phil rucker still here.ng when you read investigative reporting is that it's so much worse than even the horrible picture we think of when we think of today's republican party. and i don't know if anyone other than liz cheney could be the one woman army against the maga gop. >> you know, first, there's just -- the data is there to say that stop the steal or election integrity is still the number one issue in republican circles by 25 to 30 points. here in virginia, you just saw mike flynn endorse one of the top candidates here, amanda chase, and that's going to help her a lot as she goes forward and when you're talking about liz cheney, i don't know if you know this, but i was a bouncer. i know it's hard to believe now but i was a bouncer back in the day, and i want to make a comparison here. you usually identify somebody in that environment, the guy or the gal who's going to sit next to you in a bar fight. liz cheney's going to be there whether the odds look bad or good. she's going to be the one next to you

you all are msnbc contributors, phil rucker and joyce vance. rudy giuliani was warned that he was the target of a disinformation russian investigation. >> yes, katy, back in 2019 with the counterintelligence division. sure to become a fixture in one if there are charges going forward, because what this did was put rudy giuliani on notice as far back as 2019 that what the fbiobserving was a russian intelligence operation designed to smear joe biden to support donald trump in the election. we don't know what rudy said during that briefing, but we do know that after the briefing, he traveled to kiev, ukraine and met with a man named andrew derkoch who was later publicly branded by the trump treasury department as a russian intelligence agent. so, you know, rudy is now saying this is all political. for those of us who lived in the world of facts and reason, we can see that what's going on here is that there is a segment of the republican party, and rudy giuliani is a part of it, that doesn't want to believe anything the u.s. intelligence community

. >> phil rucker, where are we on unity? something that the president touched on in his remarks often using that frequency modulation when he reduced his voice to a whisper, still extraordinary in that chamber. it was often to try to get republicans with him, just as often it was to make a point to the audience at home that he is trying to get support for these initiatives. >> it's exactly right, brian. i think the president was looking straight past those members of congress in the chamber and talking directly to americans at home. he was talking about bipartisanship. he was talking about trying to listen to what republicans want to do, trying to find some compromise. he knows many of those republicans stayed seated throughout the speech. they didn't agree with him on different things, and yet, biden talked about not wanting to be confrontational, for example, on the issue of gun control, and then when you look at the substantive elements of his jobs plan, which is a massive plan on the scale of the kind of growth in this c

phil rucker, the videotape in this case tells the story. it was released almost immediately. you can hear the police officer herself reacting to firing that one single fatal shot with her glock instead of using the taser. phil, what's your sense where this intersects with your beat that there is any pressure on the president, on the presidency to react more forcefully, more aggressively to what is unfolding in brooklyn center, minnesota? >> well, brian, there is a great deal of pressure on president biden, vice president harris, their team at the white house, and what you have right now in these first minutes after this announcement is the president trying to strike a balance. they are very careful not to reach too far because they don't want to increase the tension that's already there. they're mindful, of course, that former president trump with his rhetoric, his desire for national guard soldiers, his talk of sending troops, and the tweets he was sending about protests. all that did was up the tensions around the country. but he's also being mindful. he and harris both hav

. >> phil rucker, back to you, your beat and the city you color. rye vens -- everything we learn about 1-6 subsequently is aggravaing and not mitigating, it seems, as time goes on. what are the that republicans are going to come on board at the end of the day? >> brian, they've not come on boufrd p board yet with this 9/11 commission style and the pretty quick aftermath of january 6th. but there are discussions under way where they try to find some structure whereby republicans would participate and endorse this investigation. the impeachment investigation was not a full investigation of wapd on january 6th. it wasn't a political investigation led di the democrats into the house, former president donald trump's conduct rooting what intelligence may have been brought out. pelosi and other leaders in o then capitol hill all that mortify the capital and prevent something like this from happening in the future. >> and counselor, i won't soon forget the word general mccaffrey chose in his answer right before you to talk about policing in this country gi

. >> phil rucker, back to you, your beat in the city. you cover violence of course, and visited our u.s. capital on one six. nancy pelosi appears to be making concessions on a commission on the one six. everything we learn about one six subsequently is average aggravating and not mitigating as time goes on. what is the chance that republicans are gonna come on board at the end of the day? >> well, brian, they have not come on board yet. with this idea of the 9/11 style commission that pelosi put forward in the pretty quick act of january 6th but there are discussions underway about trying to find some structure whereby republicans would agree to participate in and endorse this commission. and look, speaker pelosi believes is critical to have this for her investigation. the impeachment investigation was not a full investigation of what happened on january 6th. it wasn't a political investigation won by democrats in the house or the president, or former president trump's conduct, relating to january six but a full accounting what happens a

joining me now is nbc news chief correspondent peter alexander and washington correspondent phil ruckerer, always good to see you. what can you tell us about this today? >> reporter: we know the two leaders are meeting in the state dining room with aides on both sides. the meeting with the prime minister of japan really shows the view that biden has that asia plays and china plays in his plans. he was talking earlier this week about withdrawing troops in afghanistan and he's tying that into american competitiveness with places like china. he will focus on issues like cyber threats, chinese planes flying not far from taiwan, on its human rights abuses, on its treatments of hong kong. there are issues the two can see eye on eye, such as the olympics taking place in tokyo. less than 100 days from now, and it's thought that the prime minister would invite the president to attend those games, even though it's unclear how safe they can be during this pandemic, katy. >> part of what i'm interested in knowing, phil, is what about tpp and our trade partnerships with the region? tpp was not signe

joining the conversation, phil rucker, "the washington post" correspondent and political analyst, michaelll from "new york" magazine. it is always harder to fight against a nice person, usually people sort of give him benefit of the doubt, grum beld john cornyn. he mocked his successor as feeble joe biden. i believe donald trump has come up with insults for inanimate objects and still can't get anything together to stick to president joe biden. >> that's right, nicolle. it has been a problem for two years for donald trump and the republican party to figure out how to demonize joe biden. everything they tried hasn't worked. what we have seen in the first 100 days of the biden presidency, republicans in congress trying to oppose his agenda, trying to block his legislation from getting through, and they're not finding the same support in the country that they might hope to have. biden is not as polarizing across the country as he is on capitol hill. the polling you cited as well as poll over the weekend from "the washington post" showed a number of republicans support the way biden is handli

still with us philip rucker, alicia menendez, eugene robinson, a.b. stoddard. phil i want to start -- a question that is straight-up stylistic, he arrived at the desk and said to the speaker of the house thank you for asking me. like unnatural coming over for play date. and as he handed a copy of his speech to the vice president said i've waited a long time to do this. after the speech it looked like he would be perfectly fine if he could just stay there for a couple of hours and linger with the folks who have always been his favorites and that is elected members of congress. it is home to him in so many ways. it's where he gets his comfort level. it's something about the pandemic that has really hampered his style of governing and getting along in washington. and i think phil, republican or democrat, if you're looking on, you have to concede that is pretty much who this guy is. >> i think that is right, brian. we should keep in mind that this is a president for whom it is not only home but it's where he grew up. it's where he came of age. he arrived in washington a