good morning. i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters here in new york city. it is friday, march 11th. this morning russia is expanding the war zone, spreading misery to new parts of ukraine as conditions inside multiple cities grow more desperate. just a short time ago, president zelenskyy said the war has reached a strategic turning point and the pressure is mounting on the u.s. to reverse its position and work with poland to provide jets for ukraine. meanwhile, the bombs keep falling and ukrainian civilians, particularly the most vulnerable, like this child, are the ones suffering the most. in mariupol, a city gradually being turned to rubble, russian air strikes are now reportedly landing every 30 minutes. the situation there catastrophic. no food, no water, no electricity, freezing temperatures. the mayor says children have begun to die from dehydration.

according to city officials, 1,300 civilians are dead already. there are fears that a similar situation could be unfolding in the city of chernihiv. it's been under heavy bombardment and appears to be surrounded by russian troops. on the outskirts of kyiv, several images show that 40-mile russian convoy, which had been stalled because of fuel shortages, is now back on the move. as we speak, the battle for that city is intensifying. a teenaged girl who fled kyiv, a terrifying escape, told about it to our kelly cobiella. >> it was, like, not comfortable, so stayed there. of course every night we heard -- >> reporter: it's okay. it's okay. >> -- very horrible sounds. every night. >> while the u.s. believes rush is trying to encircle the

capital, but these russian tanks are coming under attack and being destroyed by ukrainian forces. overnight, russia opened new fronts in the war. it hit the city of dednipro for the first time. and hit airfields in western ukraine, claiming it two of them out of action. in kharkiv, under attack for weeks, a horrific development. the governor says russian forces hit a home for people with special needs, mostly elderly and disabled. thankfully, there were no casualties since all 330 patients and staff were in a she felt pe -- shelter. hundreds are sheltering in the city's metro station, sleeping on floorings or living inside the train cars, trying to wait out the assault. president zelenskyy sending out another urgent plea this morning on behalf of his people. he says words are insufficient, a desperate appeal answered by more than 40 republican

senators, who sent a letter to president biden calling for the transfer of aircraft and air defense systems to ukraine. >> enough talk. people are dying. send them the planes that they need. they say they immediate migs. people say maybe that's not the ideal weapon for them. that's what they say they want. they are there. they are the eyes to determine what they want. they want migs. get them the migs. >> this is dishonorable. it's one thing to be inkompb tent, it's another thing to be dishonorable. putin's got to be happy today knowing he backed us down. >> this leads to the central military and political question -- what is america's goal here? how far is the u.s. willing to go to stop the war in ukraine? so much to talk about. i want to bring in nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel in kyiv, john herbst, director of the your asia

center, mark kanzian is with the international security program. and ellen farkas served as deputy assistant. colonel, let me start with the ultimate objective here. is it in u.s.' eyes to stop this, to do everything we can to stop this or only to do everything we can up to a point? >> well, i think it's everything we can up to a point. we are trying to do two things and trying to relieve the suffering on the ukrainian people and to stop the suffering m -- the united states appropriated $4 billion of humanitarian aid. to stop putin, we sent a flood of weapons and munitions to ukrainians and just authorized another $3.5 billion to do that. but the united states and nato have not been willing to confront the russians militarily

and risk a broader conflict. >> we are at the point, richard, zelenskyy says this is at a turning point. he's making that appeal as he's done every day, and he said now we're at a turning poijt. tell us what you're seeing on the ground. >> reporter: so, ukrainians feel, and there are air raid sirens as you can hear going off on-in kyiv as they do every few hours now, he says we are at a turning point because russians are attacking openly ukrainian cities. they have turned mariupol into a free-fire zone. they have done the same in kharkiv. and now they are expanding their targets, hitting with air strikes places that are not even close to the front lines, not even close to where russian forces are positioned. it is clearly a new strategy, i say new in this conflict, but it is an old russian strategy. it is the same strategy russia has used before in grozny, in

