in it... mostly. even what gets near your body. please please please take that outside. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 products. rigorously tested. walgreens pharmacist recommended... and particularly kind to your wallet. ♪♪ good day. this is a special edition of "andrea mitchell reports." we're live in brussels are where president biden and nato leaders have heard an impassioned plea from ukraine's president zelenskyy to do more to stop russia from its devastating attack, the assault against this country. president zelenskyy said russia has used phosphorus bombs.

and military is proving it can meet nato standards, while calling for unlimited military aid to counter the massive russian arsenal and making another plea for a no-fly zone. >> ukraine doesn't have powerful antimissile defense and russia has superiority in the skies and they have weapons of mass destruction. and you see the consequences now, how many have been killed, how many peaceful towns have been destroyed. >> u.s. has not independently verified the use of phosphorus bombs. and the g 7 is a group that russia was kicked out of after vladimir putin's annexation of crimea from ukraine in 2014. in a few moments i'll speak with

nato's leader to find out what decisions were made today. the white house is also expected to help eastern european nations dealing with the refugee crisis by welcoming, it says, up to 1 hundred,000 ukrainians to the u.s. visas and refugee admission program. but the white house has given no time table for that to happen. after criticism that the u.s. is not doing enough to put out the welcome matt. and ukrainian troops to continue to make gains with pentagon officials saying they've pushed russian forces back more than 15 miles and ukrainian officials claim their forces destroyed a russian vessel near a key russian-held black sea port. joining me now, chief foreign correspondent, richard engel and kelly o'donnell here in brussels. tell us about the recent gains made by ukraine's army, what you're hearing, seeing about your wounded.

the health care workers who are treating them and also what we know from that attack that ukraine is claiming by russia using phosphorus bombs. >> reporter: so, the ukrainian military has been on a counteroffensive for the last several days now. much of it focussed around this city with ukrainian units, military units pushing out to the northwest and to the northeast. and they claim to have made significant progress and those claims are being backed up by u.s. intelligence estimate. that the -- according to ukrainian security officials, they no longer believe that this city, ceeev, is in danger of being surrounded by russian troops. they do not have enough man power to encircle the city. that's when they try and move to flank the city, they have been attacked.

so, here is the russian advance is actually in reverse. in retreat. that is a very different situation where we were in a few weeks ago. if you remember there was a russian convoy 40 miles long that was heading towards this city. and people here were actually starting to become very nervous. i don't want to use panic but it's great concern that convoy was going to come here and capture the city or destroy it. the convoy ended up breaking down. the troops had to move under trees for their own protection and now the russian advance is being repelled so much so that the ukrainian officials don't believe the russians are in a position to threaten or besiege this city anymore. at least for the time being. the russian military advance is now focusing more on the east, according to u.s. military officials closer to the russian border.

and especially in the southeast around the city a of mariupol. and there's some speculation as to why russia is doing this. one, it might be easier because it's closer to the russian border and could be that russia hopes to consolidate its gains there, hold territory so that if there are peace negotiations, it could present facts on the ground and try to hold on he areas which are very close to crimea. i've been told that the battle commander in the south are more effective than the commanders in the north. so, come of it may be depending on the qualifications and capabilities of the individual russian commander. as we know, widely reported there's been morale issues, supply chain issues and frostbite issues. so, individual leaders do matter. >> and briefly on the black sea port outside of mariupol, which was a key russian supply

corridor, i should say, certainly for the southern advance -- >> reporter: so, an alligator-class landing ship. unclear what was on board but ukrainians are celebrating, in part because the russian media had been making such a big deal over the last several days. a lot of russian reports, including with russian correspondence talking about this ship and how it was coming and how the russian military advance was going so well. lots of pictures of this ship as it was makingilities way through the sea to this port. and now the ukrainians blew it up allegedly with a ballistic missile and two other ships in the area were seen leaving after the port and the ship caught fire. so, it is a significant disruption because it is the

biggest port russia controls right now. so, key to supplying the southern southeastern area around the sea of azof. because what russia assessed for the city of mariupol which is somehow managing to hold out, even though two-thirds of the population, if not more, have left the city. the rest of the southern coast has already been taken by russia, making the sea effectively a russian lake. but they are not able to use this port or their use of the port is limited because now it appears that the ukrainians have some antinaval capacity that would be a setback to russia's efforts to resupply the region. >> indeed. a big one. kelly, as you've been watching and talking to white house officials and we're going to hear from the president himself in a couple of hours. but what are they pointing to as the big success?

