kristen: president biden did say this is the first trench. the issue of troops appears to have been ruled out. >> the issues could be inflated in ways that are against u.s. interests. however, we have to think about nato countries next to the border with ukraine as well as neighboring russia. but the fact that there are truths belarus is very concerning to the countries of poland and hungary. scale than just ukraine. but ukraine is caught in the middle. kristen: nick, do you feel the u.s. government and international community is doing enough? >> i am grateful to the u.s. and europe for what is being done. ukraine is not a nato member. we don't count on direct military support in troops. what ukraine did give up its nuclear arsenal in exchange for security assurances from the u.s. and other countries. we do need help. we need stronger sanctions. we meet -- we need more defensive weapons to fend off this russian aggression. kristen: professor, if this is putin's attempt to rebuild what was the old soviet union, as many in the west see it, what

every i've told him that, yes, kristen biden's warning comes as russian and bella russian troops begin, joint military drills. nato estimates 30000 rosman shoulders are taking part, the largest appointment to the ex soviet state since the cold war steadfast and has more from the bellow, russian capital mids, russia flexing its military muscle just 50 kilometers from the. busy bela russian border with ukraine. 4 weeks troops have been arriving even from russia as far east than 1000 kilometers away. it is clear that is as far bigger than previous military exercises by russian officials have not disclosed a number of soldiers involved. nato speaks of 30000. if you consider that an invasion of a large territory like ukraine is in his interest to have a chance to attack from the south from marine ants on crimea, forces from the east, from russian soil, and from the north, in a joint action of russia and its ally bellows, so. ready military speaking, it couldn't be anywhere, but at least by russian ministry of defense showed banks and metal launches being used into drills and military jets i

he doesn't accept ukraine as an independent democratic state. >> kristen, biden said if russia invades the nord stream 2 pipeline from russia to germany won't happen. here's what i don't get. that pipeline has nothing to do with the united states. how can we thereto -- threat on the shut it down? >> reporter: that's right. i put that question to administration officials earlier this morning. and they said essentially that both in public and in private chancellor schultz was very clear with president biden that there will not be any daylight between the u.s. and its nato allies and stopping russia if it does move to invade ukraine. so, that is what the administration is saying, but in terms of specifics, they're not giving any. look at what happened at that press conference yesterday. president biden said definitively that if russia were to move in even one troop that they would cut off the nord stream pipeline, when chancellor schultz was given the same opportunity, he stopped short of being that definitive, steph. and that raised some eyebrows. i was told he was very clear there won't

kristen: what do you think president biden's strategies by not responding in kind?biden administration is interpreting this as a threat, not a promises this is another thing to shake up the people on the others of this conflict, in this case largely in the background, but pruden is also thinking about us, not just ukraine, not just your. the response has been ok, we have heard you, that does not mean we are expecting him to act that way. kristen: some are quite afraid because he is deemed much less stable. the threat has to be taken seriously. i want to ask you about the help ukraine has been getting around the world. president biden approved $400 million just in military aid, is hoping congress will step up with $6 billion. germany reversed its policy to never send weapons to conflict zones. canada announced it is sending supplies. talk about if you think democratic nations are doing enough and pulling all the levels they have. >> what individual countries will do. in the last five days, we have had tremendous changes in policy. in the case of germany, this is not

kristen: sorry. i thought you were done with that. i was just going to follow up. president biden was pressed on whether the most severe economic sanctions have been imposed yet because reporters asked about a personal sanction against putting himself and cutting pressure off from this swift international banking system. why aren't those things happening now? >> so i think with respect to swift, that's in easy one to answer. once they've done that, you can't really do much else. and that is the financial nuclear option. and i think the goal here is to slowly ratchet things up. so keeping that in the quiver, not that it wouldn't be done. and then putting himself, you could do that, but he doesn't really keep his assets in his name etc. russia. he keeps them -- outside of russia. he keeps them in the name of his people. so it may not be that effective on paper. it looks like he has not many assets, and has may be hundred thousand dollars. -- may kristen: with sanctions, it's really a game of chicken, and it takes a long time to really hit home and hurt. who do you think is poised to

