price, the state department spokesperson talking about the diplomatic push to try and de-escalate the extremely tough situation. as we're coming on the air, president biden scheduled to start a video call with the european allies any minute to determine what to do regarding the massive russian troop buildup on ukraine's border. it's all deterrency and defense. all of this spooking the markets, too, in the final hour of trading. at one point, you saw the dow plunging 1100 points before recovering just a little bit, i'm hallie jackson in washington. we're going to cover all of this and tense situations with nbc reporter frank call lynn. frank, what going on. a bit of a recovery, but we've got an hour, still, until close. >> yeah, you know, it's a mixed bag of things. thanks for having me on the show. mixed bag of things putting pressure on the markets. you mentioned national markets. tenure 1.7%. anything over 1.5% put a lot of pressure on tech stocks, as we know, during the pandemic, a lot of people invested in the tech stocks and saw a big boom. and then that pressure for people to continue riskier assets to make up for losses in other areas. this economy is moving a lot of since the fed announced 2 would look to raise and hike interest rates. three things causing pressure on the markets. one thing people are doing, checking their 401(k)s. spoiler alert, it's going to be down. if you talk to your investment adviser, it's a long game. >> i want to bring in mike memoli and matt bradley overseas in ukraine. andrea mitchell joins us who covers you state department. admiral kirby from the pentagon, mike, up to 8500 troops on what is carefully described as heightened alert. very clear to say, these troops have not been deployed yet. there's no decision to deploy the troops but they're based on basically the heightened state of awareness that is possible to help bolster nato troops. >> yeah, hallie, we've been talking about it this crisis in ukraine for two months now. all along, the white house is saying that president biden is clear to put president putin -- there are two pathways to choose from, one is the path of diplomacy and one is the path of deterrence. when we've heard deterrence from the white house, it's focused on economic sanctioning, the crippling sanctions that they say the united states and european allies are prepared to levy. now, we're hearing from the pentagon, specifically about the kinds of numbers we're hearing, 8500 being put on alert that really shifts this into a new phase and different kind of deterrence. as the signals we're getting from russia are still unclear, hard to read and that our allies are increasingly getting nervous. here's what john kirby had to say, specifically, about what this number means and what it translates to. >> this is about getting troops ready. and back to what we're trying to achieve is a couple of things. obviously, we still would like to deter vladimir putin and the russians from another incursion, that's number one. number two, make sure we're bolstering and staying unified with the alliance. >> and so, obviously, when you talk about the alliance, that sets up the call that the president is going to be engaging in very shortly with our european allies. it's an important call that was prompt bd president biden's comments last week, signalling there might be variations and degrees of the u.s., in the western response should there be a minor incursion versus a full blown invasion. what the white house is saying, they continue to refine all of the potential responses and that's certainly a focus of this call. but it's also important to distinguish between a response to ukraine, versus the largest nato alliance. when we're talking about a u.s. military response, the u.s. has said, frankly, perhaps too clear in the eyes of our ukrainian allies that they would not necessarily put in u.s. forces to ukraine should russia engage in a full blown invasion. but we do have the commitment to the nato allies, the bucharest nine, in the nato alliance, themselves concerned about the invasion. that's part of that stake here, the u.s. wanting to bolster the support for our nato allies not necessarily ukraine at this point. >> i want to bring in andrea michelle. andrea, you've been monitoring the top of the show, ongoing state department briefing with spokesperson ned price taking questions. mike, real quick, do were know the call has started yet? have we heard from the white house, i know it's closed press? >> no, we usually get the readout and haven't gotten the signals. i'd look at my phone. >> okay. andrea, with the allies, are they on the same page, if it's anything but a major incursion, we know ned price got a lot of questions, and still there with the colleagues on the stage. >> they're not on the same page, germany and also france, on a couple of these points. i just want to reinforce what john kirby was saying at the pentagon and what are mike memoli was referring to. it's a big pivot because the u.s. was trying not to do this because they didn't want to exacerbate tensions with russia and signal anything to russia. they're avoiding that but ukraine wanted this and certainly, u.s. was under tremendous pressure by bipartisan lawmakers. you see that in kiev last week. mitt romney is arguing for this from the republican side, senator portman, others who were in kiev last week. so there's been a lot of pressure to do exactly this. what kirby is saying there's no order to deploy, but the u.s.