deserve equal pay now. >> with the hope of course is that they will be working latina equal pay day of hot earlier in the year. president biden tweeted just a few hours ago that equal pay is -- makes all of us stronger. on that note i'm going to issue a good night. i am alicia menendez in for stephanie ruhle, for all of our colleagues across nbc news, thank you for staying up late. ate.

294 days, that is the length of the time that brittney griner has been detained in russia. that included a recent move to a penal colony, which traces its roots tua gulag labor camp and has been described as having slave like labor conditions. griner was sentenced to serve nine years layer on minor drug charges until today. >> i'm glad to be able to say that party is in good spirits, she is relieved to be finally heading home, and the fact remains that she is not lost months of her life for needless trauma. she deserves space, privacy, and time with her loved ones to heal. today is a happy day for me in my family, so i'm going to smile right now >> and minutes before making that public announcement, the biden administration created -- brittani's wife in the oval office. sharon walked in expecting to hear the latest updates on britney's case, but instead president biden broke the news that the operation to bring

brittany home was underway. biden and sherrod griner called brittani together just before eight a. m. today. according to white house officials, the president's first words to brittney griner were, it is joe biden, welcome, welcome home. and she was on route in realtime. russian state television posted this video of griner boarding a private plane in moscow, headed to abu dhabi on her way to the united states. the uae in saudi arabia helped negotiate the deal with russia to release criner. we are keeping an eye on lackland air force base and san antonio while we await griner's arrival. she had this exchange with the person on board the flight to the uae. >> what's your mood? >> happy. >> you're flying back home. >> to the u.s.. >> everything will be fine. >> in order to get griner on that plane, starting that long track back home, the united states had to cut a deal with

russia, exchanging one prisoner for another. we get griner back and in return we give russia this man. victor bout. the man with the gray mustache that you see in this video carrying that manila envelope. he is walking away from a private plane, and he is walking toward brittney griner, who you can see on the left in that red jacket. this is the prisoner swap that happened on a uae tarmac this morning. the biden administration has made clear that they were involved in, quote, painstaking and intense negotiations to bring griner home. and it became clear in the past two days that despite the white house's attempts to also bring back paul whelan, a former marine imprisoned in russia on suspicion of spying, that russia would only release brittney griner. and only in exchange for notorious russian arms dealer victor bout, who is known as, quote, the motions of death. in 2011, a new york jury convicted him of conspiring to

kill americans and conspiring to provide material support to terrorists and arms trafficking. he was arrested in thailand in 2008, after attending to some millions of dollars worth of dollars -- we have, quote, the same enemy. the following -- said, today one of the world's most prolific arms dealers is being held accountable for his sordid past. viktor bout's arms trafficking activity and support of armed conflicts have been a source of concern around the globe for decades. today, he faces the prospect of life in prison for his efforts to help millions of dollars worth of weapons to terrorists for use in killing americans. he never faces life in prison, though. during a sentencing hearing in 2012 he told the judge, quote, he never intended to kill anyone. and, quote, god knows the truth. he also shouted at the prosecution, it is a lie that he never sold weapons to kill americans. when boot was sentenced to 20 years in prison, which is the mandatory minimum. his lawyer told reporters that he was grateful to the judge. and now, victor bout is a back home in moscow after ten years

behind bars in america. bout grew up in soviet edge extend, he was constructed into the soviet army and then he went on to the maryland terry instead of foreign languages in moscow. which is a place that is notorious for turning out intelligence officers. bout became a polyglot, speaking english and french and portuguese and arabic and persian fluently, antigen to his native -- over the course of his career as a transnational criminal, he sold weapons to sanctioned groups in angola, rwanda, liberia, sierra leone, and the democratic republic of congo. eventually bout started feeling the pressure of his trade. he apparently, half jokingly, told time magazine reporter industry that he was, quote, second only to osama as an bin laden, on america's most wanted list. after he was arrested in bankok an eight in a sting operation, but received his prison sentence and told the new

