back to you. >> although when i was walking to work this morning and temperatures were in the teens, it helped me to stay warm. so there's that. >> it helps, i know. >> tom costello, always great to see you, my friend. thank you. that's going to wrap up this hour. i'm chris jansing. jose diaz-balart picks up breaking news coverage right now. and good morning. it's 10:00 a.m. eastern, 7:00 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart on a very busy tuesday morning. russia is now claiming that it is starting to pull back troops from the border with ukraine, and that their diplomatic efforts are far from over. but the u.s. is standing by its warning that an invasion could be imminent. here in the u.s., former president trump's longtime accounting firm is cutting ties with his company. says it can't vouch for a decades' worth of financial statements. we'll look at what this means for the trump organization. in washington, just days to go before federal government funding expires, some senators are intent on slowing the

process. and in new york, a community is in mourning after a woman was killed in a stabbing. the latest in a string of violent crimes against asian americans. congresswoman grace meng will join us to discuss. and we begin this morning with a number of fast-moving developments in the escalating crisis between russia and ukraine. russia says that it is pulling troops away from the border with ukraine. and sending them back to their bases. it's the third time moscow has made that claim in the last two months. ukraine's foreign minister says this country will only believe in de-escalation, when he actually sees russian troops pulling back, but new satellite images show russia continuing its troop buildup, with an estimated 130,000 troops in position on different sides of ukraine. moscow also appeared to keep the

diplomatic door open, with russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, telling president vladimir putin the diplomatic options are, quote, far from exhausted. those diplomatic efforts continuing today, with german chancellor olaf schultz meeting with putin in moscow. nato secretary general jens stoltenberg was cautious about the apparent shift in tone from russia. >> there are signs from moscow that diplomacy should continue. this gives grounds for cautious optimism. but so far, we have not seen any sign of de-escalation on the ground. >> so, while the u.s. is hopeful of a diplomatic solution, it is not backing down from its warning that russia could invade ukraine at any time. nbc news has confirmed that the biden administration has formed a so-called tiger team of experts to game out how the u.s. would respond to different scenarios, including a

full-scale russian invasion. the u.s. is also taking no chances in ukraine, relocating staff from the embassy in kyiv, to the western city of la viv. some ukrainians are also not taking a chance with this mother, putting her 6-year-old son on a train to stay with relatives in western ukraine, so she can join the fight against russia, if it comes to that. >> it was very hard. i was looking to his eyes yesterday, and he was saying, mom, i love you, mom, i love you. nothing is value, just freedom. and between death and freedom, we choose freedom. >> with me now to talk about this, nbc news chief foreign correspondent, richard engel in ukraine. evelyn farkas, former senior adviser to the supreme allied commander in europe. john cipher, a former cia clandestine officer who spent time working in russia. he's also co-founder of spy

kraft entertainment. and susan page with "usa today." richard, what should we make of this story that is coming out that may be russia is pulling back troops and that the diplomatic efforts should and are continuing? >> so it seems like russia is playing a bit of carrot and stick. and russia, this morning, made a big show of, of demonstrating to the world that it is pulling back some forces. or that it claims to be pulling back some forces, releasing images that only russia could obtain, because russia does not have free -- does not allow free-ranging reporters on its front lines, access to its troops. so when russia puts out images of its troops, it is on purpose. and it showed russian troops and russian hardware being loaded on to trains, heading back to their paces. so, in one sense, it's showing a kind of de-escalation, but they are in very small numbers, and

then we just heard the stick from vladimir putin. and he was speaking with the german chancellor in moscow. and he used the same kind of rhetoric, the hard-line rhetoric that he's used in the past, saying, what is happening to pro-russian ukrainians in this country is a genocide. and that he said that russia's security concerns, its main concern about nato expansion, has not been addressed, and that it needs to be addressed from his point of view, urgently, in a top priority over the next, he decided, in the very near future. so there is a kind of implied threat there. that, yes, russia can pull back temporarily, or can pull back from part of its cordon, that it's put in place around ukraine, but the implied threat is, russia still has this lingering demand that it wants to address urgently. otherwise, the situation could potentially escalate. so i think it's probably a little too soon to be breathing

