ruhle starts now. >> tonight, president biden reveals his motivation for running in 2024. plus, the world when day on capitol hill, from military promotions to ukraine funding and the impeachment battle. or break it all down. and jack smith's plan to use donald trump's own or it's against him in the election interference case. then israel expanding its ground offensive in gaza, amid a worsening humanitarian crisis. and what happens next in the house's negotiations, as the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday night. good evening, once again, i am stephanie ruhle, at msnbc headquarters in new york city. president biden is pulling no punches about why he is running for reelection. today at a campaign event in boston massachusetts. he told supporters, quote, if trump was not running, i am not sure i would be running. and added that he cannot let him win. tonight, in iowa, trump had this response to the president. >> they don't want me to run. it's very interesting. democrats are funding nikki haley. democrats are funding ron desantis. everybody wants to run against biden. >> meanwhile, one of trump's maga allies in the senate has ended his blockade on most military promotions. alabama republican tommy tuberville held up hundreds of promotions for almost a year to protest a pentagon policy that allowed service members to be reimbursed for travel costs related to abortions. >> i am releasing everybody. i still have a hold on things. everybody else is completely released from. >> late today, the senate confirmed the promotions in a single voice vote. >> the eyes appear to have it. the eyes do have it. the nominations are confirmed on the block. >> now, mister president, today, hundreds, hundreds of military families across the country can breathe a sigh of relief. the senate has now unanimously confirmed hundreds of military nominations that were held up for ten months by a single person, the senator from alabama. >> it comes as congress has not settled another battle involving a key white house priority, funding for the war in ukraine. that country's officials are warning without u.s. aid, they are at risk of losing the war with russia. today, the biden administration again made its case for more funds. >> we are at the bottom of the barrel, when it comes to our ability to provide security assistance to ukraine. we cannot continue to fund ukraine security assistance without additional support from congress. >> republicans in congress say two things have to happen before any aid is approved. >> we must secure our border. we need substantive change there and secondly, provide critical answers with regard to objectives, oversight at the funding, our endgame strategy. >> a great way to secure the border would be immigration reform, and that would involve congress. with that, let's get smart with the help of our lead off panel. tonight jonathan allen's here, senior national politics reporter for nbc. retired marine corps lieutenant colonel amy mcgrath. she also ran for senate in kentucky against minority leader mitch mcconnell and tim miller is here. the chairman of the bulwark and the former communications director of jeb bush. mr. allen, i turn to you first. quebec in your political commission, when joe biden ran in 2020, i remember that he talked about what happened in charlottesville, and how that impacted him and influenced his decision to run. what did you hear in his comments today? >> i heard a president making what i think was a statement a lot of politicians do, which is to become pundits, and talk about these sort of contours of the race in a global analysis kind of roy. that said, what he is saying is not surprising. i think there are a lot of democrats to agree that donald trump is basically the rays on that threat of a second biden run. he said during the first campaign that he wanted to be a bridge president. he does not want to be a bridge from a first term donald trump term to a second donald trump term. he wants a bridge past donald trump. he believes that work is unfinished, and for the democratic party, he remains. there is some criticism of him internally, but he's stronger than any democrat or. now >> without a doubt. amy, joe biden's campaign message to voters are now is starting to focus on things like imagine life under trump in 2025. if you think the last presidential election, scores of people came out the vote against donald trump, so is that a good shot of you for joe biden to use again? >> absolutely, i think you have to do two things. you have to remind people that you can lead competently. i think biden will continue to talk about that message, with all of the things that they have been able to pass and basic competent leadership. the american public want to. and also to remind people of the chaos of donald trump, how we all woke up every morning and wondered what he would tweet today, or will kind of work you would get us into. these are the types of things he has to continue to talk about. a former secretary of defense, mark esper, came out and reminded people that donald trump wanted to deploy active duty troops in washington d.c. to shoot fellow americans. that type of thing, biden has to remind people of that craziness and chaos in a donald trump presidency. >> tim, i want to play what one donald trump voters played in iowa told one of our nbc colleagues today. >> i really blindly follow trump at this point, yeah. >> will you be watching the gop debate tomorrow? >> no, probably not. >> why not? >> i am not into politics. >> but you're here today? >> because it's a donald trump. >> he's different than just politics? >> yeah. >> tim, what does that say about the people who say that trump has their vote no matter what. >> well, it's hard for me to get in the head of that woman. well, the one thing that we have in common is that we both will not be watching the debate tomorrow night, it's meaningless. we will start with that commonality. >> and you both like beret's. >> i have never put on a beret. i could see myself in one, never say never. i think that what that clip tells us is that donald trump has a base of supporters that are outside of the republican base of supporters. he also