the press secretary has been joined by the national security advisor, mike wallace. you see right there the deputy chief of staff, stephen miller, also the director of the national economic council, kevin hassett. so we're listening in the control room and we're going to bring you updates as we get them. meantime, in 90s, mitch mcconnell announces his four decades in the senate will soon come to an end. his emotional speech about the decision to not speech about the decision to not seek reelection next. i'm not a doctor. i'm not even in a doctor's office. i'm standing on the streets talking to real people about their heart. how's your heart? my heart's pretty good. you sure? i think so. how do you know? you're driving a car, you have the check engine light. but the heart doesn't have a hey, check heart sign. i want to show you something. put both fingers right on those pads. there you go. in 30 seconds we're going to have a medical-grade ekg reading. there it is! that is you. look at that. with kardiamobile, you can take a medical-grade ekg in just 30 seconds from an

it's kind of good news that we see marco rubio and mike wallace involved. these are the two kind of true professionals in the trump administration. they understand what russia is and that russia is a tough adversary. and starting at the top is another format. it doesn't always have to start at the bottom, but having these two principles and then trump come in to see if he could quickly achieve a peace talk. that's not going to happen, but he'll learn that lesson. and then then we'll see the table reset. then we might see additional support for ukraine, heavier sanctions on russia, because russia will play with us, but they're not going to give up on their fundamental desire to subdue ukraine, to bring ukraine back into the fold. that just has to play out over the course of the next months, before the u.s. learns the lessons it needs to, and maybe makes the right decisions going forward. >> yeah, that's clearly one of the key pieces here. but i think broadly, there's an understanding that president trump wants to be seen as the winner. so how can ukraine use

mike wallace of florida was one of them. he was asked about this by our kaitlan collins during the white house briefing today. >> you wrote in an op ed in the fall of 2023 that, quote, putin is to blame, certainly like al qaeda was to blame for 9/11. do you still feel that way now, or do you share the president's assessment as he says, ukraine is to blame for the start of this war? >> well, it shouldn't surprise you that i share the president's assessment on all kinds of issues. what i wrote as a member of congress was, was as a former member of congress. look what i share. the president's assessment on is that the war has to end. and what comes with that? what comes with that should be at some point, elections. what comes with that should be peace. what comes with that is prosperity that we've just offered in this natural resources and economic partnership arrangement and end to the killing and european security and security for the world. >> so even as the president has been reinventing some history there of the invasion o

mike wallace, former green beret, hawkish on the threat.tkoff not greatly experienced at this game. does it mean the presidents instincts take precedent within the oval office? >> i'm not going to comment on that. i will comment on the extraordinary difficulty in obtaining, whether through pressure or persuasion, the significant acceptance by either governments of egypt or jordan of any meaningful number of palestinians out of gaza, or for that matter, any other state in the middle east. that is a reality. it is a reality based on those countries defined self interests and not justification. >> hugely interesting, thank you for coming on the program. >> we will take a short break. around the world and across the u.k., you are watching bbc news. >> police in sweden say around 10 people have been killed in a shooting at a community college. the suspected attacker is among the dead. the swedish prime minister said it is the worst mass in sweden's history. the shooting happened in the city of -- around 120 five miles west of the capital, stockh

national security adviser mike wallace says the war in ukraine can't be ended on the battlefield. he is urging president zelenskyy to accept an economic deal that would give the u.s. access to ukraine's reserves of rare earth metals. well, the upcoming talks between u.s. and russian officials in saudi arabia have alarmed european leaders. they say they're worried the trump administration will be too quick to give in to russia's demands. betsy klein brings us the latest sylvia rivera. >> top officials from the trump administration are heading to saudi arabia for high level, high stakes talks with senior russian officials. we are learning that secretary of state marco rubio, along with national security adviser mike wallace and u.s. special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, will meet tuesday with high level officials from russia. the kremlin has put together a group of political, economic and intelligence figures, and they're going to be discussing efforts to end russia's war in ukraine, which is on the cusp of its third anniversary. we are also learning that saudi arabia is e

we heard of mike wallace and president trump talk about this deal on the rare-earth minerals and thatbessent went to kyiv last week and zelenskyy didn't sign it and that has been perceived as a slight? rodney: i don't know for sure if that is the only slight, but in the end, they could have led to some of the comments that president trump made recently about president zelenskyy. ukraine should want to have a bilateral trade agreement that could be -- that could lead to better national security not just for ukraine, but for the entire region. instead of just rejecting things out right, come up with some reasons to make it better. i will tell you, i agree with some of the comments johanna made that it is not just democrats she mentioned that i've had a problem with the money that is continue to be sent to ukraine. many of those dollars that i supported when i was in congress. but it is also republicans. i remember campaigning in the area where johanna grew up in western illinois, and i was shocked by the disdain just for this american effort to help ukraine in their battle against russi

