tv Andrea Mitchell Reports MSNBC April 29, 2022 9:00am-10:00am PDT
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good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. russia continues to escalate its attacks against ukraine. hitting kyiv yesterday with two missiles that hit a residential building, killing a journalist and injuring ten others. the deadly attack on the capital came exactly as the u.n. secretary-general was meeting with president zelenskyy who said russia's timing was a deliberate attempt to humiliate the united nations. the u.n. leader acknowledging that they failed to stop the bloodshed in ukraine. russia launching a massive
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bombing attack in mariupol, hitting a military hospital yesterday. hundreds of civilians and fighters remain trapped in the city in dire conditions with no way out. willy joseph cancel, a u.s. marine veteran, has been killed while fighting in ukraine. his family telling cnn he was working for a private military company since mid-march. ned price will join us in just a moment. we begin with kelly cobiella. >> reporter: the russian defense ministry said those strikes on kyiv were targeting military facilities, an aerospace facility and other military targets. this is what we hear. it's what we heard in odesa when the apartment building was hit.
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the russians are targeting military sites, not residential. but what we know is that an apartment building was also hit. it was a 25-story apartment building, hit in the lower floors. as rescuers were going through the rubble today, they did discover a victim, a woman journalist who worked for liberty europe in kyiv. there have been casualties. there have been civilian casualties. about ten people injured, some of whom are still in the hospital. as for mariupol, we have been watching closely, as has the entire world, that steel plant. there was word today only from president zelenskyy's office, not directly from the president, that there was some sort of rescue mission under way there. that was several hours ago. as you mentioned, there was a massive strike on that plant about 12 to 24 hours prior, which caused what you see there, those pictures of just utter
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devastation underneath the plant, people staying there saying a makeshift hospital inside was hit. we have been in contact with a woman whose husband is fighting inside. she said that she received a text from him last night that he said that there was more shelling last night than they have had in even the night prior. there was definitely no letup last night. whether that's changed today, we don't know. andrea, one more note. we did talk to the mayor of mariupol for a long time yesterday. he told us they have tried repeatedly to get rescue missions into the plant to get the civilians, particularly the badly wounded civilians out of there. every time they try to launch a rescue mission, he says, something else happens. there's either a missile strike or something else. the best way to get those people rescued is from international pressure. the likes of president biden, president macron, other western leaders, putting pressure on
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president putin. andrea? >> so interesting. thanks so much, kelly. fortunately, right now, joining us from the state department is spokesperson ned price. you heard kelly. thank you for joining us. how can you increase the pressure to get some sort of rescue to the people in mariupol? it's clear that some of these hits are coming exactly as visitors arrive, as we were all there. of course, when the president and secretary were there in warsaw, that's when they first hit lviv. now we see the u.n. secretary-general in kyiv and the attacks coming precisely as he is meeting with president zelenskyy. what can we do about mariupol? >> it may well be the russians are trying to send the world a message, to send us a message. we are sending a very strong message. we are going to continue to stand by our ukrainian partners. we're going to continue to mount
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pressure on the russian federation. in terms of standing by our ukrainian partners, yesterday the president put forward a budget request of more than $30 billion. much of that for security assistance. that will put pressure on russia's forces inside ukraine. just as we are doing that, there's another second element. that is the unprecedented sanctions, the export controls that are having a massive affect on russia's economy, russia's financial system. not to mention the diplomatic isolation that russia is now enduring from countries around the world. you add all of these things up, it amounts to massive pressure that russia is under. not only in the context of mariupol, where we are focused, doing everything we can to see to it that people are allowed out, humanitarian assistance is allowed in. but also for the broader battle that's going on in ukraine right now. >> i want to ask you about u.s. marine veteran willy joseph cancel. he was fighting in ukraine.
