with, it is very inspirational. it also actually meaningfully changes the way the public perceives justice. it encourages people to feel more confident about the court. especially the united states supreme court. >> angela robinson and rachel bercow, thank you both for your time and thoughts. that is all in for this week. the rachel maddow show starts right now, good evening rachel. >> good evening alex, thank you so much, it is great to see you. thank you for joining us this hour. judge ketanji brown jackson's president joe biden's nominee to be the next justice of the united states supreme court. born in washington d.c., raised in miami, harvard educated, she was first name to the federal bench by president barack obama, she was elevated to the federal appeals court, just one level below the supreme court last year, confirmed by the senate for that nomination with

several republican senators voting for her. just jackson has been nominated to take the seat in the supreme court that is currently held by justice stephen breyer who is retiring. judge jackson was actually a supreme court clerk for justice breyer when she was just out of law school. so there is some nice symmetry to this nomination in that sense. we are going to talk tonight with someone who clerked alongside judge jackson on the supreme court at that time. someone who has been friends with her ever since. we are also going to speak tonight with cheryl and eiffel, who herself was reportedly considered for this nomination. 115 americans have served on the u.s. supreme court since its founding, 115 of those 115, 108 have been white men. it just knocks in this comes firmed, she would be the third ever african american justice, and she would be the first ever black woman on the united states supreme court.

to give you some sort of real politics here for a second, in my opinion, there is a reason you have not heard anything more than the standard level background noise winding from republicans about this nomination today. that is because judge ketanji brown jackson is a profoundly, and unquestionably qualified nominee. someone for whom they are really going to have to stretch to try to protegee her as some kind of scary monster. they will undoubtedly try to portray her as some kind of scary monster for sure. but barring some continent sized asteroid smashing into the process somehow, judge jackson, judge ketanji brown jackson is going to be confirmed. she is going to be the next associate justice on the united states supreme court, and that will be lifetime tenure. again, later this hour we will be speaking with someone who knows her well, and has known her well for a very long time.

so that is coming up. big day, historic day, consequential day. today i learned that when professional tennisars win big matches, one thing they do is kind of a weird new-ish tradition, i don't know how long this has been going on, but i think they sometimes do is they take a marker, they take a pen, and they write something on the lens of a tv camera that has been covering the match they just won. how did the start? i don't know. this is something they do. here is naomi osaka drying this little cat, that is a thing she does. here is an italian guy who won a match, even though he had the stomach flu, but he wrote on the camera lens thank you him odium. that is really funny if you have a six-year-old sense of humor, which i absolutely do. this is a thing about tennis stars do when they win matches. right now there is a big pro tennis tournament in dubai, and

russian player named andrzej true bluff, he is ranked number seven in the world. he is at that dubai tournament, and he won a match there that will advance him to the final. when he won today's match, he did not say anything, but he did walk over to the nearest tv camera and he took out a pen. he wrote on the camera lens: no war please. again, he is the number seven ranked men's tennis player in the world. he is a russian. this is has no to the camera today upon winning that match. the number one ranked u.s. men in the world is also russian, his name is daniel, he is playing at a big tournament in mexico right now. this was his wife sitting in the stands watching him and that mexico tournament. you can see what she is wearing? there it is. she is wearing a shirt in the colors of the ukrainian flag while she was in the stands watching her husband play.

again, he is the number one ranked men's tennis player in the world. the most famous russian athlete in the whole world is the massive hockey star alex events can who plays for the national hockey league in the united states. he previously has been an outspoken supporter of russian president vladimir putin, but today he told reporters, quote, please no more war. at home in russia, the biggest star in that country's wildly popular national soccer team is a striker named -- he just posted on instagram no to war. the ukrainian flag, and a broken heart emoji next to it. international soccer just in those that russia will no longer be allowed to host the champions league final, they were going to be hosting that in st. petersburg in may. that matched has been ranked -- formula 1 corrupting has also pulled its next major race out of russia. the eurovision song contest

