tv The 11th Hour MSNBC February 17, 2022 11:00pm-12:00am PST
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biden get tonight's last word. the 11th hour starts now. >> good evening once again, i am chris jansing. day 394 of the -- . they lost their bid to avoid answering questions under noth about the business practices. later today, a new york judge ruled that laetitia james can question them as a part of the civil investigation. in a part of an eight -- aging subpoenas. writing quote, a stating attorney general commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of these principles under her namesake. she has the right to do so. they must be deposed within the next few weeks. his lawyer responded with a statement that read in part,
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yet another politically motivated witch hunt, they had no point in engaging -- they said they will likely appeal. in a statement, the new york attorney general said, today justice prevailed. no one is above the law. meanwhile, we are fighting the crisis on the border. russia has no point in -- the call with transatlantic leaders tomorrow with russian troop buildup. earlier today the president offered this about the standoff >> number one, number two, there are reason to begin that they are engaged in a thoughtful flag operation. everything that we have is they are prepared to -- loved my senses this will happen in the next couple days.
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>> nbc correspondent rachel angle is on the ground tonight. >> the stage is set for combat. there is a change on the front line. it could trigger a war. ukrainian police and military said russian-backed separatists attacked ukraine towns and -- that. police released a video of them being here. tua provoked a ukrainian military to respond with force. in their mind giving russia an excuse to send its troops across the border. >> with all of that is a backdrop, secretary of state, anthony blinken, made an unscheduled stop at the un today, on his way to meet with u.s. allies in germany. he laid out, in stark and chilling detail, how russia might create a pretext for an attack. >> it could be a fabricated so-called terrorist bombing
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inside russia. the invent of the discovery of a mass grave. a stage drone strike against civilian. even a real attack using chemical weapons. russia may describe this offense as ethnic cleansing or genocide, making a mockery of the concept that we in this chamber do not take lightly. russian missiles and bombs will drop across ukraine. communications will be jammed. cyberattacks will shut down key ukrainian institutions. after that, russian tanks and soldiers will advance on key targets that have already been identified and wrapped up in detail plans. >> the state department said tonight that the blinken will meet with sergei -- lavrov in europe next week, provided there's no russian invasion. this comes as the u.s. says russia expelled its second most senior official of the american embassy in moscow, gorman. the state department calls it
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unprovoked and escalatory step. on the domestic front, the senate passed a short term funding bill, avoiding a government shutdown that would've taken effect friday night. that bill keeps the government running through march 11th. over in the, house republican leader, kevin mccarthy, has endorsed harriet pagan meant, the trump backed candidate that is challenging liz cheney in the primary. cheney of course, is vice chair of the january six committee, and was removed from the number three post-gop leadership last year after voting for trump's impeachment, and is being openly critical of the president. with that, let's bring in our, the former president, with, that let's bring in our leading guest, jackie elementary, a political reporter for the washington post. author of the warning newspaper, -- the early 202, she was a law clerk for my aura on -- before the nomination to the supreme court.
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michael courtly is the correspondent at the new york times. good evening. thanks for being here, all of you. melissa, we read through some of the judges ruling on trump, in my non-legal term, it was pretty brutal. from copious evidence of possible financial fraud to george orwell, and alternative facts, what stands out to you after reading? >> while, again, this was a fiery proceeding in open court today. it was matched by a fiery writing by the judge. what's seems clear here is that the judge made clear that the attorney general of new york has the right to subpoena these witnesses given the evidence that she has currently a mass in her civil investigation. the trump had wanted to sit in an open grand jury proceeding, likely because under new york law, grand jury proceedings and those who participate in them as witnesses, are offered immunity for certain acts that were revealed to the grand jury. of course, a civil death deposition doesn't do that.
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what it does do is, perhaps, provide evidence that could later be used, possibly, by the manhattan da if he were to use some of that evidence in his criminal investigation. so, the real issue going forward is what's to do now. do you do these subpoenas, answer questions, do you take the fifth amendment? use your right against self incrimination in these particular terms, as eric trump did earlier last year. so, lots in this particular writing from the court. lots of different pathways for the trumps to take forward. none of them particularly good. >> yeah, melissa. reportedly, trump took the fifth 500 times. as you said, we will see if they do. that of course, it all depends on any appeals. if there are pills, do you think they have a chance of being successful? >> it is unclear. this was a pretty clear writing. the judge seemed to be on solid ground. obviously, anything could happen.