yorker that they will try to lock me up for life. but i will get back to russia. i don't know when. but i am still young. your empire will collapse and that will get out of here. and now he is indeed out. in exchange for an american citizen whose great crime in russia was possession of less than one gram of hashish oil, she says she forgot she left in a suitcase. so the question is, why did russia push so hard to get victor bout back from the u.s. in one of the most uneven prisoner swaps in recent memory? and does he pose a threat now that he is back in a moscow. joining us now is kareem jean pierre, white house press secretary. kareem, thank you so much for being here. i know that there is, we are dealing with sort of two conflicting emotions here. one, i think most americans are overjoyed. some americans, our small pocket, are not as happy that paul whelan is not aboard the same plain. but brittney griner is coming home. and the conflicting emotion that viktor bout has been released. let's first talk about how this was negotiated. can you give us a sense of the timeline in which this was negotiated. how long ago you were talking

about swapping griner for bout? >> so let me just first say, alex, and thank you so much for having me on and we kind of touched on this in your opening. today is a good day because britney griner is coming home to her family who loves her, her teammates who care about her, and also a country who was marveled by her strength and her courage. and i think that really is important. she is an american citizen. one that was wrongfully detained. and the president kept his promise on bringing her home. so just to give you a little bit of a timeline, as you are asking me, alex. six months, ago back in july. secretary blinken, he came out publicly and talked about very clearly how we were extensive negotiations with russia, looking at different avenues to secure britney's release. and that is what you have been seeing these past several months. most recently in the past several weeks. it was clear that there was a deal that was going to be happening for brittani's

release. but sadly, regrettably, russia was not being, a negotiating in good faith with paul whelan. because they categorized him very differently. they saw him totally illegitimately. charged him for something that, again, was illegitimate. and so therefore we were not able to secure his release. so i understand, i understand, the president understands. he said this this morning. how much of a difficult day this is for the whelan family. but we want to make it very clear, the president wants to make it very clear, that he will continue to make sure, to bring paul home safely. and secure his release. it does not stop today. it will continue as it has for the past several months. and it is not just paul, we are talking about americans, not just in russia, but in other countries who are being wrongfully detained that this president has promised to do everything that he can to return them home just like he

did with britney griner, just like he did with trevor reed in april. >> were the russians always, did they always have their sights set on viktor bout. and did you have to give any kind of heads up to your predecessors in the obama administration for whom the conviction of bout as you know, we quoted eric holder. it was a big deal conviction at the time. did you have to talk to them of what to you were about to do? did you feel a need to? >> let me just say, i'm not gonna get into the details of negotiation and what steps were taken. i'm not gonna go into that for obvious reasons, because we are still very much working very hard to get paul released, his really secured. this is not a decision that this president, that president biden made lightly. he believed that this was an opportunity to bring brittany home and he wanted to make sure that we were able to do that. i also want to make it very clear to the american people,

your viewers that are watching. there was two options here there was an option to bring brittany home or no one. that is what we were dealing with. either bring brittany home or no one at all. so we decided, the president decided, to bring brittany home. look, when it comes to our security the president, we are always, our administration is going to be vigilant on making sure that we protect our national security. we will act swiftly when needed. we will take the steps, again, when needed to do that. as we have done these past several months. as we have done throughout the administration. as we did yesterday. as we are going to do today. as we are gonna tomorrow. so again, this was an opportunity to bring brittany home safely. it was either brittany or no one. >> when you say brittany or no one, it makes me skeptical that this is the over turn to better relations or a better negotiation conduit with russia. but i will ask you the question do you think that the fact that

