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telling our team and what the chair of the committee is saying about the timeline for cooperation. we are live on the hill with what investigators want to know from these lawmakers. and what happens if they don't comply? and also on the hill, the senate is trying to give final approval today on that massive aid package to ukraine. but appearing to get hung up at least for now. while overseas the war prompting a change to a global alliance. a new european nation announcing they're joining nato following russia's invasion. we're talking with a member of the armed services committee and a military veteran, congresswoman mikie sherrill is here live. and good afternoon. i'm garrett haake in washington in for hallie jackson. i've got the perfect team for our top story today. nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali. jaime sherman is punchbowl news founder and msnbc political contributor. and we're joined by jackie alemane, a congressional investigations reporter for the "washington post." she's also an msnbc contributor. a'ali, i'll start with you. this decision to subpoena these

lawmakers obviously a significant escalation by the january 6th committee. they've clearly been debating this for some time. what are you learning about that process and how they're viewing this moment? >> yeah, garrett, busy day here in the halls of congress, as you can see and hear behind me. and we're chasing these lawmakers in the aftermath of these frankly unprecedented subpoenas. they're something the committee has mulled over for several months. and of course today finally making that decision. it is unprecedented in that they are going after the top house republican as well as four other house republican lawmakers, all allies of former president donald trump. but in talking to one member of the committee, congressman adam schiff, he says basically it's worth doing. listen. >> they clearly have relevant testimony. they need to do their duty. they need to uphold their oath and come in voluntarily and testify. if they don't, we will discuss what the appropriate remedy is. >> reporter: it sort of leaves us in the place that you led us

off in, garrett, which is okay, they issued these subpoenas but what happens when these members likely say they're not going to comply with them? the thing that we've been hearing from lawmakers today as i've been talking to them is that many of them say they haven't seen these subpoenas yet themselves. but at the same time they have not been inclined to cooperate on a voluntary basis. many of them today still speaking to the committee as if it's illegitimate. which means this is likely going to go into a legal battle over these subpoenas. and really with a committee that's up against the clock here we know that they are up against the november midterm elections and if republicans were to retake the house this committee likely wouldn't exist. the more into the legal trenches this battle goes the slower the fight goes. and that's not good for a committee that is four weeks away to the day of when they want to start public hearings on this, trying to wrap up their fact finding before they start narrative setting in those hearings too, garrett. >> and jake, our team caught up with leader mccarthy right after the subpoenas came out. this doesn't sound like a man

who's in a hurry to comply. listen. >> i have not seen the subpoena. i guess they sent it to you guys before they sent it to me. look, my view on the committee has not changed. they're not conducting a legitimate investigation. it seems as though they just want to go after their political opponents. >> you're our resident mccarthy whisperer, jake. how do he and his team view this? clearly they don't seem inclined to comply. what are they going to do going forward? >> that's a really good question, garrett. a few things to chew over here for a second. number one, mccarthy has maintained for months that he doesn't believe this committee is legitimate. unfortunately, that's not for him to decide. this committee has been given subpoena power. it was created by a vote in the house of representatives, garrett. you and i both covered it. and ali and jackie, we all covered this. this is not a committee that was created by edict. it was created by the vote of the house of representatives. so mccarthy's view that it's

illegitimate might be interesting. that might be a good talking point. but that doesn't really carry weight. now, it doesn't seem -- i was in that scrum too. it does not seem as if mccarthy's going to walk in on his own and just give the committee what it wants immediately. but what could he do? could he dodge the subpoena? is it going to go to court? is the court going to compel him to testify? is he then going to testify? those are all open questions. and i just want to kind of solidify and repeat what ali said, which is so important here, which is what is the remedy? there are several remedies they could take. they could go to the ethics committee. the ethics committee could block it. the ethics committee is a bipartisan committee evenly split between republicans and democrats. republicans would block it. they could be held in criminal or civil contempt, which would then draw in the justice department and the federal courts, and that's a huge step against a man who could very well be speaker of the house come next january. not saying it's inappropriate. but these are all things to

consider as these five republicans are likely, it seems today, we don't know for sure, but based on what we know right now it's not a stretch. i was just talking to jamie raskin about this. they've been dodging this committee for months. they think it's illegitimate. if you're a gambling person, they're not going to be participating willingly. it's prudent to start thinking about what the next steps are for this committee. >> two legal things that come to mind as i hear you say that. number one, multiple federal courts have upheld the legitimacy of this committee. but also the doj has had the criminal contempt referral for mark meadows since what, january? and it hasn't been acted on. as both you and ali point out the timeline, that's the kind of delay we could be talking about here. go ahead. >> no, i was just going to say these are sitting members of congress, garrett. so you'd have to imagine that the justice department and the courts might take a heightened interest in this. or maybe not. maybe they don't want to weigh in on what's a legislative branch fight. it's just all -- we're in unchartered territory here.

