♪ judy: good evening. on the newshour tonight, the fight rages on. explosions close to kyiv rock the capital. while in ukraine south, residents of mariupol shelter in a now desolated city without food and other basic needs. >> we came to see our discus ms the ongoing war in

ukraine and the potential political impact of rising prices for food and gas. all that and more on tonight' hone.wsur the landscape has cha. and not for the last time. the rules of business are being reinvented with a more flexible workforce. by embracing innovation. by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future ones. resilience is the ability to pivot again and again for whatever happens next. >> people who know know bdo. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist.

a raymondjames financial advisor. taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> the john s and james wright foundation. more at kf.org. quicksand with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your local pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: a ukrainian defense official said today that the situation in mariupol is

difficult and hard. in fact, the port city on the sea of asaba is surrounded. and under constant bombardment by russian forces. there is little food or water left for those who remain. and little ammunition for the ukrainian forces. meantime, atrocities committed by russian troops continue to be unearthed across the region, surrounding kyiv. we begin our coverage. correspondent: this morning, residents of kyiv assess the damage and clear the debris from overnight blasts. the most powerful since russian troops diverted forces. this came shortly after russians announced their flagship ship sunk.

>> even for those that have not been there, moscov was a symbol of everyone. a symbol of our power. our hope. our revival of the fleet in the 90's. it is a symbol of our engineering and scientific achievements. the force of our arms. correspondent: ukrainian leaders took credit for its destruction and u.s. officials confirmed to pbs newshour two ukrainian missiles led to the sinking. the russian defense ministry rejected thatarrative but still promised a response to ukrainian attacks including another strike they said they carried out last night. >> the number and scale of missile strikes will increase in response to any terrorist attacks or sabotage committed by the kyiv nationalist regime on the russian territory. correspondent: meanwhile, 100 20,000 residents remain in an almost unrecognizable mariupol -- 120,000 residents remain in an almost unrecognizable mariupol.

>> we came to see our daughter when the bombing started. we got in a basement but my wife can barely walk. correspondent: with the war entering its 51st day, ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy address the country in the world, commending its people for withstanding weeks of brulity and pushing for tougher sanctions against moscow. >> these 50 days showed me world leaders in a different way. the countries are different. i have seen great generosity for those that have not enriched themselv. i have seen extraordinary determination by world leaders who previously did not take it seriouy. correspondent: for more on the ground in ukraine and on the increasing humanitarian access, i'm joined by david beasley, the executive director ofhe world food program who joins us now. welcome back to the newshour. thank you for making the time. i want to begin with mariupol. the situation grows worse by the day.

you have been trying to get food aid into the city. have you gotten any luck getting access to mariupol? david: we do not have the access we need. there's no way people are not starving to death. we have been doing whatever we can, to sneak it in whatever it takes. give us the access and allow us to do what we do as impartial and neutral to reach the innocent victims of this war. correspondent: when you see you don't have access, are your trucks from the boots on the ground, are they being actively blocked by russian troops? david: we are not allowed to go in. that's the bottom line. we have the trucks, the vehicles, the food, we just need the access. it is not any more complicated. correspondent: what would it take to get that access? >> particularly the eastern side of ukraine where several cities are blocked. if we can get the access we need, we can move the food supplies and. it's a war zone. we understand it is complex.

but we work 80% of our operations in war zones, areas of conflict. we have experience and how to do this and we know how to do it in such a way that we reach is its people. we are just asking, please give us the access we need. correspondent: who are you making that request to? >> i have already written and spoken to russian leadership about this. we need it now. people are starving. correspondent: have you gotten any response or indication that that access will be granted anytime soon? david: no. correspondent: if you don't get in, tell me about the circumstances on the ground. david: people don't get food and water, they die. the question is if russian forces are providing food. that i don't know because we don't have the access. this is what we do. correspondent: we have spoken on so many occasions where you are in many different nations trying to get aid to peopleho need it and you sound incredibly frustrated right now.

