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switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon. that's a savings of over $500 a year. switch today. new details coming in from the pentagon on that deadly attack on a train station in eastern ukraine, and it's a gut punch. ukrainian officials now say at least 50 people, including five children, have been killed. and obviously we have to say that some of these images of war are deeply disturbing. a senior defense official telling nbc knew that the attack was carried out by a russian short-range missile fired from inside ukraine. and the pentagon's also announcing it's sending patriot defense missiles to slovakia after that country sent its own missiles to help ukraine stop these kinds of horrific attacks. just ahead we'll speak with senator mark warner, the chair of the senate intel committee. we're also watching what's next for ketanji brown jackson after

that celebration you're looking at now at the white house, honoring the first black woman ever confirmed to the supreme court. >> we're going to look back and see this as a moment of real change. >> plus we've also got some breaking news in that trial of the men accused to kidnap the michigan governor. no convictions as we're just now learning with the jury deadlocked in the case of two of the people involved. we're going to be live with more on that including the governor's new response where she calls out what she describes as the normalization of political violence. we're going to get to that in just a minute. i'm hallie jackson in washington along with our nbc news team. ali arouzi is in ukraine. dan de luce covers national security. and shannon pettypiece is covering the white house. and ali, let me start with you because the u.s. embassy in kyiv calls that train station attack one more atrocity by russia, which is coming days after more atrocities as you know were discovered in bucha. we've seen this powerful image we're about to show of the head of the european commission visibly shocked, visibly startled looking at the mass

graves in that city, ali. >> that's right. starting with the train station in kramatorsk, just another horrifying attack on civilians trying to flee the war-torn parts of eastern ukraine. president zelenskyy was saying there were only civilians there, that there were no military personnel at that station. and of course, hallie, as you know, for days now the ukrainian officials have been telling people in the donetsk region get out of there before the window closes, before the russians start an all-out attack on that area. and obviously these people, many of them women and children, were trying to get to that train station, onto those trains, and get out of there, but obviously the russians didn't want them to. we're hearing horrifying numbers of casualties, 50 dead, five of them children, the hospitals filling up with people that have lost limbs, arms, legs. another devastating situation for civilians in this country.

and as you mentioned, ahead of the european commission visiting bucha, visiting those mass graves, more and more atrocities coming to light in those places. as you mentioned, you can see the look of horror in her face when she sees those mass graves. she also met with zelenskyy. she put her hand on her heart when she met him, talking about what's happening here, talking about letting ukraine into the european union. let's take a listen to what she had to say after visiting bucha. >> it is the unthinkable has happened here. we have seen the cruel face of putin's army. here in bucha we saw our humanity being shattered. and it is -- the whole world is mourning with the people of bucha. >> and we're seeing more and more atrocities by the russians. they are making no distinctions between military targets and civilian targets. it's just indiscriminate

bombing. and they're doing this on purpose, hallie, to terrorize the ukrainian civilians, hoping that they'll capitulate. but even the more and more of these scenes we see, the more it strengthens the resolve of the ukrainian people and it just makes them want to dig in more and get the russians out of their country quicker. >> ali arouzi live for us in lviv. dan, let me get to you. we're about to get an update in just a couple minutes from the pentagon. what are your expectations? >> i think we're going to hear a lot of questions about what are these air defenses that are going to be going to ukraine. why it took as long as it did to come to that arrangement. slovakia had said they were ready to provide these s-300 air defense missiles to ukraine that are so valuable in shooting down russian planes and intercepting the kind of ballistic missiles that just hit that train station with such tragic effects. and i think we're going to be curious i think to hear what was the issue, why did it take as long as it did for the u.s. to

decide okay, we're going to send these patriot missile defenses to slovakia to replace what they're sending to ukraine. but i think we heard so much about those fighter jets. this is arguably more important. these missile defenses, these air defenses are just crucial for ukraine because they can hit aircraft and missiles at a higher altitude than those weapons that are shoulder launched. this is really what ukraine had been asking for, and they'll see this as a real help. >> dan, thanks. shannon, let me go to you because we are just hearing from the white house, right? on the other end of pennsylvania avenue from where i'm sitting. with the press secretary also talking about the thing it feels like everybody is talking about today. that horrific attack on the train station in ukraine. >> yes. we have some response from press secretary jen psaki about that, essentially calling this a continuation of the war crimes that the u.s. has been seeing when it comes to targeting civilians. here's a little bit more of what she had to say.

