♪♪ hi, everybody, good to see you. good afternoon, i'm yasmin vossoughian with a busy few hours ahead. we have new reports russia is pulling back from the capital

city of kyiv, but ukrainians say they are leaving something deadly behind. all of this as the ukrainian president refuses to comment on reports his forces took out a fuel depot inside russian territory. it is a potentially major turning point in this war, and in a moment, i'm going to talk to a former advisor to president zelenskyy about just that. we are also keeping a close eye on the desperate situation in mariupol where they are making another attempt to get residents trapped by russia's bombardment to safety. we have all of that coming up. we are also following several other big stories this hour. new revelations about the close relationship between ginni thomas, wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, and then president donald trump, all coming together in the middle of trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. plus congressman madison cawthorn out with a new statement about his, quote, orgies and cocaine comments. we're going to tell you who he says is really to blame.

and then a victory for those fighting a florida election law that critics call racist. a judge's biggest decision and the fight still ahead in that state. all of that is ahead. so, stick with me. we're wanting to begin, though, with that fresh evacuation attempt in the besieged city of mariupol. the international committee of the red cross once again leading a convoy of more than 50 ukrainian buses to rescue trapped civilians after being forced to turn back yesterday. nbc's ali aruozi is in lviv for us. tens of thousands of people still trapped in that besieged city of mariupol, without food, without water. the situation incredibly dire for those that have had to be left behind. these are individuals that are elderly, that are sick already, needing extra care. walk us through these evacuation attempts and why exactly it was shut down yesterday. >> reporter: hey, yasmin. well, it's been a string of failed evacuation attempts.

the people that have gotten out of mariupol has really been no more than a trickle if you consider there's about 170,000 people that are hemmed in by the russian troops in mariupol. there were a few, up to about 800 or 900 people that managed to get out today. again, in private cars, risking going through russian checkpoints, but the russians haven't allowed any of that very much needed humanitarian aid to get in or a convoy of buses to get in to get those people out of mariupol, which the red cross, tens of thousands of lives are in danger there and of course as you mentioned, they don't have food. they don't have water. they don't have electricity. and some of those are the most vulnerable in society. pregnant women, young children, the elderly that are getting dehydrated in mariupol because there's no running water there, and the russians were very specific to the red cross. they said, none of that aid is going through. we're not going to let it in, which is, you know, unconscionable to think of, that

civilians that are trapped in there, can't get in there. we also had a chance to talk to the mayor of chernihiv, also place that's turning into a mariupol, yasmin. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> i do not believe in the current decrease in russian military activity, and i am afraid that russians need this time only to buy some time to rotate and regroup their troops. today, the whole world needs to think very seriously about the security system. let's be frank. what would happen if putin attacked the baltic countries? is everyone absolutely sure that, in this case, article v of the nato treaty would be used? i'm not sure of it. >> reporter: hey, yasmin, so, you heard what he said. i mean, that's something you hear from everybody here in ukraine as well. they're saying, if this -- if this war goes to, you know, other places in europe, it's going to affect everybody in europe, and people are just stunned here that the western

community didn't do more when he took crimea, when he did the things he did in aleppo, in grozny, they're saying they should have put their foot down there and maybe we wouldn't be in this situation that we are today. >> ali, while i have you, i want to kind of take a turn here and talk more about what we've been seeing as this strategic change, it seems, from the ukrainian side, talking, of course, about the helicopter strike of a fuel facility inside russia. a senior ukrainian defense official claiming responsibility for that attack, but we had a notable silence from zelenskyy's camp. what do we know? what can you tell us? >> reporter: well, zelenskyy said himself that as commander in chief, he's not going to disclose any of the military operations that he is planning with his commanders, the orders he's giving, and that's, you know, that's pretty normal for a chief of the army here. i mean, he doesn't want to be seen blabbering out everything that he is thinking to everybody.

