on the ship in the russian sea. russia saying it was ammunitions fire. u.s. officials cannot confirm the cause of the damage but they believe the ship may not be heading to the crimen coast for repair. as ukraine warns russian forces are moving rapidly to replenish ammo in towns between the eastern donbas region and mariupol, ahead of a major russian offensive that could include 10s of thousands of additional troops. as finland and sweden are announcing they may only be weeks away because of the russian invasion of ukraine. the kremlin is warning if they abandoned their mutual status, they will be registered opponents of russia. and it could be moments away from the initial court appearance for 62-year-old subway shooting suspect, frank james, after his wednesday arrest in manhattan's east village. he face as federal charge for attacking passengers in a mass transit system. and joining us outside the court house and justice correspondent, pete williams. what do we expect from the initial appearance? >> that's right word, andrea. make sure he has a lawyer and he does. and contained before his trial and i'm sure at the answer to that is yes. this is a crime of violence. he's accused of firing at ten people, causing the injuries of 20 more and he faces a charge and basically a federal train wrecking charge. that's the old name for the statue. the plane or boat and normally that statute carries a 20-year maximum sentence but there's an enhancement. if the system that's attacked had passengers aboard and the person uses a deadly weapon, then the maximum sentence is life in prison. frank james is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison at this hearing. was supposed to start at noon. may be a delay depending on how soon the public defender is there to represent him. >> would it be likely in this case, given his history, that a public defender, any lawyer would request a medical check? >> a mentalal health status? that's possible. we'll see how that goes. his relatives have said that they have pushed back at the notion he was suffering from any kind of mental problem. he himself says i've been through a lot. i'm suffering from post traumatic stress. and the rambling videos themselves, i suppose that evidence cuts both ways. the government sites some of that in the charge against him, saying he has intent to carry out some kind of an attack. you could say it does raise that issue. i haven't heard that yet. we'll see if they deiscusthat at the hearing. >> talk to me about the details from what you see on the ground. have you started the hearing? what are you hearing from inside the court house? >> reporter: we have members of our team inside the court house. we're stationed right outside along with several other media organizations waiting for the hearing to begin. we're expecting it to start any moment now but the timing is influx. and to the point of the public defender being appointed to the court. we know the public defender requests to have that appointment made yesterday and the judge granted that yesterday. we have reached out but have not heard back yet. and james's legal team and the court-appointed legal team and we're just waiting for the hearing to begin and i asked someone if there's any chance we might see him brought in this way and that does not appear to be the case. we're waiting and listening from out here. >> the evidence is really considerable, starting with the gun and what he left behind. >> i think that's the key evidence and the fact he left -- this is is according to what the government says. after the shooting, the person who carried out the shooting, left behind a bag full of fireworks and fuses. a credit card with frank james' name on it. the key the u hall but most importantly the .9 millimeter glock 17 he bought years ago. the court document say he tried to obliterate the serial number. looks like he tried to scratch it out. it almost never works. and it's that serial number atf was able to use to trace the weapon to frank james' purchase. >> and thank goodness he left that behind. because of the detonation of the two smoke devices, that could have effected his marksmanship. although we don't know he was a good shooter. fortunately, all those victims are said to be not in life-threatening condition. >> it does raise a question. why did he set off the smoke? what was the point of that? it's difficult to figure out. >> pete williams, thank you so much and in new york. and let's turn back to the war in ukraine and this report from nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: while the fight rages, here west of kyiv, residents are still picking up the pieces and trying to come to terms with all this devastation. this used to be a kindergarten. more than 100 students went to school here. luckily they had evacuated when the war started. so, they weren't inside when the bombs came. the local superintendent tells me here, three-fourths, andrea, of the schools in the area are destroyed. so many students here have no place to go. and the residents we've spoken with just can't understand how this could be confused for a military target. in this city, they have found more than 130 bodies and they're still searching for more. earlier today we heard explosions, presumably from land mines being detonated. local authorities are still going around this area and trying to clear the region of land mines, booby traps, trip wires. it is such a monumental task to do this in many of the suburbs of kyiv. and again, local residents were here trying to clean up this area. trying to get back to some sense of normalcy. but so many of the residents still have no power. no water. very