>> this is yet another horrific atrocity committed by russia, striking civilians who were trying to evacuate and reach safety. where we are now is we're going to support efforts to investigate this attack as we document russia's actions, hold them accountable. we will continue to surge security assistance and weapons deliveries to help ukraine defend their country. >> and psaki was also emphasizing all the military support that the u.s. has been giving to ukraine in this briefing today, trying to emphasize that. to dan's point, there are questions about why has it taken so long, where is the aid, the things that the ukrainians really need to help? psaki addressing that to some extent, saying that the package for march has been delivered. there has been a further commitment, talking about additional systems that are going to be going into ukraine, and defending the administration's response. at one point she said that the number one thing that has helped the ukrainians has been their bravery and their strength in

fighting the number two thing has been the support that the u.s. has been giving. so certainly the white house trying to emphasize what they have been doing up until this point to help ukraine. >> shannon pettypiece, live outside the white house. shannon, thank you. i want to bring in senator mark warner, democrat from virginia and chair of course of the senate intelligence committee. senator, thank you for being back on the show. good afternoon. >> thank you, hallie. >> let me start with your reaction to this horrific attack on that train station in ukraine. we know what the defense officials are saying about this. russia perhaps unsurprisingly is denying they're behind it. what do you know and what have you seen? >> what i know is what we've all seen. a barbaric, inhuman attack against defenseless civilians. at a time when they knew these civilians were going to be massing at the train station. the conflict has now moved to the eastern part of ukraine. russia is once again showing little to no regard for civilian casualties. and i think there has to be a price to pay, not just for putin but for all of those

responsible. it's why i think as we probably get to your next subject all of us are wanting to get the ukrainians as much materiel, arms as quickly as possible. we're now over 50,000 anti-tank missiles to the ukrainians. they've obviously put them to good use. we've gotten them drones. we've gotten them shoulder-based ground to air missiles. but i think as you'll probably ask about the s-300s, you know, this has taken a bit of time and i -- and i'd like to move them quicker but remember, this is a system that requires literally dozens of vehicles to move, number one. number two, before our country gives up their own s-300s which in the case of slovakia was guarding part of the capital, they've got to have assurance that there will be backfill. we don't have spare patriot

systems. we have to backfill those patriots from another location and negotiate in times with that country as well. i'm not making an excuse here, and i'd like to see these systems moved even quicker. there's also the concern that as we move these systems we don't want to preannounce because how these systems are then transited over the border has to always remain confidential as well. >> you have indeed pre-empted my question to you on the s-300, senator. because as you know, as you talked about, you say you're not making excuses, right? that these things take some time. and i hear you on all that. is there more the u.s. could or should be doing on that front? >> here's -- the ukrainians have their own s-300 systems. one of the things i'm trying to get an update on right now is those systems break, they have missing parts, you need replacement missiles. we are actively scouring how we make sure that the existing ukrainian s-300 systems, which are very critical in terms of

knocking down those russian missiles at a greater range that create the kind of death and destruction we saw at the train station, can we do more to make sure all of the s-300 systems that ukraine already possesses are fully operational as well as this system that is now -- has been finally publicly announced coming over from slovakia. >> we showed some of the images of the head of the european commission in bucha, you know, visibly shocked as i think anybody would be at seeing the horror there. president zelenskyy says what happened there is genocide. do you agree? >> yes. there's no question here. these are actions of a war criminal in putin. and again, recognizing we need to call that out, hold this individual responsible. we also need to understand that does make the challenge of how we bring this war to an end sooner potentially even more difficult. so this is -- you know, president zelenskyy has become a worldwide hero. the ukrainian people. we are enormously respectful of

their sacrifice. they are literally dying to have the kind of system we in america take for granted, the right to have your vote counted, free press, the ability to agree reasonably without resorting to violence. we all as americans not only say a prayer for the ukrainians but also realize we do have the best system in the world and quite honestly we need to do as much as possible to defend it here at home as well. >> senator, i know you have to go. we'll have to leave it on that note. thank you so much for being with us and for sharing some of your perspective with us. i appreciate it. hope to have you back. want to get to that breaking news now on the trial of four men charged with conspiring to kidnap michigan governor gretchen whitmer back in 2020. the jury not landing on convictions for any of the four men, acquitting two of them, deadlocking on charges for the two others. i want to bring in now nbc's justice correspondent pete williams as well as msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. pete, fair to say this was an unexpected result from this trial?

