Morning Joe - Morning Joe 2/8/23

Episode Date: February 8, 2023

Biden starts State of the Union with unifying tone and GOP paints bleak picture in SOTU response.

When world leaders ask me to define America, and they do, believe it or not, I can define it in one word, and I mean this, possibilities. Today, our freedom is under attack, and the America we love is in danger. President Biden and the Democrats have failed you. We're often told that Democrats and Republicans can't work together, but over the past two years, we've proved the cynics and naysayers wrong. President Biden and I don't have a lot in common. Time and again, Democrats and Republicans came together. He's the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can't even tell you what a woman is.

We have to be the nation we've always been at our best. Optimistic, hopeful, forward-looking. We are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn't start and never wanted to fight. We have to see each other not as enemies, but as fellow Americans. After years of Democrat attacks on law enforcement and calls to defund the police, violent criminals roam free while law-abiding families live in fear.

I've never been more optimistic about our future, about the future of America. We just have to remember who we are. In the radical left's America, Washington taxes you and lights your hard-earned money on fire. Very different tones last night between President Biden's mostly optimistic looking State of the Union. Can't anybody play this game? Why is my former party so stupid? He fed it to them and they.

The booing. Yeah. The call. Like we said yesterday on the show, Republicans, he wants you to yell. He wants you to shout. As my grandma from Dalton, Georgia, would say, he wants you to act like you were raised in a barn. Good job. You did all of those things.

No, Willie, seriously. I swear to God, I said this a couple weeks ago. I really do think that there is a plant inside the RNC. And it is a Democrat that was planted in there somewhere in like 2013, 2014, with the sole purpose of making Republicans the dumbest political party that's ever existed. Like Biden didn't even have to give a good speech last night. The Republicans time and again just hell you. Amazing. Boom. Set up one jam after another. It's the plant who wrote the RNC memo that said we need to lean into election denialism.

And Ray Craig. Even after the midterms. Bring a balloon. Yeah, I mean, President Biden came alive in those moments last night where he was battling in real time with Republicans who gave him exactly what he wanted. And then he almost Jedi mind tricked them

into a standing ovation and agreeing with him. Right. We're not going to touch Social Security. We're going to protect our seniors. We're not going to touch Medicare. So, you know, we can talk about how everybody felt about the speech. But on that side of it, they probably got what they wanted in terms of fundraising Republicans. But he did, too.

I mean, their clue should have been when he raised his hand, Gene, and said, you will strengthen and protect Social Security and Medicare. And they all stood up at the same time. I will, Obi-Wan. I will. And they said, Obi-Wan, we will all strengthen and protect Social Security. You may pass. Come on, man. This is too easy for Biden. It's not even fair. It was like he had the ad libs ready almost, you know, and he was so enjoying that. He did. One of the things that was striking to me about the speech was how much Biden clearly enjoyed himself, enjoyed the moment, enjoyed the back and forth, enjoyed,

of course, he had the advantage. He was like dominating, you know, the Marjorie Taylor Greaves of the world. But he just he was just like, you know, I welcome your. Yes, exactly. Insanity. And Elizabeth, the start of the speech, you're sitting there, you're going, OK, am I going to be able to stay awake? It was it was it was slow. That's what you start. You start out racing through his remarks, you know, reading from the teleprompter. He stumbled over a few words. We were sitting there thinking, I don't know about this, you know, and then. Right. They shouted at him and he came alive and he was on his feet. Great, great, quick response. You know, I don't think it's that easy to ad lib when you're giving the State of the Union address. But he gauged in the back and forth with those Republicans and co-host of Showtime's The Circus, Jen Palmieri.

I loved how he shook hands with Kevin McCarthy, then shook hands. I mean, he really took the moment at the very beginning, which I know started maybe a little slow, Elizabeth, but he showed symbolically that you can reach out to the other side and gave Americans the visual. To Kevin McCarthy, to mitch where's mitch uh yeah he was just a lot of some really good bipartisan highlights off the top yeah and he was just in his element too you know he was like super comfortable with that at that podium you could tell like congressman that is his milieu and he was able to be able to engage in people and be fiery, but not be angry, which I thought was really important.

And remind people that bipartisanship can exist. You know, one of my sisters texted me. She's like, so glad that people can agree on things still like that. That can still exist in the country to like lay out all of the because most of the country doesn't know all the things that passed last Congress with bipartisan support. But to lay that out, to be gracious to Kevin McCarthy at the beginning. And what were the number of bills he said? It was surprising to me, like 200. He signed like 200, 300 bipartisan bills. Yeah, that really jumps out at you.

Yeah, it's like proof of concept. This can work. Democracy can work. My way can work. Okay, but hold on one second. So you just brought up democracy, right? That was interesting. He says we Americans, sounding like Ronald Reagan, unlike other countries. We get out of a crisis stronger than when we entered into it.

