worker workers were heading into year three of this pandemic. we asked them how they thought the pandemic was going, how they think people have handled it and the impact of their own lives, would they have chosen this career again. >> rev, final thoughts. >> i'm thinking about how we get rid of this no-knock warrant after doing the funeral yesterday for this young man in minneapolis. i'll have ben crump on this weekend on "politics nation" to talk about no-knock law as well as george zimmerman's lawsuit against trayvon martin's parents has been thrown out as well as the federal civil rights trials of both the arbery case and the case of george floyd. so a lot to talk about this weekend. >> a lot. can't wait. thanks for watching this week. thank you, as always, for your patience. chris jansing picks up the coverage right now.

>> hi, there. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is friday, february 18th. we have got a lot to get to. we're following the ruling that dealt a massive blow to former president trump. what's next after a judge ordered him and two of his adult children to be questioned under oath by the new york attorney general. plus, in just one hour, sentencing for former minneapolis police officer kim potter will begin after she was convicted of manslaughter in the fatal shooting of donte wright. will it be prison or probation? we'll take you live outside the courthouse. also this morning, a fallout after young skater falls apart on the ice. how did it come to this? a 15-year-old russian skater collapsing under the pressure of sport and the olympics under a microscope this morning. and the critical question -- where were the adults who were supposed to protect these children? that's also ahead.

but we start this friday looking at what looks to be a crucial 72 hours for the crisis in ukraine. president biden said he expects the kremlin to launch an attack within the next few days, a pessimistic tone backed up by extensive intelligence and a message he'll no doubt communicate when he hosts a call from leaders in more than half a dozen countries as well as the european union and nato today. as we speak, vice president harris is in munich meeting with leaders from several nato countries as well as the president of ukraine. worth remembering, she was on the foreign relations committee in the senate. we have also lernled that secretary of state tony blinken will meet with russia's foreign minister next week if there's no invasion, all of this coming amid more realtime evidence on the ground that the situation could be building towards some sort of climax. international monitors have reported nearly 600 explosions, more than four times the number

they typically see. in addition, "the washington post" is now reporting that u.s. officials have intelligence that russia's claims of a military pullback were a deliberate ruse to mislead the west. in fact, we learned just this morning that russia intends to launch ballistic missiles as part of a massive military exercise set for tomorrow. exercises that putin will personally oversee. and breaking news within the past hour, one of the russian-backed separatist leaders in eastern ukraine has announced a civilian evacuation of the area. he says civilians will be sent across the border into russia for their own safety. i want to bring in nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel inside ukraine, chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell on the ground in munich and cora shacky, served the state department under president george w. bush. she is currently with the american enterprise institute. thanks for being here. richard, obviously the uptick in

shelling is disturbing. what can you tell us about not just that but this latest reporting on an evacuation? >> reporter: so, we are in the midst of a very tense situation and an information war that could potentially start a real war. but let's start from the outside in. so, we have the 150,000 russian troops on the borders of ukraine on three sides. starting tomorrow, russia will make it even more tense by hosting these or starting these nuclear readiness drills with vladimir putin personally overseeing the nuclear readiness exercises. and we'll see russia firing intercontinental missiles and cruise missiles without nuclear warheads. so the state is set for a potential conflict, but as we've seen in europe for decades, big wars can start with small wars. and inside ukraine, there is a

long-simmering conflict. it's been a low-grade war for the past eight years, and that is between ukrainian forces and russian-backed separatists. the russian-backed separatists, according to officials, around this time yesterday started a massive increase in their military activity. they started firing artillery, startled firing mortars, dozens of rounds in multiple locations onto ukrainian troops. and what the separatists have been saying is that they are the ones, in fact, under attack. they've been providing no evidence to show they've been under attack, but they say that what is happening right now is not them launching an offensive onto the ukrainian side but that they are on the receiving end. and what we just heard a few minutes ago was one of the main separatist leaders gave speech, a formal speech, a video he released standing in front of