and kristen welker, president biden wrapping up a meeting, calling on belarus to not join russia. ne already have. we've already been told that troops are joining the russians as they advance from the north. what other hearings are you hearing that moot we know that president biden is going to announce new sanctions until they are going to be tough sanctions than the ones he has already announced, which of course have targeted banks, russian debt, as long as all of our pursuers relative to putin. i think some of the big questions, will the new sanctions kick russia out of the switch banking system. that would be the mother of all sanctions, the buggest mr. so far the administration not taking those options off the table but not clear those are going to happen right now. we just got a very strongly worded tweet from the president of ukraine, lang. let me read you part of it. it says a pack and of additional tough sanctions from the eu is approaching. discussed all the details with emual macron. the induction of a no-fly zone over ukraine and other effective steps to stop the aggres

kristen and joe biden is shown a willingness for the fight, but he's had to compromise. you know, democrats are in control of both houses of congress and the white house, but in the senate. and it will be very difficult to, to adopt any legislation that doesn't have some republican support. and republicans will be very much against any very serious change. seniors estimates that proceedings in the us will take years to cyber expert, marita shatka prefers action on a global scale. it begins with awareness about the extent to which the outside power of tech companies, whether they're big or small, the entire echo system harms democracy. it's something that really has to be understood, so it will have to be a combination of mechanisms to make sure that that gets rebalance back to putting democracy 1st and not putting technology 1st. mm. shashana. zuba is calling for a ban on the business model of facebook and others that is collecting and selling user data. so we take an extraction, we make those operations illegal, the amplification of device of content for profit, the amp

can happen with russians, he says >> kristen, do both sides leave at least a path for diplomacy >> reporter: they do, lester, that's exactly right. president biden is going to talk to the french president tonight. meanwhile, the pentagon saying the u.s. troop moves are temporary, and they will still be under american command. lester >> kristen welker at the white house, thank you. >>> now to the surprising announcement in the media world. one of the biggest names in news and entertainment, cnn worldwide president jeff zucker resigning effective immediately. emily has details. >> we have news to report involving our network. >> reporter: a stunning shake-up at cnn. >> i don't think anybody saw this coming this morning, an announcement like this >> reporter: cnn president and chairman of warner media news and sports jeff zucker is out, resigning immediately for failing to report a relationship with a top-ranking colleague. writing in a memo, i was required to disclose it when it began, but i didn't, i was wrong. the 56-year-old called the relationship consensual with hi closest colleague. >> gollust, the top marketing executive for cnn, she's rema

. >>> and breaking news from kristen welker, pete williams and carol lee. president bidensing, has a list of top contenders and the three top contenders are ketanji jackson and -- according to three sources familiar with the process and his deadline of doing this in february with state of the union on march 1st. there's a lot at stake for the president to get this done quickly. meanwhile, inflation is giving americans sticker shock, surging to 7.5% annual growth, levels not seen in 40 years. in his interview with president biden, lester holt asked how long higher prices are going to stick around? >> it's going to start to taper off as we go through this year. i think what you're going to see is a gradual reduction in inflation over time. in the meantime, i'm going to do everything in my power to deal with what's impacting most people in their homes. >> joining us now are dave udwatson and senior editor for the political report and buck, former communications adviser to speakers boehner and ryan. in particular, you were writing, i think two weeks ago, that the democrats wer

a senior official told nbc news, kristen welker that president biden will host a virtual meeting, an

president biden said that today in his press conference. >> thank you. kristen welker, matt bradley, keir simmons, i know you'll be on later. >>> democrat from virginia and chair of the senate intelligence committee. senator, thank you for being on with us, back on the show this afternoon. >> thank you. >> a lot to get to. let me start and pick up on the conversation that we were having on sanctions. do you believe president biden has made the right move here and would you support going further by sanctioning s.w.i.f.t. or putin himself? >> well, i would keep both on the table. remember, s.w.i.f.t. is actually a european institution. so, unless we do that sanctioning through s.w.i.f.t. in conjunction with our european allies, which we did, for example, vi-a-vis iran, this coalition that we've taken months to build could start to rattle before we fully bring the hammer down. just to put this in some perspective. america does roughly $28 billion a year in trade. europe does about 300. so, the economic hit that europeans will take with taking rush out of it are gre

a senior official told nbc news, kristen welker that president biden will host a virtual meeting, an hour from now on the situation in ukraine with leaders from several european countries as well as heads of nato and the european union. this comes as tony blinken is warning russia could attack ukraine at any minute. >> to see troubling signs of russian escalation including new forces arriving at the ukrainian border. as we said before, we are in a window when an invasion could begin at any time and to be clear that includes during the olympics. >> blinken urged the americans to leave ukraine immediately. president biden's interview with lester holt according to president biden. >> americans should leave right now. we are dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. it is a different situation and things can go crazy quickly. >> what scenario would you put american troops to rescue and get americans out? >> it is not. that's a world war when americans start to shoot at one another. >> military exercises between russia and belarus enters their second day and as the russian mili

