lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, thank you for being with us.s in ukraine's counteroffensive, it does appear that ukrainians have broken through some of those defensive lines in the south—east of the country. what do you make of what we're seeing? is it progress? i think it is. but we shouldn't overstate what we're seeing just now or underestimate how much longer this offensive is going to go. this is always going to be a months—long effort. we're only about two months into it. we still have quite a bit of summer and fall fighting season to go, and we won't know for certain what the ukrainians have managed to accomplish. but we can say that the ukrainians have taken some hits, taken some losses, have started out slower than some analysts, some optimists have expected, but are making gains. they're plugging away. they're doing probably one of the most important things they can do — reduce russia's fighting manpower to the point where they could actually achieve some breakthroughs and manoeuvres. for this current phase that we're seeing over the p

joining me now is retired lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, the former director of european affairsional security council. he's a new york times bestselling author of the important book, here, right matters. an american story. a loss of colonel vindman in ukraine when we were there a couple of weeks ago. carl, good to see you again. thank you for being with us. cluster munitions are a complicated issue. i saw it, an important tweet from you about this. whatever peoples moral issues are with them, you think it's important to send them. why? >> yes, i do. great seeing you again, ali. one thing i heard, i just got back from ukraine yesterday. one thing i heard consistently 's short haul munitions is what could allow this offensive to get, that is intended to break the russians in their military, it had to liberate territory, it could fail on a shortage of munitions. so, this is an important system from a practical standpoint. this is not conceptual issue, this is a real issue. at the same time, russia has been using cluster munitions with a high dug rate throughout this war. ukraine is

earlier, iasked lieutenant colonel alexander vindman what else putin could commit to the war.s. but what he can rely on is kind of the brutality that he's experienced thus far, or he's leveraged thus far, to continue to punish the ukrainian population. the callousness with which he treats his own troops — he continued to mobilise tens of thousands of russian soldiers to put to the meat grinder. and frankly, he may very well choose, some time in the fall, when he's out of resources, when he's out of military resources, to mobilise hundreds of thousands of troops, like he did last fall. as we've heard, the head of the russian wagner group, yevgeny prigozhin, made an unexpected appearance on the side—lines of putin's africa summit. he'd been keeping a low profile since leading a failed mutiny last month and was meant to be living in belarus. but he's again making headlines, having his photo taken with a delegate. prigozhin appears to have welcomed the coup that is currently taking place in west africa's niger. a company affiliated with the mercenaries shared an audio message purp

alexander vindman is a retired us army lieutenant—colonel.ategy here. does he have anything else in his war chest that he can commit to this war? he really has nothing — commit to this war? he really has nothing new— commit to this war? he really has nothing new in _ commit to this war? he really has nothing new in terms - commit to this war? he really has nothing new in terms of. has nothing new in terms of capabilities. but what he can rely on is kind of the brutality that he's experienced thus far, or he's leveraged thus far, or he's leveraged thus far, or he's leveraged thus far, to continue to punish the ukrainian population. the callousness with which he treats his own troops — he continued to mobilise tens of thousands of russian soldiers to put into the meat grinder. frankly, he may very well choose some time in the fall when he's out of resources, when he's out of resources, when he's out of resources, when he's out of military resources, to mobilise hundreds of thousands of troops, like he did last fall. and that's really all he has

you like alexander vindman, you were like "we have to listen to the whistleblowers."stleblowers coming up from the irs and fbi about all the influence from hunter biden and joe biden, but these are all conspiracy theories. how come your opinion has changed on whistleblowers when it comes to you and the democrats but when it is against your president, and you're vice president, oh these are ora can -- your vice president, "oh these are all conspiracy theories!" it is always good when it is again to trump. you talk about kennedy! just because he is a little bit to the right of the left and you want to call it a conspiracy theory. host: mike, we will get a response from congressman steve pellman. guest: first -- from congressman steve cohen. guest: first, informants have credibility. there's reason to believe them, like alexander vindman, regarding the plots that the president had in order to get information on his opponent. one of the informants they had about hunter biden, and it is about hunter biden, not joe biden, was recently indicted for not registering as a forei

earlier my colleague helena humphrey spoke with lietenant colonel alexander vindman for his take on ukraine's colonel thank you for being with us after months of slow progress in ukraine's counteroffensive it does appear that ukrainians have broken through, some of those defensive lines of the south east of the country, what do you make of what we are seeing, is it progress? i you make of what we are seeing, is it progress?— it progress? i think it is, but we should not _ it progress? i think it is, but we should not overstate _ it progress? i think it is, but we should not overstate what - it progress? i think it is, but we should not overstate what we . it progress? i think it is, but we. should not overstate what we are seeing _ should not overstate what we are seeing is — should not overstate what we are seeing is now or underestimate how much _ seeing is now or underestimate how much longer this offensive could go. this is— much longer this offensive could go. this is always going to be a months lon- this is always going to be a months long effort — this is always going to be a months lo

