with ceos at the white house. the markets has about an absolute roller coaster this week. a look right now as you can see for now they're up, nearly 180 points. can get more interesting a few hours from now when the federal reserve chairman has investors waiting for a rate hike. did you have omicron? are up still coughing and having symptoms weeks later? >> and an historic move to fight gun violence. sam jose is on the verge of becoming the first city in the united states to lock in new gun rules we convenient anywhere else before. i'll talk to that city's mayor about what they're trying to do and the threats of legal action that they're already facingweep are going to start the latest developments with eastern europe. peter alexander is at the white house, richard engel is in eastern ukraine, courtney kube at her stint at the pentagon. and evelyn was at the department at the time. annexation of crimea in 2014. let's talk about new steps that russia is taking. what more can you tell us about that? >> so worn intelligence official told me that far from de-escalating, russia is continuing to escalate. it is continuing to bring more forces to the border, that there are now 60 battalion tactical groups. those are russian troops formation, equivalent from about 112,000 to 120,000 troops defending how you count them and more are on there way, potentially a lot more and they were headed toward the border known diplomacy was under way over the last several days. potentially ominous signs, the big question is what if anything russia plans to do with them. russia's stated goal was to reenter the long lost piece of mother russia and it should be returned. they are watching troop developments but they are trying to evaluate what the intention is. is it a small operation aimed at carving off a piece of ukraine potentially here in the east, or is it to build up for more forces to have the force capacity to take over the entire country? the official also said to expect more cyber attacks, that those would be a precursor to a potential invasion, big or small, significant cyber attacks, more significant than the one we saw over a week ago, cyber attacks that could disrupt the government's ability to communicate with itself, to potentially knock off the internet and television in this country, create chaos, that those are expected according to this official. >> richard, stand by. evelyn farkas, you tweeted we must do our best to deter russia. based on richard's reporting, it does not seem our deterrence is working so far. how concerned are you about the latest developments in. >> cell, i am really concerned. vladimir putin has done nothing but continue to escalate the situation militarily he has put ammunition of the gun he has aimed at the head of the international community and ukraine. i'm happy to see what nato has done, bolstering our defenses and help ukraine arm and defend itself and that president biden is considering giving a major speech to the people of the united states. i hope he'll do it also to the international community, preferablyly at the united nations. we don't know what putin is going to do but his demand are so outrageous that it's hard to imagine we could offer himming is to cause him to back down. >> we learning that the white house is considering having the president play out the strategy in a speech, perhaps an interview, maybe both in the next few days, maybe next week. but a big concern is maybe how russia could step on that effort. what more do we know about that? >> reporter: four administration officials telling us there are conversations here at the white house about police departmenten sort of detailing the u.s. strategy as had relates to russia and explain on the impact on this many economically and the u.s. reponce going forward. one of tr and even as they get input in terms of talking points from the pentagon and state department, is that concern that putin could create a split-screen moment where russia was undermining that message, escalating that aggression toward ukraine in that region. we have heard from the president most notely yesterday after and take a listen to president biden yesterday. we have no intention of putting american forces or nato forces in ukraine. but we -- as i said, there are going to be serious economic consequences if he moves. >> would you ever see yourself personally sanctioning him if he did weend see that. if you were going to move in with although force, it would be the largest since world war ii. it would change the world. >> "it would change the world," the words of president biden. we reached out to the white house about personally sanctioning vladimir putin, what what. as it relates to the president's comments, they're saying the u.s. would not be putting any of its troops in ukraine. ukraine is not a member of nato and it hart call five is part of nation owe but view of an attack on one an attack on all of them. that's why the u.n. has been staying in touch with a lot of the allies, the buck a rest nine are the countries in that region where the u.s. may be more inclined to work more closely with, including poland in the days and weeks ahead. >> richard engel, we node that sue crane's government address the most there this morning, i believe. what's the mood on the ground in ukraine? >> reporter: there's been a great deal of confusion among ukrainians because president zell inski has been downplaying. some people have signed up for mass recruitment efforts because he dmots want to cause a panic, according to multiple sources i've spoken to. one of the main objectives here from vladimir putin is to change the zell inski government. the white house just announced a few days ago and the british government have talked about co-vert attempts by russia to undermine the zelinsky government. it's left some ukrainians wondering if they're being lied to, if there's a coverup, if there is something go and why is it the world is talking about ukraine add the world themselves are not. you're seeing ukrainia since some of these difficult questions. we're not seeing the lines of traffic. they're behaving as normally but people are starting to ask the difficult questions. why are all these western journalists here? >> why is the world paugss pausing on this and being silent? >> thank