>> catherine albright gets tonight's last word about her mother. the honorable madeleine albright. the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now. tonight, cracks in the grand old party. those recorded conversations raising tensions between trump loyalists and party leadership. so why did kevin mccarthy get a standing ovation? then, as the war on ukraine enters week nine, a surprise prisoner swap. and as putin choked off fuel to toot european nations, the white house gets ready to ask congress for a massive ukraine aid package. plus, the fleecing of america. how a trumping company with huge ties to the trump administration ended up with a 700 million dollar pandemic loan. as the 11th hour gets underway on this wednesday night. >> good evening once again,

lovely to be with you. i'm stephanie ruhle, house republican leader kevin mccarthy is in survival mode again tonight, trying to remain a viable candidate for speaker of the house, while facing the wrath of some of trump's most fiercest supporters in his own party. the minority leader was face to face with republicans this morning for the first time since the release of those revealing audiotapes. the meeting with said to be heated at times, on the recordings, mccarthy is heard saying trump bears responsibility for january 6th, and expressing fear that lawmakers in his own caucus could incite violence following the riot. and this is nbc news reports mccarthy did not shy away from the audio in today's closed-door meeting, but instead told members that the party, quote, needs to move forward and lead on issues that americans care about, including border security and inflation. some lawmakers had mccarthy actually got a standing ovation, and said that he is still on track to become speaker if

republicans take control of the house. but, and there's always a but, that is not where it ended. florida congressman matt gates now attacking both mccarthy and his deputy steve scalise about leaked audio concerning gates can criticism of liz cheney. here's where the party leaders were saying. >> okay, what did gates say? >> you high, yeah gates said the gates brought up liz specifically, i just saw that on twitter. >> and someone just sent it, gonzales to send it to me, so i'm calling gates, i'm explained to him. i don't really have that much to say, but i'm going to have. -- the nature of what's, if i'm getting another one from the fbi tomorrow, this is serious -- to cut this out. yeah that's potentially legal. >> potentially illegal. that right there is the part that gates and his posse are fired up about. msnbc reports freshman congressman marjorie taylor greene fired up. she's calling for both mccarthy and scalise to apologize.

scalise, the congressman who was shot on a softball field back in 2017, did meet one-on-one with gates after this morning's gop meeting. then he tried to explain what he said in those recorded comments. >> there were some things that were being told to a number of us that were in that call about threats that were being made. and there were members that were getting death threats at the time. clearly, i'm very alarmed and a little bit extra concerned when you see members of congress, republicans or democrats, getting death threats. so i share that with matt, i'm sure that those comments caused him problems, because there are things that were conveyed to me from a number of places. >> and tonight, gates is back on the attack telling his side of the story to fox news. >> at the time, i was protecting president trump from impeachment, and kevin mccarthy was protecting liz cheney from criticism. what i said to steve scalise, if you accuse someone of potentially breaking the law, and by the way, he wasn't

reacting to something, he raised the prospect of the illegality of my statement that liz cheney was anti trump. if you accuse someone of breaking the law, you have to say one law you think they broke? and you have to present what's evidence. >> the january 6th committee chairman says members will consider, consider, possible subpoenas for mccarthy and other lawmakers before the weeks and. with that, let's dig in and bring in our experts tonight. paul all msnbc contributors jackie allegheny, neal katyal department of justice veteran, and former acting solicitor general during the obama administration he has argued dozens of cases before the u.s. supreme court, and former u.s. attorney joyce vance, who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. jackie, today republicans gave kevin mccarthy a standing ovation. but fast forward, 8:00 tonight, fox news, matt gates giving him yet another beat down.

so where does mccarthy stand tonight? >> yeah, therein lies the rub stiff. there is some sort of asymmetric imbalance here, which is that most of the members from the house gop conference, including house minority leader kevin mccarthy and house gop leadership are really tired of the antics from the far-right of their party. but, and that was evidenced in that audio that leaked, and really over the course of the past years, mccarthy has struggled to keep the party together as these members have acted out time and time again. he's had to deal with some of the repercussions. but you don't see them really going all the way in reprimanding these members. only two of them stood up in the house gop conference meeting this morning that was matt gates and marjorie taylor greene, according to our reporting as well. and they, their comments were not really received very well by the rest of their members.

