good to be with you. i'm katy tur. today is the ninth day of fighting in ukraine and here's what we know right now. ukrainian president zelenskyy addressed his nation and the world again about an hour ago. he called on global leaders to help ukraine in its time of need. framing the stakes as light over darkness and freedom over

slavery. earlier, the u.n. called another emergency session. ambassador linda thomas greenfield accused russia of cutting off or destroying essential utilities and infrastructure. denying people drinking water to stay alive, and gas to keep them from freezing to death. >> the world demands that russia abide by international humetarian law, which prohibits intentionally targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. and allow humanitarian agencies full and secure access to people in need of aid. >> that is top of the bombings. nato's secretary general jens stoltenberg confirmed that russia has used cluster bombs and quote, other types of weapons, which would be in violation of international law. >> this is brutality. this is inhumane. and this is violation against

natural law. >> what's more, russian troops seized europe's largest nuclear power plant by force. during the battle, a fire broke out at that plant, and you can see it right there. that white fireball of light on your screen. zelenskyy accused russian forces of purposefully targeting the power plants, while the russian defense ministry blamed ukrainian saboteurs for the attack. in brussels, our josh lederman reports that the concern over the reactor and vladimir putin's increasing penchant for indiscriminate violence is harding nato's position. >> we are not seeing any signs here at nato that this incident is leading to anymore appetite among the nato allies or the u.s. for getting involved directly in this conflict. in fact, it's directly the opposite. this incident seems to have really hit home for people, the dire stakes here, and the risks of this conflict escalating even further. >> meanwhile, in moscow, the

russian parliament passed law that punishes any actions that, quote, discredit the russian armed forces, including factual media reporting on the invasion. the bbc polled all of its reporters out of russia, saying, quote, the safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution for simply doing their jobs. the iron curtain seems to be falling around russia again if question now is what happens next? joining me from kyiv is nbc news chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. so, richard, the story that you've done today about those still trying to leave is just gutting. >> reporter: so many people here bracing for a much more severe, much more deadly phase of this conflict. they are seeing what is happening in smaller towns and cities, where russia is changing course. it is not even attempting anymore to have surgical strikes

or only hit at military targets. it is going for civilian population centers. and some of the villages on the outskirts of kyiv and heading further north look like they have been bulldozed already at this stage. and people are watching that, people are growing concerned. they're particularly concerned for their families. and earlier today, we were at the train station and saw many, many people, trying to get out of this city before the russians and its military might arrive. as russian forces are getting closer to the city, people are streaming out of it. parents are tethered to their children, they're taking their pets, taking their grandparents, and everyone is heading west. >> i'm hearing the train announcements and the train whistles, it seems to me like another era. >> when you hear kids screaming, mothers screaming, it's so

crazy, that panic that you'll see people who are so afraid. it's been like this all day. there's a lot of confusion about where these trains are departing from. people have been waiting here on platform nine. there was just an announcement a few moments ago that the trap to the west is actually leaving from platform 12. now everyone is watching there. nobody wants to miss it. this train is heading toward lviv in the west and now people are trying to crowd on. not everybody is able to get on. this is the push right up at the door. there's been some people dropping bags. we've seen people holding their babies up in the air, as they are trying to cram as many people as possible on to this train. a lot of families we spoke to said they decided this morning

to pack up their house, come here to the station, and just head west. >> that was richard engel. let's go right now to secretary of state antony blinken in brussels. >> the world has seen russia use these grisly tactics before, in syria, in chechnya. meanwhile, russia's reckless operation around the zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant risked a catastrophe, a nuclear incident. the kremlin should immediately cease all attacks around ukrainian nuclear facilities and allow civilian personnel to do their work as both the iaea director general and a resolution adopted yesterday have called on russia to do. the ukrainian people and government continue to show remarkable courage in defending their country, defending their freedom, defending one another. we said that if president putin invaded ukraine, we would

