whether your business is starting or growing, you need comcast business. technology solutions that put you ahead get started with fast speeds and advanced security together for $69.99 a month for 12 months. plus find out how to get up to a $650 prepaid card with a qualifying bundle. >> our storm focus this week has been on the damage caused by hurricane ian across florida and the carolinas. but we also want to direct your focus to somewhere else that has been ravaged by recent storm. puerto rico. hurricane fiona tore through the western portion of the island nearly two weeks ago. she brought more than 30 inches of rain, knocked out the entire power grid, constable stating flooding, and unleashed major landslides. at least 25 americans died according to officials there. there are still more than 170,000 households without power. 12 days after the storm, and the biden administration this week announced a move to help bring puerto ricans out of the dark. the department of homeland security is temporarily suspending the jones act, allowing a ship to bring much-needed fuel to the island. dhs secretary alondra mayorkas says it will ensure that the people of puerto rico have sufficient diesel for functioning critical facilities in the territory. president

biden spoke directly to the americans and puerto rico well at fema headquarters earlier this week, watch. >> what we are seeing the devastating images and florida i want to be clear, to the people of puerto rico, we are not gone away. i am committed to you, and the recovery of the island. we will stand by you for however long it takes to get it done. >> president biden says that he plans to visit both florida and puerto rico and conditions allow. so when we come together to help those in need in florida, and the carolinas, please do not forget our fellow americans in puerto rico, they need our help, our empathy, and the resources of the federal government. we are going to start the second hour of ayman now with an update on the aftermath of hurricane in. let's go straight to nbc's god vinegars who joins us from fort myers. it is our live report from florida, tell us what you are seeing as the day concludes what is happening there on the ground. >> amen, authorities have been working on restoring the power, something that we have been discussing. we are learning more and more about the stories of those that survived. it is really interesting when we talk to some of those individuals who were here during the storm,

some people might ask, why didn't they evacuate? the governor today talked about that. initially, over the weekend, before the hurricane hit, the projections had shown that the hurricane would go north into the tampa area. and it is crazy to think that some people, the governor said evacuated tampa, and came into this area because initially they didn't think the storm was going to come here. >> amen, authorities have been working on restoring the power, something that we have been discussing. we are learning more and more about the stories of those that survived. it is really interesting when we talk to some of those individuals who were here during the storm, some people might ask, why didn't they evacuate? the governor today talked about that. initially, over the weekend, before the hurricane hit, the projections had shown that the hurricane would go north into the tampa area. and it is crazy to think that some people, the governor said evacuated tampa, and came into this area because initially they didn't think the storm was going to come here. so some people might be thinking, why a lot of the residents stayed here during the storm, of course it slowly made its way here. we are just learning these stories. we have been working in this area right at the entrance of fort myers

beach. there is a sailboat right in front of where the nbc crews were located. we saw a man pulling things out of a sailboat that is sitting on that driveway today. we went up to him and spoke to him and he told the story of how he survived the storm inside that sailboat, here is part of the conversation. >> you said this building actually saved you because your anchor got caught up. >> it saved me. but more important is the piece that was missing. there were three guys in that, they crawled out the window, climbed onto the black floaty, and i grabbed them and pull them onto my boat. they would have been dead. >> you are smiling, you are telling me this story, you would think that you lost a lot. >> you are smiling, you are telling me this story, you would think that you lost a lot. >> i lost everything. i lost everything. but, i am alive! i saved three guys, that is worth it. >> you know, focusing on the

positive. he is alive, and he saved his neighbors. now, i would like to mention that fema has ordered authorities here with fema, an evacuation of the entire fort myers beach area because they are still working on the search and rescue mission there. a lot of the residents that were allowed to go back into look at their homes were getting in the way because the rescue teams did not know if an individual walking around, or inside a property needed help, or if it was someone who had returned. so they have now asked everyone to please cooperate and leave that area so that they can focus on rescuing those that need to be taken out. he said it might be people who might be older, people who just can't move, or others who have also been finding people that died. people, bodies that they are still recovering in that area. so they are asking for people to cooperate and leave the area. also because a lot of the structures that survived the storm are not stable. and maybe an individual in all of southwest florida can return to one of those homes and not know that that structure can fall.

