>> good evening, once again, i'm stephanie ruhle. and we are going to begin this broadcast with some very good breaking news. the senate has just voted to pass the bipartisan debt ceiling bill. the vote was 63 to 36. it comes some 24 hours after the house passed the same bill. it raises the nation's debt limit -- while also imposing new caps on spending. and now goes to the presidents desk for his signature, with four days to go before the monday default deadline. let's get straight to nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitale, who has been standing by for hours and hours. all, right ali vitale. it happened. how did this whole thing go

down tonight? >> yeah, it was less with a bang and more with a whimper, stephanie ruhle. weeks and weeks of high stakes negotiations here in washington covering each and every turn of them, as speaker mccarthy and his top allies huddled with top white house officials over the course of several weeks to hammer out this deal. and now the senate finishing it up in the dead of night, sending it now to the presidents desk, and avoiding default, with the days to go until that ex date deadline on monday. that's good news. and frankly, i have to tell you, that we have seen a lot of these late nights in the senate, having votes that are done within nine or ten or even 11 minutes is real fast by senate standards. so it does give you a sense that even though they did 11 of these amendment votes they were looking to do them as quickly as possible, just trying to get this off their plate here in the senate, and move it on.

i also think it was fascinating to watch just how this vote ultimately shook out. we have 36 no votes, as you mentioned. some of those were the most progressive democrats, voting against this, in part, because of the work requirements that were placed on anti poverty programs such as snap benefits. senator fetterman, for example, releasing a statement just in the last few minutes, explaining that is why he voted no on this. that's also true for people like senator elizabeth warren, senator bernie sanders. and then on the republican side of this, you see other right-wing hard-liners also taking a similar stance to what we saw from house freedom caucus members. just earlier this week when they took their vote saying that they don't like some of the things that are in this for reasons of spending caps, that it doesn't save enough. and interestingly, we see people like senator tim scott, the only senator right now running for president, among those no votes. there's also some tea leaf reading for those of us who like to see how republican leadership votes on this. everyone in leadership voted for this bill except for the number three senate republican, john barrasso. that could be something that is interesting to watch as we see what leadership could look like in a kind of post mcconnell era, when and if mcconnell decides to step aside at some point. so, all of that is giving us some nice tea leaf reading

here. but, again, it was pretty no drama. because none of these amendment votes, steph, wherever expected to pass. in fact, if any of any of them did, that would've been really bad news. because it would have meant that this bill would have to go from the center backs of the house, and we almost certainly would have to falter them. so, the amendment votes, sort of just a formality to get all the senators on board -- and, again, although it's 11:00 at night, usually past my bedtime -- i know it's not for you -- this was really fast by senate standards. >> it's also pretty unusual for mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer to work so seamlessly together.

but mitch mcconnell has been signaling for months this thing is going to get done, this thing is going to get done. >> this thing is going to get done. and for mcconnell, he really farmed out the negotiations to his house counterpart, speaker kevin mccarthy. in large part, that's because mccarthy had the more unruly task here, hurting cats in the house right now is a lot harder than doing it on the senate side of this building. both sides have really thin margins. but the house side, of course, is the more difficult task. and that is why we saw mcconnell give mccarthy the keys to these negotiations. several weeks ago, it was the core for members of congress, plus biden, in the white house hammering these deals out. but as soon as we watch to get whittled down to a smaller group of just mccarthy and his top aides and allies as well as top negotiators for the white

house, that's where we really started to watch this deal come together, steph. that's not to say there wasn't consternation from the senate side of this. senators also always like to think that they are the ones running the show. and quite often, with negotiations, especially over the last few years, they have been. the house, though, in this case, really did take center stage and it's why we watched some of the senators, like lindsey graham, tom cotton really lamenting the way that there were caps put on defense spending. they are not fans of that. and that's why we might see the senate move on a supplemental funding bill. that's one of the things that senators were discussing tonight -- the amendments went down. that did not go anywhere. but we could see the senate move on that on another point in the next few months. >> let's take a look at the senate floor right now. leader schumer is speaking. let's take a look. >> -- just repeated in the senate. overwhelming majority of senate democrats voted for the bill. a majority of republicans voted against it. and it's not just how democrats carried the bill to the finish why did we get more voteswe got bill rethis exercise was a -- basically, this was an exercise in where the american people were at and they are much closer to where we are then where they are. of course, nobody got everything they wanted. it was give on both sides. but this agreement was a very good outcome. because it accomplished three extremely important goals. first and foremost, we prevented a catastrophic default that would have decimated our economy, raised cost, and inflicted immense unnecessary pain on tens and tens and tens of millions of

