Summary:
Representative Greene defends herself in House floor speech, no
apology from her. Greene backed violence against Dems, QAnon and other
conspiracy theories. House debated Greene`s removal before vote. 11 GOP
reps vote with Dems to push Rep. Greene. President Joe Biden breaks with
Trump foreign policy agenda. J&J asks FDA for emergency authorization for
its single-shot COVID vaccine. Donald Trump`s legal team has said the
former president will not voluntarily testify under oath at his impeachment
trial in the Senate. The Biden White House is considering sending masks
directly to American households.
Transcript:
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I believe he`s a hero too. And I know
it`s not just him. He`ll be the first one to say that, but to every one of
our house clerks, we thank you. To our Capitol Police, we thank you. To our
food service workers, our custodial workers, every person here that was
standing to fight for our democracy, we thank you. And with that, Madam
Speaker, I yield my time.
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez gets Tonight`s
Last Word.
The 11th Hour with Brian Williams starts now.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, once again, day 16 of the Biden
administration. As we come on the air tonight there is major news that will
no doubt raise the temperature of our politics, along with the possibility
that we may soon see another coronavirus vaccine in this country.
As we all watch the Republican Party in the process very publicly of
deciding what it wants to be, who its leaders are, what it wants to stand
for? Tonight, the House voted to remove the QAnon Congresswoman Marjorie
Taylor Greene of Georgia. From both of the committee she served on as
recently as this afternoon, the Education Committee and the Budget
Committee, despite near unanimous opposition from her party. Vote was 230
to 199. It came amid mounting outrage over the crazy conspiracy theories.
She has endorsed and repeated, 11 Republicans chose to cross the aisle to
join the Democrats. Here they are in injecting Greene from those
committees, which essentially sends her into a kind of legislative exile.
In remarks on the House floor this afternoon, Greene apologized for none of
it. She expressed regret for her comments and said she quote stumbled into
QAnon after doubting media reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): The problem with that is though is I
was allowed to believe things that weren`t true. You see school shootings
are absolutely real, 9/11 absolutely happened. I never went said any of the
things that I am being accused of today during my campaign. I never said
any of these things since I have been elected for Congress. These were
words of the past. Shall we stay divided like this? Will we allow the media
that is just as guilty as QAnon of presenting truth and lies to divide us?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Here for the record, the briefest reminder of some of Greene`s
Greatest Hits that led to today`s vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GREENE: Many Americans are like blind sheep just going through life, not
paying attention. There is an Islamic invasion into our government offices
right now.
How do you get avid gun owners and people that support the second amendment
to give up their guns? Maybe you accomplish that by performing a mass
shooting into a crowd. The so-called plane that crashed into the Pentagon,
it`s odd there`s never any evidence shown for a plane in the Pentagon. Q is
a patriot. We know that for sure. Many of our government are actively
worshipping Satan, or they call Malok (ph). Q is saying that they
participate in pedophilia, and spirit cooking. There`s a once in a lifetime
opportunity to take this global cable of Satan worshipping pedophiles out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Sorry to interrupt your meal of cooking. Satan Greene today
blamed her problems on the media when as you saw those were her words not
the product of any media, cabal or cable as she prefers it. During the
debate before the vote, Republicans argued that punishing Greene would set
a bad precedent, while Democrats kept their focus on the substance of her
remarks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. STENY HOYER (D-MD): The conduct we are judging today continued to
occur even after Representative Greene became a candidate, and even after
she was elected. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to look at this image.
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL): We are dealing with conduct that
brings shame on this House. It is exactly the kind of conduct that helps
fuel domestic terrorism.
REP. JIM JORDAN (R-OH): Who`s next? Who will the canceled culture attack
next, now they`re coming after Ms. Greene?
REP. TOM COLE (R-OK): I fear that if we open this particular Pandora`s Box
we will not like what happens next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: The House impeachment managers who will present their case
against Donald Trump on Tuesday of next week have sent him a letter asking
him to testify at the Senate trial. Trump`s lawyers have rejected that and
added there will be no written statement. They also say they expect the
trial to end either next Friday or Sunday and they`ll file more legal
briefs Monday.
Today one Senate Republican leader expressed an eagerness to get this trial
over with.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): I think it`s in his best interest not to testify,
and I think most of the senators on both sides would like to expedite this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Meanwhile, smartmatic the voting technology company that became
the target of misinformation and voter fraud claims has filed a $2.7
billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, some of its hosts and two of
Trump`s lawyers.
