judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff "on the newshour" the fight rages on. explosions clo to kyiv rk the capital, while in ukrne itself, residents of mariupol shelter without food and other basic needs. >> i couldn't believe that -- >> we came to see our daughter, and the bombing started. we got in a basement, but my wife can barely walk. judy: then the saudi connection. a massive investment from crown prince raises questions about the ethics of jared kushner's post white house business dealings. and it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart discuss the ongoing war in ukraine and the potential

political impact for riseing pry price, food and gas. all that and more on tonight's pbs "newshour." >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> the landscape has changed. 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 b.d.o. >> pediatric surgeon, volunteer, tp -- topiary advise or, tailors

life to help your life. life well planned. >> the john s. and james all knight foundation fostering en formed communities. more on kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour. >> the program was made possible by the donations from viewers like you. thank you. judy: a ukrainian defense official says that the situation in mariupl is hard.

in fact, the port city is surrounded. and under constant bombardment by russian forces. there's little food or water left for those who remain. and little ammunition for the ukrainian forces. meantime atrocities committed by russian troops don't be unearthed across the region surrounding kyiv. amna nawaz begins our coverage. >> this morning, a familiar routine for residents near kyiv assess the damage and clear the debris from overnight blasts. those explosions caught on camera reportedly some the most powerful since russian troops moved force later this month the latest attack came after russia announced that the black sea fleet sunk. >> even for those who haven't

been there, it was a symbol for everyone, symbol of our power, our hope, the revival of the fleet in the 1990's. sit a symbol of economic achievements force of our arms. >> ukrainian leaders took credit for its destruction and u.s. officials today confirmed to pbs newshour two ukrainian missiles led to the sinking. the russian defense ministry rejected that narrative but still promise a response to ukrainian attacks including another strike they said they carried out last night >> the number and scale of missile strikes against targets in kyiv be will increase in response to any terrorist attacks committed on the russian territory. >> meanwhile some 120,000 residents still remain in an almost unrecognizable mariupol. mchale lives whiz wife and is trying to get out of the city. >> we couldn't believe that. >> we came to see our daughter, and the bombing started.

we got in a basement. but my wife can barely walk. >> with the war entering its 51st day, ukrainian president volobm mir zelensky commending his people and pushing for tougher sanctions against moscow. >> these 50 days showed me world leaders in different ways. the countries are different. i've seen great generosity of those who are not rich themselves. i've seen extraordinary determination by those who world leaders usually didn't take seriously. >> for an on-the-ground view in crane and the humanitarian crisis i'm joined by david beasley. thank you for makg the time. i want to begin with mariopol. the situation grows worse for

the day. have you had any luck getting cess? >> we do not have access. there's no way people are not starving to death. we're trying to sneak it in, whatever it taken. but the access is denied. we're asking give us the access. allow us to do what we do as impartial and neutral to reach the innocent victims of this war. >> just to clarify when you say you don't have access, are your trucks -- your folks on the ground, are they being actively blocked by russian troops from going in? >> we are not allowed to go in. that's the bomb line. we've got the trucks. we've got the vehicles. we have the food. we just need the access. it isn't any more more complicated than that. >> so tell me what it would take to get that access? and what other cities do you need to goat that you haven't been able to get to yet? >> particularly ton eastern side of ukraine where several cities are blocked if we can get the access we need, we can move the food supplies in it's a war zone. we understand it's complex.