chechnya, the same in syria where russian forces openly bombed civilian centers, openly bombed medical centers. today that special needs school in kharkiv also hit with the idea of trying to trigger a government collapse, to try and. inflict so much pain on the civilian population that the government throws in the towel. >> so, evelyn, i want to read part of what you wrote two months ago today. "the horrible possibility exists that americans with our european allies must use our military to roll back russians even at risk of direct combat. but if we don't now, putin will force us to fight another day." key phrase there in my mind, of course, is with our european allies. there has been no appetite for escalation, but tell me what was on your mind now and has it changed at all now. >> just to be clear, i wasn't advocating for going to war

directly with russia, but my fear is that if we don't stand up to russia here in ukraine and provide them with everything they need to defend themselves, we may soon be in a situation where we have no choice, meaning that vladimir putin, if he prevails in ukraine, he will turn to moldova and georgia. that will be easy pickings for him. them he will turn to nato allies and challenge their sovereignty. then we will have to fight russia. so we have to think about how much risk we're willing to take in ukraine so that we can prevent world war iii. we may have to take some risk, for example, with humanitarian air corridors to prevent civilians from being slaughtered by the russians. we may have to contemplate things we didn't want to two months ago. >> so, john, you heard senators romney and graham. i mean, is this kind of a lose-lose situation facing the u.s., either we stand pat and get slammed for not doing more while the death toll mounts, or we try to do more and get

slammed for not acting sooner? >> look, evelyn is exactly right. putin's ambitions go beyond ukraine. in a speech he gave just before he launched this invasion, he made it clear, he wants to have controlling interest over all the states that used to be part of the soviet union. that includes our three baltic nato allies. the best place to stop putin is in ukraine. the administration has done a mediocre job in conducting our policy here. we should be sending those migs to ukraine. we should have said to ukraine six months ago -- we should have sent anti-ship missiles, anti--air missiles to the ukraine other than the stingers. they only sent stingers to ukraine starting the end of january. they've been deterred by putin's threat of escalation, and a timid united states is not going to stop war. it will just make war worse for us. we need to provide ukraine

everything it's asking for. >> colonel, at least between where we are now and providing migs working with poland to get more fighter jets, is there a sort of -- i don't want to say happy medium because there's nothing happy about it -- but are there other stronger things we can and should be doing right now? >> the most obvious is the migs. you know, there's a been a lot of talk about no-fly zones. i think those are very dangerous, even limited ones, and probably not all that effective either. but the migs i think is doable. the united states has admitted it's reluctant to have them fly from nato bayless to ukraine, and there's understandable. but we have bases around the world, covert bases. i think there's a way to figure out how to get these migs to the ukrainians in a way that's not seen as too provocative. the poles want to do it. we initially suggested it.

i think that's probably the most doable next step. >> well, ambassador, look, you lived this as ambassador, and you know how this is. there are people who argue if we think that the concern is that we're going to give vladimir putin a reason to escalate, he doesn't need a reason to escalate. he can make up a reason to escalate. what do you make of that argument? and where does that leave us in terms of the decisions, the very difficult decisions, that are being made right now within this administration? >> that is absolutely right. we need to remember that we are much stronger than putin or than russia in all respects except for nuclear, where we are peer powers. with nato, we're stronger. i don't think putin wants to strike out at nato right now. we need to provide ukraine with everything it's asking for to make sure that putin is stuck there and has to ultimately

withdraw. and, again, we should be sending the migs, and i think the colonel is right, we could do this -- the smartest thing to do is we clandestinely send those migs. we should alleges be sending serious anti-aircraft capacity, anti-ship missiles, and everything to make putin's life harder there. we keep worrying about what putin would do. we want putin to worry about what we're doing. >> one of the things that was talked about at the briefing yesterday at the white house, evelyn, was press secretary jen psaki was basically asked if a chemical attack by the russians was a red line. that's what people are asking. we've said no. what's the line? is there a line? is there no line that russia can, you know, draw that we -- would make us cross? so, she side stemmed, essentially, this question, calling it a hypothetical. how do russians read that? and do we need to be more clear about what they can and cannot do?