a sigh of relief here, especially after hearing putin saying that the west hasn't met his core demands on ukraine and that it needs to happen urgently. >> and richard, it's not like ukraine can do anything that would change what putin thinks or seems to think is going on in ukraine. i mean, there is no genocide going on. >> so, there's two issues. so, one is the issue of the donbass. we often talk about an invasion of ukraine as if it's an all-or-nothing prospect. there is still the possibility that russian forces could move into donbass, this separatist-held area, where russia already has troops. and there was a vote today in the duma, basically, kicking the can up to putin, recommending that putin officially recognize the independence of donbass. and now, he said, that he is studying that law, or that bill,

that has been put up to him. so it is possible that he could decide to recognize donbass, and move in russian forces, officially, as peacekeepers, to prevent this so-called genocide, that is taking place against the people of donbass. now, as you say, we have never seen any evidence of a genocide. i spent weeks with ukrainian troops up and down the borders of the separatist areas. we didn't see much activity. we didn't see any discrimination. we didn't see any violence towards the separatist pro-russian population. and we certainly didn't see any evidence of a genocide. but that is the line that he's been taking, if he wants to use this minimal option, and take a piece of -- a piece of ukraine that he effectively already has. but, he didn't -- if you listen to him, he wasn't just stopping there, because then he was talking about all of ukraine and -- his main issue, which is about nato membership for

ukraine remains unresolved and he wants that addressed now. the implication, now, while he still has, his armies circling the country. >> and of course, there was a genocide of russia against ukraine, in 1932, and 1933. that was a genocide. susan, how is the biden administration looking at all of this? >> well, of course, watching with great interest, these tentative, uncertain signs that russia is looking to de-escalate. a senior state department official talking to reporters late yesterday said that they weren't taking these moves at face value. after all, it is vladimir putin. but reiterated the case that the administration has been making of the high cost moscow will pay for an invasion, both in terms of its economy with the sanctions, in terms of its human cost. this official said that russians will come home in body bags, because of ukrainian -- and also

making one other point. any incursion into ukraine by russian troops will trigger these sanctions, these united nato response, so the escape, the idea that russia could move just into the dunbass, officials say that would not meet the task. >> and the white house putting together a task force to see what possible outcomes and how to react to it. that's kind of new. >> yes, it's a lesson learned, i think, from the afghanistan withdrawal last year. which went so badly, where the allies didn't feel they had been consulted. where the united states did not seem to know what it was doing. u.s. americans and american allies in afghanistan were not protected. they are clearly taking steps now to make sure that they don't repeat those mistakes, jose. >> john, warfare comes in so many different forms. doesn't necessarily need to involve troops in the battlefield. richard was talking a little bit

about what are some of the options that the russian leader could take, as far as ukraine. there are things such as cyber attacks, information warfare. we know putin's goal is to destabilize ukraine. and in many ways, it may have already been successful in destabilizing ukraine. >> that's right. and he's had a gun to ukraine's head and he will continue to have a gun to ukraine's head, even if he pulls back troops here. and frankly, the ukrainians are used to this. they've had eight years of russia trying to destabilize their government. they've had cyber attacks, they've had these -- and we've seen some of it here in the united states, too. so that game is never going to stop. and that's something that the biden administration has to take into account. so even if putin pulls back here, we need to maintain deterrence. part of the problem of this crisis is, you know, we thought putin would change. we gave him outs in the past. we created diplomatic off-ramps for him, and he just took it and

used it against us in the future. so now we can't do that anymore. we have to make sure that we're maintain it strong. he manufactured this crisis and he's going to have to manufacture an excuse to get out of it, if he wants to. >> evelyn, you have an op-ed in "the new york times," talking about how the u.s. cannot repeat what the previous administrations have been doing when it comes to responding putin's actions, including his 2014 invasion of crimea. has the biden administration learned from these mistakes? >> well, i think they have, jose, in the sense that we saw, finally, ambassador linda thomas greenfield, she went -- our u.n. ambassador, went to the u.n. and called the russians out. tried to explain why they're basically menacing ukraine and threatening the international peace and security. so that is a lesson learned, but what i argued for in that piece is not to respond every time to putin as if it's a one-off situation, and go back to what

