tv MSNBC Reports MSNBC July 7, 2022 8:00am-9:00am PDT
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please follow the show online. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now. good morning, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. following the big breaking news from london, british prime minister boris johnson forced to resign after more than 50 cabinet members quit to protest a series of scandals at number 10 downing street. becoming a caretaker leader for the next few months until his party chooses a replacement. america's closest ally and strongest supporter of ukraine thrust into turmoil. johnson finally giving up his desperate fight to cling to power with brief remarks today. >> it is clearly now the will of the parliamentary conservative party that there should be a new leader of that party and, therefore, a new prime minister. i tried to persuade my
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colleagues it would be eccentric to change governments when we're delivering so much. i regret not to have been successful in those arguments. >> and there's big breaking news from moscow. appearing at her trial today wnba star center brittney griner has pleaded guilty to drug charges but said it was accidental, just one day after president biden spoke with her wife cherelle by phone. her plea to perhaps accelerate the end of the trial, perhaps lead to negotiations to her release. we'll have more coming up this afternoon at the white house. the president awarded the medal of freedom to 17 americans for their dedication to the nation. denzel washington, gold medal ayes simone biles, gabby giffords, simone campbell and steve jobs and john mccain post posthumously. we begin with keir simmons, doug
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has worked with johnson in the past and welcome to you all. sir peter is also author of "they call it diplomacy." and now a big welcome to all including keir, first of all, boris johnson fiercely fighting this for weeks. so what finally pushed him to this decision? >> reporter: yeah, well, i think in the end it became inevitable, andrea, just to give you an example the morning news show on the radio this morning that is an opinion leader, if you like, said seven ministers have resigned and had to correct themselves, we mean seven ministers have resigned since we've been on air. it was an avalanche of people walking away, and boris johnson losing more than a quarter of his government. so we just saw this dramatic
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moment, andrea, here in this history making street. boris johnson walking out of 10 downing street there and, of course, in the past we've seen prime ministers in tears. we've seen them try to grab the moment with these speeches, to make their play for history. boris johnson, we didn't harper an apology. there was no concession. instead, he talked about effectively being forced out. he said the herd instinct is powerful and when the herd moves, it moves, and then went on to say, well, them's the breaks. for president biden this presents another challenge. we've already got political paralysis in france, andrea. now we have, frankly, political chaos here in the uk. it's not entirely clear that boris johnson will be able to stay as a caretaker prime minister until the fall as he wants because his own party, many senior members of his own party, messaging today they don't think that is possible.
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and then, of course, when there is a new leader, who will that leader be and will they have the authority on the world stage when they haven't stood for an election here in the uk? the international implications, the kremlin says it hopes for more professional people from the british government. the russian foreign office describing boris johnson as going because he was hit by his own boomerang and saying the moral of the story is not to seek to destroy russia. that is not the moral of the story. the moral of the story domestically is boris johnson just got caught out bluntly lying again and again, and, in the end, the question was over his integrity and his own party decided he did not have the integrity to be prime minister, andrea. >> it's just extraordinary. peter, you had this stellar career to the very heights of the foreign service ending as the ambassador to the u.s.