>> to say the least. it's a big setback for the government here. obviously, the government will seek to retrial -- retry two of the defendants including the two that were accused of basically most heavily being involved in this plot, adam fox and barry croft. the jury was deadlocked on that. but they found the other two defendants not guilty on all the charges in this kidnap plot. and what's significant about this trial is the jury heard almost three weeks of testimony, deliberated for about 4 1/2 days. they started deliberating on monday. and this was a case in which the defense said that it's the fbi informants, both undercover agents and informants, that pushed these men beyond what they ordinarily would have done. the defense lawyers, in other words, said this was entrapment, that these four never could have done this on their own, they were big talkers, they talked in a violent way but they were sometimes high on drugs and that it was all talk. but the prosecutor said it went beyond talk, that the men actually did surveillance of the governor's summer home, talked

about setting off a bomb under a bridge that led to her home so that the police couldn't respond, did training with firearms in this plot to kidnap the governor. the governor's chief of staff has issued a statement today saying the following. "michiganders and americans, especially our children, are living through the normalization of political violence, the plot to kidnap and kill a governor may see like an anomaly but we must be honest about what it really is, the result of violent divisive rhetoric that is all too common across our country. and remember the origin of the plot. the government said these men plotted to kidnap the governor because they were upset at governor whitmer's response to the covid pandemic. the restrictions on keeping buildings open. it seems odd to say it but this is what the government claimed. they were especially upset that gyms, gymnasiums were being shut down and that's when they started. the prosecution said these men started talking about attacking government officials and

mentioned the governor firstcaug in the informants. the defense said it's the informants that egged them on and pushed them into specific acts that the men would never have been able to do on their own. and apparently it's the defense claim that the jurors agreed with. >> pete, stand by for a second because danny, these are strong words from the governor's office. right? the normalization of political violence. pete has laid out sort of how we got here. what are the options moving forward? like where does this go next? >> for the ones who were acquitted the options were zero for the government. the defendants walk. they walk out of the courthouse and move on with their lives. there are no comebacks from an acquittal. but at least as to the mistrial, to the ones that were deadlocked, the government has the option of bringing these charges again. and that decision is ultimately a political one. they have to decide whether or not they're going to use the resources of the federal government in another high-profile case after they've been handed a stunning defeat. i expect they might approach the defendants and say hey, we can

either try you again or maybe plead to a lesser charge. but if i'm the defense, i'm feeling pretty confident about a retrial other than the pain for the defense of having to sit and wait for another trial and another jury to be seated and to go through this all over again and probably pay their lawyers all over again. >> go ahead, pete. i see you wanting to jump in. your mike was muted but please -- >> sorry. i was just going to say this is not a total loss for the government because two other men who earlier were charged in this plot have now pleaded -- have since pleaded guilty. >> that's a good point. pete williams, danny cevallos, thanks to the both of you. appreciate your time. appreciate you bringing us this breaking news. pete, we'll look for more of you tonight on "nightly." and danny on nbc news now thanks. after the break those powerful words from judge ketanji brown jackson this afternoon when she was at the white house for the first time since her historic confirmation to the supreme court. plus as covid cases hit some of the highest levels of government what the white house is saying about the possibility the president could test positive. and news just in to us in

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judge ketanji brown jackson embracing fully this moment in history she's making at that celebration of her confirmation to the supreme court at the white house with president biden and vice president harris. a day the president described as one he's been picturing for a long time as he kept his promise to nominate a black woman top of mind before he then handed it over to the judge herself. >> it has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a black woman to be selected to serve on the supreme court of the united states.

