until then, thanks very much for watching, i'm wolf blitzer in the "the situation room," erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" next breaking news, intense fighting breaking out outside of kyiv tonight as ukrainian forces make more gains in their capitol. with putin growing desperate, united states is preparing for capitol chemical weapons attack in ukraine, but the man in charge of putin's war, not seen in public in more than a week who is sergay shorgu, the mystey yacht, two helicopter pads, does it belong to putin, my colleague says it does.

let know out front. tonight, breaking news, intense fighting breaking out just outside ukraine's capitol city as we are getting new drone video from the town of yulita, just 12 miles west of kyiv, you can see the widespread devastation, buildings on fire, the mayor telling cnn it is extremely dangerous there tonight as russian forces are shelling the town. the shelling comes as ukrainian forces, though, are making significant gains tonight around kyiv, retaking territory east of the city. you can see what appear to be ukrainian soldiers surrounding a russian tank here, we're hearing from another soldier in that particular town who said, quote, we are advancing along the entire frontline, we are advancing successfully, we will keep this village. the cost of the fighting is catastrophic though. this is new video in from mariupol in the south of ukraine, city council posted this. the devastation is hard to fathom, the part where they literally drive underneath the

cell tower and then show you the buildings, burned out cars lining the streets, show you out the window, apartment buildings as they drive by just completely bombed out. looks like the after math of chernobyl, exterior walls all that is left of the building up here on the left. unbelievable, right, this is a city that was home to 350,000 or more people a month ago. we have no idea how many are still left there. tonight, ukrainian is putting a price on what this fight is, formally telling the united states that it needs 500 antiaircraft missiles and 500 antitank missiles a day to keep fighting the russians. a day. now there is no response from the u.s. government yet on that, but in brussels tonight, president biden put putin on notice should he choose to use chemical weapons. >> would the u.s. orn nato respond with military action if he used chemical weapons? >> we would respond, we would res

respond, the nature of the response would depend on the nature of use. >> now there are fears putin could be on the path to using chemical weapons, ukraine's president zelenskyy today making this specific claim about an attack in eastern ukraine. >> today, by the way, there were phosphorus bombs in the morning. phosphorus russian bombs. adults were killed again, and children were killed again. >> phosphorus causes severe burns, it is a violation of international law to use it in any attack on civilians. nato secretary-general tonight says the alliance mobilized its chemical weapon defenses. >> our top military commander, general walters has activated nato's chemical, biological and nuclear defense elements and allies are deploying additional chemical and biological and nuclear defenses to reinforce our existing and new battle groups. >> our sam kiley is out front

live in kyiv tonight, phil mattingly in brussels with biden at the nato meeting. sam, with you, devastation on the ground where you are but also ukrainian forces appearing to nosecure more victory around kyiv, what is the latest tonight is that. >> reporter: i think the most dramatic event is the ukrainian's forces attack in berdyansk where they knocked out and blew up a russian ship that was docked there in this very important port city. massive explosion followed by several other what they call secondary explosions. that's when the ammunition or fuel or both inside that ship is detonating. now, in and of itself, not necessarily of significant strategic move by ukrainians but

a good illustration of how they're putting to best use the kind of weapons they're demanding, begging nato to increase their supplies to them. now, they're going through what nato's estimated what the ukrainians use, could use over a week. the ukrainians are saying they're going through in a 24 hour period. they have been enjoying a degree of success here in kyiv, pushing back the forces in mykolayiv to the west, in irpin showing the drone images northwest of kyiv, these are all consequences of the on going fighting that is very intense, erin, to the north west and now, i was just today in the east of the city where they are also claiming a number of accesses -- successes. but these are all about protecting kyiv. they haven't necessarily got control, at all, of the battle space elsewhere in the country and of course, mariupol, you were showing those images,

extraordinary images of these completely destroyed city going to go down in history as one of the iconic destructions of an entire city conducted in any age, but this one, really, really dramatic. very important location for controlling the last piece of government territory on the asov sea. still, the ukrainians are holding out. still, desperately asking for those weapons, erin. >> it is incredible, just that picture of driving along that edge of the town under that fallen tower. sam kiley, thank you so much reporting live from kyiv tonight. let's go to brussels where phil mattingly is, covering president biden's trip to meet with nato leaders. so phil, we hear president biden say the u.s. and nato will respond if putin uses chemical weapons but very careful to not say how, saying it would depend on what the use was so what is the president's thinking on this right now? >> reporter: you know, erin, we've gotten a sense of the scale of the concern with u.s.

