who better to ask than the architect of the obama outreach, ben rhodes. house. he visited cuba many times as well as overseeing the secret talks in canada. author of "after the fall." ben, your resume is far too long. thank you for joining us today to talk about all of this. i want to start by asking you about some of the calls we're seeing for action. the miami mayor says the u.s. should consider air strikes. marco rubio says cuba will see a horrific bloodbath if biden does not take action. what is your reaction to all of that? >> it's absurd and counterproductive. and above all, it's a gift to the cuban communist party. we should be asking ourselves, this is a simple question we asked in the obama administration, we've been trying an embargo. we've been trying the total isolation and pressure on the communist party for more than 60 years. and all it has led to is devastating humanitarian impacts, crushing poverty for the cuban people and an entrenched cuban communist party. the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again. if we thi

ben rhodes, eugene daniels, a.b. stoddard, thank you so much for starting us off today. >>> when we come back the attempt to deny what happened on january 6th undercut, as we've been discussing, by testimony from those officers who describe fearing for their lives from the pro-trump mob. conservative pundits down playing what we all heard and saw calling yesterday performative art. and the very latest on the fight against coronavirus with renewed mask guidance and vaccine requirements from all corners of the country. the partisan battle naturally heats up as well. >>> plus, the ex-president hyped up the word router nearly a dozen times this week and in a rambling and dangerous speech about his election loss, how that one word could cost the state of arizona millions and millions of dollars. we'll explain coming up. all those stories and more when "deadline white house" continues. e" continues. named america's most reliable network by rootmetrics. and our customers rated us #1 for network quality in america according

we're back with ben rhodes. so, ben, first of all, the rnc is the target.ties? and two, what should this white house do about it? and what might they be doing that we don't know about, that's three? >> well, first of all, i think what the russians normally do is they cast around and try to find vulnerabilities and get information everywhere, for different purposes. sometimes in the dnc case it was the hack and release emails. in some cases it's just espionage to see what's happening in american politics. but it speaks to the active nature that they're constantly probing our politics and our economy. the biden team will be assessing what are the russians doing across the board here. what messages are we delivering privately and keeping in reserve if this continues and ransomware attacks continue, the u.s. will be looking at its own offensive cyber capabilities and operations that it could pursue against russia. i think they didn't want that escalation given that it can lead to difficult challenges, but ultimately if putin continues his cyber provocations, th

. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ joining us now is ben rhodes, he was deputy national security to president obama. he's also the author, most recently, of after the fall, being american in the world we've made. it's a look at the world tilting away from democracy, and the people fighting against that, and a haunting question of what the u.s. can do to try and save our democracy here at home but to help shored up everywhere it is in danger. then, it's nice of you being here on a friday night, thank you for making time. >> so i'm a little haunted by your book, we might remember when we first -- i am owed it to you that i was troubled by the dynamics that you talk about. following this hong kong story, i'm so moved by the efforts of the free press and the efforts of the civil society there to try to stand up against what really feels like a line of tanks, it really feels like a bulldozer that is going through them, without any help. and i wanted to get your take on how bad things seem in hong kong, and what the biden administration is trying to help. it's the worst-case scenario r

president obama's former national security adviser ben williams-rhodes is here. stay with us. us you put muscle over matter. and you make horsepower... a superpower. ♪ age before beauty? why not both? visibly diminish wrinkled skin in... crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond. limu emu... and doug. so then i said to him, you oughta customize your car insurance with liberty mutual, so you only pay for what you need. oh um, doug can we talk about something other than work, it's the weekend. yeah, yeah. [ squawk ] hot dog or... chicken? [ squawk ] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ this is cynthia suarez, cfo of go-go foodco., an online food delivery service. business was steady, until... gogo-foodco. go check it out. whaatt?! overnight, users tripled. which meant hiring 20 new employees and buying 20 new laptops. so she used her american express business card, which gives her more membership rewards points on her business purchases. somebody ordered some laptops? cynthia suarez. cfo. mvp. get the card built for business. by american expres

. >> former allied supreme commander and ben rhodes, security adviser to president obama and author of "after the fall" being american in the world we made. ben, i want to start with you because i want to start with the president and you know from your years in the obama white house what his stance has been for decades now. what was your reaction to the speech and that really strong pushback when he took questions after ward? >> well, look, joe biden was a skeptic of the afghan surge in the obama white house. i think he had deeply internalized the belief that there was a limit on what we could achieve in afghanistan and that ultimately we were going to have to leave on our terms. keeping troops in afghanistan until the country reached a certain state of stability was a recipe for keeping troops forever. when you saw his forceful comments you saw him standing there taking questions and this is someone who is confident that believes he's made the right decision, not because it will lead to a perfect outcome in afghanistan, but because as he said, we received the basic objective that took

