the country that's remained relatively unscathed. but the mayor of lviv says at least seven people were killed. in the southern port city of mariupol, ukrainian forces continue to defy russian demands that they surrender. the pentagon says the city remains contested as more than 2,000 ukrainian soldiers remain there to continue that fierce fight against russia. good afternoon, i'm chris jansing in new york for hallie jackson. i'm joined by our nbc news team, ali arouzi in ukraine, ken dilane january our national security and justice correspondent. we're also joined by admiral james stavridis. good to have all of you here. ali, let's start by following some of the major developments in the east, the south and where you are in western ukraine. what's the latest? >> reporter: well, here in lviv got hit this morning and this was by far the most significant hit on lviv so far. as you mentioned, it's always been a safe haven and sanctuary for the tens of thousands of displaced people from the east of the country. the outskirts of lviv had been hit before but today four or five cruise missiles hit the center of the city killing seven people. this is the first time that anybody has died in lviv. we were just about a mile away from where the rockets struck. we saw them fly over our head. a very disconcerting whistling sound and several booms followed by plumes of smoke. i think we have some footage of where we were there this morning. >> that wasn't a plane, that was a cruise missile. >> a cruise missile. >> wait for one more. they fire them in 30-second intervals. smoke, stand by. three cruise missile, caliber. stand by. five, six, eight, nine, ten, 11, 12, 13. >> there's the smoke, there's the smoke. >> that's three. >> so three cruise missiles. >> yeah. stand by. >> reporter: and, chris, part of the tragedy here is that this was a very built-up residential area. you know, they hit a tire maintenance depot there and one of the people that got injured there was a 3-year-old child who tragically had escaped from kharkiv, which is being bombed very heavily by the russians only to be injured by a russian missile here in lviv. >> unconscionable. talk to us about what's happening in mariupol where ukrainians say they have had significant success in blocking the russian advance there. >> ukrainian officials are saying they are starting a major offensive. they are moving a lot of military hardware there, moving troops to that area so it looks like they have now started their offensive. by all accounts, it's going to be a big and bloody ballots on the eastern front of this country. of course pour old mariupol continues to be bombarded by the russians. it's the most bombed, most destroyed city in this campaign by the russians. the russians gave the fighters in that city an ultimatum. surrender or die. they have chosen to fight to the death in that city. that was a place that 450,000 people lived. there are probably 100,000 people there. they have been hemmed in by the russians. they have been using starvation and seize tactics around that city. by all accounts from officials in this country, the humanitarian disaster, the atrocities, the war crimes that they have committed there are going to be far greater than anywhere else we've seen in ukraine. >> thank you so much for your reporting and please say safe. admiral, let me go to you and talk about mariupol where there are soldiers and apparently some kids and civilians and varying reports about exactly what's going on. we know that the ukrainians have said that they're holding firm. first of all, is there any chance of getting reinforcements, any kind of help to them? and how does the picture look for you to their ability to hold? >> unfortunately, it looks very grim. you know, this is starting to remind me of echos from american past and it's like the alamo. as you recall, chris, this was a famous battle in texas in the 1800s where the defenders stood their ground and fought to the death. pretty remarkable. and it became a rallying cry for this young nation and particularly for the state of texas where this occurred. so mariupol is critical to putin's battle plan in the following sense. it's parked right in the middle of this land bridge that he would like to occupy that runs from russia all the way down to crimea. so he's either going to completely destroy it, likely, or he will overcome the last shreds of resistance, trying to break through to get and rescue those brave ukrainian fighters, very tough. and you can't even get them out by sea because the black sea fleet still dominates those waters. very courageous. might be a last stand we're about to witness. >> admiral, i know you have other business you have to take care of. thank you for that. ken, if you can stand by, we're going to the pentagon. press secretary john kirby is briefing reporters. let's listen. >> we believe we will be able to begin a process of training ukrainian soldiers on the howitzers. it will be outside of ukraine. it will be more of a train the trainers kind of environment. a small number of will be trained and they're reintroduced back into their country to train their colleagues. i'm not going to get into the locations. it will be outside of ukraine. i'm going to refrain from talking about who's going to be doing the training and exactly on what timeline. i think as we get closer to things, we may be able to talk a little bit more about it, but there is a plan now that we are beginning