the sunday show at 6 p.m. eastern, right here on msnbc. also want to remind you real quickly that this thursday, january 30th, symone sanders, townsend, jen psaki, and i will be moderating a forum of the candidates running for the to run the democratic national committee. so you don't want to miss that. we'll be we'll be promoting it all weekend long. so you'll get to see the information. we've got a qr code for that as well. and on that note, i wish you a good night from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news. thanks for staying up late. see you this weekend. >> just moments ago, as we've been discussing, the senate voted to confirm donald trump's pick to lead the world's most

powerful military. pete hegseth as defense secretary by one tie breaking votes almost unprecedented. jd vance rushed to the senate floor to get hegseth over the finish line after three republican senators defied trump and voted against hegseth. two we expected senator susan collins and lisa murkowski because they voted against him in committee. but the former republican leader, mitch mcconnell, voted against him, too. now, ahead of her no vote on pete hegseth confirmation, senator susan collins said this. >> i ended up having a number of concerns they had to do with his lack of experience in managing an organization as large and as complex as the pentagon, given that he had had a decidedly mixed record in managing two very small, nonprofit veterans organizations where there were

allegations of wasted money and mismanagement, in addition, we're facing a world right now where the threats have arguably not been this high since world war two, and i felt that we needed an individual who not only had the experience and qualifications, but also the perspective to run that that giant department in the face of these global threats. he seemed very eager to do a wholesale firing of generals and admirals and other high ranking officers at a time when we need their expertise and dedication. so in the end, to me, it was the right decision, much as my inclination

is to try to give deference to the president. >> are you. >> concerned that there might be some blowback from trump allies? >> trump himself? >> oh, there already is. if there already is, and i'm sure there will be more. >> there already is blowback, and i'm sure there'll be more. that's what senator collins, senator susan collins, senators mcconnell and senator murkowski are facing tonight, because that's what happens when republicans break ranks and oppose donald trump and the former fox weekend host with allegations of sexual misconduct and excessive drinking, all of which he denies, will now lead 1.3 million active duty troops and 1.4 million in the national guard reserves and civilian employees based around the world, including the thousands of muslims who serve in the military, according to a complaint filed filed by an employee of concerned veterans for america, where hegseth served as president of that nonprofit advocacy group group, pete hegseth drunkenly chanted

kill all muslims, kill all muslims while at a bar on an official tour through cuyahoga falls, ohio. the majority of senate republicans voted tonight to keep donald trump from having to choose a new nominee. i think at this point, what's interesting is the consequences of the soon to be defense secretary hegseth. on the rest of us, no american defense secretary has ever received this level of senate opposition to their confirmation. why did trump do this? this could have been a layup. marco rubio sailed through his confirmation in the united states senate unanimously, despite the fact that half of that house doesn't share marco rubio's views on a lot of things. do you think senators collins and murkowski and all democrats would have opposed the defense secretary nominee, joni ernst, or the defense secretary nominee, tom cotton? so why pete hegseth, was it just to show that donald trump can force republican senators to bend to his will, even on the worst nominees? this

could be a win the battle, but lose the war situation. literally. trump doesn't have that kind of political capital to spare. the president, who claims he got a landslide landslide won with 49% of the vote. 50% of american voters voted for someone else. he starts his presidency with 47% approval, according to a new reuters poll. only 19% of adults approve of pete hegseth. but forget the domestic political audience paying attention to this. what's more important is that our adversaries are watching. do american adversaries look at donald trump's determination to force, through a nominee with a record of reported public drunkenness and difficulty with impulse control and see strength? do american adversaries see a commander in chief who demanded that general mark millie's portrait at the pentagon be removed? i'm not sure. a whole lot of us knew that there was a portrait of millie at the pentagon, but now it's gone. ten

days after it was unveiled. is that pettiness or is that misplaced power? a lot of questions here. joining us is tom nichols, professor emeritus at the united states naval war college and staff writer at the atlantic. and jennifer rubin, co-founder and editor in chief of the contrarian. she's also an msnbc political analyst. good evening to both of you. thank you for being with us. tom. let me just start with you, because there are few buckets of concerns about about pete hegseth. one is his his his views and his behavior, which you almost think is sort of tertiary to the fact that he also has not run a large organization. he's run a couple of small organizations, and he has apparently done that very badly. and three is we are a world in danger at levels that have not seen until since pre world war one and pre world war two. we're really a tinderbox right now. and we need all the care that we can give this world. i sense your biggest concern lies in bucket three. >> well you know the game.

>> of. >> horrible alternatives to have to choose which thing you're worried about most that he lacks the character to lead the us armed forces, that he has no experience and will be almost, you know, certainly be in over his head during a crisis trying to advise the president. but yeah, i mean, i the first thing i thought when vance broke the tie was that i could just, you know, having been to moscow many times and seen walked past their defense ministry, you know, i could just see them sitting inside the ministry of defense and looking at each other and saying, this can't be, you know, this can't be real. we couldn't have lucked out this way, to have someone this inexperienced and flawed and also someone who, you know, the senate sent a message, someone who doesn't really have the overwhelming confidence of the american people's elected representatives. if you have to become secretary of defense by one tiebreaking vote, that's a nomination that should have been pulled because, you know, you

can you can do that with, if you want to, with the secretary of agriculture, secretary of commerce, a lot of other things. you can't do that with the secretary of defense. and yet, you know, here we are. >> yeah. and it's an intriguing point, jennifer, because the vice president in a close senate, including vice president kamala harris, broke ties all the time, not ties like this, not on things that are this important. and as i listed in the intro, there were lots of republicans who would have gotten overwhelming support, even from democrats, because people do accept what susan collins says. generally speaking, the president gets their nominee unless there's a problem, there's a problem here. >> yeah, there sure is. and you asked why trump would do it. it's several reasons. first of all, he does want to embarrass the senate and bend them to his will. secondly, his entire mission is to decapitate and disable functional government. so by putting in entirely incompetent toadies, he goes a long way towards doing that.

