states senate. yesterday, i was with an eight-year-old kid named evan who suffers from type one diabetes and he wrote me the sweetest note. he was so glad to meet me. and he asked me to keep fighting for him. his mom spends 90 $500 a year for insulin for this eight year old kid. i will be fighting forever. i will keep him front and center and that is what kits me up every day. >> senator of georgia, raphael warnock, thank you so much. >> good to be with. you >> that is all in on this wednesday night. the rachel maddow show starts now. rachelgood evening chris. thank you so much. fascinating interview there with reverend warnock. >> lots happening both overseas and here. we will start overseas. but -- is a city in ukraine. is it a bout -- you can see it there on your map. the name of this city literally translate into the gift of

energy because -- it is home to the largest nuclear power plant in all of europe, not just ukraine. ukraine relies heavily on nuclear power, more than half of the electricity in the country is produced at nuclear power plants like the one that is their, which is why they are obvious targets for russian soldiers as they continue their unprovoked invasion into ukraine. now, russia has already seized the facilities at chernobyl. we saw that last week. it is not yet entirely clear what russia wants with the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster and if that means russia will try to seize more nuclear plants than ukraine. and so, today, i want you to see what happened. look at this. look at what happened in the city of -- in the city -- the people that work at that nuclear power plant in ukraine, and the people who live in the towns around it, they piled cars, trucks, themselves into

the road that leads up to the plant to try and block russian troops. now, the -- row today, quote, we convened the -- that the power plant is under reliable protection. that its workers and residents of the city are under ukrainian flags, nobody is going to surrender the city. people are determined. now, the heroism and the bravery of ukrainian people remains unwavering. tonight, as we close out, exactly one week since russian launched's attack on ukraine to try and wipe ukraine off the map or at least its borders off the map, and yet it was a day of setbacks for ukraine. today, russian troops took control of the city of kherson. it is located in the southern part of the country, not too far away from the black sea as you see there, it is a mid sized city, about 300,000 people. and it is the first major city,

we should note, to actually fall to russia since this conflict began, and it is not just a symbolic victory for russia to be able to take the city of 300, 000, it actually has some strategic significance as well. because control over kherson will allow russia to control more of ukraine's southern coastline along the black sea. and that would allow the forces to continue to push westward. and again, tonight, the kyiv independent is reporting that several large explosions were seen at the capitol just in the last few hours or so. all eyes over the last couple of days have been transfixed on this 40-mile long russian military condo that is working its way towards kyiv right now. there is no doubt that the march to the capital has been much slower than what has been anticipated. a pentagon official tells nbc news that the convoy has been set by logistical failures. including things like the troops running out of food, trucks running out of fuel, our own nbc chief correspondent,

richard engel, is with us to update us on the status of those russian forces on day seven of this conflict. richard? >> it could be that once again we are at an inflection point in this conflict. so, far it's clear that the kremlin's plan, its assault, has not gone according to plan. and russian officials today made an extraordinarily announcement, admitting that 500 russian soldiers have been killed so far. western officials, ukrainian officials, say the actual number is closer to 6000. so, those are heavy losses, along with hundreds of armored vehicles and dozens of aircraft and helicopters. but, russia has also proven that it can inflate a lot of pain, a lot of damage and suffering on this country and on its towns and cities. the city of kharkiv, which is about the size of philadelphia, one and a half million people, has been surrounded. the city center has been bombed relentlessly. and there is a possibility that

the same thing could happen here in kyiv with this massive russian convoy on the outskirts of the city and more and more airstrikes penetrating closer into the city center. but the city is still intact. it has not seen the fate of kharkiv and now the two sides have agreed to a second round of peace talks. so, perhaps there is a cease-fire. perhaps the city is saved and there is some negotiated settlement. but i will tell you, i am here in the city, and there is not a lot of optimism. the mayor has told people to use this window, before that condo arrives, before a full frontal assault takes place, to stock up on supplies and that people should be ready to defend the city because they think that is what is coming. >> nbc's richard engel, richard, thank you as always. and on the diplomatic fronts, there is a lot of --