[ applause ] but we've made it. [ cheers and applause ] >> nbc's kristen welker is at the white house. also with us is nina totenberg, legal affairs correspondent for npr. and kristen, this was deeply emotional for judge jackson today. i mean, she cast her story, framing it through decades and generations of what this moment means not just for her but for americans. >> you're absolutely right, hallie. judge jackson hasn't gotten emotional the these events, and yet today she did. today was the day she talked about the history, the significance for her personally but what it means to the country. she said her family has gone in a single generation from segregation to the supreme court. incredibly powerful words. she also thanked all of the people who she believes made this day possible. the people with whom she clerked like justice breyer, whom she

will be replacing this summer. but then also her mentors. her family. she talked about her husband, her daughters, calling being their mom her greatest joy. but then she thanked all of the other people along the way who were involved in her confirmation process, hallie. and it really struck me. she thanked some of the staffers here at the white house who weren't exactly expecting to be thanked by name. this is historic not only because she is the first black woman to sit on the supreme court. it's also historic because for the first time in history, hallie, the high court will not be a majority white men. it will include two black justices and four women. so this is a significant moment. and as you also talked about, president biden introduced judge jackson and he took this victory lap. this is a campaign promise kept. he said when he was a candidate that he was going to nominate a black woman for the high court, and so he has fulfilled that campaign promise. and as you know, as you and i covered, the confirmation

hearings got quite heated at times with some of her republican critics really asking her some heated questions. president biden took them on head on. take a look. >> i knew the person i nominated would be put through a painful and difficult confirmation process. but i have to tell you, what judge jackson was put through was well beyond that. it was verbal abuse. the anger, the constant interruptions, the most vile, baseless assertions and accusations. in the face of it all judge jackson showed the incredible character and integrity she possesses. >> and hallie, i've been talking to law students who say the fact she has been confirmed to the supreme court of the united states sends a signal to them that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to. and of course she will be officially sworn in this summer when justice breyer leaves the high court, hallie. >> kristen welker on the north lawn after returning from the south lawn. kristen, good to see you. thank you for being with us.

nina, let me turn to you. your overall reaction to what we've seen unfold over the last 48 hours. and as kristen notes, we won't see judge jackson officially become a justice for another few months. what does her life look like from now until next fall? >> well, i suppose she has to make a decision now as to whether she'll step down from her current job before she's actually sworn in as a justice of the united states supreme court. she doesn't have to do that. but she could if she wants to. the thing that she's going to have to face is that she's going on to a court with huge -- that will have just decided huge questions, is abortion still a right for women. can states regulate the carrying of arms outside the home? those are just two of the very big decisions that the court will have already decided.

and there are more in front of her for the next term. this court has been very aggressive about seizing questions that have long been on the conservative legal agenda, and they aren't waiting around to sort of wait brick by brick for conflicts in the lower courts and to sort of -- and taking it step by step. that would be probably the chief justice's preference. but it is not the preference of at least five other members of the court. and all it takes is four votes to grant. they're on something of a tear. and she will be the newbie. and being the new person at the supreme court, i can tell you having known lots and lots of justices over time, most of them feel quite overwhelmed in the beginning. it takes a year or two to sort of get your feet solidly on the earth of the court and to feel like you've got it on your agenda, your professional agenda

under control. so i think if there's an immediate impact it's likely to be that justice breyer is gone, he's replaced by justice jackson, and that is one length of the workplace that's changing. anding that makes for very different feelings among the justices. we now have two members of the court who are african american, one who is latina. and although justice thomas, for example, i would expect to have very different views from justice jackson, i would expect the two to become friends and to have much in common outside of their judicial philosophy. and how that will play out i don't know, if at all. >> nina totenberg, we're so glad to have you on the show today. on such a big day for the supreme court. thank you so much. we've got some breaking news we're going to get to now. at the pentagon where press

secretary john kirby has just, just started taking questions, including about the situation obviously in ukraine and that train station attack. let's listen. >> an area where you provide information to help them? >> look, tom, i don't want to -- i'm not trying to parse words here. when we say we want to help the ukrainians defend themselves, we're talking about the aggregate effort here. we're not talking about a tactical whether i'm in a defensive position or on a counterattack. we're not getting into that level of specificity here. we are trying to give them useful information and intelligence that allows them to defend themselves, to push back, to resist, to fight against -- you can call it whatever you want -- this russian invasion. if they were to use some of that information to conduct a counterattack, then so be it. they are defending -- the larger defense is of their country. they have been invaded now. actually, they've been invaded quite frankly for eight years.