so it is a fema engineers on the rescue workers that have the knowledge to know which structures are going to be standing for sometime, and are safe. and which ones people should not go around. so that is why they are asking everyone to evacuate that area as they continue with that search and rescue mission overnight. >> thank you so much to you and your team for the incredible reporting and bringing us those people stories as heartbreaking as they are, thank you my friend, stay safe. also coming up on the second hour of ayman, trump on trial. the new york attorney general lays out her plans to go to trial against team trump. plus, unacceptable in the united states, the justice department threatens to sue over the jackson mississippi water crisis, and breaking news out of ukraine. fresh signs that vladimir putin's regime is in retreat on multiple fronts. let's get started.

♪ ♪ ♪ >> the clock is ticking for donald trump. according to a new letter filed by new york attorney general, letitia james, the state plans to fast-track it civilized against trump, the trump organization, and three of his children. james, who has accused the trumps of fraud wants a trial to start before the end of 2023, citing a quote, ongoing scheme. the expedited timeline could have massive ramifications for trump's expected 2024 presidential run, also casting a shadow over that run. the justice department's investigation into the classified documents received from trump's home. yesterday, the doj asked a court to speed up its appeal of the appointment of a special master, claiming the process is slowing down its criminal investigation, and breaking, just hours ago, we learned the national archives believes it does not have all of the records it should have from the trump administration. and a letter

that was sent to congress, the head of the archives wrote we do not have custody of everything we should. theoretically, that means trump is still committing a crime right now as we speak. a new report from the folks at just security show from publicly available doj documents, trump legal briefs, social media posts, and news reports that trump knew he was doing something wrong by retaining those documents. their bottom line? quote, the record as a whole points to trump's culpability. and here is some broader context for you. trump has now been credibly accused of committing at least 55 criminal offenses since he launched his first campaign for president back in 2015 according to a new ethics report from crew. that average, as you can guess, it averages to about eight crimes a year. it crimes every year. and here is the point i want to hit home with these to reports, they are both based on publicly available information. but it has taken months, and sometimes years to paint these portraits of a man who is aware of his wrongdoing and whose pattern of wrongdoing is far, and wide. we

do not necessarily have months and years longer to find out what more trump might be doing. how else he might be, basically committing these crimes. the clock is ticking for trump, and we need that clock to tick faster and faster for the sake of our country. otherwise we can see a future president trump try to bury his wrongdoing just like he did the last time he was in office, and we all remember how that ended. let's discuss this and more with our saturday night panel, juanita tolliver is host of what a day podcast, and eugene robinson is a columnist at the washington post. they are both political analysts. also joining us is paris at meyer, she's a former gop communications director and the senior adviser for the lincoln project. it is great to have all three of you with us. when eta, i will start with you. the attorney general and the department of justice, they are seeking to fast-track their case against the former president, if trump follows through on his plans to run, which all indication is that he plans to in 2024, he could be spending more time in the courtroom than in the campaign trail. what impact could that have on the ex president politically, do you think? >> politically i feel like the american public has made it explicitly clear. they see trump as a threat to democracy,

they see accountability at this point as the only thing that stands between our democracy and another coup. and the latest polling and research shows that. and i think it is going to come up repeatedly, especially when reporters are saying that trump could announce this 2020 for presidency as early as >> politically i feel like the american public has made it explicitly clear. they see trump as a threat to democracy, they see accountability at this point as the only thing that stands between our democracy and another coup. and the latest polling and research shows that. and i think it is going to come up repeatedly, especially when reporters are saying that trump could announce this 2020 for presidency as early as thanksgiving. so i think that it is something that he is going to continue to duck and dodge, but the reality is, he is living above the law. and the only thing that will undermine that and refute that is him being finally charged and prosecuted, which we have not seen yet. you already said it takes time to paint a clear picture for the legal system, but that time is running out.

