my colleague andrea mitchell talks with state department spokesperson ned price, next. good day, everyone, this is andrea mitchell reports in washington. as ukraine braces for vladimir putin's military shake up, appointing a russian general known as the butcher of syria to take over the kremlin's failed ukraine operation. general alexander dvornikov, infamous for the atrocities, and a veteran of devastating destruction of checnya. russians forces continue a shift in their focus on the donbas region in the east. with this 8 mile long convoy of tanks. moving toward kharkiv and mariupol. both are still in ukrainian hands, despite weeks of daily

shelling. those attacks continue through the weekend with kharkiv's regional leaders saying they were at 66 new strikes on the city, and surrounding residential neighborhoods in just the last 24 hours. leaving at least 11 dead and more than a dozen others injured. over the weekend, british prime minister boris johnson dramatically showing his solidarity with president zelenskyy by showing up in kyiv and walking through the city streets without armor. and ambassador linda thomas-greenfield speaking on the impact the russian invasion is having on some of the most vulnerable in ukraine. >> when men like president putin start wars, women and children get displaced. women and children get hurt. women and children get raped. and abused. and women and children die. what is happening to women and children in ukraine is horrific beyond comprehension. this is an active crisis that grows worse by the day.

we need to start interventions immediately to prevent and respond to gender-based violence now. >> nbc foreign correspondent molly hunter is in kyiv. take us through the latest fighting to the east. boris johnson's dramatic visit to kyiv on saturday. >> andrea, good afternoon, that's exactly right. so the focus here in the last couple of days is absolutely shifted to the east. of course in the last week, ten days, we saw russian troops retreat from the area i'm in, around kyiv and the suburbs around kyiv, and now ukrainian officials are saying that they are ready for an increased, heightened attack in the east. they are preparing, zelenskyy said overnight, president zelenskyy said they are ready. you mentioned those satellite photos showing an 8-mile long column of military vehicles. we have photos showing military vehicles heading toward car tel aviv. a city in the east where the train station was that the

russians attacked on friday that killed more than 50, we believe 57 civilians at that train station. that was the gathering point for thousands of civilians, mostly women and children who were trying to get out of the east. so officials here have been saying not only be prepared for this offensive, and they are telling civilians that their window to leave the east is rapidly closing. as you mentioned, kharkiv, the biggest city in the east has counted more than six dozen air strikes just in the last 24 hours, and the things that they are targeting, the russians are targeting, infrastructure like bridges, train stations, like kra ma tors k. that sends two big messages to see the british prime minister walking around the capital city, a city that weeks ago many predicted the russians would have rolled into. to have him walk around, it sends the message that it is safely in ukrainian hands, and we got to see president zelenskyy doing what he has done

so well, keep the western focus on ukraine. keep ukraine at the top of the agenda. and having prime minister boris johnson walk through the city sites with him does just that. there's an entirely different story on the outskirts of kyiv where we continue to see the atrocities that the russians left behind when they were treated. we were in irpin today, andrea. that bridge in irpin, was one of the centers, one of the symbolic images at the beginning of the war. people were trying to escape from irpin into the capital of kyiv. we went back to the bridge today. it's not passable by cars but the military, andrea, has actually put in a temporary makeshift bridge, and today it opened back up, which means thousands of people can now return to their homes in irpin, or at least see what's left. we spoke with one young man, andrea, his name is sergey, take a listen. >> what do you say after not seeing people for a month? >> i was very happy to see them

because they are alive. some of my friends already died. >> reporter: i'm so sorry. >> yeah. it's a war. >> reporter: so andrea, the scene was hundreds of cars, about a mile and a half of cars. they were not letting cars go, so people were parking their cars, getting out and walking across the bridge to their old hometown. sergey knows his house was destroyed but a lot of people we spoke with have no idea what they're actually returning to in irpin. andrea. >> it's so dramatic to see that bridge reopen. we saw the struggles of people trying to leave and helping, you know, soldiers helping old people get across that temporary crossing, treacherous, you know, river crossing and now to see it reopened and the people coming back. it's a really dramatic way as was boris johnson's arrival over the weekend to dramatize the success of victory in kyiv, and you have been there for all of

