Latest news with #TheRachelMaddowShow
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Maddow: Ukraine's drone attack just exposed a huge vulnerability in the world's nuclear arsenal
This is an adapted excerpt from the June 2 episode of 'The Rachel Maddow Show.' They nicknamed it the 'Bear.' It's a military aircraft first designed in Russia in the 1950s and built to compete with the American B-52 bomber. The Tupolev Tu-95 can fly across continents before it has to stop and refuel, and it can carry eight long-range missiles. For decades, Russia has had dozens of Tu-95 bombers and other planes like it. On Sunday, Ukrainian drones struck several Russian air bases, destroying a fleet of planes, including several Tu-95 bombers. Russia has been hammering Ukraine with these bombers for years, and this weekend, Kyiv decided that rather than just trying to intercept the missiles that these planes keep firing from the sky, it would instead try to take out the planes. According to NBC News, Ukraine's Security Service smuggled more than a hundred drones into Russia. They hid them under the roofs of mobile wooden cabins in a process that took months. Then all at once, simultaneously, with no warning, the cabin roofs were opened via remote control, and then the drones flew off to do their thing, packed with explosives. Ukraine says they destroyed planes across four different military sites in Russia, including in Siberia at a site almost 3,000 miles away from Ukraine. Of Russia's entire fleet of military bombers, Ukraine says they were able to destroy or severely damage about a third of them. Now, was Russia aware that this was going to happen? Clearly no. Did they have defenses in place to protect their planes? Well, that's a funny story. In a video of Sunday's drone attack, put out by Ukraine's Security Service, you can see round objects on the wings of Russia's bomber planes. Those circles are actually tires — like the tires you put on your car. Apparently, this is a thing Russia has been doing for a while now. One NATO military official told CNN in 2023, 'We believe it's meant to protect against drones. ... We don't know if this will have any effect.' Well, now we know. As Sunday's strike shows, tires do not prevent drones from destroying your attack planes. This whole thing is just astonishing, not just in a foreign policy way, but also in an action movie kind of way. It also has really serious implications beyond Russia and Ukraine. Those bomber planes Ukraine just torched are not only equipped to carry regular missiles, they also can carry nuclear warheads. If you are Russia, the United States or any country with nuclear weapons, your national security policies are based around the fact that you have an impenetrable nuclear deterrent. Why would anyone attack you if you could then retaliate by blowing them off the map with your nuclear stockpile? But Ukraine just disabled a primary piece of Russia's nuclear arsenal with devices that look like they came from RadioShack, which means it has to contend with the fact that its impenetrable nuclear arsenal is not so impenetrable after all. Sunday's strike also has really important strategic consequences for every country that thinks of itself as having a nuclear deterrent. For our country, wouldn't this be a good time to have a robust, competent national security apparatus thinking about those kinds of implications and making smart, well-informed strategic decisions on how to react to them? This article was originally published on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Maddow Lays Bare Elon Musk's Real Legacy in Scathing Segment
Rachel Maddow found what she called a fitting 'metaphor' for Elon Musk's work with the federal government. The MSNBC host devoted a segment on Monday to the Department of Government Efficiency's takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace headquarters in Washington, D.C. After a judge ruled the takeover illegal last month, USIP staff reportedly returned to find the building in disrepair, complete with water leaks, damaged property, and evidence of rodents and cockroaches. According to a report in The Economist, when cleaners re-entered the building they also found marijuana that had apparently been thrown out by DOGE staffers. Maddow said the fiasco summed up DOGE's activities. 'So, maximum destruction, leaving everything soiled and in disrepair and littered with drugs, and now, because all of that was totally illegal, the folks at the U.S. Institute of Peace will have to, like, repair everything and stand everything back up in order to even start to get back to where they were before this whole thing started,' she said on The Rachel Maddow Show. On his last day as a 'special government employee' on Friday, Musk turned up to the White House with a black eye, which some in the media called a metaphor for his battered public image. But Maddow said her example was more 'on the nose.' 'It's just pure pointlessness and waste,' she said. 'Yes, the black eye was cute, but may I suggest that this is perhaps more on the nose as the legacy of what the Trump administration has done through Trump's top campaign donor, Elon Musk, as Elon Musk leaves Washington.' 'A building seized pointlessly. Shut down pointlessly. Left to be infested by vermin,' she went on. 'All so its rightful owners can eventually come back and have to put it all back together again—for no reason at all. I think that's a better metaphor.' Members of the board of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a congressionally funded independent nonprofit focused on global conflict resolution, were abruptly dismissed in March after President Donald Trump targeted it in his and Musk's heavy-handed effort to slash federal spending. DOGE officials took over the building and most of the institute's employees were subsequently laid off. The organization's leadership sued, and U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell ruled last month that the think tank had been taken over illegally by 'blunt force, backed up by law enforcement officers from three separate local and federal agencies.' Judge Howell found that because the administration unlawfully removed USIP's board, all actions that followed—including the dismissal of staff—were void. Musk originally pledged to cut $2 trillion from federal spending, but fell far short. DOGE estimates it's found $175 billion in savings—a figure that remains highly contested. The billionaire has now stepped back from his controversial and chaotic work with the government with his businesses and reputation suffering.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
