell a story, i'm not talking about making a story. i'm telling how you feel because people trust you all. your neighbors trust you. >> that was part of a discussion between president biden and former presidents obama and clinton who all came together last night in new york city for a major fund-raiser. we'll have much more on that show of democratic unity in just a moment. donald trump, meanwhile, also in new york city but for a very different reason. he spent part of his day ranting on social media about the daughter of the judge in his ongoing hush money case. and also ahead, a possible positive step in getting desperately needed aid to ukraine as speaker mike johnson got a first-hand account yesterday of the dire situation in that war torn country.

good morning, and welcome to "way too early" on this friday, march 29th. it's friday and we made it barely. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. and we begin this morning with president biden's star-studded fund-raiser at radio city music hall. the biden campaign said it raised more than $26 million last night. more than 5,000 people attending it. it was hosted by actor and comedian and had such special guests as queen latifah, lizzo. the highlight was a conversation between the presidents. that talk moderated by late night host stephen colbert. the presidents discussed a wide range of issues including the war in gaza and the need to protect our democracy. they also took plenty of jabs at

former president trump, the presumptive gop nominee. the event was met with some pro-palestinian protesters, some of whom who interrupted the conversation with the president. a large group marched outside of radio city music hall calling for an end to the war in gaza. donors who did not attend the new york city event could listen to a pre-taped discussion that was moderated by biden campaign manager juli shav ezrodriguez. nbc news gained access to a live stream of that conversation. the president's talked about how personal stories from voters helped them win elections. take a listen. >> the way social media is now operating, there's so much disinformation out there. news is splintered so that we're not all getting the same story, and as a consequence a lot of people are mistrustful of what they see, what they hear. they don't know what to believe. it feels like people are yelling all the time.

and so what people do still listen to, though, are their friends. they still listen to people they know and they trust. and so the best messengers for the campaign is not some tv ad. it's going to be, oh, jim over there who i've known all my life and i know he and i go fishing together, or mary at work she talked about how joe capping insulin at $35 has saved their family, you know, hundreds of dollars. >> a campaign for president gives you a chance to make the personal political in the best possible way, for people to talk about their lives and their experiences. all the people who have been helped, the millions upon millions upon millions of people who they and their families are then helped by the things that joe biden has accomplished in

just 3 1/2 so years is important. everyone is so distrustful now, but they do relate to personal stories. >> you don't have to be an expert on policy. what have we done that affects your life that caused you to think it was important to contribute $20 to this campaign? tell that to your neighbors. it matters. it matters. that's how we're going to win. >> in our next block we'll be joined by one of the very few reporters allowed today be inside the radio city fund-raiser last night, part of the white house press pool. they'll join us after our next break. meanwhile, former president donald trump was also in new york city yesterday to attend the wake of an nypd officer killed in the line of duty. trump met with the family of officer jonathan diller yesterday during a memorial

service on long island. officer diller was shot and killed on monday while approaching an illegally parked car in queens. police say the suspect in the shooting has nearly two dozen previous arrests. after meeting with officer diller's family who invited trump to the service, trump spoke to reporters outside describing the officer's death as a horrible thing and calling for a return to law and order. trump has accused president biden of not being tough on crime as his campaign looked to contrast his visit with biden's fund-raiser last night in manhattan with the two other former presidents. meanwhile, trump spent another part of his day on social media, attacking the daughter of the judge in his hush money case. trump mentioned her by name in a post, which included a false claim about a social media account that shares a handle that she once used. trump ranted about a picture of him behind bars that was posted to the account claiming it proves he simply can't get a fair trial.

