levers it can right now. the pentagon says we have roughly 8,500 troops on heightened alert. president biden and our european allies have been communicating about countermeasures to any russian aggression. we're going to have more from the white house, more from the pentagon and ukraine in just a few moments. also, in just the last few hours, pfizer announced that it is testing a vaccine tailored specifically to protect against the omicron variant, and we're watching the markets very closely again this morning. right now, as you can see, the dow down once again, down almost 420 point, things once again quite volatile there on wall street raising a lot of questions. so stephanie ruhle is going to join to us try to help answer some of them. also this hour, our country's crisis of conscious. after january 6th laid bare this morning. you know capitol police officer eugene goodman right there, you've seen the video. the man facing down the mob there on january 6th and you've never heard him describe what the moments were like until just now. he just gave his first interview and we'll talk about the moment he locked eyes with members of that mob and what someone shouted at him during the attack and all that have coming up just ahead, but we're going to start with new development in eastern europe this hour. nbc's matt bradley once again on the ground in the capital it a of kiev and courtney is at the pentagon and kelly o'donnell at the white house and i want to bring in richard stengel, a former undersecretary of state during the obama state, an msnbc political analyst and was a member of the biden transition team. mr. bradley, we'll start with you once again there in ukraine. we've been showing that plane, again, right now on the tarmac, just landed a short time ago. military aid aboard that plane. what do we know, matt, about this aid, where it's going to go, how it's going to be used potentially? >> well, you heard from the biden administration. this was authorized in december last month as part of the $200 million package of aid, you know, just a small part of the $650 million in lethal aid that the u.s. has been given to the ukraine in the past year. the biden administration says this will go straight to the fighters on front line and they use the word lethal. this isn't just assistance for, you know, helping soldiers with medical care. this is -- this is real armaments, and a lot of it includes ammunition, anti-tank weapons. we don't really know a lot of the details about what -- you know, this is the second shipment. the last one was on saturday. we didn't get many details then either. the last one on saturday was some 20 tons, and we still don't know -- only, you know, sort of a nebulous idea of what's actually in this, but a lot of this aid could be going to ukranian soldiers fighting against the potential invasion. whether or not it would actually help is another thing entirely because, let be clear here, the main -- the main weapon that the russians are going to be using if they choose to invade at least initially. in the opening hours and days of this conflict, will probably be air power. they will very much overwhelm ukranian forces when it comes to air power, and the weapons that the u.s. has been giving to ukraine are probably not going to help in fighting a substantial battle against russian military jets, so that's something that we've been hearing, not necessarily from the ukranian government but from some analysts and others saying, that you know, this -- this assistance is kind of too little too late, and it won't necessarily help with a major air powered offensive against ukraine by the russians. craig? >> matt bradley, stand by, again, as we watch this plane east of kiev continue to be unloaded. again, all we've been told is equipment and knew missions so far. rick stengel, let me come to you for a moment here, this notion that this is aid that is perhaps welcome certainly but later than the ukranians would have preferred. what say you to that? >> well, we've always been very hesitant about giving offensive weapons or offensive aid to the ukranians. the trump administration actually sent javelin missiles to ukraine. nobody wants a ground war between russia and ukraine using american weapons. i just don't think that's what anybody wants, and it certainly isn't what president biden wants. i mean, what we're seeing now is this kind of scary shadow boxing between russia and america over ukraine where russia has a knife to the head of ukraine and is bargaining. both sides are bargaining. both sides are ratcheting things up with the hope that it will culminate in a negotiation, not an invasion, and i'm still hopeful that that is the case. >> kelly o'donnell, what more do we know about additional plans to see shipments like this from this administration to ukraine? >> well, what has been appropriated is in the pipeline, and we don't know if there will be additional armaments sent. what we do know is that the president is committed to supporting nato and ukraine is not a part of nato. so a lot of the focus has been how do you support europe and the long alliance, the 30 nations that are involved in that, and so what we've seen the president do, he held the video conference with eight european officials, and that went about an hour and 20 minutes yesterday, and part of