good afternoon, everyone. i'm andrea mitchell in washington with this special sunday edition, and we have breaking news on russia's assault against ukraine. it's 3:00 p.m. on the east coast of the u.s. 10:00 p.m. in ukraine, with the strength of that country's military and civilian resistance to moscow's war machine with government issued weapons and homemade molotov cocktails to defend kyiv and kharkiv has inspired people around the world. we're told president biden is getting regular updates from his national security team. as vladimir putin raised the specter of russia's nuclear force, putting russia's nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. a step immediately criticized by the white house and european allies. at the same time, ukraine's president zelenskyy agreed to meet with russia on the border of ukraine and belarus with no preconditions after belarus's president, a putin ally, guaranteed him safe passage to

and from any perspective negotiations. nearly 386,000 ukrainians have fled their homes, neighboring nato nations including poland. all this as european nations ordered their air space closed to russian flights today. and the u.s., canada, and europe have all agreed to kick some russian banks off the s.w.i.f.t. banking system, subject to approval next week by the belgian run group that runs that system. joining us now from ukraine, nbc news foreign correspondent cal perry in lviv, in moscow, senior international correspondent keir simmons, and at the white house, senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. cal, first, bring us up to speed on this extraordinary fight that the ukrainians are putting up against russia and the talks we could see between russia and ukraine, surprising to some, that zelenskyy would go to the border with belarus, which is a staging area for the russian army. >> exactly, and it's for that reason that the president of ukraine said that going to minsk

was a nonstarter. he does not want to go to belarus because it was a staging area. we saw troops move in from the north. the discussion changed and evolved to a meeting along the river where the ukrainians say they're willing to send quote/unquote a delegation. it's obvious the president won't be part of the delegation, partly because he's becoming so important to the defense of this city of kyiv, according to ukrainian officials. more than that, he's becoming a real leader in this conflict. the saying and it's an english saying, come with the hour, come with the man, is making the rounds because he's every day trying to rally people by reminding people, the ukrainian people know they're fighting for. they're fighting for their freedom, for their homeland, and the russian army does not know what it's fighting for. to the fight itself, in the eastern part of the country, the fighting is fierce, especially in kharkiv. we have seen video of russian troops moving slowly in column in formation behind carriers. this is what we're hearing from the government. to the capital of kyiv, it has been under a third night of

heavy bombardment, people there sleeping in bomb shelters. we have seen local media actually moving their anchor desks down to parking lots and bomb shelters because that bombardment has been going now for three days entirely. now, to where i am in the western part of the country, there is this unfolding humanitarian crisis. here in the city of lviv, we continue to see an influx of refugees. more than 360,000 people have already fled the country. we know that number is a low figure. when you talk about the people who have been displaced, you talk about the heavy fighting. it's going to only rise. the border with poland is about 50 miles from where i am and the wait time is up to 36 hours to cross. some people leaving their cars and belongings behind, trying to cross on foot. it is cold and raining and at times snowing, and as more and more people sort of flee the east to the west, more and more folks are going to be sleeping outside, and those conditions are only going to get worse, andrea. >> keir in moscow, an escalation from vladimir putin today,

ordering these nuclear deterrent forces on alert as he faces more punishing sanctions from the west. i have seen a security alert from the embassy in moscow alerting people that flights are now -- flights to and from russia are now very limited. this is the closing of the air spice by the european union. so if you could handle all of that. >> yeah, that's right. just to that breaking news, as you mentioned, the u.s. embassy putting out this notice to u.s. citizens here in russia, and it says, u.s. citizens should consider departing russia immediately via commercial options, still available. so basically warning americans that getting out of here, if you like, may not be possible. that notice also goes on to recommend that americans in russia notify friends and family of your safety, be aware of your surroundings. the kinds of warnings that the american embassy has been

putting out here. then to that question of president putin's warning to the west about his nuclear deterrent, it's not the first time we have heard him say that. saying he's putting his nuclear deterrent on high alert. we don't precisely know what that means, andrea, because russia's nuclear capability is always ready, just as much as the u.s. capability is. it does look, and you know, we talk about the war in ukraine. there was also a propaganda war. i think it can be read that way, as a war of words. but it also just underscores the danger that this conflict could spill out into a conflict between russia and nato countries and the u.s., and of course, the reason why both sides are reluctant to see that happen is because of the nuclear capability of both sides. just some other news, andrea, to cover. russia today saying that it has hit more than 1,000 military sites, but more importantly, i

