every saturday and sunday, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. eastern. garrett haake picks up with more news right now. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," fbi director chris wray under fire from house republicans on the judiciary committee during a contentious hearing. >> when the court says the fbi misled, that's a nice way of saying they lied. >> this is not a political party issue. this is about whether the very system of justice in our country can be trusted anymore. >> you preside over the fbi that has the lowest level of trust in the fbi's history. people trusted the fbi more when j. edgar hoover was running the place. this hour, president biden and president zelenskyy clear the air at the nato summit. zelenskyy describing their meeting as powerful in a tweet just moments ago. all after public frustration from the ukrainians over the lack of a time line for their entry into the alliance.

>> i hope we finally have put to bed the notion about whether or not ukraine is welcome to nato. it's going to happen. we are moving in the right direction. i think it's just a matter of getting by the next few months here. a warning from the nominee to lead the joint chiefs of staff. the republican senator tommy tuberville's block on military promotions is affecting the military on multiple levels and could spark a talent drain. i will discuss it with former u.s. navy pilot mikey sheryl. good day. i'm garrett haake. andrea is headed back from the nato summit in lithuania. here in washington, house republicans on the judiciary committee are hammering the fbi director for what donald trump and some conservatives have repeatedly claimed to be the so-called weaponization of the bureau and of the justice

department as a whole. republican lawmakers are ramping up their public defense of the former president while going on offense against the biden administration and the president's family. >> i'm sitting here with my father. i will make certain that between the man sitting next to me and every person he knows and my ability to forever hold a grudge that you will regret not following my direction. i am sitting here waiting for call with my father. sounds like a shakedown, doesn't it? >> i'm not going to get into commenting on that. >> you seem deeply uncurious about it. don't you? almost suspiciously uncurious. are you protecting the bidens? >> absolutely not. >> joining me now, ali vitali and frank figliuzzi, former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence. ali, you have been watching this all morning. take us through the highlights and low lights of what's been a

contentious hearing so far. >> reporter: no surprise to anyone of us that there were some fireworks, including that exchange just now with congressman matt gaetz and the fbi director. we have seen gaetz be one of the republican members to bring up hunter biden. there have been a myriad of other issues that have been brought up during the course of the questions over the last two or so hours. everything from culture wars in schools to questions about january 6. i have to say that we have seen republicans really mobilize and ramp up their criticism of the fbi over the course of the last few months since we have seen the escalation in legal troubles for donald trump, especially at the federal level. trump himself -- you know this well -- is the person who did begin trumpeting the anti-fbi and law enforcement lines when he was still in the white house. it's something that his party has really continued to manifest here even in his absence from office in an official capacity. of course, he is still running to be president again. i think it's stunning yet again to see congressman jim jordan

leading this charge at a time when other republicans here on the hill have pressed so far as to say they want to impeach director wray. one of the things that democrats did during the course of the hearing was sort of try to lend facts to the idea that this is not an example of a two-tiered justice system, reminding people that wray was appointed by trump. we have seen some political moments here. >> frank, expand on that. give me your reaction to what we heard from house republicans taking on ironically a republican-led fbi. >> garrett, look, i understand that many americans will see this as nothing more than political theater. yes, there's an element of that. what i'm seeing is actually far worse than mere political theater. i see a strategy here, a strategy to enact death by a thousand cuts to some of our key institutions. it's not just the fbi. it's not just the doj. it's a larger strategy to cause

americans to distrust the institutions that actually represent the values of democrat six the message to the fbi and the rank and file from this really attack dog strategy is, you do your job. you will face consequences. if you investigate our party, you are going to pay the price. we will suggest de-funding you, breaking you up, impeaching your director. there's something more nefarious than just political theater. the fbi is really about protekts -- protecting communities. over 20,000le predators and hundreds of sex trafficking victims recovered. that's what is under attack. it defies logic.

