right? people are more complicated than they appear to be. >> a lot to reflect on there. you can see my full interview with patti davis at meethepress.com. that is all for today. thank you so much for watching. enjoy your long weekend. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." today justice has been served. today we have proved no one is above the law, no matter how rich, powerful, or politically

connected you are. everyone must play by the same rules. this is a victory for america that believes in the simple but fundamental pillar of our democracy, that the rule of law applies to all of us equally, fairly, and justly. >> that was new york attorney general letitia james speaking friday after the financially devastating civil fraud ruling against donald trump. we'll go through that judgment and the what it means for trump's finances. also ahead, the latest fallout following the death of alexei navalny as russia cracks down on any show of support for the opposition leader. plus, the israeli government is rejecting any recognition of a potential palestinian state while its forces move forward with an offensive in southern gaza. ♪♪ good morning and welcome to

"way too early" on this monday, february 19th. i'm ali vitali in for john nan lemaire. we start this morning with the $350 million fraud ruling against donald trump. he was ordered on friday to pay the massive penalty and is barred from serving on any decisions for three years. it was written in part, quote, their complete lack of contrition and remorse borders on pathological. meanwhile new york attorney general letitia james called the ruling a tremendous victory. >> for years donald trump engaged in deceptive business practices and tremendous fraud. donald trump falsely, knowingly inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself, his family, and to cheat the system. donald trump may have authored the art of the deal, but he

perfected the art of the steal. >> because the scale and the scope of donald trump's fraud is staggering, and so, too, is his ego and his belief that the rules do not apply to him. today we are holding donald trump accountable. we are holding him accountable for lying, cheating, and a lack of contrition, and for flouting the rules that all of us must play be because there cannot be different rules for different people in this country, and former presidents are no exception. >> james says the judgment against trump totals over $450 million when interest is included, an amount, she says, will continue to increase every single day until it's paid. trump, meanwhile, made several

claims about the judgment outside his home in mar-a-lago and he'll be appealing the judgment. the former president unveiled a new trump-themed product to a less than receptive crowd. >> that's the real deal. that's the real deal. i just want to thank you very much for being here. it's an honor. it's an honor. you're all sneaker heads. you're sneaker heads, right? there's a lot of emotion in this room. thank you, thank you. >> confused sneaker heads it would appear because, yes, at sneakercon in philadelphia, trump rolled out a new line of shoes selling for a whopping $399 a pair. that's $399 a pair. he also introduced a new fragrance line, $99 a bottle,

where each scent symbolizes, quote, victory and strength." meanwhile president biden is blaming vladimir putin for the death of alexei navalny. he died on friday. he was serving a 19-year sentence on charges of extremism. after his death, biden made remarks on his life and also called on republicans to pass the aid package to ukraine on its war against russia. >> to stand up against the violence and all the bad things that putin was doing. in response, putin had him poisoned, arrested, charged with sfabry indicated crimes, held in isolation. even all that didn't stop him

from calling out his lies. even in prison, he was a powerful voice for truth, which is kind of amazing when you think about it. make no mistake, make no mistake, putin is responsible for navalny's death. putin is responsible. what happened to navalny is more proof of putin's brutality. >> this tragedy reminds us of the mistakes of this moment. we have to provide the money so ukraine can keep defending itself against putin ice vicious onslaughts and war crimes. you know, there was a bipartisan senate vote that passed overwhelmingly in the united states senate to fund ukraine. now, as i said before, and i meet this in a literal sense, history is watching. history is watching the house of representatives. the failure to support ukraine at this critical moment will never be forgotten. it's going to go down in the pages of history, it really is. it's consequential. the clock is ticking. and it has to happen.

