for street to street fighting mixing molotov cocktails as fast as they can fill bbottles. >> we're fighting for freedom and self-reliance, for our houses and children. we'll stand until the end. >> reporter: we followed volunteers that brought the firearms in wheelbarrows manned by ukrainians and any else trusted in the neighborhood. >> this is my home. all people in this district, we're saving it. >> reporter: many ukrainians are staying determined to die fighting rather than lose their nation. >> our thanks to richard engel. that does it for us. i'll toss it to ali velshi in for joy. >> good to see you. have yourself an excellent evening. good evening. i'm ali velshi in for joy reid and we begin "the reidout" tonight with the fight for ukraine that will continue into the sixth day tonight after a first round of so-called peace talks concluded this morning. those talks were held at

ukraine's border with belarus and they yielded no breakthroughs. while president zelenskyy sent high level officials to negotiate, the russian delegation was led by vladimir putin's advisor on culture, a choice junior enough that may indicate he has little interest in ending the siege. in a speech late today president zelenskyy said the talks were conducted against the background of bombardment. he accused russia of war crimes calling for the destruction of their economy and removal from the united nations security counsel, which has a rotating chair, russia is the chair of it at the moment ironically. meanwhile, russia's currency more unstable than ever. the european union is preparing a massive delivery of weapons to ukraine. they closed europe's air space to all russian aircraft as have other countries but putin is not only isolated on the world

stage, he's humiliated on the actual battle field. think about this. 75% of the forces that he staged around ukraine on the boarders of ukraine are now inside the country and the shelling continues but despite russia's vast military superiority to ukraine, russia is unable to take and hold any major cities of five days of fighting. they still haven't gained control of ukraine's air space. their advance is plagued by logistic l failures, broken supply lines, delays but may be attributed to something else, far stiffer resistance than anyone expected. in addition to the bravery of the ukrainian armed forces, we've seen the courage of ordinary ukrainian people including video of people physically blocking tanks with their bodies. there are signs that some of russia soldiers didn't even know

they were actually headed to war. according to an expert with the german marshall fund, quote, soldiers captured during the invasion have told interviewers they believed they were taking part in exercises, end quote, which as you recall is what the kremlin was telling everyone. she said many of them, if not most of them say they've not been informed by their leadership why and where they're going end quote. to that point, take a look at this recent video showing a ukrainian resident mocking a russian soldier whose tank reportedly ran out of gas. out .

>> i asked the whole column of people like you and nobody knows where they're going. the russian soldier didn't have any idea where he was going. another indication putin's forces may have not been as prepared as putin wanted them to think. raising the spector of nuclear war, he escalated it yesterday, putin is further alienating himself from the world at large. this morning, ukraine's ambassador to the united nations responded to that threat with blunt words for the russian autocrat. listen to him. >> if he wants to kill himself, he doesn't need to use nuclear arsenal. he has to do what the guy in bellin did in the bunker in may 1945. >> the guy in the bunker in

berlin, hitler. reporting indicates putin may escalate attacks to break ukraine's momentum. we're seeing shelling in residential neighborhoods in kharkiv in eastern ukraine. a senior defense official said frustration on the battle field could lead to a more aggressive approach by the russians. satellite imagery is showing a 17 mile long convoy of russian vehicles, tanks and artillery 15 miles from ukraine's capital of kyiv as of this morning. joining me now is nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin and keir simmons. good morning to you. erin, let's start with you in lviv. many have moved west and some stopped where you are in cities in western ukraine. others just kept on going to the

polish border. the polls saying in excess of half a million people i believe have crossed over. >> reporter: that's right, and ukrainians that i've been speaking to here in lviv are absolutely traumatized. i was speaking to one woman at a shelter here, she was from belarus originally, was living in odessa and fled the city with her husband and she was incredibly concerned, not only for her own safety but also for the safety of her mother living in belarus describing the aggie -- agony her mother was facing watching russian forces fire missiles from belarus in the direction of her daughter, it's the traumatic scenes i'm hearing from ukraine yins. speaking to people, they were extraordinary concerned with the situation in kharkiv, the city in the northeastern section of