And I believe it. I just do. And Americans believe it, and they want to believe it. Most Americans want to believe it. He says it last night, Willie, and he says, basically, no matter what people are saying across the globe, forget about them. Our American democracy is strong and resilient.

Republicans could not stand up and cheer for a strong and resilient American democracy. What does that mean that they didn't stand up? If your party has problems with that because of your base, it's time to

go back to the cashier and exchange your base for a new base because you're going to lose elections for a long time to come. A lot of people sitting in that chamber participated in the attempted coup. So maybe they felt, I don't know, a brief moment of shame about that. But it was interesting to watch Speaker McCarthy sit there and he would glance over at his caucus. OK, we're not clapping. But he finally he finally applauded when Biden spoke for democracy. He did. He did. He finally applauded democracy.

But, you know, things like it took a while. Affordable insulin. Everyone cheers. I mean, there are some things hopefully we can agree on manufacturing. Yeah. And so Kevin sits here like this and then he just slowly. Oh, you've got to think about whether you're for returning manufacturing jobs to wisconsin michigan pennsylvania north carolina georgia it's not that hard jonathan lemire and yet the immortal words of melissa manchester even the simple things become rough haven't you had enough i listened to a lot of cases and i think we can make it. One more time.

Yeah, I can't sing the next one. But they make the easy things tough. That's what I'm getting at. Nobody here listened to Casey Kasem in the 1970s. Go ahead, Jonathan. Why so hard? Why is it so hard? It's as if the White House had sort of laid a couple of traps last night

and the Republicans walked right in them. You'll recall over the weekend I reported White House aides said what they hoped most out of this speech would be a repeat of last year's where Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert and others got up and started heckling the president. They think that split screen really shows off that his he's somber and serious and they are unserious and incendiary. And they did it even after Kevin McCarthy warned them during the day. McCarthy's office leaked that he told Republicans, hey, don't do that. So first, we have another example of the limit of his power over his own party. And second, they did it anyway. And that's an image that the White House is thrilled about.

I heard from a couple of senior aides last night, very senior aides, in the aftermath of the speech saying we couldn't have drawn it up any better because that's what people are going to be talking about today. The president called for bipartisanship and talking about American greatness and trying to reach across the aisle to work together. And instead, he got jeered and heckled and Republicans coming out opposing programs that are broadly popular with the American people. So here is that exchange between President Biden and heckling Republicans over the debt ceiling. Nearly 25 percent of the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone. The last one.

They're the facts. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. How did Congress respond to that debt? They did the right thing. They lifted the debt ceiling three times without preconditions or crisis. They paid American bills to prevent an economic disaster to the country. So tonight I'm asking the Congress to follow suit.

Let's commit here tonight to the full faith and credit of the United States of America will never, ever be questioned. Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage. I get it. Unless I agree to their economic plans. All of you at home should know what those plans are. Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset. I'm not saying it's a majority.

Let me give you anybody who doubts it. Contact my office. I'll give you a copy. I'll give you a copy of the proposal. That means Congress doesn't vote. I'm glad to see you. I tell you, I enjoy conversion. You know, it means if Congress doesn't keep the programs the way they are, they'd go away. What other Republicans say, I'm not saying it's the majority of you. I don't even think it's even a significant, but it's being proposed by individuals. I'm not politely not naming them, but it's being proposed by some of you. Folks, the idea is that we're not going to be,

we're not going to be moved into being threatened to default on the debt if we don't respond. Folks. So, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now. All right. Listen, OK, so if you're at home and you're not as much of a nerd as me and you don't follow all this stuff, let me tell you something. They were booing reality Republicans. When Joe Biden said that one administration raised the debt like more than than, you know, first 200, you know, 220 years of presidents, we can say it on the show. That's the truth. The debt went up 25 percent.

When he said Republicans raised the debt ceiling three times during the Trump administration. Wait, why are they booing? They did it. What are they, booing themselves for doing that? And then and then this is the one that gets me when it's talking about how we're talking about sunsetting Social Security and Medicare every five years. Nobody dreamed that up. That was the head of the Republican Senate campaign committee. He won't say his name. I will say his name. Say his name. Rick Scott, the most powerful Republican in the United States Senate for running campaigns.

So they're acting like jackasses because they can't deal with the truth. Just can't deal with the truth. And they make themselves so foolish. You know, Elizabeth, here's the problem. Being a leader of Republicans right now is Marjorie Taylor Greene. Just gave a gift to Joe Biden, gave a gift to the Democratic Party, gave a gift to every Democrat that is running against Republicans, the one in Biden districts. And yet the incentive structure is such that Marjorie Taylor Greene will raise a million dollars or so by calling the president a liar. So you have all of these extremists that are raising a ton of money while damaging their party and they just don't care. So if you're Kevin McCarthy, what do you do? Fringe has taken over. That's what's happened. We've seen that. But, you know, they've got an disproportionate power and their performance.