Here they are, Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, Jeanine Pirro, Rudy Giuliani,
Sidney Powell, have all been named in the suit. And at various times all of
them trafficked in claims about the election and the company that were just
made up. This is a serious lawsuit. The company says it has identified at
least 100 false statements and implications made on Fox News programs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, MEMBER OF PRESIDENT TRUMP LEGAL TEAM: Smartmatic, which is a
company that was founded in 2005 in Venezuela, for the specific purpose of
fixing elections. That`s their expertise, how to fix elections. They did it
a number of times in Venezuela, they did it in Argentina, and they messed
up an election to a fairly well, in Chicago.
SIDNEY POWELL, ATTORNEY: We know that one of the smartmatic people has went
to Tarrant County, Texas and turned that county blue after having been an
executive with smartmatic. And all of a sudden, this one election, Tarrant
County is purportedly blue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Joe Biden took his campaign to rollback Trump`s agenda. The State
Department today was his first visit to any government agency as president
and this one meant to symbolize a lot. Biden laid out his administration`s
priorities and its approach to dealing with a longtime adversary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: America is back. America is
back. Diplomacy is back at the center of our foreign policy and leading
with diplomacy means standing shoulder to shoulder with our allies and key
partners. Once again, I made it clear to President Putin in a manner very
different from my predecessor that the days of the United States rolling
over in the face of Russia`s aggressive actions, interfering with our
elections, cyberattacks, poisonous citizens are over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: The President said he will stop Trump`s plan to withdraw our
troops from Germany, a move that let`s face it, all serious military
commanders instantly viewed as a mistake, but we`re powerless to stop.
Biden is also ending arms sales and other support to Saudi Arabia and its
war with Yemen.
As Biden pushes for a passage of his coronavirus relief bill, there is news
on the vaccine front and it`s big, Johnson and Johnson has officially
applied for that emergency use authorization from the FDA for its vaccine,
which is administered let`s remember in a single shot, if the application
is approved, it would be the third brand name vaccine authorized for
emergency use in our country.
It`s a lot and with that, let`s bring in our leadoff guests on this
Thursday night, two veterans of journalism, one of foreign policy. Jonathan
Lemire, White House Reporter with The Associated Press, A.B. Stoddard,
Associate Editor and Columnist for Real Clear Politics, and Ben Rhodes,
former Deputy National Security Adviser for President Obama.
Good evening, and welcome to you all. A.B., I`m going to read you a quote
from Steve Schmidt yesterday. Extremism is the brand of the GOP. We have a
dangerous autocratic movement in this country. Its home is the GOP. Do you
agree and will what happened today make this Congresswoman a rallying cry
or a martyr or a disgrace or some mixture of all three?
A.B. STODDARD, REAL CLEAR POLITICS ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST: So the
difference between a secret ballot vote for Liz Cheney, the conference
chair in the House last night versus this public vote today, where 11
Republicans joined Democrats to say that this woman does not deserve to sit
in committee in the House of Representatives tells you all you need to know
she sent it out a triumphant tweet tonight around 9:30 saying that she
wanted to thank all of the "real Republicans" who stood with her today. And
in Trumpian fashion she said that each of you will be remembered.
So, she`s going to be watching her fundraising totals in the days to come.
I`m sure she will achieve mega martyr status even more than she was in 48
hours ago when she had raised nearly $2 million. She was not as Senator
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana a Republican forthrightly said expressing regret
is different from disavowing and condemning. And she did not do that, as
you noted in the open. She`s trying to have it both ways, just like Kevin
McCarthy.
And the truth is, Brian, that the Republican members and representatives
and senators are not in it, particularly choosing radicalism. People like
Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, congressmen, they believe this stuff. They`re
unplanted, Rudy. I love listening to Rudy Giuliani talk. I want to be where
he is. It seems like a happy place, but it`s not here.
The problem is most of the members are realizing that their voters have
been radicalized with Trump off the stage and off Twitter. They`re still
going home and their brother in law, and their high school roommate, and
the lovely people at church tell them all this stuff, and they believe it,
and the pushback is rejected. So even though we have an escalating
disinformation crisis, when these members of the Republican Party trying to
say that stuff isn`t true, they are told this is a free country. And I`ve
heard this myself. We are free to think the way that we want and we don`t
appreciate the media and the Democrats saying the Trump supporters need to
be deprogrammed. So once the voters been this radicalized, this is where
their representatives will follow.
