be sure to follow the show at jdbalartmsnbc. thank you for your time. we continue with more news right now. >> good tuesday morning, everybody. hi. i'm in for craig melvin. we've got threats made at more than a dozen historically black colleges and universities across the country at the start of black history month. plus, a massive fire at a north carolina plan forces thousands of people from their homes and the breaking news parents have been waiting for, myself included. pfizer getting ready to submit its vaccine for emergency approval for kids younger than 5 years old according to a person with knowledge of the plan. how soon could these kids, could our kids get the shot? also, in the last 30 minutes or

so, we learned what secretary of state tony blinken said to his russian counterpart to foreign minister lavrov, and it included a warning. further invasion of ukraine will mean swift and severe consequences. we want to begin though with all eyes on the white house ahead of a crucial mogot between the president and the two bipartisan heads of the senate judiciary committee. the topic, of course, the president's pick to replace justice stephen breyer on the court. we've got nbc chief white house correspondent peter alexander and ally vitale and joined by david druccers, political correspondent for "the washington examiner" and contributing editor for vanity fair's "the hive." and the author of "in trumpos shadow. if only we knew the answer to what's next. the question is who will be the

nominee, and where will there be, if any, holdups? what can we expect from this meeting happening just over two hours or now from now. >> reporter: yeah, that meeting is going to start here at 1:45 eastern time. the president will be hosting the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, a position that biden himself once held. dick durbin as well as the ranking member, the top republican on the committee, chuck grassley here at the white house. the president wants to consult with them to hear their advice according to the white house and notably as you look at these two individuals, durbin has been a part of seven supreme court confirmation processes. joe biden and chuck grassley go back for decades, of course, when they senator biden was the jarm of the judiciary committee together. biden was the ranking democrat on that committee at one point, so they have a long history there, and i think the key for this process is that the president does want to try to engage democrats and republicans as he said. he said that from the start. he's looking to get outside

groups as well and notably dick durbin has said as he's been speaking and reaching out to republicans in the senate, he said that he's come up with a series of names that he's not sharing but a much longer list than he says most americans might suspect of republicans who would be inclined to vote in support of one of the democratic president's nominee selections. who are some of the names? you've heard some of the names. the white house is not detailing the names but it's more than the throw principal names that you've heard, among them judge jackson being, a name that gets a lot of attention, of course, because she went through the confirmation process here at the appeals court in washington, d.c. within the last many months. >> hey, david, talk to us about the significance of meeting with grassley and durbin, right. porter walked us through the relationship of the history that the president has with these two men, but, of course, we know

historically prior to the trump administration essentially the nomination process, the confirmation process for a supreme court justice was fairly bipartisan, right? so the question is can we get back there, and i wonder if this is the president's effort to do just that? >> well, i think it's helpful politically for the president to try to garner bipartisan support and engage both parties because it's the kind of thing that swing voters and independents and americans in general like to see from presidents when it comes to judicial nominees, particularly a supreme court nominee, so even though americans understand that this is in one way a very political move by any president and there are politics involved, the idea you'll present a qualified judge who will put the constitution above ideology, at least the imprimatur of attempting to do that tends to make americans feel good about the process, and i think that it would help joe

biden, particularly if there's recent struggles to approach that from this aspect. however, as we all know. you do not need 60 votes the way you once did so all the president need to do is make sure he has 50 democrats on board and he's likely to get a couple of republicans regardless of the pick, but i don't think on the one hand while we may see more republicans supporting one of his picks depending on who it is, then some people might expect. because the process has become so politicized and because american voters look at it the with a very political through the lens of the party, what has happened is members of the senate judiciary committee and the senate writ large once it gets to the floor tend to approach this from a very tribal manner because there are because there's so much politics wrapped

up in a supreme court pick an what. >> and what we'll see is not unlike what we saw during the former trump administration. >> justice amy coney barrett, 52-48, kavanaugh 50-48, gorsuch, 52-48. justice stephen breyer, the run retiring now, the draw is 87-9. it seems for all intents and purposes that president is wanting a bipartisan approach to a supreme court pick, especially considering the conversations that so many of us have been having over the last few years that this is a supreme court that has become much more than it was a decade ago. to try and come away from that, from that narrative. >> there are a number of republicans running for

