something to do. but that cannot detract from the fact that we are on the way. >> reporter: a way paved in part by a man and his music ♪ daylight come and me wanna go home ♪ >> >> reporter: rehema ellis, nbc news that wraps up the hour for me i'm jose diaz balart watch highlights from today's show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," president biden makes it official. setting up a potential rematch with donald trump. both candidates facing headwinds. today's announcement on video making biden the oldest u.s. president in history to run for re-election. >> let's finish this job i know we can. because this is the united states of america. there's nothing, simply nothing

we cannot do if we do it together this hour, we will bring you new developments in the criminal and civil cases against former president trump. i will ispeak to a top former diplomat who negotiated peace deals. good day, everyone i'm andrea mitchell in washington we expect to hear from president biden this hour at a gathering of his strongest supporters here in washington, members of the building and trade unions. the president's first public remarks since announcing his re-election bid in the online video featuring vice president kamala harris and highlighting his record on the economy, abortion rights and the fight to preserve democracy >> when i ran for president four years ago, i said we're going to battle for the soul of america we still are the question we are facing is

whether in the years ahead we have more freedom or less. more rights or fewer i know what i want the answer to be i think you do, too. this is not a time to be complacent that's why i'm running for re-election. >> joining me now, kristin welker, and former missouri democratic senator claire mccaskill. you have been working on the ins and outs take us through the major themes of the video announcement. what are your takeaways? what do we expect to hear from the president when he meets with the labor union, among his strongest supporters >> you are right i think what we saw in that video is president biden really building on themes we have seen throughout his first term. he unveiled during his state of the union address, let's finish the job. we saw that featured prominently in that video. you are absolutely right, what

we also saw was this focus on a key theme from his 2020 campaign of course, this video coming four years to the date that he launched his 2020 campaign this battle for the soul of america as he has called it. this battle for america's freedoms really putting former president trump front and center of course, he is facing a lot of head headwinds as well. a majority of voters don't want him to seek re-election. many citing his age as a key concern. i asked him about this after the midterms how does that factor into your final decision about whether or not to run for re-election >> it doesn't. >> reporter: what's your message? >> watch me. >> we heard him say that over and over again as well, watch me the other key thing that stood out to me from this video is the focus on his vice president. kamala harris featured 11

different times in the video a sign she's going to be central to the re-election effort. expect her to focus on things like voting rights, abortion rights, which democrats believe has really realigned voters. as you say, andrea, he is going to speak to a key constituency today, the builders union, a key labor group. that's critical to his re-election. don't expect him to hit the campaign trail expect him to use the power of this office. >> of course, kamala harris will speak in her big live debut, aside from the video, she will go to howard, where she announced her own race for the presidency, and, of course, one of the historic hbcus. that's going to be a big part of her constituency and a very important place for her. thank you. claire, you faced re-election tough battles and some difficult climates

how does the president win with 70% of americans who say he should not run half of those individuals saying his age is a major factor to them >> first of all, i think it's important to remember, this is not a referendum this is a choice he has got a lot of things going for him in that category we have a republican party that is worshipping at the altar of extremism. we have the extreme fringe of the republican party in full display of whether it is in my state where the government is forcing rape victims to give birth or other states where they are refusing to allow children to read historic books the book banning, the guns, the abortion rights, all of these things are being taken to such an extreme that independent voters, suburban mothers are all

going, wait, we don't want that. we want something more normal. we want somebody who wants to unite the country rather than divide the country the referendum is good for joe biden. the only thing he has to worry about, i would say, not his age, but the economy. as long as the economy stays as robust as it is right now, i think this race is certainly his to lose. >> the fact that a lot of people also really don't want a rematch -- kristin, let me toss this to you. people don't want to see biden against trump. >> the numbers are staggering. we are talking about 5%. when you actually match up biden and trump, president biden wins when it comes to favorability just by a very narrow margin if, in fact, we are gearing up toward a rematch of biden versus trump, that number is going to be critical to watch of course, the former president was out overnight bashing