so now to hear the national security advisor, mike wallace, flipping the script, saying, well, it is really president zelensky who is on the offensive and they've got to stop this badmouthing. when you look at all that the u.s. do for ukraine, people here are somewhat baffled by all of that. and this is not just a simple war of words. this has serious consequences for ukraine. this country is in a very weak position. it is being attacked daily from by russia, where i am in kharkiv. every few hours we hear the air raid sirens going off. there was an attack not far from here overnight. at least two ukrainian civilians were killed. there were more attacks in in kyiv. this country depends on the united states for air defenses. it depends on the united states for support, financial support for the military weapons, ammunition, of course. so this is from the ukrainians perspective, much more than a war on words. and they don't believe it was a war of words that that they started, and certainly that they do not want to continue or escalate. >> richard engel in kharkiv, thank you so very muc

here's what national security advisor mike wallace did say. >> there needs to be a deep appreciation for what the american people, what the american taxpayer. what president trump did in his first term and what we've done since. so some of the rhetoric coming out of kyiv, frankly, and, and insults to president trump were unacceptable. >> zelensky publicly. >> rejected this. deal about the. >> rare earth minerals. where does that stand? >> well, we're going to continue to have he needs to come back to the table, and we're going to continue to have discussions about where that deal is going. >> christina, that deal about the rare earth minerals that was mentioned in that question. president zelensky still has not signed a document presented to him by the treasury secretary, handing over half of ukraine's rare earth minerals in exchange for u.s. aid. so that still remains up in the air. but mike waltz did say that there continues to be frustration between the trump administration and what president zelensky has been saying. christina. >> all right. gabe gutierrez, thank you so much. ric

. >> adviser mike wallace. >> and. special envoy. >> steve witkoff. >> are headed to saudi. >> arabia to. >> begin peace negotiations. >> between russia. >> and ukraine. >> the timing of their travel is not. >> specified, and it's. >> actually unclear. >> whether they have already departed. >> but this move. >> isn't entirely unexpected. >> it comes just. >> days after president. >> trump said. >> that. >> he spoke. >> by phone. >> with russian. >> president vladimir. >> putin about beginning these talks. >> and it. >> also all. >> comes as. >> senior trump. >> administration officials. rubio. >> vice president. >> vance and us. >> special envoy to. >> ukraine keith. >> kellogg were in. >> germany this week. >> for the munich. security conference. >> now at the. >> conference, special. >> envoy kellogg. >> defended the idea. >> of. >> the united. >> states engaging with. >> putin to. >> finally put an end to this. >> years long. >> war. >> saying. >> quote, whether you. >> like. it or not, you have. >> to talk to adver

mike. >> wallace yesterday. >> dodging a question on whether vladimir putin is a dictator and then blaming. >> ukraine for. >> not signing over mineral rights to the united states. the question is, did the ukrainian president's meeting yesterday with trump's envoy improve relations there at all? >> also ahead, we'll. >> recap some. >> of the moments from. >> an. >> over the top. >> first day. >> at cpac, which. >> featured a bizarre. >> appearance by elon musk. the question is, did he forecast what doge might do next? >> plus. >> we'll bring you the latest. >> out of. >> the middle east following a suspected. >> terror attack in tel. >> aviv, as well as hamas. >> returning the wrong remains. to israeli officials. the question is, will the cease fire continue to hold. after those troubling developments? >> it's way. >> too early for this. >> good morning. >> and welcome to. >> way too early. >> the show that. >> understandably starts. >> its weekend. >> before 5 p.m. we start at. >> 5 a.m. you have to. i'm ali vitale on this friday, february 21st, and we'll start with the news. >> president

had jd vance speaking about the issue and a statement tgigezgssueand a statement from saint eats mike wallacend and they shi earth ok at that trying to stop port 80 and and they shi earth deal, that trying to stop port 80 and and they shi earth deal, take a hard trying to stop port 80 and and they at earth deal, take a hard trying to stop port 80 and and they at it arth deal, take a hard trying to stop port 80 and and they at it and deal, take a hard trying to stop port 80 and and they at it and sign, take a hard trying to stop port 80 and and they at it and sign , tai deal. ii’d look at it and sign that deal. i wonder where you think we are today. in i wonder where you think we are toda . ., i wonder where you think we are toda . . ., , ., i wonder where you think we are toda . . ., today. in a bad place as far as between today. in a bad place as far as - between ukraine - today. in a bad place as far as| - between ukraine and us and europe the us and the us and europe are concerned. i think the from statement fromflmtehaet't-�*g'atte impertinent for one are impertinent for one state to to so