to execute and we think that that training can happen in the next several days. while this particular system is new to the ukrainians, they don't use american howitzers in artillery, they understand how to use artillery. and it won't, we don't believe, will take very long or require much detailed training to get them up to speed on american howitzers. the artillery piece is not unlike other artillery pieces. we just have to get them up to speed on the particulars of our howitzers. these are 155 and they typically use 152. but again, we'll be able to get this training done at least the first round of it in the next several days. >> if i could follow up. obviously the battlefield is very fluid with mariupol and what's happening at donbas. but is it possible to talk about how this training and this equipment and the howitzers and raiders could influence the battle or what capabilities it would give ukrainians. >> the artillery is a specific item that the ukrainians asked for because of the fighting they believe will take place in the donbas. there's been fighting there for eight years an there's fighting there today. but the terrain lends itself to the use of artillery, to long-range fires as we call it. we know the russians also believe the same thing because we're seeing them move artillery into the donbas as well. they specifically asked for artillery support and we answered that with this recent drawdown package that was authorized on the 13th, so wednesday of last week. 18 howitzers, 40,000 rounds that will go with the howitzers. we'll continue to talk with them and there may be additional security assistance that comes on top of what we just announced. you didn't ask this, but i think it's also important to point out that that authorization from the president was on the 13th. the execute order was issued on the 14th. and on the 15th, two days later, the first shipment started arriving in the theater of stuff from that $800 million drawdown. now, i'm not going to get into the inventory list and what was on that first shipment, but that was unprecedented speed. 48 hours after authorization from the president, the first plane was on its way. and there have been subsequent shipments since then, almost a half a dozen as we speak here today have already arrived in the region. >> i have two questions. first, the russians announced that they have bombed weapons facility where some weapons were stocked. can you confirm that? >> no. i know that they struck lviv, they hit targets in lviv and i think they also struck in kyiv the last couple of days. we don't have a clear sense of battle damage assessment about what they were targeting and what they hit. at this time we don't have any indication that western aid and targeted and/or hit or destroyed. we're still working through the bds, the battle damage assessment and i don't have more than that for you. >> to follow up on bob's question, you said last week that the russians still had -- they were not ready to launch their new battle, that they had still logistic problems. do you assess that they proved their logistic preparation and they could be able to launch? >> too soon to tell. these appear to be chronic difficulties that they have had with command and control, unit cohesion, integration of air to ground, all problems that they still suffer from. so it remains to be seen whether they have, quote, fixed these problems and are ready to execute in a more efficient way in the donbas. our assessment is that they are still struggling with a lot of these problems. part of the reason we're talking about shaping regions in the donbas is because russians are trying to learn from their mistakes. in the last few days we've seen them move in. command and control enablers, aviation support, largely helicopters. moving in artillery units ahead of what would be massive ground movements by troops or larger grounding movements by troops. so it appears as if they are trying to learn from those mistakes but it remains to be seen whether they have fixed their problems. in many ways they have not figured out logistics and sustainment but it remains to be seen. david. >> you say that the russians are conducting shaping operations. the secretary of the ukrainian security council was on television in ukraine this morning saying that the act i've phase of the offensive has begun from kharkiv down to donetsk. do you agree with that? >> i'm in no position to dispute what the ukrainians are seeing on the ground, david, they're there. i have also said and said repeatedly that there have been active operations going on in the donbas for the last eight years. we've seen and acknowledged that we've seen offensive and defensive operations by both the russians and the ukrainians in just the last several weeks, no question. and i just said we've seen ukrainians move against russian positions in certain towns and villages and we believe they have been able to resecure some of the towns and villages in the donbas. we're not disputing that there's not combat going on in the donbas. what we're saying is we still consider what we're seeing to be a piece of shaping operations, that the russians are continuing to set the conditions for what they believe will be eventually success on the ground by using -- by putting in more forces, putting in more enablers, putting in more command and control capability for operations yet to come. >> do you believe the russian offensive in the east has