president biden and his presidency as was the rnc. they have this sharp video, this doom and gloom video, effectively signaling that they plan to make the case that another four years of joe biden will be disastrous for the country and for the economy. expect that to be a key theme as well >> claire, the biden campaign is hoping that trump will be the nominee, not a younger republican who can highlight the age issue. >> well, you know, the problem is to win the republican primary, you have to cater to this extreme fringe. desantis just signed a very draconian limitation on women's rights and freedoms in florida what he has done in florida, frankly, he is trying to be a mini me. he is trying to be little trump. he is just as chaotic when it

comes to foreign policy and support of american institutions as donald trump. so far on the horizon, no republican candidate is getting any traction that is anything other than very extreme for america. >> yeah. desantis is right now on a around the world tour before his campaign is officially announcing, if it's going to be announced. trying to build up nhis foreign policy credentials thanks to both of you so much on a big day in politics. what is the impact, how the top of the democratic ticket could affect the majority in the senate senator chris coombs, co-chair of the biden campaign for 2024, joining us next. that and more when "andrea mitchell reportsre" turns after this very brief break. we will be back in 60 seconds.

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i spent my first term to fight for democracy. to protect our rights to make sure that everyone in this country is treated equally and that everyone is given a fair shot at making it. but you know, around the country maga extremists are lining up to take on those bedrock freedoms. >> that was a video announcement within this hour we will hear from the president live with the union members from the building trades unions. president union in his announcement video drilling down on the key themes of his next campaign and framing the fight against donald trump and mthe maga republicans who are trying to regain the white house. chris coombs joins me now. not only are you a good friend from delaware, former colleague of joe biden in the senate, but i think you just got off the

phone with the president who is now running for re-election. no big secret to you any tips for us? what did he share? >> our president is excited to talk to the building trades, the men and women who are looking at years of opportunity ahead, because of the strong bipartisan infrastructure bill that president biden helped pull us together here in congress to get to his desk and get signed into law. we were just talking briefly about how excited i am to be a co-chair of the campaign to support him for re-election and how excited the american middle class is the folks who are at that edbuis trade conference, for the opportunities made possible by the chips and science act, which the president signed into law. it doesn't just compete with china. it helps rebuild american manufacturing. the inflation reduction act. that doesn't just strengthen

clean energy and energy independence, it reduces prescription drug prices all the other critical pieces of legislation that help strengthen background checks for guns, invest in community mental health, make our country stronger and safer from future pandemics. our president has a great record to run on. i'm excited to get going this morning's video announcement and the speech he is about to give to the building trades are the perfect launch for his re-election campaign >> senator, let me get down to some real nitty-gritty here. before he can really start campaigning, he is facing this debt ceiling crisis. right now, the republicans in the house are planning to vote on the speaker's tieing that approval to severe budget cuts they say they're going forward no matter what, even they know it won't get through the senate. they are doing this test vote. it's a test of strength against the president. just now, omb has put out a

statement that the president would veto it. this is a game of budget chicken between the two sides with the full faith and credit of the united states, future of the global economy at stake here doesn't the president have to at least start talking? there's a lot of pressure from some democrats now that he should at least start talking to the speaker of the house and trying to resolve this before they get into a showdown that goes off the cliff >> andrea, as you know better than anyone, going over the cliff, defaulting would be disastrous it would throw the united states into recession it would throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work. it would raise the prices that we all pay, whether at the pump or on our mortgage or credit cards. default is something we have to avoid. >> what's wrong with talking -- >> speaker mccasrthy -- >>sitting down and talking

>> i will answer your question of course, president biden can, should and will negotiate about our future budget and appropriations but not at the point of a gun where speaker mccarthy says, we will default if you don't embrace these deep, unacceptable cuts i hope your watchers will look into the details of what's being proposed by speaker mccarthy a million senior citizens thrown off meals on wheels. 30,000 police officers de-funded and thrown off the force there are 100 other examples of the significance of the cuts this isn't the way to negotiate. we should not default. of course, president biden can and will negotiate with republicans on our appropriations packages going forward through regular order. >> let me be more specific i know the list. the list is something that obviously democrats and the white house will never accept. no question about that that's a budget comfort.

