. >> i want to bring in vaughn hillyard. vaughn. it seems as though pretty much tulsi gabbard's acceptance is a fait accompli, right? i mean, there are what, no substantial number of republicans standing in the way? >> no. lisa murkowski and susan collins, who have really been on the front lines of being critics and questioning whether donald trump's nominee should be confirmed. they both said that they intend to vote here this morning to confirm her. chuck schumer, the senate minority leader who you're looking at right now, just took the microphone and he told those senators assembled that he was making one last plea to republicans. let's be clear, this was a democratic party that's very familiar with tulsi gabbard. in 2019, i was in some small cafe type locations with tulsi gabbard when she was running for president, united states herself, and she was taking on the more than 20 other democrats running for president at the time. and even then, there was a lot of skepticism, not just among democrats, but the republicans, including t

joining us now, nbc's vaughn hillyard. also with us, susan page, washington bureau chief for usa today. also with us, former republican congressman charlie dent from pennsylvania. so vaughn, another of the president's more controversial picks, appears to be poised to pass through the senate. is there anything or anyone that could stand in his way? >> it doesn't appear so at this time. susan collins just voted yes for robert f kennedy jr. s confirmation. and bill cassidy, the senator from louisiana, who is a physician himself, who was one of the republicans who asked pointed questions of kennedy during his confirmation hearings and openly was skeptical about particularly his vaccine positions. this is for robert f kennedy jr. we're watching this vote continue to unfold here, and there is no indication that there are going to be enough republicans to join democrats to stop him. mitch mcconnell is somebody who we are looking at. he was, we believe, the one undefined republican vote coming into this morning here uncommitted he

vaughn hillyard joins us now. vaughn, are all the agencies telling employees they have to respond?ve said you don't have to. what happens tonight at midnight? >> reporter: some agencies and department heads, including at the fbi and the pentagon, told employees they don't have to respond to that email. health and human services employees, they received a note from their boss saying they do have to reply to the email. this is where we're 48 hours into confusion. it was saturday president trump suggested onon hisocial media account he wanted elon musk to be more aggressive. hours later musk posted on social media that workers would be getting an email that they had to reply to or else it would be considered an automatic resignation. the email didn't say anything about a resignation. i heard from one federal worker who told me she got an email but a friend told her about the social media post and said does this mean we'll be resigned if we don't replay? that's where all the confusion is at this hour. in fact, president trump was directly asked about the email. he said he liked the ide

so, vaughn, let's talk about the second part of this. the white house says ukraine joining nato is definitely off the table. that hasn't changed, right? >> no, there's no indication. and president trump has laid blame for the start of the war and russia's invasion of ukraine at the feet of ukraine because of their interest. that was a long standing interest and a desire to join nato. but it was president trump that just a few moments ago suggested that president zelensky could come to washington as soon as this week or next week to sign that deal. now, he has said repeatedly over the course of the last 24 hours that this would effectively be payback for the u.s. investment. we talked about the number that he continually puts out. there is $350 billion that the us has contributed toward aid to ukraine, when the numbers from the us government reporting is closer to $180 billion, about half of that $350 billion. the president trump's keep asserting and is part of that rare earth minerals deal. president trump is seeking $500 billion worth o

vaughn hillyard joins us now. so vaughn, what's going about here and how is elon musk involved?right, hallie. this amounts to a gutting of this key agency. nbc news has learned from several sources that in the past week, more than a thousand senior civil workers and contractors were fired, furloughed, or placed on leave. usaid's website has been offline for more than 24 hours now, and i'm also told this weekend a director and deputy director of the agency's security office were put on leave after refusing access to secure files to elon musk's dosage office. in the last hours musk calling the agency criminal and saying it's time for the agency to die. usaid is the backbone of the u.s. humanitarian assistance around the world. and the trump administration has frozen billions of dollars of foreign aid that runs through it. several dramatic lawmakers tonight are saying the cripple of usaid undercuts america's national security. >> vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. >>> still ahead, secretary of state marco rubio touring the panama canal today as president trump argues the u.s. sh

joining us now, nbc's vaughn hillyard from capitol hill.er democratic congresswoman stephanie murphy in florida and former republican congressman charlie dent from pennsylvania. so, vaughn, just as of well, i guess last night the cia became the latest agency that could be scaled back with buyouts being offered to its workforce. what is behind all of this? >> right. this just goes to show just how far elon musk, doge, and the trump administration are seeking to go to push federal workers out of the workforce. this was a stated goal to deconstruct the so-called administrative state. and clearly the cia under john ratcliffe is now included in that. now, this was part of what is essentially the deferred resignation program that the administration launched and were offering to federal workers across the country, more than 2 million of them. and the deadline for that is tomorrow night, thursday night at midnight. and there was a new message that went out not only to the cia workers, but others across the federal workforce, effectively warning the

so vaughn, let's start with you.sident trump has sharpened his rhetoric against zelenskyy, reiterating what some say are russian talking points really. what else is he saying right now? >> reporter: these last 24 hours are significant in these negotiations, guys. not only were ukrainian officials not a part of the peace negotiations with the saudis and with russian officials yesterday, but then yesterday at mar-a-lago, the president of the united states going on the attack against zelenskyy and as you noted in the social media post this morning, following it up with a litany of falsehoods, but also direct attacks, calling zelenskyy a dictator, and suggesting, much like we heard him foreshadow during his 2024 campaign, foreshadow the idea that millions have given billions to the ukrainians and zelenskyy has not been interested in a deal. the falsehood that he stated that ukraine started the war runs counter to what we all watched play out three years ago, when russia invaded ukraine, launching missiles. but also milit

