Top Story With Tom Llamas - Feb. 16 | NBC News NOW

tonight millions on alert as a massive storm system sweeps east parts of the plains now bracing for severe thunderstorms with large hail and tornadoes possible rain expected to turn into ice across several states snow and dangerous wind gusts also in the forecast as the system moves into the northeast al roker moments away with the timing and the track also tonight russia releasing new video as the kremlin claims it's withdrawing more troops from ukraine's border the u.s has not confirmed that but ukrainian officials are now signaling they may step back from a push to join nato the interview tonight with the top u.s diplomat in ukraine who says russia could still invade at any time and andrea mitchell joins top story with putin's potential next move deadly mudslide disaster crews digging through crushed homes and debris after intense flooding and mudslides swept through a town in rio de janeiro the mounting death toll and the desperate search for survivors as body bags start to pile up plus the moment a dog was pulled from the mud school board ousted san francisco residents voting to recall three school board members who critics say failed students during the pandemic and put progressive politics over the needs of children the boiling point for many parents that led to hundreds of asian americans registering to vote in the final weeks a new legal battle following the death of bob sagan a judge temporarily blocking the release of records surrounding his death why his family wants to keep them private as questions mount about what happened to the beloved comedian and highway inferno a truck carrying thousands of gallons of gasoline exploding on a new york roadway setting businesses ablaze the concern now for water in that area top story starts right now [Music] and good evening we begin top story tonight with that massive storm sweeping across the country millions of americans under alert for severe thunderstorms heavy snow and dangerous ice snow already falling on parts of the rockies today and the central and southern plains bracing for large hail damaging winds and possible tornadoes overnight it's a very big weather night so we want to get straight to al roker i'll walk our viewers through the next several days all right tom let's get started we are looking right now at 38 million people for winter weather alerts from bozeman montana to burlington vermont 83 million people under wind alerts from texas all the way into new england all the way down as far south as the gulf coast and flood alerts 34 million people due to heavy rain melting snow it's going to be a mess from springfield all the way to burlington and we've got the risk for severe weather tonight nocturnal tornadoes twice as deadly as the ones during the day damaging winds and hail possible tomorrow that area moves to the east and expands out 20 million people at risk we've got an enhanced risk from nashville down to jackson for tornadoes some of them strong so we're going to be watching this as this front moves ahead ahead of it very warm moist air all that heavy rain but along the front we're going to be looking at snow developing as colder air comes in behind it for tomorrow the rain changes to ice and snow up around the great lakes from st louis all the way to detroit that tornado risk continues for much of the tennessee valley and then friday off coast it moves away but heavy heavy winds along the i-95 corridor from boston down to raleigh rainfall amounts we are looking through friday from st louis to cleveland onto burlington anywhere from two to three inches could be some flooding ice and some of it dangerous because it's going to be upwards of a quarter of an inch of ice power lines down dangerous road conditions and a very strong swath of snow from wichita kansas city quincy chicago cadillac detroit on into buffalo some places picking up to six to eight inches but upwards of a foot in some spots as well tom all right now we know you're going to stay on top of this throughout the week al thank you for that we continue to follow tensions between ukraine and russia despite the kremlin's unconfirmed claims it's moving troops away from the border u.s secretary of defense lloyd austin and other nato leaders today warning of more sanctions if putin invades meanwhile ukraine celebrating a day of unity and a top official there suggesting the country may leave the decision to join nato up to its citizens a move the u.s says it will support however the acting u.s ambassador to ukraine warrants an invasion could still happen at any moment we'll have that interview in just a few minutes but first we go to richard engel tonight in ukraine again russia says it's slowly pulling back from ukraine's borders releasing more footage today allegedly showing military equipment heading back to bases after russian videos yesterday claimed to show troops loaded onto trains u.s and nato officials say they can't confirm it they have increased the number of troops and more troops are on their way so so far no de-escalation in ukraine it's unity day with rallies across the country it had been rumored that today was the day russian president vladimir putin had planned to invade so ukrainians responded by flying their flag including artist and human rights activist diana berg what do you think about what the united states is doing right now the