you hadn't decided to lie right there, correct? >> i don't believe so. >> you told david owen that you understood that he had to ask questions and you did what you need to do, correct? >> that is what i told him. >> your honor, this might be a good time for a break. >> ladies and gentlemen, addressing the jury, we'll break until 2:15. you will go to the jury room, please do not discuss the case. >> and so we're going into a lunch break, good day, i'm chris jansing at msnbc headquarters in new york city, and at this hour, if you've been watching, you know more high drama at the

aleck murdaugh trial. after hours of intense questioning over two days, the prosecution today zeroing in on murdaugh's newly changed story about where he was when his wife and younger son were killed. we're live at the courthouse, and we will break down key moments with our team of lawyers. worldwide commemoration and condemnation as ukraine marks one year since the russian invasion. the u.s. giving $2 billion more in aid as ukraine's president vows 2023 will be the year of victory. i'll talk with a key zelenskyy adviser. and new signs of cracks in the donald trump base, a "washington post" reporter joining me with compelling new information on how republican voters view the former president and the times, they are a changing. but we start in south carolina where the stakescould not be higher for alex murdaugh. the once powerful attorney taking the ultimate gamble testifying in his own double murder trial of his wife and son.

today the prosecution dissecting his opioid addiction and digging into his financial fraud before turning to his whereabouts just moments before the murders including what he was doing minutes before he left for his mom's house. >> how do you remember so much detail about everything else, but you don't remember what you were specifically doing to generate 283 steps while you were making all these phone calls in the same four-minute period. >> i remember unequivocally without any doubt with as clear a mind as i could have at any time that i never manufactured any alibi in any way, shape, or form because i did not and would not hurt my wife and my child. >> on the line right now, how he spends the rest of his life, will it be behind bars or walking away as a free man. of course it always comes down to the jury and whether they find the prosecutor's theory of motive plausible.

is murdaugh's testimony believable? is he sympathetic? the question everyone wants to know, will it turn out to have been worth the risk. with me former federal prosecutor carol lamb, both are msnbc legal analysts. tally, talk a little bit about what you saw today and what is clearly the theory of how they're going to get him from the prosecution. >> well, so what we saw today and yesterday really, chris, is that murdaugh came in here to try to convince the jury of four things. one, that just because he's a liar doesn't mean that he's also a killer, and he tried to establish credibility with the jury by saying, yes, i know that i have lied to many people, defrauded many people. second, that he's trade to be cooperative because he really cares about finding out who killed his son and who killed

his wife, right? he tried to humble himself and kind of connect with the jury by saying, look, i'm a broken man. i'm an addict. maybe like lots of people in your families, and i made lots of mistakes because of that, but i didn't make this mistake. and i think he also tried to plant a seed that there was somebody else who could have done this. and you know, he's clearly really experienced and he's got his list of goals and he keeps coming back to them, and yet, i don't really think he's been helping himself. >> carol to that last point, maybe it's a little bit of inside baseball, it's fascinating to watch two experienced lawyers. it's not often a lawyer gets the opportunity to question somebody who knows exactly what that prosecutor is doing but also has experience with what the defense might say. let me play to you what i think was one of the many key moments, and it's really about i think

the prosecution trying to paint a picture of him as a liar. take a listen. >> every single client, i looked them in the eye, and i believe that the people that i stole money from for all those years trusted me. >> all of this the last time you saw your supposedly saw your wife and child, all of this detail, you as a lawyer and a prosecutor didn't think that was important to offer on your own? >> oh, i think it's important. >> you told this jury how cooperative you've been and how much information you want to provide but you left out the most important parts, didn't you? >> i left out -- i left out that, i sure did. >> you don't consider that one of the most important parts? >> i think it's important. >> does it help him, does it mitigate, do you think, carol, to fess up to the things that he's lied about or left out?