is this like any other situatn you have been in getting food and water to people? david: we have run into the situation at times before whether it is syria, ethiopia, or afghanistan. we keep pounding the pavement and we keep pounding the doors and we usually find a break room. it is day 51 and we don't have a breakthrough. we are going to continue to do everything we can. we are not going to give up on these people. we will keep jumping up and down and hammering the message home as hard as we can until we get the access that we need. correspondent: you were able to make your way to mu -- bucha. investigators are looking io war crimes on the ground there. david: i was just in kyiv and bucha. i have talked to many people on the streets of bucha. you have seen the pictures where the tanks are all over the city. but you have -- may not have

seen the devastation of the residential neighborhoods. just wiped out. i stood near an oh-fer and age -- near an orphanage that was just blown to pieces. why? i've heard of victims of the war, mothers that were shot, children that were shot. you can't believe it. i've seen a lot of bad stuff. whether it is ethiopia, yemen, or syria. this is as bad as it gets. correspondent: we have talked about the millions of people that have fled ukraine andre able to get out. are you able to reach them and provide support? david: the 4.5 million people that have left ukraine are the lucky ones becau they are being brought in by the loving arms of strangers that are giving them food. we are helping as much as we need to help with that particular refugee crisis.

but inside, you have 7 million peop that are internally displaced. you've got people that are stuck, for example, it on the eastern side of ukraine, in the midst of the battle of war. we are trying to reach the most vulnerable because that is what we can do and that is what we do best. but it is very commonplace. putting the food supplies, getting the trucks. it took most of the truck drivers on the battlefront. but then you run into blockades. and then you think it's bad enough, what's taking place inside ukraine, but you realize ukraine grows enough food to feed 400 million people around the world. so we are not talking about just ukraine, we are talking about the entire world that will pay a mighty big price because of this war. correspondent: the war has

exacerbated shortages, food shortages. an incredible amount of grain comes from ukraine and russia both. david: weeed about 125 million people during the year. we buy 50% of our grain from the rain -- from ukraine. we are seeing an increase in food costs and shipping costs to the extent of an additional operational cost per month. so $850 million impact on our operational expense. that means 4 million to 5 million people less will get food. that is our operations. it doesn't even impact the increase in food prices for everyone else and the possibility of the unavailability of food for people around the world.

when you take the bread basket of the world, they feed 400 million people. where is that food going to come from over the next six months or nine months? the farmers are on the front lines and they need to be in the field. they need to be planting putting out fertilizer, ready to harvest. the ports are shut down. it isghhrou those portsit will n everywhere around the world, but especially the poorest of the poor. if we don't reach the poorest of the poor in the countries that we are mostly concerned about, you will have famine. you will have destabilization of nations, and you're going to have mass migration. and i can tell you, that will cost 1000 times more than if we can get it in advance and do it right. correspondent: david beasley joining us. thank you so much.

david: it is good to be with you. judy: in the days of the news, new numbers on covid-19 are providing fresh evidence of another wave the united states. fueled by the ba.2 variant. the new york times reported that average daily cases are up more than 30% in two weeks. the biggest increases in the northeast. public health experts are saying the new wave will be smaller than omicron was. palestinian youth battled israeli police in jerusalem today after days of growing violence. more than 150 palestinians were injured. martha fairley has our report. correspondent: from the early hours, palestinians gathered at the compound in jerusalem at the site sacred to both muslims and

juice -- jews. they began throwing fireworks and stones. after weeks of growing violence, they have been urged to defend by the palestinian foreign ministry. as israeli police moved in, they came under a hail of rocks and rubble. 150 people were injured. some carried away on stretchers. writers used screen sinful the chairs as makeshift shields as police fired tear gas and stun grenades. in a week where ramadan, passover, and easter coincided, tensions are running high. >> this oppression emptied out while the world is watching. this was used by the occupation to oppress the safe worshipers. >> police have made hundreds of arrests.

crossings have been ordered to be closed from this afternoon. >> we are working to calm things on temple mountain throughout israel. we are prepared for any scenario. correspondent: by midday, the site had been cleared and reopened. israeli authorities remain prepared. similar clashes during ramadan last year led to an 11 day war. judy: that report from martha fairley of independent television news. in south africa, cruz spent another day searching for survivors after floods killed nearly 400 people. heavy rain and mud slides around the eastern city of durban destroyed homes and washed away major roads. thousands of people were left without electricity or access to clean water. britain is taking criticism over government plans to fly migrants who were seeking asylum there to

