right now on "andrea mitchell reports," president biden making stunning comments overnight about the potential for nuclear armageddon. a live report from moscow. today's unemployment report shows a cooling off, but a still resilient jobs market with 263,000 new jobs added in september. the president attends a national manufacturing day event in suburban maryland this hour. the pressure over inflation, gas prices and the saudi oil production cuts has the white house scrambling one month until

the midterms. all the headlines from week one of the oath keepers trial in washington after a member of another far right extremist group, the proud boys, pleads guilty in connection to the capitol riot and becomes a coop raying witness. good day, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington, d.c. president biden delivering a stunning warning about vladimir putin's repeated nuclear threats, speaking off camera at a democratic fund-raiser, saying we have not faced the prospect of armageddon since kennedy and the cuban missile crisis. the president adding about putin, he is not joking when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons because his military you might say is significantly underperforming. there is criticism from inside

putin's initial circle as russians flee to escape conscription. what's the reaction to president biden's extraordinary warning about russia? >> reporter: i think honestly, the aspect of all of this that is hitting home the most for russians is the draft. the partial draft. the defense minister saying 200,000 russians have been mobilized. that's the biggest concern. that is people's sons, brothers, fathers being called up to go to ukraine. the fear of a potential nuclear escalation, of course, worries people just as much as it worries anyone around the world, be them americans or russians. after president biden spoke, we went out on the streets of moscow and we asked people how they felt about it. many of them reacted with disbelief.

are you frightened by the nuclear threat? >> no. >> reporter: you are not? why not? this is all a political game. just words. muscle play, he tells me. >> time will see. we don't need it. we don't want it. >> it's not real. it's scary story. >> reporter: andrea, experts here in moscow tell us today that as we have heard before that russia's nuclear doctrine does severely limit when even a low grade nuclear missile, a tactical nuclear missile, could be used. but that being said, president putin's back is against the wall, and he has clearly said that he is determined to win just as president zelenskyy said that he is determined to win. that's the very difficult position we're in. i think that goes to explain a little bit why i think perhaps one of the most notable aspects

of what president biden said was when he said that he is trying to figure out what president putin's off ramp is. >> nbc news is reporting, as have others, that the defense minister is under some pressure right now. >> reporter: he is. there are reports of divisions within president putin's inner circle. there have always been divisions within president putin's inner circle. that being said, they are spilling out in public. the chechen warlord, who is a great -- almost a fan, an admirer and close to president putin, he has been openly criticizing the defense minister. others have. the rivalry between other members of the upper echelon of russian government and the defense minister are renowned.

one possibility is that president putin might choose -- it's been called for openly on russian television. might choose to move his defense minister or to fire him. the trouble, of course, is that he is also an ally of president putin and another aspect with president putin is that we do know that he can be very loyal. president putin is in a very difficult position. in some ways, i think what president biden is signaling is that he understands that that is not just dangerous for russia's leader but in some aspects dangerous for the world. >> absolutely. thank you. joining us now is jonathan lemire. rick stengle. shane harris. rick, do you agree with president biden that the risk is the highest since the cuban

missile crisis? >> he was smart to mention the cuban missile crisis. that was a situation where there were two nuclear superpowers and they managed to solve it in a way that neither of them lost face. john f. kennedy and khrushchev. there was something during the cold war called escalation domination. it was this idea that neither side should be able to dominate the other in terms of their military capabilities. that also included rhetoric. the russians always were successful in the rhetoric department, because they used to threaten nuclear armageddon all the time. i think joe biden is planning his own game of escalation dominance, where he mentions something extreme and wants that to give pause to the russians, just like what john f. kennedy did in 1962. >> rick, to follow up, everyone else in his national security cabinet has been downplaying putin's threats as potential bluffs, saying they have seen no

