it is looking like a biden trump rematch. steve kornacki is here with the latest on tuesday's primary results. plus, the heated moments on capitol hill. both republicans and democrats grilling special counsel hur over his report on president biden. none, is the clock ticking on tiktok? the bipartisan effort in the house to block the app. what's at stake in this bill, as the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday night. ♪ ♪ ♪ good evening once again. i'm stephanie ruhle, live from new york city. and we are now 238 days away from the election, and it is a very, very big night for the candidates. with tonight's primary results, nbc news is now officially projecting that president joe biden has won enough delegates to be officially named the democrats presumptive presidential nominee. and donald trump at this point is very close to doing the same with the republican nomination, but nbc news projects it is too early to call that one. with that, you know where we are headed, right to the big board, where steve kornacki is standing by. steve, what can you tell us? >> yeah, stephanie, we are waiting, because any minute now, we expect to start getting results from the state where polls have now it just closed, that is washington state. you see the characterization of this republican contest, hear him ever, nikki haley dropped out, her name remains on the ballot. and one of the things in washington, we saw this earlier tonight in georgia, remember, this is extensive mail in voting, almost universal mail in voting in washington state. in georgia, there was heavy early voting, some mail-in voting as well. a lot of those ballots were cast before nikki haley dropped out of the race last week. so her names on the ballot. and frankly, a lot of people participated in this primary probably thinking if you still want to be a candidate on march 12th, or might be. so keep that in mind when we see numbers. we do expect her to get some votes. but we also expect donald trump to get the clear majority here, as he has in every other contest, as he did on super tuesday in every other state, except vermont. all he needs from washington state or 30 -- actually, it's even less now, we just got through a minute, let me show you exactly where we stand, he needs three more, just attitude trumps totals, he's now at 1000 1188, sweeping all of the delegates from georgia tonight, all the delegates from mississippi. that's brought him to 1188. so now, he's only 27 delegates away from the 1250 needed to win the republican nomination. again, 43 at stake here in washington state, 27 against trump there. and it was heavy mail in voting, as i say. so a lot of, times you will get pretty big batches of votes reported out throughout the state, pretty early after poll closings. what we saw in georgia and mississippi is trump winning so overwhelmingly here it does not take many of those badges to get the race called, to get the delegates allocated. so assuming that is what happens here, fairly shortly trump should get those 27 delegates, should hit that 1215 mark. and then what we will see is what we already have for joe biden, which is a declaration will appear on your screen that donald trump is the presumptive republican nominee, and you'll see a check mark next to his name. what does that mean? of course, both parties officially nominate their candidates and their conventions. that will take place this summer. they will have a roll call of the states. they will formally become the nominee's then. but we are talking about pledged delegates here, this is both in the republican race and the democratic race, delegates who are bound at that convention to vote based on their allocation in these primaries. so donald trump we'll have more than that number. that is what the 1215 means, locked in pledged delegates, bound to vote for him at the convention. that's what he's closing in on. we're gonna check back in on, washington city have any initial reports, they're just waiting on that, show you quickly what happened earlier tonight, as i mentioned in mississippi, 40 delegates up for grabs their. almost all the votes are counted. haley's name remained on the ballot, trump over 90%, gets all 40 of those delegates. go over to georgia, 59 delegates at stake on the republican side, more than 90% in. trump gets them. you do see haley again getting double digits here, 13%, again, remember a lot of these votes were cast before she dropped out of the race. but we are seeing in georgia what we've seen in other states through this primary process, the haley vote has been the strongest, relatively speaking, the trump vote has been the weakest relatively speaking in the big suburban areas, in and around -- in the city of atlanta, but outside the city of atlanta, the metropolitan areas, those are trump's weakest counties relatively speaking tonight. we've been asking questions about the primary season. we've known since 2016 that trump struggles in the suburbs, that trump can lose general elections because of the suburbs. does this reflect any new weakness? or does this reflect weakness that we already knew was there? it's frankly a subjective question. and it's an important answer. but we won't know the answer until november. but obviously a storyline, the suburbs and trump, the major storyline in this election. so again, just checking back here on washington. still don't have our first votes there. and to show you on the democratic side, as you mentioned, stephanie, joe biden easily clearing his parties threshold tonight. it took just georgia for biden to do that. polls close there just after 7:00 eastern time. almost all the vote tallied now. no surprise here, biden running in the mid 90s, 95% statewide. so he got all 100 delegates early in the night in georgia. and i did, as you say, give him the track mark, make him the presumptive nominee in the democratic party. he also in mississippi was the only name on the ballot tonight. still telling some of the votes there, but that's the result you get, only name on the ballot. and again on the democratic side, they are also having a primary in washington, also waiting on the results for that. one other contest on the republican side that is going to take place later tonight would be these caucuses in hawaii, 19 delegates there as well. so that is one more opportunity for trump to collect delegates tonight. but we do suspect, and