so, we continue to see that being added. did that help? >> yeah. >> toni. >> what steps are being taken to make sure that the entire 82nd airborne's immediate response that you're sending to poland, that they're staying away from any harms way, in case there's an invasion? will there location be pretty much central poland and nowhere near the border? >> i'll let the commander talk about where he's going to put the troops, tony. they're sent over there for a range of contingencies. they're multi-mission capability, as you know. and as we talked about, if one of the contingencies are, if one of the needs are to help with evacuation assistance on the polish side of the border, as people come across that border, should they come across that border and need help, they'll be prepared to do that. if that's the mission to

conduct, you're going to be somewhere near that border, right? but again, i won't get ahead of leaders on the ground and what they're doing. but, i do want to just -- i know we've said this before, it's worth repeating, there's no intention, there's no plan. and there's approval to put these troops into ukraine. they're being sent to poland. they're going to stay in poland. >> the best laid plans, you've heard the saying that they accidentally drawn in -- >> they're not going to be accidentally drawn into ukraine. >> they're not? >> no. >> what the incident, you indicated that sharing broadly. but is it tactical intelligence? >> i will tell you we've been very transparent with our ukrainian partners about the intelligence we've been seeing in that environment. and that i'm comfortable and confident that it has been of a sufficient level of detail to

convince. let's put it that way. jeff sullivan. >> john, thanks very much for doing this. some questions on russia and ukraine. firsts, was the pentagon aware that the ukrainian president was going to post on facebook today about russia invading on wednesday? and also, for weeks you and others in the u.s. government has been sharing information about possible russian spy operations, how russia could launch military action in ukraine. are there any indications that the warnings from your voting and others has done anything to change russia's calculus, if not? and finally if i may, has europe asked for influx of refugees as a result of anything russia might do? >> okay. there's an awful lot there.

on mr. zelensky's facebook post, i don't know whether anybody here in the building was aware of that, jeff. i certainly wasn't. but that doesn't really say anything. i don't even have a facebook account. but i don't know, jeff. i can take the question to see. i would -- you know, just point out that he's -- he's the president of ukraine. he can post on facebook what he wants and when he wants. he doesn't have to run that by anybody. or seek approval from us. you know, he's the leader of a sovereign state. so, i'll check to see if we have any kind of heads-up. but i would, frankly, be surprised if we did. and that's perfectly okay. on the false question, you know, what i would just tell you, we continue to see indications in the intelligence that there's -- that the russians are exploring

that option. i think i'll just leave it at that. on refugees, the focus of the troops that are going over there, as i mentioned in my answer to -- i think it was matt, that multimission capable, certainly, assistance, with evacuation flow is something that they could do. and could do quite well. and they're going to be working with polish authorities on what that looks like. and how they would handle that. i know of no other efforts inside, at least u.s. troops in europe, to contribute to like operations should they be needed. but obviously, one of the great things about the u.s. military is that it's multimission capable, is that it's flexible. as you heard the secretary say when he was up here a couple weeks ago, if that's something that we're called on to do, outside of yooik, you know, we would certainly be able to contribute to that kind of mission.

but, your question, though, and pardon me for foot stomping again, but it's a good question. but it gets to an outcome here that doesn't have to be. there shouldn't be a need for evacuation assistance. there shouldn't be a need for people to have to flee their homeland. because there shouldn't be any invasion of it. a sovereign state, by another nation state next door, who clearly has shown agress tendencies here. and alarming buildup of military capabilities and certainly has shown no side yet of being able to de-escalate or unwilling tons take those capabilities off the table. and to find a real diplomatic path forward. and i think it's important to remember, again, not that this really answers your question specifically, but -- but should they conduct another major military action, real lives will be at risk.

ukrainian lives, to be sure. but also russian lives. this will not be bloodless. this will not be easy. and not only will you see people trying to flee the country, but you're going to see people seriously hurt. and seriously killed as a result of it. and there's no reason for it. the russians can de-escalate immediately. they could easily sit down and take seriously a diplomatic path forward and stop this now. so that there is no need for people to have to flee their homes. so there are no casualties. there is no bloodshed. it's -- it's within mr. putin's power to make the right decision now. and, obviously, we hope to see him do that. okay. thanks, everybody. appreciate it. you have been listen, of course, to the pentagon press secretary john kirby, laying out

