nato is not threatening russia. >> reporter: russia amassing more than 100,000 troops near ukraine's borders, including fighter jets and tanks, the tools for a massive military offensive. russian weapons have been rolling into belarus ahead of joint exercises there next month which some analysts worry could be the cover for an invasion of ukraine. the kremlin spokesperson said the risk of couldn't afflict is very high. higher than before. but blamed the west for the tension. the map looks set for war. even with diplomacy still on the table. france, germany, russia and ukraine are set to meet for talks on wednesday. the u.s. has been in near constant communication with its european allies. but concerns of conflict are growing. the state department authorized the depart you of nonessential u.s. person and he will families from ukraine. england did the same one day later. ukraine said the move is premature while russia has accused the west of hysteria. the pentagon has made clear that it is keeping its options open for the movement of troops, saying it could shift troops already in europe. meaning that's one more possibility for the buttressing and the strengthening of nato with their own build-up of troops. >> all right. thank you. joining us live to discuss, cnn international correspondent matthew chance, reporting live for us from kiev, ukraine. the president and the prime minister are asking people not to panic. the foreign affairs ministry calling it premature for the u.s., u.k. and other countries to pull staff from kiev. what else are you hearing from the ukrainian government today? they seem rather unhappy. >> reporter: yeah. i think that's a fair characterization of their attitude at the moment. there's been tensions under the surface, sillering away on a whole range of issues. the timing of sanctions. the pace of military aid from the u.s. the past couple days, particularly with this issue of the word to the embassy to downsize and move out some of the nonessential staff, to order the families to leave. that's really sort of left ukrainian officials from the officials i've been speaking to, in the sort of close circle of the leadership. really sort of distressed, disappointed, disillusioned about the attitude of the biden administration, the u.s., toward ukraine. one of them that, trying to characterize what em. he said, look, for decades, the u.s. has been telling to us stand against the russians. we have your back. we're here for you. but at the first sign of pressure, rising pressure, the united states becomes the first country to turn tail and to downsize its embassy staff. he said that it sends a very negative symbol, signal to people in the country. because of course there are lots of people in this country that are pro russian that think actually, ukraine should not have made the decision to put itself on the side of the west. and now those people are saying, look, we told you. the americans don't stand by people who they say they back. and it is really in the words of this ukrainian official, undermined the case for western support in this country. jake? >> well, conversely, the pentagon is readying as many as 8,500 u.s. service members to go to eastern europe. to stand in nato allied coun countries. isn't that something nato officials want to hear? >> yeah. i just got off the phone a second ago before i came on the show, talking to a senior ukrainian official about that. and he said look, we're very happy for the baltics, for eastern europe that they're getting this commitment, this military commitment of protection from the united states being renewed and bolstered. what they don't want to see for ukraine to be turned into the no man's land, the balkans state, no man's land. in many ways, that's what ukraine is. but ukrainian officials are not happy with that status. they think if ukraine falls, if ukraine is invaded, that will be a massively negative impact on the rest of the western alliance. >> all right. thank you so much. joining us live to discuss, republican congressman mike mccall of texas. the republican on the house foreign affairs committee. good to see you. the pentagon says the secretary of defense, lloyd austin, has ordered as many as 8,500 u.s. service members to prepare to deploy to eastern europe. that they could be sent to the baltic states or other parts of eastern europe. yesterday you said you don't think putin sees this as a serious threatful will this potential troop deployment, could that change his mind? >> i think it helps. i'm glad the administration is finally listening. we've been urging them to do these joint exercise operations with nato, in these nato countries like poland, the baltic states, bulgaria. that would be a showing of deterrence. prior to this, it has been a passive deterrence. with respect to the 8,500 troops, remember, it is very conditioned on nato requesting, but secondly, only until after an invasion which, your analyst talked about president zelensky. his frustration, you're talking about the sanctions or the joint exercises on russia's western flank. it's all predicated after an invasion. when he thinks it should be done before to prevent an invasion from happening in