MSNBC's revamped lineup flounders, Jen Psaki sheds 47% of predecessors' viewership
MSNBC's revamped lineup has been a misfire through one month, with Jen Psaki shedding half the audience her predecessors averaged in the same timeslot and other new programming struggling to attract viewers. Psaki, a former Biden White House press secretary who has insisted she never saw signs the former president had declined while she worked for him, saw an increased role as part of MSNBC's overhaul when programming changes were announced earlier this year. Psaki took over MSNBC's coveted 9 p.m. ET timeslot on Tuesday through Fridays last month as "The Rachel Maddow Show" returned to only airing on Mondays, after Maddow temporarily returned to airing five nights a week during President Donald Trump's first 100 days in office. "The Briefing with Jen Psaki" averaged 971,000 total viewers from its May 6 debut through May 28, shedding a staggering 47% of the audience that Maddow and Alex Wagner pulled in at 9 p.m. ET throughout 2025. Jen Psaki, The Ex-biden Flack Who Defended His Mental Fitness, Launches Expanded Role At Msnbc Psaki has also hemorrhaged viewers from the advertiser-coveted demographic of adults aged 25-54, averaging 78,000 for a 52% drop compared to the 161,000 demo viewers that Maddow and Wagner averaged on Tuesday through Fridays at 9 p.m. ET before the former Biden spokesperson took over. Wagner hosted Tuesdays through Fridays in Maddow's usual spot before Trump's inauguration. Read On The Fox News App The network also canceled Joy Reid's program "The ReidOut" and replaced it with "The Weeknight," an ensemble program featuring former Vice President Kamala Harris spokesperson Symone Sanders-Townsend, Alicia Menendez, the daughter of disgraced former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and Michael Steele, the former Republican National Committee chair who now staunchly opposes the GOP. "The Weeknight" debuted on May 5 and averaged 776,000 total viewers through May 28 for a 12% drop compared to the 886,000 total viewers that "The ReidOut" and other temporary programs managed throughout 2025 in the 7 p.m. ET timeslot before changes went into effect. Credibility Crisis: Press Dismissed Hur Report On Biden's Memory Issues Long Before Concerns Became Undeniable "The Weeknight" shed even more viewers from the key demo, as the new MSNBC show averaged 72,000 for a 20% decrease, compared to the 90,000 demo viewers who tuned into the 7 p.m. ET timeslot before the ensemble program kicked off. Another new show, "The Weekend: Primetime," with Antonia Hylton, Catherine Rampell, Elise Jordan and Ayman Mohyeldin, is down 11% among total viewers and 6% in the demo compared to MSNBC programming that used to occupy its timeslot. Despite the programming overhaul, MSNBC had its second-worst May in history among both total day and primetime in the demo. For the month, MSNBC settled for a dismal average of 49,000 viewers among the critical demo to lose to CNN, which averaged 59,000. During primetime, CNN averaged 76,000 demo viewers and MSNBC finished with an average of only 73,000. Americans Continue To Choose Fox News Channel As Network Dominates May, Tops Abc During Weekday Primetime Only one of MSNBC's new shows is outdrawing its timeslot predecessor, as "The Weekend" with Jonathan Capehart, Eugene Daniels, and Jackie Alemany is up 24% in total viewers and 29% among the demo since launching on May 3. An MSNBC insider pushed back on the notion the network was struggling, pointing to the historic news cycle that occurred during Trump's first 100 days in office that helped attract viewers before the new programs launched. The insider also noted that Psaki has built on the audience of her lead-in while competing in the NBA and NHL playoffs. MSNBC's viewership issues come as Comcast gears up to spin off NBCUniversal cable assets, including MSNBC, into a separate company called Versant that will not be tied to NBC News. MSNBC didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Ratings data courtesy of Nielsen Media article source: MSNBC's revamped lineup flounders, Jen Psaki sheds 47% of predecessors' viewership
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Monday, April 21 Evening Cable News Ratings: Fox News Leads in Pope Francis Coverage
The passing of Pope Francis dominated news coverage on Monday, with Fox News averaging 1.4 million total viewers, followed by MSNBC at 680,000 viewers and CNN at 280,000 viwers. The Five was the top show of the day with 4.185 million total viewers, and The Rachel Maddow Show led for MSNBC. The 5 p.m. hour of The Lead with Jake Tapper the most-watched newscast on CNN. 25-54 Demographic (Live+SD x 1,000) Total Day: FNC: 233 | CNN: 76 | MSNBC: 60Prime: FNC: 392 | CNN: 114 | MSNBC: 100 FNC: CNN: MSNBC: 4PM Cain:212 Hunt:139 Wallace:94 5PM Five:476 Tapper:128 Wallace:72 6PM Baier:398 Tapper:82 Melber:70 7PM Ingraham:284 Burnett:85 Prime:71 8PM Watters:441 Cooper:95 Psaki:62 9PM Hannity:357 Collins:107 Maddow:145 10PM Gutfeld!:379 Phillip:141 O'Donnell:95 11PM Gallagher:285 Coates:89 Ruhle:71 Total Viewers (Live+SD x 1,000) Total Day: FNC: 1.804 | CNN: 430 | MSNBC: 766Prime: FNC: 3.084 | CNN: 522 | MSNBC: 1.601 FNC: CNN: MSNBC: 4PM Cain:1.966 Hunt:634 Wallace:1.213 5PM Five:4.185 Tapper:647 Wallace:1.242 6PM Baier:2.993 Tapper:498 Melber:1.128 7PM Ingraham:2.708 Burnett:532 Prime:905 8PM Watters:3.574 Cooper:522 Psaki:1.047 9PM Hannity:2.787 Collins:498 Maddow:2.146 10PM Gutfeld!:2.893 Phillip:546 O'Donnell:1.611 11PM Gallagher:1.524 Coates:339 Ruhle::915
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Rachel Maddow: Trump is a medical success story. He's stopping others from achieving the same outcome.
