go ahead. >> josh lederman in brussels, thank you. i'm only interrupting, because we told you we would play back when we saw president biden in the oval office with the finish leader. we know that's about to play out any second. we know that the president took no questions, but we want to listen in to what the president did have to say in these statements. watch. >> here with us today, the president of finland at the white house in what is a critical moment involving all of europe. and, you know, we've been in regular touch for some time now and coordinated a united transatlantic response to hold the russians kblt and unjustified aggression against ukraine. and we agreed, it's not only an attack on ukraine, it's an attack on the security of europe and on global peace and instability. and finland is a critical part of the united states, a strong defense partner as well. partner to nato, especially in strengthening security in the baltic sea area. we're committed to helping ukraine defend itself and in support of the humanitarian needs.

. >> let's go right to josh lederman in latvia with exclusive access inside the active military exercisessident biden talk about defending every inch of nato territory, we're here where 7,000 u.s. troops have been added to europe as the u.s. tries to shore up its nato allies, make sure it is prepared for any possibility that putin's aggression could expand beyond ukraine to actual nato allies. you can see some of these troops from the 173rd airborne brigade. they are paratroopers and have been here about 10, 11 days. they were quickly deployed after the start of this war and they are training here on the ground along with their latvian colleagues. they are learning about and practicing how to do maneuvers that involve urban warfare, how to quickly deploy into risky situations, light infantry, meaning they're often just on their feet. we heard from some of the troops who are training here about how important it is for them, especially after nato came to america's aid after 9/11 for them to be doing their part for nato as well. i have a specialist from alabama. here's what he told us about

nbc news correspondent josh lederman is live for us now in warsaw, poland. s will take place between russia and ukraine at 4:30 a.m. eastern time that according to ukraine's border guards service. what else do you know? and what have these conversations looked like to date? >> well, these will be the first talks between the russians and the ukrainians directly since the foreign ministers of both countries met, hosted by the turks a few days ago. and before that, alicia, it was all about those talks that are taking place on the border between ukraine and belarus between the ukrainians and the russians. in both of those instances, there really were not a lot of signs of progress. and in fact the ukrainians left the most recent round of talks more peps than they had been before about the possibility that president putin at this point in time was open to ending this ongoing war. but we heard something interesting earlier today from deputy secretary of state wendy sherman. when she was on the sunday shows saying that in the last couple of days, the u.s. has seen w

one more check with josh lederman, joining us from warsaw, and in anticipation of the speech, josh, do you know -- have you gotten a readout, by the way, of the speech, although i should say that ben rhodes, a former speech writer had mentioned to me that it's the kind of speech, given the circumstances of this day, it may have been being written in that motorcade on the way actually to the presidential castle given all the late developments. >> reporter: that's right, and we know president biden will be revising his speeches up to the point he gives it. we are learning a little bit more about this speech, that it's going to be roughly a half hour that the president will speak. we're also learning more about who is in the audience with the white house officials saying that ukrainian refugees have been invited to personally attend this speech. that's obviously an important symbolic move as they try to make clear what is at stake here. this is the opportunity that president biden has to wrap all of this together, the humanitarian, the fight between democracy and authoritarianism, the sec

josh lederman has the latest from brussels. >> hey, yasmin.ig diplomatic focus in the ukraine war will shift this week to here in brussels when president biden arrives for his visit to nato, where he will meet with nato leaders and other top foreign officials, as the world tries to figure out what more they can do to help ukraine in fighting the russians. nato allies looking at whether they can boost ukraine's missile and air defense systems, including potentially having individual nato countries like bulgaria or slovakia give advanced anti-missile systems to the ukrainians. but nato as an alliance still very reluctant to get drawn into what could potentially be a major european war that involves nato, the u.s., and russia. they say that cannot happen. in part because russia is nuclear armed, so they're insisting this meeting will not lead to nato deciding, for example, to impose a no-fly zone over ukraine. but what it may lead to is a new agreement amongst the u.s. and nato allies about how to best insure the defenses for the nato countries.

aaron. >> josh lederman for us in poland today. thank you. >>> we do have some breaking news today from former president barack obama. a short time ago, he tweeted that he has tested positive for covid. obama says he had a scratchy throat for a couple days but is feeling fine otherwise. he says that he and former first lady michelle obama are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted. she, by the way, has tested negative, and he's also asking everyone who has not been vaccinated to get their shot. >> coming up, is there a line that putin won't cross? it seems unlikely following these latest attacks. we'll discuss it with a former adviser to the president of georgia, molly mccue, when we come back. ♪ ♪ ♪a little bit of chicken fried♪ ♪cold beer on a friday night♪ ♪a pair of jeans that fit just right♪ ♪and the radio up well i've seen the sunrise...♪ get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. only at applebee's so many people are overweight now and asking themselves, get 5 boneless wings for $1 with any handcrafted burger. "