the u.s. and russia were able to negotiate this swap is indicative of relations that may have the possibility of repair in terms of the broader portfolio of interests that the u.s. and russia share. >> no, i understand the question then and i was asked this question in the briefing room as well today. look, this deal was specific and very targeted at brittany because we knew we had a deal. we were able to secure her release. so that is our focus right now, as it relates to anything else. i know their arms deal, i know there is ukraine. those things are very different. right now what we wanted to do is make sure the president wanted to keep his promise when it comes to american citizens who are wrongfully detained doing everything that we can to bring them home. again, we do that with trevor reed. we've done that with other wrongfully detained u.s. citizens that have been released under this administration. today we are able to do that with britney griner. >> one more, does the president

have any plans to greet brittany at the white house. what is the ticker tape parade gonna look like? >> so, don't have anything to preview, as you know. the president biden -- the president -- also the vice president and secretary blinken had an opportunity to speak directly to brittani as she was flying back home. he said welcome, welcome home. welcome home to brittany. and so they also said she was in good spirits. don't have anything yet to share on that. but obviously we are thrilled that she is back and we are going to continue to fight for every american that is wrongfully detained. >> 294 days, it is great that she is finally coming home. white house press secretary kareem jean-pierre, thank you as always for joining us. >> thanks, alex. >> now, let's turn to michael mcfaul. former u.s. ambassador to russia and nbc news international affairs analyst. michael, it is great to have you. there is a lot to try to understand here.

i guess the first, what do you make of this arrangement here? there, it is asymmetrical undoubtedly. but both brittney griner and victor bout are effectively celebrities in their respective countries. russians, it appears, know a lot about viktor bout. and he is more known there than he is here obviously. in the way that brittney griner is an important asset if you will in terms of american culture and sports. what do you make of the deal? >> i support the deal, i think it is fantastic that brittney griner is coming home. these are hard calls i was in the government. i was at the white house when he was convicted, victor bout. you asked about the abomination officials. i am one of them. this guy is a really really bad guy. as you rightly hinted that, probably connected to the intelligence services. and they have been trying to get him out ever since i was at the white house. when i was a u.s. ambassador to russia, putin has wanted him out for a long time. the biden team, and ultimately the president had to make that really hard choice. you too were just discussing.

they got to the point in the negotiations where it was either one for one or nobody. and the president and his team, but the president ultimately had to make this decision. he decided, i want to take that deal. it is not an easy deal. it is a tragedy that paul whelan is still in jail. he has been there for a long time. wrongly. it is a tragedy, by the way, mark is still in jail, they keep saying the other americans. i actually happen to know one of them personally, because he was a teacher to my kids when i was the u.s. ambassador he should be in a jail either. but if we had a choice to make and they decided to make the deal. i think it is the right decision. and maybe it will lead to other decisions down the road, other trades that they might be able to make. >> what does bout mean to putin in terms of the symbolism of this? because there is some talk that he was close to senior advisers of putin.

many of which it sounds like have been sidelined in recent months over the war in ukraine. it's a peace offering in a way to them, i'm trying to look for a little kremlin-ology all in terms of what the signals in terms of putin's power. >> so, you, know putin him self came from the kgb. right? remember, he is a former intelligence officer. but you are never former, you are part of the special club. when they talk about each other they say, well, we never left anybody behind. >> -- many many years ago. you could tell that this was important for putin, personally. that they would get him out of jail. therefore, this is a huge victory for vladimir putin. you are exactly right, alex. he is a very well-known figure inside russia. they used to framed wrongfully detained, two, back in their country. so this is a fantastic win for vladimir putin. whether it is related to and other intelligence officers, i've seen a lot of speculation about that. i think this is actually important to putin and from his perspective, this was a very good deal.

