Morning Joe - Morning Joe 9/23/22

Episode Date: September 23, 2022

Russian Foreign Minister arrives late and walks out early of the UN meeting, in what's being called 'the most significant UN Security Council meeting of our time.' 

The problem that you have is they go into rooms, they won't let anybody near them. They wouldn't even let them in the same building. Did they drop anything into those piles or did they do it later? There's no chain of custody here with them. Wouldn't that be on videotape potentially? No, I don't think so. I mean, they're in a room. Donald Trump on Fox News suggesting again the FBI planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago.

Well, the special master his legal team requested is now telling his lawyers to prove it. And it's been called the most significant U.N. Security Council meeting of our time. But Russia's foreign minister showed up late and left early as the West confronted him over the atrocities in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Russia's military draft now is taking effect as the Kremlin sets the stage for another annexation of Ukrainian territory. Plus, new polling gives President Biden his highest approval rating of the year. We'll tell you what's driving the rebound as we look ahead to the midterms, now just six weeks away. And Aaron Judge nearly makes history, coming this close with a would-be record-tying home run, falling just a couple of feet short, stuck on 60 for one more day.

Good morning. Welcome to Morning Joe. It is Friday, September 23rd. I'm Willie Geist. Joe and Mika are off today. We begin with emotional scenes in Russia as Vladimir Putin's new military draft went into effect yesterday. Video shows men boarding buses and tearful families saying goodbye to loved ones departing for training. Putin wants 300,000 new fighters to help turn the tide as the Russian military suffers setbacks in Ukraine. Russia is saying the call-up will be limited to those with military experience, but reports say civilians also now are being conscripted. The New York Times tells the story of a husband and father of five who received a summons

to be at an urgent 4 a.m. meeting where a train had been organized to take him to a military center. Many men are fleeing Russia now to avoid the forced enlistment. This is video of traffic as people escape to nearby Georgia. Russian airports also have been packed with people trying to get out of the country. One human rights group says more than 1,300 people have been arrested in anti-war protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg over the past few days. Also today, voting begins in four regions of Russian-occupied Ukraine in what is being called a sham referendum that could lead to the annexation of 15 percent of Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov showed up nearly 90 minutes late to yesterday's U.N. Security Council meeting, arriving just two minutes before his speech in which he accused the United States and its allies of covering up Ukraine's crimes. Once he finished speaking, Lavrov walked out of the room immediately and did not stay for other members' speeches as they condemned Russia's war in Ukraine. Let's bring in former NATO Supreme Allied Commander James Stavridis. He is MSNBC's chief international analyst at NBC News, chief foreign affairs correspondent and host of Andrea Mitchell Reports. Andrea Mitchell, good morning to you both. Andrea, I want to begin with you at the U.N. yesterday. Pretty extraordinary scene there. Sergei Lavrov breezed in 90 minutes late to his speech and quickly left, clearly not wanting to hear or to be confronted by the speeches from all those other member nations about Russia's war in Ukraine. And it was remarkable. Willie and Admiral Stavridis,

good morning to you. Remarkable because Russia, of course, as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations has a veto, has been a strikingly forceful presence there in stopping the UN from taking any really know, any really strong action against Russia because of Ukraine. They have an ally in China. But in this case, certainly President Xi signaled to Vladimir Putin just last week that China does not stand with him, you know, completely endorsing this Ukraine invasion. And that was sort of the mixed message, certainly a mixed message from China, but almost every other member of the Security Council, members of the UN, just critical of Russia, and Lavrov didn't want to hear it. So Lavrov comes in

after Blinken had spoken and leaves a minute or two afterwards, did not hear any of the criticism, but it was just completely disparaging. Senior officials telling us afterwards that both on camera and off, there was nothing but really strong criticism against Russia for the war crimes, Russia for trying to annex the territory. And now Vladimir Putin clearly on his back foot. Now, this is not to say that Russia doesn't have weapons of mass destruction. The nuclear threat, which Blinken said was just outrageous. And, you know, all of the other chemical weapons that could be used. If he's cornered, no one knows what he's going to do.

