have decided to sentence her. the judge summarizing the charges. she has already pled guilty. we are waiting for those additional considerations, the additional things that they took into deciding her sentence. but as andrea says, the expectation is that she will be sentenced. the question that we have right now and we are hoping for is what exactly that sentence is and we don't have that yet. >> molly hunter, thank you so much for joining us on this breaking news. that wraps it up for me. i'm lindsey reiser. andrea mitchell picks up with more breaking news right now. >> and good morning. i'm andrea mitchell in washington, kicking off this special two-hour edition of "andrea mitchell reports." as you've heard the breaking news, we are watching that russian court, you see wnba star brittney griner. she has just received the guilty verdict. a guilty verdict on drug possession and smuggling. it's a critical step that had to take place before any chance of getting her home. there was a long shot of acquittal, but that was such a long shot.

only 1% of those facing trials in russia are acquitted. 99% are found guilty. reaction from a few moments from the executive director of the women's national basketball player's association, who has been fighting for her return. plus, any moment, we're expecting a civil rights announcement from attorney general merrick garland at the department of justice. but we begin this hour, of course, with the brittney griner drug trial in in russia. the russian court finding her guilty. they have asked to sentence her to nine and a half years in prison and fine her $1 million ruble, which is more than $16,000. a conviction now has certainly been announced in that court in russian. today, greiner addressing thecl appealing for leniency. >> i made an honest mistake, and i hope that in your ruling, that it doesn't end my life here.

i know that everybody keeps talking about political pawn and politics, but i hope that that is far from this courtroom. i want to say again that i had no intent on breaking any russian laws. i had no intent, i did not conspire or plan to commit this crime. i hope that you take into account all the documentses, all the character list that everybody sent in on my behalf. >> the guilty verdict could pave the way for a high-stakes prisoner swap between the united states and russia, which would include greiner and american businessman and marine, former marine, paul whealan, in exchange for convicted russian arms dealer, viktor bout, serving time here in a prison in the u.s. joining me now is the former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, and terry jackson, the executive director of the women's national basketball player's association. thanks so much for joining us. teri, first of all, you can see brittney, you've heard her powerful appeal, her staple to

the court before the verdict was announced. you can see the translator talking to her, telling her what the court is saying. her being in a russian court, in a russian system, one of the huge emotional strains of this experience for her. what is your reaction? >> andrea, we knew today how to come. we've been bracing for this. we've been trying to prepare, as much as we could. seeing b.t. and seeing her poise and her composure at this very critical our, you can hear the emotion kind of welling up in me right now. it is what we are all feeling for her. we are thankful that this is coming to an end. but we have kind of feared what this court would do and what

this ruling would be. what b.t. said this morning was so eloquent, so poignant, so honest. and we are just hoping and praying that the compassion and mercy that we've been calling for really comes to fruition in this final verdict, whatever it may be. and as you've been reporting, there may be a verdict, and we just don't even know it yet. >> well, we do know that verdict is guilty, teri. >> oh, yes, i'm sorry, the guilty verdict, but we don't know the sentencing. >> exactly. >> i apologize. >> and hoping it is not the nine and a half years, but certainly hoping she's not going to have to serve much time at all, because we're hoping for a prisoner woman. now, mike mcfaul, there is a lot in place here, because the russians came back with a counteroffer, a nonstarter. you know the one they want out, a russian spy, a convicted

assassin, the u.s. said that is not even on the table. it shouldn't be on the table, it should not be included, and that's where it stood. and the russians saying nothing would be settled until the court trial was over. now that there's, a verdict, is the trial over? can they now start talking? lavrov and secretary blinken are both at the same dinner as we speak in cambodia. the question, let me ask ambassador mcfaul, from what you know of the russian system, could we even have lavrov and secretary blinken talking now in cambodia about the prospects for a deal? >> the answer is "yes." one footnote so your viewers understand, in the russian criminal system, the reading of these verdicts can go on for hours. so i think everybody is waiting to hear what is the sentencing and just, everybody should just be patient. it's going to take a while. they literally read everything that came up throughout the entire trial.