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it would be very unlikely. i think what we're going to see is a choice between the lesser of two evils, sitting for this deposition, possibly feeding the fifth and curlier-ing yourself or criminal liability. possibly open yourself to civil liability. anything he refused to say when you plead the fifth is your refusing to say things. that can be used adversely against you in a civil case. there are not a lot of great options here. so, it looks like this is going to be another stunning defeat in a state drake of went losing defeats. >> the white house has been leaning hard on diplomacy in this ukraine crisis. but then, things really ratchet up today. blinken makes this emergency trip to the un. what do we know about how that came about? how significant do you see it in terms of [inaudible] of things that have happened last 24 hours or so? >> yeah. thanks, chris.
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that is a little dramatic. secretary blinken made, basically, last-minute decision to attend a united nations security council session, which the russians had called. so, they wound up unwittingly given blinken a platform. the russians wanted to talk about the long running conflict with in ukraine, which is separate from this threat of russian invasion that could come from outside of ukraine. since 2004, the russians have been fomenting a separatist you rebellion in ukraine. russians wanted to talk about that. they're looking for leverage in ongoing negotiations to resolve that. some people think this troop buildup is actually all a power play to get the russians more leverage in those talks. but secretary blinken, basically, crash that little party and said, we need to be talking about the bigger issue here. this russian intimidation of ukraine, with a massive military buildup. it is part of what has been an interesting, you know, public offensive by the biden administration, to take the initiative, try to put pressure on vladimir putin, who has the strategic leverage here. ukraine's his own backyard. he has enormous military forces
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on its border. to try and use, essentially, public communications by calling out putin saying, we know you're going to do. our intelligence is exposing your plan, falsifying operations. in this case, going to united nations and putting the pressure on it saying, you are threatening world peace. united nations should be treating this is a grave emergency. the stakes here are high. what are you going to do? i thought most interesting was he called on the russians to, basically, say de-escalating, just come out and say. it declared that you are not going to invade ukraine and start pulling your troops back, right now, once and for all. let's settle. this russians, obviously, didn't take him up on that offer. i have to say, it is not looking good right now. >> yeah. i want to play for you, michael, what we heard today from the u.s. ambassador to the un on this network, a little earlier. >> i also made the point over and over again to our colleagues that this is not a cold war, confrontation between
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russia and the united states. this is about the un charter. it is about the values that we all have signed on to to be members of the security council. and that they couldn't sit on the sidelines on this. they can't take a middle road. >> i'm curious to see what you think of her comments. clearly, we heard from the president. he talked in very straightforward terms about the real implications, the economic implications, the implications for world energy supplies. there are also a bigger picture that the u.s. wants to get out. both russia and the rest of the world. >> that's right. part of what struck me about those comments... i think it was a reminder, again, i mentioned this leverage and balance where vladimir putin has the military forces right there on ukraine's border. it is right next to his country. the united states is far away. what we have is -- soft power we have economic
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power. we have the power to persuade around the world. we have an extraordinary alliance system. russia really lacks most of those things. so, i think with the biden administration is trying to do is leverage that. leverages alliances, leverages economic power. basically trying to rally against vladimir putin, isolate him. stay put, you don't have as many friends as we. do you don't have the economic leverage that we do. sure, you have a lot of tanks and soldiers on ukraine's borders. this is how we can really punish. you right now, it is a high stakes game where both sides are trying to figure out who has the advantage. i think the u.s. is doing a pretty good job of working its own. >> let's talk domestic, jacqui. liz cheney, she has not just been a part of the committee. she has been leading a charge on the january six committee. she has been very visible, very vocal, which, of course, has been made her a target of republicans. how big of a deal is it that mccarthy's back his her primary opponent? >> yeah, chris. i think it is a big deal in the sense that it shows the lasting
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power that former president has on the party. that being said, you know, liz cheney has been raking in a lot of money on her own accord and has used the committees platform, select committee investigating january six insurrection, as her jumping off point to, kind of, separate herself and continue to have her own fund raising mechanism that goes outside of the party. i think, though, kevin mccarthy doesn't necessarily have a lot of options here as the former president does control, really, the fund raising a grassroots apparatus and ability to raise a lot of money. i think that this was, potentially, and habitable, ultimately, backing cheney's challenger. >> we talked a lot in the last couple days about you and your colleagues and that incredible, exhaustive account of text messages involving mark meadows. if we look at it in total, it really is all around january six.