announced today that russia will not be allowed to have a team compete in this year's eurovision. as americans, we do not tend to care that much about the eurovision song contest, but it is an absolute national obsession in russia, and across most of europe. russia has been kicked out of it for this year. global airlines have started to announce that they will stop code sharing with the russian national airline, which means you will not be able to book your flight through, including any flights by them. it is the national airline of russia but after russia itself it is the united states itself is the second largest generator of revenue from that airline. that will zero out with various american air carrier is no longer allowing cross booking for their flights with aeroflot. the united kingdom is just flat out banning aeroflot flights

from their airspace. russia has -- by banning all british carriers from russian airspace. each of these things, i know, it is a little lego and a larger brick wall. sports stars saying a thing. cultural things being canceled, sports things being pulled out of russia, business decisions, they are a little lego blocks. but they are adding up to a wall that is starting to amount to global ostracism, global private status for russia, thanks to the actions of their president vladimir putin. it is one thing for a country to do something unpopular, and to be treated as such globally. it is another thing for a nation's leader to do something like that, while his own people hate what he is doing. for vladimir putin, this moment of global ostracism, global pariah status, comes as his own people hate it. russian music stars, russian

cultural figures, now the biggest sports figures in the country, they are all braving the considerable wrath of that dictatorship to speak up publicly against this insane war that putin has started. every day, russians all over the country, even though russians are being threatened with prosecution as rioters and terrorists, if they dare to turn up to any sort of protest against the war in ukraine, yesterday russian citizens were arrested for protesting anyway in more than 50 different russian cities. today, another 500 russian citizens were arrested for again, defying their increasingly unhinged government. to go protests in the streets against putin waging this war. putin's spokesman, his daughter posted an anti-war protests message on social media. she posted no toward online. she later deleted it. again, she is the daughter of putin's spokesman. un security council today the company resolution condemning

russia starting this war in ukraine. russia is on the security council, and they of course vito did, which was not a surprise. which was a surprise is that absolutely no one stood with them. china has made a big show of their new alliance with russia, but china did not vote with russia today. china did not vote know the way russia wanted them to. russia instead stood alone and there are no vote, china just abstained. if the idea here is that russia must be isolated, that putin must be globally ostracized, that he must know that he stands alone and in the wrong, today really wasn't that kind of a day. after even china would not stand with him at the un, something even more surprising happened in the part of the world that putin really thinks he owns. the nation of kazakhstan is a huge country, like ukraine, like russia, it used to be part of the soviet union. kazakhstan has a gigantic land border with russia. it is considered to be one of russia's closest allies.

this afternoon, nbc news reports that kazakhstan has refused a request from russia about this war. russia had apparently asked kazakhstan to send its own troops to go join russia in his war in ukraine, they also asked kazakhstan to join russia in recognizing the independence of these two parts of ukraine that russia is trying to peel off and claim for themselves. to both of those requests, the request for troops, and the request to recognize the independence of those parts of ukraine, kazakhstan said no to both of them. quite clearly, vladimir putin is perturbed by independent thinking out of a country like ukraine, but he really, really is not used to a country like kazakhstan can link him no one anything. but today, they told him no on joining him with this war. this was the capital city of georgia today, the nation of georgia to lacey. it was also a former soviet state, a place on vladimir

putin expects to be under his thumb. putin invaded georgia, took parts of it in 2008, playing much of the same playbook he is playing now in the much larger nation of ukraine. today, tens of thousands of people in georgia turned out to say no to putin. to say no to this war that he is waging against ukraine. watch what they said here in this clip. >> [inaudible]. >> these are -- in the capital of georgia, and they are saying zelenskyy, zelenskyy, they are chanting the name of the president of ukraine. late last night in the video call with leaders of the european union, -- told the other leaders on that call, quote this might be the last time you ever see me alive.

