ukraine. cortney kube covers the pentagon. msnbc international affairs analyst michael mcfaul is the former u.s. ambassador to russia. and i'm joined by retired army lieutenant general steph twitty, an msnbc analyst. matt, bring us up to speed on the situation on the ground there. >> reporter: we're observing the law in most cities in ukraine that imposes a curfew and a blackout so we can't do outside to do this shot. we're in the city of zaporizhzhia, in the southeast corner of the country. not so far from the besieged city of mariupol, which is becoming more hellish by the day. i just spoke with a soldier fighting inside that azovstol steel plant. this siege is ongoing with what looks like could be hundreds of soldiers and hundreds of civilians including children. the russians have bombed what sounded like a field hospital in that facility. we spoke with the soldier, he said they have infinite amounts of ammunition. i'm not sure if that was just bombast or if that was really true. but he said that food and water and medicine are very much in short supply. now, we've heard from the united nations, antonio guterres, its secretary general. he said on thursday he's trying to negotiate the release of hundreds of civilians holed up with the soldiers under the that plant, especially those children. some of the civilians, according to this soldier i spoke with today, are indeed injured and in need of medical care. and with that field hospital having been bombarded, it makes things even more difficult. but we haven't heard much about that proposed humanitarian exit for those civilians. we heard from president volodymyr zelenskyy, he mentioned it earlier today, but he didn't gives us details. we've had no details on whether this is going to happen. russians have said to get the civilians out would be tantamount to surrender soldiers inside would have to surrender their weapons, put their hands up and leave. to the soldier i spoke with, that sounded like an impossibility. he said he and his comrades are willing to fight to the death. he says he knows of soldiers who did surrender and he had scathing things to say about those soldiers who went into russian custody. there is esprit de corps there and it looks like as though the troops in mariupol are making their last stand, willing to fight to the last end. >> matt bradley, observing that blackout order. matt, stay safe. cortney kube, one of the big heads lines is that the u.s. has started training the ukrainian military on how to use weapons that have been coming in on a daily basis. >> reporter: that's right, so remember early on, when there were a lot of questions about what kind of capabilities the united states could provide the ukrainian military, we frequently heard, that may not be the best system because it takes training. since then, now the u.s. is training the ukrainian military on a number of different systems. the switchblade drones, the u.s. started training the ukrainian military in mississippi before sending them over to train some of their colleagues in the ukrainian military on how to operate them. the u.s. has been training the ukrainian military on phoenix ghost drones, similar to the switchblades but slightly different. but on the bigger systems, the u.s. is now training the ukrainian military on these 155-millimeter howitzers. these are artillery guns. this is a new system for the ukrainian military. but it is expected to be the weapons system of this next fight in the donbas, what we were just hearing matt bradley talk about. the russian military has arrayed a tremendous amount of artillery, both inside russia and on the ukrainian side of the border. the belief, according to u.s. officials, is that the russians will use sort of the russian military doctrine here, and they will at some point just try to overwhelm the ukrainian military with just a massive barrage of artillery fire. we're already seeing some of it. but the belief is that it could even accelerate in the coming days of this offensive for the donbas area. the u.s. and other allies are trying to give the ukrainian military a fighting chance. the u.s. has already announced they're providing more than 90 of these howitzer guns to the ukrainian military and somewhere in the neighborhood of 200,000 ammo rounds for them, this 155-millimeter artillery shells. this is what it looks like, these artillery rounds. in addition to that, the u.s. is providing what's kaurnd counterartillery radar, the ability for the ukrainians to detect where russian artillery fire is coming from so they can take out the artillery systems the russians are firing from. that's another thing the ukrainians need training on. what's also very telling here, though, john kirby announcing today, the u.s. is training the ukrainian military in germany. that's a new detail we had not heard to date, garrett. >> cortney kube, thank you. general twitty, these phoenix ghost drones arriving in the region today, switchblade drones, military aid flights due to arriving in the next day, and cyber defense, we'll come back to that in a minute, but i'm curious where you think this war would be right now if it weren't for these shipments. how much of a game changer are the drones in a slugfest of artillery? >> yes, so i'll take the drone question first. these drones have a tremendous amount of capability. first, it has a reconnaissance capability to allow -- either put the system in the air, obviously without humans in it, go deep into russian lines, the artillery they're using, missiles defense, tanks and so forth. the second piece of this, these drones are armed. they are able, once they