>> expand on that further, if you wouldn't mind. the whole setup of the fbi is meant to be apolitical. it's why directors have ten-year terms. starting with james comey getting fired by donald trump. now you have new gop candidates running for office right now, running for the presidency saying they are ready to fire chris wray. how unusual is this in a historical context? >> politicizing the fbi is also part of the strategy. it actually favors the gop for americans to think and buy into the myth that the fbi is operating on a political motivation or mission when it couldn't be farther from the truth. all the people that have been investigated, arrested and convicted around trump have had that happen to them under an fbi director that was appointed by trump. under attorneys general that were appointed by trump.

defies logic. people seem to be buying into this myth. it undermines the mission of the men and women who come to work every day simply trying to make our communities safer. >> ali, this isn't just noise. we are in the middle of appropriations season. talk about how this anti-fbi and anti-doj attitude expressed in the hearing by house republicans could affect the bureau's bottom line when it comes time to funding for next year. >> reporter: it's a good point, garrett. we know house republicans are hungry to take down spending levels. that's a fight that's been brewing for a while. one of the natural places that they could end up looking is doj and the fbi funding is going. we are talking about fiscal funding in 2024 and beyond. this might be something that comes up in those conversations. frankly, it's not the only thing. i listened to the things you are going to have in the show. the other question is whether we will see abortion-related amendments and provisions in this current period where they

are looking at the defense spending bill, or whether or not we will see it later in the fall during that larger appropriatin as discussion. there are several hot button issues that republicans could tuck into the larger spending bill battle that really speak to their base, while allowing them to carry out some of their political retributions against people like the fbi and the doj. look at some of the questions that we heard from people like andy biggs and others about the ongoing investigations at the doj level of rioters on january 6. that's something that is requiring a lot of extra resources and doj. it's something that from a dollars and cents perspective house republicans could come for come the fall. >> frank, speaking of the january 6 part of this, was thing was a line of questioning about the pipe bomber -- we don't know singular or plural -- from january 6. that open investigation does still seem to be a bit of a thorn in the side of the fbi.

did we learn anything new in that exchange? where is that portion of the investigation, something that's been off the public radar for a little while, but is still of great interest to the bureau, obviously? >> i think -- we didn't learn much new today regarding that pending investigation. it's not likely we would learn anything about a pending investigation, except to say, there's legitimate oversight questions today. we should be hearing about pending pipe bomb investigation from january 5 and january 6. we should hear about the renewal of laws and the impact on american privacy. we should hear more about legitimate oversight questions. this theater that's occurring, the attacks that are occurring are detracting from that. with regard to the pipe bomb case, look, yes, it should be solved by now. yes, there are many questions about video surveillance on the metro system in d.c. and the buildings that should have captured the videos of who did

this and why. the public should be enlisted in aiding and assisting in a solution of this case. all of that gets undermined whether we spend time just attacking the institution. >> ali and frank, thank you for starting us off. we will have more later in the hour. on the world stage, president biden set to deliver a major foreign policy speech after two days of meetings with nato allies and the president of ukraine. armed forces committee member angus king is just back there the nato summit. he joins me next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. . this is american infrastructure. megawatts of power, rails and open road, and essential services of every kind. all running on countless invisible networks, making it a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends the systems running america's infrastructure.

for these services. for the 336 million of us living here. ♪ today, president biden and ukraine's president zelenskyy met at the nato. president zelenskyy has been very critical of nato's unwillingness to be specific about when ukraine could enter

the alliance. president biden told ukraine's leader he hopes we have to put to bed the notion about whether or not ukraine is welcome at all in nato, saying it is going to happen. he tried to alleviate concerns over weapons deliveries. >> i know many times you are frustrated about when things -- would things get to you quickly and what's getting to you and how we are getting there. i promise you, the united states is doing everything we can to get you what you need as rapidly as we can get it to you. >> i want to thank all americans who understand that it's more than 43 billion for today. it's big support. i understand that this is all your money. you have to know that you spend this money for not just fighting. you spend this money for all lives. >> peter alexander has been traveling with the president. he joins us now from lithuania.

peter, president zelenskyy has not been shy about his frustration leading up to this meeting. what was the tone when the two men got in the room today? >> reporter: i think it was striking. we heard from president zelenskyy yesterday. we should note, we are here ahead of the president's speech at this beauiful backdrop in vilnius, lithuania. you did hear the frustration yesterday from zelenskyy in a statement he posted where he said in effect that nato's decision, lack of clarity about how and when ukraine would be invited to join nato was in his words unprecedented. and absurd. a change in tone today. you saw some of the comments as he visited with the president. he was welcomed, embraced by the leaders of the g7 who are here, of course, as well. their unwaivering support. after his visit with president biden, different than the absurd

