← The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Trump slams Putin as ‘crazy’ after attacks on Ukraine
01:06:24
Tonight on The Last Word: Donald Trump condemns Vladimir Putin after Russia strikes Ukraine. Also, Trump attacks judges in a Memorial Day post. Plus, Trump escalates his fight with Harvard University. The Trump trade war undercuts American battery makers. House Republicans pass a bill that would cut Medicaid funds from Planned Parenthood. And Trump delays 50% tariffs on EU goods until July 9. Amb. Michael McFaul, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Norm Ornstein, Laurence Tribe, Michigan State Rep. Joe Tate, Rep. Adam Smith, Carrie Baker, and Betsey Stevenson join Lawrence O’Donnell.
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This is a special holiday weekend edition of the Last Word. Russia defies Trump with largest Ever Drone and Missile attack on Ukraine. That is the headline in the Wall Street Journal after Russia launched what Ukrainian officials said was the largest aerial assault on on the country since the war began. More than 350 drones and missiles bombarded dozens of Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv, last overnight Saturday, killing at least 12 people, including three children, according to Ukrainian officials. Donald Trump, who claimed he would end Russia's war against Ukraine on day one of his presidency, said this about Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday I'm not happy with what Putin's doing. He's killing a lot of people and I don't know what the hell happened to Putin. I've known him a long time, always gotten along with him. But he's sending rockets into cities and killing people. And I don't like it at all. Okay, we're in the middle of talking and he's shooting rockets into Kiev and other cities. I don't like it at all. Of course, Vladimir Putin has been doing that every day since he sent Russian troops to invade Ukraine on February 24, 2022. And when Vladimir Putin started that war that day, Donald Trump said that Vladimir Putin is a genius. That's what Donald Trump said at the beginning of Vladimir Putin launching this war. Last night, Donald Trump posted on social media that Vladimir Putin, quote, has gone absolutely crazy. He is needlessly killing a lot of people. And I'm not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into cities in Ukraine for no reason whatsoever. Again, Vladimir Putin has been doing that every day of his war. Russia has continued to escalate the attacks since Donald Trump has been commenting on them according to the Kyiv Independent law, launching its third large scale aerial and drone assault against Ukraine in three nights, killing at least six people and injuring 24 over the past 24 hours. And today, a Kremlin spokesperson said that Donald Trump's statements about Vladimir Putin's war are, quote, an emotional reaction due to, quote, emotional overload. Our first guest tonight, former Ambassador to Russia Michael Lamphall said on social media. Trump is always tough in words on social media, but he never follows through in actions, which makes him look weak. Joining us now is Michael McFaul, former US Ambassador to Russia and an MSNBC international analyst. And Ambassador McFaul, to read Donald Trump saying, Vladimir Putin is crazy, and he's crazy because he's killing a lot of people. This is something Donald Trump could have said every day since February of 2022, back when he was calling Vladimir Putin a genius for starting this war. Exactly, Lawrence, and I'm glad you're pointing that out. Putin's behavior has not changed at all. He's been acting like this from the beginning of the war, slaughtering civilians, kidnapping Ukrainians, launching these massive attacks against civilian sites. And I'm glad that the President has finally acknowledged it and observes it. I hope it will compel him to change his strategy because his strategy of negotiating, of trying to end this war, which I applaud, by the way, I'm glad he's trying. But to just appease Putin and give him everything he wants and put pressure on Ukrainians has not achieved any results. And just the contrary, I actually think now the Russians are mocking the President of the United States. Why do you think, with your knowledge of Vladimir Putin and your study of him, why do you think Putin is deciding to do this and in effect, at least on social media, at least for a day, turn Donald Trump against him? You know, President Trump, as he said in that tweet, that comment, I've always had a good relationship with Vladimir Putin. I think it's important to remember that Putin's never thought that about President Trump. When people try to appease him, when they treat him and they praise him, he sees that as signs of weakness, not strength. And I would say that's true with all leaders for the last 25 years. And so now he's just calling his bluff. He's like, you're a tough guy on social media. You won't do anything. And I think his calculation is President Trump will eventually walk away. He'll stop providing assistance to Ukraine. And that's exactly what Vladimir Putin wants, because he wants to continue this war. I don't think he's really interested in negotiating an end to this war. And it seems that the Trump walking away version of this is to, in effect, claim he tried. But he'll maybe say something along the lines of both sides don't want peace, there's nothing I can do, and then turn his back and maybe somewhere in there claim some kind of victory, because he always does. Yes, tragically, I think that's true. And the second point you just make is very important. He couldn't resist. Right. He had to take a shot at President Zelensky in that same statement. So he'll blame both sides and walk away. But I want to underscore this is not in America's national interest to have a president of the United States behaving this way. Because if we walk away and we don't achieve the objectives he promised, it's just not bad for Ukraine. It's bad for security in all of Europe. It makes everybody have to worry about our commitment, and it's bad in Asia. I was just in Taiwan a couple months ago, and let me tell you, the people on the island of Taiwan are watching very closely because if we abandon Ukraine today, what's to say we won't abandon other friends, allies and partners tomorrow? And going forward, as you see it militarily, can the Europeans help support Ukraine enough without the kind of support the United States has been delivering? Well, they will, and they should. And I think most certainly especially with the production inside Ukraine, especially of drones, they'll be able to hold on. But there are certain kinds of weapon systems, himars, atacms in particular, that the Ukrainian armed forces need. And we're the only country in the world that has them right now. So if we do withdraw, that will have very negative consequences for the armed forces of Ukraine. What is your reading of how President Zelensky has been handling the unfolding of these events since his time in the Oval Office that deliberately went badly because of Donald Trump and J.D. vance trying to make it go badly. I think he's doing a very admirable job, Lawrence. I mean, he met with the president without any cameras, without the vice president there in Italy. That meeting seemed to go very well. His team with Secretary Bessant signed the minerals deal. I think that was a win for the United