threat and now through indirect military warfare. >> i think the economic side of it, too, the fact that we're even thinking of talking to venezuela is a contradictory term on that one. thank you so much for being with us this morning. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. craig melvin picks up with more news right now. and a good wednesday morning to you. craig melvin here from msnbc world headquarters here in new york city. this hour two, leaders in a fight for perhaps the future of democracy. ukraine president zelenskyy with a major address this morning, speaking directly to congress. and he shared a video that we need to warn you is graphic.

it is graphic but it is powerful. he played a video of the devastation that his country has endured and paired it with a blunt message -- close the sky over ukraine. he also invoked our own country's history with a final message delivered in english to president biden. >> remember pearl harbor, terrible morning of december 1941 when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. remember september the 11th, a terrible day when efficiently countries tried to turn your country into a battlefield. these words, i have a need, i need to protect our sky. >> as the leader of my nation,

i'm addressing president biden. you are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. i wish you to, the leader of the world. being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace. >> and we will hear president biden's response. the president's message to ukraine will happen roughly 45 minutes from now. that's when he's expected to also detail the next steps for how our country is going to help. and as leader of the world, as zelenskyy put it, president biden is going to be traveling to brussels for the first time since this war started to reaffirm our support for our european partners. and in ukraine, a new set of russian attacks have hit ukraine's capital as a third day

of peace talks plays out. kyiv is in the middle of a 35-hour curfew with the streets empty and residents hunkered down. >> and russians have taken over a hospital in kyiv, and now have more than 400 people, including patients, doctors and civilians hostage. and right now we are watching the humanitarian cost of this war grow by the minute. president zelenskyy says so far more than a hundred children have died since the fighting started. right now hundreds of thousands of ukrainians are just trying to stay alive. >> you know, i'm here in ukraine despite everything going on because of that friendship. >> we start with our reporters and experts this morning. nbc's leann caldwell and peter alexander there at his post,

1600 pennsylvania and michael mcfaul, former ambassador to ukraine and gabe gutierrez is in lviv, western ukraine. and you were there as lawmakers listened closely to president zelenskyy's speech. how did lawmakers react in the moment to the video we saw? >> reporter: as you can imagine, this was a highly anticipated speech by members of congress. especially when that video played, you could not hear a person breathe. there was just silence. it really captivated these lawmakers. there were a couple moments of applause and then at the end of the speech a rousing standing ovation. now, as far as if this is going to change how congress deals and thinks about ukraine, a little

bit. congress is still opposed, as is the administration, to implementing a u.s. nato-enforced no-fly zone but there is a growing push to get ukraine every they need, including the mig and missile systems that enforce their own no-fly zone. let's listen to what senator romney told garrett haake. >> our country has to do more. in this case he was highly specific on what we can do to help, not just aircraft but s-300 and other intercepting systems that will allow them to have a more safe sky. that's something we've got to do. >> reporter: another interesting idea brought up by zelenskyy is

sanctioning every single week new people in russia, including the russia duma. that's something that members of congress are now thinking about, too. but, craig, this afternoon relevant members of congress in the house and senate are getting classified briefings by the administration and the questions i'm told that congress is going to ask these administration officials is what exactly -- what sort of defense systems are you giving ukraine? how is it impacting and also they want to know what sort of intelligence they're getting about vladimir putin. hopefully we'll hear a little more after this briefing, even though it's classified. they don't spill a lot of beans but congress still has a lot of questions. >> stand by for me for just a moment. ambassador, again, to senator romney's point, president zelenskyy quite specific about some of the things that his country needs, more sanctions, more weapons, aircrafts, no-fly zone. a new organizational alliance, which i found interesting,

that's he's dubbing the u-24. he wants lawmakers to pressure more companies to leave russia. realistically, ambassador mcfaul, how much of that list could he feesably get? >> with how much he should get, my answer is all of it. he called for a no-fly zone but knows that president biden doesn't support that. i don't either. i think that's the right thing to say we're not going to do. that's a euphemism for a declaration of war but president zelenskyy knew that, that's why he pivoted to the rest of it. he said if you're not going to do a no-fly zone, let us to do one. as you've just been talking about, very specific request, not just abstract requests, even named one system, the s-300. that's a surface-to-air system made by russia, by the way, and it's held by post communist economies in the nato alliance. he wants those systems right now.