so, he's obviously let lower down officials say what he has done, but he doesn't want to confirm it himself, but it really was a very brazen attack by the ukrainians. i mean, they launched it in the early hours of the morning under the cover of darkness, and it's a dangerous mission, yasmin, because they were flying very low, right above tree level. they could have hit something, but they didn't. they went in there, hit the oil depot, and they made it back into ukraine, and it's significant for two reasons. one, because it hits an oil depot and that hurts the russian war machine. that stops fuel getting to the russian troops fighting here in ukraine. and it's also a big boost for the army, for the civilians here, because it shows that the air force is functioning. they can carry out dangerous operations. and it's something they know how to do well, yasmin. they've been doing this in the donbas region for years. they've been flying exactly those type of missions under the cover of darkness, flying low, hitting strategic targets, and making it back here, so they're

very skilled at pulling off those type of operations as we've seen. >> and that target, the exact type of target the russians have been striking as well inside ukraine. ali aruozi, as always, thank you. i want to bring in igor nobokov, former advisor to ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. thank you so much for joining us. let's tick through a few things here that i was just talking to our correspondent on the ground about. first and foremost, though, i want to get a sense of how your friends and family are doing there on the ground, the ones that have remained inside ukraine. how's everybody doing amidst what's happening? >> hello, yasmin. well, we're fine. as you might have heard, the vast majority of the kyiv region has been liberated, so it's probably that first decisive victory in the battle for kyiv. we're safe, and the only ironic and really sad observation is that the situation is more psychologically demanding when it's quiet and you kind of --

you're processing what has happened, but i'll tell you more about it in due course. >> as we're getting through this conversation, igor, let's talk about the strike of the fuel depot inside russia. we have confirmation now that it was two ukrainian helicopters that, in fact, pulled that off. what do you make of it? >> well, i can't either confirm or deny it. i mean, that's the official position of ukraine, but you know, what's really important about this strike, not only is that a fuel depot that's logistically incredibly important for russia to kind of carry on with their invasion towards kharkiv and the donbas region, but also this is an amazing reminder to the russian people who have been horrifying me with certain comments that this war is not a sitcom. it's not reality tv. i mean, it's a real, tragic event that needs to stop. >> so, here's what the kremlin is saying about that attack. that it did not create, as they

say, comfortable conditions to continue peace talks, which is ironic considering the conditions many ukrainians are having to live through or those, of course, that have had to flee their homes for foreign lands and wait this war out. that being said, as we're talking about the negotiations that are ongoing, when it comes to peace talks, and the end of this war, what is the likelihood that a consensus could actually be reached with these negotiations? >> well, if you study human history carefully, you'll see that every war ends with an agreement of some sort. so, you know, unfortunately, we do have to negotiate with russia despite what russia is doing. and you know, sooner or later, i think we are going to arrive at an agreement. but let me put things into perspective for you. i'm in a bad psychological state today because a few of my friends actually got to a town

of bucha, which is roughly 30 minutes from where i am in kyiv region. it's a town of 35,000 people. there are -- there's at least one mass grave of civilians containing more than 300 bodies. >> wow. >> another picture they've sent to me is a picture of five naked women by the side of the road that russians attempted to burn. the bodies. the russians have executed nearly all men between the ages of 16 and 60 in bucha. i mean, our soldiers found bodies with arms handcuffed behind their backs, executed with a shot through the head. that's a town of 35,000 people. imagine what the death toll of this war is now if that's, like, 30 minutes away from kyiv in small town. in mariupol, it must be in thousands if not tens of thousands, and i don't even want to think about what's happening in those occupied territories.

bucha, at least, was resisting and it's close to kyiv and it's a small town. imagine what's happening in kherson and kharkiv and chernihiv and elsewhere. >> how does that affect the friends of yours that discovered these mass graves, these bodies of naked women? what does that do to them and how do you come back from that? >> well, look, i mean, we'll all have to come back from it somehow. i'm -- look, i've noticed it's incredibly difficult when it's quiet. those air raid alerts and explosions actually helped so they distracted you with adrenaline, but now, since it's quiet in kyiv, those pictures do start kind of stay in front of your eyes, but you know, we'll make it through, psychologically, as well. >> is this area, bucha, that you mentioned, i hope i'm pronouncing it accurately, are they void now of russian forces at this point? are you friend able to move freely in this area? >> yes. yes. we are having semi-confirmed reports, a deputy minister of

defense who said today, publicly, that the entire territory of the kyiv region has been liberated completely. >> igor, we thank you as always for joining us on this. please stay safe amidst all that is going on, and we hope to speak to you again soon. our coverage, by the way, of the invasion of ukraine will continue throughout the hour. ahead, i'm going to speak with a pediatric oncologist working to evacuate ukrainian children with cancer to make sure they get the treatments that they need. that's coming up in about 15 minutes time. we're also following some other news today, a new report on ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas. and who she was pushing president donald trump to hire and fire. plus, new developments on will smith's oscar slap. the superstar now resigning from the academy. but that may not be the end of the consequences that he is facing. more on that ahead. equences tha facing more on that ahead wayfair's got just what you need to be outdoorsy. your way!