so that's what's going on right now. that's what we're watching. of course, i hope secretary blinken will use this moment to talk to foreign minister lavrov. it's a perfect opportunity to take the next step. as you've just been discussing, we all knew this tragic, horrible day was coming. here it is. but i think it's the right strategy to speed it up, and now gets on to the trade. and we don't know a lot of the details about the official russian response yet. we know what our side has said. we know what the russian public has said, throwing in these assassins from germany to try to sweeten the deal. we really don't know what lavrov has said yet. maybe tonight we'll get some answers. >> and just to pursue this, the russians were very critical of the u.s., of secretary blinken for even acknowledging that a prisoner swap deal had been discussed for weeks now, and he acknowledged this, you know, a week or so ago, and the russians

said, you know, you should not be using a megaphone, this should all be done in secret. and they were disparaging it. i assume that's posturing? a senior official traveling with secretary blinken said that there would be no conversation with foreign minister lavrov in this meeting while they're in cambodia, but they're both at the same dinner. now the trial is over, i suppose, in their system, that would be the end of the trial once the sentence is announced, correct? >> yes, unless the greiner team want to appeal, but i don't see why they would do that. they have already pleaded guilty. i think this is the moment when serious negotiations, if it's on the table. i want to emphasize, we've heard from the american side and from secretary blinken. we haven't heard much from the russian government side yet. and maybe that's fine. maybe they'll negotiate behind closed doors. i would suspect, i would hope that even on a side bar, andrea, a pull-aside, as we call it

in diplomacy would happen tonight about this case in cambodia. >> and just to pursue that for a moment, do you think that the russians by raising the whole question of this russian prisoner in germany were trying to really set back any hope that she could come out? because they know it's a nonstarter. or we know that the u.s. did contact a lower-level german official. is it something that the u.s. would even ask germany to consider? >> well, it's not out of the realm of possibility. and you know, in a prison swap of spies, a decade ago by now, that involved multiple countries, not just one country, it involved great britain, as well. it's not out of the realm of possibility. the guy we're talking about is an assassin. she killed a chechen citizen in berlin. i would be shocked if he was added to the equation. but it's a very russian tactic, in terms of diplomacy. they're always pushing for more. they're always, until the very last minute, pushing for moment.

that's been my experience. so maybe this is just posturing that will eventually lead to a deal. >> and ambassador, when you're talking about the russian system, you've told us, you've explained it to us that 99% of people are found guilty. and that's why, you know, she pleaded guilty to try to speed this whole process up and get to the point where something could be negotiated. what also happens in the russian system? will it now also include where she is sent in detention? could she be sent to some minimum security facility, or would she be sent to the sort of hard labor, remote facility, such as navalny, who is such a prime target of vladimir putin? >> that's a great question, andrea. i don't know the answer. there are lots of different places that she could serve.

she'll be in jail today, tragically. and where they'll take her, i do not know. that's probably part of what we'll hear in this long reading of the sentencing. but there is a range. there's no nice places to serve prison time in russia. i want to be clear about that. but there is a range of possibility, so let's hope that it's a nicer place, in skoum, in particular, so her team can remain in constant contact with her. >> one of the things that we're told that the judge said in reading this entire sentence was that she admitted that she had done in, in terms of the judge, there was a translator at the airport to ensure she understood that the cartridge was not listed on her travel form. the judge is going through all of the reasons to justify the guilty verdict now. that's something that i guess you would expect. what do you think of this nine and a half-year sentence that the prosecution is asking for,

mike? >> you know, tragic. i don't know any way to explain it that how could the alleged crime, it was very clearly a mistake, she was not smuggling drugs, nine and a half years seems like an outrageously long sentence for what she did, but not out of the normal for russia. you know, we've talked about mark fogle before. and mark did a similar thing. he got 14 years for what he did. it's not surprising in terms of the russian system, but it most certainly is tragic and sad. >> and paul whealan has already been there for four years, serving a very long sentence, indeed, having been accused and convicted of spying. something that the u.s. says was a completely trumped up charge. so that is why as being in the category of being a hostage, basically, that's why he was put in with that category and is subject to this deal.