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was killed according to his family -- his family has been open about this. i know you have privacy laws. but they have been speaking to cnn. can you tell us more about this young man, former marine, had been working in tennessee, we understand. then enlisted in this international force that's been created. >> we have heard the statements from the family. we are right now in the process of reaching out to the family to learn more details, to ascertain how we might be in a position to best support the family at this time. andrea, i would be remiss if i didn't take this opportunity to reiterate what we have said for weeks now. americans should not travel to ukraine. it's inherently dangerous. of course, owing to the russian hostilities, civilians and fighters have lost their lives in russia's unprovoked war against ukraine. there's another danger. you heard from our ambassador for global criminal justice earlier this week, during a
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presentation at the u.n., that we have credible information that russia's forces rather than take prisoner those who have tried to surrender in ukraine, have executed them. the laws of war are not to russia's forces the laws that they should be. that's another consideration for anyone who would make the mistake of traveling to ukraine to fight. it's something we are urging americans not to do for a number of reasons. >> really sadly, i wanted to ask you about the death of the journalist who lived in one of the buildings that got hit in kyiv. she worked for radio liberty in europe and is the latest journalist who died in this war. >> we are still ascertaining the details of the strike. it's unclear if there was a military objective. russia relinquished its sights on kyiv, having lost the battle of kyiv, owing to the grit, the determination, courage of our
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ukrainian partners enabled in large part by security assistance from us. it may be they were also trying to send a message to the international community doing this, of course, as you said while the u.n. secretary-general was in kyiv. this was also another assault on the free press. as you mentioned, there was a journalist who worked for radio free europe, radio liberty, who lost her life in this strike. she's not the first journalist to have lost her or his life in this battle. we have had other journalists who have been very grievously injured in this. i'm in a briefing room right now. the state department briefing room where one of our correspondents weeks ago was injured, very badly, in a russian strike on a vehicle he was in. two of his colleagues were killed. this is an assault by the part of the russian federation on the ukrainian state, on the ukrainian people. but also on those who are doing nothing more than trying to spread the truth, to try to
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spread information about what is going on in ukraine, about the brutality that russia is inflicting on the ukrainian people. >> thank you for mentioning ben hall, our friend and colleague from fox news and his two colleagues who were killed. he has been very grateful for all the help from the state department and the u.s. military, especially the military personnel at brooke army hospital in texas who have been helpful. he was terribly injured. it brings it all home. >> we can't wait to have him back here. >> exactly. i want to talk to you about the russian missiles that hit the targets in kyiv. as the u.n. secretary-general was in a meeting with president zelenskyy, who had been critical of the secretary-general for going to moscow the day before, and as you said, there are few coincidences here. we are learning from the defense department that russia is slightly behind on its attempts
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to gain control or to assault the donbas region. where do you assess the battlefield right now? >> if you take a step back, we are more than two months into russia's war against ukraine. we have every reason to believe that within even two days, vladimir putin at the start of this war on february 24th, thought he would be the de facto leader of ukraine, havings apir -- aspirations to take over the zelenskyy government. that's not the case. russia lost the battle. russia has been forced to narrow its objectives. now focusing on donbas, on the south rather than taking the entire country. they have been forced to do that because of the determination and the bravery of the ukrainian people who have fought back, who have defended their country and their freedom.
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we have provided $3.8 billion since the start of the invasion alone. our partners have increased that total even more. that's precisely why the president yesterday put forward a supplemental request of $33 billion, many of which was for security assistance so we can continue the strategy that's working to see to it that ukraine continues to be able to defend its country effectively and to see to it that ukraine will win. >> another change in the battlefield in the last 24 hours has been russia announcing its first strike from a diesel submarine in the black sea with cruise missiles. they say they hit a military target, releasing a video. nbc has not confirmedauthentici.
