as we come on the air, more and more anger over what's happening in ukraine and more and more muscle from the west into even tougher responses to vladimir putin. sources telling nbc news new sweeping sanctions are coming tomorrow, hitting more russian officials and banks and banning new investment in the country. basically a coordinated global response after what the u.s. is again today calling war crimes by the kremlin in ukraine. and coming just hours after another emotional speech from president zelenskyy to the united nations, calling on the world to do something after civilians were in his words killed and tortured in the town of bucha. we expect to hear more from the white house this our on this. you know we're going to bring you any updates from that podium you're looking at as they happen. also this hour an in-depth look at what russians are seeing on their tvs and in their newspapers. how the kremlin's propaganda

machine is working overtime, and whether it's working at all. plus on capitol hill sources telling us ivanka trump is meeting right now with the january 6 committee. her virtual appearance apparently entering hour five as we speak. we'll have a live report on that. plus there he is. former president obama back at the white house for the first time since moving out in 2017 to highlight expansions to the affordable care act, aka obamacare. >> it is, to quote a famous american, a pretty big deal. >> what else he's saying and what else the white house is announcing on so-called long covid coming up in just a minute. i'm hallie jackson in washington. it's good to be with you today. along with our nbc news team here in washington and around the world. peter alexander is at the white house. andrea mitchell is in brussels. dasha burns is in poland. and courtney kube is at the pentagon. and peter, let me start with you and this new reporting. first here to our network on another round of sanctions that the white house and allies are planning to announce tomorrow. this is, as we laid it out at the top here, more muscle behind

this punitive response to vladimir putin given some of the images that we're seeing in places like bucha. >> yeah, that's exactly right, hallie. in the words of one source familiar with the matter, this is a white house administration that is now exploring use of all of its accountability tools as they described it to respond to the atrocities that the world has now witnessed taking place in bucha. as you note, the white house has already said it concluded evidence of war crimes in ukraine but they say what's happening in bucha is just further evidence of that. so as you see on your screen, here is what we are expecting to hear from the administration in terms of an announcement of new russian sanctions, part i am told of its response to the atrocities there. a ban on all new investments in russia. increased sanctions on financial institutions and state-owned enterprises in russia, and sanctions on rush government officials and their family members. to this point we have been hearing from administration officials and jake sullivan, the national security adviser, briefed reporters yesterday on this idea of how long pl take,

how quickly the process of really cracking down, tightening the screws on vladimir putin's economy will take. and he said it's going to take time to wind down those elements, including the energy sector that is obviously used to help fuel or really to fund the war machine that vladimir putin and the russians have been using and ukraine. so we look forward to hearing more details about how they hope to further crack down from the administration tomorrow, hallie. >> peter alexander, thank you. andrea, let me go to you because you're in brussels ahead of this meeting of nato foreign ministers. the secretary of state on his way there now. and you know what's going to be top of the agenda here, right? some of the horrific things that we're seeing happening in bucha. ukrainian president zelenskyy was talking with the u.n. security council and laying out in very vivid and disturbing beelt about what people there to to go through. i want to play a little bit of that, with a warning that what you'll see is upsetting. >> translator: shot on the street. others were thrown into the wells. so they died there in suffering. they were killed in their

apartments, houses, blowing up grenades. civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road. just for their pleasure. they cut off limbs, cut their throats, slashed their throats. women were raped and killed in front of their children. they were -- their tongues were pulled out, only because the questioner did not hear what they wanted to hear from them. so this is no different from other terrorists. >> andrea, tell us more about what you're hearing is going to happen in brussels. >> and he also brought a video which is so graphic -- it was on the air live when he presented it. he tried to present it but it didn't play. they played it just after our u.n. ambassador linda thomas-greenfield really drove it home. and the fact that zelenskyy says russia is getting off scot-free because russia vetoes everything that the u.n. tries to do, having that power in the security council, as you know,

hallie. so he says where's the security? where's the peace that the security council is supposed to be providing? clearly not in ukraine. and he was scolding the u.n. tony blinken, before leaving andrews joint base and flying here, he's almost here now for this meeting tomorrow which ukraine's foreign minister will be attending, by the way, foreign minister kuehl iba. tony blinken said these are war crimes. the white house as you know has declined to call it genocide, which has a legal definition of its own. and it takes a lot longer to prove. but also is not as specific as the war crime designation that they believe is absolutely proved by the -- all of the accounts, the eyewitness accounts, whattinue to

trade with russia. so there are big loopholes in this. and europe has banned the purchase of russian coal, but most important is natural gas and oil to europe's economy, and they're still not banning that.