we were doing before. we immediate to treat russia as it is. it's a rogue actor, now, and we need to treat it the way that we treat other rogue actors, like iran and north korea. and we need to call on the global community, not just our european allies, but allies and partners all across the world, to sanction russia. to, you know, treat it as a diplomatic pariah. so kick it out of international forums. to, again, do everything that we're doing in terms of deterrence, but more on a global level. and that's the distinction that i would make right there, that they started that effort, hopefully they'll go further with that. >> and i'm wondering, evelyn, when russia and especially russian economic interests are so intertwined with european economic interests, you know, there's the pipeline going into germany. there are russian moguls that have, i don't know, soccer teams and investments all over the

european continent. i mean, evelyn, what is it that you do when russia is so much bigger than just its geographic location and they have so many economic interests with european countries and with european governments? >> right, i mean, that's why, jose, we need to be strategic. and that's why we can't just say, oh, there's a crisis with russia, let's diffuse this crisis and move on. we're going to face another crisis with russia if we don't address where russia has us or our allies over the barrel, pun intended. so oil and gas, yes, that's an area where, you know, our european allies in particular, because they rely so heavily on russia for their fuel, they are vulnerable. so we -- we have -- we were working, to some extent under the obama administration to address this. but frankly, the europeans have not been as energetic as they should have. so they're learning the lesson now. so there are other areas, as you said, we need more transparency,

not just in the united kingdom, but also in the united states, when investors come in and they want to purchase soccer teams or real estate in our countries, we need to know exactly who these people are, and what their ties are to vladimir putin. if they are oligarchs, then they likely benefited in a corrupt fashion from vladimir putin and they are also potentially indirectly supporting him. because most of these oligarchs, their money can be accessed by the russian state if it needs it. that's the deal. >> evelyn farkas, richard engel, john paige, thank you so much for being with me this morning. still ahead, we'll talk to a ukrainian journalist about how citizens there are reacting to the constant threat of invasion. plus, why the trump organization's accounting firm is cutting ties with a business. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." ess. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports.

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18 past the hour. this morning, new insight into the ongoing civil and criminal organizations into the trump organization's financial practices. in a letter made public by the new york attorney general in a court filing, former donald trump's longtime accounting firm said it can no longer stand behind a decades' worth of financial statements, but noted that it did not conclude that the statements, as a whole, contain material discrepancies. it also said that it would no longer work with the trump organization. the trump organization says the letter is proof that mazars work

was done in accordance with recommendations and this renders it moot. joining me now, david fahrenthold, who has covered the trump organization for years. david, good morning. exactly what does this mean? what's the significance of this? >> well, look, so the things -- the statements we're talking about here were things that trump would use. he would have his accounts prepared and give to potential lenders, potential business partners. basically a way to tell the world how rich he was. and what is happening now is his accountants are saying, look, we want you to know and other people to know, those statements shouldn't be relied on. ten years of them shouldn't be relied on. the thing that you used to sum up your wealth was not accurate. what that means is that they have discovered what trump gave them, the information they gave him about himself was not accurate. and i think that's important for these cases, because what they're trying to do is prove

that trump lied to his middlemen, to the lawyers, to the assessors, the accountants who represented his wealth to the world. >> and it seems as though this firm is now finding that out or is this something that they found out years ago. >> they're saying that they just now found it out. these statements are weird, because they're made by accountants, but they're not audited. the accountants write a little thing at the beginning saying, hey, look, this document we're going to give you about trump's wealth, it's got a lot of numbers, but we didn't check these numbers. our job was to take these numbers he gives us about the values of his properties, put them on a piece of paper, print them out and give them to you. they said originally that they didn't check them. and now they say, we've now checked them and gone back and looked and they don't seem to be accurate. and that's an important statement that the accountants and the attorney general have now looked behind all of these numbers to see if trump was knowingly lying about them. >> meanwhile, the attorney

general's office released this letter in court filings, as part of her civil investigation, pushing back against trump's claims, the investigation is illegitimate. whereas the trump organization is making it sound like this letter was good news. where is that different? >> well, that's sort of the way that the trumps play everything. i don't think that we should be surprised that they're not in agreement with the ag. if you read that letter carefully, the accounting firm is saying, we have not found evidence that this letter as a whole or a misrepresentative. that's not the same as saying that we have found evidence that those letters are accurate. they're just saying, we haven't drawn a conclusion about this whole effort. and i think that the trump folks are trying to push that into, actually, we checked and things are fine. but it would be odd if the accountants said, we checked, everything is fine, but we're dropping you as a client and we should not rely on anything we did for you over the last ten years. >> it is certainly unusual, to say the least. david fahrenthold, thank you so much for being with me this morning. appreciate it. >> thank you.