they have those systems already. they want more of them and the mig-29s. he was very explicit. i think we should give all of that. second, he also went out of his way to say what congress can do directly with respect to sanctions. i thought that was a very smart thing he said. doesn't have to wait for joe biden, president biden to do that. he called upon every member of congress to find out if you have american businesses still doing business in russia and, if you do, put pressure on them to stop. stop funding putin's war. >> ambassador, stand by for me for just a moment. i do want to make sure we get to ukraine and gabe gutierrez who has made his way there. hundreds of thousands have fleed and in the capitol of kyiv, it's

intensifying. what are you seeing? >> reporter: as you mentioned, takes intensifying in parts of kyiv and in mariupol, they've taken some 400 people hostage. nbc news has not been able to confirm that incident but it's the growing fear that is leading to fears like this. this is the lviv train station and this is a temporary shelter set up. more than 3 million ukrainians have left lviv. we have spent the morning speaking with some of these children and their families. one woman named daria came from kyiv. she's been here less than two days. we spoke with her with the help of a translator. take a listen. >> translator: it was difficult

to travel by train and it was difficult psychologically because we don't know where we are going to, going to the unknown. >> reporter: do you know when you'll be able to return to your home? >> translator: unfortunately, no. >> and, craig, that is what we're hearing from so many of these refugees here. they just do not know what is next. some of them hope to get to poland, some want to head to other countries but some are trying to stay here and plan their next move. these are women and children, family members, grandmother, grandfathers and their husbands in other parts of ukraine. one note, craig, just a few minutes before you came to us, just around here we did see one of these children here just had a birthday, celebrated their 4th birthday in this makeshift shelter. for these families, for these

children, sadly life goes on even though their country is at war. we've been speaking with some of these children, including some at the children hospital. a 15-year-old girl fighting leukemia telling us her story as her country fights this war against russia. this continues on and on. we expect more refugees to come in over the next several hours as more trains arrive in lviv en route to poland and they try and find someplace safe to send the night. >> so many lives upended. gabe gutierrez there for news ukraine. stay safe, my friend. mr. alexander, president biden delivering his own speech later this hour we're told. what do we know at this point about how he plans to follow up that address from president zelenskyy to congress and about his plans to travel to brussels

next week? >> reporter: we're told the president will announce another $800 million in military aid to be sent to ukraine. that would total $1 billion in just the last week from the united states, $2 billion over his time in office, which is more than any other donor in terms of military aid to ukraine. much of that money will come from the large government spending package, including $13.6 in humanitarian and military aid for ukraine. it's a lot of numbers but it indicates a lot of support for ukraine but still is not exactly what volodymyr zelenskyy has been asking for. he wants the fighters to be delivered. the white house as others have drawn a line on that.

they provide to ukraine some of those longer range mobile-to-surface air mobile systems. one is known as the s300. that's a name to listen for when we hear from the president. a little bit later today, those are longer range, what are described as the stinger anti-aircraft missiles. the u.s. has given 600 of them according to the white house. but these others that ambassador mcfaul created are soviet era, russian-made missiles. they can target the cruise missiles coming in, which is one way the white house may look to better support that efforts are get better control of the skies and avoid what he calls death coming from the air each day over the course of the last three weeks saying in effect it was the same as a 9/11 or pearl harbor each night since this war began, craig. >> peter alexander, thank you. ambassador, when we do hear from

president biden, 30, 45 minutes from now, what do you want to hear from him? how does the president meet this moment on the heels of that powerful, compelling speech from president zelenskyy and lawmakers just a short time ago? >> well, i want and expect to hear him say we're going to do more. that's the plan. i applaud that. i think president biden has done an amazing job in leading the free world in supplying these weapons and providing the most comprehensive set of sanctions ever against another country, and they've done it in three weeks, not three years like we did in the obama administration against iran. they fortified nato. i applaud that. i applaud everything they've done and they have to do more. it's not enough to say we've done enough. we've got to do more. and to the question about the mig-29s and s-300s and different systems, patriots versus not, i would just say two things. one, who are we to tell