begun? >> we believe that the russians are shaping and setting the conditions for future offensive operations. we also see there is active combat going on in the donbas as there has been for the last several weeks. >> there have been some reports that both russians and ukrainians have been using cluster munitions. is that something you guys have seen and can confirm? >> we are not in a position to independently verify cluster munitions. without being on the ground it's difficult for us to say that we can confirm that. certainly not refuting the images or what others are saying about it. >> the washington examiner. two questions, first, has any u.s. aid not gotten to where it's supposed to go? and secondly, could we get an update on russia's military capability? >> that second one is a big one, mike. on the first one, just to remind, what we're doing is helping coordinate the shipment of not only u.s. security systems but security systems provided by many other nations, more than 30, getting it into ukrainian hands, getting it into ukraine using ground methods, and that's as far as i'm going to go in terms of the details on that. we're confident that that material continues to get into ukraine. once it gets into ukrainian hands, it's up to the ukrainian armed forces to decide where it goes. what unit gets it, where it's stored if it's stored at all temporarily. that is up to the ukrainians to decide, not the united states. we're not putting strings on this and say they have to move this by a certain date or get it to a certain unit. we would not step on their toes. our job, get it into the region, get it into ukraine and the ukrainians use it in the field. as for russian capability, that's a very big question so i'll do the best i can. in general they have the vast majority of their assembled combat power available to them. from what they assembled over the course of the fall and in the early winter months or weeks, they still have a lot of that amassed combat power available to them. they have suffered losses, they have suffered casualties. they have lost platforms and systems, whether it's aircraft or tanks. you've seen destroyed russian platforms on the side of the road but they still have quite a bit of capability left. they are concentrating that capability in the donbas specifically but also in the south. so they are trying to overcome some of their logistics and sustainment, their interior line of communication problems, if you will. they won't have as far to go in the donbas to reinforce and resupply, refuel their forces in the donbas, because they have a long border with that part of ukraine. and they are certainly adding combat capability in that part of ukraine. it is a smaller, again, piece of ground than what they have been trying to operate in in the last three or four weeks, along three major lines of progress. now they have concentrated it and still have a lot of combat power to use this. it's also, as i said earlier, te rain they're comfortable with. they have been fighting over the donbas area for eight years, so their commanders, their troops, there's a familiarity with the cities and the towns and the terrain that they didn't necessarily have when they were trying to come at kyiv from the north and chernihiv from the north and so we would expect that they're going to try again through their own familiarity with the train and the mistakes they have made, they'll try to overcome them. >> has there been any big fluctuation within the last week or so, or last short period of time? i know a senior defense official has put the estimation around 80% to 85% in the past couple weeks. is that around the same now? >> you mean of the amount of combat power they still have available? >> yeah. >> look, i don't want to get into percentages and specific data on their combat power from the podium. i would say we still believe they have the vast majority of their combat power available to them. even with the losses, they had taken time, months, to assemble combined arms capability outside ukraine. aviation, infantry, special operations, airborne. they assembled a lot and still have a majority of that available to them even with the losses this they have sustained in the last few weeks. >> go ahead. >> just following up, could you update us if you have any visibility to the mix of troops available? are they calling on special forces that they used on syria? are they calling up new recruits, what the mix is there in terms of -- >> we don't have a perfect -- we don't have a perfect sense of their manpower. we know that they have tried to recruit foreign fighters out of syria. they claim they were going to get 16,000. we don't have a number to tell you that they got that many. but we know that they have actively tried to recruit foreign fighters out of syria. we've seen indications that they have tried to reinforce troop levels from other parts of russia as well as countries outside of russia and outside of ukraine. we know that they are refitting and resupplying and trying to put back into the fight some battalion tactical groups that were in the north that have evacuated or retreated into belarus or russia. we still believe there's not an insignificant number of battalion tactical troops that they are trying to refit to come back in. and in the last few days they have added to their tactical groups in the east and the south. again, we don't know where all these units are or when they were reintroduced