is he putting pride over party? and escalating tensions on the border between russia and ukraine. right now the u.n. security council is holding an urgent meeting at the request of the u.s. ambassador. the purpose -- publicly confront russia as they face, quote, the mother of all sanctions. and in just a few minutes we're going to share a message from former first lady michelle obama. the major announcement from her nonpartisan group when we all vote. you'll hear it first first. let's jump right into the search for the next supreme court justice. carol lee is covering the white house, ali vitale is at her post and i'm joined by kimberly atkins-storr. carol, nbc news is learning new details about the president's list of candidates. what more can you tell us about that? >> that's right. two sources are telling us that the president is really widening the net when it comes to who he's looking at to potentially fill this vacancy. the white house is saying this is something that the president is going to decide obviously by the end of faeb so he's got four weeks to do this. white house officials say he is currently reviewing the background of these women. there's more than a dozen women the president is looking at. officials caution there is no short list as of yet, they still have this broader list. at some point as the president goes through all of this background and reviews the various candidates that he will narrow this down to a smaller group who he will then do an interview process with and ultimately make that final decision, craig. >> we should note for viewers at home that we put those names on the screen in no particular order. folks don't necessarily get the wrong idea. ali, the senate back on hill today for the first time since justice breyer announced his retirement. we're starting to get a stand where some stand on biden's candidates. >> senator lindsey graham and susan collins both talking about the process that's about to unfold here over the course of the next few weeks. we know senate democrats want to do this quickly and we know if all 50 of them stand together, they can do this on their own without republican support, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be nice to have, especially for a president who ran as someone who could be bipartisan, who could build bridges between the parties. you look at people like graham and collins, they have voted for an overwhelming number of the president's nominees to judicial posts over the course of the last year. you listen to graeme, especially when it comes to somebody from south carolina, someone clyburn wanted to see in this post, it's clear we could see graeme come over nominating democrats. and we're also hearing some reaction to the process and the promise that is governing it. biden of course promising to nominate a black woman to this post. senator collins saying it has made the process clumsy. listen. >> the way that the president has handled this nomination has been clumsy at best. what president biden did was as a candidate make this pledge and that helped politicize the entire nomination process. >> now, we hear her there saying that it's made the process clumsy, but at the same time she said that she thought it was a good thing that the supreme court was more reflective and more diverse. we know that dick durbin has reached out to senator collins saying he's happy to make the eventual nominee available to her for extensive commentary and interviews. we know what that process typically looks like on capitol hill, meeting with key stake holders on the hill, all of that expected to kick off as soon as we actually have a nominee. we know democrats want to go as quickly as they can on this. the process is likely to look more like what we saw for amy coney barrett, which lasted about 27 days as opposed to the average process which lasts about 70. >> i wangt to play something from the senior center from south carolina. this is senator lindsey graham sunday morning. take a listen. >> i can't think of a better person for president biden to consider for the supreme court than michelle childs. she has wide support in our state. she's considered to be a fair-minded, highly gifted jurist. she's one of the most decent people i've ever met. >> how significant is that, kimberly? >> yeah, so lindsey graham, he said the president had the right to pick supreme court justices of their choosing, he likes to remind folks over and over again he voted in favor of other democratic nominees. so in this sense that is consistent but clearly he is signaling he has picked a favorite here in judge childs, who is from south carolina, who is someone that also has the strong support of congressman clyburn, who also has the president's ear. it seems to me like he's picking favorites here. but among the republicans that have in the past expressed support for confirming a nominee so long as that person is qualified is senator graham. so in that sense it's a lot more consistent than what we've seen from republicans. >> you've got senator whitaker, he is comparing biden's commitment to nominate a black woman to affirmative action. he did that in a radio interview on friday. >> well, it feels that at least some republicans here are going to be doing something, though, which i call begging the question, which is decrying the potential of nomination of somebody who isn't qualified but basing that on the fact that it is a black woman. i think that voters, particularly black women hear it. i think it's curious for republicans politically at a time where democrats are trying to rally their base ahead of the mid terms. i think insulting black women to america at this point in time isn't the best choice for a republican to make but, again, as you said, all of the people who are being considered at this point are imminently qualified and even susan collins can see the value of diversity and senator graeme as well. it's hard to understand why republicans can't, too. >> carol, has the white house responded to those comments from senator wicker? >> that he responded very quickly, underscoring they've done their research and has what every senator has said and past nominations as any white house entering this process would. they issued the statement and ultimately quickly after senator wicker's comments, i'll read you part of that. he said that president