once the government is rid of professionals of skilled expertise, then donald trump can careen from one side of the street to the other, taking the american people and our national security with us. and i must say, it is remarkable during a week in which these people made such an issue of die meaning in their name, hiring people who are not qualified, that they would have had this pathetic specimen. as secretary of defense, this is the worst kind of die for white, incompetent drunks. and this should not be tolerated. it shouldn't be tolerated for someone who is, as you point out, the secretary of agriculture. and it shouldn't be tolerated for someone who is going to run an organization in which any of this behavior would have been disqualifying, you cannot be in the military and be a drunk. you cannot be in the military. be an officer and be guilty of, for example, just

disloyalty to one's spouse. you cannot be in the military and miscarry and misappropriate funds. all of this is disqualifying. so what does this send as a message down the troops? it's anything goes so long as you're a loyalist, trump will accept any kind of behavior. and so what will happen is the good people will leave at the end of their service. the bad people will be will rise up. and you know what happened in russia when they operated on a patronage system, a cronyism system, a corruption system, they got a military that is getting their kicked in ukraine. and that's what happens when a military becomes corrupted. they become weak, they become ineffective, and the national security of their country suffers. >> so just for the record, pete hegseth himself has denied drunkenness and misappropriation of funds. he has said, however, if he has made defense secretary, he's going to give up

drinking. worth keeping an eye on that space. tom nichols jen rubin talks about the good people leaving and the bad people staying, the good news or maybe the hope. and i think i tried this with you a week ago. and you didn't you didn't you didn't bite. is that there are a lot of good senior people in the military who 20, 25, 30, 35 years ago made a commitment to risk their lives for the safety of this country, who might not roll over for a pete hegseth or a donald trump. what's your sense of that? >> yeah. look, i think you're going to have two things happening. i've said for years that donald trump is the patron saint of the third string. he is the person who takes people who normally wouldn't be qualified for anything. he elevates them to remarkable heights. that's going to happen within the it's happened at the very top of the dod, and it's going to happen in dod staffing. and sure, i'm going to guess that there will be people in the dod who are going to decide that, you know, this is a good time to leave

federal service. i still believe and, you know, again, from years of teaching officers in the really magnificent professionalism of the us officer corps that i think is going to keep a lot of people doing the best job they can do, regardless of who's at the top, either of the pentagon or in the white house. that is their apolitical code of service. and thank god for it. but there are going to be people that in the pentagon, i'm sure, who are going to have heartburn with saying secretary hegseth. and i think the other thing that's going to happen, ali, that will drive people out, is that when you have a very weak secretary of defense like this who has no experience, he's not going to be running the place. i mean, i brought this up before. there are going to be people that say, look, i don't really feel like taking orders from a deputy assistant secretary of defense. i've just been here too long. and, you know, this isn't this. this is chaos. now, let me just add one proviso. i really hope we're all wrong. i mean, for the good of the country. i hope all

three of us are wrong. but as a man who recreationally gambles, i would tell you that's not the bet i would make. >> jennifer rubin. it's a bit of a day late, dollar short situation, but mcconnell had some strong words. i also remembered mcconnell having some strong words after january 6th didn't amount to much, but he's got some strong words about the fact that the defense secretary is usually somebody who has the support of the american people, or at least the elected officials, as as tom said, pete hegseth doesn't doesn't rise above any bar here, and he's not setting himself up for success. mcconnell saying it relevant, not relevant. >> you know, maybe he should have thought about this before he endorsed donald trump. he knew very well these were the kind of people that donald trump would have chosen. so maybe he should have thought back to that impeachment trial. maybe he should have thought back to the election. maybe he should have spoken up once in his career for the good of the country. it is too late now, and you'll notice that he is completely without influence with his colleagues.

lisa murkowski and susan collins will occasionally, perhaps more occasionally than we otherwise have seen, do the right thing because they have some sense, they have some sense of responsibility. the rest of them are lost. and mcconnell no longer has any sway. he has lost his perch, and now he is crying in the wilderness, just like those democrats used to do, who he used to mock, who he used to steamroll over. so frankly, i'm not all that impressed with what he's doing. it's sort of nice that he's come along. welcome to the resistance. but it doesn't make a dime's worth of difference, and it would be very nice if he would go back and do some mea culpas and talk to some of his colleagues about the danger they have now taken on themselves. every screw up, every scandal, every casualty, every mismanagement in the pentagon they own because they voted for this guy knowing he was an incompetent fool. and mcconnell might want to put the put them, you know, up to that might remind them of this. what i would say is this the only

good thing about this is maybe some of them will think twice and three times about confirming even more ridiculous nominees like tulsi gabbard or kash patel. you know, guys, you don't want to vote against all of them. just vote. pick one of them to knock out. pick just one, maybe tulsi gabbard is the assad stooge. >> you know, i haven't had a whole lot of surprises to the upside this week, jennifer. but hey, you know what? i'll take them. next week's a new week. we'll see what happens. thanks to both of you. great to see you both, jennifer rubin and tom nichols. thanks very much for being with us on this on an eventful night. all right. coming up, what trump's attempt attempt to end birthright citizenship by decree is really all about. that's next. >> mascarello has vitamin. >> e from sunflowers. >> ours has retinyl palmitate. >> organic broccoli, carrots and blueberries. >> pyridoxine hydrochloride. >> so much harder to say than blueberry. natural whole food multivitamins available on amazon and naturalizer.com.