re-election in 2022. there are a number of elections. the party pays far more attention to the votes in 2022. the expectations from voters. the ideology is much different. there's much more scrutiny than there was decades okay so you're not going to get it. it helps biden look as though he's trying to get it, but everybody thinks that this is political. they tend to think it's more political when it's the other side doing it, but i just think that that makes it difficult for biden to land somewhere like we might have in the 1980s or 1990s. >> ally vitaly, talk to us about your reporting because you can give us a clear answer on this either way in which way we're going to go. we're hearing from some republicans that they are open to a biden nominee. we heard from lindsey graham over the weekend for some support and some names that are being thrown out there. we heard from schumer on the

floor saying this should be a swift process. they want to get this nomination through fairly quickly. talk to me about what you're hearing on the hill today. >> yeah. speed is going to be paramount here. that's what we've heard from multiple senators in this process as it begins in earnest. the thing that struck me yesterday when i was huddling with other reporters and judiciary chair dick durbin, until they have a nominee they can't set any specific timeline so the idea that they want to go quickly is the only time metric we have. durbin stressed the relationship and long-standing relationship that he's had his fellow ranking member on the committee, chuck grassley. that's something that he's stressed ahead of the meeting that they are going into today and period laid out the other interpersonal dynamics at play here but it will be important to see the way durbin and grassley work together and the other thing here, when you talk about republicans, the panel is correct that gone are the days of 60-plus people voting to

confirm a supreme court nominee. that being said. in modern washington to have three, four, potentially five republicans who are open to coming on board here, that would be notable if that's eventually how it shook ow, and when i was talking with durbin yesterday, we tried to get him to give us some names. senator susan collins is one of the senators he's been reaching out to, promising to make the eventual nominee available to them so they can make their assessments but the list is longer than we would imagine. he's not making any promises here but he repeatedly emphasized there may be republicans open to joining with democrats on actually voting to confirm this nominee, and, again, you talk about the speed of the process. listen to senator chuck schumer here laying out what he wants to see ahead of that meeting this afternoon. check it out. >> i applaud the president's commitment to choosing a qualified and historic nominee and the senate stands ready to work quickly to confirm

president biden's pick when we get it. we'll have a fair process but also a quick process so that the work of the supreme court continues uninterrupted. >> and you heard him there fair and quick. >> yeah. >> one other thing durbin said to us yesterday is he watched the way republicans worked so swiftly on amy coney barrett an even though he and other democrats were critical that have process they say that's now the standard republicans have set and they are going to try to use it. >> yeah. just over three weeks or so there to nominate and confirm justice amy coney barrett. thanks for trying to get the names. we appreciate your chutzpah on that. thank you guys all. appreciate it. we're following some breaking news, everybody, in north carolina. thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate their homes after a massive fire erupted at a fertilizer plant in winston-salem. officials warning of a fairly high chance of an explosion. we have more on that story.

there's about 6,000 folks and what are authorities saying about that? >> certainly understandably very tense situation right now. officials says that they actually have heard several explosions, smaller explosions so far so with several hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate on this fertilizer plant as you mentioned in north carolina, they are fearing that something much more catastrophic could be playing out here. the fire did break out last night. you mentioned more than 6,000 people that were asked to evacuate. we're talking about the one-mile radius around the plant and within that bubble falls part of wake forest university and the correctional facility. of course, businesses and neighborhoods, they are really encouraging people for their own safety to leave the area. even firefighters are not breaching that one-mile radius bubble because they say the risk is simply far too great right now. they are relying on drones to help monitor the situation.

here's the latest from the press conference today. >> we were not making satisfactory progress after an hour and a half and we decided to abandon the fire-fighting operation and pull our crews back due to the risk of the products that are on site at this facility. >> and authorities are still investigating the cause of this fire, but they say they are far from pinpointing at this moment from. some perspective, in terms you'll be able to recall. in 2013, the texas explosion that leveled an entire town near waco, it killed 15 people, injured hundreds more. it involved the same chemical and fire officials say there's actual already more ammonium nitrate in this situation involved in north carolina compared to that texas one. >> some good perspective and context there to all of this. thank you, emily.

so this morning, new comments. the standoff with ukraine. and why u.s. lawmakers are haggling over how to hold russia accountable. and critics are calling it don't say gayville. plans to ban discussions of gender identity or sexual orientation in elementary schools. >> we're still children and teenagers and that just makes us scared for what the future may hold. what else are they going to do? hold what else are they going to do s and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything. ♪ woman: talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi.

