welcome back to "morning joe" as we creep up on the top of the hour, just about 9:00 in the morning at the united states capitol, 6:00 a.m. as you wake up out west on this friday, december 9th. let's get right to the new development in the homecoming of brittney griner. the wnba star is back in the united states this morning after spending months in russian custody. nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has the latest. >> reporter: this morning brittney griner is back home on american soil, freed after ten months of detention in russia. the beginning of her journey broadcast on russian state media. >> happy. >> do you know where you are headed to? >> no. i don't know where. >> you're flying back home. >> she's on her way home after months being unjustly detained in russia. >> reporter: president biden with brittney's wife cherelle after they talked to her from

the oval office. >> the most important emotion i have is sincere gratitude for president biden and his entire administration. >> reporter: overnight, nba star steph curry, who was previously urged with griner's return, celebrating her release. >> b.g., we love you, we thank you for your sacrifice. >> reporter: she admitted to bringing less than a gram of medicinal cannabis into russia and said she never intended to break any law. she spent nearly a month at a penal colony infamous for its harsh conditions. newly released footage showing griner working while in detention. she was exchanged on the tarmac in the united arab emirates for viktor bout, also seen on state video flying back to russia. he says, "they took me right out of my cell," widely known as the merchant of death, he had served 11 years of a 25-year sentence in the u.s. the white house coming up fire for the decision from some in congress. >> it's made us weaker. it's made putin stronger and

americans more vulnerable. >> reporter: another american paul whelan, a businessman and former marine, remains in custody after being jailed for four years of a 16-year sentence for spying, which he and the u.s. strongly deny. whelan speaking from prison to cnn. >> i don't understand why i'm still sitting here. and i'm greatly disappointed that more has not been done to secure my release. >> reporter: president biden says the u.s. will keep working to bring whelan home but that russia left the u.s. with no options. >> sadly, for totally illegitimate reasons, russia is treating his case differently than brittney's. >> reporter: his brother said he made the right call. >> it was absolutely fitting to bring miss griner home. >> we had admiral john kirby on the phone speaking from the white house saying while they're happy brittney griner is back home, to his term, we're not

doing backflips because paul whelan and many others are still sitting in prisons. >> of course, we americans, we patriotic good americans celebrate the return of an american freed, liberated from the russian penal colony. good americans, they're happy this morning. there's also, though, like you said, willie, there's just that pain that we all share because paul whelan is still there, because there are 50 other americans across to the world that are wrongly being held. i will say this, though -- for paul whelan's family, they sent out a very gracious statement yesterday, and i think there's a reason for that. the reason is that joe biden and the biden administration, they're working like hell to secure his release, and sadly, donald trump, when he was president of the united states,

allowed paul whelan to be arrested and did nothing about it. in fact, 2018 is when he was telling jonathan lemire that he trusted vladimir putin more than he trusted the men and women in our own intel community, which leads me, willie, to this nagging question that i just -- i don't get. i never understood going all the way back to december of 2015 why donald trump came on our show and he kept defending vladimir putin. he kept saying, well, we kill a lot of people here too. he would not criticize vladimir putin. here you see "the independent" article where donald trump ignored paul whelan for two years, and according to this "independent" article never once said anything about jailed american paul whelan in 2018, in 2019, in 2020 when he was president of the united states. he could have made a difference. but we saw kevin mccarthy -- and

what is it about kevin mccarthy, about republicans, about certain people on other news channels that love to tear down the united states and love to build up russia? you heard kevin mccarthy saying, oh, this makes russia stronger, this makes america weaker. they love that fade. at the beginning of the war we had all these republicans humiliate themselves saying, oh, the u.s. military is weak, we're woke, oh, if we could only be as manly as the russian military. how has that worked out for them? why is it that whether it's donald trump, or if it's kevin mccarthy or it's republican senators, they always love tearing down the united states of america. they always love tearing down the united states military. they always love tearing down the united states intel community. like, isn't it crazy that they're willing to trash our men

and women in uniform if they lose an election? they're willing to trash our intelligence community if they actually investigate a president who's done questionable things? they're willing to trash democracy. democracy itself. questioning democratic elections, if they lose one election, 2020, they lose 2020, and suddenly they're done with american democracy. they will not defend our democratic institutions. they will attack the united states military. they will attack the u.s. intel community. why do they hate america? why are they always -- you know, in the 1960s and 70s, conservatives in my neighborhood would have bumper stickers that said america, love it or leave it, right?

