hopefully that process doesn't then destroy the judiciary, but it is on the u.s. senate to fix this, not the courts. >> and he talks about his concerns about the loss of public trust. thanks, you guys. that is all for today. thank you for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." they're trying to put my father out of business. this is new york state. this is what we're see. letitia james campaigned on this process, and now they're making him do something that's not physically possible.

putting up a half a billion dollar bond, bonds that size don't exist in this country. >> that's eric trump complained yesterday on fast news about the massive bond his father needs to pay in his civil fraud case, but it's not the only legal issue for the former president today. we'll get into all of it in just a moment. also ahead, the latest on a potential deal between israel and hamas that would free hundreds of palestinian prisoners in exchange for dozens of hostages. and, plus, we'll go through the republican-led chaos in the house after a far right lawmaker laid the groundwork for possibly removing speaker mike johnson. ♪♪ good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this monday, march 25th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day and week with us, and we'll begin

with what is a huge day legally for former president donald trump. trump is expected to be in a new york kourtsroom this morning for a hearing on the hush money case. that trial, you'll recall, was supposed to start today, but it was delayed earlier this month after federal prosecutors turned over thousands of documents, which the manhattan district attorney's office says are largely irrelevant to the case. the judge is now expected to set a new start date for the criminal trial, potentially sometime next month. meanwhile, today is also the time for trump to put up a bond of nearly a half a billion dollars in his civil fraud case. the fraud would prevent the new york attorney general from collecting on the judgment while he appeals. trump's attorneys have asked the appellate court to reduce or lay aside the bond. the appeals court generally issues rulings on tuesdays and

thursdays, so there's very little chance it will act today. on fox news yesterday, eric trump weighed in on the effort of trying to secure his father's half a billion dollar bond. take a look. >> they're making him do something that's not physically possible. putting up a half a billion dollar bond, bonds that size don't exist in this country. a $10 million bond is a large bond. a $15 million bond is an enormous bond. half a billion bond? no one has ever seen a bond that size. people, they were laughing. top executives of large insurance companies have never seen anything of this size. what, they're going to start seizing assets if he can't put up something not available in the united states? >> so donald trump could be forced to declare bankruptcy if he's unable to post his more than $450 million bond in that

civil fraud case. that's according to bill cowan who argued that going this route could buy the former president some time. >> you suggested that he might have to file for bankruptcy or he might file for bankruptcy? like, how likely would that be? >> peter, i think that's his only choice at this point. unless the court of appeals comes through for him and reduces the amount of what he has to pay or the bond or gives him more time, again, i don't see a new york state court of appeals doing that for this guy. why should they? but they might. so if that happens, okay, that's one way. if that doesn't happen, then he's out of luck and he's going to have to file for personal bankruptcy because that way he can stay the judgment, stay any asset sales, buy himself a whole lot of time. you know, this thing going into bankruptcy court would definitely buy him time, maybe a yearing maybe two years. it's like a freefall bankruptcy.

who knows what kind of mess he's got there. you know, he could -- and then the state of new york becomes a general unsecured creditor of the trump organization or trump personally, whoever ends up being the debtor here. who knows what kind of fall or recovery they would get. that's probably his best way of reducing the size of the judgment. that's the best way of having like an orderly sale of his assets. you know, he will lose them. he will lose the assets absolutely. he'll have to pay the judgment, but it will d none in a much more timely, slow, more orderly way in the next five days. joining us now, former u.s. district attorney and msnb contributor barbara mcquade. good morning, barbara. let's start with the mechanics

of this. could trump file for bankruptcy, and if he does, how would that affect the bojd he's got to come up with? >> i don't know. someone running for president who files for bankruptcy strikes me as perhaps in a nontenuous position. but one thing that's important to note as you heard there, the juchlkt itself is not dischargeable in bankruptcy. judgments for fraud, which this is, are not dischargeable for bankruptcy, but what it would allow him to do is discharge his other debts. i read that many of his other buildings have security liens against them and interests, and so he could discharge his other debts, which could free him up to pay this judgment. but at the very least, he could cause significant delay in not having to pay up. >> yeah, certainly filing for bankruptcy would be devastating for his political image going into this image, and, of course, there would be questions raised if he were to suddenly receive money from an outside source, who would that source be and

