joe fryar picks up right now. >> in the last 20 minutes, we saw lloyd austin and secretary of state blinken arrive at the white house as we follow major developments in eastern europe. in ukraine, there's shelling in the east and rising tensions. plus new intelligence in the u.s., a letter to the u.n. warning we have credible information russia plans to target dissidents in ukraine, to either kill them or send them could camps. russia calls it fake but president biden's national security adviser is talking about that intelligence saying this earlier on "today." >> we also have intelligence to suggest that there will be an even greater form of brutality. it will be a war waged by russia on the ukrainian people to repress them, to crush them, to

harm them. >> we'll have more from ukraine, moscow and the white house in moments. also right now in georgia, closing arguments in the federal hate crimes trial of the three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery. plus keep calm, carry on and learn to live with covid. boris johnson will lay out his vision for his country's future with covid. could we see similar plans here? and today is the birthday of the late civil rights iconion -- icon john lewis. ahead i'll talk with his first cousin, his niece and one of his closest aides about a big announcement in his honor. we start with the crisis in eastern europe. matt bradley is on the ground in eastern ukraine, about 25 miles from the russian border and near some of the most active recent

military movements. i want to also bring in rick stengel, now an msnbc political and list. we just got the word from mark milley, and secretary blinken. what do we know about what's happening inside the west wing this morning? >> reporter: we know the president is now meeting with his national security team. as you pointed out, you see all of those cabinet secretaries arriving, the vice president we no there as well. they are discussing the crisis in ukraine. his defense officials updating him on the movements by russia at this hour. and of course president putin meeting with his national security team this morning as well. so that is significant and the administration has been very focused on that as well as the latest provocations by russia. now, all of this comes as there is still this tiny window and

possibility for diplomacy. you have that meeting that is scheduled to take place on thursday between secretary of state antony blinken and his russian counterpart, sergey lavrov. if that goes forward, it will only go forward if russia does not invade. they will then discuss at that meeting the possibility of a summit between president biden and president putin. that would only move forward if putin doesn't invade and if the details can be worked out at that initial meeting with the secretary of state and lavrov. the administration is aiming to downplay the chances of that. they say there haven't been any details of a biden-putin summit worked out and they still believe putin has decided to move forward. this morning on "today," jake sullivan was pressed on why president biden would say yes to such a meeting with president putin. >> of course president biden

said yes but every indication we see on the ground right now in terms of the disposition of russian forces is that they are, in fact, getting prepared for a major attack on ukraine. so we will not close the door on diplomacy. we will go the extra mile on diplomacy, but we are also prepared with our allies and partners to respond decisively if russia attacks. >> reporter: and the administration underscores that that question was in principle only and again very dependent on what russia does next. and even if president biden were to meet with president putin, that would be a very risky move, the stakes would be incredibly high. all of this again just adds to the pressure on president biden to try to find that diplomatic path, even as the window for diplomacy is closing. joe. >> so, as kristen mentioned just in the last two hours, it was vladimir putin huddled with his team, his security council. keir, what do we know about that meeting? >> reporter: the timing is

unclear because it turns out that it appears to have been a meeting that was recorded a little earlier in the day and then played out on russian television, extraordinary. imagine president biden's national security meeting being recorded, all of the conversation, the whole thing being broadcast later in the day. that's what we've been seeing on russian tv, but it's highly choreographed. you're seeing president putin's advisers, each of them being asked do you think that we should recognize these independent regions of ukraine? each of. this standing up and giving advice, advice that perhaps president putin wants to hear and adviser after adviser saying, yes, we think you should recognize them. the former president and prime minister medvedev even telling president putin ukraine doesn't need these territories. so it is another example on russian television of the way

that the russian people appear to be being prepared for a move by president putin that could trigger a war. the region donbas, which is what they are talking about, well, that region is actually bigger than the area controlled by the separatist. it's not clear what president putin would recognize, but if it was a wider area, that might present a war, a conflict. it is very, very much on a knife edge here with everybody watching for what president putin will do and reports that on the border that his military, his troops, are really poised and in positions that they would be unable to hold for more than just a matter of days. >> nowhere is that knife's edge felt more than in ukraine. matt, earlier russia claims it prevented a border breach from