mike mcfaul, thank you so very much. terry jackson is back with us from the wnba and the judge is basically reading the riot act, saying, defending the guilty decision, saying that it was a translator there, she knew, she admitted she was wrong, you know, they're going through a whole list, the worst possible interpretation of the facts as we know them on the case. teri? >> right, right, exactly. and andrea, i think when we first heard b.g. talk about that she didn't have a translator, that she wasn't read her rights, that there was information that was just missing. things that we come to expect in our own system. that was a blow. that was a terrible employee. but as i was saying earlier, we knew this day was coming. we're finally here. we needed there to be an end to

this. we're hopeful with the efforts of the administration to keep pressing. they have said very clearly, they have shown very clearly that b.g. and other detainees, paul whealan, other detainees are a priority. we pray that they will keep pressing to make this a priority. and yes, before i lost you, you were talking about the diplomats being in the same -- at the same dinner. and i'm just trusting that they'll have the continued conversations, productive conversations, to get b.g. home. this is day 168. it's time. it's time. the facts of this case really perhaps are not as they are -- as the court in russia is detailing them. they're really something different and enough is enough. we're ready for our sister b.g. to come home. >> have you spoken to chirele

recently? have you communicated -- as she communicated with brittany? >> i haven't spoken to chireele. we traded just a few text messages going into next week. we knew that she was preparing for the bar exam. we look to support her. there's so many milestones that they should be doing together, celebrating together, supporting each other as spouses, as a family. so we just look to step in and be there for chirele as best we could. >> well, mike mcfaul, teri jackson, thank you so much. i know you'll be with us if we get more about the actual sentence. but we have more breaking news as well. we have an announcement from attorney general merrick garland moments ago. the department of justice has charged four current and four former louisville with federal crimes related to breonna taylor's death. >> members of the place-based investigations unit falsified the affidavit used to obtain the

search warrant of miss taylor's home. that this act violated federal civil rights laws, and that those violations resulted in miss taylor's death. specifically, we allege that miss taylor's fourth amendment rights were violated when defendants joshua janes, kyl meany,&sought a warrant to search miss taylor's home knowing that the officers lac ed probable cause for the search. >> i want to go to ken dilanian. ken, the attorney general said that breonna taylor should be alive today. take us through the details of these indictments. >> this is a major, major indictment by the department of justice today, in a case where no one was charged by the state directly in breonna taylor's death. recall that one officer was charged with wantonly firing his weapon in a way that endangered

neighbors, but was acquitted. so what we have today is a set of civil rights charges against three officers, that the justice department says conspired to falsify the warrant application, that led those officers to raid that house, where breonna taylor was sleeping, and recall that her boyfriend thought that there were intruders, had a weapon, fired a warning shot, and officers poured fire into that apartment and breonna taylor was killed. so the lead officer, the lead detective who has been fired by the louisville police department, joshua janes, wrote in the march 2020 warrant application, that she verified with the u.s. postal inspector that taylor's ex-boyfriend, a man suspected of dealing drugs, received packages at her address. an internal investigation found that janes did not personally verify that information, and he instead relied on another officer's word that proved to be false. and that's -- that was internal police investigation. he's now been charged with civil rights violations, based on those facts, andrea.

and the justice department also alleged that these men conspired to mislead state, local, and federal investigators, as they tried to piece together what happened here. so some very major charges in a case that has really provoked a lot of angst and protest in that community in louisville. >> and barbara mcquade, let's talk about the justice department. the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, big changes from the trump administration, clearly, and the fact that they took this action. as ken says, these are serious charges after local officials did nothing. >> for serious charges. i have often puzzled as to why they were able to get a no-knock warrant in that situation. and the law makes it very difficult to charge officers with firing shots when they are fired upon.

so why was the table set? why did they get this no-knock warrant. so learning that they have made false representations to obtain a warrant, that was the crack in this case. and they found it and filed these charges. i credit the dogged determination of kristin clark, the assistant attorney general, to go back to that point in time to find out that's what the problem was. and to those that say that lies are mere process crimes, this demonstrates why pursuing those lies are so important, by finding that cover of false statements, they were able to charge this case in way they couldn't charge it under the law, looking solely at the shooting itself. >> barbara mcquade, thanks so much. and ken dilanian, we appreciate that. and coming up, the trump finances. two of former president trump's adult children have now testified in the new york toerngs's investigation into the trump organization. what it means for the former president. that's next. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. you're wl reports" only on msnbc ♪ got my hair got my head ♪