has a huge loyalty, in a majority of the republican party,, not everybody, but a majority. and then he brings additional people to the table, and this is a vantage in this primary, and this also kind of explains the hold he has over the party, because a lot of the republicans, we have done this a lot of weeks now, steph, why don't all of these rubble publicans come out and say, let's get rid of him, we could do better than nikki haley, we need to get rid of trump, or are the generals, where is mitch mcconnell, where is george bush, you can name them. a lot of people still in politics worry that if they, if the party shows him, and they lose women like that, i think that is at the core of his hold over the party right now. >> yeah, but, tim, look at what nikki haley is doing. she raced almost half 1 million dollars just a day at a wall street event. she is creating quite the stir in politics circles. is it off or not? >> definitely, it's more than off or not. did we do this already, i feel like we're on groundhog day here. that money, the one and a half million, is more than outweighed by the clip issued at the beginning of this, of donald trump saying that the democrats and the big donors are coming after me. republican voters hate the big wall street donors. they don't think they did a good job stewarding the economy. they don't like their politics. they don't like immigration reform, don't care about corporate tax cuts. donald trump is on the side of the voters, and the big donors are not, and so, when i see a political story like jimmy diamond is talking about how democrats should go cross over to vote for nikki haley, okay, maybe that's like a strategy. i think nikki haley will be a better nominee than trump, but maybe do that quiet. maybe don't talk to the reporters about it, because donald trump is getting a lot more mileage and positioning nikki haley as their candidate at the big donor class, that nikki haley is getting out of money that goes to 32nd tv ads that give generic info about what people should join her instead of the guide that they joined a coat for. >> amy, why do you see the donor class not get behind joe biden? why do you say that democrats should move over, why not back biden? just tonight, donald trump, i saw him on another network saying, i don't know if joe biden will make it. on what grounds are voters, educated voters, big donors saying, you are right, when joe biden is presiding over the united states, while there are two wars happening overseas, he's getting a ton of legislative wins, with the republicans in congress creating chaos on top of chaos. >> yeah, i don't get it, i feel like, these big donors, they see the threat of donald trump. so many, i think even republican politicians, know the threat of donald trump, but at the end of the day, it really shows, that they care more about either their own power or their own narrow interest than they do the country itself. this is the problem that i have had with the republican party in the last six years or so, which is that people that i once respected, people that i thought had some principles, all those principles are gone. they are not the party about national security, not the party of law and order. they are not the party of anything that we thought republicans were just ten years ago. and i think these big donors also fall in line with that. >> all right, amy then, i have to ask about a republican that i am quite sure that you are not aligned with or his values in any way, tommy tuberville, has changed his tune and has now released his hold on some military promotions. what do you think? >> number one, i would like to remind people that we are not out of the woods yet. we still have 11 senior ranking officers, and these are the most senior, four star admirals and generals at the highest levels, three combatant commands who still don't have commanders are. now we are not out of the woods. and i also would like to remind people what this is all about. tommy tuberville does not want, or did not want military women to have reproductive health care. he did not want military women to cross state lines to be allowed to cross state lines to get an abortion. even in the cases of sexual assault, rape and life of the mother. that is how radical this mega, extremist wing at the republican party is, that is what this is about. hurting our national security, hurting our military in the process. thankfully, he's relented on 400 or so, but we still have the 11 left. it sets a terrible precedent, stephanie, as we go forward. >> tuberville has loved being mega maga, john. do we know what got him to move? >> i think the clear answer, stephanie, is that his own party did not support him. it got to the point where republicans were ready to start their own stuff. now, there are republicans who would like the united states to be able to defend itself, as well as possible, and that is not what goes on with all of these appointments not being made. it's not that the democrats put pressure on, although they did. it was that the republicans put pressure on them. he was going to become a pariah with his own party, instead of other senators who had already become a prayer. i don't know how he would games of this. maybe he thought that the university of alabama would it 30-foot yard pass for a touchdown to be auburn. that was never going to happen. he was obstinate, obstinate and finally, willing to grab folks who were in the armed service community. they got to him. >> but it is the alabama fans, tim, that got him elected. joe biden today said that he hopes in terms of tuberville, nobody forgets what he did. our alabama voters really going to hold it against him? >> probably not, if we are being honest here. -- as an lsu man. here are the voters that might matter, atlanta suburb voters. they say that they will not vote for tommy tuberville for senate, but they'll be important for the presidential election in 2024. i think going to weigh me was talking about, if joe biden can prosecute a campaign against donald trump, if it is aimed at those suburban atlanta voters that my effort for george bush or mitt romney, and says, hey, you can vote for a party that has abandoned all