>> you want to stay warm when you're feeling chilled, but you don't want to raise your heating bill, and adding layers of blankets to keep warm is so frustrating. now you can just plug in and warm up with handy heater turbo heat. the new whole room space heater that plugs into the wall and takes up no space at all. so powerful it heats up any room up to 250ft!s with warm, soothing air, yet runs for just pennies a day. using thermal imaging, you can actually see it warm up this chilly basement by 20 degrees. amazing cold morning showers and freezing floors in the bathroom are such a pain. now go from chilly and cold to warm and toasty with ease. turbo heat is whisper quiet, perfect for reading, watching tv, or getting a warm and cozy night's sleep. up until now, space heaters have been big and take up a lot of space. turbo heat's unique thermal ceramic design reduces

the size and gives you incredible heat. the adjustable thermostat lets you control the temperature, and the two speed fan circulates the air, keeping any room warm. >> and cozy. >> no more clunky heaters or messy wires. turbo heat plugs right into the wall and takes up no space at all. easily warm up the office, dorm room, rv, and more. it's even great for winter traveling. bulky heaters can cost $100 or more, but act now and get handy. heater turbo heat for just 29.99. for more heat, we'll send you a second one free. just pay a separate fee. we'll even ship it for free. that's two for one low price, so stop shivering and warm up with turbo heat. order now to order. call 1-800-453-0359 or go online at bi-turbo. heat. com call 1-800-453-0359 or go online at bi-turbo. heat com order now.

>> the average person would rather suffer through team building exercises than look for insurance. the zebra searches over 100 insurance companies for you to find savings no one else can. room for one more. the zebra. we do the searching. you do the saving. >> tired of sciatic nerve pain radiating. >> down. >> your leg and lower back. get relief. finally. >> with magnilife leg and back pain relief, a combination of four active ingredients that get to work fast. so get living. >> available at your local retailer. >> introducing a revolution in pain relief. absorbing junior pro. the strongest numbing pain relief available. it's the only solution with two max strength. anesthetics for fast, for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half

vs. t-mobile, verizon, and at&t for your first year. plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us. what. >> they're inheriting. >> the fallout from. >> meta ceo. >> mark zuckerberg's decision. to end fact checking.

>> what's your message. >> to concerned voters about where the country may be headed. >> after the. >> biden administration leaves? >> actually behind. closed doors? >> they're still. >> asking what the hell happened? >> for the first 100 days of this new administration, i am going to be here on msnbc at 9 p.m. eastern five nights a week, monday through friday. we will watch what they do and not just what they say from now on. and for the first 100 days and for the duration. but what they are saying thus far, and what they are doing thus far, have both been utterly shambolic. and none of us should be afraid to say so. and none of us here are so for these first 100 days, you and i, we are going to spend a lot of time together. >> stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the msnbc daily newsletter. each morning you'll get analysis by experts you trust, video highlights from your favorite shows, previews of our podcasts and documentaries, plus written perspectives from the newsmakers

themselves. sign up for msnbc daily@msnbc.com. understand more with msnbc. >> today marks 26 days until the most blatantly unconstitutional order ever seen by one reagan appointed federal judge takes effect. that order came from donald trump. judge john kavanagh, appointed to the bench by ronald reagan in 1981, signed a temporary restraining order yesterday blocking trump's attempt to override the 14th amendment's guarantee of birthright citizenship through executive fiat. the judge told trump's doj, quote, there are other times in world history where we look back and people of goodwill can say, where were the judges? where were the lawyers? end quote, in u.s. history, we've seen those times in supreme court decisions that deprived classes of people, of the rights of citizenship, like

the dred scott decision, which held that enslaved black people were not citizens and could not expect protection from the federal government, a shameful decision that the 14th amendment to the constitution was intended to override, or the korematsu decision, which allowed the internment of japanese americans. we talk about japanese. they weren't japanese. they were japanese americans. modern world history is filled with other shameful times when nations acted to strip dissidents, minorities, or other marginalized groups of citizenship to render them essentially stateless. less than two years ago, vladimir putin signed russia's new citizenship law, adding new grounds for denaturalization like, for example, spreading what the kremlin kremlin calls fake news about its war in ukraine. i think what trump wants is to create a new class of others to aim animus at. trump needs to keep coming up with new scapegoats, new people to be blamed and hated because he can't deliver his promised revanchist fantasia of america.

in a normal america, trump's attempt to overrule the constitution's plain language by decree would be laughed out of the supreme court. but the supreme court has shown us with the dobbs decision and with the trump immunity decision, that it will do anything. but for now, the norm holds. joining us now is the attorney general of the state that stopped donald trump's birthright citizenship. executive order in court yesterday, washington state attorney general nick brown. attorney brown, good to see you. thank you for being with us. where do we go from here? what happens next? this is a 14 day stay that went into effect yesterday. the judge is pretty clear about what he thought. but what what effect does that have? >> well thank you alex. good to be here. we're obviously very thrilled with the result that we got yesterday. it is only a temporary restraining order. >> so it will. >> be in effect. >> for 14 days from yesterday. we now have a new briefing schedule on a motion for preliminary. >> injunction, which. >> would have a longer. lasting

effect if the judge. >> granted that preliminary motion, which. >> based on the comments that he made yesterday, that. would be the hope that we would have. >> moving forward. but we have a long. >> way to go. we're obviously only at the district. >> court. >> level, and we need to. move forward with briefing on this case. but to hear the judge say from the bench that this was blatantly. >> unconstitutional. >> that he hadn't. seen something in his four decades on the bench that was so plainly clear. that is a great start for this case. and we have other. cases across the country brought by my colleagues as well. so this is a great way to proceed. >> that's what i wanted to ask you about 18 other states, 18 states in total, maybe more will join, are involved in somehow pushing back on this. what does that look like to you? is that going to end up as one big case, or is it going to be 18 different assaults on, on on this essentially this assault on the constitution? >> well, right now there's two separate cases by brought by groups of attorney generals across the country. so we led a case here in washington with three other states, illinois, arizona and oregon. and then there's a case filed. >> in the district of.

