central america illegal immigrants. that basically tells you the problem. >> you know, not being returned to countries where there are problems, haiti, cuba, i mean, so many, and yet no problem. they are being deported no questions asked. thank you so much for being with us. >> that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thanks for the privilege of your time. be sure to follow the show on instagram. yasmin voussoughian picks up the show right now. >> i'm here in new york city and any moment now the president will speak at the white house. two sources are telling nbc news he's pected to announce the u.s. is going to ban imports of russian oil today so this is coming at a major moment of pressure for americans at the gas pump. the national average for a gallon of gas, it's the most

expensive it has ever been in this country. that is according to the aaa. so what will this do to russia, and, by the way, how did the united states keep these prices in check? also this, mo, ukraine's president renewing his pleas for a no-fly zone. he's angry with the west for not implementing one so far and blaming russia for civilian deaths, and that defiance, it extends beyond words to actions. overnight in a video he appeared from his own presidential office. despite being the number one target of russia he says he's staying in the capital city not hiding and not afraid of right now the efforts to evacuate civilians through humanitarian corridors is intensifying. sumy in the northeastern part of the country near kharkiv was the target of an attack. the ministry says it killed a number of civilians. so far 2 million refugees, 2 million, have fled this war, including children.

according to the united nations, but for the people staying behind a message we all need to hear. >> we are bombed every day, every night, and non-stop. >> enjoy what you have. enjoy peace. it's really valuable. don't take for granted what you have now because it's so vulnerable. >> i want to go to our reporters in ukraine in moment, but we want to start at the white house first as we await the president. nbc's carol lee is there. also want to bring in zshau ling kenet who has been keeping her eye on the markets and rising gas prices as well. carol, let me talk to you about this one. talk to me about the timing of this announcement, what we'll be hearing from the president in moments as we wait for him to come live to us from the roosevelt room and also whether or not european allies are going to be getting on board because we know up until this point they have been reluctant so far to ban russian oil imports.

>> yeah, that's right, yasmin, they have really not wanted to have to take this step for obvious reasons. europe would have a far more detrimental impact to the european economy if they were to ban russian oil imports, so we're expecting the president to announce that he has decided that the u.s. is going to ban russian oil imports and just to put this in some context, this is a pretty significant shift for this white house. as you'll recall just a week ago this was an idea that the administration and this administration was pretty cool to, and what we've seen over the past week is a lot of pressure coming from congress. president zelenskyy has put pressure on the administration to take steps like this and urpsians frankly, and so now we're hearing from the white house that this is something that the president has come around to, and he's going to do. now, this was also something that could have happened either way given the way that this was tracking in congress, but the white house clearly wants to get out ahead here and take this step first so we don't know

exactly the details of what the president is going to announce. one of the things that everyone will be looking for is what he has to say in terms of mitigating the impact on gas prize other in the country as you just went through. they are going higher. they are high and they are going to get even higher so there are a number of steps that the administration has said that they are considering to try to mitigate that. what specifics we'll get from the president today, something that we'll really be watching for and to your point against the allies, this is the first time in this since the invasion in ukraine where the u.s. and its european allies are not expected to be moving in lock step. we heard from the president of germany, the chancellor of germany saying that germany is not ready to go there right now. they obviously get far more russian oil than the u.s. does so it would have more of an impact there. there are reports out there that the uk may take this similar step to limit russian oil imports. we may not confirm them

ourselves, so it's the phase of the -- of the response to the russian invasion where the u.s. and its allies may not necessarily be taking the exact same steps, but we've heard from the white house that they understand that there are different calculations here that president biden has to make versus some of these european leaders. >> the dependence is much larger than when it comes on dependence on oil from russia compared to ours here in the united states. talk to things that carol just laid out. first and foremost are the highest gas prices, the highest they have ever been from aaa. that's really concerning for folks here in the united states. i think the major question here is how does the united states keep these prices in check? how do they fill the gap? what are some of the options that we're expecting to hear from the? >> there's additional calls to release more strategic reserves but the ban on russian imports of gas and oil, the amount is relatively limited, so analysts are saying that you can make up the gap, so to speak, but i'm