increase our support for ukraine's ability to defend itself, while imposing swift and severe costs on the kremlin. that's exactly what the united states and our allies and partners are doing. that was the focus of our ministerial meetings today with nato allies, with the g-7 and european union, as well as in my discussions with nato secretary general, with the eu commission president, and with the eu president, michelle. we want our alliances to be strong enough to meet any threat. that's why from day one, president biden made reinvigorated and reenergizing our alliances and partnerships the foundation of our foreign policy. it's why as secretary of state, i've come to brussels, home to nato and the eu, more to any other world capital. and that's why we invested so much effort in finding new ways and coalitions to bring allies and partners together. now we're seeing why that work matters. at nato, we were joined by the ministers of finland and sweden,

the eu higher representative, the foreign ministers of ukraine, the united kingdom and canada as well as general stoltenberg also took part in our meeting with the eu. never pfr have nato and the european union and other partner nations worked so closely together. this is a new kind of cooperation and we'll bring this to bear not just in this crisis, but in the years to come. and our nato allies and partners are stepping up to lead in unprecedented ways. in the first place, nato has activated and deployed parts of it response for. several nato allies, including the uk, germany, the netherlands, denmark, spain, france have spent troops and aircraft and ships to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank. every nato ally is providing either military or humanitarian aid to ukraine. most are providing both. for the first time, the european union is financing the purchase

and delivery of military assistance to a person under attack. they swiftly adopted the biggest sanctions package in history against russia. and the eu has granted immediate refuge to ukrainians and others who call ukraine home. the furs time it has evoked this. and germany is doubling its defense spending. poland has opened its arms to more than half a million ukrainian refugees. switzerland set aside its tradition of neutrality to adopt the european union sanctions on russia. the list goes on. these and other efforts by our european allies to deepen their own capabilities and cooperation do not undermine the transatlantic security alliance, they deepen our collective might. as recently as a few weeks ago, some questioned whether, if the regional or international rule came under threat, whether our international allies and partners would be willing to shoulder their fair share of the

burden to defend it. 19 last nine days, european countries have demonstrated they are more than willing to stand up and standing to. and the united states is standing with europe, pursuing complimentary actions and policies in close coordination with our allies and partners. a few examples, we've deployed forces to europe to strengthen nato ernst flank. we continue to tighten our severe economic sanctions on russia. last night, as i think you know, we extended temporary protected status to tens of thousands of ukrainians living in the united states. and the president has requested an additional $10 billion from congress to deliver more humanitarian security, and economic assistance in ukraine and the surrounding region over the coming days and weeks. yesterday, president putin said his so-called special military operation is proceeding exactly

as planned. well, it's hard to imagine that his p included inspiring the american people to defend their country with such tenacity. strengthening the resolve and solidarity of nato and the eu, uniting the world in opposition to moscow, including 141 countries at the united nations and an unprecedented number of international businesses, associations, cultural institutions, that have cut ties with russia. causing the russian economy to go into free fall, motivating tens of thousands of russians to protest and countless more to leave the country. and increasingly turning russia into a praia state. if that was president puttin's plan, you can it's working. russia has never been more isolated, we have never been more united. let me reiterate one thing, because it's very important. we take these actions not because we oppose the russian people.

we do not. we regret that tens of millions of russians will suffer because of a tiny leaders of corrupt people and their cronies who have put their interests above those of the russian people, who are doing everything they can to hide their war of choice from the russian public. today's discussion with nato, the eu, the g-7 confirmed that we are fully aligned on our goals and our determination to meet them. we'll deepen our support as a result of the deepening humanitarian crisis. we'll continue to raise the cost for president putin and all who carry out and enable his war of choice and the devastation that it's causing. we'll continue to strengthen our ability to deter further escalation by russia, including our commitment to article v that an attack on one is an attack on all. nato is a defensive alliance. we have never sought and will not seek conflict with russia. but as president biden has said, we will defend every each of nato territory.