what about sitting down and talking to the speaker of the house about why the president thinks it's so critical to do a clean debt ceiling bill? at least that's a conversation that's worth having. >> i believe he has had that conversation our president is clear we're not going to default we're going to raise this debt ceiling. but we're going to pay our bills and keep the good faith and credit of the united states secure to negotiation as a condition of avoiding default, making deep cuts in domestic programs like federal funding for state and local police or federal funding for head start or for meals on wheels i think suis unacceptabl. i don't expect our president to negotiate at the threat of default deep cuts. >> let me move to the campaign how do you combat the fact that

he can't change, which is that he is getting older every day, god bless him? he is projecting that he has the enthusiasm >> aren't we all >> of course the point is that he is the oldest president of the united states as he enters. he will be 82 if he wins 86 when he finishes his second term how does he counteract that? and people's concerns about it with at least half the people who are saying -- 70% of americans don't want him to run. they say age is a big factor >> andrea, you know our president says compare me to the alternative. you watched the state of the union speech our president showed incredible agility on the fly, when heckled, aggressively, i would argue inappropriately, by some of the maga house republican members.

president biden engaged with them artfully. i would say owned them on the issue of whether or not there would be cuts in social security whether or not there would be cuts in medicare he enjoyed the exchange. he was vigorous and agile and engaged. that's the president biden who i know publically and privately just watch the address he is about to give to the building trades leadership of our nation. just watch how he conducts himself in negotiations with members of congress, about the critical pieces of legislation he signed into law i think at the end of the day, the american people will come out and vote for joe biden for re-election because they know what he has gotten done. they know he has decades of experience on the world stage, unlike the governor of florida who is meet something world leaders for the first time president biden has known them for years. 50 years in public service has given him a deep reservoir of knowledge, experience and

relationships. that's why his leadership on responding to the brutal russian invasion of ukraine has been so successful, so agile, so capable. because of that experience frankly, i think as the american people begin to look at who the likely candidates are in the republican party and how far right they are moving on things like banning books, banning abortion nationally and fighting more and more culture wars, and they look at the record of president biden, delivering strong bipartisan legislation that is addressing the real needs of the american people, i'm confident that the wy will re-elect joe biden >> proving right away, exactly why you were chosen to be co-chair of the campaign you know him better than anyone else thank you very much. appreciate it. the fragile cease-fire amon those in sudan

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a temporary three-day cease-fire in the deadly fighting in sudan is giving hope to americans who are trying to leave the country. it is already being broken one of the two warring parties, the rapid support forces accusing the army to use aircraft to bomb we are getting pictures of

government personnel who were evacuated saturday night from the embassy in sudan they were airlifted 800 mimiles. >> i am sitting here in a school that's been turned into a refugee camp yesterday, i hitchhiked south. the city was mayhem when i left. there were power cuts, no run wagr running water. >> joining me now is jeffrey feltman, a visiting fellow at the brookings institution, a former american ambassador in lebanon among other diplomatic duties there has been some violence today. this is clearly a pot still boiling over you were involved in

negotiations there, negotiations that clearly you left because you felt that they were not going anywhere you've got two generals, both power hungry neither wanting to share power what is the future >> i think the analogy is that these two generals and their lust for power have taken the country hostage. 46 million people have been taken hostage by these two generals' lust for power what you have seen is that they are negotiation -- being hostage negotiators. secretary blinken, the priority of trying to get to a cease-fire, is the essential priority they have picked the right priorit humanitarian situation, given the need for people to resupply themselves. unfortunately, these two generals are -- seem to be in this as a fight to the death >> we are told there are