WILLIAMS: Jonathan Lemire, trigger warning. I`m going to ask you a question
about the last president you covered not the current president you cover
for a living. It is February 4, his allegiance to Trump in the Republican
Party as strong today as it was November 4?
JONATHAN LEMIRE, ASSOCIATED PRESS WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: It seems like it`s
only wavered maybe a little, Brian. This is still Donald Trump`s Republican
Party. That is clear. Yes, there were some Republicans who today voted to
strip this Congresswoman of her committee status far more revolted against
Liz Cheney last night, in the wake of her vote to impeach President Trump.
The point, A.B. just made is exactly right. Yes, Donald Trump is out on
Twitter that his voters still out there. Polls suggest his popularity in
the Republican Party. It slipped just a little, just a little. It is, he is
still very popular among Republicans.
We know this set the trial in the Senate that`s going to start next week
that outcome is already preordained. Only five Republicans even voted to
have it the proceedings move forward. The rest, including Minority Leader
McConnell have said no, it shouldn`t even be happening in the first place.
And we`ve seen a silence from the former president, you know, he is going
to pass on the opportunity to appear before the trial. And he`s also we
know he`s off Twitter. But he stayed quiet, he stayed low. They know people
around him. The outcome is done. They don`t want to do anything to mess
around. They know this is still his party.
WILLIAMS: Ben Rhodes, we`re going to have to ping pong back and forth
between your bailiwick and our two journalism guests. But I`ll say this,
the spine of the superb book you wrote about your experience in the Obama
White House, stares at me on the shelf across from where I do my work. And
you were nice enough to come on during the depths of the Trump years when I
would routinely asked you what must our allies and adversaries make of us
now? So it`s a new day, this February 4, the headline of our President`s
speech at the State Department, America is back. What else did you take
away from that appearance today?
BEN RHODES, FORMER DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, Brian, clearly,
he wanted to reassure the rest of the world that we are going to ditch the
kind of radical approaches taken under Donald Trump. And they were once
again going to stand for set of values that we share with our allies. And
he spoke about specific policies, they`re going to move us in that
direction, obviously, consequences for Russia for what it`s been doing,
including the poisoning and imprisoning of Alexei Navalny, the suspension
of military assistance to Saudi Arabia`s war in Yemen that has been a
complete catastrophe, the U.S. opening the door to refugees. But really
just hitting the notes of what the world would want to hear from an
American president.
I think the challenge, Brian, to link these conversations, is the world was
very pleased to hear that certainly our allies were very pleased. But they
were kind of looking over Joe Biden`s shoulder at the craziness that
continues to infect a major American political party. So, Joe Biden has
challenges on the one hand, he needs to revitalize democracy around the
world. Democracy is under assault, not from Russia, from China from all
manner of adversaries around the world, and our own democracy is bad in
need of repair here at home. So for Joe Biden`s credibility to carry
through on the world stage, not only does he have to demonstrate that he`s
following those words with actions in his foreign policy, he has to
demonstrate that he`s making progress and fixing this democracy at home.
Because remember, it was a Republican President Ronald Reagan, who talked
about America being a city on the hill, just think of the city that the
world has been looking at for the last four years. And even that they see
in the comments of this Congresswoman who is by no -- you know, way out of
the mainstream of any democracy in the world today.
So I think Joe Biden hit the right note state but as he said, foreign
domestic policy and frankly, foreign policy and domestic politics are now
very much tied together.
WILLIAMS: A.B., Ben as a diplomat, they are forever finding linkage between
topics. And he correctly has done it again.
A.B., you invoked the name Kevin McCarthy, who I suppose could be called
the weather in Hawaii of politicians. If you don`t like what you`re hearing
or seeing wait a couple of minutes and it will change. Before I asked you
about him, we have a look here at the many faces of Kevin McCarthy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Let me be very clear, there is no place for
QAnon in the Republican Party. I do not support it.
QAnon, I don`t know if I say it right. I don`t even know what it is.
This House overwhelmingly voted to condemn the dangerous lies of QAnon last
Congress.
The President bears responsibility for Wednesday`s attack on Congress by
mob rioters.
I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: So, A.B. the question is in delicate, does he think we`re stupid?
And has he made a deal with the devil as leader in the in the House?