josh lederman joins me. josh, you were on the ground watching the u.s.with the latvian forces. are they ready? >> reporter: that's right, andrea, and what's happening here is u.s. and nato allies are practicing the very skills that they would need if president putin were to go beyond ukraine and start to threaten russian -- start to threaten nato allies. of course everyone here hopes it will not come to that. this is what it means to be part of a defensive alliance like nato. and so the way these war games work is they break up the troops into two sides. today, the american troops were playing the attackers, and then after that, they kind of just let it play out the way it would spontaneously. we watched today as a gunfight broke out between the u.s. troops and the italian troops who were part of a multinational force playing the defenders. of course they're not using live ammunition. nobody was in danger but it does help them practice the skills they would need, particularly in cold icy terrain like they have here in latvia. many of the troops here incl

joining me now is in this -- josh lederman who is in brussels. just a few hours, the polish prime minister is going to meet with the president of the european commission to discuss support for ukraine. joining the eu, talk about the significance of that support really getting what has to happen next in order for ukraine to fulfill its bit and try and get it into the eu? >> yeah, joe, poland has really been on the leading edge of its countries in the eu that has been pushing for a quick session of ukraine into the european union. we know that the polls have some experience with what it's like to be invaded by the former union and to be at that difficult position geographically between russia and europe and they along with the baltic nations. and about a dozens others have been calling for you to quickly issue a grant membership to ukraine. which is essentially had a process in place. dating back to 2014 to try and get into the eu with the head of the eu with the european commission which is kind of like the executive branch of the eu. they say tha

that's got over from there and go to poland, where nbc's josh lederman is monitoring the response fromand european leaders. josh, i'm not sure if you can still hear me or not. but i just wanted to start with the latest developments on the diplomatic front, if we can. putin spoke today with leaders of france and germany. tell us more about how that call played out? and whether it advances any possible and to this conflict? >> that call lasting about an hour and a half, ayman, but there are no signs that brought the situation any closer to a resolution. and the long term, or frankly in the short term. it was prompted by president zelenskyy, pleading with french president macron, to do whatever he could to get president putin to allow for an immediate cease fire, as well as to address those concerns about that ukrainian mayor who has disappeared, potentially, has been kidnapped. but the french were very pessimistic after this call. the french presidential source saying it was a difficult call, and that putin gave no indication he is willing to end this war at this point in time. but sayin

nbc correspondent, josh lederman, is in poland, with the very latest on the struggle to address what is emerging to be one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. josh, tell us what you are seeing. how authorities there are coping with this continuing influx of people, making their way across ukraine's borders into poland and elsewhere? >> yeah, here in poland, they have accepted well over 1.5 million refugees in the few short weeks, since this swore started, ayman. and it has really pressed the ability of countries like poland, to the brink, as they try to care for the ukrainian neighbors. but at the same time, they're worried about their own potential safety, if president putin were to go beyond ukraine, and start to threaten other countries in the region, such as poland, romania, hungary, many of them nato allies who would enjoy ostensibly the collective defense of the u.s. and everyone else in nato. but still extremely concerned about the potential ramifications for them. we know that earlier today, president putin spoke jointly with president macron of france, as well as g

nbc's josh lederman has the latest from brussels.utin's meeting in moscow, with israeli prime minister, naftali bennett, lasted for three hours, as the israeli leader steps up as the latest head of state, trying to act as an intermediary off of to offer their services to try to help negotiations move forward between putin, ukraine and the west, to de-escalate this situation. and that meeting, the israeli prime minister, also communicating his concerns about israelis and the jewish community, potentially caught up in this conflict. now, the israeli prime minister heads to germany, where he will meet with a german chancellor to brief him on his meeting with putin, we are also told that the israeli prime minister was able to speak on the phone with president zelenskyy of ukraine, after his meeting with putin. that diplomacy taking place, as the state department today issues an alarming new travel warning, telling all american citizens and russia to get out now. that's a stepped up warning from the past several weeks, when the u.s. was e

josh lederman is live in brussels for us ahead of president biden's trip there. gabe, let me start with you. earlier today we heard no surrender from ukraine, right? unsurprisingly, they are rejecting russia's demand to surrender the port city of mariupol. in a couple of minutes we'll talk about one of the city council members there. i know you talked not too long ago with one of the leaders in ukraine. what is the assessment of the situation and what are we looking for now? >> well, hallie, it is increasingly more dire. i spoke with the deputy prime minister of ukraine who said of course she was not surprised that the leaders in mariupol refused that deadline, 5:00 a.m. this morning, it came and went. the russians have demanded their surrender. but he says that russia is escalating this war by its use of hypersonic missiles. she also told me, hallie, that more leaders than had previously been reported, 14 of them actually, including mayors and other leaders of small towns, have been kidnapped or abducted by russians since this war began. she says the situation i

