joining us now is ben rhodes. he's former deputy national security adviser to president obama, cohost of the pod save the world podcast. really great to see you. thanks for making time to be here tonight. >> good to see you. >> first, let me ask you for some of our viewers who may not have paid close attention to what was happening in the european elections this weekend, let me ask you two questions about them. do you think they're important for us to pay attention to? and can you just give us a rough characterization of what happened in those elections?za >> sure. these were elections for the european parliament. e so the european union wide parliament, so the only electiop that takes place every few years in which all of europe votes. it's a good barometer of where opinion is in europe. the two headlines are the far right made noticeable gains in the two largest countries in europe, france and germany.rg in france, the national front party, the far right party that used to be on the fringes of french politics, e

deputy national security adviser under president obama ben rhodes is here.ian bassen, i'm going to sound like i'm beating a dead horse but you are quoted in this story. it's a smart story. the business community is noticeably absent, awol, nowhere, not preparing for america to become something more familiar if you woke up in viktor orban's hungary. why not? >> well, i think unfortunately there are two things going on with the business community. one is i think they're hedging their bets, which is they want to make sure that they can make peace with whoever it is that is in the white house to protect their interests and they don't want to get across donald trump because he's shown himself to be incredibly vindictive and they're concerned about that. i think the second reason is i don't think they truly believe the seriousness and severity of these threats. so as you detailed at the top of the segment, trump has been open about saying what he's going to do. and i think there are a lot of people sitting in positions of institutional power in this country that h

joining us, ben rhodes. public rift between the white house and netanyahu is troubling on its face, but now you've got him -- the hostage families are challenging him. now the supreme court has come out with an opinion that orthodox men have to be eligible for the draft rather than excused to do their studies. this is threatening the right wing ministes and his coalition. can netanyahu survive these competing pressures? >> well, he is a political survivor if nothing else. the reality is he is facing pressure from different fronts right now. i think the families have been very disappointed and angry, understandably, that he has not embraced the proposal for a cease-fire. the administration had a proposal but netanyahu said he didn't want the phased proposal that the u.s. has been pushing. he wanted something smaller that he knos hamas will not accept. for his political survival, his coalition to survive, he draws on support from right wing parties, including ultra orthodox parties that have as their own red li

ben rhodes, thank you for joining me tonight. i appreciate you. >>> still ahead tonight in an election year when something is univrly popular across party lines members usually go out of their way to align themselves with that policy. given the opportunity to do that today republicans in the senate turned tail. i'll tell you why next. >>> a few hours ago senate republicans tanked the right to contraception act. the bill that would have made access to contraception a federal right. but every republican senator besides lisa murkowski and susan collins decided to take a pass on it. now, according to a 2023 gallop poll almost 90% of this country sees contraception as morally acceptable. even among republicans data shows 72% said they had a favorable view of birth control. but that did not stop the gop from killing the bill in the senate. a few hours ago majority leader chuck schumer offered his analysis as to why. >> of course we're already hearing the same predictable, tired, unpersuasive rhetorics from the other side, that this bil

ben rhodes, cohost of the pod save the world podcast, ben, really good to see you. thanks for being here tonight. >> good to see you. >> for some of our viewers who may not have paid close attention to what was happening in the european elections this weekend, the sq two questions. do you think they are important for us to pay attention to? >> sure, these were elections for european parliament. european union did have an election, it's a good barometer of where europe is. the far-right made noticeable gains in the two largest countries, france and germany. the national front party, the front party that used to be on the fringe of french politics emerged as by far the largest alert vote-getter. and this is a party that is not only far- right, they've had ties to russia. they received a $10 million loan from russia in the last decade. this is no conjecture, it's reality. and the adf party that goes back to neo-nazi party, they received an alarming total. now i want to be clear in other parts of europe actually the center did hold, but the two most important countries,

here is what ben rhodes says. telling -- this is on x.ys telling people they didn't see what they saw is not the way to respond. so if you have any question about what the obama people want, what the power brokers want, they want him off the stage. but jill biden last night, when they went to the waffle house after the debate, when joe biden clearly looked like he was ready for bed, she was out there cheering and saying you did great. you answered all the questions. and then she did a fundraising video. so this is a big dilemma. for the obama, the valerie jarrett and that team. jill biden is going to make it very difficult and that's the question. will they actually be able to push the bidens off the stage? i think that's the biggest question out there right now. >> ainsley: the debate was late last night. it started at 9:00. if you had to fall asleep and get up early for work. we have some highlights and low lights of the cnn presidential debated. watch this. >> that's when i left when i became president, what mr. trump left me, we had a