approximately 16,000 americans there. we don't know. they are not all registered with what was the functioning embassy. some are nationals with dual citizenship who might not want to leave we don't have a sense of how many people to get out right now, there's no airlift being organized, or at least we don't know of one that might be organized during the sizecease-e we wouldn't know about there's an over land route that's 15 hours ride to the sea of sudan what are the options >> this is one of the reasons why the administration, by focusing on a cease-fire, has picked the right priority. you can't evacuate citizens in a wartime like this. i remember the 2006 evacuation in lebanon we had 15,000 americans that we were eventually able to get out. it was very complicated. it wasn't as complicated as when you have two domestic generals and their services fighting each other. the cease-fire has to be the top priority to allow safe movement

of american citizens and others who want to leave, to allow resupply of citizens who want to stay these two generals have an obligation under humanitarian law to allow this type of humanitarian resupply to take place. they are not doing it. >> there's a refugee crisis already in neighboring chad. lebanon's -- excuse me, we were talking about lebanon. sudan's neighbors are affected >> one-third of the sudanese people were food insecure before this there's another thing to keep in mind about the neighbors none of the neighbors had any interest in destabidestabilizat. that's an asset to work with in getting to the cease-fire. you need to keep a stable sudan. the longer the fight goes on, the more tempting for this

neighbor, this country, that country -- >> and russia. >> and russia to put their finger on the scale of one general or the other that could hyper-charge the fight. >> ambassador, your experience is invaluable. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me tonight on "nbc nightly news," an exclusive interview with lester holt speaking with south korea's president about recent revelations that -- from the leaks of classified material, of course, that reports the u.s. spied on south korean officials the interpretation was done by a government translator. >> do friends spy on friends >> translator: generally, i don't think so in reality, it's something that is strictly prohibited in state affairs. however, what i still want to emphasize is that it is not a thing to impact in any way the trust between our two countries. one important pillar of the

alliance is an alliance of intelligence and information we are -- we have a wide range of communication channels. we are sharing information we are analyzing it together i believe this is going on between our two countries. >> south korea's president is in the states today you can see more of this interview with lester holt tonight on your local nbc station. the league challenges donald trump is facing. criminal charges and now the civil rape trial is starting in new york more charges could be pending this summer. we will wrap all of that up coming up on "andrea mitchell reports. we'll be right back on msnbc now, there's skyrizi. ♪♪ with skyrizi, most people who achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months... had lasting clearance through 1 year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections, or a lower ability to fight them, may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms,

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donald trump's legal troubles enter a new phase today in new york. blocks from where he was ar arraigned earlier this month, jury selection is now underway in the civil rape and defamation trial brought by e. jean carroll. it stems from an alleged sexual assault. while in georgia, the district attorney says she will announce her charging decisions in the election interference probe sometime this summer specifically, july 11th or after. she's asking law enforcement to prepare for, quote, significant public reaction at the time. ron allen is in new york

and with us, former attorney joyce vance. ron, is there any indication that donald trump is going to appear in his own defense? he said he didn't plan on it >> reporter: we understand he filed a deposition -- a video deposition there's that that seems to be the only way that he is going to appear here. car it's unlikely they would call him. trump's attorneys have not said he won't appear. but it seems unlikely. this is going to seem to boil down to her testimony. she's expected to take the stand and make her case, as she has on many occasions, in a book, articles and interviews over the past 20 plus years, dating back to the mid 1990s when they allegedly happened she has been silent until 2019 in her court filings, she outlines in detail what she said allegedly happened

she describes him at the counter where she met trump. she says she knew each other from being in the same social circles in new york city back at that time. trump says he never met this woman. she describes the two of them going into the store because trump asked her to help him buy a gift they end up in the lingerie department they end up in a place where he asks her to try something on, to go into the dressing room. that's where the alleged incident happened. she never reported this to police that's one issue that will be at trial. the other, she did report this to two close friends who we expect to hear from during the course of the trial. we also expect to hear from at least two other women who say they were similarly assaulted by trump. it's a civil case in federal court. unspecified yied damages.

