alexander vindman joins me on trump's. hostility toward ukraine. and when the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff is fired, it's because die. but when donnie junior's special hunting friend is hired. well, that that's merit. >> restoring the principle of meritocracy. merit or merit based country. >> but all in starts right now. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. okay, here's where things stand, right as of this moment. house republicans are, as i speak to you tonight, voting on a very controversial, i'd even say, politically toxic budget resolution that could slash medicaid funding by almost $1 trillion. now, the vote was supposed to take place well before our hour, but it has been delayed numerous times. the wall street journal reports the delay was to give time for some republican members who spent the day at the white house to get back to capitol hill. they need all the votes they can get. this is expected to be a very, very close call, because this budget plan could result in cuts to programs like medicaid. the bill is a budget reso

lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, thank you for your time today. >> thank you. >> and coming up in 90s, a d.o.j. affiliated irs employee is expected to try and get access to sensitive taxpayer data. what else elon musk's agency is targeting within the federal government. next. you're federal government. next. you're watching msnbc when emergency strikes, first responders rely on the latest technology. that's why t-mobile created t-priority built for the 5g era. only t-priority dynamically dedicates more capacity for first responders. i used to leak urine when i coughed, laughed or exercised. i couldn't even enjoy playing with my kids. i leaked too. i just assumed it was normal. then we learned about bulkamid. an fda approved non-drug solution for our condition. it really works, and it lasts for years. it's been the best thing we've done for our families. call 800-983-0000 to arrange an appointment with an expert physician to determine if bulkamid is right for you. results and experiences may vary. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help f

colonel alexander vindman, thank you. the book is called the folly of realism.ending you all over the country to talk about this with live audiences. you're a voice that we need back in the country right now. we need your example, sir. and i'm happy to have you here tonight ahead of this, ahead of this launch. >> thank you. >> rachel. >> thank you. we'll be right back. >> lima. >> lima and doug, you'll. be back. >> emus can't help people customize. >> and save hundreds on. >> car insurance. >> with liberty mutual. >> you're just a flightless bird. >> no, he's a dreamer, frank. >> and doug. >> well. >> i'll be. that bird really did it. >> only pay for. >> only pay for. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! soft upholstery in. >> multiple colors. >> but mine. >> has storage charging and >> has storage charging and costs. hundreds when bad allergies attack... ♪♪ trust claritin to keep

colonel alexander vindman, thank you. the book is called the folly of realism. it comes out in two weeks. i hope your publisher is sending you all over the country to talk about this with live audiences. you're a voice that we need back in the country right now. we need your example, sir. and i'm happy to have you here tonight ahead of this, ahead of this launch. >> thank you. rachel. >> thank you. we'll be right back. >> if you're over 50. >> imagine you could turn back. >> the clock on your stiff, achy joints ten. even 20 years. >> imagine you could do this. without products. >> that just temporarily hide the symptoms. imagine no more insta flex advanced. get a complimentary sample just by texting. >> flow to 369369. >> insta flex advanced. >> is. >> different because. >> it. >> targets the root cause. >> of joint soreness. >> and stiffness. it doesn't just cover up symptoms, instead, it bathes your joints in its unique combination of five key natural ingredients found in no other product. key ingredients backed by five clinical studies, insta flex advanced is

i want to continue this conversation with retired army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. he was director for european affairs at the national security council. he was also a whistleblower on the trump call with zelenskyy back in 2019. colonel, thank you so much for joining us. so, um, first of all, what do you think about this and the fact that zelenskyy has postponed his trip to saudi arabia? how significant do you think that that is? >> i'm not sure if. >> it's really all that significant. i think part of the issue here is that this meeting in saudi arabia was billed as, um, ukraine peace talks. it wasn't it was more of a standard affair reset. uh, in u.s. russia relations. it was an effort to normalize. and this is exactly the consequence of trump's call with putin, where they said that they need a they need to kind of start talking again. uh, that direction was was fulfilled here in these meetings in saudi arabia. but it wasn't really a dive into the peace talks. now, whether this was a good idea in the first place, you know, we we have had this pattern of resets only