sort of a flag and a military-style background. and he said, addressing the people, that the ukrainian military has been bringing in reinforcements, bringing in weapons, all those weapons, including heavy weapons, are pointed at the separatist areas, that the ukrainian military is about to launch a massive campaign against those separatist areas, so he announced for the sake of the separatists' safety, about 2 million people who live in that pocket of ukraine, that they should begin a massive evacuation heading into russia starting with women, children, and the elderly. now, ukrainian officials immediately have been coming out to deny that they have any intention of launching a military campaign, deny that they've been firing weapons inside the separatist areas, and they say what the separatists are trying to do is goad ukraine

into a fight to create a pretext that would allow russia to move in under the guise of protecting those separatists. >> andrea, it's against that volatile backdrop that this meeting is convening in munich. you flew in in the middle of the night and you have experience covering meetings like this one. give us a sense of the mood and whether you sense anything in the international community that there's still a feeling this could possibly be resolved peacefully. >> reporter: i would say it's hopeful, but what richard engel has been laying out is exactly what they've been or with rr -- worried about, exactly what antony blinken laid out in the conference because he says while vladimir putin is talking about diplomacy, everything they're seeing on the ground is exactly the opposite. so they really want him to prove that he's serious. they have now accepted these talks with blinken and lavrov at

the end of next week, somewhere in europe, but there's no evidence from what they are seeing, and they recounted lots of different steps today that are showing what could be these false flag operations, what they claim is the separatists trying to create an incident that could provoke an invasion. he has already warned in the u.n. and again today if there is any kind of military action between now and next week, there can be diplomatic talks that putin has to show that he's serious. the state department announced they are going to let poland buy $6 million worth of tanks, very big sales to poland right on russia's border. the point is not only the strength of the american commitment but also that vladimir putin is getting exactly what he says he doesn't want, a stronger nato presence on his border by this increasing buildup. they also announced in vienna today, the american diplomat

representative to that monitoring, the cease-fire monitoring for ukraine, that the russian forces are still increasing. we have to break down these numbers. he said the numbers of the russian forces are now 169,000 to 190,000. but when we look at it more closely, that includes the separatist groups, the militias, the russian-backed forces. we don't know if we're comparing apples and oranges, but they are saying there are more russian forces, he is still building up, not drawing down as he has claimed. >> and i want to read part of russia's response to the u.s., how it was reported in russian media -- "in the absebs of the readiness of the american side to agree on official, legally binding guarantees to ensure our security from the united states and its allies, russia will be forced to respond, including through the implementation of military technical measures." how do you read that?

>> i read that as russia taking ukraine hostage and threatening to shoot the hostage unless the united states and its nato allies turn back 30 years of peace and security in europe. what they're doing is outrageous. what richard said, the exercises that the russians have poised to conduct are not exercises about the defense of russia. they are for the first time in recent years an exercise of russia invading surrounding countries. so it's very aggressive what the russians are doing. >> is there any doubt in your mind that this is coming to a climax? i mean, the president obviously stated this very clearly. >> no. i don't see any evidence that the russians are going to do anything other than start a war

in ukraine and try and break western solidarity in support of a europe where borders change only by peaceful negotiation. >> kori, andrea, richard, great panel to start us off. thank you so much. we'll continue to go back to them throughout the day today, particularly rich & andrea on the ground there in munich. coming up, a 15-year-old russian skater breaking down after a shocking fourth-place finish at the olympics and a doping scandal that's dominated the beijing games. how was a child subjected to this at all? that's ahead. but first, a big blow to former president trump after a judge oddered him and two of his adult children to be questioned under oath by new york's attorney general. what it could mean for the criminal probe into his company, next. next your home for big savings. [ laughs ]