not a criminal case where if the jury finds for her, he would be a convicted sex offender unspecified damages likely to run into the millions of dollars. >> thanks to ron joyce, back in january, a d.a. said her decision was imminent on an indictment against a number of people, according to grand jurors then some witnesses chose to cooperate. then there was conflict among some of the lawyers. could that be the cause of the delay until -- i think we were told it was going to come in may and now it's suggested for july. >> right it seems likely that that situation with witnesses could be contributing to the delay, obviously. we don't know everything that's going on often prosecutors, when they get closer to an indictment, will find the need to really nail down some of the details, to make sure they have evidence that will be very cleanly admissible in court.

this situation with the witnesses is intriguing. willis has filed motions that suggest that even though the court directed her to convey an invitation to some of the potential defendants on this fake slate of electors, their lawyers saying they were invited to come in and speak in exchange for immunity from prosecution, she now says that offer was not conveyed to those potential individuals. some of them are now telling her that one of their number committed a crime that they were not a part of. it's a very confusing situation. prosecutors can't indict cases while there's confusion. she will need to nail all of this down. >> joyce, the former president is facing a number of legal challenges, as you know. the e. jean carroll case in new york, the fulton county investigation which, i think, started with that famous phone

call to raffensperger. which case seems to you the strongest? obviously, one has criminal ramifications and the other is civil. one is just about money and reputation, right? >> i mean, we talk about this question a lot increasingly, i'm of the view we should look at all of them together this is a former president who, for instance, is facing a lawsuit by new york's attorney general that would essentially put him out of business in the state of new york because he is engaged in fraudulent practices. the e. jean carroll case involves an allegation of rape, a very serious charge even though it's a civil case something we don't talk about as much is jack smith and the federal prosecution. we will find out when we find out. but it's a lot of potential charges for a former president to be facing all at once >> joyce vance, thank you very much ron allen as well, thanks to you.

on the trail, president biden about to give his first speech since officially announcing his running for re-election. what we are expecting next you are watching "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc.

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all the vaccines your teen might need make sure you ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. oh yeah, that is them. (that is howard) yeah, that's on howard's campus. ohhh, she's so powerful, she carried on the family legacy. we were blown away. (chuckles) i not only was a student and an undergrad, but i've been a professor there for twenty years, so it's really a special moment to know that i had a family member who over a hundred years prior have walk these grounds.

it's deeply uplifting. yes, it is. we're walking in their footsteps. those are live pictures at the washington hilton where president biden is going to give his first speech since making his re-election bid official in that video released online today, putting donald trump at the center of his message,

framing the election as a choice between more freedom or less freedom, more rights or fewer. joining me now, yamiche alcindor, sam stein and eugene daniels. yamiche, what are we expecting to hear from the president >> i imagine we are going to expect the president to lean in on this theme of freedom watching that video, you really got the sense that he was open and willing to lean in on the culture wars that republicans have been waging this was a president who talked about banning books, who talked about the reproductive rights in the video, who talked about race and ethnicity. he was really hitting head on this issue of freedom and people feeling like there are republican efforts to curtail that freedom, especially with abortion being such a prominent issue, because that are court battles. i imagine president biden will cast this as a theme between him and the maga republicans

of course, former president trump featured big in this video, which is interesting. you see president biden in some ways getting ready for that rematch, which is what we might be cou be covering in 2024. >> abortion is highlighted largely as they focus on elevating the vice president, kamala harris. you have been digging into this. she's going to howard university today. part of her campaign rollout where she first announced that she was running for president back in 2019, 2020 >> that's right. it's very interesting and very telling that vice president kamala harris was featured prominently in this re-election campaign i went back and watched the 2012 obama re-election video. there was no joe biden in that video. he sees kamala as prominent.

