mr. wisconsin ben wikler gets tonight's last word. the 11th hour with stephanie ruhle starts now. tonight, how will the u. s. respond to the death of alexei navalny? president biden pushes congress for ukraine aid, while donald

trump finally, sort of, weighs in. and -- defendant trump's busy week ahead. but his latest loss in civil court can tell us about the trials to come. and his new idea to help pay those legal bills. on his path to the nomination. as the 11th hour gets underway on this monday night. greetings, everyone, i'm symone sanders-townsend in for stephanie ruhle. we are now 260 days away from the election, folks. the death of russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, has turned up the volume on the debate over how the united states deals with russia and what can be done to keep vladimir putin in check. the response to navalny's death from the front runners in the 2024 race, it could not be more different. biden is considering new sanctions against russia, will trump use navalny stuff to

suggest that he -- yes, he, is facing a criminal crime of political persecution. my colleague, carob hague, has more. >> reporter: the death of russian presidents most prominent critic sparking protests around the world. three years ago, president biden warned putin of devastating consequences if alexei navalny died in russian custody. tonight, mr. biden says that he is weighing new sanctions. >> we have stations considering additional sanctions. >> reporter: russian officials say navalny died in prison while going for a walk. his wife, you, leah today said that he was poisoned. russia is refusing to hand over his body.

>> reporter: vladimir putin killed my husband, she says, i will continue to fight for my country. i encourage you to stand by my side. tonight, republican front runner, donald trump's first comment on the volley, making no mention of putin or russia. writing, the sudden death of alexei navalny has made me more and more aware of what is happening in our country. nikki haley, slamming that comment and trump's recent remarks that he would encourage russia to attack nato allies, unwilling to meet defense spending goals. >> he sided with a dictator who kills his political opponents. >> as for trump's allies within

the republican party, the new york times notes many are calling for the indicted states to take a hard line with the kremlin. all the while downplaying donald trump's recent comments with biden russia to, quote, do whatever the heck they blocked to native allies who don't meet their defense spending applications. liz cheney says trump's comments reveal what is happening in the republican party right now. >> i think that we have to take donald trump very seriously. we have to take seriously the extent to which -- you know,

you now have a putin leaning republican party. i believe the issue of this election cycle is making sure that putin wing of the republican party does not take over the west wing of the white house. >> alexei navalny's death in a russian prison also underscores a republican standoff over aid to ukraine. which will soon enter a third year of war with russia. president biden was asked about that this morning. >> [inaudible] alexei navalny [inaudible] house republicans right now? >> i believe they are making a big mistake on this one. look, the way they are walking away from the threat of russia, the way they are walking away from nato. the way they are walking away from their opposition -- is shocking. i've never seen it like this. [inaudible] >> doesn't make any difference nudging republicans [inaudible] right now? >> i hope so.

>> meanwhile, two officials tell nbc news that the white house is leaning towards keeping ukraine very powerful new long-range ballistic missiles. this happened at months of requests from ukrainian officials. this comes as russia's military makes advances in eastern ukraine, threatening to under the progress of ukraine's counteroffensive. with that, let's bring the panel, susan glasser is a staffer for the new yorker. eugene scott for axios and michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia and msnbc international affairs analyst. thank you all for being here on such a costly name. happy presidents'day to you all. michael, i want to start with you. you are in munich at the security conference, recently this weekend. navalny's widow, yulia, has vowed to continue his work. many people have said that this just shows, navalny's death, shows how far putin has come in consolidating his power. what is the situation for iuliia and what is the situation for the movement

right now, the opposition movement in russia? >> well, this is, obviously, but worse week of her life. i saw julia that night before her husband was killed. i saw her that day after. this is a moment she feared, i know. but now, she has decided, with a very moving video that she put out today, that it is her responsibility to take on the baton and to help to forward the ideas of her husband. there's no other leader in the world that has the authority, and i think, the political skills to do it then idalia. it is a tragic moment. she never wanted to do this. she always wanted to be behind him. she pointed to think about her children first, but she has to do it. i'm confident that she is the right person to do that. >> her strength is truly amazing.