no one should doubt america's readiness or our resolve. at the same time, we'll keep open the door to dialogue and diplomacy, while making clear to the kremlin that unless it changes course, it will continue down the road of increasing isolation and increasing pain. and talk with russia to negotiate a cease-fire and the unconditional withdrawal of russian forces, something we've been discussing on a daily basis. in the meantime, we are working urgently with the government of ukraine, the icrc, and others to crete humanitarian corridors that will civilians to get out of ukraine's besieged cities and allow food, medical and other supplies to get in. now all countries have a responsibility to pressure the kremlin to alleviate at least some of the misery that it has wrought. of all the consequences of moscow's unprovoked attack, one of the most unexpected is the spark it has lit in people

around the world who have come out to demonstrate for freedom for the rights of ukrainians. that includes valiant individuals in places where protesting the kremlin's war means risk arrest, beatings, or worse, as thousands of russians have done. for years, we've seen the dangerous tide rolling back democracy and human rights and undercutting the human-based order, fueled in no small part by moscow. with this brutal invasion, we, our european partners and allies everywhere are being reminded just how much is at stake. now we see the tide of democracy rising to the moment. with that, i'm happy to take some questions. >> mr. secretary? >> hi, paul. >> the west has put unprecedented sanctions on russia. very punishing.

yet it doesn't seem to have slowed the russian military's advance on ukraine. today, nato seemed to foreswear absolutely putting in a no-fly zone that might protect the ukrainians. given that, nothing seems to have slowed this invasion. what can you tell the ukrainian people, who only see things getting worse, seeing a disaster, seeing more suffering and are pleading for more help from the west? and i have a little follow-up. i could ask it now or in a moment. >> go ahead, please. >> the west nato has been involved in this in terms of supplying a lot of arms, which you mentioned, to ukraine. can't it supply more, more -- more effective arms, larger weapons, jets, as have been talked about? nato was engaged in this. can't it do more for ukraine?

>> thank you. let me take the second part first. we are in constant contact with ukraine, with government officials on their needs and in constant contact on providing for those needs when it comes to security assistance. we've already been engaged in a remarkable effort, speaking for the united states, with the various drawdowns that president biden has done. we've provided over the past year and change more than $1 billion in security assistance to ukraine. the most recent drawdown that was issued by the president of $350 million, we have already sent into ukraine about $250 million worth of that drawdown. so f. this is happening every single day and you're seeing the means

that ukraine needs to defend itself get into the hands of ukrainians who are doing that. having said that, one of the things that we talked about at length today in our various meetings at nato and the eu was what more we can do and how to do it effectively and i would add, foreign minister clabya came into our meetings, we're working on all of that every single day. . we're also a week and change in to this horrific war wrought by russia. the -- we've had already a dramatic impact, far beyond, i think, what anyone would have expected on russia and its economy. the ruble is trading at its

weakest levels ever. it's worthless than a penny. they're expected to sell at least 80% of foreign currency that they have to prop up what is a rapidly weakening currency. the stock market has been closed for day due to a fear of capital flight once it opens. this is the longest stretch of emergency closure since russia defaulted back in the 1990s. the cbr has more than doubled its passport, the highest in 20 years. capital controls, et cetera, we're seeing -- i have a list five pages of long of all the businesses that have left russia. the impact is there, it's powerful, and it is building. let's see how russia responds to that, as this really takes hold and takes a grip. second, as we've been

demonstrating not only by what we've been saying, but what we've been doing, the support for ukraine is real, profound, extensive. the security assistance that we just talked about, that continues to go in. the humanitarian support we continue to build, in response to the humanitarian horror russia has brought as well as assistance. unfortunately, this is not like flipping a light switch. it takes time, and when you have a country like russia, and president putin's russia, a country that is prepared to go to excessive means to achieve its results, it is a real challenge. but not only are we at it every day, i think, but the ukrainian people can see is virtually the entire world united in support of them, in support of their cause of independence, territorial integrity, freedom demonstrated by the meetings that we had today. demonstrated by the 141

countries that came together at the united nations to make that clear. so there is a huge tide of support for ukraine. there is a huge weightbearing down on russia. let's see what the impact is. >> >> thank you so much for the floor. so we heard this morning at nato that the situation would get worse before it gets better. tell us, what do youp that we don't? and is the no to no-fly zone set in stone completely, or would you consider it if this conflict does become a massacre. and just a follow-up, was it naive of you and the europeans to trust in putin to offer diplomacy? thank you so much. >> when we say it is likely to get worse, it's, unfortunately, based on everything that we know about president putin's methods when it comes to seeking to subjugate another country to his