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what did that examination tell you about the committee's effort to keep biden... learning about keeping biden out of the white house. does it give us any clues about what else we might see in those public hearings? >> yeah. i think the text messages, while a lot of this reporting is not necessarily new, these text messages, sort of, trickled out of the committee i bread crumbs that the public has been watching. various records requested, subpoenas, a lot of comments made by the select committee. i think in their totality, when you put them all together, they do help paint the picture of what exactly the committee is doing. the text messages that mark meadows turned over, about 4000 of them, is actually turning out to be some of the most important tools that the committee has a their disposal right now to really understand and be able to see the death of the efforts that were taking
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place and the multiple layers that were taking place to overturn the results of the election. i think it is also been really helpful to capture moments that would have otherwise been lost to history. these are ephemeral, very candid snapshots of time. people really showing their personal relationships with mark meadows, memorialization of that fox news, white house direct pipeline. and, also, showing the chasm of the public statements that you've heard gop lawmakers and fox news host that are trying to whitewash what happened on january 6th. in those messages, they were concerned in the lead up up to the insurrection. >> we do continue miss listened to learn new things from the committee for what they have. they seem to be very strategically making some of their work public. how much does this committee work in your view, what we know so far, overlap with the doj criminal investigation?
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>> i think there is going to be more and more overlap as more comes up. i think we have to think about the committee's work not simply about trying to uncover for congress what happened on that day and sort of linking all of this to the broader effort to overturn a validly conducted election, but to make the public aware of this. so i think it's an important part of the committee's work here, public education, and linking a lot of these dots that seem to be quite disparate and disconnected. but a lot of this larger hold tells the story, what we've been seeing is the connecting of those dots. bringing them together, bringing in the false electors plot, bringing in the violence at the capitol, showing us that this is part of a very joint and coordinated effort, not simply the disparate efforts that somehow culminated into
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something on january six, but something that was quite coordinated, planned, and potentially dangerous. >> well melissa murray, jacqueline alemany, and michael crowley, thank you. coming, up we will talk to admiral james to free does, the one -- about the state of the alliance and the tensions on ukraine border. and later, millions of us just witnessed one of the most heart wrenching events ever seen in an olympic competition. we have a former olympic skater and the expert who calls himself the cheapskate nerd standing by. the 11th hour just getting underway on a thursday night.
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inch closer to the border. we see them flying more combat and support aircraft. we see them sharpen their radius in the black sea. i was a soldier myself not that long ago. and i know firsthand that you do not do the sort of things for no reason. and you certainly don't do them if you are getting ready to pack up and go home. >> rapidly escalating concerns tonight of a russian invasion, with an increase in shelling in eastern ukraine. on top of that, ongoing movement of troops and equipment. the warning coming from defense secretary lloyd austin. but he also added an assurance to residents in brussels today that the nato alliance a stronger than ever. >> i joined the united states army in the middle of a cold war. and i have served and fought alongside nato allies for the better part of my adult life.