and i appreciate that the doj and new york attorney general letitia james are not playing any games here. there are pushing for that efficiency, right now. >> eugene, we learned just today that the national archives believe that there is still documents that are unaccounted for. trump has essentially been giving many chances to give over these records. well before the search of his residents had happened. what do you make of the fact that he could still be withholding more documents? >> you know, so many crimes, so little time. it is amazing. are you surprised? i'm not surprised. >> not surprised, disappointed but not surprised. >> not surprised. this is what he did. this is what he did. none of that stuff that you see on that floor, none of it, the secret stuff, the non-secret stuff, none of it, none of it should have been taken to mar-a-lago. all of it belongs to us. none of it belongs to donald trump, yet he treated it as if it were his personally,

as if it was, you know, his own personal correspondence. it is not. but that is how he operated. so, it is not a surprise. and it is also not a surprise that our justice system really gives the defendant a lot of opportunity to delay, delay, delay. it does that, bending over backwards in the end, and donald trump is a master at playing those loopholes, and playing for delay, so as much as we are going to push to move the civil case along very quickly, trump has ways to delay it, and slow it down. that is what he is going to do. >> i want to switch gears for a moment and talk about the january 6th investigation. this week the committee sat down with ginni thomas, the wife of the supreme court justice clarence thomas. she told the committee that even though it is 2022 she still believes that the 2020 election was stolen, and that comment, as you can imagine, it had praise from trump putting out a statement

>> i want to switch gears for a moment and talk about the january 6th investigation. this week the committee sat down with ginni thomas, the wife of the supreme court justice clarence thomas. she told the committee that even though it is 2022 she still believes that the 2020 election was stolen, and that comment, as you can imagine, it had praise from trump putting out a statement thanking her for her quote, having the courage of her convictions. what does it say about the state of politics in our country that nearly two years after the election, the wife of a city supreme court justice continues to spew these dangerous conspiracy theories? >>, are part of a mainstream republican party now.. for their insane conspiracy theory beliefs. the titular head of the republican party is donald trump but he continues to give a platform, and a permission structure to qanon, conspiracy theories, and other very dangerous an extremist conspiracy theories. and the leadership of the republican party is where is mitch

mcconnell, where is -- >> missed mitch mcconnell is getting death threats from the president. his wife is getting asian hate tweets from the former president. >> my point exactly. they sit there and they take. it again, i have said this for years, the absolute cowardice and just craving political expediency of people in the republican party who are supposed to be the adults in the room, they have enabled this. they have allowed this to fester. ginni thomas is only -- anyone who listens to her, it is only because she is a spouse of a sitting supreme court justice. period. she is making $700,000 being paid by whom, we don't know, for what, we don't know. apparently clarence thomas doesn't know either because he didn't claim that on his financial disclosure. he doesn't know that his wife is making $700, 000, could you be any more out of touch? all of this is part of this larger thing of what the republican party has turned into, which is no longer a

serious party about governing, or a party that claims to be about law and order, and the constitution. all of that is out the window. they are trying to have drama on the midterms on a platform on being tough on crime, and law and order, yet they back a professional scholar like donald trump. all of this is indicative of where the party is today and i hope the democrats continue to demonstrate that they are the serious party here, they are the party that believes in the constitution, and believes in voting rights, and they are not a party that is pushing that has a head of the party, or president that thinks that other party members are involved in a conspiracy to drink children's blood, and things that the election has been stolen two and a half years later. i mean, the contrast is extraordinary. >> yeah. let me play for you, juanita, let me play for you something congressman hakeem jeffries said in may about this, watch.

>> justice thomas, if he really wants to deal with bullying in america, well this problem of people supposedly unwilling to accept outcomes that they don't like, i have got some advice for justice thomas. start in your own home. have a conversation with ginni thomas. she refused to accept the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election. why? because she did not like the outcome. that is bullying. that is being unwilling to accept an outcome because you don't like the results. >> congressman there, spitting i think straight fire about this whole situation. again, this was back in may. her testimony to the committee, thomas claimed that her husband had no knowledge of her postelection activities. i find that hard to believe, but that is what she claimed. and this might be a good time to remind our viewers that justice thomas was the lone dissent vote when the court rejected trump's efforts to block the release of a presidential record to the january 6th committee. how concerned should we be about the ethics here? >> extremely! i think the conversations about justice thomas but, it should be