language, he said in the last 30 minutes or so, saying a very good, powerful meeting with mr. president biden. he says the meeting was twice as long as planned and it was as meaningful as it needed to be. we would have talked longer. all the topics, long-term support, weapons, politics, nato, we clearly see how to end this war with our common victory. thank you, mr. president. clearly an effort there by president zelenskyy to try to iron out any differences that had become public over the course of the last 24 hours. it's the u.s., germany among others that have been resistant to the idea of ukraine joining nato right now. the president said it would be a matter of a few months he seemed to indicate before it became official. sounds like it's likely to be longer. all sides agree this won't happen while the war is going on. as the president and others have said, that would put the u.s. in a war with russia right now. >> peter alexander for us in lithuania at the site of a

speech we hope to be able to bring you from president biden later in this hour. joining me now is maine's independent senator angus king who serves on the armed services and intelligence committees. he is just back from the nato summit in lithuania. senator, thank you for joining us. i want to ask you to pick up where peter left off. the idea that nato leaders are saying, they are ready to let ukraine join the alliance but not on the timetable that president zelenskyy wants. he was very frustrated about this on the front end as peter indicated, seemed to be softening his language today. where do you stand on the eventual admission of ukraine at some point when this war is over or toned down? >> first, i fully understand president zelenskyy's frustration. he is under attack on a daily basis. his people are being killed, his schools and civilians are being bombed. i understand where he is. on the other hand, as peter said at the end of the his report, if nato accepted ukraine today, we

would be in a world war because under the provisions of the nato treaty, we would have to fully come to the defense, which would mean troops. i don't think that's -- that would be -- it's not appropriate at this time. i think president zelenskyy understood that. i think he basically must have picked up on that in his conversation with president biden. this is a decision that has to take some time. there's an interesting sort of twist to this, to the extent that nato makes a firm commitment that says, when the war is over, you will be a member of nato, that could prolong the war, because that encourages vladimir putin to say, i have to win this thing or drag it out, because otherwise, they are going to come into nato. that's my worst nightmare. putin has screwed up royalty. nato is stronger than it has ever been. sweden is going to come in. turkey dropped their objection. finland is in. nato is larger, stronger and

more united than it has been in r50 years. due to vladimir putin's actions. i think being more deliberate about the admission of ukraine to nato is the exactly proper position. >> we are showing our viewers a map of the alliance. the war forced the baltic sea to become a nato lake with sweden and finland joining the alliance. just this morning a group of congressional republicans have called on the biden administration to send these atacms to ukraine. france are sending middle to long-range missiles to ukraine. do you think the white house has been a step behind on providing resources as some of the military experts that we talk to daily have suggested? it's zelenskyy pushing and us sort of catching up later with the needs that he is bringing to the international community and the americans specifically. >> i think you need to

understand the extent of the support we have provided, both in terms of weapons, money, humanitarian aid. it has been extraordinary. the atacms, that's a tough case, because here is the problem. the range of the atacms is -- would go well into russia. the president has been trying to tread a line between supporting ukraine and their built to defend their country and not providing weapons and material that could lead to a significant escalation in the war. that's the line. you can say, okay, maybe they should have done abrams tanks a couple of months earlier or whatever the weapons are. i think the administration has done a pretty good job of trying to tread that line. the results are that we haven't seen the escalation that we have been worried about. the conflict is limited, at least in terms of geographic area.

i'm not one -- i understand the administration's reluctance on the atacms, because again, they are a long-range essentially artillery missile hybrid that can reach well into russia. i think that's what the president is trying to -- he is trying to be careful with. i think that's an appropriate action. we have given them tanks. we have given them drones. we have given them training. the material that they have to fight this what now amounts to a world war i style trench warfare is very important. in lithuania, i went to a training center with folks that are doing work on these abrams tanks. i think they could be a game changer in ukraine as well as additional air defense. >> senator, while i have you, i want to put your intel committee hat on and ask you about your reaction to reports of chinese hackers accessing u.s. government email accounts.

this is in a microsoft breach just announced today. feels like every couple weeks we are talking about another breach of this nature. >> the most -- one of the most significant threats we face right now is cyber. there's just no question about it. from malign actors, state actors as appears to be the case in this matter, because it's the communist party of china, or garden variety criminals who are doing ransomware attacks. this is a significant vulnerability. the chinese better be careful. not only do we have defensive capability, we have the ability to compromise some of their systems, too. they should know that. deterrence is the cornerstone of our foreign policy and our strategic defense. deterrence in my view has to operate in the cyber realm. we cannot allow attacks to go unanswered. unfortunately, that's been the case over the last decade oso.

