for watching "the cross connection," very busy cross connection, i'll be back next saturday. stay tuned, alex has the latest, a very busy breaking news. >> 100% we're going to get to this with brittney griner, we'll see you next saturday. >> thanks, alex. we want to wish all of you a very good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to "alex witt reports," first up, the u.s. state department has issued a travel advisory telling americans to immediately leave russia. now, this follows what we just referenced there with tiffany just a short time ago, we got word that american basketball player, brittney griner has be detained by russian customs officials. nbc news has yet to officially

confirm this word and it also was unclear exactly when this reported detention may have happened. we're going to have more on this in just a moment for you. also this breaking news, new warnings from russian president vladimir putin just a short time ago. he spoke at a training center for russian's flagship, likening western sanction as a declaration of war. >> translator: irresponsible statements that they should create a no fly zone over the territory of ukraine. it's impossible to do but any move in that direction will be considered by us as a participation of that country in the military action. that very second we will consider them as members, as participants of this conflict. and it doesn't matter what members of what alliances they are. so i understand, i'm hoping that

this will not come to it. >> president biden and nato have repeatedly said that a no fly zone is off the table, but ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy is pressuring for it. zelenskyy made his case for additional aid from the u.s. in a call with u.s. members of congress. in various parts of ukraine, the fighting continues. officials posting video this morning of what they say is a missile shooting down a russian helicopter. now, nbc cannot independently verify that that helicopter is indeed russian but it was posted to a facebook post by a former member of ukraine's parliament. later shared by its official armed forces facebook pages. also some new audio to share from inside a nuclear power plant the very moment that it came under fire from russian forces. here's that. fire from russian forces here's that.

>> well, today, a temporary cease fire in the regions of mariupol and that was announced to allow civilians to evacuate. however ukrainians suspended evacuation efforts claiming russia had violated the cease fire agreement. the fighting forcing more ukrainian citizens and refugees to flee to the west of the country, some crossing borders into europe. many of those fleeing the capital city kyiv, they are crossing a bridge that's been bombed by ukrainian forces in an effort to slow the advance of russian troops to that capital city. let's go now to the latest reporting from ukraine and beyond, and here in the yirkts united states as we begin with josh lederman in brussels belgium. let's get to the urgent message from the state department, what do you know about it?

>> reporter: for weeks, the u.s. state department has been encouraging american citizens who are in russia to consider leaving the country immediately. now the warning is at a different level, a new travel warning issued from the state department today saying all american citizens who are in russia should leave immediately. this warning saying americans should not travel to russia due to unprovoked, unjustified attacks by russian military forces, the potential for harassment against u.s. citizens by russian government security officials and the limited ability of the u.s. embassy in russia right now to help u.s. citizens who might be detained or otherwise need consular assistance in russia. clearly a stepped up level of concern by the u.s. government, and part of what the concern centers on, alex, is the fact that it is getting harder and harder for americans in russia to find a way out should they want to leave now that the u.s. and the eu have imposed a ban on russian airplanes flying into

european airspace. russia has taken a reciprocal move back from them, meaning there's a dwindling number of flight options from russia to third countries, for instance, the international airport in dubai, perhaps in tel aviv or flights through asia, but it is much harder to get out, and due to the recent sharp escalation in tensions between the u.s. and russia, there are fewer u.s. diplomats on the ground in russia, meaning if an american citizen were detained and were to need a consular visit to help them make sure their rights are respected, it might not be possible right now for the state department to get to them or to provide the level of service that they typically would. and so the state department making it very clear that americans who are in the country right now should leave. we have not yet heard a response from the russian government to this latest travel warning from the state department. alex? >> and you know, you're giving us all the bullet points there.