but the new york state court says the handle no longer belongs to the judge's daughter. according to a court spokesperson she deleted it about a year ago and someone else has taken it over since and it's not clear who. while trump is under a gag order in the case, it does not apply to anything he says about the judge or his family. meanwhile, trump ffs lead defense lawyers arguing the former president's words cannot be used against him in the fulton county election interference case, one of his other legal woes. in an atlanta court yesterday a lawyer claimed trump's comments and social media posts after the 2020 election amounted to political speech. the lawyer said courts have refused to interfere with political speech under the first amendment, and without those comments, there's no case. quote, take out the political speech, no charges. well, "the new york times" reports the argument first amendment grounds should block trump from being prosecuted criminally has previously been rejected by u.s. district court

judge tanya chutkan in a separate federal prosecution. georgia prosecutors noted the earlier ruling in court on thursday. they also argued trump's comments should not be considered on their own but as part of a series of actions aimed to advance crimes including racketeering. the judge did not rule on the argument yesterday. still ahead here on "way too early," republican house oversight chairman james comer makes another attempt to keep the impeachment inquiry into president biden in the headlines. plus, national security reporter for politico alex ward joins me with insight on the state of the war in ukraine. and in just a few minutes we'll be joined with jeff mason of reuters, a white house correspondent in the room last night for that radio city fund-raiser. all that and a check on sports and weather when we come right back. check on sports and weather when we come right back

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welcome back. and joining us now at 30 rock white house correspondent for reuters jeff mason. he was part of the pool last night of reporters that was inside radio city music hall covering that mega fund-raiser that raised over $25 million. jeff, good to see you this morning. thanks for joining us early after a late night. first of all, just take us inside the room. capture the mood for us and how did the presidents, all three of them seem? >> well, it was an electric mood inside. there was a lot of energy. there were over 5,000 people in that room. so a lot of bodies and a lot of people who really wanted to see the ex-presidents and the current presidents. they all seemed good, jovial and good moods. and i think president biden was really buoyed by having his predecessors there. he's got a great charisma and rapport especially with

president obama. >> some protesters voicing their displeasure over the war in gaza. how did the presidents deal with it? >> i've been in a bunch of these type of events on a much smaller scale where they get interrupted. and there was one in virginia where president biden could barely get through a speech. that was not a case last night. there were a handful five or six protests, and in some ways i was saying this to you before, it may end up being a little bit of a blessing in disguise for the campaign because they got to see how the other presidents reacted. president obama had a very sharp response in one case, telling one protester you can't just talk, you have to listen. that's what the other side does. and the crowd really liked that response. but more broadly to your question how did they respond, both bill clinton and barack

obama gave kind of a nuanced response about what it's like to be president. president obama said you can't expect a purity test from your presidents. presidents have to weigh all these different things. and they made a wide sort of broader lens argument that you can be pro-israel and pro-security of israel while also pushing for peace for palestinians and for their own state, which is what both of them did. >> and how did those two ex-presidents, clinton and obama, who have their own ties and relationships with donald trump, how did they make the case against the republican nominee? >>, you know, what's interesting in part is president obama -- president biden came out with his arguments, the ones president biden has been making. and obama said it's not just a negative case against it other guy, there's also a positive case for this guy. and they both -- both obama and clinton laid out that case talking about the economy,

talking about what biden has done. clinton in particular went through some of the challenges he thought both obama and biden had faced during their terms, which of course came after clinton and a little bit of why they weren't getting credit for the economy that he believes they've built. clinton was funny. he said obama stole the first couple of years -- excuse me, trump stole the first couple of years of obama's i guess third term, but recovery in that sense. and it was an interesting take on trump taking credit for what obama had played. >> so those two men, obama and clinton, are so famed. clinton was once named explainer in chief. tell us how the campaign, how we might see them going forward. obama really acted as the closer. he showed up in mid-october for a lot of high energy rallies. seems like he's playing a more visible presence. >> he is. he's been at the white house a

handful of times helping to commemorate the affordable care act anniversary and clearly advising his friend as a former president as well. i think obama will probably play that closer role again, and his aides have suggested he'll do a lot of that behind the scenes work. they'll also look back on last night as a huge success. the money is a really eye popping number. that's not to say they'll do this trio again, but it's not ruled out. and either way i think both of them will be out there campaigning for biden. >> and lastly let's talk about the money. $26 million or so, a huge night and also adds to what is a really substantial and growing cash advantage for biden over trump. >> it is. and that's given them two advantage. one is the clear financial advantage over former president trump. two, it's given them something to needle trump with. the campaign is making a big deal of saying trump is the money guy. well, where's his money it's all going out for legal expenses and