its nato allies by sending more troops to eastern europe nbc's kristen welker has the latest >> reporter: in a show of force president biden deploying 3,000 u.s. troops to eastern europe with fears escalating russia could invade ukraine the pentagon sending 1,000 soldiers based in germany will be deployed to romania, and 2,000 troops will go to poland and germany. 8,500 u.s. troops had already been placed on high alert with over 100,000 russian troops amassed along the ukrainian border new satellite imagery appearing to show those forces growing >> we do not know if russia has made a final decision to further invade ukraine, but it clearly has that capability. >> reporter: the president has ruled out a combat deployment to ukraine saying putin's actions prompted his move. >> as long as he's acting aggressively we're going to make sure we reassure our nato allies in eastern europe that we're there. >> reporter: the kremlin calling the troop deployments unfounded and destructive. it comes after a defiant vladimir putin said the u.s. has failed to meet his security demands including that ukraine be barred from joining nato, b

kristen: headlines -- one is the airline industry is asking the biden administration to drop the negativetest requirement for incoming international travelers . do you think we can safely do that? >> i think it is difficult to make a broad statement around all international travelers. i want to look more into this to see why they are doing this ash is there a bottleneck in testing? i would understand if there was some type of vaccination rate that needed to be met by another country before we drop a requirement that i think this is too early. kristen: the main argument is that it is discouraging international travel when there is no reason to. and i was wondering what you mean when there is no reason to? if you are looking at a country that has lower rates of covid, perhaps it is not necessary that may be in places where covid is raging, it is necessary. is it situational? >> to anyone out there saying we need to drop the vaccine mandates or get rid of the vaccine checks, i ask, where have you been over the last several decades when we had vaccine requirements were when you are going your

i'm kristen welker in washington where president biden is honoring his commitment to support ukrainey moving 3,000 u.s. troops to eastern europe in what white house is calling a response to current conditions. administration officials say the officials are not going to fight in ukraine. but the decision is one day after president putin's comments that the west is ignoring his security concerns in diplomatic negotiations. >> to be prepared for a range of contingencies, the united states will move additional forces to romania, poland and germany. moves designed to respond to the current security environment. they're going to insure the robust offense of our nato allies. all of these are in addition to the 8500 personnel on heightened alert poster i announced last week. those 8500 are not currently being deployed but remain ready if called for the nato response force. >>> and president trump taking it to the fellow republicans coming to the defense of mike pence. lindsey graham after days of admitting he believed pence could have overturned the 2020 election. of course, that is false. o

i'm kristen welker in washington where president biden is honoring his commitment to support ukraineials say the officials are not going to fight in ukraine. but the decision is one day after president putin's comments that the west is ignoring his security concerns in diplomatic negotiations. >> to be prepared for a range of contingencies, the united states will move additional forces to romania, poland and germany. moves designed to respond to the current security environment. they're going to

helped protect america's national security interests so i think the biden administration played it exactly right. >> matt bradley, kristenarngsz thank you all for your expertise and analysis on this big story. up next, we'll have much more on how the u.s. and our allies are working to bolster nato's presence in eastern europe in response to russia's invasion of ukraine. we're going to go live to eastern europe where thousands of u.s. troops have arrived next. ands of u.s. troops have arrived next i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. first psoriasis, then psoriatic arthritis. even walking was tough. i had to do something. i started cosentyx®. cosentyx can help you move, look, and feel better... by treating the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting...get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections some serious... and the lowered ability to fight them may occur. te

. >>> this morning we now know the three finalists on president biden's list to fill the soon-to-be vacant supreme court seat. kristenus about them and that timeline? >> reporter: it's great to see you. look, we know that president biden has interviewed his three finalists, and so he is inching closer to making that all-important final decision and just to tick through them with you, ketanji brown jackson, who sits on the d.c. u.s. court of appeals, she is someone who got bipartisan support when she was confirmed. she had three republicans who supported her, senator susan collins, lindsey graham and lisa murkowski and she clerked for justice breyer. she is really one to watch. another one, judge michelle childs, she's gotten high praise from senator lindsey graham and representative clyburn of south carolina, a very important state for president biden. leeandra kreuger and andrew bates is the press secretary releasing this statement saying, quote, the president has not yet chosen a nominee. he continues to evaluate eminently qualified individuals in the mold of just breyer who have the strongest records, interdetecti