let me also share with our viewers something on a practical note, within the declaration of the state department, u.s. citizens should note credit and debit cards may be declined as a result of the sanctions imposed on russian banks. it goes on to say there are reports of cash shortages, so getting out, that might also add to your problems, literally paying to get yourself out. at this point, the united states is not going to pay to get you out. you've got to try to do it on your own. there's a lot packed into this one. joining me now is john cipher, a retired veteran of the kri's clandestined service and ran the worldwide russia program from 2000 to 2002. john, welcome to you, let me ask you about your read on the story that russia has reportedly detained nba star brittney griner atticus toms. first of all, does this sound familiar? is this a typical tactic when you're trying to impose

difficulty or intimidation tactics? >> yeah, there's a long history of this. you remember paul whalen who was arrested by the russians on concocted charges, nicholas danilof, arrested for trumped up charges to be used as political bait or provide some sort of push back against the united states, and so i agree that it's worthwhile if you're an american citizen to get out because, you know, whether you did something wrong or not, it's easy to fake it and create a problem for you. >> brittney is an nba star, plays for the phoenix mercury. the statement, we are aware of and closely monitoring the situation with brittney griner in russia. we remain in constant contact with her family, representation, wnba, and nba. we love and support brittney, and at this time our main concern is her safe, physical and mental health and her safe return home.

here's a question, based on how things can work together, one thing causes the next, do you think the situation with brittney griner may have prompted the state department to invoke the warning saying to americans, get out of russia now? >> it very well may have. but remember, the embassy is quite decimated, there's been a number of tit for tat expulsions, an ambassador habd kicked ou embassy is in crisis. this might have been the last straw. it's important to publicize the case. that's the best thing that keeps her safe because russians have a tendency to not treat people well. >> if the embassy has been decimated and she is in custody, to whom does she turn for help under these circumstances, john. who can she go to? who can represent her?

who can help extricate her? >> i'm sure there's somebody at the embassy that's going to try to get in touch with her, and find lawyers who they believe are honest to try to help her out. if we remember from the broader magnitsky problem, well meaning lawyers can find themselves cracked down in the state. what's happening in russia is quite a bit of oppression, they have closed russian media, any kind of independent media, they have closed western media, they're cracking down on anyone who's a threat to the regime. now is a dangerous time to be in russia. >> absolutely. john, thank you so much for weighing in on this breaking news story. stay right where you are, i have a lot more questions about cia rules and other things in the country. let's go to nbc's molly hunter joining us from lviv. let's talk about what's happening on the ground, and what's the status of fighting and the tentative cease fire, we heard reports that it had been

broken by the russians. >> reporter: hey, that's right, the cities of mariupol and volnovaha, were thinking this was the day they would get out and flee farther west to more safety. this morning from the kremlin and the adviser of president zelenskyy, we heard that there would be a cease fire until this afternoon, until 4:00 p.m. this afternoon and there would be a humanitarian corridor. there would be government buses an assigned route, people could get into private cars. the mayor of mariupol was imploring citizens if you get in private cars, take friends and neighbors and other people, make sure that no one is left behind. well, alex, 90 minutes later it turned out from the city of mariupol city council they announced that the russian aggression had not stopped. there was no cease fire, it was not safe to leave their houses and they advised all citizens of mariupol to get back inside,

take shelter that the humanitarian corridor was not going to happen. of course all of those people are trying to make their way west where we are in lviv. this is the relative safe haven, the landing spot for anyone fleeing the east, and it's the departure point for anyone trying to get out of the country west, to go to poland or other neighboring countries. yesterday we headed to the train station here that is really ground zero for people moving in and moving out. we were invited upstairs into a room, just young mothers, and the youngest kids, infants, to about 5, 6, 7 years old. sonia, age 9, we spoke with her. she and her mom spent 24 hours on a train from kharkiv. take a listen to what she brought along and how that journey was for her? >> what did you grab from your house when you had to leave? e w?