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comcast business. powering possibilities.™ welcome back. so this morning ukraine's minister of defense announced the sixth arrival of u.s. military aid to kyiv. according to him it's 48 tons of ammunition for small arms. so far ukraine has received 500 tons of ammunition and aid. it's all coming as our secretary of state just wrapped up a

conversation with his russian counterpart about russian troops amassed at that country's border, and we are expecting to hear more from russian president vladimir putin today as he meets with hungarian prime minister. nbc's matt bradley is in eastern ukraine and garrett hake is on capitol and i want to bring in the pentagon correspondent for the "new york times." matt, i want to start with you on this one. you have been on the front lines and in the trenches today. what are you hearing and seeing there in eastern ukraine and especially from the soldiers amassed at the border? >> reporter: yeah. i mean, yasmin, i saw a bunch of soldiers who frankly looked very bored, very determined but pretty board, and this is one of the things that gets lost in the reporting about this. they have been fighting this war, a trench warfare, that looked a lot like world war i must have been looking like, fighting this for eight years

and that's the baffling thing about this leading up until now is that this has always, you know, been so cavalier from the ukranian side. even from the president on down, and i actually spoke with president violence key last week and he said we're not panicking, no reason for us to panic, and there's no why individual civilians should be panicking, but i spoke with one determined soldier on the line and here's what he had to say. some said that the ukranian military is outmanned and outgunned by the russians, what do you say to him? >> i will fight for this land because that's my motherland. >> >> reporter: it really is true that the ukranian regulars when i was talking, to the whole ukranian military all ready to

raid on the border with the separatist russian-backed republic. those people are very outmanned and still determined and still really full of energy. we saw them. they had up a little target practice with a little picture of vladimir putin on it, and they described how determined they are to fight and die for their country. i also spoke with some civilians and, of course, they are much, must less enthusiastic about the prospect of having to fight for their lives. they are sitting right at the front line and they have been experiencing the horrors of war again for the past eight years. i spoke with one of them who essentially told me something time and time again in ukraine. we don't want a war. don't want to become part of russia. these are eliteses and police fighting against each other and we either ones that will have to pay the price. yasmin. >> helene, talk to me, these civilians didn't sign up for this. they don't want to feel the

brunt of this but they will if this continues to escalate. we know that there has been an ongoing pervasive problem as matt bradley laid out for us. we also know the secretary of state and lavrov as well spoke on a phone call, and we know blinken urged immediate de-escalation and the withdrawal of troops from the border, threatening lavrov essentially. do we have any reason to think these warnings, these threats will be heard by russia? >> hi, yasmin, thanks for having me. that's a tough question. i mean, when -- i sort of smiled when i saw the tony blinken meeting with sergei lavrov today. lavrov is an old russian hand. he's very slick. he's very intelligent and he's

been through so many americans secretary of state going back to cole be powell and condi rice. i've fwrn when the two would go at it. he's been with hillary clinton, john kerry, mike pompeo, you know, and it's a sign that russia is such a -- is a strong man type of country where you have -- whereas in the united states we've gone through so many different secretaries of states because we are a true democracy, so it's just interesting looking at this meeting today. right now this is a waste and see thing. putin is expected to speak today. he's been meeting with viktor orban, the hungaryian leader who is as far to the right and as close to russia as nato gets. he's kind of the bad boy of nato and there's a lot of interest

and whether orban stands up against putin in any way and cites the nato line or if he goes even closer to putin and nato itself sncht necessarily united as the biden administration might want us to think. at the same time though we're sort of in this holding atmosphere where the united states and nato have made all of the threats and ultimatums that they think that they can at this point. at the end of the day nato is not going to go to war with russia over ukraine. vladimir putin knows that so it becomes a question of how hard they can make the economic sanctions if he does go over the border into some kind of invasion, how far they can make the economic sanctions hurt and how much they can build up the ukranian military which is why you're seeing these weapons being delivered. >> let's try and get an answer

to that question about economic sections with garrett because, garrett, we know the united states has promised, the quote, mother of all sanctions as they are putting it. i know that you have some new reporting on the status of those negotiations on the hill and kind of the remaining sticking points as to when they would unleash the sanctions if in fact they move forward with them. >> that's exactly right, yasmin. the sticking point is united. they agree they should do the massive sanctions and have the mover all sanctions at least at their disposal. the question is how and when to deploy things that might target key russian industries, russian resources and even russian sovereign debt. there is a divide largely along party lines and not exclusively so because those who want to be more aggressive and begin to implement some sanctions now and punish putin for taking such a world-like posture. for cyber attacks an disruptions that are or may already be going