u.s. intelligence has been oddly prescient during this whole crisis, u.s. intelligence has said publicly that in fact, one goal of the russian war is to kill president volodymyr zelenskyy, to hunt him down personally and kill him. today, he posted this video to social media, himself and senior members of his administration standing outside in ukraine's capital city of kyiv, saying we are, here we are in kyiv, we are staying, we will stay to defend ukraine. to defend our independence. tonight, he released this video, an address to the people of ukraine basically trying to prepare them for the worst, saying that the russian military will storm kyiv, and will try to take it by force. he says they quote, will use all of the force available to break our resistance, he said quote, they will make an assault upon us, we all have to understand what we are going to face, this night we have to withstand. he said quote, the fate of ukraine is being decided right now. today, on ukrainian television

they started giving people instructions on how to make molotov cocktails at home. for regular people to use against the russian invasion. president zelenskyy and his government have called on all able ukrainians to enlist in the military, or to start fighting as civilians to defend where they live. he is calling on ukrainians living anywhere, anywhere in the world who may have any military experience to please come back to ukraine to join in the fight. day-by-day, we are seeing ukrainians, yes, you know, doing things like lining up to give blood. richard engel interviewed people who are lining up to get blood today. also people lining up to enlist. to take up weapons. and you know, i feel like especially as americans, but from a lot of countries around the world, there is a lot of mythology that you build up around moments like this. about demands for this kind of bravery. and strength the call of your country.

but aside from any romance, or fantasy we may have about moments like this, getting real about it, what is happening in ukraine right now really is about trying to have a civilian population standup. regular people using small arms they have never used before, and homemade firebombs they made at home in the sink. this is what having a civilian population in a normal modern city a 4 million people, it is about having a city of regular people stand up and fight personally and against the russian army. and it is tanks, under those missiles. the pentagon said today that the same u.s. intelligence that has been so accurate in predicting that russia was going to attack, and how they were going to do it, the pentagon said today that that same intelligence now indicates that russia is not having as easy a time of it as they thought they would. russia had made plans about how fast they would move, how fast they would take the capital city of kyiv, and they are behind schedule.

they are not hitting their objectives. it is turning out to be more of a swab. ukrainians are putting up more of a fight than the russians guessed they would. putting up more than the russians had planned for. again, it is easy to turn that into an inspirational thing. it is easy to read the ballot of that in your mind. but, an up armored, mechanized, huge modern military, against a civilian population, it's something that starts terrible, that is terrible in the middle, and that ends terribly always. there aren't any foreign troops that are coming to force multiply this small ukrainian armed forces. nato announced today that for the first time they are activating a reaction force. their response force, it is the first time they have done this for this kind of a conflict in history. that is tens of thousands of well equipped troops. they are going to stay on nato

soil, and ukraine is not a nato member, and ukraine is where the war is. as the russian military attacks kyiv tonight, and other major cities, and population centers of ukraine, ukrainians are fighting against them alone. they are fighting them well so far, but they are alone. and the united states, and our european allies today, they did take a new step today that just this time last night, i was here on tv explaining why they really weren't likely to do it. it seemed like something they really weren't going to do, and today they decided to do it. today they decided to levy personal sanctions against russian president vladimir putin. there is 1 million reasons why they have not done it before, now there are a real -- 1 million reasons to expect they never do it. this puts vladimir putin on the same international framework as the head of north korea, right? that sort of punishment targeted putin personally.

there is no going back from it, and it is something neither europe nor the u.s. was willing to do until today they decided to do it. we have a sanctions expert tonight standing by to talk to us about why that is such a huge deal, and why realistically, that was an unexpected development. and in southeastern ukraine, we have our friend richard engel, who is live in the middle of the night, in a part of a country that has just been besieged today. thank you for being with us tonight. i know it is the middle of the night where you are, tell us about what the day has been like, tell us what you have been seeing tonight. >> so, this is a difficult day. we are now seeing the russian army moving on the cities, moving on the capitol, trying to take ukraine in one swoop. they hope that by knocking out the capitol, knocking out zelenskyy, that they can install a puppet regime and win

the whole country. then, an active campaign of repression. i have been speaking with intelligence officials, i have been speaking with locals here, with local commanders, and the reason they are fighting so hard, and they are fighting hard, is because they know what's at stake if they lose. they not only lose their democracy, but they completely anticipate that there will be a campaign of repression carried out against them. u.s. officials have been warning about this, and u.s. officials said that they have drawn up kill lists, and ukrainians believe them. they believe that what would follow a loss of this country to vladimir putin would be a campaign of human rights abuses, and world crimes, potentially carried out by a force called the rose gardenia. they are the ones to watch out for. they will be the ones enforcing a crackdown, and trying to