duthey have added to their force levels in the east and in the south. >> just one other. the bombardment of lviv, could we read that as an indication that they have ambitions to go farther west? it's only 40 miles from the polish border. >> yeah, they struck targets near lviv before. i wouldn't call it a bombardment. we noted at least one air strike in lviv over the last couple of days. again, i can't get inside the russian mindset here and tell you what exactly they believe they were striking and with what intent. we're still trying to assess it ourselves as best we can. we're not there on the ground so we don't know perfectly what they hit but clearly they struck out in lviv and in kyiv over the course of the weekend. but most, and i think this is important to remember, most of the strikes are happening in the east and in the south, specifically mariupol. barb. >> just to go back on russia for a minute. you mentioned that you believed they are still having lowis sticks sustainment and command and control issues even as they put these enablers in forward positions. >> we don't believe they have overcome all of their challenges in those regards. >> can you offer any indicators or evidence that leads you to that conclusion? >> i think one indicator is that they named this new general, dvornikov, overall of the forces in ukraine. they didn't have a single overall operational commander before. we believe part of that is because they want to improve command and control and to try to get more efficient in their logistics and sustainment capabilities. >> you think they still haven't gotten there? >> our assessment is they still have significant challenges when it comes to command and control and logistics and sustainment. >> there are just devastated areas with long-range artillery. >> you don't have to look any further than chernihiv and kyiv, all of that matters. air-to-ground integration, all that still matters. the air strikes alone were not enough to help them take kyiv. >> can i ask you about the peculiar situation at green village in syria. first, centcom puts out a statement saying that green village where u.s. troops are located in northeastern syria came under direct fire attack, presumably rockets or mortars several days ago. we then are told there's a statement, if you go on their statement, that says, no, that was wrong. that explosives were deliberately in place at greenvillage where u.s. troops are. it seems very odd that the centcom was not transparent on this matter to let people know that u.s. troops were victimized. can you tell us what the situation is right now? is there -- how are you investigating this? is there really video that people say there is? some person seen on video running around the base? what do you think happened there? and why was it so strangely handled? >> well, there's an awful lot there. let's just start with the basics, barb. it is still under investigation. and as we learn more, we want to share what we can. we're not able to always share everything, but we try to share what we can. as they dug into it more, they realized that the first reports, no shock, right. first reports are usually wrong, and in this case it was. it wasn't a result of indirect fire. they now believe it was the deliberate placement of a couple of charges on the actual facility. they're still looking at this, still investigating it. i would receiver refer you to c how the investigation is going. i don't have an update from the podium for you today. that's the going assumption right now, it was the deliberate placement of a couple of charges. i don't know anything about video surveillance and whether it was caught on video, i'd refer you to them to speak to that. and we don't know, certainly at our level have a sense of who placed these charges, how many were there, what was the motivation, what was behind this. we just -- the intention. we just don't know that right now. >> we're going to continue to listen in to the pentagon briefing, wide ranging. we'll let you know if any other news is in. but i want to bring in a senior advisor for the center of strategic and international studies to help us make sense of what we've just heard. let me start with what he said at the top which is there's a plan under way. they're going to be doing some training or train the trainers on howitzers. how difficult will it be to train on this kind of howitzer and how will it affect the fighting in the donbas. >> training is not hard. ukrainians know how to use artillery, just don't know how to use this particular artillery piece so they have got the basics. on the other hand, this is different. the technology is a little different. the maintenance will be different from what they're accustomed to so it takes some time to get service members accustomed to the maintenance of this new equipment. there's counterartillery, mortars, radar going with it and then there are 200 army personnel carriers. all of this requires training on maintenance. the other part is they're training the trainers. so the trainers have to go back and train the actual troops. what you're talking about is a process that will likely take weeks to unfold before the equipment is operational. >> we look at the big picture of what we just heard from john kirby and it sort of affirm had what i read earlier in foreign policy magazine. they wrote they have ramped up the delivery of tapgs, helicopters and heavy weapons to ukraine as the country's