. >> colonel alexander vindman joining us from kyiv, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> just aheadning about state to overture 2020 election and whether it could add to the president's legal jeopardy. and if you don't have the right homeme insurance coverag, well you could end up paying foror all this yourself. so get allstate. every day, more dog people are deciding it's time for a fresh approach to pet food. developed with vets. made from real meat and veggies. portioned for your dog. and delivered right to your door. it's smarter, healthier pet food. our ears connect us to the moments that matter. give them the nutrients they need with lipo. it's formulated with ingredients clinically shown to protect your ears from dizziness, ear ringing, and even hearing loss. never miss a moment with lipo flavonoid. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand for a better night sleep. so now, he wakes up feeling like himself. the reigning family room middle-weight champion. better days start with zzzquil nights. >>> we are following n

everything -- every i has to be dotted, every t has to be crossed, yet you can have a phone call and alexander vindmanks it and suddenly you're impeached for the first time. >> i think a lot of people will be feeling the double standard across the country at the moment and the person who feels it most strongly is donald trump. it was interesting to see the reaction of the crowd to that. knows that's one of the things people are feeling, they're worried about the double standard, worried whether there's an impartial justice system in the united states. i was interested in the point he made, that he would back any candidate that was on this side. rachel: it sounds like a threat. will: it's not just a double standard might feel about with donald trump or any one of us, it's that it's hard to keep up with the details when it comes to for example the investigation into hunter biden. it feels like it goes nowhere. and that's what people have a sense of. i was listening yesterday, i haven't finished it, to the verdict, ted cruz's podcast. rachel: it's a great podcast. will: spent several episodes with james

here right matters is also the type of alexander vindman's book. he kicked off the impeachment but reporting the phone call, the extortion phone call. he used the term and his testimony because he was trying to reassure his father, who had come from ukraine and earlier from russia that that is okay, that. >> one of the things that your committee recommended were charges of aiding an insurrection. our reporting at the moment does not indicate that that is being included. tell me what your thoughts are on that being left out in these types of charges. >> i think, certainly, the former presidents involvement in inciting that attack on the capital, powerful evidence such says january six, were east told that there is a problem with the metal detectors, not an unusual problem. the problem on january six is not that there were long lines at the middle detectors, it's that the practically no lines because he would not go through them because they did not want their weapons taken away. what is donald trump's response, take down the effing mags. they are no

alexander vindman and anthony fauci? is a playbook that's designed to destroy whatever checks and balances there are in the system to remove potential critics ombudsman anybody who can check presidential power and also designed to remove experts. >> and naturally the times is also horrified that a republican president would work to end the weaponization of the intel agencies as well. he plans to scour agencies for political bias. what a scandal. i can't believe donald trump would actually do t that the rel question here is. this who governs america? do the govern america or does a permanent bureaucracy that significantly con strains the power of elected officials run the government? now, the "times" pov is if you elect liberals, great. but if a conservative wins the presidency, then the bureaucracy should be able to resist the president's agenda with everything they've got. now, the administrative state worked against trump 24/7 and not just at justice. when he tried to push through executive orders on immigration, lawye

alexander vindman was in the room, he went and told his superiors about that call that led to the impeachment. lev parnas, the man who figured prominently to giuliani's effort, is now speaking out saying, the gop investigation into biden and his son is a wild goose chase. >> after explaining this campaign to fabricate corruption charges against biden, parnas concludes his letter by saying, throughout all these months of work, the extensive campaigns and networking done by trump allies and giuliani associates, including the enormously thorough interviews and assignments that i undertook. quote, there has never been any evidence that hunter or joe biden committed any crimes related to ukrainian politics. never during any of my communications with ukrainian officials or connections to burisma did any of them confirm or provide concrete effects linking the bidens to illegal activities. >> that letter the jaming raskis written by lev parnas. lev was a ukrainian businessman whose essentially giuliani's right-hand man in attempting to dig up dirt on the bidens. parnas was convicted on fraud and camp

public testimony from people like ambassador william taylor and ambassador marie yovanovitch and alexander vindmanho have become familiar to us. at the end of the process the house voted on an actual impeachment. that takes a majority. if we get to that poin, then it goes over to the senate where you need a two-thirds vote. we have seen this four years ago now and speaker mccarthy has now announced he's considering the first of those steps. >> and perhaps a month's long process as well. joe, i want to play some sound from congressman ralph normon on a possible impeachment inquiry to the president. listen to what he said. >> if there is not accountability now for the highest office holder in the land, when is it going to be in and i think at the end of the day he will be impeached. >> do you see republicans bri bringing articles of impeachment this fall. >> i think we should tread lightly. there is this urge to try to speculate on what the president might have done or what he might have known. i think republicans will be best focusing on the emails that were sent by hunter biden. the fact that thos

i only held for 14 days and that was over alexander vindman being retaliated against by the trump whitese, and right now senator tuberville is jeopardizing our nation's ability to lead the free world at a time when there's a war in europe because he wants to inject politics into this. >> want to ask you the same question about nato expansion. do you think nato expansion to asia is inevitable over the next decade or so? >> i think it is. i agree with my friend and frankly, it already has started to do that with our successful office agreement between the uk, australia and the united states. our asian allies, i travel extensively throughout the indo-pacific. our asian allies are looking very closely to what happened with ukraine and realize there is a greater need to participate themselves in nato as well as nato allies coming back into the indo-pacific region. i think what vladimir putin has done, not only has he expanded nato, he's strengthened the resolve of countries like japan, korea, and taiwan and other nations. even the asean nations put out statements condemning russia. he's unit

here right matters is also the type of alexander vindman's book. he kicked off the impeachment but reporting the phone call, the extortion phone call. he used the term and his testimony because he was trying to reassure his father, who had come from ukraine and earlier from russia that that is okay, that. don't worry about me because i am here in america, where wright counts for something. right matters. the whole point is that in america, they make the distinction between right and wrong. he would think that is what the democracy is, but what donald trump's, saying that is not really true. >> you are absolutely right. because it's such a powerful idea, it's important that we are as a country, and sadly, you're so right to point this out, what has allowed donald trump to put our democracy on such fragile ground to tear down so many institutions is the willing enabler in u.s. congress, the people like kevin mccarthy, who are in the business all about donald trump's -- every time you hear one of the republican leaders say things like that, which they