pinpoint the location of all these systems that i just talked about, to drop bombs on these particular locations and take out enemy formations. you heard her talk about the radars. complementing the drones are the radars. radars can pick up enemy positions. and now, the ukrainians have the flexibility to either use the drones or use the artillery to take out enemy positions. so a lot of flexibility there. now, let's talk about the greater weapons that are coming in. it's great that the ukrainians are getting training on all this equipment, extremely important. it takes normally a u.s. soldier about three months to go through training. these soldiers here are getting this in three, four weeks' time. and now the equipment has got to get in. it is critical that all this equipment, we just don't talk about it getting into ukraine, but also getting it down to the donbas, getting it into the hands of the soldiers so they can use it. that's the linchpin there. you better believe the russians are looking at the infrastructure to ensure they can take out that infrastructure. so it will not come by rail, air, and so forth. so that's the linchpin in all of this, getting it into the soldiers' hands. >> when you talk about infrastructure, in the 21st century, that also means cyber infrastructure too, right, internet infrastructure included in this pentagon briefing today, this discussion of equipment for cyber defense. what does that mean in this context? >> well, we know that the russians really hadn't put a full-court press yet on cyber. and now, the ukrainians are getting some pretty sophisticated weapons in. most of the things, the items you see going in now, they have some type of computer component and so forth. the command posts that are coming in, the communications that the ukrainians are using to execute this war, all are sophisticated digital-based systems. and so that's why it's important that we also, as we put all this stuff in here, ensure that they have a good cyber defense backbone to prevent the russians from bringing down some of this equipment that's going in. >> ambassador mcfaul, i want to bring you in here. talk about these russian missile strikes in kyiv which occurred while the u.n. secretary general was in the country meeting with president zelenskyy. the mayor of kyiv didn't mince words, he said it was putin's way of giving the secretary general his middle finger. do you share that assessment of what putin might have been trying to accomplish with these strikes? >> well, i can't be for sure, but that wouldn't surprise me. i think it was also in retaliation for attacks inside russia. the ukrainians have brought the fight inside russia, and i think that was his way to say we can still attack you there. but the real fight, as you've just been talking about, is going to be the battle of donbas. you called it an artillery slugfest, i think that's the way it's been described to me by senior pentagon officials and senior officials in the ukrainian government. and this will be a pivotal moment in this war. my own view of this war is, ukraine has already won the war. all the major things putin has wanted to achieve, he has not. but the big next battle for donbas is still undecided, who will win that. this new equipment coming in i think will be very consequential for giving the ukrainians the ability to prevail in this battle of donbas. >> someone else who might think the war is already over is apparently indonesia's president who said vladimir putin and volodymyr zelenskyy have both agreed to attend the g20 summit that they're hosting in bali. that's not until november. but i wonder, ambassador, what you make of that. is this the kind of thing putin should be allowed to participate in and what should the rest of the of the g20 members do, the u.s., do if this goes forward? >> i think that was a mistake. why should mr. putin be at the g20? by november i'm not even sure russia's economy will be one of the top 20 economies. >> interesting point. >> there has to be some kind of punishment, we can't pretend we'll go back to normal and show up to summits and pretend putin will be a member. i think that was a mistake. and i hope that will be revisited the closer we get to it, because maybe other countries, including our own, might not want to show up at the g20 summit if mr. putin will be there. >> ambassador mcfaul, general twitty, cortney kube, thank you all for your expertise and reporting. we've got more on the war in ukraine coming up in the next hour. we'll talk to a member of the ukrainian parliament. first, what we're learning about president biden's call with his mexican counterpart today with mexican migrants at the border a top focus. plus how the immigration dispute is jamming up the president's other unrelated legislative priorities. stay with us. s other unlareted legislative priorities stay with us (music) who said you have to starve yourself to lose weight? who said you can't do dinner? who said only this is good? and this is bad? i'm doing it my way. meet plenity. an fda -cleared clinically proven weight management aid for adults with a bmi of 25-40 when combined with diet and exercise. plenity is not a drug - it's made from naturally derived building blocks and helps you feel fuller and eat 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whoa. now to the white house where we believe the president is running on schedule this afternoon, meeting with a group of inspectors general. we'll bring any news from that meeting as it happens. and just about an hour ago, president biden wrapped up a virtual call with mexican president andreas lobrador. this