>> wonderful, wonderful. that's all for this edition of "dateline," i'm craig melvin, thank you for watching. thank you for watching breaking overnight, the stunning admission from iran on what really caused a plane full of western tourists to come crashing down in a ball of flames. >> i can reveal that i believe it would have been four embassies. >> and this morning, the president says four embassies were under threat from iran but reporting today suggests otherwise. danger on the high seas, new details on the different stories emerging after a russian spy ship nearly sideswipes a u.s. destroyer. shocking poll, a big change in who's leading iowa days before the caucuses of 2020. and meghan, harry, the

queen, the hot mess taking place over seas, new details on the saga playing out from london. good morning on this saturday, sort of a new saturday here at msnbc. i'm can dkendis gibson, along w lindsay riser. >> i started this week, from arizona. i'm ready to get started. >> usually you guys go to california. >> not head up here. >> i'll tell you, it's warmer in new york city today than it is in phoenix, so that tells you a lot. we do have a lot to get to, including the big breaking news from overnight. that deadly plane crash in iran killing dozens of westerners and others. overnight, the stunning admission from iran, its leaders admitting it unintentionally shot down the ukraine ian jet liner, killing all 176 on board. >> after denials of leaders

telling about the missile strike. cal perry joining us from doha, this is an alarming turn of events. what's change here. >> reporter: very surprising. i think partly what changed was the evidence was becoming overwhelming that iran had shot down this passenger plane. we can start with the statement from the iranian president, row h hanie, he write ins part, human error and a misfire led to the, we have been monitoring a press conference from the head of revolutionary guard aerospace division, and he said that he and the folks that work inside that division had mistook the plane for a cruise missile. they are starting to paint a picture of a very difficult situation that night where the iranians lashed out striking the american bases. their air defense systems, surface-to-air were on the highest state of alert, and

mistook this plane for an incoming american cruise missile. stunning developments as iran is saying they are responsible for the shoot down. part of the story is their 82 of those passengers were iranians, so i think it's quite possible that there was starting to be domestic pressure to release a statement and admit cullability. >> do they plan to allow boeing and its employees to get access to the black boxes? >> reporter: yeah, i mean, that's going to be the next step is sort of the investigation and the tictoc of exactly what happened. those black boxes we understand from government officials were damaged in that crash, whether or not they're sent off overseas is now something that's being discussed and we're hearing from all the corners of the iranian government. we heard from the foreign minister, and he writes in part, a very sad day, preliminary conclusions of the internal investigation by armed forces is

that human error at a time of crisis caused by the u.s. adventurism led to disaster. our profound regrets, apologies, condolences to have our families, all victims and the affected nations. you can see they're starting to paint this picture that while they are responsible, while they are the ones who shot down the plane, they are starting to put out this narrative that it was because of the tensions that they say the americans had ratcheted up. >> in essence he's saying if the united states had not started all of this, none of this, this domino effect would have taken place. >> exactly. >> nbc's cal perry in doha, thank you. an account of the imminent threat that led to general qassem soleimani's killing, president trump offering a new explanation appearing to contradict what came from top administration officials. nbc white house kroncorresponde kelly o'donnell. are we getting closer to what

that was? >> reporter: the administration is defending its action, and there are those on capitol hill who were privy to some of the early briefings on this who say it is not what the administration is saying, at least that's not what they were told behind closed doors in terms of the evolving explanation. now, imminent threat is a definition within the law that allows the nation to exercise self-defense in this way, giving the president the authority to take the action to take out the general, top general in the iranian republican guard, general soleimani, and to do that without sort of the congression congression congressional involvement and so that's why imminent threat is such an important definition in all of this debate. the president has given us some more details about what he believes were the american targets at risk here, and his rationale for taking that strike, and he did it not in front of all reporters here at the white house or in a public setting, but he did it through an interview that aired last

night on fox news where he gave his fullest explanation so far of what was behind his decision mackin making. here's the president with lawyer are ingram of fox news channel. >> did he have large scale attacks planned for other embassies, and if those were planned, why can't we reveal that to the american people, wouldn't that help your case? >> i can reveal i believe it would have been four embassies, and i think that probably baghdad already started. baghdad certainly would have been the lead but i think it would have been four embassies, could have been military bases, a lot of other things too, but it was imminent and all of a sudden he was gone. >> reporter: and part of the ongoing controversy has been the other statements being made, so there are lawmakers who say they were not told in the briefings by secretary pompeo and the defense secretary mark esper and other top officials that embassies were the target, and they claim that they were not

