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what does a foster kid need from you? to be brave. to show up. for staying connected. the questions they weren't able to ask. show up for the first day of school, the last day at their current address. for the mornings when everything's wrong. for the manicure that makes everything right, for right now. show up, however you can, for the foster kids who need it most— at helpfosterchildren.com ♪♪ good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome, everyone, to "alex witt reports." it is 2:00 p.m. in washington, d.c., 9:00 p.m. in kyiv, 10:00 p.m. in moscow, and there is a flurry of diplomatic activity. at this hour, even as russian president vladimir putin fires off more threats. first, israeli prime minister

bennett is in moscow this hour for a meeting with putin. israel previously offered to serve as something of a mediator to help resolve the conflict. also new this hour, u.s. secretary of state antony blinken has met with ukraine's foreign minister on the ukraine-poland border, pledging even more support. >> we've come from several days in meetings with nato, the european union, countries beyond the g7, and we see that support not only continue, security support, humanitarian support, economic support, but that support will increase. and as to the pressure on russia, not only is it unprecedented, not only is it producing very, very concrete results in russia, but that pressure, too, will not only continue, it will grow until this war of choice is brought to an end. >> and new details to share on ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy's virtual meeting with u.s. members of congress today.

he again made his case to about 300 lawmakers and staff for a no-fly zone to prevent russian air bombardment. however, president putin made it clear today that any country joining a no-fly zone would put itself in the line of fire. >> translator: and there's 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 of -- as participants of this conflict. and it doesn't matter what members of what alliances they are. so, i understand. i'm hoping this will not come to it. >> and a new warning in the u.s. state department telling americans to leave russia

immediately. the timing comes after reports that american basketball player brittney griner has been detained by russian customs officials. nbc news has yet to officially confirm this and it is unclear exactly when this reported detention may have happened. but let's go to nbc correspondents both overseas and here at home for the very latest. as i welcome you all, we're going to begin with josh lederman, joining us. israeli prime minister the latest to meet with putin. what do we know about their discussion? >> reporter: alex, i just spoke with an israeli government official who says the meeting is now over. it lasted about three hours, and prime minister bennett used that meeting to raise concerns about israelis and the jewish community being affected by this crisis. the official saying that bennett, in that three-hour meeting, also informed putin of israel's objection to a return to the iran nuclear deal, which is another set of negotiations that are taking place over this weekend.

according to our colleague, kelly o'donnell, the white house was notified by the israelis ahead of putin's meeting with bennett. the israelis also informed the germans and the french. bennett also was able to speak with president zelenskyy of ukraine following his meeting with putin and the israeli prime minister will now be heading to germany where he will be consulting with german chancellor olaf scholz, this coming as the state department putting out that alarming new travel warning today, stepping up their recommendation from the past when they were saying american citizens in russia should consider leaving. the state department now saying, any american in russia should leave now with commercial flight options dwindling and the u.s. embassy in russia under a limited ability to help americans who could get in trouble or be detained in the country. this is coming as we had this alarming other report about wnba player brittney griner, who apparently was detained, according to russian authorities, at the airport. the russians say that she had

some type of hashish oil with her in her luggage. we are hearing at this hour from her agent who says they don't want to comment on the legal situation but they are aware of the situation, in contact with her lawyers, and their top priority right now is her physical and mental well-being, and as the u.s. is issuing that warning about americans, the secretary of state, antony blinken, meeting on the polish-ukrainian border with ukrainian foreign minister in the last couple of hours, and i have to tell you, alex, the ukrainian foreign minister really put blinken on the spot over the reluctance of nato and the u.s. to impose a no-fly zone over ukraine. the ukrainian foreign minister saying, it is ukrainians who will pay the price for the reluctance of nato to act at this moment, but blinken, for his part, says the u.s. is doing everything they can short of intervening with troops or a no-fly zone to help the ukrainians. blinken saying that there will be more u.s. weapons heading to

ukraine as the u.s. and nato allies try to give ukraine what they need to fight the russians themselves. alex? >> yeah. it is a really difficult conversation, really very much of a quandary. thank you so much, josh lederman, from brussels on that. let's go to matt bradley from the western city. what about diplomatic efforts? do you think they're having any impact on the fighting? do you see any evidence of that? >> reporter: no, and i mean, what we're seeing on the fighting is that, actually, it's being used more as a pretense. this is something that's been going on for weeks and weeks long before this conflict. i was talking to a ukrainian diplomat and he told me, as long as the diplomats are talking, the guns are silent. obviously, this was long before the guns really became quite loud and he was saying that and i remembered him saying that, because actually, while the diplomats were talking, the guns were moving around and going into place.

