and we ll examine the ever-increasing military might that might back up those intentions. and the legacy of colin powell. should we admire him as a soldier and statesman? weapons of mass destruction or deride him for that u.n. speech? then we will check in on the troubling condition of afghanistan under the taliban two months after the fall of kabul. and with author kati marton, we will discuss angela merkel s 16 years in office and what her pending departure means for europe s future. but first here s my take. are we returning to the 1970s as several commentators have recently claimed? there are surprising similarities, the humiliating withdrawal from afghanistan echoes the u.s. defeat in vietnam. prices are rising along with demands for higher wages, even as economic growth is stalling. a new economic superpower is challenging american supremacy. back then it was japan, now it s china. on closer examination, however, most of these analogies turn out to be supe
back in 2019. also today, new photos just in to cnn showing baldwin meeting with helena hutchins husband and son in new mexico. in a statement the actor said his heart was broken for them and he s fully cooperating as police investigate. helena hutchins died there from the gunshot wound there on the set. cnn correspondent lucy kafanov is in santa fe, new mexico. lucy, what more are you learning about the safety issues and accusations? reporter: that s right, fred. we remember from the affidavit, the police affidavit, that david halls was listed as the assistant director who picked up one of the three prop weapons left outside of the structure where the team was filming that fateful thursday by the head arm oher. he picked up the gun. he walked it into the building. he handed it to alec baldwin shouting cold gun which should have meant that the we op or the prop weapon had no live rounds. now, we are learning as you point out more details. sources tell cnn that david halls w
here who said they have basically gotten everything that they have needed to get from that location. we now have to piece together exactly what happened on that set, what negligence may have taken place on that set, and to that point the first time that we heard about this assistant director was in the affidavit. we know that david halls was actually outside of the structure where the team was practicing during their rehearsals or shooting, film shooting on that fateful thursday afternoon. we know that the head arm oher left three prop weapons on a cart outside of that building. david halts the assistant director grabbed one of the weapons, walked into a structure and hand it had to in mr. baldwin shouting dold weapon which should have meant no live rounds. cnn has been told that david halls was the subject of two complaints on several productions back in 2019 including disregard safety protocols for guns and pyrotechnics, things like fire lanes, for example, and exit being c
past monday for safer conditions, and if the world didn t believe us about what s going on, maybe they believe us now. meanwhile, new details about two key crew members involved in the accident could provide important context about the deadly series of events. cnn s lucy kafanov is on the scene in new mexico. we are starting to learn more about the two crew members who handled the gun, the film s assistant director and the armorer. that s obviously going to be important in all of this. what can you share? reporter: absolutely, jim. and the reason that they are important is because they appear to be the last people who handled the weapon before alec baldwin. walked it inside, handed it to mr. baldwin shouting cold gun, which meant it wasn t loaded with anything that was harmful. sources tell cnn that david halls was actually accused of safety violations on previous productions, at least two productions that took place back in 2019. they were things like, for example, vio
a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to alex witt reports. democrats appear to be inching closer to a deal on president biden s build back better agenda. earlier today, house speaker nancy pelosi getting insight into those discussions as democrats aim for votes on the reconciliation and infrastructure bills this week. we re almost there. it s just the language of it. leader schumer, mr. manchin, senator manchin, and the president, are having the meeting on some of the particulars that need to be finalized. and i m optimistic that we can do that. meanwhile, new reaction from the january 6 select committee as it investigates the attack on the capitol. the department of justice is weighing possible criminal charges against former trump aide steve bannon after he refused to cooperate with the committee. last hour, committee member adam schiff told me just how critical that decision will be for the future of this probe. if congre