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>> there's no question that russia has a profound ability to project power. even while we are confident ukraine will win this, ukrainians will emerge victorious, ukraine will remain sovereign, independent and whole long after russia is gone, it's just a fact that russia will continue to try to pull every lever it can to brutalize the ukrainian people. it's important we keep up our strategy. give the ukrainians what they need whether they immediate it to where they need it to take on the russian forces. also to continue mounting economic and political pressure on moscow. to see to it that president putin, other enablers, all of those around them feel the price of this invasion. they are feeling that price. it's our hope that you combine these two things together and that moscow will change its course and will change its course at the negotiating table
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where up until now we have not seen any indication from the russian federation that they are serious about diplomacy. that's in stark contrast to our ukrainian partners. we're going to continue with our strategy. we are going to continue to support our ukrainian partners to strength their hand at that negotiating table so that we can bring an end to the conflict as soon as we are able. >> i want to share with our viewers, we got word from the orange county new york county executive, steve newhouse saying how saddened he is to learn the former u.s. marine willy cancel, from orange county, new york, originally, has died in ukraine. interestingly, steve newhouse, with the note of condolence is on active duty in europe as part of the u.s. response to the russian invasion in ukraine. thank you very much, ned price. >> thank you. appreciate it.
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we have breaking news from the white house. communications director kate bettingfield tested positive for covid. she's vaccinated, boosted and she last saw the president on wednesday. during that meeting, she was masked and socially distanced. the white house is not considering her a close contact with the president. more ahead on all of this as it comes to us here at msnbc. stay with us. more to come. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." you are watching "andrea you are watching "andrea mitchell reports."ves you've evn good for you, but shingles doesn't care. because 1 in 3 people will get shingles, you need protection. but, no matter how healthy you feel, your immune system declines as you age increasing your risk for getting shingles. so, what can protect you? shingrix protects. you can protect yourself from shingles
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we have breaking news from the u.s. embassy in kyiv, tweeting moments ago. this is from lviv. they are not physically in kyiv. saying, while russia talks about the need to de-nazify ukraine, they are holding ukrainians in camps. more proof of the disregard for human rights and dignity. this is confirmation of something we asked john kirby about. this is the first official government confirmation from the u.s. embassy in ukraine that this is taking place. joining us now is former press second to president zelenskyy and retired general mccaffrey and admiral -- the worst mistake
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i could make. you are in lviv. your reaction to the tweet from the embassy confirming the reports we have been seeing, the torturing of civilians, what is happening to ukrainians with russia telling the u.n. secretary-general yesterday they were sympathetic to the idea of some sort of a humanitarian corridor, yet nothing happens, your response? >> thank you for having me here. second for the rising of an important topic. i have a fresh story. today i was approached by a family from mariupol who were taken by russians forcefully to russia and who actually were forced to pass this filtration camp. they were interrogated there. they were promised they would be back to ukraine. in fact, nobody allows them to go back.
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they say we lost our home. we have our money -- we are running out of money. we hardly know what to do in russia. nobody allows them to go back. i put in touch with the ukrainian government and maybe government -- ukraine government will try to do their best to help. this is one of many, many stories, thousands of families have been taken to russia. russia tries to figure out if there is any connection in these families to the government of ukraine or to free press. i know this is happening in the southern part of ukraine, which is under occupation. russia, of course, wants to use fear, intimidation to these people and to show their force so that people behave as russia considers appropriate and do not protest russian policies. in fact, i know that ukrainians
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there do not support russian policies. i was talking to people today. they are waiting for the ukrainian army to recapture the city. this is very sorrowful. this is exactly what we heard was happening under nazi regime. it's a pity we have such mindset preserved in the world, especially when we talk about national 140 million people. everything must be done to finish this. we hear the stories of rape. we hear the stories of tortures. we hear so many stories of people whom we know of other families. this is something that needs to be stopped as fast as possible. very hard to imagine it's going on right now somewhere in the world. >> it is hard to imagine. general, senior defense officials are telling us the kyiv strikes were intended to target military production facilities, but they hit two
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residential buildings, they killed a journalist, a well-known ukrainian broadcaster. these are not military targets. is there anything more that we can do with air defense, getting a phoenix attack drone in the next two days as part of the next weapons? what can we do? what can we do to help ukraine defend itself against these air attacks? >> it's a pretty tough challenge. a lot has been done. fortunately, nato was able to get the s300 anti-aircraft system, anti-missile system into ukraine. they still retain some form of air control over ukraine. ukrainian air power and ground defenses. the stinger missiles have made a huge impact on any low-level attacks under 11,000 feet.