i cannot fathom. susan, the russians are saying that they are investigating navalny's death. his family has to wait two weeks before they can receive his body. what does this type of response really signal to you? what do you think the messages? >> look, i mean, what we've heard from president biden's. right whenever they ultimately come out with and say on a piece of paper, as far as a gesture to pick it goes, vladimir putin and his government is responsible, ultimately, for the death of

alexei navalny, whatever the means we're in the end of his death. they were torturing him, literally, in the last few months of his imprisonment. he was essentially in jail for the crime of being against the putin government. he was spending the vast majority of his time in freezing crow this -- cold punishment self. some of the discussions of the conditions he was living in the last few months were unbearable, not mission that he was being brought up on bogus case after bogus case. he had a three year sentence, which he served. then he was given a 19 year sentence. there was a new case pending against him. so, the putin government is responsible. it seems pretty clearly, for the death of alexei navalny. whatever they end up saying, you know, the problem is that putin has, essentially, eliminated the space, what limited space remained for

public opposition activity, for civil society in russia, along with his horrific invasion of ukraine. he has sees that as a cover to basically make it impossible to engage in meaningful politics in russia today outside of the government. >> while you are speaking, susan, the video that folks were seeing was video of alexei navalny in prison just a day before we found out he was killed. eugene, i understand all of that. we only heard from donald trump three -- it took three days for donald trump to weigh in and say something about alexei navalny. he ended up -- what he said was about himself. he equated himself to alexei navalny. said he was also facing political persecution. it was, in my opinion,

despicable. what he did contradicts some of what his allies have done. they are splintering responses within the republican party apparatus. i mean, some of his allies are even still claiming that donald trump can be the one to hold pushing responsible and stand up to him. that's why he needs to be reelected. how can they keep a straight pace at this point? >> yeah, i saw those remarks from individuals like tim scott. these allies of the former president have not pointed to why they believe that what donald trump will do will be different from what he said, which is why you see people like even nikki haley and conservatives who have a more traditional american foreign policy view are pointing out that voters should listen to donald trump and believe and expect him to perform the way he is speaking right now. we know foreign policy doesn't rank at the top list of priorities for voters, but we also know voters in recent polls have said, russia actually is a threat, not just

to america, but to the world to ferroelectric, is to human rights issues and putin is continuing to prove that. >> we know they care about ukraine. ambassador mcfaul tweeted about this earlier today. susan, liz cheney, you know, we heard her talking about a putin wing of the republican party. tonight, nancy pelosi told jen psaki about what she called the putin caucus within the republican party apparatus. how did we end up here? >> you know, i have to say, i'm glad you brought up nancy pelosi. listening to your reporting today, tonight, at the beginning of the show, i kept thinking of nancy pelosi's favorite and sort of lacerating commented on trump when he was president. she said, all roads with you

late to vladimir putin. i think it was in her more decisive points when she was a speaker of the house. actually, that was the last time she really spoke to donald trump, even though she was speaker and he was president for 15 more months. let's not forget that donald trump, you know, isn't coming new to this issue after putin invaded ukraine in 2022. donald trump called him a strategic genius. he thought russia was going to roll right over ukraine. he has been leading his party in, essentially, demanding that they not vote to authorize the additional 60 billion dollars in military assistance to the ukrainians that president biden has asked for. that is literally the reason why the u.s. house hasn't even agreed to bring it up to the floor for a vote. i noticed today that there was speaker mike johnson, who

literally owes his job to donald trump, very likely house speaker, meeting with donald trump today on presidents'day. i think it is very clear that if that u.s. house does not approve those eight, doesn't even vote on it, it will be because of one man, donald trump. not because of the widespread abuse of americans or even of the republican elected officials.

