melvin and a good monday morning to you. craig melvin here from msnbc headquarters in new york city. right now the eyes of the world are fixed on the pressure cooker that is ukraine. circumstances changing minute to minute over the threat of a russian invasion there. our nato allies are putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to eastern europe. and this photo from the u.s. embassy in ukraine shows 200,000 pounds of lethal aid, including

ammunition the united states just sent there. now the state department has ordered non-emergency diplomatic employees from that same embassy to leave the country. in fact, any americans there are being warned to get out, quote, now. president biden is weighing some heavy options on how to handle this crisis. we have new nbc reporting on what it could mean for the movement of our troops. also, back here any second in minnesota, opening statements set to get under way in the federal trial of three former minneapolis officers charged with violating george floyd's civil rights. they were on the scene of his killing back in 2020. and a phrase no one wants to hear, it's officially tax season, folks. and if you were hoping it would be easier than past years perhaps because of the pandemic, think again.

why things may be even slower this year than you're used to. and also some breaking news from the supreme court. in just the last 90 minutes, the high court has decided to take up a case about affirmative action in college admissions that could be the most serious threat to the use of affirmative action in decades. we'll get to that in just a few moments. we're going to start with the rapidly escalating tensions in eastern europe. matt bradley on the ground and i want to bring in peter baker. he was moscow bureau chief and with me michael mcfaul. we have the perfect team here assembled. courtney, let's start with you. you are reporting, secretary of defense lloyd austin has briefed the president about options on the table in advance of a

russian invasion in ukraine. the options could include the possibility of sending thousands of troops. what's the latest on that this hour? >> yeah, that's right. so what's critical here is this was a briefing that happened over the weekend at camp david with president biden's national security team. what's different, though, is rather than talking about what the u.s. military could do after a russian invasion or potential incursion, now they're talking about the potential for what the u.s. military could do in advance of one. so they're talking about potential deterrent methods using the u.s. military. what we're talking about here is options that include sending troops, sending equipment, potentially some flights like bomber flights or jets that would fly over the neighbors around ukraine but they are not talking about sending u.s. forces into ukraine as a deterrent method. this is about shoring up or

reinforcing some of the neighbors around ukraine who are nato members, nato allies, in advance of a potential russian incursion. what's important to point out here also, craig, is that we're told according to a number of defense and senior administration officials these options were briefed, this is again to shore up nato members, but they also discussed what could happen if russia were to invade, and that would actually look somewhat similar. it would be the potential influx of thousands of u.s. troops, equipment, reinforcements around ukraine but not into ukraine. what's also important to point out is this is something that would likely, many of these would come from right there in the region. so the head of u.s. european command, general todd walters, he has the authority to move forces around within the region. but because this is such a tense time and the whole world is really watching what's going on there, the options were briefed to the president, we don't have new sense yet whether he

concurred or approved with any of these options but defense officials i've spoken with do expect we could see movement as early as this week, craig. >> as early as this week. peter baker, we're also learning about conversations that the u.s. is having with our nato allies. what can you tell us about the options being discussed and perhaps even in motion with our nato partners? >> reporter: well, there is discussion of course about increasing flights of military, more planes, sending ships closer to region. what's really remarkable this, craig, is vladimir putin has managed to accomplish exactly what he said he didn't want to happen. his goal here, at least so he says, is to get nato out of the back yard of russia. instead because of his provocative actions and threats against ukraine, it's the exact opposite happening nato is moving closer and more in force toward the russian part of

europe. these are not troops of course that are planning to go to war with russia. they're to reassure poland and the baltic states, our nato allies, that we are with them, the united states and the west and nato does take its article 5 to mutual defense seriously. it doesn't mean these troops will be fighting in ukraine. it doesn't mean that nato and the united states aren't going to be helping ukraine fight for itself and that could lead to a very, very bloody and violent situation in the days and weeks to come if russia decides to enter the country. >> let's go to ukraine now. matt bradley, you're on the ground there. we just reported the state department has ordered family of kiev embassy employees to lead, nonemployees to lead, depart. what's the mood on the ground as this crisis seems to be