up next, with covid cases trending down, the debate over wearing masks is heating up. we'll talk to a doctor about the confusion over when to wear them. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." them you're watching "jose you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. and they say yeah. and they stay there, up, down, up, down. never lose confidence in how you run your business. intuit is bringing quickbooks and mailchimp together to help you set up and g dj khaled: man, i love this scent. every business is on a journey. and along the ride, you'll find many challenges. ♪ your dell technologies advisor can help you find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. unitedhealthcare medicare plans offer more... like the “visit a doctor anywhere our rv takes us” plan. and the “zero copays means more money for rumba lessons” plan. find the right plan for you from unitedhealthcare. get medicare with more. we're hoping things will pick up by q3.

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25 past the hour. as communities across the country continue to drop nationwide, the cases of covid as well, the debate over mask mandates might intensify. washington, d.c. is the latest city to end its indoor mask mandate for places like restaurants skbrs and gyms and d of this month. children under 5 are ineligible for the shot. joining me now are tom costello ander we know redlener at columbia university and an msnbc public health analyst. tell us about how families across the country react to these lingering mask mandates in places like schools? >> i think that a lot of people are just really confused. because these are still the recommended thing for all of us

to wear, if we're in a high-transmission rate zone. and right now, 99% of counties in the country are high transmission rate zones, as they say. at the same time, hospitalizations are declining. deaths are still high in hospitals, but they're also declining. but the pediatric cases right now are concerning, especially, of course, as we relate to the fact that kids under 5 are not eligible for a vaccine. so right now, we have 300,000 pediatric covid cases in the last week. still a very high number. and as you mentioned, d.c. is dropping the indoor mask mandate on march 1st. however, it's still going to require them in schools. other states are doing the same thing. california, illinois, new york, virginia, all announcing plans to drop the indoor mask mandate, but keeping the mask requirement in schools in place for now, because, of course, you have an at-risk population, if you're talking about preschoolers and kindergartners, who may not yet be eligible for the vaccine. and then kids older than 5, who simply have not had the vaccine.

maybe their parents are reluctant to do that. the question really is for the experts, and i've got to tell you, i don't think there's a real, solid, agreed upon answer yet. and that is, at what point, if the levels get below ten cases, for example, per 100,000, at that point, can you drop the mask for children? or because they are still vulnerable and many are not yet protected, do you keep the mask mandate in place? this is really confusing to not only professionals, but families trying to navigate this. >> and that's why we're so fortunate to have dr. redlener with us. doctor, how would you answer that question that tom was asking? >> well, tom put it really very well. and so did you, jose. we have a significant amount of confusion among the population. and the reason is that, you know, the federal government really cannot issue a nationwide mandate to do things like masking.

and it's left up to states and even certain localities to make their own decisions. so what you get is this hodgepodge of rulings and other things. california will drop rulings very shortly, but certain places like santa clara and california are still sustaining those rules. so there's no -- it's no wonder that people and parents in particular are are confused. as far as children are concerned, the point is, examination as you just -- you and tom just stated. children are not vaccinated, either because they're still not eligible, if they're under 5, or they are eligible, but they're not getting the shots, which means that we have about 20% of 5 to 11-year-olds vaccinated and 80% not vaccinated. and this leaves those children, that age group at risk for contracting it. it's not just themselves that we're worried about. if they get infected with covid

and bring it home, even if they are not particularly symptomatic, but they can expose older adults, vulnerable people living in their household, et cetera, to this infection. and it's kind of a political and policy mess right now. >> doctor, while we're on the topic of kids, pfizer updated its request for kids under 5. what do you see there? what's going on? >> well, i think pfizer and the fda were in a rush to get approval for vaccinations of kids under 5. and i think the studies weren't quite ready. now, on the one hand, it was unfortunate that they sort of rushed to judgment there. on the other hand, it shows that the system is actually working, because the fda and pfizer looked at the data at the last minute and said, you know, we're still not happy with where this

is. and i think we need to wait a while, do some more tests, figure out what the doses are in those younger children. yeah, it was a policy, you know, blunder in a way, and a public messaging blunder, but it really reassured me that we have a system that is in place and that works. >> dr. irwin redlener and my dear friend, tom costello, thank you very much for being with me this morning. by the way, an update on a story that we've been following for you. tennis star novak djokovic says he's willing to sacrifice competing in upcoming tournaments to avoid the covid vaccine. he told the bbc today, quote, the principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else. djokovic was booted from australia last month, right before the australian open, because he was not vaccinated. djokovic says that he is not anti-vaccine, he just supports the right to choose what goes in his body. up next, we'll go back to kyiv for reaction on the ground