but you know, we work 80% of our operations are in war zones, areas of conflict. we have experienced in how to do this. we know how to do it in such a way that we reach innocent people. we're just asking, please, give us the access we need. >> who are you requesting that to? >> we contacted russia. >> if you don't get in with that food and water aid, tell me about the circumstances on the ground? >> people don't get food and water, they die. and so the question is how do we do that? >> you sound incredibly frustrated right now. is this like any other situation you've been in trying to get

that food and water aid to people? >> we've run this situation at times whether it's in syria, etopia or afghanistan. but we keep pounding the pavement. we keep pounding the doors. usually we find a breakthrough. it's now day 51, and we don't have a breakthrough. and so we're going to continue to do everything we can. we're not going to give up on these people. we're not going to dohat we're goingo keep jumping up and down and ham forget message as hard as we can until we get the access that we need. >> you were able to make your way to bucha where we see reports previously. investigators aring looking into possible war crimes ton ground there tell us about what you saw. >> amna, i was just in kyiv and bucha and i've talked to many people on the streets of bucha. and you've seen the picture where the tanks are all over the city. but what you may not have seen the devastation of war -- i mean, just residential

neighborhoods just wiped out, decimated. issued in an orphanage, a home for 40 children that home was just blown to piece. why? i heard from families, victims of this war, mothers that were shot, grandmothers that were shot, children that were shot, you just can't believe it. and i've seen a lot of that stuff around the world whether it's in afghanistan or ethiopia or yemen or syria. this is as bad as it gets. we've talked about the million mills of people who are able to get out. are you able t reach any of them provide support in neighbors nations? >> millions of people who have left ukraine -- you can say the lucky ones because they've been being met by the loving arms of strangers who are bringing them in, giving them food. it's remark to believe see that take place. we're helping as much as we need that in that particular refugee crisis.

but inside you've got seven million people that are internally displaced. we are working with the partners the governments to reach those people. then you've got people who are stuck for example on the eastern side of ukraine in the midst of th battle of war, and we're trying to reach the most vulnerable because that's what we can do and that's what we do best. but sit very complex. putting the food supplies. getting the trucks. getting the truck drivers as you can imagine because most of the truck drivers right now are on the battle. but then you run into blockade. and then you think it's bad enough what' taking place inside ukraine, but you -- as you realize, ukraine grows enough food to feet 400 million people around the world. we're not just talk talking about ukraine. the entire world will pay a mighty big price because of this war. >> the war has exacerbateed food shortages.

we know about an incredible amount of grain comes from ukraine and russia. is that giving you problems? >> yeah, we buy 50% of our grain from ukraine. in fuel cost, food costs, shipping cost to the extent of an additional operational cost per month for the world foo program, 7 -- $71 million. so $850 million impact on our operational expense. that means four or five million people less will get food. that's just our operations that doesn't even impact what we're talking about increase of food prices for everyone else around the world and the possibility of the unavailable of food for people around the world because when you take the breadbasket of

the world, they feed 400 million people, where is that food going to come from over the next six to nine months because the farmers are in the front lines. they need to be on the field. they need to be putting out fertilizer. they need to be ready to harvest. and the ports are shut down. it is through those ports that 400 million people are fed. so it's going to have a global impact on everyone around the world but especially the poorest of the poor. so here's what's going to happen if we don't reach the poorest of the poor in the countries that we're mostly concerned about, you're going to have famine. you're going to have destable zation of some nations and you are going to have mass migration. and i can tel you, that will cost 1,000 tim more that if we can get in advance and do it right. amna: that is david beasley, executive director of the world food program joining us.

>> thank you. it's good be with you. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz in star stephanie sy. we'll return after the laidest headlines. new numbers of covid-19 are providing fresh evidence of another wave in the united states fueled by the b.a.2 variant the new york "new york times" reported average daily cases are up more than 32%. but the eggest increase is in the northeast. public health experts are saying the new wave will be smaller than omicron was. palestinian youth battled israeli police in jerrells after days of growing violence. more than 150 palestinians were injured. martha fairly of independent television news has our report. >> from the early hours, palestinians gathered at the mosque in jerusalem.

