>> well, i'm all for healing. they call for healing. but before you can heal something, you have to admit and deal with the injury, and it was very injurious. >> reverend, thank you. before we go, on this week's episode of "mika straight up," joe and willie crashed my podcast and it was a complete mess. >> terrible. >> we go to four hours on monday. that does it for thus morning -- four hours. >> do we really? >> four hours. >> really. >> chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. good morning. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york. it is thursday, march 31st. we've got a lot to get to including that long-awaited interview for the house committee investigating the january 6th insurrection. former president trump's son-in-law and former white house senior adviser jared kushner today expected to sit

for the voluntary interview virtually, making him the highest ranking member of the trump administration to appear before the committee and the first member of the family. kushner was out of the country in the run-up to january 6th, 2021, and didn't return from saudi arabia until the day of the capitol riot. but he frequently advised trump on sensitive matters, and his name did surface in the investigation this week when "the washington post" and cbs news reported on text messages in the committee's possession. they were sent between then white house chief of staff mark meadows and ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, after the 2020 election. in one message dated november 13th, 2020, thomas wrote, "just forwarded to your gmail an email i sent jared this a.m. sidney powell and improved coordination will now help the cavalry come and fraud exposed and america saved." nbc has not independently

reviewed the messages, but a source familiar with the materials confirmed their authenticity. all of this on the heels of the white house saying just this week it will not assert executive privilege over the testimony of jared kushner or his wife, ivanka trump. nbc's ali vitali outside the room where the committee will be conducting the interview. eugene daniels is a politico white house reporter. katie benner, "new york times" reporter. and chuck rosenberg, former cia official. ali, any word on the timing of when the committee will question jared kushner? how are we expecting today to play out? >> reporter: yeah, chris, just a few floors up from where i'm standing we expect the committee to have a participatory interview with jared kushner. he'll be appearing virtually. he is one of the most

high-profile figure from the trump white house, the first member of the trump family to talk with the january 6th committee and that's one of the more significant pieces of today's news, the fact that optically it looks like the committee is getting voluntary participation from someone who has regularly been at the center of the donald trump orbit from the time they got into office and frankly even well before that. in terms of the content, i think today provides a perfect example of the push and pull that the january 6th committee is experiencing, the push to get every piece of detail as they can from as many key players as that he can get to participate, and the pull to move into the next phase, the public hearings we've been talking about. when i was talking to chairman bennie thompson, he said he wants to start the public hearings in may. but this week is a prime example of the fact that even as they think think might be coming to the close of the fact-finding phase of this, there is still

more coming out, specifically as it relates to jared kushner. we reported that he would be scheduled for this deposition even before those ginni thomas text messages came out. more information is being made public, and although jared was out of the country in the lead-up to january 6th, it begs the question of what conversations he was having with people like ginni thomas, like others on the outside of the white house, and of course what conversations he was having in the white house, not just about january 6th but in regards to the larger attempts to potentially overthrow the election results. the big question for the january 6th committee is at what point do you put the pen down and start writing this narrative for the public. >> eugene, how important is this piece of a puzzle to write that narrative? in john carl's book, he wrote that jared kushner avoided the white house because he thought he would get in a fight with the president. it's wildly reported he and

ivanka tried to get the president to stop the riot. how does this fit into the big picture and how important is it? >> absolutely. because the committee is trying to figure out what president trump was thinking and what he was saying to the people that were closest around him. you can't get much closer than jared kushner and ivanka trump, obviously, in that trump white house. and, you know, when carl said that jared kushner was telling folks that he was kind of avoiding that day because he didn't want to get into a fight with donald trump, it tells you what he thought was going to happen. he thought -- he didn't think the direction was going to happen, but he did think that donald trump was going to be someone who was going to be kind of hard to control, someone who was going to be hard to kind of figure out, to calm him down and get him to that place. that's exactly what happened. and like ali said, trying to tell this story of everything that happened around january 6th, that includes the run-up to