joining me now, nbc news correspondent, josh lederman live in poll. you've been reporting on this development that russia has asked russia for military equipment. that would open all kinds of other questions both for the u.s.. it involves certainly nato countries. what more can you tell us about what you have learned on this front? >> well, from the very beginning of this conflict, a, meant the u.s. has been concerned that if everyone -- anyone was going to throw a lifeline to president putin it was going to be china. both in terms of the military aspect and the economic aspect. we have seen the russians and the chinese grow closer to each other in the last several weeks. and in fact, some u.s. officials have set, on the record, that they believe that president putin told the chinese leader, president xi, that he has his plans to invade ukraine. something that the chinese have disputed. but now, the u.s. officials are telling me that the u.s. believes that russia has asked china for military equipment and support since it launched this invasion. it ha

thank you so much, josh lederman, from brussels on that. matt bradley from the western city. what about diplomatic efforts? do you think they're having any impact on the fighting? do you see any evidence of that? >> reporter: no, and i mean, what we're seeing on the fighting is that, actually, it's being used more as a pretense. this is something that's been going on for weeks and weeks long before this conflict. i was talking to a ukrainian diplomat and he told me, as long as the diplomats are talking, the guns are silent. obviously, this was long before the guns really became quite loud and he was saying that and i remembered him saying that, because actually, while the diplomats were talking, the guns were moving around and going into place. that's somewhere we're seeing in the southeastern city of mariupol where we had a cease-fire that was arranged and was supposed to allow a humanitarian corridor so civilians in their thousands could possibly leave mariupol, which has been totally strangled by russians forces who were trying to take o

ali arouzi is in ukraine, kristen welker at the white house, josh lederman in vienna and leigh ann caldwell on capitol hill. ali, a lot to get to here. there is a new curfew in kyiv, another round of cease-fire talks, and the new update from the pentagon just in the last couple hours from a defense official that there are other continues -- other cities sill stg heavily bombarded, among them mariupol. >> reporter: that's right, hallie. a new curfew going into effect in kyiv. the mayor klitschko put that in. such a dangerous place there. the russian troop have pretty much overwhelmed irpin. journalists being shot, children caught up in that. they want people to stay at home, to stay safe. the only time they're allowed to come out is when those very eerie air raid sirens go off and they're meant to go into underground bunkers. they want people to stay at home. we saw the devastation that the russians caused there late last night early in the morning. they've terrorized the civilian population. those two residential buildings got bombed. at least three people have been killed. dozens of other

. >>> antony blinken is in brussels, and josh lederman is with us now, thanks for being here, give us a summary, what are some key moments so far from blinken's trip? >> well, jonathan, the overarching theme today is pushing back on any possibility that president putin could expand this conflict beyond ukraine, particularly into nato territory. we heard from the secretary general of nato this morning, as secretary blinken was arriving saying this situation has created a need for a new normal for security in europe, and that the threat of a persistent conflict and risk is real here. blinken saying, as he was arriving, that this is a defensive alliance, they don't want conflict with anyone, but blinken saying that the u.s., the west, nato, are ready for that conflict, should it come, and blinken saying this about what nato has been able to do, in the last few days. >> in the wake of russia's unprovoked pre-meditated aggression against ukraine, this alliance came together with speed, with unity, with determination. immediately launching the rapid response task force. putting in place the

let's go to josh lederman on the ground in warsaw. let's talk through this. we spoke yesterday immediately after the president wrapped those remarks. and of course, we heard the white house backing up or i should say walking back those remarks. talk to me about how things have developed so far today and how folks are reacting in warsaw. >> yeah, that clean-up on president biden's remarks started before president biden had even boarded air force one to fly home from his speech here in warsaw, with the white house official saying that biden was not calling for a change in power in russia. and the cleanup has extended all the way to jerusalem where secretary of state antony blinken was meeting with his israeli counterpart today and said look, what biden meant is that president putin cannot be allowed to exert this kind of power over his neighbors, infringing on the sovereignty of other nations. but i want you to hear first from the u.s. ambassador to nato, who put her own spin on what president biden said, and then to hear how a top republican senator, jim risch

as we move, everyone to josh lederman, joining us from warsaw. josh, welcome to you. let's talk about the busy day for the president so far. what have we heard from him today, and what do we expect ahead of this big speech that is scheduled 45 minutes or so from now if he's running on time. >> reporter: well, alex, to pick up with what jacob soboroff was talking about, the russian military leader saying they were refocusing on the east of the country, suggesting they might be changing their strategy as they failed to have a lot of military victories in major cities, and closer to the west. president biden today as he was speaking to reporters here in poland said he's not so sure that's the case. and then it was literally just a few minutes after president biden said that that we saw these strikes in lviv, the western most part of ukraine, seeming to underscore what president biden was alluding to. the russians seem intent on wreaking havoc across ukraine. if you can hear the clamoring behind me, it's because they're taking down right now some of the security barriers