141 countries in the united nations general assembly, nonetheless, voted today to condemn russia's actions and ukraine. only five countries voted to side with russia, another 35 nations upstate -- most notably, as you can imagine, china. now, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations, linda thomas-greenfield, also made news at the un today, because she announced that the u.s. believes russia is bringing weapons into ukraine that are so brutal, they are actually banned by the geneva convention. listen. >> it appears russia is preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign against ukraine. we have seen videos of russian forces, moving exceptionality, lethal weaponry and to ukraine. which has no place on the battlefield. that includes -- munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the

geneva convention. to the russian soldiers sent to the front lines of an unjust, unnecessary war, i say, your leaders are lying to you. do not commit war crimes. do everything you can to put down your weapons and leave ukraine. >> so, with the threat of increased brutality from the russian military, as you can imagine, hundreds of thousands of ukrainians have fled their homes in an attempt to escape the violence. nbc news correspondent perry is in the western city of lviv. he was there today, where he spoke to a young woman named kate. 24 years old from kharkiv, and as you may remember or know, is one of the hardest hit cities in the war so far. she fled kharkiv two days ago, after her home was hit by an airstrike. and some of her friends and neighbors were killed during those strikes. she says her whole city has been turned to dust. watch. >> when you left, what was it like? >> it was like giving your soul

to god every second because we -- in the middle of kyiv -- they were shooting. and we heard bombs flying over and planes. and i thought this particular moment, i can die and just pray, good bye everyone. and i was there for four hours in a dark train. -- that was pretty much very, for me, distressing. i want people to know that we have been killed by a country that wanted to take ukraine over. and they wanted to kill our people for being -- i want people to know that this is -- and i do know a person who has

been shot by russians because he didn't give up -- they came to his house. he lived by me. they came to his house and they shot him. i want people to know that the troops -- >> is there anything else you want to say? >> please do cherish -- cherish every moment of your life. >> a powerful heroin and a sobering account -- joining us now is nbc's we correspondent who -- kyle, thank you so much for being here this evening. so, before we talk about the situation at the border, let me ask you about these reports that we are receiving of massive explosions and kyiv

just moments ago. is there anything you can tell us at this moment about what's taking place there? >> yeah, i can tell, you we are seeing live pictures from kyiv by other networks. and indeed, in the last few hours, there is been at least four massive explosions. it's not a surprise when you hear what richard was talking about earlier, this inflection point, as he says. it seems clear the russians are now targeting residential areas or they are shelling indiscriminately. either way, it is civilians that are now caught. this weekend, we heard from a russian general that said maybe they will create a humanitarian corridor. and when people heard that here, it just sent chills up their spine. it's not just what happened in -- in 1994, but also what happened in syria. the russians bombed hospitals across the area. people are aware of that. they were waiting for this next phase of the war. there was an initial --

maybe thinking that ukrainian forces -- now i think we are starting to enter -- the russians are not stopping. they continue to move into the cities. and it doesn't seem like they will stop or pause or turn around. >> with that shelling, ukrainian refugees are telling you that russians are attacking residential areas. others are reporting that as well. we have seen photos and videos suggesting that. how is that changing the situation where you are? you said it was giving people chills to hear about the potential humanitarian corridor. what is it meant in terms of the influx of people and the fear that people have when they get the safer parts of the country in lviv? >> so, we're seeing people arrive in the city completely traumatized. just a gripped with fear. they have just come from a hellish place where they were dealing with bombs and trying to get their families out. then they come here to lviv, a place that was supposed to be safe. and they have had five separate

air raid sirens go off today. you see people scrambling to shelters. i am 350 miles from kyiv. we have not heard jets at all. we have not been hit wants here. but people are so traumatized. there are so scarred for what they have seen that they go sprinting to those bomb shelters and they have nothing with them, nobody chooses to be a refugee. it's a thing that happens to you and it happens in an instant. you have ten minutes to get whatever you can carry and leave your home. and the majority of refugees never go back to their homes. they end up living their lives in foreign countries. and ukraine is no different. we have a generation that is going to be scarred. you have 1 million people that have already left the country. most of them will never come back. the cities will never be the same. i'm trying to paint a picture here of how vladimir putin can destabilized a country without even really holding on to it. if his goal is to destabilize it, make it a livable place. take out the government and replace that. that is still quite possible. people here are fleeing for their lives and those who don't want to stay, or just trying to