the election, that includes after the election and the blueprint to overturn the election, and jared kushner was there for all of that, right. he was one of the closest aides, part of the family, and this is something that the -- after more than a year of a whitewashing of what happened on january 6th on the day of the insurrection, the committee does need to at some point tell the american people all the facts, everything they have, with something some folks have concerns about, folk who is care a lot about democracy and a lot of democrats. they tell me that that is not going to break through, that much of this is going to change the views of some of the americans who have been listening for more than a year of all the whitewashing that's been going on. >> chuck, i'm probably going to phrase this clumsily because i'm not a lawyer, but hopefully you'll understand my question, which is this -- if what's crucial to laying blame on someone in this case, people

asking is donald trump culpable, could he be if part of accomplishing that is to try to figure out where his head was, right, and he'll deny he had anything to do with the folk who is caused death and destruction, then is that how somebody like a jared kushner or an ivanka trump become important? >> yeah. by the way, chris, i know you're not a lawyer, but i think you asked the question perfectly. what you're getting at is what was donald trump's intent? what did he know and what was he trying to accomplish? that's always a hard thing for prosecutors to prove. so the way that we do that is by talking to people who talk to donald trump. as ali and eugene pointed out, jared kushner is the first member of the family to be interviewed by the january 6th committee. he was senior white house official during the entire presidency. so in terms of establishing intent, getting into someone's mind, knowing what they were thinking and why they were thinking it, this is a great

place to be start. but i should be careful about characterizing that because more than 800 people have been interviewed by the committee. one other thing the committee will do with the 800 interviews they've already held and the tens of thousands of documents they've already reviewed, is use information, glean from that stuff to cross-check information with jared kushner. we know little bits and pieces of what he may have seen or wa he may have said, but he knows a lot more so he's an important witness. >> katie, you have new reporting just out in "the new york times" about federal prosecutors who are frankly substantially widening their january 6th investigation, examining the possible culpability of a broad range of people involved in former president trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. what more can you tell us about that? >> sure. so the investigation has moved from the capitol and the actual assault that took place that day to the weeks preceding the

assault to figure out whether or not there are things that occurred in those days that both encouraged and led to the riot but also may in and of themselves may have some sort of -- show some sort of criminal behavior or intent, something that prosecutors could look at more seriously as a chargeable crime. one of those things is the scheme to send fake slates of electors to the federal government and replace the actual slates of electors that voted for joe biden in key swing states. one of the reasons this is important is because there were so many people, including several lawyers working with the former president, who were involved in this scheme. so when you start to see the federal prosecutors, you start to see the sorts of people who they would be investigating broaden beyond folks who are simply breaking into the capitol, defacing it, and trying to stop congress from certifying the election. >> eugene, let me go over some of those names. you have everybody from the chairwoman of the women for america first, which helped actually plan that rally, to a

niece of nick mulvaney, one of the names on the permit for that. help us to put that part of it, as katie started to do, in perspective and sort of the wind-up to where this is all going. >> yeah. because what the committee is really trying to do as everyone said on the panel so far is making sure that people understand what happened before the election because that is just as important as what happened -- excuse me before the gymnastics, just as important as what happened on january 6th, because the kinds of people who said that they were invited to come, invited to come to the ellipse and that rally, the president that day said that, you know, he was going to march with folks to the capitol. that is a very important aspect of this. the people who brought folks with them, what did they tell

those people? did they tell them to bring, you know, gear and weapons and the gallows that was created? those are some of the questions that the committee is trying to get at because they also want to know, okay, did those folks hear that from anyone in the white house, anyone connected to the president? and that aspect of this is still for all of us out here, we're still not sure about. the committee may know more. they probably do know more than we do. but that is aspects of it that is going to help them tell that story. >> chuck, as we learn more about what they're willing to share with us about that, we're reminded there are two aspects of this investigation, one the committee, the other is the doj, and we're hearing again about frustration among members of the committee in this case about the decision not to criminally charge, at least at this point, mark meadows. do you share that frustration? do you understand that frustration? >> i understand it. i don't share it, chris.