happening every single day, and this testimony from ginni thomas is the latest iteration of that fact. you can't tell me that there is at no point in the multiple years that ginni thomas has not only been spreading that lie, but acting on it by contacting state electors, that her husband had no idea. as representative raskin said, that is pretty amazing if that is the truth. but i am doubting it at this point. if anything, we should absolutely be talking about justice thomas needing to recruit themself or anything related to january 6th, or documents retrieved, or anything related to trump. because he is into deep by affiliation. as terrence said, the only reason anyone listens to ginni thomas, or she has access to the white house, or she has access to state election officials is because of who she is married to. that is it. without justice thomas in her life, she would not be a factor here. she would just be

one of the other 61% of the republican party still believing the lies and the conspiracy theories that are skewed by trump. >> i was going to say, you said it so plainly and clearly, there is no way for me to imagine that somebody who messaged the chief of staff at the white house over 30 time messages and emails electors and in various states, that you don't even just him to your husband about that activity? >> come on! >> i'm not biting. >> just flip this. if this were under the obama administration, just flip it for a second, if this was the obama administration, and the wife of a supreme court justice was involved in the benghazi situation, and they were pushing whatever for benghazi, the republicans would be -- >> everybody would be impeached. >> i was there for it, i worked on capitol hill at the time, i was there. you just look at the playbook. and the fact that the republicans are just pooh-poohing this as if it is every day, not a big deal, it is insane. it is not. really,

the pressure should be on chief justice roberts. because the supreme court does not have anyone to police them except for themselves. that lifetime appointment, justice thomas is extremely powerful, people forget this. the only way that he is disciplined as if the chief justice himself, disciplines him, or he resigns. which we already know is not going to happen. >> -- >> just one thing, this is the wife of a sitting supreme court justice who totally rejects the legitimacy of our justice system, right? because she totally rejects the verdicts of 16 federal judges? >> the irony is dead. >> juanita, eugene, please stick around we have a lot more to discuss in the hour. up next, we will go back and talk a bit about hurricane ian. don't go anywhere. (vo) you can be well-dressed. (man) wahoooo!

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>> back now to our coverage of hurricane ian and the massive human toll. here is how some of the storm survivors described their experience of the storm barreled through fort myers, florida. >> water came up to about here, when it got to their, the way they were saying on the news i thought it was going to eventually go over our heads. i called my daughters and said goodbye. >> it was very traumatic. i actually went into the water and saved three people. i lost one friend, i couldn't save her, she got washed away. >> first responders were not

spared, either. here is a video from collier county where firefighters in naples, florida were forced to salvage their gear after flood waters inundated there firehouse. with me is the manager of collier county, amy patterson. manager patterson, thank you for making time for us. as we wind down, the third day since this hurricane, what is the situation on the ground for you right now? >> thank you so much for having me. we are entering into another full day of our damage assessment, getting teams out to look at all of the areas that have been impacted by hurricane ian. including those who took large amounts of storm surge. >> do you have a sense of what that damage looks like in terms of people missing, people accounted for, homes destroyed lives lost? >> well, i have to say that we have been very fortunate here in collier county. our neighbors to the north, our heart goes out to them up there and the damage that they are seeing. we are seeing a substantial amount of damage to homes and businesses, however definitely, a testament to the strength of the florida building code in a lot of this new construction that did its job, and while there is damage, the construction really, really held up with some very hostile conditions. but it is going to be a rebuilding process. we have had some damage in some infrastructure, we are going to spend some time on our beaches looking at those as the >> well,

i have to say that we have been very fortunate here in collier county. our neighbors to the north, our heart goes out to them up there and the damage that they are seeing. we are seeing a substantial amount of damage to homes and businesses, however definitely, a testament to the strength of the florida building code in a lot of this new construction that did its job, and while there is damage, the construction really, really held up with some very hostile conditions. but it is going to be a rebuilding process. we have had some damage in some infrastructure, we are going to spend some time on our beaches looking at those as the -- starts to settle, we will determine what kind of beach last we have had. >> what are your biggest concerns at the moment, what do you need the most? >> right now, what we are doing is really working hard with our partners that provide electricity to get the lights back on. not only for safety and comfort, but also to start that drying out process for these homes. that is a top priority. along with just making sure that those have the things that they need, the basic things of food, and water. we have been lucky, we have gotten a little break with the weather. it is hot here, so it is making it slightly more comfortable for people to be in homes without electricity. but it is definitely a top priority. >> yeah. the road ahead is going to be hard but we are all pulling for you, and we are

here to help in any way we can. amy patterson, the manager of collier county, thank you so much for this time this evening, thank you, we appreciate it. up next, new developments in the duel crisis out of mississippi. both affecting disadvantaged communities who need help the most. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. stay with us. alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. say hello to your fairy godmother alice and long-lasting gain scent beads. and now, get $10 back when you spend $30. that's a seriously good deal. new astepro allergy. now available without and a prescription.ck when you spend $30. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid free spray. while other allergy sprays take hours