will or another region to his will. we saw it in chechnya and syria and in 2014 in ukraine. and what we're seeing on the battlefield is russian forces seeking to encircle the major cities, including kyiv, and we're seeing them use increasingly brutal methods, including going at civilians and the civilian populations. so i think the terrible expectation is that suffering we've seen is likely to get worse before it gets better. that is, unfortunately, more likely than not. although we are doing everything we can to try to move it to a

different track. with regard to the no-fly zone, i think you heard them speak to this today. one of the examples that we are doing everything we can to give the ukraine people the means to defend themselves effectively, we have a responsibility to ensure that the war doesn't spill over beyond ukraine. and again, because i think he put it so well, as he noted, the only way to actually implement something like a no-fly zone is to shoot down russian planes. and that could lead to a full-fledged war in europe. president biden has been clear that we are not going to get into a war with russia.

but we are going to tremendous lengths with allies and partners to provide ukrainians with the means to effectively defend themselves, and we're seeing every single day their extraordinary heroism as well as very real results in what they're doing to achieve that. and i'm sorry, i missed the last part of your question. >> last spring, we spoke, and i feel that the question was, do you feel that you were naive or the europeans were naive to trust that putin would come to the table. >> i think we were the opposite of naive. we had been saying, warning for months that president putin was planning and like to carry out an aggression of ukraine.

and in recent weeks, before the invasion began, i laid out before the united nations the security council exactly what we expected putin to do and how he would do it, creating bogus pretexts for war and using those false flags and other operations as justification for invading ukraine and, for months, we made clear that this is what we expected, but at the same time, it's our obligation, my obligation, the obligation of allies and partners to pursue diplomacy if there is any opportunity to do so, because it's far preferable than what we're seeing. and as we said all along, there are two patz that russia can take. one is diplomacy and dialogue, the other is aggression against ukraine. and we said we would be prepared either way.

and we are. >> thank you, secretary. are you considering energy sanctions against russia? because realistically, how can the west defeat putin in ukraine when the west also pays putin up to $700 million a day in oil, gas, and coal? i know the british form minister has talked about it, how britain is looking into it. are you? >> first, as a general proposition, nothing is off the table and we are evaluating every single day the sanctions, their implementation, and additional measures. the sanctions are designed in the first instance, of course, to have maximum impact on russia and putin while minimizing harm to us, our allies and partners.

there's no strategic interest in reducing the global supply of energy. the immediate effect would be to raise prices at the pump for americans and also to pad russian profits with rising prices. so we've been carving out pavements for energy trade and transport from the sanctions, but we have a strong interest, we and our allies, in integrating russia's strategy as a leading energy supplier over time. that's why nord stream 2 was shut down. that's why we're surging lngt in europe right now to help its acceleration away from russian gas. it's why we're denying critical technologies to russia for further energy exploration going forwarder through the export controls we put in place. this is part of a process to reduce reliance and dependence on russian energy. so that's where our focus is, but again, as i said, we're

looking at these things every single day. >> how long will that take and how many people have to die in ukraine -- >> i'm not going to put a time frame on it. what's happened in record time, as we've seen, are sanctions and other measures that a few weeks ago people would have said, were never going to happen. i think we've demonstrated very, very clearly that what we said we would do many months ago when this crisis first began to emerge back in november, december, the g-7 countries, the european union, i said that if russia chose the path of aggression, we would impose massive consequences on russia, including unprecedented economic sanctions. i know some people thought that was more rhetoric than reality. i think we've demonstrated already how strong that reality is, and again, we're looking every day at measures to increase the extraordinary pressure we're already exerting.

