the united states is sending an additional $1.3 billion in military and humanitarian aid to ukraine. president biden making the announcement at the white house this morning. the u.s. is also speeding up the process to accept up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees. the pentagon revealing the new military aid includes u.s. phoenix ghost drones, which were developed specifically for the ukrainian military. state department spokesperson ned price joins us here live this hour. and we're live in florida, where in just the past 90 minutes republicans have given final approval to a bill aimed to punish disney. gop lawmakers angry following the company's public stance against the state's so-called "don't say gay" law. what this bill would do and when we expect the governor to sign

it. plus, what congressional gop leaders were reportedly saying about donald trump in private following the january 6th attack. nbc news obtaining excerpts from a new book where mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy take swipes at the former president. and good afternoon. i'm garrett haake in washington in for hal-high jackson. and our nbc news team is here with me. we've got mike memoli traveling with the president in portland, oregon. ali arouzi is in ukraine. courtney kube's at her post at the pentagon. and we're also joined by former u.s. ambassador to ukraine bill taylor. mike, i'll start with you. you're with the president today. this latest round of aid for ukraine, a lot of money, a lot of aid, and potentially more coming. >> yeah, that's right, garrett. but what we've seen throughout this war in ukraine so far is that there's been something of a gap between what they need in terms of assistance from the u.s., for our allies and the ability and the speed at which the united states can actually deliver on that. what the president's announcement today represents an

effort to really shrink that gap, try to be quicker and more nimble in getting assistance to the ukrainians. you mentioned the headline number, $1.3 billion. that includes significantly $800 million in direct military assistance. we're talking about more howitzers, ammunition, these tactical drones that is going to be playing a critical role. now, we also saw the president today announcing that we would no longer accept russian flagships into u.s. ports. another attempt to sort of punish the russians as they continue with this aggression. this assistance part of what president biden said is a critical window heading into the next phase of this war in ukraine. let's listen to more of what the president had to say today. >> every american taxpayer, every member of our armed forces can be proud of the fact that our country's generosity and the skill and service of our military helped arm and repel russia's aggression in ukraine. to beat back putin's savagery that tried to seize ukraine's capital and wipe out ukraine's

government. >> now, we're also talking today, garrett, about the new plan from the administration to deal with the 100,000 ukrainian refugees the administration has pledged to welcome into this country. president biden announcing what's called uniting for ukraine, a plan starting next week. those who have the willingness to sponsor ukrainian refugees will be able to go to an online portal, fill out the necessary paperwork to begin that process. we know that's an important part officially to bring these people in because so many have been going to places like the mexican border to try to come into the u.s. garrett, you also mentioned the question of how do we pay for it. people are probably asking, they remember congress authorized $15 billion in aid for ukraine as part of the last round of negotiations. the president making clear that this amount today represents the finish line of that funding, and so he's going to ask congress for more money when they come back. the exact dollar amount still being worked out. the president said he's going to be in touch with the pentagon to make sure we know exactly what that figure will be. >> and speaker pelosi's office making clear today they want to move quickly on that request

when they get the number. mike memoli, thank you. ali arouzi, president biden also disputed claims from vladimir putin that mariupol had been liberated, or taken under russian control. what are ukrainian officials saying about that city and about the new offensive more generally across the donbas? >> hey, garrett. well, yeah, liberated would certainly be a stretch because nobody wanted to be liberated by the russians in that city. but they are certainly in control of most of that place. at the beginning of this war they encircled mariupol. they were using siege and starvation tactics. and that circle has gotten smaller and smaller as they've bombed and destroyed that city. there's nothing left of it. and now that circle is around the azovstal steel plant where a handful of fighters, the azov brigade are holed up in there with some civilians. and the russians don't really need to fight them there anymore. they've got them hemmed off in there and they're basically going to it either wait for them