little food and they are desperately asking for help. andrea. thank you so much, gabe gutierrez and joining us, politico white house bureau chief, host of msnbc's way too early. what can you tell us about the weapons being delivered to ukraine and what we're hearing from u.s. officials about that russian ship? >> reporter: well, first of all, on the ship, andrea, it is a devastating blow to russia's military effort and also a psychological one. this was the flagship of their black sea fleet. and the particulars of what happened on the ship remain unclear. we talk to pentagon spokesman earlier today and the ukrainians have said they hit it with a rocket. the russians suggested there's an accident on board that caused an explosion. i'm not sure that's better. the end result is the same and that ship is limping away and badly damaged and limits what the russian provided cover for their efforts on the coast. so, that's a significant loss. in terms of weaponry, the president biden spoke to president zelenskyy on the phone. outlined ath inner800 million in weapons. it's been really persistent messaging from kyiv that they need more and more weapons ahead of what we anticipate to be a large scale battle in the donbas. they needed javelins and other equipment to take out tanks. the u.s. also sending helicopters. that was part of zelenskyy's request as well. >> and jonathan, i know you've been reporting whether there could be an official visit. we're guided that this is not likely anytime soon but the president was just asked, as he boarded air force one on his way to north carolina, asked whether any officials could be going? and he said we'll consider that soon or something to that effect. a shouted question and answer. i think that's all on hold for now. obviously security concerns in contrast to boris johnson, the european union officials, this is the president of the united states or secretary of state or defense secretary or someone like that and we're guided that nothing, correct? >> certainly were that trip to happen, it wouldn't be announced in advance. our colleagues and i broke the story that indeed top-level meetings being held, secret meetings about sending a u.s. representative to kyiv in the wake of boris johnson and other european leaders to visit with zelenskyy, to show solidarity and pay tribute the bravery of the ukrainian resistance forces. the right timing is unclear. seems unlikely it would be the president or vice president or secretary of state blinken or austin would be the u.s. representatives. and no time table is set. but it is something they want to do, assuming the circumstances of the war allow; that it wouldn't be too dangerous for them to travel. it would be a latest in the sign of how unified the alliance is and how nuch u.s. is whole heartedly supporting the ukraine efforts to fight back russian forces. they've done so successfully. and i know you've heard the same. they're concerned about the next front of the phase of the war in the donbas. could be violent and could last months and months. >> exactly right. thanks so much. the host of "way too early" on msnbc and joining us retired admiral, former nato supreme ally commander and former secretary of defense in the clinton administration and republican senator from maine. let's start with the war ship. we're told that the fire is extensive. they still don't know the cause. they don't know anything about casualties. but you spoke earlier on "morning joe" about the level of incompetence both in the ground war and at sea. >> have having shown the world how badly the russian army can perform, the russian navy got jealous and decided we can show we're incompetent too. either explanation, an internal ammunition explosion, really bad. or a missile got threw and hit you. and andrea, i'm going to bet it's a combination. in other words, missile hit, probably got into some of the ammunition stores and the crew, which ought to be trained to conduct the damage control, as we call it in the navy, failed to do that. had to evacuate the ship. now it's are under toe and this is a big important ship named after the capitol of the country, moscow. and had long-range strike missiles. very capable class of ship. about 15,000 tons. this is a real blow to the russian navy and their military's morale are. >> and admiral, we have the $800 million in additional military aid approved by the president, the secretary of state to draw down from existing stocks. although, those stocks are dwindling on some of the equipment. artillery rounds, defense boats. how can all of this help the conflict that we're expecting very shortly in the east? >> the shopping list that was filled was an absolutely exceptionally good set of tools to put in the hands of this very spirited, brave, determined ukrainian military. these are precisely the kind of weapon systems that will be needed as this phase of the battle, perhaps, moves to a larger set piece on the central plains of southeastern ukraine. the only thing i would add to this, andrea, would be two items. one to get them fighter aircraft and there are a couple of different ways of doing that. i know it's complicated and hard but i think that would help in a ground fight. because those fighters could also attack tanks and then secondly, how about some more of those anti-ship cruise missiles? those can be used to keep the russians way out at sea, which is where the ukrainians want them. >> exactly. to protect odesa, in particular, right now from attack. >> exactly. >> secretary comb, we're hearing the russians are pushing back forcefully by squeezing on finland, which the leaders of both countries say could happen or