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36 past the hour. i'm going to try to take a moment to try to answer some very important questions about russia, ukraine, and the crisis there. why is it happening now? why is putin risking the deaths of his own soldiers and likely crippling the russian economy if he decides to invade ukraine? well, like so many global conflicts, this one is rooted in history, geography, and personal ego. >> reporter: for years, vladimir putin has complained that the u.s. and west have lied to russia and have forced him to take action. you promised out in the 1990s that nato would not move an inch to the east, he said, just weeks ago. you cheated once shamelessly. michael mcfaul is the former u.s. ambassador to russia. >> putin has said the west, the

united states, is provoking us, provoking me. >> that's ridiculous. let's be clear. nobody is provoking putin. >> reporter: this was how europe was alined at the peak of the cold war. split between willing nato allies in blue to the west, and in red, countries that the soviet union used brutal force to keep in line with them. but when the soviet union fell, these eastern european countries, now free, aligned with the u.s. and nato. russia's fear of influence and its geographic buffer against nato now shrunk considerably. five nato countries even border russia and many now host u.s. military bases. and ukraine, it sits here. almost alone, between russia and the west. too many people are believing that this is somehow about nato expansion, when it's really about an unprovoked military invasion, should putin decide to go in. >> reporter: many are wondering, why ukraine and why now. >> well, why now, i think, because president putin has been obsessed with bringing ukraine

back into subjugation to russia. putin believes that the slavic nation of which he considers russians and ukrainians to be part of a single nation was unfairly and incorrectly broken up during the collapse of the soviet union, 1991. >> reporter: a full-scale invasion would be the biggest conflict in europe since world war ii. and with russia, a huge provider of oil to the world, gas prices are likely to go higher. they've already hit their highest level in eight years. >> i think the mistake we make in the west, sometimes, is we think that putin is some kind of rational actor, calculating the cost/benefit analysis of invasion, when, in fact, he's thinking about his place in the history books 50 years from now. >> by the way, some have wondered why we pronounce ukraine's capital as kyiv instead of kyiv, kyiv is how ukrainians say it, kyiv is how russians say it. let's continue taking a closer look at the current situation in ukraine. with me now from kyiv is a

ukrainian journalist and ceo and co-founder of the public interest journalism lab. nahhaltha, it's good to see you again. how are ukrainians looking at this news from russia that it claims to be pulling back some of its troops? >> it really gives a bit of hope. however, trust is not yet there, because nato also said that it's not really the sign of de-escalation. there were very hard last days after such a precision prediction that things might happen and really up to the air strike in kyiv, as close as tomorrow. so that, given a bit of calmness, because ukrainians are taking the situation way more seriously. in particularly, not because of just announcement, but because it's said that the russian troops are ready to attack. so they have the capability at the moment. we know it's not yet the decision.

i also spend the last three days traveling along the conflict line, in the eastern ukraine, in the region of the donbass, talking to quite a lot of people there. today, the russian parliament voted for -- and ask vladimir putin, the president of russia to recognize the breakaway territories, churned russian control for the last eight years, to be recognized as sovereign and independent. it's a quiet escalation. in other circumstances, we also would say that it could be used to provoke ukraine. it's not yet recognized, but the rest stops -- and those on this side also believe that if these things happen, they might happen exactly there, in the region of the donbass, even if this situation de-escalates a bit. know that it's hard to believe that nothing would happen, at least at that area. because it woulds a give -- not an exit strategy, it's either an