so the sanctions can only do so much. and the war goes on. and as all the testimony from the pentagon today was that it's going to go on for quite some time. and that russia is going to continue assaulting not only the cities in the east which it's now regrouping to attack but the rest of ukraine as well. >> andrea mitchell live for us there in brussels. andrea, thanks. we'll be looking for more of your interview. i know you'll have that tomorrow on "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc with secretary of state tony blinken. 11:00 a.m. eastern is when that special coverage begins. and raef, we'll look for you then. dasha, let me turn to you because we know russia has been claiming the scenes in bucha were faked by ukraine. which is obviously in stark contrast to the images that we're seeing. you're talking with refugees who left bucha. tell me what they're telling you about, what they were faced with, these people who survived that massacre. >> yeah, hallie, that's right. i met two women at a refugee center

they are sisters. they are both mothers of two. they fled from bucha. and when they told me about their experiences, hallie, they couldn't help but shake. they had a hard time saying out loud some of what they experienced and some of what they're hearing now from friends, family, and neighbors in bucha. and it was frankly hard to hear. but one of the most important things we can do right now is listen to these stories. so here's just a little bit of my conversation with inna. >> translator: my child is now afraid and wants to hide every time she sees and hears something bad. it's so -- i'm so sorry that my children know how it looks like and sounds like, the war. children who were not -- who did not survive, i can't stop thinking about them. there are so many of them.

>> and hallie, she also told me a horrible story from one of her neighbors, who says that her son was killed in an attack on several people hiding in a church, that they were shot and these were not soldiers. these were innocent people. these were mothers. these were children. her sister, alina, told me that they desperately like so many people that we speak to here want to go back to bucha, but she says that right now in her words -- [ speaking foreign language ] she says the blood is mixed with soil in bucha. and they are terrified of what their hometown is going to look like whenever they are able to return, hallie. >> dasha, thank you so much for shining a light on those stories. it's so important to do that. courtney, talk to us from the strategic perspective today on these updates now from top military officials including some of these new warnings about the direction of the war in

ukraine after we heard from the pentagon yesterday this is likely to be protracted, right? talk about the takeaways here. >> that's right. so today on capitol hill we heard from secretary of defense lloyd austin and chairman of the joint chiefs mark milley. secretary austin, when he was explaining what the u.s. assesses is likely to happen in the coming days and weeks in ukraine, he talked about the next russian offensive being more deliberate and more violent. and the reason behind that is what we're seeing already start to happen, the russians are retreating frankly, moving back from kyiv. now according to a second-round pick defense official the vast majority of the russian forces that were arrayed around kyiv have now left. they're moving north to belarus and to russia. and the belief is they will go up there, they will figure out, they will refit their forces, they will figure out some of the mistakes that they made in this initial campaign, then they will likely drive around to the eastern part of ukraine where they will begin the next round

of this offensive. now, the deliberate piece of this that secretary austin talked about. that is the belief that they will -- the russians will learn from their mistakes. a couple of major ones. one was logistics. we heard a lot about that for weeks, that they couldn't feed and provide fuel to their troops. the concern is that they will learn from that and they will figure that out for the next line of offense here. another one is their command and control and their communications. and a simple way of putting that is the russians during this first several weeks they weren't communicating well on the battlefield. so the air units weren't talking to the ground units and working together. the belief is they could figure that out and work more efficiently and more effectively in the coming weeks. but more than that, the concern is that they have learned that they were too spread out in the initial phases of this military campaign. so they had three major axes of offense here. now the belief is they will sort of move together, they will come in in one, maybe two lines of effort down toward the donbas. and this is an area, hallie,

where they have been fighting for eight years. they know the terrain. they have a better ability to resupply themselves from the donbas and from down toward crimea. so that's where the more violent phase of this comes in that secretary austin was talking about. there's a real concern that the next phase of this campaign is going to be even more deadly than what we saw in these first few weeks. now, secretary -- or chairman of the joint chiefs mark milley, he also talked about the larger implications of what's happening in ukraine and how this could have an impact on the larger world. here's what he had to say. >> we are entering a world that is becoming more unstable and the potential for significant international conflict between great powers is increasing, not decreasing. >> of course two of the great powers in the world, the united states and russia. chairman of the joint chiefs general mark milley has talked extensively over the last few weeks about his concern that this conflict is ukraine could