biden's values to help them design cards. heartwarming. kristenke has conjured up a really nice forecast for folks who want to go out to dinner with their sweethearts. mike: or want to get closer to them to stay warm. [laughter] it will be pretty nice once you are inside. but that trip from the car might be a little chilly. not as warm as it was over the weekend. five consecutive days of highs. you can see the clouds kicking up from sf street. we have chilly breezes tonight and tomorrow. it will be calmer and milder into wednesday, thursday, and friday. another dry cold front is possible. we do have a chance of clouds lingering along the coast and with the prevailing wind out of the north northwest. some of these clouds could cross through lower elevation -- elevations. look for a few more clouds there than anywhere else. look at the temperatures in the valleys back into the 30's in the east bay. around fremont and the north bay as well.low to mid 40's for most of the bay and toward the coast. tomorrow, expect the clouds to hang out in the morning

the pressure on president biden to find a diplomatic resolution as the window for talking seems to be closing quick, tom. >> seems to be getting more and more intense kristen we thank you for that. >> joining us the national security advisor to president biden. mr. sullivan, good morning thank you for talking with us this morning >> thanks for having me. >> let's get right to it here. here we are as many as 190,000 russian troops from moved in around ukraine's borders could this summit force president putin to back down or are we just delaying the inevitable >> well from the very beginning of this crisis we've been clear that we're prepared either way we're prepared to respond decisively if russia moves on ukraine and we're prepared for diplomacy to settle this peacefully including at the highest level. when president mack roan address president biden yesterday if he was prepared in principle to meet with president putin if russia did not invade? of course president biden said yes. but every indication we see on the ground right now in terms of the disposition of russian forces is that they are in fact getting prepared for a major attack on ukraine. so we

biden took office. peter and kristennk you, josh. >> we turn to erin mclaughlin in kyiv this morning for a look on the ground in ukraine. erin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, kristen. this morning, the state department has ordered most of its direct higher employees to leave u.s. adding that as of tomorrow, it will no longer be providing con you lar services in ukraine. it will maintain a small staff in the western city for emergency purposes only. we heard from the russian foreign ministry this morning saying it is optimiing the staffing levels across ukraine. widely seen as an indication that the russians withdrawing the diplomatic staff. this as for days the united states has been warning its citizens in uave been speaking americans who say they are going to stay. we spoke to retiree dave egan who said he lived here for three years and this is home now. listen. >> i'm not going anywhere. i don't know what's going to happen, but i'm not running. i have too many friends here. this is my home. i like it here. i

joe manchin gets a vote, whether the biden administration goes to war with him but kristen sinema hask she may be flipped in this chair, she would be for net neutrality and some people say when you hear net neutrality why should cable operators throttle content that doesn't pay them? it is there pipes and when you screw with them and make them pay more they cut back on innovation and don't put money into 5g and gigi would say these utilities are so important for america it is not fair. those are the two sides of the story. i was fair with her in my coverage. she was not part of the deal. it looks really weird that she signed the deal as she was becoming an sec commissioner. it looks bad and the optics were not good. jackie: we will see if she brings you up again. coming up home buyer demand for mortgages dropping as the housing market drops out the middle class after this. ♪♪ ♪♪ jackie: the la housing market is one of the hottest in the country and real estate agents going above and beyond. >> reporter: good morning from sunny and warm los angeles. drone footage or a list celebrity pa

kristen: all right. as you talk to people, did you get a sense of what they wanted the u.s. to do? president biden has worked in conjunction with nato to have strong economic sanctions, just today adding putin himself, to try to cut off the money. what did you hear from protesters? do they think that is enough? do they think that will work? to they want something else? >> i think people are at a loss. they are watching this escalating so quickly. there was not a great articulation of what they want. weeted about the issue and said the u.s. needs to be a sanctuary for refugees from ukraine as they come. that was a theme i heard as well. it was just a sense of confusion. a lot of people shared it felt like their own family was being attacked, like attacking a brother or sister. just draw dropping at what was happening. kristen: when i look at people in front of city hall, i think this is in keeping with san francisco's being a placeng a pe free speech. did you have a sense for that? >> absolutely. it felt like the community sword to city hall. we did not have a lot of notice rally was happening and