>> reporter: and sonya and her mom olga, they are the lucky once. they made it here safely, trying to figure out their next move, trying to cross the border to poland. they are one of more than a million people who have gotten ouch the country. 500,000 of those kids, and of course that's not including all of the idps, internally displaced people, people who have left their homes, staying elsewhere in ukraine, mostly in the west hoping to be able to return home. we will be watching to see those

negotiations about a cease fire, about those humanitarian corridors to see if those people from mariupol and the surrounding areas are able to make it west in coming days. alex. >> molly hunter, thank you so much for your front line reporting. much appreciated. joining me right now is retired army colonel, alexander vindman, former director of the european affairs. and author of the "new york times" best selling book "here right matters," good to see you again. i was watching you watch that interview that molly hunter conducted with that mother and her 9-year-old daughter. i saw you blinking a little bit. i know you're a ukrainian. it has got to be so hard to listen to these stories from these innocent people that are fleeing this unprovoked aggression and really turning their lives upside down. what strikes you in your heart and your mind as you listen to this? >> well, i came here when i was

4 years old, and i grew up as an american. that's really the only thing i understand, but i think this whole experience is awakened or kindled a, you know, a dna of sorts, a deeper history for my family's roots in that part of the country. i take great pride in the ukrainian people and their fierce resistance, their ability to withstand these brutal attacks from the second most powerful military in the world, and you know, my heart goes out to these families and that young girl who's not much younger than my daughter who's 11, my daughter eleanor, and, you know, i'm happy that she's safe and with her family and she has a broken home and hard road ahead of her, but the ukrainian people are resilient, and they're going to make it through it. >> yeah, wow. let's hope you're 100% right. it has been remarkable watching them all, such admiration, such courage. it's hard to put it into words

the way you feel when you see a mom and daughter like that have been displaced. let me get to details, relative to your experience. there's a senior defense official telling nbc news that russian forces are about 16 miles or so away from the center of kyiv. what does that say to you, first of all, that russia has not yet taken kyiv, and then do you expect it's only a matter of time until they do? >> i don't think it's a matter of time. i think the russian army is being worn down in some tremendous ways. frankly, their lack of strategy and tactics is shocking. strategy without tactics is a slow road to victory. strategy without tactics is a sure road to feat. thousands of years old, and the russians are failing on both accounts. they're attacking on three axes towards kyiv through kharkiv from the east and from the south. their biggest gains are so far from the south, but they have been bottled up certainly around

kyiv and racing forward to the east from kharkiv, and extending their supply lines in a devastating ways, exposing themselves to really unsustainable losses because what the ukrainians are doing, is they're pounding their front line units while these russian forces continue to make slow gains, and then when these units start to call for resupply, fuel, ammunition, food, they're not getting it because those supply lines are vulnerable, so on paper, it looks like the russians are making slow gains, but in fact, it's almost like they're being fed into a trap. they're pushing further in but without the ability to sustain those forces, and even today, we see, you know, the last couple of days, we see the russians attempting to use their air power to support, and they have a lot of it. this is where they have the huge advantages. they're taking significant losses, their most advanced fighter bombers, c 34s are getting knocked out of the sky, helicopters knocked out of the sky. this was geared around an

operation that was supposed to move toward cities quickly, surround the cities, and probably without going in, compel the population to give up and leadership to, you know, fold and put in a pocket regime. now they have to fight all the way towards these cities, let alone get into them, and the cities are going to grind up those armies. i think it's just a matter of time. that's unfortunate because it could be weeks before the russian army is broken in ukraine, but that's the direction we're heading in right now, and some of the reporting that's coming out of the pentagon are folks that are looking at the numbers of forces that the russians still have, and without understanding really what's going on on the ground, the will of the ukrainian people to resist, the low morale on the russian side where folks are giving up in large numbers, especially on those northern, eastern fronts. formations are just getting ruined, so sometimes when you have experience on the ground, you don't have experience with the military, either the

