as alice barr mentioned, men 18 to 60 have to stay behind and fight.hildren are heading to the border. >> we have two ukrainian churches and the event centers, music halls where we are ready to provide food, to provide some shelter for those refugees who are able to come to san francisco. >> of course, it will take people a while to get here, and a person has to declare themselves as a refugee at the border. >>> there have been rallies across the u.s. protesting russia's actions, and a live look for you now at the white house where people protested yesterday, saying the biden administration isn't doing enough. people are calling on the president to do more to help the people of ukraine. back here locally, happening today, people are encouraged to gather at san francisco's ferry building today at noon. organizers say it is intended to be peaceful and a way to show solidarity and support for the people of ukraine. >>> silicon valley is involved in stopping the invasion. meta, the parent company of facebook and instagram, wants to put a dent in russia's r

in washington, alice barr, nbc news. >>> what is it like to be face-to-face with putin? michael mcfaul, former ambassador to russia has negotiated with president putin. >> he's a smart guy, been on the job 22 years. has a lot of experience with foreign policy, national security. now on fifth u.s. president he's negotiated with, also very ideological. lot of americans don't understand he's obsessed with his place in history, thinks slavic nation was unjustly divided when the soviet union collapsed and he thinks of it as his mission, i think kind of religious mission, to bring them together even using force to do it. >> so much to digest, stay with us for the latest on air and online. our nbc bay area mobile app, get updates on the go. >>> following breaks news in the east bay. police on the scene of a deadly shooting in pittsburg. argument broke out in family gathering, shots fired. officers found two victims at home, one died at scene, other in critical condition at nearby hospital. one man arrested. police say it's still very active investigation. >>> brought traffic to

nbc's alice barr kicks off our coverage. >> reporter: a grim picture on the ground today in ukraine. the government moving to impose a state of emergency and calling up its national guard as a senior u.s. defense official says russia is as ready as it can be for an expected large-scale invasion. >> it won't be bloodless. there will be suffering. there will be sacrifice. >> reporter: the united nations general assembly meeting in new york and raining condemnation on russia's actions. >> russia and russia alone will bear full responsibility for what is to come. >> reporter: the biden administration now leveling new sanctions against the company that built a key natural gas pipeline between russia and germany. germany announced yesterday it was halting. >> it had been a prized, $11 billion investment on the part of the russian federation is suspended indefinitely. >> reporter: republican senator ted cruz praising the move, while others are pushing president biden for harder punishment after he announced sanctions against two russian banks and elites, but sanctions of any kind may not st

alice barr, nbc news. >> visually speaking, let's take a look at the russian invasion. here's a map of the region just to get your bearings straight. russia is there. the black sea down south. poland here on the west side. some showing where the confirmed attacks have occurred marked by the star. you see the ukrainian capital of kyiv. a lot of stars here where the attacks have occurred. now, there have been at least 20 more confirmed attacks across ukraine, including the eastern border where those two separatists regions are. this map also shows where russian forces are reported. you can see those with the red circles here and down in crimea as well. a few spots near the russian border. audrey, back to you. >> so many questions at this point, including what happens next and how far will putin go. joining us now is a professor of political science at san jose state. professor, thank you so much for joining us. obviously mixed emotions all over the world. there's horror, there's sadness, there's shock. are you surprised russia invaded ukraine? >> to be honest, yes, i was

alice barr, north bay news. >> a closer look three of the areas hit by russian attacks. more photos and videos are emerging showing the destruction not only in kyiv, but the second largest city in the country. kharkiv. russian missiles are targeting military control centers in those regions. troops are targeting airports, including the international airport. that's about 40 minutes northwest of kyiv. you can see on the right side of your screen there video showing helicopters flying toward the smoke on the horizon, coming from the direction of that airport. apartment buildings have been hit. you can see on the right this apartment in a small city of northwest kharkiv caught fire after it was hit by russian shelling in an airstrike. from carmel valley, lean panetta says he is encouraged by the actions of ukraine's military. >> the ukrainians are putting up a fight and using the weapons systems that we provided and i think it's important that we provide whatever help is necessary in order to establish an effective resistance within the ukraine because the longer that goes