>> well, we know republicans take their cues from donald trump on this issue. which is why we have not seen the house take this aid up, despite any of our -- talking about how so much of the aid is actually going to american firms in american training. >> may i just interrupt -- yes, this is -- ambassador mcfaul, these is a good point that eugene is making here. the point here is the money in the bill to go to the ukraine, the aid money, is money to go to the pentagon said the pentagon can buy weapons that are made in america. in americ. >> and it benefits us when it comes to our economics and our national security. so we know despite that, republicans are taking their cues from the president. what vice president harris is trying to communicate to people is that the former president is taking his cues from vladimir putin. and that will only continue if he returns the white house. and there are real consequences for that. we see what the consequences are for people who push back on putin. maybe trump knows that himself, and that's why he is not

pushing back on putin. but what does that mean for the american public. that is what vice president harris is trying to campaign to people on the campaign trail, who haven't been paying as much attention, who need to be plugged in more now as they head to the election, so they can make a decision that's informed and not be surprised by what happens if donald trump returns to the oval office. >> ambassador mcfaul, i know you are trying to get in here. this point about the delays, like, ukraine says that delays and getting aid for the united states, they left this military valuable on the battlefield. they are literally rationing weapons. now we have navalny dying in prison. do you think this is just going to embolden putin even more, to make a major move in the war? >> absolutely. i mean, i met with senior ukrainian officials in munich. i met with the warriors from the front line, all of them had been wounded by vladimir putin, some of who had lost their family members. and there's no doubt about it that he is taking advantage of this moment. they are at a great

disadvantage because we are delaying this aid. so we are helping -- the u.s. congress, i want to be very clear about this, by not voting on this, they are helping putin in his war in ukraine. and i'm no expert on american electoral politics, but i did work on a campaign in 2008 for barack obama, senator obama, and i was a liaison to communities of eastern european descent. they vote in certain ways, demographically on social economic issues, but there is one issue with a depart with on folks, and that's on foreign policy. and you know where they live? they live in pennsylvania. they live in michigan. they live in wisconsin. so if the republican party is so certain that doing nothing and allowing in six months time for this war to get worse is going to be good for them in november, i think they should really reevaluate that hypothesis. i actually think it's quite dangerous politically for them

to be the do-nothing party that allowed putin's armies to get stronger. remember, he just took avdiivka in the last couple of days. if we disarm the ukrainians now, that war is going to be raging in putin's favor come november. >> the world is watching history does not repeat itself, but it is in fact unbroken continuity. susan, eugene, and michael, thank you very much. when we come back folks, no rest for the weary. fresh off a 355 million dollar ruling, trump is facing another busy week in court and we want to take a look at what to expect. and later, as trump's legal bills just keep piling up, he decides to head to a sneaker convention, really, yes, as the 11th under is just getting underway on a monday night. mon ah, these bills are crazy. she

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donald trump's lawyers have a busy week ahead. in new york, his team is expected to appeal a $355 million ruling in his civil fraud case. and then, there are preparations for his criminal trial in manhattan that's slated to start on march 25th. in florida, trump lawyers are planning to file motions to dismiss the classified documents case this week. and in georgia, the hearing over prosecutor fani willis's conduct continues. it's a lot, so we have someone to break it all down for us, federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst glenn kirschner joins me now. all right, glenn, i want you to listen to what donald trump said about the civil fraud case this weekend.

>> it's a sham case. there were no victims, no default, no damages, no complaints, no nothing. there was nothing. >> okay, so, glenn, we play that because a potential appeal could hinge on a new victims defense. so can you explain what this means and how it could even work? >> sure, if a no victim's defense was to win, it would have won in the trial court. but it didn't. it lost. here's why. victims, i think, is perhaps not the right word when you're dealing with this kind of fraud that donald trump perpetrated. i think defraud is the right word. here's why. donald trump lied about his assets, overvalued them, overinflated them. therefore, the banks ended up giving him an unduly and unfairly low interest rate. one, he defrauded the banks out of money. two, the banks could've used that money to loan, extend loans to other business men and