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you know it so well. your country over these many decades. what does this mean because the uk was the strongest ally of the u.s. and the war in ukraine by russia and what does it mean for great britain? >> well, andrea, it's good to see you again. thanks for having me on. it is a rather extraordinary day or couple of days. and it is indeed a resignation not on policy but honesty, judgment, and those are flaws in the prime minister's character for some time and plenty of his ministers did not feel this was right and it was time for a change. what we noticed in his speech this morning, he was going to stand down, and he has not yet resigned. he hasn't been to see the queen, which is what you have to do in this country when you resign. he said he will go when a successor has been chosen. we saw regret his colleagues
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have not accepted his argument. we did not see, i'm afraid, regret for his own behavior or a lapse in not telling the truth on a number of tricky, delicate issues. it's a rather cathartic moment. he has said now he's not going to depart from 10 downing street until his successor has been chosen. that could be three months or so. he's appointed a number of ministers to fill some of the vacancies which our correspondent was explaining were resignations. he will be in charge the next few months. that worries a number of those who finally prized him out reluctantly or persuaded him to say he will go. what does it mean for our relations with america, our most important ally? well, i would hope not too much that is bad. ukraine will remain solid. that is a nonpartisan issue. the united kingdom has played a role in terms of supporting ukraine against the illegal russian invasion. in some ways it might be easier if we end up with a prime minister and a government less determined to drive a coach and
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horses through the northern island protocol, part of our withdrawal agreement, which worries a lot of people, also in the republican party as well. this is something mr. johnson and his foreign secretary interest v had hard line views about and which disturbs a lot of people in europe. that could conceivably change. but i think in other respects the importance of the relationship with the united states will remain the same but, of course, it will depend hugely on who takes his place. at least ten people have put their hat in the ring already, well, informally anyway. >> it does sound chaotic. something we, of course, have experienced in our politics here. doug, you know it so well am you've worked with boris johnson. he was sometimes considered the donald trump of the uk because of his populism and his appeal across parties and the way he actually managed to win in
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typically labor areas. >> he laid out the successes that his administration has had, and the conservative part, electoral results. what we've seen the last year the conservative party seems to be on the ropes. it's part of the reason we've seen this move away from boris johnson by members of parliament, by members of his cabinet. so while this is all very shocking, it shouldn't be a surprise. in politics when your approval rating is high, you're bulletproof. when it's low, and his has been very low in recent weeks and months, it makes it much less sustainable to hold on especially as we see revelation after revelation. >> let me ask you, peter, about the imprint that boris johnson has had on the uk and on the world because of brexit. is that going to be his legacy? >> i think his legacy will be
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two main things. one is he claims he got brexit done, not entirely true. what he did do was get a package through the british parliament which his predecessor failed to get through which legally completed the process of the united kingdom leaving the eu. it's not done because there are a lot of messy elements to it, a lot of economic damage, and there is an unresolved bit to do with northern ireland. is it going to be down the irish sea or across the middle of the island of ireland, which may sound arcane but is an important point for a lot of people that is unresolved. and the other thing he will be remembered for is that immediately after getting his legislation through the british parliament on brexit, he won a resounding victory in the general election which gave him a majority of 80 people. now he was lucky in that he was running against the most unpopular leader britain has seen for years, the extreme
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left-winger, and he was on a wave of enthusiasm because people really were sick and tired of brexit being out there and unresolved after the june 2016 referendum. but those, i think, are the two main achievements. when the history books are written they will say this is a man who presided over an administration which really had forgotten how to tell the truth, which systematically lied, which did not show integrity, which treated people badly, made a lot of bad judgments and all that. i guess on the positive side of it, the one other thing i should say, ukraine on foreign policy which, of course, has been a welcome distraction from his domestic political woes. he has shown leadership and britain was there providing anti-tank weapons and military training to the ukrainians and ever since the initial invasion, if you like, in the eastern donbas in 2014. i think that will be a tick in the box for him, good judgment on foreign policy in that area. sometimes doing your thing on
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the world stage is less complicated. >> we've seen that with our american presidents as well. boris johnson was the first major foreign leader, allied foreign leader, to go to kyiv and to walk down the streets of kyiv when it was considered quite risky. politically risky and dangerously risky. keir, your thoughts today, you're covering this enormous story both there and here and the implications of it. >> reporter: that's right, andrea. i was listening to you talk with your guests there about ukraine and, of course, remember boris johnson is a longtime student of churchill. he will have naturally in his dna, if you like, how to address a war-time situation in europe, if you like. he would have in some ways and clearly it's a crisis in europe, but there would have been a certain part reveling in that he would have understood the
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importance of symbolism, of going despite the attacks on kyiv. all of that stuff he was clearly extremely good at and in a way what he is and what he has been is a politician that was fantastic at the theatrics, the political theater. he didn't mind embarrassing himself even if it looked kind of clumsy and cumbersome because he knew it got attention and people kind of found it somewhat attractive, endearing. the trouble is, of course it he embarrassed himself so much in this building behind me that in the end his party felt he was, frankly, an embarrassment and he would not be able to win the next election. politically his party has decided boris johnson cannot win another election. >> keir simmons, doug heye and sir peter westmacott, thanks to all of you. an extraordinary day in london. and lives cut short here at
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home. the seven victims of the highland park shooting, and how the community is rallying around the toddler whose parents were killed. new details from the state report about the failures in the response to the uvalde school shooting. that's coming up next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." you'regrams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. reports.