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but i can honestly say that i have never seen the alliance more relevant and more united, and more resolute, then i see it today. >> back with us tonight, admiral james stravridis, he's a 30 year navy veteran who retired with four stars on his shoulders. he's the former head of the u. s. summit command and former supreme commander of nato. he also coauthored a recent book, 2034, a novel of the next world war. it is also good to see you and we just heard the defensive retiree say, you don't do these things for now reason. but, is it out of the realm of possibility that vladimir putin is waiting until the very last minute to make a decision, or, do you think he is creating a clear pretext for an invasion and is committed to an attack? >> chris, i think both are true. in other words, he is in fact not quite certain there are a couple other key indicators
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that could tell us that he has actually closed the switch and is moving forward, but, your correct. he has put in place everything he needs to do, short of throwing a couple of key switches -- >> what are those communicators you are looking for? >> three in particular, chris. i would watch for an increase cyberattack. we've seen the beginning of that about a week ago, almost probing into the major command control notes of the ukrainian military and government. number two is, watch the sea. he is moving his naval forces around to the south and behind the front lines, he can do that, because of the qualities of water. there is no barrier out there in the black sea. he's moved around behind. and third, most importantly, and i think the clip from lloyd austin was important, but the critical one came from tony blinken, our secretary of
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state. these are both close friends of mine at the united nations where he talks about the false flag. when you see the russians begin to talk about, oh, there has been a chemical weapon attack, or, oh, a ship has suddenly sunk. or, oh, we know that the russian elements in the hunt skin the south are under attack. that false flag, that fake attack, that is the key indicator. those are the three things i would watch for, chris. >> let me just ask you something about something that just happen. russia said that the ukrainian separatists were -- responsible for the shelling has been described as long distance, as synchronized. it's a move secretary austin called troubling. how do you view it? >> i think it is beyond troubling. it is a precursor, a harbinger of how horrible this could be. these were kindergartners, and they are caught in the vice of war.
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and, let me tell you, this is just a flicker of how bad it can be if 150,000 russians collide with 250,000 ukrainian soldiers. this is a massive pair of armies lined up against each other. and we need to remember, there are civilians, including children, like these kindergartners, who are between the two pincers of these pliers that could come together. >> if you had, vladimir putin's here, what do you agree with secretary austin with how nato is right now, that they have been strengthened by russian provocations, or is that more messaging to putin? >> i don't think it's just messaging, chris. in fact, like floyd, i have spent my life in and around nato, including, even beyond web lloyd mentioned, i spent four years inside nato as supreme commander of the alliance. i am here to tell you, the
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alliance will stand together in this. and this is the great irony of what is unfolding in front of us. putin is trying to push nato away from nato's borders, but what he is doing is encouraging nato to move closer and closer. encouraging non-nato but highly capable nations, like sweden and finland, to seriously consider joining nato. at the end of the, day if he crosses this border, it's going to do nothing but galvanize nato moved forces closer to the border, and enough conflict every serious objective he has. >> putin has a long list of perceived grievances as you. no the new york times reports on one of them. he says u.s. military bases in poland and romania are actually at the center of would putin sees as a threat posed by nato. this is with the times reports, quote, the polish base, the heart of which is a system known as the ageist ashore, contained sophisticated radar is capable of tracking hostile missiles and guiding
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interceptor rockets to knock them out of the sky. it is also equipped with missile launchers known as mcas 40 ones, which the russians where we can easily be repurposed to fire offensive missiles like tomahawks. what do you think about this report and is that at the heart of russian concerns? >> i think it is a significant concern on the part of russia, but it is an unfounded concern. chris, this is something which i a deeply concerned by. aegis ashore, these are naval systems on each will ships that are commanded c which are brought ashore and embedded in the ground in poland, and in romania. here's the thing to understand, those systems are designed, not to go against russia, but to go against iranian lawn range ballistic missiles. and i can show you, in an hour and a half, exactly how the physics of that work. but those systems, as they can
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figure, are zero threat to russian military systems. here's what we should do. we should open them up, create transparency, they are a bit mysterious to the russians. this is something over which we could have a dialogue to include allowing russians to come in inspect the systems and ascertain for themselves why they are no threat to russians strategic systems. >> admiral james stravridis, always a pleasure so and so instructive to hear you. thank you so much for being with us tonight. >> thanks a lot, chris. >> coming, up don calloway and susan del percio on what's at stake for the president as he takes his economic message to ohio and prepares for his date of the union address. when the 11th hour continues. the 11th hour continues
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>> if i were joe biden for the state of the union, i would be real candid and say, look, this has been the toughest two years in my lifetime for this country. if you look at the number of people have died, who have gotten sick, economic job losses, people who couldn't fly to see a new grandchild that was born in another state, people who can go to a funeral of a friend because there wasn't a funeral, this has been absolutely brutal, unlike any time during my lifetime. i think you should say that,
