0:01

Tonight, 22

0:04

years after September 11th, the

0:06

remarks from President Biden as we get

0:08

an inside look at the final public

0:10

building near Ground Zero. And

0:12

some Republicans return to Washington with

0:14

plans to impeach Joe Biden. What

0:17

exactly do they want to impeach him for?

0:20

What do voters think about it? Then the war

0:22

in Ukraine a year and a half later, where

0:25

things stand as Kim Jong-un is set

0:27

to meet with Vladimir Putin as the 11th

0:29

hour gets underway on this Monday

0:31

night.

0:38

Good evening once again. I'm Stephanie Ruhle live

0:40

at MSNBC headquarters here in New

0:43

York City. This was a

0:45

day of tributes, tears and remembrances

0:47

as the nation marked 22 years since the 9-11 attacks.

0:52

On his way back from Asia, President Biden stopped

0:54

at a military base in Anchorage, Alaska, where

0:57

he held a ceremony to honor the thousands

0:59

of people who lost their lives that day.

1:02

I join you on this solemn day

1:04

to renew our sacred

1:07

vow. Never forget.

1:10

Never forget. We know that on

1:13

this day, every American's heart was wounded.

1:15

Yet

1:16

every big city, small town, suburb,

1:19

rural town, tribal community, American

1:22

hands went up,

1:24

ready to help where they could, ready

1:27

to serve like so many of you here. We

1:29

can look across the country and around the world

1:32

and see anger and fear in

1:34

places many of you have been stationed

1:37

before. A rising tide

1:39

of hatred and extremism and political

1:41

violence. It's more important

1:43

than ever that we come together around the principle

1:45

of American democracy regardless

1:48

of our political backgrounds. We

1:50

must not succumb to the poisonous

1:53

politics of difference and division.

1:56

Must never allow ourselves to be pulled apart by

1:59

petty manufacturing.

1:59

grievances, this day reminds

2:02

us we must never lose that

2:04

sense of national unity. So

2:08

let that be the common cause of our time.

2:14

And like every year since the attacks,

2:16

memorials were held in New York, Pennsylvania,

2:19

and Washington, DC. Here's my colleague,

2:21

Rahima Ellis, with more.

2:26

Once again, a solemn day of remembrance.

2:30

Bells tolling at 846 and 903,

2:32

the moment when terrorists

2:34

attacked the World Trade Center 22 years ago.

2:38

Alwyn

2:38

Keadle, Papa Minh Jr. Then

2:42

the emotional reading of nearly 3,000 names of those

2:44

who died that day. And

2:46

my copy, Gerard Patrick Crain, firefighter

2:49

from Rescue Company 3. I miss

2:51

you and love you. I wish you

2:54

got the tickets for him. We love you, Papa.

2:57

In attendance, Vice President

2:58

Kamala Harris. And the tragedy

3:00

is still present in so many families' lives

3:03

to this day, as they're struggling

3:05

with lingering health effects from the

3:07

attack. 341 members

3:10

of the fire department have died from 9-11

3:12

related illnesses, almost

3:14

as many as those who died 22 years ago. He

3:16

was great. Jim Brose's father, Joseph, was

3:18

one of them. He

3:21

died from lung cancer this year. Lieutenant

3:23

Joseph Brose, engine 88.

3:25

And his

3:27

name was added to a memorial wall

3:30

at FDNY

3:30

headquarters. I walked through those hallways

3:32

looking at names of people I worked

3:35

with, people I knew, and the one thing

3:37

you never want to see is when everyone's everywhere.

3:44

Pain for lost family

3:46

members, both fresh and lingering. I

3:49

just hope you're proud of

3:51

who I've grown up to be. Thank

3:53

you for loving us, Dad, and thank you for being my

3:55

dad. Tonight, a nation honoring

3:58

a promise to never forget.

4:03

The America that came together in

4:06

the wake of 9-11 attacks is now

4:08

struggling to

4:09

find any common ground.

4:11

With that, let's get smarter with the help of our lead-off

4:14

panel. This is the off-end of mine. Katie

4:16

Benner is here, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter

4:18

for The New York Times, Michael Steele, former

4:20

chairman of the Republican National Committee and former

4:23

lieutenant governor of Maryland and former

4:25

federal prosecutor Glenn Kirshner.

4:28

Glenn, 22 years is a long time,

4:31

but on this day it feels

4:33

like a moment. You are a DOJ veteran.

4:36

How is the nation and specifically

4:38

federal law enforcement different now compared

4:41

to how it was then?

4:45

Well, you know, law enforcement

4:47

seems to be under attack in ways

4:49

that were unimaginable, you know,

4:51

some years ago, where we are

4:53

forever now investigating the

4:55

investigators which undermines

4:58

and is so corrosive to law enforcement.

5:01

You know, you don't long for the days when

5:03

we had a national tragedy that

5:05

brought us together, but it does

5:07

seem stuff like we get farther and farther

5:09

apart. And when we see a tribute like

5:11

the one you just ran, you know, I think

5:13

everybody would do well to just reflect

5:16

for a minute about what really matters

5:18

and how we should be pulling together

5:21

when times are tough. And I have to say, times

5:23

are tough right now in ways

5:25

perhaps very different from 9-11, but

5:28

boy, they are just as tough.

5:31

You wonder, Katie, when I just think even about

5:33

New York and New Yorkers, how we

5:35

came together in this extraordinary

5:37

way after 9-11,

5:39

you wonder what it would look like today. How

5:41

different is our country? You know, so I spent the

5:43

afternoon with researchers who look at violent

5:45

extremism and domestic violent extremism. And

5:48

one of the things they talked about that 9-11 was really

5:50

the beginning of something, was the beginning of

5:53

a belief in conspiracy theories. What

5:55

changed in the last few years was the mainstreaming

5:58

of these really virulent conspiracies. theories.

