camera from the biden administration. beware of russia says, keep an eye on what it is doing, as in pumping 7,000 more troops in recent days, just before air time. this puts the total north of the 150,000 figure president biden used just yesterday. in other words, not the pullback russia as been talk about. "the new york times" tonight quoting a senior-administration official as saying they received a lot of attention for that claim, both, here and around the world. but we now know it was false. in other words, they were highing. another ominous sign, this tactical bridge in a series of approach road rods under construction in belarus just 4 miles from the ukraine border and just a short drive from there to kyiv. a source in a position to know tells cnn that russia is building bridge, field hospitals, and other support infrastructure, which is why, in this source's words, we aren't really taking seriously their claims at deescalation. something, the administration echoed on camera, as well.

>> to be very, very clear, we have not seen that. in fact, we have seen the opposite. in recent weeks, and even in recent days, more russian forces, not fewer, are at the border. and they are meeting, concerningly, into fighting positions. this is cause for profound concern. at the same time and as we have warned previously, over the past several weeks, we have also seen russian officials and russian media plant numerous stories in the press, any one of which could be elevated to serve as a pretext for an invasion. those stories, he went on to stay say, do involve bogus claims of ukrainian military activity in the donbas. and especially, the phony claims of genocide which we have already seen. again tonight, we have reporting from the key locations at the white house, cnn's kaitlan collins in kyiv.

cnn's cnn cla race a ward. kaitlan, the administration warns there is no sign of deescalation from moscow, with forces moving into fighting positions. what more can i tell us about these new troop numbers and this new bridge construction? >> well, john, yesterday, officials including president biden himself were skeptical of the russian claims that they were partially drawing down some of those troops they have amassed on ukraine's border. and now, today, they are outright saying it's not true. and not only are they not drawing down troops, they are adding troops by the thousands, putting that number -- about 7,000 above the 150,000 figure that president biden cited yesterday, which was already an increase in what u.s. officials had been saying. and so, they said they are adding these to the -- to the ukrainian border in recent days -- as recently as today, they saw some of these troops moving and so on those russian' claims, they are saying every indication we now have is that they mean to only publicly offer to talk, and make claims about deescalation, while privately, mobilizing for war. and john, it's not just that these numbers that we are seeing

tonight. we are also seeing some construction happening. if you look at some satellite images that came out today, showing bridges that are being built, roads being built that were not there, previously, which obviously would make it easier for are urussia if they t want to invade ukraine, including one part in belarus about 4 miles outside of ukraine and so if they were to go forward, it would be in the head-up to an invasion. >> just to be clear, the bridge people are alonging at right now, that did not exist a few days ago. complaint, just to be clear, this u.s. official says russia was lying when they said therapy drawing down. >> yeah. point blank and i think it's really notable. they came out there this morning, secretary of state antony blinken come out and say we haven't seen any meaningful deescalation and tonight they are saying the russians are lying when they say they are drawing down. >> clarissa, to you in kyiv, cnn has exclusive reporting that ukrainian military and intelligence says that russian troop levels -- not enough for a full-scale invasion.

what more can you tell us about that? >> so this is interesting, john, because essentially, ukrainian intelligence was, you know, roughly on the same page with the u.s., in terms of the number of troops at the time when cnn had access to reading this. this morning, it was 148,000 was the ukrainian estimate. this is before the -- the 7,000 that the u.s. has now said they believe are also present on that border. but their understanding of what those 148,000 troops would be capable of doing seems to dramatically differ from what the u.s. is saying. essentially, ukrainian intelligence sources, saying they do not believe that this would be enough for a large-scale invasion. now, it's important for our viewers to understand, john, that this has to be taken in the broader context of a general rift that we have really seen between the u.s. and ukraine. whereby, ukraine really wants to roll back the dialogue or rhetoric around this idea of a full-scale invasion. simply put, because it is having a destabilizing effect on the

country, primarily economically. they don't want people here to panic. they don't want to see foreign investment taking -- being taken out of the country. and because they see all these comment acts of destabilization at the hands of russia, whether it be cyberattacks, whether it be misinformation, that are willing have a pernicious effect. and so, they resent, i think, it would be fair to say, this kind of exclusive focus on this idea of a full-scale invasion because they see so many different permutations of russian aggression they are dealing with on a daily basis. so, interesting to see that while some of that intelligence lines up exactly with the u.s., how they are interpreting it appears to be quite different, john. >> jill, to you in moscow, secr secretary blinken today said vladimir putin could quote pull the trilger but underscored the u.s. remains committed to diplomacy. so, give us a sense of what is going on in that court tonight.