the responses from nato, i should say, to president zelenskyy? >> this has been a densely packed day. so, these leaders have been able to spend time together face to face and president zelenskyy has been pointed in his concerns. there are some real hard issues they need to address about some of the concerns that zelenskyy has posed. these leaders do seem to believe they can make a difference with things like sanctions, evasion measures. they're looking for ways to close loopholes so russia can't evade some of the financial constraints. looking at the russian bank, cumodties like gold. and so forth. also looking for ways to provide more support, militarily and humanitarian aid as well. that's part of what we're seeing happening here. and there are broader concerns about what happens to europe's energy policy, how to replace

some of the energy that europe has relied on, that has been the demain of russia. that's part of the discussion. these are complex negotiations and the compassion piece everyone is watching. when you see a leader, who has shown charisma, fire, resilience and puts forward very specific requests and these leaders are trying to find a way to meet those requests without drawing their own countries into a broader war. they have set a line and there are questions about what happens if russia does even more of the unthinkable and will they be drawn to take other steps to react if there are age ants beyond the phosphorus used. there are really hard questions here. at the one month point, are there substantive answers and

responses that will make a difference? >> you've been there since before the invasion and i remember being at the security conference in munich and hearing zelenskyy, who came against the advice of u.s. military because there were fears that russia could shoot his plane down going back, that he wouldn't get back home. and he came anyway to personally tell the munich conference these sanctions have to come now. not after an invasion. the weapons have to come now, not after an invasion. be too late once russia does this and of course they refused. and now he's not saying i told you so but he's certainly amplifying his plea and he's got the credibility of someone who stayed in his capitol and resisted offers to evacuate him by saying i don't need a ride. i need ammo, memorably.

>> reporter: so, zelenskyy said a short while ago, according to a transcript i read that freedom must be armed and he's painted this war and ukrainians agree with him and i think many people around the world do as well. as a fight for democ aeracy. a fight for the ukrainian people's right to choose their own leaders and live as they wish. and he has said, including just today, that unless vladimir putin is stopped, he'll keep going and this is a fundamental battle between the forces of democracy and of tyranny and repression. and in order to defend democracy, he once again today said give me the weapons. give this country the weapons it's asking for. he put together a specific list. 1% of what he calculates to be nato's weapons stock pile. he wants 500 tanks. and use that number specifically.

and he said he needs them now. and like you were saying with the sanctions. he was calling for sanctions before the russians invaded. u.s. and other countries didn't want to do that. he said better deliver the weapons now while there's an opportunity for ukraine to push russian troops out of this country. if you look at the map, russia's advance has been slow and in some cases reverse but there's a lot more red on the map than a month ago. it's still -- i'm looking at the map right now. the center of the country is still holding. there are attempts to move into ekev. a solid russian control in the southeast. but months ago today there was no red except for a separatist pocket and crimea. zelenskyy is saying while he's still here and popular among his people and before there could be an escalation using weapons of

mass destruction, he's saying he needs more weapons and put together a shopping list. we didn't hear any commitments from nato to arm him specifically and i know, andrea, in a few minutes, you're going to speak to the secretary general of nato. but all he would say in public a short while ago is nato allies are helping as best they could and didn't want to get into the specifics of what they're providing. >> what he's also said is if you don't stop putin here, he will be in your countries as with well. we're going to leave it there. thank you so very much. kelly o'donnell, thanks to you because we are joined by nato's secretary general. thank you very much for joining us. i can't imagine how busy your day is and you've been chosen for another term. which would be a third term, i believe, because of your leadership in this crisis. it's a great tribute to you on

