afraid. i mean, not be afraid, be ready. but that is not a question to ukraine. and not only for ukraine. for all the world. i think so. >> more new cnn reporting this hour. the american secretary of state is telling european allies, he believes putin's invasion may last the rest of the year. and there are important battlefield developments today. the crown jewel of russia's navy, the "mosqkva" now at the bottom of the sea. the big loss may complicate moscow's battle plan as it tries to take the south and the east. overnight, russian retaliation. moscow hitting a military facility on the outskirts of kyiv. russia says it will launch more attacks on targets in and around the capital in the coming hours. in mariupol, time is simply running out. key military commander there says the ukrainian flag is still flying, but russia claims critical advances and appears quite close to capturing that city. along the front lines in donetsk. everything under attack. a ukrainian official says russian firepower destroyed 100 homes. 13 high rises and a school. and in mykolaiv, at least two people killed after russian artillery exploded in front of an orthodox church. cnn heard multiple explosions and then witnessed the cleanup of blood and debris. let's get straight to ukraine. ben wedeman live for us in the strategic eastern city of kramatorsk. what's the latest? >> john, this city was struck early this morning. apparently an industrial site was struck. no word of injury. elsewhere, of course, many ukrainians are not unhappy with the news that the cruiser, the "moskva" went to the bottom of the black sea. the russian ministry of defense says its problem started when a fire broke out of unknown origin. that fire caused the stored ammunition on board to explode. that the ship was being towed to port, but there were rough seas and it went down. it's widely believed it was ukrainian shore to ship missiles that took that out. regarding those strikes in kyiv, those were the first major strikes in the ukrainian capital since russian forces pulled out of around the capital and the entirety of north central ukraine. as far as mariupol goes, we understand that two units of the ukrainian army within the besieged city were able to link up. but the area they controlled seems to be shrinking day by day. in the past, the russians have said they were in full control of mariupol. and then we've heard news that they bombed it. so clearly, they haven't been able to take full control, but as i said, the area controlled by ukrainian forces is shrinking day by day. >> shrinking day by day in mariupol. the question is what next? we've seen the convoys coming in from russia. pointing toward where you are in the east. kramatorsk, a key city in the east. there's been an uptick of strikes in that area? >> uptick in strikes here and many of the towns and cities close to russian lines. yesterday we were in donetsk where there was sporadic but continual shelling, but we understand today the shelling intensified there. that's the easternmost city under ukrainian control, and we understand just north of there, basically the northern suburbs, russian artillery, armor and troops are massing. and we did hear from the regional military administrator for the donetsk region where we are saying that at this point, they believe that every town and city along the front line is under attack. john? >> ben wedeman, critical live reporting in kramatorsk. let's get insights and expertise. cedric leighton is with us. thanks for your time. this is where ben wedeman is. we've talked about how important this crescent is here. ben just mentioned the military governor. he's been watching the russians advance and here's his timeline. >> translator: we have not yet seen a full-scale offensive from all directions as we expected. the kind of weather we've been having impedes the passage of heavy armored vehicles. but i believe it is a matter of several days, rather than weeks. >> that's the key point at the end. he believes this is coming in days, not weeks. the question is, what's coming? we know the convoys are coming in, but do you see the russians trying to take a tight crescent here, essentially take mariupol, get it to finally fall, create a land bridge here or is it something more ambitious that would cut off the country like that? >> we have to be prepared for something more ambitious because the russians have had this "grab it all" philosophy from the beginning of this conflict. i'd expect them to try to do this, but it doesn't mean they aren't going to start here. for example, if they wanted to surround kharkiv and do it in this way, they could potentially do that. but they're also looking at donetsk and izyum, the city right here. and where ben is. those are all on their path. and if they do this, then they'll, of course, gain more of the eastern area, the donbas specifically, and extend their control over that. they already have the russian separatists since 2014. but this is the big thing. this is the area where i think we'll start seeing major battles that will come out, looking a bit like what we saw in world war ii with major tank formations and things like that. >> they already have. there's significant russian advantages in the east they did not have when they came on kyiv. that's easier land routes, areas you have the red here under russian control. they had out here, they did have the "moskva." this is it at port in crimea getting attacked here. we can show you more here. this was a key ship. you can attack from the land but also attack from the sea. how big of a blow is this that this is off the