bunch of heckling from republicans on a number of issues that president would try to fact check in realtime or dismiss and move through. he was engaging with schoolyard bullies who wanted to be giving the speech with him and he had to continue to change the contours of what he was talking about because of that. but what it shows is the delicate balance that he and kevin mccarthy have to continue to walk to work with these folks who want to heckle and be a thorn in his side. >> white house aides chimed in. they are not unhappy with that imagery. thank you for joining us this morning. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" on this wednesday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. leaders asked me to define america, they do believe it or not, i can define in one word, and i mean this, possibilities. >> today our freedom is under attack. and the america we love is in danger. president biden and the democrats have failed you. >> we're often told that democrats and republicans can't

work together, but over the past two years we proved the cynics and nay sayers wrong. >> president biden and i don't have a lot in common. >> time and again democrats and republicans came again. >> he's the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is. >> we have to be the nation we always been at our best, optimistic, hopeful, forward-looking. >> we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn't start and never wanted to fight. >> we have to see each other not as enemies but as fellow americans. >> after years of democrat attacks on law enforcement and calls to defund the police, violent criminals roam free while law-abiding families live in fear. >> i've never been more optimistic about our future, about the future of america. just remember who we are. >> and the radical left's america, washington taxes you and lights your hard.

erped money under fire. >> very different tones last night between president biden, mostly optimistic -- >> wait, wait, wait! can't anybody play this game! why is my former party so stupid? >> they like -- he fed it to them and they -- >> the booing, the -- like, we said yesterday on the show, republicans, he wants you to yell. he wants you to shout. as my grand mom from dalton, georgia, would say, he wants you to act like you were raised in a barn. good job. you did all of those things. no, willie, seriously. i swear to god, i said this a couple weeks ago, i really do think that there is a plant inside the rnc.

and it is a democrat that was planted in their somewhere like 2013, 2014 with the sole purpose of making republicans the dumbest political party that's ever existed. biden didn't even have to give a good speech last night. the republicans time and again just alley-oop. boom. set up one jam after another. >> it's the plan who wrote the rnc memo said we need to lean into election denialism even after the midterms. >> bring a balloon. >> yeah. president biden came alive in those moments last night where he was battling in realtime with republicans who gave him exactly what he wanted. and then jedi mind tricked them to standing ovation and agreeing with him we're not going to touch social security. we're going to protect our seniors. we're not going to touch medicare. so, we can talk about how everybody felt about the speech, but on that side of it, they probably got what they wanted in terms of fundraising, republicans, but he did, too.

>> their clue should have been when he raised his hand, gene, and said you will strengthen and protect social security and medicare. >> exactly. >> and they still -- >> i will obi wan. >> we will strengthen and protect social security. you may pass. come on, man. this is too easy for biden. it's not even fair. >> i know. it was like he had the ad libs ready almost, you know? he was so enjoying that. >> he did. >> one of the things that was striking to me about the speech was how much biden clearly enjoyed himself, enjoyed the moment, enjoyed the back and forth, enjoyed, of course, he had advantage of dominating, you know, the marjorie taylor greenes of the world. he was just like, you know, i welcome your -- you know, your insanity. >> exactly. and elizabeth, the start of the speech, you're sitting there going -- okay, am i going to be able to stay awake for the whole

thing. >> it was slow. he started out racing through the remarks, reading through the teleprompter. he stumbled over a few words. we were thinking, i don't know about this. right, they shouted at him and he came alive. he was on his feet. great, quick response. you know, i don't think it's that easy to ad lib when you're giving the state of the union address but engaged in back and forth with those republicans. >> co-host of showtime the circus, jen paul murray. he shook hands with kevin mccarthy and really took the moment at the very beginning, which i know started a little slow, elizabeth, but he showed symbolically that you can reach out to the other side and gave americans the visual. >> to kevin mccarthy, to mitch. where is mitch? he was -- just a lot -- some really good bipartisan highlights off the top. >> yeah. he was just in his element, too. he was super comfortable at that podium. you could tell congress, man, that is his place and he was

able to engage with people and be fiery but not be angry, which i thought was really important. and remind people that bipartisanship can exist. one of my sisters texted me, so glad that people can agree on things still. like that can still exist in the country to lay out all of the -- because most of the country doesn't know all the things that passed last congress with bipartisan support, but to lay that out, be gracious to kevin mccarthy in the beginning. >> what were the number of bills he said, surprised me, 200, 300 bipartisan -- >> 300 bipartisan bills. >> that really jumps out at you. >> proof of concept. this can work. democracy can work my way. my way can work. >> okay. but hold on a second. so you just brought up democracy, right? >> that was interesting. >> he says we americans, sounding like ronald reagan, unlike other countries, we get out of a crisis stronger than when we entered into it. >> right.

>> and i believe it. i just do. and americans believe it. and they want to believe it. most americans want to believe it. he says it last night, willie, and he says, basically no matter what people are saying across the globe, forget about them. our american democracy is strong and resilient. republicans could not stand up w. why? >> and cheer for a strong and resilient american democracy. >> what does that mean that they didn't stand up? >> if your party has problems with that because of your base, it's time to go back to the cashier and exchange your base for a new base because you're going to lose elections for a long time to come. >> well, a lot of people sitting in that chamber participated in the attempted coup. maybe they felt, a brief moment of shame about that. but it was interesting to watch -- >> brief. >> speaker mccarthy sit is there and he would glance over at his caucus. okay, we're not clapping for this.

>> he finally applauded when biden spoke for democracy. he did applaud -- >> he did? >> for democracy. but it took a while. >> insulin, everyone cheered. they sit there like that. hopefully we can agree on. >> manufacturing and so kevin sits here like this and then he just slowly -- oh, you got to think about whether you're about whether your for returning jobs to north carolina, georgia, it's not that hard, jonathan lemire. and yet, the immortal words of melissa manchester, even the simple things become rough. haven't you had enough? i listen to a lot of casey cay sum and i think we can make it one more time. >> i can't say the next line. >> easy things tough. that's what i'm getting at. nobody here listened to casey caysum in the 1970s. >> why so hard? >> it's as if the white house laid a couple traps last night and the republicans walked right into them. you recall over the weekend i

reported white house aides said what they hoped most out of this speech, would be that a repeat of last year where marjorie taylor greene and lauren boebert and others got up and started heckling the president. they think that split screen shows off that he's somber and serious and they are unserious and incendiary and they did it. even after kevin mccarthy warned them during the day, mccarthy's office leaked that he told republicans, hey, don't do that. so first, we have another example of the limit of his power over his own party. and second, they did it any way. and that's an image that the white house is thrilled about. i heard from a couple senior aides last night, very senior aides in the aftermath of the speech saying we couldn't have drawn it up any better because that's what people will talk about today. the president called for bipartisanship and talking about american greatness and reach across the aisle to work together and instead he got jeered and heckled. republicans coming out opposing programs that are broadly

popular with the american people. >> so here is that exchange between president biden and heckling republicans over the debt ceiling. >> nearly 25% of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone, the last one. they're the facts. check it out. check it out. how did congress respond to that debt? they did the right thing. they lifted the debt ceiling three times without preconditions or crisis. they paid american bills to prevent an economic disaster in the country. tonight i'm asking the congress to follow suit. let's commit here tonight to the full faith and credit of the united states of america will never, ever be questioned. some of my republican friends want to take the economy hostage. i get it. unless i agree to their economic plans. all you at home should know what

those plans are. instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some republicans, some republicans want medicare and social security to sunset. i'm not saying it's a majority. let me give you -- anybody who doubts it, contact my office. i'll give you a copy. i'll give you a copy of the proposal. that means congress doesn't vote. i'm glad to see you. no, i tell you, i enjoy conversion. you know it means if congress doesn't keep the programs the way they are, they would go away. other republicans say, i'm not saying majority of you, i don't think it's significant -- >> but it's being proposed by individuals. i'm not -- politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you. look, folks, the idea is that we're not going to be -- we're

not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don't respond. folks -- so, folks, as we all apparently agree, social security, medicare is off the books now. right? they're not to be discussed. all right. >> whoa. >> listen, okay, so if you're at home an you're not as much of a nerd as me and you don't follow all this stuff, let me tell you something, they were booing reality, republicans. joe biden said that one administration raised the debt more than first 220 years of

president, we can say to you on the show, that's a truth, the debt went up 25%. when he said republicans raised the debt ceiling three times during the trump administration -- wait, why are they booing? they did it. they booing themselves for doing that? and then -- and then, this is the one that gets me, talking about how -- talking about sunsetting social security and medicare every five years, nobody dreamed that up. that was the head of the republican senate campaign committee. he won't say his name. i will say his name. say his name. rick scott, the most powerful republican in the united states senate for running campaigns. so they're acting like jack asses because they can't deal with the truth. can't deal with the truth. and they make themselves look foolish. you know, elizabeth, here is the

problem being a leader of republicans right now is marjorie taylor greene just gave a gift to joe biden, gave a gift to the democratic party, gave a gift to every democrat that is running against republicans who won in biden districts. and yet the incentive structure is such that marjorie taylor greene will raise a million dollars by calling the president a liar. so you have all of these extremists that are raising a ton of money while damaging their party and they just don't care. so if you're kevin mccarthy, what do you do? >> fringe has taken over. that's what's happened. you know, they have disproportionate power and their performance, they are performers rather than legislatures. i think what's interesting about this speech is how much it was obviously -- it's leaving aside the republicans, it was meant to reach out these working-class voters who the democrats have lost in recent -- you know --

>> very good, wasn't it? >> he was talking about -- you notice he was talking about paying resort fees at hotels and airlines charging too much? >> run-in with a resort. >> i think -- >> i know. whoa. so he was talking to people -- >> car washes cost too much. >> right, right. >> tokens to also be bigger. you fumble them around, they fall on your floor board. you can't wash -- >> this is the campaign. he's going today to wisconsin to talk to union members, you know, going to big swing state. this is what -- this is where they're going, trying to get back those working class voters that went with trump and they lost a lot because the party has become the party of the elite and the educated. >> and speaking of the campaign, last night was a huge gift of joe biden, the politician. >> oh, yeah. >> joe biden, the candidate for re-election because people say he's 80 years old, he's too old or whatever. you got to see him take a risk

on top of everything, coming back with these lightning -- >> joyful. >> rejoinders. >> yeah. >> joyful, full of energy and so i think that was a great gift to his re-election campaign. >> oh, yeah. >> absolutely. >> the fringe taking over the party, elizabeth, was on display when kevin mccarthy tried a number of times to shush the members of the his caucus. >> here in the people's house, it's our duty to protect all the people's rights and freedoms. congress must restore the right and -- >> but i will make no apologies that we're investing to make america stronger. informsing american innovation and industries that will define the future that china intends to be dominating. investing in our alliances. fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 americans a year.

you got it. >> you know, guys, john is right on that reporting. kevin mccarthy specifically talked to his caucus. guys, this is bad for us. it's a bad look. it helps him. don't do the heckling. don't do the booing. and they completely ignored him. >> they ran -- >> i had a teacher in grade school who gave looks like that, only you had to pay attention because -- >> right. >> because she would come over with the 18 inch ruler and you would be really sorry. he doesn't have an 18 inch ruler. that's the problem. he doesn't have a stick with which to punish them for that sort of behavior. >> yeah. >> it might have been after your time, but i got the 18 inch ruler right -- >> i was just after the ruler era. >> just after that. were you after the time where the parents could take off a

belt and say i'll beat the hell -- >> i never got the belt. i'll talk to you offline -- >> the board of education. >> just awful. >> so, i want to -- let's talk about the contrast here because it's always been one of the great mysteries that the party that is pushing tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations and allow amazon and nike and petroleum to pay 0 in taxes, income taxes every year, is somehow the party of working class. last night's speech, as you all laid out, went against that. while you have republicans making fools of themselves, hand by the way, it's not just kevin mccarthy who was horrified. a lot of rank and file republicans saying come on, guys. republican senators were horrified. i'm sure mitch mcconnell were horrified. >> mitt romney. >> just shut up. but while they were -- these people were yelling in the back, joe biden was talking about

building an intel plant in ohio, talking about the jobs that will go an average of $130,000, a lot of those jobs to people with high school degrees, talking about wisconsin, talking about -- i mean, it really was -- >> made in america. >> made in america. and by the way, they didn't cheer when he said we need to have the supply chain start in america. >> america. >> that's the line. >> that is made in america. and republicans couldn't cheer for that. i just -- i want to follow up on what elizabeth said here. this is really what democrats have not been able to do effectively since bill clinton, when he could go to iowa, any county in iowa, and hug a farmer and know that he had that farmer's vote. >> and i was wondering, why -- because the language -- some of the language that biden used was not different than other speeches, but it did seem to hit differently last night. and i think it might have been because there wasn't any pressure on biden to sell anything other than himself.

right? he was not -- it's not an election year. it's not a midterm year. he was not trying to advance a big -- some kind of big proposal and jam his talk about when his dad says, honey, it's going to be okay. sometimes it might not work. and all of this just seemed to fit because all he needed to do was present biden. >> yeah. >> america is tired of being played for suckers. the stuff about billionaires should not pay a lower tax rate than teachers. all of that just seemed to -- made in america, the union strong, unions should be able to organize. and because he wasn't trying to push something else and it was all of a flow of his sort of theory of the world, it just really seemed -- >> he kept saying, i mean it. you knew he did. >> i get it. i get it. over and over again. >> you know what else he talked about, too, i never really heard democrats talk a lot about, they talk about the billionaires, the tax cuts for the rich, then he comes back and talks about small

business. >> small businesses, right. >> every time a small business -- >> the number of small businesses formed everyday. >> right. this is why democrats lose a lot of small business owners because when you start talking about taxing billionaires, they think you're talking about them. always thought if democrats could draw a line between the billionaires, between the multinational corporations, between the exxons and small businesses -- >> exactly. >> then the message would be sent. we're going to tax them. we're going to do everything we can to encourage small businesses to go out and create the jobs because they're the engine of this economy. >> i thought that was an important moment, too. just to make clear, democrats like small businesses. >> yes. >> because a lot of small business people think democrats don't like small business. >> right. >> and made it clear. >> most years in the state of the union addresses we're franticly looking over these giant proposals that presidents always put out and we're trying to figure out how significant is, how big a deal is it, is it going to happen.

there was none of that this year. we didn't have to write that. so, because nothing was going to pass. right? >> he also projected something 30,000 feet which we haven't heard a lot of in the last seven or eight years which was just optimism. >> strength and optimism. >> we've been through a lot the last few years. we've been through a pandemic. we know prices were too high. there was an insurrection a couple years at that building across the street. it's been hard. it's been ugly. we've been at war a little bit. >> and covid. >> and of course the pandemic. and the future is going to be okay. and he had a smile on his face even when he was fighting with republicans. so it's not necessarily a policy question, but it's just a philosophy and it's a viewpoint that i think some americans are going to say, yeah, let's get through this together. let's stop fighting with each other. >> i appreciate this, yeah. >> and how can you not be optimistic? right? how can you not be -- unemployment at 3.4%. more job openings than --

