joining us now is ben collins, is a reporter covers this information, extremism, for nbc news. thanks for being here, it's nice to see you. >> thanks. >> your beat is disinformation and extremism online. is your beat going to get worse or better? >> that depends on what elon musk decides to do the service. he said a couple of things. he's taking a lot of populist positions on some user futures, for example, the added biden. the much fabled added by that is going to come to twitter. he says that's gonna happen. that can be positive or negative, we don't know what that looks like in practice. that is also said a lot of things about free speech, and that's great. free speech is the fundamental principle of this country. but moderation is different than free speech. and moderation is hard. it's extremely hard. in fact, it's an art, it's not a science. it's an unwinnable game. and he just got the worst job of the world. he's now the king of content moderation on the world's fastest moving use platform. if you thought this was going to be fun, i don't know what's going on in his heart

nbc news ben collins says there is mrent ep of models for where this site is headed. will not like it. you are in the media, you should be a champion of free speech and freedom of press, what is going on here? >> free speech means bringing in right, left, center and everywhere in between. i love the narrative twitter was utopia of truth, the company didn't take a side against a certain ideology and didn't censure information. covid could have come from a lab in wuhan, that would get you. or hunter biden's laptop was russian disinformation, you would get blocked. it acted like a partisan political information, always follow the money. twitter earnings come out on monday and expected to be horrible, the board had no choice but to take this offer. one was never coming like it again, if they didn't, lawsuits were going to start flying, the board wasn't living up to its for responsibilities. >> todd: joe concha, thank you, we appreciate it. newly released police video shows a clip of awell, ec baldwin -- >> what is interesting, not to digress, commentary, we have done this

. >> nbc news senior reporter ben collins has more., former chief security officer as facebook. alex, what was your reaction to the former president's speech? >> first off, we were extremely proud to be able to host president obama at the stanford policy center. and i'm very excited he's getting involved with this. i think his speech demonstrated a really smart read of the current situation and i think serves both a call to action for congress and technical companies, as well as a bit of corrective to some of the really simplistic ways people have thought about this situation. he opened up talking about disinformation as a supply and demand problem. he talked about how tech company product choices have absolute impact on supply but also, unlike most political elites, talked about the demand issues and the need to reduce the desire of americans to be lied to intentionally. he really did the reading. it's wonderful and fortunate to think back to a president who was this kind of deeply engaged this these kind of difficult issues. >> you s

joining us now is ben collins a reporter who covers disinformation, extremism on the internet for nbcews, thank you for being here, it's nice to see you. >> good to see you. >> your beat is disinformation and extremism, online, and is your beat going to get worse or better now? >> it depends on what elon musk decides to do with this service. he said a couple of things. he's taking a lot of populist positions on some user features, for example the edit button, the much fabled edit button that is going to come to twitter, he says that's going to happen. now that could be positive or negative, we don't know what that looks like in practice but he has also said a lot of things about free free speech and that's great and free speech is the fundamental principle of this country and moderation is different than free speech and moderation is hard, it is extremely hard, it's an art, not a science, it is an unwinnable game and he got the worst job in the world, he is now the king of content moderation on the world's fastest-moving news platform, if he thought this was going to be fun, this is j

. >> joining me is ben collins covering this disinformation space for us.gress getting involved. walk us through the options with combatting disinformation online. >> yeah. as of right now he is not giving solutions in a speech but a 101 of information disorder. he said peddling outrage give you an edge on social media why that is true and he puts the blame in part on social media networks whose systems amplify the hate and the conspiracy theories because that sensational content works and there are ways to make that less a part of our lives. that hate and conspiracy doesn't just remain on the facebook page but take it out into the real world and talk about it. maybe you distrust them because of it. you can down play the stuff interimly. that is not done because there's no real oversight on the algorithms. >> now digital platforms can do what they want with speech. if the government gets involved then you have to strike a balance between regulation and first amendment rights. describe the algorithm to turn up or down how information is magnified out stampin

ben wedeman and clarissa ward in the east of the country and at the white house, kaitlan collins. we start with ben wedeman's reports in the east. >> it begins again. hell rains down. a dozen people are hiding in the basement of a bombed out theater in the a town. let it stop, oh, lord, he says. now there's incoming. white flag hangs outside to no effect. the theater above has been bombed and bombed again and again. yet they stay. too poor, too old, too frightened to flee. nina, 89 years old, has been here for five weeks. i want to go home, she says. i have suffered too much. i have seen the fire and the smoke. i have seen it all. i'm scared. nina's plea simple. help us. help us. her daughter struggles to comfort her. we're praying to god to stop it, she says. to hear us. ina says i have nowhere to go. i have no friends, no relatives. with the shelling intensifying, volunteers are finding it hard to deliver food. as russian and ukrainian forces fight for control of the town, there are people down there. praying, as hell rains down. >> ben wedeman joins us. also in the east of ukrai