>> what does griner mean to putin? because back in the 1930s, the soviet union used anti racist propaganda to lure african americans to come live in america, you know, we have a history with russia where russia capitalizes on social unrest to make america look bad. brittney griner has been somewhat of a notorious figure amongst certain conservative republicans who don't like her criticism of the united states by bending a knee during the pledge of allegiance, or during the the opening ceremonies of the sports games. >> right. >> i wonder if you think that she had a symbolic place in russia, given the history with the u.s. and russia on race. >> it's an interesting question, i don't know the answer to it. i think probably not. i think we are over speculating here. i think when she was arrested at the airport, they got lucky, because of her mistake.

and they knew that they had somebody that they could leverage to get somebody out like viktor bout. i think that is the way that we are thinking about it. the other historical stuff and maybe that played a role, but i don't think so. i don't -- they finally, thought we finally have somebody that we can get bout out of jail and it turned out to be true. >> so you think this was basically all the long game to get victor bout back? >> i do. it has been a really long game. i was in government almost a decade ago, they were, every single meeting, sergey lavrov, their foreign minister had with either secretary clinton or secretary carey when i was in the government, his name came up. they wanted him, and putin personally wanted him out. i think that is important for people to understand. putin personally wanted him out, and so when they arrested griner, i think they figured out, we finally have the ticket to release our guy. >> while, do you think this

signals, you know, i was asking kareem jean-pierre where for this signals any sort of, i don't want to say warming relations, but is this a future avenue for negotiations down the line? lamb not sure that it sounded like it was, how do you make it, what do you make of the fact that negotiation even happened at this moment when u. s. russia relations are the worst they've been since the cold war? >> so tragically, i think we have gotten pretty good at stovepiping different issues. right? because we have to. if you linked everything, you would have never get anything done. so there is a good sign in that respect. we're getting this deal done. maybe we can stovepipe arms control negotiations, because i think we need to do that as well. but it doesn't mean that it is gonna lead to better negotiations over ukraine, or any other issues for that matter. i see little linkage between this breakthrough, a very positive breakthrough, and the rest of the agenda, which as you said, i think you've got to go deeper into the cold war. maybe all the way back to 1962, the cuban missile crisis, to

remember a time when relations have been so bad. this day, a great day in and of itself, it's not gonna change that overall dynamic. >> you, know mike, you bring up the really important facts. diplomacy is hard. hostage negotiations are difficult. this was a really tough call for the biden administration. as kareem jean-pierre says, it was either brittany or no one. given that, it seems they made a tough call but maybe the right call to get her back. because it wouldn't happen otherwise. former u.s. ambassador to russian nbc news international affairs analyst michael mcfaul it is great to see you as always, thank you for joining us. >> thank you, yeah, by. >> so ahead tonight, the justice department making clear that it means business when it comes to getting back all of the documents that donald trump took back with him to mar-a-lago. we will talk to former u.s. attorney barb mcquade about that. and, unionized employees at the new york times walked out today as part of a work stoppage, as they negotiate on a contract. but what would happen if almost

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pieces of breaking news in the mar-a-lago documents case. first off, we learned that special master, the independent arbiter requested by team trump to sift through all the documents and slow down the process the special master raymond dearie is officially off the job. after the 11th circuit struck down the special master's

appointment last week we were all waiting around to see if the former president would appeal or ask the court to temporarily halt its decision while trump's teams are gutted its next move. today, trump made it official. no appeal. which, given its record thus far is worth noting. team trump is actually gonna accept defeat here. now, as a result of this the justice department will be able to access 13,000 government records that they seized from mar-a-lago. things finally seemed to be moving along here at last. and, yet, there is still the unanswered question about whether there are more documents out there. it is an open question and it is a pressing one, the justice department spelled it in court filings how remains concerned that more classified records may indeed be missing. then we have reports that a top doj official rescheduling from this, fall essentially saying, we don't think are gave us back

everything. and the doj has really good reason to be concerned here. remember that in may the doj subpoena team trump for all remaining classified records. the next, month government officials took a field trip to mar-a-lago to meet with trump's attorneys to see about those missing documents, and it was at that meeting that trump lawyer christina bob signed a sworn statement that to the best of her knowledge there was no more classified documents at mar-a-lago. which was totally untrue. the fbi would end up raiding the president speech club a few months later, and finding a lot more classified documents. and that trump lawyer, christina bob she yourself has now lawyered up. she is no longer involved in defending trump from investigations, and is yourself reportedly under scrutiny from the department of justice. yesterday, the washington post reported that trump's team has, in recent weeks, unearthed to additional classified documents from a storage unit in west palm beach. i mean, if you are the doj, this whole thing has gotten almost clownish really frustrating.