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>> turning now to our

continuing crisis of the dual crises in mississippi. this week, the justice department threatened legal action to officials and jackson if they don't agree to negotiations to fix the water system. warning that, quote, an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health exists. that legal threat came the same day that the epa administrator, michael reagan, visited jackson, speaking with local leaders and making clear, these conditions are unacceptable and the united states of america. the mistreatment of jackson's minority communities which are facing the brunt of this water crisis is also happening at the state level with mississippi's ongoing welfare scandal. just this, weekend bc news learned exclusively that retired u. s. soccer star is cutting all ties to a joint venture linked to brett favre, which received millions of dollars in mississippi welfare funds. as we documented last week, he is part of this massive misuse of state welfare funds, which has also embroiled mississippi's former republican governor. but as much as brett favre deserves to be a punching bag for his role, what does it say on a broader level that there is such systemic corruption in state and local governments that citizens can be swindled

out of millions of dollars, or have an ongoing water crisis for years? and how can we force those in power to change? my panel is back with me, eugene and tara, tara we are seeing the doj come down hard on jackson officials also rightfully should. but the water crisis in the city goes back decades. just last year, two bills that raising money died in the state legislator. and it is easy to point the finger at local officials for the recent water crisis but seeing as the crisis is years in the making, who do we actually have to hold responsible, and what role and responsibility does the federal government play here? >> you know, this will be a case study in a failure in oversight accountability. this is what the role of the government is supposed to be. it is supposed to be to make sure that infrastructure, the public good, the citizens are taken care of with basic needs like water. and the fact that this has been allowed to go on for decades is actually quite deplorable, and shameful. and i think that this is what happens when you have people get very comfortable in their positions, there is no one holding them accountable, and then you also have systems that continue to suppress the ability of the

citizens to hold those people accountable. it is difficult. a lot of what is going on in these minority communities, they don't have the same access as other more wealthy communities, and they do not have the ability to hold them accountable. not only in this instance, but with the welfare scandal that is going on which is absolutely shameful. when you are talking $94 million of money that was supposed to go to help the medias people in mississippi, instead of going toward building volleyball stadiums for brett favre's daughters university, and other political allies of former governor phil bryant, republican, this is terrible. my good friend was a state representative down there in mississippi. he said to me, do you have any idea where this money was supposed to go, what it could have done for my families who live in my district? it could have gone to 130,000 people, they could have gotten cash assistance. 1000 families could have gotten a year of childcare. that they

desperately need. 138,000 people could have gotten help with their electric bills. that is what this welfare money is supposed to go toward. to be a steppingstone to help people in need. instead, it went to the well connected, and the wealthy, and i hope that a lot of people are brought to justice from the former governor on down. because people are getting convicted, and squealing, and telling on each other. so i suspect that we are going to see more people getting in trouble for this welfare scandal. and they should. it is $94 million in taxpayer money. because people are getting convicted, and squealing, and telling on each other. so i suspect that we are going to see more people getting in trouble for this welfare scandal. and they should. it is $94 million in taxpayer money. >> eugene we know mississippi, by almost socioeconomic measure, it lags behind other states. it has the highest rate of poverty

in the country. talk to me about the systemic issues that exacerbated this water crisis for folks who are already most at risk? >> look, if you stand back and look at these two stories that are happening at the same time, this is corruption. i mean, this is just plain corrupt. people should not just get in trouble, they should go to jail. this is an outrage. you know, no clean drinking water in jackson for all of these people, the poorest state in the nation, people desperately in need of this money, that is through corruption. you cannot call it anything else. this wealthy hall of fame for former football player, he has got the political connections to make that happen, and to divert this money for a volleyball center for his daughter's school. it is just -- it is obscene. and people ought to go to jail. people need to go to jail over this. they really do. it is just -- it is obscene.