>> a final question from ari sheaco,. >> thank you very much, secretary. i have two questions. you said that nato will not send fighter jets to ukraine to shoot down russians. it's understandable, but there is another way to impose this no-fly zone. of course, the states send missiles, but air defense capabilities to support and currently work in ukraine and defense capabilities with s-300 which are working quite well. the second question is, you saw it more than a week of fighting and how russian forces weren't able to achieve most of their objectives. so how does this week of war

change the assessment that was considered to be quite high? >> first part of question. we are looking every day at what technologies, what capacities, we can effecteffectively delive ukraine to defend itself. that's an ongoing conversation, literally happening on a daily basis, with ukraine and government officials as well as among allies and partners. so the main focus is on making sure that anything that we provide can be used and used effectively. and in a timely way. and so -- but as i said, that's quite literally something we're looking at every day.

so i don't want to draw any conclusions from the week of invasion in terms of what this tells us about russia or its capabilities. i think we'll have time to fully assess that. what we do know, what it does tell us is how extraordinary the ukrainian people are, their will, their determination, their absolute commitment to defend their country, defend their freedom, defend their future. that's the story of the past week and it's an incredibly powerful one. thank you. >> thank you very much. >> that's secretary of state antony blinken there, addressing reporters in brussels, belgium.

again, reiterating why there's not going to be a no-fly zone, saying that having to police that no-fly zone would potentially lead to a war and the united states is not going to get into that war. reiterating again, though, that the united states will defense eevery single inch of nato territory. so if this spills over into a nato country, that's when the united states would get involved. also saying that they are trying to up the amount of humanitarian aid going into ukraine and trying to establish a safe corridor to get people out of these cities and to get this aid into the places where it is needed. medical aid and food into the places where it is needed. joining me now from ukraine is "rolling stone" correspondent and msnbc contributor, jack crosby in a city southwest of keefe and whitney shef ty in kyiv. you were visiting a maternity

ward of a children's hospital, tell me which one it was, what do they need right now? look at those images. what do those moms and babies need right now? what do the doctors and nurses need right now? >> reporter: it was a maternity ward. and i think from what we understand there, they're doing okay in terms of supplies. as you can see, they go into the bunker at night, around 6:00 p.m., they're all told to move from their rooms and get underground, in case there's any kind of shelling or attacks nearby. they stay in the hallways because there's not a lot of room down there. the babies are in like a cafeteria. so -- i know that the staff is very, very tired. so a lot of the staff is living there with them. one of the doctors said that her husband is staying there as well. they're working all hours that

they can and sleeping in the offices or in the bunker with everyone else. it's certainly trying for these families. >> whitney, i'm going to havoc -- i'm not sure if you said this, but how long do they have supplies for? do they have -- do they have a running tally for, you know, we've got a week more, two more weeks, a month more before we're going to need some help? >> reporter: our understanding is that they're doing okay with supplies. they didn't express any sort of timeline that they're going to run out. as far as i know, they are fairly well stocked at this point. >> okay, that's good to hear. jack, you have been driving around the country. you've been in some tenuous situation, i think that's putting it lightly. tell me about what you've seen and where you are now. >> so, right now, i'm in the town of venitzia. it's southwest of kyiv. it's sort of right in the middle of this corridor from the east of the country to the west of the country by road.

there are several different ways that people are getting across the country right now, either by train or by road. but most are making for the western cities of lviv and others close to border crossings. i'm sort of right in the middle of that. i'm currently staying at a school that has been repurposed sort of as a temporary refugee hotel. it's being run by, you know, some local administrators of the school and some local sort of town officials, just as a place that people on these roads can come and they can shelter and get a hot meal and have a place to sleep and take care of their families. and you know, what we're really seeing is just this mass exodus of people. many of the people that i'm with have actually gone in a very similar path to me. i was speaking to a lot of families tonight who are from the eastern city of kharkiv, where i was for the majority of the war thus far, leaving on monday, with some of whitney's colleagues at "the washington

post," actually. and so all of these people have come on sort of this road corridor through the country, traffic is extremely backed up. trips that should take three hours are taking 10 or 12. and all of these families, you know, are just running low on basic supplies, because the access to them is so uncertain. and so i think, really, being able to free up those transit routes and get more basic supplies to these people as they proceed through the country will be really important in the coming days. >> what are you seeing, jack, in terms of damage. >> in the area of the country that i'm in at the moment? >> i know you've been traveling all over, tell what you've seen. >> you know, in kharkiv, which we left on monday, when we got out of the city, the sort of destruction of it was just beginning, which was the reason why we made the choice to leave. and the images coming out of that city, almost immediately after.

