give a final mention to betty cole dukert, former executive producer of "meet the press" who passed away saturday at the age of 96. she was a producer with the show for 41 years starting as an assistant to lawrence spivak in 1956. she was a cherished member of "the meet the press" family and she will be sorely missed. that is all for today. thank you so much for watching. we'll be back next week because if it's sunday, it's "meet the press." if this election -- if this election isn't won, i'm not sure that you'll ever have another election in this country. does that make sense in i don't

think you're going to have another election in this country if you don't have one where we win. certainly not one that's meaningful. more rhetoric by donald trump over a rally in ohio over the weekend. we'll bring his incendiary remarks straight ahead. and it comes as mike pence takes a stand against his former boss. we'll show you what pence said about his former president and january 6th. and, meanwhile, president biden's campaign is reporting one of its strongest fund-raising months in almost a year. we'll look at what's driving the large hauls of campaign cash. ♪♪ good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this monday, march 18th. we hope you had a nice st. patrick's day. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day and

week with us. and we begin this morning with a race for the white house where donald trump delivered another divisive speech over the weekend, this time while stumping for an ohio senate candidate. just outside of dayton, the 2024 republican nominee kicked off the rally on saturday night with this. >> ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated january 6th hostages -- ♪ o say can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly ♪♪ >> that's the former commander in chief saluting the january 6th hostages as they say. the choir singing "the "national anthem."" for the next hour and a half trump spoke very little about the candidate he was there to support. instead he aired a long list of

grievances and painted a bleak picture. this is while he discussed chinese made cars being imported to the united states from mexico. >> we're going to put a 100% tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not going to be able to sell those cars. if i get elected. if i don't get elected, it's going to be a bloodbath. that's going to be the least of it. it's going to be a bloodbath for the country. that's going to be the least of it. >> shortly after the campaign, delay tried to clean up the comments states to nbc news that he was only talking about the awety industry and autoworkers. others talked about that moment, but let's be clear. he said, that will be the least of it. his remarks there about a bloodbath were of the pace of the dark rhetoric that peppered that speech. meanwhile former vice president

pence criticized the rhetoric about the january 6th defendants. take a look what trump said followed by the comments from pence. >> do you see the spirit about the hostages, that they've been treated terribly and very unfairly? you know that and everybody knows that. we're going to be working on that the first day we get into office. we're going to save our country. they're going to, we with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots -- and they were unbelievable patriots and are. >> i think it's very unfortunate at a time there are american hostages being held in gaza that the president or any other leaders would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages. it's just unacceptable. i was there on january 6th. i have no doubt in my mind,

margaret, that some people were caught up in the moment and entered the capitol. they're certainly entitled to due process of law for any nonviolent activities that brought the assaults on police officers, ultimately an environment that claimed lives. it's something that i think was tragic that day. i'll never diminish it. >> those remarks come on the heels of pence also announcing he won't be supporting trump this november. >> it should come as no surprise i will not be endorsing donald trump this year. look, i'm incredibly proud of the record of our administration. it was a conservative record that made american more prosperous, more secure and saw conservatives appointed to our course in a more peaceful world. but that being said, during my presidential campaign, i made it clear there were profound

differences between me and president trump on a range of issues, and not just our difference on my constitutional duties that i exercised on january 6th. >> pence had taken the rnc pledge, in which he said he would support whoever the republican nominee would be, and now that it's trump, he's saying he won't. and he joins a list of former trump officials who have warned about the former president's potential return to the white house. john kelly, trump's former chief of staff, told cnn's jump she toe for a new book, quote, a second term with trump particularly when he would not worry about re-election, it would be fundamentally a catastrophe more us. john bolton, trump's former national security adviser also told the cnn reporter, i just don't think he has enough of a brain to have an articulated view on u.s./chinese policy because he thinks of everything through the prism of how does this benefit donald trump.