and that's because you had people on the far left constantly attacking the military, constantly attacking our intel community, constantly attacking american democracy. now it's donald trump. it's kevin mccarthy. it's way too many republicans on capitol hill that are doing that. well, this is why they keep losing elections, willie, and this is why they can't even celebrate when an innocent american is released from a penal colony in russia. and we welcome her back into the arms of america. they can't be gracious, and they can't celebrate what america does well if they're not in complete control, and that's why they're going to keep losing elections. >> many of those republicans you're talking about, members of congress, went out gleefully almost immediately and attacked

the biden administration for this, some of them suggesting, even going so far in the case of some tv hosts as saying president biden picked brittney griner over paul whelan because of her race or her sexual orientation, sort of suggesting there's wokism at work here, as if there was a deal or a choice for the biden administration to take one or the other. we clarified that with admiral kirby a few minutes ago. but they're happy to use this, even a great moment for brittney griner, a great moment for the country, while we keep the disappointment that paul whelan, we heard him talking, that he's not out and the administration continues to pursue that. but this has become almost immediately and predictably a wedge issue for republicans on capitol hill. peter baker from "the new york times," former u.s. ambassador to russia, now the director of the institute for international studies at stanford, michael mccaul, and the aforementioned white house reporter for politico, "morning joe" senior contributor eugene daniels and white house bureau chief at

politico, jonathan lemire also with us, u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay. a full house for the fourth hour. ambassador, let me start with you and your reaction to what you've seen here. you've been talking with us for months about brittney griner and paul whelan, securing the release of both of them. what's your take and your view about this deal? >> it's a great day for america when an american is freed. i agree exactly with what joe was saying. it's tragic that paul whelan was left behind. it's tragic, by the way, mark fogle, somebody i know personally, is also sitting in jail unjustly in russia. he was a teacher at our high school when i was the ambassador. he taught my kids. he taught the kids of diplomats and soldiers in moscow. he's in jail too. that is tragic. but we can have those same two thoughts at the same time, right? we should celebrate this win and also encourage the administration to get these other americans out of jail.

>> and so, ambassador, what does that look like from here? the president of the united states said yesterday, admiral kirby said to us this morning, of course we're still working on paul whelan's case, of course we're working to get these other people out of prison, but they gave up maybe the biggest chip they have to the russians in viktor bout. is there still a chance that paul whelan gets out? is there something this president can give to vladimir putin to make that deal? >> well, first, i want to remind everybody that diplomacy is really hard generally speaking to get deals done. it's especially hard with the russians and vladimir putin. and we've all done negotiations, right? you negotiate over all kinds of things in life, and then you get to a moment where you know either you have to take the deal or walk away. and in my -- they obviously were there, they didn't get the deal they wanted, of course, but then they had to decide take this deal or not, and they took this deal. i think that's the right

decision. when people say, well, they should have done this or that, you can say that about any deal. you know, we like to have gotten more when i sold my house. but i got an offer and i had to decide take the offer or not. that's what they did. and now the other part of diplomacy is you get up the next day and you try to do the next deal. and, you know, i don't want to speculate about who we have in jail that we might trade, but there are definitely other candidates that could be put forward, and the fact that this is now a precedent, that we've done this twice in the last several months, suggests that there might be deals in the future. >> mike, it's katty kay here. can you put this in the broader context of how you see russia, russia's power, russia's meddling in places like israel, turkey, we know they're in syria, obviously, but how they are kind of thwarting western and american ambitions at the moment from a pretty weak hand and weakened even further by the

war in ukraine, and yet they still seem to manage to be a real roadblock to america's own foreign policy concerns and national security concerns. >> i think it's a great point. i think it's important for americans to understand that thousand for decades and most certainly for the last decade, vladimir putin has been trying to thwart the united states, and not all of the united states, right? it's an ideological battle. it is the illiberal populist nationalists of the world that he's been trying to align with. victor orr bon in hungary, in the france, in the uk and here in the united states as well. i would have said before february 24th, before he invaded ukraine, he was making fantastic progress that i think had been unnoticed. tragically, he invaded ukraine, but the good news of that is now i think the west now understands that we have to contain and push him out and the brave ukrainians