american families. secondly, the bill preserves the lion's share of the historic investments we have made to grow our economy, fix our infrastructure, make the u.s. more competitive on the world stage -- which the republican caucus in the house seemed intent on tearing down. they didn't get to do that. and thirdly, and very importantly, they we did a very good job of taking the worst parts of the republican plan, that would have heard so many families. and we took those worst parts off the table. let me say it again. tonight's vote is a good outcome. because democrats did a very good job taking the worst parts of the republican plan off the table. and that's why dems voted overwhelmingly for this bill, while republicans, certainly in the senate, did not. remember what house republicans originally wanted when they showed us their plan, and compared to the bill we are now

sending to the president's desk. the difference is as stark as night and day. republicans want to get investments we made in the i. r. a., the inflation reduction act, that are driving a new generation of american manufacturing, billions of and billions of investments and thousands upon thousands of jobs. we fought and fought. that ain't happening. the hard right maga republicans wanted to cut critical investments by as much as 30%, all these vital programs by 30%. as we say in brooklyn, nfw. that ain't happening. republicans wanted to put to falls back on the table in a few months. that ain't happening. republicans wanted to rollback medicaid expansion -- >> well, on chuck schumer's nfw we will leave it there and keep monitoring. the white house did put out the statement that the president will be signing this as soon as it gets to his desk. and he will be making a primetime address tomorrow evening.

and we will bring that to you. with that, let's get smarter with the help of our lead off panel. leigh ann caldwell, an anchor for washington post live and author of its newsletter, 202, former democratic senator senator heidi heitkamp. she served on the senate banking committee. and michael steele, former chair of the republican national committee and former lieutenant governor of maryland. leigh ann caldwell, both sides gave up some. so, what's the sentiment on the hill tonight? are they both feeling like winners? >> well, not really. no one really feels like a winner here. with most democrats, even though they say they were able to fight back some of these major cuts that republicans were pushing, are saying, still, that this was a useless exercise. an exercise that pushed the country nearly to the brink, because the republicans tried what they say is to hold the debt limit hostage, by forcing

a republican agenda and forcing spending cuts. meanwhile, you have republicans who are not happy either. republicans are not happy either because the bill does not cut enough. it is too low, as far as defense spending is concerned. and so, it's not really a situation where everyone winds here. i guess the country wins because the country does not default. but no one wins because no one really got exactly what they want. so, it's a bittersweet night tonight. each side is trying to claim victory. but it was a really painful process, and one that was actually manufactured, steph. it didn't really need to happen. but there is some of the republican party who say that the debt limit is a pressure point and one of the few pressure points that congress has in trying to reform and control spending, and so they decided to use it. >> leigh ann caldwell, she wore pushed hard to get this thing done tonight, even though some

senators weren't on board. what was going on behind the scenes? >> yeah. well, let's just say, what was happening is, they were able to get it done tonight because today's thursday. and this is actually senate friday. the senate usually leaves town on thursday. and senators really like their weekend. and so, ultimately, what was happening is, while there were some concerns about the bill, especially the defense hawks wanted assurances down the road that they were able to protect defense spending and do a defense supplemental if necessary, down the road, especially for ukraine -- these conversations were happening behind the scenes. because what these defense hawks wanted was a public commitment. they could have changed the bill now. they want to the public commitment for the future. well, they actually got that. senate majority leader chuck schumer and minority leader mitch mcconnell, they put a