what they talked about are ways to reinforce security in europe. that is meant to be a deterrent to vladimir putin to see that if the member nations, including the united states, are prepared to plus up security forces in europe, not in ukraine, but in europe, that that would be a sign to putin of the seriousness of the nato alliance, and then how would that affect or help ukraine remains a question in the u.s. has trainers, military trainers, in ukraine, and, of course, we're added marines, additional marines to support our u.s. embassy in the capital city. that's standard around the world. marines always guard u.s. embassies. that's separate from any kind of typical military deployment, so there's nokes pectation that we have of sending u.s. forces into ukraine, so this is really about deterrents and about the u.s. and european partners coming up with what they say will be painful costly sanctions of russia, all as a means to try to deter russia. at the same time, the white house is clear-eyed saying they anticipate that russia could in fact act militarily against ukraine at any moment which is why they have encouraged american citizens to leave ukraine now, why they have ordered families of embassy staff to leave and allowed a voluntary evacuation of non-essential personnel, so they are doing all of the steps that happened to be as most prepared as they can if russia acts, think they are saying the decisions belong to vladimir putin about what he will do, and they are trying to show as much strength and unity among europe and the united states as nato partners to try to get him to not take action, although they say he's adding more troops, not de-escalating. craig? >> kelly o'donnell there at the white house for us on this tuesday morning. kelly will stand by, again, as we watch this plane continue to be unloaded here just east of aoife there in ukraine. more u.s. military aid was promised, more has been delivered as this plane continues to be unloaded on the tarmac. rick, i want to stay in ukraine for a moment but to the front lines. sky news, our partners over at sky, they went in the trenches with the ukranian army brigade on the front line that's been fighting with russian-backed separatists in the eastern part that have country for years now, and they spoke with a professionally contracted soldier in their ranks from england who started a new life in ukraine which is why he's fighting. here's what he says about a potential russian invasion. >> my family is here. my family is 15 kilometers. i can hear the shelling from my front room. if they come across the border, we don't have air superiority but ukranians fight so we'll give them a bloody nose, that's for sure. >> a bloody nose. they are outmanned on the ground, outmanned in the air. how dangerous, rick could, this get, not just for fighters but for civilians living in these zones? >> well, very dangerous. craig, us a know, and i just want to point this out to our readers, there's been a hot war, fighting war in eastern ukraine for eight years in the dondas region. 14,000 ukranians have died at the hands of these russian separatists, so there is a war going on, and, in fact, russia did invade ukraine in 2014. the annexation of crimea. what's very different now, as evidenced by that very good piece that you just showed, what happened in 2014 was not being televised around the world. it was kind of a secret invasion. it was the little green men from moscow, russian special forces, and now we see what's going on every day. we're watching it right now, so it's not going to be a surprise. that's why i do think some of what we're seeing with the plussing up of weapons as kelly talked about is this kind of shadow boxing that both sides are doing. yes, america wants to show that we're on the side of our allies and on the side of nato, and, in fact, ukraine is not in nato, but a lot of this is i hope a prelude to a stand down to off ramps. there's lots of stuff that the u.s. and russia can negotiate about, including weapons and including intermediate range nuclear weapons, including the number of nato forces stationed in the easternmost countries, so, again, i'm trying to be optimistic here that this plan that they can negotiate and that both sides are trying to stake out their positions before that negotiation. >> defense secretary austin has placed roughly 8,500 troops on, quote, heightened alert for potential deployment to eastern europe. so far no deployment orders have been given, but what do we know about the potential for that change? >> all of those, many of those thousands of troops have been placed on a prepare to deploy order. they have not been deployed. look, they are told you're on a short leash right now. you could be asked to deploy to eastern europe in a very short time, and many of those, it's important to point out, are already immediate reaction or immediate response force soldiers so these are ones who live every single day ready to deploy in a certain amount of time, but they have been put on an even shorter time frame for potential deployment, so that's already happened in the last 24 hours. defense officials are watching this day to day to see if nato activates that response force, what they call the nrf. if that happens, then thousand of these troops could be activated and could be given orders, and