that's somewhere we're seeing in the southeastern city of mariupol where we had a cease-fire that was arranged and was supposed to allow a humanitarian corridor so civilians in their thousands could possibly leave mariupol, which has been totally strangled by russians forces who were trying to take over that city. instead, according to the ukrainians and the mayor of that town, the russians started shelling that humanitarian corridor, and so they called it off, just a couple of hours after it started, and so we also heard from some others, from some intelligence sources and officials and printed in media saying that this was all just a pretext for allowing them or allowing the russians to rearm and to consolidate their positions. so, when we see these diplomatic maneuvers going on, they haven't worked before. they haven't worked as recently as these belarusian talks that we have been seeing and for the most part, they've been used as a shield to cover vladimir putin's maneuvers to put his guns into place. it's a really cynical use of

peace talks, but we've seen it time and time again, and i think it's something that's probably not going unnoticed by the ukrainians and something that's probably very frustrating to them, even as they participate in these peace talks, the russians are continuing shelling cities like kharkiv in the northeast and bringing down their huge convoy, that 40-miles-long convey around kyiv so there's not much hope for these peace talks and both sides are treating them very cynically and almost dismissively. >> got to say, exasperating to say the least. thank you so much for that. president biden is facing bipartisan pressure to sanction russian oil. that is a move that could surge domestic gas prices and those are already reaching some record highs. let's go to nbc's lauren egan, joining us from wilmington, delaware, with the president. so, lauren, where does the white house stand on this issue? have they made it clear yet? >> reporter: well, the white house is currently weighing whether or not to implement a ban on russian oil imports to the u.s.

taking care and being very mindful of the impact this would have on gas prices here at home. the goal of doing something like this would be to deny russia additional resources to make sure that there's no u.s. money flowing into their economy as well as to send yet another message on the global stage condemning vladimir putin's ongoing actions against ukraine. importantly, potential makes up -- all percentage of russia's oil exports, so doing this would probably have a pretty limited impact on their economy. at the same time, any sort of disruption or changes to the global energy market right now would probably -- in a higher gas prices here back home. these are factors that the white house is weighing right now as they are discussing this. options that they have in front of them. the white house press secretary as well as one of president biden's economic advisors was asked about this on friday at the white house. listen to what they had to say. >> what we know is that, you

know, from the u.s. economy, we don't import a lot of russian oil, but we are looking at options that we can take right now if we were to cut the u.s. consumption of russian energy. >> what we are also mindful of is not taking steps that would have the impact of raising energy prices, raising oil prices, raising gas prices for the american public, and we also are mindful of doing things in a way that is unified with our partners around the world. >> reporter: has warned oil and gas companies to not take advantage of the situation by -- just for their own profits. he has also said that he is -- tapping into the u.s.'s petroleum reserve to help energy -- so these are all -- currently weighing right now, alex. >> okay, lauren egan, thank you so much from wilmington. joining me right now, congressman mike quigley, democrat from illinois. he sits on the intelligence committee and also co-chair of

the congressional ukraine caucus. good to have you here, my friend. let's get into this. first thing, you were on the call this morning with ukrainian president zelenskyy. from what you can tell us, what was his message, and what is your assessment on the current situation? >> yeah, alex, we're going back to work on monday in washington, d.c., to consider a $10 billion aid package, humanitarian and defense purposes. this was the ultimate, lack of a better way to describe it, a pep talk. you couldn't help being moved by the president's demeanor, calm, powerful, appreciative. i'm no stenographer, but i took notes, and it's just -- it's hard to put into words, the things he said, he said at the end, we are all one big army, undefeatable. we represent an ideal unity worth fighting for. if we win, it's a victory over

