lester >> erin mclaughlin in ukraine. thank you. >>> back home jurors heard opening statements in the seditious conspiracy trial stemming from the january 6th attack federal prosecutors alleging in court that oath keepers founder stewart rhodes and four other members of the far right group planned an armed rebellion to stop joe biden from becoming president. rhodes's attorneys have said he was not at the capitol and did nothing illegal and sent weapons to provide security rhodes plans to testify at the trial >>> a bombshell new report just out is rocking the world of women's professional soccer an independent investigation finding a pattern of rampant abuse and sexual misconduct and that officials failed to protect players. here's anne thompson >> oh, what a move >> reporter: the excitement of the national women's soccer league hid an ugly truth verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct today's report says they were systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches and victims. it says the abuse is rooted in a deeper cult

nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin joins us now live from eastern ukraine with the latest. , what more can you tell us? >> reporter: hey, there, willie. for months the ukrainian government has denied any role in the assassination of daria dugina, but this morning there are new questions about its potential involvement. this morning a bombshell "new york times" report blames part of dwroouk's government for authorizing the covert assassination of the daughter of a prominent putin ally. she was killed in a car bombing in moscow. the u.s. official told her times they may be targeting her father, alexander dugan, who appeared after at the scene shortly after the attack. at the time, ukraine denied any involvement. "the new york times" reports u.s. official who is spoke about the mission did not say who carried it outer or whether president zelenskyy signed off on it, but the u.s. officials say they admonished ukraine for the act, fearing it could prolong the war. nbc news reached out to military and intelligence officials but has been unable to confirm the "times" reporting. stu

. >> so, joining us now from ukraine is nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin. what is the reaction there to president biden's comments? >> reporter: last night we heard from president zelenskyy calling for preventative strikes to deter president putin, the president's spokesperson quickly clarifying those remarks this morning saying president zelenskyy was referring to sanctions, economic sanctions which ukraine has been calling for for some time. meanwhile, i've been speaking to a ukrainian commander on the field. he told me that he is well aware of president biden's assessment and had this to say about it. take a listen. president biden last night was talking about the possibility of a nuclear strike. >> i understand it. i get it. of course all people the world should be worried about it. but at the same time, we should clearly understand if we let our fear manage us, we will let -- if we really need that our children will grow up in safety, in free world, when the human rights are important, when the people can be their self without any discrimination, we ne

what else is there to say." >> erin mclaughlin reporting from ukraine. retired brigadier general peter swack. four days ago vladimir putin was holding a victory celebration saying we've annexed these four regions of ukraine, they are ours forever. since then all we've seen is ukrainians rolling into those territories, taking towns with relative ease. what do you make of what you're seeing right now? >> it's extraordinary, and, yeah, putin is having to rework his words. he talked of the four regions being forever part of russia. let's put this into context. seven months ago, many of us thought that how long was it going to be before they take kyiv, the capital. then russians half a year ago were swept from kyiv. then we learned a month ago they were swept from the grounds and region around kharkiv. now the offensive is moving towards lyman and crashing, moving into donetsk and into the rest of luhansk province, another of the four provinces supposedly forever part of russia. in all of this, you have now after a tough fight, the ukrainians beginning to scr

we will get to msnbc correspondent erin mclaughlin and also white house correspondent kelly owe dodge. eri -- kelly o'donnell. erin, what is it like where you are and where do you see this current escalation going? >> around 8:00 this morning, we heard five explosions here in kharkiv, what is the second largest city in ukraine, striking, according to ukrainian officials electrical infrastructure in the kharkiv region, leading to power outages in the city itself, with ukrainian officials say a couple of hours ago, power was restored to the city. this kind of missile strike is actually not all that unusual for kharkiv. it's a weekly occurrence. nothing like what we saw unfold in kyiv, the capital today, in which missiles rained down on the capital, damaging the residential buildings, a child playground, a pedestrian walkway, a museum, and civilian targets, and that is what has so many ukrainian officials outraged, calling this a country-wide terror attack, on the part of the russian federation, but they're also seeing it as a sign of russian weakness. a sign that russia is on the back f