>> i can hear the voice of pete williams in my head pointing out that the justice department often doesn't like to act on politically sensitive things the closer they get to elections. so put that in your file here a little bit, too. jackie alemany, i want to bring you. we heard from the chairman bennie thompson about whether these republicans will comply and why he thinks it's important they do so. here's the chairman. >> i hope they do. i mean, it's important based on our investigation. and we kind of outlined in the letters. they have come up in a number of ways and we feel that information in responding to it is important. >> they feel that information is important. jackie, you've done such a great job chronicling this committee's work. what are the missing pieces that these five men hold that the committee is so desperate to get at? >> that's a really good question, garrett. and it's something that we asked bennie thompson in that gaggle as well, as soon as he walked

off the house floor he actually had to do his day job today, he was telling us and was not as focused on his committee work. but so far members are really sticking to their talking points. they're sort of downplaying the sense of urgency here, saying that this was a really deliberate and thought out decision, they're not worried about the time constraints, and that they really just wanted to close the loop in their investigation. but that being said, to decide to take these measures to -- in an already very partisan and polarized environment in the house to subpoena their own colleagues and potentially escalate this even further is a pretty big step and it shows just how central some of these members were in the plotting to overthrow the results of the election. mccarthy, biggs, gosar, all of these members had different roles. you had scott perry who was coordinating with the doj directly, propagating conspiracy theories, encouraging the hiring of jeffrey clark and the ousting

of jeffrey rosen. you have mccarthy, who was in touch with the president on that day repeatedly, to then go and sort of turn his back on the house gop conference by posing with trump a week after the insurrection, after privately calling to invoke the 25th amendment. so all of these members had very different roles in terms of how they contributed to the events of january 6th. and they're not necessarily central for lawmakers trying to wrap up the investigation. but i think there's a sense here that politically this was needed and to give them a chance to respond to a lot of the evidence that they've already collected sort of corroborating the roles around these members who have so far refused to voluntarily comply. >> yeah, perry's the one i'm particularly interested in. he was someone they reached out to early and seems so central in the events leading up to the 6th. ali, i want to come back to you here. we've talked about the deadline of the election but there's another deadline here that the committee's thinking about too.

that's the start of their public hearings, four weeks from tonight. how do these deadlines, which our viewers are seeing on the screen there, these are appearance deadlines by which they'd like to see these members comply with their subpoenas, how do those deadlines and how does the of yeovil shape of the investigation look as we come up to that first -- or i guess the 9th of june start day for when the committee wants to start telling their story to the american people? >> i mean, look, those dates that you see on the screen are great in theory. they work with that june 9th start date just right. but in practice it's kind of out the window, right? there's no reason to believe that ideal schedule the committee's clearly laying out in these subpoenas is actually going to happen. so i do think that as we've all said, when they decide what to do if and when they eventually get to the point where all these people say they're not going to comply with the subpoena, what does the legal battle look like and how drawn out and protracted does it get? at the same time the committee

is probably able to go into these hearings with a narrative that's set from the tens of thousands of documents and hundreds of witness interviews that they already have. even in these letters. and jackie was detailing them. we know what these five men would likely say if they were in front of the committee and actually complying with the subpoena request. we know why the committee wants to talk to them too. i do think, though, when you're talking about the power of the subpoena here, we talk about this from the perspective of well, if republicans retake the house in november they're going to get rid of this committee. okay, fine. but then they would also be the ones in charge of other types of committees. and i remember early on in this process during one of the first criminal contempt referrals that the house actually voted on one republican member who voted for that, who crossed party lines to do it effectively, said that they wanted to do it because when they have the majority they wanted subpoena power to mean something. so there are ramifications here when the shoe is on the other foot. if these lawmakers don't comply, what's good for one may be good for the other. it does put us into really dicey legal territory. and of course in a building