she's going to rally with reproductive activists at howard she's been the face of pushing back against her views -- or versus republican views when it comes to seeing things curtailing the critical rights of women's reproductive rights it's something that will be a big feature. i was talking to a number of people arewho are close to her o want to see her doing that she's been talking about voting rights and civil rights for her entire career. >> sam stein, the republicans put out their own video with a version of what they see as the future under joe biden they are focusing on age as well the rnc chair out with this statement. biden is so out of touch, that after creating crisis after crisis, he thinks he deserves another four years if voters let biden finish the job, crime rates will rise, more fentanyl will cross our borders, children will be left behind and

american families will be worse off. republicans are united to beat biden. americans can counting down the days until they can send biden packing. neither side wants a rematch the public doesn't want one. what happens to the electorate if it's this rematch that 70% of the people don't want -- or rather more than that? >> yeah. it's an interesting election in which the majorities of each party are expressing public disinterest in their leading presidential candidate in the case of democrats, a swath of democratic voters say they do not want biden to run. similar numbers for trump. those seem likely to be the nominees it becomes a question of who can unite their base more effectively. i think that underscores the attempt to ignite the base by pointing to open borders,

fentanyl crisis, ai imagery to create this dfuture similarly with biden, books being banned, abortion rights. they look at things that would excite the base. i suspect that's what's going to happen going forward if these two nominees do emerge >> biden is now coming to the podium eugene daniels, talking about book banning, the college board has just reversed itself after caving in to ron desantis' pressure and changing the curriculum nationally for black history. they have gone back after scholars across the country objected to the way they were trying to rewrite history through omission >> they got more political pressure on the other side when they did do exactly what ron desantis wanted them to do

this is something that as both yamiche and sam just said is going to play out in the election this idea of book banning, the idea of teaching a more wholesome history of america is how this democratic party will push their message against republicans and against donald trump, against ron desantis if he jumps in. that's a message that's going to work it ties into this entire democracy conversation >> the president is thanking the union members. of course, these are among his strongest supporters, the building trades. let's listen >> i want to congratulate my former secretary marty y walsh.

if you have to be in a fox hole, you want marty with you. he is a man of his word. he knows more than you do and more than i do lifetime achievement award a whole lifetime to work out here you may be carrying a hockey stick these days, but i'm still coming for you thank you all for your continued support of julie su. she worked with marty. she's going to be a great secretary of labor [ applause ] so good to see you guys. this feels like coming home. you know >> go joe! >> you know, i'm here because there's no better place to talk about the progress we have made together and wouldn't have been made without you that's a fact. our economic plan is working we now have to finish the job. there's more to do

you are leading the way, shovels in the ground, cranes in the air, factories opening all those jobs being created ibew jobs, iron workers, boiler makers, teamsters, masson, p painters, roosters, steel and metal workers. my economic plan is blue collar blueprint to rebuild america that's what we're doing, rebuilding america [ cheers and applause i make no apologies. i make no apologies for being labeled the most pro-union president in american history. i'm proud of it. i really am! [ cheers and applause ] really . [ cheers and applause >> i really am folks.

i really mean it [ cheers and applause >> folks, look i tell businesses all the time, i mean it sincerely, the business round tables, i tell them, union workers are their favors not a joke you're the best workers in the world, not a joke. when one of the south korean plants was going to invest in the united states, i asked him why, the ceo, he said you have the best workers in the world. that's not hyperbole it can take you four years to train to be as an apprentice i wish we talked more about that people don't understand that in order to become a full-blown member you have to go through an apprentice process it's like going back to college. you're spending years doing it you get the best job done on

time, long term, and it costs less in the process and i said many times, wall street didn't build america, the middle class built america and unions built the middle class they did that's the god's truth [ cheers and applause >> and the good news, the good news is, even some of our corporate friends are figuring this out, that you did, you built the middle class and we created more than 12 million new jobs more jobs in two years than any president created in a four-year term because of you. because of you the unemployment rate is 3.5%. a 50 year low. lowest time for construction jobs nearly 800,000 manufacturing, the fastest growth in 40 years