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we're learning more about the victims of the july 4th shooting in illinois including eduardo uvaldo who died yesterday in the hospital after being shot in the head. he would have turned 70 on saturday. this is the suspect's father robert crimo who talks about sponsors his i.d. card saying he thought his son was going to a shooting rage. monday as more than 80 rounds rang down, parents shielding their daughter with their bodies. >> it was way more important to me that she live.
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>> nbc news correspondent shaq brewster joins us from highland park, illinois. shaq, how is the speck's father defending his diagnosis to help his son purchase these weapons? they had already been visited twice by police after he had been threatening all kinds of mayhem and suicide. >> reporter: right, andrea -- >> why did he think there was no issue there? >> reporter: sorry about that, i didn't hear you there. he told "the new york post" while he was still devastated and floored by the shooting, he told them he believes he did nothing wrong. and you were just talking about how he defended sponsoring his son's card, the access for his son, so he could go to the shooting range. he pointed the finger at state authorities that allowed him to then purchase the weapons saying that he had no involvement beyond that, that his son purchased the firearms that he cleared four individual back
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ground checks on his own. so he really was shifting blame to that effect. that question there of why the shooter was able to get the gun despite his previous contacts with law enforcement including back in 2019 when law enforcement came to the house after he threatened to essentially kill everyone with a collection of knives and swords that he had, the state authorities came out yesterday and defended that saying the shooter's mother and the suspect himself, they both dismissed that. they both said that was overblown. so there was no record of that actually happening, so that's why when it came to the background checks, that's why that never was raised for each of those four weapons that were later purchased. andrea this is still a community very much in grief. we know the first funeral that we are aware of will begin tomorrow. we can expect those to continue through the weekend and into next week and then there's also the very public commemorations and vigils occurring, multiple sites we're seeing flowers being
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laid down, notes for the victims, the seven people you see on your screen there who came out to a fourth of july parade and never made it home. we also know that the scene behind me, that area where the shooting took place, it is still closed off. it's still being processed. investigators saying they're going through each and every item seeing if there is anything that can contribute to that investigation, because while the suspected shooter is being charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, they expect potentially dozens more charges to be added to this case because of all the victims that were there, the people who dropped items and fled for their lives. we know some of those items are starting to be handed back to members of the community at the family assistance center. there they're getting mental health treatment. >> shaq brewster, just incredible sadness, devastation there in that community. and turning to the other recent mass shooting now in uvalde, texas, a new report showing that the gunman could
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have been stopped before he even entered the school. nbc news correspondent sam brock joins us from austin. sam, as i understand this report, the police officer had a shot but didn't take it because he didn't get approval. >> reporter: that is correct. that is the top line of the report, andrea. as you talk to family members who lost loved ones that day at robb elementary school, they're anguishing every hour of every day with all the possibilities, all the that could have happened to find out from the state commission report that there were three instances of things that happened prior to the shooter actually entering the building that could have altered the fate of the day, saved lives, if not 21 lives. certainly they are still trying to process all of that information. let's talk about the first one. the police officer you mentioned, it's hard to think of an analogy or another event like this in recent history where a police officer had a clear shot at a suspect seconds before the
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suspect entered the building and yet he, according to testimony that was offered before the state house behind me, was waiting for permission to actually fire the shot. i'm going to read you some of the excerpts of that report which perhaps shed a little bit more light on what was going on. says the officer turned to get confirmation and when he turned back to address the suspect he entered the west hallway unabated. in terms of weighing in on this, a reasonable officer would conclude in this case given the totality of the circumstances, andrea, that use of deadly force was warranted. the caveat to this is that the state teaches using a rifle within 100 yards automatically in a situation like this. it doesn't spell out what happens beyond 100 yards. clearly there is some gray area there. some discretion. that does not change the fact this could have all been prevented should a shot have been fired at that moment although it's also important to note, andrea, we are looking at a situation where the officer said he was worried about striking kids or what else could
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have happened had he missed the shot. there's a lot of angles to it. many parents now frustrated and in many cases infuriated by what they're learning, andrea. >> well, i can imagine their frustration. the whole country is watching this and horrified. it's their children who could have been saved. sam brock, thank you. thanks so much. and the nation's highest honor, president biden is going to award the presidential medal of freedom this afternoon to an extraordinary group of people including posthumously the late senator john mccain. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. a mitchell when you have technology that's easier to control... that can scale across all your clouds... we got that right? reports" on msyeah, we got that. it's easier to be an innovator.