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but he should say, look, there is an american combat coming on. >> according to new reporting from nbc news, the state of the union address, 12 nights from now, we'll try to draw on wet many see as joe biden's greatest strength, empathy. quote, the still evolving plan, according to administration officials, is for biden to stress that he understands the economic pain many americans are experiencing, particularly because of inflation, in an attempt to balance out his recent efforts to get credit for policy prescriptions the white house believes have been success. with us, don calloway, political strategist and susan susan del percio, nbc political analyst and a political strategist. good to see you both. don, the president was in the greatest state, my home state of ohio today, selling his legislative successes, which is the bipartisan infrastructure bill. here he is. >> somewhere along the way, we took our eye off the ball. we took our eye off the. ball infrastructure used to be named rated number one in the
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world. today, according to the world economic forum, we ranked number 13 in the world. china and the rest of the world is catching up in passing us. but, now with infrastructure law, we are reinvesting in our economy and in our people. reclaiming our leadership and creating millions of jobs by building a better america. that is what we are going to. do >> done, is that the court he needs to strike, telling voters, look, i understand the way the status quo failed you, but then explained what he's doing to fix it? >> absolutely. he is striking the right note. i wish he had done it several months ago, he and the vice president could've made it more visible, both by selling the infrastructure bill, and the build back better, but i'm glad to see him on here now, and it's never too late to start. playing to his greatest range which is getting out the people engaging with people. although, there's quite a lift, here and it's an inside lift as well as well as the outside. left he has to give those local councils, and locals mares, local councils -- most importantly, people on the
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ground, authorities who make local decisions. he has to educate them about how to work with his agencies to drawdown this money for important progressive infrastructure projects, to work with the public and private sector. there is a substantial external left and that starts on the state of the union. and it's probably micro testing that now in these various off the beaten path marks like ohio. he has to go out there and sell his plan about not only with the bipartisan infrastructure package did, but the trans formative potential it has. before most importantly, he has to explain what the obstacles are. and that's the opportunity for him to paint the republican party as an obstruction party that is standing in the face of real progress that congress is already authorized in what's possible with this bipartisan infrastructure bill. >> i am going to ignore the
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snarky comment, but i'm gonna pick up on something you said, that is important. this idea of connecting locally. susan, the president got specific in his remarks in ohio. naming local landmarks, projects, laying out the exact number, type of jobs to expect as a result of bipartisan infrastructure. is that to the right tone? is that the right message that he should take into the state of the union? or should he also take some of senator cain's advice? when he sat on the road, bringing up the details of what the state he's in and saying, this is what we have done, and having members of congress with him for reelection, that is a home run. i disagree with senator cain, respectfully, as far as what the president needs to do in the state of the union. he does not need to focus on the bad parts of the last two
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years. he needs to focus on what they have overcome. and, yes, we've had trials and tribulations, but we are looking forward. and here -- this is the important part, chris. this is what we are going to do about it. and i agree with john about shaming the republicans in certain places. it doesn't have to be -- you know, this isn't a policy speech. so he can say, i plan on getting insulate, kept at $35 per doze. full stop. if republicans won't join me, we will figure out a workaround. he might not figure out a workaround, but it's a great piece of rhetoric to use. and that's what he has to keep talking about, it's what he's going to deliver. but confidence issue. not look back and look forward and give the public something to hold on to. some thing to grab onto. >> that's a democratic side of this, who's in. i would ask you about the republican party. which is, frankly, tearing itself apart across the
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country. they are facing challenges. today, we learned that kevin mccarthy is endorsing one of chinese apartments. could this fighting hurt these candidates with independence in the general election? are they just tired of this? >> absolutely, chris. as a matter of fact, i think the democrats best hope to go against history and keep the congress is to actually have trump candidates win in these moderate districts. you have extremists, and they are not going to do well when
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they have to appeal to center-right voters who don't want to hear about 2020 and don't want to hear about donald trump. so, these are brutal for a decent principled republicans. i look at those teeny now, i think that's a little bit different. i think she is going to make it out okay. >> rumbles out of time for the segment, but do you see that that is some hope for democrats, frankly? that a lot of these trump acolytes get in and replace the incumbents who are often known names, known quantities? >> absolutely. and it's much like what we saw in 2010, where some of the most aboard republicans did really catch fire for the general election because, by that, time you had larger corporate packs or institutional donors who are simply not willing to go there, and the democrat -- remember the primary process is brutal, parties either, only their young, and -- >> we got a freeze on don calloway. but i'm glad we got that final thoughts. it is true. primaries are brutal. don calloway, tom susan del percio, thanks to both of you. coming up, taking the agony of defeat to a whole new and controversial and heartbreaking level. when the 11th hour continues.