. >>> joining me now, nbc news correspondent josh lederman from wausau, poland. wausau. let's have a listen. >> putin has the audacity like autocrats before him that might will make right. we'll have a democracy -- for god sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> and, josh lederman, it is the last line said by the president that had the administration trying to clarify what that statement meant, make -- saying that he's not talking about regime change. what's the latest on that? >> reporter: well, jonathan, clearly president biden wanted to issue a strong rebuke to president putin in this speech. indeed, he wanted to send a message not only a threat to putin that he better not violate or threaten an inch of territory within nato, but also to make clear to the russian people that it is their leader who is going to be held accountable for this war. but that one line that he just played, that ad-libbed line from president biden, has really overshadowed all of the rest of the speech because the biden administration has walked such a careful line in the first month o

josh lederman laid it out at the top of the show for us.ting the duma, 300-plus members of the duma, essentially russian lawmakers, defense companies, russian elites. your thoughts. >> it's certainly the first time the united states has targeted an entire legislative body. even for the toughest sanctions regimes we have like north korea and iran we've never sanctioned every single legislator in their parliaments. it's a tough move in particular in regards to the defense companies. that's a big one. it's not the toughest that the u.s. has come out with since the invasion of ukraine. but it's the message again that they're trying to convey with this is the unity with europe. and that there's no daylight there and that together we're going to be taking these steps. what we really need to see obviously is steps regarding russia's oil sector from the european side in particular. and we know that those talks are ongoing. but showing that unity is important. >> jim, when you look at what's happening on the ground in uk raip the latest assessment f

nbc's josh lederman reports that the state department is calling for all u.s.e saying that they have detained 31-year-old american basketball player brittney griner. the customs service says that vape cartridges were found inside her luggage, notably transportation of drugs in russia can carry a prison sentence of five to ten years. now, her team, the phoenix mercury released a statement saying they are closely aware and monitoring the situation, in constant contact with her family, and are focusing on her safety and getting her home. i want to bring in my panel now, the director of the west coast chapter of the women of color advancing peace and security, nola haynes, and msnbc contributor, malcolm nance, author of "they want to kill americans", and joining me on set, msnbc political contributor, dr. jason johnson. thank you all for being here. this news that the wnba player is being held in russia. this is quite frightening for, you know, hash and oil. this is not like an opioid or something that she was carrying with her. >> and let's understand the politica

yamiche: joining me tonight to discuss this and more, josh lederman, a correspondent for nbc news.e is joining us from bar -- from brussels, belgium. and here, i'm excited to have bodies in studio, peter baker, chief white house correspondent for the new york times, vivian salama, national security reporter for the wall street journal. thank you for being here. josh you are in brussels where these emergency meetings took place. talk to me about what are the latest, when it comes to the significance of these meetings and the impact they might have on the way forward, given the west is trying to help ukraine, but also not get into a military conflict with russia? josh: you put your finger on the tough balancing act here that the white house is trying to do, along with its nato allies. you heard president biden in the white house stumble a bit over the last few days in terms of this question of, what is the point of all of the sanctions we are putting into place? is it deterrence to prevent a war from taking place? or is it about punishment? you heard president biden in his news confe

joining me now is nbc correspondent, josh lederman. here was a ukrainian mother who spoke to the president today, moments ago, let's listen to that exchange. >> i'm here with my daughter. my husband and my son are in service over there. and we're just afraid he's going to keep moving. he's going to keep moving. we mothers are ready to strangle him with our bare hands, to be honest. >> in an extraordinary moment, you know the president, you know how he's going to be affected by what he's experiencing today. josh. >> that's right, andrea. i think one of the ways to think about president biden's overarching goals on this trip was to answer the question, why should the rest of the world care, and why should they continue to care now that this conflict is entering the second month, and while in brussels, we saw president biden make that argument from the security standpoint. here in poland, it is all about trying to put a human face on this crisis, and really drive home for people that while we may talk about the numbers going into the milli

way to prevent this violence from continuing at least in the medium to long term, even. >> nbc's josh lederman in poland for us, josh, thank you so much for joining us. stay safe, my friend. and turning now to one of the youngest groups forced to flee -- orphans. debra ross's office was contacted by a doctor working in ukraine to get 20 to 30 orphans, most of whom, we should note, had been adopted by families in the united states, out of the war zone. but there is an issue. if these children leave to go to poland or another neighboring country, their paperwork, their adoption paperwork essentially becomes, or might become, invalidated, making it even more difficult to get to america. joining me now is democratic congresswoman deborah ross of north carolina. congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. this is a heartbreaking situation. what more can you tell us? i know you've been working with a doctor who has been trying to get roughly 30 orphans out of the war zone. can you talk to us a little bit about that effort or this part of the effort to getting them out? where does that stand right