he's not spepdsing the time out on the campaign trail biden is. and they're using that to sort of razz him. that gives them, again, both a financial and are rhetorical advantage, which they're trying to press. >> white house correspondent for reuters jeff mason thank you for joining us. republican house oversight chair james comer has formally invited president biden to testify before the oversight committee as part of its impeachment probe. in a letter sent yesterday comer proposed biden appear on april 16th, which would coincidently be one day after donald trump's criminal hush money trial is scheduled to begin in new york. comer claims testimony last week from former associates of hunter biden contradicted statements the president has made about his involvement in his son's business dealings. comer first announced his plans to invite the president to testify at the end of that hearing. in response the white house pointed to a social media post

from spokesman ian sams after comer announce those plans last week. and in that post sams says chairman comer knows more than 20 witnesses testified, the president did nothing wrong, adding this is a sad stunt at the end of a dead impeachment. the timing of this should not be overlooked, clearly an effort to muddy the waters in a false equivalency between what's happening with trump and this thing on the hill. meanwhile, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy and house speaker mike johnson spoke on the phone yesterday. on social media zelenskyy said they discussed the recent uptick in air assaults launched by russia on ukrainian territory. in his post the ukrainian president called for the quick passage of u.s. aid, which has been held up in congress for months. ahead of breaking for recess last week, speaker johnson said a foreign aid deal is the next order of business for the house, which returns after the easter break in mid-april. next up we'll flip to sports with more march madness upsets.

we'll tell you which sweet 16 teams punched their tickets to the elite eight. plus highlights from opening day across major league baseball. they included some historic games and plays and an unlikely win on the boston red sox. those stories and a check on the weekend forecast when we come right back. the weekend forecast when we come right back head & shoulders is launching something huge. the bare minimum. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients - no sulfates, silicones or dyes and packaged with 45% less plastic - giving you outstanding dandruff protection and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized. major dandruff protection, minimal ingredients. job done. new head & shoulders bare.

deep center. an absolute bomb to straightaway center. >> it's been untouchable. 11 strikeouts for corbin burns in his oriole debut. >> here's the play.

he's out. they get him. >> right center. he is going to get the redemption. walks it off. the rangers win the opener. >> those are just some of the sights and sounds across major league baseball on what should be a national holiday, opening day. that included that walk off win for the texas rangers to begin their world series title defense. you also saw that heroic throw by the newly acquired juan soto to preserve the yankee's lead in yesterday's victory. and you saw the highlights from the 11 strike-out debut from baltimore orioles ace corbin burns, his first start for the team. meanwhile history made in arizona where the diamondbacks rallied from an opening day record 14 runs scored in the third inning. they beat the rockies 16-1. and last night late in seattle boston's tyler o'neal set a

major league record homering in his fifth consecutive opening day game. the red sox despite our predictions won. they beat seattle 6-4. in los angeles it was back to baseball for shohei ohtani and the dodgers after the firing of his interpreter. ohtani also found himself in the pickle on the diamond yesterday, caught in a pass. that didn't work. he is tagged out there third, but he still finished for the walk. the dodgers beat the cardinals 7-1. another home run from mooky bets. turning now to college basketball and a lot of chalk erased in tip off to the men's sweet 16. congrats to scarborough as fourth seat alabama is number 8 for the second time in history. crimson tide are the first in this year's tournament to knock off the number one seed beating

north carolina 89-87 last night. roll tide. alabama will take on clemson for the birth in the final four after an upset in arizona 77-72. and third seated illinois reached the elite eight for the first time with a 72-69 win over number 2 iowa state. meanwhile, this piece of alcoholic held, number one yukon blue through crushing fifth seated san diego state 82-52. the remainder of the men's elite eight will be decided tonight while the women's sweet 16 tips off this afternoon. time now for the weather and let's go to our meteorologist for the forecast. how's it looking out there? >> great to be with you, jonathan. we had a soggy day in new york but conditions are going to be improving here. still seeing some rain across upper parts of new england. expect that to continue for a couple more hours before we