on along the border and in ukraine and there are those who say we need to hold back these sanctions and make it a threat, make it a warning shot that won't be fired unless and until russian troops actually cross the border into ukraine or engage with ukranian troops, so that's the debate. that's where we're held up in congress as of right now. i suspect we'll see some movement on this over the course of the week regardless of the geopolitical situation because lawmakers will be getting briefed by senior administration officials over the course of the week on the status of negotiations, on where exactly possible diplomatic off ramps stand. that's the direction. these sanctions are obviously designed to push russia. it's a decision of when to apply the carrot and when to apply the stick at this point. >> yeah. it's also a question of whether or not vladimir putin will even care if these economic sanctions are leveled against him. thank you guys all. appreciate it. so it's the news millions of

parents have waited to hear, i am one of them. a covid vaccine for the littlest kids, as young as 6 months old. it could be available as soon as this month, so what will the approval process look like? and what do parents need to hear to feel safe? also this time it's official. nfl legend tom brady says he's leaving the field. he's retiring. his new message for fans. we'll be right back. his new message for fans we'll be right bk.ac versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. before you go there, or there... start here. walgreens makes it easy to stay protected wherever you go. schedule your free covid-19 booster today.

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yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. >> this morning, a move millions of parents have been waiting forks may be on the verge of happening very soon. pfizer appears to be close to submitting its vaccine for kids under the age 5 for emergency use approval. that's according to one person with knowledge of the plan. joining me now is the director of the boston university center of infectious disease policy and research and an msnbc medical contributor. i saw this thing pop up on my phone last night as i was going to bed. i was a little excited, having two children one of which is under the age of 5. aim look you go to for clarification for the viewers as

well. that is this. one of the reasons that this process was put on hold and they wanted to seek out what it looks like to have a three-shot regimen is because it seemed as if the two-shot regimen was not effectively effective for warding off covid under the age of 5, so why then apply for emergency use authorization the two-shot regimen now? >> yeah, and i think we'll have to wait and see, right. this has to be confirmed and we'll see how the faa handles it, but to give people a background. what pfizer did is they organized a pediatric study from six month to 5 years with a doses one-tenth, three micrograms what have adults get and what they noticed in the initial two-dose study in kids from 6 months to 2 years, you know, because this is an age group that doesn't see more severe outcomes like hospitalizations or even very severe outpatient symptoms what they look at is laboratory data

to see if it are might be immune protection enough to protect them against infection. what they saw from 6 months to 2 years, there was enough immune response, but from 2 years and they did not see a laboratory corollary so they added a third dotes and that's what they are in the middle of. the data would come out around march. the fact that they are submitting the two things, right? i think the fda can start reviewing this and it's a public health emergency looking at the safety so far and to also say that, look, you know, the first two doses to get a third dose and would it make sense in this public health emergency to make the first two doses available on emergency use authorization until we get the data. it will be interesting to see what the fda does whether they provide it for the group where there was laboratory data for protection and say let's hold off on the site, the older population until we have data from the third dose or are they going to go ahead and say let's

start getting some shots in arts. you think overall the fda is going to do a thorough job of review of data, both in efficacy and safety, but just, you know, from what's been reported and what we've seen in older children, right, from over 5 years of age, there hasn't been a safety signal, so this actually -- we just need to make sure that it works how we want it to and there's data that we've done in younger kids and the thing that i would say is that's not the only area that the barrier has been, but the uptick as well. we haven't seen much of an uptick in the group 5 to 11 years old. it's 25% of the kids in the age group have been vaccinated so we want to make sure that with the availability the uptick is going to increase for sure. >> i'm glad that you brought that up because that will be my natural follow-up question. >> yeah. >> which is the numbers aren't there for getting kids and im5 to 11 vaccinated so who will think to get their kids under the age of 5 vaccinated especially with the non-conclusive evidence that

we've seen so far. what would you say to parents? >> yeah. here's what i would say. i think that if the fda looks at it. there's a lot of maybes here, if there's a submission and the fda looks at the data and there is a safety signal and there is no safety signal that says it's very perfectly safe and particularly for under 2 there is evidence that it does elicit that effectiveness i would tell parents to get it. i want to wait and so what the rest of the package looks like to be able to comment on the older group that we're still collecting data on. i would say that parents should -- if the fda does look at that data and say, look, there's a reason to be optimistic that the third dose will provide, it i would highly encourage parents to get vaccinated but what will actually happen, yasmin, parental vaccination status actually determines kids' vaccination status so if you got vaccinated you're more likely to get your kids vaccinated or not and what we've seen is the way