quote, pacify the population. if they do not hold out, they know that they could lose everything. >> richard, we did hear from the pentagon today. but as far as u.s. intelligence knows about russia's own expectations for this incursion, they are behind schedule. they have not been going as fast as they intended to go, or that they expected to go. we also have confirmation from the pentagon today that it does not seem like there is anywhere in the country that russian forces, any city, any population center in the nation of ukraine, where russian forces are in control, or actually holding territory. is this just a matter of pacing, or is there any way for us to tell, from intelligence sources, is there any way to tell whether russia is basically proceeding according to plan, or whether they are having more trouble than the expected? >> so, they are having more trouble than expected. they were slow coming in from

the north, they had trouble crossing the river when they came down from belarus, the ukrainians have knocked out several bridges, also in the north which has been slowing them down, they face some fairly heavy fighting in the south, but the forces were taken, they are time controlling the canals out of the crimea peninsula, that controls the flow of water to the peninsula. but the biggest factor, which has some western officials surprised, is that russia has not put all of its forces into this fight yet. they only have about a third of their force as committed. so they still have a lot of fight left in them that only about two thirds of their force remain on the borders in russian territory ready to be deployed. it is only day two, and ukrainians have been holding out well. western officials are impressed with a fighting spirit of

zelenskyy, but they know that russia has a superior and technologically superior army, which it has largely kept in russia, but apparently o'clock plans to deploy at some stage, it is unclear why it hasn't -- >> richard engel, nbc news correspondent, as you say it has been a difficult day, it has been a dark day, and a long day ahead for you tomorrow. stay safe my friend, thank you. all right, last night on the show, we talked about just how big of a deal it is to levy a sanctions against a president. the prime minister head of state. it is something that very, very rarely happens, because doing that closes off other doors. closes off any other normal way you might interact with that

head of state. it is something that only happens once the united states has decided that there is never going to be a point in talking to that leader ever again. that there is no opportunities for negotiations. sanctioning a world leader, sanctioning a head of state, is essentially a declaration that that leader is considered to be illegitimate, and should not be negotiated, with should we talk to, you shouldn't be treated according to their title. tonight, the u.s. along with canada, and the uk, and the eu, they have went and done it against vladimir putin. they have levied personal sanctions against vladimir putin. i cannot say how rare this is. in the world of sanctions, what a big deal it is. in order to make sense of this all, we are going to be joined once again tonight by a guard chemali, she was a senior policy adviser during the president obama administration, when they took over crimea, she also hosts oh my world on youtube.

thank you so much for being with us tonight. as soon as we got this news today, i asked my team if we could please get you back, because i felt like you help us understand this so well last night. oh, i'm happy to be here, rachel thank you for having me again. as you said so well, these sanctions are big deal. i was surprised by them and i saw them announce today, because it usually takes time to reach this point and granted this war -- it's been great to see that. it takes a lot of work to prepare any kind of sanction, it's not just a press release, again proving that the person's been been engaging in sanctionable behavior, getting every agency to sign off on it, it's the classified intelligence. the fact that they worked that quickly, and to use the sanction in particular, it's important because it carried this message that you just said. it is saying that you are criminal, you are thug, you are not worth dealing with, you are not a rational person to have

diplomatic engagement negotiation with. and he's joining a very exclusive club of thugs. which basically only includes north korea's leader, serious acid, and sudan's bashir. and i believe that's it. it's a very big deal, so i'm very surprised by how fast they got to this point. >> and on a practical level. how does this affect president putin? four years, you hear people say that the richest man on earth's president vladimir putin of russia i don't know if that's true. but i certainly spent a considerable amount of time watching the exposés by anti-corruption activists, and people like alexei navalny in russia who have exposed evidence of putin's secret wealth in the secret wealth of those in his in his coterie at the top of the russian government, so his assets appear to be considerable. and also they appear to be considerably while hidden. what is this gonna mean for him