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welcome back. a very familiar face in politics is ready to run for public office again. former alaska governor sarah palin has announced her candidacy for that state's lone congressional seat. she's going to compete against 51 other candidates for the vacancy left by don young. in a statement, palin appeared to borrow some trump talking points, claiming that america was, quote, at a tipping point and that she could no longer watch the, quote, radical left destroy the country.

this is her first run for public office in nearly 15 years. and republican congressman madison cawthorn has broken his silence after days of outrage from republican colleagues over comments that he made claiming fellow members of congress were using drugs and inviting him to sex parties. the north carolina lawmaker chose to blame democrats for his remarks, saying, in part, this. my comments on a recent podcast appearance calling out corruption have been used by the left and the media to disparage my republican colleagues and falsely insinuate their involvement in illicit activities. okay. so the remarks come after house minority leader kevin mccarthy told cawthorn he lost his, quote, trust in him and that there could be consequences as a result of what mccarthy says were false claims. all right, so, new questions today about the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas and the amount of influence his wife, ginni thomas, actually had

in the white house during the trump administration. this is coming after an investigation by the "daily beast" based largely on anonymous sources that showed ginni thomas was a regular visitor to the oval office and reportedly gave the former president, quote, memos that told trump who he should hire and who he should fire, providing a list of potential employees that included bigts, extremists, and even at least one suspected foreign agent. the "daily beast" says thomas did not respond to a request for a comment. allie raffa is following this for us from capitol hill. obviously, these text messages between mark meadows, former chief of staff, and ginni thomas, have surfaced. now we are seeing this investigation as to just how deep this relationship between the former president and the wife of a supreme court justice went. the visits she made to the oval office, the suggestions she made to the president, and how it even irked some staffers inside the white house. talk us through it. >> reporter: yeah, well, like you said, these texts, in addition to now this new reporting from the "daily

beast," it's really shedding some new light on justice how close the relationship was between ginni thomas and the former president. like you said, this went years before january 6th, that ginni thomas would stop by the white house with lists of people she recommended former president trump hire or fire. according to these former white house staffers that were interviewed for this "daily beast" article, sometimes the former president took her advice. they say, quote, when ginni thomas showed up, you knew your day was wrecked. he said her lists were, quote, insane, unworkable, dripping with paranoia. some of these staffers saying that the lists were full of the hiring suggestions on her lists were full of her friends and, quote, infamous bigots and conspiracy theorists, and yasmin, after we learned of those over two dozen text messages between ginni thomas and former white house chief of staff mark meadows in which she

urges him to continue fighting the results of the 2020 election, she pushes debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. like i said, this is really shedding some new light on the relationship between these two, and this report is just building on this case. that's why the committee actually met this week to discuss whether they should call her in for an interview or potentially subpoena her for records, and it's really causing a lot of controversy here on capitol hill. it's also shedding some new light on a years-long debate about ethics rules, specifically ethics rules applying to supreme court justices that federal judges have to abide by but as of now, supreme court justices have not been required to. vice president kamala harris actually commented on this yesterday. take a listen. >> i definitely think that the court needs to take a critical look at its rules around ethics, and that relates to a series of issues that have come up over the years.

>> reporter: and here on capitol hill, some democrats are calling for justice clarence thomas, ginni thomas's husband, to recuse himself from future january 6th-related cases and then you have some other democrats calling for him to resign from the supreme court altogether, yasmin. >> all right, so, we got that going on. let's also talk about the january 6th committee investigation, kind of on a broader scale, and of course testimony from son-in-law jared kushner, the highest ranking former trump official to testify. it seems like he sat for six hours, was pretty forthcoming, cooperative, and friendly as it was put. what do you know about it? >> reporter: yeah, so, this voluntary testimony by kushner wasn't necessarily on the committee's wish list, per se. they didn't ask him to come in. but based on what we're hearing from committee members, they're very glad that he did. like you said, they're saying that he was cooperative, friendly, he spoke for himself, he didn't have his lawyers speak for him, and we don't know exactly what the panel asked, but it's undoubtedly helpful, as