the case that was referred by the house committee to the department of justice on bannon struck me as a clear case of criminal contempt. he stone walled the committee. there was no executive privilege of the conversation he had with the president. mark meadows was in government, a senior white house official, and arguably, even though i think they lose the argument, executive privilege might cover conversations meadows had with the president. it's all well and good for the committee to refer stuff to the department of justice, have at it, but it's not the committee's decision, it's the department of justice's decision. these are two different cases. by the way, i want to add one thing. i think it's counterproductive in some ways for the committee to refer criminal cases to the department of justice. merrick garland lisa monaco, they are straight shooters, they play it down the middle. they are not partisans. if they get a referral from a democratic-led committee and a

vote which is overwhelmingly partisan in the house asking them to charge somebody with serious crimes, that could have the absolute opposite effect, be counterproductive. i think the best thing for the committee to do is its investigation, uncover the fact, write the report and let the department of justice do its job. >> as always, interesting, chuck rosenberg, thank you. ali vitali, eugene daniels, kate benner, thank you. coming up, we'll take you on the ground in ukraine where president zelenskyy says the war is now at a turning point as russia's invasion stretches into day 36. plus at home, the biden administration rolling back an immigration policy that has stopped nearly 2 million attempted border crossings. and the story we've all been talking about, chris rock breaking his silence overnight just days after will smith slapped him at the oscars. once upon a time, at the magical everly estate, landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck.

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in ukraine, president zelenskyy saying overnight the war is at a turning point as those flickers of hope for a negotiated peace seemed to vanish after russia very quickly reneged on its pleng to deescalate attacks around the capital and chernihiv. in fact, the shells and missiles are still pounding those areas, and russia is stepping up attacks on parents of eastern ukraine. the local governor in donetsk says russia is using phosphorous chemical weapons against the people there. one official in kharkiv claims his city was hit with more than 400 artillery and missile strikes overnight. richard engel traveled to a village close by that was seized by russia but then retaken by ukraine. but the damage to the town and its people has already been done. >> reporter: down the road, 88-year-old was sitting by herself. "i'm so afraid. my whole body is shaking. at night i cover myself in a blanket and i shake," she says.

mostly, she wanted comfort. she says she lived through world war ii and doesn't have the strength to go through it all again. >> one potential glimmer of hope this morning, russia has promised a local cease-fire in the area around the besieged city of mariupol to let people escape that city. red cross teams are on their way to help make that happen. of course previous evacuations have been planned and then fell apart amid new fighting. meantime, president zelenskyy remains relentless in making his case to leaders worldwide insisting the war is at a critical juncture. just this morning, he made virtual addresses to lawmakers in three different countries in the span of five hours -- australia, belgium, and the netherlands. earlier this week, we spoke to lawmakers in denmark and to the norwegian parliament. he also spoke to president biden for nearly an hour yesterday. now, in all of these instances, zelenskyy's message is the same -- we still need help.

he summed it up in a video message overnight saying, "if we really are fighting for freedom and in defense of democracy together, them we have a right to demand help in this difficult turning point -- tanks, aircraft, artillery systems. freedom should not be tyranny." hagar chemali joins us. david rogue is executive editor for newyorker.com. hagar, i think it's been extraordinary to watch along with the countries that i mentioned, zelenskyy addressing the swedish parliament, lawmakers in france and spain. this is just in the last week or so. but i guess the big question is, as effective as he has been, will that message of freedom being no worse than tyranny suddenly change some minds? >> well, he's certainly an

effective communicator. the issue here that i see is that on one hand in a lot of wars you get compassion fatigue. i don't think you have that yet with this situation, but you risk that. it's one of the reasons why i repeatedly say time is never on the side of the defender, always on the side of the aggressor. you see the russian government knows that and they'll prolong negotiations for as long as possible. one of the messages that president zelenskyy is asking of the belgium government in particular is i think something that the belgium government shouldn't hesitate to give him, which is they stop dealing with russians in the trade of diamonds. there's no reason for that. this is a luxury good. it doesn't affect the global economies. this is something -- this is a message that should be well received. zelenskyy's message about the military in particular is important because -- and he needs to be careful about this in particular when he says they're at a turning point. i understand that, but i have to caution that given my own experience handling syria and