at the sight sacred to both muslims and jews they began throwing fireworks and stones. after three weeks of growing violence, they had been urged to defend by the palestinian foreign ssraeli police moved in, they came under a hail of rocks and rubble. more than 150 people were injured. some carried away on stretchers while the violence continued. they fired tear gas and stun grenades in a week with ramadan, passover and easter all coincide, tension run high. >> this oppression d this barbaraism emptied the mosque while the wor was watching. this was used by the occupation to suppress the safe worshiper who is came to morning prayer. >> police have made hundred of

arrests and israeli's prime minister neftali bennett ordered it to be closed. >> we are working calm things on temple mount and throughout israel. at the same time, we are prepared for any scenario. the sight had been clear and reopened with 60,000 people attending the friday prayers. but israeli authorities remain prepare. similar clashes led to an 11-day war with hamas. >> now, to south after car, crews spent another day searching for survive ors after floods killed 400 people. heavy rain and mudslides destroyed homes and washed a way major roads around durbin. thousands of people were left without access to clean water. britain plans to fly migrants seeking asylum there to rwanda

4,000 miles away. officials said today the flights to east africa will begin within weeks. they argued it will deter migrants from crossing the english channel. refugee and humanitarian groups condemned the idea as impractical costlynd cruel. >> back in this country, texas reached a security agreement a fourth mexican border state. that prompted republican governor greg abbott to rescind the last of mandatory incoming truck inspection that is caused long backups in mexico. his nine-day old policy produced complaints. but abbott said it was forced by federal inaction. >> now, listen, i understand. the concern that busesses have about trying to move products across the bridge. but i also know the anger that texans face that is caused by joe biden not securing the bored. >> abbott had imposed the truck

inspecons for the bind impending limbs on migrants seeking asylum. >> a wildfire has killed two people and burned more than 200 homes the fire broke out near ruidoso on tuesday causing power outages and prompting school closures. and it has yet to be contained. almost 5,000 people have evacuated. >> the u.s. interior department announced today is i reseing sales of oil and gas leases on federal land in nine states. but it will sharply limit the available acreage and lit charge higher royalties. president biden campaigned on ending drilling on federal land to fight climate change. now, he is under pressure to ease soaring energy prices. twitter's board of directors moved today to block elon musk from buying the company and take it private. the company so-called poison pill defense will let shareholders buy stock at a discount price dill luting

puckses' stake. that could make it harder for him to win shareholder. pucks is offering $54 a share. $9 over twitter's closing prime minister the president and mrs. biden have released tax returns for them. that reported $610,000 and pague $150,000 in federal income taxes that's a rate of just over 25% compared the u.s. average of 14% the bidens paid a little over $33,000 in state income tax. and christians around the world marked this good friday with centuries old traditions. in paris, worshipers held prayers outside notre dame cathedral after a fire destroyed their immediate evil church's roof. and in the czech republic, marchers in masked rolled wooden rattles in aevival of an old easterustom.

still to come, on the newshour, the i.r.s. struggles with a major back backlog ahead of the tax filing deadline. also a massive investment from saudi arabia raises questions about jared kushner's business dealings. and david brooks and jonathan capehart consider the latest political news. plus, much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from the waller cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> since the invasion of ukraine, the kremlin has further stapled what little freedom russians had to criticize the government. under russian law, describing the war in ukraine as war can lead to 15 years in prison. in russia recently forced international organizations amnesty international a human rights watch to close their operations in e country. nick shiffrin taken a different

look at that time suppression of decent. ♪ >> behind a new iron curtain, vladimir putin seems determined to build there appears to be no irony after a wom held opposer that literally said two words. [speaking foreign language] >> she was detained by seven officers in riot gear. this man arrested for holding up a blank piece of paper. on sunday, police detained constantine goldman for holding special military operation and peace. last week, demetri marata, an editor was attacked with red paint. since the invasion, independent human rights activists say police arrested 15,000 people for criticizing the war. this week they detained prominent opposition leader carl

and accused of poisoning him times we interviewed him and his wife years ago. >> i felt just life slowly going out of the whole body. i remember that distinct feeling. that this is it. this is the end. now, i'm going to die. >> it is not fine. i'm not going going to lie to you. i want him to continue to do what he thinks is important. what he thinks is right. >> the west has pished putin with unprecedented sanctions and cut off access to american technology. he admitted the sanction stymied them. but in a visit to the space center, he says it creates russian unity. >> they want it very much that everything that is happening would impact domestic political