ukraine. the defense shut that down and said no ukrainians crossed the russian border. >> what are you seeing where you are? >> reporter: i'm not seeing anything at all, and neither are the ukrainian people. they're saying over and over again these are fake attacks, made up, trying to create a pretext for war. we heard from the russians they destroyed two armored vehicles and killed five ukrainian soldiers in the western part of russia. these people apparently breached the borders and the russians flatly deny this. what's interesting about this latest one is that this was an allegation made by the russian military, not by the separatists in the east of the country that keir was talking about, that putin was discussing today. in that separatist area of

donbas, we've seen incident after incident that the russian government and their proxies in donbas are trying to blame on the ukrainians. the ukrainian government is saying this is a pretext, this going to provide cover for putin to send his troops over the border. i got to tell you, joe, it is exactly what secretary of state blinken laid out before the u.n. security council just recently. what he was saying again yesterday on "meet the press" and other shows, this is going exactly in following that play book that russia has used time and time again when they're planning to invade a country. they create these fake pretexts for war. so that's kind of what we're seeing now. which one of these will trip the entire region into an all-out war is anyone's guess but it is liking perilously close to that kind of situation. joe? >> so if, and it's a big if, we actually get to a summit between president biden and putin, which would be no invasion for days at this point, what can actually be

accomplished? would it just be prolonging the inevitable? >> i don't know, joe. it's always good for them to continue talking. when they're talking, they're not fighting, but i think one thing i just want to say in general and i agree with what everyone has said before me, this isn't a binary choice right now. it's not like one day and one moment russia will invade and there will be shock and you a or shock and awe or nothing will happen. they're using cyber warfare on ukraine has they have been for weeks. so it is a slow process. putin can string this out as long as he wants to. the longer he strings it out, the more likely or possible there will be divisions within the west and nato. there will be divisions within america. so he doesn't have to flip the

switch right away. again, i prefer that they continue talking as long as they're talking, they're not fighting. >> rick, i want to ask you about this reporting that's been confirmed by nbc news, that the u.s. informed the u.n. we have credible information russia is planning to kill and arrest ukrainians after an invasion. russia claims this is all fake. secretary blinken just said on "meet the press" and matt echoed this, when it comes to this crisis overall, everything the u.s. has said is likely to occur and leadup to the actual invasion is happening. can you talk about russia's pass actions in human rights abuses that we could see if there was an invasion? >> i want to talk about what the u.s. is doing first. it's a prebuttal, exposing possibilities of what russia will do with the idea of preparing people for it and perhaps persuading russia not to do it. tony blinken, jake sullivan, all

of these folks were around in 2014 when russia annexed crimea and i think we look back and think, you know what, we could have done more. we wish we had known more, exposed more. that's what they're doing now, using the most high level intelligence to tell people here's what the russians are likely to do. as everybody has said and you said, this is a classic russian play book. it's russian hybrid warfare, it's a gray zone. that's why it will be hard to see exactly when it begins to happen. >> keir, i want to bring you in. this reporting about the letter that the u.s. sent to the u.n., is it surprising at all given what you know of him? >> yeah, look, i mean, well, president putin is in many ways like the master of surprise. so i'm not sure in a way that anything would be surprising

when it comes to president putin. i think the really crucial thing to reflect on right now is that when we see this security council meeting of president putin directed by president putin, you're looking at members of his council but his inner circling is even smaller than that group of men and women that you see sitting in front of him there. really just a handful. and the coronavirus over the past few years has made the news of people around him able to get to him, able to influence him, if you like, even smaller. now, those that are closest to him are very much hardliners. they will have planned this strategy with him and they were all there in the room today but they're the ones that will be talking to him today. another thing really important to emphasize at this stage, while it's important that we're looking at events every day

through the weeks past and ahead, for president putin, he has had a strategy that has lasted years. you only have to look at the amount of reserves russia has built up going way back to his famous munich speech in 2007. those reserves give you a picture of how russia has been preparing to become an economic fortress against sanctions and that's the kind of thing he would have been talking about with his inner circle. diplomacy is crucial. it may be a move where putin can be delayed or maybe even shifted but you are dealing with somebody who has had his eyes on a strategy with regards to nato and ukraine over a very long period of time. >> keir simmons, kristen welker, matt bradley, thank you all for your reporting and perspective. we appreciate it. this morning in georgia, lawyers are giving their closer