are the ones that are really pushing back on vladimir putin. so, up until that moment, he had a lot of successes and some military successes as well too? georgia 2008, ukraine 2014. but i think he overreached in ukraine and finally the tide is turning against him. >> so, peter baker, obviously the tide is turning against vladimir putin. i saw on twitter you had talked about something that is just cold-hearted reality for ukrainians, and that's the fact that vladimir putin is warning russians this is going to be a long haul, not a three-day blitzkrieg, we're going to be fighting this for quite some time. how does the white house respond to that? how does that change their plans? >> i think the white house understands it will be a long haul, in fact, this is not going to be over anytime soon. the truth is that, you know, first of all winter is setting in and pretty soon the battle lines will harden for probably a

little while, but secondly, you know, neither side is willing to surrender, neither side willing to go to the negotiating table because in fact they have very different imperatives. ukrainians are not willing, understandably, to give up territory in order to award an invadeer, and the russians are willing to acknowledge they have failed and pull out at least until the february 24th line. as long as those two things are true, there is no other outcome other than to continue fighting for a while. it will be one of those things easily where we've seen it time and time again in war where is they are fought and fought and fought until finally the question, at least for the russians, is, is leaving less painful than staying. they're not at that point right now. putin is not willing to acknowledge that this has been a catastrophic mistake for him. it may have to be that this takes a while until he gets -- or the russian government, whoever is in charge at some point -- gets to that point.

>> yeah. i'm curious what you think, ambassador mcfaul, about the fact that we have a component of the republican party that continues elevating russia, that continues -- it's like this blind praise of vladimir putin, this dictator. you can watch primetime shows on other cable networks and have them openly cheering for vladimir putin. but at the start of this disastrous war, a war that historians will -- i think historians 30, 40, 50 years from no will say perhaps vladimir putin's decision go into ukraine is perhaps one of the most devastating geopolitical moves that any leader made over the past century. but even in the midst of that, donald trump praises vladimir putin, says his invasion was brilliant. kevin mccarthy on temperature yesterday talking about how

vladimir putin, great negotiation, he wins, we lose. republican senators at the beginning of the war saying, oh, our military is so woke, the russians are so manly. really? would you like to talk to the hundreds of russians that charged the u.s. troops stationed in syria? they were dead in a couple of minutes. i just got to say, somebody that's been to russia, seen how great america is, like, this has to be as baffling to you as anybody. why do they keep praising putin? why do they keep trying to make putin sound strong and america sound weak? these aren't back benchers. this is kevin mccarthy. this is donald trump. these are senior u.s. republican senators. >> joe, you know better than i do, i'm not the expert on america, but i would say a couple of things. it's shocking to me. it's historically unprecedented.

i don't ever remember one party or the other praising stalin or kruschev during the cold war. we had policy differences about what to do in terms of winning the cold war, but we never went out of our way to praise those that were our enemies. and i see no difference between mr. putin today and the cold war. but i am deeply disturbed by what you just said. you know, you have people saying those things, and you have people saying things that are just factually untrue about president zelenskyy in those same circles. they sound exactly like the propagandists on russian television. i watch those stations so you don't have to, the russians one. it's exactly the same thing. >> fascinating that people on the far right, ambassador, we used to call those people who would always apologize for the soviets useful idiots. they have become the useful idiots that they had contempt

for during the days of reagan. >> it's shocking to me, but it's part of this ideological thing that i was talking about. it's a movement around the world, joe, not just in the united states where you have these illiberal populist nationalists, using illiberal in the classic sense of the word liberalism, and they are united, they have their conferences, they talk to each other, and we have got to understand it as a trap, because it is not in america's national interest to have people in our own country praising putin and berating president zelenskyy. and the second thing i'd like the say just to underscore what you said about earlier, remember, paul whelan was arrested in 2018, and mr. trump, because i was personally involved in it, when he met putin in 2018 in helsinki, he offered to hand over some americans to be interrogated by mr. putin.