mike wallace. jack paar, edward r murrow and many more. she even made an appearance on the game show, what's my line? and if you haven't seen that, you can find on youtube. she's there to promote united nations week. but elena's life had so many dimensions that her savvy use of the brand new medium of television has been previously overlooked. the early days of television were profoundly influential on popular culture and early use of tv to advance the causes of peace in the rights of women and the politically marginalized was groundbreaking. however, she also courted relationships with the film industry as early as 1932, writing for fan magazines like photoplay and modern screen son james enlisted her to in the prolog for 1940 anti-nazi film pastor hall, riling the ire of isolationists in the senate on propaganda in motion pictures and radio. but she would also disappoint activists when choosing to cross a picket line protesting segregated cinemas in washington, dc to attend a fundraiser screening of abe lincoln in illinois. eleanor contr

mike wallace kept it together but he looked surprised as well. last year jerrod said i think can have great water from property. in gaza. they could be really beautiful. it was widely covered so maybe he has been brewing this, maybe there is great con -- great contracts to come but the point is you cannot -- >> i have to step in. first of all, call me back podcast today, they were talking about apparently donald trump watch the entire october seventh video on monday. this is not something where he is like i can >> put my hotel down there. -- i can't wait to put my hotel down there. nobody is saying they will do anything for them. >> but if you are the one that is going to drop in and save people, don't you have to put money where your mouth is? [multiple people talking] >> i know that gaza was overrun with terrorists, i watched a significant portion of the october seventh footage, it not to say to the neighbouring countries they need to make room for millions of people. >> why not? >> then you are the world's policeman then the promise you made.

occurred again and again in the interview, let's put it this way 60 minutes used to be a proud place, mike wallace, they did this to themselves and legacy media once again as shown that they are one of the least trusted industries of any entity because it's situations like this, all they had to do was release the transcript like that it -- like they did and we would not be talking about this right now but getting kamala harris over the finish line was all that mattered. >> sean: let's get your take or is, -- horris. >> you know, prior to covid-19, i used to regularly go to the movies, i've actually never sat in the movie theatre, right before the movie started, hearing the trailer and finding out that what showed in the trailer is never shown in the movie. that was what cbs did and the fcc absolutely has the right to investigate what is called broadcast media, distortion, from the creation of the fcc, they are allowed to ask if the broadcaster manipulated the story or the news or the coverage that they are producing, the evidence is out there for everybody to see. >> sean: will there be repercussi

middle russian and ukrainian negotiators on ending the war here's what national security advisor mike wallace has to be a permanent end to the war. not a temporary end of the war. number two, this cannot be ended on the battlefield for number three it talks about how the structure of our aid has to change. number four we are talking about economic integration going forward. that's the best arbiter of peace. and in terms of long-term military security guarantees, those have to be european led. >> meanwhile the far left at media's trying to insinuate ukraine will not have an equal seat at the negotiating table but watch this exchange between nbc and the ukrainian president. >> have you been given any assurances that ukraine will have an equal seat at the negotiating table? >> so, i will never accept any decisions between the united states and russia about ukraine. never. we are thankful for all the support unity between usa and around ukraine support bipartisan support for all of this. but there's no one can make the deal with pollutant without us. >> right now we are taking a list in the world

it is like saying that mike wallace the national security advisor is unelected or susie wilde is on acceptor the communications team is unelected. this is presidential staff that serves at the pleasure and for the president just as i do. i am a staffer for the president of the united states. he is elected and he is one the american people have chosen to implement his agenda. this is the agenda of the american people voted for it that he is asking his staff, his subordinates, his employees to implement. the unelected power in this country is the rogue bureaucracy. usaid is unelected. the fbi, the persecutor president trump for eight years is unelected. the cia and those who have laundered intelligence to try to change the foreign policy of the united states or unelected. president trump is restoring democracy by controlling the federal democracy. there is one man in the country elected by the whole american people to implement an agenda they support. that is the president. every other officer in this country like members of congress and senators are elected at the state and local wetlook --