i think we need to be more aggressive in responding to attacks like this. the chinese have to understand, if indeed they are behind this attack and if indeed it's a government-sponsored attack through the pla, they are going to have to pay a price, in my view. that's the only way this is going to end. >> senator, i don't have time to ask you this last question. i can't let you go without pointing out that apparently on your way back here, your delegation had to reveal in maine. i understand you made sure there was lobster waiting for all of your fellow senators on the layover. i need to travel with you more often. that's nicer than i eat when i'm on the road. >> the lobster rolls were a big hit. if i could have run for majority leader last night, i think i would have been elected. they love those lobster rolls. >> that would have done it. senator angus king, the independent of maine. thank you for your time. >> thank you, garrett. the trump appointed fbi director is still up on the hill

defending his agency amid republican accusations the bureau is overly politicized. congressman swalwell will join us live on "andrea mitchell reports" next only here on msnbc. ports" next only here on msnbc. we're exploding. but my old internet, was not letting me run the show. so, we switched to verizon business internet. they have business grade internet, nationwide. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. subway refreshed everything. and now, they're slicing their meats fresh. that's why this pro proffers the new grand slam ham. so does this pro. i just love a grand slam... ham. and if we proffer it, we know you'll proffer it too. i knew he'd love that sandwich. we moved out of the city so our little sophie could appreciate nature. we know you'll proffer it too. but then he got us t-mobile home internet. i was just trying to improve our signal, so some of the trees had to go. i might've taken it a step too far. (chainsaw revs) (tree crashes) (chainsaw continues) (daughter screams) let's pretend for a second that you didn't let down your entire family.

what would that reality look like? well i guess i would've gotten us xfinity... and we'd have a better view. do you need mulch? what, we have a ton of mulch. hi, i'm lauren, i lost 67 pounds in 12 months on golo. a literal ton. golo and the release has been phenomenal in my life. it's all natural. it's not something that gives you the jitters. it makes you go through your days with energy, and you're not tired anymore,

and your anxiety, everything is gone. it's definitely worth trying. it is an amazing product. trump hand picked you to be the fbi director. >> yes. >> he expected you to do what he wanted you to do, correct? >> well, that i can't speak to. i can tell you the same thing i told him. i'm going to do this job by the book. >> he is unhappy with you now, isn't he? >> i will let him speak for himself. >> someone who covers the trump campaign, i can tell you he is unhappy with christopher wray. house democrats have been coming to the defense of the director appointed by former president trump. eric swalwell serves on the judiciary committee. he questioned director wray.

i'm curious what you make of the hearing. tons of politics on both sides. wray has to defend the bureau in a season where budget cuts are potentially on the table for them. walk me through what we have seen in the first couple hours of this with democrats pointing out the desire to -- the conflict between investigating president trump or not, chairman jordan and republicans trying to pick the fbi apart. what stood out to you? >> bananas. absolute chaos in there. the fbi director who oversees 38,000 employees, investigating terrorism, child exploitation, national security, walks right into the partners meeting of insurrection llc, the largest law firm in d.c. with just one client, donald trump. the two main issues were why didn't the fbi let more people see contents of hunter biden's laptop and why did the fbi raid

mar mar-a-lago. >> how concerned are you that some of what's happening here on the right, the efforts to undermine the fbi, appear to be working? we played a sound bite with matt gaetz talking about how trust has never been lower. there's polling that backs that up. it's a little better than it was in 2018. the fbi does not have the same kind of broad-based support in the country that it used to. how do you reverse that? is it important to reverse that from where you sit? >> it's this crazy loop the republicans have created. they attack, attack, attack the fbi. that brings down the approval rating of the fbi. then they use the low approval rating to justify the attacks that they are making. i'm a son of a cop. i have two brothers who are police officers. i worry about their safety. but i especially worry now about the safety of everyone in law enforcement when you see these calls to de-fund the fbi. you have a former trump aide who