which is why the news tonight seemed to make quite a bit of sense. we have learned this evening that the government is running out of patience, and is now escalating its quest for possible missing classified documents. prosecutors have urged a federal judge to hold donald trump's office in contempt of court for failing to fully comply with a subpoena to return on classified documents in his possession. the post reports is a sign of how contentious the private talks have become over whether the primer president still holds any secret papers. in recent days, the justice department lawyers have asked u.s. -- to hold trump's office in contempt, that is according to people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sealed court proceedings. the post reports that the judge has not yet held a hearing or rule not request. justice department wants a sworn written statement from trump's lawyers attesting to the fact that all over documents have been returned.

complying with that pretty straightforward request, appears to be something that no one on trump's team seems willing to do. and hey can you blame them. joining us now is barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan, barb, thank you so much for being here. this is file this development under most surprisingly spread something our. trump's lawyers don't want to have to formally signed an affidavit saying they believe in what their client was saying. my question to you, what is the practical implication of contempt of court? when we talk what team trump here? >> yeah, in this context, where they're actually seeking consent against the office of the former president. perhaps because they can't figure out who is the person who is the custodian of records, because donald trump also designate someone as the custodian of records. so when it is an entity like this, close to an individual person, you can't really jailed a person to course their compliance. instead, typically what you will see is a fine. maybe a daily fine. until they comply. there was a similar contempt order, he may recall, in the

attorney general's case against the trump organization. when they were refusing to sit for depositions. and the court in that case imposed daily fines until they complied. so i would expect something like that here. you know when it is an individual you can jail them. when it is an entity you can fine them. >> is to fine significant, though? i mean, is it something that, i mean, donald trump is facing a lot of fines right now. is this something that will hurt? >> the number the judge picks is supposed to be something that will provide that inducement especially ones racking up every day. it certainly when you got the overdue library book. -- but then excuse escalating it's really up to the judge fashion a number that would cause a little bit of pain on the trump entity here. so that it's not just something that he can shrug at and ignore. >> well, yeah, to borrow the metaphor of the missing library book. i mean, the question is whether anybody knows where the library

book or books actually are. i guess i wonder, barb, why not just apply for a search warrant here? or is this an overture to doing just that. >> you know, i imagine that the justice department will very much likely to do that. because the trump team clearly has demonstrated that cannot be trusted. as you said, they think they were giving everything back in may. it turns out, not only did they not get breathing back 50,000 documents still in the basement. so i think a search warrant is what they would love to do. what you can just get a search warrant based on speculation that documents will be found somewhere. you need probable cause that they would be found in a particular place based on facts. the fourth amendment requires particularity when you are seeking awards, so you have to have at least some factual basis, enough for probable cause to believe that the documents will be found at a particular place. it seems very likely to me that the justice department knows what's missing. there's been talk about a letter from kim jong-un,

there's been talk about a note that barack obama left in the desk for donald trump when he became president you know, all of these documents that are classified are typically stored on a server. but someone keeps track of that. these are controlled documents. they are just flying around. you know what is missing and that is likely what is causing them to say, you know, you had all these other documents. and these ones are missing. seems to us that they are likely somewhere that you know about. but they have to be a little more precise than that. so for example, in the mar-a-lago case, there was evidence from the valet and what the documents removed, et cetera. they really need a witness like that to say, i think the documents are -- >> but don't they, i mean, don't they sort of have that it sounds like they have a current trump staffer and his wife both employed by president trump