here we, go votes coming and now in washington, as i said. okay, we've got 23,000 votes in statewide here. and here's trump running at 83%, nikki haley at 13%. in terms of the allegation of delegates, if you get a simple majority statewide, this 50% plus one, you get 13 delegates off the bat statewide. the other delegates are given out by congressional district. there are ten congressional districts in washington state. each one is assigned three delegates, that's a total of 30 delegates that are given at the congressional district level. if you get a simple majority in a congressional district, you get all three. so there's 30 delegates that will be awarded at the congressional district level, 13 at the statewide level. you can see trump already, 7% of the vote is now counted statewide, and there's -- oh, and here it comes. i think they're getting it, stephanie. >> you got it, steve. nbc news is now officially projecting that donald trump has won enough delegates to be named the republicans presumptive nominee. you are right, steve. he got the numbers. >> yeah, again, look how fast it starts to come in. this is a state, washington, where it's basically done all by mail. so they were able to get so many these ballots. they had 1.4 million between both parties primaries that had come in prior to today. so they are able to get those all processed and ready to be counted, they can release a big batch of votes, a big number of votes early enough. as we say, trump easily here passed that 50% threshold statewide. so right there he gets a big bunch of delegates and congressional district as well. again, he only needed 27 here to hit that number. right now, he's gotten 31 of the 43 by our decision desk projection. so that makes donald trump the presumptive nominee on the public inside. each party now has a candidate who has reached the threshold, cross the threshold of pledged, committed delegates to the convention to ensure a first ballot nomination. the question we had earlier in the day's is this the earliest that that's ever happened? because a lot of folks have been looking at the biden trump rematch and saying this feels like it is going to be the longest general election and campaign ever. we asked mathematically, is it the longest general election campaign with ever? and here's the interesting thing, if we use this as the metric, the date by which both parties candidates hit this threshold for talking about tonight, this delegate threshold, in the year 2000, and in the year 2004, that occurred with 239 days to go before the general election. so those were coming in today, they were tied for the record by this metric of longest general election ever. that was bush versus gore in 2000, bush versus kerry in 2004. it's just an hour before midnight on the east coast. so it is still march 12th by our calendar here. and between now and election day, there are 240 days. so we have just set a record by one calendar day, stephanie. this is the earliest that both parties have had their candidates across that threshold , and at least by this mathematical threshold, this will be the longest general election campaign of the modern era. but i know when you say, that it's also a subjective feeling for a lot of people. and they may feel it's more than a day longer than all the others. >> just what everyone was hoping for, steve, the longest official election season ever, joe biden versus donald trump. steve, thank you so much. i want to bring in our lead off panel tonight, much to discuss. michael memoli of course joins us, nbc news white house correspondent. he has covered president biden, his family, and his inner circle of advisers for over a decade. katie benner is here, pulitzer prize-winning reporter for the new york times. and glenn kirschner, former federal prosecutor, msnbc legal analyst and chief law explainer for the 11th hour. mr. mentally, you know i'm going to you first. president biden has secured the nomination. his campaign is now fully moving into general election mode. what is the game plan? >> well, steph, it's really remarkable, these two men, donald trump and president joe biden, have really been circling one another for the better part of the last year. this is the general election that both campaigns had expected, maybe not a majority of americans expected, and frankly, not that the majority of americans wanted. but it's what we are going to be seen for the next year. and i find it very interesting, steph, what is on the presidents schedule tomorrow. he is gonna be heading to wisconsin. he's got a mix of campaign and official stops. what do we know as donald trump is now the presumptive nominee? what's gonna be happening later in wisconsin the summer? it's a republican convention. president biden will be in the state where donald trump will accept that nomination, as we now move into this general election phase of the campaign. and the president has really upped his game. he's really stepped into a new gear, starting with that state of the union address last week. he's ramped up his travel schedule,'s campaign has ramped up its ad spending. and you are going to see them at a full court press, not just the president, the vice president, the cabinet, a whole army of surrogates go there to make the case to the country for four more years for president biden, but really, this is a campaign running on two pillars, about continuing the economic progress the president thinks he has helped lead over the last four years by preserving and protecting our democracy for the perceived future as well. >> he came out swinging at the state of the union and he has been punching ever since. now let's turn to the other big political story in d.c. today. the capitol hill testimony of former special counsel robert hur. i want to share a bit from my colleague gabe gutierrez on today's hearing. >> reporter: tonight, the firestorm over president biden's handling of classified documents is reigniting. >> you exonerated to? him >> no i did, not exonerate. >> mr. hur, it's my. time >> reporter: special counsel robert hur, a former trump- appointed u.s. attorney, testified about as a report recommending new charges. >> we identified it evidence that the president willfully retain classified materials after his vice presidency. we did not however identify evidence that rose to the level of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. >> reporter: hur defended, including damaging details, about president biden's mental acuity, including that the 81- year-old president had diminished faculties and represent himself to the jury as an elderly man with a poor memory. >> i did not sanitize my explanation, nor did i disparage the president unfairly. >> reporter: but hur was grilled by both republicans -- >> joe biden broke the law. but because he is a forgetful old man who appears sympathetic to a jury, mr. hur chose not to bring charges. >> reporter: and democrats. >> you chose a general pejorative reference to the president. you understood when you made that decision, didn't you, mister hur, that you would ignite a political firestorm in that language, didn't you? >> congressman, politics played no part whatsoever in my investigative steps. >> reporter: hur road president biden cannot remember when he was vice president or even the year his son beau died. the president said he was outraged hur asked him about his son. >> frankly, when i was asked a question, i thought to myself, it's none of their darn business. >> reporter: but the transcript hur of's this interview, released today, confirmed it was the president self and brought up the presidents son, as nbc news previous report. the president asked what month about, i, agada, and others responded 2015. the president then asked, was it 2015 he died? >> why did the president say it was robert hur who brought up his son's death on the transcript says otherwise? >> the transcript clearly shows the president was being asked by the special counsel about the book that he wrote about his sons unfortunate and untimely passing. >> reporter: classified documents were found at president biden's old offices, his delaware home, in his garage. over returned. >> glenn, it seems like the democrats heard what they wanted to hear, and the republicans heard what they wanted to hear. did anyone actually learn anything today that changed their point of view? >> you know, steph, i would say not anything of substance. but the real beef i have with what special counsel hur decided to include in his report is once we know that it was his assessment, there was insufficient evidence to bring a criminal charge, why in the world do you go on to assess how somebody who will not be charged with a crime might appear to a jury? guess what, he's never going to be sitting in front of the jury. so i don't know why he had a gratuitously say, well, i think a jury might view him as old and forgetful, but wait a minute, there's insufficient evidence to charge. he's never going to appear before a jury. that to me, steph, felt like hur was engaged in a little clear at them and smear them. that's at least the way it came off. >> well, glenn, that sort of like a how can these two things be true, that robert hur says joe biden has a photographic memory, and at the same time, he's memory impaired so much that he be sympathetic to a jury? how do those two things square? >> well, i don't think they do square. as some of the questioning was pretty pointed about how. hur had to acknowledge that in the transcript, he used the word photographic memory. and yet, somehow that was absent from his report. what was in his report is how a jury might assess joe biden after he concluded joe biden would never be sitting in front of a jury. that's the piece that felt really unfair to me. >> mike, when donald trump's investigated, he fund-raise off of it, he makes it central to his campaign, the government is out to get me. how is president biden approaching his issue, the issue of the special counsel, for him? >> well, this is been a difficult issue, obviously. think back just a month ago and special counsel hur released his report, which was a bombshell, really adding to the anxieties that so many democrats had felt about whether president biden was up for this redirection praise. hur's assessment that the president wasn't elderly man with a poor memory, well, i was one of a small group of reporters who was able to read the full transcript of the interview that the special counsel base that assessment on with president biden last month. it was released publicly just before the special counsel met today. and it led to the democrats on the panel and the white house certainly amplifying the idea that the full picture that was revealed in that interview in october was much different in their view and then what special counsel had conveyed in his report. and so, from the perspective of democrats, this is not something like republicans that they will lean into, that they will campaign on. they feel like this was a moment, perhaps, to try to move beyond this, to put this behind them. they will be republicans certainly making it clear today, they're not done with this investigation. they are going to try to continue to do what they can to continue to, frankly, smear president biden, to use the investigation to launch political attacks on him. but the president is going to be trying to keep his focus on the core issues in this election, the economy and democracy itself. >> glenn, let's talk about depositions in general. because republicans keep bashing president biden for saying he couldn't recall this or that in his interview. but don't lawyers across the board encourage clients who are being deposed to say i don't know, to say i don't recall, when they're deposed so they can wrap things up? >> you know, it's a fine line, steph. and a lawyer should never councilor his or her client to feign a lack of memory. no, would never happen. but i do think the safer course is you tell your client, i told witnesses this as a prosecutor, don't try to fill in gaps in your memory. if the truthful answer is i don't recall, then you are obliged to give the truthful answer. and i always tell witnesses, listen, i don't recall, i don't know, i'm not familiar with those facts, those are all appropriate answers as long as they're truthful. but don't try to pretend like you don't remember something that everybody kind of knows you do remember. >> katie, this hearing was obviously not an official part of the republicans's biden impeachment inquiry. but we know they were looking for anything they could use. deadly find anything of substance? >> you know, i don't think they found anything of substance. i don't think either side found anything of substance. that is not what this hearing was about. in fact, there