is posting addresses of former fbi agents whose focusing on a hunter biden prosecutor as his number one objective and said he will make sure she answers for her crimes. i do worry that their safety is at risk if we start politicizing the work of non-political people. >> to the longer term element of this, you have a bunch of people running for office on the republican side of the aisle saying they will fire the fbi director right out of the gate. this is a position that has a ten-year term designed to be insulated from politics. my question is two parts. how do you reverse that, if you think it's possible? what do you think of the job that chris wray, who has been pointed out was a trump appointee, was confirmed with every republican vote in the senate. he might have been a voice vote confirmation. what do you think of the job he is doing of depoliticizing his

position? >> the most important thing we have in america is freedom. it means justice, law and order. that's why the fbi director has to rise above politics. he has only been appointed to these positions by republicans. guess who appointed the hunter biden prosecutor. it was donald trump. the issue that the republicans should have is that donald trump wasn't able to competently appoint people who wouldn't violate their oath. they seem to be upset that these trump appointees won't violate their oath. instead are holding everyone to the same standard of law. >> very interesting hearing so far. congressman eric swalwell, i will let you get back to it. the warning about the state of the u.s. miitary from a top air force general and why he says one republican is to blame. mikey sheryl joins me next to talk about it on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. .

tide is busting laundry's biggest myth... that cold water can't clean. cold water, on those stains? ♪♪ cold water can't clean tough stains? i'd say that myth is busted. turn to cold, with tide. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. ♪ i gotta good feeling about this, yeah ♪ if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist ♪ i'm with it ♪ ♪ i gotta good feeling about this ♪ ♪ yeah, ♪ ♪ so let's get it ♪ ♪ i'm feeling good vibes ♪ choosing a treatment for your chronic migraine -

15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more - can be overwhelming. so, ask your doctor about botox®. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine before they even start. it's the #1 prescribed branded chronic migraine treatment. so far, more than 5 million botox® treatments have been given to over eight hundred and fifty thousand chronic migraine patients. effects of botox® may spread hours to weeks after injection causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away, as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. side effects may include allergic reactions, neck and injection site pain, fatigue, and headache. don't receive botox® if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions and medications, including botulinum toxins, as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. in a survey, 92% of current users said they wish they'd talked to their doctor and started botox® sooner. so, ask your doctor if botox® is right for you. learn how abbvie could help you save on botox®.

mr. senna's into nature. professor kot's into science. but together, we work! like our senokot laxatives. to relieve occasional constipation, senokot's made from the senna plant. refined by science to be reliable. perfect match! just like us! hmph! senokot. subway's slicing their turkey fresh like on the titan turkey. piled high with double the cheese and more meat. i proffer freshly sliced turkey. it's my favorite mouth guard flavor. mmmm. now available at subway. the sub, not the mouth guard. age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

for nearly four months, republican senator tommy tuberville has been blocking hundreds of military promotions over his objections to a policy covering travel costs for service members getting abortions. 40% of women on active duty have either limit order no access at all to abortion care, according to the rand corporation.

they will warning the blockade is have a real life impact. >> it's my concern, there's future retention. we have more junior officers who say, if that's the challenge that i have to deal with in the future, i am going to balance between my family and serving in a senior position and we will lose talent because of those challenges. >> it's been more than a century since the u.s. marine corps has operated without a senate confirmed commandant. it's central to the defense of the united states. >> joining me now is mikey sheryl. i want to play thom tillis, just back from the summit, asked about this holdup. i think his reaction is notable. listen to this. >> i met a colonel held up by that. somebody who is on the front

lines. there are a number of examples. the blanket hold is problematic. make no mistake, i'm against the same policy that senator tuberville is. >> you have them laying out the potential costs this. what do you see as the potential solution? >> certainly i think the senate has to act and move to unstick the promotions. i have heard from people throughout the world being held up in our military. families can't get home to determine where their kids start school next year. it starts -- the longer it goes on, it starts toime pact the ability of people to perform to get to the next bracket. it's going to have huge retention impacts. as people make these decisions, they are basing them on the future. is this really good for my family? it's not just about military readiness. it's about service members and what they are doing for their

families. to do this, because he wants to impose -- tuberville wants to impose his own extremist views on service women and military families is unconscionable. we have women serving across the country who have no access to quality reproductive health services. we know this because women in texas, like anna and lauren, are suing texas because they almost died with lack of access to reproductive health care services, lack of access to abortion. what the dod has done is simply provide women leave, provide them the ability to travel so they can receive that quality health care. for tuberville to hold up the promotions is not only harming our service women, our military families but it's harming readiness. >> you talk about the retention issues. it's not just for officers who aren't getting promotions. it's potentially for women who look around and say, i could