perhaps what country do they live in. let's switch to the criminal trial. it was supposed to start, the one in manhattan was supposed to start this week, but now there have been delaying. the manhattan d.a., alvin bragg wants to start next month, meaning the delay would only but a few weeks' time. trump's attorneys want a delay much longer than that. give us an idea when you think it would start and when you'll learn of the new trial date? >> i think that's why the judge wants to get on the record to find out what was turned over and the reason for the delay. we know that this very large document dumping came from the southern district of new york. that's not alvin bragg's material to turn over. he didn't have the ability to do that. i think the real question is how much more time does the defense need to prepare the case. i think what alvin bragg has represented now is that among the documents, most are due milk does, meaning they've had other

copies of this thing and there are like 137 new pages. if that's the case, 30 days is more than enough time to get ready for trial, and so i think that's what they'll inquire about today. i think as long as that is accurate, i think a trial in sometime mid-april is really quite reasonable. >> barbara, what we know of the case being presented there and what trump's defense might by, how long do you think a trial of this might last? >> i don't think it's a lengthy trial. i think it's a trial that lasts at most a few weeks. that's because it deals with a very finite episode. it isn't like, for example, the federal election interference case, which is quite sweeping and has a lot of themes and frauds and time frames. this is really about the hush money payments and a small handful of witnesses. i think a few weeks at most would be sufficient for a trial like this. >> and if that's the case, we

will get a verdict before voters go to the polls. barbara mcquade, thank you so much for starting us off this morning. and in advance of his really important day in court, donald trump hit the golf course over the weekend. finding legal victory is hard to find. trump crowned himself winner of two golf trophies at his own club. in a social media post trump wrote this. it is my great honor to receive both awards at a great and difficult course. sure. then president joe biden reacted to trump's big feat and wrote this, congratulations, donald. quite the accomplishment. it's been very on point of late. still ahead here on "way too early," we're going to bring you the very latest from moscow following a deadly terror attack at a concert hall there back on friday. plus, what we're learning this morning about a possible hostage deal between israel and

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welcome back as we turn to some news from overseas. israel has reportedly agreed to free between 700 and 800 palestinian prisoners as part of a cease-fire and hostage release deal. sources are telling the israeli media the united states proposed this potential agreement. it would require israel to release people who are serving life sentences for their roles in terror attacks. in return hamas would free 40 hostages being held in gaza. hamas has not yet responded to this new proposal. one israeli official tells nbc news there's about a 50-50 chance the deal will go through. it was brokered during talks in

qatar in recent days that involved cia director bill burns. top israeli american officials have since come home but plan to return to that nation if hamas agrees to that deal. of course, we'll keep you posted. israeli forces say they've killed more than 170 gunmen in what is now one of the longest hospital raids in the war there in gaza. troops stormed the al shifa medical complex weeks ago. there was a relentness amount of gun strikes and explosions. it's connected to a hamas tunnel network, but the terrorist group denies any terrorist presence inside the hospital itself. it's now one of the very few medical centers that's even partially operational in the northern part of the enclave. it's also been housing some displaced citizens. israel says it's protecting

civilians, patients, and medical staff by providing them food, water, and adequate health care. this comes as prime minister benjamin netanyahu is vowing to press forward with a ground invasion of rafah where more than a million palestinians have taken refuge. the united states has been urging israel to not move forward with the attack, but israeli the defense minister is now in washington to discuss the looming offensive with the biden administration. he was part of an agreement reached between netanyahu and biden last week to have israeli officials consult with u.s. counterparts before doing anything. and another major story here, breaking her silence after weeks of speculation over her health, kate middleton, the princess of wales, has announced that she was diagnosed with cancer and is undergoing chemotherapy. >> in january i underwent major abdominal surgery in london, and at the time it was thought that my condition was noncancerous. the surgery was successful,

however, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. my medical team, therefore, advised i should undergo a course of chemotherapy, and i'm now in the early stages of that treatment. >> that surprise announcement came from the 42-year-old who after weeks on online speculation of her whereabouts following surgery and withdrawal from the public eye. it reached a fever pitch after a family photo of kate and her children released on mother's day in the uk was pulled because it had been digitally altered. later kate herself said she edited the photo and apologized for her confusion. well wishes came pouring in after kate's announcement on friday. in a statement, king charles who also recently announced his own cancer diagnosis, said he's so

proud of katherine for her courage and speaking as she did. prince harry and mega han markle said we wish health and healing for kate and her family and wish for privacy and peace. president biden wrote, jill and i join millions around the world in praying for your full recovery, princess kate. still ahead, we'll go over the tour of the men's and women's tournament and a story of baseball's biggest star. we'll get a check on all that and the forecast when we come right back. that and the forecast when we come right back you didn't live this strong, this long to get put on the shelf like a porcelain doll. if you have postmenopausal osteoporosis and are at high risk for fracture, you can build new bone with evenity®. ask your doctor if you can do more than just slowing down bone loss with evenity®.

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garcia -- oh -- >> texas a&m forced overtime in last night's second round

matchup with top seeded houston after erasing a double-digit deficit and outscoring the cougars 17-5 over the final two minutes of regulation. a beautiful bounce pass setting up that three-pointer to tie it, but the aggies were outdone in o.t.as houston opened up with a three-pointer right there and never looked back. the 100-95 win sends houston to ids consecutive sweet 16. meanwhile sixth seeded clemson over number three baylor last night marked the closest thing to an upset we had in the men's round of 32. that leaves the sweet 16 loaded with marquee matchups. no cinderellas this time around. all eight teams are in the sweet 16 for the fifth time since the seeding began back in 1979. n.c.state the only ones left with gonzaga outside the power basketball conferences.

the women's round of 32 tipped off yesterday, and after higher seeds went 31-1 in the first round, three teams erased the chalk with road victories yesterday. number 7 duke had the biggest upset of the day, rallying from 16 points down to beat ohio state, 75-63. that earns them a spot in the sweet 16 for the first time since the year 2018. number five, colorado, is back in the sweet 16 for a second straight year after beating fourth seeded kansas state, 63-54. and baylor knocked off georgia tech, 75-72. meanwhile seventh seeded iowa state almost stunned number two stanford, but a career-high 45 points by kiki carried an overtime win to avoid a second round exit. the women's round of 32 continues today with a marquee

that will include a home game for iowa state's caitlin clark set to host eighth seeded west virginia. and los angeles dodgers super shohei ohtani is expected to speak to the media today for the first time after his interpreter was fired. he sent money from ohtani's bank kupt. it's under federal investigation. we'll update the story as the updates occur. time now for the weather. michelle, the weekend went entire way without sunshine. >> the most impactful weather, we're looking at a strong spring

storm, lots of snow, 1 to 2 inches per hour. on the warm side, you see the brighter colors. that's where we're expecting the higher amounts of rain. we could see flooding. on the tail end, a severe chance of storms, and we could see strong tornados with any of these storms. millions waking up to alerts. 12 million with winter alerts from the northern tier. we have wind for some 67 million people. it's a stormy one for many of us. we're looking at heavy rain falling, even lightning. a lot of energy with the storm. on the cold side, we're looking at heavy snow. that's where you're seeing the lighter blues. sandwiched in the middle we're looking at sleet, also rain. tricky travel for many in the country. that's what we're going to see. the intense area of low pressure will bring snow across the northern plains and rainfall