joining me is nbc news correspondent josh lederman. >> reporter: russia and ukraine make up about 30%unts of other critical supplies, soy products and other needed food stuff, especially for countries in north africa, kenya, morocco and others. i asked ambassador mccain what effect this upcoming food shortage is going to have on people who live this those parts of the world. here's what she told me. >> we are now because of this crises not going to be able to feed others who are struggling, ethiopia, yemen, kenya, madagascar. we're already at half rations in many of these countries and now with this particular war, i mean, how do we take food from a hungry child and give it to a starving child? how do you make that kind of decision? so that's what we're up against. >> i also asked ambassador mcgain mccain what her late husband would be doing and she said he would be screaming at the top of his lungs. >> thank you for the privilege of your time. craig melvin whom i love and admire dearly picks up with more news right now. >>> love right back at you, jose. good thursday morning to you.

josh lederman is in vienna. >> reporter: director general told me when it comes to the risks frumt theferent categories. said it's one thing when you have a loss of power to nuclear sites and you have a few days to figure out how much fuel do we have with the back-up generators and to get the electrical lines back online to sufficiently cool the spent nuclear material. he said the thing that keeps him up at might is the possibility of a direct kinetic hit that would effect nuclear facilities in ukraine, especially the active nuclear power plants. he says if that were to happen, it would really be uncharted territory. here's a bit of what he said in the interview. >> they can withstand an airplane falling on to them. so, the possibility that a direct attack could reach the core of the reactor is quite remote. it's a problem with pipe that explodes. it's a problem with something that may happen, perhaps not can it liberately but as a collateral consequence of a fire exchange or something like that. and there we would face a more complicated scenario. >> if there was a massive incident, h

now, joining us from lviv, ukraine, ali arouzi, and josh lederman, let's start with the latest on the ground, what do you have. >> reporter: the situation in mariupol continues to be desperate. when we talk about siege and starvation, that's exactly what's happening there. the russians gave ukrainian defenders in mariupol an ultimatum last night, they said lay down your weapons, leave the city, and we'll allow humanitarian aid in, and civilians out. unsurprisingly, the ukrainians who showed resolve refused to capitulate, they said they're not going to surrender their city, and 300,000 people remain trapped in that city in appalling conditions. no running water, no electricity, very little food. the russians have been bombarding that place. they have hit apartment buildings. they have shelled churches. they've held children's hospitals, and as you mentioned, they hit a theater yesterday morning. they dropped a bomb on it. that theater is all but destroyed. there are about 400 people in there, by all accounts, they were women, children and elderly. many of them are still trapped in ther

. >> that was now ambassador cindy mccain speaking exclusively to josh lederman in poland.enskyy the u.s. will send another $500 million in aid to ukraine. congressman, earlier this month the president signed into law that massive spending package that included nearly $14 billion for military and humanitarian aid. the white house says the administration is preparing to offer more than a billion dollars in additional funding toward humanitarian assistance. is all of this going to be enough? >> i think it's hard to say. putin needs to stop his war. it's an unjust attack on ukraine. they have a right to self-defense and self-determination. i think people around thele world have been united to support president zelenskyy and the people of ukraine. i think the challenge is when you look at the logistics of unrolling this, there's no way that all $14 billion that the united states has given and billions more that others around the world have given have been able to be deployed into ukraine. so i think there's a tendency to kind of continue reacting, reacting but there's a lag bet

josh lederman in brussels, thank you for coming to "the sunday show." and we continue with the latest out of ukraine, ahead of president biden's visit to nato had headquarters this week, amid reports of more atrocities against civilians by russian forces. i had the opportunity to speak with the united states ambassador to the united nations, linda thomas-greenfield, earlier this morning. joining me now is the united states ambassador to the united nations linda thomas-greenfield. madam ambassador, welcome back to "the sunday show." >> thank you. >> so, president biden and secretary of state blinken have said putin committed war crimes. will it even be possible to hold him accountable for his atrocities, including today's bombing of an arts school in mariupol? >> well, we are seeing this happen every day in front of our eyes. and we're working with our partners to collect evidence so that we are prepared to support any efforts that are made to hold president putin and russia accountable for the horrific brutality that they are imposing on the ukrainian p

let's go to nbc's josh lederman. can you share what's on blinken's agenda today? i know you're going to tell us about that near two-hour call with emanuel macron and vladimir putin. >> reporter: yeah, alex, secretary of state blinken's mission on this trip is very clear. he's visiting all three baltic nations. first lithuania, he will also visit latvia and estonia as the u.s. tries to make very clear to president putin that every inch of nato territory will be defended. that if there is any idea from the uses that they plan to expand this campaign beyond ukraine, that would put russia into a direct conflict with nato under article 5 as we discussed. nato would be forced to defend its territory. so the u.s. wants to make very clear to its baltic allies who are very scared at this point that they could potentially be the next target, that they are going to have their backs guarded by the rest of their nato allies. we heard from secretary blinken before he got on that flight to the ball ticks while he was in moldova, another russian neighbor that has been experiencin