the city which was subject to what ukrainians allege were seemingly indiscriminate artillery fire, rockets raining down on the center of the city, striking homes according to the kharkiv mayor. 80 homes were flattened by russian forces. nine civilians killed including three children and it's the civilian toll that's so concerning with the international criminal court opening up a case, an investigation into possible war crimes by the russians during this invasion. it was something president zelenskyy noted during his address he posted on his telegram account this evening calling on the international community to strip russia of the u.n. security counsel seat, also calling into question the negotiations that are now going on between the russian delegation and the ukrainian delegation in belarus saying how

can there be negotiations when one side is shelling the other, ali? >> erin, stand by. keir simmons in moscow. keir, one of the things we've been commenting on is the degree u.s. intelligence what was going to happen turned out to be very accurate and the basis which the u.s. and european union and nato were acting even volodymyr zelenskyy didn't believe some of that intelligence but one of the pieces that was reported is that the russians were going to go for kyiv, the capital city and would be able to take it in a matter of days, that if whatever russia wanted out of ukraine because of the military superiority was going to be able to achieve. that has not happened right now. how is that reverberaing in russia? >> reporter: well, it's not reverberating well. people are noticing because despite what is said on russian television, russian state television, which certain aspects of the population particularly for example older generations have a different perspective. many people of course, are able to talk to people in ukraine

but, you know, ali, i had an opportunity to listen to a briefing today from western officials and it really highlighted in the view of western officials, russian intelligence was bad. now the pentagon authority said russia is facing more resistance than it thought. here is what western officials said today. they said that vladimir putin's pronouncements in an essay he wrote last year and in multiple speeches, that ukraine and russia were brothers and that ukrainians would welcome russians with open arms and he really believe that so much so he baked it into the russian strategy. so you remember, president putin is absolutely in charge. he's the commander. he made the plans. he baked that in. the fact that hasn't happened has surprised everyone in the kremlin including president putin himself. here is another aspect that we learned in the past few days,

ali which is really fascinating and goes to the same point. this pronouncement by president putin that the nuclear forces will be put on higher alert, he said that he did that because of aggressive comments by nato. now, it appears that a speech made by the u.k. defense minister was shown on russian television and that's what if you like wound president putin up so president putin appears to have been watching russian television, seen something he didn't like, and made an announcement of russian foreign policy. i'll let you fill in the blanks for what other former president that sounds like. >> no kidding. thanks to both of you. thanks for your reporting. it's the middle of the night, 2: a.m. in lviv. i'm joined by a member of the ukrainian parliament and a former deputy minister of education and science. thank you for being with us today. your story is like so many

ordinary ukrainians. you have another job. you are a parliamentarian but you're not weapons trained. you're in your home with a weapon in case you have to defend your city against invading russians. i suspect this is not a position you ever expected to find yourself in. >> that is so much true. just for the background, i'm a university professor, that is what i was doing in life and that is what i was trained to do and right now, i do have a gun. i haven't used it as of yet but it's here and i go to sleep next to the gun just like so many other ukrainians right now and i also have -- my boyfriend is with the family, my dad joined, i had to make sure to relocate my son to make sure he's safe and continue my work as a member of parliament here and not worry

about his safety every minute. so i think that is just the story, it was so typical of so many ukrainians right now and because of this a war, we're in this position now. so we just want that to stop. we just want to go home. i'm not actually at my home now. i'm in the wardrobe at my friend's place because that's the only place i can turn on the light and feel safe. >> right, because you -- >> not next to windows. >> it's the middle of the night and you got a light on in your window. you said your father is part of the territorial defense. what is that and what is your father's role and what got him into this? >> so the territorial defense, those units of volunteers who are signing up for protecting a specific territory. the truth, the only time i actually cried during the five days, was the first day when i saw the huge lines in the