we have to have help now. you know, we have to realize what we're dealing with with putin. >> in contrast to that clear-eyed statement from the president, former president donald trump has remained noticeably silent on the death of navalny. it's notable considering his comments from more than a week ago he said he would even courage russian to attack nato countries if they didn't pay enough. a campaign spokesperson deflect and referred nbc news to a former social media post by the former president attacking president biden while claiming trump himself is the only person who can bring, quote, peace and prosperity and stability to the world. trump's last comment about navalny appears to have been back in november of 2020 after navalny was poisoned and nearly lost his life. at that time trump said, quote, we'll talk about that at another time. on this topic, republican presidential candidate nikki haley wasted no time talking

about trump over his silence over the death of navalny. she posted this on friday saying, putin did this, the same putin who donald trump praises and defends, the same trump who said in fairness to putin, you're saying he killed people. i haven't seen that. haley followed up those comments by continuing to criticize trump during a tv interview. >> donald trump is siding with a thug who kills his political opponents. he's siding with someone who has made no bones about wanting to destroy america. he's siding with someone who arrested american journalists and holds them hostage. and he's siding with a dictator instead of siding with our allies who stood with us at 9/11. joining us now, molly jong-fast who's also an nbc political analyst.

thanks for waking up with us early this morning. the big question i've got for you, with trump's radio silence on navalny, the comments he's made praising putin, this just doesn't feel like the republican party, but it also feels like the republican party in the age of donald trump. can you explain that as we watch nikki haley? >> i do think nikki haley is really doing -- again, politically she's not my candidate, but she's sort of doing god's work out there, reminding republicans what they used to believe before trump came along, and i think it's valuable. look, what trump's relationship with putin has always been is at best quite weird and at worst quite nefarious, right? i do think it's worse thinking about different it is. i was struck by what you said earlier in the video about how

trump has really stayed away from this, and this is a guy who tends to weigh in on almost everything. >> yeah. weighs in on almost everything except for the things that in a typical world you would want him to weigh in on. the other thing she's attacking him on is the latest court turn we've seen being ordered to pay $355 million in his new york civil fraud trial. give me your reaction to this and talk about if this has the ability to empty his pockets, which i think we both know the answer to, but apply it further down the campaign trail. he's using campaign money to pay for some of this stuff. how does that even work. >> i think what's interesting about trump, candidate trump versus defendant trump, when trump got charged, he was able to use it to win over this primary base, right? he said, they're coming for me. this is a group that was -- you know, this was his base, and

these people were very moved by this narrative. they got even more excited about trump. but i think that what we're going to see -- and, again, we haven't quiet seen the polling yet, but we're certainly going to see it if not in polling, eventually in voting, is that i don't think that mainstream voters are moved by, we've got to help this guy out. like i don't think that's a winning message for a presidential candidate. i'm a billionaire, and i need money for legal fees. and, look, you know, he's already sorting on skraf bling, right, because the small dollar donations are going to his legal fees now. he and his crew want to take over the rnc. i think it's pretty clear they want to do that because of money. the rnc is sort of pushing back. i think ultimately trump will be able to do that. but, you know, part of the auspices of them taking over the rnc is the rnc has been having

trouble raising money and the reason the rnc has been having trouble raising money is because trump is getting a lot of those small dollar donations and nikki haley is getting some of the larmer dollar donations, so this really is a republican party that find itself in disarray. >> it's two words. i think you're completely right there. molly jong-fast, thank you for waking up with us this morning. still ahead, we've got new reporting on donald trump privately expressing support for a 16-week abortion ban. what the white house is saying about that. plus, there's another government shutdown looming. i know, i almost can't believe it either. and the house is out almost all week. what it's going to take to keep it running all week. those stories and a check on the weather and sports right when we come back. d sports right when we come back.

nice to meet ya. my name is david. i've been a pharmacist for 44 years mainly because i just love helping people. as i got older, it was just a natural part of aging, i felt that my memory was beginning to decline and that's when i started looking for something that would help. when i first started taking prevagen, i noticed my memory was so much better. just stuff seemed to come together and fit like a jigsaw puzzle in my mind. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. [stomach growling] it's nothing... sounds like something. ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion♪ ♪upset stomach, diarrhea♪ pepto bismol coats and soothes for fast relief when you need it most. hey! asthma's got you going through it?

grab nucala for fewer asthma attacks. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don't stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask an asthma specialist if nucala is right for you.

when i was your age, we never had anything like this. back pwhat? wifi?tigue. wifi that works all over the house, even the basement. the basement. so i can finally throw that party... and invite shannon barnes. dream do come true. xfinity gives you reliable wifi with wall-to-wall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. maybe we'll even get married one day. i wonder what i will be doing? probably still living here with mom and dad. fast reliable speeds right where you need them. that's wall-to-wall wifi on the xfinity 10g network.