. >> this morning, white house national security advisor mike wallace was asked if the president's commentsthe end of the united states support for a two state solution. here's what he had to say. >> i don't. >> think i didn't certainly didn't hear. >> the president say. >> it was. >> the. >> end of. >> the two. state solution. you have the. palestinian authority, you. >> have the west bank. and when he was asked. >> directly, who. >> is going to live there in the future, he said the palestinians and perhaps many others. >> congresswoman, and i just want you, if you would, to expand on on what you were just saying, because there are we're just entering right now. the world is this second phase of the negotiations between israel and hamas to continue, hopefully bringing those hostages back out of gaza. what kind of effect do you think all of this talk here could play on those negotiations? >> i think that they would place those negotiations in serious jeopardy. if you listen to the statements of the crown prince, the prime minister of saudi arabia, who i've had the opportunity to meet with a

secretary of state marco rubio, national security advisor mike wallace and special envoy to the middlef will be going to saudi arabia this week to begin those negotiations with russia. this afternoon, president trump weighed in, saying ukraine would be included. >> zelensky to be involved in these conversations, what will he do? >> he will be involved, yes. >> joining me now, jonathan lovitz, a former senior adviser in the biden administration, and tara setmayer, co-founder and ceo of the seneca project and a former gop communications director. tara, i'm starting with you. do you believe trump? we just heard president zelensky saying, you know, they ain't going to be no peace deal without us. and then the president says, is he going to be invited? and he says, i believe so. yeah, yeah, he'll be invited. will he be invited? >> the answer is no. donald trump is a lying liar. >> who lies. >> this is the same. guy who got impeached the first. time over, trying to impound money for ukraine to use against his political opponent. he has sold ukraine out completely to russia. >> i suspect. >>

. >> white house national security adviser mike wallace said president trump is frustrated that zelenskyyuld have given the u.s. access to valuable ukrainian minerals as repayment for u.s. support during the war and future aid for ukraine. well, kentucky republican senator mitch mcconnell says he will not seek reelection next year. mcconnell made that announcement today on his 83rd birthday. the senator has dealt with a series of health issues in recent years, including injuries from falling and episodes where his face froze while speaking. mcconnell's announcement comes nearly a year after his decision to step down from his leadership post after the 2024 presidential election. >> the only appropriate thing to take away today. apart from a healthy dose of pride, is my immense gratitude for the opportunity to take part in the consequential business of the senate and the nation. >> mcconnell was first elected to the senate in 1984. he is the longest serving senate party leader in u.s. history, serving for 18 years. the senate confirmed kash patel as the new director of the fbi. today's fina

national security advisor during trump one, and i also am, uh, happy to see national security advisor mike wallace, secretary of state marco rubio and steve witkoff, who is the middle east envoy but is doing duty on this. i'm all for engagement, but we have to do it with a clear eyed view of what's happening. and i'll conclude with this, boris, if you kind of step back from this, who is who is going to gain if ukraine ultimately collapses and is conquered by vladimir putin, it will be not only vladimir putin who will end up with an additional 40 million, uh, national servants to his cause in the form of the ukrainians. also, china will become emboldened in taiwan. the global south. india, brazil, nigeria, pakistan, they're all watching how this is going to come out. and finally, our allies will come away extremely discouraged with the resiliency of the united states. >> i wonder, admiral, how you think the world would see specifically, our allies would see any kind of brokered deal between the united states and ukraine when it came to these rare earth minerals. donald trump saying that he he wants

. >> heard from the national security advisor, mike wallace, others who have been very outspoken aboutng back in december that general brown, the chairman, had a good. >> meeting with president trump. >> at the army. >> navy game. >> and the belief was he would have a little bit of time to be in this job. at this point, there is no indication that. anything has happened. >> from the time. >> president trump was inaugurated, until cq brown was relieved of his job. today, that was merit based. any reason, anything that has happened that has led to this and all indications are that this is the long standing gripes that president. trump and many of the people around him have had with cq brown that have led to this decision tonight. the reality is, cq brown has served honorably for four decades in the us air force. he has thousands of hours as a pilot, as a fighter pilot, and he has served in senior jobs, including the head of the air force in the middle east, in the asia pacific, the air force chief of staff selected for that job by donald trump, i might add. and then now, as the chairman,