they could be sent forward under this nato umbrella, but it's also possible that troops, both already there in the region and some, a smaller number here in the united states, could be sent forward to the baltic region to eastern europe as part of a unilateral u.s. military mission. i just want to touch on that weapons deployment that we've about watching here for the past few minutes, craig. we had some reporting at the beginning of december this there was this $200 million package sitting on president biden's desk for weeks. many in congress and many allies were encouraging the president to sign the package, to send it forward to ukraine. several weeks later they did, and just to give you a sense of the kinds of things that are in there, vaf lips as rick stengel mentioned. those are anti-tank weapons, by the way. those are very specific missiles that the united states has been sending to ukraine now for several years, but there's also medical supplies, ammunition, some small arms, so a various amount of both lethal and non-lethal aid are in that $200 million package that's now being delivered to ukracht it's also very important to point out where we are in this situation, craig, and that is that russia continues to flow more forces in to the border area around ukraine, so they are not de-escalating, but, in fact, they are escalating the situation just in the past few hours and days. we heard a little bit about that from press secretary john kirby yesterday that russia is continuing to send in more of these military capabilities. >> they have not only shown no signs of de-escalating, but they are in fact adding more force capability. in the event of nato's activation of the nrf or deteriorating security environment, the united states would be in a position to deploy rapidly deployed combat teams, logistics, medical, aviation, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, transportation and additional capabilities into europe. >> so what we're all watching here is will nato activate that nrf, that response force in advance of a russian invasion, or will it not come until after an invasion? we do expect to hear more specifics, potentially even in the coming hours today or tomorrow about some of those units that are bases here in the united states who have about placed on those prepared-to-deploy orders, craig. >> courtney kube from the pentagon with a situation that's quickly changing as we've been watching that plane on the tarmac just east of kiev there where matt bradley is as that plane being unloaded this hour. again, equipment and munitions, the description that's been provided. matt, thank you, courtney, thank you. kelly o'donnell there at the white house, thank you, and richard stengel, thanks to you as well. could a covid vaccine specifically target the omicron variant? well, we've gotten some new details on a new pfizer trial. also, what the wild swings on wall street this week could mean for that retirement plan of yours. first though, he was one of the heroes of the january 6th attack. you may remember seeing u.s. capitol police officer eugene goodman leading riots away from senators, but he's never talked publicly about that day until now. >> in any situation like that, you want to de-escalate, but at the same time you want to survive first, you know what i mean? to survive first, you know what i mean i have friends. 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♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ the pandemic made teaching and learning really hard. but instead of working to help students safely return to the classroom, the san francisco school board focused on renaming schools and playing politics. and they've even saddled our district with a $125 million deficit. our children can't wait for new leadership. here's our chance for a fresh start. on february 15th, please recall school board members collins, lópez and moliga before our kids fall even further behind. new year, new start. and now comcast business b is making it easyl 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. powering possibilities. this morning another major announcement from pfizer. the company says they have started a clinical trial of their omicron-specific vaccine. pfizer plans to enroll 1,400 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 55 in that trial. the company's ceo has said that the goal is to have these shots ready by march. nbc's chris jansing is outside a covid testing site in new york city, and also with me is harvard medical school physician dr. narukar. there's a lot of uncertainty about how much protection the current pfizer shot provides against the omicron variant specifically. dr. fauci talked about this omicron-specific shot with my colleague jose diaz-balart just a few moments ago. this is part what have dr. fauci said. >> it makes sense to have at least ready an omicron-specific boost. we may not need it. it doesn't go without saying that we absolutely are going to need it. we may not need it at all, but i think it's prudent to at least prepare for the possibility that this may be a persistent variant that we may have to face even though it's at a very low level. >> dock tock, do you agree with dr. fauci there, will we need this only crop-specific vaccine? >> we may need, it craig. it's a proactive move rather than a reactive