u.s says every day it's coming it's coming it's coming do you think they're overplaying it is it helpful is it making people nervous it makes people nervous but it's helpful so yeah it's aggressive we are thankful to our allies in u.s and in europe and for this strategy you like it no i hate it but it's something that saves me ukraine's president zielinski has been touring the country showing confidence greeting troops and thanking them for their service as ukrainians took to the streets today to say they're not afraid tom when you walk around here talk to people attend these unity rallies it seems that ukrainians are increasingly confident that the worst may have passed and that the russian threat is receding but the pentagon is not convinced with more u.s troops heading to poland to shore up eastern europe all right richard engel reporting in for us tonight from ukraine i also want to bring in chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell on a new development out of ukraine tonight the new york times reporting that a ukrainian vice prime minister said that president zielinski was considering putting the question of whether to join nato membership to a vote in front of the ukrainian people andrea joins us now on top story andrea the deputy secretary of state wendy sherman for the u.s who was recently on your show is quoted as saying the u.s would be in favor of anything ukraine decided to do on its own to me it seems if all the reporting on this holds up and these were comments made publicly this seems like this was the most important thing that happened today out of ukraine is this a signal to putin from zielinski saying we not only see you we hear you and maybe we want to wait on joining nato well they were going to have to wait anyway so it's it's an argument based on a fake crisis according to u.s officials because there's no way that ukraine could qualify to join nato for perhaps six to ten years minimum they don't have the democracy they haven't proved that they can control corruption they've not met any of the requirements for the consensus which would have to be all 30 nato countries agreeing to let them in what the us is objecting to is vladimir putin preemptively saying we're going to decide when ukraine can join whether they can and they're permanently going to be banned from joining nato they have to align themselves with russia and that's what is the root of this whole thing and a non-starting demand from putin that he knew would not be acceptable to nato and so as long as it's up to zielinski and the elected government or the people of ukraine whatever they do is the is the basic principle of sovereignty that the us is committed to defend so you're absolutely right this could be an exit strategy although i have to point out that the ukrainian government all these officials have been all over the place to put it kindly just because they're threatened they're the ones who are facing down the barrels of the putin guns and so of course they've got to be very concerned about public reaction and about themselves being overthrown all right andrea mitchell for us and we'll have a closer look at what the kremlin's next moves could look like as andrea spoke to several former military and national security leaders in the second half of our broadcast we'll check back with andrea then all right staying with ukraine now the state department announced yesterday the relocation of the u.s embassy from kiev to a town closer to the polish border tonight the top u.s diplomat in ukraine christina kavin is now warning that a russian action could come at any time here's just a bit of what you told our partners at sky news right now the russians have 150 000 troops amassed on ukraine's border they have material tanks heavy weapons in place and they're also continuing to use very uh harsh and aggressive rhetoric against ukraine against nato and uh finally they are uh trying to lay the groundwork for some sort of pretext to then give themselves an excuse to come in so we feel that all the elements are in place that all of the elements of russia's playbook when they want to take aggressive action against a neighboring country are in place and therefore we think that it could happen at any time no one will know the exact date but president putin himself but uh we are concerned we're very concerned that it could be soon perhaps within the next week well we consider president putin in uh uh not necessarily a reliable uh narrator in terms of what's really going on so our view is let's see what our eyes show us not what he says and what our eyes show us so far is that they have not withdrawn any troops in fact they continue to move troops and materiel into place on the border not away from the border all right that was top us diplomat in ukraine for us christina covin speaking with sky news we do want to move on now to brazil where mudslides and floods ripped through a city in rio de janeiro dozens killed in the death toll still rising at this hour the city of petro paulus devastated tonight authorities are still searching the wreckage for survivors zid clay essenwa has the latest tonight at least 78 people are dead and dozens still missing after raging flood waters pummeled brazil streets on tuesday water scene rushing down the mountainous region with many victims still believed to be buried residents and rescue teams carrying body bags