so you hear these criticisms, this was a bad deal, these people obviously have forgotten this very recent history. >> former ambassador to russia michael mcfaul, thank for the insights this morning. we appreciate it. turning back to domestic politics, the house yesterday passed the respect for marriage act, a bill that enshrines federal protections for same-sex and interracial marriages. every house democrat and 39 house republicans voted in favor of the bill. 169 republicans did vote no. the senate passed the legislation last week. it now heads to president biden's desk to be signed into law. the house yesterday also passed the national defense,000 ,000 act. the mbaa will repeal the covid-19 vaccine mandate for members of the military. republicans had pushed for the

man day-to-day's repeal, which democrats agreed to in order to gain bipartisan support. the bill also authorizes $800 million in additional security assistance for ukraine. and breaking political news this morning, arizona senator kyrsten sinema has announced she will leave the democratic party and register as an independent. in an interview with politico, the now independent senator said she would not caucus with republicans and that she intends to vote the same say v way she always has. eugene daniels, what's the impact of this announcement from sinema? some have said this is more about politics back home in arizona, that she would now have to run a primary race as a democrat in 2024, but what does it mean to the balance of power there in the senate. >> it makes chuck schumer's job a lot harder and the white house's job a lot harder. they had been celebraing after raphael warnock won in georgia on tuesday, but now they're thinking, you know, she says -- se's going to caucus with them

but that also means the committees, where they thought things would be easier, there could be more negotiating they'll have to do about things. this white house said that, you know, they think she's going to work the same way she always has, but her democratic colleagues in the senate have already been saying, you know, she's been operating as an independent this entire time, that she's been frustrating to put it mildly to democrats over the last two years largely because it's been unclear at time where is she stands. joe manchin, it was always clear. she had been a lot more coy, to put it mildly. so as they move forward, it's some of the same thing. maybe things won't change like democrats thought they were after the senate and puts a damper on the week, but the white house says they'll continue to work with sinema, whatever theyway they can. >> peter baker, let me pick up

with where eugene are just left off. white house put out a statement highlighting all sorts of place where is they did work with sinema -- chips act, infrastructure law, respect for marriage act and more. certainly as eugene just noted she's not exactly a vote democrats have been able to count on over the last two years. so what's your quick analysis here? how is what we heard from sinema today going to change the nature of washington for the next two years? >> yeah. look, as a practical matter, i think that's right. she'll continue to vote the way she has, continue to be a challenge for democrats to corral on certain issues they would like to have her support. i think the more, you know, sort of atmospheric importance here is it's kind of deflating for democrats who were so excited, so elated off that georgia win, to have a clean 51-49 majority and suddenly now it's not quite

so clean. still, they'll still get the bump in the committee structures they've gotten from an actual majority, even though a majority is more like 50-49 1/2 or whatever it is, however you want to count it. after a week that otherwise had been really good for them, it's kind of a deflating end i think. >> chief white house correspondent for "the new york times," peter baker. thanks so much. we appreciate it. still ahead on "morning joe," the latest from north carolina where electricity now has been restored for thousands of residents after that deliberate attack on two power substations we've been telling you about this week. and it's been nearly a month since four college students were killed in idaho, and new details are emering about a vehicle at the crime. also ahead, the man known as the king of crypto, says he is willing to appear before lawmakers about the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin joins was more on that, joe. before we go to break, mika

spent yesterday in new york honoring women who made this year's 50 over 50 list. the list was created by forbes and know your value, and it sell brafts women who have found success later in life. and they're shattering age and gender norms. it's so exciting. take a look. >> hello and welcome to the second annual 50 over 50 luncheon. >> i am so honored to be here. in a couple years i hope to be as awesome as you. >> i never thought that i would be on a list where i admitted that i was over 50. i do consider my brother a mentor. he told me that whatever he could do i could do better. he was so certain that i was

capable of many different things, and i think confidence is the number-one prereck we sit for success in life. >> more than just making the list, to see all of the honorees and all of the people on that list and to be part of it and to be able to make a difference ultimately. >> mika and val, there are so many women that are just so accomplished, so capable. we just had to broaden the ranks. >> women in their 40s, in their 50s, right, they are your most valuable executive, you most valuable managers and leaders. >> when i was growing up, i thought 50 was old, and now i think since i'm over 60 that that's like the new 40. this list helps us to understand the value that women have that we can contribute to society at all ages. >> the reason i'm here today is because many people said yes to me and took a chance on me.