move and a welcome change than what we've seen in the recent months where we're doing things much delayed in our time-like. this could be what we need for sterilizing immunity. our current vaccines protect us from hospitalization and death, but they are less protective for transmission, and the shown that this new variant-specific vaccine may really help with transmission and minimizing transmission. >> chris, when it comes to other protection in this fight, we are starting to see the distribution of those 400 million masks from the white house. take us through what that process looks like, chris. >> it's already started, craig. that's more than half the stockpile the federal government has. they started shipping and arriving in the midwest. a couple of big chance, meyer, high-v. already starting to get them out. they will have greeters with gloves on allowing people to get three. that's the number you get is three, and then later this week into next week you'll starting to see them at wider national chains like wal-marts, cvs and walgreens, all of this part of the administration's efforts to fight the surge caused by omicron and the fact of the matter, is i'm going to show you these, craig, you remember these, these cloth masks that we've worn for so many months. that's why we need the n-59s and here's dr. fauci on why that's important. >> they will start off with three right now. there are going to be many, many masks that are going to be produced and that will make it much more of a regular availability of it for everyone essentially, so the goal of the administration is to make as many masks as people need ultimately available to them together with a lot more testing. >> a couple of reasons why that's important. number one, you'll remember that there have been a lot of fake masks out there, not good when you're trying to fight a pandemic, and number two, they are free. right when omicron started, i tried to get n-95s. i couldn't find them anywhere so i got the kn-95s which are also very effect you have against omicron, but they were in many cases $1 each, something that is just not doable for folks, even if they can find it, so they are hoping to expand this program even more, not just because there are places in the country unlike new york where there's still a surge, craig, but also because of concerns that this may not be the last variant and we may need these masks for some time to come. this will be the largest distribution of personal protective equipment ever in the history of the u.s., craig. >>is jansing, outside the testing facility in new jersey. doctor, let's go from new york to new jersey, governor phil murphy of new jersey, he tweeted on monday, that quote, cases are down by roughly two-thirds from two weeks. does that signal to you that this omicron surge may not last much longer? >> looking at data from the uk and south africa to really assess how long the surge is going to be continuing across the northeast. we're seeing a decrease in cases and other parts of the country which is reassuring but we can't forgot that hospitalizations and death are not far behind. unfortunately, these are lagging indicators, and well see a raise in the next two to four weeks of these very concerning metrics. >> the director general of the world health organization, doctor, said on monday that if countries use all of the comprehensive strategies and tools to fight covid, quote, we can end the acute phase of the pandemic this year. we can end code of 19 as a global health emergency, and we can do it this year. are you as optimistic? >> i am typically very optimistic, craig, but i feel that this statement is aspirational and not couched in reality. along with that, dr. tedros said we'd need 70% of populations in every country be vaccinated. we must prioritize global vaccination and a lot of countries won't receive vaccines until 2023. we need to focus on advantages own distribution and that's the only way toned the acute phase. otherwise a new variant will owe merge in the lower or middle income countries. >> all right. we'll have to lead it there. thank you. thanks so much as always. for the first time in more than a year, a hero from the u.s. capitol police force is speaking candidly and publicly about what happened on january 6th during the attack on our capitol. you probably know officer eugene goodman from his bravery that day including saving senator mitt romney from the month. now in an interesting podcast the officer described what that day was like. >> when you see me come up the stairs and you see me look, before i had went down the stairs to look at that door, people were actually out there and standing around and all that have kind of stuff so i told them i think they are downstairs so when i went down there and i get confronted. they are actually in the building. are i honestly didn't know that they were that far in the building, so -- and then they lock eyes on me right away and just like that i was in it, so it -- it wasn't a matter of let me leave them alone. i feel like they would have followed me anyway. most people don't know that i was actually outside, too, during a little bit, outside and the fighting and all that kind of stuff. yeah, it just -- i don't know. i was -- i was -- i was just in go mode, you know what i mean. >> de-escalation was big on your