the first place. >> right. russia is adding to its presence at the ukrainian border. if even just a few dozen should cross into ukraine's sovereign territory, what do you think the president should do? should he send u.s. troops directly into ukraine? what do you want him to do and what is the red line? >> well, ukraine is not a nato country. they have a right to self-determination. i don't think the president will put troops in ukraine. and that's why we've been calling for deterrence. remember, this started last march. the $200 million being talked about was held up by the white house. it was on the desk last november. just now recently released. i have a bill that i hope will be bipartisan for immediate lethal aid package to ukraine. we have a showing of force that putin understands. but this won't come without a high price. and we haven't done that thus far. when you look at the map where the russian troops are, they're in belarus. they're doing join exercises with lethal weapons. it is just north of kiev which is the capital. we see an invasion likely taking place. also on the east side of, central, where the region is. then finally, there are other troop deployment is near the black sea near crimea. i think overall, putin wants the bread basket back. he's always wanted ukraine. i think he sees weakness particularly after afghanistan. a lot of this is about energy with the pipeline but also his control of the pipeline and the mediterranean and the suez canal. >> so you're asking for tough sanctions to be imposed now before any russian invasion as deterrence. obviously those sanctions would hit russia in the energy sector you talk about. which would immediately cause gas prices to skyrocket. is that something you're willing to explain to the american people that they might need to pay higher natural gas and gasoline prices in order to deter russia from invading ukraine? >> well, i think it is an easy explanation. why did the president waive congressionally man dated sanctions to allow putin to complete his pipeline in europe, making them dependen on dirty russian energy? >> well, i mean to answer your question. because germany wanted them to let it go forward and they don't want to alienate germany which is a key member of nato. you know the answer. but for our viewers, that's the reason why the biden administration says they didn't do that. >> that's true. whereas every other nation in nato doesn't really want this. the former chancellor of germany was the chief lobbyist for gas, a russian state enterprise that is completing putin's pipeline. a better strategy, why are we shutting down keystone pipeline? we're the largest exporter of lng, clean natural gas, we could be exporting that to europe. and that's what most europeans want. they don't want putin's pipeline which makes they will vulnerable to russian aggression. i think that's the bottom line. we passed that almost overwhelmingly. and i had an amendment on the national defense authorization to strip the presidential waiver. it passed on the house floor unanimously by a voice vote. now it's been politicized. but i think that would send a deterrent message along with sanctions to say, look. if you will not stop this aggression, we're going to go forward with sanctions. we'll lift them if you agree not to invade. >> the state department as you know is reducing staffing at its sim in ukraine and ordering some family members of embassy staff to evacuate. they're also, the state department, encouraging americans in ukraine to leave ukraine. this is upsetting the ukrainian government, as you heard from the earlier report. do you think it is the right move or the wrong move? i can't help but think it is probably influenced by what happened in afghanistan when people said there weren't sufficient warnings for people to get out before the worst happened. >> yeah. i think it does demonstrate how serious the situation is. i've been briefed on the russian plan in the classified space. it is very serious. the timetable is very short and that's important right now. i think it is a safe measure to protect embassy employees. but it also shows you how serious a threat it is coming from russia right now that we're anticipating that they very likely could happen. to put in it perspective, this would be the largest invasion in europe since world war ii. and to your analyst's comments, this is not about ukraine in a vacuum. this is about all of our foreign nation adversaries. china is looking at this very closely. president xi is looking to see if putin can invade ukraine and get away with it, he will look at taiwan. the ayatollah is building a bomb. kim jong-un just fired off two rockets this month that they claim were hyper sonics. this is a flash point now and it is not just limited to ukraine. >> republican from texas, thank you, sir. good to see you as always. it is getting ugly on the left. democrats censuring one of their own and now one senator is piling off. at what point is it safe to start pulling off the masks and trying to live with covid? 