what you have done in pulling this alliance together, sir. >> thank you so much for having me, andrea. >> well, i want to get to what the nato agreement really means in terms of the commitments to president zelenskyy. he wants 500 tanks, specific weapons. he's warning if you don't stop putin in ukraine, he'll go all the way into nato countries and territory. what can you do to stop vladimir putin? he doesn't seem to be deterred by sanctions? >> sanctions work and they have seeveer consequences for the russian economy and they make it harder for him to fine angs his war but we're doing more than sanctions. we're providing unprecedented support to ukraine. the nato allies are delivering significant military support, including advanced air defense

systems, antitank weapons, ammunition and many other types of military support, on top of financial and humanitarian support. and this is making a difference on the battle field. that's one of the reasons why the ukrainians have been able to assist the russian nation. but of course, we have responsibility to insure this conflict will not escalate beyond ukraine and become a full-fledged war between russia and nato. that's of course much more devastation, death, and destruction. and that's the reason why we're also strengthening the military presence on the eastern part of the alliance, led by the united states and the bidden administration. >> president zelenskyy says russia has used phosphorus bombs. it is a substance restricted, especially against civilian populations.

have you and nato been able to confirm the use of phosphorus bombs? >> i will carefully go into every report we see about the use of different types of weapons. but what i can say is we've seen what the rest of the world has seen is that civilian infrastructure, residential areas have been attacked again and again. and we're seeing a high number of civilian casualties. and this just highlights the importance of ending this war. and therefore, we're putting maximum pressure on president putin, partly with sanctions and partly with increased presence of nato forces in eastern part of the alliance to make sure that he ends the war and we draw all the troops and engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts. >> what would be the trigger? what would vladimir putin have to do to ukraine to trigger a

nato response to protect a country that is not a nato member? >> let me start by just reminding everyone on that nato's core responsibility is to protect and defend all nato allies. 30 countries and 1 billion people and we do that with the fact that we have increased readiness of hundreds of thousands of nato forces. there are now hundreds of thousands of u.s. forces in europe and something that was result of a decisive reaction from the united states and allies. and there are 10s of thousands of troops on the direct nato command, supported by air and naval assets. i say this because this is our core responsibility, to protect nato allies. then we support ukraine, which is a highly valued partner. and any use of chemical weapons would totally change the nature of the conflict.

it will be a blatant violation of international law and have wide-ranging severe consequences. so, we really highlight the importance of that russianever use these kinds of illegal weapons and of course not against ukraine either. >> was there agreement in principal on what steps nato would take today? if you were to use chemical, biological or god forbid, nuclear weapons? >> we are providing support to ukraine also to protect themselves against any use of chemical or biological weapons. with protective equipment and other measures to help them protect themselves in such situations. any use of these weapons will be extremely serious and may, of course, effect nato allies

because we know echemical agents or biological weapons, they're not always a recognizable resource. even if these weapons are used in ukraine, it may spread and contaminate also areas outside ukraine. but again, we have one main responsibility and that is to protect and defend nato allies. we will defend every inch of nato territory. an attack on one ally will trigger a response from the nato allies. that's the nato's mentality, all for one and one for all. >> of course, the only time it was ever used was to protect the united states after 9/11. we're well aware and grateful. by that very definition, if chemical biological weapons were used and there was a spillover effect in poland or another

border eastern flank border nato state, that would trigger a nato response? it would effect a nato country? >> i would be careful about speculating on many different types of possibilities. my only big and important message is an attack on a nato ally country will trigger response from the whole alliance. and to demonstrate that in words and deeds, that's why we have thousands of combat-ready troops all around the eastern flank. the baltic countries, poland and down to romania and bulgaria. and that sends a very strong message of our unity, our resolve and commitment to protect and defend all nato allies. >> finally, to president zelenskyy's argument that vladimir putin is not going to stop at ukraine's border. if he's not stopped in ukraine,

he will move on to nato frontline states. >> so, nato is the strongest alliance in history. we represent 50% of the world's gdp and 50% of the world's military and with an increased presence of nato troops and forces in eastern part of the alliance, we demonstrate we eare ready to protect and defend every nato ally. and that's the message we're sending and the united states has been very much a part of sending the message. american troops in poland and romania in the last weeks and it's extremely impressive and reassuring to see the commitment and professionally some of american troops in europe and european allies are stepping up and we're doing more together. so, that's the way to prevent an attack. our deterrent is not to provoke a war but prevent an attack on