get out. military -- are now forced to stay and fight. and as more and more civilians pick up weapons, soldiers -- or dying and that is the reality. >> talk to me a little bit, you just mentioned about 1 million people have fled already since the conflict began. talk to me about how the authorities are managing that exodus, the flow of people, both on the ukrainian side and in the neighboring countries from what you have been able to gather. >> the ukrainians are reeling from this. just over a week ago, the ukrainian government was saying that there is likely not going to be an invasion. they were disagreeing with washington's intelligence. and there was clearly an effort on behalf of the government not to spook people. they didn't want to -- so, they didn't put in the preparations that they otherwise would have put in because they didn't want to raise alarm. so, here we are a week later. the train stations are being overrun. people are sleeping and train stations.

they are sleeping outside the train stations. this city is bursting at the seams, restaurants are running out of food. it is becoming a difficult situation. at the border, it's even worse. 50 miles from the polish border, the backup of cars is 20 miles. they are leaving things behind, abandoning cars, walking to the border. when you reach poland, if you are lucky enough to, poland has gotten rid of their visa requirements, saying anybody from ukraine can remain in poland for up to three months. that is according to the european union. they are talking about extending that, but that will be a long, bureaucratic process. and even still, you are with your family, none of your belongings in poland. it's becoming a disaster. >> nbc news is -- live from lviv. thank you so much for joining us. and as russian forces push deeper into ukraine today, capturing the city of carson and circling other strategic cities like mary a poll. russian troops abandoning their

vehicles without a fight -- the new york times put it this way. the reporting that some russian soldiers -- have quote, surrounded on mass or -- those reports appear to confirm videos posted online by ukrainians across the country, showing abandon russian military hardware with reliable battlefield information -- by one of the people who has proved most adept at examining these -- and proving context on -- he's an expert on russian defense policy and russian military hardware. he is a former marine -- and a former -- he joins us. thank you so much for being with us. what is your impression after seeing this new york times report based on u.s. intel that entire units are abandoning their vehicles, laying down

their weapons, rather than fighting in ukraine? does that comport with some of the reporting you are able to see online? >> yes. i think it confirms what we are seeing online. a lot of the video -- many who are surrendering or being captured, a common theme is, they did not know they were going to war. they thought they were doing a training exercise. it is clear they were not told -- it's really bewildering for them. they did not know what the purpose of this war was. they don't know why they are there. in many cases, but civilian resistance they are seeing is -- in many cases, they are being told to move into ukraine, the planning is not clear -- they are seeing abandon vehicles and vehicles that appear to be in working order and yet they're still being abandoned in large numbers, which indicates that, this might be deliberate. and yet, there are some --

what we are seeing from open sources. >> i'm sure you've seen this, but u.s. officials today, they said that russia has put a large number of rank and file soldiers on the ground in ukraine. maybe 70% of those along the border. but perhaps with inadequate resources. they are yet to control the space, the airspace, over ukraine entirely. are you surprised by what we have seen so far in terms of how russia is executing this war? >> yes. there are a number of surprising aspects. one thing i thought was to win the -- of aviation, airstrikes, all of the things that -- try and knock out the ukrainian air force, to try to -- all of the things i thought they would achieve -- knock out communications in kyiv -- and we have not seen that. it has been surprising. it is spears --

it appears that that overly optimistic goals or ideas of what would happen. i don't think they thought they would get this much resistance. it includes the cities that they have taken so far -- it should be more -- there are still seeing a significant amount of resistance. -- it's clear that the initial goal was to target keep as quickly as possible with large forces. -- that failed and now they are moving to plan b. it's not completely clear to me how they're going to translate military force into achieving long term goals. it seems the goals they had were unrealistic to be achieved by military force. >> you also probably saw that russia today announced that 500 of its soldiers have died in this conflict so far. two russian officials tell nbc news today that is probably more to around 6000 russians that have been killed in ukraine so far. that is a significant number of losses in one week.

