>> Well, as you know, I spent quite a bit of time here in the pre war period.
And when the invasion happened, I had friends, who were in Donetsk who were in the Ukrainian army,
who are writing to us, and telling us, we're not gonna survive tonight. We've been hit 500 times.
These are graduates of Defense Language Institute. These are my friends. And as the more I saw
of the war going on, the more I thought I'm done talking. All right, it's time to take action here.
>> So that came out this morning. That is Malcolm Nance, whose a contributor,
previously was a contributor to MSNBC who is now fighting in Ukraine for the Ukrainians.
He tweeted, I'm done talking with this sort of quasi, promotional photo here. You can see
there of him, with his equipment. He gives a little bit more of his thought process
in choosing to go fight in Ukraine in this video. >> So, about a month ago, I joined the
international legion, here in Ukraine, and I am here to help this country fight.
What essentially is a war of its extermination. This is an existential war. And Russia has brought
it to these people, and they are mass murdering civilians. And there are people here like me,
who are here to do something about it. >> So, David, of course, we know that
there have been thousands of international volunteers to this effort, including Americans.
This is one of the first times I've seen a former basically newspaper, like a contributor
who had prior experience with intelligence and things like that. What do you make of this?
>> Well, first of all, even though it's not the kind of movie that I would make,
I give anybody great respect if you're gonna walk the walk, talk the talk.
I mean, he feels, this is how he feels strongly about it. Rather than just talk about this on TV
and advocate for more involvement, he's gonna put himself involved. So good for him. I'm not sure
that Ukraine is quite as a principled war as some of the supporters of Ukraine like to point out.
And by the way, I'd love to see some US analysts who would say, what I'm gonna volunteer to help.
I don't know, maybe in Yemen where the United States has been helping with the naval blockade
try to keep the Iranian, weapons from going in, but thereby also starving the Yemeni people.
I mean, wars are complicated, and Ukraine also has its share of complications. But again,
hats off to him, because he's not just sitting back in a TV and pontificating, he says this
is important to me. And so he's doing it. >> Yeah, that's definitely true. A credit to the,
for instance, activists, the people who work for nonprofits who do go to conflicts,
like Yemen, you don't see the high profile stuff necessarily as much.
That said, this is an incredibly dangerous thing to do. And assuming everything is
as it's being presented and seems, it is certainly courageous. He could be captured,
he could die at any moment. At one point during that interview,
they saw, I believe cruise missiles fly by those could have hit his location.
So that is certainly courageous. And you're right,
most will just pontificate. I will be taking that road actually.
I'm gonna stay right here, cuz I don't think I have much to contribute on the ground in
Ukraine necessarily. Nor is there a broad base asking for me to contribute in terms of arms.
Look if it starts polling well, I guess I'll be forced. For now I'm gonna do this. Anyway,
more details on him according to his author biography Malcolm Nance is a globally recognized
counterterrorism expert, with decades of experience in US intelligence. By the way,
he's apparently 60. So that is even more impressive, going to fight when you're 60.
He says he was grateful to be here to fight against Russia. He says, I'm glad that I can
help my friends, and I don't have to hear them talk about how many kids were killed that day.
Were going to try to put a stop to that. Bear in mind Ned Price State Department spokesperson said,
just last month that US citizens traveling to Ukraine to fight against the Russians, quote
face significant risks including the very real risk of capture or death.
>> I would just add that the risk also goes up if you're doing broadcast, television interviews
from Ukraine with the US network, because even though the technology is awfully complicated,
there are people who can sort of decipher exactly where this broadcast is emanating from. So
for Mr Nance's safety sake, maybe just stick to I don't know, tweets and social media.
Don't actually do the live broadcast, or maybe do them tape just in case
anybody is figuring out your GPS. >> Yeah, yeah that is a very real
potential threat. I'm glad that he also had a little bit more message discipline than like a
Geraldo back during the invasion of Iraq, literally just saying where they were at.
If Malcolm Nance is gonna do a follow up interviews, some sort of like anonymous
background. That's what I would suggest. Don't be specific for your own safety,
and the safety of the people you're fighting with. But anyway, so far seems responsible.
It's not the choice that I am choosing to make, but I do respect it on a level, yes.