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now to a new development in the civil investigation into the trump organization and it's a big development. a judge in new york ordering former president trump and his two adult children, ivanka and done jr., to answer questions under oath about the company's business practices. it is the latest blow in their fight against subpoenas from new york attorney general letitia james. trump's lawyers argue her investigation is politically motivated, but in a scathing eight-page ruling, the state supreme court judge called the investigation legitimate, pointing to copious evidence of possible financial fraud and that in any case, quote, they

have an absolute right to refuse to answer questions that they claim may incriminate them. indeed, respondent eric trump invoked his right against self-incrimination in response to more than 500 questions during his one-day deposition. joining me now is nbc news investigative correspondent tom winter and former federal prosecutor glen kirshner, who is also an msnbc legal analyst. tom, what do we expect going forward from this ruling? >> a couple things are in play. first off, if there is no appeal -- i'll get to that in a second -- if there's no appeal, the former president as well as his two children, ivanka and donald trump jr., do need to sit for a deposition within 21 days from yesterday, so within the next three weeks. on top of that, the former president has to respond to a. for certain documents within the next 13 days. that's kind of the imminent thing. but all of this could be put on hold if, in fact, the trumps

file an appeal to the new york state appellate division, which could occur at any moment, and if the appellate division stays this ruling pending their decision, then that could delay the whole process. if they choose not to appeal this, then it goes forward and at some point in the next three weeks donald trump is silting down answering questions. >> glen, i understand this happened after what was a pretty heated two-hour hearing and quickly the judge turns around an eight-page blistering ruling. reading it and knowing the case as you do, do you think that the trumps have any strong grounds for an appeal? >> no. this is a really ominous sign. chris, you've used the words scathing and blistering to describe this eight-page ruling. i will say in my 30 years of prosecuting i've seen lots of judges' rulings. rarely have i seen one so blunt and direct because there were two passages in particular when the judge said he reviewed thousands of pages of documents

that had been subpoenaed by attorney general james, and after absorbing all of that information, here's what he said. he said when a state attorney general commences an investigation and uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, she has a clear right to question under oath the organization's namesake. that's donald trump. the second thing that's really interesting is the judge observed that if the attorney general's office had not investigated or systemed the trump respondents, that would have been a dereliction of duty. that's dramatic, because it's a judge not just saying that attorney general james had the discretion to take these investigative steps, based on the judge's assessment, she had the obligation. it would have been a dereliction of duty had she not taken these investigative steps. this is ominous. this spells real trouble for

trump and company. >> looking ahead, how could this impact the criminal probe into the trump organization? >> so, it probably won't. here's why, chris. when you invoke your 5th amendment right against self-incrimination, if you do it at a civil deposition, which is what is being conducted by a.g. james, that can be used against you at the civil trial. the jury sitting in the civil case can actually get that evidence and can draw negative inferences against you. but that information that you invoked your 5th amendment right against self-incrimination can never be presented to a criminal jury, because you have an absolute 5th amendment right against incriminating yourself. so, my guess is when push comes to shove and these appeals are exhausted, all of the trumps will go in and they'll see if they can beat eric trump's record of invoking the 5th amendment more than 500 times. >> glenn kirshner, tom winter,

thank you. up next, chilling, devastating, heartbreaking, some of the words used to describe the 15-year-old russian skater breaking down after the pressure of an international scandal proved too much. former olympic gold medalist scott hamilton will be here to talk about what can and should be done to protect young athletes. athletes entional and unforeseeable. for investors who can navigate this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns. for people who could use a lift new neutrogena® rapid firming. a triple-lift serum with pure collagen. 92% saw visibly firmer skin in just 4 weeks.

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prevagen. healthier brain. better life. this morning the latest from the olympic games. i lean gu from california competing for china took the gold in the free ski halfpipe. the u.s. men's curling team entered the games as the defending champ, lost in a tight match to canada, knocking them off the podium. but of course the world is still talking about the stunning, devastating collapse of 15-year-old russian skater kamila valiyeva, who on the ice wept in tears, berated by her coach. the pressure and attention that followed a positive drug test producing one of the most excruciating and arguably cruel