think in their statement today, admitting for the first time that russian soldiers have been killed and wounded, and even that some have been captured. that's the first time we have heard russia kind of admit that they are suffering casualties, perhaps suggesting that they are not doing so well, and i think that sheds light on those negotiations that cal was talking about, a former russian official with close contact in the kremlin speaking to me today, described those talks between with russia and ukraine as really russia trolling the west and ukraine. he certainly held out very little hope, and we're seeing this from other russians with strong contacts to the kremlin, suggesting they have very little hope that these talks will reach any kind of a resolution, and everybody is bracing themselves, i suppose you could say, for vladimir putin, we hope he doesn't, to decide to unleash more of an onslaught, because as we have been talking through the

weekend, he faces a real growing opposition here in russia. just one final point before i leave you. on that, andrea, the news agency saying prosecutor's office here in russia is warning anyone in russia sending money to ukraine that that will be considered treason and threatening them with 20 years in prison. >> which is raising the stakes considerably as well. and just a quig question, keir, are you surprised by the number of protests in russia, by the protests from russian sports figures and others around the world, and the international reaction against russia? >> you know, this is shaking russian society, andrea. there are many, as we have said, russians with close connections in ukraine. so they know about what is happening, and it leaves them, many, very, very worried about friends and loved ones in ukraine. i think they are genuinely worried about the economy, and just to give you an anecdote, we

have been asked to pay in advance for our hotel because the hotel is worried that the credit cards won't work anymore, there are stories of people stocking up on food, lines at atms for people to get foreign currency. so there is a fear of an iron curtain coming down. and for many russians, i think that will lead them to question their leadership and that, of course, frightens vladimir putin. >> and indeed, as we said also at the top, this u.s. embassy warning that u.s. nationals in russia should consider leaving immediately. that's the warning from the embassy and consulates. kelly o'connell, i haven't had a chance in the last few minutes, of course, while we're on the air too, check with the state department, but is anyone considering withdrawing u.s. personnel from the embassy? >> i also have not had any warning from the white house about that piece as well, but if you look at the rhythm of how things have played out, we have seen how those initial warnings urging americans to leave a

place are often step one. and then trying to make an assessment about what kinds of risks americans who are working in the various missions, consulates, and embassies around the world might face. so we'll follow on that. certainly, the u.s. position today is looking at what is this new provocation from vladimir putin and that video address where he talks about the high alert for his nuclear forces. and basically, the response from administration officials has been to call it a manufactured event. to say that ratcheting up the rhetoric is another way for putin to try to create an event to allow for him to become more aggressive. and at the same time, it is a great concern because you have got, for example, the nato secretary-general reminding everyone that miscalculation in times of war can be a cause of great danger. and so while they don't see any immediate threat to the nato

alliance, if there were any spillover, that of course triggers, as you well know, the article 5 protections where the alliance comes to the aid of all other countries. so there are real risks in dangerous rhetoric. it's not just words and propaganda. those things can have a subsequent risky effect. and so the white house is trying to be careful in how they're responding, to talk about this in ways that are a bit more muted, to say this is another predictable kind of action from putin, that he would be someone who would be trying to ratchet things up and reminding the public here that the u.s. has the ability to protect itself. also a nuclear power. and that this is the kind of thing they are expecting from putin. andrea. >> indeed. and it's well worth remembering that ukraine had a nuclear force, in fact, most of the soviet union's forces, nuclear strategic forces, were in ukraine, and ukraine voluntarily

gave them up. partly because of a lot of pressure and the legislation that went through the senate from those two senators and a huge movement in the '90s. thanks so much to all of you for starting us off, particularly to cal and to keir who are there on the front lines of this emerging, rising crisis. >> and joining us now, former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, and retired four-star general, barry mccaffrey. general, let me start with you. how worried if at all should we be about putin placing his nuclear deterrent forces on alert and telling the world about that? >> very strange. very strange, andrea. can you imagine how the russian population is receiving this news? anyone with an iq over 80 knows that essentially a nuclear exchange is not possible. you can't first strike the