STODDARD: Well, I wrote a long piece on McCarthy that came out earlier this
week before he dug a tunnel for himself last night when he came out from
these hours long conference meeting, and had the nerve. He`s very cheeky in
his walk backs and his reversals and his protection of Donald Trump, very
cute is the way -- it is sort of the way I would characterize his style.
Come out last night and try to pretend it was called QAnon, and he was
confused about how to pronounce it because he doesn`t know anything about
it. When next to the President of the United States, he and Mitch McConnell
and Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the top four leaders in the Congress
have the most important intelligence on the planet. And he knows everything
about QAnon. And not only should he have known everything about it six
months ago, he should have known everything about it following January 6,
an attack on our government during which he panicked and desperately begged
the commander in chief to send reinforcements and told him straight up, no,
this is not left wing agitators or Antifa. We are we are being attacked by
people who are trying to overthrow the government to change the outcome of
the election.
So, he knows better but to see him red face saying that last night,
pretending that he isn`t really certain about it. So it must not be a big
deal, shows just how unfit he is to throw his members under the bus and
make them take a vote for something he should have handled by himself five
days ago and was getting loud phone calls from corporate donors about the
mess he should be cleaning up is just all you need to know about how weak
he is and how he wanted the members to take on what he just couldn`t face
himself.
WILLIAMS: Jonathan Lemire, are you surprised at the degree to which Donald
Trump has gone silent, of course, absent any presence on Twitter he
released a comical letter today full of rich material resigning as a member
of the screen actors guild and as many pointed out on the web with kind of
a homemade ersatz, not quite presidential seal at the top, which looks a
little bit more like a seagull grab some stuff in flight. Are you surprised
at the degree to which I`m sure at the advice of counsel, he has gone away?
LEMIRE: First of all, Brian, let`s give the former president his due, he
was terrific and home alone too. So therefore, losing his part, his place
and his --
WILLIAMS: As we pointed out today.
LEMIRE: -- certainly a blow to that. He did, he did correctly. So, this is
a blow to that organization to lose his membership. So, we should take a
pause there. It is striking to see how silent he has gone. It`s throughout
Washington, that since his Twitter account was taken away from him a couple
of days after the insurrection, just the change and feel everything seems a
little quieter, and not just reporters covering the White House, but for
members of Congress who are members of his own party, who don`t always have
to be asked what they think of the latest tweet.
Having said that, though, silent, as discussed, his hold over the party
persists, and very few Republicans dare defy him. Certainly we have
reported that he is being quiet despite the odd press release, because of
this looming trial, because he doesn`t want to do anything to inflame the
situation further that could get any Republican senator to change his or
her mind. He and his team know he`s going to be acquitted. They don`t want
to run the risk of that changing. They don`t want to run the risk of him
being barred from ever running or holding for office again. That`s key to
whatever his next act may be. This silence will persist at the end of the
trial. After that, I bet it ends.
WILLIAMS: Ben Rhodes, look around government, Pentagon hollowed out stomped
on, CDC stomped on and that sadly includes the State Department. So, it was
big symbolism that the president and vice president made it their stop
today, I was reminded tonight, try this on for size, it perhaps you`d
forgotten as well. Trump`s first foreign policy speech was delivered in
Saudi Arabia as one does.
RHODES: Yes, quite an infamous moment there where he could stand next to a
bunch of dictators and put his hands on a glowing orb. And that sent a
message to the world of the kind of leader that Donald Trump was going to
be a man who found affinity with dictators like Mohammed bin Salman of
Saudi Arabia, like Vladimir Putin of Russia.
And I think Joe Biden going to the State Department today was doing two
things. The first thing is, as you said, Brian, trying to buck up a
workforce that has been decimated, there was an exodus of foreign service
officers, some of them were purged, there were political attacks on them
from the president of United States. And the Secretary of State under
Donald Trump did not get the back of his own personnel when they were
attacked. So Joe Biden wanted to go over there and send a message. And
frankly, find any of us who talked to people who were on that transition
team will tell you that these agencies, including the State Department, it
was even worse than they thought when they got in there in terms of the
morale in terms of the attacks had been made against U.S. government
personnel.
And again, including and perhaps most prominently, our national security
agencies intelligence community, in the State Department, first and
foremost. But in addition to being a message to those diplomats, it was a
message to the world. You know, the world is going to watch the first
speech that an American president gives on foreign policy very closely.