>> since 1969. >> historically. since 1969. child poverty at 60-year lows. teen pregnancies at 70-year lows. the dollar strong against the rest of the world. we compare our economies to economies across the world. we're doing pretty darn well here. like, what's not to be optimistic about? >> but what he was fighting is that a lot of people think we're in a recession. you would never know it talking to americans, huge percentages think the economy is terrible. >> right. >> it's not. but they don't -- there's a lot of people, people he was trying to reach who -- it doesn't affect them. >> that's what last night was for. >> yeah. >> we dealt with that during obama, the recovery was happening, people still weren't feeling it. they're not going to be able to tell someone from the podium that their economic situation is better than they think it is. but i think he showed my path is working. my theory is working. have some faith that things are getting better and that that is going to impact your life.

and i'm always going to be the one that will be fighting more to do that. >> jonathan lemire, that was the difference between barack obama and donald trump on talking about the economy. barack obama and his people would ring their hands going, well, there's somebody in wisconsin that's not happy right now. we can't really say anything because i don't know. it's so complicated. >> sounds like a democrat from that time. >> it's so complicated, right? and then donald trump would constantly say, it was of course a lie -- >> yeah. >> this is the best economy ever. i have the best economy ever. and i swear to god after a year of doing that, i would hear people on this network and other networks go, now of course this is the best economy we have ever had but -- no, it's not. i mean, talk about -- talk about it. don't be like -- don't be splitting the differences and wringing your hands. talk about what's going well because a lot of things are going great in this country. you wouldn't know it by listening to cable news. you wouldn't know it by

listening to podcasts. those people don't matter. >> that's for sure. the white house knows -- the white house knows it does have to do a better job at this, of communicating. and there is this disconnect. they point to their record and say look what we've done. yes, we understand inflation is still a problem. we know americans -- for a lot of americans out there this has been a struggle, but look at the jobs we created most ever in the presidency in the first two years and go down the line. but polls suggest americans aren't really feeling that. the white house has said we need to do a better job of talking eighty. last night, a big step in that direction. the president is about to barn storm as one does after the state of the union to wisconsin today, florida tomorrow. going to florida is a bit of a choice for democratic president. that's tomorrow. and that's going to be part of his message. on the economy, look, we understand that things are hard for you. we feel your pain to borrow a phrase from another democratic president, but here is what we're doing. and we heard from him 12 times

last night, 12 times, this phrase, finish the job. finish the job. and that right there, that's your soft launch of the 2024 campaign. that felt like they're test driving a slogan to say finish the job. look what we've done the first two years, three and four, give us four more and we're going to have a contrast with these republicans who aren't just yelling at us from the back bench on national television, which clearly does not play well with most people at home, but also who are standing in the way of not just economic progress but broadly popular proposals on things like assault weapons bans, abortion rights, police reform and the rest. and that is going to be the message the president brings today to wisconsin and in the months ahead as his campaign likely ramps up. well, coming up on "morning joe," we have a packed show ahead. we'll have much more from president biden's state of the union address. including his warning to china. and a dig at republicans

over infrastructure. plus, senate majority leader chuck schumer and former house speaker nancy pelosi will both join us here on the set with their key take aways from last night's address. also ahead, president biden's outgoing chief of staff ron klain will be our guest. this is his very last day working in the white house. and a tense confrontation on the house floor last night between senator mitt romney and congressman george santos. we'll take a look at that moment. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. right back. let's finish the job and close the loopholes that allow very wealthy to avoid paying their taxes. let's finish the job. we have to finish the job. let's come together to finish the job on police reform. let's finish the job and ban these assault weapons. and let's also come together on immigration. make it a bipartisan issue once again. ♪♪

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♪♪ okay. welcome back to "morning joe." we're very focussed here, joe. we have to focus, okay? live look at d.c. do you see the traffic is picking up. people are actually going into work. >> willie, it's really pretty. they're already in the car and listening to us. >> it's nice. some people choose to be on zoom. look at all those cars. >> the sweet sounds we're listening to? >> melissa manchester. >> yes, we are. >> i think we can make it. >> the countdowns on sirius. >> i have to go get milk. then i just drive around. >> honestly -- >> they are fun. >> i'm kevin mccarthy. sh. sh. >> listen, melissa manchester, i think barry mant low may have written that song. >> i think you're right. >> the official gop twitter

count had an embarrassing self-own is? do you know what a self-own is? >> i do it everyday. >> kicking it into your own goal yeah. a cell phone they self own -- >> also that. >> they own themselves so they posted a picture of farmland with the caption, wait until the coastal elites find out this is where their food comes from. turns out the picture is from the golden state, california. democrat who represents the area, replied, quote, wait until the gop finds out this is the left coast, baby. >> self own. noticeably absent in last night's rebuttal speech from sarah huckabee sanders -- >> that was just bleak, wasn't it? >> it was. >> why? >> i don't know. it was low energy.

>> did none of these people ever listen to ronald reagan? the whole thing was be optimistic. reagan would say i truly believe american's greatest days lie ahead. quote carl sandberg, it's all beautiful. so grim. >> absent was any direct mention of her former boss, donald trump. huckabee sanders, who was trump's white house press secretary, did not mention trump by name. even when telling story specifically about him. >> so there is this guy, he lived in washington. >> so she did, however, call for new leadership in the republican party. >> a new generation of republican leaders are stepping up. not to be caretakers of the status quo but to be change makers for the american people. the choice is between normal or crazy. it's time for a new generation

of republican leadership. it's time for a new generation to lead. this is our moment. >> normal or crazy. that is correct. >> that's right. >> she's talking -- >> that was the weirdest sort of dystopian speech i think i've heard since american carjackage. >> she took a page from donald trump. >> yeah. >> i really missed bobby jindal last night. >> or marco rubio -- >> sweaty water. but the thing is, he didn't bring -- she didn't bring up donald trump by name, but it was american carnage all over. and american carnage doesn't sell. >> it worked for the base. donald trump always defied these rules of american politics. you have to be positive. it worked for four years for his base. >> but she took this weird five minute story about trump without mentioning his name.

>> it worked one election for one day in 2016 but caused of what the fbi did. i'm dead serious. without the fbi, without comey, without the letter, without the constant leaks from new york and i really want to know who leaked that at the very end, the guy -- who leaked that? was that a "new york times" story? >> yes, it was. >> who is the fbi agent that gave donald trump a free -- >> i'm not going there. >> we expect you to -- >> i don't expect you. but the question is, it worked one time. >> yeah. >> and it worked one time under the weirdest of circumstances where even donald trump said if we held the election ten days in a row, i would have won one of those ten days. >> he did it for four years. >> they lost in '17, they lost in '18, they lost in '19, they lost in '20 and '21 and '22. >> please, go on.

it worked once but the problem is there's never been anything to take its place. they keep coming back to it. but what governor sanders did last night, i was like, you needed some kind of maga decoder book to understand what she's talking about. what woke -- washington is living in woke fantasies. what are you even -- what you saying? the speech that only makes sense to not just -- not the base, a small -- some lane of the base. but i think for most americans they have no idea what you're even talking about. it's just like this weird dystopian america that exists only in that pretty limited maga lane. >> the thing is, so there are a lot of americans who were concerned about what goes on on college campuses, i thought was pretty funny because you have conservatives always talking about how they're against the hecklers veto and last night it was republicans practicing the heckler's veto on the biggest stage. a lot of more thanes concerns about wokism on college campus.

a lot of americans over 80% who don't think, for instance -- don't think that males who transition after puberty should be able to compete against girls and young women in sports. that's all right. but that's here, right? they'll talk about that over dinner tables and they do a lot, too much to me. can we just please talk about the red sox. but at the end of the day, they care about the things biden was talking about. they care about their jobs. they care about their futures. they care about when plants are -- this stuff that she was talking about last night, that's for a podcast. >> right. >> that's not for a party's vision of the future. >> yeah. if you spend your time on twitter or listening to steve bannon's podcast, that all made sense. there were parts of it, you're right, will resonate people

outside the base, some of the things you mentioned there. but for a party that claims it's moving on from donald trump, some people say it outloud. a lot of people sate privately or at least it wants to move on from donald trump, to put his spokesperson out as the rebuttal of joe biden does not signal that you're moving on from donald trump. and what she was saying was effectively a version of the american carnage speech. but from a woman who has three kids and as painting herself as a family mother who is concerned for the future of her children. if you read between the lines, it was trumpism sort of rebranded in the face of sarah huckabee sanders. >> republicans have to be optimistic, they don't know how to be optimistic. gene, you know, it's great point. nothing has replaced trumpism yet, but it could. this is what i don't understand about republicans. what the base loved about trump is he was strong. and all of these people are still cowering in donald trump's shadow. if somebody would come -- even ron desantis, well, it's all

sort of just like, get your decoder ring to try to decode what ron desantis is saying about donald trump, instead of just saying this guy is a loser. >> exactly. >> this guy keeps losing elections. >> exactly. >> forgive my language, mom's close your kid's ears, this guy sucks at politics. i promise you, if there were a republican that would say -- bill clinton better to be strong than wrong, republican who said that, people would go, i'm following her. i'm following him. i'm following them. >> especially if he or she then went on to outline an optimistic vision of the country's future. >> yes. >> and not this weird stuff that -- >> right. >> so can ron desantis do that? can he be positive? >> i don't know. i've never seen that from desantis. he is totally humorless and seems -- >> hard to tell.

>> grim, you know. i don't know if grim is going to win. >> yeah. all he's done -- all he has done is the woke stuff. it's worked nowhere outside of florida. >> yeah. >> it's raised him a ton of money. it's gotten him sort of national recognition, but you know, tallahassee is very -- >> they're different. >> tallahassee is very, very insular. he calls a press concerns. he usually yells at a female reporter, right? he gets headlines. and why -- always yelling at women. he's always yelling at a woman reporter saying that they're this or that or he's creaming at high school students for wearing masks. >> oh, yeah. >> then he walks away and raises lots of money. but i have never seen -- listen, charlie crist, a couple times that charlie had desantis looking lost. are you going to run for president? and desantis is -- you're like, wait, this is the great hope for republicans? >> he did win florida by 30 points. we have to stipulate that. >> there was no money. >> and by the way, we won't

amplify it, but donald trump really -- things escalated in his criticism. >> yes. >> of ron desantis yesterday. he sees desantis as a threat very clearly. >> i don't want to repeat it. it was really low. >> we should not repeat it. >> okay. >> but i will say, jonathan lemire, you talked about biden going to florida. it's a good thing. i say this knowing the state, ron desantis, give him credit. he won, republicans won massively in that state. but democrats were telling me two months before nobody was there. it was like a democratic neutron bomb was dropped. the buildings were still standing. all the democrats were gone. nobody was campaigning. they didn't put money in the state. none of the candidates were helped from the governor's races to the county commissioner's races, to the judges. democrats completely abandoned the state. that's what it looks like when

one party turns the state other to another party. i find it fascinating that biden is going into florida. is there a chance he actually invests a little for democrats there, gives it a shot? >> yeah. one of the most closely watched decisions the white house makes after the state of the union, attention is on you. you take it on the road. wisconsin arguably the most important swing state on the map. tomorrow florida. democrats and white house aides i talked to say the white house at least wants to put their toe there. and see what happens. yes, florida has trended away from democrats the last couple of cycles that we know. as just mentioned governor desantis walked to re-election, but there were florida democrats who complained about the lack of resources who said, hey look, this could have been a lot closer than it was. biden lost there in 2020 to donald trump. they feel like their message can resonate in florida as well, particularly medicare, social security protections. they can paint the republicans trying to take that away.

we saw the issue over that last night. think think this is a place where their message can still resonate. and they want to. there's a little bit of swagger here. let's go to desantis's backyard, trump's backyard mind you and deliver your message right there. now, whether they stay with that going forward remains to be seen. but also, joe, points out electoral map reality here. if florida is just seeded to the republicans, the path for democrats gets harder. you have to win all three of the wisconsin, michigan, pennsylvania trio, which biden did last time. then you think about arizona and georgia. so there's 2024 calculation at play here as well, of course. >> barack obama won florida in 2012. so that's not too long ago. why can't democrats at least be competitive there? >> state has changed, though, since those years. >> it has. coming up, we'll have a live report from london where ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is meeting with the

british prime minister ahead of an address to parliament. and we will be joined by poland's chief of defense. the country has been a leader in the effort to arm ukrainian forces with more tanks. "morning joe" is coming right back. tanks "morning joe" is coming right back ♪♪ vo: america knows a thing or two about building something great. and thanks to president biden's landmark plan for affordable clean energy, we're doing it again. news anchor 1: the largest clean energy manufacturing investment in american history is coming here to georgia. news anchor 2: a new sustainable energy company opened its doors at the u of a tech park. vo: already over 100,000 new clean energy jobs, for electricians, mechanics, construction workers.

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i spoke in this chamber one year ago, just days after vladimir putin unleashed his brutal attack against ukraine. a murderous assault invoking mams of death and destruction europe suffered in world war ii. putin's invasion has been a test for the ages. test for america.

a test for the world. would we stand for the most basic of principles? would we stand for sovereignty? we stand for the right of people to live free of tyranny? will we stand for the defense of democracy? such defense matters to us because it keeps peace and prevents open season on would be aggressors that threatens our prosperity. one year later we know the answer, yes we would and we did. we did. >> and the applause were unanimous, at least for at leas last night. president biden's remarks about the war in ukraine at last night's state of the union. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is in london this morning, where he's meeting with the british prime minister. zelenskyy's surprise visit, just his second foreign trip outside the war zone after russia's invasion almost a year ago now. he addressed a joint session of

congress in washington back in december. joining us now from outside of 10 downing street, nbc news foreign correspondent, molly hunter. molly, what's the president doing this morning? >> reporter: willie, good morning to you. i'm just looking over my shoulder, because the cars actually just pulled back in front of the number 10 door. just a few minutes ago, we saw ritchie sunak walk in, only his second time out of the country since the war started. we did see video earlier today released by the ukrainian president's office, showing richey sunak, embracing the ukrainian president. and here when they walked up, smiled for the cameras, a good handshake and lots of cheers you can hear from inside the prime minister's residence are right behind me here. later today, we do understand, he will be addressing the parliament, the uk parliament. he has, of course, addressed the uk parliament before, excuse me, via video link. we also understand that the press association here is reporting that he will meet with

king charles. we do not have any timing to confirm that ourselves. this is a big deal, though. the uk, of course, is the second largest weapons supplier to ukraine after u.s., and today the uk is announcing that they will start training fighter pilots in addition to marines, to ensure ukraine can defend its skies well into the future. this statement continues in this big announcement, saying the training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated nato-standard fighter yets in the jets in the future. it's not clear if britain's plan to train pilots has triggered some sort of change. whether or not the uk will start giving jets. it's something the ukrainians have been asking for since the beginning of the war. but nato standard fighter jets is the language that they used. the uk is also announcing that they are training marines in addition to fighter jets. up until now, the uk has said that they have trained 10,000 ukrainian troops, including soldiers who arrived just last week to learn how to operate the challenger tanks.