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(chicka-chicka) grubhub. in our politics lead, in battle, kyrsten sinema formerly reprimanded by her own state. the democratic party voted to censure her after she voted to change the filibuster rules. all 50 democrats supported it and now because of that, she could be facing a primary challenge. let's discuss with my political panel. is that censure really necessary, do you think? >> well, i think she has some very frustrated constituents and that's one way for them to express themselves. i think the challenger will be inevitable at this point. if i were her, i would think to myself, the whole world is looking at me. so far all i've done is say no. in the name of bipartisanship. i would speck her to step forward. where is the bipartisan deal that she thinks can happen? maybe there's concern about the electoral college act. she has to go forward and say i can make the bipartisanship work in the name of voting rights. otherwise, all she did was stop this party from trying to rescue democracy and then offer no leadership and that's why she deserves the primary challenge. >> this is interesting. there are eight members of congress currently who have recently been censured by their own state's party. except for sinema, all of them are republicans who took stances against donald trump. so what does that say about the make-up of congress and how elected officials are representing their voters? >> well, in some of these cases, if you're a member of the house, you're not representing the whole state. each state is made up of very different governance. there are some states where the folks running the state party are very effective. other places where they are very much have sort of fringe views. in the case of arizona, the arizona democratic party can do what they would like but senator sinema may not be as far from the arizona median voter as they may think. this is a state that donald trump won in 2016. he lost but very narrowly in 2020. so while she may face a primary challenge, i think no one will be more excited about that than republicans. in a wait reminds me of what the gop went through in 2010 after the tea party movement. they suddenly got control in congress. all of a sudden you start going, wait a minute. we have this majority. why can't we take it out for a spin? anyone who seems too establishment or moderate or standing in your way begins to draw your ire. this is all too familiar to republicans but it is not something that went away very quickly, either. >> and van, one of the most progressive, bernie sanders, said this. >> it is so important that we stand up to the big lie of trump and his allies that he really won the election, and they undermine that effort. i think what the arizona democrats did was exactly right. >> so what do you make of bernie sanders's rebuke of kyrsten sinema? does that hurt trying to keep them on that side for future legislation? >> i think bernie sanders is the least of her problems. she's getting rebuked by emily's list, long time allies of hers. the problem is, when they finish rebuking her, we have the same problem. both sides now are very concerned about going into an election. the republicans think that we're going to try to cheat. we think they're trying to cheat. and you still have a leadership vacuum. she should use this moment. if there's something she wants to do in voting rights. if she thinks she can get a bipartisan vote for, she should raise her hands and say so other. wise she will get run over and deserve to get run over. stopping your party from getting something done is not leadership. getting something done is leadership. we have yet to see that from kyrsten sinema. >> donald trump interfered early. he endorsed shawn parnell, he dropped out already. representatives ted bud in north carolina, mo brooks, both struggling. what does this tell but trump's reign over the gop or maybe his candidate selection? >> this doesn't surprise me. if you've been paying close enough attention, it shouldn't surprise you either. someone like lauren bobert. donald trump didn't endorse her. donald trump didn't enforce. he endorsed his opponent. so donald trump does not have an unblemished record in republican primaries. he is enormously influential and places like ohio, there is an effort to pull in his voters. you don't want to be on the wrong side of trump necessarily. but there are plenty of examples of folks who said, look, maybe i'm not the one who donald trump endorsed. i support his agenda and i'm a fighter and that may be enough for republican voters who are not necessarily just about one man. they're about ideas, fighting style, whatever it may be. it means that donald trump's endorsement does not mean you're guaranteed to win a primary. >> we've heard a lot of conspiracy theories and anti-vax nonsense from people on the right. this weekend, robert kennedy jr. participated in an anti-vaccine rally in washington, d.c. and he actually likened vaccine mandates to nazi germany. he actually said they're worse than nazi germany. the auschwitz tweeted his remarks are a sad symptom of moral and intellectual decay. he said something so stupid. he said something like even in nazi germany, you could flee or go over the alps or hide in an attic like anne frank. it's so stupid. i don't even know