through the rubble and here a mother desperately searching for her child jesus verified social media video shows entire houses and even cars dragged away by mudslides officials say the flooding began in the evening over 10 inches of rain in just three hours that's almost as much rain as the last 30 days in the area combined but this week local residents looked on as water swirled through the city of petropolis a mountainous region of rio de janeiro in some cases houses were buried entirely beneath mud brazilian president jair bolsonaro tweeted on tuesday in part that he would be initiating immediate assistance to the victims as the death toll continues to rise rio's governor says at least 44 localities have been affected it's not the first time this area has been slammed by a deluge in january 2011 heavy rainfall caused more than 900 deaths now governor claudio castro says the government will dig out the buried area with machinery he adds that at least 400 soldiers have joined the rescue operation racing to find survivors as the city of petropolis begins what city hall has declared three days of mourning nbc news okay we thank sinclair for that story out of brazil back here at home we head to san francisco and the story making headlines all across the country three members of the school board there removed from office by a historic recall vote tonight would spark the outrage among parents as schools have become a cultural battlefront nationwide on issues ranging from the pandemic to how we teach our kids about race in america jacob ward has more students in san francisco arriving the morning after a historic vote three school board commissioners ousted in a once in a generation city recall the city sued the board last year over the lack of a clear reopening plan following pandemic closures and parents say their frustration grew when the board chose to focus on renaming a third of the city's schools including this one but the flash point for many was when the board decided to change the admissions process at this the city's most prestigious high school from a merit-based system to a lottery based system the majority of students here are asian-american and that seems to have drawn in many first-time voters we signed up 560 new voters chinese-american asian-american voters in the last six weeks [Applause] across the country schools have become a political battleground last fall glenn younkin road concerns over critical race theory to the virginia governor's mansion it is my distinct privilege and honor today he signed a bill outlawing school mass mandates in san francisco opponents of the recall say it's the commissioner's fight for social justice that got them in trouble i think that these three have been pushing a change to make san francisco unified a better more equitable place which is uncomfortable right in the end more than 72 percent of the vote went against the commissioners when selecting new school board members we're going to be asking a lot of very hard questions organizers here say the message to whoever the mayor appoints next is clear pay attention to education first and only no politics though tonight the two seem more entwined than ever tom here in san francisco it is of course a very complicated scene and one that's hard to summarize but the combination of what people say was a distracted and maybe even incompetent trio of commissioners combined with this general sense of frustration during the pandemic led to this once in a generation recall tom and the parents no doubt have spoken there all right jacob thank you for that turning now to the pandemic in the battle over masked mandates tonight the cdc saying it's reviewing its mass guidance this comes as more and more counties and states lift those mandates nbc's miguel almaguer has more facing pressure over face masks tonight the cdc is reviewing but not yet ready to shift its guidance saying americans nationwide still need to wear them indoors though change is coming we're moving toward a time when covet isn't a crisis but is something we can protect against and treat nbc news has learned the agency could loosen its stance on masks as early as next week but today authorities said hospitals remain far too stressed even as cases deaths and hospitalizations dropped we want to give people a break from things like mask wearing when these metrics are better while the cdc insists it's following the science governors using mandates amid public pressure say so were they it's science based california the latest to roll back mandates today no outdoor mass requirement in los angeles for mega events like the rams parade that drew thousands however the city still requires them indoors meantime organizers at coachella and stagecoach won't mandate masks vaccinations or negative tests for the tens of thousands expected to flood the concert series it comes as corporations like walmart amazon disney and tyson foods also ease restrictions does that create some confusion i think whenever you have conflicting recommendations that is going to cause confusion everyone's going to have to kind of figure out where their risk tolerance is in this with the growing push to also end mass mandates in schools tonight the cdc under pressure as the face off over masks remains as heated as ever all right miguel joins us now live from los angeles and miguel i know you have some new reporting the white