ukrainian nor the russian military, the statistics, you know, the charts give a different picture but that's really not what's going on. i think this is far from done. it's going to be punishing but looking okay, and as putin gets cornered, that's becomes dangerous, he's going to become erratic and do the saber rattling. the longer this goes the more dangerous it gets for the u.s. and nato. >> you touched on something i was going to ask you about. how well prepared is this russian army? how well trained are they? >> we've heard so much about the youth of those that are fighting on the front lines. yes, russia has vast numbers, but without the proper training, how can that play out in war? >> well, the decisive factor when we look back at this, once the war is done, will certainly be the high morale of the ukrainian service members or the population to resist, to defend

their freedoms, defend their homes. the footage of unarmed civilians, challenging armored columns, challenging people that are firing warning shots or firing into them is absolutely stunning. you cannot defeat a population like that. on the other hand, the russians were preparing for what amounted to a peace keeping operation, have an easy go of it, and within a couple of days, turn around and leave back home with a care taker force. that is not what they're facing, and that's what's shocking here. the russians haven't adapted to the fact that they're not going to make these quick gains. they shouldn't be feeding these large formations so deep behind enemy lines, they would pull back, consolidate and make slow steady advances with the supply lines. >> don't you think it speaks to vladimir putin and the russian military leadership not aptly preparing their soldiers. those that they're sending to

the front lines saying this is going to be a peace keeping mission, i mean, from the very beginning it was indicated certainly on an honest front that it would not be peace keeping. ukraine was not welcoming them in to eradicate the country of nazis. it's like lies were told to the russian military or at least to the soldiers on the ground and then perhaps perpetuated by generals. what does that say about the plan? >> well, that's very perceptive because you have to understand, even in the u.s. military, let alone a dictatorial military, the instructions on what kind of, you know, the presumptions on what the enemy state is going to do are dictated by the top. this is not a real country, this is not a real population that would stand up to him, and that fed the battle plan, that fed the logistics behind that battle plan, this failed assumption that it was going to be peace keeping and they needed to only sustain this for a relatively

short period of time, that is catastrophic, entirely on putin. he's making bad decisions, and i fear the longer this goes on, the more bad decisions he's going to make. the incrementalism here is what's dangerous. the fact that putin is going to be increasingly provocative, lashing out not just at ukraine where he can't make any gains, he's being stalled but at the west, with the perception that somehow the west is supporting, when in fact, we are doing about minimum. yes, we're doing a lot with regards to economic sanctions and those are going to have control over the course of weeks and month, but we are not providing the material necessary. we are trickling in stuff when we should be providing them with drones and much more capable systems to help the ukrainians defeat the most capable portions of the russian army which are the air force and these rockets that are being fired from distances away. >> understood on all of that. let me ask you one more question relative to the nuclear power plant, that which was attacked and the reports about another one in the south of ukraine where russian forces are

approaching that. what is the game plan from the russian perspective, getting to these russian nuclear plants what do they want to do. surely it cannot be to blow them up. >> that's unlikely because the fallout could affect russia as well. it's critical infrastructure, it's one of the standard things that units that are going after this criminal infrastructure to secure it, shut it down. it could affect the morale of the population that doesn't have access to electricity and frankly the means to preserve food over long periods of time as refrigerators go out. so that's what's going on, but of course we also see the russians potentially damaging this infrastructure, and when the, you know, biden administration, or when nato says we're not going to get involved in this, we're not going to do no fly zones or something of that nature, that is the false premise of having the largest country in the world attack the largest country in europe and staying limited. if there is a nuclear accident,

a significant nuclear accident that implicates security for nato, we may very well have to eat our words and go in and secure some of these other power plants with a limited kind of short duration or narrowly defined no fly zones. i think the presumption is somehow this is going to stay limited. it's false, we should be preparing to avoid a hot war, rather than thinking we're going to return back to normal. >> lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, thank you so much for your insights on this saturday. it's true, a picture paints a thousand worsds. words. i'm going to ask a former cia agent about this scene with russian officials and vladimir putin. scene with russian officials and vladimir putin. and forms an antibacterial shield. try parodontax active gum health mouthwash. ♪ ♪ ♪a little bit of chicken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪

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breaking news right now, the white house is considering some new sanctions on russian oil, fueling concerns that gas prices could skyrocket in the coming months. let's go to nbc's laura neegen

joining us from wilmington, delaware, where the president is spending the weekend. welcome, how is the white house responding to these concerns? >> reporter: that's right, the white house is determining whether or not to ban imports on oil. after we heard from democrats and republicans in the past few days calling on the biden administration to take this step. the goal here is to limit resources going to russia, to deny russia of u.s. dollars that they would receive from these purchases as well as to send another clear message condemning vladimir putin's ongoing actions in ukraine. importantly, though, the u.s. makes up a very small percentage of russia's ill export, and so hanging over the white house's decision making process is what sort of impact this would have on gas prices back home as we have been talking about over the past few weeks, the prices of gas in the u.s. are very high right now, and the biden administration has said that when they're making these decisions about how to respond

to russia, they want to make sure that it has as small of an impact as possible on americans back home. here's what the press secretary had to say about this yesterday. >> we remain in contact and discussion with members of congress. we are looking at options we could take right now to cut u.s. consumption of russia energy. we are focused on minimizing the impact of families. everybody supports the efforts that president biden has been leading around the world to put in place crippling financial sanctions, and they have had an enormous impact. but what we are also mindful of is not taking steps that would have the impact of raising energy prices, raising oil price, raising gas prices for the american public! president biden has warned oil and gas companies to not take advantage of this moment and raise prices for their own profit. he has indicated that he could tap into the u.s.'s petroleum

reserve to help lower gas prices, and he said he's going to keep in close coordination with alice to monitor the energy markets. >> laura egan, thank you so much from wilmington, and now to the situation on the ground in ukraine, this from someone who is refusing to leave. joining me right now is lisa yasko, member of the ukrainian parliament. welcome to crow. let me first ask you, since i know you're still in ukraine. you have chosen to stay and continue your work there instead of fleeing, how are you doing? how is your family, and are you safe where you are? >> unfortunately i don't have good news. every day gets worse and worse because we understand that more homes are ruined, more people are killed. more attacks, i don't think i can talk about my personal safety as well as no one in the government or in the parliament or our president can. actually, every civilian is

under attack right now. i don't think we're safe, but it's very important that we stay as much as we can closer to the capital, and just fight for our freedom. >> well, i very much respect you can't tell us where you are. let me ask this, though, when areas potentially around you are being attacked, is there air warnings, sirens, i mean, are they going off all the time. are they still working properly or do you find russian shelling happening, and you had no fore warning. >> we have warnings almost around all the country. even if the western regions. and we also receive messages through our phones and our telegram, and whatsapp chats, official channels, and local, for example, authorities, they send warnings. but in some of the cities, this

sounds all the time, and it's actually not possible even to leave the shelter because it's not allowed. every time there is danger and the risk of more explosion, and air attack so unfortunately, this is the sound that stays in my ears all the time, even when i move away from the towns where these sounds are all the time, still i can hear it because i don't think that's a sound that we'll ever forget right now. >> i can't even imagine the terror of that sound. let me ask you on a practical level before i get into some politics and military situations there. getting things like food, staying warm, having your electricity, has that been compromised over much of the country? are people able to get the energy, the fuel resources or

basic necessities like food? >> unfortunately in the areas which are most attacked, i'm talking now about kyiv, north of kyiv, in the south of ukraine, and in the east, i think millions of people right now are without heating, without electricity, without water. it's very hard to ever create people. today we know there was the corridor organized for some areas in the east of ukraine, but the russians broke the deal, and they started to begin shelling, so the association actually didn't happen. it was postponed until unknown times. it's very scary because people are waiting for this moment to be able to leave the town, like nine days already, and they couldn't do it today. >> yeah, that was mariupol specifically, and others. we know there was just a five-hour window. five hours, and the russians did