forces prepare for large scale battles against russian troops in the donbas region in the east of ukraine which shift away from anti-tank weapons to more offensive weapons that ukraine needs at this critical stage of the war. what does this shift signal to you in terms of the overall outlook for the war and is what we're sending there enough at this stage? >> well, i think you're seeing a couple of things. what they said about foreign policy is absolutely correct. you're having some offensive weapons being shipped. the ones that are being shipped immediately are soviet era equipment that ukraine is going to use very quickly. the t-72 tanks, the s-300 air defense systems, some of the aircraft and helicopters. and the systems that we just talked about, that's a much more forward-leaning piece of support because they're u.s. and they require training ukrainian service members. so the united states has expanded and become a little more risky with what they're providing. i think you'll see more of that in the future. we're providing about $50 million of support to the ukrainians every day. this latest package will probably run out in about two weeks and you'll see a new package at that time and by that time we'll probably be into this offensive in the east. >> let me ask you about the human cost of this, because as you say every day we're giving them a lot. but every day, the cost remains very high. andrea mitchell just a little while ago spoke with chef jose andres about a missile that struck one of their relief kitchens and injured four of their workers. take a listen. >> those men and a woman, they have a very big willingness to say nothing is going to stop us. we are going to start cooking as soon as we can. >> so many heroes, people working on various levels, whether it's ukrainians themselves who are fighting or the people who have come there to help them. let me ask you, is there any chance the russians didn't know what they were hitting? and are they trying to break the spirit of the ukrainians? are they trying to starve people by getting rid of food kitchens? what do you see happen there, colonel? >> i think what you're seeing is that the russians use a lot of firepower. it's part of their doctrine. we've seen it in mariupol and across the country. many times they're shooting at military targets. we've seen that in lviv. but there are civilians in the vicinity. sometimes the weapons miss. so whenever you use heavy firepower in cities, you're going to cause a lot of damage and a lot of civilian casualties. the russians are not very sensitive to that. we've seen that in chechnya and syria and i think we'll see it more and more as the war progresses. >> colonel, always good to see you. thank you so much. up next, a major ruling on whether you'll still have to mask up on planes, trains and other transportation. what you need to know, next. plus we'll look at the real power of a trump endorsement as the former president plunges into some messy gop primary races. ssy gop primary races. migraine attacks? you can't always avoid triggers like changes in weather. qulipta™ can help prevent migraine attacks. you can't prevent what's going on outside, that's why qulipta™ helps what's going on inside. qulipta™ is a pill. gets right to work to prevent migraine attacks and keeps them away over time. qulipta™ blocks cgrp a protein believed to be a cause of migraine attacks. qulipta™ is a preventive treatment for episodic migraine. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and tiredness. learn how abbvie can help you save on qulipta™. you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it... usually. ♪♪ in it... mostly. even what gets near your body. please please please take that outside. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 products. rigorously tested. walgreens pharmacist recommended... and particularly kind to your wallet. ♪♪ when it comes to tech, aneveryone wants thed next best thing. now with xfi complete from xfinity, you can get updated wifi technology with the new tech upgrade program. plus, protection from cyber threats at home and now on the go. so staying up to date is easier than ever. you look great by the way. right? unbeatable internet. made to do anything so you can do anything. only xfinity will upgrade your tech after 3 years for a more reliable connection. get that and more with xfi complete. upgrade today. some news developing this afternoon on the covid pandemic. a federal judge in florida just about an hour ago overturning the federal mask mandate for airplanes, trains and other mass transit. it was set to expire today, but you might remember the government extended it last week through may 3rd. the justice department not saying whether they'll block the judge's order. the cdc, faa and tsa all evaluating their options. this is a major travel weekend as easter and passover holidays saw airports back to pre-pandemic crowds. the tsa screening an average of 2.1 million travelers each day last week. joining us is pete williams and nbc correspondent medical contributor dr. natalie azar. so, pete, tell us what we know. was this a new suit? was this something that had been dragging on? because the timing of it as this may be coming to an end feels a little strange. what can you tell us? >> not new at all. it was filed last july by a group and also representing two women who said requiring them to wear masks aggravated their anxiety, in one case caused panic