States, win for Ukraine. When President Trump said There should be a 30 day unconditional cease fire. President Zelensky immediately jumped and said, I'm ready to do it. And when President Putin then said, well, we need direct talks, President Zelensky called his bluff and flew to Turkey. So I think he's doing everything he can. And therefore, I hope that the president will reconsider this idea of, of just walking away from the Ukrainians, because that I think sends a very bad signal about our credibility. And I also just think it's the wrong thing to do. There is good and evil in this war. It's not both sides are at fault. One side is a democratic country. The other side is a dictatorship. The United States of America should be on the side of good, on the side of democracy. Ambassador Michael McFaul, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you. Thank you. Coming up inside the Republican budget bill that was passed by the House of Representatives by only one vote is a provision that's gotten very little notice that targets the authority of federal judges. That's next. The Republican budget bill, which includes more than $700 billion in Medicaid cuts and $500 billion in Medicare cuts and nearly $4 trillion in tax cuts, mostly for very rich people, passed the House by one vote. Last week. No Democratic House members voted for the bill. And today Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said there will be no Democratic votes in the Senate for that same bill, which means the Republicans can afford only three Republican senators votes and still pass that bill. Yesterday, Republican Senator Ron Johnson said he doesn't think there are enough Republican votes in the Senate to pass the bill. I think we have enough to stop the process until the president gets serious about spending reduction and reducing the deficit. Senator Rand Paul said he won't support the bill as currently written. I can't vote to raise the debt ceiling 5 trillion. There's got to be someone left in Washington who thinks debt is wrong and deficits are wrong and wants to go in the other direction. Somebody has to stand up and yell, the emperor has no clothes and everybody's falling in lockstep on this. Pass the big, beautiful bill. Don't question anything. The New York Times reports that House Republicans slipped a provision into their bill which, if enacted, would limit federal court's authority to hold Donald Trump in contempt. Quote, the sprawling domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House on Thursday would limit the power of federal judges to hold people in contempt, potentially shielding President Trump and members of his administration from the consequences of violating court orders. The provision would apply retroactively to court orders that were made before it was enacted, including ongoing cases where federal judges are weighing whether to hold Trump administration officials in contempt over deporting immigrants. Federal court cases have issued at least 25 nationwide injunctions against Donald Trump, according to the Congressional research service. On May 15, the Supreme Court heard arguments in three cases that currently prevent Donald Trump from denying citizenship to American born babies. At 7:22am today, Donald Trump proved once again why he is unworthy to be president of the United States by posting on Memorial Day this poison on social media. Happy Memorial Day to all, including the scum that spent the last four years trying to destroy our country through warped radical left minds, all protected by these USA hating judges who suffer from an ideology that is sick and very dangerous for our country. Hopefully, the United States Supreme Court and other good and compassionate judges throughout the land will save us from the decisions of the monsters who want our country to go to hell. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Zoe Lofgren, California. She's a member of the House Judiciary Committee and served on the January 6th select committee. Congressman Lofgren, thank you very much for joining us tonight. And when I see those words, USA hating judges, that sort of thing from Donald Trump and you think back to Richard Nixon, who was literally driven out of the presidency by the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruling against him. Richard Nixon never once dreamed of using language like that to apply to any federal judges. Well, let's be frank, Lawrence. If a member of Our family approaching 80 years of age posted that after midnight in all caps, our family would be trying to do an intervention and get some medical help to see if this person was suffering from dementia. Looks really unhinged. But on the merits of what's happening, I'm very disappointed. Well, I'm unfortunately not surprised that the Republicans are trying to take judicial power away from the judiciary. I mean, Article 3 fully vests the judicial power of the United States in the courts. They have full power over all cases in law and equity. And we went through this in the Judiciary Committee. To try and retroactively remove the authority to enforce your rulings is unprecedented and really contrary to upholding the rule of law. You know, earlier today I was at some Memorial Day services and one of the things I said was, you know, those who we honor ran towards gunfire and they gave everything for our freedom. We're not asking those of us today to run into a barrage of machine gun fire. We're just asking people to stand up for the rule of law and for the Constitution and to preserve our democracy. And those remarks were well received this morning. What would it mean to the country if this provision restricting the authority of federal judges were to become law? Well, as we discussed in the Judiciary Committee, judges have the authority to set what the bond would be. They could set the bond at $1 and you could raise that by, you know, spare changing it outside the courthouse. The real pernicious aspect of this is it's to apply retroactively before judges ask for a $1 bond in the effort to prevent the Trump administration from being held accountable not only for violating the law, but for violating court orders, which several courts are on their way. It looks to me like finding, and there's really no need, I mean, for an injunction to be issued, a court has to find that the petitioner has a likelihood of prevailing at file and that they will suffer irreparable harm. So it's not as if, you know, this is willy nilly, you know, a casual thing for a judge to do. The whole intent of this is to save Donald Trump's administration from being held accountable for violating court orders that have already occurred. And it's really despicable, really. Representative Zoe Lufgren, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you. And joining our discussion now is congressional historian Norm Orenstein. He is an emeritus scholar at the American Enterprise Institute of. And Norm, this is Memorial Day. You have read so many presidential declarations. On Memorial Day, Donald Trump issues one. And he talks about scum. And he's talking when he does that, he's talking about federal judges, he's talking about anyone who voted against him. He's talking about every Democratic member of Congress, every Democrat governor in the country. That's what he's deciding to address. And that's the way he wants to talk about people in this country on Memorial