watching the dow and the s&p 500. they are just about even today. it seems like a lot of the concern going into this announcement has been baked in, priced in, but, yeah, we do know the record prices of an average gallon of gasoline right now is $4.17. that's never been seen before since analysts have been keeping track of this, so when you look at the overall picture here. this move by the u.s. depending on what happens out of eu will continue, could continue to push prices higher. now what does that mean for people. it means that also with inflation, you'll have inflation at 7.5%, right? people are really feeling pain on the budget. 50% of americans live paycheck to paycheck and gas buddy expects that gas prize will continue to rise 40 to 50 cents in the coming days and weeks and that was before nbc confirmed its report begun what the support about to announce when

it comes to the russian ban of oil. as you look ahead, the concerns also fall on airlines on how much you'll be paying for air fare. we do know so much of what hits an airline, especially as they try to come out of covid is how much jet fuel costs and that jet fuel has already been increasing so much over the past few months and that is going to be borne by -- it's going to basically hit consumers and the price of how much you pay will -- you will be affected by, that so if you think about it as you plan your spring break trips and your summer road trips, things like that, you should expect to budget a lot more for what you're paying not just at the pump but airfare and costs beyond that. you can expect small businesses to be hit very hard by the rising prices. they already are when it comes to restaurants and small businesses. any sort of transportation-related businesses. we've been talking to uber

drivers who will be changing their routes, the hours that they work and the amount that they are able to work and the amount they are able to provide to their families because of these higher prices. i also spoke to some drivers yesterday about, you know, what is it like being a driver when you know that perhaps, you know, you're supportive of ukraine. you feel like, you know, you see the geopolitical conflict unfolding. one driver said this is the price that you pay and she's willing to bear that cost and stretch her budget in order to do her part, so to speak. >> which speaks to the communication coming out of white house, how they will talk about this to the american people, to explain their decision as we see these price hikes at the pump. thank you both, guys. keeping our eyes, of course, on the is roosevelt room as we await the president there. want to go to our team in eastern europe starting with nbc's erin mclaughlin in lviv for us in the western part of

ukraine. you've been speaking to people in sumy, the city where a humanitarian corridor appears to be holding as of now after being hit in a strike overnight. ukraine's presidential office saying a second civilian evacuation convoy has in fact started to leave there. what can you tell us about those evacuation efforts? >> yeah. well, this is looking like a rare success in terms of humanitarian convoys being set up inside ukraine. a number have been attempted and a number have failed in various besieged cities and this looks to be working for now. how long it will last we do not know. they have managed to evacuate a number of civilians including about 1,000 foreign students from the city itself which has been besieged and surrounded by russian forces for days, this following overnight, according to ukranian officials, russian forces dropped 1,000-pound bombs

on residential areas inside the city killing at least 21 civilians including 22 chirp. we have been unable to confirm or corroborate that death toll, but i was speaking to a woman inside the city who heard the bombs drop. she has friends who lost their homes in that attack and when she woke up this morning and suddenly found this corridor was opening she was deeply skeptical. she was scared to leave and still didn't want to go. she's there with her mother and grandmother and was worried that if they left russian forces would fire upon them. it's a different picture entirely in irpin which is in the kyiv region. they have managed to get 2,000 civilians out of that area today, although there's no official cease-fire agreed upon by russian-ukranian forces. they managed to take advantage of a lull in the artillery fire. again, it's a totally different situation in mariupol, a besieged city in the south where 200,000 people are currently trapped and surrounded by russian forces with no food, no

water and no power. i was just speaking to a woman on the phone. she has been unable to reach her elderly parents who are trapped inside the city. she hasn't talked to them for seven days. >> wow. >> the only clue as to their condition came two days ago. a neighbor managed to call her brother an tell him in a ten-second phone conversation that her parents are alive, but her question to me was for how long, and how long can they continue with no water, no sustenance and no way out? this is the reality facing hundreds of thousands of ukranians right now, yasmin, devastating painting that picture on the ground there and the heartbreak of what is ahead and not really knowing. erin mclaughlin, i'll let you get to it. thanks for joining us on this. want to go now to jay gray who is in poland for us. jay, you and i spoke yesterday. today we've hit this new number of 2 million refugees now have officially left ukraine seeking refuge outside of that country