arguments in the hate crimes trial of the convicted of killing ahmaud arbery. >> and how to live with the virus. we're going to break down what that means and whether we'll hear similar plans at home. >> and today would have marked john lewis's 82nd birthday. i'll talk about how they're honoring his legacy with a new project. legacy with a new project. mom becomes a... (mindy) yep! (vo) i knew it! let's work offsite. public wi-fi? no thanks. 5g ultra wideband is faster and safer. and what's this? 5g internet for your home and business? just plug and play. see ya cable! 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. verizon is going ultra, so you can too. as a struggling actor, 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. i need all the breaks that i can get.

at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water? liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ 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.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

right now closing arguments are under way in the federal hate crimes trial for the three white men who killed ahmaud arbery. the defense rested its case friday after calling just one witness. all three men have pleaded not guilty but face potential life sentences if convicted. with me now is danny cevallos. what are you expecting to hear in these closing arguments today? >> from the government you're

going to hear a pretty straight forward case. ladies and gentlemen, you saw the text messages, all the other racist messages. you can now infer that because these were generally racist people that when they denied ahmaud arbery the use of a public road they were doing so with racist animus. from the defense you'll hear the argument you may not like my client, you may think they are racist and there is evidence that they had racist thoughts, but the government, they will argue, has not proven that on the date of the arbery shooting they denied him access to a public road because he was black. now, some members of the jury may say poppycock, that is enough evidence for us that we saw that they are generally racist people, therefore we will infer that when they -- when one of this many shot arbery, they were all acting with a racial

animus. >> the prosecution called 20 witnesses, the defense called one witness. her testimony center around a call about confronting a homeless man, someone they suspected of committing thefts. she testified she spotted a white man under that bridge. if that's their only witness, what does that signal to you? >> nothing. and i just want to caution folks that there will probably be even be a jury instruction to the effect, some variation of, look, the defense doesn't have to call anybody. in fact, personally there are many cases where i call zero witnesses in a trial and i basically in the argument say, hey, the government here has the burden of proof. that burden never shifts. they have to prove each and every element beyond a reasonable doubt, my client is presumed innocent.

strategically, why didn't they testify? strategically i think i can see why. and all, anyone who got up there, if, for example, it were the defendants, they would be confronted with those racial text messages and there isn't a good answer for any of that, you lose your credibility with the jury and you are out. as to the other witnesses, say they called other witnesses to say he was vigilant about white people and black people, then the first thing the prosecutor is going to say or ask is the famous did you know or have you heard series of questions? did you know about this text message? have you heard that this person didn't like his daughter was dating a black man? there is no good answer to that. either they heard it or didn't. either way it doesn't look good. >> thank you so much. appreciate your analysis. >> learning to, quote, "live with covid," is what boris

johnson says he is doing. going to give us hints about what's up next here at home. xt .

imagine getting $150,000 dollars... for one year of epic adventures... in a new dodge hellcat... and you don't even have to quit your day job. dodge has created the sweetest gig ever - aka chief donut maker. you'll go from dodge fan to dodge ambassador this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and anyone can apply. you just need to show you have the drive. are you our new chief donut maker? i've been telling everyone... are you our new the secret to great teeth is having healthy gums. crest advanced gum restore. detoxifies below the gumline... and restores by helping heal gums in as little as 7 days. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america.

♪♪ energy is everywhere... even in a little seedling. which, when turned into fuel, can help power a plane. at chevron's el segundo refinery, we're looking to turn plant-based oil into renewable gasoline, jet and diesel fuels. our planet offers countless sources of energy. but it's only human to find the ones that could power a better future. this is a live look at the

british parliament where at any moment we expect to hear a major covid update from prime minister boris johnson. johnson is expected to announce he's ready to lift the remaining covid restrictions in england. it comes just a day after buckingham palace announced queen elizabeth, who is 95 years old, tested positive for covid. kelly, what will this announcement mean for the u.k.? and how is the queen doing right now? >> reporter: yeah, joe, i'll take that first question to start. boris johnson, the prime minister, expected to announce that all the remaining covid restrictions in england are about to go away. that basically means that the legal requirement that you have to stay home if you test positive for covid will no longer be in place. it will be up to you whether or not you self-isolate if you test positive. that's the biggest change. the government will also be