statement in the record that they would protect defense spending in the future, and so they were able to get what they want. but i will say, the protests protest was not that bad, considering senate standards. there was a widespread realization that it was not going to change the outcome of the bill. so, don't hold your breath too much. everyone wanted to get out of town. everyone who is eventually going to pass. and so they worked really quickly to get this done. and the senate had to swallow what the house passed. and that was something that the senate is absolutely not used to. it's usually the senate that ticks tastes dictates these terms. they weren't happy about. but they got it done. >> they weren't happy about it. but mitch mcconnell lay that groundwork for. it >> heidi heitkamp, can i ask

something unpopular? why is it, practically speaking, that when we talk about the republicans who voted no, they were trying to tank the economy and they were obstructionists? but when we talk about democrats who voted no -- well, they were just standing up for their base. >> well, the kind of political ramifications are in the eye of the beholder. i want to make one point that expands on what leigh ann caldwell we are talking about. look, the president negotiated this package. the president is in a reelection fight. and the democrats were going to support the president. and you saw that in the house. you saw it in the senate. and this thing would not have passed without democratic support. but remember, biden is the one who negotiated it. and, on work requirements, i think it's a little tough for democrats to say, oh, this is the worst thing that ever happened. on snap, given that the cbo actually said it would add more people, more needy people onto the roles. so, there's a lot of really

interesting kind of nuances in this. i think some of it is just posturing and table pounding. they can undo this if they actually pass appropriations bills and an actual budget. so, what i would say is, get to regular order if you don't like the outcome here. >> michael steele, i know that it is frustrating for a lot of people, that the student debt relief was taken off the table. but in reality, it was going to be very hard for president biden to get it over the line. the courts had already been making it difficult for him. >> the courts had been making it difficult for him. and if there is no real clear path for its survival long term at this point, either claw backs from the senate or the house, and certainly, what the courts could potentially be doing over the next year. so, the president made a sacrifice here, as he had to, in order to get this done. i think the leigh ann's important reporting, the fact of the matter is that this was highly avoidable. it was really avoidable.

because all of the sanctimony from republicans about the concern for the debt and the deficit was not there the three times that they raised when trump was president. in fact, the democrats are like, we get the importance of not bankrupting the country. and we will give you a clean debt bill, which they did. three times. 17, 18, and 19. so, the political posturing here is a little bit underwhelming for me. this is like, oh, this is so close. oh my god. i can't believe we got. it cut the bs. the bottom line is, one, you don't need to do. this has a budget for the dam country. number one. you know this. you know this, stephanie. this country hasn't had a budget in 20 years.

pass a budget. and number two, eliminate this farce, this debt circus that we go through every 18 or so months. just stop it. we are the only developed country outside of denmark that does this stupid. and then mark doesn't do it because they said the level so high they will never reach it. so, the reality of it is, this is all political posturing, to what leigh ann rhoden has been reporting. what all of us watching this program know -- and we need serious players in the senate, in the house, to deal with the physical health of this country if we think we are going to grow an economy for the generation that his graduating this week, next week and weeks ahead. >> thank you, amen, hallelujah, and right down to all of the above. heidi heitkamp, i basically heard a similar sentiment from chris murphy last night after the house passed, that said, this is not a big accomplishment. this is not something we should be celebrating in a significant way. watch this. >> let's be clear. this is not an accomplishment.

right? all we did was prevent default by raising the debt ceiling. this is something that we have done routinely as a congress over 60 times. and we are in this circumstance only because we have a bunch of juvenile delinquents that are in charge of the house of representatives. >> he basically lay down the line there. so, the idea that they raise the debt ceiling, and some of us are saying, well, maybe this is a good sign for a future of bipartisanship. it's not just naive? >> it sure is. the one thing that is new here is the fact that now we have people who are looking at taking this to the courts under the 14th amendment. it's what happens when congress does not do its job and does not do its job well. people turn to the courts and they turn to alternative measures. and let me tell you, article one is article one for a reason. that tells congress to do its job. and crises right. this is a first of a magnitude. and you know what? what's interesting -- and you would know, this steph