military recruitment office of people signing up for territorial defense. as of yesterday, over 100,000 people signed up for territorial defense. they are being provided for weapons. we need more perspective gear and training for them and so did my dad, actually. it was quite unexpected because the first day of war, he took my mom to the rest of ukraine to make sure she would be safe but the next day my mom called and said dad is coming back home and i called him and i said dad, why are you coming? he was like seriously, this is the quote, he said i have to go back to protect the capital of ukraine, the city of kyiv. i said dad, you're 61 years old. he's an afghan war veteran so he has experience but he has techniques the government wants very fast and he told me well, if i don't work very fast, i'll

defend the capital. so he's now doing some extremely dangerous work because that is being covered by the military but he's patrolling the territory just like so many other people because what russians did and that is something that's dangerous inside kyiv because they haven't entered the city but they did infiltrate many groups of people who are working around the city. they start shooting randomly at people or they have set targets for missile attacks so those territorial defense are trying to patrol and find officials and try to make sure that they're not a threat anymore. that they're doing a great job, actually. as you were reporting, this level of resistance, it just is amazing. i expected ukrainians to exist but now i'm in love with every single one of them regardless of

their political affiliation, i believe we would have so many differences after we start speaking after the victory but right now everyone is so much involved and what is important to understand, putin was trolling this narrative he's coming to free russian speakers in ukraine but they are fighting as hard against him as ukrainian speakers. >> wow. that story about your dad who has difficulty walking who says he will crawl, who returned to kyiv after taking your mother to the west, we're hearing stories like this every day. thank you for sharing this with us. ukrainian parliament member ina has returned and is staying in kyiv to help defend the country. up next on "the reidout" the global condemnation of russia is universal and a new round of sanctions left the economy in tatters. putin made several huge

miscalculations and all he has left are provocative nuclear threats. the question, though, is, is he bluffing or coming unhinged? a key test tomorrow for the republican party as president biden delivers the state of the union address. can republicans put aside the trolling and show some american unity? he's ukraine's david to russia's goliath. this one-time comedian nobody is laughing at anymore. the remarkable journey of volodymyr zelenskyy. "the reidout" continues after this. volodymyr zelenskyy. "the reidout" continues after "the reidout" continues after this the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away

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1950. >> we gather in the general assembly to stand against russia's illegal attack on ukraine. >> we condemn in the strongest terms the unprovoked attack by russia. >> what is currently being deliberately inflicted on ukraine doesn't allow us to remain silent. >> we cannot accept one country attacking another without justification. >> it is illegal. it is illegitimate and it is unacceptable. >> now, that seemed pretty universal except for this. this is one notable exception, china, which said it didn't support a cold war mentality but that russia had quote legitimate security concerns. now putting that aside, it's not just diplomatic rhetoric. they're taking real action in what might be the biggest financial hit yet.

the united states is sanctioning russia's central bank like the fed effectively removing russia's ability to trade in u.s. dollars as a government. switzerland is forgoing its traditional neutrality adopting the e.u.'s sanctions against russia including the freezing of russian assets in swiss banks. germany is sending weapons to ukraine in a hugely historic move reversing the policy of never sending weapons to conflict zones. as the associated press points out, within days vladimir putin achieved what remained out of the grasp of the european union for many decades to jointly buy and send weapons to a war zone and restore something that was broken for years transatlantic. former white house and senior advisor to the statements department. great to see you, thank you for

being with us. i have to ask you about what it is that has made vladimir putin, sort of backed him into this corner of nuclear warfare. is it the unity or the sanctions, something has put him over the top? >> it's the fact that as far back as 2014, putin was getting away with everything. he rolled into crimea, annexed it and got kicked out of the g 8 club that turned into the g 7. minimal sanctions at that time. he's supported with barrel bombs, some of the most horrific weapons. the war in syria creating a refugee crisis that overwhelmed europe at the time. all of that can be placed at the feet of russia so fast forward he has the trump administration where nato has been undermined, that transatlantic line seems to