we've said they can't do what they're doing now and they're doing it anyway. >> well, so, i am firmly in agreement with my friend and colleague ambassador herbst that, you know, we should allow for vladimir putin to keep guessing, keep guessing about what we will do. however, when it comes to weapons of mass destruction, i mean, there we really need to rally the international community, we need to make it clear to vladimir putin and the russian people and everyone else that we can get to what they are essentially threatening, and not just with the chemical weaponser, because as you know, they've threatened nuclear use. i still don't think of course that we should come into direct come bat with them, but he is saber-rattling and we cannot be deterred. we need to throw everything into this fight that we can. there's no difference between the migs and the stingers. they're both lethal weapons that we provide to ukrainians that they use to kill russians. >> ambassador, to the point of

ramallying the international community, i mean, we already know, for example, we have a vice president who is over in poland and, you know, there have been these constant conversations that have been going on. but can nato be rallied any further than they have been already? i guess that's the central question here. >> look, the biden administration has done a good job consulting with our nato allies. but consulting is not the only thing the biden administration needs to do. it needs to lead those nato allies. no doubt if the white house wants we can send those migs, not just from poland but from other of our nato allies in eastern europe. this is something we can and should do. again, leadership involves both pointing in the right direction and consulting closely. and we can do that. we've done it for decades. >> ambassador john herbst, colonel kanzian, evelyn farkas and richard engel, who had to leave, thanks to all of you.

coming up, just a little more than an hour from now, president biden is expected to announce new economic sanctions for russia. but have those sanctions hurt the russian people more than vladimir putin? plus, this morning the u.n. says the number of refugees from ukraine just stopped 2.5 million, including half a million in just the past three days. one of them, the little girl we showed you on monday. remember, 7-year-old amelia? she absolutely stole our hearts singing the famous song from "frozen" and captivated that audience in a bomb shelter in kyiv. last night we find out she was able to get out of the war zone. she is with her grandmother in poland. her parents stayed behind in ukraine to help cook for soldiers.

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president biden expected to speak in just about an hour and announce new economic punishments for russia. nbc news has confirmed he will call for an end to normal trade relations, a mnuchin allows the u.s. to put tariffs on any and all russian imports, which could include caviar, plywood and more. it comes with other companies who have pulled out of russia, including mcdonald's, when a country reaches a level of economic development with a middle class big enough to support a mcdonald's, it becomes a mcdonald's country. but what happens when you not only take away the big macs but the jobs along with it? joining me now, michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia and an nbc news international affairsny. good to see you. so, you spoke yesterday with president zelenskyy and other top ukrainian officials. tell me what you can about that

conversation that you think maybe we haven't heard yet, and do they think there are yet more sanctions that they would like to see go in place? >> well, it was a surprise conversation, i want to be clear. i was talking to one of his assistants, former student of mine at stanford, who i speak to regularly men popped on the screen to say hello. i had hosted him at stanford last summer, so i know president zelenskyy. i'm not at liberty to talk about the details, but the broad sweep is very clear, and he said it many times. they are at war. we've chosen to not join their war. and he respects that decision by president biden and other leaders. but he wants us to give everything we can to help him win this war, which is not just in ukraine's national security interests but in all of our interests. if putin wins this war, that has grave security threats for our nato allies. they are going to be nervous for the rest of their days next to

vladimir putin, same in the middle east for our ally, same in asia for our allies, and it will embolden those that are not our allies. i think that's the right frame. i completely agree. number two, you know, you were just having this conversation act weapons with your previous colleagues on the panel, great panel, by the way. i would just say listen to mr. zelenskyy. it's rather paternalistic for us to sit on the sidelines and say, well, this is what he needs, this is what he doesn't need, oh, he should do this, shouldn't do that. who better knows what ukraine needs to fight this war than president zelenskyy? he is a heroic figure that has rallied his army, his soldiers, his people to fight this horrible, unjustified crimes against humanity-type war that putin is waging. we should listen to him and trust him when he says -- when he presents what kinds of needs