And that is a serious concern to the U.S. But at least now, the fact that he's calling up 300,000 troops, that there are protests in Russia, which is extraordinary in itself, 1,300 at least people arrested, people who were arrested we're told were getting draft notices once they were in custody. This is coming home. He cannot completely hide it anymore from the Russian people with the disinformation and misinformation. And as Blinken warned yesterday, there is going to be, you know, there are going to be prosecutions and they're trying their best to preserve the evidence. There is a massive European Union and U.S. and international criminal court operation underway to try to do what they can

to hold them accountable at some point for the horrors of what's happening in Ukraine Willie at Admiral Sergey Lavrov yesterday in that speech just described a completely alternate reality uh divorce from what's actually happening in this war he accused as I said Ukraine of war crimes he called Vladimir zelensky a bastard who's you know prosecuting an unjust war it was almost a complete mirror image of what's happening here. And those images, my gosh, of people trying to flee through airports, through roads, on trains, as 300,000 citizens are now being asked to step into this war, many of them just saying out loud, what am I going to fight and die for. Yeah, I think Andrea and I are old enough, or shall I

say senior enough, to look at this and think, has Putin met his Vietnam? This is really starting to rattle the echoes of that war. It is most directly in the home front aspect of it. The protests, the people running away from this, really quite remarkable. You know, our Secretary of State, who is handling this beautifully yesterday at the United Nations, said Putin has really doubled down. I'm going to add on. I think he's triple downed in that he is

rattling the nuclear saber. He is talking about this faux set of referendums in eastern Ukraine, effectively annexing these conquered territories. And he's calling up 300,000 reservists. That's a triple. It may be he's all in. So this is, in fact, a dangerous moment. Let me put those three things in perspective very quickly. The nuclear one, I don't lose a lot of sleep over. I don't see Putin deciding to use a nuclear weapon. It would create a huge movement away from him dramatically in world opinion. Maybe he doesn't care about it, but he cares about what India, Brazil, Nigeria, South Africa,

what that kind of swing vote cares about. So I don't see him using a nuclear weapon. He can achieve those effects with other aspects of his military the faux referendum no one's going to believe it it's total nonsense I am focused on this 300 000 troops coming up and and there I am skeptical that Putin will be able to get them into fighting shape if you will and into Ukraine in anything less than months and months and months, particularly given the pushback he's receiving at home. So bottom line, Putin is upping the antique to stay with a poker analogy, maybe going all in. But I think the storm clouds are rising for Vladimir Putin. Andrea, you and I talked yesterday about the pressure he's feeling even from his allies, implicitly from President Xi, explicitly out in public from Prime Minister Modi of India. I guess

the question, though, is, is Vladimir Putin capable of feeling pressure? In other words, is there anything anyone can tell him to pull back from this war? that's not likely u.s officials do not see him changing course and you know that's one of the big concerns frankly if he's trapped if he's back against the wall what will he do would he use chemical weapons i think the um the consensus certainly agrees with the analysis of Admiral Stavridis, that he's not going to use nuclear weapons. That is, you know, it's India, Brazil, as you mentioned, Europe, Western Europe. But there is a concern about

either an accidental or deliberate attack on Zaporizhia or one of the other nuclear facilities. The chemical weapons, tactical nukes are still a possibility, on Zaporizhzhia or one of the other nuclear facilities. The chemical weapons, tactical nukes are still a possibility, but they do not see any sign that he is mobilized. I just, I'm a little bit right now saddened, and I just want to have some news to share in just reading my phone that Secretary Blinken's father, Donald Blinken, has passed overnight. And the Secretary left New York at the UN late yesterday and was

home with his family in Long Island overnight. He had a very busy schedule starting this morning, but Donald Blinken was a World War II veteran. He's a former ambassador. He inspired Tony Blinken to public service. He was a father, a grandfather, a beloved member, a really well-known public figure, but most importantly, he was Tony Blinken's father. And this is Secretary Blinken in the midst of this crisis and dealing with it as he did, as Admiral Stavridis said so brilliantly in the Security Council yesterday.

And we just have to pass on our most sincere condolences because this is a terrible, terrible personal loss. He was 97 years old. Oh, absolutely. Thank you for sharing that with us, Andrea. He was the ambassador to Hungary in the 1990s, among many posts he held. So our condolences go out to the Blinken family and to the Secretary of State, who did make that persuasive speech yesterday before the Security Council. Admiral, I'm going to ask you to do

something you probably don't want to do, but if that's to put yourself in the shoes of Vladimir Putin and you're looking what's in front of you right now. He understands, whether he says it publicly or not, that this isn't going well. How do you see this playing out if you're him? We know that the West has put pressure on. We know that the United States has provided billions and billions of dollars of aid to Ukraine. We know that the Ukrainian military and their people are brave. Where does this go from here now if Putin is, in fact, backed up into a corner?