work in the private sector where one guy from alabama can't make decisions about the kind of health care i can get. i'm curious, it's interesting to ask house people to weigh in on senate procedure. the senate could vote on these posts that could go one at a time through some of the most critical posts. is the value in getting some of the top officials confirmed out weighing the concern that you are endorsing the use of this tactic in the future? what would your prescription be if you were a senator? >> this is ridiculous. we are looking at one member of the senate representing a state that has, i think, approximately 1.5% of the voting population in the united states of america holding up all of our flag officer promotions. this is absolutely ridiculous. it's something that the senate could fix. yes, it's always interesting/you probably know what you are going to get from a house member

weighing in on the senate inefficiency. we are now talking about women who are not just service women, but the families of service members who are stationed in places like texas, which has about 120,000 active duty service members. imagine that you have a high risk pregnancy in texas right now. we have seen from court case after court case after court case that your life is in danger in that state. the fact is, we simply want to protect service women, protect military families and extremist agenda are imperiling that. >> on the subject of abortion, this is the political issue in the country in so many ways. iowa has just passed a six-week abortion ban. the 16th state to restrict abortion at six weeks or less. talk to me about what you see the reaction from women, how big of an issue you think this will

be in the upcoming election. will it be as big as the last election? >> i think that is where we are seeing this headed. as you see these extremist legislatures, legislating against the will of the people. what we see time after time is when it is left up to these very right leaning legislatures, they will vote in these draconian abortion laws. yet when it's on the ballot, when it's left up to the people, again and again and again, they really support abortion rights. i think this mismatch is going to be felt at the ballot box, even into the next election, certainly. >> it's going to be very interesting to watch. thank you for your expertise on these issues. >> thank you so much. we are waiting to hear from president biden live from the nato summit. here at home, ron desantis says it's the oval office or bust. the florida governor rules out being trump's running mate.

we will talk about that next. bot my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ age is just a number, and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis keeps flaring, put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when uc got unpredictable, i got rapid symptom relief with rinvoq. and left bathroom urgency behind. check.

when uc got in my way, i got lasting, steroid-free remission with rinvoq. check. and when my gastro saw damage, rinvoq helped visibly repair the colon lining. check. rapid symptom relief. lasting, steroid-free remission. and a chance to visibly repair the colon lining. check. check. and check. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal; cancers, including lymphoma and skin cancer; death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least 1 heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. put uc in check and keep it there, with rinvoq. ask your gastro about rinvoq. and learn how abbvie could help you save. i'm jonathan lawson ask here to tell you aboutoq. life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps.

what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner.

and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information.

subway's now slicing their meats fresh. that's why subway's proffered by this champ. and this future champ. and if we proffer it, we know you'll proffer it too. he's cocky for a nineteen year old. florida governor ron desantis continues to trail former president donald trump in their 2024 bids. a new morning consult poll of republican primary voters has mr. trump more than 30 points ahead. the governor was asked whether he would consider be trump's vp. >> would you ever agree to be

donald trump's running mate? yes or no? >> i don't think so. i'm not a number two guy. i think i'm a leader. governor of florida, i've been able to accomplish a lot. i think i probably could do more staying there than being vp, which doesn't have any authority. >> joining me now is eugene daniels, sabrina siddiqui, brendan buck and phil rucker. brendan, that's a stink of death question to get if you are ron desantis and you are the nominal strongest challenger. i know national polls this early, all the caveats being what they are, but are we seeing the start of a potential death spiral here for the desantis campaign? >> yeah. i worry it is. it's a statement of how far and how fast he has fallen. this was the person that a few months ago we thought was going

to be the person who could do the unthinkable, take out donald trump. he had the momentum. what i'm worries about is i feel like a lot of his polling has been just this perception he is the strongest person to take on donald trump and that if that perception slips away, it's not so much people like him, they are just looking for somebody, somebody who can beat donald trump. if people lose the perception that's something that -- that he is that somebody, his numbers could drop fast really quick. you see more questions like that. you become forgotten about. it's a tough spot for ron desantis. the kind of question you don't hope to see after being so high up a few months ago. >> you hear glenn youngkin's music in the background. donald trump has been attacking kim reynolds over her decision to stay neutral and not back a candidate, which is standard operating procedure a lot of times for iowa statewide