officials over the course of the last several days with their public statements, increasingly public warnings to president putin, warnings that a chemical attack may be imminent, it was a central point of discussion here in brussels with nato leaders, eu leaders about what may happen and what the response would be but perhaps more important at this point in time is what's happening behind the scenes. just four days after russia launched invasion, national security adviser jake sullivan signed a directive creating a special team of individuals known as a tiger team to start working through potential contingency plans related to a bioweapons attack, related to chemical attacks, related to potential incursions into nato territory and potential russian strikes on supply chain convoys. those are all issues that have been working through the white house system over the course of the last several weeks. multiple meetings a day, going through contingency plans and options and if it sounds familiar, it is. there was a tiger team set up in the lead-up to the russian invasion to ensure that if the

invasion did in fact occur, which u.s. officials have become increasingly convinced would happen in the weeks leading up to it, the u.s. and perhaps most importantly, its western allies would be prepared to respond and we've seen the scale of the response that still escalating today. more sanctions, more humanitarian assistance, more aid to refugees, and i think it's important to note that when you listen to the president today, so much of the talk was about unity. yes, that's about the sanctions regime, yes, that's about weapons and lethal assistance and humanitarian aid but also about what may come next and no question about it, u.s. officials are very concerned that a chemical attack may be one of those things and the west will need to stay united on that front as well, erin. >> phil, thank you very much, now to former director of national intelligence, general james clapper. general, let me ask you wabout this, president biden says today we would respond if putin used chemical weapons, clearly he did not say exactly how. what would you advise president biden to do if putin uses

chemical weapons? >> well, this is a question, erin, that i need to salute humi humility before responding and i think the president was right to not specify what we do because if there is an incident would be very situational-dependent. having said all that, my advice would be if, you know, if there is such a chemical attack we can confirm it and all that, that we respond into conventional manner and try to find some linkage between, as a target, between the chemical attack and its origins. that would be my advice. again, with all due humility and, you know, this is stuff stuff and very

situational-dependent. >> so the thing about chemical and any sort of tactical nuclear strike, right, whether it be mines or something is obviously you can't necessarily, you can't ensure it would stay localized. so if russia were to use chemical or nuclear tactical weapons, the chemicals, the radiation, could move, right? could waft on the winds, could go to nato countries, europe, would you consider that an attack on nato? >> it, again, it would depend on the situation. for me, if it affected any people in nato territory, if it affected, if it damaged property, facilities on nato territory, i would consider that an attack. >> so that brings me then to the, you know, the what. i mean nato secretary-general jen stoltenberg told cnn today he thinks it's still unlikely there will be a full-fledged war between russia and nato. do you agree with that at this

point? >> well, not exactly. i mean he, the secretary-general almost has to say that for public consumption. you know, at the same time, the likelihood of this happening, though, is greater than it ever has been since world war ii. you just can't, you can't ignore that in my mind. >> so the ukrainian government says russian forces looted and destroyed a lab near the chernobyl nuclear power plant that had some highly radioactive waste, and the lab was used to monitor that, these samples that were highly toxic, this is what they're saying. obviously, we can't confirm the specifics on this but this is something you've been extremely worried about. when you hear that reporting, what do you say? >> well, as you know, erin, we discussed this before. i've been very concerned about the 15 nuclear reactors in ukraine and the very cavalier,