Putin is a brilliant tactician, but he's a terrible strategist. In other words, he can maneuver and kind of turn very quickly. And because he's a complete autocrat, a dictator who has his hands on the levers of power, he doesn't have to work with the Congress. He doesn't have to worry about public Congress. He doesn't have to worry about public opinion. He can simply make decisions. So I think, unfortunately, that will lead him to do things like a massive cyber attack, I think becomes more of a possibility directed against not only Ukraine, but perhaps Western Europe or institutions in the United states increase the carpet bombing if you will using his long-range air and missiles against the cities of ukraine he possibly could put more

emphasis on something like chemical weapons i think again that's hard to attribute and therefore he would try and false flag that, making it look as though it was an accidental release of Ukrainian or even U.S. stores. He's got a bunch of dirty tricks up his sleeve that he'll try and pull. I don't look for him to be pulling back anytime soon. I'll close with this, Willie. I think that he is waiting through the winter and hoping that as he cuts off the energy to Europe and things get colder in Europe, he will get some relief. I think he is misjudging here. That's the bad strategist part of this. Europeans will stand very firm against him. him, in my view. They'd rather have one cold, hard winner than bend their need of Vladimir Putin

year after year as he decides whether or not to turn on the gas tap. So look for more tactical attacks, more danger ahead. Strategically, Putin is in a very bad place at the moment. I'm not sure how he gets out of this other than maybe after the winter, he'll move towards some kind of a potential negotiation. But his positioning is weakening day by day, Willie. And add to all that dissent, growing in dissent inside his own country. Admiral James DeVritas, Andrea Mitchell, thank you both so much for being here this morning. We always appreciate it. Good to see you. New polling shows most Americans believe Donald Trump kept highly sensitive information at Mar-a-Lago.

In the latest survey from Marquette University Law School, 68 percent of registered voters believe the former president had top secret or classified material at his Palm Beach home. 32 percent say he did not, even though we've seen the documents. The same poll also shows about two-thirds of voters have a negative opinion of Donald Trump. Just over one-third say they view the former president favorably. 34% is Donald Trump's current favorability rating in the country. The approval for the current president, Joe Biden, however, sits higher. 46% of registered voters give the president positive marks. That is up 9% just from July.

When asked about a potential rematch between Trump and Biden in the next presidential election, Biden is ahead of Trump by six points. Biden also edges out Florida Governor Ron DeSantis by five points in a hypothetical matchup. And another poll out just now puts President Biden's approval rating at its highest point of the year. In the latest Emerson College survey, 46 percent of likely voters give the president a positive grade. That's up five points from July and up seven percent since May. Let's bring in Pulitzer Prize winning columnist at The Washington Post, Eugene Robinson and White House editor for Politico, Sam Stein.

Good to see you both. Eugene, this is follows a trend for President Biden that we've seen in other polling in the last couple of weeks, which is that from his low point a couple of months ago, he is now seeing progress, perhaps rewards for some of the legislation that's been passed and some of the things he's been doing just lately. Yeah, I think he is seeing some rewards and and so his approval ratings now seem to have gotten back up into the into the you know non-catastrophic level at least and and and are getting pretty good actually for a first-term president at this point in his presidency. I mean, there's usually a dip. He had a very low dip, but it's coming back up, and I think it reflects the legislative successes that he's had. And it also reflects what the other party, the Republican Party, has been doing.

And hanging over all this, of course, was the Dobbs decision that I think has both energized Democratic voters, enraged and energized Democratic voters, and just sort of put a spotlight back on politics in a way that's a bit more favorable for the president of the Democratic Party. And Sam, to Gene's point, if you look inside this poll, only 30 percent of the people surveyed in that Marquette poll believe Roe should have been overturned. Ninety percent of all Americans believe there should be exceptions in abortion, even if they support it for rape and incest. And of course, we've seen some of these extreme positions among people running for high offices across the country among the Republican Party. Perhaps some of that extremism explains Joe Biden's lift in the polls as well.