but a massive invasion that began on the 24th of february. and they're resisting that. and we are doing what we can. i'm not going to get into too much detail here. i think you can understand that. but we're doing what we can to give them the tools, and some of that includes useful information that they can use to contribute to that active defense of their country. >> that clarifies it. now, my other question, sorry -- >> i'm delighted. >> yeah. i know that earlier this year, actually on january 24th of this year, you said in response to another question by me that it's, quote, not helpful to look at history, although i know you taught history -- >> that seems like a brutal retelling of my quote. but go ahead. >> anyway, as general milley said yesterday, the action is going to be shifting to the donbas region, which is a different terrain than much of ukraine.

it was the scene during world war ii of huge tank battles and armored battles. are from a strategic point of view bullets are great and a lot of javelins are on the way. but does this give the russians now an advantage in the sense that they do have now more armor than ukrainians and this is a terrain made for armored fighting? >> this is a more confined geographic area. i am not a topographical expert. i'm certainly not an expert in land warfare. and yes, while i taught history it was naval history. so i want to stay inside my lanes here. what i can -- and i don't want to be -- and i don't think we should be predictive of what the outcome's going to be. but i think what the chairman was really getting at, and he was absolutely right to do this, was to provide a sense of the potential here for the conflict to increase in intensity and to be prolonged. and i think that's the larger point he was trying to make. because the russians are going to be concentrating their

available combat power, and they still have a -- the vast majority of their combat power still available to them, they're going to be concentrating that now in a more confined, smaller geographic area. so they -- you know, earlier on in this invasion they were working on three massively separate lines of axis. south, east-northeast, west-northwest, right? they divided -- massive force but they divided it on three big lines of axis. and now we're going to see they're going to concentrate on smaller, fewer lines of axis in a smaller geographic area. so still a lot of combat power to be applied in a smaller part of the country. again, i'm not an expert on the geography here. but just looking at it on a map, you can see that they will be able to bring to bear a lot more power and a lot more concentrated fashion. that said, and this is not unimportant, the ukrainians have also been fighting hard in

donbas for the last eight years. the ukrainians are certainly familiar with the terrain and the topography and the cities and towns and the roads and the railways. and this is their home. as we have seen in the last few weeks but certainly the last several days as the russians have concentrated more effort there, the ukrainians are fighting back just as hard and will be working just as hard to continue to defend themselves there. and again, our support is of a piece of this as we continue to talk with them about what they need for this closer fight if you will, we're going to continue to try to support them in that. does that answer your question? >> yes, thank you. >> john, do you think the russians are going to use this war in ukraine? >> we want the ukrainians to win this war. and we want to see ukraine not have to fight for its own sovereignty. as it has been for eight years. we keep forgetting that. i think president zelenskyy has

been rock solid clear on what his outcome is here. a whole ukraine fully respected as a sovereign nation state. we want that for him too. and so we want to help -- we want to see them win. and that's why we're committing so much energy and security assistance to that country and will continue to do that. >> if you want to see the ukrainians win, does that mean you want to see the russians lose? >> we want to see mr. putin and the russian army lose this invasion, lose this fight inside ukraine. it is ukrainian territory, ukrainian sovereignty. it's ukrainian cities and lives being destroyed. and obviously we want to see that end and we want to see ukraine whole again. >> would the u.s. support ukrainian forces if they go on the offensive in crimea and the russian-backed separatist reemgz in eastern ukraine? >> i'm not going to get into future operations. what i will tell you is we're going to continue to support ukraine in their efforts to defend their sovereignty and their people as much as we can, as fast as we can, lucas.

i'm not going to get into hypothetical operations that they haven't conducted yet. kelly? >> two questions if i may. the first is on a profile today on the commander in chief of the ukrainian armed forces leading the fight against the russians. i was curious if you had a comment on his leadership or message to him. and second, russian officials are threatening finland if it goes ahead and joins nato. do you take those threats seriously? would the u.s. come to finland's defense? >> so by the profile of the commander do you mean president zelenskyy? >> no. his commander in chief. or his -- the commander of his armed forces in ukraine. >> i have not seen the profile, kelly. so let me take a look at the profile before i try to characterize it. i would just tell you that we have good connectivity with the uk yain armed forces at the very senior levels. general milley speaks very frequently with his counterpart. as you know, you guys see the readouts, you know how often secretary austin speaks with minister resnickoff.