injustice. you are our biggest hope. help us. don't let our people be exterminated. >> woof. that is courage that he is embodying there and an element of leadership that is remarkable. what was the reaction there? and what did he specifically ask for? >> i think you can't not be moved. >> yeah. >> when you know what he is going through. he sort of matter of factually recognized the fact that they're coming to kill him. in history, what do we compare this with? top of my mind, churchill during the blitz, but for its immediate sake, clearly president zelenskyy's at greater risk and seems to be raising the stakes. i think what you can take from this is, you know, sometimes nothing happens in a decade. the old proverb. and sometimes ten years happens in a week. we have seen the west move very

dramatically where switzerland's not neutral, and germany and the eu are doing things we wouldn't have thought they'd do. i think moments like this accelerate that time frame. so, when he asks for planes, if we're not going to do air -- an air zone, you have to listen. and if he asks for enhanced sanctions on the energy sector, on credit cards, not making the typical russian's life so comfortable, you got to listen. >> yeah. i just want to be real clear for our viewers, something just technically speaking, we are showing pictures of zelenskyy addressing a body. that was when he addressed the eu, not addressing congress this morning. he did get a standing ovation when he was addressing the eu. >> well, his response was extraordinary today. i'm sorry. i want to make sure that's clear. >> no, and i agree, and i feel -- i know you well enough to kind of be able to read you. i feel like you're really moved by what you heard as well.

>> let me put it this way. my grandfather fought in the first world war, was gassed in the trenches, and suffered that the rest of his life. what he's talking about is why millions gave their last full measure of devotion to beat this kind of autocratic form. we prefaced everything we've talked about with this situation with this, well, ukraine's not a member of nato. but if any american watched the president of ukraine today speak, you would have to take away the president's actions and his people's actions and who they are as a sovereign democratic country, this is exactly why we formed nato. so, i think it's a moving

picture. the last thing i want to do is tell putin, here's the limits of what we'll do. i don't suggest that means we're going to remove the no-fly zone immediately. but i do think it means, we need to get him planes right away, and if that's eastern european planes, people know how to fly, all the better, and if we need to shut down their energy sector, we need to do that. as kids, we watched films of the blitzkrieg, and none of us ever thought that we could allow something like that to happen again. well, it's happening, and today was one of those moments when you reminded yourself that we have a job to do as western democracies. >> i had a very interesting conversation with a former member of the ukrainian parliament, and she made a proposal, and i don't know if it is even possible, but she

suggested that foreign fighters could very easily get ukrainian citizenship and jump in planes that are being provided by the united states and everybody else and get up in the air and fight as ukrainians with planes that are sent by the united states and european partners. when she said it at first, i thought, well, that -- does that make sense? i mean, does it make sense to you? even more so, would vladimir putin read it as such? doesn't matter if they were americans or french or dutch or swedish, whoever came. would vladimir putin see that and be able to say, well, i guess they are ukrainians, or would he say, nyet? >> no. he would see it as he has said that -- as he described the sanctions, as an act of war and a dramatic escalation. so, it's easy to get caught up

in how this is moving forward and i don't think you can ignore that because the spirit of why we formed nato and when we fought the second world war and tried to win the war, the battle after the war, right? the air lift and so much more that we did to rebuild europe and keep it, and all the aspects of the cold war. so, i think we have to understand that everything's on the table and in an accelerated basis, discern what is the most effective way that saves the ukrainian people while not escalating us dramatically into a third world war. >> look, we are seeing, in realtime, russia slowly taking over these smaller surrounding cities to kyiv and other major hubs. is it inevitable that russia will take kyiv, even if later than expected? >> you know, i can't ever bet

against ukrainian people. i recognize the situation as you described it. i would say this. even if they were to take over the major cities and put up some sort of -- prop up a puppet government like belarus, that the insurgency would never end, and in the end, it's a war that putin could never win. so, okay, conceivably, he could take the city. he can install a government that no one, especially ukrainians, would recognize. but there's no way he will beat the ukrainian people. it's just impossible. he doesn't have the resources to do that, and no one can change that. and at the same time, you know, while the world changes the scenery, it's changing behind us as well. back to the initial point.

i think the world is evolving how it reacts to this, and yeah, it can't just be people who are involved now. and the final analysis, we need israel. we need india. we need china. we need opec to all recognize this and completely isolate putin. that is nearly impossible task, but our friends in ukraine deserve the effort. >> yeah. congressman mike quigley, got to say, i'm grateful to call you a friend and to have you and your moral compass, your decency, your experience in congress. thank you so much. >> thank you. you hear it from ukrainians, you heard it from this cushion right here with congressman quigley. the push for a no-fly zone to prevent bombings in ukraine, how it could lead to something much, much worse. raine, how it could lead to something much, much worse at jp morgan, the only definition of wealth that matters is yours. it can be a smaller house, but a bigger nest egg. a goal to work toward, or the freedom to walk away.