the house of representatives is out of the office until next wednesday, which leaves them three days to figure out a solution before a shutdown is triggered, no biggy. in a meeting last week, far right conservatives reportedly blasted their colleagues who are crafting the legislation, reportedly questioning if the gop should force a shutdown in order to win on other policy fights like the border. those writing the legislation told conservatives their poison pill wish list would be dead on arrival and forcing a shutdown would only hurst house republicans. in response, republicans have accused their colleagues including house speaker mike johnson of surrendering and giving up. former president donald trump is telling allies and supporters he likes the abortion ban except for incest and rape.

in response to the story, the trump campaign called the story fake news and added trump would be willing to work out a deal with something both sides would be deal with. in a new statement president biden writes in part, quote, trump is running scared. he's afraid of the women -- he's afraid the women of america are going to hold him responsible frl taking away their rights and endangering their rights at the ballot box in nosh, which is going to happen. it's very simple. camela and i will take over. joe manchin announces he will not run for president. he considered launching a lit 2024 bid. last year he announced he would not run for re-election in his home state of west virginia, and

on friday he said he decided against a run for the executive branch as well. >> i will not be seeking a third-party vote. i will not be seeking a presidential run. i will be making sure -- [ indiscernible ] -- to bring this country together. i am convinced -- i tried it for 14 years and i saw -- last week. something's got to be done. so here we are. when chips are down and washington isn't really working -- >> manchin told reporters on friday he'd spoken with president biden about his decision and also told him he wouldn't endorse him. manchin, who's bucked his party on numerous issues, says he hasn't ruled out removing his democratic affiliation in the future, and sources caution me that's still very much on the

table. more suspension from manchinland. still ahead, we'll turn to sports and the all-star game last night and what clearly annoyed the commissioner. we'll also have a check of the forecast. "way too early" is coming right back. forecast "way too early" is coming right back like a day out with friends. that's nice, but shingles doesn't care! 99% of adults 50 years or older already have the virus that causes shingles inside them, and it can reactivate at any time. a perfect day for a family outing! guess what? shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach.

shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today.

uh-oh. >> oh. >> uh-oh, uh-oh. >> that was a motor speedway flat tire. oh, my goodness. >> did you all see this? >> ouch. the nba's midseason showcase did not feature any defense. the eastern conference set the all-time scoring record in last night's all-star game, becoming the first team to surpass 200 points on the way to a 211-1896 victory over the western conference after months of stressing the importance of a competitive product, it left commissioner adam silver

unenthused while presenting the all-star trophy. >> first to the city of indianapolis, thank you to the fantastic hospitality. to herb simon, he's owned this team for 31 years, the longest standing governor in nba history. thank you to your son steve as well. and to the eastern conference all-stars, you scored the most points. well, con graduate lagss. >> oooph. ohio state upset purdue, beating them with the new interim head coach. ohio state lost nine of its last 11 games and fired its longtime head coach on wednesday but ended the weekend with an upset with the top seed in next week's

tournament. and the 68-62 win sinks them with five games left in the regular season. hall of fame coach rick patino in his first year with st. john's didn't hold back his disappointment. >> we don't lack toughness. we're so nonathletic that we can't guard anything without fouling. really it's not about losing. even when we win, i see unathletic plays. i don't see people handling the ball, taking quick shots. it's been a disappointing year. i think i've enjoyed -- even when we lost, i enjoyed every minute being a boston celtics

coach. this is the most -- i don't want to say the wrong things, but i'm really disappointed in my team. time now for the weather. let's go to michelle grossman with the weather. are we going to have an unenjoyable time like the coaches? >> i love your reaction. most of us will have a good day. on the west, it's going to be pretty unenjoyable. in the east, let's talk about that. chilly. mild throughout the middle of the country. could see a few showers in portions of florida. but it's another western wallop moving on shore. it's another atmospheric river where we're looking at heavy rain, mountain snow, up to 5 feet in some spots, tornadoes possible in portions of northern and central california. this is what it looks like. really heavy rain falling. that's where you see the darker colors, the reds, the oranges,

the yellows, the blues. this is going to be a story tuesday and wednesday as well. this is what it looks like for today. the storm system bringing an atmospheric r. heavy rain, severe storms, and also heavy snow. we have millions under alert this morning. 1 million under winter alerts. the winter is not done in the west. and we're also concerned about the chance for strong storms. we could see gusts of up to 60 miles an hour and the chance for tornadoes from chico to stockton. back to you. >> thank you so much. still ahead, we've got the latest on hostage negotiations between israel and hamas as prime minister benjamin netanyahu pushes ahead with plans for a ground offense niv southern gaza. "way too early" is back in a moment. uthern gaza. "way too early" is back in a moment and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty

and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful.