employed down at mar-a-lago who spoke to a grand jury about this west palm beach storage unit, where they ultimately, this outside firm found two classified documents. isn't that enough to get a search warrant at this point to have the doj search that west palm beach storage unit, rather than this other outside firm? >> it could be, there would have to be probable cause that documents are in that storage locker. it may simply be they identify, you know, there is a storage locker. maybe it isn't there. he keeps stuff in there. stuff came from the white house. it really would have to be, you know, some evidence, reasonable grounds to believe that classified documents are there. my guess is, the justice department is working very hard to develop probable cause to get into all of these places. there's been some reporting they've been interviewing witnesses and asking witnesses the grand jury questions whether they ever saw donald trump with documents. there was even questions of he would look at around his plain from time to time, sift through documents while he was on the plane. did that mean that those documents got brought to

mar-a-lago bedminster, trump tower, and some other place. and i'm sure they are working to find probable cause, and if they get, it no doubt they will go back and get another search warrant. >> one last one for, you are. raymond dearie is now off the case,, the doj does not need to wait until this extended special master review is complete. they had a lot of evidence thus far. do you feel like they will try to track down these missing documents, or do you think an actual indictment could be coming soon. what of jack smith, the special counsel overseeing this? >> i think both of those things can be true, alex. there are two things, goals here that the justice department of mind. one is collecting evidence for a criminal case. but the other is equally if not more important that is getting back all of these documents that are secret and top secret. those documents are defined as the release of which will cause exceptionally grave harm to the national security of the united states every second that those are out there in the world is a danger to national security. a source, a method, a secret. the location of weapons and other kinds of things. they very much want those back.

but that does not preclude them from going forward. and i do think that the return of these documents is going to be a very big steps that needed to take place before they could file criminal charges. now that they have those documents they will need to review them. but i think that moving forward, with an indictment becomes that much faster now that they have. it and it seems that they will have to make a charging decision. but if they have the evidence to do that, it seems that most of the work is now done. >> all, right barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan, thank you as always, barb, great to see you. >> thanks, alex. >> we have much more ahead this hour. power has been restored to customers in north carolina's moore county after two substations were intentionally attacked by gunfire. the questions remain over the potential right wing extremism that may have inspired that attack. we will talk to former fbi

official frank -- about all of that. next, union employees of the new york times states interim -- summer warning they may go even further if it requests are not met. that's next. stay with us. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst cold and flu symptoms. to help take you from 9 to none. power through with vicks dayquil severe. with my hectic life you'd think retirement would be the last thing on my mind. hey mom, can i go play video games? sure, after homework. thankfully, voya provides comprehensive solutions and shows me how to get the most out of my workplace benefits. what's the wifi password again? here you go. cool. thanks. no problem. voya helps me feel like i've got it all under control. because i do. oh she is good. voya. well planned. well invested. well protected.

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times. it was a real newspaper and it was a real newspaper length. dozens of pages. and it looks exactly like the

new york times. but it had headlines like armed vatican troops seize west bank. and dog surrenders to police. and new medicare proposals, take my life, please. the cooking section taught you had it cook a bat. and then there was an advice column that asked readers to write in for dating advice from north korean dictator kilm il-sung. the paper was a strike paper, a parody. and it was published in 1978 by humourists and employees at the retail new york times, while their paper was shut down during a strike. >> news stands throughout new york city closed down last night, as a strike hit the city's three major newspapers, the new york times, the daily news, in the new york post. new york is now without its major daily newspapers. and there are some fears here that the strike could develop into a long one. while they argue the biggest