are many times but hur just in reply or speak, it was an opportunity for the politicians to get clips of themselves being, for their constituents, either pro or anti biden. there is tons of grandstanding. not a lot of substance. but the republicans did score some winds when congressman jayapal basically said this exonerates when president biden. i don't she expected hur to say this does not exonerate him. that's gonna be a clip that plays all throughout the election season, absolutely. and then the democrats came back with their own hits. they kept saying over and over again, reading from hur's report, this is what makes president trump's behavior as alleged in the indictment serious, and more serious than what president biden did. in fact, one congresswoman even had her read those lines from his report stay could use that as a clip, hur himself saying that president biden had not been as bad as president trump. so everyone was out getting their campaign material. i would say that the republicans, they did get -- i think possibly think that will be more effective in the race. >> katie, former doj official jack goldsmith wrote in your paper today that special councils are supposed to conduct sensitive investigations that are and appear to be fair and a political. but they have failed at that goal over and over, and should no longer exist. you covered the doj. what do you think? >> yeah, so i thought this was a really fascinating op-ed. and it's something that merrick garland, the attorney general, he sort of touched upon in a different way when he became the a.g.. he never said that special counsel should not exist, certainly. but what he did say the justice department, men and women of the justice department, should be able to handle even the hardest cases, even the trickiest cases, because the american public should have faith in the rule of law and in the professional behavior of or law enforcement. what a jack goldsmith is arguing is that the idea of the special counsel was supposed to preserve that, supposed to create a little critical distance, so in the most sensitive, politically sensitive cases, an almost third party would take over. it clearly, if you look at all the special counsel's investigations going back to bill clinton, i don't think that we can say that it brought the country together. the clinton investigation did not bring the country together. the mueller investigation did not bring the country together. the durham investigation did not bring the country together. and what we saw from hur the testimony today was absolutely agree justly very, very partisan. and what he is arguing is that if we are not going to believe in the rule of law, there is no way that the special counsel might be a fake leave over -- is there something else that we should be doing? i think also what he's getting at is this bigger problem of a loss of faith in american institutions. if we don't believe in the rule of law, our courts, our system or prosecution, if we believe everything is partisan and nothing is real, there is no prosecution that is when to stand up to the scrutiny of that kind of cynicism and skepticism. >> well, it's hard to bring people together on the most politically charged issues. katie, glenn, michael, thank you all for starting us off on this very big official night. when we return, president biden is not the only one with millions of dollars to spend against trump. we are going to look at a massive new ad campaign for militant group against the former guy. and later, the house is set to vote tomorrow on a bill that could ban tiktok. how soon could our most addictive app disappear? the 11th hour just getting it away on a tuesday night. the 11 away on a tuesday night. we're talking about cashbackin. not a game. not a game! we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. we're not talking about practice? no. we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. not a game! we've been talking about practice for too long. -word. -no practice. we're talking about cashbackin. we're talking about cashbackin. i mean, we're not talking about a game! cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. if you have chronic kidney disease you can reduce the risk of kidney failure with farxiga. because there are places you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ (♪♪) i've got to go. ok. bye. mom! (♪♪) -thanks mom. -yeah. (♪♪) (♪♪) you were made to dream about it for years. we were made to help you book it in minutes. i have moderate to severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. business. it's not a nine-to-five proposition. it's all day and into the night. it's all the things that keep this world turning. the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. see why comcast business powers more small businesses than anyone else. get started for $49.99 a month plus ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. don't wait- call today. the blood glass but in the rnc continues, with team trump ousting veteran staffers as they rushed to remake the organization. on the flipside, one group is working overtime against donald trump, launching a massive 50 million dollar advertising blitz that uses his former voters against him. and this crew has nothing to do with the biden campaign. watch this. >> i'm a former trump voter. >> i voted for donald trump in 2016 and 2020. >> and i will never support donald trump. >> i will not vote for him in 2024. >> he's got so much baggage. >> trump is the biggest threat to our democracy. >> he lost the election. >> donald trump was responsible for the violence on january 6th. >> trump talk about retribution. >> retribution and going after people. he >> he's disrespected our military. >> the military people he disgraced. >> 91 criminal felonies. >> four different indictments. >> he mishandled classified documents. >> taking documents. >> now his desire to do away with nato. >> donald trump talks about abandoning ukraine. >> he said he'd be a dictator on day. one >> is going to be a dictator on day one, he's gonna be a dictator period. >> for more on this, let's bring in robert gibbs, former campaign senior adviser and white house press secretary for president obama. he's now the co-host on the hacks on tap podcast. and reed galen is here, cofounder of the lincoln project. he has worked on a number of gop campaigns, including john mccain, arnold