welcome back to "way too early." it's almost 5:30 on the dot on the east coast, 2:30 out west. i'm ali vitali in for jonathan lemire. following the news of alexei navalny's death in a siberian prison camp, citizens in russia began to lay flowers at sanctioned vigils. this was one of hundreds spanning all the way to russia's far east. it led to widespread arrests and detentions. "the new york times" reports at least 366 people have been detained in nearly 40 russian

cities since the news broke of navalny's death. and hostage negotiations between israel and hamas have stalled. on friday prime minister benjamin netanyahu has refused to budge on what he says are, quote, ludicrous demands. according to netanyahu, the terrorist group wants to remain in power in gaza, see a full withdrawal of israeli troops, and wants the release of thousands of palestinian prisoners. now netanyahu says they will not return for discussions. the biden administration has been warning against the operation, urging israel to avoid any action without first keeping civilians in gaza safe. netanyahu, however, says anyone who's against the operation is effectively telling israel to, quote, lose the war. joining us now to break all of that down is world editor for

axios lauren whitney got bragt. what's your reaction to what we're seeing with the latest on the cease-fire talks and the potential operation inside of rafah? >> yeah. well, on the cease-fire talks, i think israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu who sort of comments over the weekend and at the end of last week really indicate that the gaps between israel and hamas are quite large. that being said, the biden administration continues to sort of put forth cautious optimism that these gaps could be bridged, and they really wants as well as qatar and egyptian mediators, they want these talks to continue to go forward in different forms to at least bridge what they see as more minor gaps and then that way, hopefully these bigger gaps, which really surround the number of palestinian prisoners hamas really wants to be released as part of any deal, that can be

worked out sort of at the last minute. in terms of rafah, you know, netanyahu is very much sorts of pressing ahead with this potential ground operation with rafah despite widespread international pressure to not do so. obviously it would be absolutely devastating where a city of 1.4 million palestinians are sheltering from the war. is reeling told them to move during the beginning of the war. so i think biden needs to come up with a plan. at the same time, no one has put forth such detail, neitherize real on the biden administration. it's a waiting game. in the meantime, however, the death toll continues to go up, just under 30,000 today, and at

the same time, people are starving. there's been a lot of movement around a big hospital. a lot of devastation regarding whether ground troops are in rafah or not. >> we've hard that on the international front too. i wanted to turn back to the navalny news we started the segment with. i wanted to talk about not just your reaction to the news of his death and the tributes of him in russia, but when we look at former president donald trump not saying anything about navalny, what does that mean on the international stage? what are the ramifications of a former president who could be president again not saying anything about this? >> sure. you know, it's quite a question mark as to why president trump isn't doing so. i think a lot of people could put forth several theories. that being said, there is a lot

of international reaction to navalny's death, and i think unsurprisingly. in the u.s., there's also a lot of reaction even on capitol hill where, you know, we've seen a lot of fighting, ukraine, that sort of thing, and inside russia as well. i think navalny's death has really shook a lot of people particularly in the context of russia's war in ukraine. i think, you know, we'll continue to see how it plays out as more details emerge actually, the circumstances surrounding his death. >> world editor for axios laurin-whitney gottbrath. still ahead, we'll go to cbc for the top business headlines including why apple is facing a fine from regulators in europe.