and you can do that at any age in your life. >> how can women get loud about the changes they want to see, whether it's reproductive rights? what works? >> speak up and we have to do the work, we have to organize with other women. we can't do it by ourselves. but if all of us get together and put the pressure on our lil leaders, we can make this happen. >> one of the things i learned along the way that is a benefit of being an older entrepreneur or doing this a bit later in life is that you have the confidence to say what you know and what you don't know. >> i'm so grateful to have mika in my life because i think she showed me that i can maybe do something that i didn't know i could do, and so i want to thank mika, i want to thank forbes, maggie and randall. >> being in person here, to feel the vibe in this room right now, i feel it and i'm not even a part of this community, and you feel -- you can feel just the power of the congregation. >> that's what i love what's

come out of this powerful community is meaningful relationships, collaborations that make a difference. how do you think you're feeling about this decade of your life? >> i am 58 years old, and this is the best decade of my life. every single -- every single good thing that has happened to me happened after 50. realizing that you're worthy of the gift, like you're worthy of your job. everyone in here is worthy of their job and a raise. like we all -- we're all worthy of more than we think we are. >> from all of us to all of you, congratulations. >> see you in abu dhabi. nexium 24hr prevents heartburn acid before it begins. get all-day and all-night heartburn acid prevention

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9:31 on the east coast, 6:31 waking up out west. this morning power has been restored to residents of moore county, north carolina, after a shooting attack of two major substations left tens of thousands of people without electricity. officials still are investigating the motive there. meanwhile, three weeks before that attack, another substation was deliberately disabled near the town of maizeville in the eastern part of the state. that incident cut off electricity to about 12,000 homes and businesses. power since has been restored to those customers as well. it has been nearly a month now since four university of idaho students were stabbed to death inside their home. but police say they still do not have a suspect. they do now have a lead. nbc news correspondent steve patterson reports from idaho. >> reporter: the town of moscow holding a christmas ceremony and remembering the four college students killed last month. along with the university, this small town has been deeply

impacted by the deaths. paul's family owns this coffee shop. >> we actually changed our schedule to make sure there's always two people here at once. >> reporter: as the town prepares for christmas, the mood is somber. was there, like, a sadness to it? >> yeah, for sure. like just really sensitive around here of, like, what we talk about, like, even jokes that we make, being, like, oh, not the joke to make right now. >> reporter: police have asked for the public's help finding a white hyundai elantra they believe was near the house when the murders were committed. why is this vehicle of interest? >> we know that vehicle was there, so the occupants or occupant naturally is someone we want to talk to. >> reporter: since day one, the brutal stabbings have attracted the attention of self-styled internetanyahu salutes. #idahomurders has around 300 million views. >> this key component they released. >> reporter: london sherman has

gained some 125 now, followers. >> we're viral and i just -- i think that everyone needs to be talking about this but when you talk about this it needs to be talked about factual. >> reporter: like the 2021 gabb chord with young people. >> people can relate to these young lives with literally the word at their feet that were about to begin their lives. >> reporter: london says she's careful not to repeat anything that hasn't been verify bd i police or professional reporter, but many others aren't as cautious. on reddit and facebook group, some with more than 60,000 member, wild speculation can spread rapidly, forcing police to put up a rumor control page to debunk misinformation. a frustrating waste of time and resources with the killer still at large. >> nbc's steve patterson with that report. sam bankman-fried, the founder of the failed crypto exchange

ftx, has agreed to testify before the senate banking committee next week, and he'll talk about his role in the collapse of his company. in a tweet, he said he's going to be limited in what he can say and that, quote, he won't be as helpful as he'd like to be. of course ftx crashed last month in what essentially was a cryptocurrency version of a bank run and ranks as one of the largest corporate bankruptcies of all time. co-anchor of cnbc's squawk box, andrew ross sorkin, what will the testimony look like? how is the story progressing? >> a lot is at stake because this is going to be sam bankman-fried under oath for the first time. he's give an number of interviews, including one to me last week but not under oath. in some cases he's e cave with -- equivocate ord used