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ivanka trump have testified before the attorneys from the new york attorney general's office. don jr. testified last week, ivanka testified yesterday. sources say both of them never took the fifth amendment, which they could have taken, against self-incrimination. new york's attorney general letitia james is investigating the trump organization's finances and whether the firm inflated or deflated real estate valuations to suit their interests. and of course, they're both officers of that corporation. joining us now, "new york times" investigative reporter, susanne craig, who won a pulitzer prize in 2019 for her reporting, her team at "the new york times" on the trump finances. suzanne, thanks for being with us. so former president trump, he fought the attorney general's office for months and months, trying to avoid testimony. suzanne, standby with us for just a moment. we're getting the sentencing, i believe, with brittney griner. >> yeah, absolutely. busy morning. >> we're waiting to get -- we're

now reporting that brittney griner has been sentenced to nine years. that is close to the maximum that had been recommended. teri jackson is still with us. nine years in a russian prison, teri. your reaction? >> well, now we have the sentence. we have the verdict, now we have the sentence. my members and i have been preparing for this, has best we could, preparing for the worst. nine years seems so out of balance, but where we are right now is to continue moving forward to work with this administration, support this administration, to get b.g. home. >> and teri, we understand this could be appealed in ten days. we assume that the verdict is not going to be appealed, because the whole point of her defense was to plead guilty to accelerate the conclusion of the trial, so you could begin

negotiations for some kind of a prisoner swap. >> right. i mean, that's what i'm saying, andrea. we're here. we're here. we've gotten to the end. this has just been an incredibly difficult road. and i'm just so amazed to see b.g. as poised and composed as she's been. so, listen, whatever the administration needs to do, whatever conversations secretary blinken and his counterpart need to have, we trust that they are having them, with all deliberate speed, because it's time. andrea, it's just time. i don't know what more i can say. >> well, we thank you for being with us. i'm sure that you and the team and teammates and of course, her wife and family, are really, you

know, clearly distressed. the fine was 1 million rubles, by the way, which is about $16,000 u.s. so presumably that's going to be paid and she will be taken to detention. we were talking to mike mcfaul later, of course, the former ambassador who has done prisoner swaps and dealt with prisoners over there. and teri, there is an issue as to where she is going to be taken. there are no good options there, but there are even worse options in the penal system there. so one thing is hoping that she is somehow detained in moscow, so that embassy consular officials can visit with her, so that she can get information, so that her attorneys can see her every day. so that access to her and her communication with her team is going to be so important. teri, you know, i don't know what the wnba can do at this point.

is the concern that if there's too much, too much publicity surrounding this, and of course, there's no way that this is not the lead story and of consuming interest to american people, but what are the concerns about how the russian prison system is going to react to all of this and how the russian -- how the kremlin is going to react? now it's at the level of sergey lavrov and vladimir putin. >> exactly. exactly. you know, what we in the "w," as the player's association, on the league side, we're going to continue to work together. we're going to continue to monitor this. you're right, we don't know where she's going to be, whether it's going to be in moscow where her team can get to her and can stay in continued contact. so that we know how she's doing and she knows that we are still here for her, still standing there, standing for her, still supporting her. it's really hard to know, andrea, what comes next.

we're just hopeful for those conversations at that high level. we're hopeful that those continue. >> and we've seen the exterior of the court now, so presumably her lawyers are talking to her, she's got a russian translator there, who was communicating what the court said, what the judge said. we saw her in that cage, an extraordinary thing to watch, this 6'9" athlete who has been in prison since february 17th, when she was detained at the airport in moscow. the courtroom itself, the courthouse is outside in a suburb outside of moscow, but we are waiting to see what the lawyers and perhaps one of the embassy officials say, pause we saw both of them, all of them, the male lawyer and a female lawyer and also a woman from the embassy. the u.s. ambassador, john sullivan, to russia, is not in country, i do not believe. i think the top official there would be the dcm, the person in

charge of the embassy. and she has been freakily speaking about, talking to brittney griner, and griner being as well as could be expected under the circumstances. and of course, we understand also earlier today that she was weeping at times, when she was addressing the court about how this has affected her life. and she expressed so much contrition and apologies to the court, explaining the circumstances, but the judge, you know, dismissed all of that in that long reading of the sentence. nine years, nine and a half years is what the prosecution had asked for. just to put in context of the diplomatic talks, secretary blinken is in cambodia rowan at an asian summit, it's the asean association of asian ministers from all over asia.