united states and knock out our retaliatory capability, sore putin is telling his own people, i'm willing to vaporize much of russia over a stalled invasion of a friendly sovereign state. this is some very nutty behavior. he's scared. he's getting dangerous. he should not use that rhetoric. it will assist in rallying the global community against what he's doing. by the way, i do think that essentially time is an ally of the ukrainians. and russian casualties are an ally of the ukrainians. so he has a real problem. i'm somewhat surprised at how lethargic the russian offensive is. they have overwhelming preponderance of force. i think part of their problem is there's 100 lines of communication now into the russian people and their operating armed forces saying the global community has turned against them and we're not doing

too well against the brave ukrainians. >> and it's unclear to me, when he's talking about the nuclear deterrent forces, is he talking about his strategic weapons, those he uses against the u.s., or tactical theater weapons? what is he talking about, talking about using a nuclear weapon against partisans in ukraine? >> well, they have no utility. russians and u.s. and the french all have tactical nuclear weapons. and they're woven into the doctrine of deterrent war fighting to show you could fight across a range of levels of conflict and employ nuclear weapons as a deterrence argument. but these are political discussions. no right thinking lieutenant colonel in the russian armed forces, air force, or u.s. or anywhere else thinks it's a viable option. how you get rid of them, how you manage nuclear weapons is

another question. so again, i think it's a function of a stalled conventional military operation going on in ukraine with increasing casualties, but the major battle is nato coming together as a unified force, 100,000 u.s. troops now in europe and nato, forward deployed to the eastern nato countries. this is not going to look good. >> i just -- i'm sorry, i just didn't hear the last part of what general mccaffrey was saying because our ambassador at the u.n. is speaking at this moment at the security council. let's listen. >> in the general assembly. the council members who supported this resolution recognize that this is no ordinary moment. we need to take extraordinary actions to meet this threat to our international system and do everything we can to help

ukraine and its people. just this morning, president putin put russia's nuclear forces on high alert. even though he is invading a country with no nuclear weapons. and is under no threat from nato, a defensive alliance that will not fight in ukraine. this is another escalatory and unnecessary step that threatens us all. we urge russia to tone down its dangerous rhetoric regarding nuclear weapons. these are issues that affect all member states, and now in the general assembly, they can all make their voices heard on russia's war of choice. we will then vote on a resolution that will hold russia to account for its indefensible

actions and for its violations of the u.n. charter. as we speak, rockets continue to rain down on kyiv and across ukraine. tanks are tearing through cities. russia readies still more brutal weaponry. bombs that flatten cities and indiscriminately target civilians, for an unjustifiable assault fabricated out of lies and the rewriting of history. russia also propagates outrageous lies about ukraine's conduct in its own defense. we are alarmed by the mounting reports of civilian casualties. videos of russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into ukraine and the widespread

destruction of civilian facilities like residences, schools, and hospitals. to the russian officers and soldiers, i say the world is watching. photographic and video evidence is mounting. and you will be held to account for your actions. we will not let atrocities slide. those of us here safely sitting in this hallowed hall have a moral responsibility to respond to russia's desecration of human life. that means humanitarian aid like the thermal blankets, usaid has already airlifted to tens of thousands of ukrainians in need and the recently announced $54 million in additional humanitarian assistance that will reach hundreds of thousands

more. that means military support, including the additional $350 million of security assistance the united states is shipping to ukraine. and it means holding the sole aggressor, russia, accountable for its actions. that will take some courage from some fellow member states, and i know that. they have shown strength by the inspiration i would like to stress for the inspiration i would ask you to look to the ukrainian people. they have shown strength, courage, and resilience in the face of russian guns and soldiers and bombs and rockets. they also maintain the courage to sit down and talk. we welcome their continued willingness to participate in peace talks.

on friday night, darkness descended on kyiv, missiles attacked a sheltering city. but the next morning, ukrainians woke up to a new citizen, a baby girl born to a mother in a bomb shelter. the baby's name is mia. photos of her tiny hand gripping her mother as they hid underground have inspired the world. let us have the courage of mia's mother. let us have the courage of the ukrainian people standing bravely to defend their democracy, their way of life, and their futures. let us show them that they are not alone. that the world stands behind them. that the united nations has a purpose. that the additional bravery of the protesters in russia is not

in vain. let us do everything, everything we can to help the people of ukraine as they stand up for themselves, for their sovereign country, and for their children. thank you. >> and that, of course, was linda thomas greenfield, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations. really laying out what the stakes are for the world, what the stakes are for russia, given the threats and mentioning also that nuclear threat that we were just discussing with barry mccaffrey, with general mccaffrey. i was about to ask ambassador mcfaul and ambassador taylor, and general mccaffrey, to also comment on that. ambassador mcfaul, someone who knows vladimir putin well, who speaks russian, you first met him, i think, in 2008 or perhaps earlier. >> 1991, andrea. >> a lot earlier.