endings in olympic history. today, the head of the ioc called the treatment of kamila valiyeva chilling, but there are questions. what is the ioc's responsibility in all this? and where are the adults who are supposed to protect these very young athletes? joining me now to discuss, gadi schwartz, scott hamilton, and michael joyner, anesthesiologist at the mayo clinic and an expert in human performance. gadi, we talked in the amp math of the competition and you wrote to me what i think a lot of people were thinking. it felt like we were watching child abuse in real time. talk about the fallout today. >> yeah. chris, it's that gut feeling you have when you see something you know is wrong and all you can really do is hope so many other people have seen it too. something drastic is done to make sure it doesn't happen again. so far, the more people that have watched those heartbreaking moments, the more outrage there

seems to be, not at 15-year-old kamila valiyeva, but at those responsible for caring about her. we talked about it yesterday, that moment when she left the ice and immediately was criticized by her coach after falling apart under the most intense scrutiny and pressure and controversy imaginable. right away, her coach demanding that she explain her triple axel and why she didn't fight through when valiyeva had become an instant pariah to the entire world under her watch. even the ioc president, thomas bach was taken aback at what he saw from her team. >> how she was received by her closest entourage with such -- what appeared to be a tremendous -- it was chilling to see this. rather than giving her comfort.

rather than to try to help her. you could feel this chilling atmosphere. >> meanwhile, the court of arbitration that allowed her to skate is defending its decision, releasing its full report. the one glaring portion of that report the arbitrators disclosed is that they say valiyeva's team never offered any proof of the alleged accidental contamination of the banned heart medication, only telling the court it happened through the sharing of dishes or drinking from the same glass as her grandfather, who reportedly took the same medication, but no actually evidence, no prescriptions, no medical records were presented. the world anti-doping agency calling the decision to let her skate. but the problems might be much more deep seated than that. >> scott, when we talked in advance of the competition, as clearly messed up as the situation was, i don't think either of us could have

anticipated something so crushing for valiyeva, other competitors for skating, frankly. it feels like from the doping scandals to even simone biles shining a light on unrelenting pressure and mental health issues, have we learned nothing? >> it's difficult on so many levels. i mean, yesterday shattered my heart to see the treatment, to see the behaviors, to see the isolation of one athlete. you know, when you see valiyeva, you know, and everything she's been through in this doping at 15 years old, at 15 years old, i was coming in ninth for the second year in a row in the novice nationals. i had no experience at that level at that age being on the olympic stage. life experience. then you look at the coach, who basically had a temp every tantrum because she was upset she didn't win.

and i had to do a video to kind of prop her up earlier this year, a friend asked me to share a video to encourage her because she was afraid as the world champion she wouldn't be named to the olympic team. you see valiyeva being scolded coming off the ice, trusava breaking down. and it was alarming that as much as she obviously knows how to teach skating, the coach, has no capacity in her heart to be able to look after her athletes' emotional well-being. so it's just awful all the way around. i think the camp needs to be thoroughly investigated. it happened on her watch. the doping in russia has become pervasive, and it feels like it's brazen. they don't really care if

they've been caught before, they'll keep trying and do it again and again and again. you know, the ioc, the olympic movement, the -- everything's at risk here. i mean, everything is at risk when you look at the olympic games and what they embody and what they represent, and to have it diminished in this way by russia constantly, brazenly, without any remorse or any hesitation, measures need to be taken. and maybe russia just needs to be complete dlooeted from the games entirely. >> dr. joyner, first of all, that report that she shared dishes with her grandfather and that's how she got a positive test. put that aside, it's not like a 15-year-old comes home from a grueling day of practice and says, let me consult by remington's pharmaceuticals science book and see if i can concoct a trio of drugs to enhance my endurance or make a

recovery quicker. please talk about these drugs. but also i worry about the impact it can have on a 15-year-old. >> well, i think we actually have a real contrast at the olympics as well. look at norway. they've take an very holistic view toward athlete development where they don't allow kids to get in high-pressure situations early in life, where they try to let people play multiple sports and really develop a whole person is dominating the winter olympics. they have 5 million people. they're dominating the winter olympics doing it the right way, doing it a different way, doing it the way that mr. hamilton talked about when he was 14, 15, 156 years old, still developing as an athlete. so i think as horrible as this is and as crazy as this is, and how we all find that sort of russian dog ate my homework excuses or explanationings how this happened, you know, incredulous. i think we have in this olympics a very positive example that the