-- the markets did not really react to this. because you call wolf how many times, eventually they say, they will get it done, they just want attention for the next couple or three weeks. they want to pound the table. eventually it will pass. and the markets knew that. we did not see any downturn as a result of this. and so, quit playing games, get the job done. and then do a budget and actually put this country on a fiscal path forward, which actually deals with our debt and deficit in a reasonable way, not in a crisis, i manufactured crisis in the united states congress. so, get over yourselves. get your job done. and hopefully the 14th amendment case will not be mooted by this whole thing. it will be allowed to proceed. and god willing, the 14th amendment, we says you should pay your debts, will actually be the deciding factor on whether we go through this

force again. >> of course the markets did not blink. because, what was it? four weeks ago? kevin mccarthy gave a speech on the floor of the new york stock exchange, wink wink, nodded nodded all of them and said, boys, don't worry, we will get it done. and in the weeks that followed, we had to watch all of them put on this big show and we had to follow every single torture breath of it. yet, michael, we are relieved that it is done. but there are former president donald trump and some other significant republicans that are still saying, the deal should not have gotten inked. doesn't it look foolish for them? >> it does to a broader population of folks out there, voters and non-voters, who pay tension to this stuff, where it matters. but this isn't -- those noises are not for you and me, the audience that is watching right now. those noises are for the base, the craven base that don't understand that the first persons who get plugged in the you know what, if we default, is them. right? it's them.

so, all of this -- you know, let's shut it down, let's eliminate the irs. yeah, eliminate the iris, baby, how do the bills get paid? because where does the money come from? the money comes from us. you are just going to voluntarily, all of a sudden, as -- file your income tax return knowing that you are not going to get all of it or -- no. the systems are in place because they have to deal with human beings. and we are always looking to cut corners. and playing to that negative narrative is what this is about. this is not about -- to the senators point -- a moving the country forward, right? heidi has it exactly right. this is about getting a budget in place, and setting the path for the country. we can have -- you know, heidi and i can come on this program at 11:00 at night and debate whether we should raise taxes, or whether we should spend on x or y. but we do that in the context of counseled, smart, and

deliberately to ship that is looking at these issues, and trying to figure out the best way forward for every citizen in the country. so, to her point, stop the histrionics, the noise, the catcalling, the braying -- you are appealing to a very group narrow group of people who know -- >> steph, can i make a point? >> yes. >> a quarter of the debt that we are in on the -- side was all because of how he ran the country and randy economy. and you add to that, he famously said, i am the king of debt. and now, he is the fiscal conservative? give me a break. the record just does not reflect any kind of credibility to that statement. and it just reminds us all that we need to be very, very careful when we -- in 2024. >> and a reminder to our

audience, when we talk about funding the irs. for the last couple of years, when there was an enormous backlog, in people getting their returns, when there was absolutely no one to answer the phone when you had a question, when we all complained that the computer systems that the irs were decades outdated -- you know why? it is because they did not have any money, which was why the irs got funded in the last year. if you are wondering next year of why is it you are not getting a return on time, remember this night. >> leigh ann caldwell, heidi heitkamp, michael steele, great to see you all. when we come back, we are going to dig into donald trump on tape discussing a classified document he kept after leaving office. peter baker and charles coleman are here on what it all means. and later, they are considered some of the most ruthless fighters in the war in ukraine. richard engel has a rare, very difficult look at russia's -- and what they are doing in africa. you don't want to miss this. it the 11th hour is just getting underway on a thursday night. night.