house coveted task force also discussed today the need for a second booster or a fourth shot if you will yeah that's right tom dr fauci says the cdc is reviewing data on if a fourth shot or a second booster is needed for now they say studies show that a single booster continues to be highly effective in preventing against hospitalization but that data of course could change in the coming months tom back now with new developments following the death of actor and comedian bob saget a judge today ruling on a lawsuit filed by saggett's family trying to prevent the release of certain records that they say quote graphically depict him this as there are growing questions about what led up to his death gabe gutierrez has the latest today a florida judge sided with bob saggett's family blocking the release of records related to the comedian's death the judge writing the court finds that plaintiffs will suffer irreparable harm in the form of severe mental pain anguish and emotional distress at the requested temporary injunction is not granted well what do you think do i look ready for my big date or what america's beloved tv dad was found dead last month in an orlando area hotel room on tuesday citing privacy concerns his widow and three daughters sued florida investigators to stop the release of photographs video recordings audio recordings and statutorily protected autopsy information because they quote graphically depict saggit in response the orange county sheriff's office says while we are sensitive to the family's concerns about the right to privacy that must be balanced with our commitment to transparency last week sagitt's family revealed his cause of death as accidental head trauma in the autopsy the florida medical examiner confirmed that adding the 65 year old likely fell backwards suffering injuries to the back of his head causing bleeding in different parts of the brain and multiple fractures on his head and around his eyes still experts say saggett's head was so badly injured it's unlikely he would have ignored it based on the injuries he had in the autopsy and how severe those injuries are it's hard to imagine him actually walking anywhere and even having anything sort of a thought process going on all of this leading to even more questions gabe joins us now on set here on top story so gabe based on the autopsy what other scenarios are possible you know tom a lot of experts we've been speaking would say that it's highly unlikely that saggett suffered some sort of injury before he got to the hotel room because he couldn't have like stumbled to the hotel room whatever happened likely happened within the hotel room because of the severity of his injuries now it's all part of the investigation investigators looking at you know could he have suffered some type of massive fall whether it was you know may hit himself on the headboard perhaps it's all part of the investigation but the sheriff's office says that there were no illicit drugs found in his system and that there's no sounds at foul play so right now like you said more questions and answers to them okay gabe thanks for that when we come back a break in through the roof cameras capturing a burglar check it out rappelling into a store in texas how authorities say he managed to get a piece of rope inside and bias at the bank the doctor we spoke to who says a bank refused to cash her check because of her race and she's not the only one reporting this type of discrimination that story and more coming up [Music] all right we are back now with top stories news feed and we begin with the latest on that missing child found alive under a staircase you'll remember we brought the story to you last night the non-custodial parents of paisley schultz and her grandfather appearing before a new york judge today the three who are facing felony charges in the child's abduction were served with restraining orders as the case heads to a grand jury the now six-year-old who has been missing since 2019 was found in a crawl space you saw out there of her home yesterday all right the emergency response tonight after a fiery crash on a new york highway new video shows the raging fire after the tanker truck carrying about 13 000 gallons of gasoline overturned and exploded on long island at least two buildings engulfed in flames the driver and three firefighters were injured but are expected to be okay multiple agencies called in to help to contain and flush out that fuel that entered the sewers officials also assessing contamination to a nearby river all right the search tonight for a burglar who rappelled into a skateboard store in denton texas this video is kind of weird the surveillance video shows the suspect climbing down a rope inside the store before turning the camera off a hole was also cut out of the roof authorities say the suspect made off with 400 dollars in merchandise including a skateboard he was seen riding away from the store in and the los angeles rams celebrated their super bowl win with a parade through the city several open top buses filled with players and coaches traveled down the one-mile route in downtown l.a crowds of fans cheering the team on a rally was then held at la's memorial coliseum it's the city's first championship parade since 2014 after the dodgers and lakers were denied theirs due to the pandemic all right we want to turn out a disturbing allegation that banks are