their request could happen in weeks. how do you think that would impact the reaction the kremlin is threatening all kinds of strong reaction if they abandoned their historic neutrality? >> i think there would be a strong reaction a. if putin is paranoid about ukraine, you can imagine he'll be more paranoid about sweden, finland or both. but both countries have seen the handwriting on the wall and it's written in ukrainian blood. they've seen what putin is capable of, even though president zelenskyy has said on multiple occasions, almost from the beginning, i will be willing to talk about neutrality, i want to find a solution here that will have to end in diplomatic solution and putin said no. i'm going to basically destroy you and your country. i think other countries, such as sweden and finland are saying there's a need for us to join a collective defense because alone we could be subject to the same kind of thing putin is doing. i understand their reaction at this point. i would be positive to it. but i think the reality is you would have to have unanimous consent from the nato countries and now you have the french suggesting that there should be a -- as far as marie le pen wants to have a new relationship with russia. and frankly, in the united states, there are some people pro-putin. it's arer problematic but anything is possible. >> and marie le pen, she's in a tough election, challenging macron and that's in a couple of weeks. in the run-off election. we don't know what power she might have and what vote. this would have to be approved for ratification by two-thirds of the u.s. senate. as you point out, we don't know where the senate is. i want to play something we heard from cia director bill burns, just moments ago. notably, he was the former u.s. ambassador in russia. as well as deputy secretary of state. >> i was the u.s. ambassador in moscow 15 years ago and have watched over the years as putin stewed in a combustible combination of grievance and ambition and insecurity. every day, putin demmen straights that declining powers can be as disruptive as rising ones. >> secretary cohn, that's from our best expert on russia right now. >> he's precisely right. we know that russia is a declining power because all they have is really -- they have oil, gas and guns. that's what they produce. beyond that, they're not preparing -- putin is not preparing his people for an educated population to cope with the 21st century challenges. so, they are going to be -- they're in the process of declining power. as we're seeing more and more effort being made to decarbonize. he wants to denazify, what a false statement that is. but we want to decarbonize the atmosphere and united states is and other countries are taking steps. the future for putin in the long term and median term is not great. >> and the midst of all this, e.u. is moving towards an energy ban, having voted not to do this. they're talking about putting it out for agreement by the e.u., the 27 nations but delaying that action until a ever the french elections, hoping not to cause an anticipatory rise in gas prices, which would potentially help marie le pen against macron. >> a complex equation with a lot of moving parts in it. i've got to say this and i'll see paragraph one i the united states, for a decade, has said to our european friends and colleagues don't put yourself in the position of being dependent on russian gas. we are where we are. it's going to take them a year or two to build the infrastructure to capitalize on american liquefied natural gas. there are solutions to include nuclear power but all of them take time. so, it's a challenge. i think i've been pleasantly surprised at how the european union, this far, has hung together on the sanctions, stood with us together. if there's a silver lining in this awful situation, it is the western unity that we see. >> and secretary cohn, i wanted to read exactly from our team looking at the tape of what the president said. maybe hard to hear. what he said when asked -- the question was will you send officials to ukraine? he was boarding air force one under the wing. so, there's a lot of ingen noise and will you send senior officials to ukraine? and the president responded well, we're making that decision now. follow up question, who will you send? and the presidenciered sar castically are you ready to go to the reporter? so, that's where we left it. but as a former secretary of defense, you know exact aly what would be entailed in moving anyone as senior as the president or vice president of the united states into a war zone. we saw what happened in lvi vurks being attacked as i was in warsaw and live on the air just as the president was about to give his major speech and was arriving there on the border. greeting refugees. >> if he asked you whether you were ready to go, the answer would be yes. >> absolutely. >> the reporters are throughout, thank goodness they are and you are because the people are getting the truth. as a far as the president going, it would be a -- it would be a covert missions at best. very, very quiet, slipping in and out. but that's hard to do for a president. and i don't think it's necessary. we don't have to get in competition with the brits or anyone else. we need to send military equipment, not the head of our country. lloyd austin, i'm sure, would be happy to go in terms of showing that we're with them. but morale booster, that's a good thing. but i don't think we should put anybody in danger at the highest levels. if it can be done safely, let's do it. >> thanks so much, and as always to you as well, admiral. up next, putin's profits. earnings still making vladimir putin a fortune as his atrocities against ukraine continue. next the new push to stop the cash flow funding russia's assault. flow funding russia's assault. as a business owner, your bottom line is always top of mind. so start saving by switching to the mobile service designed for small business: comcast business mobile. flexible data plans mean you can get unlimited data or pay by the gig. all on the most reliable 5g network. with no line activation fees or term contracts... saving you up to $500 a year. and it's only available to comcast business internet customers. so boost your bottom line by switching today. comcast business. powering possibilities.