that's all about tradition and precedent this is going to certainly be a moment that sets a new one for both parties here, frankly. but i think that's something for us to think about here as well. they are subpoenaing their colleagues here in the house. it's unprecedented and it's going to mean something now going forward, however this shakes out. >> yeah. this will have echoes in the next congress, no matter who's holding the speaker's gavel. jake, i want to give you the last word quickly. do you think this tells us anything about the committee's willingness or not to seek testimony from mike pence or donald trump, the other two big figures they've not gone after so far? >> i don't see how they don't. if you're subpoenaing sitting members of congress, why wouldn't you subpoena donald trump and mike pence? i don't quite understand the argument to not. even if he's not going to cooperate, participate, whatever, i just don't see -- they've got one shot at this, garrett. and jackie and ali laid it out well. they have one shot here. they have not much time left. we're already in may. hearings start next month. congress ends at the end of the

year. i don't know why you'd actively decide not to ask donald trump and mike pence to testify even if they do not. >> it very much feels like we are entering the final stages on this. so glad to have this team here. ali, jackie and jake, thank you all. and up next, we're going to have the latest on the war in ukraine and that $40 billion aid package passed through the house. congresswoman mikie sherrill, a member of the armed services committee, is here. and later, what president biden's doing today to address the massive nationwide shortage of baby formula. plus, the growing outrage down in georgia where an hbcu lacrosse team's bus was stopped for an alleged traffic violation which then turned into a search for drugs.

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country to seek out nato membership. finland today formally announcing they will apply to join the alliance. sweden is widely expected to follow suit in the coming days with russia vowing "retaliatory" steps in response. while in ukraine bloody battles rage on in the country's east. ukrainian and western officials today saying russia has pulled back from the country's second largest city of kharkiv in the face of fierce ukrainian counteroffensive. military analysts believe the russians will probably redeploy those troops to shore up gains in ukraine's southeast. i want to bring in nbc news foreign correspondent matt bradley who's in kharkiv, ukraine covering this. so matt, you're in that city that the russians have been trying aggressively to capture but so far failing. what's it like on the ground there now, and is there a sense that the threat has dissipated in any meaningful way? >> reporter: yeah, garrett, and first of all i want to tell you normally we try to come to you from outdoors but right now we're complying, as always, with

the curfew and the blackout that is in place in most cities throughout ukraine. so we're inside right now. but we've been around the city today, and it is a place that -- i was here at the beginning of the war, the outset of the fighting. and this place is very much has been really bombarded. a lot of the key parts, a lot of the really historic buildings show some real signs of damage. and this city has the really dubious distinction of being one of the most bombarded from the beginning. you mentioned that this is one of the key prizes the russians have been after since this whole thing started. and now finally, after weeks of shelling, the russians have been pushed back. and you know, what we've seen here is a population that essentially left. this is one that was really -- they were here for a while. and so many people left because the bombardment was just ceaseless. unlike kyiv, unlike other places coming under really harsh shelling, there just was no letup. and now finally we're seeing a

reprieve. finally we're seeing -- we're hearing as of just an hour ago bombardments in the distance. so it's not the same as it was before. but i was just yesterday in a subway station where a lot of people have been taking shelter. and it was a really sad sight. not because of the number of people that were there. there were only a couple of dozen people. but these were people who only have been there for 11 weeks. they've been sheltering underground in this subway station. and it's almost created a parallel community for them. i told them, you can go up. you can leave this place. you can go and just join the living above ground. you can go home. and a lot of these people said they were too traumatized, they were too afraid of the shelling to actually leave that subway station, and they preferred to just stay underground. they were so frightened still. but you know, garrett, one of the things that i think should be the main headline here is that unlike a place like kyiv where we saw the russians withdraw, they retreated willingly because they said they were going to be refocusing the

fight to here in the eastern part of the country. instead here we're seeing the ukrainians actually mounting a muscular counteroffensive against the russians, pushing them back. and it's something i've been saying and i think it bears repeating. we've seen the full effect of the russian war machine from the beginning. the russians have put all of their technology, their personnel, their material to bear into this fight. what we haven't seen the full extent of what the ukrainians can do because we're only just now seeing all of those western donations, all of those high-tech weapons from the west, from the uk, the u.s. and elsewhere in europe coming not just into ukraine but all the way across the country to here in the eastern part of the country. we're just now seeing what the ukrainian military which so far has succeeded despite being outgunned and outmanned, we're now seeing what they can do with an all-singing, all-dancing high-tech equipment from the west. and so we haven't actually seen the full thrust of the ukrainian