wiggle words, and it's less clear if those wiggle words will be allowable during the testimony. the secondary question is where he'll be doing this from. at the moment, he is in the bahamas. there is extradition from the bahamas but not for a congressional subpoena, and questions about whether -- we talked about this being a bank run. there's also questions about whether this was, in fact, really a ponzi scheme. so we're going to see all of this play out next week. maxine waters had called him. originally he said he wasn't going to be participating in the hearing, then of course this morning responding to her by twitter, as you only would in the crypto world, saying that he was prepared to do so. >> of course. so, andrew, you and i obviously big gamers, that's what people know us as primarily as, gamers, why we're so fascinated by the microsoft activision situation going on right now. ftc wants to get in the way and stop it. why? >> i'll tell you the sorkin boys

in my family are actually fascinated by this deal because they're xboxers. so the big question right now is whether microsoft will be able to continue to pursue its acquisition of activision, which makes "call of duty" and other popular games. historically, thinking about antitrust, a transaction like this would be approved by the government because microsoft is actually a small player in the universe of gaming and there's lots of various competition. the leader of the ftc has made a number of novel more aggressive arguments around antitrust and this administration, the biden administration has made more aggressive takes on antitrust, are now bringing a case to try to block this deal on the grounds that microsoft has so much power, so much money, and so many other realm ls of our digital universe that its will be able to take this gaming piece and really be able to leverage it in ways that are not

necessarily appreciated today but may be appreciated in the future. part of this is a bet on what will happen in the future. of course now the question is what courts will rule. by the way, it's a gamble. it was a gamble for microsoft to try to buy activision. it's now also a gamble for the ftc because, if in fact, the ftc were to lose this case, then the flood gates would open because right now the specter of a lawsuit has prevented its own regulation. companies are not pursued deals thinking the ftc will try to block it. we'll see now that they've brought a case to bear whether that case is a winnable one or not. if it wins, it stops everything. if it loses, it changes everything. >> yeah. and finally, i hate to even bring it up, this elon musk -- >> twitter files. >> twitter files. it is so laborious, and there

are people that are ka making it a catastrophe over terms of services that were talked about if 2018, but every day somebody else puts on sack cloths and ashes and they act like the world is coming to an end. could you just sort through -- it's just nonsense. i still for the life of me, i can't figure out why elon musk is wasting his time in all of this nonsense. but he is. so, whatever. can you explain to us what's going on here? >> well, i think what you're seeing is you are seeing inside how some of these decisions were made, this idea we've long heard about shadow banning and which tweets are getting amplified and which tweets are being deamplified and we're starting to see how some of that worked. elon musk said when he bought this company he wanted to make it more transparent.

people years ago were saying they were being shadow banned and didn't know how it happened. we're seeing some of that. i'm not sure it's a surprise, and i think if you believe in content moderation, and there's a question is content moderation at odds with free speech and what's part of what this is all about, you know, we're seeing some of that. having said that, i'm not sure as i said, it's a surprise, and the question from an economic perspective is whether advertisers look at this and look at the prospect of this stuff getting districted the way it is and say i want to put money behind this company or not. as you know, he has a lot of debt that he's going to have to pay down over time, so getting advertisers to gets back on that platform is going to be important to him, and i think it's still a big open question about whether they'll support him or not. >> how is eiger's return to disney going a couple weeks in? >> look, i'll tell you this, the disney folks love him. they love him.

the idea that 200,000 employees all of a sudden feel like they have a leader that they are getting behind, that's powerful from a cultural perspective. having said that, there are of course going to be big economic challenges and secular challenges in the media space ahead, so i think it's a little too early to tell. >> yeah. all right. cnbc's andrew ross sorkin. >> great to see you. >> thank you as always. have a great weekend. still ahead, newspapers in the uk are awash with outwage following the premiere of a highly anticipated documentary featuring prince william and meghan markle. i was asked by jack, what is uncle willie doing this weekend? he knows the big nfl games he's watching on sunday. but before that, in between that and, you know, church, of course he wants to see uncle willie on "sunday today." we all do.

america does. >> since we know by the accent that you tell us about with jack that he's a small italian boy, he's going to be very happy because my guest this week has sicilian roots. he is the hysterically funny and wildly popular stand-up comedian sebastian mansscalpo. he's set records for attendance at the united center. out with a new netflix special. he's got a new one about his own life. his father is an italian from sicily, in which robert de niro plays his dad. he's come a long way from chicago and selling out the garden and having robert de niro play his dad. we'll be back here with much more "morning joe."

