McConnell condemns 'loony lies,' and AOC revelation

Good morning, NBC News readers.

President Joe Biden and a group of GOP senators met to try to find a bipartisan path for a Covid-19 relief package, while Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell came out swinging about the "loony lies" infecting his Republican party like "cancer."

And if it didn't feel like Groundhog Day to you already, today is the actual day. Here is what we're watching this first Tuesday in February.

Biden, GOP senators had a 'frank' conversation about Covid relief

President Joe Biden held a two-hour meeting Monday with a group of 10 Republican senators who proposed a slimmed-down coronavirus relief plan that they say can win bipartisan support.

The Republicans' proposed package is estimated to cost $618 billion, about one-third the size of Biden's $1.9 trillion proposal.

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who is leading the group, called it "a frank and very useful discussion" in brief remarks at the White House.

"It was a very good exchange of views. I wouldn't say we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that," Collins said. "But what we did agree to do is follow up and talk further."

Meantime, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y are making contingency plans, in case a deal with Republicans fails to materialize.

But, they need to be careful what they wish for. Any deal passed without bipartisan support could trigger automatic cuts to Medicare and other social safety net programs, NBC News' Sahil Kapur reports.

"The cuts would be huge," said Paul Van de Water, a senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal think tank.

It all comes as a massive unemployment aid backlog is becoming a dire problem for millions of Americans.

Months after the coronavirus began battering the U.S. economy, millions of jobless people still haven't received unemployment benefits, the nonpartisan Century Foundation think tank estimated. Others have endured extensive delays.

"It drains you so mentally and emotionally, and it makes you just feel worthless, like you're begging someone to give you something that was entitled to be given," one unemployed mother told NBC News.

McConnell condemns 'loony lies' spread by Marjorie Taylor Greene

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell issued a scathing rebuke of the "conspiracy theories" being peddled by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday.

"Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said in a statement after receiving questions about the freshman House Republican.

“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged ... is not living in reality," McConnell said.

McConnell, R-Ky., did not mention the Georgia representative by name, but his statement, which was first reported by The Hill, was released after he was asked about her.

Given that they operate in different chambers, it was rare step for McConnell to speak out on the issue.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., is expected to speak to Greene this week, but it’s unclear if the party will take any action against her.

Earlier Monday, a group of House Democrats introduced a resolution to remove Greene from her two committee assignments over her inflammatory and false statements.

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Plus

• Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is facing a trial today that could land him in prison for up to three-and-a-half years.

• Biden is expected to sign three major executive orders aimed at reversing former President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration practices.

• AOC revealed that she is a sexual assault survivor as she recounted her experience during the Capitol riots.

• A Georgia police chief and a patrol officer have been ousted after the two were caught on body cam video having a "horrifying" racist conversation.

• Punxsutawney Phil has spoken and the news is not great: The world famous groundhog says there will be six more weeks of winter.

THINK about it

Myanmar's coup and Aung San Suu Kyi's arrest were presaged by the world ignoring the Rohingya genocide, Rudabeh Shahid writes in an opinion piece.

Live BETTER

Life is stressful right now. Try these three techniques to reduce anxiety.

Shopping

February is full of Valentine's Day sales and Presidents Day deals on everything from mattresses and jewelry to TVs, winter clothing and more.

One fun thing

Monday's massive snowfall brought joy to large parts of the country, with sledding, snowball fights and frolicking pandas at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo.

Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.

If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send me an email at: petra@nbcuni.com

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Thanks, Petra