in washington alice barr, nbc news. >> thank you, alice. escaping airstrikes underground.ideo into our newsroom tonight. this was sent to our jodi hernandez from a family friend in ukraine. it was taken in an underground bomb shelter near the black sea. that's about a seven-hour drive from kyiv. you can see how crowded it is under there. jodi's friend told her it was packed, hot, and damp. women and children on the move and in need of refuge. day three of russia's invasion into ukraine has already displaced thousands of people. but that number could go as high as 5 million. some of those people may end up here in the bay area. nbc bay area's cheryl hurd on the push to open doors and welcome ukrainian families fleeing warfare. >> right now they are relatively safe in the mountains. >> reporter: as russian troops get closer to the capital, nikita safranenko's family is on the move, looking for a safe place. >> today they should -- orphan house where 50 orphans were staying there and some of them were injured. >> reporter: the international rescue committee is estimating that

alice barr, nbc news. >> the country of denmark is scrapping most of its pandemic restrictions. the omicron variant is surging there, however, the country has a high vaccination rate. medical facilities aren't overcrowded. masks are no longer mandatory on public transportation or shops. denmark's digital health pass is no longer even needed to enter nightclubs or eat indoors at restaurants. elsewhere in other parts, as in europe, there's a patchwork of approaches to the pandemic. the nations are relaxing virus restrictions while others tighten them. thousands of canadians are protesting vaccine mandates. the demonstration started as a rally against the vaccine requirement for cross border truckers and then it turned into a demonstration against government overreach during the pandemic. this is happening in the country's capital city of ottawa. the protesters have turned disrespectful and rowdy. the country is 80% vaccinated so the demonstrators are getting little sympathy. >> a colorado man accused of threatening violence at ucla has been arrested. matthew harris sent an 800-pag

let's bring in nbc's alice barr with the very latest. >> reporter: in a move many experts see as a potential trigger for further violence, russian president vladimir putin today recognizing as independent two breakaway regions in eastern ukraine where russia has been backing separatist it is surrounded right now on three sides with 200,000 troops. >> you're right about that. let's call this step one. i think after this happens, he is going to take a long pause and see how the world reacts, what kind of sanctions are really put on, because the u.s. has received a lot of criticism from allies in the past for having menial sanctions. are these sanctions with teeth? finally, how about the ukranian resistance itself? is it going to be strong? is it going to cost russians lots of lives? and we can't forget, what about germany? what germany? germany is the weakest link because germany gets 55% of its energy from russia. the question is will germany break offer from this which means everything else will be in a precarious position. a lot at stake right now. >> larry, you just mentioned it, that this

in washington, alice barr, nbc news. >> there were rallies across the world protesting this russian invasionong those rallies here in the bay area and san francisco, hundred of people showing support for ukraine and denouncing vladimir putin, strong emotions and it was not just coming from the ukrainian americans. here is nbc bay area's tom jensen. >> reporter: the crowd filled nearly half of san francisco city hall plaza. ukrainian flags flying high condemning the russian president. >> the expect is for a couple of weeks. everybody hopes this never happen but it did happen. >> nobody wants a war. >> i am crying for ukraine. >> we'll stand up to this bully. >> reporter: community leaders help to amplify after today. >> it is bad enough of what he's doing in his own country but then to start to conquer other countries, it is so unacceptable. >> reporter: some call for the removal of russia for the united nation security council. >> it is unthinkable. >> reporter: putin must be defeated in ukraine. if he's not, he's afraid putin will continue to invade and conquer for countriesoand his empire.

in washington, alice barr, nbc news. >>> in-person classes at ucla resumed today after the arrest of a man accused of threatening violence there. investigators say matthew harris sent an 800-page manifesto. he no longer lives in california. after three-hour standoff with boulder police officers, harris was taken into custody. >>> the numbers show the covid surge behind us for the first time since december. new covid cases in san francisco has fallen below 1,000. to put it in perspective, during the peak of the omicron surge, cases topped 2,300. at the beginning of december before the surge hit, san francisco was reporting an average of 60 cases a day. >>> meanwhile, doctors in the united states are facing a new enemy in the fight against covid, and that is medicine shortages. the cdc has determined the previous doctors are scrambling for another treatment which is in short supply right now. doctors are demanding to use two newly approved antiviral pills made by pfizer and merck, but the pfizer pill is not at full production and takes six to eight months to make. >>> we shouldn't be d