Day. It's what a narcissistic sociopath would do. Lawrence and let's remember that the day before he gave a commencement address at West Point, our emerging military leaders, that itself was unhinged, wore his campaign hat and then left before doing what every other president has done when they've given that address, which is to shake the hands of the people who are graduating from West Point, he said I to deal with China and Russia and then went off to play golf. So the contempt that the commander in chief we now have has for our fallen heroes and for emerging military leaders is sickening. Let's also note, Lawrence, that this provision that you were just talking about with Zolofgren does not in any way fit under the rules of Reconciliation, something you know well from having dealt with it over many years in the Senate. But I wouldn't be surprised if somehow some version of this bill goes through that the Senate Republicans will basically bypass the parliamentarian who will tell them flatly, no, you can't do this to try and make it happen and hamstring the judiciary from holding any of the Trump people, including lawyers who are flouting judges orders, in contempt. You know, we're dealing with a hostile takeover of the government by somebody who doesn't like our own military, but who also loves what other dictators are doing. And then we can get to the substance of this horrific big, beautiful bill. I want to go back to that first note you struck about the mental capacity of the current president of the United States, which is on display every day as completely inadequate for the presidency on any level, be it intelligence or knowledge or emotional stability or even appreciation of very fundamental things about what it means to be American, that is relentlessly on display, nonstop. At the same time, when some people want to just keep the focus on Joe Biden and what condition was he in in the final year of his presidency when Joe Biden never, ever, ever said anything like what Donald Trump just said today, what Donald Trump says every day, and no one has pointed out a single presidential decision that Joe Biden got wrong somehow because of mental capacity, Donald Trump. We're seeing just the scene you described yesterday at West Point is something where anyone would question met the mental health, the mental capacity of that person. You know, sadly, Lawrence, our mainstream press continue to normalize the abnormal and treat Trump as if he were a standard president, maybe, you know, sometimes deviating. They we will see good investigative articles, often very good op eds, but then we'll see headlines about speeches like he gave at West Point, completely unhinged, treated as if they are reasonable speeches. And this focus on Biden, I believe, with a press corps giving out medals to those writing books about Biden's capacity, saying, see, they're the ones responsible for what's happened here and why we have Trump, without even reflecting on their own culpability for not holding a truly unhinged president accountable, is a real serious part of the problem. I would also note, Lawrence, that the other day Trump signed a slew of executive orders and it was clear he had no clue what these did or what was in them. The presidency is being run, for the most part, the domestic part of the presidency by Elon Musk, and particularly by Russell Vaught, the head of the Office of Management Budget, who stayed out of the headlines, but who was the architect of Project 2020 25, and that's now what's governing our domestic policy. While this guy natters on and issues unhinged post on true social or with speeches that he gives. Note also, Lawrence, that they've taken down all of the transcripts, virtually all of them, from what Trump has said officially or unofficially, because they know if people look at those, it will become very clear what the mental situation and capacity of Donald Trump is. They're covering up for him in a way that makes what Joe Biden did look like jaywalking compared to hit and run. Norm Ornstein, thank you very much for joining us. Really appreciate it. You bet. Lawrence, good to see you. Coming up, Donald Trump is escalating his attack on America's oldest and most distinguished university every day. Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe will join us next to respond to Donald Trump's latest attack on social media against Harvard this morning. This morning on social media, Donald Trump once again attacked the oldest university in America, saying we are still waiting for the foreign student lists from Harvard so that we can determine after a ridiculous expenditure of billions of dollars, how many radicalized lunatics, troublemakers all should not be let back into our country. Harvard is very slow in the presentation of these documents and probably for good reason. The best thing Harvard has going for it is that they have shopped around and found the absolute best judge for them. But have no fear, the government will in the end when I am considering taking $3 billion of grant money away from a very anti semitic Harvard and giving it to trade schools all across our land, what a great investment that would be for the USA and so badly needed. Joining our discussion now is Professor Lawrence Tribe, who has taught constitutional law at Harvard Law School for five decades. Professor Tribe, what is your response to Donald Trump's latest attack? Well, it's really hard, Lawrence, to know where to begin. He's obviously unhinged. He has no idea what he's talking about. He just thinks that slinging around, frankly, BS about the people at Harvard and other institutions will somehow substitute for taking the law into account. He has been throwing everything he can at Harvard and courts have put a stop to it. It's there was no judge shopping the district court that happens to have the other Harvard case, the federal district court in Boston with a very capable judge. Allison Burroughs obviously has this case. It's closely related to this case involves Trump's attempt to tell Harvard that it can no longer host foreign students. Now that's crazy. There's no legal basis for it. He's talking about information that he would like about students. He wants to know details about what they say, what they think. That's a violation of the First Amendment. But put it in perspective. Harvard is going to admit about 25,000 new students. They're entering in four months. 