-troops up to 8500. >> that's right. >> are being put on this heightened state of alert. so, they would be participating not in ukraine, but in these nato countries in lithuania, estonia, latvia, romania, poland, around ukraine, and nearing russia, of course. this would be bolstering the nato expansion, in the nato countries close to ukraine, exactly what we have warned -- you know, blinken had warned prime minister lavrov of that. what secretary blinken was saying over the weekend on the sunday shows is this is exactly what russia said they didn't want but they've done everything including continuing to escalate. move being belarus with thousands of troops and fighter jets. so russia has asked for this. this is what nato is doing. it's now up to the nato countries to say, estonia, how many do you need? latvia? poland, what do you want? that will determine how many of the 8500 are actually sent but none of these troops are going to ukraine. to your point about the direct question about the nato allies, germany has been sitting on a request from estonia to send artillery that has german equipment, german parts in this are germany dismissed a javelin last week, around the uk to not fly over germany. so, we haven't exactly figured out or been today, germany is trying -- it's not angela merkel, this is a coalition government with a prime minister from the green party in this coalition government. they're very reluctant to do anything to provoke russia. whereas, angela merkel, despite the dependence on natural gas, they would do that. there's a lot of divisions and france, macron saying the european union, not the united states should be negotiating with russia, and france should be leading the european union. france not wanting to be led by the u.s. germany, reluctant to engage. the baltic state is very eager to help ukraine, as well as poland. these are divisions that blinken had been denying but jens stoltenberg saying the nato allies are supportive. we have to say how supportive they really are. >> to that point, andrea, i want to play what we heard in that state department briefing literally as we came on the air. >> we met with a swift, severe and united response on the part of the united states and on the part of our allies. so there is no ambiguity. >> so, matt, let me go to you, because you were on the ground there in ukraine. talk to me about the reaction on the ground so far, where you are in kiev. we've had some employees, the embassy, their families being asked, you should leave now? >> yeah, i meaner of the reaction is almost minimum. we've been hearing a lot from the government here in ukraine is that, you know, stay calm which is a pretty prudent message considering what could be about to happen. and of course, they don't want to have people panicking, when you look around kyiv, the capital here, people aren't panicking, nobody is load their cars, nobody is fleeing west. that doesn't seem to be the issue, in fact, businesses are ohm, stores are open, people are walking around, that's because people genuinely are not concerned. it seems baffling to you and i, part of the reason is we got to remember there was already a russian incursion into ukraine eight years ago. and ukraine has considered itself to be at war with russian-backed separatists in the east of the country for eight years. so for a lot of people here, this isn't necessary list all that new, even though the military hardware and manpower that's come to bear in ukraine is really quite a lot more than back in 2014 and 2015. you know, what we are seeing here is a lot of frustration among ukrainians that they're basically being left out of those negotiations and all of the diplomacy that's swirling around this region. you're talking about secretary blinken and those european leaders. it doesn't sound like ukraine will have much of a role in those meetings. and they haven't had much of a role leading up to that. for a lot of people here, this whole conflict of what is about to become a conflict really seems just like almost an invention of the west and russia. and ukrainians are tired of it, they no longer like keying a cudgel that moscow uses when this is the topic of their diplomatic relations. this country, these people. they feel they have no purchase on the negotiations that will very much determine the fate of their nation. and that's been very frustrating because this isn't the first time, even the impeachment with donald trump just very recently, that was something that had everything to do with ukraine, at the same time almost nothing to do with ukraine. that's why, a lot of people, ever since world war ii, they're very frustrated with the fact that they do not have any purchase on their destiny. they're simply seen by the west and by moscow as mere observers, hallie. >> matt bradley leave in kiev. mike memoli at the white house, andrea mitchell covering all things foreign affairs. thank you. i want to bring in jim townsend, former deputy of defense under president obama. it's great to have you secretary townsend, thank you for being here. >> it's great to be here. >> let me start with the news from the pentagon, up to 8500 troops rad to go. and your reaction to that and what sense does that make to vladimir putin? >> well, i'm glad to hear there was over the weekend a change in the approach to try to have more of the military aspect of this. because it seems the economic kind of sanction are not enough to deter putin. he needs to see something stronger. i think the administration has now seen this, but in terms of numbers, those are pretty small, 8,500 troops, they're a bit late, in terms