. >> nbc's vaughn hillyard is reporting from west palm beach, florida. vaughn.d not to touch social security. from a policy perspective. but doge is still looking to get in. so what's the end game here? >> right? that's the question, ali. exactly what is the objective and what is the goal for the trump administration. in doge specifically? and to what extent is president trump. even aware and understanding of. >> what. >> elon musk. >> and his team. >> are looking for? we're talking about bank account information, social security information. i want to let you listen to caroline leavitt, the press secretary, when she was asked about this on fox. take a listen. >> president trump has directed elon musk in the doge team to identify fraud at the social security administration. they haven't dug into the books yet, but they suspect that there are tens of millions of deceased people who are receiving fraudulent social security payments. >> now, there are some. important parts of that. of course, inspector generals have often looked at this very specific thing. and jus

nbc's vaughn hillyard is following this for us. so, vaughn, let's start there with elon musk, because so much controversy has been created about some of the moves that he has made, particularly involving usaid. give us some context and tell us what you thought was important about what we heard from the president about mr. musk. >> right. chris. >> you. >> just ticked. >> through a lot of headlines that just came from that. but the headline for me, based off of conversations with government workers, particularly usaid officials, over the last several days. >> and in just. >> the last. >> hours, is. >> that donald trump. >> the president. >> of. >> the united. >> states, from the. >> oval office, just. >> effectively endorsed. the efforts of elon musk. across these government agencies. we have watched elon musk, whose exact position in the federal government and the executive office of the president is still not entirely clear, has gone in with a small team of young tech individuals and. gone in in the case of usaid, effectively. >>

. >> nbc's vaughn hillyard is on capitol hill. jake sherman is co-founder of punchbowl news and an msnbc political contributor. mark mckinnon is back with me as well. vaughn, how realistic is this idea of using the threat of a government shutdown to force the administration, i don't know, into some kind of negotiation. how does this fit into democrats overall plan? >> right. okay. march 14th is when government funding expires. that is just about one month away here. and for democrats, i'm sure they're in the minority in the house and the senate. but look, house republicans can only afford to lose one vote on any legislation moving forward, including on whether it be a continuing resolution, a budget or debt ceiling extension. but when you're looking at the senate, they've got to get 60 votes. they're going to need democrats here. and that is where you saw senator schumer in a letter to colleagues just a few moments ago, stating that, in fact, that they are going to seek on an array of fronts to not only support government workers

. >> gabe gutierrez at the white house and vaughn hillyard. so, gabe, what other steps did the president announce this morning related to this issue? >> i thought it. >> was a good morning. well, the president saying that he wants. >> the federal government to. >> bring god back. into our lives, he said. and he. >> said his. >> position on. >> religion, it really. >> changed after. >> the two assassination. >> attempts last year. >> however, he. >> also made a false claim, suggesting. >> that. >> president biden. >> had not attended the. >> national prayer. breakfast over the last few. >> years he had. but he also. >> made a. point to single out his new. >> attorney. >> general. >> pam bondi. >> for what he expects her. >> to. do in this administration. let's listen. >> today, i'm signing an executive order to make our attorney general, who's a great person. she's going to be a great attorney general, pam bondi. the head of a task force brand new to eradicate anti-christian bias. the mission of this task force will be to immediately halt all f

nbc's vaughn hillyard reports. that's all we're doing when you think is keeping our promises. a crowd of his most fervent supporters, president trump today touting his administration's efforts to reshape the federal government. the fraudsters, liars, cheaters, globalists and deep state bureaucrats are being sent packing. his latest target, the pentagon. in a friday night purge. trump firing the nation's top military officer, cq brown jr. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, defense secretary pete hegseth, last fall, foreshadowing what would come. first of all, you got to fire, you know, you got to fire the chairman of the joint chiefs, any general that was involved, general admiral, whatever that was involved in any of the dei woke. he's got to go. trump selecting retired air force lieutenant general dan raisin cain as the next chairman of the joint chiefs. cain first met trump in iraq while a commander helping lead the offensive against the islamic state. he most recently served as associate director for military affairs for the cia. and more shakeups at the pentagon. t