nato ally countries. we continue to do that by standing united. >> thank you very much, secretary general. now for the third time being chosen as nato's leader. thank you. >> thank you so much. >> and coming up, a bare-knuckle brawler as the city fights back against russian forces. we have choice words for vladimir putin from the mayor of kyiv. his brother, another heavyweight boxing champ and fellow leader of the resistance, dr. vladimir joining us ahead. we're live in brussels on msnbc. .

(typing) (toddler laughs) ♪♪ (train whizzes by) ♪♪ (toddler babbling) ♪♪ (buzzing sound) ♪♪ (dog barks)

♪♪ (wine glasses clink) ♪♪ (typing) ♪♪ (toddler babbling) (typing) ♪♪ ♪♪ this is elodia. she's a recording artist. 1 of 10 million people that comcast has connected to affordable internet in the last 10 years. and this is emmanuel, a future recording artist, and one of the millions of students we're connecting throughout the next 10. through projectup, comcast is committing $1 billion so millions more students, past... and present, can continue to get the tools they need to build a future of unlimited possibilities.

one month into russia's attack, kyiv remains in ukrainian hands with forces

pushing back on russia's advances to the east and northwest of the capitol. according to a senior pentagon official. joining me is a member of the kyiv territorial defense. world boxing champ as is his brother, the mayor of kyiv. can't even imagine the pressure you're withstanding. so, how confident are you and the resistance in kyiv and the military outside kyiv can push back against russian advances? >> our spirit is strong. our will is stronger than any army or any weapon. we're committed to defend our country. and there is nothing that possibly can stop us. what we definitely need is the support of our allies. the world is watching the international law was broken. and what is happening now in

ukraine is a war crime. civilians are getting constantly killed. the cities are getting destroyed. infrastructure is getting destroyed. life is getting lost. this madness must be stopped. and ukraine is just the beginning as russian propaganda announced it. and i believe, if we don't stop russia in ukraine, they're going to knock on your door in a second. >> i just interviewed the nato secretary general after the summit, of course, and asked him what could trigger an offensive nato response against russia on behalf of ukraine? would it be echemicals? biological, god forbid a nuclear attack and kept saying their commitment is to prevent a war between nato and russia. is that --

>> you said the key word. prevention is better than treatment. since 2014, and i believe the world was asleep when the international law was broken and annexation of crimea and east of the country of ukraine was backed up by the russian forces and russian military equipment. the world was asleep. so, now, when just a month ago, today's one month since the war started. and we all knew that over 100,000 russian troops were on the board and they crossed the line and invade ukraine. the consequences are going to be severe. we're still waiting for the severe consequences and i believe russia too. and what we do in ukraine, we defend our country and i'm thankful to the government of different countries and our allies for support. but we need definitely more support.

we're going to take care of ourselves. if you cannot help us to close the sky, we're going to close the sky on our own. we just need defensive weapons to do it. and prevention, back to prevention. to hear if russia is going to execute chemical attack on ukraine, we're going to provide some prevention tools for that. it's going to be too late. do it now. and russian might use, as they have in other countries, chemical weapons and they have it. it's going to be too late. one more time. prevention is better than treatment. don't be asleep like in 2014, for eight years. we need to act now. we need to stop russia now and it must happen in ukraine. ukraine is just the beginning, as they already announced.