to come out and surrender or starve them to death in there. so that has been an unmitigated disaster for ukraine despite fighting so hard for almost two months to hold on to there. it looks like vladimir putin unfortunately has now gained some momentum there, and it's enabling him to connect the dots. it was such a pivotal city for him there. now he can connect the mainland russia to the crimea and then go up to the east to the donbas, luhansk and the donetsk region where there is intense fighting right now. the russians are in control of about 80% of that area. they're shelling the ukrainian eastern front, morning, noon, and night. but garrett, some of the best ukrainian fighters are there in that area. they've been fighting there since 2014. they know the terrain. they know how to push the russians back. but they just keep saying we need more weapons, more weapons. because if they don't get those weapons, it's going to be very

hard to tip the balance into their favor. and it's funny. you hear ukrainian commanders talking saying look, we really appreciate all the help the u.s. is giving us. but the weapons they're getting there, it is meant to last maybe a week, are running out in a couple of days because the fighting is so intense. and now the russians are targeting the supply lines, the depots in the east, making it even more difficult for the ukrainians to fight back. so it's going to be a very painful fight in the east, and if the russians take it could really change the entire dynamics of this war and what ukrainian territory looks like. >> the supply line story's been a big story for the russian side of the equation. it will be interesting to watch how it develops on the ukrainian side. courtney, feels like the whole world's been watching the situation in mariupol over the last week or so in particular. what's the pentagon's assessment there of the military and the humanitarian situation on the ground? >> so in a word, they believe that russia has not yet taken mariupol, that it's still a

contested city. but the reality is at this point, garrett, they're acknowledging, senior defense officials saying that it's a very, very small pocket of ukrainian resistance that still exists in that city and there's not a lot of optimism that it will stand for that much longer. mariupol is an extremely strategic, important city to the russians taking. and the reality is there's going to be a lot of people watching what happens if and when it falls. there's somewhere in the neighborhood ever 10 or 12 russian battalion tactical groups, btgs, that are dedicated to that fight in mariupol. and the big question is if and when the city falls will all of those units stay there to hold it or some move up into the fight in the donbas? then giving the russians more combat capability for the coming large offensive in the donbas. now, most likely if the russians do pull all of their troops out the ukrainians will try and take the city back. so they're going to have to maintain some sort of a residual force there. but as we were hearing from ali there on the ground the fighting has remained extremely brutal

there for weeks now and there is a lot of concern about exactly what we will see if and when we see just the destruction that's befallen on that city, garrett. >> courtney, i know you're going to get the briefing there at the pentagon around 3:30. but can you drill down a little bit more on what's in this military aid package that the president outlined today? i was fascinated by the inclusion of these ghost drones developed apparently for this mission, for the ukrainians. that tells me there's a pretty close degree of cooperation and understanding here between the governments about what the need really is. >> that's exactly right, garrett. it's not just that they're communicating really on a daily basis about what exactly ukraine needs for this fight, but it also shows how rapidly they were able to develop and now deploy these systems, these phoenix ghost drones. so these are very similar to the switchblade system which we've been hearing about. it's a loitering munition. basically, it's a drone. it flies, it goes over a target, and then it crashes down into that target. it has some explosives on board

that can have the potential to blow up even in some cases a tank. so it has an anti-armor capability. we don't know -- that's the switchblades. we don't know exactly how much of that is mirrored in these new drones. we asked the pentagon press secretary about that earlier today and he declined to give real specifics on its capabilities but did point out that this was something the ukrainians have specifically asked for. but not just these new drones. the howitzers is a huge deal. this announcement today is really a game changer of a military package. and what i mean by that is for the last eight weeks or so the united states has been providing ukraine with the kinds of weapons and assistance that they need to push back russia, to push back this enormous offensive, this enormous invasion that we've been watching happen in that country. what's different about this package is they're providing them now with the kind of artillery in the numbers that they need to not just push russia back or stop them from taking new ground but now we're talking about potentially beating russia.