be broken. he thought his work was done for him. biden comes in, talks about the crisis between democracy, autocracy but putin doesn't necessarily think biden or the world will stand up to him because they hadn't before and what we're seeing now is 130 countries working in unity to cripple the russian economy and hold putin and his cronies directly responsible. >> what is different this time? as you mentioned, russia did this in 2014 in crimea after the ukrainians had protested and thrown out their own government because they didn't like them. they did it in georgia in 2008. other countries have invaded other countries. the u.n. always says this isn't allowed, we don't do it. why all of a sudden is there this global unity and pressure to stop russia? >> well, we can point to the first gulf war in which there

was a collision and the united states has been a target for russian disinformation and election interference as recently as this past summer for a cyber attack. russia, the threat of russia only increased and become more severe for the american public. biden has framed his entire foreign policy agenda around this access of democracy versus autocracy and of course, we do see that rhetoric of white supremacy that has also aligned many people with putin and folks do think this is an opportunity if stand up for this idea of democracy on the world stage and credit where it due, ali, president biden has known putin for more than 20 years and engaged with him on the world stage. as a president he's learning from lessons and mistakes made

when he was vice president or in the senate. >> i want to ask about a poll that said 63% of americans are concerned russia may use nuclear weapons if nato tries to interfere with the invasion. 70% of americans say american troops should get involved if russia invades a nato country. obviously, ukraine is not a nato country but lithuania and poland have legitimate real fears that russia will roll over and come into their countries. tell me how to think about this. >> well, president biden said this himself last week that he does not think that putin is going to stop at ukraine. so what can be done right now to make him suffer for just this incursion and attack on ukraine to prevent him from his visions of expanding forward? that said, putin according to multiple reports is not the same

person he was multiple years ago, claims of him becoming irrational and overreacting. covid he's been in a small circle, placed several dozen feet away from a table from his own advisors. he's not seeing the reality the rest of us are. having a crippled economy and massive protests in his country may prompt him to act out further but at the moment the plan is to use these non-military tools to try to keep this nuclear armed russia a threat we saw in the '80s, a threat ronald reagan railed against, that the current republican party is not holding firm against, everyone trying to keep that at bay. how long will ordinary russians put up with the steep price they're paying for putin's aggression and what is the end game on all of this? we'll be right back. he end game on all of this? game on all of this? we'll be right back.up and get .

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tonight, the western world's financial grip on russia continues to tighten. the united states and the e.u. imposed new measures effectively cutting russia off from the sizable war chest it set aside for this very situation. the move blocks all people in the united states and the e.u., all people in businesses from trading with russia central

bank. the restrictions are a dramatic escalation choking off russia from the rest of the world and shaking the very foundations of its economy. in an acknowledgement of how bad things have gotten, in a bizarre setting, take a look at this picture where he is and where everybody else is, putin summoned his economic advisors to the kremlin and signed a degree on foreign currency to stabilize the ruble. isn't working. russians are lining up to withdrawal money from banks. this is similar to other scenes. the sanctions hit a nerve with putin for a second day in a row raise the threat of nuclear war and in another telling sign, russian telecom regulators partially restricted the country's access to facebook. this comes as russian anti war activists continue to take to

the streets to protest russia's invasion of ukraine. that comes at a very high cost, by the way in russia. if you get arrested for protesting the government in russia. it's career ending. joining me is the former u.s. ambassador to ukraine, william taylor, the vice president for russia and europe in the u.s. institute of peace. good to see you. thank you for being with us. what does success look like for vladimir putin? it has become confusing. first, he said this is about nato backing him into a corner and then protecting russians inside ukraine. then he said it about the denazi of ukraine. it hard to go into war without a clear focus. >> you're exactly right. he has no justification for this war. he tried to manufacture one. he tried to lure the u krin yins -- ukrainians into making a mistake and being provoked and they didn't. they were disciplined. the right question is what is he after? my sense is who knows what is