>> is it too late for mariupol? >> the city of mariupol, where i have friends of mine who i cannot reach by phone. they might be dead already. i don't know. children are getting killed. and we know about this attack. the bomb that landed in a theater couple of days ago where more than a thousand civilians and children and women were hiding and some survived because they were in underground hiding and some got killed and still being buried out of those construction destruction that happened. mariupol to 90% of the city's destroyed. so, people, dead bodies are on the streets. there is no people to even bury those dead bodies. it's just so devastating and so crucially unfair to ukrainians and to the world what is happening in 2022 now. it's something that is

unimaginable happened. it's a very, very bad dream. and this fight in ukraine is between the good and the evil and the evil comes from the russian side. we must stop it now. >> have you been able to confirm reports that thousands of people from mariupol have been taken against their will, forcibly deported to russia? >> yes, i've got those reports as well that they've been deported to russia and then in some camps, divided on i don't know which side. and what is going to be divided and how human possibly could be divided. what is going on? so, definitely those reports are alerts for all of us. and the way that russia acts, this is just destruction. this is not even destruction. i'm as a member of holocaust

memorial and seeing that what happened in 1941 by nazi forces and 100,000 civilians were killed by bullets and exactly years later, the case late aer, five days ago, rocket landed in exact same place and killing civilians again. this is holocaust by rockets, by russian rockets. our nation is getting just wiped off. that cannot happen. and i call all our allies and all the world to isolate russia economically because every trade with russia and every cent going to the budget of russia is going to be useful weapons against civilians as an example. is happening now. and all the destruction in ukraine is going and all the lives have been lost is going to

continue if we isolate russia, they will have no asset to finance this war. they're not just killing ukrainians. they're killing its own people by sending them and sending the troops to fight and speak in their propaganda, nazis. nazis. how could possibly we be nazis if we have a president with jewish roots? this war is senseless. and it eventually will come to an end. let's make it come sooner. the sooner the end of this russian invasion going to be, the more lives we're going to save and it's not just ukraine. we're defending here, principals, democrat principals of the free world. we chose to be free, independent and we chose not to be slaves of imperialism. >> what is your message,

finally, to vladimir putin? how long are ukrainians able and willing to fight back against overwhelming odds? >> we've been saying a lot of messages. mad men cannot hear us. what is happening now cannot comprehend a healthy mind. we need defend ukraine. it doesn't matter what kind of message is to be sent. they're not going to be heard. i believe that even there's been brain washing for a decade in russia. start to believe in their own lies. so, lets make and show them the true face and the true face and any comment president putin just look at what you do. look at the destruction, lost lives and eventually an end, not

just for ukraine possible. we're going to fight and defend but it's going to be an end of peace in the world. and we're all speaking about third world war and i believe partsy it's already happening and starting in ukraine. the world is against you and against this aggression and against the killing and destruction. look what world is saying to you. stop this war now! stop it now! it's senseless. it's going to come to an end. it's going to come to an end for russia too. >> thank you very much. good luck to you and your forces in ukraine. and joining me now is democratic senator, mark warner, the chair of the intelligence committee. i think you've been listening to the doctor. you know the role his brother is playing and of course, president zelenskyy addressing the g 7 and nato as well.

it does seem that nato and nato leader's response is unless they hit a nato nation, they don't have a responsibility but what about the moral responsibility to defend ukraine against the possibility of chemical weapons? >> i heard your previous guest. i met your previous guest' brother, the mayor of kyiv in munich a little over a month ago. i remember meeting a number of ukrainians who, even at that point, as our intelligence said putin was coming in. they didn't even believe he would come in at this level. and i think we eall -- the whole world has been touched by the courage of president zelenskyy and the courage of the ukrainian people. and you hear it in his voice and i'm hearing on intelligence reports in the last few days, it's not -- it's no longer about how long ukrainians can put off

the inevitable, the russian forces overcoming them but there's a real feeling and we're seeing this in individual battles could push back the russians. so, i think mato does need do more in terms of more arms. we've sent close to 20,000 antitanks. we're finally getting, in addition to stingers, the so-called sa 300s that can take out the russian fighters and bombers at a lodge distance. well over half ukrainian air force is still flying. i think there is more. i'm glad to see the sanctioning of the russian parliament, the duma. and they will be held for war crimes as well. and i say this as a friend of two nations. i'm a long-time supporter of israel, the cochair of the india caucus. i'm disappointed that countries