we were seeing them on our phones, just a couple of hours outside of the city. and the damage that was just profound. i know there's a family here tonight at the refugee center that i'm at, that was, that lived in a neighborhood that saw some of those first suspected cluster munitions strikes on tuesday afternoon. the city you're seeing on the screen right now is in a different part of ukraine, but the damage is very much comparable in some of those residential areas of kharkiv. and the russian offensive is just not -- has not let up on those areas. >> you've written that those weapons are designed to destroy and terrify, maim and wound, burn and shred, tear and kill. whitney, one more question to you. those families that are in that maternity ward, what is their plan for when they leave, eventually do leave that ward? >> yeah. i think a lot of them don't know. we spoke to one family that had their baby a few days ago and they wanted to go west, as soon as the invasion started, but

they knew that the baby might be born any moment and they were right. and now their plan is to try to get west as fast as they can, but they don't know how they're going to get there. we've seen lots of images of trains, they're overrun, the roads are not necessarily safe at this point. routes are very hard to figure out, checkpoints are everywhere. is so these families don't really know what to do, but they feel very strongly, of course, that they need to protect their families. so the ones that we've talked to, many of them plan to go as soon as they can. >> yeah. whitney and jack, thank you guys so much for joining us. with me now from western ukraine is anastasia, a member of ukraine's parliament and head of anti-corruption committee. anastasia, thank you so much for being with us. how are you? how are things where you are? >> i don't dare say that anyone in ukraine can feel safe this day, unfortunately.

>> what have you seen? >> what we are seeing is that international law, international humanitarian law that diplomats are referring to is basically nonexistent for russia. i think what we are seeing, the first-ever deliberate attack of war troops on a nuclear object, endangering nuclear object. i think that this basically means that russia is not -- russia is no in a war with just ukraine. it's a war against humanity. what we are seeing is that number and scope of war crimes of russian troops in ukraine multiply by days and hours. we are seeing attempts and successful attempts of using women and kids as living shields for troops trying to occupy our towns. we are seeing heavy shelling and bombing of densely populated residential areas. we are basically seeing that some smaller cities are already

almost flattened to the ground. we are seeing that russian troops created ongoing humanitarian catastrophes in many smaller towns from around the country, where basically due to heavy shelling and bombing, people are staying in basements, in shelters, for four days, for five days, without water, without food, without energy, without life supplies, because any opportunity to leave because there are no safe humanitarian corridors for them. that's basically what we are seeing around the country. >> you said that you've seen russian troops or heard reports of russian troops using women and children as human shields. >> exactly. exactly. >> where is that happening? >> this is what they attempted to do, for example, in kyiv reign. this is what they attempted to do, for example, in kharkiv region. we are also now hearing reports of russian troops trying to disseminate toys stuffed with

explosives in order to terrorize population in order to cause more panic. we also seen that their aim is to basically demolish civil infrastructure, to cause even more pain and to cause even more humanitarian catastrophes, than they have already done. >> the united states reiterated again that the eu and the u.s. and nato, nobody wants to impose a no fly zone, as ukraine has been asking for over and over again. what does it mean to your country to not have that? >> it basically means that right now, we feel that we are a shield for western countries war-crazy dictator. and the question is, how many more ukrainians will have to lose their lives before the west

acts? we are hearing that all we are fighting so impressively, but frankly speaking, this has never been our aim. we wanted to press the world with anti-corruption reform, with rule of law reform. we are hearing that a no-fly zone has not been introduced, for example, for syria. but let me remind, 30 million people in need of humanitarian assistance. dozens of thousands of people killed in russian air raids only. do we actually want to repeat that in ukraine? we are hearing that nato cannot risk war with russia, but frankly speaking, there are other ways to introduce, to secure ukrainian sky. in georgia in 2008, or for example, there might be attempts

to use nato allies, air defense at least to keep missiles in ukrainian sky. or there might be other ukrainian options like donating planes and using volunteer pilots. i mean these are hard times to be creative, but not times to be passive. what i can repeat is words of our president zelenskyy, tell us, how many more people have to die before you will consider that we actually do need protection of ukrainian sky. and we will count and return you when that happens, but do we not learn from the case of syria? do we no learn from dozens of years when russia did not receive a reaction to its aggression. and did it stop aggression? no, we only saw that aggression increased and evolved. >> anastasia, thank you for