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finale in a scandal that is consumed olympic skating. 15 year old russian figure skater, a heavy favorite to win gold in the competition, didn't even make it to the podium, after an uncharacteristically performance. even as or teammates took gold and silver, the anguish in turmoil was clearly evident on all of the skaters. as washington post columnist put it, failure and misery are more prevalent in sports than we care to acknowledge, but this was another level. this was torture on ice consider it happen to a teenager, when experiencing vilification for possible doping plot, that she couldn't have possibly devised on our own. her agonizing for a minute free
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skate stands is the most abusive moment in sports history. we are places welcome to the broadcast, former figure skater, actually wagner, 2014 olympic bronze medalist, and a host of olympic ice on peacock. jackie wong, digital skating analyst -- and the host of the podcast, i stop. i'm so glad to have you both here. i'm so -- i don't know, i'm overwhelmed about what we have to talk about. ashley, let me read you what the new york times had happened, after her performance. her coach greeted her, not with a hug, but a stern look. why did you let it go -- in a scene broadcasted on live television. why did you stop fighting, explain it to me. why? you let it go after that axle, believe it did not rule apply. you know the press, or just competing in the olympics, let alone, at such a young age, with everything that was swirling around her. i found watching the post skate
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scene excruciating, and i wonder, as a skater, what went through your mind. >> i mean it was heartbreaking, the argument made for her to be able to say was that it would cause irreparable hall if she was not allowed to compete at the games. you can't help but watch that and wonder how they can see how that was wet in reputable harm was to her. she was only considered as an athlete, only considered as an metal opportunity, never once as a person. this was such a damaging moment in her career, so many adults failed her along the way, and adult had to open the door for her to gain access to the banned substance and we just watched an athlete whose talent is so incredible but we will never really know just how talented she is. that is truly devastating and sad. i had such a visceral reaction
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watching that free skate stay. >> jacqui, walk us through how shocking for people who watch skidding once every four years, how shocking this was compared to what she's capable of doing. and the reaction by her teammates one of them looking sad, standing alone, holding a teddy bear, after winning a cold metal. >> it was surreal, bizarre, surreal, everything under the sun. i have been watching a lot of skating, covering a lot of skating, for the past ten, 20 years. it's nothing like what's happened here. but valieva came in as a heavy, heavy favorite. had she done everything that she was supposed to have done, she would've blown everybody out of the water, and this is just one of those things where we were in practice, we were
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watching her do everything, steely focused, everything was just right where she wanted to be. and then, she would skate off and it would hit her, that this was a media spectacle, that there's all this stuff that's on her mind, and that she would break down, in front of hundreds of cameras. you knew that she was, either going to be that focused person, who would just go out there and do exactly which he's always been doing, or you would get absolutely get 0% out of, her and she was going to completely fall apart and be vulnerable. that's what ended up happening. her teammates were -- i don't really know what was happening with her teammates. they were stunned, shocked. you just won an olympic gold medal, and you're sitting alone in the green room, with nobody celebrating with you -- or other teammate was on tv complaining about how she should've won the gold medal,
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and refusing to go on the medal stand. it was a lot it was something that was just out of this world. >> does this issue become a story, does this become something that we talk about when we talk about these olympics? or, could something change? who's going to protect these young girls? that is the question that i think we're all asking, or should be asking. these girls have been completely let down by a system that's prioritizing what they can do in the sport, and watching valieva on the ice, she should never have been on the ice. she should not have been competing, that positive test -- you know, so many athletes before her were not given the opportunity. to skate while they're going to the legislation, and understand the root of the. issue here she was, allowed to skate, and her team could've pulled from the event. this media circus was inevitable. her crumbling on the ice while
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the world was watching was inevitable. the pressure that she was under, was unfair. she was put in an impossible position. at the end of the day, who's protecting her? who's making sure that she's okay? i can only hope that this spurs on some kind of change, where coaching staff, teams are held accountable, because these are human beings. these are kids that are bringing you entertainment, but at what cost? and at what point is it a step too far? i would hope that people can watch this, and everyone i've spoken with has a feeling about this, you can watch it did not feel something. it has to be enough to spur some kind of change. this is a system that i've been a part of. i've been a competitive skater for 23 years, this is nothing new to me. i think, it's just being highlighted on an international stage, and, hopefully, people want to do something to change.