in places like hungary and poland where you r.talk to me about what you're seeing there on the ground this morning. >> yasmin, we're at the mydeka crossing. i want you to look this way because that's where people are gathering to grab a bus. they have just gotten into the country, looking to get on a bus. the buses here will take them to the train station where we spoke from yesterday where they will try as best as they can to try to move further into poland or even into europe. look down the road here though, and we're on what is the walkway, the footpath to come in through ukraine and into poland. we're talking to people today here who have spent two, three days walking just to get here and carrying what legal they can and what they will they have on

their back. some carrying children for two or three days. you get the same sense from those that i've talked to her. once you get here you're so excited you got here because you've pulled them from the war and get them to safety. let's say you get on that bus and get on that train, most people say i don't know what i did once i land, i don't know where i'm going and they have left their husband, their father behind to fight and they don't want to get too far away from here. they want to get back from here and it's such a tug-of-war from these families who are dealing with so much and moving into this area. it's a tough go and the crowds, they have been unbelievable. we've really seen the flow of refugees pick up dramatically

over the next couple of days. >> this crisis is growing it seems with no end in sight. >> jay gray for now, thank you for your reporting on this. we have so much more to cover this hour, everybody. we're watching the white house where we you're pecting to seat president any moment now on his russian oil ban. we'll take you there live as soon as he gets started. first though at this moment the leaders of the u.s. intelligence community are testifying on capital about the biggest security threats facing this country. what they have said this morning about the threat from russia. our own garrett hakee is going to join us live coming up next. g to join us live coming up next the only thing fresher than their bread is the guy reading this. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and refreshing and re-

no one thinks about their hearing until you start losing it. and then you think about it a lot. this doesn't help and the whole process of getting them is a royal pain in the ..... ear. if only there was a better way. this is eargo, yes right here. incredible right? what's more you get all the support you need all from here. sitting right here.

welcome back, everybody. right now the house intel committee is in hour two of its hearing on worldwide threats. capitol hill correspondent garrett haake has been listening over moment. want to hand our coverage over to him for a minute. garrett, take us through it. >> reporter: yeah. the committee has been hearing testimony from the nation's top intelligence chiefs about the entire array of threats facing this country, but the violence in ukraine has played heavily no what we've been hearing so far, from dni director and the cia director bill burns, sharing their concerns about vladimir putin's future moefshs especially in the face of the crippling sanctions and the surprisingly fierce resistance he's been experiencing from ukranian forces. take a listen. >> our analysts assess that had

putin is up likely to be deterred by such setbacks and may escalate, essentially doubling down to achieve ukranian neutrality and disarmament to prevent it from further integrating with the u.s. and nato. >> putin is angry and frustrated. heel try to grind down the ukranian military with no regard to civilian casualties. >> now this is typically a hearing that covers a wide variety of threats, everything from china, iran, north korea and the report that there are companies that does all of that, and even talks about the threats from climate change and in covid-19, but as i mentioned this hearing has been dominated by the committee's concerns about russia, their invasion into ukraine. it's interesting. there's a report that goes along with this hearing that came out in february before the invasion started, and it warns about russian aggression potentially in ukraine and the buildup of military forces there, and as hearing has progressed, we've

started to see a differentiation, democrats asking some of the broader questions about how the u.s. can be involved and republicans under the leadership of the new top republican on this panel, a guy named mike turner from ohio who took over for devon nuance this year, particularly concerned about russian nuclear deterrence and what the u.s. nuclear posture is vis-a-vis russia so, again, a very interesting hearing, already well under way that has a classified component that will happen this afternoon. to be a fly on the wall in that hearing would be very interesting. i want to bring in lieutenant governor ben hodges, a commanding general in europe from 2014 to 2017. he knows this theater well, and general, i was struck by the q&a here where the defense intelligence agency witness here said that we had some between 2,000 and 4,000 russians killed but that that may not be really affecting vladimir putin's calculus. he perceives the conflict as a