trump's national security adviser, mike wallace is admitting the relationship between the two leaders is clearly going in the wrong direction, while emphasizing trump won't tolerate any criticism over his plans to try to end the conflict in ukraine. >> well, it's one that's. >> that's frustrated. >> right now. >> and clearly is going in in the wrong direction. but what president trump is focused on is. ending the fighting, going to a ceasefire and having. >> a broader. >> having a. >> broader agreement. >> i don't think anyone should be really, i don't know, criticizing the president for trying. >> to. >> drive this to a diplomatic solution. >> meanwhile, the mood in russia is clearly upbeat right now with the country's diplomatic fortunes on the rise thanks to trump. cnn's senior international correspondent fred pleitgen, has our report from moscow. >> breaking news. >> on kremlin. >> controlled tv. even the anchor can hardly believe her eyes. >> u.s. president. >> donald trump calling. >> ukraine's president. >> volodymyr zelenskyy. >> quote. >> a dictator in. >> a social media. >>

. >> 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, people living there, the world's people. i think you'll make that into an international, unbelievable place. i think the potential in the gaza strip is unbelievable, and i think the entire world, representatives from all over the world will be there and they'll and they'll live there. palestinians also palestinians will live there. many people will live there. >> the president saying. >> the potential is unbelievable. you'll notice that you know, him being a builder developer. >> that language. >> matches that banana. >> one of the. >> most potentially stunning. >> parts of this. >> is that the president. >>

the national security advisor, mike wallace, was on cbs this morning. he was asked that question. here's the answer. >> from an. >> american perspective. >> does this make americans safer? the first. >> concern people will. >> have is. >> well, there's terrorism there. >> is there not going to be terrorism. >> here because we're so. >> mixed up in this? >> well. >> it's the same. i mean, i think it's the same strategy and thinking of why we still have forces going. after isis. >> all over the world. >> we still have allies. >> and partners. >> helping us with al qaeda. the president just. >> authorized on saturday. >> a strike to a major isis. >> financier. >> recruiter and leader in the caves in northern. somalia that. >> frankly. >> our military. >> had been trying. >> to take out for. >> well over a year and couldn't get. >> the approvals. from the. >> previous white house. >> so i think what. >> you're asking is, why. >> do we support. >> our allies. >> and partners. >> in. counterterrorism with a group that is literally promising to conduct future october 7th, which was the n

but this morning, white house national security adviser mike wallace claimed in remarks at cpac that ukraine would eventually agree to what many ukrainians see as essentially a geopolitical shakedown. >> here's the bottom line president zelensky is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term. >> meanwhile, the bombs keep falling in ukraine. joining us now we have nbc news senior white house correspondent garrett hake and washington post lead global security analyst josh rogin. thank you both for joining us. garrett, i want to start with you. okay. you've got steve witkoff in ukraine saying supportive things about zelensky's character. you've got trump calling him a failed comedian and a dictator, and rubio reportedly telling allies not to worry about it. nothing has changed. who speaks for this administration and does anything anyone says other than trump even really matter at this point? >> christina, i think it's possible that all of these things are at least a little bit true. but one thing we have learned about donald trump through his time in the public

know that special envoy to the middle east, steve witkoff, along with national security advisor mike wallace, are headed to saudi arabia tonight. that's according to witkoff. they will meet up with secretary of state marco rubio, who is already traveling in the region for previously scheduled meetings. and there they will be meeting with a group of russian officials assembled by the kremlin. that's going to include political, economic and intelligence officials. really, what u.s. officials are characterizing as an initial first step following president trump's critical conversation earlier this week with president putin. so really a moment for them to assess whether putin himself is serious about ending this war. steve witkoff described this as a moment of trust building. and here's what rubio had to say about what he expects. >> president trump spoke to vladimir putin last week, and in it, vladimir putin expressed his interest in peace, and the president expressed his desire to see an end to this conflict in a way that was enduring and that protected ukrainian sovereignty, and that was an e

secretary of state marco rubio special envoy steve witkoff and national security adviser mike wallace touching down overnight in riyadh. talks between u.s. and russia are set to begin tuesday, with no place at the table for ukraine, at least not yet. still, president trump seems confident russian president vladimir putin is ready to cut a deal. >> i think he wants to stop fighting. i see that we spoke long and hard. steve witkoff was with him for a very extended period, like about three hours. i think he wants to stop fighting now. >> according to the kremlin, russia's foreign minister sergei lavrov, will also travel to riyadh for talks with u.s. officials about, quote, restoring the entire complex of russia. u.s. relations. now, the trump administration says a dual track of negotiations will be held in ukraine this week. president volodymyr zelenskyy insisting he won't allow an agreement to be imposed on his country. >> so i will never accept any decisions between the united states and russia about ukraine. never. and our people? never. >> joining this morning to discuss. cnn politic