>> massachusetts led by new jersey, massachusetts. >> new york, and some. >> of my other colleagues. and those cases will continue to proceed together. there are also separate cases brought by the aclu and some other private parties challenging the same unconstitutional and un-american ban on birthright citizenship. but those cases are going to be held and heard independently, obviously, as the cases move forward, decisions by one court will be considered by the other courts. but those are separate matters for now. >> what's your sense of this? is this is there a legal strategy behind what the trump administration is doing, or is this kind of a cultural, hey, let's invent a new group for people to target. >> well, president trump, all throughout his career as a politician, has certainly led with hate and fear mongering and trying to target people as others to drive up his own popularity, and that so many decisions that he made in his first term, and has already made in these first few days, are driven by that. there is a sort of fringe legal theory that the 14th amendment does not, in fact, say what it says, that it

does not, in fact, stand for what it has stood for the last 150 years. for years that has been disregarded by legal scholars and judges and the supreme court itself. but this fringe legal theory is something the trump administration is trying to hang their hat on. based on what we heard yesterday in court and based on what the supreme court has said, it has heard said itself. we don't anticipate that that will gain much support moving forward. but we have to take it one step at a time. >> yeah. there's 100 years of precedent in the supreme court about this particular matter, so we look forward to talking to you more as this proceeds. washington state attorney general nick brown, thank you for joining us tonight. coming up, donald trump was so sure he could end russia's war in ukraine on day one in office. so now it's been five days and donald trump has failed to deliver on his promise to end the war on day one. that's next. >> the average person would rather suffer through team building exercises than look for insurance. the zebra searches over 100 insurance companies for you to find savings no one else

can. room for one more. the zebra. we do the searching. you do the saving. >> tired of sciatic nerve pain radiating down your leg and lower back. get relief. >> finally, with magnilife leg and back pain relief, a combination of four active ingredients that get to work fast. so get living. >> available at your local retailer. >> some things are just better. >> at home, like. >> picking out new floors for a limited time. step into savings with up to 40% off your entire project. our experts. >> bring the showroom. >> to you so you can see samples right in your space. that's empire's home floor advantage. don't miss your chance to save on select. styles fully installed. call or. >> visit empire today.com. >> for your free. in-home consultation. >> with empire today. >> stay tuned to get this knife set free from granite. stone. does cooking with your old pans feel like a kitchen battle? scratch is here, stuck on food there and burned on debris

everywhere. you need to bring in battle tested pens with armor. you need granite stone armor. max the revolutionary cookware set with four durable layers of ultra nonstick. so slick virtually nothing sticks, no oil or butter needed. granite stone armor max is the fast, easy way to make your family five star gourmet meals that slide right out. forged from durable aluminum with a hard anodized exterior, then coated with 1234 armor max layers to create our most durable ultra nonstick granite stone pans ever. in fact, they're 800% longer lasting. they're oven rated up to 500 degrees and come with tempered glass, easy pour and strain lids. plus, all granite stone cookware is 100% metal utensil and dishwasher safe look. you'd expect to pay up to $500 for a professional quality cookware set, and you still wouldn't get four layers. but during this special tv

introduction, you can get the granite stone armor max set not for five, four, or even 300, but for just five easy payments of 39.99. and for everyone who orders today, we're going to drop one payment. you get it all for just four easy payments of 39.99. plus, we'll include this razor sharp six piece knife set free. but this deal keeps getting stronger. you'll get our armor max, deep steam and fry pan. set yours absolutely free. that's an incredible 20 piece granite stone armor max set, all for just four easy payments of 39.99. plus, we'll ship your entire order free. order now! to order, call one 805. 040017 or order online at by armor max. com two. call 1-800-504-0017 or go to buy armor max. com. >> framing is hard, but. >> frame bridge is easy. custom frames, premium materials.

transparent pricing. get started at framebridge comm or visit a store today. >> certain this is going to work. >> nothing to it. >> for imprint. >> certain certainty matters for imprint is your home for promo gear to wow clients and (vo) fargo is your virtual assistant from wells fargo. (woman) oh, come on! come on! (vo) fargo lets you do this: (woman) fargo, turn off my debit card! (woman) i found it! i found my card! (vo) and also, this: (woman) fargo, turn on my debit card. (vo) do you fargo? you can, with wells fargo. what else can fargo do? quickly tell you what you spend on things like food. (dad) fargo, what did i spend on groceries this month? (son) hey dad, can the guys stay for dinner? (dad) no... (vo) learn more at wellsfargo.com/getfargo.

>> o w to 231231. i just hope that republicans take care with what they're inheriting. >> the fallout. >> from meta ceo mark. >> zuckerberg's decision to end fact checking. >> what's your message. >> to. >> concerned voters about where the country may be headed. >> after the biden. >> administration leaves. >> actually behind. closed doors? they're still asking what the hell happened. stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the msnbc daily newsletter. each morning, you'll get analysis by experts you trust. video highlights from your favorite shows.