They are performers rather than legislators. And I think what was interesting about the speech was how much it was. It was obviously leaving aside the Republicans. It was meant to reach out to these working class voters who the Democrats have lost. You know, recent, you know, it was very good, wasn't it? It was he was talking about small board stuff. Do you it? He was talking about small-bore stuff. Did you notice he was talking about paying resort fees at hotels?

And airlines charging too much? Sounds like you had a run-in with a resort. They're not even resort-full. I know, I know. So he was talking to people. Car washes cost too much. We wanted tokens to also be bigger. You fumble them around, they fall on your floorboard. You can't wash it. This is the campaign.

You know, he's going today to Wisconsin to talk to union members, you know, going to a big swing state. You know, he's this is what this is where they're going, trying to get back those those working class voters that have went with Trump. You know, and they've lost a lot of because the party has become the party of the elite and the educated. And speaking of the campaign, it was a huge gift to Joe Biden, the politician, Joe Biden, the candidate for reelection, because, you know, people say, oh, he's 80 years old. A lot of people think he's too old or whatever. You got to see him vigorous on top of everything, coming back with these lightning rejoinders, joyful, full of energy. And so I think that was a great gift to his reelection campaign. The fringe taking over the party, Elizabeth, was on display when Speaker Kevin McCarthy tried a number of times, like a preschool teacher at nap time,

to shush the members of his caucus. Yeah, that was, yeah. Here in the people's house, it's our duty to protect all the people's rights and freedoms. Congress must restore the right. But I will make no apologies that we're investing to make America stronger. Investing in American innovation and industries will define the future that China intends to be dominating. Investing in our alliances. Fentanyl is killing more than 70,000 Americans a year.

You got it. You know, guys, John is right on that report. And Kevin McCarthy specifically talked to his cocks and said, guys, this is bad for us. It's a bad look. It helps him. Don't do the heckling. Don't do the heckling. Don't do the booing. And they completely ignored him.

You know, I had a teacher in grade school who gave looks like that. Yeah. Only you had to pay attention because. Right. Because she would come over with the 18 inch ruler and you would be really sorry. He doesn't have an 18 inch ruler. That's the problem. He doesn't have a stick with which to punish them for that sort of behavior.

No, no. Did you ever? It might have been after your time, but I got the 18-inch ruler right here. Right there. Just after the ruler era. Just after that. Were you after the time when your parents could take off a belt and say, going to beat the hell out of you?

I never got the belt. I'll talk to you offline. I got that visit ticket. I'll talk to you offline. I got that visit because it's a long time ago. They called it the board of education. That's awful. Just awful. So I want to, let's talk about the contrast here because it's always been one of the great mysteries

that the party that is pushing tax cuts for billionaires and multinational corporations and allow Amazon and Nike and Occidental Petroleum to pay zero in taxes, income taxes every year. It's somehow the party of the working class. Last night's speech, as you all laid out, went against that. So why you have Republicans making fools of themselves? And by the way, it's not just Kevin McCarthy who was horrified. I know there are a lot of rank and file Republicans that were listening going, come on, guys. And the Republican senators, I know, were horrified.

I'm sure Mitch McConnell was horrified going, please, please stop. But while they were these people were yelling in the back, Joe Biden was talking about building an Intel plant in Ohio, talking about the jobs that will go an average of one hundred thirty thousand dollars. A lot of those jobs to people with high school degrees, talking about Wisconsin, talking. I mean, it really was in America, made in America. And they by the way, they didn't cheer when he said we need to have the supply chain start in America. America. That is made in America. And Republicans couldn't cheer for that.

I just I want to follow up on what Elizabeth said here. This is really what Democrats have not been able to do effectively since Bill Clinton, when he could go to Iowa, any county in Iowa and and hug a farmer and know that he had that farmer's vote. And I was wondering, you know, why? Because the language, some of the language that Biden used was not different than other speeches, but it did seem to hit differently last night. And I think it might have been because there wasn't any pressure on Biden to sell anything other than himself. Right. He was not it's not an election year. It's not a midterm year. He was not trying to advance a big,

some kind of a big proposal and jam his talk about, you know, when his dad says, honey, it's going to be okay, that sometimes it might not work. And all of this just seemed to fit because all he needed to do was present Biden. You know, America is tired of being played for suckers. The stuff about, you know, billionaires should not pay a lower tax rate than teachers.

All of that just seemed to, made in America, the union strong, unions should be able to organize. And because he wasn't trying to push something else, and it was all of a flow of his sort of theory of the world, it just really seemed so bland. And he kept saying, I mean it. And you knew he did. I get it. I get it over and over again. You know what else he talked about, too, that I don't I never really heard Democrats talk a lot about is they talk about the billionaires and, you know, tax cuts for theirs. Then he comes back and he talks about small business. I knew you were going to say that small business, small

business, small businesses form like every day. Right knew you were going to say that. Every time a small business. Because let me tell you something. Small businesses form like every day. This is how this is why Democrats lose a lot of small business owners and a lot. Because when you start talking about taxing billionaires, they think you're talking about them. I've always thought if Democrats could draw a line between the billionaires, between the multinational corporations, between the exxons and small businesses. Then the message would be sent. We're going to tax them. We're going to do everything we can to encourage small businesses to go out and create the jobs because they're the engine of this economy. I thought that was an important moment, too, just to make clear. Democrats like small businesses.