guys, i'm just looking behind my shoulder, to see if we may see them coming out. we do not have exact timing. all of this, as you imagine, has been a surprise this morning because of security. the prime minister's office sent out a press release just about an hour or so before we saw their arrival here at 10 downing. the door is opening and it looks like just staff coming out. we will keep you posted later today. he is expected to have a packed schedule all today. >> all right. keep an eye on that door fus. nbc 10's molly hunter at 10 downing. oh, here he comes. >> president zelenskyy! what's your message to the uk? we just saw president zelenskyy get into that car. >> all right, molly, we'll be back to you this morning. thanks so much, appreciate it. obviously, president zelenskyy is there the way he was here, speaking to congress, inspiring the leadership in the uk to

continue its support now as we come up on the one-year anniversary of russia's invasion. >> the war has entered a new stage in recent weeks, as dozens of tanks were pledged by european allies to aid in ukraine's defense. with some already on their way. leading the charge in that effort is poland, which in late january stressed that even if other countries did not want to send tanks, poland would. joining us now, polish chief of defense, general ray. poland has stepped up immediately with no debate in so many ways. tell us about your visit here and your message to america and other partnering nations in the aid of ukraine. >> a very good morning. >> good morning. >> ukraine is absolutely extremely important for poland. is extremely important for the region with global implications. from the very first day we started our support, in many domains, starting from a human

approach, observing 8 million ukrainians crossing the border. a few million still staying in poland. then we started social programs, medical programs, education for them. and admittedly, we started preparation on sending equipment, ammunition, and anything they need for victory. >> for victory. >> general, since the war began, poland, the center of gravity of nato and of the eu seems to have moved easy, to poland, basically. poland is an increasingly, incredibly important country. how is that going down in poland? how are poles reacting to their new central place -- >> status. >> -- in europe? >> well, you can feel every single day the center of gravity are historical cold wartime design move from germany, to

poland, to warsaw. strategy matters and geography matters. and now we have aspirations of a western civilization, as well. so nothing happened without poland. we invest heavily in security from the very beginning. 3% gdp, and the entire list of programs. most of the high-tech equipment comes from the u.s., the very famous, you know, effectiveness. m1 tanks, as well. the most modern combat platforms. and variety of different programs. and we're going to do more. but the first is just to win ukraine. because ukraine matters. ukraine is a basic platform for security. 100 years ago, they said, free ukraine, free poland. there's a direct connection, direct relation. and after 100 years, still. >> we're about two weeks away

from the one-year anniversary of russia's invasion. obviously has not gone the way that vladimir putin thought it would go. but for your assessment as someone who stands and understands war, where things are going and where things stand going into the second year. >> very difficult year, because mostly it goes to politics, to economy. so we need ukraine winning in the political demand, in the economical domain. they need money, they need resources. they need effective sanctions. and of course, one of the conditions will be the military operation, which is critical. but the situation is still very dangerous, very important, dramatic from the moral point of view. but it's definitely decisive. what we do today goes to eternity. if we not do, it goes as well. so now or never. >> so vladimir putin seems willing to accept massive, massive russian casualties. think back to the second world

war, particularly. how long -- is this indefinite for him? is he willing to stretch this out for years? >> i give you very much a polish flavor, a perspective. we live in the space 1,000 years ago. so we know the russians. that's the way they find. this is no surprise for us. the standards for russian army, for russian society is completely different. so do not compare russians using western standards. what you see behaving, performance, you know, how much they're suffering and are still ready to go is absolutely different than it was in society. so please do not assess russians and our standards, because they are completely different. >> let's talk about, first of all, i just want to talk about what gene said, it's remarkable that poland now finds itself where west germany was from 1945 to 1989.

you guys are on the front lines of freedom. and as such, i thought it was fascinating, a couple of weeks ago, you pushed the germans to move with thanks. the germans then pushed the americans saying, we'll do it, but you all have to do it, as well. so poland was a real leader there. i'm curious, what difference do you think that's going to make over the next year, and what else do the ukraines need that they don't have right now? >> sir, from the very beginning, our willingness to send equipment was absolutely critical. so i got a very clear message from my political masters, as much as we can, and as much as they need. so there was thousands, hundreds of equipment is going to ukraine. and of course, from many operational reasons, military reasons, ukraine needs to change to western platforms, because of ammunition is much better. so poland from the very beginning started to promote idea to build a multi-national

component and we are offering a platform for training, for integration, for new tanks. so that was the reason. and because we are front line, we would like to motivate and inspire anybody, so we just offer a platform. but waiting for additional, you know, supplies. >> one other quick question. we always talk about weapons, was let's talk about training. 2014 was a disastrous military campaign for the ukrainians. after that, they started training with nato. they started training with poles. they started training with americans. talk about the difference of how the ukrainians are now fighting and we have ncos that go out, can make decisions on the move. the difference between having a bottom-up approach in warfare and the russian top-down approach. how big of a difference has that training made over the past year. >> it was an absolutely huge difference. and one of the critical factors

that the ukraine army is so effective is a change in philosophy of leadership. so mission command, given authority very much now, which is very much more western, the russians are going still in a very vertical decision-making process, waiting for permission. and it doesn't work. so that kind of change and investigating nco core as well is absolutely crucial. human factor matters. >> the story of poland really being a central player on the world stage is happening right now. and poland really stepped up. >> he would be so proud. >> taking in millions of people and stepping up in the fight with 100% resolve. i would say, i'm proud to be a polish american, really, really incredible story. polish chief of defense, general ray andresczek, thank you very much. >> did she say your name right? >> absolutely. coming up, a little bit of

theater and a lot of policy. that is how our next guest is summing up the state of the union address. democratic congresswoman alyssa slotkin joins us straight ahead, along with "the washington post's" bob woodward with their reaction to the president's big speech. >> my fellow americans, we meet tonight at an inflection point, one of those moments that only a few generations ever face, but the direction we now take is going to decide the course of this nation for decades to come. we're not bystanders in history. we're not powerless before the forces that confront us. it's within our power of we the people. we're facing a test of our time. we have to be the nation that always does the best, optimistic, hopeful, forward looking, a nation that embraces hope over fear, stability over

chaos. we have to see each other not as enemies, but as fellow americans. we're good people. the only nation in the world built on an idea. the only one. other nations are defined by geography, ethnicity, but we're the only nation based on an idea. that all of us, every one of us is created equal in the image of god. a nation that stands as a beacon of the world. a nation in a new age of possibilities. because the soul of this nation is strong, because the backbone of this nation is strong, because the people of this nation are strong, the state of the union is strong. [ cheers and applause ]

i'm not new to this place. i stand here tonight, having served as long as about any one of you have ever served here, but i've never been more optimistic about our future, about the future of america. just remember who we are. we're the united states of america. and there's nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together! god bless you all and may god protect our troops. thank you. president joe biden wrapping up his state of the union speech last night. jonathan lemire and eugene robinson are still with us, and joining the table, we have pulitzer prize winning associate editor of "the washington post," bob woodward this morning.

also with us, democratic congresswoman elissa slotkin of michigan. it is so great to see you both this morning. great to have you back. and we have a lot to get to this hour. >> a lot to get. what was it like being in this sort of family feud set? a lot of jeering going on by republicans. >> yeah, i didn't know if you could hear it on tv. >> oh, we could. >> thank god i had my weighted blanket. >> we certainly heard it on the floor. the state of the union address is theater. we're all packed in there, you have everyone staring at each other, sitting next to each other. i was frankly expecting more heckling than we go. but it is a state of -- a statement about where politics is that people are literally jeering the president of the united states. i sat through a couple of donald trump's state of the unions. did not agree with what he was saying most of the time, but would never think of jeering a president of the united states. >> it doesn't work for the party that's doing it, bob, and yet we saw it again last night. poor kevin mccarthy sitting up

there telling people, shh, like a kindergarten monitor. they didn't listen to him. >> and it works to president biden's advantage. this is his comfort zone. this is what he's done in politics, talking to the audience. and when the audience does what they were doing to him, he just leveraged it. let's stay and have this talk all night. >> and that's where he's most comfortable. >> it's true! >> he's been there since 1973 -- 73? >> kind of knows what he's doing. >> 73. >> he's been going to these -- he was perfectly comfortable. and bob is right. he would have stayed there all night. he would have gone in the back and forth all night. >> i'm sure on the way out, it took a long time. >> you know, i think one of the things he might have wanted to do going into it, and certainly

got the opportunity to do was to demonstrate his stamina. yeah, i might be 80, but i'll stay here all night. and i'll give better than i get to these republicans. >> totally agree. >> willie, we talked about it in the last hour, but it is really unbelievable that they telegraphed what they wanted to do. jonathan lemire on the show yesterday, saying the biden white house was hoping that they would jeer him, that they would shout, that they would act incredibly rude, and they would play off of that. and even with that warning, they just couldn't help themselves. they damaged themselves politically. >> the white house knew that was coming. they fully expected. they would have been shocked if there were no heckling given some of the people in that chamber. and he was ready for it. and he engaged congresswoman with a smile on his face and at the end of it, had him joining him in a standing ovation to protect seniors, to protect social security, to protect

medicare. but thematically, he was talking about things you talked about a lot in your midterm race, bringing jobs back to america, manufacturing in america, speaking to people who may be feel invisible in this country, a group of people that donald trump spoke to in 2016 to become president. >> actually, i had a guest in the gallery who is one of the presidents of one of my local uaw chapters make some gm cars in lansing. we were like, holy moly, that was a lot of minutes towards the issues that are really important in state like michigan. and he was taking his economic agenda, talking about the things that he's done, and making an inherent economic security case, right? we're all watching the chinese balloon over the weekend. we're all following that story. our supply chains and our dependencies on places like china are real-world issues for a place like michigan. so he spent a lot of time talking about bringing those supply chains home on critical items. that is music to our ears in the

manufacturing -- >> they talk about supply chains, congresswoman. and republicans can't cheer about having the supply chain start in america, republicans can't cheer, gene, about bringing manufacturing jobs home. and the one that i thought was just the craziest thing in the world was when biden just set it up, like every great politician does, let me tell you something, when things go back in america, we come out of it stronger, and to the hell with the rest of the world. they think we're week? let me tell you, american democracy is stronger and more resilient than ever. everybody stands up. no, they don't. republicans could not stand up for the greatness of america! they stayed seated. >> crickets. >> there are a couple of things that were unspoken. first of all, the republicans are coming for biden through hunter biden. and everyone knows that. that is going to -- >> you can still cheer democracy

and go after hunter biden. >> exactly, but that's a theme and the people sitting in the seats -- i'm sorry, it's there. >> i just don't get it -- >> but the thing is, though, gene, when you're in there, gene, and i've been in there -- >> you've been in there. >> a guy i just impeached, bill clinton, if he goes, i love babies and i love american flags and i love american -- we stand up and applaud. >> of course, you can go like this. >> someone who -- i sat through these trump state of the unions, right. you have to make a decision, you know you're on camera, you're sitting there, and when donald trump said, mom and apple pie and said something that i agreed with, you stand up for the concept. >> i'm going to persist on -- >> persist, persist. >> -- a little bit, if you'll allow me. and that is that the theme of let's finish the job sounds very good, but as we all know, as biden knows, as the

congresswoman knows, as president, you never finish the job. there is a continuum. the matters that biden has to deal with, he got -- it started in his presidency, ukraine, but as we know, it goes way, way back. there's the inflation problem, there's the virus problem, and so forth. so he has a much larger agenda. he knows that. all of you know that. and yes, this was a great performance, sensational performance. and it's not going to be remembered, unfortunately, because we go on to the matters that he's going to be confronted with. >> well, let's take a look. president biden drew attention to a republican plan to put government programs like medicare and social security on the chopping block every five years. watch. >> some republicans want medicare and social security

sunset. i'm saying it's a majority -- [ booing ] i'm politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you. look, folks, the idea is that we're not going to be -- we're not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don't respond. >> what biden said clearly outraged the lawmaker you just saw at the end of the clip, republican senator mike lee of utah. after the state of the union, lee discussed that contentious moment and accused president biden of lying about his party's position. >> the president of the united states looked us right in the eye and mischaracterized what half the people in the chamber believe, what half of the people in the chamber, according to him want. it wasn't true. he looked a little bit confused when he pushed back on it. >> no, actually, it's mike lee

who's confused. i know mike and i like mike, but mike's confused, because first of all, they booed joe biden when he said that one president, donald trump, raised the national debt more in four years than the united states of america raised the national debt over the first 220 years. true fact. they booed it. you're booing true facts? why don't you boo if he says that philadelphia is going to be in the super bowl? it's as much of a fact. what was the next thing? republicans raised the debt ceiling three times under donald trump. they're upset and they're booing that, why? because they were there! they did it! the final thing i wrote down, they're so shocked and stunned that joe biden said, not all of you, but some of you want to sunset social security and medicare every five years. by the way, it's not a back bencher. it was the guy that ran

campaigns. he was the head of the republican senate election committee -- >> and he wrote it down. >> rick scott! he's got the plan. sunset everything. >> and mike lee and the rest of them are saying it's a lie, when they know, it's the truth! and mike lee himself called for, quote, pulling up social security, medicare, and medicaid by the roots. let me say that again. mike lee, so shocked and stunned and deeply saddened, called for pulling up -- his words, pulling up social security, medicare, and medicaid by the roots and getting rid of them. take a look. >> i'm here right now to tell you one thing. that you probably haven't ever heard from a politician. it will be my objective to phase out social security. to pull it up by the roots and

get rid of it. >> hear, hear. >> people who advise me politically always tell me that's dangerous, and i tell them, in that case, it's not worth my running. that's why i'm doing this. to get rid of that. medicare and medicaid are of the same sort. they need to be pulled up. >> fraser is down, fraser is down. by himself! fraser hit himself with a lead foot. >> cell phones! >> but it demonstrates the power of audio and video. >> you know about that. >> because there it is, right out of his own mouth. >> by the way, willie, this is the thing. republicans will sit there and act shocked and stunned and deeply saddened when people say the truth about what their positions have been. here you have mike lee doing it. he's on tape saying, he wants to phase it out, pull it up by the roots. you have the republican senator that ran campaigns for the senate, having it down. they're writing it down!