this generally breaks down is general vaccine hesitancy then transmits into the pediatric hesitancy within communities as well, and that's something that we've got to continue to work on. >> doctor, thank you as always helping clear that up for us. appreciate it. wanting to switch gears, everybody, to the sports world. it's now official, though it leaked over the weekend on saturday afternoon by espn. tom brady now hanging up his football cleats. brady made the announcement on social media this morning ending days of speculation about his 22-year career. he said in part this. i have loved moy nfl career, and now it is time to focus ply time and energy on other things that require my attention. the legendary quarterback has won seven super bowl titles and three mvp awards throughout his 22 years in the nfl. nbc's morgan chesky joins me with more. this is huge, huge news. this broke saturday while i was on the air, espn reporting this

first and it seems like brady kind of walked it back, made a call in to his -- to his coach saying he wasn't necessarily sure but now, of course, it is official. the football world, the world i should say, and i'm sure especially new england fans reacting. what are you hearing? >> jasmin, we'll talk about new england here in a second and you're absolutely right. you're hearing it straight from the man itself after the whirlwind of nuts came out over the weekend, is he doing it, not doing? even yesterday evening tom went on a podcast and said hits mind was not made up, still needed time to consider his future in football and there were a lot of things to consider so at some point between last night hand this morning, some sense of closure must have been reached by the future hall of famer that today in an instagram post made it official, as you mentioned. the reaction, of course, is incredible. this is the end of an era. there are fans alive today,

yasmin works all they have ever simone that trade set guy that if he's not winning a super bowl he's coming pretty close to winning a super bowl. we're hearing from former teammates, from his former teams, but i want to share with you what nfl commissioner roger goodell shared just a short time ago in a statement that reads in mart tom brady will be remembered as one of the greatest to ever play in the nfl. it has been a privilege to watch him compete and have him in the nfl. we thank him for his many contributions to our game in wish tom and his family all the best in the future and where tom confirmed his retirement news, he thajd the bucs organization, his teams on the bucs thanking them, who he did not thank though, pretty telling here, yasmin, at not point did he make any mention of any place, any person or anything in or around the new england area. the patriots organization, coach bill belichick, owner robert kraft, so one could make the

argument that when he left new england he did have a very formal good-bye there, thanking them for rooting for him when no one else did so maybe he considered that a separate good-bye from this one but a lot of people noticing that one and the emission. >> that's got to hurt after the diehard pats fans. morgan chesky. good to see you. coming up, everybody. all across the country, school districts are banning books because they talk about race or sexuality, but things in florida might go even further with a bill to banning even talking about sexual orientation on gender identity in schools. two police officers are temporarily off the job because of the way they handles the deaths of two black women. what happened and where the investigation goes next. we'll be right back. e the investigation goes next. we'll be right back.

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so in bridgeport, connecticut, two police detectives are on administrative leave. they are accused of mishandling investigations into the deaths of two black women. we reported just a week ago about lauren submit-field who was found dead in an apartment in december by a man she had met online. the police department did not tell her about the death and brenda lee rolles said like smith-field's family they were never notified of her death and now they announced the suspensions saying this. >> i'm extremely disappointed with the leadership with the bridgeport police department and have found the actions taken up to this point with regards to these two investigations unacceptable. >> all right. nbc's janelle griffith has been on top of the story for us. thanks for joining us on this.

so a medical examiner has not yet determined a cause of date for brenda lee rawles. what is the family saying and where do the investigations of those two women go from here? >> so brenda's family have made a lot of the same allegations as lauren owes family. they said they were not notified of her death. they learned that brenda died from up of her neighbors and that after they learned of her death they couldn't even find her body. they said that they called the police department. the police department was no help. they then called area hospitals, the medical examiner's office and finally the medical examiner's office told them that she had died on december 12th, the same day as lauren. they also said that they were given the name of a police detective to contact who was handling the investigation once they learned she died and that the debuttive never called them back to this day. they said that they had called him four or five times and he's one of the detectives in the

lead. >> that's so devastating dealing with the loss of a family member. both families being represented by the same attorney. what legal avenues and what legal recourse do they have? what are they pursuing? >> both families have said that they have not ruled out suing the city and the police department over the handling of the investigation. lori's family has already filed a notice of claim arguing that the police department failed to investigate the case and defy the family's civil rights and brenda's family, i spoke to them yesterday, one of her sisters said they don't even trust the bridgeport police department to investigate the case. they want the case to be taken over by the united states, the fbi or justice department because they have zero confidence in the bridgeport police department at this point. >> so incredibly sad for these families having to deal with these tragedies.

thanks for your reporting on this. we appreciate it. coming up, everybody, some breaking news about threats to more than a dozen historically black clenlts and universities. schools across the country reporting bomb threats. what the fbi is saying about it. plus, forcing lbgtq kids back nat closet. that's what critics say a bill would do it. would ban talking about sex yell orientation or gender identity in schools. the reaction that it's getting coming up next. schools the reaction that 'sit getting coming up next after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches, or coughs or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪nothing is everything♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save.

