violence call. prompting a new focus on rising violent crime in america's largest cities. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. president joe biden talking with world leaders about the very real chance of russia in'58ing ukraine again. underscoring how it has escalated in reason days. the pentagon announcing this afternoon, as many as 8,500 u.s. service members are now on heightened alert and have been told to know ready to deploy at any moment. if necessary, they will join nato forces in eastern europe and the alliance's effort to deploy the troops near ukraine. we're covering this escalating tension, even a crisis on multiple fronts. let's start wat the white house. do we know about whether or not to send u.s. forces to eastern europe? >> it's a decision that could come as soon as this week. what we do know, as of today, president biden hasn't made a final decision about that. behind the scenes they are getting the specifics ready in case he makes call to bolster u.s. forces in eastern ooum to increase the troop presence as they are playing behind the scenes for what that would look like. the concern in the administration is that an invasion could be imminent. right now, russia is not only de-escalating, they are adding force capability to the border. >> reporter: moments ago, president biden phoning as the crisis in ukraine escalates. >> we can't get into the mind of president putin. we are seeing the preparations they are making at the border. >> reporter: biden consulting the leaders of germany, france, the united kingdom, poland, nato and the european commission as he debates sending thousands more of u.s. troops to eastern europe. >> what we're telling them to do is to be ready to go on a shorter time line than what they were before. we are not deploying them now. we are not saying diplomacy is dead. >> reporter: up to 8500 u.s. troops now on high alert. if biden increases troop presence, that close to russia's door step, it would amount to a major shift in his approach. after last week he said a troop build-up himpgnged on an invasi. overnight, the state department ordering family members of staff to leave the u.s. embassy in ukraine and encouraging americans not to travel there. warning russian military action would severely impact the embassy's ability to provide services including assistance to u.s. citizens departing ukraine. biden considering the new moves after the british government accused russia of plotting to installing a pro russian leader in ukraine. >> this is very much part of the russian tool kit. it runs the gamut from a large conventional invasion of ukraine to these kinds of destabilizing activities in an attempt to topple the government. >> reporter: republicans including the top gop lawmaker on the foreign affairs committee warning president putin isn't taking the u.s. seriously. >> i think this has been a passive deterrence, right? i don't see putin changing his course of action. it's getting very aggressive. the noose is tightening around ukraine. >> reporter: jake, the white house says u.s. citizens in ukraine should leave because there are no plans at this time for any kind of alarming scale military evacuation, like what we saw in afghanistan. and this comes as nancy pelosi is requesting they get an all members briefing on this growing crisis happening in ukraine. >> all right. let's bring in clarissa ward in ukraine and nic robertson in moscow. so russia, clarissa, first to you. today ukrainian officials called it premature and excessively cautious for the state department to pull nonessential staff from the u.s. embassy there in kiev where you are. they seem to be suggesting the u.s. is overreacting. are they downplaying it? >> reporter: well, it's not just those, that one comment that came earlier from the foreign minister. now we're seeing multiple ukrainian officials weighing in and they are clearly very, very unhappy. the prime minister saying, please don't panic. he was concerned that this call to reduce embassy staff, allowing for families and nonessential personnel to leave, that would have a knock on the economy in foreign investment in ukraine. we saw president zelensky issuing another plea to the american people not to panic saying he has everything under control. the foreign ministry went on to put a statement on their website where they said, there are 129 embassies and consulates here in ukraine and so far, only four countries have elected to reduce or scale down some of their personnel. the statement reads, we are grateful to our international partners for soberly assessing the situation and not resorting to the premature evacuation measures. this is a real manifestation of solidarity, giving you a very strong sense that they are not pleased about this at all, jake. >> and nic, russia is also trying to downplay accusations of an imminent invasion as stupid, rhetorical provocations. if there isn't an invasion imminent, how does russia explain its massive troop build-up and coordination with rebel forces, up and down the border with ukraine? >> reporter: well, one piece of that. the russians are trying to explain, and we heard this from the kremlin spokesperson earlier today, saying there is a massing of ukrainian forces close to that eastern separatist enclave in ukraine, pro russian separatists propped by moscow. they're saying, the kremlin is saying it is the ukrainians that is massing for an attack and some of the leaders have