they're saying the quiet parts out loud. and then they act shocked last night when joe biden calls them on what they've said! >> yeah, i think this is a theme, though, right? when you stop doing policy and you just do politics, where everything is a zero-sum game, the other people are the enemy, then anything can be justifiable, any talking point, and you don't have any policy to undergird what you're saying. so they know that it's unpopular on a national stage to be cutting social security and medicare. >> he says he wants to destroy it. >> phase it out. >> he knows it's unpopular on the national stage, but when he's sitting in front of a bunch of donors, who are fiscally conservative, he will say privately what he will never say out loud. i think that characterizes generally where we are with the republican party. they talk about abortion, we have to ban abortion. then they see it's not to popular. maybe we need a nuanced approach. now they're all talking about a nuanced approach. you have to hear what people are saying to you, especially when they do it in private rooms. that is what they want, truly. >> mike lee, that was in 2010,

that clip we just played when he was running for the united states senate. the memo from rick scott was just last year, he put it down in writing, sunset, all of these general programs. speaker mccarthy in this current house of representatives has been pretty clear at least in recent days and weeks that they don't want to touch social security and medicare, and that's why you heard some of the jeers in the crowds last night. >> but that's been a pretty recent evolution. even mccarthy and his crew have not ruled it out, but in recent weeks, yes, they did change their tone. we saw mccarthy shake his head when the president said it. we know another prominent republican who's come out against doing that, donald trump. in fact, some in the republican party have taken their cues from him. this is certainly an issue we heard from president biden day after day last year during the midterms. it was a political gift from rick scott, saying that they were going to touch medicare and social security. biden hammered it ever chance he got. again last night. he suggests now, well, we've got

consensus, maybe we don't have to talk about it anymore. we know, of course, that's not true. it will remain a talking point for this white house. but it's just one of a many host of issues last night, willie, where the president really drew contrast, some overt, some implicit between his leadership and his agenda, and what republicans are doing. and i thought one of his best lines tonight was actually on a bipartisan initiative, on infrastructure, where he said that he thanked republicans who have come onboard to help with that and had a note for those who didn't, saying, don't worry, i'm a president for all americans. we'll fund your projects, too. i'll see you at the groundbreaking. and in fact -- and the final note, the president carries with him an index card of republican lawmakers who have touted the projects funded by the bipartisan infrastructure act, who didn't vote for it. we'll be hearing that again. >> i think this is worth watching. let's take a look. >> and folks, we're just getting

started. we're just getting started. [ applause ] i mean this sincerely. i want to thank my republican friends who voted the law, and my republican friends who voted against it as well, but i still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well. but don't worry. i promised i would be a president for all americans. we'll fund these projects. and i'll see you at the groundbreaking. [ applause ] look -- >> oh, my lord! >> he's looking stone faced, but it's so true. it's so funny! you see these republicans that are screaming and yelling about things and then they put out a press release saying -- >> they take all the money! >> we got all of this money for our district and everything. so let's talk really quickly, you're from a swing district. let's talk about, you know, if it bleeds, it leaves, if they

jeer, we sneer. how about that for today? we're talking about that part. let's talk about all of the tips of the hat to the bipartisanship. president biden talking about 300 bills, bipartisan bills that he signed. he talked about infrastructure, he talked about all the other things. and a really nice tip of the hat to mitch mcconnell off the beginning and to other republicans -- >> kevin mccarthy. it was a nice moving moment for a guy who fought as hard as he did to become speaker. and you know, there was almost a kinship there between biden and mccarthy, two guys that have always been underestimated, always had to fight for everything they got. and still having trouble getting respect, even in those positions. but there was a lot to be, you know, kind of hopeful about, i thought, last night, on the level of bipartisanship. and why don't we just start with ukraine. there's still bipartisanship on ukraine. >> yeah, i think that was -- and he touted it as an example of where we really came together. i think we're going to need to hold that together. we were talking about it at the

state of the union, but maybe five hours before i was in an armed services hearing and we had republicans saying, look, we are happy to talk about china, but when are we going to get out of this funding ukraine business. so i think -- >> do they not understand the two are connected? that if we let putin win in ukraine, she takes it as a sign of weakness to move into taiwan. it is so connected. >> it is. and i would say as a former cia officer, i feel like we could do a better job in washington in communicating to the american people why national security matters in a place like michigan. and for me, it's like, with russia, you either pay now or pay later. if you don't push back on them, you shouldn't be surprised when they go into the baltic states, in the nato countries, they're like a kid testing the boundaries. we pay now or pay later. and i think we could do more to communicate that. like what the play is with ukraine. because people do want to know. i get asked in my own district, you know, we're giving a lot of money, and i believe it's vital that we continue supporting ukraine. >> but the stakes in ukraine

are -- what's the world order going to be? >> exactly. >> and how do we come out of that? the president last night talked about, we're being tested, but it's more than that. this is a matter of, that's what our grandchildren are going to be reading about. we really have, what's going on now is a contained world war. right before us. >> bob, where are we, bob, as we move into the one-year anniversary of the invasion? where are we? >> well, it goes up and down. the question is still debated in the administration is what is putin up to, exactly? what really is his red line. well, now, apparently 500,000 new recruits. i mean the russians have lots of

people and -- >> but can you believe this? 200,000 casualties, right now. and by the way, we lost, tragically, over 4,000 americans in iraq and afghanistan over 20 years. they've lost 200,000 soldiers in unyear. >> exactly. and by calculations that are authoritative, that's two-thirds of putin's army. imagine in this -- i hesitate to call it an escapade, because it's on the edge of -- it's taking the world -- i mean, where -- suppose he uses a tactical nuclear weapon, which cannot be ruled out, unfortunately, what happens there? this is the moment -- if that happens, we measure history going forward from that moment.

>> and by the way, gene, when people are asking how blinken or biden could ever talk to china again because of a balloon -- by the way, donald trump allowed a balloon to float over florida in 2019 and didn't shoot it down. how weak, how sad. how incredibly sad. but if people want to know why we need to talk to china, we can talk about the world economy, we can talk about climate, we can talk about whatever we want to talk about. at the end of the day, china and india are our safeguards against putin using tactical nuclear weapons if they continue to pressure him. we have to be talking to xi. >> exactly. we have to be talking to xi. we have to be talking to modi. we have to be talking to the japanese and the koreans and everybody in that sphere, anywhere near russia.

and we have to talking to erdogan in turkey, who is in touch with putin. because bob is right, we are talking about the way the world will work. >> but it's about what do you say to these people? and the question on the table is, how do we deter putin? we did not deter him when he invaded ukraine. that didn't work. and he knows that he went ahead, even though we were trying at the maximum level to deter him. now, how do we deter him? >> it's the big question. >> and boy, i mean, in your old agency, the cia, there are debates going on and there is intelligence -- maybe you know the answer. how do we deal with putin? >> "the washington post's" bob woodward, thank you very much for being on and democratic

congresswoman elissa slotkin of michigan, thank you, as well. see you soon, both, i hope. and still ahead on "morning joe," senate majority leader chuck schumer and former house speaker nancy pelosi will both join us on the heels of last night's state of the union address. plus, it is ron klain's last day as president biden's chief of staff. he will be our guest this morning, as well! you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. you're watching "morning joe." we will be right back. >> i start tonight by congratulating the 118th congress and the new speaker of the house, kevin mccarthy. [ cheers and applause ] speaker, i don't want to ruin

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today, we're in the strongest position in decades to compete with china or anyone else in the world. anyone else in the world. and i'm committed -- [ cheers and applause ] -- i'm committed to work with china where we can advance american interests and benefit the world, but make no mistake about it, as we made clear last week, if china threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country and we did. look, let's be clear. winning a competition should unite all of us. we face serious challenges across the world, but in the past two years, democracies have become stronger, not weaker. autocracies have grown weaker, not stronger. name me a world leader who changed places with xi jinping.

name me one! name me one! >> president biden with that warning -- >> he's right, too. >> -- about threats from china, though he didn't specifically mention the chinese surveillance balloon. joining us now -- >> did they have those balloons floating across the u.s. when donald trump was president. >> one member of congress wanted to bring one. >> they had one that floated over florida, donald trump's home state in 2019. he was too weak to shoot it down. >> he was probably like, take a picture of me. >> florida, texas, hawaii. three times the balloons floated over -- >> texas! donald trump says, au contraire! he lets the chinese float balloons over the lone star state. so weak. >> the weakness! >> joining me now, senate majority leader chuck schumer is at the table. >> i didn't see any balloons over new york city.

>> when we talk about balloons, i always think about the fifth dimension. just throwing that out. >> my beautiful, my beautiful balloon. >> i do remember that! >> we're all dating ourselves! >> how ridiculous, the hypocrisy, though, that balloons under trump floating over florida, hawaii, texas. and the republicans don't say a word. >> the criticism is, why didn't joe biden do anything. he's weak on china. it's like they watched half the movie and didn't make it to the end. the american military shot down the balloon. they just didn't want it to rain down three school buses on -- >> there's one other really important point. they wanted it to be shot down over water in the continental united states, because they could recover it much better. if the pieces go on to land, they burn and crash. >> that's what i mean. >> our intelligence people are truly excited about getting to see what this balloon, saw how

the balloon works. it's a real intelligence coup. and the military was great. they said, we want it shot down over water, but in u.s. territorial waters, that's only 12 miles off the coast. it was 7 miles off the coast, and the side winder got it. >> shot it down. >> we want to follow up with china. we're talking about china the last segment, the balloon now. how important is it that the u.s. sends the secretary of state or the president of the united states to talk to xi again? how important is it that we continue our dialogue with the chinese, even if we disagree with them on most points. >> i've been a china hawk for a very long time. >> that's why i asked you. >> longer than most people were. but i think the biden administration handled it just right, postpone it, but don't cut it off. china is still the second biggest economy in the world. they are a military rival and threat. talking to them never hurts. i think the chinese feel as a

great, great -- they were really eager to have blinken come, because this was their step back into the world and by withholding, biden says, we may mean business. we may do other things about china as well, but to stop talking about them doesn't make sense. >> let's talk about the state of the union last night, leader. what was it like -- we'll talk about the substance, but to be in the room last night, you could almost see your colleagues, veterans of the senate sort of rolling their eyes at the jeers from the house side. >> the contrast was -- >> what was it like in the room? >> on our side, there was excitement. i mean, people realized, biden is hitting it out of the park. what i loved about the speech, it was true joe biden. the working family sitting in front of that tv said, he's talking to me. he's talking about my needs, he's talking about my hopes, he's talking about my values. i even liked, there was a particular part of it that

showed that better than anything else. not the big macro things that we did, as important as they are to working families, but he talked about small things you usually don't hear in a state of the union, but that really bug people of. when you can't switch your cell phone company and they charge you $250, that really p.o.s people. when you go to the hotel and they say the room is $300 and you get the bill, and it's $463. i do my sunday press conference on things like this. and it just showed just that biden was talking to the average american and the contrast of these guys screaming and yelling and throwing junk on the wall, and not having a plan, just calling names is going to serve the president so well and serve the country well. he didn't say, we don't want to work with you, but he said, help us finish the job. he stuck to his values and what he believed in. the contrast will be remembered for quite a while, by anybody

who watched it. and even people who read about it. >> so we clustered some moments together. here's how that default thing played out. here's president biden, also mike lee's response. take a look. >> oh, yeah. >> some republicans want medicare and social security sunset. i'm not saying it's a majority -- [ booing ] >> i'm politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you. >> look, folks, the idea is that we're not going to be -- we're not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don't respond. >> the president of the united states looked us right in the eye and mischaracterized what half the people in the chamber believe, what half the people in the chamber, according to him want. it wasn't true. he looked a little bit confused when he pushed back on it. i'm here right now to tell you

one thing. that you probably haven't ever heard from a politician. it will be my objective to phase out social security. to pull it up by the roots and get rid of it. >> hear, hear. >> people who advise me politically always tell me that's dangerous, and i tell them, in that case, it's not worth my running. that's why i'm doing this, to get rid of that. medicare and medicaid are of the same sort, they need to be pulled up. >> so, senator, you have mike lee, first of all, acting shocked. he says biden looks confused. he was the one who looks confused. he's like, who's ever proposed sunsetting social security and medicare? first of all, mike lee does. he doesn't even want to sunset it, he wants to destroy it according to that clip. and then you have the head of the republican senate campaign, rick scott, who put it on paper,

and said, here is our plan for candidates out there to run on, to sunset all programs, including social security and medicare every five years. and they're booing reality! >> and rick scott ran for leader against mitch mcconnell and got ten votes on this platform! on this platform. and it's not just him. i think the republican leadership has a plan to eliminate the deficit in ten years. if you eliminate the deficit in ten years, that sounds like a noble goal, there is no way you don't slash medicare and social security. this has been around the republican right wing for a very long time and joe biden was so deft. he let them walk into his trap. he rope-a-doped them. now all of the american people have seen them say, no, we're not going to cut social

security! he took that evil virus in the right wing who said, cut it, and got rid of it. it was great. it was a wonderful moment and it showed the deftness of this president. >> senator, do you think last night erased any question of whether or not president biden is running for re-election? >> you know, i can't answer that. >> i can. >> i can answer this. he cares so much about working families that he was going to give this speech running or not, okay. he cares about their needs and concerns. and he talked to them and that's -- it's a unique opportunity even for a president who has the bully pulpit to be able to talk to an audience, it's not the super bowl, but tens of millions of people. >> finish the job. sounded very futuristic to me. >> he said it 12 times. it sounded like a bit of a campaign slogan being tested. >> we'll see, we'll see. >> leader schumer, though, that contentious exchange we just

played was connected to the debt ceiling and the effort to lift it. we know that the president met with speaker mccarthy last week, an early introductory meeting, but after that meeting and these exchanges yesterday, are you more or less worried about lifting the debt ceiling ahead of that june deadline? >> look, i think what the president said was right. it's what i've been saying and my caucus has been saying, what hakeem jeffries has been saying, as well. which is. show us your plan! our plan is simple. pass the debt ceiling wout any confrontation, without any hostage taking, without any of that kind of thing. and theirs is -- we want cuts! they won't say what a single cut is. they're running into such trouble, not only on social security and medicare. so one of the head republican of the ways and means committee, miss granger said, let's cut food stamps. and then a couple others said, no, we don't want to even cut food stamps. so we -- our view is, show us

the plan. president biden talked about it in the speech, and that advanced things, i think, because the republicans are stuck. i don't think they can pass any plan with republican votes. so, yes, it's legitimate to talk about spending. it's legitimate to talk as the president did, and i'med so glad he did about ragds taxes on the big corporations. i love this thing of the 4% on stock buybacks, on the oil companies who are making huge profits. >> he talked about that, which i think is a winner for working class americans, but he also talked about small businesses. i don't always hear presidents talking about small businesses. how we have to help small businesses, because too often, republicans will say, when you talk about tax increases on billionaires, they'll say, they're coming after you, small businesspeople. that didn't happen. you know going around new york state that small business owners drive the economy.