military. and we're about to see that in the next coming weeks or days right here in kharkiv. garrett? >> with more and more of that aid potentially on the way. matt bradley, thank you for your reporting and do please stay safe. as we stay on the war in ukraine, the $40 billion aid package passed by the house on tuesday now sitting in something of limbo in the senate. a vote was expected or hoped for on the bill today, but gop whip john thune told reporters that senators are working to convince three holdouts in their party, the names you're seeing here, to vote yes on the bill without any other add-ons or extra votes involved. minority leader mitch mcconnell earlier today citing the urgency of the bill and pushing for a vote before this day is over. >> i hope the senate can reach an agreement to consider and pass this legislation today. the ukrainians need it. we need to do it today. helping ukraine is not an instance of mere philanthropy.

>> while senate republicans work to get their house in order, i want to bring in a democratic congresswoman from the other chamber, mikie sherrill of new jersey. she's a member of the house armed services committee. and congresswoman, i want to talk about this new aid package here. it would bring the total to about $53 billion toward ukraine in just the last couple of months. that was actually added $7 billion on to what the white house had requested. so my first question is what need did you and congress see for more than what the biden administration was asking for in terms of getting this aid to ukraine? >> well, thank you. yes. the house has passed that through. the senate needs to get that done for the ukrainian people. in fact, when i was over in ukraine about a week before the invasion, what the president said to me was that they were going to fight this fight, they didn't need troops on the ground but they did need support with weapons. and we have provided just that and they have fulfilled their part of the bargain with heroic fighting. and so we really need this to get passed. the reason that the house added

to that in a bipartisan way was money for food aid in large part. $5 billion for food aid. we are seeing because of the closure of odesa and the grain stuck in that port, because of the fact that russia produces a large part of the world's fertilizers, we are becoming concerned about food insecurity. yesterday i just spoke to the king of jordan who expressed concerns about his region of the world. syria, lebanon, other areas that are going to face food insecurity if we don't act now. >> the food security part of this i feel like is just going to keep becoming a bigger story. congresswoman, i want to ask you about some reporting that we just put out at nbc exclusively this afternoon. in it we say that four house committee chairs have sent letters to the heads of major tech companies urging them to archive any conduct -- content that could be evidence of war crimes in ukraine. now, i don't believe those are any of your committees, but i'm curious what you make of this idea here that perhaps this is

another role for congress, either investigating this or helping big tech kind of figure out their way through it, whether it is in censorship of things that get posted or whether it's evidence for war crimes investigations. >> well, we're certainly keeping an eye on all this. it's a great concern of mine. and one of the reasons i think the house has been so willing to continue to support the brave efforts of the ukrainians, not only because we applaud their fight for democracy but the continued ways in which russia in this unprovoked attack has really threatened the world order, not just because of their attacks on a democratic nation and their desire to annex territory in 2014 when they annexed parts of ukraine, one of the first times since the end of world war ii that that happened in europe. so we are really working hard to make sure we promote democracy, support democracy. and then also working hard to ensure that the modern ideas of

warfare and how we conduct ourselves and ideas of right and wrong are promoted and what russia has done, russia appears to have conducted war crimes throughout ukraine and that is something that they will be held accountable for. >> now, when this ukraine aid package was first rolled out, the white house's original plan was to attach covid relief money to it. they asked for more than $20 billion. in the senate there's a $10 billion package that's kind of sitting. but we've got cases back on the rise. the white house warning about he issing and free vaccinations that could potentially roll back. what's the plan to make sure this money gets appropriated before it's necessary in the next stage of the pandemic? >> well, as you know, the house has passed that and supported that. and i think we need an understanding from the senate of how they're going to get that through. and that is really an agreement that i think the senate and the white house have to work out, is how are we going to get this covid aid through the senate.