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it >> jacqui, you're there, so i can only imagine the feeling on the ground. you have to look at the olympic movement, then you have to understand, figure skating is the marquee event. the marquee event, right? there are people who are saying that this sport has lost its way, may be irreparably harmed. what's the conversation on the ground, because you're talking to all the people, who are in the middle of the sport, love the sport, have dedicated their lives to the sport? >> everybody is still in shock. it's just been a crazy week of -- two weeks of skating and of news. people have just been trying to figure out where to go next. figure skating is no stranger to scandals, we have a scandal every eight years at the olympics. this was the perfect storm, right?
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it was at the olympics, in the marquee event, with the woman skater, who was the absolute favorite. had this happen to somebody else, had this happen at a different time, there would not be a firestorm. so, as ashley said, this is the time to look at ourselves, as figure skating community, and figure out what it is that we're doing. what is the potential for age limits, and figuring out how to raise that and that conversation is going to be further explored. >> so many conversations we need to have. jackie wong, ashley wagner. thank you both. coming up, if it's feeling like 2016, there's a reason, even if most of it is not quite true.
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back into the political spotlight. today, as she endorsed and combat governor for full-time. she also called out a persistent and misleading right-wing narrative that wrongly accuses her campaign of spying on donald trump. nbc news correspondent highly jackson has more on what is the hind these renewed attacks. >> hello everybody! >> hillary clinton late today in new york. >> they're gonna be coming after me lately, in his yet did notice. >> referencing the unproven allegations from conservatives that her campaign spied on then president donald trump. >> it's funny, the more trouble trump gets into, the wilder the charges and conspiracy theories about me seem to get. >> it comes after new filing dropped from special counsel john durham who is investigating the origins of the russian investigation, pointed to the filing that something nefarious happened. >> they were spying on the sitting president of the united states. >> hillary clinton's campaign
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paid to spy on donald trump. >> the silence by most media is very revealing. >> but the filing does not back up the claim the clinton campaign paid to have president trump spied. on the whole thing started last week over the case of a cybersecurity lawyer with ties to the democratic party, michael system. and the motion says the tech executive gave suspend non public database communications between computer servers at the white house and to trump owned buildings in new york. describing the executive as exploiting his access to that white house data, to search for derogatory information on mr. trump. sustain, the filing suggests, shared exaggerated claims with the cia that trump associates were using russian made cell phones near the white house. and allegation the special counsel found no evidence of. but suspense attorneys counted that he knows the data collection ended even before former president trump took office. when barack obama was president. experts also tell nbc news the
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computer data itself is very limited. >> emails could've been read, text messages could've been red, they could have even seen the content that was on the screens. >> the court filing does not allege a crime related to hacking. it also doesn't say anyone was illegally spied on. and we see news, washington. >> and we're back with more of the 11th hour after a quick break.
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we continue to monitor the tense standoff with russia along the ukrainian border. that is our broadcast for this thursday night, with our thanks for being with us. on behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, goodnight. >> tonight on all in -- >> plans to manufacture a pretext for its attack. we don't know exactly the formal. >> a historic appeal from this familiar seat. >> i am here today, not to start a war, but to prevent one. >> tonight, can america's radical transparency keep russia from starting a war? then -- >> taking the fifth, i think it's disgraceful. >> donald trump, ivanka trump, and donald trump jr. are ordered to testify. today's wild court hearing and why the ruling has a huge ramifications for the civil and criminal investigations. plus the sad collapse of a maga wannabe and what the trump endorsement actually m
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