what is the latest from the kremlin at this hour? and how is it being framed in russian media there? >> you know, um, i think there is a bit of, let's say, deliberate confusion, which can sometimes work in president putin's favor. but i do have to tell you, i have been watching russian tv, again, a number of channels tonight. and i think it's interesting because, remember, these are channels that are speaking to russian citizens. so, what's the message? and number one was today, the 16th, was supposed to be the attack. the attack that never came. and there was high mockery on all the channels. in fact, there was one -- um -- where it was a video from a comedy show where the anchor s says we are on the scene of where nothing happened. sir, can you tell us what did you see? well, nothing. so, it was literal hly on that

level. they were savaging western officials, including the head of nato and senior-u.s. and european officials by calling them, in some cases, stupid or even mentally ill. um, sanctions they say the countries that invoke sanctions shoot themselves in the foot and then, i would also say heavy emphasis on the propaganda, in kw quotes, coming from the west. in fact, tonight on one show, this is a talk show but this is how a lot of russians get their news -- information, special operations, and brainwashing. but i do, john, want to -- there is one very interesting thing. one of these shows -- the head of rt, which we know quite well, margarita, said that it seemed to me that she was beginning to kind of prepare the ground for the argument putin got something out of this. and what she said was, at least they are listening to us and beginning to talk with us.

and then, she added maybe something will happen but she said she's skeptical. so there are, you know, when we look at what -- how they are framing it, i think it's very important to see what they are telling the russian people. >> that is really interesting. it's all a sham but maybe putin has already won their spinning right now. kaitlan, from the white house, what is the administration's next move? what are you seeing behind the scenes? >> well, a e they are basically warning what jill was zwraukting about. saying to expect more false reports in russian state media in the coming days. maybe, a pretext that they have talked about to basically creating a situation where russia could attempt to justify an invasion. and they listed off several false reports. they said all of the ones the rumors that they have heard are false. they are not true. and that they do expect russia to maybe float those or other situations in coming days, that are not, in order to create an -- a pretext to invade. and so, they are very much saying, the threat is just as real today as it was several days ago when they were warning about how imminent it could be.

and the fact that you heard secretary blinken say today that the trigger could be pulled today, it could be pulled tomorrow, it could be pulled next week. so, if you look at what officials are saying here at the white house, they are speaking in very bluntly words and they are trying to basic hi offer a heads up of what to expect from russia this the coming days as they deliberately try to sow confusion about who what moves they are making. >> i hope people appreciate the different reporting from all these different locations, and how information is being used in multiple ways from multiple sources and, clarissa, to that point, president zelensky made remarks on what he declared to be ukraine's day of national unity. so what was his message? >> yeah. so, it was interesting, john. he had joked that this was supposed to be the day of the invasion but he was going to make it a day of national unity. and the message was very much one of defiance. he was up near the belarusian border watching military exercises. and then he was in the southeast

just about 25 miles away from the russian border. it is one of the places that would likely be the first to know if there was any kind of a russian' incursion, especially if they were trying to create some sort of land carter between russia and the crimea peninsula. but let's be very clear here. ukraine fully understands what russia is capable of. i think they see a lot of the ominous signs, not just in it he remembers of the troop buildup, but in terms of the rhetoric about a genocide taking place in donbas. the duma putting forward this bill that would officially recognize pro-russian separatist areas as being independent. and they understand that he has multiple levers here by which he can implement russian influence and aggression, either by force, either by misinformation, also through cyberattacks as we had mentioned as well. so, they are concerned,

absolutely, john. >> so, jill dougherty, you mentioned the head of rt is maybe doing some pre-spin here, that vladimir put unhas already gotten what he wanted out of this. to what extent is that true? to what extent, you know, if no further russians across the border in ukraine -- and of course there are some there already -- has vladimir putin succeeded to some extent anyway? >> well, that i think depends on what side of the border you are on. you know, for russians, which is very important for president putin, i think they can begin to make a case i mean very early in the game, actually, to say who won here. but i think they -- they can domestically. internationally, i think they have a real problem. i mean, this is not looking good. and if you look at all of the european countries are in, you know, agreement that what russia is doing is wrong. so, um, i -- i think we have to see ultimately what president

