0 ruhle starts us host on the 11th hour next wednesday, march 2nd. but for tonight, that is our broadcast for this tuesday, with our thanks for being with us. on behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news goodnight nbc news goodn ight >> tonight on all in -- >> none of us should be fooled. none of us will be fooled. there is no justification. >> the u.s. takes action against russia for what the president is calling an invasion of ukraine. >> as we cut off russia's government from western financing. >> tonight, the latest on the international response to the crisis and the danger looming over ukraine. >> this is the greatest threat to security in europe since world war ii. >> then, the republican embrace of putin led by admire-in-chief, donald trump. >> so putin is now saying, it's independent, a large section of ukraine. i said, how smart is that? >> plus, the culture war cookbook. we'll unpack risk scotts manifesto for the republican party. and, a rare conviction on federal hate crimes for the men who chased down and murdered ahmaud arbery. >> you should fight like this family. justice for him. >> all in starts now. good evening from new york, i'm alex wagner in for chris hayes. today, the president of the good evening from new york, i'm alex wagner in for chris hayes. today, the president of the united states, joe biden, called russia's actions and ukraine and invasion, while the former president of the the actions in united states and the leader of ukraine and invasion all the former president of the united states and the leader of the republican party called the the republican party called them, quote, genius. quote genius every much sums up message that pretty much sums up the situation here at home on the international crisis we will be discussing through the hour tonight. this all comes after russian president vladimir putin formally declared to regions in eastern ukraine to be independent republics and ordered in russian troops for so peacekeeping efforts. speaking from the eastern of the white house this afternoon, president biden forcefully condemn putin's actions. >> who in the lord's name is putin thing gives him the right to declare so cold countries on territory that belongs to his neighbors? this is a flagrant violation of international law and demands a firm response from the international community. >> the president announced what he said was the first wave of economic sanctions on russia, while promising there will be more to come if putin further escalates the situation. >> we're implementing full blocking sanctions on two large russian financial institutions. the e b and their military bank. we are implementing some sanctions on russia's sovereign debt. that means we cut off russia's government from western financing. it can no longer raise money from the west and cannot trade in its new dead on our markets are european markets either. >> in the coming days, the u. s. will impose additional sanctions on russia's elite and their families, people who, biden said, share in putin's corrupt gains. all of this is part of a coordinated move with european allies. today, the eu agreed to impose a first round of sanctions, and british prime minister, boris johnson, said the united kingdom plans to follow suit. germany also made a significant move to punish russia to do. they halted the certification of the new 11 billion dollar russian natural gas pipeline, the nord stream 2, this runs between the two countries under the baltics sea. it's a move that is being described as one of the strongest yet to punish russia. now, with the american response to putin's invasion is not just sanctions. it will have a military component as well. the president biden was careful to describe this as purely defensive action. >> i have authorized additional movements of u.s. forces and equipment, already stationed in europe, to strengthen our baltic allies, is tony, a latvia, and lithuania. let me be clear, these are totally defensive moves on our part. we have no intention of fighting russia. we want to send an unmistakable message though, that the united states, together with our allies, will defend every inch of nato territory, and abide by the commitments we made to nato. >> biden concluded his remarks with a frank assessment of russia's intentions while still leaving the door open for diplomacy, however distant that may seem at this hour. >> none of us should be fooled, none of us will be fooled. there is no justification for the russian assault on ukraine, it remains a severe threat in the days ahead. nonetheless, there's still time to avert the worst-case scenario that will bring untold suffering to millions of people if they move as suggested. the united states and our allies and partners remain open to diplomacy, if it is serious. and whatever russia does next, we are ready to respond with unity, clarity, and conviction. >> one opportunity for that diplomacy is off the table, however. secretary of state anthony blinken just called off a planned meeting with his russian counterpart, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov. >> last week, i agreed to meet russian foreign minister sergey lavrov, this, week on february 24th, to discuss our countries respective concerns about european security. but only if russia did not invade ukraine. now that we see the invasions beginning, and russia has made clear its wholesale rejection of diplomacy, it does not make sense to go forward with that meeting at this time. >> so tonight, the world is waiting to see what vladimir putin will do next. earlier today, he spoke to the russian press about his demands, saying he wanted ukraine to renounce its ambitions to join nato, to demilitarize, and to recognize russia sovereignty over crimea, the region that putin illegally cry -- the remarks came just minutes after the -- use military force abroad. and this evening, a ukraine, president is a lewinsky called up the military reserves, urging his people to fight for the country and their freedom. nbc news correspondent matt bradley joins us live in the east in ukrainian city of kharkiv, which is 25 miles from the russian border. matt, what has the military presence and buildup in like in your area where you are right now? >> as you mentioned, alex, we are 25 miles away from the russian border and just over the border, we are hearing from technologists, not verified by nbc news, and other analysts groups were seeing attack helicopters, the sukhoi attack jets, and we are starting to see self propelled houser's, tanks, lots of dynamic movements just over the border. and actually, this is some of the most dynamic movements we have been seeing, along the entire rim of ukraine. it's very threatening because here in kyiv, it's one of these places, it's a russian speaking city, one of those places that vladimir putin probably feels like because it's a russian speaking place, that they will rally to did the events of moscow. that's one of the things we heard in that speech he made last night. the sort of imperialist -- new imperialist ideology he has been putting forward, this idea that ukraine is not a state in the sense of other states, that doesn't enjoy the same privileges of independence that other states do, and that actually, it was russia that made it an independent state to begin with. that's one of the things that people in this part of the country are really bracing against. because it wasn't so