really in his head but my sense is what he has said is ukraine. he wants ukraine. he wants to be the great russian leader who brings back ukraine into the russian world, into the russian empire, into the former soviet union space and nothing will do until he has full control over ukraine one way or the other. he tried, ali, as we know for a long time, the mince process through donetsk would give him this control. it didn't. it failed. the ukrainians pushed back hard. the germans and french were not willing to push on the ukrainians much to the russia frustration so he's trying something more dramatic. he hoped he could bluff and bluster and intimidate president zelenskyy into kind of caving and coming back into the fold. no. president zelenskyy made it very

clear that he's not coming back in. he's standing firm. he's not going to leave ukraine. he's not doing to leave kyiv. president zelenskyy is standing up to president putin who is really focused on ukraine. >> one of the arguments that vladimir putin made and may be believed is that ukraine was a troubled place. it has gone through revolutions. it is uncertain. corruption runs deep in the country. there is no question all of those things are true and vladimir putin seemed to think that would work. that was going to somehow help him take over ukraine, a weak country that nobody would actually come to the defense of. something has happened, though, volodymyr zelenskyy who two weeks ago everybody thought was in over his head dealing with the world's master manipulator, rallied regular ukraiukrainians. we talk to them every hour. people that got a gun and are ready to fight for the country. that was not an expected outcome. >> that was not an expected outcome by most of the world.

i will tell you, i met volodymyr zelenskyy when he was first elected. i was there for about seven months while he was new in office. he had several good conversations. i saw him again three weeks ago in his office. he was determined and he was l e -- resalute. president zelenskyy has stood up and you're right, he's led his country and got the whole country behind him. i talked to good friends of mine that are still there, one fellow took his wife and children out to the western part of the country where his father lives and turned back around and went back to kyiv, picked up his weapon and is now very proud to be working for president zelenskyy. he's very proud of president zelenskyy. so this is something that has emerged over the past month or two that is impressive to see. >> it is.

it is remarkable to imagine people taking up arms. the math on this simply doesn't work for ukrainians. everything in the military, the russians have more of and are better trained, russians have found themselves in ok passions that didn't work for them. putin is different, he has a harder grip on russia, protesting is very costly in russia and yet, we're seeing it happen. we're seeing journalists writing letters to say this is inappropriate. we see people getting arrested. there is real -- it's not big by, you know, in terms of percentages of russians but something is happening in russia. >> you're exactly right. something is happening. not just journalists. about three, four weeks ago a very senior retired general, hard core general in the russian services wrote a letter, same kind of thing saying mr. putin,

mr. president, don't do this. don't invade. this was before the invasion. and this general said if you do, you could create a backlash among russians and he even used the word uprising. so this is something that senior people, experienced people are very worried about and exactly what you say, ali, the economic challenge that all these sanctions are put on and all these people going to pull their money out but it going to get even worse when the russian soldiers come back to be buried in towns and villages across the country and families are going to ask, why are our sons and daughters and brothers, why are they being killed? why? this is doing to be flammable. this is going to be inflammable. >> we're hearing stories about families that didn't know what their kids in the army were going to do, even those kids in the army didn't know what they were going to do and now some are being killed.

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tomorrow night president biden will deliver the first state of the union address amid crisis, domestic and global, the war on ukraine, economic uncertainty here at home and coronavirus. the president faces low approval ratings but tomorrow's speech offers him a big opportunity because with the entire world on edge it's a time when president biden's decades of experience

come down to bear. biden is uniquely suited for the new role that's been thrust upon him. biden and his team's patience and consultation led to the extraordinary unity on display, end quote. the question is will he see any of that same unity when it comes to republicans? the signs aren't promising. this weekend marjorie taylor greene appeared as the guest speaker at a conference organized by a white nationalist who literally encouraged a pro putin chant and the clown car that is cpac the twice impeached president praise the the russian dictator. >> the problem is not that putin is smart, which of course he's smart but the real problem is that our leaders are dumb. >> this from the man who got i'm peached for the first time for withholding military aid to