>> i have been around a long time, yeah. >> you have been studying him for years. what does he mean by talking about his nuclear deterrent? >> well, i mentioned that because i have known about him for a long time, met him, written about him, sat in a room for five years with him, every senior u.s. government official that met with him in the first five years of the obama administration, i was there. i have read and listened to many speeches, and this president putin is becoming increasingly unhinged. i listen to this speech ten times, the one where he talked about nuclear weapons. this is not business as usual. this is not the normal, if you do this, we do that. this was something different. and i urge people, even if you don't speak russian, to look at his secretary, minister of defense and his joint chiefs of staff, the two generals there, when he was saying, look at their faces. this was serious. and i think we need to take it seriously. now, it doesn't mean we

overreact. obviously. there's something called mutual assured destruction. mr. putin knows that. but i do think it is incumbent upon the u.s. administration, using back channels, general milley should be calling his counterpart, secretary austin should be calling his counterpart. and just to be reassured that this is just bluster and that they do affirm, theyresolution, weeks ago that we all agree nuclear war is completely forbidden. even if it's a .2% probability, .02% probability, we want it to be a .01% probability and move it that way. the second point i want to make about it, i think it's illustrative of how isolated he is. he's been disconnected for a long, long time, even when i was ambassador, i left in 2014, even way back then, he sat out at his

dacha, he never listened to anybody. he has nobody to tell him, mr. president, i think you're going too far here. he's completely disconnected from society. he has zero connection with the society now. and out in the world, you know, basically, has xi jinping as the only person he respects. as a result of that, i think he's making really bad decisions. and that is worrisome to me. >> ambassador taylor, as someone who has been in ukraine next door, you know zelenskyy so well, the world has been extraordinarily impressed by his courage and his ability to rally his people. can you explain also why he would agree to go to the belarus border where belarus has been a staging area where lukashenko has been an ally of putin, a military ally. why would he take -- he wouldn't do that himself, but why would he send a delegation? >> andrea, you're right.

president zelenskyy has shown remarkable courage, remarkable leadership, remarkable focus, remarkable determination. i mean, he has really stepped up, exactly what you say. and it's true what you say, that the world community, and the national security has noticed this and respected this. even more important, it's how he's leading his country and how he's unifying his country. i have had conversations today, yesterday, with people of all kinds, people who were out on the street defending kyiv, people who are in opposition, they are all honored, in particular, the fellow that i was talking to who was out on the streets with his weapon, he and his colleagues are honored to be led by this man. he's really stepped up. you asked the question, why should he send a delegation to the border? well, first, of course, the proposal that president putin made, that the russians made, was to send a delegation to minsk, to the capital of

belarus, and president zelenskyy turned it down flat. that was not even serious. to send a delegation to the border, the river, is an indication that the ukrainians are looking for every way to be able to defend their country and defend their principles and defend their sovereignty, but be open for conversations, open for a negotiation. this has to end in some kind of negotiation. it's not going to end in a battle, militarily. this is going to end in a conversation which probably the russians will back down after they have been slowed and they have had their nose bloodied, but in any case, it's going to be a negotiation. the negotiation is going to be in priviat. i think president zelenskyy suggested it be in israel as a more neutral place that has links to both sides, but on the border, on the river, one side or other of the river is a

reasonable place to go. >> and suggesting israel after having been accused of being a nazi, a jewish president, shows at least he hasn't lost his irony or his sense of humor. thank you so very much to all of you. general mccaffrey, of course, ambassador taylor, and we'll see you in a few moments, ambassador mcfaul, checking back with you throughout the hour. >> first, as we have been reporting, president putin ordering his nuclear forces on high alert. jen psaki reacted with msnbc's jonathan capehart. >> this is exactly the kind of manufactured threats that president putin has been using since the beginning of this crisis to justify further aggressive action. what is fact here is that russia is under no threat from nato, has never been, is under no threat from ukraine, has never been. it is russia and president putin who are taking the aggressive action. >> and joining us now is former