zelenskyy what he needs and what he doesn't need? i hear a lot of people saying, well, they can't use those mig-29s, they have enough already, don't have airports to use them. i talked to zelenskyy myself five days ago and he was clear they can use those weapons. if he's sitting in the bunker fighting for the free world against this horrible army that has invaded our country, i don't think it's our place to second judge. and even if it is symbolic, why not give him the symbolic victory that he needs. he's fighting today. we should be helping him in that fight. >> how effective have the sanctions been so far, mr. ambassador? >> i think psychologically they've had a giant impact inside russia from billionaires to friends of mine that i've known for 30 years. you see thousands of people leaving all over the former

soviet republics. they're waiting in airports to get out. there's real panic. and more can be done. as one of my ukrainian government colleague said to me a couple days ago, i this i -- i think we're up to 600, 700 people on sanctions list. he said, yeah, there should be 6,000 oligarchs on that list. a lot of key government officials have not been sanctioned. the head of the russian bank has not been sanctioned, one of the most critical officials for financing this war. i applaud what they've done so far and i want to urge biden and the west and everything in the free world to continue ratcheting up that economic pressure on russia. >> a big thanks to all three of you. >> we do expect to see

president biden at the white house in about half an hour. when the president starts, we'll take you there live. we'll also take a look at some the exact equipment. president zelenskyy was quite specific. we'll take a look as he asked the united states to close the skies or give them the equipment to do it themselves. first we do have breaking news on this wednesday. a major earthquake in japan triggering tsunami warnings. this was a magnitude 7.3 in fukushima, that was the size of the earthquake that caused a tsunami. it is after midnight right now in japan. we have teams working to gather more information as we speak. there has been a sizable

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we want to leave the whole life there. >> it really is hard to get your head around so much of this. that was a 29-year-old woman forced to leave her entire life behind in kharkiv. that's in eastern ukraine. this morning the united nations is out with a dire assessment of what ukrainians still in their home country are facing. if this war deepens 90% of ukrainians could face poverty or economic uncertainty. 62% are at high risk of falling into poverty within the next 12 months. it underscores what's driving scores of people to leave. nbc's jay gray is in poland for us, about ten miles away from the ukrainian border jay, what are you seeing there this morning? what are people telling you? >> reporter: well, as you talked about the numbers, we continue to see people just trying to leave. this family just walking through, they're trying to make it to a train.

we've seen two trains come in today to the station from ukraine. so they've made their way in and are offloading and trying to get somewhere where they can settle down, even if it's just for a couple of days and take a breath. we have seen a change along the border over the last 24 hours craig. we're seeing a smaller flow. people are still coming through in waves, don't get me wrong. tens of thousands are making their way in. we've been told all along by the u.n. these are two waves of refugees and this may be the tail end of that first wave. they say the second waveis on the way and there will be more. more than 2 million will make the trip across. those that waited and are now coming from the east, they're having to go through cities and towns that have just been bombarded and don't provide any refuge. the roadways have been bombed

out and in some cities they go through check points and the russian army is in control. in the next few days we expect to see things ramp up again. we have seen today more people going back into ukraine. we've seen all along a few people making the trip back the other way. today more people with supplies, food, water, things that are needed there that they just can't get that are gone. so they're bringing that back in and more foreign fighters as well, craig. so the flow of people going in that has stepped up a bit, the flow of people coming out slowed down but not for long according to those who are watching this. >> jay gray in poland for us. thank you, sir. meanwhile, in the next half hour we expect to see and hear from president biden. the president is going to be talking about giving more assistance to ukraine. when the president starts, we will take you there live. first, though, we've got a closer look at the killer drones that the white house is considering providing to the

ukrainians. how effective they could be in this war. and the other military aid president zelenskyy said that he wants. we'll have that for you next. develop their passion for learning through our grow up great initiative. and now, we're providing billions of dollars for affordable home lending programs... as part of 88 billion to support underserved communities... including loans for small businesses in low and moderate income areas. so everyone has a chance to move forward financially. pnc bank: see how we can make a difference for you. can a company help you live a better? we're not talking about just any company. but the one in your neighborhood, and in 4,700 others just like yours. helping you live a little better every day. [copy machine printing]