it is important when we're talking about further vaccines. i know like many people i had been starting to think okay, how am i going to keep my family safe. i'm thinking okay, myself, my children. are we going to do a yearly, an annual vaccine? i know some of the pharmaceutical companies are working on a combined flu covid shot. we need to continue to support this and make sure we are continuing to drive down those cases of covid for the support throughout our economy and for the health of our public. >> i would be remiss not to ask you about our top story from today, the subpoenas from the january 6th committee. the first time targeting sitting republican lawmakers. are you comfortable with that becoming a precedent here of subpoenaing other lawmakers? you could have the shoe on the other foot if republicans take back control of congress in november. >> well, certainly i would have preferred if when invited those members of congress who are members of this body and i think respect the institution, i would

have preferred if they had come forward to help the committee, the bipartisan january 6th commission, understand why they said certain things, why certain things were being reported so we could continue this investigation and get to the bottom of what happened in the days leading up to january 6th and on that day. >> all right. mikie sherrill, we've got to leave it there. thank you very much, congresswoman. >> thank you. and still ahead, we're talking to voters in one key swing state about how pain at the pump now could impact their vote come november. plus, inside republicans' aggressive new multimillion-dollar strategy to take back control of the senate this fall. of the senate this fall. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 high quality products. rigorously tested by us.

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parents continue to struggle to find baby formula in stores and online due to a nationwide shortage. the result of a recall that was announced back in february. the nationwide out of stock percentage now sits at 43% and abbott nutrition, the producers that made a major voluntary baby formula recall back in february, they're warning that it could be six to eight weeks before baby food is back on shelves. president biden is holding a

virtual meeting with infant formula retailers and manufacturers this afternoon, and white house is expected to announce additional steps the administration will take to address this critical shortage. nbc news business and tech correspondent jo ling kent's been covering this story for us. so jo, what's abbott saying about the shortage and the process to get things back -- this formula back on shelves? >> reporter: yeah, so fda is still waiting for abbott to be able to reopen. fda has to provide that approval. they have not done that yesterday. but if and when they do, then abbott can reopen. they say they can ramp up within two weeks and then it would take another six to eight weeks to get that formula onto shelves. obviously for children and babies who rely on the special metabolic formula for their metabolic disorders, that is not soon enough. they rely on that to sustain life. so it's a really scary situation for families, but we just got in what president biden has decided to do. he says he's going to take three steps to basically make it

easier for families to get more formula. the first step he says he wants to cut the red tape to get more infant formula to store shelves quicker by adjusting some of the standards of the women, infants and children program. so many people rely on that to get their formula. the second thing the administration is now saying they're going to do is they're calling on the ftc and state attorneys general to crack down on any sort of secondary market, price gouging, things like that. and the third thing, which is i think the most interesting point here, is the biden administration wants to increase formula supply by importing more and making that easier. that's something abbott is already trying to do on its own. >> a story that's picking up a lot of steam here in washington and is of high interest in the hak house too with baby girl haake on the way. >> us too. ? jo ling kent, thank you. >> thanks, garrett. the price at the pump hit another record high today. the national average for gasoline is 4.42 a gallon up two cents from yesterday, up 17

cents from just a week ago and up $1.41 from a year ago. it's a lot higher than that in places where we're watching. in the battleground state of georgia, one of just four states where the price of gas is under $4, gas prices and inflation are increasingly becoming a hot-button campaign issue. nbc's ellison barber is in gainesville, georgia about an hour north of atlanta. so ellison, what are you hearing from folks who are just fed up about the cost of filling up their tanks? >> reporter: fed up is a really good way to describe the mood here, garrett. worried works as well. we have been to three different counties in this state, all of them politically significant but politically different counties, to try and get a sense of how people feel about this in general and specifically whether or not they see this as a campaign issue moving forward. the first county we went to, dekalb county, that is a solidly blue county that democrats need high turnout in order to do well in any election really. gwinnett county has become a really important swing county.

hall county, where we are right now, this is a deeply red county where republicans need high turnout to do well really in any election. it's kind of the counter to what dekalb county is for democrats. and across the board everyone we've spoken to, they tell us that the gas prices are ridiculous. they are frustrated. they are worried. they feel like they are stretching their budgets. they differ on who or what is to blame. but everyone said something needs to change. listen. >> it's tough right now. i've got two kids, one in high school and one in college. but it's tough. >> if the republicans were in office we wouldn't have this problem. >> i don't think it's biden's fault. i feel like it's just -- because of russia and how they control a lot of the oil and stuff like that. >> who do we pick? do you pick the person that's going to deal with the gas issue but then you don't like the rest of these issues? so it's like a catch 22 with that. >> i think about how this is