>> i do think it's worth being very clear eyed, very realistic about what's going on here. >> previews of our podcasts and documentaries, plus written perspectives from the newsmakers themselves, all sent directly to your inbox each morning. get the best of msnbc all in one place. sign up for msnbc daily@msnbc.com. >> what we do is try to cut right to the bone of what we're seeing in washington that day. >> deadline white house, weekdays from 4 to 6 on msnbc. >> i'll end that war between those two countries in 24 hours. it won't even take that long. >> and the war in ukraine in 24 hours? >> yes. >> how would you. >> do that? i know zelensky very well. i would fix that within 24 hours. and if i win before i get into the office, i will have that war settled 100%. sure. >> okay, so that's even better than solving it in 24 hours. it

was going to be settled before he took office. that's negative hours. on the campaign trail. donald trump repeatedly made that obviously ridiculous claim that he could end the war in ukraine on or before his first day in office. okay, now it's day five and donald trump has failed to end russia's war on ukraine. today marks exactly two years and 11 months since vladimir putin invaded a sovereign country. and donald trump still doesn't know who is responsible for this war. >> he shouldn't have allowed this to happen, either. you know, if he's no angel, he shouldn't have allowed this war to happen. >> he shouldn't have allowed the war to happen. he's no angel. he's talking about volodymyr zelensky. trump thinks zelensky is to blame for putin's imperialism, for putin, moving troops into ukraine despite thinking ukraine is to blame for its own invasion. trump now claims that he will tariff russia into a peace deal. here's what he just said in an interview with fox. >> i put out a truth today

that's really strong and i mean it. and if they don't do that, i'm going to put massive tariffs. do what if they don't settle this war soon. like almost immediately i'm going to put massive tariffs on russia and massive taxes and also big sanctions. and i don't want to do that. you know i love the russian people. they're great people i don't want to do that. but we've got to get this war ended. and if they don't make a settlement like fast. >> what a great idea. big sanctions on russia. there are big sanctions on russia. the wall street journal reports that the kremlin doesn't seem particularly bothered by trump's threats. the spokesman there, dmitry peskov, saying, quote, we don't see anything new here, end quote, because it isn't anything new. i alone can fix it. i can end the war in a day. it's easy to say from the cheap seats on the campaign trail. now all trump has to actually do is actually do it. joining us now, michael mcfaul, who served as the united states ambassador to russia from 2012 to 2014. he's

an msnbc international affairs analyst. i apologize for insulting your intelligence by bringing you on to have this conversation, ambassador, but i guess we got to have it because neither you nor i know anybody who watches the show thought the war was ending in a day when donald trump took office. but what's the plan here? >> i don't think. he has a plan, to be honest. >> obviously. >> he didn't end. >> the war on day one. >> he hasn't. >> ended on day five. >> he's barely. >> proposed anything. second, it's clear that he just as you said. but we need to keep underscoring it. he doesn't know the facts about the war. >> obviously. >> president zelenskyy did not cause this war. they tried to. kill him when. >> they invaded. >> the country. i want. >> to be. >> clear about that. several times they tried to kill president zelenskyy. he did not ask for this war. and by the way, when we're. >> getting to the facts. >> if trump really wanted to stop putin from invading, he was the president of the united states of america for four

years. he could have sent javelins. he could have. sent stingers, himars. >> atacms, patriots. >> all these weapon. >> systems, those. >> were all. >> in our arsenal that. >> would have. >> helped to. >> prevent the war. he did nothing. >> of that. so let's. >> remember that second fact. >> third. >> i'm glad and pleased. >> that president trump is finally starting to think about coercive steps. >> towards vladimir putin. >> he said more negative. >> things about putin in the last. >> couple of days that he's said in ten years, that's new. that's different, right? he's destroying his country. but then we have. >> to address. >> the facts, as you hinted at. >> when's the last time you bought. >> something from russia? >> what tariffs. >> what tariffs. >> are we going. >> to put on? >> we don't buy goods from russia so we have nothing. >> to tear up. second, on sanctions i applaud that he wants to do more sanctions. but as you said, we've put other sanctions in place already. and the revenues that are most central. and the technology that

is most central for supporting putin come from china. so that means we have to put secondary sanctions on china to stop them from buying russian oil and gas, and to stop them from providing the russian. military complex with technology. i hope he can do that. i fear he cannot. i have to ask you this because you were in the diplomatic side of the world, the soft power side of america. but tonight we've been talking a lot about the hard power side of america with the nomination of pete hegseth and the approval of that nomination by the us senate. what effect does that have on on decision making in the, in the headquarters of our adversaries, but particularly in this case in russia, as they look at tonight and they look at the trump administration and they look at pete hegseth, what are they thinking? >> well. >> i also served. >> three years. >> at the national security. >> council at the white house. >> where we dealt with a lot of hard power issues. and i want to say two things about that. one, they like to see this. this is

not a gentleman that has any competency and experience. i wish him well. by the way. he's got a very important job now that he's nominated. i hope he'll. take that job seriously. but this is not general mattis. let's just be clear. and our adversaries know that they like that. >> two, they. >> see us divided 5050. that's good for them. but three and i think this is the part that is not getting enough attention. i mentioned that i worked at the national security council, and i sat in meetings with president obama and with his national security team. that's one of the key places where you need a strong secretary of defense when he's sitting next to the president, giving him advice about the most consequential decisions that a president can make. i'm not confident that secretary hegseth has that ability to say those tough things to president trump. i hope i'm wrong. but nothing i've seen in the behavior between them suggests. >> that when i. >> worked there with secretary