as immigration at the southern border is now becoming a major issue for the administration. joining us now is nbc news white house correspondent mike memoli. mike, this trump era covid policy, title 42, is a public health policy. it's become a huge immigration issue for the biden administration. do we know how much that was discussed in this meeting and what the white house might hope to come of it on this issue? >> reporter: we're still waiting for a readout from the white house about this phone call. press secretary jen psaki was in the briefing room herself while the call was wrapping up. we'll get some details shortly, for sure. whenever a u.s. president and mexican president are speaking by phone, while many want to reduce the relationship to immigration, the relationship is much broad and more complicated and has other facets to it. immigration issues are very much at the heart what have this discussion was going to focus on, a senior administration official saying the u.s. was approaching this conversation with the mexican president as equals in dealing with this challenge. both the u.s. and mexico are top destinations. obviously the political headaches for this administration, especially within their own party, the president will have to deal with a likely surge of migration following the lifting of title 42. here is what psaki said about what the discussion was going to focus on. >> the majority of the conversation was about migration and was about continued work on coordination, on economic coordination, on taking steps to reduce migration to the border. and they have been a partner in that over the last several months. in terms of specific asks, i just don't have more on that. but i know, one of the followups here will be coordination and discussion at a high level from members of their respective national security teams to continue to work together as we head towards the important meetings coming in a few weeks. >> reporter: now, garrett, there have been discussions behind the scenes at the white house about immigration more broadly, beyond just lifting title 42. what's important to note is that this discussion between the mexican and the u.s. president was also, as officials said, laying the groundwork for what's said the summit of the americas, the united states is hosting that summit this year. leaders from across the western hemisphere will be coming to los angeles and migration issues are expected to be the top priority of that summit. and there are a number of commitments and plans being developed in anticipation of that summit. likely some of the details being worked out on this call as well. >> mike memoli at the white house, mike, if you get any more news out of that call, let us know, we'll probably bring you back. mike memoli, thank you. new nbc news reporting about how title 42 is creating a traffic jam in the senate. the dispute over border policy is threatening to hold up action on key biden administration priorities like that $33 billion for ukraine aid that was rolled out earlier this week and $10 billion in covid relief funding. joining us is nbc news senior political reporter sahil kapur. his name is on the byline of this new reportin sahil, can you walk us through how these three seemingly unrelated issues have gotten tangled up? >> it's all about immigration, garrett. a covid aid bill was structured as bipartisan but republicans want an amendment that codified title 42 into law. they see an opportunity to continue driving a wedge into democrats because some members oppose president biden's policy. so they won't let that covid bill pass without that amendment. democratic senators have suggested adding the ukraine aid on, $33 billion, which has broad and deep support in both chambers. that still would require republicans to drop the filibuster and right now they're not interested in doing it. it's a bit of a rubik's cube as to how you do it all at once. >> do all three issues get even more stuck? >> that's exactly right. the only bill with a clear path to passage right now is the ukraine $33 billion package. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell has indicated interest in that, that generally means there are the votes to do that. but that would leave covid in the lurch, and that is something the white house doesn't want to happen. they don't want the economy to get worse over this and they don't want covid money to continue to dry up for vaccines and therapeutics just as this new infection is continuing to wage around the country. >> what do you see as the chance that one of these bills gets left behind? >> it's certainly plausible, as long as nobody moves their red lines. one of the questions is whether speaker pelosi in the house of representatives would put a bill on the floor that doesn't include title 42. she was asked about that earlier. >> well, we haven't made any decision about how we go forward, but let me just say that title 42, president biden did the right thing, to substitute something that is more effective at the border to protect our border and to respect our responsibility to welcome refugees or asylum seekers to our country. >> so there you see pelosi standing by president biden, she is strongly opposed at this point to reinstating title 42. this is probably going to be on the president to figure out a path to untangle this, garrett. >> the courts are involved in this too, we're expecting a decision, there's a temporary injunction now, we're expecting a longer term decision to come in the middle of may. is there any reason to believe this gets unstuck before then or do both the legislative