Yeah, I think a few things are happening here. Obviously, the Dobbs decision has energized Democrats. You see that in registration numbers across various states where Democrats are signing up to vote, women in particular. You see that in enthusiasm to go to the polls, which you see Democrats doing better in those numbers as well. And to Eugene's point, I think you see it in Biden's approval rating. Although my contention is that Biden's approval rating is as much about falling gas prices, which is this tangible thing that you see every day driving to and from work, literally in these neon signs, as it is about Dobbs and anything else. I think Biden benefits

from people not feeling pinched at the pump. And then I think you can't separate what's happening with Donald Trump from this current climate. I think having Donald Trump in the news all the time with his legal troubles, his political issues, I think does rebound in Biden's favor. It reminds people why they elected Biden in the first place, which is they just don't want to deal with the drama that seems to follow Donald Trump wherever he goes. So I think those three issues, Trump, gas, and abortion rights, are all working in Biden's favor. The question is, I guess, does it stay that way for however many days? What is it, 50 or so until we vote in November?

Yeah, Gene, if you look at Donald Trump's approval rating in that first poll, that Marquette poll, he's at 34 percent. If you look among independents, he's only at 30 percent. So his support is coming mostly, obviously, from Republicans, where he's at, you know, three quarters of them still support him. But then with this Mar-a-Lago documents case and the investigation, two thirds of Americans believe that, yes, the former president did take those documents from the White House and bring them to Mar-a-Lago. This all has to sort of be weighing over Donald Trump's decision, does it not, about whether to run in 2024? Well, I think what really weighs on Donald Trump's decision is what he thinks will keep him out of worse legal jeopardy. I've always thought that Trump will announce and try to run or plan to run or pretend to run, if only as a way to try to insulate himself from all the legal trouble that is closing in on him.

And he'll claim it's all political, he's a candidate, he's running for president again, and he's being persecuted by the Democrats. That will, of course, energize his base. It's not clear that it will do anything for the voters he would actually need to become president again. But I've always thought that that's his sort of plan, and I think that's what he's going to do. So, you know, remember, Donald Trump doesn't necessarily react to rational signals like this.

You look at polling like this and you would think, gee, I've got no shot. This is, you know, 30 percent among independents. That's not going to that's not going to get you elected. But he's got other considerations. You know, his fortune is being threatened in New York by Tish James. His liberty is potentially threatened in Georgia by Fannie Willis, the prosecutor down there. The committee is still meeting. The Justice Department is investigating. He's got all these legal problems that are closing in on him. And,

you know, one or two or three, he's got four or five. You know, that's a lot. So he's definitely on the defensive now. And as he always does, just making stuff up like, you know, I can declassify documents just by thinking about it. And oh, yeah. And the FBI planted documents in my place. But judges, the justice system is now saying, OK, put up or shut up. And he's going to have to shut up. Yeah, well, he said that again to Sean Hannity last night, that the FBI planted documents. And we're going to get into that next. The special master in the Mar-a-Lago case ordering Donald Trump's legal team to back up the former president's claims that the FBI planted evidence. We'll talk about what that means for Trump's legal fight. Plus, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones takes the stand in what is now the second trial over his lies about the Sandy Hook school shooting that inflicted great pain on those families already in

unthinkable suffering. We'll show you what happened yesterday in the courtroom. Also this morning, Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner weighs in on the move by Governor Ron DeSantis to fly migrants to Martha's Vineyard. His new comments are just ahead when Morning Joe comes right back. Special Master appointed to review the documents the FBI sees from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home and club has given the former president's lawyers until next Friday to back up Trump's allegation the FBI planted evidence during the August 8th search. Trump and his attorneys have publicly insinuated many times that agents planted evidence during the search without providing any proof to substantiate that claim. The special

master, Judge Raymond Deary, also telling Trump's legal team it must state by September 30th whether the lawyers believe any of the seized items were incorrectly described in the Justice Department's 11-page inventory list, which stated some of the documents were highly classified. Trump has claimed he declassified the documents found in the search that were marked classified and highly sensitive. However, his lawyers have not made those assertions in court. In yesterday's filing, Judge Deary also ordered Trump's attorneys to say whether they are claiming that any items on the inventory list were not, in fact, taken from the premises. Special Master's order essentially tells Trump's attorneys to back up his claims, writing in part,

This submission shall be plaintiff's final opportunity to raise any factual dispute as to the completeness and accuracy of the detailed property inventory. Joining us now is Washington Post reporter Perry Stein. She covers the Justice Department and the FBI. Perry, good morning. It's good to see you. One has to think, listening to this judge yesterday, this is the guy the Trump team wanted. This was their idea. He's not going light on them and effectively saying you've made all these wild allegations. Back them up.