provided information to suggest a plot was about to evolve making it an imminent threat. that dispute will go on. that debate will go on but the president is giving additional information now that has changed over the last few days. it began with comments he made to reporters here where he referenced the baghdad embassy, then at a rally in toledo went a bit further and in the interview clips we just gave, the prosecute gave his fullest response so far about why he took out the general. >> congress still waiting for specific additional locations as well as any dates and times they may have. kelly o'donnell at the white house, thank you. let's turn to the impeachment process right now. the stage nearly set for president trump's senate trial. house speaker nancy pelosi telling democrats in a letter that she has asked judiciary chairman jerry nadler to be prepared to bring to the floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the senate. >> president trump sounding off

on pelosi as her announcement comes more than three weeks after the house impeached him. >> i think it's ridiculous. she should have sent them a long time ago. it just, it belittles the process. nancy pelosi will go down as probably the least successful speaker of the house in the history of our nation. >> joining us now nbc's national political reporter, josh sneiderman there at the capital, and josh, what does this all mean, at least for the time line, how soon could we expect to see this trial get started? >> reporter: well, kendis, the trial could get started as early as this week because technically speaking, the trial starts when the impeachment articles go from the house to the senate. we expect as you were just laying out, a vote on appointing those impeachment managers as early as the middle of this week. it's unlikely that what we will

see what people expect a trial, until next week. there are several things that need to happen. in the bill clinton impeachment trial there were eight days until when the house sent the arguments over and the trial actually began. in that period, john roberts the chief justice of the supreme court will have to come over and swear in u.s. senators as jurors. we expect that could happen according to senate aides as soon as toward the middle to end of this week, and the senate will also have to vote on a resolution laying out the rules and procedures for that first part of the trial. so that could start to happen in the next days, and then most likely after the mlk monday holiday. that's about a week from now, is when we would start to see the actual trial begin with both the impeachment managers appointed by house democrats as well as the president's defense team making their arguments in front of a jury of u.s. senators. >> all right. so josh, when it comes to the timing of all this, obviously when everything was still in gridlock in the middle of the week, speaker pelosi facing

growing pressure from several senators in the, several democrat senators, i should say, to send over the articles. by the end of the week, they were walking that back. in fact, it was the same story for member of the house. congressman adam smith saying he misspoke after saying pelosi should send over those articles. so what do you chalk this up to, josh? did pelosi lay down the law here? >> kryeah, clean up on aisle ad smith. what an interesting moment that was. never underestimate the ability of nancy pelosi to keep fellow democrats in line, and it's clear that democrats as they head into this trial wanted to present a united front and that's why you saw a lot of democrats ultimately walking that back and getting behind the speaker but at the end of the day, the speaker's play here was to try to get the senate to lay out ahead of time exactly what their trial was going to look like. nancy pelosi talking aboutmentiabout wanting to see it was going to be a fair venue for the trial.

at the end of the day, she didn't get that, ultimately blinking and allowing the impeachment articles to go over to the senate, even before mitch mcconnell and the senate have laid out exactly what it's going to look like over here. >> pelosi has been holding on to the articles to negotiate a fair trial in the senate so as she prepares to send them over, is there still any negotiating that could take place before that trial kicks off, particularly for witnesses or is that ball now completely in the republicans corner at that point? >> reporter: most of the leverage that house democrats had really ended when they held that vote to impeach the president, and democrats feel that they did get some leverage out of the fact that they held those articles and in that period, the last few weeks, prompted this conversation about should there be witnesses, is it fair to have so many republican senators who have said openly going into this trial that they're not looking at this impartially, that this is basically a political process. so democrats think that they have already changed the playing field by putting political

pressure on republicans to have witnesses. >> josh ledderman has taken up early residence in what will be his new home over the next few weeks. thanks, josh, appreciate it. let's head back over to lindsay with this morning's other big headlines we're following. good morning, everyone, and at this hour, questions remain after an incident on the high seas, take a look a this dramatic video of a russian spy ship coming dangerously close to a u.s. navy destroyer in the arabian sea, the uss had five short warning blasts. [ horn sounding ] >> the russian ship came within 60 yards, this whole encounter lasting ten to fifteen minutes. the russian defense ministry claims the u.s. ship cut across the russian ship's course. the trump administration is considering a dramatic expansion of its controversial travel ban to as many as seven new