branch and the white house wait for the courts to act before they make any further moves? >> that's a question for the republicans in the senate. so far they've not been willing to drop their filibuster as a result of their injunction in court. some of them who i talked to in court say they can go to another court to reverse that decision. they want it codified. they like the politics of this issue and they want to keep driving it ahead of the midterm elections which by the way, are only six months out. >> only six months, we can hardly wait. sahil kapur, always good to get in the weeds with you on this stuff. coming up, a new and much more powerful generation of marijuana products. stay with us. l generation of marijuana products more about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare and get help protecting yourself from the out-of-pocket costs medicare doesn't pay. because the time to prepare is before you go on medicare. don't wait. get started today. call unitedhealthcare for your free decision 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million ♪ doesn't your family deserve the best? eggland's best eggs. classic, cage free, and organic. more delicious, farm-fresh taste. plus, superior nutrition. which is now more important than ever. ♪♪ right now, closing arguments are under way in the trial of a former nypd officer accused of assaulting law enforcement during the january 6th insurrection. the jury heard four days of testimony including from the defendant, thomas webster, himself, who mounted a self-defense claim for why he was allegedly seen here on this video attacking a dc police officer with a flagpole. webster's is the fourth january 6th defendant to actually face a jury. the three before him were all found guilty on all charges. joining me now is nbc news justice reporter ryan riley who has been covering these cases for us. what messages did the defense and prosecution leave the jury with before they headed out to deliberate on this one? >> reporter: the defense is just starting their closing arguments now, but the prosecution argued they need to follow their common sense and not believe this story that this new york city police department officer has evidently created about this actions that day. >> talk us through both the lean towards plea deals that we have seen here and the context of how much work is left on doj's plate for all of the january 6th cases they've been investigating. >> reporter: so if you step back, there are more than 2,500 people who want inside the capitol that day. on top of that you have a number of people who assaulted officers outside of the capitol. so the total scope is very close to 3,000. so far we've seen nearly 800 criminal cases brought forward by the fbi and the justice department and hundreds of additional rioters have been identified to the fbi but have not yet been charged for their role by online sleuths who have found their information online using various techniques and investigations. but yes, there's a lot of work ahead for the justice department on this. so far we're on the fourth jury trial. and we see defense attorneys essentially trying out different arguments before the jury here. we had a previous defendant who basically tried to blame donald trump and say this was all his fault, that didn't work out too well. now we see this additional argument that it was a self-defense claim. if you look at the video, it's a tough argument for them to make to the jurors. that's why the justice department is asking the jurors to watch the videos for themselves and use common sense, because you have so much video evidence in all of these cases. >> and yet more than 350 suspects still to be arrested. ryan reilly, all over this for us, thank you. any day now oklahoma governor kevin stitt is expected to sign a law that would ban abortions in that state after six weeks of pregnancy. it's modelled on that notorious texas abortion law. oklahoma lawmakers on both sides of the issue reacting. >> this will not save just one life. this will save many, many lives. >> this bill is incredibly intrusive. it reduces individuals' freedoms. and it's just plain wrong. >> nbc news' blayne alexander has the latest. blayne? >> reporter: this is something that will certainly have a wide impact and could potentially impact any woman of childbearing age in the state of oklahoma. what's notable about this legislation is it was approved under an emergency provision, meaning there's no lag time between when this bill will be signed and when it goes into effect. earlier this month, oklahoma's governor kevin stitt signed a piece of legislation that all but outlawed abortion in the state of oklahoma. that goes into effect later this summer. but this, as soon as it's signed, it would become effective there in the state. there are already a number of people who are saying they're going to mount legal challenges to this. but the impacts go beyond the oklahoma border. this is a piece of legislation that was modelled after a similar law in texas. now, a number of studies have showed that women, after that texas law was passed, women seeking abortions went to other states, nearby, neighboring states to get that procedure done. according to one study, at least 45% of those women, nearly half, went to the state of oklahoma. that's something that's now going to stop when this bill is signed into law. now, of course we talked about measures in oklahoma, in texas. but this is just the latest in a flurry of restrictive abortion measures that have been passed across the country. florida not too long ago passed a measure that bans abortions