and people ought to go to jail. people need to go to jail over this. they really do. >> all right tara, this week the naacp sent a 25-page complaint to the epa urging them to investigate the use of federal funds related to the drinking water crisis in jackson. here is the thing, we know that jackson is a majority black city, talk to me about how you see systemic environmental racism playing into this water crisis in mississippi. >> i mean, it is unfortunately not unique to mississippi, right? we have seen this across the country. majority in minority areas whether it is flint michigan, or jackson mississippi. it is shameful, it really is. and i think that putting a spotlight on this really shows these inequities and how it impacts everyday lives. and i think that the role of the federal government at this point, whether it is a consent decree or something, they need to find a way to say enough is enough to help get this done, because clearly the state of mississippi has been unable to service their constituents properly. and if

this needs the federal government to come in, whether it is through court order, or something to fix this problem, than they need to do that. it is just inhumane that so many americans in 2022 do not have clean drinking water. it is unacceptable. >> it certainly is. panel, please stick around, we have got a lot more to discuss coming up later. we will bring you up to speed on some breaking news on the war in ukraine. ukraine. ukraine. ♪ ♪ luxury exemplified. innovation electrified. with apple music seamlessly integrated. the all-new, all-electric eqs suv from mercedes-benz.

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>> russian forces have retreated from lyme, and a strategic city in the donetsk region of eastern ukraine. it came just a day after moscow annexed for regions in the east, including donetsk. the retreat marks ukraine's most significant gain since the successful counteroffensive in the northeastern kharkiv region last month. and the u. s. condemned russia's illegal annexation of those four regions when it was announced, and rightfully so. secretary of state, anthony blinken, likened russia is an exception to an end tempted land grab for his part, president biden imposed strict and severe sanctions on russia, again, it was the right reaction from the u. s. government. but it also got me thinking, once again about hypocrisy and american foreign policy here. the ukraine war has taught us a lot of thing. among them, some glaring double standards about how we treat refugees, how we call for boycotts, and impose sanctions on countries. and now, how we

view which annexation's are acceptable, and which are illegal. once again, it seems there is one standard when our adversaries do it and another when our allies do it. look at, for example, when morocco annexed the western sahara in 1976 sparking the western sahara war that lasted nearly 16 years. still, to this day, it is under morocco's occupation. and there is israel's annexation of east jerusalem, and the palestinian territories during the 68th war. both are still under illegal israeli occupation today. msnbc political analyst, peter beinart summed it up best when he wrote earlier this year, america must be consistent. it cannot pick and choose when to follow international law. to say the u. s. has not been consistent would be an understatement. take a look at secretary blinken's comments on russia's annexation, and then israel's just 18 months apart. msnbc political analyst, peter beinart summed it up best when he wrote earlier this year, america must be consistent. it cannot pick and choose when to follow international law. to say the u. s. has not been consistent would be an

understatement. take a look at secretary blinken's comments on russia's annexation, and then israel's just 18 months apart. >> defending ukraine sovereignty and territorial integrity is about much more than standing up for one nations right to choose its own path. fundamental as that right is. it is also about protecting an international order, where no nation can redraw the borders of another by force. >> your administration, the biden administration, will they continue to see the -- as part of israel? >> leaving aside the legalities of that question, as a practical matter, the goal on is very important to israel's security, islamist assad is in power and syria. >> look, it is great to see the world united in condemning in punishing putin's illegal annexation of ukrainian territory, but if we are going to have a leg to stand on the u. s. needs to condemn these actions when any nation, adversary or ally, acquires territory by military force and claims that as its own. joining us now is ambassador bill taylor, former u. s. ambassador

to ukraine. ambassador, thank you so much for making time for us. let me just start with the premise i was talking about. do you agree that we would be better served if we treated illegal annexation's weather by our adversaries, or our allies the same? wouldn't that make our case against russia stronger? >> it would. no doubt. consistency doesn't make our arguments stronger. this annexation, this illegal annexation, this attempted annexation that the russians are doing is so blatant, and so outrageous, and so failing that it has to be condemned. you are right, we should condemn all such action, illegal actions. but this one is the first time that any nation, since world war ii, in europe, has tried to change borders by force. so, the condemnation is totally justified. >> how significant of a loss