this is the kind of package i think we're going to look back on in the future and say this was the time when the united states shifted their strategy or shifted their tactics in ukraine from helping ukraine push russia back to actually helping them beat that country. it's not just these now six artillery battalions that the united states is providing to ukraine. there's a number of other countries that are providing them as well. and it's also not just the actual howitzers that the u.s. is giving but more than 140,000 rounds. so a senior defense official explained to me that right now ukraine is expending somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple thousand rounds a day. they are giving them weeks of rounds, of ammunition for this artillery. and this is going to be the weapon of this coming offensive. long-range artillery and short-range missiles. that's what we're going to see because this is a much more condensed area that this donbas fight is going to be taken in. the artillery is going to be a potential game changer here for the ukrainians, garrett. >> every military analyst we've

had on over the last couple of days talking about how this war's about to become an artillery slugfest. courtney kube, mike memoli, you've got reporting to do. i'll let you get back to it. we turn now to ambassador taylor. and ambassador, i was struck by courtney talking there not just about delaying the speed at which ukraine would lose this war, which has -- how it felt like we started this a couple of months ago to the possibility that ukraine might win it. is that too rosy of an assessment? and what does that look like? we've not heard much about peace talks or diplomatic efforts or anything other than this upcoming conflict in the east over the last couple of weeks. >> right, garrett. it is the upcoming conflict. and the russians have to be a bit worried. they've got manpower problems. they don't have equipment problems. they've got manpower problems. and we see that in a couple of ways. one was this whole business about mariupol. putin didn't want to lose a lot of his soldiers trying to take

mariupol. that facility there, that steel plant, has been defended as you've been reporting, garrett, for nearly two months. for six weeks. and they have killed a lot of russians and they would kill a lot more russians if they tried to storm it. so putin's worried about the number of soldiers he's got. they've been looking at -- again, you've been reporting, they're looking at libyans. they're looking at chechens. they're looking at syrians. they're looking at private contractors. the wagner group. they've got manpower problems. they're not filling their quotas, garrett, in their recruiting in russia. and the russian families are hearing what's going on in ukraine. and they're not happy about this and not going to send their sons to go into that. so this is a problem for them. and that, garrett, answers your question how could this -- how could the russians lose? the russians could lose by poor morale, by bad leadership, by a

lack of motivated soldiers, and that's how this could -- that's how the russians could fail again. >> and you have to think bringing in imported soldiers probably not good for morale. ambassador taylor i want to ask you something that's happening to the north and east of ukraine, and that's the possibility of sweden and finland joining nato. those conversations seem to have really heated up over the last couple of weeks. how does that change the strategic picture in the region? is that something we in the u.s. and in the west should want to see happen? >> i think we should. i think we should. nato gets stronger, gets bigger, gets more capable. it has a broader capability of the range of things that it can do. not just geography but also people and weapons. and competent militaries. the finns know how to fight the russians and they've done it well. in the past. that said, this is an important

step that the russians have caused. the russians by threatening and invading ukraine and then threatening nato by that invasion of ukraine, that has made formerly neutral nations like finland and sweden think you know, our security is jeopardized by an aggressive russia. so they're looking for how they can secure themselves and membership in nato is one good way. >> a formerly neutral finland but that's a country with a lot of firsthand experience about fighting a guerrilla war against invading russians, which has some historical resonance there. former ambassador bill taylor, always appreciate your expertise. thank you for coming on. >> thank you, garrett. good to be here. >> and we've got a lot going on live this hour with pentagon officials set to give an update on ukraine soon. but first on this program the latest from the state department. spokesperson ned price will be here live. plus former president obama

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right now we're monitoring a big day at the florida state house. a noisy and chaotic special session erupted this afternoon as democrats expressed opposition to two republican-backed bills that passed the florida house today. the first bill, a new congressional map that dismantles a largely black district in northern florida and gives republicans a major edge statewide in future elections. this even after democratic lawmakers briefly shut down the session. and the second bill strips the walt disney company of its special self-governing status. that currently allows disney to collect its own taxes, provide its own services like firefighters, and receive exemptions from certain taxes and local regulations. now, that bill ending disney's self-governance will head to the desk of ron desantis, who's

expected to sign it. all this comes after desantis began targeting disney for its public opposition to the state's controversial new law limiting discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. joining me now to break this all down from tallahassee is nbc's maura barrett. maura, where did we leave it with the state house drama today? >> reporter: very busy day here at the state house for sure, garrett. and basically, as we're told by florida lawmakers, we expect governor desantis to sign in that bill around the congressional map as early as this afternoon and the bill around the disney special district as early as tomorrow or in coming days. and all of this happened extremely quickly. it was supposed to be a week just focusing on that congressional map but the disney bill was introduced earlier this week and pushed through rather quickly, almost overshadowing the implications of this redistricting implication that we've been talking about here and looking at in florida for quite a while. and the issue with disney, it didn't really percolate until