you. be safe. general milley talked to the forces on tuesday. can you tell me more about the conversations between the pentagon and ukraine's military right now is this. >> so we're getting a number of read-outs about general milley speaking to his counterparts all through the baltic region and central europe. he said he's not going to discuss specifics of this. one of the things they talked about was the efforts taken to itsen the possible invasion of russia -- but russia, ukraine. i want to touch on a couple of other things. one is the reporting of buildup of russian troops. yes, that is something we've been hearing about. we were told last week there were about 59 battalion tactical groups around ukraine. he's now hearing there'ses 60 and we're told the number of btgs is increasing, and that means they're sending in roughly on the magnitude of 1 battalion tactical group, hundreds of soldiers, of troops, in just a week's time. but they're also sending in new capabilities that has them on an even more concerned footing in the past several days than they were just a week or two ago, craig. and just beyond that, the pentagon said that and they expect them to continue to move in at this steady pace, but we're also hearing that they're coming from sort of the further out areas around russia. so they're not even the more regional forces. they're branging them in from further around the country. that's another thing that has officials very concerned here. we do expect that both secretary of defense lloyd austin, and general mark mill in the coming days and hours. the question is will we get more of a sense on where their head is on sending any u.s. troops from here in the continental u.s. forward, we heard from plighten saying it possible they may make that desuggestion even before the russians are in place. that's one of the big questions we're asking here today, craig. >> in addition the troops being sent to ukraine, the russian troops that courtney just outlined there, we have this video of mugs and at your experience at the defense department and working with the supreme allied commander of europe, what are the actions we most to be most concerned about that perhaps haven't gotten more attention? >> i mean, i think, craig, they are getting attention as far as i can tell right now. what mabb is they have these exercises and launch and we need to be really concerned. we need to also provide additional assistance to the ukrainians. i don't know where we start at providing better air defenses, 20 defenses. we provided a little bit of mayortime but it was a drop in the bucket. so i think that the nato allies need to indirectly help the ukrainians with that as well. >> evelyn, courtney and peter, a big thanks to all of you. and courtney just mentioned john kirby, the pentagon press secretary. he's going to be joining chalk chuck later for a live interview on msnbc. in just a few hours, we could get a big update on interest rates from the fed. that could affect everything from mortgage rates to retirement plans. also, what one california city is doing while we all wait for congress to act on new gun laws. it's about to implement some new rules of its own, rules that we've never seen before in this country. the mayor of san jose will join me to explain how they'll work. and not enough workers, too many 911 calls and hospitals already full of covid patients. all of those things have taken a huge toll on ems responders. jacob soberoff got a look on just how they're trying to hold it together. >> how much longer can you all keep going like this? >> i'm really unsure. we're working as much as we can. i don't know how much longer we can do it. can. i don't know how much longer we can do it. have friends. 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truth be told it's like taking your medicine. we're not going to like it in the short term. it's going to take some time for prices to level out and what it will do most likely is make the stock market more volatile, which we've seen, and why is that? because when rates are at zero, that makes it really easy to borrow. companies borrow, companies grow, and from an investing standpoint there's no other place to put your money but the stock market. when the fed does that, it's like putting a great big safety net around the markets and the markets go up. pulling that safety net away because the economy is doing stronger is going to make things a little shakier. so people aren't going to like in the short term potentially what their 401(k) looks like. and then from your mortgage, your credit card, this is the time and it has been the time over the last couple of years to refinance your mortgage. it's one of the reasons the housing market has been so hot because people can buy homes and get a mortgage so cheaply and for credit cards absolutely keep your eye out. we expect things to go up. if rates go up, it's going to impact what we're paying. >> in terms of inflation, steph, this decision from the fed here in a few hours, what could that mean for inflation, short term and long term potentially? >> do we know when inflation will level out? we can't pinpoint it. prices are able to stay high or go up when people are willing to pay those prices. the government put a huge amount of money into the system over the last few years and businesses aren't incentivized. which moving rates up, that slows the economy a little built so over time should slow inflation. is that going to happen quickly, no? will it help president biden with inflation? this could be tricky for him. >> president biden set to meet with ten ceos at the white house who support passing his build back better bill that's of course stalled in the senate. is this the first step to play the blueprint of which pieces should survive from that bill, mike? >> reporter: we've been talking about ways in which the white house is really trying to regroup here in the new year to refine its economic message especially, and today's event at the white house is the most public indication yet of how the white house is trying to revive that build back better legislation here. one of the issues the white house has been confronting as it's been selling some. pieces of its plan is the perception that the infrastructure law that was signed into law was sort of