and of course president biden with his regular contact with president zelenskyy. it is remarkable how well they are leading their forces in the field and how good their command and control still is today. well organized. well equipped. certainly well trained over the last eight years. and you're seeing all that come to bear. so i haven't seen the profile, so i can't really comment on that. but we have great confidence in ukrainian military leadership and the incredible work they're doing leading their troops in the field. and again, you've seen it. it's not just ukrainian troops. ukrainian citizens taking up arms and defending their streets and their cities. your other question, again, i don't want to get ahead of where we are in the process here. a decision to join the nato alliance is between the alliance and that nation. and i'm certainly -- the united states is not going to interpose ourselves into that decision-making process. that's really for them to speak to. that said, and i think today's

movement and the announcement that we're going to be providing a patriot battery inside slovakia, tells you how seriously we take our article five commitments inside nato and the alliance. and as you've heard president biden say, we're going to defend every inch of nato territory if it's required. it's an ironclad commitment. the united states believes that. and we'll continue to look for ways to -- especially on the eastern flank to bolster that. >> just a follow-up on sylvie's question, on information sharing, secretary austin yesterday said that you guys are clarifying the guidance for your force. what was he meaning, actually? why did he say clarifying? >> as the situation changes on the ground, information needs change, information requirements change. information guidance changes. and i think that's what the secretary's referring to.

>> and another question. sorry. we have seen reports that base of -- where u.s. forces are stationed in syria came under rocket attacks and two u.s. service members were wounded reportedly. do you have anything on that? >> yeah. actually, i do here. so i think you guys saw centcom put out a release that there was indirect fire. two rounds received at green village in eastern syria. we still assess that at this time four u.s. service members are continuing to be evaluated for traumatic brain injury symptoms. the number's still four. it could change as we have seen in the past. but that's where we are right now. the indirect fire struck two support buildings. we're still investigating this. i don't have attribution for it.

i don't have more detail on damage. okay? >> you don't have any attribution but do you have any sense whether this was something that was carried out by some sort of militia group? it's just -- >> i mean, it is certainly a tactic that has been used by these militia groups, militia groups that are supported by iran. it's right out of their playbook. i think our working assumption would be that that's the case here. but we want to do the forensics and do it properly. do i have a sheet from -- for the calls or nobody? i didn't get one. so we're not -- nobody? okay. >> you can just stay with me, then. >> that was my poor attempt to move off of you. but it failed. >> i appreciate the effort. >> mike totally screwed me on that. >> one more on ukraine. is there -- just given there's more and more momentum it seems for finland and sweden to potentially join nato, is the pentagon already planning for sending some sort of u.s. military presence into those countries, whether it's like a

systems or anything like that? is there any kind of very early planning for reinforcing them as part of this ongoing shoring up of nato? >> well, we've been doing that. >> specifically for some longer-term presence to finland and to sweden specifically. >> i know of no such plans for countries outside of nato. no. >> but once they -- i'm sorry, once they join nato. like is there early planning going on for if and when they become members of nato? >> i'm not aware of such planning. that's many horses beyond where the cart is right now. again, i don't want to get ahead of a decision-making process between a sovereign nation state and the alliance. there's no such -- there's no active planning for any kind of u.s. force presence in those countries. and again, we would need to be in a process of them being nato members and have that conversation. we're just not there.

>> -- the pentagon was a planning organization but -- >> we do. we plan for a lot of things. but we don't plan for everything. i'm going to trademark that. >> you have been listening of course to pentagon press secretary john kirby taking a series of questions about the war in ukraine, obviously reiterating the u.s. position for support for ukraine against vladimir putin and the atrocities we've talked about at that train station in ukraine as well as the delivery of patriot missiles to slovakia, backfilling essentially the s-300s that they are supplying to ukraine, which has been all but begging for more weapons. nbc's shannon pettypiece is outside the white house with us now. hey, shannon. >> hi, hallie. we're seeing an increasing defense from the white house in a way about what they have been providing to ukraine. there have been a lot of requests from ukrainians. not all of those have been fulfilled. there's been a lot of focus on things like fighter jets. the administration today, though, seems to really be trying to emphasize the level of support they've been giving. and you mentioned those patriot

