The white house. General election coverage gets underway today. Im Andrea Mitchell reporting from washington along with my colleagues. Donald trump is the Presumptive Republican nominee at nikki haley suspended her campaign this morning without endorsing trump. I said i wanted americans to have their voices heard. I have done that. I have no regrets. It is now up to donald trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him. We will look to exit polling to see where the haley voters are going. Donald trump is calling for the Republican Party to unite behind him before he is officially declared theexpected. He picked up an endorsement from Mitch Mcconnell in a major sign the party will coalesce behind trump after last nights results and todays announcement from haley. Trump insisting they call it Super Tuesday for a reason when he spoke last night. Theres never been one like this. Theres never been anything so conclusive. This was an amazing night. Its been an incredible period of time. We have a great Republican Party with tremendous talent. We want to have unity. Were going to have unity. Its going to happen very quickly. Today we enter one of the longest General Election cycles in american history. Tieing the 244 days incumbent president george w. Bush and john kerry fought it out 20 years ago. We are looking at a 2020 rematch but with several major changes this time. Both candidates, the oldest to be on a ticket. Both with low approval ratings. Immigration, Abortion Access and the 91 federal indictments against donald trump top of mind in all topics President Biden is likely to mention in tomorrows state of the union address. Lets start with our reporters, nbcs alie vitali, garrett haake, kelly odonnell, mark murray and ashley parker. Ali, your takeaways from haleys suspension of her campaign this morning. Reporter of course, the first takeaway i have, andrea, is the fact she made the point shes a life long republican. Shes always voted for her partys nominee. Then in the next breath did not endorse the man who is likely going to be officially the nominee in a matter of a few more nominating contests, donald trump. The fact that she rebuked her former boss multiple times, not just over his Mental Fitness but also over his moral clarity on the world stage. Of course, using her position as his former u. N. Ambassador as a jumping off point, specifically as trump did not blame Vladimir Putin for the death of alexei navalny, the lack of clarity from trump was something haley teed off on. I think those attacks, even though haley is gone from the race, are going to be very much in the ether. I heard it that in watching haley and watching trumps reaction, you continue to see this tale of two campaigns. The way that haley basically called for her party to open up the tent, urge the likely nominee to reach out to independent and republican stripes to bring them back into the fold come november. Then, of course, you have the contrast with what trump said and over the course of the campaign has said, which at one point was, if you are endorsing, voting for or giving money to nikki haley, you should be barred permanently from the maga movement, which at this point is the Republican Party. All of that so striking today as haley leaves this race but still vows to use her voice at some later point. Garrett, i keep thinking about the truth social post after New Hampshire when basically trump told haley donors to go pound sand. He didnt want them in the maga movement. Does he plan to mend those fences now . Reporter look, he seemed to walk some of that back with another truth social post today, begrudgingly inviting haley supporters back into the maga universe. I can tell you from conversations with trump advisers, getting donors back in the tent, Refilling The War Chest for the General Election to come is a major priority. Theres no affirmative strategy to reach out to the haley voters who might be trump voters in the fall other than hoping that joe biden pushes them back into the trump camp. Thats the word i have gotten from trump advisers in the Current Campaign and even his longest serving political advisor, not an employee of the campaign, but someone who has trumps ear, roger stone, who i spoke to last night about this very question. Listen to what he told me. I dont buy this idea that a nikki haley voter would necessarily be a trump voter in the fall. Reporter does he need to do anything to encourage nikki haley voters to be trump voters in the fall . He has to find votes somewhere. I dont disagree with that. On the other hand, i think the Economic Conditions are going to drive that. Reporter thats been the bottom line from all the trump advisers who i have been speaking to about this issue over the last couple of weeks. This will not be a pull from donald trump. It will be a push from joe biden they believe to the degree that the nikki haley voters are gettable for donald trump. Kelly, lets talk about that. President biden is already reaching out to haley voters, posting on x, you dont have to agree with me on everything to know maga extremism is a threat to our country. We need everyone on board. Join our campaign. How does he find Common Ground . Where are the biggest opportunities for the president . Reporter he is seizing the opportunity with the change on the republican side. Expect to hear more of this. Where they see