6:00

So it was around the fringes after

6:03

9-11. What people thought

6:05

was, you know, the really like sort of like out there

6:07

far-right conspiracy theories, they were

6:09

still to the fringe. We did not yet have social media.

6:12

We didn't have the internet. We didn't have ways to

6:14

mainstream them. But now they've been mainstreamed

6:16

and importantly they're being mainstreamed

6:20

by establishment, political figures

6:22

and that changes everything and it

6:24

makes it much, much harder for people to come together.

6:27

And so that's one of the big differences today. And

6:30

so you're right, it would be very different today because

6:32

there wouldn't be consensus amongst our leaders

6:34

as to how to come together and deal with the

6:36

situation. Well back then when Donald Trump was

6:39

lying, claiming that he

6:40

saw people cheering on the roofs

6:42

of buildings from Jersey City, people

6:45

just looked at him as a crackpot, bankrupted

6:47

business guy. They never predicted

6:50

he'd then become president of the United States.

6:52

Michael, Joe Biden talked about the unity

6:54

we had as a country after 9-11.

6:56

And I want to share what our friend and colleague

6:58

Claire McCaskill said about that earlier today.

7:02

For the first time in America, we had

7:04

a leader that had no desire to unite

7:06

the country. I mean, George

7:09

Bush wanted to unite the country. Sometimes

7:11

he wanted to do it in ways I disagreed with. Bill

7:15

Clinton wanted to unite the country. George

7:17

Bush's father wanted to unite the country. But

7:20

John McCain wanted to unite the country. Joe

7:23

Biden wants to unite. There's only one outlier

7:25

here. Donald Trump wanted

7:27

to drive a wedge of grievance

7:30

between America's most vaulted institutions

7:34

and the American people. And that

7:37

grievance is his political

7:39

coin in the realm.

7:41

Michael, what strikes you most about

7:44

America

7:45

after 9-11 compared to today?

7:49

A lot. And I think

7:52

both my friends here have sort of touched

7:55

on it. You think about the

7:58

idea in the moment of

8:00

9-11 to Claire's

8:03

point, President Bush wanted us to come together,

8:05

but President Bush did something that I think people

8:07

have forgotten, and it never, I never did,

8:09

and it stuck with me, and it's

8:12

really profound now. He

8:14

said there will come a point where

8:16

we will forget this feeling of

8:19

unity, where we will forget what

8:21

happened in the sense of

8:24

our united purpose. Yeah, we

8:26

may still commemorate

8:28

the day and so forth, but

8:30

that thing that brought us together

8:33

as Americans,

8:34

that helped us appreciate

8:36

what it really means to

8:39

be under this flag, to

8:42

be on this soil,

8:45

we could very well forget that, and we

8:47

shouldn't, and I think we have.

8:50

I think we now look at our neighbors as

8:53

others.

8:54

We look at those who want to be here and

8:56

enjoy the prosperity and prosperity

8:59

of this nation as

9:01

invaders,

9:02

and so there is something

9:06

darkly profound at this hour,

9:08

I think, in the country as we

9:10

commemorate today what

9:13

happened on 9-11.

9:15

To Glenn's point, we also need to take a

9:17

moment and ask ourselves,

9:19

what the hell happened to us?

9:22

Because this is not the America

9:24

of 2001 on

9:27

this date. We

9:30

are profoundly different now, and

9:32

I think we need to understand why, very

9:35

much to both points

9:37

that were made, certainly by Claire, about

9:39

how Donald Trump sees the country, and how

9:42

more importantly, and this is key, how

9:45

the country wants to lean into that.

9:48

They're not moving away from it.

9:50

They're leaning into the deconstruction

9:53

of institutions and the very foundations

9:55

of this country because of a selfish

9:58

interest, a sort of interest. interest

10:00

in victimhood, you know, I'm

10:02

not getting mine, so neither shall you.

10:05

And that's a bad space

10:07

for us, I think, as a country.

10:09

Glenn, we're not even taking domestic

10:12

terrorism as seriously

10:14

as we need to, despite the dramatic

10:17

spikes in the last five or

10:19

ten years. Think about this country after

10:21

9-11 and what we did, how we

10:23

stood together in the face of terrorism,

10:26

and how our government organized against

10:28

it. We're not doing that.

10:31

Yeah, although we are trying

10:33

to get after domestic terrorism,

10:36

at least in as much as what happened on

10:38

January 6th, because just

10:40

as sure as we're all sitting here together on

10:42

this panel, that was domestic

10:45

terrorism. And people are now going

10:47

to prison for a decade, for

10:49

two decades. And, you know, the FBI

10:52

has been relentless. They're not going to stop until

10:54

they get everybody that they can identify

10:57

as having participated in the Capitol attack

11:00

on January 6th. The prosecutors are

11:02

working around the clock. The judges

11:04

are, I think, doling out sentences

11:07

that are probably not as stiff as

11:09

some people would like to see. But

11:12

Steph, I also believe that part

11:14

of that is a recognition that

11:16

many of these people who attacked

11:18

the Capitol on January 6th were

11:21

answering Donald Trump's terroristic

11:24

call. So yeah, we have a long way

11:26

to go to keep getting after terrorism,

11:29

because I believe that the chief terrorist

11:32

is somebody who is now facing four

11:35

felony trials

11:39

and hopefully is soon to be held accountable

11:42

for the terrorism he wrought on our nation.

