The Kremlin hits back at U.S. intelligence that shows Vladimir Putin is being misled by his own advisors about the war in Ukraine.

This amid new reporting that there's no Russian commander on the ground.

But Moscow is keeping up its relentless assault.

In just a few minutes, we'll have a live report from Ukraine.

And here at home,

President Biden taps the nation's strategic oil reserves, but is it enough to bring down gas prices?

Plus, the morning's other big headlines. Former President Trump's son-in-law appears before the January 6th Committee. The House passes a bill that would cap the cost of insulin, and we're

counting down to the men's and women's final four.

Good morning and welcome to way too early on this Friday, April 1st. I'm Jonathan Lemire. Let's start with the news.

Moscow is denying claims by United States intelligence that Vladimir Putin is being misled about the Russian military's failures in Ukraine.

At a press conference yesterday, a spokesperson for the Kremlin said, quote, neither the State Department nor the Pentagon have real information

about what is happening in the Kremlin. He also warned that such a complete misunderstanding

leads to erroneous and rash decisions that cause very bad consequences.

Meanwhile, one U.S. official tells NBC News that the U.S. government has intelligence that indicates some Russian officials, quote, likely disagreed with Putin's decision to invade Ukraine.

The officials said this. Their disillusionment is probably amplified by the Russian military's underperformance, which includes many friendly fire casualties, including

shootdowns of Russian aircraft by Russian air defense, wide-scale missile launch failures,

and stiffer than expected resistance from the Ukrainian people. President Biden weighed in on

a manner for the first time yesterday and seemed to downplay the strength of U.S. intelligence.

How badly Vladimir Putin being misinformed by his advisors?

That's an open question. There's a lot of speculation.

But he seems to be, I'm not saying this with a certainty, he seems to be self-isolated,

and there's some indication that he has fired or put under house arrest some of his advisors.

...