battlefield. >> this is a huge blow. not only is it a guided missile cruiser, it's a -- was a command and control ship. what that meant was the flagship of the black sea fleet commander, it was his node to control all of the battle space in the black sea. with this gone, the russians either have to replace it or find another way around it. they have two other vessels like this within their fleet across their -- the entire russian navy. to bring those ships into the black sea, that would be a very difficult feat for them to achieve, and they have to work around this now. >> as they try work around it, i want to bring up here and come back to the east. if you had the "moskva" and capacity down here. we see the key cities. you heard the military governor believes this is coming within days. the question is, are the ukrainians ready for it, and as the united states and other nato allies try to rush in more heavy, more deadly equipment, can you get it there soon enough? >> this will be a battle of time. the clocks are on nobody's side here. more on the russian side than on the ukrainian side because the russians are actually determining the tempo of the battle. whereas the ukrainians, as the defenders, have to really work very hard to meet the russian timeline. so if the russians say come down here, down these highways this way and then try to go this way, what they are going to have to do is figure out a way, very quickly, to do all of this because the ukrainians are going to be getting resupplied by the west. they are also going to be moving their forces. so the ukrainian forces which i'll do in blue here, will be coming this way from various parts of the country. they are going to have to try to protect kharkiv. they're also going to have to try to keep the russians from making these junctions right here. so if they can keep the russians out of this area, then they have a chance to stalemate the battle. if they do that, then this will grind on as the secretary of state mentioned for quite some time. >> quite some time. i want to come back to the bigger map. we saw a missile strike on the outskirts of kyiv. the russians say they hit a munitions plant. do you expect more of that? is that retaliation for the sinking of their crown jewel down here? and do you expect that just if they're going to attack in and around the capital they've pulled their troops out. is that going to be lobbing in missiles or you don't expect any more ground offensive in that area? >> actually, i do expect missiles to come into the kyiv area because what the russians have said is they are going to be attacking command and control nodes everywhere across ukraine. so that means kyiv, that could potentially mean the airfield in vinnytsia. that could mean all kinds of other things. vinnytsia is the air force headquarters for the ukrainian air force. so what i would expect is they are going to cede the ground to the ukrainians for the moment around kyiv, but they -- kyiv is still within range of russian missiles. and from belarus or from russia itself, and any of that territory is really fair game for them as far as they can tell. and the russians are doing this as a revenge plot because when the "moskva" was sunk, that was one of the key things they had to look at was how to avenge that. they're going after the missile facilities. >> colonel, grateful for your time and insights. catch more of jake tapper's exclusive interview with president zelenskyy on cnn's "the lead" today at 4:00 p.m. eastern. next, domestic politics. exclusive cnn reporting inside the plot to steal the 2020 election. this exclusive reporting details weeks, yes weeks of texts between donald trump the chief of staff and key allies in congress. my eyes feel like a f stressed, dry and sasandpaper. strypaper? why y do we all put up with this? when there's biotrue hydration boosost eye drops. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients like an electrolyte, antioxidant, even your tears' own moisturizer. and no preservatives. these ingredients are true to your eyes' biology. see? bio.true. ♪ (drum roll) ♪ ♪ (energetic music) ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ (energetic music) ♪ (camera shutters) the all-new lx 600. ready for any arena. ♪ ♪ still struggling with ibs-c, mike knew he needed a plan. with his doctor he chose a once-daily pill and his next 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two months between the 2020 election and january 6th. dozens of them show utah senator mike lee and chip roy first encouraging, then pushing back on trump's efforts to overturn the election results. here with us to share his exclusive reporting, ryan nobles. >> we've obtained close to 100 text messages that were sent between chip roy, senator mike lee and the then white house chief of staff mark meadows. it shows both of these men were very interested in the possibility that republicans could stand in the way of the certification of the election results. but as the time ticked closer to january 6th, they were both recommending that trump and his team back away. senator mike lee of utah and congressman chip roy of texas, two of former president donald trump's most loyal defenders in congress. but in dozens of private texts to mark meadows, a picture emerges of how both went from aiding the effort to challenge the election results to ultimately warning against it. the texts obtained by cnn show how they were trying to help initially, but by the end, raised concerns to trump's top deputy about his campaign's effort to stand in the way of the certification of the 2020 