that includes, according to sources, secretary of state marco rubio national security advisor mike wallaceell as special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, who will be in saudi arabia over the coming days to begin these talks with senior level russian officials. now, our colleague matthew chance has reported that the kremlin has begun assembling the senior russian officials, and they will include top political, intelligence and economic figures. now, president trump also told reporters that he expects that he could also be meeting himself personally with russian president putin. and he said that that could take place in the not too distant future and would also potentially be happening in saudi arabia. he also indicated that saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman could be part of those discussions. of course, the crown prince has been a key interlocutor between the u.s. and russia. now, one party that won't be at the negotiating table, according to special envoy to russia and ukraine general keith kellogg, is the europeans. kellogg did say, however, that the ukrainians would have a se

just last hour, white house national security adviser mike wallace said this about that deal.y is going to sign that deal, and you will see that in the very short term. and we are hearing from a ukrainian soldier about how the trump administration's cuts on us aid is affecting those in the battlefront. >> critics have said that president trump is exploiting ukraine, is taking advantage of its position right now in order to extract resources. you, as someone who's fought for this country so much. what do you think about that? between two evils, you have to pick the better one, he says. if i have to choose between the united states and the possibility that russia will take over our country, i pick the united states. >> joining us now is nbc's richard engel. he is in eastern ukraine. also with us is general barry mccaffrey, retired four star general and nbc news military analyst, and hagar chemali, former spokesperson for the u.s. mission to the un and the treasury department, as well as the former director for syria and lebanon at the white house national security council under

envoy keith kellogg in kyiv while back home, national security adviser mike wallace was asked whether president trump has what it takes to stand up to russian president putin. >> if there's anybody in this world that can go toe to toe with putin, that could go toe to toe with she, that could go toe to toe with kim jong un, and we could keep going down the list. it's donald j. trump. he is the dealmaker in chief. there is no question that he is the commander in chief. and i for one, and i think all americans and around the world should have no doubt about his ability to not only handle putin, but to handle the complexity of driving this war to an end. >> nbc's chief foreign affairs correspondent, richard engel, is joining me now from inside ukraine. richard, welcome. so what do we know about this meeting in kyiv? and why did a press conference that was scheduled get canceled? >> well, i. >> think. >> it has. >> to do with. >> exactly the subject you were talking about. there has been a very public fight, mostly a one way fight from president trump attacking president zelensky over the

rubio will be joined by national security advisor mike wallace and special envoy steve witkoff, who will be participating in the talks with their russian counterparts. as of right now, no ukrainian officials are expected to take part in these talks. zelenskyy spoke exclusively with nbc's kristen welker about the trump administration's efforts to reach a peace deal. >> have you. >> been given any assurances that ukraine will have an equal seat at the negotiating table? >> so i will never accept any decisions between the united states and russia about ukraine. there is no any leader in the world who can really make a deal with putin without us, about us. >> joining us now, nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel in ukraine, nbc's garrett haig from the white house. and kevin tibbles, former nbc news correspondent and the writer and reporter of the new documentary putin's endgame. the stakes beyond ukraine. so, richard, as these talks are set to get underway in saudi arabia, russia continues to attack ukraine's civilian infrastructure. what's the latest where you are right now? >> w

but he'll also be joined by the national security adviser, mike wallace, and the middle east envoy, steve witkoff, who is getting more and more, more and more involved in these ukraine talks because he's getting closer, uh, to the saudis, the saudis, for their part, they're not just hosting. they're going to have a role in this as well. they are they are mediating. so we can expect to see a senior, a senior team from the saudis as well. but the administration is saying these are very preliminary talks. this is why the ukrainians are not here. they have to get the ball rolling with the russians. eventually, they'll get to a point where the ukrainians, they hope, will also be at the table. so this is just the beginning. rubio saying that it's going to take weeks to figure out whether these talks are going anywhere, whether the russians are serious. dana. >> alex, thank you so much. appreciate it. you're going to have a very busy couple of days ahead of you. up next here, they voted for joe biden in 2020 and donald trump in 2024. four weeks into the second trump presidency, what do those vot