processes in russia. they always make that kind of mistake without understanng that when faced with difficult conditns russian people always rue night. >> putin has been preparing for this moment for years building up preserves, destroying opposition, silencing critical media the director of central intelligence, bill burns, the former ambassador said yesterday putin and his advise ors are driven by imperial dreams and revenge. >> he has stooped to grievance and ambition and insecurity. an apostle of payback, his risk appetite has groan as his grip has tightened. his circl has narrowed and in that small circle it has never been career enhanceing to judgment. he wants to restore russia's fear of influence. >> you talk about his mow

motivation and restrictions. i'm joined by gary gasparov former world chess champion and chairman of the reanied democracy which promote democracy abroad. welcome to the news or. the independent lavata center says that since the invasion putin's popularity has groan to 81%. do you think that's an accurate reflection of russian opinion? >> i don't know. and nobody knows. he most likely will not be happy to answer. i bet you that 90% immediately hang up and the remaining 10% do whatever they think is safe for them. there's a genetic memory for people who are born and raised in a country controlled by the k.g.b. with putin's ruthless dictatorship, i doubt they will care what people think as being asked by the stranger. >> because it is illegal to

criticize putin even what a polster calls. 15,000 detentions as we talked about, international organitions, the few independent media outlet that is used to be open have now been closed. how unprecedented in your opinion is that this crack down even for putin? >> i don't think he has mh of a choice because they have to hide the truth about the war in ukraine. he failed to take over kyiv in three or four days and military parade on the central of kyiv. and now, with amounting losses, 20,000 soldiers killed in action. i would say four times this amount is wounded with massive losses of russian heavy armor and now the russian black ship in the black sea, he has to hide the troops. he desperately wants the win the war and he doesn't want russians to receive any objective information. that's why he's trying to close every hole in the information

space that -- that he can. >> and as you say russians are not receiving that truth that you just mentioned. russian tv says that the west or ukraine started this war. alexei na vallonia called on the west to invest millions on online advertisements inside russia to try to get that truth into russia. how do you think the truth can be delivered to russians inside russia? >> i wish it can be done, but it's not easy. because they simply block one after ooh. -- another. he increased the spending o military apparatus by 20% from the beginning of the war. and he added billions and billions of dollars for propaganda machine so far propaganda the number one weapon putin has been using to protect his power.

so that's why i agree with navalny's team analysis that investing in propaganda can help us to offset putin's poisonous influence. >> as we just heard bill burns director of central intelligence and the former u.s. ambassador to moscow said that hubris an isolation led to putin's decision to invade. what do you think led to putin's decision to invade and his continuing to pursue this war and its goals? >> i would teed this list immunity. two decades of immunity of no consequences, vladimir putin has a long record of long crimes beginning with the war in the year 2 000. i think he believed that he would go aby this invasion of ukraine same way he did with the annexation of crimea and other cities. he made a mistake. his biggest mistake was he under estimated as every dictator

before him the will of free people. the ukrainians who are fighting like heroes, fighting like hell and inflicting heavy damages on russian occupation forces. and the free world understand that is we have to help them not to survive but to win this war. >> u.s. estimates that more than 200,000 russians have left the country since the beginning of this war. what's the impact of that? >> i think the number is actually much bigger. so i would say that the number may be close soon to a million. everybody is trying to live. and it's -- it's the best the country can offer. we had brain drain even before the war if you look at the numbers from putin's return -- official return to power in 2012. so the numbers kept growing in the year 2020, we had me than half a million living. now, the numbers could be staggering. that means that r yeah will be

a pariah. with ukraine winning the war and putin crumbling as a result of that, we hope that question return, come back and rebuild our country. >> on the flip side though, we've seen students turn in their own teachers for example for questioning the war. and about the 45 seconds that we have left, gary, is putin right? are there many russians who are indeed rallying around the flag? >> yes, i'm sure. i would say 25% to 30% definitely are rally behind the flag. i would say 20% are against war. and 50% are in the middle. that's -- that's normal. you always have people that can buy this propaganda. and they want to get an advantage out of the -- out of the crackdown. >> gary caspaor, thank you very much. >> thank you for inviting me.