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as russia's invasion of ukraine intensifies, europe is

bracing for the fastest and largest displacement of people there since world war ii. according to unicef, more than 1.3 million ukrainians have fled into neighboring countries, including at least half a million children. some have crossed into hungary, moldova, slovakia, romania. more than half have crossed the border into poland and secretary of state blinken visited a border crossing between ukraine and poland earlier today where waves of refugees are crossing on foot, sometimes with children in tow. nbc's ellison barber is at that border crossing where ukrainians are being met with a hot meal, something they need. to you, ellison. >> reporter: right here, they are offering traditional polish soup to refugees, people who have fled ukraine and made it across the border into poland. you look around here and you see what is an incredibly organized site. we have been to six different border crossings, welcome centers, in the last week or so.

this is run by the polish government. government officials are here. the aid at other sites is much more loosely organized, but here, you see police, firemen, a members of the polish army helping guide people to where they need to go next. they are bringing people from buses. inside, there's 2,000 cots where people can stay, get warm, sleep for a minute. there is food. there's free wi-fi, places to charge your phone. and then they are arranging transports to other cities in poland or even to other countries like germany or czech republic. walk down a little more this way and you see all of the aid that is here for people, the influx of people also here, many of them carrying their entire lives in one or two suitcases. as we've spoken to people here, we met one woman who was in her 60s and she said she did not know where she was going to go next. she was from kharkiv and she had to leave her home, even though

she didn't want to. she looked down and said the three bags she had with her, it was her entire life. there have been over a million refugees fleeing poland, many of them women and children. this is one place where people can come before they make their way somewhere else. back to you. >> okay, ellison barber, thank you so much for that. well, joining me right now, oleksandra, a pro-european member of ukraine's parliament. and madam mp, i welcome you to the broadcast. tell me what you're learning from people there on the ground and what you know about the situation in kyiv today. >> to be honest, i was just watching what you were showing, how people support ukraine in poland, and i just got a message about half an hour ago from my friend in lviv. he has a small business, he's renting out apartments, and she said that he keeps getting his apartments booked from people all over the world who are texting him that they're not coming but they're trying to

support him in this way. so he basically collects the money that comes to his business and sends them to the ukrainian army in support. and to be honest, this is very inspiring for us as ukrainians because we have support from all over the world. people can greet us with hot food, give their apartments to stay, support us with money. the only thing i keep praying about is that the politicians all around the world would do the same. because today, the thing number one that ukraine needs and that civilians, children need, in ukraine, in kyiv, in kharkiv, in all the cities that are being shelled is the no-fly zone, and that's why our president keeps saying this to all leaders around the world. i've seen what the congressman just said about, we are not a nato country. but to be honest, and we have to remind it to everybody, that we were a nuclear country 20 years ago, and we were promised that protection, if we gave up our nuclear weapons. well, we did.

we are not a new country anymore. and the united states, the united kingdom and russia promised us protection and that if anything happens to the ukrainian sovereignty, if it's in danger, if somebody invades, they would be the ones supporting and protecting us. well, this is not happening. that's why it is difficult to imagine that if, let's say, putin invades one of the baltic countries like lithuania, eston in and protect. putin keeps going as far as he can go because there's no strong response from the international community. we have 90 countries that are united to support ukraine but unfortunately the response, even in sanctions, is very weak. i'll just give you a few examples. well, yes, the united states, the eu and other countries introduced sanctions to russia but they excluded the energy sector and it means that these

countries care more about the prices on their gas, which would probably cost now not $4 in the united states per gallon but $4.50 and this 50 cents make a huge difference for the russian economy, and this is what is funding putin's army. or we have been promised that there would be strong sanctions on banks. unfortunately, we have seven out of 300 banks to be switched off from s.w.i.f.t. it's not even 10%. it's 5% of all banks in russia. frankly speaking, this can hardly be called a strong response from the international community. our president was talking today to the senators, to the house representatives, and he's been telling them that if we want to stop this genocide or this massive execution that the whole world is watching right now, 24/7, we have to protect the sky. ukrainians had proved that we