long ago that vladimir putin might have been right, that there would've been a lot of sympathy here for moscow. a lot of people here are russian speakers, they have family in russia, they would've seen russia as a partner. but lately, we sort of see a major shift, linguistically as well. a lot of people here are starting to learn, russia liberally as an expression of the patriotism, and they have said, when i have been speaking to them, they are willing to fight for this country. and that is why all of that military buildup just across the border, and it is very threatening, that we haven't seen a major incursion in the city, it really is something that is bringing the country together, rather than tearing it apart which seems to be wet vladimir putin wants. again, this is something that is happening on the level of nato as well. he's actually breathed new life into that cross atlantic alliance, just as he's breathe new life into the unity of ukraine, and that's what we have been hearing from president zelenskyy, calling on to the entire country to come together and fight. recent surveys have shown that at least a third of this country are actually willing to go out into the streets and pick up arms, and fight against a russian incursion. and even in this part of the country, which, again, is mostly a russian speaking country, russian speakers are a minority in ukraine, and vladimir putin has said something -- even genocide. but here, they feel ukrainian, i've been here for weeks and of spoken to a lot of people. they say, they are willing to fight and die for ukraine. they don't believe the lie they have been hearing from moscow. alex? >> wow, just a gross miscalculation in terms of how the russian aligned ukrainian public would react to this. matt bradley, thanks so much. please stay safe, we'll be back with you soon. >> thank you. >> after weeks of negotiations fell apart over a bipartisan sanctions bill, last, week the senate instead issued a non-resolution. warning russian president vladimir putin to seize -- senator tim kaine is a democrat from virginia. joins me now, senator cain, as, always good to see you. especially in a quickly moving news environment like this one. can we first talk about the white house's position on all of this? biden, the president, said for the first time today that this was the beginning of an invasion. there's been a lot of analysis about the use of the word invasion. the white house was not using that language last night. do you think that reflects a more aggressive posture here? do you think something has changed over the last 24 hours? >> well, it's an invasion, alex. it's an invasion. this -- you know, recognition of these breakaway puppet states that russia has dominated since 2014. if you know anything about this luhansk and donetsk, these were thriving communities before russia decided to dominate them. now they are stalinesque, grim lands of no opportunity. so if anyone wants to know what russia will do for you, all you have to do is look at donetsk and luhansk. that's why communities like top of it, even closer to russia, are now moving more west, moving more to ukrainian nationalism because they see russian dominance means a grim stalinist future. so it is an invasion, and not just a recognition of puppet states, but now we hear of russia moving more military assets into donbass, into donetsk into luhansk, and it is unifying ukraine, and it is is unifying ukraine, and it is unifying nato. yes, it's an invasion, it's not an aggressive posture from the biden administration. it's an acknowledgment of a reality. yes, it's an invasion, it's not an aggressive posture from the biden administration. it's an acknowledgment of a reality. my colleagues in the senate, democratic and republican, by and large see the reality for what it is. >> we will talk about your colleagues across the aisle and the house in the later segment. i'm glad to hear that you think there's a quorum of bipartisan -- bipartisan quorum in the senate that agrees with what the white house is doing. i was wondering if there is anything, even the sanctions package that the president announced today, that surprises you. >> no, i mean, sanctioning any who have connections with the breakaway republics dominated by russia, sanctioning russian individuals, the biden administration did a great job quietly convincing germany to basically shut down advances on the north stream two pipeline. germany didn't want to do that. this was important to them. they weren't willing to do it. but the biden administration, secretary blinken and others, got germany to agree. look, if russia invades ukraine, even if we think this will help germany, we have to shut it off. this is a big, big deal shutting off the pipeline. i think when we return to congress next week, we are all in our states this week, you will see a congressional resolve on sanctions. we are resolved on the sanctions package, but it should contain. there was disagreement about what should trigger it. democrats said, don't initiate sanctions unless you can tell there's certain invasion. republicans wanted to initiate sanctions before an invasion. but that an invasion would trigger punishing sanctions and the u.s. should work together with our allies to make sure we are all on the same page, that's all decided upon. i think you will see us act in a bipartisan way when it comes to it. >> i just -- i have ptsd about people in the senate telling me that things are going to be handled in a bipartisan fashion, work in lockstep with the goals of the white house. this package has fallen apart before. you just said it was not the substance but really the trigger that was this thing that sort of paused the whole thing to fall apart. you already see the beginnings of polite to-ization around what is happening in ukraine. president trump's comments today calling putin's moves genius probably haven't helped anything. you are really convinced that next week, when you guys are back in session, republicans are going to play ball with democrats and effectively work to further the biden foreign policy agenda, the national security agenda? >> yes i think, there will be some who will follow donald trump. donald trump calling putin's move a genius move, a savvy move, you, know he couldn't get a nobel prize so maybe he's trying now for the order of lenin. or even better, finally, a trump tower in moscow. but we will put our republican colleagues on the board and see whether they're vladimir putin accusers or they're standing up for the western democracies. i believe that enough republicans will stand against vladimir putin's aggression. that we will be able to coalesce around those sanctions package. again, i think democrats and republicans agree over what the package should be. the question was which should trigger it. there is no disputing now that the russian recognition of donetsk and luhansk and moving in military assets in ukraine, the trigger has been passed in western democracies. >> time will tell. senator tim kaine, may the wind be at your back. thank you as always for your time and efforts. >> good evening, alex. >> still to come, as republicans try to blame president biden for russian military aggression, trump is praising his old pal, vladimir putin. that's next. >> so putin is now saying, it's independent, a large section of ukraine. i said, how smart is that? 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