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what do we know? >> reporter: we've counted threats to at least 15 colleges and universities. i'm told there were six yesterday and as many as 13 this morning. as you said some schools have gotten the all clear. some remain in remote classes. i spoke to a law enforcement official who said similar racist threats were made. but they're working through if this is the work of domestic violent extremists or pranks. they reported that was the work of a teenage gamer. unfortunately these bomb threats have become all too common and thankfully they're almost never connected to an actual bomb. we have to be careful how we treat this. at the same time, they're taking it seriously because we're in a climate with a rise of domestic extremism and far-right violence. >> yeah. that is exactly what i was

thinking. we are in a different time, a different climate than even a decade ago when it comes to these types of threats. appreciate it. just moments ago the florida state legislature finished up a hearing on what is being called the stop woke act. supporters of the bill say it's going to keep students from being made to, quote, feel discomfort and anguish based on one's race, color or natural origin. this is one of the latest proposals that focus on what kids are allowed to be taught in public schools. you got to tell me what's going on there. i don't understand what that means. make students not feel comfort, guilt and anguish. who's the judge of that and what about how this is going to effect the lgbtq students? >> reporter: what i can tell you

what is happening is there's a direct effort by gop legislatures in florida and around the country to limit the speech that is allowed inside of classrooms. particularly around the conversations of race, of sexuality and of history. the so-called stop woke act that is being backed by the governor here, part of it says educators, they cannot leave students to feel they, quote, bear responsibility for actions committed in the past. we'd be remisto note that 200 years ago u.s. troops led by andrew jackson pushed out multiple native american tribes from the very land where this piece of legislation is being debated today. but there's also another piece of legislation. hb 1557. opponents have called this don't say gay act here. it's already been passed by the house education committee and waiting to guy to the full house for a vote.

quote, a school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity. it gives parents the right to sue school districts. i want everybody to meet kaley. she met up with us last night. she goes to the high school. she's a sophomore a half mile from here. take a listen to part of our conversation with her. >> what they're doing isn't solving the underlying prob leadership. the underlying problem is students aren't feeling safe at school, aren't feeling comfortable at school. and that's why a lot of times kids have higher suicidal rates because they don't feel loved and safe in their schools. >> reporter: again, these legislatures trying to limit the conversations round sexual orientation and gender identity in the schools. this is not far flung to accept the idea that the republicans in the state, backed by ron

desantos, will pass these pieces of legislation. you see it in arizona, where there's a bill put forward that would ban conversations that include, quote home sexuality, which is the existence of being gay. but if you go to indiana, there's another piece of legislation which says educators are barred from talking about, quote, antiamerican ideologies. all of this is coming to a head. there's another measure. sb 1300, which would essentially allow individuals in the community to more easily object to media and other book ins the classroom. there's an attorney in support of the measure and quite clear. quote they were showing lgbtq cartoon videos to the kids. this is what is being introduced by republican legislatures around the country right now. >> it is so incredibly troubling. shutting down the voices of these children that are just

looking to speak out and be who they want to be. thank you for your really important reporting and bringing us the story. we appreciate it. that does it for me this hour. you can catch me from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. right here on msnbc and msnbc films presents "love and the constitution" on rasken as he nav gated the personal tragedy of losing his son. sunday, 10:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. first though andrea mitchell reports is up next. a mitchell reports is up next ace your immune support with centrum. now with a new look!

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totally effortless. styling has never been easier. tresemme. do it with style. good day, everyone. this is andrea mitchell reports in waug. vladimir putin saying the west has not met russia's security needs. referring to the latest u.s. proposal. apparently sticking to his guns that he wants to see nato retreating from the eastward expansion. his hard line after what u.s. officials thought was a commitment from his foreign minister for more diplomatic talks and a 30-minute conversation only hours earlier with secretary of state blinken. president biden warning putin monday that the u.s. stands ready to support their allies no matter what happens. in a few moments, i'll speak to