watching how russia bombarded syria and how russia lied about it and was a master manipulator in trying to justify attacks in syria, lying about targeting isis when they were in fact -- expect very similar behavior here. so turning point, that marntd be true. i'm not on the ground. obviously, i can't say that. continuously -- >> okay. we have -- >> whatever he needs is important. >> we'll try to get your sound, which has been going in and out, corrected, hagar. but david, of course vladimir putin lies. he's always lied. and no one was surprised when we heard that vladimir putin wasn't being told the truth necessarily by the military leaders around him. they didn't want to say we're in trouble here, our folks are leaving, we're losing. but having said that, how do you view where this war is right now? do you think it is potentially at a turning point that the u.s. ought to look at providing more military assistance differently?

>> i think that putin is slowly losing. i emphasize the "slowly" part. i agree with hagar. this is not going to end in days or even weeks, frankly, but it's critical that the biden administration in europe press ahead. weapons to ukraine. they should support diplomacy also, but ukraine with american and european support is winning and the american public needs to recognize that and stay steady. we are famous for, you know, not being patient. many people have heard this. i've covered afghanistan. the taliban would joke that americans have the watches but we have the time. let's wait out vladimir putin. he is losing. ukraine is winning. >> to that point, jacob, we got that assessment from britain's spy chief overnight that said among other things morale among russian soldiers are so low that some are simply refusing orders. talk about what you know about

how ukrainians hope to use this moment to press an advantage on the battlefield. >> well, i think ukrainians, chris, hope to hit the russians when they're down, to put it crudely. and you saw evidence of that in richard's reporting you showed from kharkiv, the corpses of russian soldiers littered throughout what was devastation, and there are no signs of the ukrainian troops letting up. another example of this is in irpin, where richard reported near the beginning of this conflict was nearly destroyed. yet the ukrainian forces have fought valiantly to take back that part of the country outside of the capital city. and you continue to hear calls from the president, president volodymyr zelenskiy for more arms, more weapons, more missile defense. you know, the refrain you hear here not just from the military

but from civilians is to close the sky, that no-fly zone. that does not seem to be coming. in the absence of that, what they want is more weapons and they want them now. >> hagar, it's pretty clear russia won't pull back from kyiv or chernihiv but they want to make a stronger push for the eastern region of donbas. how worried are you that the fight willing get uglier, if that's possible? we've heard reports of phosphorous munitions being used in that area. >> i am worried that it will continue getting worse. i think when the russians say they're going to scale things back because of good will or as a gesture, we shouldn't believe that. that's just a recalibration of their military strategy because of the resistance they're facing from the ukrainian military. so not only are they going to amp up their action where they can and their combat where they feel they can be more successful but also i have no doubt that they would use chemical weapons, because why wouldn't they? the russian government has no

regard for civilian life. they will continue terrorizing the population as means to increase its position of strength in negotiations with zelenskyy. and we didn't enforce a red line when we warned president asad of syria against using chemical weapons. and that's the history that president putin knows. so i wouldn't -- i believe that we should expect that and prepare for that. >> if i could go back to the messaing for just a minute, david, we learned wednesday that u.s. intelligence said vladimir putin isn't getting a true picture of what's happening on the battlefield. then this morning russian spokesman dmitry peskov responded to that -- "it means that neither the state department nor the pentagon possess the real information about what is happening in the kremlin. they don't understand president putin. they don't understand the way we work. it is not just regrettable, it elicits concern because this complete lack of understanding leads to erroneous decisions, reck legislation decisions that could have very bad

consequences." is that just their way of spinning it? or is there truth to it, david? >> look, we don't know for sure, but basically it's bluster. the facts on the ground are what matters. thousands of russian soldiers have died, and if the u.s. again can stay focused and the ukrainians and europe can stay focused, again, you know, putin can continue losing this conflict. the stakes are enormous. you know, this is a battle between autocracy and democracy. if putin, you know -- if there's cease-fire, you know, and it just is a loss for putin and it could deter china as it looks at taiwan. so, it's so, so important that the u.s. stay at this, president biden talking about releasing oil from the reserves which will keep gas prices down. so, again, patience and perseverance will defeat i think putin in the end in ukraine. >> david rode, hagar chemali, jacob soboroff, thanks as well. up next, chris rock breaking

his silence at a comedy show just days after will smith slapped him at the oscars. plus, new details about how the academy responded in that shocking moment. we also have more on the sad news about bruce willis after the break.