in practical terms. what is it gonna mean for his life? >> well also, by the way, on his assets, they may be hit into us, but they might not necessarily be hit into the government sanctioned him. that's important, and i'll get to why. the practical effect -- the practical effect of any sanction, is that target, if they have any assets within the u.s. jurisdiction. so that can be, not just in the u.s., but in our banks abroad, those assets are frozen. and all u.s. persons, meaning businesses, organizations, individuals, cannot do business with a person. and it always, as i said yesterday, unleashes these market forces. because people around the world, even if their country didn't sanction this individual, they themselves will end up steering clear of doing business with that target, because they don't risk their reputation, they don't get in the crosshairs of u.s. sanctions. the way this could hit him in particular, he is not impervious to this, he's not shielded from sanctions and there's a few reasons for that.

first, he very likely does have assets around the world. even if those assets are in some kind of hidden front company, or account that doesn't necessarily have his name on it. these governments may well know that he is a beneficial owner of those accounts, and they will happy go go to those financial institutions in private and let them know, so they can close it. that's the first, the second is, this actually has a practical effect on him, moving around the world, selling assets around the world, traveling. and that's because he legally can't buy a ticket to leave his country. he can't, unless it's china i guess. he can't spend money house where, wherever he's been sanctioned, because nobody can legally accept his money. so this is gonna be very isolating to him. third is that, if he ends up converting all of his assets to rules, but we are not able to freeze them or seized them, or whatever it might be. that, in and of itself, is a really bad consequence of

sanctions for him. because, as we heard yesterday, rules hit their lowest point ever, so that's not exactly a lucrative move. >> how guards for molly, former senior policy director in the senior policy division, and the person who makes these things make sense. you're an incredibly effective communicator about these conflicts, thanks for helping us understand tonight, it's a big deal. >> thanks rachel. all right, we've got much more to come tonight, do stay with us. l right, we've got allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. to come tonight, do stay wit psst! psst! flonase all good. us s to pain medicine, less is more. aleve gives long-lasting freedom from pain, with fewer pills than tylenol. instead of taking pills every 4-6 hours, aleve works up to 12-hours so you can focus on what matters. aleve. less pills. more relief i just heard something amazing!

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birthday with the first black woman ever to be appointed as a federal judge. the honorable constants baker moxley. her life and career has been a true inspiration to me, as i have pursued this professional path. and if i am fortunate enough to be confirmed as the next associate justice of the supreme court of the united states. i can only hope that my life and career, my love of this country, and the constitution, and my commitment to upholding the rule of law, and the sacred principles upon which this great nation was founded, will inspire future generations of americans. >> her name is ketanji brown jackson, she is a federal appeals court judge, today she

was officially nominated to be the newest associate justice on the supreme court of the united states. nominated by president joe biden. introducing judge jackson today, president biden said quote, for too long our government and our courts have not looked like america. i believe it is time that we have a court that reflects the full talents, and greatness of our nation. with a nominee of extraordinary qualifications. those qualifications are extraordinary. she went to harvard law, she was a clerk to the retiring supreme court justice stephen breyer, whose seat she may ascend to. she spent eight years as a federal district court judge, she is now a federal appeals judge, and while that is a very impressive resume, if you look at all of the other justices on the court, for good or for ill, that frankly sounds like a supreme court meant resume these days. she also brings unique experience to the court. she would be the only justice to have experience as a trial court judge. she would also be the first supreme court justice ever to have experience working as a

public defender. joining us now is -- legal defense and education fund, it is a pleasure to see you tonight, thank you so much for making time. it is a historic night. >> it is indeed, welcome back rachel. >> thank you. let me just ask you, if you think judge jackson will be confirmed, whether you think this will be politically a controversial nomination, and what kind of supreme court justice do you think she will make if she is in fact confirmed? >> well, i think that everyone knows that judge jackson will be confirmed. she was confirmed in the d.c. circuit court of appeals last year by a vote of 53 to 44. she guarded the votes of three republicans, including senator lindsey graham. you just described her record, rachel, as one that is a very moderate, highly accomplished, and looks very much like the