rwanda, 4000 miles away. officials said the flights to east africa will begin within weeks. they argue that it will deter migrants from crossing the english channel. refugee and humanitarian groups condemned the idea as impractical, costly, and cruel. back in this country, texas reached a security agreement with a fourth mexican border state. with that, republican governor greg abbott rescinded the last mandatory incoming truck inspections that cause long backups in mexico. this nine old policy provoked complaint from businesses and other texas officials. but at that said -- abbott said it was forced by federal and action. >> inderstand the concern that businesses have about the price of doing business across the border. but also know the anger texans face and have been caused by joe biden not securing the border. judy: abbott had imposed truck

inspections to retaliate against the biden administration ending pandemic limits on migrants seeking asylum. the u.s. interior resuming sales of oil and gas leases on federal land in nine states but will sharply mit the available acreage and will charge higher royalties. president biden campaigned on ending federal drilling on land. now he's under pressure to ease soaring energy prices. twitter's board of directors moved to block nguyen air elon musk from buying the company -- billionaire elon musk from buying the company. the poison pill defense diluted musk's steak. it may make it harder for him to win over a majority of shareholders. he is offered nine dollars over twitter's closing price on thursday.

president and misses biden released tax returns for their first year in the white house. they report earning six of her $10,000 and paying $150,000 -- $610,000 and paying $150,000, paying 25%. they also pay state income taxes. christians around the rld mark good friday with centuries-old traditions. in paris, worshipers held players outside notre dame cathedral. exactly three years after a fire destroyed the medieval church's roof. and in the czech republic, marchers in masks rolled wooden rattles in revival of an old easter custom. still to come on the newshour, the irs struggles with a major backlog ahead of the tax filing deadline. a massive investment from saudi arabia raises questions about jared kushner's business

dealings. david brooks considers the latest political news. and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism. judy: since the invasion of ukraine, the kremlin has further stifled what further freedoms russians have to criticize the government. describing the war in ukraine as war can lead to 15 years in pron. russia recently forced international organizations to close their operations in the country. nick takes a deeper look at the oppression of dissent. correspondent: behind a new iron curtain, vladimir putin seems determined.

there appears to be no ironing. she was detained by officers in riot gear. this man arrested for holding up a blank piece of paper. on sunday, police detain constantine goldman, or special military operation at peace. one of russia's remaining newspapers was attacked with red paint. the invasion, police arrested more than 15,000 pple for criticizing work. they detain prominent opposition who has long opposed putin and accuses the kremlin of poisoning him twice. we interviewed him and his wife after recovering from the second attack.

>> i felt life slowly going out. and i rember that distinct feeling. this is it. this is the end. i'm going to die. >> it is terrifying. i'm not going to lie to you. but i want him to continue to do what he thinks is important. what he thinks is right. correspondent: the west has punished prudent and cut off access to american technology. but on a tuesday visit to a space center in russia's far east, he claimed the sanctions also create russian unity. >> they wanted very much that everything that is happening would impact domestic political processes in russia. they always make that kind of mistake. without understanding that when faced with difficult conditions, russian people always unite. correspondent: putin has built

up reserves and destroy the opposition, citing critical media. they are driven by imperial dreams and revenge. >> putin has two in insecurity. his risk appetite has grown as his grip of russia has tightened. his circle of advisors has narrowed. and in that small circle, no one has questioned his judgment or stubborn mystical belief that his destiny is to restore russia's sphere of influence. correspondent: to talk about putin's restriction on free speech, i'm joined by chairman of the renewed democracy initiative that promotes democracy in the u.s. and abroad. welcome to the newshour.

since the invasion, putin's popularity has grown to 81%. you think that is an accurate reflection of russian opinion? >> i don't know. nobody knows. the pole means you make a phone call to someone who most likely will not be happy to answer. so i bet you probably 90% immediately hang up and the immediate 10% whatever they think is safe. there is a genetic memory for people born and raised in a country controlled by the kgb. putin has a ruthless dictatorship. i doubt we will hear what they think being asked by a stranger. correspondent: it is illegal for them to criticize putin even when a pollster calls. 15,000 detentions awe talked about. national organizations, media outlets that used to be open have now been closed.

how unprecedented is this crackdown? >> i don't think he has much of a choice because they have to hide. he failed to take over kyiv in three or four days and hold the military parade. and now, there are mounting losses. 20,000 russian soldiers killed in action. i would say four times this amount is wounded. and russian flagship with the black sea, he has to hide the truth. he desperately wants to win the war and he doesn't want russians to receive objective information. that's what he's trying to close every hole in the information space that he can. correspondent: russians are not receiving that truth that you just mentioned. russian tv says that the west or ukraine started this war.