election. we're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic, roy warned meadows on january 1st. that's in possession of the january 6th select committee. his stark warning came after weeks of begging meadows for hard evidence of election fraud and concerns the lack of specific evidence was a real problem for the trump legal team. we must urge the president to tone down the rhetoric, he wrote to meadows on november 9th. roy did believe that there were problems with the election. in early december he went to the house floor, imploring his colleagues to look into the thin examples of fraud. >> the american people are receives aing legitimate questions and this body is missing in action and doing nothing. >> reporter: like roy, senator mike lee started out hopeful there was a path to challenge the election results. in early november, he touted the work of conservative lawyer sidney powell and encouraging meadows to get her an audience with the president. calling her a, quote, straight shooter. but less than two weeks later, powell appeared with rudy giuliani in what would become an infamous press conference where the duo made wild, baseless claims about the election. >> president trump won by a landslide. we are going to prove it. >> reporter: lee then changed his tune calling powell a liability and turning his focus to touting attorney john eastman. lee pushed a plan to convince state legislatures to offer up a set of alternate electors. when that plan fizzled, lee decided he was no longer on board. he texted meadows december 16th, quote, i think we're now past the point we can expect anyone will do it without some direction and a strong evidentiary argument. both lee and roy ultimately chose not to join other republicans to vote against certifying the election. >> our job is to open and then count. open, then count. that's it. that's all there is. >> reporter: privately, they were more emphatic about the fool's errand trump's team was on. the president should call everyone off. it's the only path, roy texted meadows odecember 31st. while lee argued the effort was on dangerous constitutional ground. three days before january 6th, he warned, i know only that this will end badly for the president, unless we have the constitution on our side. they did not. but the trump team and a group of loyal republicans went ahead with their plan anyway. as it became clear their effort would not be successful, hundreds of trump supporters stormed the capitol in protest. as the violence was raging, roy texted meadows, fix this now. he then went to the house floor and placed the blame squarely at president trump's feet. >> the president should never have spun up certain americans to believe something that simply cannot be. >> reporter: both the offices of roy and lee did not dispute the information that we revealed in these text messages. congressman roy's office telling us that the texts speak for themselves. as for senator lee, his spokesperson telling us he was very transparent during this period of time and the information these texts reveals do not contradict what he was saying publicly. >> the texts do speak for themselves. that is a fact. ryan nobles, this is proof, these are texts from the mark meadows tranche handed over to the committee. proof the committee has a lot of information about who was involved, the timeline, how long it went on, that we have not fully seen yet. what else do you know that they have in their possession that perhaps has not become public yet? >> we've been able to report on a lot of the details the committee has not yet released but it's really just the tip of the iceberg, to use a cliche. we know for instance that the committee has thousands of documents from the national archives that were handed over from the trump white house. there's a whole batch of emails they just won a lawsuit over related to john eastman. and then there's the hundreds of depositions and interviews that they've already taken place with many members of the trump administration, people very close to the president, including his own daughter, ivanka trump, and his son-in-law, jared kushner. the committee is promising explosive public hearings later this spring. it's anticipated that we're going to learn a lot more about what the committee has uncovered in the days and weeks ahead. >> it's important. fantastic reporting from ryan nobles. thank you. up next for us, we'll talk more about this exclusive reporting, including more of these text messages with our great reporters. plus, brand-new details on the former trump aid steven miller's eight-hour meet with the january 6th committee. with relapsing forms of ms... there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. it can all add up. kesimpta 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[laughs] we'll drive you happy at carvana. more now on cnn's exclusive reporting. dozens of next messages between then trump chief of staff mark meadows and mike lee and chip roy. those texts discussing trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. these texts show that senator lee in particular went from, i want to offer words of encouragement to the president in november, to encouraging trump and his aidites to empowe sidney powell and then concluding closer to inauguration day and january 6th that, very few senators would in the end object to the election results. finally, quote, i know only that this will end badly for the president unless we have the constitution on our side. with me to discuss their reporting, sabrina siddiqui of "the wall street journal," cnn plus anchor kasie hunt and politico's laura