escalating. >> reporter: if you walk around in kiev, it does not seem this is a players girding for war. even or european diplomats was saying this looked too dramatic, that it looked like an escalation in and of itself to send these people home. a lot of ukrainians don't seem worried, stores are open, everybody's walking around. at the same time they're really not expecting any kind of major incursion that would possibly hit kiev. a lot of people i've been speaking to don't seem to believe that vladimir putin is actually going to go through with this. they think he's bluffing and that the west is helping to hype this up. this is part of what vladimir putin has been saying, that the escalations are on the western side, the nato side. the ukrainians feel a certain amount of resentment about the

fact they've been left out of the diplomacy and negotiations, all of which directly impact them, their families, friends and country. this is part of a generations' long frustration of ukraine being used as a cudgel to beat the west. that's really upsetting to a lot of ukraines. even when there was the impeachment of donald trump. that involved a lot about ukraine yet ukraine was ignored. they feel like they have no traction, no currency when it comes to these negotiations. they're tired of simply being spectators of their own fate. craig. >> ambassador, let me come to you here for a moment because, i mean, you've met vladimir putin, you've spent time with the russian president. is there anything that president biden or any world leader or group can do right now to stop vladimir putin if he really

wants to invade ukraine? >> well, if he really wants to invade ukraine, he has the military advantage and he can do so and we will not be able to deter that. that said, i actually think the biden administration is doing the appropriate steps of negotiating directly with vladimir putin, as president biden did. secretary blinken left with foreign minister lavrov to say to them if they want to negotiate and a big negotiation, by the way, i'm surprised the meetings afterwards is that the biden administration has laid out a pretty big agenda about european security, so that if putin wants to sit down and negotiate, that your ready to do that. they're also moving forward with deterrence. i think this is a very big deal that you just were talking about, to have nato forces more closer to the ukrainian borders. that was not policy just a few weeks ago. and on the evacuations, i

understand, i also talk to ukrainians pretty often and i understand their lament. if i was the u.s. ambassador in kiev and i worked in the u.s. government, i would take all necessary precautions to make sure americans are safe. >> i want to play something that secretary of state blinken said on "meet the press" on sunday when he was asked if russia is genuine about diplomacy by holding meetings or just playing out the clock. here's what the secretary said. >> look, it is certainly possible that the diplomacy that russia is engaged in is simply going through the motions and it won't affect their ultimate decision about whether to invade or in some other way intervene or not in ukraine. but we have a responsibility to see the diplomacy through for as far and as long as we can go because it's the more responsible way to bring this to closure. >> so, again, ambassador, i mean these are players that you are

more familiar with than just about anybody else. do you sense that the russians are negotiating in good faith or are they simply going through the motions? >> craig, i don't know. peter baker doesn't know. the cia director bill burns doesn't know. president biden doesn't know. foreign minister lavrov doesn't know. that's exactly the way putin wants it. he likes the uncertainty, the ambiguity. he likes seeing us negotiate with ourselves. look what happened last week. during the tense moment, the president of france floated his own proposal. he likes seeing the tensions between germans and americans about whether or not we should be sending military assistance to ukraine. already some of his objectives are being achieved. but that final decision is his alone. he sits out there at his compound, nobody talks to him, he doesn't listen to adviser, he doesn't have a national security council giving him advice.

ultimately that will be his decision alone and i don't think anybody knows what he has decided and, in fact, i don't think he personally has decided what he is going to do yet. >> refreshing to hear your honesty and troubling that we don't know. peter baker, given what we've heard from president zell inski over the past week, is it reasonable to believe he and president biden are going to be on the phone again this week? >> yeah, the americans do want to consult with the ukrainians, they do feel left out from key kiev. the americans will tell you no deal will be made without their participation. they're not be traded away as they have in the past. it's understandable why they feel frustrated. he said to "the washington post," why wait on sanctions until after our country has been

swallowed up. if you sanction now, you lose the deterrent value of holding back as a punishment for some sort of incursion. it a tough situation for the ukrainians obviously. they're caught in the middle here, watching these two big giant powers play through their field in a way, but nobody's got more at stake. they've seen this over the last eight years. we talk about a russian incursion in ukraine as if it hasn't happened. they've seized crimea and sponsored separatist groups that is lopped off part of the eastern part of ukraine. ukraine knows better than anybody what's at stake here and they're obviously on the front line. >> you're right, you make a valid point there, peter baker. they have already invaded. thank you. general, ambassador, courtney kube at the pentagon. a big thanks to all of you. we continue to follow the breaking news out of the supreme