war he cannot afford to lose. as we look as the escalating costs for putin and how dug in he may be, how should that affect u.s. military thinking, the administration's strategic thinking about this conflict? >> well, thank you. the number of russian troops killed is not going to matter to president putin. it would only matter to their families and to russian domestic population so one of our objectives clearly has to be how do we make -- how do we get past the kremlin's block of social media and real journalism? how do we reach those families inside ukraine so that they understand what the price is and what's actually going on? most russians don't have access to reliable news or reliable information, and so i think an information effort is probably being planned already by the administration. would i certainly look at this as an important way to influence

what's happening inside of russia because the kremlin themselves absolutely do not care how many soldiers are lost or how many ukranian civilians they kill. >> it feels like cheap punditry how much the russians have underperformed and cleary will underestimating the pushback that they would see from the ukranian forces. as someone who sat in europe looking to the east at the russian military for a number of years, are you surprised at all that the russian military has kind of stumbled in this conflict so far? >> i am. i'm a little bit embarrass that had i had overestimated their capabilities when i was the commander of u.s. army europe. certainly they have certainly technological advancements and the modernization effort which began in 2007 has produced a lot of capability, but we know from history as far as our own experience. you can have all of the

technology, but if you don't have -- if it's not employed correctly and if the enemy that our fighting against is fighting for something that's so important the way the ukranians are, that often counters technological advantages. i would also say that the russians are demonstrating that they haven't trained at the same level of sophistication and complexity that we do and they don't have the experience of operating at this level and on this scale. most of what they have done in syria and ukraine where they had success was done by a very small part of the army, airborne forces, special forces and mersry, and now they have got everybody in there, so the effect of this lack of proper training and discipline, no sergeants like we have in the u.s. army and marine corps, it's revealing itself. >> don't feel bad for overestimating them because it

seems clear from this hearing that the russian government overstilled how the redness of their own troops here. general, this hearing comes along with a companion report bought out by the director of national intelligence. it's fascinating. i'll tweet the link later for the folks in our audience who want to go through it but it ticks through all the other issues, the worldwide threats, whether it's china. russia comes vekd in this report, iran, north korea, health, security, covid and climate change. given the hot war that we've got going on in europe, how should policy-makers think about all of those other threats in the context of the one big thing that we've all been so intensely focused on? >> this is a great point and one of the things that you just showed is a serious challenge for the united states, and i would imagine that every one of the agencies that's represented in that hearing today has real professionals who have been warning exactly what russia was doing, but this is a common

policy failure to think that we could only deal with one threat or we only deal with the threats that we want to deal with versus technology and the fact that we don't choose the threats. we can only prioritize and it's not uncommon in government, not unique to any one administration. if there's a threat that shows us that doesn't fit the direction that you want to go, we can sometimes -- >> general, i apologize. got to cut you off. the president is at the podium. let's take a listen. >> we're banning all imports of russian oil and gas and energy. that means russian oil will no longer be accept and at u.s. ports, and the american people will deal another powerful blow to putin's war machine. this is a mode that has strong bipartisan support from the congress and i believe in the country. americans have rallied to support the ukranian people and made it clear that we'll not be part of subsidizing putin's war this. made -- we made this decision in

close consultation with our allies and our partners around the world, particularly in europe because a united response to putin's aggression that is been my overriding focus to keep all nato and all of the eu and our allies totally united. we're moving forward with this ban understanding that many of our european allies and partners may not be in a position to join us. the united states produces far more oil domestically than all of -- all the european countries combined. in fact, we're a net exporter of energy so we can take this step when others cannot, but we're working closely with europe and our partners to develop a long-term strategy to reduce their dependence on russian energy as well. our teams are actively discussing how to make this happen, and today we remain united, remain united in our purpose, to keep pressure mounting on putin and his war machine. this is a step that we're taking to inflict further pain on

putin, but there will be cost as well here in the united states. i said i would level with the american people from the beginning, and when i first spoke to this i said defending freedom is going to cost. it's going to cost us as well in the united states. republicans and democrats understand. republicans and democrats alike have been clear that we must do this. over the last week i spoke with president zelenskyy several times about the situation on the ground and to consult and continue to consult with our european allies and u.s. support for ukraine and the ukranian people. thus far we've provided more than $1 billion in security assistance to ukraine, shipments of defense you have weapons are arriving every day from the united states, and we, the united states, are amongst the coordinating of our allies and partners of similar weapons from germany to finland to the netherlands. we're working that out.