sign of movement of their assets. you have heard that from the defense secretary lloyd austin this week. you heard it from jake sullivan and tony blinken. why would the president at a democratic fund-raiser -- all of this, off camera, is that calculated or is that biden being biden? >> yes to both. i'm not much of a poker player. but when you say, as vladimir putin did, i'm not bluffing, that generally means that you are bluffing. i think what biden is doing is raising the rhetorical ante on putin. by the way, i think he is right. i think the distinction between tactical nuclear weapons and the weapon used in nagasaki and

hiroshima is a distinction without a difference. biden is shooting a rhetorical bullet across the bow. >> shane, your newspaper, you and your colleagues citing u.s. intelligence sources say that putin was confronted directly by a member of his inner circle about the conflict in ukraine, given the setbacks. doesn't that raise the stakes also that he is cornered here and is facing these divisions, which keir simmons has talked about today? >> yes. i think that's right. he is cornered and he raised the stakes on his own, too, by declaring these territories in ukraine to be annexed. it doesn't seem to really be providing any off ramp to himself at this point. i think what's notable as we reported about this individual confronting putin directly is that this is not somebody who is saying, you need to find a way

to wind this war down and to diplomatically resolve it. he is essentially saying, you need to go harder. we need to double down. the pressure is building on putin to do i think more, not less. in that context, i think it does help to explain why he is raising these rhetorical points about the use of nuclear weapons. i think president bide season right that objectively, the risk is higher right now for a potential use of the weapons. we should remember, there are powerful incentives for putin not to use them. the biggest probably because he knows it will generate some kind of response from the united states, perhaps not a nuclear strike in kind, but maybe an overwomenling conventional attack. use of a nuclear weapon could bring the united states directly into the conflict in ukraine and given the way the russian militaryperformed, i think

we could conceive the u.s. military making quick work of the russians in ukraine. that's not what putin wants. >> jonathan, are you seeing any sign from your white house sources that they are trying to walk back what the president said, modmodulate it or was thi signal he was sending? >> they have offered explanations. u.s. officials stress they have seen no change in russia's nuclear posture. no intelligence whatsoever to suggest putin is closer to using weapons. that's backed up by nato's assessment as well. at that fund-raiser, they suggested he was talking about the arc of history. we are closer to nuclear armageddon now than the cuban missile crisis. that seems undeniably true.

it was not meant to suggest that there's new information the president learned that the threat had grown in recent days. i think there's attempts by the white house to clarify that. people i talked to would say the president's larger point remains. it points to the high stakes right now in this conflict and the idea that a cornered putin is perhaps the most dangerous one. as everyone has been laying out, he is running out of options. the pressure is only mounting. >> rick, i don't have to tell you that ronald reagan and gorbachev said a nuclear war can never be fought and never be won. that's the doctrine that the u.s. and the soviet union and russia have gone by. we don't have negotiations going on. we don't have a renewal of treaties that existed before. is there a comparison now to 1962 when we had that hair

trigger between the two superpowers with thousands of weapons on both sides, long range weapons that could within minutes wipe out each other's countries? >> as you recall, the russians had already moved icbms into cuba. we were very, very close. it was just a smart move by robert f. kennedy, junior, kennedy's attorney general, who decided to take the first telegram from khrushchev saying, maybe let's make a deal, instead of the more threatening one, to negotiate that agreement. i don't think we are as close as we were there. remember, that was in the context of the cold war where we were putting our heads under the desks every morning at school to prevent being killed in a nuclear war. i think it was a rhetorical use by biden. he just wants people to realize

what the stakes are. >> that is great context, indeed. rick, jonathan and shane, thanks to you. signs of slowing. what today's jobs report means for the state of the economy, the fight against inflation. the deputy treasury secretary joins us next. this is "andrea mitchell reports." you are watching msnbc. s "andrel reports. you are watching msnbc (vo the new iphone 14 pro is here. and right now business owners can get it on us at t-mobile. apple business essentials with apple care+ is included so you can easily manage your team's devices, here, and here. all on the network with more 5g coverage. it's the ultimate business trifecta, with the new iphone 14 pro on us. only from t-mobile for business. (dog barking) ♪♪ we love our pets. but we don't always love their hair.