cia director john brennan. director brennan, what is your reaction to vladimir putin's announcement about the nuclear deterrent? and also the way he's been behaving, the way he's been prosecuting this war so far? >> well, i think he's trying to intimidate the west by saber rattling, his nuclear capability. i think that's what he's big been doing, trying to intimidate the west into not responding the way it has to the situation in ukraine. which is why so many people, myself included, didn't think he was going to go forward with this full-scale invasion, because of the tremendous consequences on the battlefield as well as financially, economically, and internationally. he was going to face. and so unfortunately, i think it looks as though vladimir putin has been blind to reality and has badly miscalculated what we would do in response. i hope it's a miscalculation as opposed to his anticipation of this chain of events, because i would hate to think that he's going to use this pretext of the situation in ukraine for an

existential confrontation with nato, but i do think he has been slowed, but only if he stops this russia war machine and reverses course will we be able to step down from what appears to be a very dangerous escalatory spiral, which has unknown future ahead of us. >> it's very clear given the lopsided david and goliath, if you will, matchup here, that once putin, if he does decide to throw everything in, to throw everything at ukraine, he can conquer ukraine. in terms of the force strength, the numbers of his forces. he would have to decide to get his men out of the tanks and go, you know, apartment to apartment and take huge civilian losses with a big reaction in russia, where there are familial relationships between the two are very close. >> he can degrade without a

doubt the ukrainian military, and probably destroy most of it, but he's not going to be able to destroy the ukrainian resistance. we have seen the inspirational leadership of president zelenskyy, which has basically called the people of ukraine together to oppose this invading force. and so the cost that the russian military has already incurred and is likely to incur is going to be astronomical from a standpoint of the political repercussions in russia. we see already the demonstrations, the protests. i would think the people around putin who may have been in league with him up until now are recognizing this is a no-win situation. so as others before me have said, i think that putin right now is in a very desperate position. and may become even more reckless. that's why i think we need to do everything possible to respond to his efforts to intimidate the west and to continue to rally support and to let mr. putin know that this is not going to be tolerated. putin is evil.

the russian people are not evil. and the more we can cast this as putin's war, as opposed to russia's war, and that's why i think the ambassador greenfield's comments at the u.n. were so important. to direct it to the russian people that this is something that is not in fact what it is that they want or need at this time. we're hoping the russian people are going to recognize that mr. putin is putting them on a path to destruction, and the sooner he is pushed away from that path, the better for all concerned. >> we have seen protests in russia a couple years ago with the opposition cohering, coalescing, if you will, around alexei navalny. all of the opposition groups. there was talk at the time this kwd be the undoing of vladimir putin, and then he crushed them. and it just, you know, by jailing navalny, attacking him again, then jailing him, imprisoning him under false charges. as well as taking out the other

leaders, making it illegal to protest, to be part of any of these groups. so are these protests as ephemeral or is something else really happening in russia? >> well, the word unprecedented sometimes is overused, but i think it truly applies to the situation right now. this is an unprecedented situation in terms of russia's invasion in ukraine and the international response and the pariah status putin and russia are now assuming. we see the dp has moved away from its russian investments. there is going to be repercussions across the board, so therefore, i think the russian people are already feeling it in terms of how the ruble has toppled. and the impact it's going to have on the availability of goods and services. and i think we're going to be seeing the departure of foreign investors, others, and so again, i think this has no precedent in previous recent russian history. and that's why i think these protests and demonstrations are only destined to get more

violent, more widespread, and have very direct, i think, political repercussions on putin's fortunes and his future. i don't see him coming out of this in any shape at all. >> thanks so much, director brennan. you're an invaluable asset as we discuss this, having watched vladimir putin for so many years. thank you very much. >> and we have been keeping a close eye on the u.n. security council and what they did, too, was vote after you saw linda thomas greenfield. what they did was vote to pass this emergency -- to pass this resolution condemning russia onto the general assembly tomorrow. the vote against, there was a veto from russia and again china, india, and the united arab republic abstained and because there were already nine votes to pass it to the general assembly for consideration tomorrow, that russian veto did not negate it.