, president biden announced new sanctions against russia and warned vladimir putin more could follow depending on his actions in the days ahead. nbc's chief white house correspondent kristenelker good morning. >> good morning to you. president biden is sharpening his tone and actions towards russia this morning, imposing tough new sanctions after accusing president putin of invading ukraine. the move met with some praise and some criticism. that the message still isn't strong enough. as hopes for a diplomatic resolution are fading fast. this morning president biden taking a tougher stance with russian president vladimir putin of putin ordered what he's calling peace keeping forces into eastern ukraine. >> who the inrd los a game does putin thing gives him the right to declare new so called countries on territory that belong to his neighbors. >> reporter: the president for the first time called russia's move an invasion. >> this is the beginning of a russian invasion. >> reporter: the president also slapping stiff new sanctions on russia targeting two large banks and imposing penalties on russian debt, which the president says means moscow can no longer raise money from th

kristen, shaquille, thank you both. >>> we are 11 days out from president biden's state of the union address and with historic inflationnge its economic messaging. the white house's plan to calm a frustrated electorate is not. ehh, frustrated electorate is not that thai restaurant we went to a couple weeks ago? how bout tacos? tacos. automatic emergency braking — one of six advanced safety features standard on every 2022 chevy equinox. find new technology. find new roads. chevrolet if you wake up thinking about the market and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech from fidelity. [ cellphone vibrates ] you'll get proactive alerts for market events before they happen... and insights on every buy and sell decision. with zero-commission online u.s. stock and etf trades. for smarter trading decisions, get decision tech from fidelity. i've got diabetes and hypertension, which means i'm on a lot of medications. medicare helps to cover the cost, but not as much as you'd think. fortunately, my pharmacist told me about singlecare, a free service that gets you discounts at your local pharmacy. now i always check s

kristen, richard, kieran, cal, thank for getting us started. we await remarks from president biden on how the west will respond. later in the hour, we'll go to the pentagon. leon panetta also joins me. leon panetta also joins me i have friends. [ chuckles ] well, he may have friends, but he rides alone. that's jeremy, right there! we're literallriding together. he gets touchy when you talk about his lack of friends. can you help me out here? no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. well, we're new friends. to be fair. eh, still. welcome to the eat fresh refresh at subway wait, that's new wait, you're new too nobody told you? subway's refreshing with better ingredients, better footlongs, and better spokespeople. because you gotta you gotta refresh to be fresh if you think all pads are exactly the same, think again. the totally reinvented always ultra thinause you gotta wicks gushes 90% faster and absorbs even more. for up to 100% leak-free and odor-free comfort. always ultra thins like never before. do you struggle with occasional n

a possible primary challenge to arizona senator kristen sinema over her voting record, do you think that congressional democrats who have impeded the biden agenda deserve to be primaried? and what about those that are asking you to consider giving her primary? >> look, the people that have to answer that are the voters of arizona. and i'm hearing from them every day. i will make a determination about that in 2023. but in the meantime, look, i think it's legitimate for all these volunteers, all these men and women that worked for hours, donated dollars every month, to make sure we had a majority to pass an american agenda -- not the biden agenda, not the democratic agenda, an american working agenda. and if you're standing in the way, then you should answer for. that when i say answer for that -- senator sinema doesn't go and talk to her district. she doesn't talk to the state. she doesn't give them reasons why she's voting the way she is. she's only letting us guess. so in the meantime i think that's the first thing we should all be asking is, why are you doing this? secondly, at the end of the day, the voters will tell me what to do, an

next week at 11:00, join peter alexander and kristen welker for a special edition of msnbc reports. they'll be live at the white house has president bidenhis first state of the union address. they'll take you inside the white house. white house reports all next week 11:00 eastern only on msnbc. and we'll be back with much more breaking news, including my conversation with senate arms services chairman after this short break. arms services chairman after this short break. is now a good time for a flare-up? enough, crohn's! for adults with moderate to severe crohn's or ulcerative colitis, stelara® can provide relief, and is the first approved medication to reduce inflammation on and below the surface of the intestine in uc. you, getting on that flight? back off, uc! stelara® may increase your risk of infections, some serious, and cancer. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, sores, new skin growths, have had cancer, or if you need a vaccine. pres, a rare, potentially fatal brain condition, may be possible. some serious allergic reactions and lung inflammation can occur. lasting