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g missiles requires u.s. patriots. hard to know how that can be accomplished. russia does have a fivefold advantage on air power. it's a significant factor in the battle. the good news is, the $33 billion package that the president's team announced going in, if ukraine can absorb the military support they are getting from the west, primarily from nato coalition of the willing nations, 41 nations that lloyd austin brought together in germany, then they're going to achieve near parody with ground combat power on the russians. the superior leadership, the courage and tenacity their soldiers will pay off. >> admiral, what do you make of russia's claim it launched the
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cruise missiles from a diesel sub in the black sea? >> it's believable. russia has that capability. they have an enormous number of options at their disposal. as the general correctly points out, they have a huge advantage in tactical aircraft. they have a huge advantage in these kind of long-range cruise missile fires. very believable. two points to be made. one, notice it's a submarine. i think the fact that the ukrainians sank the flagship of the black sea has had a bit of a clarifying affect on the russian navy's mind. they are bringing in submarines, which are a better bet in terms of avoiding ukrainian cruise missiles. secondly, to pick up on a point that the general just made, the idea of getting more advanced nato weapons into the hands of
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ukrainians makes a lot of sense, including in my view, the mig aircraft which were made available by poland. hard to negotiate all that has to go back and forth to make that happen. but i think that would be another additional layer of defense for our brave ukraiian friends. >> what about patriots? i guess that the training that would be required, could you put them on the other side of the border and they still be effective? >> yes, you could. also a knock on doing this is, it takes so long to learn how to do this, we would have to put u.s. advisers in place. i'm not so sure we couldn't use, if you will, distance education here. flip open the laptop. you have the u.s. instructor on one side. you are turning dials. not perfect. but i think a combination and that creativity in addressing these challenges would make some sense.
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>> general, before i let you go, this confirmation from embassy kyiv about the torture infiltration, the geneva conventions are meaningless to the russians. what has to happen to get the world more engaged? you have most of the population of the world, 88% of the population of the world living in countries that are either supporting russia or abstaining at the u.n. >> i think it's hard for us as americans to comprehend what's going on with this brutal invasion of ukraine. this is stalinist. these are concentration camps. clearly, the russians have targeted civilians and their infrastructure, which is a war crime. at the tactical level, the brutality, the cruelty of the commanders is beyond belief. i noticed the state department
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spokesman talked about what signal is russia sending to us in mariupol. they're not sending a signal. they intend to kill every one of those 2,000 plus ukrainian fighters there and possibly add their families to it. we are facing a dangerous, brutal and fortunately somewhat incompetent russian military. >> general, admiral, and yulia in ukraine, thank you so much. rocking the boat. a push to sell russian oligarch yachts for the benefit of ukraine. congressman moulton joining us with more on that. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. mitchell reports" on msnbc
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that's some $600 million. experts warn it's not so simple with legal and logistical hurdles. joining me is congressman seth moulton and a member of the armed services committee. you were the first to introduce your own bill called yachts for ukraine act. how is that different from what the house passed? how do you make this happen? i'm told by officials, former officials in the treasury and the frozen assets business that it takes a long time with civil litigation to actually get the clearance once you freeze the yachts to actually sell them and get that money. >> sure. i don't know if i was the first. the point is that there are a couple of bills here that are fully supported by a bipartisan congress to send a clear message to russia and putin's oligarch allies that they're not going to wait this out.
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we are serious about this. we are coming for your assets. they're going to go to ukraine. if you think you can ride this out sitting on your yacht in the mediterranean, think again. that's the message we are sending. if they have to fight with the lawyers over this for years to come, then so be it. they can pay the lawyers for that task. we are sending a message to them that we want your yachts and they're going to go to ukraine. >> do you think we have done enough with sanctions? we went after putin's daughters. we resisted going after his close friend, the mother of the children. the state department has not done that yet, nor the treasury. >> the state department has done an unprecedented job. there's nothing like the sanctions regime in all of history. are there more things we can do? sure. i'm sure we can still find loopholes that can be closed, people that we left out. we will continue to ratchet up the sanctions as the administration has been doing. let's not lose sight of the fact
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that the biden administration has pulled together in a truly unprecedented sanctions regime. 88% of the world is living in countries that support our fight against ukraine or have abstained from siding with russia. that's a powerful message. the biden administration and state department really deserve a tremendous amount of credit for pulling this all together. >> let me clarify. i may have mistaken. it's 88% of the world are against what we are doing. they are with russia, indonesia, china, brazil, mexico abstaining. this is europe, canada, australia, our allies in asia, japan, south korea, against russia. but everyone else, russia is dominating those other countries because of the larger population. >> okay. i apologize for that. i maybe misheard you.