officials. she's popular in the hawkeye state. what do you think the risk is that going after her now backfires on the former president? >> she's the most -- one of the most popular politicians in iowa. clearly, there's a risk for trump in alienating some of reynolds' supporters. it's a strange thing to attack her on. historically, the governor of iowa tried to stay neutral in the nominating fights, in part because iowa hosts the first in the nation caucus. the governor in cycles past has thought he or she would have more power, more sway over the caucus process by being neutral. that said, reynolds has appeared a lot on the campaign trail with ron desantis. she's also appeared with other candidates. she has a connection with him, a relationship with him because they are both governors, both members of the republican governors association and so forth. maybe that's what trump is getting at with his attacks on her. >> sabrina, the biggest real news out of iowa this week is

this six-week abortion ban they passed. the governor is likely to sign it in the next couple days. it was a defining issue in the midterms. it's likely to be huge in the next election. republicans like to talk about this in the primary but don't want to see it elevated in the general. how do you see the abortion restrictions, particularly in iowa, a state that will get a ton of political attention between now and january, affecting this race? >> it does put republicans in a very difficult position. we have seen several republican presidential candidates struggle to really articulate where exactly they stand on abortion, specifically on some of these more extreme measures that we have seen states like iowa pass, before many women know they are pregnant. to your point, garrett, we saw the impact that abortion has as an issue in last year's midterms, a big reason why democrats outperformed expectations, lost fewer seats in the house than anticipated, held on to the senate. what we have seen in polling is that it is a driving issue for

women across the board, whether we are talking about suburban women, unmarried women, black women, key constituencies that democrats will very much try and animate around this issue. it's also showing to be an effective counterweight to issues like the inflation, economy and jobs. i think it's definitely one of those issues that republicans may focus on in a primary, but will have a lot more challenges explaining in a general election. >> eugene, if the issue is set and it's a mine field where you don't want to step too far off the path and good economic numbers, don't go down there. if you are these other republicans running to take down donald trump, you have been banking on his legal troubles, that has seemed to not be the case. his legal challenges have made him stronger in the primary. how does the rest of the field recalibrate now as we are looking towards an actual iowa caucus, the 15th of january?

>> what's interesting is it feels like they are trying to wait it out and see what happens. they know the one thing that is his biggest vulnerability in the general election and maybe around in the primary possibility, which the primary which these indictments. which is all the drama that kind of surrounds donald trump at every turn. it's very clear that they cannot use that against him. as you just said when he gets indicted his poll numbers go up. that is a statement of fact. and more importantly in quarter two, his fund-raising numbers almost doubled from quarter one when he was -- after he was indicted federally, and so they have kind of the toughest jobs of any politicians in a very long time trying to figure that out. you have people like chris christie, asa hutchinson who feel fine attacking donald trump very quickly and loudly, but these are not people that are where the base of the republican party are right now. these are not people that when

you talk to voters, they are not looking for people who are the pre-donald trump type of republican. they are looking to people like desantis. they're having a hard time liking him because of some of the issues that he's had, but they really want to like him. he probably has the best chance as we've seen and said for a long time to do that. can he? will it actually work? it's hard to see and donald trump has such a strangle hold on the republican party -- >> i apologize for cutting you off, but the president has just taken the podium here in lithuania. >> as my mother would say, god love you, no seats, holy mackerel. it's good to be back inville vilnius, a nation that knows better than anyone the transformational power of freedom. who showed the world the strength of a people united cannot be denied, and together with your brothers and sisters

in estonia and latvia, you helped end an era of division through the power of connection. the baltic way, and later when the soviet tanks sought once more to deny your independence, the people of vilnius said no, no, no, no, and in january of 1991 tens of thousands of citizens unarmed and unyielding came for their own -- of their own accord standing as one to protect the tv tower, to shield the supreme council and defend freedom. 14 heroes tragically lost their lives, hundreds were wounded, but the whole world saw that decades of oppression had done nothing to dim the flame of liberty in this country. i mean it. it's consequential.