and sergey lavrov is also there. and going into those meetings, he had said that he was not going to have any meetings en route. officials said he was not going to have any meetings with lavrov, nothing was planned. but the trial was underway, and the russians had said they didn't want to talk about this publicly until the trial was over. now the trial is over. the ball is obviously in lavrov's court, or in secretary blinken's court, to try to approach lavrov, and say, now that the trial is over, can we talk? so that's what, best case, and mike mcfaul said earlier, knowing diplomacy and the white house as well as he does, is there a reason why the secretary of state could not approach sergey lavrov and say, please, discuss this. what are your hopes here. what would be your message to secretary of state? >> our message to the secretary is, you stated very clearly that this was a top priority. we believe in you.

we trust in you. there doesn't need to be a formal meeting planned. i think, perhaps, there were some thoughts that the verdict and the sentencing would come tomorrow. but here's where we are. seize the day. make use of this time. you need no formal meeting, no meeting invite, no scheduling, have the conversations. this is critically important to b.g., for her family, for her union family, to her sisters that i represent, that i have the privilege of representing. this is critically important not just to us, but to our country. we need a win. and we're counting on you to have that conversation and begin to put these wheels in motion to secure that win, that this country, that americans so desperately need at this time. that's my message to the secretary. >> teri, let me read you something that the attorneys,

her defense lawyers are just put out. and contrary to my expectations, they say they are going to appeal. here's what they say. we are very disappointed by the verdict. as legal professionals, we believe that the court should be fair to everyone, regardless of nationality. the court completely ignored all the evidence of the defense. and most importantly, the guilty plea. this contradicts the existing legal practice. taking into account the amount of the substance, not to mention the defect of the expertise -- they mean in the way it was collected, as they had previously argued -- and the plea, the verdict is absolutely unreasonable. we will certainly file an appeal. that is from her russian defense team. your reaction? >> you know what? i trust b.g.'s russian defense team. i trust that legal team. they are on the ground, they know the system, they have prevented a strong case. i trust them. and for them to continue to move forward on this process, you know, through these -- through

the appeals, through the legal channels, we support that. we understand that, and, you know, we completely support it. we completely understand. it and that needs to be done. but at the same time, we need this administration to keep pressing forward. >> we now have a statement from the president, president biden, saying, today, american citizen brittney griner received a prison sentence that is one more reminder of what the world already knew. russia is wrongfully detaining brittney. it's unacceptable and i call on russia to release her immediately so she can be with her wife, loved ones, friends, and teammates. my administration will continue to work tirelessly and pursue every possible avenue to bring brittney and paul whelan home safely as soon as possible. so that is the comment, written statement from the president. we expect to hear more from the white house during a briefing later today, or perhaps a spokesman, john kirby or someone will be coming out and speaking very quickly.

but this is clearly a determination. you have their attention. everything that you and sharl and reverend al joining us and everyone else has been doing as part of this, trying to bring this front and center has worked. >> there's been an incredible outpouring of support, incredible mobilization from organizations all around the world hearing from this president, our president, the president that b.g. voted for, he sounds very determined, he sounds very committed, and that's what we needed to hear. and i'm just hopeful that the entire sports community, global sports community is paying attention, because b.g. is a global sports ambassador. and you know, as we have been saying, we said in statements today on our social media, sports should be sacred. and the global sports community

and governing body should be paying attention to. >> she is an olympic medalist as well as a wnba superstar and has played in russia for seven years. she has an affection for her teammates. she's a star there. and the reason she's playing there is that, you know, as you know better than anyone, players in the wnba do not make the kind of money that the male players make in the nba, so during the off-season, they go overseas. explain that disparity for us. >> well, let me go back to the top. she's an olympic gold medallist, she is a russian champion, she is a euro league champion. as much as she is popular and loved in this country, she is popular and loved in russia, also. and that's why i'm calling on the global sports community to pay attention and to stand with us in this moment. yes, our wnba players go overseas, because the opportunities are there. the opportunities to make more

money than they make here. those are opportunities that they have to go after. i understand that. as proud as i am of this recent collective bargaining agreement that we negotiated, because i am very proud of it, there's still more work to be done. and we said that, our player president said that, at the time that we executed that agreement. there is still work to be done on all fronts, but particularly on salary. and so we will have those conversations, because, as i have said to you before, you know, to honor b.g. in this moment, to do right by my members, we must have the honest conversation about what it means to play basketball in this country. what it means to be a professional athlete, playing in a women's league at the wnba. >> and teri, i think we're now going to hear from the u.s. embassy official. let's listen, outside the courthouse. >> -- millions of fans in the united states as well as here in