if true, that means more russian troops have died in ukraine in seven days then u.s. troops did in afghanistan in 20 years and almost the same number of russians that died in chechnya. what do you make of those conflicting reports? >> even if we accept the russian figure, the 500 and the 1500 wounded in action. those are unprecedented numbers for the russian military under putin. -- that was over many, many years. it wasn't over such a compliant time period. in georgia, russia lost fewer than 100 soldiers, that was over five days. in the donbas in 2014 and 2015, they lost 2 to 300. and in syria, they only lost a couple hundred over a long campaign. even the 500 k figure is accurate, that is still substantially more over a short period of time and russia has suffered anytime -- if we're talking about 6000, that really is an astounding

figure. it comebacks to, did russia expect to sustain these losses. i'm not sure they did. if it's on the higher, and it really a significant. and one of the big problems, but i think is unique about this war, is that when you compare to the iraq war, the bush administration had a yearlong mobilization campaign. they were trying to mobilize public support. putin did not do that. up until a few days prior -- so, the russian government did not mobilize the public. it's a bit of a question, if this drags on, what is the public backlash? i think it's a real question. i don't really know. but i think in the next few weeks, with the economic disruptions, that could become significant. and i think it's very possible that president putin will be facing possibly the greatest domestic threat to his time in office in years or maybe his entire time he has been in office. >> former marine corps infantry officer and senior fellow -- thank you so much for your

analysis, greatly appreciate it, learned a lot. much more to come here tonight. we are going to go live back to ukraine, actually along the ukrainian polish border, to talk with a un official who is -- and later, we have some big news in the january 6th investigation. we are going through a legal filing that the january 6th investigation just released. we will have the very latest on that as well. stay with us. ay with us with that terrifying pile of invoices. intuit quickbooks helps you easily send your first invoice in 3 steps. simple.

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russian president vladimir putin's regime for the past four years, you might recognize this guy. that is russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, he's essentially the russian secretary of state. that is a job that not very many people could have had. especially since sergei left off has been russians for and minister for the past 18 years. russia's first ever post soviet foreign minister was a man named andrzej cozier off, he is the guy you see here in the front of this picture. the man behind him is as you

may recognize, a young sergei lavrov. last week on the day the u.s. and the eu sanctions russian officials including lab wrought, andre kozyrev tweeted this picture with the caption, lavrov rightfully sanctioned by the eu today, was my deputy in the 90s, used to have my back. today i would watch my back if he was behind me. joining us now is former russian foreign minister andrej kozyrev. mr. minister thank you so much for your time. you are someone who has been in the upper inch alonso power inside russia, and based on your experience, do you think that sanctioning top officials in the oligarchs will have the desired effect of putting pressure on putin to end this war in reverse course? >> definitely. that's one of the most powerful tools which the west has. and i understand the sea change happen in europe, which was --

do exactly that. the great britain's, saw america is not new ahead of others in this field. what they need probably to do more, all of them. because not yet every oligarchic, and not only oligarchy but one -- bureaucrats who are taking decisions, of course, they made decisions with putin, but others have to implement tactical decisions, so to say. and all of them, almost all of them, have money, have families, have property abroad including miami, where i am now. and new york, and of course, london. so, that is very powerful

instrument. people if they are not motivated -- so to say, they act accordingly. >> so what kind of power, if any, do russian all the guards have? i think that is the question tonight because do they have an ability to leverage, or any leverage, to get him to change his actions? or does putin have all the leverage? people are really wondering whether or not these people that are in outside of russia or at least they kleptocrats have leverage over him to say you have to stop this. >> of course, as i said especially as government officials, but also the man of money. which we call usually in russia oligarchic's. of course, they profiteer from these policies. and they help run way or the other to implement those policies. so if you don't have the army

to implement your orders, there is no offensive. it includes the top members of the military and of course the top level of the security. so, of course it changes the way -- i mean, try to drive a car if the motor is not working. or slowing down, but that's the way. >> that's a really good point that you bring up, to put in that context. i think one of the other questions of people are wondering is whether or not vladimir putin is a so-called rational actor, whether he is capable of making rational decisions, and whether he's been isolated too much. whether he knows how to weigh the cost and the benefits of the actions he is undertaking. do you think he is operating with and a kind of strategy in the right mindset right now? do you think is a rational actor?