like you said the pushback from the company about the anti-lgbtq law here. so-called the don't say gay law. this is something that once disney's ceo denounced the law and said he was going to stop -- the company was going to stop giving political donations, that's when governor desantis and florida conservative lawmakers started getting frustrated. i spoke with representative randy fine. he sponsored the bill that just went through around disney today. and i want to hear from him as to why he wanted to focus on it so soon. >> messing around with how we educate 5 and 6 and 7-year-olds in the state of florida has nothing to do with the business that disney is in. and it's very unfortunate they have chosen to do that. >> reporter: so this really shakes up the relationship between disney and florida over the past several decades. right? it brings in millions of tourists into the state every year, employs tens of thousands of florida residents. but this is something that's going to really affect how disney operates and the lengths

they're going to have to go to to get things accomplished at their theme parks, though i should note even as it's signed into bill -- into law, excuse me, in coming days, it will not take effect until next summer. so it's still 13 months away, leaving disney plenty of time to try to find some compromise, garrett. >> it's so striking to hear that lawmaker just come right out and say this is punitive. they're not making an argument that this is somehow good for floridians, good for taxpayers. can you kind of explain the fallout here potentially for folks who might live around the disney parks in central florida? like are taxpayers going to end up footing the bill for some of these services that disney used to provide because of a feud between the governor and the company? >> reporter: well, that's the major concern here because it really is the focus about sticking it to this company and maybe not considering florida residents first and foremost, which is kind of what one might assume are lawmakers' focus. but here in florida that sometimes isn't the name of the

game. and when it comes to taxpayers specifically, disney has a lot of money, a lot of debt, a lot of expenditures that it would then have to transfer to surrounding counties. that's osceola and orange counties. so taxpayers, lawmakers there telling me they're very concerned about the implications that could have on property tax because specifically disney has as much as $1 billion in liabilities that could get transferred if all of this dissolves. so when i spoke to representative fine there, and some other republican lawmakers today, they say that's not the intention. this is going to be just the first step. they intend for disney to pay those debts, for it to not be passed down to taxpayers. but as it stands right now that's kind of how that dissolving process would happen. so again, this wouldn't take effect until next year. disney has not commented on how they plan to approach this, but it does have a lot of leeway in the next 13 months to figure it all out with florida. garrett. >> raising taxes on your voters to punish one of the biggest employers in your state. this is a fascinating political story. maura barrett, appreciate you

staying on top of it for us. up next, what top republican leaders were reportedly saying privately about then president trump in the days after the january 6th attack and why their fury then faded fast. plus we'll get the latest u.s. assessment on the war in ukraine and the battle for mariupol. ned price joins us live from the state department, next. inus live state department, next re prettyr about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it... usually. ♪♪ in it... mostly. even what gets near your body. please please please take that outside. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 products. rigorously tested. walgreens pharmacist recommended... and particularly kind to your wallet. ♪♪ ♪ ♪ i came, i saw, i conquered. (all): hail, caesar! pssst caesar! julius! dude, you should really check in with your team on ringcentral. i was thinking like...

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there's major new controversy here in washington over explosive excerpts from an upcoming political book describing how much farther republican leaders kevin mccarthy and mitch mcconnell were going privately in blasting former president trump over his actions leading up to and during the january 6th attack than they were acknowledging in public at the time. nbc news obtained several pages of the book titled "this will not pass: trump, biden and the battle for america's future" by jonathan martin and alex burns. the book quotes mccarthy as faulting trump for inciting people in a call with house republican leaders on january 8th. it also details another call two days after that in which mccarthy operatoredly told a smaller group of three top republicans he might call on trump to resign, then laid out a plan for telling president trump it was time to go. mccarthy this afternoon rejecting "the new york times"