bill barr who served as attorney jen val called trump a consummate narcissist who continue yuli engages in in bad conduct and said i have made clear i strongly oppose trump for the nomination and will not endorse trump. and former secretary mark esper has also spoken out against trump telling cbs news last year, i have a lot of concerns about donald trump. i have said he's a threat to democracy. i think the last year, certain will i the last few months of donald trump's presidency will look like the first few months of the next one, if that were to occur. also during his speech on saturday, trump seemed to claim twice that joe biden won an election against barack obama or as he called him barack obama. >> we're leading in every single

swing state against biden in the largest margins ever. you know what's interesting? joe biden has won against barack hussain obama. has anyone heard of him? in every swing state biden beat obama, and in every other state he got killed do. you think that's an honest election? >> joining us now, miya. i know you were there at the rally in ohio. there was dark rhetoric including the bloodbath comments and allies trying to push back. as we covered earlier on the show, it was part of a speech that was just full of dark, dark rhetoric, including about january 6th and those, as he deemed them, hostages. so as you speak to republicans and campaign officials, how worried are they that donald trump could be hurting his chances in november by focusing on january 6th, an event that

most americans believe was truly, truly a dark day in our nation's history? >> look, i mean there has been a ton of outrage over this, that comment in particular. i mean, the trump campaign has been on the defensive saying that trump was talking specifically about the auto industry. on the flip side you had democrats and the biden campaign seize on these remarks seeing trump as condoning political violence. but as you do, we have to look at the bigger picture here. when trump useds the word "bloodbath" while saying in the same sentence, i'm going to win the election in november, it's causes blowback that we've seen because of the history, because of the opening scene in the rally when we see him say lighting while the "national anthem" goes over the loudspeakers, and opening it up talking about the january 6th prisoners as hostages and suggests he's going to pardon them on day one.

so this is not new rhetoric from trump. we've heard him say things like this before, but we're going to see him get this kind of attention if he continues to use this rhetoric because of the history and because of this continued pattern here. >> and the republican race is over. its ice going to be biden and trump. it's going to change and a lot of voters are going to hear things like that. others bothered by the rhetoric, mike pence, we played the sound earlier in this block, how he totally disagreed with the notion that these were hostages, and pence joins a long list of trump officials who are declining to endorse trump this time around. when you speak to the democrats in the biden campaign, is this something they can exploit or think may be a helpful argument? >> absolutely. we think about nikki haley. they've been trying to go after

her donors and thinking they can pull in these voters as well. we're seeing this play out in the party between the trump-like candidates and then traditional republicans. and so it's going to be interesting how they continue to seize on this, but we've already seen since nikki haley trop out this attempt to pull in those voters and once again say they can have a home with joe bide snoon we're going to have much more on the joe biden cash campaign aggression and his newly aggressive travel campaign later in the show. myah ward, thanks for starting us off. later, a shipment of aid has arrived on the shores of gaza. plus, on the heels of winning another term as russian president, we eek take a look at what vladimir putin is saying about the dealt of opposition leader, alexei navalny. those stories and a check on

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for a year when you buy one unlimited line. visit xfinitymobile.com today to learn more. welcome back as we turn to the latest in the middle east. on saturday the first food was dropped off by the world central kitchen working with united arab emirates. it's working at 60 kitchens across the gaza ship and a second food aid ship bound for gaza is being loaded, all credit to chef jose andrés. meanwhile the white house is considering what a response might look like if israel prices into gaza without a plan to protect civilians. that's according to one former and three current u.s.

officials. on friday top biden officials indicated they had not seen plans for an operation in rafah that benjamin netanyahu has approved. so far they've been advising the israeli government to forgo a large operation in rafah. instead they've been asked to consider smaller more counter-targeted terrorism campaigns. and additionally israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu commented to chuck schumer in which schumer called for a new election in israel. schumer who appeared in the past to have a close relationship with the israeli prime minister also called netanyahu a major obstacle to peace. take a listen to how netanyahu responded. >> i think what he said is totally inappropriate. it's inappropriate to go to a

sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. that's something that the israeli public does on its own. we're not a banana republic. the majority of the public supports the policy we're leading. go to gaza, make sure we don't put into gaza the palestinians -- >> okay. >> and the an aisle lags of israel. the majority of the israelis enjoy the policies of my government. it's not a refrigerator policy. if senator schumer opposes these policies, he's not opposing me. he's opposing the people of israel. >> it in ya hue also oppose as two f h state solution, which has been the american policy for quite some time. still ahead, we'll switch to sports and the march madness fields are set. we'll go through the top seeds of both the men and women's college basketball tournaments. plus a pair of breathtaking buzzer-beaters in the nba

yesterday. we'll bring you those highlights and a check of the forecast when "way too early" returns. and a check of the forecast when "way too early" return s. [coughing] copd hasn't been pretty. it's tough to breathe and tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. but trelegy has shown me that there's still beauty and breath to be had. because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flare-ups. and with one dose a day, trelegy improves lung function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy for copd