joining me now is alexander vindman, retired lieutenant colonel in the u.s. army and former director of european affairs for the national security council. always good to have you on. thank you so much for joining. >> thanks, jim. >> looking forward. >> to discussion. >> did you hear in president trump's words yesterday and the secretary of defense pete hegseth words as he was in brussels, brussels plans for this administration to, in effect, abandon ukraine? >> yes. >> i did. i think. >> trump wants a peace deal. he said he was going to have it before inauguration. he said he was going to have it day one. um, he has no plans to get there, but he wants a deal. so he's a kind of personality that needs to learn lessons on his own, his own way. nothing that happened before matters. so the council of marco rubio mike waltz or anybody else that says that you need to drive a hard bargain with russia is irrelevant. they're going to go in with trump's own tone, which is appeasing putin, pandering to him, catering to him somehow trying to ingratiate with putin to get

colonel alexander vindman, thank you. the book is called the folly of realism.r is sending you all over the country to talk about this with live audiences. you're a voice that we need back in the country right now. we need your example, sir. and i'm happy to have you here tonight ahead of this, ahead of this launch. launch. >> thank you. baby: liberty! mom: liberty mutual is all she talks about since we saved hundreds by bundling our home and auto insurance. baby: liberty! biberty: hey kid, it's pronounced "biberty." baby: liberty! biberty: biberty! baby: liberty! biberty: biberty! baby: liberty! biberty: bi-be-rty! baby: biberty! biberty: and now she's mocking me. very mature. mom: hey, that's enough you two! biberty: hey, i'm not the one acting like a total baby. mom: she's two. only pay for what you need ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ baby: liberty. —hi! —hi! ♪♪ chocolate fundraiser. ♪♪ with the chase mobile app, things move a little more smoothly. ♪♪ deposit checks easily and send money quickly. [coins clinking] ♪♪ that's convenience from chase. make more of

but joining me now is retired army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, who served as the director of european affairs for the national security council in trump's first administration. he was fired after testifying at donald trump's impeachment hearing. he is the author of the new book, the folly of realism how the west deceived itself about russia and betrayed ukraine. thank you very much for being with us, alexander, the president just said moments ago in the oval office, i'm not aligned with putin. i'm aligned with the us and the good of the world. how do you see things going so far right now? >> clearly the subtitle couldn't be more accurate, but i should have used the present tense or future tense. it continues to deceive itself about russia and continues to betray ukraine. we seem to be repeating the same mistakes over. >> and. >> over the russians do. >> to. >> to their own detriment. >> i mean, they've been fighting to dominate this. >> portion of. >> the world. >> for centuries. ukraine spun. >> off. >> about 30 plus years. >> ago. >> and in a moment. >> of russian weakness

army officer and played a role in the story of his brother, alexander vindman who came to national attentionor his testimony before congress on president trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i was lieutenant colonel assigned to the white house on detail, deputy legal advisor on the national security council staff, the chief ethics official on the national security council staff. i worked right across the hall from my twin brother, and he had the portfolio of russia, ukraine, belarus, moldova. he listened to the phone call, he heard the president's attempt at extortion and he reported directly to me. >> watch members of congress all this week starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> up next, a hearing on how american broadcast frequencies or spectrum are managed and regular for the public.

he is also the brother of alexander vindman, who came to national attention in 2019 when he testifiedefore congress on president donald trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i spent 25 years in the military, serving this country. even after i retired, i continued serving in a different capacity, investigating more crimes in ukraine. after our fantastic representative, abigail spanberger, retired, there was an opportunity to continue to serve during a time when i thought the election coming up was critical. decided to throw my hat in the ring. and things worked out. >> like your brother, alexander, who made so much news, you were born in ukraine. tell me the story of how you came to america. >> alex and i are identical twins. we have an older brother. the five of us, my dad, my two brothers, and my grandma, came to the u.s. in 1979 with less than $800 between us. we did not speak a lick of english. we moved into -- we were actually former soviet refugees, from soviet ukraine. we moved to new york city, and ethnic neighborhood in brighton beach, and grew up there. really a working class

army officer, and played a role in the story of his brother, alexander vindman, who came to national attention in 2019 for his testimony before congress on president trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i was a lieutenant colonel assigned to the white house on a detail. deputy legal advisor on national security council staff. the chief ethics official on the national security council staff and so i worked right across the hall from my twin brother and he had the portfolio of russia, ukraine, belarus, moldova. he listened to the phone call, he heard the president's attempt at extortion and he reported directly to me. announcer: watch new members of congress all this week, starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. announcer: looking to contact your members of congress? well, c-span is making it easy for you. with our 2025 congressional directory. get essential contact information for government officials, all in one place. this compact spiral-bound guide contains bio and contact information for every house and senate member of the 119th congress. contact information on congressional co