. >> i want to bring in nbc's vaughn hillyard, who's covering the white house. nbc's melanie zanona is on the hill for us. alicia jordan is a time magazine contributor and former white house aide under george w bush. she is also an msnbc political analyst. welcome to all of you. melanie, how would you characterize the level of resistance among republicans and even among those speaking out? are they doing something? what are they actually doing? >> well, i. >> would say the level of republican resistance at this point is still fairly mild. now, we have seen a number of republicans speak out against the process itself, including a lot of those republican lawmakers who were confronted by angry constituents. >> at town halls and. >> demonstrations at. >> home in their. >> districts last week. that includes richard mccormick. >> i caught. >> up with him yesterday. he represents a deep red district in georgia, and he said that he wants to reach out to elon musk directly to urge him to be more compassionate with carrying out with these cuts and layoffs. he says he unde

for more from the white house, here's vaughn hilliard. >> reporter: facing pushback on his vision from a new federal workforce, president trump pushes forward with his america-first agenda, citing a plan for what he calls fair and reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners. >> reciprocal makes tariffs really fair. >> reporter: administration officials have 180 days to review country by country to determine the appropriate tariff level for each country. critics, including members of his own party say tariffs will drive up costs for consumers, already paying more. additional tariffs could raise the price of cars to produce. the president says he's going to save taxpayer dollars by cutting back on government costs. his latest target, the department of education. >> i'd like it to be closed immediately. >> reporter: his choice to close the department he wants to cut in the hot seat. linda mcmahon, being grilled on what it would look like if d.o.e. were limited or down sized. >> i'm really all for the president's mission, which is to return education to the states. >> reporter: and admitted

nbc's vaughn hillyard is on capitol hill for us. carlos curbelo is a former republican congressman from florida and an msnbc political analyst. lisa rubin is an msnbc legal correspondent. so, gabe, i mean, this is all part of the plan as it was all along, right? move fast and break things. >> yeah, that's the point, chris, isn't it? and the white house. >> will say that this is what they believe the. american people voted for. they want to cut what they say waste. from the federal government. and this is what they say, that they're moving very quickly to do it. of course, there are plenty of legal questions here and whether they can do this, but they do plan to move quickly. and as there are so many questions about elon musk's role in all of this now, white house officials say we wouldn't be paying so. much attention to this if it wasn't. >> elon musk. >> for. >> example, even though he's. >> a billionaire with billions of dollars in federal. >> contracts. >> they see it as more. >> of. >> a. process story. and what they're. >> tryi

so you first, vaughn, what's going on here? >> three years. >> ago, we should. >> note when. >> the war. >> started and russia. >> began sending missiles into ukraine and advancing military personnel onto the ground to take ukrainian land. it was at that moment in time that we began hearing some on the fringe of the far right in the united states suggest that somehow the russia's invasion was justified. and people like tulsi gabbard in recent years have echoed what other even republican lawmakers have called russian propaganda that somehow russia's invasion was justified because of ukraine's interest in joining nato. but what is so remarkable about the comments here down in florida by president trump yesterday was this for the first time in nearly three years since the invasion that we heard from donald trump and expressly and explicitly say that it was ukraine's fault for starting the war. and he followed that up this morning with that long social media post that was littered with falsehoods and statements that were inaccurate

jeff mason reuters white house correspondent vaughn, i want to start with you.you know, i don't know how he's going to top a bedazzled chainsaw from the president of argentina, but what are you expecting? and are people excited? >> right. >> this is going to be capping off a cpac year. and a couple of years ago, you know, this, christina, we would have a conversation about really kind of how it was a whiplash. >> to. >> watch cpac, the conservative right sort of annual celebration, get turned into essentially trump pac and, you know, walking around these halls. that is a more so the case than ever before. and the now president trump is going to be the one to cap off today's events. but look at this. they're going to be able to this afternoon go before the thousands of folks, activists in attendance here and claim several victories. now, as you noted, these judges here, including allowing the administration to terminate those thousands of usaid employees effectively, are going to be able to argue that they have had victories in the courts and that the executive b

alex and vaughn, please stay with me. want to i want to bring in rula jebreal, journalist and palestinian policy expert. we are stunned on this side of the camera. rula, i can only imagine that your reaction, what your reaction might be and also the people that you're speaking with in the region, please share that. >> look, i've been talking actually, while we're speaking with people from jordan, from egypt, but also palestinians and, and clearly america is now, you know, expressing clearly that they want to occupy permanently, probably gaza. they want the ethnic cleansing of palestinians. both counts are internationally recognized crimes against humanity, war crimes. >> america is. >> operating via. the president of the united states as a rogue state. at this point, i just want to remind everybody the region rejected that proposition. >> they rejected. >> unanimously. egypt and jordan remember. very well that even the hint of that led to the killing of leaders in the region, king abdullah of jordan, his grandfather, was

here in washington, vaughn hillyard, nbc news. all right. thank you very much. still ahead, we continue our celebration of black heritage. we'll introduce you to a bay area fashion designer who is working toward breathing life back into san francisco's union square. and love is definitely in the air on this valentine's day. and what better time than today to get married? of course, we're going to show you the people taking the plunge next. beautiful. they're beautiful outside right now. sunny skies. and 55 in napa. we've got some cold 40s on the way. we'll get you all the way through this weekend. and that next chance history here at nbc bay area. and as part of that celebration, we're highlighting some of the people who contribute to our rich cultural fabric. nbc bay area's joe rosado jr. has the story of a bay area woman weaving that fabric into something special. we've seen the well-publicized exodus of businesses from san francisco's urban core. for lease signs filling store windows where mannequins once modeled clothes. okay, cool. but amid those doom loop