a three man team of secretary of state marco rubio, national security advisor mike wallace and special witkoff met with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov in saudi arabia, of all places, last tuesday. not on the list was president zelensky or any ukrainian official, for that matter, keith kellogg, trump's handpicked envoy to kyiv, wasn't there either, which is significant because kellogg is the strongest voice for ukraine in the trump administration. he and zelenskyy did meet in kyiv on thursday, and on friday, kellogg called the ukrainian president, quote, embattled and a courageous leader. but as the united states and russia negotiated, one congressional official who spoke to nbc said, quote, we have zero intelligence that putin is interested in a real peace deal right now. end quote. while the trump administration leaves ukraine out in the cold during direct peace talks with russia, trump is working on another deal with the ukrainian government. last week, the u.s. presented ukraine with a proposal ukraine would give the u.s. up to 50% of its raw mineral supply in exchange for u

which lasted for more than four hours, secretary of state marco rubio, national security adviser mike wallace and special envoy to the middle east steve witkoff said they are convinced russia is serious about peace. they also downplayed concerns that the ukraine and europe were left out of the talks. >> the goal is to bring an end to this conflict in a way that's fair, enduring, sustainable and acceptable to. >> all. >> parties involved. >> what that looks. >> like. >> will, that's what the what the ongoing engagement is going to be all about. >> we'll continue. >> to remind everyone, literally within minutes of president trump hanging up with president putin, he called and spoke with president zelensky. so shuttle diplomacy has happened throughout history. it's happened all over the world. we are absolutely talking to both sides. >> but president zelensky, who wasn't invited to saudi, reiterated his frustration with the way things are going. after meeting with the leader of turkey today, he said, quote, the war is happening in our part of the world very close by. and to ensure a reliable and

with those plans, we are learning that secretary of state marco rubio national security advisor mike wallace envoy to the middle east steve witkoff, will travel to saudi arabia for those talks now. our colleague matthew chance has learned that the kremlin has also begun assembling its own set of senior level officials to participate in those negotiations. that includes top political, intelligence and economic figures. now, president trump, for his part, has also indicated that depending on the progress of those talks, he too could meet in person in saudi arabia with russian president vladimir putin. he said that that meeting could happen in the not too distant future. and he also indicated that saudi crown prince mohammed bin salman could be part of those discussions. of course, the crown prince has been a key interlocutor between the u.s. and saudi arabia and russia. now, one party that won't be at the negotiating table, according to u.s. special envoy for russia and ukraine general keith kellogg, is the europeans. kellogg did say, however, that the ukrainians would have a seat at that nego

but to your point about this administration, even though mike wallace. >> the national. >> security advisorhan believing that abandoning ukraine is. >> in our. >> national security interest. president trump is the one who i think yesterday said it's ukraine's fault they started this war, which is just wildly untrue, bluntly offensive to everyone who understands what's actually happened in the last. >> three years. >> and the republican senators who were with me in munich, sitting. >> across the. >> table from president zelensky saying, we are with you now, need to put some spine. behind their statements. >> i mean. >> elizabeth. >> what this. >> the enduring question, what. >> is. president trump's. >> ultimate goal here? >> i mean, and. >> he's assisted by. >> by the vice president, j.d. >> vance, who said. >> as we in munich that that. >> germany should should be included, should it be, you know. >> be embraced the. >> the neo-nazi afd party. what is the ultimate goal here. in the grand. >> scheme of things? >> so i. think there's a basic division between moderate republicans and many oth

conference known as aipac, national security advisor, cpac, i should say national security advisor mike wallace predicted zelensky will sign that deal. they need investment. president trump's a dealmaker. and so now. but now president trump proposes the deal, right. and sent our treasury secretary all the way out to kyiv to propose it. and then we get this rhetoric in the media. look, here's the bottom line. president zelensky is going to sign that deal. in his nightly address, zelensky said in exchange, he wants security guarantees from the us that would ensure long term protection from russia. this is russia continues to pound ukraine with more airstrikes, killing at least seven people overnight in the donetsk region. joining now from kharkiv, ukraine, is nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. richard, is this national security adviser comment that zelensky is going about to sign this agreement with the united states? is that seem like it's possible? >> it does seem like it's possible. we don't know exactly what the deal is going to say, but the ukrainians are indicating that they