army officer and played a role in the story of his brother, alexander vindman who came to national attention in 2019 for his testimony before congress on president trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i was lt. col. assigned to the white house on a detail, deputy legal advisor on national security staff. the chief official on the national security council staff. i worked right across the hall from my twin brother. he had the portfolio of russia-ukraine-belarus-moldova. he listened to the phone call. he heard the president's attempt at extortion and he reported it directly to me. >> watch members of congress all this week starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. looking to contact your members of congress? c-span is making it easy with our 2025 congressional directory. get essential contact information for government officials in one place. this compact guide contains bio and contact information for every house and senate member of the congress, contact information on congressional committees, the presidential cabinet, federal agencies and state governors. the congressional directory costs $

story of his brother, alexander vindman who came to national attention for his testimony before congress on president trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i was lieutenant colonel assigned to the white house on detail, deputy legal advisor on the national security council staff, the chief ethics official on the national security council staff. i worked right across the hall from my twin brother, and he had the portfolio of russia, ukraine, belarus, moldova. he listened to the phone call, he heard the president's attempt at extortion and he reported directly to me. >> watch members of congress all this week starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> up next, a hearing on how american broadcast frequencies or spectrum are managed and regular for the public. scholars and analysts also spoke -- testify on the technological race with china. this hearing is about two hours. chair cruz: the senate committee on commerce, science and transportation will come to order. the committee will construe the adoption of the budget for the 119th congress. we will move into the hearing to examine the crit

army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman is here. >> he's also the author of the new book. >> the folly of realism how the west deceived itself. about russia and betrayed ukraine. let me. start with you, michael. >> crowley. >> and the latest on. >> how this day has. >> been completely. >> completely thrown into chaos in terms. >> of what. >> was planned between two countries and their leaders. >> thanks, nicole. >> where to begin? >> i mean. >> this was. >> a. >> completely astonishing spectacle. and people. >> who i've been in. >> washington for a long time, but. >> people who. >> have been. >> covering the white. >> house and washington. >> even longer say what i believe, which is that this is. >> something we've never. >> seen before. >> you know. donald trump. >> you think this president has. >> run out of ways to. >> kind of stun. >> and amaze us, and. >> then. >> he comes. >> up with. >> a new one to. >> have this kind of a. >> confrontation in. >> the oval office. >> and what. >> remember, was. >> not. >> even supposed to be a press conference, but a brief. >> pool. >> spray. >>

alexander vindman, everybody remember that was impeachment number one. um, i don't get it. i don't get it. i don't understand why. why all of the vitriol has been directed toward to my way of thinking, the one guy who has kept ukraine afloat, and he becomes the focus of all the ire. it it's nonsensical to me. karl rove is a smart guy. when i read rove's column, i say, maybe i'm missing something. i missed plenty of things. and then, you know, i hear my guest, who's totally wired in kyiv on the inside. and to him, it's a certain extent of this. it's business. it's trump trying to get zelenskyy in a position that he needs to accept the mineral deal. and by the way, the wall street journal has been on the vanguard of a lot of the reporting on the mineral deal. and yeah, i printed it out this morning and i went and read the comments. and you've got a lot of comments from people on the journal who are saying another example of where trump is perceived as as being extreme or, you know, bat blank crazy. and then all of a sudden, look, he cuts a deal and the united states is going

i'm joined now by retired army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. he is a former director of european affairs at the national on the national security council, i should say. and he also has a new book out. it's called the folly of realism how the west deceived itself about russia and betrayed ukraine. um, i would offer alex, the book is great. i would offer a alternate title of a book that i wish people would have read 3 to 4 years ago, because it really is great at explaining, um, how we came to the point that we're at and you really take us through t miscalculations of the u.s. approach to russia since the fall of the ussr and how approaching russia, transactionally has yielded these disastrous results for decades, and created this environment where putin invaded ukraine three years ago. how do you think america should have approached russia? >> first of all, i don't think, unfortunately, the book couldn't be more relevant. deceiving itself about russia betraying ukraine. um, we see that pattern play out today in the most extreme manner. under tru

