elise jordan is back with us.know, but the middle east is a rough neighborhood. and the president told everyone watching at home tonight as much. take a listen. to donald trump talking about how the middle east is a rough neighborhood. >> in the middle east. we're bringing back our hostages from gaza. in my first term, we achieved one of the most groundbreaking peace agreements in generations, the abraham accords. and now we're going to build on that foundation to create a more peaceful and prosperous future for the entire region. a lot of things are happening in the middle east. people have been talking about that so much lately, with everything going on with ukraine and russia. but a lot of things are happening in the middle east. rough neighborhood actually. >> so yeah, that's a that's. >> a throwaway. >> line when you just don't really know what to say. >> with your. characterization of it. >> could use a good casino. that's that's. >> some nice. >> oceanfront property. >> to be developed by my. >> son in law.

we have jonathan lemire and elise jordan still with us.ight now, nbc news and msnbc political analyst, former u.s. senator claire mccaskill. also former secretary of homeland security in the obama administration, jay johnson. willie, you know, it's fascinating. again. >> you know. >> we've had. democrats and everybody else and people in the media and some republicans wringing their hands, saying the reason. >> why. >> kamala harris lost his she didn't focus on the price of eggs. she didn't focus the. >> price of. >> of gasoline, a. >> gallon of. >> gasoline, the price of butter. you you look at that speech last night, and it was just it was a long list. a collection of cultural grievances that have very. >> little to do with. >> the economy, very. >> little to. >> do with driving down prices, very. >> little to. >> do with the very things. >> that democrats. >> were supposed to be negligent. not talking about. during the campaign. the only economic policies that were talked about were economic policies that even republicans and conservativ

elise jordan is back with us now.nd opinion columnist for the new york times. and jason, thank you all for being here this morning. so let's start with you to reaction to peters package. more sweeping cuts. musk yesterday, you know, taking some heat from quiet heat. but from republicans. we hear reports that a memo has gone around the department of veteran affairs, 80,000, 80,000 jobs throughout the country could be lost. and today, perhaps as soon as today, the department of education tossed aside. >> what is so interesting about the va jobs? we are talking about people that answer the crisis hotline for our veterans when they are calling. we're talking about nurses. my mother in law was a nurse at the va for more than 30 years in maryland. we are, and we're talking about nurses at the va in pittsburgh. this goes directly to the heart of the belief, frankly, from folks that work for the president, that the government is just not necessary. and that's a direct contrast to what the previous administrations, i would say