sorts of nature, and george w. bush. reed, you know i'm going to you for us. your group knows a thing or two about trump attack ads. what do you think of this new campaign? >> i think it's fine. and i hope it really works. i think we've seen in the past that this is the kind of stuff that might help hold services in places. but i think we should always remember that politics is an emotional business, it's an evocative business, a provocative business. it's a lot of monmouth, all in the context of a two billion dollar campaign, it's not a lot of money. so i'll be interested to see, although they probably won't tell me, what the underlying data and targeting is. but i think that this was the kind of thing that was tried during the iowa caucuses. i would be interested to see exactly who is trying to be swung, if you try to get people who voted for trump twice, other people who voted for trump twice to say kendis work, those people are now locked, and i'm glad they found these people. but i would say that these people are a drop in the bucket compared to trump's overall base. and i think that the people who are or former republicans are now non-trump republicans need to be reminded what the history and heritage of the party was and why he doesn't represent that and never will. but look, i think that we all need to be rowing in the same direction, and i'm glad they're doing, it because it's better than not doing it. >> robert, here's what's interesting. the group is focused on attacking trump. but they are not boosting joe biden. is that because they can't promote his record? they are republicans, they don't like his record. >> they certainly could promote his record. i think these are more powerful because they are in the -- subjects don't work. look, the biggest thing about a negative ad is the whether you believe it or not. and we know what a negative had looks like in a political campaign. right now, is generally grainy pictures, an ominous voice, slow motion, you know, just a lot of stuff that quite frankly makes people turn the television off her turn away from it. these are your neighbors. these are people you could go to church with. so look, you can attack this a couple of different ways. you can peel voters off of voting for donald trump. you can build up the presidents record. but i think this is an effective way of going at trump using those words of his own voters. >> reed, a week ago there were some people claiming control biden was too weak, too senile to be president. now those same people are saying he's shouting like a mad man out there. are there really any voters to persuade? or have people all made their minds up and this election is all about voter turnout? >> well, i mean, look, all voters -- what's that old saying? it all comes down to turnout, of course it does, come on, people have to show up to vote. i think there are persuadable people. i think the idea that there are people who voted for, let's say, a joe biden in 2020, and a gretchen whitmer in 2022, i think it's very hard to convince them to go back to donald trump. maybe it's hard to get them back to biden, but i will tell you this. an otherwise trump voter that stays home is one in the right direction. and someone who can be persuaded to come across the line for president biden who i thought was brilliant in leading off of things like ukraine and idf and the idea of personal liberty during the state of the union last week i thought was very important. i think they're absolutely persuadable voters. look, you've got some other kooks out there, bobby kennedy junior, the no labels bozos, whatever they're going to do. but i think there's plenty of people who can be persuaded. let's remember, donald trump is not gonna be better in the next seven or so months, he's going to be worse. think about what he did over the weekend, making fun of biden's stutter. think about any parent, stephanie, who has a kid who is dealing with something that's not their fault, how does that appeal to them? not very well, i don't think. >> how about the fact that joe biden has overcome a debilitating stutter and nailed, what was it, 60 odd minutes state of the union address? it's a win. robert, what do you think about this? are there actually undecideds? because it's extraordinary when you think about the criticisms against biden a week ago and how they've changed so dramatically. >> i definitely think there are persuadable voters. i think it's a very, very small sliver of people. they are going to be targeted at six, seven, maybe eight states, but probably closer to six. think about it, stephanie, you talked about -- this group is going to spend $50 million, other groups that don't spend hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. and a very tiny number of people in those six places. but i absolutely think in the suburbs there are people, and we see this in the polling, that have fallen memories of trump's economic record or how the economy was then but are concerned about what the future looks like and the activities of donald trump as he was leaving office. those are absolutely people who are having conversations with their friends, having conversations with others, washing ads, getting information and having to make decisions. so i think putting people in front of those voters that look like their neighbors, look like their friends, help reinforce the choice that is coming. >> gentlemen, thank you so much for joining, reed galen, robert gibbs. when we return, talk about economics, everyone has been waiting for interest rates to come down. well, today, we got a sign that we might be waiting a little bit longer. we are going to dig in when the 11th hour continues. i got a special guest for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ecial guest for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ [car door shuts] [paparazzi taking pictures] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. ned, ned, who are you wearing? he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. ned? otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing otezla for nearly a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it. serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. with clearer skin movie night, is a groovy night (♪♪) live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. (fisher investments) it's easy to think that all money managers are pretty much the same, live in the moment. but at fisher investments we're clearly different. (other money manager) different how? you sell high commission investment products, right? (fisher investments) nope. fisher avoids them. (other money manager) well, you must earn commissions on trades. (fisher investments) never at fisher investments. (other money manager) ok, then you probably sneak in some hidden and layered fees. (fisher investments) no. we structure our fees so we do better when clients do better. that might be why most of our clients come from other money managers. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. okay y'all we got ten orders coming in... big orders! starting a business is never easy, but starting it eight months pregnant... that's a different story. i couldn't slow down. we were starting a business from the ground up. people were showing up left and right. and so did our business needs the chase ink card made it easy. when you go for something big like this, your kids see that. and they believe they can do the same. earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase with the chase ink business unlimited card. make more of what's yours. well, you knew this was coming. now, it's time to turn to the economy. consumer prices are still climbing. 3.2% higher than they were a year ago, and many expected price increases to be slower by now, but they are not. and the bottom line, inflation is still a problem. for more, let's bring in new york times jeanna smialek, she reports on the federal reserve and economy. justin wolfers joins us, a professor of economics and public policy at the university michigan. and if he is in the, building you know he is on the show, ali velshi, my partner on all things economic and life. he's also the host of velshi saturdays and sundays right here on msnbc at 10 am. jeanna, people were hoping and praying that the fed was going to cut rates soon. but with an inflation report like this, what do you think? >> you know, most investors, and i think most economists, we'll tell you we are really looking at a june as the earliest possibility for a rate cut at this point. the fed meets later this month, in march. but inflation is kind of flatlining. it's still much more moderate than it was at its peak in 2022. but it's not down to a level that could give the fed maybe that comfort in needs to finally make that move. so most economists think not this month, probably not at the next meeting in may, but that june meeting might be a possibility for a rate cut. >> ali, president biden has a ton to brag about when it comes to the economy and the economic recovery. however, if your groceries are still really expensive, if your rent is super expensive, is that all people care about? >> yeah, so there are two things to look at. here your groceries are always going to be expensive. the problem is -- >> they're not always gonna be expensive. >> much more expensive. in a real world, 3.2% inflation would actually be okay. most of the rest the world has accepted a 3% as right. what the fed cannot do is change the goalposts in the middle again. they cannot say we are good with three, they would like it to be too. i don't know if we are going to get there, that's the point. the more important that you just mentioned's rant. if you are a homeowner and you locked into a 30-year mortgage at 3%, your housing is at a discount. you are paying -- your sitting pretty, because prices are going up everywhere, so is the value of your house, and you have no problem with that. renters are really getting it. people who need to buy a house now who are locking in at 6.5 to 7% for a 30-year mortgage are really getting it now. >> and there rent is going up. >> like everything in the economy, the problem is not spread equally. the rich feel it a lot less than the poorer do. so what's happening is that people who are impoverished really are saying what is your solution for me in the long term? and that's what has not been clear. >> justin, people like to make the argument that, yes, life is expensive, but it's a whole lot more expensive in other places around the world. is that a winning argument? i mean, when people are at the grocery store and their bill is really high, are they really thinking, well, it's worse than spain? >> no, the truth is -- the truth there's the truth and there's the stories politicians have to tell. let's forget the stories we have to tell, let's go to the truth. the truth is is that our spending power is a race between whether wages are going and whether they are going fast enough to get ahead of price growth. and the truth is is that our wages are now growing quite a bit faster than price growth. and your real wage on average is higher than it was before the pandemic. now, the problem with that as a story to tell is let me tell you my own story, which is the prices went up a lot of the grocery store, it's painful every time i go there. my wages kept up, but i happen to think it's because i did such a good job as an economist. that's the reason my wages went up. the truth is's if you asked my boss, they would say you're a very good economist, justin, we were just giving this as a cost of living adjustment. my eyes open to that story, understand the cost of living went up, my wages went up to compensate, and i'm actually doing roundabout okay. but that's not the story i tell myself. and that's what makes inflation heard so much. >> that is a really good explanation. >> i'm now wondering whether i caught an increase for being good or cost of living. >> jeanna, you reported today on how insurance is a big contributor to these price increases. explain. >> yeah, so we are particularly seeing this with motor vehicle insurance. so car insurance premiums have gone up a, lot partially because we saw that big pop in new and used car prices before a couple of years ago, and those car parts that come -- also jumped in price. so when you have something happen to your car, now it's costing a lot more to repair. it so we're seeing motor vehicle insurance released into climb rapidly. that's contributing to inflation , at the same time health insurance enough until this month, structure insurance have also been contributing to inflation. not something the fed can do a lot about, but it is something that's pushing up these numbers. >> ali, presidents do not control the fed. i know donald trump