newspaper in the biggest city in the country's the newsroom, published by the unification church. which is headed by the reverence, the korean evangelist. >> what the unions in the publishes are getting the impression that they are able to set that into a power struggle. both sides could be bluffing, but if they are not, the new york newspaper strike could be long bitter and expensive. >> today, more than 40 years later 1000 new york times employees walked off the job again. they have not had a working contract since march of 2021. negotiations over that contract between the papers management and the unions have broken down, primarily over disputes about pay, health care, and salary floors for the papers lowest paid employees. the ceo of the times read a memo last night rebutting some of the union's claims. she cited what she called the clear commitments the paper has shown to negotiate their way to a contract that provides times journalists with substantial pain greases, market leading benefits, and flexible working

conditions. she wrote that she was disappointed that the union had taken, quote, such drastic actions. but union members today were not shy about how their actions could get more drastic if their demands are not met. union member and veteran reporter michael powell told npr that today's walkout was an absolutely necessary shot across the bow. he continues, each month that goes, by they're taking more money out of our pockets. to be clear, today's walkout was not a strike. it was a 24-hour work stoppage. tomorrow, new york times employees will be back at work. the work stoppage has a start time inundate. a strike, however, is indefinite. back in 1970, the last time the new york times went on a full indefinite strike, it lasted for 88 days. that was more than a decade before the new york times was online. and the core of that strike was the staff that worked the printing presses. they were really literally no paper at all. when the strike finally ended, above the masthead on the front page of the first new copy of the paper in months, the paper advertised a special 88 days in review news summary.

to catch everyone up on everything that they had happened since the new york times last published. in that time, one pope died and another was elected. two soviet spies were sentenced to 50 years in prison. three congressman were indicted. and perhaps most topical, the new york yankees won a world series. >> the new york newspaper strike is over, at long last. we got the daily news and the times this morning. just the way we did before the strike began back in august. august. >> the first bundles of paperwork be delivered to the loading docks. trucks rushed them to new stands. readers were delighted. >> feels fantastic. it's like, you know, a void in my life is filled. >> it is hard to imagine what our world would look like today without the new york times or an indefinite period of time. but if these negotiations don't

resolve soon, that might be in our future. so here is to hoping that they can work this one out, and that no one will need to re-post cooked bat recipes anytime soon. >> air. and with their insurance, it was no cost to them. >> woman: really? >> tech: that's service the way you need it. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ there's a different way to treat hiv. it's every-other-month, injectable cabenuva. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month.

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power station in more county, north carolina left 45,000 homes without electricity. power has finally been restored to all those county residents. but that good news comes as we are learning some troubling new details about what motivated that attack on the very first

place. investigators now say they are pursuing two theories. right wing extremists in online forums encouraging attacks on critical infrastructure. and potentially related theory about attacks in the local lgbtq population. now, we don't know for sure what motivated that attack. but here is what we do know. since january, the department of homeland security has been ringing the alarm about the rising threat of right-wing domestic extremist attacking the u.s. power grid. after trump lost the 2020 election, the fbi began warning that white supremacists online had begun disco shooting up power grids in order to create unrest. with the eventual goal of creating a, quote, fascist society. that was more than just idle chatter. in august of 2021. a group of neo-nazis and idaho were charged with plotting to attack power stations in the northwest. in february of 2022, three more right-wing extremists pleaded guilty to terrorism charges after conspiring to attack the u.s. power grid and, in the words of the justice department, stoke division in our society all in the name of white

supremacy. since 2017, attacks in vandalism on election infrastructure in the u.s. have been steadily rising. this year alone there have been more than 100 attacks on the grid. and now, amid that rise in violent threats from fringe right-wing conspiracy theorists, the former president of the united states is going farther than he ever has to embrace fringe right-wing conspiracy theorists. on tuesday, former president donald trump hot office dinner with the white nationalist antisemitic popstar hosted another group of right-wing extremists that is national florida home. this time it was boosters of the far-right qanon conspiracy who got their very own state dinner in trump land. a fund-raiser that featured a so-called documentary about child sex trafficking. this is how trump addressed that room full of conspiracy mongers. >> you are incredible people. and you are doing unbelievable work. and we just appreciate you being here.