the pentagon's view as to the crisis happening along the russia/ukrainian border. that russia could invade, you heard john kirby say with little or more warning, i'm hallie jackson in washington covering all of this with nbc news team. mike memoli outside the white house. leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill. and former ambassador to russia michael mcfaul. msnbc and international affairs analyst, richard, i'll go to you first. what we're hearing from mr. kirby there has been the first reaction officially and formally from the biden administration, to the speech in which the ukrainian president delivered to his people in which he referenced this date coming up, february, february 16th as the potential date that russia may invade. what are you hearing and what do you know? >> so, that speech has caused some confusion here in ukraine. so, let's just take a bit of a

step back. for the last several days there's been a lot of speculation about when russia might attack. and in the media, wednesday, the 16th, was the date that had been floated everything times. there were articles in european newspapers, several news outlets pointing specifically to wednesday as the possibility. now, on record, u.s. officials never went that far, as far as i know. they were only highlighting that an attack could come at any stage, that it could come even before the end of the olympics. but this date, the 16th was put out there. now, just a short time ago, or earlier today, president zelensky gave the speech in which he referenced the 16th. and his office is now saying that he was referencing those media reports that he doesn't believe that russia is necessarily going to invade on the 16th. that they, meaning the media reports or the officials who leaked those comments to the media, are even specifying that

the 16th could happen. and that he was saying it in a sarcastic way, because president zelensky is not happy with what has been happening over the last -- well, since this weekend. he said that he believes it's a mistake for the united states, he just referenced, countries moving their diplomatic personnel. he said he believes it's a mistake for countries to take the diplomats out of kyiv and move them to other parts of the country, specifically to western ukraine. saying there is no western ukraine. it is all ukraine. and he strongly suggested that it was a sign of weakness. that if there was a russian invasion, the russian invasion would be potentially everywhere, so that moving farther west wouldn't accomplish anything. so, while the united states and nato allies have been working very hard to get on the same page, from the beginning, really, president zelensky has had a different view, when it comes to the seriousness of the threat. whether it comes to the timing

of the threat. whether it comes to what steps should be taken to protect foreign diplomats. and i think we saw a little bit of that divergence playing out a short while ago saying the 16th, saying, no, no, i was being sarcastic, referencing media reports. and you saw admiral kirby in that press instance distancing himself saying president zelensky is the president of a sovereign country he can put on facebook whatever he likes. >> he didn't shut it down but he didn't endorse it either. the office of the ukrainian president reaching out to our colleagues as you well know on nbc news, saying essentially we're told the attack was february 16th. the president was referred to a date spread by the media. it's not even a date that you're reporting here. ambassador mcfaul, how do you read that, because this is something that made

international reverberations if you will, this was around the world when president zelensky said that? >> well, i think he should have used more careful language that we weren't trying to interpret on the tvs what he meant. i think we're in a very difficult position because publicly, of course, he wants to calm his citizens down. he doesn't want bank runs, he doesn't want people leaving over borders. privately, i can tell you, i speak to ukrainians every day. i spoke to 50 this morning. people privately are afraid. and that's exactly what you would expect from a political leader right now. so, i think he's in a very difficult position. he doesn't want panic. at the same time, he understands if there is an attack there will be critics of his, opponents, that will blame him for not doing more preparations. remember, ukraine's a democracy with real opposition parties and that's the delicate needle that he's trying to thread. >> i should let folks know as we heard from john kirby, we're

expecting to hear any minute from the white house, with a press briefing, supposed to begin around 11 minutes ago. top of the hour, you can see our reporters there, including kelly o'donnell there in the room ready to pull on threads. one of them, richard, and then dan, i'll go to you, yes, russia is building up more and more troops along the border in just the last 24 to 48 hours. can you talk a little bit, richard, you've heard what the ukrainian president said. can you talk to what will are hearing from officials there on the ground and who you speak with? >> the russian buildup is not slowing down, it's still intensifying. people are starting to take matters in their own hands there is a bit of frustration with the government. i understand completely what ambassador mcfaul was talking about, how zelensky, the whole russian objective out of this buildup is to get a more pliant government. a more pro-russian government