>> absolutely. for instance, if you do some polls of hispanic voters, they say that's their number one issue, small business. it was great he did that. but the places to talk about whether we want to make the tax code better, so the very wealthy pay their fair share, the same percentage as everybody else, so we can go after the oil companies who are putting this money into the pockets of the ceos and into the big shareholders, is the budget! not, not the debt ceiling. and we're making that argument more clearly and more clearly the republicans are floundering. mccarthy in his speech yesterday shows how he was floundering. he said, i have no lines in the sand. and then two minutes later, he says, my land in the sand is, we need trucks. they're stuck. they're stuck and our strategy, shows us your plan is working. >> senate majority leader chuck schumer, thank you so much for being on this morning. we really appreciate it. >> he talks the big issues and helps fire departments get funding. >> we were talking about west point and the army.

somehow cut the west point fire department to $90,000, putting west point in jeopardy, putting all the surrounding towns which have volunteer fire departments and depend on the west point fire department. so i did one of my little press conferences, i'm not that shy about those. >> you like those. >> and the next day, a four-star general and a two-star general came to west point and said not only are they restoring the money there, but they had credit for paces across the country. the money is restored. >> wonderful! all right, senator, getting it done! >> despite the fact that he's afraid he's shy and he's afraid of cameras. >> hates the cameras, hates the microphone. >> we need a prediction, i know you don't like the eagles because you're a giants fan -- >> eagles. eagles. they are just incredible. you know, i don't like either team. i don't like the eagles for the rivalry with the giants. i don't like the kansas city chiefs, what they did to my

bills. >> you sound like a republican. you don't like anything! >> blue state! >> you like the eagles. >> closer to home. >> exactly. >> i guess the most amazing clips of people trashing jalen hurts. it's amazing. nobody thought he was going to be successful. and my god, he's just -- >> what is the super bowl? what is it? is it sunday? >> sunday. >> it feels like it's been a long time to wait for it. >> two weeks. >> it just seems -- >> if you weren't invited to a super bowl party, you can come to my family. >> we just got invited to a super bowl party! >> what time is that? might be too late for us. >> i think it's 6:30. tacos! tacos! >> okay, we'll be there. >> this is difficult. >> there it is! there it is! a rare moment -- there's your super bowl, everybody. it will finally happen this sunday. a rare moment of accountability inside the gop. republican senator mitt romney got into a heated exchange with

congressman george santos. we'll play for you what happened and what senator romney had to say about it. "morning joe" is coming right back. >> in his speech, biden called for bipartisanship and unity. he was like, as democrats and republicans, we have one common goal, to mishandle classified documents. is mhandle classified documents. lps u fight migraine attacks. u put it all on the line. u do it all. so u bring ubrelvy. it can quickly stop migraine in its tracks within 2 hours... without worrying if it's too late or where you are. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks a protein believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. migraine pain relief starts with u. learn how abbvie can help you save. ask about ubrelvy, the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine.

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beautiful live picture of the white house. just up the street from where we're sitting at 7:49 in the morning. before last night's state of the union address, there was night'e union address there was a notable exchange between republican senator, mitt romney and george santos. romney said he felt it was inappropriate and told santos that directly. >> i don't know the exact words i said.

he should not have been there. look, he's a sick puppy. he shouldn't be there. >> what did he say to you? >> i don't know. >> you said he was a sick puppy? >> no, i didn't say that to him then. >> you just said you don't belong here? >> yeah. >> why did you want to say that -- >> i didn't expect he would stand there trying to shake hands with every senator in the united states, and given that he's under investigation he should be sitting in the back row and being quiet instead of parading in front of the president and people coming into the room. >> did he respond? >> he said he embellished his record. embellishing is saying you got an a when you got an a minus, and lying, hopefully they will go through the process and get

him out, and i don't recall precisely the words, i don't think he should be in the aisle trying to shake the hands of everybody, that's an embarrassment. >> thank you, thank you. that needed to be said, the truth. >> meanwhile santos responded on social media tweeting, quote, hey, mitt romney, just a reminder you will never be president. >> oh, come on. >> that's a sick burn from george santos. >> i think he meant it, he's a sick puppy. i am not here to laugh about it or make fun of it, but it's disturbing that it took this long for somebody, somebody to say the truth, he should not be there. he should not be there.

it's not a debate. >> gene, he clearly has taken on the donald trump strategy which is attack the media, and there are no sacred cows, go after mitt romney, except he's a back bencher and may not be there. >> yeah, day-to-day, minute to minute, and he has taken on the trump playbook. and there's investigation of his campaign finances, and he's wanted in brazil, and it's shady -- >> mitt romney will probably be in that building in congress a whole lot longer than george santos. >> i would like to say, romney spoke for, i venture to say, almost every republican that

didn't say it out loud. up next, former house speaker nancy pelosi joins us at the top of the hour. also ahead, we are following the latest on search and rescue efforts in turkey and syria in the wake of the massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake that caused thousands of buildings to collapse. we're back in just a moment. i'm bill lockwood, current caretaker and owner. when covid hit, we had some challenges like a lot of businesses did. i heard about the payroll tax refund, it allowed us to keep the amount of people that we needed and the people that have been here taking care of us. see if your business may qualify. go to getrefunds.com. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. with the money we saved, we tried electric unicycles. i think i've got it!

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all right. coming up, it's chief of staff ron klain's last day at the white house, and he joins us here for his exit interview. up next, former speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, joins us in washington. we'll be right back in just one minute.

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one of the moments that both sides of the aisle cheered for at last night's state of the union. president biden telling lawmakers to finish the job on several key issues, and called out republicans for their lack of transparency with cuts to social security and medicare. welcome back to "morning joe." it's wednesday, february 8th. the top of the third hour of "morning joe." speaking us, speaker -- >> you know what you can call her? madam speaker. >> glad to have you here. >> glad to hear how well paul is doing. i am glad to hear he's doing

well. >> thank you. our new leadership, they are doing just great. wasn't the president doing just great, and great, and he took us to a place where we were bipartisan and disagreed philosophically and politically. >> yeah, on china -- >> yeah, china we came together very well in the '90s. >> wow. >> way back. >> boy, things have changed. >> let's talk about bipartisanship for a second. when joe biden came and said we will accomplish things in a bipartisan manner, and a lot of people on the left said don't do that, you can't do deals, and basically saying, hey, old man, that's the way things used to be, and yet you and joe manchin

was talking to you and biden -- everybody was talking -- you all worked through it and figured out how to get bipartisan deals done. >> we did some. that has been our tradition, as you know from your experience in congress, we have our differences but you find your common ground and you are always respectful of peoples' views and the people that sent them to congress. i thought last night was great and he was unabashed in saying we have to strive for bipartisanship. of course we do. >> it was a good message to most americans who are lost in the fever swamps of bipartisanship, but is it practical in this house of representatives? you have seen a lot in your years in washington, and there were republicans that could not bring themselves to clap for

affordable insulin, and they didn't want to be seen clapping for president biden. is that bipartisanship possible, practically possible these days? >> i think it's up to the american people, and you heard me quote lincoln all the time, and we just have to take that message to the american people. they will set the agenda of having the majority in the house. for example, the infrastructure bill, it's a bipartisan infrastructure bill, and we got 13 republican votes. and the chips and science bill, they were for it and then when it came to the floor they were against them and some of them came around when we proved we had the 218. but we always have to be hopeful

because there are some who do want to vote, and we're talking substantively. >> there were 18 or 19 republicans who won in districts that joe biden carried in the election. what do you suppose they are talking about with kevin mccarthy today, right? and with their colleagues. do you think they could have weight and influence on how the caucus behaves? >> i would be the last person to make a judgment about the dynamic within the caucus. you saw what it took could get him elected and it was not from the moderates in the party, so who guides him? but let's talk about joe biden. wasn't he great last night? he was his authentic self. he did talk about our accomplishments, 12 million jobs, and the work of the private sector, as well.

but the presidency that enabled that to happen, and jobs that relate to science and chips and how we go into the future. if they put the objective up they would have to say it was a great quote. >> yeah, everything really came together for him. it was a great speech. he was enjoying himself. this is what he does. he's always underestimated so he always, you know, meets the moment when he is being underestimated. some republicans acted in such a childish way? >> yeah, you talk about the republicans, marjorie taylor greene and all the people screaming and yelling and calling the president names, it's the republicans who suffer

from that. not joe biden. makes him stronger, right? >> they cannot erase who they are, as you have shown, and saying, why are they talking to us about that? i think they protested too much last night with that. we will see how we go forward with the debt ceiling. i have had my 21 years as speaker and leader 19 encounters of the debt ceiling kind, and there's a way to get there and it has to be in a bipartisan way. chuck wanted that, otherwise they could have done it under reconciliation in the senate and easily passed it in the house, but we want to have bipartisanship, and we should always strive for it. he set the tone for it by being welcoming, authentic, and again, hopeful about getting more results after showing progress he made. he's ready to run, as you can

see. >> yeah. finish the job. >> yeah, and it's fascinating, though, republicans only -- i speak as a former republican, republicans only seem to care about the debt and the deficit when there's a democrat in the white house. they had no problem raising the debt ceiling when donald trump -- >> no, did it three times when he was there, had three encounters and had different results. here's the thing. i am a pay as you go person, and you want something, we either substitute or pay for it. the republicans are pay-go, except when they want to give tax cuts to the rich, and then they don't want to pay for them. that's a big chuck of the trump debt that has been increased. they don't want to pay for that. >> and that is, as we said on the show, when you raise the

debt ceiling you are not paying for future bills, you are paying for those tax cuts that helped millionaires and corporations disproportionately. >> and you want to pay for it by taking food out of the mouths of babies. and they are wanting to cut food assistance and things like that as well as social media and medicare, no matter what they said last night, that has -- that's part of their dna. >> so what is the future for this debt ceiling? do you think at the end of the day republicans have no choice but to blink on this? >> on this particular piece of it, actually mitch mcconnell had a really good idea. he said that the president or the administration should lift the debt ceiling and if congress doesn't like the way they did it, they can object. let's just take care of it and come back to it. as you know, with you were there

we had the gephardt rule that was in the budget bill. the budget bill passed and therefore the debt ceiling was raised. the constitution says the full faith and credit of the united states should not be endowed. it's clear we should not be having this discussion because, as you say, it's to pay the bill and it's not for anticipating any future spending. >> another discussion we shouldn't be having, but i think it might be very important, and it may seem like a small thing, but the george santos issue. mitt romney had choice words for the republican congressman whose entire campaign was based on lies. we can talk about the big picture and where this might have come from, where a candidate based on lies would have ever come from, but the

issue now is how to handle this. mitt romney says he needs to go. >> i did hear what mitt romney had to say and it's unfortunate there are not other adults in the room when it comes to the republicans. here's the thing. people said how could he have gotten elected? well, trump had misrepresentations about himself. i agree with you. i spent seven years on the ethics committee, longer than anybody, and honoring and respecting the house of representatives is a very important piece of it. people say, well, why don't we do this and that? well, we must, but we must also uphold the standard to be respected by the american people. they need his vote because they have a five-vote margin and one

person is sick so they have a four-vote margin. >> if this was a democrat, as speaker what would you do? >> i have done it in the past, and i don't want to go into it because some of it was not possible because saying so-and-so, it's over. that's over. >> you talk about the respective people that sent each of you could congress, and it seems like the people of that district were completely defrauded and they elected somebody on paper who does not exist, and it seems to me to disrespect the voters to allow this to continue. >> i can't believe it. >> isn't that the job of the house? i don't know. >> it is the job of the house, and the republicans have criticized me in the past for making that a priority, and --

not in this case but other cases in the past. i think that's a place that we all have to come to. if they had a 20-vote margin, he would be gone. >> exactly. >> this is not about values or ethics or anything else, this is just practical politics. >> speaker pelosi it was almost disorienting to some democrats to look up and not see you up there behind the president during the state of the union, and then it would cut to you in the chamber. you are such a leader still, of course, and hakeem jeffries has taken over that position as majority leader, and what is your part now? does he call you and seek your counsel given your experience? >> as a role that i have had before, and knowing him, i don't

think he needs me calling him. i don't want to be that mother-in-law in the kitchen. this is how my son likes his stuffing. the speaker is good, and i will be a good influence, and i know what kind of -- i have given them some of the history. they can make their own judgment, but just to give them some history, and it's a scary history in terms of republicans and what they would do with the democrat president. >> i would suspect democrats want her in the kitchen. >> do not put carrots in the stuffing. >> i am proud of our leadership, they are great. the best result would be is if

they do even better. >> i have to ask you this, because when i was watching poor kevin mccarthy struggle vote after vote after vote, i just was commenting to mika, i said, this would never happen to nancy. nancy never -- it's like that perry mason, you know, never ask a witness a question you don't know the answer to. that is how you took things to the floor. you never went to the floor without knowing the outcome before the vote was cast. i am curious what your thoughts were as kevin mccarthy allowed himself to be hung out there time after time after time? >> to be honest with you, i wish he won on the first vote. i saw no joy in the disarray, the instability and chaos that was being demonstrated.

>> still you had to ask, come on, guys, don't you know how to play this game? >> yeah, figure it out. >> he had two months. that's the thing. two months. >> i remember once john boehner was trying to do something and you were frustrated because -- these people get to vote this way and these people that way, and so would he ever come in and ask you -- because he's going to be in that situation. >> for the moment you never know. all kinds of things can happen and all kinds of situations, but in any case, i said to him, just get it done. just get it done, right from the start. just get it done. i thought it was inept they were

not able to get it done until 15 votes. we could not have congress coming together, and families came for the swearing in and forget that. that's important to the families. but important to the country was the fact that we did not have a functioning congress for all of those days. why? because they just for some reason didn't add up -- >> couldn't count votes. >> they couldn't count them. but the fact is we will have to have clarity about what the argument is back. the public has to understand, this is what the choices are. i will say this and you will be shocked, probably. i think the country needs a strong republican party. >> we agree. >> and they can't -- >> this is not a republican

party. >> it's not our judgment on what it should be, but it's a missed opportunity for america. >> i want to ask you how you negotiate with a party that won't tell you what they want to cut -- mika keeps looking at me. >> well, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy is speaking before the parliament in london right now. and i want to ask you how we as a country here continue the support -- could we dip into this and listen for a moment. >> yeah, just for a second. >> it's very important, you were among those few that helped before the large-scale invasion began, exactly as it will be necessary every time in the future to prevent aggression from happening.

your help was preventive. we must take these principles of preventive aid to those who are threatened with aggression and preventive sanctions. again, those who threaten aggression as basic principles of the anti-war policy, and we thank you. it stopped the advance of the russian army from the invasion. we build the coalition of our artillery and a coalition of air defense that allowed us to save the lives of our children, of our people, of our civilians, our women, our elderly and the

russian occupation -- we put together a powerful sanction coalition, and your leadership is protecting the international water cannot be questioned. we have to steadily continue along this way until russia is deprived of any possibility to finance the war. most importantly, together with a g7 we brought about a coalition of values, a coalition that protects the rule-based law and order and human rights, a coalition that will work in such a way that over time there will simply be no gray areas in the war in which human life doesn't

matter. in order for it to be so there must be justice. anyone who invested in terror must be held accountable. anyone, anyone who invests in violence must compensate those who have suffered from terror. >> so you are watching right now president zelenskyy speak before parliament. i thought it was a moving shot. you actually had the prime minister, a conservative right next to the labor leader showing that they are together shoulder to shoulder in the support of ukraine. also as he's talking about sanctions and the financing of the russian army, it's very important to remember that before this war, london was a place where many oligarchs find

financial haven and there was a concern even months into the war that they were not being pursued as aggressively as they should have been, and boris johnson, of course, began moving more aggressively we will see if that continues. the question is, madam speaker, you have a pin, a opinion of the ukrainian flag, and will republicans continue to stand shoulder to shoulder on ukraine? >> i think so. as i was watching the president i was thinking about when he came to the congress the last week we were in session. as a courtesy extended to other leaders, the plan was to have a guest speak to congress, and mitch mcconnell could not have been more helpful.

he was wonderful about it. as i watch him, it's with great emotion because he's talking about things that have to happen, justice and accountability, and keeping the sanctions in place so that those who are profiting from the war and also funding the war, because of oil, whatever, energy, have to pay a price. we had the prosecutor general last week here and talked about what we can do further to hold the regime and putin accountable. >> we had a polish general in here ahead of the defense sitting with us a couple hours ago, and i am paraphrasing, he said in support for ukraine, what we do now is for eternity, what we do now will last forever, and what we don't do will last for eternity, and what do you say to the americans

about sending tax dollars to ukraine? >> it's for democracy. it's for all-time. if putin were to prevail, it would be a horrible thing for the world order. i was in munich last year, january -- excuse me, february, when president zelenskyy came and spoke to me, and he challenged us and so the threat is not only the ukraine, but it's a threat beyond so the polish general is correct. they have proximity, and they have been great. >> the shared experience, the poles and the ukrainians, and what ukraine has done has been a great example for the world. >> and we have a great ambassador. >> yes, we do.