™ as we mentioned moments ago, according the "the new york times," the e.u. is edging towards cutting off natural gas and imports from russia. and getting closer to a phased-in ban to give germany and others ways to set up alternative sources of energy. vladimir putin warning his country will diversify its energy suploys away from europe. as janet yellen sharply criticized china for still buying russian oil. and a 230r78er assistant to president george w. bush and professor at harvard university and on the board of raytheon technologies. the times just reporting that europe is reconsidering a draft on russian oil imports. it's not as important as natural gas. they've long resisted a ban on russian oil because of the cost to germany sgh crease energy prices. you have a french election pending. what are the ramifications and how long could this take? >> great to be with you. this is a very significant step forward. it would have been unthinkable just a couple of months ago that europe would have decided to ban the importation of russian oil. but i think it's just become increasingly unsustainable, just morally tenuous that europeans and others, who buy russian oil, would be providing huge revenues to russia at the same time that they're opposing the war in ukraine and supporting ukrainians. since the war started, europe has already sent almost $40 billion to russia for the sale of its oil and gas and other energy. so, this would be very significant in terms of cutting off the some of the revenues and the real question, just how significant is it depends to some extent on whether other countries purchase the oil that the europeans are no longer going to purchase and to another extent how much that oil, if it doesn't flow in the markets through other countries, how much other countries can makeup for the lost oil to keep oil prices from spiking to levels that could be precipitous of a recession. >> so far we've had very little cooperation from saudi arabia, uae component in terms of opec plus and reluctant to pressure russia in any way. >> i think people are now a lot more skeptical that the answer to filling in any lost russian supply really will come from saudi arabia or opec countries. we heard the secretary general of peck say that don't expect it would be quote/unquote nearly impossible for opec to fill in if russia's oil exports came off the market. the question is, is there a combination of those oil sales being met by india and others so that it's not as large as the 50% of russian oil exports that normally go to europe. i think we're also going to have to look to other places, to the united states, canada, brazil. and then ultimately prices are going to rise and there will be what we call demand destruction. and that will help bring the combination of the higher price and demand destruction and other supplies will bring the supply and demand back in line. but this could be quite painful for european economies and the global economy. >> do you think germany will eventually go along with this? >> i think the germans are acutely aware of the situation. that is up sustainable for them politically. you see more and more of the population saying there should bea cut off of russian energy into the economy. their arer the slowest to come along because they're going to bear the most economic pain here. i think we've seen indications that germany has been able to reassess fundamental security and economic policies. and in the process of doing that right now. one of the things you've mentioned is what's the timeline for this phase out of the purchase of russian oil? and then secondly, what's the russian reaction? is putin going to say let's let them phase it out in a way that makes it easiest for them or is there going to be retaliatory action that ends up cutting off gas to europe? in the past, when we've all contemplated can europe do without russian energy, we always thought of it in the context of russia cutting off the supply energy and now we're thinking about the opposite, europe no longer being willing to accept that energy because, in the words of ukrainian prime minister, it's blood money being paid to really finance a war in crew ukraine that is morally unsustainable. >> and finally, the political impact at home. you have inflationary pressure, real pressure in the midterm election year and environmentalists criticizing the president because of his focus on increasing the supply of fossil fuels through strategic petroleum are reserve and ethanol. the increase of ethanol in the summer gas component. all of this is hurting the environmental goals, the climate goals of candidate joe biden. >> right. i think you're quite right to point out one of the reasons the oil price isn't higher than it is right now is because of the historic release of the p reserve petroleum oil and that was done to help calm the markets and has been reasonably effective. as you point out, the real big question here is can we meet immediate energy security needs while still