after 15 weeks. so again, legal challenges to come. it's already been slammed by the president of planned parenthood. as for the timing in oklahoma, there's no exact timing on when governor stitt plans to sign that legislation. but he's made it clear he plans to sign any antiabortion measure that comes across his desk. back to you. >> that was nbc's blayne alexander. ahead, the fda's new timeline when covid vaccines could become available for young kids after months of delays and disappointments for parents. but first, the latest on the war in ukraine and russia's attacks on kyiv. we'll be live with a member of the ukrainian parliament, next. t and it's never too early to learn you could save with america's number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings. it's about the friends we make along the way. you said it, flo. and don't forget to floss before you brush. your gums will thank you. -that's right, dr. gary. -jamie? sorry, i had another thought so i got back in line. what was it? [ sighs ] i can't remember. hell on earth. that's how the mayor of mariupol describes the situation at that steel factory in the southern port city. he says civilians and ukrainian military personnel in the steel plant are running out of food and medicine. can you give us an update on the situation in mariupol first? are you hopeful that russia may yet provide a humanitarian corridor to get these people out of there? >> honestly, i'm not hopeful at all. i think they really want to kill more and more people. today i was watching some of the memories from a year ago when i was traveling around ukraine, checking the south military bases, and the east, when there was first information there might be some attacks coming from russia. i was in mariupol, i was in kherson. my heart is breaking right now because all the places i visited, most of them are ruined now. so many people that i met are currently are surrounded, many people actually don't have connection anymore. so it's very hard. and this fight is very existential. i personally still cannot believe that such atrocities and the scale of such atrocities is actually possible. it's absolutely crazy and very painful. >> it's been horrifying to watch it all play out. i want to get your reaction to yesterday's attack on kyiv. russia claims it was aimed at military targets, the photos, the video we've seen certainly doesn't suggest that. president zelenskyy accused russia of trying to humiliate the united nations while the secretary general was in the country. what's your read on what happened in kyiv in the last day? >> this attack happened near the house where i grew up. it's very central, this is where my parents live. just seeing all of this is crazy, not knowing whether your house is actually on fire or no. i want to say that i'm sure that russia is doing lots of air strikes symbolically, to -- so i absolutely agree with the fact that the visit of the u.n. secretary general was one of the reasons russia wanted to show some power with air strikes. the same happened, if you remember, when the president of the united states, joe biden, was near the border with ukraine, the same was happening with some other western leaders. there were air strikes in western ukraine. so russia, putin, wants to show he doesn't care, that he can throw as many missiles as he wants. for him it's not a problem. >> i think our audio is cutting in and out a little bit, i hope we still have you. how do you look at the situation in and around kyiv right now? russian forces have been pushed out of that part of the country but obviously you're still under some bombardment. how does it feel in and around the capital right now? >> i'm not in kyiv, i cannot go back because i think it's not safe and i need to be responsible for my family and my loved ones and also for my life. and i know that i can visit kyiv but i shouldn't be staying there because in fact it's not safe. and yesterday was just an example, that it's not safe. so it's better to stay somewhere outside, somewhere more western. but again, with the explosions, with many people who are separated, families who are separated, lots of despair and pain, and of course the hope that it will be over soon. but as we know, it's more than two months already. but we are not going to forget that. so there cannot be any compromises from ukrainian side anymore. there is also so much pain and horror created by russia. so now it's very important for us to end this empire of evil. we need to do it together, together with the united states, with our partners from around the world. we shouldn't allow putin to commit more and more war crimes. >> lisa yaskow, a member of the ukrainian parliament, standing up to what she calls the russian empire of evil. thanks for joining us and do please stay safe. in the last few minutes, a manhattan judge rejecting former president trump's appeal denying his lawyer's request to lift a contempt of court order despite the former president smith an affidavit that he just can't find the documents they're looking for. this comes just three days after that contempt order kicked in which would fine mr. trump $10,000 each day until he coughs up the related documents. joining me now, msnbc legal analyst danny savillo. is this the end of the road for trump? there is never an end of the road to president trump. if there is a way to appeal, he will find a way to appeal. as a new york litigator i'm constantly requesting documents from a party or subpoenaing a party. in essence our system requires that person to act on the honor system. it's easy for somebody to come back and say, look, i looked