so the resolution proceeds to the general assembly where there is expected to be a large majority in favor of condemning russia, despite its leadership of the security council, which will end monday night. >> across the world, people have taken to the streets to protest russia's invasion of ukraine. exactly the way it's happening in russia. on friday, more than 100,000 people in berlin standing in solidarity with ukraine. in istanbul today, hundreds including many ukrainian ex-patriots singing ukraine's national anthem and urging the world to stand with ukraine. and waving, of course, the iconic, now iconic blue and yellow flags. while in paris, crowds gathered in the square saturday to call for an end to the russian invasion. at nightfall, the city of lights honored ukraine by bathing the eiffel tower in blue and yellow. >> up next, the confirmation fight, what republicans are saying about the president's

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thank the gods. don't thank them too soon. kick pain in the aspercreme. newly minted supreme court nominee judge ketanji brown jackson is facing attacks from some senate republicans. minority leader mitch mcconnell calling her the favored choice for far left dark money groups on sunday and questioning her productivity as an appeals court judge. lindsey graham, one of three senate republicans to confirm her eight months ago, criticized her ivy league credentials and said, quote, the radical left has won president biden over yet again. joining me is patrick gaspard, a former ambassador to south africa from the united states. thank you very much. so, judge jackson is going to be vetted thoroughly in the coming weeks. but what are your initial thoughts? she is widely viewed by all

legal experts whom i have spoken to and writers without any conditions at all as being very qualified. more qualified than many of the jurists now sitting on the high court when they were first nominated. >> andrea, thank you so much for having me on. i have to tell you that i am really glowing about this choice. it's an exciting choinj in two respects. one, she is just imminently well qualified as somebody who has been in the federal appeals court system. she clerked for the justice that she's replacing. this is a former editor of the harvard law review. she's served in private practice and most critically, she's going to be the very first public defender to sit on the supreme court. this is somebody whose qualifications are unassailable and even, of course, senator ted cruz had to say there was nothing specific in her record that he could find to be critical about. the other reason why this is a hugely important choice is

because of the historic nature of the choice. yes, she will be the first african american woman to serve on the supreme court. that should matter to your viewers and to all americans because we have had 112 justices, 105 of them, andrea, have been white men. that's 94%, which certainly does not indicate representation in our democracy. that matters. it's also incredible important that we have somebody here who clearly has the intellect to craft even in her dissenting opinions decisions that will be informative for the next several decades at a time when the court is rolling back voting rights, women's right to choose, when we have seen judgment after judgment that have gone against working people in the supreme court, her voice will really matter. it's a great choice. >> in her remarks on friday, she also mentioned her family's connections had been to both sides of the law. you know, a father who was a

policeman, an uncle a policeman, and an uncle who was incarcerated. how do you think those experiences as well as her being a public defender and she's being criticized by some republicans already for some of the cases she had. as a public defender, you're assigned cases. you're a pro bono lawyer being assigned to the poorest, to the people trapped in the system. you don't choose the innocence or guilt of the people to whom you're assigned. >> you framed it well, andrea. apparently, hypocrisy is an important political skill set. this is a judge who has, of course, observed her duty and has observed it well. when she represented the guantanamo cases, she was taking up the mission of being a public defender and has made it very clear the views that were expressed in the trial were the views of her clients and certainly not her views. we have a court that has historically been dominated by prosecutors, so it's actually important to have a time when we know so much more about

disparity in sentencing and the lack of equity in our justice system that we have somebody who has served as a public defender. so you're right in your framing, and president biden would remind all of us this is a choice that's not being vetted now but has been thoroughly vetted and has passed through three senate confirmations and had the votes of senators like lindsey graham, who now, of course, are raising odd objections. >> she's going to start meeting with senators individually starting tomorrow when they're back in town. and we'll see whether she gets -- she's already having better treatment than merrick garland, who never even got a meeting. so let's see how mitch mcconnell handles this one. >> she'll acquit herself well. this is an exemplary public servant who is going to be a great jurist for decades. >> thank you so much for being with us, ambassador. >> and the state of the union, will the war in eastern europe overtake the president's domestic priorities as he gets