they say there are no civilian casualties. electing a volley -- alexei's organization are trying to get that truth into russia. how do you think the truth can be delivered to russians inside of russia? >> i wish it can be done but it's not easy. basically block one app after the other. propaganda is an important weapon. he increased the spending on military and security apparatus by 20% at the beginning of the war. and he added billions of dollars for the propaganda machine. so far, propaganda is the number one weapon putin has been using to protect his power. that's why agree with the analysis that investing in propaganda can help to offset putin's poisonous influence. correspondent: we just heard

bill burns, the director of central intelligence and former ambassador to moscow saying that hubris and isolation led to putin's decision to invade. what do you think led to the decision to invade? >> i would add to this list impunity. two decades of impunity and no consequences. vladimir putin has a long record of war crimes. in the list is simply too long. and i think he believed it would go away with this invasion of ukraine the same way he got away with the annexation of crimea and the carpet bombing of american cities -- carpet bombing of syria. the will of free people, the ukrainians are fighting like hell and inflicting heavy damages.

we understand that we have to help them. correspondent: the u.s. estimates more than 200,000 russians have left the country since the beginning of this war. what is the impact of that brain drain? >> i think the number is much bigger. i think the number might be closer to one million. everybody is trying to leave. it is the best the country can offer. we had a brain drain before the war. if you look at the numbers from putin's return to power in 2012, the numbers kept growing. and we had more than half a million leaving. now these numbers could be staggering. that means russia will be a pariah and will be pushed back to the stone age. with ukraine winning the war and putin crumbling as a result of that, we hope we can come back and rebuild our country.

correspondent: on the flip side, students have turned in their own teachers for questioning the war. in the 45 seconds we have left, is putin right? are there russians that are rallying around the flag? >> for sure. 25% to 30% are rallying. 20% are against the war in 50% are in the middle. that is normal. you always have people that by this propaganda. correspondent: gary, thank you very much. ♪ judy: mondays the deadline for

most american taxpayers to file their federal taxes. because of the pandemic and bureaucratic hang ups, this tax season is shaping up to be even more complicated than normal. john yang has the story. correspondent: while talks -- while taxpayers have to get their payments and on time, many refunds may be delayed this year due to budget constraints, staffing shortages, and backlogs. the irs started the year with the backlog of about 10 million unprocessed returns from last year's tax season. elaine is a senior fellow with the urban brookings tax policy center. thank you for joining us. most taxpayers are getting extra weekend this year because the th, today, is a holiday in the district of columbia. for someone who hasn't filed yet, what is your top tip? correspondent: the first is please do whatever you can to get it in by the 18th. use this weekend to your

benefit. the second is file your return electronically. and if you are owed a refund, ask for that to be delivered via direct deposit. the reason you want to do this is to try to keep your return out of the backlog that you mentioned at the top of the program. when the irs gets a paper return income of the first thing they had to do is transcribe the information on it so that they can begin processing it. your return could be sitting for months before it even gets looked at. correspondent: why the big backlog? >> the first is the big amount of paper the irs is dealing with. and percent of people file their tax return by paper each year. sometimes they have to. it has been rejected electronically or someone tried to file a false return with their social security number. or someone claimed a dependent they are claiming. for whatever reason, this

creates a large workload for the irs and the pandemic created additional backlogs. it not only lasted a lot longer than typical, they were simply unable to open the mail. another driver is the tremendous amount of new work that the irs has placed on them. while they have done a relatively great job of handling it, it is something new. they have delivered three economic impact payments. one of them was this year. -- this tax year. they started to deliver the child tax credit. typically, they receive that credit when they file their tax return. for this e time, they started delivering checks to give you up to half of your credit between july and december. and the one that probably makes me the most upset is that congress routinely passes laws

affecting tax filing very late in the process. in some cases, people have to file an amended return which goes back to adding more paperwork onto the irs's desk. correspondent: you mentioned the tax credit. the irs was distributing payments. people collecting unemployment because of the pandemic. how have those complicated this tax filing season? >> all of it can make the impact more difficult. people have difficulty remembering that they've even gotten it. fill out a tax reform -- a tax form. we have to look through people's bank accounts to see if they've received them. the child tax credit can, kate filing for the same reason. we need to know how much you already received so we know how much you're going to get as a refund on your tax return this