women. so it may not be that we think of, you know, victims the way we would think of victims in a violent crime case. but the banks were victims, and the people who could have otherwise received loans if donald trump had not defrauded the banks out of that money are victims, just not the kind of direct victims we ordinarily think about. but donald trump's claim that somehow he has some right, you know, some winning issue on appeal because he keeps saying there are no victims, that's a bunch of nonsense. >> okay, so, what do you make of the way he just rails against the lawsuits against him like that, especially as we are looking ahead to a criminal trial? before this, everything, all of the judgment that we have seen have been civil trials, been about the money. but the next couple of months are potentially about his freedom. >> he sings the song of a loser. he has an unabated string of losses. he has lost civil case after civil case. and i would actually argue, symone, that he lost a criminal case, albeit by proxy.

his organization, his namesake, the trump organization that he headed up was criminally convicted of 17 felony counts for a 15-year-long criminal scheme to defraud. no, he wasn't a council table. but he lost that case, right? that was his organization that he built, and he ran in a way that was corrupt. and think about it, there are three juries now, two civil and one criminal in the trump org case, and all of those juries unanimously ruled against donald trump or against his organization. that's 30 jurors total that ruled against donald trump. that is important foreshadowing for what he's about to experience in his criminal cases. >> mm, you wrote a piece that said just that, saying that the civil fraud trial ruling is a predictor of what's to come in as criminal trials and the jurors are a key reason for

that prediction. >> yeah, and you know, we are all looking to the first criminal trial to kick off on march 25th. but i think we should also keep our eye on another date, march 1st. why? that's the date that the parties are going to gather in a florida courtroom in the documents obstruction in espionage case that's been presided over by judge cannon. that's the date when they are going to resolve some legal issues, and if passed this prologue, symone, we know that donald trump and his team of lawyers will try to convince judge cannon to kick the may 20th trial date. and you may not expect to hear this from me, but i almost hope that she does kicked the may 20th trial date. why? because if the supreme court denies the state in the absolute immunity issue and returns the case to tanya chutkan in d. c., the election interference case, i would love to see her take that case and drop it on the docket for may 20th if judge cannon kicks the may 20th date down in florida. >> mm, okay, interesting theory

then glenn. okay to trump's tried and true tactic is delay, delay, delay. but how much longer can that really continue throughout all the cases? is there a line here that he's bumping up against? >> yeah, you know, the time on the calendar is growing short. i think it's about 8. 5 months until the november 2024 presidential election. he can continue the case is only as long as courts, as judges allow him to continue the cases. really the big open question right now is what will the supreme court do with the state and with the absolute immunity issue? i don't think there's any basis for them to either grant the state or to take the absolute immunity issue up on appeal. but if they do, boy, they will be doing donald trump an enormous favor. because that will inevitably delay his d. c. prosecution. i think he is going to run out

of luck. i think he is going to run out of time. and i think we are gonna see one and perhaps even two criminal cases tried before the november election. >> all right, one heck of a prediction, glenn. thank you very, very much. when we come, back trump is going to need a lot of money to pay off that $355 million fraud judgment out of new york. and his golden idea? sneakers. we get into it, when the 11th hour continues. into it, when hour continues.

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donald trump had a rough week. friday, he was hit with a more than 350 million dollar penalty for fraud in new york. so how did he spend the weekend? by going to a sneaker convention in philadelphia to promote his new trump branded sneakers. they are painted gold. they are named -- [laughter] never surrender high tops. i can't make this up, guys. and they sell for just under $400. and if you are curious, the average price of a pair of sneakers is around $130. the shoes are even made by a trump company, but he likely gets a cut of the revenue because of a licensing agreement, something trump is fighting a self in need of more and more these days. joining me now is jennifer palmieri, former white house communications director for president obama, and mark mckinnon, former advisor to both george w. bush and john mccain. both were co-host showtime's the circus. good to see you both. mark, these shoes, they were reportedly sold out within