putin does. but so far, i don't think it's working in their favor. >> i have to say, the messaging war in full force tonight. what a great discussion. jill dougherty, clarissa ward, kaitlan collins, thank you all very much. some additional perspective now. especially, on these military developments. and what to make of them. joining us for that, retired army four star general, wesley chark, he is cnn military analyst and former nato supreme allied commander. general, you heard the reports of 7,000 additional troops now at the border that were not there a couple days ago. does that increase the likelihood, in your mind, of a russian invasion? >> absolutely. and it also is increased by the fact that the russians are lying about it. so, the fact that they are lying, as they are increasing the -- the corps strength gives me a greater strength in my conviction that they are preparing to go in. this is a typical disinformation

that would come prior to an attack. and -- and the russians are masters at it. and let's not anybody be surprised when russians lie. they do it consistently. what they say is -- is propaganda in 90% of the cases and so we just have to understand that about when we are listening to this. it's not real news. it's what they want us to believe. but i do think the announcement that the biden administration has made of the 7,000 troops, and i think the pictures of that bridge building, it's really important because we are still in the information-war stage of this operation. we have got to make sure the world understands what is going to happen, what could happen, and we are not caught off -- caught by surprise. this is no surprise. we have strategic warning of this. >> just to be clear what people are looking at on the screen right now is this bridge just 4 miles from ukraine's border, presumably to move armor or vehicles across. it was not there a couple days

ago. it is now there. so, in combination with that, general clark, i just want to ask you again because it seemed to me that you were saying that you really do think, at this point, russia will further invade? >> i think that -- i think the odds are that -- better -- much better than 50 that they will go in. when i hear the ukrainian military say they don't have enough full strength there for a complete invasion. okay. okay. i understand that. you know, when we went into the -- into iraq in 2003, we didn't have enough forces for full occupation of iraq. all of us in the military knew we need 300, 400, 500,000 people to really occupy the country. we went in with less than 100,000 combat troops. we did a whole lot of damage and we got to baghdad in three weeks. so, they have got a lot more than that sitting on the border and right behind the border facing ukraine. and they have got a much easier topography, and they are much closer so they have got plenty of combat power to do a lot of damage, especially when they -- if they strike first with hypersonic missiles, cruise missiles, and aircraft to take

out ukraine's air defense and command-and-control facilities. so, the ukrainian people understand they are already at war. they have been at war with eight years with russia. today is further confirmation of this. so i think the administration is exactly right. there is still room for diplomacy. we don't want putin to do this. we hope he will come to his senses and not pull the final trigger. but all indications are that, um, they are getting ready and looks like all the propaganda is coming there to -- to point toward military action. >> general wesley clark, a sobering discussion but we do appreciate your perspective and your experience. thank you very much. next, a little girl found, thank goodness, two and a half years after being abducted hidden away, kept out of school, and diskofrcovered in a cramped space under a staircase. her extraordinary story and

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tonight, a devastating story with what we hope is a positive conclusion. all we can say is, thank goodness, a 6-year-old girl is now safe with what we pray will be a lifetime of better memories ahead of her. late today, her parents and grandfather -- none of whom were entitled to legal custody of her -- appeared in court to face child-endangerment and other charges. they will be back in court in the coming weeks. this all came to light yesterday in a town in new york's hudson river valley, just a few miles from woodstock. more from cnn's miguel marquez. >> i'm just shocked because they seem like just regular people. >> reporter: neighbors, stunned after a little girl, missing for two and a half years, is found alive and well. located in what police described as a secret-hiding spot. >> was intentionally built that way. it was apparent that had been

used on more within one location. >> she disappeared from cayuga heights, new york, where she was living with her legal guardian in july 2019. monday night, she was found at this home in the small town about 160 miles east of cayuga heights, where her biological parents, kimberly schultz and kirk schultz jr. live. police say the couple does not have legal custody of paisley, and that officers have been to the same home roughly a dozen times since she was reported missing but were never allowed in the basement or bedroom areas. >> the majority of the time, the interaction between the homeowners and the police was -- was adversarial and not on our part. they were upset. they accused us of harassing them. >> reporter: then monday, acting on a tip, police got a search warrant and went to the house. that's when they say an officer noticed something weird about the stare case. >> he just said there was something tissue he couldn't put his finger on it but there was something about the staircase that bothered him and he uses a