that being said, you don't see mccarthy and scalise speaking out publicly against them, because at the end of the day, they do whole discuss constituency that matters the most for the lot of these members. which is the attention of the trump base. and former president himself. >> you know who else isn't going all the way, the january six committee. joyce, if these tapes do not warrant a subpoena, what in the world will? >> well, they do warrant a subpoena. the question is who from, stephanie. and obviously congress acts as a political body, their political consequences for actions like becoming the first folks to issue subpoenas to other members. the real issue here is whether there's a criminal investigation, and not into these people like mccarthy and scalise, not with them as targets of the investigation, but whether their testimony ultimately is deemed relevant to other ongoing investigations. we haven't seen any subpoenas

like that being issued by doj at this point, but it's really not hard to contemplate that they could reach a point where this testimony can become relevant and important. and doj doesn't have the same political constraints that folks like the committee have. >> we haven't seen that from the department of justice which is exactly why michael steele on this show, at this time last night, has this very question. >> what's smoked is this gonna have to admit before there are consequences? >> neil, i feel that. where is the department of justice here? >> well first of all, stephanie, it's time to say it's always a privilege to be on with you, but more so after this last week. thank you. >> thank. you >> there's smoke, there's fire, these audio calls, they're like making crazy crazy again. it's unbelievable what is being said. and joyce is absolutely right. there's nothing indicating right now that either mccarthy

or scalise are targets of the justice department investigation. but, gosh darn it, they are material witnesses at the very least. and i'm very respectful and proud of the january six committee seems to have done so far. but not when it comes to members of congress. they sent mccarthy a letter on january saying it would be nice if you could come in and tell us some things. mccarthy of course, thumbed his nose at it. and now we have 2000 texts and these audio calls, showing that mccarthy was front and center in a lot of these events. and yet, the committee has not subpoenaed him. if it were you or me that had this information, we would've faced a congressional subpoena way earlier. right away, on day one. >> but here's the thing, neil, they're not unbelievable. it's totally believable. none of us, yes, we're like wow, now we've actually seen it. we've heard it. but it's not a surprise, so given that, is anything that you've seen actually illegal

and there will be consequences. because, we've obviously seen nonetheless for which is why republicans don't seem to care. >> absolutely. indeed, a federal judge's, has evaluated everything that's happened in the evidence of january six committee has uncovered and said, it is of more likely than not that donald trump committed various felonies. very well respected judge going through the evidence in the like. and what these texts do they allow congress and the committee in congress, to have a basis for issuing that subpoena. because it's one thing for you and i to know in our hearts would happened, we saw certain things, and we suspect certain things about donald trump and others. it's a different thing when you have these texts in cold language saying, here's what i think. i think that gates is putting people in jeopardy. i think it's potentially illegal what's he's doing. that's when representative scalise said. and we have all the stuff from trump in the text. >> let's get even more specific.

jackie, you've got reporting tonight that the committee is very interested in a specific text from marjorie taylor greene about opposing martial law. you call it an important part of the investigation, why is that? despite her misspelling of martial. >> yeah, marjorie taylor greene's martial plan was just one small part of the broader efforts that were taking place. by these extreme gop lawmakers and the former presidents fringe allies, people like phil waldron, sydney powell, michael flynn, patrick byrne. people who are actively visiting president trump in the oval office, who were trying to get on his desk proposals to put the president to invoke extraordinary measures using his presidential powers, to really strong-arm his way to overturn the results of the election. that included trying to leverage government agencies to conduct investigations into quote unquote, foreign interference. all of this bolstered by fraud

flatulent claims. it wasn't just marjorie taylor greene. as she indicated that text, some members, fellow republicans, agreed with this plan that was being proposed and sent to mark meadows, after the insurrection that is already killed six people and injured hundreds. some of which, those police officers are still actively recovering from their injuries today, and i think my last point is what's most shocking about all this, those members are still doubling down on those plans. even though they were again, bolstered by unsubstantiated claims. scott perry told us today that there's nothing wrong with him asking the department of justice to look into the potential to seize these voting machines, because of foreign interference. >> again tonight, marjorie taylor greene on false news asked about these texts saying, i do not recall. >> last week, she was on the stand under oath, really fighting for the ability to