wanted to. >> yeah, tries hard. >> what levers do presidents -- help me, what can the president? do >> he can't do much to convince trump our. >> can you see high needed co- anchor? i need you to ask. >> i think there's not much the fed can. do they want to be very careful they don't do something prematurely. >> might her the credibility. >> and i think people need to remember we know how recessions. work when you get into recession it's, bad that the fed can cut interest rates and it can recover. we know how you get in and get out of it. inflation is much, much, much more complicated. japan got stuck in it for a very long time, and it wrecked them. when you and i were, young japan was the country we were going to look to as the future of the world. and now it's sort of a middling economy. we -- >> we were young at the same time. justin, earlier today, jamie dimon, jp morgan ceo, warns that a u.s. recession is actually not off the table. what is your take on that? >> -- years in a row and we keep reporting on it year after year, week after week, time after time. he keeps saying it at something point something to say hey, jamie, you weren't right last year, you are right here, there is no reason to get it right anytime, anytime coming up soon. >> just in for president. >> what's your take on justin? >> exactly. write a broken clock is right twice a day. you can talk about recessions. i don't know where there is one on the horizon. we have under 5% unemployment, peoples wages going, up they continue to spend, the stock market is going up, inflation has gone, oh prices going up, gas prices under control, tell me how this makes a recession? >> jeanna, i have 15 more questions for you, but you know ali, talk, talk, talk, an hour out of time. great to see you all. >> welcome to my show. >> look at this, now he's stealing guests. when we come, back congress is debating legislation to ban tiktok, and the president said he is meant to sign it. we're gonna break down what the ban could actually look like, how could be implemented, and how about all those other social media companies. are we are looking at them? when the 11th hour continues. are you sweating?! didn't you use old spice? of course, i did don't lie to me! it says right here, old spice has ridiculously long lasting sweat protection! ok, i lied. noooo! aaaah! ohhh crap. now we gotta get france something. wait! we can use etsy's new gift mode! alright. done. ♪♪ plateau de fromage! oh la la! don't panic. gift easy with gift mode, new on etsy. numbers move you. but some can stop you in your tracks. like the tens of thousands of people who were diagnosed with certain hpv-related cancers. for most people, hpv clears on its own. but for those who don't clear the virus, it can cause certain cancers. gardasil 9 is a vaccine given to adults through age 45 that can help protect against certain diseases caused by hpv. including cervical, vaginal, vulvar, anal, and certain head and neck cancers such as throat and back of mouth cancers, and genital warts. gardasil 9 doesn't protect everyone and does not treat cancer or hpv infection. your doctor may recommend screening for certain hpv-related cancers. women still need routine cervical cancer screenings. you shouldn't get gardasil 9 if you've had an allergic reaction to the vaccine, its ingredients, or are allergic to yeast. tell your doctor if you have a weakened immune system, are pregnant, or plan to be. the most common side effects include injection site reactions, headache, fever, nausea, dizziness, tiredness, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and sore throat. fainting can also happen. help protect what counts. talk to your doctor or pharmacist about gardasil 9. disrupts my skin, night and day. despite treatment, it's still not under control. but now i have rinvoq. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that reduces the itch and helps clear the rash of eczema—fast. some rinvoq patients felt significant itch relief as early as 2 days. some achieved dramatic skin clearance as early as 2 weeks. and many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers, including lymphoma and skin; heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death. serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. help heal your painful skin— disrupt the itch & rash of eczema. talk to your doctor about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. ya know, if you were cashbacking you could earn on everything with just one card. chase freedom unlimited. so, if you're off the racking... ...or crab cracking, you're cashbacking. cashback on flapjacks, baby backs, or tacos at the taco shack. nah, i'm working on my six pack. switch to a king suite- or book a silent retreat. silent retreat? hold up - yeeerp? i can't talk right now, i'm at a silent retreat. cashback on everything you buy with chase freedom unlimited with no annual fee. how do you cashback? chase. make more of what's yours. high-stakes battle is brewing on capitol hill over tiktok. despite new opposition for donald trump. the house gop is pushing ahead on a vote tomorrow that could band the app in the u.s., and the lobbying on both sides is now underway. back with us to discuss, alex thomas, former chief security officer at facebook and yahoo read you are exactly who i want to talk to. we rarely talk about bipartisanship, but now we have a lot of republicans and democrats on board to band this. what you think is going to happen? >> like you said, it is kind of amazing to hear a committee voting 15-0 to do anything. i don't think taking a lunch break is part of this these days, and that is how they voted to take this tiktok will to the fore. it looks very likely to pass. it obviously has to go to the senate, and the senate will have the chance to fix up the bill. i think there are some weaknesses in this bill. while there is bipartisan agreement that something has to be done, i think there is some discussion in the senate about the structure of how to deal with tiktok and other companies going forward. >> let's talk about this. do you think it is a good idea? how would it be implemented? what would it look like? >> we have got to do something here. experts in the cybersecurity industry, my friends in the government, people who work in these kinds of investigations in the national security world, all have i think legitimate concerns about tiktok print