and the easiest way to do that is getting rid of zelensky. without having to invade the country. so he wants to show that he's strong. he's not afraid of a russian invasion. but people want to start getting ready. they know these troops are here. and troops around the country. they could invade. and the date was floated, maybe they'll even invade on wednesday. so by zelensky bringing up wednesday, he did a bit of the opposite of his job. he's been trying to calm people down, then by making a sarcastic remark by wednesday, they could come and invade. he sowed a little bit of panic and say, oh, by the way, they could invade on wednesday. but he was walking back the comments saying i was just referencing the general atmosphere where people are throwing out dates, here, there, everywhere, including on the 16th. but as the military officials have been saying consistently,

the russian military buildup continues. and it is continuing up until this morning. and diplomacy so far has not achieved anything but more meetings. >> dan, you're following developments from the pentagon. i want to preapologize if i have to interrupt here if we jump to the white house podium. but, dan, the secretary-general will move forward with this trip to work with and essentially with the nato allies? >> the secretary-general is going to poland, lithuania, with allies, especially allies on russia's borders. of course, that's where the u.s. has already sent a small number of troops to try to bolster that eastern flank. but, again, they're making clear there's no plans to send u.s. troops, of course, to ukraine itself. at the briefing, i thought it was interesting that press secretary john kirby would not

discuss or address the idea that intelligence reports had suggested that russian troops had actually moved closer to the ukrainian border. he wouldn't get into that. he wouldn't confirm it. he wouldn't deny it. but he did say that the buildup continued. that ground units are moving. there are naval forces, substantial naval combat forces in the black sea. including forces that have the ability, that have amphibious vessels that can move troops ashore for a possible landing, on that front as well. so, a very worrying array of russian military power and absolutely no sign of that buildup being pulled back or scaled back in any way. >> and it is that troop buildup, mike, that has the u.s. government relocating essentially operations farther west? >> yeah, that's right, hallie, we heard that from secretary of state tony blinken this afternoon, in a statement

talking about the dramatic acceleration of that military moving the u.s. embassy personnel. what remains there. of course, they've already evacuated everybody but the core personnel from kyiv. 300 miles west of kyiv, that's a few hundred miles from the border with poland. there's concerns, obviously one kyiv itself being sacked, in the kind of assault that jake sullivan has outlined could take place. also, you could have complications when you're trying to evacuate u.s. personnel. i think back to what we saw in kabul last year. the u.s. has often said anyone who wants to leave and can, there will be assistance in having them evacuated. sometimes, our diplomats have family members who maybe aren't american citizens who have visa complications. one of the reasons you see them moving the personnel, to help buy some time, frankly, to deal with the paperwork issues that you often deal with. also, all of this coming as the

president spoke today with the uk prime minister boris johnson. we've seen as the white house has laid out, two paths, diplomatic and deterrence. and the diplomatic has continued with the allies speaking himself with vladimir putin either in person or by phone over the last few weeks. you have the german chancellor set to do that in person tomorrow. and no de-escalation on any point on the russian side of further escalation. that's why you see very clear, unusually public, the declassification of information what the united states expects from russia sort of a hail mary here that level of exposure will have them do anything further. >> so ambassador mcfaul, talk about that hail mary, by the way, we were just taking a look live at the u.s. embassy in kyiv that mike was references.

ambassador. >> well, i applaud the biden administration use of intelligence, declassification, this is new, this is different. much more aggressive than when i worked at the white house for president obama. i think it's right. i think the world needs to know this is putin pushing us towards war. when i hear commentators here in the united states, democrats and republicans alike saying biden is causing this war. i shake my head. the biden administration is trying to make peace, not war. by adding this information it helps the other part of the hail mary is the diplomacy. the other part of the hail mary was the phone call on saturday, scheduled for monday but they moved. you because president biden is not going to stop talking to putin about negotiation. if putin wants to talk about new ideas for enhancing european security, that would be in russia's interest, america's interest, ukraine's interest, european interest. there's lots of work to be done there. i think the administration has

done boldly towards those goals, possibly if they're revealed would be critical -- critics here in the united states might wonder why they went so far. but he's gone so far to use the hail mary analogy because he wants to prevent war. >> leeann, you're posted up on capitol hill where we know he bes of the house received a briefing on developments in ukraine later today. and the senate will get its own briefing about ten minutes from now. talk to me what you're hearing from your sources, from the folks you're talking to, about what they expect and how that may go? >> yeah, hallie, what they want to hear is the latest up-to-date information. this is a classified briefing. they hope to get what the latest details are. in the briefing this morning, we're told there are also questions about the number of americans still left there. and also family members and american citizens as well. so, you can expect that to be