spill over and draw nato and the world into it, hallie. >> courtney kube live for us there at the pentagon. court, thank you very much. coming up, breaking news from capitol hill, where we've learned ivanka trump is now hours into her meeting with the january 6 committee. what else the committee chairman is telling us about her testimony. our reporter who got that scoop first will join us. plus on the other end of pennsylvania avenue barack obama's return to the white house. for the first time since leaving office. how the former president just responded to a question from someone on our team about democrats' midterm anxiety. and later, the real-life effect of one state's anti-trans policies. we go one on one with the mother of a transgender kid in texas who is being investigated for child abuse. that's coming up later in the show. coming up later in the show

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right now one of former president trump's closest confidants, his daughter, is facing the january 6 select committee. committee chair bennie thompson confirming in just the last couple minutes our nbc news report that ivanka trump has

been taking questions for several hours now, adding that to his knowledge she has not asserted any privileges. she's speaking with them after the panel had asked her to voluntarily cooperate with their investigation. remember, no subpoena here. let me bring in garrett haake, our senior capitol hill correspondent who's part of the team that broke this story. interesting here, garrett, and i want to be careful to put this, you know, on chairman thompson, who's the one who said it, that to his knowledge she hasn't tried to claim executive privilege so far. >> that's right. and look, sometimes members come and go from these meetings. i would say it doesn't mean categorically that it has not happened. but i just talked to chairman thompson off the floor and he described ivanka trump as broadly cooperating. he said she's here, she's answering questions. he said she's not overly chatty but that she is taking their questions. and as you point out, not invoking privilege. and the fact she came in voluntarily is noteworthy in and of itself. so many folks who were particularly close to president trump who claimed executive privilege or who have taken the

fifth when asked specific questions by the committee. not so apparently here. and the fact that she's been in the room for quite some time i think is important. or at least in the room virtually since she is appearing in her digital form here. the committee had so many questions they wanted to ask her both about what she knew about the leadup to january 6, particularly whether the president was told in advance that some of the things that were being discussed for the vice president to do might have been against the law, and then what happened on the day itself. there's been lots of open source reporting, public reporting about ivanka being the person sent in to try to convince her father to call off the attack on january 6th. that's a conversation that she might be one of only two people on the planet that can speak to it. and the other person's probably not coming in to talk to this committee, hallie. >> and you make the important point, garrett, there's a lot she may know. you think about the fact that jared kushner just last week was doing the same thing, virtually testifying in front of the committee. he wasn't even in the country on that day. as you point out, ivanka trump

very close with her dad and specifically on the 6th. >> reporter: yeah, that's right. and there's scope to this. part of the thing that makes kushner useful is both before and afterwards, what did the president know, what did the white house legal team know about the strategy for the 6th? the tactics they were taking to try to prolong the election, prolong any possible dispute over election results. on those issued both jared kushner and ivanka trump could be useful to the committee. but really only ivanka can speak authoritatively to the 6th and to her father's state of mind. i don't have to tell you, hallie, as somebody who covered that white house how close the father and daughter were. and the fact she's here, if she is able to speak to mr. trump's state of mind at all, i think could be invaluable to this committee. whether that's the case is something we may not know for quite some time. thompson was pretty coy that he's not going to reveal any details about the content of this interview today until a time and place of the committee's choosing. >> we don't know when it's going to wrap up yet, right? these things typically end right around dinner-time? or is it all different?

>> it will go until it's over. yeah. these interviews have run the gamut between less than an hour to six, seven hours, and the committee has pages of things they laid out in their letter to ivanka that they wanted to talk about. hallie, this could be a long one. >> garrett haake live on the hill staying on top of that one. garrett, thank you. appreciate it. just in the last hour at the other end of pennsylvania avenue you saw former president obama wrapping up his first visit to the white house since leaving office. you see him there. he was joining president biden as he rolls out some new ways to strengthen the affordable care act. >> the aca wasn't perfect. to get the bill passed we had to make compromises. today the biden-harris administration is going even further by moving to fix a glitch in the regulations that will lower premiums for nearly 1 million people who need it and allow 200,000 more uninsured americans get access to