resume of others on the supreme court. the only difference is that she is a black woman. and the first black woman who can sit on that court. so i know that she will be confirmed, but that does not mean it is an easy road. we already see today, judge jackson being called out of her name, and out of her record, being described as a radical leftist, the suggestion that there is something about her that means that we should beware, and that we should have caution. this has been the history of those trail blazing judges, like constance bigger mclean, the first black woman federal judge, and a judge jackson reference today when judge moxley was nominated to sit on the -- to become a federal district court judge. there were senators who are going through her record and insisting that when she was 19 years old she had been affiliated with communists. if you read the transcript, the confirmation hearing to the supreme court, it is shameful.

this is after he had already been confirmed as it judge on the second circuit court of appeals. so we have seen this playbook. they cannot stop the train, but their hope is to try to derail, and undermine the historic, and really important moment that we are seeing. i appreciate president biden for describing it in the way he did. for too long our government -- i connected rachel with her earlier segment about ukraine. a country that is being overtaken by this hostile power that comes to pressure. it remains of how important it is to fight for democracy. when we have seen over the past six or seven years is our democracy crumbling from within. how we strengthen our democracy is, we live up to our goals. we demonstrate that there is equality, that there is justice, that there is an opportunity, and all members of our society can participate, and we recognize the need particularly for the branch of government

responsible for interpreting the law to do so in a way that includes multiple perspectives from people of different experiences, and backgrounds to decide what the law is. >> in terms of her unique experience, so it would be unique on the court, as a public defender, can you speak to that in terms of the importance of how the court works? and the kind of significance about that sort of a perspective among those nine judges on that court. >> i think there is two pieces here. one is that she served for two years as a federal public defender, that is true. she also served for four years on the u.s. sentencing commission, including a period as a vice chair. she is seen as an expert in sentencing. much of what has been talked about today, her record of compassionate release's, and her commitment to compassionate release is, she knows things that many of the justices on the court do not know about.

i do not think that there are any justices on the court of this moment who have actually represented individuals who have been convicted of crimes. this is something that is important. our justice system is balanced by two sides, and what we have seen happen on the federal bench with large and on the supreme court is that it becomes tilted in [inaudible] as prosecutors, even -- a manhattan prosecutor. and so what we are going to see is someone who has had the experience of being on the other side of the table, and who has argued appellate cases on behalf of people who have been convicted of crimes. that means she has a different lens. this is a lens that marshall had. of course, he had representative -- and convicted of crimes. but that perspective is important. and on the sentencing commission, she has had an opportunity to really wrestle with the reality and

disparities in federal sentencing, and what that disparity means to the legitimacy of our justice system. so she has experience to bring. of course, she is a black woman. if you have been a black woman attorney, you have had experiences that are different, often, than your white counterparts. your interactions, how you have been treated, what has been expected of you. and she is experiencing it right now. in the way that people are distorting her record, and suggesting that something about her is dangerous, or nefarious. she is bringing all of that to that table. but we will be looking for in the confirmation hearings is, hearing how she sees her own experiences and not perspective. l the f does a deep dive in the civil rights record -- and we are doing that with her as well, and we will see a report in the next ten days or so about the kinds of issues we care about in terms of her civil rights record, we do that for every nominee no matter what president has nominated them.

we think it is important for us to examine that. but she will have an opportunity to describe her record, to explain her record, to share her vision, and we welcome that opportunity. this was an exciting day. she presented herself wonderfully in her presentation. i think we were all a little bit choked up seeing the first woman vice president, and the first black woman nominee to the supreme court it is just a reminder to us as we see democracy threatened about what it means to lean in, even with everything that is happening, uphold the principles that you believe in. understand that democracies are strengthened from within first, and they cannot withstand attack unless they are strong within. this today ball like a democracy that i would hope to see as a young girl, and i am so proud i was able to see it today. >> beautifully said. sherrilyn ifill is the president and director -- of the naacp, legal and

educational fund, and the best bet you could possibly make for who would be the second african american woman nominated to the united states supreme court. >> you don't give up. >> i will not give up. i will never get to make the call, but i will keep trying to make the call. thank you so much, it was great to have you here. we will be right back, stay with us. with us. mush, walter! pace yourself. ♪♪ whoa. that's incredible. oh yeah, it's a chevy silverado trail boss. this thing's built for off-roading right from the factory. no, i meant the cat. it's like nobody's seen a cat before. the chevy silverado trail boss. find new friends. find new roads. chevrolet.