>> chris, i don't think he really had any choice. the jury knows and the prosecutor is pointing out over and over again, he's a lawyer. he understands what facts are important. he understands that you can't keep changing your story plausibly, but he really has no choice here. it's hard to escape the conclusion that he took the stand because now he has seen the prosecution's evidence, and it wasn't looking good for him. there were just too many things that were inconsistent with his original story, and so he had to take the stand in order to try to gain the jury's sympathy and also to try to give some explanation for why his story keeps changing. and that's the he was a broken man. he was on opioids, he had addictions and stuff. i don't know that the jury is going to be able to process that in the way that he wants them to do it, but i really don't think he had any other choice in this instance. >> all right, joining us from outside the courthouse in south carolina is nbc's catie beck.

so i want you to take us inside the courtroom. what are we hearing about any jury reaction, any indications of how it's going over? this is a lot. it's a lot to follow. it's tiring for anyone who sat through a case, especially jurors who have never done it before. what's going on inside? >> reporter: well, i think, chris, the difference between yesterday's testimony and today's is pretty striking. yesterday on direct examination, they saw an alex murdaugh that was sensitive, that was crying, and today he's getting hit with those hard questions head on specifically about the time line of the murder. yesterday even on the beginning of cross examination it was a lot about those financial crimes, a lot about the addiction, but not a lot about these direct lies in connection with the time line. this morning the prosecution has thread by thread gone through everything he said and asked him why did you lie about this is

this why can you remember this and why can't you remember that? and for the first time we're seeing alex murdaugh not looking confident and calm, perhaps even sad, we're seeing him look unsteady up there. he has certainly been rattled by several of these questions and pushed back. they did not see a combative side to him yesterday. he certainly accepted all of the characterizations of timing. today he's pushing back, he's defending himself. in some ways that's hard to do when you've lied and rewritten your narrative. that's a different said they're seeing from the stand for sure. that is what prosecutors want. they want to see if they can rattle him enough to sort of show another side, not the sad, you know, mea culpa we got yesterday but sort of that defensive perhaps even angry. at times he said of course i remember that. you know, and at times referring to some talking points. we've heard him say several

times, as my addiction evolved. that sounds like a scripted line. it doesn't necessarily sound like that would come out of your mouth naturally five times, as well as lie of omission. that's not something that rolls off the tongue either. now the jury has heard these talking points five and six tams. tims. it's going to be a different reaction, yesterday we saw jurors tearing up, pushing a tissue box towards him. the defense does have a rebuttal here. this is not game over after this bruising cross examination we're seeing now. they are going to have time to re-ask some of these questions in a different way and maybe get alex murdaugh's temperature to lower a little bit, and we'll see what the jury's reaction is then. >> nobody's shocked that this has been a bruising cross examination. they've gone after him again and again often on the same questions. it all came down to toward the end before they took that break, where was he?

what was he doing in those moments around and during the murder and did he plan ahead and make up an alibi. let's hear a little bit of that exchange. >> how do you remember so much detail about everything else, but you don't remember what you were specifically doing to generate 283 steps whale you're making all these phone calls in the same four-minute period. >> i remember unequivocally without any doubt with as clear a mind as i could have at any time that i never manufactured any alibi in any way, shape, or form because i did not and would not hurt my wife and my child. >> in your experience, what makes a defendant -- again, we see this very rarely that somebody takes the stand. what makes anybody believable on the stand to a jury? >> yeah, so first, chris, let me say that in my experience and

with some of the data that we have, this is usually not a good idea. there is actually some data that shows that you increase the chance of conviction if you take the stand in your own defense. you're giving up a lot of protection and a lot of rights and particularly in the cross examination you lose control. and we've seen him lose control, and i think that the way to come back from that is to be as vulnerable as possible and to kind of lean into your humanity. i see him doing that some of the time and then he kind of gets hard again as we have heard. he reverts to lawyer speak. he seems angry, and i think that the jury is looking for those little flashes of anger that bubble up and make you ask is this a performance or is he being real. >> so how do you think he's doing so far, carol? hours and hours of testimony.

you know, the jury does get kind of rare opportunity to get to know the defendant a little bit more. what do you think they've learned about alex murdaugh so far? >> i think that the jury sees him for pretty much exactly what he is. i mean, i don't know him personally, but he is a lawyer. he's a tough lawyer. he comes from a family of litigators. i think that they recognize that he understands what this whole game is. and he knows exactly which buttons he has to push, whether he's effective in pushing them or not is hard to say, but you can hear from his cross examination that he takes every opportunity when the prosecutor asks a little bit of an open question -- and remember that on cross examination, the personing it -- person doing the cross examination is allowed to treat the witness as a hostile witness. so they are allowed to ask