reporting on the book as "totally false and wrong" and accusing reporters of not being interested in the truth. a spokesperson for mccarthy separately answering a question from nbc news about whether mccarthy said he'd push president trump to resign saying no, he didn't. the book also saws then senate majority leader mcconnell told a pair of long-time advisers during a january 11th lunch in louisville that there would be at least the 17 republicans necessary to affirm a trump impeachment saying, "if this isn't impeachable, i don't know what is." mcconnell's office is declining to comment to nbc news. and my colleague nbc's ali vitali is on capitol hill. also with us is punchbowl news co-founder jake sherman. he's an msnbc political contributor. so ali, i'll start with you. i know we're trying to independently confirm some of the reporting in this book. but talk me through the reaction we're getting from lawmakers so far. >> yeah, garrett, look, these excerpts come on the end of a long recess for congress. so i think all of us here know that we're going to be asking a

lot of these questions when lawmakers come back here next week. at the same time, though, what this reporting does show us is that these two top republican leaders thought that they might have seen the end of trumpism because of the role that the former president played in inciting the january 6th insurrection. privately at least that might have been what they thought according to this reporting. but publicly of course mcconnell and mccarthy have taken two very different routes when contending with donald trump at this point and moving forward after january 6th. for mcconnell of course his calculus has always been on maintaining the majority -- the numbers he has in the senate and expanding that majority in 2022. to the extent trump can help with that through endorsements, great. on the other hand, though, mcconnell has the concern that other republicans have expressed that trump's endorsements aren't always helpful in getting the best candidates out there. on mccarthy's part of course and jake will talk to this too, he has a much different route to play here when it comes to trump. and we've seen him stick a lot closer to the former president because of the way his republican caucus here in the

house mirrors that conversation that's often had in republican circles about the power trump holds over the republican base. that has always sort of been the calculus for these leaders here. i do think the underarcing -- overarcing theme, though, is whether or not this reporting changes anything. and the person it could change things with is donald trump himself. we've all covered trump long enough to know he's not someone who usually minces words when things like this come out in the press. and if you look at the calendar he's got a rally coming up this weekend in ohio. i imagine we may hear something from him on this and it could set the tone for what this looks like going forward. >> you have to think that strong denial from mccarthy had a pretty specific audience in the former president p. jake, you're in kevin mccarthy's head as much as any reporter on capitol hill. what did you make of this reporting of mccarthy's denial and how if in any way it might affect his position within the republican conference? >> well, we'll have to see. as ali said, we're in the

middle -- at the end of a congressional recess, unfortunately for congressional reporters. but i would say a couple of things. there's a couple of things that are undoubtedly true. kevin mccarthy cannot become speaker without donald trump's support or donald trump taking a pass on dumping all over him. that's number one. and number two, if there's anything that republicans will be angry at mccarthy for, it will be splitting with donald trump. he's very rarely done that. no one could accuse kevin mccarthy of not being loyal to donald trump. and i will note, garrett, that some of those things that are in this book by jonathan martin and alex burns, which everyone should go buy, he said publicly. he said publicly trump was to blame for the insurrection, although he later walked those things back. so i think, listen, i think that kevin mccarthy, his main goal is to neutralize -- anything from neutralize to ensure the support

of donald trump and everything he does should be viewed through that lens. >> and ali, mcconnell, and you alluded to this, doesn't look at trump quite the same way, obviously. they haven't spoken in more than a year. how should we interpret his silence when confronted with questions about whether or not he said these things? >> it's kind of the way he deals with us on a daily basis up here. when we ask him, for example, about the ways in which he has or really hasn't corresponded with trump since he left the white house and of course since january 6th itself. even just a few weeks ago when those white house call logs came out that showed that the former president placed a call to mcconnell, i tried to ask him did you call the former president back? he said he answered the question but really he didn't. and so it's really been a series of dodges and not wanting to talk directly to trump. because i think jake touches on something that's really important here. when you talk to republicans who may not want to march in lock-step with trump, their goal is just to not draw his ire. that's where the problem really starts for them. because if you get on the list of lawmakers that trump wants to