you said. this is the closest that the panel has been able to probe into the former president's inner circle, but there's one caveat here, yasmin. you know, jared kushner actually wasn't at the white house on january 6th. he was on an overseas business trip so there's only so much he can provide. the key person that the committee is still very interested in talking to is his wife, ivanka trump. >> all right, for now, allie raffa, we will stay on this and see how it proceeds, because so much more to develop when it comes to the january 6th investigation. thank you. by the way, in the next hour, former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade is going to join me to talk about what if anything ramifications ginni thomas's actions could have for herself or her husband. and congresswoman zoe lofgren is going to be my guest to discuss how the committee plans to move forward and whether they're going to

subpoena ginni thomas. our coverage continues from poland, where thousands are crossing the border every single day. some of them, cancer-stricken children in dire need of treatment. i'm going to talk to a woman working to get those kids here to the united states. working to get those kids here to the unitestd ates allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good.

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i said, "someone just clipped the side view mirror right off the delivery van." when owning a small business gets real, progressive gets you right back to living the dream. now, where were we? why, you were fixin' to peel me. [ laughter ] welcome back. the number of ukrainian refugees fleeing their homes has now surpassed the united nations' worst case scenario. more than 4 million ukrainians have left their country to escape the fighting, and they're often leaving almost everything behind, even members of their own family. poland has received the highest number at almost 2.5 million as of last night. 7,000 of those crossed the border at medica where nbc's dasha burns visited. dasha joins us now from nearby. dasha, it's great to see you. you talk about 2 million or so that have fled ukraine for poland, and you wonder where have they all gone?

where have they all settled for now? is there enough space for them? >> reporter: yasmin, it's great to see you, and those are great questions. this is becoming a more and more complicated situation. as you said, the number of refugees that poland has taken in is just stunning, but the cities, the businesses, the private individuals who have taken people into their homes, those spaces, they are starting to fill up. the major cities all across this country are already overcrowded, but there are still thousands of people crossing the border each and every day. and we are hearing from people who support those folks coming in that it's becoming more and more difficult to find safe places for them to go. that work is becoming harder, and because of that, and a lot of factors that also have to do with what's happening in ukraine itself, the trends are beginning to change in terms of what's happening in the border areas

and across poland. take a listen. >> based on the numbers, we still see more people leaving ukraine than entering. we do see many ukrainian families heading back into ukraine, presumably to reunite with their husbands, their sons, their fathers, so we do see kind of a bit of a quieter or calmer scene at the border, but we don't think that necessarily means that it will stay this way. definitely we're preparing in case there is another surge of movement either way. >> reporter: yeah. yasmin, we saw that today. some people are starting to go back to ukraine. they're hearing that things are getting quieter, that russia's pulling out of some areas, and they want to go home. at the same time, what we see and hear in ukraine, it impacts what people do, so the situation is dynamic, right? we don't know what's going to happen day-to-day, and we have heard from people working at the border that, you know, once you see some destruction in a city, strikes in a certain city, a

couple days later, you start to see a larger number of people crossing the border. so the situation is constantly fluctuating and what the people providing resources and support, what they don't want is the donations and the interest in helping out, they don't want that to wane because the numbers are a little bit lower now, because they don't know where this is going and they want to make sure they're prepared, yasmin. >> yeah, and as you said, the situation is constantly changing. things may seem calm this minute, this moment, this hour, but that can be very different in the next. dasha burns for now, thank you from poland. so, just this week, four ukrainian children with cancer arriving at st. jude's children's hospital along with 11 of their family members. it is all a part of an effort by st. jude's to evacuate ukrainian pediatric cancer patients from the conflict zone since the start of this war. st. jude's children's has evacuated more than 700 kids, first to poland, and then

medical facilities around the world, including st. jude's in memphis, tennessee. joining me now is dr. marta, a st. jude's fellow who was visiting her grandfather in poland when russia launched their invasion and she's there today running the unicorn walensky clinic, named for her grandfather. we appreciate you joining us. here is what you told "the washington post" about some of these kids that are currently being transported. they are more sick and more likely to get sick. what is the situation with so many of these children right now that are being transported to these hospitals around the world? >> thank you so much for highlighting this important story. we are continuing to get patients from lviv through a humanitarian corridor and also children who come to our unicorn clinic that's been identified as a safe haven for them, where they come and see us, they get medical evaluation, they get a moment to rest, and then we triage them to centers across