gates, a republican. >> a. >> man with decades of experience, i saw him give tough advice to president obama every single day. right. >> i hope. >> that will be the case. i fear it will not be. let's talk very quickly about the space you said that seems to be developing between donald trump and vladimir putin, space we didn't see for the entire first trump administration the entire time donald trump was not president. why now? why in the first five days, rather than ending the war, is he finally saying things that are critical about vladimir putin? your guess is as. >> good as mine. >> i know more about putin than i know about president trump, but if i had to guess, i think he thinks that this is. helping his mediation strategy. >> right. >> this art. >> of the deal. >> i'm going to put some pressure on him. i'm going to threaten him with these things, and then he's going. >> to he's. >> going to come to the to the negotiating table. i just think he's wrong in his calculations. i don't think that's going to work with putin. i think. putin thinks trump's going to focus on this for a little while, not get

any headway, and then he'll forget about it. and that's when putin will win. that's when he will succeed. i again, i hope i'm wrong, but that's the way when i look at the way putin is talking about it, he's going to wait this all out. ambassador, good to see you tonight. thank you for joining us, as always, ambassador michael mcfaul. all right. coming up, robert reich joins us on elon musk's design for the federal government. that's next. >> the average person would rather suffer through team building exercises than look for insurance. the zebra searches over 100 insurance companies for you to find savings no one else can. room for one more. the zebra. we do the searching. you do the saving. >> hey, guys, you. >> got carpet stains like this? well, you need horsepower. bull shot, the all new carpet stain remover and deodorizer. just spray. and the stain and the odor goes away. why bend over and scrub? >> that's back. >> breaking work. stand up. >> to stains and odors and let bull shot. >> do the hard work of carpet and upholstery. >> cleaning for you. you love your. >> pets. >> but when. fido has an

accident. >> you better have. >> bull shot. this black light shows every drop of that urine stain, but bull shot quickly eliminates that stain. the secret is an advanced foam action formula that penetrates deep to emulsify and neutralize stains and odors, lifting them from the fiber with a formula safe for kids and pets. and it's made in the usa. ever accidentally spill red wine on your carpet? i can shoot from the hip with pinpoint accuracy. bull shot is like spraying an eraser on your floor. that stain is gone for good for older and tougher stains. just give it a little rub and watch as bull shot works its magic. just point and shoot it instantly and easily erases these blood stains, makeup, fruit juice, coffee, and more. this sticky juice stain is deep into this couch bull shot. it gets right down into those crevices and has the couch looking like new again. still skeptical? watch this i'm standing on this carpet with burnt bacon grease. we've got a 4k ultra hd camera capturing the action up close. the stain is obliterated, all without bending or scrubbing. to

have a stain professionally removed, you could spend hundreds or you could get horsepower. bull shot the no nonsense stain remover for only 19.99 bull shot comes with a 30 day money back guarantee. if you're not completely satisfied, send it back for a full refund, even if the can is empty. but wait. due to rising cost, this may be your last chance to get yours, and there's a strict limit of three at this low, low price, so don't wait. order your bull shot now. >> to order, call 1-800-628-7969 or visit by bullshot.com. so call 1-800-628-7969 or visit by bullshot.com order now. >> ba ba ba ba ba ba ba head. >> the following message will sweep you off your feet. >> it's the zippy. >> sweeper. >> the rechargeable cordless. sweeper that's lightweight and compact, with an. advanced triangular design that gets into corners and features 360 degree omnidirectional cleaning. >> it cleans. >> any mess on carpets. >> hard floors, even. long baseboards. zippy sweeper is

available on amazon for $100, but call or go online at zippy sweeper.com to get it for only 79.99 and with free shipping. but if you order right now, you'll get a second zippy sweeper for 50% off and no additional shipping. try the zippy sweeper, the lightweight, powerful sweeper that cleans any mess in any direction. lighter than a vacuum. much more effective than a broom. zippy sweeper is available on amazon for $100, but call or go online at zippy sweeper.com to get it for only 79.99 and with free shipping. but if you order right shipping. but if you order right now, you'll get a sec (tony hawk) i still love to surf, snowboard, and of course, skate, so i take qunol magnesium to support my muscle and bone health. qunol's high-absorption magnesium glycinate helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. qunol. the brand i trust.

checked singlecare? whenever my customers ask how to get a better. >> price. >> on their meds, i tell them. >> about singlecare. it's a free. >> app accepted at pharmacies nationwide. >> before i pick. >> up my prescription, i always check the singlecare price. >> it's quick. >> easy, and. >> totally free to use. >> single care can literally beat my insurance co-pay. >> you just search for your. prescription and. >> show. >> your single care coupon at the pharmacy. >> so i just show the coupon and get this price. >> that's right. go to singlecare. >> com and start saving today. >> tired of sciatic nerve pain radiating down your leg and lower back? get relief. >> finally with magnilife leg and back. pain relief, a combination of four active ingredients that get to work fast. so get living. >> available at your local retailer. >> if you love cleanliness as much as your cat, you have to try pretty litter. i love that it's low dust and it traps smells, but that's not why i found it pretty litter. i made this litter with a built in health monitor to let you know if your cat is experiencing a potential health issue. >> is it pretty? litter.com? i just. >> hope that. >> republicans take care with