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let's put this in perspective. the regime here truly is incredible. of course, china is going to try to side with russia. there are very large countries like india that are abstaining. all the major economies here, all our western allies have come together. putin started this thing saying he was going to divide nato. instead, he has done nothing but unite it. putin started this saying that nato was weak. there's no one who has done more to strengthen nato in the last 30 years than vladimir putin. everything that the biden administration has done in response to the war has directly undermined vladimir putin's goals and a lot of that goes to the state department for the degree to which they have pulled everybody together. there's no question that you have to pair this with military action. at the same time as we are putting together this unprecedented sanctions regime and maintaining it and strengthening it every day, we
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are also providing military aid to the ukrainian freedom fighters on the ground. we are reinforcing that with the president's new request. >> what are your thoughts about willy joseph cancel, the former marine who has died fighting in this international force against u.s. advice, but the tragic loss of this young man? >> look, everyone who is fighting for freedom in ukraine is a hero for democracy, our western values, our american values. while i'm a u.s. lawmakers, i'm not going to advocate for americans to fight on behalf of the ukrainians, it says a lot about what the ukrainians are doing every day in this war for their own freedom. americans are willing to support it. america is so strongly behind it, whether we send aid, providing homes to ukrainian refugees in america, or even those going to fight alongside the ukrainians, this is america's fight just as it is
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ukraine's fight, because this is a fight for democracy. this is the front line of democracy right now in the world. americans know that. >> congressman seth moulton, thank you very much. >> thank you. tar heel troubles. an effort under way to fire madison cawthorn. his party works to take back the house. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. s "andrea mitl s "andrea mitl reports" on msnbc. for a limited time, get 50% off a complete pair. visionworks. see the difference.
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more scandal tied to the youngest member of congress. republican representative madison cawthorn of north carolina. a complaint has been submitted to the office of congressional ethics. we haven't heard from them in a long time. requesting an investigation into the freshman congressman for alleged violations that include providing free housing and travel as a gift to one of his employees. joining us is former u.s. attorney joyce vance and garrett haake and brandon buck. welcome all. garrett, i'm not being too cynical about the ethics committee, because in the old days when i was covering congress, it used to be a very active committee. >> sure. >> there were constant ethics investigations. we haven't heard anything from the ethics committee in a long time. >> it's mostly been the mask and
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medal detector fine police in recent years. on the senate, they have been less active. on this cawthorn thing, he has had the month from hell. he was found carrying a loaded weapon through an airport. he was cited for that. in this case, he is being accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. there's video attached to the complaint that's bizarre. his office put out a statement. they ran through a lot of it. they said the staffer was a second cousin. some of the specifics weren't true. they didn't go -- cawthorn is saying, aren't you glad there aren't cell phones around for all of you older folks in congress? you would have had similar problems. it's a messy situation for he and his party. >> hasn't he tried to humiliate some of the older members with false or strange charges as well? he hasn't made any friends. >> no, he hasn't. this looks like what happens
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when you talk about fight club. cawthorn was quick to come out with allegations that he subsequently had to take back about cocaine fuelled sex parties. it looks like what's happening now is an effort to create a viable challenge in his congressional primary. there are seven challengers in that race. it looks like the republican leadership would like to see one of them take his spot. >> brandon buck, is this a case where kevin mccarthy might get tough on a member? accusing some of his 80-year-old colleagues of orgies and sex and cocaine parties is a little bit over the top for some of the members. isn't it? >> yeah. i think mccarthy hauled him into the office and tried to give him a talking to, hoping some of the issues would go away. as garrett outlines, in the month or two since, we have seen more outlandish things take place. what people do in their private
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life i think is generally not our business. that stops when you talk about a staffer. yes, this is one of those instances where if it is found in the process that he has done something inappropriate, that's when you have to pull numbers out. when we were in the speaker's office, there were several members we had to have leave the house because of inappropriate relationships with staffers. this has been dropped right before his primary. let's see what the context is. i think he lost a little benefit of the doubt with some of the things that have gone on. he needs to be out if it's true. >> garrett, let's talk about the january 6 committee. are they going to run out of time with all of these legal roadblocks and trying to get meadows to cooperate? trying to get others to cooperate. rudy giuliani coming in next month. >> they made a decision it's time to move to the next phase. the chairman announced yesterday they are going to move to hearings in june. he was more specific than he has been in some time.