countries. a document reportedly circulating the white house may be set to be released on the three-year anniversary of the 2017 so-called muslim ban. the supreme court upheld the ban in june of 2018. the faa plans to fine boeing $5.4 million after two of their 737 max jets crashed and killed 346 people. the agency claims boeing lied about how safe the wing parts really were, and also did too little to oversee final safety approvals. this would be on top of $3.9 million fine proposed in december and cory, these planes have been grounded since march of last year. >> yeah, it was just stunning to receive those boeing e-mails as well from employees. now let's get to some other breaking news this morning. storms moving across the country. they're wreaking havoc in the midwest. lightning may have sparked a house fire in burlston, texas, in the north, tornadoes destroyed homes in arkansas and missouri. this here is damage in keys, oklahoma, after winds tore roofs

off homes, and we're taking a live look in memphis this morning, a dark and wet scene where they have been seeing a lot of lightning and severe weather this morning. it's really a grab bag here when it comes to extreme weather across the country. let's go to msnbc's meteorologist janessa webb with all the latest and break it down for us. >> this is a very violent storm system. we still have tornado watches across the deep south, and that's going to last new mexiun 7:00 a.m. we're dealing with nocturnal tornadoes, already getting five reports of tornadoes touching down from oklahoma to arkansas. this is a strong, severe squall line that's making its way through from jackson, mississippi, all the way into portions of the southeast. the unfortunate situation with this storm system as it makes its way east, it's not losing force here. the wind speeds continue to be picking up to 50 to 60 miles per hour, and then on the backside of this storm is heavy snowfall. if you have a flight out of chicago, a major hub this

afternoon, expect cancellations and delays up and down the great lakes all the way into the planes. so your forecast for today, we still have 22 million under that severe weather risk. things will really not die down until later on this evening from new orleans to montgomery, even nashville, you are going to be in the mix of this. this strong squall line that is very unusual for january. we haven't seen severe weather like this in about seven years. we'll continue to make it way today into tomorrow, across the ohio valley into the northeast. by tomorrow afternoon, i do expect the severe weather threat to really diminish and behind the front is a lot cooler air. unfortunately, the flood threat, the severe weather threat will continue for at least the next 24 hours. look at this, 2 to 5 inches of rain possible from chicago all the way into memphis, so we're talking about the tornado threat, damaging straight line

winds, also if you're hitting the roadways for this weekend, the hydroplaning and the major flooding possibilities that we're going to continue to see. so as i said, this is a very unusual storm system. the great news about it is bringing some warmer air, but that squall line will move out fairly quickly. >> janessa webb, thank you. >> parts of the mid atlantic to the northeast will be getting temperatures until the 70s, possibly today. not bad for a january day. it will be 55 degrees in the bay area, partly sunny as the nfl playoffs kick off into high gear today with the 49ers and minnesota vikings facing off, and while other teams like the seahawks have used like their 12th man for an advantage, the 49ers on the other hand have something different. >> who is that? >> that would be their secret weapon. here is zoe, the team's 1-year-old french bulldog, and the nfl's first certified emotional support dog. >> oh, my goodness.

>> so hear what you just said, first certified emotional support dog for the nfl, it's incredible. >> yeah, and she's pretty popular with the teammates, she helps reduce the stress and anxiety. >> can we use her for our team? >> i think we could use that sort of a stress reliever. >> i think we could use an emotional support animal this morning. >> the 9ers play the vikings in san francisco, the titans and ravens evening match up in baltimore. some good games ahead, and the puppies, what more do you want than football players with all those muscles and puppies. all right. let's switch gears here, talk about brand new polls in iowa this morning, a new candidate in the lead, who's topping the race with just over three weeks out from the caucuses? plus this. >> whoever guesses this wins the game. what she says, and the answer that's going viral. >> look at that victory dance. t. is mealtime a struggle?