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it brings home how important it is to hold on to the people we love and the things that matter to us. aspirin helps reduce the chance of another heart attack by 31%. your heart isn't just yours. aspirin is not appropriate for everyone, so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. in just a few hours president biden will be awarding the highest civilian honor, the presidential medal of freedom, to 17 extraordinary freedoms including olympic gold medalist simone biles, soccer superstar megan rapinhoe, denzel washington for his work with the boys club, and posthumous medal for the late senator john mccain. joining us now, we're so pleased to have, first of all, nbc's chief white house correspondent
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peter alexander, talking about one of those happy moments in the white house. there haven't been that many for this president, but this one is certainly glorious with these people coming. peter? >> reporter: andrea, this is always a special moment. in fact, joe biden himself received the presidential medal of freedom when he was serving as vice president. this is the first time he will be delivering those medals, those awards, to so many individuals today, stalwarts of religion, politics, sports, entertainment, civil rights, military, the labor community as well. so let's walk you through some of these individuals. first simone biles at just 25, she's already the most decorated american olympian in history as she, of course, is an advocate for sexual assault victims, denzel washington, a household name, not just as a director, an actor, a producer, an academy award winner but for more than 25 years he has served as a national spokesperson for the boys and girls clubs of america.
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john mccain obviously passed away of brain cancer in 2018. his wife, cindy mccain, brought to tears when the president called her to tell her that her husband, her late husband, would be receiving this award, the decorated vietnam veteran. the republican nominee for president in 2008 before his defeat to barack obama, as we noted, died about four years ago. also being honored posthumously today is the co-founder of apple, steve jobs. jobs, whose inventions revolutionized the lives of so many americans from the ipad to the iphone and beyond. on this day those are just among the names. there are so many individuals who are going to be honored. megan rapinoe will be here, one of the most celebrated soccer stars in the united states. she's been on the u.s. women's national team since 2006. she has pushed for equal pay for
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women's sports, for female athletes so they would make the same dollar figure as their male counterparts. she's spoken out on social justice and lgbtq issues as well. so, andrea, it's going to be a packed house on some very special day here at the white house as they honor some extraordinary americans. >> peter, thank you so much. and joining us now ambassador cindy mccain. the united states permanent representative to the u.s. agencies and the wife of late senator john mccain who is being honored today. you've been doing heroic work on the food shortages caused by the ukraine war. that is your main focus. >> it is right now. i've had the opportunity to work in rome and work on probably the toughest issue facing the world right now and that is our food security issues. >> but let's talk about the award and senator mccain. this is a wonderful honor from his friend joe biden.