pursuing our climate goals along the timeline that the world and the world's environment demands. i think this is the real big policy question for the coming years and the crisis for ukraine has underscored the meeting that immediate energy needs is part of the equation. without the ability to meet energy needs at reasonable prices, they'll lose support for more aggressive measures to combat the necessary climate challenges we have. >> thanks so much. it's always great to see you and have your expertise on the program. >> thank you, andrea. >> appreciate it. and a hard right turn. the gop signaling the midterm strategy. strong opposition to abortion and lgbtq rights. will it backfire? ghts will it backfire what do you want to leave behind? that's your why. it's your purpose, and we will work with you every step of the way to achieve it. attention medicare beneficiaries, and we will work with you if you have or aree way eligible for medicaid, please listen closely. you may be eligible for a medicare advantage plan from wellcare with $0 or low plan premium. call now. we can answer your questions and help you enroll over the phone. wellcare 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also unlock short videos, step-by-step guides, and other easy-to-use tools designed for people just getting started. plus, investment professionals are on standby 24/7 if you ever have a question. it's investing 101, reimagined. better hearing leads to a better life. and that better life... ...starts at miracle-ear. it all begins with the most innovative technology... ...like the new miracle-earmini™. available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small, no one will see it. but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a 30-day risk-free trial. you can experience better hearing with no obligation. call 1-800-miracle right now and experience a better life. some republican leaders are taking a hard right turn, especially on immigration, notably governors. importantly, this widely criticized campaign ad from alabama's governor running for re-election. >> if joe biden keeps shipping illegal immigrants into our states, we are going to have to learn spanish. my message to biden, no way jose. >> that deeply offensive ad, arguably very racist, just one example of the culture wars being waged especially by trump-backed candidates. joining me is u.s.a. today washington burrow chief page and reporter for politico. and i believe an msnbc contributor, eugene, since i've last seen you, which is great news indeed. your reaction to the ad by governor ivy and more broadly the far right turn as we're describing it in some republican strategy. >> i think the republicans who think the wind is at their back this year don't feel any constraint either in terms of taste or moderation. and so, this is what you're seeing. you're seeing it in florida, alabama, the governor of texas. so, i think that at this point in the campaign, what democrats need to understand is that if they're going to survival the midterm, they need this not to be a referendum but to be a choice. it has to be a choice between what we stand for and what they stand for. if it's a referendum, the democrats are going to face heavy head winds. i do think they need to be more aggressive in making this a binary issue. look, you may have issues with us but is this what you think america should be? is this where you want to go? and unfortunately, you're going to see a lot more ads like the one you just played? >> and is they traditionally have worked. susan page, i remember covering jesse helms' senate re-election in the early '90s, i think the 1992 campaign, the white hands commercial. look it up. susan, i think you remember it. it was awful but it worked for them in north carolina. and -- let me point out moments ago florida 's governor ron desantis signed a abortion ban after 16 weeks. and oklahoma's republican governor made abortion a felony. so, the question here is would this ultimately fire up democrats and independents instead of just the republican base? >> democrats have been counting on abortion to get their base excited in anticipation and dreaded anticipation of a supreme court decision that will make it much easier for states to limit abortions. the fact is we've seen these state actions in anticipation of that supreme court decision. and it has failed so far to really move the needle. we see democratic voters not enthused and not engaged in this election while republicans are all riled up. and we're just seven months out and we haven't seen signs of it yet. >> and eugene, there's a new law in alabama. this goes back to cay ivy making a gender-affirming care a felony. so, why this relentless focus on the already marginalized group? >> what appears to be happening is creating a boogie man, woman, person for republican voters to get them even further riled up. than they already are on the republican side. as we head to the midterms . some of the bills, like the don't say gay bills out there, there's not a lot of teaching, if any, of third graders about sex and gender. but when you think about the way the world works, kids are constantly seeing, as a gay kid myself. i was watching disney movies and seeing girls and boys kiss. does that teach them about gender roles? they're expenging and hoping democrats fight more about this. when it comes to republicans, they do miss the possibility of turning off voters that are most likely to make a difference in the midterm. people that are in the suburbs, suburban men and women who see these culture wars and have concerns about that. there's also the question about the future of the party, right? you talk