finally get improvement. flood watch from nantucket into parts of maine. improvement expected as we head to the weekend. and wet snow expected today develop on the backside of this. if we switch to the west here things are going to start getting active the next couple of days. a strong storm moving into california, that likely not only to bring heavy coastal rain but also some mountain snow for today. by tomorrow those rain bands may rotate some rain into the four corners area and the desert southwest, so we can expect that flood risk from los angeles to san diego before by sunday that mountain snow starts to shift into the rockies, so sort of a split holiday weekend here with conditions, jonathan, pretty quiet in the east but starting to get active in the west. so we'll need to watch out for delays there. >> all right, thank you so much. have a good weekend. next up here on "way too early," the white house is reportedly coming up with plans for a post-war gaza. we'll tell you ability the options the biden administration is weighing and the role that

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welcome back to "way too early." it is just about 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this friday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. the united nation's top court has ordered israel to allow unimpeded access of humanitarian aid into gaza. the international court of

justice at the hague used its strongest language yet in yesterday's ruling demanding that israel provide full cooperation with the u.n. the court also ordered israel to increase the number of land crossing opponents into gaza and to maintain them for as long as possible. meanwhile, there's news on how the united states might view the next step after the conflict. politico's reporting that officials in the biden administration are in early talks surrounding options for post-war gaza. the reporting suggests it might look like the pentagon helping to fund either a multinational force or a palestinian peacekeeping team inside the territory. however, the options being discussed would not involve any u.s. troops on the ground, according to two defense department officials and two other u.s. officials. joining us now national security reporter for politico, alex ward. one of the coauthors of that piece. alex, great to see you as

always. tell us more about these options that the u.s. is considering, but of course there's no sense of a timetable as to when they'll be implemented because there's no sense as to when this war will end or what prime minister netanyahu will say -- will approve of including a two-state solution. >> that's exactly right. israel has not approved any of these options. these are basically ideas at this point as they figure out what a post-war gaza might eventually look like. as you noted one is multinational force composed of middle eastern countries. we should note many of them are saying they do not want to be part of a multinational force unless there's a clear two-state solution path. and then there would be a palestinian peacekeeping force including roughly of the -- some of the 20,000 or so security forces that the palestinian authority has been funding for years. so two ideas on the table, might use both of them, might use one of them, might use zero of them.

but they are being discussed, and dod would use either of those but again noted not including u.s. troops at all. >> the u.s. wants to turn to that post-war as soon as possible but no sign of this conflict ending anytime soon. let's tourn to the war in ukraine. overnight russia carried out widespread attacks that prompted poland to scramble jets to monitor the situation in the allied airspace. there's been a real increase the number of air strikes from russia into ukraine in recent weeks. give us your assessment of where things stand, what the next few weeks of conflict could look like. >> i think it's going to be more of this. i mean you saw the polish leader today say this is the prologue to a bigger war and that he wasn't joking. i mean that's the level of concern that there is in central and eastern europe at this point and of course in ukraine. i mean the experts would say putin is acting outright now. one, he's not making that much progress in ukraine. two, he needs to look good after

the isis attack on the theater. he's going to use what he has to a big show of force. one is attack ukraine. russia doesn't have a ton of artillery, a ton of weaponry and missiles to keep shooting at ukraine with this pace, but what we can expect is this kind of barrage to be a regular occurrence. and we do know the russians are planning a larger offensive later in the year although there's a debate how successful the russians can be with that. >> let's go a little further into that. we certainly know ukraine desperate for weapons, desperate for ammunition. zelenskyy spoke to speaker johnson earlier in the show. i know there's skepticism about what can get done on the hill. is there a sense russia has the ability to launch any sort of real offensive that could gain significant ground, or do u.s. officials believe they're largely hoping just to maintain what they have and wait for november's election to see if donald trump gets in?