>> well, i think the main problem is in saying that he can do anything and get away with this. and unfortunately, the weak response to his actions during last ten, probably especially 80 years after the first aggression against ukraine, but that kind of spoiled him. so that number one. number two, he probably has echo chamber. he starts to believe his own propaganda, and especially when -- one is that the west is too weak and they kind of decadent to act. and the same to ukrainian people, that they are no ukrainian people that ukrainians are fools all of

that. both of them now proved a role, and if the west continues to prove -- we like they do in this speech for instance, and especially reaction of the countries of president biden and the state of the union address. with this overwhelming support bipartisan support. it's a sobering signal. i don't think that he's mad in medical science. >> all right, former russian minister andrej kozyrev, thank you so much for your time, i greatly appreciate it tonight. we're going to go live shortly to the ukrainian polish border where a flood of refugees are trying to escape the invasion. but next, a big breaking news out of the january six investigation this evening. what they say that is new and important about the former presidents role. stay with us. we we

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evening from the january 6th investigation and it involves this man, john eastman, an attorney for president trump. seen here pumping up the crowd just before the attack on the capitol. the january 6th investigation has described eastman as a, quote, central player in the development of a legal strategy to justify a coup. now, he infamously wrote that two memos for president trump, outlining what he described as a legal path for vice president

mike pence to toss out electoral votes from several states that joe biden had won. and thereby, handing the 2020 election to trump. eastman and trump both repeatedly pressured pence to follow those plans, to toss out those electoral votes when it came time for him to preside over the certification of the election on january the 6th. and of course, pence, as we know, did not bow to the pressure campaign. the january 6th investigation, naturally, had a lot of questions for eastman. but when they subpoenaed him, he pled the fifth. he asserted his right not to incriminate himself under questioning. political called, it quote, and extraordinary assertion by someone who worked closely with trump to attempt to overturn the 2020 election results. now, unable to get his testimony, as you can imagine, the january 6th investigation, subpoenaed his records. more importantly, his emails from his time working with trump to overturn the election. mr. eastman has been trying to block the investigation from

getting those emails, claiming that he was acting as donald trump's attorney and therefore, his emails are protected by attorney client privilege. now, here's where things actually get interesting. tonight, the january 6th investigation has filed a motion in court, making its case for why those emails are actually not protected by attorney client privilege. and what they are saying is that the attorney client privilege is void if with the lawyer and the client are communicating about is doing something illegal or fraudulent. under the law, you and your lawyer can't just simply plan something illegal and then claim a attorney client privilege to shield all of the energy -- evidence of that crime. the january 6th investigation is now saying to the judge tonight, we believe donald trump and his lawyer, john eastman, were engaged in crimes. let me read some of it for you. this is from tonight's filing from the january 6th investigation. evidence and information available to the committee establishes a good faith belief

that mr. trump and others may have engaged in criminal and or fraudulent acts. and that plaintiffs legal assistant was used in furtherance of those activities. the president sought to use the vice president to manipulate the results in his favor. how the suffered succeeded, the electoral count would have been obstructed, impeded, influenced and at the very least, delayed. all without any genuine legal justification and based on the false pretense that the election had been stolen. there is no genuine question that the president and plaintiff attempted to accomplish this illegal result. the select committee also has a good faith basis for concluding that the president and members of his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the united states by interfering with the election certification process, disseminating false information about election fraud, and pressuring state officials to alter state election results and federal officials to assist

in that effort. the conspirators also obstructed a lawful government function by pressuring the vice president to violate his duty to count the electoral certificates presented by certain states. the apparent objective of these efforts was to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and declared donald trump the winner. in this way, the conspiracy aimed to obstruct and interfere with the proper functioning of the united states government. so, again, tonight, let's be clear about this. the january 6th investigation has gone to port -- court to say that donald trump's lawyer can't claim attorney client privilege fourth communications because he and trump and others, on trump's campaign, who are engaged in crimes. joining us now is former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan -- last week she published what she called a model prosecution memo, analyzing actual potential charges against donald trump for his plan to