europe, canada, and the united states. we continue to see numbers come out of lviv and from ukraine. these children now, we're seeing those who were too sick to travel at the beginning of the war coming through, and those children are still at risk, and we also see children who have not yet received a formal diagnosis of cancer, but cancer has been identified. and those children pose a different risk in themselves. they need urgent care and urgent medical attention so that we can try to give them the best chance of survival as possible. >> you talk about the disruptions in their treatment, a, how that can cause difficulties in their cancer, and then, the transport itself. what it takes to safely transport these children that are incredibly sick, dr. salek. what does that do to the situation? how much further does that complicate what you are trying to do there? >> it makes it very complicated,

and it requires a huge amount of collaborators on the ground in ukraine, in poland, from st. jude's global, who i represent here today, and also in europe and canada and the united states. children with cancer are medically fragile. they need immediate care. they need to follow a certain specified treatment protocol, and that follows a particular pattern to give them the biggest chance of cure. and when this is disrupted, it decreases that survival chance, and so we need to work with efficiency, and that's what we've done through our network of evacuating patients from lviv and from ukraine to poland and to polish clinics, if they're too sick to move forward or to relocate them to centers in europe, to the united states and candidate when appropriate. we do work on keeping families close to ukraine as possible so they can reunify with their families and maintain that close distance to their home country, but this really -- we really do try to plan their triage to

medical centers where they can receive the best chance of cure and the least disruption in their medical treatment. >> gosh, kids stricken with cancer, can't think of anything worse. you guys are certainly doing god's work there. lastly, as i mentioned, coming to you, four more ukrainian children have been transported to memphis, tennessee, 11 of their family members as well. do you know how they're doing? >> i hear that they're doing great. as well as they can be. and we're really, at st. jude's, trying to provide care that isn't only focused on the cancer treatment but also on the psychological trauma they've experienced, not only from the cancer diagnosis but from the tragedies that they've experienced from war. these children have evacuated not only from lviv but from eastern ukraine, and i can't imagine what they've seen and what they've witnessed and what these parents have witnessed trying to get to a place of safety and the risk that they have taken to ensure that their children restart treatment and those loved ones that unfortunately couldn't travel with them. so, it's -- yeah. >> no, please.

>> well, we asked that. we provide total care and i think that st. jude's has been doing that really well, and so have our collaborators in europe and in canada. it's really an ask of not only providing cancer treatment but whole therapy for them as they think next about some of, you know, their plans and their medical treatment, but want to reunify with their families and return to ukraine. >> anybody who has been stricken with cancer, no matter who you are, knows that it's not just the medical care that you receive, the chemotherapy, the radiation, whatever it is that your treatment is. it is also the psychological treatment that you receive that contributes to healing. and fighting that cancer. thank you, dr. salek. we appreciate it and all the efforts of st. jude's as well with these children and these families that desperately need it. up next, more help on the way to ukrainian forces, the latest from the white house. also, a federal judge says one of florida's new election laws is unconstitutional, and,

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♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ all right, now to some other stories that we are keeping a close eye on. the u.s. house of representatives passing landmark legislation to legalize marijuana use nationwide. almost all house democrats supporting the measure with just three republicans joining them. the bill, however, is not expected to garner 60 votes in the senate to overcome that 60-vote filibuster. amazon workers on staten island making history, voting to form a union at a fulfillment center. the vote is a big blow for amazon, who has fought against organized labor and now will have to negotiate a bargaining agreement with the newly formed union. and tonight, the ncaa women's final, south carolina will be led by the women's national player of the year as they take on uconn, a team that has yet to lose a national

championship under their coach. on the men's side, the final four set to air tonight as well with north carolina taking on duke first, then villanova versus kansas after that. all right, republican efforts to undermine voting rights are intensifying nationwide, but at least in florida, they may have hit a temporary snag. that is mostly because of one u.s. district judge, mark walker, and a scathing rebuke. walker struck down portions of florida's new election law as unconstitutional. but he also took the unusual step of placing the state under preclearance protection for the next decade, a remedy used only when a judge finds a state history of discriminatory voting laws so egregious, it can no longer be trusted to enact its own. for more on this, i want to bring in jessica levinson, professor at loyola law school and msnbc columnist. we appreciate you joining us on this. that was a pretty powerful rebuke from the judge to say the least. governor ron desantis has