enact a vendetta against in the midterms, that's when you start seeing problems on the ground from these lawmakers' perspectives. so the goal is either fly under the radar or be just loyal enough that you can do so. and i think really for most of these rank and file that's what we're going to see them do over the course of the next few months. the mcconnell calculus, though, again, it goes back to the slim majority he's been dealing with in the senate. he of course wants to regain that title of majority leader. and as far as trump can go with the endorsements that bring good candidates, mcconnell's going to be on board. and he has said this in the past, that there have been candidates who have become the general election candidates in some of these senate races who were never going to win a general election. that's what he'd like to avoid. and to the extent trump can help there, great. to the extent he hurts, of course that's kind of the fear. >> i'm expecting some interesting press conferences with republican leadership next week when they are back. ali vitali, jake sherman, thank you both. and back to ukraine now, where dozens of people trapped in the besieged southern port city of mariupol have finally been able

to escape. sky news correspondent mark stone filed this report. >> reporter: well, here in zaporizhzhia, a rare good news story for ukraine. a load of people, four buses, 80 people, who are out of mariupol and they are in the relative safety of this town a couple hours' drive to the northwest. i say relative safety because the air raid sirens here have gone off over the course of the past couple of hours. there have been two strikes of some description here in zaporizhzhia. but i tell you, this town is nothing like the hell that they have left in mariupol. they are being fed at the moment. one of the things that they say that they needed so much was food. these are people who have been in the besieged city of mariupol for eight weeks. eight weeks during which it has been bombed relentlessly by the russians. they are now safe here. the question of course is where do they go next?

they're regrouping. there's some food. there is some clothes for them to get. many of them are carrying literally all that they've got. it's really heartbreaking. one man who we saw getting off one of the buses, he got off and immediately broke down in tears. an old man crying. he came in here then, got some food, and we had a couple of words with him when he got his stomach full. and again, when i asked him that simple question, how is life in mariupol, again, he burst into tears. such tragic stories from the place that really is at the very heart of the horror of this war. >> that was mark stone of sky news. i'm joined now by state department spokesman ned price. and ned, thank you for being with us. first, just curious, your reaction there to some of these residents getting out of mariupol after these constant russian attacks there. are you at all optimistic we might see more people getting out now that the russians have at the least decided that they've won that battle?

>> well, garrett, you're exactly right. your correspondent was exactly right. it is some initial good news. but we have to be frank. it's within a sea of devastation. we want to see this repeated. we want to see it repeated many times over. what the united states has been calling for, what our partners around the world have been calling for including international organizations like the red cross and the u.n. have been calling for is humanitarian access, humanitarian goods, humanitarian supplies need to go in. people need to be allowed to come out. and again, we're heartened to see this case but we want to see it repeated. every time an opening has arisen for people to come out or for goods to go in, the russians have ended up shutting that window, undertaking strikes, undertaking bombings,undertake shellings. it is incumbent on russia to allow this window to remain open

so additional individuals can escape mariupol. >> in addition to the aid the president announced today he also announced this plan to speed p bringing in up to 100,000 ukrainian refugees into this country. talk about how that program gets on its feet, how soon we could start seeing those folks getting into the country a little bit easier than flying to the mexican border, which has basically been the way a lot of ukrainians have been showing up. >> this is a new novel program called uniting for ukraine. what it does, it allows people here in this country to sponsor ukrainians who are fleeing the violence in their homelands. and as of yesterday there were more than 5 million ukrainians who have been forced out of their country. the idea here is to streamline the process. so starting next monday, the window will be open where those here in this country can put forward names. once those names are processed, once the individuals here in this country can show that they have the wherewithal and the means by which to support arriving ukrainians, we will start to see those ukrainians arrive here. but there are two other ways that we're working to support