stay on the ballot to run again. she didn't deny any of this, but she said she didn't remember it. does this new proof change anything in that case? >> so, if we're talking about whether or not green is susceptible of perjury charges in this georgia state proceeding, that's really not gonna happen here. to successfully prosecute perjury, you have to have a precise matchup between the question and the answer. that's something that lawyers have to do very skillfully. this wasn't a hearing that was about perjury. it was about a listening information to decide whether she could stay on the ballot? and here again, if the hearing officer, the administrative law judge and ultimately, georgia secretary of state, brad raffensperger, if they are inclined to keep her on the ballot, i think it will be easy for them based on that hearing to say that the plaintiffs in that case, georgia voters, didn't meet their burden of proof of showing that she was involved in misconduct. it's because she used these

very disingenuous repeated answers, saying that she didn't remember anything. in terms of that proceeding, probably not a lot of movement towards taking her off the ballot. but again, and back to neil's point, what happens here, is there becomes a basis for people to be subpoenaed. and you see in these text in these non responsive answers, something that makes it legitimately possible for the january six committee or doj, to issue subpoenas and in inquire further. who is in the room? who are you talking to? there are a lot of lingering questions about participation by members of congress particularly this news that this was ongoing after january 6th, when people saw the risk, when people saw the danger. and continue to try and perpetuate the big lie, and interfere with the transfer of power. that's a very ripe area for inquiry in a forum where she can be held to account for her faulty memory. >> neil, former federal judge michael luttig, he is a

conservative icon. he's written an ipad to hold the republican blueprint to steal the 2024 election. he actually advised mike pence about the january 6th certification of biden. in any scenario, at any point in history, an op-ed like this should be a big, big deal. we saw similar letters, op-eds, warnings from other op-eds and warnings from the entire trump presidency. it didn't change anything. so will this? >> i sure hope so. i can't emphasize this enough, judge ludwig is as conservative as it gets. ted cruz and john eastman, both words former law clerks at the same time. ted cruz said michael alluded was quote, like a father to me. this is like merrick garland writing an article saying that the democrats, in fact, put microchips in vaccines. with an important distinction, that would just let it is actually true, that's how seismic something like this is.

to have a really ribbed conservative say this. and what he said is really quite astounding. he said, basically, that the republican claims in 2020, we're just a blueprint for 2024. it started in 2020 with this bogus independent state legislature idea that they tried to pedal to the supreme court, they couldn't get the supreme court to bite. and then judge looting explains how they then pivoted to this alternate slate of electors idea, which is of course, not a thing. there's no alternate slate of electors. it's like having alternate facts or something like that. i think judge loutitt is drawing a lot of attention to this is coming from an in conservative quarter. i think all americans should understand that there's nothing more precious than our right to vote, and to actually have it counted and not ripped away by some crazy legal theory that is made up. >> it should be a big deal.

the truth matters. but only if you hear it. and the question is, will those hard-core republican base voters, are they going to read an op-ed from cnn written by him? that, i'm not so sure. i want to thank you all for starting us off tonight. jackie eliminate, neal katyal and joyce vance. coming up, blackmail. that's with the european union is calling russia's decision to turn off the natural gas spigots to poland and bulgaria. and later, according to at least one gop member of congress, no one cares about january 6th. we're going to dig and into the global growing political follow from the latest recording revelations. the 11th hour just getting underway on this wednesday night. underway on this♪ yeah, that's ♪ night. ♪ nothing and me go hand in hand ♪ ♪ nothing on my skin, that's my new plan ♪ ♪ nothing is everything ♪ night. rizi. most who achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months

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rounds every single day. of all different types and caliber's. and we are doing everything we can. the flow continues to make sure that they can stay in the flight. >> and the administration is about to ask congress for a lot more money to keep that military flow going. sources say, president biden will propose another massive aid package tomorrow morning. and, as we entered a 64 of the war, i want to bring in cal perry, live in kyiv. cal, we have seen reports of fires and explosions on the russian side of the border. what do you know about that? >> yes, so this is an interesting development. in just the past 24, 48 hours, and at least three locations on the russian side of that border, major fires in industrial areas. one at an arms depot. two at these oil facilities. these oil facilities are key for russian build or resupplies. one of those facilities with over 10,000 gallons of fuel. another one with over 5000. so, these are vital infrastructures. and then you have, the

ukrainian government. at least the senior visor to the president basically throwing shade at a time of war at the russians. he tweets, quote, beloved, bianca, constant production issue. how can we not believe in camera for the murder of ukrainian soldiers? so not taking responsibility for these attacks. again, russia is blaming the ukrainian armed forces for these attack. some of the local governors heard them say that they heard the sound of drones before the explosions. and again, we know that these new military equipment is arriving here every day. but the ukrainian government not wanting to take responsibility for part of these attacks, stephanie, may be the reason threatening the couple of kyiv. saying that he will carry out air strikes if it continues on the russian side of the border. stephanie. >> just as more and more ukrainians are moving back to kyiv. cal perry, thank you so much. stay safe where you are. another big headline in the consulate today, russia's decision to cut off fuel to poland and bulgaria. nbc's tom costello has more on that part of the story.