both in the access to data that they get on the tens of millions of users, but also the possibility that they might tweak their algorithm to very subtly change the conversation in the united states and to affect, especially, this conversation of people. i think this is an appropriate concern. the question is how you do it. the issues of this bill really show the fact that it targets speech that is specifically about platforms that carry speech. it is also very specific to tiktok. i am not a law officer even though i play one on tv sometimes, but when you talk to my colleagues at stanford law, she has a lot of i think legitimate concerns that this bill will be challenged for years and years. if you think about the structure of this bill, it is not enforced directly against tiktok. it is enforced directly against apple and google and the app store so it creates an incentive for apple and google to be the ones to bear the cost of years of litigation of this bill. so i think they will probably pass it. to the senate, i would look at the privacy issues over the speech issues. i think that is a much firmer basis upon which you can regulate not just tiktok, but every social media company bypassing affair federal privacy law that sets the rules of the road for how all companies should behave. then you can do what they are trying to do here, which is to say that these things cannot be accessed by companies controlled to our adversaries, which are china and russia. >> that is the point about other social media platforms. i get it. tiktok is owned by china, but many of the things that they are guilty of or the risks that they pose are also present on other social media apps. we have done absolutely nothing for years to those. >> i do think there are specific risks of china. the truth is, the united states and china are embroiled in what is effectively a cyber war now. we don't talk about it much, but every single day, chinese hackers are attacking american companies to steal at intellectual company. china continues to cipher for economic purposes. over the last year, the big story that has been really undercover in the united states is that the cyber industry continues to uncover the chinese leaving backdoors in really critical companies that would support the u.s. military response in a war in the pacific. places like guam, pearl harbor, san diego. that is a big deal. that is a real shift in chinese strategy to leave those backdoors and indicates that the chinese are utilizing cyber to potentially build the possibility of a conflict. so i do think there is a risk here, but that being said, i think the most legally defensible mechanism here is to create a law that applies to all companies fairly. you can single out china and russia and other adversary nations for special treatment, but if you pass a law like this, you don't just catch tiktok. you make sure the other companies don't use chinese data processes, don't store data in a place that the chinese government can get to it. and the thousands of chinese companies that ship apps that collect american user data. the thing that drives me nuts is the only talk about tiktok. there is we chat, a whole bunch of video games with sketchy data policies. chinese at tech systems. chinese sdks, they are called. pieces of software in other apps that people don't know they are shipping data to china. that is what we need to look at. let's do it once and do it correctly because it has taken all of this time to move on tiktok, so imagine congress trying to pass a bill for every chinese company that pops up that is a church -- ridiculous way to do it. let's look at it as an overall privacy bill. i think that starts the conversation and starts the momentum towards a more comprehensive set of protections for americans privacy. >> alex, every night, our goal on this show is to make our audience better and smarter. every time you're here, you do just that. thank you for joining us. for you at home, thank you for watching. i wish you a very, very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with me. we will see you at the end of tomorrow. it's time to feed the dogs real food, not highly processed pellets. the farmer's dog is fresh food made with whole meat and veggies. it's not dry food. it's not wet food. it's just real food. it's an idea whose time has come. get help reaching your goals with j.p. morgan wealth plan, a digital money coach in the chase mobile® app. use it to set and track your goals, big and small... and see how changes you make today... could help put them within reach. from your first big move to retiring poolside - and the other goals along the way. wealth plan can help get you there. ♪ j.p. morgan wealth management. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. >> tech: cracked windshield? schedule with safelite, and we'll come to you to fix it. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist >> tech vo: this customer was enjoying her morning walk. we texted her when we were on our way. she could track us and see exactly when we'd arrive. >> woman: i have a few more minutes. let's go! >> tech vo: we came to her with service that fit her schedule. >> woman: you must be pascal. >> tech: nice to meet you. >> tech vo: we got right to work, with a replacement she could trust. >> tech: we're all set. >> woman: wow. that looks great. >> tech: schedule now at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ i have moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. thanks to skyrizi i'm playing with clearer skin. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. with skyrizi, nothing on my skin means everything! ♪ nothing is everything ♪ ask your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. it's time to feed the dogs real food in the right amount. a healthy weight can help dogs live a longer and happier life. the farmer's dog makes weight management easy with fresh food pre-portioned for your dog's needs. it's an idea whose time has come. you can make money the hard way as a bullfighter with fresh food pre-portioned or a human cannonball... or save money the easy way, with xfinity mobile. existing customers can get a free line of our most popular unlimited plan for a year! not only will you save hundreds but you'll also be joining millions who have connected to america's most reliable 5g network. sure is a lot safer than becoming a stuntman for money.