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eight hearings in june. first will start june 9. they want a mix of daytime hearings, primetime hearings. they are ready to move on. there are big pieces they don't have locked up yet. they are expecting to interview rudy giuliani and donald trump junior. they are fighting with mark meadows to see what else they can get from him. they know time is of the essence. >> what about mark meadows? you have the court filing on the civil case to try to get him in that he is trying to stop the subpoena. you have more pressure now on garland. it's four months since they referred him for criminal contempt. >> it's almost impossible to know what's going on at doj. there's an office of legal council memo that some believe it would prohibit prosecution. there's been speculation doj could be trying to court meadows
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as a witness. it's unclear whether that's the case. frankly, at this point, it's dragged on for long enough. garland needs to either show the folks that he is going to prosecute or leave them free to compel meadows' testimony. the notion of subpoenaing and compelling someone in mark meadows position is something they would like to avoid for political purposes. it could be important. one last thing, something that happens, one of the dynamics as the time draws to a close is the possibility that we will have speakers and staff members testifying to the public in these hearings. we could have staffers testifying where members of congress or other people like meadows refuse to testify themselves. in essence, their stories will be told without them having the benefit of guiding the narrative. that could have the potential to help people in the public understand that this is more obstruction, especially when you pair it with the tapes that have been revealed of minority leader
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mccarthy saying one thing in private and another in public. this may help the public understand what really went on. >> if you go back to the watergate hearings, the staff testimony that -- as well as the tapes that sold the public on the importance of it. we have to leave it there. thanks to brandon buck and joyce vance in person and garrett haake. coming up, climate challenge. coastal louisiana. efforts to save the environment could endanger a close-knit community. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. mitchell reports." mitchell reports." this is msnbc. and proactive alerts on market events. that's decision tech. only from fidelity.
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for mike's retirement party. worth is giving the employee who spent half his life with you, the party of a lifetime. ♪ ♪ wealth is watching your business grow. worth is watching your employees grow with it. ♪ ♪ we have breaking news from virginia. a british man that pleaded guilty to his role in islamic hostage taking is being sentenced for the death of four americans. the member dubbed the beatles by the hostages because of their accents. one of the hostages was from arizona. >> andrea, this was a dramatic
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and emotional day in federal court in alexandria, and not because of the sentence because it's life in prison, and kayla mueller has well as james foley and steven sotloff. his ruthless and chilling conduct is among the worst crimes that ever could be committed is what the judge said, and they say the three other men that helped kidnap the hostages, and they say he, kotey had a preference for violence and depravity. 13 of the family members addressed him in court saying he no longer has power over them,
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and they said we hope the rest of your life is you will think about what you have done. and they asked the judge to recommend a different facility than in colorado where the other terrorists are held. solitary confinement would, quote, degrade his health, and the judge said it would be inappropriate for him to recommend where kotey would serve his prison sentence, and he said he's not prepared to say it would be super max. by the way, the second man who was brought to the u.s. to face these charges, he was convicted in the same courtroom earlier this month and he was in court today to hear the victims speak. this was not his sentencing but
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the judge did this so the victims' families don't have to come back and speak again at his sentencing. they were in essence able to address both of these beatles, andrea. >> thank you so much pete williams. nbc news has been spotlighting solutions to the climate crisis in the last two weeks, and what happens if the solution to one problem could mean a disaster for another problem and ecosystem. in l.a. a tight-knit black fishing community is facing a challenge as the state launch efforts to save a disappearing coastline. >> there's a small fishing village outside new orleans. >> this place was like no other. >> it's where this 62-year-old was born and raised, and his father and grandfather taught him how to fish, and generations