>> speaking to russian lawmakers putin promised to respond quickly if outside countries interfere in ukraine. saying our response to counter assaults will be lightning fast. we have all the tools for this. the kind that no one else can boast of right now, we won't brag, we will just use them if needed. today's move represents the first time russia has cut off oil and gas supplies. such putting words on friendly countries will have to pay in russia's struggling currency. russia relies on russia supplies. nearly three quarters of bulgaria's natural gas supply comes from russia. for poland, it is nearly half. though, the country say they have enough reserves to last through the summer. already, natural gas prices are rising in europe and the u.s.. >> putin is going all out on this war. and he sending a message that to the best of his abilities he's going to use russian energy exports as a weapon. >> our thanks to tom costello. let's bring in retired army lieutenant colonel alexander

vindman, he's the former director for european affairs, u.s. national security council with this expertise in ukraine. colonel, i was under the impression that ukraine has said over and over to european countries, stop buying your oil and gas from russia. so, isn't this what ukraine wanted? >> it is. and in fact, there was a dependency that many countries in europe were reluctant to when themselves off of. the bottom line is in a lot of ways, vladimir putin continues to miscalculate. and by shutting off these gas flows, he is making it easier for countries to make the decision to make abrupt calls on shifting over to other suppliers. he is going after the smaller targets, bulgaria, poland is not quite as small. but he is certainly holding off on trying to do the same thing with the big revenue flows coming in from germany and from western territories. testing the waters to see where he can develop seems and going after easier targets. signaling that that's the

direction he's going in. but that is his nature. he's going to continue to press where he sees vulnerabilities. in fact, europe is no longer -- now, no longer willing to accept this kind of pressure. and he has to push back. they have started doing that from the beginning of this war. so, this is going to backfire on him. just like other his other activities since the beginning of this war. >> but is that entirely the case? because there is also reports that one entity in energy giant is trying to open up rubble accounts to specifically meet putin's demand that he only wants to trade in rubles. if we see this happen, not just with this one company but with more, walk that the feet the point of sanctions? >> to a certain extent i think frankly hungry already did that. hungry agreed to pay in rubles. and establish a rubble account. and the reason that, of course, the russians want to is because the rebels aren't officially inflated. and they pickett at a place where they can get more revenues. but that is, as long as the biggest companies don't bend to putin's will i think the fact

is that he's going to continue to struggle. and tried to squeeze part of the ideas also, to artificially increase gas prices and then read some reward from that. so, he's looking at all the different needs to continue to generate revenue. it is not going to be sufficient to reduce the cost for all the impacts of sanctions. but he's looking for different ways to do that. >> how about some other news we woke up to here? that prisoner swap, between the u.s. and russia. former american marine, trevor reed, he was extra least in exchange for a russian pilot. were you surprised by that? >> so this is an issue. trevor reed is an issue that goes back to my time at the white house. he was detained during my tenure there. it was a struggle to make any headway on. that the russians used all of the detained u.s. personnel as kind of hostages. hostage swat. so it's an expectation that they're going to do that with the remaining folks in the tension it's unclear to me

because i don't see what's going on now why trevor reed, as opposed to some of the other detainees. but it is good that we have americans coming home. >> but why would putin play ball on anything on every other possible avenue over the last 60 days he hasn't? suddenly this. seems out of character. >> it is not. these are really technical, small little tactical maneuvers to see what -- how he can open the door for other kinds of negotiations. i mean, what we see is him winding down of all the other diplomatic activity across the board. so, there is an effort underway to keep a toll hold in other areas. see what other wheeling and dealing can be done. very transactional to see what kind of other opportunities are out there. i wouldn't read too much into it. i think that this is just, you know, it's unclear again exactly why this particular transfer at this time. but, he sought an opportunity to get one of his own people

back. it is actually, my understanding is that, it's a criminal, cybercriminal transferred over. and it was a deal long and coming. it managed to get across the finish line. now >> before we go, it is always important every year to acknowledge it. this holocaust remembrance day, today, has special significance. given everything that's happening in ukraine. especially with putin's disinformation. this ridiculous false claim that the war is about the notification. can russia keep up this awful propaganda? are russians continue to believe this? >> you know, it's a moment, it's about denazification. other times it's about nato expansion. it kind of depends on which way the wind blows at the moment. the bottom line is that none of this is really relevant. this is all rhetorical, at this point. the russians are not successful on the ground in ukraine. they are being stymied.