>> i do remember mike wallace. yes. >> meanwhile the cyclicals continue to do well.tom. amazing. the largest steel company. >> well they're going to have a license to raise price. yes right. not every company can do that. >> they're the big winners because chinese steel is not going to come in anymore i think it's very important. >> the prime minister of japan and trump, i believe, will be meeting as well. there is some hope. you're talking steel on us steel that somehow they can change that. conversation around a tariff review. >> listen to it. maybe i listen to jim farley last night and he said there should be a tariff. tariff. jim farley's called is i love farley, but farley was the one who just said, listen, this can't happen. we can't have it happen. >> we can't have what happened? >> the tariffs. >> oh. >> meanwhile, i'm telling you about shienbaum. we never focus on china. she won't do any interviews, but. wow. i mean, come on, mexico, there's like, 60% approval is about as high as you ever get down there. they are standing behind china. all right. >> yes. >>

his national security advisor, mike wallace, was asked this, but he said this administration is always fighting terrorists around the world. didn't really answer the question of whether this made americans safer. but in your reading of things, does saying something like this inspire more radicalism? >> well, katie, i will answer the question, which is when you look at extremist muslim forces around the world, i mean, they they view what's happening right now. >> in gaza. >> and over the last year as a genocide. america's own ally, mohammed bin salman, a crown prince in saudi arabia, has said he believes it's genocide. that's why you had the head of the cia and the head of national intelligence under biden saying that we were already facing a generational increase in radical islamic extremism, including directly against the united states. so, i mean, if you ask me, does trump saying we're going to take gaza, does that make it at the margins even worse? sure. but that's really not the point here, right? i mean, the point is that u.s. policy in the region is directly antithetical to what

i heard that was a talking point during modi's meeting with national security adviser mike wallace earlierand we just saw elon musk leave blair house, where he too met with the indian leader, artificial intelligence starlink, expanding tesla into the emerging market. i'm told we're all discussed and big tech will be watching these meetings closely. we know google, microsoft, meta have invested billions in the country in recent years. >> it's interesting. they say they'll, you know, relax tariffs on harley, maybe a preview of what other countries might do once these reciprocal tariffs are broadly announced and buy more lng in india. the he just tweeted as well posted on x that he had a very good meeting with elon musk in washington discussing issues including space mobility, technology and innovation. >> yeah, this is a relationship that musk has been growing in recent years. he met with modi back in 2023, in new york city, where we reported that he talked about expanding tesla into the country. but then right after that, he didn't actually follow up with those plans. he doubled down on exp

of course, we had mike wallace on earlier.ways talk about that question john asked in helsinki and donald trump saying that he trusted vladimir putin more than his own intel agency. at the same time, things like that were going on that would shock the conscience of, of anybody that knows anything about foreign policy. donald trump's vice president, mike pence, would be in europe, and he would be delivering a speech against russia that ronald reagan could have delivered. and so it is interesting, and i we always talk about what happened with the republicans in donald trump's first term, passing some of the toughest sanctions on russia yet. so, i mean, the new york post. exactly right. we are dealing with a dictator in, in, in russia. it is going to be interesting to see if donald trump's second term regarding russia plays out like his first term did. >> yeah. i mean, look, as keith kellogg playing the good cop to trump's bad cop and a deliberate way or is there, you know, is he off the reservation? and he's not been i mean, eve

and what really troubles me is what you started with nicole, mike wallace, the national security adviser. he knows that secretary of state rubio, he knows that i just was at the munich security conference a few days ago. i saw lots of republicans there. they know it. they need to step up now because this is a dangerous moment in american history, a really dangerous moment. this is not a laughing matter. this could be a pivotal moment where we lose our allies, we lose ukraine, and then we are weak when we have to take on places like china. >> i mean, michael crowley, rubio authored the most devastating and damning indictment of donald trump's ties to russia when he took over as the chair of the senate foreign. senate intelligence committee. rubio knows that the things trump is saying aren't true. i think the other thing that's in sharp relief today is the complete impotence of trump's national security apparatus heads. i don't even know what we call them. what what is the sort of reporting coming out of the state department about rubio's role in standing by trump in these lies? >> well. >

mike. >> wallace. >> the national. >> security advisor, marco. >> rubio. >> our national security interest. president trump is the one who i think yesterday said it's. >> ukraine's fault. >> they started this war, which is just wildly untrue, bluntly offensive to everyone who understands what's actually happened. >> in the last. >> three years. >> and the. republican senators. >> who were with me in munich. >> sitting across the table from. >> president zelensky, saying, we are with you now, need to put some spine behind their statements. >> i mean. >> elizabeth, what. >> the enduring question. >> what is. >> president trump's ultimate goal here? i mean, and. >> he is assisted. >> by by the vice president. >> j.d. vance, who said, as we in. munich that. >> that. >> germany should. should be included, should. >> it be, you know. be embraced. the. >> neo-nazi afd party. what is the ultimate. >> goal here in the grand scheme of things? >> so i think there's. >> a basic division. >> between moderate republicans and many other republicans. >> margaret. >> repub