leading questions. in other words, isn't it true that you did such and such and expect just a yes or no answer. whereas on direct examination of your own witness, you have to ask much more open questions. you're not allowed to lead the witness. but here wherever he can, alex murdaugh is taking opportunity to crack open the door and put forward some lines talking about how much he loved his wife and son and how he made sure that he was taking all the care he could. he's looking for those opportunities to appeal to the jurors, even oncross examination. and that's important. he wants to take control of the cross examination. it's difficult to say whether the jury's recognized that. whether they recognize that he's trying to use opportunities like that to his advantage. >> fascinating stuff. you've been great covering this

trial. thanks to all of you. right now a real rarity, blizzard warnings in southern california, and millions of americans in fact, across the west coast are facing dangerous winter weather through the weekend. in santa barbara county, drivers were caught off forward by snow falling near the summit of the san marcos pass. even under the hollywood sign, the wave of cold temperatures produced enough ice on the ground to build a tiny little snowman. there he is. joining us now, nbc news correspondent niala charles. how are residents handling this winter storm? how are you handling it? you've gone from place to place chasing the cold weather. >> reporter: right, same blizzard warning, different state. here in l.a. county, this is the first time the national weather service has issue a blizzard warning in the mountains. usually the mountains here get snow, but not this much snow. we're seeing as much as eight feet of snow in the mountains,

and tomorrow other areas up to 5 feet of snow expected. the blizzard warning here means the same thing when i was in minnesota at this time yesterday, it means wind gusts at least 35 miles per hour mixed with snow that creates low visibility for drivers. the thing that's different here, the reactions. listen to how the l.a. residents are reacting to show. >> i looked it up, and i saw that hollywood like park had snow, and so i drove right over. it's like a once in a lifetime thing. i was like i've got to go see it. >> i've lived in los angeles my whole life, and i haven't seen any snow since the late '50s when i was a kid. so this is -- even though the tourists are not liking it, the locals are loving it. for us this is kind of a thrill, you know. >> reporter: so the people here in l.a. a lot more impressed with the slightest bits of snow here. where i am now in the hollywood hills, there's a lot of rain and hail, not so much snow, but it's still creating a big effect for

drivers who definitely don't like driving in the rain. also in the next couple of days, there are risks for mudslides because of all this rain, chris. >> let me tell you, someone who used to live there, i do not believe what i'm seeing. thanks again, we really appreciate you being there. the u.s. sending more aid to ukraine as fighting there heads into year two. what will it take for the war to end? i'll talk with the key adviser to president zelenskyy next. plus, as the race for 2024 heats up, new research suggesting former president trump may be losing his base. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. reports"c create something new? our dell technologies advisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you need to bring out the innovator in you. the hiring process used to be the death of me. but with upwork... with upwork the hiring process is fast and flexible. behold... all that talent!

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today an extraordinary show of unity is and support for ukraine from the u.s. and its allies following a determined promise of victory from president zelenskyy. the biden administration on the first anniversary of the war pledging another $2 billion in help, money for high-tech military equipment, ammunition,

and financial aid and all the g-7 countries are slapping russia with new sanctions. nbc's erin mclaughlin joins us from kyiv. and we're also joined by a former adviser to president zelenskyy. is evelyn farkas an executive direct at the mccain institute. it's so good to have all of you there. even, tell us a little bit more about what we heard from president zelenskyy today, including his belief that his country has proved itself to be invincible? >> reporter: hey, chris, president zelenskyy just wrapped up a press conference here in the capital. that press conference lasting for more than two hours. during that press conference, he said that he believes that ukraine could win this war this year if, quote, allies remain united like a fist and continue delivering those weapons.

he also said that there will be no negotiations with russia until moscow stops bombing ukrainian cities and ukrainian people. he also talked at the end of his press conference about his children. he was asked about them. and he said, quote, the most important thing is to not let them down so that my children could be proud of me, and i am glad that they are in ukraine, that they are studying at ukrainian universities. it is very important for a president of a country, either former or current president when you are against a belligerent country that your children are here because the country is here. so a personal note he ended the press conference on. this as this war is raging on and ukrainian officials are expressing their conviction and confidence that if the west delivers on its promises, if it delivers those weapons and particularly at this point the ammunition the ukrainians say

they need, that they could potentially as president zelenskyy said win this war this year, i was speaking to a senior adviser to the president earlier this week, and he thinks that turning point could be the end of the spring and he's also expressed confidence that the fighter jets ukrainian leaders have been asking for rb will be delivered. >> thank you very much for that. we always appreciate your reporting, erin. igor, no one questions the resilience of the ukrainian people. what are the challenges facing your former boss, president zelenskyy and the ukrainian people in what are sure to be very difficult months ahead? >> well, chris, it's going to be an incredibly difficult year for ukraine. we cannot afford a third year of this war and we have to end this year. i think ukrainian victory is the only way forward, and let me explain to you why. one of the main reasons putin actually invaded in february 2022 was because his invasion in

