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
is better off now that it s been about a year. is he in a great position, not great, but a better position than he was a year ago. the democrats are in a better position than they were a year ago. those two things aren t unconnected, and i think everybody concedes for a variety of reasons which we could go into more, ranging from the roe v. wade backlash to biden s legislative wins to trump s front and centerness, in a national discussion, everyone kind of concedes democrats have a fighting chance now to hold the house. a fighting chance. they re not likely to hold the house. they have a fighting chance. some of the forecasts range from 1 in 4 to 1 in 3. that s a good position to be fighting from. i think you re right about the senate. we ve talked endlessly, even with weak trump-backed
deep blue democratic. she s not going to bring any seats in. these people are going to win in swing states and they have to bring in other women and candidates up who can conquer these swing states. maybe democrats won in 2018 and lost in 2020. i think they provide a certain balance for the party and centerness. i think going forward, those are the people to keep an eye on. if they win, whoever the next speaker is will be speaker and if they lose those seats, kevin mccarthy. the new book is resistance, jennifer ruben, thank you. when we talk about this. i said after election night that it was beautiful and it was one of the most beautiful things i had seen in american democracy.
in credit card rates and mortgage rates. numerous government services would be crippled, important government services like the prison system is, the fbi, and including the federal courts themselves for financial markets, it would precipitate global chaos. ironically, it would lead to an increase in is future deficits thanks to the economic shot. so you re sitting in china somewhere in beijing in a central bank and you learn that the united states political screwing around by something called the right wing, they re not sure what it is over there, has brought down the ability of the united states to meet debts. how many billions do you think. john boehner will say we re not going to default on our debt. i haven t heard that speech yet. can i just say. sure, you re here. what has happened here in the only sort of skillful thing the republicans have done is to have drawn the white house and democrats into what is an enterness seen gop war. this is the story of the modern day re
can i just say. sure, you re here. what has happened here in the only sort of skillful thing the republicans have done is to have drawn the white house and democrats into what is an enterness seen gop war. this is the story of the modern day republican party, this is the harvest that is wrought when you invite extremely irresponsible, i wouldn t even call them conservatives tea partiers into your house. this is not a democratic and republican debate here. this is a battle among republicans. and they are the ones that have to determine the future of that party and what happens at the end of this. this is called a budget negotiation. it s not called anything. it s not called anything. this is unprecedented and the idea, the notion, the notion that this is somehow a democratic problem is completely a republican fabrication. running the country. let me explain to you what a budget negotiation is.