They`re going to try to discern from what he says, but also where he says
it. And I think by going to the State Department, Joe Biden is signaling,
look, we`re back, we`re going to be back in terms of playing the
traditional role of American leadership that you have not seen in the last
four years, we`re back as an ally, we`re not going to do crazy things like
withdraw our troops from Germany, which are a symbol of America`s 70 year
commitment to Europe, which is the anchor of our presence in the world.
We`re back in support of the democratic values that the state department
needs to defend everywhere around the world day in and day out.
And again, to draw on our other conversation, we`re back in acknowledging,
and I thought he said something very interesting today, America has got
problems. The world has seen, particularly in January 6, the problems we
have with our own democracy. But if we can show that we can fix those
problems at home, in some ways, it makes us a more credible voice abroad.
You know, we, like other countries have had corruption in this country.
We`ve had conspiracy theory-based extremism in this country, we`ve had this
kind of nationalist authoritarian trend, the Trump represents that Vladimir
Putin represents.
And I think what Joe Biden was doing at the State Department today is
saying, not only we`re going to defend American values in the way that you
would expect an American president to do around the world, but we`re going
to do so informed by the experience of having to fight for democratic
values in this country as well. And so I think, you know, is the right
setting to send that message not just to the workforce here in the United
States, and embassies around the world who are clearly watching this, but
also to all the foreign governments and foreign publics who are consuming
this as well, and most of whom were probably breathing, very deep sigh of
relief that he was standing there, the State Department delivering that
message, instead of standing with some dictators over glowing in Saudi
Arabia.
WILLIAMS: Our thanks to Ben Rhodes, to A.B. Stoddard, to Jonathan Lemire
for starting us off this Thursday night.
Coming up for us, Marjorie Taylor Greene may be out of her committee
assignments, but what did today`s vote tell us about the future of the
political party, some are calling QOP or the GOPQ. Political Veterans,
James Carville, Mike Murphy standing by to talk about it.
And later, as the White House considers putting masks in every mailbox,
there has been a big debt vaccine development as we mentioned that has
potential game changer written all over, the 11th Hour just getting
underway on a Thursday night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOYER: The Squad`s worst enemy, AR-15 in hand.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sounds like the guns I fled.
HOYER: I have never ever seen that before. Is this a precedent-setting
event? It is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: We`ve never seen Steny Hoyer like that before either. Tonight,
Marjorie Taylor Greene no longer serves on any House committees.
Today`s vote dramatically reduces any cloud she had in Congress. It means
by the way she can`t bring home the bacon for the people of her district
who put her in Congress. House Budget Committee members can bring stuff
home, not her. She is doing a lot of fundraising by painting herself as a
victim, so she has that going for her.
Back with us tonight, James Carville, Veteran Democratic Strategist who
rose to national fame with the Clinton effort and he`s co-host of the
politics War Room podcast, and Mike Murphy, Veteran Republican Strategist
and strategic advisor to Republican voters against Trump. We saw how that
went. He is also co-host of the Hacks on Tap podcast.
So, Mike 61, Republicans voted to oust Liz Cheney from her management post
secret ballot, 11 republicans cross the aisle voting to oust QAnon
Congresswoman from her committee assignments. Do they fear extremists or
welcome them these days in the Republican Party?
MIKE MURPHY, REPUBLICAN VOTERS AGAINST TRUMP: Well, it kind of depends on
the faction. I guess I`ll be a spin doctor and say 10 Republicans voted for
impeachment, now we`re surged to 11. So, we`ve had a 10 percent increase in
and brave Republicans. But, you know, it`s grim business, Brian. She`s
absolutely out of her mind, wacko. And, you know, they chose to kind of
look the other way, which is politically dumb, because she`s, it`s not like
they could give her and crazy pills, and now she`s going to turn it into a
respectable member of Congress, she`s going to keep doing her stuff. And
the Democrats are going to gleefully lay the republicans for de facto
endorsing or crazy positions by not going on the record against her.
So, you know, Kevin McCarthy strategy seems to be to get the next week, not
to, you know, do what they need to do to win the majority and purge this
kind of stuff. That`s all about fear of Donald Trump primaries.
WILLIAMS: James Carville, at the end of the day for people who are actually
patriots, this is sad. All of it. As a political matter, how should your
party play this going forward?
JAMES CARVILLE, VETERAN DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Keep playing it. I mean,
they can`t live without this vote. It`s like 30 percent of self-identified
Republicans think favorably of QAnon.