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>> for all of the geopolitics, for all of the drama and the diplomacy, at the human level these aren't just bluntly terrifying times for our fellow human beings who live in the ukrainian capital city of kyiv.

for the second straight night tonight, lot explosions and heavy gunfire have been heard in the capital city, it just a few hours ago ukraine's president told keep residents to prepare for what could be a long and difficult night with russian forces expected to be storming the city. ukrainian officials say russian troops are approaching kick from the north, through belarus, and also from areas under russian control in the east of ukraine. ukrainian artillery and tanks have also been seen moving through the city of kyiv earlier today, we saw reports of thousands of ukrainian volunteers lining up at recruitment centers to receive weapons, to try to fight on their own, to try to help their own country's military withstand the assault. the un estimates that more than 50,000 people have already left ukraine, 100,000 more have been displaced inside ukraine, and many others are just trapped where they are with no real way to move around. one of them is a man named alexander, he is a restaurant owner, he lives in central kyiv. two nights ago, the building

where he lives he says was almost normal, today that same apartment building in kyiv is virtually empty. he is now passing the hours inside with a small group of neighbors, and friends that remain. they are cooking together, eating together, trying to support each other, and trying to find a way out. at first, they took refuge inside one apartment in the building, but hearing explosions and sirens, they decided they needed to stay away from exposed doors and windows. they decided they would all go underground. they grabbed chairs, and pillows, they have made improvised beds, and they are staying now in the underground garage at their apartment. alexander told us today the place feels like a bunker. but even down there, they can still hear the explosion sirens outside. alexander and his group of neighbors say they hope to leave the city and a few hours, but they do not know if they will be able to. they have a car packed, but as of this point, they do not have any gas. they have enough food for a few days, but they also have nowhere to go.

joining us now live from kyiv is resident and restaurant owner alexander. i am very grateful for you to joining us tonight. i hope you are okay. >> yes. good evening. which is basically good morning in kyiv. >> tell us, how have you've been living you on your neighbor's these last few days? >> well, we have been living, we woke up two days ago with a large alarm saying that we are under attack. so we all went to the basement. we knew what we were going to do, but still it was a matt panic. people started to leave the city. there was -- there is still big traffic jams to the west, it people that usually make their way --

it would take them 6 to 10 hours, they spend their 24 or 28 hours just in the traffic jam moving slowly to other parts of ukraine where it is more safe. basically, we know that there is no safe place now anywhere in ukraine. >> do you think that your best option is still to get out on the road, and to try to get west, to try to get potentially across an eu border nation? >> you never know. we decided to stay in one place because we are all together, but still, from yesterday morning until now almost everybody left from this building. there was almost 100 people here, but since we are here, the troops, the military troops of russia are moving towards kyiv.

we started to hear the explosions, gun fires, and the news. the third or second row of panic happened again. people started to just move out. i don't think there is a safe place, to stay or to go, we do not know. people as you said before, people are getting guns, and to protect the city. not just give, but every city in ukraine. when we are asking everyone to help us, we are saying to the world, please help us. don't be silent. this is our message, you know? we do not want to fight. we do not want war. we never wanted a war. we are a good unhappy country, so. >> your president made an appeal, essentially gave a warning to residents of kyiv tonight saying it will get bad.