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and we have breaking news. this just in from the u.s. embassy in ukraine, urging american citizens who may still be inside ukraine to get out now. by private car, by bus, by plane. they are recommending that they use the border crossings with hungary, romania, and slovakia because they're les crowded than poland, but they're warning these waits to cross can be very long. so they're advising anyone who plans to make the trip to pack things like extra power for mobile phones, batteries, food and water for at least two days, blankets, sleeping bags, warm clothes. baby diapers and things you would need. i want to bring back former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, also with us, richard

haass. ambassador, first to you. the signal from the embassy, they're getting concerned, clearly, about the safety, about it spreading, about putin deciding to send more forces in because of his frustration presumably over what's happened so far in kyiv and kharkiv and other metropolitan centers. the time to get out is now, and pole nld is up to 30 hours now backed up. telling them to go elsewhere. >> yeah, it's very scary. andrea, the embassy doesn't do that unless they're very concerned. i think what's going on here is the first plan of attack for putin was going to, he hoped it was going to be shock and awe, they were going to lay down, the government was going to flee, and it was going to be a light operation, military people in ukraine and in russia and in the united states who i have been talking to, that's what everybody says was the plan. it didn't work. so now he's going to plan b, which will involve many more casualties. a lot more death, a lot more casualties in these big cities, and i think that's why you're

seeing this new warning to americans to get out. >> even as we have been sitting here for the last 47, 48 minutes, richard haass, so much has happened already. the vote in the security council, the warnings in moscow, the warnings from the embassy here. just now, the press saying that the eu countries, according to the head of the eu, is going to provide fighter jets to ukraine. eu countries have agreed to suspend asylum requests requirements for three years so refugees, hundreds of thousands already pouring across the borders, can have easier access, eliminate the paperwork. richard, this crisis, is it going to dominate the state of the union? this is the president's big chance, his first big chance to try to right, you know, right what's big gone with his declining polls, talk about inflation, talk about domestic concerns. he can't avoid this crisis.

>> not only he can't avoid this crisis, he shouldn't. >> he shouldn't. >> this is a major crisis. this is one of -- this will be a turning point in the lives of 330 million americans and ultimately 8 billion people around the globe. so this has got to be centered. the president came into office wanting to focus on things domestic, and i'm reminded of a former prime minister of great britain, harold mcmillan when he once was asked what is the toughest thing about being a statesman, being prime minister, he said events, dear boy, events. the president had his agenda and now events have intervened and he has to pivot. what he has to do is deal with this and at the same time, deal with an enormous domestic agenda from inflation to crime in our cities to the fact that a lot of americans are still frustrated with the prolonged dealing with covid and it's long list. he has to deal with the combination of the two, because

this could in many ways entail sacrifices if putin retaliates with cyberattacks on american financial institutions. if the price of energy goes up even higher. so the president may take a longer speech. i don't know, but it cleary, he's got to take this into account. this has to be front and center. >> and richard, also, we have heard praise for vladimir putin's strength from donald trump, and this would not be happening if i were president. and also from mike pompeo and others in some corners of the republican party. it's being used on russian tv as propaganda. >> the reason it happened probably wouldn't have happened on mr. trump'spompeo's watch iso reason to do it, if the fruit is falling from the free, if your enemy is in the process of undermining the nato alliance, why would you do anything to get in his way? the reason in part it's happening now is that didn't --

mr. putin had to deal with a very different situation. i think he felt there was a certain window to act, and i would say he has underestimated the opposition at every step. he underestimated the united states, he clearly underestimated germany and europe. he clearly underestimated his opposite number in ukraine and the ukrainian people. and by the way, mike mcfaul would know this better than anybody, he's clearly underestimated his own people. he's so removed from the pulse of his own society, i think he didn't understand that what he has wrought has brought about something most russians don't want. >> mike mcfaul, quickly, do you think the calls from general austin and milley, you know, to their counterparts will have any impact at all? will they get -- can they get through to vladimir putin? >> well, on the nuclear issue, yes. i think we need reassurance from

them that this is talk. it's not real, and that would normally happen under conditions of war. that was a channel, by the way, we used with the russians during the georgian war. but will it get putin to change his mind about the war in ukraine? absolutely not. he's dug in. he will not change his mind. there will be no sanctions that will change his mind. but i want to just really underscore something richard said. i think he's absolutely right. putin has misjudged europe. the united states, he's really misjudged mr. zelenskyy. president zelenskyy, and he's misjudged his own people, and that's because he sits out there not talking to anybody, not listening to anybody, and now he's been alone for years and we're seeing the consequences of that isolation. >> maybe a lot more isolated given the reactions of the eu and some of the rest of the world. thanks so much, richard haass, and of course, ambassador mcfaul. stay with us for the next hour. russia's attack on ukraine could