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looking for help. drops it. three, two -- no way. it's a win at the buzzer. the bulldogs win at the buzzer. >> zeros on the clock, and that's all she wrote. first time in 47 years. duquesne is going to the ncaa championship tournament. duquesne is going dancing for the first time in nearly half a century, punching its ticket to the big dance with a win over vcu in the a-10 championship game yesterday. before that, you saw the buzzer-beater helped yale beat brown for a title. the field of 68 now set.

defending national championship uconn was named numb berry one overall on sunday in the men's bracket with houston, purdue, and north carolina join the huskies as the tournament's top seeds. the madness begins tomorrow with the men's first four. meanwhile south carolina was named the number one overall win err in the women's ncaa tournament as the gamecocks look to become the tenth women's basketball team ever to go undefeated for an entire season. they fell short of that feat last year in the final four against indicate lip clark in iowa, which received the other number one selection in the albany regionals yesterday. usc and texas round out the women's top speeds. and columbia university is in the women's first four this week, the first time ever the women have made it. we begin in dallas with the nba. mavericks were tied with nuggets

with three seconds left. let's watch it. >> irving for the win. >> a buzzer-beater. >> oh, my gosh. a finish for kyrie irving. >> that shot is basically impossible. kyrie irving sinks a running left-handed hook shot. dallas wins, 107-105. there was a similar ending last night between pistons and miami heat. less than five seconds left on the clock. >> rozier, the forecourt. two seconds. bam adebayo from the top and he tripled. >> that's about 27 feet or so. a tie-breaking three-pointer, the buzzer lifting the heat over the piz tons, 104-101. and now to progovernment and the 509 edition of the players

championship. scottie scheffler is the first to win golf's so-called fifth major in consecutive years. coming back from five strokes off the lead in the final round to win with a 72-hole total of 20 under. wyndham's clark's birdie cup lifted out due to the wind. he's the first player to shoot 65 or better in the final round. congrats to him. time now for the weather. michelle, sadly it is monday again. how is it looking for the week ahead? >> it's looking pretty good. it's quiet after last week. the biggest story will be the chill in the air on this last day of winter. we're looking at 23 million people impacted by freeze alerts. that goes into effect tonight into tomorrow morning. we're looking at freeze warnings from little rock, tupelo,

atlanta, even up to charlotte tonight into tomorrow. it's going to be a chilly day tonight and tomorrow. in kansas city, just 43 degrees today. 14 degrees below normal. in the 40s, too, nashville, bristol, atlanta, 59 degrees. that's below average too. we're going to keep it cold tonight. this is where the chill wants to come into place. we're looking at 27 tomorrow morning as a low in nashville, 27 in huntsville, nashville, tuscaloosa. you get the idea. we're going to be cool once again and then we rebounding nicely. spring tomorrow. by wednesday, 60s in nashville, into the 70s in atlanta. so really chilly and winter-like across the great lakes. 5 inches of snow falling especially downwind of lake ontario. we're going to to see some really heavy snowfall. that's going to move into the parts of the northeast tomorrow. spring is going to start tomorrow and we're going to flip that calendar finally. >> michelle grossman, thank you

as always. still ahead on "way too early," with another shutdown threat looming at the end of the week, another bipartisan deal to fund the federal government has hit a new snare. we'll bring the latest from capitol hill when we come right back. e latest from capitol hill when we come right back for those 60 years and older protect against rsv with arexvy. arexvy is a vaccine used to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv in people 60 years and older. arexvy does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients. those with weakened immune systems may have a lower response to the vaccine. the most common side effects are injection site pain, fatigue, muscle pain, headache, and joint pain. i chose arexvy. rsv? make it arexvy. you always got your mind on the green. not you. you! your business bank account with quickbooks money now earns 5% apy. (♪♪) that's how you business differently. intuit quickbooks.