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if you're waking up in iowa, in addition to snow, you'll find this on the front page of the paper, the des moines register has bernie sanders sledding ahead of the others in 2020 after its latest poll put the senator on top in iowa, and it is the first time he has been the clear leader there. here are the numbers, sanders out front with 20%, buttigieg has fallen to third with 16%, warren at 17%, joining me now

live on the phone here is nbc news campaign who is in des moines, and we have mora on the phone because mora, you are stuck. you cannot get anywhere with the blizzard happening in iowa right now. >> yes, if you're waking up in iowa this morning, there's about 3 inches of ice outside my door so the car is stuck in the garage but we're just going to roll with it and the scene on the front page of the des moines register is pretty accurate. >> were you surprised seeing sanders pulling ahead. >> reporter: the only thing i haven't been surprised by or learned not to besurprised by is the fact that caucus goers are constantly changing their minds. bernie sanders is someone that's really familiar to caucus goers, he campaigned in 2016 had he ran against hillary clinton. he's a familiar face, and people always tell me that they really appreciate his honesty, how he's straightforward, his innovative ideas and it's important to note that bernie sanders has been spending a lot of time in iowa ahead of the impending

impeachment trial which he might not be able to spend as much time here in the state. he has been investing his time in iowa, and focussing more on the trail on personal stories, connecting with voters, talking about their health care costs, and how americans are struggling to pay these insane health care costs, so at every event we have seen him at, they go through these personal stories and struggles. he's clearly connecting on the personal side on the campaign trail as well. >> a lot of candidates have to front load their time there, any of them that are dealing with, going to be wrapped up in the senate trial coming up with the impeachment. pete buttigieg has taken a 9 point fall, what happened there. >> reporter: about 45% of the surveyed caucus goers said they could be persuaded to support someone else, while the numbers have changed a lot in the polls in iowa, they are the gold standard in iowa that everyone leaves heavily on, but they have had a different front runner

every time. pete buttigieg was in the lead in november. elizabeth warren was in the lead ahead of that. there's constant change in the state, and we are seeing clearly two lanes emerge in the polls, elizabeth warren and bernie sanders fall into the progressive lane, pete buttigieg, joe biden, amy klobuchar, more of the mod raer, and i have spoken to voters that are excited about the top four, they think any of the candidates could be better than donald trump. they're constantly choosing between whether they make a statement or as one voter put it to me, if she makes a statement or if she's pragmatic. and when she makes a statement, that's when she deciding to caucus for bernie sanders and elizabeth warren and the pragmatic choice would be on the moderate side. >> we'll have to see if this is a bell weather for the rest of the election. maura barrett on the phone. >> getting a taste of the iowa weather. let's get back to the iran

crisises and the new questions being raised by "the washington post" about president trump's claims that four embassies were under threat of imminent attack from iran. officials telling "the post" that they were only aware of vague intelligence about a plot against the embassy in baghdad and the information did not suggest a fully formed plot. here's what the president said last night. >> a large scale attacks planned for other embassies and if those were planned, why can't we reveal that to the american people? wouldn't that help your case? >> i can reveal that i believe it would have been four embassies and i think that probably baghdad already started but i think it would have been four embassies, could have been military bases, could have been a lot of other things too but it was imminent, and then all of a sudden he was gone. >> joining us right now is john holtwanger, a senior politics reporter with "business insider"

welcome, good to see you with us. what are you hearing from your sources about the basis for the attack. >> this is trump trying to avoid benghazi, he spilled the beans saying this was the anti-benghazi, so the images of fires, and violent protests at the u.s. embassy in baghdad in the days leading up to the soleimani strike really pushed trump over the edge because he remembered all of the backlash that obama got over benghazi and the fact that this carried through on to 2016 with clinton, you know, beyond the e-mails discussions, benghazi kept coming up so yes, this was entirely about avoiding another benghazi, and the optics of seeing those violent protests at the u.s. embassy in baghdad. trump is always, you know, thinking about what's this going to look like on tv in the next 12 to 24 hours. >> why not get your act together, get your story

together, being this is the fifth or 6th excuse, why they took out the top iranian general. are you hearing at all that u.s. embassies joe embassies overseas, including the one in baghdad are under imminent danger of attack. >> i have seen no evidence to support this assertion. trump did not provide any specific evidence, you just mentioned this "washington post" report, the report stated that the embassy had not received an alert that would be commiserate of that level of threat. >> he wrote in the piece, the u.s. attempted to kill another iranian leader in yemen on the same day that soleimani was killed. was this operation much larger than the administration actually suggested? >> so officials have suggested that it wasn't part of a broader es ka la toir operation, it's hard to say, i reached out to the pentagon about this, this is a region where there are, you know, active terrorist forces but we don't confirm or deny

alleged operations so we're still getting details on that. it's really unclear. >> it's only been about eight days, the excuses and details keep coming out. john haltwanger, thank you. the key details we need. the president versus his predecessor, how trump's foreign policy might be about keeping score. and the royal rift, what happened behind the scenes before harry and meghan's bomb shell announcement, where is meghan now, where's archie. >> where's anyone. >> where is anybody? new reaction from the british air waves coming up. the british air waves coming up. when you shop with wayfair, you spend less and get way more. so you can bring your vision to life and save in more ways than one.