rest of the world could focus on and learn from. look at norway. look at how they do it and try to emulate norway. >> so, scott, you say on one hand maybe get russia out of the olympics if they're going to be so blatant about it. but, you know, it is not -- not everybody's norway. and this is a high-pressure situation. and you predicted several days ago this would tantd the olympic experience for the athletes. as you pointed out, i've never seen a newly crowned gold medalist look as dejected or alone as emma. what needs to be done to protect young people? i don't think even if they change the age of eligibility, there's going to be basically young kids who are competing, right? what can be done about it, scott? >> well, you want the best, right. you want the best for the athletes. you want the best for the sport. you want the best experience for all competitors.

and competition makes people better. valiyeva arguably is probably one of the finest woman figure skaters i've ever seen at 15 years old. she has the maturity of someone much, much older. she has the presence and the quality in her skating of someone with much greater experience. and yet, you know, we have this doping situation that has totally diminished her name, reputation, and everything else. you know, she's the victim in all of this, i think. i don't think that she would ever -- i don't know her. i can't say, you know, much about her as a person except, you know, having, you know, a daughter myself who i knew at 15 was really incapable of any of those thoughts of cheating or doping or anything else, the science of sport. they just want to go out and skate, and they want to do their best. and so, you know, again, removing russia from the olympics is, you know, the harshest tactic.

russia as their olympic committee, it's probably ma what they deserve. it hurts the athletes and all sport when you take athletes like valiyeva out of skating. you know, it lowers the bar. you know, you want to keep raising the bar. you want to keep those amazing talents in front of people sharing faster, better, stronger. it's a shame that this whole doping scandal has overtaken, you know, the figure skating event because, you know, when i skated, we never knew of anything like this. it just didn't exist. or at least we didn't know about it, right. >> scott, we're out of time, but i agree. i would love to see her skate again and skate clean. what do you think the chances are we see her at the worlds leapt alone in other olympics? >> world championships after the olympics is sort of like, you know, just not always well observed by the skating

community, and that's a shame. but i'd love to see her get out of this camp and come up to north america, train here, train clean, and go back and compete again in russia for russia but as a clean athlete, away from the camp, away from what has really just crushed her. give her a second life in skating. she oogs very young and has a lot left to prove and a lot left to show. but get her out of that camp, get her out of that, and give her a chance to start fresh and clean and new and to do the things she can do on the ice that will elevate the sport ultimately. >> scott hamilton, always a pleasure. gadi, thank you for your amazing reporting. dr. michael joyner, i like the hopefulness of thinking about, you know, the norwegian program, maybe some other places can look at that as well. thank you all. if you're a figure skating fan, catch scott's show, "olympic ice," streaming for free on peacock at 10:00 a.m. eastern.

stim ahead, the opening bell sounded after the dow saw its worst day of the year. and we'll take you back to the front lines in ukraine to the unofficial capital of the russian-speaking region of the company where there have been 20 different cease-fire violations. 0 0 different cease-fire violations. ♪are you ready♪ ♪are you ready♪ everyone remembers the moment they heard, “you have cancer.” how their world stopped... ...and when they found a way to face it. for some,... ...this is where their keytruda story begins. keytruda—a breakthrough immunotherapy