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'tis the season for treason!

the mar-a-lego search and seizure game. >> who knew? >> hide the documents. >> you'll have so much fun hiding classified material all over the estate. under the couch cushions. inside the tanning bed. beneath his ex-wife's tombstone. >> nuclear secrets down the toilet. >> open up! fbi! >> the only fbi i trust is a female body inspector. >> gross. >> use your special agent skills to crack open the safe. >> sh. i'm trying to hiding. >> search and seizure also comes with saudi nationals. >> we're just here to golf. honest. >> and maga supporters. >> where's hunter? where's hunter? >> look at my truck nuts! >> and his hand stuck in the golf bag. >> hem me!

>> find all the documents to indict the former president. >> we caught you red handed. >> my hands aren't red. that's just ketchup. >> mar-a-lego search and seizure edition. rudy doll sold separately. >> they've got everything. they really do. >> man, i'll tell you what, lego, expanding their operation. a new netflix series is prompting to reveal the truth about the epic squabble between prince harry and meghan markle and the rest of the british family. the first three episodes dropped yesterday. it's generating a lot of reaction. from london, keir simmons. keir, i have to say i read all of the articles before watching a couple of the episodes yesterday. a lot of inaccuracies, the articles say, a lot of critiques. but, you know, i say v saw it

and said you know what, these two are in love, harry has had a hell of a bad life, rough time obviously with his mother dieing so tragically and such a public stage, so if they're happy, fantastic. i must say the reviews in britain not quite as gracious today. >> reporter: yeah. well, you know, there's a war, really, isn't there between harry and meghan and the british press. the british press were the main target. if you watch two episodes, you'll pick that up, joe, the main target of this docuseries, so i guess it's not surprising this morning all the headlines are so outraged. actually, you know, i think for the royals, behind the royals at the palace behind me there, i don't think they came off too badly. it is only the beginning of this. we're in for a long, hard winter for the royals, if you like, but so far they keep calm and carry on. this morning's british headlines

unforgiving, slamming the duke and duchess of sussex for their new tell-all docuseries. harry and meghan opening their lives and their open, sharing intimate never-before-seen images of their children, as well as private photos and videos of their life together away from the spot light. senior members of the royal family may be breathing a sigh of relief. >> your majesty -- >> reporter: whether the king has watched his youngest son's multimillion-dollar netflix series, he'll know by now there are no bombshells, at least not yet. prince william and princess katherine came in for what looked to some like subtle criticism. >> so many people in the in family and there could be a temptation or an urge to marry someone who would would fit in the mold opposed to somebody who perhaps are destined to be with.

>> was this a suggestion long suspected of a frosty relationship between meghan and katherine. >> when they came over and i met her for the first time, i remember i was in ripped genes and barefoot like a hugger. i didn't realize that is jarring for a lot of brits. i started to understand very quickly that the formality on the outside carried through on the inside. >> queen elizabeth was the first royal meghan met. >> how do d you explain the bow to your grandmother? especially to an american. that's weird. >> i was like. >> prince harry looking unsettled by his wife's depiction of seeing them. meghan's mom speaks out for the fest time too sharing her views of the racial prejudice meghan faced. >> this is what's coming down the pike. >> reporter: there were no direct accusations against any individual royals.

but this is only the beginning. three more episodes is and a book are coming. >> if they can get through this and not upset or offend or further that divide, perhaps the relationship could be on a more equal footing and repair. but it depends on what happens next. >> reporter: the trailer for next week, at the end of soed three did not appear to suggest big revelations. the proof will come in a week's time. in such is so proper, but there are no grenades or bomb shells. i'll let people watching decide whether it was worth all the money that netflix paid. >> so i said again, i'm glad they are happy. they certainly seemed happy. harry dezrves that after all he's been through. there were a couple things that

just -- first of all, what? i have to curt see? she's a queen. everybody knows that. everybody knows that. like when you go to the queen, it's not a high five moment. that reminds me of the oprah interview where meghan hold oprah, i had no idea what was coming. i never even googled it. please. it's just it doesn't ring true. but there's this whole thing about, oh, i just so shocked by these things that literally 2 billion people in the world know about the british family. >> yeah, i'm impressed, fist of all, you managed watch two episodes. i got through ten minutes and decided my time was better is spent doing other things. you can't frgt that meghan -- i have some sympathy for the couple, especially for harry after the death of his mother and his gripe against the british press.