questions among senators as well. now, it's not the entire senate that's going to get briefed. it's leadership, plus heads of relevant committees. there will be republicans and democrats there, but it's a much smaller group of people. those are the most relevant to what is happening. now, this is all happening where in the backdrop there's still negotiations ongoing about whether to sanction russia on an invasion. and if so, by how much. now, there were discussions about perhaps preinvasion sanctions. now, it seems like -- well, there's still a little bit of time, but not enough time, it seems for congress to get something done if something does in fact happen on behalf of the russians this week. but those conversations are still ongoing. there's a faction of the senate who really wants to impose very tough sanctions. there are some members of the senate who say it's up to president biden, he can have this authority if he needs to. then there are others who say

they should keep their hands out of what is happening there, especially sending troops to ukraine. there are some members of the republican party who say troops should not be heading there, we should mind our own business, we have all of these different inactions in the senate and how they're moving forward. for the time being, as far as this briefing is concerned, they're hoping to get the latest information and the next steps of what the u.s. can do, hallie. >> with developments happening every hour at least today. ambassador mcfaul, let me turn back to you, that richard, mike, leigh ann and mike have talked about, the possibility about diplomacy. we heard about the pact for diplomacy, the possibility. how do you with your knowledge and expertise of the kremlin of the players involved here, how do you see the potential for any kind of off-ramp for vladimir putin? >> well, you know, i think it's low. because if you look at the capabilities that the russian army and -- all russian military

forces have been doing, they've been marching towards war slowly, but marching towards preparation for war for many, many weeks now. nothing has changed, right? we see no -- when i talk to my friends in the u.s. government, the biden administration, when they're looking for off-ramps and tea leaves, they see nothing in terms of capabilities that has changed. that keeps moving. at the same time, you do see little hints every now and then from both putin and foreign minister lavrov, that they want to talk about off-ramps and they want to talk about negotiations. and, you know, as long as there's any light that they're showing. i think it's incumbent upon all western leaders to push us towards negotiation. >> richard engel, before we go, what are we missing in this discussion? what is an important that you feel hasn't been made about this? >> well, going back to the discussion we were having

earlier, i think zelensky is in a tough position. he sees foreign countries telling their citizens to leave. about a dozen countries. he sees embassy personnel pulling back to the borders of poland. i believe it's right on the polish border, people from there, usually just hop on the train, go into poland. it's a day trip. you can come back. yet, he's trying to keep his people calm. not a good idea when he's trying to keep this people calm. when he off-handily says this country is going to be invaded on wednesday, he dialled that back. but it does go to the del delicate the situation is. they don't know are they going to have a country next week? are they going to be overrun by russian forces next week? and i think it is the precarious nature that it is live here. >> richard engel, leigh ann

caldwell, dan delose. mike memoli, thank you. we expect to see the press conference. here peppered with multiple questions that we've been talking about on msnbc. we'll bring that to you live. we're also talking other headlines. including a move from somebody really important, president trump's legal push. trying to block january 6 investigators from getting access to. and the unlikely alliance between two georgia gubernatorial rivals why these two are teaming up, stacey abrams, david perdue. we'll be back. , david perdue we'll be back.

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to the latest to january 6, john eastman due in court. eastman is trying to keep emails from being turned over

investigating by chapman university. he's reported over the reports that they want to see, 10,000 or more attorneyed by attorney/client privilege. let's bring in garrick haake. nicholas wu who is a congressional reporter at politico. nicholas, let's start with you, what do you know about john eastman and why the possible emails. explain why the committee would want to see them? >> the committee's taking a interest in john eastman because he's at the center of so many of these different conspiracies and plots to try to overturn the 2020 election. with the emails, thousands and thousands of emails related to his tenure when he was at chapman university. and the committee has tried to gain access to these, basically to garner whatever information they can, about what extent eastman was involved in these

conspiracies. how far they were disseminated and how far this could possibly go. and the question here, though, is what exactly happens next. eastman has tried to assert attorney/client privilege over thousands of these emails. it's going to be up to the judge and committee to figure out exactly how to move forward here. >> the question of attorney/client privilege, garrett, may also come up with developments we've seen around somebody else who used to work for former president donald trump and that's rudy giuliani. we heard from committee members in the last 48 hours saying they think he will cooperate. they expect him to cooperate to comply with that subpoena. what do we think about that possibility? and do rudy giuliani and the committee have. two different definitions what cooperating actually is? >> i think that's possible, hallie. i would treat any reports of cooperating very skeptically. what we have so far are discussions between giuliani's counsel and the committee if and