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major developments on a couple fronts from hollywood. first, the devastating news that bruce willis, one of the biggest movie stars in modern filmmaking from "the sixth sense" to the "die hard" franchise is stepping away from acting. his daughter, rumer, revealed her father has been diagnosed with afascia. according to the mayo clinic, it affects a person's ability to communicate and can develop following a head injury or are come on gradually. it's not clear what led to this diagnosis for willis. in boston, chris rock made his first public appearance since he was slap bidwill smith at the sunday's academy awards. rock took the stage last night in boston from front of a soldout crowd as the academy revealed it asked smith to leave the oscars but he refused. miguel almaguer was at the chris

rock show. what was it like in that room? >> reporter: chris, it was quite interesting. we were inside that show with about a thousand other people. the security was tight. no one was allowed to use their cell phone. we were also told we couldn't take notes on pieces of paper. still, there were memorable moments. chris rock only spoke briefly about what happened between him and will smith, but the crowd hung on every word and they loved every minute of it. >> reporter: coming out to a double standing ovation, chris rock broke his silence, addressing the elephant in the room right off the bat. >> how was your weekend? >> chris, you ready for tonight? >> reporter: in an audio recording released by variety, rock said he wasn't yet ready to wade into the controversy. >> so if you came to hear that, i'm not -- i had like a whole show i wrote before this weekend and i'm processing what happened.

>> reporter: cheered on loudly by adoring fans, the warm welcome signalled a triumphant return. rock emotional, saying his eyes were misty, though he was briefly interrupted by someone in the crowd, most of the audience thrilled to see rock bouncing back. >> i just wanted to see how he would handle his first set after an incident like that. >> reporter: now in the aftermath of the ugly incident, a new bombshell. the academy says will smith was asked to leave sunday's award show but refused. oscar co-host wanda sykes telling ellen she still feels traumatized by what happened and the academy allowing smith to say. >> you assault somebody, you gets corted out the building and that's it. you know, but for them to let him continue i thought it was gross. >> reporter: ellen, also a

former host, agreeing. >> you don't let someone do something like that and get away with it and be rewarded. >> reporter: as rock was taking the stage in boston, more hollywood drama was unfolding in los angeles where the academy's board of governors initiated disciplinary procedures against will smith for inappropriate physical conduct, abusive or threatening behavior, and compromising the integrity of the academy. >> will smith just smacked the [ bleep ] out of me. >> reporter: the board apologizing to chris rock and adding, thank you for your resilience in that moment. but this morning, rock is still not sharing details but promising he will. >> share details at some point. and it will be serious. >> reporter: chris, that muffled audio that was leaked didn't capture the love and the overwhelming support for chris rock on stage. we did talk to a couple of folks as they were leaving. one person told us they wanted to hear more about the encounter

with will smith, but someone else also added they were happy to see chris rock elevate above the fray and keep it classy. back to you. >> from that very moment he did that. miguel, thank you so much. still ahead, the biden administration now gearing up for a huge policy change to a rule that's blocked nearly 2 million attempts to cross our southern border since the pandemic began. the impact on immigration and the reaction to it next. it never looked like real food. with the farmer's dog you can see the pieces of turkey. it smells like actual food. as he's aged, he's still quite energetic and youthful. i really attribute that to diet. get started at longlivedogs.com ♪ ♪ i nice suits, youe guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people are taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ e*trade now from morgan stanley. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program.