he has, including the sanctions. to get to our second point, yes, more weapons and more sanctions. the biden administration has done a fantastic job. i think on both of those fronts. i would add fortifying our nato allies with more soldiers and more materiel near the border so that they are reassured of that commitment. but it's not enough. this is only week three of this war. you know, there are 600 oligarchs on the sanction list or so. there should be 6,000 oligarchs on the sanctions. up the ante on the weapons and up the ante on the sanctions. >> you know, to the point of who are we to tell them and that conversation you had, that's exactly mitt romney's point. he said if that's what they want, if they want mig, give them migs. what they want, let's give it to them. there is this whole idea of how much support we can get from nato, part of that earlier conversation you referenced, the escalation -- the nervousness, i would say, is just an escalation of nervousness. i was in the baltics with

president obama in 2014 and many of the same conversations were being held, although the war in ukraine was not raging. so, how do we do that? do we lead or do we try to get some support from other nato countries for what would clearly be viewed as an escalation? >> two things on that. first, i don't like the idea that individual countries can make their own individual decisions about how to help ukraine. that's not a strong message from nato. nato should be making these decisions collectively, offensively, i would say, instead of just reacting defensively to the pressure from public but then not announce them. the thing with the mig-29s, it was a public thing, hot potato, you take them, send them into ramstein. that was also not useful. you know, i think moving forward there should be collective decisions that are implemented quietly. that i think would be a much

more prudent approach. and on escalation, thanks for raising that word. of course president biden and every responsible leader in the world, including xi jinping, needs to be communicated directly to putin and to his generals to remind him of a commitment of a resolution e just signed in january saying we all agree that nuclear wars are unwinnable and cannot be done. short of that -- >> that's a critical point about china and how do we get -- how does the u.s., how does nato get xi on board, what is that phone call what does that pressure sound like and look like? >> two things on president xi. one, i think -- i home he's already done it, but if he hasn't, he should call president putin and reconfirm that that was just loose talk about putting your nuclear forces on ready desk, because remember, there's no winners in a nuclear

war and no people on the sideline. china is affected by a nuclear war. two, i think xi jinping could play a very useful midfield year to dating role now if he had the courage to stand up and be the global leader that we all claim that he wants to be. he's the only leader in the world that vladimir putin respects. he's the single only leader that he respects. and i think if xi jinping went to putin and said, look, you've achieved your octoberives, zelenskyy is going to negotiate, and it sounds like he would negotiate, declare victory and stop this war, that would be an incredible role that he could play that would put china in a much stronger position in the world. some americans say, oh, don't give him that platform, you know, he's our enemy, we have to fight him. we will be dealing with the china challenge for decades to come, and there are things we can do then in the short run, the absolute critical goal for

president biden and every country in the world has to be end this war by whatever means necessary. >> ambassador michael mcfaul, thanks for being with us and sharing what you could of your conversation with president zelenskyy. have a good weekend. we appreciate it. up next, gas prices soaring to an all-time record high this week. we're going to get reaction from drivers on the ground. are they changing their plans? are they changing trips? plus, steven kornacki is here to break down new polling on just how much americans are willing to pay. as a struggling actor, i need all the breaks that i can get. at liberty butchemel... cut. liberty mu... line? cut. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. cut. liberty m... am i allowed to riff? what if i come out of the water? liberty biberty... cut. we'll dub it. liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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♪ ♪ whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. aleve x. its revolutionary rollerball design delivers fast, powerful, long-lasting pain relief. aleve it, and see what's possible. a lot more breaking news from ukraine in just a moment. first a check of the held lines at home. today marks two years since the world health organization declared covid-19 a pandemic. nearly a million lives have been lost in the u.s. so far. and despite a drop in cases nationwide and mask mandates being canceled in many places, the tsa says passengers on airplanes and public transportation must continue wearing facemasks at least until april 18th. that extension comes at the recommendation of the cdc. former trump national security adviser michael flynn, after losing a court battle to avoid it, appeared before the