2014, his invasion of georgia in 2008, all the other invasions went unpunished. ukraine will have to put an end to, you know, this russian expansion. it's going to be difficult, and we depend highly on the assistance from our allies and hopefully we get it in time. >> you know that ukraine has said that president zelenskyy has said there's tho negotiating, that russian forces have to be rappelled from every inch of ukraine. what's your assessment of the russian army, of the russian president right now, and with tens of thousands already ted, millions displaced, entire cities decimated in your country, it's sort of an all or nothing position a realistic position? >> well, i wouldn't call it an all or nothing position, but first of all, let me address

what's happening in russia. so judging from the fact that despite it being the anniversary, the date has been hopefully quiet. no missile strikes just as yet. and assessing putin's speeches this week. i think russia is a bit lost. it's thinking and considering its options and thinking how to move forward. the momentum is gone. as far as the scenario, let pe give you a private example. i live in a house outside of kyiv. and i'm happy to give my house away if it can save one haum human life, one person. the problem is not with the property or the land. what happens with the people we leave behind. the example from iran in 1979 or afghanistan a few years back. they teach us something. and we -- in all the liberated territories, we've been uncovering mass graves. we've been hearing stories of torture and everything. we just cannot afford to betray

our population. we'll have to liberate them one way or the other. >> it is important to talk about the future. on this one-year anniversary, i also want to ask you about the year that your country has just gone through and let's be honest. there aren't many people out there. there probably aren't many world leaders out there who expected this war to be where it is right now. i don't want to say they underestimated ukraine or the ukrainian people, but this was not the projection. when you look back on this year, what comes to mind most? >> well, actually, erin is with us, and the last interview i did before the war, i think we did it a few days before the invasion in february 2022 was with erin. i told her kyiv's going to fall in two days or people are going to stay and fight. i believe i named the number of

russian troops that would perish if putin wants to take kyiv. that number exceeded the force that he had. look, for us, we're fighting for ourselves. we're fighting for our children. we're fighting for our future. we're fighting for the right to choose. in ukraine the choice is very simple. we accept either liberty or death, you know, when you're faced with those two choices, the path forward is pretty obvious. >> evelyn, we had a few technical difficulties. i'm glad to have you back. i just want to get a big picture from you. there are all sorts of numbers out there. let's say russia has at least 200,000 casualties by a lot of estimates, right? they may have already lost their battle, at least half of their battle tanks. as you look at this, is putin against the ropes, or are you wary of underestimating where the russians are right now? >> yeah, i mean, i think, chris, and i'm sorry for the technical difficulties, i would say that

it's really hard to predict. russia's on the ropes right now, but putin doesn't really care. if you look at all the manpower, all the people that have been just slaughtered because of the way the russian fights. it upsets us. it doesn't deter him, make a tent on his emotional psyche. he wants to keep on fighting as long as possible. many people have commented the russian plan may have been to try to exhaust the ukrainian people. and that's why all of our assistance has to be provided as fast as possible so the ukrainians can get the upper hand so they can push the russians back and so that there can be a piece that allows them to get all their territory back and maintain their sovereignty. >> i thank all of you. and a ukraine reporter's notebook, what has it been

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the alex murdaugh trial isn't the only courtroom drama making news today. donald trump could soon find himself being questioned under oath again after a federal judge ruled that he could be deposed in cases brought by two former fbi officials who he publicly attacked for months. peter strauk and lisa page. julia, remind folks, it's been a while, who these two agents are and tell us more about the judge's ruling and its implications. >> i've got to take you back about six years here.