year. in some cases, ople who were not required to file tax returns need to file this year to claim the child tax credit because for the first time, it went to families with very low incomes. employment complicates the tax filing for families because in many places, people do not know the income is taxable. they receive it and they of that tax at tax time because they haven't had any withholding taken out during the year. correspondent: what else have you been seeing? confusing people or problems that have been cropping up. >> one thing that has been stressful for low income families is employers who have changed. last year, in 2020, people were working for a construction industry or housekeeping service and they were considered an employee. during the time they were employed or taxes were withheld, the employee paid their fair

share of taxes. is year, employers changed and considered these employees to be consultants. that is a surprise to families when they come in because now they owe tax is on all of the money they earned rather than having had it withheld throughout the year. even families that get relatively large refunds from the art income tax credit the child tax credit end up owing substantial amounts of taxes this year. correspondent: elaine from the tax policy center, thank you very much. >> thank you so much. ♪ judy: a $2 billion investment that president trump, former president trump's son-in-law secure last summer from a fund

led by the crown prince of saudi arabia has raised questions about the ethics of post white house business dealings. kushner's private equity firm secured the investment after crown prince mohammad bin salman overruled a host of objections from the sovereign wealth funds advisors. the new york times reported some of the group's concerns. the private equity firm was found to be "unsatisfacto in all aspects." the kingdom would be taking on the bulk of the investment in the risk. the asset management fee and public relations risks due to kushner's involvement. jeff benedict explores the involvement -- the relationship between kushner and the crown prince that help shape the deal. correspondent: president trump built ties with saudi royals and one person was usually in the room. son-in-law and senior advisor year and kushn.

like trump, kushner arrived to the white house with a business -- as a businessman with no policy experience. he became the architect of much of the middle east strategy. >> we hope this will start a more historic journey for the middle east and beyond. correspondent: on the campaign trail, candidate trump took a harsh linen the kingdom. >> take saudi arabia. why aren't they paying? correspondent: he attacked hillary clinton for a country he called a criminal enterprise. >> these are countries that treat women horribly and you take their money. correspondent: as a president, he charted a different course. >> we really have a great friendship. a great relationship. correspondent: two months into office, he welcomed mohammed bin salman to an oval office meeting and formal lunch it is believed to be the first

time fisher and the saudi royal met in person. but they wouldn't be a part for lo. eight weeks later, president trump traveled to saudi arabia capital city, the first stop on his first foreign trip. >> my meetings with king salman, the crown prince and the deputy crown prince have been filled with great warmth, goodwill, and tremendous cooperation. correspondent: mbs rose from deputy crown prince to crown prince, the second-highest leader of the country. now the heir apparent, he returns to washington in 2018 where he dined with kushner and met with trump who boasted about a $12.5 billion arms sale. >> the relationship is as good as it correspondent: has ever been. that relationship was tested seven month later when a

journalist was kidnapped, murdered, and dismembered by a group of saudi agents suspected of followingrders from the crown prince. trump was reluctant to lay blame on mbs for the killing. >> i want to see the facts first. saudi arabia has been a great ally and one of the biggest investors in our country. correspondent: at that point, kushner, 37 years old and the crown prince spoke regularly. the new york times reported that they were on a first name basis calling each other. and mohammed -- jared and m ohammed. jared said he offered advice. >> just to be transparent to the world is watching this. correspondent: the senate condemned him. >> unanimously, the u.s. senate has said that crown prince mohammad bin salman is responsible for the murder of

jamaal khashoggi. correspondent: kushner would not go that fa >> i don't know what the administration is waiting for in terms of accountability. >> i believe there is a report they are workingn and when they have the facts, it will be up to the president to make a determination on what he wants to do. correspondent: the administration never punished saudi leaders for the killing or for military actions in yemen. trump went as far as vetoing two bipartisan measure that would have banned saudi rep and -- weapon sales. all of this colors the $2 billion investment that kushner received from mbs last year, says kathleen clark, an ethics professor at washington university st. louis school of law. >> kushner being able to exploit his access to the president, his power within the trump administration and translate that directly into personal