court. the justices have agreed to hear arguments challenging affirmative action in college admission policies. our justice correspondent pete williams, not typically a man know for hyperbole describing it last hour as blockbuster. pete, again, this centers around the process of two well-known universities. tell us about the case and when are the arguments set to start? >> the two universities of harvard and the university of north carolina at chapel hill. the reason it's such a big deal is this is the first challenge, the first and most serious challenge to affirmative action since the supreme court last upheld the practice. now, the issue here is the use of race in college admissions, not strict quotas but the ruse use of race as a plus factor in deciding whether admitting that student would add to a university's diversity. it's on that basis that the

supreme court has repeatedly upheld affirmative action. but the challengers say this issue of racist diversity is very aamorphous. the university has prevailed in the lower courts and the supreme court's decision to take these cases is an ominous sign for defenders of affirmative action. the big change in the supreme court is that two of the defenders of affirmative action over the years, anthony kennedy and ruth bader ginsburg are gone, replaced by two trump appointees who have a less sangwin view about affirmative action. so it is very much on the

chopping block. >> i don't know if we know the answer, but based on kavanaugh, is anything to glean from what they've written or said in the past? >> they're not as sanguin about it. the fact they've agreed to take the case i think is an ominous sign. >> our justice correspondent pete williams there. thank you so much. opening statements just getting under way in the federal trial of the three former minneapolis police officers who were with derek chauvin when he murdered george floyd. we'll get the latest on the other side of the break. and why dr. fauci says things are headed in the right direction and we could close to

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right now opening statements are under way in the federal trial of three former minneapolis police officers tied to the death of george floyd. they are accused of violating george floyd's civil rights during his arrest back in 2020. joining me now, nbc shaquille

brewster is outside the courthouse. and also with me, a civil rights attorney, former prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst. shaq, i'll start with you outside the courthouse. give us a break down of the jury and the charges these former officers are facing. remind us why derek chauvin is not included in this case. >> derek chauvin last month accepted a federal plea deal. a prosecutor told me that derek chauvin will hang over this trial like a ghost. this is about him kneeling on george floyd's neck for nine and a half minutes and the actions the officers didn't take, the three other officers defending

actions they didn't take. two of them are being charged with not intervening, by violating george floyd's rights by not intervening when derek chauvin was using excessive force and all three are facing deprivation of rights with the color of law, the instance of not providing medical attention to george floyd and that resulting in his death. we know that based on some of the courtroom discussions earlier this morning, after opening arguments, we will likely hear testimony begin by this afternoon. i did talk to that federal prosecutor. i want you to hear what we can expect from the defense with those openings. >> the defense, that's where things will get interesting. we'll see how these three defendants vary from one another in the case they intend to put forward. the second thing a lot of people are anxiously waiting to hear is

whether or not the defendants will testify in their own behalf. that will probably be revealed in the opening statements. >> reporter: we will see those opening statements any minute now. remember, this is federal court so there is not a camera inside so we're relying on reporters who will be able to witness and see what's going on inside that courtroom. all this is happening in the presence of the jury. the jury that was quickly seated last week, we know that the jury panel, it's a panel of 12 and six alternates. of the 12 it consists of seven women and five men. the alternates are evenly split between men and women. and then in terms of the demographics of this panel, while the court isn't providing any specific demographic information in the racial breakdown, based on reporters in the room, this is an overwhelmingly white jury. two jurors appear to be asian. we don't know for sure because the court is not providing those details. but court is under way right now. we'll see what happens. and, again, by this afternoon we could hear the testimony beginning after those opening statements.