this is a key moment, kristen, because the meeting of the 11 democrats is the biggest single gathering that we know president biden has convened to talk about this. as we talk about the traditional role of advice and consent of the senate, is this more a meeting about advice or getting closer to the consent phase here? in other words, is the president coming in still soliciting some names from the member of the committee whose votes will be key to this process or maybe at the point where he can run through a shorter version of that longer list that we showed just a few minutes ago. in terms of the search for it, it stands former senator doug jones who has been named as the nomination adviser by the white house sometimes called the sherpa. he started on his job this week and interestingly, typically that role is somebody who comes in after the fact when the nominee has been selected to guide them through the senate pros. but a former senator, but someone who has known biden for years the president wants his advice and feedback throughout this process, as well. we know the search is under way and also listening to h

kristen, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning to you. president biden is condemning the russian invasion in the strongest terms, and in a statement overnight said he and the first lady are praying for the people of ukraine. the president will speak to the nation about the crisis later today after monitoring the situation here at the white house late into the night, and in an urgent call with the president of ukraine, mr. biden vowed to rally global leaders against vladimir putin and to hold russia accountable. overnight as the first explosions rattled parts of ukraine, an extraordinary split screen, the u.n. security council, which russia chairs, convening a rare emergency meeting, its second this week in a failed last-ditch effort to deter vladimir putin. the u.s. ambassador to the united nations sounding the alarm. >> this is a perilous moment, and we are here for one reason and one reason only, to ask russia to stop. >> reporter: and in a chilling moment during the meeting, the ukrainian ambassador confirmed russian military options were underway dir

again just adds to the pressure on president biden to try to find that diplomatic path, even as the window for diplomacy is closing. joe. >> so, as kristen mentioned just in the last two hours, it was vladimir putin huddled with his team, his security council. keir, what do we know about that meeting? >> reporter: the timing is unclear because it turns out that it appears to have been a meeting that was recorded a little earlier in the day and then played out on russian television, extraordinary. imagine president biden's national security meeting being recorded, all of the conversation, the whole thing being broadcast later in the day. that's what we've been seeing on russian tv, but it's highly choreographed. you're seeing president putin's advisers, each of them being asked do you think that we should recognize these independent regions of ukraine? each of. this standing up and giving advice, advice that perhaps president putin wants to hear and adviser after adviser saying, yes, we think you should recognize them. the former president and prime minister medvedev even telling president putin ukraine doesn't need these territories. so

biden which every democrat supported. there's vanita gupta, who previously advocated for sweeping drug decriminalization and expressed her support for efforts to, quote, decrease political -- decrease police budgets, end quote. there's kristen clarke, also confirmed by senate democrats to work in d.o.j. who echoed calls to invest less in police. these are president biden's picks to top jobs at main justice. i just had to place a hold on a nominee to be u.s. attorney for minnesota because the person acting in that job recommended an unusually soft sentence below the maximum guideline to a convicted fatal arsonist because the arsonist was taking part in a far-left political riot at the time. i'll need written assurances the nominee to succeed this person will not continue this jaw-dropping practice and lessen criminal sentences so long as the political violence they commit happens to be left wing. the modern democratic party has convinced itself that order, order is actually oppression and anarchy is actually compassion. this is totally wrong. tolerating lawlessness and anarchy is not compassionate. it doesn't help vulnerable communities for politicians to passively watch them devolve into literal war zones. the actual reside

biden is expected to speak to nato allies later on friday. this is america's top diplomat told the united nations that moscow is looking to manufacture an excuse for war. kristen salumi has this report secretary of state antony blank and made a last minute detour to the united nations on his way to europe to address the security council. again warning that russia was poised to attack ukraine. some have called into question or information. recalling previous instances where intelligence ultimately did not bear out. but let me be clear. i am here to day, not to start a war, but to prevent one. russia's deputy foreign minister, sir gavers shannon called the accusations baseless, insisting that weapons supplied to ukraine by the west. are the real threat google bullied. the coastal is that, as you get, the fact is that the russian forces were on the russian territory and remain on russian territory. and the day before yesterday, some of the units off of their exercises were returning to their home basis. still, many countries expressed concern as the number of russian troops on the border appears to be increasing. and while russia presented its own evidence of all

kristen welker in for chuck todd. it's been just over two weeks since justice breyer announced he's retiring from the supreme court. mr. biden plans to spend the weekend at camp david reviewing materials on potential supreme court nominees and that the interview process could begin as early as next week. we'll have our eyes glued to the white house stake-out cameras and we'll bring you any new information as it happened. president biden expanded on his selection process and short list in an exclusive interview with my nbc colleague lester holt. >> the short list are nominees who are incredibly well qualified and documented. >> what's the number you're at? four, five, six? >> what i've done is i've taken about four people and done the deep dive on them, meaning the thorough background checks and see if there's anything in the background that would make them not qualified. >> lester doing his best job to pin him down there. and the president of course said he has about four individuals on his short list but sources are telling nbc news that the three tom contender for the nomination right now are katanji brown jackson, michell