not stop shelling for even that brief period of time to let people get out and evacuate to safety. let me ask you about your president zelenskyy for whom the world has incredible admiration for his courage now, but he's calling on nato to set up a no fly zone over ukraine, and then on friday, nato rejected that request saying that that could drag the organization, as well as europe and the united states into full-fledged war. is that how you see it, lisa? >> well, but this is the full-fledged war is happening right now in ukraine, and we pay very high price every day, and we cannot pretend, and i think all the world right now knows that we have a real war, and for us, the main value is the human life and the human rights and we lose children, and we lose many many people, and if we can do something to prevent from more

killings from putin a no fly zone will arrange that, will help it, will defend it. not only us, but also everyone in the world. because then there will be less refugees. we could protect our security and freedom more, and we could stop putin. i understand this is not easy to have no fly zone, to make that decision, but it's very much needed and of course we understand that it would really be the tool that could save lives, and we are very honest about it. >> yep. lisa yasko, a very honest conversation. thank you so much, thoughts are with you, and please stay safe, and i hope to speak with you again. thank you, lisa. >> thank you. the reports are certainly chilling, an alleged assassination squad sent to take out the ukrainian president, how it was stopped is the stuff of spy novels, but there's more to this story. reaction from a former cia operative, next. sfrz reaction from a former cia eropative, next. sfrz

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. we're following breaking news as the russian invasion of ukraine intensifies, vladimir putin issuing a stark warning saying moscow would consider any third-party declaration of a no fly zone over ukraine as participation in the armed conflict. it comes hours after ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy slammed nato allies for refusing the no fly zone. meantime, the country is entering its tenth night of terror. earlier today the city of mariupol suspended evacuations accusing russian forces of breaching that temporary serious fire, shelling in the city and surrounding areas after agreeing to a five-hour window, letting civilians flee, leaving residents without water, heat or electricity. ukrainian government officials are claiming that russian intelligence agents helped them

foil an alleged plot to assassinate president zelenskyy. a group of elite to kill zelenskyy when they were killed near kyiv last weekend. joining me now, john cipher, retired 28 veteran of the national clandestine surgery, ran the cia's worldwide program from 2000 to 2002. so john, how do you interpret these claims and who are these forces and how likely is it they would even be involved in this kind of plot? >> the chechnyaen thing is quite interesting. in 1994, the russians invaded chechnya and it turned out bloody them terribly, and they destroyed everything in chechnya, and now it's essentially this strange pro-putin republic in russia, and they have, you know, this

group of people, of killers that work sort of as shock troops, you know, for the russians, but they're not terribly disciplined but they are quite bloody, and so yeah, it's certainly possible that putin tried to use these people to kind of threaten and scare ukrainians and others that these out of control killers are coming this to find zelenskyy. what i don't necessarily believe is that the russian fsb, the internal security service gave ukrainians information on this stuff. there's a lot of games going on here, deception games. ukraine has been under attack by misinformation, disinformation, subversion and deception for years and years now, and they understand the russian games. i wouldn't be surprised if they're playing it back at the russians a little bit here, telling putin, hey some people in your own government are giving us heads up. >> but if the russians internally are giving that kind of a heads up, how does zelenskyy ward these things off? there have been reports of perhaps more than just this one

assassination attempt during the duration of this war. >> yeah, you know, i wouldn't be surprised if over the last eight years there's been a number of attempts by the russians. the ukrainians have learned to deal with the russians, they understand the russian mindset, putin's mindset. they have been trying to keep leaders safe for years, and years. at this point, getting in and getting close to zelenskyy at this point is probably not as easy as it sounds from the outside. >> putin's remarks, his speeches over the last days are raised questions about his state of mind. we see his meetings, he sits on one end of the long conference table, look at that, while everyone else is way at the other end. his paranoia about covid may be one thing, but politicians suggest something is off. what's your read? >> i'm less of that view. i think putin's activities and comments and what he has been doing is consistent with what he has done forever and ever.