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uncertainty, especially when it comes to geopolitical uncertainty. the most vulnerable parts of the stock market continue to be stocks that have been bid up aggressively over the last several years that are more geared towards things like technology, more exposed to economic cycles than consumer products companies we use on a daily basis, like a procter & gamble with shampoos and toilet paper and that sort of thing. for that reason, it's the highest valuation companies that get hit the hardest just like in times of real else tate down turns, the hottest housing markets often fall the most. today's trade is starting fractionally to the downside, but there's a lot to make up from yesterday. there will be focus on microsoft, tesla, and others as an indicator of risk appetite. >> dom chu, thank you. the standoff between russia and the west of ukraine and the breaking news that one to have separatist leaders backed by russia has announced a mass evacuation of civilians out of eastern ukraine into russia. he claims ukraine's president is

on the verge of ordering an attack on the separatist areas, something president zelensky has denied. matt bradley is in eastern ukraine less than 30 miles from the russian border, not far from those separatist regions. matt, what's going on? >> reporter: yeah, we just heard this from the head of the russian self-declared don'ting people's republican. these are two place where is russia invaded back in 2014 and cleved off crimea, these places were essentially the site of an uprising of what moscow tried to portray as, you know, just russian-speaking people who were opposed to the ukrainian government in kooech. in reality, we saw very clearly actual russian military

personnel, the so-called little green men, who were pushing this insurgency in eastern ukraine. that insurgency is still going on. we just heard earlier today from theminister of interior, that there were some of the largest number of shelling back and forth that we've seen for several years. this is the largest increase in hostilities in this low-simmering conflict that's been going on since that fighting back in 2014. and this is exactly what we heard from the u.s. government over the past several weeks, that we could see something like a small-scale skirmish that would then give pretext to the russians, to vladimir putin, to move in, to invade ukraine under the idea that he is defending that russian-speaking population in the eastern part of the country. so, this could be that false flag operation that vladimir putin has been sort of signaling this entire time. >> matt bradley, thank you for that. coming up on kwhat another

incredibly busy news day, we're moments away from former police officer kim potter being sentenced after she was convicted of manslaughter over the fatal shooting of donte wright last year. last year we can explore uncharted waters, and not only make new discoveries, but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, ware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. faster. vmware. welcome change.

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in just minutes former police officer kim potter will be sentenced in a courtroom after she was convicted of first and second degree manslaughter in her shooting of daunte wright last year. she says e she mistook her gun for her taser when she shot the 20-year-old, sparking protests. joining us now, nbc's shaquille brewster in minnesota, kristen gibbons is a civil rights attorney. shaq, how does this play out in the courtroom? >> reporter: we can expect this to take a few hours as the defense and profession cuges lay out their arguments. we can expect to hear impact statements, victim impact statements from the family of daunte wright. we can also expect to hear

letters of support and possible statements as well for kim potter as her defense team argues for that lighter sentence and as the prosecution argues whether or not there should be aggravating factors included in her sentence. you mentioned that the prosecution is asking for about seven years in prison for kim potter. that fits what the state guidelines suggest for someone with her profile. the defense is asking for a sentence as light as probation citing things like her age, her prior record, her remorse she showed after the shooting. they say in her memo that daunte wright was a victim -- excuse me, that the victim was the aggressor in the incident. this will all come before the judge in a couple minutes. >> as the judge is making those considerations, kristen, what are the things that need to be considered and what about the potential for those aggravating factors? >> it's important to remember that the sentencing judge, judge chu, also sat through and watched as every single witness, including daunte wright's mother

and the passenger, daunte wright's girlfriend at the time of the shooting, testified how emotional they were. and judge chu is going to see that again. so not only will the judge consider all the arguments as well as the victim impact statement, but the judge will also be able to consider the testimony at hand. you know, as shaq kind of pointed out, i think the defense is making the wrong move pointing to the victim as the aggressor, you know, saying if he was alive, he would be alive if he obeyed the commands. i think that's such a bad move because what they should be doing is focussing in on kim potter and why she does not deserve jail. you know, i think the prosecution, with the fact these are presumptive sentences, is going to be able to make out a good case as to why seven years may be appropriate here. if the judge intends to deitsch year to date from those presumpive guidelines and go under them and go for a probationary sentence or lesser jail time, she'll have to state

all those reasons on the record. be prepared to hear why the judge may want to depart, whether up or down. >> kristen, shaquille, thank you both. we are 11 days out from president biden's state of the union address and with historic inflation, is gearing up the change its economic messaging. the white house's plan to calm a frustrated electorate is not. ehh, frustrated electorate is not that thai restaurant we went to a couple weeks ago? how bout tacos? tacos. automatic emergency braking — one of six advanced safety features standard on every 2022 chevy equinox. find new technology. find new roads. chevrolet

