asking the key question, how well informed is vladimir putin, how good is his grasp on reality? does he appreciate the extent of the danler heading up the m-4 highway all the way toward moscow and what that could potentially do to his grip on power or is he simply finding this from loyal people around him who aren t giving him the unvarnished truth? it s utterly terrifying in 2023 to see the fate of nuclear power that seems to be battles on a main high waichl wolf? we don t know what the impact of all of this is going to be. it s going to be very, very dramatic to be sure. the impact of the failed kgb coup in 1991. a few months later in december of 1991, we saw the collapse of the soviet union in part because of that, but we ll see what happens now. this is very dramatic. nick, you ee going to stay on top of all of this for us. amara and victor, back to you.
channels, we continue to see him putting out messages. they haven t shut down the internet. they are perfectly capable of doing that. and at some point, they may do that. and again, each step that putin takes, he has to measure against if i do that, does that lead to panic? if i do this, does it actually lead to almost, you know, a path to civil war? and so the calibrations are quite complex. and putin has never had to make these sorts of decisions. it s quite a conundrum. and putin no doubt, no doubt remembers what exactly happened in august of 1991, when there was a failed kgb coup, a failed kgb coup, against gorbachev and yeltsin, but a few months later, in december of 1991, there was the collapse of the soviet union, which he says was the worst thing that ever happened
this is one of the things i m particularly passionate about. these people are failing to represent the office of senator, represent the office of congressman, and we need to make sure we hold them accountable for this kind of nonsense. it is not okay to attack somebody, to make personal character assassinations, nonsubstantive personal character assassinations because somebody speaks differently, because somebody s origin puts them in the soviet union as a youth. she left the soviet union before it collapsed. it collapsed in december of 1991. she left some time before then. she had really little choice in participating in a system that compelled its citizens to participate in a in the communist party. otherwise, they would be punished. unfortunately, we see populism taking us in the same direction. if you recall, president trump had those membership cards for his for him that was really, really shockingly inappropriate cards that had nazi
america. can you tell us about your brother? what happened to him? my brother served in vietnam during the height of it, and within 2 1/2 years of coming home he was diagnosed with hodgkins disease as a result of his exposure or hodgkins was the number one manifestation of exposure. and he proceeded to have about an 11 or 12-year incredible battle that ravaged his body until he passed from this life to the next in december of 1991 at the age of 34. well, your family has paid much for our country. thank you so much congressman denny heck of washington state. thank you. i want to go to charlie sykes on this. take a look at this. it s hard to find more drama. i have watched a lot of these hearings. this is up there with joseph welch when the counsel for the defense of the army said have
you know, things change in national politics. my friend and hero, george bush 41 was at 91% favorable rating in december of 1991. pat buchanan won 30 something% of the vote in the new hampshire primary two months later. and that was the beginning of the end for my friend bush 41. so things do shift around. and you know, it s not my job to carry it to republican voters. i don t mind citing the 1,000 federal prosecutors and saying that i know what they re talking about because i do. but beyond that, if people won t be persuaded, they won t be persuaded. it seems in the reporting that democratic leadership in the house are worried about those swing voters in districts that congressional districts that were formerly republican, people who voted for a republican member of congress but there last time voted for a democrat. they re worrying about alienating them.