mind though, too, safety and de-escalation. >> safety, de-escalation. i mean, de-escalation to a point, you know what i mean, because there were few of them that -- you had -- you had a few that were angry and screaming, and then you had others that would, you know, i'm here for you and this and that an so you just had to kind of -- it came back to what you were saying, situational awareness, and in any situation like that, you want to de-escalate but at the same time you want to survive first, you know what i mean? >> yeah. >> i want to wring in nbc's senior capitol hill correspondent quarter hage now. what other insights did we get from officer goodman about what happened that day? >> i was surprised about the restraint of his fellow officers. he says the 6th could have turned into a bloodbath if someone had drawn their we op or if more felt compared to use gunfire. he said he didn't know if there were officers working with the mob during the attack so in the heightened emotion that have day he describes just how close it could have been to having been so much worse, and just listening to that again, you know, i'm struck -- i heard this from so many officers the idea that it was in go mode, that once this started the whole day became a blur of action and activity until the capitol was resecured and you heard it there from officer goodman telling his story for the first time. >> he also talked about why he has not done an interview before, and he referenced michael fanone, the d.c. police officer violently assaulted. he's done interviews and goodman has said he's had drinks thrown in his face by strangers. goodman didn't want to deal with that, who are officers who protect the capital dealing with today more than a year after the attack? >> the attack has become so politicized and for officers whether or not they talk about it publicly is a very personal decision. i interviewed harry dunn, one of the officers many people will recognize. he likes to talk about it, feels like it's therapeutic for him to talk about what happened on these days but these officers, craig, are exhausted. they are undermanned still. a lot of them have been working tons of overtime hours ever since the 6th. while the department leadership has changed, they are trying to staff back up. bottom line is for these officers, particularly the ones who have stuck around real since the 6th straight through, they are burned out. >> and they are wildly understaffed as well, as you've been reporting on. goodman, we should point out -- goodman also talked about his daughter in that podcast interview and how she has responded to what happened. he said she told him she saw him on tv and then asked him for some money to play fortnight. he said that she's helped him get his mind off that day. garrett hakke, thank you. always good you have to. thank you so much. for example, as you know, probably stocks have been all over the place this woke, so what does it mean for your 401(k)? could we see a jump in interest rates this week? stephanie ruhle has all the answers, and she will share them with us next. e answers, and she will share them with us next ut history i've observed markets shaped by the intentional and unforeseeable. for investors who can navigate this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns. aleve-x. it's fast, powerful long-lasting relief with a revolutionary, rollerball design. because with the right pain reliever... life opens up. aleve it... and see what's possible. and subway's refreshing everything like the new honey mustard rotisserie-style chicken. it's sweet, it's tangy, it's tender, it never misses. you could say it's the steph curry of footlongs. you could, but i'm not gonna. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and re... real cowboys get customized car insurance with liberty mutual, so we only pay for what we need. -hey tex, -wooo. can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ let's take a look at the markets right now. the dow, as you can see, down once again, just over a percentage point there, 375 points. that's actually -- that's down about 100 points since just 10, 15 minutes ago, i think. it's been a wild day and a half on wall street. a lot of investors feeling some major whiplash. with me now nbc senior business correspondent stephanie ruhle has more. she's been following the markets and now down just over 400. we saw the dow drop more than 1,000 points on monday and then it shoots back up into the green just before the trading day ended at 4:30. help folks understand what's happening here. what are we seeing? >> the markets got really jealous of the nfl this weekend, and they decided that they just needed to give you all sorts of surprises because they wanted to be the cool kids. craig, the answer is it's complicated, right? everybody wants -- we have to only be up. only be down. it's complicated. just give some perspective. the beginning of the year we saw markets hitting record highs. we know we're in an economic recovery. however, at the same time, and i know you asked vice president harris about this, inflation is hitting a 40-year high show who can do something about this, the federal reserve? the fed is meeting today and tomorrow and the likely outcome will be an announcement that they are going to raise interest rates. that will kind of cool