vaughn hillyard, nbc news. thank you.est point is disbanding all cultural clubs following the president's order to eliminate dei programs. the deputy commandant released that order today. the clubs being removed include the japanese forum club, latin cultural club, society of women engineers club. academy leaders are also asking to review other sanctioned clubs to make sure they align with the president's executive order. this is part of a larger movement with the defense department. last week, defense secretary pete hegseth announced the creation of a task force that would end all dei protocol in the department. still ahead ai continuing to reshape the job market in the bay area. some companies laying off people only to hire others that have ai expertise. we'll explain what that means for you. and believe it or not, we are just about a year away from the winter olympics. we'll take you to italy for a look at the preparations underway, and it will be clear and cold tonight. temperatures in the 40s. tomorrow rain returns,

nbc's vaughn hillyard has details from washington. concerning facing mounting criticism from across the country and in the courts. president trump pushing back against judges stepping in on his new policies. maybe we have to look at the judges because that's a very serious i think it's a very serious violation. an inviting advisor and billionaire, elon musk, the architect of shrinking the government to the oval office. he says his ideas are not radical. it's not draconian or radical. i think it's really just saying, let's look at each each of these expenditures and say, is this actually in the best interest of the people? but democrats say the changes are unethical and illegal. donald trump is not free to bulldoze his way through the rule of law. the movement growing against the trump administration's rapid fire push to o reshape the fedel government. they want us to step back. we're here to push back. yeah. all this is president trump greeting jordan's king abdullah to the white house. the visit coming at a crucial time as the israel

nbc's vaughn hillyard is on capitol hill. another way of saying we're doing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum. president trump today making good on his threat. we were being pummeled by both friend and foe alike, also adding he intends to tax almost every country that taxes u.s. exports except the ones he says treat the u.s. fairly. canada is the biggest exporter of steel and aluminum to the u.s, and in the short term, these tariffs could raise prices. but experts say they see investment in the long term. today, china tariffs on u.s. goods set in, meaning american companies could soon feel the pinch. meanwhile, democrats figuring out how they'll respond more effectively to musk and trump's torrent moves to overhaul the government. 21 days we have seen elon musk conducting illegal raids on federal agencies with his doge crew. today, senate minority leader chuck schumer laying out strategies to fight back with oversight, litigation, legislation and communication and mobilization. and in a boston courtroom, a judge hearing argu

here's nbc's vaughn hillyard. hours before a 25% tariff was scheduled to go into effect on mexican imports, president trump announced a pause. they've agreed to put in 10,000 soldiers permanently. like forever, 10,000 soldiers at their side of the border and stop fentanyl. mexico president sheinbaum confirming soldiers will patrol the border. canada is very tough. p president trump made a similar deal with canadian prime minister trudeau this afternoon, but the tariffs on china still scheduled to go into effect tonight. if we can't make a deal with china, then the tariffs will be very, very substantial. if the tariffs are imposed, costs could rise for food to gas to automobiles. the u.s. imports 4.2 million barrels of crude oil a day from canada. most of that goes to midwest states, turning to electronics with much made in china. the consumer tech association says if the full tariff is passed on to consumers, prices could go up more than $200 on smartphones, more than $350 for laptops. while tariff talks take plac

hillary vaughn with what doge is eyeing next. alexandria hoff. where does this leave the employees who have said they want to take the buy out? >> that's the big question for them. they are wondering if they made the right choice, some wonder if they should sign on now before it is too late. as sandra mentioned, about 65,000 federal workers have already accepted the deal, which came by email, entitled "fork in the road." it stated by accepting the resignation program, every employee could retain pay and benefits regardless of daily workload through september 30th, they simply had to reply to the email. the original deadline was last thursday and was extended to 11:59 p.m. tonight, but there's a chance it's pushed back more. this judge considers today's arguments. he has not weighed in on the merits of the case, but the group of federal employee unions representing about 800,000 workers will argue that the office of personnel management lacks the authority to make the offer, and the question whether the government is able to pay to buy. are pushin

is losing security operations and the north author the pockets sony paula vaughn, who owns it, would be expanding its attacks on the ministry last year. so an optic environment and so the biggest loss of life among security personnel in a decade. so again, reports from the swat valley. it's early morning and pockets, dawn swats valley and police cause line up the main street with offices gearing up for another day of walk. as this is the model of job the road. a winding routes through the hindu kush mounts and that connects me to town. but in september, on the same road, a convoy carrying foreign diplomats unimed baset as was ambushed in response. this dedicated team has been pushed on hi a lot, carrying out counter terrorism operations on a daily basis. every inch of the ground is protected, and every inch of the sky is surveilled. the swath valley was once controlled by the pa kasanya thailand and reclaimed by the military more than a decade to go to use. the area has been at peace. but since the telephones rise to power enough gone to stem the pockets on the telephone has returned