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to reports that jack smith has a recording of trump himself talking about classified document. a source tells nbc the special counsel's office has audio of trump, quote, discussing a classified planning document he had taken from his time at the white house. this or says the document was related to iran and the former president acknowledged on the tape that it was, in fact, classified. nbc news has not heard this recording. but trump was asked about the investigation tonight during a fox town hall in iowa. >> i know nothing about it. all i know is this. everything i did was right. it's a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all-time. it's a hoax. >> everything i did was right. back with us tonight our peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the new york times, and former mayor of new york prosecutor and a civil rights attorney charles coleman. -- we've played for the grand

jury. what does that tell you? >> it tells me a lot, stephanie. what we have been having this conversation about with regard to the mar-a-lago documents case has been with regard to don't trump's intention. it all comes down to the timeline. when -- and where this recording possibly fits, is, it takes away even more the argument that number one these documents were declassified, because, allegedly, it is now basically reported that you knew that they were not declassified. and number two, that you did not sort of know that these documents were being sought. all of this can go out the window. but i want to make a point. you are lead in -- the first three words you said were, donald trump is responding. that is a problem. that is the problem. >> why? >> because when you are in the midst of an investigation -- >> zip it! >> be quiet. be quiet. as a former prosecutor i can tell you, it's very rare that you get a smoking gun. that's the stuff for tv.

that is the stuff we're sitcoms and drama. and i realize it's very exciting. but it's not realistic. >> he's made for tv! >> donald trump has managed to provide prosecutors with smoking arsenals. i've never seen anything like it. and it's something he's insisted upon doing because you will not shut his mouth. >> because it works for him in the media sphere. it works for him in the political sphere. and he has not yet faced department of justice consequences. >> that's correct. it works for him in the court of public opinion. but it is not going to work for him in a court of law. that is why you see so much turmoil with respect to his legal team and why you continue to see prosecutors build stronger and stronger cases and why these indictments are, to quote fani willis -- >> peter, i dream of living in a world where i might say, everything i did was right. that's extraordinary to even hear someone say that. we heard trump in that town hall. what are you hearing from trump world tonight? >> well, steph, i think every do everything you do is, in fact, right, so i'm just -- look, what's fascinating about

this is that he is acknowledging on this tape, so the reporting tells us, is that he has a classified document. he knows it's classified. what's more interesting is he knows -- he says on this tape recording, the recording, that he can't give it out. he would like to give it out to dispute what was written, actually, by my wife, susan glasser, in the new yorker, in an article that apparently made him mad about general milley and iran -- he wanted to show this classified document people to prove that milley was not right. do that, actually, of course, he's distorting with the document of course -- according to sources. but, in any case, what he is demonstrating here is that he knows not only that it's classified, but that it hasn't been declassified. remember, his answer to a lot of these questions has been, well, i declassified everything when i left the white house. i classified things when i think about it. remember? he said that he could telepathically -- declassify anything he wanted. well, here, he seems to be acknowledging, again, according to the reporting, that he knows that it's -- he's not permitted to show it to other people. that's very telling, if, in fact, that's with the tape

shows. >> i want to play something, our friend and colleague andrew weissmann said earlier. it was a biggie. >> i find it really inconceivable that he would not be charged. i really think this is a question of when, not a question of if. it's hard to predict that we would think we are talking about a matter of days, not months. >> that's a while for me. because i have to tell you, charles, the word imminent has been driving me up the wall for months. like, unprecedented did during the four years trump was in office. but to hear andrew weissmann say days and not months, that got my attention. >> i'm going to stretch it out just a teeny bit. >> weeks? >> weeks. -- >> a fourth of july explosion. >> we already know that fani willis has it said that her timeline with respect to fulton county and talking about with these additional security measures need to be in georgia of --

where it is likely coming. so, we know that that is on the calendar. but now that we have additional information that, again, takes away any of the myriad defenses -- because you've got to remember, donald trump has offered a number of different defenses around the mar-a-lago case. and, again, i said donald trump. not his legal team. unfortunately, his legal team can't offer defense. because every time they try to he keeps changing his story, which is deeply problematic -- >> and then he changes his lawyer. >> and then he changes his lawyer, exactly. so, there's this carousel of changing stories and changing narratives, and then also the simultaneously running carousel of different attorneys at the same time. the issue is, as these cases continue to mount, the question becomes, how is he the presidential candidate now going to manage this as he usually does, sort of talking about everything that is going on? because he is now putting himself in much deeper jeopardy and problematic territory if he continues to run his mouth after an indictment has been issued.