the moderate consensus plan while build back better is the priority of progressives. and by gathering these ceos today, the administration is trying to send the message that some. specific provisions, talking about expanding access to child care, early kindergarten, prekindergarten access expanding and also including some of the climate provisions as well have brought appeal, including among the business community. so you have the president meeting with top executives from general motors, from hp and even etsy among the list there and they're going to be hitting at the idea that even if it results in higher taxes, the costs are worth it to unlock the economic activity that's been hampered, especially by the pandemic. >> thanks to both of you. covid symptoms that linger for weeks or even months after being should have gotten better. it's known as long covid but who gets it and why? there's a new study out and it could offer some hints. we're going to take a look at that. but first, though, big papi headed to cooperstown. david ortiz, the former boston red sox slugger was the only player to be voted into the baseball hall of fame tuesday night and some of the biggest names did not make the cut. it was the tenth and final year of eligibility for barry bonds, curt shilling, but here is ortiz last night getting his good news. >> yes! good news >> yes ments. some mental health meds can cause tardive dyskinesia, or td, and it's unlikely to improve without treatment. ingrezza is a prescription medicine to treat adults with td movements in the face and body. it's the only treatment for td that's one pill, once-daily, with or without food. ingrezza 80 mg is proven to reduce td movements in 7 out of 10 people. people taking ingrezza can stay on their current dose of most mental health meds. don't take ingrezza if you're allergic to any of its ingredients. ingrezza may cause serious side effects, including sleepiness. don't drive, operate heavy machinery, or do other dangerous activities until you know how ingrezza affects you. other serious side effects include potential heart rhythm problems and abnormal movements. it's nice people focus more on me. ask your doctor about ingrezza, #1 prescribed for td. learn how you could pay as little as zero dollars at ingrezza.com. it's still the eat fresh refresh™ 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... 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[bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ and forgot where she was. you can always spot a first time gain flings user. ♪ what happens when we welcome change? we can make emergency medicine possible at 40,000 feet. instead of burning our past for power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. we can create new ways to connect. rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. with app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change. faster. vmware. welcome change. right now the white house covid response team is holding a briefing. in fact, that briefing just wrapped up, i'm told. the coordinator just announced the ups has now shipped some 400 million vaccine doses to 112 countries around the world. back here at home, though, another sobering detail about our caseload. the united states added nearly 18 million new cases since january. that's more than half of the total cases recorded in all of 2021. and for the millions that are still struggling for lingering symptoms, there's a new study out shedding some light on why. with me now, nbc's eric edwards and an emergency medical physician at denver health medical center. erika, millions of americans looking for answers on why their symptoms just won't go away. so what did the city reveal about why this is happening to some but not others? >> yeah, long covid is one of the biggest mystery. when a normal immune system faces new infection, it produces anti-bodies to fight it off. so you would expect that a healthy but otherwise infected individual to make more of those antibodies in response. there's all kind of different andy bodies but researchers zeroed in on two specific antibodies. their immune systems made lower levels of those antibodies. if this is proven with more people, larger studies, it's possible that scientists could someday develop a blood test to check for those level of immunoglobulin. it's going to take time but the experts applaud the research and say it is quite promising. did the study look at whether the vaccines impact whether people get these long-lasting symptoms? >> that's a great question and the answer is no. most of these people were infected before vaccines were available. that also means that they had earlier versions of the virus, earlier variants. so it's still unclear whether these findings would apply to someone who goes on to develop long covid after an omicron infection. craig? >> erika, thank you so much for breaking down that study. and i should point out that that briefing continues right now so we're going to continue to listen and monitor and we'll pass along any new information that's needed. doctor, let's start with those lingering symptoms. what are some of the most common symptoms you're seeing or hearing about from your colleagues? >> there is something we do see this long covid syndrome. this is something coming out in the literature, seeing it come out yesterday in a lot of papers. there's some promising evidence of what are we going to do with it what are the therapies to are it? we see more in the emergency department because another seeing necessary this post covid and we don't know what will be post covid with omicron. the paper referenced earlier was prior to omicron. what we see is more just still more of the acute covid, the shortness of breath, fatigue, people talk about brain fog. that's what we're seeing as lingering effects. we like to tell people though people are told to stay in isolation for five days, they understand that's how long their symptoms should last. that's not true. some team's symptoms last a day, some last ten days, a month. we have some people we send home on oxygen now and we have nurses check on them every day. they're not always better five or ten days after they get the illness. >> to that point, when should people who are concerned about these symptoms that won't