18,000 of them are Americans. Those 18,000 eagerly await something like 7,000 foreign students whom Trump is trying to basically frighten into throwing away their hard thought, well earned admission letter, the letter that tells them they are the best of the brightest from around the world. And he's doing that by threatening, with no legal basis, Harvard's right to admit them. There's a program called the Student Exchange visitor program. For 70 years, Harvard has been admitting the most brilliant students and scholars from around the world. They are welcomed not only by Harvard, but by the United States, because what they learn, what they discover, benefits the country. Benefits the country and benefits the health and welfare of all Americans. We used to have a program, it was called Operation Paperclip, to attract the most brilliant students from the countries we defeated in World War II. Many of the people who came to this country, like Albert Einstein, made this a mecca of discovery and learning. But obviously this is a president who hates intellect, who despises the symbol of excellence in the world of higher education around the world. He thinks he can score points by attacking Harvard. But I have a message, and it's a message that I wouldn't bother delivering to him. I don't know that he'd understand it, but a message to those seven students, those 7,000 students that he's trying to frighten away. Don't be scared. This guy is a paper tiger. He's a tin horn tyrant. In the month of May, there were all kinds of cases across the country, judges appointed by Republicans and Democrats, involving Donald Trump and his megalomaniac attacks on all of our institutions. And you know what his record was? He lost over 95% of them. Just a couple of hours after his lawless and savage claim that he was going to shut down Harvard as a host for foreign students. Just a couple of hours after that, of course, Judge Burroughs entered a temporary restraining order. She's going to hold a hearing this Thursday. I will be interested in hearing what in the world Harvard will confront, what in the world Trump's lawyers can possibly argue. There is no law that justifies what they're trying to do and their attempt to retaliate against Harvard for not turning over all kinds of information to which they have no right in violation of the privacy of these students retaliating against Harvard for having a curriculum that this president doesn't like, not that he understands it, that retaliation is flagrantly and flatly unconstitutional. Among other things, picking out by name a particular institution is what the framers of our Constitution called a bill of attainder. He is trying to basically destroy a particular institution, and then he'll turn to others. But right now, he's named one and 7,000 identifiable students who've been admitted. He knows their names. It's not a secret. They have admission letters. He's trying to target all of these people for retaliation. So if you want to know what my answer is, my answer is, see you in court, Mr. President. Yeah. This demand he makes today, he says he's waiting for the foreign student lists from Harvard. All of their visas are granted by the State Department. Every one of them. The State Department knows every single student visa that it says issued. And so part of the madness that he spews just includes stuff like that that is not. Doesn't require some kind of special discovery from Harvard or from any institution. Right. In fact, that's the story of this whole case. He keeps coming up with crazy demands, either for information he already has or for information he has no right to have. He wants to know what the. Basically, if you read closely, what he's asking for, he basically wants to know what these students are going to read. He would love to know what they're going to say, what they're going to think. He wants to be confident that they won't join any protests against Israel's war in Gaza. It's all an attempt to take over the intellectual underpinnings of a private university. And anybody who isn't connected to Harvard shouldn't feel, you know, confident that they won't be next. The one thing we have going for us is the law. And what is clear is that federal courts, regardless of who appointed them, have some fidelity to the law. They actually care about it. And they have been successful very quickly in telling Trump to stop. Now, it is true that no member of the Trump administration has yet been held in contempt. But just wait. Proceedings are underway. Contempt findings and criminal contempt findings are not at all unlikely. And the only reason that's taking time is, is that our judges are trying very hard to make absolutely sure that they dot every I, cross every T, and that their contempt adjudications will be upheld. Then Trump is likely to say, well, they've been held in contempt, but I'm going to pardon them. Well, the pardon power doesn't really extend to contempt of court when it's criminal contempt inherent in the court's own power. He likes to pardon people if they are on his side and if they engage in violence. But that isn't going to help here. So clearly it's not a situation in which students ought to be scared, although it's hard to blame them. You know, it's. It's not so hard for me, somebody who was born to Russian Jewish refugees in war torn Shanghai, who was welcomed to this country at the end of World War II, to honor the people who sacrificed their lives so we could enjoy the fruits of freedom. And it's pretty easy for me to see Memorial Day as an occasion to stand up to somebody like this tyrant. It's harder for lots of foreign students who face these threats and wonder, am I safe? But the siren of safety in succumbing to lawless power is really illusory. If you give up in advance, that's when you're not safe. But trust me, Harvard has your back because you are crucial to us and to our survival. The intellect that you bring to Harvard and to the country is something we value and need. So we're on your side. And America's judges have your back because you're prevailing over Trump in this lawless war he is waging on the mind is vital to our courts and their survival as keepers of the flame of the rule of law. So, yes, you've got an enemy in this deranged Donald Trump, but you've got millions of friends, and they will support you. That's why I think that the threats that this deranged president is making in these ludicrous tweets should not be taken seriously, although the threat he poses to the country is as serious as hell. Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Tribe, thank you very much for taking the time to join us today. Really appreciate it. Thank you, Lawrence. Okay, coming up, new reporting from Michigan about how the Trump tariffs are actually threatening American industry. That's next. Hey there, everyone in podcast land. I just wanted to thank you all for listening and telling your friends about our little podcast. Let's talk off camera with me, Kelly Ripa. I know there are millions of podcasts out there, so I really appreciate you giving us a listen. There are so many gems from season one from Matthew McConaughey disclosing that he and Woody Harrell said in might be brothers to Salma Hayek telling us about the argument that started her friendship with Prince. Hope you enjoy season one and stay tuned for a bigger and better. Season two Building a business may feel like a big jump, but On Deck small business loans can help keep you afloat with lines of credit up to $100,000 and term loans up to 250,000, on deck lets you choose the loan that's right for your business. Business As a top rated online small business lender, OnDeck's team of loan advisors can help you find the right business loan to fit your needs. Visit ondeck.com for more information. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by Ondeck or Celtic Bank. Ondeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. Dear old Work Platform it's not you, it's us. Actually, it is you. Endless onboarding, constant IT bottlenecks. We've had enough. We need a platform that just gets us. And to be honest, we've met someone new. They're called Monday.com and it was love at first onboarding. Their beautiful dashboards, their customizable workflows got us floating on a digital cloud nine so no hard feelings, but we're moving on Monday.com, the first work platform you'll love to use. The New York Times is reporting today on how the Trump tariffs and the Trump Republican budget bill are harming the emerging American battery industry. The New York Times reports from Holland, Michigan. Domestic factories that make batteries to store power to meet America's rising energy demand depend on Chinese components and federal subsidies. But President Trump's tariffs on China may knock this fledgling industry off course. Another threat is brewing in Congress, where House Republicans, with Mr. Trump's blessing, have passed a budget bill that analysts say would drastically restrict access to subsidies for making and using rechargeable batteries. According to one Bloomberg analyst, if the Republican budget bill took effect in its current form, it would be something of a kill switch for the tax credits available for making batteries. It also would quickly end tax credits for installing them on the grid. Former Democratic speaker of the Michigan House of Representative Joe Tate has announced his run for Michigan's the for Senate seat in Michigan in 2026 with an ad against the Trump agenda. Washington has broken faith with us. Instead of creating opportunity for all, Donald Trump and the Republicans are cutting taxes for the wealthy and they're betraying our senior citizens, our children, and my fellow veterans to do it on the battlefield and on the football field. I never backed down from a fight. My Michigan story begins with the foundation's my grandpa Joe laid. I'm running for U.S. senate to lay a foundation for the next generation of Michiganders, one strong enough to protect the promise Michigan holds for every family. Let's get to work. Joining us now is Democratic Michigan State Representative Joe Tate. He's now a candidate for United States Senate. Senate in Michigan. Thank you very much for joining us. This new reporting from the New York Times about what the Trump tariffs, the Trump budget is doing to a Michigan industry, this industry that is obviously hugely important for the future, rechargeable batteries. Is that becoming broadly understood in Michigan, how these tariffs are not actually protective of the industries the way Donald Trump says they are. Well, thanks for having me on your show, Lawrence. Before I jump into your question, I hope your viewers have had a chance just to reflect on the service members that lost their lives in the military in the state of Michigan. We have over 400,000 veterans that live here in this state. As American and Marine veteran, I'm incredibly grateful for their sacrifices and protecting our freedom and self governance. To answer your question is it's getting there because what we're seeing now, frankly a lot of Michiganders are seeing that Trump's tariffs are simply attacks on Michiganders and the chaos is being created and being seen on the ground already. We're seeing companies like General Motors who are losing stand to lose billions of dollars in revenue, which that cascades down to profit sharing for workers. We're also seeing investments that the state of Michigan, when I was speaker, we made those investments whether it was in Detroit or Marshall or Lansing for this battery technology. We're seeing pauses on that. We're seeing the private sector not wanting to do that because of the chaos that Trump is creating. And lastly, he broke his promise when it came to tariffs. He said he will lower costs at the beginning of his presidency and frankly, prices are continuing to rise nationally and that is also impacting these investments that companies have been making into this new battery technology. Thank you very much for your service in the Marine Corps and thank you very much for reminding us all what this day is actually all about. I'm very grateful that you did this. And as you go forward in your campaign, what are the are there issues that are local to Michigan that in a Senate campaign there that we wouldn't be focusing on at the national level? What we're seeing from Michiganders, I think first and foremost is the issue of cost of living. We are seeing Michiganders that have built foundations for themselves and their children and we're seeing that Donald Trump is the primary threat to that with tariffs in the economy trying to tear down those foundations. We know that we are losing that. Michiganders are losing money. They're having a harder time putting food on the table and they're having a harder time with job opportunities because of what is going on and what is taking place in this economy. And I would say if I could sum it up in just one statement, it is the loss of opportunity for economic mobility. There's also, obviously, if the Republican Trump budget bill passes, there's going to be a significant loss of Medicaid participation in the state of Michigan. People are going to lose their health care coverage there. There's going to be cuts to Medicare that are forced because of that budget bill. What do you say to those voters worried about their health insurance in Michigan? Trump and House Republicans have frankly been pushing a bill that's going to, that's going to cut core programs for Michiganders. That includes Medicaid. You know, if this bill, the spending bill that they pass out of the House moves through, you're going to look at nearly 30% of Michiganders who are on Medicaid lose their coverage. And that's a problem. And that's actually a Republican idea and a Republican plan. That is, frankly, why I'm a Democrat. I believe that Democrats have the best ideas, but we need to have a continuous bias for action in terms of where we're moving forward. And we need to show voters that they need to understand that Democrats with their ideas and their actions will be successful in the future facing elections. And frankly, we don't need figures like Nancy Pelosi trying to determine who's going to be the next representative from the state of Michigan and D.C. so from one former speaker to another, I think she has her endorsement wrong. Michigan State Representative Joe Tate, now candidate for the United States Senate in Michigan. Thank you very much for joining us. U.S. thank you, Lawrence. Thank you. MSNBC's coverage continues right after this. Russia bombarded Ukrainian cities for the third straight day today in what Ukrainian officials are calling the largest aerial assault since Russia invaded Ukraine over three years ago. This time 900 drones and missiles slamming cities across Ukraine. New York Times reports that over the last week, Ukraine says that Russia has directed at least 1,390 drones and 94 missiles at targets across Ukraine. The Ukrainian Air Force said the attacks have killed at least 30 civilians and injured more than 163. The attacks overnight followed Donald Trump actually criticizing Russian President Vladimir Putin, who he called a genius at the beginning of Vladimir Putin's war. Overnight, Donald Trump saying Vladimir Putin is, quote, absolutely crazy. Trump's words. Donald Trump says he has gone absolutely crazy. He is needlessly killing a lot of people. And I'm not just talking about soldiers. Missiles and drones are being shot into cities in Ukraine for no reason whatsoever, which, of course, Vladimir Putin has been doing every day of this war before. Donald Trump just noticed it this weekend. Donald Trump said this yesterday. I'm surprised. I'm very surprised. We'll see what we're going to do. I don't like what Putin is doing, not even a little bit. He's killing people and something happened to this guy, and I don't like. The Wall Street Journal headline reads, now Russia defies Trump with largest ever drone and missile attack on Ukraine. And a Kremlin spokesperson said that Donald Trump's statements about the situation are, quote, an emotional reaction due to, quote, emotional overload. The New York Times reports the campaign comes a week after Mr. Trump spoke to Mr. Putin by telephone and appeared ready to abandon his efforts to secure a ceasefire. Russia has clearly seen an opening as the United States, long the main arsenal of Ukraine's resistance, pulls back from the diplomatic process and resists supplying Kyiv with additional military assistance. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky referred to Vladimir Putin's increasingly brazen attacks, as he called them, and the inaction of the Trump administration in response, saying in a post, quote, only a sense of complete impunity can allow Russia to carry out such strikes and constantly increase their scale. Putin demonstrates how much he despises the world, which spends more effort on dialogue with him than on pressure. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington. He is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. Thank you very much for joining us on this Memorial Day. Our special coverage. Donald Trump seems to have discovered exactly how Vladimir Putin has been running this war every day, but this is the first time Donald Trump finds it objectionable. Yeah, no, it's. I wish I could say it was shocking, but it's somewhat consistent with the degree to which Trump really doesn't pay attention to the world. But this is what people were saying during the campaign. If you want peace in Ukraine, you have got to put pressure on Putin. Trump throughout the campaign, then after he was elected, once he got in office, put all the pressure on Ukraine and on Vladimir Zelensky. Didn't put the pressure on Putin, didn't put the pressure on Russia. And basically Trump showed Putin weakness, and Putin took advantage of that. Look, Putin, for years going back to 2014, has been very clear about his intentions in Ukraine. The only way to stop him is to stop him. Frankly, to do what the Biden administration did, which is put together a 53 nation coalition to help arm Ukraine and help them defend themselves. If Putin is stopped, that forces him to the bargaining table. But Trump just gave Putin a green light in Ukraine. Now he's waking up to day so surprised by what pretty much everybody paying attention has known for years. The only hope is maybe Trump has figured it out and maybe he will put the pressure on Putin, you know, bring our allies together and give Ukraine a better position, put Ukraine in a better position to defend itself and end this war. And everything we're seeing this weekend comes after Donald Trump had his phone call with Vladimir Putin, which at the time, the White House wanted to portray as a very helpful phone call that advanced the situation in the right direction. It'd be. Now, in retrospect, one has to wonder what might have been said by whom in that phone call that left Vladimir Putin going in this direction. Yeah, I mean, I think it's just consistent with what Trump has done throughout. And that is, like I said, to basically, you know, abandon Ukraine, make it look like he's sympathetic to Russia. I mean, some spouting Russian talking points. I mean, it's so embarrassing that at the UN The US Refused to support resolutions under the Trump administration condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Almost like blaming Ukraine for being attacked. All of that rhetoric, all of that messaging just told Putin that if he waits it out, you know, he'll, he'll be fine in Ukraine. So we, we need to reverse that. Certainly it's crucial we continue to provide military and other assistance. But then I think increasing sanctions on Russia, and the one piece of this that hasn't been reported as widely as I think it should, Ukraine has done a remarkable job of stopping Russia in the last five or six months. Russia is enduring enormous casualties, both in terms of people and equipment to inch forward in Eastern Ukraine. Russia is in trouble. As long as we don't back away from Ukraine, Ukraine can survive and stop Putin. And that's what we need to do. Congressman Adam Smith, thank you very much for joining our discussion. Thanks, Lawrence. And joining us now is Michael McFaul, the former U.S. ambassador to Russia. And on MSNBC, international affairs analyst and Ambassador McFaul. We know that among Republicans in the United States Senate, there is some strong support for Ukraine. It may not be the governing majority of them who are strong, but there's a very solid group who have been strong and consistently strong. And it seems that Vladimir Putin's conduct over this weekend might give them an opening in the argument they've been trying to make, possibly in private with Donald Trump. Well, I certainly hope so, Lawrence. I think that would be a fantastic outcome. You're right. There is a majority in both houses in the House and the Senate that support Ukraine. If you had the Democrats, by the way, the American people do, too. When do you get polls where 81% of the American people agree? 81% of the American people don't trust and don't like Vladimir Putin. So if the president wants to do what's right, but also what's popular, this could be the time for new sanctions and a new aid package to Ukraine. You know, this situation, I think, does point back to the Trump Putin phone call, which is their, as far as we know, their only point of major contact this year in the new Trump presidency. And Vladimir Putin after that phone call, has decided to do this, which makes, of course, whatever was said in that phone call so much more important to understanding what's going on now. Exactly. And, of course, we don't know all the details. They talked for a long time, but my guess is Vladimir Putin said nice things about, I want to do a ceasefire. And Trump said, well, that's great. Let's get a deal done. And what is Putin's actual response? Not his words, but his actions to launch this horrific attack on civilians last night. And I think the president is finally understanding that Putin may say one thing and may humor him when they talk, but he's actually not interested in. In doing a peace deal. And moreover, I think he is embarrassing the President of the United States by doing things like this just days after they talked. It makes President Trump look weak, and I can't imagine that is a good feeling for the President. Ambassador Michael McFaul, thank you very much for joining us. Thanks for having me. And coming up, if the bill passes the Senate, Donald Trump's budget bill would leave millions of Americans without health care and could force hundreds of Planned Parenthood clinics to close. That's next. Hey there, everyone in podcast land. I just wanted to thank you all for listening and telling your friends about our little podcast. Let's talk off camera with me, Kelly Ripa. I know there are millions of podcasts out there, so I really appreciate you giving us a listen. There are so many, so many gems from season one from Matthew McConaughey disclosing that he and Woody Harrelson might be brothers to Salma Hayek, telling us about the argument that started her friendship with Prince. Hope you enjoy season one and stay tuned for a bigger and better. Season two Building a business may feel like a big jump, but On Deck small business loans can help keep you afloat. With lines of credit up to $100,000 and term loans up to 250,000, OnDeck lets you choose the loan that's right for your business. As a top rated online small business lender, OnDeck's team of loan advisors can help you find the right business loan to fit your needs. Visit ondeck.com for more information. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by On Deck or Celtibank. On Deck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval. Dear old work platform. It's not you, it's us. Actually, it is you. Endless onboarding, constant IT bottlenecks. We've had enough. We need a platform that just gets us. And to be honest, we've met someone new. They're called Monday.com and it was love at first onboarding. Their beautiful dashboards, their customizable workflows got us floating on a digital cloud nine so no hard feelings, but we're moving on Monday.com, the first work platform you'll love to use. For my Republican colleagues who assure what is in and not in this bill, in this process that has been this rushed, when you wake up in the morning, you will realize that you voted to defund Planned Parenthood and to take away health care from 13.7 million Americans. And when this country wakes up in the morning, there will be consequences to pay for this. And I yield back. That was Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez before Republicans voted for a bill that would leave millions of Americans without health care coverage and forced Planned Parenthood to shut down 200 clinics, leaving 1.1 million patients without access to care. In a statement, Planned Parenthood Action fund President Alexis McGill Johnson said, quote, defunding Planned Parenthood is as unpopular as it is dangerous. But House Republicans don't care about what the American people want, want or their ability to get basic health services. We know what defunding will mean. Nearly 200 Planned Parenthood health centers could be forced to shutter, and more than 1.1 million patients could lose access to care. Cancers will go undetected, STIs will go untreated, and birth control will be harder to get, all while charging the taxpayers nearly $300 million to do it. Smith College professor Carrie Baker, who will join us in a moment, writes in the Washington Monthly, quote, the number of abortions in the United States has skyrocketed in recent years despite the Supreme Court overturning constitutional abortion rights in 20, 22 and 18 states banning first trimester abortions. Spurred by restrictions, abortion rights advocates have pioneered new abortion pill delivery routes both inside and outside of the medical system that have revolutionized abortion access in the US in ways anti abortion policymakers will likely not be able to stop. The primary reasons for the expansion of abortion access despite state bans are the advent of telehealth abortion during the pandemic and the development of community support networks that provide free abortion pills to individuals living in restrictive states. The convenience and affordability of abortion pills are critical because half of those seeking abortions in the US Live in poverty and another one quarter have a low income. 60% already have children. Telehealth abortion community networks and websites selling pills enable those who lack transportation or who can't take time off from work or afford childcare to obtain abortion services. Joining us now is Carrie Baker, professor of Women and Gender Studies at Smith College. She is the author of Abortion U.S. history and Politics. Professor Baker, your reporting on this has become so much more important now with the possible shutdown of Planned Parenthood clinics if this bill is passed. But the but you've described in detail, I'm sure, very much to the surprise of people who are trying to stop abortion in this country, just how people have adapted to this new regime. This presumably will put even more pressure on the telemedicine side of this issue. Yes, restricting access to contraception will increase the number of abortions. We've seen this already in states that ban abortion, that unwanted pregnancies have gone up because of restrictions and access to contraception and abortions will go up. They won't stop abortions because if people are determined, if they can't afford a pregnancy and don't want to carry it to term, they will find a way to end a pregnancy. And we know this because from around the world where nations have bans on abortion, it doesn't stop abortion. It just means people have to find alternative routes. And I think about Prohibition. Prohibition didn't stop people from drinking, Right. If people want to control their bodies, they're going to find a way to do it. And abortion pills are safer than Tylenol, are 98% effective, and people are finding them in creative ways in the United States. What would you anticipate if this bill is passed that would restrict Planned Parenthood so much? What changes would you anticipate in what you've been covering, what you've been reporting on? Well, I think that more people will need abortions, more people will end up with unwanted pregnancies. You know, if Planned Parenthood closes down, people won't have access to contraception, they won't have access to cancer screenings, to STD screenings. Many of these Planned Parenthoods are located in rural areas and low income areas and there aren't alternative sources of care. And so people are going to end up with a lot more unwanted pregnancies. And we know when people have unwanted pregnancies and they're not able to care for those children, if they were to have them, then they get abortions. And abortion pills are widely available. I think this was an unintended consequence of the overturn of Roe v. Wade during the pandemic. Even before the overturned because of the rise of telehealth, people began to get abortion pills through telehealth. Two thirds of abortions are done with medications and over 20% are now done with telehealth. And the thing about telehealth, it means that people can get it no matter where they live, even if they live in states with restrictions. There are now eight states that have telehealth provider shield laws that allow providers in those states to serve people in all 50 states states. So those clinics are now mailing pills to people in Texas, in Louisiana and Georgia, and the 18 states that ban first trimester abortions. And in addition, it's very affordable. The clinics that are serving those people are serving them on a sliding scale fee. They're very determined to get this care to people so that people don't end up with unwanted pregnancy, having to carry unwanted pregnancies to terminate. So that's all within the medical system. So those are doctors in states like Massachusetts or New York that are mailing medication abortion to people in banned states. But then there's also a very vibrant underground network where people are sharing pills for free in states that are restrictive. And these medications are again remember, very, very safe. Safer than Tylenol, much safer than Viagra. And these networks which again, in countries around the world where abortion is banned, these kinds of community networks exist. And so one example is redstate access.org and every state that bans abortion, there's a community network in that state. And all people have to do is email the Proton account that's listed on the Red State Access website. And these networks will send these medications. These are reliable networks, it's safe. And then they also have support for people using the pills. In addition, there are a bunch of websites selling abortion pills. These pills should really be over the counter. That's how safe they are. And the only reason that they're restricted is because of anti abortion political pressure which has made them very historically very hard to access. And you can buy them on the website for about six, so it's quite affordable. And all of these resources are available on a website called plancpills.org and it has a dropdown menu. You put in your state and it will tell you exactly what community networks serve your state, the vetted e commerce website selling abortion pills as well as the telehealth providers serving your state. Professor Carrie Baker, thank you very much for joining us. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Coming up, Donald Trump once again caved on his illegal tariffs, agreeing to delay tariffs on the European Union. The continued chaos and failure of Donald Trump's illegal trade war is next. Today, CNBC reports that market analysts are warning investors should buckle up for more volatility as the potential for a trade war has not completely dissipated. Despite US President Donald Trump's delay of rolling out 50% tariffs on the European Union. Yesterday, Donald Trump pushed the deadline for his 50% tariffs on all goods imported from the European Union to July 9. Neil Shearing, chief economist at Capital Economics, says the scale of the increase in tariffs, the capricious manner in which they were threatened and the growing size of US Budget deficits are unsettling financial markets. This all points to concerns about policy direction in the United States lacking credibility and that the guardrails are coming off. Joining us now is economist Betsy Stevenson, professor of economics at the University of Michigan. She served as chief economist for the Department of Labor in the Obama administration. Professor Stevenson, thank you very much for joining us. I have very, very confidently declared to the world on this program that these Trump tariffs won't go into effect. But I'm not running a company in Europe where I really have to kind of plan. My prediction is based on Donald Trump has saw what the stock market does to him when he does that. He won't do it again. But he loves continuing to play the game that these tariffs are in his hand, ready to impose at any moment. What is just the threat doing to the international economy and the American economy? Well, I mean, you nailed it by talking about the uncertainty. And what would you do if you were a business? You can say these tariffs won't go into effect, but we actually don't have really any idea what's gonna be announced tomorrow, the next day. Even if the tariffs go into effect, will they last 24 hours, 24 days, 24 weeks, we just don't know. And what that basically means is that there is option value of waiting to get more information. So what a lot of companies need to do is just not move ahead with investments or new hiring or plans for the future until some of this uncertainty resolves. And that even if none of these tariffs ever go into effect, that's going to be enough to slow the global economy. The United States more than any other country will be hurt by that, but it will. You know, it is having effects that are ricocheting across the globe because it's hard to make plans if you actually don't know what kind of market you'll be able to sell into. The other thing that, again, this is. Our foreign trading partners would not have such a good focus on this, is that all of these tariffs are illegal. There is absolutely no authority anywhere in law for a president to impose a 50% tax on everything coming from the European Union. And they are all subject to court challenges right now. And so it is entirely possible that courts will be throwing out the president's authority to do this in the way he's done it. There's a very, very limited legal authority for specific tariffs on specific goods from specific places for national security reasons. But the. The world has to live with the bluster that they get from Donald Trump. They don't have any other choice of saying, okay, now it's July 9th. Well, look, I'm an economist, not a lawyer, so I don't want to comment on the legality. But what I will say is the difference between an actual formal trade agreement, which we're not planning to get from anybody, is when you get a trade agreement that's signed by Congress, we know that that document is gonna last for longer and typically lasts into a new presidential administration. These are handshakes. These are, he calls them trade deals. They're kinda like trade winks. It's not really clear what's gonna last and how long it's gonna last. So even if the President can announce that he has made some kind of arrangement, the reality is we don't know how long that arrangement's gonna last. It may be undone, as you said, by a court. It may be undone in the midterm, after the midterm elections. It may be undone by another president. If you're thinking about making an investment in a factory or something that you need to yield returns over many decades, you can't count on any of this to last. And I think that that is true. Regardless of what the courts do, there's a whole bunch of other actors that could change these rules of the game. And so if, if I'm a company making a decision, if I'm a CEO, I'm putting a pretty low weight on the probability we have these tariffs for the next 20 years. And even if you get an actual trade deal with Donald Trump, Trump, he has shown he will violate it because the only trade deal he ever really got in his first presidency was the update of the North American Free Trade Agreement. And as soon as he gets back into the presidency, he violates his own trade deal with Mexico and Canada. Well, I mean, it is true that consistency is not a strength of this administration, but I think one of the big concerns I have is that the administration does not seem to understand the interplay between tariffs, trade deficits, exchange rates, and budget deficits. And so while Trump is, on the one hand trying to negotiate with countries because he wants us to be exporting more and importing less, he's running up a budget deficit that requires that we sell Treasuries all over the globe in order to fund it. Those two things don't go hand in hand very well without a lot of movements in the dollar. Professor Betsy Stevenson, thank you very much for joining us. My pleasure. Coming up, Harvard Constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe will respond to Donald Trump's latest attacks on Harvard University. That's next. Hey there, everyone in podcast land. I just wanted to thank you all for listening and telling your friends about our little podcast. Let's talk off camera with me, Kelly Ripa. I know there are millions of podcasts out there, so I really appreciate you giving us a listen. There are so many gems from season one from Matthew McConaughey disclosing that he and Woody Harrelson might be brothers to Salma Hayek, telling us about the argument that started her friendship with Prince. Hope you enjoy season one and stay tuned for a bigger and better season two.