>> guess where one runs their mouth? on the podium, on a campaign trail, which is exactly where he is, peter. these investigations are going on. and he is out there campaigning. how do these two things coincide? because indictments could be coming down the pike. >> well, they could be, of course. and to charles's point that he is a defense lawyer's worst nightmare, of course -- because he's never going to keep his mouth closed. there is no evidence of that in the years and years and years of not just politics biden business, every time he faced legal issues he has repeatedly made a point of -- himself in public. because -- internally, he cares about is a general electorate. or least not the general electorate perhaps but the republican electorate, for the moment, anyway. so, he's trying to in fact talk that jury, a jury that he is

convincing that this is just politics. this is just a hoax. this is not real. don't pay attention to this. that may, of course, change of indictments really do come. a priority at that point is going to be a different one, presumably. but for the moment it is politics for him. and he is trying to influence, in effect, the jury that he sees as being most important at the moment. >> we will be watching. peter baker and charles coleman, thank you so much. when we come back, the war torn african nation leaned on a ruthless group in its time of need. but that help came out a very steep price, we have an almost unbelievable look inside the country one by russian mercer mercenaries, when the 11th hour continues. inues.

>> russia's private army of mercenaries are considered some of the most ruthless fighters in the war in ukraine. but that is not where they make their money. they do that in africa, especially in the central african republic, we are they are exploiting the war torn nation to reward themselves while the people they are starving to death. nbc's richard engel has this devastating story for us. and we warn you, many of these images are morally disturbing. >> the central african republic is a failed state, torn in part by civil war. in the capital bangui i saw children starving to death at the only pediatric hospital. what's it like for you, as the director here, to see all these cases? it upsets me, she says. mothers don't have money to buy food. and the children fall into this state.

they are young victims of africans resources curse, desperately poor people living on land with vast untapped wealth. here, 80s gold and diamonds. but they are not lifting people out of poverty. much of the riches are now flowing to russian mercenaries from the wagner group. russia's private army, known for its brutality on ukraine. doctors led by yevgeny prigozhin, president putin's former kate return commander. in ukraine, wagner fights for the kremlin. it makes its money here. according to two western diplomats, wagner extracts a half a billion dollars a year from this country in gold, where timber, and blood diamonds. this woman, who asked us to conceal her identity for her protection, lived near the village of endasima, where her husband was a gold miner. she -- drove the villagers away. >> translator: -- and chasing them away.

>> when her husband and seven others refused to leave, they were executed. what do you think the russians wanted? gold? it's as simple as that? >> yes. they came for wealth and for our gold. >> translator: today, my children don't have a father. they don't have anything at all. >> working with the research group, the century, nbc news revealed reviewed more than a dozen allegations of wagner violence, including in endasima. this was endasima in 2019, before the russian takeover. an image taken this month shows the mine has expanded dramatically. now capable of generating untraceable profits. wagner was invited into the central african republic by the government, to help -- the government quickly became dependent on russian support. wagner even provides the personal security for the president. >> mr. president, it's a pleasure. richard engel, thank you very much. what do you say about reports that the russian forces, who you brought in, to help secure this country have committed

abuses? >> translator: listen, we are responsible government and. there are laws in this country. we have set up a commission of inquiry to see if the facts reported in these reports are true. >> the government relies on wagner to survive. wagner pays itself in gold. and the people are left starving. we reached out to prigozhin. and he responded with a voice note, calling your questions provocative. and saying, in part, we've received enough information, if by asking the questions you intend to just spit at me, and i suggest you come closer. and after that, try to figure out if it is your throat in my hands or someone else's. >> with me now, ben rhodes, former deputy national security

adviser for president obama. ben, i can't even say that was a chilling threat from the leader of the wagner group. it was maniacal. who is this guy? and how did putin come to rely on him? it's like you can't even believe this villain is a human. >> yeah, well, he's kind of a textbook villain in a lot of ways for this war. he was close to putin. he was putin's case over, often referred to as putin's chef. but he translated that into kind of an oligarchy position. he took control of this wagner mercenary group, which for several years has really been the front of the spear for russia in its efforts to control natural resources in africa. and so, as richard's reporting makes clear, this is gold. this is also cobalt. these are the kinds of resources that are necessary for phones, for batteries, for clean energy. they are all across africa, fomenting political instability and trying to get control of political resources. they are also the people who