russia, was sentenced to nine years in prison for nothing more than an unintentional oversight. this is a miscarriage of justice. the u.s. department of state has determined that miss griner has been wrongfully detained. together with consular officers from the u.s. embassy office in moscow, i attended every session of miss griner's trial. we will continue to be engaged in this case. we will remain in frequent contact with miss griner and with her legal team. secretary of state blinken, president biden's -- president biden's national security team, and the entire american government remain committed to bringing miss griner home safely to her family and friends and loved ones. and i in charge of the u.s. embassy in moscow will also do my best to bring her home safely.

i will continue to do everything to care for the safety and well-being of miss griner and of all u.s. citizens detained in the russian federation. i have no other comments. >> that care for the safety and well-being of misgriner and of all u.s. citizens detained in the russian federation, we have no higher priority. thank you. i have no further comments. >> difficulty there -- sorry for the audio difficulty. we'll clean up that audio. the wrong microphone was being played out. that was elizabeth mood, the top american diplomat in russia right now. the ambassador is no there, but i think we have at the white house, and teri jackson, i know you're standing by as well, from the wnba players' association, i

think joining us now is national security coordinator for strategic communications, john kirby. john, it's very good of you to join us there. okay, a nine-year sentence handed down from the court, ignoring all of the conditions and her explanations in her guilty plea. i saw the statement from the president. your reaction? >> yeah, i think the president said it really well, andrea, that this sentence, this trial, just reaffirms what we have been saying all along. that brittney has been wrongfully detained and she needs to be immediately released by russian authorities so she can be home with her wife, her teammates, her friends and family. and the president is going to stay 100% committed to achieving that outcome. now, look, we have made a serious proposal to the russians to try to get brittney and paul whelan, who was also wrongfully detained home where they belong.

and we have urged the russians again to seriously consider that proposal, to act on it, and let's get these two americans home where they belong. >> right now, secretary blinken is at a dinner, an asean dinner in cambodia and so is sergey lavrov. there is no expectation that they should immediate. should we now reach out, that the trial is over? >> i certainly won't speak for secretary blinken, but he has been very, very keenly involved in this case, since the beginning. and i have no doubt that if he has an opportunity to buttonhole mr. lavrov, he will do so. and if he doesn't, if it doesn't just happen organically, i'm sure secretary blinken will reach out and have that communication. she has been very, very forward-leaning when it comes to try to work to get brittney's release. what is your view of the russian proposal to have this russian

spy, a convicted assassin for killing a checken in berlin, being held in germany. they wanted him thrown into the mix. i know the white house and the state department said that's not a serious proposal. is that a signal that the russians don't want to deal seriously, or is this a red herring? what do you think is going on there? >> we interpreted that the leaks about that are from the russian side as a bad faith attempt to avoid and cloud up and sort of distract everybody from what is an actually serious proposal we made, and we made weeks ago. this isn't something that just popped up. we've been working on this for weeks. we think this is a bad faith attempt by the russians, knowing it's not a serious counteroffer, just to cloud up the waters, make things muddy, and avoid having to make what is a sequential and serious decision here. >> she was sentenced to nine years, 1 million rubles. that's about $16,000. are you now going to be looking at whether they detain her in

moscow, where she can see elizabeth mood from the embassy, see her attornes or take her to a worse place, like where navalny was taken? >> i can't speak for what the russians are planning to do here. she should never have been on trial to begin with. so there should be no sentence. she shouldn't have been put on trial. short of that, until we can get her home, we're going to continue to insist, as we must, to have consular access to missus griner so we can continue to make sure that we have that communication going and make sure she's being well treated. >> i don't want to overlook the fact that as u.s. officials have been predicting, the chinese have really ramped up their military exercises and today, they say that they have a nuclear submarine in the mix. they fired missiles. some landed in the sea of japan.