i hope you will be back and back many times for many years. good job they've done, in this room particular, it's really astounding. >> joining us now to discuss all of this is frank figliuzzi, former fbi assistant director of counter intelligence and an msnbc national security analyst. frank, for people who have not connected the dots between right supremacy and a fascist society, and taking down the power grid. can you illuminate the connection there? >> yeah, they are adhering to something called a accelerationist theory. the theory is simply that you can accelerate the takedown of society by creating the kind of chaos that gives an advantage to people trained in weapons and survival skills. so the theory goes something like this. the status quo is maintained by the government, because the electricity stays on. it normalizes everything and equalizes everyone.

if you literally pull the plug on the power, that society falls into chaos, the government becomes powerless and dismantled. and people with guns practice on the woods on weekend and their militia groups can take over. it is a very anti black, anti minority, fascist thing. and here is the thing. here is what is producing all these dhs bulletins recently. the government to seeing this play out in chat rooms, literally to include instructions being issued this past summer on how to take out power substations. and the encouragement that it happened simultaneously across the united states, so that it would all happen at once and create chaos. >> you, in addition to having, i mean, the information is available online. but in terms of the skills needed to take down and electrical grid, i would assume

that is fairly significant. you have to have -- marksmanship to be able to do so with a gun? >> it's true, we shouldn't be fooled by what looks on its face to be a pretty primative thing. cut the bolt lock on the gate go initiated something. that may sound simple. but you need to know what to shoot at. you need to have, you need to know how to shoot very well. likely with long guns and sniper rounds. -- thousand and 13, still unsolved, by the way. and this involved two stations. so likely more than one person is doing this. and it is a group that is knowledgeable, trained in weapons has read the instructions, case still place. surveilled. it knows when security controls their, and are not there. and it is been pointed out something law enforcement is known for a long time. our infrastructure is very vulnerable. and as much as we spend millions just to bolster the cyber law, the firewall process around our power and utility grids.

we need to be thinking far more simply about the physical security of our substations. in the hands of private companies like duke energy. we need to get their act together there. and we need to absolutely treat this is criminal, the posting of these dangerous instructions with the exertation that you action them to take down the government. >> well i would also wonder in terms of catalytic events how meaningful it is that the former president of the united states, who called a mob to an insurrection at the capitol, is now down at mar-a-lago meeting with white supremacists and anti government conspiracy theorists. i mean from an fbi perspective, is that catalytic? is there before and after that you see in terms of recruitment or interest in anti government activities? when you have a figure with that much power meeting with like-minded conspiracy theorists? >> the data is there to support that. the fbi director's testified on the hill numerous times about the leading threat it is hate

based violence. he is seeing a huge spike in domestic terrorism. even when you solve for an account for all other cases involving just january 6th. you are still seeing a spike in the threat and dangerous ideologies that lead to violence. people planning violence. so the former president gives this license. he says to them, i am the guy that is caught your back. and so as long as that leadership is there, that radicalizing figure is still there, still loud, and proud. we are gonna see this threat continue. >> as long as he is there, literally saying you are incredible people doing unbelievable work. these are people promoting the pizzagate conspiracy theory that led a man with an assault rifle to a pizza parlor in washington d. c.. frank phil gillespie, former fbi desist director of candor intelligence and an msnbc national security analyst, thank you as always, frank, for your time tonight. >> sure. >> we will be right back

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meet your new roommate.

what will they do for meow??ore? did i say something salty? oh! i'm supposed to be a fearless hero. a legend. you're puss in boots? normally i have a sword. okay? legend tells if i wish a star. i need that wish to get my life back. you're a pirate now? it's like a possum crawled on your face and died. please, mock me quietly. that does it for us tonight, now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, alex. and for us tonight the first order of business is trying to figure out who is in contempt, is it donald trump or is it his office. and how contemptuous can his office be? that is a legal question of the night. >> it is just an empty chair, or an empty storage unit that is in contempt. because no one