through the mississippi valley and lower valleys seeing the chance for severe storms. this will be something to watch as we go throughout the later part of today. 9 million at risk. the biggest culprit or hazard, we could see ef-2 or ef-3 or later. winds gusting up to 50 miles an hour. we do have the chance for hail. not the strongest threat. but still the lightest spot would be greensburg and alex andrea. here's the snow. we're looking at over a foot of snow in some spots especially in northeastern minnesota. so winter is not over yet or winter-like weather is not over yet in this early part of spring. >> michelle grossman, thank you so much. next up on w "way too early," there's a new effort to oust house speaker mike johnson following the vote to keep the government funded. we'll bring you the very latest from capitol hill when w come right back. come right back

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♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it's a little before 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on this monday morning. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us. for the second time this year, house republicans have launched an effort to remove their elected leader. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene introduced a motion to vacate house speaker mike johnson on friday. she and some other hard-lined conservatives have expressed anger after johnson ushered

through the federal funding bill to avoid a partial federal shutdown. >> i filed a motion to vacate today. it's more of a warning and a pink slip. i do not wish to inflict pain on the congress and throw the house in chaos, but this is basically a warning, and it's time for us to go through the process, take our time, and find a new speaker of the house that will stand with republicans and our republican majority instead of standing with the democrats. >> so there's no vote for johnson's ouster yet, but the threat will now hang over his head. former house speaker kevin mccarthy who himself, of course, was ousted, had this to say about the situation yesterday. >> speaker johnson is doing the very best job he can. it's a difficult situation, but, look, the one advice i would give to the conference and to the speaker is do not be fearful of a motion to vacate. i do not think they can do it again. focus on the country, focus on the job you're supposed to do,

and actually do it fearlessly. just move forward. >> but adds to the chaos for house republicans, congressman mike gallagher of wisconsin has announced he's stepping down early. he'll resign now on april 19th, shrinking the gop's already razor-thin majority in the house. when gallagher leaves office, the breakdown will become 217 republicans 257b8d 13 democrats, meaning the republicans would only be able to afford to lose one vote. joining us now to help us make sense of it, politics reporter at semafor, ka dia. good to see you this morning. let's start with the motion to vacate. the republicans have already ditched one speaker, kevin mccarthy, and now marjorie taylor greene is threatening to do it again. so what do we think? is this a real threat? is it a shot across johnson's

bow? break down for us what this means. >> sure. i would say it's an incredible feat that we're here for your the second time to remove a speaker, but as you mentioned, congress finally passed the $1.1 trillion bill to fund the government. some republicans were not really happy with the priorities, that they didn't get some of the conservative priorities they've been vying for for the past 10 months. that has prompted this move from marjorie taylor greene. she's unhappy with the border process and just the process of putting forth the bill. now, whether or not it is going to be taken seriously or she has the support from her members of congress, that's kind of up in the air. i spoke to a lot of members who are just fatigued with the process. that i don't want to deal with yet another motion to vacate. they understood and they remember what happened in october and how it just, you

know, hobbled the cob for three weeks. they don't want to go back to that. also they don't want to go back the to their constituents. think about that. they have to go back to their constituents and say give us congress again, we should govern again when they haven't done the job so successfully. i'm not sure this is a winning message going into the 2024 election. >> with this hanging over johnson's head, tell me, how much more difficult will it be for him to lead. you're right, the government funding bill got done finally, but there are other things on the horizon, including humanitarian aid to israel. >> you're right. they have to pass the spy measure and get some kind of big to the floor on ukraine, and this is going to just really handicap the speaker's ability to negotiate with democrats.