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a half hour from now, secretary of defense lloyd austin is set to meet with his european counterparts at nato. we are going to heard from president biden just a few minutes from now and his message will come as ukraine as president zelenskyy asked congress to, quote, close the skies over his country. but he also said this -- >> translator: if this is too much to ask, we offer an alternative. you know what kind of defense systems we need, s-300 and other similar systems. you know how much depends on the battlefield on the ability to use aircraft. >> president zelenskyy's remrks learns from sources with knowledge of the matter that ukraine has given the biden

administration a list of requests. that list includes equipment like armed drones, anti-ship missiles, off-the-shelf electronic jamming equipment and surface-to-air missiles, but also more of what the united states has already been providing, more of those stinger anti-aircraft missiles, more javelin anti-tank weapons. nbc's intelligence ken delaney is behind this reporting and we're joined by jason beardsly, national executive director of the association of the u.s. navy. ken, you laid out that list in your reporting. you also drill into a very specific kind of drone that the biden administration is considering providing to ukraine. what more can you tell us about that? >> that's right, craig. two congressional officials with knowledge of the matter told us the biden administration is considering providing ukraine with switch blade loitering munitions.

they're technically called loitering missiles. they have the bomb inside the device and can be launched as far as 50 miles away from a target and strike with deadly accuracy. some experts these could be a game changer in ukraine. we got a demonstration as you're seeing on the screen of the smaller version known as the switch blade 300 which is designed to target personnel in precise strikes. there's a larger one they weren't allowed to show us, the 600, that could blow up tanks and armored vehicles. the thing is they are really small and portable and they can be guided and can loiter and hover over a target and strike when the moment is right. they're more efficiently than cruise missiles and can do what reapers can do at a much lower

cost. there is a question of how much training it would require to operate but many experts and officials i talked to believe the switch blade zones could make a big difference in helping the ukrainians fend off the russians. >> how much of a difference could these switch blades make to the ukrainians? >> they can have a great impact, craig. it was a good report. they are some sophisticated weapons so we have to look at integration difficulties, particularly on the bigger weapons systems. when your reporter suggests they weren't allowed to see them, that means it's sensitive equipment. we don't want that in the hands of the enemy. so there are legalities and concern there. this is a great opportunity to get behind the curtain about what the united states is actually doing to make these systems effective. we've been doing a lot of shared intelligence, downgraded intelligence from our allies and

the united states support precision targeting. you see russian generals taken out on the battlefield. what president zelenskyy is not really articulating is how much support the west has already given. i think that gives president biden a great opportunity today to articulate to the american people not just our clear policy objectives but what we've done so far to support this cause. >> we're helping them find the bad guys on the ground there, it would seem. as you indicated there, president biden is set to speak roughly 15, 20 minutes from now, set to talk about doing more, perhaps talk about all the assistance that's already been provided to ukraine. one thing the administration has already ruled out, jason, as you know, is helping poland supply ukraine with soviet arrow fire jets. they're worried that could escalate tension with russia. here's my question. how can it be that fighter jets would be escalatory but killer

drones are not? >> that's a great question and one that the department of defense and the white house has shied away from answering, which is again an opportunity for the president today to really tell the american people what our clear foreign policy objectives are there because the answer to that question is going to lie in what our objectives are. are they limited? are they maximal, are they minimal? what are we, the american people, willing to risk? the president is clear about his line and we have two decades of soldiers and veterans who are still reeling. i hope we what saw from president zelenskyy will be replicated by the white house. you and a lot of others are trying to figure out what's the difference between lethal munitions at the low level and