barron-lopez. it is remarkable to go through these texts and, again, props to our cnn team, ryan nobles and his colleagues. it shows you at a time when it would have been helpful if the president's allies in congress said, stop. stop. from election day -- early on, there was encouragement from the people, senator lee, maybe had -- could have had the president's ear. chip roy could have. but they were saying green light, go. >> that's what's striking about these messages. these are two members of congress who eventually jumped ship when it comes to the president, former president's efforts to overturn the election, but their instinct at first was to go along with these baseless claims of widespread voter fraud and to really encourage the president and help him come up with legal strategies to try and overturn the outcome of the election. this is happening at a time when numerous legal challenges that the president and his allies had filed to challenge the election were rejected by the courts. they are really taking their cues from the white house. senator lee is texting mark meadows, tell me what to say. give me something to work with. and so ultimately, they did eventually, like i said, jump ship, but they were still willing to help the president, rather than accept the outcome of the democratic process. >> i remember doing reporting on this contemporaneously. this was the republican line. when you spoke to them on the phone. they were willing to let the white house play out and see if they could find evidence of fraud. and they demanded it. they asked for it. and then had to sort themselves into their various camps. and it took them a minute to realize this is where things were heading. but i think the most interesting thing about this, as you said, terrific reporting from our cnn colleagues is the question about whether or not what trump was doing was legal or not. and when you read into what mike lee in particular was saying, it was that, okay, if the states send us new electors, in accordance with state law, then maybe we can do something. but by the end, he realizes this is outside of our legal framework. so my question is, what's the committee going to do as they set the stage and have that question answered? >> by the end he realizes it's outside of our legal framework. early on, sidney powell, she's a straight shooter. mike lee was -- sidney powell was having a hard time getting to the president because some in the white house were saying keep her away. she does not have a real legal case. she's making this up. people around trump were trying to protect him from her. when they were losing in the courts he was saying, let her in. >> this is a huge deal that this senator who has long prided himself as being, you know, a defender of the constitution, was encouraging access to the president, saying that he should have -- this lawyer who clearly had no evidence of fraud should have access to him, that alternative slate of electors should be sent to congress? that's contrary to the law. also the fact that this is exactly -- that exact gambit is what election law experts are concerned about happening in 2024. and they've warned that states don't need to change any laws. those state legislatures could send a fake slate of electors to congress if republicans are in power of the house and senate. they can decide, we're just going to accept them and declare the loser the winner. that would be a huge deal. and the only way that congress can protect against that is by fortifying the electoral count act, which we know that there are bipartisan group of senators that want to do that. but nothing has come of it so far. >> both of them did dramatically change their tune. we should point that out. but this is congressman roy from texas early on. november 7th. we need ammo. fraud examples. we need it this weekend. so early on when the president was saying i'm going to fight this, his allies in congress were willing to stand with him. they wanted specifics. white house never had specifics. >> they never had specifics and from the outset there was no evidence of any widespread voter fraud. laura brings up an interesting point. these 24 sitting members of congress who ultimately soured on these stop the steal efforts but the former president is still very much elevating pro-stop the steal candidates in these midterm elections. a number of republican members of congress are still willing to entertain the idea that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and there's this effort within the states to also appoint people in the legislatures and in these important positions of secretary of state who are sympathetic to the former president's claim that the election was stolen. so there are very real implications also for the midterms as well as for 2024. this is not something in the past. it's very much still at the fore of what the republican party and certainly former president trump, who is still the figure head of the party, what they are pushing now. >> when you watch the trajectory, encouraging the white house to push, push, push. first senator lee, for example. listen to sidney powell. he realized that was a mistake. listen to john eastman. and late, late, i only know this will end badly for the president unless we have the constitution on our side. he figures it out closer to january 6th this is not going well. chip roy, the president should call everyone off. it's the only path. if we substitute the will of the states through electors with a vote of congress every four years we've destroyed the electoral college, respectfully. chip roy understanding. if