>> he gave us good guidance on all of it. but the american people have to understand, and that's part of the messaging. let me just say this, if i may, joe biden did a remarkable job in unifying and strengthening everyone around this, and he did it not by dictating, and not by condescension but by consensus. he did something quite spectacular. i quote john f. kennedy when i was in school, and it's not what the country can do to you, and the next line is to the citizens of the world, ask not what america can you do for you but we can do for the freedom of mankind, and joe biden did just that. >> he is doing that in europe,

and continues to do that in europe, balancing so many competing interests, but let's talk about asia and what is happening with australia. the announcement last week from the philippines and what is happening with japan and what is happening with south korea and even guam, and talk about joe biden over the last couple of years, working with our pacific allies, our allies in the east, really creating a strong framework to push back on chinese military aggression. >> well, he has done a remarkable job with it, but tying it to ukraine. we had our trip -- you remember our trip? >> yeah. >> we went to all the countries that we went to -- we started thanking them for their position on ukraine and they were

positive about that. they don't all have the same system we have, as we know, but he has been -- i will just use this word, respectful. not condescending, but respectful, listening to them. that's part of the asia pacific initiative, it's to listen to them and work together. we had them here and we -- well, he had years on the foreign affairs committee. his experience has really served democracy and justice well. >> who would have ever figured it out, experience matters? oh, my gosh. >> yeah, and somebody able to pinpoint what joe biden was able to do last night, and you talked about the importance of strong and good republican party, which we agree with. what he's doing in his

presidency, he's making a space for that if they want to walk into it, and it's their choice. he is making a space for bipartisanship and a republican party as we used to know it to come back into form. it's a question that the voters will have to decide. >> he referenced while they may not agree here in the public -- >> right. >> there's much agreement about what we can do about working together. >> absolutely. >> he's authentic. >> absolutely. i think he had a good time. speaker amare tau, nancy pelosi -- >> it's madam speaker. thank you. >> great to see you. thank you. >> thank you. still ahead on "morning joe," we will compare president biden's message to the republican response. and looking at the many times

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emeritus. emerita. nearly 25% of the entire national debt it took over 200 years to accumulate was added by one administration alone, the last one. those are the facts. check it out. check it out. how did congress respond to that debt? they did the right thing. they lifted the debt ceiling three times without preconditions or prices, and tonight i am asking the congress to follow suit.

some of my republican friends want to take the economy hostage. i get it. unless i agree to their economic plans. all of you at home should know what those plans are. instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some republicans, some republicans want social security and medicare to sunset. [ jeering ] >> neighbor that doubts it, contact my office. i will give a copy of the proposal. i can tell you. i enjoy conversion. it means if congress doesn't keep the programs the way they are, they would go away. i don't think it's a majority of you, not even a significant -- it's being proposed by

individuals. i am not naming them but it's being proposed by some of you. [ jeers ] >> the idea is that we're not going to be moved into being threatened to default on a debt if we don't respond. folks -- [ applause ] >> so folks, as we all apparently agree, social security and medicare is now off the books, right? [ applause ] >> listen. if you are at home and you are not as much of a nerd as me and you don't follow all this stuff, let me tell you something, they were booing reality,

republicans. when joe biden said one administration raised the debt more than the first 220 years of president, it's the truth. the debt went up 25%. when he said republicans raised the debt ceiling three times during the trump administration -- wait, why are they booing? they did it. are they booing themselves for doing that? then, this is the one that gets me. he's talking about how sunsetting social security and medicare every five years. nobody dreamed that up. that was the head of the republican senate campaign committee. he won't say his name. i will say his name. say his name. rick scott, the most powerful republican in the united states senate for running campaigns. they are acting like jackasses

because they can't deal with the truth. they make themselves look foolish. you know elizabeth, here 8 problem being a leader of republicans right now is marjorie taylor greene just gave a gift to joe biden, gave a gift to the democratic party and gave a gift to every democrat that won in biden districts. yet the incentive structure is such that marjorie taylor greene called the president a liar. you have all of the extremists raising a ton of money while damaging their party and they just don't care. if you are kevin mccarthy, what do you do? >> fringe has taken over. they have a disproportionate

power, and they are performers and not legislators. it was meant to reach out to the working-class voters who the democrats lost in recent -- you know. >> he was very good. >> yeah, he was talking about paying resort fees at hotels and airlines charging too much. he was, like, whoa. >> car washes costs too much. we need the tokens to be bigger. >> yeah, this is the way they are going, trying to get back the working-class voters that went with trump. stphaoeuflt t the conversation with mayor

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folks, we are just getting started. we're just getting started. [ applause ] >> and i mean that sincerely. i want to thank my republican friends to voted for the wall, and my republican friends that voted against it as well, but i still get asked to fund the projects in those districts as well, but don't worry, i promised i will be a president for all americans. we will fund these project. we will see you at the

groundbreaking. coming up, president biden's outgoing chief of staff, ron klain is our guest and joins us straight from the white house next on "morning joe." joe."

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here in the peoples' house, it's our duty to protect the peoples' rights and freedoms, and -- >> order! order! >> but i will make no apologies that we're investing to make america stronger. investing in american innovations, investing in our alliances. fentanyl is killing more than

70,000 americans a year. >> fix the border! >> you got it. >> guys, kevin mccarthy specifically talked to his caucus and said this is bad for us, don't do the heckling. don't do the booing and they completely ignored him. >> i had a teacher in grade schools that gave looks like that, only you had to pay attention because she would come over with the 18-inch ruler and you would be sorry. he doesn't have an 18-inch ruler, that's the problem, he doesn't have a stick to punish them with for that sort of behavior. >> it mate have been before your time, but i got the 18-inch ruler -- do you remember when

your parents to take out the belt and say -- >> we called it the board of education. >> just awful. so let's talk about the contrast here, because it's always been one of the great mysteries that the party pushing tax cuts for big corporations and then last night's speech, as you all laid out, it went against that. you have republicans making fools of themselves, and by the way, a lot of rank and file republicans saying come on, guys. republican senators were horrified. i'm sure mitch mcconnell were horrified. going, please. >> mitt romney. >> please stop. >> just shut up. >> but while they were -- these people were yelling in the back, joe biden was talking about building an intel plant in ohio,

talking about the jobs that will go an average of $130,000, a lot of those jobs to people with high school degrees, talking about wisconsin, talking about -- i mean, it really was -- >> made in america. >> made in america. and by the way, they didn't cheer when he said we need to have the supply chain start in america. >> america. >> that's the line. >> that is made in america. and republicans couldn't cheer for that. i just -- i want to follow up on what elizabeth said here. this is really what democrats have not been able to do effectively since bill clinton, when he could go to iowa, any county in iowa, and hug a farmer and know that he had that farmer's vote. >> and i was wondering, why -- because the language -- some of the language that biden used was not different than other speeches, but it did seem to hit differently last night. and i think it might have been because there wasn't any pressure on biden to sell anything other than himself. right?

he was not -- it's not an election year. it's not a midterm year. he was not trying to advance a big -- some kind of big proposal and jam his talk about when his dad says, honey, it's going to be okay. sometimes it might not work. and all of this just seemed to fit because all he needed to do was present biden. >> yeah. >> america is tired of being played for suckers. the stuff about billionaires should not pay a lower tax rate than teachers. all of that just seemed to -- made in america, the union strong, unions should be able to organize. and because he wasn't trying to push something else and it was all of a flow of his sort of theory of the world, it just really seemed to land. >> he kept saying, i mean it. you knew he did. >> i get it. i get it. over and over again. >> you know what else he talked about, too, i never really heard democrats talk a lot about, they talk about the billionaires, the tax cuts for the rich, then he comes back and talks about small business.

>> i knew you were going to say that, small businesses, right. >> every time a small business -- >> the number of small businesses formed everyday. i thought that was really interesting. >> right. this is why democrats lose a lot of small business owners because when you start talking about taxing billionaires, they think you're talking about them. always thought if democrats could draw a line between the billionaires, between the multinational corporations, between the exxons and small businesses -- >> exactly. >> then the message would be sent. we're going to tax them. we're going to do everything we can to encourage small businesses to go out and create the jobs because they're the engine of this economy. >> i thought that was an important moment, too. just to make clear, democrats like small businesses. >> yes. >> because a lot of small business people think democrats don't like small business. >> right. >> and made it clear. >> most years in the state of the union addresses we're franticly looking over these giant proposals that presidents always put out and we're trying to figure out how significant is it, how big a deal is it, is it going to happen? there was none of that this

year. we didn't have to write that. so, because nothing was going to pass. coming up, our next guest says foreign policy barely rated a passing mention in the president's speech. peter baker of the "new york times" joins us with his reporting and analysis when "morning joe" comes right back. >> let's finish the job and close the loopholes that allow very wealthy to avoid paying their taxes. let's finish the job. >> we have to finish the job. let's come together to finish the job on police reform. let's finish the job and ban these assault weapons. and let's also come together on immigration. make it a bipartisan issue once again. ♪♪ ♪♪

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when world leaders asked me to define america, they do belief it or not, i said i can define it in one word, and i mean this, possibilities. >> today, our freedom is under attack. and the america we love is in danger. president biden and the democrats have failed you. >> we're often told that democrats and republicans can't work together. but over the past two years we proved the cynics and nay sayers wrong. >> president biden and i don't have a lot in common. >> time and again, democrats and republicans came together. >> he's the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is. >> we have to be the nation

we've always been at our best, optimistic, hopeful, forward looking. >> we are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn't start and never wanted to fight. >> we have to see each other not as enemies but as fellow americans. >> after year of democrat attacks on law enforcement and calls to defund the police, violent criminals roam free. while law-abiding families live in fear. >> i've never been more optimistic about our future. about the future of america. we just have to remember who we are. >> and the rad dal left's america, washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire. >> you know -- >> wow. >> as republicans in the past, we used to -- willie, we used to always mock democrats for being so negative. >> grim. >> so, so -- just -- >> worried. >> just hating on america and reagan was that optimist, sunny optimist. >> very different times last

night. >> but last night, yeah. look, it's so grim. this grimness does not sell. optimism still sells. >> it's a version of the american carnage speech, sarah huckabee sanders, former press secretary to president trump gave the rebuttal last night. a party suggests they want to move on in some ways from donald trump, last night was not the way to do it. >> welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe." it's 6:00 a.m. on the west coast, 9:00 a.m. on the east coast. and joining the table here in washington, we have u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay, chief washington correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker and white house correspondent for politico and co-author of "the play book" eugene daniels also a "morning joe" senior contributor. great to have you all on board. i need the play book. >> katty kay, the response by sarah huckabee sanders, hand maid's tale. >> very upsetting with that dark background. i don't know if she smiled once.

by the way, kudos to the producers for putting together that montage. that was brilliantly done. joe biden last night could not have enjoyed himself more. i can't remember a president enjoying a state of the union that much. >> right. >> and smiling as much as he did even perhaps especially when the republicans were heckling him. i don't know if she smiled once during that. and it was just -- it is that juxtaposition of everything is -- american carnage, there's a woke mob out to get you. i'm sure that's not representative of all republicans, but it was an odd choice for tone. they know they'll have the spotlight on them for the minutes it takes for her to deliver that. i thought that was an odd choice in terms of tone of delivery. >> she didn't talk about moving forward and the party needing a change. she didn't -- legitimate problems that donald -- joe biden has to face over afghanistan. real questions about the way that that was handled and should be questioned about that and should be an investigation into

that. but it was more tonal. >> it was. and it was grim. and the thing, you jean, so fascinating is yesterday, yesterday morning, there were a lot of people talking about how joe biden was just waiting for republicans to scream, to yell, to insult him, to call him names and he was going to play off of that. yesterday morning they warned republicans and they just walked right into it. >> and he caught them immediately in that trap. i will say you and i talked to white house aides last night, they were giddier than i thought they would be because as it started to happen, you could see it in president biden's face, he was surprised they jumped in as much as they did. you always assume marjorie taylor greene will say something, someone may throw something out, but it was widespread. you have a president who is able to do what he has been doing for a long time, i'm stable. this white house is team normal. then you have a chaotic scene happening outside of him,

something that they couldn't have paid for if they really wanted to. >> this really was -- peter, you'll remember this total triangulation, like working the extremes against each other, playing right the middle and knowing that the extremes would do your job for you. look at this league, man. it's all peter baker. >> wow. >> peter owns the front page of the new york times today. but peter, you were talking about, you know, he urges gop to work with him. there was compromise -- he's talking about compromise, bipartisanship. didn't offer, as you say, a lot of compromises but the sub head, finish the job. finish the job. >> yeah. >> if this wasn't the kickoff to a 2024 campaign, i don't know what was. >> right. this was a steady as she goes speech for unsteady times ironically. >> right. >> the difference between your class republicans coming to power and confronting bill clinton and what happened last night. the difference s first of all,

in terms of governor sanders, unlike newt gingrich and the republicans back then, they weren't offering an alternative program, they were simply criticism biden. gingrich had things he wanted to get done. to that end, he wanted to work with bill clinton eventually after fighting it out to get some of those things done. there's no effort here on the republican part to get something done with biden. interestingly, there's not much on biden's part to get anything done with republicans either, unlike bill clinton who says, era of the government is over, meeting them the middle. here is all mood music. talk about bipartisanship, on my terms, on my program. >> let's talk about bill clinton, when there was a government shutdown, bill clinton just vetoed every bill we sent over to him. we finally said, okay, what do you want. he would tell us what he wanted. we would send them over and veto it. but we gave you what you want. he said, i just wanted to send a

message. and didn't know until we cried uncle. that's exactly where republicans are now because they're afraid to mention any cuts, granger talked about food assistance for the poor. immediately people backtracked. you talk about medicare, social security, republicans screaming and yelling, protesting. >> medicare, social security, was a trap eugene was talking about. sending marjorie taylor greene flowers this morning white house ally put it, maybe a balloon bouquet. >> white balloon. >> and got them to join him in a standing ovation for social security and medicare for seniors. he's hitting the road, president biden, as is tradition, set to deliver his post-state of the union sales pitch. he'll be in wisconsin. nbc news chief white house correspondent peter alexander reports on the president's address last night. >> reporter: entering a house chamber now run by republicans, president biden extending his hand to the new speaker kevin mccarthy, before confronting republican heckling head on. tangling over the fate of social

security and medicaid. the president taking aim at an idea floated by just a few republicans. >> instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some republicans, some republicans want medicare and social security to sunset. i'm not saying it's a majority. >> reporter: the comment drawing outrage and boos, including from gop fire brand marjorie taylor greene. but then with a smile, the president turning the tables. appearing to get republicans on board with his position to protect the popular programs. >> stand up and show them we will not cut social security. we will not cut medicare. so folks, as we all apparently agree, social security, medicare is off the books now, right? we're not going to cut? >> reporter: at several points when things got spicy, mccarthy was seen trying to shush his boisterous members, like this moment about the drug crisis. where the president mourned 70,000 americans killed by fentanyl each year.