can fight to the last bloond on our land. we don't need soldiers from nato, the united states, or any other country to come fight for us. you can just watch right now on your screens, the people would go out and stop tanks, stop the vehicles bare handed, because this is our land that we are protecting. it's our country, and we are not going to step back. but we have to close the sky so the missiles stop killing our children. we have our orphanages, preschools, children's hospitals now on fire with children dying every day because we cannot stop the missiles. israel has this iron dome that the united states funded and provided to them to help them protect their sky. we are asking for the same thing. we need the air defense systems that can protect our sky from thousands of missiles that are going there every day. because if it doesn't happen, kyiv would be the next to level.

it would be burned to ashes. >> oleksandra ustinova, it is very hard to argue any point that you're making there. i want to thank you for making that so eloquently and something that i think is a message that everybody will have just listened to. thank you very much for sharing that time with us here on msnbc. we'll come back to you again for sure. we're also going to go back to the front lines. we're going to check in with the ukrainian journalist and show you what he is seeing next. and a bit later on, they are vladimir putin loyalists who you would never think would split with him but now there are cracks. the who and the what. now theree cracks the who and the what new poligrip power hold and seal. clinically proven to give strongest hold, plus seals out 5x more food particles.

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exactly when the detention may have happened. meantime, in tel aviv, hundreds of ukrainians,israelis and russians are gathering near the russian embassy there to protest against the invasion of ukraine, calling on putin to stop the war. it comes as the israeli prime minister just wrapped up a meeting with putin, three hours long. he also spoke with president zelenskyy by phone after that meeting. and in ukraine, the city of mariupol suspended activities accusing russian forces of breaching a five-hour temporary cease-fire, shelling the city and surrounding areas. russia's bombarded the port city for days now, leaving its residents without water, heat or electricity in these winter months. joining me now, political editor for the kyiv independent. he is in western ukraine. welcome to you, sir. i want to first ask about that reporting. first of all, the temporary cease-fire that was supposed to allow civilians to evacuate in that port city of mariupol. that was called off.

reports that russians continued the shelling. what more do you know about that? >> well, yes, yesterday, ukrainian and russians agreed to have a humanitarian corridor for evacuation from mariupol and volnovakha. we know this didn't happen today. from ukrainian officials, we hear that russia continues to shell both cities. the recent reports say that from the town of volnovakha, only 400 people were able to evacuate. from mariupol, the numbers are even lower. and as we know, mariupol will try tomorrow, but unfortunately, ukrainian authorities and ukrainian people don't believe russia when they say they're going to provide humanitarian corridor. >> well, i guess they don't have reason to at this point. that's for certain. i know, oleksiy, that you have been on the ground in ukraine

throughout this entire invasion. paint a picture for us, what you're seeing and what you are hearing there. >> well, obviously, we see human suffering. we see russia shelling, bombing, residential areas. first in kharkiv, also in the south and cities like mariupol, volnovakha. russia has increased its attacks on civilians after the negotiations between ukraine and russia broke down. in western ukraine, where i'm currently at, there's lots of people trying to flee the conflict. we know that over a million people already left ukraine. if we're talking about cities like lviv, we see the train station packed with women and children trying to move west to -- primarily to poland. so, the situation is very, very bad. >> yeah. in fact, we are hearing that

there have been 1.3 million ukrainians who have already fled the country. but what are you hearing from those civilians who stayed behind, those who stayed behind or those who are unable yet to leave? >> well, if we're talking about people in kyiv, then those who left, it's mostly women and children. a lot of men remained on the ground. first of all, because we know that ukraine doesn't let men from 18 to 60 to leave the country, but also because a lot of people are ready to fight. the ukrainian territorial defense units are facing lines of people willing to join. i know people who are waiting for several days to be able to join the territorial defense unit, so if we're talking about ukrainian population, then there's a lot of people who are ready to fight.

and what ukraine needs is obviously support from the west in terms of military assistance, weapons, and ammunition. >> oleksiy, how long do you think the ukrainian people, those that have stayed behind to fight, can hold off the russian army? is there a sense that they will continue doing it because of the courage and bravery that they are sustaining throughout this horrible ordeal? or is their luck and is that effort going to run out? >> well, first, if we're looking at the scenes, the videos that are circulating the internet, then we understand that the russian army is much worse than we expected. a lot of the people painted the russian army as being maybe even the most powerful army in the world. but if we're looking at their equipment, it's pretty bad.