joining us. it's difficult to hear how difficult things are more you and for your country right now. and it's certainly a question that's been asked of all western politicians and diplomats, those in power right now, at what point will it be too much. and so far, there has been no answer other than, they're not going get involved unless it steps over into nato. anastasia, thank you so much for joining us. coming up next, clint watts and general barry mccaffrey on where russian troops currently are across the country and how they're advancing. also, where they're stalled. and the kremlin cracks down on the media, decrying fake news and journalists in more than a decade in prison. and news on another social media entity that russia has now blocked. another social media entity that russia has now blocked. ♪♪ (train whizzes by) ♪♪

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so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. one week into russia's war own ukraine. russian forces have so far claimed one major city, kherson, a city in the south, after battering that city with shelling for days. russia made other gains along the plaque sea, as well, moves that enable russia to cut off

ukraine's access to critical ports. but to the north, that 40-mile-long convoy of russian troops and equipment remains stalled with intelligence showing that it has made little-to-no progress to keefe over the last few days. joining me now is former fbi special agent, clint watts along with barry mccaffrey. clint, you are showing us where the russian troops are. they've made a lot of progress in the south, but they're still stalled not north. so explain this all to me. >> week one, we were talking essentially about russian failures, but in the last 72 hours, we're starting to see russian successes. crimea taken in 2014 by the russias. this force has moved out and created a land bridge that you see connecting them with the breakaway republics that the russians already control. now they are laying siege to this town mariupol. this is total war. this is cutting off electricity, endless bombardments. i think it forecasts what we might see if there was a siege of kyiv. separately, i want to take a

step back, though, and focus on the new developments in the last few hours and the past day. one, here in kyiv, you're seeing them advance out and move to here, kherson. kherson has a critical bridge that the russians were able to take and open up a canal that was shut out of after 2014 that can now provide fresh water into crimea. they moved overnight, they're advancing on mikalav. when you zoom in here, this is a population center, but it's also a river with a major bridge and a bridge crossing. if they can cross this bridge here, if they can move further to the west, they'll essentially be able to move unimpeded all the way to moldova. they have a force there in in a breakaway republic. that force, should they be able to bring it together, they'll be able to advance to here from kherson today to mykolaiv and if

they can break through here, they would almost a straight shot to moldova. they could then surround odesa, and they would able to bring in forces by water over time. very significant development in the south. and i think that's the real question here. if they seal off all the water accesses, ukraine's resupply has got to come over land, it's got to come from poland. >> we're seeing a lot of progress in the south, but why is that convoy in the north still stalled? >> this is that convoy we've been talking about. they're just stacking up combat power. this isn't a real military formation. it looks like a traffic jam. that's because they're not afraid of any sort of air strikes at this point. there have been some developments in and around kyiv. their defense minister has said that inside kyiv itself. over here, you'll see this airfield. this airfield here, airborne

forces tried to take it in the early days of the war. that convoy was literally approaching it. the ukrainian defense minister said they pushed it back. that's several questions. one, there's talks of air strikes and air power. separately, there's talks of insurgents, possibly bombing that in the rear lines or special operations forces and maybe a blown bridge. essentially, halting that convoy over and over so it can't get to kyiv. >> general mccaffrey, i want to ask about the weapons that russia has been using, potentially using weapons that are not legal in war. that's what jens stoltenberg of nato said today. and i was struck by what that member of parliament that i was speaking with a moment ago about how she feels right now. she said, she feels ukraine is a shield for western countries and she's wondering what many ukrainians are, why the west is not getting involved? why the west is not trying to stop putin in his tracks, so that putin doesn't go over ukraine and then pass into poland or another nato country?