we're also providing humanitarian support for the ukranian people, both those still in ukraine and those who have fled safely to neighboring countries. we're working with humanitarian organizations to surge tons of food, water, medical supplies into ukraine and with more on the way. over the weekend i sent secretary blinken to visit the border between poland and ukraine and moldova to report back. general milley of our defense department was also in europe meeting with his counterparts and allies on nato's eastern flank to reassure them those countries bordering russia, nato countries, that we'll keep our nato commitment, sacred commitment of article five. the vice president harris is going to be traveling to meet with our allies in poland and romania later this week as well. i've made it clear that the

united states will share in the responsibility of caring for the refugees so the costs do not fall entirely on the european countries bordering ukraine, and yesterday i spoke with my counterparts in france, germany and the united kingdom about russia's escalating violence against ukraine, and the steps that we're going to take together with our allies and partners around the world to respond to this aggression. we are enforcing the most significant package of economic sanctions in history, and it's causing significant damage to russia's economy. it has caused the russian economy to frankly crater. russian ruble is now down to 50, by 50% since president putin announced the war. one ruble is now worth than less than one american penny and preventing russia's central bank from propping up the ruble and to keep its value up. they are not going to be able to do that now. we cut russia's largest banks

from the international financial system and it's crippled their ability to do business with the rest of the world. in addition, we're choking off russia's access to technology like semiconductors and zapped its economic strength and weakened its military for years to come. major companies are pulling out of russia entirely without even being asked, not by us. over the weekend visa, mastercard, american express, they all suspended their services in, are all of them, joining a growing list of global and american companies from ford to nike to apple, they have suspended theirrations in russia. the u.s. stock exchange has halted traded on many russian securities and the pricht sector is united against the vicious choice of war. the u.s. department of justice has as bald a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of russian oligarchs and we're joining with our european allies

to find ands so their yachts, luxury apartments, private jets and all their ill begotten gains to share in the pain of putin's war. these giant yachts, one i read was over 400 feet long. this is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. the decision today is not without cost here at home. putin's war is already hurting american families at the gas pump. since putin began his military buildup on ukranian borders, just since then the price of the gas at the pump in america went up 75 cents wand this action it's going to go up further. i'm going do everything i can to minimize putin's price hike here at home. in coordination with our partners we've released we're releasing 60 million barrels of oil from the joint reserves, half of that, 30 million, excuse me, is coming from the united states and we're taking steps to ensure the reliable supply of

global energy. we're going to keep working with every tool at our disposal to protect american families and businesses. let me say this. to the oil and gas companies and to the finance firms that back them, we understand putin's war against the people of ukraine is causing prices to price and we get that, but, burks but, it's not excuse to introduce excessive prices or padding profits or any effort to exploit this situation for american consumers, exploit them. russia's aggression is costing us all, and it's no time for profiteering or price gauging. i want to be clear about what we'll not tolerate but i want to acknowledge those firms and oil and gas industries that are pulling out of russia and joining other businesses that are leading by exam. this is a time when we have to do our part and make sure that we're not taking advantage.

look, let me be clear about two other points. first, it's simply not true that my administration or policies are holding back domestic energy production. that's simply not true. even amid the pandemic, companies in the united states pump more oil during my first year in office than they did during my predecessor's first year. we're approaching record levels of oil and gas production in the united states and we're on track to set a record oil production next year. in the united states 90% of onshore oil production takes place on land that isn't owned by the federal government and of the remaining 10% that occurs on federal land the oil and gas industry has millions of acres leased. they have 9,000 permits to drill now. they could be drilling right now yesterday, last week, last year. they have 9,000 to drill onshore that are already approved so let