ukraine and shaking down its president. with me now is david jolly, no longer affiliated with the party. he's an msnbc political analyst and the entirely wrong guy to have this conversation with. you were never one of those people. cpac used to be a regular conservative conference that we would cover. it would push towards further right than the main stream of conservative thought but it was normal. now it's a clown car. it ridiculous. it has the pizza guy. it has the pillow guy. it has kyle rittenhouse. it's got donald trump saying crazy stuff. it's got people cheering for putin. what is going on? >> well, i think it reflects the state of the party. it's a lot of crazy and a little conservative. you heard themes drowned out by the way donald trump smashed the

orthodox and recast the party and image. cpac is a trailing indicator to all things donald trump and the speakers you see have to fit within that trump lane or they're not invited. cpac is not a conservative contest anymore. i think the cpac director said they don't call themselves conservatives anymore and i think the world would agree. >> the reason i say, i enjoy speaking to you. the reason i say you're the wrong guy to talk about this, you were never in the weird space. i remember a time when republicans were about national security and global security and the threat that the soviet union posed and the threat that post soviet russia posed. how does that get lost? i entirely understand there are people who just don't want to see success from joe biden whatsoever but how does the idea russia is talking about nuclear weaponry get lost on some republicans? >> look, we're ten years into this gop and we can talk about

ideology and personality, i think the greatest casualty of the last ten years for the gop is it's no longer a serious party and what i mean by that is look, a serious party and a serious congress honestly regardless of republican or democratic in the initial days of the russian invasion of ukraine would have said in concert together the congress stands ready to provide joe biden and the western alliance every resource that is needed to stop the aggression we're seeing from russia. that's it. we're here to do our job to provide resources to protect the security of the world. that's not today's republican party. it is no longer a serious ro -- party. >> sure. there is some hope. marco rubio tweeted today and he's pretty predictable on this stuff but he said growing signs putin ordered a medieval siege of kyiv cut millions off from food, power, communications and supplies and bomb and starve the government into submission. we need to think about what we

can and are willing to do to prevent such a crime. this is keeping with generally speaking marco rubio's hawkish thinks about military affairs. does he have enough say? are there enough republicans? will we see tomorrow night president biden putting together this coalition to go after russia. >> marco rubio isn't going to attend tomorrow night because of protests over the covid testing requirements and a pretty grievance between intel and the president of the united states is going to interfere with such a coalition. i think the unity you'll see is support for ukraine and not support for joe biden. when joe biden says to the world tomorrow night, the people of america stand with ukraine, you'll see almost unanimous applause but when he asks for a coalition of republicans and democrats to stand with joe biden as the leader among this

coalition of the west or one of the leaders, that's where you'll see the public descent that'saue united states on the world stage. >> the stuff joe biden has done in the last couple months having to do with ukraine is reminiscing of george h.w. bush and in the face of a global threat, america will take a leadership role. he does not seem in polling or the republican party at the moment to be getting any credit for that. >> no, i think you'll see quietly, right, nobody in the republican party that is responsible wants to give joe biden credit because they're all political narcissists but i think you'll see congress, a number of leading republicans respond affirmatively to biden's request for i believe 7 billion in u.s. assistance to ukraine, military and non-military. i think the interesting question, where if we truly had a serious conversation about this, is it too many for the united states and west to establish and expand a more permanent presence in places

like poland and understand we have standing instillations in germany, japan, other places around the world. i'm not suggesting armed conflict with the nations but what we're unwilling to do in ukraine because in large part they're not a nato member well the polls on lithuania's and particularly very interested in that they're truly concerned than expansionist russia will roll into a nato country. even if there are no members. that might happen. david, good to see you the truth always enjoy talking to. so i'm very pleased that you would join me tonight with your analysis. and your experience. -- from comedian to presidential global champion for democracy. how volodymyr wasilewski is inspiring millions around the world with his courage and his commitment. we'll be right back. commitment we'll be crepe corrector lotion... only from gold bond.