missiles, for example. we heard from press secretary jen psaki earlier in the hour. she was talking about how the aid packages up until this point have been delivered and there's additional support coming on the way. there was just a $100 million commitment made yesterday. and that is all on top of she says $2 billion that the administration has given to ukraine. the administration emphasizing the support they are giving militarily. as we hear administration officials also talking about the sense this is going to be a prolonged military campaign. of course they're talking about things like sanctions and economic pressure, but increasingly they're talking about how those sanctions are going to impact and affect the military campaign. now you do hear these officials say it's something that's going to last months if not years and give it a better picture on you how the u.s. plans to support that going forward. >> shannon petty yooes outside the white house. thank you. a lot more to get to on the show including coming up how that first january 6th acquittal

seems to be empowering at least one other riot defender today. plus more on the academy's new announcement on its punishment. no oscars, no events for will smith. we've got a live report from l.a. in just a minute. e. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪ 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.

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this is iowa. so, when are you coming to see us? ♪♪ some news on january 6th cases. the president of the proud boys north carolina chapter is now changing his plea from not guilty to guilty to two counts, including a conspiracy charge. he also admitted to assaulting a police officer. prosecutors had accused charles done ojo of planning and participating in the riot at at the capitol. but another january 6th case seems to be hitting kind of a roadblock. shawn weitzman. you see red circle there. he's backing out of his plea deal. not too long after a judge acquitted another defendant saying prosecutors couldn't prove that he knowingly entered a restricted building. joining us now is nbc news justice reporter ryan riley. ryan, explain to us here, what should we read into weitzman backing out of this deal?

he has a different judge than the other defendant for his upcoming trial, a judge that has been pretty clear about the january 6th riots, saying it's probably the worst thing that happened to our democratic way of life in our history except for the war of 1812. >> yeah, judge hogan has taken a much different tack than judge trevor mcfadden does. he's the trump judge who acquitted this prior january 6th defendant on these charges earlier this week in a case that has already shown some ripple effects, and this is sort of the first one. i could imagine we see some instances where we have people who pled -- planned to plead guilty to these lower-level misdemeanor charges who may be rethinking that and might want to try their luck in the courtroom if they want to go forward with that method. >> 29% of people charged related to the january 6th riot have pled guilty. do you think that given some of the movements we've seen over the last 48 hours that you've covered that we may start to see more of a trend, if you will, of this kind of a thing? >> i think there's basically two paths emerging. for these more serious charges where people are facing very serious criminal exposure we're going to continue to see plea deals, as we did in the proud

boys case today. because there's so much criminal exposure there. it just makes sense to enter a plea deal. but i think for some of these lower-level misdemeanor cases where your exposure is really six months only anyway in prison, there may be more of a mixed bag. some people might want to press their case and say hey, listen, i thought i was allowed to go inside the capitol. and that's what a lot of these defendants are sort of doing. they're claiming ignorance. they're claiming they didn't know what the rules were for the capitol or that they thought cops were letting them in. that's really what they're claiming to try to get out of a conviction in some of these misdemeanor cases. >> ryan reilly, thank you for that. we want to get to some breaking news out of the west coast basically and the oscars. because the academy is now announcing that will smith is not going to be able to attend any of its events including the oscars for a decade. either in person or virtually. that's after of course smith slapped chris rock on stage during the oscars last month after rock made a joke about smith's wife. nbc's steve patterson is covering this one for us. steve, this is just coming in to us in the last not even hour really after this meeting, right? that the academy had today to figure out what they were going

to do about will smith. >> they took about 3 1/2 hours to come to this decision. let's start with the obvious. ten years without one of hollywood's biggest and most bankable stars at the oscars is a long time compared to what many experts were saying or predicting, and it's a definable amount of time, which makes it a lot less likely that they'll all of a sudden go back on it or be wishy-washy in any way. they're saying this is a definable sentence of ten years. obviously it's far from the harshest penalty that could have been levied which would be to take his oscar away entirely. that's not happening. the statement also doesn't say anything about him being blocked from being nominated or winning again if he is nominated. and penalties as severe as those not expected in the first place really in the history of the academy. there's very little precedent for something like that happening. not to mention we've heard so much outcry about former winners harvey weinstein kept his oscar, roman polanski kept his oscar. we did get a statement from the academy president. david rubin just said this action we are taking today in