biden's promise that he would nominate and confirm the first black woman to the supreme court is in line with both parties and our nation. i'll add that the white house went out to point out that past presidents have made similar promises in saying they would nominate a woman to the supreme court. the white house correspondents' dinner is pointing to former president trump and former president ronald reagan. they are clearly ready to defend not only this process, craig, if you talk to white house officials but certainly whether there is a nominee to defend her as well. >> kimberly, before we go, i do want to read something that former obama adviser wrote on friday, this is "the new york times" and the headline here is, quote, democrats should take a page from mitch mcconnell's book. she goes on to write move as quickly as possible, an overly deliberative process and had nothing in this environment that's toxic and divisive. do you think that's what we'll see here, kimberly? >> i think that is. what we'll see here i think democrats are motivated to move as quickly as the barrett nomination. i think given the fact that democrats can advance and pass and confirm this nomination without a single republican vote at this point in time, it doesn't make a lot of sense to drag out the process, certainly give it the time to consider the candidate thoroughly. but i don't see anything standing in the way and i do agree that the longer everything that happens in washington at this point, the longer it takes, the more politicized and divisive it comes. >> a big thanks to all of you. carol, don't go far. i think we're going to come back to you in just a few minutes for some other reporting. thank you all, ladies. meanwhile, just hours before today's hearing in the federal trial of the three men who killed ahmaud arbery, two of the men have made plea deals according to federal prosecutors, but the details of those deals have not been released just yet. we are watching this morning's hearing very closely for more information but i'm joined now by joyce vance, a former u.s. attorney and professor and is also an msnbc legal analyst. joyce, we've already had the murder trial, the state level for the three men involved. now we're talking about the federal hate crime case. we should note the first man convicted of murder was not mentioned in this plea deal filing from sunday. what are you watching and listening for from the prosecution today? >> so as a prosecutor, you'd like to see this sort of a plea deal come into play because it means that even if there's a problem, there's no reason to believe at that there would be one, but if there's a problem on appeal with the georgia state convictions, that means that this federal plea deal with expand and that these men spend approximately 30 years in custody. there's reporting that says they'll spend the first 30 years of their time in federal custody as opposed to in georgia state custody. >> joy, ahmaud arbery's parents released a statement that saying, quote, they are vehemently against this deal. they believe it will allow them to serve time on both cases in a, quote, preferred federal prison. >> first, let me say i understand the feelings of ahmaud arbery's family. something i hope that will comfort them that time in custody is precisely that, it is punishment. and federal prisons -- the person in custody for 30 years faces significant punishment. i think we'll have to watch this story unfold. d.o.j. typically operates under rules that require it to engage with a family with victims before they enter into a plea agreement. one would expect that the victim's family would have understood what was coming and that there would have been conversation between prosecutors and the families' lawyers to ensure that there was sign-off between the plea deal was entered. i think we'll learn more about that when this plea hearing takes place in federal court in georgia later this morning. >> before i let you go, any idea why the neighbor, who was also convicted of murder, might not have been mentioned in these plea deal documents? >> i wouldn't read anything too sinister into that. it might mean there are still negotiations in the work or that bryant is not interested in pleading. there's a lot of litigation risk in these sorts of hate crime prosecutions. >> joyce, thank you so much for that. again, any minute now we expect to see and hear from president biden at this event for the national governor's association. this is a live look at the white house. that's governor phil murphy speaking now, governor of new jersey. live pictures coming in from the white house. when the president starts, we will take you there live for this roundtable conversation. you can see the president flanked by this vice president, kamala harris as well. also ahead, quote, the mother of all sanctions. could the threat of massive economic punishment convince russia to back off its threats against ukraine? we'll get to the latest on that. and the brand new announcement from former first lady michelle obama. you'll hear it right here this hour on msnbc before you hear it anywhere else. c wfbefore you het anywhere else. 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. mm. 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[ applause ] >> thank you. it's a truly a pleasure to have you all here and my cabinet is getting a chance to meet you all personally and engage with you on the great concern that you have. you know, i had a chance to hear from several leaders in my administration this morning, including former governors. if you notice, i hired a lot of governors as mayors because they know how to get things done and they had two governors sitting to my left here who are taking on major, major responsibilities. i remember when we were out on the trail, governor vilsack telling me that the first industry in the world was going to have net zero emissions, going to be agriculture. he was right. at the time it was a fairly novel idea, a lot of you picked it up and moved beyond. i know that -- look, the american rescue plan was a lot of money. and it was designed to make sure we could carry the nation forward in dealing with vaccines boosters and creating jobs and keeping schools open and a number of other things. and you said send you monday and we have. we've sent you a whole hell of a lot of money