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. finalize on a deal of the long-term pact to fund the government at the end of fiscal year. we are learning new details of president biden's economic strategy. the president plans to use the state of the union address on march 1st to shift his administration's messaging. the president will focus on his empathy for americans economic struggles especially inflation. as polls show the number one concerns of americans. joining us now is nicholas lu and heidi hycam.

good to have both of you here. can empathy go too far? you don't want to work too hard to remind people how bad they feel. how does president biden walk that line? >> you can't come with i feel your pain, you have to come with real solutions and belief that you think you can change. you can't tell people 17 nobel prize winners have said this won't cause inflation or the way to go. people want real solutions. you have to anticipate, biden has to anticipate what republicans are going to be saying. they're going to be talking about energy prices and whether his policies have increase energy prices which exacerbated the inflation challenges. he can't come empty hand it. he's got to acknowledge it. i know what it is like to worry about whether you can buy a pound of hamburger, that's my

life and that's how i grew up. this is what we'll do to fix it and we need republican's help. if he does that message and stays away from oh well all the egg head in harvard thinks we got to go this way. >> the big part was donald trump when he was successful was reaching out to people who had been traditional democrat constituency, people who felt they have not been heard by the democratic party. i know you started the group called the one country project focused on rural communities. what's the lessons you would i impart to this administration. >> they lost the opportunity. they should acknowledge what was happening with inflation and pricing and materials and so what i would say is you know

acknowledge it now and don't say it is transitory, talk about what you are going to do and stay away from the easy fixes and start talking about real things like here is a great example. talk about how you are going to reduce prescription drug prices and how you can stop from doing that. i think there is a lot of opportunity here. >> nicholas, all of this aimed at positioning democrats for what would be a tough midterm election anyway. on the republican side, they got some troubles of their own, literally hundreds of candidates who support trump and challenging gop incumbents. kevin mccarthy officially endorsing liz cheney's primary challenger in wyoming and this morning so did the gop conference chair elise stefanik. is this a base strategy or some people are concerned of the

party they are aiding their own. >> yes, there are concerns. the continuous focus of the 2020 election and litigation of who won and the january 6th attack in the capitol distracts of what other wise be a good election for republicans. it is extremely rare for party leaders to endorse against a sitting member of their own party. mccarthy first sent this is news to the federalist, the far-right wing outlet. this is clearly something calculated against the base and part of his own standing of what -- >> so we only got a minute, heidi. i am curious if you think this is good news for democrats because if republicans are going

against people who presumably have name recognition and fund raising infrastructure in place already and running so many people against them, could it help democrats? >> you bet. i think any time you rejekt donald trump, it reminds people four years of chaos and raises the flag on what's happening in washington. the last thing the republican party wants is for donald trump to be front row and center in the next election. they think it is going to get working class, white people back to the party, i would say they lost a lot of their own base whether it is suburban women because donald trump has led the party and so the more radical the nominee republican party, the happier democrats are politically. >> may help them in some districts but awful a lot of others could be problematic. >> former senator heidi and nicholas wu, thank you as well. that's going to wrap it up this

other. i am chris jansen, jose diaz-balart picks up coverage right now. >> good morning, i am jose diaz-balart, my in a moment now the sentencing hearing is set to begin for former police officer kim potter of committed the killing of devonte wright. president biden expected to hold a call today with major u.s. allies on the escalaing crisis. plus, trump under oath. a new york judge ordered the former president and two of his children to answer questions about the business practices of the trump organization, part of the new york attorney general's investigation. a spotlight on bullying after another family losing a 12-year-old son to suicide. we'll talk about what families need to know.