what to say about it. why is there -- this is second now not just the maga right but on the anti-vaccine left. >> i was speechless. i know him quite well. he actually endorsed my first book. i worked him on environmental issues. i don't recognize this guy. i don't recognize him. i don't understand what he thinks he's doing. you can have legitimate questions or concerns about any pharmaceutical product but you don't bring in anne frank to make your point. this is weird. you're debasing one. most horrific crimes against humanity to make a political point about a medical product. you don't do that. he knows better. i don't understand it. it was bewildering. >> he's a menace to public health. anti-mask, anti-science comments gets a basketball player benched. neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. thanks to realtor.com's home alerts we were able to see the newest homes on the market, super fast. so we could finally buy our first "big boi house." big boi house. big boi kitchen! big boi waterfall shower! big boi crawl space. big boi sold sign, big boi logo. realtor.com to each their home. as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable nationwide network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business: powering possibilities. in our sports lead, you may remember him as a member of the very first dream team from the 1992 olympics or the nba records he set in nearly two decades with the utah jazz. now basketball hall of famer john stockton is earning headlines for a less glamorous reason. after his alma mater gonzaga university suspended his basketball season tickets because he refuses to follow the mask mandate at games. his refusal to mask up is just the tip of the anti-science iceberg. >> reporter: hall of fame nba player john stockton may be the most recognizable basketball player to come out of gonzaga university in eastern washington. but the nation's top ranked college men's team is now booting its own hero from its home court. the 59-year-old stockton, who went on to become the nba all time leader in assists and steals, told the spokesman review that the school said it was going to have to, quote, ask me to wear a mask or they were going to suspend my tickets. >> gonzaga, it has come a long way. very proud to be a zag. >> reporter: as omicron surged over the holidays, gonzaga like some other schools across the country stopped serving food and drinks at games in the new year. >> so there was no excuse to drop your mask. >> reporter: turner sports and ncaa reporter andy cats that that is when an unmasked stockton guest stood out, refusing to put a mask on. >> the new athletic director this last year spoke with john stockton and basically laid it out for him. this is our policy. you can either mask or not attend. >> reporter: gonzaga university requires people 12 and up to show proof of vaccination or a negative covid test to enter athletic events. and the school follows washington state's mask mandate, a requirement for virtually all attendees 5 and up regardless of vaccination status. the university gave cnn this statement saying that it continues to work hard to implement health and safety protocols and would not speak to specific actions taken with any specific individuals. cnn has tried to reach stockton but has not heard back. this stand-off on masks follows stockton's appearance last year in a nine-part conspiracy driven video series. >> this is a virus cheating us of this opportunity. it is the guys making decisions saying no, no, we're too scared. we're going to shut everything down. sit in your house and be careful. my kids and my grand kids hearing these things and accepting them as truth when i know by my significant am of research that it isn't. >> reporter: he told the spokesman review on saturday that he believes, it is over 100 professional athletes dead. professional athletes, the prime. their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated. right on the pitch. right on the field. right on the court. >> if something like that were to happen, we would know that already. >> reporter: the professor says effective measures are in place to watch for potential adverse reactions to vaccines. the cdc requires health care workers to report deaths and other adverse effects following vaccination, even if it is not clear whether the vaccine was the cause. the cdc says reports of serious issues are rare. so stockton's claim -- >> it's quite dangerous and it puts people at harmful it puts fans at harm. people will get sick and someone will die. >> reporter: pandemic politics are playing out now, especially in indoor sports like basketball where covid restrictions are stricter. and the ncaa does not regulate policies for regular season games leaving schools to play covid protocol referee. >> not just by conference. it is by state. >> this has been during across the country. basically in a blue, red, purple divide. >> reporter: even as the pandemic marches on. >> we're all in this boat together, including john stockton. >> reporter: this is the second major controversy in eastern washington over sports and covid protocols. last fall, washington state university fired its football coach