judy: monday is the deadline for most american taxpayers to file their federal taxes. and 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. >> judy, while john: while taxpayers still have to get their returns in on time, the internal revenue service is warning that many refunds be delayed for many this year due to budget constraints, staffing shortages and backlogs. the irs started the year with a backlog of about 10 million unprocessed returns from last year's tax season. elaine maag is a senior fellow at the urban-brookings tax policy center at the urban institute. thanks for joining us. most taxpayers are getting an extra weekend this year because this is today, the 15th is a

holiday in the district of columbia. for someone who has not filed yet, what is your top tip? elaine: i have two. first, do whatever you can to get it in by the 18. use this weekend to your benefit. the second is file your return eltronically. if you are owed a refund, ask that to be delered via direct deposit. the reason you want to do this is to try to keep your return out of that backlog you mentioned. when the irs gets a paper return in, the first thing they do is transcribe all the information on it so theyan begin processing it. there is already a backlog. your return could be sitting for months before it gets looked at. john: why that big backlog? elaine: there is a few reasons. the first is the big amount of paper the irs is dealing with. about 10% of people file their tax return by paper each year.

sometimes it is because they have to, their return has been rejected electronically, maybe because someone tried to file a false return with their social security nber. but for whatever reason, this creates a large workload for the irs. the pandemic created additional backlogs because we went through a tax filing season last year that not only lasted longer than typical, they simply were unable to open the mail during part of it. another driver is the tremendous amount of new work the irs had placed on them. while they have done a relatively great job at handling it, it's still something new. they delivered three economic impact payments, one in this tax year, two. last year once they finished netrk, in july they started delivering the advanced child tax credit. typically families with children receive their credit when they file their tax return, but for th one time they started delivering checks that could

give you up to half of your credit between july and december. that was extra work for the irs. 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 it means some people have to file an amended return, which goes back to adding more paperwork onto the irs' desk. john: you mentioned the child tax credit. the irs was also distributing the stimulus payments. you had a lot of people collecting unemployment because the pandemic. how have those complicated this tax filing season? elaine: all of it can make tax filing more difficult. economic impact payments i found as a volunteer tax prepare, people have difficulty remembering if they even got it. you have to fill out on your tax return form if you got it. in some cases we have to work through people's bank accounts

to see if they received the payments. the child tax credit can complicate filing for the same reason. we need to know how much you already received so we know how much you're going to get is a refund on your tax return this year. in som cases, people who were not required to file tax returns need to file this year to claim the child tax credit. for the first time and went to families with even low incomes. unemployment complicates tax filing for families because in many cases people don't know the income is taxable, so they receive it and owe that tax at tax time because they have not had any withholding taken out during the year. geoff: you mentioned you are a volunteer tax preparer. what else have you seen confusing people? elaine: the number one thing that has been stressful for the low income families i deal with is employers who have changed. last year, or in 2020 people

were working for a construction industry or housekeeping service and were considered an employee. during the time they were employed, taxes were withheld. the employer paid their share of payroll taxes and the withholding of the employee's share was taken into account. this year, employers changed and considered these employees in many cases to be consultants. that is a surprise to families when they come in because now they owe taxes on all the money they earned rather thahaving had a withheld throughout the year. even families who get relatively large refunds typically from the earned income tax credit or child tax credit and up owing substantial -- end up owing substantial amounts of tax this year. ank you so much. ♪