11:45

Katie, the country is very fractured. But

11:47

when you think about what's happening

11:49

to those

11:49

January 6th insurrectionists,

11:51

right? I mean, the sentences in the last week, 18

11:53

years, 22 years, these

11:56

are major sentences. And to Glenn's point, the

11:58

DOJ prosecutors working around

12:01

the clock and we are seeing scores

12:03

of people do hard time for their

12:05

actions that day. So I think what we're seeing is we're

12:07

seeing the limitations of the Justice Department bumping

12:10

up against the failures of our political system. So

12:12

he's right, the Justice Department is working around the clock

12:14

in order to prosecute people, obtain

12:17

convictions, and then wait for the judge to sentence them

12:19

in a way that is most fair to that person on the

12:21

bench. But that doesn't mean that people in the

12:23

United States believe that those cases are righteous.

12:26

It doesn't mean that the people in the United States believe

12:28

that the Justice Department is doing the right thing. And so

12:30

I think that one of the things it's uncomfortable

12:32

to talk about and uncomfortable to say is that

12:35

these prosecutions, if we are

12:38

to believe that Donald Trump did

12:40

exhort people to attack the United States,

12:42

the seat of our government, we're also

12:45

saying that a mainstream political party is

12:47

associated with something that's deeply undermining

12:49

to democracy. And that implies

12:51

somewhere along the way, there was a big

12:54

failure in our political system. I certainly

12:56

don't know where it was. I couldn't diagnose it, but it's

12:58

there. And to say that is

13:00

something that's really destabilizing, I think,

13:03

to our country, our narrative of ourselves, to

13:05

what we think of democracy and what we think of democracy

13:07

is going to be going forward. So I think 2024 is

13:10

going to be a big rubber-hit-the-road test

13:12

of that. But it's really uncomfortable for us

13:14

to reckon with the country. No matter what side of the issue

13:16

that you're on, it's hard. Michael, what do you

13:18

think about that? You still consider yourself

13:21

in your heart

13:22

a Republican. Yeah.

13:25

Yeah. After

13:28

a lot of alcohol, I guess that's what you do. But,

13:30

you know, it's just,

13:32

yeah. No, I think Katie actually

13:35

makes a very important point. And it

13:37

is a it's one where you have

13:39

to hold the mirror up and to

13:42

yourself and ask yourself, how

13:44

have I, you know, helped

13:47

contribute to this? How have I stood

13:49

against it? And I think all Americans are

13:51

going to have to face that in this

13:53

upcoming election. The breakdown

13:56

to Katie's question or point

13:59

began. probably about 60, 70 years

14:02

ago, you can track

14:05

these moments where, at

14:07

least within the Republican Party, there were

14:10

these dalliances with a right-wing

14:12

extremism, whether it was John Birch Society,

14:15

the rejection of the Civil Rights Movement under Goldwater,

14:18

the strategy by Nixon in 68, the

14:21

Southern strategy. There

14:23

are any number of places along that timeline

14:25

you can point to to

14:28

see the beginning of that erosion. But

14:30

here's the difference, I think, that really

14:32

sort of amplifies Katie's

14:34

point, is that within that political

14:37

party, within that structure, there were

14:39

individuals who stood up and said no.

14:42

They didn't embrace it. They didn't encourage

14:44

it. They refuted it. They pushed

14:47

back against it. That's why you

14:49

didn't see the John Birch Society take hold.

14:51

It's why you saw the disruption

14:54

of efforts towards sort

14:57

of galvanizing the hard right with

14:59

candidates like David Duke when he ran for

15:02

the US Senate. But

15:04

you don't have that now. You have

15:06

leaders who've capitulated, who

15:08

rather get likes from

15:11

some person sitting in their basement

15:14

rather than holding up the Constitution

15:17

and its principles. So it's a very

15:19

different environment going back to how we began

15:21

the conversation around

15:24

who are we, what have we become,

15:26

and what kind of men and women are we projecting

15:29

out into the world to say this is the

15:31

best representation of us. Marjorie

15:34

Taylor Greene? I don't

15:36

think so. But that's where

15:38

we are, and we have to deal with that.

15:40

But it's an important reminder when George Bush

15:43

was asked about David Duke and

15:45

if he wanted his vote, George Bush said absolutely

15:47

not. Fast forward, Donald

15:50

Trump told the Proud Boys

15:51

to stand back

15:53

and stand by. Well, let's talk about a new topic,

15:55

Glenn, but the same form of President

15:57

Donald Trump, who is now trying to get Judge Chynna-

15:59

to Chutkin

16:01

to recuse herself. You know this judge

16:03

very well. You've been telling us since

16:05

day one, this woman means business.

16:07

She do not play. She is as

16:09

serious as they come. She's

16:12

the one who's going to end up making the decision.

16:15

Is Donald Trump serious with this request or

16:18

is this just noise he's making

16:19

to get people riled up?

16:23

You know, I think this is playing to the court

16:25

of public opinion, not really to

16:27

the court of law. Judge Chutkin

16:30

has no reason to recuse

16:32

herself. The motion that the Trump

16:34

team just filed, I would say is probably

16:37

frivolous minus one. They found

16:39

two sentences essentially

16:41

that Judge Chutkin uttered during the course

16:44

of sentencing other folks who

16:46

had attacked the Capitol. And what she

16:49

was doing was appropriately

16:51

commenting on the defenses

16:54

those defendants had offered, including,

16:56

you know, I was answering Donald Trump's

16:58

call and he hasn't been held accountable.

17:01

And she said, and I'm paraphrasing, you

17:03

make a good point, but that

17:06

doesn't entitle you to a

17:08

lesser sentence. And what's really interesting,

17:10

Steph, I read this motion from

17:13

the Trump defense team forward

17:15

and backward. There's not a single

17:18

case that serves as precedent

17:21

for the position they

17:23

are advocating. What you do when

17:25

you look for precedent is you look

17:28

across the country at any appellate court

17:30

opinions where a judge has said something

17:33

that is at least loosely similar

17:35

to what Judge Chutkin said and that

17:38

appellate court denounced it and

17:40

said that judge should have recused.