this. thank you for all of your reporting. we so appreciate it. and joining us now is state department spokesperson ned price. ned, thanks for being with us. so let's begin with the apparent appointment of a unified military command and the new commander is this general known as the butcher of syria, this putin decision to put general dvornikov in charge. how long alarmed is the u.s. by this? >> there's no question about this individual's brutality. this has already been a brutal campaign in ukraine, and we can expect to see more of it. here's the key point, andrea. no general, the appointment of no one can obfuscate the fact that this is already a strategic defeat for the russians. you may recall that we had intelligence that we classified that vladimir putin thought he could send his forces in ukraine, and within 48 his forces would capture the city of

kyiv, 2.9 million people, we are now some six weeks into the war and russian forces have been forced to retreat. they have lost the battle of kyiv. they have lost the battle of kyiv for two primary reasons. one is the determination, the grit, the resilience of the ukrainian people, but they have been so effective. the united states and allies and partners around the world have provided them with billions upon billions of dollars worth of security equipment. the united states has provided $1.7 billion worth of security assistance in the past month, $2.4 billion since the start of this administration, and we're going to do more. you've seen us surge new systems, additional systems, we are responding to precisely what the ukrainians need so that they can continue to be so effective, to push russian forces back and to continue to ensure that this winds up being a strategic defeat when this is all over. >> ned, clearly the amount of money being spent, the effort is

there, but let's talk about the time line, the delivery, the supply chain, if you will, no less an expert than the ukrainian minister talked to chuck todd on "meet the press." whether we are giving ukrainian the weapons it needs to win, and whether the weapons are arriving in time, let me play that for you. >> now that our pentagon is saying ukraine can win this war, what weapons do you need that we're not sending to help you win this war? >> the problem with supplying weapons to ukraine is that sometimes it comes too late. the time line is crucial. every day matters, and things must be supplied on a daily basis to strengthen our defense capabilities. we are working with the united states on a range of issues, including things like heavy air defense systems. >> so experts have said that it

is critical for ukraine to be able to take out, for instance, the 8-mile long convoy heading east before it's able to run over those cities, but they clearly do not have the ability to do it from the air. they've got antitank weapons, we know that, although they're running short on supply, and we are as well in manufacturing them. how can we get them the weapons they need now, and perhaps train more of their troops in the u.s. on u.s. smart weapons so that they're not relying on the soviet-made weapons. >> well, a couple of things, andrea. not only can ukraine win, ukraine will win. we are going to see to it, again, that this will be a lasting defeat for vladimir putin for the kremlin. there will be a sovereign, independent ukraine long after vladimir putin is gone from the scene. long after his forces are off sovereign ukrainian soil. when it comes to weapons systems, you were with us in europe, in brussels last week, and foreign minister kuleba came

with three items on the agenda as he put it, weapons, weapons and weapons. secretary blinken met with him. we had a lengthy meeting with foreign minister kuleba, and secretary blinken gave him three answers, yes, yes, and yes. every day the united states and allies are delivering systems to our ukrainian partners and delivering them precisely what they need. let me give you a couple of examples. for every russian tank in ukraine, there are ten u.s. provided antitank systems. if you include the systems that our allies and partners have provided, there are 90 antitank systems for every russian tank, you can include the same for russian vehicles and antiarmour systems. slovakia transferred the s 300 system into ukraine. this was the decision of slovakia to do but their decision was enabled by the fact that we are going to be in a position to back fill slovakia with a patriot missile battery,

so there is a supply chain. there is a chain of events, but we are involved in every single element of the bay. back filling our allies and partners, where necessary. providing systems directly to our ukrainian partners when we can. now, there are additional systems that we'll be able to provide going forward. we're going to see to it that there will be no impediment, whether it is training, supply chains that we'll be able to stand in the way to providing our ukrainian partners with precisely what they need, precisely what we're hearing from them. >> but i do want to point out that that decision on slovakia was made a couple of weeks ago when lloyd austin was visiting. it's taken weeks for us to back fill so they can get the s-300s to ukraine. let me play for you and our viewers said what president zelenskyy said to scott pelley on "60 minutes" about the timetable in recently weeks. >> in speaking to the u.n. security council you said if you can't help, you shouldn't exist.