who's pursuing alexander vindman? thank you. his new book, the folly of realism, is out today. you should check it out. that is all in on this tuesday night. rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening rachel. >> good evening chris. that is an excellent book. i have read that book because i got an advance copy of it. i'm really glad you were able to talk to mr. vindman about that today. and thank you also, chris, for what you said about our producers and staff and folks here who you people don't see on this side of the camera, who nevertheless make it possible for us to do our jobs. >> we got their back. >> yeah, exactly. thank you, my friend. much appreciated. and thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. we're really happy to have you here. so this did not go well for the trump administration. this is what it looks like in a court of law. when you flounder and lose and there is a court reporter there to write it all down, the judge right now, the court has before it a motion to enforce. i think there are some basic questions that have been posed here. the restrain

most notably former intelligence community ig michael atkinson, the man who brought to congress alexander vindman to ukraine. that complaint eventually led to donald trump's first impeachment. so igs played an important role in 2022 after trump's first inspector general firing spree, congress tightened the statutory restrictions on firing the watchdogs, requiring the executive branch to give congress at least 30 days notice before firing an ag and ig, and must give reasons to justify the firing. in the mass firings last month, trump did not abide by either of those requirements. the trump administration notified the ig that they were being fired with a two sentence email. they were from the department of state, treasury, defense, commerce, labor, veterans affairs, and more. they were all let go effective immediately, citing only changing priorities as the reason for their dismissal. despite the firing, the ig from the department of agriculture went to work the next day. but shortly after arriving, she was escorted out of her office by security. fast forward to this week after paul martin, the ig

. >> joining us right now is retired army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, a former director of european affairs on the national security council, also the author of a new book out now that could not be more relevant, the folly of realism how the west deceived itself about russia and betrayed ukraine. it's really good to see you. thank you so much. congrats on the book. let's jump off what we heard from president zelenskyy there, what we know and really what we don't know, which is all of the important detail of what this rare mineral, rare earth minerals deal could, could mean. zelenskyy seems hopeful or just unclear. you talk about realism in your book so much. why are security guarantees so important? why has the trump administration do you think, been resistant to put that out there to this point? what do you think comes of this very important aspect of getting any negotiation done? >> sure. so first of all, it's interesting that these are. >> two media figures. >> one of them. >> is a career actor. the other one is, you know, hosted on the. apprentice tv personality. and ho

plus, retired lieutenant colonel alexander vindman will join the conversation with his new book, howbout russia and betrayed about russia and betrayed ukraine. morning joe is ♪♪ herbal essences is a force of nature. our shampoos and conditioners are made with supercharged botanicals. ♪♪ these sulfate-free formulas deeply penetrate and replenish nutrients. ♪♪ to boost hair health in just one wash. ♪♪ all without the salon naturals price tag. ♪♪ ♪♪ it's supercharged herbal essences. ♪♪ 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. free in-home consultation. >> of what are folks 60 and older learning these days? new perspectives! ♪♪ how to fix things. ♪♪ fun recip... (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) (high pitched sound) if you have heart failure or chronic kidney disease, farxiga can help you keep living life, because there are

army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman.e author of the new book titled the folly of realism how the west deceived itself about russia and betrayed ukraine. msnbc contributor our good friend mike barnicle joins the table as well. guys. good morning. so i want to get into the book in just a minute, but let's talk. there's so many directions we could go with this. the president's comments in the oval office being corrected by president macron of france on a couple of occasions. but what do you make of the un vote? as someone who understands the dynamics of ukraine, its relationship with russia, how this war started, who actually is the aggressor, that the united states would side with russia, with china, with north korea, with belarus at the un yesterday. >> it's disgusting. up is down, down is up. we're no longer the good actor. we no longer believe in the same values we did just a month ago. so it's to me, i start to wonder. you know, i'm not big into conspiracies because i've seen government as a leaky sieve. things. things

eastern our interviews include you yeen vindman who was born in ukraine and played a role in the story of his brother alexander who came to national attention for his testimony on president trump's relationship with ukraine. >> i was an lieutenant colonel assigned to the white house. on the national security council staff. the chief ethics official on the national security council staff. i worked right across the hall from my win the brother. -- twin brother. he had the portfolio, belarus, moldova -- he listened to the phone call. he heard the president's attempt at extortion and reported it directly to me. >> watch new members of congress all this week starting at 9:30 p.m. eastern on c-span. c-span, democracy unfiltered. funded by these television companies and more including spark light. >> what is great internet? is it strong? is it fast? is it reliable? at sparklight, we know connection goes way beyond technology. from my