17:42

There is not a single case that

17:44

stands for that factual proposition.

17:47

So this is playing to the MAGA base. This

17:50

is not playing to the judges,

17:52

either Judge Chutkin, who will decide this

17:54

issue in the first instance or

17:57

the DC Federal Circuit Court of Appeals

17:59

in the event. Donald Trump appeals it. He

18:01

will also lose on appeal in my opinion.

18:04

All right, Michael, Glenn just laid it out. This

18:07

motion is complete nonsense.

18:09

The base might get fired up, right? Right

18:12

wing media might run with it. But

18:14

how does the GOP, how do Republican

18:17

elected officials, how does the RNC

18:20

just roll with this?

18:22

They applaud it. They're making money off of it.

18:24

It's part of the ongoing grip. It's part

18:27

of the owning the libs narrative.

18:29

It's a part of how we landscape

18:33

the upcoming election. Remember,

18:35

at this point in this process, this

18:37

is about throwing everything at

18:40

the electorate. And whether

18:42

it is trying to poison

18:45

a potential juror or a

18:47

jury pool or setting

18:49

up narratives about

18:53

whether or not Donald Trump was appropriately

18:56

tried or the judge was biased.

18:58

So guaranteed that when

19:00

this is to Glenn's point is rejected, what

19:03

do you think happens? What are you going to hear from

19:05

the cacophony of ignorant noise

19:07

out there about that matter? They're

19:09

going to be saying, see, this is all a

19:11

setup. This is the deep state

19:13

trying to ram Rothers. They got

19:15

a judge in there who said that she's going

19:17

to convict Donald Trump. And

19:20

none of that's true. But it doesn't

19:22

have to be. Because I'm

19:24

not playing to your intelligence. I'm playing

19:27

to your anger and your frustration

19:29

and your desire to get back.

19:32

That's why he is their retribution. That's

19:35

what he told them. And they legitimately

19:37

believe that

19:38

whether we think it's legitimate or not. And

19:41

that's going to be a problem, not just

19:43

in this jury pool. But next

19:45

year's election folks, yeah,

19:48

get some good scotch because you don't need it. Because

19:50

this is not going to be an easy one.

19:52

Well, Michael, the truth matters. But only if

19:55

you hear it. And that is why every day

19:57

and every night,

19:58

we have to keep telling in the face.

19:59

misinformation. You got to fight

20:02

it with the truth. Katie Benner, great to see you. Michael

20:04

Fieldman, Kershir, thank you

20:05

both. When we come back after

20:07

August recess, some House Republicans

20:10

are ramping up talk of an impeachment

20:12

inquiry for President Biden. We're going to

20:15

talk to Simone Sanders Townsend and Tim Miller

20:17

about what exactly they're accusing

20:19

him of and what voters think about

20:21

it. And later Kim Jong Un is set

20:23

to meet with Vladimir Putin as

20:26

the war

20:26

in Ukraine rages on. We're going

20:28

to break down where things stand in Ukraine

20:30

right now and what this meeting could

20:32

mean for the future. The 11th hour just

20:34

getting underway on a very important

20:37

Monday night in the future.

20:45

There comes a point when a singular

20:47

event shapes our future,

20:49

broadens our perspective and marks

20:51

a crossroad in our cultural landscape. The

20:54

turning point, an original documentary

20:56

series from MSNBC films

20:59

and executive producer Trevor Noah that

21:01

explores these watershed moments for the

21:03

biggest issues of our time and asks

21:06

how we got here and where we go next.

21:08

The turning point documentary series on

21:11

MSNBC and streaming on peacock.

21:15

Hey everyone, I'm Tom Yamas from top story

21:17

on NBC news. Now every night top

21:19

story is your news playlist. We

21:22

take you to the front lines of the story where it's actually

21:24

happening with NBC news journalists on

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the ground from all over the world. We

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cover what you need to know and bring your newsfeed

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to life. And now top story is

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available as a podcast so you can listen

21:36

anytime and anywhere.

21:49

House Republicans are ramping up talk

21:51

of a potential impeachment inquiry into

21:53

president Biden and Democrats on house

21:55

oversight committee are preparing to defend

21:58

the president. Of course, a source directed to the president.

21:59

familiar with the committee's work

22:01

tells NBC News that Jamie Raskin,

22:03

the ranking member, has held several strategy

22:06

sessions with his fellow Democrats including

22:09

one just last night where he told them

22:11

to prepare for a bruising battle.

22:14

Back with me to discuss Simone Sanders-Townes

22:16

and former chief spokesperson for Vice President

22:18

Harris, host of the show Simone on Peacock

22:20

and MSNBC and Lucky You. She was host

22:22

of this show last Friday night and Tim

22:25

Miller, a contributor to the bulwark and former communications

22:27

director for Jeb Bush. Okay

22:30

Tim, I'm gonna start with a question that I'm embarrassed

22:32

to say. I was asked over the weekend and

22:34

I couldn't actually answer.

22:36

What exactly, what

22:39

specifically, do Republicans want

22:41

to impeach President Biden for?