not very diplomatic of you. i wonder why you feel the need to speak so bluntly. >> translator: when you're working at diplomacy, there are no results. all of this is very bureaucratic. i don't have any more lives to give. i don't have more emotions, i'm no longer interested in their diplomacy that leads to the destruction of my country. >> overnight in an interview with the associated press, he said the defense of mariupol from the citizens there is so critical that they will be far weaker if russia takes mariupol because then they will have greater access to the rest of the east. we are at a critical juncture now. >> we are. and one of the things we admire so much about president search -- president zelenskyy is he speaks bluntly, frankly, and he speaks the truth.

the fact is the united states is not waiting for anything. we're certainly not waiting on the russian federation, which to president zelenskyy's point doesn't seem to be serious at this juncture about diplomacy. we see the russians saying that they're willing to sit down with the ukrainians, whether it's mediated by a partner or ally of ours or with ukrainians directly. every time they have done so, they have engaged in little more than the pretense of diplomacy. trying to lend the appearance that they're serious about diplomacy, while they continue to pommel ukrainian towns and cities and brutalize the ukrainian people. that's why we're not waiting. we are surging equipment every single day providing our ukrainian partners with what they need to defend themselves. it's why we are so confident that our ukrainian partners will win. we are putting them in a position to do just that. >> let me ask about the talks today. secretary blinken, with the indian counter parts, and the president speaking with prime

minister modi in india. india is still helping finance this war by buying oil from russia. they, with china and a few other countries are bailing russia out, bailing vladimir putin out. do you think we can get anywhere in these talks today to persuade them that the attack on civilians at the train station, the killing of so many people, the injuring -- the killing of children, the attacks on women and children, what's been happening in mariupol to try to wean india of that critical support for vladimir putin. >> a couple of things on this, andrea. so russia is not a primary energy supplier for india. russian imports into india constitute maybe 2, 3% of india's energy imports. here's the point, we have made clear to countries around the world, especially to countries with significant level raj,

vis-a-vis russia, that they should use that correctively to bring this conflict to an end. it is undeniable that india has a relationship with russia that we don't have. it is a relationship with russia that developed over the course of decades and for many of those decades, the united states wasn't there, wasn't able to be a partner for india, whether it was trade, whether it's commerce, whether it's education or whether it's security. one of the bipartisan legacies of the past 20, 25 years of american foreign policy is that the united states is now able, prepared, willing and eager to be a partner with india across all of those fronts including the security front, and so the engagement between president biden and president modi today will be an important moment as will the engagement that secretary blinken and secretary austin have with their counter parts. we'll have an opportunity to discuss the totality of the strategic partnership.

we have with india, and we'll have an opportunity to discussion the brutal russian campaign against ukraine. >> of course india did vote against and with russia at the u.n. last week, so india is still very much partnered with russia and as is china and several others, and just very quickly, we saw the dramatic pictures over the weekend, ursula van der haden, and boris johnson walking through the city of kyiv talking to citizens. do you think it's possible that a u.s. delegation, top leaders from the u.s. could actually go to kyiv? >> i don't want to rule anything in or rule anything out, we are constantly looking at the security situation. one of our primary concerns is the safety and security of u.s. diplomats and u.s. personnel on the ground. i don't have anything to announce now. what i can tell you, andrea, we have had plenty of occasion in recent weeks to meet with our ukrainian partners face to face. you were there last week in