commercial flights had to be reroute ordinary canceled altogether pch. this is the most aggressive live fire exercises that i think that we've ever seen, frankly. because the last time this happened was in '95, '96, and there was nothing even approximating this. what is your reaction? >> we have been watching this very, very closely, as you might imagine, andrea. and obviously, it's concerning. it's not just concerning to us, but concerning of course to the people of taiwan, and concerning to our allies in region. especially japan. so we're watching this closely. we continue to urge the chinese not to overreact here. there is no reason to react the way that they have, or to escalate the tensions. and one of the things that's troublesome about exercises like this or missile launches like this is the risk of calculation. the risk of a mistake, that could actually lead to some sort of conflict.

they say they're doing these exercises. we predicted many of these moves. but now that they're in the middle of them, the risk of miscalculation really becomes a factor here. so we, again, urge the chinese to bring down attentions, just like we are doing. we're not saber rattling. just bring down the tensions and work through this, so that there's no change in the status quo, unilaterally or of a forceful nation. >> and did the speaker's trip set off this sequence of events that has led to this escalation? >> what set this off were the chinese. the speaker had every right to go and we respect her decision to make that trip. and again, we provided support, context analysis. obviously, we helped her get there in terms of transportation. but the provocateur here is beijing. they didn't have to react this way to what is a completely

normal, constant travel by congressional members to taiwan. the chinese are the ones who are escalating this. >> john kirby from the nsc, thank you very much, sir. >> my pleasure. >> i want to bring in nbc's senior international correspondent, keir simmons and peter baker with the "new york times," who has served in moscow as well as keir, of course, most recently interviewed vladimir putin, a year ago, june, before the geneva summit. so, keir, first to you. your take. nine years is a very tough sentence. she pleaded guilty to, you know, what would have been a misdemeanor if that, back here. but this is the russian system. what is the prospect for a prisoner deal now? >> well, andrea, i think there are real prospects, but i think you can expect the kremlin to negotiate the way the kremlin does. you'll remember, you and i spoke

some weeks ago after i interviewed dmitry peskov, the kremlin spokesperson and in that interview, i put to him that brittney griner was a hostage. he denied that she was a hostage and quickly segued to say, awe, but our viktor bout, who's in prison in america, this arms trafficker, he is a hostage. and the way that dmitry peskov put those two cases together left me in no doubt, if there was any doubt, that russia would be prepared to do some kind of prisoner swap, possibly with paul whelan, as well. but i think that you'll see them play hardball. and i think this sentence is part of that. i don't think that you can necessarily say that the judge here is kind of doing president putin's bidding, if you like. there is still a legal system in russia, despite the fact that the judge has clearly taken a very tough line. ten years was the maximum sentence, nine years is not very far short of that.

i don't necessarily say that the kremlin would have directly intervened in that way, but the kremlin certainly has the capacity to stop all of this and let brittney griner go home and paul whelan go home. but i think people should be concerned that the white house is in some ways has put its openly said that it is interested in a prisoner swap, and so far, we don't appear to be hearing much of a response from the russians. >> and in fact, the only response so far has been to bring in what really is an unacceptable offer, which is to throw in peter baker this assassin, convicted assassin, working with the gru or fsb or one of their agencies to kill a chechen in berlin who has been convicted and is being held by german authorities. peter? >> i think you're exactly right. look, this sentence is awful. it's obviously meant to be harsh and send a message. but it also may clear the deck for a swap.

what you have seen in the past with russia is before they engage in some sort of a trade like this, an exchange like this, they want their pound of flesh. they want to be able to say, well, she genuinely was guilty, our system found that she was guilty, we are letting her go, it's the kindness of our heart, but she was, in fact guilty. so if they are going to have an exchange of some sort, this was almost certainly going to be part of the process leading up to it. that doesn't mean it's going to happen. we don't know. but this was, in effect, sort of a necessary step if they're going to get to that kind of a exchange, at least as the russians have traditionally done this kind of thing. if not, holding out horrific prospects for brittney griner, nine years in a russian penal colony is akin to nothing that americans experience in the worst of american prisons.