>> nbc news correspondent erin mclaughlin reporting live from kharkiv. thank you very much. >>> let's bring in now former fbi special agent and national security analyst for nbc news and msnbc clint watts, and retired army four-star general barry mccaffrey, an nbc news military analyst. thank you both for being with us. >> great to have you guys on. general, always an honor talking to you. give me your latest insights into what we've been seeing over the past few weeks with russia's army seemingly in even more dire straits. >> well, these are really momentous events. ukraine's taken a $17 billion infusion of military technology and turned it into a phenomenal force. they have destabilized the russian forces in the east. when they captured lyman's logistics and rail hub, it's possible that will unravel russian forces in the east. but, you know, the two iron laws of combat are, one, gain and maintain contact with an enemy force, and secondly, you must be relentless in the pursuit, so the ukrainians still have a tremendous opportunity but a difficult fight

only months ago they were gardeners, farmers, but as they told erin mclaughlin, they traded in their>> reporter: in ukraine, the road to moscow is littered with the remains of russia's fail attacked on kharkiv. miles from the border is this destroyed village. a ukrainian commander takes us into the forest and shows us where the russians were holed up. >> it's russian stolen -- >> reporter: they stole it and put the z on it? and pushed out following an intense artillery battle. >> in one hour, 240, 250 ammunition come here. >> reporter: it's difficult to believe all this was liberated with the help of a brigade of ukrainian civilians. what started as a group of 35 untrained men, in two months he helped transform into a battalion of more than 200. >> we have guys who only want to fight. they don't want money. they don't want -- they want to kill russian because they want to protect country. >> reporter: basically, you have taken a group of people, men, that have never been on the battlefield before? >> they take rifle like automatic machine gun. what's this? >> reporter: including a fa

erin mclaughlin joins us from kharkiv. building, trapping a number of people. footage showed ukrainian authorities pulling a 3-year-old child from the rubble. one was killed in the attack. that's the kind of attack ukrainians find infuriating. it's what is driving many ukrainians to the front lines to participate in the war effort. i spoke to a group of ukrainian men, a battalion of 200. they left their day jobs for the battlefield. in ukraine, the road to moscow is littered with the remains of russia's failed attack on kharkiv. miles from the border is this destroyed village. a ukrainian commander takes us into the forest and shows us where the russians were holed up. >> it's russian stolen -- >> reporter: they stole it and put the z on it? and pushed out following an intense artillery battle. >> in one hour, 240, 250 ammunition come here. >> reporter: it's difficult to believe all this was liberated with the help of a brigade of ukrainian civilians. what started as a group of 35 untrained men, in two months he helped tra

and beginning tuesday the country will halt all energy exports erin mclaughlin is in the eastern city of kharkiv. >> it's nightfall here in kharkiv and the power is still out as you can see there's no lights. this bus is just stuck here and this is what many ukrainians say they fear most, the cold, the dark, and the coming winter. >> reporter: a winter approaching quickly as civilians take cover once again >> cal, the u.s. of course has already given billions in aid to ukraine late today the presidents of both countries spoke. what is ukraine asking for right now? >> reporter: well, lester, ukraine is asking its partners for their continued military support and in their conversation today president biden assured the ukrainian president they would continue to receive those very important air defense systems. if you listen to the ukrainian president, he says that is their number one priority moving forward lester >> cal perry, you and your team stay safe. thank you. >>> the strikes in ukraine follow the appointment of a battle-hardened general to oversee russian forces and unwavering su

erin mclaughlin is in kharkiv with the latest.orter: we describe the scene left behind by russian occupation as scary. i can tell you, they're terrifying. and in the kharkiv region, we have seen village after village completely destroyed. we were about 20 minutes outside of the devastated town of izyum, a village crushed, devastation as far as the eye could see, it looked like a hurricane, earthquake and tornado struck all at once, most of the people had fled, we spoke with one resident who managed to survive the russian occupation in the area and he described how a bomb fell in his backyard, leaving a 30-foot hole, and how when the russians moved in, they made him stay inside, only one person could leave his home at a time, to get food. and i asked him how did he survive, he said i do not know. that is the story in so many villages in the kharkiv region. as ukrainian forces are pushing further and further east, and to the south, according to president zelenskyy, reclaiming some 12 settlements alone this week, and both of those ar

