intensifies his nuclear rhetoric amid a faltering military campaign in ukraine. the biden administration says it has told russia privately exactly what the consequences would be for using a nuclear weapon. we ll have the very latest on that. plus, a head turning new revelation concerning the attack on the capitol. what a former adviser to the january 6th committee says about a phone call between the trump white house and a rioter while the attack was underway. also this morning, tropical storm ian has just strengthened into a category 1 hurricane as it continues its track toward cuba and florida. we re watching that. and it is just six weeks until voters decide the balance of power in congress. we ll tell you where things stand this morning and what s in play. good morning and welcome to morning joe, it s monday, september 26th. we begin with the new polling from the new york times that shows 54% believe donald trump threatened american democracy when he left office. 51
watching this. there are different gradations. some republicans are trying to fool themselves into believing that trump is going to leave, and you know, let s just keep electing these people even if they re election deniers or not. liz cheney believes it s no longer about liberal versus conservative, republican versus democrat, it s about whether you support western democracy, free elections or whether you support an ill liberal form of democracy. at this stage now, we have people going out actively trying to take control of the conservative movement, the republican party who are saying liberal democracy doesn t work. they want to move to what orban is doing. they want to move more towards what putin is doing. they want to move master s degree toward what putin is