hours, actually. what do you make of this? >> well, i make a lot of what's in the name. it was called the sneaker con. and dawn went to the sneaker con to hawk sneakers to pay for his legals. i mean, this is a guy who likes to compare himself to abraham lincoln. could you imagine a lincoln hawking abe lincoln high tops? it's just incredible. >> i cannot. >> if this is what he's got to do to pay his legal bills, i guess it tells you something. but i don't know a lot of people that are looking for a president that is hawking shoes. but maybe there are a few other, at least enough to sell out the ones that they had. >> and we don't even know what sold out means. how many did they even make? these are antics, jennifer. and donald trump's base, they love these antics. the base, 35, 40% of republican -- let's talk about independent

voters. we are barreling towards the general election. as we get ready to shift, i don't think independent voters necessarily look favorably upon these types of antics, especially when he's been confused and verifiably -- the grift has been verified and other ways prior to this. >> and it was such a tell, symone, when he talked about the sneakers on saturday night, that he's doing it definitely to pay for his legal bills because he was going on and on to congratulate the team that he had that had been working on the sneakers for a very long time. this had been in the works for a very long time. anytime he's congratulating somebody else and people that work for him and he goes on and on, you know it's super expensive, this is obviously a move that he's going to try to pay for his legal bills. and it is -- it's the e. jean carroll decision, it's the new york state decision that's going to cost him $450 million, the 91 indictments, we haven't

even really started the first criminal trial yet. that's going to be going on over the course of the next six months. and you can see this starting to pile on top. and independent voters, it's not what they are looking for. sneakers or 91 indictments against him, perfume, 91 indictments out of hit. >> none of that. i mean, there is an election. mark, speaking of, it south carolina's republican primary, it is this saturday. this is nikki haley's home state. she has won it before. but how better the optics of donald trump racks up a big win there? she is just said previously she has to improve, not win. >> i think she's prepared for that outcome. and i think that she's prepared to go on as long as she can, as long as she can accumulate any delegates. and listen, the longer she stays standing, i think the shorter donald trump looks in his stature. because she is, you know, the longer she's in the game, she is toughening up. and she's getting truer and truer every day and what she's

saying and willing to say about him. there's a lot of republicans out there who are looking for a different alternative than donald trump. yes, he has a very strong base. but there is a lot of people on an island. and right now, nikki haley is the captain of that island. , and she's providing an alternative. and i think it's smart for her to go ahead and stay in as long as she can. she's still raising money, and she's making a lot of sense for a lot of people that are very hungry for her message right now. >> okay, jennifer, nikki, there's a lot of people on the silent, nikki haley, the question is, are there enough people on that island for nikki haley to amass delegates that she needs? because she does continue to break with trump. because this weekend, she declined to say she would vote for him if he becomes the nominee. is that going to help her in this primary fight? is it going to be enough? >> no, i think that she -- i think that her strategy, and i

know that she has a speech tomorrow at clemson, which i believe is her alma mater, talk about the future of the race. sometimes people use that kind of language when they're getting ready to drop out. i think she's probably getting ready to articulate to do that, although that seems unlikely, but to articulate what the reason is for why she is staying in, and what she's trying to achieve. i think she could not mathematically appear very difficult for to make any kind of effect here. but if she stays in, she stays in through south carolina, through super tuesday, she's able to accrue some delegates. and then if -- these convictions start to come in, or just the trial even starts to wear on trump, she is there to make a stand and when the republicans go to milwaukee for their convention in july. all of that is very unlikely. i do think it helps biden for her to continue to stay in. i think it's helpful for republicans to hear a message from a true republican that is

anti trump, that is calling them out on siding with putin, for example. i think that does help. so the longer she stays in, i think the advantages for biden. >> all right. well, jen, before we go, can i take a turn off the campaign trail, and can i just get your thoughts on the big ruling of alabama, where the state supreme court has ruled that frozen embryos our children under the law, that means that anyone who has made embryos via ivf, thoughts? >> so scary, because that means now, you know, it's not enough to control a woman's body in a post roe america, to make decisions for them about whether or not they want to have an abortion, now you're getting into ivf, that could mean that doctors and women may be reluctant to use ivf to have children because of what this ruling could mean. and so, it's just -- and i know that the biden campaign is already doing this, and will

continue to do this. in a post roe america, women do not have control of their bodies and when they have families, and that is because of donald trump. >> mm. jennifer, mark, thank you. when we come back, an inside look at the former first family, we're talking about the reagans, all told by their eldest daughter, her letter to her late parents, and to america during this pivotal hour in politics, when the 11th hour continues. hour continues.