if you asked me a week ago, i had deeper concerns about the russians making gains in the east. they have not managed to put together a significant offensive. they are going to continue to feed troops in as [inaudible] . and ultimately, with these weapons coming in from the u.s. side, these are important systems rip punishing u.s. losses. these howitzers, and especially if they get these requests for drones, those are gonna be the game-changers. and russia is not going to be able to hold on to this offensive for much longer. >> all right, retired lieutenant colonel alexander vindman. thank you so much for making us a little bit smarter tonight. always good to see you. coming up republicans may be counting on voters member holding. the horrors of january six. despite audio recordings, they are hard to forget. will it work? when the 11th hour continues. will it work will it work when the hey!

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mccarthy has been on the defense about leak recordings of his comments following january 6th. but not everyone in his caucus is too concerned. republican congressman glenn grothman of wisconsin told the washington post, quote, i did listen to it. and you know why? because unless you remember of the press, nobody gives a damn about january 6th. nobody cares. as many republicans try to downplay the sixth, here's a reminder of just some of what

happened on that fateful day. in a warning, this video that you're going to watch is disturbing. [inaudible] [inaudible] [noise] [noise] [inaudible] with us tonight, robert gibbs, former obama campaign senior advisor aunt and jeff bennett, chief washington correspondent for pbs news hour and an msnbc political contributor. robert, it's not just republicans saying it, last night, right here in this hour. clare mccaskill said, people

don't care about january 6th. they care about inflation. obviously, a lot of people do care about the sixth. and those people who do are already fired up, and they're going to vote in the midterms. is there anything that the january 6th committee could reveal that will bring in other voters and get them to the polls. >> absolutely. i think we don't know the full extent of what the committee knows. we don't know what texts they have, we haven't been told about. we don't know what other tape out there exists. what other reporters have. we don't know if kevin mccarthy will be asked to testify. we don't know whether mike pence will. we don't know whether donald trump will. i think there's a lot of unknowns. we know the committee does want to do some primetime hearings. they'll produced a final report. i do think there's a lot that still can be pieced together here. and i can assure you this, despite the wishful thinking of that republican about people not caring about january 6th, a

lot of republicans are going to sleep every night in washington, trying to remember what texts they sent? what they said on phone calls that they now know are being taped? and i can assure you those tapes, rattled a lot of republicans in washington that hope that people forget. but are reminded because they're turning on the tv hearing their own voices. >> jeff, what kevin mccarthy said on those tapes was rational. and apparently today, he was greeted by a standing ovation from his own caucus. does that tell you that while people like matt gates and marjorie taylor greene may to lot of noise and capture a lot of media tension, they're not actually very influential? marjorie taylor greene was stripped of her committee assignments last year, she's just a freshman. >> yeah, they're not influential in washington d.c.. the reason why mccarthy got a standing ovation from his colleagues, is because he recruited many of them to run for the house. he's a prodigious fund-raiser. he's raised millions of dollars

to keep them in their seats. and we heard from so many republican lawmakers, of those who chose to speak to the press today, and they said things like, those conversations, that was a snapshot in time. 15 months ago, many of those people had privately getting misgivings. mccarthy was boxed in. now we have republicans, they believe, standing on the precipice of taking over the house come november, they don't want to get to get anything to get in the way. they view this largely as a distraction. when you have that congressman saying, oh no, nobody cares about january 6th. you can argue that it is awful and appalling for any elected member of congress to say that nobody cares about january 6th. and that it's history. that was the other part of the comment that he made, that it was old news, effectively he was saying. if that congressman was talking about that base republican voters, i think he's right. the republican party, that is a commentary on the political forces driving the republican party right now.

and frankly, when i say forces, it shouldn't be plural, it should be singular. the political force driving the republican party is donald trump. kevin mccarthy, based on his behavior over the last three or four days, to get -- puts himself in peril, and puts the entire party in peril. >> of course, a reminder. kevin mccarthy won his last election, donald trump lost his. robert, president biden expressed -- forgiving student loan death with house democrats. a hugely popular undertaking with younger voters. in response, mitt romney tweeted this, desperate polls call for desperate measures. dems considering forgiving trillions and student loans. other bribe suggestions, forgive auto loans? forgive credit card debt? forgive mortgages? put a wealth tax on the superrich to pay for it? all we could possibly go wrong? >> so what do you think, who is not the winning strategy here, romney or biden?