me be clear. let me be clear. they are not using them for production now. that's their decision. these are the faction. we should be honest about the facts. second, this crisis is a stark reminder to protect our economy over the long term we need to become energy independent. i've had numerous conversations over the last three months to our european friends how they themselves have to be weaned off of russian oil. it's just not tenable. it should motivate to us accelerate to a transition of clean energy. this is a perspective that our european allies share and the future where together we can achieve greater independence. loosening environmental regulations or pulling back clean energy investment won't, won't, will not lower energy prices for families but transforming our economy to run on electric vehicles powered by clean technology with tax credits to help people winterize

their home, that will help fanned we do what we can it will mean no one has to worry about the price at the gags pump in the future. that will mean tyrants like putin won't be able to use fossil fuels as weapons against other nations and -- and it will make america a world leader manufacturing and exporting clean energy technology of the future to countries all around the world. this is the goal we should be racing toward. over the last two weeks the ukranian people have inspired the world and i mean that in a literal sense. they are inspired the world with their bravery and patriotism, defiant determination to live free. putin's war, putin's war, has caused enormous suffering and needless loss of life of women, children, everyone in ukraine. both ukraine and i might add russians. ukranian leaders as well as leaders around the world have repeatedly called for a cease-fire for humanitarian relief, for real diplomacy, but

putin seems determined to continue on his murderous path no matter the cost. putin is now targeting cities and has been targeting cities and civilian schools, hospitals, apartment buildings. last week he attack the largest nuclear power plant in europe with an apparent disregard for the potential of triggering a nuclear meltdown. he's already turned 2 million ukranians into refugees. russia may continue to grind out its advance at a horrible price, but this much is already clear. ukraine will never be a victory for putin. putin may be able to take a city, but he'll never be hold to hold the country, and if we do not respond to putin's assault on global peace and stability today the cost of freedom and to the american people will be even greater tomorrow. so we're going to continue to support the brave ukranian people as they fight for their country and i call on congress to pass the $12 billion ukranian

assistance package that i've asked them for of late. ukranian people are demonstrating by their physical courage that they are not about to let putin take what he want, that's clear. they will defend their freedom. their democracy, their lives, and we're going to keep providing security assistance, economic assistance and humanitarian assistance. we're going to support them against tyranny, oppression, violent acts of subrogation. people everywhere, and it's surprised everyone everywhere, people everywhere are speaking up for freedom. when the history of this war is written putin's war on ukraine will have left russia weaker and the rest of the world stronger. may god bless all those here from ukraine and now i'm off to texas. thank you very much, very much. i know there's a lot of questions. i know there's a lot of questions, but there's a lot more that has to be made clear and i'm going to hold on that

until we get more information. thank you. appreciate it. >> we just heard from the president there speaking from the roosevelt room announcing this ban on russian oil imports. clarifying the way in which the administration plans to fill that gap. 60 million barrels from joint oil reserves, 30 million provided by the united states. i found it interesting the president directly addressing gas and oil companies saying essentially do not exercise excessive gas increases as we're watching this war play out in ukraine and, of course, transitioning the conversation to dependency on oil abroad and saying this needs to be a message to everyone that we need to turn to clean energy. i want to bring back carol lee covering the white house for us and ron insana, cnbc senior analyst. talk to me first, carol what, stood out to you in the

president's speech today. >> well, yasmin, the president passed this as essentially a bap on putin's war machine and saying that this effort is intended to no longer help fund president putin's war in ukraine. that's the frame in which the president announced this. he also says that this has bipartisan support in congress and he's knowing the that. again, there was a lot of pressure for the president to take this move from members of congress, from democrats and republicans, and the president said that he thinks that this also has support in the country and that's where you get to what you just mentioned with how he's going to mitigate further increases in gas prices and he mentioned the 30 million barrels of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve that the u.s. is going to release. that's already been announced. what he didn't do is say what other steps the administration is prepared to take in that regard, but, again, he tried to put this squarely on the gas