>> well, the way the biden administration is talking about it is if that supplemental doesn't go through, then the russians are going to break through ukrainian lines and possibly take more territory this year. if it does and the ukrainians can likely hold the lines they have and prepare for a larger fight next year, most likely. so what really is at stake if you listen to the biden administration is that that money is -- there's a difference between ukraine losing ground or potentially gaining it next year. the russians of course might want to take advantage of this lull, i so they are preparing a -- there's talk about them conscripting or forcing people into a larger force so they can start taking ukrainian territory. u.s. officials are still unclear whether or not that's going to happen or not, but that is of course a major concern still. >> all right, a lot of ground covered for us this morning by national security reporter for politico, our friend alex ward. alex, good to see you as always. next up here the federal reserve is set to release its

latest inflation report today. we'll tell you what economists are anticipating. plus, ftx founder sam bankman fried will spend the next two decades behind bars. we'll talk about what his sentencing could mean for the future of the crypto industry. we'll be back with business news next. industry. we'll be back with business news next [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty.

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inflation data that gave us a sense inflation has been trending down. that's not been the case since the start of 2024. january came in really hot, much hotter than expected. and february didn't really offer all that much relief. that's something that we're probably going to end up seeing in this preferred inflation gauge that comes out this morning, which really just means it's going to take a couple more months to fill in a more complete picture. is this just a couple of months or the start of a more worrisome trend? >> and that's one of the factors behind a top federal reserve official saying the central bank might have to keep rates higher than what wall street has been expecting. tell us more about that. >> these are comments made by federal reserve dpufblner christopher whauler who's an influential voice on the fed who in a speech earlier this week said we're not in a rush, based on the way inflation data has come in over the last couple of months there hasn't been this compelling need to cut rates just yet. that could end up affecting the total number of cuts, the exact

timing. waller didn't get super specific and we'll be waiting to hear an echo from federal chair jerome powell if that's something he agrees with. they're saying even though inflation has made tons of progress but they don't quite feel absolutely confident that is something that will stick, that inflation is steadily on the road to a more normal target. and until they feel that way, they're not going to be in a rush to cut rates. >> we'll be carefully watching all of this in the weeks ahead. and one more for you, rachel, a huge headline. sam bankman-fried, the one time crypto king whose ftx exchange collapsed and left investors truly scrambling was sentenced yesterday to 25 years in federal prison. just a remarkable downfall for him personally, but let's take a wider lens. what do we think this means for the crypto industry? >> well, there are a few pieces i think are fair to expect to come in the future.

first, there's obviously this piece of continuing to make the customers and victims of the sam bankman-fried scheme whole. that's one piece still being resolved. and then there's this regulatory piece specifically looking at fraud and the digital asset space. fully understanding, realizing, and pinpointing the risks that come with this growing part of the financial sector. and then i think you also have this signal that the sentencing really brought a signal that people who hold enormous power in this space will be punished. this is not something that can be slapped away with a fine and then, you know, we'll move on from there. there are serious consequences here. >> 25 years certainly a serious consequence. joining us from d.c. economics reporter for "the washington post," rachel siegel, thank you. still ahead here on "way too early," former republican congresswoman liz cheney is warning about the dangers of another trump presidency. hear her comments about the 2024 election and the state of the gop when "way too early" comes right back. e gop when "way too early" comes right back shingles.