go away, when should they go see a doctor or specialist? when should they start to worry? >> that's a great question. and so what we tell people is that one of the best advice we can give is we can tell you the expected course of what we think of how you're going to do when we see you but the best information we can give you is who to call and where to go. calling your nurse lines, local agency, if you have a doctor, calling those groups to find out when you should go in. when you're severely short of breath or you're having a fever again, otherwise we like to try to tell people to reach out before you go to the emergency department because we are definite lit hitting capacity at many of our emergency departments around the country, whether it covid or as a result of covid. so we're seeing more people affected directly or the impact from it. >> do we know, doctor, whether this particular variant is causing folks to have these lingering symptoms as much as the delta variant before? >> i don't think we have enough evidence to say that yet. we have a lot of and being dotes, right? i have a colleague who was getting better at day four, fire and day seven started to feel sick again. i don't think we have enough evidence right now to say what's going to happen with this variant. >> all right. doctor, thank you. come back. >> thank you. have a great day. >> meanwhile, tired and burnt out, that is what first responders all oaf this country say they're feeling right now as that variant is driving hospitalizations to record levels. we heard just a few minutes ago that the seven-day archafternoon for death rates in this and jacob, you rode along with an ems crew there to see what kind of pressure they are under right now. what did you find? what was it like? >> reporter: yeah, i sure did, craig. hospitals here, and you won't be surprised to hear this, are busier than they have been at any point during the course of this entire pandemic and that has some side effects at those hospitals. number one, they're running out of beds for patients. number two, they're running out of personnel. there are staffing shortages and that has resulted in ems services, emts waiting with their ambulances at these hospitals in order to get their patients seen. it's causing them to feel like they're at a boiling point. watch this. we're with an ems crew in sacramento as they respond to another day of unrelenting calls. >> this is a serious accident. >> reporter: this one a major car crash where the driver could have had life threatening injuries. >> look at the inside here. this is a horrific rollover car accident and you're telling me there's no guarantee they're going to be able get in. and he said the omicron wave and app extremely high number of 911 calls have created an already existing problem. >> we had crew sitting on an ap ambulance at a hospital for 12 hours and it there were multiple ambulances that had been there for five hours. >> the men and women responding to 911 calls are at a breaking point. >> the call number has significantly skyrocketed. >> reporter: do you see light at the end of the tunnel now is it. >> i don't think there's any light at the end of the tunnel. not right now. >> reporter: we're on our way to a call for a 34-year-old that was said to be coughing up blood. >> when we pulled up, the patient wasn't having a life threatening episode. >> this is a difficult one. what seemed to be an and essentially all we're going to do is give him a ride to the hospital at this point. >> do you think he gets in right away? >> no. >> no? >> absolutely not. we'll be out of service for at least an hour. >> how much longer can you all keep going like this? >> i'm really unsure. we're working as much as we can. i don't know how much longer we can do it. ow much longer we can do it. >> okay. all right. look like jacob's shot was frozen there in sacramento, california. but that was jacob soboroff there reporting on just what all of this over the last two years has meant for ems workers in this country. jacob, thank you. meanwhile, gun safety legislation doesn't see to be i go anywhere in d.c. but there could be changes at local level. san jose about to implement new gun changes nobody ever has and san jose's mayor will join me next. d san jose's mayor will join me next ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪ ♪ sometimes you want to go ♪ ♪where everybody knows your name ♪ ♪ ♪and they're always glad you came ♪ as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? 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>> well, when it comes to gun regulation, no good deed goes unlitigated. we know there will be lawsuits. the second amendment protect's every american's right to own and possess a gun. we're not going to be taking guns from folks. the second amendment doesn't require taxpayers to subsidize that right and we're spending $1.4 billion a year on public responses to gun violence, whether that's police, emergency medical, emergency rooms, you name it. there are a lot of fees in taxes we pay for exercising all kind of constitutional rights, for a newspaper to publish a paper, they can stilling taxed. we're still required to pay fees for court filings. the question is whether or not the fees and taxes are a true obstacle to the exercise of your constitution right and i think they won't be. >> gun owners who do not acquire the insurance will not lose their guns or face charges. how does the city enforce this. >> we'll be imposing fines and other sanctions and we're working with legislators to find ways where we know there's a particularly violent situation, maybe after a bar brawl or domestic dispute where officers can actually temporarily seize a gun where there's been a violation, take a gun out of a combustible situation and obviously restore the gun ownership a day later when the temperatures have dropped. >> when you first proposed these measures in the weeks after last year's deadly shooting a the a san jose light rail yard, nine people were killed. you tweeted "anybody hobing that congress will act to better protect americans from the scourge of gun violence will be waiting a very long time." there's your tweet. have you completely given up on congress at this point? >> well, we should never give up, but. we should continue