hillary vaughn is breaking the news let's get to hillary vaughn on capitol hill. reporter: good evening, liz. having people who were actually dead listed as alive in the social security administration's database is a big problem, because even if they are not getting social security benefits, the inspector general warns that other agencies who rely on this database, like the treasury, could be sending checks to these people, as recently an 2023 the social security administration had over 18 million people born before 1920 putting them at 105 years old, as still alive. >> how many of them were getting paid social security? because if that's the case it's a massive fraud. how many are being paid? maybe millions of them, but it's a total fraud. also a lot of illegal immigrants are in social security that shouldn't be there. reporter: according to the congressional research service there are non-citizens eligible for benefits paid out through the social security administration, 36 5,000 non-citizens received these benefits in december of 2021 getting about 500 bucks a

nbc news correspondent vaughn hillyard joins me from capitol hill.u and lawmakers about the president's comments the other day on gaza? >> reporter: right. prime minister benjamin netanyahu meeting with multiple republican senators, but some democrats as well. this comes after an early morning post from president trump on his truth social acaccount which he was quite explicit in saying that after the fighting, in his words, at that point in time israel would then turn over gaza to the united states. he has been very unclear and specific as to what exactly that would look like. of course, that would lead to the displacement of more than a million palestinians. but i want to let you listen to john cornyn, republican senator out of texas, one of many lawmakers i asked about this, whether this something that is feasible. take a listen. >> palestinians who live there,is uninhabitable. so this is something that's going to require creative thinking and presidident trum certainly is capable of doing that. but i think he started an important conversation. so

. >> so, we -- last year i shot a a comedy with vince vaughn, where he and i played best friends. >>r's mother passed away. and in honor of her, he went and hired italian grandmas to cook your food. it's a real restaurant. you can go there. it's called enoteca maria. it's out in staten island. and so, there's -- vince played him, and i played the best friend, who actually exists in real life. so, we went and met them -- >> jimmy: yeah. >> -- and ate at the restaurant. now they have a puerto rican grandma, there's a japanese grandma, all sorts of other grandmas. >> jimmy: really? wow. >> yeah. and so, vince and i were -- we were shooting in -- we're staying in hoboken. and on sunday, everybody in hoboken's out day drinking. so, we were walking down, you know, the main drag there, and there was a bar and a table full of people drinking, and it's -- it's vince vaughn and me -- >> jimmy: yeah. >> -- and this table full of people scream, "hey, bubbles! bubbles!" [ light laughter ] it's like vince and i, and they're yelling for -- >> jimmy: yeah, bubbles the dog. >> yeah. [ applause ] >> j

we're going to go to nbc's vaughn hillyard first. so, vaughn, what new are we learning today about the role the white house is playing in the talks between russia and ukraine? >> right. actually, in just a few moments ago, president zelensky addressed specifically the negotiations that are taking place, making it clear that the americans are imperative to any sort of cooperation agreement and end to the war, and acknowledged that the mineral deal that the administration has wanted to strike. and president trump yesterday, just outside of d.c, during his cpac speech, explicitly said that we want meaning the united states minerals, oils or anything that for a deal to take place between ukraine and the united states. president zelenskyy made it clear that it must be good for the ukrainian people, insisting that a security agreement or nato membership must be included as part of the deal, and that could potentially be even an exchange for him, as president trump has suggested, potentially, he should no longer be president. it would poten

vaughn hillyard, thank you for that. and joining me right now, we have democratic congressman from pennsylvania, brendan boyle. he is the ranking member on the house budget committee and a member of the house ways and means committee. congressman, it's also good to see you. so let's begin with the email directive that elon musk has sent to government employees, listing what they accomplished last week. is this appropriate? is it even legal to demand this from by the way, this is donald trump's special advisor. >> yeah. >> well, first i have to say, i. >> think. >> there's some. >> republican colleagues. >> of mine in. >> congress who are breathing a sigh of. >> relief that they didn't get that email from elon musk. because i don't. i don't think there's anywhere close they could get to five. but, you know, the question of legality is pretty clear cut. elon musk. >> is not a. >> government official. he is the wealthiest person in the world. he is the richest person, actually, in the history of the world by far. but he is

so, vaughn, big welcome to you, my friend. what are we learning about that mass email that musk sent to all federal workers and the reaction to it? >> right. this appears to be the first fissure between elon musk and actual agencies and departments and leaders, including kash patel at the fbi, who told the workers and agents at the fbi not to reply to the email that elon musk had his dodge team send out yesterday evening, demanding that all federal employees respond with five bullet points of what progress and accomplishments they had in the week prior or resign. and now there's a distinction here we should be very clear about. in his social media post on x, it was the reply or resign rhetoric that elon musk used. but in the actual email, it said that there was a deadline of monday at midnight, but did not say that individuals would be considered to have automatically resigned if they do not reply. instead, it requested them to reply. i want to let you though, listen to president trump, who by all accounts over the last month

nbc's vaughn hillyard is on capitol hill. tim miller is back with us in studio with me.r executive director of the new york state democratic party and an msnbc political analyst. john, let's just sort of set the stage here how large a chunk is that billion dollars for the university of alabama, birmingham. and what could be the impact if it does go away? >> yeah. >> it's huge. >> they're talking about $100 million a year essentially, which is. a lot of money. in a, as you said, a deep red state, a very trump. >> state right here in the bible. >> belt that does a really terrible job of taking care of its sick people, with the exception of. >> the. >> uab. >> perhaps. >> but it. powers the entire. economy of the largest metro. >> in. >> the state. >> and. >> there's been, quite frankly, a lot of silence about it. >> well, both u.s. senators from alabama, katie britt and tommy tuberville, i don't have to tell you, are republicans. so they haven't had anything to say about these nih cuts. >> katie britt has hinted that the cuts should be considered carefully, which is, i. >>