judy: a $2 billion dollar investment that former president trump's son in law jared kushner secured 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 mohammed bin salman overruled a host of objections from the sovereign wealth fund'' advisers. the new york times reported some of the group's concerns. the private equity firm was found to be "unsatisfactory in all aspects." the kingdom would be taking on the bulk of the investment in the risk. there was a seemingly excessive asset management fee. and public relations risks due to kushner's involvement. geoff bennett explores the close relationship between kushner, the trump administration, and

the crown prince that helped shape the deal. geoff: as president donald trump bill ties with saudi royals, one person was usually in the room, his son-in-law and senior adviser jared kushner. like trump, kushner arrived at the white house as a businessman with no foreign policy experience. but he quickly became a critical surrogate for trump abroad, and the architect of much of the administration's middle east strategy. >> we hope this can start a more historic journey for the middle east and beyond. ♪ geoff: on the campaign trail, candidate trump took a harsh line on the kingdom. mr. trump: we protect saudi arabia. why aren't they paying? geoff: he attacked hillary clinton for her ties to a country he called a criminal enterprise. mr. trump: these are people that kill women and treat women horribly. and yet you take their money. geoff: but as president, he charted a different course with the country and its leaders, king salman and his son, crown prince and de-facto ruler, mohammed bin salman. mr. trump: we really have a

great friendship, a great relationship. geoff: just two months into office, trump welcomed mohammed bin salman, then the deputy crown prce, to the white house for an oval office meeting and formal lunch. it is believed to be the first time kushner and the saudi royal often referred to his -- often referred to by his initials, mbs, met in person. but they would not be apart for long. eight weeks later, the president then-president trump traveled to riyadh, the first stop on his first foreign trip. mr. trump: my meetings with king salman, the crown prince, and the deputy crown prince, have been filled with great warmth, good will, and tremendous cooperation. geoff: in the coming months, mbs rose from deputy crown prince to crown prince, the second-highest leader of the country. mr. trump: crown prince, thank you for being here. geoff: now the heir apparent, he returned to washington in march 2018, where he dined with kushner and met with trump, who boasted about a $12.5 billion

arms sale between the two countries. mr. trump: the relationship now is probably as good as it's really ever been. geoff: that relationship was tested seven months later when journalist jamal khasshogi was kidnapped, murred and dismembered by a group of saudi agents suspected to have been following orders from the crown prince. trump was reluctant to lay blame on mbs for the killing. mr. trump: i want to see the facts first. look, saudi arabia has been a really great ally. they've been one of the biggest investors, maybe the biggest investor in our country. geoff: at that point, kushner, then 37 years old, and the crown prince, who was 33, spoke regularly. the new york times reported they were on a first name basis, calling each other jared and mohammed in text messages and phone calls. in a rare interview, kushner told cnn that in those conversations he had offered advice. >> just to be fully transparent, the world is watching this. geoff: after intelligence officials concluded mbs had given the orde the senate

condemned him. >> unanimously the united states senate has said that crown prince mohammed bin salman is responsible for the murder of jamal khashoggi. geoff: but kushner would not go that far. >> i don't know what the administration is waiting for in rms of accountability. >> i believe there is a report they are working on. they are doing an investigation and when they have the facts of the invitation, then it will be up to the president to make a determination on what he wants to do. geoff: the administration never punished saudi leaders for khashoggi's killing or for their military actions in yemen. trump went as far as vetoing two bipartisan measures that would have banned saudi weapons sales as a result of their bombing campaign there. all of this colors the $2 billion investment kushner received from mbs last year, says kathleen clark, an ethics professor at washington university in 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 finance. extraordinarpersonal financial benefit for himself. i mean, trump talked about draining the swamp and we have a swamp monster in this story. mr. trump: is there anybody here who would like to see me run again? [applause] geoff: with donald trump floating a potential run in 2024, the scrutiny of kushner's dealings only intensifies, clark argues. >> there is some law on the books that should prevent kushner from participating. however, what we know is that president trump is perfectly happy and seems to embrace disregard for ethical standards, as we saw repeatedly.