discriminating against black people a doctor claiming her bank refused to cash a check because of a race and a man ending up in handcuffs after he tried to cash a check priscilla thompson reports tonight from houston super happy and elated dr malika mitchell stewart was overjoyed when after more than a decade of school and giving birth to her second child late last year she officially became a doctor with that title came a new job and a more than 16 thousand dollar signing bonus like a aha moment like i finally made it i finally am successful this was your moment it was my moment and it was taken away taken away by chase bank according to mitchell stewart when they refused to cash her check she's now suing for one million dollars alleging discrimination claiming they refused her services because she's a black woman accusations that chase tells nbc news are quote completely false if i would have came in as a white male with that same check i'm sure they would have verified it deposit it and open it account for the net day mitchell stewart says she visited a chase bank near houston in december to open an account and cash her check they looked at the check and they kind of looked back at me and then that's when they started asking me all these questions about like what i did for a living who gave me this check what company is this how old i was after answering those questions and even showing her business card mitchell stewart alleges the bank refused to serve her claiming the check was fraudulent she says without ever trying to contact the check's issuer or offering an alternative like putting a hold on the check until the funds cleared i've worked so hard and to be accused of being a criminal it hurt my heart chase telling nbc news in a statement while we fell short on delivering a great customer experience our employee was concerned that she might be a victim of a scam and offered a safer alternative such as ach deposit to get immediate access to her funds at no point did they suggest that she was engaged in criminal activity or questioned the fact that she is a physician over the years there have been many reports detailing similar experiences of black people at america's largest banks last year u.s banks settled a lawsuit after calling police on a black man who was placed in handcuffs after trying to cash his 900 dollar paycheck he said you people are always coming in here with fake checks who do you think he meant black people we're sorry for where we failed mr murrow and accept full responsibility u.s bank told nbc news in a statement adding that it's strengthening policies to prevent this from happening again hashtag banking while black now a rallying cry on social media how widespread is the issue of racism and discrimination in banking we've had hundreds of calls dallas-based civil rights attorney justin moore is representing dr mitchell stewart he says these incidents can be hard to track because many people don't report them even when police are called the fact that you have a black doctor who can access basic financial services that has long standing ramifications banks bank tellers they have discretion to use their prejudice and weaponize it to prevent black folks and people that are minorities from accessing these services the civil rights act of 1964 outlawed discrimination in some public places but doesn't cover banks making discrimination cases hard to win in fact it's legal for banks to treat customers differently as long as they receive services in the end but in the wake of george floyd's murder banks pledged billions towards racial equity chase making a 30 billion dollar commitment at jpmorgan chase a key goal is to help break down systemic barriers that have created profound disparities this lawsuit some advocates say a reminder that banks are still falling short no more performative ally ship we need actual real tangible resources and we need unfettered access to those resources no one should be allowed to just say i feel uncomfortable and refuse service that's not right all right priscilla thompson joins us now live from houston so priscilla you know you highlight in your story here that this is not an isolated incident at least this allegation it's happened to several people all across the country the part i'm confused about is what is chase trying to say about the scam it seems like they were trying to distract from what dr mitchell was actually going through inside that bank yeah i mean i think they're obviously acknowledging that she did not have a positive experience there but what they seem to be suggesting is that not that dr mitchell was a criminal or trying to put on any sort of scam but that perhaps she received this check and it was unclear sort of where it came from or where the what the intent of the person who sent it and they that is what they were questioning not dr mitchell or her role as a physician or the fact that she might be receiving a check of this size and that is why chase is saying that they suggested that she ask her employer to offer a direct deposit of the check that would electronically go straight into an account but of course the other issue here is that dr mitchell stewart says that she wasn't even allowed to open an account and so how would she have done that if she wasn't able to open an account on that day tom priscilla thompson for us tonight priscilla thank you for that now