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few people have had such a difficult relationship with her parents as patti davis. davis was an anti nuclear activists whose work clashed with her father, president ronald reagan. and those very public fights caused a lot of strife within her family. but now, davis says she reflects much differently on the life she and her parents share together. and she believes americans can only learn something from her experience, too. my colleague and host of this show stephanie ruhle spoke with davis about her new "book dear mom and dad: a letter about family, memory, an america that we once knew." watch this. >> it's fair to say that you had a challenging relationship with your parents. and for a lot of your life, you talked about that. you wrote about it. >> yes. >> but you say in this third of your life, you've decided to look differently at the life you've lived together.

>> yeah. >> why is that? >> while, because i think for a while, that anyone who has a challenging relationship with their family, you hang on to what went wrong. and what went wrong kind of comes to define you. you sort of feel like a victim. you lead with your wounds. i did that for many years. it was like my calling card. it was like, hi, i'm patty, my father just bombed libya and my mother doesn't like me very much and she's just say no lady, so please feel sorry for me. >> you don't feel that way anymore? >> no. it works for a while, people go, oh, it must be really hard. but people want to know that you're doing something about it. and i didn't feel like i was being the person i was supposed to be on this earth. i don't think we are supposed

to be victims here. so it's taken me a long time to go, okay, how do i work through this to be able to step back, look through a wider lens at the whole picture, look at other people's truths, not just my own, because that thing about telling your own truth is, i mean, we all think that a certain stages of our lives, but your truth is not the whole truth. other people have their truths. >> okay, that almost seems to be this thing that prevails in the book. your word, the idea of understanding. >> yes. >> do you see a parallel now, or maybe a call to action on us as americans, how anger we are at one another without ever understanding someone else's perspective or position? >> yeah. i mean, the perspective that i finally came to in my life and in this book of looking through a wider lens of stepping back and looking at the whole picture, going okay, who are these people in my case, who are my parents, what were their lives like before they became my parents? they didn't just spring full blown out of the head of zeus as my parents, right?

they had lives. but we think that as kids. we think that was all they are. and they had lived both for that. they had childhoods. and to do that as an individual with your own life and with your family and with your parents means that you are capable of doing that with other people means that the microcosm of that, we are all capable of doing that with one another. >> is that what we are missing now, the inability to listen to one another? >> yeah, but see, i think that we are missing a lot of things right now. i think one of the things we are missing that was there when i was growing up was a faith in this country. you know, i did not grow up in calm times, i grew up during the vietnam war. there was the civil rights movement, women's movement, anti-war movement. but there were people who were leading some of those movements, martin luther king, john lewis, people like that, who were anchored in a fate that america could be better. i don't see that now.

it's not that there aren't eloquent voices out there, there are. but i don't see anyone really anchored in the faith that we could be better. and i think it's because we are also scared. >> of what? >> everything. i mean, people are scared putting their children on the school bus to school. could our school be the next school shooting? there's no such thing anymore as it can't happen here. we're just mired in fear. the thing about fear is it doesn't coincide with hope. and it's also sustainable. fear ushers in anger, because we don't like being scared, we would rather be angry. anger always sits on top of something else. anger feels kind of good, there's an adrenaline rush to it, there's a right to anger. and there are people on the public stays that know very well that synchronicity between fear and anger and are