as a second russian offensive draws near. >> and clarissa ward joins us now along with kaitlan collins and ben weiderman, first of all, the constant shelling, like a nonstop thunderstorm but let me ask about lydia who says i can't even die here because there's no one to bury me. do you know if she was able to be evacuated? do you have an update? >> reporter: very sadly, john, she has not been evacuated yet, and i have to say that walking out of that apartment and leaving her alone in that state was really one of the hardest things i've done as a journalist. i know that igor is working really hard, the volunteer to try to find someone, but she needs, the way they explained it to me, she needs a chaperone to help her leave this area. she's in a wheelchair, she requires significant assistance. she doesn't have any money, doesn't have any family here in ukraine. ironically, her son actually lives in russia, is aware of what's going on and was the one to actually call igor and this volunteer group and, but so far, they just have not been able to find a way to get her out and also to find an appropr

we have got live reports tonight from cnn's ben wedeman in mykolaiv, cnn chief international anchor in kharkiv. christiane amanpour in cnn's kaitlan collins at the white house. we begin with this report from ben wedeman who had a close call earlier today with his crew. >> reporter: this is an area where it there's been a fair amount of outgoing, as well as incoming artillery. down the road is a town that has been fought over for several days. by russian and ukrainian forces. in thvast open spaces, the russians seem far away. they're not. down here, john. down here. keep on. >> you see over there? >> we we hug the earth. two more artillery rounds. cameraman john keeps rolling. so we have two incoming rounds responding to artillery that's been firing in the russian directions. those shells came pretty close to us. no one has opinion injured. the officer tells translator we need to go now. >> okay. okay. >> i hope the car's okay. >> yeah, let's go. and so, we run full body armor to the cars. we are losing petrol. >> reporter: no time to lose. driver igor, razor focused on getting us to safety. his car, also, hit. >> go, go, go, go, go! all r

ben ray lujan suffered a stroke. he's back in the senate and can vote. this is when those bipartisan votes do matter. the susan collins late last week and said she would support judge jackson on the floor. that's not just important for the fact that it means that she will have bipartisan support. it's important for the fact that it means there's a 51st vote in her favor. it gives democrats and judge jackson and her supporters a little bit more of a cushion. andrea, i'm watching very closely today to see whether we get movement from lisa murkowski or less likely mitt romney to come out in judge jackson's favor. remember, murkowski was one of the three who voted for the circuit court possession. she's difficult to lobby, to influence, to push. republicans and democrats alike know you pretty much have to give her the information she asks for, and stay out of the way. you'll find out how she'll vote when she sits down to vote. >> and a seat mate to her friend susan collins. we don't know what is influencing her and how she'll decide. thank you both so much, david henderson, and you're going to be a busy guy on the hill th

collins at the white house, thank you. >>> the weaponry is needed on the front lines in eastern ukraine where the fighting is expected to heat up substantially. benjust back from what could be -- about to become a battlefield unlike any the european continent has seen since the second world war. >> reporter: all is not quiet on ukraine's eastern front. n russian mortars warn of what's to come. ukrainian officials say the offensive in the donbas region, eastern part of ukraine, has begun. perhaps it has. perhaps this is the softening up before the onslaught. among ukrainian troops, bravado. >> stronger than. >> reporter: this officer gives a more sober assessment. the russians are building up for an attack. they are coming and coming and coming, this lieutenant tells me. we are not in an easy situation. russian shelling tuesday killed three people, including a 16-year-old girl, according to the town mayor. who has been urging residents to leave. not everyone heeds his call. the stubborn few wait for supplies. this is our town, insists this woman. we are staying here. we know our soldiers are protecting us. this woman looks to a higher power. we wi

ben sasse, mitt romney, lisa murkowski." the story noting that senator susan collins has already announced she will be voting in support of judgeon, making it at least by one vote a bipartisan vote whenever it does happen. we are expecting all democrats to vote for judge jackson, susan collins, and we will see if others join her. we have your phone calls. we have about 10 minutes for it. steve in florida, a republican. good morning. steve, are you with us this morning? caller: yes. good morning. i was listening to a couple of people you had on before, and they were talking about suspending the gas tax. i don't agree with that. the country is in trouble because the democrats and people in power and the new green deal and all of these people want to go ahead and not drill for oil. the democrats are in very serious trouble because it has been proved in the past under president trump that this country is rich with oil. they are going to run around like over the weekend and claim everything is great. hillary clinton is running around saying that we have great policies. it is a disaster. it is a train wreck what is going on. it is a