to our series power and politics the biggest headlines from washington and beyond focusing tonight on the state of the midterms another democrat in the house announcing they will not seek reelection new york congresswoman kathleen rice on long island announcing she will retire at the end of her term rice becoming the 30th democrat to announce they will not return to the house after this election cycle for that and more from capitol hill let's bring in nbc's garrett hake he covers capitol hill for us garrett i want to ask you about that announcement like i said now 30 house democrats not running for reelection what are you hearing on capitol hill about how democrats feel ahead of the midterms are these districts that democrats don't have to worry about or is the party starting to have a problem on their hands yeah that number is unusually high tom and while democrats will always tell you they're confident no member comes out and says i'm retiring because i think we might lose when you get to a number this big you see the problem democrats are going to have to defend open seats now from california to kentucky and it's a mix of members who've been here a long time powerful committee chairmen and women who are stepping down to folks like rice who's only been here a couple of terms would probably have been reelected relatively easily but would now democrats have to defend these open seats no incumbency advantage it just makes it that much harder to spread resources around the map and really control their own destiny it is a very difficult position democratic leaders find themselves in still just in the spring headed towards november's midterms and speaking of democrats domestic issues are clearly on the minds of any politician in america namely inflation and gas prices and i know you have some new reporting on a poll and a plan some democrats want to get behind it's been interesting this week tom we've really heard senators democratic senators pivot to talking more about inflation and cost of living issues than perhaps some of the other issues they were talking about more frequently over the last few months and a new poll from quinnipiac makes it pretty easy to see why a plurality of americans now 27 percent in this poll identify inflation and cost of living as their biggest issue it's above covet it's above immigration it's above crime it has become the issue that affects real america that washington hasn't been as focused on as perhaps it should be you're seeing democratic senators in tough re-elections spearhead this conversation whether the senate in particular can pass anything to address these issues is still an open question all right let's turn to republicans now i want to ask you about this poll from cnn it found that 49 percent of republican and republican leading voters would prefer a different candidate other than former president trump to run in 2024. what's the thinking on this poll because one that's still pretty good it's not horrible for trump it is down from numbers he's had in the past but i ask you because you don't hear a lot of republicans running away from trump especially in the primaries no you really don't in the primaries is when trump is probably the most powerful his endorsement in a lot of these primary races can make the difference for republicans trying to become their party nominee a number like that is a political rorschach test as you point out it is down from trump's highs he is not as powerful with republicans as he once was but at 50 percent he would win a republican primary again for president in a walk a divided field nobody's going to be able to beat someone who pulls that well even if he loses another 10 or 15 points off that number he's still in a very strong position and so while we're seeing some republicans particularly where i'm standing now in the senate try to tack away from trump find a forward-looking different direction for their party numbers like that show he is still the predominant figure in the republican party all right garrett haig from capitol hill tonight for us garrett thank you time for top stories global watch and the deadly ship disaster off the coast of canada authorities say a spanish fishing trawler sank near newfoundland with 24 people on board at least 10 bodies have been recovered and 11 crew members are still missing three survivors were pulled from a life raft while suffering hypothermia it is unclear still what caused the ship to sink night of the deadly shark attack in australia officials say a swimmer was killed by a 15-foot great white shark at a popular beach in sydney dozens of beachgoers and fishermen watching in horror beaches across sydney are closed as authorities search for the shark it is the first deadly shark attack in that city since 1963 and international outrage tonight after cuban courts sent sentenced some protesters up to 20 years in prison the defendants were convicted of sedition last month after participating in mass protests on the island this summer hundreds more are awaiting trial minors as young as 16 are also facing prison time returning to the crisis in ukraine now as the world watches for the kremlin's next big move four high-profile former government officials joined nbc news for an exclusive war room exercise moving through possible scenarios that the kremlin could be considering and how the u.s could respond nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell back again she moderated the high level war game inside our situation room the exercise begins with a russian false flag attack in eastern ukraine to create a pretext to invade at the table former joint chiefs chairman retired admiral mike mullen former undersecretary of defense michelle florinoy former cia director and retired four-star general david petraeus cyber expert dimitri alperovich of the non-profit silverado policy accelerator think tank and former national security advisor tom donald our goals i think should be to build out a case here that is clear to putin as to what the cost is going to be for action that he might take here we should be communicating to individuals in moscow that life is going to be very very tough for you if you go into ukraine you may be able to get all the way to the nearby or all the way you might even push the government out of kiev but at the end of the day we're going to make life hell for you if that is the case yet again with some experience as a counter insurgent uh we'll tell them you don't have the numbers uh what you have is not enough this is exactly what we invaded iraq with about 130 000 or more troops uh it's nowhere near enough for a country that is multiples the size of iraq and that should be very clear i think we really need to focus on the long-term price that he's going to pay and figure out how to do that to include i mean one of the near-term objectives would be to get the nato response force ready the last thing that hasn't been mentioned is um accelerating our preparations to deal with refugees i mean this is this is the precursor to war and you've got to be ready for tens of thousands of ukrainians to start moving across the border if they are in fact attacked until he draws back putin has multiple options claiming self-defense he could take out ukraine's air defenses with artillery rockets and airstrikes as his ground troops crossed the border reaching kiev in days what would the u.s do call this what it is which is an unprovoked invasion of a sovereign country in the middle of of europe i can't emphasize the importance of energy sanctions energy accounts for something like 36 percent of the russian budget almost 50 percent of its uh russian exports so a huge vulnerability um for putin putin will get here exactly what he didn't want right which is which is a substantial increase in the infrastructure forces of nato uh on his border and that's what will have to happen here but then we have the question of if an insurgency arises what is the role of the united states and nato and i would argue that the united states should undertake to support that uncertainty to do so directly what is the state of president zielinski that's really important right now again where is he is he determined to fight on what about the conventional forces that have been as we uh surmised been encircled what about the partisan brigade admiral mullen how much do we worry about escalation with russia can we figure out what his objectives are is he actually going to go all the way it's the kind of thing that is focused on regime change i would start moving forces i mean you can move air forces and naval forces in a direction very quickly if putin did topple ukraine's government and install a friendly regime he could start withdrawing but demand concessions from nato and the u.s you're in the situation room what do you do well we're asking where the previous prime minister and president are uh where is zielinski in particular uh is he where is he physically but also where is he mentally is he willing to lead what will now become quite a substantial insurgency he will face an insurgency even if he's taken out some of the opposition leaders i mean you know even if ten percent of the ukrainian population decides to to fight that's going to be a very substantial insurgency and there will be very real human costs uh russian soldiers being killed and so forth that will beco i think could become a real problem for putin we should also consider denial of service attacks on the russian misinformation machine although there's a risk there if they're perceived as that's an attack on leadership um that could escalate so we have to be careful it's a really important point we are nowhere near where we need to be with respect to protecting our private held critical infrastructure from the united states and it would be at risk in this in the event of a long-term standoff with the russians here and then we have to start to think about security arrangements of the kind that you do with adversaries how long can he sustain that troop formation on these borders longer than we think that that's been my take on him for a long time but i think it would be foolish to think he couldn't sustain it for a significant period of time andrea mitchell joins us now again tonight here on top story so andrea you brought together these brilliant military and diplomatic minds what was the one thing that stood out to you or that you learned about this exercise well basically how much they feel that this crisis is going to bounce back at us no matter what happens if russia invades uh the real concerns of course are what happens to the principle of sovereignty in europe and what happens to ukraine and to the nato countries on russia's border but also the energy prices the political impact of that cyber we could