in pullman for not following the state requirement for all state employees to be vaccinated. this is all happening in a state that has had relatively stricter covid protocols compared to some other parts of the u.s. where western washington is far more left leaning. so just another exam of very tricky covid politics playing out in each region. >> thank you so much. here to discuss, cnn chief correspondent dr. sanjay gupta. we're nearly two years into this pandemic and patience is running thin. some pushback and praise for telling hbo's bill maher that she is done with covid. take a listen. >> we were told, you get the vaccine. you get the vaccine and you get back to normal. and we haven't gotten back to normal. this is going to be remembered by the younger generation as a catastrophic moral crime. the city of flint, michigan, which is 80%, i think, minority students, has just announced indefinite virtual schooling. it is a pall of bureaucracy. it is not real anymore. >> what was your reaction when you heard that? >> my reaction was, it is real. it is very real. it is whip lash working in a hospital and seeing what's going on in hospitals. they're overwhelmed. e.r.s are full. you can't get beds for your patients, covid or not. to come out of the hospital and hear remarks like that, it feels like whiplash. the catastrophic moral failure. you and i have been talking about it more than two years. that 10,000 people died last week. most didn't need to. most were preventible deaths or stupid deaths. that's the catastrophic moral failure. hundreds of thousands have died over the last, you know, cynic the vaccines rolled out, hundreds of thousands have rolled out preventible deaths. that's the catastrophic moral failure. kids will say, in a few years, let me get this straight. my loved one is not here but they could have been if they got vaccinated. didn't get vaccinated because of politics. that's the moral failure. that's the biggest one and that's something we have to contend with and hopefully learn from. we may have to apply these lessons sometime again soon. >> i think she was talking about closing schools. you and i have talking literally since the middle of 2020, the need to have schools open for social and academic reasons as long as they can be opened safely. putting that aside, the school issue, what do you say to people like barry weiss who says i followed all the rules. i got boosted, vaccinated, i'm ready to be done with this. >> two issues you're bringing up. one is, be done with it. we're not done with it which is the thing that struck me with the comments. we're not done with it. 10,000 people who died last week. with regard to schools, yes, i think there's been plenty of science that has emerged over the last year and a half to show that schools can be opened safely. with regard to people who are vaccinated, i think the story, the thing that they should feel some comfort in, hopefully, that they are so well protected against getting sick. maybe that's an obvious thing at this point. i realize the desire is to go back to normal of my parents before they got vaccinated, they were worried because they saw so many of their friends die. they were worried that could be them. if you look at the line graphs and see what's happening between the unvaccinated and vaccinated in this country. it is clear. you want to be on the green line. so that's what i would tell vaccinated people. we are going to get back to normal. it will probably happen fairly soon based on the way the data is trending. you would much rather be on that green line than the red one. >> at what point do you think society will semicovid as something that is endemic, a virus we live. with maybe year or two we have to get a shot in the same way that we live with the flu. >> i think that point will be probably when hospitals are not overwhelmed. i mean, i know that's a little bit vague. but i think that ends up being the truest and most accurate impact on society. in many places around the country, it may be getting better in some. in the south, it's steady in terms of hospitalizations, even gone up over the last couple weeks and it was already very high. i think it will be an uncomfortable sort of reality. even if you look at flu, jake, 60,000 people die of flu every year. that ended up being what was acceptable of 40,000 people died of covid in january alone so far. so we're not there yet. mainly when hospitals and hospitalizations come down. >> thank you. so. appreciate it as always. president biden just had quite a hot mic moment. we'll bring it to you next. oke.. >> woman: what?! >> vo: ...i searched for someone who really knew my car. i found the experts at safelite autoglass. with their exclusive technology, they fixed my windshield... then recalibrated the camera attached to my glass so my safety systems still work. who knew that was a thing?! >> woman: safelite has service i can trust. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ 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for when you turn 65. benefits that may include a $0 monthly plan premium. aetna medicare advantage plans call today to learn more. just in, president biden lashing out at a report he with some rather colorful language just moments ago during a meeting about inflation. reporters peppered him with questions about ukraine and growing increasingly frustrated with the line of questioning, he said this in response to a reporter's question about inflation's impact on the elections. we should note, the report is he from fox. >> that's a great asset. more inflation. what a stupid -- >> so just to spell it out, let me bring it to you from kaitlan collin who was in the room. so peter fox said do you think political inflation is a liability in the mid-terms. and biden says to himself as if he doesn't know there is a make row phone. no, it's a great asset. what a stupid -- >> he was having with top members of his administration, his cabinet in the room for this competition counsel. when he finished wrapping up his remarks and he was moving on as they were going around the room, the press was leaving the room. i asked the president about his call today with the european leaders on the unfolding crisis in ukraine. he complained saying that he wanted the questions to be about what was happening. about this meeting and the purpose. meeting and the fact that it was on this competition council. so it was when peter asked him about inflation being a political liability. of course, that's something we know democrats are worried about it being a liability for them. clearly the president did not like that question and respond in the kind. this is something the white house has talked about. that inflation is a problem for them. while there are limited things they can do to get it under control, they tried to take steps to do it. it is at a 40-year high. and some of the biggest policy goals including senator manchin said at the christmas break, he wouldn't vote to go ahead with the president's domestic agenda with the climate and economic bill because of inflation. so all of that played into the question that the president did not want to answer. he was on a microphone this competitive council they have formed at the white house. it was pretty clear, he knew he was on a mic. >> yeah. the microphone is literally right in front of him. it was not like he was in a back room and he forgot it was on his lapel. it was right in front of him. this is a president who when he was vice president in front of the world, went into president obama and told minimum obamacare passing was a big if'ing deal. this one seemed more blatant even. >> i think the irony also is that the president was saying, he wanted questions on the topic at hand. inflation is related to this council because of course that's something they are trying to solve. it plays boo the larger conversation about it. and then when he got that question, that was how he responded, jake. >> yeah. he's having a rough time of it. thanks so much. appreciate it. turning to our national lead, opening stalts in the federal civil trial of three manslaughter officers indicted related to the george floyd killing. they said the officers deprived him of his civil rights as they watch their convicted colleague kneel on floyd's neck. joining us from st. paul, minnesota. tell us about the tone in court today. >> yeah, jake. for starters, the tone took everyone right back to may 2020, the day derek chauvin murdered george floyd. we heard from the prosecution and the defense, the main arguments in this case. the prosecution largely stuck to the charges that the officers are facing. that they were deliberately indifferent to floyd's medical needs when he was under the knee of derek chauvin. and at least king and tau failed to intervene and stop derek chauvin. the prosecutors say that each one of these defendants had an opportunity to take their -- had a choice over and over again. they chose not to intervene and stop chauvin as he killed a man. they chose not to protect george floyd, the man they hand cuffed, and then went on to tell the jury what to expect. it was the paramedics and that the defendants who told chauvin to get off. all these officers have pleaded not guilty to these charges, and critically, we learned one. officers, thomas larynx does plan to testify as part of the trial. >> all right. omar jimenez on the case for us in st. paul. getting your refund could be extra. at aing this year. why the irs is warning that we should expect delays. stay with us. 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. i always dreamed of having kids of my own. ♪ ♪ now i'm ready for someone to call me mom. at northwestern mutual, our version of financial planning helps you live your dreams today. i don't just play someone brainy on tv - i'm an actual neuroscientist. and i love the science behind neuriva plus. unlike ordinary memory supplements, neuriva plus fuels six key indicators of brain performance. more brain performance? yes, please! neuriva. think bigger. just in time for today's official start of income tax filing season. the irs is warning you might have to wait longer to get your refund. gabe reports for us now. the covid pandemic, backlog of returns from last year, and a worker shortage may add up to long delays for you. >> a warning from the irs. expect another frustrating tax filing