>> that report was a lot longer than i was expecting, shaq, considering it is negative 13 degrees right now in st. paul. >> reporter: feels like it. >> we insist you get inside. management wants to keep you safe. thanks very much. >> kristin, federal trial as shaq points out, describe how tough these cases are to bring are especially when it comes to proving that they violated his civil rights. >> these cases are really tough to bring because of how the statute is formed. there's one major thing that they have to be able to prove and that's the willful requirement. as shaq was kind of talking about, were they acting under the color of the law? they're cops, so that's kind of a given. was there a deprivation of rights? in this case it's very clear there was a deprivation of rights because chauvin sat on his neck for nine minutes.

the issue here will be the willful requirement because it is going to require the prosecutor to show beyond a reasonable doubt that these three officers acted with a specific intent to deprive a person, mr. floyd, of his constitutional rights. and this is the lesser requirement but it still tough, craig, that they acted with open defines or reckless disregard of his constitutional rights. again, craig, these are really tough to prove, but in this case we do have that really horrific video that objectively is horrifying for anyone to watch. and the fact that you had bystander after bystander, one of which was an off-duty emt yell at these officers to get this man help, i think it's going to be a little bit of an easier case for the prosecutor to prove in this case than it is for normal cases, federal cases brought under section 242. >> shaq mentioned that quote from a former prosecutor who said chauvin is going to hang

over this whole thing like a ghost. derek chauvin has already pled guilty to the federal charges. what kind of impact will that have on this case or will it? >> i think it will have a major impact. keep in mind, craig, in pleading guilty, he admitted to a certain set of facts and he admitted to using continued force, though that he was aware that mr. floyd had stopped breathing, stopped resisting, stopped talking, stop moving. this all helps the prosecution prove there was a deprivation of mr. floyd's constitutional rights. it's going to help the prosecution's case. again, though, that willful requirement will be a tough thing for the prosecutors to prove but i think with the bystander testimony it will be a little simpler. >> the rank of these officers versus the rank of derek chauvin, does that matter at all? >> i think it is going to matter

because, craig, and shaq kind of pointed this out in his interview with the defense attorney, one thing we're going to see the defense do is try to isolate each defendant. two of those officers were only on the force for about five or six months, so they're going to really argue, hey, we were following the lead of an 18-year veteran. and the other officer who was on for several years is probably going to make that same argument but it's not going to come off as credibly as the other two who had less than a year. again, what the prosecution is most likely going to do say you've been on the force for five years, before that you had the police academy. you had sufficient training such that you knew this man was incapable of breathing, moving resisting. in fact, you didn't need specialized training for that. all of these bystanders were telling you and an off-duty emt told you. why didn't you call, why didn't you push chauvin off?

it going to be a challenging hill to climb when they get barraged with those questions that prosecutors will inevitably ask. >> thank you. we'll be checking with you a lot over the next few weeks. is the end in sight? new covid cases across the country finally starting to fall. we'll dig into why the country's top doctors think we could be close to the other side of this thing. we're also following breaking news in the stock markets this morning. as you can see there, the dow now down more than 700 points. investigators -- excuse me, investor concerned about rising interest rating among other things, mixed earnings reports coming out this week. last week was the s&p's last week since march of 2020. the dow now has been down for seven days straight. down for seven days straight.

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since suzie's got goals, she'll want a plan to reach them. so she'll get some help from fidelity, and she'll feel so good about her plan, she can focus on living it. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. . right now the question on everyone's mind, when will we reach the other side of this omicron peak? when will this all be over?

new data shows that daily cases nationwide on the decline. and in the northeast, it looks luke it's down the peak. in new york cases are down 45% in just the past two weeks. dr. fauci talked to my colleague stephanie ruhle about that this morning. >> it's certainly reached its peak in certain regions of the country. i believe in the next few weeks we will see as a country that it is all turning around. >> with me now senior fellow and editor at large for public health at kaiser health news and an epidemiologist at the nyu school of medicine and bellevue hospital. dr. gounder, the trends are obviously regional, but based on what you're seeing and fobs folks you're talking to, do you think we are in fact on the other side of this omicron peak?