get involved if there's a russian cyber attack which is expected against ukraine there have been little moments along the way some attributed some you know perhaps not russia but there certainly has been russian cyber attacks against ukraine in the past and we if we retaliate then they're going to retaliate against us and then we're in a cyber war and there are no winners to that war and we don't have the defenses to really deal with that we've been talking about it for years but our infrastructure and corporate america is not well defended enough against what russia could do to our economy uh that and also the refugee crisis in europe would be extreme we saw what happened with syria and all those people coming into europe but this would be right in the heart of europe this would be the biggest war since really since world war ii in europe and that is the terror that is striking at their hearts andrea mitchell tonight with the severity of the situation in ukraine andrea thank you coming up violence in the skies fist fights on planes and flight attendants attacked many of the passengers angry over masks how many incidents are sent to the fbi and the new push from flight crews we'll be right back all right back now with sky high tensions over coveted restrictions airlines dealing with a record number of unruly passengers this year many of them angry over mass mandates on board the nation's largest flight attendant union now pushing for a no-fly list for passengers who cause a commotion in the air nbc's aviation correspondent tom costello has more tonight after a record number of disruptive and dangerous incidents onboard commercial airliners the faa is sending 43 more cases to the fbi for criminal review bringing that total to 80 since the start of 2021 including all out fist fights flight attendants assaulted even restraining violent travelers [Applause] after nearly 6 000 reports of unruly behavior last year so far this year nearly 400 reports roughly two-thirds related to the on-board mask mandate late today the texas attorney general sued the biden administration to overturn the mass mandate in airports and on planes but for the past year the faa has come down hard on bad behavior rolling out a national public information campaign these events need to stop and we are working very hard to do that delta airlines and the nation's biggest flight attendants union have called for a single no-fly list that would ban people from traveling on any u.s airline if convicted of an onboard disruption i have to be really clear this is not something that we can accept as a new normal a group of republican senators while condemning the bad behavior opposes the no-fly list saying it would seemingly equate those passengers to terrorists but delta says it wants to ensure individuals who have endangered the safety and security of our people do not go on to do so on another carrier tom costello nbc news atlanta all right when we come back hoop dreams the manager of a high school basketball team getting the chance to put on the team uniform then shocking everyone in the stands stay with us we leave you tonight with a priceless moment for one high school senior finally making her basketball debut the lifelong fan of the game stunning the crowd and winning hearts pennsylvania 18 year old megan bissell loves the game of basketball i love to play my brother played and my mom was a basketball coach she attends council rock north high school in newtown pennsylvania she's a huge fan of her school's basketball team and this year she became the team manager [Music] the team wanted to do something to show their appreciation so last week they got together with another school to create a game to fulfill megan's dreams of actually getting on the court i think it was great to have everybody cheer for her this time because she's always like the biggest cheerleader for us megan's sister spread the word including to the dance studio where both sisters perform so excited to go and watch her play like i didn't care who was there i didn't care if i was the only person there she's always been there for us so we wanted to be there for them finally the time came megan's name and number called for two minutes on the hardwood megan was in heaven taking a pass and shooting hitting nothing but ned and scoring two more times during her run on the court megan caught fire electrifying the crowd her mom a basketball coach watching proudly from the sidelines i am so super proud she makes me proud every day but this was definitely a special moment her teammates wanted to do something memorable for her but it turned out to be one that none of them will ever forget megan saying this and follow your dreams and just play basketball great job megan we're rooting you on from here in new york thanks so much for sharing your story and we thank you at home for watching top story tonight i'm tom yamas in york more news now on the way thanks for watching our youtube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the nbc news app you

Channel: NBC News

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Keywords: NBC News NOW, bob saget, brazil mudslide, rio de janeiro, rio de janeiro mudslide, mudslide, covid, mask mandates, san francisco, san francisco school board, nbc news, tom llamas

Id: jpH7N9sUZuQ

Length: 43min 59sec (2639 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 16 2022