So make, you know, go after the other 70 and remind them that it was -- it
was the Congress as a whole that had to institute this action, Republican
caucus still on mute in some of the stuff she had about the (inaudible)
like sending space beams down to start fires in California.
I mean, this is not just some loony stuff. She`s a Looney in a tune. And
they won`t do anything about it. So, I will tell the Democrats extract
every piece of political capital you can out of that the fact that they`re
just terrified of offending these crazy people. And that`s a totally
legitimate thing to do. And they should pursue it but great bigger as they
did today.
WILLIAMS: Mike Murphy, how will the topic of Jewish space lasers play in
the battle for the suburbs in all the congressional races two years from
now?
MURPHY: You know, I it doesn`t sound like a big winner to me. In the whole
Parkland didn`t happen. I mean, today`s she basically said that, whoops, I
was tricked by that inner web. And, you know, I`m the victim here. There`s
no real apology.
So you know, she`s going to be a moneymaker for the Democrats. She`s going
to be a problem for the Republicans, you know, it`s trouble. And they
decided to kind of punt. I mean, McCarthy went to the caucus, with the
easiest cheap applause message you can have in politics, which is, hey, we
all got to stay united. So let`s not fire Mary Cheney. And that`s the
secret ballot by the way, so you can actually vote your heart and it went
two to one better than that 70 percent for Cheney.
And here I brought, you know, Congresswoman crazy pants and stand up and
pretend to apologize for while, it`s all solved, and they clapped and felt
good, but nothing changed, not her. And as James said that the Democrats
going to beat this like a government meal forever. And in suburban
districts where we`ve been put out of business by Donald Trump, it`s a big,
big machete and they`re going to use it.
So my guess is Greene will say something else crazy, you know, it`ll be,
you know, is god I can`t even speculate because I need to put a, you know,
a bolt in my head to think like her, and then the thing will start up
again. And then we might have another vote like this.
You know, in the old days with the Steve King or whatever, we had member of
the caucus, we handled it. Now we`ve lost the courage to that because of
the fear of Donald Trump.
WILLIAMS: By the way, Carville, Mike`s Wi-Fi strength in a roadway and is
stronger than yours at home. So we need to rectify that problem. Both
gentlemen have agreed to stay with us. We`ll be right back for more of our
conversation after we fit in a break.
Coming up, the challenge of pushing the Biden agenda in the middle of all
this going on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: We are back and still with us our James Carville and Mike Murphy.
James, I was asking about the Democrats because it might get dicey now.
Next week we`re going to be in the post-Super Bowl period we start an
impeachment trial. I`m tempted to ask you how many Republican votes to
convict? Would there be if it was a secret ballot? But what do you think is
the best outcome here for the party?
CARVILLE: It`s always going to be tied up. I mean we got 50-50 senators
(INAUDIBLE) on the vice president, we`re like plus five in the House. So,
this kind of go from one type thing to another.
I don`t see. I don`t see that changing. I actually do think we`ll pick up a
couple of more Republican senators, I think people are going to be stunned
at how powerful the presentation is of the House impeachment managers.
Just everything that I see, and I hear is this is going to be a compelling
case they`re going to make and I suspect that they`ll do better than 55
than the original 55. I really do. And it`s going to be some riveting
television. It`s going to be riveting sound bites, and it`s going to be
riveting video, I promise you that. People have put this together all of a
very smart. They`re very committed to this and I think you can do a great
job.
WILLIAMS: Mike Murphy, as I`ve said, it may define cognitive dissonance to
sit behind a desk that was ransacked by someone under the MAGA banner in
your sanctuary that was ransacked by rioters defiled, looted, and, and vote
in effect, that there`s nothing to see here.
But that aside, our friend Tim Miller wrote this week that Trump should
testify and if not be called out as a coward. Do you think that gets the
Democrats anything?
MURPHY: Yes, I mean, they ought to call Trump a coward. He is a coward. I
mean, I think what Trump will do is his lawyers won`t let him testify,
testify. But he`ll go on a rival network named after a furry animal and,
you know, to Hannity or somewhere safe and he`ll do a little running
commentary, because it`s an egomaniac, he can`t be in front of the camera.
He`ll just -- they`re no battleship changes that`ll hold him but he won`t
do it in any binding way.
And, you know, this is going to be down to the presentation because if it
was a secret ballot, I think the Republicans would quickly do them in. But
that fear magnet is turning them into cowards and the treasonous way, it`s
the great tragedy of the party I`ve given 30 years to working for.