when and how he might be able to come in. that's the kind of thing that can be useful to somebody who is talking to the committee to keep away a possible, you know, contempt charge later on. by engaging at all, you leave open the possibility and you draw things out. when it comes to giuliani, he's been somebody publicly critical of the report before and takes great pains to describe him as donald trump's personal lawyer, the use of attorney/client privilege or perhaps exercising his fifth amendment rights i think would be well within the realm of things that we should expect if and when giuliani gets in the room with the committee. and i don't think we should expect that anytime soon. >> you also got new reporting, garrett, on the january 6th by numbers. a bit of an update. they've interviewed 525 witnesses. and they've received 63,000 documents and announced 83 subpoenas related to the investigation. this feels like it fits, garrett, like you and i have talked about for weeks if not an

uptick in the activity level of the committee and an uptick in what we know about the activity of the committee? >> that's right. some of that is public relations. on steve bannon and mark meadows, the committee releasing all of the information that they are getting, right? all of the incoming. whether the result of subpoenas, or folks they invited to come testify. some of these we know in advance. some we know the week of. some we don't even know their names. for example, last week, they talked to a couple of mid-level trump communications aides in the white house. these numbers continue to pace. but the numbers relate to something else we're hearing, the calendar, adam kinzinger announced on the sunday shows it seems like the timetable might be slipping from spring to summer, hallie. >> thank you both. opening arguments are opening up in georgia on the

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just wrapped up in the hate

crimes trial of three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery. the federal trial, the first time these three defendants you see them here are going to be accused directly of committing the crime because of racial bias. prosecutors with the chasing him down the street. the defendants had reason to suspect arbery of break-ins in the neighborhood. georgia is one of few states without a hate rhyme statute. governor kemp signed one into law months later. i want to bring in blayne alexander. i know cameras are not allowed in court. you can bring us up to speed what went down in that courtroom, what the jury has heard so far in the opening statements that have wrapped up? >> reporter: well, hallie, it did not take long for the prosecution to give a glimpse, a stunning glimpse, of the evidence they intend to present. and it speaks to what you spoke of which is the issue of race. we heard the prosecutor lay forth for weeks now, we've been

talking about that the prosecution has the burden of making the case that all three had racial bias against african americans. but the prosecutor laid out what we can expect to hear in the case. she says there are text messages, social media posts and conversations with some witnesses that she says they will eventually call that show all three men at some point used racial slurs. a number of different racial slurs that i will not refer mere to refer to black people. wish harm on black people. certainly everything that the prosecution is going to try to make the case this pointed to the fact that all three men made some sort of assumption about ahmaud arbery when they saw him running down the street back in february of 2020 and that's what ultimately led them to chase him down and kill him. that's what the jury heard. let's talk about the jury. for more than a week, jury selection has been under way. that jury was seated this morning. a breakdown, 12 jurors. four alternates. here's the racial breakdown of

that jury. eight white jurors, three black jurors, one hispanic juror. why is that important? of course, when you talk about cases like this, especially ones so closely watched the racial breakdown is always looked at when you talk about the fact that race is at the forefront this jury is going to be under even more scrutiny than you would normally see. certainly, one thing that's going to be watched. i think another thing to point out, hallie, these aren't just jurors from just that one community in southern georgia. we're talking about the entire southern district of the state of georgia. we're talking about some jurors who had to drive as far as four hours to get there, certainly a much wider net than what we saw in the state trial. >> blayne alexander, live, thank you. after the break, that unusual ruling on the russian figure skate here tested positive for some kind of banned substance. when they decided happens if she finishes in the top three during her next competition. we'll have that after the break. n

we'll have that after the break. recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back. and now answering questions about the questions of ukraine. let's listen. >> -- allies and partners, the path for diplomacy remains available if russia chooses to engage constructively. however, we are clear-eyed about the prospects of that, given the steps that russia is taking on the ground in plain sight.