22:44

Winning the 2020 election, I

22:47

think. But underneath that, I think that

22:49

they would tell you that they

22:57

are trying to, that they want to impeach Joe Biden

22:59

for some

23:01

type of dealings,

23:04

you know, allowing, I guess, his son

23:06

to trade on the family name, in particular

23:09

with regards to clients that are overseas

23:12

clients. And I think they would, you know, put

23:14

their finger in particular on Chinese clients

23:16

that Hunter Biden had. So, you know, I think that's

23:19

the gist of this, right? That Joe Biden somehow

23:21

must have, should have put a stop to his adult

23:23

son, you know, using his

23:26

name in order to get lobbying and influence

23:28

peddling clients. I don't, I don't

23:31

endorse the things that Hunter Biden did. I

23:33

think some of that stuff was outside the lines, but they've

23:35

got about nothing on Joe Biden except for

23:38

just the sense that he was involved

23:41

in that somehow. And I think as Nancy Mase

23:43

was saying on another network earlier today, we

23:45

need to impeach to find out exactly

23:48

what Joe Biden was doing with regards to Hunter

23:50

Biden, which isn't the strongest article of impeachment,

23:52

I don't think.

23:54

You know, I no longer feel so bad when

23:56

I couldn't exactly answer the question this weekend.

23:59

Suddenly, I'm like,

23:59

I was asked, I'm

24:02

like, you know, Hunter ish, Simone

24:05

House is gonna play out.

24:07

Not all Republicans think this is a good

24:09

idea.

24:10

Yeah, I mean, that is not a great idea.

24:12

We often talk about the folks that

24:14

sit in districts, Republicans that sit

24:16

in districts that President Joe Biden

24:18

won in 2020, and there are 18 House

24:21

Republicans who sit in those

24:23

districts. I don't think any of those folks, Mike

24:26

Lawler, John Bacon, like

24:28

go down the line, really wanna

24:31

get on the record on an impeachment that

24:33

it's not uniform about why they

24:36

are attempting to impeach the

24:38

current president of the United States. It's supposed to be

24:40

a high crime and misdemeanor, sanctioning for the high

24:42

crime and misdemeanor that Joe Biden himself has

24:46

committed. So look, I think that that

24:48

is why, I think what Democrats are doing on

24:50

the House Oversight Committee is actually very

24:52

smart. And frankly, more of

24:54

it should

24:54

be happening in various committees across

24:57

the board, the strategizing, the sessions

24:59

that ranking member Raskin is

25:02

hosting with

25:03

folks on the committee. So they can get their ducks in a row

25:05

and be on one board. The kind of members

25:07

that sit on the Oversight Committee,

25:09

on the Democratic side,

25:11

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,

25:14

Rajna Krishna-Morty,

25:15

Ro O'Connor, Chantel

25:19

Brown, these are folks, Jasmine Crockett, folks

25:22

who are very quick on their feet

25:24

when it comes to their television appearances and the

25:26

same goals for their questions in

25:28

these committee hearings.

25:30

Tim, new topic, another one

25:32

I can't understand. The Biden campaign officials

25:35

are telling NBC News that the campaign

25:37

is gonna shift and start focusing more

25:39

on Donald Trump. And in part, it's

25:42

because their fundraising has been slower than

25:44

expected with small dollar donors.

25:47

It's talking about Trump the right way to fix that.

25:50

I mean, who's the person who last

25:52

week was like, no, I'm not writing a check, but oh,

25:54

you talk about Trump and I'm sending you 20 bucks.

25:59

You know me. Maybe. To me, it

26:01

doesn't seem like actually the Biden re-election

26:04

campaign is fully up and running.

26:06

Also, I think this could be

26:10

partly due to just volume. I

26:12

mean, fundraising comes from volume.

26:15

Nobody likes the annoying emails, but they

26:17

all get sent because they work. And I think

26:19

the amount of solicitation, the amount of active

26:21

campaigning the president himself has been doing, he's been presidenting,

26:24

obviously he's been overseas. So there

26:26

are reasons for this, but it

26:28

has not been as active as, say,

26:30

I think the equivalent

26:33

campaign, re-elect campaigns

26:35

of Bush and Obama looking

26:37

backwards were at this time. So

26:40

I think it has a lot to do with that, but I

26:42

don't think it would hurt for President Biden to

26:44

start leaning in a little bit more with attacks

26:46

on Donald Trump. It's not as if the former

26:49

president isn't giving him enough opportunities to do

26:51

so.

26:52

Simone, we're still 14 months out

26:54

from the election.

26:55

Isn't it early to be

26:57

worried about a low fundraising number for one

26:59

quarter?

27:00

Well, look, I think I

27:03

have been in a part of a number of campaigns where

27:05

the goal is you do not want bad headlines

27:07

the day your numbers come out that

27:10

give anyone, but especially

27:12

folks in the media apparatus, a chance to say,

27:14

look, if things aren't going so well there,

27:17

because guess what? The donors, they're reading

27:19

those kind of stories. They're watching your show

27:22

staff. You know, every donor wants to be a political

27:24

analyst and a political pundit, and they're

27:26

reading the tea leaves and the articles

27:29

and using those as excuses, if you will,

27:32

to air their grievances or not. So,

27:34

look, I think fundraising numbers are very important.

27:37

I do think it is early, but it is important

27:39

to show strength. And if

27:41

the Biden campaign is thinking about that, I think that

27:43

they're right to think about that. This idea, though,

27:45

that like all of a sudden Joe Biden himself is going to come out and start

27:48

talking about Donald Trump, I think that that is actually

27:50

not what is going to happen. I think that Democrats

27:52

across the board, right, it's

27:55

the difference

27:55

between what the White House is saying or the

27:57

president is president thing has since said and then what

27:59

these other things are saying.

27:59

Democrats out there saying the Democratic National

28:02

Committee, members

28:02

of Congress, right? Folks were out there,

28:05

historians on the campaign trail. They

28:07

might need to step it up. I mean, the

28:09

president is arrogant, money-wapped about his age,

28:11

and nobody is saying like, Hey, when Donald

28:14

Trump was a senior, when Joe Biden was a senior,

28:16

Donald Trump was a freshman, everybody's all fix something

28:18

new to talk about. Like, come on.