So, you know, the other problem is, if they don`t, if Mitch can`t get to
17, that`ll be three. You know, nobody wants to take the shot at Trump and
miss -- getting to the goal by two votes. But if Mitch in the caucus at 15
or 14 firm commitments, I`ll bet he find the other four or five if it`s a
good presentation.
You know, nobody wants to do the near miss because the political price
they`re afraid of pain. So why this Ben Sasse video up to date senator from
Nebraska is so important, because he`s writing the playbook on how to push
back on this stuff. And not just go into defensive crouch about Trump in
the Republican base world. People are looking at that in the Republican
Party and learn from it.
WILLIAMS: I will say if this lawsuit against Fox News is successful, they
will rename themselves as the marmoset network within the week. Our thanks
to James Carville and Mike Murphy, always a pleasure having you guys. Thank
you very much.
Coming up for us. Our next guest has drawn intense fire from the political
right because of his insistence, the temerity of insisting that we all wear
a mask to protect ourselves and each other and he`s not backing down nor
should you. Dr. Vin Gupta standing by when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Johnson & Johnson has now requested emergency authorization from
the FDA for its Coronavirus vaccine. If approved, it would become the third
available in the U.S., it only requires one injection. It is easier to
store and transport and let`s say this place, one shot will keep you out of
the hospital and keep you from dying full stop.
We are pleased to have back with us tonight Dr. Vin Gupta, critical care
doc, also an affiliate assistant professor at the University of Washington
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, educated at Princeton,
Cambridge, Harvard and Columbia med, also a member of the US Air Force
Reserve. Doc, how do you sum up? What`s your reaction to the J&J news?
DR. VIN GUPTA, MSNBC MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Good evening, Brian. You know,
it`s great news for the reason that you just pointed out, Brian, that it
will keep all your viewers if they get that vaccine from seeing me and my
colleagues in the intensive care unit. That is the key piece here.
I`ve been part of a few vaccination clinics in the last few days. And what
-- people are confused, because we`re throwing around all these percentages
from different companies have on efficacy.
But here`s the thing, all these vaccines will save your life if you receive
them, if you`re willing to take them when it`s your turn, it will keep you
out of the intensive care unit from severe pneumonia. And that`s the key
piece there. So that`s great news, Brian.
WILLIAMS: We keep hearing the by the administration wants to send masks to
every American household, we keep hearing the Biden administration wants to
accelerate the at home instant tests. And I said to somebody tonight, it is
almost as if they were listening to you, during April, May, June of last
year.
GUPTA: Well, you know, if you`ll humor me, I as always like I like to show
things to your viewers just to show how easy for example at home testing
is. So I have the test that the by the administration is about to scale.
Let me show to all Americans out there. Everybody who`s doing this, how
easy at home testing is. You just pick your nose with one of these guys for
a few seconds and both nostrils about 10 seconds each, there`s a little
liquid that you put into one of the ends into this dropper. And then all
you do is dunk this in here, like so. You let it sit for a second. And then
this becomes a dropper into this test sensor. You put five drops in there,
I`m not actually doing it and then it connects to Bluetooth to your
smartphone. 15 minutes later, you get a positive or you get a negative.
That`s how simple this is Brian.
So at home testing is not just the future for right now, the present and
the future. But it`s going to be how we test ourselves. I think going down
the road into the future for the next pandemic, God forbid, that actually
happens. But this is how we`re going to be arming people with knowledge so
they can test themselves. That`s the right thing to do.
With masking, just since you brought it up. For everybody out there, they
should be looking, I know we`ve been talking a lot about double masks. At
the minimum, we`ve been talking about this for months, Brian, fit is
important. If you get this blue mask, this blue mask is great, but then
maybe tie the ear loop so you have a tighter fit. Or get one of these cloth
masks, multilayer cloth masks with these zip ties here that you can make
the tighter fit around your ears. That`s going to be key here. High quality
mask with the appropriate bit vital.
WILLIAMS: Is there a way to sum up in 45 seconds how bad it has gotten for
you by dint of the fact that you`ve been out there ahead of this really
advocating mask wearing for all based on the notion that we could save?
What 80,000 souls?
GUPTA: It`s been tough, Brian, I mean, I`ll say that, for example. You
know, I`ve been advocating that educators across the country just get
vaccination before they go back into the classroom, at least high risk
educators and I get -- I`ve been caught a few kerfuffles just because I say
something that`s common sense.