ben rhodes, thank you for joining me tonight. >> thanks, alex. stack still ahead tonight.n year when something is universally popular, members of both parties typically go out of their way to align themselves with that policy. given the opportunity to do that today, republicans in the senate turned tail. we will tell you why, next. provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. right now across the u.s., people are trying to ban books from public schools and public libraries. yes, libraries. we all have a first amendment right to read and learn different viewpoints. that's why every book belongs on the shelf. yet book banning in the u.s. is worse than i've ever seen. it's people in power who want to control everything. well, i say no to censorship. and i say yes to freedom of speech and expression. if you do too, please join us in supporting the american civil liberties union today. for over 100 years, the aclu has fought for your rights and mine. including the right to read all manner of

joining me now, ben rhodes, msnbc political analyst and former deputy national security adviser to presidentma. ben, thank you very much for being here. let's get started. you had president obama delivering this speech in normandy in front of that beautiful vista. you can see the sea, he's greeting members of the military, retired members of the military, et cetera. and meanwhile, he also, while he's in normandy, is apologizing to volodymyr zelenskyy for the late delivery of arms when they were sorely needed to try to win the war against russia. while vladimir putin is saying that the american justice system is weaponized against donald trump. what's going on? >> well, joy, first, i'm never going to unsee the clip of that video you just played. i would say that i think something we're all feeling about the consequence of this moment kind of converged in normandy which is that we kind of face two existential threats right now. at home, we have someone who is running for president to literally dismantle our democracy and turn it into an extension of his personal interests. and that's not some

as always, pleasure to see you, ben rhodes joining us. he is a former deputy national security adviser to president obama and the cohost of the remarkable god save the world podcast, and author of after the fall, the rise of authoritarianism in the hour we made. another hour of velshi begins s right now. >>> good morning, it is saturday , june 22nd with just 136 days and left until the general election. a decision in donald trump's presidential immunity trial is still pending. it has now become nearly impossible to hold any trial of donald trump before the november elections. that is largely because the supreme court has slow walks this case so much that it has run out the clock in the twice impeached recently convicted ex- presidents most important criminal prosecution. the extended delay and trump's federal election interference case could have been avoided, c and that is why the supreme court's sluggish pace appears even more flagrant and egregious in hindsight. all the way back in december of 2023, special prosecutor jack smith skippe

joining us now, raf sanchez, who is in jerusalem, and ben rhodes, former deputy national security advisorident obama. raf, any time we hear about an attack on the embassy in beirut, it brings to mind the horrors of the '80s, 1983 the predecessor embassy to this one was bombed. i think it was 241 marines and other personnel were killed. that was a turning point in u.s. policy in the middle east. what else do we know about this attack at a time when the u.s. is trying not to have a northern front opened, which would vastly expand this war? >> reporter: your point about the 1983 attack is well made. the american embassy in beirut is outside of the city now, in a mountainous area, in a heavily fortified compound, for that security reason. they do not want to see another attack like they saw in 1983. today's attack, not on the same scale. here is what we know. 8:34 a.m. local time, gunfire erupted outside the entrance to the embassy. lebanese media says the shootout lasted four about 30 minutes. in just the last couple of minutes, nbc news has been able to verify a photograph of the gunman out

joining me now is ben rhodes. president obama and host of pod save the world. i feel like the world cell phone was bandied about. and i do wonder if you have a working theory about how and why he has no plans to achieve in gaza. this comes as a massive political lifeline to show he can resist pressure from president biden and stand up and get standing ovations in the u.s. congress. it is pretty clear what is in it for mike johnson and the republicans and donald trump who i i'm sure bibi netanyahu would like to see as the next president. they get to unify their support. they get to divide democrats who have different views of this subject. what is astonishing to me is the democratic leadership in the house and senate would go along for what is so transparently an effort to exploit their divisions. for the political benefit of the republican party and bibi netanyahu. we saw this movie before in 2014 when the democratic leadership did not join the republicans inviting netanyahu to speak to congress. so, this is a kno