we elect presidents by popular vote, that's not good for the republican party. >> he was right. he was saying days before there were members of congress begging the president to literally call off the people he sent on pennsylvania avenue who broke into the capitol. people that day said call them off, call them off. chip day is a couple days ahead of that. look, from what i can tell, i take all the points about how they were encouraging him in the beginning. but when you get to the end of this story and think about why the committee is focused on this. and what they are hoping to get out of putting this out into the public domain, i think it's -- they've got an audience in the federal court system that has to decide what to do about potentially prosecuting the former president and many of those around him. and this says to those judges, this is potentially not necessarily as political as it looks. this isn't just democrats out there saying this was wrong. this was against the law. here you have two of the most conservative republican members of congress, people who said, if there's fraud, show it to us. we'll get it out there for you who say, no, this was illegal. this was against the law. stop. i think that's the significance. >> stop asking us to do things we cannot do. if you have the evidence, we'll do it. otherwise, by the end, stop asking us to do things the law and constitution do not allow which brings into the point that we learn almost every day now the committee has more than we know publicly. more text messages. more people. yesterday eight hours with stephen miller. one of the president's top aides. and "the new york times" has this take. investigators ask mr. miller about the use of the word "we" throughout mr. trump's speech on the ellipse on january 6th. an apparent effort to ascertain whether the former president had been directing supporters to join him in taking action to stop congress from certifying his defeat. mr. miller argued the language was no different than any other political speech. so again, they are -- it's hard to know the full picture of what the committee has. but they are trying to get access to everybody. >> they are. and two good points here. the big difference between what the committee is doing and what they clearly ultimately want is the justice department to have its own investigation, to decide whether or not to charge trump with criminal intent, but the big difference between a grand jury at the justice department and what the committee is doing is that that grand jury gives people, whether it's trump or his top officials or lawmakers like lee or others who potentially had a hand in this, it gives them three options. they either tell the truth, they either plead the fifth or potentially go to jail. so that's the big difference, if justice department and attorney general merrick garland decides to carry this forward. another thing that i think is relevant right here is that if republicans gain control of congress, we've already heard a threat from minority leader kevin mccarthy saying that if you are a tech company that complies with a subpoena, we'll go after you with political retribution. >> threats of recrimination and you see these texts and you can connect the dots yourself at home. up next, a chilling new warning from russia to the state department as the biden administration pushes on heavy weaponry to ukraine. and so i came to clearchoice. your mouth is the gateway to your body.. joe's treatment plan 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unpredictable consequences, what is it threatening? >> well, john, it could be anything. obviously, it could be use of chemical or nuclear weapons. i think at the strategic level, at the highest level meaning intercontinental use, russia against the united states. that's not likely. we do worry about tactical use, but frankly speaking, russia is not in a position to start a military conflict, certainly, with any other country. it can barely win the war in ukraine right now. >> to that point when you hear secretary blinken telling u.s. allies around the world, look, this is going to go on for months and months. we've talked about this before. watching putin. this war started eight years ago, not 50-something days ago. watching putin we've all expected that. what is the strategic importance of secretary blinken trying to tell everybody, strap in, prepare for the long haul? >> well, i think because, you know, as democracies, we're not very good at paying attention for a long time and hanging in there. and we want a quick victory. and to the extent that we don't really know. there could be a quick victory, but, obviously, if you are a leader in government, you want to make sure you're prepared for the longer haul. >> there are a lot of questions about what next. obviously people trying to rush heavier military equipment to the ukrainians as the fight moves to the east and people expect it to be quite bloody. also a debate in the european union about addin ining to sanc. a lot of them said we won't take russian coal, but oil and gas are the key. listen to a key former adviser to vladimir putin who says you embargo have a tougher embargo on energy. you might make a difference. >> the government does not have resources to spending. the regime will be in a position that it would need to stop operations to look for some -- and to see some negotiations with ukraine. >> do you believe that the debate among the european countries has been they'll be punishing their own people if they just essentially chop off purchases of russian oil and particularly gas, but