did a lot of the dirty work for syria in vladimir putin. -- as they basically did -- force for hire across africa and returning to control these natural resources. in the context of ukraine war, they have now become frontline fighters, and have delivered a victory in bakhmut that was many, many months and many mazy many casualties in -- >> so, what's their ultimate goal? to get paid? >> -- i think the basic idea was, this guy could get rich. he could become, maybe, a billionaire. and he could get some of the -- cut, obviously, and also have the use of this wagner group. i think what has happened in ukraine is, we have started to see prigozhin take shots at the russian command structure, maybe even distance himself a little bit from putin. so, people are starting to wonder, steph, hey, this guy has his own troops. and he has his own wealth from all these natural resources you controls in places like africa. he is one of the only people who could potentially challenge putin. the point is, though, that he

would not challenge him from a point of liberal democracy. this guy is power hungry as well. he's wealth hungry as well. so, if he can get a good deal and he feels like he is being rewarded within the system, he may stay there. but he is also someone who is one of the only people in russia who might challenge putin's -- own independent power bases. >> and that's my question. why is he doing that? because this cozy relationship with putin has made him rich and powerful, which is exactly what he wants. so, why is he suddenly criticizing the kremlin and threatening to pull his mercenaries from ukraine? >> well, like a lot of these russians who are in positions of power, you don't know whether it is an interest in wealth and power, which it may be, he may see an opportunity, opening to see who is there if things go badly for putin inside of russia. but he also seems to genuinely be a pretty violent and aggressive russian nationalist. and so, it is a bit of ideology to prigozhin as well. what's clear is, he's a player.

and he's a player who has -- guns working for him, and he has probably billions of dollars in wealth in probably several countries where the wagner group has is on the frontlines. they are also in places like syria, where they are in pretty close proximity to american forces. -- so, he's also someone who has kind of butted heads with the united states. he's definitely someone who is going to be heard from throughout the course of this war in ukraine, and may be one of the few people who could potentially challenge vladimir putin. but he may just be doing that to get -- you know, that may be not just the power play against putin. it may be, hey, i'm going to make some noise, you better reward me. and so he may also be trying to get putin to favor him some more. >> squeeze more out of putin and get him to pay up. ben rhodes, thank you so much for being here and making that really disturbing story. coming -- up companies are fighting to fill millions of job openings as more workers are rethinking

what success looks like. our next guest has a new roadmap for finding the meaning in what you do, when the 11th hour continues. ontinues

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unprecedented. so, how do employers find workers and retain them? and how do employees start actually liking what they do? i am happy to welcome, bruce feiler, author of the book the search. finding meeting in a post-career world. in a post-career world -- which was released earlier this week. i just want to thank you so much for being here. >> thank you, i'm honored. >> -- take this job and shove -- it i'm pretty sure that was coined years and years ago. so, why is it now that we are saying, yeah, take this job and shove it? is it that we've got more money saved. why do we feel like we can do that? this >> is in fact the big change. i call it the meaning moment. as you know, my work is about helping people navigate life transitions. i've helped people travel across the country, collecting stories of people who've made these changes to find meetings in their lives to try to figure out, what do they know.

and as you said, nothing involves more change now than work. and for most of the time we have talked about work, we have, said you are supposed to be miserable. so, now when people are saying they do want to find meeting, they don't know what to do. so it, would have tried to do is gather these inspiring stories of people who have made these changes, and give you the tool kit that we have never had. >> but where did that come from? where did people find even that notion -- right, when i got out of school, i never asked the question, do i want to work for the man? or what is this company stand for? i just said, man, i got to pay my rent. but now, this new generation has a new approach. >> so, i think it goes back to what i call the three lies about work. line number one is that you have a career. this is a relatively recent invention. only 100 years old. and when this was invented, it was only four men, and only once in your life, right? at 21 you pick an occupation and you do it for the next 50 years. and all the ways we have talked about work follow this linear

