Plus the Republican Party formally censuring two of their own to get to the bottom of january 6th and Party Leaders sparking criticism after calling the events of that day Legitimate Political Discourse. We knew they were coming after liz cheney and Adam Kinzinger, which is in addition to Everything Else completely undemocratic but the real shocker of course was trying to sanitize the mob violence and attempted Coup On January 6th as Legitimate Political Discourse. We are now the party of the big lie officially. Plus a moment of defiance on the sidelines of the olympic games. Russias Vladimir Putin and chai into chinas xi jinping showing a united front. How they blasted the u. S. And its allies over the standoff at the Ukraine Border. And controversy with cameras in the classroom and punishing violators including teacher. Why critics say its designed to censure and intimidate. Good morning, everybody. Its saturday, february 5th. Im lindsey reiser. From chicago to ukraine well be covering it. In florida mike pence went further than hes gone before in credit sighing his former boss. During his speech to the conservative Federalist Society pence called out former President Donald Trump by name saying hes wrong in his claim that pence had the right to overturn the 2020 election. I heard this week that President Trump said i had the right to overturn the election. President trump is wrong. I had no right to overturn the election. The presidency belongs to the American People and the American People alone, and frankly, there is no idea more unamerican than the notion that any one person could choose the american president. Under the constitution, i had no right to change the outcome of our election. Trump fires back in a Statement Doubling down on his claim, adding i was right and everyone knows it. Josh lederman joins us now more, good morning. Lindsey, for four years former Vice President mike pence was former President Trumps loyal deputy, trying to keep any conflicts between the two in quiet, even as on january 6th protesters were chanting Hang Mike Pence but now those tensions between the two men are bursting out into the open as the former Vice President makes clear he disagrees strongly with his former boss on the idea that he had any Legal Authority to intervene or to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Now a source close to pence tells us former President Trumps recent comments blaming mike pence for not intervening and saying the fact that democrats are now trying to change the rules for how those electoral votes get counted was a reason that pence decided he felt he had to speak up now. Now were seeing the fact that the Vice President is more willing than he has ever been before to publicly distance himself from the former president. Up until now, mike pence said that he and former President Trump might never see eye to eye on january 6th but hes never come out this far and actually rebuking his former boss, something thats being watched very closely as republicans wonder whether former President Trump, former Vice President pence or both may seek the president ial nomination for republicans in 2024. This infighting between pence and trump coming as another incident of Friendly Fire has been breaking out at the rnc, where there was a vote yesterday to actually formally censure both republican lawmakers, Adam Kinzinger and liz cheney, the only two republicans who sit on that January 6th Committee that is investigating the attack on the capitol. Both have been cut off from gop support. We should point out a lot of senior Republican Leaders would like for these tensions between republicans to stay in the background. They would like for republicans to be talking less in public about the 2020 election and more about the elections that are coming up, the midterms just a few months away in november and of course the president ial race two years from now. They would like to see republicans focusing more on bread and butter issues that helped republicans win that election in virginia for the governors race, with Glenn Youngkin just a few months ago but were seeing increasingly january 6th and the results of the last election still very much on republicans minds, particularly those named mike pence and President Trump as they head towards the next election. Lindsey . Josh, thank you. For more welcome back miles taylor, former department of Homeland Security chief of staff under trump, now the Executive Director and cofounder of the renew america movement. Good morning, thanks for being with us this morning. Good morning. I want to play what former pence aide olivia troy said last night about pences remarks. I was shocked. I will say this, to hear him finally say donald trump is wrong. I have never in my entire tenure of working for the Vice President have heard him ever say those words especially publicly, and so i think that was a big step for him. I mean, do you agree . Weve been hearing a lot about how significant this moment is, but youve been very critical in the past saying you never saw pence stand up to his former boss. Is it too little, too late . Well, lindsey its a good question. I fully agree with olivia. Its shocking. Both of us sat with mike pence. Ive known him since he was a member of congress on capitol hill from indiana and rarely have i seen him stand up like this, if ever. He certainly didnt do it even Behind Closed Doors when donald trump was saying incredibly offensive things or pushing for illegal or immoral actions. First i would say it is disappointing that were 13 months out from these events, and remember, mike pence opened his remarks in florida by saying that this week, he heard that donald trump believed that he had the ability to overturn the election. Thats not true. Mike pence knew in real time as this was happening that mike pence wanted him to overturn the election, and he should have been pushing back in real time. That said, you cant understate the significance of this moment, because it truly could be a flashpoint that creates a schism within the Republican Party that needs to be exploited by the rational side. Keep in mind, over the course of the past year, a lot of the gop electorate frankly has been radicalized by donald trump into believing this notion that the 2020 election was stolen from them, and that mike pence had the ability to unilaterally overturn it. Pence pushing back creates an offramp for those people to go from the radical side hopefully to the rational side, but i will still say this, lindsey. When i joined the Republican Party many, many years ago, our ambition was to be a big tent party. Instead we are a Big Lie Party at this point and its still an access of insurrectionists that are