President Biden rebuked Russia and Vladimir Putin in notable remarks
at the United Nations General Assembly this week, all while investigations
around former President Donald Trump picked up steam to help us break
down all this news and more. We turn to the analysis of Brooks and
Tom Multi. That's New York Times columnist David Brooks and Karen
Tumulty, columnist for The Washington Post. Jonathan Capehart is
away. Hello to both of you Welcome.
To Karen and to David. So I want to start with Ukraine and what we've
seen this week. Major setbacks on the battlefield for Russia, Vladimir
Putin. David is responding by calling up hundreds of thousands of
young and not so young reservists.
He is orchestrating this sham elections so that they can annex parts
of Ukraine right now in the East. He is not backing down. He's doubling
down. In fact, is there more what more
And the can. The West Can the United States do at this point, you
know, he is suffering all these setbacks on the ground and even a
little at home.
And what he's done. He's like a wounded Tiger has reacted by saying
time is running out time to attack.
And so he's escalating.
And so what the U. S government is trying to do is to try to
Help the Ukrainians push them out of Ukraine. But slowly so you don't
trigger a nuclear war.
And that's just a very fine line to walk through. And I think the
government the U. S government is doing what it has been doing and
has plans to do a little more, which is to supply
Ukrainians with the weapons. They need to win the war in Ukraine
not supply the weapons they might use to attack Moscow
but to keep do giving them what they're doing, which is they've given
them.
Also amounts of intelligence. So Ukrainians really see the battlefield
better
and they have the antiaircraft material. They have antitank material.
They have missile material, and so they're better trained, more morale.
And they're just going to keep on plodding along, but it's that pacing.
That's so key is to not get Putin where he feels like he's totally
in a panic and he escalates in a way that could involved attacking
another country attacking NATO country and a whole variety of ways
he could escalate. So much caring of what you read is that it all
depends on Vladimir Putin and what he decides whether he wants to
end this. I mean is that how is that how we should see it?
I think so. And we also to look beyond that, because it's important
to remember China is watching here as well. And so they will be looking
at Western resolve in the face of a nuclear threat and as they try
and decide what they're doing with Taiwan, But I do think
The main thing the West has to do is stand firm Continue supplying
aid
Europe. It's incumbent on Europe to come up with alternative supplies
of fuel to get them through the winter as Russia as Russia cuts back,
because that is where Vladimir Putin also has leverage, he has economic
leverage.
And
And I think the Europeans a he's they've done a pretty good job of
Stockport building up their stockpiles. They've done a pretty good
job of passing serious messages, so it won't hit people as hard as
it might otherwise. And I think Putin has done everything possible
to make it easier for NATO to stay together. And so even the speech
this week the mass graves giving the Europeans months, warning that
he was going to cut off fuel before winter set in
He's hardened resolve around the world and kept what was going to
be a tricky job of keeping the allies together. He's made a little
easier, and it also is looking like his biggest problem, maybe domestically
as thousands of people are going to the street and protest risking
arrest. In fact, 1300 have been arrested. People are fleeing for
the border.
To, you know men who are in threat that 300,000 being drafted. He's
He's got some big problems at home, too. But you do you do get the
sense. I mean, we mentioned President Biden's speech at the U. N
General Assembly. You have other countries that are contributing
to the to the war effort in Ukraine, But you also get the effort
that there's just a limit to how much
Push this can how much difference although the hope is that at some
point, you know, the weather in Ukraine makes it harder to best offensive.
Literally. Do you get into the fall because it gets muddy, And so
there's gonna be some time here. And so the hope is that at some
point, Putin says, Hey, let's do a cost benefit analysis. I need
to do some negotiation.
And then the hope is that the Ukrainians say you know, we're we've
we've done fantastic but actually pushing Russian troops out of the
done, but in the Eastern regions is actually kind of hard and maybe
we should go to the negotiating table. So that would be one out where
they were just negotiated solution, I think, and I don't blame the
Ukrainians. They're the heroes here.
But there
Passions are high. They're filled with indignation there at least
talking in a very maximalist way. We want Crimea back. We want reparations.
And so maybe the Ukrainians will just you know it's their war. And
maybe they'll just keep pushing, pushing. Maybe a little faster than
some of the allies would like, or supporters were like, so let's
turn to politics in this country, as we saw in the report before
this Karen midterms are getting closer.
Um, And today, the Republican the House Republicans in the the minority
leader Kevin McCarthy made a speech went out of his way to sort of
outline what he sees as the Republic What the Republican agenda would
be if they take the majority in in the fall, but let we want to show
just a quick clip of some of what he said. And some of how President
Biden responded. Here it is.
We wanted economy that is strong.
That means you can fill up your tank.
You can buy the groceries. You have enough money left over to go
to Disneyland and save for a future that the paychecks grow. They
no longer shrink.
We have a plan.
For a nation that's safe.
That means your community will be protected.
Your law enforcement will be respected.
Criminals will be prosecuted. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy
went to Pennsylvania and unveiled on Monday and he calls a commitment
to America.