reckless way the russians have regarded them. so if there is an inadvertent attack or a witting attack, if power is cut off, which prevents cooling of radioactive material, there are just all kinds of potential here for a real catastrophe, and it would be, you know, chernobyl 2.0 and it wouldn't just affect ukraine. this would be a regional disaster. so i -- i'm very concerned about that and anything to do with where the russians are attacking or looting or whatever they're doing that relates to a nuclear facility is dangerous. >> general clapper, thank you very much, i appreciate your time. >> thanks, erin. next, questions growing about the man leading putin's war, the russian defense minister, he has actually not

been seen in public at least a week and according to the pentagon, not answering any calls from his u.s. counter part, so where is sergay shoigu, plus, is this putin's yacht? a dance floor that turns into a swimming pool full of toilet paper roll holders, a mass of, you know, excess, we're learning a lot more of this excessive and mysterious ship tonight in italy. and propping up russia's invasion, paying for oil, fertilizer, who is still on that list? you're going to be r real surprised . big boi house. big boi i kitchen! big boi waterfall shower! big boi crawl spspace. big boi sold sign, big boi logo. realtor.com to e each their home. [yawn] bro trip! if you book with priceline, you'll save more, so you can “broooo” more. [impressed] broooooo. broooo!! broooo!!!! broo!!!! [in unison] brooooooooo!!!! [splash] [dappointed] broooo... good thing you saved on the trip! preline. every trip is a big deal.

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russia trying to silence speculation surrounding defense minister sergei shoigu who hasn't been seen in public at least in a week in the middle of this massive war, state run russian tv interrupted a live interview to cut to a few seconds of a video that shows shoigu, in one of the boxes on the zoom, zoom similar, appearing to brief president putin. it's unclear what that was actually taken. pentagon, mean time, saying shoigu has been declining calls from u.s. counter parts since before the invasion began. tom is out front in washington. >> reporter: in the earliest days in the war, russian defense minister sergei shoigu was in

plain sight, long-standing and well-known face of the military. now, in recent weeks has been all but invisible, he can be seen briefly in this video released by state-owned television but not clear when it was recorded, is not wearing his uniform and he does not speak. so speculation about shoigu's position is running wild. >> i think about replication of the russian military, it is about shoigu so he needs to be present, needs to be visible for this very reason and he is not. >> mr. shoigu, your assessment? >> reporter: shoigu came into the war firmly behind russia's stance on ukraine, even as his army's advance bogged down and casualties mounted he told putin on march 11th, all is going according to plan. his loyalty to putin widely considered unshakeable, their relationship stretching back decades to include not just work

but also shared vacations, riding horses, fishing, relaxing in the russian countryside. >> he was always, always extremely loyal to putin, never questioning his actions, never showed any ambitions to become somewhat bigger than the minister of defense, that's his thing. >> reporter: yet, when cnn asked a kremlin spokesperson to explain shoigu's sudden disappearance, the answer was terse. the defense minister has a lot on his plate at the moment, now is not exactly the time for media activity. and it all comes in the wake of a reuters report that another putin insider quit his job and left the country over the war with ukraine. for now, it's anyone's guess what has happened to the defense minister. all we really know is that he is missing in action with no real explanation as to why. erin. >> thank you, very much, tom, so

let's get more on that. evelyn farkas, former assistant secretary of defense and evelyn, you met sergei shoigu, one of the few who actually know a personal aspect of this. you know, we see him shorts off hanging out fishing with vladimir putin, they're close, right? putin loves those pictures, let's shoigu get in one with him, what is sergei shoigu like and why do you think putin did trust him so much, or, i'm using the past tense here, does, perhaps, we don't know. >> yeah, erin, so all accounts of sergei shoigu before i actually met him in person was that he was the personable, agreeable guy, you know, quick to smile, the north koreans always like round faces they think they're friendly, he kind of looks the part, he looks friendly. he was known as a very good manager and that's actually why vladimir putin picked him because his predecessor was a corrupt former furniture

salesperson, salesman, and wasn't doing a good job of the military, did not have confidence in him so he brought into shoigu who for 20 years was the head of the federal emergencies ministry, sort of like a fema on steroids and shoigu was this likeable guy, he was very loyal to putin, i met him in 2013 when we had a meeting, bilateral meeting here in washington and he got along well enough, you know, with secretary hagel who was our secretary of defense at the time and with secretary carey who was also at the meeting and as you said, he was a frequent companion at least in media going hunting with putin, out doorsman, never seen as threat to putin because he's from tuba out in the east, mixed russian ethnicity, in any case regarded not as a threat to putin but a