path. a resume -- a series of clients, right? a ladder -- a series of climbs. but in fact, when people say i'm not happy in my career, it's you that's wrong, because we stigmatize spending time with family -- as well as making money. >> i walked away from my last career. i took a 90% pay cut. >> there you go. >> and everyone that i worked with made fun of me, laughed about me, talked about me like i was crazy and a loser. and what's incredible is, every one of them now has a daughter in college who miraculously would like to come in turn here. >> exactly. because, you, in fact, embody this, stephanie. because you made this unright choice, i call, it that was right for you. -- we face these opportunities 20 times in our lives. lion air two is, you have a path. in my data, we show go through what we call a work quake.

-- that's 20 times. what is a work quake. it's a jolt or some disruption, where we are forced to, or we choose to rethink what we do. >> but isn't that something you do from a place of privilege? right? it's a privilege to say, i'm going to try something new. i'm going to search for meaning. especially when you are living paycheck to paycheck. >> nine out of ten americans in a study out of harvard said they would give up a quarter of their lives earnings for work that's more meaningful. -- care more about meaning then their parents. this is the moment we are in. and the question that we are lacking is, because we have been told you are supposed to be miserable, we haven't given people the toolkit. >> so, what's the most important piece of advice? >> the most important people piece of advice is the, people who are happiest and they don't -- they don't climb, they dig. they do what i call him meaning audit. they performed personal

archaeology where they go into the life story and they say, this is what i inherited for for my parents. these are my role models. a two fake, i call it, that's been nagging at the my whole life. as of what my book introduces here is a series of questions who to ask and work quake -- i call it 21 questions -- defined work you love. and you asked these questions. you will begin to uncover the story you like. don't chase someone else's dream. chase your own dream >> and ignore the people laughing at you, because they are sitting in miserable job that they hate and that they don't have the guts to leave. >> and they are going to tell you this, right? >> i know it firsthand. really great to meet you. congratulations on the book. i highly, rightly recommend it. -- new fall career. bruce feiler, thank you so much. coming up -- parades, parties and protests. this year, pride month is at the center of a -- but it is not -- the progress this community celebrating -- g --

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of june 28th, 1969, new york city police raided the stonewall inn, a popular gay bar in the greenwich village. back then, with different laws, police raids on gay bars were common. but gay, lesbian and trans residents fought back. streets erupted into violent protests and demonstrations that lasted days. the riots began paving the way for the lgbt rights movement. and by 1979, more than 100,000 people took part in the first national march for lesbian and gay rights. >> the last thing before we go tonight -- pride. pride month is celebrated every june to honor the 1969 stonewall uprising, a milestone that energized the gay rights movement.

this year's pride comes at a time when the lgbtq community has been under attack from state legislatures, with over 500 bills being introduced across the country. community events have also been targeted with violence and threats this year over 160 times. as we've been reporting, companies like target, bud light and even chick-fil-a faced backlash for simply showing support for the community. after years of progress, the question is, why exactly is this happening now? here's glaad president sarah kate ellis on morning joe. >> -- that's what we are seeing right now. as more people who understand who transgender and gender nonconforming folks are, there's a snap back. and it's a small minority of people. americans are welcoming. americans believe inequality. americans believe that everyone should live the life they love.

and so, i think this is a very small group of people with an outsized voice in a moment that is being fed by politicians. i mean, these politicians are building their careers, and our fundraising off the backs of lgbtq folks right now. >> that overwhelming support ellis spoke about can be seen in glaad's a report, showing supermajorities supporting acceptance, freedom and equal rights for the community. and i've got a sinking thinking that the lgbtq community will not let a small hateful group of people ruin their pride this month, or any other month, for that matter. and i want that community to know, from the 11th hour, we see you, we love you, we need you, and we support you. happy pride, everyone. and on that note, i wish you a very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late. i will see you at the end of tomorrow. ♪ ♪ ♪