with us is josh lederman. the vice president and poland's president were asked about the jet issue during a news conference earlier today. appeared to sidestep that issue. what do we know about how polish leaders viewing the u.s. rejection of this aur? >> we heard from the polish president saying we all have the same goal, doing everything we can to help ukraine. they heard what the u.s. said, but also the need for nato to act as one. the polish idea here was by putting this in u.s. custody that they wouldn't be boxing nato in to a larger role in this conflict. they would essentially be giving them this aircraft but allowing nato as a whole to make decisions about where they should go and how. part of that may be an attempt to paper over the obviously diplomatic rift here with the pols doing whatever they can to help the ukrainian government and also vice president harris saying the u.s. and poland are on the same page here. they said the pols got ahead of their skis. they heard what the u.s. was saying and wa

new developments at home and overseas, we begin with josh lederman in brussels, he's got two big headlines as he joins us. right now, josh, the israeli prime minister is meeting with vladimir putin. talk about the significance of it. >> reporter: well, it could be significant. we know there are many countries that have offered in the last days, alex, to mediate between the ukrainians and the russians to try to create some opportunity for negotiations for diplomatic resolution to this conflict. we've seen the turks offer, the israelis on a number of occasions have indicated they hope to be a mediator. i believe the qataris as well. this could be a potential move in that direction, but we also know there are already these talks that have been going on on the ukrainian, belarus border between the russians and ukrainians. it's unclear at this point in time whether this meeting in moscow between the israeli leader and president putin will lead to anything more significant but it clearly shows how nations around the world are trying more and more to engage president putin, to get in his ear, mak

. >> nbc's josh lederman, live from warsaw, where the vice president is today. thank you very much, sir. we will talk to you again soon. >>> ukraine announced plans for second evacuation routes today after some success getting civilians to safety yesterday. ukraine says that more than 40,000 people were evacuated from five locations. they had hoped to get 100,000 civilians to safety, but officials say continued shelling from the russian forces and blocked routes made it impossible. russia again blamed the issues on ukrainian nationalists. >>> still ahead, florida is on the verge of creating a police force for the big lie. plus, we've been warned the ban of russian oil will send gas prices even higher. the move that some governors are calling for to give us a little bit of relief at the pump. >> and the latest on the efforts to get a wnba star out of jail in russia. those stories and a check on the weather when we come back. nicorette knows, quitting smoking is freaking hard. you get advice like: just stop. go for a run. go for 10 runs! run a marathon. instead, s

let's go to josh lederman joining us from brussels. erm of expectations, josh? >> when you think of all the reasons president putin said he had to go into ukraine, it's all front and center here in brussels, home to nato whose expansion into eastern europe president putin says threatens his security. it's written into the ukrainian constitution that they aspear to join the nato alliance, and here in brussels is also home to the european union where president biden will also spend time during his visit on thursday. many of the eu nations, france, germany, and others, deeply involved in the diplomatic efforts to try to come up with some resolution to end this war. and president biden will also be discussing with those allies what control countries like the u.s. and other eu nations could play potentially in securing security for ukraine if it were to come up with some type of an agreement with russia in which ukraine would have some type of a neutral status, something the russians and ukrainians have been discussing in recent days. when i

latest reporting from ukraine and beyond, and here in the yirkts united states as we begin with josh lederman in brussels belgium. let's get to the urgent message from the state department, what do you know about it? >> reporter: for weeks, the u.s. state department has been encouraging american citizens who are in russia to consider leaving the country immediately. now the warning is at a different level, a new travel warning issued from the state department today saying all american citizens who are in russia should leave immediately. this warning saying americans should not travel to russia due to unprovoked, unjustified attacks by russian military forces, the potential for harassment against u.s. citizens by russian government security officials and the limited ability of the u.s. embassy in russia right now to help u.s. citizens who might be detained or otherwise need consular assistance in russia. clearly a stepped up level of concern by the u.s. government, and part of what the concern centers on, alex, is the fact that it is getting harder and harder for americans in russia to find a

let me bring in josh lederman in brussels. he's stand big here. wait for president biden, i have to ask about the schedule change because there's a fascinating gap between today and poland on saturday, and the white house has been pretty hush-hush about what his schedule is. now when you see it moved up a little bit, i have to say may be more curious about his schedule in the next 24 hours. do you have any hint? >> reporter: well, it looks from the way that the schedule shifted, chuck, like basically the president was running behind, which if you've covered president biden for as many years as you and i have, you know that's not something that's out of the ordinary for joseph biden. >>> he's walking up u josh. >> reporter: as a result -- all right. let's listen. >> so there you go. it's running late to run early. here is the president. >> good evening, everyone. if all the press is here, you must be getting very tired. am i the 16th or 17th? all kidding aside, thank you for taking the time. today marks one month since russia began its carnage in u