loyalist and someone who could help him build up the military which still needed very much building up so he was in charge of the modernization that putin launched. >> it's amazing when you talk about how much ethnicity matters, i know he's from, similar to a state or region that borders mongolia. state tv showed a brief video of him, of course it was prerecorded, we don't know when, he didn't speak not wearing military uniform, this is the guy allegedly in charge of the ministry of defense for the biggest war in decades for russia, what do you read into this? >> i'm worried about, you know, what happened to him. it may not be him at all. certainly, if he's not wearing his uniform, that's a signal he's being sidelined. he's worn uniform in all the pictures and frankly, putin already put a couple of high-ranking intelligence officers in house arrest because of this botched campaign. in the past, we've seen the head of the gru, the military intelligence, in 2016, 2018, he

suddenly died after meeting with vladimir putin and that was in the face of failures, the failure to poison the scupal, if you remember in novachek in the uk, it was botched, so maybe something happened to shoigu along those lines, house arrest or perhaps worse. >> unbelievable. evelyn, thank you, appreciate your time. and next, another mystery, $700 million yacht, right now, as i speak docked at a port in central italy, and those are not brass, those are real gold. gold toilet paper roll holders. whose is it? my next guest done extensive reporting and she says it's putins, plus text messages from the wife of supreme court j justice clarence thomamas telli

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center of your screen, like the massive one that dwarves everything else, estimated to be worth $700 million, at an italian marina tonight, foundation headed by critic al alexei navalny says they can prove it belongs to putin, one worker who helped build it telling the sun it's like a mini city, a dance floor that turns into a swimming pool, giant seating area as big as a hotel lo lobby the dining area with seats for 20, gold toilet paper roll holders in the bathrooms, head of all the department with navalny's anticorruption found, your reporting on this has been exhaustive, so incredibly thorough. tell me what you discovered in your investigation, what you

went through painstakingly, the crew, where they're from, what led you to believe it's putin's yacht? >> good evening. well we've been investigating putin's corruption for over a decade and if there is one golden rule about how putin's corruption works it's that putin never, ever keeps his assets under his own name. that's just simple. so he uses this and that, of his people, his friends from childhood, from university, kgb, relatives et cetera. to store his huge wealth and evade shareholders so straight away we knew that, it could be anyone who owns this. it could be a random person, passerby, it doesn't matter, there is one way to prove it

belongs to putin and this is done by looking into who manages an asset like that. so we obtained a crew list, so a list of every employee on this yacht and what stood out straight away was that pretty much everybody but the captain were russians. they all had russian passport numbers, had visa numbers, they had russian names. it was few dozen of them so we decided to just go one by one by one, checking them on every data base we have access to. and we have access to a lot of them because russia is a very corrupt country and so many data bases have been leaked. you can purchase any sort of data on the black market, so we just started to go person by person and i don't know, seconds in we hit it turned up he is referred in other peoples' phone books as working for, as an

employee of fso, this is a militarized government agency that is responsible for putin's personal protocol-based security. this is the agency that maintains his official residences, that provides security for putin, et cetera. and as we kept going down the list, there was another employee, and another one, and another one, and it all added up. these peoples' job is literally to protect vladimir putin, this is what they do, what they're paid for by the tax payers. why, on earth, would they all, as a group, travel to italy regularly to work part-time on one of the most expensive yachts in the world? only one explanation, and that's that it's putin's yacht. >> that it's his, and you have called for, you know, this yacht to be seized as in fact others have in italy and other