he really feels it was the tabloids who killed his mother. and he has a certain legitimate grievance. this was a tirade against the britt media these first two episodes. the other thing i thought was discordened was some of the video diaries, they were doing them in march of 2020, which suggests they were already planning all this. i know you're there in london. there's zero sympathy for harry and meghan. is there any sort of because of what happened with that royal aid who had to step down after asking repeatedly a black british woman where she came from, is there any retlex in the uk about whether actually did hearth are you and meghan get unfair treatment because of her race? >> reporter: yeah, i had to watch all three episodes.

>> good for you. >> i had to watch all three of them yesterday. here's my take on that. the thing is that the royal family are just absolutely terrible, disastrous at welcoming new members. there's just such a long history of that going back to prince phillip, to katherine, then with this you have the added aspect of race. i adopt think we should underestimate that. there are different polarized views, but communities here who are extremely sympathetic because they have an understanding of that life experience. so there are take aways from this. of course, there are. another one which is worth noting is there has been -- there's a the lot of nas tuness at times there's been talk about about their relationship, whether it would last. some people said would it last.

i think we did see love in the first three episodes of this series. they are infatuated with each other, as far as i can tell, and good for them. that being said, will they garner sympathy, as joe mentioned, being so cynical about being in the royal family and all that entails. perhaps not. >> keir simmons outside buckingham palace, taking one for the team watching all three episodes for us. >> by the way, classic british understatement there when keir says, perhaps not. >> yes, keir does that very well. let's finish this hour, this day, this week with a great story out of arkansas. arkansas state university mid-south community college freshman jalen smith is just barely old enough of to cast a vote. but that did not stop him enough

from winning votes to become mayor of the small arkansas town. the mayor-elect smith is set to become the youngest black mayor in u.s. history at 18 years old. and the payor-elect jalen smith joins us now. mr. mayor-elect, thank you for joining us. congratulations on your big win this year. just a year ago, i think, you were the president of your high school class. now the mayor of earl. tell us about why you ran for office. >> good morning. thank you for having me. the reason i ran for mayor, it all started in high school. the student government association i joined the organization in 7th grade, but we made a dear friends in the school district. also made an impact in the community. and so that drove me to want to be mayor today. >> go ahead, joe.

>> your mom can't stop crying apparently. you told "the washington post" this had to be a shock to a lot of people in the community. but i can't imagine how excited your mom is. tell us about it. >> yeah, she's very excited. to have her son as the mayor of earl, arkansas, i she never thought i would be in this position today because i always talked about a state trooper. that was my biggest dream when i was in elementary school. ied to be an arkansas state trooper. and that's what she thought i was going to do. i i still have a plan for doing that as time goes, but now my time is here. >> mayor-elect, congratulations. there's kind of been a conversation about a rise in young people getting interested many politics and interested in running in politics.

talk to me when you talk to people your age, does it feel like there's a change happening like they are more interested in the process? >> yes, sir, can can you repeat that question one more time for me? >> when you talk to your friends that are around your age, are they more interested in politics over the last couple years? >> yeah, there is. because the determination and the drive that i have, as time on student government, i was always told no. but every no that was told to me someone was waiting to say yes. they thought i want to get into it. it's more fun. >> mayor-elect smith, elected on a platform of bringing a grocery store to taunt, improving transportation and public

safety. a winning plat tomorrow form. the future is bright. thank you for being with us. we appreciate your time. >> thank you for having me. joe, some final thought this is week in our remaining sends. >> it's been a remarkable week. the democrats picked up another seat to get up to 51. then lost one. the lord give earth and take earth away. democrats certainly look like they are going to be in control and chances are good she's going to vote based on her statements. >> it certainly looks that way. the great news that an american held unjustly for a long time is back home. brittney griner and the work continues to bring home paul whelan and other americans held abroad. that does it for us. jose diaz-balart picks up the coverage right now.