attacks. there have been similar lawsuits like this but this is a judge appointed by donald trump. she said there are two problems. one is it exceeds the cdc's authority, the authority of the centers for disease control. it's just not in the public health law to allow them to do something like this, the judge said. and secondly she said when the government issues a rule like this, it has to go through a rule-making process that it examine do here, seeking public comment and so forth. she said the government simply didn't have the authority to issue this mask man date. now, the third part of this is she said normally judges should only rule on behalf of the plaintiffs immediately before them. but she said i can't really do that here because how is an uber driver or a taxi driver or flight attendant supposed to know whether the passenger who refuses to wear a mask has the approval of a judge or not so as a practical matter she had to make this a nationwide ruling and strike down the cdc's authority to issue a mask mandate. i would expect the cdc will go to an appeals court and try to get this put on hold while they duke it out in lower courts. the tsa, the cdc, the faa are waiting for white house guidance. the white house says we'll expect something from these agencies shortly. in the immediate short term i'm not sure exactly what's going on. i suspect that passengers boarding airplanes right now are still required to wear masks but that may soon be changing. >> dr. azar, we've been talking about the complications from the beginning of this, the confusion. but unless and until there is a ruling that says, okay, we're back to the mask mandates on public transportation, what's your advice for people elderly, people with underlying conditions. are they okay on planes, trains, subways, with unmasked people as long as they wear a high quality mask? what would you advise them? >> chris, you make a couple of good points. if you are immunocompromised, if you are not vaccinated, yes, the recommendation is to wear a high quality masks. there are no n-95 masks which are available for young children and so of course we worry about that group. they can get kn-95s that are better fitting. but to your point there are a lot of stakeholders in this conversation. i would say that to me it's fairly clear and obvious that this was a politically motivated decision. it hasn't -- there's nothing in the explanation that the cdc has exceeded its statutory authority, et cetera, et cetera, that makes any reference to the science changeing. the extension as to the biden administration and the surgeon general said, look, we just want to see what's going to happen with ba.2 the next couple of weeks. will there be a bump in hospitalizations and deaths that parallels or follows the rise in cases. two weeks some have argued was also slightly arbitrary, but that was really the purpose for this. so i do worry about folks who are immunocompromised and i worry about the people who are unvaccinated to be in close quarters. we generally say in an airplane where there's good ventilation, it's not so risky. but i was just flying for spring break. you take your mask off when you're eating and drinking and in the runway and when you're eating and drinking in the airport. so it's certainly a higher risk scenario to be traveling without a mask. >> i want to show you a graph that shows the last three months case count. as you see those numbers go down, new york city's health commissioner today urged people to test because there have been so many holiday weekend gatherings. do you expect another uptick of covid cases after the holiday weekend? what are you watching for? >> well, we always do generally, chris, because people are traveling and there tending to be mingling with people outside of their households and you kind of know the drill. >> but also i would say anecdotally a lot fewer people are wearing masks, right? >> true, absolutely right. with mask mandates indoors largely being abolished in the majority of the country, wherever you did travel to you were probably not wearing a mask inside as much as you used to. but what i'm hoping that this pans out, this prediction that we're not going to see that rise in hospitalizations and deaths that most -- i think about 45% of u.s. citizens were exposed to omicron, to ba.1. that gives us a tremendous amount of immuity in combination with vaccination and boosting that i'm hoping will blunt a rise in hospitalizations and deaths following ba.2. time will tell. we'll have to wait a couple of weeks to see what's going to happen to that curve. are we going to see an extension from the tail of ba.1 or see a little bit of a bump. if we see a bump, will it strain the health care system the same way omicron did? i don't think so and i hope i'm not wrong. >> i'm always glad to see you but i'm glad when i don't because that means things are going well on the coronavirus front. up next, the political gambles former president trump has been taking against the advice of his own advisers and whether or not it might just pay off. t might ju st pay off. hey businesses! you all deserve something epic! so we're giving every business, our best deals on every iphone - including the iphone 13 pro with 5g. that's the one with the amazing camera? yep! every business deserves it... like one's that re-opened! hi, we have an appointment. and every new business that just opened! like aromatherapy rugs! i'll take one in blue