>> reporter: good morning, vanita. more than a day ago where this russian attack and air strike at an airplane repair facility near lviv's airport raised a lot of eyebrows that russia's assault was expanding to include more of western ukraine, 40 miles from the polish border, from the nato border essentially. one person was injured in that attack and, but since then there's not been a major attack on lviv. a short time ago we heard air sirens, long considered a safe haven. another reminder this is a country at war. you mentioned this nato exercise, that happened yesterday. there were four servicemembers on board an aircraft conducting a cold weather exercise in norway, and when it went missing, it was supposed to land at 6:00 p.m., it was reported missing at 6:30, we have since been told the aircraft has been located, though the status of it and the four servicemembers on board the aircraft is unclear at this point. we should point out, vanita, that this particular exercise defense officials say is not related to the i

brie, the administration quickly walked back those comments >> reporter: good morning, vanita president biden has stepped up his criticism of vladimir putin in recent days just last week calling him a war criminal but this weekend's ad lib took it a step further. the nine words came at the end of a nearly 30-minerallying cry for unity and support for ukraine. some say it was tantamount to a call for regime change in russia >> we'll have a different future, a brighter future rooted in democracy and principle, open, light, decency and dignity, freedom of possibilities. for god's sake, this man cannot remain in power. >> the kremlin quickly condemned those comments while secretary of state antony blinken clarified what the president meant. >> i think the president, the white house, made the point last night that, quite simply, president putin cannot be empowered to wage war or engage in aggression against ukraine or anyone else. as you know, as you've heard us say repeatedly, we do not have a strategy of regime change in russia or anywhere else, for that matter. >> a new nbc news poll show

vanita, you've said many times, culture eats policy for dinner, lunch, i don't know. sometimes you mix it up. we have a real culture problem and that culture problem has been exacerbated by the rise in crime. because you have those who do think that stop and frisk is the way to go and you just throw a bunch of kids up against a brick wall and we're going to end problems. and they have been emboldened. not just among the rank and file. the leadership in our police department is absolutely, you know, they're saying exactly what you're saying but i have a sheriff who sends a very different message and comes into the city and does law enforcement in the city and i have others who have this idea of how things worked and so i don't expect an answer in the time that we have. but for those of us who weren't in law enforcement, i'm a mayor that doesn't come from law enforcement, changing that culture and trying to build those relationships within a police department that is very fractured and where some voices are starting to win out over those who want to be on that path of w

"early today" starts right now >> good morning and thanks for starting your workweek with us i'm vanita fair. >> i'm frances woodward. >>> drama at the oscars and the physical confrontation between two superstars it has become the most talked about moment in the show it happened late in the ceremony when comedian chris rock told a joke about actress jada pinkett 2. she's spoken in the past about experiencing hair loss due to alopecia it didn't sit well with jada's husband will submit who walked onstage and slapped chris, take a look >> oh, wow wow. will smith just smacked the [ bleep ] out of me. [ laughter ] >> i don't want your wife's name out of your [ bleep ] mouth! >> wow, dude it was a g.i. jane joke. >> keep my wife's name out of your [ bleep ] mouth >> i'm going to. >> and the whole tone of the night changed at that very moment with building anticipation to the best actor award that could bring smith back to the stage and the mic. a short time later, will smith won the oscar for best actor in a leading role for "king richard" and talked about being a defender of his family. >> i

from many of the president's nominees, including those at the department of justice, people like vanita gupta, who for months, if not years, chanted this mantra of defunding the police and criticizing the men and women in law enforcement who are the thin blue line between us and chaos. but there are some shining examples that i think the president could have pointed to. one is dallas, texas. it's a shining example of how supporting our police both financially and with moral support and with smart plans can make a difference. in most major cities across the country today, crime is up in all categories. in dallas, texas, violent crime is down by 8.5%, and that's no accident. it's thanks to the great leadership of dallas' mayor eric johnson and chief garcia, chief of the dallas police department. i asked chief garcia yesterday in a hearing in front of the senate judiciary committee, i said is there any reason, chief garcia, why the plan that you've implemented in dallas couldn't work elsewhere around the country? and he said, no, there's no reason. of course every plan needs to be adapted