and we're going to send you more and keep using it as well as you have. we're talking about the ability to really -- the way i look at it and i mean this sincerely and i said it last night in a more casual way, we are at an inflexion point. we have an opportunity -- america is one of those nations, i think the only nation that's come out of every crisis stronger than it went into the crisis. i'm not -- it's not hyperbole. we had a crisis, we've come out even stronger. think that's where we are again and i think we have a chance to sort of restate and reassert our world leadership on a whole range of issues and lead the world on everything from the environment to dealing with the issues of immigration, a whole range of issues. and but the american rescue plan gives us the resources to do many of those things. and, you know, there's a lot of challenges out there that we're not even talking to directly today. there's so many. the surge in gun violence since the start of this pandemic. i made it clear we should use these funds to combat violent crime as well. including hiring additional police officers and improving the working communities. i know you're making those investments in michigan, new jersey, in ohio. a lot of you are making them all over the country. another one of the national challenges we need to bring back workers to better jobs with better pay and better working conditions than the ones that they left. the american rescue plan there was a major part was $350 billion to allocate to your states and local budgets as well as funds for school and for child care. and we know the differences made in jobs, last we had the greatest growth in job history. the most in 20 years. governor, you've talked about 10,000 state workers that you were able to keep on the job thanks to the american rescue plan. i'm not sure where you're sitting but at any rate, there you are, gov, sorry. and i know that education funds help many of you stay open, keep the schools open and keep them open safely. there's a lot of money you have there from everything from dealing with ventilation to cleaning school busses. and everything in between. no reason why we can't keep our schools open, in my view. and getting kids to school was an essential step getting our economy back to normal. we're not quite there yet. if people find they can afford child care, they get back to work as well. i think we're going to be coming back to you. there's one reason why there's 1.2 million women who are working, who are not in the job market now because it's hard to get back and the combination of worrying about the school open and worry about whether or not there's child care. you've gotten relief with 150,000 child care workers to help keep the doors open at a critical time, the actual physical facilities. and now we need to do more to keep americans at work and the essential workers on the job. that could mean hero retention bonuses, higher pay, temporary paid leave to combat burnout, essential health care workers like delaware, illinois, kansas, maine, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota and pennsylvania have all announced. it could mean paid leave as it's being done in the state of washington. but keep schools open to keep kids in school to make up for learning losses. we need to bring back more teachers, more tutors, bus drivers, school nurses and we're seeing creative efforts in north carolina, for example, which is providing bonuses for all schools in arkansas and we're seeing states like kansas, new jersey and nevada using the funds to expand the pool of mental health workers in schools, which is badly needed in my view. already they're using nearly $14 billion in the american rescue plan funds to rebuild the nation's infrastructure. you know how to build roads and bridges. well, we've got a hell of a lot to build and we're going to build a bunch of them and also clean water and ports and a whole range of things. we have a lot of opportunity to build back a lot better. i think it's equally important that we have well trained and diverse workforce and careers that our infrastructure law is going to help open up. and that means supporting union-based apprenticeships, community college, on-the-job training in manufacturing and clean energy and construction. and we're seeing states like wisconsin, colorado, connecticut, north carolina, maine, massachusetts all doing that already. we have dozens of examples of how important the creative work that is under way as a result of providing a health of a lot more flexibility that you all required. i think they've done that. it's good work you're doing, it's a good start and we need to do even more to retain, train and hire workers we need for our people and to expand our economy. because this is chance for us to not only come together and get through this pandemic, it's a chance for us to come through it stronger and ready to build on our progress and deal more americans in to win the competition of the future. we are doing better than any major nation in the world. we got to keep that, pick it up. and i can think of no better group of people to pick it up. take state leaders, federal business. i've never seen as much cooperation across the board. there's been a hell of a lot of cooperation across the board, including business and labor, pulling together, accelerating efforts and trying to do a lot more to make sure we get out of this hole. i want to thank you all for being here and i know you spoke today with the cdc -- not the cdc but you had the head of my covid team in here. we got a way to go on that in my view, but we're moving. and i think that's what it's all about, making sure we have the same standards we're applying across the board. and, you know, as you said, we're going to try like the devil to keep schools open because we do know study after study, as all of you know, a great university in the states that have done them is that, you know, losing the semester can put a kid back a year and a half. and so there's a whole lot you can have to do in my view to focus. and i think that keeping schools open is a big part of that. and border security, we're working a lot with neighboring countries. there's a lot to do. one of the fundamental things we've got to do in addition to some of the changes what making today is figure out why they're leaving in