for these documents, gee, i know they would be bad for them if i had them and it turns out i don't have them, isn't that fortunate for me. that's why in new york you have what's called a jackson affidavit, and the judge references this in this order, which is essentially, if you're going to say that, then put it in writing, under oath, in an affidavit, and more than that, detail what you did to look for the documents. and as i expected a few days ago when trump was ordered to do this or agreed to do this, that we might get affidavits back that were a little hazy on the search conducted and who conducted the search. and the judge keyed right in on that. you can see that in his opinion and order, that the affidavit saying i swear i searched didn't tell us enough about the search itself. >> danny cevallos with the breaking news on this trump contempt case. i suspect you're right, this will not be the last we hear about this. thanks for coming on about the breaking news. next, when young kids might finally be eligible to get vaccinated against covid. our medical experts are standing by with what you need to know. by with what you need to know.m. or the spin they initiate. otezla. it's a choice you can make. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. th otezla, you can achieve clearer skin. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. otezla can cause serious allergic reactions. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need? 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[whines] only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ an fda advisory committee is now blocking off june on their calendars for meetings in which they hope to decide on vaccines for the nation's youngest kids. the group plans to meet three times in june on whether or not to recommend vaccines for children under 5. that age group is the only one left in the u.s. not able to be vaccinated. an fda official telling "the washington post" the shots to be reviewed could be approved in the very same month. on tuesday moderna submitted an emergency use authorization for a lower dose kids' vaccine. that will not be taken up until june. dr. ebony hilton is associate professor at the university of virginia and an msnbc medical contributor. doc, what questions does this committee take on here? my understanding is that the data on these vaccines have been that they're safe but it's really a question about how effective they are. >> right, and i think that's most important for patients' families, for those kids' families to know, that safety is number one, but also then, second is efficacy. the moderna results that so far have been results that i've been privy to is that as far as being infected with symptomatic covid, it's 51% effective. you may say that's not as high as we had with adults but you have to understand this is being tested during omicron, and omicron kind of changes the game as far as the efficacy we know. so it offers some protection. and i think parents are going to be eager to offer that to their children because it's been 2 1/2 years they've been worrying about their safety. >> but to that point, we've got something of a usage problem here. vaccines are only good if they go in your arms. the fda gave the goahead for kids 5 through 11 to get vaccinated last year but the cdc says only a quarter of kids in that age group are fully vaccinated. can you talk through the challenges in getting this age group vaccinated? if you do the math there, you're looking at people who the parents are clearly vaccinated but they're not yet getting a shot for their kids. >> right, getting the shot for their kids. >> right. and it shows the win that the misinformation campaign has had when it comes down to the fear mongering that it's made amongst parents for their children. what we do know is as of february, we're estimating 75% of kids have been affected by covid-19. the fact is there's not evidence of lasting immunity if you get infected. the other problem is i think our rhetoric of not emphasizing that there are more consequences to covid than just death. that was a major problem that we made earlier in the pandemic. what we do know is that these children included and adults alike, are now experiencing long covid symptoms and they're having an increased risk of diabetes development and we know of an inflammatory process that the process creates on a developing body when your organs are not fully developed when we have decades of life to live, what does that do to your longevity of life? what does it do to your quality of life when we see other chronic illnesses that viruses are known to cause. we know viruses are linked to multiple sclerosis and they're related to hepatitis and liver failure and people needing transplants. we don't know what the long term consequences may have on that 5, 6, 7-year-old little kid, and if you can get a vaccine to protect them from that, if you can wear the masks to protect them from that and that's what every adult in america needs to be doing. >> a lot of parents watching this closely. dr. ebony hilton, thank you for sharing your expertise. >> for most americans the thought of marijuana might bring up images like a burning joint, ore chilled-out music and maybe a case of the late-night munchies, as states legalize recreational use of the plant, stronger and more potent forms of the drug are becoming available. experts can carry some real serious health risks. marijuana concentrates commonly referred to as wax or shatter have spread across the legal and the black markets, at times containing up to 90% thc. for context, if you were to