please! it's not complicated. at&t is giving new and existing business customers our best deals on every iphone. ♪ ♪ - [narrator] this is dr. katz. he used to worry about the world's oral health problems. - i think i've got it! - [narrator] then, he invented therabreath formulas, for fresh breath, healthy gums, dry mouth, and healthy smiles. - [dr.katz] wow! - [narrator] now, the world's mouths have never been healthier. - (sighs contentedly) therabreath, it's a better mouthwash. [♪♪] haif you have diabetes,er. - (sighs contentedly) it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today. ♪simply irresistible♪ ♪ ♪ ♪simply irresistible♪ applebee's irresist-a-bowls are back. now starting at $8.99. now that's eatin' good in the neighborhood. some breaking news from the january 6th committee. former advisor to donald trump and current fiancee of donald trump jr., kimberly guilfoyle, is meeting with the committee going on five hours now. nbc sahil kapur is following this for us. what do we know about the meeting? >> hey, chris. we know kimberly guilfoyle is meeting with the january 6 select committee in washington. guilfoyle has been back and forth with this committee. she appeared voluntarily in late february to meet with the committee in an interview that quickly went off the rails. she accused the committee of violating its terms. they say she did not voluntarily cooperate so they dropped a subpoena for her last month. she is now testifying. what does the committee want out of her? she is the fiancee of donald trump jr., the former president's eldest son. kimberly guilfoyle, according to the committee chairman, bennie thompson, met with donald trump inside the white house. she spoke at the rally that took place before the capital riot and allege she plays a key role in raising and organizing funds for that event. the committee says she spread conspiracy theories about the election and bragging to organizers about the big bucks she raised. we are not privy to the details of this meeting, it is a private meeting, but it is happening in washington behind closed doors ahead of a spring of this year when the committee expects to hold public hearings and roll out its findings on what happened on january 6th and everything that head up to that attack on the capitol, chris. >> thank you for that update. over in ohio, republican senate candidate j.d. vance out with a new ad after getting the endorsement from donald trump that he'd been basically begging for. just ahead of the former president's rally this coming saturday. that trip comes ten days before the start of a series of key primary elections that start with ohio followed by pennsylvania, north carolina and georgia. there will be a major test of former president trump's staying power, with the political world keeping an eye not just on ohio and j.d. vance but on dr. oz, who he backed for pennsylvania senate. on congressman ted bug who he endorsed for north carolina senate as well as former senator david perdue who he backs for georgia governor. with me mark murray and carlos curbello of florida, an msnbc political analyst. congressman, the former congressman has been essentially rolling out endorsement but the particular attention is going to people like vance and oz and purdue. how much is on the line for donald trump? and what's your assessment right now of the impact a trump endorsement can have in a gop primary? >> well, chris, it's clear that donald trump believes that the republican party is a fully-owned subsidiary of the trump organization and that theory is going to be put to the test. we know some trump candidates are doing well, but others are struggling. if these candidates have some setbacks, if trump loses a few of these, especially earlier primaries, people are going to start questioning whether his grip on the republican party is as firm as he would like people to believe it is and as it has been, quite frankly, since he won the nomination in 2016. big test for donald trump and this will be a big indicator as to what the future of the republican party is. will it go back to being a party of ideas and solutions or going that organizes around one man and desires and wishes every day? >> "the washington post" said that trump statements did not clear the field but are there numbers before the vote to give us an indication of a trump endorsement on fund raising? i don't know how much polling is being done in the races. what can you tell us? >> nothing to quantify yet, chris. two things can be true at the same time. donald trump is the prominent figure despite the loss in the 2020 election. other thing that's true is donald trump endorsement isn't a sure thing for a candidate to win. we saw him rescind an endorsement of mo brooks. in georgia where he endorsed perdue over kemp, kemp is seen to be in the according to polling of that contest. that's going to be happening in a month. particularly now that we get into the really competitive primaries having trump's endorsement helps probably. does it guarantee you to win? that will be put to the test. >> i think the typical strategic approach is can i help? can my endorsement help? is this the best candidate in the party to beat the other side? if the sole predominant who is the strongest supporter of the big lie? >> that's right. donald trump demands loyalty from anyone that he supports and it doesn't just mean to be a friend and have to treat him well. you have to believe everything he says