vaughn hillyard is on. >> capitol hill. >> for us. our yasmin vossoughian in tel aviv. and joel rubin, former deputy. assistant secretary of state, joining us as well. gabe, the president, appeared to be reading from a script at times. we have reported. >> these comments. >> were not off the cuff. so what do we. >> know about how. >> this came about? >> hi there. good morning. yes, these. >> comments were. >> not off the. >> cuff from sources. familiar with the process. we understand. >> that he. >> did. >> speak with prime minister. >> benjamin netanyahu about. >> these comments beforehand. >> and we just. >> heard from. >> national security adviser mike wallace that. >> the president had been. thinking about this. >> for quite some. >> time, that he'd. >> be that he. >> had been. >> receiving briefings from his. national security. >> staff, as well. >> as. his middle east envoy. >> steve witkoff. >> and he does think that this would be a plausible idea. >> and let's. >> listen to a little bit more about what he had to say. >> about it last night. >> i envision a world

vaughn, what are you hearing from lawmakers about netanyahu's visit and trump's plan for gaza?pitol hill, actually waiting for speaker mike johnson to return from his meeting with other house republican leaders at the white house, where they're talking about the budget. the federal funding deadline, and, of course, the debt ceiling that is all coming up here this spring. but in the meanwhile, for prime minister netanyahu here, this visit comes at a moment in time in which republican lawmakers, by and large, are not outwardly denouncing the suggestion by president trump. with the backing of prime minister netanyahu this morning for american occupation, it was benjamin netanyahu earlier today that suggested that there could be a pathway forward on this front. now, it was suggested that u.s. military troops would not be used in this. but i want to let you just listen to a few of the lawmakers we spoke to just a bit ago. >> i'm not going to in your natural lifetime or mine, you will not see me voting to take american taxpayer money and rebuild gaza. what's your reaction? that's not

so thank you for that update and we will see you again, vaughn. let's bring in peter baker, msnbc political analyst, chief white house correspondent for the new york times and coauthor of the divider trump in the white house, 2017 to 2021. i don't know, peter. you may have to write a second book, given that there's a second term here. but my friend elon musk with the chainsaw. i mean, that appears to be kind of the star image. he the star of this year's cpac. stephen bannon also delivered some remarks, and he's been very critical of musk. but today trump posted on truth social he doesn't think musk is being aggressive enough. how do you assess all of this? oh, peter, turn on your microphone. >> sorry. >> sorry about that. yes. no worries. go ahead. >> look, you know. >> chainsaw tells you everything you need to know. what they want to do is send the image of, you know, a person whacking away at the federal bureaucracy. they love the image of a sort of wrestling federation style approach to government. now, this is not a serious approach to figurin

billion dollars in taxpayer savings seeks to access data for irs audit next, "fox business" hillary vaughn live on capitol hill with the latest. >> good morning doj posteding their wall of receipts we know where 55 billion dollars in savings is going from lot from weeding out waste canceling contracts earned needed the number will grow as doj is crowdsourcing their search look for people like each government agency to report waste today doj could get access to the irs sensitive payment system that holds taxpayer records something that has even doj friendly democrats turning against them senator fetterman saying i want to save billions of money make government efficient, rummaging through personal stuff is not that other democrats looking for courts do stop musk. >> already lost -- filed on this that just like with the irs data, the court a court will find that, no you can't just start rifling around rummaging through social security data. >> musk hitting back at tax wants to snoop through tax information at irs or social security if i want to rum ailing through random personal stuff i woul

nbc's vaughn hillyard is on capitol hill. vaughn mcconnell didn't mince words.k about what we heard from him and others. >> right. mitch mcconnell is no longer the senate majority leader. he's now just among the other republican senators. and clearly with lesser sway than he once had in his 20 years atop the republican conference here on the senate side. but if you look at his statement here, he was the sole republican, no vote on tulsi gabbard to be the director of national intelligence. and in his statement, he says in part, quote, the nation should not have to worry that the intelligence assessments the president receives are tainted by a director of national intelligence with a history of alarming lapses in judgment here. of course, he also voted against the nomination of pete hegseth to head the pentagon. and now there's a question of whether could mitch mcconnell be a no vote on the nomination of robert f kennedy jr. slated to take place in the 7 a.m. eastern hour tomorrow morning, there is, for mitch mcconnell, a reality here that several days ago he had