>> it's your fault. >> reporter: president biden at times feisty, ribbing republicans who voted against the trillion dollar infrastructure law but now want to reap its benefits. >> we'll fund these projects. i'll see you at the groundbreaking. >> reporter: still, the president's overarching theme, unappealed for bipartisanship. >> people sent us a clear message. fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict gets us nowhere. >> reporter: president biden uring congress to act on unfinished business like police reform with the parents of tyre nichols who was killed by officers in memphis in attendance, getting a standing ovation. the president including this poignant observation about policing and race. >> most of us in here have never had to have the talk, the talk, that brown and black parents had to have with their children. >> reporter: he would also denounce political violence with a nod to nancy pelosi's husband

paul who survived a brutal home invasion. on foreign policy, the president making only a veiled reference to the chinese spy balloon shot down last week. >> if china threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country and we did. >> reporter: what was widely viewed as the unofficial kickoff to the president's re-election campaign, punctuated by this optimistic declaration. >> the people of this nation are strong. the state of the union is strong! >> reporter: the republican response from new arkansas republican governor sarah huckabee sanders. portraying the president as the head of a failed administration, hijacked by the radical left. >> president biden and the democrats have failed you. and it's time for a change. >> time for a change? get to respond to joe biden. let's -- >> interesting she's talking about a new generation of republican leaders. who else does she mean there, right? who is the likeliest nominee at this point to run against biden? >> desantis.

>> okay. was she saying -- trump's former press secretary saying that? >> there was a nod time for a change. >> right. >> a choice between crazy or -- >> normal or crazy. >> long story she gave for just for president trump, right, the long story talking about going over seas. so she both kind of eased him and praising him and then called for younger people. >> let's talk about this with someone who knows a thing or two about politics on his exit interview, joining us now for his very last interview as white house chief of staff, ron klain. great to have you on the show this morning. >> here's your exit interview, ron. thank you so much for being with us. >> let's do it. >> let's do it. >> okay. >> what was the least rewarding part of your time talking to us on "morning joe"? >> always a pleasure to be here and happy to be here on my last day. thank you, guys. >> so let's talk about last night. pretty strong reviews.

as you know very well, sometimes we don't give the president very strong reviews. but last night very strong reviews from all of our guests. what was your take on how last night went? >> well, obviously i thought he did a great job last night. look, the american people saw an optimistic president stand before the country, express his confidence in the country. make clear he is prepared to work with republicans, to finish the job on things like creating jobs, kbroeing our economy, bringing prices down, police reform, all sorts of issues but also making clear he's prepared to stand up to the republicans if they do want to cut social security and medicare, if they are going to try to pass a national abortion ban. they saw the president who has been working successfully on a bipartisan basis these past two years, say that he's got a blue collar, blueprint to rebuild the middle class and asking republicans to join him in finishing that important job. >> ron, good morning. i think most republicans agree broadly with the idea of

washington working together. republicans and democrats doing things together, but i'll put to you the same question i put to speaker pelosi just a few minutes ago on our set, which is that practical with this congress? is that practical with a house of representatives that was heckling the president last night and has shown no willingness to work with him, in fact, sitting on their hands as he talked about things most americans agree on, you know, making things in america, bringing down the price of insulin, no applause for those lines. so how do you get to bipartisanship with this congress? >> well, look, willie, there have always been republicans who have been fighting the president since day one. and obviously they're still in congress and perhaps in larger numbers. but we have found these first two years here an ability to find republicans in both the house and the senate who are willing to come together around things like infrastructure and really fulfilling a 20-year promise to make this country leading the world again in infrastructure. you heard the president last night talk about his success in passing on a bipartisan basis

the chips bill to bring high-tech manufacturing jobs back to america. invented the computer chip here. let's make them here. let's put people to work. six-figure jobs even for people who don't have a four-year degree, surely there can be bipartisan support continuing with that. things like fighting cancer, the president's cancer moon shot, the effort to crack down on fentanyl at our border and in our cities and towns. these are things that really should not be partisan issues. we worked with republicans for two years. i hope we can continue to do so in the next two years. >> ron, i wonder if any part of you thinks you're going out at exactly the right moment in terms of your own career because the next two years after a wonderful state of the union speech are perhaps not going to be quite as rosie or glowing. you are facing a period in which the republicans are going to launch investigation after investigation into hunter biden, the handling of afghanistan, the handling of the border, a host of issues and they're going to

be relentless on those issues and it's going to be in reality very, very difficult to get anything else done over the next two years. and then you get into an election campaign which the polls suggest a lot of americans have real reservations about joe biden running again and about his age. and i just wonder whether you think you're handing the next team in the white house perhaps a little bit of a harder slate than you had over the last two years. >> yeah. i have a lot of confidence in the team here. they'll do a great job. but i remind you when i showed up for work on the first day two years ago, we had 3,000 americans dying everyday from covid. we had a 9/11 event everyday in this country from covid. we had schools closed. we had businesses closed. we had the worst economic crisis we have seen in this country since the great depression. so we hardly were walking into a bed of roses here. now a lot of skepticism about whether or not we would be able to make bipartisan progress. the fact that these seem like good times shows how much we'veover come, how much work we've done to get to this place.

so people have been underestimating joe biden and his team for a long time. and if you look at the results we produced these first two years i have a lot of confidence in the team's ability with the president to continue to make progress the next two years. >> and you also walked into the white house two weeks to the day after the worst attack on american democracy since the civil war. >> that is for sure. so, i guess as part of your exit interview, i'm curious what your advice is for jeff science he takes the rein as the chief of the white house. what did you tell him? >> look, what i told him, mika, is that we have built the best team ever to work at the white house. experienced, savvy, the most diverse team ever to work in the white house. the first time the white house staff has a majority that's female. and so i told him i am leaving behind the most talented, determined, dedicated people,

listen to the team, they have the president's back, they have the vice president's back. we keep on doing what's gotten us to this point, i have -- i think the sky is just the limit for what more we can do to finish the job in these next two years. >> all right. >> white house chief of staff at least for a few more hours. just for a few more hours. >> thanks, mika and joe. i appreciate it. >> thank you, ron. go hoosiers. peter, let's talk about the last two years with ron klain. biden has been underestimated. i'll just speak for what i hear and you can speak to what you've heard. biden has been underestimated. we heard they're out of touch. we heard that ron klain and all the men around biden were out of touch. they kept him too isolated. they weren't going to get anything done. the democrats were fighting each other. they were going to get wiped out in the midterms. i have to say, they beat all expectations.

i mean, we have to be able to stop and say that once in a while. they did. i didn't hear a whole lot of people going, hey, that ron klain. and steve, they're running a great white house. never heard that from democrats. it was always growling. but you look, incredible two-year record legislatively and politically. >> points on the board. >> yeah. look, it's a growling time. let's just face it. we're not a very happy, population. not a very happy political environment. and maybe the media obviously can be a little negative at times. like ron klain said. >> but you're right about that, right? look at the polls even just the other day, right? most democrats despite that record don't want biden to run for re-election, more republicans don't want trump to run either, by the way. but why is that? it's a good question for jeff zients and this new team or new team to take on because if they have a record that they're proud of, as they outlined just now, ron talked about, they have something to run on, why isn't it translated? why is trump in that "washington

post" abc poll leading 48 to 45. you can say that's an outlier. why is trump even competitive if the record is as good as biden says it is and if trump is as discredited as democrats would like to think he is. >> eugene, what does the white house think the answer is there? >> yeah. at this point they are very still confident that it's going to work out because of what you just said. they say they've been underestimated and proven time and time again that they're nay sayers are just that. but the difference is now you have an election, right? voters are watching. they have a lot -- in biden's speech yesterday, yes, it was optimistic but are americans feeling that? that is something that this white house at times has failed to really connect. >> yeah. they have to hit the road. >> yeah. and they are. and biden talked in his speech yesterday about ticketmaster and resort fees and things like that. that's what the white house is going to lean on, talking and kind of plain terms of about what's going on in this country. >> willie, it is fascinating that polls, it seems, especially

polls that are distanced from elections, aren't really that accurate. there's something about trumpism that focuses the voter's mind, paraphrase an old saying, like a hanging before dawn. it focuses the voter's mind, we saw it in '20, we saw it in '21, we saw it in '22. >> the wrong track number is still at 70, 75% in this country. that's just a fact of life. but those head to head matchups you take with a grain of salt at this point. donald trump a bit has reseeded from the scene. maybe haven't been reminded recently of what kind of president he was or what he brought to the country. so if he makes it through, if it looks like he'll be the nominee, i think joe biden and this white house would welcome that at this point. >> finish the job. i heard that a lot last night. coming up on "morning joe," president biden called for increasing taxes on the wealthiest americans, in addition to curbing anti-competitive practices. how is wall street reacting to that news?

cnbc's andrew ross sorkin will join us to explain. also ahead, mayor eric adams will be here. we'll ask him how much of the president's address dove tails with his own agenda for new york city. "morning joe" will be right back. ♪♪ vo: america knows a thing or two about building something great. and thanks to president biden's landmark plan for affordable clean energy, we're doing it again. news anchor 1: the largest clean energy manufacturing investment in american history is coming here to georgia. news anchor 2: a new sustainable energy company opened its doors at the u of a tech park. vo: already over 100,000 new clean energy jobs, for electricians, mechanics, construction workers. affordable clean energy. the american worker is leading the way.

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>> i'm a capitalist, but pay your fair share. i think a lot of you at home, a lot of you at home agree with me and many people that you know that tax system is not fair. it is not fair. in 2020, 55 of the largest corporations in america, the fortune 500, made $40 billion in

profits and paid zero in federal taxes, zero? folks, simply not fair. but now because of the law i signed, billion-dollar companies have to pay a minimum of 15%. god love them. 15%. >> god love them. let's bring in the co-anchor of "squawk box." good morning to see you, andrew. what's the reaction to wall street and the business community to the president's remarks particularly on taxes? >> for the most part maybe more positive than you would expect insofar as, you know, if you're going to demagogue a group of people, oftentimes they get very critical. tonally i think i was struck, at least, and i heard from a number of people in the business community who were struck sort of by when he went through the infrastructure and all the other things he's been doing for the economy, set against some of the comments that he made about increased taxes, he might have thread a needle in a way that

improved his case. having said that, you know, the devil is always in the details. the minimum 15% tax on billion dollars and on corporations really stems from actually something that president obama brought to the fore in 2011, the buffett rule in the name sake of warren buffett always said his secretary was paying more than he was. you know, the truth -- when i say the devil is in the detail, how you make that tax work, because what you're doing is taxing unrealized gains. a lot is in stock. how you do that is the conundrum. i think that there's a lot of people who think that there should be higher taxes on the wealthy, even the wealthy. but i think the details are the sticky point. i would also make one other important point because we heard about it from a lot of ceos and lot on wall street today, there was a comment made about oil, big oil and the idea that he wants to tax buyback, stock buybacks four times as much as they are currently to prevent

them or at least incentivize them to invest back in their business. at one point he said, you'll remember a lot of folks in the chamber laughing when he said, you know, we're going to need oil for another ten years. that in a way there was a bit of a backlash to that because what -- the truth is that especially in the oil business, big infrastructure investments are ten-year, 20-year, 30-year investments. so the idea that in ten years this is going to end actually is is a disincentive. trying to thread that need sl a harder one. >> there were laughs in the chamber when he said that because at least for ten years the american economy and the world economy will rely on oil. >> right. >> let me ask you about chairman powell's speech yesterday, the economic club here in washington. he said he sees the very early stages of disinflation, good news, but he does say the road back will be, quote, bumpy. what do you read into that? >> so, there's two camps here. there's the market camp, which is what you're seeing the stock market which it's actually just

generally moving up and thinking that that's very good news. i don't want to tell you it's bad news. it is good news. i think that those sort of fed watchers, people who really are living in this academic world and focussed on powell and the personalities in that world think he is going to continue to raise rates and raise them for longer. that is not built into the, quote unquote, stock market today. the expectation is that he'll do this for another month or two and then he's going to take a pause. if you really looked at his language and what he was saying, it seemed as if he would go for longer. why the market is not there with him is a little unclear at the moment. >> so, one more for you, andrew, some layoffs in the tech sector. ebay, zoom announcing they're cutting parts of their work force, ebay laying off 500 employees. zoom cutting 1,300 jobs, 15% of its work force. both companies blame the decision on the uncertainty of

the global economy. recent weeks google, microsoft, amazon also announced they are laying off staff. what's going on here? >> well, you know, what's so interesting we're seeing these headlines, all of these layoff headlines especially out of silicon valley juxtapose the great news in terms of the employment picture and frankly what the president was able to say last night about that employment picture. the real question is all of those folks who are losing their jobs going to be able to replace those jobs and replace them quickly. thus far they have seemed to be able to do so. i would also say, there's a trend going on here in silicon valley which is i think folks are looking around and saying, we can do more with less. and i know that we've had lots of conversations about elon musk the past couple months. a lot of ceos looks what elon musk did at twitter he decimated more than 50% of the staff and twitter is still operating. i think there's people who are taking for better or worse

inspiration from that. >> andrew ross sorkin, andrew, thanks so much as always. we'll talk to you tomorrow. >> great to see you. some basketball history last night in los angeles where lebron james passed another laker's legend, kareem abdul-jabbar to become the nba's scoring leader all time. nbc news national correspondent miguel almaguer has more. >> reporter: lebron james, a shot in history! lebron stands alone! >> reporter: with that stepback jumper, one of the greatest players in basketball history becomes the nba's greatest scorer of all time. >> the all-time leading scorer, you have witnessed it, lebron james. >> reporter: with his family on hand, lebron james wiping back tears as the game was paused to celebrate the historic moment. >> i would never, ever in a million years dreamt this even better than what it is tonight. >> reporter: former laker great kareem abdul-jabbar embracing james as he passed the torch in

the form of a basketball. >> that indefinable essence that they call leadership. >> reporter: with celebrities like jay-z, bad bunny and denzel washington sitting courtside w showtime. >> reporter: and the crowd cheering his every move. lebron attacked the basket, needing just 26 minutes to score 36 points for the lakers. king james receiving tributes from fellow nba stars and superfans, including boil clinton, rihanna and snoop dog. >> mo buckets, mo points, many love. >> i never thought this record would be touched. >> reporter: at 38, lebron is still at the top of his game after two decades and four nba championships. the kid from akron, ohio, continues to surpass the height that surrounded him when he was first drafted right out of high school by his hometown team, the

cleveland cavaliers. lebron, reflecting on his journey. >> just been a pleasure to be in this league for 20 years and however long i'm able to go, whatever the case may be, i had a hell of a ride. >> miguel almaguer reporting. so this was coming. he was going to beat the record at some point this season. but 38 year old, to become the all-time leading scorer, he is still averaging 38 points a game at 38. this is not a retirement tour. this is brady stuff. the team is not where he wants it to be. >> i like his sneaks. >> i worked as a sports producer 20 years ago. i remember when lebron was in high school playing in akron in st. vincent/st. mary. we covered a game in north carolina, a showcase. the game was on espn. he had been on the cover of sports illustrated, called the chosen one. jay-z was in the front row at his high school game. i remember thinking, there's no way this guy could ever live up to this. it's too much. it's too much. and my god he's done it.