brussels, we met with foreign minister kuleba. we did so in warsaw with foreign minister kuleba. the week before that, we did so in poland, crossing over into sovereign ukrainian territory, a week or so before that, and as you know, president biden is constantly on the phone with president zelenskyy. secretary blinken is constantly on the phone with foreign minister kuleba. we are in regular dialogue to see what they need standing by them in every way we can. >> ned price thank you so much for being with us. and joining us now, retired four star general barry mccaffrey, and michael crowley on our trip in brussels last week. general mccaffrey, we have heard from admiral stavridis about general dvornikov, how much more brutal can the commander be after everything we have seen? >> obviously he was deliberately

chosen because he's ruthless. he participated in russian operations in chechnya, which destroyed the city of grozny, and killed uncounted numbers of civilians. he was one of the architectures of the russian operations in syria in combination with assad, and destroyed the city of aleppo, barrel bombed, poison gas, so there's no holds barred. 44 years in uniform. he's a brute. i wouldn't expect too much to come out of him. he doesn't have a joint headquarters. there won't be an air, land, sea, cooperation out of the russians in the coming year. he doesn't have in essence, a staff, to make this happen, to coordinate, integrate, he is in charge, clearly of conducting as rapidly as he can. the land bridge to crimea, and

probably has been told you'd better get odesa so we can economically cut off ukraine from the maritime frontiers. the russians are still in trouble. back to ned price, by the way, there certainly was a defensive aspect response to you. it seems that question, the ukrainians do not yet have the tools they need. that's really the point in time where we are. they need 500 modern tanks, they need the s 300 operational. they need anti-ship missiles actually targeting the 21 russian amphibs in the black sea and sea of asab. we have work to do, a counter attack has to go in pretty darn quick. >> and we don't have the weapons. we haven't gotten the weapons to them to attack that convoy. it looks to me as though from the satellite imagery, they're a sitting duck, just as that other convoy was for weeks.

why can't we take out that 8-mile convoy before they get to donbas. >> of course a lot of this movement is taking part, they withdrew back in belarus. there are a lot of moving east, and then south into inside russia, but they do lack the long range tools. you know, we have missile systems, mlrs that can reach out there a couple of hundred kilometers and go after targets like this. clearly we're providing them intelligence already. i don't think the mig 29 was the shiny object it was made out to be, but the ukrainians do not yet have a force of maneuver to go after a substantial russian capabilities, now building up in the east and the south. >> and michael crowley, president zelenskyy has questioned some diplomatic efforts, he's certainly welcoming world leaders like

boris johnson and ursula, what more did he need to see as frustrated as he is? >> in addition to an interesting conversation about weapons you have just been having, you'll recall that when we were in brussels last week, a subject that came up was further sanctions on russia, and i believe it was the foreign minister kuleba who said on thursday in brussels that in effect the eu is subsidizing putin's war machines through energy imports from russia, even as it is trying to, you know, cut off russian revenues through other avenues, and punish russia's economy, and kuleba's point was you're doing, taking away with one hand and giving with the other. this is kind of crazy. now there's truth to that, at

the same time, those next steps that i think the ukrainians would welcome from the europeans, ie, cutting off imports of russian oil and gas would be very painful for europe. europe is heavily dependent on russian energy. so although it's true that the equivalent of billions of u.s. dollars is going to russia as a result of those european energy purchases, you would be talking about a whole next level of increased energy prices and economic disruption, and so we're now seeing europe really asking itself what are we -- what sacrifices are we willing to make to stop these atrocities, to rescue ukraine. there is a debate within the eu right now about cutting off some of these energy imports but i don't think you're going to see a major next step coming that would really affect putin's war machine, but that's the drama in the coming weeks, and i think the question of the military aid is really the big plea that's

coming from kyiv right now. >> and kuleba also telling chuck todd yesterday on "meet the press" that they're willing to have peace talks despite the atrocities in bucha and of course at train station. remarkably they're willing to talk but they don't see any partnership from the russian side, right? >> that's right, andrea, and i think ned repeated what the state department has been saying for a while. they don't think russia is serious about some kind of a peace agreement. it is interesting, i mean, those atrocities may not be stopping the government from saying they're willing to go to the table, but remember, andrea, that any agreement that zelenskyy and kuleba might strike with the russians has to have at least some support among the ukrainian people, and the longer this war grinds on, and the more we see these horrific atrocities, the more difficult it's going to be for them to make political concessions that regular ukrainians are going to accept and that would allow some kind of a peace agreement to hold, so that's the added tragedy of these atrocities is that it does, i think, make