doing away with free lateral flow tests for the entire population. it simply costs too much money to continue with that. those tests will be offered to certain populations in the weeks going forward. just not to everyone. the government really relying on very high vaccination rates in this country. more than 80% of the adult population has had a third booster shot and the government also planning to offer boosters, a fourth shot, to people over 75 and to those who are clinically vulnerable. the point being according to the prime minister that it's time to move on, it's time to learn how to live with covid. not everyone is happy with that. some scientists have said, look, it's happening way too fast and it's not the right time to be doing this, it will put older people and clinically vulnerable people at risk. speaking of older people, to

that second question, joe, the queen is 95 years old. she'll be 96 in april. buckingham palace has said she's experiencing mild cold-like symptoms. that was what they told us yesterday. no update since. we're not likely to get one unless her condition changes drastically. look, she's been feeling well enough to continue her work at windsor castle. she was working yesterday, sent out a con congratulatory message to the women's curling team winning an olympic gold medal over the weekend and she's planning to have her weekly meeting with the prime minister on wednesday, albeit by phone rather than face to face. she's believed to be double vaccinated and boostered and the hope is that that's enough to protect her from the more serious symptoms of covid.

joe. >> 80% booster, a huge difference between there and the u.s. kelly, thank you so much. appreciate it. now to this side of the pond where the fight over covid restrictions are still under center. we'll learn to the lengths some parents opposed are going to. it's being called paper terrorism. ben, a basic primer here, help people understand what exactly paper terrorism is and house of representatives -- how these people are using it. >> it's an old sovereign citizen tactics from the 90s where if you inundate people with enough phony and fraudulent lawsuits, it intimidates them into changing the law or changing rules. and that's what sovereign citizens did in the 90s. now we're seeing it with qanon

supporters and anti-vaccine advocates. they're going school board to school board, inundating these school boards with lawsuits that are basically just made up. they are a list of complaints and saying if you don't remove these mask mandates and get rid of specific books, that sort of thing, this will sue you for millions of dollars. why this has no legal standing, it scares a lot of these small-time school districts and teachers they're not going to get paid or they'll go bankrupt if they don't buckle to the demands. >> i imagine these local school governments have never heard about it, they're not sure what to do about it. what are their options? >> if you get a laundry list of ridiculous demands about getting rid of books about pedophilia,

is a rote group. people are going to get scared. these look like real lawsuits to get people scared and get people to act on instinct or get rid of the book or whatever they want to get rid of. this is happening in 14 different states. you're not alone. this is a very targeted operation. one of the guy who pushes this stuff, ron watkins, you may know him as the most likely person to be q in qanon. he did this as a local school board meeting in scottsdale as well. this is pretty much everywhere in the united states in far right circles. just know that you're not alone. >> ben collins, much more on nbcnews.com. thank you for your reporting. we do appreciate it. >> what could an invasion mean back here at home? higher gas prices, and

potentially major swings in the market. we'll break it all down. and this morning former president obama paid tribute to civil rights legend john lewis on what would have been his 82nd birthday tweeting, quote, john lewis knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time. his life of a lesson in the fierce urgency of now." ahead i'll talk to members of lewis's families about how they're pushing for change. ow they're pushing for change rust, the support you need, and dependability you can count on. plus, get financing up to 60 months on qualifying purchases. fast and free delivery, and score ge appliances up to 25% off with our presidents' day sale. so with wayfair, you'll always find your perfect match. ♪ wayfair, you got just what i need ♪

aahhh let's get you lovebirds flying! book with priceline and you save more... so you can “ahhhh” more. - ahhh... - ahhhh... - ahhhhh!!!!!!! - ahhhhh!!!!!!! ahhhhh! ahhhhh! aaaaah... i'll see you at the hotel. priceline. every trip is a big deal.