reaching that commitment that the president put forward of 100,000 ukrainians and others who are fleeing violence. one is working to streamline the u.s. refugees admissions program. this is a program under which already this year about 750 ukrainians have arrived in the united states. that's something we're going to work to quicken the pace of. but also visa processing. visa processing at our posts overseas including those in europe for both immigrant and non-immigrant visas for ukrainians who seek to come to the we are committed to helping the people of ukraine, those internally displaced who remain inside ukraine. we're committed to helping the more than 5 million refugees including those who remain in europe by supporting our european allies and partners in their efforts to host newly arrived ukrainians. but also to bring up to 100,000 ukrainians and others fleeing the violence to the united states. and today's announcement was a big step on that path. >> it seems to me that since the russians have kind of pivoted to their focus on taking the donbas

we've heard almost nothing on the diplomatic front. no more talks about peace talks. very little discussions about any kind of negotiations or discussions even with our allies and with vladimir putin. can you bring us up to speed on what the latest is on the diplomatic front in this war right now or is everybody just waiting to see the results of this battle in eastern ukraine before we know what the next steps will look like? >> well, you haven't heard much because unfortunately there's little of which to speak. we've heard from our ukrainian partners that every time they have engaged with the russians they have not found a counterpart ready or willing or able to engage in good faith. and that's been a problem all along with the russians engaging in little more than a pretense of diplomacy as they continue this assault against the people of ukraine. so that's why what we have done is to continue to provide security assistance to our ukrainian partners that they've used to extraordinary effect. you've said that the russians

are refocusing their campaign on the south and the east. that's precisely right. and they're doing that because they lost the battle to take kyiv in the first hours of the war, which president putin thought he could do. and the ukrainians have done that because of their grit and their determination but also because of the $4 billion this administration has provided in security assistance since january 20th of 2021. the $3.4 billion we provided in additional funding since the start of russia's invasion of ukraine. you know, it's really notable. if you look at what we've announced over the past 24 hours and what the russians have announced over the past 24 hours, you see a stark contrast. we announced security assistance. we announced this new program for allowing ukrainians to come here. we announced $500 million in direct budgetary support for ukraine. what has come out of moscow? president putin has feted those, has honored those who have been in charge of the operation that has brutalized and decimated the people in the city of mariupol, and then just today they levied

additional sanctions on the vice president and others. but they also took aim at people like me, people like john kirby, the pentagon spokesperson, and reporters. that is to say, people who have been trying to spread word, to spread the truth of what the russians are doing to the people of ukraine. this is not an indication of a government that is secure. this is a sign of profound insecurity, a government that knows it's losing the war, and that wants to hide information, hide the truth from people in russia and around the world. >> sadly, you'll be traveling your sochi vacation this year, i guess. the newly sanctioned ned price, thank you for making the time. >> happy to do it. thanks, garrett. and up next, the key senate race heating up on both sides. we're live in pennsylvania with a look at how republicans and democrats are divided. and later, what barack obama is doing back in silicon valley right now. the former president taking on a new role.

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in pennsylvania tonight the top democratic candidates for that soon to be open senate seat are going head to head for the first time. their first debate kicking off a few hours from now with several controversies setting up for what could make some enlightening clashes. one involving a super pac add taken off the air for false claims. another on a 2013 confrontation with a black jogger. while on the right divisions in maga world are on full display with former secretary of state mike pompeo doubling down on his decision to back david mccormick for that seat at a rally and the implication he thinks former trump got it wrong when he decided to back celebrity dr. oz. nbc's dasha burns is in harrisburg, pennsylvania covering all of it for us. so dasha, give me a preview of what we'll see in tonight's democratic debate. does john fetterman walk in with a big target on his back? >> reporter: yeah, garrett, it's

going to be a big night for the democrats here in pennsylvania tonight. john fetterman the front-runner is going to be face to face with his rivals, connor lamb and malcolm kenyatta for the first time. the lamb campaign has been turning up the heat on the air waves. you mentioned an ad that was taken down. that was an attack ad from a lamb super pac calling john fetterman a self-described democratic socialist. that was false. fetterman has not described himself that way. the ad was taken down. but big picture the lamb campaign trying to paint fetterman as more extreme, as too progressive. all of this really laying bare, garrett, the divisions within the democratic party right now both at the state level and echoes at the national level here as well. so we're going to see some of that tension that we've seen on the airwaves play out on that stage tonight, garrett. >> democrats love this race as a potential pickup opportunity in a very difficult year. and part of the reason is because the republican side of the battle has been so messy. you were at the mccormick rally