geoff: a big-dollar deal with big ethical questions. for the pbs newshour, i'm geoff bennett. ♪ judy: this week, russia's war on ukraine continued to dominate the headlines and the attention of ukraine's western allies. meanwhile, rising prices here in the u.s. raised quesons about how much the biden administration can ease the pain many americans are feeling. we turn now to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that is new york times columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for the washington post. so very good to see both of you. thank you for being here. we are back to talking about ukraine. i want to start with you, david. the misery continues. we heard it from david beasley of the u.n. world food program.

the people of ukraine are suffering, yet the 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? david: the u.s. and the west are hanging in quite well. i think we continue to increase the amount of arms we are giving to ukraine. europe is trying to wean itself off russian oil and natural gas. so the alliance has held and if anything it is getting firmer. this point was made this week, some say there are two wars, a northern war around kyiv where the ukrainians are doing well. there is a southern war on the water, mostly over the port of odessa. the russians are doing much better in that southern war. if they can capture odessa, the main port, they would have

strangled the ukrainian economy. that amounts to some sort of victory. it has become very important that the ukrainians defend odessa and do better in the war in the south and that the u.s. becomes more active in helping ukrainians with the anti-ship missiles they need to do the best they can to fend off the russian navy. while the ukrainians are being absolutely amazing, this situation and the south strikes people with some alarm. judy: president biden did announce that package of another $800 million in additional weaponry this week. what does it look like to you? jonathan: i agree with david that the alliance has held strong, 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 at

the russians while at the same time not having american boots or planes come into a direct contact with the russians. we have seen on a near daily basis president zelenskyy speaking to foreign parliaments and legislatures with the same plea, help us, give us weapons, give us everything and anything we need to defend our country and pushed the russians out. the united states, while not wanting to have american boots on the ground, is doing everything else possible to make sure that the ukrainians get the material and 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. anyone who is afraid that putin is going to turn around and say, you know, the united states, we are coming after you because we are doing this.

as george will told me this morning, 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: and david, picking up on all of that, iit your sense that the west is prepared to hang in there indefinitely? they say they are. we talked to a defense department spokesman this week. he said we are going to be there as long as necessary. is that realistic? david: the chinese diplomats keep getting quoted in the press saying the western alliance will fall apart, the west can't take the economic costs. there is really no evidence of that. western europe are firmly resolved. if any, they are leading the way. most of us spent the past 25 years in greater globalization, of greater trade across borders, of greater cultural exchange,

some amount of cultural convergence. that stopped about seven or eight years ago. the war in ukraine accelerated what you might call d globalization, a global culture war, where we divide at least into two economic zones, a chinese dominated one and a western dominated one. we divide into different cultural zones. our cultural values are now diversion, not -- diverging, not convergent. emigration is decreasing. walls are going up and be so -- and people are basically forced to pick sides. the west is getting closer together and the authoritarians are getting closer together, but it makes the struggle over ukraine the first real struggle in what could be a decade-long contest between authoritarianism and the democratic west. judy: what would you say to that? and to this question of whether you think the west is prepared

to hang in there as long as it takes? jonathan: i do think the west is prepared to hang in there for as long as it takes. i've been saying on our air from the beginning that this war, while it is a russian invasion of ukraine, it s a -- it is a war between democracy and autocracy. that explains why you have the baltic states ringing the alarm on a daily basis, saying let's have permanent bases, nato bases here in the baltics because vladimir putin not stop i ukraine. it explains why sweden and finland, who have been determinedly neutral, now actually talking about joining the north atlantic alliance. this speaks to what david was just talking about, but how they view the situation in ukraine and the rest of europe. basically 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 those on the western border of russia, those nato nations, are very worried they are next. judy: one other quick question about ukraine. president biden at one point off-the-cuff referred to what is going on by the russians as genocide. how much do statements like that matter? david: we already called him a war criminal. it forecloses the idea that at some point in the future we can have normal business with vladimir putin, a g7 or g20. the idea that ever again that the west can go to summits with him, have him visit the white house, that is not going to happen. it makes that untenable, and i would say rightly so. judy: jonathan? jonathan: it puts pressure on putin.