cause severe spikes in energy prices across the globe. oil has surpassed $100 a barrel on brent crude for the first time on friday since 2014. joining us is meghan o'sullivan, former assistant to george w. bush and former national security adviser for iraq and afghanistan and on the board of raytheon technologies as well. we're learning british petroleum is going to exit its $14 billion stake, a sign of the western business world cutting its ties with the kremlin. what's your reaction to that and the decisions taken by germany and the rest of the eu regarding s.w.i.f.t.? presumably it will be ratified by the belgian people who run that messaging service. >> what we have seen is that in the last week, we have started to have things that were not even spoken about really with any seriousness a week or so ago come into the realm of the reality and the possibility when it comes to economic sanctions.

so i think we're really moving into a territory where we're no longer looking to deter president putin but really looking to try to really contain him, really even if this problem with ukraine, if this terrible invasion is reversed, which i don't see happening, basically we're going to see the west be at odds with putin for a long time to come. and i think companies like bp and others are realizing that this is something that is going to affect the business climate in russia and in europe for the long term. and making decisions accordingly. >> it has not, though, affected opec decisions. the u.s. asked saudis to impact oil production, they said no. we're already seeing higher gasoline prices. the higher the gasoline price, the more profit that russia makes, that putin makes, because that's his biggest industry.

>> that's of course true, that actually although we talk a lot about natural gas in the context of this conflict because of european democracy on russia, russia makes $4 for every $1 it makes from -- it makes $4 from oil for every $1 it makes from natural gas, so oil is much more a part of the russian energy portfolio. and the consequences for the oil market will be even greater for russia. however, there's a lot of ways in which this could go badly for russia on the oil front as well. although the west is really making pains to keep energy flows from being impacted by this, the reality is that already traders are nervous about russian crude. they think it may be legal to trade in russian crude now, but who knows what it's going to be a few weeks from now or a month from now. the sanctions they have exceptions for energy trade, but again, these exceptions may be

the kinds of things that banks are a little nervous about and nervous about being too invested in that kind of trade. so i do think there's a lot at stake, both for the west and for russia when it comes to oil markets, and we should continue to see quite a bit of turbulence. >> with gas prices going up and already on top of the inflationary problems from covid and the supply chains and the like, how is the president going to handle this with the american people? who may well say, i mean, there's this whole isolationist strain on both wings of both parties. so is america going to stand with ukraine? >> well, i think for sure we can count on the biden administration standing with ukraine. and that's the most important thing right now, that the biden administration is clearly out in front, in the lead, bringing together nato, bringing together europe, bringing together parts of asia for really a united front supporting ukraine, supporting a democracy that's

under attack by an authoritarian regime. i think that will continue. the inflation, of course, will cause political problems at home, and there are a number of tools that the biden administration has to deal with it. none of them promise to eradicate the problem or even greatly ameliorate it, one thing i think wewill see is a release from the petroleum reserve. it will be coordinated, not just in the united states but other parts of the world. that may help. it won't be, again, a panacea, but it could add a little bit of relief. there are other things being talked about. a relief from the gas tax, or some senators have said we should top exporting natural gas. i don't see those things happening right now, in part because this export of natural gas is turning into the backbone of european energy security right now. so i don't see us curtailing that in order to keep prices at home down. and at this point, i don't see a lot of support for relief from

the gas tax because it makes bad economic sense. now, if this continues, maybe it turns into good political sense, but right now, we can expect things like release said from the strategic petroleum reserve. >> meghan o'sullivan, thank you so much. >> and we'll have much more coming up in the next hoir on this special edition of weekend edition of andrea mitchell reports. >> former energy secretary, ernest moniz joins us on the growing threat as putin puts his nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. stay with us. we'll be right back. ay with us we'll be right back.

. >> a good afternoon. this is a special sunday edition of andrea mitchell reports, continuing our breaking news coverage of russia's unprovoked attack on ukraine, i ukraini