because we're buying american. where is it written that america can't lead the world again in manufacturing? if i ran for president to rebuild the backbone of america, middle class, grow the economy from the middle out, the bottom up, not the top down because when the middle class does well, the poor ladder up and the wealthy still do very well you don't have to worry about them we all do well but that's a clear contrast to the other side they believe the best way to grow the economy is from the top down and then to watch the ben fits trickle down to the rest of us i'm serious, think about it. like many of you, not much trickled down on my dad's kitchen table. for decades, atrickle down economics hollowed out the middle class companies moved jobs over seas

how many of you came from a town where they had a factory with 600, 1,000 people now it's gone. why? they went overseas for cheaper labor. not just one administration but a series of administrations preceding us as those jobs are lost, something else is lost as well that matters to folks where i come from. the sense of pride, the notion of who you are the sense of self-worth, earning our way. as my dad used to say, i give you my word. someone would say the job is about a lot more than a paycheck, it's about your self-worth, who you are. being able to look your kid in the eye say honey it's going to be okay and mean it. it's a it's about your dignity. folks have forgotten that. trickle down economics doesn't work we have a different plan for the economy. you and i, together, we're turning things around and doing

it in a big way. [ cheers and applause >> one of the first things i did as president was sign the american rescue plan which helped save the nation from the pandemic, vaccinated millions of people and through the butch lewis act protect your pensions, got relief -- [ cheers and applause >> we got relief to folks who needed it most to get the country back on track. [ cheers and applause >> they didn't think we could do it it worked. and not a single republican voted for it and then i signed the bipartisan infrastructure law

because to have the strongest economy in the world we need the best infrastructure in the world. again, that's no joke. we need the best infrastructure in the world, roads, bridges, af airports, water system, high speed internet and so much more. can you believe we used to have the best infrastructure in the world. we were rated number one we fell to number 13 in the international ratings. 13 under my predecessor, infrastructure week became a bunch line on my watch infrastructure has become a decade headline a decade [ cheers and applause >> and that's where y'all come in really that's where you all come in we've already announced over 25,000 infrastructure projects

in 4,500 towns across america and we're just getting started not even close union workers will build road, bridges, internet cable, install 500,000 electric vehicle chargers throughout america and yuan wo union workers are going to transform america and finish the job and as we rebuild america we're going to continue to buy american buy american [ cheers and applause >> if you might notice i've been criticized by other countries by our partners and even our republican friends for buying american you know, i'm announced a new standard all construction material, all construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects have to be made in america lumber, glass, drywall fiber optic cable.

and so much more [ cheers and applause >> as president, i get to pick projects i get to fund projects from the money we get from the congress every federal project is going to be built by american workers, using american products, creating american jobs what most people didn't know, i didn't know it to be honest with you, eight years ago, that's been the law since the '30s. but no one had the nerve to insist on it used to say if you can't get the product, you can't get the workers you can go somewhere else and look for it guess what, i changed that law it used to be if you got -- you know, if you did 40% it was okay and so on. not anymore. i'm insisting on it. we're going to spend american tax dollars, americans are paying the money and we're going

to buy american when we do it. and by the way, under international trade agreements it's all legit it's been there since the '30s decades ago the united states used to invest 2% of our gross domestic product, everything in america, 2%, on research and development. allowing us to lead the world in major fundamental changes in research and development today, it's .7 let less than 1% we used to rank number one in the world in research and development. now we rank number nine. china was number eight decades ago. now china is number two. and other countries are closing in this is not about good or bad, other countries. it's about competition it's about competition

that's why, with your help, i designed and signed the chips in science act. i asked the ceos this question, when the united states -- i really did, not a joke, i asked them, marty remembers -- i asked them, when the united states invests considerable resources in a new enterprise, in a new business, are they much more likely or less likely to get in the game and the answer is overwhelmingly yes, it matters they get in the game when the united states of america makes a judgment what they're going to invest in that's how we keep parts of our supply chain back to america like semiconductors. think about how many people had no idea what the heck a supply chain was. i'm serious. you said, two and a half years ago, the supply chain, people look at -- really bright people look at the -- yeah, the --