to advocate for what this country needs and what mayors throughout the country are pleading for congress to do is enact very sensible gun restrictions we haven't had an assault weapons ban since it was passed in the mid 90s and then expired. there are basic things that i think people on all side agree and i hope we'll have a congress that will be able to step up to that. >> mayor sam liccardo, good to talk to you again. up next, my conversation with a maryland pastor who faced a choice in his past -- school or prison. how he used that second chance. >> i said i would love to go to school, and it changed my life forever. forever. y life forever. forever. enrollment, and you're not covered. not even a little bit? mm-mmm. no insurance. no. when employees can't enter and manage their own benefits enrollment information, it can be a real pain. not even— nope! with paycom, employees enter and manage their own hr data in a single, easy-to-use software. visit paycom.com and schedule a demo today. to make my vision a reality my varilux progressive lenses provide seamlessly transition from near to far. with every detail in sharp focus. that's seeing no limits. varilux lenses by essilor. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance ♪ ♪ through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. i want to share a story about redemption and second chances. i had the privilege of meeting pastor michael phillips. he would be in a very different place if not for one life-altering decision. looking back on his child hood in baltimore, pastor michael phillips vividly recalls two defining memories. >> 6 year old and you tell your teacher you want a be a lawyer. what was the teacher's response? >> this is a person i'll never forget. she told me that would never happen for a person like me. >> the other memory is when his father, also a preacher, suddenly died of a stroke. he was already 12. >> i was already on the fringe of trying to navigate, but when my father died, it pushed me further away from the church. and the guys on the corner became my pastors. >> he started selling drugs but at the age of 18, the law caught up with him. he was facing 18 years until the judge gave him prison ear special program to send him to college instead. >> imagine me saying which one do i want to take? i said i would love to go to school and it changed my life forever. forever. >> reporter: from there, mikeble -- michael became pastor, even being on the schoolboard and dubbing the school to prison pipeline that he writes about in his book "wrong lanes have right turns." how would you describe the school to prison pipeline? >> we have zero tolerance policies that excludes children from learning time and they're often times placed right in front of the criminal justice system at an early age. if we're really going to have equality, equity, then we should have restorative practices to make sure we're restoring the child back to community, rather than penalizing them for something they did. because what they did is not who they are. >> as for michael, that second chance allowed him to discover who he truly was. most importantly, a dad to michael jr., who also happens to be a 2020 harvard grad. >> i grew up listening to those stories. and i think the most profound thing i take away from them is i can't relate to them. i can never understand what it meant to be in the wrong lane because he made sure and my mom made sure and my community made sure i was always in the proper environment. wherever, whatever lane i wanted to be in i could pursue. i want to be an agent of transformation in individuals lives. i want to follow in my father's foot steps. >> michael sr, how deproud does that make you? >> i'm trying not to cry right now. because he just brought the heat and i'm trying. he's about to mess me up but i couldn't be more proud. >> pastor michael phillips there. by the way, his book "wrong lanes have right turns" is out now. this is going to do it for me this hour. in a couple of minutes, we expect to see secretary blinken. and "andrea mitchell reports." is next. and "andrea mitchell reports." is next. a painful, blistering rash that could interrupt your life for weeks. forget social events and weekend getaways. if you've had chickenpox, the virus that causes shingles is already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. 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... - i'm norm. - i'm szasz. [norm] and we live in columbia, missouri. we do consulting, but we also write. [szasz] we take care of ourselves constantly; it's important. we walk three to five times a week, and we have breaking news right now. supreme court justice steven brieer is said to retire at the end of the term. this was broken exclusively by justice correspondent, pete williams, just minutes ago. this is according to people who are aware of justice brier's thinking. msnbc news has not spoken to justice brier directly. we believe he is on a flight right now and out of pocket. but a number of people who have spoken to the justice and were familiar with his thinking understand that he is going to step down at the end of this term. where he would still be involved in consequential decisions, decisions on guns and of course on abortion. most notably. justice breyer has been on the court for 28 years. he is 83 years old. he's been under extraordinary, unprecedented political pressure from progressives in the democratic party, who wanted him to step down because they feared that, with the midterm elections come up, with the possibility, indeed the likelihood the republicans could regain the senate, that there would not be another possibility for this president, joe biden, to nominate someone to be confirmed, given senator mcconnell's past record. in february, before an actual presidential election in february of 2020, justice scalia passed unexpectedly and mcconnell refused to even give a hearing to merrick garland. at the time, the time appeals judge, high riri spected by both parties but mcconnell refused to let the republican senate even schedule a hearing. with that history, progressives have been involved in extraordinary campaign, even billboards mounted on trucks, circling the court. and justice breyer was working from home in boston and extraordinary pressure campaign