it pains him into a corner and does make him unacceptable abroad. judy: i want to turn to two other things, o is the bad news we got this week on inflation, affirming what we've already been seeing, it is at historic highs in this country. much of theconomic picture is scary, but at the same time we know the unemployment numbers are down, wages are going up. there was even a report about consumer confidence being up. what is at the core of this and how worried should the biden administration be? david: extremely. inflation is the number one concern in the country now. even though wages are going up, real wages are going down, that is wages after accounting for inflation. we had several months of negative wage growth. -- of negative real wage growth. it is true that inflation is rising everywhere in the world. fuel, everywhere in the world. food, everywhere in the world.

the u.s. inflation rate is significantly higher than in most comparable nations. that has to be because two things, one is federal reserve policy, but two is our extremely expansionary fiscal policy, federal spending. that means any further spending initiatives will be extremely unpopular and are probably not going to happen. judy: how big a political worry is this for the president? jonathan: a huge political worry because inflation is one of those things in the economy that the president has zero control over. there was one faint glimmer of good news in the inflation data, even though inflation rose year over year in march by 8.5%. the glimmer of hope in that data is in the month to month inflation increase was less than in previous times. that is giving hope, at least to some economists and some in the

biden administration that maybe the march numbers are the plateau, that these inflation numbers are coming down. but the longer it takes for those inflation numbers to come down, the more worrisome it will be for the administration. they are going into a midterm election year, the democratic party, w here 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, is just going to make a very anxious populace that much more angry and looking for someone to blame. judy: just a glimmer in those inflation numbers. there was a consumer survey that showed confidence going up in a way the economists had not expected. i want to reserve the last minute and a half for the report we just heard from geoff bennett

on jared kushner getting this massive investment from the saudi crown prince, mohammad bin salman. what lines are there? what lines should there be for this kind of thing to be going on? david: to me, the mind-boggling thing is jared kushner is not a private equity guy, he's a commercial real estate guy. to suddenly open a private equity firm, it's like me doing surgery. you just can't switch. the fact that the saudi's would invest, it's clear political mafioso behavior, you help me, i help you. it's just classic mafia-like corruption. there's not much more to be said except for it's shameless. judy: jonathan? jonathan: it sounds to me like it is mbs giving basically a payoff to his buddy jared kushner, who protected the saudi

weapon sales that congress was trying to rescind after evidence came forward that mbs ordered the killing of jamarcus shoji -- of jamarcus show the and for an united states 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: no, we used to think people were restrained by common decency, but that dream went away a long time ago. judy: we will leave it there. david brooks, jonathan capehart, thank you both. and on the newshour online, after banning russian oil imports, president biden called on u.s. oil and s companies to increase domestic production. but oklahoma, onof the nation's leading oil producing states, is facing major hurdles

as it tries to meet that demand. you can read more on our website, pbs.org/newshour. coming up on washington week, moderator yamiche alcindor and her panel discuss the war in ukraine as putin's forces ready for a major assault on the east. plus, the panel analyzes republicans' and democrats' messaging ahead of the midterms. that's tonight on pbs. tomorrow on pbs news weekend, 50 years after giant pandas first arrived at the national zoo in washington dc, why americans are still so enthralled with these gentle giants, and how the scientists in the u.s. and china have successfully restored their once dwindling population. look forward to that. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here on monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and have a good weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

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tonight, what was it like to be president joe biden's campaign strategist and his sister? our special guest this evening, valerie biden owens reflects on what it was like to grow up biden in her new book. california public schools continue to struggle under the pandemic's as enrollment drops again. alyssa mackin makes history as the first women coach on the field. we get a blast from our computer history past. in this week's look at something beautiful.

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