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welcome back. former republican congresswoman liz cheney is once again warning voters about the dangers of a second trump administration. speaking at iowa's drake university this week, cheney cast the 2024 election not as a choice between a democrat and a republican but a choice between bad policy and the end of america as we know it. take a look. >> we know he tried once not to leave office. and he will no incentive to guarantee a peaceful transfer of power and to leave office if he's elected again. i certainly have policy disagreements with the biden administration. i know the nation can survive bad policy. we can't survive a president who is willing to torch the constitution. >> joining us now president of the national action network and host of msnbc's "politics

nation" the reverend al sharpton. reverend, great to see you this morning. that argument there we just heard from congresswoman cheney that trump is too dangerous to be allowed to be in the oval office was one the biden campaign made very effectively in 2020. do you think as more time has passed, it's still potent enough four years later to get people to come out to vote? >> i do. i think it's even more potent when we're doing this election in the backdrop of the presidential nominee of the republican party. in the middle of four trials. one or two possibly may have even transpired before the election. so given the backdrop of this person on trial, one of those trials for interfering with the last election, i think it would be even more of a present issue in this election than it was in 2020. and clearly you have january 6th

to refer to, so we're not talking about an imaginary kind of rebellion against democracy and then putting in place who you want. there's clear evidence that this is what they would do. and if they're empowered, they would do it even further. >> yeah, and president biden has certainly made speeches about democracy and courts defend it during his time in office. i expect we'll hear more from that in november. as you know a new york city officer was killed, a tragic event. former president trump attended his wake very clear trying to show a contrast to president biden who we've been discussing was in town for that glitzy fund-raiser. how important -- first of all, how effective do you think that was? but secondly, how important do you think crime will actually be as a campaign issue this fall? >> i think that the republicans

will raise crime as an issue even though crime has nationally and in many of the urban cities gone down. now, that statistic doesn't matter to those who are victims of crime. and it really is interesting because those that live in communities of color and communities that have gotten the least amount of government involvement are the ones that suffer the most crime. what is interesting to me and should be pointed out by the democrats and president biden's team is that i've lived in new york all my life as donald trump did. and even though i have fought against police abuse and have fought against police that i felt had done wrong, i've gone and stood up, had vigils and other things for police when they were killed. i don't remember donald trump attending any vigil, going to any wake or anything around a policeman. forget police victims, around

policemen until yesterday. now, if he has, he needs to produce the evidence. if he has not, then one can only say, then what gave you inincentive to do it now. you're 77, 78 years old, and you just discovered that you ought to embrace families when their police relatives are killed. >> and last, of course, then-president trump didn't attend the wake or funeral of any of the officers killed because of what happened on january 6th. rev, lastly and beliefly we mentioned this, three democratic presidents last night raised a lot of money but also a real sign of democratic unity. it seems the look, we hear you, those in the party who are unhappy about student loans, gaza, whatever it might be, but the stakes are too high. get over those disagreements. we can't let trump in office again. do you think the messaging worked? >> i think the messaging did work. i think president obama saying

it's not a purity test, as one who sat in that seat that biden now sits, as clinton has sat, and i think that when you hear them saying that we all have had our disagreements, between themselves, the three of them, but it is about saving the country and about doing what's best for the people, i think it was a historic night and a historic coming together. >> host of msnbc's "politics nation," reverend al sharpton, thank you. we'll talk again later this morning on "morning joe." up next here on "way too early," we'll bring you the latest out of baltimore where the federal government approved millions to rebuild the francis scott key bridge, but that's a small amount of what is needed to full by bounce back. coming up on "morning joe," that show of democratic unity. president biden's campaign fundraiser with barack obama and bill clinton brought in a record

$26 million for his re-election bid. what all three men said will happen if donald trump wins a second term. plus, dnc chairman jaime harrison, who was in attendance last night, will join the conversation. also ahead, trump goes after the daughter of the judge in his upcoming hush money trial. this time, calling her out by name. what it means considering his partial gag order, and how it could impact that case. "morning joe" just a few moments away. with new secret outlast, you can almost miss the bus... but smell like you didn't. secret fights 99% of odor-causing bacteria. smell fresh for up to 72 hours. secret works! it's a crime to smell that good.