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new this morning, some prominent voices weighing in on the iran developments, former secretary of state john kerry writes in the "new york times" quote diplomacy was working until trump abandoned it, adding that the president put us on a path toward conflict and turmoil with iran. meanwhile in a column in the "washington post," former deputy fbi director andrew mccabe says quote if you think iran is done retaliating, think again. he writes u.s. intelligence and law enforcement officials would be well advised to remember that iran's most provocative actions have often been asymmetrical

tri attacks. >> we are reading this op-ed which is pretty interesting, one of the so called hawks you might say in the senate, it's called "a case for killing qassem soleimani" written by tom cotton, the republican senator from oklahoma, and he says that the strike was justified and legally sound. the senator also pointing out those who accept the constitutionality of the war powers act should recall that congress in 2001 and 2002, the authorization for use of military force very much remained in effect and clearly covered the soleimani operation. this will be a relief, by the way, to the obama administration which ordered hundreds of drone strikes using such illegal rational. cotton of course from arkansas. in a new piece, nbc contributor ned price says the iran attacks are the result of trump's foreign policy of trying to beat obama. we have heard that narrative a lot lately, and the former

special assistant to president obama on national security rights, trump by placing his personal interests and grievances above national security has made many grave strategic errors. >> a world news editor with buzz feed news, haze, thank you for this. i want to talk about all of this. is obama sort of like in that man's head. >> he's always in his head, and we have known this. we have known this, but why specifically obama. >> a lot of the policies that the president, specifically he calls out obama. >> a couple of reasons, one, it plays well to his base to yell about obama. that's how trump made his name in politics when he finally decided i'm actually going to do this thing, i'm going to dip my toe in republican politics, he made his name by going hard at obama. he knows he was a popular president when he left. he knows that to draw the maximum distinction between himself and the former president

is the clearest way to show that he is different. he's ran on being someone who you have never seen in washington, and we have definitely gotten that so far. >> i want to go back to the first op-ed we talked about with john kerry, and him talking about the fact that trump is basically blowing up this diplomacy, that he could have had a path for. if we went back to the 2015 nuclear deal if trump was able to undo it, do you think we'd still be on this same path? >> that's a really interesting question because there's been a lot of talk since he pulled out of the deal that basically if the iranians came up to president trump and said, so here's this deal that you completely have convinced us about and it's the exact same deal that the president would probably be in favor of it. >> because it's his. >> because it's his now. but i think that if we were still in this deal, we would not be in this current situation but it's those years in between where we've had these flare ups between the u.s. and iran that i think have ground down the chance for us to be able to have

sol solid diplomacy with teheran at this point. >> and senator tom cotton as i mentioned from arkansas says the authorization for use of military force, i saw you shaking your head when i was mentioning it. you know what he said. >> i know what he said. >> in that op-ed, and why were you shaking your head? >> because he's completely misleading on the facts of the case. a 2001 autosahorization for use military force was against al qaeda. unless they are hiding something from us, general qassem soleimani was not a member of al qaeda. the obama administration used the 2001 authorization for a lot of things, but it was in terms of terrorist organizations in kenya, and others affiliated with al qaeda. the 2003 for military frs was t prevent any threat from iraq. that is not the case for an iranian general. for cotton to put those in an

op-ed is misleading, at best, i would say. >> there's been a connection made between the strike and what's happening back home with impeachment stuff. there was a new report from the "wall street journal" on the u.s. strike. they say quote mr. trump after the strike told associates that he was under pressure to deal with general soleimani from gop senators that he views as important supporters in his upcoming impeachment trial in the senate, associates said. what do you make of all of this, and if that's true, you know, has trump, this is a silly question to ask but has trump crossed a line here? >> i do believe that, yes, he has crossed a line here because i think that for him, i think that's really fascinating, by the way, the piece, the nugget was buried deep in the "wall street journal" article that trump is surrounded by yes men who did not debate heavily his decision to kill soleimani, but if true, the idea that republican senators, that there was a consideration in trump's mind to take this act that has an impact on u.s. national