ukrainian soldier is better equipped than the russian soldier. obviously, russia has more manpower, has more missiles, planes, and that will certainly play out. and it's hard to put a time frame how long can ukraine resist. but something that is worth mentioning is that even the cities captured, for example, kherson, the only regional capital under the russian flag now, ukrainians, with their bare hands, they go take the streets. they stop russian tanks, and they're not -- they're unarmed, but they still resist. so, i think that is the key thing here, that ukrainians don't even need guns to resist. most will never support russia. >> an incredible group of people there defending their country. oleksiy, thank you so much for your reporting there for the kyiv independent. do stay safe. i'll be happy to welcome you again and get updates.

thank you so much. >> thank you. all about the oligarchs and where their relationship with putin now stands. it is the subject of a "washington post" article that you should read this weekend. the author joins me next. the author joins me next hey businesses! you all deserve something epic! so we're giving every business, our best deals on every iphone - including the iphone 13 pro with 5g. that's the one with the amazing camera? yep! every business deserves it... like one's that re-opened! hi, we have an appointment. and every new business that just opened! like aromatherapy rugs! i'll take one in blue please! it's not complicated. at&t is giving new and existing business customers our best deals on every iphone. ♪ ♪ inner voice (kombucha brewer): as a new small business owner, i find it useful to dramatically stare out of the window... ...so that no one knows i'm secretly terrified inside. inner voice (sneaker shop owner): i'm using hand gestures and pointing... ...so no one can tell i'm unsure about my business finances.

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staying up half the night searching for savings on your prescriptions? just ask your cvs pharmacist. we search for savings for you. from coupons to lower costs options. plus, earn up to $50 extra bucks rewards each year just for filling at cvs pharmacy. back with this breaking news, ukraine's president coming face-to-face with u.s. lawmakers, pleading in a virtual meeting for more help. let's go to capitol hill. so, how are the lawmakers reacting to what they heard from president zelenskyy? >> reporter: well, alex, our capitol hill team is still getting flooded with reaction from several of the hundreds of lawmakers who were on this call with president zelenskyy, who, as we know, was in hiding during this nearly hour-long phone call. these lawmakers describe him as emotional, exhausted. they say that he thanked the

u.s. and president biden for the sanctions already imposed against russia, but he called for more action, specifically a couple points here. a ban on russian oil imports. many lawmakers on this call are supporting him in that, but the white house has stopped short of actually imposing that ban. he also called for a cut on visa and mastercard privileges for the russian people. another ask increased lethal aid, and when asked what he needs most, zelenskyy said, a no-fly zone. obviously, something that's been a sticking points between the united states and nato allies, especially more so today after putin said that basically any country that imposes a no-fly zone over ukraine is basically guilty by association with his war, but zelenskyy is asking lawmakers to plead with nato allies to basically impose this no-fly zone over his country or to give him the resources and the planes to do it himself. listen to what senator lindsey graham had to say in response to

this call today. >> apparently, the united states is part of the problem, not the solution. with the planes and drones. president zelenskyy indicated that ukraine would be a more effective fighting force, so let's get them the planes and drones they need. the president emphasized that the oil and gas sector of russia needs to be sanctioned. anything that could hurt the russian economy will help the ukrainian people. >> reporter: and alex, as this call was ending, we know from lawmakers, they said that they unmuted themselves on this zoom call and just expressed their support for ukrainian president zelenskyy, saying that they will help him and support him as best they can. >> yeah. okay. al lie rafa, thank you. meantime, the president is delivering on his promise to target russian billionaires. the president announcing new sanctions against members of the russian elite and their families on thursday. including blocking them from

traveling to the united states. in the new article, my next guest writes, ukraine invasion opens faint but once unthinkable fissures between putin and russian oligarchs. joining me now is greg miller, foreign investigative correspondent for the "washington post." greg, good to see you. interesting article. so, walk us through these cracks which seem to be forming between putin and members of the oligarch class. how do you read them? >> hi, alex. so, i think cracks is the right word because they are sort of faint right now. they're expressions, mostly, of desires for peace in ukraine. these are oligarchs, multibillionaires, many of whom owe those billions to their connections in the russian state, including to putin himself, and so none so far has gone so far as to condemn the russian president, to condemn russia or the kremlin directly, so -- but you have had oligarchs, including oleg,