like israel and india, both great democracies are sitting on the sidelines and not weighing in. as the previous guest said, this is not some relativestic issue. this is a choice between good and evil and all democracies need to step up. let's increasing sanction as, get them more weapons. let's make sure we do all we can to turn off any ability to evade sanctions. i have legislation to go at cryptocurrency. my fear is oligarchs could be bleeding out resources through crypto. what president biden has to do and as you were there real time, andrea, he's got to deal with nato, g 7 and eu. we and the brits have been the most forward leaning of the whole alliance. he's got to keep that alliance united, particularly as we think about the potential hideous thoughts of putin using chemical

weapons, tactical nuclear weapons or still the dog that hasn't barked, thank goodness, so far, massive cyber attacks that could take them down in ukraine and adjacent. >> do you think we should get the 500 tanks to zelenskyy that he asked for today? >> i think we have to maintain the nato unity. i know president biden is pushing as hard as he can that we eincrease the amount of fire power we ecan get to them. the question of can we keep all our nato allies on board on the tanks? he's probably working that through real time. i will tell you this. we've got roughly 20,000 antitank weapons that have been transferred already. the flow of arms, along with the ukrainians resistance and -- this is a fight between freedom and autocracy and we ecannot

-- cannot allowputen to win. not to point where you end up with nato splintering. that would be a way for putin to become successful. >> have you heard any conformation about russia's use of phosphorus bombs as president zelenskyy said. >> i saw the claims. i have not received a specific briefing on that. i hope to get that briefing imminently. but there is very little that i don't doubt that putin will do. this is an individual, and all of your viewers have seen it, he's been a dictator for 20 years. the last twro years -- two years he's become more isolated. you've seen him at the table and dig nuitaries at the other end.

he's starting -- i was concerned in the first week or two whether he's even getting accurate reports of how badly the russian military was doing. i think he's getting those reports now but the ability of him to use phosphorus bombs, chemical weapons and god forbid tactical nuclear or all-out cyber attack. what nato has to do is put more definition around the redlines. but when you draw a redline, you have to evoke it if that line is crossed. >> as we did not do when they were used in sear eye. syria. thank you very much, senator warner. appreciate your being with us today. and a squeeze play. a look at the sanctions imposed on vladimir putin and his cronies. more today. will they be enough. you are watching a lively report of "andrea mitchell reports." wat of "andrea mitchell reports. e t, and interactive charts to give you an edge,

24/7 support when you need it the most. plus, zero-dollar commissions for online u.s. listed stocks. [ding] get e*trade and start trading today. never settle with power e*trade. it has powerful, easy-to-use tools to help you find opportunities, 24/7 support when you need answers, plus some of the lowest options in futures contracts prices around. [ding] get e*trade and start trading today. ever wonder what everyone's doing on their phones? [ding] get e*trade they're banking, with bank of america. the groom's parents? they just found out they can redeem rewards for a second honeymoon. romance is in the air. like these two. he's realizing he's in love. and that his dating app just went up. must be fate. and phil. he forgot a gift, so he's sending the happy couple some money. digital tools so impressive, you just can't stop banking. what would you like the power to do? looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? once-weekly ozempic® can help. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪

♪ oh, oh, oh ♪ ozempic® is proven to lower a1c. most people who took ozempic® reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. and you may lose weight. adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. in adults also with known heart disease, ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, stroke, or death. ozempic® helped me get back in my type 2 diabetes zone. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems.

looking to get back in your type 2 diabetes zone? ask your health care provider today about once-weekly ozempic®. ♪ oh, oh, oh, ozempic®! ♪ you may pay as little as $25 for a 3-month prescription. wayfair's got just what you need to be outdoorsy. your way! shop the biggest selection of outdoor furniture and furnish your habitat from your habitat. get a new grill and cook over an open flame. now that's outdoorsy! go wild on garden decor, find shelter from the elements and from predators

or just be one with nature. this year spend less and go all outdoorsy at wayfair. ♪ wayfair you got just what i need ♪ refresh italiano subway now has italian-style capicola on the new supreme meats and mozza meat. just like my nonna makes when she cooks! i don't cook. wait, what? it's a good thing he's so handsome. subway keeps refreshing and refre- why do dermatologists choose dove? the dove beauty bar, is gentle. it not only cleans, it hydrates my skin. as a dermatologist, i want what's best for our skin. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove is the #1 bar dermatologists use at home. you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need? like how i customized this scarf? check out this backpack i made for marco. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