peace more difficult to achieve. >> thank you so much, michael crowley, thank you, general mccaffrey, as always, and divided they stand, the january 6th committee split on a possible criminal referral against former president trump. details next on andrea mitchell reports. this is msnbc. details next on a reports. this is msnbc. hi. we're zerowater. and we believe everyone deserves the purest tasting water. that's why we strive for zero. you see, to some it means nothing. but to us, it means everything. here, take a look. this meter showing triple zeros means our five-stage

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former president trump to the justice department, but it is split over recommending that to the doj for fear of politicizing the attorney general's eventual decision in the case. congresswoman liz cheney reacted to that report sunday on cnn. >> we have not made a decision about referrals on the committee. i think that it is absolutely the case. it's absolutely clear that what president trump was doing or what a number of people around him were doing, that they knew it was unlawful. they did it anyway. there's not really a dispute on the committee. >> the times also reporting that a text from donald trump jr. to former white house chief of staff mark meadows on november 5th, 2020, days after the election, before the vote had been counted laid out strategies to keep his father in office while biden had not been declared the victor. joining me now capitol hill correspondent leann caldwell, and former u.s. attorney and law

professor, barbara mcquaid. how much of a division is there on that committee about a potential criminal referral and just what are the committee's plans over the next weeks? you've got two weeks, in fact, of a senate recess, congressional recess, and then months to come. >> yeah, that's right, andrea, so my sources on the committee are really down playing "the new york times" report saying that it's not necessarily the divisions in the committee, they are undecided having discussions, and if they're going to send any criminal referral to the department of justice. they know that there's a lot at stake, and they know there's a big decision, but they are in agreement, they think that the former -- they have evidence that says the former president did break the law. what you have here with the committee is throughout their entire process, since they had convened, they said that their role is to inform the public and

to get to the truth that they are not a criminal prosecution organization, that that is the role of the department of justice. what their role is to lay out the facts and to tell the american people as much as they know, what happened that day, and so that's where the discussion is among committee members, but they are at a really important moment in the committee. they have a lot of decisions to make, especially as is public hearings are expected and probably may, early june, so they're getting to really critical juncture, andrea. >> barbara is there any way to read between the lines here. we had the decision by the federal judge two weeks ago that he believed there was a criminal basis against donald trump but that's a very tough decision. we haven't even heard on the referral against mark meadows, which went on december 14th. so merrick garland is clearly

taking his time on these issues. >> well, i think that the lack of a criminal referral from the committee does not signal they don't believe crimes were committed here. in this instance, it would be simply a symbolic gesture to make a criminal referral. a criminal referral is necessary in two contexts, one is where congress discovers a crime that is otherwise unknown to the justice department. and in the same way, a witness might report a crime, congress can make a criminal referral in that instance. that's not the case here where all of the facts are publicly known. the other is in the face of a referral, by statue, required to be referred by congress, and congress has other options of using its inherent contempt powers or a civil suit. when it wants the justice department to look at it criminally, the statute said it must make a criminal referral. here, neither of these facts is true. if anything, a criminal referral

could backfire in that it might make it look like it's too political for the justice department to touch it. >> which is exactly why "the times" says the committee is divided. thank you so much, barbara, and thanks to you, leann caldwell. meanwhile, france's president macron, running for a second term came in first in the first round last night skpks now faces a runoff against far right leader, marine le pen, whose victory could do nato. a much tighter race this time around, what are le pen's chances. what happens if she wins in two weeks and becomes france's next president? >> reporter: i know. that's sort of mind boggling when you think about it, andrea. political observers in france because she has a much better chance this time around than she did in 2017 when marine le pen lost in a landslide to emmanuel

macron. what has happened is that le pen has made herself a much more attractive candidate this time, toning down some of the anti-immigrant rhetoric to focus on the rising cost of living in france, calling for a cut in energy taxes to help the french people deal with rising prices that in part been caused by the war in ukraine. what she hasn't talked about is her relationship with russia, and vladimir putin. she wasn't pushed on that at all in this first round of campaigning. you'll remember in 2014, her party took out a loan from a russian bank to finance its campaign, and in 2017, she herself went to the kremlin and met with putin. you can expect to hear a lot more about those two relationships coming up in the next couple of weeks. andrea. >> anne thompson in london, reporting on what could be a big change overseas, depending on what happens in about two weeks.