flashlight to look between the crack of one of the stairs, and he sees actually where the stair meets the riser and he sees what he believes to be a blanket. and as they are removing the steps off the staircase, they see a set of feet -- little feet. they discovered that it was paisley. >> reporter: police say, they also found kimberly cooper schultz hiding inside this wet, dark, and cramped secret area under a stairwell. >> just feel sick to my stomach. >> under a staircase. >> dumb founded. because my granddaughter has been over there playing and everything, and i just figured they were just normal people. >> reporter: the couple were arrested and charged with her disappearance. so was paisley's grandfather, kirk schultz senior. police believe paisley had been living there since she disappeared. >> miguel marquez joins us now. miguel, do police say anything about the condition of the little girl when she was rescued? >> reporter: yeah, she was in pretty good shape. she came out quiet at first and then got upset but look, there were a lot of police in the

house. they were heavily arped. they were heavily clad with gear but they did check her out. they say the good bit here is that this was no sign of abuse. tonight, she is with her legal guardian and her older sister. police also say, look, the last two years, she hasn't been able to go to school, she hasn't been able to see a doctor. so it is not clear how much long-term trauma she may have suffered. john. >> i hope she gets the help she needs. miguel marquez, thank you so much. perspective now from elizabeth smart who was abducted at 14 and held captive for nine months. she is now an advocate for child safety and abduction survivors. so the circumstances of what happened with you were obviously so different to what happened to the little girl in new york but can you share with us what she might be going through right now, especially as she tries to, you know, reenter the outside world? >> i can only imagine she is going through so much confusion. and i would feel instablility, s

well. i mean, going from the situation she was in, to the situation that she hopefully now is in. i mean, i imagine would be vastly different and then going forward, of course, this is happening at such an early age in her life, i am very hopeful that she will have, you know, every chance for happiness and a wonderful life in the future. but still, going forward, can be very daunting. being recognized for something that you had no control over. for something that you wouldn't have picked. you wouldn't have chosen. for something that you wouldn't want to be recognized for. i mean, that could be very difficult. um, especially as she enters school and as she, um, begins to get older. there are many things that i can imagine for her would be uncomfortable. um, i am not intimately aware of all the details of her case. i mean, i was not a part of the investigation. but other children who maybe don't have part of the story or

don't understand everything, oftentimes, can say things and not meaning to be cruel or mean, but it can be very hurtful. being on the receiving ends of those kinds of remarks. >> so the local police chief said the officers that visited the house -- that officers did visit the house almost a dozen times over two years. and they didn't see her on any of those visits. now, in your situation, you were approached by a police officer while you were in captivity, and not rescued in that moment. so, what was that like? is it even possible to explain what that's like? >> that's a great question and honestly, it's one that i have spent a lot of time thinking about and going back and thinking about my own experience, and really trying to analyze how i felt. and i -- for me, when i think back to the few times that we were approached by individuals or by police officers, it almost went to cement in my mind that my captors were invincible. that they could get away with anything.

and for this little girl -- i mean, she's -- was even much younger than i was, when i was kidnapped. and i mean, to see or to understand what was going on -- i mean, that would be very scary. i mean, that would feel like i'm never getting out of here. you know, i will always be a captive. i will always have to hide. i would imagine that would lead to thoughts of self-doubt. i mean, why am i being hidden? what did i do wrong? um, why don't people like me? it might also lead to thoughts of, well, am i -- why can't the police find me? they can't find me. will thaey ever find me? will they ever rescue me? do i have something to be embarrassed or ashamed of? >> elizabeth, in your book, you talk about how ycaptors gave yo a fake backstory to lie to them and when this girl was found, the officers said she seemed mistrustful of them. you have done so much work with so many survivors, is that a

common goal for kidnappers? >> you do everything you have to to survive, and if that's, you know, lying to the police, because she had two years to -- to essentially be groomed into believing that maybe the police were bad, or that they weren't capable of finding her. um, that's long time and that is a lot of fear to live with. so i would understand completely why she wouldn't be trustful, and certainly that is a common theme that i have met among other survivors and -- and people who have experienced -- i mean, not even just sexual abuse, domestic abuse, i think it is a common trait to be mistrustful of others. >> so for the people in her life who were searching for her for two years. you know, such a long time in a child's life. how important is hope? you know, in your situation, your family never lost hope. >> it's huge. i think that's the difference between life and death.