it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new honey mustard rotisserie-style chicken. it's sweet, it's tangy, it's tender, it never misses. you could say it's the steph curry of footlongs. you could, but i'm not gonna. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and re... right now we're keeping an eye on the white house where president biden is meeting with his national security team. in attendance the secretaries of state and defense along with the joint chiefs chairman and vice president. we also just learned the cia director is also there. our white house team reports joint chiefs chairman milley is giving an operational update on russia's military posture at the

ukrainian border. the threat remains largely overseas. we're getting a better understanding of how americans may feel the impact. the biggest worry is one already at an all-time high, inflation. stephanie ruhle has more on why this could take a toll on your wallet. >> reporter: a possible invasion thousands miles away means potentially big impacts for wallets of americans here at home. gas and food prices, inflation and investments all at risk as the white house tells companies to be on alert for possible russian cyber attacks on businesses and infrastructure and warns of the potential economic effects in the weeks ahead. >> i will not pretend this will be painless. there could be impact on our energy prices it requires sometimes for us to put ourselves out there in a way that maybe we will incur some cost and in this situation, that may relate to energy costs, for example. >> reporter: russia is one of the largest producers of oil and natural gas. in western sanctions or

retaliation from vladimir putin could disrupt the flow of oil, meaning gas prices in the u.s. could soar, possibly as much as 30 cents per gallon. that's not all. heating your home could also become more expensive. >> gas prices are going up much more, home heating is going up more more in europe, because we shift our gas in europe, our prices will go up as well. >> reporter: that could push up inflation even more and that could slow economic growth if russia invades. it is also likely to cause for wild swings in the markets as investors worry about how a potential conflict will play out. for those who were planning to retire this year and start living off their retirement savings, should they be reconsidering? >> i think they might want to

pause and take a look at what kind of damage it does to their nest egg. >> p. >> reporter: as people brace for the economic impacts, experts say the damage will hopefully be short term but warns there are lots of unknown if russia invades. >> thanks to stephanie for that report. there's pressure optimism for those hoping to revive the expanded child tax credit. mitt romney is pushing a new version of the bill. ali, walk us through senator romney's new proposal and does it have a chance? >> reporter: look, joe, this comes against the backdrop of what steph just laid out. we were already seeing inflation at grocery stores, higher places because of supply chain issues that stemmed from the pandemic. the child tax credit was one of things done early on to help alleviate that financial strain for americans. it lapsed at the end of last year when congress couldn't come to consensus to extend it along with the rest of biden's build

back better agenda. now there is renewed momentum in congress on the republican side of the aisle. nor mitt romney one of those coming forward with his own plan, including strict work requirements, as well as slashing programs that aid vulnerable americans, as well as proposing making significant changes to the tax codes. some of those things could be sticking points for democrats. that being said, romney just last week said he was in the preliminary phases of discussions with some democrats on this, trying to come to some consensus on doing the child tax credit as a stand alone bill in a bipartisan fashion. we know that in terms of build back better that is stalled and remains very quiet here, but on the child tax credit, one of the keefe people we regularly talk to about this was senator joe manchin. he has made clear he wants to see a work requirement in this if it were to go forward. that could be a point of commonality as we look ahead here. there are other democratic senators who point out that this

is a program that slashed child poverty in this country during the several months it was in effect. now a study from january, the months after those checks stopped coming showed that 3.7 more million kids in america were in poverty and we've seen it break down along racial lines before. black and brown kids were more impacted in that study as we saw the rise in child poverty. clearly an impact of the program that slashed child poverty and is no longer in effect as americans still grapple with what it means to not get those checks every month. >> ali, thank you so much. we know you'll stay on this. >> all across the country we're seeing conflicts over the basic right to vote. up next a new push to honor the work of civil rights icon john lewis by making sure his legacy lives in the politicians of the future. s in the politicians of future

allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. ♪ “all i do is win” by dj khaled ♪ ♪ all i do is win, win, win no matter what! ♪ woman singing/cat meowing: got money on my mind, i can never get enough. ♪ and every time i step up in the building, ♪ ♪ everybody's hands go up! ♪ karaoke singer: and they stay there. and they say yeah. and they stay there, up, down, up, down, up, down. never lose confidence in how you run your business. intuit is bringing quickbooks and mailchimp together to help you set up and grow. candlemaker: that's not happening. [kazoo playing] new business? no problem. dj khaled: man, i love this scent. yeah!