has been the setback for the russians? what do you make of it strategically that a day after the nlcs annexation and claiming this part of ukraine as there's, they have suffered a major military defeat and now they are retreating. >> you are absolutely right. what matters is the facts on the ground. the facts on the ground are that the ukrainian military is beating the russian military. the ukrainian military is pushing the russians first out of kyiv, then out of kharkiv last month, as you mentioned, and now out of lyman, continuing to push back the russians as they try to illegally annexed the very parts of the country where they are being pushed out of. so, what is important is who owns what territory, and right now ukrainians are gaining back their territory. we see the same thing in crimea. the russians said they were annexing crimea back in 2014. and they had an illegal, at the point of a gun referendum back

then where they said they got 97% of the vote. just as ludicrous as these recent ones where 98, 97, 99% of the vote. crazy. and, on the facts on the ground, ukrainian military has attacked crimea, and nothing has happened back, ukrainian military as we just said is pushing back on lineman right now, the day after he says he has annexed it. it is just very clear what the facts on the ground tell us. >> let me ask you about this startling moment from putin's speech where, you know, he spent a lot of time talking about the u. s. and the west, and he said that the u. s. >> let me ask you about this startling moment from putin's speech where, you know, he spent a lot of time talking about the u. s. and the west, and he said that the u. s. created a precedent on using nuclear weapons, citing the bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki during world war ii. a lot of people are track, foreign policy experts were concerned by this. how would you interpret that comment and the fact that he singled that out?

>> so, he has been eager to remind us over and over and over, for the past eight months, that he has nuclear weapons. mr. putin had wanted to tell us, don't forget, i have got nuclear weapons. we have not forgotten that, and we are taking it very seriously, and we are watching very carefully to see if there is any movement toward the actual use of these weapons. so far, none. so far, none. we are watching it carefully. however, what is really important is that the ukrainians are not deterred. they have continued to push the russians out of their land, including in the donetsk. as we are seeing today, the ukrainians are continuing to push, even in spite of these nuclear warnings. these nuclear statements, the irresponsible language coming out of mr. putin and others. the ukrainians are not deterred. and, to be clear, and with great credit, the united states is not deterred. they are not deterred. we have said that we

are going to continue to support ukraine as it pushes the russians out no matter what these nuclear threats are. >> how do you think ukraine's application to nato will go. does this accelerated application increase their chances of getting? and i look at it from two ways, i am happy to hear your thoughts on this. on one hand it would be very bad for nato to say to ukraine, you are not going to get in right now, and kind of let them out to dry. even though they are still sending some weapons, and money, and obviously trying to help them. but at the same time, signaling to the ukrainians that they will be accepted would bring nato to a direct confrontation with russia, and certainly in some regards confirm vladimir putin's assertion that ukraine, and nato had always wanted to expand, and get toured russia, no? how do you see it?

>> i see it going back to 2008. where nato told ukraine, and georgia, by the way, that someday they would be in the alliance. that was a very clear statement made by the leaders of nato in 2008. and i think you are right, it is going to be difficult for the alliance to say yes, we want you, ukraine, and the alliance tomorrow, or as quickly as say finland, and sweden that are likely to get into the alliance tomorrow, very quickly, that is not going to happen with ukraine right away. but as you point out, the alliance is acting as if ukraine is an ally, is a partner, by providing all of the weapons, and all of the finance, and all of the security, and all of the intelligence that they need to push the russians out. so, the cooperation and coordination support from nato to ukraine is very significant, and what this has done, this application has done is demonstrate to the world, to ukrainians, but most important to the russians that they will not be deterred. ukrainians will not be

deterred. they want to be in europe. they want to be in the european union. they want to be in nato. they will fight. >> all right ambassador bill taylor, always a pleasure, thank you for making time for us, sir. >> thank you. >> coming up, we ask our panel which republican was the worst of the week. there is a long list to choose from, don't go anywhere. moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin. despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day, that's effective without topical steroids. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. plus, they felt fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots,