munitions at the high level. >> really quickly, this nation of the no-fly zone, we heard the president talk about an s-300 defense system. can you explain what this is. >> they're surface-to-air missiles with guided technology. if you have aircraft flying at high altitude above the ground, the 300 are russian and the 400s are more advanced and they can knock those out of the sky. the president can score points saying we're giving them cryptic com, so we can roll out more communication with these folks. they've been sharing intelligence. these are all positive marks. we need sober minds in these

discussions before we get over our skis. miscalculation leads to great loss of life. >> jason beardsly, you have been very helpful. >> we expect to see president biden a few minutes from now. when he starts, we will of course take you to the white house. we're also expecting a big decision from the federal reserve today on raising interest rates. we'll break down how that will influence everything from mortgage rates to car payments. dedicated trade desk pros, and a passionate trader community sharing strategies right on the platform. because we take trading as seriously as you do. thinkorswim® by td ameritrade

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fukushima. you'll recall it was fukushima back in 2011, the earthquake there off the coast that led to the nuclear reactor disaster. i can tell you at this point the fukushima nuclear plant checking to see if there are any potential problems and so far no indication that's the case. the same media reports say there have been no reports of injuries so far as well, citing police. but we continue to follow what's happening there off the coast of japan very closely because tsunami warnings have been issued. meanwhile, back here a big announcement today that could affect your credit card, mortgages, car payments, other payments as well. the federal reserve expected to raise interest rates by a quarter point today. if it happens as expected, it would be the first interest rate hike since 2018. i want to bring in jolene kent, she covers business for us.

jo, take us through what's expected from the fed and what it will mean for all of us. >> reporter: craig, you're certainly feeling inflation at 40-year highs. the fed's goal is to get that inflation under control, but if it's taken too far, it might also trigger a recession. that's everyone's fear here. that's why the fed appears to be rolling out small interest rate hikes over time. you got the stimulus checks, the hot housing market, and fewer expenses for some people. that has consumers spending a lot. demand is up, prices are going up and the fed wants to curb that inflation. one big thing that will impact all of this is mortgage interest rates. a quarter point hike makes bore borrowing more expensive. of course credit card debt is a

really important one to watch. interest rates could go higher there. if you're paying off debt on your credit card, experts are advising to roll it over to a zero interest balance credit card. if you have federal student loans, you should be okay. that's a fixed rate but private loans could have a variable rate. you want to look into refinancing before those rates go up again. there is one bright side again. online banks will offer better interest rates on your savings account but you have to watch out, the brick and mortar will be slow to hike their rates. >> jolene kent, thank you very much. we continue to keep a close eye on the white house. president biden expected to speak any moment about ukraine. first we go to kyiv about the dangers in the capital and a

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just a few moments ago during that quick break we found out from our team at the white house that president biden is now going to be speaking at 12:30. president biden speaking at 12:30, addressing the aid that has already been provided to ukraine, talking about more aid being provided to ukraine, additional military and financial aid and we expect that the president will respond in some way, form or fashion on what we heard from president zelenskyy. 12:30 president biden at the white house. when the president starts, we will take you there. right now, though, i want you to take a look at something. this is video from inside kyiv this morning, residential buildings in the capital city of ukraine burning after being shelled by russian forces. experts warn this is just the beginning. this is what the mayor of kyiv had to say earlier today. >> it doesn't matter who you are on the ukrainian soil now.

with the press benched, a little girl, a boy, an adult, man or woman or an old person, you're a target from russia, from russian army. >> you're a target. i want to bring in now alexandra, a human rights lawyer and the head of the center from central liberties and is from the ukrainian emerging leaders program. she's currently in kyiv, her hometown. first of all, let's start with where you are. there's a curfew in place right now in kyiv. how are you holding up? are you safe? >> i'm in kyiv. it's very difficult to be safe in kyiv because the russians are targeting residential buildings. i had to move from my flat to

the district in order to have internet connection and not spend all day in bomb shelters. we are not secure because of the war. >> ukrainian president, that he has talked to the prosecutor of the international criminal court in hague and they're already in ukraine looking into potential war crimes. it would seem to a lot of folks watching this play out that the case for war crimes being committed, that case has already been made in plain sight, plain view. is that an over simplification or do you think war crimes have obviously already been committed? >> we documented war crimes for three weeks when russia started this new large-scale invasion to ukraine.