been on russian television today putting their position forward. but i think it was a very, very, very telling statement put out by the foreign ministry spokeswoman today, coming in the last few minutes. and she is taking aim at that growing rift between the united states and ukrainian officials and she says on the one hand, you have ukrainian defense officials, defense security officials saying, they see no reason to alert the fact that there is an imminent full-scale russian invasion, but also quoting the pentagon spokesman saying that there is no dehe is chags by the russians. this is really cutting and gets to how the kremlin likes to work. she says the u.s. is trying to morally, or rather, undermine the morale of ukrainians. and goes on to say about u.s. politicians, do they really care about the mothers in ukraine if they don't care about their own mothers back home? so the kremlin here, the foreign ministry, opening this tension. so this is what they appear to be exploiting at the moment. >> and kaitlan, just last week at biden's news conference, his tone was threatening sanctions. severe economic sanctions. sanctions like putin has never seen before. but now we're talking about troops being deployed to eastern europe. what changed? >> yeah. the white house says it's not a shift. they say that they have ruled out the idea of bolstering forces in eastern europe if there had not been an invasion yet. but that wasn't what the president was saying at the press conference. saying if putin invades, they would bolster troop presence in poland. they talked about if they move, you would see the u.s. fortify nato allies. that's what is under consideration. president biden was briefed only at camp david this weekend. the options that he has. the idea that it is not a shift. it is a change because if they do end up going forward with this decision and you see the troop presence in latvia, lithuania, that's on putin's door step and that's what he has been trying to avoid and complaining about. it would be a much more forceful approach by this white house, this biden administration, compared to the more restrained stance they had where they were trying not to provoke russia before. it seems like the calculus has shifted. >> thanks to all of you. i want to bring in retired brigadier general, a senior defense official and attache when russia seized crimea in 2014. some 8500 u.s. service members are on heightened alert for possible deployment to eastern europe to join nato forces. not in ukraine but in the nato member states. what do you make of this decision? could this be seen as provocative to putin? >> thank you for bringing me on. when we talk about provocative, we need to take a look at the russian set. the reported 100,000 plus. it is probably many thousands more than that with all the logistics, still troops pouring in from central and eastern military district, and we all heard the reports of them bringing in troops through look shenko's belarus northern flank. ukraine borders four nato countries and our allies are really worried. there's a lot to be worried about. an invasion. if they actually go, it will be bloody no matter how successful it will be and could spill over. and the 8,000 forces, plus other allies, this isn't just the united states. that is very, very important to emphasize. to moscow, it allows, if you will, first of all, we were sure our allies, we have them in small amounts but we don't have a big presence in there and certainly not a big ground offensive in moscow. >> so you know general fiona hill, a u.s. intelligence office we are expertise in russia and eurasia. she wrote in the "new york times," right now all signs indicate mr. putin will lock the u.s. into an endless tactical game, take more chunks out of ukraine and exploit all the frictions and fractures in nato and the european union. you've been dealing with them for decades. do you agree with her assessment? >> i have the greatest regard for dr. hill as an associate and friend. i think here, there are two things that i take, i understand, the salammi slicing if you will that the russians could possibly take chunks and bites. but i think right now, jake, the whole world is watching. this is unambiguous like it was when i was in moscow in 2014. we didn't know what was going on in the beginning. the whole world. and no matter what the justification, this would be naked aggression that would put russia into a pariah status that they should not want, including their moneyed interests and their people. so yes. there is that. but i believe the first major bite they take, if they do it, whether it is driving down to crimea or something else, puts them now, the world is now aware as to their make-up, and the fact that we are prepared, if you will, to put troops into nato allies i think is right. the other point, jake, very quickly. she makes a point that this needs to go to the united nations. and yes, we'll take it to the security council. you take it to the general assembly and you basically lay it all out and russia risks getting censured if you will, and that environment, i don't think they want that. certainly not their moneyed interests. this is a time for them to back off. they've made their point. >> retired brigadier general peter zwenk. check your mail. covid tests are starting to arrive in the mail just in time for some good news. then the big name in donald trump's orbit who is now talking to the house committee investigating the insurrection. stay with us. ♪ ♪ ♪i'm so defensive,♪ ♪i got bongos thumping in my chest♪ ♪and something tells me they don't beat me♪ ♪ ♪ ♪he'd better not take the ring from me.