28:21

When Joe Biden

28:23

was a senior, Donald Trump

28:25

was a freshman. What are they going to say? He shoved him into

28:27

a locker. I mean, but here's the, here's the

28:29

response to that. That was a long, long,

28:32

long time ago for all parties

28:34

involved. Simone Sanderstown,

28:37

then Tim Miller.

28:37

Great, great, great to see you both. Thank you for

28:39

being here. And

28:40

tonight I learned a new word, presidenting. When

28:42

we come back, Russia needs more weapons.

28:45

And guess what they could be

28:47

asking for help. North Korea, Kim

28:49

Jong Un headed to Russia. We're going

28:51

to look at the state of the war in Ukraine when

28:53

the 11th hour continues.

29:03

We are more than 550 days into

29:04

Russia's war in

29:06

Ukraine.

29:07

The US has spent more than $70 billion

29:09

to support Ukraine. And as Americans

29:12

grew fatigued with the headlines on the war, Vladimir

29:14

Putin is plotting his next move and meeting

29:17

with Kim Jong Un to discuss a

29:19

possibility

29:19

of getting even more weapons.

29:21

I want to bring in an absolute

29:23

expert on this subject, Dmitry

29:25

Alparovitch. He is an expert in all things Russia

29:28

and Ukraine. He was there over the summer. He'll be returning

29:30

in just a few weeks. He's the founder of

29:32

Silverado Policy Accelerator, a

29:35

DC based geopolitical, political,

29:37

think tank. Dmitry, you and I spent

29:40

some time this summer and you explained

29:42

this war to me. We were on a hike. And

29:44

I said, if we survived this hike, which we barely did,

29:46

I wanted you to come on the show and explain it

29:49

to our audience. So I want to start with,

29:51

remind our audience, we're a year and a half

29:53

in. Why did Vladimir Putin

29:55

start this war? Why does he believe he deserves

29:58

Ukraine? Well, to understand that, Stephanie.

29:59

you have to understand Vladimir Putin. And

30:02

most people assume that he is, you know, the

30:04

first line of his biography is always he's a KGB agent.

30:06

Of course he is that, but that was 30 plus

30:09

years ago. What he is more is

30:11

a gangster because in the 1990s

30:14

he was deputy mayor of St. Petersburg. At

30:16

the time, St. Petersburg, the second largest

30:18

city in Russia, was ruled by

30:20

organized crime. And what did deputy

30:23

mayor Putin, what was

30:25

he in charge of? He was in charge of casino licenses.

30:28

He was in charge of export licenses in the ports,

30:31

business regulations, all the

30:33

things that would bring him into close proximity

30:36

with organized crime. And you can see

30:38

that as he later became president, sometimes

30:40

he let his inner gangster

30:43

slip through. For example, when he invaded

30:45

Chechnya in 1999, he said, we're going to kill

30:47

them in the outhouse. You know, that's not the

30:49

talk of an intelligence officer, even a KGB

30:52

officer. It's not a talk of a president. That's a talk

30:54

of a gangster. Just most recently,

30:56

right before the invasion of Ukraine, when he was meeting with Macron,

30:58

he said that Ukraine, he was

31:01

quoting a song that's basically

31:03

a rape song, gangster rape song, he says

31:05

Ukraine has to take it. It's her duty.

31:08

So that is who he is. And

31:10

when he looked at Ukraine, he essentially

31:12

assumed that Ukraine is his. Ukraine

31:16

has to belong to Russia in his mind. He doesn't accept

31:18

that it's an independent country. What

31:20

does a gangster do when he sees his girlfriend

31:23

go out in the town and flirt with another

31:25

perhaps bigger person

31:28

that you can take on? You're going to take it out on the girl.

31:30

Right. And it's not about NATO expansion. It's not

31:32

about Ukraine's ambitions to join the European

31:35

Union. It's about all of that. It's about a

31:37

much more elemental desire

31:39

to control Ukraine, because you believe

31:41

it's it's yours in Vladimir

31:43

Putin's mind. And now that he realizes

31:46

he can't possibly have it, what is he going

31:48

to do? He's going to destroy it so that if I

31:50

can't have it, no one else can have it.

31:52

And what could Kim Jong Un do to help him? How

31:54

concerned should we be?

31:56

Well, it's a big problem because the one

31:58

constraint that Russia has, in fact, the Ukraine.

31:59

as well is ammunition, particularly artillery

32:02

ammunition. The 152-millimeter

32:04

ammunition, that Soviet-era ammunition that Russia

32:06

is using, that Ukraine has used before they moved

32:08

to Western weapons, they're expanding

32:10

huge amounts of it, tens of thousands of

32:13

shells every single month. And

32:15

they're running out. They're trying to ramp up production, but

32:17

they can't keep up. We can't keep up with it either. So

32:20

everyone's going around the world trying to procure ammunition.

32:22

We went to South Korea and procured a million

32:24

shells that are basically enabling this offensive

32:27

for Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is trying to do the

32:29

same thing, and he is trying

32:29

to procure it from Kim Jong-un.

32:31

Some Americans here and some lawmakers

32:34

are growing fatigued.

32:36

They're saying, that's a problem. He may be a

32:38

gangster, but that's not our problem.

32:40

Remind our audience why the $70 billion

32:43

and counting matters and why we

32:45

need

32:46

to continue this support. I think

32:48

most people at this point assume that the

32:50

threat to Ukraine is over, that Vladimir Putin

32:52

has grabbed what he could, and now it's a question

32:55

of how much territory can Ukraine get.

32:56

But what is it like there?

