levers it can right now. the pentagon says we have roughly 8,500 troops on heightened alert. president biden and our european allies have been communicating about countermeasures to any russian aggression. we re going to have more from the white house, more from the pentagon and ukraine in just a few moments. also, in just the last few hours, pfizer announced that it is testing a vaccine tailored specifically to protect against the omicron variant, and we re watching the markets very closely again this morning. right now, as you can see, the dow down once again, down almost 420 point, things once again quite volatile there on wall street raising a lot of questions. so stephanie ruhle is going to join to us try to help answer some of them. also this hour, our country s crisis of conscious. after january 6th laid bare this morning. you know capitol police officer eugene goodman right there, you ve seen the video. the man facing down the mob there on january 6th and you ve never
life. in a chilling detail the gunmen reportedly kept shooting at the two officers even as they lay motionless on the ground. in texas, a manhunt is underway for a suspect who murdered a deputy during a traffic stop near houston. and in washington, d.c., a police officer shot and wounded, but was thankfully released from the hospital. democrats in new york being pressed for solutions and here is how they are responding. we have to do more to fight the scourge of the illegal guns on our street. illegal guns is an important first step but we must also adjust a bail reform. new york is the only state in the country that does not allow a judge to detain and defendant who poses an immediate threat to the community. dana: and the white house confronted over how it plans to keep americans safe. does he know that after a year in office, people do not feel safe in this country? we seen a surge in crime of the last two years, would you agree with that? the murder rate is a
breaking news out of the state department this hour. tonight a new do not travel morning is in effect for ukraine, ordering non-essential staff and families of american embassy personnel to leave the country. we will dig into the tensions and how the u.s. is preparing if russia does, in fact, invade. and an enlightening new poll shows how many americans believe there is a threat to democracy. congresswoman camilla jayapal is here to discuss that and more. today we learned the january 6th committee has spoke to attorney general bill barr. peter strzruk is here to investigate why fully investigating former president trump is vital to the future of our democracy. i m ayman mohyeldin. let s get started. downhill, divisive, negative struggling, lost and back. those are the top answers americans gave nbc news when asked to describe where they believe america is today. but this shouldn t be surprising. just take a look at this number. a striking 76% of americans believe there is a
rising possibility of russian military action at any time. at the same time, president biden is considering moving troops within europe closer to russia s border as well as in the black sea and increasing bomber flights over the region. even as we re building up deterrence, even as we re building up defense for ukraine, we re also engaged in diplomacy and dialogue. that s the preferable path forward for everyone. it s the responsible thing to do, and we ll pursue it as long as we can. at the same time we ll continue to build up the defense and deterrence that is necessary. the optimism, the fight against the omicron variant is growing in the u.s. across the country as the national 7-day average of confirmed cases finally begins to shift downward after a record setting surge. there is still pressure on hospital workers in some western is southern states where omicron cases are at their peak, and vaccination rates are low. our nbc news poll contains bad news for democrats w
well and then talking about it over and over and over again so people know we did it as opposed to saying, we re going to do everything, promising the world, and then not getting all of that done. people leave feeling like, my government isn t doing anything for me. that brings us to the open door the republican party is walking through. using the divisions to their party s advantage rather than legislating towards solutions. here s how senator bernie sanders put it this morning. republicans all laughing all the way to election day. they have not had to cast one bloody vote which shows us where they re at, and we have got to change that. joining me now, msnbc political contributor eugene daniels. he s a white house reporter for politico and co-author of playbook. and the renee graham, associate editor for the boston globe. renee, when you look at that polling, what does that tell you that the one thing, the one thing americans can agree on is that the country is hea