of being put on alert. we'll have to see where this goes. i'm hoping this is a down payment, if you will, for more troops to follow should there be an invasion. >> do you believe this change in posture is a little too little too late? >> i do in terms of deterrence, we should have been doing this six months ago, eight months ago. we should have been tougher that the time. this buildup has been going on for a number of months around ukraine. this isn't something new. i think we've waited a bit, not to provoke putin. i think we've tried a number of avenues and this is coming in a bit late but it's this avenue that putin listens. the idea that he might open his window and see a lot of u.s. and allied troops going into europe where they were not just six months ago. i think that's the kind of thing that deters him. i wish it had happened earlier. and i wish the numbers were a bit larger, but it's a start. >> i hear you, though, when you say this is something that gets vladimir putin's attention. it does come, as you well know, a logistical challenge, right, when you have, we're today, this discussion of where you reposition troops how you put them in, in romania, et cetera, talk about the logistic challenge that the military that the pentagon, that the u.s. faces here. >> well, it's a very big challenge. in so many ways. the first one i would like to throw out there is the defense budget, in the sense that politically, as washington is trying to put together its next defense budget, they're going to have to crank in a whole new level of costs because the u.s. will probably have to put more forces back into europe. and that's going to be costly. and that takes away funding that we have to deal with the problems in china. that's the first thing. secondly, in terms of logistics when the cold war ended we didn't think we'd have to fight in central eastern europe. a lot of the bridges, roadways, the logistical transportation hub, they weren't made to handle troops. they weren't made to handle tanks. as the west tries to put forces in the free baltics, into poland, we're going to have to build infrastructure back to the warsaw pact days, and that's something that were not cleared for thinking about moves forces in, now it's a problem. >> you're somebody who has worked closely with the european allies, nato allies, how difficult is it to get everybody on the same page when tell comes to russia and threat of aggression? >> you're absolutely right, it's a challenge. 30 allies from turkey to norway from portugal to hungary, bulgaria, romania. they see the world similarly, but they don't see it i identically. you were mentioning in the report earlier about germany, germany has the financial and economic relations with russia. it's also dependent on russia for gas and oil as is much of europe. so there are things that would make those nations, their attitude towards russia a little bit different than ours. we can be hard over. whereas the other countries have other equities at stake. and they can't quite take as strong a position as the u.s. might. the secretary-general has to keep all of those cats herded and so does secretary of state blinken. and the president will be on the phone to the allies and this constant effort to lead everyone in one direction. >> jim townsend, it's great to have you with us, thank you for your perspective on msnbc. coming up, we talked about it right at the top of the show, a tough day for the stock market. with the s&p 500 on track for its worst month since the pandemic crash back in march 2020. so what's the white house going to try to do about it? what's the message to americans? we've got the chair of council of economic advisers to join me after the break to talk that and a whole lot more. and arizona republicans are pushing two dozen bills to overhaul voting processes. fingerprinting verification and hand withouting by default. that's coming up next. stay with us. g up next. stay with us your heart is at the heart of everything you do. and if you have heart failure, entrust your heart to entresto. it's the number one heart failure brand prescribed by cardiologists. entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. heart failure can change the structure of your heart, so it may not work as well. entresto helps improve your heart's ability to pump blood to the body. and with a healthier heart, there's no telling where life may take you. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. ask your doctor about entresto for heart failure. entrust your heart to entresto. ♪[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 a $0 monthly plan premium. telehealth emergency coverage while you travel an over-the-counter allowance plus dental, vision, and hearing because the right medicare plan should help you feel...yeah, like that. aetna medicare advantage plans call today to learn more. it's been nearly two years since the pandemic started. our students and teachers tried their best, but as a parent, i can tell you that nearly 18 months of remote learning was really hard. i'm so angry that instead of helping our kids get back in the classroom, the school board focused on renaming schools schools that weren't even open . please recall all three school board members now. for the sake of our kids, we can't wait one more day, never mind a whole year for a fresh start. ♪♪ so, just about 40 minutes left in the trading day, we're going to channel our inner cnbc and take a look at the three big indices. s&p 500, the dow and nasdaq have fallen by 2%. there was a bit recovery, dow