the u.s. announced new sanctions today against russia. targeting hundreds of members of the duma, russia's parliament and at least 40 defense companies. the u.s. and western allies making moves to try to blunt russia's attempts to prop up its ailing economy, finding ways around the sanctions. senior international correspondent joins me now. great to see you. you had a long stretch in moscow. talk about the sanctions and how effective these are against the duma. do they have it held in crypto and eps wear? >> reporter: they do. we're way past the period where sanctions were targeted particular, oligarchs or members of the russian establishment that were thought to be close to say president putin. it's kind of hit everyone. it's interesting to see the

defense industry targeting. i interviewed sergey, last year. he is the head of rostech. pretty much runs the russian defense industry. friends with president putin back to the kgb days. we talked a lot about oil and gas. interesting to see the russian defense industry targeted because it's another pillar of president putin's stabment. establishment. they reopened the stock market tentatively. >> and only one. >> reporter: another thing to note the ruble has recovered a little bit. there are signs in the russian economy that there's still work to do if the west wants to insure sanctions are effectb. >> i know you talked to belgian's prime minister today. >> reporter: belgian, of course, hosting all these extraordinary conferences here. what's interesting to listen to

what they have to say. western leaders are looking at president putin and having to expect the worse. i asked about the nuclear threat. he says we can't rule anything out. take a listen. you take the nuclear threat seriously? >> we should take it seriously. we, over the last decades have never heard a real nuclear threat expressed in such a way. and it is frightening and our european populations are frightened of that and rightfully so. the situation of war, a lot of things can happen. >> reporter: of course, the question is, is it a threat? is it leverage for president putin or real? again, the prime minister saying you have to take it seriously. remember there are other things the russians could do. cut off gas.

we think they have the capability to cut internet cables. there are things the russians could do before we get to that terrible, terrifying nuclear option and that might be something to keep in mind. >> a lot to worry about. >> keir simmons, a lot to worry about. thank you so much. after today's summit, president biden is going to be holding a news conference. it is, we understand, much delayed. the eu council is still not fully meeting yet and that has to come first. but a news conference about the nato decisions and of course president zelenskyy's sharp criticism of the world's response so far. will new sanctions on putin's inner circle and the promise to eventually allow significant numbers of ukraine refugees into the u.s. be enough given the scale of russia's bombardment of ukraine? joining us is pbs chief u.s. correspondent and a diplomatic

correspondent for "the new york times." michael, i wanted to drill down on the u.s. finlly, formally declaring that members of the russian armed forces have committed war crimes in ukraine behind 39 other countries as you know. that statement did not mention himself, importantly focusing generically on members of the russian forces, not on specific generals. is there an effort to kind of leave some way out for putin if he is going to make compromises or negotiate and not label him a war criminal? >> it feels that way to me, and ra. i know from having written about this last week, people have strong feelings. many people quite understandably are very offended by, you know, even the idea of the reluctance to call putin a war criminal, find it ridiculous that you might somehow offend him, alienate him, make it harder to do a deal with him. i know for certain this is a concern and that -- and i noted

that after president biden in response to a question last week said i think he is a war criminal, the next day secretary of state antony blinken came out and said i agree with the president that in my opinion war crimes have been committed in russia. so even blinken very diplomatically purporting to be agreeing with the president, then restated the position in a way that left putin's name out of it. and then, andrea, yesterday we saw, because both of those were couched as personal opinions, we saw the u.s. government issue via blinken and the state department a formal finding which they said was based on specific detailed evidence including intelligence that russian forces had committed war crimes in ukraine. but once again, there was no mention of mr. putin by name or even of, you know, the president of russia in some abstract way. the last thing i'll say is it can be difficult to prove intent and criminality that far up the chain of command without, for instance, intercepting communications from putin to his