to young republicans and they will tell you some of the stuff turns them off and makes them not excited about where the party is going. so, democrats, if they take the opportunity to really paint republican ares and lgbtq antiwomen as some of them tell me they're going to be to doing this year and tell their own story of accomplishments, hay may be able to stem some of the bleeding we may see this year. republicans have made it clear what they're going to be talking about as we move forward. >> but it's also the issue of guns. with all the gun violence just this week, of course, with the -- a legal gun being used, allegedly in new york on the subway. georgia governor signing bill to allow americans to carry handguns without a license. how is that playing likely to change key states like georgia? >> well, again, the republicans think the gun issue works for them. here in wisconsin i, argued against the ied. i was in favor of concealed carry for are people who had training in the u.s. of the gun, who had background checks. this new push though gives you an indication of how extreme it's going. look, guns are going to work for republicans in swing states. democrats need to understand the way the crime issue is playing out. i know that a lot of democrats think they can address the rise in crime issue by talking about guns. that is important that they do it but it's not sufficient. and i think what you're seeing in a lot of cities around the country, including new york, is democrats realizing they have a problem with this. this is a wedge issue and they're going to have to find a way to counter the republican surge on immigration, on the border, and on issues like rising urban crime. i don't want to relitigate the whole defund the police movement. but clearly i think the biden white house understands they have an issue. what they need to do is find a way to establish their credibility on this in a way they didn't have over the last several years. >> and susan, there's news now from mcdaniel and the rnc. the rnc is just voting. we've heard preliminary steps towards this. voting against participating in the 2024 debates if they are led by the commissions on presidential debates, which has led these debates in the bipartisan way for decades. objecting to the choices of moderators, to the format, to the other decisions made in 2020. now, we know there's a long way down the road and we don't know who's in charge of the republican national committee and a lot of other things. but they're staking a clime against what they have lodge been criticizing, which is the commissions on debates. >> this is really terrible news, i think. the commission on presidential debates was formed to take control of the debate process in presidential elections, to force infrastructure that made it hard for candidates of either party to refuse to debate and if we're going to go back to the wild west we had before then, where you had endless negotiationess and different organizers trying to host debates, you run the risk of not having the two candidates who are vying to lead our nation being forced to stand side by side and answer independent-minded questions. so, i think this has been a long time coming. republicans have long been unhappy with the commissions. but this is bad news for our democracy. >> and just reinforces, charlie the extent to which donald trump has taken over the republican party. >> yeah and i don't think you can over state that. i know there's been a lot of wish casting about maybe his grip is loosening. but the reality is he's forcing the party not simply to embrace the big lie but to embrace the most extreme versions of that and so you see his impact in one state after another. it will be interesting to see weather or not, if republicans win in the midterm elections, they see that as a validation and that trump sees that as a validation. people should not be under any illusions the republican party is anything other than a wholly owned subsidiary of trump world. >> and eugene, finally governor desantis putting his imprint on redistancing, rejecting a republican-led legislature's plan, which was favoring republicans and instead superimposing his own plan of which apparently they're now going to ratify, which is to create four additional republican-leaning seats and eliminate at least two districts, congressional seats held by black democrats, which are minority-led districts. this would be pretty dramatic in florida, which is all important. as we know florida, florida, florida. >> exactly. every single year, every single election. one of the things interesting. you talk to critics and they talk about the fact that just those two minority majority districts and those members of congress. but it's also interesting is the power that desantis now holds in his state. the way it was set up is these state legislature would handle how this would be drawn. they were just sign off on it. and now you have a governor and governor's team who are doing the opposite, taking control over the redistricting process and we talk to experts. they have concerns about this. susan, as you use the word undemocratic. they feel that puts us on the same road and feel it's all connected with some of the things weevlg we've been seeing from the republican party that is chasing after, at the very least, what donald trump would want. we're not hearing from him as much. that's something to keep your eyes on as the republican party moves forward. >> thanks to all msnbc contributor eugene daniels and susan page and charlie sykes for covering the news today. and big news for parents of 511-year-olds. pfizer announcing a third dose has a robust response