and support everything he says. that's a why lot of candidates even if they don't believe the big lie they will excuse it and accommodate the big lie just to stay in the good graces of donald trump. for him it is about the republican party or the country but who is loyal to him and that's all. >> jd vance, turn that ad fast. mark murray, thank you. a bloody weekend across the u.s. raises questions about safety and what and who is responsible for the crime surge. there were at least four major shootings in the country over the weekend. three sites of violence with at least three people shot dead. nine people shot at a nightclub 90 miles from south carolina capital early sunday. it's less than a week after the attack on the new york city subway system and a week after president biden announced new action to curb gun violence in this country. i want to bring in mark classen. it is good to see you. look. the headlines have been relentless. how bad is crime right now? >> it really depends on where you are in the country. i think that it depends on the type of crime you focus on. it appears that the national trend seems to be that there is some uptick in violent crime, crime offenses, involves firearms in particular but really the level of crime that you are combatting depends on where you are in the country and also what happens is when you have the national trends it trends to be a feeling of less security and safety and oftentimes is just as important as whether the crime statistics back whether crime is increasing. >> president biden laid out measures on firearms but congress constantly failed to pass gun restrictions. if you are a mayor, new york city's mayor talking about this is a national problem or a local official in a city with the violence and the constituent pressure is on, what can you even do? >> one you have to communicate to people quite clearly this is a multifaceted problem and a major component of the increase in crimes or the feelings of insecurity involve possessing a firearm. if you believe that and if that's the case there has to be calls for the federal government to get on board to nationalize or standardize gun possession laws in the nation. you can't have a jurisdiction with very open basically no restrictions on gun ownership and other jurisdictions with strict restrictions and not expect for there to be conflict so along with all of the other noishtives, programs and plans, there has to be some buy-in from the federal government to establish one set standard to deal with the gun ownership because the violent crime is driven by unlawfully possessed firearms. >> there have been the calls for tightening gun restrictions but in georgia on tuesday it is the 25th state in the country to allow for concealed carry of a firearm. is there a dmout your mind legislation is working to more gun rights and if not gun laws are there any other short term fixes besides what you talked about and things in the handling and tracking of guns and sale of guns that needs to be done? >> there are programs across the nation that deal with the improving increasing gun saferty. gun education programs. you have some legislation locally that deal with the gun ownership. but i think it is substantive and meaningful but until you get buy-in across the nation from the states and jurisdictions about what gun ownership should look like and limiting the gun ownership in this country you will be dealing with this problem for a long time. >> marq claxton, thank you. thank you for watching. "deadline: white house" starts after this quick break. this quik , fresh groceries delivered to your door and prescriptions as low as $4. so you can live a little better each day. inner voice (furniture maker): i'm constantly nodding... ...because i know everything about furniture ...but with the business side... ...i'm feeling a little lost. quickbooks can help. an easy way to get paid, pay your staff, and know where your business stands. new business? no problem. success starts with intuit quickbooks. ♪ ♪ ♪i'm so defensive,♪ ♪i got bongos thumping in my chest♪ ♪and something tells me they don't beat me♪ ♪ ♪ ♪he'd better not take the ring from me.♪ exploring the heart of historic europe with viking, you'll get closer to iconic landmarks, ♪ ♪ to local life and legendary treasures as you sail onboard our patented, award-winning viking longships. you'll enjoy many extras, including wi-fi, cultural enrichment from ship to shore and engaging excursions. viking - voted number one river cruise line by condé nast readers. learn more at viking.com. [sound of helicopter blades] ugh... they found me. ♪ ♪ nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend. yeah, eyes on the road, benny. welcome to a new chapter in investing. [ding] e*trade now from morgan stanley. (cto) ♪ i want the world. ♪ ♪ i want the whole world. ♪ (ceo) ♪ i want today. ♪ ♪ i want tomorrow. ♪ (dispatch) ♪ i want it noooooow! ♪ (vo) get 5g that's ready right now. your home... for adventure. your home... for romance. your home for big savings. [ laughs ] hey, mom, have you seen m-- ew. because when you bundle home and auto with progressive, your home is a savings paradise. bundles progressive. your home for savings. hi there, everyone. it is 4:00 in new york. a wave of russian strikes on hundreds of tarlgts inside ukraine over 24 hours intended to show that despite major setbacks and heavy losses the threat by vladimir putin's war machine inside ukraine did not