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♪♪ welcome back to "way too early." it's just before 5:30 a.m. here on the east coast, 2:30 out west on the monday morning. man, monday came quickly again.

i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for being with us this morning. it is a new week in washington, which means, once again, there's a government funding fight on the will. after passing one government chunk earlier this monday, congress now has to pass the rest of it by this friday. however, negotiations have reportedly hit a snag over the homeland security portion of the package. according to the hill, a source says part of the problem is the democrats are asking for more money for if tsa while republicans are asking for more cash to go to i.s.i.s. detention amend enforcementests. that's coming as politico is reporting that the gop rejected an offer from the democrats for an additional $1.5 billion in fundsing. joining us now daniella diaz. nice to see you this morning. let's talk about the homeland security package and the snafu that surrounds it.

what is the reason behind it, and why are republicans rejecting more border security funding when they keep pounding the drums about needing more security funding? >> jonathan, this is no surprise to those of us who have been covering congress, the 118th congress sent last january. the border has always been a contentious issue between democrats and republicans. as we expected, the homeland security bill that would fund the department of homeland security was always going to be a fight on how they were going to appropriate their funding. over the weekend as you said that was in playbook yesterday, the white house offered a little over a billion dollars to pump toward border security measures, toward staffing up border security provisions. the republicans rejected that. so that is why that is the last sticking point. that bill is the last part of this six-part bill series that

is left to pass. congress needs to pass the six bills as we call them, a mini bus, before friday to avoid a partial shutdown. >> tell the viewers how this will happen this week. will johnson need help from democrats to get this package through and just how likely is it that the government's lights stay on after friday? >> well, johnson is absolutely going to need help from democrats. remember there's that really conservative faction of his party, the house freedom caucus members who, of course, will never support additional -- they want additional cuts to departments and will likely not support any sort of legislation that weit on the floor to fund the government. so he's going to need democratic votes to get it across the finish line. he's going to do that. it's not just republicans. because of a divided congress, the senate, of course, is senate led, so it's likely there will

be support. the biggest problem, we've been told by sources familiar with no negotiations we should likely expect taxes toward these bills, but the clock is ticking. congress never does anything quickly, jonathan, so if they want to avoid a shutdown by friday, they need to pass the bills as soon as possible. this isn't smng they can do in just a day. >> lastly, daniella, once this shutdown drama passes one way or the other, there will be revised conversations about aid to ukraine and israel. there's a chance that there may be a standalone bill by johnson. >> johnson said he supports ukraine aid and wants to put a standalone bill on the floor and that's where he puts his attention after the government is funded on friday. however, he is still going to face a lot of questions from a large number of republicans in his party who do not want to

fund ukraine. they think that the border needs to be funded first. there needs to be some sort of board irimmigration bill passed be ever they would ever support ukraine aid. that same issue that we've come back to time and time again as the senate worked toward a border bill, as republicans in the house have tried to pass border bills, so we expect that to be a recurring issue after the government is funded, jonathan. >> we'll continue to follow that. terrific reporting from daniella diaz. thank you. we'll talk to you again soon. next up we'll go live to cnbc for an early look at what let's moving the markets this monday morning. plus why the federal government has launched an investigation into reddit days before the company is set to go public. we'll be right back with business news next. ews next

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time now for business, and for that let's bring in cnbc's silvia amaro who joins us from london. good morning. what should we expect today? >> so at this stage, jon, the futures do suggest there will be a positive start to the trading session on wall street, but naturally all eyes are on the federal reserve and what the bank rules say later on this week. it's worth remembering at this stage market expectations do not point to any sort of changes when it comes to the rate policy at this time, however, investors will be following every single order from jerome powell in terms of trying on to understand when a first rate cut could potentially take place this year. it's worth noting the inflation data did bring down expectations of significant rate cut this year. so let's see what the fed will communicate later on.

>> all right. let's hit a couple more headlines. reddit is under investigation by the federal trade commission days ahead of its highly anticipated initial public offering. what's behind this? >> so the ftc sent a letter to reddit to inform the company it was undergoing an investigation -- and i quote them here -- that was essentially looking at the sale, licensing, or using shared generation content of third parties in terms of training ai models. this is a significant development because, of course, we're expecting reddit to start trading on wall street later on this week. we'll see how it impacts business going forward. however, it's worth remembering the main business is online advertising, however, they have started to expand their business in terms of data licensing services. so let's see whether this

investigation could impact this expansion of the business. >> and, lastly, a company we've been talking about a lot lately, tiktok, which, of course, is facing the possibility of a ban here in the united states has reported revenue of $16 billion last year in the u.s. alone. will this driec up the potential price tag for interested buyers if indeed someone tries to swoop in, purchase it, and allow it to stay active in the u.s.? >> one thing is clear from these numbers, jon, is that tick tock is very popular in the united states, and it is important to keep that in mind naturally because we did hear from u.s. lawmakers who are now saying essentially they want tiktok to be sold to a non-chinese company within six months or to phase banning from u.s. app stores, but what we're looking at from these numbers is a social media company, of course, the owner of