coverage. >> and as we talk about health care right now you've got the covid response team briefing reporters as the biden administration has announced they're going to form a task force to research cases of long covid. citing the millions of americans who are still suffering from the virus even months or years after testing positive at this point. i want to bring in nbc news correspondent ali vitali. let's talk about former president obama. he doesn't just show up for any and everything, right? there is a policy calculation but also a political calculation here given the former president's popularity inside the democratic party and the optics, right? of seeing president biden walk down with vice president harris and former president obama. our peter alexander as you know got in a question right near the end of the event. folks who watched it live probably missed it. i actually don't think we could even roll it because we haven't turned it around. but peter basically said what is your message to democrats who are a little bit skittish about the midterms? talk us through the former president's response and a little bit about what you're hearing from the white house on what they hope to get out of this appearance. >> reporter: yeah. his response was that what he hears is that democrats have a

story to tell and they need to tell it. obama came to the white house today for the first time since he left it with a story to tell. i thought it was a story that was as much about the legislative gains that he made when he was the president around health care as it was a conversation that he was seemingly having with lawmakers around the legislative push that his former vp, now president biden, is pretty unsuccessfully trying to push through congress with build back better. on the health care piece of it obama was clear in saying he was willing to stake his first term on this health care achievement even if it meant not getting a second one. he spoke to the political courage that some lawmakers had to take in making that vote for the affordable care act. and he also said that while it wasn't everything that they wanted they got a lot done and that these were the kinds of things that people come to washington to do. big legislative swings that actually impact the lives of americans. that's the story obama told, and it really felt to me like it fit

the conversation around build back better, which remains stalled as some progressives say that it compromises too much and as some moderates say that it goes too far and costs too much. of course one of those key moderates joe manchin is the key reason why it remains stalled in congress. frankly, some people even referring to it as voldemort, the thing they dare not speak of because they're going to try to chunk it up and move forward with it. when you talk, though, about the political calculation here, though, telling that story in the midterms is critical. especially around health care, which has been such a powerful issue for democrats. in 2018 it's one of the things that really fueled their wave into congress. and of course it's something that they're hoping to highlight now. affordable health care prices specifically. as our polling and others show us that americans' top concerns are their pocketbooks and wallets. the bottom line that they have in helping what their family needs for health care, price at the pump, inflation, all of that really critical and a key part

of why this white house is showing the former administration that biden was a part of now with the current one trying to build upon its gains. >> ali vitali outside the white house for us. ali, appreciate it. coming up, a look behind the curtain at the power of russian propaganda. what everyday russian folks are seeing on their tv screens and what experts say makes that so effective on the inside. >> it's quite terrifying the effect that this propaganda is having on ordinary russians. s. as a main street bank, pnc has helped over 7 million kids develop their passion for learning through our grow up great initiative. and now, we're providing billions of dollars for affordable home lending programs... as part of 88 billion to support underserved communities... including loans for small businesses in low and moderate income areas. so everyone has a chance to move forward financially. pnc bank: see how we can make a difference for you. exploring the heart of historic europe with viking,

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that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business... and every person... to come to the table and do more incredible things. the pictures we're seeing of russia's invasion in ukraine triggering fury from around the world. but if you ask many russians, they might tell you there is no war, that the pictures you're seeing on your screen cannot be believed, all because of a kremlin campaign to hide the truth. joining us now is nbc news national security correspondent ken dilanian. hey, ken, good to see you. >> good to see you, hallie. you know, a recent reputable russian poll found that vladimir putin's approval rating is 83%. and that might be a little inflated, but we asked the question why is that and why do most russians appear to support this war? and it turns out they've been fed a diet of propaganda not just recently but for years. take a look.