january 6th select committee for a closed-door meeting. but he did not answer any of their questions, asserting his 5th amendment rights. and an outburst in a chicago courtroom from actor jesse smollett after he was sentenced for lying to place claiming he was the victim of a hate crime. >> i am not suicidal. if anything happens to me when i go in there, i did not do it to myself. and you must all know that. >> the judge sentenced smollett to jail and 30 months' probation. another big headline continues to be the still increasing cost of gas. the national average according to aaa now $4.33 a gallon. >> it's beef prices. it's produce. it's avocados. it's takeout containers. now it's fuel. >> i don't even want to know right now. i don't even look. i just fill up the car. >> joining me gary grumbach and

steven kornacki tracking public opinion at the big board. gary, you've been talking to people about whether the high prices are making them think twice about how much they drive, where they drive. are you hearing they're adjusting their travel habits? >> reporter: hey, chris. just file this under "can't catch a break." just as coronavirus cases are decreasing nationwide and people are getting to take trips, it is getting a lot more expensive to do so. we're at a rest stop on i 95 in maryland. i want to show you what the gas prices look like. $4.53 a gallon for regular, $4.99 for plus, and $5.37 for premium. for diesel it's $5.49 a gallon. this map shows where some of the most expensive gas is in the u.s. right now. it's on the coast, in california, looking at $5.72 a gallon in california. if you're trying to get cheaper gas, missouri is your best bet

for that. we are looking at $3.85 a gallon in missouri. but these prices are actually changing the way people are living their lives and certainly driving. we talked to people today who said they're going to take the less gas guzzling cars, fuel efficient cars if you will. some told me they'll take this trip and sit at home until this subsides. but they have patience and are putting it into perspective. >> we definitely have a lot less to complain about, you know, ourselves with those in europe. you know, but everybody likes to complain about something. but it's hard for us, but when you look at the bigger picture, you know, you kind of feel guilty about that. >> reporter: so, what is being done about all this? governors across the country are looking into suspending the gas

tax. here in maryland, governor larry hogan is looking to do just that. that would save drivers 36 cents a gallon if that is eliminated in maryland. >> steve, how are americans, bigger picture, feeling about this? i know there have been polls on it. what can you tell us? >> in terms of what gary was talking about, the apology has sunsing on that front. we ask a question like this, do you support banning the purchase of russian oil or gas, obviously something that would have an effect on the price at the pump, there is overwhelming support for that. we're showing you how this price has been skyrocketing. you were talking about that. i thought this was interesting, though. they asked folk, okay, you say you're willing to pay more. how much? 20% say they're willing to pay less than a dollar more. another 20%, 1 in 5 say about 1

or 2 bucks more they're willing to say. 16% say they will pay as much as it takes if it means supporting ukraine and hurting russia. that adds up to 63% who say they are willing to pay more in the context of ukraine and russia. 37% say they aren't. so there is some understanding on that part. the things we still need to see, this idea of gas tax hom days being advanced at the different state levels. haven't seen any polling yet on that, do people expect things to be done to offset the rise in gas. the other backdrop is inflation itself. it's not just gas that's getting more expensive right now. here's new polling out this week, 85%, universal consensus that inflation is becoming a serious problem in this country. here's the thing. folks expect it's probably going to get worse, the plurality, almost half of all voters say they think the inflation problem will get worse in the coming six months. so, the backdrop is it's not

just gas prices. there might be some understanding there in terms of russia and ukraine. we're seeing that in this polling. but there are other costs that are going up, too, and the public seems very concerned about that as well. >> yeah. the question is does that translate to political problems for the democrats. steve, thank you. that 85% number, you don't get that kind of number on anything these days. thank you, gary, as well. still ahead, heartbreaking stories of refugees sleeping next to empty stores, taking shelter at a former polish shopping mall. ready to style in just one step? introducing new tresemme one step stylers. five professional benefits. one simple step. totally effortless. styling has never been easier. tresemme. do it with style.