tiktok is bytedance. bytedance is on track to be bigger than meta when it comes to a social media company in terms of their sales. so tiktok has a huge potential in the united states. let's see how that will impact the potential sale to an investor in the near future, but, of course, it still remains to be seen what this announcement from u.s. lawmakers will actually mean for the business stateside. >> we'll have to see what happens to tiktok in the senate. cnbc's silvia amaro live from london. thank you as always. next up here, we'll turn to a couple of major stories from overseas, including the alengsy navalny-inspired protests during russia's presidential election as well as the deepening tensions between the white house and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. retired cia officer mark pop ruopp lus joins us on both sides of the story when we come right back. th sides of the story when we come right back

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welcome back. russian president vladimir putin has secured a fifth term in power, winning a presidential election over the weekend that solidifies his place in the top position of the russian political system until 2033. let's be clear. this wasn't really an election. moderating was extremely limited. according to russia's central election committee, putin had some 88% of the vote with over 93% of the precincts counting. after the polls closed, putin took the stage claiming his victory, claiming the source of russia isn't the citizens, but claiming they're all on one team. during a press conference held earlier today, keir simmons

asked putin directly about the death of opposition leader alexei navalny. he called his death a sad event while noting deaths in the russian prison system do happen. yeah. he then implied the same things happen in america and went as far as to claim he supported a deal to swap navalny for prisoners in the west over that in exchange navalny never return to russia. joining us now, mark papadopoulos, security and national intelligence. good morning. there was a protest of dissent organized over the weekend. it was three days of balloting. voters were told to show up sunday at noon. there were pretty sizeable crowds even though he won by overwhelming margins. what does this tell you about the present and future of that

country? >> well, jonathan, i think we can all kind of wreck size the notion that we're stuck with putin for six more years, until 2030. who knows if they'll try to extend his term furtherer than that. the election was certainly a sham. what's north worthy since this putin call to arms, in essence, was the amount of people who came out across russia in multiple cities, across europe outside multiple russian embassy where they were trying to vote. that's important. maybe it's not as deep-rooted as we thought. these people were brave. it's inspiring. it does matter. what the intelligence committee will be doing, my old tribe, is does this move against putin movement likely have any teeth? the likely answer is no.

he gets support from the security services and oligarch and none of those appear to be anything significant. inspiring, brave, but ultimately putin is going to be in power for some time and we're going to have to deal with that. mark, let's turn to the middle east now. a fascinating moment here. we mentioned herl letter the white house is considering what it might do if israel presses into rafah to secure the positioning. first let's get your thoughts on the white house and your reaction to what we played earlier, prime minister netanyahu sharply rebuking the comments from majority leader schumer. >> the last thing anyone needs is this rift. it's not just between schumer and bibi but also president biden as well. i think this is an unfortunate

distraction. you know, the u.s. and israel are incredibly close allies. i wonder if what schumer said was going to help at all. he's clearly trying to tell the israeli people -- he certainly said the elections were required. bibi is going to use this in his own political calculus. all eyes are on doha where david bar nia has arrived for the cease-fire talks. the one thing that will put all of this political distraction between the white house, chuck schumer and bibi, put that to rest, would be a cease-fire agreement in which six weeks of no fighting, israelis rush in, hostages come home, it's important. certainly the white house wants this to succeed. we'll see how much leeway nets ya hue has given to him. look to doha right now. this is really ground zero. >> all right. we'll be watching that for sure. mark, we hit on the two violent

hot spots overseas. let's turn for our last moments about the threat of violence here at home. we opened the show with donald trump talking about bloodbath, using dark ominous rhetoric to describe what would happen in america where he to lose. how concerned are you about the threat during the rest of this campaign and after actually? >> absolutely. i think the threat to the united states is from within. you know, donald trump has broken all norms. you can't say those things, or in the past you could not without being condemned. the fact that this is now the norm is deeply troubling. and, election? what happens? we've talked about it on this show and others. what happens if the artificial intelligence has deep fakes that suggests somehow the election was not fair. will supporters take to the streets? this is something that is troubling, concerning.