affecting people who don't have the best jobs, people who have huge families to feed. >> reporter: public transportation isn't great in atlanta in most suburban and rural communities. it is almost non-existent for a lot of people. driving is really their only option to get around. and when you ask them about alternates like driving an electric vehicle, some people said they're starting to look at that now, but a lot of people told us, said they didn't really feel that that was a financial option for them just yet. if something doesn't change, though, garrett, this will be a big political issue. come november very big, important senate race happening here. the republican primary less than two weeks away. the leading candidate among the republicans, herschel walker, he is already talking about this on the campaign trail. a source close to his campaign told me they think this will be the issue for them come november. garrett? >> that's definitely what i hear from house and senate republicans now. they see this as the issue that is their ticket back to the majority. ellison barber down in georgia for us.

thank you. and speaking of money and spending, the gop is starting a midterm spending spree with republicans set to launch their senate ad blitz tomorrow. that's earlier than ever. and they'll be spending more than ever. $53 million reserved between now and election day. that tv ad campaign begins in arizona and north carolina, two of seven battleground states. the republicans have their sights on to take control of the senate. i want to bring in natalie alison, national political reporter for politico. she's here with her new reporting. now, natalie, talk to us about these states republicans are targeting and the strategy behind those targets. >> yeah, well, republicans of course are going to be targeting the top four battlegrounds where democrats are desperately trying to defend their senate seats. that would be arizona. that would be nevada. new hampshire and georgia. and in addition to that they're also going to be spending a good deal of money in places like wisconsin and pennsylvania, where they're trying to defend their seats in states that are really tough swing states as well as north carolina.

and north carolina's an interesting one because it's a state where democrats have not reserved ad time for the fall and you know, that's a state that the dsc as opposed to the nrc has left off the list. in north carolina as you just noted is going to be one of the first states that republicans launch their ad campaign in. >> you beat me to the punch a little bit because i think it's notable that there's maybe not agreement between the two parties on what the battleground states even are, with democrats not spending in north carolina where do they see opportunities on this map? >> well, democrats, they're not ceding north carolina. there just is a question of when are they actually going to decide to put money down there? it clearly is a decision to hold off on it. but democrats are spending more right now. in nevada at least when it comes to the two campaign committees the republicans have put down just about 3 million in advertisements in nevada, which is of course going to be a really tight race. and democrats have put in, you

know, three or more times that amount. in nevada. at this point they're getting better deals on tv time and ad bookings. we're going to see that change but right now they're just laying down initial reservations for those states. >> natalie allison of politico with why you're about to start seeing a lot of television ads on senate races. natalie, thank you for your reporting. and still ahead, the hbcu lacrosse team accusing police of racial profiling after a traffic stop turned into a thorough drug search. plus, the fast-moving wildfire out west that tore through multimillion-dollar homes near laguna beach. steve patterson will join us with the latest. hey, steve. >> reporter: hey, garrett. it's tough going here. at least 20 homes destroyed. 900 under mandatory evacuation as the effort to save the ones that are still standing rages on. we'll take you right to the front lines. you're watching msnbc. front nelis. you're watching msnbc.

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here's a look at some of the other top stories we're following right now. greece today banning lgbtq conversion therapy. the practice of trying to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. psychologists or other health professionals who don't get express consent for such treatment could now face times or even prison time. the latest move just part of a national strategy to advance gender equality in that country that runs through 2025. if you look up in the sky, it's not a bird. it's not a plane. it's a big black hole. scientists today releasing this photo of the milky way's super massive black hole. the first direct evidence of the huge void at the center of our own galaxy. this is just the second ever image capturing a black hole. really cool stuff. and a wildfire along the california coast destroying 20 multimillion-dollar homes and leading to the evacuation of nine other homes in laguna niguel.