>> the way i would describe it when we talk about peaking, it's a little bit like you're going skiing and you go to the top of the mountain and you just hit the slope and are heading down the mountain. in new york we're a little part you are down the mountain. you're going to see very dense urban areas are going to peak earlier than more suburban and rural parts of the country. while places like new york have peaked and that your on their way down, it will take probably into february before the rest of the country follows suit. >> that's a useful analogy, by the way, the ski one. i never heard that one before. to what do we attribute this, doctor? is this the fact that so many people have just gotten it now that we're reaching what we used to call herd immunity? or more folks getting vaccinated

or just a combination of both of these things? >> what we see with the surges is the virus rages through social networks, the people that you socialize with, work with, live with. and once it burns through the social networks, it takes time to reaccumulate new people to infect. that's why you get the big surges and a lull in between. whether this will be the last surge or not, decidedly not so. this will not be our last surge. i think what we're really talking about is when will we get to the other side of omicron, not to the other side of covid. >> why don't you think this will be our last surge? >> we will inevitably see more variants down the line. we still have not vaccinated enough people in this country to insulate us from the impact of variants.

we're still at two-thirds of people fully vaccinated, a third not vaccinated. that does leave us vulnerable. we can assume at least every couple years we will see a new variant. as we think about the so-called new normal, that new normal means being better prepared and better insulated so that when another variant strikes, we are not having to resort to things like hybrid learning or virtual learning, that people can stay in the workplace, stay in school without the emergence of a new variant being so disruptive. >> we just learn to live with it. before i let you go, starting today los angeles county schools are now going to prohibit students from wearing those cloth masks, the l.a. times reporting that, quote, students must wear well-fitted non-cloth masks with a nose wire at all times, including outdoors. if kids don't have a mask luke like that, the school is going to provide one. is that a step more schools

should be taking or is that unnecessary right now? >> craig, you said learn to live with it. this is a great example of what it means to learn, to evolve, adapt. we as human beings need to learn to adapt so that we will survive covid and that does mean, for example, upping our mask game, using higher quality masks and we know that surgical masks do protect even better than cloth masks so this is a very reasonable move the l.a. schools are making right now. >> we'll leaf it there. thanks as always. take a look at this video, by the way, folks. for folks listening on sirius xm radio, i'll do my best to describe it. thousands protesting against vaccine and mask mandates, waving flags, chanting, screaming. ben collins followed this rally. ben collins spends a lot of time on the dark web following

organizers of rallies like this. ben, your reporting referred to this as a who's who of anti-vaccine activists. who was behind this rally and what was the goal? >> yeah, it was a series of -- a confewence of every big anti-vaxx influencer coming to the on one stage. they refer to it frequently as their woodstock. that's not a bad way to put it. that's what was going on here. in a lot of cases when groups like this come together, they try to tone down the kookiness. when qanon means, they don't call it a qanon rally. you can't hide from the 5g and the satellites if you're an

anti-vaxxer but you could hide ann frank if world war ii. you could see in the signs there are a lot of info war signs, a burst of joe biden that said "wanted anthony fauci." that was the vibe of the rally yesterday. >> i want to read this tweet from sunday. it should be familiar since this is your tweet. quote, most people are wildly underestimating how both large and rhetorically violent this anti-vaccine movement is. they are a gigantic one issue political movement that will eventually coalesce behind one candidate and make extreme demands before 2024. buckle up." that's a chilling tweet and a chilling thought, ben collins. explain it a bit more. >> yeah, one of the major

anti-vaxx proponents over two decades said we're going to have our own nuremberg trials but this time we won't come after just the doctors, we'll come after the press. it's about getting back at people taking their vaccine against their wishes. they do not want people to be vaccinated. this is a large part of the population, not the majority. most people got the shot and maybe didn't die because of the shot. there's a large number that will coalesce behind one person and they're going to make demands over the next couple of years. >> conservative media and undoubtedly social media as well. ben collins, our guy who covers the fringe. ben, thank you. ready or not, tax season

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very complicated tax filing season this year. just take a look at some of these numbers. there's still 9.8 million individual returns in the pipeline from last year that have errors, 2.3 million amended returns and 2.8 million business returns and almost all of those have to be processed by hand. i talked to the number two guy at the treasury department this morning and he told me that the big problem is the irs needs more workers and more money. >> today the irs has as many employees as it had in 1970 while the us population has grown by 60%. the irs is doing everything they can to help taxpayers deal with what's going to be a tough filing season. now, unclear if that money is actually going to get approved this year. the president had asked for $80