price -- the gas price increases on putting and also us a noted leaned into warning companies against price gouging. >> ron, i wanted to talk to you as i heard the announcement come in and we're getting reporting from the cnbc saying that the uk is going to phase out the production of russian oil and product by the end of 2022 as well adding to that. >> right. >> let's talk about how they are going to bridge this gap. you've got 11 million barrels per day of crude oil exports out of russia, 40% of their gdp to some extent. this is going to be a major hurt to the russian economy whose ruble is below a penny, equivalent to a dollar. that being said, how does the united states bridge the gap? the president said we'll release the 60 million barrels of oil. we know that won't go very far, right. >> right. >> what conversations does the president need to be having with the saudis, with china as well and can he put more pressure on

the gas and oil companies? >> well, i think the latter is more difficult. as the price of oil has been skyrocketing over the last several days, in fact, almost hitting $130 barrel a morning, the all-time high from october 2008 when we were talking about peak oil, the notion that oil was disappearing rapidly from the planet, was $147 so we're not too far away from that. the release from the spr is very short term in nature. the u.s. consumes somewhere between 17 million and 19 million barrels a day so our release of 30 million barrels covers a day and a half and the additional 30 million will cover short falls in europe. with respect to price gouging. prices have gone up so fast it's very hard for the gasoline companies to keep up with the increases so i don't think we're at a stage where gouging is a legitimate complaint because the price has gone so dramatically high in such a short period of time. what we can do is a longer term

question because in the short run we're stuck with the higher prize until either the saudis pump more, venezuela comes back online or even iran comes back online with an additional 2 million barrels per day and that's a question with the ongoing nuclear negotiations. >> let me ask you a question about what the european union could do if they ban oil from russia and that would be proposing a tax from the gas and oil companies from the profits they are earning from the price hikes. is that completely out of the box when it comes to the united states? >> i mean, you may not be old enough for this, yasmin, but i go back -- >> i'm older than you think, ron. >> i go back to '79 when we imposed -- senator ted kennedy was a huge proponent of this, a windfall profits tax on oil companies in order to fund relief for consumers who were being hit hard. i think that's probably a non-starter and i don't think the president would have the votes in congress particularly

when someone like joe manchin is so closely affiliated, even on the democratic side, with the oil and coal business. yes, europe may tax oil. i doubt that's an answer in the u.s. i think at the end of the day -- you know, it's interesting. i have a radically different view of this. we just went through a pandemic in which we worked from home. >> yeah. >> if we did something like that again, utilizing the technologies that we have at our dispose al and cut our driving and our commuting, you know, air travel notwithstanding, we could drive the price of oil back down just by reducing demand. i don't know it it would be popular with the american public to suggest something like that but that would be a great alternative to taking some of the other steps that are currently being contemplated. >> thank you guys both. appreciate it. by the way, everybody. a reminder here. we're talking about gas prize here. that is live picture coming in from a train station in poland showing the constant stream of refugees, 2 million ukranians so

far seeking refuge and safety outside of their home country because of the war happening there. that is the reason that it seems the president is making this decision now to ban russian oil imports. important to keep that in perspective. all the russian troops have entered into the country. we have a breakdown of where they are and where they are going and where they have run into major resistance from the ukranians. we'll be right back. resistae ne ukranians. we'll be right back. te this landscape, leveraging gold, a strategic and sustainable asset... the path is gilded with the potential for rich returns.

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>> that was the ukranian president zelenskyy this morning calling on western allies to send his forces more aircraft but it may take longer for them to come. u.s. officials saying a proposed plan to send them soviet fighter jets, largely because the u.s. does not have planes to send to poland to make up for what they would send. i want to bring in clint watts,

an msnbc contributor, always my friend. great to talk to you. there was a potential obviously in moscow that russia would take heat for 48 hours and that's not happened and they are closing in on three sides here. they are having a lot more success in the south, the russian arm, than they are here. >> i'll start in kyiv to break it down. we've seen richard engel, he's in iropinion which is this area right here. >> yeah. >> ukranians have been coming in from the northwest. these armor formations, they are getting chewed up by the ukranian military and anti-tank weapons but at the same time the ukranians here are starting to flee. they are running out of food and flies. separately it's very uneven depending on where you're at. kharkiv has become a major battle. the russian military, losing a general there, losing lots of fighter jets, and when you dig in, just yesterday there were