this was when the mueller probe was heating up. there was a lot of attention on rump at the time. the villains became these two fbi agents after their private text messages they sent, al beit on goth phones to each other show they were biased leading up to the 2016 election, that they were against trump being elected and for hillary being elected. now, collectively page and struck filed a lawsuit saying they should not have been fired and it was because of the political rhetoric and the tension on them at the time that basically they were scape fwoeted and inspector general found that their biases really didn't have an impact on their work as fbi agents and would not have influenced the investigation into trump's aled conspiracies or what they were looking into at the time with russia leading up to the election. page and struck want their jobs

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slipping. joining me now, one of the authors behind that reporting, isaac arnstorf, a national political reporter for "the washington post," rick wilson a former gop strategist and cofounder of the lincoln project. so isaac, i'm just going to lay the groundwork here. you and your post colleagues spoke to more than 150 trump supporters in five key states, and found what you called a broad range who, however much they still like him, aren't sure they want him as the party's next nominee. what did they tell you? >> that's right. and that's really what's new and different about what we heard from these voters. the dichotomy we've been used to in the republican party was you were either with trump or against trump. that was it. those were the only options. so almost everyone came down on with him. what we've learned was since the midterms, this middle ground, this other option has opened up where people are in a position

where they can like trump, they can think he was a good president, but they have serious reservations about whether they want him to be the republican nominee. so they're not against him. they might vote for him again, but they're to varying degrees also considering other options. >> you know what's interesting to me, rick, is that's the kind of thing i heard during the last presidential election when i talked to suburban women. trly people who were independent voters often split their tickets. people who had voted for donald trump the first time but were exhausted by him the second time. may still like him personally but weren't going to vote for him. the fact that it seems to be really seeping into some of the republican base, what does that tell you? >> well, look, i think trump is this sort of protean force in american politics, and while there are people out there who say they're tired of him, that they're done with him, they don't want to have him around anymore, i know the republican party because i lived in it, worked in it for 30 plus years

of my life and career, and there's one thing republicans do, ask that's get in line. as donald trump comes into this primary. his numbers have dropped from being in the high 90s approval with republicans to only the high 70s. he is still the most popular and well-known figure in the republican party. there is still a very, very large cohort of republican voters who are going to vote for this guy if he's on fire. there is nothing that's going to stop this tidal wave of support for trump when the republican voters finally start getting in line. i think a lot of the other candidates are going to find themselves in the position mow that ron desantis does. ron desantis is now the leading anti-trump candidate in the country. ask that's great for a little faction of the republican party. he's the candidate of the open borders chamber of commerce. he's the candidate of national review. he's the candidate of an elite part of republicans, and the elite republicans are desperately trying to find a way to get anything else out of this thing except for another donald trump. but the base republican voters

that are out there, if trump only holds 25% of them, he's still going to roll over everyone else had the primaries. he's going to end up with a structural advantage that i think is underestimated. i think the article is a tremendously valuable look at the tensions that trump's failures and his nature as a terrible president, terrible human being have caused in the party, but it's also a party that we know very quickly gets back into line. you'll hear things like we hear in focus group. i have to vote for trump or it's communism. the party is going to come back to where the party comes back and he is the center of gravity to the party. >> he brings up a really good point, and i think there's the question of not so much if people are tired of trump, but will enough of those folks coalesce behind a single candidate who could then beat trump as opposed to splitting the vote. ron desantis was the potential rival of voters you spoke with cited the most. what did they tell you about

him, and did anybody else really resonate with these voters? >> well, that's absolutely right, and the trump team will tell you that also, that a crowded field helps them. that's kind of their best hope or path to victory. they're well aware of that. and you're seeing that in polls also where head to head desantis might beat trump, but when it's a broader field, trump still has the plurality. you called desantis an anti-trump candidate, i don't think that's exactly right. certainly desantis doesn't want to be viewed that way. and a lot of the voters we talked to who liked trump but are interested in desantis, aren't thinking of him along those terms either. they're more interested in desantis as a fresh face, someone younger, someone who they think can deliver on a lot of trump's policies without all the trump baggage and, you know, it's basically an electability

conversation, which to be honest is not something we're used to hearing from a lot of republican primary voters. certainly democratic primary voters really valued in 2020, and republicans are talking about that too. ask so that's part of where desantis's appeal is growing even among trump fans. >> this is going to be a great conversation. fascinating article. an exclusive new interview with u.n. ambassador linda thomas-greenfield on the one of year anniversary of russia's invasion of ukraine and where the war goes from here. that's coming up next. plus, the rnc announces its first presidential debate. will president trump be forced to pledge support to another candidate? that's ahead. you're watching "chris jansing reports" only on msnbc. snbc plates. there's somehow no better way to travel this place, than on a plate. and when you add price drop protection, expedia pays you back if your flight becomes cheaper.