we just moved. so there's millions of - dahlias in bloom. over nine acres. when we started, we grew a quarter of an acre. now i'm taking on new projects on the regular. we always dreamed of having this property, so - i want to make my yard look as beautiful as butters, here. butters. how are you doing over there? we do both vegetables and large mouth bass. yep. we've got tons of them, don't we, buddy? there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn how to make the most of yours at deere.com

at fidelity, your dedicated advisor will help you create a comprehensive wealth plan for your full financial picture. with the right balance of risk and reward. so you can enjoy more of...this. this is the planning effect. (johnny cash) ♪ i've traveled every road in this here land! ♪

so you can enjoy more of...this. ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ crossed the desert's bare, man. ♪ ♪ i've breathed the mountain air, man. ♪ ♪ of travel i've had my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ rejected ballots and redistricting maps are just two of the key issues at the center of voting right fights across the country. in texas new early voting laws put thousands of ballots at risk

of being tossed out. check out these headlines. "north carolina supreme court strikes down redistricting maps that gave the gop an edge" and "a gop lawsuit casts new yorks congress maps at gerrymandering. today what have been john lewis's 82nd birthday. his loved ones are launching the john robert lewis legacy institute. joining me is angela lewis warren, the late congressman's niece and his first cousin and a member of the board of director, amman and also the strategy and development director. angela, i'm going to start with you. congressman lewis was one of the strongest advocates for voting rights and education. what can you tell us about this new institute and its mission? >> one thing about this

institute is we're going to stand with what uncle robert -- i'm sorry, congressman john started. we're about education, about reaching out to the people, about this institute is going to make sure that his legacy stay alive by making sure that we continue what he started, where we want to reach out to the youth and reach out to any organization that's willing to help women of color, men of color, diversity. we're just going to make sure that we know that we need to push what is right and that people understand that reading is important. we're just going to make sure everything that uncle robert -- i'm going to call him uncle robert -- did does not in. in vain and we're going to put out the information education-wise and

as far as cancer and anything uncle robert did, we're going to continue that role. >> there's voter education and issues like financial literacy, health awareness, for example, cancer screenings, which are so important. walk us through the specific issues your team is choosing to tackle and how you're going to do it. >> thank you very much for having us again today. in expounding on what angela just stated, the team looked at several different initiatives that we could take up initially and we focused on the things that were most important and prominent tied to congressman lewis. so as you look at voter education, everyone knows what's going on with voting rights across the country as well as what's going on with the legislation on capitol hill. so this family will continue to push and to fight for voter empowerment and voter rights for

everyone. what the goal is to look at what congressman lewis did for civil rights, human rights, voting rights and women's rights and take it to the 21st century so you look at even the educational equity that everyone is going to be working on with what particular component, it's important that individuals go to school, get the appropriate education and go out into the world and do good to add to the world. so that's what mr. lewis was about. he was about education. regarding health, everybody knew mr. lewis had cancer and his family, they have a number of cancer survivors. as a matter of fact, they did something with the american cancer society. with that being said, that's going to be a focus as well. and so my goal is to use everything and all resources and my knowledge of working with the congressman for nearly 19 years to help strategize, help foster

relationships, help foster resources, to help develop the internal plans and things that are going on that are going on with the institute. i'm excited about this. >> of this and why that's so important, and why you plan to tackle that. >> yes, sir, thank you. as rochelle mentioned, we're passionate about wanting to address cancer, especially in the african-american community. as you might know, my cousin, congressman john lewis, he did succumb to pancreatic cancer, gone way too early. what we want to do is get out and promote and educate people around health screenings and health awareness. we know there are inequities in communities where people are not getting the proper screenings as they need. what we want to do is as we mentioned, just promote that throughout the country, focusing

on rural areas as well as inner city, just getting a message out there, make sure that screenings are occurring, make sure that everyone has access to appropriate health care because we all know that prevention is a lot cheaper and a lot easier than treatment. so. >> as we mentioned earlier, former president barack obama tweeted today in honor of john lewis's birthday saying he knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time. his life was a lesson in the fierce urgency of now on his birthday. let's honor his legacy and taking action by creating the change we hope to see in our own communities. your cousin talked about his roots in troy, alabama, you were born and raised there too. talk about how the institute would work to help southern communities, even more rural communities. >> yes, so the congressman, he grew up less than a few miles down the road from where i grew up.