I mean, because a lot of small, small business people think Democrats don't like small businesses. And most years in these state of the union addresses, we're frantically looking over these proposed, these giant proposals that presidents always put out. You know, and we're trying to figure out what how how significant is it? How big a deal is it? Is it going to happen? There was none of that this year. We didn't you you know, we didn't have to write that. And so because nothing was going to pass. Right. He also, guys, projected something 30,000 feet, which we haven't heard a lot of in the last seven or eight years, which is just optimism, which was strength and optimism. We've been through a lot these last few years. We've been through a pandemic. We know prices are too high. There was an insurrection a couple of years ago at that building across the street. It's been hard. It's been ugly. We've been at war with each other a little bit. And COVID. And of course, yeah,

the pandemic. And the future is going to be OK. And he had a smile on his face even when he was fighting with Republicans. So it's not necessarily a policy question, but it's just a it's a philosophy and it's a viewpoint that I think some Americans are going to say, yeah, let's get through this together. Let's stop fighting with each other. And how can you not be optimistic? Right. How can you not be? Unemployment's at three point four percent. More job openings than there's been historically. Yes, since 1969. Child poverty at like 60-year lows.

Teen pregnancies at 70-year lows. The dollar strong against the rest of the world. You compare our economies to economies across the world. We're doing pretty darn well here. Like, what's not to be optimistic about? But what he was fighting is that a lot of people think we're in a recession. You know, you would never know talking to Americans.

You know, huge percentages think the economy is terrible. Right. It's not, but they don't, there's a lot of people, the people he was trying to reach who it doesn't affect them. And that's what last night was for.

Yeah, we dealt with that, you know, during Obama, when people, when the recovery was happening, people still weren't feeling it. You're not going to be able to tell someone from at the podium that their economic situation is better than they think it is. But I think he showed my path is working. My theory is working. Have some faith that things are getting better and that that is going to impact your life. And I'm always going to be the one that's going to be fighting more to do that. And Jonathan Meir, that was the difference between

Barack Obama and Donald Trump on talking about the economy. Barack Obama and his people would always wring their hands going, well, there's somebody in Wisconsin that's not happy right now. We can't really say anything because I don't know. It's so complicated. It's so complicated. And then Donald Trump would constantly say when it was, of course, a lie. Yeah, this is the best economy ever. I have the best economy ever. And I swear to God, after a year of doing that, I would hear people on this network and other networks go. Now, of course, this is the best economy we've ever had. But no, it's not. I mean, talk about talk about it. Don't be like don't be splitting the differences and wringing your hands. Talk about what's going well, because a lot of things are going great in

this country. You wouldn't know it by listening to cable news. You wouldn't know it by listening to podcasts. But those people don't matter. That's for sure. The White House knows it does have to do a better job at this, at communicating. And there is this disconnect. They point to their record and say, look what we've done. And yes, we understand inflation's still a problem. We know Americans, for a lot of Americans out there,

this has been a struggle. But look at the jobs we've created most ever in a presidency in the first two years, and they go down the line. But polls suggest Americans aren't really feeling that. And the White House has said we need to do a better job of talking about it. Last night, a big step in that direction. The president's about to barnstorm, as one does, after a State of the Union. It's Wisconsin today, Florida tomorrow, which that's incidentally going to Florida. It's a bit of a choice right now for a Democratic president. And that's that's tomorrow. And that's going to be part of his message on the economy. Look, we understand that things are hard for you.

We feel your pain to borrow a phrase from another Democratic president. But here's what we're doing. And we heard from him 12 times last night, 12 times this phrase, finish the job, finish the job. And that right there, that's your soft launch in the 2024 campaign. That felt like their test driving a slogan to say, finish the job. What we've done these first two years, three and four, give us four more. And we're going to have a contrast with these Republicans who aren't just yelling at us from the back bench on national television, which clearly does not play well with most people at home, but also who are standing in the way of not just economic progress, but broadly popular proposals on things like assault weapons bans, abortion rights, police reform and the rest.

And that is going to be the message the president brings today to Wisconsin and in the months ahead as this campaign likely ramps up. Well, coming up on Morning Joe, we have a packed show ahead. We'll have much more from President Biden's State of the Union address, including his warning to China and a dig at Republicans over infrastructure. Plus, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will both join us here on the set with their key takeaways from last night's address. Also ahead, President Biden's outgoing chief of staff, Ron Klain, will be our guest. This is his very last day working in the White House and a tense confrontation on the House floor last night between Senator Mitt Romney and Congressman George Santos. We'll take a look at that moment.