down 1% with the afternoon going on. listen, these are still losses with the s&p taking a tough hit, following a correction stert after the sharpest drop in yearly a year. i want to bring in cecilia rouse. it's great to see you. >> good afternoon. >> i can already hear you and other white house officials in my head say markets go up and down markets are not the economy. i get that. we have had several down days. what is the white house message who people who are may be logging on, looking at retirement accounts and nature loving what they see? >> look, i think it's important to say not to focus on any one day and look at trends over time. if you look at the market since the president took office it's up about 15%. yes, there will be ups and downs as we say, fundamentally, we focus on the real economy, not just on the sector. our economy has been strong, we've beened adding jobs, 6 million, the bones of the recovery are good. i believe this reflects some uncertainty right now. we have what's happening in ukraine. >> right. >> we have the pandemic, so there's some jitters. but fundamentally, the market has been strong. >> we're looking ahead to thursday for the fed to keep keep inflation in check. what the would you say like to see the fed raise rates? >> well, look, the white house does not comment on federal reserve policy. >> i have to ask. i still got to put it out there for you. >> fair enough. fair enough. the president respects the independence of the fed. but also acknowledges what chairman powell has said which is it would be appropriate for the fed to recalibrate its position as it tries to execute those under a dual mandate of maintaining price stability with full employment. >> when it comes to inflation, this is something that i think americans sometimes feel, right, this is a something that is very accessible, you feel that in your monthly budget, unlike, for example, your 401(k) if you have one, right? what is the projection when it comes to inflation for you? which is a 40-year high. do you anticipate it coming down in the next six months or a year? what is your time line you're planning for? >> so, outside economists are forecasting that over the coming months we will see the rate of inflation slow, so that when we finish up 2022, the rate of inflation may be roughly half of what it is today. importantly, the president is focused on this. the inflation we're seeing today is a mismatch of supply and demand. he has focused what he can do on the supply side in terms of using supply chain bottlenecks having people get back to work. and he also recognizes that the cost that families face is high and that underscores a lot of the investments part of the build back better plan which is about addressing costs in health care, child care and education. and as you mention today, this competition council's meeting. this is not about addressing inflation today but we know that strong economies can absorb the kind of disruptions we're seeing today much more easily. and a healthy economy, in our economy, is based on healthy competition. and yet we know that our markets have become more concentrated over the last several decades. so the competition council has 16 members from across the administration that are focused on -- it's an all-administration approach. focusing on ways to better ensure that we have healthy competition on the economic markets. >> you're beating me to the punch line, i was about to bring up the competition council and president biden meeting there to try, as you say, figure out how to lower prices, how 0 to get people chi on the consumer end in the best position you can. i'm sure you've seen the recent polling including from nbc news which finds there's fruftd trace out there. 72% of people polled find that the country, they say, is on the wrong track. is there more that the white house and congress could be doing, short of passing, as you say, the president's build back better agenda that could get folks to feel better about where things are? >> well, it's clearly we need to get to a different place in this pandemic, right? we're two years in, the cases with omicron are sort of stabilizing. with any luck, they are starting to come down. they're starting to come down in parts of the country. you don't want it get overconfident but perhaps, the omicron wave, we've seen the worst of it. we're tired and the uncertainty that brings because we're not through it yet. i believe the white house is focused on getting even more vaccinations into arms. i encourage everybody to be vaccinated if you're not. to ensure we have the kinds of protective equipment that people need, whether that's masks even the rapid test so people can make smart decisions how to interact. we have to learn to live with the next phase of this virus. hopefully, it won't be more severe but it does reflect that frustration and others around the world but the president understands that, and he's doing what he can to work with the economy and ensure that we continue a robust recovery. >> cecilia rouse, thank you for being with us on the show on nbcs in. next up, virginia school boards have you heard about this, launching a new fight with the state's governor, and mask mandates in a second. plus, the supreme court taking up a challenge to affirmative action in college admissions. why it seems these cases could pose the biggest threat to that process in decades. threat to t process in decades it's still the eat fresh refresh™ and subway's refreshing everything like the new baja turkey avocado with smashed avocado, oven-roasted turkey, and baja chipotle sauce. it's three great things together. wait! who else is known for nailing threes? 