the first place. it's not like people sit around in guadalajara saying i got a great idea, let's take everything we have, give it to a coyote, take us across the desert to a country that doesn't want us. there's a whole lot of illegal movement and there's a way to deal with the reason they're leaving in the first place and i'd love to talk to you personally about that for a little bit, if i may. having said that, why don't you stop and take any questions y'all may have and tell me i'm supposed to call on governor cox first. >> thank you, guys. thank you. thank you, guys. >> and there you have it. president biden addressing many of this nation's governors, national governors association event there at the white house, the president resisting the urge it would seem to respond to any of the shouted questions from the reporters who were assembled there. but you did hear the president there extolling the virtues of the american rescue plan. he talked about gun violence and immigration and the infrastructure and he talked about building things back better and at the end we heard him talk about covid as well as his administration's response to the pandemic. back with me the white house correspondent carol lee. carol, what stood out to you there? again, gun violence, infrastructure investment. we heard governor asa hutchinson, the governor of arkansas there about using the national guard at the border. it seemed as if perhaps president biden was responding to him at the end there. anything stand out to you in particular? >> yeah, craig, i thought the president was sort of doing what white house officials had said he would do more of, which is try to focus on what he's gotten done as opposed to what he hasn't gotten done and still needs to be done. he said, hey, i sent you guys a lot of money and more money is coming and he talked about also covid relief in that respect saying they've got money out for schools and expressed the importance of keeping schools going. last week on a zoom call it was said the president is going to talk more about what he has done, not in this way that people demand what are you doing for me now, they want to focus on what he has done already. so you heard him do that here. and you noted this gun violence. that's something that we're going to hear more from the president on later this week when he travels to new york and meets with the mayor to talk about some the violence that's been happening in new york and really across the country and guns will be a component of the president's remarks there. >> carol lee at the white house for us there. thank you. meanwhile, as all of this has been going on, as you perhaps have noticed at the bottom of your screen there, the security council talking about russia and ukraine and about the international community to talk about ratcheting up the pressure on russia. we'll have that next. p the prese on russia. we'll have that next now i'm managing my diabetes better and i've lowered my a1c from 8.2 to 6.7. take the mystery out of managing your diabetes and lower your a1c. now you know. try it for free at freestylelibre.us i didn't have health insurance, not because i didn't wt it. i worried it was too expensive and i was having a hard time paying our other bills. but now for the first time in our lives, i can do both. covered california makes health insurance easier in every way with financial help for millions of us and free assistance to compare your options. covered california. this way to health 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mother of all sanctions. it could mean action against russia's biggest banks and the insovereign debt as well. matt, the united states was accused of fanning hysteria over ukraine, but it is a fact that there are more than 100,000 russian troops at ukraine's border so how is all that playing out there? >> thank you, craig. that's basically the talking point now, the emergent talking point. we've seen them start to run with this idea that this is all a western media craze since daylight started to form between the white house and president zelensky over the immediacy of the intentions of those troops. the russian public is being told, don't worry, this is just made up by the west and it all folds very nicely into some of the other narrative threats that they are possibly spinning, trying to contain russia and create a pretext for nato to make moves on russia. more fundamentally it all comes back to the idea that the west is hyping up zelensky. russians are not being told the truth entirely about their troops. they're aware there's movement going on and there's a general sense out. again, we all take this for granted but the state has incredible control over narratives here, over the media here. there's just burnout. people are not sitting there fact checking and they're not all that interested in the fine details. the west is sending troops to the echelon alliance and ukraine is getting more weapons and russia is defensive. putin is playing a game. war is not possible. we're seeing a lot of that right now. >> a snowy moscow. matt, thank you. meanwhile, back here today is the deadline in texas to get in applications to vote by mail ahead of the upcoming primary elections. because of the state's new requirements, many applications are apparently be rejected and that includes a 92-year-old world war ii veteran who said his application was denied twice. here's more on his story from houston's affiliate filed tuesday. >> reporter: he hopes his mail-in ballot is among the pile. he's been voting since he was 21 years old and even recalls paying a poll tax. >> i've been voting for many, many years, and i've never missed a vote. >> reporter: thompson considers voting a duty. he fought in world war ii for the right to vote and other freedoms. decades later he fears the state's enough election law could prevent him from voting for the first time in his life. thompson has to either provide his social security number or driver's license number that matches his registration record with the county or state. >> that's because he registered to vote in the 1940s and they didn't require that. >> reporter: because he cannot add his driver's license information to the registration record, his mail-in ballot application was denied twice and he said harris county never notified him. >> there's going to be a