part of the reason we're in this crisis is when he's acting before, gone into georgia, moldova, crimea and ukraine in the past, whenever we've tried to push back against putin, he has quickly escalated and tried to intimidate and throw threats, and it's worked. it's separated allies. it sort of allowed us to say, wait a minute, let's not push too hard on putin. i think what we're seeing is the same thing he has done before. he's threatening and pretending like he's caught in a corner, and better not mess with me, i have nuclear weapons. these kind of threats are very typical of vladimir putin, and interestingly you don't see the biden administration reacting much to those kind of threats! yeah, okay, john sipher, see us soon. appreciate you. the president of ukraine face to face virtually with members of the u.s. senate. what was volodymyr zelenskyy's message, and can the senate provide him with any satisfactory answers. what we know happened in that meeting coming your way next. atwh we know happened in that meeting coming your way next wa,

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news. about three hours, the u.s. senate and the congressional ukraine caucus met virtually with the ukrainian president as they work on sending additional aid to ukraine. let's go to capitol hill. a very unusual meeting. so tell us what happened? >> reporter: our capitol hill team has steadily gotten a flood of reaction from some of the hundreds of lawmakers who were on this call with ukrainian president zelenskyy. some of them even tweeting some photos from that meeting of zelenskyy who as we know was in hiding when he did this call that lasted nearly an hour. now, we know that the senate minority and majority leaders both spoke before a congressman who's actually on the front lines right now at the ukrainian polish border witnessing this humanitarian crisis firsthand. they say that zelenskyy praised

president biden and the u.s. for the sanctions imposed so far, but made a very empathetic plea for more action, and i think we have a full screen here to lay out exactly what he's asking for. he's specifically asking for a ban on russian oil imports a cut on visa and mastercard privileges for russian people, increased lethal aid in the form of drones and plays, as well as, when zelenskyy was asked what he needs most, it was a no fly zone. this has been a sticking point for the united states and nato allies, especially after today, after putin said that basically anyone guilty of association by putting planes in the air over ukrainian airspace is just as guilty as ukraine. so this is definitely a sticking point, but we know that this call ended with lawmakers unmuting themselves and expressing support for zelenskyy by saying that they will continue to support and help him. >> okay. allie rafa there on capitol hill thank you so much for that out

read there. meantime, for all of you, anger, frustration, helplessness, nothing close to the horror and death ukrainians are seeing. americans asking what more can be done, we tried answering that. spoiler alert, though, it may be unsatisfying. that's next. though, it may be unsatisfying that's next. in the kind of work that i do, you are surrounded by people who are all younger than you. i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. ♪ ♪ ♪

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luckily they've all got chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. in congress, a bipartisan group of lawmakers is pushing to ban russian energy imports to further punish moscow. the effort reflected the rage for the unprovoked attack that left hundreds if not thousands ukrainians dead, and 1 million forced to apology. adrienne elrod, and michael singleton, political consultant and contributor to the boston globe. this oil ban republicans and democrats are calling for. the white house is not inclined

to go through with that, arguing it's going to drive up gas prices, the cost of energy at home. do you think americans would accept paying more at the pump in exchange for punishing putin? >> i think in this case, they certainly will, and i think it's incumbent upon not just the president but other leaders in congress to explain to the american people why they have to make this sacrifice. look, all you have to do, alex is turn on cable television, look at your phones, facebook, a social media platform to understand the humanitarian crisises that ukrainians are facing over there. even though we are a divided country politically, i think we are united in many ways in the human spirit about wanting to help our fellow people who live in a democracy, so i think it is important for our leaders in this country, elected leaders, especially the president to explain why we may have to have higher gas prices. i think president biden has already started to do that a little bit. but i think in this case in