pressure pence to overturn the election. and, the two crimes that she thought might have been committed are the two crimes that the january six investigation names in this file. conspiracy to defraud the united states and obstruction of an official proceeding. it's great to have you with, us thank you so much for joining us. as a person who kind of, i'm using this word here, predicted that this might be the statutes that trump violated, what is your reaction to this filing tonight and how significant is it? >> i think it's a very significant filing because it's the first time the committee has said out loud what the crimes may have been and pull together the evidence of what that crime may have looked like. i think that any prosecution who looked at that evidence in the way i did and that though -- it really jumps out as fairly obvious potential crimes. now, of course, the details of the evidence matters here. but one of the things they do

in this filing that i think is so significant is they document all of the evidence that they have that is beginning to come into focus that they've been gathering from all of these sources. we know, because of public statements, that donald trump was pressuring mike pence to refuse to certify the election. but i think that some of the things that are coming into view our the hard part, which is showing that donald trump knew that it was false to say that he had lost -- that he had won the election. in the document -- >> i was going to ask you if you can lay that out for us a little bit. the investigation has told the federal court it has a good faith reason to believe trump, eastman, and others, have committed federal crimes. explain for us the case they lay out and you think at this point it is a convincing one? >> i do. for either of these crimes, obstruction of beneficial proceeding or conspiracy to fraud of the united states, each has slightly different elements. but i think the key factor that is always appeared may be

elusive is proving donald trump's intent. that he knew that what he was saying was fraudulent when he was telling mike pence, you should change the outcome of the election. that he knew that was based on a lie and based on fraud. they document all the ways that he knew that this was false. number one, his own cybersecurity chief and department of homeland security said so publicly. william barr, his attorney general, said so publicly. the director of the office of national intelligence, john ratcliffe, his appointee, said so publicly. successors out the justice department said repeatedly there was no fraud. he had an internal campaign memo for the trump campaign that concluded, there was no fraud. and 61 out of 62 judges all the court cases that were filed across the country, found that there is no fraud. the one case that the trump campaign one was on an unrelated issue related to affidavits. all of that evidence amounts to suggest that donald trump absolutely knew that there was no fraud here. in fact, one judge said, there was not a scintilla of evidence that there is fraud.

it's like there is an instruction that juries get about willful blindness. you can't turn a blind eye to something when it is highly probable that it is true. if someone tells you that the world is round, you can't say the world is flat in the face of repeated evidence that it is round. a scientist tell you and they show you photos and you continue to persist that the world is flat, at some point, you -- >> the point you're making is that you can just plead stupidity and ignorance and say i didn't, know despite the overwhelming evidence that was presented to you. i want to ask about another piece of the january 6th -- because there is a member of the far-right oath keepers militias that has just pled guilty to seditious conspiracy in the attack on the capitol, which in and of itself, is pretty significant. what does that mean and how big of a deal is it? >> it is a very -- very big deal. i think sedition conspiracy is a charge that is used rarely because it requires not only a use of force to interfere with the government authority, but it requires that it has the

authority of the united states. and so, what they argue there in that case, the allegation was, that they are using force to stop the lawful transfer of presidential power. we now have a defendant in that group of oath keepers, 11, who says yes, i do this. and also, importantly, he is cooperating. and this particular defendant also was withdrawn or stone on january 6th, earlier that day. his cooperation promises to be potentially very fruitful. >> incredible. two significant developments from the january 6th committee. barbara mcquade for the eastern district of michigan. barbara, always a pleasure. greatly appreciate your expertise. up next, we will talk live with a un official working on the ukrainian polish border. stay with us. stay with us