nbc's josh lederman is at that camp in latvia with an exclusive look at military exercises taking place west. this is the eastern flank of nato, and when president biden talks about defending every inch of nato territory, he's talking about this. we got an inside look here at how u.s. troops are training alongside their latvian, canadian, other nato allies making sure they are ready to support that mission, that article five commitment to defend all nato countries as an attack on one is an attack on all. and we saw how some of the troops here were practicing skills like calling in air strikes from the ground and what to do if an attacking force is trying to cross a river, what to do if your unit loses contact and needs to carry on its mission independently. i want you to hear from one soldier that we heard from who was talking about what it means to be serving alongside his nato allies. >> i have been able to work with spain, latvia, on the way up we -- i ran into some lithuanians, and some pols as well. >> people from all over the world. >> yes, sir. >> but one mission. >> yes, coming

latvia, a nation bordering russia in riga they're running military exercises with nato allies nbc's josh ledermans there at camp adazy. >> reporter: tonight american troops barely a 100 miles from the russian border, ready to take on any threat, running through drills in latvia, alongside nato allies preparing for a range of battlefield scenarios. >> i never thought i would be able to train with nato allies like this. >> reporter: it's a decades-old mission with fresh purpose, these troops training on russia's doorstep in a country that some fear could become putin's next target. >> it certainly gives us a sense of urgency all of the training we're conducting right now is very focused on what we would have to do to defend latvia. >> reporter: the u.s. has deployed another 800 troops to the baltics. there are roughly 100,000 u.s. troops in europe. >> the experience gets your heart pumping. >> reporter: after the russians invaded ukraine, the u.s. moved 20 of these apache attack helicopters from germany to latvia to shore up nato's defenses paratroopers are practicing urban warfare, like the kind p

. >> thank you so much for that ellison, it was an extraordinary yesterday, and josh lederman, let me go to you in brussels, yesterday, my understanding is that at that meeting, one of the things that we saw, with the picture that has become ubiquitous, it's a dad who is bent over the body of his teenaged son, covered with bloodstained sheet, and one of the things that the nato secretary general said, you know, this is what these conversations are about, this is what we must never forget, that the people on the ground, how their lives are being displaced, i don't know if we have it, but if we do, can we go to just one example of a family, who are just now, as they're trying to flee their country, are holding on to whatever they can, take a listen. >> i'm going to tell my mom that i will go to, i will go, i was crying, and you may never see me again. it was so scary, the most scary words i've said in my life. >> absolutely breaks your heart to hear these stories, josh, over and over and over again, and i know it was the subject of discussion, obviously, they see the numbers and they se

. >> all right, that was josh lederman in brussels for us a short time ago. the staunch warning from the state department following reports that brittney griner was detained in russia after a search of her luggage found vape cartridges and then new comments from russian president vladimir putin earlier today raising tensions further after issuing a threat to western nations that consider a no-fly zone over ukraine. joining me now, anastasia, a russian-born writer and social historian, also the author of "russia: putin's playground, a concise guide to russian history, politics, and culture." anastasia, thanks for joining us. i appreciate it. i was speaking to a former senior intelligence official here in the united states who told me, essentially, vladimir putin is close to not having an off-ramp. he is doing irreparable damage to himself domestically. not only to the domestic audience that he has but to his small inner circle. what do you make of that? >> i think that we -- the big question right now is what's the end game of all of this, right? and when you

let's go to nbc's josh lederman joining us from washington.on of the president's comments that putin cannot remain in power? >> reporter: these comments by president biden have left europeans scratching their head, alex, whether the u.s. is seeking a change of leadership in russia which is of course something the white house has walked back. the ukrainians don't want to touch this. their concern is not who's in charge in russia, it's getting russian forces out of their country and ending this invasion of the ukrainian soil. the kremlin certainly is reacting to this with dmitry peskov saying, look, the russian people elected president putin and it's the russian people who should decide who their next leader is. in the west there may be some whom would question whether putin was elected in any kind of free or fair election, but leaving that aside, we are seeing this walk back from the biden administration continuing throughout the weekend with the president's ambassador to nato saying that this was a principled human reaction from president bide