next on "way too early." we'll explain. rope next on "way too early." we'll explain. - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. now try mucinex instasoothe sore throat medicated drops. old spice gentleman's super hydration body wash. (whispered) vanilla and shea. 24/7 moisturization with vitamin b3. (knock on the door) are you using all the old spice? oops. ♪ (old spice mnemonic) ♪

fulton county district attorney fani will's participation in the rico trial is still undecided this morning. the judge who had seen the case said he would schedule closing arguments by the end of this week on the misconduct of fani willis. it stems from the now admitted personal relationship between willis and special prosecutor nathan wade. willis herself took the stand. former georgia governor for the district attorney's office confirmed he was the first choice, roy barnes, for special prosecutor. barnes explains why he turned down the position. watch. >> were you approached by fani

willising being the special prosecutor? >> i was. i don't recall the exact date, but i know it was sometime in 2021. i told d.a. willis, i'd lived with bodyguards for four years and i didn't like it and i wasn't going to live with bodyguards for the rest of my life. >> joining us now is former litigator and msnbc legal analyst lisa rubin. lisa, thank you for waking up early on a holiday, technically. do you think lawyers have made their case in the d.a. willis trial that she should be removed? what would the ramifications of that be? >> let's start with do i think the case should be removed. i don't. they certainly have brought up a ton of dirty laundry, including how ill-advised the relationship between fani willis and nathan wade was irrespective of when it

began. the fact that they were working together and he was serving as the special prosecutor would show the appearance of impropriety, however, they've not shown a debilitating conflict of interest here. in fact, the two witnesses you might point to giving them the most evidence that something untoward was going on, both have their own ax to grind. however, if judge mcafee were to disqualify fani willis, i think it's important to understand under georgia law what the consequences are. that would mean, again, under georgia law, the entire office would be disqualified and that the case would go to what's called the prosecuting counsel to determine whether another district attorney's office can and should take up the case, and if not, if they can find a private lawyer to do so at the staggering rate of, are you ready? $70 an hour. it makes it highly unlikely they'll get the lawyer they want. >> that makes a lot of sense when you think of georgia.

i want to turn to new york. can you help us understand? i think some people think, okaying trump is barred from business. in fact, he's barred from busy in new york. explain some of the intricacies of that. >> yeah. and i don't know that i would even describe it as being barred from business. let's look at it technically. it's barred from being officer or director of a new york corporation for three years. that means he can't be the nominal head or goccing head of the trump organization or any of its component parts for that period of time. the same ban is true for his adult sons don junior and eric for two years, but it's not a full ban on doing business. for example, if donald trump wanted to hock sneakers as he did in new york, i'm not sure he couldn't. >> and he is, to the tune of some $300 a pair. lisa rubin, thank you for your

analysis and the sneaker analysis. we'll be back with much more "way too early" coming up. backe "way too early" coming up. uickby now earns 5% apy. (♪♪) that's how you business differently. intuit quickbooks. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium. ♪ zyrtec! ♪ works hard at hour 1 and twice as hard when you take it again the next day. so betty can be the... barcode beat conductor. ♪♪ let's be more than our allergies! and for fast allergy relief with a powerful decongestant, try zyrtec-d.

with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. e*trade from morgan stanley.

when i was your age, we never had anything like this. so you won't miss anwhat? wifi?y. wifi that works all over the house, even the basement. the basement. so i can finally throw that party... and invite shannon barnes. dream do come true. xfinity gives you reliable wifi with wall-to-wall coverage on all your devices, even when everyone is online. maybe we'll even get married one day. i wonder what i will be doing? probably still living here with mom and dad. fast reliable speeds right where you need them. that's wall-to-wall wifi on the xfinity 10g network.

there was praise and prayer at a church where a shooting occurred one week ago. joel olstein thanked heroes for saving so many. nbc news reporter reports. >> joel olstein reports in his first sunday service after tragedy. >> it broke our heart to have to see you leave the auditorium. >> reporter: it was one week ago where a woman at a houston church opened fire. police say a 36-year-old woman

used an illegally purchased ar-15-style rifle. she had been quickly shot and killed by police. her 7-year-old son who she brought along with her and a bystander hurt. >> we pray for the de deceased. >> my family came. they're back there. they usually go to another church but they wanted to come here and support this week. >> reporter: olstein applauding the officers, including those he say prevented this from becoming more. >> their reactions saved us. >> reporter: the bystander hit in the leg.