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>> all right it is a tough time for a new game called worse republican of the need. there is a lot to choose from, but we noted and two. first, the gop nominee for republican governor, since roe v. wade was overturned, now, thanks to audio obtained by the washington post we know that back in 2019, mastriano believed women who get abortions should be charged with murder, insisting the fetus deserves equal protection under the law. second, texas attorney, ken paxton. a tried and true and order type of

republican who this week, fled his home to avoid being served a subpoena. according to an account from the man who served the subpoena, paxton appeared to try and wait out a process server for an hour in his home. then he later ran away as the server approached him, and finally he rode off in a truck driven by his accomplice wife, has the server laid the documents on the ground. let's bring back our panel to break it down. first question to both of you, i will start with you, tara, who is worse, mastriano or paxton? >> well, as much as i think paxton is the worst, which he is, the guy has been under indictment for seven years. he has gotten himself into a lot of trouble. i think him and josh hawley could be co-captains of the gop coward caucus track team. since they like to run away. but i have to go with doug mastriano. this guy is an absolute disgrace. he is a right-wing extremist. and

no mainstream republican organization nationally wants to touch him. he is not getting support from the republican governors association. doug doocy who is the coach of the rga said we do not fund lost causes. he has about $400,000 in the bank, so he has not been able to go on air, he has done no tv ads. the republican party of pennsylvania's so broke, they are not helping to fund him. they had to sell their headquarters for $100,000. it is a mess there. and doug mastriano is a dangerous guy. not only has he made these comments about women and abortion, but he has also gotten into bed with antisemites, his campaign actually paid the cofounder of gab, which we all know is an extremist antisemitic website, to get consult for his campaign. he has given interviews with neo-nazis. he is a dangerous guy. we at the lincoln project have targeted mastriano, we ran ads and pennsylvania against him, he is a bad guy. pennsylvania is a crucial state, it is a swing state, and the governor gets to appoint the secretary of state.

mastriano helped fund january 6th, sent chartered assist to january 6th, he is an election denier, and he should actually be under subpoena, and convicted as far as i'm concerned. and nowhere near the governor's mansion in pennsylvania. josh perot is up by plus 11 right now, so it looks like he won't be. but be careful, democrats do not sleep on the grassroots and pennsylvania. but doug mastriano, by far the worst republican this week. >> all right, jeanne, you are up, who do you got? >> well, you know, i would be tempted to go with paxton just because he is a bad guy. >> and he has the power. >> i would love to talk about him at length, he has a lot of power, this and that, but i do have to go with mastriano, just because he is a clear and present threat to our democracy. if he were in the governor's office, he would have the power to appoint the secretary of state. he is an

election denier. he would act on those vile, and democratic instincts of his. i have no doubt. and also, mastriano, because that quote from 2019 it is a wonderful illustration, his silence now on abortion is a wonderful illustration of how republicans are trying to run away from what they professed, and said they believed in their hearts, in their souls, for years, and years, and years. about abortion. and they cannot be allowed to get away with that. i mean, so, that needs to be highlighted, and needs to be called out. not just in the case of mastriano, but all the other republicans who are suddenly norm on the subject, that they have been spouting about, spouting off about in the most radical, anti-privacy, anti-freedom, anti-woman ways over 20, 30 years. so he is like a poster child for that as well.

>> i will give you that is my final take on this. you guys both went with mastriano, mine is cpac, they had a tweet this week yesterday that was condemning vladimir putin for his annexation of that part of ukrainian occupied territories. instead of denouncing it or condemning it, they go after biden for not doing enough about the border, the southern border in the united states. when will democrats put america first and and the gift giving to ukraine? shame on cpac for that. thank you both for joining us. i appreciated talking to you as always. and thank you for making time for us at home, make sure to come back tomorrow night, nine eastern on msnbc. i will be joined by the chair of the democratic association of secretary of state. important

positions. janet griswold, her warning for voters as conservatives push for harder restrictions at the ballot box. until then, goodnight. >> i'm craig melvin. >> i'm natalie morales. >> this is "dateline". >> i see her laying there, my dad is kneeling, that was the first time i've ever seen him cry. >> they had a tumultuous marriage. >> there would be yelling, and maybe slamming doors. >> according to him, he sees lisa with a gunshot wound to the head. so initially it was ruled a suicide. her sister went to the majority patrol to express their believe that this impact was a murder. >> she had been having an