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as russian missiles tore through their neighborhoods. in romania, mothers try to comfort their small children, including one woman in kyiv with her 1-year-old daughter, margo. >> such little kids maybe don't understand this, but kyiv is about three, four years, they understand all the tragedy. i think it's very hard for them. my boy is very little. it is like adventure. but other children, i think it's big, big trauma and tragedy. >> in poland yooushgsen women and children continue crossing into the country at all hours. oksana is a mother of ix from odesa. after a long train ride, she describes how she and her children walked six hours to finally arrive at the polish border. she's hoping they can make it to germany to reunite with her

husband. and this scene highlighted in a new "insider" article, a polish shopping mall turned into a massive transit center while serving as a temporary corridor for thousands of refugees. joining me now the to co-author of that story, senior politics reporter with "business insider." thanks for being with us. you write that in the course of roughly 12 hours, wednesday alone, there were 3,500 arrivals, 2,200 departures at the mall in poland, which is now functioning as a refugee center. take us inside. what does that look like? >> there are harrowing scenes inside that mall. i spoke to a number of refugees who were quite emotional, excuse me, about the fact that they left family behind in ukraine. often older relatives who either didn't want to leave, had difficulties leaving because of disabilities, or were trying to stay and actually join the fight. i spoke to some ukrainian

refugees earlier who said, when i asked if older ukrainians were trying to take the fight to russia, they overwhelmingly answered yes. but, yes, the scene inside of that mall was quite harrowing. these people have faced terrible, terrible scenes in ukraine. russia is pummeling ukraine with artillery and air strikes. and but they're being met with a wave of assistance by volunteers here in poland, volunteers from all over the world, handing out soup, handing out water, sim cards. they've expressed extreme gratitude to poland and to the u.s. >> you spoke with a mother named victoria. let me play that. >> do you have family in kharkiv? >> yes. my parents. >> i'm very sorry. i'm very sorry. these are your children? >> these are my children. >> what are their names? >> leila.

>> leila and -- >> this is daughter of my sister. >> what is her name? >> alisa. >> they're very cute. how are you doing? >> well, i've been better. >> yeah. i can imagine. i can imagine. >> they bombing kindergarten of my daughter, not exist anymore. they bombing schools. they bombing hotels. any places, citizen places. my parents, i begged them, i begged them to go with us, but -- >> they didn't want to leave. didn't want to leave. >> i just had to leave because i have to save my life and my child's. >> a decision that's unconscionable to have to decide to take your children and leave and have parents left behind or somebody who's disabled left behind. i know it must be just hard to even look ahead in a situation like that, but we talked about the people who are able to

leave. tell me about the uncertainty but also is there hopefulness among the folks you talked to about they were going to be able to get their children to safety? are they hopeful about the outcome of this war? >> i think they are hopeful about the outcome of this war. i spoke to two ukrainian veterans who are truck drivers in poland and live here, and they're heading back into ukraine to join the fight. i asked them if they thought ukraine would win, and they said absolutely, 100%. a number of refugees i've spoken with seem to think this fight will be over in a matter of weeks. they're hoping they won't have to stay out of their home country for very long. many refugees i spoke with said they don't want to accept refugee status. they just want to work. they're thankful they've been welcomed into poland, that other countries like germany are welcoming them in, but they wanted to just work. i spent to a woman in that mall

who carried her hairdressing kit with her across the border. she's a hairdresser. she just wants to cut hair. she just wants to work and cut hair. there is a lot of hope, a lot of resilience and a lot of gratitude for all the help they're receiving from the volunteers here. at the same time, as we just saw, these people are traumatized. they've seen terrible things. they're terrified for their children. they're terrified for their country. i spoke to one group of refugees at a train station earlier who said it took them a week to get across the border. at one point, the train they were in, they were packed into a car with 250 people, had to stop because the air raid siren went off and they had to sit there and were worried that the train would be bombed. i said what was going through your mind during that time? they simply said, fear. >> john, remarkable reporting. we thank you for what you're doing and for taking the time to talk with us and share some of