You're watching Morning Joe. We'll be right back. Let's finish the job and close the loophole to allow very wealthy to avoid paying their taxes. Let's finish the job. We've got to finish the job. Let's come together to finish the job on police reform. Let's finish the job and ban these assault weapons. And let's also come together on immigration. Make it a bipartisan issue once again. Okay, so welcome back to Morning Joe. Because we're very focused here, Joe. You've got to focus, okay? Live look at DC. Do you see the traffic is picking up?

People are actually going into work. Willie, the lights are really pretty there. Yes. What are you being a nag? No, I'm not being a nag. They're listening to us. Well, it's nice. Some people choose to be on Zoom, but look are really pretty there. Yes. What are you being a nag? No, I'm not being a nag. They're already in the car, and they're listening to us. Well, it's nice. Some people choose to be on Zoom, but look at all those cars.

Thank you. Who are the sweet sounds we're listening to? We're listening to Melissa Manchester. Yes, yes we are. I think we can make it. Do you listen to the Case in Countdowns on Sirius every weekend? Of course I do. Aren't those amazing?

I tell Mika, hey, I've got to go get milk. Yeah, I'm getting milk. And then I just drive around. Honestly. Number 23. I feel like you're buying with the Republicans. Yeah. They are fun. Rick Derringer.

No, I'm actually Kevin McCarthy. Rock and roll. Gucci coup. Rock and torch. No, listen to Melissa Manches. I think Barry Madelow may have written that song. He wrote almost every song. You're right.

Thank you. The official GOP Twitter account had an embarrassing self-owned. You want to go back to this? Okay. Do you know what a self-owned is? I do it every day. It's like when you kick it into your own goal. It's like an own goal. Into your own goal. Yeah. A cell phone. They post a cell phone. Okay. Yeah. We'd love you to help you. This is a cell phone. I'll say that.

All right. They owned themselves yesterday, posting a picture of farmland with the caption, wait until the coastal elites find out this is where their food comes from. Turns out the picture is from the Golden State, California. Congressman Josh Harder, a Democrat who represents the area, featured in the photo, replied, quote, wait until the G. He finds out this is the left. That is a self-owned notice of the West. Noticably absent in last night's rebuttal speech from Sarah Huckabee. Well, that was just bleak, wasn't it?

It was. Why? I don't know. It was low energy. Did none of these people ever listen to Ronald Reagan? I mean, the whole thing was like, be optimistic. I know. Reagan would say, I truly believe America's greatest

days lie ahead. He believed it. Negatory. He'd quote Carl Sandburg. It was all beautiful. And these people are so grim. Absent was any direct mention of her former boss, Donald Trump. Huckabee Sanders, who was Trump's White House

press secretary, did not mention Trump by name, even when telling a story specifically about him. So there was this guy. He lived in Washington. So she did, however, call for new leadership in the Republican Party. A new generation of Republican leaders are stepping up, not to be caretakers of the status quo, but to be change makers for the American people. The choice is between normal or crazy. It's time for a new generation of Republican leadership. It's time for a new generation to lead.

This is our moment. It's time for normal or crazy. She's right about that. That is correct. She is. She's talking. That is the weirdest. That was the weirdest sort of dystopian speech

I think I've heard since American Carnage. Do you know what it made him? It's like a page from Donald Trump. Yeah, it was back to Trump's. I really miss Bobby Jindal last night. Or Marco Rubio with the water. Marco Rubio's nervous water. It's sweaty water.

But you know, the thing is, he didn't bring up Donald Trump. She didn't bring up Donald Trump by name, but it was American Carnage all over. And American Carnage doesn't sell. It worked for a portion of the base. I mean, Donald Trump always defied these rules of American politics. You have to be positive. It worked for four years for his base. But she told this weird five-minute story about Trump without mentioning his name.

No, it worked one election for one day in 2016 because of what the FBI did. No, I'm dead serious. Okay. Without the FBI, without Comey, without the letter, without the constant leaks from New York. And I really want to know who leaked that at the very end. Is it the guy? I mean, who leaked that? I don't know.

Is that a New York Times story? Yes, it was. Who was the FBI agent that gave Donald Trump a free bill of health? I don't know. Was that a New York Times story? Yes, it was. Who was the FBI agent that gave Donald Trump a free bill of health? I'm not going there. No, we expect you to read those stories. I don't expect you. But the question is,

I mean, it worked one time. And it worked one time under the weirdest of circumstances where even Donald Trump said, if we'd held the election 10 days in a row, I would have won one of those 10 days. But he did it for four years. And they lost. But they lost.

They lost in 17. They lost in 18. They lost in 19. They lost in 20. They lost in 21. They lost in 22. Yeah. I'm like, please go on.