this is what jake sullivan talked about on friday. right before our eyes what we're seeing with russia. we're seeing new russian forces have been arrived at the ukrainian border every day. as we have said before, we are in the window when an invasion could begin at anytime. we will not comment on any details of our intelligence information, except to say that it could begin this week, despite a lot of speculation it would happen after the olympics. again, something that jake sullivan said right here on friday. it remains unclear which path russia will choose to take. the u.s. is ready for any situation. you know, president biden has made is very clear on his call with putin this weekend that if russia undertakes a further invasion of ukraine, the united states together with our allies and partners will respond decisively and impose swift and severe costs on russia.

president biden reiterated that a further russian invasion of ukraine would produce widespread human suffering. and diminish russia's standing. so, we are continuing to coordinate closely with our allies and partners. president biden spoke with president zelensky yesterday. and prime minister boris johnson, as i just read out to you that call, this afternoon. and we are in close contact with our allies, again, and partners, again, across all level of government. our partnership with our european and nato allies have never been stronger. and purposeful, as we work collectively to de-escalate the tensions at the ukraine/russia border. if russia should choose to invade, the severe economic consequences and irrevocable reputational damage caused by taking innocent lives for a bloody war will only weaken the country, not strengthen it.

>> in close coordination with allied and partners is the view that russia's willingness, what they say about wanting to continue the dialogue. is there a concession that you find insincere, what is coming up today? >> so, we've been very clear about this. there's only one country who is currently building up their forces at the ukraine border. and that's russia. and as we have stated, as jake sullivan has stated that we in the past ten days or so, we only continue to see a buildup, not a de-escalation. so, we are open to diplomacy. that door to diplomacy is open, as we have said. and so that is what -- that's what we want to be headed towards. and, you know,ful -- we will be ready for whichever decision that president putin decides. but, clearly, we would prefer

the path of diplomacy. i also just want to say one more thing really quickly. this is something that my colleague kirby, john kirby said at the department of defense just now that secretary of defense austin is going to travel through poland, belgium and lithuania. to discuss russia's military buildup in and around ukraine. reiterate the u.s. commitment to article 5 and continue the alliance progress on deterrence and defense while ensuring that the alliance is prepared to face tomorrow's challenges. >> one last question, in two weeks, president biden is going to deliver his first state of the union message. you can give us a status report on preparations for that? has he been able to meet with his advisers on it given everything that's going on? in a speech draft or where that process stands? >> so, as you know, this is a president who was vice president

for eight years and he was senator for 36 years and has spent a lot of time listening to state of the union speeches, so he understands the importance of delivering -- a president delivering such an impactful speech. and the purpose of talking about their successes, his success, in particular, this past year, and how he's going to build on that success. i don't have anything more to share, but this is something that's important to him and he's working towards delivering a speech, not just to congress, but also to the american public. yes. >> a follow-up on the question. with advising russia pursuing diplomatic situations, this is yes or no, does the administration view this is sign of de-escalation? >> well, what i was saying, just to be clear in the past ten days or so, when you look at what is happening at the border of ukraine, we are seeing more than

100,000 troops there. and it's just been an every day, more and more troops, as i just read out at the top. so, we are certainly open to having conversation. and seeing a de-escalation. but right now, this is -- that door is open for diplomacy. and this is up to president putin. he has to make that decision. it is his decision to make on which direction he wants to take this. >> so, in terms of the troop buildup, there's reporting citing a u.s. official that russian units near ukraine moved into attack positions. is that for the understanding of this administration, what you're seeing there? >> well, i'm not going to go into any intelligence information. we're not clear -- we're not going to share that. but what we have seen, and the national security adviser said this himself, we have seen an increase of forces at the border. not a decrease.

and so, what we are saying to president putin with our european allies and partners, we've been working in coordination, in lockstep for these past several weeks, several months is that that door to diplomacy is open. and having that diplomatic conversation is a path we would like to take. >> lastly, jake sullivan came out here and certainly got the attention of the entire world with the urgency of the briefing he gave on friday. in terms of currency right now, is is the situation as eminent today, as it was on friday? >> you know, jake sullivan was also on the sunday shows yesterday. you know, again, we are in the window when an invasion can begin at anytime. you know, again, i'm not going to comment on the intelligence information, except to say it could begin this week, despite a lot of speculation that it would