overlap, they believe that some of the people who have supported nikki haley include suburban women in the Republican Party. How can they get at them . Certainly, trying to talk about issues like reproductive freedom, concerns about the moral conduct of the former president and how the current president is trying to set a different tone and have a different approach to leadership, looking for ways there. More broadly, the president is wanting to make his campaign and even his state of the union tomorrow be focused on ways to make life more affordable for americans. We know the economy is always such a huge driving part of how voters evaluate candidates. Focusing on ways to reduce this, family budget, the people who handle that, house by house, home by home, and try to make some gains there. In terms of the nikki haley voter, they are looking at where nikki haley voters reside. They see where the vote count is. They see that as an area where there can be overlap. Expect ongoing outreach there. One of the challenges for President Biden, of course, is trying to move toward the center, which is typical for General Elections, and would be a way to try to encourage support from those who have looked seriously at nikki haley. He has challenges on his far left with concerns, protests and questions about the support there. That is a stretch for the president , and it will be a challenge for his campaign. Ashley parker, lets talk about that. Joe biden needs to reach out, he needs to do both at the same time. Thats a very hard pivot for him to make. What role does nikki haley have . It seems to me as long as its Donald Trumps party, she has to just contort herself into a different person to make change. She said its his choice to make. Thats a very subjective judgment. I could see her saying, well, he reached out to me and now all is forgiven. What does that say about her as a politician . What does it say about the Republican Party . Right . Watching nikki haley the last few weeks, she has very much been a happy warrior in terms of policy. Shes laying out traditional conservative policies of george w. Bush, of george h. W. Bush, of ronald reagan, peace through constraint, fiscal conservative, being prolife. I was with her last week with a small group of reporters. I asked her, in a way she was arguing she was going to implement the republican Autopsy Report after mitt romney the one they never implemented. She talked about reaching out to people who republicans dont normally talk to. Minorities. She said there were gay people at her events, trans people, minorities at her events. Talk to the embeds there, they say its still a typical white republican crowd. That is what shes arguing to be, thats what shes arguing is the future of the Republican Party. Does this maga fever ever break . The answer may be no. Especially not with the rnc falling into line as well, mark murray. Its his Republican Party. I dont know how he changes his spots, really, given who he is and what he says when he is off prompter. Over the last two years, our nbc news poll asked the question, do you want to have donald trump continue to be the leader of the Republican Party . Throughout the course of the last two years, it has always been in the 50 or 60 range, which actually kind of bears out the numbers we ended up seeing Super Tuesday last night. What ashley was talking about, i think nikki haleys evolution as a political candidate is fascinating. A woman who got her start being South Carolina governor during the advent of the tea party movement. As ashley was talking about, having a lot of the issues that we heard from the Tea Party Candidates of a long time ago, deficit reduction, smaller government, lets be a great ally to ukraine. Then she ended up joining the Trump Administration as u. N. Ambassador. She gave a speech during Donald Trumps convention in 2020 and decided to challenge him and took over that moderate, interest kind of liberal lane. It was the only lane open to any antitrump republican, but ultimately was a lane which you ended up a getting a minority of the vote except in vermont and d. C. Now the ball is in Donald Trumps court, but at the same time, for nikki haley, what kind of party does she want to go back to . A lot of people say, the Republican Party has been changed forever. That might be true in the shortterm, but its interesting what happens in 2028 and beyond and if theres a place for nikki haley. We always talked about these rivals, the team of rivals. You would not have predicted that Hillary Clinton would have wound up as Secretary Of State with barack obama given how bitter that was. Dianne feinstein brokered that amongst others. Its hard do that. Thedemocratic party say big is a bigger tent. Thanks to all of you. A top democrat in the house and a former member of the January 6th Committee joining us to break down todays Breaking News and the fights ahead. Stay with us. We will go to capitol hill next. [dog whimpers] [thinking] why always the couch . Does he need to go to puppy school . Get his little Puppy Diploma . How much have i been spending on this little guy . When your questions about life turn into questions about money. Theres erica. The virtual financial assistant to help you spend, save, and plan smarter. Only from bank of america. With nurtec odt, i can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent Migraine Attacks, all in one. Dont take if allergic to nurtec. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. Ask about nurtec odt. You need tmobile. Home internet with 5g. Wait tmobile has Home Internet . What a feeling to have tmobile now welcome back. Now that nikki haley has dropped out of the race for the white house and donald trump is the presumptive nominee, liz cheney says, quote, we have eight months to save our republic and ensures donald trump is never anywhere near the oval office again. Jamie raskin is the top democrat on the House Oversight committee and was a member of the January 6th Committee and joins us now. Thanks very much for being with us. Flash back to the days just after january 6 to the attack, did you think then that donald trump would be the presumptive president ial nominee . Do you agree with liz cheneys assessment given the antipathy by large numbers of voters in their parties . Do you think that she can live up to her pledge to try to keep him from the oval office . Well, of course, the next election wasnt much on my mind when we were reeling from the violence and catastrophe of january 6th. I think my assumption was that of the constitution itself, which is that someone who participates in an insurrection against the union should never be allowed to hold office again. It is disgraceful that a great political party, much less abraham lincolns party, a party of liberty and union, should be reduced to a cult of authoritarian personality in league with autocrats all over the world. I applaud the republicans standing up for the constitution. The republicans cant bend. Theres no ability to accommodate other views. Everybody has to follow donald trump like a monarch. The democrats, as somebody was saying, we now how to bend. Obama brought Hillary Clinton in. Rather than try to expel her, vilify her and condemn her, she was brought in and her talents were used in the obama administration. Theres a big difference between our two parties at this point. The difference between our parties really parallels the struggle that President Biden set forth at valley forge between the liberal democrats standing up for freedom versus the autocrats and monarchs. As we head into the General Election essentially, trump is facing these 91 criminal charges, four different cases. Do you think we will see the federal election interference case go to trial this year before the election . Just how crucial is that . Well, i actually dont think its that crucial, because, look, Everybody Knows exactly who donald trump is. Everybody knows who joe biden is. Joe biden has dedicated his life to the proposition that government must be an instrument of The Common Good for children, for young people, for older people, for the wellbeing of all of society. Donald trump is someone who is in politics when he first got in, he said it was going to be the greatest infomercial of all time. Each of the cases, whether its the financial fraud in new york or the Sexual Assault in new york or the defamation in new york or the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, which, of course, the House Of Representatives has pronounced upon. He was impeached for doing that. Each of these just gives us a further glimpse into who donald trump is. But i think america knows who donald trump is. The question is, who are we . Are we going to stand with democracy and freedom, or will we lapse into some other kind of autocratic government . Thats really the question for the American People. Its such an important and profound question, congressman. Im thinking, when you see that most of the polls show that its going to be a very tight race coming in november, how do you think how do you see that we have gotten to this point as a country, congressman . Well, you know, its always been a struggle against autocratic forms of government and slavery and white supremacy. Thats nothing new. This is a struggle thats been going on from the beginning of our history. I will tell you this. The vast majority of the American People are on the side of democracy. Joe biden beat him by more than 7 million votes. Even Hillary Clinton, although she lost in the electoral college, beat him by 2. 5 million votes. When you look at where the popular majority is, people are on our side in terms of gun safety, in terms of universal violent criminal background check, the public is on our side in terms of defending womens right to choose. You got more than 150 republicans, including the speaker of the house, who have taken a position that life begins at conception and not only should abortion be criminal, but ivf should be made illegal and should be a criminal act. Thats what the election is going to be about. They want to make it about joe bidens 82 years. Some people think it should be about Donald Trumps 91 Felony Criminal Counts in federal and state court. More fundamentally, its about democracy and freedom. As you were speaking, we learned that senator ernst just endorsed trump. Shes the last member of the Senate MinorityLeadership Team to endorse donald trump after Mitch Mcconnell came out with his endorsement this morning. I just think about you and the january 6th Committee Spending hundreds of hours, all the money, the staff, the resources to show the American People what happened on january 6th and Donald Trumps role in it. What do you think about him potentially returning