for those watching television news in russia there is no war in ukraine, only a special military operation designed to root out nazis, and it's all going according to plan. those pictures of bombed-out cities? the ukrainians did it to themselves, russian state media insists. it sounds bizarre to western ears, but experts say many if not most russians believe it. >> it's quite terrifying the effect that this propaganda is having on ordinary russians. >> reporter: alexei kovalev is an award-winning investigative reporter at medusa a russian independent news site. he left moscow in early march as vladimir putin's government cracked down on the few remaining voices of dissent. kovalev and others familiar with the russian media landscape say years of disinformation by state organs has left much of the russian public in the grip of conspiracy theories. >> it's now a criminal offense to call it war and russia is conducting this special operation to liberate ukraine

from the nazis. we didn't expect that basically the entire ukraine is nazis. i'm not kidding you. i'm not exaggerating. it's an actual quote. >> reporter: since the invasion the kremlin has shut down independent journalism and made it almost impossible for russians to access facebook, twitter, and international news sites. but even before that most russians were fed a diet of lies. michael bazhura is a fluid russian speaker who once played the role of token american on russian talk shows, allowed to say a few words before being shouted down by other panelists. he left russia with his russian wife just before the invasion. he says the putin government's lie that ukraine is controlled by nazis strikes a deep chord in a russia that lost millions of its citizens while helping to defeat nazi germany. >> so memory of the second world war in russia essentially exists as the justification for the current kremlin leadership to maintain its position.

the reason why russia is great is because it won the second world war. that gives people some sort of identification with the fight against nazism. >> reporter: not every russian believes the propaganda. thousands have left the country. but those who know the truth sometimes have trouble convincing even their own relatives. >> we've seen a lot of these heartbreaking scenes in many russian families where ukrainian relatives are calling them from the other side and telling them that the russian army is bombing their cities and killing them and the russian part of the family simply refuses to acknowledge that, simply refuses to believe them, saying that it's all fake news. >> reporter: and he says many russians don't want to confront what is really happening. >> it's not that this disinformation is so terrifyingly effective. it's actually quite lame and stupid. and self-contradictory. but it seems to provide people a convenient kind of cushion between themselves and the

horrific reality that they will have to face one day. that russia is indeed waging a war of aggression against ukraine. >> reporter: with the invasion not going as russia hoped, its citizens are not hearing that as many as 15,000 of their soldiers have died, some of their bodies left to rot on the battlefield. as for sanctions -- >> so they're being told the same thing that they were being told before the war, which is that the western world wants to isolate you. they're worried about russia becoming too strong. >> reporter: wasiura believes russia is in the grip of a kind of mass psychosis. >> i don't understand how this can just heal itself. i don't know how this can get better without some sort of outside intervention. >> reporter: a triumph of disinformation with deadly consequences. one thing that's worth making clear, hallie, is that russians who really want to find the truth can still find it, through telegram, and they can use vpns. but what these folks were

telling us is a lot of russians simply don't want to know the truth. >> it's so interesting to hear that one expert, the investigative journalist who's left russia now, said the propaganda's actually pretty lame. like it's pretty lame but it is not super effective but effective when it needs to be. >> exactly. if you're not inquisitive and if your salary depends on you not asking the right questions. >> ken dilanian, thank you so much for bringing us this story. it's good to see you. >> you too. >> appreciate it. still ahead on this show, impossible to vote. how new voting restrictions have made life even tougher for some folks in wisconsin. plus the bill that just passed in oklahoma and why it could have an effect on women in texas. we'll explain with our maura barrett live in oklahoma city, next.

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we've seen protests outside the state house today. look at them. you see them on your screen here. over another abortion ban bill which could hit the state senate as early as next week. and it's all happening as oklahoma is seeing a big spike in people trying to get abortions there. 45% of texas women traveling out of state for abortions went to oklahoma between last september and this past december after the texas heartbeat bill went into effect. joining us now is nbc news's maura barrett in oklahoma city. so some significant developments even just this afternoon here on this issue, maura. >> reporter: yeah, hallie. so this bill that you just mentioned essentially a near total ban in the sense that it criminalizes providers who conduct abortions. and basically, it's making it a felony once it's signed into law, and it could be punishable by up to ten years in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000. as you mentioned, this is just one of seven bills in the oklahoma state house. the other one that we've been monitoring would limit abortions except for in the case of the woman's life being at risk and would even limit it down to the

fact if it was an exception around rape, incest or sexual assault as long as those incidences were reported to law enforcement. and we know how rare that is for women to report when something like that happens to them. so when we saw the protest at the state house today, women really speaking out against the fact that this is having a huge effect for women in oklahoma and outside because what we've seen since texas passed its heartbeat bill last september, the oklahoma planned parenthoods and abortion clinics have seen an increase of 800% in their clinics because of people coming in from texas, and then it's also pushing oklahoma patients into states like kansas because they can't have the capacity to take oklahoma patients. i waited here for marie hoffman. she's one of the protests we spoke with today. and she works at a planned parenthood taking in a lot of those texas patients. >> we've been flooded with patients from texas that have told us their stories of just