i mean, that's the difference between you know being able to move forward, and have a happy life or being caught and reliving in the past. i think hope makes all the difference in the world. and i -- i have hope for this young girl. i mean, she is -- she is very young, and it sounds like she does have a support network around her and she is with her older sister now, and she recognized her and she knew who she was. so, i have a lot of hope, actually, that she will be able to move forward, and she will be able to have a happy life. >> elizabeth smart, you have really given us important perspective tonight and you have helped so many people over the years. i really appreciate everything you've done. thank you. >> thank you. up next, you have heard about the laws going into place changing the way people register to vote and other new hurdles they have to clear. we are getting our first look at how it actually might play out. the difficulties voters in texas are experiencing just for the chance to vote by mail in the

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early voting started this week in texas for the march 1st primary. the first one in the country this year. voters will be choosing who they want in the november ballot for u.s. congressional seats, governor, and other statewide races. this is the first test at the state's new voting laws. one of more than a dozen states to change the rules following the 2020 election and the former-president's false cams of fraud. and in texas, thousands of voters are facing problems as they try to get a mail-in ballot, and make sure their vote is counted. reporting from texas tonight, here is cnn's dianne gallagher. >> i have been a voting rights activist for a long time. i have registered voters in this county for 25 years. i'm angry. i am -- i'm righteously angry. >> reporter: after decades of

helping others make a plan to vote, a controversial new election law landed 74-year-old pam gaskin in unfamiliar territory. her mail ballot application was denied not once, but twice. >> i am pam gaskin. you know? supervoter. how could this happen? >> reporter: first, the county had yet to update applications under the new law, which now requires voters to add their text driver's license or partial social security number to the application, which is what gaskin did in her second attempt but there is a catch. >> the law says it has to be the number that was on your i -- on your application when you registered to vote. >> when did you register to vote? >> 46 years ago in this county. >> reporter: because she wrote her valid license number but registered with her social, the application was rejected. 95-year-old world war ii veteran kenneth thompson's ballot application was also denied

twice in 1940's harris county, he didn't use either number to register so no match. in texas, only a person who is over 65, disabled or out of the county can vote by mail. but days before the application deadline, there are thousands of rejections across the entire state, all mpolitical parties ad this isn't the only problem. a tight timeline to implement changes means less training in voter education, says harris election administrator isabel longoria. 14% have been rejected over i.d. issues so far. >> we are still get eeg mails on all these tweaks in the laws. that are leading to now a higher than usual, almost double, rejection of mail-ballot applications. >> reporter: but now, the actual ballots also being flagged and returns across the state. nearly 40%, so far, in harris county. overwhelmingly, due to the new i.d. requirements, which voters need to write again in a space under the flap on the external

ballot return envelope. there is so much confusion, she's doubled staffing at phone banks. >> we got 8,000 calls in january, alone. 5,000 of which were about mail-ballot voting. >> texas is one of 19 states to pass restrictive voting legislation in 2021. >> now let's make this final. >> but before governor greg abbott signed senate bill 1 into law late-last year, activists warned laura makers about potential snares like i.d. match and complicated envelopes. >> the challenges that we are seeing now are a feature of s.b. 1 the voting law. >> the secretary of state office telling cnn in a statement, our office has been working as quick hi and diligently as possible, within a compressed timeframe to provide guidance to both election officials and voters on changes to the voting process in texas. for gaskin, the long journey is almost complete and online ballot tracker now required under the new law says hers has been received. >> 28 days. three attempts.