joining me now from ukraine, is nbc's erin mclaughlin, the fact that i can even see that you're in kharkiv come. >> reporter: that's right. it has been stunning, the progress made by ukrainian forces, village after village, the ukrainian flag flying high, overnight president zelenskyy saying they have liberated 12 everies of -- 12 areas of ukrainian territories and you pushing farther to the south and east of this country, this as president putin today continuing his spectacle of annexation, officially signing into law the illegal annexation of four ukrainian territories despite the fact that he doesn't completely control any of them. however, russia's defense minister is pointing to some 200,000 russian troops that the defense min industry industry claims they have been able to call off as part of this mobilization. their goal, the original goal was 300,000, and we've seen tens of thousands of russian men flee russia to try to avoid the draft, but russia's also trying new tactics. over night in the kyiv region, an iranian supplied drone, kamikaze drone, setting fire to a number of buildin

let's bring in erin mclaughlin live in kharkiv. >> hey there.n will sign into law the illegal annexation of four ukrainian territories, this as president zelenskyy says they continue to make gains on the battlefield. >> reporter: ukrainian forces say they're making stunning gains to the south, liberating two territories in the occupied kherson region. just days after a victory in the eastern town of lamont, hoisting the ukrainian flag and tearing signs down from areas where days ago russian president putin declared the ukrainian territory would be russia's forever. a long way to break through in a bloody war that's potentially entering a new phase. while liberated areas have been devastated. this man says a bomb blew a 30-foot hole in his backyard. how did you survive? i don't know, he says. russian state tv bluntly warning its viewers we should not be expecting good news. and airing this video of draftees training before heading to ukraine. around half of the soldiers conscripted in the region now being sent home after being deemed unfit, accor

erin mclaughlin is in kharkiv for us. erin, what do you have on the latest on these attacks?>> well, ukrainian officials say that the death toll has risen to at least 20 killed in that overnight attack. dozens wounded, including children. the attack happened in the small hours of the morning. multiple missiles fired into residential areas. multiple structures, one apartment building, in particular was struck. a section of the building was completely collapsing. in the morning you could see in pictures, rescue workers pulling survivors from the rubble. one woman who survived the attack survived what it was like to be inside of the building at the moment of impact. take a listen. >> >> it's really horrifying. this is an area of the country that has come under regular fire, missile attack, from russian forces. just three miles away is the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. then largest nuclear plant in europe. that is under russian control. the city is under ukrainian control, even the russian president vladimir putin has illegally annexed it and it has been a great source of concern e

if you start in the east where my colleague erin mclaughlin is, they reported five different explosions. in rivney, five people dead there. and the city of lviv, the city that is supposed to be safe, a fallback location for so many around this country, hit by a volley of rockets. the power at this hour is still out in this city. as you mentioned, tonight in kyiv, it will be dark and cold in some places. they will have to go to rolling blackouts to save the grid. a number of people huddling in the subways hoping the worst of the attacks is under. the mayor says stay undercover and expect more incoming fire. >> cal, more than 100 attacks? just stop to think about that overnight. and in the morning. more than 100 attacks. how were the defenses so effective? >> reporter: yeah. the air defenses here are excellent. they have been excellent for the eight months this war has been taking place. they knocked about half the rockets and half the drones out of the air. one of the things we have been talking about are unmanned drones. they come with civilian wiring in them. it's harder for the air de

erin mclaughlin as a three hour drive northwest of there in kharkiv. k you for joining us on this. this is as we see it a major victory for ukraine. what else are you learning about the situation? >> yasmin, that is right this without a huge victory. while the russians are claiming to have withdrawn from lame into an area outside of this town. ukrainians are saying that they actually have 5000 russian soldiers and circled in a town as well as surrounding villages. that is potentially humiliating blow for the kremlin. because encirclement is something that the russian forces have been trying to do to the ukrainians and the donbas for months. in the spring and they have been unsuccessful, each time ukrainian forces managed to retreat. now making a stunning sweep of this town. the operation on the heels of another stunning counteroffensive. that took place in the area i'm at now in the kharkiv region. sweeping through hundreds of towns and villages. and what seemed at the time as a surprise and it was a real question mark hanging over the kharkiv operation