the values that brought into that party before. one example of the values is that they don't care much about national security. they care about culture more than national security, as evidence at what tommy tuberville did. there will be other example citing trump, of course. i do think it will be a point that helps biden with that demo voter, which will be important next fall. >> amy, new topic, it's one i've asked you about before, and i need you to educate and remind our audience of. holding up funds for ukraine. explain to us the real risk associated with this, just last night, i was speaking to a russian journalist, who said that vladimir putin is feeling like he is winning the war. he's not convinced a lot of powerful successful people in russia, that this is a great moment for them. how important is it for us to continue our support, and why, for ukraine? >> when you are fighting a war, you run out of things like ammunition. that needs to be replenished. i think secretary of the current secretary defense austin set it best when he tried to remind americans here that the ukrainians are fighting and on the frontlines fighting russian aggression. if we do not help them do that, it is going to be u.s. forces. it is going to be american troops in europe during the. we did it once, right? we've done it all throughout the cold war, but not in a way that was. ,. . ,,,. ,,,,,,. >>,,, brought january six footage that he plans to release to the public. >> we have to blur some at the faces of persons who participated in the events of that day, because we don't want them to be retaliated against. and could be charged by the doj and to have other concerns and problems. >> what? his spokesperson later said that johnson meant that he wanted to keep the footage from on line amateur investigators. isn't that incredible, coming from the house speaker, and i would like to add, for members of his caucus, who have been arguing that it was antifa, it was an inside job, why not show the faces and prove it? >> that's one good point, of many. it's so outrageous, to show how deep they republicans are. this is the speaker at the house, saying that he wanted to protect people who charged the capitol and attacked police from being investigated by authorities? that is crazy. imagine if the shoe was on the other foot here. imagine if there was a democratic politician right now saying, we should blur the faces of the protesters that are menacing, owners at the jewish deli right now, or we should blurred the faces of protesters that broke into buildings in kenosha. people would be rightly outraged. fox news would be on fire, rightly, for once. if you just imagined the converse of this, you can see how crazy it is, and with the expectations for republicans are so low, that i worried this is the kind of think that blows over the next day, but it is absolutely appalling that the speaker of the house would suggest that these are the sides of somebody that charge the capital over federal government officials. >> john, what is your take on the hill, it seems like we're seeing more and more republicans rework the narrative of january six, which was an attack on our country? >> speaker johnson, at the lateral -- level of the federal government, speaker johnson saying in personal terms, that if somebody charge into his, house vandalized at the house, and he had secured a video of, it he would blur it before he sent it out to the news media or police. it's unimaginable that he would had that thought, never the less expressive. it ties into what congressman liz cheney's argument about whether or not republicans, whether republicans should be in charge of the house in the future in that, if mike johnson had had is way, they would not have been a battle over rioters storming the capitol. perhaps, the capitol doors would have been left open for them. it's really an amazing, astounding and shocking thing to see, as you say, the reworking of history, in particular, in this moment where, speaker johnson appears to be defending, trying to defend people who rushed into the capital, literally trying and suggesting trying to obstruct justice. a spokesperson came out later to say that the the adjacent had serious takes. but what appeared to be in his mind there was the idea that he could protect these people and storm the capital, not just that his house but the people's house, in order to try to overturn an election. >> that is the most important point, not just his house, it is our house. john allen, amy mcgrath, tim miller, always great to have you here. i appreciate you joining us tonight. when we come back, jack smith wants the jury to hear about donald trump's earlier attempts to sow doubt about elections. our chief legal explainer glenn kirschner is here to break it all down, why this matters from the election interference case. and later, over 100 people are still being out hostage in gaza, as israel is expanding their offensive. former nbc news tel aviv chief borough reporter nic fletcher is here on the hostage negotiations and the war. the 11th hour just getting underway on a tuesday night. derway on a tuesday night. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. and, they felt dramatic and fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least one heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq, as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. disrupt the itch and rash of eczema. talk to your doctor about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. i got this $1,000 camera for only $41 on dealdash. dealdash.com, online auctions since 2009. this playstation 5 sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than $34. and this nintendo switch, sold for less than $20. i got this kitchenaid stand mixer for only $56. i got this bbq smoker for 26 bucks. and shipping is always free. go to dealdash.com right now and see how much you can save. a mystery! jessie loves playing detective. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide pods free & gentle. it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free & gentle is epa safer choice certified. it's got to be tide. 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