kristen, as ali points out, democrats point to and are pointing to the fact, as we heard from president biden in his remarks just in the last 60 minutes, she's been confirmed three times already, bipartisan confirmations. we can show it here. u.s. circuit judge for d.c., federal district court, the u.s. sentencing commission. you see it on the screen right now. talk to me now that the moment is out there, right, now that the speech has happened, the pomp and circumstance in rolling out this historic supreme court pick, what is the sort of attitude and tone the white house is taking now as this confirmation process is really officially beginning here. >> well, i think you're right to highlight all of that bipartisan support from the past for one reason, hallie. think back to when mr. biden was a candidate and when he made that promise that he was going to govern with bipartisanship. he's been criticized for not doing that enough. this is a chance for him to pick someone who could potentially get bipartisan support for all of the reasons that ali mapped out. we do not know where these senators

biden and putin would be in jeopardy as well. they never closed the door on diplomacy but it makes that meeting very difficult, andrea. >> kristen welker and simmons and richard engel, thank you all so much. >>> and joining me is john bolton, former u.n. ama basder to president trump -- president bush i, should say. let's talk about deterrent. how do you deter vladimir putin? he seems determined to do what he's about to do because he's amassed this force. do you see him backing down? >> the president announced his policy failed. he said unequivocally the russian decision had been made. and yet you still hear today from your report that they count on holding back sanctions to maintain deterrent. if deterrent is failed, the answer is to come up with new steps, certainly to bring the guillotine down on all the sanctions they've been kaunltm plating and take additional steps if they want to stop any further military action. their admission they're engaged in gradual escalation is a further admission of a disastrous failure of policy. >> did this not really start under president trump with his embrace, if you will -- i mean it starte

kristen welker. if confirmed, she will be the first black woman to sit on the united states supreme court, a promise made during the campaign by president biden. what can you tell us about the deliberation here? >> reporter: savannah, that promise was made by then-candidate biden exactly two years ago today, during a debate. he said that he would, in fact, choose a black woman for the supreme court, and so here is the day. i can tell you that in the deliberations, the white house has consistently said that the president wanted to choose someone who was in the mold of justice breyer. as pete laid out, this is someone who clerked for justice breyer and that is something that she is quite proud of, as well as all of her other legal work. and so that was clearly one of the factors. but take a look at her background, savannah, in her confirmation process. she earned the votes of three republicans, senators lindsey graham, lisa murkowski and susan collins. could she get their support now? of course, the white house has said that bipartisanship will be an important part of this process as well. so that is something to look for. of course, some repub

kristen welker. >> there are at least three historic and evolving story lines that are unfolding in this building behind us. first, russia's invasion of ukraine, how it's shaping president biden's state of the union address scheduled for tomorrow might. and confirming his supreme court nominee, who would be the first black woman to serve on the court. >> in ukraine, citizens are taking up arms in defense have repelled russian forces from capturing the capital of kyiv and other cities. vladimir putin is putting his forces on my alert. according to the united nations refugee agency, the number of people fleeing the country is now mosh than 500,000. >> i don't want to see our boys and girls die. >> i must save my child. i must save him. >> putin is monster. >> no translation needed there. putin a monster, according to that young boy. in the next 15 minutes, president biden will host a secure call with america's allies to coordinate next steps in responding to russia's aggression. the white house just announced that the u.s. is also expanding sanctions, new steps focusing on russia's central bank. already western sanctions are sending the value of russia's currency, the ruble, to h

kristen welker has that part of the story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. the bidenouse is now sharpening its tone and calling what is happening on the ground an invasion. that is a shift because overnight, officials here declined to define russia's actions that way. the president is expected to impose new sanctions today, but mr. biden is under pressure with republicans and even some democrats calling on him to get tougher with putin right now. overnight, an urgent meeting between the u.s., ukraine and allies at the u.n. security council after vladimir putin ordered what he's calling peacekeeping forces into two regions of eastern ukraine. the u.s. and other countries condemning the move, accusing russia of violating international laws. >> this move by president putin is clearly the basis for russia's attempt to create a pretext for a further invasion of ukraine. >> the ukrainian ambassador delivering a stern warning. >> members of the security council, the united nations is sick. that's a matter of fact. it's been hit by the virus spread by the kremlin. >> reporter