>> yeah, well, that was an excellent assessment by clint on where the russians are today. they've run into tremendous problems. i would argue, by the way, that northern column, it's not just that they lack fear of ukrainian air power, but it's incompetence, it's indiscipline, it's astonishing to me to bumper to bumper three lanes wide. by the way, the ukrainians do have turkish lethal drones. they're not being effective, for some reason. i don't understand. they're claiming that they have knocked out 40 vehicles or so. turkey has sent in more drones in the last 48 hours. so the munitions are still coming in out of poland. and reinforcing ukraine's beleaguered forces. but look, at the end of the day, it's targeting civilians that's illegal. it's less the kind of weapon.

there isn't an international treaty against cluster bombs, which the u.s. is not a party to. but basically, the russians now are using -- they're doctrine is mass artillery. by the way, i don't think it's really started yet, katy. if they're going to fight in kyiv, which looks probable, the russian artillery units will be firing thousands of rounds a day. thanks will use main tank guns fighting down the street. and it will be a tough war for the russians. they're going to lose a lot of soldiers. so painful period of time. air cap over ukraine's not going to happen. it's militarily viable. the uk, the french and the americans could knock the russians out of that sky in a week. but we would have to go after their ground units to engage us. go after s-400 anti-aircraft

missiles in russia. so we're just not going to intervene. >> gentlemen, thank you very much. and as vladimir putin -- sorry, this camera. as vladimir putin intensifies his attack on ukraine, russian authorities are increasing censorship to try to control the narrative. russia's parliament passed a new law that would make any news deemed fake punishable by years in prison. it's now illegal to call russia's war on ukraine a war. that would be considered disinformation. moments ago, russia blocked access to facebook and earlier, russia blocked access to the bbc and voice of america websites, citing the circulation of materials containing false information. several independent media outlets announced that they would be ending operations immediately and indefinitely. everything that's not propaganda is being eliminated. still, thousands continue to protest the war across russia in defiance of new penalties and threats of arrest.

according to a watchdog group, more than 8,000 people in 124 cities have been detained at anti-war rallies so far. joining me now is ian bremmer, found of g-0 media. ian, russia is cracking down on the information that is coming out or into that country. the bbc has pulled all of its journalists. what does that say to the russian people when they turn on their television and they don't see any western journalists or they try to go to a website and it's been blocked or they try to log on to facebook and they can't access it? >> it doesn't say much to older russians, who who weren't watching it and they were getting their information from newspapers and from russian state media, which putin has controlled, and does control, will control. but to younger russians, urban russians, of whom 8,000 have already been arrested for peaceful anti-war protests across cities in russia, it says

that the russian government is engaged in orwellian behavior. war is peace. literally, that's what they're saying, right? the idea that you cannot define the worst war on the european continent since world war ii as war, you have to call it special military operations, and if you choose to call it war and present and distribute that, you're literally subject to 15 years in prison. that is going to anger a lot of russian citizens and it's going to anger them a lot more in the coming weeks as the russian economy starts to fall apart, as it will in very short order because of the sanctions. >> the sanctions that have been levied are heavy. is there a point in which vladimir putin or is there a worry in which vladimir putin

says, you may not be physically fighting, but i feel like you're fighting me, and takes aggressive action? >> he certainly already feels that way. i think there's a big difference, in the united states and in nato, there's a general perspective that you can't do a no-fly zone because that could lead to world war iii. you can't send troops on the ground, but you can send advanced weapons to ukrainians, give them real-time intelligence and destroy the russian economy and those things are below the bar. from putin's perspective, all of those things are acts of war. and i think it's quite -- it's almost certain that the russians will respond to those acts against nato. now, what exactly they'll do? are they just going to engage in cyber attacks, for example? some economic tit for tat, or

take more substantial measures against citizens of russian countries that are living on the ground in russia right now. does this presage direct conflict in some of the nato countries, especially because this war is going to go on for a long time. and it increasingly looks unlikely that the russians will be able to capture all of ukraine. they can remove zelenskyy, destroy kyiv, but the west increasingly looks like for the foreseeable future, you'll have a war between a government in exile and between the occupied ukraine. and as nato continues to fight against russia and support the ukrainians as hard as they can, the russians will respond. especially when putin feels cornered. and when you corner a malignant narcissist and he feels like he has nowhere to go, the likelihood that he'll lash out becomes greater. >> i'm struck by what the

ukrainian p.m. said to me, that she feels that ukraine is the shield for western countries. that's really going to resonate. ian bremmer, thank you so much for being with us today. that's going to do it for me on this friday. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. hallie jackson picks up our coverage next. and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85,

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