do you believe that, that it could have a quick effect if they did? >> well, john, their own people want this war to end. you know, there have been germans demonstrating against the war and saying we shouldn't be buying oil and gas from russia. we'll put on another sweater. and i do think it's interesting what the expert economist, i saw it live on the air when he was interviewed, what he said because it does indicate that russia is incredibly vulnerable right now. does not have new sources of income to pay for the ongoing military operation and so maybe we could see a real difference quickly if we cut off the oil and gas. there's no reason you couldn't impose an embargo and if it proved to be too painful, release it somehow or undo it. of course, it's not good politically, but again, it's worth trying it because we want to bring the war to a fast end. and i think that's also what's behind these new shipments of military assistance. >> a question that's come up in recent days. we saw the president of poland and leaders of the baltic state goes to kyiv. boris johnson then went to kyiv to meet zelenskyy. the question has been, should president biden or somebody high in the united states government go. this is what jen psaki says about the president. >> so he's ready, he's just not -- >> he's ready for anything. the man likes a fast car, some aviators. he's ready to go to ukraine. it's true. he does. we are not sending the president to ukraine. what i will tell you is that what boris johnson did is he took, i believe, an eight-hour train through a war zone to get to the middle of ukraine. so, no, that is not in the plans for the president of the united states. we should all be relieved about that. >> what's your take on that? i think it's sort of silly conversation to think you'd send the president of the united states right now but this is a public discussion and dealt with like that. >> yeah, i'm with jen psaki. there's no reason to send the president right now. he's got important business right now that isn't symbolic. it's real. and i understand the symbolic, you know, significance of the american president going there, but it's not necessary. i'm sure president zelenskyy would much rather that he sit at his desk and sign papers allowing for more military assistance that he get on the phone with india and tell them to stop buying russian oil. i mean, there are many things. of course, obviously, he's our president so domestically, we need him to be at the helm as well. so again, it would be great and at the end of all of this, i hope ukraine is victorious and president biden can go to ukraine then. >> evelyn farkas, grateful for your insights. thank you. up next for us, the border and bipartisan anger at the biden white house. 21 states suing to block a white house plan to end a big trump policy and allow those seeking asylum to cross into the united states. 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bank of pancakes and start earning pancoins toward free food. only from ihop. better hearing leads to a better life. and that better life... ...starts at miracle-ear. it all begins with the most innovative technology... ...like the new miracle-earmini™. available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small, no one will see it. but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a 30-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. there is loud bipartisan pushback as president biden prepares to end a trump pandemic policy that kept migrants seeking asylum out of the united states. it includes a new lawsuit filed by 21 states. three of those 21 do have democratic governors. but all have republican attorneys general who are pushing to keep the trump policy, known as title 42 in place. more than 1.7 million migrants have been turned away under that policy. we can just show the map up there of these states. kentucky, kansas and louisiana have democratic governors. but it's their republican attorneys generals who are part of this. this is a tactic we saw during the obama administration. some successful, some maybe not, but it keeps the issue alive and republicans believe that helps them in this election year. >> absolutely. what you are seeing is the political fallout from the biden administration's decision to lift title 42 kind of coming head-to-head with the merits of the policy itself. it was actually a lot of criticism of the biden administration that they left this policy in place for as long as they did. even as covid-19 cases were in decline, and as we know, travel bans against countries where variants of covid-19 have been detected have not stopped the virus from rampantly spreadiing here in the united states. republicans are seizing on the fact there are some moderate democrats who are concerned about what the optics of a surge at the border will look like in a midterm election year and they specifically cite that in this lawsuit. of course, always immigration politics always complex in a midterm election. >> you mentioned the democrats. if it were just the republican attorneys general, the administration would say politics but here are some of the democrats. you see the three in highlighted yellow. senator castro of nevada. maggie hassen of new hampshire. mark kelly and christmas and joe manchin. telling the administration, stop. >> yeah, they have difficult -- not in the case of manchin and sinema, but the others have difficult re-elections on their hands. what they are considered about is whether or not there is going to be an increase of migrants at the border come summer. and biden's top pollster is also