you know, what i'd love to see, and which is not happening, is members of the gop speaking out when trump uses this rhetoric. again, that's not the case. they're just too scared. that really is a cause for concern. >> yeah, former trump officials condemning him, but current republicans in power, that's few and far between. retired cia officer marc polymeropoulos, thank you. we'll talk again on "morning joe." up next on" way too early," president biden's campaign continues the fundraising momentum with another huge haul in february. we'll talk about the strong numbers as the november election approaches. coming up on "morning joe," we'll continue to break down donald trump's blood bath warning to the country were he to lose the election this november. plus, former vice president mike pence is joining a long list of one-time trump allies now breaking with the ex-president. also, stacey plaskett of the u.s. virgin islands will join

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welcome back. president biden's re-election campaign announced the biggest fundraising month yet since first launching last april. they raised $53 million in february. the president's campaign and its affiliated pac say they have $155 million in the bank to spend. that's up from $130 million in january. the trump campaign is not yet released its fundraising figures for february, but it is expected to be at a significant disadvantage. joining us now, white house reporter for bloomberg news, our friend jordan fabianfabian. good to see you this morning. let's talk the cash game. we don't have solid numbers yet from the republican side, but we believe biden will have a significant advantage. tell us why they think they were successful raising money, and how are they going to exploit the cash advantage? >> thanks for having me on, jonathan. look, there were two big events last month. you had the state of the union

and super tuesday, which are rallying points for democrats. particular, super tuesday, the biden campaign said they had a big bump on appeals based on trump clinching the republican nomination. that tells you about how they're going to run this campaign, which is a choice election between biden and trump. trying to get it off of the theme of a referendum on biden. look, this cash advantage is going to provide crucial for the biden campaign. they can staff up on ads, and the trump team will be running from behind. >> the president was in wisconsin, and they announced they had 40 something campaign offices open in the state. republicans don't have any. that's added to biden's momentum. polls haven't changed, to be clear, but biden is feeling good. not just because it was st. patrick's day, his favorite day on the calendar. we addressed the age issue again at the gridiron dinner.

no cameras allowed. tell us how he and his team are trying to navigate what polls suggest is an obstacle. >> look, this is the biggest obstacle for president biden heading into the election. first big swing you saw him take was the state of the union. you saw the energy, you know, speaking very loudly. he was pretty on point throughout the hour the speech lasted. his campaign advisors have wanted him to take on this issue with humor, and that's what you saw at the gridiron. democrats just want to see joe biden get out there more. get out of this cocoon some white house staff built for him. get on the road and show voters he is up to the task. hast the only way they believe they can breck through. you have seen the president keep up this heavy cadence of travel. he'll be doing that this week on the west coast, going to nevada, arizona, down to texas. look out for how he's going to

be handling this issue going forward. you're seeing the early stages right now. >> preview a little more, if you would, on what he hopes to do on the west coast swing. it seems to be a mix of some official events to talk about his accomplishments and also fundraising. continue to press the cash advantage. >> there's no other reason the democratic president is stopping in texas if not for that reason. these are crucial battleground states, nevada, in particular, is a must-win for joe biden. a state heavy with latino vote voters, and they're focusing on black voters, union voters. he'll be in reno, speaking to the communities. this will be a turnout election. he needs the core constituent groups to show up in november and is looking to mobilize them now. >> let's talk about the contrast he is trying to draw with the republicans who occupy the

building behind you. there is another government shutdown potentially looming. tell us how white house aides are viewing that possibility, and also what we've seen as a far more aggressive stance from them and the council's office, trying to shut down the republicans' impeachment inquiry into the president. >> yeah. i think the white house has become sangin -- sanguine. they're trying to draw a contrast with republicans on the hill. you know, basically the harry truman playbook, running against a do-nothing congress as an unpopular president. hitting them on the impeachment front and the stalled aid package for ukraine, israel, and asian and pacific allies. they're hitting them every day on that. jake sullivan briefing room today at the white house. look for him to hit republicans on that, as well. >> that is extremely important here. the white house still pushing

for the aid to ukraine. the president said it again when he was with the irish prime minister this weekend, suggesting with putin now newly re-elected, and we put that word in quotes, that this is a threat that's not going to go away anytime soon. white house reporter for bloomberg news, jordan fabian, thank you for joining us this morning. thanks to all of you for getting up "way too early" with us on this monday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. you see the spirit from the hostages, and that's what they are, hostages. they've been treated terribly and very unfairly. you know that. everybody knows that. we're going to be working on that soon. the first day we get into office, we're going to save our country and work with the people to treat those unbelievable patriots, and they were unbelievable patriots and are. >> i think it is very unfortunate at a time tre