the other day. talk to us about this divide in the maga world that seems to be deepening. >> reporter: well, look, the two front-runners on the gop side, mehmet oz, a celebrity doctor, and dave mccormick, former hedge fund manager, they have both been pushing really hard for that coveted trump endorsement. that endorsement went to dr. oz. but last night at the mccormick rally we very much saw a candidate who was shaping himself in the mold of the america first candidate, the trumpian candidate. and the headliner for that event, you mentioned it, trump's former secretary of state mike pompeo. and we got a moment to ask secretary pompeo about his support and about trump's support for oz. take a listen to what he told us. >> president trump did not endorse mr. mccormick. do you think that was a mistake? >> dave mccormick's the right person to be the next senator for pennsylvania. he's a good friend and a great patriot and a hardcore conservative who will put the american agenda first.

>> reporter: the question, though, garrett is can you be the america first candidate when be the guy that created the brand is supporting your rival? we will have to see how that all shakes out. but this is definitely going to be critical to watch the off on monday night but back to back debates on both sides will be interesting to watch. >> seeing that science experiment in pennsylvania and ohio and probably a couple other states. dasha burns, thank you. next, what we heard from president obama taking on social media and disinformation. his warning so silicon valley leaders next. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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violent insurrection at the nation's capitol. not only that but a majority of his party including many who occupy some of the highest offices in the land continue to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the last election and to use it to justify laws to restrict the vote and overturn the will of the people in the states where they hold power. >> joining me is ben collins covering this disinformation space for us. you hear the former president lay out the problem but there's talk about regulatory measures, congress getting involved. walk us through the options with combatting disinformation online. >> yeah. as of right now he is not giving solutions in a speech but a 101 of information disorder. he said peddling outrage give

you an edge on social media why that is true and he puts the blame in part on social media networks whose systems amplify the hate and the conspiracy theories because that sensational content works and there are ways to make that less a part of our lives. that hate and conspiracy doesn't just remain on the facebook page but take it out into the real world and talk about it. maybe you distrust them because of it. you can down play the stuff interimly. that is not done because there's no real oversight on the algorithms. >> now digital platforms can do what they want with speech. if the government gets involved then you have to strike a balance between regulation and

first amendment rights. describe the algorithm to turn up or down how information is magnified out stamping out a right to say something crazy. >> sure. you can have moderation transparency. walk people through why the decisions are made and why they're banned from the platform and the tweet that got you banned and post the rule with does this make sense? that's a way. algorithm is the issue and is what decides what you see and the top. they favor the thing with the most velocity at any moment and in times of crisis or controversy around a specific person that's the most inflammatory thing. not necessarily the true thing. there are ways to change that. might make the businesses less

addictive but it's so the democracy works better. >> i feel like we can do an hour on this. thank you for coming on. we have breaking news. a federal judge in louisville temporarily blocked kentucky officials from enforcing the law of stop offering a procedure until meeting certain requirements. to break it down is danny sef los. there's a temporarily restraining order. >> this is hot off the ipad. to give understanding for a temporary restraining order it has to be highly likely the person asking for relief will win on the mefr its. this is not a total win.

this is just the court hitting the pause button. it is an important decision that the court has to make which is before we can get the evidence in which can take years we have to decide right now to preserve the status quo. asking for a tro has a high bar to meet showing that it's likely that a harm will happen if that relief is not granted and by that i mean pausing the situation and maintaining the status quo. >> quickly do we think this will fall in the category of abortion-related in the country waiting for the supreme court to decide the mississippi case before federal answers on what will be permitted? >> what's happening is you have a supreme court that conservatives view as receptive

and for that reason what i expect to see is a lot of daring challenges in the form of conservative or republican legislatures passing laws they think will get overturned by a district court and appealed to the supreme court and i think the legislatives hope this is the one to overturn roe v. wade. >> thank you. thank you for watching this hour of msnbc. "deadline: white house" starts right now. hi there, everyone. stunning through revelations about republican leaders in the immediate aftermath of the deadly january 6 insurrection. that can best be