as you pointed out before, you know, most of the democrats are the people that are voting for these measures right now. i guess the saving grace for speaker johnson is that democrats have quietly been saying that they would support him in a motion to vacate, which is a very different story than what happened to speaker mccarthy back in october. >> and that brings me to the last question here. with congressman gallagher saying he's leaving and the gop margin just one, it does seem johnson is going to have to lean on democrats more and more to get anything done. so tell us now about this new intense dynamic in the house with an election looming. >> yeah. it's pretty incredible. some people fear that more republican members will leave congress, therefore, giving democrats the majority. i don't know if that is the

case, but it just shows the frustration with members of the republican party that they have on their own party, and it also puts speaker johnson in a terrible position as well as the rest of the leadership. i don't know how they govern going forward. hopefully they could get past these two bills, but i have to say congress has never been this, i guess, exciting going into a 2024 election. we usually switch toward the campaign, and now it's really been focused on the house. >> exciting is one word. chaotic and dysfunctional, others. follow this reporter at semafor. really good stuff by kadia goba. good stuff here. next we'll go live to cnbc for what's driving the day early on wall street. plus the faa is launching an investigation into the united airlines following a series of recent safety incidents. we'll dig into the impact this

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for that let's bring in cnbc's arabile gumede who joins us live from london. arabile, good morning. stock futures low this morning after all three major indexes hit new highs last week. what should we expect in this short trading week ahead of the easter holiday? >> well, it's all leading up to the data front, right? that's been the important thing. good morning to you, jon. it's absolutely been a crackerjack of the time. where's the time gone. we're in the final week of the first quarter of the year already, and it's all been about the data. what does the data point toward when it comes to the interest rate cuts anticipated for late this year. just lacht week we had messaging

from the fed and six central banks just with regard to what would happen with interest rates. the app it is passion is we're going to hear from five governors this week as well as fed speaker as well. jerome powell is set to speak on the interest rate cuts. how soon will they come? when will they come? speaking of data, the u.s. spenldsing data is due to come out on friday, despite that being good friday, of course. they're hoping it's good news when it comes to the data front. 0.3% is the inflation front that's anticipated. it's the fed's most preferred inflation rate to watch out for. hitting a couple of other headline, arabile, united airlines is under new scrutiny following a string of safety issues in recent weeks. tell us what's going on there. >> they've faced quite a few issues. we've all been looking at boeing, especially after that

fuselage door back in early february. but actually in the last few weeks, they've had issues themselves. on march 15 ft, an external panel was found to be missing from a united aircraft and landed in oregon, which prompted an faa investigation. before that, united airlines' 737 max rolled onto the grass in houston. another 777, which was bound for japan, lost a tire after takeoff from san francisco and then was diverted to l.a., where it then landed safely. so all of those incidents have created a little bit of a worry then that united airlines might be facing similar issues to that and boeing. do they need to keep on making checks a little more significant? so the faa says, we're now going to give a greater presence around and at united airlines the kind of see what the procedure is like in and around the airlines that they operate and whether their mechanics are kind of standing up to scrutiny

as well. yeah, this is going to be interesting to see from united airlines. >> we'll keep an eye on that to be sure. as we mentioned, easter on the horizon, but those sweet easter baskets may come at a bitter cost this year for consumers, arabile. tell us why. >> yeah, because the price of co-key has hit higher. per metric ton, $9,000. the price of cocoa has actually doubled this year alone, right? we all thought nvidia was shooting the lights out. actually cocoa has managed to do that quite significantly. it hit an all-time high on friday, 4.4%. prices up more than 10% just last week alone. significantly it's because of an ill nino effect off the coast of africa. less supply, but demand still picking up.

humans still wanting chocolate despite the weaknesses in costs or should i say pockets as well then. so consumers are certainly making up for that demand picture we are seeing. for now prices are headed higher, and it may cost you more to say happy easter, but one thing's for sure. prices are still going to be in play. >> arabile gumede live from london. thank you. we'll talk to you again tomorrow. next up, there are conflicting reports between the united states and russia about who's responsible for friday's terrible terrorist attack in moscow. we'll bring you the latest on the investigation when "way too early" comes right back. vestiga early" comes right back.