That's a that's a thin series of policy goals with little or no detail.
Here's a few of the things we didn't hear.
We didn't hear mentioned the right to choose. We didn't hear him
Mention Medicare. We didn't hear mentioned Social Security. So Karen,
what's going on here? Well, normally a midterm election is a referendum
on the president. But this one is different because people are looking
at what the Republican agenda itself could be, in part because of
the abortion decision, in part because Donald Trump is in the news
constantly.
And so, yes, the House Republicans are looking for something to talk
about that are not those two things. But this package that was unveiled
today and it was meant to be sort of an echo of the 1994 contract
with America was not specific at all. It was basically a bunch of
talking points, and I think that, among other things
Reflects how fractured the Republicans in the house are. I mean,
getting a majority of them to agree on anything is not only difficult
in the campaign, but it is going to be difficult for Kevin McCarthy.
Er, whoever the speaker is, if, in fact the Republicans get power
against the majority again in this midterm election, how fractured
are they? And how detailed do they have to 2020? They had no platform
at all. So I take this as a step forward. They did their platform.
Um, was anything Donald Trump wants? You know the parties in this
interesting transition from being it used to be sort of a business
party, and it's becoming a working class party.
And so it's becoming a party that's much more hostile to corporations,
much more welcoming of the of the entitlement state, the welfare,
state, Social Security, Medicare and all that sort of thing, much
more willing to use government to help working class folks, But it
takes a while for a party to migrate. I think they are migrating,
but a lot of people like Kevin McCarthy are part of the old party.
And there are some very fine people. Paul Ryan, the former speaker,
He was part of the old priority and so within the house. You've got
people part of that business party and then you've got the working
class party and they don't see eye to eye out a lot because this
is a party really changing its colors in in rapid form.
And and Karen. I mean, you, you look at this and you think this is
what we're going to watch for the next seven or eight weeks until
the election? I think this is what we're going to watch. But again,
Uh, the one of the problems for the Republicans is again. Donald
Trump keeps tripping back into the news. And speaking of Donald Trump,
this was David a tough week.
For him. There was not only a court ruling against his side and the
weather what to do with those papers that the FBI seized at his mar
a Lago estate. There's also this New York state attorney general
who is coming down with accusing him and his family and his business
of fraud. And yet, as we just watched at least Lisa Desjardin at
that rally, he's drawing big crowds.
Yeah. The civil suit in New York amused me If I learned from Eugene
Robinson, your colleague that he claimed that his apartment in New
York was 30,000 square feet when it's only 11,000 square feet, So
that's like classic Donald Trump. It's not the most politically important
of the investigations because it will take years to run through the
courts. And even if he lost everything, then pet to pay Children
$50 million. His organization can afford it. The Georgia cases more
serious. And then the Mar a Lago case are more serious and the judicial
decision the mar a Lago case.
Yes.
Well, it seems plain common sense. And it was two out of three judges
who made it where Trump appointees, which says, if we're going to
investigate the documents that the investigators have to see the
documents that doesn't seem like a very complicated legal thing,
And so it means the investigation of those documents will speed up.
How Karen? How How does this bad news effect?
Donald Trump's prospects and his ability to sway the results. Well,
we know what the pleasant well, we know what the playbook is, because
we've seen Donald Trump in legal trouble. So many other so many times.
It's delay deflect bluster, play the victim and counter
attack. But what's different? What does feel different?
Now is this accumulation of legal problems not only being accused
of a quarter billion dollars worth of fraud in New York and having
the Fulton County Georgia D a. Trying to figure out what kind of
pressure he was putting on local officials to swing the election,
But you've got the January 7th committee. You've got the Justice
Department looking into Trump's actions before that, and
You know the fact that he had classified documents and his personal
possession at Mara Lago. It's just so many things going on at once,
all at once, David, and yet he's drawing big crowds to repeat myself.
I mean, believers still believe in. And, according to Lisa's reporting,
everyone she talked to said they still think that election was stolen.
And they think these investigations are politically motivated. Which
is not 100% wrong, by the way, but you know there might be some and
not people would show up at a trump rally.
But I ran into a guy conversation last week or so Big Trump's border
really likes Donald Trump, but his sporting around the Santis for
the nomination, not because he has any against trump you just since
we should nominate a guy without baggage. It's just going to be easier
to get him to win.
And so if they are enough Republicans who make that calculation,
then some non trump person would have a chance. I still wouldn't
bet on it. But there must be a significant number of people who were
and I thought before the Mar a Lago search, you saw real evidence
of Republicans drifting away from Trump. Now they've drifted back.
Will they drift away again? Time will tell. And the other big question.
Karen is how much influence will he have on these races where he's
endorsed a candidate if his own if the if the luster is coming off
some of Donald Trump himself
He He certainly
Within a Republican primary. You know his his word is almost everything.
But as a result, there are a lot of very weak Republican candidates
running, particularly for the Senate.
Well, we are going to leave it there. Karen Tumulty. Welcome to the
table tonight. David Brooks. Thank you Both. Thank you Appreciate