♪ it's still the eat fresh refresh™ so subway's upping their avocado game. we're talking just two great ingredients. perfectly ripe, hand-scooped hass avocados and a touch of sea salt. it's like a double double for your tastebuds. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and refreshing... for investors who can navigate this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns. so, you're recalibrating and reconnecting to the environment. seeing yourself as an artist -legitimate and genuine- can be transformational. daddy! for the best audio entertainment and storytelling. audible. some encouraging covid news tops our health lead today. dr. anthony fauci says the u.s. is going in the right direction whittle comes to containing the omicron surge. he says cases will rapidly decline in the coming weeks but that does not mean we are in the clear just yet. deaths which we all know are a lagging indicator are still on the rise in the u.s. >> reporter: free covid test kits and free high quality masks starting to make their way to americans as omicron cases fall off sharply in the northeast. a sign that the worst of this wave could be behind us soon. >> there are still some states in the southern states and we shall states that continue to go up. but if the pattern follows the trend that we're seeing in other places, such as the northeast, i believe that you will start to see a turn-around throughout the entire country. >> reporter: the strategy for what comes next is coping. >> control means you're not eliminating it. you're not eradicating it. but it gets to such a low level, into the general respiratory infection that's we have learned to live with. >> reporter: but the death toll climbs. again, averaging more than 2,000 daily. with vaccinated people experiencing mild symptoms if any at all, there are more calls to change the thinking when it comes to restrictions. >> it's time at this crucial, pivotal moment, to better calibrate harms, to weigh the harms of the virus itself against the harms of the restrictions. >> reporter: virginia's governor saying parents can opt into or out of school mask requirements, as seven major districts file suit to stop the order. schools shouldn't get rid of masks yet, according to the former fda commissioner dr. scott gottlieb. >> i think to drop it is imprudent. within two weeks, we can make that decision. >> reporter: saying as conditions improve in the u.s., we must be willing to relax provisions as aggressively as we implemented them. the fury over pandemic protocols erupting again over the weekend in an anti-vaccine march in washington, d.c., marked by outrageous and bigoted remarks. >> even in hitler germany, you could cross the alps into switzerland. could you hide in an attic. >> reporter: the basketball hall of famer john stockton falsely suggesting vaccines have killed more than 100 athletes. a statement with no basis in fact. gonzaga university now pulling his season tickets for refusing to mask at the games. and jake, there is new data underscoring the tremendous and ongoing toll that the pandemic has had on restaurants. the national restaurant association saying 88% of restaurants are reporting a decline in demand in just the last few weeks. something they attribute to the omicron surge. >> all right, from new york, new york for us. here to discuss, the associate dean of public health at brown university. good to see you. cases in the u.s. are down 15% from last week. and on cnn this afternoon, dr. fauci said he expects cases in the u.s. could mirror the decline he with saw in south africa, which was a very rapid decline in daily cases once the variant turned the corner -- once the country turned the corner from the omicron variant. do you expect to see the same thing happen here? if so, how soon? >> i expect us to see the same thing starting in the northeast already. i -- because the northeast is so much of our population, we'll see on a countrywide basis that cases drop. but at the same time, cases are still rising in much of the country. we are not yet out of the woods. the other thing, of course, as you mentioned earlier, that cases are only part of what we're worried about. equally concerning are hospitalizations, intensive care unit stays and deaths, and even in the northeast, our hospitals are still quite overwhelmed from that combination of sick, unvaccinated covid patients and of course, all of the other medical and surgical problems for which care has been put off for the last two years. so even if the omicron case wave has peaked, the burden on the health care system has not. >> as cases and hospitalizations start to fall, we're still seeing deaths increase. now, we know deaths are a lagging indicator. first come the cases, then the hospitalizations, then come the deaths. how much longer do you expect to see in daily deaths from qucovi with hospitalizations and cases going down? >> it is hard to know. omicron is a different svb from delta and the earlier variants. i expect that we'll see deaths rise for another couple weeks and then hopefully devees. there have been some preliminary reports that deaths are happening a little earlier with omicron than prior variants. we also now have better treatments so we may be able to stave off death