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and what more can be done? >> well, you know, what she told me is that it's entirely up to vladimir putin at this point, that right thousand china is strongly considering intervening in the conflict, which is very troubling to the u.s., by sending weapons to russia. so our u.n. ambassador told me that that would change the u.s. relationship with china and the state of play on the battlefield . >> this is such a big day, it's been one year, the war is still continuing, expanding, escalating. what are your thoughts? >> you know, it's one year since the war started and it's exactly two years since i started -- i got sworn into this job. so it's a big day for me for a number of reasons. >> you're a war-time ambassador. >> i'm a war-time ambassador here at the united nations. it's also a big day because we have successfully over the past year kept russia on their heels.

we have isolated them here at the u.n. yesterday another vote 141 countries supported a peace plan that really lays out an opportunity for russia to make the right decision, which is to take their troops out of ukraine in the brutal attack on the ukrainian people and in this war and go back to the negotiating table, and they did everything they possibly could to diminish those folks and they didn't succeed. we isolated them. >> and what do you say to the 32 countries that abstained? you've got south africa and india, you know, major countries, to say nothing of china. >> we talked to all of the countries to explain to them the reasoning behind this resolution. we want peace. we want diplomacy. we want negotiations, and i

think they want exactly the same thing, but they think by being neutral that they get that, and it's their decision. >> this is certainly the room where it happens. >> this is the room where it happens. >> so here's where you and secretary blinken sit telling the world about the invasion of russia. what do you say to china now that china is considering weaponizing, rearming russia, wouldn't that be a game changer? >> it certainly has been made clear to the chinese from president biden, president xi, secretary blinken made that clear to wong ye in munich this past week that china should not get involved in this war many the sense of providing lethal weapons to the russians. that it would be a game changer

and it would be -- it would be something we would have serious concerns about. they've not done that so far. and we hope that the messaging to them gets through. >> there's a german report that they are ready to deliver attack drones to russia as soon as april. >> and this is why we've made clear that that is unacceptable, that they cannot engage in with the aggressor on this war, and russia is the aggressor, and russia's efforts have been con condemned by the world. even china abstained on the so >> the general assembly, they did not vote against it. they abstained. >> and they did not vote with russia. >> if they send arms to russia, that's a transformation of chinese policy, they have never

gotten engaged this way. what do you think is going on there? >> it shows complete and total hypocrisy. they talk about peace, about the integrity of borders, they talk about sovereignty, they say they believe in the u.n. charter. this is an attack on the u.n. charter. it would show china truly what they are, if they make the unfortunate decision to provide lethal support to the russian effort. if china was serious about peace, they would have supported the resolution that we all voted on yesterday, 141 countries. if they are serious about peace, then they would not consider providing lethal weapons to the aggressor in this war. we all want peace. the ukrainians want peace more than anyone. their country is being destroyed. so if china is truly interested in peace, they have to act and behave like a country that wants

peace. >> and right now, we are putting more treasury sanctions on today, putting more sanctions, but there's so much leakage. my colleague, keir simmons on nbc last night showed truck after truck carrying dodge rams, brand new dodge ram pickups from abu dhabi to turkey, to georgia where we shot this footage, and the driver said they were heading to moscow and going for $170,000 apiece. brand new trucks, from america. how can you explain that? the sanctions are leaking. >> countries will, and individuals are making efforts to get past our sanctions, but we're looking at that leakage and every place we see leakage, we're stopping it up, and we're stopping it, and we will continue to press on countries to respect the sanctions because the sanctions actually work. the reason countries complain about sanctions is because they

work. and when efforts are made to break those sanctions, then they're breaking the law. and we will hold them accountable. we'll hold the companies accountable. we'll hold the individuals accountable who are breaking sanctions that are being imposed on russia, the sanctions are having an impact. they are doing all kinds of artificial manipulation to ensure that the numbers don't reflect that. but the impact of this war in russia is tremendous. 200,000 russians have died or been injured in the course of this war. over a million russians have immigrated from russia to avoid being conscripted into this war. so they are feeling the impact, and they're on their heels, and we will keep them there until they remove their troops from ukraine. >> the u.s. has determined that russia is guilty of crimes against humanity. will vladimir putin ever be held