particular, this is an area where americans can be united. >> how about, same question, putting it this way, how much should domestic political considerations determine actions that we take on the world stage? >> i think they should, and i think what this really sort of puts in the forefront of many americans is that we need to become far more energy dependent. a lot of friends on the other side, including my good friend adrienne believe we should go to fuels and many car manufacturers are saying that's the future. but at the same time in this particular moment that we're in now, i think it's very clear that our dependence upon foreign oil is a national security threat. so i do wonder, while many americans are likely to say i'm willing to take the burn. i was filling up my car, and unleaded was $4.19, for the type of vehicle i drive, it was $5. i can afford that, but i think about the struggling people already struggling coming out of

the covid pandemic who can only pay for that for so long, before they say this is too much in the midst of inflation. >> there are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle, sharing a lot of fury. tom nichols wrote in the atlantic, in my rage, i want someone somewhere to do something. i have taught military and national security affairs for more than a quarter century and i know what will happen when a 40 mile column of men and weapons encircles a city of outgunned defenders. i want all the might of the civilized world, a world of which putin is no longer a part to obliterate the innovating forces and i counsel, a position many americans find impossible to understand. every measure of our outrage is natural as are the calls for action, but emotions should never dictate policy.

what a powerful assessment there, adrienne. do you agree with it? >> i do, and i hope all of your viewers will read this piece. it's really compelling, and tom of course is one of the foremost experts on national security in our country. he also goes on to reinforce the fact that this has been essentially the doctrine of the biden administration. that president biden has made it clear that the united states and nato are imposing crippling sanctions on russia. but we've got to make sure that we don't let emotion drive our decision making process. look, alex, we are in a very precarious situation here. we certainly don't want to provoke putin anymore than we already have as it comes to a potential nuclear war. and that's i think what tom is essentially enforces this piece, we've got to exercise restraint, and as heartbreaking as it is, especially for parents out there and, you know, people who have

children, to see what parents and children are going through, we have to exercise that emotional restraint. >> to reiterate that, many viewers right now, they're probably sitting at home, watching these heartbreaking images, you feel helpless, frustration, you're wondering what more can we do, it doesn't feel right continuing on with our normal lives, while across the ocean we're seeing a fellow democratic society suffering these horrific atrocities on top of a humanitarian crisis. but is there anything else the government can do without igniting world war iii? >> i think tom actually cites afghanistan, alex, when the russians invaded afghanistan, they killed thousands and thousands of people, a million plus afghanis fled the country. we supplied them with military arms. the afghans were able to drive the russians out and tom cites that as an example of not directly involving ourselves in the conflict but indirectly

helping the people of afghanistan, similar to what we're doing in the ukraine. i think at this time, alex, that is the safest bet. i think vladimir putin is too unpredictable, nuclear weapons here. i think american people who want to see men and women die on the front lines, for a war that necessarily isn't our conflict. i think the way we're going about it, the way the biden administration is handling this, i believe is proper. if putin crosses that line and invades a nato country, that changes the entire game. until we get to that point, alex, i think the way we're going about it is in the best interest of the united states. >> okay. guys, thank you so much for your weighing in on all of this, adrienne, michael, awfully good to see you. a former marine and now member of congress, where he seeings the conflict in ukraine heading. i'll ask him how does this end, also why the u.s. and nato allies won't impose a no fly zone. he'll explain. impose a no fly zone he'll explain. ken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪

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a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to "alex witt reports," there are many breaking stories on the russian invasion of ukraine at this hour. the top headlines, new video from government officials in ukraine showing the downing of what they claim is a russian military aircraft.

>> now that video was shared by the official twitter account for the state emergency service of ukraine, though nbc news has not independently verified whether it indeed was a russian aircraft nor when this video was shot also in the last hour, the u.s. state department is telling americans to leave russia immediately. this comes after reports that american basketball player brittney griner has been detained by russian customs officials. it is unclear exactly when this reported tension may have happened. and new warnings from russian president vladimir putin today. he is likening western sanctions to a declaration of war, and he is warning against the creation of a no fly zone, although president biden and nato have said repeatedly that a no fly zone is off the table. putin is also meeting with israel's neftali bennett. and new details on ukraine president's