now to discuss the ideas behind his new piece titled, quote, foreign-policy for what it is, is ben rhodesy advisor to president obama and author of the book, quote, after the fall the rise of authoritarianism and the world we've made. ben's story is the cover story on the issue of foreign affairs. good to see you. thank you for joining us this morning. i want to read a passage from your article, in which you say, meeting the moment requires abandoning the mindset of american privacy and recognizing that the world will be a turbulent place for years to come. above all, it requires building the bridge to the future, not the past, which is a through line that runs through your story. the future is not what we are used to. it is not what policymaking in washington has been accustomed to. what does that mean in practical terms? >> well, i think the united states sometimes, because of its muscle memory, still acts as if we have the degree of power and influence we had in the world in say the 90s or immediate post-9/11 era. where we essentially called the shots, now, we are living in a world whe

>> ben rhodes, always good to get your thoughts on this in moments of crisis otherwise., what would a biden bounce back officially look like? one of the rising stars, maryland governor wes moore joins us to discuss crisis management in the democratic party. >>> supreme court limits the power persecutors to pursue instruction charges against january 6th defendants including donald trump. what does it mean for special counsel jack smith? that is coming up, stay ■çwith . my name is brayden. i was five years old when i came to st. jude. i'll try and shorten down the story. so i've been having these headaches that wouldn't go away. my mom, she was just crying. what they said, your son has brain cancer. it was your worst fear coming to life. watching your child grow up is the dream of every parent. you can join the battle to save the lives of kids like brayden, by supporting st. jude children's research hospital . families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live . what they have done for me, my s

. >> well, sean is a continuation of this bankrupttinuin and scaro policy of ben rhodes and the obamas. remember, they cookeama'd up ths idea that they were going to empower an iranian hezbollah, hamas, who the axis and this was going to be the persian shia counter balance to israel and the moderate gulf regime. >> so they trashed saudi arabia, they trashed israel. they built up this axished isrbs and they called it creative tension. and then we could vacate middle east and then play one side off against the other, completely obliviou andys that our friends in the gulf were far better than the iranians. of cours farr there, israel is the only democracy in the middle east, but thiemocracys ie most dangerous time in our lifetime. sean all the way untilinaugura inauguration day because putin sees he's trying to get nuclears proxies in iran and north korea to do what he thinks we're doing in ukraine and ukraine is not nucleare thinks wer. more importantly, he looks at biden and he says eithery he's debilitatedhe lik and he wt react or the obamas are in control. and thei remember what they

ben rhodes thank you for watching this with us. thank you both for spending time with us.s on the latest headline today from the judge and what joe biden should do in the debate against donald trump. "deadline: white house" continues after a quick break, don't go anywhere. " continues after a quick break, don't go anywhere. ( ♪ ♪ ) start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. (man) every time i needed a new phone, the #1 pharmacist recommended i had to switch carriers... (roommate) i told him...at verizon, everyone can get that iphone 15 on them. (man) now that i got a huge storage and battery upgrade... i'm officially done switching. (vo) new and existing customers get iphone 15 on us when they trade in any iphone. verizon the all new godaddy airo helps you get your business online in minutes with the power of ai... ...with a perfect name, a great logo, and a beautiful website. just start with a domain, a few clicks, and you're in business. make now the future at godaddy.com/airo every day, more dog people, and more vets are

rhodes. the operation to look for him includes drones to access hard—to—reach areas, a helicopter, and divers. our reporter benmoseley was last seen. the search for one of britain's's most recognisable tv personalities continues. this is the last photo of him, it has been widely shared locally hoping that it willjog somebody�*s memory. michael mosley was on the beach with his wife when he decided to walk home. he didn't have a phone, and never arrived. this is the most direct be —— most direct area from the beach to where he was staying. it should have taken to where he was staying. it should have ta ken less to where he was staying. it should have taken less than one hour. the walk begins with some steep steps, then follows a path, close to the coast. . , then follows a path, close to the coast. ., , ., , then follows a path, close to the coast. , ., ,, . coast. locals say that this stretch is rocky and _ coast. locals say that this stretch is rocky and can _ coast. locals say that this stretch is rocky and can be _ coast. locals say that this stretch is rocky and can be tricky - coast. locals say that this s