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country. who you don't know what will be tomorrow, so they're running. >> so we are running. that woman is one of the 1 million refugees who have had ukraine in the past seven days while the war rages on. the refugee crisis is quickly becoming with the un refugee agency is warning what's on track to become the largest refugee crisis of the century, in freezing temperatures and days long journeys, over 5000 have fled to poland. nearly 120,000 to hungry. tens of thousands to model, via bayonet, slovakia, and other european countries. the -- expects a total of nearly 4 million to leave ukraine in the coming weeks and months. the agency also reports that those fleeing war torn ukraine have waited up to 60 hours in freezing temperatures to cross into poland, with many spending days on the roads waiting to

cross. tomorrow, the eu commission is expected to approve a special role that will grant blank protection for up to three years for all displaced ukrainians, which would pave the way for them to get residents and work formats in eu countries. and while that is all encouraging and good news, there are troubling reports about a double standard for refugees based on race and ethnicity. a 24-year-old nigerian doctor who fled from western ukraine told the new york times this week, that while trying to make her way to poland the guards were letting ukrainians cross but blocked foreigners. she told the times quote, the ukrainian border guards were not letting us through, they were beating people up with sticks. they would slap them, beat them, and push them to the end of the queue. it was awful. and whenever a black lady would try to pass they said, are women first. with nearly 1 million displaced people who have left ukraine, the humanitarian crisis is exploding. the un refugee agency, that is united nations high commissioner for refugees has

been ramping up his response to help those displaced by russia's attack on ukraine. the agency has said that the ball tough situation and the security concerns, as you could imagine, are posing major challenges for their aid workers. joining us live from poland's chris melcher, he is a senior spokesman for -- the un usag agency. mr. melcher thank you so much for being with us, i know it's early your time. i understand that you got to pull in a week ago, right when this crisis started unfolding. what is your assessment of the situation there on the border a week into it? >> well, this is a terrible situation for many people. so, as you have mentioned, so many people fled ukraine and we have no officially pass the 1 million this night. half of them went to poland the. people who are waiting in freezing cars, women and children, man normally stay behind or they cross the border -- people are desperate, of course,

they don't know what comes next and they don't know what will happen to their country. it tries to help these people but it is of course a major crisis right now. >> from the people that you have spoken to, what do they need the most? what is the most urgent need right now? >> first, everything that has to do with warm clothes, warm sleeping bags, something like that. but the people here and pull and provide for them. what is more important than it is accommodation. our reception facilities, so people can stay there for a couple hours or even maybe one or two days, but what comes next? many ukrainians have relative here, so this networks and they found somewhere they can stay. but in the long run, we need more accommodation, i'm quite sure. our biggest priority, we have talked to so many refugees and when we asked him what do you need most? what do you want most? the answer is also means home,

we want to go home. >> yeah, and you bring up a really interesting point, are you worried about the capacity to provide services here to support the refugees as these numbers increase dramatically, day upon day? >> yeah, take a look at the number, 1 million people. this is unprecedented in europe for the last almost eight years. not even the invasion of russia in ukraine, not even the ball in crisis in the 90s, produced so many refugees in such a short time. so in less than a week more than 1 million people. again, half of them in poland. the solidarity is probably not endless here. really the situation if it deteriorates and ukraine and more people are fleeing, then of course the challenge will be bigger and we need more capacity here and then in the neighboring countries. >> you talk about the importance of solidarity, i have to ask really quickly about, have you observed

authorities engaging in any discrimination based on race and ethnicity and letting people into neighboring countries? >> we have heard from we reports and we have current firmed with the authorities, they denied that there is any kind of system behind it. we investigated, we talked to many people, also third crunchy men nationalist. many of us told us they had no problem to enter. other reporters problems like they have to say 12 or 24 hours or even longer. at least no one was sent back, this is very important. but yes we are absolutely concerned about these reports. >> all right, chris melcher, senior spokesman for the unhcr, the refugee agency. thank you so much for being here tonight. we'll be right back. the right back. th ful claritin d, so you can breathe better. feel the clarity and make today the most wonderful time of the year. claritin d.

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very busy night. we will see you again tomorrow night. it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. >> good evening, a man. and this is one of the nights when history is competing with itself. i was surprised that you are able to squeeze in the report of the january 6th committee's moves tonight, that legal filing that they file trying to support their subpoenas. i want to read for the audience a key line in there that says the select committee has a good faith basis for concluding that the pr