Exactly. I mean, this is Judge Deary is the guy that Trump did. His team got to propose to people and they proposed Judge Deary. The DOJ agreed and said, yes, we think he's a suitable choice. And Judge Cannon, that's the judge that said yes to a special master. She appointed him. So this is Trump's choice. And yeah, I mean, he is having Judge Deary. We've seen this in the hearing and in this latest filing. He is having Trump back up and these claims that he has made on social media and in interviews that Judge Cannon did not. And so, Perry, if the presumably the legal team can't come up with any proof that the FBI planted this evidence or the other claims they've made in public, but not in court.

So what happens when they don't show any evidence for those claims? I mean, I don't think that they're in trouble if they don't in terms of legally speaking. I mean, I think the idea from this hearing that I went to on Tuesday, Judge Deary was trying to clear up any dispute. So he asked them, hey, this is the inventory list that the FBI provided. These are all the documents that they said they seized. Do you have any issues with it? Is this the inventory list we should be working off of? So right now what he's doing is trying to clear up any disputes that they may have. So it sounds like, and I don't know,

I mean, this is Judge Deary makes the calls and Judge Cannon approves them, is that Deary's trying to determine what issues he needs to clear up. And so if they don't present any, they'll use that inventory list. Perry, Sam Stein here, always been a big fan of your last name. I'm kind of curious,

what is the actual, maybe you don't know the answer to this because who knows, but what is the actual endgame here legally for the Trump team? Obviously, they wanted a special master appointed. They asked for Deary to be considered. But as I read it, it was simply to try to delay this thing. Is there more to it than just to essentially punt this thing further and further down the road? Is there an outcome that they would be thrilled at? And also, secondarily, how have they reacted to the DERI rulings? Are they surprised or frustrated that this person that they put forward as a special master prospect has turned out to be quite stern with them and demanding of them? Yeah, I mean, you're right. I do not know Trump's legal endgame here.

You know, I've been following these Deary, these Deary rulings and these court proceedings. I mean, you know, Deary is, as to your point, is this a delay? I mean, again, I don't know. But Deary, I think Cannon, the original judge who appointed him, said that they have till Thanksgiving to finish this special master review. Deary already in the timeline that he gave yesterday in this and his latest filing suggests that he is moving faster. So if it is to delay, and again, I don't know, then they are moving pretty fast with this special master review. And again, we have the appeals court that said that Trump can't claim that these classified documents, he has no interest in claiming that these are his property. So I don't know the legal tactics here, but it seems that so far the last two days, the government, the last few days, I should say,

the government, the court system right now seems to be working in their favor in this small case, in this small part of a larger investigation, I should say, just to keep that in mind. Well, Perry, once Judge Deary completes his review of what's classified and what's not, what happens then? Does it go back to Judge Cannon? Does she get involved again? Or what's the process? Yeah, so Judge Cannon is still the judge in this special master review. So what's going to happen and how Deary laid it out is that the Trump team is going to review through all of the thousands of unclassified documents, and they're going to mark whichever they think should be protected by

certain privileges or anything they want to bring up. Then the DOJ is going to look at those and say, do we agree with them? Should this be protected by this privilege? Should this not? And then Judge Deary is going to go and settle any disputes. Judge Deary, I believe, is then supposed to give his recommendations to Judge Cannon, who ultimately has final say. I mean, I think he said in the hearing, right or wrong, I'm going to give my recommendations to Cannon. The Washington Post's Perry Stein, far and away the superior Stein on the show this morning. Thank you so much for bringing us your report. It's a low bar.

Let's be honest. It's a low bar. But thanks for being here. Thank you, Perry. Appreciate it. The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry took on new meaning last night. They began a four-game set in the Bronx as Aaron Judge sitting on 60 home runs. Remember, the American League record set in 1961 by Yankee Roger Maris is 61.

So if this one goes out, he ties the single season record and comes that close. I don't know that a foot, two feet, maybe. So he's still sitting on 63 more games this weekend against the Red Sox. But the game itself decided in extra innings. Josh Donaldson's RBI single in the 10th gives the Yankees a 5-4 win. And more important than anything, clinches a six straight trip to the playoffs for the Yankees. New York's magic number to clinch the division now down to six games. But they officially are in the playoffs.