strong winds propelling the fire through the houses so quickly it gave fire rescue very little time to save the properties. it's unclear at this time exactly how those fires started. for more, though, i'm joined by steve patterson, nbc news correspondent. he's in orange county, california. so steve, how are emergency responders handling this blaze and what do we know about deaths or injuries so far? >> reporter: yeah, well, important to note, garrett, this is still a frontline firefight. although most of what you're seeing is what's happening behind me, these hot spots smoldering in the wreckage from what's left over after this fire tore through this area overnight. again, the major firefight continues. there is no report that this thing has any kientment on it whatsoever. and if you look here you'll see the wind is starting to pick up and shift again as it does move on into the evening hours. so that's another thing to watch for. but right now 900 houses have been evacuated. at least 20 have been destroyed. i have seen them. most of them look something like

this, hollowed out shells of homes. what's happening now, firefighters are trying to get lockdown on this area so damage assessors can come in and so unfortunately families can come in, hoping to find something that doesn't look like this. we have seen a lot of houses standing. but ultimately finding tragedy. that fire moved very fast. we're talking 25, 35 sustained wind gusts, maybe uppadres of 45, moving uphill which moves faster than downhill. leaping over a canyon and jumping from house to house. because the fire was so big the fire had places to move. one firefighter was injured today. but firefighters continue to just keep a lock on this scene. they want to make sure that nobody gets in or out as they continue to do the work they do to knock this completely out. but the major fire fight, garrett, still continues at this hour. back to you. >> all right. steve patterson in orange county. steve, thank you. meanwhile, the president of delaware state university,

that's an hbcu, is condemning a drug search that was carried out on the school's women's lacrosse team's bus, which players and coaches are now calling traumatizing. this happened while returning from a game in florida. the team's bus was stopped in liberty county, georgia. officers told the bus driver he was improperly driving in the left lane. what happened next is drawing nationwide scrutiny as the police and a drug-sniffing dog began searching the players' bags. the liberty county sheriff says he didn't believe any racial profiling took place. delaware governor carney is calling videos of the event is concerning, upsetting and disappointing. joining me now is nbc news continental blayne alexander in atlanta. what more do we know about this incident and what's the sheriff's office saying now? >> reporter: well, garrett, this happened down in liberty county, georgia. this is in south georgia about 3 1/2 hours south of atlanta. this is something that really started probably as routinely as any traffic stop likely would. deputies down there say they

pulled the driver over because he was cruising in the left lane. but after getting on the bus and ultimately talking about themselves, they began to search the luggage area. that's when some team members on board, started getting concerned. some pulled out cell phones and started recording. in the body camera video we obtained it and the sheriffs released it. you can hear the deputies saying what's going to happen. saying you know what, we're going to search the luggage, we're looking for things inside and at one point told the students if there is something there lille you're not supposed to have, let us know now. if we find is it will he we may not be able to get it. at one point an officer pulled out a wrapped gift or wrapped present. the student who owned that gift said it was an easter present from her aunt. the officer said we have to open it, we have to look inside. all of these things it is important to point out that no drugs or anything illegal was found on that bus and they were allowed to continue on their way. but now it's drawing very strong

condemnation from the students on the bus, the team coach along with the delaware state university president, the governor of delaware, the attorney general is calling for an investigation into the way this stop was conducted. but the liberty county sheriff is very strongly defending the actions of no racial profiling and that it was a warranted stop. take a look. >> before entering the motorcoach the deputies was not aware that this was historically black or the race or the occupants due to the height of the vehicle and the tinted windows. >> that was sheriff william bowman in liberty county and garrett, it is important that he made the point in the press conference where the i-95 corridor is a known dug trafficking area. in addition to that bus, they pulled over several other commercial vehicles that day also searched inside, but again, you're hearing a number of people calling for an

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as little as zero dollars at ingrezza.com. the united states and europe are marking a pair of grim milestones today. a little over two years into the pandemic. the white house marking a million dead americans from covid and the world health organization today saying deaths in europe have now exceeded the 2 million mark. nbc "nightly news" anchor lester holt has more on some of those lives lost here at moment. ♪♪ ♪♪ a family man who loved to sing. ♪♪ ♪♪ >> a cancer survivor who put family first. >> happy turkey day to you. miss you all! i wish you were here. >> a father to two young

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♪♪ ♪♪ hi there, everyone. here we go. it's 4:00 in new york. a watershed moment today for the january 6th select committee pep the congressional panel tasked with investigating the insurrection has taken the extraordinary step of issuing subpoenas to five of their own republican colleagues including the leader of the republican caucus in the house, kevin mccarthy. in a letter the committee says the refusal of all five member, mccarthy, jim jordan, scott perry, andy biggs and mo brooks to voluntarily cooperate with the investigations has forced their hand. they write