concerned about it saying he thinks there very well could be an increase of migrants at the border. now what he is saying that democrats need to push back on is the fact that republicans have now created this narrative that by doing away with title 42, the border is open. it's open season for migrants to come through. that's not true. they still have to go through processing. the bus of migrants that governor -- texas governor greg abbott sent to d.c. this week, those are all migrants that are going through processing and are seeking asylum which is something that almost every single migrant encountered at the border while title 42 was in place. the legality of title 42, to begin with, was in question. >> one thing that happens to democrats politically is they argue the details. and laura is right. republicans say we have the issue. people are uptight about the economy because of inflation. then we add in again, the facts might not support it, but open borders and, boom. >> democrats who look at these, they see that people do want democrats to provide a message that the border is secure. even if they are willing to support legal immigration and maybe a different path or set of rules for the people already here in this country. but one thing i think we need to focus on here, too, is that a lot of the issue that these democrats are raising when they put out these statements, yes, it's about their re-elections, but what they are saying is they're not convinced the administration has a plan. and a big risk for the biden administration is that they lift this, things happen. there are these videos, these pictures. there are people surging across the border. and they don't do a good job of dealing with it because that plays into their competence narrative as well. and they've dealt with that in a variety of ways. afghanistan, i think, is probably the biggest example. so it's really a political liability for them on two fronts, right? their competence and also the issue of immigration that is so inflammatory as it stands all by itself. right now the reporting is about infighting between hhs, dhs, who is in charge and who should take these immigrants? it's a real mess waiting to happen. >> a real mess is the best -- well put. ladies, thanks for coming in. catch kasie hunt any time on cnn plus. learn more at cnnplus.com. up next, senator dianne feinstein says she's still up to the job, challenging a detail challenging memory lapses and concerns among some colleagues. you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need? oh, like how i customized this scarf? wow, first time? eck out this backpack i made for marco. oh yeah? well, ch. oh, nice. that'll go perfect with these. dude... those are so fire. 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(moo) mabel says for you, it's more like 5:15. man: mom, really? why do people who live with generalized myasthenia gravis want a new treatment option? because we want to be able to get up and get ready for work. because the animals need to be cared for, and we like taking care of them. because we want to go out to dinner with our friends. because, in family photos, we want to be able to smile. a new fda-approved treatment for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis could help them do more of the daily activities they care about. to learn more, go to now4gmg.com and talk to your neurologist. migraine attacks? you can't always avoid triggers like stress. qulipta™ can help prevent migraine attacks. you can't prevent what's going on outside that's why qulipta™ helps what's going on inside. qulipta™ is a pill. gets right to work to prevent migraine attacks and keeps them away over time. qulipta™ blocks cgrp, a protein believed to be a cause of migraine attacks. qulipta™ is a preventive treatment for episodic migraine. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and tiredness. learn how abbvie can help you save on qulipta™. meet a future mom, a first-time mom and a seasoned pro. this mom's one step closer to their new mini-van! yeah, you'll get used to it. this mom's depositing money with tools on-hand. cha ching. and this mom, well, she's setting an appointment here, so her son can get set up there and start his own financial journey. that's because these moms all have chase. smart bankers. convenient tools. one bank with the power of both. chase. make more of what's yours. topping our political radar. senator dianne feinstein is defending her ability to serve. the 88 half-year-old california democrat pushing back -- a report citing four unnamed senators and three former feinstein aides who told the newspaper they are concerned about her mental acuity. feinstein released a statement saying while i have focused for much of the past year on my husband's health and ultimate passing, i have remained committed to achieving results and i'd put my record up against anyone. the white house easter egg roll is back. it was scrapped because of the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. this monday the biden white house says 30,000 guests are expected to attend that 144-year-old tradition. this year's theme, egg-ucation. thanks for your time. listen to our podcast. download "inside politics" wherever you get your podcast. erica hill picks up our coverage right now. good afternoon. i'm erica hill in new york. ana cabrera is off today. you are in the cnn newsroom. in ukraine today, russian attacks escalating as new offensive is building. more u.s. help is just hours away. a senior u.s. defense official telling cnn the first delivery of new military aid is due to arrive in the region b