countries belong that belong to oligarchs, you know, you've done incredible detailed reporting on what's in the yacht, six guest cabins, six levels, an entire deck just for the owner and that person's companion. jacuzzi's elevator shafts, hanger for a helicopter when it actually lands, two pads, i know, but a place it literally opens up so the helicopter can go in. all of this is your reporting, and this stands out, it seems, even compared to other excesses we have seen on these russian yachts. >> well, does it really, like it's, have you seen putin's palace? have you seen the other things that putin owns? his taste is very questionable and we know that he, his rule of thumb is if something is expensive and gold, he love it. so i'm really not surprised by what's inside the yacht and i'm sure there's plenty of other exciting things there we don't

know about it jyet and that we will find out. i'm definitely looking forward to seeing more pictures i'm sure they will leak. >> yes, and i do note, need to make sure we say this, the yacht's kcaptain denied putin owned or has been on the yacht, but italian police say the issue of ownership is under their investigation. i want to ask you one other crucial thing that you've done so much work on and i've been watching. the uk sanctioned over 1,000 individuals and businesses because of putin's invasion of ukraine and got new sanctions today that targeted somebody that you've done a lot of reporting on, polina kovalaya, step daughter of sergei lavrov, lives a life with plenty of parties and yachts and dancing and drinking. what do you make of this decision to target not just russian oligarchs or family members, or, i don't know that she's formally a step daughter, but people close to the lives of

these inner circle and wealthy russians? >> i think this is just brilliant, and i think every country now should do the same and the uk has set a very high bar, very good standard for sanctions, and it's -- they have taken it to a different level, because again, corrupt people don't just put assets under their own name. they use other people, their relatives, sometimes very distant relatives sometimes, their friends et cetera. to keep the money they have stolen from the russian taxpayers. so including people like, including people like lavrov's step daughter, one official step-daughter into the list is a very good move and what needs to happen now is that the sanctions, they just need to expand and more people need to be brought in into this circle, so immediate official family first. then, i don't know, lovers,

mistresses, childrens, et cetera. friends, close associates, et cetera. it's like this game, you know, for kids like whack-a-mole, you know, those guys rearranged their finances so quickly that you need to be very swift, very quick and just, you know, shut them down every mouse, and make sure they cannot find a different solution to keep their money in. >> thank you so much, maria, again, you look at the mistresses and ex-wives and where the money can be going, a lot that can be done, if you buy into the fact that stopping the money flow matters a lot more to be done but this is a huge step and i know including her was i'm sure, in large part, due to your work. thank you so much. >> thank you, erin. next, the biggest democracy in the world, india, the one openly choosing to pad putin's pockets, not the only one and

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german chancellor olaf scholz conceding that there was made a very conscious decision to not sanction russia's number one export and money maker, oil and gas, comes as president biden used nato meetings to tout the sweeping penalties and u.s. and nato allies designed to cripple russia's economy, hard to cripple something whethn youe not taking out the biggest part of it and there are members of nato who are propping up russia and funding this war by continuing to do business there. gabe cohen out front. >> reporter: as putin's international support shrinks, india is showing they're still a friend, reportedly buying up 3 million barrels of discounted russian oil, spurring pressure

from western nations like the u.s. to isolate the kremlin and crush their economy with sanctions. since the war started, the two nations kept trading with russian oil exports to india up 6-fold, that cheap oil is just a drop in the bucket for india which imports far more from other countries but it reflects the strategic partnership neither nation want to lose. >> india is one of russias's key partners, relationship between our states is of strategic and special privileged nature. >> reporter: it's a bond build on defense spendic, india byes 60 from 80% of weapons from russia, including pakistan along their border, while india is slowly diversifying that spending, there is still another contract to buy $5.4 billion air defense system from russia along with $1.3 billion line of tanks. >> indian defense prepared, very

serious -- >> reporter: careful and calculated, on a call last month, minister appealed to putin to end the violence, but at the u.n., india was one of 35 countries that abstained from a vote to condemn russia for the invasion. several nations taking a similar approach to russia, balancing pressure from the west and their own political and economic interests, remaining neutral enough to keep trading with both sides. china is buying up more russian oil and vowed to keep their normal trade relationship, complicating that, the kremlin's asked china for military and economic support according to u.s. officials. >> this is something we're m mam monitoring closely. >> reporter: brazil condemning them u.n. but still buys fertilizer, as their massive agriculture industry face as shortage, but the key export facing putin's economy is energy