This is an adapted excerpt from the May 12 episode of 'The Rachel Maddow Show.' Last month, Donald Trump had his annual physical examination at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. Usually, health is a personal topic, but when it comes to Trump's medical report, this story is explicitly not personal. It is about the country; it is about policy; and it is about the health of literally tens of millions of Americans. Dr. David Kessler is a former Food and Drug Administration commissioner who has served multiple presidents, Democrat and Republican. He was most recently a very senior science adviser to former President Joe Biden. He's been the dean of the medical schools at Yale and the University of California, San Francisco. To put it simply, Kessler is a big deal. And, as a medical doctor, Kessler took a look at Trump's medical report — and to him, it told a story, a 'good news' story that he thought more Americans should know about. 'During his first term, a scan showed signs of plaque buildup in his coronary arteries, which put him at risk of a heart attack. In 2020, his body mass index was just over the threshold for obesity,' Kessler writes in a new piece for The Atlantic. According to Kessler, that combination 'would have made him a candidate for a GLP-1 drug,' like the weight loss drugs Ozempic or Wegovy, 'and indeed, throughout his 2024 campaign, people speculated that he was taking one.' Kessler goes on to write, 'Then, last month, Trump's latest physical showed that he had dropped 20 pounds, moving him from obese to overweight.' As The Atlantic noted, Trump has never publicly said that he is on a GLP-1. When reached for comment, the White House did not address questions about the weight loss. In an emailed statement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told The Atlantic that Trump is 'in peak physical and mental condition.' Kessler then shares what he calls the 'most revealing aspect' of Trump's medical report, 'the list of drugs he is taking, which includes a combination that amounts to what doctors call 'intensive lipid-lowering therapy' — a treatment usually reserved for patients who are at significant risk of cardiac disease.' Trump's 'weight is no more important than the fact that he is on that drug regimen and that it seems to be working: His LDL (the 'bad' cholesterol) has dropped dramatically in recent years,' Kessler writes. What Kessler sees in Trump's medical report is a success story, success against conditions that tens of millions of Americans struggle with: obesity and cardiac disease. That success appears to be largely thanks to medical science. According to his exam, the president is on two cholesterol-lowering drugs, the lipid-lowering 'intensive therapy' that really does appear to be working for him. We do not know if the president's documented weight loss is thanks to Ozempic or a similar drug; certainly no shame if it is. It is not listed in his medical report, and the White House will not say one way or the other. (We also reached out to the White House, and they gave us the same response Kessler got.) But the point here is not the president's personal health. The point is that the president of the United States appears to be improving his own health through access to great medical care and medical science. That is what he gets. But, simultaneously, his administration is doing so much to hurt regular Americans' opportunity to achieve those same good health outcomes. The budget for the National Institutes of Health, the government research agency that produces much of the science for these drugs and countless others, has been slashed. Nearly $2 billion in research grants have been canceled. The FDA, which shepherds drugs to market and makes sure they are safe, is reeling from staffing cuts, and the staff that is there cannot complete basic tasks because their government credit cards have reportedly been frozen. Trump and his allies in Congress are currently debating how many hundreds of billions of dollars they are going to cut from Medicaid, which provides health insurance to tens of millions of Americans. As for those GLP-1 weight loss drugs that can be a lifesaver for so many people, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden administration proposal to have those drugs covered by Medicaid and Medicare. Now the White House says weight loss drugs are expected to get a big price cut under Trump's new executive order targeting drug prices, though that order does not have the force of law. Trump is personally benefiting from the scientific and medical infrastructure the U.S. government has built up over decades, while simultaneously destroying that infrastructure for everyone else. This article was originally published on