for more folks. >> dr. fauci also said on cnn, the worst-case scenario is that after omicron we get another variant that can evade vaccines. what is the likelihood of that happening, do you think? >> i wish i had a crystal ball and could tell you definitively. i think we would be naive to not expect another variant. and i remember the day before thanksgiving, telling people that delta was showing just tremendous evolutionary strength and was overcoming all of the other new variants that were coming along. and then thanksgiving day happened and omicron was announced by our colleagues in south africa. this moment, with the omicron surge peaking in much of the country and thus heading into the downward curve of cases is exactly the moment we need to be proactive about preparing for future surges so we don't get caught with this again. the fact testing kits and masks are arriving now in houses across the united states, it's a travesty. we've known almost two years now that these things were needed and this is the moment to be ready, if and when another variant does pop up. we know what to do and we have the resources to do it. >> a source tells cnn, the fda is considering limiting the authorization of certain mono clonal antibody treatments that are not as effective against omicron. what is the thinking about that? >> it makes sense. we should not be giving people treatments that don't work. and of course, there is no treatment that is completely without risk of harm. there can be side effects are those monoclonal antibodies. they are expensive and difficult to administer. we should not be giving them if they don't work against omicron. i would authorize ohly support that. it is important for us to make those treatments that do work, make them widely available and did itto for things like that new pfizer pill that people can take within the first few days of being diagnosed with covid to help stave off hospitalization and severe disease. it is critically important for us to make adequate supplies of those available to get people testing quickly, and to work hard to overcome racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in who gets access to these potentially life-saving treatments. >> thank you. so. appreciate your time. he is the only member of trump's cabinet who has spoken to the january 6th committee that we know of. what we know about former attorney general bill barr's meeting. stay with us. 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into their homes? it just fits. call now or visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. ♪(music)♪ at aetna® we're shifting medicare coverage into high gear with benefits you may be eligible for when you turn 65. benefits that may include dental, vision, and hearing. aetna medicare advantage plans call today to learn more. january 6th special house committee has been talking to former president trump's attorney general, william barr, as part of a, quote, preliminary discussion, according to a source. cnn's ryan nobles joins us from the capital. he left his post about a week after the draft executive order that would have seized voting machines was dated. is the committee discussing that with attorney general barr? >> it doesn't seem that they are at this point, jake. the committee just received this memo recently as part of that set of documents that came from the national archives after winning the supreme court case. their conversation with william barr, i'm told, was several weeks ago. it was an informal interview. there were not a lot of specifyings tied to it at this point. that doesn't mean it's not a conversation they can have with him in the near future. they are very interested in barr's role in everything that happened after the 2020 election as the former president and his allies were peddling these false accusations about the election lie. and you'll remember, jake, that shortly before he stepped down as attorney general, william barr made it clear that he saw no direct evidence of voter fraud that would have been enough to change the results of the election. that was something that made the former president very upset. we now know as these investigations have played out, that trump was putting heavy pressure on the justice department to attempt to intervene and try to find this fraud that was really nowhere to be found. jake? >> the former republican speaker of the house, newt gingrich, made some rather shocking comments about the house she can committee investigating the january 6th insurrection, saying they will potentially face jail time if republicans take the house this fall. how are members of the committee responding? >> well, liz cheney, the vice chair of the committee, and is a republican, someone who the cheney family at one time was close with newt gingrich. especially when he was speaker of the house. she is the person that has responded from the committee and she tweeted a response to gingrich and said, in rt that a, quote, this is what it looks like when the rule of law unravels. and a suggestion that basically, gingrich is throwing out claims that aren't based in any kind of fact. that somehow a duly impaneled congressional investigation does not have the ability to conduct oversight, which is exactly what this committee is doing. and we should point out, jake, that there has been a lot of litigation about the conduct of this committee already. the former president donald trump, his allies to have