response to will smith's behavior, a step toward a larger goal of protecting the safety of our performers and guests in restoring trust in the academy. we also hope this can begin a time of healing and restoration for all involved and impacted. hallie, they all involved and impacted. hallie, they moved up the date two weeks. they wanted to get this out of the way so they can move forward. i think will smith has to start moving forward with the future of his projects. the cademy with new rules and everybody, especially smith, taking care of his family and moving on. >> steve paterson live in los angeles. steve, thank you. to the pandemic now as we hear more and more about high profile cases in washington. cabinet secretaries and nancy pelosi and two senators, aides to the vice president and first lady announcing they tested positive. as far as we know, none of them are dealing with serious cases. now you have the notable acknowledgment from the white house with communications

director kate bedingfield saying this is possible president biden could test positive. he is vaccinated. i want to bring in dr. patel. former white house director in the obama administration. dr. patel, it is possible that president biden could test positive. you could say that about a lot of people who have not had covid yet. what is your read if the white house announces this now? >> i think they are setting expectations. with the gridiron dinner and the justice jackson coverage, so many events where people are outdoors, which is safe, but nobody is wearing a mask and everything is getting back to normal. the white house correspondent dinner and april 18th, the faa with the expiration date. i don't think they will renew on public transit. what does it mean?

will it make news? we won't have that on the edge of our seat. we have more therapeutics than when president trump had antibodies and anti-virals. oral and iv. they will throw everything at the president. hard to believe he will not get away without getting it with the circles around him getting it. >> is this a circle of people in d.c. getting tested? are these cases showing an uptick or we are hearing about it more because of the big names involved? >> yeah, i think it is both. for every big name we hear about, i hear from 10 to 20 staffers around those big names. they are also some testing positive and some worried about testing positive. i do think, hallie, it is a function of both. they test people around the president and vice president and speaker. at the end of the day, hallie, you can test. you can't test out of covid.

you can test and still with a very infectius ba.2. we have to walk through. this is uncharted territory. our country is in a better place. 26,000 ifections over a 7-day average. it is incredibly low. that doesn't mean it's zero. >> dr. patel, thank you for the perspective and context check on all of it. thank you very much. i appreciate it. looking ahead to the weekend. former donald trump ready to take the stage in north carolina tomorrow night along with one member of congress who others are trying to get way from. madison cawthorn at the save rally. current members are trying to distance themselves from the congress member after the

comments of drugs and d.c. sex parties. both have the endorsement of the former president. in the mini have left in the show, i want to bring in the former communications director. doug, good to see you. we are talking about these individual whose will be on stage with former president trump who support the big lie he is pushing. the lie the 2020 election was stolen. it was not. how does that play in north carolina? what will we hear? >> if you are a republican in north carolina where i'm from. you will be receptive to whatever he says. does trump do what he does? does he take a shock at cawthorn about his troubles? it is not just leadership with issues over cawthorn. the republican senator from north carolina does as well. i have seen internal polling

that cawthorn is in trouble. one of the things voters are learning about and seeing is his voting report is one of the lowest in congress. he is not showing up to vote as often as colleagues. whatever else he is doing we don't know. it is one of the things that chuck edwards is the top challenger to him in the primary in a few weeks will be exploiting. i expect outside groups will spend a lot of money. cawthorn may be a target. >> you mentioned senator tom tillis. how much of a difference would that make in the state with the biggest of big fish who supports cawthorn? >> endorsements are helpful of they will they the trump

endorsement. what are you communicating to voters? in that is where cawthorn will have struggles. he created problems. other republicans will take advantage. i look forward to having debates. especially chuck edwards. >> closely watched primary. doug, thank you very much for bringing north carolina expertise to msnbc. i appreciate it. i appreciate you watching this hour of msnbc. you can find us on twitter with highlights and reporting. always, you can find me on nbc news now. for show number two and every week night at 5:00 eastern. easn [ mid-tempo music playing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ why don't you do cool spins?

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