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it represents bipartisanship and the affection and respect they had for each other, but it's really his heroism. >> it is. >> he's such an iconic figure to all of us. >> the fact it's the presidential medal of freedom means more to us, i think, than most people because john was denied his freedom for so long. he was without freedom as a prisoner of war, and so when he was released his respect for in the only freedom itself but how we attain and receive freedom and how we maintain it is a large part of who he was and what he stood for. >> and he stood for the best kind of politics. >> yes, he did. he was so bipartisan. he was so -- sometimes he could be a little tough to work with, but that was john mccain because he was passionate about what he did, and he cared so much for this country. and i'm just grateful and so honored and proud for the family that president biden would decide to do this for john because i think it stands for so
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much and john stood for so much. >> let's talk about politics in america right now. it's not john mccain's politics. would he recognize the republican party -- >> no. >> -- so many people say they still believe that donald trump won the election? >> i don't believe my husband would recognize it. i do know one thing, he would be fighting like the dickens to pull it back together and bring it back to what it was during previous republican administrations and previous administrations as well. i'm still a republican. i believe in the party, and i believe in what we stand for, but right now we've lost our way. and so i'm hoping as the years go on perhaps we can right ourselves and do what republicans do best and that is work for smaller government but work in a bipartisan fashion. >> the hearings that have been going on have been watched by millions and millions of people and they've been compelling, compelling television but
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shocking about the level of lies and deceit going on inside the white house. >> for all of us, and i can watch a little bit of it being based in rome, the time change is a little hard. for all of us that work so hard and believe in this country the way that we do, it's hard to watch. it's something that we must deal with in a proper fashion as well. i believe there's going to be some legal issues come out of this. mourn importantly it's a good lesson, and we're not being good examples for our children with what this represents right now, and that's most important. >> john mccain was known as a maverick and someone not afraid to buck the party trend. do you think that's a rare quality in politics right now? >> i think it is right now. i do. he was one of a kind. when he passed away the mold was broken, in my humble opinion.
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but, yes, i think a lot of people -- i think that maverick attitude is what made him so special but what made this country special. i think we need to encourage our members and politicians to do just that, don't be afraid to buck the system and don't be afraid to speak out on any of these issues no matter what side you're on. debate is good in this country, calm debate, dignified debate is good. >> one current example of a republican speaking out is liz cheney, and being punished at the polls, if you believe the polls, but not afraid to speak out. stripped of her party leadership. >> right. she's an amazing person, and i have talked with her both on the phone and via email, et cetera, during this time. and i just think her strength and her ability to look beyond the now and look for what's good for the country, and it may harm her in the end.
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her political aspirations. but she can sleep at night and know that she did the right thing. >> one thing that occurs to me i'm thinking of al gore conceding, his speech. richard nixon january 6, 1961, read the electoral count that gave -- and that was a far closer election. could have been disputed. i'm thinking of you and john mccain standing there, i can see it in my mind's eye right now. it's not easy to lose. >> no. >> the peaceful transfer of power is something that is fundamental. it goes back to george washington. >> and that's what makes us special as americans, it makes this country special. and, in my mind, i think the speech my husband gave that night was one of the finest speeches i've ever heard, not just from him, but from anyone in that kind of situation. peaceful transfer of power, the way that we govern ourselves,
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the way we represent who we are, we have got to come back to that. i know people overseas that i deal with say to me, what happened? is it going to get better? what's going to happen? and right now i don't have the answer for it. i believe in what president biden is doing. i'm hoping that he can help right this ship a little bit. we have a long way to go. >> i'm thinking of another arizonian who will be there receiving -- >> gabby giffords, yeah. >> -- this award today, and that's gabby giffords for her heroism and resilience. >> amazing woman. look what she's done and look what she survived. and so i'm not only proud that it's another arizonian that's getting the award but also proud of the work her husband has been doing and the kind of leadership they both exemplify in the work that they do. >> i know you're a westerner. i assume you have guns on your property. >> yes, mm-hmm. >> what do you think about the
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gun violence and seeing these mass shootings? >> i can approach this as a mother and, yes, we have guns. yes, but we use them safely, and we store them safely, and i want to be clear about that. but we have to do something about the gun violence. i think what the congress needs to step forward in this, there's more to do. it doesn't mean removing guns but it means stiffer background checks, all the things we've talked about in the past. but it's something -- there's more to this than just the guns. there is mental illness. there's family division. there's a lot of things at play. i think we need to pay attention to our home and pay attention to what's going on locally with our youth especially. >> well, be cindy mccain, congratulations. >> thank you. >> it's such an honor and -- thank you for your service. >> thank you. and fighting for freedom, speaking of john mccain a. major
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outpouring for jailed wnba star brittney griner here in the u.s. rallying for her as she pleaded guilty today to drug charges this morning in russia. how her family and supporters are pushing the white house to help get her home. e to help i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance get her home.colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance
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wnba star center brittney griner pleaded guilty today in a russian court on drug charges. she could face up to ten years in prison. she's already been jailed in moscow for more than four and a half months. embassy officials were able to speak with her in court today and deliver a letter from president biden. back home in phoenix her family and friends continue to fight for her there's mounting pressure to bring her home. >> i can't rest as her humanity is being stripped from her. i can't rest as her safety is in question.