Sam, I know you're a Red Sox fan, but can even you, I'm trying to convince Barnacle and Lemire of this, can even you get behind this run for Aaron Judge? Oh, yeah, of course. It's incredible. And I don't buy for a second that Barry Bonds is the all-time home run king. I think there's a giant asterisk around that. That said, you know, the Yankees will make the playoffs, as we know. But do we not fully expect them to bow out in the first round as usual?

As usual? What are you talking about? As usual. No, but the Astros are the problem. We know that the Astros are great this year. They've got, we know they've got the trash can and all the other advantages that certainly hurt you in a playoff series, but, but they're, you know, they're having another year. You don't think their technology is improved from a trash can i hope they've i hope they've advanced to whatever that clicker was they were using or whatever it is uh so gene robinson there is this debate and interestingly enough aaron judge himself has said no the record is 73 we can talk about whether or not it should be but the record 73 so it may be the American

League home run record but if he can get up to 61 maybe hit 62 this weekend be very fitting it's painful as it might be for Sam to do it at home against the Red Sox it would be it would be painful last night you watch that game you say oh that guy judge you know he's got warning track power, right? He is incredible, and this is an incredible run he's on, and all you can do is applaud him, and yeah, I hope he gets the American League record, which has stood for so long, and there is, you know, I mean, he's being polite. There is a giant asterisk next to Barry Bonds' name. And it's hard to say. I mean, 73, you know, you can't say that all 73 were due to the juice.

But some of them were. And so there will always be an asterisk and judge. Yeah, it would be fitting if he did it at home against the Red Sox. Sorry, Sam. But we'll see. We'll see. We're watching video here a couple of nights ago against the Pirates when he hit number 60. And we should point out Judge also is chasing the Triple Crown. He leads the American League in home runs, RBIs, and right now just by a smidge in batting average. So he's putting together just an extraordinary season. Speaking of which, in Los Angeles, the Dodgers are doing the same. The NL West champion Dodgers marked a 45th comeback victory of the season, and it was, yes, Mookie

Betts, the former Red Sox, delivering a walk-off single in the ninth to help L.A. take three of five against the Diamondbacks with a 3-2 win with Jonathan Lemire in attendance. Did the show in New York yesterday. Flew out to L.A. He's on with Bill Maher tonight. Caught the game and watched his old man Mookie win it for the Dodgers. Playoff hopes have all but vanished on the south side of Chicago as the Cleveland Guardians complete a statement making

three-game sweep of the White Sox. The 4-2 win lowers the Guardians' magic number to five as the second-place Sox fall now seven games back in the American League Central. Do not sleep on the Guardians this year. They look good. All-women delegation of Ukrainian soldiers has been meeting with members of Congress this week to update lawmakers on the ongoing war. Women make up about a quarter of the forces fighting to keep Ukraine free from the Russian invasion. Joining us now is a member of that delegation, the leader of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement and a junior sergeant in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Andriyana Arekka. Sergeant, thank you so much for being with us. I have to say first, the world

just stands in awe of what your country and your military has been able to do and the courage you have shown in the face of this invasion. Tell me what it has been like on the ground for you, for the people of Ukraine to fight back against Russia as it moves into your country and tries to take it over. It's a great time to be here. I just want to say good morning, America. We are from Ukraine, from the battlefield of the war between Russia and Ukraine. But it's not only our war. This is the war of protecting a democracy in the world, I think. So how to be a woman? You've met a lot of challenges and I've met a lot of challenges on the battlefield. But the price is freedom. So we are the nation of heroes and we are going to the end. We are going to the victory.

There's no question about it. What was the mobilization early on? Let's go back to January and February when it was clear that Vladimir Putin was going to send his tanks in. He thought he'd be into Kiev in a matter of a couple of days, take over your city, raise the Russian flag and install a new government. What were those early days of the war like for you when it was clear that almost everyone was going to have to take up arms or contribute in some way to save the country? You know, I was on the front line in 2014. That's why I understand at the beginning of full-scale invasion what is going on. That's why we just together with my brother in arms

and sister in arms and go to the front line. So the mobilization was huge. Our nation showed that we can be a nation of heroes during the battlefield in Kyiv and other cities. And now after Kharkiv counteroffensive, after perfect Kharkiv counteroffensive, we are going to the south to liberate south that's why we are in united states to ask for a weapon to to foster the victory what is the most important objective for ukraine before the winter sets in is it to to retake kerson that area in the south or is it to continue to press the gains that that ukrainians have made in the north near kharkiv you know i think that it's critical moment now really before the winter is coming and thank you