in raising antibody levels in children if given six months after the second dose. they plan to submit the data for emergency use request to the fda in the coming days. and in other news elon musk offering to fully buy twitter. he says it's a hustle takeover attempt. he says for the sake of free speech. musk recently became twitter's largest shareholder, so he does have control potentially and says the social media giant must go private so it can better serve free speech. he's offering $43 billion. the board of directors is reviewing the proposal. and a veteran combat photo journalist's shocking, what she's seeing inside ukraine. the heartbreaking stories behind the pictures and how they could be used as evidence of war crimes. stay with us. this is 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(♪ ♪) ask your healthcare provider about rybelsus® today. it's 5:00 a.m., and i feel like i can do anything. we've been coming here, since 1868. there's a lot of cushy desk jobs out there, but this is my happy place. there are millions of ways to make the most of your land. learn more at deere.com and we have breaking news from new york city on the story we brought you at the top of the hour. right now the suspect in the subway attack is making his first court appearance. 62-year-old frank james will be held in court-ordered detention for now. he faces a federal charge for attacking passengers in a mass transit system. we will bring you updates as we get them throughout the afternoon, of course. in bucha today in ukraine, french forensic experts have joined an investigation to help ukraine identify apparent war crimes committed by russia. nbc's molly hunter is there. >> reporter: the head of the prosecutor's office here in bucha tells us they'll be right here behind the church for a few more days an then the real work begins. >> seeing family members, seeing people from the town coming here for answers, what do they ask you for? >> reporter: relatives are in despair, he says, but we're finding them the answers. giving them the answers they want and building the evidence in order to prosecute those responsible. >> our thanks to molly hunter. heidi levine is a veteran war photographer who has been documenting the atrocities in bucha for "the washington post" and joins me now. before we look at some of the pictures heidi has captured, i want to warn our viewers some of the images will be emotional and graphic especially if you have children at home, but they're important to share, which is why heidi is doing this extraordinary work. heidi, i want to thank you and start with these two images that you took of ukrainian women. the first that we're showing is this emotional closeup. tell us about her and what was happening when you took her photograph. >> well, she was the wife of one of the several men that were found executed in the basement. there was evidence of blood on the floor, bullet holes on the wall, and her husband had disappeared. she didn't know what happened to him during the russian occupation until the ukrainian forces liberated the town. she is one of many people, hundreds, most likely thousands who have lost family members, who have undergone torture, atrocities beyond anyone's imagination. >> and there's this image of a woman outside. she has her arms raised to the sky. i think we're going to have that image up on the screen. can you share her story with us? >> this is a photograph that i captured when i first got into bucha. it was snowing, it was after the town was liberated. she had endured living under russian occupation. she told me that her son had counted more than 65 russian military vehicles on their street. you have to imagine this is a residential area of the city, and you couldn't even begin to count the number of russian vehicles that were in between this narrow street lined with homes. she told me that she just could not imagine that she lived to see the day that the town was liberated. her neighbor, andre, told me that the russian forces had forced him and the other men, including his neighbor's son, to lay down on the ground and shot bullets within 20 centimeters of their head and even threatened to take the boy with them. but luckily let them go. other people told me of seeing people executed and had to bury their dead, even in their own backyard. >> i want to show a couple of pictures now. there's a picture of a body in a field. >> yes. >> you can just see this body lying there. and also another photo, we see smoke rising in the air and destruction everywhere. if you can speak to these two. >> yes. well, the first picture you showed me is, again, inside bucha. it's behind the glass factory. he is one of many men who had been shot to death. witnesses said that they had seen these people shot by russian soldiers. close by to him i actually photographed another photograph of a man who had been shot to death and beheaded. >> heidi levine, i can't even imagine the emotional toll that you takes on you, but you're always behind the lens finding your distance and trying to bring the war home to us and it's so important for us to see. thank you so much for what you're doing through "the washington post." >> thank you for this opportunity. and i really would like to take this moment to really thank the people of ukraine who have allowed me to enter their lives and have trusted me to document their stories. >> it is such an important mission. thank you. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." remember follow us online, on facebook and on twitter @mitchellreports. chuck todd with "mtp daily" starts right after this. 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