and a huge portion still knows to europe. >> that is providing a sufficient lifeline for the russian economy to keep it afloat. >> reporter: germany, france and italy and called to push back that immediately though the eu says it will slash gas imports by 61% this year. >> to do that one day to the next would plummet our country into recession. >> reporter: could sanction from doing business with russia, india's case, the white house says they haven't crossed the line though it's unclear where that line is. >> the rest of the world is watching where you're going to stand as it relates to the conflict. >> reporter: now erin, some say as the war i'veescalate it will harder to stay neutral. there was a call today to russia's invasion, 33 countries abstained, in condemning russia,

35 countries abstained, so it seems many are meeting pressure to pick a side. >> i want to bring in lisa, executive editor of forbes. so the economy has been battered but if you're single biggest part is energy, and those are still buying it, they're funding your war. not just china, india, openly signing deals, it's the eu, core countries of nato, germany, france, italy, therefore funding the war and weapons used in ukraine and could be used, of course, against themselves. it's pretty staggering. >> yeah, i mean this is why when biden basically issued the sanctions against oil and gas, i mean it was very calculated. europe wasn't going to go that way because they rely so heavily on russia for oil and gas. you know, it's kind of one of those things, you're dammened i you do, dam ned if you don't, so

many of these countries tied to russia and trying out to figure ways in the future to be less dependent but what do you do now? they're in a tight situation, so you see the money going back and forth. >> it is incredible, i think on the other hand you had eight years to come up with a solution and waited until they crossed over the line, unbelievable. >> exactly. >> but from your reporting, i know you've been watching this, the french car maker renot announced it suspended all work at the moscow factory but did that after being hit with criticism because it actually said it was going to restart production this week for a few days, right, so closed it, kind of said we'll open a few days, got slammed, they're going to close it back down again. do you think we're going to see more of this, other western companies trying to -- >> we are seeing. >> go ahead. >> yeah, seeing a lot of that. there are over 400 companies that have pulled out entirely, but there are dozens and dozens that have kind of said let's

wait and see, i mean whether it's dunkin that still has franchises says they won't invest but can't do anything about it, kimberly clark, proctor and gamble, a lot of them said we'll do things like still sell the infant formula, still sell diapers but won't sell candy, one that came out earlier this week with nestle saying we'll sell some stuff but won't sell kit-kats and the rationale is they're trying to help the middle class of russia but a lot of people think you got to cut that off as well because that means there's still money going in and helping prop up the economy that's going to be them used to fight the war, so, you know, it gets more complicated instead of less, i think, as time goes on. >> all right, louisa, thanks so much, i always appreciate talk you to you. next, mother and son managed to escape kharkiv but what they witnessed has had a profound effect on the five-year-old boy.

>> show them how you play, she says. >> i'm shooting at a tank, he says. plus, the remarkable text messages from the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas to trump's chief of staff pressuring him to overturn the election, and quote, do not concede. big boi foyer! big boi marble. big boi quartz. word? realtor.com to each ththeir home. check out this vrbo.o. oh man. michael, they're your cousins. ♪ ( "right where i belong" by the muppets) ♪ ♪ look at me ♪ c'mon. ♪ here i am ♪ ♪ right where i belong ♪ i s that face coming back to me ♪ ♪ like an old familiasong ♪ ♪ ♪ what better place could anyone be? ♪ ♪ 'cause you're here with me ♪

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the united states is prepared to welcome 100,000 ukrainian refugees. that announcement came today from president biden who plans to visit refugees in poland. miguel marquez is in bucharest, romania where they're trying to adapt to a hardened reality. >> reporter: dance therapy for ukrainian moms and their children in war. >> how was the dancing? you're a very good dancer.