the expectations are that it is bad. they have also called for people, anyone who can fight, to fight. i guess i feel like us watching from the outside, your president is very visible, and there is a lot of concern that russian troops are going to come in and try to find him and kill him, and decapitate the government and replace it with some sort of russian puppet regime. i have to ask of seeing him make the kind of public announcements he has made, seeing him staying in kyiv, and talking the way he is to you, and other key residents, how you feel about that? >> we feel a strong support from the president. he is always reporting at the latest news. so what we did, what we are going to do. yesterday, we got all his messages, he is very active on instagram saying that he is there, and all of his team is there. we feel, you know, like we are

all united. but still, we are a little country. we cannot fight against a big military governments like russia. >> kyiv residents, restaurant owner, alexander, good luck to you and your neighbors with everything that you are going through. keep us -- stay in touch with us, let us know what we can do to be in touch as you go through this journey. good luck to you. >> thank you very much, thank you very much. we are looking to the world, and for world support. please do not state aside. we are waiting for you, and for the whole world to support us, and to help us. thank you very much. >> god bless you, good luck to you. we will be right back, stay with us. we wl ilbe right back, sta with us. with us.

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has a small squat of clerks who do a surprising amount of the heavy lifting of the legal work of the court. judge ketanji brown jackson, she has been nominated by president biden to the supreme court, she served as a clerk. she was a supreme court clerk to justice stephen breyer, the retiring supreme court justice who seat she may soon inherit. but judge ketanji brown jackson was nominated to the federal appeals court last year, every single clerk who served on the supreme court at the same time as her, all of the clerks for all of the liberal justices, and all of the clerks for all of the conservative justices, they all unanimously signed an enthusiastic endorsement of her for the judgeships. now that she is nominated for the supreme court, we are joined here tonight on the show by one of those clerks who signed that letter, amanda tyler, a professor at the university of california berkeley school of law, she was a supreme court clerk alongside jackson, they have been friends ever since.

it is a real pleasure to have you here. thank you so much for making the time. >> thank you for having me. >> does the public rollout, the public presentation of ketanji brown jackson, match your understanding of her as a friend, and as a colleague? >> absolutely. today has been such a special, and historic day. a day to celebrate. this is a spectacular nomination by the president. i keep doing that all day, soon to be justice jackson and i, judge jackson now, is someone who brings, as you have highlighted, incredible credentials. the credentials you want, you expect for a supreme court justice. incredible experience. she also on topple all of that is an extraordinary human being who is brilliant, who has impeccable judgment, who has great unimpeachable character, who is wise, and that is

something i have known for decades. that i talked working alongside her. who is thoughtful, who is careful, if you read her opinions they are meticulous, and they show both a comfort level getting in the weeds of the thorniest, most complicated legal problems, but also inability to step back and contextualize the issue that is before the court, and see the forest for the trees. this is something that explains the broad support, for example, among our clerk family. i should note that a letter was not signed by every single clerk, some clerks actually could not have signed it, summer sitting judges, but there were representatives from all nine chambers, and that i think is very significant. you have support for her from clerks who -- justice thomas, justice rehnquist, not just myself and my co-clerks.

but clerks from across the spectrum. and that is an indication of how broadly, and deeply she was respected by her peers. >> as you mentioned, you clerk for justice ruth bader ginsburg. if judge jackson does become judge jackson, she will become the fourth woman on the court, it will be the most women who have ever been on the court. i wonder what you make about that dynamic, and what that might mean significantly in terms of the way the court runs, on the way they make their decisions. >> you know obviously today's historic for a lot of reasons. most especially that she will be the first black woman nominated, and i hope swiftly confirmed to the court. but you are right. she will be the fourth woman. this is a first. right now we have three, that is a first. it was not very long ago that justice ginsburg was the only woman on the supreme court for several years, between justice o'connor's retirement, and justice sotomayor join her on

that court. she was very unhappy during those years. it is very special now to think about a court with four woman on it. we are -- when there are nine, but we are certainly making up some ground. >> law professor, amanda tyler, longtime friend of ketanji brown jackson, the new supreme court nominee, thank you so much for your time tonight. it is a real pleasure to have you here. >> thank you. >> all right, that is going to do it for us for now, i will tell you as we continue our ongoing coverage, particularly of the situation in ukraine, where we are headed toward the, late on a day that president zelenskyy has promised would be a very difficult day, msnbc will be live here all night. my beloved colleague lawrence o'donnell picks up our live coverage now. good evening lawrence. >> good evening rachel. we will have chuck schumer join