alastair, and others sort of speaking on things, on behalf of the ukrainian people, speaking sympathetically about the conditions for ukraine, and asking for peace negotiations to get under way. >> yeah, it's interesting, there's almost a generational boldness of the younger generation when you write about dmitry peskov's daughter, putting out a statement like that, it was quickly pulled back down for reasons we're not aware of. you also had, i think it was, boris yeltsin's granddaughter. it's pretty extraordinary. are you seeing the next generations as being more willing to stand up and face against putin? >> i mean, i think that's probably the case. there's another factor here, which is that for many of these young people who are speaking out, their lives, they have come to have lives that are deeply

connected with the west. they travel to the west. maybe their oligarch parents have lavish estates in the west. so, the impact on them is also going to be particular. they may know very little what it's like to live only in russia without being able to board a flight to get to monte carlo, elsewhere in the mediterranean, or to villas in france or properties here in the united kingdom. >> but here's the $64,000 question, greg. do these fissures indicate a break between leadership and russia in this war overall? is there dissension that you can take from that that's palpable? >> yeah, i mean, i think so. i mean, i quoted a very senior state department official in that article that you put up just a few minutes ago, saying that as faint as these expressions of discontent are, they're still more extreme than anything anyone has seen since the end of the cold war, so even

though they stop short of condemnation of putin himself, these are clear, clear indications of unhappiness and anxiety and concern. now, i mean, you know, there is -- there's an argument to make that this is an -- that this is out of self-pity or self-preservation that they are making these appeals, less than true sympathy for the people of ukraine, but i think architects of sanctions will take it either way, anything that shows division in russia, anything that erects pressure on putin, those are the objectives of the sanctions and if they see that, they start to believe it's working. >> to what degree? can you give me a sense of how these sanctions will work, particularly on these russian oligarchs and the russian elite? >> well, i think we've already seen, for example, one of the wealthiest russians, worth $14 billion, as a

$50 million-plus property just a few miles away from me here in london, that he can't get to anymore. that is now sanctioned. that is now something he can't access. we've seen yachts by oligarchs being seized by italy and other european countries. the travel ban that will prevent them from flying across europe is an enormous, an enormous change for these oligarchs and of course probably the best known is the owner of the chelsea football club in london, abramovich who is doing everything he can to get out of sanctions' way. that's a clear indication of how much anxiety these financial measures are causing for oligarchs. >> how about putin? last question here. because white house press secretary jen psaki said these steps will impact the people who are closely around putin, saying, we want him to feel the

squeeze. will these measures have putin feeling the squeeze? >> i mean, there's two things, part of that question. one, there are also sanctions aimed at putin himself and that's really difficult to bring pressure on him because of the, you know -- so little is known about where his wealth is hidden. it's hard to reach. but i think that there's some skepticism also that putting pressure on oligarchs will have a tremendous impact on putin. his inner circle now is really just a very small group of former kgb, former military aides who are in his ear, who have any meaningful access to him, and you have heard the oligarchs say this. why are you coming after me? it's crazy to think that i have any influence with this guy. if i could stop this war, i would. i'm not in position to do that. i think that broader, i mean, these are -- the important thing to keep in mind is that sanctioning oligarchs, of course, is just part of a huge, much, much bigger sanctions picture going after russian banks, going after aviation, going after entire industries,

preventing aeroflat from even leaving russia. that is what will put pressure inside russia. >> it's a great article in the "washington post." thank you for writing it and talking about it, greg miller. good to see you. my next guest knows ukraine inside and out. is there room for negotiation at this point between putin and zelenskyy? her assessment on where things stand today next. sfloechl n where things stand today next sfloechl does it float off into the clouds? daddy! (frustrated grunts) you might have your own theory. but maybe it's better to just let it go. meet brett from apartment 2b. he's not letting an overdraft alert get him stressed. he knows he's covered with zero overdraft fees when he overdraws his account by fifty bucks or less. overdraft assist from chase. make more of what's yours. ♪ ♪ ♪a little bit of chicken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪ ♪and the radio up well i've seen the sunrise...♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger.