it. take care out there. >> thank you. coming up, as ukrainian officials continue to beg for air support from the u.s. and nato allies, clint watts is at our big board to explain why they need to help. i've always focused on my career. but when we found out our son had autism, his future became my focus. lavender baths always calmed him. so we turned bath time into a business. ♪ and building it with my son has been my dream job.

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the commander of u.s. european command is defending the administration's decision not to help ukraine getting new fighter jets. i want to go right to msnbc's clint watt. this is a debate between the white house and the republican senators. >> kris, it is really interesting to watch these debates unfold, there is a few questions about it. one, you will see that the ukrainians and the polish, i

think there is a second issue which is what is the lodgistic trail. what is needed? you would need weapons and armaments and pilots and you would need a stage. all of this is logistically intense. >> clint, don't we do this all the time? >> it comes down to what's the most banks for your bucks in terms of effectiveness. the russians have lost an enormous number of aircraft over this time. what they need those air strikes and that's what i want to point in this situation here. we were talking here in the north. this is the convoy from the northwest and now you are see them in the east. this was a uav air strike that

happened in. i think you saw drones much easier to fly and air defense and antiaircraft and antitank weapons they have been using, they had remarkable success. the west can pursue and would not provoke an active war. they're looking at options here. ukrainians did a remarkable job with what they already have on these convoys. it is a decision of how much support to survive and what's the effectiveness and cost overtime and the risk of it. >> we are out of time and the arguments that a lot of folks are making and particularly the republicans, the ukrainians on the ground know what they need, why would we tell them what they need. what would you say to that?

>> it comes down to what the administration would take regarding risks and terms from this. let's say the ukrainian pilots or other pilots go outside of ukraine to pick these aircraf up and go in. they're going to see it as an active war. evidence seems to point that ukrainians are doing a remarkable job with the equipment and resources they have at the moment. >> clint watt, thank you. we are digging into the rapidly nuclear threat that this war is creating, next. at that ts war is creating, next. even walking was tough. i had to do something. i started cosentyx®. cosentyx can help you move, look, and feel better... by treating the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting...get checked for tuberculosis.

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good t see you. what's your biggest concerns when it comes to these facilities? >> my main concern is fighting. when russia attacked the largest power plant in ukraine. it is in russian's interests not to attack a power plant and have its own troops suffer from radiation fall-out. the commander are making a bad decision, he's bringing in 16,000 foreign fighters from the middle east. do these guys know what they are doing when they approach a power plant because if they knock out the energy supply, the energy supply as we saw in fukushima can cripple a plant. i am deeply concerned that these troops don't know what they are

doing. >> that was a concern raised by military experts when this attack at the chornobyl happens. on the other hand talk about this concern that i have seen expressed that folks were in there, they're under russian control and not allowed to leave and don't know what's going to happen next. just the exhaustion and trying to keep things safe during that time. >> sure, we saw this fukushima. the level of professionalism is very high and people know what's at stake. they want to do the right thing, you can work 24 hours a day for so many days. the russians interfere and if something starts to go wrong and workers try to fix it and these you know troops prevent them from doing it because they don't know what they are doing, we could be in a bad place quickly.

the thing to emphasize, we always focus on the reactors, there are two things. the reactor and the unguarded and unshielded fuel ponds that holds radio active waste. those unprotected fuel ponds are vulnerable and it is inc inconcie inconcievable to me. >> jim walsh, thank you very much. that's going to wrap up this hour, i am kris jansen, "jose diaz-balart reports" is next. >> good morning, we begin with breaking news. president biden is set to speak and he's expected to announce the u.s. will revoke