Rachel Maddow On Telling Lev Parnas' Story In New Documentary | The View

MOST FABULOUS RACHEL MADDOW. SUNNY HAS THE QUESTION. >> Sunny: SO, I WATCHED YOUR NEW DOCUMENTARY LAST NIGHT. I LOVED IT. >> THANK YOU. THANK YOU. >> Sunny: LEV LOOKS BETTER NOW THAN HE LOOKED IN THE BEGINNING. >> HE'S BEEN UNBURNED. >> Sunny: HE'S BEEN UNBURNED. >> Sunny: IT'S CALLED "FROM RUSSIA WITH LEV," AND IT'S ABOUT THE RISE AND FALL OF LEV PARNAS AN ASSOCIATE OF RUDY GIULIANI, OKAY, AND A KEY FIGURE IN FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP'S FIRST IMPEACHMENT, NOT THE SECOND ONE. HE SERVED 20 MONTHS IN PRISON FOR FRAUD AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE CRIMES, AND YOU WERE THE FIRST ONE TO INTERVIEW HIM IN 2020. WHY IS THIS A STORY YOU WANTED TO TELL RIGHT NOW DURING THIS ELECTION SEASON, LET'S SAY? >> SO, WE DIDN'T CHOOSE THE FILM TO BE READY RIGHT BEFORE THE ELECTION. THESE THINGS ARE JUST KIND OF READY WHEN THEY'RE READY, BUT IT IS, I FEEL LIKE, AN IMPORTANT STORY IF THE COUNTRY IS CONSIDERING PUTTING TRUMP BACK IN POWER. THIS SHOWS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN CROOKS TAKE OVER THE WHITE HOUSE, AND IN THIS CASE WHAT HAPPENED IS THEY HAD AN EX-MAFIA HUSTLER GUY HIRED TO GO RUN A FOREIGN INFLUENCE OPERATION THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS INVOLVED IN TO TRY TO GET FOREIGN COUNTRIES TO INTERFERE IN THE 2020 ELECTION TO MESS WITH JOE BIDEN, SO DONALD TRUMP DIDN'T HAVE TO RUN AGAINST HIM, AND WE'VE COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN IT, BECAUSE SO MANY OTHER SCANDALS HAVE HAPPENED SINCE THEN. IT WAS ONLY THE FIRST OF HIS TWO IMPEACHMENTS. MEANWHILE, HE TRIED TO STAY IN POWER AFTER BEING VOTED OUT USING FORCE. ALL THESE THINGS HAPPENED INCLUDING PICKING J.D. VANCE. [ LAUGHTER ] >> Sunny: HE DID. >> BUT LET US NOT FORGET THE LAST TIME HE WAS THERE HE RAN THIS KIND OF A SCAM WITH RUSSIA TO TRY TO ATTACK JOE BIDEN AND HIS FAMILY, AND TO HAVE SOMEBODY IN THE INSIDE OF THAT WHO WAS A CROOK AND A CON MAN AND A HUSTLER WHO WAS ABSOLUTELY LIKE THE MUSCLE IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS WHO HAD A COME TO JESUS MOMENT AND DECIDED HE WOULD TELL ALL AND UNBURDEN HIMSELF. >> Sunny: AND HAD A LOT OF RECEIPTS. >> AND HE, TURNS OUT, HAD SECRET RECORDINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, AND EVERY SINGLE TEXT MESSAGE AND EMAIL HE EVER RECEIVED IN HIS LIFE AND GAVE IT TO ALL OF US. HE GAVE ALL OF IT TO US, AND THAT IS KIND OF AMAZING AND RARE. YOU NEVER HAVE SOMEBODY ON THE INSIDE GIVE YOU EVERYTHING LIKE THAT. IT ALSO HELPS THAT HE IS ADORABLE. >> Joy: IS HE REALLY? >> Sunny: HE LOOKS MUCH BETTER NOW. >> HE'S NOT LIKE A MODEL, BUT HE'S LIKE THIS OPEN CHARM -- KIND OF A CHARMING CON MAN. >> Joy: ON A SCALE OF ONE TO BRAD PITT. >> Sara: A REALLY SOLID THREE, JOY. >> Joy: SPEAKING OF LEV PARNAS, HE SAYS HE WAS AT THE CENTER OF TRUMP'S EFFORTS TO DIG UP DIRT ON HUNTER BIDEN, AND IN THE FILM ON UKRAINE BUSINESS AND IN THE FILM, HE GETS VERY EMOTIONAL. >> HE DOES. >> Joy: SO -- >> Sara: BUT IT'S A SWEET THING. IT'S ACTUALLY SWEET. >> Joy: IS IT? THERE'S A SURPRISING MOMENT INVOLVING THE TWO OF THEM AT THE END OF THE FILM. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT? >> OVER THE COURSE OF DOING THESE INTERVIEWS WITH LEV, HE GOT REALLY SORRY. I MEAN, HE'S SORRY ABOUT WHAT HE DID. HE HAS REMORSE ABOUT WHAT HE PARTICIPATED IN. THE FIRST TIME HE EVER VOTED IN HIS LIFE IN 2020, HE VOTED FOR JOE BIDEN, BECAUSE HE FELT SO BAD ABOUT WHAT DONALD TRUMP HAD HIM DO, BUT HE WANTED TO APOLOGIZE TO HUNTER BIDEN FOR HAVING TOLD ALL THESE LIES ABOUT HIM AND HAVING HELPED RUSSIA IN A FOREIGN INFLUENCE PLACE AND TOLD US, TOLD THE FILMMAKERS, MY DIRECTOR AND PRODUCING PARTNERS, HE TOLD THEM, I'D LIKE TO GO SEE HUNTER, AND WE WERE LIKE, SURE, LEV, WHATEVER. MAGIC WAND. IT'S NOT LIKE IF YOU GET IN A ROOM WITH YOU, HE'S GOING TO PUNCH YOU IN THE FACE, BUT THEY MET, TEARS WERE SHED. HE APOLOGIZED. THEY SAW A COMMON CAUSE AND SAID, OKAY, HERE'S HOW WE DID IT. >> Joy: DID HE FLIP BECAUSE HE GOT CAUGHT, THOUGH? I MEAN, YOU KNOW -- >> HE GOT ARRESTED, AND BEFORE HE WENT ON TRIAL HE CAME AND DID AN INTERVIEW WITH ME SAYING, I HAVE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART, AND I WANT TO TELL YOU EVERYTHING. >> Joy: BECAUSE I'M GOING TO PRISON. >> IT HURT HIS CASE. >> Sunny: IT DID. >> IT WAS NOT IN HIS LEGAL INTEREST TO COME OUT, AND IT'S PART OF THE REASON HE WENT TO JAIL FOR AS LONG AS HE DID, BUT HE WANTED TO COME CLEAN. >> Whoopi: IT'S AN AMAZING THING, YOU KNOW, AND YOU SEE THE LIES, YOU SEE HOW EASILY THE LIES CAN BE SPREAD. THEY HAD NOTHING ON HUNTER BIDEN, AND THIS MAN LIED AND LIED AND LIED AND PRETTY MUCH TRIED TO DESTROY HIS LIFE. >> YEAH. AND TO USE A POLITICIAN'S FAMILY, TO USE JOE BIDEN'S LOVE FOR HIS SON AS A WAY TO TRY TO DESTROY THE FATHER, DESTROY THE MAN, THAT'S -- IT'S EVIL. >> Whoopi: IT'S VERY TRUMPIAN. >> McCARTHYISM TOO. >> Whoopi: VERY TRUMPIAN. [ APPLAUSE ] >> YEAH. >> Whoopi: WELL, THANK YOU. >> THANKS, WHOOPI. >> Whoopi: FOR COMING. THE DOCUMENTARY, "FROM RUSSIA WITH LEV," PREMIERES SEPTEMBER 20th ON MSNBC. YOU NEED TO WATCH IT REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOU STAND.