thank you, ann. and a texas district attorney says he's going to file a motion today to dismiss an indictment against a 26-year-old woman arrested and charged with murder, after authorities said she quote caused the death of an individual by self-induced abortion. it's not clear whether hererra is accused of having an abortion herself or whether she assisted someone else in obtaining one. joining us is cecile richards, and former president of planned parenthood federation of america. let me make it clear, the d.a. said in a statement ms. hererra should not be prosecuted for the allegation against her. this is not related to the civil penalties under that texas abortion law that is up before the supreme court. this is a criminal case. and it's not clear that it is against her, herself, self-induced abortion or her helping someone else, right? >> that's right. well, and to be clear, i'm not an attorney either but have been

following this case and it's horrifying. >> sorry about that. >> that's okay. >> horrifying in so many ways. this is a 26-year-old young woman on the border who had gone to a hospital, was turned in, obviously by someone, was arrested, held in jail on $500,000, half a million dollars bail. literally spent two nights in jail, and obviously did nothing criminal. but i think what it underscores, andrea is how terrifying it is for people in texas, particularly young women in texas. there is nowhere for them to turn if they have an unintended pregnancy. they can't talk to their family, to medical professionals, to their friends for assistance because of the bounty system that governor greg abbott has put in place. fortunately this story may have a decent ending. she's out of jail now because of

the outcry. but that experience is one that any young woman could have in the state of texas. i think we can all, as parents, as mothers, relate to the thought of how terrifying for a young person to be thrown in jail for simply trying to take care of herself, and i fear that this is just the typical of the iceberg of what we're going to see in texas and other states that are criminalizing abortion. >> and we're expecting of course the supreme court decision on the two cases, the two, you know, antiabortion legislation cases. what are you expecting in states around the country from your perspective? >> sure. i mean, we've already seen of course oklahoma, a state that many many women over the last several months have gone to for access to legal abortion. they've gone there because texas is virtually outlawed legal abortion but now the state of oklahoma has passed a dramatic abortion ban that would virtually outlaw all abortions in that state, and if you look at the map, all the states

surrounding texas are increasingly passing laws, you know, in anticipation of the supreme court decision, and andrea, if this supreme court overturns roe v. wade, a decision is expected this june, it will mean there will be virtual deserts in this country where women's health is and women's access to safe and legal abortion is absolutely unavailable, and it's ironic, i look at the state of mississippi, that of course has brought this abortion ban. this is a state where already women and children's health is at risk, you know, twice the maternal mortality rate as the nation in mississippi, the poorest state in the country, and even mothers on medicaid who do have a child only get two months of health insurance coverage in that state. so it is a scary time for women. it's a scary time for families. >> indeed, cecile richards,

thank you very much for your update on all of this. on the ground, ukraine calls on others to follow the uk's foot steps. the strategy behind that closely guarded trip to kyiv next. and the uk minister joins me live on set. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. this is "andrl reports" on msnbc.