. >>> joining us now is ben rhodes. he was deputy national security adviser to president obama.y of "after the fall, being american in the world we've made." it is a close look at the world tilting away from democracy and the people around the world who are fighting against that and the haunting question of what the u.s. can do not only to try to save our own democracy here at home but to help shore it up everywhere it is in danger. ben, it is nice of you to be here on a friday night. thanks for making time. >> thanks, rachel, for covering this hong kong story. it is so important. >> well, i'm a little haunted by your book. you might remember when we talked about it when it first came out, i sort of emoted to you i was troubled by the dynamics you talked about. following this hong kong story, i'm so moved by the efforts of the prepress there and the efforts of civil society there and the efforts of the democracy activists to try to stand up against what really feels like a line of tanks. it really feels like a bulldozer that is going through them without any help. i just wanted

joining us is mark miller and ben rhodes is back with us. east. as mark mizzetti of "the new york times" tweets, one of the mysteries of trump's first six months is why the administration came out of the gates so hot for saudi and uae with trump traveling to saudi arabia and then going along with the qatar blockade. the tom barrack indictment explains a lot. ben, does it explain a lot to you? >> oh, an extraordinary amounting. look, this was hiding in plain sight to some extent. at the end of the obama years we knew what the wish list was for the uae and saudi arabia, very close allies. some of these things were things that the obama administration had resisted. as soon as donald trump comes into office, if you look at the steps he took, backing that blockade of qatar, taking his first trip to saudi arabia instead of going to mexico or canada as u.s. presidents usually do and then extending forward, supporting mohammed bin salman even after the murder of jamal khashoggi. escalating support for the war in yemen, the list went on and on and on

they could also look into doing -- i spoke to the former president about the point man on cuba, ben rhodes, he said what the u.s. ought to do is expand medical licenses. but in the case cuba, companies still need to apply for particular licenses. that makes is very hard to buy the aspirin, buy the syringes that it needs so other observers say they are other policy choices that could directly and immediately help the cuban people. >> thank you for the update. >>> coming up at 4:00, we will have a live report from stephanie stanton in miami. >>> wild weather from across the world then there's extreme flooding and landslides in europe. the scenes are looking like something out of a movie. why we can expect them to continue. >> not just continue, but get worse. i think we're on the verge of a major climate shift. i think we' major climate shift. last ad. like this new and improved steak and cheese loaded with our new tender steak that's marinated and thicker sliced, on our new artisan italian bread. man, you covered up the footlong! the eat fresh refresh at subway®. it's too much new to fit in

. >> martha: ben rhodes, the national security adviser to president obama tweeted this. the cuban people suffered doubly from a repressive government and a cruel u.s. embargo. do you think that president biden, looking at this situation, will lift that embargo and do you think that's what he should do? >> no, i don't think the embargo is cruel at all. i think the cuban people are not asking for a lifting of the embargo. they go out on the streets and talking about the failure of the communist regime to provide for its people. i don't understand why that is so difficult for people to understand. it's failed for six decades. what should be contemplated right now is a coalition of potential military action in cuban, similar to what has happened in both administrations in republican and democrat administrations. republican with bush in panama, they opposed noriega. they had peaceful democracy for decades. you had interventions by democratic presidents kicking out osama bin laden in pakistan. they took out a terrorist that probably saved thousands of lives and president clint

i'll speak to ben rhodes, the former obama official who helped normalize relations with havana.y could be decided by just two people almost nobody has ever heard of. oh, yeah, and that actually nobody elected. meet andrew hanan. he's flown under the radar as a federal judge on the texas-mexico border after his appointment by president george w. bush. though he's been one of the most partisan conservatives as "slate" magazine described him. but he was catapulted to national attention when he claimed daca, the obama era program protecting undocumentedid

joining us to dig deeper into this, ben rhodes, former national security adviser under president obama. and editor in chief of foreign policy magazine. let me begin with you. this idea that we've been talking about. the president saying that it's time to get out of there. but at the same time, does not think it is a forgone conclusion that the taliban will take over kabul. first of all, do you agree with that assessment. based on what you've known and seen, are the taliban not likely to go after kabul. but if they tried to go of after kabul, they wouldn't be able to take it over as easily as we're seeing in other parts of the country? >> well, i thought that president biden was careful not overpromise in this regard. i think we see the momentum on the ground is very much with the taliban. i think what president biden is trying to say is, look, we also have to fortify the more afl the morale. they're not going to be able to retake large swaths of the country. they can fortified kabul and try to get into some kind of peace process. we can't ignore the factors going into afghanistan. i th

a couple of our colleagues were also policy people, like ben rhodes, who was very instrumental in president obama's foreign policy, but i did feel like i had some influence in shaping how he talked about something. specifically, by the time i got there, i felt like i could kind of help the president be more vocal about his feminism. and so i used various opportunities, a few essays we had, and then culminating in a speech he gave at a conference that the white house held called the united states of women in 2016, that i could kind of build up and help him find a voice, give voice to what i knew he truly believed. and that i could push it and see whether he would push back. in a way, you know? i worked on a team of men, so i felt like i had the ability to do that and kind of challenge it a little bit. and, through each piece of writing about this issue that we did, i could kind of push the envelope a little more so than -- so that, by the time he gave the speech, when he got on the stage in front of thousands of people and said this is what a feminist looks like, and it took us just slowly m

ben rhodes, thank you for your help.e right back. break, don't go anywhere, we'll be right back. an easy to swallow mini pill. the brand i trust is qunol. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! [sighs wearily] here, i'll take that! woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and now with two new flavors! we have to be able to repair the enamel on a daily basis. with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. my go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. >>> thank you very much for letting us in your home during this extraordinary times. we are grateful, "the beat" with ari melber starts right now. hi ari. >> i have a question for you, you asked me about the law. i want to ask you something you know