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their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for. welcome back. u.s. officials say that i.s.i.s. is responsible for a deadly terror attack in moscow. on friday night a number of men stormed a concert hall, killing at least 137 people there, using

guns, knives, and explosives. the suspected terrorists have since been arrested and charg, those four along with several others believed to have played some role. in the aftermath i.s.i.s. claimed responsible without much proof. but speaking to his country on saturday, russia president vladimir putin made no mention of i.s.i.s. but instead said ukraine was behind the disaster. it was quickly rejected by the u.n. security council which afterward wrote i.s.i.s. bears sole responsibility for this attack. there was no ukrainian involvement whatsoever. they went on to say u.s. shared information about a planned terror attack with moscow earlier this month. joining us now, former fbi security agent and msnbc analyst

clint watts. clint, truly horrifying images from this concert have you outside of moscow on friday. let's talk about the islamic state in which the u.s. says they believe who was responsible. what would be the motivation behind this killing? why moscow and why now? >> a couple of things, jonathan. the islamic state corridor, pakistan and afghanistan, those are the old remnants of taliban combined with new i.s.i.s. members who have coalesced in the same mountainous region we saw al kai do come from 30 years ago. what we've seen is since their strength and withdrawal from afghanistan, they've begun more regional attacks. iran had two attacks just in the last month or so in which two -- two i.s.i.s. attacks inside iran killing many, many people. now you see russia as the target. for the islamic state going

after any foreign adversary or target -- they see russia, china, or the the u.s. as relatively the same from their perspective, and iran, a shia government, you see them striking out with these attacks in a big, big way. i think it's a sign of their strength and a sign of who are the foreign fighters who joined the ranks during the last ten years. many of them came from russia. >> so, clint, i.s.i.s. has not been able to pull off that many successful significant terror attacks in recent years. is this your sense they're gaining strength, and are officials worried that there could be more coming perhaps in western capitals especially as so much of the arab world is enraged by what's happening in gaza? >> that's right, jonathan. what you see with these terror groups, whether it was al qaeda in the arabian peninsula -- that was yemen many years ago, about 15 years ago -- they start local, they expand to regional,

and the question is will they make the move to more global attacks. they are in an isolated landlocked area in afghanistan and pakistan, but you see them moving out through the periphery states, essentially expanding o it to other targets. they've got access. the question is the counterterrorism presence, is it the same as it was two years ago? there is good news the u.s. had intelligence on this attack. they did provide that. the question is what is the impact? if so, we could be seeing more regional and global attacks in the near future. >> clint, we heard from putin over the weeknd about the attack, pointing a finger at ukraine. what is your concern he will try to use this attack, which, again, no evidence ukraine was involved, to escalate his war in ukraine? we should note, reports just now

of missile strikes in kyiv and other ukrainian cities. >> yeah, it was remarkable. before the suspects were even apprehended or fires had stopped burning, russian state media, many of the pro-russian telegram channels i monitor, were putting out it was ukraine. even after the islamic state and khorasan put out the announcement, and they posted a picture of the attackers, looking a lot like the gentlemen right there, they still said, well, ukraine was part of this plot. they have their narrative. vladimir putin has the narrative to blame everything on ukraine. there is another part to this. domestically, vladimir putin said he will protect all russians from any sort of terrorist attacks, islamic terrorist attacks being a big one. for him to just get his sixth term as president and not be able to stop this attack, when the u.s. already warned them publicly. there were public statements out there. the state department notice. that's a major failure of put

putin. he has to redirect it to ukraine as an excuse. >> important point, coming so soon after election day as it were in russia. clint watts, great incite this morning. thank you, as always. we'll speak again soon. up next on" way too early," as the house majority continues to shrink, speaker mike johnson is facing a reckoning with members of his own party. what it means for his speakership, and why he is depending on democrats to get anything done on capitol hill. on "morning joe," it is a consequential week for donald trump as he races against the clock to secure a half a billion dollar bond or risk having his assets seized. it comes as trump is expected to be back in court today for a hearing on the hush money case after new evidence delayed the manhattan trial. also ahead, former supreme court justice stephen breyer will be a guest live here in studio. you won't want to miss that. "morning joe" a few moments away.