>> well, i think president biden does here. i think with the president is looking to do is get some certainty on this issue one where the another. they have been doing monthly delays for quite some time as part of the pandemic. and making a decision now is important to giving people who are having to pay those loans potentially back a little bit more certainty about what's going to happen. there's no doubt this is an animating issue. this is a good contrast. let's have a discussion about college affordability. let's get into a debate about who's more concerned about making sure kids have the resources to go to college and fight against a multi millionaire doing it. i think this is a one fight, i think there are a lot of fights of this administration and the democratic party are going to have to get into between now and november, to draw some sort of contrast. if not, it's going to be a referendum on joe biden. and with an approval rating in

the low 40s, nobody's going to like the outcome on the democratic side of election night, if we don't set up a bit more of a contrast of what this election means for voters in november. >> or, the biden ministration could remind voters of all the accomplishments they've had in the last few weeks. it a supreme court justice confirmed, when you look at build back better with excuse me, the infrastructure bill. massive, massive win. and of course, we're now enough another phase of the coronavirus. jeff, i know you've got more reporting on this, do you think student loans would get young voters out, would it cost biden votes with seniors and moderates? >> that is something that this white house is willing to risk. there is a late recent poll that showed gen z had soured on president biden, his approval with gen z, people born after 1997, he was down 20 points from the time he took office. the reason for that is because younger voters don't see themselves as being democrats.

they identify as being independence. when president biden loses party affiliation among younger voters, what that means is they're not as inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt, they're not as inclined to see the urgency and going out to vote for a democrat on the ballot. doing something like a racing student loan debt would cut through the noise, this is the view from political strategist, republicans that i've talked to, and remind young voters in particular, what's at stake, and why they should back this president. >> all right, gentlemen, thank you for joining us this evening. robert gibbs and jeff bennett. coming up, the fleecing of america's back. why some are raising red flags over a pandemic loan for a company with, surprise surprise, very close ties to the trump administration. the 11th hour continues. the 11th hour continues. 11th hour

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ over two years into this

pandemic, we are still learning details about money from the first covid relief package. tonight, as part of our series the policing of america, we are looking at money specifically given two companies that were considered important for national security. today, house democrats released a report, alleging trump admission officials are warning a 700 million dollar loan to a trucking company. over clear objections of career defense officials. the company, why are seat

worldwide, has since been re-branded as yellow. the new york times pointing out, quote, mark meadows the chief of staff was a key actor coordinating with the yellows lobbyist according to correspondents that the committee obtain. the report also noted that the white house's political operation was, quote, almost giddy in its efforts to assist with the loan application. the loan raised immediate questions and watchdog ropes because of the company's close ties with the trump administration and because it had faced years of financial and legal turmoil. the washington post reporting, in a letter to the committee, responding to the report's findings, which yellow provided to the polls, the company's lawyer, mark kasowitz, said the committee had taken a partisan approach and was part a link baseless speculation and innuendo. if you did remember that name, mark kasowitz, he was donald trump's personal lawyer. with us tonight alan rappeport, reporter for the new york times.

break this down for us. because this was not just a ppp loan, businesses could get money. this was alone specifically for companies that help with our national security. and this company misrepresented how much business they do with our department of defense. >> exactly. and it was a 700 million dollar loan. which was by far the biggest loan of any of these companies got. actually, it was about 95% of all the national security money that was given out. so it's very surprising to people when this came out in 2020. investigation sort of started immediately, once it became clear that there were once ties between the company and the trump administration. the company was backed by apollo, an equity group which had close ties with the administration and ceo on president trump's covid economic council. and there has been a tense lobby campaign as a mention in the story trying to get this company approved for this huge loan. and the company has been almost on the verge of bankruptcy, anyway. so this was really to seize an