gone great lengths to attempt to sue, to prevent the committee from doing their work. so far the committee has won every one of those lawsuits. so it is a bit head sxraching the former speaker of the house would suggest that somehow they are breaking the law, jake? >> yeah. i'm not sure what the opposite of virtue signaling is but it seems like that is what this was. thank you for joining us to discuss, senior legal analyst, jennifer rodgers. let's turn back to former attorney general barr. he's a big piece of the puzzle. are you surprised that he's had some discussions with the committee? >> i'm not, jake. he is someone who had a line, i think. he did a lot of unraveling of the rule of law as attorney general but there was a line he wouldn't cross and apparently, it was this election fraud nonsense the former president was trying to foist on him after the election. i'm not surprised he is willing to talk to them. he also in a very john bolton move, has a book coming out. so presumably, he may be about to disclose some of this in his book and maybe wants to tease some interest in that. i'm not surprised. the question will be, how many will he snauk there's no executive privilege we know now. no attorney-client privilege so he needs to, if they subpoena him, share everything he knows. it remains to be seen whether he will do that or not. >> it was tweeted, quote, it's now been 40 days since the house of representatives held former white house chief of staff mark meadows in contempt of congress. he referred the case to the department of justice. the supreme court last week firmly rejected trump's executive privilege claims over the documents, time for the department of justice to make a call. did it take about a month before they proceeded to indict steve bannon after the house referred that to them. do you think it is taking longer with meadows because, a, as a former chief of staff, he has more claim executive privilege than bannon did, and he did cooperate somewhat with the committee before he decided to not cooperate. >> i do think it is taking long longer for those two reasons but i think that after the supreme court has issued its ruling, it is possible they're giving more time. maybe meadows comes back to the table. the select committee would rather have him cooperating and giving information than have him criminally charged and give them no information. it may be also that the recent decision is slowing things down to see if maybe they can reach agreement after all clrgs doesn't really impact whether he's chargeable or not. i think doj would consider them very strongly in their charging decision. >> let's listen to this blatant admission from the 2021 campaign admission from boris epstein. >> yes, i was part of the process to make sure there were alternate electors to which they would be heard and successful. >> those of course were not alternate electors. they were fraudulent electors. they had not been elected by anybody. does epstein going on msnbc and admitting it put him in even more legal jeopardy? >> yeah. it does. >> to the extent he has a lawyer, that lawyer was probably pulling out his or her hair listening tom. he not only admitted to being part of process by i would say the scheme or plot or conspiracy. he gave his defense as to why. it was adjusting the case scenario. we were getting our ducks in a role of that's complete and utter nonsense. as up, this was not a document that edged at all. two of the states did. the other five that, here are our duly chosen electors. it was a fraud. it was a forgery. he really does put himself in jeopardy there and it was certainly a mistake. >> thank you. so. i appreciate it. while the pentagon is focused on the threat of a russian invasion, the u.s. military is firing missiles to stop a different threat. that's next. it's our january sale on the sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to relieve pressure points. and, it's temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. save $1,000 on the sleep number 360 special edition smart bed, queen now $1,999. plus, 0% interest for 36 months. fears of war escalate along the ukraine-russia border, the u.s. is fending off actual missiles elsewhere. iran backed houthi rebels launched two missiles toward abu dhabi. the missiles appeared to target an air base that the u.s. military uses. the pentagon now confirms the u.s. military intercepted those missiles and video shows fighter jets destroying the missile launcher. sam kiley is in abu dhabi for us. it seems like this is a rather close call. >> reporter: a very close call, indeed. the second in seven days. it was a week ago on monday, today, that three people were killed in a missile or drone strike launched by the houthis, also very close to abu dhabi. they promised more strikes and that is exactly what they have attempted. now, according to the pentagon, both missiles from the u.s. base there and other anti-missile missile united states of the emirates engaged these missiles and it is some remarkable video footage of the missiles being shot down by what the pentagon said was a multiple launch of these protected, defensive missile systems. the emirates have patriot, they have a wide range of u.s. manufactured anti-missile missiles, precisely for this sort of eventuality. the weird thing from the emirates perspective, they've been sucked into a war that they thought they had extracted themselves from back in 2020, jake. >> yeah. let's