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i can't rest until she's home. >> and joining us now nbc white house correspondent kara lee and wpbo and wnba veteran nancy lieberman, an olympic medalist and the first female and current head coach of team power in the big three. so, secretary of state blinken tweeting today, he's in indonesia at the g20, saying officials attended brittney griner's trials and delivered her a letter from president biden. we will not relent until brittney, paul whelan and all other wrongfully detained americans are reunited with their loved ones. they are pouring cold water on any talk after prisoner swap to get her home. do they think that a guilty plea could at least bring this trial to a faster close because they have said there can be no talks until the trial is over.
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>> that's right and one of the things weep know is administration officials didn't expect a resolution to this case until the trial plays out. conceivably they are not saying this is something they are expecting but conceivably could be the case if this moves more quickly then the administration may be able to deal with the russian government to get her freedom and because they felt as long as the trial process was playing out that wasn't necessarily something that would be in play. so one of the things we are learning since brittney griner's guilty plea, a statement from the national security council spokesperson saying this is something the white house will continue to work on. they said they're pursuing every avenue to bring her home safely and not just in terms of britney griner's case but those who are wrongfully detained overseas.
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brittney griner's lawyer said she admitted to having these vape canisters though they were not intentionally in her luggage. it's not something she intentionally was bringing in to russia and her legal team is hoping for leniency from the court and as far as the white house's perspective and where they go from here, this is something that has become just front of mind and front of center because of all of this public pressure that the president is under to do something about this case, and not just this case but others who are detained overseas, andrea. >> and, nancy lieberman, as an athlete you have to understand better than anyone would, she's 6'9". she's been kept in a cage for the two and a half hour trips to and from court from her jail cell. she's not getting any exercise. what can her physical condition be and emotional condition after four and a half months? >> well, obviously, after four and a half months emotionally you just mentioned, physically
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it will take its toll on her. i understand the legalese and the politics of what's happening. if we don't get brittney griner out of here, it doesn't matter what administration is in the white house this will be one of the biggest black eyes in the history of a presidency because in this day and age we're trying to help women, african american women, this is a star, this is a good woman. she is a wife. and the fact that our president, and, again, i don't care who the president would have been, you don't call her family for four months? it's disturbing to me. i'm not for prisoner swapping. i understand, again, politics. but i do understand that we have done this and in certain cases i think viktor bout was serving a 25-year sentence. he could have less than five years before he can get out. i would certainly think about bringing brittney home and
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whelan home and any other american nationals that are being held. she's not a criminal. she's not involved in espionage. she deserves to come back. and the optics for people like myself that don't work in the white house and the media every day, the optics of, well, he called her, the optic is he read the letter, the optics of the government is doing whatever they can, we live in a world of actionary moments. the white house has to, at this point, actually do something and not tell us what they're going to do, they need to actually do this and bring this woman home. she deserves to be here in america. she said she voted for him. and i fully expect this administration, if it sounds like i have some anger, it is, because she's an american citizen and she deserves to be able to come back to this country. and i don't know how she's going to be when she gets back to her family.