commanders. at the same time, i think there is a desire to try not to alienate putin as crazy as it sounds, more so if you intend a peace deal with him. >> the white house has set up so-called tiger teams for a response if russia were to use chemical weapons, biological weapons, worst case a nuclear weapon, and another type of team to work on long-term responses. europe, nato, and the u.s. have to think differently about the future after what's happened now. pull back the curtain. what does this mean in terms of having a team working on possible hypothetical responses? >> well, first of all, i think they are preparing for the long run. if you look at these summits, a lot of what they're about are taking emergency steps and consolidating and normalizing them so we're not just surging resources on the eastern plank, we are restructuring nato's presence in the eastern flank. we're not just sanctioning russian entities, we' talking

about long-term, comprehensive enforcement. they're steadying themselves for what will be a long fight in ukraine. then you have to tackle the worst contingencies, and you go into a room, a situation room, and you undertake an exercise where you consider what might different chemical weapons attacks look like and what might be the menu of responses that the united states has at the far end that might be nato military action, that might include more intermediate steps like trying to create safe zones inside of ukraine for certain populations there, and it might include nonmilitary steps, what additional consequences can we impose on russia, other things we can do with our cyber capabilities, for instance, offensively that we haven't done yet. those scenarios allow you to test it out and if they respond this way, what do you think they'll do, you game out where this could lead. i was struck by a report that noted a u.s. official saying

that if fact cal nuclear weapons were used inside of ukraine, the u.s. would get involved conventionally in the war in ukraine. that's a statement to make both the fact they have to literally envision the possibility of tactical weapons being used and the way in which that would escalate our role. there's a lot of work to be done here going forward. >> and am wanna vaz, the u.s. is talking about 100,000 ukrainian refugees being permitted in but no time frame. there was that commitment from president biden for 125,000 worldwide refugees to be let in. that hasn't happened. it's been 7,000 to 10,000 so far. and we were told today by senior officials, well, that doesn't mean this year, doesn't mean immediately, so this seems aspirational. >> reporter: i think that's a fair characterization, andrea. this is something we've been asking in the white house

briefing room. i think the refugee crisis is a european crisis, poland helping the most. we know that to be over 3 million so far. we've talked before about the internally displaced population. people are fleeing, including children. this is a significant step from the u.s. to have some kind of plan and announcement in place, but it's not a short-term solution by any means. that doesn't get into the process that's involved, something called humanitarian role and the process used from the withdrawal of afghanistan and it's somewhat of a mess, i think, also a fair characterization. but i think the issue here is this is not getting better, right. week by week, we are now into one month of war. every week has seen escalation. every week has seen more and more people who are in need of

security, and the real question from the long-term planning that seems to be going on at these summits, is what about that? those are the big questions we're seeking answers to. >> with that, we also think about madeleine albright and the last time there was a refugee crisis of this scale in europe, and she was one of the refugees in a war-torn europe, and we think that the last time -- the first time a war crime and criminal was convicted of genocide was because of the then secretary of state madeleine albright. i'll be back live from brussels at 2:00 eastern for an extra hour on msnbc. tomorrow "andrea mitchell reports" will be live in warsaw as president biden travels to poland. chuck todd and "meet the press daily" start after this.

welcome to the eat fresh refresh at subway wait, that's new wait, you're new too nobody told you? subway's refreshing with better ingredients, better footlongs, and better spokespeople. because you gotta you gotta refresh to be fresh why do dermatologists choose dove?

the dove beauty bar, is gentle. it not only cleans, it hydrates my skin. as a dermatologist, i want what's best for our skin. with 1/4 moisturizing cream, dove is the #1 bar dermatologists use at home. centuries ago, native californians wit thrived on this land.am, now, we share a destiny with all californians. when voters granted our sovereign nations exclusive gaming rights, it advanced self-sufficiency and created thousands of good jobs. but now, out of state corporations are coming to california. their online sports betting initiative would break the promise between us. it's bad for tribes and all californians. join us. protect the promise.

welcome to "meet the press daily." i'm chuck todd. as the war in ukraine enters month two, all eyes are on president biden in brussels today and what comes out of his series of emergency meetings today that he essentially helped organize and called, nato, g-7 and the eu. we've seen pledges for more support for ukraine, humanitarian relief, battalions to eastern europe, more sanctions on russia, and perhaps contingency planning in the