Because here`s the thing here, most public schools Brian, are not -- don`t
have the resources of private schools, they don`t have testing. They don`t
have the ability to have great ventilation immediately. So the quickest way
to safely reopen schools, in my view, at least for high risk teachers is to
get them shots in arms just like the governor of Oregon did. Common sense
things have now become political. And you know, certainly I`ve paid the
price.
WILLIAMS: Dr. Vin Gupta, our thanks for taking our questions. Our thanks
for all your appearances going back when it`s coming up on a year now. It`s
a sad milestone we`re approaching, greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
Coming up for us. The chances are low, but the jackpot is potentially huge
and life saving. We`ll look at some of the people in pursuit of scoring a
COVID vaccine that was otherwise destined to go to waste.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: As we mentioned this new J&J vaccine will hopefully soon be
available nationwide. Millions of Americans are desperate to get their
shots of any kind. Some are going to great lengths to make sure no vaccine
goes to waste. NBC News correspondent Kerry Sanders has our report tonight
on the so called vaccine hunters.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KERRY SANDERS, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They`re the vaccine
hunters the young and old on a scavenger hunt in search of unused vaccines.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s any chance I can get it. It`s totally worth
staying in line for all day.
SANDERS: Both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are kept at extremely low
temperatures. Once they come to room temperature the vaccine is good for
about five hours.
(on camera): It is unclear how much vaccine has gone to waste but ad hoc
systems have developed online because it`s happening often enough.
(voice-over): Vaccinehunter.org and Facebook groups crowdsourcing where to
go.
(on camera): But for the moment this is working.
BRAD JOHNSON, NOLA VACCINE HUNTERS FOUNDER: There`s no downside to what
we`re doing here. Any arm is better than the trash.
SANDERS (voice-over): In Seattle. 65-year-old Kevin O`Keefe is tipped off
by his son that a fridge had broken at the local hospital and doses were
going to spoil.
KEVIN O`KEEFE, SEATTLE RESIDENT: My son sought me, what are the odds.
SANDERS (on camera): They notified you and you ran.
O`KEEFE: Yes.
SANDERS (voice-over): Hunters now linger in their cars at sites hoping
today is the day.
MONICA ALKASARA (ph), VACCINE HUNTER: We stay here Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
and today.
SANDERS: You`ve been waiting that long?
ALKASARA: Yes, yes
Monica Alkasara and her 72-year-old friends Sylvia Alvarez (ph) not
eligible to register in Florida because they`re from Mexico. Leftovers
however are fair game. The vaccine hunters with the motto, waste not, want
not.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WILILAMS: Our thanks to Kerry Sanders for that report. He further reports
that many of those same people will be back in that same line tomorrow.
Coming up, the cost of conspiracy theories, the cost of our toxic politics.
We will hear from a woman who has been a target of all of it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Last thing before we go here tonight. We`ve had our fun with
Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon congresswoman whose belief in Jewish
space lasers and RBG`s body double and stage school shootings and Satan
worship at the highest levels of government is all flat out crazy.
It`s what happens after four years of lies and misinformation and
disinformation soaked up by Americans like the Congresswoman, the people
who took our capital by force and millions of others at home, some of them
nursing, anger and grievances, some of whom might think nothing of phoning
in a death threat.
The hatred in our midst is toxic, it`s real. And so, listen to a real
member of Congress Rashida Tlaib, Democrat of Michigan, targeted by the
QAnon Congresswoman among others. Listen to her telling Congress today what
this has done to her life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): This is so hard because as many of my colleagues
know, my closest colleagues now, my very first day of orientation, I got my
first death threat. It was a serious one, they took me aside, the FBI had
to go to the gentleman`s home. I didn`t even get sworn in yet. And someone
wanted to be dead for just existing.
And so, I asked my colleagues to please try not to dehumanize what`s
happening. This is real. And, you know, many of our residents, from the
shootings, in Charlottesville to the massacre at the synagogue all of it.
All of it is led by hate rhetoric like this.
And so, I urge my colleagues to please, please take what happened on
January 6 seriously, it will lead to more tough and we can do better. We
must do better. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib to take us off the air tonight. And
with that, that is our broadcast for this Thursday evening with our thanks
for being with us. On behalf of all my colleagues at the networks of NBC
News, good night.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
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