. >> getting talking points who also blamed ben rhodes who also blamed the national security adviseramed it on the embargo have. they talked with the cuban people in america. on campaign trail i had an opportunity to talk to them. and they tell their stories about how they trusted the government. they said they would quality and the people on the streets right there, they have american flag saying we want freedom. but they don't want to talk about that. ainsley: fun i couldn't bring that up, because one of the congressman carlos jimenez a congressman from florida he explains why they want freedom and why they are carrying the american flag. >> the people of cuba want their freedom. they want freedom to speak freely. they want freedom of the press. they want free and democratic elections. they want basic human rights, which have been denied to them for 60 years. and so, what you are seeing now, is the young people that have actually grown up in the system that figured out hey, this system doesn't work fours, it doesn't work for anybody. it has never worked for anybody. we want freedom

. >>> coming up, jennifer lopez making it clear that she and ben affleck are officially back together. >>> we're live from rhodek the clock. we'll be right back. ♪ i don't want to be alone ♪ dear stranger. you may know us. but you don't know our whole story. when everything we sweat for... sacrificed for... worked for... was put on hold. masks closures. the world is rocked by the global pandemic. global lockdown. but dear stranger, you were there... where you at peloton? i'm right here with you team. making sure we never stopped. keep working baby. chromebooks are seriously easy to set up right out of the box. just sign in with makinyour gmail and bam!pped. all your files are right there. now get after it. cause you're good to go. switch to setting up the easy way. switch to chromebook just tell me what i need to know. (hands hit desk) where is it? it's on the beach. ocean views. it was supposed to be a surprise. (hands hit desk) she doesn't like surprises dave. thanks, captain obvious. booking a trip can feel dramatic, but with free cancellation you can't go wrong with hotels.com. you're strong. you power thro

. >> ben, police said the group were traveling or that's what they told police, they were traveling from rhode island to maine for, quote, training. do you have any idea what that means, what kind of training they do and what perhaps they could be training for? >> yeah, it is separate for each group, but, you know, this is like a self-sufficiency style of not necessarily militia movement but extremist group. you know, they reiterate over and over again it is a peaceful thing, we are trying to do peaceful stuff, and the police did a really good job of talking these people down and getting everybody into custody. but they were -- you know, they are training for what they believe is a future in which, you know, there are no laws and these laws do not apply to them. so that's what is going on there generally. >> all right, ben collins. great to see you on a rainy holiday weekend. thanks. >> thank you. >>> now today's other breaking news. this video in just moments ago of president biden touring a cherry farm in michigan. the visit part of the america's back together tour this holiday weekend. the

they told police they were traveling from rhode island to maine for, quote, training, as they put it. with me to discuss is nbc's kathy park and ben collins. welcome to both of you. thank you for joining us on this. kathy, i want to start with you on this one. bring us up to date on what we know thus far as to what took place and their intentions. >> reporter: hey there, yasmin. so i can tell you that the standoff is over. it actually wrapped up a couple of hours ago and it ended peacefully, but it all happened around 1:30 this morning. a state trooper came across two vehicles that were in the breakdown lane on interstate 95 in wakefield, massachusetts, and noticed there was a large group of men outside wearing, as you mentioned, military gear and they had lots of different firearms on them. they were asked to show ids and permits. they weren't complying, and that's when things kind of took a turn. it escalated. the men eventually fled into the woods, and two of them were apprehended pretty quickly, and the trooper called in for backup. eventually, over that extended period of time they were able to arrest 11 people in total. righ

some massachusetts and rhode island papers that mention enslaved blacks who had had smallpox and who escaped from those who claim to own them? as you mentioned in the in the book ben enslave people who already had had the disease were appealing to slave owners because they could go out into the community and not bring an infection back home. also, you might be able to see in these ads smallpox scars. unfortunately made enslaved blacks more identifiable. we also in a few minutes. we'll see reports of hospitalizations and numbers both black and white of those who died from smallpox. and although you you don't talk about these advertisements and articles directly in the book the story of enslaved and and free blacks is part of a much more complicated piece of of your book. we read in in the book that free blacks would often be required to clean streets during epidemics and also that free blacks often appeared in the state proper roles those that you mentioned a bit earlier tonight. and also that they were affected by the laws that then came to govern massachusetts and the treatment of poor of the poor in, massachusetts. also these articles gesture toward another smal