smoke a blunt 20 years ago. the thc levels in that would have been about 5%. nbc news correspondent steve paterson got an inside look as states are undergoing studies to consider how much may be too much. steve, what did you learn? >> garrett, there is so much here. the amount of thc in these products is shocking. the links that researchers are tying to mental health is shocking and most surprising is how easy it's been for kids to get their hands on it. we went to denver who hear from teenagers who know the impact first hand. take a look. >> with more than 7,000 dispensaries nationwide, a $20 billion marijuana industry is growing so fast some state regulators say it's even outpacing alcohol sales. the cannabis choices are growing, too, with new products like wax or shatter now available. they're sold in fruity flavors and have levels of thc, the compound in marijuana that makes you high that could be eight times higher than the pot of 20 years ago according to state regulators and that's made some colorado parents like sydney block and janet corneal terrified. >> it was scary. she was slurring her words. she wouldn't wake up. >> sydney smoked weed when she was younger and she couldn't believe her daughter's reaction was for marijuana. i was, like, there is no way that this is just weed. >> i had no idea, i'll be honest. >> 18-year-old will and 19-year-old jasmine were both taking marijuana concentrates using what's called dabbing to get high. >> when i was getting into the high potency i don't think i ever had to pay money for it. >> you just got to handed to you. >> i could not be a coherent, functionally human being when i was using. i was using concentrated. >> one dab could be equivalent to smoking an entire bowl. these concentrates with flavors like fruit frenzy are legal for adult in colorado and not kids under 21. >> it got to the point where if i didn't smoke weed i wouldn't do anything. >> i couldn't go to sleep, or do anything without it. i got so dependent. they got help at 5280. designed for kids in recovery. >> the amount of thc that's coming into their system is causing severe psychiatric symptoms such as suicidality and psychotic breaks. >> new state data say the sale of the high thc has increased over 150% since 2016. the federal government says thc concentrates are more likely to produce anxiety, agitation, paranoia and psychosis. will and jasmine are both sober and have some advice for the cannabis industry. >> rather than putting so much time and effort into, like, making more and more and more potent things until we have 100% thc or whatever, i think that is possible to spend more time and effort into looking into how to protect our youth. >> so the cannabis industry association said it's a statement addressing this. i'll read it. it says in part, the best way to address these concerns is through proper testing and labeling as well as ensuring cannabis products are sold to fully informed adults through licensed stores. places like washington and colorado want to take it a step further by considering putting potency caps on certain products. >> weed is becoming a big business in so many states. it's interesting stuff. steve paterson in l.a., thank you. we're following breaking news on wall street right now where there's been a major sell-off in stocks as we head into the closing bell. all three big indices are deep in the red. the s&p 500 is on track for its worst month since march 2020 when the market collapsed under the weight of the covid-19 shutdown's getting started. it's one of those days where if you have money in the retirement act, just wait until next week to check it. thank you for watching next hour of msnbc. "deadline: white house" is next. have a good weekend. te house" i. have a good weekend. ment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms such as fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or coughs, or if you plan to or recently received a vaccine. ♪ nothing is everything ♪ talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. xfinity mobile runs on america's most reliable talk to your dermatologist about skyrizi. 5g network, but for up to half the price of verizon so you have more money for more stuff. this phone? fewer groceries. this phone? more groceries! this phone? fewer concert tickets. this phone? more concert tickets. and not just for my shows. switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon. new and existing customers get amazing value with our everyday pricing. switch today. under district attorney gascón, i prosecuted car break-ins. all repeat offenders, often in organized crime rings. but when chesa boudin took office, he dissolved the unit and stopped me from collaborating with the police on my cases. now home and car break-ins are on the rise because repeat offenders know they can get away with it. chesa boudin is failing to do his job. there's a better way to keep san francisco safe. recall chesa boudin now. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ hi there, everyone. happy friday. it's 4:00 in new york. we are anticipating consequential developments in the january 6th select committee investigation that has already ensnared some of donald trump's most vocal public allies in the gop. at this hour we are waiting for those letters from the select committee expected before the end of this week to republican members of congress being asked to testify before the committee. it's a list that is expected to include lawmakers from both the house and the senate. among them, minority leader kevin mccarthy who is getting pummeled from all sides this week over his very own