what they're inheriting. >> the fallout from meta ceo mark. >> zuckerberg's decision. >> to end. >> fact checking. >> what's your message. >> to concerned voters about where the country may be headed. >> after the. >> biden administration leaves? >> actually behind. closed doors? they're still asking what the hell happened? >> for the first 100 days of this new administration, i am going to be here on msnbc at 9 p.m. eastern five nights a week, monday through friday. we will watch what they do and not just what they say from now on. and for the first 100 days and for the duration. but what they are saying thus far, and what they are doing thus far, have both been utterly shambolic. and none of us should be afraid to say so. and none of us here are so for these first 100 days, you and i, we are going to spend a lot of time together. >> stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the msnbc daily newsletter. each

morning you'll get analysis by experts you trust. video highlights from your favorite shows. >> i do think it's worth being very clear eyed, very realistic about what's going on here. >> previews of our podcasts and documentaries, plus written perspectives from the newsmakers themselves, all sent directly to your inbox each morning. get the best of msnbc all in one place. sign up for msnbc daily@msnbc.com. >> a decade ago, elon musk was the tech world's golden child. he had cornered the market on electric cars. he was building the world's most advanced space vehicles. he was promising to take humanity to mars. fast forward to now. he's tarnished his reputation with a huge portion of the population by hitching his wagon to donald trump, throwing gobs of money into our politics to help trump retake the presidency. on top of that, he bought twitter, inexplicably abandoning the brand recognition that that platform had, only to rename it after his preferred letter of the alphabet, and turned the once influential social media site into a cesspool of lies,

conspiracy theories and hate. a line from a texas monthly article published last month about tesla's love it or hate it, cybertruck sums all of this up perfectly. a year after its debut, the cybertruck has come to embody tesla's infamous ceo, with critics suggesting it's as defective and unreliable as elon musk himself. all of that, plus some stiff competition from other carmakers, led tesla to falling below 50% of the market share of electric car sales in america last summer. not to worry, musk is slinking around washington, getting his hands into the federal government with donald trump's blessing. a new wall street journal poll found only 39% approve of donald trump relying on musk as an adviser, ostensibly to figure out how to streamline the federal government. another poll today from the associated press found 60% of the country thinks it's a bad idea for donald trump to be relying on billionaires like musk for policy advice at all. but there they were. mark

zuckerberg of meta, jeff bezos of amazon, sundar pichai of google right there with elon musk on inauguration day sitting in front of donald trump's cabinet nominees. remember that oligarchy taking shape that president biden warned us about on his way out of office? well, back to musk for a moment. why is the world's richest man getting knee deep into the public sector? well, some interesting new reporting from wired is providing an exceedingly plausible answer to that question. quote. as one of his first acts after being sworn in, president donald trump signed an executive order establishing the department of government efficiency by reorganizing and renaming an existing entity the u.s. digital services, as the u.s. doj's service doj's department of government efficiency. and while some have noted that this version of doge moves away from the sweeping vision of deregulation outlined in a november wall street journal op

ed, it's a move that will give centibillionaire elon musk and his allies seemingly unprecedented insight across the government and access to troves of federal data. it's quite a clever way of integrating doge into the federal government that i think will work in the sense of giving it a platform for surveillance and recommendations, says richard pierce, a law professor at george washington university. joining us now, robert reich, who served as the secretary of labor under president bill clinton, he's a professor of public policy at uc berkeley. he's the co-founder of inequality media. and if you have any interest in this oligarchy nonsense, i think he's publishing every single day. professor reich, good to see you. thanks for being with us. this is an interesting just a side note on, on on why elon musk wants to be in the white house. literally. he wants his office to be in the white house. remember when amazon was going around trying to sell every city in the in the country on, on on establishing its, it's you know, it's centers and it gathered all

this information on all those cities and somehow amazon now knows everything about everything in the country. there's something to be said for being at the center of the power. when you are trying to control the levers of power. >> absolutely, ali. in fact, power today is not just wealth. it's information. it's data. it's knowing what it is that everybody else is doing. and certainly if you have all of the data that government has and you have access to it, and you can slice it and dice it in any way you want, that can translate into great wealth and great power. >> so here's something interesting. tesla dropped below 50% of all electric vehicle sales in the united states. that means other american companies or other companies cars are being sold. there are zero chinese electric vehicles in america. for better or for worse, there are zero. so these are all other competitors. but guess what he got? he got an executive order this week eliminating incentives for other electric car producers. so kind of works right. if you're elon musk, that was a pretty good

investment in donald trump's campaign. >> absolutely. in fact, look under the hood, as it were, ali. and what you always find is monopolization. in fact, every time you follow the money and you're dealing with one of these current robber barons, you know, in the second gilded age, that's that's what they are. they are the new generation of robber barons. you follow the money and you get to a monopoly, because that's where the big money is. and combine the monopoly with data, combine power, that is market power with power. that is information power. and you get elon musk. >> however, on, on on inauguration day, you published something which actually gave me hope. i'd like to read from it. trump hoodwinked the average working american into believing that he's on their side, and convinced enough voters that kamala harris and democrats were on the side of cultural elites. but trump's hoax will not work for long, given the oligarchies

conspicuous takeover of america under trump. two trump's regime is already exposing a reality that has been hidden from most americans for decades. the oligarchies obscene wealth and its use of that wealth to gain power over america. this is an interesting point, and professor tim schneider has mentioned the fact that people, over time, turn against these oligarchies. it doesn't always mean a turn back to democracy, but they they once they realize that they're being they're being exploited, they tend to not like it so much. >> and americans in particular have an aversion to aristocracy. i mean, after all, we were founded in revolt against monarchy and against an aristocracy in britain. we really don't like elites who are enormously powerful. the thing is that the republican party has used cultural populism over the last ten, 20 years to paint the elites as basically a deep state or, you know, people who are coming into this country