the economy a little an slow things down. that's good for the overall economy. it spooks markets a little bit because when rate are at zero, artificially low, that's like the federal reserve chairman put a big safety night around the market because it makes it easier for individuals and businesses to bore, o. that's how you can crow. they are thinking they can take the safety net away and that leaves the stock market more volatile. couple all that will will earnings from companies that aren't super stellar and the geopolitical situation that we have, has a lot of investors saying they want to take a pause. why were they suddenly buying last night? just because they were buying last night it's about value. when the market goes down and they can buy cheaper, investors will say new that i can buy that stock at 100, that looks good to them and what we're seeing over the last couple of days is market volatility which you might not like how it feels but it's normal. >> also this idea that the government has spent so much of the last two years pumping money into the economy, is there a concern on wall street that that is going to be tapering off very soon. >> yes. >> the -- we were in lockdown and our businesses were shut down. they needed to do it, and the system is flush with crass. you've got to walk on your own. you can't have rates atteero forever. >> always great to have you. >> along those rise, what if i ted you that the known richest men in the world saw their fortunes increase by $15,000 per second during this pan deckic. it says that the wealth of those men have doubled since march of 2020 and on the flip side the incomes of 80% of individual is worse off. a new bill crop air has about created every 26 hours since the pandemic began. the wealth being amassed is so large, so large, that the ten richest men own more than the bottom 3.1 billion people in the world, and even if they spend a million dollars every day, it would take them 414 years to spend their combined wealth. when money makes such a difference, a headline like this one is hard to read, quote. biden renewed a free program to feed needy kids. most states haven't even applied. up next, we're going thinking into i am some of the states are leaving billions on will table for students, and what needs to be done to turn this around? 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>> well, this was a critical response very early in the pandemic because in a regular year, about 30 million kids rely on free or reduced priced school meals so shutdowns eliminated a really important source of household school resources. schools worked really heroically to provide grab-and-go meals so that wouldn't be adequate so they created ebts to provide electric means for meals lost from the shutdown. it was a struggle because schools didn't have up-to-date mailing information and the systems that collect school data didn't talk to the systems that would actually issue the cards which is usually the state agency, so it would take months to get that benefit but it was critical because so many families rely on school meals as a way of putting food on the table. the school year of 2021 brought a new wrinkle because some schools were remote, some hybrid and that made it more complex. we have some states that are paying benefits from last school year so now we come to this year's challenges as you mentioned. >> why aren't these states applying for the aid? >> well, it's a struggle. i think that everybody thought that the pandemic was coming to an end, that stunt would mostly be back in session, but even in early fall we had some indication that a large number of students were missing a week or more from school because of pandemic quarantine or illness, and so we weren't prepared for that, and when omicron exploded we didn't have a plan in place that would allow us to quickly respond. the problem is the program is set up to try to identify what's going on with individual students, how many days they miss, at what point, and really we need something that makes very general assumptions to get aid out completely. otherwise we're back in that scenario where benefits come months after they are actually needed. families appreciate it when it arrives, but it doesn't meet the primary test of the program which is to provide meals at the time they are needed. >> elaine waxman, thank you for come on to explain what's happening. when i read, it i found it hard to believe, so thank you to come on and try and help us make some sense of it. talk soap. thanks again, elaine. what happened to lauren smith fields? the 23-year-old that you see on your screen there, she died after a date with the man in a she met online. why her family says the investigation was mishandled and what police are doing now. poli. ♪♪ things you start when you're 45. coaching. new workouts. and screening for colon cancer. yep. the american cancer society recommends screening starting at age 45, instead of 50, since colon cancer is increasing in younger adults. i'm cologuard®. i'm convenient and find 92% of colon cancers... ...even in early stages. i'm for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. people everywhere living with type 2 diabetes are waking up to what's possible... with rybelsus®. the majority of people taking rybelsus® lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. wake up to the possibility of lower a1c with rybelsus®. you may pay as little as $10 for up to a 3-month prescription. ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this. your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, like asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee. yeah i should've just led with that. with at&t business. you can pick the best plan for each employee and get the best deals on every smart phone. deon, hand it over. you can pick the best plan for each employee now how does that make you feel? like a part of me is missing. gabrielle? this old spice fiji hand and body lotion has me smoother than ever. that's what it does. a 23-year-old black woman in connecticut is getting a lot of attention and it's raising questions about whether her race fagterred into the investigation. her name is lauren smith fields. she was found dead in her bridge port, connecticut apartment in december. she was there with a man whom she met on an online dating app. and the man reportedly found her unresponsive. monday the medical examiner ruled it accidental. but now the mayor is launching an investigation into the police department 's handling of the case. her family says the police department didn't tell them about her death. they instead learned about it from her landlord. janelle griffith is following the story for us now. let's start with the investigation into the police department's handling of the case. why is it the mayor of bridge port taking this step? >> so, it's important to note that the mayor is among the people the family plans to sue and he released this statement yesterday. he said quote this matter has been referred the internal affairs. notifications should be done in a matter that illustrates respect for the family. i will work with the chief of police to make appropriate changes for bridge fort. now regarding notifying family members of a death. >> so, janelle, the family's planning to sue the city over what they described as the police department's racially insensitive hand toflg case. you've been talking to the family attorney. i want to play part of an on-camera interview he did. >> we know we've seen the response the nation gave to gabby petito when she went missing. we don't have anything close to that in this particular case. >> so, janelle, explain why the family believes that this was racially insensitive? >> so, their position is this was a botched investigation from the start. they weren't even notified she died. they were told by one of the initial detectives handling the case to stop inquire on the status of the investigation and said the police didn't do a thorough investigation of the apartment and there were a number of suspicious items including a used condom, a mysterious white pill, and a bloody sheet they found and made police go back to collect. they said they believe if lauren had been white and her family had been white, they don't think the response would have been the same. they think they would have been shown more dignity and respect than they have been. >> nbc news is not naming the man who mote up with lauren for their date. he's currently not considered a person of interest. but what do we know about her death? >> what we know is that this man reported that he found her unresponsive after spending the night with her. he's 37 years old and a white man. and why the family takes exception is because they feel the police accepted his accounts as facts and didn't go deeper. lauren didn't know this man very well. the night they spent together was the first time he met her in person. and said she was not someone who used drugs. so, the implication she died as an over dose is suspect to them. they believe she may have been drugged. >> you know, keep us posted on this one. i know you've been following the story from the beginning. continue to keep us updated. and thank you as well. that is going to do it for me on a tuesday. andrea mitchell reports starts noektt. a tuesday. andrea mitchell reports starts noektt but get there faster, with better outcomes. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change-- meeting them where they are, and getting them where they want to be. faster. vmware. welcome change. 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? hmm. can't think of anyone! subway keeps refreshing and re... ben isn't worried about retirement his personalized plan is backed by the team at fidelity. hmm. can't think of anyone! his ira is professionally managed, and he gets one-on-one coaching when he needs it. so ben is feeling pretty zen. that's the planning effect from fidelity good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. as more military equipment arrives at this hour in an airport in ukraine. they've provided $600 million in military aid to ukraine this year. no u.s. troops will go to ukraine. it's not a member of nato. kwoivl -- 8500 troops are awaiting an order. this marks a dramatic pivot for the white house. after a video conference monday, the president said the allies are on the same page. >> i had a very, very, very good meeting. totally in animty with all the european leaders. >> the leaders of france and germany, this hour, about to speak at a news confrngs in berlin. they've been going in slightly different directions. macron has his own plans to