. >>> and joining me now from kharkiv nbc's erin mclaughlin.t has been difficult in kharkiv, correct me if i'm wrong, power is out there, vapz is clearly trying to make it hard to sliv in these cities, any reason to believe that people are not going to stand their ground as they have been doing for so long now? >> well, ukrainians are outraged by the events of today. 83 missiles launched towards this country. 40 of which landed on ukrainian soil, striking primarily residential buildings, schools, playgrounds, a pedestrian walkway, all of those things damaged, during this massive attack, what ukrainians are looking at is essentially a country-wide terror attack. and also looking at it as a sign of russian president vladimir putin's weakness, a sign that they have him on the back foot on the battlefield. and essentially losing this war at this point. it began as a counter offensive lightning fast. ukrainian forces moving in, pushing the russians out of the kharkiv region. another victory in the donbas, and also encroaching to the south, on the kh

. >> erin mclaughlin, thank you so much. later in the hour, president biden's warning about nuclear armageddon, i'm going to talk to ukrainian parliament member bureaucratic about her countries concern that putin will use nukes. we are reporting that the doj told trump lawyers in recent weeks that they believe trump still has more documents and has not return them to the national archives. the new york times reporting that it is quote, the most concrete indication yet that investigators remain skeptical that trump has been fully cooperative in their efforts to recover documents. trump is busy this weekend campaigning for his endorsed midterm candidates in nevada and arizona. joining me right now is vaughn in phoenix. you are at a women's march there where the focus is not necessarily on trump's legal battles but abortion. what's been the reaction overnight that a court overturned arizona's abortion ban? >> you really can't separate all of these issues in the political backdrop in which it is happening. just four days from no

abc's erin mclaughlin is on the ground in ukraine with more. >> hey, they're rushes committee says thater today, there was an explosion on a truck on the bridge leading to damage on that bridge causing some tankers to light fire on of freight train. no claim of responsibility so far, in fact, and advisor to president zelenskyy, now pointing the finger in the direction of the russian federation suggesting that they bombed their own bridge. saying that the truck in question was coming from the russians side of the bridge. this, just hours after he appeared on twitter celebrating this explosion as pretty much everyone in ukraine at this point. he tweeted, crimea, the bridge, the beginning, everything illegal must be destroyed. everything stolen must be return to ukraine. everything occupied by russia must be expelled. this is critical to the war effort on two fronts essentially. first, this is a huge bridge that cost billions of dollars. it was built in 2018. at least russia to crimea. it's considered to be a key supply route for russia into the frontlines, from a westward direction. and n

joining me is gabe guiterrez in san germane puerto rico and shaq brewster and erin mclaughlin in florida. and apologies for interruptions if we see president biden speak in puerto rico. let's talk about the progress or lack there of for rebuilding in puerto rico. >> as we await president biden's remarks, let me show you the situation here, at least some parts of southwestern puerto rico, this is san germane, about an hour drive west of where the president landed a short time ago. the good news is throughout the island, luma energy says about 93% of customers have had electricity restored but as you can see, there is still a lot of damage here, and some of the more rural communities are still dealing with power outages. this is a washed-out road. part of road just collapsed here. a wall of water that came crashing through here. and one resident we spoke with a short time ago said she was trapped in her house for at least a day and is still desperate, has no power, and her insulin has been damaged, she has been on the phone, on hold with fema for hours, and she is incredibly frustrated. an

erin mclaughlin on the ground inside ukraine this morning.d morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah. overnight president zelenskyy declaring dozens of settlements the south and the east have been liberated this week alone, saying his soldiers aren't stopping there. last night president biden called president zelenskyy to discuss a new $625 million aid package, including himars and howitzers. meanwhile, this morning russian howitzers. vladimir putin signing president vladimir putin signint into law the illegal annexation the illegal annexation of four ukrainian territories land the kremlin doesn't even r ukrainian territories, land th control, as as russia is scrambling to get russia is scrambling to ge more troops to the front lines,e troops to the fron russia's defense minister sayin. russia's defense they managed to muster 200,000 g men so far, although tens of they'v thousands have fled russia. and this morning a first for th 200,000 men so far this morning, a first fo kyiv region.r the kyiv iranian-supplied kamikaze drone, striking a