the light of lithuania, you kept it strong, you kept it bright, and you kept the light shining. here in vilnius and in washington, d.c., where the yellow, green, and red of your flag flew every day, this past year we've celebrated 100 years of unbroken diplomatic relationship between the united states and the baltic states. america never recognized the soviet occupation of baltic, never, never, never. [ cheers and applause ] besides, you got a great president. stand up. come on, stand up. [ cheers and applause ] as your president can tell you, the bonds between lithuania and the american people have never faltered, and just seven months after the bloody january crackdown, the first foreign visitor to have their passport

stamped here in lithuania with visas to this new reborn state were a plane load of lithuanian americans from chicago, illinois. and their families are still proud of that. >> los angeles. >> los angeles came after that. a lot came after. look, many aboard that plane that fled lithuania during the early years of soviet oppression and marvelled at their return to this independent state. one told reporters this day is like a resurrection for us. that's what the quote was for real. that's the feeling, and it was. a resurrection that quickly became a revelation, and a nation which stands today as a stronghold of liberty and opportunity. a proud member of the european union and of nato.

[ cheers and applause ] one of the great honors, united states senator championed lithuania and other baltic states to join nato in 2004, wasn't i brilliant in doing that. all kidding aside, think about how it's changed things. think about what's happened. now over the last few days as president of the united states i had the honor of participating in an historic nato summit hosted by lithuania where we welcomed nato's newest ally, finland and reached an agreement to bring sweden into the alliance as soon as possible. [ cheers and applause ] president erdogan kept his word, we've witnessed your historic journey, and i'm proud to call lithuania friend, partner and ally, ally, ally.

soon nato will be the 32nd freestanding -- to have 30 free -- 32 freestanding members standing together to defend our people and our territory. beyond all the rest, bound by democratic values to make us strong and by our sacred oath that an attack against -- it is a sacred oath -- attack against one is an attack against all because each member of nato knows that the strength of our people and the power of our unity cannot be denied. [ cheers and applause ] if i sound optimistic, it's because i am. today our alliance remains a bulwark of global security and stability as it's been for more than seven decades. nato is stronger, more energized, and yes, more united than ever in its history. indeed, more vital to our shared

future. it didn't happen by accident. it wasn't inevitable. when putin and his craven lust for land and power unleashed this brutal war on ukraine, he was betting nato would break apart. he was betting nato would break. he thought our unity would shatter at the first testing. he thought democratic leaders would be weak, but he thought wrong. faced with the threat -- [ cheers and applause ] faced with the threat the peace and stability of the world to democratic values we hold dear, to freedom itself, we did what we always do. the united states stepped up, nato stepped up. our partners in europe and in the indo-pacific stepped up all across the world they stepped up and we're ready, we were ready because we stood together. in the months leading up to the

war as putin amassed his forces on the ukraiian border and laid the groundwork for his brutal invasion, i was in constant contact with my fellows leaders of the g-7 and the european union and nato. constantly. we warned the world what putin was planning, even some of ukraine didn't believe what our intelligence community found. we made sure nato was prepared to deter any aggression against any member state. we pursued intense diplomacy with russia, seeking to avert this terrible war, and when russian bombs began to fall, we did not hesitate to actment we rallied the world to support the brave people of ukraine as they defend their liberty is and their sovereignty with incredible dignity. [ cheers and applause ] i mean that from the bottom of my heart, think about it. think about what they're doing. after nearly a year and a half of russian forces committing terrible atrocities including crimes against humanity, the people of ukraine remain

unbroken, unbroken. ukraine remains independent, it remains free, and the united states has built a coalition of more than 50 nations to make sure ukraine defends itself both now and is able to do it in the future as well. since this war began, i've stood with president zelenskyy as i just spent about an hour with him both in washington and kyiv and hiroshima, and now in vilnius to declare to the world what i say again, we will not waiver. we will not waiver. [ cheers and applause ] i mean that, our commitment to ukraine will not weaken. we will stand for liberty and freedom today, tomorrow, and for as long as it takes. [ cheers and applause ] we all want this war to end on just terms, terms that uphold

the basic principles of the united nations charter that we all signed up to. sovereignty, territorial integrity. these are two pillars of peaceful relations among nations. one country cannot be allowed to seize its neighbors territory by force. russia could end this war tomorrow, by withdrawing its forces from ukraine, recognition of national borders and ceasing its inhumane attacks by russia on ukraine against its children, women and children, its military. unfortunately russia has shown thus far no interest in a diplomatic outcome. putin still wrongly believes that he can outlast ukraine. he can't believe it's their land, their country, and their future, and even after all this time, putin still doubts our staying