we documented to civilian objects to populations, attack humanitarian corridors, humanitarian personnel and a lot of other war crimes. for me, it's a question as for a lawyer and human being. international justice is postponed in time. what we ecan do now in order to stop this war crime, to make effort to war crimes and prevent victims to emerge and they use it as a tool of conducting war. >> help folks understand. we've heard about targeting military targets. meanwhile, we see schools being bombed. hospitals being shelled as well. what's gained by attacking these

civilian targets? what does that accomplish? >> they try to stop resistance of locales. because when they try to occupy town, cities and centers and set control over the region, they face with unarmed people who went to the main square with ukrainian flag and stand front to front with russian soldiers and russian tactics. and in ortder to stop this resistance, they have to destroy it completely, towns, villages and settlements and to provoke more casualties among civilian populations. in order to provoke panic and more refugees from the territories of which they tried to control. >> alexandra, please stay safe there. i just really quickly before you go. more than 3 million ukrainians have left. you decided to stay.

i'm curious as to why? >> it's my city. it's my country and now we are fighting for our values and this is a common values and maybe it's will be very strange to hear from me. i'm a lawyer and my front is law. but now i repeat the ask of our ukrainian president and we ask for air defense systems and fighter planes in order to protect civilians from deliberate shellings of russians. >> thank you. thanks for your time. as we mentioned, president biden's speech on ukraine has been moved to around 12:30. we'll take you there when it does. first to western ukraine to see the work the red cross is doing right now. he red cross is doing right now. dry eye symptoms driving you crazy? inflammation might be to blame. time for ache and burn! over the counter eye drops typically work by lubricating your eyes and may provide temporary relief. those'll probably pass by me!

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right now the red cross has set up a make-shift center

outside the main train station. jake has made his way to lviv. what have you seen and heard from folks there? >> reporter: well, craig, it's a tremendous humanitarian tragedy. one that require as humanitarian response of equal proportion and right now, literally, people are picking out clothes because many arrive without clothes on their backs. children are playing on the playground. buses are getting ready to take people to poland and over here is a food tent because people show up without anything to eat. take a look at this. this morning thousands of desperate ukrainians in search of safety. 80 buses, part of two red cross convoys carrying people evacuated from the northeastern city of sumy. bringing humanitarian aid to be distributed around the war-torn country and overnight in lviv,

assisting some of the 300,000 displaced ukrainians currently in the city. >> it's almost curfew and that hasn't stopped anyone from seeking out food, medical attention and shelter. so many families at home days ago and now they find themselves with nowhere to go. natalia told us she fled kharkiv after constant russian bombardment. says the city is gone. she fled with her three sons. now here, the lawyer and mother, marking her 40th birthday in a strange place, wondering what's next. ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> reporter: american steve mcandrews heading up the emergency operation for the international federation of the red cross. you guys have the capacity to deal with this? >> no. no one has the capacity to deal with it all but we what we have is the unbending intent and the will and persistence to keep at it.

>> reporter: in a tent for mothers and children, we met that yawnau and her three daughters preparing to get rest for the night. their home town, just outside of kyiv, all but destroyed by the russians. what do you need? she tells me she wants the world to close the sky over ukraine. can you ask them where they doo they want to go? >> translator: they want to go home. >> reporter: i hope you guys can go home very soon. this is the tent that tatiana stayed in overnight. they were on the way to poland in one of the buses. to start what they hope is going it bow a temporary chapter in they're life. they want to get back to ukraine as soon as possible. >> we all hope it will be a temporary chapter. stay safe, my friend. tell your team to do the same. as we mention, we expect to hear

from president biden about a half hour from now. that will be up on "andrea mitchell reports" starts next. ♪ good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington where president biden's announcement of military assistance to ukraine has been upstaged by ukraine's president zelenskyy's plea to congress for a no-fly zone, reminding americans of the horrors of our own past. >> remember pearl harbor. terrible morning of december 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. remember september the 11th, a terrible day in 2001, when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories into battle fields, whennn