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we're listening more about the biden administration's plan to roll back a controversial immigration rule called title 42 and prevents asylum seekers from crossing the u.s./mexican border. it was started during the trump presidency to prevent the spread of covid and is expected to go away on may 23rd. epidemiologists have questioned if the rule was an effective public health tool in the first place. to date, it has blocked more than 1.7 million attempts to cross into the u.s.

joining me with more details, nbc's julia ainsley. why is the administration reversing course on this now? >> for one thing, restrictions are being lifted across the country and also because there have been numerous challenges from immigration rights groups saying that they do not have the legal authority to continue to implement a public health order when they can't show exactly how this is preventing the spread of covid-19. for example, they allow unaccompanied children and most ukrainians to cross the border now, but they were using this to keep out single adults and families. it's hard to make that argument from a public health perspective on who could be spreading this and who couldn't. at this point, they have made a plan to lift it too 482 for all immigrants on may 23rd, which meanings they will go back to the status quo where any immigrant who arrives at the southern border will be able to make a claim for asylum. >> as you know well, some folks are worried, warning this policy gets lifted and then there will

be a surge of migrants crossing the border. i want to play what white house communications director kate beddingfield said about that yesterday. >> of course we are planning for multiple contingencies and we have every expectation when the cdc decides it's appropriate to lift it, we will. we're doing a lot of work to plan for that contingency. >> we know much about what the administration is doing to prepare? >> that's right. we understand that dhs is searching resources. they have a plan that will go in place also at the end of may where they will allow asylum officers to ajude kate claims at the border rather than adding to the backlog. the people who have a legitimate right to asylum can get that answer more quickly and the people who don't would be deported. of course local officials are worried they've seen sky-high record immigration rates over the last year and they're afraid

their communities won't be able to take on what could be a surge when people find out that this is lifted. >> julia ainsley, thank you so much for that update. coming up, more than 4 million ukrainians left everything behind and fled their country. so how do they get back on their feet if they're going to try to start a new life? i'll talk to someone who's helping them find jobs and stability next. for strength and energy. woo hoo! ensure, complete balanced nutrition with 27 vitamins and minerals. and ensure complete with 30 grams of protein. ♪ ♪ (typing) with 30 grams of protein. (toddler laughs) ♪♪ (train whizzes by) ♪♪ (toddler babbling)

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in futures contracts prices around. [ding] get e*trade and start trading today. as of this morning, the number of refugees fleeing ukraine has topped 4 million, a number that exceeds the worst predictions at the start of the war. the immediate concern is getting them food and shelter, but the critical next step is to find them work so they can sustain a life outside of ukraine for however long they end up staying. that's where my next guest comes in. he's chairman and ceo of manpower group, an international firm that's creating country-specific ukrainian job sites. jonas, i'm so glad to see you. at what point in the process do these refugees come to you, and how are you able to connect them with employers? >> well, thank you, chris. i'm delighted to join you. these refugees come to us at

this stage, primarily for humanitarian support that we provide across the countries that are neighboring ukraine. but quite quickly, as they are getting onto their feet and they are somewhere safe, many of them are starting to think about their future. now, it has to be said that at this point the vast majority of these refugees are fully counting on returning to ukraine and being part of the rebuilding effort. as we can see on a daily basis from these images, we don't believe that's going to be anytime soon. so a lot of our focus is now on helping these ukrainian refugees find sustainable employment across europe as well as in the united states for those that make the trip across to the u.s. >> so generally, where are these jobs? and what are these jobs? >> well, fortunately, europe as well as the u.s. have very strong labor markets, so really all of the skill sets that these refugees come out with are going

to be applicable to the labor market wes see across europe and the u.s. the biggest obstacle is of course language, and most of the refugees coming out of ukraine right now don't have english skills or local language skills for surrounding countries with some exceptions, so that will be the first hurdle to overcome. but with our conversations with employers, they have been more than willing to accept a lower level of language skills, so, for instance, when hiring ten ukrainian refugees looking for one person can translate into local language so they can feel settled and feel they're somewhere safe and where they can foresee their future. >> one of the things we've heard throughout this is the frustration, as we always see with paper work, red tape. i'm wondering, can they just start working with an employer wants to sponsor them?