getting down to see us just so they can have health care. their state has denied that for them. what's scary is that that's happening to them and now it's going to happen to us. >> reporter: now, hallie, this year alone we've seen laws enacted in states like florida, west virginia, idaho, indiana and arizona passing abortion restrictions. and this is just in tandem with across the country 28 states introducing over 71 bills. so this is something that obviously we've seen a lot of buzz around, especially as roe v. wade is set to be considered again in the supreme court this summer. but people here telling me that this ultimately will have such a ripple effect if it ultimately comes down to a state by state decision, hallie. >> maura barrett live for us there in oklahoma city. maura, thank you for being there. to wisconsin now, where it is election day and right now voters are voting. they're heading out for local elections across the state including the race for milwaukee mayor. and for the first time in years

they're not going to be able to use a dropbox to cast their ballot. this is the first election since february when the wisconsin supreme court ruled voters have to turn in their own absentee ballots instead of somebody else doing it for them, and for some voters with disabilities that's a big hurdle. i want to bring in now from milwaukee nbc news correspondent shaq brewster. shaq, talk to us about how these new rules are affecting some of the voters you're talking with today. >> reporter: well, specifically impacting, hallie, those voters who want to vote by mail or who have that absentee ballot. the circuit court ruling says that based on his interpretation of wisconsin election law he says that a voter must personally return his or her own ballot either by putting it in the mailbox or directly to the clerk. the impact of that? well, you mentioned, it closed down dropboxes across the state of wisconsin. but for those who relied on a spouse, on a caregiver to return that absentee ballot, for them they're saying this is a hurdle that for some of them is insurmountable. i want you to meet martha

chambers. i talked to her yesterday. 30 years ago, about 30 years ago, she fell off of a horse and broke her spine, has been paralyzed from her neck down ever since. and she says it's taking away her right to vote. listen to what she told me. >> it dawned on me, wait a minute, they're really trying to eliminate my ability to vote. >> how so? >> because i physically can't put my ballot in a mailbox or hand it to someone in order for them to count my vote. and if they're saying that i can't -- that i have to be able to do that, then they're eliminating my ability to vote and many other people with disabilities who may be in my similar situation. >> reporter: i asked her just a bit later what did you do? participating in this election. and she kind of gave a wry smile and she said, i voted. my vote will count. but she acknowledged how

sensitive this is. and you know, i also spoke to the group that brought forward this lawsuit that led to this ruling and the implications that we're seeing now. and they're saying no, the intention was not to target disabled voters. their focus is on making sure that partisan groups are not collecting absentee ballots and submitting them whenever they wish. but they did acknowledge that someone like martha may have an opportunity to file future litigation or may have the opportunity to make a case for the legislature to update election laws, but this is the result of the back and forth and the confusion that's out there about these voting laws that are currently here in wisconsin. >> shaq brewster live for us there in milwaukee. shaq, thank you. coming up, one state just introduced its own version of florida's controversial "don't say gay" law. plus what it's actually like to be targeted by anti-lgbtq plus policies. we'll talk with the mother of a transgender teen in texas who's now going public with their story. with their story. you can do just about anything.

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nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. (laughs) flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. re-entering data that employees could enter themselves? that's why i get up in the flexiblmorning!lation. i have a secret method for remembering all my hr passwords. my boss doesn't remember approving my time off. let's just... find that email. the old way of doing business slows everyone down. with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in one easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com for a free demo. ohio republicans today introducing a bill that looks a lot like florida's "don't say gay" law. it seeks legislation, quote, regarding the promotion and teaching of divisive or

inherently racist concepts in public schools. and one of those so-called divisive topics aaccording to the bill, quote, any curriculum or instructional materials on sexual orientation or gender identity. that language, of course, is very similar to the law that's now in place in florida. and in texas you have activists responding to governor abbott in february ordering the state's child protective agency to investigate gender-affirming care for trans kids as child abuse. a texas judge temporarily halted those investigations last month. but a new national ad campaign from glaad is highlighting one of the families affected by the order. listen. >> there are some politicians who are trying to tear my family apart simply because my son is transgender. trans kids don't have a political agenda. they are just kids. they just want to be left alone. my family's just like yours. we love our kids unconditionally and we'll never stop fighting for emthis. >> i'm joined by max's mom amber briggle who you heard from there and who's a candidate for city