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to help prevent bleeding gums, try saying hello gumwash with parodontax active gum health. it kills 99% of plaque bacteria and forms an antibacterial shield. try parodontax active gum health mouthwash. johnson's surprise visit to kyiv for meetings with president zelenskyy came one day after the leader of the european commission accelerated the timetable for ukraine's entrance into the eu during her visit to the ukrainian capital. >> it will be not as usual a matter of years to form this opinion, but i think a matter of weeks. >> we'll be ready with answers, ursula, in one week. >> james cleverly is the united

kingdom's minister of sate for europe and north america and joins me now. it's so good to see you again, thank you so much for being with us. i know you have been meeting at the state department. what more can the u.s. and uk do who have taken the lead, you know, for all of the weapons supplied and the commitment of money. what more can you do for ukraine in this short window before we believe russia is repositioning to go after the donbas with this brutal general put in charge. >> the uk and the usa have unsurprisingly been working very very closely. we're very good friends and allies, have been for centuries, and once again, we're showing a real commitment with others to support the people of ukraine and president zelenskyy. what we need to do now is make sure that we double down on that support, to keep giving them the military equipment that they need to defend themselves and push back against the russian invasion, to make sure that we

provide them with the economic support to hopefully, soon, start rebuilding their country once this conflict is over. and we also need to make sure we continue that sanctions pressure on russia. we need to continue doing these things, increase the intensity of those things, and actually give president zelenskyy and the ukrainians the tools they need to finish the job. >> how important was boris johnson's visit walking in the streets with president zelenskyy, did not appear to be wearing body armor. and talking to people in the streets signifying confidence, clearly, by your security officials that kyiv is solidly under ukrainian control. >> well, the prime minister and president zelenskyy have developed, i think, a really strong working relationship, quite a strong personal relationship over these last few month, and the images that we're seeing on screen showed how close they have become, but also

it shows what the ukrainians can do given the international support that the uk and u.s. and others have provided. they have pushed the russians out of kyiv, they have created a situation where our prime minister is able to walk around and greet people on the streets. that's fantastic. there's a lot more to do, and we have got to make sure we help the ukrainians finish the job. they are fighting for more than just their own territory and country. they are fighting for the values that the u.s. and uk hold dear, and it's really important that we support them in those efforts. >> despite the overwhelming advantaging of russia in terms of manpower and weaponry, do you think they can win? >> well, what the ukrainians have showed us is not only are they willing to defend themselves passionately and tenaciously, but they are really willing and able to push back against the russian, and we've got to give them that fighting chance, and that means supplying

them with the arms, the star street missiles, the missile systems, antiaircraft missiles, antiship, tanks, all of those things, we've got to supply them with. we've got to keep supporting through sanctions against russia. the uk and u.s. have been working really hard on that. it's fantastic to be here with close friends and allies who are united as part of the international community helping the ukrainians. you know, and the ukrainians can do amazing things, they need our help to do it. >> and can we get those weapons to them in time? there is such a lag between promise and delivery. >> this is a really important point. we have been supplying training and weapons, the uk have been supplying training and weapons before the invasion started throughout this invasion. we all need to up the pace of delivery on those things, and work with the ukrainians and european partners to get those military equipment supplies to where they're needed, and we

need to do it quickly because there's a window of opportunity while the russian troops are relocating to help the ukrainians push back against that invasion. >> there was a really important column today in the "new york times" by tom friedman, which is that we're faced with having the leader of a superpower by definition, the leader of a super power is a war criminal by all accounts. how does that reshape the landscape? >> so what this reminds us all of is the importance of standing shoulder to shoulder to defend the values that we value. and we see those awful images of civilians who have obviously been targeted by the military. murdered. we hear terrible stories of rape being used as a weapon of war. all of these in contra vengs of

international law. putin will be held to account for the actions he's taken in ukraine as will the military leadership who have allowed these things to happen, and the uk and the u.s. and other countries around the world will have no doubt continued to work closely together to bring people account that need to be held to account. >> he may be indicted but to be held to account, a sitting leader of a super power, can ukraine ever be safe as long as vladimir putin runs russia. >> who leads russia is for the russian people, and collectively, we need to demonstrate to the russian people that they have been systematically lied to by vladimir putin, that he has taken the sons and daughters of those russian mothers, send them to war on a lie and have them killed in really significant numbers, that he has committed these attacks against civilian targets in their name. and i think when they are shown

the truth of what their leadership is doing, they will i have no doubt make the right choice. ultimately that's a decision for them. what we have to do is make sure we are shoulder to shoulder in supporting the ukrainians to defend themselves in upholding international law and maintaining that economic pressure on russia to bring the war to an end and do it quickly. >> minister, thank you so much. it's great to have you here. thank you. and targeting gun violence, the president preparing to close a big loophole for ghost guns and put someone in charge of regulating firearms after a seven-year vacancy because of political gridlock in the senate. this is "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. reports" only on msnbc they were the first to be verified by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand.