that increases the pressure on the americans to find a deal to get her home. >> and to keir, what about the whole complication of, there is a war going on? and of course, the u.s. and russia are on opposite sides of that hot war. as you know better than anyone, war in the middle of europe. and certainly, sergey lavrov has some cards to play here. >> well, the russians will see all of this as part of that war. to be honest, for some time now, lz been this talk about the russians believing in something called hybrid war, which basically translates as, they believe that they are in a kind of war with the west on every front, if you would like. that's not to say that they were necessarily deliberately looking for brittney griner, deliberately looking to arrest her, but that when she did stumble into this, and she's openly said it, accidentally brought this vape pen into the country and then she was arrested, she then kind of goes

into the machine. she becomes part of the equation for the russians. i think it's absolutely right. i think it is possible that there will be a deal. i think that's, you know, has a real chance. but that the russians will be tough about it. they will play hardball, when you do a prisoner swap like this, you increase the potential that a country like russia or any other country sees this as an opportunity. >> thank you so much. we will have a lot more on the

brittney griner story and the guilty verdict of the all-star wnba player who has already been in russian custody since february 17th. and we will be talking to that situation more in the next hour. now president trump and the finances. two sources confirming to msnbc news. the new york ag best getting the trump administration finances and suiting their interest.

suzanne, president trump for the ag's office for months and is excited to testify in the coming weeks. what do we know? >> it is interesting. eric trump refused to answer hundreds of questions. the chest -- children have taken a different talk and answered some questions. it is unclear what they said. i don't have reporting on that. it is interesting. initially i thought that there was a little bit of deposition amnesia that went on and they made a calculation. obvious them -- they have suffered these circumstances. that is sort of where they are

now and what we are watching, who took the fifth and who didn't. >> and what do we assume are any indications or the filings from his attorneys on what the former president will do? >> i think we will publicly see some deposition amnesia. he could take the fifth and decide to testify. taking the fifth in a civil proceeding is dangerous because it can be used against you in a civil circumstance. and i think politically, it could be damaging for him to do so. i think he will say he didn't know a lot. he doesn't use e-mail or a lot of other communication that we can trace. so the case that the ag has is going to have to be built on other things and i think is probably betting on that. >> suzanne craig. thank you for your patience today with all the breaking news. >> and the trial for alex

jones, conspiracy theorist, after the close of day of court. even jones called it a perry mason moment. jones is being sued for $150 million and emotional damage by parents of sandy hook school shooting victims. he claimed that the attack was staged. jones has since apologized and yesterday in court, the attorney for the parents revealed surprise evidence that appeared to prove other things. take a look. >> there was an entire digital copy of every text message you sent for the past two years. that is how i know you lied to me when you said you did not have text messages about sandy hook. >> joining me is our nbc senior reporter who first broke the story about these e-mails being in the hands of the wrong

people. talk to me about the lawyer's argument. >> first of all, today, there has been a bit of an update. alex jones' lawyer tried to declare a mistrial over this. they asked for one the motion was denied medially by the judge. if this was a hail mary to get this thrown out again, as the judge said, this was like the 17th time they tried to do this. that were -- those were her words. definitely failed. the more interesting thing in my opinion is that there are texts here we learned this morning. the sandy hook parent's lawyer said they were intimate text messages between roger stone and alex jones. he is handing these over to law enforcement. they will start complying with law enforcement on the entire content of this phone. it is an incredible grievous mess up by the lawyers for alex

jones here. the jury is in deliberations and could lose up to $150 million in the trial. that is what we are about to find out. >> what about the fact that the judge said -- i saw this last night or this morning, said that he had already lied and said, do you understand what perjury is? could he face other charges? criminal charges? >> presumably. absolutely. he did not tell the truth. several times. in part, he was trying to hide this. you have to remember that alex jones is trying to prevent any of this stuff from going to discovery. not just his entire phone but individual pieces of his phone. trying not to hand over anything for years and delayed this and delayed this. as i said, he tried to get a mistrial over and over again. tried to make this non- habit go away. instead the worst case scenario for him happened. the judge said, do you understand you are under oath and what that means?

it has been a truly shocking last couple of days in court for alex jones. and by the way, this is the first of three defamation trials. the sun itself could do massive damage to his empire. >> the damage done to those families is already massive and incalculable. how do you put a price on that? coming up, a lot more on the brittney griner guilty verdict and a nine year sentence. that is next. we report on that after the break. after the break. astepro and go. covid-19 moves fast, and now you can too by asking your healthcare provider if an oral treatment is right for you. oral treatments can be taken at home and must be taken within 5 days from when symptoms first appear.

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thank you for staying with us. i'm andrea mitchell. we are following the top stories and breaking news from russia. brittney griner just sentenced to nine years in prison. and a fine of about 16,000 u.s. dollars for possession of vape cannabis oil. >> the secretary of state antony blinken, president biden