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[bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ woo! ♪♪ so, with that pentagon briefing that was happening right as we were coming on at the top of the show. it's just wrapped up after the u.s. announced it's placing as much as 8500 troops in the heightened state of alert in case needed to help out issues with allies. nbc has just walked out of that briefing. courtney, what are you hearing behind the scenes? >> i think what's key here, not just the 8500 that john kirby just announced but the majority would potentially be assigned to the nato response force. and what could the u.s. do before that and when. our reporting over the weekend, secretary austin and chairman milley, chair of joint chiefs, briefed on what they could and should do after they invade. but they also briefed him on potential options for movement in advance of these. would nato, potentially 8500 forces that would be assigned to a nato response force, would they be brought in advance? and if not, would the u.s. do other lateral moves including brings troops from united states, like the 8500 from around europe. the commander, general todd walters has authority to move around in the theater already. that's not something that would need white house approval or signoff. it's possible that the u.s. could start doing that in advance of activation of the response force. it's important to point out these units that are on the prepare to deploy orders here, they're all over the united states, we hope to get a sense of who they are in the coming days, once we know that of course, we'll report that. but we'll also looking at who else is not announced in the first tranche, who else could be moved through the neighborhood in the areas around ukraine, in advance of invasion. >> you have a businessky week ahead of you, courtney kube thank you so much. >> happening around the country, masks with a personal choice of glenn youngkin executive order. only some districts in the state are actually following the governor's director. one county is actually putting things in place to make sure kids actually do wear masks. joining me from richmond, one of the counties suing youngkin, katie, talk to me how it's playing out on the ground? well, hallie, on january 15th, youngkin's first day in office, he signed an order parents should have a choice, whether to have their students masked or not. that obviously has stirred controversy across the state of virginia. as you said, seven school districts now suing the governor to try to make masks a mandate for state of virginia. they say taking masks off in the critical juncture when they see the numbers rise is dangerous and his order is unconstitutional and puts students at risk. parents are very fired up on both sides. there are certainly parents who applaud youngkin saying they should have the choice. youngkin's camp said they plan to defend their position on this and they plan to go through the legal process, defending their position on this. that being said, governor youngkin himself put out a tweet this weekend, urging parents to be kind to each other and follow the advice of their local school districts. i think the last thing he wants is for school districts to be erupting into chaos and confusion over the conflicting rulings whether to wear a mask or not. his tweet over the weekend telling parents, follow the advice of your principals, and that legal advice will be ultimately what decides this. i think the governor's administration knows this is ultimately going to head to court and that will be the decision they await until then. >> real quick, talking parents and others? >> well, like i said, the passion runs high on both sides, there are certainly parents who feel it's time. they don't want their kids to not wear masks in schools anymore. they feel there's very good reason to not have masks on and with the pandemic in the state it is in. and other parents are terrified sending their children in a classroom without this layer of protection. so, the largest school district in the state which is fairfax county is one of the seven. they are certainly being very vocal on this, leading the charge. saying they intend to fight this as hard as they can with resources that they have. >> catie beck live in richmond. i know we'll see more on "nbc nightly news" reporting this. i want to turn to florida, one professor there accusing the republican governor, ron desantis creating a climate of fear. after the school district cancelled his civil rights lecture because of concerns over critical race theory, even though that had nothing to do with the topic he was delivering the lecture on. this was a discussion he was presenting to teachers in one county. when he got an email, the whole thing was called off. it comes from the state with governor desantis blocking it. a spokesperson releasing this statement, critical race theory and factual history are two different things. the endless attempts to gaslight americans by conflating the two are ineffective. i want to bring in one of the reporters following the story. mark, tell us about the reaction and the governor responding back? >> dr. michael butler is a onetime professor at st. augustine, just up the road from osceola county, suburb of orlando. as you laid out there, he was kind of surprised on wednesday to get an email informing him that, hey, look, your speech or your lecture which was