he's the all-time leading scorer in the history of the league. >> beautiful. >> and one of the two, three or four best players of all time. >> i was going to say, where do you rank him among the best of all time? >> i grew up in the '80s and '90s it's hard for me to knock mike down and kobe two. i'll slot him in at two how about that? after michael. >> you sure? >> magic? bird? like that's the thing. that's the problem with growing up in the '80s. >> bill russell. >> well, bill russell, kareem. >> wilt. that's the problem. >> that is the problem. that is a problem. i mean, michael. and magic. and larry. and -- man, bill russell. the championships that guy had. you guys care to wade into this ranking? >> i mean, the thing about -- not about who is better. i won't get in trouble about that. the thing about lebron is he is also i think number four in assists. so it's not like he is someone who is ball hogging, running around.

he's a team player. >> that's neat. >> he talks about that more than he talks about scoring. he also talks more about his activism and what he does. and also, you know, how much he likes being a dad, right? this is a man who grew up without a father. and so he also is like a symbol to black americans on what success looks like and more importantly how you can stay true to yourself and doing all of that. >> i'm so glad you talked about the assists because, willie, you were talking about in high school. i remember watching the high school game. he's going down, you're expecting him to dunk it. he stops, he turns around, he feeds it to a teammate that scores. always love those players who are just as excited to give an assist to a teammate than to make this -- >> team members. people who are part of a team, not ball hogs as you said. >> leadership. i thought that was to your point, that was really nice. coming up on "morning joe," new york city mayor eric adams joins the table. there was a topic in president

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tonight i'm announcing new standards that require all construction materials used for infrastructure projects to be made in america. made in america. my economic plan is about investing in places and people that have been forgotten. so many of you listening tonight, i know you feel it. so many of you felt like you just simply been forgotten. remember the jobs that went away. you remember them, don't you? the folks at home remember them. you wonder whether the path even exists anymore, for your children to get ahead without having to move away. well, that's why -- i get that.

that's why we're building an economy where no one is left behind. jobs are coming back. pride is coming back. because choices we made in the last several years. you know, this is my view of blue collar, blueprint remake america that make a real difference in your lives at home. >> one of the moments president biden true bipartisan cheers last night as he announced plans to create more blue collar jobs in america. joining us now, new york city mayor eric adams, who says he has a similar agenda for his city. he joins us now. good to see you. >> thank you. thank you. i feel like i have arrived, "morning joe" kid watching it. >> come on. you have arrived as the gps tells you in a very firm way. i love her. >> so what did you think about this speech? >> really when you look at my state of the city address a few weeks ago, i talked about the

working class agenda, the blue collar agenda, and it's so important because when you move around the city, if you are on the subway, walk the streets, everyday new yorker, blue collar workers are hurting and they really want government to speak to them and not at them. >> why has there been a disconnect between working class voters who should be aligned with democrats economically and party leaders? >> there was -- you look at the numbers there's a hemorrhaging of our latino community, our aapi communities that's leaving the traditional democratic base is because we have allowed the loudest and those who consider themselves to be woke, some of us never went to sleep. and we hear and speak directly to salespeople. and i think the party is now understanding that we have to speak at those issues that are important. jobs, public safety, educating our children, good healthcare,

just these common, you know, kitchen table issues that we moved away from. >> another one, homelessness that you've been talking about in new york city. it's certainly a problem here in washington, d.c. where there's a humanitarian crisis on the streets every night. >> think ability, we're saying that people who cannot make decisions for themselves to the extent that they can't take care of their basic needs and danger to themselves, we should get them care. you actually have people advocating that they should have the right to stay on the street. that's inhumane. >> it's a humanitarian crisis. >> it really is. it really is. >> so when we talk, mr. mayor, about policing, first of all, offer our condolences about officer fiyaz killed off duty unrelated to his police work. terrible, terrible, tragedy, died yesterday. what is the state of policing in new york? you came in on an agenda of public safety as a former police officer yourself. you said many times police

officers are just being asked to do too much. they can't be a social worker and a counselor and everything else that we're asking them to do. how have you changed it in your first year? how have you changed policing in new york. >> we zeroed in on those things i said was crucial. number one, the overproliferation of guns, taking 7,000 guns off the street, double digit decrease in shootings, decrease in homicides, now we have to go after those predatory crimes and i keep talking about recidivism. when we heard of the shooting, even before we knew who the shooter was, i bet you the person has an extensive criminal record. the guy has an extensive criminal record. the revolving door recidivism that you're seeing in not only new york but our country is impacting how we keep our cities safe. and what we must not do is have a knee jerk reaction and take tools away from police officers. because the bad guys celebrate every time you say, i'm going to take a tool away from law enforcement. now we must have the balance, justice and safety can live and

coexist together. >> we have been talking with you on this show for, gosh, a couple of years now about bail reform and a problem that you tried to address with albany, police officers will tell you again and again and again we're seeing the same people in the subway everyday. we arrest them. they go in and come back out multiple arrests. is there any progress on reforming that in a way that makes new york safer? >> we're engaging in some real conversations with the governor and the leaders in albany where we're saying, listen, let's have a wholistic approach with dealing with this problem. the bottlenecking of our criminal justice system where cases are on too long and revolving door aspect of it is really hurting our criminal justice system. >> mr. mayor, another issue the president addressed last night and that your state, every state in the country, is dealing with fentanyl, the rise of fentanyl deaths around america. some of it is coming across the border. some of it from china as well. you heard republicans last night heckling the president over the border and over china, but in your experience, is there something that the government is

not doing, the federal government, is not doing that might help you address fentanyl? if you had the ear of the white house right now to address this one issue, is there something you would be asking for. >> i'm glad you raised that. many of us remember the '70s of what heroin did to our cities and during the '80s with crack cocaine did to our cities. this is the heroin and crack cocaine combined. fentanyl is so dangerous that even when some of the dogs sniff it they get sick. we have correction officers who are falling out and having to be hospitalized because smell it. if we don't attack fentanyl right now, we're going to see a combined combination of what heroin and crack cocaine did to our cities. we must be on the front line. we have to stop the production. we must come with the technology that can identify it right away. we must be real education campaign inside our schools. our young people now are embracing fentanyl and other

opioids at a level that's unbelievable. our overdoses are increasing. this is a national crisis that we need to reach head on. we made a mistake with heroin and crack cocaine. we allowed it to infiltrate. we can't make that mistake again. >> last night president biden gave his speech. you talked about -- you thought it was a good speech. it had tenors of the state of the city speech that you gave a little bit ago. but talk to me, as you're sitting in that room, you agree with the president. there seems to be sometimes a disconnect from what he's saying and how americans are feeling that we're seeing in the polls, right? he's about to likely announce a run for president again. so what do you think who is closest to the citizens, what is the disconnect that americans aren't seeing when you felt that yesterday? >> well, i think first of all i like the president. and you know, when you like someone, you don't have a problem when you disagree. i believe we have to secure our borders. must be real comprehensive

immigration reform. republicans, democrats must come together. we were able to get resources, but what new yorkers and i believe new yorkers are similar to what people are feeling all over the country, they want government to work for them in a real way. that's a battle we're having even in the city of those real issues. they want to walk out their homes and see their streets clean. they want to be on the subway system that's safe. they want to know that their children are being educated. and there's a future. people lost their belief that there's a future in this country. and i think he's right. i'm just -- maybe i'm old fashioned, but i just believe that we're the only country with dream attached to our name. there's no german dream, french dream, polish dream. damn it, there's an american dream. >> there might be a polish dream. >> you're right. you're right. >> before you go, before you go, we talk about crime an awful lot. i am just curious, you started to make reference to numbers.

let's talk numbers year over year. how is new york doing on safety and crime year over year and compared to the 1980s? >> look at what we're doing in the subway system. when we did our subway safety plan, people think it was not going to work. you see a substantial decrease in subway crime. we're moving in the right direction. we started off in february, 2022, we were like 40% up in some of the major -- seven major crimes. you're seeing the trend downward. we continue to pursue to remove guns off the street. but something else you're going to see, you're going to see the infusion of technology in new york city policing that's going to cascade throughout the entire country. we have to catch up to what others are doing. the city is moving in the right direction. trending in the right direction. moral is up, police officers are doing their job. and they believe again that we

could have the safe city. i know what the '80s looked like. and we are not going backwards. we're going to move forward. >> all right. new york city mayor eric adams, thank you very, very much for being on the show this morning. it's nice to see you here in d.c. >> i'll hang out here all the time. >> polish dream next time come on. >> i have to ask you very quickly. what about tyree, what happened in memphis. you're a cop. what did you think as you saw him being beaten to death? >> you know, reflected on my days where my baltimore and i were assaulted by police officers and this symbol of protection to violate that and it was just a real personal moment for me because i know the men and women who serve and protect us are so much better. they tarnished that. all the work that we're trying to do, when you see that, it takes us back. but i just tell americans, let's forge ahead. let's remove those who are not suitable to do the nobility of

public protection and do not tarnish all those who place their lives on the front line all day everyday. police officer mora and rivera wore that uniform. they're not the same officers that tarnished the uniform. we should never forget that. >> mayor adams, thank you very much for being on. we appreciate it. and coming up, desperate efforts to rescue survivors continue in turkey and syria this morning in the aftermath of monday's massive earthquakes. we'll have the very latest straight ahead on "morning joe."

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sliver of light amid the darkness, a family of six pulled alive from the rubble in northern syria. the crowd joyfully cheering god is great as a little girl is carried to an ambulance. this boy's delight shining through as he's pulled from the debris. working through the night, more than 2,000 rescue workers and troops frantically searching for survivors. this newborn baby found alive, although its mother didn't survive sunday's massive quake. international help still arriving including teams from the u.s. usaid administrator samantha powers saying -- >> the united states is committed to supporting the recovery effort from this earthquake in an urgent manner. >> reporter: the u.s. sending rescuers, search dogs, and supplies. a team from israel already at work. the need for help is staggering. this is the first time serge and rescue crews have been able to make it to this neighborhood,

and the neighbors believe a mother and her two sons were trapped in that building. they're not sure if they're alive. the search and rescue teams are trying to find them, but it doesn't look good. this man lives next door but says he wasn't home when the earthquake struck. by a miracle, he tells me he was out of the building getting a cup of tea. he and his family are now living in their car, but all are alive. more than 50 hours after the quake, scenes of apocalyptic devastation. these powerful satellite images show the scene before and after, and there is mounting despair in the region. in syria, access remains a huge challenge. humanitarian groups calling for desperately needed aid, hospitals in the war-torn region now completely overrun. in turkey where it's winter, survivors huddling for warmth near a fire waiting for news of those still trapped. this survivor saying may god

help us. >> nbc's kelly cobiella with that report. joining us now americare's senior vice president of program and chief medical officer dr. julie varges. they're readying shipments of urgently needed medical and relief supplies to supply workers treating survivors. i think, doctor, first of all, we know americare's well and we know what you do. i wonder what the primary challenge is here organizationally because often you can get a lot of supplies, but this as kelly just showed us is, you know, apocalyptic scenes that there's so much need everywhere and probably organization just beginning. >> yeah, thank you so much, really appreciate being here. i would say as the scenes show, the search and rescue is what's

really critical in those early days. americare focuses on health, and we are sending medicines, medical supplies, providing funding for health care partners and providers to restore health services, but in these early days, really that search and rescue and ensuring that anyone who is, you know, trapped under the rubble is able to be -- >> did we lose her? >> we lost you there for just a second. if we have you back, you all have quite a bit of experience at americares and dealing with situations like this, earthquake in afghanistan, earthquake in nepal, the indian earthquake in 2004. what have you learned? what can you bring to a scene that just looks just like nightmare? >> yeah, you know, thankfully, fortunately and unfortunately americares does have decades of

experience responding to natural and complex disasters. we know from our experience that health needs are going to be immense and very long-term. you know, certainly in the early days we know that trauma and injuries, wounds are going to be very prevalent, but also people with chronic disease. so people with diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, they may be out of their medications. they may experience exacerbations of their conditions, and so chronic disease meds are going to be urgently needed as well. and i would highlight that mental health is going to be an ongoing need. these are regions of the world that are already experiencing such tremendous devastation and conflict, economic crisis, and so ongoing mental health needs are going to be compounded by this disaster. >> doctor, can you talk a little bit about the immediate problem of getting help, particularly to northern syria? my understanding is there's just one road that goes in from turkey to syria? it's incredibly cold. it's obviously been a war zone,

and are you worried about the situation of people in syria that we may not have even reached yet? >> absolutely. you know, as you mentioned, there are significant challenges with infrastructure damage and only having kind of, you know, certain ways to access the corridor between turkey and syria. that is definitely a challenge. we really rely on those existing partners and their local knowledge of the area and ways to access, you know, routes and locations to be able to access aid but certainly there are tremendous challenges. and also, as you noted, the cold weather is adding an incredibly challenging layer to all of the search and rescue efforts. >> donations to americare's turkey, relief fund, to donate visit americares.org. thank you so much for joining us and keeping us updated on everything that americares is doing. >> thank you so much.

and eugene, what are you working on today? >> yeah, well, we're looking and timing out president biden. when is he going to announce if he's going to announce a run, and if it's going to sound like what we saw yesterday, right? you have the finish the job, i talked to someone else in the white house who said doesn't that sound like a campaign slogan? it kind of does. >> yes, it does. >> and parliament, zelenskyy speaking today, talk about that and what impact that has. >> he's such a master speaker. we had some of it on the program earlier. what he did at the end of that speech is he present add gift to parliament, which was a fighter pilot's helmet, and he said we have the pilots. now we just need the wings to defend our freedom. he got a standing ovation several times. >> he really does, and he has presented a master class on how to get their cause out to the world, from the very first night when they did the instagram in the streets and were going nowhere. >> and keeping the world engaged

now for an entire year. we had the polish general on here who made i thought the most poetic case for supporting ukraine a year in now. he said what we do right now is for eternity. meaning we're making a statement in the west for what we stand for right now. the outcome of this war will determine so much, and he said but also what we don't do will be for eternity as well. >> bottom line, joe biden's speech? >> listen, it was -- it was one of his most -- i think we all agree it's one of his most successful speech, and you have to give a big assist to the republican party. >> very helpful. very helpful. >> that does it for us this morning, josé diaz-balart picks up the coverage right now. good morning, 10:00 a.m. eastern, i'm josé diaz-balart reporting from the nation's capital. the staggering number of people killed by two massive earthquakes in turkey and syria is now more than 11,000. time is running out for