already denounced the decision as performative partisanship and sworn to overturn it on appeal. what is the likelihood of that? >> i think it's highly likely, and that doesn't mean that the decision is incorrect. it doesn't mean that there are legal or factual problems with this almost 300-page decision. it means that it's going to be appealed to the conservative 11th circuit, and we know that former president trump really helped to transform that circuit with some of his nominations, and it also means that if this goes beyond the 11th circuit, up to the supreme court, we know that this is a more conservative supreme court than the one that gutted half of the voting rights act in 2013 in shelby county, so just because it's overturned, it pains me to say this, doesn't mean it's an incorrect decision. >> can you talk, though, about what putting a state on preclearance actually means and the precedent for this? >> absolutely. so, it's a little used part, as you said, of the voting rights act and it allows judges to look at a state or county or city and

say, we really don't trust you. in fact, you've engaged in a pattern of behavior that is problematic with respect to voting restrictions or voter registration restrictions, and we think you have to check in with us before you make any changes with respect to, in this case, some specific areas like drop boxes, like voter registration organizations, and like the so-called prohibitions on line warming, literally giving people water or food while they're standing in line. and what the judge here said is, again, based on this pattern of behavior, you have to check in with me before you make changes. that's extraordinary. >> wow. you also wrote in msnbc about some of the remedies here when it comes to the attack on voting rights across this country. first and foremost, you said, listen, congress needs to pass the voting rights act, the federal voting rights act. that's one bucket. the other, you said, you raised the possibility of stripping the supreme court of the ability to weigh in on a federal voting

rights act, saying this, and i quote, jurisdiction stripping is and should be a rarely used remedy, but our democracy cannot survive if our nation's highest court continues to allow states to trample on the right that we use to protect other rights, the rights to vote. what is the likelihood something like this could actually happen? >> honestly, with this particular senate, i think it's extraordinarily rare. so, we know that we need that first step so badly. we know based on what states are doing after the 2020 election, so many states are trying to restrict our right to vote. we need the federal government to be in there as a floor. but they're not even doing that. so the idea that they would pass that needed voter registration -- excuse me, voter protection and then strip the supreme court of jurisdiction, i don't see it. >> and the passage of a federal voting rights act? we saw how far that went. of course, biden appealed to congress to get it done. it hasn't been able to get done,

of course, with the slim majority that democrats have, and as we look ahead to the midterms, the likelihood of that seems even less. >> i completely agree. i think the chances are slipping away, and i think if there ever was a reason to say we need to change the filibuster, it was for voting because as you read, it's really that foundational right. it's the right that all other rights build on. i'm not particularly optimistic that we see even incremental protections on the federal level in the short-term. >> jessica levinson, as always, thank you. i want to turn now to wilmington, delaware, where president biden delivered remarks at that commissioning ceremony of the uss delaware. gary grumbach is covering this. good to see you. this event was relatively quiet today. but it did follow some pretty powerful new statements from vice president harris on the war in ukraine. what did we hear from her yesterday? >> reporter: yeah, joy reid's

interview last night with kamala harris was a newsy one and it starts with the idea that sanctions on russia by the united states may continue and not only may they continue until the war is over, they may actually get much more serious and a much more severe as it relates to economic sanctions should russia do anything more in ukraine. so, that was one piece of news. the other piece of news was joy reid asked vice president kamala harris about the comments by president biden at the end of that speech in warsaw, you remember what i'm talking about, where he said, this man cannot remain in power. now, those lines were reportedly ad libbed. they were not in the prepared remarks. but it was something that really took the world by storm, and it was something that people were not -- they were very surprised to hear. here's what vice president kamala harris had to say about those remarks. >> but also, ensuring that there's going to be serious consequence for vladimir putin and russian aggression as it relates to ukraine. let me be very clear.

we are not into regime change, and that is not our policy. period. >> reporter: now, president biden has said over and over again, back to his time as a candidate, that the words of a president matter. they can move markets, and they can change the opinions of foreign leaders. that's exactly what happened in this situation. >> hey, gary, just talk me through quickly, as we think about the economy, that's on the minds of so many americans looking at inflation, looking at gas prices, recovery from this pandemic as well. break down some of the polling that we're seeing here in the united states when it comes to that. >> reporter: yeah, new nbc news poll out this week shows that cost of living and jobs and the economy are two of the most important issues that really matter to the american people. and yasmin, you have been out around the country talking to voters too. that is all they're talking about. and new polling out this week shows that while that's important, what president biden is doing on those issues, americans don't necessarily agree with.