not exactly shy yeagor, 5 1/2 years old. they are from kharkiv, ukraine's second largest city. suffering indiscriminate rocket attacks since the war began. how are you doing? i'm playing soldiers, he says. his mom adds -- yes, soldiers. he's always saying air raid. if me and you were playing air raid, how would you play? show them how you play, she says. i'm shooting at a tank, he says, any tank he can hit. how do you explain what's happening in ukraine? he saw everything, she says, and now he's repeating it. i think he'll play regular games

when this is over, he calms down, games like cars and trains. no. no, says yeagor. it will be the same. i like it. he and his mom and god mother are one of dozens of families being housed by jesuit refugee service and the local children's cancer association. >> the mothers, they can be tough when they're with their children, but when they come and speak to us privately they break down. >> reporter: you are a very good dancer. >> thank you. >> reporter: 7 years old, arrived days ago from dnipro. they hit the strategic dnipro region. orlova and several of her relatives are refugees, but not everyone. my son is 18 years old, she

says. he has an injured leg but wasn't allowed to cross the border. my son is in ukraine. she can barely speak the words. today's dance class, a welcome distraction. today this was a stress relief. we didn't eat or sleep. we're grateful to relax. the dance instructor, a refugee, too. he fled war in cameroon. i want them to feel joy, he said, because i know how it is to be in their places. it's very hard. it was very hard for me, too. sophia wanted to dance in ukraine but was too young. today, a bit of hope. my dream, she says, came true. the simple activity bringing comfort to moms and kids, refugees far from home.

>> reporter: my god, to hear that young boy talk about playing war, bombing tanks, it was so critical. these are the most vulnerable of refugees. places like buck kaharest and t are kicking in to do housing, education, medical care, all the stuff they're going to need in the months and years ahead. >> thank you so much. next, breaking news. we have obtained text messages that show the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas pushing the chief of staff to overturn the 2020 election. liberty... are we married to mutual? ononly pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ i've always focused on my career. but when we found out our son had autism, his future became my focus. lavender baths alwa calmed him.

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so that a foster child isn't doing it solo. you just have to stand up for a kid who isn't fluent in bureaucracy, or maybe not in their own emotions. so show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com breaking news. the january 6th select committee has obtained more than two dozen text messages between mark meadows and ginny thomas.

she is the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas. these are incredible text messages because thomas urges meadows to push ahead with efforts to overturn the election incredibly explicitly. this is november 6th. thomas tells meadows, quote, do not concede. it takes time for the army who is gathering for his back. it's unclear how meadows or if meadows responded to that particular message. we don't have his side of it. there's a lot more where this came from. ryan nobles is "out front" on capitol hill breaking this story. this is amazing stuff. very prominent, powerful wife of a supreme court justice texting the chief of staff in the white house. what else does ginny thomas say? >> reporter: it's pretty clear, erin, she sided with those closest to donald trump who believed he had actually won the election and that it was being stolen from him. she implored the then chief of staff mark meadows to do everything he possibly could to try to stand in the way of certification of joe biden's

victory including encouraging these questionable conservative lawyers. these are between both thomas and meadows. ginny thomas writes sounds like sydney and their team are getting inundated. make a plan, release the cracken and save us from the left taking american down. the cracken is how sidney powell described herself. then there's january 6th herself. we know ginny thomas was here in washington on that day. she watched part of president trump's speech at the ellipse and said she went home after the fact. she reached out to meadows on january 10th, four days after the violence and chaos on capitol hill and said, quote, we are living through what feels like the end of america. most of us are disgusted with the vp and are in listening mode to see where to fight with with our teams. those who attacked the capitol.

amazing times, the end of liberty. this is the wife of a supreme court justice suggesting that mike pence, the vice president, should have stood in the way of a certification of the election results. it is now part of the january 6th investigation. erin? >> incredible stuff though. thank you very much, ryan. and thanks to all of you. ac 360 begins right now. good evening. at the end of a busy and highly consequential day in and around the worst conflict since the second world war. we begin with characterization of it, which is almost certainly not true. that said, it's important to show you because it illustrates what russia wants the rest of the world to think about the war which it refuses to call a war or an invasion. it's a tweet from russia's foreign ministry quoting now exactly one month since the start of the special military operation in ukraine. it is going according to plan and all the stated goals will