for this question now it's very this is like very important moment before november uh to make a counteroffensive on the south, I think. And because we need to liberate our lands faster because our peoples are hostages there. And in every liberated town, cities, we saw killed kids, mass graves. So this is the time to liberate other lands. That's why we need BAPON. Andriana, this is Sam Stein. I just was hoping to get your reaction. You're speaking here now amidst Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to call up to service

to conscript 300,000 new soldiers for the cause. What is the reaction by you and among your contemporaries to that news? And what do you think it pretends, what do you think it matters for the future of the war? You know, every news from Russian Federation, from Putin, I just think that this is bullshit. Because during eight years we are fighting for our freedom. And by my eyes I saw forbidden weapons like phosphor bomb, cluster bomb, I saw chemical bombs, weapons on the front line and I saw the problems that this weapon made in my country so these 300 peoples or 1 million peoples of russian stupid soldiers it doesn't matter because uh because this is the war for freedom and that's why i think that the best answer of the west of the civilized civilized world will be continuing of supporting

ukraine sergeant how do you see this war ending it's a conversation we have militarily it's a conversation we have politically it's a conversation we have diplomatically on this show almost every day but from your point of view how will this war end? Of course with our victory, but what will be the price? Modern tanks, fighter jets that we are asking here in the United States, or ground air defense systems and aircraft can help us to save people's lives. We will go to the end and we will win. It doesn't matter what price, but we need help. And the United States has provided nearly $16 billion worth of help. And I know you're

there to ask for even more and to keep that coming from members of Congress while you're in Washington. Leader of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement and Ukrainian soldier, Andriyana Aretcka. Thank you very much. Good luck to you. And thank you for being here this morning. We appreciate it. Thank you. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was back in court yesterday, testifying again about comments he made in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre. The Connecticut trial will determine how much the InfoWars host will have to pay in damages for promoting the lie that the shooting was a hoax.

NBC News correspondent Rahima Ellis has details. I've already apologized to the parents over and over again. I don't apologize to you. I don't apologize to you. Alex Jones in a heated exchange with the attorney for the family suing him in a defamation trial after he challenged Jones to admit the pain he caused. You have families in this courtroom here that lost children, sisters, wives. I legitimately thought it might have been staged and I stand by that. I don't apologize for it. But Jones conceded in a Texas

courtroom last month. The Sandy Hook shooting was 100 percent real. The jury awarded the parents of one victim almost 50 million dollars in damages. 26 people died in the Connecticut elementary school shooting including 21st graders. Earlier in the day, Jones was challenged during direct examination about whether he was using the trial as a marketing tool. Ever since this trial started and you've been you've been calling it a kangaroo court yourself, right? Yes. Right.

And you've called this judge a tyrant, correct? Yes. The families have accused Jones of causing them emotional harm and subjecting them to harassment and threats from his followers. Jones has already been found liable for defamation. Now the jury will have to decide how much money he'll have to pay. That's Rahima Ellis reporting. Eugene Robinson, we always hesitate to give him any airtime, but it's important to point out the suffering that he's

added to the already unthinkable pain of these Sandy Hook families. You can go online if you don't believe it and read their personal stories. They've told them in the New York Times and other places of as they were grieving the horrifying slaughter of their first graders, they then became the subject of harassment. Many of them have had to move two, three, four times, getting death threats because they were accused of being actors, crisis actors, having staged all this and participating in some movement to promote gun control in this country. I know there are lower forms of life, but it's hard at the moment to think of any who would add additional suffering to families mourning the deaths of their first graders. Right. It is unspeakable the way he's still behaving in court. And you wonder, I mean, I don't think you can use an insanity defense in a civil case about damages, but that almost seems to be what he's going for. Why in the world is he alienating everybody in the courtroom, including the judge, including

the jury, including, you know, everybody? The answer to the question of how much of his money is he ultimately going to have to pay? Clearly seems to be, you know, all of it and then some is the right answer. And he's helping that courtroom get to that determination. There's no contrition. There's no contrition, there's no sense of understanding of the pain he has caused. As you said, there probably are lower forms of life. I actually can't think of any right now, but it's just a disgrace, the way this guy is acting and I certainly hope he is made to pay for this.