security, that could possibly further threaten american lives. >> and kill international lives in general. we've seen it already happen. >> and we have had the backlash in terms of the plane that was sadly downed in iran. in order to be acquitted i need to keep the senators on my good side and exchange foreign policy for that, that's really troubling. i would love to know who was in his ear. we know that lindsey graham was in mar-a-lago with president trump in the days beforehand and has been a proponent for striking iran for years now. that could be one. >> we don't know who was in his ear, but we know who was in his head, and probably obama constantly there. >> constantly. let's get over to lindsay with a check on what's trending. >> we have trending stories we're tracking around the world. jane fonda held her final fried protest on the steps of capitol hill.

for the past 14 weeks she organized a weekly climate strike inspired by greta thunberg. she has been arrested numerous time, and martin sheen and juaquin phoenix were the latest names to be detained by police. the supreme court in brazil has ov overturned a ban on a netflix come comedy showing jesus christ as gay. a judge ruled against the movie on wednesday claiming it hurt the honor of millions of catholics but one day later, the supreme court ruled in favor of netflix and free speech rights. in case you were wondering, there is a canadian family feud, a total delight. take a listen to one con t contestant's hilariously wrong answer. >> name pop eye's favorite food. >> chicken. >> oh, my god.

>> show me chicken. >> spinach, jerry. >> show me spinach. >> spinach. yeah. >> so very funny for all of us, but finger family is probably like you just cost us 10 grand. the most memable moment was like chicken. >> she was like, yeah, got it. my favorite back here in the states was pedro martinez years ago, they asked tell me something that rhymes with yummy, and he goes my yummy. steve harvey just walked away. >> you got one shot. >> yeah, one shot. >> here in america, it probably would be chicken, the answer probably would be. she can come join us here. pop eye's chicken. why jillian's comments about lizzo and body image have started a fire storm, and how

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we're back with london, and that soap opera, what's been the most turbulent weeks in the british royal family in decades. the british tabloids suggesting the queen may not cut meghan and harry off financially, but everyone seems to have an opinion about it. here's reaction from the bbc. >> this probably wouldn't have happened if there hadn't been such negative coverage from the

british media. >> nobody has told them explicitly what is and is not expected of them. they deserve sympathy but prince charles, william and the queen deserve sympathy in all of this, but i hope they'll keep talking. >> this is a matter for the royal family, and i hope we end up in a position where the royal family get a result that's good for them, and also good for the country because one of the things we have seen throughout the history of our country is that the royal family has evolved over the centuries and over the generations to reflect the country as it is at that given time. >> joining us now nbc's catie beck. she's following this whole story from london. we know meghan markle has returned to canada to be with baby archie. harry is in the uk working out the plan. what is going on here. we can't even follow the latest updates. >> there is a lot of information coming out of here, and what we do know is that the royal family is right now in sort of a crisis mode. for the past two days they have been having meetings behind

closed doors to try and determine exactly what this new role would look like for meghan and harry. will the dutch and duchess keep their titles, will they keep their home in windsor, will they keep their royal protection. these are questions that need to be answered and there is a sense of urgency to answer them quickly and try to get to resolution. the longer this drags out, obviously the interest is getting higher and higher, the tension, the intensity, there is a sense of urgency, there is a sense that the royal household is hunkering down, hammering out the details to decide what will this independent role look like, the progressive path this couple is trying to carve. how do we go about doing this, and what will those details be. we don't know know. we have been told it could be as soon as the next few days to get the answers. >> i have so many questions, but really quickly on what happened, the road map of all of this. they showed up in london for a day, made the announcement the next day. >> dropped a bomb.

>> left archie back in canada. were they planning to come back over, say peace out and go back to canada for good? seems weird that they left archie back home. >> yeah, there's a lot of speculation about, you know, how things fell out here, and of course one thing that harry really despises the most is being beat by the press. there was a story that was, you know, emerging that this was going to come out in the press, and that he wanted to get ahead of it, get ahead of that story, and put it out there quickly. so that could have been what prompted the sudden release of this information. it was obviously a bomb shell that has sort of had a ripple effect. a lot of people sort of, you know, taking issue with the fact that the queen wasn't properly notified ahead of time, and that this could have been handled differently. the decision on whether or not they, you know, had a separate life in north america and whether or not they carve out this progressive path, the feelings on that are mixed but by and large, i think folks really do take some issue with the fact of how this news was