But it worked once. But the problem is there's never been anything to take its place. So they keep coming back to it. But like but what Governor Sanders did last night, I was like, you needed some kind of like MAGA decoder book to even understand what she's talking about. Like what woke Washington's living in woke fantasies. Like, what are you even what are you even saying? It's the kind of speech that only makes sense to not just like the base, as similar some lane of the base. But I think for most Americans, they just have no idea what you're even talking about. And it's just like this weird dystopian

America that that exists only in that like pretty limited maga lane. Well, you know, the thing is, so there are a lot of Americans who were concerned about what goes on in college campuses, which, of course, I thought was pretty funny because you have conservatives always talking about how they're against the heckler's veto. And last night it was Republicans practicing the heckler's veto on the biggest stage. But there are a lot of Americans concerned about woke ism on college campus. There are a lot of Americans, over 80 percent, who don't think, for instance, don't think that males who transition after puberty should be able to compete against girls and young women in sports. That's all right, but that's here, right? They'll talk about that over dinner tables, and they do a lot.

Too much to me. I'm like, can we just please talk about the Red Sox? But at the end of the day, they care about the things Biden was talking about. They care about their jobs. They care about their futures. They care about when plants are like this stuff that she was talking about last night. That's for a podcast, right? That's not for a party's vision of the future. Yeah. If you spend your time on Twitter or listening to Steve Bannon's podcast,

that all made sense. There were parts of it. You're right. That will resonate with people outside the base. Some of the things you mentioned there. But for a party that claims it's moving on from Donald Trump, some people say it out loud and a lot of people say it privately, or that at least it wants to move on from Donald Trump to put his spokesperson out as the rebuttal of Joe Biden does not signal that you're moving on from Donald Trump. And what she was saying was effectively a version of the American carnage speech, but from a woman who has three kids and she's painting herself as a family, a mother who's concerned for the future of her children.

But really, if you read between the lines, it was Trumpism sort of rebranded in the face of Sarah Huffman. Republicans have to be optimistic. They just don't know how to be optimistic. It's just, and Gene, you know, it's a great point. Nothing's replaced Trumpism yet. Yeah, but it could.

This is what I don't understand about Republicans. What the base loved about Trump was he was strong. And all of these people are still cowering in Donald Trump's shadow. If somebody would come, even Ron DeSantis. Well, it's all sort of just like get your decoder, your Ovaltine decoder ring to try to decode what Ron DeSantis is saying about Donald Trump. Instead of just saying this guy's a loser. This guy keeps losing elections. Forgive my language. Moms, close your kids ears.

This guy sucks at politics. I promise you, if there were a Republican that would say that, Bill Clinton, better to be strong than wrong, if there were a Republican who said that, people would go,

I'm following her. I'm following him. I'm following them. Especially if he or she then went on to outline an optimistic vision of this country's future and not this weird stuff that Sarah Sanders is talking about.

So can Ron DeSantis do that? I don't know. I mean, I've never seen Ron DeSantis. He seems totally humorless. I don't think he has the skillset. And he seems grim. I don't know if Grim is going to win. Yeah, all he has done is the all he has done is the woke stuff.

And it's worked nowhere outside of Florida. Yeah, it's right. It's raising a ton of money. It's gotten him sort of national recognition. But, you know, Tallahassee is very if Washington's insular. Tallahassee is very, very insular. It works there. And so he calls a press conference.

He usually yells at a female reporter, right? He gets headlines. And why is it that he's always yelling at women? He's always yelling at a woman reporter saying that they're this or that. Or he's screaming at high school students for wearing masks. Oh, yeah, he loves to do that. And then he walks away and he raises lots of money. But I've never seen him go.

Like, listen, Charlie Crist. There are a couple times that Charlie Crist had DeSantis like looking lost. Are you going to run for president? And DeSantis is just and you're like, wait, this is the great hope for now. He did win Florida by 30 points. We have to stick it like that. No money. Is that transferable?

Yeah. And by the way, I'm not we won't amplify it. But Donald Trump really things escalated. Wow. Oh, my God. Yesterday Trump really things escalated. Wow. Oh, my gosh. Ron DeSantis yesterday. He seized DeSantis as a threat very clearly based on what he was doing yesterday. I don't even want to repeat it, but it was really.

We should not repeat it. OK. But I will say, though, Jonathan Lemire, you talked about about Biden going to Florida. It's a good thing. And I say this knowing the state. Ron DeSantis, give him credit. He won. Republicans won massively in that state.

But Democrats were telling me two months before nobody was there. It was like a Democratic neutron bomb was dropped. The buildings were still standing. All the Democrats were gone. Nobody was campaigning. They didn't put money in the state. None of the candidates were helped from the governor's races to the county commissioner's races to the judge. Nothing. Democrats completely abandoned the state. And that's what it looks like when one party turns the state over to another party, I find it fascinating that Biden's going into Florida.