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the september jobs report released this morning fell within expectations, showing a slight easing in the pace of job growth, with 263,000 jobs added. the unemployment rate falling to 3.5%. big question after each of the reports, what does it tell us about the fight to control inflation without tipping the economy into recession? joining us now is the president of the american action forum and a former directioner of the congressional budget office and

eugene daniels. douglas, what are your takeaways from the jobs report? >> solid, unspectacular. it's not going to change anyone's mind. if you thought it was moving too fast, you still think that. if you are the fed, you think, we're going to go another 75 points in november. we're going to wait to see inflation did i minute identification. this is going to take a long time. chairman powell warned it would take years to get to 2%. this is another reminder. >> do you think they have to get to the 2% target? they got a late start. everyone is acknowledging that, including the chairman. >> they got a late start. what you are seeing is a rapid attempt to get to, quote, neutral. everyone has a different idea what neutral is. then i think there will be a more moderate pace of rate increased if any at all. they have committed to getting to 2%. their credibility is on the line. they are set on fulfilling that objective. >> to do it without tipping into resection? >> no guarantee on that front. we have seen the fed as a group

get the term soft landing out of their vocabulary. they are not talking about that anymore. they are going to keep at it. they say that a lot. it will be restrictive. they warned us about pain. all that is code for, yeah, it could happen. >> eugene, the white house has been so restrained in terms of, especially after four years of donald trump, not beating up on the fed. they are leaving the fed alone do what it's doing. nobody has any illusions anymore about inflation coming down or being transitory. everybody was wrong about that in terms of the political impact. between now and the midterms, it's a political problem. the republicans are just zeroing in on inflation and pivoting every abortion question to an answer about inflation. >> yeah. it's like everyone is able to choose what they want to talk about when we see the job numbers. the thing is, the pace of adding

more jobs. the unemployment rate fell. those are good th things for th country. that means the fed is going to have to raise rates. what does that do for the possibility of a recession? this is something that the white house has had to deal with when it comes to economic messaging for months. they have a lot to show when it comes to talking about adding jobs, people are getting back to work. but the president has had to deal with -- everyone realizing it wasn't transitory but also that inflation hurts american families. they are trying to tinker around the edges in dealing with rising costs for families. you can look at the bill that passed, the reconciliation bill with health care. that's the focus is trying to do that around the edges. it's going to be tough.

>> doug, let's talk about gas prices. gas prices were going up even on the anticipation of all the signals coming from opec plus, the saus and russians. then it happened, the announcement in terms of 2 million barrels a lot. day. it shows they are with russia on ukraine. this helps russia continue to get more profits, oil profits for the war. it helps iran as prices go up. they are still managing to trade despite sanctions. it totally screws white house going into the midterms. >> it's bad news for white house. most visible inflation is gasoline. we have seen how potent that is politically. the wild card is china. china slowed dramatically. people think they are in a recession. that explains the weakness of

global oil prices. they are trying to shore that up by cutting back on production. if china recovers, we will see reduce supply and a big jump in demand. that's a quite dramatic moment. a big spike in oil and gasoline prices again. >> do you see this as the saudis punishing joe biden for having called mbs a pariah? do you see this as saudi self-interest? with oil going below $80 a barrel, they could see it going down to $70, maybe in the 60s. they have their own oil budget to deal with. >> you can see it either way. it's important for the u.s. to think about its self-interest. >> what can we do? what can the president do? >> adopt a strategy that takes advantage of the oil reserves we have. we can insulate ourselves to a greater extent and maintain climate goals by having some