talk about that. obviously our viewers know the iran-backed houthi rebels in yemen are fighting the saudi backed coalition that the u.s. has been part of. how did the uae end up as the target? or were they targeting the americans in the uae? >> reporter: they were targeting both. it is very clear that the air base has not only got u.s. forces, british forces and emirates forces, and it has a very strategic location used by operations for those three different nations around the middle east. now the emirates have been accused of stepping back into the yemeni quagmire that they were out of. they supported a militia on the ground that was successful on the battlefield against the houthis so that is the principle allegation and there is independent confirmation for that. you rightly point out that the iranians have been backing the who thinkis. it is iranian technology that would have been youth in these missiles. >> thanks. so. appreciate your time. a new push to end gun violence after a horrific weekend that saw a rookie cop and an 8-year-old girl gunned down. stay with us. elity, and she'll feel so good about her plan, she can focus on living it. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so puffs plus lotion rescued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion, puffs bring soothing relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. in our national lead, a jarring weekend of gun violence across the united states. in some cases, police officers, even an 8-year-old girl, caught in the cross fire. one of those awful crime scenes in new york city. >> reporter: a weekend of senseless gun violence, children and police officers again among the victims. the family of 22-year-old jason rivera is heartbroken. fly high, my beautiful angel, his widow writing on instagram. the nypd rookie shot dead while responding to a 911 domestic call friday. his partner, wilbert mora, is critically injured. the suspect was shot by a third officer and nypd confirms, died today. >> recovered at that scene is a glock 45 high capacity magazine which holds up to 40 additional rounds. >> reporter: the man among five officers shot in new york city this month. the first month in office for mayor eric adams. >> officers are doing heroic work, getting guns off the streets. but traffickers keep the guns coming. that must end. >> reporter: today adams is demanding action, laying out what he calls a blue print to end gun violence. it includes reinstating a plain clothes police unit to go after guns on the streets and focus on the flow of firearms into the city. the gun that killed rivera was reported stolen from baltimore in 2017. >> we will not surrender our city to the violent few. we are going to go back and we won't go back to the bad old days. we're going to get trigger pullers off the streets, and guns out of their hands. >> reporter: in houston, authorities believe an assault-type weapon was used to kill a deputy conducting a traffic stop this weekend. they suddenly fired at the 12-year veteran who is being reynold as a mentor. >> there's a lot of very broken up officers who he meant a lot in their lives. he was the one that was sitting in the front seat with them. he was teaching them what to do and how to get home safely to their families. >> reporter: another officer shot in washington, d.c. this weekend, treated and released from the hospital. but in chicago, gun violence took the life of an 8-year-old girl. melissa ortega was walking with her guardian when she was hit by a stray bullet. >> i don't care who your target was. you targeted that little girl. if you didn't, he should would be here living today. what are you targeting for? when you miss, you hit our babies. >> reporter: now new york city will honor a man who showed so much promise. >> i want you all to hear me. hear my voice and know that i'm going to get through it. >> reporter: he joined the nypd to bring together police and the community. a community now mourning his death. and the funeral for rivera is set for later this week. as far as the plan interesting plain clothes officers going after the guns is set to be on the streets in the next three weeks, targeting neighborhoods where about 80% of the crime is happening. he said this has to involve more people. all city agencies, district attorneys, judges to keep these violent criminals behind bars. adams, jake, also making a plea to the federal government to pass common sense gun laws. to stop the flow of illegal firearms going through all these different states. not just here in new york. jake? >> thank you very much. appreciate it. more than 8,000 american service members are on standby just in case they need to be deployed to eastern europe. is that enough? is that the right thing to do? we'll ask a key lawmaker, next. . they have exclusive technology and service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ ♪ smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover ♪ ♪ gon' pop like trouble ♪ ♪ breaking into your heart like that ♪ ♪ do the boogie, like ♪ ♪ side step, right-left, to my beat ♪ ♪ high like the moon, rock with me, baby ♪ ♪ know that i got that heat ♪ ♪ let me show you 'cause talk is cheap ♪ ♪ side step, right ♪ ♪ get it, let it roll ♪ ♪"don't ya leave" by squeak e clean♪ [doorbell] ♪ [doorbell] ♪ [doorbell] all the delivery. no delivery fees. dashpass. what happens when we welcome change? we can 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