Is there a chance he actually invests a little bit for Democrats there, gives it a shot? Yeah, one of the most closely watched decisions the White House makes after the State of the Union is where you go. The attention's on you after the big speech. You're taking that message on the road. Today, Wisconsin, arguably the most important swing state on the map. Tomorrow, Florida. And Democrats and White House aides I've talked to say the White House at least wants to put their toe there and see what happens. Yes, Florida has trended away from Democrats the last couple of cycles that we know. As just mentioned, Governor Santos walked to reelection. But there were Florida Democrats who complained about the

lack of resources who said, hey, look, this could have been a lot closer than it was. Biden, you know, though lost there in 2020 to Donald Trump, they feel like their message can resonate in Florida as well, particularly to Medicare, Social Security protections. They can pay the Republicans, try and take that away. We saw the the fracas over that last night. And they think this is a place where their message can still resonate. And they want to. There's a little bit of swagger here. Let's go to DeSantis's backyard, Trump's backyard, too, mind you, and deliver our message right there. Now, whether they stay with that going forward remains to be seen. But it also, Joe,

points out an electoral map reality here. If Florida is just ceded to the Republicans, the path for Democrats gets harder. You have to make sure you win all three of that Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania trio, which Biden did last time. And then you think about Arizona and Georgia. So there's 2024 calculation at play here as well, of course. I mean, Barack Obama won Florida in 2012. So that's not too long ago. Why can't Democrats at least be competitive there? The state has changed, though, since those years. It has. All right. Coming up, we'll have a live report from London where Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is meeting with the British prime minister ahead of an address to parliament. And we will be joined by Poland's chief of defense.

The country has been a leader in the effort to arm Ukrainian forces with more tanks. Morning Joe is coming right back. I spoke in this chamber one year ago, just days after Vladimir Putin unleashed his brutal attack against Ukraine. A murderous assault, evoking images of death and destruction. Europe suffered in World War II. Putin's invasion has been a test for the ages. A test for America. A test for the world. Would we stand for the most basic of principles?

Would we stand for the most basic of principles? Would we stand for sovereignty? We stand for the right of people to live free of tyranny? Would we stand for the defense of democracy? For such defense matters to us because it keeps peace and prevents open season on would season, I would be aggressive and threatens our prosperity. One year later, we know the answer. Yes, we would. And we did. We did. And the applause were unanimous, at least for that last night. President Biden's remarks about the war in Ukraine at last night's State of the Union. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in London this morning where he's meeting with the British prime minister. Zelensky's surprise visit, just his second foreign trip outside the war zone since Russia's invasion almost a year ago now. He addressed a joint session of Congress, you'll remember, here in Washington back in December. Joining us now from outside of 10 Downing Street, NBC News foreign correspondent Molly Hunter.

Molly, what's the president doing this morning? Willie, good morning to you. And I'm just looking over my shoulder because the car is actually just pulled back in front of the number 10 door. Now, just a few minutes ago, we did see Prime Minister Rishi Sunak walk in with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Willie, as you mentioned, only his second time out of the country since the war started. We did see a video earlier today released by the Ukrainian president's office showing Grishy Sunak meeting Zelensky at Stansted Airport, embracing the Ukrainian president. And here when they walked up, smiled for the cameras, a good handshake and lots of cheers you could hear from inside the prime minister's residence right behind me. Now, later today, we do understand you guys, he will be addressing. Now, later today, we do understand, you guys,

he will be addressing the parliament, the UK parliament. He has, of course, addressed the UK parliament before, excuse me, via video link. We also understand the press association here is reporting that he will meet with King Charles. We do not have any timings confirmed that ourselves. This is a big deal, though. The UK, of course, is the second

largest weapons supplier to Ukraine after the U.S. And today the U.K. is announcing that they will start training fighter pilots in addition to Marines to ensure Ukraine can defend its skies well into the future. The statement continues in this big announcement saying the training will ensure pilots are able to fly sophisticated NATO standard fighter jets in the future. Now, it's not clear if Britain's plan to train pilots has signaled some sort of change, whether or not the UK will start giving jets. Of course, it's something that the Ukrainians have been asking for since the beginning of the war. But NATO standard fighter jets is the language that they use. The UK is also announcing that they are training Marines

in addition to fighter jets. Up until now, the UK has said they have trained 10,000 Ukrainian troops, including soldiers who arrived just last week to learn how to operate the Challenger tanks. And guys, I'm just looking behind my shoulder to see if we may see them coming out. We do not have exact timings. All of this, as you imagine, has been a surprise this morning because of security. The prime minister's office sent out a press release just about an hour or so before we actually saw their arrival here at 10 Downing. The door is opening. And it looks like just staff coming out.

We will keep you posted, though, later today. He is expected to have a packed schedule all today. All right. Keep an eye on that door for us. NBC's Molly Hunter at 10 down. Oh, here he comes. President Zelensky, what's your message to the UK? And we just saw President Zelensky get into that car.

All right, Molly, we'll be back to you this morning. Thanks so much. We appreciate it. Obviously, guys, President Zelensky is there the way he was here speaking to Congress, inspiring the leadership in the UK to continue its support now as we come up on the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion. Well, the war has entered a new stage in recent weeks as dozens of tanks were pledged by European allies to aid in Ukraine's defense, with some already on their way.