council and from carol, ceo of glaad. i'm so thankful for you be be here. >> thanks for the opportunity. i'm glad to be here. >> amber, you're being featured in a little bit of that ad you just showed because you were one of the families under investigation by texas families under investigation after this order from governor abbott. what was it like to hear that these officials in the state were investigating you for child abuse? >> you know, so many feelings. i didn't it felt like a betrayal. specifically because i had invited the texas attorney general to have dinner in my home to meet my child to understand that trans kids are not a threat. that was six years ago. he found himself in a very contentious race, wanting a very red meat issue. issue, opinion, that equated

basically with the love and care i have for my child as child abuse. i'm not surprised by any of this. i've been fighting for trans kids for years. six, seven years. ever since my son came out in the first grade and he's in eighth grade now. i've seen this steady drum beat get louder. the temperature has risen. pressure has continued to be on families like mine. i haven't seen enough pushback from the media or the country to hold these elected officials accountable. i'm not surprised. i'm terrified, betrayed, and angry. >> how's max doing? >> you know, he's still doing great in school. he's engaged with his activities and friends. we had an investigator in our home to investigate us. both of my kids were really,

really nervous. all very nervous. but when the investigator left and we all were still under the same roof together, i think to them, they felt like maybe it was over. i don't think they understand that the investigation is still, it's still open. there is an injunction in the state of texas so that's to, so that they can't continue to get more information on this case, right, so the case is basically paused, but it's not closed. the investigation is still technically open and i haven't really relayed that information to my kids. i just don't want to worry them. >> sarah, glad is putting this ad out across the country. not just in texas. why do you think it's so important for everybody to hear amber and max's story? >> this is, to give it some context, there are over 200 anti-lgbtq bills and 50% of

those, over 100 of them target our trans community and most target the youth in our trans community and we need to shed some light on that because when you meet someone like amber and her family, you understand that these are human rights. not political issues. and they've been politicized. i just want to say that i do want to say thank you to our partners. we've got comcast, nbc universal, warner media, and walt disney airing this in living rooms across the country because we need to humanize this for the country. because we know at the end of the day, americans believe in equality and justice. and they want to see our kids thrive and be happy. just to point out, you asked how max is doing. i can tell you that the latest cdc report said that over 25% of

lgb kids in 2021 attempted suicide. over 17% of queer or questioning kids attempted suicide in the united states. these anti-lgbtq bills are having a direct, profound impact on our kids today. >> you talked about the broader context here, sarah kate. some of those numbers. we showed them on screen, about the kinds of legislation that's been introduced across the country. more and more in the last couple of years here. do you feel like this is a fight that you can win? >> i know we can win it because people can't hate people they know so the more stories we tell and the more people who are brave enough like amber to tell their stories, the more we can engage hollywood to have stories about our families and who we are. the more that people will understand. it's fear that drives this and

it's politicians, as amber said, who are trying to build careers and names for themselves and they've used our community for decades as a wedge issue when at the end of the day, if you believe in the american people like i believe in the american people, they always believe in justice and equality. >> amber, you started this interview, this discussion, sharing that story about the texas attorney general coming to your home i think back in 2016. you invited him for dinner. if paxton were back at your dinner table tonight, what would your message be to him? what would you want to say to him? >> i'd just, you know, i have no more words for him. i have no more words for him. i have shown him up close. i made him a carefully prepared meal. he engaged with my children, broke bread with my family, then says that families like mine

should not exist. i'm not talking to him anymore. i'm trying to reach the rest of the country that maybe hasn't met a trans child or thought about this issue and what that would mean. what that would mean for the states to terrorize your family and threaten to take your children away for doing nothing more than loving them unconditionally and giving them the care and support they need. that is who i'm trying to reach. we need everyone in this country to hold our elected officials accountable. his civil rights matter. we're not leaving texas. this is where we live and we need the rest of the country to stand up for us. >> thank you so much for being with us and for sharing your stories here on msnbc. appreciate it. thanks to all of you for watching this hour of msnbc. you can find highlights on twitter and on nbc news now tonight and every weeknight for show number two. 5:00.

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