delivered, and the fact that the queen wasn't brought into it. certainly here in the uk people feel a sense that she should have been told out of respect for her. >> well, our queen, we are hearing, was brought into it. >> beyonce? >> how on earth is oprah involved in all of this. >> beyonce's the princess. >> wait, okay. >> none of the rumors, among the rumors that were swirling was that, you know, oprah had some significant influence in this decision to step back and to carve out a life in north america. since that time, oprah has put out a statement denying that she had any part of that decision saying that she has, you know, a lot of affection for this couple and she supports their decisions but they did not need her help in making this choice. she says she didn't have any part of that, and supports the couple moving forward. >> oprah is like my name is bennett and i ain't in it, that's your stuff, you deal with it. catie beck, thank you, see you soon. bonnie backlash, jillian

michaels controversial remark about lizzo and how it's leading to a conversation and a larger one about body image and health, plus, how lizzo is firing back. k

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jillian michaels is the latest to weigh in, you might say as such. and getting plenty of heat for comments that she made about grammy-nominated singer lizzo's body. here's a clip actually. >> why are we celebrating her body? why does it matter? that's what i'm saying. like, why aren't we celebrating her music? cause it isn't gonna be awesome if she gets diabetes. there's never a moment where i'm like and i'm so glad that she's overweight. like, why do we -- why do i even care? >> she went there. >> she did. she had her truth serum this morning. joining us now, host of entertainment weekly the show. lola, welcome in. >> thank you for having me. >> sips cup. >> don't -- don't spill that tea. >> you start this discussion. what do you want to talk about? >> exactly. so it received a lot of reaction. we had dr. boyce watkins some weeks ago who brought it out and

said lizzo's popular because there is an obesity epidemic in america. and rather than encouraging people to do better, we simply are lying to them telling them they're just fine the way they are. it's a legit conversation that should be had. >> the interesting point he was making and jillian michaels was making is there is a correlation between being unhealthy and being overweight. doctors have proven that to be the case on most occasions. but in this case in particular, lizzo, if you've ever seen her perform, you know that that woman is the epitome of cardiovascular strength. >> it's like going to barry's boot camp. >> she plays the flute. she drops it like it's hot. she sings live. she puts on a show that is a nearly two hours long. she does not stop moving. so if anyone is the face of being a larger woman but still appearing to be healthy, she's athletic on that stage. this is not the person that you should be coming for. and lizzo is not having it. >> and neither is her whole team online, i'm sure. now, where is the comment that is looking at the opposite?

the women out there who do not have a voice to stand on when it comes to lizzo's voice and yet they're popular because of their weight or lack thereof. >> well, it's interesting because a lot of people on twitter in particular have said there are a lot of underweight women who are unhealthy on the inside. just because they appear to look healthy doesn't mean that they are indeed healthy. and so their discussions and their arguments are mind your own business unless you're a doctor and you have direct knowledge of these people's internals. until then, leave it alone. >> i like that. leave it alone. >> lindsey, i mean, it is -- as a guy in this conversation, i actually recommend actually am not going to say much. >> why not? >> i want to get your take on all this. i'm not going to talk about black women her or weight. so go ahead. >> well, it seems like most people are on lizzo's side. again, like lola said, don't weigh in unless you are a doctor. so where does this go from here?

did jillian michaels totally step in it? can she recover from this? a lot of people saying she has a dog in this fight because she represents the fitness industry. she makes money on basically people having a negative body image. so where does this go now? >> well, interestingly enough, lizzo shut it down. when dr. boyce watkins came up with that comment a few weeks ago, this is what she had to say. he was suggesting that she's popular because she's big. she says i'm popular because i write good songs and i'm talented and perform high-energy, 90-minute shows filled with love. >> that -- >> that's why she's popular. >> -- ladies and gentlemen, is what you called she came with the receipts. >> she came with the receipts. she dropped the mic. and right now, she's in australia performing. she is volunteering there as well helping with the wildfires. she is a superhero. >> thank you so much. the debate will continue. appreciate you and your time on all of this. we have another hour coming up and the big story out of the middle east this morning. iran calls it a dangerous

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three big stories we're following for you this morning on msnbc live. a stunning admission from the iranian government about that downed ukrainian passenger plane. but there is a caveat. >> and it's go