some of the same fields he preached about, some of those same roads he talked about, i grew up playing in those roads. i knew what it was like to grow up in a small rural community in southern alabama, and access was not always there. in some ways we have come a long way. in a lot of ways, we still have the same issues told. so one of the things, one of the programs we're pushing now is our trench coat and backpack program where we are partnering with several local schools in the southern alabama community. we're actually going out and promoting childhood literacy. we want kids to start reading. we want them to start reading early. we want that to be encouraged. as well, along with that, we are providing them an opportunity to educate themselves on the civil rights movement, the players in the movement, like my cousin and others, and at the same time, we're partnering with schools to provide funding for them to go out and establish programs in their schools. so we feel like my cousin was passionate about the youth.

he was very -- he had a unique ability to be able to not only reach across the lane but also to reach across generations. he appealed to his generation as well as generations, the new generations and so we planned to be in the trenches the same as he did, and at the end of the day, our mission is to just continue his legacy. >> angela, a bet a lot of folks are listening to this right now saying how can i get involved, how can i help out. what would you say to folks that are interested and want to learn more about the institute's work. >> what you can do if you want to help him, we're so grateful for every handout, whether it be a donation, whether it be volunteering. you can go to our web site and you can look where you can give us donation, you think find out what we're going to be doing. you can help us whether it be giving out books, you can help us towards just being there when we reach out to you guys, and

again, go to the web site and give us donations. you can help us reach out to for cancer awareness, or just being helped to get his name out, to get the foundation up and know that we are just there to help the community. we're not about anything but helping and making a difference and like uncle robert always said, you know, do something when you see something, say something, you have the moral obligation to do something about it. guess what we want to do. we want to do something and we want you to know that we're so thankful for you reaching out with us again. go to the web site and the information of the web site is johnrobertlewisinstitute.org. just go to the web site, forgive me, and just donate and help. we'd greatly appreciate it. >> legacy is the keyword here, and that legacy continues on. armmon carter, angela lewis warren, rochelle o'neill, thank you all very much, we really

appreciate it. >> thank you. a historic change for lgbtq americans, next. change for lgb change for lgb americans, next. we exercise. i noticed i wasn't as sharp as i used to be. my wife introduced me to prevagen and so i said "yeah, i'll try it out." i noticed that i felt sharper, i felt like i was able to respond to things quicker. and i thought, yeah, it works for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

switching wireless carriers is easy with xfinity. just lean on our helpful switch squad to help you save with xfinity mobile. they can help break up with your current carrier for you and transfer your info to your new phone. giving you a fast and easy experience that can save you hundreds a year on your wireless bill. visit your nearest xfinity store and see how the switch squad can help you switch and save. switch to xfinity mobile and get connected to the most reliable 5g network. talk with our helpful switch squad at your local xfinity store today.

we got the house! you did! pods handles the driving. pack at your pace. store your things until you're ready. then we deliver to your new home - across town or across the country. pods, your personal moving and storage team. we will remove all remaining domestic restrictions in law. from this thursday, 24th of february, we will end the legal requirement to self-isolate following a positive test. and we will remove the legal

requirement for close contacts who are not fully vaccinated to self-isolate. >> we'll have more on msnbc. bills targeting lgbtq students and lessons are popping up all around the country. that's despite the numbers we're about to share with you. new gallop polling show the percentage of americans who identify as lgbtq has doubled over the last decade, 3.5% in 2012 to 11%. younger adults are more likely to identify as not heterosexual. more than one in five, 21% of gen z adults identify as lgbtq, double the percentage of

millennials. obstacles remain but those numbers are a welcome sign of progress. that does it for me this hour. i'm going to be back here tomorrow morning at 11:00 a.m., and you can always catch me on morning news now on our streaming network at 7:00 a.m. eastern. "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. good day, this is andrea mitchell reports in washington. with new developments from moscow today, vladimir putin in a big display, holding a national security meeting and leaning into recognizing the independence of two russian-dominated separatist regions of ukraine. not annexing them yet. we're formally adding them as mother russia as the white house says president biden would only hold a summit with putin if he does not invade. >> when president macron asked president biden yesterday if he was prepared in principal to meet with pruitt if russia did not