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>> also, we have to talk about paul whelan. we've talked to his family, and they are concerned they don't have the celebrity. they don't have the resources that griner has had. they've been trying -- he's been there for four years, and they've tried four times letters to the white house asking for any kind of contact with the president. they talked to the national security adviser the last time on may 4th. but they say they've gotten nothing back and not really any details. there's a lot of frustration from these other families, a whole group of them, there's 66 people detained wrongfully around the world. and they put out a statement yesterday they do not feel the state department's hostage negotiation program is working although we have to understand that with russia right now it can't be the best time with the ukraine war right now. russia is not going to give up anything easily, right?
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>> yeah. that's absolutely right, andrea. and i think from the administration's perspective there's a recognition that this is an issue that's metastasizing. if you look at the statements the administration has released, whelan's name is mentioned in them regularly including in the readout of that call that president biden and vice president harp is had with cherelle griner yesterday. they will have to deal with not just with griner but all of those families. >> thanks so much, carol lee. thanks to nancy lieberman. closing its doors the mississippi abortion clinic at the center of the dobbs supreme court case officially shuts down today. what's next for the staff and for the women, their clients, the patients. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. is "andl
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access, the closest clinic is 426 miles away in tallahassee, florida. joining us now, blayne alexander with more. >> reporter: here in jackson, mississippi, this is the final day that this abortion clinic will have its doors open to patients. behind me you see the jackson women's health organization. you hear a lot of the atmosphere that really has become a normal, commonplace for outside of this clinic, for many years here. you hear the song, the chants of protesters, anti-abortion protesters who have set up shop. they continue their today. on the other side, the side of the building you see what are known as the pink house escorts. they stand outside and help escort, guide women inside past the protesters to get services. here is why today is different. as of midnight, abortions are no longer performed here in this clinic. they are no longer legal in the state with very few exceptions. this is the only abortion clinic
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in mississippi. it was at the center of the supreme court case. they are seeing a few patients today for follow-up appointments and things of the like. as of the end of the day, the doors will close permanently. what this does really is this effectively wipes out abortion access across a wide portion of the south. women here in mississippi, the nearest place is either florida or illinois, both of them several hours away. for many women here, many of whom live in poverty, who do not have very much means, that is not a feasible trip. it's not something they can do. we are seeing not only this clinic, but others in states where abortion has been outlawed, moving their services to other states. this place that's known here as the pink house because of its color is going to move to new mexico. they are reopening a clinic there. they will see patients in two weeks. they are going to provide services elsewhere. they remain concerned for the
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women here in mississippi. back to you. >> thank you, blayne alexander in mississippi. boris johnson is out. what led to the british prime minister'ses reigs nation this morning? why he is not going anywhere right away. that's next on "andrea mitchell reports" after this short break. that'ss anymore? i mean, "riders" is cool, but "bikers"...is really cool. -seriously? -denied. can we go back to meeting at the rec center? the commute here is brutal. denied. how do we feel about getting a quote to see if we can save with america's number one motorcycle insurer? should flo stop asking the same question every time? -approved! -[ altered voice ] denied! [ normal voice ] whoa. [whistling]t on "andr reports" after this short break. when you have technology that's easier to control...
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thank you for staying with "andrea mitchell reports." boris johnson is out at number 10 downing street, bending to unrelenting political pressure from within his own party. throwing the united kingdom into political chaos. they need a successor until elections are held. his successor will be the fourth prime minister in the past seven years. johnson making brief remarks earlier today. >> we have seen westminster, the herd instinct is powerful. i know there will be many people who are relieved and perhaps quite a few who will be disappointed. i want you to know how sad i am to be giving up the best job in the world. but them's the breaks. >> them's the breaks. in moscow, wnba star and former olympic gold medallist
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