welcome back. the federal government is giving maryland its first $60 million toward cleaning up and rebuilding the francis key bridge. of course, that's a drop in the bucket for what will be needed. the bridge collapsed earlier this week after a cargo ship struck it. a massive 1,000-ton crane is expected to arrive overnight to clear the river of mangled metal and containers. so far, two bodies very recovered, and four others are missing and presumed dead, believed to be trapped in a vehicle beneath concrete steel that fell into the water. baltimore mayor brandon scott

remains hopeful the rest of the bodies will eventually be recovered. this as scott faces a new challenge on a different front, racist conspiracy theories surrounding the bridge's collapse. some republicans and right-wing pundits are attempting to connect the tragedy to diversity, equity, and inclusion, dei. here's how the mayor responded to those racist attacks. >> we know what they want to say, but they don't have the courage to say the n-word. the fact i don't believe in their untruthful and wrong ideology, and i am very proud of my heritage and who i am and where i come from, scares them. >> joining us now, msnbc political analyst brendan buck. he was a communication strategist and former aide to house speakers ryan and john boehner. john user weighed in on biden's promise to use federal funding to replace the critical shipping artery in baltimore to repair the bridge in the port.

let's listen. >> it was outrageous, immediately, for biden to express in this tragedy the idea that he is going to use federal funds to pay for it in entirety. he doesn't refer to it as the american taxpayer dollars on anything. first reaction, in fact, the only reaction tends to be to spend. >> as noted, $60 million on its way, but this is a rebuilding price tag that's going to be in the billions, most likely. am i wrong that when there have been other disasters like this, other bridge collapses, the federal government moved in a bipartisan way and moved swiftly? talk to us about this very polarized rhetoric, and should we expect to hear more of it from house republicans? >> yeah, that's right. in 2007, bridge in minnesota collapsed over the mississippi, and congress acted within a few days, unanimously passing hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild. look, i expect congress is going to provide funding to rebuild the bridge, but this is a whole different era. 2007 feels like a million years

ago. we've seen this repeatedly, whether it's not just a bridge collapse but natural disasters. you always end up having a lot of conservatives say, well, you know, this doesn't need to be the federal government's responsibility or they push back or find some reason to say they shouldn't vote for it. when it happens in their neighborhood, they sound a little different. they will absolutely be conservatives who push back on this. there does happen to be one member who will be relatively important. andy harris of maryland, represents the east shore, a freedom house caucus member. he'll be a liaison to be more conservatives in the house to get them along. but the shape of the deal is also, i think, going to be really interesting. we know this is not just a bridge collapse. this is also going to be a significant economic disruption, not just to maryland and baltimore but the entire country. it'll be interesting to see whether the biden administration requests some type of economic support for the city.

that may get conservatives cross. but i expect they'll be able to come together in a bipartisan way. the issue is how much grief is mike johnson going to get from conservatives for once again spending more money? >> key points there about the republican hypocrisy, when the disaster is in their area. a sad commentary about how polarized things are right now and how the house republicans act. speaking of house republicans acting out, marjorie taylor greene a week or so back, as we know, began efforts to try to oust speaker johnson. it is unclear exactly where that is going. give us your analysis. could this blow back on mtg, or could she have more help with news that speaker johnson is talking to president zelenskyy and seems more apt to aid ukraine? >> yeah, as we've discussed before, i think this is entirely about ukraine. she framed it as about the last spending bill, but i think she is trying to get ahead of what johnson said is the next priority, funding for ukraine. look, johnson is being much more forward-leaning on this issue than i expected him to be.

he's outright said this is their next priority. if he wasn't serious about it, i don't know why he would say that. i expect that marjorie taylor greene is going to try to make this motion. it'll be around johnson trying to move money for ukraine. i think it'll blow up on her, in that i find it hard to see democrats doing to mike johnson what they did to kevin mccarthy. it only takes a few republicans to do this if all the democrats are voting with them, but if all the democrats are not voting with them, then this could easily fail. this threat that has been hanging over speakers for a long time could quickly go away, and it may ease passage for ukraine funding. >> it feels we may be approaching a bit of an inflection point. brendan buck, terrific analysis, as always. we'll talk again very soon. thank you for joining us this morning. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this business friday morning and all week long. "morning joe" starts right now.