ryan and vaughn guys, thank you very much. still ahead, the atlantic's anne applebaum on what donald trump's new alignment with russia means for the future of u.s. foreign policy. we're talking about rearmament of europe. is that a good idea? and the associated press loses its fight for access to the white house, at least for now. what a judge just ruled that raises first amendment and first amendment red flags. plus, another high stakes test for speaker mike johnson. what he needs to do to get the president's big, beautiful bill, in his words, passed in the gop led house. does he have the votes? that is definitely a maybe right now. we're back in maybe right now. we're back in 90s. ♪ rinse it out ♪ ♪ every now and then ♪ ♪ i get a little bit tired of the stinks ♪ ♪ that just will never come out ♪ ♪ pour downy in the rinse, jade ♪ ♪ every now and then i rinse it out! ♪ fights odor in just one wash. when bad allergies attack... ♪♪ trust claritin to keep you in the game. ♪♪ nothing is proven more powerful for continuous non-drow

so there's a lot on the plate for republicans right now. >> vaughn hillyard, thank you.ext, exclusive reporting on the trump administration's plan to reopen immigrant family detention centers. you're watching jose centers. you're watching jose diaz-balart re want a next level clean? swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean... ahhhhh with listerine. feel the whoa! okay everyone, our mission is to provide complete, balanced nutrition for strength and energy. yay - woo hoo! ensure, with 27 vitamins and minerals, nutrients for immune health. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. (♪♪) my prescription? i always check the single care price. >> it's quick, easy and totally >> it's quick, easy and totally free to use. dexcom g7 sends your glucose numbers to your phone and watch, so you can always see where you're heading without fingersticks. dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm, so you can manage your diabetes with confidence. ♪♪ green. >> hydro steam pet

maria: boy are they mad thanks very much hillary vaughn on capitol hill stay with us.you're watching "mornings with maria" live on "fox business" stay with us. . >> this week on "mornings with maria" -- tomorrow league drug making sure eli lilly foirth quarter earnings ceo is here with the exclusive. and friday, january jobs' report revealed live with insight analysis from top minds in business, all right here on "mornings with maria." . where ya headed? susan: where am i headed? am i just gonna take what the markets gives me? no. i can do some research. ya know, that's backed by j.p. morgan's leading strategists like us. when you want to invest with more confidence... the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management ♪ maria: welcome back. time for the big buzz of the morning. in the even a month out of office, and former president joe biden has signed with a hollywood talent agency which represents as far as like tom hanks, justin bieber and beyonce. president trump reacts. >> reporter: what do you think about joe biden signing on with a talent agency. >> you've got to be

larry: all right hillary vaughn, well done thank you. you broke it down well. so, i think market gets it trump's s reciprocal tariffs are not inflationary. that is the subject of riff. today, president trump couldpaon his fair and reciprocal trade policy, aimed at creating a level playing field for american workers and businesses and will hopefully deal with many unfair trading practices that are aimed at united states he is using simple metric, you tax us, we'll tax you. but if you lower your tax on us, we'll gladly lower our tax on you. taxes are really tariffs, one place president singled out was european union. that with a 20 percival you added -- a 10%, value added tax, that is a tariff. and they have across board tariffs that are hire than ours. on that score, president trump singled out 10% european auto tear they've tariff 4 times america's 2.5%, top of the 20% vat. that is all unfair. there are countrywide examples. enindia has 6 times tariff rate, mexico these times, china 5, pra brazil 6. world trading system has been broken for over 25 years maybe l

hillary vaughn has details on the other side of the break you are watching "mornings with maria" on thelock my front door ♪ ♪ while i dine in baltimore ♪ ♪ no lock box to explain ♪ ♪ ♪ at 9:00 the doors would lock up ♪ ♪ save me from forgetful slip-ups ♪ ♪ if my home just had a brain ♪ ♪ ♪ i could make a custom pin ♪ ♪ watch the dog walker get in ♪ ♪ so ziggy won't complain ♪ ♪ ♪ when my in-law comes a-knockin' ♪ ♪ i can open, maybe lock it ♪ ♪ if my home just had a brain ♪ the way i approach work post fatherhood, has really trying to understand the generation that we're building devices for. here in the comcast family, we're building an integrated in-home wifi solution for millions of families like my own. in the average household, there are dozens of connected devices. connectivity is a big part of my boys' lives. it brings people together in meaningful ways. cheryl: doj keeps up its mission to say downsize government billions dollars wasteful federal spending snift 100ing around irs, "fox business" hillary vaughn with more. >> good morning, cheryl therateding auditors like irs sizes

nbc's vaughn hillyard, thank you very much. last week, white house press secretary caroline leavitt said that it would be up to the world's richest man, elon musk, to decide if he needs to excuse himself from work at the made up doge entity if it overlaps with his personal interests, which were awarded, according to reports, $3 billion across nearly 100 different contracts as of 2023 and account for at least $15.4 billion in government funding in the past decade. many of those companies were being investigated by inspectors general from at least five agencies that were promptly fired once trump took office. late today, trump removed the head of the government ethics office, an independent agency which works to prevent financial conflicts of interest in the executive branch. i wonder why they do that. let's bring in congressman robert garcia of california, a member of the house doge subcommittee. thank you so much, congressman. you're on this subcommittee. do you all have any oversight of these teenage and twentysomething doge p