Leading the charge in that effort is Poland, which in late January stressed that even if other countries did not want to send tanks, Poland would. Joining us now, Polish Chief of Defense General Ray Njajczyk. And it is really good to have you on board. Poland has stepped up immediately with no debate in so many ways. Tell us about your visit here and your message to America and other partnering nations in aid of Ukraine. Oh, very good morning. Morning. Ukraine is absolutely, very good morning. Good morning.

Ukraine is absolutely extremely important for Poland, is extremely important for region with global implications. On our very first day, we started our support in many domains, starting from a human approach, observing eight million Ukrainians crossing the border, a few million still staying in Poland. Then we started social programs, medical programs, education for them. And immediately we started preparation and sending equipment, ammunition and anything they need for victory. For victory. General, since the war began, Poland, the center of gravity of NATO and of the EU, seems to have moved east and to Poland.

Basically, Poland is an increasingly incredibly important country. Now, how is that going down in Poland? How are Poles reacting to their new central place in Europe? Well, you can feel every single day that the center of gravity from a historical Cold War time design moved from Germany to Poland, to Warsaw. And geostrategy matters and also geography matters. And now we're aspirations of the Western civilization as well. So nothing happened without the Poland. We're investing heavily in the security from the very beginning, 3% GDP,

and we have an entire list of very important modernization programs. Most of the high-tech equipment comes from U.S., fifth-generation airplane. The HIMARS is very famous. We see effectiveness. M1 tanks as well. The most modern combat platforms and variety of different programs. And we're going to do more. But the first is just to win Ukraine because Ukraine matters.

Ukraine is a basic platform for security. 100 years ago, Marshy pisuski he said free Ukraine free Poland is direct connection direct relations and that's after 100 years still Valley so General we're about two weeks away from the one year anniversary of Russia's invasion obviously has not gone the way Vladimir Putin thought it would go but I'm curious for your assessment as someone who studies and understands war and specifically this war, where things stand and where you think they're going into the second year? Very difficult question because mostly it goes to the politics, to economy. So we need a Ukraine winning in the political domain, in the economical domain.

They need money, they need the resources, they need effective sanctions. And, of course, one of the conditions will be the military operation, which is critical. But the situation is still very dangerous, very important, dramatic from a moral point of view. But it's definitely decisive. What we do today, it goes to eternity. If we not do, it goes as well. So now or never. So Vladimir Putin seems willing to accept massive, massive Russian casualties. We think back to the

Second World War particularly. How long? Is this indefinite for him? Is he willing to stretch this out for years? I give you a very much Polish flavor perspective. We live in the space 1,000 years ago. So we know the Russians. That's the way they find it. This is no surprise for us. The standards for Russian army, for Russian society is completely different than the Western matrix.

So do not compare Russians using Western standards. What you see, behaving, performance, you know, how much they're suffering and still are ready to go, is absolutely different than the Western society. So please do not, you know, assess Russians in our standards because they're completely different. Let's talk about, first of all, I just want to follow up with what Gene said about it's remarkable that Poland now finds itself where West Germany was from 1945 to 1989. You guys are on the front lines of freedom. And as such, I thought it was fascinating a couple of weeks ago, you pushed the Germans to move with tanks. The Germans then pushed the Americans saying, we'll do it, but you all have

to do it as well. And so Poland was a real leader there. I'm curious, what difference do you think that's going to make over the next year? And what else do the Ukrainians need that they don't have right now sir um from the very beginning our you know will willingness to send equipment was absolutely critical so i got a very clear message from my political masters to send as much as we can and as much as they need so there was no dozens hundreds hundreds of equipment is going to ukraine and of course from many uh operational reasons or military reasons ukraine needs to change to the western platforms because ammunition and because and much better so poland from the very beginning started to promote uh idea to build a multinational component and we offering a platform for training for integration for the new tanks. So that was the reason.

Because we are frontline, we would like to motivate and inspire anybody. So we're just offering a platform, but waiting for some additional supplies. One other quick question. We always talk about weapons, but let's talk about training. 2014 was a disastrous military campaign for the Ukrainians. After that, they started training with NATO, started training with Poles, they started training with Americans. Talk about the difference of how the Ukrainians are now fighting, and we have NCOs that go out, can make decisions on the move. The difference between having a bottom-up approach in warfare and the Russian top-down approach. How big of a difference has that training made over the past year?

It was absolutely a huge difference. And I think one of the critical factors that the Ukrainian army is so effective is a change in philosophy of leadership. So mission command, given authority very much now, which is much more Western-oriented, the Russians, they're going still in a very vertical decision-making process, waiting for permission, and it doesn't work. So that kind of change and investing in the NCO core as well is absolutely crucial. So the human factor matters. Well, the story of Poland really being a central player on the world stage is happening right now.

And Poland really stepped up. Your father would be proud. He would be so proud, taking in millions of people and stepping up in the fight with 100 percent resolve. I would say I'm proud to be a Polish-American. Really, really incredible story. Polish Chief of Defense General Ray and Jay Chuck, thank you very much.