the young boy still fighting for his life. >> we lift them up to the lord. show your mercy, lord. >> reporter: now a collective healing. >> let's hide our lie. let's go under the radar. this is the time to shine brighter than ever, to share more hope. >> that was nbc's melissa parra reporting. up next, new polling about voters a and what they're saying about president biden and donald trump. and coming up on "morning joe," after a judge fines trump more than $350 million and being barred from performing business in new york for the next three years, we'll break down what this means for his empire moving forward. plus, gregory meeks will be

a guest. also ahead brian grazer will be with us to talk about the rise and fall of the new england patriots. "morning joe" is just moments away. patriots "morning joe" is just moments away for us, it's eggs any style. as long as they're the best. eggland's best. - so this is pickleball? - pickle! ah, these guys are intense. with e*trade from morgan stanley, we're ready for whatever gets served up. dude, you gotta work on your trash talk. i'd rather work on saving for retirement. or college, since you like to get schooled. that's a pretty good burn, right? if you have chronic kidney disease you can reduce the risk of kidney failure with farxiga. because there are places you'd rather be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis.

♪ far-xi-ga ♪ do you have a life insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. call coventry direct to learn more. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. our friend sold their policy to help pay their medical bills, and that got me thinking. maybe selling our policy could help with our retirement. i'm skeptical, so i did some research and called coventry direct. they explained life insurance is a valuable asset that can be sold. we learned we could sell all of our policy, or keep part of it with no future payments. who knew? we sold our policy. now we can relax and enjoy our retirement as we had planned. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining

insurance. with powerful, easy-to-use tools, power e*trade makes complex trading easier. react to fast-moving markets with dynamic charting and a futures ladder that lets you place, flatten, or reverse orders so you won't miss an opportunity. e*trade from morgan stanley. what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul, available at walmart and drinkcirkul.com.

republican presidential candidate nikki haley won't say whether she still plans to support donald trump if he eventually becomes the gop nominee for president. check out what she said yesterday when asked about that since signed rnc pledge. >> i'm running against him because i don't think he should be the right -- i don't think he's the right person at the right time. i don't think he should be president. the last thing on my mind is who i'm going to support. the only thing on my mind is how we're going to win this. the only thing on my mind is how we're going to make sure that we correct what's happening in america and we bring this country back together, allow her to heal, and move on in a strong way. i'm not thinking about who i'm going to support in an election. >> but you've already said it. >> we are going to have a -- we are going to have a female president of the united states. it will either be me, or it'll be kamala harris. if donald trump is the nominee for the republican party, he will not win. every poll shows that. he will not win. and we will have a president kamala harris. i'm not going to allow that to

happen. i'm not stopping. i'm not going anywhere. we're going to do this for the long haul. we're going to finish it. >> does that mean you will not support him if he is the republican nominee? >> that means i'm going to run, and i'm going to win. y'all can talk about support later. right now, you can ask him if he's going to support me when i'm the nominee. >> believe nikki haley when she tells you she is not just running to the president but she wants to be president. she's taking this through super tuesday. we'll talk about that with our guests coming up. meanwhile, former republican congresswoman liz cheney is criticizing donald trump's comments about nato, and in the wake of alexei navalny's death, she issued a new warning about the upcoming november election. >> donald trump, as you pointed out, said just a few days ago that he had told the nato ally that he would encourage putin to do whatever he needed to do, whatever he wanted to do. he's basically made clear that under a trump administration, the united states is unlikely to

keep its nato commitments. i think that republicans who understand the importance of the national security situation, who continue to support him, are similarly going to be held to account. you know, when you think about donald trump, for example, pledging retribution, what vladimir putin did to navalny is what retribution looks like in a country where the leader is not subject to the rule of law. i think that we have to take donald trump very seriously. we have to take seriously the extent to which, you know, you've now got a putin wing of the republican party. i believe the issue this election cycle is making sure that the putin wing of the republican party does not take over the west wing of the white house. >> new polling finds growing concern about president joe biden's ability to serve and decreasing concern about former president donald trump's ability. in the latest monmouth university survey, just 32% of registered voters say they're confident that biden has the mental and physical stamina

