i will discuss with james stavridis, nato's former supreme allied commander. and understanding the new round of nuclear talks in vienna. as iran and the u.s. appear miles apart, washington says it's prepared to use other options if the talks fail. what does this mean? i'll talk to former state department official vali nasr. >>> but first here's "my take." the saddest thing about the emergence of the omicron variant is its utter unpredictability. for months, maybe longer, health officials have been warning as long as the covid-19 virus can circulate freely and wildly, it would change its form and those mutations could be more difficult to handle than the original variant. in october this year, former british prime minister gordon brown predicted just this. he said we in the west may feel safe and blessed at the moment because we have had the vaccines, but we may find a new variant that comes out of africa or asia, where people have not been vaccinated and are not protected and it obviously isn't susceptible to the vaccines that we have at the moment. the soluti

. >> retired admiral james stavridis, thank you, great do you see, happy new year to you. >> same to >>> coming up, a tribute to those we lost this year. you're watching "msnbc reports." . you're watching "msnbc reports." every emergen-c gives you a potent blend of nutrients so you can emerge your best with emergen-c. nyquil severe gives you powerful relief for your worst cold and flu symptoms, on sunday night and every night. nyquil severe. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, best sleep with a cold, medicine. i'm greg, i'm 68 years old. i do motivational speaking in addition to the substitute teaching. i honestly feel that that's my calling-- to give back to younger people. i think most adults will start realizing that they don't recall things as quickly as they used to or they don't remember things as vividly as they once did. i've been taking prevagen for about three years now. people say to me periodically, "man, you've got a memory like an elephant." it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >>> welcome bac

joining us mime memory in wilmington, delaware, richard engel and retired admiral james stavridis, aupreme allied commander. he is also author of "the sailor's bookshelf: 50 books to know the sea." it's good to see all of you. mike, what are white house officials say this morning about president biden's message to putin this afternoon? >> reporter: well, chris, white house officials are emphasizing that this is a phone call that president putin requested. they can't speak to what his motivations were in requesting this conversation, but they say that president biden is never going to pass up an opportunity for having this kind of leader to leader to conversation, especially with the situation as precarious as what we're seeing with ukraine. three weeks ago when they had the virtual sit-down president biden delivered a message which was if you escalate this situation any further, the white house has defined that as an invasion of oouk that the u.s. and allies were ready for severe economic sanctions. even as conversations have been happening at a lower level between u.s. and russian o

james stavridis is also the author of the sailor's bookshelf, 50 books to know at sea. admiral, welcome. here's my first question. does ukraine stand a chance against russia in armed conflict? >> depends how you define a chance, michael. i think ukraine could make it very painful for russia. the vast majority of ukrainians will fight. they will fight to defend their land. they have improved greatly in war fighting capability over the last four or five years with u.s. and nato assistance. it will be a painful struggle for vladimir putin if he decides to invade. >> in other words, what i hear you say, admiral, is this could be a repeat for putin of afghanistan in '79. >> or chechnya. let's face it. the russians have experienced their own forever wars, michael. and those ghosts rattle around moscow. putin is trying to weigh that precise calculus. if he does go across that border, he'll do it swiftly. h he'll try to carve out a chunk that creates a land bridge from mother russia to crimea. he's not hanging around for a long fight in ukraine. >> okay, admiral. here's another

. >> okay, admiral james stavridis, i appreciate your sage insight as always.ashington post" calls it a high stakes game of chicken. where it's happening and what it's about next. chicken. where it's happening and what it a'sbout next. mm. [ clicks tongue ] i don't know. i think they look good, man. mm, smooth. uh, they are a little tight. like, too tight? might just need to break 'em in a little bit. you don't want 'em too loose. for those who were born to ride there's progressive. with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. think i'm gonna wear these home. -excellent choice. what makes salonpas arthritis gel so good for arthritis pain? with 24/7 roadside assistance. -okay. salonpas contains the most prescribed topical pain relief ingredient. it's clinically proven, reduces inflammation and comes in original prescription strength. salonpas. it's good medicine. unleash the freshness... [upbeat music] still fresh ♪ in wash-scent booster ♪ downy unstopables ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ with chase security features, guidance and convenience, banking feels good. chase. make more of what'

nbc analysts and former nato supreme allied commander admiral james stavridis says president biden musthe border of a sovereign state in anger and conquer it, the international system will be set back decades >> reporter: the ukrainian government this morning said it is looking for a package of support from the united states to help deter russia, including more weapons and more military advisers craig. >> our chief foreign correspondent richard engle on the ground for us in ukraine richard, thank you >>> back here at home, the congressional committee investigating the u.s. capitol insurrection will not be hearing from a key witness today donald trump's former chief of staff, mark meadows, abruptly called off his appearance. guarantee haake joins us now with more on that decision garrett, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that committee is now locked in a standoff with the former chief of staff, mark meadows meadows is leading the committee to threaten contempt proceedings against him. all of this happening while meadows ask promoting his new book overnight, former president trump

he says no i asked the former nato supreme allied commander admiral james stavridis and here's how hebiden administration will be deeply concerned about vladimir putin there will continue to be a difficult inlocutor. the invasion of ukraine is one in five, which is unacceptedly high >> one in five so that is not a majority percentage but as he calls it unacceptably high. when could it happen some experts suggest that perhaps as we get into winter, russian troops in very cold weather, they could be ready then stavridis thinks differently he thinks it can happen a little later. here's what he said. >> he has 100,000 troops currently parked on the ukrainian border he will take a breather and not make a move until after the olympics in february. >> so he believes that doing such an invasion before the olympics would be a distraction to the rest of the world he would want to do so at a time when there would be more attention on that situation before the olympics are, of course, on the world stage, joe, that is going to be the story overseas, that the market and establishment in washington

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