success. what worries me is that everybody is not as tenacious as i am. they are not going to stick with it. >> that is a lot of work. dianne gallagher joins us from houston. diane, as you mentioned, early in-person voting started this week in texas. what more are you learning about how that's going? >> you know, john, that's yet another element to this new restrictive voting law in texas. and look. activists already out here, they say they have additional volunteers to monitor what happens because that law added an increase in the empowerment of those partisan-poll watchers, as well as their access here at the polls. and the concern is, especially in this extremely charged environment when it comes to elections right now, that could lead to further intimidation of voters and potentially even election workers or volunteers. now, one thing that administrator longoria wanted to make clear is that when a ballot is returned, someone who is trying to vote by mail, they likely have a chance to correct it but they have to do it by the

deadline, and again, john, part of the issue for so many people is that it is just adding additional hurdles, additional steps, more paperwork, and red tape for somebody who is simply trying to vote. >> voting does not have to be hard voting. dianne gallagher, thank you so much for that report. appreciate it. up next, as airlines struggle with unruly passengers, we have got the latest on growing calls to put the offenders on a national no-fly list and the objections to it when "360" continues. but also gd old-fashioned will and grit. what we do when the chips are down. how adversity is best met with creativity... and kindness. as we at pfizer strive to impact hundreds of millions of lives... young and old... this isn't just a story of a pandemic. but how it pulled us all together. ♪

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ourt rage is growing as airlines are sounding the alarm on a growing number of unruly passenger incidents. according to the faa, nearly 500 incidents were reported in the first-six weeks of this year. and now, some airlines are calling on the justice department to take action, despite pushback from some lawmakers. cnn aviation correspondent, pete muntean has the story. >> reporter: faced with the man trying to open the door of an american airlines' flight, court documents say the flight crew

turned to a coffee pot to subdue him. police have now charged him with interfering with a flight attendant. this as even more unruly airline passengers are facing federal punishment. the faa is now handing 43 cases to the department of justice, so it can bring charges against those accused of assaulting fellow passengers and flight crews, both physically, and in some cases, sexually. if found guilty, they could face jail time. >> the flight attendants who are working these flights, who have been punched, kicked, spit on, disrespected, and constantly under assault. >> reporter: sara nelson of the association of flight attendants says the numbers are off the charts. the now total 80 cases referred to the justice department make up only 1% of the 6,480 incidents reported by flight crews since the start of last year. >> untilby have people actually landing in jail, and understanding that there is real consequences for act ougt on a flight, we are not going see

these incidents go down. >> airlines have asked the justice department to keep unrue hi passengers from boarding flights in the first place. a move, eight republican senators say should be up to congress to decide. in a new letter, they insist most unru unruly passenger inci are related to the federal transportation mask mandate. they say creating a federal no-fly list for unruly passengers who are skeptscal of this mandate would seemingly equate them to terrorists. transportation secretary pete buttigieg says a no-fly list should be considered, and more passengers should be put behind bars to keep numbers down. >> this is no acceptable level of unruly behavior on aircraft, especially when it is not only disrespect but dangerous toward flight crews and other passengers. >> and pete muntean joins us now. pete, how much progress has been made creating an unruly passenger no-fly list? >> well, john, not much movement on this from the justice department. it says it's still consulting with relevant agencies on this

but that leaves airlines to essentially ban passengers on their own. and the fear here is that a passenger could be banned from one airline, and then fly on a different airline completely unnoticed. by the way, there is this push to ratchet up the punishment on those who step out of line, onboard planes. but there is also this effort to relax the restrictions, namely a lawsuit from the attorney general of texas to the biden administration trying to end the transportation mask mandate, which is set to expire on march 18th and could be extended, john. >> pete muntean, reagan national airport, thank you so much for being with us tonight. okay as you know, been a lot of drama at the olympics this year and not all of it great. in fact, most of it, not. or much of it not but there are some just awesome moments happening and my next guest is at the center of one of them. america's new favorite every-man athlete, who just now happens to be a gold medalist, nick baumgartner joins us, next.

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on day 12 of the winter olympics and team usa continued to add to its medal count with

alex hall and nick goepper topping the podium in men's free ski slopestyle. but the highlight of the games come from team usa's oldest member, 40-year-old nick baumgartner, who arrived in beijing with multiple olympic appearances but no medals to his name and ended up taking the gold in mixed team snowboard cross along with lindsey jacobellis. now he has the title of oldest ever snowboard olympic medalist. he was given a hero's welcome with a parade in his hometown in michigan's upper peninsula monday where he showed off his medal to supporters as crowds gathered to show their appreciation. here with us is the pride of the u.p., the oldest member of the olympic team but now a young and handsome olympic gold medalist, nick baumgartner. i love seeing you wear the medal. i love the smile. congratulations. what an achievement. >> thank you so much. it's been an absolute dream come true and just an honor to be able to do this and represent my