on an economic approval rating, he has 33%, and overall approval rating of 40%. those are his lowest numbers since nbc news started polling him when he became president. >> all right, gary grumbach for us as always, great to see you. up next, everybody, a major development in the controversy over will smith's actions at the oscars. we're also continuing to follow the situation in ukraine. for those who have stayed in ukraine, even in those places deemed safe, air raid sirens have become a normal part of their day as our own ali velshi related during his reporting in the city of lviv. >> when you hear the alarm, the sirens, you change anything? if there was a siren right now, would you keep drinking your coffee and eating your cake? >> no. i think not. >> no. >> you'd get up, you'd leave? >> yeah. hide somewhere. [ siren ]

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welcome back, everybody. almost a week after slapping comedian chris rock on stage during the oscars, will smith has announced his resignation from the academy of motion picture arts and sciences. smith once again apologized for his actions during the ceremony sunday night, but will it affect his punishment? nbc's steve patterson reports from los angeles. >> yeah, and this resignation comes as the academy is deciding what actions or sanctions to take against smith. the academy says it accepts the actor's resignation but will still move forward with disciplinary action. meanwhile, all of this as we're learning a whole lot more about what happened backstage during the slap that started it all. >> a new twist in hollywood's biggest off-screen drama. >> oh, wow. >> reporter: will smith announcing his resignation from the academy of motion picture arts and sciences. in a statement, smith saying his

actions were shocking, painful, and inexcusable, adding, i debeyonce trayed the trust of the academy, denied other nominees and winners their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. i'm heartbroken. smith says he will accept any further consequences from the academy, who last night issued its own statement, saying it would continue to move forward with disciplinary proceedings against mr. smith. it comes as the academy awards producer spoke out about the now infamous night to abc news. >> my heart dropped, and i just remember thinking, oh, no. oh no. not like this. i never felt so immediately devastated like i did in that moment. >> packer first hoping it was an impromptu comedy bit. >> i said, did he really hit you? he goes, i just took a punch from muhammad ali. >> moments later, the lapd on scene, asking rock if he'd like to press charges. >> they were saying, this is battery. we will go get him.

we are prepared. we're prepared to get him right now. >> reporter: but rock declined. packer saying he later learned there were plans to physically remove smith. the academy confirming the superstar was asked to leave the ceremony but refused. packer explaining why smith was allowed to stay. >> i said, rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse. >> reporter: the comedian now wrapping up a series of tour dates in boston, earlier this week telling the crowd he's not ready to comment. >> i'm still kind of processing what happened. >> reporter: the academy has yet to state what sanctions they could levy against smith in the wake of all this, but it's fair to infer that just because of the resignation, that won't absolve smith from whatever they decide. their next board meeting is april 18th. back to you. >> thank you to steve patterson for that. major breaking news in the

story in ukraine. ukrainian negotiators now say they have a draft treaty that may have advanced far enough to lead to direct talks between putin and zelenskyy. the details of that are next. en putin and zelenskyy. the details of that are next allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! flonase all good.

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in the ukraine story. so, new this hour, a ukraine official saying draft peace documents between ukraine and russia are at a, quote, advanced stage. they say it could lead to a face-to-face meeting between president putin and president zelenskyy. the details of that in just a moment. also, britain's defense ministry out with fresh reporting today of ukrainian forces on the offensive, advancing on withdrawing russian forces in the kyiv area. it is coming as nbc news has confirmed that it was ukrainian helicopters that destroyed a fuel depot inside russia, signaling a potential new strategy by ukraine of crossing the border while ukrainian president zelenskyy would not confirm responsibility himself, he was still sending a clear message that nothing is off the table. >> translator: everybody must know that if we are pressed in a corner on our territory, we will respond the way we can.

but the situation remains dire for ukrainians in the battered city of mariupol where another red cross effort to create humanitarian corridors was derailed by russian shelling. we are going to have the latest on all of this in just a moment. also this hour, a growing political issue here at home. increasing pressure on the january 6th committee to subpoena the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas after new revelations of just how close she has been to donald trump and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. this is coming days after the committee got voluntary cooperation from trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, cooperation committee members are painting as very helpful. >> we were able to ask for his impression about these third party accounts of the events that happened that day and around that day, so he was able to voluntarily provide information to us, to verify,

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