lot of people who are going to vote. >> his daughter said she's even tried contacting the county and state to add her dad's license number to the registration file. >> we know it's a new law. we'll be happy to correct it. he's a law abiding citizen. >> reporter: holland said she had to reregister her dad to make sure he makes the voter registration deadline. they hope there will be a ballot in the mail soon. >> i can get out and move around and go to a regular polling place, but there's lots of people that can't. >> getting more people to vote is mission number one for michelle obama this upcoming mid they were season. we have a brand new message from the former first lady. this is the first place you'll see it right here on this hour. >> are you ready for the mid-term elections? ready for te mid-term elections ♪ so different and so new ♪ ♪ was like any other... ♪ i've got moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now, there's skyrizi. 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months, after just 2 doses. skyrizi may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. before treatment, your doctor should check you for 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cochairs, names you will recognize, a joining the effort to reach her goal of 1 million new voter registrations before november. ♪ are you ready is you ready you say you ready ♪ ♪ whole squad ready are you ready ♪ ♪ is you ready whole squad ready ♪ >> are you ready for the midterm elections, join me, join me, join me, join me. >> join us. text join to 56005 to get started. >> i want to bring in stephanie young now, executive director of when we all vote. stephanie, you're here to exclusively reveal the five new celebrity cochairs, and without further adieu, who are they and how do you think they will make an impact before the interns. >> we're excited to welcome her, jennifer lopez, becky g. to the fold and to join our existing cochairs like tom hanks and lin-manuel miranda and others to help us achieve our mission, and that is to change the culture around voting, increase participation in each and every election. to help close the age gap, fight against voter suppression, and you mentioned the 1 million voters. we joined 30 other organizations in making a pledge to push congress to take action, to also make sure we can register at least a million people, to also recruit 100,000 volunteers to call their senators, to tell them that they want to see the freedom to vote and the john lewis voting rights act passed. so we've got a lot of work cut out for us. we're hoping that these new cochairs we're adding to the fold will help expand the tent, bring people into the fold and remind people that an election is coming. >> we're seeing clear voting restrictions in a number of states. just this morning, there's a judge's hearing to challenge florida's voting law, including restrictions on mail-in ballots and drop boxes. mrs. obama, as you mentioned, wants to register 1 million people before november. explain how much of a difference a million new voters could make when people see what's happening right now. >> well, look, there's at least 7,000,018-year-olds every year, so we're talking about young people we want to make sure we're bringing into the process. there are also folks that might not have been eligible for whatever reason in 2020, and people who just might not be paying attention so bringing in new voters is critically important. we only had about 60% of americans voting in the last election, in the general election, which was the highest number we've ever seen, but that's not 100%. and we can't have a true democracy when everybody is not using their voice in every election. getting new people into the fold is extremely important. bringing those who already voted out again is very important because the midterm elections are all about your state, all about your local area. they're about who is representing you in the house of representatives, and it's about the people who are making election laws in your state as well, like the secretaries of state. these are really critical elections and our goal is how are we going to educate these folks to understand how important these elections are and we can't sit it out. we have to vote all the way down the ballot. >> yeah, to your earlier point, i mean, you're not just looking to recruit new voters. we're talking about recruiting and training, at least 100,000 volunteers to register and turn out voters in the midterms. what's the status of that goal, and how can folks join that effort? >> yeah, absolutely. so this pledge that we did, we released an ad in the "new york times," a letter from mrs. obama. you can check it out on our web site, our social media platform, we joined 30 organizations that represent millions of americans. our goal is to make sure that you are ready to not just mobilize and register voters within your city and state, you are also taking action against voter suppression. we're having a rally at 8:00 p.m. eastern, with lin-manuel miranda, and move texas and many other partners and organizations and thousands of volunteers so people can get started right away. it's going to take each and every one of us out in our communities. having these discussions, having these conversations and calling our senators as well. >> stephanie young, when we all vote, and we'll be spending a fair amount of time with stephanie over the next few months leading up to the midterms. stephanie, thank you, congratulations, and best of luck on the effort. that's going to do it for me this hour. thank you as well. we'll see you tomorrow morning on "today" but andrea mitchell reports starts next here on msnbc. on on msnbc. for investors who can navigate this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns. some people say if you want to see america, see it on the 4th of july. but america is just as beautiful on the 4th of january or february. stripped of its leaves but not drained of its color. no one experiences a true american winter the same way. but those with the confidence and capability of 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further invades ukraine, none of us will be able to say we didn't see it coming, and the consequences will be horrific. >> translator: where did you get the figure of 100,000 troops that are deployed as you state