opportunity to get a life line and a big bait line. >> apollo, the private equity giant that could've refinanced them. but how could you? when the government would give you the money. why, besides, they're homeboys with the trump administration. why was the administration so jacked up to help them? almost giddy? why? what was in it for them? >> well, the politics of it were really good in the election year. this was, you know, 30,000 truckers or so. >> a. >> it's a union company. jimmy pitched him on this directly in meetings. and, as we said, there was a lot of conversations between mark meadows, the political staff of the white house trying to get this on board. republicans and democrats, actually, in congress were also trying to lobby treasured department to get this a close look. because you know, there were a lot of drops at stake here. >> here is where i wish this show had a gong or a soundbite. i know this loan is part of an investigation from the

congressional oversight commission that bipartisan commission meant to look at. money that went to the wrong places. so, investigation going on, anything going to happen here? >> well you know, it's really interesting. i don't think that the money is going to be backed or anything like that. i think in terms of outcome, there's going to be additional investigation, the investigation general is going to be -- it's possible that this could be referred to the doj. if there are false claims that were made under the false claims act. i think, in the future, we are going to see additional restrictions on relief funds. the companies that have been accused of defrauding the come -- government may not have access to requirements to make sure that they aren't compelled -- >> are there any tangible things that we can point to? that the government is doing right now to change the way we operate? i mean, things like this, voters don't hear about them. right? this happens in closed door meetings in the dark of night.

the voters on both sides of the aisle are disgraced by these types of stories. this is exactly why the hate government. >> exactly. and there's a lot of political sensitivity to this. there's been, you know, five trillion dollars in the economy over the last few years for relief money. and lots of it has been misused. and misspent. and brought, it is part of the effort to get the money out so quickly. -- >>. . >> a desperate time of economic crisis. you don't think that lobbyists aren't there working the phones. but that's exactly what happened. how many more yellows are out there? this is one story, one big story. but, are there a lot more going to hear from? >> i think so. i mean, there's been, you know, trillions of dollars of money that has been spent since then in the american rescue plan. you know, the biden administration is the one

that's responsible for that. we are seeing lots of little cases of ppp fraud that are starting to trickle out. you know, a new patriot protection program. emergency rental insurance. as well as the expanded unemployment insurance program. people getting money that they were necessarily supposed to be getting. so i think, over the years, we're gonna see a lot of cases, big and small from how this money was misused. >> it's not partisan. but it is awful. we're gonna keep covering. it alan rappeport, thank you for joining us tonight. coming up, what boeing says they regret a deal with the former guy over the new air force one. when the 11th hour continues. ai force one. when the 11th hour continues

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i'm building that for other presidents, not for me. we had different choices. these are all slightly different. >> is the frame still 7:47. but you know it's a much bigger plane. bigger wingspan.

it's a much bigger wingspan. we added things. and a 1.6 billion off it. >> 1.6 billion off the price. the last thing before we go, boeing's bad beat deal. boeing ceo today told investors they should not have agreed to air force one deal back in 2018. the first quarter of this year alone, the company has lost 600 and $60 million on trump's very contract. as political explains quote, the sick instead of negotiating a contract that protect the company from changes in supply cost and other factors, boeing in trump settled on a fixed price contract that forces the company, to carry the risk and not charge the government. as you may recall, trump was very proud of that deal. >> i was going to say how much this cost me, which we ordered, which we should been trying to order for a lot of years. when we got here they were going to spend a lot more money than we spent. and i'm good airplanes okay, so

what's the price? 5.7 billion. i said, you've got to be kidding. i said boeing, i'm not gonna pay that price. and i said, i'm not paying it. cancel the contract. and then all of a sudden, it started dropping like a rock. and we agreed to three point 95. so that's the story. that's a long story on the beautiful air force one. so we have it coming in, can you imagine after all that? i better win this dam contest. >> well, as we know, trump did not win that damn contest in 2020, and in the end, neither did boeing. the art of the deal. that is the danger of doing business with donald trump. always has been. always will be. and on that note, i wish you all a very good night, from all of our colleagues across msnbc news, thanks for staying up late with us.

i'll see you at the end of tomorrow. at the end of tomorrow it is what it is and it stands on its own terms. ready? here we go. question -- mister president, you said that if you see someone getting ready to throw a tomato, just knock the crap out of them. would you? that was your statement? answer, trump. oh yeah, it was very dangerous. question -- what was dangerous? we were threatened.