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now to those concern comments from vladimir putin likening western sanctions to a declaration of war. a bit earlier today, putin also issued a stark warning that any attempt at issuing a no-fly zone over ukraine would be viewed as participation in the armed conflict. joining me now, melinda herring, deputy director of the atlantic council's eurasia center. what about putin's comments today? do they concern you? >> absolutely. hi, alex. his comments are absolutely chilling and i think it should give the west all the incentive it needs to really consider a no-fly zone.

i know that nato and the united states are both walking away from it. they think it's too dangerous. if they're not going to consider that, then where are the jets? zelenskyy's right to pressure the west to send jets right now. >> okay. but you heard secretary blinken reiterating today that the u.s. does not support a no-fly zone. but here's what the ukrainian foreign minister said alongside blinken. they were at the poland-ukrainian border there. it happened just a short time ago. i'm going to play it. here it is. >> if we lose the skies, there will be much, much more blood on the ground, and that will be the blood of civilians. and i don't want anyone to share responsibility for their blood. i think it's a sign of weakness by -- of nato. >> ukraine has not let up on their push for a no-fly zone. what do you believe should be done and can be done? >> so, alex, i don't think the west is going to green light a no-fly zone. so, the second best solution is

to continue to arm the ukrainians. make sure that the polish-ukrainian border stays open, and that we can keep sending weapons and supplies and getting refugees out of ukraine. and the next best option that we should be doing now is figuring out how to get jets to the ukrainians that they themselves can fly, and the europeans backtracked from that promise. i think the u.s. should be looking into it as well. >> okay. so, get the jets at least to the border countries there and then somehow get them across the border into ukraine is the goal there, at least at this point. there is a member of the ukrainian negotiation team who announced today that russian and ukrainian delegations are set to meet for a third round of talks. that's supposed to happen monday. today's attempt at a cease-fire to create that humanitarian corridor out of two cities, that completely collapsed. nothing happened. is there room for negotiation at this point? do you think vladimir putin would negotiate with president zelenskyy, and if that were to happen, could zelenskyy even trust any agreement with putin?

>> no and no. there's no room for negotiations. vladimir putin keeps upping his ante, and he keeps threatening the west even more. he hasn't offered anything. he shows no ability to negotiate whatsoever. so, yes, they need to continue to try. but even with the humanitarian corridor, russia is famous for promising humanitarian corridors and then using it for its own means. you can't trust russia with these things. the ukrainians need to try to sit down and try to find a way to peace. i think it's really interesting that the israelis and the russians are talking, but i don't see any room. vladimir putin is upping the ante. he's not decreasing pressure right now. >> so, here's something that was said by the chairman of the house armed services committee, adam smith, this week, who said, look, there's currently no easy diplomatic off-ramp for vladimir putin. some are suggesting that the west needs to provide circumstances under which the sanctions would be lifted and that would give putin a way out. what are your thoughts on that approach?

>> that's not going to work. the sanctions are finally starting to bite. the u.s. did -- and the west did a great job putting a sanction package into place and everyone is panicking in moscow. i got a lot of messages this morning, alex, from ordinary russians who are may age, and they're going to armenia, of all places. they want to get out of moscow. the interest rates doubled overnight. ordinary people feel like pariahs. they can't travel anymore and they don't want to live like they're in the soviet union so i think the pressure needs to stay on, and i wouldn't touch the sanctions package until vladimir putin actually de-escalates and stops shooting. >> melinda haring, i appreciate your candor and insight so much. come see me again very soon. appreciate it. and that's going to do it for me, everyone, on this edition of "alex witt reports." my friend yasmin vossoughian continues our coverage in just a moment. hian continues our coveragen ijust a moment it's still the eat fresh refresh™ so subway's upping their avocado game. (refresh!) we're talking just two great ingredients. perfectly ripe, hand-scooped hass avocados and a touch of sea salt.

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hey, everybody, good afternoon, i'm yasmin vossoughian. we have a lot to cover today. as we continue to follow the russian invasion of ukraine. new warnings from russian president vladimir putin to any western countries that move to create a no-fly zone above ukraine. >> translator: there's some 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. >> all right, putin's statements came just hours after an effort to evacuate ukrainian citizens from the besieged city of mariupol was halted when ukrainian officials said russian forces violated a temporary cease-fire by continuing a barrage of shelling.