season marked by processing problems and refund delays. the agency is in crisis, facing a backlog of close to 10 million returns. >> we're working as hard as we can. >> now dealing with new staffing problems from covid and wage competition. with nearly 200 job openings posted on their website on top of a long list of other issues like outdated software, tedious paper filings and most notably, a lack of sufficient funding. since 2010, the number of tax returns is up 19%, but the agency's funding and staffing are down close to 20%. >> i think it boils down to funding. >> john was irs commissioner under president obama. >> if you have to call or respond to a notice from the irs, that's when the problems begin. >> last year, the irs only answered 11% of customer calls. with many waiting hours to get through. meanwhile, tax filing is getting more complicated in the pandemic with new programs around covid relief and child tax credits. traffic to the irs nearly tripled in 2020 and rose again last year. now millions of taxpayers are still waiting for their refund. >> it's been frustrating. >> paul and his family need that $7,000. he's on disability and his wife runs a small business. >> knowing that it's out there and we can't access it and we could really use that money right now is a challenge. >> i think it's urgent. >> the build back better plan would include $80 billion to strengthen the irs, but with the bill stall nded in the senate, white house is now calling on congress to provide another stable source of funding. >> the agency has not been equipp equipped with the resources it needs. >> everyone's stuck. >> janice returns a low income taxpayers clinic in maryland. they've seen a huge spike in demand. >> we're trying to help these low income individuals, but we can't always get answers either from the irs. >> it's been really stressful. >> jasmine jones is days away from delivering her third child and she's been waiting for her $11,000 refund since before she was pregnant. >> and we have racks and racks of bills to catch up on. >> to avoid delays this season, the irs is urging people to file early and electronically, use direct deposit, make sure everything's accurate. especially with stimulus payments and the child tax credits all to avoid a frustrating wait. >> it makes me think i won't receive it this year. >> as tax season gets underway today, again, the irs says file as soon as possible. the deadline for most is set for april 18th and they are not expecting that to be delayed, jake, even if some refunds might be. >> all right, gabe, thanks so much. coming up, it's 1 million miles from earth and so powerful, it can see back to the creation of the universe. stay with us. strypaper? luckily, there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients. and no preservatives. try biotrue! (vo) verizon is going ultra! and so is manny! event planning with our best business unlimited plan ever! with 5g ultra wideband now in many more cities and up to 10 times the speed at no extra cost, the downloads are flying fast! verizon is going ultra, so your business can too. new year, new start. and now comcast business is making it easy to get going with the ready. set. save. sale. get started with fast and reliable internet and voice for $64.99 a month with a 2-year price guarantee. it's easy... with flexible installation and backing from an expert team, 24/7. and for even more value, ask how to get up to a $500 prepaid card. get a great deal for your business with the ready. set. save. sale today. comcast business. growing up, bilal was obsessed, obsessed with superman! not because he could fly, but because superman stood up for people. maybe it's because of our family's own immigrant story, or he's just that nerdy. throughout his career in the obama administration and the private sector, bilal has never stopped helping others. we don't need a superhero to solve san francisco's biggest problems like crime and homelessness, just the innovation and courage to lead. join me. just a month after its launch, the james webb space telescope has reached its final destination. it's now almost 1 million miles from earth. the next step will turn the $10 billion spacecraft into a functioning telescope. webb will be 100 times more powerful than hubbell, allowing the telescope to observe objects at far greater distances than has ever been possible before, which scientists hope will give us more information about the earliest stages of the universe. you can follow me on facebook, instagram, twitter and the tiktok at jake tapper. if you ever miss an episode, listen wherever you get your podcasts. i will be on jimmy kimmel later this evening. our coverage continues with wolf blitzer and "the situation room." >> breaking in us. president biden says he and european leaders are in total u nam empty after urging talks on the threat of a russian invasion of ukraine. the pentagon has thousands of u.s. troops on alert as this crisis intensifies. i'll speak with john keirby. also, a georgia prosecutor gets the green light to have a special grand jury investigate former president trump's election interference in the state. this as we're getting new details on the jua