accountable? >> that is for the international system to determine. but i think if he looks at -- it took some time. the world is looking at the atrocities being committed by russian troops, and there's only one person responsible for that. and that's vladimir putin. >> will russia be forced to pay reparations for some day because under the international law, crimes against humanity can lead to reparations to help build ukraine. >> all of the tools we have available to hold russia accountable will be used to exact those kinds of payments from them. >> here we are in the security council, which eleanor roosevelt and others of that generation viewed as the place where human rights and peace and yet there can't be a resolution today because china and russia would

veto it. doesn't the structure mitigate against the security council being as powerful as it should be? >> you know, the security council is over 70 years old. and we have been talking over the past few months about how we reform the security council. we make it more inclusive. we add a new state, for example, from africa, because when this council was created 70 years ago, many of those countries didn't exist. so there are some tweaks that need to be done. there's some reform that we're all talking about. but we have to make a reality so that the council can work more effectively. all said, we do accomplish a lot here. we do pass resolutions that get unanimous support from members of the council. and we will do our best to continue to see this council

provide what the world is seeking and that's peace and security around the world. it's a work in progress. and it's one that there's no end state to. we have to keep working at it. >> when i've talked to some of your predecessors in better times, they had relationships outside of the council chamber with their russian counter parts. what's your relationship with the ambassador from russia? >> it's complicated. as a diplomat, he was well respected here in the council but since the war with ukraine, the russians have gone off the rail. you may have heard that we had a council meeting in which they brought a briefer in who started singing to the council. so they're showing total disrespect to the council and that disrespect is now being

reflected in the kind of relationships that we have outside the council with russian diplomats. >> so here we are on the anniversary. it's been one year. what's your message to the ukrainian people? >> the president gave that message so clearly when he was in ukraine. we stand with ukraine. we will stand with ukraine as long as ukraine needs us. and as long as ukraine continues to fight, we will give them what they need to fight. we're behind them. we're standing with them. and they're fighting on the front lines for freedom, for democracy, and for all the values that we share. >> how does this war end? >> that's a question that at the moment vladimir putin can answer. it's in his hands to pull his troops out of ukraine. if he doesn't it today, the war ends. the ukrainians are fighting for

their lives. and so they can't stop fighting as long as they're being attacked by russia, but russia can stop today, and the war's over. >> and with china, a potential game changer because he's running low on ammunition, he needs their help, he needs them to get more ammunition, if they do that, is that a red line? >> i think we've been very clear to the chinese that this is problematic, and we have told them in no uncertain terms if they do provide lethal weapons to the russians, they will survive. they know they've had conversations at the highest levels of the u.s. government, with the president of the united states, with the secretary of state that any moves on their part to provide lethal support

to russia's aggressive efforts, their attack on the sovereignty of ukraine would be viewed with tremendous concern by us but also by the rest of the world. they have relations with others in the world. they have relations with europe. they're going to blow all of that, should they make this unfortunate decision. >> you said before it's a red line. does that mean anything to them? >> i assume it does but i think they've heard clearly from the president this is not something they want to do. >> madame ambassador, thank you very much for your time on an important day. >> thank you very much and great to talk to you again. >> the ambassador did lead the effort at the u.n., the general assembly, that won 141 votes, yesterday to pressure russia for peace talks. no sign russia is interested in peace talks. china says it wants peace talks.

the u.s. is not taking that seriously, not unless china makes it clear they're not considering these weapons, including we're told attack helicopters now. there is a report, attack helicopters -- excuse me, attack drones that will be gone as soon as they're able. >> so much to talk about, and a wide ranging interview, thank you for bringing it on. we appreciate it. somber scenes across ukraine today as survivors remember the dead and take stock of how a year of war has changed their lives and the world. in buka just outside of kyiv, grieving families laying flowers, commemorating lost loved ones, at least 20,000 ukrainians have been killed in the war, including 7,000 civilians. 400 of those victims are children. support for ukraine also on display in major cities around the world. in london, people turned out for a vigil. big crowd there. in paris, the e