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of black fishermen made a life, and they put food on their tables and had paychecks in their pockets. >> this was it. this was my life. >> this was the life blood of the fishing community? >> absolutely. >> the people in this community have always stood strong, and over the decades man-made catastrophes and natural disasters chipped away at their way of life and lucrative businesses, and today the once booming bayou is mostly silent. >> this was the main source of revenue for the community. >> now the community fears a state plan intended to save louisiana's eroding coastline could deal these fishing villages a final blow. according to state estimates, los angeles lost more than 2,000
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coastline in part because of climate change. they wanted to revert fresh river water there hoping it would rebuild what was lost, but the problem for people like byron could kill a population that depends on saltwater to survive, and could drive other species like shrimp further into the gulf where they would be out of reach for smaller shrimp boats like the one these brothers own. they operate a seafood company. play the moon, my grandfather taught us that. they say naturally occurring duh versions already made it hard to fish here. >> we just to go five minutes from here. >> it would be loaded with
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shrimp. >> the state's fresh water diversion program, a 50-year project is still in the planning news, and they know in the short term their plans will hit some of the fishing industry especially hard, but it's the best long term plan to reverse coastal erosion. the williams brothers disagree. >> they could pump the same from the bayous back. >> for byron, watching the culture slip away hurts deep. >> it hurts your heart to see so much just disappear. >> nbc's tremaine lee joins me now. byron and some of these guys are not going to make it to the long term. >> no. >> the short term is what matters, the here and now. what is the solution? >> this is the proverbial rock and hard place situation, and
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natural disasters and bad policies, and they have found themselves in a no-win situation, and louisiana is losing a football field of its coastline every day, and it's sacrificing small fishing villages like this. >> so what is the solution? is anybody coming to their defense? >> no, right now the state is still working through the plans and they are hoping to reach out to some of the fisherman and ask what they want, is it money for boats to go further out into the ocean, or money to restore docks and money, and they said leave us alone and we have been doing this for 100 plus years and things were working. >> it's a wonderful eke ecoprim fishing opportunity. >> it's the ecosystem and the
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business. the granddaughter to the grandson, they pass it on, and that entire way of life is disappearing. >> in terms of the mitigation of the coastline, isn't there some other way to achieve those goals? >> well, they are hoping you could pump the sentiment on top of the coastline but they believe there's more of a natural way for the sentiment to be carried in naturally is most cost-effective, and it's a $50 billion plan as is, and right now this is the best the state says it can do. >> when you think about it, as you say, the culture, the people, who passed this down for generations. this what we are going to see more and more with climate change, and i am familiar with the barrier islands from the past work i have done for nbc, and those are threatened as well
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as the east coast. >> yeah, we talk about things getting warmer and hurricanes getting more intense, and those that relied on it for so long, and they are affected by that and they are feeling it right now, today. >> where is your next adventure? you have been all over the country, and your podcast and all your reporting for msnbc, tell us what is next up? >> we have a lot going on, every thursday we have a podcast engaging with issues that affect the black community intentionally, and the primaries get kicked off and we will see how voters are engaging with the political process. >> you are a treasure for us. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> great to see you. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell report." happy friday. follow the show online and on
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social media. if it's friday, a planned rescue operation in mariupol. missile strikes in kyiv and a american killed in action, and potential millions in military aid from the u.s. we will have the latest from ukraine and pentagon just ahead. we are going to speak with the top unicef official on the ground in ukraine as aide workers scramble to save as many as they can. and the border crisis, it's all a tangled web of potential legislation on capitol hill as democrats try to push forward on the stalled agenda, the top democrat in the progressive caucus joins me just ahead.
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