billion in funding to help modernize the irs but that's proven to be politically controversial and democrats' build back better plan, which included some of the funding, also appears to be dead on capitol hill. in the meantime the irs is relying on technology and software from literally the 1960s. i've been told one of the problems is they can't even find workers who can still code in those languages because they are so old. the best thing you can do as a taxpayer is to file your taxes online, make sure there are no errors in it. once you start getting into amended returns, if the irs has to fix something, that's when you get into those potentially months of delays. >> ylan, thank you. up next, how a group of friends from west point banded together to help one of their former classmates and his entire family get out of afghanistan. >> so you're texting back and forth with kaleb and barrett. what are they saying to you and

what were you saying to them? >> i was panicking. it was tough. panicking it was tough pretty zen. that's the planning effect from fidelity ever wonder what everyone's doing on their phones? they're banking, with bank of america. his girlfriend just caught the bouquet, so he's checking in on that ring fund. oh, that photographer? he's looking for something a little more zen, so he's thinking, “i'll open a yoga studio.” and as for the father of the bride? he's checking to see if he's on track to do this all over again...and again. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. what would you like the power to do?

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president biden will be holding a 3:00 video call with european leaders to talk about the situation in ukraine. 30 minutes before that at the pentagon, there will be a press briefing as well. the press secretary there at the pentagon going to be taking questions at 2:30, at 3:00 the president talking to some of his counter parts in europe. meanwhile, it has been nearly five months since the united states ended its longest war ever, the war in afghanistan. i want to share with you a pretty incredible story about one rescue, and how that rescue sparked the creation of a veterans group that's now saving countless lives. >> the final moments of war, as american troops were leaving, thousands of afghans rushed to the kabul airport with the taliban moving in to take control. many u.s. military veterans having afghan allies and friends

felt compelled to do something. among them are barrett ward and caleb mcdaniel. caleb's former roommate and barrett's former student was 2016 west point graduate shabir kaberi, and when they saw the crisis unfolding, they reached out. >> why were you so worried? >> because i knew that he, you know, had gone to west point, had served alongside americans, made him possibly a target. >> barrett, when did you start to get a little concerned. >> i texted and said, hey, i want to make sure you got out okay. he responded immediately, no, sir, we are not okay. >> with time running out, his friends knew he had only one option left. >> called shabir, and i said, this is really hard, but you need to take whatever you have right now and you need to get to the airport as soon as possible. >> in kabul, shabir at first

thought caleb was joking. >> wait, they are serious, get to the airport with my family, and it took me a few minutes to process, but then i said, all right, i'm ready but how to tell this to my family. >> he managed to convince parents and five younger siblings that they needed to leave immediately. shabir's friends in america knew he needed help to get through the gates at the airport. the scene there, utter chaos, so caleb and barrett started working their contacts made at west point. >> who are you calling? who are you text something. >> we got random numbers that started coming through from our contacts and we were cold calling them, and saying we have this guy, we need to get him through. >> you're texting back and forth with caleb and barrett, what are they saying to you and what are you saying to them. >> i was panicking. it was tough. i had my family, i brought them to a situation where the crowd would just shove, and i had my

younger siblings, a sister-in-law who was pregnant. >> aware that soldiers from the afghan army were about to shoot into the air to disburse crowds, his american friends texted to use that opportunity to get to the gate. while everyone else ran, he and his family were escorted to safety. >> during this moment, i was thinking movies are real because i was experiencing it. there is a single metal fence, and once you cross that, there's a sign of relief, we are safe now. >> shabir and his family live in maryland. he's got a job. his brother's baby was born in november, an american son. >> long time no see. how are you doing brother? >> on the day we talked to them, the three friends were reunited for the first time in six years. >> how is this for your brother and your new nephew. >> awesome. they are growing fast. >> the efforts to get shabir and

another afghan classmate out gave birth to allied aircraft 21, working to help vet the afghan allies they knew and navigate them to safety. allied air lift 21 helped get about 700 afghan allies to safety before u.s. troops departed from kabul airport the end of august. each of those refugees is now starting over, safe but far from home. >> what is your hope for your life here and their lives here? >> my sisters are learning riding bike. they didn't get a chance to ride bike back home. every small thing that they do, and i i say, all right, it was worth it. >> organizers say it's more difficult than ever to make these flights now but they insist they are not giving up. that's going to do it for me this hour. andrea mitchell reports starts next. it for me this hour. andrea mitchell reports starts

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