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ukrainian president worried that he was in the way over his head. as putin suits descended upon cave. well those days are. over volodymyr zelenskyy, decision to maine in his country in the sea chapel has catapulted him into a global hero. and a cultural icon. but is a merge is the story of good versus evil, the future versus them. on one side zelenskyy and actor who -- it was now posting strong defiant videos to social media

to rally's country and the world against the president of russia. on the other end, putin the villain of the story is isolated. take a look at this picture. his forces bogged down holding literally on to a pass but only he and his cronies want. the l.a. times writes, zelenskyy speaks to a modern. europe seeking to move beyond the nationalist tendencies that ignited to world wars. this message is clear. which is why one ukrainian journalist wrote in the washington post, i did not vote for ukraine's president. his courage has changed my mind inspired millions. captain ukraine, the first true president of ukraine. a hero, a leader. i would never thought i would see people use these terms to refer to vault volodymyr's lens ski. joining me now is msnbc's -- malcolm nance is the author of the upcoming book they want to kill americans. the militias, terrorists, and arraigned are drawn z of the trump insurgency.

you spent a good amount of shine in the recent days in ukraine. you give me some sense that this was happening. you were telling me about people who were preparing to fight. it seemed ridiculous frankly. the idea that there be individual people with no weapons, no military training who are gonna go into war against the massive russian army. and suddenly, that's what they did. >> and it was fascinating because for weeks. the month that i spent there on the ground. and the ukrainian army, the civilians and, the civilian government just took an attitude that it's not going to happen. however, i got the tone out of them that they believe if it does happen, we're gonna fight. so, what you've seen here is the full circle of them not in denial, but certainly hoping that the angels of vladimir putin --

would actually comment take hold. they are now in fight mode. and i like to use this mode. it's not the size of the dog in a fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. and they are proving they have a lot of fight. what >> is the relationship between the size of the fight in the dog, ordinary ukrainians and volodymyr zelenskyy, what's the connection there? >> well, certainly he's a very unusual character to become president. he was a comedian that was playing a character that actually becomes president. it would be like john stewart of the daily show coming in and becoming president of the united states. which is not necessarily a bad thing. so, for that to take hold it was this improbable character who showed his true character when the absolute worst game. when the bombardment of the first fight, hundreds cruise missiles, ballistic missiles,

airstrikes struck his country. he went from a shirt and a tie to what he's wearing right there. to a combat -- and then he went around with his body armor and finally said to vladimir putin. who expected him to get on an executive jet and jot fly to poland. >> which he was offered. >> he said i'm staying here to. fight >> he was offered the ability to leave. the man is 44 years old he's grown into his job and amarok-able way in the last week. this is a guy who a few weeks ago didn't seem to be taking the threat seriously as joe biden was. thought that maybe the west was overreacting and cause people to say, maybe he's not ready. and this has happened. he's transformed into a global leader of sorts in the fight for democracy. >> and, you know the character that he's showing right here. is very typically ukrainian. and this is why when i've been doing my security assessments here in the last few days. i'm one of the few analysts

that believe, i think ukrainians could win this thing. and when i say win, i mean win in the sense that russia will not achieve most if not any of its strategic objectives. i think that they in fact have so much experience that when the russians make inroads, it's because they want russians to make those inroads. in the places like they don't like the city of kharkiv and kyiv. they're not even doing very well. even though they're throwing their -- zelenskyy is the embodiment of that defiant nature. and they are willing to take this country to the end. this is why you see young women taking ak-47 and saying, well i've never fired on before. but i'm going to now. these women were filling bottles of molotov cocktails. they're saying all throw went out my window to an army personnel carrier. you cannot beat this attitude. and granted we may have --

tail on them to help them. how do you beat somebody that cannot be beat, you cannot beat trump down. whose attitude cannot be broken. >> you told us how this is how is it gonna. down thanks again for being with us malcolm. joy is back tomorrow night for the readout, which is followed by a special coverage state of the union address. at 8 pm. all in with chris hayes begins right now. l in with all in. -- as the russian assault on the ukraine continues. >> these are the most significant financial sanctions that have been used in modern history. >> tonight, the run on the banks and russia the massive protests against the invasion across the world. leaders from the ground in ukraine. plus the return of a decades old threat, as putin declares a nuclear alert. >> mister president, should