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the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend. yeah, eyes on the road, benny. welcome to a new chapter in investing. [ding] e*trade now from morgan stanley. president biden is unveiling plans about so-called ghost guns, weapons that can be assembled at home and are unregulated in 40 states. the president is also expected to nominate a new director to lead the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms and explosives, which has not had a director for seven years because of political infighting in the

senate. joining me is senior correspondent kelly o'donnell and jim cavanaugh, former agent in charge. what can we expect to hear from the president this afternoon by executive order, i imagine, on ghost guns? >> reporter: on ghost guns, they can use the power through the department of justice to try to change some of the rules related to how these firearms are sold and the requirements that go along with it. ghost guns are the term used for these kits that can be assembled at home. one of the key factors is they don't have the kind of serial numbers that more traditional federal firearms that are regulated by the federal government have. and so that is one of the concerns. that makes them very difficult to trace and track and there's been a big uptick. the government says there's been 20,000 instances where guns like this have been involved in crimes and it makes it much harder for law enforcement to deal with that.

they're going to make changes in how those are sold and requirements, if gun dealers have possession of them to add that kind of numerical tracing, which should help to at least control the flow. now, the biden administration has been criticized by advocates for more gun regulation and control for not doing more, but you know the political landscape, your viewers do as well over the last several years, how hard it is to get any kinds of changes through congress. and that has also been true in the senate side just trying to get a confirmation of a nominee like someone to head the atf. the president will today put forward the name of steve deddlebach who was nominated to be u.s. attorney in ohio, he's got a degree in law enforcement and has worked in civil rights area and the last nominee for this administration was unable

to be put through the confirmation process so it is a challenge for this white house to be sure. andrea? >> indeed. and over the weekend, jim, senator schumer cited nypd data that ghost gun recoveries are up more than 50% in new york city alone and without the serial numbers they're impossible to trace. will the biden plan make a difference? should there be more? should there be background chebs checks in order to even purchase these? >> in this scenario, atf is the ghost busters and the president is going to give them some very good tools here. the people that put out these ghost gun kits are people that operate right to the edge of the law. they really don't want to violate the criminal law so they take it right to the edge and they sell these 80% blank kits. it's legal. it was before. now it going to be a crime.

atf is going to classify those as firearms that must be serialized. it puts a lot of restrictions on but there needs to be a law change to make all unserialized firearms come under federal law. only the congress can do that. so this is a good move, it's a stopgap. there's some other provisions in there where if these guns come into dealers' hands or pawn broker's hands, they are to put a serial numbers on them. these are criminals' dreams to get unserialized firearms. they can drop the gun. unless their dna is on it, they're going to get away with it. just this week three people murdered at a gun range in georgia, two grandparents and a 19-year-old grandson and 40 guns stolen. now the atf and police in georgia are trying to track the killers. those guns are going to wind up in crime. all gun trafficking methods got

to be stopped. this is a good move. >> and kelly o'donnell, my friend, thanks to you. follow us online and at twitter. stay with us because i'm filling in for chuck todd today on "mpt daily" right after these brief messages. right after these brif messages tes... ...and heart risk. we're working up a sweat before coffee. and saying, “no thanks...” ...to a boston cream. jardiance is a once-daily pill that can reduce the risk of cardiovascular death for adults who also have known heart disease. so, it could help save your life from a heart attack or stroke. and jardiance lowers a1c. jardiance can cause serious side effects including... ...dehydration, genital yeast or urinary tract infections, and sudden kidney problems. ketoacidosis is a serious side effect that may be fatal. a rare, but life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away...

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