running the gop. Miles, what is it about pence and his influence that gives an offramp . Weve seen mitt romney. Weve seen murkowski and collins, cheney and kinzinger, all these people have given this offramp for what you call the rational side of the gop, but it doesnt seem like a ton of people are taking that offramp. Well, look, when you dig into the numbers, its clear that the big bulk of these gop primary voters are going to be tough to pull away now from the big lie. The damage has been done, but there is reason for hope in some of the poll numbers weve been seeing very recently. So just the other week, john bolton released a new poll that showed big, big damage in terms of trumps brand in the Republican Party. Last year, one in three republicans in the United States called themselves trump republican. That number is now getting close to one in ten, so Donald Trumps support is actually slipping among his base, more and more republican primary voters say they want to see a fresh face and i think that lends credence to the notion that pence coming out against trump is a potential offramp. It gives some of those folks who no longer call themselves trump republicans some other figure to hang their hat on and a different direction to go, albeit one thats only degrees of difference. Mike pence needs to go further than he did if he really wants to lead a rational faction of the Republican Party. What do you make of the january 6th insurrection called Legitimate Political Discourse and what do you make of the censures of cheney and kinzinger . First, its truly disgusting. We are talking about an event thats only happened one other time in American History and we talk about sheas rebellion from the 1800s in very, very dark terms an attempt to overturn our democracy. This is similar and should be talked about in dark terms in the future. What i worry about is the gop Legitimizing Discourse around a peaceful protest is going to affect our History Books for years to come and is going to create deep societal divisions over that event. That said, its clear in the fight within the Republican Party to define whether this was an insurrection or peaceful protest, The Good Guys are losing. This is arsonists versus firefighters, the arsonists have almost complete control and the firefighters, liz cheney and Adam Kinzinger are being told to leave the scene and put down their hoses. Whats ironic about this to me is the two people that could save the Republican Party are being expunged from the Republican Party actively by its leadership. That shouldnt just be worrying to that cohort of rational republicans. It should worry all americans, including democrats who want to be able to work with another side that isnt inclined constantly to take hostages and never give them back as always, youve given us a lot to think about. Miles taylor, thanks for your time. Thanks. Still to come, President Biden orders 2,000 more troops to Eastern Europe but ukrainian officials claim russias army is reaching full combat strength. Were going to talk with a retired Lieutenant General who has been meeting with ukrainian counterparts. Later, can you imagine being monitored every second of your day . A new republican sponsored bill in iowa could mean cameras in every Public School classroom with penalties for teachers who dont go along with it. Teacher dont go along with it oh. Oh. What ing on . Oh, darn let me help. Lift and push and push there. Its up there. Hey joshie. Wrinkles send the wrong message. 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This morning, chinese president xi jinping and russian president Vladimir Putin have deepened their partnership against the west, saying there are no limits to their alliance while expressing joint opposition to the expansion of nato. Meanwhile, Russian Troops along the Ukraine Border have reached full combat preparedness, according to Ukrainian Military officials speaking to the New York Times. U. S. Forces seen here yesterday are training Ukrainian Forces as they prepare for a possible invasion while President Biden orders 2,000 more troops to Eastern Europe. For more we turn to matt bradley, who is live in ukraine. Good morning. What more do we know about the meeting between putin and xi and how the u. S. And ukraine are preparing for russias next move . Reporter the meeting between putin and xi, this isnt entirely new, as the world increasingly especially the Western World increasingly Ostracizes Moscow and beijing. We started to see these two coming together saying to each other, if you dont have a friend, then you have a friend in me. This is a major point of pressure for both of those world leaders. For beijing, when it comes to taiwan and their perceived expansionist policies towards taiwan, same with the russian leader, and Vladimir Putins perceived expansionist policies toward here in ukraine, it helped that Vladimir Putin went to beijing for the olympics armed with a contract for 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas every year for the chinese. They seem to be finding common cause with each other against the west and we heard from the ukrainians in the New York Times telling that reporter that it looks as though the russians are now at full capacity to invade ukraine. Now that wouldnt be so surprising, the u. S. Has been saying that for quite a while, even though ukrainians have been playing that down. If they invade theyll likely come right through here, harkiev in the eastern part of ukraine and in this area of ukraine, i was there and heres what we did. This Border Crossing on europes Eastern Fringe Stands as a monument to displacement and despair. Whats life like on the other side . Translator its like we are Indigenous People being oppressed by colonizers. We are not allowed to go either here or there. Reporter on the other side the selfdeclared lahansk government has been at war with ukraine. For the thousands that cross back and forth on this bridge into russiancontrolled territory every day, war with russia isnt imminent. Its their past, present and future. What is the significance of this crossing . Translator this point is very important for the People Living on both sides because its the only one thats still functioning. Most people cross the checkpoint to get their pension, get vaccinated, visit relatives or buy groceries. Reporter here the west pledges of support have always rung hollow. Is there anything else you want to tell the world about this . Translator tell biden please dont send troops to shoot around here. Well deal with our own problems. Reporter so as you can see, lindsey, for most ukrainians, war isnt imminent. The russians are already here. Lindsey . Very interesting perspective, matt b