only happen after the olympics. >> just to follow up on that i understand you saying that you've only seen a troop buildup. but russia has claimed it is winding down a number of military drills and exercises that have caused concern. are you in a condition to confirm if those are accurate or not? >> i'm not in a position to confirm that but i do know john kirby spoke to that just moments ago, i would refer to you the him and the department of defense. >> specifically coming from the reports saying that ukraine has welcomed bag the indignation of confront with russia and invited the pope is the president aware of that? >> i've not spoken to the president about that. i cannot confirm if he's aware or not. >> would the administration support such efforts? >> this is the first time i'm

hearing about it. i would need to talk to our team. >> with the $1 billion loan guarantee that the u.s. has agreed to make to support the ukrainian economy. our reporting shows that the u.s. will need about $200 million to guarantee that loan. do you -- does the administration need to make more appropriations available, to, you know, sort to guarantee that the loan guarantee program works? >> so, i don't have the specifics on that piece, but i can confirm it is something that we are considering as part of the additional micro economic support that we're exploring to help ukraine's economy from this pressure resulting from russia's military buildup. i don't know what that would take, the process. >> does the u.s. support the ukrainians if they're no longer actively pursuing nato memberships that they'd be willing to stall their nato membership as part of it?

>> as you know, nato has an open door policy. that is something that ukraine will have to decide on its own. that is not something that we're in consultation with or, you know, even decide on. that is something that nato has to decide on and ukraine. that's up to them and their leadership how they want to mov mover forward. >> jake yesterday said that the two leaders presidents putin and biden tasked the teams to continuing to talk or discuss the state of play. do you have any idea the construct of the discussions or if any occurred on saturday? >> i believe jake sullivan had a conversation this morning with one of our european partners and allies. >> between the russians. >> i see. i don't have in inspector general to readout and predict. do you mean on the staff level -- >> yes. >> i don't have anything to read out. as you know our staff here has

been in constant contact with russia, ukraine and nato allies. >> one last one. there's concern with a european economic side of things with russia to escalate the invasion. on the dmes side is the white house economic team looking at anything that the president gained to pursue if an invasion comes to pass about what it could do? oil markets being one. >> i don't have anything specific to read out to you for this moment. as we talk about energy, i'm assuming a thing you are asking about. we are working with companies and countries to ensure the supply and mitigate against price shocks affecting the american people, europe and the global economy. continuing the discussions with major producers around the globe to supply -- so supply meets demand. all tools are on the table. a disruption in physical energy

supplies transiting ukraine would most accurately affect natural gas markets in europe and coordinating response planning including how to deploy the existing energy stockpiles and work to identify volumes of nonrussian natural gas from north africa and the middle east to asia and the u.s. we thank comments from japan about supporting the security through shipments to the region. we are in discussion with major natural gas producers around the globe to understand the willingness to temporary surge output and allocate the volumes in european buyers and engaging with major buyers of lng to ensure flexibility in storage is

managed and enables die version to europe. >> you have been listening to the white house principle deputy press secretary delivering a briefing in the middle of the tensions from the white house briefing room and the door to diplomacy is open and russ could invade at any moment possibly this week. i want to bring in mike memoli near the white house and retired four star general mccaffrey. mike, as expected i think wlm all the questions we heard most of them related to what's happening on the border with russ and ukraine. russia placed more troops on the border. tell me what you took away from this. >> reporter: yeah. obviously sticking closely at a

delicate moment to what we have been hearing from white house officials is that the door to diplomacy is open. another administration put it over the weekend just after the president spoke with president putin on the saturday that the stakes are too high not to give russia every opportunity to step back. you heard a comment about voluntarily saying that they're not pursuing it. there's an open door policy on the issue of nato and the state of the union address in two weeks and the president is continuing with plans to travel to ohio thursday to tout the agenda and trying to walk and chew gum as they say they're capable to do. >> general mccaffrey, to you and

final thoughts? >> most important thing is that the administration is doing everything they can to avert war. that includes secretary austin's trip to consult with allies to show the flag in the baltic states. providing a diplomatic offramp. the thing that shocked me today is zelensky of ukraine winston churchill speech we'll fight them on the beaches followed by i was just kidding. it looks as if ukrainians now believe they every under the gun with a pending invasion. bad judgment on putin's part. can't believe he's going to do it. >> thank you so much. mike, thank you. been a busy afternoon. we expect more as the week goes on. we appreciate you for watching

this hour. i'll see you in an hour on nbc news now for show two but for now "deadline: white house" right after the break. r the bre. but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. faster. vmware. welcome change. we need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage companies, our bottles are made to be remade. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be 100% recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back.

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