kristen welker joining us now. good morning. >> reporter: hi, savannah. good morning to you. president biden is sharpening his tone this morning, vowing to make vladimir putin a pariah on the world stage and it comes amid a stark warning from his secretary of state who said he believes that putin will try to overthrow the ukrainian government, exactly what richard just said, and it could happen in just days. this morning, president biden meeting with nato allies as he faces the greatest global test of his presidency so far. vladimir putin's invasion of ukraine. >> putin is the aggressor. putin chose this war. and now, he and his country will bear the consequences. >> reporter: the president unveiling sweeping new sanctions against russia. including cutting off russian banks and companies from the west. targeting russia's defense industry by restricting technology exports. and freezing trillions of dollars of assets, held by russian elites with close ties to putin. himself, and revealing some european allies are divided over whether to cut off russia from s.w.i.f.t., the international banking

biden administration's fault. this is all on vladimir putin. he decided to do this. we're responding with our allies to be as effective as we can be. >> kristenans are fired up about this, whether they see it as distraction? >> in cnn's most recent polling they asked americans what's the biggest problem you think our country needs to address, and foreign policy was the response of 1% of respondents. that that can include china, ukraine, you name it. foreign policy is relatively low in the list of things that americans are concerned about. with that said, you could have said the same thing about afghanistan last summer. it was not a top issue with most voters. it fundamentally changed the way a lot of people thought around characteristics and biden and his party. in cnn's most recent polling, only 42% approve how biden handled russia so far so there some down side for him even though this is not an issue at the moment that is registering very high with voters. >> dana, you asked me this important question of why is putin doing this, what does he want? one of the reasons he's doing this is he believes that america is weak and divided against it

kristen welker. >> there are at least three historic and evolving story lines that are unfolding in this building behind us. first, russia's invasion of ukraine, how it's shaping president biden'sed

biden expected to announce a new soeft sanctions on russia. coordinated in a meeting with his fellow g 7 leaders and joining us is chief white house correspondent, kristenker and cohost of "weekend today" and "the new york times" chief white house correspondent, peter baker, a former bureau chief for the "times." what are you hearing about what we can expect from the president? >> reporter: i am hearing the president is going to announce tough new sanctions. of course these sanctions would come on the heels of other sanctions he announced earlier this week which targeted oligarchs close to vladimir putin and this comes on the heels of the president meeting with his national security team this morning as well as his allies in the g 7. in fact, we're hearing from paris in the wake of that meeting, saying we call on all partners and members of the international community to condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and to stand shoulder to shoulder with ukraine. the question at this hour, andrea, is just how stiff are these sanctions going to be? we know republicans and even some democrats are saying the president and the united states and its al

kristen well kerf from the north lawn, andrea mitchell is at the conference and joined by military analyst four star general mccaffrey. the phone call as we anticipated wrapped up with president biden attacks on ukraine. do we know what we'll hear from the president? >> reporter: i'm told that president biden is using this moment to talk about the fact that there has been this unity among the u.s. and its allies relating to turning up the heat on russia to dissuade it from invading ukraine so there's a focus on the u.s. and allies after just having that call with the other world leaders and will talk about the diplomacy and the deterrence. expect him to mention that meeting between lavrov and secretary of state blinken that will happen next week with no invasion by russia at that time and talk about the fact they still see a path to diplomacy but obviously this is a window that's closing. why is the president speaking again? this will be his second time speaking this week. it underscores the urgency of the situation to update the american people and send a message to world leaders and the russians in particular that the u.s. has the intelligence. and as they have been reporting on

biden said, that it may be coming in days. butted we're sewing more from the people here to accept this might be ea reality. >> thanks so much, are are and thanks to kristen. and james cleverly was at the u.n. addressing the security council today. he's the minister of state at the foreign common wealth and development office of the u.k. and joins me now. we're pleased you could take the time to join us today. you basically said, as secretary blinken was saying on behalf of america, that it's time to show they're serious about diplomacy. have you seen any sign that russia is serious, especially after today rejecting all the american initiatives delivered to them tlooer weeks ago for arms control? >> reporter: what we are seeing is, unfortunately, still very negative. we're oseeing an increase to the north, east, and to the southern borders of ukraine. we're seeing the instance that you reported on earlier on in the show, which we know have been used in the past for pretext for invasion. we're seeing lots of the things that i think everyone would regard as negative but we're not seeing any of the things we would want to see to indicate that they're serious