exit strategy for vladimir putin or a good place to start. >> and coming up on the eighth anniversary of that incursion. the last time i was able to speak with you was late in january, about three and a half weeks ago. you were talking about how people were calm and there weren't a lot of signs of panic, such as hoarding groceies or filling up gas tanks. how has the situation changed or has i changed since the last time i was fortunate enough to speak to you? >> so, it was like that for quite a long time. and since then, i also traveled to different parts of the country and talked to a lot of people. moreover, people were even less shocked and more resilient, more prepared, because they were confident that the russian -- that ukraine is unconquerable. even though russia is a formidable force, ukraine would still resist. however, those last dates were very tricky, because the -- also, the announcement, the

precision of the date of intelligence. and i may confirm, yes, it's serious. it's not a hoax. so, that made people especially in the capital worried. elsewhere, it's definitely, definitely calmer. but what worries me, i should say, the big sign, was, of course, the abdication of the persona of the western embassy. one of the airlines canceled its flights. for me, the disturbing thing is also the osc's special mission, which monitor the situation on the ground in the donbass is also pulling out its stuff. but when we expect any possible, let's say, operation, or, you know, provocation, there should be some people on the ground. that makes me really worried that this signs, you know, the security and the safety of the

foreign citizens, that makes ukraines very worried, they understand it's very serious. but some things probably also makes ukrainians worried that it's also a huge hit to the economy. because we believe it's not about tomorrow, it's about like, being in this mood the next months. >> and we can't stop shining a light on ukraine. natalia, thank you so much for being with me. i appreciate your time. and by the way, we're being told that president biden is, as we speak, in a conversation, phone conversation with french president macron to deal with specifically the crisis in ukraine. also, foreign russian minister lavrov is having a conversation with secretary of state tony blinken as we speak. time now to look at more headlines beyond our borders. as the focus is on ukraine, putin's most vocal critic, alexei navalny, who was already in prison, is now quietly facing

charges that could keep him locked up for at least ten more years. the russian government accusing him of stealing thousands from his anti-corruption foundation, the foundation calling the charges absurd. the u.s. is formally requesting the arrest and extradition of juan orlando fernandez, less than three weeks after he left office. he faces drug trafficking charges. he took to twitter this morning in this blackout audio-only tweet, saying that he is, quote, ready to cooperate with the investigation and to go to court when ordered. and now to this bizarre video out of mexico. take a look at this, security footage showing hundreds of birds falling from the sky mid-flight. some of them actually dying. the yellow-headed blackbirds

migrate from canada to mexico for the winter. authorities still don't know what was behind this sudden drop. look at this video. so amazing. hope they're all right. still ahead, the horrific murder of an asian woman in new york city. the suspect stalking the victim before police say he killed her. we'll talk to congresswoman grace meng about the rise in violence against asian women, next. congresswoman, assist pleasure to see you. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." to see you you're watching "jose you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports. find the right tech solutions. so you can stop at nothing for your customers. hearing is important to living life to the fullest. th why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find a better life. it all starts with the most innovative technology. like the new miracle-earmini, available exclusively at miracle-ear. so small that no one will see it, but you'll notice the difference. and now, miracle-ear is offering a thirty-day risk-free trial.

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49 past the hours. we're learning more details about a murder that's shaken new york city and exacerbated the fear felt by its asian american community. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: overnight, a growing makeshift memorial in front of a new york city apartment building, honoring christina yuna lee, after police say a man followed her home and attacked her, stabbing her to death. authorities say that just before 4:30 sunday morning, they responded to a 911 call from an apartment building in chinatown. this security video obtained by nbc news appears to show lee being followed by the suspect. when they arrived, the door was barricaded. when cops went into the apartment, investigators say they found the body of a 35-year-old woman, later identified as lee, in her bathroom, and the suspect

covered in blood. police say that asama nash was arrested and charged with lee's murder. this was his eighth arrest since 2021. lee's death neighbors. >> take marks the last day of the spring festival of the lunar new year, a time when our community should be celebrating, but instead we, kristina's family and her friends are mourning her loss. >> reporter: the police have not identified a motive for the crime. members of the asian american community say they don't feel safe. >> this is about the community and our elected officials need to do something much different because this is -- this was all avoidable. >> this is just the or orf it all. thanks to gabe gutierrez for that report and joining me is a new york congresswoman, first asian american to represent new york in congress. congresswoman, thanks for being with me this morning.