brilliant at promoting that. >> with your mother and father be devastated by this? >> i think they would, yeah. and i think they would be heartbroken. because i think, you know, you go that far down that road, it's really hard to come back. >> your take away, you've written this letter, dear mom and dad, it's a letter to your parents, it's a letter to america. what is the takeaway you want us to have? >> to look at each other, whether it's your families or each other, open your vision a little bit. that person is not just what they are saying right now or what they are doing right now or what you think of them right now. there is a bigger picture there. you know, i wrote about a story in here, a memory when i was much younger and we had our ranch out in adora, inland from malibu, and we go out there on saturdays and horseback ride. and on our way back, we would stop at this frosty freeze stand on the highway and get

frosty's. and one day, i went up to the window with my father to order the frosty's. and the woman was so snippy and rude to my father, and he was so nice and so gracious to her. we went back to the car and said why were you nice to her? she was so mean. and he said because you never know what someone else is going through. she could have just gotten terrible news. she could've gotten some horrible diagnosis. her child could've just died. you don't know what someone else is going through. so you have to always remember that. >> patty, thank you so much. >> thank you. >> mm, the book is called "dear mom and dad: a letter about family, memory, and the america we once knew." when we come back, how the met is honoring an extraordinary era in black history, when the 11th hour continues. hour continues. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth

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the economy is simply not working for millions of hard working families. i think it's a great product. they're working harder than ever and they still can't make enough to get by to afford food and medicine to even keep a roof over their heads. we need to build more housing that's truly affordable. we need to address this terrible epidemic of homelessness. we need to invest in good paying jobs, union jobs and investments in our future. this, this is why i'm running for the us senate. i'm adam schiff and i approve this message.

the last thing before we go tonight, resurrecting the renaissance. for years, the music and art of the harlem renaissance was lost to history. but metropolitan museum of art is on a mission to change that, with a new exhibit that delivers the joy and innovation of the harlem renaissance to a whole new generation. my colleague al roker takes us there. watch this. >> reporter: a few miles from its namesake neighborhood, new york city's first showcase in 40 years of the black artistic expression that flourish between the 19 twenties and

1940s. >> it was written out of history, and i think our goal now is to write it back into history. >> reporter: denise murrell is the curator of the metropolitan museum of art's newest exhibition, the harlem renaissance and transatlantic modernism. 12 galleries of photographs, portraits, paintings, and sculptures portraying scenes of activism and everyday life. >> reporter: wow, all that history in -- >> a standing. and really living. >> an exploration of how the great migration and exodus of african americans in the segregated south to cities in the north like new york and chicago legend explosion of creativity in explosion art, literature, and music. >> you had a full -- black community involved in all aspects of -- that just would not have been possible in a situation where due to legal segregation there could not even be public gatherings at some points.

>> reporter: murrell's multi year treasure hunt, oftentimes outside of art museums, brought some of the 160 artworks the here. many cold from the collections of historically black colleges and universities, like archibald maltese lady in blue. >> just a sense of economic, cultural, and social self determination, self expression. that is part of what the harlem renaissance was about. >> reporter: one highlight, aaron douglas's mural. >> you see workers in the field. some are jubilant. we have musicians and dancers celebrating. but the future is foretold as well. we see the union troops in each meeting. >> reporter: this is one of almost a dozen pieces on loan from harlem's schomburg center. >> these artworks sit at the nexus of black people recreating themselves. >> reporter: art that tells a story, a statement of newfound freedom. >> this is a legacy that i hope generations of today will be

inspired by. >> reporter: a restoration of history bringing it back to the center of american art. >> al roker and the power of black art, history, and joy. that will take us off the air tonight. and on that note, i wish you a good evening. i'm symone sanders-townsend, in for stephanie ruhle. she will be back tomorrow night. and you can catch me on saturday and sunday mornings on my new show the weekend. from all our colleagues from across the networks of nbc news, thank you so much for staying up late. have a good night. up late. have a good night. ♪ ♪ ♪ donald trump is a need of an intervention. that is what speaker emerita nancy pelosi said the last time i spoke with her on this show, just over a month ago. well, she's back with me tonight, and i know she's not gonna hold back. she never does. we're gonna talk about everything that's happened