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poligrip. welcome back. there's a new piece in the "wall

street journal" that highlights the existential challenge that house speaker mike johnson is facing, not from democrats but from fellow maga republicans in congress. the paper spells out how speaker johnson cannot currently run the house without real help from democrats in the form of a bipartisan coalition that has been needed to pass key bills, including last week's long overdue government funding bill. what's more, the gop's thin majority is putting the party's agenda at risk, as embittered republicans, including marjorie taylor greene, took an initial step on friday to try to oust johnson as speaker. joining us now is a co-author of the piece, capitol hill reporter for "the wall street journal," siobhan hughes. democrats needing to bail out johnson again and again. talk about the odd dynamic. >> the interesting thing, this is a coalition that johnson that has helped create. he is bringing bills to the

floor, avoiding his own people under a tactic that requires him to get two-thirds of the entire house. he, of course, has barely half of the house. anytime he wants to do anything big, he is, in essence, saying, "democrats, come join me. i'm going to get around the far right of my conference and we are going to bowl straight down the middle," which is exactly what chuck schumer has been saying he should do. >> we mentioned earlier in the show about this effort by marjorie taylor greene and others, potentially, to push johnson out. what's your read in terms of sources? congress about to go away on a two-week recess. how real is this? is this simply the far right sending a warning shot, or do we think there could be a real effort to push him out? >> before we get to whether or not he is going to be pushed out, what you need to think about is the year 2015. john boehner was ousted almost in this exact same manner.

a motion to vacate was never called up in that instance, and that's the parallel here. the next two weeks are going to be crucial because this is going to be about can republicans rally around somebody else? does anybody emerge as a contender? do republicans think that this would be such a bad vote for them that they start asking mike johnson to step down? that's exactly what happened in 2015 all over the conservative airwaves. people were saying, do you support john boehner? republicans being interviewed had to answer, and that's what we're watching for right now. >> this certainly hands the democrats an election year issue here. you know, president biden, of course, has been talking about the dysfunction in the republican house for a long time, but house democrats feel they could flip the chamber. this surely can only help. >> it could help them flip the chamber if it points to chaos. of course, we're going to have some test points here. this isn't just an ethereal or conceptual issue. this is going to intersect with mike johnson's drive to pass aid

to ukraine and, of course, to renew the foreign intelligence surveillance act which governs u.s. spying powers. very much this coalition is kind of telling mike johnson, you are on probation. if you do anything we don't like on ukraine or fisa, we are pulling the rip cord. it is going to be a very, very tense next month. >> you just led me to my last question there. siobhan, with the johnson drama as the background, what is the sense of the future of the ukraine funding bill? >> this is going to be a very, very tricky situation and two pathways forward here. either a discharge petition, which seems a little less likely. more of a forcing mechanism. once again, this option of mike johnson doing something with democrats to get two-thirds of the house. this is really, really threading a needle with a very small eye. >> we should underscore, as mentioned, reports right now about air-raid sirens over a number of ukrainian cities, including the capital of kyiv, underscoring the need for this funding to come from washington.

we will be keeping an eye n the building behind you. thank you for joining us. we appreciate it. thank you to you for getting up "way too early" on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. they're trying to put my father out of business. they're trying to take his resources he'd otherwise put into his own campaign for presidency. this is new york state. this is what we're seeing. letitia james campaigned on this promise, and now they're making him do something that's not physically possible. putting up a half a billion dollar bond? bonds that size don't exist in this country. >> eric trump complaining yesterday on fox news about the massive bonds his father needs to pay in the civil fraud against him, but it's not the only legal issue today for the former president. we'll get into all of that in just a moment. also ahead, the latest on a potential deal between israel and hamas that would free