illegally or people who are transgender. i mean, there is a different elite here that is really operating and pulling the levers of power, and that elite is an economic elite. the democrats really have not talked enough, in my humble opinion, about the economic elite that is actually and has actually undermined american democracy over the last 30 or 40. >> years, right? a lot of people, a lot of people have gone after the academic elite or whatever they think the elite is the ivory towers. but in fact, in the midst of all this, for the last 50 years, what's been happening is we've just got this, this class of people who are now 0.01% of the population controlling more wealth than the entire bottom half of the population. >> yes. and that's the exactly the point, because they control the wealth. and what do they do with their wealth? they put a chunk of it into politics. there is the oligarchy. that's the oligarchy in action. that's what elon musk did, putting a quarter of $1 billion, not a quarter of

a million, a quarter of $1 billion to get donald trump elected is the quintessence of what we face in an oligarchy. that's what oligarchies do. that's how they wed monopoly power and the power of just politics. and that's what elon musk represents. that's what that picture that you showed of a of the of the three richest people in the united states in front of all the republicans, in front of all of the people who are being nominated to high positions of power, these are the most powerful people in the world, and musk is embracing them. he is not a tribune of the people. musk is not somebody who's there for working class americans. and it's going to be obvious. if it's not obvious already, it will be obvious. he's going to give them a huge tax cut. and what's musk going to do? he's going to find ways of cutting programs that average people rely on. >> he warned everybody, you're

in for a tough time. if the economy goes sour for a while, it's not talking about his friends. he's not in for a tough time. robert reich, good to see you as always. thank you for this conversation. robert reich is the former united states secretary of labor. we'll be right back. >> are you certain. >> he'll fit? >> sure. >> are you for imprint? certain. >> certainty matters. when you need certain promo. >> gear, you can. >> be certain for imprints. got it. quality apparel. got it. drinkware got it. bags. high tech outdoor. >> got it, got it. got it. >> so go get it at for imprint. dot com. >> for imprint for certain. >> weather because. >> of discomfort lack of mobility your lifestyle or occupation. you sit inactively way too many hours a day. that's sedentary. inactivity is terrible for your health. it's time to add some extra steps to your day. introducing ellipse.

the premium quality automatic seated exerciser that strengthens legs, increases mobility, and boosts circulation without physical strain or impact. >> it's the. >> easiest exercise you will ever do. >> ellipse fits perfectly under my desk, and it is so quiet. >> that none. >> of my coworkers even know i'm using it. >> strengthen and tone your legs. increase your mobility, flexibility, and balance, plus stimulate healthy circulation. >> my joints. >> feel better. >> my knees feel better. >> my back feels better. >> it makes me feel stronger. >> to power assisted exercise that frees your mind to enjoy your favorite seated activities. perfect for home therapy. whisper quiet to use while you work. >> my circulation is moving. i'm burning. >> calories and it makes me feel energetic. >> plug it in, place your feet, select your speed and relax. ellipse does all the work. loosen stiff joints and tight muscles, reduce swelling, alleviate cramps and calm, restless legs. >> ellipse is so smooth, so

easy. >> on my joints. >> my legs are stronger. my joints are no longer stiff. i can walk. without pain. >> my mobility is. >> as good as. >> it was. >> 20 years ago. >> other seated exercises produce harsh, jarring movement, but ellipses 46% larger rotational diameter provides more exercise plus ultra smooth motion that's safe, super low impact and feels great. call now and order ellipse the seated exerciser that strengthens legs, increases mobility and boosts circulation. be one of the first 300 callers and get upgraded to the ellipse deluxe bundle a $100 value. yours free. get the faster motor for eight kilometers worth of steps per hour. the step counter, the non-slip mat, and wireless remote call. >> now. the average person would rather suffer through team building exercises than look for insurance. the zebra searches over 100 insurance companies for you to find savings no one else can. room for one more. the zebra. we do the searching. you do the saving.

>> introducing. using a revolution in pain relief. absorbing junior pro. the strongest numbing pain relief available. it's the only solution with two max strength anesthetics for fast, craig here pays too much for business wireless. so he sublet half his real estate office... to a pet shop. there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to an incredible 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. switch and save with comcast business internet and mobile. find out how to pre-order and get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us with a qualifying trade in. call, click or visit an xfinity store today.

on five nights a week. >> now is the time. so we're going to do it. settle in. >> the rachel maddow show weeknights at nine on msnbc. when you need brutal honesty, when you need answers first thing in the morning, when you need to go deep inside washington and hear from someone who's been there. you need your morning joe weekdays at 6:00 only on msnbc. >> what we do is try. >> to cut. >> right to the bone of what we're seeing in washington that day. >> deadline white house, weekdays from 4 to 6 on msnbc. >> a programing note before we go in the middle of california,

there is a 450 mile stretch of agricultural land tended by mexican and mexican american laborers for generations. it is in those fruit and almond fields where manuel munoz's connection of collection of short stories, called the consequences, takes place, and where a young munoz, his siblings and his parents all worked. the consequences depicts the realities of life for so many families, from the physical toll of the labor to the ruthless roundup by la migra. the consequences is an unflinching work that every american should read right now, so don't miss this painfully timely meeting of the velshi banned book club, featuring the consequences and the award winning author manuel munoz. that tomorrow at 10 a.m. eastern. i hope you'll join us. that's tonight's last word. the 11th hour starts now. >> tonight, pete hegseth is narrowly confirmed as trump's secretary of defense, with the vice president breaking a