it's probably different country to country, but how complicated is this? >> it's great question, chris, because i was in warsaw central station earlier this week. i saw the trains come in with traumatized women,women, childr elderly, but taken care of by polish and frankly international volunteers that quickly take care of them, their recommendation irtheir health needs. in only four weeks, the eu and polish government has enabled the legislation to change so they have full access to health care, child care, education for their kids, right to recommendation and help finding employment backdated to february 2024. so i would sayed european union, in particular the polish government have made huge changes, quick changes to acdapt this very big stream of refugees

coming into their countries. from a u.s. perspective, we still have a lot of difficulties, and the bureaucracy of being able to accommodate refugees, making sure they can integrate into our society is much, much greater. we still have a lot of work to do at home and in the u.s. to make sure we with integrate the refugees. >> but it sounds like employers want to be a big part of that. in fact, you've said there's something special about the ukrainian people in theize of employers. >> employers are very keen to be part of the solution. if we look at the u.s. in particular, we're delighted to be part of the biggest national coalition ever of companies in partnership with -- and with sponsorship from the white house, helps raise money, find

employment, and with transportation to their new homes all across the u.s. this was set up in relation to the afghan resettlement program that's ongoing right now. with president biden's recent announcement of allowing 100,000 ukrainian refugees to do the same, thinks a big effort. employers are very enthusiastic about their desire to help, both with funds, with their employees, and with employment opportunities. >> thank you so much and we appreciate the time you took to share your program withes. a first behind the scenes look at the u.s. space force as it stands on guard against a potential attack from russia, or even china. it's the story you won't want to miss, next. on't want to miss, next

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the space force has only been around a couple years, but it's already a critical part of the american defense. my friend and colleague tom costello got an exclusive behind the scenes look. pretty cool assignment. what was it like? >> it was eye opening. i think a lot of us have, when they first rolled out space force, there was skepticism. the steve carell comedy on netflix may have painted this with a not so flattering look, but i spent days with these officers, and they are deadly serious. >> a highly classified space force asset until heavy armed guard, this 18 wheeler packed with high-value satellite comes is one of the mobile commanders, poised to rule out in a doomsday attack. if you need to, how fast can you

move them out? >> the specific it timelines are classified, but what i can say is a matter of hours. >> reporter: at the main space force, our cameras were the first allowed in. they keep eyes on -- >> it's truly a horrifying domain. our adversaries are fielding weapons in the domain. we need to view it as as much as. >> reporter: the pentagon says russia and china are the chief adversaries. a russian target blew up another satellite creating a massive orbiting debris field. >> u.s. commander believe china that is deployed a satellite with a robotic arm to reach out and grab other satellites. russia has nexts satellites loaded with offensive weapons.

the head of space force says u.s. commercial and military satellites are routinely harassed. >> whether it's jamming or harmful interfere in the rf spectrum, laser dazzling cyberattacks, cyberprobing. >> reporter: they are monitored 24/7. more that 70% of military satellite communication come through here. everything from nuclear command control orders to presidential communication, down to a coast guard cutter, a submarine, even tactical units on the ground. >> if they don't have tactical communication when they need it, things can go seriously wrong. the space force has guardance, many with engineering degrees, training for the new battlefield. the concern, the pentagon said china is now outpacing the u.s. in launching, modernizing its own space capabilities, building a remote robotic force on the

far side of the moon, invisible to satellites. >> if we don't start accelerating our abilities, they will exceed us. >> reporter: commanders worried about there could be military -- between the moon and earth, an area caused cis lunar. >> we don't want all of humanity to continue to use all the benefits of space for all of our good, but if others choose to start a war there, we'll be ready. >> reporter: you believe the threat is growing exponentially? >> absolutely. we have seen the public testing of china and russia. >> tom, that's fascinating, whether we hear general say they will exceed, how urgently will they send the message? >> they believe china will overtake us in space capabilities in less than eight years, by 2030. the activity right there is very, very serious and intimidating. tom cots tella, costella, thank

you very much. good morning. >> hosam diazhosam. good -- happening right now, help is on the way for thousands of people trapped in the besieged city of mariupol. aid workers from the red cross will assist with evacuation. up north, major cities are witnessing new attack on civilian infrastructure. local officials say russian forces are blocking humanitarian corridors there for those flees the violence. richard engel went to a frontline village in kharkiv