financial -- extraordinary personal financial benefit for himself. trump talked about draining the swamp and we have a swamp monster in this story. >> is there anybody here that would like to see me run again? correspondent: with donald trump floating a potential run in 2024, the scrutiny of kushner's the lings only -- dealings only intensifies. correspondent: -- >> there is some law on the books that should prevent kushner from participating. but what we know is that president trump is perfectly happy and seems to embrace disregard for ethical standards as we saw repeatedly. correspondent: a big dollar deal with big ethical questions. for the pbs newshour, i'm geoff bennett. ♪

judy: this week, russia's war on ukraine continues to dominate the headlines and the attention of ukraine's western allies. rising prices in the u.s. raised questions about how much the biden administration can the pain -- ease the pain many americans are feeling. we turn to david brooks and jonathan kapart. associate editor of the washington post. good to see both of you. thank you for being here. the misery continues to david beasley. the people of ukraine are suffering, and ukrainian resistance has forced the russians to regroup. they have taken down a huge ship. part of the russian navy.

what does this war look like to you right now. >> we have increased the amount of arms to ukraine. have tried to wean itself off of russian oil and natural gas. it is getting firmer. and some say that there are two wars, a northern war around kyiv where the ukrainians are doing very well. it is a southern war on the border, mostly over the port of odessa and the russians are doing much better in that southern war. if they can capture the main port, than they really will have strangled the ukrainian economy. if they can keep that territory, that amounts to some sort of victory. so it has become very important that the ukrainians defend odessa and that the u.s. becomes a lot more active helping the

ukrainians with the anti-ship missiles that they need to do the best they can't defend off the russian navy. -- they can to fend off the russian navy. i think this strikes people with some alarm. judy: president biden did announce the package of another $800 million in additional weaponry this week. what does it look like to you? >> it looks like that the alliance has held strong. it primarily because of what the u.s. has been doing and president biden has been doing walking this very fine line between supporting president zelenskyy and the ukrainian people's effort to push back the russians. while at the same time not having american troops, american boots or planes come into any direct contact with the russians. we have seen on a near daily basis, president zelenskyy

speaking to foreign parliaments at legislations with the same plea. help us. give us weapons. give us anything and everything we need to defend our country and to push the russians out. i think that the united states, while not wanting to have american boots on the ground, is doing everything else possible to make sure the ukrainians get the material and the weapons systems they need over the border. if that means nations like slovakia and others are sending over their weapons, the u.s. will backfill them. and anyone afraid that putin will turn around and say, you know, the u.s., we are coming after you simply because you are doing this -- as george will told me this morning on first look, what are we going to do? we are going to fall to the threat because we will make him mad? he is already mad. the administration is doing everything it possibly can.

judy: picking up on all of that, is it your sense the west is prepared thang in there indefinitely? or they say they are? we talked to a defense department spokesperson john kirby who said we will be there as long as necessary. is that realistic? >> the chinese diplomats keep getting quoted in the press saying the western alliance will fall apart. the west can't take the economic cost. there is really no evidence of that at all. western europe is not just following the u.s., they are firmly resolved and in many important ways leading the way. the big picture here is that most of us has spent 25 years in an era of greater globalization, greater trade across borders, exchange of ideas and cultural exchange. some amount of cultural convgence. that stopped seven years ago or eight years ago and the war i ukraine has really accelerated the globalization. a global culture where -- war

where we get divided into a chinese dominated zone and a western dominated one. we divide into cultural values that are diverging not converging. the amount of trade across borders is decreasing. immigration is the scene. we are living in a world in which walls are going up and people are basically forced to pick sides in the west is coming closer together and the authoritarians are getting closer together. but it makes the struggle over ukraine the first real struggle and what could be a decades-long contest between authority and to some -- authoritarianism in the democratic west. judy: what do you think about the question of if the west is prepared to hang in there as long as it takes? >> i do think the west is prepared to hang in there as long as it takes. i have been saying on the air pretty much from the beginning that this war, while it is

russia, a russian invasion of ukraine, it is a war between democracy and autocracy. that explains why you have the baltic states ringing the alarm on a daily basis saying that you need to send in permanent bases, nato bases in the baltics. vladimir putin will not stop in ukraine. it explains why sweden and finland which have been determinedly neutral, they did not want to be part of nato, now actively talking about joining the north atlantic alliance. this goes to what david was talking about and how they view the situation in ukraine and the rest of europe. they see ukraine as the canary in the coal mine. if democracy does not win out against russia in that campaign, then the baltics, poland, slovakia, all of those on the western border of russia, those nato nations are very worried