home community. >> the great part about your experience -- and i'm not sure it was always great for you -- is you took us along with you from the lows to the highs. after you didn't medal in the solo event, you acted like i think the rest of us would if we were really allowed to show our emotions. you were so bummed. and then to go from that to the elation of winning the gold, your first gold medal after four olympics, i mean what a roller coaster. what was that like? >> it was -- it was wild, and i am glad that everyone got to see just the true emotions that us as athletes go through. we put in so much work and so much effort to be able to, one, make the olympic team, and then we go there to try and make our dreams come true. and i made a little mistake in that first race, and it devastated me. those emotions came out in my interview. i cried quite a bit, and i was just super happy to be able to get another shot at redemption in that team race.

and for me, it was -- it wasn't, i guess, 100% about getting the medal. it was about showing and proving to every one of my supporters that i am fast and i could beat those guys had i made it to the final of that individual race. and then to walk away with a gold medal and go from, like you said, the low of the lows to the high of the highs, these are the kind of stories that come out of the olympics, and i am super honored that it came out that way for me. >> well, you are fast, and you did beat those guys. and then you got to watch because your leg was first, you got to watch your partner, lindsey jacobellis race her race. you know, after waiting so long for a gold medal -- i'm not saying you're old and have been to four olympics, but you've been to four olympics, and you were younger when you started. what was the actual moment of capturing that gold like? can you even remember it? >> yeah. i mean i just -- when lindsey came out of the gate and she

made a little bobble and went back to third place, and when that happened, i was like, this is going to happen because just with her experience, we've been in this game a long time so we know how to race. we've just seen so much on the course that i knew she was going to draft the first girl which was going to slingshot her into the second girl, and there would be no stopping her. that's exactly how the rest of the race played out. obviously you saw my emotions again. i'm screaming and losing my mind trying to cheer her down the hill. and when she came around that last turn and started to pull away from the girl, man, everything, the tears, everything started to overwhelm me again. but this time it was happy tears, not the bummed tears. so it was an unbelievable feeling like nothing i've ever felt. i mean that's 17 years of chasing a dream and then it all coming true on the world tv. it was pretty cool. >> i'm so glad.

i'm so glad it ended that way. you call -- lindsey has been there for a while too. you say you're '80s babies. you're two of the oldest competitors here. so what lessons do you have? what inspirations do you have for the rest of us who may be getting on in years about achieving our dreams? >> i think the story tells itself, and it just shows you that you can't give up when things go bad. i mean there's been many lows in my career, but each one of those has taught me a little bit more about myself. and looking back, if i would have quit on any of those, this day, this would have never happened. and by pushing through that adversity and fighting for what i wanted and not giving up on my dream, i had one of the best days of my life and got to share that with my community. i got to come home to just a hero's welcome, and i just -- i hope that it shows people it doesn't matter how old you are. it doesn't matter where you come from.

my local ski hill is just a bump, and it's a wonderful place, but it was enough for me to gain a passion for something. and it doesn't matter. it doesn't matter. i go against kids from the biggest mountains in the world, and i'm from a small hill in the upper peninsula of michigan. and i'm holding and wearing an olympic gold medal. and if that doesn't tell you that you can do anything you want to do, i don't know what it takes to inspire you to do that. >> i just keep smiling because it's the ultimate currency, right? you can't possibly top someone who can grab his gold medal and say, how do you like them apples, right? it's the best answer to anything. >> yeah. yeah, it's amazing. and as i bring this back, i've wanted to bring this back to share it with the upper peninsula for 17 years, like i said, on this journey. and now i get that opportunity, and i tell you the next three weeks are going to be insane. i'm going to be at so many schools sharing this with so many kids just to try to give

them a shot. we do live in a spot where we have less opportunity than others, but it doesn't mean that we have to believe those excuses. i just hope that my story will bring more of these stories. >> i guarantee you it will. nick baumgartner, congratulations. thank you for everything and thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> thank you guys for having me. this is a dream come true and being able to do an interview with you guys, it just keeps making it better and better. >> you're the best. hold up that medal again as we go to break. >> one more time. >> all right. we'll be right back. ♪ i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ one of my favorite supplements is qunol turmeric. turmeric helps with healthy joints and inflammation support. unlike regular turmeric supplements qunol's superior absorption helps me get the full benefits of turmeric.

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