32:58

But actually the reality is that Vladimir

33:00

Putin has not abandoned his ambitions to still

33:02

own Ukraine. I think he's very likely to

33:04

try another offensive later this winter,

33:07

maybe in the spring, and try to grab more territory,

33:09

perhaps even go against Kiev. So the idea

33:12

that this war is just about which village Ukraine

33:14

can take back and how much territory they

33:16

can restore back to their sovereignty

33:19

is really a pipe dream, because

33:21

Vladimir Putin wants to continue this war. He

33:24

has not abandoned his

33:27

ambitions to dominate Ukraine.

33:29

So you think things are worse than ever there,

33:31

right? People think it was two years ago when

33:33

you saw schools and churches bombed out.

33:35

They somehow think, oh, people are kind

33:38

of getting back to normal. That's not the case.

33:40

Absolutely not. Well, certainly it's been bad over the last 18

33:42

months. I don't want to diminish that. But the reality

33:44

is that you have an infrastructure,

33:46

an electric grid that's hanging on by a thread. Last

33:49

year. Heading into winter. Heading

33:51

into winter. It almost fell apart under

33:53

these massive strikes that the Russians have

33:56

been launching against Ukraine, these missile strikes. And

33:58

they can do this again this winter. And it's a

34:00

real question of whether Ukrainian infrastructure can

34:02

sustain another assault like this.

34:04

When do you think this war will end

34:06

and how do you think it will end? Well,

34:08

in one sense, this war has been going on since 2014 for

34:11

nine years. Most people forget about

34:14

that these days, but it's not a war that just started

34:16

in 2022. And unfortunately,

34:18

I hate to say this, but it can go on for another nine years.

34:21

And the reality is that while Vladimir Putin is

34:23

alive, it's likely to continue, and may even continue

34:26

after his death, depending on who replaces him.

34:28

So you think you don't see an end in sight?

34:30

I don't think one is likely. And

34:32

Vladimir Zelensky, Vladimir Zelensky,

34:35

just said this weekend that he's now preparing his

34:37

country for a long war.

34:38

Is there anything that could end it?

34:41

Well, Vladimir Putin could give up.

34:43

He could die tomorrow and be replaced by a Democrat,

34:47

perhaps someone like Navalny, that could

34:50

take over and end the war. But I think that's the likelihood

34:52

that that will happen. Almost zero. He

34:56

could die eventually, but I'm not sure that he would be replaced by them.

34:58

So this thing could last eight,

35:00

nine, 10 years, even after

35:03

Vladimir Putin dies, and he is

35:05

not losing

35:06

strength, losing motivation whatsoever. I

35:08

think it's very likely to last years. That's

35:13

a tough outlook. It's very tough

35:15

for you, Crain.

35:16

Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. Thank

35:18

you, Seth.

35:19

Coming up, a 6.8 magnitude

35:21

earthquake devastating Morocco,

35:23

the desperate search to find survivors

35:25

in the 11th hour continues.

35:38

It is a race

35:40

against time in Morocco. The window for

35:42

finding survivors is quickly closing

35:44

after the devastating 6.8 magnitude earthquake.

35:48

So far, more than 2,600 people

35:50

are dead and another 2,500 were hurt. NBC's

35:53

Matt Bradley has more.

35:56

Tonight, high in the Atlas Mountains, glimmers of hope. Survivors

36:00

brought out on stretchers, somehow making

36:02

it out alive after the most powerful quake to hit

36:04

Morocco in over a century. This

36:07

man clutching his two daughters, his other

36:09

two children were killed. These

36:12

were the horrifying moments when this massive 6.8

36:15

magnitude quake struck Friday night, sending

36:18

customers pouring out of a restaurant, buildings

36:20

crashing down, this man managing to

36:22

escape just before the roof caved in. But

36:25

here in the middle of a performance, a wedding band feels

36:28

this rattling and rushes out. We

36:30

traveled as one of the hardest hit areas in the

36:32

countryside. You

36:35

can smell the death here. Between 90

36:37

and 100 people were killed in this village alone,

36:39

and they're no longer looking for survivors.

36:41

Hi, dear. Hi.

36:44

She says this is her bedroom

36:46

right here. Who

36:49

were members of Hanan's family were killed in the earthquake?

36:53

She says everybody was taken out. Right now

36:55

they're looking for things. They're looking for their identity

36:57

cards and other things they need. In mountain

36:59

villages like this one, the construction materials are

37:01

rudimentary. As you can see, faced

37:04

with a magnitude earthquake like this, they

37:06

didn't stand a chance. In

37:08

some cases, the remaining homes are so fragile that

37:10

aid helicopters caused further damage.

37:13

Tonight, Morocco's government is facing criticism

37:15

over the pace of the response, many

37:17

struggling to reach remote areas. Latour

37:21

lost seven members of her family and her

37:24

home, but she still has an abundance

37:26

of kindness. She insisted on making

37:28

us tea,

37:29

but her son Abdul Karim fears

37:31

for the future. He tells us without

37:34

more help from the government, this whole village may

37:36

simply disappear. He says that all they're

37:38

asking for is that the government rebuilds their

37:40

homes and gives them food. That's it. They're

37:44

not asking for much.

37:45

If you are looking to help from home, we have

37:47

put together this list of incredible organizations

37:50

you can donate to. And as we always say on this

37:52

program, if you need help,

37:54

please ask for it. But

37:56

if you can give help,

37:57

please give

37:58

it.

37:59

Thank you for that report. When we come back, as

38:02

we mark September 11th, we take

38:04

a look at the final piece

38:07

of the rebuilding of Ground Zero. You do not

38:09

want to miss this. It is extraordinary.

38:11

And we love it that way. Continue. Hi,

38:15

I'm Tom Jamas, and for me, the news

38:17

is so

38:19

much more than a headline. It

38:22

informs and inspires and it still matters.