nbc's vaughn hillyard is on capitol hill for us. and vaughn, republicans can't afford to lose what, more than two votes on this committee. and i'm wondering if that could be a problem. >> right. and especially once it were, to get to the entire house floor with just a 218 to 215 majority, they could only stand to lose one republican house member support here. and on this committee, you have several freedom caucus members, the hard line conservatives who, after the release of this initial house budget, text from from the budget committee chair that outlines up to $2 trillion in spending cuts, but up to 4.5 trillion in tax cuts. this is a moment where you have heard over the last 24 hours demands from those hard line conservatives that in order to avoid greater additions to the deficit, that they need to ensure that there is an ability, through this budgeting process to add to greater spending cuts, and that in the scenario, house republicans are unable to hit that $2 trillion reduction mark, then that there should be some give on the

speaking of the munich security conference, vaughn said one cannot win democratic mandates by silencing publishing opposing voices. and without your up to date, i'm told me a lot of vote for myself in between. thank you for watching. the are relentless during the filming 30 years of chaos and hope. the congo documentary about a decades long, more fuel by a neighboring countries greet for raw material. the world all too often silence in the face of tragedy. pyre of silence starts february 15th on dw picture about a car. they don't unflattering nicknames like the spark plug with a roof and racing cardboard noon from.

david: hillary vaughn, good to see you, thank you so much. musk doge team has successfully cancelled millions of dollars, many millions of dollars, of government contracts that the administration says were a waste of taxpayer dollars. governor mike braun, republican from indiana joins me now. governor, you've got kind of a state-wide version of doge going, don't you? >> just call it i doge. indiana is lucky that it's a place that's got structurally good cash flow. even in state governments, local governments, you can getti crud and bureaucracy and have to stay on top of it. i've been on your show often and the loudest voice when i was there about debt. it's a fiscal crisis, ray is right, i talked about it till i was blue in my face. we don't have those issues here and i'm asking our own state government that's been run reasonably well to find efficiencies and look to where you can cut 5% and get better out of it and we're finally getting to it in dc, i spent the last six years there, so glad to see that thatplast that's hard to shape and bett

hillary vaughn has the story. reporter: good evening, liz. offer deadline is now delayed and u.s. district court ruling today to temporally push the deadline for millions of workers to choose whether or not they want to take the buyout offer and quit. the judge says he'll pause till february 10 when there'll be a hearing to decide whether or not the offer goes to pause and even longer and the good news is workers have time to decide. the bad news is this is now being tied up in court and a judge could decide it's unconstitutional and workers weigh weren't they're in or out and doge focusing on the next target and medicare and medicaid where elon musk says "the big money fraud is". hhs estimates about $100 billion in improper payments made through these programs in just 2023 alone. but despite doge's success in finding fraud and waste of taxpayer dollars, democrats are ramping up calls to fire elon musk. >> nobody elected elon musk to be president, but he has his grimy hands all over our administration. >> we are not going to help republicans

and i think that's creating the crisis. >> vaughn, are you hearing anything? i mean, when you're at congress, are you are there are there whispers that there are? because we always hear there's some republicans who think that donald trump's gone too far, but they're not prepared to say it publicly or they're not prepared to deal with the primary challenge, or they're not prepared to do it before an election. is anybody doing it? is there is there some world in which some republicans are gathered somewhere where you are saying, guys, we got we got to do something? this is not this is just not how the constitution was written. it's not how this country is set up. >> not that i'm aware of all the republicans here in the senate and the house republicans are going to be making their way back to washington this afternoon. confirmation votes are going to begin to proceed for the likes of tulsi gabbard and robert f kennedy jr. but, you know, frankly, the only the only pushback that i've heard so far in the last month since donald trump ascended to the white house were

hillary vaughn on capitol hill. thank you. >> dana: madeleine rivera has the latest on the battle over usaid. >> good morning, dana. secretary of state marco rubio becoming the new acting director of usaid caps days of turmoil. yesterday protestors gathered outside the usaid headquarters in washington, d.c. reports of senior officials being put on leave, contractors being laid off, rubio has since authorized a review of usaid and lead to suspension or elimination of some projects or missions if they don't align with national interests. >> this is taxpayer money, not my money or their money. it is our money, taxpayer money. we have an obligation if we do foreign aid to do it in a way that makes sense. >> foreign aid makes up less than 1% of the federal budget. supporters call usaid a symbol of american goodwill saying it promotes national security. critics argue usaid is seen as a slush fund doling out money for wasteful initiatives. $20 million for assess me street workshop in iraq or reintegration gift bags for dep

"fox business" hillary vaughn live on capitol hill with the latest. >> good morning, social security has a dead people problem and doge is trying to fix it but this problem, is not new the social security inspector general in 2023 reported that they did not have a death date for 18.9 million people born before 1920 social security administration said almost none of 18 million dead people still alive data bases are getting benefits not identified as dead means other on the grounds relying on ssa file could be make he go ronnous payments to people one agency that relies on social security death data is treasury the government acting office says in 2023 more than 175 billion dollars in improper payments made to people including, dead people, president trump says they are going to fix this. >> when i saw the social security numbers i said wow! , that is really something so we have, 100 years old, millions over 100 years old how many got paid were they getting paid, how many of them were getting paid social security because that is that is the case a massive fraud. . >> democrats aren't c