price on carbon that gives people incentives to shift away from these fuels. that's a strategy that's been explored a lot. they rejected it in favor of saying no to coal, no to oil. that leads them exposed to the international shifts. they have the wrong climate strategy. it backed them into a corner on oil again and again. they may want to rethink that. >> thank you, douglas, and eugene. joining us now, the deputy treasury secretary. let's start with the jobs report. in july, more than 500,000 new jobs added, 300,000 in august. this 263,000 number is confirming a downward trend. it's a slight softening, still resilient market. what is your overall reaction? >> it's good to be here with you today. i think you are right, what we are seeing is a move towards the sustainable growth we predicted coming out of covid-19. the job numbers today reaffirm

that. we both add more jobs, saw the unemployment rate come down. it speaks to the strength of the american labor market and the underlying strength of the u.s. economy, which means that we have the momentum we need to both deal with economic growth while bringing down the high costs that american households face. we have seen the costs come down in places like gas where we have -- gasoline prices have come down from the high levels that they were at this summer. the president is committed to doing everything we can to keep the prices coming down. >> in terms of a major component of inflation, which is gas prices, you have got fury among democratic leaders in the senate and house, schumer, durbin, murphy, they are all talking about taking action against saudi arabia, really furious about what they are calling a gut punch by the saudis, even after that fist bump summit.

what kinds of options can you do to try to bring down gas prices now? >> andrea, i agree that what happened, what opec did was shortsighted because one of the goals is to make sure that energy markets remain well supplied. well supplying the energy market is important to us because that helps make sure that gas prices go down. it's important to them because it means that they are able to earn revenue. ultimately, the president called on the secretary of energy to consider options working with congress. i'm not going to get ahead of her. we know that over the course of the last several months, the president authorized the release of the strategic petroleum reserve to bring down energy prices. you see in america we are on pace for next year to have a historic level of domestic production. the president called for domestic producers to continue to increase production not only domestically but production around the world. we think taking those steps are going to help bring down gas

prices over time as well and help make sure the american people have more money in their pocket. >> over time is not in time for the midterms. you can't really keep going back to the petroleum reserve. you have to refill it at some point. there are international agreements, you can't get below a certain level, correct? >> i will refer back to my colleagues at the department of energy in terms of specifics of the reserve. what we know is the releases we have done to date have had an impact on bringing down gasoline prices for the american people. in addition to that, we have seen historic increases in domestic production here in the united states. we are seeing increases in production in places like canada and other places around the world that aren't members of opec. as you know, gasoline, oil, our goal is to make sure global production increases to make sure it meets the needs of the people around the world. the president is committed to

bring down the cost of gasoline. >> would you list sanctions and let venezuela pump more oil? >> as you know, sanctions we put in place in venezuela has been in response to a regime that has taken steps that are not consistent with protecting the human rights of their people or free and fair democratic rule. those sanctions are intended to galvanize behavioral change. i'm not going to get ahead of the conversations between the regime and the government of venezuela. what i will say is that we're going to watch them closely. we hope they make progress. >> bottom line, can you do anything to bring down gas prices between now and the election a month from now? >> we think the gas prices should continue coming down, because we have seen historic spread between the cost of crude oil and the cost that's paid at

the pump. we are calling on those who own those gas stations to bring down the price. in addition to that, we have seen that over the course of the last month, we have seen a release of the spr that helped to keep prices lower than they were at the highs this summer. we are committed to taking every other action we can to try to bring down prices over the course of the next few days, few months and the next year. we though how important this is to the american people. >> do you feel betrayed by the saudis? weren't there commitments made during that summit in july? >> andrea, i was not at the summit in july. what i can say is that what the opec has done is shortsighted, largely because they ultimately have benefit from a strong global economy. today, around the world, including here in the united states, one of the largest drivers of global inflation is high energy prices. those high energy prices are striking creating challenges not