the murder comes weeks after another asian american, michelle goh was killed when pushed on a subway track. you spoke to her family after the murder. what are you hearing from them? >> sure. thanks, jose, thanks for having me in and covering this issue. this is a time the asian american community here in new york and across the country are terrified. they are scared to leave their homes, scared to ride mass transit. i did meet with michelle gho's shortly after her tragedy and while they ask the justice they want to make sure we're doing everything we can to strengthen the infrastructure and to make sure that there is a better system in place for people like her attacker who need help to get the help they so desperately need. >> this is an attack on an entire community in our country. these two high-profile incidents

might not be designated as hate crimes by police but that doesn't change the fear many people feel, congresswoman, on a daily basis. a recent report for the center for the study of hate and extremism found more than a 300% increase in anti-asian hate crimes last year. is enough being done? this is a systematic attack at an important part of our country's communities. >> definitely. not every incident is a hate crime. there are both bias incidents to hate crimes to verbal attacks, but that doesn't change the fact that people are terrified. the stats speak for themselves, the numbers that you've shown and that you've report here on the show have shown that literally these incidents have risen, and people are literally scared to leave their homes. >> so congresswoman what, needs to be done to change this?

>> so there is clearly a need for an increase investment in funding in supportive services, social services to mental health services to housing. over 50% of the cases that happen to asian americans in new york city alone occurred by people who suffered from mental health issues. right now in new york city and many parts of the country what we have is a situation where people who have mental health issues and/or are homeless are pretty much housed in our streets and our subway system or in shelters that they simply feel -- they even feel are too dangerous to live in, and some of our shelters don't even allow them to stay in the buildings during the day. in the winter where people have nowhere to go and who no one to depend on it is understandable

that they are just out in the streets or in the subways where it's warm. we need to as a country, and we did this on the federal level to invest more funding in our states for institutions and programs, to expand laws like kendra's law that new york passed. >> congresswoman, thank you so much. it's also, you know, incredible to think that this person charged -- accused of killing lee had been arrested eight times and now there he was. congresswoman, pleasure to see are you? thanks for having me. >> the government runs out of money in three days. will congress be able to do something to avoid a shutdown? you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports." you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports.

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challenges in the senate. joining me now to cuss is jake sherman, co-founder of "punchbowl news." what are these obstacles? >> two obstacles at the moment. number one is a push by senator mike lee and a punch of republicans to strip money for vaccine mandates. this is something they tried last time around in the last government funding fight. did not work, and it looks like it will not work again this time. they are demanding an amendment vote which democratic leaders hope will fail. number two, senator blackburn, republican from tennessee, is trying to find out more information about why she thinks, this is not confirmed in any way, shape or firm, why she thinks the government is handing out crack pipes to people. the boyden administration has said they are not handing out crack pipes, and there's no truth to said situation, but she's waiting on a response from hhs, and i would only say this. i mean, these are -- there's not a lot of time to solve these problems. as you noted the government runs

out of money at the end of this week, so they need to figure this out in the next couple of days. >> jake, quickly, national security adviser jake sullivan privately briefed lawmakers on ukraine yesterday. any idea of how it went? >> it went well as these things can go, as that part of the world is on the brink of war, maybe less so today than before. the big news is the $1 billion in loan guarantees for ukraine, something that sullivan told members of the house and the senate,ing this they were both happy about and happy that the administration is taking control of the administration. >> jake sherman, it's a pleasure to see you, my friend. pleasure to be with you this morning. >> thank you. >> that wraps up this hour. i'm jose diaz-balart. be sure to follow the show online at jdbalart on msnbc. >> good tuesday morning.

i'm in for craig melvin this morning. a lot of fast-moving developments to tell but in the last few minutes. the biden administration is working the phones hard right now. in fact, in the last 20 minutes we got word that president biden was on the phone with french president emmanuel macron and minutes before that we learned secretary of state blinken had a call of his own with his counterpart in russia and this blitz comes as moscow is now pulling back some of its troops in the region, at least they say so. it's still got 130,000 soldiers on the border with ukraine. ukranian leaders have a simple message. we'll believe when we see it. also right now. the federal hate crimes trial against the three men convicted of murdering ahmaud arbery is under way in georgia. what we're hearing from witness eses this morning in court and why experts say the stakes in this case are sky high. and we're following breaking news. we just got a major announcement in a legal case between familiar lifts shooting victims