reports that here in this area, not far from the russian border, ukranian military and fighters have taken back parts of it and you would think that close with this much armor as they sort of converge you would think that they would seal this entire putin said he was invading for. big picture. i think it's all about the south. week two has been conventional warfare, armor style. when you watch what they've done. they've taken the north part of the sea and this has surrounded mariupol. a real humanitarian disaster. they advanced on kherson last week. you'll hear punt talk about our new russia, which is historically an area on the

north side of the black sea they would like the take to re-create this bringing all russia people under one banner. that's how he sees it. this would seal off ukraine from the black sea. this could be ea negotiating trip. >> you talk about the intelligence failures from the original kgb agent, vladimir putin. you think about their air force, what they have, verses what the ukrainians have. what's happening there? >> so, they have not learned exactly what their limits are. because the battles before this are not like ukraine. georgia was mostly armored fighting. aggressively pushing in. they ran through logistics and they haven't solved that problem here. syria was the other battle. again, not the equivalent. they came to a syrian conflict that had been going on for

years. the airborne forces have taken a huge beating and you're seeing heavy casualties. >> is there an eventualty? >> you look at the big picture, look, multiple fronts what you're seeing is conventional warfare. if they can essentially surround ceaev. one note, got foreign fighters to fight on the ukrainian side. could be a changing dimension. >> as always, thank you. up next, everybody, is a last-minute rush to flee kyiv suburbs. i'm going to talk to a reporter who's been on the ground there. who's been on the ground there introducing new tresemme one step stylers. five professional benefits. one simple step. totally effortless. styling has never been easier. tresemme. do it with style. i'm still drawn to what's next.

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that's an elderly woman on crutches trying to get to safety by crossing the river. one of thousands of civilians having to make treacherous journey as russian forces are are closing in on kyiv. "washington post" correspondent is on the ground in the capitol city. great to speak to you once again. incredible work you're doing in ukraine and the coverage of the atrocities you're seeing on the ground. what has it been like in the last 24 hours of what you've been seeing? >> it's been devastating, as you can see from the scenes you're showing. i went to european again today and in many ways, the situation was worse. i mean -- the elderly and disabled were still crossing across this destroyed bridge over this river on these wooden planks. but i saw more of them being carried, like in stretchers, in blankets.

they were being carried by relatives or members of these territorial defense units. people -- it was just -- the site -- the scenes were repeating itself from yesterday but in many ways, it was more devastating. felt like the blast -- the people in the city were heading for the exits. but in fact, what people have told us, there still remains thousands inside the city who were unable to flee as of yet. >> and where are all these people going? i see a wheelchair being walked across the bridge. people obviously that stayed behind because they couldn't physically get out and now they're forced to because of the shelling and advance of rushing troops. where are they going? >> exactly. for that's part of the reason. part of it is because their own disabilities. but part of the reason why they

took so long to leave is this is their home, many for their lifetimes. certainly for decades. they don't want to leave it. they don't want to leave their home. many had a soechbs faith that perhaps, perhaps the sanctions would work or the war would end sooner. ukrainians would come and protect them. so, they remain. the russians are advancing in the city and the shelling has increased. many people we spoke to talked about hearing of shells hitting close to their homes and that prompted them to leave. you're right. the question is where are all these people going to go? many of the elderly are being met by sons and daughters who have already fled. you're seeing many reunions because the city itself had not had cell phone reception for the past three days. so, people inside, adding to the terror was the fact they could not contact loved ones outside. could not tell anyone they were

safe or they were in trouble and that just left a lot of their relatives worried. you saw as they came out, many reunions of families here. >> just stunning images. please stay safe and thank you for all your incredible reporting on this. that does it for me this hour. "andrea mitchell reports" starts right now. ♪ ♪ good day, everyone. this is "and rea areports" in washington as resilient ukrainian forces continue to mount a strong defense on the out skrtds of kyiv. they're running into intense opposition trying with prevent vlad peer putin's forces from taking their capitol. the president is rallying the international community and his country behind his cause. for the first time defiantly