only here but around the world and developing economies all over the world. what opec has always said is their job is to make sure that global energy markets remain well supplied. the best thing that they can do to make sure the markets remain well supplied is to keep supply on the market. there's a gap between what opec says and what opec does. as you know, even today, opec is under meeting their quota by 3 million barrels. we will see what actually happens in terms of how many barrels come off the market. ultimately, our goal is to use domestic production in the united states and increase that to try to meet the needs in the united states. but also to get other producers to do the same. our hope is opec will take actions consistent with making sure that energy markets are well supplied. >> over time is not going to help you by the time the elections come. what do you say to democrats who say that we should be punishing the saudis for siding with russia? >> what i would say is that i know the president and secretary

are having conversations about our options with regard to making sure we are able to meet the needs of the american people today. that includes what we have been doing, which is production from the spr. as i have said, it's important to note that we are having historic levels of production in the united states. the secretary is working with the president and with other members of the cabinet to think about other options to make sure that we see the trend that we have seen since the summer, which is gasoline prices coming down. i will mention it again. it's important to note we have seen a historic gap between the cost of oil and the price paid at the pump. we are calling on domestic producers and those who own these gas stations to close that gap in order to help bring down the cost of gasoline at the pump for the american people. the president has made fighting inflation and high costs our number one priority as an administration. we have taken a number of steps to do that when it comes to

gasoline. also in other parts of the economy. look at the inflation reduction act and what it's doing in terms of prescription drugs. our goal is to make sure the american people are able to have good, well paying jobs. but also bring down the costs of goods and services they buy. >> thank you very much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. coming up, possible charges. the fbi reportedly saying there's evidence of tax crimes that could be used to prosecute the president's elder son hunter biden. militias in court. a member of the proud boys pleading guilty. what this could mean for the only keepers trial in the wake of january 6. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. research shows that people remember ads with young people having a good time. so to help you remember that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's a pool party. look what i brought! liberty mutual! they customize your home insurance... so you only pay for what you need!

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evidence with regard to tax crimes and a false statement related to a gun purchase, according to the reporting. citing people familiar with the case. let's be clear here. it's up to prosecutors at the justice department, not federal agents, to decide whether or not to file charges against anyone. nbc news has not independently confirmed this report. the doj is declining comment. hunter biden's legal counsel said in a statement, it's a federal felony for a federal agent to leak information about a grand jury investigation such as this one. joining us now is justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian and joyce vance. we have been hearing charges are imminent. they will not do anything before the election. >> we are in the quiet period. this is about income that hunter biden earned, $11 million by nbc new's count, between 2013 and 2018, that he didn't pay taxes

on. his lawyer acknowledged he paid his tax bill of $2 million last year. the question is, was it criminal tax evasion? "the post" is reporting federal agents believe they have a prosecutable case. of course, it's up to the u.s. attorney in delaware, who is a trump appointee, to decide whether to bring judges. merrick garland said he will not be involved in the case. there's a lot of tax evasion in this country that never gets prosecuted. this is a case where prosecutorial discretion comes into play. >> let's talk about the issue of hunter biden, it's such a huge political issue it's been pushed for years and years now for trump -- by trump and his forces. there's a serious question about behavior of the president's son. as far as we can understand, there's nothing actionable regarding the investments because that, while unethical

arguably, is not potentially illegal. but it's the tax issues they are looking at? >> hunter biden, like anyone else who violates criminal law, should be investigated, considered for prosecution and prosecuted if the facts warrant that. it's important for people to understand that david weiss, the u.s. attorney running this investigation, was a trump appointee in delaware. he was permitted to stay on when the other trump u.s. attorneys mostly resigned. he will continue to stay on to shepherd this case. he will make the decisions. andrea, i need to say as a prosecutor who was in the game for 25 years, that i have never worked a case with agents, a complicated case, a white collar investigation that went on for some time where the agents weren't convinced the evidence was sufficient to indict. the agents get their statistic at the time the indictment is returned, and it's up to prosecutors to take the case