let's go to efforts to the diplomatic front, nbc's josh lederman is joining us from riga. what do we know about emanuel macron, the french president's, long phone call with vladimir putin yesterday? >> reporter: it was about an hour and 45 minutes, alex. macron expressed his deep concerns about nuclear power plants in ukraine after the harrowing incident a few days ago. he tried to convince putin there must be no further efforts to seize nuclear power plants in ukraine. putin said it was ukrainian radicals who provoked that incident of violence around that ukrainian power plant. of course that's completely at odds with what ukrainian officials on the ground have been saying. both leaders are now looking to the iaea, the u.n.'s nuclear watchdog agency, to see how they can better assure safety at these vital sites in ukraine, as macron insisted to putin that there needs to be cease-fires to allow citizen evacuation. president putin has also been speaking with the israeli prime minister who is also in turn speaking with the germans and the brits and the ukrainians. you see th

josh lederman in warsaw, poland, courtney kube at the pentagon, and david, and he's also the author of 2034, a novel of the next world war out in paperback today. matt, let's start with you, you are in western ukraine, you had the cease fire talks in turkey. we're getting reports that russia might allow humanitarian corridors, how much faith should we put in those reports? >> yeah, i mean, garrett, these humanitarian corridors we heard about, really in just the last hour or two. they're important. they're not moving the ball here. they're not a paradigm shift. one of the two corridors is from the sumy region down south to a little bit south of sumy to paltava that has been the scene of the first and so far really the only successful humanitarian corridor so far in this war. we have seen convoys of vehicles leaving the shelled town of sumy in the north. this has been done before, so again, that's not entirely new. the other one is actually very unique, and very very needed. this is going from the city of shatomer, a bit east of where i am, west of the capital of kyiv, and that is a huma

in brussels, our josh lederman reports that the concern over the reactor and vladimir putin's increasing penchant for indiscriminate violence is harding nato's position. >> we are not seeing any signs here at nato that this incident is leading to anymore appetite among the nato allies or the u.s. for getting involved directly in this conflict. in fact, it's directly the opposite. this incident seems to have really hit home for people, the dire stakes here, and the risks of this conflict escalating even further. >> meanwhile, in moscow, the russian parliament passed law that punishes any actions that, quote, discredit the russian armed forces, including factual media reporting on the invasion. the bbc polled all of its reporters out of russia, saying, quote, the safety of our staff is paramount and we are not prepared to expose them to the risk of criminal prosecution for simply doing their jobs. the iron curtain seems to be falling around russia again if question now is what happens next? joining me from kyiv is nbc news chief foreign correspondent, richard engel. so, richard, the story

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we're met with nbc's mike memoli at the white house, cal perry in lviv, and josh lederman joins us from warsaw. cal, let's talk about what happened in lviv yesterday and what you're seeing on the ground there today. >> reporter: look, i think we saw a return to normal, at least the normal that was the postwar normal here for the city of lviv. people out on the streets, all the restaurants open. yesterday a stark contrast, we had air strikes on that fuel facility at about 4:30 here in the afternoon, athlete five people wounded in that strike. a second strike at a military installation, really a message not just timed with the president's speech but a message that the russians can still hit sites in the west. in the eastern part of the country, we see continuation of the fighting. you mentioned the uk report about russian troops trying to encircle areas in the east. this was something that the russians had foreshadowed, they had talked about focusing on those eastern provinces. there has been reaction both here and in the united states to that speech by president biden, especially those l

. >>> the tv news editor who protested the war in >> josh lederman, thank you. >>> the tv news editor who protested the war in ukraine during a live news cast, marina ovsyannikova works for the russian-owned kremlin-controlled channel 1. yesterday she interrupted a live broadcast by walking behind the anchor with a sign that read, no war. police took her into custody after last nighto posted on telm appeared to show her in court this morning with her a photo posted on telegram appeared to show her in court this morning with her lawyer an independent russian media outlet reports her court appearance today was not related to the on-air protest. instead, the court appearance was for this video she posted it immediately before the televised protest. in this video, she apologizes for working with russian state tv and calls russia the aggressor country in the war the court fined her 30,000 rubles or about $280 russian state media reports authorities are waging a more serious criminal proceeding for her on-air protest under new russian censorship laws, she could spend up to 15 years in priso

thank you to josh lederman in poland and jocab soboroff in lviv. limburg and our panel talked all. this market jacobson is the assistant dean of the school at syracuse. and he also served in the u.s. navy reserves. slob nor off is the youngest ever member of the ukrainian parliament. thank you for both of you being in. excuse me, let me try that again. see if as a slob of, i want to start with. you biden wanted to unite the world support on this trip to ukraine. do you think he was able to accomplish that? how you evaluate his trip? >> i think some trips valuing steps, but we are really far from uniting the world in the practical support that we need >> and mark what do you make? >> -- >> apologize, let me have you continue and watch your audio for just a minute. let me hear you continue i'm very interested. >> president zelenskyy in his speech to nato made a very good point that as far as 1% of nato tanks and planes that they brought to ukraine could be taken to win this. the point is that so much more needs to be done for ukraine to have the ability to win those battles. i was ju