38:25

To cover, you have to be in it.

38:26

We'll

38:30

take you to the front lines of the story where it actually

38:32

happens. With NBC News journalists on

38:34

the ground from all over the world, recover

38:37

what you need to know and bring your news

38:40

to life. In private and streaming

38:42

live, it's your news playlist. Join

38:44

me for Top Story, Week 9, at 7 Eastern

38:47

on NBC News.

38:52

I'm so glad you stayed for the

38:54

last thing before we go tonight.

38:56

It is a special one.

38:58

Rebuilding Ground Zero. We all know

39:00

it is a hallowed site and

39:02

millions of people come there every year to

39:04

pay their respects. So deciding what

39:07

and how to rebuild Ground Zero took

39:09

a very long time and there were a lot of

39:11

conflicting opinions. But this week,

39:14

that journey is coming to a beautiful

39:16

close with an extraordinary new building

39:18

that honors the site in a very

39:20

special way. Here's

39:21

a sneak peek.

39:24

That morning, along with the other almost 3000

39:27

people, I lost my husband and

39:30

I was eight months

39:30

pregnant. 22 years

39:33

ago, everything changed. Calvin

39:35

was, oh well, Calvin

39:37

would walk in a room and light it up. And

39:39

I still feel his presence with me though. After

39:42

the attack, businesses closed, residents

39:44

fled. Many doubted if lower

39:46

Manhattan could ever be rebuilt. Yet

39:49

today, after years of delays

39:50

and disagreements, Ground Zero has

39:52

been transformed. A memorial and museum

39:55

surrounded by gleaming skyscrapers and

39:58

dozens of new hotels resting

39:59

in school. And this week,

40:02

nearly 20 years after it was first proposed,

40:04

the final public building will open, the

40:07

Perlman Performing Arts Center.

40:09

Mike, this extraordinary building

40:11

is 20

40:11

years in the making. What do you think

40:14

of it? I think it turned out perfect,

40:16

Ruby. Former

40:17

New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is chair

40:19

of the PAC NYC, as it's being called,

40:21

and gave us a sneak preview before

40:23

the building's official opening.

40:25

Who do you want to see here? You

40:28

want to see the

40:29

families that were left behind,

40:32

but New Yorkers, Americans,

40:34

people of the world.

40:35

Elected Mayor two months after 9-11,

40:38

rebuilding Ground Zero was a priority

40:40

for him then, and still is today. He

40:43

gave $130 million of the total $500 million cost to make

40:45

sure the center

40:49

got built. Why is it that

40:51

a performing arts center

40:53

would be the right thing, sort of the final

40:55

chapter? Because you grieve

40:58

for the families, we

41:01

have to teach each other about

41:03

what happened and how to prevent it again, and then

41:06

you have to have a future. Wrapped

41:08

in nearly 5,000 half-inch

41:10

thick slabs of marble, by day

41:12

it's somber, respectful. At

41:15

night it

41:15

glows a serene amber. Inside,

41:18

three separate theaters can be combined

41:20

and reconfigured by lifting walls,

41:22

moving floors, and shifting seats to

41:24

create more than 60 different spaces. The

41:27

memorial is the place where people go to grieve

41:30

and pay their respects. The museum

41:33

is the place where people go to learn

41:36

about what happened on 9-11 and never forget. And then

41:39

the performing arts center is going to be the

41:42

place where people come to celebrate life.

41:44

Which is what Tony Award winning performer and producer,

41:47

Lushawn, plans to do. When

41:49

you first saw this

41:51

performing arts center,

41:54

what did you think? This is outstanding.

41:57

I mean, it's miraculous.

41:59

I dedicate this song

42:01

to

42:04

my late husband, Calvin

42:06

Joseph Gooden. She

42:09

sang at the opening of the 9-11 Museum. Amazing

42:16

Grace.

42:18

And never returned to Ground Zero until

42:20

now, for this building. In

42:23

October, she will perform a new solo

42:25

show about her life, about her

42:27

daughter, and dear Father Calvin. It

42:30

was hard walking into the building, but

42:32

I am so excited about being

42:34

able to share an intimate

42:37

moment with everyone about how my life has shifted

42:39

and to celebrate. That's the word

42:41

I keep wanting to come to, to celebrate

42:43

the renewal of us as a society.

42:46

We need some new energy. We need some joy. And

42:49

as she always does,

42:50

sing to her Calvin.

42:55

And as fate would have it, on this September 11,

42:59

2023, just after 6 p.m. tonight, the

43:02

most extraordinary rainbow appeared

43:05

over our New York City.

43:07

Our hearts are

43:09

with those who are affected by the attacks

43:11

on that tragic day tonight.

43:13

We are so sorry for your loss, and

43:16

as always, we're

43:17

amazed by your strength.

43:19

And on that note,

43:20

I wish you all a very

43:23

good night.

43:23

From all of our colleagues across the networks of NBC

43:26

News, thanks

43:28

for staying up late with me. I'll see

43:30

you at the end of tomorrow.

43:42

Hey, it's Chris Hayes. This week on my podcast, Why

43:44

Is This Happening? I'll be talking with journalist Alex

43:46

Press about hot labor summer. We

43:48

very much are seeing a lot of this initiative

43:50

come from The Rankin File. These things

43:53

that we're talking about, whether it's the reform movement

43:55

or the sort of ambitious contract fights

43:58

and strikes, very rarely are they. being

44:00

initiated from the top. It very much

44:02

is being pushed by, I think,

44:04

what the membership wants.

44:05

That's this week on Why is this Happening? Search

44:07

for Why is this Happening wherever you're listening right now

44:09

and subscribe.