into court and to try it. the standard that prosecutors apply here is that they should not seek an indictment unless they believe they have sufficient evidence to both obtain a conviction at trial and to have it affirmed on appeal. that's a very different sort of a calculation than the one that agents will make at this pre-indictment stage. you have to be confident the law will be on your side given the evidence in your hand. finally, it's improper for anyone involved in the investigation to discuss it publically. if agents are doing that, they are in a lot of trouble here. >> as hunter biden's lawyer was pointing out. a member of the proud boys pleaded guilty to a charge of seditious conspiracy in north carolina. a member of the group, the first to do so, he could become a key witness. they say in the document, the

plea deal, that he is a cooperating witness. >> the agreement suggests that he will try to cooperate. it says that if he provides substantial cooperation in making other cases, that he could even be offered entry into the witness protection program, which is a pretty exacting standard. it speaks to how dangerous these people, the confidence the government has that he may help them reach other cases. this is a very important development. >> a quick check in with you, ken, about the oath keepers, which is a different group, but we know that they were working together, at least the night before january 6, in the garage right under this building when they had the meeting on video. we don't know of any connection between the oath keepers -- they are on trial. >> the justice department hasn't alleged a connection. the trial in the oath keepers case has halted for the day.

it's a half day today. fbi agents were on the stand introducing more text messages with stewart rhodes' words talking about violence and hoping trump would invoke the insurrection act so they could take action. >> ken and joyce, thanks to both of you. a show of force. the u.s. resuming military exercises with south korea today. no signs kim jong-un is getting the message. more on that coming up. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. (vo) with their verizon private 5g network, associated british ports can now precisely orchestrate nearly 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence.

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non-proliferation project. this year alone, north korea launched 41 missiles, six were intercontinental. what do you make in this increase? >> i think the north koreans are not interested in talking. talking time is over. we saw that several year period of diplomacy during the trump administration, it failed. kim jong-un for the past year and a half, two years has been signaling that they are going to be in a period where they are modernizing and expanding their nuclear and missile capabilities. i think that's what we find our services now in the middle of. >> how concerned are you about a nuclear test given the construction, the satellite photos show construction around the tunnels for a potential test, perhaps after the china party congress? >> there's going to be a nuclear test. we saw earlier in this year north korea started putting that test sight together. north korea had blown up the tunnels, then they reopened

them. they have been rebuilding buildings. we don't know how long it's going to take them to get the site back together. they had to take a break because it rans cats and dogs in the summer in korea. now that the buildings seem to be reconstructed, the tunnels are open, it's really just up to kim jong-un when he wants to do it. i think that's going to happen sooner rather than later. >> with russia and china at the u.n. the other day saying any new global sanctions against north korea are just a dead letter, what more can the u.s. do to try to deter kim jong-un from continuing to expand his nuclear missile programs? >> i think we are fundamentally out of options. having watched this crisis over the last 25 years, we are really now at a point where north korea has nuclear weapons. kim jong-un said he would never give them up, he would never bargain them away. i have heard for years people say, we need to give sanctions time to work. we have given them 20, 25 years to work.

here we are. i don't think there's any reasonable prospect the russians or chinese will help us out. it's unpleasant. no one likes to say it. we have to learn to live with the fact that north korea is a lousy but nuclear armed neighbor. >> jeffrey lewis, thank you very much. >> it was a pleasure. amazing grace. one of the defining moments of the obama presidency. next, his former top speech writer joining us to talk about his new book "grace," and the efforts to unite a nation bitterly divided. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. precisely orchestrate nearly 600,000 vehicles passing through their uk port every year. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter. we call this enterprise intelligence. ♪ what will you do?