to teachers, to teach them how to teach the civil rights movement had been cancelled. you talk a lot about cancel culture. we're here as an example of cancel culture that was done in advance by school officials who are concerned, look, there's this legislation moving in tallahassee, in the past with the governor with the mask order, kind of like the last piece about virginia. in florida they don't want to incur the wrath of politicians and activists. and with critical race theory, we're going to hold off on this. the problem is the victims are the truth and teaching of history to kids and peoples understanding more broadly. >> yeah, he said, and i want to read the actual quote here, we have a graphic. in the climate of fears, atmosphere created by governor ron desantis has blurred the lines between scared and opportunistic. the victims of this krernsship censorship and the truth. the governor's office says he has nothing to do with this. how does this play out, mark? how is the end game going? >> my guess is they'll probably end up reversing this. and a seminar will eventually happen. it's the law of consequences. there's a lot of misunderstanding how critical race theory is and how it's taught. it's really not taught in high schools in florida. you have special interest groups groping around trying to figure this out. really in the middle of this are teachers. a lot of teachers are concerned about it. some are concerned, look, i don't want to teach something, or be accused of teaching something which will get me in hot water, so to speak. the school district here in osceola county, you can have the same statement made to two people and two entirely different interpretations. i think that's what's happening here. >> marc caputo live in florida. thank you. new details about the former attorney general bill barr's conversation with the investigators. what the january 6th spokesperson is telling us about that today -- coming up. that today -- coming up. inking e to be more inclusive than ever. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change. faster. vmware. welcome change. voiceover: riders. wanderers on the road of life. the journey is why they ride. when the road is all you need, there is no destination. uh, i-i'm actually just going to get an iced coffee. well, she may have a destination this one time, but usually -- no, i-i usually have a destination. yeah, but most of the time, her destination is freedom. nope, just the coffee shop. announcer: no matter why you ride, progressive has you covered with protection starting at $79 a year. voiceover: 'cause she's a biker... please don't follow me in. my dvt blood clot left me with questions... was another around the corner? 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under previous instances and affirmative action has come before the court. that obviously makes a difference here? >> that could make a crucial difference, anthony kennedy and ruth bader ginsburg are gone. about coney barrett either have written much about it, we don't know exactly what they'll do. the court will either say you can't use affirmative action at all or it will much more narrow down the circumstances in which a school can consider an applicant's race. but either way it would be difficult for supporters of affirmative action to maintain the current system. >> time line, pete, for when the court might hear the arguments? >> in the fall. probably october, maybe november zbp. >> pete williams, thank you for that. >> you bet. turning to capitol hill with former attorney general bill barr apparently talking with the economy investigating january 6th. the chairman of that committee bennie thompson saying over the weekend that the panel has been having conversations with the former a.g. it's not what you think a spokes american saying the talks were informal, not until a formal deposition. i want to bring in senior correspondent garrett haake. informal, is that a precursor to official conversation, or is that where things end? >> officially, the committee isn't saying but the sense i get from my conversations here this is something that the committee knows attorney general bill barr has a lot of information they might want. so these informal conversations appear to have been at least partly on the substance of what they wanted to figure out and partly on the question of when and how. much like mark meadows, bill barr has a book coming out and so, any case he might want to make later about not wanting to talk about the nature of any of these developments could potentially be undercut by the work he's already doing, trying to sell his story, talking about the nature of these other developments, hallie. >> explain to me why the committee would want to talk to bill barr because there's a bunch of reasons. >> there are a bunch of reasons, obviously, he was the attorney general up through the end of donald trump's term, remember, he resigned, i think it was december, before january 6th. but he was still aware of the discussions going on about who could be his successor, about actions that the doj might take specifically in georgia where we know there were discussions going on. basically, he was in the loop in a lot of the leadup to january 6th. and the committee considers all of that well within the scope of their inquiry. >> garrett haake live, appreciate it. next up, how arizona republicans are pushing big changes in elections and seem to be inspired by debunked conspiracy theorys and lies about voter fraud. what? 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