required to be president. that's down from 52% in june of 2020. alternatively, 51% say they're confident that trump has the necessary stamina. that's up from 45% just four years ago. joining us now, nbc news senior national politics reporter, jonathan allen, and my friend who was willing to wake up early with us today. john, i have so many questions for you because you've been doing reporting in all corners of the 2024 space, but let's start first with biden and some new reporting that you've done around the biden campaign and behind closed doors conversations about the president's age. are people admitting it's an issue for voters? and what are they doing about it? >> i think everybody at the white house is well aware that it is an issue for voters. certainly everybody in the democratic party outside the white house believes it is an issue for voters. the trump campaign believes it's an issue for voters. what we've seen in recent weeks is a bit of a pivot for the white house, for the biden campaign. you used to have biden going out there saying, you know, "you

think i'm old? you think i might have lost something? just watch me." the result, as you see in the polling, is people are watching him and they're still concerned. the public is concerned. what we're hearing now more is basically the vouch for me approach, which is to send out white house aides, send out white house allies, friends of the president, to talk about what they see behind closed doors. of course, the american public doesn't get a chance to see joe biden in national security briefings. what they're saying is you have to rely on the word of the people that are closest to him. of course, you don't get very close to him until you're allied with him for the most part. >> yeah. >> we're also hearing some advice from some of his friends that say that they should kind of let the shackles off a little bit. let biden be who he is. try not to constrain him. hearing that from congresswoman debbie dingell. and reverend al sharpton said biden needs to point at trump and say, "look, 78, 79 year old,

look what i got done. compare me to the other old guy that's running." we'll see what happens the next few weeks, but this is perhaps the chief concern the american people have about joe biden. >> isn't that the problem with the watch me, i'll show you approach? if you have the shackles on, it is hard for the let biden be biden contingency to watch him do what they think he does best. i'm struck by the quote you reference in your story. debbie dingell saying, he's been so managed, his compassion and his empathy aren't always showing. what's the risk, and why are the shackles on? i think we all know from watching that biden is always prone to gaffes, but, i mean, where's the balance here? >> joe biden has always been prone to gaffes. he's always been somebody who talks a lot and sometimes says things that appear to come out of his mouth before he's given full thought to the implications of them. that's not new. the biggest problem the white house has right now is they're trying to manage for something

that is at least at a physical level evident to the american public. joe biden looks old because he is pretty old. he is certainly older than americans remember him the first time they saw him on the national scene, right? >> 1988. >> well, right. i mean, the thing is, for most americans, joe biden was already somebody of note in the world when they were born. >> yeah. >> this is something the white house is trying to manage, and there is no great answer to it. they're moving around, trying to see if they can put a dent in some of the poll numbers like the ones you showed earlier. >> the other polling topic i often look at aside from age concerns are the issues motivating voters. the one i come back to time and again is reproductive rights, specifically around the ways that republicans have been talking about this issue. i know that you've got some reporting from over the last few days about donald trump's potential position on a 16-week national abortion policy. how much concern is there around

that issue from the trump campaign? i've got to say, it strikes me in the reporting that they want to wait until the primary is over to say anything about where he is on this policy position. >> right. there's been reporting that he's becoming more comfortable with the idea of a ban at 16 weeks. "the new york times" reported that he would promote a national ban at 16 weeks. >> yeah. >> you know, our reporting at nbc suggests that he's becoming more comfortable with the number of weeks, but it is less clear whether he'd endorse a federal ban versus promoting tating sta doing that. the truth is, it is something that absolutely occupies the trump campaign. they look at the issues that benefit democrats right now, and that's as high up there as any issue, is abortion. there are a lot of women in this country, a lot of men in this country who fear that a trump presidency means a national abortion ban. >> yeah. >> they're trying to figure out how to -- trump campaign is trying to figure out how to message on this. you heard donald trump already a

long time ago, almost two years ago now, blaming republican losses in the midterms on the position on abortion, you know, which for a lot of them was ban abortion, period. no exemptions, in cases of rape, incest, or life of the mother. he's basically said that is a bad position for republicans. he's trying to find a middle ground that helps him at least blunt that issue heading into the election. >> yeah. i'm old enough to remember when he put all the justices on the supreme court that eventually put dobbs into play and overturned roe. john allen, thanks so much for waking up with us. senior nbc news national politics reporter. i'll see you on the campaign trail. thanks for getting up "way too early." we have "morning joe" coming up right now. today, justice has been served. we proved no one is above the law. no matter how rich, powerful, or politically connected you are, everyone must play by the same rules. this d