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response to the decision on obamacare, a court decision the same-sex marriage but his speech at mother emanuel after the killing of nine worshipers, including nine. the speech writer describing the tension of collaborating with president obama on the concept for the speech and then repeated drafts up until the last moment, including the president's unrehearsed decision to break into singing "amazing grace." ♪ amazing grace ♪ ♪ how sweet the sound ♪ >> it was remarkable. joining us now is cody keenan, former chief writer for president obama. and author of "grace."

it's so good to see you. congratulations. >> thank you, nice to see you. >> it's just a beautiful book. to a writer, to any writer, any reader, to understand the collaboration, the way you worked with president obama on speeches and the art of your experience in the white house, let's start with those moments in 2016. the reare luck tans to speak about another shooting. his last-minute decision to sing that day in the church. describe how that came about. >> you nailed it. our relationship really was a collaboration. he always expected not a perfect draft, but something he could work with. this was a tough one to eulogize the pastor who was murdered in a racist massacre and to talk about guns and the confederate flag and the long history of racism made for a tough speech. i talk openly what a challenge

it was to write. the draft was okay, but not really up to par. and he -- i spent three days agonizing over it. he wrote it in three hours. and it was the morning of the speech, we had just left the white house where he talked about marriage equality. he says, if it feels right, i might sing it. >> most of the staff did not know this was going to happen. you also write about the state of the yawnon address and how music, specifically miles davis, helped with that speech. >> that was a new and unexpected one. it was my third for him. it was a pretty long one, pretty packed. he called me up to talk about it. he said you listen to miles davis weren't i said, not really. the thing about miles davis is it's the notes you don't play. it's the space between. it's the silences. so tonight, i want you to go

home and pour a drink and listen to some miles davis. some back tomorrow and find me silences. and that was my entree into jazz. >> one of my favorite albums was round about midnight. i was also struck by your writing that obama told you one time about writing. read james baldwin when you're stuck. listen to john colt train when you're not. that's quite an editor's point. >> yeah, more jazz. there was two different points. baldwin is just moral clarity. there's a real sense of what's right and wrong. it cuts through bs like hot knife through butter. it inspires creativity. sometimes i would listen to that

and let my fingers fly. >> so how challenging was it, as you point out in the book, that president obama had described himself in the 2008 campaign as a better speech writer than my speech writers. we have famous white house speech writers. the normandy speech in 1984 for reagan and the speech from the challenger blew up, poetry. but but you're writing for a president who could often write pros that sound like poetry. >> he backed up those words. it did make it hard. he wanted a draft that he could play with and work with but we still wanted to impress the pos. we would tear ourselves apart to write a near perfect draft to get to it. we knew he could take it to the higher mace. all the mo best moments if his speech came from his moral

imagination. >> how hard for a speech writer now and other presidents, how hard to bring the nation together with a major speech or a series of speeches? can that be done by most presidents? >> i think that's a lot of weight to put on speech writers. it's very rare that a speech is going to create a sense of national unity. but there's context around it. you mentioned the challenger. president bush after 9/11, maybe president obama of charleston, but it's fleeting as long as people don't act on those impulses. we always approach the speeches if we can change people's minds. maybe help people see something different. that was what the amazing grace speech was about. put it's something that you have to keep working at. >> cody keenan, there's much to ask you about, but this box is a

great reintroduction to the obama white house in a way we haven't seen it before. thank you so much. congratulations again. the national zoo's two newest residents. welcoming two cheetah cubs late monday night. sharing this moment from the cheetah cam. the twins birth announced on twitter with an update that both cubs and mom are doing well. zoo keepers are leaving them alone to bond with her cubs for some time. the birth especially important because there are only 7,000 to 7,500 cheetahs left in the wild. beautiful animals that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports". wishing you all a beautiful weekend. chris jansing is right after this. don't just connect your business. (dock worker) right on time. (vo) make it even smarter.

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good day. i'm chris jansing live in new york city. the prospect of nuclear war is a bigger threat to mankind than at any time since the cuban missile crisis 60 years ago. that's the warning for president biden, who said last night he believes russia's vladimir putin when he threatens to use nuclear weapons. what prompted biden's warning and what does it mean for americans? we'll have more on that