they are next. judy: one more question about ukraine. resident biden off the cuff referred to what is going on as genocide. how much do statements like that matter? >> he already called him a war criminal. it forecloses the idea at some point in the future we can have normal business with vladimir putin. that we can have a seven or g20 or whatever you want to go to. that ever again the u.s. can go to summits with him, have him visit the white house, whatever you want to do. that's never going to happen. that makes it untenable and i think rightly so. >> it puts pressure on putin and paint him into a corner. it makes him unacceptable abroad. judy: i want to turn to two other things. one, david, the bad news we got this week on inflation is it affirming what we have been

seeing? historic highs. much of the economic picture is scary. we know the unemployment are down. i know wages are going up. there is even a report of consumer confidence being up. what is at the core of this? how worried should the biden administration be? >> inflation is the number one concern in the country right now. even though wages are going up, real wages are going down. we have had several months now of negative real wage growth. that is a real problem. it is true inflation is rising everywhere in the world. fuel and food everywhere in the world. but the u.s. rate is significantly higher than most other comparable nations. it has to be because of federal reserve policy and federal spending.

i think that means that any further spending initiatives are going to be extremely unpopular and are probably not going to happen. judy: how big a political worry is this for the president? >> a huge political worry. political -- inflation is one of those things that the president has zero control over. there was a flight -- a faint glimmer of good news. even though it grew by 8.5%, the glimmer of hope in the data is that in the month to month inflation increase, it was less then in previous times. i think that is giving hope to some economists and some in the biden administration that may be the march numbers are the plateau. that the inflation numbers are coming down. but the longer it takes for

those numbers to come down, the more worrisome it will be for the administration. they are going into a midterm election year, the democratic party where historically, they are set to lose the house. their hold on the senate is tenuous. high inflation numbers on top of high gas prices, high grocery bills, it's going to make a very restive and anxious populace that much more angry and looking for someone to blame. judy: there was a consumer survey that showed confidence going up in a way that the economists had not expected. i do want to reserve the last minute and aalf for the report we just heard from geoff bennett on jared kushner getting this massive invtment from the saudi crown prince mohammad b salman. what lines are there? what lines should there be for this kind of thing to be going on?

>> jared kushner is not a private equity guy. he's a commercial real estate guy. to suddenly open a private equity firm, the are different enterprises. it's like me doing surgery. he just can't switch. the fact that the saudi's would invest his clear political mafioso behavior. you help me, i help you, down the road you help me. it is classic mafia-like corruption. there's not much more to be said except that it is shameless. >> it sounds to me like it is mbs giving basically a payoff to his buddy jared kushner that protected the saudi weapons sales that congress was trying to resend after evidence came forward that mbs order the killing of jamaal khashoggi who was a global opinions columnist for the washington post.

for a senior u.s. official to do that is unconscionable. judy: and yet it happened. there are no rules, no legal limits to doing something like this. are there? david: we used to think that people were restrained by common decency but that dream went away a long time ago. judy: we will leave it there. david brooks and jonathan kapart. thank you both. and on the newshour online, after banning russian oil imports, president biden called on gas companies to increase domestic production. oklahoma is facing major hurdles as it tries to meet that demand. we will read more on our website.

putin's forces get ready for a major assault on the east. democrats messaging ahead of the midterms tonight on pbs. tomorrow, 50 years after giant pandas first arrived at the national zoo in washington, d.c. , why americans are still so enthralled with these gentle giants. and now the scientists in the u.s. and china successfully restored their once dwindling population. we look forward to that. that is the newshour for tonight, i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again on monday evening. for all of us, thank you. please stay safe and have a good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪

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♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. putin's war has only gotten more of what he hates, nations wanting to join nato. ip asked kosovo's president about her application amid new threats to the balkans then. >> there is shelling towards us. we are just or a mile away from the russian forces. >> juncker's eastern front, correspondents report from inside the new conflict zone and. >> they specifically asked for fire support and that specifically asked for artillery support. >> as america ships another $800 million of military aid i asked russia's former prime minister will it be enough to turn the tide? and later. >> western governments have been

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